Shenism doesn’t hinge on a single, all-encompassing scripture the way some faiths do. Instead, it thrives on a rich patchwork of local ritual manuals, miracle-laden “precious scrolls” (baojuan), temple charters, and even snippets borrowed from the Daoist canon. Every shrine, village or lineage tends to guard its own set of liturgies—handed down from master to disciple—so what’s sacred in one corner of Sichuan might look quite different from the rites performed around a Fujian sea goddess temple.

Those precious scrolls, often written in vernacular Chinese, read like a blend of folk-tale and hagiography. They describe divine interventions, pilgrimage hardships, and the occasional monster-slaying deity. From the “Investiture of the Gods” (Fengshen Yanyi)—a Ming-era epic that still colors many Shenist festivals—to lesser-known local accounts, these texts offer both moral guidance and a front-row seat to the antics of spirits and gods.

Overlapping with Daoist scriptures, some rituals borrow from the Daozang (the Daoist Canon), particularly talismanic liturgies and incantations. Yet there’s no single “Book of Shen” hidden in a mountaintop grotto. The state’s recent push to revitalize folk belief—spotlighted by a 2020 Cultural Ministry initiative—has led to fresh field compilations of oral traditions and temple records. It’s almost like assembling a giant spiritual jigsaw puzzle, where each community contributes its own prized pieces.

In daily practice, these texts guide everything from house blessings and exorcisms to seasonal festivals—landscaping the invisible world rather than dictating a fixed theology. In a way, Shenism’s lack of a central scripture is its greatest strength: it allows spirit worship to adapt, survive and spring up in unexpected corners, just as living faiths ought to do.