Dissolving Calamities on Xiayuan
On the fifteenth of the tenth month temples open the registers of calamity; the faithful fast and offer petitions asking the Water Official to untie the knots of misfortune before winter closes in.
水
下元水官解厄大帝
Official of Water Who Dissolves Misfortune
The Lower Yuan
Festival · 15th day of the 10th lunar month
The Lower Yuan
On the fifteenth of the tenth month, the Official of Water examines the conduct of mortals and dissolves their misfortunes. Craftsmen once worshipped him as patron of metalwork on that day.
- Tablet of release
- Flowing waters
- The inspection of mortal deeds
Festival · 15th day of the 10th lunar month
History · 史记
Historical Record
The Water Official, Dissolver of Calamities, completes the Three Officials. His festival is Xiayuan, the fifteenth of the tenth month — late autumn, when the waters return to rest. As Heaven bestows blessings and Earth absolves sins, Water dissolves calamities and obstacles: the faithful offer petitions, and the Water Official reviews the registers and releases them from the knots of misfortune.
In the ancient Celestial Master rite, the third copy of the handwritten petition was sunk in water — the river itself as courier to the divine.
Stories of the Divine
Sinking Petitions in Water
In the Three Officials Handwritten Petition rite the third copy of the confession was sunk in the river — water as living courier, carrying human words to the water realm.
Classical Sources
- 01
三國志·張魯傳
Records the Three Officials Handwritten Petition rite that anchors the cult of the Water Official.
- 02
夢粱錄
The Song memoir of Lin'an recording Xiayuan observances in the southern capital.