The Ordination Protocol Manual FULL NAME IS
The author is unknown.
Judging from its textual content, it was seemingly composed in the Northern and Southern Dynasties or the the Tang Dynasty. The text contains the phrase "the certain year of the Daming reign", which is suspected to have been added by later compilers during revisions. Preserved in a single volume, it is included in the Zhengyi Section of The Daozang.
This treatise records the hierarchical sequence of receiving ordained talismanic authorities and sacerdotal positions within the Zhengyi Daoist tradition.
It first enumerates the ritual tokens that Taoist practitioners must prepare for receiving scriptures, talismans and sacerdotal positions: for instance, one silver ring, one hundred and ten feet of blue silk and one liang of cinnabar shall be offered for receiving the Tao Te Ching. It then lists the Hierarchical Sequence of Ordained Dharma Positions for Taoists: those who receive the Zhengyi Dharma Position are titled Pure Faith Disciples or Zhengyi Alliance of Majestic Authority Disciples; those who receive the Seven Star Talisman are titled Perfected Beings of the Seven Luminaries of the Northern Dipper; those who receive the Dudong Official Certificate are titled Grand Dudong Disciples of the Sect; those who receive the Cavern God Dharma Position are titled Cavern God Disciples; those who receive the Cavern Mystery Dharma Position are titled Numinous Treasure or Cavern Mystery Disciples; those who receive the Shangqing Dharma Position are titled Shangqing Disciples or Great Cavern Disciples, and so forth.
The text also incorporates heterogeneous contents in a jumbled manner, including the method of using official seals, the Life Affiliation to Qi and Celestial Registry (referring to one’s natal destiny bound to celestial qi and constellations), the Names and Cycles of the Various Altars (recording the designations of the Fourteen Altars and official titles corresponding to the Twenty-Four Solar Terms), the sequential norms of the names, taboo appellations, appearances, abbey abodes of the Three Teachers and Five Guarantors, as well as various official certificates and texts used in the Celestial Master Dao. Its contents appear rather fragmented and disorganized.
Appended to this text in the Daozang version is a separate treatise entitled Ritual of the Celestial Master’s Altars, which is believed to be an independent work, with its canonical ritual context aligned with the disciplinary tradition preserved in The Dongshen Section.
See the relevant entry for reference.
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