師母錦囊
The Precious Pouch of the Mother Teacher (師母錦囊, Shīmǔ Jǐnnáng) is a personal letter from Sun Huiming (孫慧明, also known as Sun Suzhen 孫素真), co-matriarch of Yiguandao (一貫道), written while she was living in Hong Kong. Addressed to her disciples scattered across the world, it warns them of a coming spiritual trial — a great test in which false patriarchs will appear with astonishing sorcery, and the faithful must hold fast to distinguish the true from the false.
The Chinese title uses 錦囊 (jǐnnáng) — literally "brocade pouch" — a term from the Three Kingdoms tradition where the strategist Zhuge Liang would seal critical instructions in a silk pouch, to be opened only at the hour of crisis. Sun Huiming's letter is precisely this: sealed counsel for a future emergency, written by a mother to her children. Copy it, she says. Keep it. When the time comes, bring it out as a plumb line.
Sun Huiming (1895–1975) was the co-patriarch (師母, Shīmǔ, "Mother Teacher") of the eighteenth generation of Yiguandao alongside Zhang Tianran (張天然). After Zhang Tianran's death in 1947, she led the movement through its period of greatest persecution and diaspora, eventually relocating to Hong Kong and then Taiwan. Her writings are virtually unknown outside Chinese-language Yiguandao circles. This is the first English translation.
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 a Good Works Translation by the New Tianmu Anglican Church.
My worthy disciples, all of you — read these words and take heed.
You have been fortunate to encounter the final age, and your affinity with the Buddha-dharma runs deep indeed. At this time you are able to do heaven's work on earth, and in the future you will all hold rank among the buddhas and immortals. If even one person achieves the Dao, nine generations of descendants and seven generations of ancestors all share in the supreme glory.
Now you are all people who bear responsibility. If you wish to transcend this world, you must recognize the Dao with certainty.
In the Year of the Ox there will come another great trial. When the situation shifts, those who hoped to borrow outside influence will find they can borrow none. What I fear most is that when the time comes, a false patriarch will appear and join forces with a false Zhang, presenting a united front. Not only the false patriarch — every form of heretical practice will rally behind him. His worldly abilities will be outstanding, his sorcery truly astonishing. In that time, the wicked faction will gain prestige.
All of this is heaven's purpose: heaven must borrow him to test whether you are genuine, and only then can heaven give you what is genuine. This is what is meant by "at noon one achieves the Dao; at the hour of the Snake, one falls."
I tell you the inside truth ahead of time. Each of you must hurry to guide and complete your own students. When the time comes, you must see through it utterly — clench your teeth and hold fast. No matter how wondrous his sorcery appears, remain free of greed, free of delusion, utterly unmoved. Only then can you be sure of surviving the danger.
Though we call it a trial, this is also our opportunity to achieve the Dao. If none of this existed, how could we distinguish good from evil, the orthodox from the heretical? How could we sort the rising from the falling, the successful from the failed?
Once this trial passes, heaven will send down the true Dharma. The true Patriarch will appear. Heaven will lend its strength, and one breath will penetrate all. As long as you possess true merit, your spirit will be empowered and the divine and the human will become one body.
Following this, heaven will send down the great calamity to scour the world clean. In that time, not only will the lesser demons be unable to rise — even the heretical practices will be swept away. This is what is meant by: one truth suppresses a hundred heresies. As long as you possess true merit, when that day comes you need not fear. You will surely pass through at ease, free and untroubled.
The Mother has said it before: the demons raise their sorcery to oppose the good. But when heaven sends down the great calamity to scour the world, it is directed at the wicked.
I urge all of you: study this mother's letter carefully and act accordingly. No matter how severe the demonic trials become, you must hold fast to your true conviction. Otherwise, one misstep now — though things may seem calm before your eyes — once the years of the Ox and the Tiger have passed, you will beat your chest and stamp your feet, and your regret will come too late!
Though I cannot meet you all face to face, I think of you morning and evening without cease. I hope each of you will copy this letter and hurry to guide your students. Explain it clearly. Everyone must remember this firmly — it concerns your very lives, the difference between heaven and hell. Do not treat it as child's play. When the time comes, bring out this letter as a plumb line and follow it.
This is the Mother's hope. With this notice, I ask after your well-being.
Written by order of the Mother Teacher
To all Dao relatives — be at peace: Good and evil will be sorted into ranks. The great scouring, the great cleansing. Those in the cycle of rebirth will suffer. Do not treat this as child's play. I hope you will achieve sagehood. Remember, remember!
Colophon
The Precious Pouch of the Mother Teacher (師母錦囊) is the sealed counsel of Sun Huiming (孫慧明, 1895–1975), co-matriarch of Yiguandao's eighteenth generation, to her worldwide disciples. Written from Hong Kong during a period of persecution and diaspora, it is the voice of a living leader addressing a living crisis — not revelation through spirit-writing, but a woman writing in her own hand to warn the people she loved. It is the seventh Yiguandao text in the Good Work Library and the first of Sun Huiming's writings to appear in English.
Compiled, translated, and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: 師母錦囊
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.
孫慧明 師母錦囊
這是師母老大人當年在香港時，惦念各地弟子，寫給我們大家的一封信，請大家珍惜參悟。
眾賢徒等，見字知悉，你等幸遇末劫，佛緣可謂深厚，此時能以替天辦事，將來皆是佛仙爵位，一人能以成道，九玄七祖都得無上光榮，現在你大家都是負責的人了，就若想出世，準得把道認準，到牛年還有一場大考，大局一變，想借勢力是借不上了，就怕到時假祖師出世，與假弓長合成一致，不但假祖師，就連一切邪法全要認他，他是人事出眾，邪法甚為驚人，那時惡黨還得長臉，這都是上天的用意，須得借他驗出大家是真的，上天才能給你真的，這就是「午時成道巳時墜」，這時吾早些給你點底細，各人趕緊成全各人的後學，到那時千萬識透，咬緊牙關，無論他的法術如何玄妙，總是不貪不妄，毫不動搖，才能算保得住險，雖說是考，這亦是吾們成道之機會，設若沒有這些，如何分出善惡邪正？又如何分出升降成敗？過去這場，上天降法，真祖出世，上天助力，一氣貫通，只要你有真正之功德，都能加靈，神人一體。跟著就是上天降大劫，刷刮世界。那時不但小魔不能興起，就是那邪法亦須掃滅，這就是一正壓百邪。只要你有功德的，到那時不必驚懼，準可逍遙自在安然渡過，母早已說過，邪魔生法，是跟好人作對的；上天降大劫，刮刷世界，是對惡人的，望你大家細參母信，遵照行事，無論考魔如何嚴重，準得有真正的把握，否則現在一步失足，眼前雖然無事等過了牛虎，捶胸頓足悔之晚矣！
吾雖不能跟你大家見面，吾可是朝朝夕夕懸掛，望您大家各抄一份趕緊成全後學，講說明白，大家牢牢謹記，性命關係，天堂地獄之分，別作兒戲，等到了時候拿出此信作一準繩，俾使遵循，是母之盼也，此佈即詢近祉。
師母字諭
諸道親均安：善惡分班，大刷大洗，輪迴受苦，別作兒戲，望你成聖，謹記謹記！
Source Colophon
Chinese text sourced from the Morality Books Library (善書圖書館, taolibrary.com), category 9: Yiguandao Classics (一貫道經典). The site permits free reproduction and circulation (歡迎轉載，上傳，翻印，流通) in the morality book (善書) tradition. Text accessed March 1, 2026.
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