Thread by @edwardW2

In this thread I shall attempt to translate the inscriptions on these four sheets that make up the "Benefactor attracting talisman" 貴人接引符

https://twitter.com/edwardW2/status/1487292453770072064

Some notes:
Although these four talismans are sold as a set, it appears some of the yellow sheets- in particular the first- is occasionally sold separately under the name of 小百解 - small Hundred Resolvings shopee.com.my/%E7%B2%BE%E8%A…

these talismans are actually structured as writs/petitions. They have gaps in the text, into which you are supposed to fill in with your name and details. Once everything is filled in, you burn it to send the petition to Heaven.
In practise this is seldom done.

Below is a translation of the inscriptions on the 'cover sheet'
A: 接引貴人符 Talisman to attract benefactors
B1: Attract wealth, enter treasure
B2: Family harmonious and at peace
C: Benefactor of The East
D Benefactor of the North
E Stellar lord of Wealth
F: Benefactor Lad

G Benefactor of the west
H: Benefactor of the North
I: A sigil. The one above shows the "correct" sigil. Some papers have the wrong sigil, as shown in the picture below (marked with an X) zh-cn.facebook.com/FuDeZhengShenM…
J Wealth Bringing Lad

According to some sources, you are supposed to write your name and eight characters on this sheet. zh-cn.facebook.com/sixeighteight/…, writing them on the left if you are a man, and on the right if you are a woman; alternately if there is no space, you write as a line on the bottom

2nd sheet
A:天解賜福禎祥地解化難生恩Heaven resolves, bestowing fortune& auspiciousness; Earth resolves, transforming difficulty, birthing kindness
B: 大成北斗七元星君百解符 THE GREATLY ACCOMPLISHED SEVEN PRIME STELLAR WORTHIES OF THE NORTHERN DIPPERS' HUNDRED RESOLVING TALISMAN

C: 天恩賜福消災百解驅邪截令 Warrant of heaven's grace to bestow fortune, dissolve disasters, resolve and dispel the Hundred Evils
This is followed by three sigils and three human figures. The seal-script above the middle figure seems to be 賜福星君- Wealth bestowing Stellar Lord

... whilst the one of the leftmost figure is 賜[祥?]星君
[Auspiciousnes???] bestowing stellar Worthy.

I cannot read the seal script with confidence, so I would be most glad if anyone can confirm this.

D (this is the body of the writ)
奉為祈福消災免厄化難生恩迎祥信士
WHEREAS, for the purpose of praying for fortune, dissolving disaster, remitting form evil, transforming of difficulties, generating of Goodness, attracting of auspiciousness the Believer...

__ 自命___ 年—月—日—時敬奉
N.N. being born of [b] year [c] month [d] day [e] hour, respectfully submits
[replace N.N. with your name, b, c, d, e, with the date &c of your birth. The sources are unclear as to whether you write the date in the Lunar calendar, or as stems/branches

合上天香 日月上求平安
With incense, to Heaven [f], Daily seeking Peace
天命永交貴子合 月。 日
That the Fate of Heaven shall for ever be harmonious with your Son貴子. Being the [g] Month [h] Day
日月天明
Sun, moon and heaven bright ...

[note: it seems the gap marked F is not filled in. According to some sources, Gaps G and H are to be filled in with the date where the talisman is to be burnt. javewutaoismplace.blogspot.com/2017/03/blog-p… but some leave it blank facebook.com/FKPATrading/ph…]

... 天上比求呈 生比化難凶星下解
The following are sought from Heaven: That difficulties are transformed, and the Evil Stars are resolved

一解十災百難。二解四季凶星 。三解百無禁忌
First; resolve the 10 disasters and hundred hardships
2nd resolve the evil stars of the 4 seasons
3rd resolve, [so that] the hundred matters are not prohibited

四解瘡疥跌星。五解官非口舌。六解家宅不安
4th resolve ulcers, scabies, the stars of falling
5th, resolve official disputes and slander
6th resolve unquiet at home
七解水火賊盜。
7th resolve [disasters of] water, fire, and bandits

八解日上凶星。九解不祥之兆
8th resolve the daily evil stars
9th resolve evil omens
十解夫妻不睦。十一解烏主惡巷。十二解百病消除。
10th resolve disagreements between husband and wife
11th resolve "Darkness living in an evil alley"
12th resolve the 100 sicknesses; dissolve them

[I am not terribly sure as to what is the meaning of the 11th evil.烏主惡巷 On reflection it *might* be referring to evil landlords??? but I do not know anything for certain. Insights welcome]

天師賜福保佑安寧驅邪出外引福歸堂
[May] the Heavenly Master bestow blessings, protection, peace; dispel evils; bring in fortune from without back to the Hall
太上老君急急如律
Swiftly! Swiftly! as ordered by Taishang Laojun!

—年_月_日沐恩弟子叩
Submitted by the Purified disciple on Year [i] Month [j] Day [k]

Update: The most learned @Zhongnin tells us that the inscription is 賜祿星君-- Rank Bestowing Stellar Lord

https://twitter.com/edwardW2/status/1489121395741102080

The third sheet.
A: Longevity, Fortune: Protection of peace evermore
B: A set of Golden Tablets to bestow Fortune, rank, longevity
C: Golden Tablet to bestow Fortune, rank, longevity
D Golden Tablet to remit disaster& evil
E Golden Tablet to remit evils of punishment

F Golden Tablet to remit evil stars
G Golden Tablet to remit every kind of evil

[inscriprions C-G are depicted on what presumably are the golden tablets themselves]

Some sources say you do not need to write anything on this sheet facebook.com/teacherSAMKOK/… but other sources say you must write your name on the bottom facebook.com/ShengTaT88Trad… (males R, females L)

The third sheet
A: 金玉滿堂長命富貴
Gold and jade fill the hall: long life, riches and nobility
B：大聖消愆証果滅罪天尊
The Most Holy Offence dissolving. Proving (read 証 as證) of Results, Offence Extinguishing Heavenly Worthy

C( on tablet) 洪恩赦宥消災解厄赦書
Vastly Kind Pardon Forgiveness Document, [that] dissolves disaster and resolve evils.

D is the text of the writ itself.
人生，天地皆歸造化之中。合稟明陰陽侣照臨之中。
Human life, heaven and earth all follow the Middle path of the universe造化; Bestowed and accompanied with the Brilliance of Yin and Yang

或富或貴，前生之所積。或貧或賤，當時所受勞怨乎。Riches and nobility arise from [virtue] accumulated in previous lives; Poverty and want come from the wrongs that one [inflicted] presently

天莫精。天地皆積德於凕凕之中，修明即於綿綿之記。
[how is] Heaven Not Numinous? Heaven and earth collect Virtue amidst the cold, and cultivate it brilliantly in the continuous records.
伏侶
WHEREAS

Update:
In light of the much better readings of the text that @Zhongnin gave, I shall retranslate the third sheet in due course.

RETRANSLATION OF THE THIRD SHEET:

The translations of parts A, B and C of this sheet need not be affected. However, we shall retranslate part D - the body of the writ- in accordance with the parsing of the text kindly given by @Zhongnin-- to which I am most indebted.

人生天地，皆歸造化之中；合稟陰陽，俱明照臨之中。
Humanity, life, heaven and earth, all follow the mean of Creation. Harmonised with Yin and Yang, they all reside in its brilliance

或富或貴，前生之所積。
Be they rich or be they noble; this is from the benefits accrued from former lives.
或貧或賤，當時之所受。
Be they poor or be they impoverished; such is their present lot.

勞怨乎天，莫精夫地，
Laboriously complaining to heaven, [denying the essence of earth,?]
皆積德於凕凕之中，即修明於綿綿之記。
Accumulate virtue within the darkness,
And thus the bright registers shall be rectified

[I am reading the last pair of lines above as an injunction to do good deeds without expecting temporal recognition, for by doing so, the records of one’s fate would be rectified to one’s favour]

伏侶 THIS

元皇致教宄明請福之文。
PRIMORDIAL EMPOROR’S DOCUMENT FOR REFORMING SINS AND SEEKING FORTUNE

請為 Being made by

——府——縣——鄉——堡—社恩信士
Believer N.N. of _prefecture__ county __ village__ fort___ association of soil-altars.

保祝迎香福信士————蓋合家人等叩，日相成貫子
The believer, NN, with family, and such people, bowing together, seeking to be Noble children (reading 貫子 as 貴子)

大德伏惟 with great virtue, seeks :
一赦了千年罪
First, remission of the the sins of a millennium

二赦了萬年愁
2nd, remission of a myriad years’ sadness
三赦年辰明早
Third, remission of [A short life] (reading 明 as命)
四赦禍患無侵
Fourth, remission that all accidents and afflictions
五赦夫妻反目
Fifth, remission of husband and wife not seeing eye to eye

六赦兒女虛花
6th remission of Sons and daughters being vacuous and dissolute
七赦冤家欠生保
7th remission, and protection from those [one has] wronged and who seek [one’s] life
八赦前生免災
8th remission of the disasters of former lives

九赦咒阻良綠
9th remission of curses and spells [replacing them with?] good roots
十赦無事好生
9th remission so that that nothing bad will happen, and for a good life

以上或有或無伏乞辰肴
皇慈伏降恩無案，祈伏諸百福迎祥
Be there or be there not [the above problems] these wishes are submitted, hoping (reading 肴 as 希) that
The Emperor shall shower his kindness, and that there shall be no incidents; ...

and praying that the hundred fortunes and Auspiciousness shall descend.

謹蝶
THIS DOCUMENT (reading蝶 as碟) REVERENTLY SUBMITTED
年——月——日教行。
the DD of MM of YYY.

*** *** ***
I hope this translation has been better than the last; if my readers can detect any errors and/or suggest any improvements, I would be most glad to hear of them.

further notes:
1- as @Zhongnin points out, the correct reading should be

https://twitter.com/edwardW2/status/1490261952437780481

牒- [I mistyped 碟= plate 😳]

@Zhongnin 2- AAAAAARGH i missed a line!!!!!
Before the words 請為 Being made by , there should be this sentence:

太上垂彌廣示祈安無欲研執奏須伏意照敬送

https://twitter.com/edwardW2/status/1490260903618437125/

Roughly:
太上垂彌，廣示祈安無欲
"[to the] The most high [one], overhanging and filling, [we] broadly manifest [a wish] to pray for peace, [and we shall] desire nothing;
研執奏須伏意照敬送
carefully holding, and respectfully submitting this memorial
請為 Being made by [etc]

The thing is, @Zhongnin has shown that these lines are probably a [rather garbled] version of the Nine Emperors petition, 庭參九皇表 found in Juan 5 of the "Shangqing Lingbao Documents" 上清靈寶文檢

https://twitter.com/Zhongnin/status/1490268628683407361

The relevant lines being
元皇設教 廣開玉簡之文，
"The Primal Emperor who arranges teachings,
[who] broadly opens the text of the Jade Book [...]

https://twitter.com/Zhongnin/status/1490269104070029314

太上垂科 特闡瓊都之典。
The Most High, descend on this rite; uniquely explicate the documents of the Jade Capital"

An alternative reconstruction would go:
元皇設教 究明請福之文，
"The primal Emperor who sets up the teaching,
Illuminate to the utmost this petition of fortune;

https://twitter.com/Zhongnin/status/1490272530384392194

太上垂科 廣示祈安之典。”
The most High One, descend on this rite;
broadly manifest the document for praying for peace"

Readers literate in chinese may notice that these characters are very similar in shape to the ones in the

Readers literate in chinese may notice that the different characters are actually very similar in shape to one another (eg 致 vs 設; 宄 vs 究). As such they are probably scribal corruptions...

caused by trying to reconstruct the texts on worn-out woodblocks (as @Zhongnin states).

https://twitter.com/Zhongnin/status/1490274253152817153

Recall that such texts are extremely ephemeral (they are intended to be burnt, after all) and the blocks would be used 'till they are almost illegible...

to maximise their value. This would necessarily create confusion when new versions are made. In turn, the fact that this document is burnt almost as soon as it is written, would militate against anyone noticing such corruptions.

Fortunately, we have another version of the text: The greater hundred resolving talisman:

https://twitter.com/edwardW2/status/1488562787643117570

From a cursory glance, there seem to be *some* differences between the two texts. However, as I am rather tired, I must leave this comparison to another time...