Treatise on Zhengyi
The original text does not specify an author.
Judging from its content and wording, it should have been written by a Zhengyi Taoist priest during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and is suspected to be the work of Meng Jingyi, a Taoist priest of the Southern Qi Dynasty.
This text adopts a hypothetical guest-host debate format. It first elaborates on the relationship between the Precept-Instructed Retreat and the Numinous Treasure Retreat Rites.
The Precept-Instructed Retreat originated from the Three Zhangs (the founding patriarchs of Celestial Master Taoism) and was a retreat ritual of the early Way of the Five Pecks of Rice. After the emergence of the Numinous Treasure Retreat Rites in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, some argued that the Precept-Instructed Retreat was crude and simplistic, a “Hinayana” practice unbefitting of Numinous Treasure Taoist priests.
The author of this text defends the Precept-Instructed Retreat, asserting that methods of enlightening the people should adapt to changing customs. The Precept-Instructed Retreat was designed to suit the folkways of the early period; later, as social customs and human sentiments evolved, the Numinous Treasure Retreat Rites came into being. Both serve the purpose of educating and transforming the masses, and can be practiced concurrently—there is no need to endorse one while rejecting the other.
The text also addresses the issues of “predestination” and “moral education”. The author holds that “the ultimate principle transcends words” and “supreme virtue is formless”. While this proposition is valid, the author argues that ultimate principle and supreme virtue still need to be manifested through words and tangible forms; where there are words and forms, there exist the concepts of good and evil.
The author rejects the notion that human life, death, good fortune, and misfortune are all predetermined by fate. Instead, he affirms that sages establish teachings to encourage people to turn towards good, eliminate evil, transform their wicked tendencies, and embrace goodness.
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