The Water and Land Dharma Service originated during the Liang Dynasty (AD 502-549), when Emperor Wu of Liang had a dream in which a spiritual Sangha told him, ‘The sentient beings of the Four Forms of Birth and Six Paths of Transmigration undergo measureless sufferings, and there is no greater relief than holding the Water and Land Grand Offering Service.” Thereupon, decreed by the Emperor, a group of Venerable Monks of the era led by State Master Baozhi spent three years to compose the scripture through an extensive investigation of the Buddhist Sutras