The Sacred Records about the Emperor of Original Chaos

The 9-volumed Sacred Records about the Emperor of Original Chaos (《混元聖紀》 Hunyuan Shengji ), or in its complete title, the Sacred Records about the Emperor of Original Chaos and Supreme Venerable Sovereign ( 《太上老君混元聖紀》 Tiashang Laojun Hunyuan Shengji ), by Xie Shouhao, is a Daoist collection of biographies of immortals. The Zhen Emperor of the Song, a Daoist worshiper, presented the title "Emperor of the Higher Virtue of Original Chaos" ( 混元上德皇帝 Hunyuan Shangde Huang Di ) to the Venerable Sovereign. The book was named after the title. Xie Shouhao attached a preface by Chen Liang in the 4th year of the Shaoxing Era, as well as a memorial to the emperor in the 2nd year of the Shaoxi era. According to the author, the 820-chaptered Holy Record by Yin Wencao, divided into the 100-volumed Biography of the Dragon-like Master ( 《猶龍傳》 Youlong Zhuan ) by Jia Shanxiang, was disordered and unsystematic. Therefore the author, examining the immortal biographies in books of the three teachings that are about the Venerable Sovereign worshipped in the past dynasties, compiled the Sacred Records about the Emperor of Original Chaos with a chronicle. In the style of annals, the book records various myths and biographies about the Venerable Sovereign, including stories about the Venerable Sovereign's transformation and about various emperors' worship of the Venerable Sovereign from the creation of universe to the Xuanhe Era of the Northern Song Dynasty. Containing myths and historic events, the book, collected in the Subsection of Biographies, Pervasive Divinity Section ( 洞神部 Dongshen Bu ) of the Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong Era, is important material for the study of rulers' worship of the Venerable Sovereign in different dynasties. 混元聖紀