Taishang Laojun Jie Jing — Spoken by the Most High Lord Lao to Yin Xi
This short scripture is preserved in the Daoist Canon (道藏, catalogued as DZ 784), where it is associated with the Louguan (樓觀) lineage of early medieval Daoism and dated, on the evidence of that tradition, to around the sixth century. It is framed as a teaching Lord Lao gives to Yin Xi, the Guardian of the Pass, immediately after handing him the Daodejing — a scene the text uses to root the Five Precepts (against killing, stealing, lust, false speech, and wine) in the founding encounter of the Daoist revelation itself.
The scripture opens with a short hymn, then has Yin Xi ask Lord Lao to explain the precepts one by one, why there are five of them, how each corresponds to a direction, a body organ, and a cosmic register, and what happens to those who break them or keep them. It closes with an enumeration of thirteen finer transgressions of mind and speech. The text is prose throughout except for its opening hymn, which is kept here as verse.
A note on one term: 清信男 / 清信女 (qīngxìn nán / qīngxìn nǚ), literally "men/women of pure faith," is this text's term for a lay follower who has taken the Five Precepts — an office parallel to the Buddhist upāsaka/upāsikā, and rendered here throughout as "men and women of pure faith."
Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese of the Daoist Canon, which is printed in full below the translation. A published English translation of this scripture already exists (see the Colophon); this Good Works Translation was made independently from the Chinese and did not consult it.
Translation
The Precepts
As Lord Lao journeyed west, about to go to India, he gave the Scripture of the Way and Its Power, in two books, to the Pass Commander Yin Xi. When Yin Xi had received the scripture in full, he further asked for the method of carrying the body and upholding the scripture.
Lord Lao thereupon further transmitted to him the essential precepts, that all beings everywhere might uphold them and be delivered from the world. He then spoke a hymn in three stanzas:
Delight in the Law as a wife;
cherish the scripture like pearl and jade.
Hold to the precepts, govern the six passions;
keep the Way in mind, let go of desire.
Be plain, be spare — the hall of true breath;
be still, the spirit quiet and silent.
The heavenly and the demonic alike will reverently guard you;
life after life you will receive great blessing.
Lush and flourishing, house and state will prosper;
abundant and thriving, scripture and Way will rise.
Heaven and humankind share the one wish,
drifting far, entering the Great Vehicle.
From the mind, establish the field of blessing;
gently, gradually, the Wheel of the Law ascends.
Seven generations of ancestors are born in the heavenly hall;
my own body ascends in broad daylight.
The great Way penetrates the mysterious void;
whatever is held in mind, nothing fails to open.
Refine the substance, enter the ranks of the transcendent and true,
and so attain the adamantine body.
Cross beyond the sufferings of the Three Realms;
the five sufferings of hell are dissolved.
All return to the scripture of the Most High —
in quiet contemplation, bow the head in reverence.
When Yin Xi had heard the hymn spoken, he bowed his head and stood, and asked to receive the words of the precepts.
Lord Lao said: The first precept is against killing. The second is against stealing. The third is against lust. The fourth is against false speech. The fifth is against wine. These are the Five Precepts.
If a man of pure faith or a woman of pure faith upholds the Five Precepts and does not transgress them to the end of life, this is what is meant by a man or a woman of pure faith.
Lord Lao said: As for the precept against killing — all living beings that possess breath, all that fly and flutter, crawl and wriggle, none of these may be killed.
Lord Lao said: As for the precept against stealing — anything worth so much as a single coin, whether it has an owner or not, if it is not one's own, it must not be wrongfully taken.
Lord Lao said: As for the precept against lust — apart from husband and wife, and in the case of those who have left the household life and take no wife and marry none, neither man nor woman may transgress it.
Lord Lao said: As for the precept against false speech — whatever one has not heard, has not seen, and does not truly grasp in the mind, and yet speaks of to others as though it were so: all this is false speech.
Lord Lao said: As for the precept against wine — unless it is for bodily illness or for a rite the Law prescribes, none may drink it.
Lord Lao said: These Five Precepts are the root of upholding the body and the foundation of upholding the Law. Good men and good women who wish and delight in the good Law, and receive and uphold these precepts for their whole lives without transgressing or breaking them — this is what is meant by pure faith. They gain the scripture and gain the treasure, and forever become perfected in the Way.
When Yin Xi had heard and received this, he bowed twice and asked: Why are there five?
Lord Lao said: Five governs all evil, just as Heaven has Five Essences to govern the myriad numinous beings, Earth has Five Storehouses to govern the multitude of living things, and man has the Five Phases to govern spirit and intelligence. The precepts are a defense — they guard against transgression. If one transgresses and does not guard against it, then the Three Paths overflow and abound, and heaven and humankind are left empty and void. This is why there are five.
Yin Xi said: Great indeed are the precepts! Why, then, does one transgress?
Lord Lao said: When the root is attained, there is no transgression. Even where transgression has occurred and is then overcome, still nothing is truly lost.
Yin Xi said: I dare to ask about this root.
Lord Lao said: Now I shall explain the root for you in full. Listen closely, listen closely — receive and uphold it, that all beings everywhere may come to know it.
Lord Lao said: The Five Precepts began together with Heaven and Earth, and exist together with the myriad things. Whoever upholds them has good fortune; whoever loses them has misfortune. Of those who in ages past attained the Way, none did so without them. Therefore their spirits number twenty-five, and the five thousand characters of the scripture carry this same meaning.
Lord Lao said: The Five Precepts, in Heaven, are the Five Planets — when Heaven's Way loses the precepts, calamitous omens appear. In Earth, they are the Five Sacred Peaks — when Earth's Way loses the precepts, the hundred grains fail to ripen. In number, they are the Five Phases — when the five numbers lose the precepts, water and fire clash and metal and wood do each other harm. In rule, they are the Five Emperors — when the Five Emperors lose the precepts, their fortune is cut short and their persons perish. In man, they are the Five Viscera — when the Five Viscera lose the precepts, the nature breaks out into madness.
Lord Lao said: These five — guard against transgression here, and accord follows there.
Thus the precept against killing belongs to the East. It receives the qi of birth and honors growth and nurture; when a person commits killing, the liver suffers harm from it.
The precept against stealing is the qi of the North, the essence of Great Yin, which governs closing and storing; when a person steals, the kidney-qi suffers calamity.
The precept against lust belongs to the West, the substance of Lesser Yin, by which man and woman are kept chaste and firm; when a person delights in lust, the lungs suffer its harm.
The precept against wine belongs to the fire of the South, the qi of Great Yang, by which things are brought to completion; when a person delights in wine, the heart suffers its poison.
The precept against false speech belongs to the Earth-virtue of the Center, which is trustworthiness; when a person speaks falsely, the spleen suffers its disgrace. The Five Virtues honor one another, and none may be deficient.
Lord Lao said: Of these five, if even one is lost, life is not brought to completion. Therefore, not to kill means to arrive at having no thought of killing at all. Not to steal means to arrive at having no crooked taking at all. Not to lust means to arrive at having no crooked thought at all. Not to drink wine means to arrive at having no dependence on its power at all. Not to speak falsely means to arrive at having no leakage of speech at all. Only thus may it be called complete.
Lord Lao said: Among the precepts, lust and wine are able to give rise to the Five Evils. The precepts guard against evil. In an evil age, men and women revel in lust, entangling their own flesh and blood; superiors grow arrogant and inferiors grow violent. They destroy and slight the virtue of Heaven; sunk in drunkenness they quarrel and litigate, bringing calamity on their lives and disgrace on their persons; they deceive, cheat, and lie without cause; the six degrees of kin steal from one another, not only from strangers; they kill and harm living beings to nourish their own bodies and mouths.
People of this sort, in this very life, receive their due retribution and fall forever into manifold sufferings, laden entirely with the Five Evils, without end or limit. Should any escape it, they will be born among the border peoples — short-lived, maimed and crippled, ugly in marriage and lacking chastity and integrity, poor and destitute, exposed to cold, unsettled wherever they dwell. If they have any wealth or goods, others will seize it from them; their words will not be trusted; no one will draw near to them; their thoughts and reflections will be clouded and stopped up; the multitude will treat them with contempt.
Lord Lao said: Men and women of pure faith who uphold the practice of the precepts will find peace and joy in this present world, free of care and vexation. The multitude will honor and revere them; those who see them will rejoice; they will constantly receive benefit and support, and all will turn to them in reverence. Their wisdom will be deep and subtle; they will dwell in clarity and stillness; the Four Great Elements will remain whole and firm within them. Thus they are able to cultivate and gather the many methods, and so become perfected in the Way.
Yin Xi bowed twice and said: I dare to ask the method of receiving and upholding these.
Lord Lao said: If a man or woman hears the Law and gives rise to faith, taking refuge in body in the Three Treasures, let them at once bow the head to the ground: taking refuge in body in the Great Way, taking refuge in spirit in the Great Way, taking refuge in life in the Great Way. Man and woman alike, abandoning the world's crooked ways, shall uphold the true precepts with whole body and whole life, never to the end breaking or transgressing them. Thereupon, with praise and recitation, and with reverent heart, they receive them.
Lord Lao said: If, further, a man or woman, having received the true precepts, goes on to seek the scriptures and the Law, they must first receive the precepts, each one held firm and pure, and only then be given transmission. Each month they cultivate the Ten Direct Days; each year they observe the Three Fasts; they recite the scripture ten thousand times, and ascend at dawn in broad daylight. If they expound and proclaim its wondrous meaning for others, greatly benefiting living beings, they thereby draw out all the sufferings of the Three Paths. By this merit they are able to cut off the boundless roots of past lives, and attain ascent to Highest Clarity, never again to fall back or decline.
Lord Lao said: Men and women of pure faith, whether at home or having left the household, who receive and uphold the scriptures and the Law, wishing and delighting in the immortals, reciting and reading day and night, seeking their wondrous meanings, and putting away all clamor and confusion — regulating the mind and governing the nature, with a gentle countenance and a kindly bearing — exhorting all men and women to keep far from the Five Evils, to receive and uphold the Five Precepts, to make offerings to the Three Treasures, and to strive toward completion without choosing between sweetness and bitterness — if they fully uphold the Great Precepts, practicing austerities with diligence and devotion, giving alms, enduring insult, giving up the body to save other beings; or if, further, they leave the world and go alone to dwell in seclusion, concentrating their thoughts to the point of utmost stillness, unmoved by any multitude of hardships — they will certainly arrive at Non-Action.
Yin Xi said: In upholding the scripture, are there transgressions?
Lord Lao said: There are thirteen.
Yin Xi said: What are they?
Lord Lao said: Listen closely. The thirteen are these. The six dusts and the six consciousnesses all arise from the mind. Therefore: lust, greed, sickness, and anger; deceit, theft, and falsehood; flattering speech and a forked tongue; flattery for gain and the grasping of power; confused gathering that breaks the Law — none of this is pure faith. Heaven's net loses nothing, and there is no place to escape life and death.
People of this kind, being outside the portion of wisdom, defile and soil the utmost Law, destroying and casting away the roots of goodness. They are not known or recognized by good people. Bearing the bodies of living beings in full, they sow the seeds of lustful desire, with nothing they hate or shun, forever carrying dread and fear, as if already in hell — in the Five Pains of the hell without interval. Receiving such a body, they are laden with every suffering and evil; what beings harbor as evil has no cure or remedy. Turning on the wheel of birth and death, without hearing and without seeing — all of this arises from within a single thought, giving rise to countless thoughts without number, whose retributions are without end.
Colophon
This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Ethics and Response shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The scripture's prose frame and dialogue are rendered as prose; its opening hymn — six-line stanzas of five-character verse — is kept as verse, one English line per Chinese phrase.
A genuine translation-status check was performed before the claim below was written. The two local bibliographies of Daoist texts in Western translation (Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation and the 2023 Purple Cloud survey) were grepped for this text's Chinese title, its pinyin, and its Daozang number. Komjathy's bibliography records the text as Taishang laojun jiejing 太上老君戒經, DZ 784, associated with the Louguan lineage and dated to the sixth century, and records a full English translation: Livia Kohn, "The Five Precepts of the Venerable Lord," Monumenta Serica 42 (1994). Because a published translation exists, no claim of firstness is made here. This Good Works Translation was made independently from the Chinese source text printed below and did not consult Kohn's translation at any stage of preparation.
A note on two hard passages. The scripture's answer to "why thirteen?" lists a run of paired offenses (淫貪疾恚、欺盜妄詐、綺言兩舌、諂利持權、溷集破法) that does not divide cleanly into thirteen items under any obvious count; the translation renders the list as given rather than forcing a tally. And "五痛無間" (rendered here "the Five Pains of the hell without interval") appears to invoke the Buddhist Avīci hell (無間地獄, the "interval-less" hell) without naming it outright; the translation keeps the compression of the original rather than expanding it.
Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.
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Source Text: 太上老君戒經
Classical Chinese text of the Daoist Canon, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
太上老君戒經
戒上
老君西遊將之天竺。以道德二經授關令尹喜。喜受經畢。又請持身奉經之法。
老君於是復授喜要戒。普令一切咸持度世。於是說頌三章。
樂法以為妻。愛經如珠玉。持戒制六情。念道遺所欲。淡薄正氣庭。蕭然神靜默。
天魔並敬護。世世受大福。鬱鬱家國盛。濟濟經道興。天人同其願。飄渺入大乘。
因心立福田。靡靡法輪升。七祖生天堂。我身白日騰。大道洞玄虛。有念無不啟。
練質入仙真。遂成金剛體。超度三界難。地獄五苦解。悉歸太上經。靜念稽首禮。
於是尹喜聞說頌已。稽首而立。請受戒言。
老君曰。第一戒殺。第二戒盜。第三戒媱。第四戒妄語。第五戒酒。是為五戒。
若清信男與清信女。奉持五戒。畢命不犯。是為清信男清信女。
老君曰。戒殺者。一切眾生含氣以上。翻飛蠕動之類。皆不得殺。
老君曰。戒盜者。一錢以上。有主無主非己之物。皆不妄取。
老君曰。戒媱者。非夫妻。若出家人不妻不娶。若男若女皆不得犯。
老君曰。戒妄語者。若不聞不見非心所了。而向人說。皆為妄語。
老君曰。戒酒者。非身病非法禮。皆不得飲。
老君曰。是五戒者。持身之本。持法之根。善男子善女人。願樂善法。
受持終身不犯不毀。是為清信。得經得寶。永成道真。於是尹喜聞受既已。
再拜而問。何故有五。
老君曰。五者攝一切惡。猶天有五精以攝萬靈。地有五藏以攝群生。人有五行以攝神明。
戒者防也。防其失也。失而不防。則三途盈逸。天人虛空。是故五也。
尹喜曰。大乎戒也。何故失耶。
老君曰。本得無失。既失而得。亦無所失。
尹喜曰。敢問其本。老君曰。今當為爾具說其本。諦聽諦聽。受持普為一切之所知也。
老君曰。五戒者。天地並始。萬物並有。持之者吉。失之者凶。過去成道。莫不由之。
故其神二十五也。經文五千是其義也。
老君曰。五戒者。在天為五緯。天道失戒。則見災祥。在地為五嶽。地道失戒。則百穀不成。
在數為五行。五數失戒。則水火相薄。金木相傷。在治為五帝。五帝失戒。則祚夭身亡。
在人為五藏。五藏失戒。則性發狂。
老君曰。是五者。戒於此而順於彼。
故殺戒者東方也。受生之氣。尚於長養。而人犯殺。則肝受其害。
盜戒者北方之氣。太陰之精。主於閉藏。而人為盜。則腎氣受殃。
媱戒者西方也。少陰之質。男女貞固。而人好媱。則肺受其沴。
酒戒者南方火也。太陽之氣。物以之成。而人好酒。則心受其毒。
妄語戒者中央土德信。而人妄語。則脾受其辱。五德相貴。不可虧缺。
老君曰。此五失一。則命不成。是故不殺者。乃至無有殺心。不盜者。乃至無有邪取。
不媱者。乃至無有邪念。不酒者。乃至無有勢力。不妄語。乃至無有漏泄。如是可謂成也。
老君曰。戒中媱酒能生五惡。戒者戒惡也。惡世之中男女讙媱。羅於骨肉。上慢下暴。
毀蔑天德。沈酗爭訟。禍命辱身。妄詐欺誑。罔有所由。六親相盜。非但於他。殺害眾生。
利養身口。如此等輩。見生受業。永墜諸苦。備加五惡。無有休限。如有出者。當在邊夷。
短命傷殘。夫婦醜惡。及不貞廉。貧窮凍露。在處不安。如有財畜。為人所奪。言說不信。
人所不親。意慮昏塞。眾所慢輕。
老君曰。清信男清信女。奉持戒行。見世安樂。無有憂惱。眾所恭敬。見者懽喜。常蒙利養。
一切歸仰。其智深微。處在清靜。四大完堅。故能修集眾法。以成道真。尹喜再拜曰。敢問受持之法。
老君曰。若男子女人聞法生信。歸身三寶。及時稽顙。歸身大道。歸神大道。歸命大道。
男子女人。捨世邪法。奉持正戒。盡身盡命。終不毀犯。於是讚誦。恭心而受。
老君曰。若復男子女人。受正戒已。進求經法。先當受戒。一一堅淨。然後授與。月修十直。
年用三齋。誦經萬遍。白日登晨。若為人敷說宣通妙義。大利眾生。乃拔三途一切諸苦。
以是功德。能斷宿命無量諸根。得昇上清。無復退墮。
老君曰。清信男清信女。在家出家。受持經法。願樂神仙。日夜誦讀。求諸妙義。去諸諠雜。
調心制性。柔顏善氣。勸諸男女。遠離五惡。受持五戒。供養三寶。取令成就。不擇甘苦。
若具持大戒。苦行精懃。佈施忍辱。捨身救物。若復離世。獨往幽栖。專想至寂。眾難不驚。
必至無為。尹喜曰。奉經有犯乎。
老君曰。十有三者也。
尹喜曰。何謂也。
老君曰。爾諦聽之。十有三者。六塵六識。皆由於心。是故淫貪疾恚。欺盜妄詐。綺言兩舌。
諂利持權。溷集破法。非清信也。天網不失。生死無地。如此等人。非其智分。染洿至法。
毀廢善根。不為善人之所知識。備眾生身。種於媱慾。無所憎避。常懷怖畏。若在地獄。
五痛無間。如此受身。備諸苦惡。物所懷惡。無有救治。生死輪轉。無聞無見。皆由一念中。
生至無數念。其對無窮。
Source Colophon
The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 太上老君戒經, revision of 12 July 2009), inspected from a witness copy captured on 8 August 2026. Chinese Wikisource transcriptions are published under CC BY-SA 4.0 and the GFDL; the text itself is ancient and in the public domain. The wiki header and license templates have been removed; the text is otherwise complete and unaltered.
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