The Tripartite Canons Preceptual Compendium 三洞众戒文

Compiled and written by Zhang Wanfu, a Taoist priest of the the Tang Dynasty.

The original work was in two volumes, and the version preserved in The Daozang is combined into a single volume, classified under the Precepts Category of the Cavern Perfection Section.

There is a preface written by the author at the beginning of the scroll, which states: To learn the Dao and seek the True, none shall fail to uphold fasting and precepts first. Numerous discourses on precepts are found in the various scriptures of the Three Caverns, making it difficult to elaborate on them in full. Thus, the author extracted the texts of precepts from these scriptures and compiled them into a single work, aiming to facilitate Taoist practitioners in reciting, learning, upholding and abiding by them, so as to refrain from evil deeds. The precept texts recorded in this book include: Text of the Initial Aspiration to Enter the Dao and Receive the Precepts, Text of the First Oath of the Numinous Treasure to Seal and Restrain the Six Sensory Faculties, Text of the Three Precepts, Text of the Five Precepts, Text of the Three Maxims, Text of the Eight Failings, Text of the Thirteen Prohibitions, Text of the Essential Precepts and Maxims of the Seven Hundred and Twenty Gates, among others.

For some precept texts, the author only transcribed the original passages; for others, he briefly expounded the sequential stages and essential purport of receiving and upholding the precepts. He emphasized that guarding and mastering one’s mind is the fundamental principle of observing the precepts, and this core tenet aligns with the ascetic disciplinary traditions enshrined in The Dongxuan Section.