The Celestial Consort's Proven Salvation Scripture 太上老君说天妃救苦灵验经

The author is unknown.

Since the text contains the honorific title bestowed on the Heavenly Consort by imperial decree in the 7th year of the Yongle reign period of the Ming Dynasty (1409), it should have been compiled in the early Ming Dynasty.

It consists of one fascicle and is included in theScripture Texts Categoryof theCave Spirits Divisionin theDaoist Canon (Daozang).

The Heavenly Consort refers to the goddess Mazu, who is traditionally believed to have been born on Meizhou Island in Putian, Fujian Province, in the early Northern Song Dynasty.

Endowed with exceptional wisdom from birth, she could foretell fortune and misfortune, and dedicated herself to rescuing people stranded or endangered at sea. From the Song and Yuan dynasties onward, Mazu has been widely venerated among the people in Fujian and coastal provinces in southeastern China, who pray to her for protection.

She was also revered by the imperial court as well as by Buddhists and Daoists, who honored her with the title of the Heavenly Consort.

This text is precisely a Daoist scripture dedicated to the worship of the Heavenly Consort.

It first records folk hymns and incantations for invoking the Heavenly Consort, popular in the Putian and Xinghua regions. Next, it narrates the myths surrounding her. The scripture claims that the Supreme Lord Lao observed countless incidents of shipwrecks in rivers, lakes and seas that claimed numerous human lives, and thus ordered the Jade Maiden of Wonderful Conduct to be born into the mortal world to alleviate the sufferings of the people—this maiden was none other than the Heavenly Consort.

The Heavenly Consort made a solemn vow to rescue vessels, protect merchants, eliminate evil and disasters, safeguard the nation and its people, and bring blessings to sailors, merchants and ordinary folks alike. At the end of the text, there are recorded the Miraculous Talisman for Salvation from Misery and the imperial decrees with incantations, which were used by those in distress to pray for help.