太上老君說常清靜經 — attributed to Laozi
The Classic of Purity and Stillness (Qingjing Jing, 清靜經) is one of the most important and widely recited scriptures in the Daoist tradition. Its full title is the Supreme Lord Laozi's Classic of Constant Purity and Stillness (太上老君說常清靜經). Traditionally attributed to Laozi himself, the text was likely composed during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE) and draws on both Daoist and Buddhist philosophical frameworks. At roughly 390 characters, it is among the shortest of the Daoist Canon's major scriptures — and among the most memorized.
The text teaches that the Dao is formless, nameless, and beyond all categories, yet gives rise to heaven and earth, to all things, to the interplay of purity and turbidity, movement and stillness. The human mind, when emptied of desire and attachment, naturally returns to its original purity. This is not a technique to be practiced but a nature to be uncovered — desire itself must be emptied, until even the desire to be desireless falls away. The scripture moves from cosmology to psychology to soteriology in a single unbroken arc, ending with a transmission lineage that traces the teaching from the Queen Mother of the West through the Gold Tower Emperor to the Eastern Florescence Emperor and finally to the Immortal Ge Xuan, who first wrote it down.
The Qingjing Jing is recited daily in Quanzhen Daoist monasteries and is central to the liturgical life of the Dragon Gate (Longmen) lineage founded by Qiu Chuji. It sits alongside the Daodejing and the Yinfu Jing as one of the three scriptures every Quanzhen practitioner is expected to know by heart. This is a Good Works Translation from Classical Chinese, sourced from the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Zhengtong Daozang (DZ 620) text, verified against the source during this session.
The Lord says:
The Great Dao has no form;
it brings forth and nurtures heaven and earth.
The Great Dao has no feeling;
it turns the sun and moon.
The Great Dao has no name;
it raises and sustains all things.
I do not know its name —
compelled to speak, I call it "Dao."
Now, the Dao:
there is purity and there is turbidity,
there is movement and there is stillness.
Heaven is pure, earth is turbid;
heaven moves, earth is still.
The masculine is pure, the feminine is turbid;
the masculine moves, the feminine is still.
Descending from the root, flowing toward the branches,
all things are born between them.
Purity is the source of turbidity;
movement is the root of stillness.
If one can be constantly pure and still,
heaven and earth return to their origin together.
The human spirit loves purity,
but the heart-mind disturbs it.
The human heart-mind loves stillness,
but desire pulls it away.
If you can always banish desire,
the heart-mind becomes still of itself.
Settle the heart-mind,
and the spirit becomes pure of itself.
Naturally, the six desires do not arise;
naturally, the three poisons are extinguished.
Those who cannot accomplish this
have not yet settled their heart-mind or banished their desires.
If you would banish them:
turn inward and observe the heart-mind —
there is no heart-mind.
Turn outward and observe your form —
there is no form.
Look far and observe all things —
there are no things.
Having realized these three,
you see only emptiness.
Observe emptiness through emptiness —
emptiness too is without existence.
When even the nonexistence of emptiness is nonexistent,
there is nothing that is not nonexistent.
When nothing that is not nonexistent is nonexistent,
you enter deep and constant stillness.
In stillness, where is there desire?
When desire does not arise,
this is true stillness.
True constancy responds to all things;
true constancy finds its nature.
Constantly responding, constantly still —
this is constant purity, constant stillness.
In such purity and stillness
you gradually enter the true Dao.
Having entered the true Dao,
this is called “attaining the Dao.”
Though it is called attaining the Dao,
in truth there is nothing attained.
For the sake of transforming all living beings,
it is called "attaining the Dao."
Those who can understand this
may transmit the sacred Dao.
The Lord says:
The superior person does not contend;
the inferior person loves to contend.
Superior virtue has no virtue;
inferior virtue clings to virtue.
Those who cling
are not worthy of the name of Dao and virtue.
The reason living beings do not attain the true Dao
is that they possess deluded heart-minds.
Having deluded heart-minds,
their spirits are alarmed.
With spirits alarmed,
they cling to all things.
Clinging to all things,
they give rise to cravings and desires.
Cravings and desires —
these are the afflictions.
Afflictions and deluded thoughts
bring suffering to body and heart-mind,
bring degradation and disgrace,
bring drifting through birth and death,
always sinking in the bitter sea,
forever losing the true Dao.
The true and constant Dao:
those who realize it will attain it.
Those who attain the Dao
will be constantly pure and still.
The Immortal Ge Xuan says:
I attained the true Dao
and have recited this scripture ten thousand times.
This scripture is what the celestial beings practice;
it is not transmitted to inferior persons.
I received it from the Emperor of Eastern Florescence.
The Emperor of Eastern Florescence received it from the Emperor of the Gold Tower.
The Emperor of the Gold Tower received it from the Queen Mother of the West.
The Queen Mother of the West transmitted it
entirely by mouth, never recording it in writing.
I now write it down and record it for the world.
The superior person who realizes it
will ascend to become a celestial official.
The middling person who realizes it
will join the ranks of the immortals in the Southern Palace.
The inferior person who obtains it
will live long years in the world,
wander through the three realms,
and ascend through the Golden Gate.
The True Person of the Left Mystery says:
Those who study the Dao and recite this scripture
will gain the protection of the ten heavens' benevolent spirits.
Thereafter, jade talismans will guard their spirit,
golden elixir will refine their form,
form and spirit will both become wondrous,
and they will merge with the Dao in truth.
The True Person of Orthodox Unity says:
In the household that possesses this scripture,
those who understand it will be untouched by calamity.
The assembled saints will guard their gate;
their spirit will ascend to the upper realm
and pay homage to the highest honored ones.
When merit is full and virtue complete,
they will move the Emperor Lord.
Reciting and upholding without ceasing,
their body will rise upon purple clouds.
Notes
Six desires (六欲) — The desires arising from the six sense faculties: sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and thought. In Daoist cultivation, these must be stilled before the spirit can return to its original purity.
Three poisons (三毒) — Greed, anger, and delusion. Borrowed from Buddhist terminology (貪嗔癡), these three root afflictions are widely adopted in Quanzhen Daoism as obstacles to spiritual cultivation.
Heart-mind (心) — The character 心 encompasses both “heart” and “mind” in Classical Chinese, referring to the seat of consciousness, emotion, and intention simultaneously. There is no clean English equivalent; “heart-mind” preserves the unity the Chinese assumes.
Ge Xuan (葛玄) — A semi-legendary Daoist immortal of the third century CE, granduncle of the more famous Ge Hong. In the Qingjing Jing’s transmission lineage, he is the first to commit the scripture to writing after receiving it through an oral chain stretching back to the Queen Mother of the West. He is venerated in the Lingbao school of Daoism.
Emperor of Eastern Florescence (東華帝君) — A high celestial deity in the Daoist pantheon, associated with the eastern direction and the force of creation. In the Qingjing Jing, he is the second link in the transmission chain, receiving the teaching from the Emperor of the Gold Tower.
Emperor of the Gold Tower (金闕帝君) — A supreme celestial figure in Daoist cosmology. In the Qingjing Jing, he receives the teaching directly from the Queen Mother of the West and transmits it to the Emperor of Eastern Florescence.
Queen Mother of the West (西王母) — One of the most ancient and powerful deities in Chinese religion, predating organized Daoism. She dwells on Mount Kunlun and guards the peaches of immortality. In the Qingjing Jing, she is the ultimate source of the teaching, transmitting it orally without written record.
True Person of the Left Mystery (左玄真人) — A celestial Daoist figure who serves as interlocutor in several Tang-era scriptures, affirming the protective powers of recitation. The “Left” position denotes seniority in the celestial bureaucracy.
True Person of Orthodox Unity (正一真人) — Associated with the Zhengyi (正一, Orthodox Unity) school of Daoism founded by Zhang Daoling. His endorsement of the scripture bridges the Zhengyi and Quanzhen traditions, affirming the text’s universal authority within Daoism.
Colophon
The Classic of Purity and Stillness (清靜經) is traditionally attributed to Laozi (老子), though internal evidence and scholarly consensus place its composition in the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), likely within the milieu of early internal alchemy (內丹) practice. The text synthesizes Daoist cosmology with Buddhist psychology, particularly the Madhyamaka teaching on emptiness, filtered through a distinctly Daoist emphasis on naturalness (自然) and non-action (無為).
The Qingjing Jing became central to Quanzhen Daoism after the school’s founding in the twelfth century and remains one of the most frequently recited scriptures in Daoist liturgy. It is chanted daily in monasteries of the Dragon Gate (Longmen 龍門) lineage and is considered essential reading for all Quanzhen practitioners alongside the Daodejing and the Yinfu Jing.
Source text: 太上老君說常清靜經, from the Zhengtong Daozang (正統道藏, Ming Daoist Canon, 1445), fascicle 620. Transcription from Chinese Wikisource (zh.wikisource.org), verified during this session via Chrome browser on March 1, 2026.
Good Works Translation from Classical Chinese by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Translated by the Sub-Miko of Tianmu (Tulku Saku, 朔), the sixty-eighth incarnation.
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Source Text: 太上老君說常清靜經
Chinese source text from the Zhengtong Daozang (正統道藏), fascicle 620, transcribed from Chinese Wikisource (zh.wikisource.org). Verified during this session. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
老君曰：大道無形，生育天地；大道無情，運行日月；大道無名，長養萬物；吾不知其名，強名曰道。夫道者：有清有濁，有動有靜；天清地濁，天動地靜；男清女濁，男動女靜。降本流末，而生萬物。清者濁之源，動者靜之基。人能常清靜，天地悉皆歸。
夫人神好清，而心擾之；人心好靜，而慾牽之。常能遣其慾而心自靜，澄其心而神自清。自然六慾不生，三毒消滅。所以不能者，為心未澄，慾未遣也。能遣之者，內觀於心，心無其心；外觀於形，形無其形；遠觀於物，物無其物。三者既悟，唯見於空。觀空亦空，空無所空；所空既無，無無亦無；無無既無，湛然常寂；寂無所寂，慾豈能生？慾既不生，即是真靜。真常應物，真常得性；常應常靜，常清靜矣。如此清靜，漸入真道；既入真道，名謂得道，雖名得道，實無所得；為化眾生，名謂得道；能悟之者，可傳聖道。
老君曰：上士無爭，下士好爭；上德不德，下德執德；執著之者，不名道德。眾生所以不得真道者，為有妄心。既有妄心，即驚其神；既驚其神，即著萬物；既著萬物，即生貪求；既生貪求，即是煩惱；煩惱妄想，憂苦身心；便遭濁辱，流浪生死，常沉苦海，永失真道。真常之道，悟者自得。得悟道者，常清靜矣。
仙人葛玄曰：吾得真道，曾誦此經萬遍。此經是天人所習，不傳下士。吾昔受之於東華帝君。東華帝君受之於金闕帝君，金闕帝君受之於西王母。西王母皆口口相傳，不記文字。吾今於世書而錄之。上士悟之，昇為天官。中士悟之，南宮列仙。下士得之，在世長年，遊行三界，昇入金門。
左玄真人曰：學道之士，持誦此經，即得十天善神擁護其人。然後玉符寶神，金液鍊形，形神俱妙，與道合真。
正一真人曰：人家有此經，悟解之者，災障不干，眾聖護門，神昇上界，朝拜高尊。功滿德就，相感帝君。誦持不退，身騰紫雲。
Source Colophon
Chinese source text from the Zhengtong Daozang (正統道藏, Ming Daoist Canon, compiled 1445), fascicle 620 (DZ 620). Transcription from Chinese Wikisource (zh.wikisource.org), accessed and verified via Chrome browser on March 1, 2026. The Daozang text represents the standard recension used in Quanzhen liturgical practice.
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