True Record of Supreme Primordial Unity 太上混元真录

The author is unknown.

The text avoids the personal name Li Shimin of Emperor Taizong of Tang, so it should have been compiled during the Tang Dynasty.

It consists of one volume and is included in the Jizhuan (Biographies and Records) category of the Dongshen (Mystery Revealing) Section of the Daozang (Taoist Canon).

True Record of Supreme Primordial Unity

This book first narrates the mythological tales of Laozi descending into the mortal world in successive generations since the Yin and Zhou dynasties, proclaiming that Laozi transmitted the Dao to Yin Xi and traveled west to enlighten various countries in the Western Regions and Tianzhu. Its doctrines are influenced by the Laozi Huahu Jing (Scripture of Laozi's Transformation to Enlighten the Barbarians), a classic work in the system of Taoism. It further expounds the way of cultivating the true self and nourishing the spirit. It holds that "human beings regard the body as a state, the spirit as the ruler, essence as the ministers, and qi as the people". Those who cultivate the Dao should prioritize the spirit over the body, "taking the great void as the highest principle and cherishing the true self as the most precious treasure". Its methods of cultivating the true self and nourishing the spirit mainly focus on circulating qi and guarding the Three Ones—a concept echoing the Taiji philosophy of primal unity—opposing the techniques of grain avoidance and daoyin (guided qi movement). Judging from the content and wording of the entire book, the author seems to be a Taoist priest of the Louguan School.