‘Cuisheng qingshen’ 催生請神 (Inviting the gods for speeding up childbirth), Qishen zouge, 764-65.
I reckon that the gods’ powers are glaringly glorious; they transform and cultivate the myriads of lives. The divine virtues are brightly manifest, and they spread hidden merits to the ten thousand surnames. Whenever there is a prayer, it will always be responded to. Now XX, a worshipper of the gods from XX village, together with all family members, [?] incense to first pray to the Noble Door Gods and Earth Gods. Could we ask the clerks on duty to descend to the incense altar and receive our sincere prayer? We have chosen the XX day of XX month in XX year to cautiously prepare a banquet of pure wine and meat. We hope to ask the clerks to forward our sincere invitations to: Marshall Gao of the Ninth Heaven Who Sends Sons, the Great God of the Ninth Heaven Who Supervises Childbirth, the Primordial God of the Ninth Heaven Who Administers Childbirth, the Sage Mother Who Is the Lady Daughter of the Eastern Peak, the Sage Mother Who Guards Rooms and Who Is the Primordial Lord Protecting the Foetuses, the Grandmother Who Speeds up Childbirth and Who Is the Consort Protecting Childbirth, the Divine Lady Who Carries and Sends [Sons], and the Sagely Crowd of a Hundred Sons. We burn incense again to invite: the Noble Gods of Five Blessings and Great Ferocity in the two palaces at Gucheng and Zhishan, and all furious divine soldiers included in the Register of Sacrifice, to descend together to the incense altar and widely share the offerings.
In my concerns, I, XX, living in this world, have had the joy of seeing prosperity and good fortune. On this day, I bow to ask for a favour from the great gods. What I pray for whole-heartedly is no other than the matter of my daughter-in-law XX who is now heavily pregnant. As the date of childbirth draws closer, we are deeply worried about any misfortunes arising from the stars. We are also concerned that there would be difficulties in her childbirth. We pray with all our hearts for the birth of a baby and for the safety of the mother during delivery. None of these can be achieved by human effort but instead all indeed rely on the gods’ merits. Rituals of protection are performed in advance, and we wish for a safe childbirth.
I reckon that the relief from the last month of a pregnancy fully depends on [the gods’] silent protection. At the time of childbirth, it all relies on [the gods’] hidden assistance. We look up to the gods’ light of favour, and bow to express our sincerity. With wine in the goblets, we cautiously offer the first libation. I reckon that for the safety of the baby in the womb, one would pray to avoid any dangers. For a smooth childbirth, one would wish to celebrate the reunion of the family. We pray to the gods with divine power and humbly wish for their protection. With wine in the goblets, we again present a second libation. I reckon that the newborn baby will need purity and luck to fulfil the expectation of passing on the household name; and the mother will need blessings of safety to avoid any dangers and sufferings. We express our sincere wishes, which will fully depend on [the gods’] assistance. With wine in the goblets, we pour full for a third libation.
We humbly wish that the Ninth Heaven will award us blessings and all gods will give us good fortune, so that the baby in the womb will be healthy and the mother will be safe after the childbirth; any misfortunes will turn into good fortune and a baby girl in the womb will be changed [at birth] into a baby boy; there will be no danger in childbirth and there will be celebrations afterwards; the baby and the mother will reunite and form a solid foundation of the house forever; blessings will be even more magnificent and good fortunes will come continually. All our sincere prayers rely on the gods’ blessings. Each numinous chicken has been slaughtered for blood to offer [to the gods] above. May the gods kindly examine and accept the offerings in the fire.
Next page: Click on the rightward arrow above under the title.
