The Beneficent Saviors' Archival Record FULL NAME IS
Records of the True Lords of Boundless Grace and Divine Salvation
Originally attributed to Zhu Di and others, the text was compiled in the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty.
In one volume, it is included in the Ritual Protocol Category of The Dongxuan Section of The Daozang.
The book is divided into three parts.
The first part is the Spiritual Salvation Palace Stele, an imperial composition written in the 15th year of the Yongle reign (1417) by Zhu Di, the Yongle Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. It states that the Yongle Emperor was silently blessed and protected by two deities during his illness, who bestowed efficacious talismans and miraculous medicines to cure him of his ailment. Thus, he conferred upon the two deities the title of True Lords of Boundless Grace, and ordered the relevant government departments to greatly renovate their temples and offer sacrifices to them in gratitude for their divine benevolence.
The second part, The Two Worthies Attain Immortality, outlines the life deeds of the two deities, who were the brothers Xu Zhizheng, Prince of Jiang, and Xu Zhi'e, Prince of Rao, of the Southern Tang Dynasty during the Five Dynasties period. Both princes embodied leniency, benevolence, loyalty and filial piety, cherished virtue and aspired to the Dao, and rendered meritorious service in guarding Jinling. Temples were erected among the people to offer sacrifices to them. It is said that after their ascension to immortality, they became the Water Governors of the Dipper constellation, silently safeguarding the mortal people. They manifested divine miracles such as relieving calamities of floods, droughts, fires and locust plagues, healing illnesses, granting offspring, safeguarding the state and repelling enemies. Moved by their benevolence, the Heavenly Emperor issued an imperial mandate to confer upon the elder brother the title of Perfect Man of Manifested Spirit and Universal Salvation of the Nine Heavenly Golden Palace, and upon the younger brother the title of Perfect Man of Manifested Divine Light and Extensive Salvation of the Nine Heavenly Jade Palace. The Yongle Emperor further bestowed on the two deities the esteemed title of True Lords, and built a shrine in the imperial capital to enshrine and worship them.
The third part, Memorial Praying for the Canonization of the True Lords, was composed by a Taoist priest surnamed Wang. It can be known from the text that the eight sets of fasting rituals dedicated to the True Lords of Boundless Grace and Divine Salvation collected in The Daozang were all compiled by this Taoist priest Wang.
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