Instructions for Conducting the Three Grottoes True Writs Five Skills Ritual of the Mighty Commonwealth of the Orthodox Oneness
The 1-volumed Instructions for Conducting the Three Grottoes True Writs Five Skills Ritual of the Mighty Commonwealth of the Orthodox Oneness ( 《醮三洞真文五法正一盟威籙立成儀》 Jiao Sandong Zhenwen Wufa Zhengyi Mengweilu Licheng Yi ) by the Tang Daoist Zhang Wanfu mainly describes the Daoist offering ritual. In establishing the offering ritual one should possess utmost sincerity; otherwise the ritual will fail to lead to the spirit's correspondence. The ritual is particular in its description of the altar site and offering vessels.
The process is:
- establishing the altar,
- purifying the altar,
- chanting the spell for entering the room,
- initiating the incense burner,
- invoking the numinous official,
- presenting the application to the numinous official,
- seeing the perfected deity off,
- ordering minor spirits and officials,
- inviting officials,
- covering the burner,
- singing the ode for seeing the deity off,
- chanting the spell for leaving the room and
- the taboos after offering.
Clear regulations are decided for the whole process from setting up the altar and inviting the spirit to the taboos after offering. As the author's book for adjusting the Daoist offering altars, the book reflects the common situation of Daoist offering rituals during the Tang. Collected in the Orthodox Oneness Section of the Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era ( 《正統道藏》 Zhengtong Daozang ), the book is material for the study of Daoist offering rituals during Tang.