What Is Taoist Ritual Deliverance of the Dead?

Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism

In the practice of Taoist faith, rites of ritual deliverance of the dead (chaodu) have always held a central place, carrying rich religious meaning and cultural significance. Many believers often ask: “Master, what is ritual deliverance? Why should it be performed? Does it really work?” Taoists live day by day in the company of incense and the gods; they perceive the joys and sorrows of the human world and also witness the flow of life across the boundary between yin and yang. Today, let us take you into what true “deliverance” is.

1. What Are the “Three Hun Souls” and the “Seven Po Souls”?

(1) What Are the “Three Hun Souls”?

The “three hun souls” are Taiguang (Embryonic Light), Shuangling (Clear Spirit), and Youjing (Hidden Essence), each carrying out a different function of life.

1. Taiguang. Taiguang is the hun soul of life's origin. It is like the “primordial spirit” of life, carrying the purest life energy; it governs the fundamental existence of life and determines its strength and continuance. It is not disturbed by worldly desires and keeps the clarity and purity of prior heaven. It is the bond that connects the person with the Tao.

2. Shuangling. Shuangling is the hun soul of consciousness. It is responsible for receiving information from the outside world and producing thought and emotional responses; it records a person's cognition, wisdom, and memory, and determines the individual's character traits and patterns of behavior.

3. Youjing. Youjing is connected with reproduction and family inheritance. It sustains the continuity of the bloodline and carries the life information of the family; it is the bridge that links the individual with the family's line of life.

(2) What Are the “Seven Po Souls”?

The “seven po souls” are Shigou (Corpse Dog), Fushi (Hidden Arrow), Queyin (Sparrow Yin), Tunzei (Thief Swallower), Feidu (Not Poison), Chuhui (Filth Remover), and Choufei (Foul Lungs). Each has its own task, ensuring the normal functioning of the body.

1. Shigou. Shigou governs the body's alertness to and perception of the outside environment, enabling a person to respond to sudden situations;

2. Fushi. Fushi is responsible for clearing filth and waste from the body, keeping it clean;

3. Queyin. Queyin is connected with reproductive function, ensuring the propagation of life;

4. Tunzei. Tunzei is like the body's “guard,” resisting the invasion of evil influences from outside;

5. Feidu. Feidu can neutralize toxins in the body, protecting the health of the organs;

6. Chuhui. Chuhui clears turbid qi from the body, keeping the breath flowing freely;

7. Choufei. Choufei governs the function of breathing, sustaining the exchange of life energy.

After life ends, Taoism uses rites of ritual deliverance to settle the “three hun souls” and “seven po souls,” helping them complete the transformation of life smoothly.

In Taoist rites, the ritual master creates a sacred energy field through stages such as fasting and purifying the body and setting up the altar and summoning the gods. With the soul banner he guides the “three hun souls” out of yin stagnation, and with the “fire of the heart-mind” he refines away the yin qi of the po souls, so that hun and po are fully separated.

2. Why Hold Rites of Deliverance for the “Three Hun Souls” and “Seven Po Souls”?

The Wondrous Scripture of Salvation from Suffering Spoken by the Heavenly Worthy of Numinous Treasure (of the Most High Dongxuan canon) says: “When the hun souls do not return to their places, yin and yang lose their harmony; when the po souls are not at peace, heaven and earth are shaken.” From this we can see that if the three hun souls do not find their proper place, not only does the deceased sink in suffering without escape, but the magnetic field of fate in the human world is also disturbed.

Taoist deliverance (also called “refinement and deliverance” or the “Yellow Register Fast”) is an important Taoist ritual service for delivering the dead. Through the ritual master's liturgy, scriptures and incantations, and inner refinement, it aims to rescue the souls of the dead who have sunk into the underworld or linger in the human world, helping them escape the sea of suffering and be reborn on a good path, while also resolving karmic retribution for the living and praying for blessings and dispelling calamity, so that “both the dead and the living benefit.”

As for the “three hun souls,” the rite guides Taiguang back to the pure and still “Qinghua Paradise of the East,” returning to the origin of life; it helps Shuangling repent and untie its knots, lightening its karmic obstructions, so that it enters the cycle of rebirth according to its good and evil causes and effects; and it guides Youjing back to the family bloodline to become an ancestral spirit that guards the descendants.

As for the “seven po souls,” through food bestowal and the transformation of malign influences, their stagnant yin qi is transformed into natural energy and returned to heaven and earth, so that they cause no harmful effects.

In fact, Taoist deliverance is not mysterious at all. Put simply, it is a rite that helps the hun and po souls find their proper “destination” after death and puts life energy back in its place. Just as a lost person needs a guide and a messy room needs tidying, deliverance acts as the “navigation” for souls that have “lost their home,” helping them straighten out their energy so that each returns to its place.

Looking at the “three hun souls” and “seven po souls” we discussed above: if, after a person dies, the “three hun souls” are trapped and the “seven po souls” are uneasy, not only does the soul suffer in the dark underworld, but it may also disturb the balance of yin and yang and affect the lives of people in the world of the living. Deliverance exists specifically to solve this problem—it is a “life rescue operation.” The ritual master purifies himself by fasting and cleansing the body, sets up the altar and hangs the soul banner as though raising a “signpost,” and through reciting scriptures, chanting incantations, and bestowing empowerment—as if entering the “pass code”—invites the gods to help point the way.

When it comes specifically to settling the souls, the rite helps the Taiguang soul shake off disturbance and return to the clarity and stillness of the world of its origin; it “clears away the karmic obstructions” of the Shuangling soul, letting it enter the cycle of rebirth unburdened; and it guides the Youjing soul back to the family bloodline to continue guarding the descendants.

The stagnant yin qi of the seven po souls is likewise transformed into natural energy through food bestowal and the transformation of malign influences, letting them return peacefully to heaven and earth. The whole process is like giving disordered life energy “a spa treatment,” freeing the soul from confusion and pain and restoring balance to the order of yin and yang. This is the most essential meaning of Taoist deliverance.

A true ritual of deliverance is by no means a mere formality; it is a microcosm of the workings of heaven and earth. The term “chaodu” (deliverance) comes from records in scriptures such as the Lingbao Scriptures and the True Scripture of the Great Cavern of Highest Clarity. It is also called “relief and refinement” and “refinement and deliverance,” and is one of the important Taoist ritual services dedicated to delivering the dead, relieving suffering, and settling souls.

3. Deliverance for the “Orphaned Souls of the Ten Directions”

This is universal deliverance for the spirits of the dead, orphaned souls, and wandering ghosts who have no master and no descendants, who died violent or sudden deaths, who receive no sacrifices, who have no place to go, and whom no one provides for. It aims to dissolve the resentment of orphaned souls, restore the balance of yin and yang, and accumulate merit for the donor. Common types include:

1. Those who died violent, sudden deaths, whose attachments are hard to let go because their deaths were so abrupt;

2. Those who left the world unnaturally through war, disaster, or accident, whose souls could not pass over peacefully;

3. Lonely old people with no descendants to provide for them, with no one to worship them after death and their incense cut off;

4. Ghosts and spirits wandering the earthly realm, without name or register, not knowing where to go;

5. Spirits of the dead forgotten in paupers' graveyards and old grave pits, ignored for a long time;

6. Souls who died wrongful deaths in the street under the earthly malign stars of the year's Annual Luck, still nursing their grievances and lingering in the human world.

Because these orphaned souls lack the nourishment of incense and the deliverance of descendants, their consciousness has not dispersed yet they are entangled in attachments, and they can only wander at the boundary between yin and yang. Their disordered energy easily disturbs the auras of the living, causing harm to health, setbacks in career, frequent disasters, and conflicts in relationships, and even such ill phenomena as evil spirits entering dreams, sudden terror, and strange occurrences in the home.

When Taoism sets up an altar to deliver the orphaned souls of the ten directions, it is in essence a compassionate practice of “universally saving all beings”: it both rescues masterless spirits of the dead and protects order in the world of the living. For the orphaned souls, the hunger and thirst, delusions, and karmic obstructions brought by long wandering are resolved; for the world of the living, once the orphaned souls are settled, the energy fields of yin and yang return to balance, reducing disturbance to the human world and bringing peace to communities and harmony to homes—achieving the virtuous cycle of “the dead delivered, the living at peace.”

The words of the Wondrous Scripture of the Most High for Resolving Grievances of Three Lives, “The three paths leave the long night; the five sufferings are all released from their faults,” are a true picture of their escape from suffering.

4. Deliverance for Ancestors of Past Generations

Everyone is born inheriting the bloodline of their ancestors, and the circumstances of the ancestors are closely bound up with the fortunes of their descendants. A classic of the Zhengyi school says: “When ancestors are sunk in darkness, descendants have difficulty prospering; when kin are delivered, the family gate shines.” If the ancestors have not been able to rest in peace and their yin souls have not returned to the right path, this rite, performed for deceased forebears and kin, aims to dissolve the entanglements through which the underworld affects descendants in the world of the living, to protect the flourishing fortunes of descendants, and at the same time to help the ancestors escape the sea of suffering in the underworld and be reborn in paradise. Common situations include:

1. Those who carried heavy karmic sins in life, whose yin souls are trapped in the underworld and suffer torment;

2. Those who received no deliverance after death, whose yin souls linger in the intermediate realm, wandering in confusion;

3. Those whose graves have inauspicious feng shui, so that the Shuangling soul is disturbed and cannot find peace;

4. Those who lack offerings of incense, so that the Youjing soul has nothing to rely on and loses its home.

These situations not only leave the ancestors themselves sunk in suffering without relief, but through the ties of the bloodline also affect descendants in the world of the living, leading to years of family misfortune, persistent illness, and blocked fortunes. Deliverance for ancestors of past generations dissolves these entanglements at their root, achieving the virtuous cycle of “the dead delivered, the living at peace.”

Deliverance for ancestors of past generations follows rigorous liturgical rules, and every step embodies reverence for the ancestors and sincere intention to deliver them:

1. Enshrining the spirit seat: a spirit seat or tablet for the ancestors is set up so that they have their “proper name and proper place” and a place to which deliverance can be directed, practicing the filial piety of “serving the dead as one serves the living.”

2. Burning petitions and presenting memorials: petitions, memorials, and warrants are written to set out the reasons for the deliverance; they are burned, praying for the gods to witness and protect, which gives the rite its sacred efficacy.

3. Burning treasures and bestowing food: paper ingots and paper money are burned as “underworld funds,” and ritual food is given to relieve the ancestors' hunger and thirst, helping them restore the energy of their consciousness.

4. Receiving and guiding them back to the right path: a “guiding lamp” lights the way and a “soul-leading banner” shows the direction, and by the power of chanted scriptures and incantations the ancestors are led out of the dark underworld to be reborn in a happy land or to enter the cycle of rebirth.

5. Deliverance for Karmic Creditors and Infant Spirits

For beings harmed in past and present lives, for souls who bear grudges, and for those who died wrongful deaths, this rite aims to untie the knots of resentment and sever bad karmic bonds, improving the fortunes and health of the living.

For the souls of infants lost through miscarriage, abortion, or early death, it aims to dissolve the resentment of the infant spirits and end their entanglement with parents and family, restoring peace to the home.

The karmic conditions involved in deliverance for karmic creditors and infant spirits are like the turning of the four seasons, each with its own form, and can be roughly grouped into four special kinds:

1. Infant spirits from abortion or miscarriage: because they were not born normally and were never entered in the registers of the underworld, they drift between yin and yang, sensitive and prone to resentment;

2. Wronged souls of violent death, trapped by hatred: having left the world through accident, murder, or other violent death, they harbor unwillingness and hatred and find it hard to let go;

3. “Karmic creditors” with unresolved grievances from past lives: bound to the living by causes and effects from previous lives, they come to entangle them because of grievances not yet settled;

4. Invisible attachments and repeated entanglements: they cling for long periods to living people or homes, affecting normal life by disturbing the energy field.

Because their karma is unresolved and their knots are hard to untie, these souls often form a “field of knotted grievance,” becoming an invisible obstacle that disturbs the lives of the living.

If such souls go long without proper deliverance, the living and their homes are prone to various ill phenomena:

1. Recurring nightmares, often of strange visions such as children crying or figures in white, with anxiety and unease of body and mind;

2. Difficulty having children, many obstacles in marriage, and constant setbacks in love;

3. Unexplained loss of money, frequent lawsuits and quarrels, a general decline in fortune, and many obstacles in whatever one does.

Among these, because of their special circumstances, infant spirits respond especially strongly to the energy field of their birth parents, and their resentment can directly affect the parents' health and fortunes. This must not be taken lightly.

For these special kinds of souls, Taoism has dedicated methods of deliverance, such as the “Flaming Mouth Iron Pot Food Bestowal Liturgy,” “Qingxuan Relief and Refinement,” and “Lingbao Relief and Refinement,” whose steps are rigorous and targeted:

1. Setting up the altar and inviting the masters: a “reconciliation altar” is set up, and the patriarchs and gods are reverently invited to go as envoys to the underworld, providing sacred empowerment for untying the knots of grievance;

2. Settling the spirits and bestowing food: food is offered specifically to infant spirits and other souls, and lotus seats are set out so that they have a place to go and feel cared for and respected;

3. Reciting scriptures and summoning the gods: the corresponding scriptures are recited, and the gods are summoned to open the gates of the dark realm, opening the road to liberation for the souls;

4. Repenting and untying the knots: a “text of repentance” and a “petition confessing guilt” are written, in which the living express their remorse and their wish to make amends, dissolving the souls' resentment;

5. Receiving and guiding them to a good path: finally the spirits of the dead are guided to let go of their attachments and rise to a good path, achieving the goal of turning grievance into blessing and severing the ties of harmful energy.

The heart of this kind of deliverance is “resolving grievances and untying knots.” It is not only the rescue of the souls but also an important way for the living to resolve their karma and improve their own fortunes. Through sincere repentance and solemn ritual, resentment turns into forgiveness and entanglement into blessing, finally bringing harmony and peace to both the realms of yin and yang.

6. Common Steps in Taoist Ritual Deliverance

1. Fasting and purifying the body: before the ritual service, the ritual master and the believers must fast and bathe to purify body and mind as a sign of sincerity; only then can the ritual reach the hearing of heaven and achieve its purpose.

2. Preparing the altar: before the altar is set up, banners such as the soul-summoning banner are usually prepared. Both a yin altar and a yang altar must be set up; on the yin altar are placed the spirit tablet of the deceased, fresh flowers and fruit offerings, three cups of tea and four of wine, three meat and four vegetable dishes, incense, paper treasures and candles, rice and steamed buns, and of course some paper money to be burned.

3. Ascending the altar to perform the rite: the ritual master ascends the altar, purifies it, forms hand seals and chants incantations, performs pacing the stars of the Dipper, and recites scriptures such as the Wondrous Scripture of the Most High Dongxuan Lingbao for Saving from Suffering and Removing Sins and the Scripture of Eliminating Sins in Fengdu Spoken by the Primordial Heavenly Worthy. If the deceased is a woman, the Wondrous Scripture of Deliverance from the Blood Lake of Fengdu Spoken by the Heavenly Worthy Taiyi Who Saves from Suffering must also be added.

4. Bestowing food and burning treasures: after the ritual master has finished the ritual service, food must also be bestowed (tea, wine, and rice): tea, wine, and rice are scattered all around for the souls to eat, comforting them; paper money and paper ingots must also be burned to provide “underworld funds” for the souls. Some people also burn various paper effigies.

5. Dedicating the merit and concluding the vow: the merit of the deliverance is dedicated to the intended souls, the Heavenly Worthy Who Saves from Suffering (Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun) and other gods are prayed to receive and guide them, and peace is prayed for on behalf of the living.

For those who had karmic obstructions or attachments in life or who died unnatural deaths, whose souls are sunk in the sea of suffering or linger in the human world, the distinctive Taoist rite of delivering and rescuing souls—through the ritual master's inner refinement, scriptures and incantations, and the reception and guidance of the immortals—can separate the hun and po souls of the dead, “dissolve karma, pardon sins, resolve grievances, and untie knots” for them, dissolve their karmic obstructions and resentment, help them escape the sea of suffering and be reborn on a good path, find rest, and restore the balance of the energy fields of yin and yang. For the living, it dissolves the negative effects brought by entanglement with the souls—illness and disaster, blocked fortunes, and unrest at home—and at the same time accumulates merit for the living and improves their blessings in this life, achieving “the dead delivered, the living at peace,” that is, “the souls of the dead delivered to heaven, and for the living, calamity dispelled and blessings arriving.”

The Taoist liturgy of deliverance: Boundless blessings arise, Heavenly Worthy!