War and Chaos in the Sea of Talismans

This book takes the Daoist secret art of “dispatching troops and generals” as its core, combining historical documents, the transmission of folk lineages, and contemporary Daoist priests’ own accounts to systematically examine the origins, classifications, and uses of the Daoist “armies and horses” system. From the “Heavenly Court’s deployment of troops” in Zhengyi ordination rites, to “borrowing yin soldiers” in Maoshan and Meishan traditions, and then to the “summoning and dispatching of divine generals” in thunder magic, it reveals how this hidden culture has safeguarded Daoist traditions and quelled evil and disasters over the course of a thousand years.