The Divine Guardian's Admonitory Scripture
A morality-instructing text issued in the name of Emperor Guan Sheng.
Guan Yu was posthumously granted the title of "Emperor" in the late Wanli reign period of the Ming Dynasty. After the Qing Dynasty, as he was venerated by the imperial court, his status among the folk became increasingly elevated, thus giving rise to morality books circulated under the assumed authorship of Emperor Guan.
The exact time of its initial compilation cannot be definitively verified.
It was not yet included in A Compilation of the Essentials of the Daoist Canon during the Kangxi reign period of the Qing Dynasty.
The content exhorts people to "practice all manner of good deeds and never slacken in this aspiration". It also states that "the human heart is one with the divine", "a clear conscience means no disrespect to the divine; if you deceive your own heart, you are deceiving the divine". "Every thought and action is observed and judged by the gods", and "whoever betrays my teachings dares to test the edge of my blade". The core tenets of its teachings lie in loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness, asserting that "to live in this world, one must uphold loyalty, filial piety, integrity and righteousness above all else. Only then can one be considered unblemished in the path of humanity and stand tall between heaven and earth". In addition, it also addresses certain principles of social morality.
Brief in form, the entire scripture contains over six hundred characters, yet it exerted a profound influence and enjoyed extremely widespread circulation.
Besides being published as a standalone text, it was also included in books intended for daily recitation and reference, such as The Jade Calendar: A Precious Record.
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