[Repost] A Study of the "Family Letter Style" in Daoist Magic (Part Three)

　As the spells were passed down from generation to generation and rituals were continuously performed, this concept of regarding the "original master" as a blood relative and emphasizing the importance of the "original master" in Daoist magic undoubtedly deepened the self-identity of Daoist lineages. Replacing the master-disciple relationship with blood "kinship" or "relative" relationships is clearly a manifestation of the virtual kinship system adopted by Daoist organizations such as the Tianxin School. Family and clan concepts held an important place in traditional Chinese society. In traditional Chinese society, the virtual kinship system was another effective way to organize and connect people outside the actual family system.[1] Through the above discussion, we find that this system also existed in traditional Chinese religion, serving as a beneficial supplement to the hierarchical system.

　　The virtual kinship system in Daoist magic was a phenomenon common to all new talisman schools of the Song and Yuan dynasties. This phenomenon was even more vividly reflected in rituals such as the "contract style," "certificate style," and "family letter style." Let us take the Qingwei School as an example. In the transmission system of the Qingwei School, Wei Huacun existed as the main deity, which was a symbol of the Qingwei School's direct lineage from the Shangqing School. This symbol was also clearly reflected in the "family letters" of the Qingwei School. A search through the Daofa Huiyuan reveals the following types of Qingwei School "family letters" concerning Wei Huacun: "Memorial to Ancestor Wei"[2], "Family Letter to Ancestral Master Wei Yuanjun"[3], "Family Letter to Zixu Yuanjun (Gaoyuan Chenzhao Palace)"[4], and others. For example, the "Family Letter to Ancestral Master Wei Yuanjun" reads:

 

Your disciple, a minor initiate surnamed So-and-so, holding a registered position in the lineage,

 

I, the above-named, reverently receiving the true secrets of the masters and immortals, respectfully bow twice and present this letter (talisman omitted) to manifest our family tradition in the Jade Purity and Qingwei (talisman omitted). Heaven's mandate has its appointed time; later immortals govern their offices. In accordance with the talisman and the seal, may the imperial majesty be forever manifested. Now, for (the matter at hand), I declare as per the regulations (talisman omitted; the family letter talisman is written folded, smeared, and sealed with the seal). I humbly beseech the master's compassion to fully perceive and examine this, to dispatch the talisman and generals, to act in accordance with the talisman and the seal, to grant a response to whatever matter is to be carried out, and to bestow great spiritual communication, thereby manifesting the unified Daoist magic of Qingwei. I humbly implore the Daoist decree.

 

A certain year, a certain month  Written on a certain day at a certain hour 

 

Respectfully dispatched by Thunderbolt Flying Messenger Yanggu Divine Lord Zhang Ya  Presented above

 

Family letter corner-seal format: Respectfully presenting this family letter to  Gaoyuan Chenzhao Palace (sealed by the minor initiate surnamed So-and-so holding a registered position)

 

On the back of the corner seal: Dispatched on a certain year, a certain month, a certain day, at a certain hour.

 

Sealing talisman (written on the corner seal) (talisman omitted; the characters heaven, earth, and man are written inside the circle, smeared, and sealed)

 

Secret seal (used on top of the name)

 

 

 

The Qingwei School also listed Zu Shu as the "converging Dao" ancestral master who united all the schools into one. Zu Shu, as the grand master of the "converging Dao," appears repeatedly in the "family letters" of the Qingwei School. Examples include: "Family Letter to Ancestral Master Zu" at the end of Chapter 39 of the Daofa Huiyuan, "Family Letter to the Ancestral Master" in the Qingwei Transmission Certificate Section of Chapter 40, "Family Letter to the Ancestral Master" in the Qingwei Pestilence Suppression Documents of Chapter 44, "Family Letter to the Ancestral Master" in the Qingwei Consumption Treatment Documents of Chapter 44, and "Family Letter to Baoxian Yuanjun (Qingwei Dongzhao Palace)" in the Spiritual Swift Five Thunder Prayer Documents of Chapter 47. Take the "Family Letter to the Ancestral Master" in the Qingwei Pestilence Suppression Documents of Chapter 44 as an example:

 

 

 

The humble descendant and disciple, a certain person, on this day bows with head to the ground and presents this letter

 

Before the altar of the Grand Master, the Golden Gate of Shining Mystery, the Perfected Lord Who Protects Immortals,

 

I, a mere insignificant being, a lowly clerk of thunder, have been graciously received and permitted to serve in your ranks. Day and night I tremble with awe, having no means to repay your kindness. I now, according to the stated intention, have already submitted a memorial to the Nine Sovereigns of the Divine Empyrean and the Mystic Administration, requesting that grace be bestowed and the matter be handled. Furthermore, I consider that my virtue is shallow and my responsibility heavy, my faults numerous and my merits few, insufficient to move the true spirits or direct the workings of creation. Without your guidance and enlightenment, how could I achieve distinction? I respectfully submit this family letter, humbly beseeching the Master's compassion to regard the lineage, to have pity on this later student, and to immediately transmit word to the Administration and to the successive masters and patriarchs of the Qingwei tradition, to petition the Imperial Court of Heaven for an edict, proclaiming to the Upper Clarity Divine Thunder Lord of Yang, Gou Liuji, and the Divine Thunder Lord of Yin, Bi Zongyuan (together with the generals listed above)

 

I presume to trouble the Master's dignity, and humbly beg that you forgive my shortcomings. This is all.

 

Year    Month    Day, the humble disciple, surname so-and-so, bows again and presents this letter

 

Respectfully dispatched by  the Nine Heavens Swift Messenger of Fire, Yang Jie, who carries and presents this

 

Respectfully submitted

 

Sealed envelope and square container (same as before)

 

 

 

In some Daoist rituals, there even appeared talismans combining the "family letter" with the "contract." For example, Volume 2 of the *Fahai Yizhu*, in the *Dongxuan Miezhi*, records a "Dongxuan Zixiao Family Letter Contract Talisman":

 

 

 

Dongxuan Zixiao Family Letter Contract Talisman (the descendant disciple, so-and-so, bows a hundred times in contract):

 

The above is written on yellow paper, two inches wide and three and a half inches long. Press the Chen finger position, draw in the purple qi to form the talisman. Visualize Lord Ma Yuanjun, with a red date-shaped face, large eyes, large ears, golden earrings, a seven-mystery Daoist crown, purple robes, and black shoes, holding a thunder ruler, standing in the spirit palace. Then lower the brush and form the talisman in one breath. The family letter is transmitted by Yuanjun to the Perfected One Bai.

 

Thunder Chamber Master's Family Letter Contract Talisman:

 

The above talisman is written in cinnabar on yellow paper, two inches wide and three and a half inches long, using the Yin finger position, with fire qi entering the talisman. Attach it to the square container, and respectfully send it to the most urgent destination. Use black paper written at the master's palace to report urgency.

 

Whenever writing this talisman, first visualize the Perfected One with a youthful face and hair bun, wearing a yellow Daoist robe, barefoot, holding a thunder ruler. This is transmitted by Perfected One Weng to Lord Ma Yuanjun's altar.

 

Bloodline family transmission of wondrous function (a circle, empty inside):

 

(The Master said: Within this lies a wondrous secret worth a thousand pieces of gold, not to be transmitted. Whoever divulges it will bring disaster upon himself and calamity upon his nine generations of ancestors. It is the most secret, most secret, most mysterious. I earnestly admonish, earnestly admonish.)

 

 

 

The "family letter format" ritual was widely used in Daoist rites from the Song and Yuan dynasties through the Ming and Qing dynasties. Cheng Muheng of the Qing dynasty, in his *Shuihu Zhuan Zhulüe*, pointed out that the Thunder Rite Patriarch Sa lineage, when opening an altar and performing rites, referred to themselves as "descendants of the mortal world," "presenting family letters of themselves," and "pricking their fingers to draw talismans with blood, to present to Patriarch Sa":

 

 

 

The Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Orthodox Method. Daoists often extol the Five Thunder Heavenly Heart Orthodox Method, but do not elaborate on its details. What is transmitted today is only Patriarch Sa's Shenxiao Blue Talisman Five Thunder Secret Method, and the formulas of Doumu, Yuebo, Zheng Hun, Liandu, Qin Xie, and Fa Miao. Its teaching says: if the qi is pure, the talisman is efficacious; if the lineage is pure, the method is efficacious. If one transmits the method but not the lineage, it is still incomplete. Therefore, one must choose an auspicious day to establish an altar, solemnly announce to Patriarch Sa, become the twentieth-something generation legitimate dharma grandson, swear an oath with blood smeared on the lips, and pledge to save the world and broadly rescue all. Whenever there are memorial rituals, one may personally write a family letter, prick a finger to write a talisman in blood, and present it to Patriarch Sa. What is called a "family letter" is like descendants in the human world reporting and presenting to their grandfather and father.

 

 

 

The folk Daoist altars of "Yoga Sect" and "Lüshan Sect" still circulating in Fujian today have a so-called "family letter format" in their rain-praying rituals. This format is used when prayers for rain are not answered. The reason this ritual is called the "family letter format" is that by sending a family letter to the patriarch, one earnestly requests the patriarch to descend to the altar and exercise the Daoist method through the patriarch's spiritual power. We can understand this from the wording of the "family letter format" document of Fujian Lüshan Sect: (see figure below)

 

 

 

The dharma grandson, not avoiding reproach, presumes upon the master's virtue. Now, according to such-and-such place, such-and-such township, such-and-such capital, aside from the rain-praying ritual,

 

Respectfully  urgently dispatch this family letter to report  to the one who hears it, humbly beseeching  your attention and execution

 

Talisman (omitted)

 

Urgently dispatch family letter  respectfully presented to Patriarch Shen

 

Before the Jade Emperor's throne, the Demon-Subduing Minister's Mansion  before the sage of the Ancestral Master, Registrar and Judge of the Thunder Department  humbly hope

 

the master in his compassion will accept the dharma grandson's family letter and specially grant  the first decree to be issued

 

The Four Great Marshals of the Thunder Gate, Gou, Bi, Xin, and Zhang, command and lead  the thunder gods, wind god, and rain master

 

The Five Sea Dragon Kings  immortals and Buddhas of the numinous altars  the Dragon Palace of the Water Mansion  immediately speed thunder and ride clouds  and greatly bestow sweet rain

 

to relieve the scorched and withered.  If there are demons and monsters intercepting and obstructing,  then seize and send them to the Heavenly Prison for punishment.  Humbly beg  that retribution be clearly manifested by the Dharma

 

Presuming upon  the master's authority,  humbly beseech the Dao to shine upon us. With utmost urgency, we respectfully submit.  Above,  respectfully  presented  with utmost urgency

 

If written with blood from a finger prick and presented as a letter

 

Year, month, day. The rain-praying descendant, inheriting the orthodox teaching of the Lushan sect, disciple so-and-so, writes this family letter.  With a hundred bows  respectfully submitted

 

Envelope   Family letter with a hundred bows    To the Ancestral Master of the Demon-Subduing Minister's Mansion  Before the Jade Emperor

 

Respectfully sealed by the rain-praying descendant, disciple so-and-so, in service to the sage