This proclamation is issued so that all the Taoist community may know it: all who hold office in this monastery, and all members of the community, must hold in the highest regard the jade statutes and monastic rules of the Most High Patriarch of the Tao. Whoever oversteps these bounds and violates the precepts shall be dealt with according to the rules below.
1. Whoever strikes the wooden signal out of order or makes noise during the period of stillness shall be punished by kneeling for the length of an incense stick;
2. Whoever breaks the rules and loses all measure, relying on force and refusing to submit, shall be flogged and expelled;
3. Whoever privately pockets the offerings and funds of the Golden Hall for personal gain shall be publicly dismissed;
4. Whoever defies the monastic rules and will not accept discipline shall be expelled;
5. Whoever openly amasses wealth or makes off with the property of the monastery shall be expelled;
6. Whoever commits adultery, theft, lewdness, or similar offenses shall be burned (fenxing).
Carry on the benevolent tradition of our masters and lineage, and widely uphold the dignified conduct of the Taoist way. Let all of you observe these rules with awe; whoever dares to violate them shall never be pardoned.
Hereby proclaimed.
Taihe Palace