Tractate of the Most High One on Actions and Consequences

Tractate of the Most High One on Actions and Consequences

Chapter I: The Workings of Good and Evil

太上曰：「祸福无门，惟人自召；善恶之报，如影随形。」
The most high one says: “Disasters and blessings have no entry gates of their own; they are summoned by people. The effects of good and evil are like shadows following their forms.”

是以天地有司过之神，依人所犯轻重，以夺人算。算减则贫耗，多逢忧患；人皆恶之，刑祸随之，吉庆避之，恶星灾之；算尽则死。
And so heaven and earth have spirits who record crimes, and in proportion to the severity of their crimes, they shorten human lives appropriately. Because of this not only may a person’s life be cut short, but he also becomes poor or destitute, his calamities are many; People all hate him; punishments and disasters follow him. Good fortune avoids him while evil stars persecute him. And when his span of years is complete, he dies.

又有三台北斗神君，在人头上，录人罪恶，夺其纪算。又有三尸神，在人身中，每到庚申日，辄上诣天曹，言人罪过。月晦之日，灶神亦然。凡人有过，大则夺纪，小则夺算。其过大小，有数百事，欲求长生者，先须避之。
And then there are also the gods of the three towers and the north star, residing above the heads of ordinary people. They too record people’s crimes and evil actions, and shorten the years of life in the sentence. And there are the three corpse spirits, residing in the human body. On each Kēngshēn day in the cycle of 60 days, they ascend to heaven to report people’s crimes and failings. On the last day of the month the Stove God also does this. For ordinary people offenses cut off a jì (12 years) if great, while small offenses cut off a suàn (100 days). Offenses great and small arise from countless matters, and those seeking immortality must avoid them.


Chapter II: How To Be Good

是道则进，非道则退。不履邪径，不欺暗室；积德累功，慈心于物；忠孝友悌，正己化人；矜孤恤寡，敬老怀幼；昆虫草木，犹不可伤。宜悯人之凶，乐人之善；济人之急，救人之危。见人之得，如己之得；见人之失，如己之失。不彰人短，不炫己长；遏恶扬善，推多取少。受辱不怨，受宠若惊；施恩不求报，与人不追悔。
Follow the right path, and retreat from the wrong one. Do not follow evil paths, nor sin in secret. Accumulate merit, show a compassionate heart in all things. Be loyal, filial, friendly, and brotherly; by correcting yourself, transform others. Pity orphans and be compassionate to widows, respect the elderly and be kind to the young. Do not even injure insects, grasses, and trees. Be saddened by other people’s misfortunes and delight in their good fortune. Help those in need and rescue those in danger. Regard the gains of others as though they were your own. And regard the failings of others as your own failings. Do not expose other people’s weaknesses, nor boast of your own strengths. Condemn evil and promote virtue, renounce much and accept little. Suffer humiliation without resentment, receive benefits as though startled. Extend help, but do not request compensation, help others without later regrets.

Chapter III: What Happens To Good People

所谓善人，人皆敬之，天道佑之，福禄随之，众邪远之，神灵卫之；所作必成，神仙可冀。欲求天仙者，当立一千三百善；欲求地仙者，当立三百善。
When a person is known as virtuous, people all praise him. Heaven’s Way protects him, happiness and wealth follow him, All evil forces stay away from him; gods guard him. Whatever he does is successful, and he can aspire to join the gods and immortals. He who would become a heavenly immortal must perform 1,300 good deeds. He who would become an earthly immortal must perform 300 good deeds.

Chapter IV: The Crimes of the Wicked

苟或非义而动，背理而行；以恶为能，忍作残害；阴贼良善，暗侮君亲；慢其先生，叛其所事；诳诸无识，谤诸同学；虚诬诈伪，攻讦宗亲；刚强不仁，狠戾自用；是非不当，向背乖宜；虐下取功，谄上希旨；受恩不感，念怨不休；轻蔑天民，扰乱国政；
But sometimes there is someone who behaves without righteousness, and moves against rationality, who mistakes evil for ability, and inflicts injury on others, who secretly defames the virtuous, and behind their backs slanders his ruler or his parents, who ignores those born before him, and disobeys his masters, who deceives the unknowing, and bears false witness against his fellow students, who lies, calumniates, deceives, and practices deceit, who exposes the failings of clan elders, who exercises power but not compassion, who is cruel, irrational, and self-willed, who does not distinguish right from wrong, and turns his back on those whom he should befriend, who oppresses those below him and claims their merit for himself, but cringes before those above him to win their favor, who has no feeling for favors received, but is tireless in remembering resentment, who makes light of heaven’s ordinary people, but agitates and disturbs the empire’s order,

赏及非义，刑及无辜；杀人取财，倾人取位；诛降戮服，贬正排贤；凌孤逼寡，弃法受赂；以直为曲，以曲为直；入轻为重，见杀加怒；知过不改，知善不为；自罪引他，壅塞方术；讪谤圣贤，侵凌道德。
who rewards those without righteousness, but punishes the innocent, who slays people to take their wealth, and overthrows people to occupy their positions, who slays captives and slaughters those who surrender, who denigrates the righteous and expels the wise, who wrongs orphans and coerces widows, who ignores the law and receives bribes, who takes the straight as crooked and the crooked as straight, who treats (and punishes) a trivial matter as though it is important and on seeing an execution adds to its suffering, who knowing his faults does not correct them, and knowing the good does not do it, who blames his failings on others, and obstructs divination about them, who slanders the holy and the wise, and ridicules and scorns the Way and its virtues,

射飞逐走，发蛰惊栖；填穴覆巢，伤胎破卵；愿人有失，毁人成功；危人自安，减人自益；以恶易好，以私废公，窃人之能，蔽人之善；形人之丑，讦人之私；耗人货财，离人骨肉；侵人所爱，助人为非；逞志作威，辱人求胜；
who shoots whatever flies and entraps whatever walks, who exposes animals’ dens and startles nestlings, who blocks burrows and destroys nests, who injures pregnant animals and breaks eggs, who seeks failure for others and destroys their merit, who endangers others to protect himself, and robs others for his own benefit, who exchanges the worthless for what is valuable, and sacrifices the public good for private gain, who lays claim to the abilities of others, and who hides other people’s merit, who publicizes the weaknesses of others, and exposes other people’s private affairs, who squanders people’s wealth, and separates their families, who attacks what others love, and who helps others to do wrong, who ambitiously seeks power, and ruins others in seeking success,

败人苗稼，破人婚姻；苟富而骄，苟免无耻；认恩推过，嫁祸卖恶；沽买虚誉，包贮险心；挫人所长，护己所短；乘威迫胁，纵暴杀伤；无故剪裁，非礼烹宰；散弃五縠，劳扰众生；破人之家，取其财宝；决水放火，以害民居；紊乱规模，以败人功；损人器物，以穷人用。
who destroys the plants and fields of others and breaks up betrothals, who grows rich by deceit but remains uncultivated, and by deceit escapes punishment but remains without shame, who claims credit and denies blame, who gives out evil as though it were a dowry and sells iniquity like a commodity, who sells and buys empty glory, but conceals treachery in his heart, who crushes the strengths of others, but protects his own deficiencies, who when in power persecutes and coerces, and even violently kills and maims, who for no reason cuts cloth, and without ritual roasts animals, who scatters and wastes the five grains, and troubles the ordinary people, who ruins families, and appropriates their wealth, who misdirects water and sets fires, in order to damage people’s houses, who confounds other people’s plans in order to spoil their work, who damage people’s tools, in order to make them unusable,

见他荣贵，愿他流贬；见他富有，愿他破散；见他色美，起心私之；负他货财，愿他身死；干求不遂，便生咒恨；见他失便，便说他过；见他体相不具而笑之，见他材能可称而抑之。
who, on seeing another’s success, wishes him banished and ruined, who, on seeing another’s wealth, wishes it bankrupted and scattered, on seeing beauty in another, is stirred to appropriate it, who when owing property to another, wishes him dead, who, when requests are not met, casts curses and hatred, who, on seeing the failures of others, says they are based in adequacy, who, on seeing someone’s bodily deformity, laughs at it, who, on seeing talent and ability worthy of praise, devalues them,

埋蛊厌人，用药杀树；恚怒师傅，抵触父兄；强取强求，好侵好夺；掳掠致富，巧诈求迁；赏罚不平，逸乐过节；苛虐其下，恐吓于他；怨天尤人，呵风骂雨；斗合争讼，妄逐朋党；
who buries charms to oppress others, and uses chemicals to kill trees, who is abusive to teachers, and is disrespectful to his father or older brother, who violently seizes things or makes demands, who enjoys fraud and theft, who plunders to become rich, and seeks promotion through deception, who rewards and punishes without equity, and indulges in unlimited enjoyment and excessive pleasure, who tyrannizes subordinates and fills others with fear, who makes accusations against heaven and criticizes people, who shouts at the wind and scolds the rain, who urges people into litigation, and madly joins secret brotherhoods,

用妻妾语，违父母训；得新忘故，口是心非；贪冒于财，欺罔其上；造作恶语，谗毁平人；毁人称直，骂神称正；弃顺效逆，背亲向疏；指天地以证鄙怀，引神明而鉴猥事。
who makes use of the gossip of his wife or concubine, and disobeys his parents’ instructions, who embraces the new and forgets the old, who says with his mouth what is not in his heart, who covets wealth and deceives superiors, who invents evil talk to ruin innocent people, who defames others and feigns honesty, who even scolds spirits yet claims to be upright, who abandons proper social relationships and follows perversity, who turns his back on those close by to seek distant people, who dares point at heaven or earth that they may witness his evil designs, and to call upon spirits to witness his degrading deeds,

施与后悔，假借不还；分外营求，力上施设；淫欲过度，心毒貌慈；秽食餧人，左道惑众；短尺狭度，轻秤小升；以伪杂真，采取奸利；压良为贱，谩蓦愚人；贪婪无厌，咒诅求直。
who regrets his occasional charity, who borrows money without returning it, who seeks more than his share, and spends pretentiously beyond his means, whose lust and desire exceeds all measure, and whose heart is poisonous even while his face is compassionate, who [as a merchant] sells bad food, and [as a teacher] misleads people into cults, who shortens the foot, and narrows the measure, lightens the scales, and skimps on the bushel, who adulterates the genuine with the fake, and reaps an illicit profit, who drives respectable people into lowly pursuits, and deceive the simple, whose greed is without limit, and who curses and scolds to be believed,

嗜酒悖乱，骨肉忿争；男不忠良，女不柔顺；不和其室，不敬其夫；每好矜夸，常行妒忌；无行于妻子，失礼于舅姑；轻慢先灵，违逆上命；作为无益，怀挟外心；自咒咒他，偏憎偏爱；越井越灶，跳食跳人；
who, addicted to liquor, becomes rebellious and unruly, and who battles his own family, who, if he is male is not loyal or kind, if female is not gentle and obedient, who, if male, does not accord with his wife; if female, does not respect her husband, who, if male, always likes to boast; if female, is jealous and suspicious, who, if male acts without manners to wife and children; if female, lacks propriety towards her parents-in-law, who makes light of ancestral spirits and disobeys the commands of superiors, who makes and does what is unhelpful, whose chest bears a treacherous heart, who curses both himself and others, who hates and loves based on prejudice, who commits the improprieties of stepping across wells and stoves, and jumping over food and people,

损子堕胎，行多隐僻；晦腊歌舞，朔旦号怒；对北涕唾及溺，对灶吟咏及哭；又以灶火烧香，秽柴作食；夜起裸露，八节行刑；唾流星，指虹霓；
who kills infants and aborts the unborn, and commits many secret iniquities, who sings and dances at the solemn festivals of Huì (on the last day of the month) and Là (on the last day of the year), and who shouts in anger on the first day of the month or in the early morning, who snorts and spits and pees while facing the north [and its god], who sings and hums and weeps when facing the stove [and its god], and who lights incense from the stove fire, who uses dirty fuel to prepare food, who rises at night and goes out ill-clad, who inflicts punishments on the eight festival days [when bodies are more vulnerable], who irrevently spits at shooting stars and points at rainbows,

* Once again a brief shift in the meter relieves its monotony.

辄指三光，久视日月；春月燎猎，对北恶骂，无故杀龟打蛇…
who irreverently points at the three brilliances (sun, moon,and stars), and who stares at the sun and the moon, who in spring sets fire to the woods to hunt, or who scolds while facing north, or who for no reason slays turtles and strikes snakes,

* Although there are other interpretations, turtles and snakes are both sacred animals in some contexts.

Chapter V: The Fate of the Wicked

如是等罪，司命随其轻重，夺其纪算。算尽则死；死有余责，乃殃及子孙。
For crimes such as these, the masters of fate, depending upon the gravity of the offence, cut short a person’s life by twelve years or by a hundred days. And after that the person dies. And if at death there still remain unpunished crimes, the bad luck is visited upon children and grandchildren.

又诸横取人财者，乃计其妻子家口以当之，渐至死丧。若不死丧，则有水火盗贼、遗亡器物、疾病口舌诸事，以当妄取之值。
And for all those who have wrongfully seized the property of others, they must compensate for it with their wives and children and other family members, even unto death. Those who do not die and inflicted with disasters of water, fire, theft, loss of goods, disease, slander, and more until it offsets their unlawful appropriations.

又枉杀人者，是易刀兵而相杀也。取非义之财者，譬如漏脯救饥，鸩酒止渴；非不暂饱，死亦及之。
Furthermore, for those who unlawfully killed people, it is like solders who exchange swords and kill each other. To seize property unjustly is like relieving hunger with putrid meat or slaking thirst with poisoned wine: it brings temporary satisfaction, but ultimately death.

Chapter VI: Hope for Those Who Repent

夫心起于善，善虽未为，而吉神已随之；或心起于恶，恶虽未为，而凶神已随之。其有曾行恶事，后自改悔，诸恶莫作，众善奉行，久久必获吉庆；所谓转祸为福也。
When a person’s heart is moved by goodness, although the goodness has not yet been achieved, nevertheless felicitous spirits are already following him. But when a person’s heart is moved by evil, although the evil has not yet been achieved, nevertheless spirits of misfortune are already following him. A person who formerly did bad things but afterward repents and does no more evil, and continues in good behavior, then gradually he must obtain good fortune and happiness. This is called “changing disaster into good fortune.”

故吉人语善、视善、行善，一日有三善，三年天必降之福。凶人语恶、视恶、行恶，一日有三恶，三年天必降之祸。胡不勉而行之？
Therefore a joyous man speaks what is good, thinks what is good, and does what is good; each day he does these three things, and in three years Heaven will bequeath to him good fortune. But an unlucky man is he who speaks what is evil, thinks what is evil, and does what is evil; each day he does these three things, and in three y3ears Heaven will strike him with misfortune. Why would we not be diligent in following this?

David K. Jordan 译

Introduction & Explanation

Unquestionably the most important literary genre for the vast majority of Chinese in later dynasties was the morality tract. Such works were generically called "good books" (shànshū 善书).

These works were full of everything from claims about cosmic justice to hackneyed proverbs and tales of the fell fate of those who ignored them, from lamentations over the perpetually rambunctious young to injunctions against the drowning of unwanted infants, from potted biographies of moral exemplars to jingles about being kind to the senile.

Very few were productions of significant literary merit, and the whole genre tended to be scorned by the literati (as it is today). Many were written by mediums in trance through the use of one or another kind of ouija board (planchette), a practice which continues to the present. (See Jordan & Overmyer 1986, Overmyer 1976.) And such works were (and are) printed in millions and millions of copies from small presses all over China for distribution for free, usually from the "take one" tables of popular temples. The cost was borne as an act of religious merit not just by the wealthy, but sometimes by people of quite modest means. Many added introductions or annotations, often arguing for great religious merit to be had by frequent reading or chanting of the text.

Among such works, none has ever rivaled the "Tractate of the Most High One on Actions and Consequences" or Tàishàng Gǎnyìng Piān 太上感应篇.

Paul Carus, in his introduction to a 1906 translation of the work that he prepared in cooperation with Teitaro Suzuki, opined that, "Its editions exceed even those of the Bible and Shakespeare …" (p. 3). In the introduction to his own translation in 1918, James Webster remarks that the Tractate,

… is perhaps the most celebrated tract in the annals of literature. A book that has been scattered broadcast among a people numbering hundreds of millions, and that for several centuries, must be almost without parallel.
… the widespread circulation of the text has made many of its pithy phrases part of the common talk of the people, and one cannot listen long to any conversation, even on the most mundane affairs of daily and domestic life, without hearing some expressions the origin of which is to be found in the famous little book. (Pp. 1-2)
The Tractate probably originated in planchette-writing sessions, for it has the hackneyed phrases and choppy flow that characterize many such works, as well as the seemingly endless and repetitive list of those human deficiencies that strike amateur moralists around the world as so especially fascinating.

The "Most High One" referred to in the title is none other than Lăozĭ 老子, the legendary founder of Daoism, whose spirit remains to this day a frequent visitor in spirit writing séances.

The Tractate has been associated with the work of a IVth-century Daoist named Gĕ Hóng 葛洪, who called himself the Master Embracing Simplicity (Bàopú zĭ 抱朴子), but the work is quite certainly not from his hand. Later scholars have suggested it may date from as late as the Míng 明 dynasty (1368-1644, period 20) or as early as the Sòng 宋 dynasty (960-1279, period 15).

Whatever its origin, by the time of European contact in the XIXth century, the Tractate had sufficient prominence to inspire French and English translations in 1816, 1828, 1830, 1835, and 1884, in addition to the early XXth-century ones mentioned above (Webster, pp. 10-11). If its ubiquity has faded somewhat today, together with the "good books" literature more broadly, it nevertheless remains one of the most common religious tracts in China. And quotations and paraphrases from it may still be heard in spoken language, just as they were a century and more ago.

The translation offered here, while informed by previous ones, is my own and has been been prepared for use in my classes. I have included the full Chinese text in both characters and romanization for the benefit of the majority of my students who are also studying Chinese and who may therefore be curious about the original text.

Other instructors should feel free to use the text in any way they please. No further permission is necessary.

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Works cited above:

CARUS, Paul & Teitaro SUZUKI
1906 T'ai-shang kan-ying p'ien:Treatise of the exalted one on response and retribution. La Salle IL: Open Court Publishing.
JORDAN, David K. & Daniel L. Overmyer
1986 The flying phoenix: aspects of Chinese sectarianism in Taiwan. Princeton, NJ: Princeton U. Press.
OVERMYER, Daniel L.
1976 Folk Buddhist religion: dissenting sects in late traditional China. Cambridge MA: Harvard U. Press.
WEBSTER, James
1918 The kan ying pien: book of rewards and punishments. Shanghai: Presbyterian Mission Press.
The picture shows a XIXth-century tract printing shop. (reproduced from Carus 1906, p. 133)