《道教新春文化。歲末年首。南北斗星君察巡天下》
南北星斗巡天下。
造冊記錄奏玉駕。
一心顯誠千惡滅。
三叩九敬萬福降。
【玉皇大天尊】與「臘月廿五日」巡視天下後，到了「大年除夕」的前一天，便是【南北斗星君】下凡錄簿之時，這也是一年最後的「天神巡視」，而這一次的【南北斗星君】下凡錄簿，便會影響來年【上元天官】攷校天下時的【承負】了。
Annual Inspection of Lord Nan Bei Dou before New Lunar Year
With the completion of the Inspection
conducted by Heavenly Supreme Emperor Yu Huang (玉皇大天尊), it’s the turn for Star Lord Nan Bei Dou (南北斗星君) to conduct their Annual Inspection for the Year.
Upon completion of this Annual
Inspection, Individual’s Conduct will be recorded and the Records will be used
to Grade the Blessing for the Individual for the Old Year (為新年察巡天下以定福禍).
This Year, the Inspection falls on 29th
Day of Lunar 12 Month (臘月廿九日), which is 29 Jan,
a Wednesday.
For more detailed info on how to prepare
for this Day, please refer to the following;
In Taoist Culture, 1 Day before the
Lunar New Year’s Eve, is considered as the Inspection Day of Lord Nan Bei Dou (南北斗星君).
On this Day, Taoists will visit Temples
or Set-up Altar at Home to usher in Lord Nan Bei Dou in-order to request for
the Necessary Blessing for the Lunar New Year.
So what is the Main Purpose of this
Inspection?
On the 25th Day of Lunar 12 Month, Heavenly
Supreme Emperor Yu Huang (玉皇大天尊) had made his
Inspection on the Mortal World to check on the on-going activities that Mortals
are involved in and during this Inspection, Heavenly Supreme Emperor Yu Huang
will definitely be there to check on the Good & Evil Doings of Mortals. And
so, after this Inspection, Heavenly Supreme Emperor Yu Huang will need a
Follow-up Inspection by the Associated Officers to do the Recording and so,
before a New Lunar Year arrives, Lord Nan Bei Dou will be appointed to do the
Inspection in-order for them to do the necessary Recording on the Credits,
Merits, Sins & Debts of Mortals and from there, the equality-blessing will
be bestowed upon the Mortal accordingly.
After the necessary Recordings are being
made and being reported to Heavenly Supreme Emperor Yu Huang, on the 15th Day
of Lunar 1 Month (農曆正月十五日), Heavenly Lord
of Heavenly Realm aka Tian Guan Da Di (天官大帝) will be there to perform the Inspection and Distributing of
Fortune & Prosperity to the Mortals (賜福人間) who have gained the necessary Blessing according to their
Accumulated Credits & Merits.
Before that, On the Eve of Lunar New
Year (大年除夕), Fu Lu Shou (福祿壽) – the Three Prosperity Stars will be there to
distribute the necessary Blessing to the Mortals for the Lunar New Year. Due to
this piece of Info is not being widely share among the Taoists & Chinese, a
lot of People tend to mistaken that on the Eve of Lunar New Year is a Day to
usher in the Deity of Wealth (財神), which is Wrong and
this is just a Commercial Trick that Modern People had planned.
So what to do on this Day?
For Lord Nan Bei Dou’s Inspection Day,
usually some simple Honouring being done will do.
Main Purpose of this Honouring is to
Sincerely & Faithfully making Self-reflection & Reprimanding of One’s
Wrong Doing for the past 1 Year and hoping by doing so, Lord Nan Bei Dou will
be there to provide the necessary Guidance for Oneself and Oneself will be able
to be Blessed by the Heaven for the next 12 Months.
Besides that, this is also to remind
Oneself that from this Day onwards, Oneself shall be more Kind, Compassionate
and Caring towards the others and also, Oneself must be responsible in ALL
Physical & Verbal actions that Oneself has made.
So what to Prepare for the Honouring?
For the Offerings, Oneself can prepare
the following:
1 – 3 cups of Chinese Tea or Water (三杯清茶/水)
2 – 5 Longevity Buns (五個壽桃包)
3 – 1 packet of Longevity Noodles (一份長壽面)
4 – 1 Huat Kueh (一個發糕)
5 – 1 Nian Gao (一個年糕)
6 – 1 set of Red Candles (一對紅燭)
7 – 3 Long Incenses (三支長壽香)
Once all the Offerings are Ready, just
proceed to any nearby Temples to do the Honouring.
So what to Say during the Honouring?
Before Oneself make any form of
Requests, remember to make 3 Sincere Bow and then Kneel down.
Upon Kneeling down, report Oneself’s
Name, DOB, Residing Address, Today’s Date and the Request that Oneself making.
After the Requesting, make 3 Bows and then stand up.
Remember, do not make any form of
Un-realistic Requesting, especially to Lord Nan Bei Dou, San Guan Da Di (三官大帝), etc.
南北斗星君在上。
Nan Bei Dou Xing Jun Zai Shang
道門弟子XXX。
Dao Men Di Zi XXX
生于X年X月X日X時。
Sheng Yu X Nian X Yue X Ri X Shi
凡居XXXXXXX。
Fan Ju XXXXXXX
今臘月廿九日。
Jin La Yue Nian Jiu Ri
欣逢南北斗星君巡查天下。
Xi Feng Nan Bei Dou Xing Jun Xun Cha
Tian Xia
道門弟子XXX與此祈求XXXXXXXX。
Dao Men Di Zi XXX Yu Ci Qi Qiu XXXXXXXX
在此獻上三拜敬禮。
Zai Ci Xian Shang San Bai Jing Li
以答謝南北斗星君庇佑之恩。
Yi Da Xie Nan Bei Dou Xing Jun Bi You
Zhi En (三拜 Three Bows)
After the Honouring, what to do with the
Offerings?
Do remember to bring back the Offerings,
if Oneself got Altar at Home, place them on the Altar, if not, the Offerings
can be shared among the Family Members.
Last of ALL, wishes ALL of You having a
Nice Communication with Lord Nan Bei Dou before Lunar New Year arrives.
