Taoist talismans (符箓, Fulu): their origins and development, the eight categories, Lingbao talismanic methods, and why talismans are held to be efficacious.
A brief look at the talismanic formulas of the Lingbao school: the difference between talismans and registers, the nine orthodox stages of writing a talisman and the four parts of a Lingbao talisman, a Yellow Register Fast on Mount Gezao, and questions on lineage, the nine-character mantra, and materials.
Through eight aspects—materials, ritual procedure, inner refinement, orthodox lineage, the primordial spirit, virtue, uses, and transmission—this article explains that Taoist talismans are rooted in inner refinement and virtue in accord with heaven's heart, and why cinnabar, pine-soot ink, and peach wood are used.
Drawing on the Great Meaning of the Mysterious Gate of Dongxuan Lingbao and the Seven Slips from the Cloudy Satchel, this article introduces the Eight Forms of Taoist talismanic script—heavenly, divine, earthly, inner, outer, ghost, Xia, and Rong-Yi writing—with their origins, shapes, and representative texts.
On the protective role of Taoist amulets and luck-changing talismans: using the flying-eagle talisman as an example, it shows that writing talismans requires incantations and hand seals, and, citing the Qingwei Elixir Instructions, the Corpus of Taoist Ritual, Zhang Jixian, Sa Shoujian, and Mo Yueding, that their efficacy rests on inner refinement.
A survey of the history of Taoist talismans, from ancient peach-wood charms and Han prophetic texts to their adoption by Taoism, their Song-Yuan height with the thunder rites, and their Ming-Qing spread among the people, with the Eight Forms and Six Scripts and the three systems of celestial, geographic, and bodily talismans.
Why do Taoist talismans work? Citing the Corpus of Taoist Ritual and other scriptures, this article explains that a talisman is not mere cinnabar and ink but a token uniting spirit and qi, which only a maker of utmost sincerity and refined inner qi can empower, and traces the thunder-rite talismans since the Song and Yuan.