Taishang Sanguan Baojing — the Most High's Precious Scripture of the Three Officials

This is a Daoist liturgical compilation centered on the cult of the Three Officials (三官, Sanguan) — the great celestial administrators of Heaven, Earth, and Water, who together bestow blessings, pardon sin, and resolve calamity for the living and the dead. Its core scripture, spoken in the voice of the Celestial Worthies of the Three Primes at the petition of the Great Immortal Who Saves from Suffering, corresponds to the Daoist Canon's Wondrous Scripture of the Most High Three Primes Who Bestow Blessings, Pardon Sins, Resolve Calamities, Avert Disasters, Prolong Life, and Preserve Destiny (太上三元賜福赦罪解厄消災延生保命妙經), catalogued in the Zhengtong Daozang as DZ 1442. The cult of the Three Officials traces back to the Way of the Celestial Masters in the second century CE; this particular scripture, and the liturgy gathered around it here, took their present form later in the tradition's ritual life, and no more precise date of compilation is claimed.

As transmitted, the core scripture comes framed by the standard spells recited before any Daoist scripture — for purifying the mind, mouth, and body, for settling the local land, for the incense, for a body of golden light — and by formal litanies (寶誥) praising the Heavenly, Earthly, Water, and, here, also Fire Officials in turn, before the scripture itself and a closing litany. Verse and ornate parallel prose alternate throughout; the whole was meant to be chanted, most often at the household or temple altar, in petition for blessing, pardon, healing, safe childbirth, or safe travel by water.

A note on the title: 三官, "the Three Officials," are also called the Three Primes (三元) after the three yearly festival days on which their power is held to be strongest. Heaven bestows blessings, Earth pardons sin, and Water resolves calamity — the three verbs that structure nearly every line of what follows.

Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese of the Daoist Canon, printed in full below. A modern English translation of the core scripture exists — Paynter and Schaefer's Daoist Noon Altar Recitations: Sanguan Jing (2020) — which was not consulted; this translation was made independently from the Chinese.

Translation

Spell for Purifying the Mind

The Most High's Terrace Stars
answer every change without ceasing;
they drive out evil and bind demons,
they protect life and guard the body.

Wisdom grows bright and pure;
the mind and spirit rest at peace.
The three cloud-souls (hun) endure forever;
the white-souls (po) are never lost or scattered.

Spell for Purifying the Mouth

Cinnabar Vermilion, spirit of the mouth,
spits out defilement and clears away foul vapor;
Upright Order, spirit of the tongue,
opens the paths of life and nourishes the spirit.

Array of a Thousand, spirit of the teeth,
repels evil and guards the true;
Tiger-Guard, spirit of the throat,
and the spirit of breath draw the body's fluids on.

Cinnabar Origin, spirit of the heart,
grants me passage to the true;
the spirit of thought refines the fluid essence;
the breath of the Way endures forever.

Spell for Purifying the Body

The Celestial Worthy of Numinous Treasure
puts at peace this body and form;
this disciple's cloud-souls and white-souls,
the five viscera, wrapped in mystery and stillness.

Azure Dragon and White Tiger,
their ranks and banners thronging;
Vermilion Bird and Dark Warrior,
stand guard and attend my body.

Spell for Settling the Land

The Primordial Beginning settles and stills,
and proclaims it to all the myriad spirits.
The Perfected Officials of the Peaks and Rivers,
the earth-gods and the spirits of the land —

the Altar of the Soil to the left, the Altar of the Grain to the right,
must not be recklessly disturbed;
turn and return to the true Way,
within and without made clear and pure.

Let each settle in its own place and direction,
prepared to guard the altar-court;
the Most High has given the command:
seek out and capture wayward spirits.

Spirit-Kings who protect the Law
guard this recitation;
we take refuge in the Great Way —
Origination, Prosperity, Advantage, and Constancy.

Spell for Purifying Heaven and Earth

Heaven and earth, self-so and natural —
all defiling vapors disperse and scatter.
In the hollow of mystery and emptiness,
all shines forth bright: the Great Origin.

The awesome spirits of the eight directions
cause me to be as I am, of myself;
the talismans and mandates of Numinous Treasure
proclaim it to all the Nine Heavens.

Qian luo da na —
piercing to the Dipper's power, the Great Mystery;
it beheads demons and binds evil,
it slays ghosts by the tens of thousands.

This Central Mountain spirit-spell,
this Jade Text of Primordial Beginning —
hold it and recite it but once,
and sickness withdraws, life is prolonged.

It travels the Five Peaks,
and the Eight Seas hear and know of it;
demon kings bow their heads, bound fast,
and stand guard in attendance at my hall.

Ill omen and defilement disperse and scatter;
the breath of the Way forever abides.

Spell for Blessing the Incense

The Way is learned through the mind;
the mind is conveyed through incense.
Incense burns in the jade censer;
the mind abides before the Thearch.

The true numinous ones look down and gaze;
immortal banners draw near the hall.
Let this subject's petition
go straight and reach the Nine Heavens.

Spell of the Golden Light

Heaven and Earth's mysterious ancestor,
the root and origin of the ten thousand vital breaths —
cultivated at length through a hundred million kalpas,
it verifies my spirit-powers.

Within and beyond the Three Realms,
the Way alone is honored;
my body holds a golden light
that covers and shines upon my form.

Looked at, it is not seen;
listened for, it is not heard;
it enfolds heaven and earth,
and nurtures the host of living beings.

Chanted and held ten thousand times over,
the body gains a shining light;
the Three Realms stand guard in attendance,
the Five Thearchs are charged to welcome it.

The ten thousand spirits come to pay homage;
thunder and lightning are set to service;
ghosts and demons lose their courage;
goblins and specters forget their forms.

Within, there is thunderclap —
the Thunder Spirit's hidden name;
cavern-wisdom interpenetrates all through,
the five vital breaths surge and rise.

Golden light, appear at once,
cover and protect the Perfected Person.

Verse for Opening the Scripture

Silent, silent, the utmost point beyond all ancestry;
empty, it stands towering — kalpas high, a boundless height;
vast and open, the Text of Cavern Mystery.

Who can fathom this hidden vastness?
Once entered upon the Great Vehicle's road,
who can reckon how many years and kalpas it takes?

Not born, and not extinguished;
to be born, one relies upon the lotus flower,
rising beyond, past the roads of the Three Realms.

A compassionate mind unbinds the net of the world;
the Perfected Person's virtue has no superior;
life after life, one becomes of the immortals' own family.

Hymn to the Three Officials

Bowing the head, I take refuge in Heaven, Earth, and Water —
the Three Officials, Great Sovereigns, lords of compassion and mercy.

Their spirit-work and wondrous virtue pass all thought;
reverently, with a single mind, I take refuge and bow in homage.

Litany of the Heavenly Official of the Upper Prime

With sincere heart, I take refuge and bow in homage:

In the Mysterious Capital, amid Primal Yang, within the Palace of Purple Tenuity, he commands the Thirty-Six Bureaus together with ninety million hosts. He examines and audits within the great trichiliocosm; he records the registers throughout the lands of the ten directions. His blessings cover the myriad spirits; he governs the ledgers of good and evil for all living beings. His grace extends across the Three Realms; he attends to the immortals' own risings and fallings in rank. He removes calamities that come without cause; he dissolves the misfortunes of former lives. He frees beings from the paths of birth and death; he rescues and lifts them from the suffering of the shadowed realm. The multitude of living beings depend upon him; all creeping and crawling things alike are made whole.

Great in compassion, great in vow; great in sagehood, great in mercy — the Heavenly Official of the Upper Prime, of the Nine Breaths, Who Bestows Blessings; Shining Spirit and Primal Yang, the Great Sovereign; the Thearch-Lord of Purple Tenuity.

Litany of the Earthly Official of the Middle Prime

With sincere heart, I take refuge and bow in homage:

In Azure Numen, the Cavern of Yang, within the Palace of the Northern Capital, he commands the Forty-Two Bureaus together with ninety million hosts. He governs the Three Realms, the ten directions, and the Nine Earths; he holds in his grasp the Five Peaks, the eight far poles, and the four bonds of the earth. He breathes forth and draws in yin and yang; he examines the registers of good and evil — the blue rolls and the black — of men and women. With compassion he nurtures heaven and earth; he reviews the names entered in the ledgers of misfortune and fortune for all beings. His fount of the Law is vast and great, so that he can free beings from the Nine Darknesses; through boundless kalpas he lets fall his light, so that he can dissolve a myriad sins. He is father and mother to the host of the living; the living and the dead alike are moistened by his grace.

Great in compassion, great in vow; great in sagehood, great in mercy — the Earthly Official of the Middle Prime, of the Seven Breaths, Who Pardons Sin; the Cavern Spirit, Great Sovereign of Azure Emptiness; the Thearch-Lord of Azure Numen.

Litany of the Water Official of the Lower Prime

With sincere heart, I take refuge and bow in homage:

In Sun-Valley, the Cavern of Origin, within the Palace of Azure Numen, he commands the Forty-Two Bureaus together with ninety million hosts. He oversees the rivers and streams, the water-sovereigns, and the affairs of the myriad spirits. At the great convocations of flood, at the appointed times of the kalpa-cycles, he is the Dharma-King of Correct Unity, governing the registers of the dead souls and spirits of the long night; he is the Lord of the Teaching of Non-Action, recording the causes of merit and fault, sin and fortune, for all living beings. Above, he resolves calamities of heaven and ferries across the spirits whose karma is fulfilled; below, he brings relief through the bolted gate of the shades and marks apart the paths of the living and the dead. The living and the dead alike find peace; his power to save is without end.

Great in compassion, great in vow; great in sagehood, great in mercy — the Water Official of the Lower Prime, of the Five Breaths, Who Resolves Calamity; the Golden Numen, Great Sovereign of Cavern Yin; the Thearch-Lord of Sun-Valley.

Litany of the Fire Official

With sincere heart, I take refuge and bow in homage:

Of the fourth rank under Heaven's Origination, the Fire Official who examines and audits merit, whose motion upholds the strength of Heaven, whose virtue is one with the brightness of Fire — he dwells within the Great Yang, the Cinnabar Heaven; he governs the Left Bureau's registers that inscribe the span of life. His abundant virtue resides in fire; the Flame Sovereign holds the balance-scale. His merit assists and joins with the Three Primes; his vital breath moves through the fourth month. He rides the Vermilion Dragon and travels the southern reach; he shines light upon the Palace of Mars, the Sparkling Deluder. He lights the Vermilion Mound and reveals the Cinnabar Terrace; he makes radiant the turning of Wenchang. Gleaming, gleaming, bright and clear; blazing, blazing, he looks down upon us.

Great in compassion, great in vow; great in sagehood, great in mercy — the Vermilion Sovereign of Highest Rank, the Fire Official of the Three Breaths, the Perfected Lord the Flame Thearch, the Great Sovereign of Cavern Yang, the Celestial Worthy of the Southern Cinnabar Who Records Longevity.

The Wondrous Scripture of the Most High Three Primes Who Bestow Blessings, Pardon Sins, Resolve Calamities, Avert Disasters, Prolong Life, and Preserve Destiny

At that time the Great Immortal Who Saves from Suffering was in the Great Canopy Heaven, in the Purple Tenuity Celestial Palace of the Nine Breaths. He respectfully addressed the Lord of the Way, saying: "The Three Primes are gathered in assembly — the Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water, the sagely officers of the Three Realms and Four Bureaus, and the Office of Assessment, together with the host of immortals — to expound the scriptures and their methods, and to rescue and deliver living beings. Let great light be sent forth, to shine upon and reveal every land of the ten thousand nations and Nine Provinces under heaven, within the rivers, lakes, and seas, throughout the world of Jambudvipa.

"The suffering beings there do evil and not good. They form wide grudges and enmities; they do much that falls short. Their dealings in wealth are dishonest. They show no reverence to Heaven and Earth, to the sun and moon, the three great lights. They curse the wind and revile the rain; they deceive the spirits and destroy their images; they hoodwink Heaven and darken the Earth; they profane the sages and worthies. They show no reverence to their fathers and mothers, to uncles and the six degrees of kin. They commit adultery, theft, and depraved lust; they are without loyalty, without filial devotion; they act without propriety, without righteousness; they sever the road of mutual kindness between one another. They show no reverence to the five grains, defiling and trampling them underfoot. They do not walk the true path: with the large measure they take, with the small scale they give; openly they deceive, secretly they cheat; they speak crookedly and twist their words; with bare mouths they curse and swear; they resent Heaven and hate Earth. They show no care for their own persons; they cultivate not a single act of good. Heaven will not shelter them; Earth will not bear them up. Thus they bring forth poison and evil, and stir up many plagues and convulsions; they draw down many lawsuits and disputes — light or heavy, none of it can be escaped. Having deliberately made the causes of these things, they receive this bitter recompense; calamity and hardship come upon their bodies, and there is nowhere to explain it away."

Then the Great Immortal Who Saves from Suffering held his tablet upright and made his report on high. The Heavenly Officials of the Three Primes said: "Excellent, excellent! These beings meet with punishment and suffering. But if there are good men and women of faith who take refuge in the Three Primes and keep the fasts, and when three years are fulfilled resolve in their hearts to recite and turn this scripture — thirty times, fifty times, a thousand times, five hundred times — leaping up in eager repentance, repenting their transgressions and faults —"

The Lord of the Way said: "Then the Heavenly Official will bestow blessings, the Earthly Official will pardon sin, and the Water Official will resolve calamity."

Then the decree went out below, and the Celestial Worthies of the Three Primes at once mounted clouds of five colors and rode upon the pure wind of the Nine Breaths. They came to the Bureau of the Metropolis, upon Cloud Terrace Mountain, and sent forth a great light — with vast and boundless power of wisdom, the Law made manifest without limit — to give relief to the people and save them from suffering. Their blessing answers the myriad spirits; the ranks of Heaven rise and fall accordingly.

They remove calamities that come without cause; they resolve the transgressions of old enmities; they bestow a thousand kinds of blessing; they free beings from nine dire straits; they part beings from the suffering of the three evil paths. The foolish and the dull are made whole and well; original sin is scraped away, the root of old grievance uprooted, transgressions forever dissolved. Parents living and dead alike are steeped in grace and freed from suffering — together with the four modes of birth and the six paths of rebirth, the hungry ghosts and the exhausted spirits, the orphaned souls and wild ghosts, ancestors of nine generations and of seven who have not yet left the midst of the hells, all beings living and dead bound fast in manacles and chains, shut within the prison's walls —

then, when the Earthly Official reaches the fifteenth day of the seventh month, he acts on behalf of the prisoners in hell, the beings suffering in the underworld: he strikes their names from the register of sin and destroys the root of their evil; he erases their names from the roll of the dead and enters them upon the register of the living. Whether already summoned or not yet summoned, whether already brought before the court or not yet brought, whether their case is already concluded or not yet concluded, whether already uncovered or not yet uncovered — when the amnesty comes, he clears them all away.

The Earthly Official said: "But the crimes of the Five Punishments and the Ten Abominations are never pardoned."

The Celestial Worthy said: "Cramped and quarrelsome, with the fangs of a snake and the mouth of a tiger, a heart like an awl or a blade — such is the man of vicious malice: ghost-eyed and ghost-hearted, full of scheming and glib words, cheating the foolish and the ignorant — and what do the simple ones know of it? He cuts the flesh of others and gives no thought to their poverty; he thinks only of his own riches, fattening his household and enriching his own body. He works his cunning and turns his scheming mind — and it comes back to burden his own person. The root of his heart knots fast, and the root of his sin is hard to destroy. Greedy for wealth, seeking only his own gain — heaven's thunder crashes down upon him, plague-vapors spread and circulate, entangling and harming his body; grievance and transgression gather together and reach even to his sons and grandsons."

Then the Great Immortal Who Saves from Suffering again reported to the Heavenly Official. The Heavenly Official said: "Let them recite and turn this scripture until it is fulfilled a thousand times over, greatly rousing themselves, repenting their transgressions and faults, cutting off evil and cultivating good — and then the Earthly Official will pardon their sins. All their evil karma and transgressions will be pardoned and cleared away as one. Though their hearts were once anxious and uneasy, all will turn wholly to the true; though they were once dazed and confused, their ears, eyes, and hearts will settle; their spirit and souls will grow calm and quiet, their vital essence restored to what it was. Sin is destroyed and blessing is born — merit beyond measure, blessing without limit."

The Lord of the Way said: "When the beings of the world draw plague upon themselves and bring on calamity, when poisonous vapors circulate and beings are infected by them — this is all because they have done evil and not good; grudges and enmities have gathered together, and thus evil sickness is produced, lingering on unhealed. But if they recite this scripture, their sickness will at once be cured. And for those who recite the scripture, when the Double Fifth and the Middle Prime festival days come, the Three Primes will recall the spirits that spread plague, and will examine their sins, light and heavy, and pardon them all as one."

The Water Official said: "As for the husbands and wives of the world whose destiny falls under the Solitary Star and the Widowed Lodge, who suffer harm and are cut off without heirs — all this is because in a former life they did not give charity, and in this life they receive the consequence. But if there are good men and women of faith who, morning and evening, love stillness, who bathe and burn incense, light lamps and recite the scripture, observe the fasts and give alms, and repent their transgressions and faults — then they will bear sons upright and well-formed, children clever and destined for wealth and honor, whose fame will resound through the five lakes and four seas.

"In a former life or in this one, they deliberately did wrong: scheming for wealth, they incurred a life-debt. Now, in this present life, that one becomes their child, taking a life to turn it into wealth lost. When a woman is with child, and three days or five pass beyond her time without her being delivered; or the child dies while still within her, or dies as soon as it is born, or dies at three, six, or nine years old, or at twelve or fifteen; in a single day and night, ten thousand deaths and ten thousand births — all of this is the old grievance and transgression come due, turning into a watching eye, turning into wealth taken; it cheats and extorts goods and property, before turning at last into a beast.

"But if there are good men and women of faith who resolve in their hearts to give of their wealth, who keep the fasts and bathe themselves, who recite and turn this scripture and repent their transgressions and faults — then their transgressions will be released forever; the living and the ghost will be parted from one another; childbirth will come without hardship, mother and child both kept whole; the perilous natal stars will do no harm, and the child will be raised to grow to adulthood, a benefit to both parents. The scripture's power runs deep and far: pray for blessing, and blessing arrives; drive away calamity, and calamity is dissolved."

The Celestial Worthy said: "Enemies melt away like ice; grudge-holders and creditors dissolve and vanish of themselves. The orphaned souls and their multitude, the ancestors of nine generations and of seven, the beings of the four modes of birth and six paths of rebirth, turning through the cycle of birth and death — all shall come forth out of the hells and go straight to the heavenly realm of the Eastern Extremity, to the gate and court of the one who saves from suffering. Where the one who saves from suffering walks the earth, it is good to cultivate there — there is only heaven, and no hell at all. When King Yama himself sees it, he dares not raise his voice; the boy-attendants and the yakshas fold their fists and clasp their hands; Ox-Head and Horse-Face, all of them together, take refuge. Through all eighteen layers of hell, every hell is free and at ease; through all thirty-three heavens and their palaces, every palace is unconstrained. They rise beyond into the reaches of heaven, where the very sound of hell no longer exists. They come forth out of the hells and are parted from suffering forever; they go straight into the realm of humans and gods, reborn into the Pure Land, joy beyond measure — in every going and coming, without hindrance, without obstruction."

The Water Official said: "When the living beings under heaven find the stars and constellations turned against them, their fated cycles delayed, malefic stars clashing and combining against them, they fall into many sicknesses: now plague assails them, now dysentery and poisoned sores assail them, now swelling and scabies assail them, now seasonal throat-plague assails them, now wind-poison of the throat assails them, now diarrhea and phlegm-wind assail them, now plague-vapor from the ancestral graves assails them, now the feng shui of their dwelling assails them, now false teachers and fallen sages assail them, now inflamed eyes and consumption assail them, now blood-spitting and gu-poison assail them, now bare-mouthed curses assail them, now blade and war, fire and theft assail them, now drowning and madness assail them, now the hanging-cord and the cangue assail them, now foul obstruction assails them, now inauspicious years, months, days, and hours assail them, now the felling of trees at altars and shrines assails them, now the digging of pits and the breaking of ground assails them, now the opening of foundations and pools assails them, now the changing of the new for the old assails them, now the mending of the front and the ordering of the rear assails them, now malaria and rashes assail them, now plague-disaster and plague-vapor assail them, now litigation and slander assail them — until evil sickness comes and entangles them, and living beings, once infected, come even to their deaths.

"But if they recite this scripture, then evil sickness will not entangle them: auspicious stars will shield them, malefic stars will retreat and scatter, ten thousand calamities will melt like ice, a thousand blessings will gather like clouds; the scripture's power will reach through to the heavenly realms, and blessing will descend upon the human world."

The Celestial Worthy said: "When the living beings under heaven, on the rivers, lakes, and seas, sailing ships and pursuing trade, meet wind and waves surging and crashing, and are struck with fright and dread — if they recite this scripture and take refuge in the Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water, and the sagely host of the Water Palace, then the wind will grow calm and the waves will still; the water-way will be made safe; the ship will ride steady under its load, its ropes and cables firm and secure; what they set out to do will go smoothly, guarded by all the sages, blessed by the ten thousand spirits."

Then the Celestial Worthy spoke a verse, saying:

Above the azure heaven of the Nine Breaths,
the sun and moon, the stars, the Dipper — all real;

the Thearchs, Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water,
with clouds and thunder, lightning and drums, following after;

Golden Lads hold flowered banners aloft,
Jade Maidens carry incense and flowers;

within clouds of five colors,
they send forth a white light from between the brows;

it shines on all beneath the sky,
manifesting their bodies to save all beings;

auspicious clouds and fortunate mist give shelter,
drawing them forth, free of every suffering;

they raise clouds and spread abundant rain,
drive the thunder and send lightning forth;

they roll up and raise the dust of the ground —
the spirit-breath, awesome and fierce;

vast and great, the power of wisdom;
the Law made manifest, its relief without limit;

boundless, measureless, the Law;
measureless, they ferry across all beings;

boundless, measureless, the light
shines forth upon the multitude of souls;

every ghost that bears a grudge
comes wholly forth out of the hells;

all beings, the living and the dead,
are altogether parted from suffering.

When the Celestial Worthy had finished expounding the scripture: whoever recites it, according to their strength, will see its effect. Pour out water and offer flowers, and its blessing answers of itself. Let a household keep this scripture, and the house will be filled with light, and calamity will not invade it; let one wear this scripture upon the body, and the ten thousand spirits will guard and protect, and ghosts and demons will be destroyed forever. Let the mind's intention not be empty, and its power to bless follows of its own accord; the power of the spirits upholds and sustains it, answering the heart and answering the mouth alike.

This scripture comes to one thousand six hundred and seventy-five characters in all. Every character is a true and certain teaching; every sentence dissolves transgression; every line destroys sin; every scroll bestows blessing.

All the thearchs of every heaven, and the sagely host of the Three Realms and Ten Directions, hearing this scripture expounded, were filled with great joy. They received it in faith and put it into practice; they made their bows, and withdrew.

The Precious Titles of the Three Officials, Spoken by the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning

At that time the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning was in the Great Canopy Heaven, within the Palace of the Eight Effulgences, together with the spirit-kings of every heaven, the sun, moon, and constellations, the high sages and lofty adepts, and the boundless sagely host, expounding the unsurpassed and utterly true wondrous Law. There was a Perfected Person named the Bare-Footed Great Immortal, who stepped forward out of the ranks, folded his fists, and knelt at length, respectfully addressing the Celestial Worthy, saying: "The people of the lower world — should they meet with water, fire, blade, or war, with sickness or the perils of childbirth, with ghosts, specters, demons, or the wicked, with the net of heaven and the snare of earth, with every kind of danger and hardship — by what means may they be saved and spared?"

The Celestial Worthy said: "All who attain the Way and become divine immortals do so through the recommendation of the Three Officials. If the living people of the lower quarters only hold fast to the precious titles of the Three Officials, they will be able to remove all danger and hardship, and every one of it will be dissolved and destroyed. I now grant these to you, to be handed down and spread through the generations below: whoever among humankind looks upon and recites them will receive blessing beyond measure, and every calamity will be dissolved." He then spoke the precious titles, saying:

The mysterious vault of the North Pole,
the Thearch's Court of Purple Tenuity,
Mount Tai, the Great Peak,
the Water Realm, clear and cold —

they bind and uphold the Three Realms,
they govern and command the myriad spirits;
the Three Primes examine the registers,
and good and evil are thereby divided.

Through fasting and worship, ritual and recitation,
there is no wish that goes unfulfilled;
calamity is dissolved, sin is pardoned,
blessing is invoked, and life prolonged.

The utmost truth, the wondrous Way —
its merit is without limit;
great in compassion, great in vow;
great in sagehood, great in mercy.

Of the first rank of the Upper Prime,
the Heavenly Official Who Bestows Blessings,
the Great Sovereign of Purple Tenuity;
of the second rank of the Middle Prime,

the Earthly Official Who Pardons Sin,
the Great Sovereign of Azure Emptiness;
of the third rank of the Lower Prime,
the Water Official Who Resolves Calamity,

the Great Sovereign of Cavern Yin —
the Sovereign Rulers of the Three Primes,
and the three hundred and sixty
Celestial Worthies Who Respond to All,

Nüqing the Perfected One,
and the officers of the Bureau of Assessment.

At that time the Bare-Footed Great Immortal, together with the spirit-kings of every heaven and the host of Perfected Immortals, heard the precious titles spoken, and were all filled with great joy; they made their bows and withdrew, receiving them in faith and putting them into practice.

General Litany of the Three Officials

With sincere heart, I take refuge and bow in homage:

These Three Sages alone are yet a single Supreme Ultimate. Universally they have received the charge across vast kalpas; fully they bear the praise of ranks beyond measure. Purple Tenuity, Clear Emptiness, and Cavern Yin — together they govern merit and fault, bestowing blessing, pardoning sin, resolving calamity, broadly aiding the living and the dead alike. Their Way is foremost among all the heavens; their grace extends across the Three Realms.

Great in compassion, great in vow; great in sagehood, great in mercy — the Three Officials, Great Sovereigns of the Three Primes and Three Ranks; the Celestial Worthies Who Respond to All, of the Three Palaces and Nine Bureaus.

(A Hymn of Praise) The Three Primes give shelter and protection; the ten thousand sages shine with a single light. They pardon sin and resolve calamity; they dissolve disaster, their merit a shield. Their virtue is broad and without limit; blessing and long life increase and extend. They bestow blessing, they send down good fortune — the Three Officials, Celestial Worthies Who Pardon Sin.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Talismans, Registers, and Star Lords shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The compilation mixes several liturgical genres, and the translation follows the source's own formatting in choosing verse or prose: the opening spells, the scripture's closing verse, and the two litany-verses (三官頌 and the precious titles of 三官寶號) are unpunctuated four-, five-, or seven-character phrases in the source and are rendered line for line as verse; the four dedicatory litanies (寶誥) and the general litany, being punctuated parallel prose rather than metrical verse in the source, are rendered as prose; the long central narrative scripture is likewise prose, with its one embedded verse passage kept as verse.

Before the claim below was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed. The two local bibliographies of Daoist texts in Western-language translation were checked: Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation records no entry for this text under its Chinese, pinyin, or Daozang-number forms. The Purple Cloud Press 2023 survey, Daoist Texts in Western Languages, records a complete published translation of the scripture's core text: Paynter, J. and Schaefer, J. (2020) Daoist Noon Altar Recitations: Sanguan Jing (New York and Colorado: Parting Clouds Press), rendering 太上三元賜福赦罪解厄消災延生保命妙經 (DZ 1442) as "The Scripture of the Upmost Three Officials Who Bestow Blessings, Pardon Faults, Dispels Calamities, Averts Disasters, Prolongs Life, and Secures Destiny." The same translators produced a series of Daoist liturgical-manual translations — Daoist Morning and Evening Altar Recitations (2019) and The Northern Dipper Scripture (2021) — which suggests their Sanguan Jing volume, titled for the noon altar service, likely covers the same standard opening spells and litanies gathered here around the core scripture, though this could not be independently confirmed. A live web search to confirm the point further could not be completed at the time of preparation, as the session's search budget was exhausted before it could be used; the identification above rests on the local bibliography alone. Given a specific, named prior translation of at least the core text, no claim of firstness is made here. This Good Works Translation was made independently from the Chinese text below and did not consult Paynter and Schaefer's translation.

A note on terms and the text. 三官 ("Three Officials") and 三元 ("Three Primes") are used interchangeably by the source for the same trio of Heaven, Earth, and Water; both are kept as they occur rather than flattened to one term. The string 乾囉怛那, which carries no ordinary lexical meaning, is kept in transliteration rather than translated, as a mantric formula of the kind common in Daoist spells. The Wikisource transcription contains a small number of characters that appear to be copying variants of more standard forms — among them 喉神火賁 where the more usual form of this stock spell has 喉神虎賁 (rendered here by the usual form, "Tiger-Guard"), 放大亳光 for what is elsewhere in the same text correctly 毫光, 沭浴 for 沐浴, and 天羅地綱 for the more usual 天羅地網 — each was translated for the sense the passage as a whole requires, and none is silently corrected in the Source Text below. One short passage, in the section on childbirth describing a wronged spirit reborn as a doomed child ("化目化財，騙協財物，化為畜生"), is compressed and idiomatic enough that the rendering offered is the most faithful reading achievable rather than a certain one.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.

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Source Text: 太上三官寶經

Classical Chinese text of the Daoist Canon, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

太上三官寶經

凈心神咒

太上臺星 應變無停 驅邪縛魅 保命護身

智慧明凈 心神安寧 三魂永久 魄無喪傾

凈口神咒

丹朱口神 吐穢除氛 舌神正倫 通命養神

羅千齒神 卻邪衛真 喉神火賁 炁神引津

心神丹元 令我通真 思神煉液 道炁長存

凈身神咒

靈寶天尊 安慰身形 弟子魂魄 五臟玄冥

青龍白虎 隊仗紛紜 朱雀玄武 侍衛我身

安土地咒

元始安鎮 普告萬靈 嶽瀆真官 土地祗靈

左社右稷 不得妄驚 回向正道 內外澄清

各安方位 備守壇庭 太上有命 搜捕邪精

護法神王 保衛誦經 歸依大道 元亨利貞

凈天地神咒

天地自然 穢炁分散 洞中玄虛 晃朗太元

八方威神 使我自然 靈寶符命 普告九天

乾囉怛那 洞罡太玄 斬妖縛邪 殺鬼萬千

中山神咒 元始玉文 持誦一遍 卻病延年

按行五嶽 八海知聞 魔王束首 侍衛我軒

兇穢消散 道炁常存

祝香咒

道由心學 心假香傅 香焚玉爐 心存帝前

真靈下盼 仙旆臨軒 令臣關告 逕達九天

金光神咒

天地玄宗 萬炁本根 廣修億劫 證吾神通

三界內外 惟道獨尊 體有金光 覆映吾身

視之不見 聽之不聞 包羅天地 養育群生

誦持萬遍 身有光明 三界侍衛 五帝司迎

萬神朝禮 役使雷霆 鬼妖喪膽 精怪忘形

內有霹歷 雷神隱名 洞慧交徹 五炁騰騰

金光速現 覆護真人

開經偈

寂寂至無宗 虛峙劫仞阿 豁落洞玄文

誰測此幽遐 一入大乘路 孰計年劫多

不生亦不滅 欲生因蓮花 超淩三界途

慈心解世羅 真人無上德 世世為仙家

三官頌

稽首皈依天地水 三官大帝慈悲主

神功妙德不思議 謹運一心皈命禮

上元天官寶誥 志心皈命禮

玄都元陽紫微宮中。部三十六曹。偕九千萬眾。考較大千世界之內。錄籍十方國土之中。福被萬靈。主眾生善惡之籍。恩覃三界。致諸仙升降之私。除無妄之災。解釋宿殃。脫生死之趣。救拔幽苦。群生是賴。蠢動鹹康。大悲大願。大聖大慈。上元九炁賜福天官。曜靈元陽大帝紫微帝君。

中元地官寶誥 志心皈命禮

青靈洞陽。北都宮中。部四十二曹。偕九千萬眾。主管三界十方九地。掌握五嶽八極四維。吐納陰陽。覈男女善惡青黑之籍。慈育天地。考眾生錄籍禍福之名。法源浩大而能離九幽。浩劫垂光而能消萬罪。群生父母。存沒沾恩。大悲大願。大聖大慈。中元七炁赦罪地官。洞靈青虛大帝。青靈帝君。

下元水官寶誥 志心皈命禮

暘谷洞元。青靈宮中。部四十二曹。偕九千萬眾。掌管江河水帝萬靈之事。水災大會。劫數之期。正一法王。掌長夜死魂鬼神之籍。無為教主。錄眾生功過罪福之由。上解天災。度業滿之靈。下濟幽扃。分人鬼之道。存亡皆泰。力濟無窮。大悲大願。大聖大慈。下元五炁解厄水官。金靈洞陰大帝。暘谷帝君

火官寶誥 志心皈命禮

乾元四品。考較火官。運扶乾健。德合離明。居太陽丹天之中。統左府注生之籍。盛德在火。炎帝持衡。功參佐于三元。氣運行于四月。駕赤龍而行南陸。照明熒惑之宮。燭朱陵而顯丹臺。煥赫文昌之運。輝輝朗耀。炳炳照臨。大悲大願。大聖大慈。赤皇上品。三炁火官。炎帝真君。洞陽大帝。南丹紀壽天尊。

太上三元賜福赦罪解厄消災延生保命妙經

爾時救苦大仙。在大羅天上。九炁紫微天宮。上白道君曰。集會三元。天地水官。三界四府眾聖曹官。考較司同諸仙眾講說經法。救拔眾生。放大光明。照見天下萬國九州之地。江河湖海之內閻浮世界之中。受苦眾生。造惡非善。廣結冤讎。多行不足。財交不明。不敬天地。日月三光。呵風罵雨。欺神滅像。瞞天昧地。褻瀆聖賢。不敬父母。伯叔六親。姦盜邪淫。不忠不孝。非禮非義。斷絕往來恩路。不敬五穀。穢污蹭踐。不行正道。大斗小秤。明瞞暗騙。橫言曲語。白口咒詛。怨天恨地。不恤己身。不修片善。天不容。地不載。致生惡毒。多起瘟痙。多招訟非。輕重難逃。故作事因。得此苦報。惡難臨身。無處解釋。

於是救苦大仙。端簡上告。三元天官曰。善哉善哉。此等眾生。遭刑苦難。若有善男信女。皈依三元齋戒。三年圓滿。發心轉誦此經。三五十遍。千五百遍。踴躍懺悔。悔過愆尤。道君曰。即有天官賜福。地官赦罪。水官解厄。

於是告下。三元天尊，即駕五色祥雲。行九炁清風。至都會府。雲臺山上。放大亳光。廣大慧力。無邊法顯。濟民救苦。福應萬靈。諸天升降。除無妄之災。解有讎之愆。賜千祥之福。脫九厄之難。離三途之苦。癡蠢康泰。削去原罪。拔除冤根。永消愆尤。父母存亡。沾恩離苦。四生六道。餓鬼窮魂。孤魂野鬼。九玄七祖。未離地獄之中。存亡眾生。鈕械枷鎖。囹圄閉塞。

於是地官至七月十五日。即與獄囚地獄受苦眾生。除罪簿，滅惡根。削死名。上生籍。已去提。未去提。已提至、未提至。已結證。未結證。已發覺。未發覺。逢赦除之。地官曰。五刑十惡等罪。永不赦除。

天尊言。齷齪齟齬。蛇牙虎口。心如錐刀。惡毒之人。鬼眼鬼心。多計巧言。嗊瞞癡愚。蠢子何知。割他肉不念他貧。只念己富。肥家潤身。使心用心。返累己身。心根結成。罪根難滅。貪財利己。天雷霹靂。瘟氣流傳。纏害身體。冤愆相並並及子孫。

於是救苦大仙。再告天官。天官曰。轉誦此經。至滿千遍。大作踴躍。悔過愆尤。斷惡修善。即有地官赦罪。所有惡孽愆尤。俱一赦除。心心忐忑。盡一皈正。恍恍惚惚。耳目心定。神魂安靜。精神復舊。罪滅福生。無量功德。其福無邊。

道君曰。世界眾生。招瘟惹災。毒氣流行。眾生染著。皆是造惡非善。冤讎相並。致生惡疾。淹延未愈。若誦此經。病即痊癒。若誦經者。至端陽中元之日。即有三元追回行瘟等眾。考較輕重等罪。俱一赦除。

水官曰。世間夫婦。命犯孤辰寡宿。刑害絕嗣。皆是前生不施。今生受之。若有善男信女。晨夕好靜。沐浴燒香。燃燈誦經。修齋佈施。悔過愆尤。便生端正有相之男。聰明富貴之子。聲震五湖四海。宿世今生。故作誤為。謀財負命。今世為兒。取命化財。女人妊娠。三朝五日。不行分娩。或在身兒亡。生下兒亡。三六九歲兒亡。十二五歲兒亡。一日一夜。萬死萬生。俱是冤愆相臨。化目化財。騙協財物。化為畜生。若有善男信女。發心施財。齋戒沭浴。轉誦此經。悔過愆尤。即使愆尤永釋。人鬼分離。產生無難。母子雙全。關煞無刑。生育成人。利益雙親。經力弘深。祈福福至。禳禍禍消。

天尊言。讎人冰泮。冤家債主。自消自滅。孤魂等眾。九玄七祖。四生六道。輪迴生死。出離地獄，即往東極天界。救苦門庭。救苦地上好修行。只有天堂無地獄。閻王一見。不敢高聲。童子夜叉。擎拳拱手。牛頭馬面。總盡皈依。一十八重地獄。獄獄逍遙。三十三天天宮。宮宮自在。超生天堂之境。即無地獄之聲。出離地獄。永離苦難。逕往人天。超生凈土。快樂無量。一去一來。無罣無礙。

水官曰。天下眾生。星辰不順。運限遲留。兇曜衝併。多生疾病。或瘟病相侵。或痢疾瘡毒相侵。或腫毒疥癩相侵。氣候喉癀相侵。咽喉風毒相侵。泄瀉風痰相侵。祖冢瘟氣相侵。住基風水相侵。邪師敗聖相侵。火眼癆瘵相侵。吐血蠱毒相侵。白口咒詛相侵。刀兵火盜相侵。水渰癲狂相侵。吊頸枷鎖相侵。穢門閉漲相侵。年月日時不利相侵。斫伐壇廟樹木相侵。挖坑動土相侵。開基開沼相侵。添新換舊相侵。修前整後相侵。瘧疾疹疾相侵。瘟災瘟氣相侵。官符口舌相侵。致生惡病來纏。眾生染著。至於喪亡。若誦此經。即使惡疾不纏。吉星擁護。兇曜退散。萬禍冰消。千祥雲集。經通天界。福臨人間。

天尊言。天下眾生。江河湖海。舟航商賈。風波洶湧。驚惶憂懼。若誦此經。皈依 天地水官。水府眾聖。即使風恬浪靜。水途安妥。舟航穩載。繩纜堅牢。所謀順遂。諸聖擁護。萬神賜福於是天尊而說偈曰

九炁青天上 日月星斗真

天地水官帝 雲雷電鼓隨

金童執華旛 玉女捧香花

五色祥雲內 放出白毫光

照一切天下 顯身救眾生

慶雲祥煙護 拔離諸苦難

興雲布洪雨 驅雷掣電行

捲起揚塵土 神炁威猛烈

廣大智慧力 法顯無邊濟

無極無量法 無量度眾生

無極無量光 照出諸魂眾

一切冤家鬼 盡離地獄中

存亡諸眾生 一切離苦難

天尊說經已畢。若誦此經。隨力見功。酌水獻花。其福自應。家有此經。宅舍光明。災難無侵。佩帶此經。萬神擁護。鬼祟永滅。心念不空。福力自然。神力扶持。隨心應口。此經共計一千六百七十五字。字字真詮。句句消愆。行行滅罪。卷卷賜福。一切諸天上帝三界十方眾聖。聞說此經。皆大歡喜。信受奉行。作禮而退。

太上元始天尊說三官寶號

爾時

元始天尊。在大羅天上。八景宮中。與諸天神王。日月星宿。上聖高真。無極聖眾。說無上至真妙法。有一真人名曰赤腳大仙。越班而出。擎拳長跪。上白天尊曰。下界人民。或有水火刀兵。疾病生產。鬼魅精邪。天羅地綱。一切厄難。何由救免。天尊言。得道神仙。皆從三官保舉。下方生人。但持三官寶號。能除厄難。悉皆消滅。吾今受汝。下世流傳。人間看誦經者。得福無量。消一切厄。即說寶號曰

北極玄穹 紫微帝庭 泰山岱岳 水國清冷

綱維三界 統禦萬靈 三元較籍 善惡攸分

齋戒禮誦 無願不成 消災赦罪 請福延生

至真妙道 功德無邊 大悲大願 大聖大慈

上元一品 賜福天官 紫微大帝 中元二品

赦罪地官 青虛大帝 下元三品 解厄水官

洞陰大帝 三元主宰 三百六十 感應天尊

女青真人 考較曹官

爾時赤腳大仙。與諸天神王。真仙人眾。聞說寶號。皆大歡喜。作禮而退。信受奉行。

三官總誥 志心皈命禮

唯三聖人。乃一太極。普受浩劫家之命。鼎膺無量品之褒。紫微清虛洞陰。總領功過。賜福赦罪解厄。溥濟存亡。道冠諸天。恩覃三界。大悲大願。大聖大慈。三元三品三官大帝。 三宮九府感應天尊。 （讚）三元擁護。萬聖同明。赦罪解厄。消災障功。德廣無邊。福壽增延。賜福降吉祥。 三官赦罪天尊。

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 太上三官寶經, revision of 2 April 2026), 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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