Like my page of Images, this is a mere selection of the Li family Daoists’ written documents, mainly to entice you to consult my many posts on their ritual practice (including Recopying ritual manuals). You can also see Li Manshan writing these documents in my film.
Ancestral master tablet of the Li family Daoists, referring to Zhang Daoling:
We make offerings to Ancestral Master,
Heavenly Worthy of the Grand Ritual who Supports the Teachings of the Three Heavens,
Assists the Numinous and Embodies the Way
The wangshu petitions, written by Zhao Youliang.
Duilian couplet at entrance to scripture hall.
Tomb tile, front and back.
Yangzhuang placard announcing the death.
The Thanking the Earth ritual (xietu) has been virtually obsolete since 1953, but we have some memorials:
1980 copy by Li Peisen of Thanking the Earth memorial with genealogy by his father Li Tang, c1930.
Thanking the Earth memorial, Xingyuan village 1942.
Thanking the Earth memorial with genealogy, Li Qing 1989. Li Qing inserted the genealogy into a memorial without holding the ritual.
Placard for Thanking the Earth, followed by Placard for a jiao Offering, in Li Qing’s collection of ritual documents, mid-1980s:
In 2013, as we surveyed a growing haul of over forty ritual manuals in Li Manshan’s collection, I exclaimed: “Wow—I never realized you still had so many scriptures!” He chuckles whimsically: “Ha, neither did I!”
Ritual manuals of Li Manshan, via Li Qing.
Ritual manuals of Li Hua, handed down by his father Li Peisen.
Page from Li Peisen’s Pardon manual.
Treasury document, with envelope.
Stephen Jones: a blog 