佛祖統紀 44.47

44.47

大中祥符元年正月三日。有天神降于寢殿。星冠絳袍。謂上曰。天書將降。宜齋戒建壇以受之。越月皇城司奏言。右承天門有黃帛書曳鴟吻上。上步至門望拜。內侍捧取而下奉安朝元殿。視其上文云。趙受命興於宋付於某居其器守於正世七百九九啟封宣文。其名大中祥符。凡三篇若洪範老子之書。是日司天監奏。有紫雲如蓋。下覆殿庭。百僚稱賀。詔改元馮拯請以天書大中祥符為號。上喜曰美名也（國朝會要）。

On the third day of the first month in the first year of Dazhongxiangfu, a heavenly deity descended into the bedchamber hall. Wearing a starry cap and crimson robes, he said to the Emperor: 'A heavenly book is about to descend; you should fast, purify yourself, and erect an altar to receive it.' After a month had passed, the Imperial City Bureau memorialized that on the Right Chengtian Gate there was a yellow silk document suspended on an owl-tail roof ornament. The Emperor walked to the gate and bowed toward it from afar. Inner attendants held it up, brought it down, and reverently installed it in the Chaoyuan Hall. When they examined the text upon it, it said: 'Zhao received the mandate, rising in the Song; it is conferred upon such-a-one, to occupy its vessels and maintain it in rectitude for seven hundred and ninety-nine generations, opening the seal and proclaiming the writing.' Its title was Dazhongxiangfu, in altogether three chapters, like the writings of the Hongfan or Laozi. On that day, the Astrological Bureau memorialized that there were purple clouds like a canopy covering down over the palace courtyard. The hundreds of officials offered congratulations. An imperial edict altered the reign title, and Feng Zheng requested that the title Dazhongxiangfu from the heavenly book be taken as the reign name. The Emperor was pleased and said, 'It is a fine name!' (National Compendium).