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Jiji ru lüling

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Talismanic drawing of the thunder deity Deng Bowen which contains the characters jiji ru lüling inside his body, from Daofa Huiyuan, Ming dynasty

Jiji ru lüling (Chinese: 急急如律令; pinyin: jíjí rúlǜlìng) is a Taoist spell used to ward off evil spirits. Taken from Han official documents, it became a set Taoist idiom in both verbal and written forms. Almost every Taoist charm and ritual concludes with the statement to show that the invoked spirit entity must follow the orders of the incantation without delay.[1][2]: 49  The literal meaning in English is "promptly, promptly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances".[3] English sinologist Arthur Waley suggests that "no one knows" if lüling was a spirit or whether it means "the Law".[4] Localization attempts have rendered it as "obey orders presto" or "swift and uplift".[5][6]

The incantation is sometimes recited as jiji ru [names of deities] lüling, for instance, jiji ru Shangdi lüling.[7] Characters such as she (攝, 'summon'), chi (敕, 'decree') and ji (疾, 'swiftly') are often added after the phrase.[8]

Origin

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Pronouncing
Female Mandarin Chinese pronunciation
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The incantation was originally a phrase appended to official documents during the Han dynasty, meaning "let this order be carried out immediately".[9] It is related to other standard phrases that appear at the end of official Han dynasty documents, such as ru lüling (如律令, 'in accordance with the statutes and ordinances') and ru zhaoshu (如詔書, 'in accordance with the imperial decree').[3] Following Emperor Wu of Han's adoption of Dong Zhongshu's proposal to establish Confucianism as the theoretical foundation of the imperial state, the expression became increasingly rare in official state documents.[10] Eventually, It was adopted by the priests of folk magic, whose magical writs usually ended with the fixed expression ru lüling. One simple pattern used as a magical write was "dispel all of the spells in accordance with the statutes and ordinances".[2]: 48 

Towards the Eastern Han, more and more tombs were built purely of stone, with charms inscribed and "warding-off evil" pictures painted or carved inside. Some pictorial slabs have been discovered inscribed with the phrase jiji ru lüling.[11] The expression is also found in Han dynasty tomb texts, first appearing on an ordinance jar dated to 92 ce and in a tomb contract of 161 ce. These funerary texts, directed to otherworldly officials, acted both as passports introducing the dead to the post-mortem bureaucracy and as commands ordering the dead to stay away from and not harm the living. One of these documents reads:[3]

The subject deceased on the yisi 乙巳 day [the forty-second of the sexagesimal cycle] has the demon name "Heavenly Brightness". The Divine Master of the Heavenly Thearch has already been informed as to your name. Promptly remove yourself three thousand leagues away! Should you not go away, then the [lacuna] of Southern Mountain will be ordered to come and devour you. Promptly, in accordance with the statutes and ordinances!

Zhang Daoling introduced the term into Taoism.[12] Han dynasty Taoist slips generally bore the phrase ru lüling, and only one instance contains jiji ru lüling, which has sparked controversy in academia.[13] Starting from the Northern and Southern dynasties, the phrase jiji ru lüling appeared more frequently in Taoist scriptures, and its forms also became more varied, for example, ji ru lüling at the end of the burial clothing lists unearthed in the Turfan region.[14]

There are other theories that Lü Ling is a name of a spirit in the Taoist pantheon, who attends the Thunder god and is very swift of foot, and jiji ru lüling means "go and do it quickly, as quickly as Lü Ling does it".[15] [16][17]

Meaning and effects

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Painting from Dunhuang whose caption ends with jiji ru lüling, Five Dynasties
Jiji ru lüling appears in a spell to avert epidemic diseases, Qing dynasty

In the Taoist theological system, ritual masters usually directly address each of the spirits by their names to show that the ritual masters have the ability to control the spirits. The phrase jiji ru lüling in incantations is used in order to stress that these orders must be executed immediately; otherwise, the spirits will be punished.[2]: 49  The term has been identified as a bureaucratic feature of Taoist ritual from early on, where the practitioner seeks the aid of higher powers to make incantation effective. Once sanctioned by this authority, the practitioner acquires immense power that "is commensurate with that of Heaven and Earth". Enveloped by this power, demons "have nowhere to hide", and the cure is guaranteed.[18][19]

Usage of the spell-command has spread into the rituals of Esoteric Buddhism, being written as ji zhou ru lü ling (急咒如律令, 'quickly let the spell [be effective] in accordance with the command of the law').[20] After being transmitted to Japan, the inscription has also been adapted into Shugendō and Onmyōdō,[21][22] as well as being sometimes written in kanji as 喼急如律令.[23] Ji chi lüling (急勑律令) is also considered a common variant of the phrase, meaning "quickly, according to issued statutes and orders".[24]

Since this phrase is regarded as a synecdoche for Taoist ritual, the daughter of Taishang Laojun was named Jiji.[25] A well-established Taoist convention, the idiom is also cited in literary works, exemplified by Ji Long Wen (祭龍文, To Beseech the Dragon King) composed by Tang dynasty poet Bai Juyi to beseech for rainfall:[26]

若三日之內，一雨滂沱，是龍之靈，亦人之幸，禮無不報。神其聽之，急急如律令。
If there is heavy rain within three days, it will be the Dragon King’s blessing on human beings. We mortals will offer ritual sacrifice, Lord Dragon! We beseech you to consider this request! Urgent as law.

In modern times, the spell is commonly used in Chinese movies and TV shows.[9] The frequent depiction of onmyōji in many works of fiction has likewise led to the recurring presence of the incantation within Japanese popular culture.[27][28]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Xinyu Yuan; Hongbo Li (2021). ""Fu" and "Zhou"—A preliminary study on "language worship" and its symbolization". Forum for Linguistic Studies. 3 (1): 104–117. doi:10.18063/fls.v3i1.1253.
  2. 1 2 3 Jerry Alan Johnson (2006). Daoist Magical Incantations, Hand Seals, and Star Stepping: The Secret Teaching of Esoteric Daoist Magic. The International Institute of Daoist Magic. ISBN 9781885246417.
  3. 1 2 3 Amy Lynn Miller (2008). "jiji ru lüling". In Fabrizio Pregadio (ed.). Encyclopedia of Taoism. Routledge Curzon Encyclopedias of Religion. Routledge. p. 549. ISBN 9780700712007.
  4. ↑ Chen Yan (April 3, 2025). "哪吒念的什么咒？". Beijing Evening News (in Simplified Chinese).
  5. ↑ Lu, Gusun (2015). 中华汉英大词典（上） [The Chinese-English dictionary]. Shanghai: Fudan University Press. p. 968. ISBN 9787309109542.
  6. ↑ Ren Guanqing (February 18, 2025). ""哪吒"出海 好的翻译也是创造". China Youth Daily (in Simplified Chinese).
  7. ↑ Ji Hongzhong, ed. (2020). 道教大辞典 [The Great Dictionary of Taoism] (in Simplified Chinese). Shanghai: Shanghai Lexicographical Publishing House. p. 249. ISBN 9787532650569.
  8. ↑ "文史丨急急如律令，到底有多急？". www.cqcb.com (in Simplified Chinese). May 23, 2025.
  9. 1 2 Zhu Yiwen (April 8, 2025). "Three Ways to Become a Taoist Deity". Sixth Tone.
  10. ↑ Chia ên-chi (March 25, 2025). "「急急如律令」原來不是道士專用 2000年前皇帝就在講了". China Times (in Traditional Chinese).
  11. ↑ Wu Hung (1987). "The Earliest Pictorial Representations of Ape Tales: An Interdisciplinary Study of Early Chinese Narrative Art and Literature". T'oung Pao. 73. Leiden: Brill: 86–112.
  12. ↑ Chen Pin (February 19, 2025). "急急如律令到底是什么意思". China Youth Daily (in Simplified Chinese) – via People's Daily Online.
  13. ↑ Lu Xixing (2003). "宋代永初汉简的整理和研究" [Arrangement and Research in the Song Dynasty on Han Slips of Yongchu]. Journal of Nanchang University(Humanities and Social Sciences) (in Simplified Chinese) (4): 72–77. ISSN 1006-0448.
  14. ↑ Li Linjing (2024). "论吐鲁番随葬衣物疏中的"急急如律令"" [On the “Urgent as Laws and Decrees” in the Turfan Burial Clothes List]. Turfanological Research (in Simplified Chinese). 4: 100-107+154. doi:10.14087/j.cnki.65-1268/k.2024.04.004.
  15. ↑ Ch'en Hsiang-ch'un (1942). "Examples of Charm against Epidemics with Short Explanations" (pdf). Folklore Studies. 1: 37–54. doi:10.2307/3182926.
  16. ↑ Li fêng-mao (December 2000). "急急如律令" (in Traditional Chinese). National Academy for Educational Research. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022.
  17. ↑ Zhang Nan (August 26, 2019). "《哪吒》海外上映 網友為翻譯操碎心". Yangtse Evening Post (in Traditional Chinese) – via People's Daily Online.
  18. ↑ Yan Liu (2019). "Words, Demons, and Illness Incantatory Healing in Medieval China". Asian Medicine. 14. Brill: 1–29. doi:10.1163/15734218-12341433.
  19. ↑ Liu, Jingyu (2020). The Unimpeded Passage: The Making of Universal Salvation Rites and Buddho-Daoist Interactions in Medieval China (pdf) (PhD thesis). Harvard University.
  20. ↑ Henrik H. Sørensen (2024). "On the Presence and Influence of Daoism in the Buddhist Material from Dunhuang". In Lewis Doney; Carmen Meinert; Henrik H. Sørensen; Yukiyo Kasai (eds.). Buddhism in Central Asia III. Dynamics in the History of Religions. Vol. 14. Brill. pp. 145–182. doi:10.1163/9789004687288_007. ISBN 9789004687288.
  21. ↑ Masuo Shin’ichirô (2000). "Daoism in Japan". In Livia Kohn (ed.). Daoism Handbook. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 4 China. Vol. 14. Brill. pp. 821–842. doi:10.1163/9789004391840_029. ISBN 9789004112087.
  22. ↑ "急急如律令". Daijisen (in Japanese). Shogakukan – via Kotobank.
  23. ↑ Yamazato, Junichi (2007). "「喼急如律令」考" [A Remark on the Kyukyu nyo ritsuryo]. 日本東洋文化論集 (in Japanese). 5. University of the Ryukyus: 1–18. hdl:20.500.12000/2370. ISSN 1345-4781.
  24. ↑ Živa PETROVČIČ (2024). ""Marvellous Scripture of the Divine Incantations of the Emperor of the North" Through the Lens of Social Crisis". Asian Studies. 12 (3). University of Ljubljana Press: 101–128. doi:10.4312/as.2024.12.3.101-128. ISSN 2232-5131.
  25. ↑ Mark Meulenbeld (2020). "Classifying a Local Cult in Hunan: Daoist Ritual, Ideology, and Efficacy of the "General Who Quashed Bandits"". In Philip Clart; Vincent Goossaert; Shu-wei Hsieh (eds.). Daoism and Local Cults: Rethinking the Paradigms. Center for Chinese Studies Research Studies. Center for Chinese Studies. pp. 127–165. ISBN 9789576786914.
  26. ↑ Aiqing Wang (2021). "Cultural Allusions and Humorous Effects of Occult Depictions in Night Ferry". Anaphora: Journal of Language, Literary, and Cultural Studies. 4 (2): 105–127. doi:10.30996/anaphora.v4i2.5805. ISSN 2656-3967.
  27. ↑ タニグチリウイチ (January 16, 2021). "安倍晴明がバリスタや隣人に？　"陰陽師"がフィクションの世界で人気者になったワケ". Real Sound (in Japanese).
  28. ↑ タニグチリウイチ (August 7, 2025). "『べらぼう』や『光る君へ』で話題の"呪術監修"とは？　呪いのプロたちが防ぐ"効力"". Real Sound (in Japanese).
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