The "Tai Shang Huang Sanyuan Liu Zhu Classic" says: "White pearls are round and clear, as big as 365 tung trees, and should meet the sun and the moon according to the degree of the stars." In addition, "Tai Jin Xuan Suo Yin Liuzhu" said, "Fighting day and night, the sky is endless, such as endless water, and the stars are as round as pearls, hence the name Liu Zhu."
Because of Taoism's inherent thought of "correspondence between man and nature", flowing beads also have other meanings in people. For example, "Interior of Huang Ting in Qing Dynasty" says: "There are three palaces of Xuandan, first-class pearls in Kunlun Mountain, twelve pavilions and twelve rings, all of which are real people." It can be seen that in the early days, especially in the practice of Shangqing school, Taoist prayer beads were mainly used for internal training as a method of faith.
Taoist rosary also has its unique religious significance in the number of beads. For example, in the Three-dimensional Flowing Beads Classic mentioned above, 365 beads represent the degree of star movement. Take the common 108 rosary as an example: 108 represents the number of stars running on Sunday, which is also the sum of the highest day and the highest place. The head bead represents the North Pole, and the Big Dipper says, "The North Star hangs down like an elephant, and the stars arch like an elephant." So when the rosary turns, the head bead can't pass, so Beichen doesn't move. So when you turn to the first bead, you have to turn around and continue to dial back. This is the meaning of the Sunday cycle. Above the head bead, there is a gourd-shaped bead with three steps, representing three sets. The so-called "Jade Pivot Sutra" says: "Above Beichen, there are three sets ... stacked in three layers to cover the top of the bucket". Yes, there is a Chinese knot and six beads under the three platforms, representing six stars in Nandou. Add the head beads, and it is the Big Dipper. Some beads are decorated with eight beads. The first bead is nine planets. Therefore, a string of prayer beads covers the Taoist world outlook and many astronomical concepts, which shows the subtlety of Taoist teachings. In addition, there are twelve, twenty-four, twenty-eight, thirty-two, thirty-six, eighty-one rosaries and so on. Twelve represents twelve thunder gates, twenty-four represents twenty-four spirits, twenty-eight represents twenty-eight stars, thirty-two represents thirty-two immortals and gods, thirty-six represents the number of evil spirits born in the highest heaven, eighty-one represents the eighty-one transformation of the old gentleman, and also represents ninety-nine pure Yang Qi.