The You Xuanzi 又玄子

You Xuanzi lived during the Dading era of the Jin Dynasty.

In the 11th year of the Dading era (1171), he composed two chapters of Taiwei Xianjun Gongguo Ge (Record of Merits and Demerits by Immortal Lord Taiwei). He argued that "by practicing in accordance with this, one can stay away from evil and turn to good; if one is truly sincere in doing so, they will be not far from achieving immortality." This work is indeed recognized as the pioneering text of the "gongguo ge" (records of merits and demerits) genre—a traditional Chinese ethical practice that involves documenting one’s daily actions to calculate merits and demerits, often used in Taoist and Confucian moral cultivation.