皇母家書
The Imperial Mother's Letter Home (皇母家書, Huángmǔ Jiāshū) is a Yiguandao (一貫道) scripture in which the Eternal Venerable Mother (無極老母, Wújí Lǎomǔ) writes a letter to her lost children — the ninety-six original souls she sent down to the Eastern Land — weeping through the twelve months of the year as she begs them to awaken and come home.
The structure is liturgical: an opening plea, then twelve monthly stanzas from the first month (New Spring) through the twelfth month (the year's end), each beginning with the Mother's tears and moving through warning, cultivation instruction, and desperate love. The months carry the rhythm of the Chinese agricultural calendar — the Dragon raises its head in the second month, the Peach Banquet falls in the third, the Dragon Boat Festival in the fifth, the Magpie Bridge in the seventh, the Mid-Autumn Moon in the eighth, the Double Ninth in the ninth. Through each season the Mother weeps and writes, and the children do not answer. By the twelfth month her grief peaks: she tears the letter to pieces, stops the ferry, and sails away — then relents, pleading one final time. A closing meditation on inner alchemy seals the text.
The poem belongs to the morality book (善書, shànshū) tradition and was revealed through spirit-writing (扶乩, fújī). It is composed in mixed verse: three-character phrases (三字句) alternating with seven-character couplets (七言句), with occasional ten-character narrative lines. The Chinese source text is from the Morality Books Library (善書圖書館, taolibrary.com), which states: "Welcome to reprint, upload, reproduce, and circulate" (歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通). This is the first English translation.
The Birthless Mother writes a letter home,
urging her sons and daughters to hear her voice.
For her children in the Eastern Land suffer calamity —
war is upon them, plague infects their bodies.
Turn your hearts back and hold fast to the One;
at the Dragon-Flower Assembly you shall see your Mother again.
First Month
In the first month, New Spring —
the Old Mother weeps for her children, tears soaking her lapel.
My sons and daughters have entered the ford of delusion;
quickly seek the gate and find your way to your Mother.
I send this letter to you —
children, when you read it, turn your hearts back.
The way to nourish the body must be practiced with diligence;
the true secret of returning home — remember it, hold it close.
Breathe in and out in harmony with the breath of Former Heaven;
nurture and preserve that single point of truth within you.
This is the one bright road back to the source —
without cultivation, you will never see your Old Mother again.
Second Month
In the second month, the Dragon raises its head —
the Old Mother weeps for her children, tears streaming down her cheeks.
A letter has been sent to you early;
children, do not lose yourselves in wine, lust, and wealth.
If you do not swiftly seek the road of bright awakening,
you will perish in the bitter kalpa — whom will you blame then?
The True Way of Heaven is laid out in the world;
the Nine Turns of the Cinnabar Way illuminate all things.
This is the clear road home —
step by step, you climb the Jade Terrace.
Bitter cultivation will at last bring the day of reunion;
when the Mother sees her children, her heart blooms open.
Third Month
In the third month, the third of the third —
at the Peach Banquet, the immortals are seated in their ranks.
The Old Mother sees how many of her children are lost in the world
and only now sends this letter down.
Long have you clung to the red dust with no day of return;
the Old Mother thinks of her children and transmits the Dharma.
The True Way of Heaven is a great Dharma vessel —
it does not ferry the unconnected; it ferries those with affinity.
Children of discernment, board the vessel!
Take the elixir and come before your Mother.
The elixir was always within your own body;
the Old Mother transmits the method — quickly refine the pill.
When the light of your nature is refined to its full measure,
the Old Mother will see it and her heart will rejoice.
Fourth Month
In the fourth month, summer has begun —
whose household has claimed my children's original nature?
The letter is finished, written to the last word;
the Three Teachings go forth in the Mother's place to transmit the Dharma.
The True Way of Heaven is clearly handed down —
how many will set their resolve and refine the Golden Sprout?
Children of heart, wake quickly!
Follow the path and refine your way home.
Three kneels, nine kowtows — bow to the Old Mother;
when she sees her children return, her joy redoubles.
Fifth Month
In the fifth month, the Dragon Boat sky —
at the mention of her children the Mother's tears flow.
My sons and daughters have fallen into the bitter mortal world,
not knowing to turn back and board the Dharma vessel.
A letter was sent long ago —
why have I not seen my children return?
The True Way of Heaven is a great Dharma vessel,
but the blind and deluded dare not step forward.
Greedy for meat, refusing to keep the vegetarian precepts —
the karmic debts pile up; when will they ever end?
In the war-kalpa, the dying suffer terribly;
plague, fire, and flood are crueler still.
Because her children face this kalpa of calamity,
the Mother established the Way of Heaven to counsel the mortal world.
The True Way rests entirely in the palm of the One;
the road of awakening back to the source is now clearly transmitted.
Refine the mortal body into an adamantine body;
what was born in the Latter Heaven, return to Former Heaven.
Sixth Month
In the sixth month, the heat is unbearable —
the Old Mother thinks of her children and weeps until her heart breaks.
Foolish children, you have lost your heavenly conscience,
not knowing to come home and honor your Old Mother.
You cling to love and affection, to fame and profit,
scheming day and night without rest.
On the road to the Yellow Springs there is no distinction of age;
the bitter passage through hell is harder still to bear.
The Way of Former Heaven shatters the dream of the golden millet;
everywhere it counsels and converts, everywhere it establishes Dharma halls.
Children of resolve, enter the Way quickly!
When the line is cut, it will be too late to call for your Mother.
Seek the infant early, unite it with the maiden;
in stillness, the lotus flower breathes its hidden fragrance.
Seventh Month
In the seventh month, the seventh of the seventh —
the Old Mother weeps for her children, tears of bitter grief.
Where have my lost children wandered?
The letter I sent — do you know of it or not?
Through the spirit-writing brush she transmits her counsel,
ferrying the foolish and the lost.
In all the world there is only one True Way;
children of discernment, refine in stillness.
When yin and yang are refined into a single golden pill,
your merit complete, your fruit ripened, the cinnabar decree is issued —
Heaven seals your rank among the buddhas and immortals.
Eighth Month
In the eighth month, the Mid-Autumn Festival —
the Old Mother weeps for her children in piercing sorrow.
She sighs that her children face the coming kalpa
because they abandoned the upright and followed the crooked.
The Old Mother's letters are sent again and again,
but they do not heed her meaning — they toss the letters aside.
When the kalpa strikes and you suffer, your Mother's heart aches;
her bitter counsel, her kind words — how urgently she speaks!
Through the spirit-brush, on the sand tray she writes,
calling her children to bind their bond with the immortals.
Children of resolve, advance quickly!
When your merit is complete, go and pay court at the Golden Palace.
Ninth Month
In the ninth month, the Double Ninth sky —
the Old Mother weeps for her children, tears that never dry.
Foolish children, you have lost your original source,
forgotten your true nature, turned your backs on the immortals and buddhas.
One letter after another cannot wake you;
you fall into the bitter kalpa for ten thousand upon ten thousand years.
The Way of Heaven is established, the Vessel of Compassion set to sail —
plainly counseling, plainly teaching, ferrying those with affinity.
I only hope my children escape their suffering;
do not waste your Mother's good and tender heart.
For all her children, her tears will not stop;
the Mother's thoughts are transmitted through the spirit-writing.
Tenth Month
In the tenth month, winter has begun —
the Old Mother weeps for her children, tears streaming from both eyes.
She weeps that her children do not understand her feelings
and have gone so far as to ruin their own lives.
One letter after another, and still they do not ponder it —
toiling in body, toiling in mind, exhausting their spirit.
When the Three Treasures are spent, they return to the realm of shadows;
coming and going through the wheel of rebirth, they endure one suffering after another.
The Way of Heaven is established to enlighten the blind;
quickly reach the shore of the Way and refine the lead and mercury.
Gather the Three Flowers and refine them in the cauldron;
sweet dew on the tip of the tongue, springtime flourishing of its own accord.
When heaven and earth join in harmony, the true body is born;
in the tenth month the Dao-embryo ascends to the Heavenly Palace.
Children, wake early and seek the Way of Heaven —
lose this chance, and the kalpa falls upon you.
Eleventh Month
In the eleventh month, midwinter arrives —
the Old Mother weeps for her children, wailing in bitter grief.
My sons and daughters, what do you know?
You have cast your Mother's kindness aside without a thought.
How many letters have been sent to you?
Why do you throw them away like weeds?
Your original nature is utterly obscured;
prepare yourselves — when the kalpa comes, you will suffer and endure.
Children of affinity, reach the shore quickly!
When the kalpa arrives and you wish to cultivate, it will be too late.
The Old Mother rejoices in those of high virtue and morality.
The Old Mother rejoices in those of high virtue and morality.
Twelfth Month
In the twelfth month, a full year —
the Old Mother waits for her children, her heart grieved and weary.
My sons and daughters have darkened their own hearts;
why did you leave and never return?
Thinking of her children, the Mother wrote this letter —
yet you, my children, have forgotten your Old Mother entirely.
You cling to false appearances, knowing they are false,
unable to let go of love and entanglement, bound by karmic debt.
The great kalpa arrives — how terrible the devastation;
in the bitter kalpa, the dead are beyond counting.
Wealth is gone, love is gone;
the dead fall into hell, their bodies beyond saving.
All because you failed to honor your Mother;
her letters you tossed aside.
The Old Mother broods and her anguish deepens;
she tears the letter to pieces — she will not ferry the mortal world.
She stops the ferry, she sets sail —
whoever now wishes to cultivate the Way of Heaven will find it hard beyond hard.
War-kalpa, plague-kalpa,
fire burning, water drowning,
the astral wind rises — how terrible the devastation;
heaven collapses, earth caves in, and the people are all dead.
I tried to ferry you then, but you would not turn back —
look and see: is it pitiable or is it not?
But the children who cultivated the Way ascend to heaven,
free and at ease, buddhas and immortals of their own making.
Regardless of age, man or woman,
regardless of wealth or poverty —
all receive the heavenly portion and enjoy its bliss;
never again will you be sent to the bitter mortal world.
Those who cultivate the Way are at peace even in this life,
half tending to worldly bonds, half cultivating immortality.
The Mother dispatches buddhas and immortals to watch over you;
when the great kalpa comes, it will not harm us.
The Old Mother speaks no empty words;
my children refuse to believe and remain lost in the mortal world.
They listen to the crooked way, to the words of petty people —
without cultivating the Way of Heaven, you cannot return to the source.
Heaven and hell — two roads;
children, each of you must reckon your own account.
Your Old Mother's urgent words are more than she can say;
the paper is too short, the message too long — she cannot write it all.
I only hope my children will board the vessel —
when the children are safe, the Mother's heart is at peace.
Coda
The road of awakening home is made clear through the spirit-writing;
children of the Buddha, study the Yellow Court Scripture with care.
To sweep away the dust of worldly ties, first still the heart;
see through false appearances — in the end, all returns to emptiness.
When the breath does not move recklessly, it can subdue the tiger;
when the heart does not move recklessly, it can vanquish the dragon.
Rest in the highest good, the land of utmost bliss;
in perfect stillness, movement is born — the primal yang ascends.
Gather, draw, add, and subtract until heaven and earth are in harmony;
within this stinking skin-bag, the immortal child is born.
The Nine Turns of the Cinnabar Secret — words of the utmost urgency:
harmony without, the center within.
Only the true original ones will startle awake;
the moment they see this letter, they board the vessel.
Set your resolve to cast off the shackles and the chains;
cultivate both nature and life, and transcend the cage.
In this world, honor your father and your mother;
when the Way is complete, honor also the Old Birthless One.
Do not betray the Old Mother's love for her children;
month after month she sends this letter, calling the foolish from their sleep.
Colophon
The Imperial Mother's Letter Home (皇母家書) is a Yiguandao spirit-writing scripture in which the Eternal Venerable Mother addresses her lost children through the twelve months of the year. Each month opens with her tears and moves through warning, cultivation instruction, and a desperate plea to return home. The liturgical calendar structure — New Year, Dragon Boat, Magpie Bridge, Mid-Autumn Moon, Double Ninth, the year's bitter end — gives the Mother's grief the rhythm of lived time: she does not weep once but twelve times, and each weeping is a season.
Translated from Classical Chinese by the New Tianmu Anglican Church (Good Works Translation), 2026. Source text from the Morality Books Library (善書圖書館, taolibrary.com). Fourteenth Yiguandao text in the Good Work Library. Eleventh original Good Works Translation from Classical Chinese.
Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
🌲
Source Text: 皇母家書
Chinese source text from the Morality Books Library (善書圖書館, taolibrary.com). Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
無生母寫書一封 勤傳諭兒女知音
為兒女東土受災 刀兵臨瘟疫染身
快回心修持一貫 龍華會好見娘親
正月裡 是新春 老母哭兒淚濕襟
兒女們 入迷津 速尋門路找娘親
一封書信傳給你 兒女見信早回心
養身法 習要勤 回家真訣要記忖
呼吸調順先天氣 涵養本來一點真
此是還源一明路 不修難見老娘親
二月裡 龍頭抬 老母哭兒淚滿顋
一封書 早寄來 兒女莫迷酒色財
若不速尋明覺路 喪在苦劫怨誰來
真天道 世上擺 九轉丹道明世界
這是還家明白路 一步一步登瑤臺
苦修終有團圓日 母見兒女心花開
三月裡 三月三 蟠桃會上筵群仙
老母見兒多迷世 書信這纔往下傳
久戀紅塵無回日 老母想兒傳法言
真天道 大法船 不渡無緣渡有緣
有識兒女登舟罷 吃了仙丹到娘前
仙丹原是自身有 老母傳法快煉丹
性光煉足十六兩 老母見了心歡喜
四月裡 立了夏 原性兒女落誰家
一封書信寫完畢 三教替娘去傳法
真天道 明傳下 幾個立志煉黃芽
有心兒女快醒醒 順着路線煉回家
三跪九叩拜老母 娘見兒還喜氣加
五月裡 端陽天 提起兒女娘淚漣
兒女們 墜苦凡 不知回頭登法船
一封書信早寄去 怎麼不見兒回還
真天道 大法船 無眼癡迷不敢前
貪吃葷腥不齋戒 拉下冤脹何時完
刀兵劫內死的苦 瘟疫水火更傷慘
娘為兒女遭劫難 設立天道勸塵凡
真道全憑一貫掌 還原覺路今明傳
凡體練成金剛體 後天煉的返先天
六月裡 熱難當 老母想兒哭斷腸
傻兒女 喪天良 不知回家孝老娘
貪戀恩愛合名利 使心用計晝夜忙
黃泉路上無老少 地獄苦行更難擋
先天道 破黃樑 到處勸化立佛堂
有志兒女快進道 線路斷時空叫娘
早尋嬰兒會姹女 靜時奧妙蓮花香
七月裡 七月七 老母哭兒淚悲涕
兒女迷向哪裡去 寄去書信知不知
機傳訓 渡愚迷 世上真道只有一
有識兒女靜心煉 陰陽煉成金丹粒
功圓果滿丹書詔 天封爵位佛仙斉
八月裡 中秋節 老母哭兒淚悲切
嘆兒女 將遭劫 因爾棄正隨了邪
老娘書信頻寄去 不參娘意將書撇
你遭劫苦娘心掛 苦口良言心切切
藉機筆 沙盤寫 呼喚兒女仙緣結
有志兒女速進步 功圓好去朝金闕
九月裡 重陽天 老母哭兒淚不乾
傻兒女 失本源 忘了本性背仙佛
一封書信喚不醒 墜在苦劫萬萬年
立天道 駕慈船 明勸明講渡有緣
只望兒女脫苦惱 莫負娘的好心田
為众兒女淚難止 娘的心思藉亂傳
十月裡 立了冬 老母哭兒淚雙傾
哭兒女 不體情 竟把自己性命坑
一封書信不參悟 勞心勞力耗神精
三寶耗盡歸陰府 往來輪迴受苦情
立天道 化群矇 快登道岸煉鉛汞
採取三花鼎中煉 舌尖甘露自春榮
乾坤交泰生真體 十月道胎昇天宮
兒女早醒求天道 失此機會遭劫凶
十一月 仲冬到 老娘哭兒淚悲號
兒女們 那知曉 竟把娘恩一慨拋
書信寄來有多少 為何棄卻如草毛
本來性 全眛了 準備劫來受苦熬
有緣兒女速登岸 劫來想修就晚了
老母喜的道德高 老母喜的道德高
十二月 整一年 老母盼兒心愁煩
兒合女 眛心田 為何一去不回還
想兒娘纔寫書信 兒女你竟忘老娘
你知貪戀假色相 難捨恩愛冤孽纏
大劫至 甚傷慘 苦劫死的絕人煙
財產無 恩愛完 死墜地獄身難翻
皆為娘前缺了孝 娘的書信撇一邊
老母越想心煩惱 書信撕碎不渡凡
停了渡 開了船 想修天道難上難
刀兵劫 瘟疫染 火也燒來水也淹
罡風起 太傷慘 天塌地陷人死完
當初渡你不回轉 看看可憐不可憐
修道兒女昇天去 自去逍遙為佛仙
不論老少男共女 不論富貴與貧寒
皆得天盤享快樂 再不叫你臨苦凡
修道在世也安穩 半顧俗情半修仙
娘差佛仙護佑你 大劫來時不礙咱
老母並無虛言語 兒女不信迷凡間
聽左道 小人言 不修天道難還原
天堂地獄兩條路 兒女各人打算盤
老娘切囑難言盡 紙短話長寫不全
惟望兒女把船上 兒女得安娘心安
還家覺路借亂明 佛子細參黃庭經
欲掃塵緣心先靜 看破假象終成空
氣不妄動能伏虎 心不妄動降得龍
止於至善極樂國 靜極生動元陽昇
採取抽添乾坤泰 臭皮囊裡產仙童
九轉丹訣切要語 外而致和內至中
是真原人纔驚醒 一見書信將船登
立志脫了枷合鎖 性命雙修超攀籠
在世能孝父合母 道成亦孝老無生
不負老母疼兒女 日月寄書喚愚矇
Source Colophon
Chinese source text from the Morality Books Library (善書圖書館, taolibrary.com), category 9: Yiguandao Classics (一貫道經典). The library's footer states: 歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通 — "Welcome to reprint, upload, reproduce, and circulate." The morality book tradition considers free distribution a form of spiritual merit.
🌲