佛祖統紀 52.56

52.56

Under Emperor Taizong of the Song, a celestial deity descended at the house of Zhang Shouzhen, saying: 'The mandate of the state shall be prolonged far beyond that of the Tang.' An edict enfeoffed him as the True Lord Assisting the Sage and Protecting Virtue. Under Emperor Zhenzong, the occult master Wang Zhongli met a Daoist surnamed Zhao who called himself the True Lord Arbiter of Destinies; whenever there were portents among the nine regions, he invariably informed Zhongli beforehand. A celestial deity descended into the bedchamber and said to the Emperor: 'A celestial writ is about to descend; you should fast and purify yourself to receive it.' The Palace Guard Bureau reported that at the Right Chengtian Gate there was a silk text draped over the owl-tail roof ridge. A palace eunuch retrieved it and examined its text, which read: 'Zhao receives the mandate, rising in the Song for seven hundred and ninety-nine [years].' Breaking the seal and proclaiming the text, its title was *Great Center of Auspicious Talismans* (Dazhong Xiangfu), in three chapters. When the Feng and Shan sacrifices at Mount Tai were concluded, an edict elevated the True Lord Arbiter of Destinies to Heavenly Worthy Arbiter of Destinies and Protector of Life of the Nine Heavens. Ding Wei, the Commissioner of the Three Directorates, was ordered to construct the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace; the front hall was named Taichu to venerate the Jade Emperor, a pavilion was built to house the celestial writ, and the rear hall was named Mingqing to venerate the Holy Ancestor (that is, the Heavenly Worthy Arbiter of Destinies of the Nine Heavens). An edict ordered the realm to construct Tianqing Abbeys to venerate the Three Purities and the Jade Emperor, and to add shrines for the Holy Ancestor. A celestial deity descended into the imperial palace and said to the Emperor: 'I am one of the nine Sovereign of Men. I am the first ancestor of the Zhao surname, descending once again; indeed, I was the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan. During the Later Tang I descended again to govern below and engendered the clan of the Zhao; it has now been one hundred years. The Emperor has nurtured all living beings well.' He then departed riding a yellow cloud. In that month a great amnesty was proclaimed, and he was reverently titled the Holy Ancestor, Superior Spirit of Sublime Dao, Heavenly Worthy Arbiter of Destinies and Protector of Life of the Nine Heavens. The Holy Ancestor's consort was titled Great Sagely Empress of the Primal Heaven. The Holy Ancestor's taboo name was Xuanlang; an edict ordered that throughout the realm it must not be infringed upon. Prefectures were ordered to add Holy Ancestor Halls to their Tianqing Abbeys. Li Pu was dispatched to Jian'an Commandery to supervise the casting of two statues of the Jade Emperor and the Holy Ancestor. Ding Wei was ordered to escort them to the capital and enshrine them in the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace. Relics appeared in the Holy Ancestor's Mingqing Hall at the Yuqing Zhaoying Palace. An edict ordered that the Jingling Palace be built in the south-east sector of the Imperial Palace to venerate the Holy Ancestor.