Jiao Rite Petition for Loosing Misfortune at the Southern Star南辰解厄醮禮文
道貫三才。幹化樞於天上。神妙萬物。掌生籍於人間。伏念臣位襲投艱。念深防患。常涉四時之遷代。尙無一日之宴安。智微先見之明。問於卜正。𮓂有可移之理。當者偶人。玆憑汎汎之舟。將付滔滔之水。庶歆嘉薦。僉借眞庥。凡曰災萌。隨東流而不返。俾予壽籙。與南嶽以彌長。
The Way threads through Heaven, earth, and humankind, and above the heavens it holds the pivot of response; the divine makes all things wondrous and holds the ledger of life in the human world.
Prostrate, I consider that I, your servant, have inherited a place cast into hardship, and I think deeply of warding off trouble; passing always through the turning and alternating of the four seasons, I have not had one day of easy rest. My wisdom has little of the brightness that foresees, so I asked the officers of divination, and they said there is a principle by which it may be shifted, and that what will bear it in my stead is a straw figure.
So I would load it on a boat that floats light upon the water and commit it to the brimming stream. I pray that you partake of these beautiful offerings and lend me the true shade in full.
Let whatever may be called a sprout of calamity follow the eastward-flowing water and never return; and let my span in the ledger of life grow longer still, together with the Southern Marchmount (南嶽).