The Three Caverns Divine Hymns 三洞赞颂灵章

Anonymous author.

Since it mentions the Taoist priest Mr. Chongmiao (Jiang Zongying) who lived during the late Song and early Yuan dynasties, this work was presumably compiled by Shangqing Taoists in the Yuan Dynasty.

Originally consisting of three scrolls, it is included in The Daozang (Taoist Canon), under the Hymn Category of the Dongzhen Section.

This book compiles ninety-eight various hymns used in Taoist rituals. All are rhymed poems or gathas, composed in four-character, five-character or seven-character lines. Among them, the first scroll contains twenty-nine hymns, mainly eulogizing deities such as Yuanshi Tianzun (Jade Pure Heavenly Worthy), the Five Elders of the Five Directions, and the Jade Morning Lords of the Four Quarters. The second scroll, titled Applied Hymns, includes fifty-six hymns for ritual procedures such as altar consecration, altar dissolution, master invocation, master send-off, perfected being invocation, perfected being send-off, lamp lighting, incense burning, talisman casting, and prayer burning. The third scroll collects thirteen hymns, including the Three Pact Hymns, the Great Cavern Scripture Hymns, the Supreme Heavenly Emperor Hymns, the Blood Lake True Scripture Hymns, and the Mind Seal Scripture for Redeeming Sins Gathas, focusing on eulogizing Taoist scriptures.

The content of the hymns throughout the book either eulogizes divine perfected beings, expounds the essential doctrines of Taoism, exhort people to do good and refrain from evil, or encourages the recitation of Taoist scriptures.