赤文洞 Ch'ih-wen T'ung The Red-Streaked Cave Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour
Contents Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
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The Red-Streaked Cave Where there is motion, that motion proceeds from immobility; where there is action, that action proceeds from inactivity. Where there is inactivity, the spirit reverts to its original; and when the spirit thus reverts, all things become still. Where there is no motion, the vital force becomes extinct; and the vital force being extinct, all things are produced, all spirits maintain each other; all objects depend upon or help each other, causing the rudiment [of all things] to revert to its primary source. By silent contemplation this will become clear. I myself bear it constantly in mind; [the doctrine], entering uninterruptedly, does away with all distinctions between life and death, and makes me one with Heaven and Earth. When the sense of sight is forgotten, the Light becomes infinitely copious; when the sense of hearing is annihilated, the heart becomes concentrated upon the Eternal Depths. If these two organs of perception be both forgotten, the man will be able to shut himself off from the allurements of the world – pure, guileless, and complete, in perfect unison with the Universe – vast, limitless, like a vivifying aura, subject to no distinctions of mankind. The greatness of Heaven and Earth is that with which I am linked; the multitude of created things is what I direct, or grasp. How can it be said that, to the very furthest limit whither we can penetrate, there are any faults or imperfections? If a man cherishes the Invisible, he will be able to maintain for ever the Visible – that which has a semblance; if he cherishes the Incorporeal, the Corporeal will attain to perfection and purity; and if perfection and purity co-operate to promote each other, the result will be the acquisition of perpetuity. It is because Heaven has obtained this original purity that it lasts for ever; it is because Earth has obtained it that it is enduring; it is when Man obtains it that he achieves immortality. The reason that the vulgar are unable to attain to prolonged existence is that they lose their hold of the Invisible and suffer the Incorporeal to escape them; thus they are unable to preserve their bodily organs and nine apertures together with the pure essence they received at birth, as one whole, and therefore it is they die.
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赤文洞 Ch'ih-wen T'ung 操眞章上 有動之動出於不動有爲之爲出於無爲無爲則神歸神歸則萬物云寂不動則氣泯氣泯則萬物無生神神相守物物相 資厥本其根黙而悟之我自識之入乎無間不死不生與天地爲一 入聖章中 忘於目則光溢無極泯於耳則心識常淵兩機倶忘絶衆妙之門純純全全合乎大方溟溟涬涬合乎無倫天地之大我之 所維萬物之衆我之所持曷有窮終以語其弊哉 住世章下 養其無象象故常存守其無體體故全眞全眞相濟可以長久天得其眞故長地得其眞故久人得其眞故壽世人所以不 能長久者爲喪其無象散其无體不能使百骸九竅與眞體並存故死矣 Punctuated Text 操眞章上 有動之動、出於不動;有爲之爲、出於無爲。無爲則神歸、神歸則萬物云寂;不動則氣泯、氣泯則萬物無生。 神神相守、物物相資、厥本其根。黙而悟之、我自識之、入乎無間。不死不生、與天地爲一。 入聖章中 忘於目則光溢無極、泯於耳則心識常淵。兩機倶忘絶衆妙之門。純純全全、合乎大方、溟溟涬涬、合乎無倫。 天地之大、我之所維。萬物之衆、我之所持。曷有窮終、以語其弊哉。 住世章下 養其無象、象故常存。守其無體、體故全眞。全眞相濟、可以長久。天得其眞故長、地得其眞故久。人得其 眞故壽。世人所以不能長久者、爲喪其無象、散其无體、不能使百骸九竅、與眞體並存、故死矣。
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赤文洞 The Red-Streaked Cave 操眞章上 1. Practicing the Truth 有動之動 出於不動 Where there is motion, that motion proceeds from immobility; 有爲之爲 出於無爲 where there is action, that action proceeds from inactivity. 無爲則神歸 神歸則萬物云寂 Where there is inactivity, the spirit reverts to its original; and when the spirit thus reverts, all things become still. 不動則氣泯 氣泯則萬物無生 Where there is no motion, the vital force becomes extinct; and the vital force being extinct, all things are produced, 神神相守 物物相資 厥本其根 all spirits maintain each other; all objects depend upon or help each other, causing the rudiment [of all things] to revert to its primary source. 黙而悟之 我自識之 By silent contemplation this will become clear. I myself bear it constantly in mind; 入乎無間 不死不生 與天地爲一 [the doctrine], entering uninterruptedly, does away with all distinctions between life and death, and makes me one with Heaven and Earth. 入聖章中 2. Entry into Sagehood 忘於目則光溢無極 When the sense of sight is forgotten, the Light becomes infinitely copious; 泯於耳則心識常淵 when the sense of hearing is annihilated, the heart becomes concentrated upon the Eternal Depths. 兩機倶忘絶衆妙之門 If these two organs of perception be both forgotten, the man will be able to shut himself off from the allurements of the world – 純純全全合乎大方 pure, guileless, and complete, in perfect unison with the Universe – 溟溟涬涬 合乎無倫 vast, limitless, like a vivifying aura, subject to no distinctions of mankind. 天地之大 我之所維 The greatness of Heaven and Earth is that with which I am linked; 萬物之衆 我之所持 the multitude of created things is what I direct, or grasp. 曷有窮終以語其弊哉 How can it be said that, to the very furthest limit whither we can penetrate, there are any faults or imperfections?
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住世章下 3. Dwelling in the World 養其無象 象故常存 If a man cherishes the Invisible, he will be able to maintain for ever the Visible – 守其無體 體故全眞 that which has a semblance; if he cherishes the Incorporeal, the Corporeal will attain to perfection and purity; 全眞相濟 可以長久 and if perfection and purity co-operate to promote each other, the result will be the acquisition of perpetuity. 天得其眞故長 It is because Heaven has obtained this original purity that it lasts for ever; 地得其眞故久 it is because Earth has obtained it that it is enduring; 人得其眞故壽 it is when Man obtains it that he achieves immortality. 世人所以不能長久者 爲喪其無象 散其无體 The reason that the vulgar are unable to attain to prolonged existence is that they lose their hold of the Invisible and suffer the Incorporeal to escape them; 不能使百骸九竅 與眞體並存 故死矣 thus they are unable to preserve their bodily organs and nine apertures together with the pure essence they received at birth, as one whole, and therefore it is they die.
Bibliography Balfour, Fredrick. Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative. London/Shanghai: Trübner and Co./Kelly and Walsh, 1894: 69.
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清靜經 Ch'ing-ching Ching Scripture of Purity and Tranquility Translated by Livia Kohn; James Legge; Frederic Henry Balfour
Contents Bibliographic Information Author's Introduction 1 Author's Introduction 2 Translation 1 (Livia Kohn) Translation 2 (James Legge) Translation 3 (Frederic Henry Balfour) Chinese Text Bilingual Text 1 Bilingual Text 2 Bilingual Text 3 Bibliography
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Bibliographic Information An anonymous text probably dating from the 9th century, this is one of a group of Tang-dynasty (618-907) works that could be labeled "Clarity-and-Stillness" literature. Emerging under the influence of Buddhist insight meditation (vipasyanā) and expressing a form of wisdom (zhi 智) based on the practice of observation (guan 觀), the text combines the worldview of the Daode jing 道徳經 (Scripture on the Dao and Inner Power) with the practice of Daoist observation and the structure (as well as some content) of the Buddhist Panruo xinjing 般若心經 (Heart Sutra of Perfect Wisdom; T. 250-57). It emphasizes the dual cultivation of clarity/purity (qing 清) and stillness/tranquility (jing 靜). (Komjathy, 2004: 47-8) The text first describes the nature of the Dao as divided into Yin and Yang, clear and turbid (qing 清 and zhuo 濁), moving and quiescent (dong 動 and jing 靜), and stresses the importance of the mind in the creation of desires and worldly entanglements. It recommends the practice of observation to counteract this, i.e., the observation of other beings, the self, and the mind, which results in the realization that none of these really exists. The practitioner has reached the observation of emptiness (kongguan 空觀). The latter part of the work reverses direction and outlines the decline from pure spirit to falling into hell: spirit (shen 神) develops consciousness or mind (xin 心), and mind develops greed and attachment toward the myriad beings. Greed then leads to involvement, illusory imagining, and erroneous ways, which trap beings in the chain of rebirth and, and they sink deeper into the quagmire of desire, causes them to fall into hell. (Kohn, 2007: 801) The qingjing jing is a very short (391 characters) but popular Taoist text of unknown authorship, dating from the fist half of the Tang dynasty (618-906 CE). It is included in the Taoist Canon (Daozang) under the full title of Tai-shang Lao-chun shou chang ching-ching miao ching, also abbreviated as Ching-ching miao-ching. Several commentaries were written on it, the earliest by Tu Kung-ting; others by Pai Yu-chan of the Sung dynasty (960-1279 CE) and Li Tao-tsun of the Yuan period (1271-1368 CE). Because the present text has a postface written by Ko Hsuan, he is sometimes considered to be the author. But because of the inner criticism (analysis of the contents) it is quite certain that the small scripture could not have been written before the Six Dynasties (420-589 CE). The main argument is heavy reliance on Buddhist ideas. The main theme is how to gain "purity" (qing) and "tranquillity" (ching). If a person's mind is able to rid itself of all desires, the mind will become tranquil; if the mind can be settled, the spirit will spontaneously become clean. Then the six desires will not arise, and the three poisons will be destroyed. Through inner vision into one's mind, one realises the nomind; through outer vision of the body, one realises the no-body; by looking at these things from a distance, one realizes the no-thing condition. If one understands these three, one only sees "emptiness" as the nature of reality; then all delusions and defilements disappear and one reaches the state of everlasting purity and tranquillity. This short text, as popular among Taoists as the Heart Sutra among Buddhists, is often used in recitation, and is still often reprinted for free distribution, together with a short commentary. It is important in Taoist spirituality. (Pas, 1998)
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Author's Introduction 1 By James Legge Khing Kăng King, or 'The Classic of Purity'1 So I must translate the title of this brochure, as it appears in the 'Collection of the Most Important Treatises of the Tâoist Fathers' (vol. xxxix, p. xvii), in which alone I have had an opportunity of perusing and studying the Text. The name, as given by Wylie (Notes, p. 178), Balfour (Tâoist Texts.), and Faber (China Review, vol. xiii, p. 246), is Khing King King 2, and signifies 'The Classic of Purity and Rest.' The difference is in the second character, but both Khing Kăng and Khing King are well-known combinations in Tâoist writings; and it will be seen, as the translation of the Text is pursued, that neither of them is unsuitable as the title of the little Book. It is, as Dr. Faber says, one of the 'mystical canons' of Tâoism; but the mysticism of Tâoism is of a nature peculiar to itself, and different from any mental exercises which have been called by that name in connexion with Christianity or Mohammedanism. It is more vague and shadowy than any theosophy or Sûfism, just as the idea of the Tâo differs from the apprehension of a personal God, however uncertain and indefinite that apprehension may be. Mr. Wylie says the work 'treats under very moderate limits of the subjection of the mental faculties.' This indeed is the consummation to which it conducts the student; a condition corresponding to the nothingness which Lâo-dze contended for as antecedent to all positive existence, and out of which he said that all existing being came, though he does not indicate how. I give to the Treatise the first place among our appendixes here because of the early origin ascribed to it. It is attributed to Ko Yüan (or Hsüan)3, a Tâoist of the Wû dynasty (A.D. 222-277), who is fabled to have attained to the state of an Immortal, and is generally so denominated 4. He is represented as a worker of miracles; as addicted to intemperance, and very eccentric in his ways. When shipwrecked on one occasion, he emerged from beneath the water with his clothes unwet, and walked freely on its surface. Finally he ascended to the sky in bright day5. All these accounts may safely be put down as the figments of a later time. It will be seen that the Text ascribes the work to Lâo-dze himself, and I find it impossible to accept the account of its origin which is assigned by Lî Hsî-yüeh to Ko Hsüan. As quoted by Lî in the first of some notes subjoined to his Commentary, Ko is made to say, 'When I obtained the true Tâo, I had recited this King ten thousand times. It is what the Spirits of heaven practise, and had not been communicated to scholars of this lower world. I got it from the Divine Ruler of the eastern Hwa; he received it from the Divine Ruler of the Golden Gate; he received it from the Royal-mother of the West. In all these cases it was transmitted from mouth to mouth, and was not committed to writing. I now, while I am in the world, have written it out in a book. Scholars of the highest order, understanding it, ascend and become officials of Heaven; those of the middle order, cultivating it, are ranked among the Immortals of the Southern Palace; those of the lowest order, possessing it, get long years of life in the world, roam through the Three Regions6, and (finally) ascend to, and enter, the Golden Gate.' This quotation would seem to be taken from the preface to our little classic by Ho Hsüan. If there were indeed such a preface during the time of the Wû dynasty, the corruption of the old Tâoism must have been rapid. The Hsî Wang-mû, or Royal-mother of the West, is mentioned once in Kwang-dze (Bk. VI, par. 7); but no 'Divine Ruler' disfigures his pages. Every reader must feel that in the Classic of Purity he has got into a different region of thought from that which he has traversed in the Tâo Teh King and in the writings of Kwang-dze. (Legge, 1891: 247-9)
Notes 1. 清淨經. 2. 清靜經. 3. 葛元 or 葛玄. 4. 葛仙公. 5. See the Accounts of Ko in the Biographical Dictionary of Hsiâo Kih-han (1793), and Wang Khî's supplement to the great work of Mâ Twan-lin, ch. 242. 6. 'The three regions (三界)' here can hardly be the trilokya of the Buddhists, the ethical categories of desire, form, and formlessness. They are more akin to the Brahmanic bhuvanatraya, the physical or cosmological categories of bhûr or earth, bhuvah or heaven, and svar or atmosphere.
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Author's Introduction 2 By Frederic Henry Balfour Far up a rocky precipice of the Horse-saddle Mountain in Chihli, within a hundred feet or so of its inaccessible peak, is perched a tiny temple called the Grotto of Ecstacy. There, under a sky of burning blue, lives an old Buddhist hermit named Shih Shan; a man of wide celebrity among the priesthood, and credited with many marvellous accomplishments. He is now over seventy years of age. He has a full white beard; his long hair hangs in a tangled mass, like a shred of ragged felt, below his waist; his robe is of tattered patchwork. For ten years he preserved absolute and unbroken silence; but he was by no means idle during this period, for he went about collecting funds for the repair of temples, and many are the shrines he has been the instrument of restoring. He lives on gourds, eating the commonest and poorest kind of rice only twice a month; his days he spends in sitting crosslegged on the ground with closed eyes, thinking, as he told the writer, of nothing. In spite of his close retirement he is of a most amiable disposition, and takes a very intelligent part in conversation. He is said to have knowledge of things passing at a distance; and such is his sanctity that a daily miracle is performed of which he is the subject. As it is impossible, however, to write this in plain English, we relegate the explanation of it to the Chinese note which will be found at the bottom of the page, for the benefit of such as may be curious about the subject. Towards the close of an interesting conversation with the strange being we have described, our eyes fell upon his modest library; a small heap of soiled and tattered books, which lay on a shrine in the centre of the temple court. Opening one of them at random, we found it to be a manuscript copy of the 清靜經, a little treatise in thorough keeping with all the features of the place – the foreign visitors excluded. The interest of our adventure was thus very much increased. Here we had the doctrines of vacuity, inaction, and quiescence as inculcated by the Taoist philosophers, set forth in a book; while in the same place there existed a living example of their efficacy – an old man who acted them out in every particular and whose presence was a striking proof that the principles of Ancient Taoism are far from being dead. On taking our leave of the old hermit, we cautiously approached the subject of a bargain. "Sir," was the reply, "if you have taken a fancy to the book, pray allow me to present you with it." A small silver coin was, however, gracefully accepted to buy incense with, and we departed the possessor of an occult little treatise of which the following is a translation. (Balfour, 1894: 70)
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Scripture of Purity and Tranquility The Great Tao has no form; It brings forth and raises heaven and earth. The Great Tao has no feelings; It regulates the course of the sun and the moon. The Great Tao has no name; It raises and nourishes the myriad beings. I do not know its name – So I call it Tao. The Tao can be pure or turbid, moving or tranquil. Heaven is pure, earth is turbid; Heaven is moving, earth is tranquil. The male is moving, the female is tranquil. Descending from the origin, Flowing toward the end, The myriad beings are being born. Purity – the source of turbidity. Movement – the root of tranquillity. Always be pure and tranquil; Heaven and earth Return to the primordial. The human spirit is fond of purity, But the mind disturbs it. The human mind is fond of tranquillity, But desires meddle with it. Get rid of desires for good, And the mind will be calm. Cleanse your mind, And the spirit will be pure. Naturally the six desires won't arise, The three poisons are destroyed. Whoever cannot do this Has not yet cleansed his mind, His desires are not yet driven out. Those who have abandoned their desires: Observe your mind by introspection – And see there is no mind. Then observe the body, Look at yourself from without – And see there is no body. Then observe others by glancing out afar – And see there are no beings. Once you have realised these three, You observe emptiness! Use emptiness to observe emptiness, And see there is no emptiness. When even emptiness is no more, There is no more nonbeing either. Without even the existence of nonbeing There is only serenity, profound and everlasting.
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When serenity dissolves in nothingness – How could there be desires? When no desires arise You have found true tranquillity. In true tranquillity, go along with beings; In true permanence, realize inner nature. Forever going along, forever tranquil – This is permanent purity, lasting tranquillity. In purity and tranquillity, Gradually enter the true Tao. When the true Tao is entered, It is realised. Though we speak of "realized," Actually there is nothing to attain. Rather, we speak of realization When someone begins to transform the myriad beings. Only who has properly understood this Is worthy to transmit the sages' Tao. The highest gentleman does not fight; The lesser gentleman loves to fight. Highest Virtue is free from Virtue; Lesser Virtue clings to Virtue. All clinging and attachments Have nothing to do with the Tao or the Virtue. People fail to realize the Tao Because they have deviant minds. Deviance in the mind Means the spirit is alarmed. Spirit alarmed, There is clinging to things. Clinging to things, There is searching and coveting. Searching and coveting, There are passions and afflictions. Passions, afflictions, deviance, and imaginings Trouble and pester mind and body. Then one falls into turbidity and shame, Ups and downs, life and death. Forever immersed in the sea of misery, One is in eternity lost to the true Tao. The Tao of true permanence Will naturally come to those who understand. Those who understand the realization of the Tao Will rest forever in the pure and tranquil.
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The Classic of Purity Ch. 1.1. Lâo the Master1 said, The Great2 Tâo has no bodily form, but It produced and nourishes heaven and earth3. The Great Tâo has no passions4, but It causes the sun and moon to revolve as they do. The Great2 Tâo has no name5, but It effects the growth and maintenance of all things3. I do not know its name, but I make an effort, and call It the Tâo6. 2. Now, the Tâo (shows itself in two forms); the Pure and the Turbid, and has (the two conditions of) Motion and Rest7. Heaven is pure and earth is turbid; heaven moves and earth is at rest. The masculine is pure and the feminine is turbid; the masculine moves and the feminine is still8. The radical (Purity) descended, and the (turbid) issue flowed abroad; and thus all things were produced7. The pure is the source of the turbid, and motion is the foundation of rest. If man could always be pure and still, heaven and earth would both revert (to non-existence)9. 3. Now the spirit of man loves Purity, but his mind10 disturbs it. The mind of man loves stillness, but his desires draw it away10. If he could always send his desires away, his mind would of itself become still. Let his mind be made clean, and his spirit will of itself become pure. As a matter of course the six desires11 will not arise, and the three poisons12 will be taken away and disappear. 4. The reason why men are not able to attain to this, is because their minds have not been cleansed, and their desires have not been sent away. If one is able to send the desires away, when he then looks in at his mind, it is no longer his; when he looks out at his body, it is no longer his; and when he looks farther off at external things, they are things which he has nothing to do with. When he understands these three things, there will appear to him only vacancy. This contemplation of vacancy will awaken the idea of vacuity. Without such vacuity there is no vacancy. The idea of vacuous space having vanished, that of nothingness itself also disappears; and when the idea of nothingness has disappeared, there ensues serenely the condition of constant stillness. In this paragraph we have what Mr. Wylie calls 'the subjection of the mental faculties;' and I must confess myself unable to understand what it is. It is probably another way of describing the Tâoist trance which we find once and again in Kwang-dze, 'when the body becomes like a withered tree, and the mind like slaked lime' (Bk. II, par. I, et al.). But such a sublimation of the being, as the characteristic of its serene stillness and rest, is to me inconceivable.
5. In that condition of rest independently of place how can any desire arise? And when no desire any longer arises, there is the True stillness and rest. That True (stillness) becomes (a) constant quality, and responds to external things (without error); yea, that True and Constant quality holds possession of the nature. In such constant response and constant stillness there is the constant Purity and Rest. He who has this absolute Purity enters gradually into the (inspiration of the) True Tâo. And having entered thereinto, he is styled Possessor of the Tâo. Although he is styled Possessor of the Tâo, in reality he does not think that he has become possessed of anything. It is as accomplishing the transformation of all living things, that he is styled Possessor of the Tâo. He who is able to understand this may transmit to others the Sacred Tâo. This is the consummation of the state of Purity. In explaining the former sentence of the fifth member, Lî Hsî-yüeh uses the characters of T.T.K., ch. 4, 道 冲而用之或不盈, with some variation, – 冲而用之, 不自滿假.
2.1. Lâo the Master said, Scholars of the highest class do not strive (for anything); those of the lowest class are fond of striving13. Those who possess in the highest degree the attributes (of the Tâo) do not show them; those who possess them in a low degree hold them fast (and display them)14. Those who so hold them fast and display them are not styled (Possessors of) the Tâo and Its attributes14. 2. The reason why all men do not obtain the True Tâo is because their minds are perverted. Their minds being perverted, their spirits become perturbed. Their minds being perturbed, they are attracted towards external things. Being attracted towards external things, they begin to seek for them greedily. This greedy quest leads to perplexities and annoyances; and these again result in disordered thoughts, which cause anxiety and trouble to both body and mind. The parties then meet with foul disgraces, flow wildly on through the phases of life and death, are liable constantly to sink in the sea of bitterness, and for ever lose the True Tâo. 3. The True and Abiding Tâo! They who understand it naturally obtain it. And they who come to understand the Tâo abide in Purity and Stillness. Our brief Classic thus concludes, and our commentator Lî thus sums up his remarks on it: – 'The men who understand the Tâo do so simply by means of the Absolute Purity, and the acquiring this Absolute Purity depends entirely on the Putting away of Desire, which is the urgent practical lesson of the Treatise.'
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I quoted in my introductory remarks Lî's account of the origin of the Classic by its reputed author Ko Hsüan. I will now conclude with the words which he subjoins from 'a True Man, Zo Hsüan:' – 'Students of the Tâo, who keep this Classic in their hands and croon over its contents, will get good Spirits from the ten heavens to watch over and protect their bodies, after which their spirits will be preserved by the seal of jade, and their bodies refined by the elixir of gold. Both body and spirit will become exquisitely ethereal, and be in true union with the Tâo!' Of this 'True Man, Zo Hsüan,' I have not been able to ascertain anything. The Divine Ruler of the eastern Hwa, referred to on p. 248, is mentioned in the work of Wang Khî (ch. 241, p. 21b), but with no definite information about him. The author says his surname was Wang, but he knows neither his name nor when he lived.
Notes 1. The name here is Lâo Kün (老君). I have stated (vol. xxxix, p. 40) that, with the addition of Thâi Shang, this is the common designation of Lâo-dze as the Father of Tâoism and deifying him, and that it originated probably in the Thang dynasty. It might seem to be used simply here by Ko Hsüan with the same high application; and since in his preface he refers to different 'Divine Rulers,' it may be contended that we ought to translate Lâo Kün by 'Lâo the Ruler.' But I am unwilling to think that the deification of Lâo-dze had taken place so early. The earliest occurrence of the combination Lâo Kün which has attracted my notice is in the history of Khung Yung, a descendant of Confucius in the twentieth generation, – the same who is celebrated in the San Dze King, for his fraternal deference at the age of four, and who met with a violent death in A.D. 208. While still only a boy, wishing to obtain an interview with a representative of the Lâo family, he sent in this message to him, 'My honoured predecessor and the honoured Lâo, the predecessor of your Li family, equally virtuous and righteous, were friends and teachers of each other.' The epithet Kün is equally applied to Confucius and Lâo-dze, and the combination Lâo Kün implies no exaltation of the latter above the other. 2. See Tâo Teh King, chaps. 18, 25, 53. 3. T.T.K., chaps. I, 51, et al. 4. See Kwang-dze, Bk. II, par. 2. 'Passions,' that is, feelings, affections; as in the first of the thirty-nine Articles. 5. T.T.K., chaps. I, 25, 32, 51. 6. T.T.K., ch. 25. 7. This paragraph is intended to set forth 'the production of all things;' but it does so in a way that is hardly intelligible. Comparing what is said here with the utterances in the former paragraph, Tâo would seem to be used in two senses; first as an Immaterial Power or Force, and next as the Material Substance, out of which all things come. Li Hsî-yüeh says that in the first member of par. I we have 'the Unlimited (or Infinite) producing the Grand (or Primal) Finite.' On the Tâo in par. 2 he says nothing. The fact is that the subject of creation in the deepest sense of the name is too high for the human mind. 8. Compare T.T.K., ch. 61. 9. I do not understand this, but I cannot translate the Text otherwise. Mr. Balfour has: – 'If a man is able to remain pure and motionless, Heaven and Earth will both at once come and dwell in him.' Lî explains thus: – 天清地靜, 一齊返入於無矣. Compare T.T.K., ch. 16, and especially Ho-shang Kung's title to it, – 歸根. 10. Tâoism thus recognises in man the spirit, the mind, and the body. 11. 'The six desires' are those which have their inlets in the eyes, cars, nostrils, the tongue, the sense of touch, and the imagination. The two last are expressed in Chinese by shǎn, 'the body,' and î, 'the idea, or thought.' 12. 'The three poisons' are greed, anger, and stupidity; – see the Khang-hsî Thesaurus, under 毒. 13. Compare the T.T.K., ch. 41, 1. 14. Compare the T.T.K., ch. 38, 1.
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Purity and Rest The Words of Lao Chün. Although the Great Principle of Nature – Tao – has no form, it brought forth and nourishes Heaven and Earth; though it has no passions, it causes the Sun and Moon to revolve; though it has no name, it produces the growth and nurture of all things. As I do not know its name, I am compelled to call it simply Tao. Now this Principle includes the pure and the turbid, the active and the motionless. For instance, Heaven is pure and Earth turbid; Heaven moves and the Earth is still. The Masculine is pure, the feminine turbid; the Masculine is active and the Feminine at rest. Emerging from its source and flowing on to all its developments, it produced the visible creation. The pure is the origin of the turbid, and the active of the motionless. If a man is able to remain permanently pure and motionless, Heaven and Earth will both at once come and dwell in him. Now the spirit of man loves purity, but his passions cause disturbance. The heart of man loves rest; but his desires draw him into motion. If he can without intermission abjure his desires, his heart will become naturally quiescent; if he can cleanse his heart, his spirit will become naturally pure. He may then be sure that the Six Desires will arise no more, and that the Three Curses – lust, folly, and wrath – will be annihilated. Therefore those who are incapable of arriving at this state have never cleansed their hearts, or abjured their bodily desires. If a man who is thus able to abjure his desires looks within himself at his own heart, he will see that it is passionless; if he looks outward, at his own body, he will regard it as though it were not his; if he looks abroad at things around him, they will be to him as though they did not exist. If he truly understands the nature of these three things, he will see that they are mere emptiness; vacuity itself he sees to be empty also. But there can be no emptiness in vacuity; for vacuity being non-existent, the very absence of nothing thus non-existing [to him], his serenity will be permanent and undisturbed; and this immoveable tranquillity being so deep as not to admit of any further tranquillity, how can any desires arise within him? Although the true essence of man be constantly in relation with outside matters, it must ever remain in possession of his original nature; constantly responding to externals, he must still be constant in quiescence; then his state of purity and rest will be permanent. If one is able in this way to preserve his state of purity and quiescence, he will gradually enter the ideal phase of the Principle of Nature; and having entered this ideal phase, he may then be called one who has obtained possession of it. Yet although he may be said to possess the Principle of Nature, he has actually not obtained anything at all; it is only that he is able to unravel all the mysteries connected with living things. Those who thus fully understand may spread this Holy Doctrine all abroad. The Words of Lao Chün, Prince of the Sublime. Scholars of eminence never wrangle; those of low attamments love wrangling. Men of high Virtue make nothing whatever of their virtue; those of Inferior virtue cling to it [as of great value]. Those who plume themselves upon their attainments cannot be called in possession of the two principles of Tao and Virtue; and the reason why all mankind are unable to attain the ideal phase of Tao is to be found in their misguided hearts. Their hearts being thus misguided, their spirits become unsettled or perturbed; being in this state of perturbation, they follow after worldly objects; pursuing worldly objects, they become a prey to desires and lusts, and desires and lusts arising within them, disappointments and trouble ensue. Now disappointments in the attainment of what they long for lead to unruly and disordered thoughts, and the result is bitterness and misery to both mind and body. Then they will inevitably incur disgrace and shame; the successive births and deaths they will have to pass through will flow on and on like ocean waves, and they will sink for ever in a Sea of Bitterness – the ideal goal they might have reached being lost to them eternally. Those who fully understand all this, will obtain the True and Constant Principle of Nature of themselves; and those who are able to understand the Principle of Nature will be for ever in a state of purity and rest. Postface by Ko Hsüan 葛玄 (164-244) The Words of Ko Hsuăn, the Immortal. I have obtained this Principle. Formerly I conned this book ten thousand times. It is only men of Heaven who can learn it, and it should not be imparted to those of inferior calibre. I received it in the first instance from the Divine Prince of Eastern Glory; he received it from the Divine Prince of the Golden Gate, and he from the Royal Mother of the West. The Royal Mother imparted it to him entirely by word of mouth, not committing it to paper; I now give it to the world, having written it down and then transcribing it with care. Scholars of eminence who thoroughly comprehend it will ascend on high and receive authority in Heaven; those of medium grade who strive to put it into practice will have their name inscribed on the roll of Immortals in the Southern Palace; while those of the lowest order who obtain it will live long years on earth, roam through the Three Spheres of Being, and, mounting on high, pass through the Golden Gate. The Words of Tso Hsuăn, the Divine Man. Among students of the Principle of Nature – Tao – he who resolutely cons this book will secure the guardianship of multitudes of good spirits from the Tenth Heaven; after which his soul will be placed under the protection of the Jewelled Seal, and his body permeated with the Elixir of Gold. Then both body and soul will become robed in supernatural beauty, and be in perfect harmony with the subtle Principle of Nature. The Words of Cheng I, the Divine Man. If this book be in anyone's family, those who fully understand its meaning will not be exposed to any adversities or obstacles; their door will be guarded by all the Holy Ones, and their souls ascend to the Higher World, where they will be admitted to the presence of those lofty beings who have attained to perfect purity, and bow before them – their merit all-sufficient, their virtue all-complete; and where reciprocal influences will exist between them and the Deva-princes. All who are unwearied in the study of this book will ascend bodily to the Purple Clouds – where the Immortals live.
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清靜經 Ch'ing-ching Ching 老君曰大道無形生育天地大道無情運行日月大道無名長養萬物吾不知其名強名曰道夫道者有清有濁有動有靜天清 地濁天動地靜男清女濁男動女靜降本流末而生萬物清者濁之源動者靜之基人能常清靜天地悉皆歸夫人神好清而心 擾之人心好靜而慾牽之常能遣其欲而心自靜澄其心而神自清自然六欲不生三毒消滅所以不能者爲心未澄慾未遣也 能遣之者内觀於心心無其心外觀於形形無其形遠觀於物物無其物三者既悟唯見於空觀空以空空無所空所空既無無 無亦無無無既無湛然常寂寂無所寂慾豈能生慾既不生即是眞靜眞靜應物眞常得性常應常靜常清靜矣如此清靜漸入 眞道既入眞道名爲得道雖名得道實無所得爲化衆生名爲得道能悟之者可傳聖道 老君曰上士無爭下士好爭上徳不徳下徳執徳執著之者不名道徳衆生所以不得眞道者爲有妄心既有妄心既驚其神即 著萬物既著萬物即生貪求既生貪求即是煩惱煩惱妄想憂苦身心便遭濁辱流浪生死常沈苦海永失眞道眞常之道悟者 自得得悟道者常清靜矣 Punctuated Text 老君曰。大道無形。生育天地。大道無情。運行日月。大道無名。長養萬物。吾不知其名。強名曰道。夫道者。 有清有濁。有動有靜。天清地濁。天動地靜。男清女濁。男動女靜。降本流末。而生萬物。清者濁之源。動者靜 之基。人能常清靜。天地悉皆歸。夫人神好清。而心擾之。人心好靜。而慾牽之。常能遣其欲。而心自靜。澄其 心。而神自清自然。六欲不生。三毒消滅。所以不能者爲心未澄。慾未遣也。能遣之者。内觀於心。心無其心。 外觀於形。形無其形。遠觀於物。物無其物。三者既悟。唯見於空。觀空以空。空無所空。所空既無。無無亦無。 無無既無。湛然常寂。寂無所寂。慾豈能生。慾既不生。即是眞靜。眞靜應物。眞常得性。常應常靜。常清靜矣。 如此清靜、漸入眞道。既入眞道。名爲得道。雖名得道。實無所得。爲化衆生。名爲得道。能悟之者。可傳聖道。 老君曰。上士無爭。下士好爭。上徳不徳。下徳執徳。執著之者。不名道徳。衆生所以不得眞道者。爲有妄心。 既有妄心。既驚其神。即著萬物。既著萬物。即生貪求。既生貪求。即是煩惱。煩惱妄想憂苦身心。便遭濁辱流 浪生死。常沈苦海永失眞道。眞常之道、悟者自得。得悟道者、常清靜矣。
Postface by Ko Hsüan 葛玄 (164-244) 仙人葛翁曰吾得眞道曾誦此經萬遍此經是天人所習不傳下士吾昔受之於東華帝君東華帝君受之于金闕帝君金闕帝 君受之於西王母西王一線乃口口相傳不記文字吾今於世書而錄之上士悟之升為天仙中士修之南宮列官下士得之在 世長年遊行三界升入金門 左玄眞人曰學道之士持誦此經者即得十天善神擁護其身然後玉符保神金液煉形形神倶妙與道合眞 正乙眞人曰人家有此經悟解之者災障不幹衆聖護門神升上界朝拜高眞功滿徳就相感帝君誦持不退身騰紫雲 Punctuated Text 仙人葛翁曰:吾得眞道、曾誦此經萬遍。此經是天人所習、不傳下士。吾昔受之於東華帝君、東華帝君受之于金 闕帝君、金闕帝君受之於西王母。西王一線乃口口相傳、不記文字。吾今於世、書而錄之。上士悟之、升為天仙 ;中士修之、南宮列官;下士得之、在世長年。遊行三界、升入金門。 左玄眞人曰:學道之士、持誦此經者、即得十天善神、擁護其身。然後玉符保神、金液煉形。形神倶妙、與道合 眞。 正乙眞人曰:人家有此經、悟解之者、災障不幹、衆聖護門。神升上界、朝拜高眞。功滿徳就、相感帝君。誦持 不退、身騰紫雲。
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清靜經 Scripture of Purity and Tranquility 大道無形 生育天地 大道無情 運行日月
The Great Tao has no form; It brings forth and raises heaven and earth. The Great Tao has no feelings; It regulates the course of the sun and the moon.
大道無名 長養萬物 吾不知其名 強名曰道
The Great Tao has no name; It raises and nourishes the myriad beings. I do not know its name – So I call it Tao.
夫道者 有清有濁 有動有靜 天清地濁 天動地靜 男清女濁 男動女靜
The Tao Can be pure or turbid, Moving or tranquil. Heaven is pure, earth is turbid; Heaven is moving, earth is tranquil. The male is pure, the female is impure. The male is moving, the female is tranquil.
降本流末 而生萬物
Descending from the origin, flowing toward the end, The myriad beings are being born.
清者濁之源 動者靜之基
Purity – the source of turbidity. Movement – the root of tranquillity.
人能常清靜 天地悉皆歸
Always be pure and tranquil; Heaven and earth, return to the primordial.
夫人神好清 而心擾之 人心好靜 而慾牽之
The human spirit is fond of purity, But the mind disturbs it. The human mind is fond of tranquillity, But desires meddle with it.
常能遣其欲 而心自靜 澄其心 而神自清
Get rid of desires for good, And the mind will be calm. Cleanse your mind, And the spirit will be pure.
自然六欲不生 三毒消滅 所以不能者 爲心未澄 慾未遣也
Naturally the six desires won't arise, The three poisons are destroyed. Whoever cannot do this, Has not yet cleansed his mind, His desires are not yet driven out.
能遣之者 内觀於心 心無其心
Those who have abandoned their desires: Observe your mind by introspection – And see there is no mind.
外觀於形 形無其形
Then observe the body, look at yourself from without – And see there is no body.
遠觀於物 物無其物
Then observe others by glancing out afar – And see there are no beings.
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三者既悟 唯見於空
Once you have realised these three, You observe emptiness!
觀空以空 空無所空 所空既無 無無亦無
Use emptiness to observe emptiness, And see there is no emptiness. When even emptiness is no more, There is no more nonbeing either.
無無既無 湛然常寂
Without even the existence of nonbeing There is only serenity, profound and everlasting.
寂無所寂 慾豈能生 慾既不生 即是眞靜
When serenity dissolves in nothingness – How could there be desires? When no desires arise You have found true tranquillity.
眞靜應物 眞常得性 常應常靜 常清靜矣
In true tranquillity, go along with beings; In true permanence, realize inner nature. Forever going along, forever tranquil – This is permanent purity, lasting tranquillity.
如此清靜 漸入眞道 既入眞道 名爲得道
In purity and tranquillity, Gradually enter the true Tao. When the true Tao is entered, It is realised.
雖名得道 實無所得 爲化衆生 名爲得道
Though we speak of "realized," Actually there is nothing to attain. Rather, we speak of realization When someone begins to transform the myriad beings.
能悟之者 可傳聖道
Only who has properly understood this Is worthy to transmit the sages' Tao.
上士無爭 下士好爭 上徳不徳 下徳執徳
The highest gentleman does not fight; The lesser gentleman loves to fight. Highest Virtue is free from Virtue; Lesser Virtue clings to Virtue.
執著之者 不名道德
All clinging and attachments Have nothing to do with the Tao or the Virtue.
衆生所以 不得眞道者 爲有妄心 既有妄心 即驚其神
People Fail to realize the Tao Because they have deviant minds. Deviance in the mind Means the spirit is alarmed.
既驚其神 即著萬物 既著萬物 即生貪求
Spirit alarmed, There is clinging to things. Clinging to things, There is searching and coveting.
既生貪求 即是煩惱 煩惱妄想 憂苦身心
Searching and coveting, There are passions and afflictions. Passions, afflictions, deviance, and imaginings Trouble and pester mind and body.
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便遭濁辱 流浪生死 常沉苦海 永失眞道
Then one falls into turbidity and shame, Ups and downs, life and death. Forever immersed in the sea of misery, One is in eternity lost to the true Tao.
眞常之道 悟者自得 得悟道者 常清靜矣
The Tao of true permanence, Will naturally come to those who understand. Those who understand the realization of the Tao Will rest forever in the pure and tranquil.
Translated by Livia Kohn
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清靜經 The Classic of Purity 老君曰 大道無形 生育天地 Ch. 1.1. Lâo the Master1 said, The Great2 Tâo has no bodily form, but It produced and nourishes heaven and earth3. 大道無情 運行日月 The Great Tâo has no passions4, but It causes the sun and moon to revolve as they do. 大道無名 長養萬物 The Great2 Tâo has no name5, but It effects the growth and maintenance of all things3. 吾不知其名 強名曰道 I do not know its name, but I make an effort, and call It the Tâo6. 夫道者 有清有濁 有動有靜 2. Now, the Tâo (shows itself in two forms); the Pure and the Turbid, and has (the two conditions of) Motion and Rest7. 天清地濁 天動地靜 Heaven is pure and earth is turbid; heaven moves and earth is at rest. 男清女濁 男動女靜 The masculine is pure and the feminine is turbid; the masculine moves and the feminine is still8. 降本流末 而生萬物 The radical (Purity) descended, and the (turbid) issue flowed abroad; and thus all things were produced7. 清者濁之源 動者靜之基 The pure is the source of the turbid, and motion is the foundation of rest. 人能常清靜 天地悉皆歸 If man could always be pure and still, heaven and earth would both revert (to non-existence)9. 夫人神好清 而心擾之 3. Now the spirit of man loves Purity, but his mind10 disturbs it. 人心好靜 而慾牽之 The mind of man loves stillness, but his desires draw it away10. 常能遣其欲 而心自靜 If he could always send his desires away, his mind would of itself become still. 澄其心 而神自清自然 Let his mind be made clean, and his spirit will of itself become pure. 六欲不生 三毒消滅 As a matter of course the six desires11 will not arise, and the three poisons12 will be taken away and disappear. 所以不能者爲心未澄 慾未遣也 4. The reason why men are not able to attain to this, is because their minds have not been cleansed, and their desires have not been sent away. 能遣之者 内觀於心 心無其心 外觀於形 形無其形 遠觀於物 物無其物 If one is able to send the desires away, when he then looks in at his mind, it is no longer his; when he looks out at his body, it is no longer his; and when he looks farther off at external things, they are things which he has nothing to do with. 三者既悟 唯見於空 When he understands these three things, there will appear to him only vacancy.
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觀空以空 This contemplation of vacancy will awaken the idea of vacuity. 空無所空 Without such vacuity there is no vacancy. 所空既無 無無亦無 無無既無 湛然常寂 The idea of vacuous space having vanished, that of nothingness itself also disappears; and when the idea of nothingness has disappeared, there ensues serenely the condition of constant stillness. 寂無所寂 慾豈能生 5. In that condition of rest independently of place how can any desire arise? 慾既不生 即是眞靜 And when no desire any longer arises, there is the True stillness and rest. 眞靜應物 眞常得性 That True (stillness) becomes (a) constant quality, and responds to external things (without error); yea, that True and Constant quality holds possession of the nature. 常應常靜 常清靜矣 In such constant response and constant stillness there is the constant Purity and Rest. 如此清靜 漸入眞道 He who has this absolute Purity enters gradually into the (inspiration of the) True Tâo. 既入眞道 名爲得道 And having entered thereinto, he is styled Possessor of the Tâo. 雖名得道 實無所得 Although he is styled Possessor of the Tâo, in reality he does not think that he has become possessed of anything. 爲化衆生 名爲得道 It is as accomplishing the transformation of all living things, that he is styled Possessor of the Tâo. 能悟之者 可傳聖道 He who is able to understand this may transmit to others the Sacred Tâo. 老君曰 上士無爭 下士好爭 2.1. Lâo the Master said, Scholars of the highest class do not strive (for anything); those of the lowest class are fond of striving13. 上徳不徳 下徳執徳 Those who possess in the highest degree the attributes (of the Tâo) do not show them; those who possess them in a low degree hold them fast (and display them)14. 執著之者 不名道徳 Those who so hold them fast and display them are not styled (Possessors of) the Tâo and Its attributes14. 衆生所以不得眞道者 爲有妄心 2. The reason why all men do not obtain the True Tâo is because their minds are perverted. 既有妄心 既驚其神 Their minds being perverted, their spirits become perturbed. 即著萬物 既著萬物 Their minds being perturbed, they are attracted towards external things. 即生貪求 既生貪求 Being attracted towards external things, they begin to seek for them greedily.
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即是煩惱 煩惱妄想憂苦身心 This greedy quest leads to perplexities and annoyances; and these again result in disordered thoughts, which cause anxiety and trouble to both body and mind. 便遭濁辱流浪生死 常沈苦海永失眞道 The parties then meet with foul disgraces, flow wildly on through the phases of life and death, are liable constantly to sink in the sea of bitterness, and for ever lose the True Tâo. 眞常之道 3. The True and Abiding Tâo! 悟者自得 They who understand it naturally obtain it. 得悟道者 常清靜矣 And they who come to understand the Tâo abide in Purity and Stillness.
Postface by Tso Hsüan 左玄 學道之士 持誦此經者 即得十天善神 擁護其身 然後玉符保神 金液煉形 Students of the Tâo, who keep this Classic in their hands and croon over its contents, will get good Spirits from the ten heavens to watch over and protect their bodies, after which their spirits will be preserved by the seal of jade, and their bodies refined by the elixir of gold. 左玄真人曰
形神倶妙 與道合真 Both body and spirit will become exquisitely ethereal, and be in true union with the Tâo! Translated by James Legge
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清靜經 Purity and Rest 老君曰 The Words of Lao Chün. 大道無形 生育天地 Although the Great Principle of Nature – Tao – has no form, it brought forth and nourishes Heaven and Earth; 大道無情 運行日月 though it has no passions, it causes the Sun and Moon to revolve; 大道無名 長養萬物 though it has no name, it produces the growth and nurture of all things. 吾不知其名 強名曰道 As I do not know its name, I am compelled to call it simply Tao. 夫道者 有清有濁 有動有靜 Now this Principle includes the pure and the turbid, the active and the motionless. 天清地濁 天動地靜 For instance, Heaven is pure and Earth turbid; Heaven moves and the Earth is still. 男清女濁 男動女靜 The Masculine is pure, the feminine turbid; the Masculine is active and the Feminine at rest. 降本流末 而生萬物 Emerging from its source and flowing on to all its developments, it produced the visible creation. 清者濁之源 動者靜之基 The pure is the origin of the turbid, and the active of the motionless. 人能常清靜 天地悉皆歸 If a man is able to remain permanently pure and motionless, Heaven and Earth will both at once come and dwell in him. 夫人神好清 而心擾之 Now the spirit of man loves purity, but his passions cause disturbance. 人心好靜 而慾牽之 The heart of man loves rest; but his desires draw him into motion. 常能遣其欲 而心自靜 澄其心 而神自清自然 If he can without intermission abjure his desires, his heart will become naturally quiescent; if he can cleanse his heart, his spirit will become naturally pure. 六欲不生 三毒消滅 He may then be sure that the Six Desires will arise no more, and that the Three Curses – lust, folly, and wrath – will be annihilated. 所以不能者爲心未澄 Therefore those who are incapable of arriving at this state have never cleansed their hearts, or abjured their bodily desires. 慾未遣也 能遣之者 内觀於心 心無其心 If a man who is thus able to abjure his desires looks within himself at his own heart, he will see that it is passionless; 外觀於形 形無其形 遠觀於物 物無其物 if he looks outward, at his own body, he will regard it as though it were not his; if he looks abroad at things around him, they will be to him as though they did not exist.
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三者既悟 唯見於空 觀空以空 If he truly understands the nature of these three things, he will see that they are mere emptiness; vacuity itself he sees to be empty also. 空無所空 所空既無 無無亦無 無無既無 湛然常寂 But there can be no emptiness in vacuity; for vacuity being non-existent, the very absence of nothing thus non-existing [to him], his serenity will be permanent and undisturbed; 寂無所寂 慾豈能生 慾既不生 and this immoveable tranquillity being so deep as not to admit of any further tranquillity, how can any desires arise within him? 即是眞靜 眞靜應物 眞常得性 Although the true essence of man be constantly in relation with outside matters, it must ever remain in possession of his original nature; 常應常靜 常清靜矣 constantly responding to externals, he must still be constant in quiescence; then his state of purity and rest will be permanent. 如此清靜 漸入眞道 If one is able in this way to preserve his state of purity and quiescence, he will gradually enter the ideal phase of the Principle of Nature; 既入眞道 名爲得道 and having entered this ideal phase, he may then be called one who has obtained possession of it. 雖名得道 實無所得 爲化衆生 名爲得道 Yet although he may be said to possess the Principle of Nature, he has actually not obtained anything at all; it is only that he is able to unravel all the mysteries connected with living things. 能悟之者 可傳聖道 Those who thus fully understand may spread this Holy Doctrine all abroad. 老君曰 The Words of Lao Chün, Prince of the Sublime. 上士無爭 下士好爭 Scholars of eminence never wrangle; those of low attamments love wrangling. 上徳不徳 下徳執徳 Men of high Virtue make nothing whatever of their virtue; those of Inferior virtue cling to it [as of great value]. 執著之者 不名道徳 Those who plume themselves upon their attainments cannot be called in possession of the two principles of Tao and Virtue; 衆生所以不得眞道者 爲有妄心 and the reason why all mankind are unable to attain the ideal phase of Tao is to be found in their misguided hearts. 既有妄心 既驚其神 Their hearts being thus misguided, their spirits become unsettled or perturbed; 即著萬物 既著萬物 being in this state of perturbation, they follow after worldly objects; 即生貪求 既生貪求 即是煩惱 pursuing worldly objects, they become a prey to desires and lusts, and desires and lusts arising within them, disappointments and trouble ensue.
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煩惱妄想憂苦身心 Now disappointments in the attainment of what they long for lead to unruly and disordered thoughts, and the result is bitterness and misery to both mind and body. 便遭濁辱流浪生死 常沈苦海永失眞道 Then they will inevitably incur disgrace and shame; the successive births and deaths they will have to pass through will flow on and on like ocean waves, and they will sink for ever in a Sea of Bitterness – the ideal goal they might have reached being lost to them eternally. 眞常之道悟者自得 得悟道者 常清靜矣 Those who fully understand all this, will obtain the True and Constant Principle of Nature of themselves; and those who are able to understand the Principle of Nature will be for ever in a state of purity and rest.
Postface by Ko Hsüan 葛玄 (164-244) 仙人葛翁曰 The Words of Ko Hsuăn, the Immortal. 吾得眞道 I have obtained this Principle. 曾誦此經萬遍 Formerly I conned this book ten thousand times. 此經是天人所習 不傳下士 It is only men of Heaven who can learn it, and it should not be imparted to those of inferior calibre. 吾昔受之於東華帝君 東華帝君受之于金闕帝君 金闕帝君受之於西王母 I received it in the first instance from the Divine Prince of Eastern Glory; he received it from the Divine Prince of the Golden Gate, and he from the Royal Mother of the West. 西王一線乃口口相傳 不記文字 吾今於世 書而錄之 The Royal Mother imparted it to him entirely by word of mouth, not committing it to paper; I now give it to the world, having written it down and then transcribing it with care. 上士悟之 升為天仙 中士修之 南宮列官 下士得之 在世長年 遊行三界 升入金門 Scholars of eminence who thoroughly comprehend it will ascend on high and receive authority in Heaven; those of medium grade who strive to put it into practice will have their name inscribed on the roll of Immortals in the Southern Palace; while those of the lowest order who obtain it will live long years on earth, roam through the Three Spheres of Being, and, mounting on high, pass through the Golden Gate. 左玄眞人曰 The Words of Tso Hsuăn, the Divine Man. 學道之士 持誦此經者 即得十天善神 擁護其身 然後玉符保神 金液煉形 Among students of the Principle of Nature – Tao – he who resolutely cons this book will secure the guardianship of multitudes of good spirits from the Tenth Heaven; after which his soul will be placed under the protection of the Jewelled Seal, and his body permeated with the Elixir of Gold. 形神倶妙 與道合眞 Then both body and soul will become robed in supernatural beauty, and be in perfect harmony with the subtle Principle of Nature. 正乙眞人曰 The Words of Cheng I, the Divine Man. 人家有此經 悟解之者 災障不幹 If this book be in anyone's family, those who fully understand its meaning will not be exposed to any adversities or obstacles;
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衆聖護門 神升上界 朝拜高眞 功滿徳就 their door will be guarded by all the Holy Ones, and their souls ascend to the Higher World, where they will be admitted to the presence of those lofty beings who have attained to perfect purity, and bow before them – their merit all-sufficient, their virtue all-complete; 相感帝君 and where reciprocal influences will exist between them and the Deva-princes. 誦持不退 身騰紫雲 All who are unwearied in the study of this book will ascend bodily to the Purple Clouds – where the Immortals live. Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour
Bibliography Balfour, Frederic Henry. Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political, and Speculative. London/Shanghai: Trübner and Co./Kelly and Walsh, 1894), 70-3. Kohn, Livia. The Taoist Experience. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993, 25-29. Kohn, Livia. "Qingjing jing 清靜經 Scripture of Clarity and Quiescence", in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio, ed. London and New York: Routledge, 2008: 800-1. Komjathy, Louis, "Daoist Texts in Translation", 2004. Legge, James. The Texts of Taoism: Part II of II, Sacred Books of the East, Volume 40. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891: 247-54. Pas, Julian. Historical Dictionary of Taoism. In cooperation with Man Kam Leung. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press, 1998.
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風鑑 Feng-chien Mirror of Auras By Ch'en T'uan 陳摶 (Ch'en Hsi-i 陳希夷) Translated by Livia Kohn
Contents Author's Introduction Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Notes Bibliography
2 3 8 10 21 24
26
Author's Introduction The following translation renders the prose version of the Mirror of Auras as found in the Yuguan zhaoshen ju 1.4b-9b. The annotation provides variant readings of the version in verse, found both in the Taiqing shenjian 1.5b-8a and in the Shenxian quanbian ch. 6, Liang 1980, 179-181. The two latter texts are abbreviated TQ and SX respectively and cited with their corresponding page numbers. Passages found in the variant versions that supply additional information to the basic text have been included in the translation proper. They are marked off by parantheses { }. While the older prose version contains about 1700 characters, the two more recent editions in verse are made up of about two hundred lines of seven characters each, i.e., of about 1400 characters altogcther. The two later editions give largely the same text, but differ considerably from the earlier Yuguan text. Though many sections are identical in contents, phrasing frequently varies and the same or similar ideas may be found in different sections of the text. Section numeration and headings are my own; parallel structures of the text have been imitated as closely as possible.
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Mirror of Auras 1. Definitions of Main Terms Human life receives energy (qi 氣) from water (shui 水) and is endowed with physical form (xing 形) by fire (huo 火).11 In people, water is the essence (jing 精) and also the will (zhi 志); fire is the spirit (shen 神) and also the mind (xin 心). When essence is harmonized, spirit is brought forth. When spirit is brought forth, physical form is complete. When physical form is complete, complexion (se 色) will be whole.12 Thus we know that what is apparent on the outside is called physical form; what is arising in the mind is called spirit; what is found in blood and flesh is called energy; what is evident on the skin is called complexion. 2. Physical Appearance According to the Five Phases Physical form in human beings follows the different images of metal, wood, water, fire, or earth; it can also be compared to that of birds and beasts. Metal appearance tends to be angular (fang 方); wood appearance tends to be slim (shou 瘦); water appearance tends to be fat (ba 肥); fire appearance tends to be pointed (jian 尖); earth appearance tends to be coarse (zhuo 濁).13 Resembling metal and realizing metal: this person has deep resolution. Resembling wood and realizing wood: this person will be rich in material goods. Resembling water and realizing water: this person will excel in literature. Resembling fire and realizing fire: this person will be a great warrior. Resembling earth and realizing earth: this person will have many a storehouse.14 {Resembling metal but not realizing metal: this person will meet with sufferings and grieve. Resembling wood but not realizing wood: this person will be orphaned and lonely. Resembling water but not realizing water: this person will suffer frequent defeat. Resembling fire but not realizing fire: this person will encounter disasters and misfortunes. Resembling earth and not realizing earth: this person will feel unhappy and miserable. SX 179, TQ 6a.}
3. Types of Bodies According to Animal Morphology Those resembling birds are usually slim. Those resembling beasts are usually stout. A fat bird cannot fly, a thin beast has no strength. For example, one who resembles the form of the luan 鸞 or the phoenix has highly curved eyebrows and elegant eyes. His form and bodily structure (ti 體) will be clear and slim. One who resembles the rhinoceros or the tiger has highrising bones of the forehead. His chin and cheeks are round and full. These types are noble, those of opposite characteristics are low. {Birds and beasts are many a kind, Never should one group a bird with a beast. All slim and long types belong to birds; All fat and short types belong to beasts. Those like birds would rather be slim, For those like beasts it's best to be fat. If birds are fat they'll never fly, If beasts were thin, how would they run? For people like tigers see their necks; For people like rhinos check their backs; Phoenix-people have long eyes; Those like cranes have pointed shapes. SX 180, TQ 8a)15
4. The Appearance of the Wood-Type A person with the appearance of wood is basically slim. His complexion is fresh (qing 青). He should be slim but not skinny and look fresh but not transparent.16 If his physical form is slim and his complexion fresh, he is delicate and full. If his physical form is skinny and his complexion transparent, he is coarse and empty. When people of the world speak of the appearance of the wood-type, they only know that it should show as slimness in one's physical form. They do not realize that it could yet be coarse as, for instance, in the case of the pinetree or the cypress.
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A tree is considered delicate when its stem is full and its leaves are fresh. Perfect fullness is found in the wutong 梧 桐 tree (sterculia platanifolia). When the stem is empty on the inside and the outside correspondingly is lacking in firmness, we say the tree is coarse. Empty inside and yet having the physical form of a tree, how can one say it is one integrated whole? 5. Impure or Mixed Types When a wood-type is not entirely pure, it tends to encompass (dai 帯) metal, but it will also contain fire, water, and earth. When a water-type is not entirely pure, it tends to encompass earth, but it will also contain metal, fire, and wood. When a fire-type is not entirely pure, it tends to encompass water, but it will also contain metal, earth, and wood. When an earth-type is not entirely pure, it tends to encompass wood, but it will also contain water, fire, and metal. 6. Mixtures According to the Dynamics of Phases When the major phases that make up man's physical form bring forth one another the combination is auspicious. When they overcome one another it is unlucky.17 For instance, a person's physical form may at first look slim, i.e., he is a wood-type. Around the middle, however, he is coarser and appears more like the metal-type. Again, he may then look fat, i.e., resemble the water-type. Or he may look really stout as is typical for an earth-type. First slim, then fat means that water is brought forth from wood. When, in addition, he looks solid and stout we have wood realizing earth. The first instance going from slim to coarse is an obstruction (zhi 滞); the second case going from slim to fat or stout is a development (fa 發). As concerns official position and personal wealth, a wood-type slightly obstructed by earth might become a district overseer. But if the obstruction is deep he will be a prefect. Again, if the face is square and the back stout, we say that there is both wood and earth. Someone with such an appearance entering an official career will be an overseer of troops, when in the military, and an official waiting for appointment, when in the civil service.18 Yet, if he was pure wood without any earth he would attain the highest possible rank. 7. Spirit as Deep or Shallow Within human beings it is desirable for spirit to be deep and not desirable for spirit to be shallow.19 When spirit is deep, wisdom (zhi 智) will also be deep. When spirit is shallow, wisdom will also be shallow. When spirit functions, it radiates through the eyes. When spirit rests: it is gathered in the mind/heart. Looking at spirited eyes closely, one is fascinated. Looking at spirited eyes from afar, one is awed.20 One with such eyes has a very powerful glance and is easily alerted when asleep. One can compare such eyes to a big lamp. Just as one calls the acting part (fen 分) of the mind "spirit" so one calls the flame of the lamp "spirit light." People's light, limited within, is the material soul. The oil corresponds to the essence. When the oil is pure the lamp is bright. This is what we mean by "shining forth."21 8. Energy as Pure or Turbid Energy in people should manifest in strong resonance and clear expression, it should not be of robust vigor and sound like a martial yell. When one is at peace within, the will is sincere. When one is relaxed without, the energy is in harmony. There are those whose energy is pure (qing 清). There are those whose energy is turbid (zhuo 濁). There are those whose energy is turbid in purity. There are those whose energy is pure in turbidity.22 Speaking now of the energy of people in the regions of the Zhe 漸 or the Huai 淮 we find that the energy of the Zhe people is heavy but not bright, whereas that of the Huai people is bright but not heavy. The energy of southern people is clear, but not thick, that of northern people is thick, but not clear.23 {A Southerner who looks like he is from the north (big and fat and very dark) will be wealthy and noble. A Northerner who looks as if he stems from the south (slim and light and very sharp) will excel in many ways. SX 180, TQ 7a.}
When yang energy expands, the mountains and rivers are beautiful and luxuriant. When the sun or the moon rise, heaven and earth are bathed in light. This is the evidence of energy.
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9. Complexion as Full or Transparent Complexion in man—though only found on the skin—should be full, and not transparent. It should be intense and not scattered. Complexion is brought forth from within and without the five orbs. It adorns the whole body with radiance and smoothness.24 Mistress Tang Ju 唐擧 says:25 "Anything less than direct sunlight appears as color or complexion. When man participates in the light he reveals joy on the outside of his physical body. When he loses it, depression settles in his mind." 10. Complexion as Young or Old There is old (lao 老) and young (nen 嫩) complexion. 'Young' is used to refer to a complexion inappropriate to a person's age.26 Thus in complexion, 'old' is auspicious, 'young' is inauspicious. However, within the methods of physiognomy there are other ways to evaluate complexion. Besides the obstruction of complexion called 'young' there are also three kinds of radiance and five sorts of glossiness of the skin. There are moreover three types of dullness and five kinds of dryness.27 11. Physical Form and Spirit in Terms of Surplus and Deficiency28 Among the combinations of physical form and spirit, there are too much form and insufficient spirit, and too much spirit and insufficient form. In the first case, the person at first sight seems awe-inspiring, but upon longer examination appears rather dull. In the second case, the person at first appears rather dull, but the longer one examines him the more radiant he seems to become.29 When someone has a surplus of both, physical form and spirit, one feels delighted at his sight, whether he is one's acquaintance or not. When, on the other hand, someone has an insufficiency of both, one need not ask any further: he will be universally disliked. 12. Interaction Patterns of the Various Constituents Physical form and spirit should radiate in mutual harmony. Energy and complexion should support each other.30 When spirit is whole, physical form is also whole. When energy is full, complexion is also full. Spirit can make energy stay, but energy cannot make spirit stay. Energy can make complexion stay, but complexion cannot make energy stay.31 Physical form, finally, only supports the other forces. It may be stout, it may be thin. Stout is auspicious, thin is unlucky. 13. Thin Appearance Among the people of the world one often meets some who easily get their will. They initially attain all that they desire without any problems. But then they encounter some obstacle in their course and in the end they die prematurely. This is because their judgment is superficial and narrow-minded and they can never bear things out in patience. Thin walls easily collapse; thin wine easily turns sour; thin paper easily tears; thin people easily die. When water and earth are thin, they are not strong enough to support the rain-bringing clouds. Thin people do not account for their own shortcomings and only talk about the bad characteristics of others. They gradually encroach on others, using them for their own advantage. They say "right" to one's face, but "wrong" behind one's back. They are unkind to their kin and their elders, but serve strangers with great enthusiasm. Their character is fundamentally frivolous and arbitrary, but they make it look profound and sincere. They change traditions and do away with the old. They don't know kindness and are indifferent to others. Not yet noble, they already give themselves airs. Not even rich, they already parade their pride. Not even graduate, they yet boast of their attainments. This is the typical behavior of the very thin type. Types like this not only have a disastrous physique, but they also tend to have shortened life-spans. Worse than that, they pass their misfortune on to their children and grandchildren. 14. Signs of Long Life However, the physiognomy of long life is not found in an imposing and powerful physical appearance. Rather, one sees it in the eyes. When the pupils move nervously early death is indicated. People with an imposing and powerful appearance, if and when they are magnanimous and goodnatured, are good examples for the mutual support of physical form and energy. But if they are narrow-minded and prejudiced in their judgments, we say that the mind is not in proper accordance.
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Common folk usually only know that signs of longevity are hair growing above the eyebrows and inside the ears. They have heard that it shows a ripe old age when the bone of the forehead goes as far as the ear, when the nose is straight and long, and when the proportions of the face are even and clear. But they don't realize how these things come about.32 Actually, the bones are nothing but essence and energy solidified within. Only when essence and marrow penetrate to the outside does hair grow above the eyebrows and inside the ears. Only then are the proportions even and clear, and only then can the nose be really straight and long. One can compare this phenomenon to a tree. Its trunk must be strong and solid before any branches or leaves can sprout forth on its surface. It is also comparable to a lamp. A lamp only shines bright when it contains plenty of oil. Similarly the human body is only at peace when it contains sufficient essence. As Mistress Tang says: "Everybody knows that tiger's bones and dragon's pupils are auspicious. Everybody knows that an Adam's apple and prominent teeth are unlucky. But the auspicious may not always mean good luck and the unlucky may not always indicate misfortune." 15. The Importance of the Mind Though Adam's apple and prominent teeth are indicators of a pointed physique,33 yet sometimes there is some auspicious factor in the mind. A person like this might actually be found in a noble position. He will then, however, only think of his personal advantage and have no consideration for his wife and children. So we have quite a number of noble people who belong among the type of threefold pointedness and fivefold prominence.34 If only their spirit and energy is profound and pure, they can yet be accepted.35 People whose spirit and energy is profound and pure are at peace in their bodies and tranquil within themselves. They do not go because someone says so, they do not stop because someone keeps silent. They do not become agitated because of sexual attraction, nor do they turn away because of it. They are stable and at peace, careful and polite. People like this always know their limits. Most people these days are very fond of wealth and high position, but they are never content at heart. There are so many who are not happy at all. Yet those whose spirit and energy are at peace and tranquil are usually unconcerned and relaxed in their minds. That is what we call "freedom at heart."36 16. Obstruction However, there are many whose physical form, energy, and complexion suffer from obstruction. When physical form is obstructed for eight years, it is completely defiled. When spirit is obstructed for four years, one's personality becomes inflexible and obstinate. When energy is obstructed for three years, the mind suffers a break-down. When complexion is obstructed for one year, the spirit is exhausted and worn out. {When form is obstructed, the walk will be heavy; when spirit is obstructed, the body will be vulnerable; when energy is obstructed, the voice will be harsh; when complexion is obstructed, the face will be swarthy. SX 180, TQ 8a.}
17. Yin and Yang There is yin and yang involved in this process. Yang cannot encompass yin, and yin cannot encompass yang. For example, if a man has a female physique, he is weak and cannot maintain his position. If a woman shows male features, she is dominant and will not find a husband. Women should be soft and obedient; men should be strong and upright. The wife of an honest citizen should have authority and not be seductive. A winehouse girl should be very seductive and not show any authority.37 But ordinary people usually only examine the faces of others and never go to the roots of their appearance.38 18. Noble and Humble Let us now look at the bones protruding above the eyebrows, the nose and the jaws. Everyone equally has them. In noble persons these bones have grown directly from essence and marrow, thus they are fine and elegant. In lowly and poor people, on the other hand, these bones are rather floating on the surface and thus appear very coarse. Therefore the cheekbone in common people goes as far as the ears. If it does not go any further than that, it indicates long life. If it goes neither beyond nor stands out visibly, it shows future wealth. In people who will become overseers, these bones go only as far as the whiskers. In those who will serve in a prefecture, they go as far as the temples. In those who will be Grand Prefects, they appear like rounded mounds and end at the corner of the eyes.39 The lower jawbone indicates the possession of storehouses and slaves. One whose lower portion of the face is well developed and strong will have granaries, servants and slaves. If the lower portion is undeveloped, however, he will not even have a proper residence for himself. How could he have slaves to drive and granaries to fill? Who sees far will have far-reaching wisdom. Who sees high will have high-reaching wisdom.40 Who sees low will have low-reaching wisdom. Who sees slanted will have poisoned wisdom. One whose pupils keep revolving unsteadily will kill others.41
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One who wavers in his glance, is drawn above and below, will never be solidly established in anything. Those who have strong parts of heaven (forehead) are noble. Those who have strong parts of earth (chin) are wealthy. Those who have strong parts of humanity (nose) are long-lived. But anyone who has strongly developed parts of heaven and earth, yet in dealing with the world does not cultivate himself, will waste his auspicious looks.
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The Chinese text conforms to the woodblock text in the original article.
風鑑 Feng-chien 1 人之生也、受氣於水、禀形於火。水則爲精爲志、火則爲神爲心。精合而後神生、神生而後形全、形全而後 色具。是知、顯于外者謂之形、生於心者謂之神、在於血肉者謂之氣、在於皮膚者謂之色。 2 形之在人、有金木水火土之象、有飛禽走獸之倫。金不嫌方、木不嫌瘦、水不嫌肥、火不嫌尖、土不嫌濁。 似金得金、剛毅深;似木得木、資財阜;似水得水、文章貴;似火得火、兵機大;似土得土、多櫃庫。 3 似禽者、不嫌瘦;似獸者、不嫌肥。禽肥則不飛、獸瘦則少力。如鸞鳳之形則眉聳目秀、與夫形體清瘦;如 犀虎之象、則頭角高聳、與夫頤腮豐滿。如此之類皆貴矣、反此者皆賤矣。 4 形之在人、木形本瘦、其色青。瘦則不露、青則不浮。青瘦則細而實、露浮則麄而虛。世之論木者、但知其 瘦取形、不知其有麄如松柏之木、其本以實、其葉愈青、謂之細實。至如梧桐之木、其内本虛、其外不牢、 謂之麄虛。然取木之形、安可一槪而論哉? 5 木之形、非在其一、有帶金者、有帶水火土者;水之形、非在其一、有帶土者、有帶金火木者;火之形、非 在其一、有帶水者、有帶金土木者;土之形、非在其一、有帶木者、有帶水火金者 6 帶其相生則吉、帶其相尅則凶。如人之始則瘦、此木之形也;中則麄、是金形也;次而肥、是水形也;其次 厚實、是土形也。始瘦次肥、爲水生於木;次又厚實、此木之得土也。始若瘦、次麄、爲滞也;始瘦、次肥 厚、此爲發也、庶人進財、官員加職。木滞土淺爲知縣、土深爲郡守、又或面方背厚、此爲有木有土、則作 職司。或武則止於列職之官、文則止於選人、是木無土也。其在職司之上。 7 神之在人、欲其深、不欲其淺。神深則智深、神淺則智淺。用則開於眼、合則收於心。近觀則有媚、遠觀則 有威;其瞻視有力、其睡臥易醒。譬如燈之大、其心之分、則謂之神;其燈之花、則謂之神光;其四畔之光、 則謂之魄;油乃精也、油清而後燈明。此謂之著也。 8 氣之在人、要其堅𩄒清韻、而不在乎剛健强鳴。其内平、則志篤;其外舒、則氣和。有清焉、有濁焉;有清 中之濁、有濁中之清。若此浙人、淮人之氣論之:浙人之氣、重而不明;淮人之氣、明而不重;南人之氣、 清而不厚;北人之氣、厚而不清。陽氣舒、而山川秀茂;日月出、而天地光明。此氣之著也。 9 色之在人、雖在皮膚之上、要其實、不要其浮;欲其聚、不欲其散。生於五臟之表裏、飾於一身之光潤。唐 舉先生曰:「日光不足、爲之色。人之有得、則喜形於外;有失、則憂存於心。」 10 有老焉、有嫩焉。嫩者、謂年紀深而帶後生之色。色老者吉、色嫩者凶。然相法之中、不唯其色之如此者滞、 凡形嫩者、亦如之。有三光焉、有五澤焉;有三暗焉、有五枯焉。 11 形神者、有形有餘而神不足者、有神有餘而形不足者。形有餘而神不足者、初見似威、久視而晦;神有餘而 形不足者、初見似晦、久視愈明。神形倶有餘者、識與不識、見而悅之;神形倶不足者、不必更問、令人可 惡。
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12 形與神相照、氣與色相扶。神全則形全、氣全則色全。神能留氣、氣不能留神;氣能留色、色不能留氣。至 於形、則載之而已。有厚焉、有薄焉。厚者吉、薄者凶。 13 世人有遭時得志者、其始皆欲有爲也;及其中則滞、末則卒、皆由度量淺狹、不能容載也。墻薄則易頹、酒 薄則易酸、紙薄則易裂、人薄則易亡、水土薄則不足以致陰雲之附。不度已短、專談人過;侵削人物、以爲 已悳;面前説是、背後説非;不睦親長、𨚫奉外人;性本輕率、佯爲沉重;改常棄舊、忘恩忽人;未貴先盈、 未富先驕;未學先滿、此大薄矣。若此者、不唯破相、又損其壽、殃及子孫。 14 然壽之相、非在乎形貌恢偉、眼目浮凹、便言天矣。形貌恢偉之人、若有時、情寬性厚、此謂之形氣相附 也;若度量偏窄、此謂心不稱也。世之人惟知其眉上兼耳内生毛多壽;骨入耳兼人中深長、法令分明、便言 有壽、然不知其有所禀也。此蓋精氣内實、其骨乃從精髓而透出、然後毫毛方始生於眉耳、法令方始分明、 人中方始得深長。如樹之根本牢實、上面方始發生枝葉、似油盛燈明、精足則身安。唐先生曰:「虎骨龍睛、 世人皆知其吉;結喉露齒、世人皆知其凶。然而吉者未必爲吉、凶者未必爲凶。」 15 結喉露齒、雖則劣相、有時、心地吉者又貴矣。但利其身、不利妻子。如三尖五露之人、貴者多矣。但其神 氣深粹、皆可取也。神氣深粹之人、形安體靜、不隨語行、不隨嘿止、不隨色動、不隨色轉、安而定、詳而 雅。如此之人、皆知分也。今之人、享富貴而心不足、不快者多矣。其神氣安靜之人、心地空閑、而所爲放 心。 16 然形氣色之於人、有滞者多矣。形滞八年則塵埃、神滞四年則身硬、氣滞三年則心傾、色滞一年則神困。 17 有陰有陽焉。陽者不可帶陰、陰者不可帶陽。若男帶女相、懦而無立;女懷男相、主失其夫。婦人要柔而順、 男子要剛而正。良人之婦、有威而少媚;娼家之婦、有媚而少威。然世之相者、但觀其面部者之多、而不究 其相本。 18 如骨者、凡人於眉鼻兩頰之上皆有也。在貴人、則有從精髓内生出、故其骨乃秀而細;及貧賤之人、則浮於 上而麄。如顴骨、上一位、庶人;入耳、不過有壽;不露、不過有富;至若作監司之人、生入兩鬚;兩府之 人、則生入天倉;其作太守之人、則堆成峯而入兩眼之尾而已;至下輔、主倉庫、奴婢。若其地閣濶厚、自 有倉庫奴婢。設使地閣缺陷、是無宅可居、安有奴婢之驅兼倉庫哉?視遠、智遠;視高、智高;視下、智 下;視斜、智毒;睛屢轉者、殺人或流;視迫上迫下、此瞻視不常之人、不可其立事矣。有天者貴、有地者 富、有人者壽。有天、有地、人事不修、是徒有相也。
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風鑑 Mirror of Auras 1. Definitions of Main Terms 人之生也 受氣於水 Human life receives energy (qi 氣) from water (shui 水) and is endowed with physical form (xing 形) by fire (huo 火).11 禀形於火 水則爲精爲志 火則爲神爲心 In people, water is the essence (jing 精) and also the will (zhi 志); fire is the spirit (shen 神) and also the mind (xin 心). 精合而後神生 When essence is harmonized, spirit is brought forth. 神生而後形全 When spirit is brought forth, physical form is complete. 形全而後色具 When physical form is complete, complexion (se 色) will be whole.12 是知 Thus we know that 顯于外者謂之形 what is apparent on the outside is called physical form; 生於心者謂之神 what is arising in the mind is called spirit; 在於血肉者謂之氣 what is found in blood and flesh is called energy; 在於皮膚者謂之色 what is evident on the skin is called complexion. 2. Physical Appearance According to the Five Phases 形之在人 有金木水火土之象 有飛禽走獸之倫 Physical form in human beings follows the different images of metal, wood, water, fire, or earth; it can also be compared to that of birds and beasts. 金不嫌方 Metal appearance tends to be angular (fang 方); 木不嫌瘦 wood appearance tends to be slim (shou 瘦); 水不嫌肥 water appearance tends to be fat (ba 肥); 火不嫌尖 fire appearance tends to be pointed (jian 尖); 土不嫌濁 earth appearance tends to be coarse (zhuo 濁).13 似金得金 剛毅深 Resembling metal and realizing metal: this person has deep resolution.
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似木得木 資財阜 Resembling wood and realizing wood: this person will be rich in material goods. 似水得水 文章貴 Resembling water and realizing water: this person will excel in literature. 似火得火 兵機大 Resembling fire and realizing fire: this person will be a great warrior. 似土得土 多櫃庫 Resembling earth and realizing earth: this person will have many a storehouse.14 3. Types of Bodies According to Animal Morphology 似禽者 不嫌瘦 Those resembling birds are usually slim. 似獸者 不嫌肥 Those resembling beasts are usually stout. 禽肥則不飛 獸瘦則少力 A fat bird cannot fly, a thin beast has no strength. 如鸞鳳之形則眉聳目秀 For example, one who resembles the form of the luan 鸞 or the phoenix has highly curved eyebrows and elegant eyes. 與夫形體清瘦 His form and bodily structure (ti 體) will be clear and slim. 如犀虎之象 則頭角高聳 One who resembles the rhinoceros or the tiger has highrising bones of the forehead. 與夫頤腮豐滿 His chin and cheeks are round and full. 如此之類皆貴矣 反此者皆賤矣 These types are noble, those of opposite characteristics are low. 4. The Appearance of the Wood-Type 形之在人 木形本瘦 A person with the appearance of wood is basically slim. 其色青 His complexion is fresh (qing 青). 瘦則不露 青則不浮 He should be slim but not skinny and look fresh but not transparent.16 青瘦則細而實 If his physical form is slim and his complexion fresh, he is delicate and full. 露浮則麄而虛 If his physical form is skinny and his complexion transparent, he is coarse and empty. 世之論木者 但知其瘦取形 When people of the world speak of the appearance of the wood-type, they only know that it should show as slimness in one's physical form.
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不知其有麄如松柏之木 They do not realize that it could yet be coarse as, for instance, in the case of the pine-tree or the cypress. 其本以實 其葉愈青 A tree is considered delicate when its stem is full and its leaves are fresh. 謂之細實 至如梧桐之木 Perfect fullness is found in the wutong 梧桐 tree (sterculia platanifolia). 其内本虛 其外不牢 謂之麄虛 When the stem is empty on the inside and the outside correspondingly is lacking in firmness, we say the tree is coarse. 然取木之形 安可一槪而論哉 Empty inside and yet having the physical form of a tree, how can one say it is one integrated whole? 5. Impure or Mixed Types 木之形 非在其一 有帶金者 有帶水火土者 When a wood-type is not entirely pure, it tends to encompass (dai 帯) metal, but it will also contain fire, water, and earth. 水之形 非在其一 有帶土者 有帶金火木者 When a water-type is not entirely pure, it tends to encompass earth, but it will also contain metal, fire, and wood. 火之形 非在其一 有帶水者 有帶金土木者 When a fire-type is not entirely pure, it tends to encompass water, but it will also contain metal, earth, and wood. 土之形 非在其一 有帶木者 有帶水火金者 When an earth-type is not entirely pure, it tends to encompass wood, but it will also contain water, fire, and metal. 6. Mixtures According to the Dynamics of Phases 帶其相生則吉 When the major phases that make up man's physical form bring forth one another the combination is auspicious. 帶其相尅則凶 When they overcome one another it is unlucky.17 如人之始則瘦 此木之形也 For instance, a person's physical form may at first look slim, i.e., he is a wood-type. 中則麄 是金形也 Around the middle, however, he is coarser and appears more like the metal-type. 次而肥 是水形也 Again, he may then look fat, i.e., resemble the water-type. 其次厚實 是土形也 Or he may look really stout as is typical for an earth-type. 始瘦次肥 爲水生於木 First slim, then fat means that water is brought forth from wood. 次又厚實 此木之得土也 When, in addition, he looks solid and stout we have wood realizing earth. 始若瘦 次麄 爲滞也 始瘦 次肥厚 此爲發也 The first instance going from slim to coarse is an obstruction (zhi 滞); the second case going from slim to fat or stout is a development (fa 發).
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庶人進財 官員加職 木滞土淺爲知縣 As concerns official position and personal wealth, a wood-type slightly obstructed by earth might become a district overseer. 土深爲郡守 But if the obstruction is deep he will be a prefect. 又或面方背厚 此爲有木有土 Again, if the face is square and the back stout, we say that there is both wood and earth. 則作職司 或武則止於列職之官 文則止於選人 Someone with such an appearance entering an official career will be an overseer of troops, when in the military, and an official waiting for appointment, when in the civil service.18 是木無土也 其在職司之上 Yet, if he was pure wood without any earth he would attain the highest possible rank. 7. Spirit as Deep or Shallow 神之在人 欲其深 不欲其淺 Within human beings it is desirable for spirit to be deep and not desirable for spirit to be shallow.19 神深則智深 When spirit is deep, wisdom (zhi 智) will also be deep. 神淺則智淺 When spirit is shallow, wisdom will also be shallow. 用則開於眼 When spirit functions, it radiates through the eyes. 合則收於心 When spirit rests: it is gathered in the mind/heart. 近觀則有媚 Looking at spirited eyes closely, one is fascinated. 遠觀則有威 Looking at spirited eyes from afar, one is awed.20 其瞻視有力 其睡臥易醒 One with such eyes has a very powerful glance and is easily alerted when asleep. 譬如燈之大 One can compare such eyes to a big lamp. 其心之分 則謂之神 其燈之花 則謂之神光 Just as one calls the acting part (fen 分) of the mind "spirit" so one calls the flame of the lamp "spirit light." 其四畔之光 則謂之魄 People's light, limited within, is the material soul. 油乃精也 The oil corresponds to the essence. 油清而後燈明 此謂之著也 When the oil is pure the lamp is bright. This is what we mean by "shining forth."21
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8. Energy as Pure or Turbid 氣之在人 要其堅𩄒清韻 而不在乎剛健强鳴 Energy in people should manifest in strong resonance and clear expression, it should not be of robust vigor and sound like a martial yell. 其内平 則志篤 When one is at peace within, the will is sincere. 其外舒 則氣和 When one is relaxed without, the energy is in harmony. 有清焉 There are those whose energy is pure (qing 清). 有濁焉 There are those whose energy is turbid (zhuo 濁). 有清中之濁 There are those whose energy is turbid in purity. 有濁中之清 There are those whose energy is pure in turbidity.22 若此浙人 淮人之氣論之 浙人之氣 重而不明 淮人之氣 明而不重 Speaking now of the energy of people in the regions of the Zhe 漸 or the Huai 淮 we find that the energy of the Zhe people is heavy but not bright, whereas that of the Huai people is bright but not heavy. 南人之氣 清而不厚 北人之氣 厚而不清 The energy of southern people is clear, but not thick, that of northern people is thick, but not clear.23 陽氣舒 而山川秀茂 When yang energy expands, the mountains and rivers are beautiful and luxuriant. 日月出 而天地光明 When the sun or the moon rise, heaven and earth are bathed in light. 此氣之著也 This is the evidence of energy. 9. Complexion as Full or Transparent 色之在人 雖在皮膚之上 要其實 不要其浮 Complexion in man—though only found on the skin—should be full, and not transparent. 欲其聚 不欲其散 It should be intense and not scattered. 生於五臟之表裏 Complexion is brought forth from within and without the five orbs. 飾於一身之光潤 It adorns the whole body with radiance and smoothness.24 唐舉先生曰 Mistress Tang Ju 唐擧 says:25 日光不足 爲之色 "Anything less than direct sunlight appears as color or complexion.
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人之有得 則喜形於外 When man participates in the light he reveals joy on the outside of his physical body. 有失 則憂存於心 When he loses it, depression settles in his mind." 10. Complexion as Young or Old 有老焉 有嫩焉 There is old (lao 老) and young (nen 嫩) complexion. 嫩者 謂年紀深而帶後生之色 'Young' is used to refer to a complexion inappropriate to a person's age.26 色老者吉 色嫩者凶 Thus in complexion, 'old' is auspicious, 'young' is inauspicious. 然相法之中 不唯其色之如此者滞 凡形嫩者 亦如之 有三光焉 有五澤焉 However, within the methods of physiognomy there are other ways to evaluate complexion. Besides the obstruction of complexion called 'young' there are also three kinds of radiance and five sorts of glossiness of the skin. 有三暗焉 有五枯焉 There are moreover three types of dullness and five kinds of dryness.27 11. Physical Form and Spirit in Terms of Surplus and Deficiency28 形神者 有形有餘而神不足者 有神有餘而形不足者 Among the combinations of physical form and spirit, there are too much form and insufficient spirit, and too much spirit and insufficient form. 形有餘而神不足者 初見似威 久視而晦 In the first case, the person at first sight seems awe-inspiring, but upon longer examination appears rather dull. 神有餘而形不足者 初見似晦 久視愈明 In the second case, the person at first appears rather dull, but the longer one examines him the more radiant he seems to become.29 神形倶有餘者 識與不識 見而悅之 When someone has a surplus of both, physical form and spirit, one feels delighted at his sight, whether he is one's acquaintance or not. 神形倶不足者 不必更問 令人可惡 When, on the other hand, someone has an insufficiency of both, one need not ask any further: he will be universally disliked. 12. Interaction Patterns of the Various Constituents 形與神相照 Physical form and spirit should radiate in mutual harmony. 氣與色相扶 Energy and complexion should support each other.30 神全則形全 When spirit is whole, physical form is also whole. 氣全則色全 When energy is full, complexion is also full.
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神能留氣 氣不能留神 Spirit can make energy stay, but energy cannot make spirit stay. 氣能留色 色不能留氣 Energy can make complexion stay, but complexion cannot make energy stay.31 至於形 則載之而已 Physical form, finally, only supports the other forces. 有厚焉 有薄焉 It may be stout, it may be thin. 厚者吉 薄者凶 Stout is auspicious, thin is unlucky. 13. Thin Appearance 世人有遭時得志者 Among the people of the world one often meets some who easily get their will. 其始皆欲有爲也 They initially attain all that they desire without any problems. 及其中則滞 末則卒 But then they encounter some obstacle in their course and in the end they die prematurely. 皆由度量淺狹 不能容載也 This is because their judgment is superficial and narrow-minded and they can never bear things out in patience. 墻薄則易頹 Thin walls easily collapse; 酒薄則易酸 thin wine easily turns sour; 紙薄則易裂 thin paper easily tears; 人薄則易亡 thin people easily die. 水土薄則不足以致陰雲之附 When water and earth are thin, they are not strong enough to support the rain-bringing clouds. 不度已短 專談人過 Thin people do not account for their own shortcomings and only talk about the bad characteristics of others. 侵削人物 以爲已悳 They gradually encroach on others, using them for their own advantage. 面前説是 背後説非 They say "right" to one's face, but "wrong" behind one's back. 不睦親長 𨚫奉外人 They are unkind to their kin and their elders, but serve strangers with great enthusiasm. 性本輕率 佯爲沉重 Their character is fundamentally frivolous and arbitrary, but they make it look profound and sincere.
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改常棄舊 They change traditions and do away with the old. 忘恩忽人 They don't know kindness and are indifferent to others. 未貴先盈 Not yet noble, they already give themselves airs. 未富先驕 Not even rich, they already parade their pride. 未學先滿 Not even graduate, they yet boast of their attainments. 此大薄矣 This is the typical behavior of the very thin type. 若此者 不唯破相 又損其壽 Types like this not only have a disastrous physique, but they also tend to have shortened life-spans. 殃及子孫 Worse than that, they pass their misfortune on to their children and grandchildren. 14. Signs of Long Life 然壽之相 非在乎形貌恢偉 However, the physiognomy of long life is not found in an imposing and powerful physical appearance. 眼目浮凹 便言天矣 Rather, one sees it in the eyes. When the pupils move nervously early death is indicated. 形貌恢偉之人 若有時 情寬性厚 此謂之形氣相附也 People with an imposing and powerful appearance, if and when they are magnanimous and goodnatured, are good examples for the mutual support of physical form and energy. 若度量偏窄 此謂心不稱也 But if they are narrow-minded and prejudiced in their judgments, we say that the mind is not in proper accordance. 世之人惟知其眉上兼耳内生毛多壽 Common folk usually only know that signs of longevity are hair growing above the eyebrows and inside the ears. 骨入耳兼人中深長 法令分明 便言有壽 They have heard that it shows a ripe old age when the bone of the forehead goes as far as the ear, when the nose is straight and long, and when the proportions of the face are even and clear. 然不知其有所禀也 But they don't realize how these things come about.32 此蓋精氣内實 其骨乃從精髓而透出 Actually, the bones are nothing but essence and energy solidified within. 然後毫毛方始生於眉耳 Only when essence and marrow penetrate to the outside does hair grow above the eyebrows and inside the ears. 法令方始分明 人中方始得深長 Only then are the proportions even and clear, and only then can the nose be really straight and long.
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如樹之根本牢實 上面方始發生枝葉 One can compare this phenomenon to a tree. Its trunk must be strong and solid before any branches or leaves can sprout forth on its surface. 似油盛燈明 It is also comparable to a lamp. A lamp only shines bright when it contains plenty of oil. 精足則身安 Similarly the human body is only at peace when it contains sufficient essence. 唐先生曰 As Mistress Tang says: 虎骨龍睛 世人皆知其吉 "Everybody knows that tiger's bones and dragon's pupils are auspicious. 結喉露齒 世人皆知其凶 Everybody knows that an Adam's apple and prominent teeth are unlucky. 然而吉者未必爲吉 凶者未必爲凶 But the auspicious may not always mean good luck and the unlucky may not always indicate misfortune." 15. The Importance of the Mind 結喉露齒 雖則劣相 有時 心地吉者又貴矣 Though Adam's apple and prominent teeth are indicators of a pointed physique,33 yet sometimes there is some auspicious factor in the mind. A person like this might actually be found in a noble position. 但利其身 不利妻子 He will then, however, only think of his personal advantage and have no consideration for his wife and children. 如三尖五露之人 貴者多矣 So we have quite a number of noble people who belong among the type of threefold pointedness and fivefold prominence.34 但其神氣深粹 皆可取也 If only their spirit and energy is profound and pure, they can yet be accepted.35 神氣深粹之人 形安體靜 People whose spirit and energy is profound and pure are at peace in their bodies and tranquil within themselves. 不隨語行 不隨嘿止 They do not go because someone says so, they do not stop because someone keeps silent. 不隨色動 不隨色轉 They do not become agitated because of sexual attraction, nor do they turn away because of it. 安而定 詳而雅 They are stable and at peace, careful and polite. 如此之人 皆知分也 People like this always know their limits. 今之人 享富貴而心不足 Most people these days are very fond of wealth and high position, but they are never content at heart. 不快者多矣 There are so many who are not happy at all.
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其神氣安靜之人 心地空閑 Yet those whose spirit and energy are at peace and tranquil are usually unconcerned and relaxed in their minds. 而所爲放心 That is what we call "freedom at heart."36 16. Obstruction 然形氣色之於人 有滞者多矣 However, there are many whose physical form, energy, and complexion suffer from obstruction. 形滞八年則塵埃 When physical form is obstructed for eight years, it is completely defiled. 神滞四年則身硬 When spirit is obstructed for four years, one's personality becomes inflexible and obstinate. 氣滞三年則心傾 When energy is obstructed for three years, the mind suffers a break-down. 色滞一年則神困 When complexion is obstructed for one year, the spirit is exhausted and worn out. 17. Yin and Yang 有陰有陽焉 There is yin and yang involved in this process. 陽者不可帶陰 陰者不可帶陽 Yang cannot encompass yin, and yin cannot encompass yang. 若男帶女相 懦而無立 For example, if a man has a female physique, he is weak and cannot maintain his position. 女懷男相 主失其夫 If a woman shows male features, she is dominant and will not find a husband. 婦人要柔而順 男子要剛而正 Women should be soft and obedient; men should be strong and upright. 良人之婦 有威而少媚 The wife of an honest citizen should have authority and not be seductive. 娼家之婦 有媚而少威 A winehouse girl should be very seductive and not show any authority.37 然世之相者 但觀其面部者之多 而不究其相本 But ordinary people usually only examine the faces of others and never go to the roots of their appearance.38 18. Noble and Humble 如骨者 凡人於眉鼻兩頰之上皆有也 Let us now look at the bones protruding above the eyebrows, the nose and the jaws. Everyone equally has them. 在貴人 則有從精髓内生出 故其骨乃秀而細 In noble persons these bones have grown directly from essence and marrow, thus they are fine and elegant. 及貧賤之人 則浮於上而麄 In lowly and poor people, on the other hand, these bones are rather floating on the surface and thus appear very coarse.
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如顴骨 上一位 庶人 入耳 Therefore the cheekbone in common people goes as far as the ears. 不過有壽 If it does not go any further than that, it indicates long life. 不露 不過有富 If it goes neither beyond nor stands out visibly, it shows future wealth. 至若作監司之人 生入兩鬚 In people who will become overseers, these bones go only as far as the whiskers. 兩府之人 則生入天倉 In those who will serve in a prefecture, they go as far as the temples. 其作太守之人 則堆成峯而入兩眼之尾而已 In those who will be Grand Prefects, they appear like rounded mounds and end at the corner of the eyes.39 至下輔 主倉庫 奴婢 The lower jawbone indicates the possession of storehouses and slaves. 若其地閣濶厚 自有倉庫奴婢 One whose lower portion of the face is well developed and strong will have granaries, servants and slaves. 設使地閣缺陷 是無宅可居 If the lower portion is undeveloped, however, he will not even have a proper residence for himself. 安有奴婢之驅兼倉庫哉 How could he have slaves to drive and granaries to fill? 視遠 智遠 視高 智高 Who sees far will have far-reaching wisdom. Who sees high will have high-reaching wisdom.40 視下 智下 視斜 智毒 Who sees low will have low-reaching wisdom. Who sees slanted will have poisoned wisdom. 睛屢轉者 殺人或流 One whose pupils keep revolving unsteadily will kill others.41 視迫上迫下 此瞻視不常之人 不可其立事矣 One who wavers in his glance, is drawn above and below, will never be solidly established in anything. 有天者貴 Those who have strong parts of heaven (forehead) are noble. 有地者富 Those who have strong parts of earth (chin) are wealthy. 有人者壽 Those who have strong parts of humanity (nose) are long-lived. 有天 有地 人事不修 是徒有相也 But anyone who has strongly developed parts of heaven and earth, yet in dealing with the world does not cultivate himself, will waste his auspicious looks.
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Notes 1. This story is told in Yuan Tiangang's biography in Jiu Tangshu 舊唐書 biogr. 61, p. 5093 of the Beijing: Jinghua edition. It is also found in Xin Tangshu 新唐書 biogr. 95, p. 5801; Taiping guangji 太平廣記 ch. 221, p. 1694; as well as in Tushu jicheng 624. Mention of the story is also made in Fitzgerald 1955: prologue. 2. The analysis of complexion is closely connected with diagnostics in Chinese medicine (cf. Huangdi neijing suwen 黄 帝内經素問 ch. 5 on the "Interaction of Yin and Yang"). The various colors of man's face were also used as indicators for possession in Taoist exorcism. For a detailed discussion of their use in physiognomy see Hou 1979. 3. Physiognomic texts dating prior to the tenth century tend to represent only parts of later integrated methods. The manuals found in Dunhuang 敦煌 e.g., can generally be considered forerunners of modern standard physiognomy, but some of them are still written in a quite different cultural atmosphere, i.e., under less restrictions regarding physical exposure. Another early text on physiognomy, the Yuebodong zhongji 月波洞中記, has a much stronger and more explicit connection to the Taoist tradition than later works. Also, some systems it presents are entirely different from the later standard methods (Kohn 1986). 4. Chen Tuan was born in Henan 河南 toward the end of the ninth century. From an early age he turned to the Tao which he studied first on Mount Wudang 武當 in Hunan and later in Sichuan 四川. He settled on Mount Hua in the first half of the tenth century. Summoned to the throne several times, in 956, 976, and 984, he was famous for his Yijing 易經 exegesis, which supposedly influenced Zhou Dunyi's 周敦頤 Taiji tu 太極圖, as well as for his exceptional mastery of Taoist meditation and, last not least, for his skill in prognostication. For more information on his life and legend see Knaul 1981. 5. This story is discussed in Knaul 1981, 64. It is found in Chen Tuan's biography in Zhao Daoyi's 趙道一 Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian 歴世眞仙體道通鑑 of the early Yuan 元 dynasty: 47.6b; in Zhang Lu's 張輅 Taihua xiyi zhi 太華希夷志 of the year 1314: 2.1ab; in the Songshi jishi 宋史紀事 5.23b; and in the Xiangshan yelu 湘山野録 as quoted in Tushu jicheng 62.454. 6. Wang Shize passed the jinshi 進士 examination under the reign of Taizong (976-984). His official biography is recorded in Songshi 488. The story connecting him with Chen Tuan is found in Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian 47.7b; Taihua xiyi zhi 2.3a and Mianshui yantan lu 澠水燕談録 1.1b. 7. See Knaul 1981, 114. The most detailed version of this story is found in the Xu Xiangshan yelu as quoted in Tushu jicheng 62.454; shorter variants are given in Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian 47.6a, Taihua xiyi zhi 1.2a; Liexian quanzhuan 列仙全傳 247; Xuanpin lu 玄品録 5.11a; Sandong qunxian lu 三洞群仙録 20.1b. 8. See Knaul 1981, 121. The original text is contained in Dongxuan bilu 東軒筆録 3.1a. In an abbreviated version the story is also mentioned in Fozu tongji 佛祖統紀 43.401; Xuanpin lu 5.11b; Dongdu shilue 東都事略 118.1b; Wenjian qianlu 聞見前録 7.11a; Guier ji 貴耳記 30. 9. Shenxiang quanbian 8; Liang 1980, 230. Wang Kezheng is mentioned in ch. 250 of the Songshi as one of the more distant relatives of Wang Shenqi 王䆺琦. Chen Jingong could not be identified. 10. Knaul 1981, 77; Qian Ruoshui passed the official examination around the year 980, later he served as a minister in the government. He is the author of the Taizong huangdi shih 太宗皇帝實録 (Songshi 266). The story is told in Fozu tongji 43, 369; Taihua xiyi zhi 2,1b-2b; Guier ji 29; Wenjian qianlu 7,11a. Mayi daozhe is cited as Chen Tuan's teacher in other stories as well. He supposedly received his teaching from the famous Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓, patriarch of inner alchemy and various Taoist techniques since the Song as well as of the Quanzhen 全眞 school of Taoism. Like Chen Tuan, Mayi is known for his physiognomic talents as well as for his Yijing speculation. A text allegedly going back to him is found in the Jindai bishu 津逮秘書, the Mayi daozhe zhengyi xinfa 麻衣道者正易心法. This work consists of forty-two poems of 4x4 characters. They deal with a type of Yijing exegesis which links physiognomy with the trigrams and the hexagrams. In the Song dynasty, this is especially found in Shao Yong's 邵雍 Huangji jingshi 皇極經世. 11. The variant version (SX 178, TQ 5b) reads: "Human life is endowed with essence (SX: energy) and spirit."
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12. This section is found in the variant edition, too, but here essence is located in the kidneys. The text then continues (SX 178, TQ 5b): "Thus we know that complexion arises from physical form while energy appears through the sound and voice." 13. The same categories are found in the variant version, but only after the first quarter of the text (SX 179, TQ 6a). The passage is also quoted as from the Mirror of Auras in the commentary part of SX 1; Liang 1980, 21. The five phases are the most important foundation of physiognomy and many different categorizations are based on them. See, e.g., SX 4; Liang 1980, 116. 14. This is also found in the other version (SX 179, TQ 6a) with minor changes. For bingji da 兵機大 it reads weiwu da 威武大. 15. The latter part of this passage runs in the SX variant: "For tigers see the jaws, for rhinos check the horn. For phoenixes the eyes; and for cranes the body's form." The "horn" that likens a person to a rhinoceros is the vertical bone in the center of the forehead (TQ 1,16a). Further details in the description of these types are found: Tiger—SX 9, p. 261; Yuguan 3.3b-41. Rhinoceros—SX 9, p. 270; Yuguan 3.4b-5a. Phoenix—SX 9, p. 266; Lessa 1968, 35. Crane—SX 9, p. 266. 16. Alhough not found in the later variants, this description is yet quoted under the name of Chen Tunan 陳圖南 (Tunan being Chen Tuan's agnomen) in the commentary of ch. 1 of the SX (Liang 1980, 15). Here it forms part of a list including all the five phases: "A metal body is angular and upright, its complexion is pale and whitish. It shows neither fullness of flesh nor thinness of bones. A wood body is slim and erect, its bones and joints are strong. With fresh (greenish) complexion such a one is truly eminent. A water body is round and thickset, heavy and of darkish complexion. With a hanging belly and a curved-in back he is truly of po 魂 energy. A fire body is exquisite and sharp; it looks reddish and always hot. The fan bone standing out, all energy dried up, such a one is never well for long. An earth body is staunch and well formed with a radiant (yellowish) complexion. With buttocks and back standing out a tranquil and happy character is found." 17. These two sentences are also found in SX 179. In addition, the subsequent section is given in SX 179 and TQ 6b, if somewhat abbreviated. Here the text runs (commentary sections are included in parantheses): "If a body (of the woodtype) is primarily slim and only later fat, this is most auspicious (i.e., water produces wood). If, on the other hand, a body is primarily slim and later dried and emaciated, then wood is obstructed by metal and many calamities will arise." Whereas the older edition limits the discussion of the dynamics of the phases to the case of the wood-type, the more recent versions go on to delineate possible developments of the metal-type: "Similarly if a body is basically angular and upright, yet shows signs of being staunch and erect, this is most appropriate. Yet when an angular type develops pointed features and leanness, metal is obstructed by fire and many misfortunes will result." 18. According to the variants (SX 180, TQ 7b), someone with a square face and a stout back would look "vulgar and ordinary and his back would not be erect." 19. Here the variants state that a strong spirit will be obvious in strong and clear bones, whereas a shallow spirit will make the bones look like they were sticking out (SX 179, TQ 7b). 20. This is also found in SX 179, TQ 6b and continued with: "Looking at them for a long time one will find the first dark traces in their brightness." 21. The comparison of spirit or essence in man to the oil in the lamp is mentioned again later (section 14). The variant version reads (SX 178, TQ 5b): "Spirit and energy are like the oil, people are like the lamp. When spirit (SX: the person) is tranquil, essence (SX: spirit) is full. When the oil is clear, the lamp will shine bright. At night it rests in the mind in complete quiet. During the day it sparkles through the eyes." Not limited to physiognomic literature, the metaphor of the lamp is quite common in Taoist mystical texts. 22. The variants cite this passage directly after what is section 9 in the older edition (SX 178; TQ 5b-6a): "Sometimes it is turbid in purity; sometimes it is pure in turbidity." Following the image of the lamp and the oil, reference here is made to an occasional phenomenon rather than to a specific type.
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23. The typology of people according to their country of origin is already found in the Huainanzi 淮南子, ch. 4: "All regions bring forth particular types. An area with mountainous energy has more men, one with marshy energy more women. Places in which energy is obstructed have more dumb people, those with lots of wind more deaf. Forest-type energy is responsible for an abundance of people with heart diseases, and hunchbacks are frequently found in regions where trees are standing alone. On the riverbanks one often finds men suffering from swellings, whereas one is more likely to encounter strong men in places full of strong energy. A constantly rising and falling energy brings forth plenty of goitres. Heat can be said to cause people's early death, while colder climates make for longer lives. The energy of valleys causes rheumatism, that of hills, madness. In places with fertile breath people tend to be rather compassionate, while those who come from areas with deteriorated energy are rather avaricious . . . ." In this early reference the connection between medical diagnosis, physical appearance and climate is already quite obvious. The Huainanzi also gives a clear definition of southern, northern, eastern and western types, categories frequently referred to in physiognomic literature. On the southern type, for instance, it says: "The south is where yang energy accumulates, it is hot and humid. People there are tall, slightly thinner in the upper parts of the body, and have big mouths and sharp corners of the eyes. Their major sense is hearing. The ears are related to blood and the pulse. Their complexion is reddish, red is the color of the heart. Such men are strong while still young, yet they tend to die at a rather early age." A person from the northern part if the world is described as "usually thickset with short neck, big shoulders and low buttocks. His or her major sense is the yin-feeling to which the bones are related. The complexion is darkish, the color black is related to the kidneys. Such a person is simple and dull, but lives very long." 24. The variants here have (SX 180, TQ 7b): "Energy and complexion should be in harmony, because complexion shows on the skin when there is energy in the blood. It comes to the surface like a silk thread spun in a cocoon, it leaves again like a horse-tail suddenly vanishing." 25. Tang Ju, originally from the state of Liang, was one of the most famous physiognomists under the Han. She lived in the third century B.C. and is reported to have made a prediction for Li Si 季期, prime minister to the first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang 泰始皇. "Within a hundred days you will obtain the power of the empire." (Shiji 史記 79, Qianfu lun 潛夫論 27). Tang Ju is also mentioned in Xunzi's 荀子 Feixiang pian 非相篇. None of her works survive or are mentioned in the dynastic histories. The Shenxiang quanbian quotes two titles as well as various shorter sections in her name (Kohn 1986, 233). 26. The variant found in SX 179, TQ 6a reads: "An old person with a young complexion will decline rapidly." TQ 6b has: ". . . his star of long life will soon set." These versions emphasize also in a more general way that "old people should not look like youngsters. Yet, it is quite auspicious for a young person to look older." 27. The analysis of complexion as described in the final chapters of the SX does not proceed according to any of the categories mentioned here. The standard categories are rather the five phases, the four seasons, and the months of the year. Some insight into the theoretical worldview regarding complexion can, however, be gained from ch. 11 of the SX (Liang 1980, 310) which quotes Chen Tuan as follows: "A complexion without radiance cannot properly be called complexion. Rather, it is an 'empty complexion.' Calamities and joys are not yet developed, yet no one can avoid them. So first check complexion according to the the major types of resting (xiu 休), withheld (qin 囚), dead (si 死), or prospering (wang 旺). Then go on to analyze all the different positions according to good (ji 吉) or bad (xiong 凶) fortune, good (shun 善) and evil (o 惡) attitude. They can be clearly told, you will not be wrong even once in ten thousand times. The sky itself will show you the proper complexion in the clouds and the mists. People's lives and bodies are as predestined as heaven and earth themselves. Whatever energy an individual receives it will move and change. Whatever complexion arises thus will have a definite structure." 28. These categories have been taken up independently by the TQ where we find sections on the surplus and insufficiency of spirit (3.4ab) as well as on the surplus and insufficiency of physical form (4.3ab). The text has then found its way into the SX 1 (Liang 1980, 42). 29. This is also found in SX 180, TQ 7b. 30. SX 180 states that "energy and complexion should be in harmony, because complexion shows on the skin where energy is in the blood." 31. In the later editions (SX 178, TQ 5b) the interaction of the different forces is described in the very beginning of the text: "After spirit has arisen, energy is complete. After physical form has been completed, complexion will arise. Thus we know that complexion arises from spirit. It makes it visible. The power of energy can be judged from the sound of the voice. Examining physical form is not as good as analyzing the bones, but the bones provide as much information as the spirit itself. Still better than examining spirit, look at energy. When spirit is in harmony with energy, it blossoms like spring."
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32. SX 180 states: "You should know that appearance comes from heaven. Whatever I look like, it's not mere polish on the surface." 33. These signs are mentioned in TQ 7b as indicating trouble with one's family. 34. SX 181, TQ 7a state that these signs are very unlucky. 35. This is also mentioned in SX 180, but not in the TQ. 36. The variants (SX 181, TQ 7a) do not grant man such freedom from circumstance. Rather they state: "Talking of physiognomy without regarding the mind is like looking at the affairs of man with disrespect to the rhythm of heaven. Just as heaven's rhythm and the affairs of man go together, so the physique will reflect the mind in its true form." 37. The later versions (SX 179, TQ 6a) give the following variant: "A man should not have female features, a woman should not look like a man. Yin and yang are opposites—combined wrongly they will reduce one's life. Husband and wife belong to different types—women should be soft and obedient, men should be strong and firm. Women are yin, thus basically quiet. To laugh without being spoken to first does not become them. An honest wife should be strong and not seductive, while a winehouse girl needs qualities of seduction and not of authority." 38. This complaint is also voiced in SX 180, TQ 8a. 39. The same evaluation is also found in SX 179, TQ 7a. 40. SX 180, TQ 7a have: "One who sees far will have far-reaching ambition, one who sees high will have a strong will." 41. SX 180 describes the criminal type as one whose eyes are heavily bloodshot.
Bibliography Kohn, Livia. "Mirror of Auras: Chen Tuan on Physiognomy." Asian Folklore Studies, 1988, vol. 47, no.2: 215-256. ISSN 0385-2342. Nanzan University, Anthropological Institute, Nagoya, Japan.
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華山十二睡功總訣 Hua-shan Shih-erh Shui-kung Tsung-chüeh General Instructions for the Twelve Sleep Practices of Mount Hua From the Marrow of the Red Phoenix (Ch'ih-feng Sui 赤鳳髓) By Chou Lü-ching 周履靖 Translated by Teri Takehiro
Contents Author's Introduction Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Five Characters Representing the Five Phases Page Numbers in the Original Translation Bibliography
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2 3 7 11 31 32 33
Author's Introduction The text translated below is a Ming dynasty document that purports to represent the sleep exercises of Chen Tuan. It is found in Zhou Lujing's Chifeng sui (The Marrow of the Red Phoenix), which in turn is contained in his collection Yimen guangdu (Broad Archives of the Formeless Gate). First published in the late sixteenth century, the Chifeng sui contains a variety of texts on Taoist physical and meditational exercises, many of which are found in earlier literature and date from the Song dynasty. The section on sleep exercises, however, does not appear in any earlier documents and thus can be dated only to the Ming. Its detailed description of what Chen Tuan supposedly did when he "slept" for a hundred days and more at a time can thus be considered a late embellishment of the legends surrounding the ancient master. My translation of this text was first begun in a graduate seminar on Taoism at the University of Michigan in 1988. Its completion owes many thanks to Livia Kohn, who also consulted Isabelle Robinet and Ute Engelhardt for corrections and suggestions. Moreover, I am deeply indebted to the French translation by Catherine Despeux, published in her La Moelle du Phenix Rouge (Paris: Guy Tredenial, 1988). (Takehiro, 1990: 74)
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Comprehensive Formula: The Twelve Sleep Exercises of Mount Hua Now, students of the Tao and cultivators of perfection, if you wish to practice according to the mysterious formula of sleep exercises, first of all choose a time of complete leisure, either day or night. When you feel the rise of a yang energy approach, sit up straight in the lotus posture and clap your teeth thirty-six times. Then, in one call, summon the assembled spirits residing in your body. Thereafter loosen your robe and belt and enter the position of sleeping on one side, according to the following formula: firmly close the mouth and keep the eyelids lowered halfway; press the tip of the red dragon [tongue] against the upper palate, bend the knees and pull in one foot with the toes bent. Thus yin and yang return to the opening and the outer sun and moon combine their radiance. Thereafter one hand forms the mudra of the unsheathed sword and is placed over the Gate of Life [in the abdomen]. Then, with the other hand in the same mudra, bend the arm and use it as a pillow. Make sure both eyes and the nose are directly in line with the Gate of Life. Close the teeth firmly, then open the Gate of Heaven [in the abdomen] and shut the Passageway of Earth [on the forehead]. With the eye of the mind observe yourself within. See how the trigrams Kan and Li [the forces of the heart and kidney] merge and combine. This is how the inner sun and moon combine their essence. The way this should be practiced is to circulate energy through the central conduit like a deer, to nourish the inner embryo like a crane, and to develop imperceptible inner breathing like a turtle. A human being breathes 13,500 times in twenty-four hours, thereby revolving the energy for 84,000 miles. Thus the respiration of the body corresponds to the number of universal evolution. It all depends on the mysterious pass and the workings of the bellows. Make your thinking, planning, and all mental activity return to primordial spirit. This then is the inner elixir. Within is substance, without is function. The substance is the assemblance of essence within. The function is the working of radiance without. Make within and without coincide and from one big clod, then you have reached the point of entering the Tao. When your effort has brought you this far, the six robbers [senses] will naturally disperse, the five agents, on the other hand, will naturally crowd together. The regulation of the fire will rise and descend in a natural rhythm. The freshly brewed juice of perfection [saliva] will cleanse and nourish the numinous root [tongue]. Thus it is said, When the mysterious female pervades the entire mouth, One drinks the wine of spring [saliva] in sleep. Practice this diligently from morning to night, And the true yang will never leave. After finishing these sleep exercises, get up and massage your heart area a couple of times. Then rub your eyes so that body and mind feel comfortable and glowing. Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, it is always essential to accumulate the energy and keep the spirit well together. When the spirit is firmly established, the energy is stable. When the energy is stable, essence is firm. When essence is firm, the physical body is strong. When the spirit is firmly established, there is no more inhaling and exhaling. When the essence is firm, there is no more debauching and desiring. Then only can the three primordials [energy, essence, and spirit] return to the One, can the eight conduits [meridians of acupuncture] revert to their source. The seven treasures [sense door] will be free from all outflow, and the blood will transform into a rich grease [like the embryonic mixture of blood and semen] – with this long life and eternal vision are attained. The essential principle of the cultivation of perfection is that when inner nature is utterly tranquil, the emotions vanish. On the other hand, when the mind is agitated, the spirit will be exhausted. When the spirit leaves, the energy will be scattered. When the energy is scattered, the essence will become feeble. When the essence becomes feeble, the physical body withers. When the physical body withers, there is death. Therefore life and death of ordinary people are just like a big dream or illusion. In the case of the perfect human being, this is not so. The perfect human is without false [unnecessary] thoughts. Free from false thoughts, he is free from dreams. And even if there is a dream, it is always a dream of perfection, never a dream of passions and desires. Therefore the mind of a perfect human being is always vacant and radiant, the spirit is always pure and profound. There is no more coming and going, no more arising and passing away – how could there be a wheel of transmigration? In ordinary people, false thoughts never cease, passions and desires inflame each other, and thus their minds are defiled by a myriad karmic causes. Their spirit does not have peace and tranquility for even an instant! Vague and finicky, they dream during the day, they dream during the night. They dream while they are awake, they dream while they are asleep. When finally their lives come to an end, their incessant passions and desires haul them on without interruption. How could they not be rushed into another path, not be thrown into a different life form? Once deeply involved in this endless cycle of transmigration, they will never have a chance to break out of it. From the beginningless beginning onward, their natures come and go on and on, forever and ever like this. Therefore the Buddhist sutras say: "When care and love are cut off, life and death are also cut off!" People nowadays only consider themselves happy when they feel love, desire, greed, anger, or infatuation. How could they realize that their presumed happiness is in fact suffering? They are like moths who are addicted to the light of the candle, like flies who keep buzzing around objects made of pewter. Moths and flies do not realize that they are about to seriously harm themselves. In the same way, whenever people harm any of the myriad beings or when one of the myriad beings harms a person, the cause is always produced in their minds. Thus we say: "The mind is the habitation of the spirit, the spirit is the ruler of the personal body."
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Anyone who practices this cultivation therefore has no business to be concerned with anything beyond the triple gem of essence, energy and spirit. Spirit is the lord, energy the minister, and essence the people. Whenever, the five kinds of brigands [sensual involvements] invades the country, essence and spirit are destroyed and thrown into chaos. When the five kinds of brigands are obliterated, the country is stabilized and the people are at peace. When the people are at peace and when the ruler then refrains from governing actively, then the country will last forever. To ensure the state, first of all subdue evil specters on the outside and strengthen true inner nature on the inside. Then refine essence to energy, energy to spirit, and finally make spirit return to emptiness. This corresponds to the myriad beings returning to the three, the three returning to the two, and the two returning to the One. The One ultimately returns to emptiness. Thus the Tao of immortality is the reversal of the process of creation – it means permanent numinosity, permanent presence. On the other hand, the way living beings in the world of dust use these forces everyday is exactly the opposite. Spirit is transformed into energy, energy is transformed into essence, essence is transformed into physical shape, and physical shape is transformed into life. Beings thus live because the One produces the two, the two produce the three, and the three produce the myriad beings. This is the pattern of the way of humanity. There duly is life and death. All life and death are ultimately there because people desire them in their minds. Only the mind of the person who cultivates immortality can just remain as it is and never get agitated. It is like a dragon nurturing a pearl, like a hen hatching an egg, like a dung beetle rolling around in excrement, like a ground bee rejecting its children, like an oyster cherishing its pearl, like a rabbit nourishing its young, like a turtle spitting out its shadow, or like a rhinoceros gazing at the stars. Once the exercise is practiced like this, it is like grain collecting dew or like pumpkins shedding their stems: it is merely part of the continuous functioning of the spirit. Spirit is the mother of energy, while essence in turn is its child. When spirit and energy embrace each other, essence will naturally return to the source, collect and combine and never disperse. This is how the child is born from its father and mother. Its marvel lies in the preservation of the spirit in one's center. When the two energies of yin and yang first couple and join in the Yellow Court [in the abdomen] and the three florescences of energy, essence, and spirit merge and become one in the Primal Orifice [between the eyebrows], the immortal embryo is conceived. Then the true spirit is liberated. Going beyond the realm of birth and earth, it transcends all and becomes one with the Tao. After practicing this for one hundred days, one's breathing will be imperceptible like a turtle's. After two years, the body will levitate and the mind will possess magical powers. The eight gateways and seven openings of the head will all be opened until even the major entrance way between the eyebrows is free to pass through. After three years, one will fly up to the otherworld and attain the Invisible and Inaudible. In all of this it is essential to have a secure and firm will and to maintain a sense of reverence in one's cultivation. Never allow yourself to be lazy, then quite naturally you will have the most wonderful experiences. Therefore we say: "Unless the right efforts are undertaken, there can be no perfect enlightenment." Among those who wish to cultivate perfection, there may be those who, even though they subject themselves to strenuous efforts, have not yet received the proper teaching. Such people are likely to forget the origin and pursue the far ends, to cultivate blindly and practice refinement without heed. In some cases they may adhere to ideas of meaningless emptiness, in other cases they may be muddled by illusion and mere outer forms. How are such people any different from silly fools? Like a cat, they are sitting in front of an empty hole – they will never catch their mouse. All I have said above about the esoteric practice of sleep exercises is ultimately due to the wondrous workings of Heaven. Yet its attainment also depends greatly on the right teacher and on a proper transmission of the mind. It cannot be attained upon individual efforts and through ordinary judging and measuring. Should you, however, indeed encounter a true teacher, practice diligently according to his instructions. But never reveal the practice to the wrong people! You will antagonize the grace of heaven! Heed it and be very careful! Mao Xuanhan Conquers the Dragon and Tiger The elemental qi [breath] within the heart is called the dragon. The elemental essence within the body is called the tiger. With one's temper controlled, the dragon returns to the water. With one's emotions yielding, the tiger hides in the mountains. When the two [i.e. dragon and tiger] come together peacefully, One's name will be entered in the Registers of Immortals. Qu Shangfu Refines [by Heat] the Hun and Po Souls Extracting mercury from cinnabar is the activity of the hun soul. Extracting gold from water is the activity of the po soul. Heaven takes the sun as its hun soul. Earth takes the moon as its po soul. In the sun, search for rabbit marrow. In the moon, collect raven blood.
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The Hempclad Adept Harmonizes and Adjusts [his] True Qi To adjust and harmonize the true qi at the fifth hour of the early morning, Make the mind and breath rely on each other, Concentrating for a long time on the center, A huge, round ball of cinnabar congeals in the tiger-dragon dish. Hu Donglin Circulates and Transforms Yinyang What imitates [the ordering of] Heaven and is patterned after Earth is called the body. Carrying yin on one's back and embracing yang is called action. Heaven and Earth establish the foundation. Yin and yang circulate and transform in accordance with a set rhythm. This [relationship] Ge Lizi knows, [But only] a few people are able to understand [its] mystery. The Ebb and Flow of Du Suzhen's Yinyang When yin reaches its fullest, yang arises and there is Return. When yang reaches its fullest, yin arises and there is Meeting. Yin at its fullest, yang arrives, this is Return. Yang at its end, Meeting again encroaches [becomes strong]. When the student understands the firing strength and timing, He may break through Earth and see the truth of Heaven. Dragonchart Wang Serenely Cultivates the Timing of His Alchemical Fire Yang moving in the midst of serenity is fire. Thunder booming below the ground is timing. Fire originally arises from water. Timing begins when yang arrives at Return. Thunderclaps hold up the Heavenly Root. The southeasterly wind observes the moon's new birth. Kang Nanyan Guards the Furnace and Cauldron The Qian 乾 [Heavenly] Palace of True Yang is called the Cauldron. The Kun 坤 [Earthly] Palace of the True Yin is called the Furnace. The Cauldron is cast in the Qian Palace. The Furnace is embraced by the Kun Earth. After the self and mind are rectified, The Furnace and Cauldron are naturally very stable. Zhang Yitang Refines [Himself] Into the Numinous Treasure Numinous means the ten-thousand spirits do not disperse. Treasure means one though lasts forever. Once one stores the Treasure in the body, [One] acts upon it, and then has numinescence. [One] truly able to embrace the concealed and meaningful, Sends out great light and brightness. Zhang Xuanxuan Pens up the Horse and Ties up the Monkey Scrubbing and rubbing the mind is cleansing. Washing out dust and dirt is bathing. If one wants to subdue the crazy monkey, One must first capture the wild horse. The smallest speck of dust will not pollute. The spirit and qi will collect in the mind.
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Peng Lanweng Tames and Releases the Cinnabar Hub Taming means to enter the Soundless and Formless Gate. Releasing means to go out of the Realm of Distance and Delusion. The Eternally Numinous Child [Has] spiritual merits whose wonder is unfathomable. Release it [i.e. the mind] and end the dharma-realm. Control it and increase your store of pearls. Zhang Ziran Lets Loose the Numinous Persuasion Numinous is awareness of the source and understanding the beginning. Persuasion means freely dropping all obstacles. See through the face one is born with. There aren't any Buddhas or Immortals. Utterly empty, [one] reaches the source without obstruction. Thus one turns the ocean into fields. Yu Yiyang Transcends Life and Death Transcending life and death is realization. Realizing the Dao and ascending [to Heaven] is attainment. Only by destroying the Great Mist of the Sense-orifices, Can one know what preceded images and emperors. Only this is realization and attainment. This is the Galaxy of Grand Network.
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華山十二睡功總訣 Hua-shan Shih-erh Shui-kung Tsung-chüeh The Chinese text conforms to the original woodblock text. Different forms of the same characters are used accordingly (e.g. 宝 or 寶; 来 or 來).
夫學道修眞之士若習睡功玄訣者於日間及夜靜無事之時或一陽來之候端身正坐叩齒三十六通逐一喚集身中諸神然後 鬆寬衣帶而側臥之訣在閉兊目半垂簾赤龍頭胝上腭並膝收一足十指如鈎隂陽歸竅是外日月交光也然後一手掐劍訣掩 生門一手掐劍訣曲肱而枕之以眼對鼻鼻對生門合齒開天門閉地戸心目内觀坎離會合是内日月交精也功法如鹿之運督 鶴之養胎龜之喘息夫人之晝夜有一萬三千五百息行八萬四千里氣是應天地造化悉在玄関囊籥使思慮神歸於元神内藥 也内爲體外爲用體則含精於内用則法光於外使内外打成一塊方是入道工夫行到此際六賊自然消滅五行自然攢簇火候 自然昇降醞就眞液洗養靈根故曰玄牝通一口睡之飮春酒朝暮謹行持眞陽永不走凡睡之功畢起時揩摩心地次揩両眼則 心身舒暢 行住坐臥大要聚氣凝神神住則氣住氣住則精住精住則形固若神住則無思慮氣住則無呼吸精住則無淫慾然後三元歸一 八脉還源七寶無漏血化爲膏始得長生久視修眞之要性靜則情逸心動則神疲蓋神去則氣散氣散則精耗精耗則形枯形枯 則死矣 故世人之生死皆一夢幻如至人則不然至人無妄無妄則無夢苟有夢亦得其眞非情慾之夢也故其心常虛明神常澄湛無來 無去不生不滅安有此輪迴哉世人妄妄不息情慾交熾心被萬緣所染神無一刻寧靜茫茫乎晝亦夢也夜亦夢也寤亦夢也寐 亦夢也臨命終時一片情慾牽扯不斷安得不趨入他途投入異類受此輪迴無有出期自無始以來其性來去皆如此故佛經云 恩愛斷生死斷也今之世人只以愛慾貪嗔痴爲樂豈知樂是苦因如蛾之戀燈蠅之貪錫蛾蠅不知自剋其形此乃人盜萬物萬 物盜人一切由心之所造也故心者神之宅神者身之主 修行人修箇甚麼無過精氣神三寶而已神爲君氣爲臣精爲民故五賊侵而精神耗亂五賊泯而國泰民安民安則無治可以長 久先要外伏魔精内安眞性煉精化炁煉炁化神煉神還虛此是爲物歸三三歸二二歸一一歸空是爲仙道逆行常靈常存如塵 世間衆生日用則神化炁炁化精精化形形化生物是一生二二生三三生萬物此乃人道順行有生有死其生死皆在心之所欲 也 至於修仙之人心要如如不動如龍之養珠雞之抱卵蜣螂之滾毬[虫醫]螉之呪子蚌含明月兎子懷胎鱉之射影犀之望星功到 則如禾之凝露瓜之脫蒂是神之運用神者氣之母精者氣之子神氣相抱精自歸源凝結不散即嬰孩由父母之所生也妙在存 神於斯中始得二氣交感於黄庭三華混一於元竅聖胎成而眞神蛻化出離生死超然成道如此行持一百日龜息三百日成丹 両年身輕心靈上開八門七孔及眉心一門三年飛昇以達希夷要在篤志䖍 恪修持不怠自有妙驗故曰工夫不到不方圓有等 修眞之士雖下苦功未得眞傳以致忘本逐末盲修瞎煉或執頑空或泥幻相何異於痴貓守於空窟終不得其鼠也 己上睡功秘法天機之妙務在眞師心授不得私意揣度或得遇者謹而行之勿示非人恐遭天憲愼之愼之 毛玄漢降龍伏虎圖 心中元氣謂之龍 身中元精謂之虎
性定龍歸水
情寂虎隱山
二家和合了
名姓列仙班
瞿上輔煉魂魄圖 砂中取汞爲之魂
天以日爲魂
地以月爲魄
日中尋兎髄
月内取烏血
水裡淘金爲之魄
麻衣眞人和調眞炁圖 調和眞炁五朝元 心息相依念不偏
二物長居於戊己
胡東鄰運化隂陽圖 法天象地謂之體 負隂抱陽謂之用
天地爲立基
隂陽運化機
這箇捩子
杜勝眞隂陽復姤圖 隂極陽生爲之復 陽極隂生爲之姤
隂極陽来復
陽終姤又侵
學人明火候
撅地見天眞
王龍圖靜養火候圖 静中陽動為之火 地下雷轟爲之候
火本生於水
候乃陽来復
雷震攝天根
巽風観月窟
康南巖守爐鼎圖 乾宮眞陽謂之鼎
鼎在乾宮鑄
爐因坤土包
身心端正後
爐鼎自堅牢
坤宮眞土謂之爐
虎龍盤結大丹圓
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料得誰人知
張怡堂煉成靈寶圖 萬神不散爲之靈 一念長存爲之宝
自存身中宝
施之便有靈
誠能含蓄得
放出大光明
張玄玄牢拴猿馬圖 揩摩心地爲之沐 洗滌塵垢爲之浴
要得狂猿伏
先将劣馬擒
纖毫塵不染
神氣合乎心
彭懶翁收放丹樞圖 入希夷門爲之收 出離迷境爲之放
亙古靈童子
神功妙莫量
放之彌法界
收則黍珠藏
譚自然廓然靈通圖 悟本知源爲之靈 廓然無礙爲之通
識破娘生面
都無佛與仙
廓然元不礙
任爾海成田
喻一陽出離生死圖 出離生死爲之了 得道飛昇爲之當
打破鴻濛竅
方知象帝先
只斯爲了當
如是大羅仙
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Punctuated Text 夫學道修眞之士、若習睡功玄訣者、於日間及夜靜無事之時、或一陽來之候、端身正坐、叩齒三十六通、逐一喚集 身中諸神、然後鬆寬衣帶而側臥之。訣在閉兊、目半垂簾、赤龍頭胝上腭、並膝、收一足、十指如鈎、隂陽歸竅、 是外日月交光也。然後、一手掐劍訣、掩生門;一手掐劍訣、曲肱而枕之。以眼對鼻、鼻對生門、合齒、開天門、 閉地戸、心目内觀、坎離會合、是内日月交精也。功法如鹿之運督、鶴之養胎、龜之喘息。夫人之晝夜有一萬三千 五百息、行八萬四千里氣、是應天地造化、悉在玄関囊籥。使思慮神歸於元神、内藥也。内爲體、外爲用。體則含 精於内、用則法光於外。使内外打成一塊、方是入道工夫。行到此際、六賊自然消滅、五行自然攢簇、火候自然昇 降、醞就眞液、洗養靈根、故曰:玄牝通一口、睡之飮春酒、朝暮謹行持、眞陽永不走。凡睡之功畢起時、揩摩心 地、次揩両眼、則心身舒暢 行住坐臥、大要聚氣凝神。神住則氣住、氣住則精住、精住則形固。若神住則無思慮、氣住則無呼吸、精住則無淫 慾、然後三元歸一、八脉還源、七寶無漏、血化爲膏、始得長生久視。修眞之要、性靜則情逸、心動則神疲。蓋神 去則氣散、氣散則精耗、精耗則形枯、形枯則死矣 故世人之生死、皆一夢幻、如至人則不然。至人無妄、無妄則無夢、苟有夢亦得其眞、非情慾之夢也。故其心常虛 明、神常澄湛、無來無去、不生不滅、安有此輪迴哉!世人妄妄不息、情慾交熾、心被萬緣所染、神無一刻寧靜、 茫茫乎晝亦夢也、夜亦夢也、寤亦夢也、寐亦夢也。臨命終時、一片情慾牽扯不斷、安得不趨入他途、投入異類、 受此輪迴、無有出期。自無始以來、其性來去皆如此、故佛經云:恩愛斷、生死斷也。今之世人、只以愛慾貪嗔痴 爲樂、豈知樂是苦因、如蛾之戀燈、蠅之貪錫、蛾蠅不知自剋其形。此乃人盜萬物、萬物盜人、一切由心之所造也 。故心者神之宅、神者身之主 修行人修箇甚麼、無過精氣神三寶而已。神爲君、氣爲臣、精爲民。故五賊侵而精神耗亂、五賊泯而國泰民安、民 安則無治可以長久。先要外伏魔精、内安眞性、煉精化炁、煉炁化神、煉神還虛、此是爲物歸三、三歸二、二歸一 、一歸空、是爲仙道逆行、常靈常存。如塵世間衆生日用、則神化炁、炁化精、精化形、形化生物;是一生二、二 生三、三生萬物、此乃人道順行、有生有死、其生死皆在心之所欲也 至於修仙之人、心要如如不動、如龍之養珠、雞之抱卵、蜣螂之滾毬、[虫醫]螉之呪子、蚌含明月、兎子懷胎、鱉之 射影、犀之望星;功到則如禾之凝露、瓜之脫蒂、是神之運用。神者氣之母、精者氣之子、神氣相抱、精自歸源、 凝結不散、即嬰孩由父母之所生也。妙在存神於斯中、始得二氣交感於黄庭、三華混一於元竅、聖胎成而眞神蛻化 、出離生死、超然成道。如此行持、一百日龜息、三百日成丹、二年身輕心靈、上開八門七孔及眉心一門、三年飛 昇、以達希夷。要在篤志䖍 恪、修持不怠、自有妙驗。故曰:工夫不到不方圓。有等修眞之士、雖下苦功、未得眞 傳、以致忘本逐末、盲修瞎煉、或執頑空、或泥幻相、何異於痴貓守於空窟、終不得其鼠也 己上睡功秘法、天機之妙、務在眞師心授、不得私意揣度。或得遇者、謹而行之、勿示非人、恐遭天憲、愼之愼之 毛玄漢降龍伏虎圖 心中元氣謂之龍、身中元精謂之虎。性定龍歸水、情寂虎隱山。二家和合了、名姓列仙班 瞿上輔煉魂魄圖 砂中取汞爲之魂、水裡淘金爲之魄。天以日爲魂、地以月爲魄。日中尋兎髄、月内取烏血 麻衣眞人和調眞炁圖 調和眞炁五朝元、心息相依念不偏。二物長居於戊己、虎龍盤結大丹圓 胡東鄰運化隂陽圖 法天象地謂之體、負隂抱陽謂之用。天地爲立基、隂陽運化機。這箇捩子、料得誰人知 杜勝眞隂陽復姤圖 隂極陽生爲之復、陽極隂生爲之姤。隂極陽来復、陽終姤又侵。學人明火候、撅地見天眞 王龍圖靜養火候圖 静中陽動為之火、地下雷轟爲之候。火本生於水、候乃陽来復。雷震攝天根、巽風観月窟 康南巖守爐鼎圖 乾宮眞陽謂之鼎、坤宮眞土謂之爐。鼎在乾宮鑄、爐因坤土包。身心端正後、爐鼎自堅牢
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張怡堂煉成靈寶圖 萬神不散爲之靈、一念長存爲之宝。自存身中宝、施之便有靈。誠能含蓄得、放出大光明 張玄玄牢拴猿馬圖 揩摩心地爲之沐、洗滌塵垢爲之浴。要得狂猿伏、先将劣馬擒。纖毫塵不染、神氣合乎心 彭懶翁收放丹樞圖 入希夷門爲之收、出離迷境爲之放。亙古靈童子、神功妙莫量。放之彌法界、收則黍珠藏 譚自然廓然靈通圖 悟本知源爲之靈、廓然無礙爲之通。識破娘生面、都無佛與仙。廓然元不礙、任爾海成田 喻一陽出離生死圖 出離生死爲之了、得道飛昇爲之當。打破鴻濛竅、方知象帝先。只斯爲了當、如是大羅仙
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華山十二睡功總訣 Comprehensive Formula: The Twelve Sleep Exercises of Mount Hua
赤 鳳 髄
卷 三
七 卷 九 十 五
地 戸 心 目 内 觀 坎 離 會 合 是 内 日 月 交 精 也 功
肱 而 枕 之 以 眼 對 鼻 鼻 對 生 門 合 齒 開 天 門 閉
光 也 然 後 一 手 掐 劍 訣 掩 生 門 一 手 掐 劍 訣 曲
並 膝 收 一 足 十 指 如 鈎 隂 陽 歸 竅 是 外 日 月 交
而 側 臥 之 訣 在 閉 兊 目 半 垂 簾 赤 龍 頭 胝 上 腭
三 十 六 通 逐 一 喚 集 身 中 諸 神 然 後 鬆 寬 衣 帶
夜 靜 無 事 之 時 或 一 陽 來 之 候 端 身 正 坐 叩 齒
夫 學 道 修 眞 之 士 若 習 睡 功 玄 訣 者 於 日 間 及
華 山 十 二 睡 功 總 訣
夫學道修眞之士 若習睡功玄訣者 於日間及夜靜無事之時 Now, students of the Tao and cultivators of perfection, if you wish to practice according to the mysterious formula of sleep exercises, first of all choose a time of complete leisure, either day or night. 或一陽來之候 端身正坐 叩齒三十六通 When you feel the rise of a yang energy approach, sit up straight in the lotus posture and clap your teeth thirty-six times. 逐一喚集身中諸神 Then, in one call, summon the assembled spirits residing in your body. 然後鬆寬衣帶而側臥之 訣在閉兊 目半垂簾 赤龍頭胝上腭 並膝 收一足 十指如鈎 Thereafter loosen your robe and belt and enter the position of sleeping on one side, according to the following formula: firmly close the mouth and keep the eyelids lowered halfway; press the tip of the red dragon [tongue] against the upper palate, bend the knees and pull in one foot with the toes bent. 隂陽歸竅 是外日月交光也 Thus yin and yang return to the opening and the outer sun and moon combine their radiance. 然後 一手掐劍訣 掩生門 Thereafter one hand forms the mudra of the unsheathed sword and is placed over the Gate of Life [in the abdomen]. 一手掐劍訣 曲肱而枕之 Then, with the other hand in the same mudra, bend the arm and use it as a pillow. 以眼對鼻 鼻對生門 Make sure both eyes and the nose are directly in line with the Gate of Life. 合齒 開天門 閉地戸 Close the teeth firmly, then open the Gate of Heaven [in the abdomen] and shut the Passageway of Earth [on the forehead]. 心目内觀 With the eye of the mind observe yourself within. 坎離會合 See how the trigrams Kan and Li [the forces of the heart and kidney] merge and combine. 是内日月交精也 This is how the inner sun and moon combine their essence.
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畢 起 時 揩 摩 心 地 次 揩 両 眼 則 心 身 舒 暢 行 住
之 飮 春 酒 朝 暮 謹 行 持 眞 陽 永 不 走 凡 睡 之 功
昇 降 醞 就 眞 液 洗 養 靈 根 故 曰 玄 牝 通 一 口 睡
此 際 六 賊 自 然 消 滅 五 行 自 然 攢 簇 火 候 自 然
光 於 外 使 内 外 打 成 一 塊 方 是 入 道 工 夫 行 到
内 藥 也 内 爲 體 外 爲 用 體 則 含 精 於 内 用 則 法
天 地 造 化 悉 在 玄 関 囊 籥 使 思 慮 神 歸 於 元 神
夜 有 一 萬 三 千 五 百 息 行 八 萬 四 千 里 氣 是 應
法 如 鹿 之 運 督 鶴 之 養 胎 龜 之 喘 息 夫 人 之 晝
功法如鹿之運督 鶴之養胎 龜之喘息 The way this should be practiced is to circulate energy through the central conduit like a deer, to nourish the inner embryo like a crane, and to develop imperceptible inner breathing like a turtle. 夫人之晝夜有一萬三千五百息 行八萬四千里氣 A human being breathes 13,500 times in twenty-four hours, thereby revolving the energy for 84,000 miles. 是應天地造化 Thus the respiration of the body corresponds to the number of universal evolution. 悉在玄関囊籥 It all depends on the mysterious pass and the workings of the bellows. 使思慮神歸於元神 Make your thinking, planning, and all mental activity return to primordial spirit. 内藥也 This then is the inner elixir. 内為體 外為用 Within is substance, without is function. 體則含精於内 The substance is the assemblance of essence within. 用則法光於外 The function is the working of radiance without. 使内外打成一塊 方是入道工夫 Make within and without coincide and from one big clod, then you have reached the point of entering the Tao. 行到此際 六賊自然消滅 五行自然攢簇 When your effort has brought you this far, the six robbers [senses] will naturally disperse, the five agents, on the other hand, will naturally crowd together. 火候自然昇降 The regulation of the fire will rise and descend in a natural rhythm. 醞就眞液 洗養靈根 故曰 The freshly brewed juice of perfection [saliva] will cleanse and nourish the numinous root [tongue]. Thus it is said, 玄牝通一口 睡之飮春酒 朝暮謹行持 眞陽永不走
When the mysterious female pervades the entire mouth, One drinks the wine of spring [saliva] in sleep. Practice this diligently from morning to night, And the true yang will never leave.
凡睡之功畢起時 揩摩心地 After finishing these sleep exercises, get up and massage your heart area a couple of times. 次揩両眼 則心身舒暢 Then rub your eyes so that body and mind feel comfortable and glowing.
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明 神 常 澄 湛 無 來 無 去 不 生 不 滅 安 有 此 輪 迴
苟 有 夢 亦 得 其 眞 非 情 慾 之 夢 也 故 其 心 常 虛
一 夢 幻 如 至 人 則 不 然 至 人 無 妄 無 妄 則 無 夢
耗 精 耗 則 形 枯 形 枯 則 死 矣 故 世 人 之 生 死 皆
則 情 逸 心 動 則 神 疲 蓋 神 去 則 氣 散 氣 散 則 精
無 漏 血 化 爲 膏 始 得 長 生 久 視 修 眞 之 要 性 靜
精 住 則 無 淫 慾 然 後 三 元 歸 一 八 脉 還 源 七 寶
精 住 則 形 固 若 神 住 則 無 思 慮 氣 住 則 無 呼 吸
坐 臥 大 要 聚 氣 凝 神 神 住 則 氣 住 氣 住 則 精 住
行住坐臥 大要聚氣凝神 Whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, it is always essential to accumulate the energy and keep the spirit well together. 神住則氣住 When the spirit is firmly established, the energy is stable. 氣住則精住 When the energy is stable, essence is firm. 精住則形固 When essence is firm, the physical body is strong. 若神住則無思慮 氣住則無呼吸 When the spirit is firmly established, there is no more inhaling and exhaling. 精住則無淫慾 When the essence is firm, there is no more debauching and desiring. 然後三元歸一 八脉還源 Then only can the three primordials [energy, essence, and spirit] return to the One, can the eight conduits [meridians of acupuncture] revert to their source. 七寶無漏 血化為膏 始得長生久視 The seven treasures [sense door] will be free from all outflow, and the blood will transform into a rich grease [like the embryonic mixture of blood and semen] – with this long life and eternal vision are attained. 修眞之要 性靜則情逸 The essential principle of the cultivation of perfection is that when inner nature is utterly tranquil, the emotions vanish. 心動則神疲 On the other hand, when the mind is agitated, the spirit will be exhausted. 蓋神去則氣散 氣散則精耗 When the spirit leaves, the energy will be scattered. When the energy is scattered, the essence will become feeble. 精耗則形枯 形枯則死矣 When the essence becomes feeble, the physical body withers. When the physical body withers, there is death. 故世人之生死 皆一夢幻 Therefore life and death of ordinary people are just like a big dream or illusion. 如至人則不然 In the case of the perfect human being, this is not so. 至人無妄 無妄則無夢 The perfect human is without false [unnecessary] thoughts. Free from false thoughts, he is free from dreams. 苟有夢亦得其眞 非情慾之夢也 And even if there is a dream, it is always a dream of perfection, never a dream of passions and desires. 故其心常虛明 神常澄湛 Therefore the mind of a perfect human being is always vacant and radiant, the spirit is always pure and profound. 無來無去 不生不滅 安有此輪迴哉 There is no more coming and going, no more arising and passing away – how could there be a wheel of transmigration?
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由 心 之 所 造 也 故 心 者 神 之 宅 神 者 身 之 主 修
不 知 自 剋 其 形 此 乃 人 盜 萬 物 萬 物 盜 人 一 切
樂 豈 知 樂 是 苦 因 如 蛾 之 戀 燈 蠅 之 貪 錫 蛾 蠅
愛 斷 生 死 斷 也 今 之 世 人 只 以 愛 慾 貪 嗔 痴 爲
期 自 無 始 以 來 其 性 來 去 皆 如 此 故 佛 經 云 恩
安 得 不 趨 入 他 途 投 入 異 類 受 此 輪 迴 無 有 出
夢 也 寐 亦 夢 也 臨 命 終 時 一 片 情 慾 牽 扯 不 斷
無 一 刻 寧 靜 茫 茫 乎 晝 亦 夢 也 夜 亦 夢 也 寤 亦
哉 世 人 妄 妄 不 息 情 慾 交 熾 心 被 萬 緣 所 染 神
世人妄妄不息 情慾交熾 心被萬緣所染 In ordinary people, false thoughts never cease, passions and desires inflame each other, and thus their minds are defiled by a myriad karmic causes. 神無一刻寧靜 Their spirit does not have peace and tranquility for even an instant! 茫茫乎晝亦夢也 夜亦夢也 Vague and finicky, they dream during the day, they dream during the night. 寤亦夢也 寐亦夢也 They dream while they are awake, they dream while they are asleep. 臨命終時 一片情慾牽扯不斷 When finally their lives come to an end, their incessant passions and desires haul them on without interruption. 安得不趨入他途 投入異類 How could they not be rushed into another path, not be thrown into a different life form? 受此輪迴 無有出期 Once deeply involved in this endless cycle of transmigration, they will never have a chance to break out of it. 自無始以來 其性來去皆如此 From the beginningless beginning onward, their natures come and go on and on, forever and ever like this. 故佛經云 恩愛斷 生死斷也 Therefore the Buddhist sutras say: "When care and love are cut off, life and death are also cut off!" 今之世人 只以愛慾貪嗔痴為樂 People nowadays only consider themselves happy when they feel love, desire, greed, anger, or infatuation. 豈知樂是苦因 How could they realize that their presumed happiness is in fact suffering? 如蛾之戀燈 蠅之貪錫 They are like moths who are addicted to the light of the candle, like flies who keep buzzing around objects made of pewter. 蛾蠅不知自剋其形 Moths and flies do not realize that they are about to seriously harm themselves. 此乃人盜萬物 萬物盜人 一切由心之所造也 In the same way, whenever people harm any of the myriad beings or when one of the myriad beings harms a person, the cause is always produced in their minds. 故心者神之宅 神者身之主 Thus we say: "The mind is the habitation of the spirit, the spirit is the ruler of the personal body."
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在 心 之 所 欲 也 至 於 修 仙 之 人 心 要 如 如 不 動
三 生 萬 物 此 乃 人 道 順 行 有 生 有 死 其 生 死 皆
炁 炁 化 精 精 化 形 形 化 生 物 是 一 生 二 二 生 三
道 逆 行 常 靈 常 存 如 塵 世 間 衆 生 日 用 則 神 化
此 是 爲 物 歸 三 三 歸 二 二 歸 一 一 歸 空 是 爲 仙
魔 精 内 安 眞 性 煉 精 化 炁 煉 炁 化 神 煉 神 還 虛
而 國 泰 民 安 民 安 則 無 治 可 以 長 久 先 要 外 伏
氣 爲 臣 精 爲 民 故 五 賊 侵 而 精 神 耗 亂 五 賊 泯
行 人 修 箇 甚 麼 無 過 精 氣 神 三 寶 而 已 神 爲 君
修行人修箇甚麼 無過精氣神三寶而已 Anyone who practices this cultivation therefore has no business to be concerned with anything beyond the triple gem of essence, energy and spirit. 神為君 氣為臣 精為民 Spirit is the lord, energy the minister, and essence the people. 故五賊侵而精神耗亂 Whenever, the five kinds of brigands [sensual involvements] invades the country, essence and spirit are destroyed and thrown into chaos. 五賊泯而國泰民安 When the five kinds of brigands are obliterated, the country is stabilized and the people are at peace. 民安則無治可以長久 When the people are at peace and when the ruler then refrains from governing actively, then the country will last forever. 先要外伏魔精 内安眞性 To ensure the state, first of all subdue evil specters on the outside and strengthen true inner nature on the inside. 煉精化炁 煉炁化神 煉神還虛 Then refine essence to energy, energy to spirit, and finally make spirit return to emptiness. 此是為物歸三 三歸二 二歸一 This corresponds to the myriad beings returning to the three, the three returning to the two, and the two returning to the One. 一歸空 The One ultimately returns to emptiness. 是為仙道逆行 常靈常存 Thus the Tao of immortality is the reversal of the process of creation – it means permanent numinosity, permanent presence. 如塵世間衆生日用 On the other hand, the way living beings in the world of dust use these forces everyday is exactly the opposite. 則神化炁 炁化精 精化形 形化生物 Spirit is transformed into energy, energy is transformed into essence, essence is transformed into physical shape, and physical shape is transformed into life. 是一生二 二生三 三生萬物 Beings thus live because the One produces the two, the two produce the three, and the three produce the myriad beings. 此乃人道順行 This is the pattern of the way of humanity. 有生有死 There duly is life and death. 其生死皆在心之所欲也 All life and death are ultimately there because people desire them in their minds. 至於修仙之人 心要如如不動 Only the mind of the person who cultivates immortality can just remain as it is and never get agitated.
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開 八 門 七 孔 及 眉 心 一 門 三 年 飛 昇 以 達 希 夷
持 一 百 日 龜 息 三 百 日 成 丹 二 年 身 輕 心 靈 上
胎 成 而 眞 神 蛻 化 出 離 生 死 超 然 成 道 如 此 行
中 始 得 二 氣 交 感 於 黄 庭 三 華 混 一 於 元 竅 聖
不 散 即 嬰 孩 由 父 母 之 所 生 也 妙 在 存 神 於 斯
氣 之 母 精 者 氣 之 子 神 氣 相 抱 精 自 歸 源 凝 結
到 則 如 禾 之 凝 露 瓜 之 脫 蒂 是 神 之 運 用 神 者
子 蚌 含 明 月 兎 子 懷 胎 鱉 之 射 影 犀 之 望 星 功
如 龍 之 養 珠 雞 之 抱 卵 蜣 螂 之 滾 毬 螉 之 呪
如龍之養珠 雞之抱卵 蜣螂之滾毬 [虫醫]螉之呪子 蚌含明月 兎子懷胎 鱉之射影 犀之望星 It is like a dragon nurturing a pearl, like a hen hatching an egg, like a dung beetle rolling around in excrement, like a ground bee rejecting its children, like an oyster cherishing its pearl, like a rabbit nourishing its young, like a turtle spitting out its shadow, or like a rhinoceros gazing at the stars. 功到則如禾之凝露 瓜之脫蒂 是神之運用 Once the exercise is practiced like this, it is like grain collecting dew or like pumpkins shedding their stems: it is merely part of the continuous functioning of the spirit. 神者氣之母 精者氣之子 Spirit is the mother of energy, while essence in turn is its child. 神氣相抱 精自歸源 凝結不散 When spirit and energy embrace each other, essence will naturally return to the source, collect and combine and never disperse. 即嬰孩由父母之所生也 This is how the child is born from its father and mother. 妙在存神於斯中 Its marvel lies in the preservation of the spirit in one's center. 始得二氣交感於黄庭 三華混一於元竅 聖胎成 When the two energies of yin and yang first couple and join in the Yellow Court [in the abdomen] and the three florescences of energy, essence, and spirit merge and become one in the Primal Orifice [between the eyebrows], the immortal embryo is conceived. 而眞神蛻化 Then the true spirit is liberated. 出離生死 超然成道 Going beyond the realm of birth and earth, it transcends all and becomes one with the Tao. 如此行持 一百日龜息 After practicing this for one hundred days, one's breathing will be imperceptible like a turtle's. 三百日成丹 After three hundred days, the elixir will be complete.1 二年身輕心靈 After two years, the body will levitate and the mind will possess magical powers. 上開八門七孔及眉心一門 The eight gateways and seven openings of the head will all be opened until even the major entrance way between the eyebrows is free to pass through. 三年飛昇 以達希夷 After three years, one will fly up to the otherworld and attain the Invisible and Inaudible.
1
This sentence, missing in Takehiro's translation, is added by the redactor.
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愼 之 愼 之
揣 度 或 得 遇 者 謹 而 行 之 勿 示 非 人 恐 遭 天 憲
睡 功 秘 法 天 機 之 妙 務 在 眞 師 心 授 不 得 私 意
相 何 異 於 痴 貓 守 於 空 窟 終 不 得 其 鼠 也 己 上
傳 以 致 忘 本 逐 末 盲 修 瞎 煉 或 執 頑 空 或 泥 幻
不 到 不 方 圓 有 等 修 眞 之 士 雖 下 苦 功 未 得 眞
要 在 篤 志 䖍 恪 修 持 不 怠 自 有 妙 驗 故 曰 工 夫
要在篤志䖍恪 In all of this it is essential to have a secure and firm will and to maintain a sense of reverence in one's cultivation. 修持不怠 自有妙驗 Never allow yourself to be lazy, then quite naturally you will have the most wonderful experiences. 故曰 工夫不到不方圓 Therefore we say: "Unless the right efforts are undertaken, there can be no perfect enlightenment." 有等修眞之士 雖下苦功 未得眞傳 Among those who wish to cultivate perfection, there may be those who, even though they subject themselves to strenuous efforts, have not yet received the proper teaching. 以致忘本逐末 盲修瞎煉 Such people are likely to forget the origin and pursue the far ends, to cultivate blindly and practice refinement without heed. 或執頑空 或泥幻相 In some cases they may adhere to ideas of meaningless emptiness, in other cases they may be muddled by illusion and mere outer forms. 何異於痴貓守於空窟 終不得其鼠也 How are such people any different from silly fools? Like a cat, they are sitting in front of an empty hole – they will never catch their mouse. 務在眞師心授 Yet its attainment also depends greatly on the right teacher and on a proper transmission of the mind. 己上睡功秘法 天機之妙 All I have said above about the esoteric practice of sleep exercises is ultimately due to the wondrous workings of Heaven. 不得私意揣度 It cannot be attained upon individual efforts and through ordinary judging and measuring. 或得遇者 謹而行之 Should you, however, indeed encounter a true teacher, practice diligently according to his instructions. 勿示非人 But never reveal the practice to the wrong people! 恐遭天憲 You will antagonize the grace of heaven! 愼之愼之 Heed it and be very careful!
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姓 列 仙 班
毛玄漢降伏龍虎 Mao Xuanhan Conquers the Dragon and Tiger 心中元炁謂之龍 身中元精謂之虎
The elemental qi [breath] within the heart is called the dragon. The elemental essence within the body is called the tiger.
性定龍歸水 情寂虎隱山 二家和合了 名姓列仙班
With one's temper controlled, the dragon returns to the water. With one's emotions yielding, the tiger hides in the mountains. When the two [i.e. dragon and tiger] come together peacefully, One's name will be entered in the Registers of Immortals.
67
寂 虎 隱 山 二 家 和 合 了 名
精 謂 之 虎 性 㝎 龍 歸 水 情
心 中 元 炁 謂 之 龍 身 中 元
毛 玄 漢 降 伏 龍 虎
内 取 烏 血
瞿上輔煉魂魄 Qu Shangfu Refines [by Heat] the Hun and Po Souls 砂中取汞為之魂 水裏掏金為之魄
Extracting mercury from cinnabar is the activity of the hun soul. Extracting gold from water is the activity of the po soul.
天以日為魂 地以月為魄 日中尋兎髄 月内取烏血
Heaven takes the sun as its hun soul. Earth takes the moon as its po soul. In the sun, search for rabbit marrow. In the moon, collect raven blood.
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以 月 為 魄 日 中 尋 兎 髄 月
金 為 之 魄 天 以 日 為 魂 地
砂 中 取 汞 為 之 魂 水 裏 掏
瞿 上 輔 煉 魂 魄
己 虎 龍 盤 結 大 丹 圓
麻衣眞人和調眞炁 The Hempclad Adept Harmonizes and Adjusts [his] True Qi 調和眞炁五朝元 心息相依念不偏 二物長居於戊己 虎龍盤結大丹圓
To adjust and harmonize the true qi at the fifth hour of the early morning, Make the mind and breath rely on each other, Concentrating for a long time on the center, A huge, round ball of cinnabar congeals in the tiger-dragon dish.
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依 念 不 偏 二 物 長 居 於 戊
調 和 眞 炁 五 朝 元 心 息 相
麻 衣 眞 人 和 調 眞 炁
幾 陽 陽 法 人 運 謂 天 知 化 之 象 機 用 地 這 天 謂 箇 地 之 捩 為 體 子 立 負 料 基 隂 得 隂 抱
胡東隣運化隂陽 Hu Donglin Circulates and Transforms Yinyang 法天象地謂之體 負隂抱陽謂之用
What imitates [the ordering of] Heaven and is patterned after Earth is called the body. Carrying yin on one's back and embracing yang is called action.
天地為立基 隂陽運化機 這箇捩子 料得幾人知
Heaven and Earth establish the foundation. Yin and yang circulate and transform in accordance with a set rhythm. This [relationship] Ge Lizi knows, [But only] a few people are able to understand [its] mystery.
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胡 東 隣 運 化 隂 陽
地 見 天 眞
杜勝眞隂陽復姤 The Ebb and Flow of Du Suzhen's Yinyang 隂極陽生為之復 陽極隂生為之姤
When yin reaches its fullest, yang arises and there is Return. When yang reaches its fullest, yin arises and there is Meeting.
隂極陽来復 陽終姤又侵 學人明火候 撅地見天眞
Yin at its fullest, yang arrives, this is Return. Yang at its end, Meeting again encroaches [becomes strong]. When the student understands the firing strength and timing, He may break through Earth and see the truth of Heaven.
71
終 姤 又 侵 學 人 明 火 候 撅
生 為 之 姤 隂 極 陽 来 復 陽
隂 極 陽 生 為 之 復 陽 極 隂
杜 勝 眞 隂 陽 復 姤
風 観 月 窟
王龍圖靜養火候 Dragonchart Wang Serenely Cultivates the Timing of His Alchemical Fire 静中陽動為之火 地下雷轟為之候
Yang moving in the midst of serenity is fire. Thunder booming below the ground is timing.
火本生於水 候乃陽来復 雷震攝天根 巽風観月窟
Fire originally arises from water. Timing begins when yang arrives at Return. Thunderclaps hold up the Heavenly Root. The southeasterly wind observes the moon's new birth.
72
乃 陽 来 復 雷 震 攝 天 根 巽
轟 為 之 候 火 本 生 於 水 候
静 中 陽 動 為 之 火 地 下 雷
王 龍 圖 静 養 火 候
鼎 自 堅 牢
康南岩守爐鼎 Kang Nanyan Guards the Furnace and Cauldron 乾宮眞陽謂之鼎 坤宮眞土謂之爐
The Qian 乾 [Heavenly] Palace of True Yang is called the Cauldron. The Kun 坤 [Earthly] Palace of the True Yin is called the Furnace.
鼎在乾宮鑄 爐因坤土包 身心端正後 爐鼎自堅牢
The Cauldron is cast in the Qian Palace. The Furnace is embraced by the Kun Earth. After the self and mind are rectified, The Furnace and Cauldron are naturally very stable.
73
因 坤 土 包 身 心 端 正 後 爐
土 謂 之 爐 鼎 在 乾 宮 鑄 爐
乾 宮 眞 陽 謂 之 鼎 坤 宮 眞
康 南 岩 守 爐 鼎
出 大 光 明
張怡堂煉成靈寶 Zhang Yitang Refines [Himself] Into the Numinous Treasure 萬神不散為之靈 一念常存為之宝
Numinous means the ten-thousand spirits do not disperse. Treasure means one though lasts forever.
自存身中宝 施之便有靈 誠能含蓄得 放出大光明
Once one stores the Treasure in the body, [One] acts upon it, and then has numinescence. [One] truly able to embrace the concealed and meaningful, Sends out great light and brightness.
74
之 便 有 靈 誠 能 含 蓄 得 放
存 為 之 宝 自 存 身 中 宝 施
萬 神 不 散 為 之 靈 一 念 常
張 怡 堂 煉 成 靈 寶
氣 合 乎 心
張玄玄牢拴猿馬 Zhang Xuanxuan Pens up the Horse and Ties up the Monkey 揩摩心地為之沐 洗滌塵垢為之浴
Scrubbing and rubbing the mind is cleansing. Washing out dust and dirt is bathing.
要得狂猿伏 先将劣馬擒 纖毫塵不染 神氣合乎心
If one wants to subdue the crazy monkey, One must first capture the wild horse. The smallest speck of dust will not pollute. The spirit and qi will collect in the mind.
75
将 劣 馬 擒 纖 毫 塵 不 染 神
垢 為 之 浴 要 得 狂 猿 伏 先
揩 摩 心 地 為 之 沐 洗 滌 塵
張 玄 玄 牢 拴 猿 馬
則 黍 珠 蔵
彭嬾翁收放丹樞 Peng Lanweng Tames and Releases the Cinnabar Hub 入希夷門為之收 出離迷境為之放
Taming means to enter the Soundless and Formless Gate. Releasing means to go out of the Realm of Distance and Delusion.
亘古靈童子 神功妙莫量 放之弥法界 收則黍珠蔵
The Eternally Numinous Child [Has] spiritual merits whose wonder is unfathomable. Release it [i.e. the mind] and end the dharma-realm. Control it and increase your store of pearls.
76
功 妙 莫 量 放 之 弥 法 界 收
境 為 之 放 亘 古 靈 童 子 神
入 希 夷 門 為 之 收 出 離 迷
彭 嬾 翁 收 放 丹 樞
爾 海 成 田
譚自然廓然靈通 Zhang Ziran Lets Loose the Numinous Persuasion 悟本知源為之靈 廓然無礙為之通
Numinous is awareness of the source and understanding the beginning. Persuasion means freely dropping all obstacles.
識破娘生面 都無佛與仙 廓然元不礙 任爾海成田
See through the face one is born with. There aren't any Buddhas or Immortals. Utterly empty, [one] reaches the source without obstruction. Thus one turns the ocean into fields.
77
無 佛 與 仙 廓 然 元 不 礙 任
礙 為 之 通 識 破 娘 生 面 都
悟 本 知 源 為 之 靈 廓 然 無
譚 自 然 廓 然 靈 通
是 大 羅 仙
喻一陽出離生死 Yu Yiyang Transcends Life and Death 出離生死為之了 得道飛昇為之當
Transcending life and death is realization. Realizing the Dao and ascending [to Heaven] is attainment.
打破鴻濛竅 方知象帝先 只斯為了當 如是大羅仙
Only by destroying the Great Mist of the Sense-orifices, Can one know what preceded images and emperors. Only this is realization and attainment. This is the Galaxy of Grand Network.
78
知 象 帝 先 只 斯 為 了 當 如
昇 為 之 當 打 破 鴻 濛 竅 方
出 離 生 死 為 之 了 得 道 飛
喻 一 陽 出 離 生 死
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Five Characters Representing the Five Phases The picture in this page is another version of the 12th and last picture, "Yü I-yang Transcends Life and Death" (Yü I-yang Ch'u-li Sheng-ssu 喻一陽出離生死). It is a picture of Ch'en Hsi-i 陳希夷, also known as Ch'en T'uan 陳摶 (ca. 920-989), an eminent Taoist master and physiognomist who settled on Mount Hua (Hua-shan 華山) in the first half of the tenth century. In old texts he is depicted as a master of internal alchemy (nei-tan 内丹) and is famous for entering deep trance in his sleep, often for several months. The twelve sleep practices (shui-kung 睡功) explained here are attributed to him. In these practices, Taoists circulated the internal energies in various energy centers in their bodies. In the picture, there are five characters on the adept's body: 離 肝
呼
肺
坎 The trigrams k'an 坎 and li 離 are marked on traditional locations of these two trigrams, the kidneys and the heart respectively. A passage in the text describes the relevant process: "See how the trigrams Kan and Li [the forces of the heart and kidney] merge and combine. This is how the inner sun and moon combine their essence." (pp. 75-76). On the right side there is the word "lung" (hai 肺) and to the left is "liver" (kan 肝). The word hu 呼 is placed at the center of the four characters. Hu is one of the six exhalations (liu-ch'i 六氣), sometimes referred to as the "six healing sounds". It is the sound of spleen, the central organ which represents the fifth phase or element where the four phases unite. These five words represent the five phases (wuhsing 五行): Character K'an Li Lungs Liver Hu[-sound]
坎 離 肺 肝 呼
Phase Water (shui 水) Fire (huo 火) Metal (chin 金) Wood (mu 木) Earth (t'u 土)
Organ Kidneys Heart Lungs Liver Spleen
腎 心 肺 肝 脾
In certain similar Taoist pictures, the characters k'an and li are replaced with corresponding characters wu 戊 and chi 己, the fifth and sixth of the celestial stems which when paired represent earth.
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Page Numbers in the Original Translation In order to have a continuous text, sentences in the original translation are connected and page numbers are omitted. However, to enable full reference, the page numbers are preserved here. Following are the first and last sentences in each page. 73 The Twelve Sleep-Exercises of Mount Hua 74 Introductory Note 75 Comprehensive Formula: The Twelve Sleep Exercises of Mount Hua With the eye of the mind observe yourself within. See how the trigrams Kan and Li [the forces of the heart and 76 kidney] merge and combine. And the true yang will never leave. 77 After finishing these sleep exercises, get up and massage your heart area a couple of times. When the physical body withers, there is death. 78 Therefore life and death of ordinary people are just like a big dream or illusion. Therefore the Buddhist sutras say: "When care and love are cut off, life and death are also cut off!" 79 People nowadays only consider themselves happy when they feel love, desire, greed, anger, or infatuation. This corresponds to the myriad beings returning to the three, the three returning to the two, and 80 the two returning to the One. When spirit and energy embrace each other, essence will naturally return to the source, collect and combine and never 81 disperse. Such people are likely to forget the origin and pursue the far ends, to 82 cultivate blindly and practice refinement without heed. Heed it and be very careful! 83 Mao Xuanhan Conquers the Dragon and Tiger 84 Qu Shangfu Refines [by Heat] the Hun and Po Souls 85 The Hempclad Adept Harmonizes and Adjusts [his] True Qi 86 Hu Donglin Circulates and Transforms Yinyang 87 The Ebb and Flow of Du Suzhen's Yinyang 88 Dragonchart Wang Serenely Cultivates the Timing of His Alchemical Fire 89 Kang Nanyan Guards the Furnace and Cauldron 90 Zhang Yitang Refines [Himself] Into the Numinous Treasure 91 Zhang Xuanxuan Pens up the Horse and Ties up the Monkey 92 Peng Lanweng Tames and Releases the Cinnabar Hub 93 Zhang Ziran Lets Loose the Numinous Persuasion 94 Yu Yiyang Transcends Life and Death
81
Bibliography Takehiro, Teri. 1990. "The Twelve Sleep-Exercises of Mount Hua, From the Chifengsui by Zhou Lüjing". Taoist Resources 2.1: 73-94.
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心印經 Hsin-yin Ching Scripture of the Mind-Seal Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour
Contents Bibliographic Information Author's Introduction Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 2 3 4 5 8
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Bibliographic Information Gaoshang yuhuang xinyin jing 高上玉皇心印經: Mind-Seal Scripture of the Exalted Jade Sovereign: DZ 13. Abbreviated as Xinyin jing 心印經. Probably dating from the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279), this anonymous text presents a simple and concise discussion of internal alchemy (neidan 内丹). In particular, it emphasizes the so-called Three Treasures (sanbao 三寶), namely, vital essence (jing 精), subtle breath (qi 氣), and spirit (shen 神). (Komjathy, 2004) Author's Introduction The Hsin Yin Ching The following brief treatise is accorded a place in the recognised Taoist canon, though bearing marks of comparatively modern authorship. Its very title, 心印經, has a savour of Buddhism about it, and its allusions to elixirism and other empirical practices identify it at once with the Rosicrucian development, rather than with the original Naturalistic phase, of Taoism. But its date and author are, I believe, alike unknown. (Balfour, 1894: 66)
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Imprint of the Heart There are three degrees of Supreme Elixir – the Spirit, the Breath, and the Essential Vigour. Obscure and recondite! Confused and dim! Maintain vacuity, and you will preserve the actual – accomplishing it in an instant of time. Restore the [ancient] habits, and chaos will be brought into harmony; a hundred days, and the work will be achieved; then you may silently adore the Supreme Ruler, and in twelve years' time may wing your flight above. The wise understand this easily, but the dull find it difficult to perform. [Those who have attained it] tread in the Light of Heaven; by inhaling and exhaling, they nourish the Pure Breath; they emerge from the Azure (Heaven) and enter the Female (Earth); now, as it were, annihilated, and now, as it were, existing, they never cease to all eternity; their supports are strong, their roots deep. Men are all possessed of Essential Vigour; this corresponds with the Spirit, the Spirit with the Breath, and the Breath with the essential nature of the body. Those who have not obtained their original or essential nature, all usurp their reputation. The Spirit is able to enter stone; the Spirit is able to fly through solid bodies. If it enters water, it is not drowned; or fire, it is not burned. The Spirit depends, for its birth, upon the body; the Essential Vigour depends, for attaining its full proportions, upon the Breath. They never lose their vitality or force, but are evergreen, like the pine and cedar trees. The three are all one Principle. Their mystery and beauty cannot be heard. The combination of them produces existence; their dispersion, extinction. If the seven apertures are all open, each aperture will be bright and luminous, [for] the Holy Sun and Holy Moon will pour their effulgence upon the Golden Hall. Once obtained, they are obtained for ever; then the body will become naturally buoyant, the Universal Harmony will be replete, and the bones will dissolve into the cold chrysoprasus-flower. If the Elixir be obtained, supernatural intelligence will result; if it be not obtained, there will be defeat and ruin. The Elixir, being in the centre of the body, is neither white nor black. If this treatise be conned-over and observed ten thousand times, its beautiful and mysterious doctrine will become clear of itself.
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高上玉皇心印經 Kao-shang Yü-huang Hsin-yin Ching 上藥三品神與氣精恍恍惚惚杳杳冥冥存無守有頃㓨而成迴風混合百日功靈黙朝上帝一紀飛昇知者易悟昧者難 行履踐天光呼吸育清出玄入牝若亡若存綿綿不絶固蒂深根人各有精精合其神神合其氣氣合其眞不得其眞皆是 强名神能入石神能飛形入水不溺入火不焚神依形生精依氣盈不凋不殘松柏青青三品一理妙不可聽其聚則有其 散則零七竅相通竅竅光明聖日聖月照耀金庭一得永得自然身輕太和充溢骨散寒瓊得丹則靈不得則傾丹在身中 非白非青誦之萬徧妙理自明 Punctuated Text 上藥三品。神與氣精。恍恍惚惚。杳杳冥冥。存無守有。頃㓨而成。迴風混合。百日功靈。黙朝上帝。一紀 飛昇。知者易悟。昧者難行。履踐天光。呼吸育清。出玄入牝。若亡若存。綿綿不絶。固蒂深根。人各有精。 精合其神。神合其氣。氣合其眞。不得其眞。皆是强名。神能入石。神能飛形。入水不溺。入火不焚。神依 形生。精依氣盈。不凋不殘。松柏青青。三品一理。妙不可聽。其聚則有。其散則零。七竅相通。竅竅光明。 聖日聖月。照耀金庭。一得永得。自然身輕。太和充溢。骨散寒瓊。得丹則靈。不得則傾。丹在身中。非白 非青。誦之萬徧。妙理自明。 Original Woodblock Text From Tao-tsang
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心印經 Imprint of the Heart
履 踐 天 光
黙 朝 上 帝
存 無 守 有
上 藥 三 品
呼 吸 育 清
一 紀 飛 昇
頃 㓨 而 成
神 與 氣 精
出 玄 入 牝
知 者 易 悟
迴 風 混 合
恍 恍 惚 惚
若 亡 若 存
昧 者 難 行
百 日 功 靈
杳 杳 冥 冥
高 上 玉 皇 心 印 經
上藥三品 神與氣精 There are three degrees of Supreme Elixir – the Spirit, the Breath, and the Essential Vigour. 恍恍惚惚 杳杳冥冥 Obscure and recondite! Confused and dim! 存無守有 頃㓨而成 Maintain vacuity, and you will preserve the actual – accomplishing it in an instant of time. 迴風混合 百日功靈 Restore the [ancient] habits, and chaos will be brought into harmony; a hundred days, and the work will be achieved; 黙朝上帝 一紀飛昇 then you may silently adore the Supreme Ruler, and in twelve years' time may wing your flight above. 知者易悟 昧者難行 The wise understand this easily, but the dull find it difficult to perform. 履踐天光 呼吸育清 [Those who have attained it] tread in the Light of Heaven; by inhaling and exhaling, they nourish the Pure Breath; 出玄入牝 若亡若存 they emerge from the Azure (Heaven) and enter the Female (Earth); now, as it were, annihilated, and now, as it were, existing,
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三 品 一 理
神 依 形 生
神 能 入 石
神 合 其 氣
綿 綿 不 絶
妙 不 可 聽
精 依 氣 盈
神 能 飛 形
氣 合 其 眞
固 蒂 深 根
其 聚 則 有
不 凋 不 殘
入 水 不 溺
不 得 其 眞
人 各 有 精
其 散 則 零
松 柏 青 青
入 火 不 焚
皆 是 强 名
精 合 其 神
綿綿不絶 固蒂深根 they never cease to all eternity; their supports are strong, their roots deep. 人各有精 精合其神 Men are all possessed of Essential Vigour; this corresponds with the Spirit, 神合其氣 氣合其眞 the Spirit with the Breath, and the Breath with the essential nature of the body. 不得其眞 皆是强名 Those who have not obtained their original or essential nature, all usurp their reputation. 神能入石 神能飛形 The Spirit is able to enter stone; the Spirit is able to fly through solid bodies. 入水不溺 入火不焚 If it enters water, it is not drowned; or fire, it is not burned. 神依形生 精依氣盈 The Spirit depends, for its birth, upon the body; the Essential Vigour depends, for attaining its full proportions, upon the Breath. 不凋不殘 松柏青青 They never lose their vitality or force, but are evergreen, like the pine and cedar trees. 三品一理 妙不可聽 The three are all one Principle. Their mystery and beauty cannot be heard. 其聚則有 其散則零 The combination of them produces existence; their dispersion, extinction.
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誦 之 萬 徧
得 丹 則 靈
一 得 永 得
七 竅 相 通
妙 理 自 明
不 得 則 傾
自 然 身 輕
竅 竅 光 明
丹 在 身 中
太 和 充 溢
聖 日 聖 月
非 白 非 青
骨 散 寒 瓊
照 耀 金 庭
七竅相通 竅竅光明 If the seven apertures are all open, each aperture will be bright and luminous, 聖日聖月 照耀金庭 [for] the Holy Sun and Holy Moon will pour their effulgence upon the Golden Hall. 一得永得 自然身輕 Once obtained, they are obtained for ever; then the body will become naturally buoyant, 太和充溢 骨散寒瓊 the Universal Harmony will be replete, and the bones will dissolve into the cold chrysoprasus-flower. 得丹則靈 不得則傾 If the Elixir be obtained, supernatural intelligence will result; if it be not obtained, there will be defeat and ruin. 丹在身中 非白非青 The Elixir, being in the centre of the body, is neither white nor black. 誦之萬徧 妙理自明 If this treatise be conned-over and observed ten thousand times, its beautiful and mysterious doctrine will become clear of itself.
89
Bibliography Balfour, Fredrick. Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative. London/Shanghai: Trübner and Co./Kelly and Walsh, 1894: 49-61. Komjathy, Louis, "Daoist Texts in Translation", 2004.
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修眞圖 Hsiu-chen T'u Diagram of Cultivating Perfection
Contents Contents Tables of Contents Translation Bilingual Text Visual Table of Contents Diagram of Cultivating Perfection Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection Bibliographic Information Translation Notes Chinese Texts Text Punctuated Text Original Arrangement Bilingual Text Appendices Appendix A: Selected Passages Appendix B: "Charting a New Itinerary of Perfection in Medieval China" Appendix C: Five Phases Correspondences Appendix D: The Twenty-Eight Constellations Appendix E: Weights and Measures Appendix F: Poem in the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection Select Bibliography
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1 2 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 22 46 46 54 60 82 101 101 104 115 115 116 116 117
Table of Contents Translation 1. Introduction
9
2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens) 2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions 2.1.2b. Inscription 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells) 2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 2.2.4. Lower Extremities 3. Internal Organs 3.1. Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 3.1.1b. Inscription 3.1.2. Heart 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 3.1.3b. Inscription 3.1.4. Spleen 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 3.1.5b. Inscription 1 3.1.5c. Inscription 2 3.1.5d. Inscription 3
10 11 11 12 12 12 12
13 13 13 14 14 15 15 15 16 16
3.2. Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat 3.2.2. Gallbladder
16 17
4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) 4.2. Lower Elixir Field
17 17
5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass 5.2. Middle Pass 5.3. Lower Pass
18 18 18
6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li) 6.2. South (K'an) 6.3. East (Chen) 6.4. West (Tui) 6.5. Center (Ch'ien)
19 19 19 19 20
7. Extraordinary Vessels
20
8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods
20
9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle
21
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Table of Contents Bilingual Text 1. Introduction
82
2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens) 2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions 2.1.2b. Inscription 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells) 2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 2.2.4. Lower Extremities 3. Internal Organs 3.1. Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 3.1.1b. Inscription 3.1.2. Heart 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 3.1.3b. Inscription 3.1.4. Spleen 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 3.1.5b. Inscription 1 3.1.5c. Inscription 2 3.1.5d. Inscription 3
84 85 85 86 86 87 87
87 87 88 89 89 90 91 91 92 93
3.2. Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat 3.2.2. Gallbladder
93 93
4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) 4.2. Lower Elixir Field
94 95
5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass 5.2. Middle Pass 5.3. Lower Pass
95 96 96
6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li) 6.2. South (K'an) 6.3. East (Chen) 6.4. West (Tui) 6.5. Center (Ch'ien)
97 97 97 98 98
7. Extraordinary Vessels
98
8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods
99
9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle
100
93
Visual Table of Contents First and second numbers indicate the page numbers in "Translation" and "Bilingual Text" sections respectively.
94
95
96
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Bibliographic Information Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu 内經圖 or 内景圖・修真圖 Chart of the Inner Warp (or: Chart of the Inner Landscape); Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection The Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu are two charts of the human body. They are first mentioned in the Qing period and are probably late, but their origins are unclear. Both charts are cognate to Yanluo zi's 煙蘿子 (tenth century?) diagrams of the body found in the Xiuzhen shishu (18.2a-3a; see fig. 12), which include anatomical details but add elements of neidan symbolism. A synthesis of Yanluo zi's charts was later drawn on a lateral representation of the body in the Huangdi bashiyi nanjing zuantu jujie 黄帝八十一難 經纂圖句解 (Charts and Explications on the Scripture of the Eighty-One Difficult Points [in the Inner Scripture] of the Yellow Emperor; preface dated 1269; CT 1024, preface, 4a-b) and in the 1478 edition of the Song-dynasty Shilin guangji 事林廣記 (Extensive Records of the Forest of Affairs; see Needham 1983, 110-11). Moreover, some alchemical elements of the body are foreshadowed in two charts that represent the body as a mountain, contained in Xiao Yingsou's Duren shangpin miaojing neiyi 度人上品 妙經内義 (Inner Meaning of the Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters on Salvation; CT 90, 8a-b; see fig. 13) and in Chen Zhixu's Jindan dayao (Tu 圖; CT 1068, 3a-b). These alchemical elements reappear in the Neijing tu. (Despeux, 2008: 767) Cultivation of Perfection. Similar in form to the Neijing tu, but representing a front view of the body, the Xiuzhen tu is richer and includes a longer text. Several versions with different titles are known to have existed in both northern and southern China. At present, the following five versions are known: 1. A stele in the Sanyuan gong 三元宮 (Palace of the Three Primes) in Guangzhou (Canton), engraved in 1812 by Qiu Fengshan 邱鳳山 (also known as Xingzhou 行舟) when the temple abbot was Ning Liyong 寧黎永. 2. A version from Mount Wudang (Wudang shan, Hubei), printed in 1924 and entitled Xiuzhen quantu 修真全圖 (Complete Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection). An earlier version seems to have circulated on Mount Wudang, engraved on wood in 1888 by Wu Mingxuan 吳明玄 of the Longmen school. 3. The Dancheng jiuzhuan tu 丹成九轉圖 (Chart of the Nine Cycles for Achieving the Elixir), printed in the Neiwai gong tushuo jiyao 内 外 功 圖 説 輯 要 (Essentials of Illustrated Explanations for Inner and Outer Practices) in 1920. The author of this work, Xi Yukang 席裕康, was a trader active in the Shanghai area. 4. Another Xiuzhen quantu, printed by Duan Fu 段甫 in Chengdu in 1922. A copy of this chart was given to Joseph Needham in 1943. 5. The undated Xiuzhen tu in Beijing's Baiyun guan. Its inscription reads: "Representation obtained from a friend in the Dao, Guo Yicheng 郭一澄, at the Erxian an 二仙庵 (Hermitage of the Two Immortals), Qingyang gong (Palace of the Black Ram), Chengdu. Guo took it to Weiyang 維陽 (Yangzhou 揚州, Jiangsu) where I could contemplate it. I had it engraved on wood to circulate it widely." The various versions of the Xiuzhen tu are all associated with the Longmen tradition. The elements that distinguish this chart from the Neijing tu are mainly related to the Thunder Rites (leifa) – in particular, the spiral at the level of the kidneys, the nine "orifices of hell" at the base of the spine, and the three curls at the top of the head that represent the three primordial breaths according to the Tianxin zhengfa tradition. The chart also represents the main parts of the body, including the Cinnabar Fields (dantian), the Three Passes (sanguan, represented by the three chariots) of the back, the throat, the paradisiac and infernal worlds, and the body's divinities according to the Huangting jing, and also shows the firing process (huohou). The whole is reminiscent of a talisman illustrating a divine body that connects to the sacred world. (Despeux, 2008: 767, 770)
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Diagram of Cultivating Perfection 1. Introduction There are three hundred and sixty bones and joints,1 and eighty-four thousand pores in the human body.2 There are three passes3 at the back: the Gate of Tail, Spinal Handle,4 and Jade Pillow. The Gate of Tail is at the bottom of the vertebral column, at its very end; this pass connects with the apertures of internal kidneys.5 A thin pathway of marrow6 originates from this pass, its appellation7 is the Rivulet.8 It is also known as Yellow River and it is the pathway through which the yang [energy] ascends. It directly goes up to the point between the two shoulders,9 or the Spinal Handle, and then goes up to the brain where the Jade Pillow is found. These are the three passes. In the front there are three fields; these are the Muddy Pellet,10 Earthen Crucible,11 and Jade Pond.12 The Muddy Pellet is the upper elixir field and it is one and two-tenths of an inch 13 in diameter. This hollow opens to a cavity, this is where the shen is stored. At the exact center of the space between the two eyebrows there is the Heavenly Gate.14 Going one inch inward, there is the Bright Hall.15 Another inch inward from this point is situated the Cavern Chamber.16 Still another inch inward is where the Muddy Pellet is found. The place below the point where the two brows meet is called the pillar of nose;17 it is also known as the Palace of Thunderclap.18 Under the Golden Bridge,19 inside the mouth, there are two cavities connecting with the throat; they are called the Magpie Bridge.20 Throat is situated on the neck bone, it is where the internal and external energies go in and out [of the body]. At the back there is the soft part of the throat, it is called the pharynx. What we drink and eat mixes up here and passes downward to the intestines and stomach. The throat has twelve rings, its appellation is the Tiered Tower.21 Directly below the throat there is the aperture of the lungs which leads to the heart. There is a bone above the heart, it is called Turtledove's Tail.22 Below the heart there is a cave23 called the Crimson Palace;24 it is where the dragon and tiger unite. Directly below, three and six-tenths of an inch away from it, is a place called the Earthen Crucible; it is the cave of Yellow Court, that is, the middle elixir field. To its left is situated the Bright Hall,25 to its right there is the Cavern Chamber.26 Blossomless27 dwells to its left, in the liver. White Prime27 dwells28 to its right, in the lungs. Furthermore, one and two-tenths of an inch inside this hollow is where the ch'i is stored; this is the cauldron of refinement of ch'i. Directly below it, at a distance of three and six-tenths of an inch, is the navel. Therefore it is said, "Thirty-six29 in the heaven above, thirty-six on the earth below. From heaven to earth it is eighty-four thousand miles30 and from the heart to the kidneys it is eight and four-tenths of an inch."31 Heavenly heart is found at a distance of three and six-tenths of an inch and earthly kidneys are found at a distance of three and six-tenths of an inch. In the middle of them there is the elixir field which is one and two-tenths of an inch in diameter. If it is not eight and four-tenths of an inch, then what is it?32 The appellation of the gate of navel is the Gate of Life.33 It has seven cavities; one of these connects with the external kidneys,34 it is the cavity of spirit's leaking out; it is called the Crescent Moon Furnace,35 that is, the Conception Vessel. Below it there are nine cavities which make up the Capital of Hell.36 It is also called the Sea of Energy.37 The place slightly below it, at a distance of one and three-tenths of an inch, is called the Jade Pond. It is also known as the lower elixir field and this is where the ching is stored and the medicine is collected. Its left side is the Bright Hall and its right is the Cavern Chamber.
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There is another hollow cave here measuring one and three-tenths of an inch square in size. There are two cavities in this place, which connect with the internal kidneys. Inside the kidneys there is a cavity which connects with the Gate of Tail. From the Gate of Tail [the energy channel] goes down to the two halls of the kidneys38 and then arrives at the Three Mile points39 below the knees. It then goes further down [and terminates at] the Gushing Spring40 points. These are the passes and cavities of the human body that are connected with each other.
2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)1 1.
High Perfected
2.
Supreme Perfected
3.
Great Perfected
4.
Void2 Perfected
5.
Immortal Perfected
6.
Unfathomable Perfected
7.
Superior Perfected
8.
Divine Perfected
9.
Heavenly Perfected3
10. The brain has nine sections and each of these chambers are one inch in diameter.4 11. The way of no-cessation is found in visualizing, and meditating on, the Muddy Pellet.5 Garments6 of the Nine Perfected each represent the color of their corresponding pneumas,7 this is why they can fly as if they are weightless. 12. Palace of the Muddy Pellet 13. Original Destiny8 Perfected 14. Mysterious Vault of the Jade Emperor's Palace9
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2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions 1.
Rich liquid 1
2.
Tower Head Drum
3.
Muddy Pellet
4.
Mysterious Mother2
5.
Numinous spirit3
6.
Heavenly Treasure
7.
Shen4
8.
Purple Tenuity5
9.
Great One6
10. Nine Empyreans7 11. Heavenly Court8 12. Appearing Pearl 13. Divine Radiance9 14. Bright Hall 15. Heavenly Eye10 16. Thunder Palace of the Nine Empyreans11 17. The throat is Sustainer and the tongue is Straightener.12 One deity reports13 to the Seven Kings14 and serves15 the Dipper as the Mother of the tongue.16 18. Center of Man17 19. Fluid Receptacle18 20. Governor Vessel19
2.1.2b. Inscription There are nine palaces in heaven and nine continents on earth.1 Man's lower elixir field has nine cavities, which are patterned after the nine continents of earth. The Muddy [Pellet] has nine caves, which accord with the nine palaces of heaven.2 The cranium is made up of eight bones3 which correspond to the eight directions. One of the names of the Muddy Pellet is the Jade Emperor's Palace in the All Canopy Heaven;4 it is also known as the Heavenly Palace of Pure Yang.5 There is a hollow cave in the center, which is called the Master of Mysterious Numinosity;6 it is also known as the Palace of the Primordial Spirit.7 Then there is the tongue; inside the tongue there is the Golden Lock Gate,8 which is equal to the tongue; it is also 9 known as the Magpie Bridge. Below the nose there is the Center of Man point and facing it there is the [Golden Lock] Gate. Between them there is the Governor Vessel. Truly, these are the roots10 of the human being; they are called the upper nine cavities.11 One of the names of the tongue is the Jade Spring of Innate Nature Roots,12 also its appellation is the Flowery Pond.13
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Below the tongue there are four cavities; two of them connect with the heart, forming a humor. The other two cavities connect with the kidneys, forming the vapor.14 The Divine Chamber,15 Muddy Pellet and nine cavities, these are the palaces of the Heavenly August. There is a cave in the middle which is shaped like an egg; its form resembles16 the Mount K'un-lun.17 The Buddhists call it Mount Sumeru.18 Disciples who cultivate perfection must know these.
2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus The navel is the Gate of Life.1 Great One2 Divine Lord resides here. He is the host of the innate nature and life-destiny.3 He directs the entire body's twelve thousand spirits.4 Gate of Life5
2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)1 1. Copper Pillar Hell 2. Fire Chariot Hell2 3. Diamond-like3 Hell 4. All-Plunder Hell 5. Icy-Cold Hell 6. Kill-and-Cut Hell 7. Wind and Thunder Hell 8. Cauldron of Molten [Iron] Hell4 9. Endless Hell5
2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 1. Cavity of the Pivotal Pass1 is the gate for inviting immortality. 2. Bellows2 3. Gate of Life3 that delivers immortality is where the Northern Pole4 demon-subduing sword of wisdom5 is found. 4. Fools kill themselves with it, while sages sublimate their bodies with it.6
2.2.4. Lower Extremities 1. Gushing Spring point1 2. Gushing Spring 3. Three Miles point2 4. Three Miles point
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3. Internal Organs 3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 1. Astride, Mound1 2. The seven p'o2 are stored3 in the lungs. 3. Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, Carriage4 4. Heavenly Dipper5 5. Venerable White Prime dwells here. 6. Stomach, Pleiades, Net, Beak, Orion.6
3.1.1b. Inscription The deity of the lungs has the shape of the White Tiger;1 the lungs appear like a hanging musical stone.2 They dwell on top of the five viscera3 and envelop them like a cover, therefore they are called the Flowery Canopy.4 Their deity is called Luminous Flower,5 its given name is Attainment of Emptiness.6 They weigh three pounds7 and three ounces.8 They have six petals and two ears, thus eight petals in total.9 The lung is the child of the spleen and the mother of the kidneys. The seven p'o are stored inside the lungs like infants. They are called Corpse Dog, Ambushing Corpse,10 Bird Darkness, Devouring Robber,11 Flying Poison,12 Massive Pollution, and Mob's Smell;13 thus there are these seven names.14 The nose is its officer;15 the left nostril is keng 庚, while the right nostril is hsin 辛.16 Among the pneumas the lungs correspond to coughing.17 Among the fluids18 they correspond to nasal mucus.19 In the body they correspond to body hair. Flowing upward, the pneumas reach the brain and flowing downward, the pneumas enter the spleen, therefore all pneumas belong to the lungs.20 The lungs are the root of the breathing. In the [Scripture of the] Yellow Court21 it is said, "When there is panting or the breathing is not comfortable, immediately visualize the White Prime22 and the six energies will be harmonized." 23
3.1.2. Heart The deity of the heart is shaped like the Vermilion Bird; the heart appears like an inverted hanging lotus flower.1 It is capable of transforming water and turning it into blood. Deity of the heart is called Elixir Origin,2 its given name is Guarding the Numen.3 It weighs twelve ounces. One inch below the heart is the Turtledove's Tail.4 The heart's color is like white silk [lined with] shining crimson and inside it there are seven openings and three orifices. In men of superior wisdom, the orifices of the heart are pervaded with brilliance. In men of medium wisdom, there are five orifices and cave of the heart is connected with the pneumas. In men of inferior wisdom, there are no orifices and the brilliance of the pneuma does not flow through the heart.5
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The heart is the child of the liver and the mother of the spleen. The tongue is the officer of the heart.6 An opening connects with the ears; the left ear is ping 丙, while the right ear is ting 丁.7 Heart's fluid is sweat;8 when the malignant energy of the kidneys enter the heart, the sweat spills.9 The heart's associated taste is sweet. Its associated receptacle10 is the small intestine and the heart is united with it.11 In the Scripture of the Yellow Court12 it is said, "The house13 of heart department14 is like a lotus bud with closed petals;15 below it there is the house of a young boy named Elixir Origin." The young boy is the deity of the heart. Below the heart there is the Crimson Palace.
3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 1. Lordling Blossomless resides here.1 2. Middle earth gallbladder2 3. Horn, Neck3 4. Base, Room, Heart, Tail, Basket4 5. The three hun5 are stored in the liver.
3.1.3b. Inscription The deity of the liver is shaped like the Green Dragon;1 its given name is Containing Illumination.2 The liver appears like a suspended bottle-shaped gourd. It is quite3 close to the heart; it has three petals to the left and four petals to the right.4 The gallbladder5 attaches to underneath its shorter petal. The liver weighs four pounds and four ounces. It is the mother of the heart and the child of the kidneys. There are three hun6 in the liver known as the Invigorating Numinosity, Radiance of Womb,7 and Obscure Spirit. The eyes are the officers8 of the liver.9 The left eye is chia 甲 while the right eye is i 乙.10 When a man11 reach sixty, his liver pneuma declines,12 petals of his liver become thinner, his gallbladder gradually withers, and his eyesight is dimmed. In the body, the liver corresponds to the sinews.13 The liver pulse is connected with Wood14 and the liver is the viscus of the hun.15 Among the bodily fluids the liver corresponds to tears, therefore, when the malignant energy of the kidneys enter the liver, the tears are plenty.16 The gallbladder is the receptacle of the liver,17 the gallbladder and the liver are united. In the Scripture of the Yellow Court18 it is said, "When harmony is established between the hun and p'o, the bodily fluids are balanced;19 on the outer part of the body, the liver corresponds to the eyes, thus the sun and the moon are radiant.20 When all kinds of21 diseases22 accumulate, one must maintain23 Blossomless;24 since the liver operates [the energies of] all five viscera, in seven days the organs will be filled by themselves."25
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3.1.4. Spleen The spleen belongs to the center and Earth,1 therefore it is effulgent throughout the four seasons2 and it is the Yellow Emperor.3 Its deity is shaped like the Phoenix.4 The spleen resembles an upside-down wing.5 Its deity is called Eternal Existence,6 its given name is Court of Hun.7 In the middle, the spleen covers the upper part of the navel, it is at the side of the stomach; it is the pneuma of the k'un and ching of the earth. It resides three inches below the heart. It weighs one pound and two ounces, it is three inches wide and one foot8 long. The spleen is the child of the heart and the mother of the lungs. On the outer part of the body, it connects with the eyebrows. The mouth 9 is its officer.10 Its deity has much hatred.11 The spleen has no fixed position,12 it governs Earth13 and it is yin, therefore the spleen is the pivot of the five viscera.14 It opens into the orifice of the mouth.15 In the body it corresponds to the cheeks. Spleen Meridian originates at the Hidden White16 and this is where the original intent17 of the flesh 18 is found.19 In the Scripture of the Yellow Court20 it is said, "It cures countless21 diseases of mankind and digests foods; it has a yellow gown22 and a purple belt,23 it regulates the dragon and tiger."24
3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 1.
The left is the Mystery,1 the Gate of Kidney
2.
The right is the Female,1 the Gate of Life-Destiny2
3.
(Three talismanic characters)3
4.
Silver River4
5.
Pivotal Mechanism5
6.
Red Pond
7.
Pond of Precious Stone
8.
Way of Gushing Valley6
9.
Water of Fountain Valley7
10. Jade Furnace8
3.1.5b. Inscription 1 The kidneys1 belong to the direction north2 and Water;3 among the trigrams they correspond to k'an 坎.4 They are shaped like the Mysterious Deer5 with two heads; their deity is called Mysterious Dark6 and its given name is Nourishing the Infant.7 The kidneys appear like egg-shaped pebbles; they are located opposite the navel, suspending from the lumbar spine.8 They weigh two pounds and one ounce. They govern the distribution of the energy of water, irrigating the entire body like roots of a tree. The one on the left is called kidney and the one on the right the [Gate of] Life-Destiny.9 They are the storehouses of living pneuma and the gate of dead pneuma;10 if you preserve them (i.e., the vital energies) then they will remain, but if you [over]use them then they will be drained.
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The kidneys are the mother of the liver and the child of the lungs. The ears are the officers11 of the kidneys.12 The Heaven gives life to us, when the current of energy is transmuted, it is called ching. The ching-ch'i alternates and turns into shen. The shen; the kidneys store ching13 and the will.14 The left kidney corresponds to jen 壬, while the right corresponds to kuei 癸.15 Among the twelve horary branches the kidneys correspond to tzu 子 and hai 亥.16 Among the [six] breaths17 they correspond to ch'ui 吹.18 Among the bodily fluids they correspond to saliva. In the body they correspond to the bones.19 The kidney ch'i regulates the upper section of the triple heater, nourishes the middle20 section of the triple heater, and protects the lower section of the triple heater.21 In the Scripture of the Yellow Court22 it is said, "The palace of kidney23 department is like a dark portal24 that is round;25 inside there is a young boy26 called Upper Darkness.27 The kidneys govern the six pneumas28 and are the origin of the visceral fluids.29 On the outer part of the body, they correspond to the ears;30 they govern numerous31 bodily fluids."32
3.1.5c. Inscription 2 The internal kidneys are the Two Principles.1 Between them there is a link connecting them and this is our true essence.2 Inside, it contains two pneumas, red and white. When we were in the mother's abdomen, before we had this body, there was this cave. Because there was this cave, life has begun in this body. The left kidney is mysterious yang while the right is feminine yin.3 Inside the cavity, there is the Sea of Essence4 of True Self Later Heaven; it is also known as true lead.5 Its Buddhist name is Chaochou's dog,6 while its Confucian name is the Great Ultimate.7 Taoists call it the Native Lead of the Mysterious Water8 and also Right Ch'i of Chilling Life9 in the Direction North, and Purple River Chariot.10 Following the course of nature gives birth to ordinary men; going against it one becomes an immortal.11 One of its names is the Rivulet.12 Its another name is the Ancestral Palace. It connects with the top and bottom of the two eyes and descends into the Flowery Pond.13 From [the cavities below] the tongue comes out a fluid called the Jade Spring.14
3.1.5d. Inscription 3 Peach Vigor;1 his given name is the Lord of Unity and Extension,2 his another name is Top of the Lotus Flower.3 His cap and garment are vermilion in color and his garment is like that of the perfected men. He resides in the palace of the kidneys. It has emerald, purple, yellow, white, green, blue-green, red, and azure pneumas; actually these are the transmutations of the Eight Heavens4 of the direction north.
3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat Two cavities under the tongue are called Mysterious Breasts.1 The one at the back is called the pharynx2 and all that we eat and drink is swallowed down through this aperture. The one in the front is known as the trachea;3 its twelve segments make up the Twelve-Storied Tower,4 which connects with pure ch'i.5
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3.2.2. Gallbladder The gallbladder represents the ching of Metal and ch'i of Water. Its color is [dark] green and it lies beneath the liver's shorter petal.1 The gallbladder is boldness.2 When the gallbladder is big, there cannot be any fear. Its deity3 is called Dragon Glory,4 its given name is Majestic Illumination.5 The gallbladder is shaped like the Turtle and Snake whose bodies are fused6 and it appears like a suspended sack.7 It weighs three ounces and one-sixteenth of an ounce.8 It is the receptacle organ of the liver.9 If we rely on [the standard five phases theory], the gallbladder should not be among the five viscera; it should be returned to [the category of] the six receptacles, because the gallbladder also receives energies of the fluids and it has the same path as the k'an 坎. Furthermore, it cannot be regarded as the same with the six receptacles, therefore it stands alone as the gallbladder viscus.10 It is connected with the bladder; it also governs the hair. In the Scripture of the Yellow Court11 it is said, "The gallbladder governs all physical strength preserved12 by the tiger's army. On the outer part of the body, the gallbladder corresponds to the eyes and pupils and the middle of the bridge of the nose.13 The brain and hair support each other; also, the hair becomes very bright.14 The deity of the gallbladder wears a nine-colored brocade dress with a green flower skirt."15
4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) The Crimson1 Palace; inside it there is a cave which is the innate nature of the true self. One of its names is trigram li 離;2 its another name is Hour of Wu 午.3 Also, its appellation is Southern Palace.4 It is where the chamber for refinement of the shen5 is found. Its another name is Young Girl.6 One of its names is True Yin; its another name is Blue-Eyed Foreign Child.7 Among the directions, it is the south. Above this place there is a covering bone which covers it; the physicians call it the Turtledove's Tail. Withdrawal [of the mind] from this cavity leads to mental activity [eaten up by] thoughts and worries8 of the Nine Later Heavens;9 this is also called the "dragon exiting from within the fire".10
4.2. Lower Elixir Field The pneumas inside this field are blue-green on the left, yellow on the right, black on the bottom, and white on top. The lower elixir field is also known as True Tiger,1 [Earth of]2 K'an 坎, Infant's Place,3 Mulberry Palace,4 Sea of Energy,5 Water Crystal Palace, and the Door of the Feminine.6 Inside it there is a cave, which is real ching7 of the true self and Life Stem.8 One and one-tenth of an inch above it is the place of true generation and transformation9 and the root of the heaven and earth. It is the place of whiteheaded Lao-tzu's black mystery, and the life-destiny of the true self creating10 mountains and streams. It is also called the Place of True One, the Gold within Water; its appellation is Metal Essence,11 it is also called Supreme Ching of the Former Heaven of the True Self. It is also called the Tiger Facing Life within Water,12 One Yang Returning to Beginning,13 Tzu 子 Hour,14 Moon at the Bottom of the Sea,15 Human-Light,16 and Foundation of Primordial Self.17 Thus it has these several names. Disciples who cultivate perfection must know these.
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5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass The Jade Pillow pass;1 one of the names of this place is Yang Palace on the Jade Capital Mountain,2 it is also known as the Heavenly Pillar,3 Cave of the Great4 One, and Thunderclap Palace. It is found in front of the big vertebral bone,5 at an inch distance from it. Truly, this is the upward pathway for advancing6 and ascending to Heaven.7 Inner Yellow Dragon8 turns upside down,9 rolls upward, surges into the waters of Hsiang River,10 and penetrates up and down. As this pass is tight,11 the yang spirit12 must be gathered. This needs using yang pneuma in order to force the pass open, it is then transformed into true pneuma.13 When it arrives at the Magpie Bridge,14 the Altair and Vega stars15 meet16 and nourish the infant.17
5.2. Middle Pass The Spinal Handle Dual Pass1 is truly the footpath of ascending to and descending from divine immortality.2 It is our bodily pulse; it is the path of Kao-huang point.3 It is called the Dual Pass; Inner Windlass4 is found inside this point. Its left is the Great Yang, while its right is the Great Yin. It is the path of ascension of yang energy,5 it connects with the Heavenly Pillar6 point, it is also called Inner Double Grove,7 which connects with Outer Double Grove,8 where the vessel of yang pass is hidden.9 This point steams [energy] into passes and cavities, and to the Gushing Spring10 below; above, it connects with the Muddy Pellet, networks and connects with the Crimson11 Palace and the Flowery Pond.12 There it gathers water and descends to the Flowery Canopy,13 then to the place of the five phases which is inside the Life Stem14 in the lower elixir field.
5.3. Lower Pass The Pass of Gate of Tail;1 one of its names is Nine Cavities;2 its another name is Nine-Headed Lion;3 it is also called the Prince Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum.4 This yin pass5 is persistently blocked,6 often it cannot be opened for years, therefore it is named the Nine-Layered Iron Drum. The Prince is pure yang pneuma; he can cause a rich liquid to pour into the top of the head7 and he can pierce through the head, therefore it is called Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum. Indeed this is the footpath for ascending to Heaven.8 One of the names of this pass is the Gate of Earth Pivot Deity;9 its another name is Facing Up toward a Mountain Range.10 One of its names is Cave of Dragon and Tiger; its another name is Three-Forked [Bone].11 Inside the kidneys there is the Golden Cauldron,12 inside and outside are connected to each another; its three paths13 connect with14 the Spinal Handle15 above, directly penetrate the Gate of Crown16 and then the Muddy Pellet above, and connect with the bone marrows of the entire body. The Capital of Hell17
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6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li) 1.
Upper Palace of the South Prosperity [Constellation]1
2.
Crimson2 Palace
3.
Exhalation is uniting with the Root of Heaven.3
4.
When the mind is immovable, the pneuma consolidates by itself.4
5.
Pneuma5
6.
Approaching chi 己6
7.
Fire Palace on the Vermilion Mound7
☲ (trigram li)
6.2. South (K'an) 1.
Dipper, Ox[-Boy], Maiden, Void1
2.
Cold Numinosity Elixir Hall
3.
Flowing to wu 戊2
4.
When the body is immovable, the ching consolidates by itself.3
5.
Ching 精
6.
Chi 己5
7.
Lower elixir6
8.
Noxious pneuma7 of the Mysterious Warrior8
9.
Rooftop, House, Wall9
☵ (trigram k'an)4
10. Going against the course of nature is the way of sages; following it is the way of ordinary men.10
6.3. East (Chen) ☳ (trigram chen)1 One of its names is the Green Dragon of the Eastern Sea. It corresponds to the direction of chia 甲.2 Wood fluid. Among the trigrams3 it belongs to chen 震. Among the directions it belongs to the east. Among the five phases it belongs to Wood. In the Tao it is the hun and it corresponds to the innate nature.4 It belongs to the mother of fire shen.5 Among the five viscera it belongs to the liver. In the heaven it is the sun. It is the location of the Chamber of the True Self's Hun.
6.4. West (Tui) ☱ (trigram tui)1 Some call it the White Tiger of the Western Mountains.2 It occupies keng 庚 position. Metal ching.3 Among the trigrams it belongs to tui 兌. Among the directions it belongs to the west. Among the five phases it belongs to Metal. In the Tao it is the p'o and it corresponds to emotions.4 It belongs to the mother of the water ching.5 Among the viscera and receptacles it is the lungs. In the heaven it is the moon. It is the location of the Chamber of the True Self's P'o.
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6.5. Center (Ch'ien) 1.
Yellow Court1
2.
Center2
3.
Jade knife3
4.
☰ (trigram ch'ien)4
5.
Earthen Crucible5
6.
K'uei, shao, huan, hsing, pi, fu, p'iao6
7.
When the intent is immovable, the shen turns into numinosity by itself.7
7. Extraordinary Vessels 1.
Yang Entering [Vessel]
2.
Yang Heel [Vessel]2
3.
Conception Vessel3
4.
Yin Heel [Vessel]4
5.
Yin Transport [Vessel]5
1
8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods
1
In bottom-to-top order
1.
Winter Solstice
2.
Slight Cold
3.
Great Cold
4.
Beginning of Spring
5.
Rain Water
6.
Excited Insects
7.
Spring Equinox
8.
Clear and Bright
9.
Grain Rains
10. Summer Begins 11. Grain Filling 12. Grain in Ear 13. Summer Solstice 14. Slight Heat 15. Great Heat 16. Autumn Begins 17. Limit of Heat 18. White Dew 19. Autumn Equinox 20. Cold Dew 21. Hoar Frost Descends 22. Winter Begins 23. Slight Snow 24. Great Snow
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9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle 1.
First1
2.
Second
3.
Third
4.
Fourth
5.
Fifth
6.
Sixth
7.
Seventh
8.
Eighth, [upper] crescent moon2
9.
Ninth
10. Tenth 11. Eleventh 12. Twelfth 13. Thirteenth 14. Fourteenth 15. Fifteenth, full moon3 16. Sixteenth 17. Seventeenth 18. Eighteenth 19. Nineteenth 20. Twentieth 21. Twenty first 22. Twenty second 23. Twenty third, [lower] crescent moon4 24. Twenty fourth 25. Twenty fifth 26. Twenty sixth 27. Twenty seventh 28. Twenty eighth 29. Twenty ninth 30. Thirtieth, last day5
Stele Inscription Printing block is preserved at Beijing's White Cloud Temple.
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Notes to Page 9 (82)
Notes 1. Introduction 1.
2.
3.
4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9. 10.
11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
21. 22.
In the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic: The Numinous Pivot (Huang-ti Nei-ching Ling-shu 黄帝 内經靈樞), Ch'i Po 岐伯 describes the three hundred and sixty five places where the "joints" (chieh 節) intersect, "where the ch'i of the spirit (shen 神; or alternatively 'ch'i and shen') travel in and out." This idea is based on the principles of correlative cosmology. According to Chinese theories, one cycle of ascent and descent of energy between the heaven and earth (the macrocosm) lasts three hundred and sixty days, which corresponds to the three hundred and sixty bones and joints in the human body (the microcosm). Three passes (san-kuan 三關) are three centers of energy transformation, they are usually obstructed and must be opened. The first pass, or Gate of Tail (wei-lü 尾閭), is located at the level of the third vertebra above the coccyx. The second pass, or Spinal Handle (chia-chi 夾脊), is located in the middle of the spinal column where it joins the ribs at chest level, between the shoulder blades. The third pass, or Jade Pillow (yü-chen 玉枕), is at the level of the occipital bone. Each pass correspond to an elixir field (tan-t'ien). Like the three elixir fields, the three passes correspond to the three stages of the internal alchemical process: ching is transformed into ch'i in the lower pass, ch'i into shen in the middle pass, and shen into void (hsü 虚) in the upper pass. In the diagram, the three passes are symbolized by the three vehicles, or mechanisms, for the raising of the energy along the backbone: the Goat Cart (yang-ch'e 羊車), the Deer Cart (lu-ch'e 鹿車), and the Ox Cart (niu-ch'e 牛車). The term translated "Spinal Handle" is chia-chi 夾脊, which might also be read "Narrow Ridge". In Chinese medical literature, internal kidneys (nei-shen 内腎) designates the kidneys and external kidneys (wai-shen 外腎) the testicles. The "marrow" (sui 髓) does not correspond to bone marrow of Western medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, "marrow" is a substance which is the common matrix of bones, bone marrow, brain and spinal cord. Hao 號. In Chinese internal alchemy (nei-tan), the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈) is also called the Rivulet (ts'ao-hsi 漕溪). Emending "kidneys" (shen 腎) to "shoulders" (chien 肩). There are nine chambers in the brain, known as the Nine Palaces (chiu-kung 九宮). These are arranged within the brain in two levels that proceed from the middle part of the head between the eyebrows. In Taoist terminology, the Muddy Pellet (ni-wan 泥丸) designates both the top of the head or the upper elixir field as a whole and the innermost of the Nine Palaces, the third one in the lower row. Earthen Crucible or Earthen Pot (t'u-fu 土釜), is an energy center in the region of the solar plexus, the center of the trunk. It is often used as a synonym for the Yellow Court (huang-t'ing 黄庭). The term Jade Pond (yü-ch'ih 玉池) has two meanings: the mouth (or throat) and the two kidneys. Here it designates the kidneys which are related with the lower elixir field. "[I]nch" translates ts'un 寸. Heavenly Gate (t'ien-men 天門) is the center of the top of the head, or sinciput, the opening from which the yang spirit (yang-shen 陽神) is believed to leave the body. Bright Hall (ming-t'ang 明堂) is an energy center one inch behind the midpoint between the brows. Cavern Chamber (tung-fang 洞房) is located behind the Bright Hall, two inches from the face. Pillar of nose (pi-chu 鼻柱) is the nasal bone. Palace of Thunderclap (lei-t'ing fu 雷霆府) is another name for the nasal bone. Golden Bridge (chin-ch'iao 金橋) is another name for the Magpie Bridge. See note 20. Magpie Bridge (ch'üeh-ch'iao 鵲橋) is the tongue which connects the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈) and Conception Vessel (ren-mai 任脈). It is also known as Middle Magpie Bridge (chung ch'üehch'iao 中鵲橋). Tiered Tower (ch'ung-lou 重樓), or Multi-Leveled Pagoda, is the trachea with its twelve segments. It is also known as Twelve-Storied Tower (shih-erh lou-t'ai 十二樓臺). Turtledove's Tail (chiu-lu 鳩尾) is the xiphoid process, the cartilaginous section at the lower end of the breastbone (sternum).
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Notes to Pages 9-10 (82-84)
23. "[C]ave" translates hsüeh 穴, which literally means "cave" or "hole" and variously translated as "cave", "point", "hole", or "locus". It denotes an energy center or an acupuncture point. Although "cavity" is a better term here, it is rendered as "cave" to distinguish it from ch'iao 竅, which is usually translated as "cavity". 24. Crimson Palace (chiang-kung 絳宮) is variously desribed as the heart, solar plexus, or middle elixir field. In this diagram, it seems to denote the middle elixir field. The term translated as "palace" is kung 宮; Fabrizio Pregadio explains this concept in these terms: "Using a terminology that refers to the underlying bureaucratic view of the human body, each of the six main inner organs (five viscera and gallbladder) is called in the Yellow Court a 'department' (bu) and is managed by a deity who resides in a 'palace' (gong) within that organ. The single deities, who are identified by their names and the colours of their garments, rule on the organ that hosts them and supervise the corresponding function in the body." (2006: 135) 25. Although the Bright Hall usually designates the center one inch behind the midpoint between the brows and is related with the upper elixir field, according to certain classics, it also exists in the other elixir fields. Here, it is described as the Bright Hall on the left of the middle elixir field. 26. The interior of the body was thought to be like a sacred mountain which contained cavern chambers, the residing place of large numbers of divinities and the storehouses of vital energy. The Cavern Chamber (tung-fang 洞房) is situated behind the Bright Hall, two inches from the face. It is inhabited by a trinity of deities, or the Three Perfected (San-chen 三眞): White Prime, Blossomless, and Lord Huang-lao (Huang-lao Chün 黄老君). 27. Blossomless (or No Blossom, Wu-ying 無英) with the byname Lordling (Kung-tzu 公子) and White Prime (Pai-yüan 白元), with the byname Cavernous Yang (Tung-yang 洞陽), are two deities who inhabit the Palace of the Cavern Chamber (tung-fang kung 洞房宮) in the head and also descend into the liver and lungs respectively. 28. Besides the celestial gods and goddesses who reside in heaven, a veritable pantheon of Taoist deities also exists within the human being. These deities fulfill various related functions: they personify abstract notions such as the Tao, yin and yang, or the five phases (wu-hsing 五行); they allow the human being to communicate with the major – and in several cases corresponding – deities of the outer pantheon; they act as officers in the bureaucratic system that manages the whole body; they perform healing tasks by supporting the balance of the body's functions; and they are objects of meditation. The basic purpose of visualizing them is to "maintain" them (tsun 存) in their proper locations, nourish them with one's inner pneumas and essences, and invoke them so that in turn they provide protection and sustenance. This is said to ensure health, longevity, or immortality, and to defend one from calamities caused by demons and other noxious entities. Systematic descriptions of the inner deities are first found in the third-century classic Huang-t'ing Ching 黄庭經. 29. Thirty-six is a special number in Taoist cosmology. 30. "[M]ile" translates li 里, which is a traditional Chinese unit of distance equal to about a 1/3 mile or 1/2 kilometer. 31. Another idea based on correlative thinking. The distance between the heaven and earth (in the macrocosm) is believed to be eighty-four thousand miles and it corresponds to the distance between the heart and kidneys (in the microcosm), which is measured as 8 tsun 寸 (Chinese inches) and 4 fen 分 (1 fen being a tenth of an inch). 32. The distance between the Crimson Palace and Earthen Crucible is 3 tsun and 6 fen, the diameter of the Earthen Crucible is 1 tsun and 2 fen, and the distance between the Earthen Crucible and navel or Sea of Energy (ch'i-hai 氣海) point is 3 tsun and 6 fen. Thus, the distance between the heart and kidneys is 8 tsun and 4 fen, or eight and four-tenths of an inch. 33. Note that the "Gate of Life" translates sheng-men 生門, not ming-men 命門. 34. The external kidneys (wai-shen 外腎) are the testicles. 35. In this diagram, the Crescent Moon Furnace (yen-yüeh lu 偃月爐) is another name for the lower elixir field. 36. The Capital of Hell (Feng-tu 酆都) is the demonic netherworld. In certain texts, the lower nine cavities (hsia chiu-ch'iao 下九竅) are associated with the Nine Dark Hells (chiu-yu ti-yü 九幽地獄). 37. In Chinese internal alchemy, the Sea of Energy (ch'i-hai 氣海) is another name for the lower elixir field. 38. Two halls of the kidneys (shen-t'ang 腎堂) are the testicles. 39. Three Miles (san-li 三里) point of the foot is the thirty-sixth point of the Stomach Meridian (ST 36). It is located below the knee, 3 tsun 寸 inferior to tu-pi 犢鼻 (ST 35), one finger-breadth lateral to the anterior crest of the tibia.
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Notes to Pages 10-11 (84-85)
40. Gushing Spring (yung-ch'üan 湧泉) is the first point of the Kidney Meridian (KI 1). It is located on the sole of the foot, between the second and third metatarsal bones, approximately one-third of the distance between the base of the second toe and the heel, in a depression formed when the foot is plantar flexed. 2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens) 1.
2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
One of the earliest and most common Chinese views of the cosmos is one in which there are Nine Heavens (chiu-t'ien 九天), one in the center of the sky and one in each of the eight directions surrounding the center. Nine is the number of yang, thus the nine heavens stand for pure yang, which is the celestial, unconditioned, primal state. In Springs and Autumns of Gentleman Lü (Lü-shih Ch'un-ch'iu 呂氏春秋; 239 BCE) and the [Book of] the Master of Huai-nan (Huai-nan Tzu 淮南子; 139 BCE), the Nine Heavens, or Nine Fields (chiu-yeh 九野), are nine horizontal sectors of space, corresponding to the center and eight directions, and complementing the Nine Continents (chiu-chou 九洲) on earth. Hsü 虗 is an ancient character for hsü 虚. The Muddy Pellet hosts nine deities known as the Nine Perfected, or Nine Real Men (chiu-chen 九眞), in its nine rooms. These chambers, known as the Nine Palaces (chiu-kung 九宮), are arranged within the brain in two levels that proceed from the middle part of the head between the eyebrows. Measuring one square inch in size, these cavities intercommunicate among themselves. Emending wan 丸 to chiu 九. These deities are identified by the colors of their garments, based on five phases (wu-hsing 五行) associations. "[P]neuma" translates ch'i 炁, while ch'i 氣 is either left untranslated or rendered as "energy" or "vapor" according to the context. In the present text, ch'i 炁 is often used synonymously with ch'i 氣. "Destiny" translates ming 命, which is translated elsewhere as "life-destiny". Jade Emperor (Yü-ti 玉帝) is one of the superior divinities of the Mao-shan 茅山 lineage. The Jade Emperor's Palace (Yü-ti Kung 玉帝宮) is one of the nine palaces (chiu-kung 九宮) or nine rooms (chiu-fang 九房) within the brain.
2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions 1.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
7.
Rich liquid (t'i-hu 醍醐) is originally a Buddhist term meaning "ghee", or the most delicate, tastiest, richest product of milk. In Buddhism it is usually used as a metaphor for the most sublime form of the Buddhist teachings. The term "rich liquid" frequently appears in the phrase "a rich liquid pouring into the top of the head" (t'i-hu kuan-ting 醍醐灌頂), which is a Buddhist metaphor for pleasure of receiving wisdom. The expression is presumably related to the experience of opening of certain energy centers in the head and resultant flow of nectar-like energy – which sometimes have an exquisite fragrance – into these cranial centers. The Original Father on High (Yüan-fu 元父) and Mysterious Mother Below (Hsüan-mu 玄母) symbolize Heaven (Yang) and Earth (Yin), the two original principles which are the source of all life. Variously translated as "numinous spirit", "numen", "numinous", "spiritual", or "luminous", ling 靈 refers to a spirit that has a certain marvelous, sacred or miraculous qualities. The shen 神 here is one of the three primary vital energies known as the ching 精, ch'i 氣, and shen. Purple Tenuity (Tzu-wei 紫微) is actually a circumpolar constellation; in the present text it designates the Palace of the Muddy Pellet (ni-wan kung 泥丸宮). The Great One (T'ai-i 太一 or 太乙) is a major Taoist deity, representing in a divinized form the first stage of the generation of the cosmos by the Tao. He is lord of the northern polar asterism and in the human body he lives in the palace of the head known as the Muddy Pellet. The Nine Empyreans (Chiu-hsiao 九霄) is a synonym for the Nine Heavens (Chiu-t'ien 九天).
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Notes to Page 11 (85)
8. 9. 10. 11.
12.
13. 14. 15.
16. 17. 18.
19.
Heavenly Court (T'ien-t'ing 天庭) designates the point between the eyebrows. Divine Radiance (shen-kuang 神光) designates the spiritual light emitted from the region between the eyebrows. Heavenly Eye (t'ien-mu 天目) is located three tenths of an inch (3 fen 分) above the point between the eyebrows. The Nine Empyreans – which is synonymous with the Nine Heavens (chiu-t'ien 九天) – in the macrocosm corresponds to the nose in the microcosm of the human body. Therefore the nose is called the Thunder Palace of the Nine Empyreans (Chiu-hsiao lei-fu 九霄雷府). Big Dipper (Ursus Major) constellation, known as the Northern Dipper (Pei-tou 北斗) in China, is composed of nine stars. To the seven, universally known stars forming the bowl and handle of the Dipper, two minor stars are attached: the eighth star, Sustainer (Fu-hsing 輔星), is the companion of the sixth star; and the ninth star, Straightener (Pi-hsing 弼星), is situated in the neighborhood of the constellation's handle. Though the latter is entirely invisible, the Sustainer is discernible at certain times. The belief is widespread among Taoist adepts that they only appear to those who attain certain conditions of purity and those who have the ability to see them draw from it great benefits and supernormal powers, extraordinary longevity above all. Sometimes these stars are considered as part of the total constellation of the Dipper; yet, at other times, they are considered to be the left- and right-hand assistants of the Dipper. Fu 輔 literally means a side pole attached to a cart to keep it from upsetting and denotes assistance or support, while the literal meaning of pi 弼 is a device for straightening and keeping proper form of bows and it denotes assistance. When considered as assistants, they play a role similar to that of the sun and moon which often stand on each side of the Dipper. The Sustainer is related to Mars (south) and the Straightener is associated with the pole star and yin. Compared to the seven major stars, the two ancillary stars have a less focused function; the Sustainer safeguards human destiny, while the Straightener pertains to the exorcism of demons. In his Tan-yang's Twenty-Four Instructions Handed Down by Perfected Man Ch'ung-yang (Ch'ungyang Chen-jen Shou Tan-yang Erh-shih-ssu Chüeh 重陽眞人授丹陽二十四訣), Wang Ch'ung-yang 王重陽 (1112-1170) correlates various parts of human beings to their counterparts in the universe. He says that the nine cavities or orifices (chiu-ch'iao 九竅) of the human body (the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, and tongue and throat) correspond to the seven stars of the Northern Dipper and the Sustainer and Straightener stars. According to other sources, these stars are visualized in relation to the eyes, just like the sun and moon. Chuan kao 專告 literally means "to report", but in this context it connotes staying connected (through visualization practices), or allowing communication, with the Seven Kings. The Seven Kings (Ch'i-wang 七王) is presumably a reference to the seven stars of the Northern Dipper. Feng shih 奉事 literally means "to serve", but in this context it means treating the Dipper as the primary deity in the practice of invocation or visualization. The implication is that if the adept's throat and tongue are in an ideal state, he can connect with the Northern Dipper. The "Mother of the tongue" is a reference to the Mother of the Dipper (Tou-mu 斗母), a stellar goddess who came to prominence from the Yüan dynasty (1271-1368) onwards. Center of Man (Jen-chung 人中) is the twenty-sixth point of the Governor Vessel (GV 26). It is located in the groove beneath the nose. Fluid Receptacle, or Sauce Receptacle (Ch'eng-chiang 承漿), is the twenty-fourth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 24). It is located on the chin, in the depression in the center of the mentolabial groove, below the middle of the lower lip. The Governor Vessel is the passage of energy running from the base of the spine to the top of the head, and down to the mouth.
2.1.2b. Inscription 1.
2. 3. 4.
The nine palaces (chiu-kung 九宮) are the nine astrological divisions of sky, while the nine continents (chiu-chou 九州) are the nine divisions of China, established under legendary Emperor Yü the Great (Ta-Yü 大禹). The Muddy Pellet has nine caves or rooms, where the nine deities known as the Nine Perfected (chiu-chen 九眞) reside. The cranium is composed of eight bones: the frontal, the two occipital, parietal, the two temporal, the sphenoid, and ethmoid. Mi-lo-t'ien Yü-ti-kung 彌羅天玉帝宮.
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Notes to Pages 11-12 (85-86)
5. 6.
7. 8. 9. 10. 11.
12. 13. 14. 15. 16.
17.
18.
Ch'un-yang-t'ien Kung 純陽天宮. Hsüan-ling Chu 玄靈主, emending ch'iung 穹 to ling 靈. Mysterious Numinosity (hsüan-ling 玄靈) is another name for the three worms (san-ch'ung 三蟲), also frequently referred to as the three corpses (san-shih 三尸 or 三屍). They wish for the body to die so that they can be free; thus they cause people to act in sinful, detrimental ways and then report their wrongdoings to the heavenly bureaucracy who will shorten the lifespan of the person. Each worm dwell in one of the three elixir fields. The upper worm, which is black, about three inches long and dwells in the head, stimulates love of horses, carriages and luxurious clothes. The green middle worm, situated in the back, promotes love of food, while the third one, white and in the stomach, stimulates licentious desires. The extermination of these worms was one of the first steps that had to be taken within the practice of longevity and immortality. Yüan-shen Kung 元神宮. The primordial spirit (yüan-shen 元神) is the principle of non-material manifestation, including anything from human thinking to divinities. Golden Lock Gate (chin-so kuan 金鎖關) is another name for the Magpie Bridge, or the tongue. Reading "also" (yu 又) for "human" (jen 人). The "root" (ken 根) presumably designates sensory organs, some of which are associated with the upper nine cavities. The upper nine cavities (shang chiu-ch'iao 上九竅) are divided into seven yang and two yin cavities. The seven yang cavities are the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and mouth, while the two yin cavities designate the tongue and throat. They correspond to the nine luminaries (chiu-yao 九曜). This parallelism is further explained in the Seven Slips from the Bookcase of the Clouds (Yün-chi Ch'i-ch'ien 雲笈七籤), chapter 15: "In heaven, the nine cavities are the nine stars (chiu-hsing 九星), on earth, they are the nine continents, and in man, they are the nine cavities." Jade Spring of Innate Nature Roots (hsing-ken yü-ch'üan 性根玉泉) seems to denote the tongue as the generator of the saliva. In this context, the Flowery Pond (hua-ch'ih 華池) designates the saliva. Reading ch'i 氣 for wo 我. Here, the Divine Chamber (shen-shih 神室) is the upper elixir field. Some contemporary authors suggest an emendation here and add the word "P'eng-t'ai" 蓬臺 ("tower of [Mount] P'eng[-lai]") before the word "K'un-lun" (崑崙). With such an addition, the sentence would translate as, "its form resembles the tower of [Mount] P'eng[-lai]; the [Mount] K'un-lun is this." Mount P'eng-lai (P'eng-lai Shan 蓬萊山) is located on a divine island, a fairy isle in the Eastern Sea or the Sea of P'o 渤. It is believed to be a paradise-like place where immortals and herbs of deathlessness are found. Mount K'un-lun (K'un-lun Shan 崑崙山) is a Central Asian mountain chain. It represents west, Metal, true sense, the mind of Tao, as well as primordial unified energy, the source of all being. In alchemical traditions of the "lesser vehicle" of Taoism, the K'un-lun is also used as a code word for the head. Hsü-mi Shan 須彌山, a Buddhist term for "Mount Sumeru" derived from the transliterated Sanskrit name. In Buddhist cosmology, Mount Sumeru is a towering mountain at the center of the universe. It is in the center of a great ocean, on a golden wheel, and it rises 80,000 yojanas above sea level (yojana is an Indian measure of distance, understood by some scholars as equivalent to twelve or sixteen miles). It is surrounded by nine mountains and eight seas. The sun and moon circle around it, and the six destinies and various heavens are around and above it.
2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus 1. 2.
3. 4. 5.
Emending tso-men 左門 to sheng-men 生門. Note that the "Gate of Life" translates sheng-men 生門, not ming-men 命門. The Great One (T'ai-i 太一) is an ancient Chinese deity whose cult dates to 133 BCE. Residing in the Pole Star (Pei-ch'en 北晨), T'ai-i presided over a triad of the Three-Ones (San-i 三一) which included, in addition to itself, the Heavenly One (T'ien-i 天一) and the Earthly One (Ti-i 地一). The philosophers take T'ai-i as a synonym for the Tao, the Primordial Breath, or the Original Chaos. "[L]ife-destiny" translates ming 命. These spirits inhabiting the body are referred to as ching 精. Sheng-men 生門.
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Notes to Page 12 (86-87)
2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells) 1.
2.
3.
4. 5.
The open fan containing the names of nine Buddhist hells is an indication of the Buddhist influence on Taoism. The infernal realm, or the underworld, is located in the mountain-city of Feng-tu 酆都, the Capital of Hell. The Nine Hells are a counterpart of the Big Dipper which consists of nine stars. These hells are prisons in the bowels of the earth where the prisoners are subject to all kinds of torture as a result of their evil deeds. The Chinese word for "hell" (ti-yü 地獄) literally means "prison of the earth". Fire Chariot Hell (Huo-ch'e Ti-yü 火車地獄) is a fire-pit with its fiery wheels; the sufferer first freezes, then is tempted into the chariot which bursts into flames and he perishes in the fire-pit. Each day this process is repeated many times. "Diamond-like" translates chin-kang 金剛, which is a Chinese translation of Sanskrit vajra, meaning "diamond-like" and, by extension, "adamantine", "indestructible", "extremely hard", "tough", or "impervious". It denotes an extremely hard material, which is identified with the diamond or the essential substance of gold; often used as a trope for something hard and indestructible. Cauldron of Molten [Iron] Hell (Huo-t'ang Ti-yü 鑊湯地獄) is the purgatory where the sinners are immersed in molten iron in the cauldrons. Endless Hell (Wu-chien Ti-yü 無間地獄) is the Chinese translation of Sanskrit avīci, which means "endless hell" or "the hell of unremitting pain". It is the eighth of the Eight Burning Hells (Pa-je Tiyü 八熱地獄), and those who are trapped there undergo continuous suffering without a moment's pause.
2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 1. 2.
3. 4. 5. 6.
Pivotal Pass (chi-kuan 機關) is the mechanism for sending the vital energy upward through the spinal column. Bellows (t'o-yo 槖籥) is the mechanism of ventilation in the body caused by inhalation and exhalation to kindle and fan the inner fire in the lower elixir field like a bellows used for blowing fire and producing the heat necessary for transforming ching into ch'i. Gate of Life (sheng-men 生門) is the belly or navel. The Northern Pole (Pei-chi 北極) is an asterism located in Ursa Minor. It is adjacent to the Mount K'un-lun, on whose grounds the immortals reside, according to their rank. The sword of wisdom (hui-chien 慧劍) is the sword that cuts through desires, illusion, delusion, and ignorance. The base of the body is represented as a sword blade and the herdboy riding his ox on it symbolize sending the vital energy upward through the spinal column. This is suggestive of the Taoist practice of preserving the male seminal essence (ching 精) known as "returning the ching to replenish the brain" (huan-ching pu-nao 還精補腦). If the person does not preserve the ching, it will move outward in the form of seminal emission for male adepts and menstrual blood for female adepts – both primary forms of dissipation – and will be lost. This process will lead the person to old age and eventually to death. On the other hand, if an adept preserves the ching by sealing the lower gate (the perineum), reverses the direction of flow of ching and directs it upward through the spinal column, it will be transformed into higher forms of energy (ch'i and shen). The adept will then attain longevity and eventually sagehood. Joseph Needham notes that "we are told that fools ride to their deaths on this steed while sages mount it to become immortals – this is mirrored in the famous adage, marked just above, that proceeding accordance to Nature leads to death while following counter-Nature leads to immortality (shun tsê ssu, ni tsê hsien)." 順則死逆則仙 (1983: 118). In the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Hsiu-chen Ch'üan-t'u 修眞全圖), the ox is replaced by a horse (hence the "steed") and the two parts of the sentence are in reverse order: "Sages sublimate their bodies with it, [while] fools kill themselves with it."
2.2.4. Lower Extremities 1.
Gushing Spring (yung-ch'üan 湧泉) is the first point of the Kidney Meridian (KI 1). It is located on the sole of the foot, between the second and third metatarsal bones, approximately one-third of the distance between the base of the second toe and the heel, in a depression formed when the foot is plantar flexed.
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Notes to Pages 12-13 (87-88)
2.
Three Miles (san-li 三里) point of the foot is the thirty-sixth point of the Stomach Meridian (ST 36). It is located below the knee, 3 tsun 寸 inferior to tu-pi 犢鼻 (ST 35), one finger-breadth lateral to the anterior crest of the tibia. 3. Internal Organs
3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 1.
2.
3. 4.
5.
6.
Astride (Kuei 奎) and Mound (Lou 婁) are the 15th and 16th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations (erh-shih-pa hsiu 二十八宿). The Twenty-Eight Constellations, or Twenty-Eight Lunar Lodgings, were grouped into four clusters. The eastern Green Dragon area included the constellations chiao, kang, ti, fang, hsin, wei, and chi. The northern Mysterious Warrior, a hybrid turtle and snake in Chinese mythology, included tou, niu, nü, hsü, wei, shih, and pi. The western White Tiger area included kuei, lou, wei, mao, pi, tzu, and shen. And the southern Vermilion Bird area included ching, kuei, liu, hsing, chang, i, and chen. The ancients believed that the sun moved around the earth visiting each of the constellations one by one. These constellations were used for determining the positions of other celestial bodies, including the stations of the moon's sidereal orbit, and for a variety of astrological calculations. See Appendix D. Hun 魂 and p'o 魄 are variously translated as "ethereal soul" and "animal soul", "heavenly soul" and "earthly soul", "yang soul" and "yin soul", "higher soul" and "lower soul", and "cloud soul" and "bone soul". They are two types of vital entities, the source of life in every individual. The hun is yang, luminous, and volatile, while the p'o is yin, sombre, and heavy. They are, moreover, to be considered the epitome of the spiritual (shen 神) and the demonic (kuei 鬼): the hun represents spirit, consciousness, and intelligence, whereas the p'o represents physical nature, bodily strength, and movement. When natural death occurs, the hun disperses in heaven, and the p'o returns to earth. There are three hun and seven p'o, which were anthropomorphized and given names, and their individual attributes were described in detail. For the names of the seven p'o (ch'i-p'o 七魄) see page 29, note 14. "[S]tored" translates tsang 藏, which can be also translated as "contained" or "concealed". It is believed that the seven p'o are housed in the lungs, while the three hun are housed in the liver. Well (Ching 井), Ghosts (Kuei 鬼), Willow (Liu 柳), Star (Hsing 星), Bow (Chang 張), Wings (I 翼), and Carriage (Chen 軫) are the seven southern lunar lodgings, the 22nd to 28th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. Heavenly Dipper (t'ien-kang 天罡) is the handle of the Northern Dipper. According to Taoist cosmology, the universe is divided into three worlds: upper, middle, and lower. The middle world is covered by the clouds (the lungs) which hide the central constellation of the Dipper. Therefore in the diagram, the Dipper is placed in the lungs (the clouds of the microcosm). Stomach (Wei 胃), Pleiades (Mao 昴), Net (Pi 畢), Beak (Tzu 觜), and Orion (Shen 參) are the 17th to 21st of the Twenty-Eight Constellations.
3.1.1b. Inscription 1. 2. 3.
4.
The indwelling deity of the lungs is the White Tiger of the West who changes into a boy holding a jade baton in his hand. The hanging musical stone (hsüan-ch'ing 懸磬) is an L-shaped musical stone, suspended from above, with a definite pitch. The five viscera (wu-tsang 五臟) are five yin organs: the liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Their yang counterparts are known as the six receptacles (liu-fu 六腑): the gallbladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine, bladder, and triple heater. Some sources replace the triple heater with the throat. Flowery Canopy (hua-kai 華蓋) variously indicates the rib cage or upper chest, the heart region, the area below the two eyebrows, or the lungs. In the present passage it is the lungs, which cover other internal organs like a canopy.
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Notes to Page 13 (87-88)
5.
6. 7. 8. 9.
10. 11. 12.
13. 14.
15.
16. 17. 18. 19.
20. 21.
While the Hsiu-chen T'u (hereafter HCT) has Luminous Flower (Hao-hua 皓華), in the Diagram of the Inner Channels (Nei-ching T'u 内經圖) the two characters are inverted and the deity name is Flowery Luminosity (Hua-hao 華皓). The "luminosity" is associated with the white color of the lungs. The given name is Attainment of Emptiness (Hsü-ch'eng 虚成) because the lungs are inside the body, yet they are empty and they can absorb air. "[P]ounds" translates chin 斤, equaling 220 g. "[O]unces" translates liang 兩, equaling 14 g. The Chinese character for "lung" (fei 肺) designates a "flesh that bifurcates". The Classic of Medicine (Yi Ching 醫經) states that the lungs are like the eight petals of the lotus flower, with three petals hanging in front, three in back, and two petals forming like two ears. In Buddhism, a lotus with eight petals represents cosmic harmony. Ambushing Corpse (fu-shih 伏屍) is more commonly known as the Arrow in Ambush or Hidden Arrow (fu-shih 伏矢). Emending "cheater" (chuan 賺) to "robber" (tsei 賊). The "living mother" (sheng mu 生母) is a scribal error for "poison" (tu 毒). Sheng mu is written by dividing the character tu 毒 into upper and lower halves, thus creating two characters from one. Also, the character fei 非 – which is the upper half of the fei 蜚 (variant form of fei 飛) – has to be emended to verb "to fly" (fei 飛). Mob's Smell (ch'ün-ch'ou 羣臭) is more commonly known as Stinky Lungs (ch'ou-fei 臭肺). The seven p'o – as they appear in the present text – are the Corpse Dog (Shih-kou 尸狗), Ambushing Corpse (Fu-shih 伏屍), Bird Darkness (Ch'üeh-yin 雀陰), Devouring Robber (T'un-tsei 呑賊), Flying Poison (Fei-tu 非毒, 飛毒), Massive Pollution (Ch'u-hui 除穢), and Mob's Smell (Ch'ünch'ou 羣臭). Michel Strickmann translates the names of seven p'o (with some variation) as: "corpsedog, hidden dung, sparrow-sex, greedy-guts, flying venom, filth-for-removal, and rot-lung." (2002: 77) Based on the tenets of the five phases theory, each "officer", "official", or "office" (kuan 官) of the external organs is associated with one of the five viscera, with the former reflecting conditions of the latter. In classical literature, the word kuan means "organ" as well as "officer". The human body and the state are two microcosms related not only to the macrocosm but also to each other. The body is often described with bureaucratic metaphors, and governing the state is often likened to selfcultivation. At the center of the bureaucratic metaphor are the five viscera, described as "officers" in both Taoist and medical texts including the Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Basic Questions (Huang-ti Nei-ching Su-wen 黄帝内經素問). Keng 庚 and hsin 辛 are the seventh and eighth of the Ten Celestial Stems (shih-t'ien-kan 十天干). Among the five modes of action, the lungs (Metal phase) correspond to coughing. The other actions are twitching (Wood), itching (Fire), hiccupping (Earth), and shivering (Water). "[F]luids" translates yeh or i 液, which is translated elsewhere as "humor". These bodily fluids are tears (Wood), sweat (Fire), saliva (Earth), mucus (Metal), and urine (Water). According to traditional Chinese medicine, when the drops of nasal mucus (t'i 涕) run downward, they moisten the lungs. This is one of the moistening processes known as the eight moistenings (palou 八漏). The lungs govern and regulate the energies of the entire body. The verses here are from chapter 9 ("Lung Department Section") of the third-century Supreme Clarity (Shang-ch'ing 上清) classic Most High Jade Scripture on the Internal View of the Yellow Court (T'ai-shang Huang-t'ing Nei-ching Yü-ching 太上黄庭内景玉經; abbreviated as Huang-t'ing Nei-ching Ching 黄庭内景經; hereafter HTNC). It is one of the most popular and influential Taoist scriptures, and probably the earliest extant work describing the human body as animated by inner gods. It has given rise to commentaries and further elaborations. Composed in heptasyllabic meter and divided into a variety of sections, it describes the subtle physiology of the human body, including its internal divinities. It uses a poetic and secret language. It was to be recited to expel calamities and ailments and to attain longevity and spiritual quietude. The scripture was considered to be a visualization manual by Supreme Clarity adepts. It alludes to practices aiming to achieve bodily and spiritual perfection in the nourishing life (yang-sheng 養生) tradition, which can be traced back to the third century BCE. It probably had a mnemonic as well as technical role in helping those who performed these practices, and is said to allow the practitioner to see the subtle forms of his internal organs and his deities or spirits, and to maintain them in their proper bodily loci.
119
Notes to Pages 13-14 (88-89)
22. White Prime (Pai-yüan 白元) is the deity governing the lungs. Therefore it is believed that an adept should visualize the White Prime when his respiration is not harmonious. 23. The six energies (liu-ch'i 六氣) are variously glossed as the six vapors of weather (yin and yang, wind and rain, dark and light) or the six exhalations (hsü 噓, ho 呵 or hsü 呴, hu 呼, ssu 呬, ch'ui 吹, and hsi 嘻). It is believed that if a practitioner quickly visualize color white – the color of the deity of the lungs, the White Prime – when his breathing is not smooth, his six energies will be harmonized. 3.1.2. Heart 1.
The entire passage – including a part of the Scripture of the Yellow Court quotation – was adapted, with slight modifications (or scribal errors), from the Treatise on Conserving Life by Waxing and Waning (She-sheng Hsiao-hsi Lun 攝生消息論), chapter 5. This source has "lotus bud" (lien-jui 蓮蕊) for the "lotus flower" (lien-hua 蓮華). The similarity between the heart and lotus is another indication of Buddhist influence on Taoism. Indian and Chinese physicians noted a morphological resemblance between the lotus and the heart. The lotus is a very important metaphor in Buddhism; the fact that the lotus has its roots in the mud of putrid ponds but develops into a beautiful and pure white flower was primarily used to represent the process of enlightenment. The lotus was later associated with the human heart (hridāya), the bodily location of the mind (citta) and the physical site where enlightenment takes place. According to a theory that can be traced back to a commentary to the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, the heart of sentient beings has the shape of an eight-petal lotus. 2. The heart has the shape of a lotus bud and is inhabited by a young boy, dressed in red, named Elixir Origin (Tan-yüan 丹元), who regulates the body temperature and the harmonious flow of blood. 3. Shou-ling 守靈. 4. Turtledove's Tail (chiu-lu 鳩尾) is the xiphoid process, the cartilaginous section at the lower end of the breastbone (sternum). It is also the name of an acupuncture point, the fifteenth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 15). It is located on the anterior midline, 1 tsun 寸 below the xiphosternal synchondrosis. This point is named the Turtledove's Tail because the lower end of the breastbone resembles a turtledove with open wings. 5. According to Taoists, the degree of an individual's intelligence depends on the number of orifices in his heart. While the heart in people of average wisdom has three orifices, it has five or seven orifices in a person of outstanding wisdom and only one in fools. The basic point here seems to be that a man of superior wisdom is better able to control the impulses of the body with the rational mind (heart). Thus the most superior people have seven or nine orifices in their hearts to correspond to the seven or nine orifices of the body, and each heart orifice provides a passageway through which the heart's rational thinking capacity (spiritual light) can go out and control each external body orifice. (The heart – not the brain – was thought to be the primary thinking organ.) A further detailed description is to be found in a Taoist text dating from the T'ang (618-906 CE): "A person of outstanding wisdom has a heart with seven orifices, one of average wisdom has five orifices, one of modest wisdom has three orifices, one who barely reaches clarity has two. The heart of a normal person has one orifice, whereas the heart of a completely dumb person has none." According to the Heart Scripture on Original Life-Destiny and Extending Life of the Great Sagely Goddess Dipper Mother of the Most High Mysterious Numinosity (T'ai-shang Hsüan-ling Tou-mu Ta-sheng Yüan-chün Pen-ming Yensheng Hsin-ching 太上玄靈斗母大聖元君本命延生心經), the seven stars of the Big Dipper correspond to the seven orifices on the surface of the heart and these orifices communicate internally with the heart. 6. Reading kuan 官 ("officer") instead of kung chüeh 宮厥, which appears as kung ch'üeh 宮闕 ("palace" or "palace portal") in the Treatise on Conserving Life by Waxing and Waning. Both kung 宮 and kung-ch'üeh 宮闕 means "palace", therefore, without the above mentioned emendation, the sentence would translate as, "The tongue is the palace [of the heart]," or "The tongue is the palace portal [of the heart]." 7. The opening corresponding to the heart (Fire phase) is the ear. Ping 丙 and ting 丁 are the third and fourth of the Ten Celestial Stems. 8. Among the five fluids (or humors), sweat (han 汗) is the fluid that corresponds to the heart. 9. That is, there is excessive sweating not related to a hot environment or physical exertion. 10. The heart is a viscus and its associated receptacle is the small intestine. 11. According to five phases theory, both the heart and the small intestine correspond to the Fire phase, therefore the text states that the heart is united with the small intestine. 12. HTNC 10, "Heart Department Section".
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Notes to Page 14 (89)
13. HTNC has "palace" (kung 宮) for "house" (tsai 宅). The heart is the palace of fire (huo-kung 火宮), while the kidney is the palace of water (shui-kung 水宮). 14. Each of the five viscera and six receptacles is called a "department" or a "ministry" (pu 部) and is managed by a deity who resides in a "palace" (kung 宮) within that organ. 15. Emending "flower" (hua 花) to "petal" (yeh 葉) in accordance with HTNC 10. 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 1.
2. 3. 4.
5.
Lordling (Kung-tzu 公子) is byname of the bodily deity Blossomless (Wu-ying 無英), who inhabits the Palace of the Cavern Chamber (tung-fang kung 洞房宮) in the head and also descends into the liver. The liver is a yin organ (viscus, tsang 臟) while the gallbladder is its yang counterpart (receptacle, fu 腑). Reading Kang 亢 instead of Yüan 元. Horn (Chiao 角), Neck (Kang 亢), Base (Ti 氐), Room (Fang 房), Heart (Hsin 心), Tail (Wei 尾), and Basket (Chi 箕) are the seven eastern lunar lodgings, the 1st to 7th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. For the hun 魂, see page 28, note 2. For the three hun (san-hun 三魂), see page 31, note 6 below.
3.1.3b. Inscription 1.
2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9.
Green is the traditional symbol of spring and it corresponds to the liver in five phases system. The deity of the liver has the shape of a Green Dragon, which transforms itself into a jade boy and maiden, one of whom carries a dragon while the other holds a liqueur. Han-ming 含明. Emending shao 少 to hsiao 小. According to the Classic of Medicine (Yi Ching 醫經), the liver has three petals (i.e., lobes) to the left and four petals to the right. The liver is a viscus (tsang 臟) and its corresponding receptacle (fu 腑) is the gallbladder. During the Later Han period (25-220 CE), the number of the hun was fixed at three. Why this number was chosen is a matter of speculation, but it may stand for the san-kang 三綱, the three relationships between emperor and subject, father and son, and husband and wife, and the three corresponding forms of obedience (san-shun 三順). Each of the three hun souls is related to heaven, the five phases, and earth respectively. The first soul always strives for the purity of man, the second always wishes him involved in manifold affairs, and the third produces his desire for comfortable living. The three hun (san-hun 三魂) are called the Invigorating Numinosity (Shuang-ling 爽靈), Radiance of Womb (T'ai-kuang 胎光), and Obscure Spirit (Yu-ching 幽精). They have a variety of names: Heavenly Hun (t'ien-hun 天魂), Earthly Hun (ti-hun 地魂), Human Hun (jen-hun 人魂); Master Hun (chu-hun 主魂), Awareness Hun (chüeh-hun 覺魂), Life Hun (sheng-hun 生魂); Heavenly Hun (t'ien-hun 天魂), Conscious Hun (shih-hun 識魂), Human Hun (jen-hun 人魂); and Primordial Spirit (yüan-shen 元神), Yang Spirit (yang-shen 陽神), and Yin Spirit (yin-shen 陰神). It is believed that the three hun are housed in the liver, while the seven p'o are housed in the lungs. Emending t'ai 台 to t'ai 胎. Emending "palace" (kung 宮) to "officer" (kuan 官). The liver has an anatomical relationship to the eyes via an internal channel, therefore the eye is the sense organ connected to the liver. It is the nourishment and moistening of liver blood that gives the eyes the capacity to see. If liver blood is abundant, the eyes will be normally moist and the vision will be good. The Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Numinous Pivot (Huang-ti Nei-ching Ling-shu 黄帝内經靈樞) 37 says: "The eye is the sense organ pertaining to the liver". The Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Basic Questions (Huang-ti Nei-ching Su-wen 黄帝内經素問) 4 says: "The liver corresponds to the direction east and the green color, and it opens into the eye". The Basic Questions 10 says: "When the liver receives blood the eyes can see". The Numinous Pivot 17 says: "Liver ch'i extends to the eyes, when the liver is healthy the eyes can distinguish the five colors".
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Notes to Pages 14-15 (89-90)
10. Chia 甲 and i 乙 are the first and second of the Ten Celestial Stems. 11. The word "man" translates nan-tzu 男子 and is a specific reference to males. 12. The Basic Questions 1 says: "By seven [times] eight years, the liver ch'i weakens, causing the sinews to stiffen." 13. The state of the sinews (including tendons) affects the capacity for movement and physical activity. The contraction and relaxation of sinews ensures the movement of joints. The sinews' capacity for contraction and relaxation depends on the nourishment and moistening of the blood from the liver. The Basic Questions 21 says: "The ch'i of food enters the stomach, the refined essence extracted from food goes to the liver and the excess ch'i from the liver overflows into the sinews". If liver blood is abundant, the sinews will be moistened and nourished, ensuring smooth movement of joints and good muscle action. 14. According to five phases theory, the liver corresponds to Wood. 15. The hun is the mental-spiritual aspect of the liver. The Basic Questions 9 says: "The liver is the residence of the hun". 16. The ching of the kidneys nourishes the eyes and many chronic eye diseases are related to the decline of kidney ching. 17. See note 5. 18. HTNC 11, "Liver Department Section". 19. Since the liver viscus houses the hun, which belongs to Wood, and the lung viscus stores the p'o, which belongs to Metal, the hun and p'o are used here as metaphors for the Wood and Metal. When the energies that correspond to the Wood and Metal are brought to equilibrium, the bodily fluids and humors are balanced. 20. The eye is the sense organ connected to the liver. The sun symbolizes the left eye, while the moon represents the right eye. When the liver is healthy the two eyes are radiant like the sun and the moon. 21. Literally, "a hundred diseases". 22. HTNC has o 痾, which is the variant of k'o 疴 used in the present text. 23. The verb translated here as "maintain" is tsun 存, often translated as "to visualize". It denotes visualizing a bodily deity, in this case the deity of the liver. 24. The liver is where all kinds of diseases gather, therefore one must maintain (tsun 存) its deity, that is, the Blossomless (Wu-ying 無英). 25. While the lungs govern the exterior of the entire body, the liver governs the interior of the entire body. Together, the lungs and liver govern the movement of the ch'i of the entire body. The lungs provide the motivating power, while the liver controls the lumena of the channels and vessels through which the ch'i moves. Energies of all five viscera gather at the liver, therefore all diseases can be cured by strengthening the liver. Since the deity of the liver governs the energies of all five viscera, if the adept properly visualizes and preserves the Blossomless, within seven days the energies of these internal organs will be restored and all kinds of diseases will be healed. 3.1.4. Spleen 1.
The Scripture of the Yellow Court considers the spleen to be the central organ. While the four viscera are associated with the four directions, the spleen is associated with the center. According to five phases theory, the spleen also corresponds to the Earth phase. 2. According to one point of view within five phases theory, while the other four viscera should be healthy and strong in their corresponding seasons, the spleen has no season of its own and therefore should be effulgent or exuberant throughout the year, independent of the changes in seasons. 3. The spleen is associated with the Earth, therefore its color is yellow and its corresponding emperor is the Yellow Emperor (Huang-ti 黄帝). 4. The deity of the spleen is a phoenix which transforms itself into a spinning jade maiden. 5. HTNC has "platter" (p'en 盆) for "wing" (i 翼): "The spleen resembles an upside-down platter." 6. According to five phases system, all of the four seasons depend on the Earth, which is effulgent regardless of the season, therefore the deity of the spleen is called Eternal Existence (Ch'ang-tsai 常在). 7. Hun-t'ing 魂庭. In certain sources such as the Diagram of the Inner Channels, the given name of this deity is Pavilion of Hun (Hun-t'ing 魂亭). According to Isabelle Robinet, this term is a deformation of the term hun-ling 魂靈 seen in the Scripture of the Yellow Court (1993: 81). 8. The "foot" translates ch'ih 尺. 9. The mouth with the lips is the officer of the spleen. 10. Emending "palace" (kung 宮) to "officer" (kuan 官).
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Notes to Page 15 (90)
11. The exact implication is not clear; hence the translation is tentative. In Buddhist scriptures there is a hell named Much-Hate (To-chi 多嫉), however, this term does not seem to be related with the present text. 12. "[P]osition" translates hsing 形. Being associated with the center, the spleen has no fixed position. 13. According to five phases theory, the spleen corresponds to the Earth phase. 14. The spleen rules the ch'i of the five viscera because the spleen is the later heaven (hou-t'ien 後天) root of the engenderment and transformation of ch'i of the entire body. 15. According to five phases theory, the mouth corresponds to the spleen, and diseases of the former may reflect disorders of the latter. 16. Hidden White (yin-pai 隱白) is the first point of the Spleen Meridian (SP 1). The point is in a hidden region, where the skin color is white. It is located on the medial side of the big toe, about 0.1 tsun posterior to the corner of the nail. 17. Pen-i 本意. 18. Among the five bodily tissues (wu-ch'ung 五充), the spleen corresponds to muscles and flesh. 19. Except the two sentences from the Scripture of the Yellow Court, the entire passage is taken (with some variation) from the Eight Disquisitions on Putting Oneself in Accord with the Life[-Force] (Tsun-sheng Pa-chien 遵生八牋). This is a large collection by distinguished scholar Kao Lien 高濂 (1573-1620), who lived in retirement and devoted himself to studying everything which could promote the health of mind and body. 20. HTNC 15, "Length of the Spleen". 21. Literally, "a hundred diseases". 22. Emending liang 良 to "cloth" or "dress" (i 衣) in accordance with HTNC. 23. According to five phases theory, yellow is the color of the Earth and spleen. Purple is a hue consisting of colors of Water (yin; blue) and Fire (yang; red). Fire is mother of spleen and Earth, while Water is wife of spleen and Earth. Therefore the spleen has yellow gown and a purple belt. 24. A commentary to HTNC replaces "to regulate" (chang 章) with "to lift" (yang 揚). According to traditional Chinese medicine, the Spleen Meridian flows upward; this ascending movement of the spleen produces a "lifting" effect along the midline of the body. This force holds up the internal organs and keeps them in their proper places. If spleen ch'i is deficient and its "raising ch'i" function is weak, there may be prolapse of various organs. The dragon and tiger represent the lungs (Metal) and liver (Wood) respectively. Therefore the "lifting" action of the spleen (Earth) is said to regulate (or alternately, lift) the lungs and the liver. 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 1.
2.
When combined, the two characters hsüan 玄 and p'in 牝 make up the word "Mysterious Female". Hsüan-p'in is a well-known but enigmatic term first found in Tao-te Ching 6, and it is defined in many different ways. Hsüan represents male (yang), while p'in literally means "female" (yin); thus the term represents various sets of bipolar concepts such as the yang and yin, the Heaven and Earth, and ch'ien 乾 and k'un 坤. In the context of internal alchemy, there have been several interpretations. Some authors say that hsüan alludes to the nose (Heaven) and p'in to the mouth (Earth). Other texts equate hsüan with the upper elixir field and p'in with the lower elixir field. Still others state that hsüan-p'in designates the space between the two kidneys or the two openings of the heart. Here, hsüan and p'in connote the left and right kidneys respectively. In the Chinese medical literature, there are different theories regarding the kidneys and the Gate of Life-Destiny. According to one theory, the left is the kidney (shen 腎) while the right is the Gate of Life-Destiny (ming-men 命門). This theory specifies that the Gate of Life-Destiny is specifically the right kidney, kidney yang or kidney fire. The first discussion of the Gate of Life-Destiny can be found in the Classic of Difficult [Issues] (Nan-ching 難經), especially in chapters 36 and 39. Chapter 36 says: "The kidneys are not really two, as the left kidney is a kidney proper and the right kidney is the Gate of Life-Destiny. The Gate of Life-Destiny is the residence of the mind and is related to the original ch'i (yüan-ch'i 元氣): in men it stores ching, in women it is connected to the uterus. That is why there is only one kidney". According to another theory, the two kidneys together are named the Gate of Life-Destiny. In this interpretation, the Gate of Life-Destiny is the combination of kidney yin and kidney yang. During the Ming dynasty, Chinese physicians no longer considered the Gate of Life-Destiny as part of the right kidney, but as occupying the place between the two kidneys. Chang Chieh-pin 張介賓 (1563-1640) said: "There are two kidneys … the Gate of Life-Destiny is in between them."
123
Notes to Pages 15-16 (91-92)
3.
4. 5. 6.
7. 8.
The diagram contains several talismanic characters. Catherine Despeux suggests that the Hsiu-chen T'u and similar diagrams not only served as visual supports for teaching, but also had a magical, talismanic, or even exorcistic nature. Despeux notes that this character is shared with diagrams of other kinds used in Taoism, and bears on the analogies that occur between diagrams and talismans (fu 符). Thus the whole diagram is reminiscent of a talisman illustrating a divine body that connects to the sacred world. The whole body of the adept is a talisman: it includes only one half of the elements, its counterpart being in the heavenly world or the world of Reality (chen 眞). The talismanic character written inside the top circle corresponds to shen, while the characters inside the left and right circles correspond to ch'i and ching respectively. This point below the kidneys is where the ching, ch'i and shen are gathered when refining elixirs. When the three energies are united into one, they produce the pneuma of the true oneness (chen-i chih ch'i 眞一之炁), which emerge from the Limitless (Wu-chi 無極). Therefore this point is called the place of true oneness (chen-i ch'u 眞一處) or One Yang Returning to Beginning (i-yang fu-ch'ui 一陽復初). Silver River (Yin-ho 銀河) is Chinese name for the Milky Way. In the Scripture of the Yellow Court, the Pivotal Mechanism (shu-chi 樞機) denotes the hinges of the door-shutters that one should shut in order to protect the loci of one's inner body. Way of Gushing Valley (yung-ku-tao 湧谷道) is the left testicle. In certain texts, Valley Way (ku-tao 谷道) designates the final section of the large intestine beginning at the rectum and terminating at the anus. Water of Fountain Valley (ch'üan-ku-shui 泉谷水) designates the right testicle. Jade Furnace (yü-lu 玉爐) is another term for the kidneys. Its meaning here is not clear; however, its location – between the left and right testicles – suggests that it is related with the testes, known in Chinese medical literature as the "external kidneys" (wai-shen 外腎).
3.1.5b. Inscription 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9. 10.
11. 12.
13. 14.
Although commonly translated as "kidney", the term shen 腎 actually designates the entire urogenital system, including the kidneys and testes. According to five phases theory, the kidneys correspond to the north. The five phases system associates the kidneys with Water. They govern water and the transformation and transportation of bodily fluids in many different ways. In Chinese internal alchemy, the heart corresponds to trigram li 離, while the kidneys correspond to k'an 坎. The indwelling deity of the kidneys is a two-headed white deer which transforms itself into a jade boy. In five phases system, the kidneys correspond to the Mysterious Warrior of the North, therefore its deity is called "Mysterious". The kidneys engender water and the mysterious water (hsüan-shui 玄水; presumably the urine) is dark in color, therefore the deity of the kidneys is named Mysterious Dark (Hsüan-ming 玄冥). The kidneys store ching, which is related to procreation, and govern birth and nourishment, therefore the deity of the kidneys is called Nourishing the Infant (Yü-ying 育嬰). Emending [月數]脊 to 腰脊. Reading ming-men 命門 for ming 命. For various theories on the kidneys and the Gate of LifeDestiny, see page 33, note 2. Certain Taoist authors such as Ko Hung drew a distinction between the living pneuma (sheng-ch'i 生炁 or 生氣), produced from midnight till midday when the sun is in ascent, and dead pneuma (ssuch'i 死炁 or 死氣), produced from noon to midnight. Emending "palace" (kung 宮) to "officer" (kuan 官). The ears rely on the nourishment of the ching for their proper functioning, and are therefore physiologically related to the kidneys. The Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Numinous Pivot 17 says: "The kidneys open into the ears, if the kidneys are healthy the ears can hear the five sounds". If the kidneys are weak, hearing may be impaired. Emending "emotion" or "feeling" (ch'ing 情) to ching 精. One of the main functions of the kidneys is that they store both former and later heaven essences. Emending che 者 to "will" (chih 志). Without these two emendations, the sentence reads, "The shen; the kidneys' storing of its emotions (ch'ing 情) is …". The sentence appears to be garbled; the translation is tentative.
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Notes to Page 16 (92-93)
15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.
22. 23.
24. 25. 26. 27.
28. 29.
30. 31. 32.
Jen 壬 and kuei 癸 are the ninth and tenth of the Ten Celestial Stems. Tzu 子 and hai 亥 are first and twelfth of the Twelve Horary Branches (shih-erh chih 十二支). Ch'i 氣. Ch'ui 吹 is one of the six exhalations (liu-ch'i 六氣). The marrow is also the basis for the formation of bone marrow which nourishes the bones. Thus the kidneys also govern the bone marrow and bones. If the kidney ching is strong, the bones will be strong; if it is weak, the bones will be brittle. Emending "upper" (shang 上) to "middle" (chung 中). The kidneys belong to the lower section of the triple heater (san-chiao 三焦), which is sometimes compared to a "drainage ditch". The organs of the lower heater (hsia-chiao 下焦) are particularly concerned with the excretion of impure body fluids. The kidneys have the function of providing ch'i for the bladder to store and transform urine. HTNC 12, "Kidney Department Section". The kidneys are the source of the nine bodily fluids and all the humors of the body's liquid element. Therefore they are referred to as the Palace of Water (shui-kung 水宮), while the heart is called the Palace of Fire (huo-kung 火宮). Emending "pass" (kuan 関) to "portal" (ch'üeh 闕). The shape of the kidneys resemble a double portal. According to ancient Chinese thought, the bean-shaped kidneys resemble round stones or a reclining ox. The deity of the kidneys is a two-headed white deer which transforms itself into a jade boy (yü-t'ung 玉童). Adding "obscurity" (ming 冥) in accordance with HTNC. (HTNC is composed in heptasyllabic lines and the HCT sentence here has only six characters.) The "darkness" is associated with the color of the kidneys. Upper Darkness (Shang-hsüan 上玄) actually denotes the heart and the deity of the kidney is called Mysterious Obscurity (Hsüan-ming 玄冥). HTNC has "six receptacles" (liu-fu 六腑) for the "six pneumas" (liu-ch'i 六炁). HTNC has "nine fluids" (chiu-yeh 九液) for the "visceral fluids" (tsang-yeh 臟液). The nine bodily fluids are the fluids of the nine cavities, or nine orifices (chiu-ch'iao 九竅), the seven yang cavities (ch'i-ch'iao 七竅) of the head (the eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth) and the two yin cavities of the abdomen. See note 12. Literally, "a hundred [bodily] fluids". HTNC has yeh-chin 液津 for chin-yeh 津液. Since the kidneys govern water, they also govern the transformation and transportation of all bodily fluids.
3.1.5c. Inscription 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
7. 8.
The Two Principles (liang-i 兩儀) are the two primary symbols representing yin and yang. Chen-ching 眞精. See page 33, note 1. Emending hsiang 相 to ching 精. True lead (chen-ch'ien 眞鉛) is the symbol of primordial energy and real knowledge. "Chao-chou's Dog" (usually written as "Chao-chou Kou-tzu" 趙州狗子) is the name of a famous Ch'an (Zen) kung-an (公案; Jap. kōan). More commonly known with its Japanese name as "Jōshū's 'Mu'", this is the first of the forty-eight "cases" of the famous 13th century kung-an anthology known as The Gateless Barrier (Wu-men Kuan 無門關; Jap. Mumonkan): "A monk asked the master Chaochou [Jap. Jōshū], 'Has a dog the buddha nature or not?' [Chao-]chou answered, 'Not.'" (趙州和尚、 因僧問、「狗子還有佛性也無」。州云、「無」。) T'ai-chi 太極. Hsüan-shui hsiang-ch'ien 玄水郷鉛. The mysterious water, or mysterious liquid, is a synonym for mercury. Lead (ch'ien 鉛) and mercury (hung 汞) are the two central substances, or symbols, in the Chinese alchemy. Native lead represents yin containing true yang, and is matched by cinnabar, which represents yang containing true yin. Native cinnabar and native lead respectively correspond to li ☲ and k'an ☵, which represent yang and yin in their later heaven (hou-t'ien 後天) state. They contain true mercury and true lead which respectively correspond to authentic yang (the inner yin line of li) and authentic yin (the inner yang line of k'an).
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Notes to Page 16 (93)
9.
10.
11.
12. 13. 14.
The term translated "right ch'i" is cheng-ch'i 正氣. Also translated as "proper ch'i", "upright ch'i", or "righteous ch'i", it is a collective designation for all normal functions of the human body and the abilities to maintain health, including the abilities of self-regulation and adaptation. Both the vital resources of the body's internal order and the agents of disorder opposed to them are made of ch'i; they are dynamic agents of change. Right ch'i maintains and renews the orderly changes that comprise the body's regular physiological processes. On the other hand, evil or malignant ch'i (hsiehch'i 邪氣) causes transgressions that violate this normal order; it is disorderly and dysfunctional. It is believed that when a person is righteous, he has right ch'i, or righteous ch'i, which the evil ch'i cannot overcome. "Chilling life" translates su-sha 肅殺, which denotes chilling life or vegetation in autumn. River Chariot (ho-ch'e 河車) is another name for the Lesser Celestial Circuit (hsiao chou-t'ien 小周天) or microcosmic orbit, the circuit of energy that runs from the base of the spine up to the head, down through the palate of the mouth, and back to the tailbone. Following the stages of Small River Chariot (hsiao ho-ch'e 小河車) and Great River Chariot (ta ho-ch'e 大河車), the Purple River Chariot, or Purple Waterwheel (tzu ho-ch'e 紫河車), is the third and last stage of the Three River Chariots (san ho-ch'e 三河車) or Three Chariots (san-ch'e 三車). The Small River Chariot is used to cultivate health, the Great River Chariot is used to cultivate longevity, and the Purple River Chariot is used to cultivate immortality. Shun 順 is variously translated as "normal flow", "going with", "going along", or "continuation"; here the term desinates a life without spiritual practice and resultant dissipation of the vital energies which leads to sickness, old age, and eventually death. Paul U. Unschuld masterfully translates shun as "to proceed in accordance with [the proper course]" (1986: 746). (Note that the term is used here in the sense of "usual" rather than "proper", since this proper course is believed to lead humans to sickness, old age, and death.) Opposite of the shun is ni 逆, which is translated as "turning back", "turning against", "to go backward", "counter-current flow", "reversion", or "inversion". This reversal of the so-called "normal" course leads to preservation and sublimation of the vital energies and results in longevity and eventually immortality. The expression used in the text ("Shun tse sheng jen, ni tse ch'eng-hsien." 順則生人逆則成仙) is reminiscent of Ch'en Chih-hsü's 陳致虚 famous adage "Following the course of Nature leads to [the state of] ordinary men; going against it leads to immortality." ("Shun tse fan, ni tse hsien." 順則凡逆則仙; Chin-tan Ta-yao 金丹大要, ch. 1, p. 47a). In Chinese internal alchemy (nei-tan), the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈) is also called the Rivulet (ts'ao-hsi 漕溪). Here, the Flowery Pond (hua-ch'ih 華池) designates the kidneys. Jade Spring (yü-ch'üan 玉泉) denotes saliva.
3.1.5d. Inscription 3 1.
2. 3. 4.
Peach Vigor (T'ao-k'ang 桃康), also known as Peach Child (T'ao-hai 桃孩), is a deity who plays a significant role in Mao-shan practices and is generally considered to be the deity of the lower elixir field. However, according to a commentary to the Scripture of the Yellow Court, he resides in the Gate of Life-Destiny (ming-men 命門). Lord of Unity and Extension (Ho-yen Chün 合延君) is also described as the deity of the lower elixir field. Ting Lien-hua 頂蓮花. According to Supreme Clarity (Shang-ch'ing 上清) cosmology, the Eight Heavens (Pa-t'ien 八天) are one of the several sets of heavens and they are arranged horizontally.
3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat 1. 2.
Mysterious Breasts (hsüan-ying 玄膺) are two points in the palate, by which vital energy goes down in the Conception Vessel in the Lesser Celestial Circuit (hsiao-chou-t'ien 小周天) practice. Yen 咽.
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Notes to Pages 16-17 (93-94)
3. 4.
5.
Hou 喉. Twelve-Storied Tower, or Twelve-Storied Pavilion (shih-erh-ch'ung lou 十二重樓), is another name for the trachea, which is also known as the Twelve-Storied Tower (shih-erh-lou t'ai 十二樓臺) and the Twelve Rings (shih-erh huan 十二環). Emending "river ch'i" (ho-ch'i 河氣) to "pure ch'i" (ch'ing-ch'i 清氣).
3.2.2. Gallbladder 1. 2. 3. 4.
5. 6.
7. 8. 9. 10.
11. 12. 13.
14.
15.
According to ancient Chinese medical classics, the liver has three petals (i.e., lobes) to the left and four petals to the right. The gallbladder is located beneath the liver. The gallbladder is traditionally associated with boldness, bravery and courage; it controls courage and anger, or the violence of one's temper. The deity of the gallbladder wears a robe made from ninefold colored brocade and a gown with a green blossom pattern. The gallbladder corresponds to yang and Wood. It also corresponds to the Green Dragon of the East. Therefore it is named the Dragon Glory (Lung-yao 龍耀). Lung-yao can be also translated as "Dragon Brightness". Wei-ming 威明. This name can be also translated as "Mighty Brightness" or "Awe-Inspiring Brightness". Although the turtle-snake (kuei-she 龜蛇) is treated as a tortoise with the head and tail of a snake, it is actually a snake coiling around a turtle. This deity is also referred to as the Mysterious Warrior (Hsüan-wu 玄武), the guardian spirit of the north, whose element is Water and symbolic color is black. The entwined turtle-snake transforms itself into a jade boy who holds a lance. It is also said that the gallbladder takes the form of a suspended gourd. As large as an egg in size, it is green outside and yellow inside. Three ounces (san-liang 三兩) and three chu (san-chu 三銖). Chu was an ancient weight measure equaling one-twenty-fourth of an ounce (liang), now one-forty-eighth of an ounce. Liver is viscus (tsang 臓), or a yin organ, while the corresponding receptacle (fu 腑), or yang organ, is the gallbladder. The gallbladder is unique among the receptacles in that it does not receive or transport ingestate, neither the clear nor turbid fractions. Instead it stores and excretes bile, a "pure" fluid, which has an important role in digestion. Because of its yin function of storing a yin substance (bile), but also having the shape of a hollow yang organ, the gallbladder is one of the six extraordinary yang organs, and along with the womb and the brain, it is considered a curious and extraordinary receptacle (ch'iheng chih fu 奇恒之腑). These organs are all yang but have the additional yin attribute of storing a yin essence. Since the gallbladder sums up and represents the six receptacles, it is often appended to the list of the five viscera. HTNC 14, "Gallbladder Department Section". Emending kua 掛 to she 攝. The eye is the sense organ connected to the liver and the gallbladder is the receptacle corresponding to the liver. The Gallbladder Meridian originates at the Pupil Bone Hole point (T'ung-tzu Liao 瞳子髎; GB 1), which is located 0.5 tsun lateral to the outer corner of the eye, in the depression on the lateral side of the orbit. This acupuncture point is located approximately at the level of middle of the bridge of the nose, therefore it is believed that the gallbladder corresponds to the eyes and the bridge of the nose on the outer part of the body. The liver stores blood and the gallbladder stores essence. When the blood is abundant, the hair becomes darker and shiny. When the essence is abundant, the brain is full and the head's hair – which ancient texts often consider to be a direct outgrowth of the brain – becomes healthy and very bright. The deity of the gallbladder wears nine-colored brocade robes with a green flower skirt and a gold belt. 4. Elixir Fields
4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) 1. 2.
Emending chiang 降 to chiang 絳. Trigram li 離 is the I Ching sign that represents "fire".
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Notes to Page 17 (94-95)
3.
The wu 午 is one of the twelve Chinese double-hours, it corresponds to the period between 11 AM and 1 PM. 4. Southern Palace (nan-kung 南宮), also called the Vermilion Palace (chu-kung 朱宮), Vermilion Mound (chu-ling 朱陵), or Fire Palace (huo-fu 火府), was the locale where the p'o of the dead were refined for rebirth. Originally, the Southern Palace seems to have been associated with the seven southern lunar lodgings – Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, and Carriage. 5. The chamber for refinement of the shen is the place of mutual conjunction of the hun and p'o. 6. The Young Girl (ch'a-nü 姹女) symbolizes the cavities and ch'i or fluids (yeh 液) of the heart. The figure seated above the trigram li (☲) in the heart region is the Young Girl. 7. The expression "Blue-Eyed Foreign Child" (pi-yen hu-erh 碧眼胡兒) is reminiscent of the Chinese Buddhist term "blue-eyed foreign monk" (pi-yen hu-seng 碧眼胡僧). The latter expression is a standard name for Bodhidharma, the founder of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism; it appears in the Diagram of the Inner Channels (Nei-ching T'u 内經圖). 8. When consciousness is withdrawn from the Crimson Palace, the individual's mental activity is dominated by constant thoughts and worries. Needham writes that ssu-lü chih shen 思慮之神 means "mental activity eaten up by anxiety and worry" (1983: 26). He also notes that "The primary ching deteriorates into the seminal essence of sexual intercourse (chiao kan ching 交感精); the primary chhi changes into respiratory pneuma (hu hsi chhi 呼吸氣); and the primary shen is 'sicklied o'er by the pale cast of thought' (ssu lü shen). These three primary endowments being thus dribbled away, it is exceedingly hard to regenerate the original innocence (thien chen 天眞)." (1983: 47, emphasis added). 9. Hou-chiu-t'ien 後九天. 10. Among the five phases, the heart corresponds to Fire; when the heart is tranquil, the heart's deity resides in the heart. On the contrary, when the heart/mind is full of anxiety and worries, the deity leaves the heart. This latter state is referred to as the "dragon exiting from within the fire" (lung ts'ung huo li ch'u 龍從火裏出). 4.2. Lower Elixir Field 1.
True Tiger (chen-hu 眞虎) is true ch'i and true water (seminal secretion); it emerges from the palace of k'an while the true dragon emerges from the palace of li. 2. Reading K'an-ti 坎地 instead of K'an 坎. 3. Variously translated as "infant", "child", "baby boy", "[male] baby", and "little baby", ying-erh 嬰兒 is associated with the kidneys or the kidney ching. 4. Fu-sang kung 扶桑宮. The fu-sang, or solar tree, is a mythical tree in the Eastern Sea, where the sun was thought to rise. 5. Sea of Energy (ch'i-hai 氣海) is another name for the lower elixir field. It is also the name of the sixth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 6). The acupuncture point is located on the midline of the lower abdomen, 1.5 tsun inferior the umbilicus and 3.5 tsun superior to the pubic symphysis. 6. Door of the Feminine (p'in-hu 牝戸) is also a synonym for the vulva. 7. The lower, middle, and upper elixir fields are the seats of the three primary energies ching, ch'i, and shen respectively. Therefore the lower elixir field is associated with the ching. 8. Life Stem (ming-ti 命蒂) is an alternate name for the eighth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 8), more commonly known as Spirit Gate (shen-ch'üeh 神闕). It is located in the center of the navel and is an important passage for the circulation of fetal ch'i and blood. 9. "[G]eneration and transformation" translates tsao-hua 造化, which is also translated as "creation" or "creative mutation". The term is generally used as a synonym for the cosmos. Nature operates by means of these creative mutations and the changes (pien 變) of yin and yang. 10. The word translated here as "creating" is tsao-hua 造化. See note 9 above. 11. Metal ching (chin-ching 金精), also translated as "metal essence", has various meanings. It designates the ch'i of the essences pertaining to the Metal phase and the hexagram ch'ien 乾. In some sources, it means the original ching (yüan-ching 元精). It is also another term for the kidneys. In addition, in Taoist literature it is held to be a medicinal drug of the highest degree. 12. Hu hsiang shui-chung sheng 虎向水中生. The original ching (yüan-ching 元精) within the body is called "tiger".
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Notes to Pages 17-18 (95-96)
13. The yang inside trigram k'an stands for the firmness of the true sense of real knowledge, while the yin inside trigram li stands for receptivity, and also for mundane conditioning. The One Yang Returning to Beginning (i-yang fu-ch'ui 一陽復初) is the point where the extreme yin gives birth to yang. The energy of the true yang, which is the foundation of life, emerges at this point. In the yearly cycle, the one yang returning to beginning is the winter solstice (Tung-chih 冬至), the period when the yang enery is engendered, while in the daily cycle it corresponds to the tzu 子 hour (11 PM - 1 AM). 14. Tzu 子 hour is the period between 11 PM and 1 AM. 15. Moon at the Bottom of the Sea (hai-te yüeh 海底月) is a metaphor for the tzu 子 hour. In the Lesser Celestial Circuit (hsiao-chou-t'ien 小周天), the tzu hour corresponds to Gathering of Yin (hui-yin 會陰) energy center of the perineum, located at the bottom of the torso, hence the metaphor "bottom of the sea". 16. Some sources suggest an emendation and read "Gate of Humanity" (jen-men 人門) instead of "Human-Light" (jen-ming 人明). The men 門 and ming 明 are roughly homophonous. 17. Ch'u-sheng wo ken-chi 初生我根基. This is a tentative translation, as the ch'u-sheng wo 初生我 can be also read as "new-born self" or "nascent self". 5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass 1.
Jade Pillow pass (yü-chen-kuan 玉枕關) derives its name from the ancient Chinese sleeping pillows, which were hard. They were often made of ceramic variously shaped and decorated, while more expensive ones were made from jade. The Jade Pillow is the area on the posterior part of the skull. It is also the name of an associated acupuncture point located at the base of the skull, the ninth point of the Bladder Meridian (BL 9). The point is located in the occipital region, in a depression 1.5 tsun lateral to the superior aspect of the external occipital protruberance. 2. Yang-kung Yü-ching Shan 陽宮玉京山. In the Numinous Treasure (Ling-pao 靈寶) version of the system of thirty-two heavens (san-shih-erh t'ien 三十二天), the Jade Capital (Yü-ching 玉京) is a mountain towering above these heavens. It stands in the Great Canopy Heaven (Ta-lo T'ien 大羅天), the residence of the Heavenly Worthy (T'ien-tsun 天尊) high above all other celestial realms. Therefore the Jade Capital is a Taoist symbol for the supreme spiritual state. 3. Heavenly Pillar (t'ien-chu 天柱) is also the name of an acupunture point, the tenth point of the Bladder Meridian (BL 10). It is located in the nuchal region, on the lateral border of the trapezius muscle, 1.3 tsun lateral to GV 15 at the level between cervical vertebrae C1 and C2. 4. Reading t'ai 太 instead of mu 木. 5. Ta-ch'ui 大椎, the "great vertebra" (or "great hammer") is the fourteenth point of the Governor Vessel (GV 14). It is located below the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra. 6. Some authors emend sui 遂 to ni 逆; with this emendation, the sentence reads, "Truly, it is the upward pathway for moving backward and ascending to Heaven." "[M]oving backward" translates ni-hsing 逆行; it denotes – along with other terms as "flowing backward" (ni-liu 逆流) – flow in a direction opposite to the usual. 7. "[A]scending to Heaven" is a translation of shang t'ien 上•天, which can be also read "Ascending Heaven" (Shang-t'ien 上天). Ascending Heaven is the highest tier of the Mount K'un-lun 崑崙, the other two being Cool Wind (Liang-feng 涼風) and Hanging Garden (Hsüan-p'u 懸圃). It is believed that those who ascend the three tiers attain immortality. 8. Inner Yellow Dragon (nei huang-lung 内黄龍) is deity of inner illumination (nei-chao 内照). 9. Emending li 例 to tao 倒. 10. The Hsiang River (Hsiang Chiang 湘江), more commonly known as Yangtze (Yang-tzu 揚子), is the principal river in China. It rises in the Tibetan highlands and flows south and then east for 3,964 miles (6,380 km) through central China before it enters the East China Sea at Shang-hai. The "waters of Hsiang River" designates the ching, which is associated with the water of k'an (k'an-shui 坎水). This sentence indicates that the ching is redirected upward through the Governor Vessel.
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Notes to Page 18 (96)
11. The Jade Pillow is often regarded as the most difficult barrier to overcome, therefore it is also referred to as Iron Wall (tieh-pi 鐵壁). 12. Emending "yin" to "yang". Yang spirit (yang-shen 陽神) is cultivated by uniting the three primordial energies (ching, ch'i, and shen). Once the shen is sublimated with no further trace of yin, it is thoroughly free from the workings of the discursive mind and permanently abides in absolute tranquility. 13. True pneuma (chen-ch'i 眞炁; 眞氣) is vital energy which has been purified by the internal alchemical process. 14. Magpie Bridge (ch'üeh-ch'iao 鵲橋), is the tongue which connects the Governor and Conception vessels. See the explanation in note 16 below. 15. "Altair and Vega" is a translation of Niu-nü 牛女. The cowherd (niu-lang 牛郎) corresponds to the Western star of Altair in the Aquila constellation, while the weaving girl (chih-nü 織女) corresponds to the Western star of Vega in the Lyra constellation. According to early Chinese mythology, the cowherd and weaving girl are lovers fated to meet only once a year. They are separated by the Sky River (T'ien-ho 天河), which is the Chinese name for the Milky Way. (The Sky River corresponds to the spinal column or Governor Vessel in the human body.) It is believed that a magpie bridge (ch'üeh-ch'iao 鵲橋) is formed over the Milky Way on the annual meeting day of the cowherd and weaving girl. This myth suggests the meeting of two things that should be united, but which ordinarily remain separated. Meeting of the Altair and Vega stars (or the cowherd and weaving girl by crossing a bridge built by magpies) on the seventh day of the seventh month symbolizes union of bipolar entities such as the yin and yang, lead and mercury, or innate nature and sense/feelings (hsing ch'ing 性情). The Magpie Bridge is a metaphor for the tongue, which connects the Governor and Conception vessels when its tip is pressed against the upper palate. 16. Emending kuei 桂 to hsiang 相. 17. In this context, the infant (ying-erh 嬰兒) is synonymous with sacred embryo (sheng-t'ai 聖胎), which has many names in Taoist literature, such as the immortal embryo (hsien-t'ai 仙胎), golden embryo (chin-t'ai 金胎), and embryo of the Tao (Tao-t'ai 道胎). The infant is born of the union of the cowherd (yang) and the weaving girl (yin), symbolized here by the Altair and Vega stars. 5.2. Middle Pass 1.
Chia-chi 夾脊 ("Spinal Handle") can be also translated as "Narrow Ridge". It is the second pass, located in the middle of the spinal column where it joins the ribs at chest level (at the shoulder blades). The two characters chia and chi are also found in Chuang-tzu 30 "On Swords" (Shuo Chien 説劍), where they are separately employed to describe the sword of the Son of Heaven that "pierces the floating clouds above and penetrates the weft of the earth below": "The mountains of Ch'i 齊 are its edge. Chin and Wei are its back (chi 脊). Chou and Sung are its hilt. Han and Wei are its sheath (chia 夾)." (齊岱爲鍔、晉衛爲脊、周宋爲鐔、韓魏爲夾。). Expanding on the image of the celestial sword, this pass is qualified as "dual" (shuang-kuan 雙關) as it is not only physically inserted between Earth (yin, lead) and Heaven (yang, mercury). Some texts therefore emphasize that it is located exactly in the middle of the twenty-four vertebrae. From this center, the energy can ascend or descend, climbing to Heaven or plunging again into the abysses. 2. "Divine immortality" translates shen-hsien 神仙, which is also translated as "spirit immortality". The divine immortality is the highest category of immortality. 3. The Kao-huang 膏肓 is the forty-third point of the Bladder Meridian (BL 43). It is located on the upper back, three tsun lateral to the lower border of the spinous process of the fourth thoracic vertebra (T4), at the level of BL 14. Kao-huang also designates the region between the heart and the diaphragm, known as the cardiodiaphragmatic interspace. 4. Windlass (lu-lu 轆轤) is another name for the Spinal Handle. 5. Omitting hsüeh 血. 6. Heavenly Pillar (t'ien-chu 天柱) is another name for the upper pass. See page 39, note 3. 7. Nei shuang-lin 内雙林. 8. Wai shuang-lin 外雙林. 9. Emending chuang 状 to fu 伏. 10. Gushing Spring (yung-ch'üan 湧泉) is the first point of the Kidney Meridian (KI 1). See page 24, note 40.
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11. Emending chiang 降 to chiang 絳. 12. Here, the Flowery Pond (hua-ch'ih 華池) designates the kidneys. 13. The Flowery Canopy (hua-kai 華蓋) designates the rib cage or upper chest, heart region, the area below the two eyebrows, or the lungs. Its meaning in this passage is not clear. 14. Emending ti 帝 to homophonous ti 蒂. See page 38, note 8. 5.3. Lower Pass 1.
2. 3. 4.
5. 6. 7.
The Gate of Tail (wei-lü 尾閭) is variously translated as "caudal funnel", "terminal exit", and "maelstrom". It is the first pass, at the level of the coccyx. The term wei-lü refers to a mythical place mentioned in Chuang-tzu 17, an orifice in the Eastern Ocean where water endlessly leaks away without ever being exhausted. In the human body, this place is located in the "aquatic region" of the hip basin that forms the base of the trunk. It represents the pivot of energy presided over by the kidneys, which is the sanctuary of the ching and organs of water. According to some texts, the Gate of Tail is located at the level of the third vertebra above the coccyx and is called by various names such as Long and Powerful (ch'ang-ch'iang 長強), Three-Forked Road (san-ch'a lu 三岔路), or Path of the River Chariot (ho-ch'e lu 河車路). A reference to the lower nine cavities (hsia chiu-ch'iao 下九竅); the seven yang cavities, and two yin cavities of the lower body, that is, the genitals and the anus. Chiu-t'ou shih-tzu 九頭獅子. It is also name of a plant, the Japanese peristrophe (Peristrophes Japonicae). The term "Prince Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum" (t'ai-tzu she chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-ko 太子射九重鐵鼓) has its origins in an Indian legend about young prince Gautama Buddha engaging in an archery tournament. According to this story, in a test of archery Ananda set up an iron drum, eight miles distant, for a target; another set up one at a distance of sixteen and another at twenty-four miles, while the father of Yasodhara set up another at a still greater distance, and by this drum stood seven palm trees, and beyond them was a demon made of iron. After the others had tried their skill, young Gautama adjusted his arrow and his shaft passed through all of the iron drums, tearing also through the seven trees and the iron demon, and then buried itself in the ground. Chinese sources refer to this incident as "one arrow shot and pierced nine-layered iron drum" ("i-chien she ch'uan chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-ko" 一箭射穿九重鐵鼓). Commenting on this account, some Taoist authors write that the above mentioned "arrow" denotes true ch'i (chen-ch'i 眞氣), while "shooting" designates a method in which the shen and ch'i are circulated together. They also say that the words "ninelayered" is a reference to the nine cavities (chiu-ch'iao 九竅) which designate, in this context, the cavities of the three passes. Each pass has three cavities: in the middle and on the left and right sides. The ancients called the cavities on left and right the "white vessel with double strips" (liang-t'iao pai-mai 兩條白脈); they were also called the "two roads in red and yellow" (ch'ih-huang erh-tao 赤黄二道). These are the roads upon which the sun and the moon revolve. Thus, the three passes have nine cavities, or rooms (fang 房), in total. When opening the three passes, the energy must flow through the cavity in the middle; if it runs into one of the cavities at the sides, one cannot attain the Tao. The Chart of the Inner Landscapes of the Selected Sayings on the Nine Stages (Chiu-hsü Cheyen Nei-ching T'u 九序摘言内景圖), written by Ming philosopher Lin Chao-en 林兆恩 (1517-1598) who expounded a system ultimately based on Neo-Confucianism but closely related to internal alchemy, mentions the expression "she chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-ko" in a passage describing phases of alchemical transformation: "The technique of the Three Islands of P'eng-lai is sometimes called the cavity of the coccyx; it is also called the Palace of Yama (the Underworld). The Taoists state: the external nine cavities are also called the Valley Way. The Buddhists state: Shoot arrows at the ninelayered iron drum." The term in question here was also the name of a Taoist healing method. In his Perfected Man Ch'ung-yang's Instructions on the Golden Gate and Jade Chain (Ch'ung-yang Chenjen Chin-kuan Yü-suo Chüeh 重陽眞人金關玉鎖訣), Wang Ch'ung-yang 王重陽 (1112-1170) mentions the name of the "Method of Shooting the Nine-Layered Iron Drum" (she chiu-ch'ung t'iehko chih fa 射九重鐵鼓之法), in a passage where he enumerates various methods for curing diseases. It is described as a yin pass because, in general, the lower part of the body is regarded as yin. Reading pi 閉 instead of kuan 関. See page 24, section 2.1.2a, note 1.
131
Notes to Pages 18-19 (96-97)
8.
9. 10. 11. 12.
13. 14. 15. 16.
17.
"[A]scending to Heaven" translates shang t'ien 上•天, which can be also rendered as "Highest Heaven" or "Ascending Heaven" (Shang-t'ien 上天). Ascending Heaven is the highest tier of the Mount K'un-lun 崑崙; its other two tiers are Cool Wind (Liang-feng 涼風) and Hanging Garden (Hsüan-p'u 懸圃). Taoists believed that those who ascend the three tiers attain deathlessness. Earth Pivot (ti-chou 地軸) is the name of a deity. The term ti-chou is also a synonym for the valley way (ku-tao 谷道), the final section of the large intestine between the rectum and anus. Chao-t'ien ling 朝天嶺. San-ch'a (ku) 三叉(骨), emending yu 又 to ch'a 叉. In certain internal alchemical operations, the true ch'i (chen-ch'i 眞氣) – generated by combining lead and mercury – is sent from the lower elixir field, through the spine, into the upper elixir field. This process is known as "ejecting the golden sparks from behind the navel" (ch'i-hou fei chin-ching 臍後飛金晶). The Golden Cauldron (chin-ting 金鼎) is a cauldron (i.e., an energy center) in the kidneys where the refinement of these golden sparks (chin-ching 金晶) take place. Certain Taoist texts also mention a Purple-Gold Cauldron (tzu-chin-ting 紫 金 鼎), which is presumably an equivalent of the Golden Cauldron. The Purple-Gold Cauldron is located between the kidneys, where the sacred embryo is generated. This point is also known as the "place of emergence of the true" (chen-ch'u-ch'u 眞出處). The three paths are jade furnace (yü-lu 玉爐; a reference to the kidneys, or perhaps to the external kidneys, i.e., the testicles), internal kidneys (nei-shen 内腎; i.e., the kidneys), and the Spinal Handle. Emending i 沂 to t'ung 通. See page 40, note 1. Gate of Crown (ting-men 頂門) denotes the aperture at the center of the top of the head by which yang spirit (yang-shen 陽神) leaves the body. This location is the apex of consciousness, through which one passes into enlightenment. It is also known as heavenly gate (t'ien-men 天門). The Capital of Hell (Feng-tu 酆都) is the demonic netherworld. 6. Five Cardinal Points
6.1. North (Li) 1. 2. 3. 4.
5.
South Prosperity (Nan-ch'ang 南昌) is the name of a constellation. Emending lo 絡 to chiang 絳. Root of Heaven (t'ien-ken 天根) is an alchemical term for the movement of energy emerging from stillness. It also designates the point of shift from passivity to activity. Verb "consolidate" translates ku 固, which means "to harden", "to become solid", "to solidify", or "to consolidate". The five energies (wu-ch'i 五氣) are the true energies represented by the five phases. When they are correctly aligned, they congeal into one. When the body (shen 身) is immovable, the ching is stable and the Water returns to the origin (ch'ao-yüan 朝元). When the mind (hsin 心) is immovable, the breath (ch'i 氣) is stable and the Fire returns to the origin. When the true nature (chen-hsing 眞性) is tranquil, the hun 魂 is stored (tsang 藏) and the Wood returns to the origin. When emotions (ch'ing 情) are forgotten, the p'o 魄 is subdued (fu 伏) and the Metal returns to the origin. When the four greats (shih-ta 四大; i.e., the four physical elements) are in harmony, the intent (i 意) is stable (ting 定) and the Earth returns to the origin. When these five forces are in their proper places and at peace, they revert to their reality, which is the source of spirituality. This is known as the five energies returning to the origin (wu-ch'i kuei-yüan 五氣歸元), a state of mental and physical collection, used to recover the original energy. It is described as "The body unmoving, the mind unstirring, the nature tranquil, feelings forgotten, the physical elements in harmony." It is also said to be practiced by not using the external senses. "Pneuma" translates ch'i 炁, which is often used in the HCT as a synonym of ch'i 氣. The three primary energies ching, ch'i, and shen correspond to the lower, middle, and upper elixir fields respectively. North (here representing the heart and the middle elixir field) is the seat of ch'i. The figure seated above the trigram li (☲) is the Young Girl (ch'a-nü 姹女). The Young Girl in the north is paired with the Infant (ying-erh 嬰兒) in the south. Here, the Infant represents kidney ching, not the sacred embryo.
132
Notes to Page 19 (97-98)
6.
7.
Chi 己 is the sixth of the Ten Celestial Stems. The expression "approaching chi 己" (chiu chi 就己) found in the north (li) appears to be paired with "flowing to wu" (liu wu 流戊) in the south (k'an) to make up the expression "flowing to wu and approaching chi 己" (liu wu chiu chi 流戊就己). Fire Palace on the Vermilion Mound (chu-ling huo-fu 朱陵火府) denotes the heart. The Vermilion Mound, also called the Vermilion Palace (chu-kung 朱宮), Southern Palace (nan-kung 南宮), and Southern Glory (nan-ch'ang 南昌), is the locale where the p'o of the dead were refined for rebirth. Originally, the Vermilion Mound seems to have been associated with the seven southern lunar lodgings – Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, and Carriage.
6.2. South (K'an) 1.
Dipper (Tou 斗), Ox(-Boy) (Niu 牛), Maiden (Nü 女), and Void (Hsü 虚) are the 8th to 11th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. They are the first four of the seven northern lunar lodgings represented by the Mysterious Warrior (Hsüan-wu 玄武). See Appendix D, The Twenty-Eight Constellations. 2. Wu 戊 is the fifth of the Ten Celestial Stems. The expression "flowing to wu" (liu wu 流戊) found in the south (k'an) appears to be paired with "approaching chi 己" (chiu chi 就己) in the north (li) to make up the expression "flowing to wu and approaching chi 己" (liu wu chiu chi 流戊就己). 3. See page 42, note 4. 4. Trigram k'an 坎 (☵) corresponds to south in the later heaven (hou-t'ien 後天) arrangement of the eight trigrams (pa-kua 八卦). The figure standing above the k'an is the Infant (ying-erh 嬰兒). The Infant in the south is paired with the Young Girl (ch'a-nü 姹女) in the north. Here, the Infant represents kidney ching, not the sacred embryo. 5. Chi 己 is the sixth of the Ten Celestial Stems. When paired, wu and chi (wu-chi 戊己) represent Earth, one of the five phases. 6. "[L]ower elixir" (hsia-tan 下丹) is an abbreviation of the "lower elixir field". 7. Sha-ch'i 煞炁 (more commonly written 煞氣) means "noxious (or ferocious) energy" as well as "ferocious mien". 8. The Mysterious Warrior (Hsüan-wu 玄武), represented as an entwined turtle-snake, is the guardian deity of the north. 9. Rooftop (Wei 危), House (Shih 室), and Wall (Pi 壁) are the 12th to 14th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. They are the last three of the seven northern lunar lodgings. 10. "Ni tse sheng, shun tse fan." (逆則聖順則凡). See page 36, note 11. 6.3. East (Chen) 1. 2. 3. 4.
5.
Emending trigram li 離 (☲) on the left of the figure to chen 震 (☳). The trigram chen corresponds to the east in the later heaven arrangement of the eight trigrams. According to five phases system, direction east and cyclical sign chia 甲 (the first of the Ten Celestial Stems) correspond to Wood phase. Reading kua 卦 for feng 封. "[I]nnate nature" translates hsing 性, which is a term that stands in contrast to another term, ch'ing 情 ("emotion"). The former consists entirely of inborn characteristics or potentials that may be developed but that are only slightly, if at all, subject to modification. Ch'ing, on the other hand, is more comprehensive, includes the emotions, and generally can be said to be that nature which can be shaped or modified by training or environment. In other words, to eat is hsing; to be a glutton is ch'ing. The direction east is associated with fire shen, while the west is associated with water ching (water essence).
6.4. West (Tui) 1. 2. 3.
Trigram tui 兌 (☱) corresponds to the west in the later heaven arrangement of the eight trigrams. Hsi-shan pai-hu 西山白虎. The indwelling deity of the lungs is the White Tiger of the West who changes into a boy holding a jade baton in his hand. See page 38, note 11.
133
Notes to Pages 19-20 (98)
4.
5.
"[E]motions" translates ch'ing 情 , which denotes "emotions" and "feelings". The term also designates desires. For the bipolar relationship between the emotions and innate nature, see page 43 section 6.3, note 4. The direction west is associated with water ching (shui-ching 水精; water essence), while the east is associated with fire shen. The following passage from the Random Notes While Reading Medicine (Tu-i Sui-pi 讀醫隨筆, 1898) of Chou Hsüeh-hai 周學海 (1856-1906) explains the water ching: "The meaning of 'water essence' is the essential ch'i of water, which refers to the lungs and the fluid pathways, not to the urinary bladder. Lungs receive essence from the spleen, and distribute it; but when that which is left over from the absorption of essence [by the spleen] returns to travel along the triple heater (san-chiao 三焦), it is distributed along the way [rather than stored as ching] and thus it is not, in the end, called ching (essence), but is still called 'water essence' (shui-ching). … The water essence moves from the channels of the five viscera to circulate around the entire body".
6.5. Center (Ch'ien) 1.
2.
3.
4.
5. 6.
7.
The Yellow Court (huang-t'ing 黄庭) is one of the most important places in the body. Yellow is the color of the center and a court is the central place around which buildings are arranged. It is generally thought to be located in the center of the abdomen, where the elixir is formed or the sacred embryo is generated. It is variously described as the middle elixir field, the solar plexus, the spleen or a region near the spleen. However, as with the elixir fields, there is a Yellow Court for each of the three major divisions of the body – one within the head, one within the spleen (or the heart according to other interpretations), and another within the lower elixir field. The Center (chung 中) is an energy center located in the middle of the body, in the region of the solar plexus. The term denotes one's core, implying the "inner essence", "one's own nature", "the inner path", or "the path of truth". Tao-kuei 刀圭 is variously translated as "knife, and jade-symbol", "jade knife", "knife-point", "speck", or "a pinch of elixir". Tao 刀 means "knife", and kuei 圭 is an elongated and pointed tablet made from jade, used by ancient Chinese rulers on ceremonial occasions. Thus, the jade knife originally designated a jade ritual implement. Ancient Chinese pharmacists used the pointed tip of this tool for measuring the amount of powders, therefore tao-kuei denotes a minute quantity of powdered medicinal substance. T'ao Hung-ching 陶弘景 (456-536) fixed its value in "one-tenth of an inch-square spatula", which is approximately 0.27 ml. Tao-kuei also designates drugs used in concocting elixirs. In the present context, tao-kuei symbolize the elixir of the highest category, which is gathered and cultivated in the Yellow Court. Trigram ch'ien 乾 (three solid lines) has two meanings in alchemy: it represents not only yang in the yin-yang pair but also pure yang (ch'un-yang 純陽), the neutral state of oneness that comes before the division into yin and yang. In the present text, ch'ien represents the elixir incorporating the qualities of pure yang energy, which is deemed to be entirely devoid of yin and therefore is not subject to any decay. Earthen Crucible (t'u-fu 土釜) is a synonym for the Yellow Court. These seven talismanic characters are found in the Perfect Scripture on Extending Life through the Northern Dipper and Original Destiny [Star] of the Most High Mysterious Numinosity (T'ai-shang Hsüan-ling Pei-tou Pen-ming Yen-sheng Chen-ching 太 上 玄 靈 北 斗 本 命 延 生 眞 經 ). They correspond to the seven stars of the Northern Dipper (Pei-tou 北斗). They are known as k'uei 魁, shao [鬼勾], huan [鬼雚], hsing 䰢, pi 魓, fu [鬼甫], and p'iao 魒. Their names are recited at the end of the "Incantation of the Northern Dipper" (Pei-tou chou 北斗咒) found in the above mentioned scripture. For the relationship between the body and the talismans, see page 34, section 3.1.5a, note 3. See page 42, note 4. 7. Extraordinary Vessels
1.
The eight extraordinary vessels (chi-ching pa-mai 奇經八脈), are the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈), Conception Vessel (ren-mai 任脈), Thoroughfare Vessel (ch'ung-mai 衝脈), Belt Vessel (taimai 帶脈), Yin Heel Vessel (yin-chiao-mai 陰蹻脈), Yang Heel Vessel (yang-chiao-mai 陽蹻脈), Yin Link Vessel (yin-wei-mai 陰維脈), and Yang Link Vessel (yang-wei-mai 陽維脈). Only five of the eight extraordinary vessels are included in the HCT.
134
Notes to Pages 20-21 (99-100)
2.
3. 4.
5.
Yang Heel Vessel (yang-chiao-mai 陽蹻脈) is one of the eight extraordinary vessels which originates from the lateral side of the heel, running upward along the outer ankle, the lateral side of the lower limb, through the abdomen, chest, shoulder and cheek, terminating at the back of the neck. The Conception Vessel (jen-mai 任脈) is a channel located in front of the body, extending from the brain to the base of the penis. Emending to 蹻. The Yin Heel Vessel (yin-chiao-mai 陰蹻脈) is one of the eight extraordinary vessels which originates from the medial side of the heel, running upward along the medial side of the lower limb, through the front external genitalia, the abdomen, chest, neck, either side of the nose and terminating in the eye. Yin Transport Vessel (yin-yu-mai 陰腧脈) is located in the inner sides of both arms; it links the centers of the palms with the chest. 8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods
1.
The twenty-four seasonal periods, or twenty-four solar terms (erh-shih-ssu chieh-ch'i 二十四節氣; literally, twenty-four nodal energies), are the divisions of the Chinese agricultural year. The tropical year was divided into twelve equal periods, ch'i 氣, defined by 30 degrees of solar motion along the ecliptic. They were subdivided into twelve mid-point ch'i (chung-ch'i 中氣) and twelve nodal ch'i (chieh-ch'i 節氣), making a total of twenty-four seasonal periods nominally of 15 days but on average 15.219 days each. These periods were in effect a series of sub-seasons that defined an agrarian solar calendar for everyday use. In practice the seasonal periods were counted in whole days, with extra days inserted as necessary to account for accumulated fractional days. The twentyfour effulgences (or lights; ching 景) of the body are both deities and luminescent points, and are also arranged into three sets of eight. These twenty-four effulgences are related to the above mentioned twenty-four energy nodes (chieh-ch'i), each of which presides on fifteen days. 9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle
1. 2.
3. 4. 5.
The character ch'u 初 is added to first ten days of each month; that is, ch'u-i 初一, ch'u-erh 初二, and ch'u-san 初三 are the first, second, and third days of lunar month respectively. When the sun-earth-moon angle is 90 degrees, this is called "crescent moon" (hsien 弦). The first quarter of the moon, or the new moon, is called "upper crescent moon" (shang-hsien 上弦), while the last quarter of the moon, the crescent after full moon, is called "lower crescent moon" (hsia-hsien 下弦). Wang 望 is the day of full moon, the fifteenth day of a Chinese lunar month. This is the lower crescent moon (hsia-hsien 下弦), the crescent after full moon. Hui 晦 is the end of a cycle of moon, the last day of a Chinese lunar month.
135
Chinese Text As far as the existing fonts permit, the characters are shown exactly as they appear in the original diagram. Characters that are not found in Chinese fonts are indicated by two or three characters enclosed in square brackets. (Example: [鬼斗] = 魁) Emended characters are indicated by gray color. The line structure in the original diagram is preserved.
1. Introduction
人之一身有三百六十骨節八萬四千毛孔後有三關尾閭夾脊玉枕也 尾閭在夾脊之下盡頭處關可通内腎之竅從此關起一條髓路號曰漕 溪又名黄河乃陽升之路直至兩腎對處為夾脊又上至腦為玉枕此三 關也前有三田泥丸土釜玉池是也泥丸為上丹田方圓一寸二分虚開 一竅乃藏神之所眉心入内正中之處天門入内一寸為明堂再入一寸 為洞房再入一寸為泥丸眉心之下謂之鼻柱又名雷霆府金橋下至口 中有兩竅通喉謂之鵲橋喉是頸骨乃内外之氣所由出入者也後有軟 喉謂之咽乃接飲食通腸胃者也其喉有十二節號曰重樓直下肺竅以 至於心心上有骨名為鳩尾心下有穴名曰絳宮乃龍虎交會之處直下 三寸六分名曰土釜黄庭穴也乃中丹田左有明堂右有洞房無英居左 肝也白元居右肺也亦空一寸二分乃藏氣之所煉氣之鼎直下至臍三 寸六分故曰天上三十六地下三十六自天至地八萬四千里自心至腎 有八寸四分天心三寸六分地腎三寸六分中有丹田一寸二分非八寸 四分而何臍門號曰生門有七竅通於外腎乃精神漏洩之竅名曰偃月 爐即任脉下有九竅即地獄酆都是也又曰氣海稍下一寸三分曰玉池 又曰下丹田乃藏精之所採藥之處左明堂右洞房亦空一穴方圓一寸 三分此處有二竅通於内腎腎中有竅通於尾閭由尾閭通兩腎堂 以至膝下三里穴再下至湧泉 穴此人身相通之關竅也 2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)
高真 至真 太真 虗真 仙真 玄真 上真 神真 天真 腦有九辨 房有一寸 不滅之道 存想泥 九九真 泥丸宮 元命真人 玉帝宮玄穹 之服皆象炁色飛輕
136
2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions
醍醐 樓頭鼓 泥丸 玄母 靈 天寶 神光 明堂 天目 九霄雷府 喉為輔舌為弼 一神專告七王 奉事斗為舌之母 人中 承漿 督脉
神
紫微
太乙
九霄
天庭
現珠
2.1.2b. Inscription
天有九宮地有九州人下丹田有九竅以象地之九州泥 有九穴以按天上九宮腦骨八片以應八方一名彌羅天 玉帝宮又名純陽天宮中空一穴名玄穹主又名元神宮 有舌舌内有金鎖關與舌相對人名鵲橋鼻下人中穴與 關相對其間有督脉乃是人之根本名上九竅一名性根 玉泉又號華池舌下有四竅二竅通心為液兩竅通腎為 我神室泥丸九竅乃天皇之宮中間一穴形如雞子状似 崑崙是也釋曰須彌山修真之子不可不知也 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus
臍為左門 太乙神君居之 主人性命 司一身一萬二 千精也 生門 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)
銅柱地獄 火車地獄 金剛地獄 普掠地獄 溟冷地獄 屠割地獄 風雷地獄 鑊湯地獄 無間地獄
137
2.2.3. Lower Abdomen
機関之竅 槖籥
引仙之門
送仙生門 北極降魔慧劍所 愚人以此殺身 聖人以此飛形 2.2.4. Lower Extremities
湧泉穴 三里穴
湧泉 三里穴 3. Internal Organs
3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions
奎婁 七魄藏肺 井鬼 天罡 柳 白元尊居之 胃昴畢觜参
星張
翼軫
3.1.1b. Inscription
肺神形如白虎象如懸磬居五臟之上對胞若覆蓋 故為華蓋神名皓華字虚成重三斤三 兩六葉兩耳總計八葉肺為脾子為腎母内藏 七魄如嬰兒名曰尸狗伏屍雀隂呑賺非生母除 穢羣臭乃七名也鼻為之官左為庚右為辛在 炁為咳在液為涕在形為皮毛也上通炁至腦 下通炁至脾中是以諸炁属肺肺為呼吸之根黄 庭云喘息呼吸依不快急存白元和六氣 3.1.2. Heart
心神形如朱雀象如倒懸蓮 華能變水為血也神名丹元 字守靈重十二兩對鳩尾下 一寸色如縞映絳中有七孔 三毛上智之人心孔通明中智 之人五孔心穴通炁下智無孔 炁明不通心為肝子為脾母舌為 之宮厥竅通耳左耳為丙右耳為丁 液為汗腎邪入心則汗溢其味甘小 腸為之腑與心合黄庭経曰心部之 宅蓮含花下有童子丹元家童子即 心神也心下為絳宮
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3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions
無英公子居之 中地胆 角元 氐房心尾箕 三魂藏肝 3.1.3b. Inscription
肝神形如青龍象字含明象如懸匏少近心左三葉右四葉胆附短 葉下重四斤四兩為心母為腎子肝中有三魂名曰爽靈台光幽精 目為之宮左目為甲右目為乙男子至六十肝炁衰肝 葉薄膽漸減目即昏在形為筋肝脉合於木魂 之臟也於液為淚腎邪入肝故多淚膽為肝 之腑膽與肝合也黄庭経云和制魂魄津 液平外應眼目日月精百疴所鍾存無英 用同七日自充盈 3.1.4. Spleen
脾属中央土旺於四季 為黄帝神形如鳳象 如覆翼名常在字魂庭正掩臍上横於胃坤之炁 土之精也居心下三寸重一斤二兩濶三寸長一尺 脾為心子為肺母外通眉口為之宮其神多嫉脾 無定形主土隂也故脾為五臟之樞開竅於口在 形為頰脾脉出於隠白乃肉之本意處也黄庭経云治 人百病消谷糧黄良紫帯龍虎章 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions
左玄腎門 右牝命門
銀河 樞機 瓊池 琉池 湧谷道 泉谷水 玉爐
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3.1.5b. Inscription 1
腎屬北方水於卦屬坎形似玄鹿兩頭名玄冥字育嬰象如卵 石子生對臍墜[月數]脊重二斤一兩主分水氣灌注一身如樹之 有根左曰腎右曰命生炁之府死炁之門如守之則存用之則 竭為肝母為肺子耳為之宮天之生我流氣而變謂之精精氣 往來為之神神者腎藏其情者左属壬右属癸在辰為子亥在 氣為吹在液為唾在形為骨経於上焦榮於上焦衛於下焦黄 庭云腎部之宮玄関圓中有童子上玄主諸六炁臟液源外 應兩耳百津液 3.1.5c. Inscription 2
内腎者兩儀也中間有連環是 我真精内藏赤白二炁在母腹中未有此身 先有此穴因有此穴始生此身左為玄陽 右為牝隂中穴實我後天之相海又為真鉛佛 名趙州狗儒名太極道云玄水郷鉛乃北方肅殺 正氣紫河車順則生人逆則成仙一名漕溪一名祖 宮通上下二眼降華池在舌 内出名玉泉 3.1.5d. Inscription 3
桃康 合延君頂蓮花 冠衣朱衣如真人状住 腎宮有碧紫黄白綠青 赤蒼之炁乃北方八天 所化也 3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat
舌下二 竅名玄 膺後名咽 吞下一切飲 食前名喉 十二節為十二 重樓通連河 氣者也 3.2.2. Gallbladder
膽者金之精水之氣其色青在肝短葉下膽者敢也膽大者 必不驚神名龍耀字威明形如龜蛇混形其象如懸袋重三 兩三銖為肝之腑若㨿膽當不在五臟之内應歸於六腑因 膽亦受水氣與坎同道又不可同於六腑故別立膽臟合 於膀胱亦主毛髮黄庭経曰主諸氣力掛虎兵外 應眼瞳鼻柱間脳髮相扶亦倶鮮九色錦衣綠華裙
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4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace)
降宮中一穴實我性也一名離卦一名午 時又號南宮受煉神室之所又名姹女一 名真隂又名碧眼胡兒在方為南上所有 掩骨覆之醫家名為鳩尾退此後九天思 慮之神又云龍從火裏出是也 4.2. Lower Elixir Field
此田中炁左青右黄下 黒上白下丹田真虎坎嬰兒 處扶桑宮氣海水晶宮牝戸中間 一穴實我真精命蒂在上一寸三分 實造化之所天地之根白頭老子 青玄之處實我命造化山川也 真一處水中金號金精實我 先天之至精又云虎向水中 生一陽復初子時海底月人 明初生我根基此數名 修真之子不可不知也 5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass
玉枕関 此處一名陽宮玉京山 天柱木乙穴雷霆宮 大椎骨前寸較處來 也寔上天遂行之徑路也 内黄龍例以捲上冲湘江水 上下通徹此緊隂神守閉 関至必用陽炁度方能冲通化 應真炁至鵲橋而牛女桂 會育争 嬰兒 5.2. Middle Pass
夾脊雙関實 神仙升降之徑路是我身脉即 膏肓穴道曰雙関内轆轤在中左為 太陽右為太隂陽升 路血通天柱穴又名内 雙林 通外雙林陽関脉状此穴薰蒸 関竅湧泉上通泥丸絡接降宮 華池取水降于華盖五行 之所下丹田命帝之内
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5.3. Lower Pass
尾閭関一名 九竅又名九頭獅子又名太 子射九重鉄鼓隂関固関常 年不能開名九重鉄鼓太子純陽炁 也能醍醐灌頂方能穿通故曰射九 重鉄鼓乃上天之徑路也一名地軸神門 又名朝天嶺一名龍虎穴一名三又腎 内有金鼎内外相通其三路上 沂夾脊直透頂門而上泥丸 通一身之骨髓也 酆都 6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li)
南昌上宮 絡宮 呼接天根 心不動 炁☲ 就己 朱陵火府 炁自固 6.2. South (K'an)
斗牛女虚 寒靈丹殿 流 戊 身不動 精☵ 己 下丹 精自固 玄武煞炁 危室壁 逆則聖
順則凡
6.3. East (Chen)
☲ 一名東海青龍 甲方木液在封属震在方 属東在五行属木在道為魂性 也属火神之母在五臟属肝在 天為日實我魂室之所也
142
6.4. West (Tui)
☱ 一曰西山白虎庚位金精 在卦屬兌在方屬西在五行 屬金在道為魄情也屬水精 之母在臓腑為肺在天為 月實我魄室之所也 6.5. Center (Ch'ien)
黄庭 中 刀圭 ☰ 土釜 魁
[鬼勾]
意不動
[鬼雚]
䰢
[鬼甫]
魓
魒
神自靈 7. Extraordinary Vessels
陽踰 任脉 隂
陽蹻 隂腧 8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods In bottom-to-top order
1 冬至 5 雨水 9 穀雨 13 夏至 17 處暑 21 霜降
2 小寒 6 驚蟄 10 立夏 14 小暑 18 白露 22 立冬
3 大寒 7 春分 11 小滿 15 大暑 19 秋分 23 小雪
4 立春 8 清明 12 芒種 16 立秋 20 寒露 24 大雪
9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle
初一 初六 十一 十六 廿一 廿六
初二 初七 十二 十七 廿二 廿七
初三 初八 弦 十三 十八 廿三 弦 廿八
初四 初九 十四 十九 廿四 廿九
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初五 初十 十五 望 二十 廿五 三十 晦
Punctuated Text Emended characters are indicated by gray color; the correct characters are given in parantheses.
1. Introduction
人之一身、有三百六十骨節、八萬四千毛孔。後有三關、尾閭、夾脊、玉枕也。尾閭在夾脊 之下盡頭處、關可通内腎之竅。從此關起一條髓路、號曰漕溪。又名黄河、乃陽升之路。直 至兩腎(肩)對處為夾脊、又上至腦、為玉枕。此三關也。前有三田、泥丸、土釜、玉池是也。 泥丸為上丹田、方圓一寸二分。虚開一竅、乃藏神之所。眉心入内正中之處天門。入内一寸 為明堂。再入一寸為洞房。再入一寸為泥丸。眉心之下謂之鼻柱、又名雷霆府。金橋下至口 中有兩竅通喉、謂之鵲橋。喉是頸骨、乃内外之氣所由出入者也。後有軟喉謂之咽。乃接飲 食、通腸胃者也。其喉有十二節、號曰重樓。直下肺竅、以至於心。心上有骨、名為鳩尾。 心下有穴、名曰絳宮、乃龍虎交會之處。直下三寸六分、名曰土釜、黄庭穴也、乃中丹田。 左有明堂、右有洞房。無英居左、肝也。白元居右、肺也。亦空一寸二分、乃藏氣之所、煉 氣之鼎。直下至臍、三寸六分。故曰「天上三十六、地下三十六。自天至地八萬四千里、自心 至腎有八寸四分。」天心三寸六分、地腎三寸六分。中有丹田一寸二分。非八寸四分而何。臍 門號曰生門。有七竅、通於外腎、乃精神漏洩之竅、名曰偃月爐、即任脉。下有九竅、即地 獄酆都是也。又曰氣海。稍下一寸三分、曰玉池。又曰下丹田、乃藏精之所、採藥之處。左 明堂、右洞房。亦空一穴、方圓一寸三分。此處有二竅、通於内腎。腎中有竅、通於尾閭。 由尾閭通兩腎堂、以至膝下三里穴。再下至湧泉穴。此人身相通之關竅也。 2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)
高真 至真 太真 虗真 仙真 玄真 上真 神真 天真 腦有九辨、房有一寸。 不滅之道、存想泥九(丸)。九真之服、皆象炁色、飛輕。 泥丸宮 元命真人 玉帝宮玄穹(靈) 2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions
醍醐 樓頭鼓 泥丸 玄母 靈 天寶 神 紫微 太乙 九霄 天庭 神光 明堂 天目 九霄雷府 喉為輔舌為弼。一神專告七王、奉事斗為舌之母。 人中 承漿 督脉
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現珠
2.1.2b. Inscription
天有九宮、地有九州。人下丹田有九竅、以象地之九州。泥有九穴、以按天上九宮。腦骨八 片、以應八方。一名彌羅天玉帝宮、又名純陽天宮。中空一穴、名玄穹(靈)主、又名元神宮。 有舌、舌内有金鎖關、與舌相對、人(又)名鵲橋。鼻下人中穴、與關相對。其間有督脉。乃 是人之根本、名上九竅。一名性根玉泉、又號華池。舌下有四竅、二竅通心、為液。兩竅通 腎、為我(氣)。神室泥丸九竅、乃天皇之宮。中間一穴、形如雞子、状似崑崙是也。釋曰須 彌山。修真之子、不可不知也。 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus
臍為左(生)門。太乙神君居之。主人性命。司一身一萬二千精也。 生門 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)
銅柱地獄 火車地獄 金剛地獄 普掠地獄 溟冷地獄 屠割地獄 風雷地獄 鑊湯地獄 無間地獄 2.2.3. Lower Abdomen
機関之竅、引仙之門。 槖籥 送仙生門、北極降魔慧劍所。 愚人以此殺身、聖人以此飛形。 2.2.4. Lower Extremities
湧泉穴 三里穴
湧泉 三里穴 3. Internal Organs
3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions
奎婁 七魄藏肺。 井鬼 天罡 柳星張翼軫 白元尊居之。 胃昴畢觜参
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3.1.1b. Inscription
肺神形如白虎、象如懸磬。居五臟之上、對胞若覆蓋、故為華蓋。神名皓華、字虚成。重三 斤三兩。六葉兩耳、總計八葉。肺為脾子、為腎母。内藏七魄、如嬰兒。名曰尸狗、伏屍、 雀隂、呑賺(賊)、非(飛)生母(毒)、除穢、羣臭、乃七名也。鼻為之官、左為庚、右為辛。在 炁為咳。在液為涕。在形為皮毛也。上通炁至腦、下通炁至脾中、是以諸炁属肺。肺為呼吸 之根。黄庭云「喘息、呼吸依不快、急存白元、和六氣。」 3.1.2. Heart
心神形如朱雀、象如倒懸蓮華。能變水為血也。神名丹元、字守靈。重十二兩。對鳩尾下一 寸。色如縞映絳、中有七孔三毛。上智之人、心孔通明。中智之人、五孔心穴通炁。下智無 孔、炁明不通。心為肝子、為脾母。舌為之宮厥(官)。竅通耳、左耳為丙、右耳為丁。液為 汗、腎邪入心則汗溢。其味甘。小腸為之腑、與心合。黄庭経曰「心部之宅蓮含花(葉)、下有 童子丹元家。」童子即心神也。心下為絳宮。 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions
無英公子居之。 中地胆 角元(亢) 氐房心尾箕 三魂藏肝。 3.1.3b. Inscription
肝神形如青龍象、字含明。象如懸匏。少(小)近心、左三葉、右四葉。胆附短葉下。重四斤 四兩。為心母、為腎子。肝中有三魂、名曰爽靈、台(胎)光、幽精。目為之宮(官)。左目為甲、 右目為乙。男子至六十、肝炁衰、肝葉薄、膽漸減、目即昏。在形為筋。肝脉合於木、魂之 臟也。於液為淚、腎邪入肝、故多淚。膽為肝之腑、膽與肝合也。黄庭経云「和制魂魄、津液 平、外應眼、目日月精、百疴(痾)所鍾、存無英、用同、七日自充盈。」 3.1.4. Spleen
脾属中央土、旺於四季、為黄帝。神形如鳳。象如覆翼。名常在、字魂庭。正掩臍上、横於 胃、坤之炁、土之精也。居心下三寸。重一斤二兩、濶三寸、長一尺。脾為心子、為肺母。 外通眉。口為之宮。其神多嫉。脾無定形、主土、隂也、故脾為五臟之樞。開竅於口。在形 為頰。脾脉出於隠白、乃肉之本意處也。黄庭経云「治人百病、消谷糧、黄良(衣)紫帯、龍虎 章。」 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions
左玄腎門 右牝命門
銀河 湧谷道
樞機
瓊池
泉谷水
琉池 玉爐
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3.1.5b. Inscription 1
腎屬北方水、於卦屬坎。形似玄鹿兩頭、名玄冥、字育嬰。象如卵石子、生對臍墜[月數](腰) 脊。重二斤一兩。主分水氣、灌注一身、如樹之有根。左曰腎、右曰命。生炁之府、死炁之 門、如守之則存、用之則竭。為肝母、為肺子。耳為之宮(官)。天之生我、流氣而變、謂之 精。精氣往來、為之神。神者腎藏其情(精)者(志)。左属壬、右属癸。在辰為子亥。在氣為吹。 在液為唾。在形為骨。経於上焦、榮於上(中)焦、衛於下焦。黄庭云「腎部之宮玄関(闕)圓、 中有童子 | 冥 | 上玄、主諸六炁、臟液源、外應兩耳、百津液。」 3.1.5c. Inscription 2
内腎者兩儀也。中間有連環、是我真精。内藏赤白二炁。在母腹中、未有此身、先有此穴。 因有此穴、始生此身。左為玄陽、右為牝隂。中穴實我後天之相(精)海、又為真鉛。佛名趙 州狗、儒名太極。道云玄水郷鉛、乃北方肅殺正氣、紫河車。順則生人、逆則成仙。一名漕 溪。一名祖宮。通上下二眼、降華池。在舌内出、名玉泉。 3.1.5d. Inscription 3
桃康、合延君、頂蓮花。冠衣朱衣、如真人状。住腎宮。有碧紫黄白綠青赤蒼之炁、乃北方 八天所化也。 3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat
舌下二竅、名玄膺。後名咽、吞下一切飲食。前名喉、十二節、為十二重樓、通連河(精)氣 者也。 3.2.2. Gallbladder
膽者金之精、水之氣。其色青、在肝短葉下。膽者敢也。膽大者必不驚。神名龍耀、字威明。 形如龜蛇混形、其象如懸袋。重三兩三銖。為肝之腑。若㨿膽當不在五臟之内、應歸於六腑、 因膽亦受水氣、與坎同道。又不可同於六腑、故別立膽臟。合於膀胱、亦主毛髮。黄庭経曰「 主諸氣力掛(攝)虎兵、外應眼瞳鼻柱間、脳髮相扶、亦倶鮮、九色錦衣綠華裙。」 4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace)
降(絳)宮、中一穴、實我性也。一名離卦、一名午時。又號南宮。受煉神室之所。又名姹 女。一名真隂、又名碧眼胡兒。在方為南。上所有掩骨覆之、醫家名為鳩尾。退此後九天思 慮之神、又云龍從火裏出是也。 4.2. Lower Elixir Field
此田中炁、左青、右黄、下黒、上白。下丹田、真虎、坎、嬰兒處、扶桑宮、氣海、水晶宮、 牝戸。中間一穴、實我真精命蒂。在上一寸三分、實造化之所、天地之根。白頭老子青玄之 處、實我命造化山川也。真一處、水中金、號金精、實我先天之至精。又云虎向水中生、一 陽復初、子時、海底月、人明、初生我根基。此數名。修真之子、不可不知也。
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5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass
玉枕関、此處一名陽宮玉京山、天柱、木(太)乙穴、雷霆宮。大椎骨前寸較處來也。寔上天 遂行之徑路也。内黄龍例(倒)以捲上、冲(沖)湘江水、上下通徹。此緊、隂(陽)神守。閉関至 必用陽炁、度方能冲(沖)通、化應真炁。至鵲橋而牛女桂(相)會、育争(胎)嬰兒。 5.2. Middle Pass
夾脊雙関、實神仙升降之徑路。是我身脉、即膏肓穴道。曰雙関、内轆轤在中。左為太陽、 右為太隂。陽升路血、通天柱穴、又名内雙林、通外雙林、陽関脉状(伏)。此穴薰蒸関竅、 湧泉、上通泥丸、絡接降(絳)宮、華池。取水降于華盖、五行之所、下丹田命帝(蒂)之内。 5.3. Lower Pass
尾閭関、一名九竅、又名九頭獅子、又名太子射九重鉄鼓。隂関固関(閉)、常年不能開、名 九重鉄鼓。太子純陽炁也、能醍醐灌頂、方能穿通、故曰射九重鉄鼓。乃上天之徑路也。一 名地軸神門、又名朝天嶺。一名龍虎穴、一名三又(叉)。腎内有金鼎、内外相通、其三路上 沂(通)夾脊、直透頂門而上泥丸、通一身之骨髓也。 酆都 6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li)
南昌上宮 絡(絳)宮 呼接天根。 心不動、炁自固。 炁☲ 就己 朱陵火府 6.2. South (K'an)
斗牛女虚 寒靈丹殿 流戊 身不動、精自固。 精☵ 己 下丹 玄武煞炁 危室壁 逆則聖、順則凡。 6.3. East (Chen)
☲(☳) 一名東海青龍。甲方。木液。在封(卦)属震。在方属東。在五行属木。在道為魂、性也。属 火神之母。在五臟属肝。在天為日。實我魂室之所也。
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6.4. West (Tui)
☱ 一曰西山白虎。庚位。金精。在卦屬兌。在方屬西。在五行屬金。在道為魄、情也。屬水精 之母。在臓腑為肺。在天為月。實我魄室之所也。 6.5. Center (Ch'ien)
黄庭 中 刀圭 ☰ 土釜 魁
[鬼勾]
[鬼雚]
䰢
魓
[鬼甫]
魒
意不動、神自靈。 7. Extraordinary Vessels
陽踰 任脉 隂
陽蹻 隂腧 8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods In bottom-to-top order
1 冬至 5 雨水 9 穀雨 13 夏至 17 處暑 21 霜降
2 小寒 6 驚蟄 10 立夏 14 小暑 18 白露 22 立冬
3 大寒 7 春分 11 小滿 15 大暑 19 秋分 23 小雪
4 立春 8 清明 12 芒種 16 立秋 20 寒露 24 大雪 9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle
初一 初六 十一 十六 廿一 廿六
初二 初七 十二 十七 廿二 廿七
初三 初四 初八 弦 初九 十三 十四 十八 十九 廿三 弦 廿四 廿八 廿九
初五 初十 十五 望 二十 廿五 三十 晦
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Chinese Text Original Arrangement 1. Introduction
穴以三又爐四有寸肝三至喉中為一關溪尾人 此至分曰即分八六也寸於謂有洞竅也又閭之 人膝此下任而寸分白六心之兩房乃前名在一 身下處丹脉何四故元分心咽竅再藏有黄夾身 相三有田下臍分曰居名上乃通入神三河脊有 通里二乃有門天天右曰有接喉一之田乃之三 之穴竅藏九號心上肺土骨飲謂寸所泥陽下百 關再通精竅曰三三也釜名食之為眉丸升盡六 竅下於之即生寸十亦黄為通鵲泥心土之頭十 也至内所地門六六空庭鳩腸橋丸入釜路處骨 湧腎採獄有分地一穴尾胃喉眉内玉直關節 泉腎藥酆七地下寸也心者是心正池至可八 中之都竅腎三二乃下也頸之中是兩通萬 有處是通三十分中有其骨下之也腎内四 竅左也於寸六乃丹穴喉乃謂處泥對腎千 通明又外六自藏田名有内之天丸處之毛 於堂曰腎分天氣左曰十外鼻門為為竅孔 尾右氣乃中至之有絳二之柱入上夾從後 閭洞海精有地所明宮節氣又内丹脊此有 由房稍神丹八煉堂乃號所名一田又關三 尾亦下漏田萬氣右龍曰由雷寸方上起關 閭空一洩一四之有虎重出霆為圓至一尾 通一寸之寸千鼎洞交樓入府明一腦條閭 兩穴三竅二里直房會直者金堂寸為髓夾 腎方分名分自下無之下也橋再二玉路脊 堂圓曰曰非心至英處肺後下入分枕號玉 一玉偃八至臍居直竅有至一虚此曰枕 寸池月寸腎三左下以軟口寸開三漕也
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2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)
一 寸
之 服
高 真
九 辨
腦 有
天
至
皆 象 炁 色 飛 輕
房 有
真 九 真
真 玉 帝 宮 玄 穹
神真
存不 九想滅 九泥之 真 道
元 命 真 人
真
泥 丸 宮
真太 真 虗
上 真 玄
神
真 仙
☰
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2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions
神 光
現 珠
督 脉
☴
152
九 霄
天 庭
神 太 乙
明 堂 天 目 九 霄 雷 府 中 漿
天 寶
靈
醐醍 泥 丸
紫 微
玄 母
人 承
奉 事 斗 為 舌 之 母
一 神 專 告 七 王
喉 為 輔 舌 為 弼
樓 頭 鼓
2.1.2b. Inscription
崑 崙 是 也 釋 曰 須 彌 山 修 真 之 子 不 可 不 知 也
我 神 室 泥 丸 九 竅 乃 天 皇 之 宮 中 間 一 穴 形 如 雞 子 状 似
2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus
千主臍 精人為 也性左 命門 司太 一乙 身神 一君 萬居 二之 生 門
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玉 泉 又 號 華 池 舌 下 有 四 竅 二 竅 通 心 為 液 兩 竅 通 腎 為
關 相 對 其 間 有 督 脉 乃 是 人 之 根 本 名 上 九 竅 一 名 性 根
有 舌 舌 内 有 金 鎖 關 與 舌 相 對 人 名 鵲 橋 鼻 下 人 中 穴 與
玉 帝 宮 又 名 純 陽 天 宮 中 空 一 穴 名 玄 穹 主 又 名 元 神 宮
有 九 穴 以 按 天 上 九 宮 腦 骨 八 片 以 應 八 方 一 名 彌 羅 天
天 有 九 宮 地 有 九 州 人 下 丹 田 有 九 竅 以 象 地 之 九 州 泥
2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)
無 間 地 獄
鑊 湯 地 獄
風 雷 地 獄
屠 割 地 獄
溟 冷 地 獄
普 掠 地 獄
金 剛 地 獄
火 車 地 獄
銅 柱 地 獄
2.2.3. Lower Abdomen
引 仙 之 門
機 関 之 竅
送 聖 人 以 此 飛 形
愚 人 以 此 殺 身
仙 北
槖
生 極
門
籥
降 魔 慧 劍 所
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2.2.4. Lower Extremities
湧泉穴
泉湧
三里穴
穴里三
3. Internal Organs 3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions
胃 昴 畢 觜 参
白 元 尊 居 之
七 魄 藏 奎 肺 婁
井 鬼 罡天 星 張
155
翼
柳 軫
3.1.1b. Inscription
庭 云 喘 息 呼 吸 依 不 快 急 存 白 元 和 六 氣
156
下 通 炁 至 脾 中 是 以 諸 炁 属 肺 肺 為 呼 吸 之 根 黄
炁 為 咳 在 液 為 涕 在 形 為 皮 毛 也 上 通 炁 至 腦
穢 羣 臭 乃 七 名 也 鼻 為 之 宮 左 為 庚 右 為 辛 在
七 魄 如 嬰 兒 名 曰 尸 狗 伏 屍 雀 隂 呑 賺 非 生 母 除
兩 六 葉 兩 耳 總 計 八 葉 肺 為 脾 子 為 腎 母 内 藏
故 為 華 蓋 神 名 皓 華 字 虚 成 重 三 斤 三
肺 神 形 如 白 虎 象 如 懸 磬 居 五 臟 之 上 對 胞 若 覆 蓋
3.1.2. Heart
心 神 也 心 下 為 絳 宮
宅 蓮 含 花 下 有 童 子 丹 元 家 童 子 即
腸 為 之 腑 與 心 合 黄 庭 経 曰 心 部 之
液 為 汗 腎 邪 入 心 則 汗 溢 其 味 甘 小
之 宮 厥 竅 通 耳 左 耳 為 丙 右 耳 為 丁
炁 明 不 通 心 為 肝 子 為 脾 母 舌 為
之 人 五 孔 心 穴 通 炁 下 智 無 孔
三 毛 上 智 之 人 心 孔 通 明 中 智
一 寸 色 如 縞 映 絳 中 有 七 孔
字 守 靈 重 十 二 兩 對 鳩 尾 下
華 能 變 水 為 血 也 神 名 丹 元
心 神 形 如 朱 雀 象 如 倒 懸 蓮
3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions
三 魂 藏 肝
157
心 尾 箕
氐 房
角 元
中 地 胆
無 英 公 子 居 之
3.1.3b. Inscription
用 同 七 日 自 充 盈
158
液 平 外 應 眼 目 日 月 精 百 疴 所 鍾 存 無 英
之 腑 膽 與 肝 合 也 黄 庭 経 云 和 制 魂 魄 津
之 臟 也 於 液 為 淚 腎 邪 入 肝 故 多 淚 膽 為 肝
葉 薄 膽 漸 減 目 即 昏 在 形 為 筋 肝 脉 合 於 木 魂
目 為 之 宮 左 目 為 甲 右 目 為 乙 男 子 至 六 十 肝 炁 衰 肝
葉 下 重 四 斤 四 兩 為 心 母 為 腎 子 肝 中 有 三 魂 名 曰 爽 靈 台 光 幽 精
肝 神 形 如 青 龍 象 字 含 明 象 如 懸 匏 少 近 心 左 三 葉 右 四 葉 胆 附 短
3.1.4. Spleen
人 百 病 消 谷 糧 黄 良 紫 帯 龍 虎 章
159
形 為 頰 脾 脉 出 於 隠 白 乃 肉 之 本 意 處 也 黄 庭 経 云 治
無 定 形 主 土 隂 也 故 脾 為 五 臟 之 樞 開 竅 於 口 在
脾 為 心 子 為 肺 母 外 通 眉 口 為 之 宮 其 神 多 嫉 脾
土 之 精 也 居 心 下 三 寸 重 一 斤 二 兩 濶 三 寸 長 一 尺
如 覆 翼 名 常 在 字 魂 庭 正 掩 臍 上 横 於 胃 坤 之 炁
為 黄 帝 神 形 如 鳳 象
脾 属 中 央 土 旺 於 四 季
3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions
右 河銀 牝 命 門 機樞
瓊 池
池
泉 谷 水
160
湧 爐 玉 谷 道
流
左 玄 腎 門
3.1.5b. Inscription 1
應 兩 耳 百 津 液
161
庭 云 腎 部 之 宮 玄 関 圓 中 有 童 子 上 玄 主 諸 六 炁 臟 液 源 外
氣 為 吹 在 液 為 唾 在 形 為 骨 経 於 上 焦 榮 於 上 焦 衛 於 下 焦 黄
往 來 為 之 神 神 者 腎 藏 其 情 者 左 属 壬 右 属 癸 在 辰 為 子 亥 在
竭 為 肝 母 為 肺 子 耳 為 之 宮 天 之 生 我 流 氣 而 變 謂 之 精 精 氣
有 根 左 曰 腎 右 曰 命 生 炁 之 府 死 炁 之 門 如 守 之 則 存 用 之 則
石 子 生 對 臍 墜 脊 重 二 斤 一 兩 主 分 水 氣 灌 注 一 身 如 樹 之
腎 屬 北 方 水 於 卦 屬 坎 形 似 玄 鹿 兩 頭 名 玄 冥 字 育 嬰 象 如 卵
3.1.5c. Inscription 2
正名右 氣趙為 紫州牝先我内 河狗隂有真腎 車儒中此精者 順名穴穴内兩 則太實因藏儀 宮生極我有赤也 内通人道後此白中 出上逆云天穴二間 名下則玄之始炁有 玉二成水相生在連 泉眼仙郷海此母環 降一鉛又身腹是 華名乃為左中 池漕北真為未 在溪方鉛玄有 舌一肅佛陽此 名殺 身 祖
3.1.5d. Inscription 3
所 赤 腎 冠 化 蒼 宮 衣 也 之 有 朱 炁 碧 衣 乃 紫 如 北 黄 真 方 白 人 八 綠 状 天 青 住
162
合 延 君 桃 頂 康 蓮 花
3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat
氣 重 十 食 者 樓 二 前 也 通 節 名 連 為 喉 河 十 二
吞 下 一 切 飲
膺 竅 舌 後 名 下 名 玄 二 咽
3.2.2. Gallbladder
應於膽兩必膽 眼膀亦三不者 瞳胱受銖驚金 鼻亦水為神之 柱主氣肝名精 間毛與之龍水 脳髮坎腑耀之 髮黄同若字氣 相庭道㨿威其 扶経又膽明色 亦曰不當形青 倶主可不如在 鮮諸同在龜肝 九氣於五蛇短 色力六臟混葉 錦掛腑之形下 衣虎故内其膽 綠兵別應象者 華外立歸如敢 裙 膽於懸也 臟六袋膽 合腑重大 因三者
163
4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace)
慮 之 神 又 云 龍 從 火 裏 出 是 也
掩 骨 覆 之 醫 家 名 為 鳩 尾 退 此 後 九 天 思
名 真 隂 又 名 碧 眼 胡 兒 在 方 為 南 上 所 有
時 又 號 南 宮 受 煉 神 室 之 所 又 名 姹 女 一
降 宮 中 一 穴 實 我 性 也 一 名 離 卦 一 名 午
4.2. Lower Elixir Field
修 真 之 子 不 可 不 知 也
164
明 初 生 我 根 基 此 數 名
生 一 陽 復 初 子 時 海 底 月 人
先 天 之 至 精 又 云 虎 向 水 中
真 一 處 水 中 金 號 金 精 實 我
青 玄 之 處 實 我 命 造 化 山 川 也
實 造 化 之 所 天 地 之 根 白 頭 老 子
一 穴 實 我 真 精 命 蒂 在 上 一 寸 三 分
處 扶 桑 宮 氣 海 水 晶 宮 牝 戸 中 間
黒 上 白 下 丹 田 真 虎 坎 嬰 兒
此 田 中 炁 左 青 右 黄 下
5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass
應 真 炁 至 鵲 橋
関 至 必 用 陽 炁 度
上 下 通 徹 北
嬰 兒 會 而 方 育 牛 能 緊 争 女 冲 隂 桂 通 神 化 守 閉
内 黄 龍 例 以
捲 上 冲 湘 江 水
也 寔 上 天 逆
行 之 徑 路 也
大 椎 天 此 骨 柱 處 前 木 一 乙 名 玉 穴 陽 枕 宮 関
寸 雷 玉 較 霆 京 處 宮 山 來
☶
5.2. Middle Pass
関通 華竅外 之池湧雙 所取泉林 下水上陽 丹降通関 田于泥脉 命華丸状 帝盖絡此 之五接穴 内行降薰 宮蒸
165
雙路太 林血陽膏 通右肓神 天為穴仙 柱太道升 穴隂曰降夾 又陽雙之脊 名升関徑雙 内 内路関 轆是實 轤我 在身 中脉 左即 為
5.3. Lower Pass
又 内名重 沂有朝鉄 也年子 通夾金天鼓 能不射九 一脊鼎嶺乃酆醍能九竅 身直内一上都醐開重又尾 之透外名天 灌名鉄名閭 骨頂相龍之 頂九鼓九関 髓門通虎徑 方重隂頭一 也而其穴路 能鉄関獅名 上三一也 穿鼓固子 泥路名一 通太関又 丸上三名 故子常名 又地 曰純 太 腎軸 射陽 神 九炁 門
166
6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li)
朱 陵 火 府
炁
絡 宮
自 固
就 己
炁 ☲
心 不 動
南 昌 上 宮 呼 接 天 根
6.2. South (K'an)
危 室 壁
精 玄 武 煞 炁
順 則 凡
167
已 精 自 固
下 丹
☵
流 戊 身 不 勤
寒 靈 丹 殿
斗 牛 女 虚
逆 則 聖
6.3. East (Chen)
天 為 日 實 我 魂 室 之 所 也
也 属 火 神 之 母 在 五 臟 属 肝 在
属 東 在 五 行 属 木 在 道 為 魂 性
甲 方 木 液 在 封 属 震 在 方
☲ 一 名 東 海 青 龍
6.4. West (Tui)
☱
168
月 實 我 魄 室 之 所 也
之 母 在 臓 腑 為 肺 在 天 為
屬 金 在 道 為 魄 情 也 屬 水 精
在 卦 屬 兌 在 方 屬 西 在 五 行
一 曰 西 山 白 虎 庚 位 金 精
6.5. Center (Ch'ien)
䰢 魓
中
黄 庭
魁
魒 圭 刀 神 自 靈
意 不 動
☰ 釜 土
7. Extraordinary Vessels
陽 踰
陽 蹻
脉 任
隂
169
隂 腧
8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods
雪大 雪小 冬立 降霜 露寒 分秋 露白
暑處
秋立
暑大
暑小
至夏
種芒 滿小 夏立 雨穀
明清 分春 蟄驚 水雨 春立 寒大 寒小 至冬
170
9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle
171
Diagram of Cultivating Perfection 1. Introduction 人之一身
有三百六十骨節
八萬四千毛孔
There are three hundred [and] sixty bones [and] joints,1 [and] eighty-four thousand pores [in] the human body.2
後有三關
尾閭
夾脊
玉枕也
There are three passes3 at the back: the Gate of Tail, Spinal Handle,4 [and] Jade Pillow.
尾閭在夾脊之下盡頭處
關可通内腎之竅
The Gate of Tail is at the bottom of the vertebral column, at its very end; [this] pass connects with the apertures of internal kidneys.5
從此關起一條髓路
號曰漕溪
A thin pathway of marrow6 originates from this pass, [its] appellation7 is the Rivulet.8
又名黄河
乃陽升之路
[It is] also known as Yellow River [and it is] the pathway [through which] the yang [energy] ascends.
直至兩腎(肩)對處為夾脊
又上至腦
為玉枕
[It] directly goes [up] to the point between the two shoulders,9 [or] the Spinal Handle, [and] then goes [up] to the brain [where] the Jade Pillow is [found].
此三關也 These are the three passes.
前有三田
泥丸
土釜
玉池是也
In the front there are three fields; [these are] the Muddy Pellet,10 Earthen Crucible,11 [and] Jade Pond.12
泥丸為上丹田
方圓一寸二分
The Muddy Pellet is the upper elixir field [and it] is one and two-tenths [of an] inch13 in diameter.
虚開一竅
乃藏神之所
[This] hollow opens to a cavity, this is where the shen is stored.
眉心入内正中之處天門 At the exact center of the space between the [two] eyebrows [there is] the Heavenly Gate.14
入内一寸為明堂 Going one inch inward, [there] is the Bright Hall.15
再入一寸為洞房 Another inch inward [from this point] is [situated] the Cavern Chamber.16
再入一寸為泥丸 [Still] another inch inward is [where] the Muddy Pellet [is found].
眉心之下謂之鼻柱
又名雷霆府
[The place] below the [point] where the two brows meet is called the pillar of nose;17 [it is] also known as the Palace of Thunderclap.18
金橋下至口中有兩竅通喉
謂之鵲橋
Under the Golden Bridge,19 inside the mouth, there are two cavities connecting with the throat; [they are] called the Magpie Bridge.20
喉是頸骨
乃内外之氣所由出入者也
Throat is [situated on] the neck bone, [it] is where the internal [and] external energies go in and out [of the body].
後有軟喉謂之咽 At the back there is the soft [part of the] throat, it is called the pharynx.
乃接飲食
通腸胃者也
What [we] drink [and] eat mixes up [here and] passes [downward] to the intestines [and] stomach.
172
其喉有十二節
號曰重樓
The throat has twelve rings, [its] appellation is the Tiered Tower.21
直下肺竅
以至於心
Directly below [the throat there is] the aperture of the lungs which leads to the heart.
心上有骨
名為鳩尾
There is a bone above the heart, [it is] called Turtledove's Tail.22
心下有穴
名曰絳宮
乃龍虎交會之處
Below the heart there is a cave23 called the Crimson Palace;24 it is where the dragon [and] tiger unite.
直下三寸六分
名曰土釜
黄庭穴也
乃中丹田
Directly below, three [and] six-tenths [of an inch away from it, is a place] called the Earthen Crucible; it is the cave of Yellow Court, that is, the middle elixir field.
左有明堂
右有洞房
[To its] left is situated the Bright Hall,25 [to its] right there is the Cavern Chamber.26
無英居左
肝也
Blossomless27 dwells [to its] left, [in] the liver.
白元居右
肺也
White Prime dwells28 [to its] right, [in] the lungs. 27
亦空一寸二分
乃藏氣之所
煉氣之鼎
Furthermore, one [and] two-tenths [of an inch inside this] hollow is where the ch'i is stored; [this is] the cauldron of refinement of ch'i.
直下至臍
三寸六分
Directly below it, [at a distance of] three [and] six-tenths of an inch, is the navel.
故曰「天上三十六
地下三十六
Therefore [it is] said, "Thirty-six29 [in] the heaven above, thirty-six [on] the earth below.
自天至地八萬四千里
自心至腎有八寸四分」
From heaven to earth [it is] eighty-four thousand miles30 and from the heart to the kidneys [it is] eight [and] four-tenths [of an inch]."31
天心三寸六分
地腎三寸六分
Heavenly heart is [found at a distance of] three [and] six-tenths [of an inch and] earthly kidneys are [found at a distance of] three [and] six-tenths [of an inch].
中有丹田一寸二分 [In] the middle [of them] there is the elixir field [which] is one [and] two-tenths [of an inch in diameter].
非八寸四分而何 [If it is] not eight [and] four-tenths [of an inch], then what [is it]?32
臍門號曰生門 The appellation of the gate of navel is the Gate of Life.33
有七竅
通於外腎
乃精神漏洩之竅
名曰偃月爐
即任脉
[It] has seven cavities; [one of these] connects with the external kidneys,34 [it] is the cavity of spirit's leaking out; [it is] called the Crescent Moon Furnace,35 that is, the Conception Vessel.
下有九竅
即地獄酆都是也
Below [it] there are nine cavities [which] make up the Capital of Hell.36
又曰氣海 [It is] also called the Sea of Energy.37
稍下一寸三分
曰玉池
[The place] slightly below it, [at a distance of] one [and] three-tenths [of an inch], is called the Jade Pond.
173
又曰下丹田
乃藏精之所
採藥之處
[It is] also known as the lower elixir field and [this is] where the ching is stored [and] the medicine [is] collected.
左明堂
右洞房
[Its] left [side is] the Bright Hall [and its] right [is] the Cavern Chamber.
亦空一穴
方圓一寸三分
[There is] another hollow cave here [measuring] one [and] three-tenths [of an inch] square [in size].
此處有二竅
通於内腎
There are two cavities in this place, [which] connect with the internal kidneys.
腎中有竅
通於尾閭
Inside the kidneys there is a cavity [which] connects with the Gate of Tail.
由尾閭通兩腎堂
以至膝下三里穴
From the Gate of Tail [the energy channel] goes [down] to the two halls of the kidneys38 [and then] arrives at the Three Mile points39 below the knees.
再下至湧泉穴 It then goes further down [and terminates at] the Gushing Spring40 points.
此人身相通之關竅也 These are the passes [and] cavities of the human body [that are] connected with each other.
2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
高真 至真 太真 虗真 仙真 玄真 上真 神真 天真
High Perfected Supreme Perfected Great Perfected Void2 Perfected Immortal Perfected Unfathomable Perfected Superior Perfected Divine Perfected Heavenly Perfected3
腦有九辨
房有一寸
10. The brain has nine sections [and each of these] chambers are one inch [in diameter].4
不滅之道
存想泥九(丸)
11. The way of no-cessation is [found] in visualizing, [and] meditating on, the Muddy Pellet.5
九真之服
皆象炁色
飛輕
Garments of the Nine Perfected each represent the color [of their corresponding] pneumas,7 [this is why they can] fly [as if they are] weightless. 6
泥丸宮 12. Palace of the Muddy Pellet
元命真人 13. Original Destiny8 Perfected
玉帝宮玄穹(靈) 14. Mysterious Vault of the Jade Emperor's Palace9
174
2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions 1.
醍醐
Rich liquid 1
2.
樓頭鼓
Tower Head Drum
3.
泥丸 玄母 靈 天寶 神 紫微 太乙 九霄 天庭 現珠
Muddy Pellet
4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Mysterious Mother2 Numinous spirit3 Heavenly Treasure Shen4 Purple Tenuity5 Great One6 Nine Empyreans7 Heavenly Court8 Appearing Pearl
13. 神光
Divine Radiance9
14. 明堂
Bright Hall
15. 天目
Heavenly Eye10
16. 九霄雷府 Thunder Palace of the Nine Empyreans11
喉為輔舌為弼 17. The throat is Sustainer [and] the tongue is Straightener.12
一神專告七王
奉事斗為舌之母
One deity reports13 to the Seven Kings14 [and] serves15 the Dipper [as] the Mother of the tongue.16 18. 人中
Center of Man17
19. 承漿
Fluid Receptacle18
20. 督脉
Governor Vessel19
2.1.2b. Inscription
天有九宮
地有九州
There are nine palaces in heaven [and] nine continents on earth.1
人下丹田有九竅
以象地之九州
Man's lower elixir field has nine cavities, [which] are patterned after the nine continents of earth.
泥有九穴
以按天上九宮
The Muddy [Pellet] has nine caves, [which] accord with the nine palaces of heaven.2
腦骨八片
以應八方
The cranium is [made up of] eight bones3 [which] correspond to the eight directions.
一名彌羅天玉帝宮
又名純陽天宮
One of the names of the Muddy Pellet is the Jade Emperor's Palace in the All Canopy Heaven;4 [it is] also known as the Heavenly Palace of Pure Yang.5
中空一穴
名玄穹(靈)主
又名元神宮
[There is] a hollow cave in the center, [which is] called the Master of Mysterious Numinosity;6 [it is] also known as the Palace of the Primordial Spirit.7
有舌
舌内有金鎖關
與舌相對
人(又)名鵲橋
[Then] there is the tongue; inside the tongue there is the Golden Lock Gate,8 which is equal to the tongue; [it is] also9 known as the Magpie Bridge.
175
鼻下人中穴
與關相對
Below the nose [there is] the Center of Man point and facing it [there is] the [Golden Lock] Gate.
其間有督脉 Between them there is the Governor Vessel.
乃是人之根本
名上九竅
Truly, these are the roots10 of the human being; [they are] called the upper nine cavities.11
一名性根玉泉
又號華池
One of the names [of the tongue] is the Jade Spring of Innate Nature Roots,12 also [its] appellation is the Flowery Pond.13
舌下有四竅
二竅通心
為液
Below the tongue there are four cavities; two of them connect with the heart, forming a humor.
兩竅通腎
為我(氣)
The [other] two cavities connect with the kidneys, forming the vapor.14
神室泥丸九竅
乃天皇之宮
The Divine Chamber,15 Muddy Pellet [and] nine cavities, these are the palaces of the Heavenly August.
中間一穴
形如雞子
状似崑崙是也
There is a cave in the middle [which is] shaped like an egg; [its] form resembles16 the Mount K'un-lun.17
釋曰須彌山 The Buddhists call it Mount Sumeru.18
修真之子
不可不知也
Disciples who cultivate perfection must know these. 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus
臍為左(生)門 The navel is the Gate of Life.1
太乙神君居之 Great One2 Divine Lord resides here.
主人性命 [He is] the host of the innate nature [and] life-destiny.3
司一身一萬二千精也 [He] directs the entire body's twelve thousand spirits.4
生門 Gate of Life5 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
銅柱地獄 火車地獄 金剛地獄 普掠地獄 溟冷地獄 屠割地獄 風雷地獄 鑊湯地獄 無間地獄
Copper Pillar Hell Fire Chariot Hell2 Diamond[-like] 3 Hell All-Plunder Hell Icy-Cold Hell Kill[-and-]Cut Hell Wind [and] Thunder Hell Cauldron of Molten [Iron] Hell4 Endless Hell5
176
2.2.3. Lower Abdomen
機関之竅
引仙之門
1. Cavity of the Pivotal Pass1 is the gate for inviting immortality.
槖籥 2. Bellows2
送仙生門
北極降魔慧劍所
3. Gate of Life3 [that] delivers immortality is where the Northern Pole4 demon-subduing sword of wisdom5 [is found].
愚人以此殺身
聖人以此飛形
4. Fools kill themselves with it, [while] sages sublimate [their] bodies with it.6 2.2.4. Lower Extremities 1. 湧泉穴
Gushing Spring point1
2. 湧泉
Gushing Spring
3. 三里穴
Three Miles point2
4. 三里穴
Three Miles point
3. Internal Organs 3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 1. 奎婁
Astride, Mound1
2. 七魄藏肺
The seven p'o2 are stored3 in the lungs.
3. 井鬼柳星張翼軫
Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, Carriage4
4. 天罡
Heavenly Dipper5
5. 白元尊居之
Venerable White Prime dwells here.
6. 胃昴畢觜参
Stomach, Pleiades, Net, Beak, Orion.6
3.1.1b. Inscription
肺神形如白虎
象如懸磬
The deity of the lungs has the shape of the White Tiger;1 [the lungs] appear like a hanging musical stone.2
居五臟之上
對胞若覆蓋
故為華蓋
[They] dwell on top of the five viscera3 [and] envelop them like a cover, therefore [they] are [called] the Flowery Canopy.4
神名皓華
字虚成
[Their] deity is called Luminous Flower,5 [its] given name is Attainment of Emptiness.6
重三斤三兩 [They] weigh three pounds7 [and] three ounces.8
六葉兩耳
總計八葉
[They have] six petals [and] two ears, [thus] eight petals in total.9
肺為脾子
為腎母
The lung is the child of the spleen [and] the mother of the kidneys.
内藏七魄
如嬰兒
The seven p'o are stored inside the lungs like infants.
177
名曰尸狗
伏屍
雀隂
呑賺(賊)
非(飛)生母(毒)
除穢
羣臭
乃七名也
[They are] called Corpse Dog, Ambushing Corpse,10 Bird Darkness, Devouring Robber,11 Flying Poison,12 Massive Pollution, [and] Mob's Smell;13 thus [there are these] seven names.14
鼻為之官
左為庚
右為辛
The nose is its officer; the left [nostril] is keng 庚, [while] the right [nostril] is hsin 辛.16 15
在炁為咳 Among the pneumas the lungs correspond to coughing.17
在液為涕 Among the fluids18 [they] correspond to nasal mucus.19
在形為皮毛也 In the body [they] correspond to body hair.
上通炁至腦
下通炁至脾中
是以諸炁属肺
Flowing upward, the pneumas reach the brain and flowing downward, the pneumas enter the spleen, therefore all pneumas belong to the lungs.20
肺為呼吸之根 The lungs are the root of the breathing.
黄庭云「喘息
呼吸依不快
急存白元
和六氣」
[In] the [Scripture of the] Yellow Court21 [it is] said, "[When there is] panting [or] the breathing is not comfortable, immediately visualize the White Prime22 [and] the six energies [will be] harmonized."23 3.1.2. Heart
心神形如朱雀
象如倒懸蓮華
The deity of the heart is shaped like the Vermilion Bird; [the heart] appears like an inverted hanging lotus flower.1
能變水為血也 [It is] capable of transforming water [and] turning [it] into blood.
神名丹元
字守靈
Deity of the heart is called Elixir Origin,2 [its] given name is Guarding the Numen.3
重十二兩 [It] weighs twelve ounces.
對鳩尾下一寸 One inch below [the heart] is the Turtledove's Tail.4
色如縞映絳
中有七孔三毛
[The heart's] color is like white silk [lined with] shining crimson [and] inside [it] there are seven openings [and] three orifices.
上智之人
心孔通明
[In] men of superior wisdom, the orifices [of the heart] are pervaded with brilliance.
中智之人
五孔心穴通炁
[In] men of medium wisdom, [there are] five orifices [and] cave of the heart is connected with the pneumas.
下智無孔
炁明不通
[In] men of inferior wisdom, [there are] no orifices [and] the brilliance of the pneuma does not flow [through the heart].5
心為肝子
為脾母
The heart is the child of the liver [and] the mother of the spleen.
舌為之宮厥(官) The tongue is the officer of the heart.6
178
竅通耳
左耳為丙
右耳為丁
[An] opening connects with the ears; the left ear is ping 丙, [while] the right ear is ting 丁.7
液為汗
腎邪入心則汗溢
[Heart's] fluid is sweat;8 [when] the malignant [energy] of the kidneys enter the heart, the sweat spills.9
其味甘 The [heart's associated] taste is sweet.
小腸為之腑
與心合
[Its associated] receptacle10 is the small intestine and the heart is united [with it].11
黄庭経曰「心部之宅蓮含花(葉)
下有童子丹元家」
[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court12 [it is] said, "The house13 of heart department14 is [like] a lotus bud [with] closed petals;15 [below it] there is the house of a young boy [named] Elixir Origin."
童子即心神也 The young boy is the deity of the heart.
心下為絳宮 Below the heart [there] is the Crimson Palace. 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 1. 無英公子居之
Lordling Blossomless resides here.1
2. 中地胆
Middle earth gallbladder2
3. 角元(亢)
Horn, Neck3
4. 氐房心尾箕
Base, Room, Heart, Tail, Basket4
5. 三魂藏肝
The three hun5 are stored in the liver.
3.1.3b. Inscription
肝神形如青龍象
字含明
The deity of the liver is shaped like the Green Dragon;1 [its] given name is Containing Illumination.2
象如懸匏 [The liver] appears like a suspended bottle[-shaped] gourd.
少(小)近心
左三葉
右四葉
[It is] quite3 close [to] the heart; [it has] three petals [to] the left [and] four petals [to] the right.4
胆附短葉下 The gallbladder5 attaches to underneath [its] shorter petal.
重四斤四兩 [The liver] weighs four pounds [and] four ounces.
為心母
為腎子
[It is] the mother of the heart [and] the child of the kidneys.
肝中有三魂
名曰爽靈
台(胎)光
幽精
There are three hun6 in the liver known as the Invigorating Numinosity, Radiance of Womb,7 [and] Obscure Spirit.
目為之宮(官) The eyes are the officers8 [of the liver].9
左目為甲
右目為乙
The left eye is chia 甲 [while] the right eye is i 乙.10
179
男子至六十
肝炁衰
肝葉薄
膽漸減
目即昏
[When] a man11 reach sixty, [his] liver pneuma declines,12 petals of [his] liver [become] thinner, [his] gallbladder gradually withers, [and] his eyesight is dimmed.
在形為筋 In the body, [the liver] corresponds to the sinews.13
肝脉合於木
魂之臟也
The liver pulse is connected with Wood14 [and the liver is] the viscus of the hun.15
於液為淚
腎邪入肝
故多淚
Among the bodily fluids [the liver] corresponds to tears, [therefore, when] the malignant [energy] of the kidneys enter the liver, the tears are plenty.16
膽為肝之腑
膽與肝合也
The gallbladder is the receptacle of the liver,17 the gallbladder and the liver are united.
黄庭経云「和制魂魄
津液平
外應眼
目日月精
[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court18 [it is] said, "[When] harmony is established [between] the hun [and] p'o, the bodily fluids are balanced;19 [on] the outer [part of the body, the liver] corresponds to the eyes, [thus] the sun [and] the moon are radiant.20
百疴(痾)所鍾
存無英
用同
七日自充盈」
[When] all kinds of 21 diseases22 accumulate, [one must] maintain23 Blossomless;24 [since the liver] operates [the energies of] all [five viscera, in] seven days [the organs will be] filled by themselves."25 3.1.4. Spleen
脾属中央土
旺於四季
為黄帝
The spleen belongs to the center and Earth,1 [therefore] it is effulgent [throughout] the four seasons2 [and it is] the Yellow Emperor.3
神形如鳳 [Its] deity is shaped like the Phoenix.4
象如覆翼 [The spleen] resembles an upside-down wing.5
名常在
字魂庭
[Its deity is] called Eternal Existence,6 [its] given name is Court of Hun.7
正掩臍上
横於胃
坤之炁
土之精也
In the middle, the spleen covers the upper [part of the] navel, [it is] at the side of the stomach; [it is] the pneuma of the k'un [and] ching of the earth.
居心下三寸 [It] resides three inches below the heart.
重一斤二兩
濶三寸
長一尺
[It] weighs one pound [and] two ounces, [it is] three inches wide [and] one foot8 long.
脾為心子
為肺母
The spleen is the child of the heart [and] the mother of the lungs.
外通眉 On the outer [part of the body, it] connects with the eyebrows.
口為之宮 The mouth9 is its officer.10
其神多嫉 Its deity has much hatred.11
180
脾無定形
隂也
主土
故脾為五臟之樞
The spleen has no fixed position,12 [it] governs Earth13 [and] it is yin, therefore the spleen is the pivot of the five viscera.14
開竅於口 [It] opens into the orifice of the mouth.15
在形為頰 In the body [it] corresponds to the cheeks.
脾脉出於隠白
乃肉之本意處也
Spleen Meridian originates at the Hidden White16 [and] this is where the original intent17 of the flesh18 [is found].19
黄庭経云「治人百病
消谷糧
黄良(衣)紫帯
龍虎章」
[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court [it is] said, "It cures countless21 diseases of mankind [and] digests foods; [it has a] yellow gown22 [and a] purple belt,23 [it] regulates the dragon and tiger."24 20
3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 1. 左玄腎門
The left is the Mystery,1 the Gate of Kidney
2. 右牝命門
The right is the Female,1 the Gate of Life-Destiny2
3.
(Three talismanic characters)3
4. 銀河
Silver River4
5. 樞機
Pivotal Mechanism5
6. 瓊池
Red Pond
7. 琉池
Pond of Precious Stone
8. 湧谷道
Way of Gushing Valley6
9. 泉谷水
Water of Fountain Valley7
10. 玉爐
Jade Furnace8
3.1.5b. Inscription 1
腎屬北方水
於卦屬坎
The kidneys1 belong to the direction north2 [and] Water;3 among the trigrams they correspond to k'an 坎.4
形似玄鹿兩頭
名玄冥
字育嬰
[They are] shaped like the Mysterious Deer5 [with] two heads; [their deity is] called Mysterious Dark6 [and its] given name is Nourishing the Infant.7
象如卵石子
生對臍墜[月數](腰)脊
[The kidneys] appear like egg-shaped pebbles; [they are located] opposite the navel, suspending from the lumbar spine.8
重二斤一兩 [They] weigh two pounds [and] one ounce.
主分水氣
灌注一身
如樹之有根
[They] govern the distribution of the energy of water, irrigating the entire body like roots of a tree.
左曰腎
右曰命
The [one on the] left is called kidney [and] the [one on the] right the [Gate of] Life-Destiny.9
生炁之府
死炁之門
如守之則存
用之則竭
[They are] the storehouses of living pneuma [and] the gate of dead pneuma;10 if [you] preserve them (i.e., the vital energies) [then they will] remain, [but if you over]use them [then they will] be drained.
181
為肝母
為肺子
The kidneys are the mother of the liver [and] the child of the lungs.
耳為之宮(官) The ears are the officers11 [of the kidneys].12
天之生我
流氣而變
謂之精
The Heaven gives life to us, [when] the current of energy is transmuted, it is called ching.
精氣往來
為之神
The ching-ch'i alternates [and] turns into shen.
神者腎藏其情(精)者(志) The shen; the kidneys store ching13 [and] the will.14
左属壬
右属癸
The left [kidney] corresponds to jen 壬, [while] the right corresponds to kuei 癸.15
在辰為子亥 Among the [twelve horary] branches [the kidneys] correspond to tzu 子 [and] hai 亥.16
在氣為吹 Among the [six] breaths17 [they] correspond to ch'ui 吹.18
在液為唾 Among the bodily fluids [they] correspond to saliva.
在形為骨 In the body [they] correspond to the bones.19
経於上焦
榮於上(中)焦
衛於下焦
The kidney ch'i regulates the upper section of the triple heater, nourishes the middle20 section of the triple heater, and protects the lower section of the triple heater.21
黄庭云「腎部之宮玄関(闕)圓
中有童子 | 冥 | 上玄
[In] the [Scripture of the] Yellow Court22 [it is] said, "The palace of kidney23 department is [like] a dark portal24 [that is] round;25 inside there is a young boy26 [called] Upper Darkness.27
主諸六炁
臟液源
[The kidneys] govern the six pneumas28 [and] are the origin of the visceral fluids.29
外應兩耳
百津液」
On the outer [part of the body, they] correspond to the ears;30 [they govern] numerous31 bodily fluids."32 3.1.5c. Inscription 2
内腎者兩儀也 The internal kidneys are the Two Principles.1
中間有連環
是我真精
Between them there is a link connecting them [and] this is our true essence.2
内藏赤白二炁 Inside, [it] contains two pneumas, red [and] white.
在母腹中
未有此身
先有此穴
[When we were] in the mother's abdomen, before [we] had this body, there was this cave.
因有此穴
始生此身
Because there was this cave, life has begun in this body.
左為玄陽
右為牝隂
The left [kidney] is mysterious yang [while] the right is feminine yin.3
中穴實我後天之相(精)海
又為真鉛
Inside the cavity, there is the Sea of Essence4 of True Self Later Heaven; [it is] also known as true lead.5
182
佛名趙州狗
儒名太極
[Its] Buddhist name is Chao-chou's dog,6 [while its] Confucian name is the Great Ultimate.7
道云玄水郷鉛
乃北方肅殺正氣
紫河車
Taoists call [it] the Native Lead of the Mysterious Water8 [and] also Right Ch'i of Chilling Life9 in the Direction North, [and] Purple River Chariot.10
順則生人
逆則成仙
Following [the course of nature] gives birth to [ordinary] men; going against [it one] becomes an immortal.11
一名漕溪 One of [its] names is the Rivulet.12
一名祖宮 [Its] another name is the Ancestral Palace.
通上下二眼
降華池
[It] connects with the top and bottom of the two eyes [and] descends into the Flowery Pond.13
在舌内出
名玉泉
From [the cavities below] the tongue comes out [a fluid] called the Jade Spring.14 3.1.5d. Inscription 3
桃康
合延君
頂蓮花
Peach Vigor;1 [his given name is] the Lord of Unity and Extension,2 [his another name is] Top of the Lotus Flower.3
冠衣朱衣
如真人状
[His] cap [and] garment are vermilion [in color and his] garment is like that of the perfected men.
住腎宮 [He] resides in the palace of the kidneys.
有碧紫黄白綠青赤蒼之炁
乃北方八天所化也
[It] has emerald, purple, yellow, white, green, blue-green, red, [and] azure pneumas; actually these are the transmutations of the Eight Heavens4 of the direction north. 3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat
舌下二竅
名玄膺
Two cavities under the tongue are called Mysterious Breasts.1
後名咽
吞下一切飲食
[The one at the] back is called the pharynx2 [and] all that we eat [and] drink is swallowed down [through this aperture].
前名喉
十二節
為十二重樓
通連河(清)氣者也
[The one in the] front is known as the trachea;3 [its] twelve segments make up the Twelve-Storied Tower,4 [which] connects with pure ch'i.5 3.2.2. Gallbladder
膽者金之精
水之氣
The gallbladder [represents] the ching of Metal [and] ch'i of Water.
其色青
在肝短葉下
Its color is [dark] green [and it] lies beneath the liver's shorter petal.1
膽者敢也 The gallbladder is boldness.2
183
膽大者必不驚 When the gallbladder is big, [there] cannot be [any] fear.
神名龍耀
字威明
[Its] deity 3 is called Dragon Glory,4 [its] given name is Majestic Illumination.5
形如龜蛇混形
其象如懸袋
[The gallbladder is] shaped like the Turtle [and] Snake [whose] bodies are fused6 [and] it appears like a suspended sack.7
重三兩三銖 [It] weighs three ounces [and] one-sixteenth [of an ounce].8
為肝之腑 [It is] the receptacle [organ] of the liver.9
若㨿膽當不在五臟之内
應歸於六腑
因膽亦受水氣
與坎同道
If [we] rely on [the standard five phases theory, the gallbladder] should not be among the five viscera; [it] should be returned to [the category of] the six receptacles, because the gallbladder also receives energies of the fluids and [it has] the same path [as] k'an 坎.
又不可同於六腑
故別立膽臟
Furthermore, [it] cannot be [regarded as] the same with the six receptacles, therefore [it] stands alone [as] the gallbladder viscus.10
合於膀胱
亦主毛髮
[It is] connected with the bladder; [it] also governs the hair.
黄庭経曰「主諸氣力掛(攝)虎兵 [In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court11 [it is] said, "[The gallbladder] governs all physical strength preserved12 by the tiger's army.
外應眼瞳鼻柱間 On the outer [part of the body, the gallbladder] corresponds to the eyes [and] pupils [and] the middle of the bridge of the nose.13
脳髮相扶
亦倶鮮
The brain [and] hair support each other; also, [the hair] becomes very bright.14
九色錦衣綠華裙」 [The deity of the gallbladder wears] a nine-colored brocade dress [with] a green flower skirt."15
4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace)
降(絳)宮
中一穴
實我性也
The Crimson1 Palace; inside [it there is] a cave [which is] the innate nature of the true self.
一名離卦
一名午時
One of [its] names is [trigram] li 離;2 [its] another name is Hour of Wu 午.3
又號南宮 Also, [its] appellation is Southern Palace.4
受煉神室之所 [It is] where the chamber for refinement of the shen5 is [found].
又名姹女 [Its] another name is Young Girl.6
一名真隂
又名碧眼胡兒
One of [its] names is True Yin; [its] another name is Blue-Eyed Foreign Child.7
在方為南 Among the directions, [it] is the south.
184
上所有掩骨覆之
醫家名為鳩尾
Above [this] place there is a covering bone [which] covers [it]; the physicians call [it] the Turtledove's Tail.
退此後九天思慮之神
又云龍從火裏出是也
Withdrawal [of the mind from] this [cavity leads to] mental activity [eaten up by] thoughts [and] worries8 of the Nine Later Heavens;9 [this is] also called the "dragon exiting from within the fire".10 4.2. Lower Elixir Field
此田中炁
左青
右黄
下黒
上白
The pneumas inside this field are blue-green on the left, yellow on the right, black on the bottom, [and] white on top.
下丹田
真虎
坎
嬰兒處
扶桑宮
氣海
水晶宮
牝戸
The lower elixir field is [also known as] True Tiger, [Earth of]2 K'an 坎, Infant's Place,3 Mulberry Palace,4 Sea of Energy,5 Water Crystal Palace, [and] the Door of the Feminine.6 1
中間一穴
實我真精命蒂
Inside [it] there is a cave, [which is] real ching7 of the true self [and] Life Stem.8
在上一寸三分
實造化之所
天地之根
One [and] one-tenth of an inch above [it] is the place of true generation [and] transformation9 [and] the root of the heaven and earth.
白頭老子青玄之處
實我命造化山川也
[It is] the place of white-headed Lao-tzu's black mystery, [and] the life-destiny of the true self creating10 mountains [and] streams.
真一處
水中金
號金精
實我先天之至精
[It is also called] the Place of True One, the Gold within Water; [its] appellation is Metal Essence,11 [it is also called] Supreme Ching of the Former Heaven of the True Self.
又云虎向水中生
一陽復初
子時
海底月
人明
初生我根基
[It is] also called the Tiger Facing Life within Water,12 One Yang Returning to Beginning,13 Tzu 子 Hour,14 Moon at the Bottom of the Sea,15 Human-Light,16 [and] Foundation of Primordial Self.17
此數名 [Thus it has] these several names.
修真之子
不可不知也
Disciples [who] cultivate perfection must know these.
5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass
玉枕関
此處一名陽宮玉京山
天柱
木(太)乙穴
雷霆宮
The Jade Pillow pass;1 one of the names of this place is Yang Palace on the Jade Capital Mountain,2 [it is also known as] the Heavenly Pillar,3 Cave of the Great4 One, [and] Thunderclap Palace.
大椎骨前寸較處來也 [It is found in] front of the big vertebral bone,5 [at an] inch distance [from it].
寔上天遂行之徑路也 Truly, [this is] the upward pathway [for] advancing 6 [and] ascending to Heaven.7
内黄龍例(倒)以捲上
冲(沖)湘江水
上下通徹
Inner Yellow Dragon8 turns upside down,9 rolls upward, surges into the waters of Hsiang River,10 [and] penetrates up and down.
此緊
隂(陽)神守
[As] this [pass] is tight,11 the yang spirit12 [must be] gathered.
185
閉関至必用陽炁
度方能冲(沖)通
化應真炁
[This] needs using yang pneuma [in order to] force [the pass] open, it is [then] transformed into true pneuma.13
至鵲橋而牛女桂(相)會
育争(胎)嬰兒
[When it] arrives at the Magpie Bridge,14 the Altair and Vega [stars]15 meet16 [and] nourish the infant.17 5.2. Middle Pass
夾脊雙関
實神仙升降之徑路
The Spinal Handle Dual Pass1 is truly the footpath of ascending to [and] descending from divine immortality.2
是我身脉
即膏肓穴道
It is our bodily pulse; [it] is the path of Kao-huang point.3
曰雙関
内轆轤在中
[It is] called the Dual Pass; Inner Windlass4 is found inside [this point].
左為太陽
右為太隂
[Its] left is the Great Yang, [while its] right is the Great Yin.
陽升路 | 血 |
通天柱穴
又名内雙林
通外雙林
陽関脉状(伏)
[It is] the path of ascension of yang [energy], it connects with the Heavenly Pillar6 point, [it is] also called Inner Double Grove,7 [which] connects with Outer Double Grove,8 [where] the vessel of yang pass is hidden.9 5
此穴薰蒸関竅
湧泉
上通泥丸
絡接降(絳)宮
華池
This point steams [energy] into passes [and] cavities, [and to] the Gushing Spring10 [below]; above, [it] connects with the Muddy Pellet, networks [and] connects with the Crimson11 Palace [and] the Flowery Pond.12
取水降于華盖
五行之所
下丹田命帝(蒂)之内
[There it] gathers water [and] descends to the Flowery Canopy,13 [then to] the place of the five phases [which is] inside the Life Stem14 [in] the lower elixir field. 5.3. Lower Pass
尾閭関
一名九竅
又名九頭獅子
又名太子射九重鉄鼓
The Pass of Gate of Tail;1 one of [its] names is Nine Cavities;2 [its] another name is Nine-Headed Lion;3 [it is] also called the Prince Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum.4
隂関固関(閉)
常年不能開
名九重鉄鼓
[This] yin pass is persistently blocked,6 often [it] cannot be opened [for] years, [therefore it is] named the Nine-Layered Iron Drum. 5
太子純陽炁也
能醍醐灌頂
方能穿通
故曰射九重鉄鼓
The Prince is pure yang pneuma; [he] can cause a rich liquid to pour into the top of the head7 [and] he can pierce through [the head], therefore [it is] called Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum.
乃上天之徑路也 Indeed [this is] the footpath [for] ascending to Heaven.8
一名地軸神門
又名朝天嶺
One of the names [of this pass] is the Gate of Earth Pivot Deity;9 [its] another name is Facing Up toward a Mountain Range.10
一名龍虎穴
一名三又(叉)
One of [its] names is Cave of Dragon and Tiger; [its] another name is Three-Forked [Bone].11
腎内有金鼎
内外相通
其三路上沂(通)夾脊
直透頂門而上泥丸
通一身之骨髓也
Inside the kidneys there is the Golden Cauldron,12 inside [and] outside are connected to each another; its three paths13 connect with14 the Spinal Handle15 [above], directly penetrate the Gate of Crown16 and then the Muddy Pellet above, [and] connect with the bone marrows of the entire body.
酆都 The Capital of Hell17
186
6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
南昌上宮 絡(絳)宮 呼接天根 心不動 炁自固 炁 ☲ 就己 朱陵火府
Upper Palace of the South Prosperity [Constellation]1 Crimson2 Palace Exhalation is uniting with the Root of Heaven.3 When the mind is immovable, the pneuma consolidates by itself.4 Pneuma5 (Trigram li) Approaching chi6 Fire Palace on the Vermilion Mound7
6.2. South (K'an) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
斗牛女虚 寒靈丹殿 流戊 身不動 精自固 精 ☵ 己 下丹 玄武煞炁 危室壁 逆則聖 順則凡
Dipper, Ox[-Boy], Maiden, Void1 Cold Numinosity Elixir Hall Flowing to wu2 When the body is immovable, the ching consolidates by itself.3 Ching
(Trigram k'an)4
Chi5 Lower elixir6 Noxious pneuma7 of the Mysterious Warrior8 Rooftop, House, Wall9 Going against [the course of nature] is [the way of] sages; following [it] is [the way of] ordinary men.10
6.3. East (Chen)
☲(☳)
(Trigram chen)1
一名東海青龍 One of [its] names is the Green Dragon of the Eastern Sea.
甲方 [It corresponds to] the direction of chia 甲.2
木液 Wood fluid.
在封(卦)属震 Among the trigrams3 [it] belongs to chen 震.
在方属東 Among the directions [it] belongs to the east.
在五行属木 Among the five phases [it] belongs to Wood.
在道為魂
性也
In the Tao [it] is the hun [and it corresponds to] the innate nature.4
属火神之母 [It] belongs to the mother of fire shen.5
在五臟属肝 Among the five viscera [it] belongs to the liver.
在天為日 In the heaven [it] is the sun.
實我魂室之所也 [It is] the location of the Chamber of the True Self's Hun.
187
6.4. West (Tui)
☱
(Trigram tui)1
一曰西山白虎 Some call [it] the White Tiger of the Western Mountains.2
庚位 [It occupies] keng 庚 position.
金精 Metal ching.3
在卦屬兌 Among the trigrams [it] belongs to tui 兌.
在方屬西 Among the directions [it] belongs to the west.
在五行屬金 Among the five phases [it] belongs to Metal.
在道為魄
情也
In the Tao [it] is the p'o [and it corresponds to] emotions.4
屬水精之母 [It] belongs to the mother of the water ching.5
在臓腑為肺 Among the viscera [and] receptacles [it] is the lungs.
在天為月 In the heaven [it] is the moon.
實我魄室之所也 [It is] the location of the Chamber of the True Self's P'o. 6.5. Center (Ch'ien) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
黄庭 中 刀圭 ☰ 土釜 魁[鬼勾][鬼雚]䰢魓[鬼甫]魒 意不動 神自靈
Yellow Court1 Center2 Jade knife3 (Trigram ch'ien)4 Earthen Crucible5 K'uei, shao, huan, hsing, pi, fu, p'iao6 [When] the intent is immovable, the shen [turns into] numinosity by itself.7
7. Extraordinary Vessels 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
陽踰 陽蹻 任脉 隂 隂腧
Yang Entering [Vessel] Yang Heel [Vessel]2 Conception Vessel3 Yin Heel [Vessel]4 Yin Transport [Vessel]5
188
1
8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods
1
In bottom-to-top order
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.
冬至 小寒 大寒 立春 雨水 驚蟄 春分 清明 穀雨 立夏 小滿 芒種 夏至 小暑 大暑 立秋 處暑 白露 秋分 寒露 霜降 立冬 小雪 大雪
Winter Solstice
Tung-chih
Slight Cold
Hsiao-han
Great Cold
Ta-han
Beginning of Spring
Li-ch'un
Rain Water
Yü-shui
Excited Insects
Ching-che
Spring Equinox
Ch'un-fen
Clear [and] Bright
Ch'ing-ming
Grain Rains
Ku-yü
Summer Begins
Li-hsia
Grain Filling
Hsiao-man
Grain [in] Ear
Mang-chung
Summer Solstice
Hsia-chih
Slight Heat
Hsiao-shu
Great Heat
Ta-shu
Autumn Begins
Li-ch'iu
Limit of Heat
Ch'u-shu
White Dew
Pai-lu
Autumn Equinox
Ch'iu-fen
Cold Dew
Han-lu
Hoar Frost Descends
Shuang-chiang
Winter Begins
Li-tung
Slight Snow
Hsiao-hsüeh
Great Snow
Ta-hsüeh
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9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
初一 初二 初三 初四 初五 初六 初七 初八 弦 初九 初十 十一 十二 十三 十四 十五 望 十六 十七 十八 十九 二十 廿一 廿二 廿三 弦 廿四 廿五 廿六 廿七 廿八 廿九 三十 晦
First1 Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth, [upper] crescent moon2 Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth, full moon3 Sixteenth Seventeenth Eighteenth Nineteenth Twentieth Twenty first Twenty second Twenty third, [lower] crescent moon4 Twenty fourth Twenty fifth Twenty sixth Twenty seventh Twenty eighth Twenty ninth Thirtieth, last day5
Stele Inscription
北京白雲觀藏板 Printing block is preserved at Beijing's White Cloud Temple.
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Appendices Appendix A: Selected Passages The Hsiu-chen T'u Xiuzhen tu 修真圖: Diagram of Cultivating Perfection. Probably dating from the early 19th century, this is a diagram (tu 圖) depicting the Daoist body in terms of alchemical and cosmological principles. Versions of this diagram have been found in Guangdong, on Wudang shan 武當山 (Hubei), on Qingcheng shan 青城山 (Sichuan), and in Daoist monasteries in Beijing and Shanghai. It contains inscriptions in textual form, symbols of paradises, alchemical symbolism and practice descriptions, lunar phases, names of the twenty-eight constellations, and elements relating to thunder rites (leifa 雷法). (Komjathy, 2004) Complete Chart of the Regeneration of the Primary Vitalities To conclude this subject we present a wood-block broadsheet printed at Chhêngtu in Szechuan by one Tuan Fu 端甫 in 1922. Again we see the bodily microcosm, but not exactly sagittal of frontal, rather in the sitting lotus position yet what might be called passant regardant. The title of the chart (Fig. 1588) is especially significant in the present context – Hsiu Chen Chhüan Thu 修眞全圖 (Complete Chart of the Regeneration of the Primary Vitalities). The general idea of the diagram is much the same as that of the Nei Ching Thu 内經圖, but cruder and even more influenced by Buddhism. One notes immediately the tracheal rings, the pulmonary lobes Buddhicised into a lotus flower surmounting the heart, and on the right at the bottom the two kidneys. The great interest of the chart, however, is that it combines the Nei Ching Thu system with macrocosmic elements as in the Ming Ching Thu 明鏡圖 (Fig. 1551), especially the succession of lunar phases representing the constant cyclical changes of Yang and Yin chhi and i in the body, so much so indeed that the spinal column is marked with all the twenty-four fortnightly periods (chieh chhi 節氣) of the year. A very old feature is the appearance of the ching-chhi raising mechanisms (cf. p. 108), the lu chhê 鹿車, yang chhê 羊車 and niu chhê 牛車 being situated approximately at the places of the 'three gates' (san kuan 三關). The symbolical animals of the four directions of space (ssu hsiang 四象) are prominent on each side at the top, in accordance with Taoist physiological alchemy. But elsewhere there is much imagery of Buddhist character. The base of the body, for example, is represented as a sharp blade, near which is a horse and rider; we are told that fools ride to their deaths on this steed while sages mount it to become immortals – this is mirrored in the famous adage, marked just above, that proceeding accordance to Nature leads to death while following counter-Nature leads to immortality (shun tsê ssu, ni tsê hsien 順則死逆則仙).1 Just beside this is an open fan containing the names of nine Buddhist hells. Upwards again the reins and the heart are represented by two boys each marked with a suitable kua 卦, as one would expect, with Chhien kua in the Yellow Court; but on each side (and elsewhere in the diagram) we find complicated and unusual characters, the printed forms of the exorcistic talismans (fu 符). Lastly, a feature differing from the Nei Ching Thu is the greater use of medical terminology, a number of acupuncture points being indicated as well as the tu mo and jen mo tracts. Moreover in the panels of print at the sides there are relics of the older anatomical descriptions in which even standard weights of organs can be found mentioned. And although the nei tan microcosmos has been so much Buddhicised these panels still contain and expound several texts from the Huang Thing Ching. 1. This is a perspicuous reminiscence of the ancient practice of 'sending the semen upwards to nourish the brain' (cf. pp. 30, 197 ff.); or at least a meditational recall of it, conceived entirely in terms of chhi, and taking its place within a context of Buddhist vinaya celibacy.
(Needham 1983: 116, 118) The Hsiu-chen Ch'üan T'u The Hsiu Chen Chhüan Thu 修眞全圖 (Complete Chart of the Regeneration of the Primary Vitalities), a Chhêngtu wood-block broadsheet of the twenties. It combines the macrocosmic elements of the + 10thcentury Ming Ching Thu 明鏡圖 (Fig. 1551) with the Taoist physiology of the Nei Ching Thu 内經圖 (Fig. 1587). (Needham 1983: 117)
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The Hsiu-chen T'u and Nei-ching T'u Building on earlier traditions, especially those of the Huangting jing, the neidan view of the human beings has often been represented in diagrams and illustrations. The most famous are the Neijing tu 内經 圖 (Chart of the Inner Warp), whose main version dates from 1886 and is found in Beijing's Baiyun guan 白雲觀 (White Cloud Temple), and the more detailed Xiuzhen tu 修真圖 (Chart of the Cultivation of Perfection), transmitted in several versions (Pregadio and Skar: 2000) Inner Deities in the Hsiu-chen T'u Neidan has preserved visible traces of earlier practices in both of its best-known charts of the inner body, the Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu. The Neijing tu includes several divine beings in its representation of the "inner landscape," and the Xiuzhen tu explicates its visual map of the inner alchemical process with passages related to the Huangting jing (Pregadio, 2008) China and the Alternative Anatomy Although ancient civilizations such as Egypt, China, Babylonia, and India were producing some of history's first medical illustrations before 1500 B.C. (Netter, 1957) (Figure 16), many disregard these as contributions to the development of anatomy (MacKinney, 1965). "It is evident that the Chinese have not pursued in medicine a program calculated to lead them to any great success. They have undoubtedly been held back in this as in other spheres of knowledge by their extreme reverence for ancestral beliefs and customs," (Waye, 1973). Thus, the foundations of anatomical inquiry are traditionally attributed to the Ancient Greeks (Allbutt, 1921). From the Han dynasty (221 B.C. - 220 A.D.) to the 19th century, the West underwent revolutions in printing technology, art, anatomy, and medicine. Disproved theories were continually being replaced with new ones, a revered practice in the West. But, in China, little changed. Rather, history accumulated in layers; new thoughts co-existed with old ones. Chinese history's quintessential medical text, The Huang Di Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine), had amassed new theories since before 200 B.C. (Alphen and Aris, 1995) such that the most current medical knowledge always had roots centuries old. Similarly, illustrations remained so unchanged from their earliest symbolic representations that we wonder whether this reflects a lack of the observational skill the Greeks took centuries to perfect. More likely, it shows their concern was not, as it was for the Greeks, over the exact locations and appearances of particular structures; rather, it was on the ideas and deductions to be drawn from them. Ultimately, a chart of acupunctural points and the courses of qi within the body is just as successful in communicating the thought behind it as an illustration from Vesalius' Fabrica is in elucidating tissues such as muscles. Without the means for making concrete observations, the Chinese based their knowledge of anatomy on metaphor. They compared the body to their perceived universe, where health was a balance of Yin (negative, female energy), Yang (positive, male energy), and the Five Phases (earth, water, metal, fire, wood) (Alphen and Aris, 1995). Physicians of China, a country rooted in agriculture, likened the body to a plant. They described a flowering of the face, a body being nurtured by the zang (organs) and illness as a wilting, fading, limpness, shriveling, or desiccation (Kuriyama, 1999). The Chinese drew mystical numerical associations, called the Da shu, or "great numbers." It was no coincidence to the ancient Chinese, for example, that our four limbs matched the number of seasons and directions, and that in the one record of a human dissection on the body of the rebel Wangsun Qing, the hired butchers of his captor, Wang Mang, reported finding five zang (liver, gall bladder, heart, spleen, kidneys) corresponding to the five planets; 12 vessels circulating blood and air corresponding to the 12 rivers flowing toward the Central Kindgom; and 365 parts of the body, one for each day of the year (Lingshu 13/311). Internal organs were not regarded as distinct entities describable by shape, color or form; or as having distinct functions the way we consider legs suitable for walking and eyes useful for sight. Such things as thought and blood flow were not assigned origins in the brain and in the heart as they had been for the Ancient Greeks (Gordon, 1949). Neither were direct causes and effects acknowledged as when a nerve is cut, the arm falls limp, or when an artery is blocked, the pulse disappears. Rather, Chinese physicians saw unbiased power shifting among the body's parts; they drew indirect causes and effects for affected organs with larger spans of time between events. Thus, a weak spleen could lead to emaciation and a lung injury to a coarsening of the skin (Suwen 8/28 - a manuscript preserving the text of the Nanjing, first compiled during the Han Dynasty 221 B.C. - 220 A.D.). They conceived an imaginary organ system called "the three burning spaces," one of the six fu, distributed over upper, middle, and lower parts of the body, and representing heaven, earth, and man (Veith, 1973).
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They had mastered the art of pulse diagnosis, well recorded in the Nanjing, (The Classic of Difficult Issues). Pressing the wrist lightly a physician could assess the state of the skin and pores and of the lungs that governed them. Pressing harder, he could determine the state of blood vessels. Still pressing harder, he gleaned information on the tendons and liver, and at the deepest level, he could know the condition of the kidneys and of the bones over which they presided (Figure 17). Illustrations of the pulse, or mo, place it within the theory of the Five Phases; they show links between the hollow pulse of fire, the floating pulse of metal, the slow beat of earth, the deep rhythms of water (Figure 18) (Kuriyama, 1999). What a Greek physician would have manually had to investigate in order to locate the source of illness, the Chinese physician would deduce by a mere look from the five characteristic colours, or wuse, on the body's surface. From these, he could tell whether a patient suffered pain (green or black), cold (white) or fever (red or yellow) (Kuriyama, 1999) (Figure 19). When the Chinese empire became unified and isolated states formed economic ties, the body became a metaphor for the state as well as a microcosm of the universe (Figure 4). It was seen as composed of depots and palaces connected by conduits. Invisible vapors called qi flowed through these conduits and maintained health, while obstruction caused illness (Alphen and Aris, 1995). Acupuncture was a way of influencing the bodily functions by redirecting the flow of qi within the conduits by various techniques of needle insertion. Developed in the 2nd century, it eventually replaced older procedures of bleeding, still a popular practice in the West at the time. Charts of the various directions and locations of qi traditionally show four views: front, back, side, and a view with organs (Alphen and Aris, 1995). These charts, created during the seven centuries between the Song period and the 19th century, demonstrate the ancient Chinese disregard for specific organ morphology (Figure 20). (Matuk, 2006) Taoist View of the Human Body as the Natural World An expanded vision of the body as the natural world appears in the medieval Daoist school of Highest Clarity (Shangqing 上清). According to this, the human body is not only a combination of natural patterns and energies but also an inner sphere containing supernatural landscapes and divine beings. The body is a complete world with mountains and rivers, a divine and cosmic realm, a paradise and residence of the gods. This understanding appears first in the Huangting jing 黄 庭 經 (Yellow Court Scripture), a visualization manual from the fourth century C.E. In a more recent visual depiction, it is found in the Neijing tu 内經圖 (Chart of Interior Passages). Here the celestial headquarters within is located in the head and matches the immortals' paradise of Mount Kunlun. It is depicted as a large, luscious mountain surrounded by a wide lake and covered with splendid palaces and wondrous orchards (see Fig. 2: Neijing tu). Between the eyes, which are the sun and the moon, one can move inside to the Hall of Light, one of nine palaces in the head. Best reached by passing through the deep, dark valley of the nose, it is guarded by the two high towers of the ears. To attain entry one has to perform the physical/ritual exercise of "beating the heavenly drum": with both palms covering the ears, snap the index and middle fingers to drum against the back of the skull. Underneath the valley of the nose is a small lake, i.e., the mouth. This regulates the water level of the upper lake in the head and raises or lowers it as necessary. Crossing the mouth-lake over its bridge (tongue) and moving further down, one reaches the twelve-storied tower of the throat, then comes to the Scarlet Palace (heart), the Yellow Court (spleen), the Imperial Granary (stomach), the Purple Chamber (gall), and various other starry palaces transposed into the body's depth. Going ever deeper, another cosmic region is reached, with another sun and moon (kidneys). Beneath them, the Ocean of Qi extends with another Mount Kunlun in its midst. Various divine beings, moreover, reside in the body, creating vitality and providing spiritual resources. The Daoist vision of the body as a network of celestial passageways and starry palaces closely overlaps with the medical understanding of the body as consisting of various aspects of qi and the phaseenergetics of the five organs and six viscera. Many acupuncture points have Daoist connotations, and Chinese healing practices and physical longevity exercises are at the root of Daoist practice. Without losing any aspect of the medical dynamics, the Daoist vision provides a more cosmic and spiritual dimension of the same basic understanding, allowing adepts to move beyond mundane existence toward a greater, more spiritual realm, reaching out for the gods in the stars and thereby for the Dao at the center. (Kohn, 2006: 8-10) Taoist View of the Human Body as the Natural World Reorienting the body to be the container of heavenly palaces and deities, to be in fact a cosmos in itself, adepts attain oneness in body and spirit with the cosmic dimensions of the universe. As all parts of the body are transformed into divine entities and firmly guarded by their responsible gods, the very physicality of the adept turns into a cosmic network and becomes the celestial realm in which the gods reside. Visualizing and feeling the gods within the bodily self, the Daoist becomes a more cosmic being, transforming but not relinquishing his physical, embodied nature. (Kohn, 2006: 11)
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Appendix B: Charting a New Itinerary of Perfection in Medieval China: The Formation and Uses of the Diagram on Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu) Lowell Skar There was no such thing as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu), and this paper is about it. That statement, true enough until the eighteenth century, some two hundred years after the period I consider here, admits the existence, from the fourth century, of a rich and expanding set of ideas, practices, and writings under the rubric Cultivating Perfection (xiuzhen) (see diagrams 1-3). In its earliest incarnation among fourth-century literati around modern Nanking, this perfection complex centered on sensuously identifying gods of the body with cosmic deities through imagining and absorbing their astral embodiments. Moreover, while we know of no illustration that mapped the inner potential of a human being to attain perfection called Xiuzhen tu until several centuries later, there were, from the thirteenth century, diagrams that articulated human perfectibility from the inside out called the Diagram of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu 内境圖). These illustrations emerged from the same literati milieu in Fujian and Jiangxi that had reinterpreted Cultivating Perfection as an essentially alchemical process centered on the inner refinement of a human being's endowed primary vitalities. Variants of the diagram bearing this name became known, apparently from the eighteenth century, as Diagrams of Cultivating Perfection to distinguish them from the simpler illustration of the inner perfectibility that assumed the label Diagram of the Inner Channels (Neijing tu 内經圖) and, later, the Diagram of the Inner Effulgences or Landscape (Neijing tu 内景圖) (see diagram 4). Because it did not yet exist under its now common designation, this paper deals with what could be termed either a pre-history of the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu). Alternatively, it can be seen as a history of the early Diagram of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu 内境圖). However envisioned, the paper seeks to provide a perspective on the changing historical background and spiritual priorities of Chinese literati between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by exploring the formation, elaboration, and transformation of the ideas, practices, writings, and diagrams of what have come to be called Cultivating Perfection. The tentative suggestions presented here await further cycles of scholarly enrichment and refinement through such venues as the AAS. Unlike the anatomical drawings dominant in pre-modern Western medical literature, which focus on accurately depicting the human flesh and organs that mark man as a mortal, the Chinese diagrams explored here depict a schematized human being as an integral part of the cosmos and who contains the potential to achieve a distinctively Chinese form of perfection and immortality. Despite their common designations today as the Xiuzhen tu (Diagram of Cultivating Perfection) and Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Effulgences 内景圖) and the many structural parallels in their organization, appearance and aims, the two diagrams are distinct, and bore various names in earlier centuries. Their development reflects a complex evolution in a complex cultural environment whose contours I will explore is this paper. Both diagrams present a schematic view of a human being seated upright and cross-legged in meditation, viewed from one side, sometimes from the left and sometimes from the right. In their full forms, both charts emphasize three parts of the body – the head, chest, and lower belly – which they portray as connected by way of the spine. Adepts used these visual aids within larger programs of self-cultivation that sought to assert themselves as living images of the Way by learning to retrace the path of their lives and of cosmic process to the ultimate sources that make all things possible. Achieving this end demanded that adepts accumulated merit, gained the trust and instruction of a worthy teacher and practiced his teachings and faithfully diligently. If successful, their efforts could help adepts to fortify their individual health, nurture their ancestors, restore their native culture against foreign threats, and ritually save all living beings. Before the eighteenth century, there was no Xiuzhen tu. From its first appearance in the thirteenth century, the chart later called Xiuzhen tu and its cognates were known as Diagrams of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu). This shift in designation was due, it is suggested here, to a change in spiritual allegiance by the imperial court in the transition between the Ming and Qing dynasty. Beginning in the late Ming dynasty, the Longmen branch of the Complete Perfection (Quanzhen 全眞) tradition gained imperial support. They promoted a new diagram of the human body's cosmic dimensions in their main temple in Beijing under the name Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Channels 内經圖). This led to a renaming of the earlier diagram as the Xiuzhen tu, most likely because of its close ties to the Cultivating Perfection literature that had existed since the twelfth century. It was only been since the nineteenth century, apparently, that this latter chart has been called the Diagram of Inner Effulgences (Neijing tu 内景圖). I relate the diagrams to textual material on Cultivating Perfection. This will help to illuminate its historical development and range of uses by adepts. It is significant that the earliest known examples of what we now call the Xiuzhen tu appeared almost simultaneously in a medical book and, in piecemeal form, a book of religious self-cultivation (see attached diagrams). Both of them arose from the same literati circles in northern Jiangxi and Fujian. They were the visual crystallizations of larger
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reassessments of medicine and Cultivating Perfection practices that coalesced during Southern Song times as part of the emerged of a new Golden Elixir tradition of alchemy rooted in the teachings of Zhang Boduan and his successors, but also had clear ties to earlier traditions. Of these traditions, the most important was the Supreme Purity (Shangqing 上清). This tradition arose in Jiangsu during the Six Dynasties era as revelations from Lady Wei Huacun and other divine figures to literati families from 364 to 370. At the turn of the sixth century, Tao Hongjing (536-356) reassembled, collated, and annotated manuscript copies of these revelations into a system of teachings and a spiritual hierarchy that made Cultivating Perfection into a refined and hierarchical mode of literati self-cultivation into the divine realm. During the Tang reconsolidation of China and its culture, literati incorporated these teachings and ideas into the broader spiritual culture based in the central court and important sacred mountains of Tang and Northern Song times. This broader view of Cultivating Perfection was associated with such figures as Sima Chengzhen, Celestial Master Wu, Lou Jing, and Yanluozi, and included practices of self-cultivation, medicine, and fundamental Daoist ritual. As literati reassessed and enriched Chinese culture amid the rapid changes in society between the mid-Tang and mid-Song dynasty (i.e. from the mid-eighth to the mid-twelfth centuries), they "turned inward," in the manifold senses of this phrase proposed by the late James T.C. Liu. Part of this turn inward expressed itself in the rise of alchemical traditions focused less and less regularly on the manipulations of minerals and metals and more on imagining internal refinement with alchemical language and imagery. What we now know as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection and its corresponding literature took shape in illustrative and written materials in the literati culture of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries associated with traditions of medicine and inner alchemy in Fujian and Jiangxi. Before its cultural recycling in Southern Song and Yuan times, Cultivating Perfection had consolidated itself in the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) tradition of aristocratic self-cultivation in modern Jiangsu during the Six Dynasties, and expanded to include ritual activity in the Heavenly Masters (Tianshi 天師) or Rectifying Unity (Zhengyi 正一) tradition in Tang times, especially as elaborated in the Three Profundities (Sandong 三洞) systematization. By the thirteenth century it had become part of the Rectifying Rites of the Heart of the Heaven (Tianxin zhengfa 天心正法) tradition and was central to a new mode of inner cultivation codified by the circle of Bai Yuchan in northern Fujian and Jiangxi in relation to new traditions of medicine in those areas. These developments will be explored below. Cultivating Perfection before the Tang The terms Cultivation (xiu) and Perfection (zhen) have been long used in China, but xiuzhen first became a prominent compound in the revelations of the Supreme Purity movement from 364-370 and their codification by Tao Hongjing around the turn of the sixth century. The verb xiu 修 has a range of meanings that encompasses its original significance as "decorate," "ornament," or "trim" to include the meanings of "repair," "mend," "improve," "prepare," "put in order," and "practice," "train" and, of course, "cultivate," although it lacks the agricultural background central to the latter English term. It is also related to the homophonic stative verb xiu that signifies "be long." The nominal zhen 眞 generally points toward the senses of "genuine," "authentic," "true," "real," and "actual" and is related to the terms zhen "test," "try out," "correct," "upright," and "chaste" and zheng "upright," "correct," "right," "proper," or "rectify." Perfection becomes an ideal for human beings in the writings of Zhuangzi and is also a central part of the classical medical traditions. The two terms only appear as a consistent compound in the Six Dynasties era, primarily in the revelations to southern aristocrats from the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) celestial realm in the late fourth century. (There are no occurrences of the compound, for instance, in Ge Hong's writings.) The words xiu and zhen appear side by side a scant four times in the Declarations of the Perfected (Zhen'gao 眞誥, CT 1016), which is the fundamental scholarly analysis of the main teachings and practices of the Shangqing tradition completed by Tao Hongjing in 499. All four of these instances relate to Xu Mi and none of them suggest that xiuzhen was a highly developed set of ideas or practices in the earliest phase of the movement. After presenting his terms of office, Xu's biography states, for example, "While outwardly blending in with worldly affairs, he inwardly cultivated the learning of the perfected" (CT 1016, 20.8b). Two other examples include one from the first chapter "How to seek the Way? Climb up and respond with a diligent mind for cultivating perfection" (CT 1016, 1.4b) and one from the fifth chapter that treats the Nine Troubles (jiuhuan 九患) in Learning the Way advises the adept to "cultivate perfection and embrace simplicity (xiuzhen baosu 修眞抱素)" (5.12b). A final passage asks one to "understand the basics of Cultivating Perfection [through] nourishing divinities and vital nature (yingshen yangxing 營神 養性), and the methods of securing and protecting (zhenshou zhi fa 鎭守之法)" (8.12b-13a). These four instances do not suggest a well-developed set of ideas and practices centered on cultivating perfection. The makings of this more elaborate scheme perhaps came from a cognate phrase such as xiuxing shangzhen zhi dao 修行上眞之道 or "practice the Way of Supreme Perfection," of which xiuzhen may be considered an abbreviation. In its abbreviated form, 195 xiuzhen later came to designate the whole system
of religious practice advocated by the Shangqing tradition. After this system was integrated into the other systems of Daoist practice among literati and kings between late sixth and early eighth centuries, it expanded to become more encompassing, elaborate, and more integrated into the aspirations of in fifth and sixth century China. The specific meaning of this practice was at first contrasted with practicing the Ways of Intermediate Perfection (zhongzhen 中眞) and Inferior Perfection (xiazhen 下眞). While early materials suggests one vision of what this form of practice meant, later Shangqing materials give this hierarchy of perfection fuller elaboration. The early meaning of this form of practice seem to refer to the three levels of teachings seem to refer to the Way taught by the key patriarchs of the movement, the three Mao brothers, Mao Ying, and his two younger siblings, Mao Gu and Mao Zhong. While Mao's preferred teachings were part of the teachings transmitted by Wei Huacun to the world of literati, she later passed on a more refined and complex body of teachings and cosmological scheme to late fourth century literati that Tao Hongjing codified a century later. As the main purveyor of Shangqing teachings to the world, Wei Huacun, has the term Supreme Perfection (shangzhen 上眞) as part of her title. A key passage in the Zhen'gao (CT 1016 2.4b) has Lady Wei say on behalf of the Elder Mao: "To inwardly illuminate the Perfectly Upright (zhengzhen 正眞) and to outwardly blend into the worldly duties (shiye 事業) is [the mark of someone of] excellent talent. This is cultivating the Way of Highest Perfection." Such an expression is a close counterpart to the phrase Tao later uses to describe Xu Mi (CT 1016 20.8b). Elsewhere we read (9.18a-b) what Yang Xi had heard about the Way of Supreme Perfection. It began with practicing the method of the Brilliant Hall and Mysterious Perfection (Mingtang xuanzhen 明堂玄眞) and culminated in receiving the Way of the Jade Pendant and Golden Ring (yupei jindang zhi dao 玉 佩 金 鐺 之 道 ). This passage suggests that understanding and practicing the latter granted one access to the highest realms in the Shangqing tradition. Mao Ying's hagiography states that the Nine-times Cycled Divine Elixir (jiuzhuan shendan 九 轉神丹), see Strickmann 1979: 146-151) constituted the level of practice just below the two mentioned above. These three levels made up the heart of what three Mao brothers practiced. It also suggests that the early phase of Shangqing revelations included a three-tiered hierarchy likely constituting the three levels of Perfection corresponding to the three levels of teachings (Nine-times Cycled Divine Elixir, Brilliant Hall and Mysterious Perfection, and the Jade Pendant and Golden Ring) stressed by Mao Ying. As the Shangqing revelations continued to enter the world, a more elaborate scheme of perfection seems to have emerged. Extant versions of the Perfect Scripture of the Eight [Carriages or Divine Ladies of] Simplicity (Basu zhenjing 八素眞經), for example, explicitly give a four-tiered vision of revealed scriptures, with three titles constituting the Way of the Most High [Lord Lao] (Taishang 太上), and seven, six, and eight titles, respectively, constituting the Ways of Supreme, Intermediate and Lower Perfection (shangzhen 上眞, zhongzhen 中眞, xiazhen 下眞). While practicing the Way of the Most High grants one access to the Jade Purity (Yuqing 玉清) realm, practicing the three Ways of Perfection grants one access to the upper, middle, and lower ranks of the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) realm. Listed among the texts of the Way of Supreme Perfection are those central scriptures such as those of the Great Profundity (Dadong), Nine Perfected (Jiuzhen 九眞), Purple Texts Written by the Spirits (Lingshu ziwen 靈書紫文) and the Eight [Carriages or Divine Ladies of] Simplicity (Basu 八素). Isabelle Robinet has shown that while the practices and methods included in these latter highly literate texts show considerable variety, they generally represent an interiorization and refinement of earlier religious practices known in the south by ancestors of those who received the Shangqing revelations such as Ge Hong, as well as some of the Celestial Masters practices. In particular, they concentrate on summoning, visualizing, and uniting various deities that dwell in adepts' own bodies at the same time as they seek to project perfected replicas of themselves outward to meet the deities in the astral realms where they dwell. Thus, their core practices consisted of a simultaneous actualization of the gods in the body and an imaginary projection of a spiritualized self to the same gods in the heavens. Especially noteworthy among these practices are those which deal with absorbing and uniting the sacred masculine effulgences (jing 景) of the sun and moon with corresponding energies in the human body that are central to the above texts and learning to do the same with their obscure counterparts, the divine feminine simplicities (su 素). This preliminary work gave adepts access to higher practices involving the deities in the planets, and finally to contemplative practices centered on the central, pivotal source-point of the cosmos centered on constellation of the Big Dipper and its various deities. While Cultivating Perfection was thus a rare compound in early Shangqing texts, as an abbreviation of the main contemplative innovations of this tradition, it originally referred to a specific set of practices. When Tao Hongjing (456-536) systematized the Shangqing tradition, he provided it a broader foundation that made it possible for it to be used as a general term for pursuing Daoist religious practice by Tang times. Part of what made this generalization possible was the systematic linking of certain forms of spiritual practice to patterns of advancement into specific celestial realms by Tao Hongjing. He reassembled and codified manuscript versions of the Shangqing revelations and created a movement of self-cultivation for his literati fellows based on Maoshan in Jiangsu at the end of the fifth century. Part of
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his efforts included his systematic organization of the structure of spiritual beings and spiritual advancement for Shangqing adepts. He inherited the three-tiered spiritual hierarchy articulated by his distant relatives. Ge Hong (383-343), who wrote of the high Heavenly Transcendents (tianxian 天仙) who could travel through the heavens, the middling Earthly Transcendents (dixian 地仙) who could traverse the holy mountains, and the lower Transcendents by Release from the Corpse (shijiexian 尸解仙) who only apparently died, as well as stressing the Great Purity (Taiqing 太清) as the first stop in the celestial realm. After his successors had received revelations from the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) realm they realized that Ge's scheme included only the lower rungs of what was possible in becoming holy. In order to give greater coherence to this scheme, Tao devised a full divine hierarchy in his Chart of the Positions and Duties of the Perfected and Numina, in the Cavern-Mystery tradition (CT 167, Dongxuan lingbao Zhenling weiye tu 洞玄靈寶眞靈位業圖). This work provides us with Tao's spiritual hierarchy, and survives with an undated preface signed by Tao was corrected by the late Tang Daoist Lüqiu Fangyuan (d. 902). Tao's preface says that the text seeks to put some order to the jumble of the Daoist spiritual hierarchies that existed in south China at the time. The text presents more than 500 deities in a seven-tiered pantheon that is topped by the super-celestial Jade Purity (Yuqing) realm, followed by the Supreme Purity (Shangqing), Great Ultimate (Taiji), and Great Purity (Taiqing) celestial realms, leading to the transitional Nine Palaces (Jiugong 九宮) and the worldly Earthly Transcendents (dixian) realms, and finally to the demonic Fengdu 酆都 netherworld. The basic spiritual hierarchy articulated by Tao in the south was also central to vision of divine order articulated by Daoists in the court of the northern Zhou at the end of the sixth century. Two extant chapters (83-84) of the Secret Essentials of the Unsurpassed (CT 1138, Wushang miyao 無上秘要) include more than 500 deities ranked into six classes that parallel the first five levels of the spiritual hierarchy presented by Tao. (The only difference is that the rank of the Earthly Perfected [dizhen 地眞] is inserted just above that of Earthly Transcendents, just before the rank of the Nine Palaces). The last sentence in chapter 84 suggests that chapters 85 and 86 (now missing) most likely included the deities of the realms of Supreme Purity and Jade Purity. This ranking is confirmed in chapter 78 that deals with the medicinal recipes that will lead to various advances, with the minor exception that the rank of the Earthly Perfected is called the that of the Heavenly Transcendents (Tianxian). The chapters of this compendium of earlier texts for the court that deal with practices of "releasing from the corpse" (shijie 尸解) (chapters 87-100, missing 88-90) likewise link them to various ranks of spiritual development, but not in the order we have encountered previously. Instead, their top four levels are ranked from Ultimate to Supreme Purity to Jade Purity and Great Purity. These seven ranks are largely identical to the broader understanding of Daoism that that sought to provide some order to the Daoist traditions that had emerged in the previous three centuries. The above considerations give a glimpse of some of the efforts to articulate the common foundations of various Daoist traditions that energized Tang dynasty priests. They also begin to show the way that some of the ideas and visions of spiritual practice developed by the Supreme Purity movement could become central to this process of consolidation, and how the narrow understanding of Cultivating Perfection could come to have greater significance within these foundations. Cultivating Perfection in Tang and Northern Song Times During the Tang dynasty, the earlier ideas of cultivating perfection rooted in the sensuous forms of imaginary visualization of deities central to the Supreme Purity movement as codified by Tao Hongjing became key parts of more comprehensive structures of Daoist traditions sponsored by the central court and state-sponsored mountain religious centers. In spite of the emergence of new Daoist revelatory traditions and practices during the intervening three centuries, especially in the south, early Song rulers and priests generally sought to reassemble and promote the forms of Daoism that their Tang predecessors had codified. By the end of the Northern Song in the first quarter of the twelfth century, the failure of classical Daoist traditions to repel encroachments by both invading Jurchen troops and new revelatory traditions and deity cults led to a military and spiritual breaching of the walls of the imperial central court. One fine example of this broader synthesis of Daoist religion from Tang times appears in the Genuine Ranks of Cultivating Perfection in the Seven Realms (CT 433, Qiyu xiuzhen chengpin 七域修眞證品圖), which dates from Tang times. The preface to this work states that the Yellow Emperor articulated the "Way of Nonintervention and the essentials of Eternal Life and Cultivating Perfection" (wuwei zhi dao changsheng xiuzhen zhi yao 無爲之道長生修眞之要, CT 433.3a). It then articulates what it means by each these three things. By the Way of Nonintervention, the author discusses the emergence and normal working of the cosmos which leaves nothing in nature undone. The author uses Eternal Life to remind readers of the results of preserving and nurturing the three fundamental endowments of human life: the vitalities of qi (corresponding to the Way), spirit (shen, corresponding to heaven) and essence (jing, corresponding to the earth). Finally, Cultivating Perfection refers to the 98,000 "methods of Cultivating the Way for following the ordinary up to the sacred, rising and falling through the Seven Realms.... The
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gateways for Cultivating the Way and the paths for Climbing to Perfection are all able to result in ascending to the heavens for those who are able to diligently work at them for a long time." (CT 433.2a). It then quotes a passage that articulates the Nine Troubles in a simpler, but fuller way than presented in the above passage from the Zhen'gao (CT 1016, 5.12b). Besides dealing with a nearly identical set of seven realms found in Tao Hongjing's work (CT 167), the author also relates them to seven groups of scriptures and seven repertoires of practice that will permit the adept to attain a give spiritual realm. The bottom-up ranking (which contrasts with Tao's topdown ranking) suggests that it was meant for religious practitioners on their way up rather than meant as a synoptic overview of an orthodox hierarchy, as Tao's text was. Similar to other texts, this one uses the term Realm (jing 境) as a synonym for the word Realm (yu 域) in its title. From the bottom up, the seven ranks include the seventeen minor Cavern-Heavens (Dongtian 洞天) and the Ten Great Cavern-Heavens, leading up to the transitional Nine Palaces realm, followed by the three lower celestial realms of various perfected beings (Great Purity, Great Ultimate, Supreme Purity), and culminating in the super-celestial Jade Purity realm which hold the highest hypostases of the Way. In relating these realms to sets of scriptures and their associated practices, it is important to note that the first scripture mentioned in this text as embodying the "Way of Transcendence" (xiandao 仙道) was the Genuine Scripture of the Eight [Carriages or Divine Ladies] of Simplicity (Basu zhenjing 八素眞經). As mentioned above, this scripture presented four levels of practice and attainment for the fully developed Supreme Purity movement. Underlying and fundamental to these four levels in this text are the so-called "practices of the nine cycle" (jiuzhuan zhi xing 九轉之行) of the Cavern-Heavens, directed in the first level toward transcendence (xian) and in the second level toward perfection (zhen). The third through seventh levels of practice all begin with these practices directed toward the dead in various parts of the realm. The third, transitional, level centers on cultivating the Scriptures of the Numinous Treasure (Lingbao 靈寶) and the Nine Palaces. Levels four through six deal respectively with cultivating the Perfect Way of Intermediate Rank (Zhongpin zhendao 中品眞道), the Perfect Way of Supreme Rank (Shangpin zhendao 上品眞道), and the Perfect Way of the Three Ranks (Sanpin zhendao 三品眞道), while the final, uppermost seventh rank centers on cultivating the Way of the Most High (Taishang zhi dao 太上之道). These last four correspond to those found in the Basu zhenjing. In this elaborate scheme of Daoist traditions devised in the Tang, Cultivating Perfection is no longer related simply to a set of practices within the Supreme Purity movement. Rather, because this movement was given highest ranking in the Daoist syntheses that began in the mid-sixth century but culminated in the mid-eighth century, Cultivating Perfection was also accorded a broader and more important place. In this text, for instance, it is an abbreviation of "gateways for Cultivating the Way and the paths for Climbing to Perfection" (xiudao zhi menhu dengzhen zhi jinglu 修道之門戸登眞之徑路) found in the preface, an abbreviation of the phrase xiudao dengzhen 修道登眞 (Cultivate the Way and Climb up to Perfection). Classical Daoism along the lines presented in the above text found its fullest articulation in the ritual writings of such figures as Zhang Wanfu (fl. 700-742), and the spiritual writings of Sima Chengzhen (646-735), 12th Patriarch of the Shangqing lineage. Together they helped to reinforce the mutual dependence of self-cultivation and ritual practice, and to relate them to a system of ordination grades that integrated texts, practices, and spiritual cosmology. Self-cultivation texts associated with such figures as Sun Simiao (fl. 652-682) and the author of the Tianyinzi 天隱子 likewise give a clear view of the centrality of self-cultivation based on circulating the energies in the human body and grounded it in forms of cosmogonic process than had not been included as part of the Tang cultural synthesis. We read in Sima Chengzhen's biography that in addition to annotating the Canon of the Way and its Power (Daode jing), he "also composed the Secret Instructions on Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen zhiyao 修眞旨要) so that those who perused it could obtain his approach [to the Way]" (Yunji qiqian 雲 笈七籤, CT 1032, 5.15b). This work was still extant in libraries of Song times, but the work no longer seems to be available. Chapter 57 in this Northern Song compilation of mainly Five Dynasties and earlier texts, was also by Sima Chengzhen. The Essays on the Essential Meaning of Ingesting Qi (Fuqi jingyi lun 服氣精義論), divided here into 9 essays, was also divided into two parts and published as two separate titles in the Ming Daoist Canon. The first sections of this edition were put under a separate title (CT 830), the Fuqi jingyi lun. Most of the latter parts of this text are reprinted in (CT 267) as the Xiuzhen fuqi zalun 修眞服氣雜論, with the added title "Cultivating Perfection" and comprising seven essays. They deal with the lower and more fundamental stages of cultivation centered on absorbing the essentials in the body, adding to them with breathing exercises, and using gymnastics, talisman-water, drug-taking, precautions, the inner organs, and the recognition and treatment of diseases to deal with unforeseen problems. The sources regularly cited are from the Shangqing and classical medical traditions, and they all seek to help the adept isolate and refine the cosmic sources of qi in the body. By the early Northern Song period, many of these fundamental, though, general writings were included in the Yunji qiqian (CT 1032), a compendium of writings collected for the Emperor Zhenzong
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(r. 997-1022) as part of the compilation of the Daoist Canon he ordered, but completed in the early years of Emperor Renzong's (r. 1022-1063) reign. This conservative compendium for imperial perusal contains many of the texts important to the scriptural rubrics, self-cultivation, and hagiography of various Daoist traditions, but nearly no ritual texts. It also makes scarce mention of the new movements that had emerged in local areas of the south during the previous century and had begun to make themselves felt in the central court. Two chapters (45 and 46) in the Yunji qiqian are of particular interest here. Bearing the title Secret Essentials for Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen zhiyao 修眞旨要), these pages give a synoptic overview of the main functions and duties of a high-level Daoist priest. Rather than stress the priests links to the divine hierarchy as did the which we considered above, these chapters focus on the range of practices expected of the adept. The first chapter is divided into 30 short essays, while the second chapter falls into 25 short essays. The introduction to the whole stresses that the "Way is the Most Perfect of the tenuous void and the arts are the mysterious crafts of transformation. Since the Way is without form, it depends on the arts to save humans. Since humans are numinous, they can cultivate themselves and merge with the Way. When humans are able to learn the Way, they transform the essentials of the spontaneous Way. All of this is profoundly simple and easy to understand. The secrets of the arts lay only in talismans, qi and medicines." While the first relates to practicing the ritual traditions revealed by the gods, the second relates to cultivating what was endowed to each individual by cosmic process, and the last relates to making use of the essential aspects of cosmic process crystallized in aspects of the natural world. The author concludes that if one "excels in one thing, then nothing with fail to respond." There follow 54 sections dealing with all aspects of ritual, contemplative, and medical practice that are expected of a priest and which constitute his "cultivating perfection." This broad view of religious practice incorporated important aspects of the Shangqing legacy, but also included the other major Daoist traditions of the time. While the above trends were indicative of standard forms of spiritual learning promoted by the state, important changes were afoot outside of this restricted purview. Beginning in the eighth century, a range of writers on medicine, alchemy, Buddhism, Daoism, and literati self-cultivation helped to articulate more fully than before a new approach to understanding the subtle inner workings of self-cultivation on the basis of unconventional forms of learning that had been neglected by many scholars in the previous several centuries. While working along the lines of Sun Simo, Tianyinzi, and others, these figures began stressing texts and traditions that the scholarly consensus of the early Tang had excluded from its political and spiritual concerns. Among them were the medical doctor Wang Bing (fl. 762), the reclusecompanions Tan Qiao (fl. 900-930) and Chen Tuan (d. 989), the alchemists Peng Xiao (d. 989) and Cui Xifan (fl. 940), and the ritual master Tan Zixiao (fl. 900-930), all of whom helped to revive and enrich literati interest in neglected cosmological aspects of the human being in ways that literati would work out during the next three or four centuries. Some of the scholarly interest focused around and annotated and illustrated editions of the Scripture of the Yellow Court (Huangting jing 黄庭經) that emerged in the latter part of the Tang dynasty, a longer version that focused on the Inner Phosphors (or radiant gods) (neijing 内景) and a shorter one that focused on the Outer Phosphors (waijing 外景). These works, central to the early stages of the Shangqing traditions, but reflecting earlier practices centered on the gods in the body, received renewed scholarly interested from the mid-eighth century. Two major commentaries, one by Lü Zhongbai (or Liangqiuzi, fl. 729) and the other by Hu Yin (fl. 848) are evidence of the importance of both this text on the inner and spiritual aspects of the human being and of illustrating them in diagrams. Versions of Liangqiuzi's texts are found in (CT 402, Huangting neijing yujing zhu 黄庭内景玉經註) and in the Yunji qiqian (CT 1032, 11.1a-12.27b, Shangqing Huangting neijing zhu), while Hu Yin's work is found as (CT 432, Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黄庭内景五臟六腑補瀉圖). Their centrality for later traditions of Cultivating Perfection are suggested by the fact that these two works fill the final seven chapters of the late thirteenth-century work known as the Ten Writings on Cultivating Perfection (CT 263, Xiuzhen shishu 修眞十書), which will be discussed below (Hu's work fills chapter 54 and Lü's work fills chapters 55-60). Their illustrations focused on the outward appearances of the creatures dwelling in the adept's body. Another important form of unconventional learning expressed itself in Northern Song period through several works based on "realistic" diagrams of the inner workings of the human being created by doctors and artisans at the dissections of executed criminals. Here the operative words in these works are being "inner" (as in the human body's innards) and "genuine" (as in caught live and not simply imagined) for the purposes of medical understanding. During Southern Song and Yuan times, these too were refined and made centerpieces to both medical and self-cultivation traditions. What is important to note is that they are said to center on the trunk of the body, i.e. the body without the head, arms and legs. The centrality of this part of the body is that it contains the viscera that both the medical and self-cultivation literature describe as receiving, storing, refining, and losing the body's vitalities, and therefore key to understanding both illness and perfection.
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Let's look first to the medical literature (see Okanishi Tameto, Sō izen iseki kō [Taiwan reprint, 1969], pp. 299-303). During the Song dynasty several works were published that sought to depict the "genuine" insides of a human being, based on the results of inspections after the execution of criminals. These diagrams reputedly portrayed the inner organs and vessels of the recently deceased from the next down. First of these was the work called the Diagram of Ou Xifan's Five Viscera (Ou Xifan wuzang tu 歐希範 五臟圖) by a Ling (Wu?) Jian. Song bibliographers state that the work originated in the 1041-1048 era at the dissection of the rebel Ou Xifan and his faction in Guangxi after their executions, with the judge of Yizhou, Ling Jian, observing it all closely and making diagrams to pass down to the world. About a half century later, in the 1102-1106 era, the scholar Yang Jie (fl. 1102-1113) was an official in Sizhou (Anhui), where he observed the execution of a criminal. The local prefect, Li Yixing invited the doctors to come draw what they saw. Yang to annotated their illustrations with passages from ancient writings and gave it the title Diagrams that Capture the Genuine Within (Cunzhen huanzhong 存眞環中). Thirteenth-century bibliographers uniformly regarded Yang's work as far superior to that by Wu Jian. In 1113, the Luoyang official, Jia Weijie (fl. 1113), wrote a preface to this work by saying that Yang latter "used the genuine [aspects] of what he had seen of the Five Viscera and drew them into diagrams. He analyzed and corrected what had been drawn by [an otherwise unidentified] Yanluozi, and also added the twelve channels, naming them the Diagrams that Capture the Genuine Within." A late Song work (dated 1273) called the Diagrams on the Inner Illuminations of the Gate of Mystery (Xuanmen Neizhao tu 玄門 内照圖) also reputedly contains some diagrams bearing Yang Jie's name. Some versions of the diagrams in these works based on executed criminals may well have been preserved in a text date from the end of the thirteenth century that we will consider below, albeit from a very different angle. Cultivating Perfection in Southern Song and Yuan Times During the Southern Song and Yuan era, the vision of Cultivating Perfection became integral to a vision of literati self-cultivation associated with the Golden Elixir tradition of internal alchemy in south China. It also came to be seen as a counterpart of the meditation practices and traditions promoted by Chan Buddhism and a means of maintaining continuity and stability in a fragmenting Chinese culture. At its core, proponents of these traditions sought to return to what they thought was most genuine in themselves, their traditions, and their culture, where they worked to fortify and restore it for use in the real conditions in which they lived. In short, they sought to restore perfection to themselves and to the world. In northern Fujian and Jiangxi one important group that took it upon themselves to do this work coalesced around the circle of Bai Yuchan (1194-1227?). Unlike the earlier visions of Cultivating Perfection articulated in Shangqing traditions that centered on the sensuous visualization of corporeal deities or traveling to their counterparts in the heavens, this new form of alchemical Cultivating Perfection focused on calling forth, refining and combining the adept's innate energies that derived from the productive cosmic processes recapitulated in his parents' procreative powers. They found their sensuous human-like qualities in the chance encounters with remarkable figures appearing to be men but upon reflection were actually immortals who had been banished from the celestial realm for committing some celestial bureaucratic error rather than deriving from night-time visions of resplendent deities that visited the early Shangqing recipients. While drawing some of its vitality from this earlier Shangqing tradition, this new mode of spiritual self-cultivation also drew from Buddhist and medical efforts at reassessing and revitalizing their traditions that had begun in the middle of the Tang dynasty. What became known as the tradition of Cultivating Perfection in Southern Song times began as a form of spiritual self-cultivation rooted in teachings that combined the Tally of Triple Unity based on the Canon of Changes [Zhouyi Can tong qi 周易參同契] reinterpreted by Peng Xiao (d. 955) and the written legacy of the immortals Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin and grounded itself in cults to literati-immortals that the practice of its teachings had produced. These teachings helped some adepts to gain position in the mundane political order (through patronage) at the same time as they promised them advancement into the spiritual order and an amelioration of the aches and pains of old age (through practice). By the end of the twelfth century, the value of this body of teachings and lineage of masters had become obvious to practitioners of some of the revelatory movements that had developed in Song times, Buddhist and Daoist priests, and some of those promoting the Learning of the Way (Daoxue 道學). When adepts first regularly call their teachings "cultivating perfection" in the twelfth century, they had become an integral part of southern literati culture, attracting members of important families from Fujian and Jiangxi. This culture loved printed books and illustrations for them. Part of this love was rooted in the desire to gain more merit by distributing more widely traditions that had earlier been kept secret as family or closed traditions. One measure of the importance of this new mode of alchemical self-cultivation is its place in Zeng Zao's compilation of writings on self-cultivation from the mid-twelfth century. This Fujian scholar's Pivot of the Way (CT 1017, Daoshu 道樞, 42 juan) includes writings from a wide range of earlier and contemporary sources. In general terms, the compilation (most likely completed by 1150) can be understood as an part of the general attempt by scholars of the early Southern Song to establish
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themselves as the genuine heirs of Chinese culture even though they had lost what had been their main cultural centers with the loss of the Northern Song to the Jurchens in 1126. That is why the work not only contains many passages from the early Chinese classics that are pertinent to self-cultivation, but also many extracts from writers on self-cultivation from Tang and Northern Song times. While arguably according highest values to the legacy of Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin (their main writings fill the last five chapters), Zeng stresses its presence in the south by likewise giving pride of place to their sometime companion, Shi Jianwu who was based in the mountains of northern Jiangxi. Writings from this ground base that we first read of Cultivating Perfection in the new alchemized sense. These writings also were the first to articulate the nuanced significance of the Inner Realm (neijing), which would come to have greater significance in the thirteenth century. Several central chapters to Zeng's compilation (chapters 18-21) contain what may be called the "chapters on perfection" since they hold many of the important writings dealing with zhen ("perfection"), most of which date from the Northern Song. Three of these extracts are explicitly called "Cultivating Perfection." One (CT 1017, 18.7b-9b), by Zeng Zao himself, is called the "Chapter on Cultivating Perfection" (Xiuzhen pian 修眞篇). This brief work first discusses the correspondences between the human being and the cosmos, goes on to treat various sorts of breathing exercises aimed at circulating refined vitalities within the various organs of the body. After next dealing with contemplating the gods in the body and dietary practices, he states that "these have not yet sufficiently attained the utmost of what is spoken of as Cultivating Perfection." By this he means the making of inner elixirs from one's inner vitalities and outer elixirs from the vitalities embedded in various parts of the world outside, both of which are in strict correspondence with the energies circulating in the cosmos. He also notes that outer elixirs would be ineffective to project one into a transcendence post without having first completed an elixir in the human body. Another (CT 1017, 19.9a-22a), is said to come from Shi Jianwu, who received the teachings from his two divine colleagues Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin. It is called "Chapter on Indicating the Mysteries in Cultivating Perfection" (Xiuzhen zhixuan pian 修眞指玄篇). It clearly reflects the legacy of the two great masters of inner alchemy in both terminology and process. One passage quotes Lü Dongbin as saying "the essentials of the Golden Elixir consist in rising up through the openings and closings, patiently going through the passes and scrupulously following the Fire Phases to generate the Golden Fluid." Finally, there is the "Chapter of the Essential Instructions on Cultivating Perfection" (Xiuzhen yaojue pian 修眞要訣篇, CT 1017, 21.10a-12a), credited to the patriarch Liu Haichan (fl. 1031) as mediated by his disciple, the Northern Song official Wang Tingyang (fl. 1041-1048). After Wang's preface relating Liu's instruction, Zeng includes 20 of the 100 poems Wang wrote to commemorate his teachings. After arguing that the various earlier corporeal practices he had tried "were not what could be deemed essential to the Way", Wang met someone who informed him of these essentials, stating that he should "cultivate the [qi] of perfect unity, assemble the Five Phases, array the eight trigrams, harmonize the Four Images, combine the Three Potentialities. The Qian and Kun [trigrams] are one's furnace and crucibles, and the Kan and Li [trigrams] are one's medicine." After practicing them for 1000 days the work was complete and he responded by composing 100 poems. Just before the last section discussed was an important essay entitled the "Chapter on the Golden Writings and the Jade Mirror" (Jinshu yujian pian 金書玉鑑篇, CT 1017, 21.2a-10a). In focusing on "cultivating the inner elixir" (xiu neidan 修内丹), this work also spends a good deal of space on the significance of the term Inner Realm (neijing). This discussion begins by reminding readers that "my body is the alchemical furnace... whose spirit, energies, essence, and fluids (shen, qi, jing, and ye 液) contain the medicine of Eternal Life." After building up the correspondences suggested here in greater detail, he compares the Flowery Canopy (huagai 華蓋) that is the cover of the crucibles to both its celestial counterpart, the □, and to "its Inner Realm, the palace of the Lung [system of function]." Later on, the text gives a fuller accounting of the Inner Realm in two passages. The first passage begins "By speaking of it in terms of one's Inner Realm, the body is a state. Its head is the city; its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose are the Four Gates; its hands, feet and four limbs are the troops of Four Regions who protect with no fear. The heart-mind is the lord of the state and qi are its ministers. Therefore, the heart-mind is the ruler of the qi and qi are the envoys of the heart-mind. When the divinity of the heart-mind is pure and calm, then the Primordial qi is harmonious and at peace. When the Divine qi is blended there is Eternal Life. This is like the Lord-Sage and the ministers. When loyal to the lord, the ministers are enlightened and the whole world is ordered in one. On observing the Inner Realm of the lord, one sees that the qi of the purely primordial perfect unity is in the scarlet palace [of the heart] and in that of the minister, there is the fluid of the Great Yin's mysterious darkness in the palace of the Kan. Heaven sends down the perfect qi to transform and produce the Myriad Phenomena, just like the wisdom of the lord to his ministers..." A second, more detailed discussion of this term a bit later in the text complements this one. "This is the Way of Eternal Life and Everlasting Vision and it has not altered from antiquity to the present. Thereby one correctly understands the Genuine Image of the Inner Realm (neijing zhenxiang 内境眞相).
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What is the Inner Realm? It is the realm of the self. The Genuine Image is of my self is as an alchemical furnace. Within it are Heaven and Earth, the sun, moon, planets and constellations, winds and clouds, the Milky Way, the mountains and Marchmounts, all the rivers, and the vegetation." The text then goes on to specify the cosmic dimensions of the Inner Realms in relation to the five viscera before asking "Now if one wanted to understand the Way of the eternity of Heaven and Earth, it consists in obtaining the Rectifying Unity and Perfective Unity (zhengyi zhenyi 正一眞一). What is this? It is that in the furnace and crucibles of Heaven and Earth, yin and yang intermingle and combine within and do not lose the Primordial qi. Now a human being is endowed with Heaven and Earth and born by combining with the essence of Heaven and Earth to make a son. Therefore one's Inner Realm possesses the Way of the eternity of Heaven and Earth." The author then goes on to discuss the practices – all of them alchemical – that permit the human potential for eternal divinity to manifest itself. A final passage states that if this "divinity obtains the Way one becomes a transcendent, while if it loses the Way it becomes a ghost. In Cultivating Perfection one ought to push away the diverse distractions, remove oneself from desires, and cut off the eating of meat and purify oneself. Roam away to lodge in the cliffs, and do pure fasts while ascending altars and entering into the chamber...." All of this has many parallels to the comprehensive program of Cultivating Perfection articulated by priests of the classical Daoist traditions in Tang and Northern Song times. Upon completing the sequence of practices nine times, one will have "made sufficient merit to ascend to the ranks of the Transcendents" and further practice will permit one to "ascend up to pay court to the Thearch Lord" in the highest celestial realms. All of this is, of course, quite old, reaching back to the unity of the "cosmos, body and state" in the final two and a half centuries B.C.E. and expressed once again by Ge Hong in his writings (Sivin 1995, Schipper 1978). Here we see, however, an alchemized version of these cosmic correspondences and processes leading toward perfection, one that is centered on the inner workings of the human being. This was the new vision of self-cultivation that had taken the place of the more sensuous and concrete forms of contemplation that distinguished that of the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) movement. Because of the growing awareness of the adept's cosmic dimensions that alchemical practice makes possible, the last passage makes plain that internal practices are also embedded in a complex edifice of ritual practices similar to those found in Daoist texts of the Tang and Northern Song. To judge from the extant texts with Cultivating Perfection in their titles, we would have to consider it a Southern Song phenomena, and specifically one that was grounded in the inner alchemical and ritual traditions contained most fully in the writings of Bai Yuchan and his followers. Of the 14 independent titles contained in the Ming Daoist Canon, printed in 1445 with the term Cultivation Perfection in their titles, many reflect the above Shi Jianwu legacy, but often filtered through the codifications of Bai Yuchan and his followers. The most obvious and substantial example of this is the 60-juan Ten Writings on Cultivating Perfection (CT 263, Xiuzhen shishu, completed by 1300), which constitute a veritable compendium of Bai Yuchan's legacy. Some of these texts include diagrams. Some other titles in this grouping were likely augmented by adding the term Cultivating Perfection to them. For instance, the Diagrams on the Great Paradigm and the Primordial Chaos for Cultivating Perfection (CT 149, Xiuzhen Taiji hunyuan tu 修眞太極混元圖), by a man named Xiao Daocun (most likely compiled in the thirteenth century) contains many interesting diagrams that purportedly came from Shi Jianwu. The text calls the diagrams which Shi passed on as those which deal with "Cultivating and Refining" (xiulian 修煉) rather than Cultivating Perfection, suggesting an alteration by later editors of the text. Likewise, a fuller version of the Marvelous Diagrams Successively Verified for Cultivating Perfection (CT 152, Xiuzhen liyan miaotu 修眞歴驗妙圖) is found in the Yunji qiqian (CT 1032, 72.17a-38b), where it is entitled the Manuscript Copy of the Successively Verified Cultivating the Elixir in the Marvelous Way of Perfect Primordial [Tradition] (Zhenyuan miaodao xiudan liyan chao 眞元妙道修丹 歴驗鈔) and said to be by a Dongzhenzi in a grass robe (Caoyi Dongzhenzi 草衣洞眞子, i.e. Lou Jing). Both versions of these works contain an interesting sequence of twelve diagrams. The final diagram in this sequence, said to "assess the work of the Cyclically-Transformed Elixir and the Five Phases" (Huandan wuxing gong lun tu 還丹五行功論圖), depicts the cosmic dimensions of the human being who has undertaken the Great Work of alchemy (see diagram 5). It has been retained for the letterhead of a professor who has a certain interest in alchemy and other aspects of Chinese science and culture. This diagram is of interest for purposes of comparisons with what we will consider immediately below. It stresses man's place in the universe, but not the internal structures and features that identify him with the macrocosm. As we will see below, the first pictorial evidence we have of this internal dimension of cultivating perfection along alchemical lines seems to appear in the thirteenth century. One of the first of what we now call the Diagrams of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu) that we know of appeared in three works compiled around the end of the Southern Song dynasty. All of those printed versions bore the names Diagrams of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu), but most likely derive from the above "genuine" drawings of the inner workings of the human being stemming from criminal executions. At some time in the late thirteenth century, the followers of Bai Yuchan in Fujian and Jiangxi
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compiled a large compendium known as the Ten Writings on Cultivating Perfection (CT 263, Xiuzhen shishu). As part of this collection, there is a set of six depictions of different parts of the human body (CT 263, j. 18.2a-3b) diagrams. This chapter is the second in the fourth of the ten component writings known as "Shortcut by Miscellaneous Authors" [zazhu jiejing 雜著捷徑]. The diagrams are woven into a larger set of teachings in the same chapter, most of which bear the name of Yanluozi, an obscure figure who reputedly lived in the region of modern day Beijing in the tenth or eleventh century. He left behind several titles that were known to librarians of the Song dynasty (including the Instructions and Song on Comprehending the Mysteries of Inner Perfection [Neizhen tongxuan jue and ge 内眞通玄訣/歌] and a Diagram on the Secret Instructions on Barrier Lock of Nurturing the Spirits [Yangshen guanchao mijue tu 養神關鎖秘訣圖]). Chapter 18 begins with his song on the Corporeal Husk (tigu 體殼) and a poem on controlling the "Mind Monkey" by Honorable Lü Dongbin, and is followed by an unattributed poem on "Nourishing Vitalities and Augmenting Destiny" (yangsheng ximing 養生息命). Next come the first two diagrams (both attributed to Yanluozi), each of which presents the head of a literatus. The first, called the Diagram of the Head (Shoubu tu 首部圖), depicts the inner spaces of the adept's head, while the second, labeled the Diagram for Paying Respects to the Perfected (Chaozhen tu 朝眞圖), focuses on the imaginary flight that the adept makes to pay court in the supernal realm (see diagram 6). Both bear the name of Yanluozi and clearly reflect earlier Shangqing traditions that articulate an elaborate set of chambers in the head and an imaginary journey to the heavenly hierarchies of divine beings. They typically present the human head from the outside, even as they attempt to relate it to an ascent to the heavens. These two diagrams are immediately followed by four diagrams called Diagrams of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu) that present different aspects – left, right, front, and back – of the main internal structures of the trunk of the human body (see diagram 7-8). This series of diagrams, reflecting both the internal part of the human being and a much fuller awareness of its appearances, seem to derive from the knowledge of the human within that stemmed from doctors drawing the insides of criminals executed in the Northern Song. This improved awareness of things internal is turned in this text toward helping the adept who has received proper instruction to generate within himself an immortal embryo that will enable him to assume a post in the celestial realms. The six diagrams are followed by an essay on the Inner Realm ascribed to a [Temple] Superintendent Zhu – could it be Zhu Xi? – (CT 263, j. 18.3b-5b) that praises Yanluozi's diagrams for their accuracy to contemporary (twelfth-century) discussions of the inner aspects of the human body during selfcultivation. The chapter concludes with Yanluozi's Canon on Inner Observation (Neiguan jing 内觀經) and various discussions of the internal divisions of the body and visceral systems, including how to contemplate them. The above text holds the main structures of what we now call the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection. Its diagrams appear around the same time as an integral picture of the inner parts of the human being as part of the Prefatory Discussions on the Diagrams and Commentaries to the Canon of the Eighty-One Difficulties of the Yellow Lord (Huangdi ba shi yi nanjing zhuyi tu 黄帝八十一難經注義圖) (17 pp.). This long, illustrated essays introduces the Linchuan (modern Jiangxi) scholar Li Jiong's Illustrated and Annotated Canon of the the Eighty-One Difficulties of the Yellow Lord (CT 1024, Huangdi ba shi yi nan jing zuantu jujie 黄帝八十一難經纂圖句解), dated to 1269. The diagram printed there is said to depict the "regular View of the Inner Realm" (Neijing ze mian 内境側面) (CT 1024, pref., 4a-4b, see diagram 9). While in one sense this diagram seems to be the piecing together of the diagrams discussed above, they are able to achieve this integration by prominently using the spine as a means to connect the three main parts of the body. On the next page of the preface (CT 1024, pref. 5a-5b), are depicted two diagrams of the front-view and back-view of the Inner Realm that are identical to the depictions with the same names as those given above. Since Li wrote his commentary in large part as a negative reaction to the commentary from the Tang dynasty by Yang Xuancao, it is not surprising that he claims that his diagrams seek to rectify the lost or mistaken understandings of the Methods of the Vessels (mai fa 脈法) perpetuated by Yang's commentary (CT 1024, pref. 5a). He fails to say where these diagrams come from, however. These are the two earliest depictions of what has come to be known as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection. As was typical until the eighteenth century, the diagram was said to illustrate the Inner Realm. Its full presentation in Li Jiong's text seems to have been a combination of depictions of the head that reflected knowledge gained by refined meditations of Supreme Purity patriarchs and of the bottom part of the body that reflected the knowledge gained from criminal executions. Joined by the spine, and including a bigger role for the lower part of the body, the complete chart presented by Li Jiong found uses by doctors as well as by those interested in coming to a fuller understanding of the alchemized itinerary they were now expecting to take toward the goal of perfection.
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Cultivating Perfection in the Ming-Qing Era Both of the texts that contained the above illustrations circulated among literati during Yuan times. They were included in the Ming Daoist Canon that was published in 1445. This compendium also contained a large number of Southern Song and Yuan texts that centered on the mode of Cultivating Perfection codified by Bai Yuchan and his followers in Fujian and Jiangxi. It is likely that the conjunction of this diagram and this textual corpus eventually led to its redesignation as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection in the eighteenth century. Aiding this renaming was the resurgence, in Qing times, of the Longmen branch of the Complete Perfection (Quanzhen) tradition centered in the Baiyun Abbey in Beijing. Although the earliest diagram – now called the diagram of Cultivating Perfection – was included in one of the side temples of this monastic complex, the Baiyun guan abbots of the late eighteenth century gave the name Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Channels) to a new diagram of the inner potentialities of the human being to restore his perfection. Before the eighteenth century, Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Realm) seems to have been the most common name of the diagrams we have explored in the previous section. A final widely distributed depiction of what has become known as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection appears in an expanded edition of an encyclopedia compiled by the late Southern Song scholar Chen Yuanjing with the hopes of rectifying the mores of the common people. Although no longer extant in it original form, there exists at least two expanded and illustrated editions of this work printed in the first part of the Ming dynasty. The earlier of these editions (dated to 1478) was the Newly Illustrated and Amplified Encyclopedia of the Hordes of Writings [known as] the Comprehensive Records of the Forest of Affairs (Xinbian Zuantu zengxin qunshu leiyao Shilin guangji 新編纂圖増新群書類要事林廣記), while the later edition (dated to 1496) bears the title Newly Compiled Comprehensive Record of the Forest of Affairs, an Illustrated and Amplified Encyclopedia of the Hordes of Writings (Zuantu zengxin qunshu leiyao Shilin guangji xinji 纂圖増新群書類要事林廣記). Both of the illustrations in these editions were apparently drawn straight from Li Jiong's text (diagram 10). Although unnamed, each of the diagrams appear at the head of the "Section on Medical Learning" (Yixue lei 醫學類), and both show a schematic view of a male adept seated in meditation as viewed from his right hand side. This diagram apparently remained well liked throughout the Ming dynasty. Conclusions The illustration known today as Diagram of Cultivating Perfection was part of a long and evolving legacy of literati self-cultivation in China. This paper has explored some aspects of how the vision of Cultivating Perfection changed from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries and how the formation of this diagram came to be part of this changing perfection complex. In particular, I have suggested that the rich sensual forms of contemplating deities central to the Shangqing tradition in its earlier period gradually became embedded a broader conception of practice that wed meditative and ritual practice into a hierarchy of texts and deities and attempted to unify Daoism's diverse local traditions for the Tang and Northern Song dynasties. Even as the limits of these conservative systematizing efforts finally became clear in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, new visions of corporeal self-cultivation grounded in drawings of the inner human drawn during executions and alchemical language and imagery had begun to emerge. At the same time, new local revelatory traditions and deity cults challenged attempts by conventional priests to assert a Daoist unity. These new traditions and movements were already rooted in southern literati culture, and began to coalesce in various configurations of spiritual advancement in the Southern Song. One of them, centered around the teachings and traditions of Bai Yuchan, whose affiliates lived and worked mainly in Fujian and Jiangxi in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, came to see itself as the main promoter of this new alchemical mode of Cultivating Perfection and began writing texts that focused on various aspects of this process. Proponents of other Fujian and Jiangxi traditions, like the Rectifying Rituals of the Heart of Heaven (Tianxin zhengfa), likewise took it upon themselves to incorporate some aspects of this new alchemized form of inner self-cultivation for their basically exorcistic ritual. Scholars added the new knowledge of the insides of the person gained by carefully observed executions to the older knowledge gained by ecstatic forms of flight to the celestial deities stressed by the Shangqing tradition and combined them together into diagrams of the Inner Realm that could help them make things a bit more perfect. These diagrams sought to remind observers of the cosmic dimensions of themselves that could aid them in creating personal well-being, healing the sick, and saving the world.
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Appendix C: Five Phases Correspondences Viscus Receptacle Direction Season Climatic Condition Color
Wood Liver Gallbladder East Spring Wind Green
Fire Heart Small intestine South Summer Heat Red
Earth Spleen Stomach Center Mid-summer Humidity Yellow
Metal Lungs Large intestine West Autumn Dryness White
Water Kidneys Bladder North Winter Cold Black
Tissue Expands into the Bodily Fluid Opening Sense Emotion
Sinews Nails Tears Eyes Sight Anger
Arteries Complexion Sweat Tongue Hearing Elation
Fat and flesh Lips Saliva Mouth Taste Pensiveness
Hair and skin Body hair Mucus Nose Smell Grief
Bones Hair on head Urine Ears Touch Fear
Animal Emperor Number Celestial Stem (yin) Celestial Stem (yang) Terrestial branch
Dragon Fu Hsi 8 and 3 I乙 Chia 甲 Yin 寅, mao 卯
Phoenix Shen Nung 2 and 7 Ting 丁 Ping 丙 Ssu 巳, wu 午
Ox Huang-ti 10 and 5 Chi 己 Wu 戊 Ch'ou 丑, wei 末, ch'en 辰, hsü 戌
Tiger Shao-hao 4 and 9 Hsin 辛 Keng 庚 Shen 申, yu 酉
Snake, tortoise Chüan-hsü 6 and 1 Kuei 癸 Jen 壬 Tzu 子, hai 亥
Appendix D: The Twenty-Eight Constellations
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.
Constellation 角 Chiao 亢 Kang 氐 Ti 房 Fang 心 Hsin 尾 Wei 箕 Chi 斗 Tou 牛 Niu 女 Nü 虚 Hsü 危 Wei 室 Shih 壁 Pi 奎 Kuei 婁 Lou 胃 Wei 昴 Mao 畢 Pi 觜 Tzu 參 Shen 井 Ching 鬼 Kuei 柳 Liu 星 Hsing 張 Chang 翼I 軫 Chen
Name The Horn The Neck Base Room Heart Tail Basket Ladle Ox-boy Maiden Void Rooftop House Wall Astride Mound Stomach Pleiades Net Beak Orion Well Ghosts Willow Star Bow Wings Carriage
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Appendix E: Weights and Measures Units of weight, volume, and length are rendered with conventional English terms as shown in the table below. The table also shows the average and rounded-off equivalences in the Western metric system. Unit
Conventional Translation
Average Equivalent
Length Fen 分 Tsun 寸 Ch'ih 尺
= 10 fen 分 = 10 tsun 寸
tenth of inch inch foot
ca. 0.24 cm ca. 2.4 cm ca. 24 cm
Weight Chu 銖 Liang 兩 Chin 斤
= 24 chu 銖 = 16 liang 兩
scruple ounce pound
ca. 0.6 g ca. 14 g ca. 220 g
Appendix F: Poem in the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection At the upper part of the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Hsiu-chen Ch'üan-t'u 修眞全圖), there is a poem between the diagram's title and circle of paradisiac realm (nine heavens). This is a slightly different version of the first of the seven Poems of the Way of Elixir (Tan-tao Ko 丹道歌) attributed to the great T'ang-Five Dynasties (8th-9th century CE) master Lü Tung-pin 呂洞賓. He is traditionally considered an ancestor of the Complete Perfection (Ch'üan-chen 全眞) schools. Many writings and sayings were attributed to him. 萬 載 貌 如 童 道徳乾坤祖 陰陽造化功 天魂生白虎 地魄産青龍 運寶泥丸住 搬精入上宮 若人明此理 萬載貌如童
若 人 明 此 理
搬 精 入 上 宮
運 寶 泥 丸 住
地 魄 産 青 龍
天 魂 生 白 虎
陰 陽 造 化 功
道 徳 詩 乾 曰 坤 祖
Tao and [its] Virtue is the ancestor of ch'ien and k'un Yin and yang are the accomplishment of generation and transformation [of things] Heavenly hun gives birth to the White Tiger Earthly p'o produces the Green Dragon Circulate the treasure into the dwelling of Muddy Pellet Move the ching [so that it] enters the upper palace If a person understands this principle Ten thousand writings appear like [writings of] a child
The Original Poem Attributed to Lü Tung-pin Variant words are indicated by gray color 道徳乾坤祖 陰陽造化宗 天魂生白虎 地魄産青龍 運室泥丸住 搬精秘院封 有人明此法 萬載少年容
Tao and [its] Virtue is the ancestor of ch'ien and k'un Yin and yang are the origin of generation and transformation [of things] Heavenly hun gives birth to the White Tiger Earthly p'o produces the Green Dragon Carry the room into the Muddy Pellet dwelling Move the ching into the secret court and seal it To a person who understands this method Ten thousand writings [are like] a young man's appearance
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Select Bibliography Despeux, Catherine. "Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu", in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio, ed., London and New York: Routledge, 2008: 767, 770. Kohn, Livia, ed., Daoist Body Cultivation: Traditional Models And Contemporary Practices. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 2006: 8-10, 11. Komjathy, Louis, "Daoist Texts in Translation", 2004. Matuk, Camillia, "Seeing the Body: The Divergence of Ancient Chinese and Western Medical Illustration". The Journal of Biocommunication (JBC), vol. 32, no. 1, September 2006: 5-7. Needham, Joseph, et al. Science and Civilisation in China. Volume V, Part 5: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Physiological Alchemy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983: 116; 117 fig. 1588; 118. Pregadio, Fabrizio. "Early Daoist Meditation and the Origins of Inner Alchemy", in Daoism in History, Benjamin Penny, ed., New York: Routledge, 2006: 121-58. ________. "Inner deities", in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio, ed., London and New York: Routledge, 2008: 84. Pregadio, Fabrizio and Lowell Skar. "Inner Alchemy (Neidan)", in Daoism Handbook, Livia Kohn, ed., Leiden: Brill, 2000: 487. Robinet, Isabelle. Taoist Meditation: The Mao-shan Tradition of Great Purity. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993. Strickmann, Michel. Chinese Magical Medicine. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2002. Unschuld, Paul U. Nan-ching: The Classic of Difficult Issues. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986. bhovu
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慧命經 Hui-ming Ching Scripture of Wisdom and Life By Liu Hua-yang 柳華陽 Translated by Richard Wilhelm
Contents Bibliographic Information Author's Introduction Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 2 3 11 13 19
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Bibliographic Information Huiming jing 慧命經: Scripture on Wisdom and Life-Destiny: ZW 131. Also found in the Wu-Liu xianzong 伍柳仙宗 (Immortality Lineage of Wu and Liu)." "Associated with a Qing-dynasty school of internal alchemy (neidan 内丹) called the Wu-Liu 伍柳 school, after Wu Shouyang 伍守陽 (Chongkongzi 沖空子 [Master Penetrating the Void]; 1563-1644) and Liu Huayang 柳華陽 (fl. 1736). Written by Liu Huayang and containing a preface dating to 1794, the first part of the text includes and explains a series of eight illustrations on internal alchemy practice. (Komjathy, 2004) Scripture of Wisdom and Life The Huiming jing was written by the Chan monk Liu Huayang (1735-99) in 1794. One edition (part. trans. Wilhelm R. 1929) was published by Zhanran Huizhen zi 湛然慧真子 in 1921 together with the Taiyi jinhua zongzhi; another (trans. Wong Eva 1998) had been published earlier in the Wu-Liu xianzong 伍柳仙宗 (The Wu-Liu Lineage of Immortality; 1897) together with Liu's Jinxian zhenglun 金仙証論 (Essay on the Verification of Golden Immortality) and two works by Wu Shouyang. In fact, the spiritual foundation of this text is strictly linked to the Wu-Liu school. Eclectic in character, it draws on the neidan traditions of the Song and Yuan periods, joining them with Chan and Huayan 華嚴 Buddhism and presenting them in a readily comprehensible language. The Huiming jing opens with Liu Huayang's preface, which contains notes on his life. The main text can be divided into two parts, including altogether sixteen sections (the index in the Wu-Liu xianzong, however, lists twenty sections). The first part, consisting of the first eight sections, contains a set of eight illustration on the neidan practice with explanations, while the second part presents various related theories. As Liu states in the first section, he describes the teachings of the Huayan jing 華嚴經 (Avatamsaka-sūtra) and the Taoist classics in pictorial form in order to help adepts understand the true meaning of cultivating mind and body. In content, the The Huiming jing is close to the Ming and Qing alchemical texts that relate the formation of the spiritual embryo to the process of human life – gestation, childhood, and adulthood – followed by the reversal of this process. This is accompanied by detailed descriptions of visions inspired by the Huayan jing, represented here as the results of the formation of the spiritual embryo. (Esposito, 2008: 520-1)
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The Book of Consciousness and Life 1. Cessation of Outflowing
The illustration found here in the Chinese text shows the body of a man. In the middle of the lower half of the body is drawn a germ cell by which the gateway of life is separated from the gateway of consciousness. In between, leading to the outside world, is the canal through which the vital fluids flow out.
If thou wouldst complete the diamond body with no outflowing, Diligently heat he roots of consciousness and life. Kindle light in the blessed country ever close at hand, And there hidden, let thy true self always dwell. The subtlest secret of the Tao is human nature and life (hsing-ming). There is no better way of cultivating human nature and life than to bring both back to unity. The holy men of ancient times, and the great sages, set forth their thoughts about the unification of human nature and life by means of images from the external world; they were reluctant to speak of it openly without allegories. Therefore the secret of how to cultivate both simultaneously was lost on earth. What I show through a series of images is not a frivolous giving away of secrets. On the contrary, because I combined the notes of the Leng-yen-ching on the cessation of outflowing and the secret thoughts of Hua-yen-ching with occasional references to the other sutras, in order to summarize them in this true picture, it can be understood that consciousness and life are not anything external to the germinal vesicle. I have drawn this picture so that companions pursuing the divine workings of the dual cultivation may know that in this way the true seed matures, that in this way the cessation of outflowing is brought about, that in this way the sheli1 is melted out, that in this way the great Tao is completed. But the germinal vesicle is an invisible cavern; it has neither form nor image. When the vital breath stirs, the seed of this vesicle comes into being; when it cease it disappears again. It is the place which harbors truth, the altar upon which consciousness and life are made. It is called the dragon castle at the bottom of the sea, the boundary region of the snow mountains, the primordial pass, the kingdom of greatest joy, the boundless country. All these different names mean this germinal vesicle. If a dying man does not know this germinal vesicle, he will not find the unity of consciousness and life in a thousand births, nor in ten thousand aeons. This germinal point is something great. Before this our body is born of our parents, at the time of conception, this seed is first created and human nature and life dwell therein. The two are intermingled and form a unity, inseparably mixed like the sparks in the refining furnace, a combination of primordial harmony and divine law. Therefore it is said: "In the state before the appearance there is an inexhaustible breath". Furthermore it is said: "Before the parents have begotten the child, the breath of life is complete and the embryo perfect". But when the embryo moves and the embryo vesicle is torn, it is as if a man lost his footing on a high mountain: with a cry the man plunges down to earth, and from
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then on human nature and life are divided. From this moment human nature can no longer see life nor life human nature. And now date takes its course: youth passes over into maturity, maturity into old age, and old age into woe. Therefore the Julai,2 in his great compassion, let the secret making and melting be known. He teaches one to reenter the womb and create anew the human nature and life of the ego; he shows how spirit and soul (vital breath) enter the germinal vesicle, how they must combine to become a unity in order to complete the true fruit, just as the sperm3 and soul of father and mother entered into this germinal vesicle and united as one being in order to complete the embryo. The principle is the same. Within the germinal vesicle is the fire of the ruler; at the entrance of the germinal vesicle is the fire of the minister; in the whole body, the fire of the people. When the fire of the ruler expresses itself, it is received by the fire of the minister. When the fire of the minister moves, the fire of the people follows him. When the three fires express themselves in this order a man develops. But when the three fires return in reverse order the Tao develops. This is the reason that all the sages began their work at the germinal vesicle in which outflowing had ceased. If one does not establish this path, but sets up other things, it is of no avail. Therefore all the schools and sects which do not know that the ruling principle of consciousness and life is in this germinal vesicle, and which therefore seek it in the outer world, can accomplish nothing despite all their efforts to find it outside.
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2. The Six Periods of Circulation in Conformity with the Law4
The drawing is intended to show the circulation of the streams of energy during the movement of breathing. Inhalation is accompanied by the sinking of the abdomen and exhalation by the lifting of it, but in these exercises the point is that we have a backward-flowing movement as follows: when inhaling, one opens the lower energy-gate and allows the energy to rise upward along the rear line of energy (in the spinal cord), and this upward flow corresponds to the time-intervals indicated in the drawing. In exhaling, the upper gate is closed and the stream of energy is allowed to flow downward along the front line, likewise in the order of the time-intervals indicated. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the stations for "washing" and "bathing" do not lie exactly in the middle of the lines, but that "washing" is somewhat above and "bathing" somewhat below the middle, as the drawing shows.
If one discerns the beginning of the Buddha's path, There will be the blessed city of the West. After the circulation in conformity with the law, There is a turn upward towards heaven when the breath is drawn in. When the breath flows out energy is directed towards the earth. One time-period consists of six intervals (hou). In two intervals one gathers Moni (Sakyamuni). The great Tao comes forth from the center. Do not seek the primordial seed outside! The most marvelous effect of the Tao is the circulation in conformity with the law. What makes the movement inexhaustible is the path. What best regulates the speed are the rhythms (kuei). What best determines the number of the exercises is the method of the intervals (hou). This presentation contains the whole law, and the true features of the Buddha from the West are contained in it. The secrets contained in it show how one gets control of the process by exhaling and inhaling, how the alternation between decrease and increase expresses itself in closing and opening, how one needs true thoughts in order not to deviate from the way, how the firm delimitation of the regions makes it possible to begin and to stop at the right time. I sacrifice myself and serve man, because I have presented fully this picture which reveals the heavenly seed completely, so that every layman and man of the world can reach it and so bring it to completion. He who lacks the right virtue may well find something in it, but heaven will not grant him his Tao. Why not? The right virtue belongs to the Tao as does one wing of a bird to the other: if one is lacking, the other is of no use. Therefore there is needed loyalty and reverence, humaneness and justice and strict adherence to the five commandments5; then only does one have the prospect of attaining something. But all the subtleties and secrets are offered in this Book of Consciousness and Life to be pondered and weighted, so that one can attain everything in its truth.
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3. The Two Energy-Paths of Function and Control
In the text there is another picture here which is very similar to the first. It shows again the paths of energy: the one in front leads down and is called the function-path (jen), and the one at the back leading upwards is the control-path (tu).
There appears the way of the in-breathing and out-breathing of the primordial pass. Do not forget the white path below the circulation in conformity with the law! Always let the cave of eternal life be nourished through the fire! Ah! Test the immortal place of the gleaming pearl! This picture is really the same as the one that precedes it. The reason that I show it again is so that the person striving for cultivation of the Tao may know that there is in his own body a circulation with the law. I have furnished this picture in order to enlighten companions in search of the goal. When these two paths (the functioning and the controlling) can be brought into unbroken connection, then all energy-paths are joined. The deer sleeps with his nose on his tail in order to close his controlling energy-path. The crane and the tortoise close their functioning-paths. Hence these three animals become at least a thousand years old. How much further can a man go! A man who carries on the cultivation of the Tao, who sets in motion the circulation in conformity with the law, in order to let consciousness and life circulate, need not fear that he is not lengthening his life and is not completing his path.
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4. The Embryo of the Tao
According to the law, but without exertion, one must diligently fill oneself with light. Forgetting appearance, look within and help the true spiritual power! Ten months the embryo is under fire. After a year the washing and baths become warm. This picture will be found in the original edition of the Leng-yen-ching. But the ignorant monks who did not recognize the hidden meaning and knew nothing about the embryo of the Tao have for this reason made the mistake of leaving this picture out. I only found out through the explanations of adepts that the Julai (Tathagata) knows real work on the embryo of the Tao. This embryo is nothing corporeally visible which might be completed by other beings, but is in reality the spiritual breath-energy of the ego. First the spirit must penetrate the breath-energy (the soul), then the breathenergy envelops the spirit. When spirit and breath-energy are firmly united and the thoughts quiet and immobile, this is described as the embryo. The breath-energy must crystallize; only then will the spirit become effective. Therefore it is said in the Leng-yen-ching: "Take maternal care of the awakening and the answering". The two energies nourish and strengthen one another. Therefore it is said: "Daily growth takes place". When the energy is strong enough and the embryo is round and complete it comes out on the top of the head. This is what is called: the completed appearance which comes forth as embryo and begets itself as the son of the Buddha.
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5. The Birth of the Fruit
Outside the body there is a body called the Buddha image. The thought which is powerful, the absence of thoughts, is Bodhi. The thousand-petal lotus flower opens, transformed through breath-energy. Because of the crystallization of the spirit, a hundred-fold splendor shines forth. In the Leng-yen-chou6 it is said: "At that time the ruler of the world caused a hundredfold precious light to beam from his hair knots. In the midst of the light shone the thousand-petal, precious lotus flower. And there within the flower sat a transformed Julai. And from the top of his head went ten rays of white, precious light, which were visible everywhere. The crowd looked up to the outstreaming light and the Julai announced: 'The divine, magic mantra is the appearance of the light-spirit, therefore his name is Son of Buddha'". If a man does not receive the teaching about consciousness and life, how could there develop out of his own body the Julai, who sits and shines forth in the lotus flower and appears in his own spirit-body! Many say that the light-spirit is a minor teaching; but how can that which a man receives from the ruler of the world be a minor teaching? Herewith I have betrayed the deepest secret of the Leng-yen in order to teach disciples. He who receives this way rises at once to the dark secret and no longer becomes submerged in the dust of everyday life.
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6. Concerning the Retention of the Transformed Body
Every separate thought takes shape and becomes visible in color and form. The total spiritual power unfolds its traces and transforms itself into emptiness. Going out into being and going into non-being, one completes the miraculous Tao. All separate shapes appear as bodies, united with a true source. 7. The Face Turned to the Wall
The shapes formed by the spirit-fire are only empty colors and forms. The light of human nature [hsing] shines back on the primordial, the true. The imprint of the heart floats in space; untarnished, the moonlight shines. The boat of life has reached the shore; bright shines the sunlight.
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8. Empty Infinity
Without beginning, without end, Without past, without future. A halo of light surrounds the world of the law. We forget one another, quiet and pure, altogether powerful and empty. The emptiness is irradiated by the light of the heart and of heaven. The water of the sea is smooth and mirrors the on in its surface. The clouds disappear in blue space; the mountains shine clear. Consciousness reverts to contemplation; the moon disk rests alone.
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慧命經 Hui-ming Ching 蓋道之精微莫如性命性命之修錬莫如歸一古聖高賢將性命歸一之旨巧喻外物不肯明示直論所以世無雙修者矣 余之所續圖者非敢妄泄也是遵楞嚴之漏盡表華嚴之奧旨會諸經之散言以歸正圖方知慧命是不外乎竅矣且此圖 之所立者是願同志之士明此雙修之天機不墮傍門方知眞種由此而懷漏盡由此而成舍利由此而錬大道由此而成 且此竅也乃是虚無之窟無形無影炁發則成竅機息則渺茫乃藏眞之所修慧命之壇名之曰海底龍宮曰雪山界地曰 西方曰元關曰極樂國曰無極之鄉名雖衆多無非此一竅也修士不明此竅千生萬劫慧命則無所覓也是竅也大矣哉 父母未生此身受孕之時先生此竅而性命實寓於其中二物相融合而爲一融融郁郁似爐中之火炁一團太和天理故 曰先天有無窮之消息故曰父母未生前炁足胎圓形動包裂猶如高山失足叻地一聲而性命到此則分爲二矣自此而 往性不能見命命不能見性少而壯壯而老老而嗚呼故如來發大慈悲泄漏修錬之法教人再入胞胎重造我之性命將 我之神炁入於此竅之内合而爲一以成眞種如父母之精炁入於此竅之内合而爲一以成胎孕其理一也夫竅内有君 火門首有相火週身爲民火君火發而相火承之相火動而民火從之三火順去則成人三火逆來則成道故漏盡之竅凡 聖由此而起不修此道而另修別務是無所益也所以千門萬戸不知此竅内有慧命主宰向外尋求費盡心機無所成矣 且道之妙用莫如法輪運行不蹊莫如道路遲速不等莫如規則限數不差莫如候法是圖也大備法全而西來眞面目無 不在此矣且其中之元妙行持莫如呼吸消息往來莫如闔闢不外道路莫如眞意有所起止莫如界地舍己從人備著此 圖全泄天機愚夫俗人得之亦無不成也茍無其徳縱有所遇天必不附其道何也徳之於道如鳥之羽翰缺一無所用也 必須忠孝仁義五戒全淨然後有所妄焉而其中精微奧妙盡在慧命經中兩相參看無不得其眞矣 蓋此圖於前二圖原是一也所重續者何爲是恐修道之人不知自身有法輪之路道故備此圖以曉同志耳蓋人能通此 二脈則百脈倶通矣所以鹿之睡時鼻入肛門通其督脈鶴龜通其任脈三物倶有千歳之壽何況人乎修道之士既轉法 輪以運慧命何患不長其壽而成其道也 且此圖楞嚴經原本有之妙旨俗僧不知道胎者因當初未續圖之過耳今已闡揚修士方知如來有道胎眞實之功夫在 矣蓋胎者非有形有像而別物可以成之實即我之神炁也先以神入乎其炁後炁來包乎其神神炁相結而意則寂然不 動所謂胎矣且炁凝而後神靈故經曰親奉覺應二炁培養故曰日益増長炁足胎圓從頂而出所謂形成出胎親爲佛子 者矣 楞嚴咒曰爾時世尊從肉髻中涌百寶光光中湧出千葉寶蓮有化如來坐寶花中頂放十道百寶光明皆徧示現大衆仰 觀放光如來宣説神咒者即陽神之出現也故名曰佛子茍不得慧命之道枯寂口禪焉有自身焉得謂世尊爲小道乎此 即泄楞嚴之秘密曉喻後學得此道者立超聖域不落凡塵矣
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Punctuated Text 蓋道之精微、莫如性命。性命之修錬、莫如歸一。古聖高賢、將性命歸一之旨。巧喻外物、不肯明示直論、 所以世無雙修者矣。余之所續圖者、非敢妄泄也。是遵楞嚴之漏盡、表華嚴之奧旨、會諸經之散言。以歸正 圖、方知慧命是不外乎!竅矣。且此圖之所立者、是願同志之士。明此雙修之天機、不墮傍門。方知眞種由 此而懷、漏盡由此而成、舍利由此而錬、大道由此而成。且此竅也。乃是虚無之窟、無形無影。炁發則成竅、 機息則渺茫、乃藏眞之所、修慧命之壇、名之曰海底龍宮、曰雪山界地、曰西方、曰元關、曰極樂國、曰無 極之鄉。名雖衆多、無非此一竅也。修士不明此竅、千生萬劫、慧命則無所覓也。是竅也。大矣哉!父母未 生此身、受孕之時、先生此竅。而性命實寓於其中。二物相融、合而爲一、融融郁郁、似爐中之火炁、一團 太和天理、故曰:先天有無窮之消息。故曰:父母未生前。炁足胎圓、形動包裂、猶如高山失足、叻地一聲、 而性命到此則分爲二矣。自此而往、性不能見命、命不能見性、少而壯、壯而老、老而嗚呼、故如來發大慈 悲、泄漏修錬之法、教人再入胞胎、重造我之性命、將我之神炁、入於此竅之内、合而爲一以成眞種。如父 母之精炁入於此竅之内、合而爲一以成胎孕、其理一也。夫竅内有君火、門首有相火、週身爲民火。君火發 而相火承之。相火動而民火從之。三火順去、則成人、三火逆來則成道。故漏盡之竅、凡聖由此而起、不修 此道而另修別務、是無所益也。所以千門萬戸、不知此竅内有慧命主宰。向外尋求、費盡心機、無所成矣。 且道之妙用、莫如法輪。運行不蹊、莫如道路。遲速不等、莫如規則。限數不差、莫如候法。是圖也、大備 法全。而西來眞面目、無不在此矣。且其中之元妙行持、莫如呼吸。消息往來、莫如闔闢。不外道路、莫如 眞意。有所起止、莫如界地。舍己從人、備著此圖、全泄天機。愚夫俗人得之。亦無不成也。茍無其徳、縱 有所遇、天必不附其道、何也。徳之於道、如鳥之羽翰、缺一無所用也。必須忠孝仁義、五戒全淨、然後有 所妄焉。而其中精微奧妙、盡在慧命經中、兩相參看、無不得其眞矣。 蓋此圖於前二圖、原是一也。所重續者何爲、是恐修道之人、不知自身有法輪之路道、故備此圖以曉同志耳。 蓋人能通此二脈、則百脈倶通矣。所以鹿之睡時、鼻入肛門、通其督脈。鶴龜通其任脈、三物倶有千歳之壽、 何況人乎!修道之士、既轉法輪以運慧命、何患不長其壽而成其道也。 且此圖楞嚴經原本有之妙旨。俗僧不知道胎者、因當初未續圖之過耳。今已闡揚、修士方知如來有道胎、眞 實之功夫在矣。蓋胎者非有形有像、而別物可以成之。實即我之神炁也。先以神入乎!其炁後炁來包乎!其 神、神炁相結、而意則寂然不動、所謂胎矣。且炁凝而後神靈、故經曰親奉覺應、二炁培養、故曰:日益増 長、炁足胎圓、從頂而出、所謂形成出胎、親爲佛子者矣。 楞嚴咒曰:爾時世尊從肉髻中、涌百寶光、光中湧出千葉寶蓮、有化如來坐寶花中、頂放十道百寶光明、皆 徧示現。大衆仰觀放光如來。宣説神咒者、即陽神之出現也。故名曰:佛子。茍不得慧命之道、枯寂口禪、 焉有自身、焉得謂世尊爲小道乎!此即泄楞嚴之秘密、曉喻後學、得此道者、立超聖域、不落凡塵矣。
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慧命經 The Book of Consciousness and Life 漏盡圖 1. Cessation of Outflowing 欲成漏盡金剛體 定照莫離歡喜地 勤造烹蒸慧命根 時將真我隱藏居
If thou wouldst complete the diamond body with no outflowing, Diligently heat he roots of consciousness and life. Kindle light in the blessed country ever close at hand, And there hidden, let thy true self always dwell.
蓋道之精微 莫如性命 The subtlest secret of the Tao is human nature and life (hsing-ming). 性命之修錬 莫如歸一 There is no better way of cultivating human nature and life than to bring both back to unity. 古聖高賢 將性命歸一之旨 巧喻外物 不肯明示直論 The holy men of ancient times, and the great sages, set forth their thoughts about the unification of human nature and life by means of images from the external world; they were reluctant to speak of it openly without allegories. 所以世無雙修者矣 Therefore the secret of how to cultivate both simultaneously was lost on earth. 余之所續圖者 非敢妄泄也 What I show through a series of images is not a frivolous giving away of secrets. 是遵楞嚴之漏盡 表華嚴之奧旨 會諸經之散言 以歸正圖 方知慧命是不外乎 竅矣 On the contrary, because I combined the notes of the Leng-yen-ching on the cessation of outflowing and the secret thoughts of Hua-yen-ching with occasional references to the other sutras, in order to summarize them in this true picture, it can be understood that consciousness and life are not anything external to the germinal vesicle. 且此圖之所立者 是願同志之士 明此雙修之天機 不墮傍門 方知眞種由此而懷 漏盡由此而成 舍利由 此而錬 大道由此而成 I have drawn this picture so that companions pursuing the divine workings of the dual cultivation may know that in this way the true seed matures, that in this way the cessation of outflowing is brought about, that in this way the sheli1 is melted out, that in this way the great Tao is completed. 且此竅也 乃是虚無之窟 無形無影 But the germinal vesicle is an invisible cavern; it has neither form nor image. 炁發則成竅 機息則渺茫 When the vital breath stirs, the seed of this vesicle comes into being; when it cease it disappears again. 乃藏眞之所 修慧命之壇 It is the place which harbors truth, the altar upon which consciousness and life are made. 名之曰海底龍宮 曰雪山界地 曰西方 曰元關 曰極樂國 曰無極之鄉 It is called the dragon castle at the bottom of the sea, the boundary region of the snow mountains, the primordial pass, the kingdom of greatest joy, the boundless country. 名雖衆多 無非此一竅也 All these different names mean this germinal vesicle. 修士不明此竅 千生萬劫 慧命則無所覓也 If a dying man does not know this germinal vesicle, he will not find the unity of consciousness and life in a thousand births, nor in ten thousand aeons.
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是竅也 大矣哉 This germinal point is something great. 父母未生此身 受孕之時 先生此竅 而性命實寓於其中 Before this our body is born of our parents, at the time of conception, this seed is first created and human nature and life dwell therein. 二物相融 合而爲一 融融郁郁 似爐中之火炁 一團太和天理 The two are intermingled and form a unity, inseparably mixed like the sparks in the refining furnace, a combination of primordial harmony and divine law. 故曰先天有無窮之消息 Therefore it is said: "In the state before the appearance there is an inexhaustible breath". 故曰父母未生前 炁足胎圓 Furthermore it is said: "Before the parents have begotten the child, the breath of life is complete and the embryo perfect". 形動包裂 猶如高山失足 叻地一聲 而性命到此則分爲二矣 But when the embryo moves and the embryo vesicle is torn, it is as if a man lost his footing on a high mountain: with a cry the man plunges down to earth, and from then on human nature and life are divided. 自此而往 性不能見命 命不能見性 From this moment human nature can no longer see life nor life human nature. 少而壯 壯而老 老而嗚呼 And now date takes its course: youth passes over into maturity, maturity into old age, and old age into woe. 故如來發大慈悲 泄漏修錬之法 Therefore the Julai,2 in his great compassion, let the secret making and melting be known. 教人再入胞胎 重造我之性命 He teaches one to re-enter the womb and create anew the human nature and life of the ego; 將我之神炁 入於此竅之内 合而爲一以成眞種 he shows how spirit and soul (vital breath) enter the germinal vesicle, how they must combine to become a unity in order to complete the true fruit, 如父母之精炁入於此竅之内 合而爲一以成胎孕 just as the sperm3 and soul of father and mother entered into this germinal vesicle and united as one being in order to complete the embryo. 其理一也 The principle is the same. 夫竅内有君火 門首有相火 週身爲民火 Within the germinal vesicle is the fire of the ruler; at the entrance of the germinal vesicle is the fire of the minister; in the whole body, the fire of the people. 君火發而相火承之 When the fire of the ruler expresses itself, it is received by the fire of the minister. 相火動而民火從之 When the fire of the minister moves, the fire of the people follows him. 三火順去 則成人 When the three fires express themselves in this order a man develops.
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三火逆來則成道 But when the three fires return in reverse order the Tao develops. 故漏盡之竅 凡聖由此而起 This is the reason that all the sages began their work at the germinal vesicle in which outflowing had ceased. 不修此道而另修別務 是無所益也 If one does not establish this path, but sets up other things, it is of no avail. 所以千門萬戸 不知此竅内有慧命主宰 向外尋求 費盡心機 無所成矣 Therefore all the schools and sects which do not know that the ruling principle of consciousness and life is in this germinal vesicle, and which therefore seek it in the outer world, can accomplish nothing despite all their efforts to find it outside. 法輪六候圖 2. The Six Periods of Circulation in Conformity with the Law4 分開佛祖源頭路 現出西方極樂城 法輪吸轉朝天駕 消息呼來往地歸 片時成六候 一刻會源頭 大道從中出 元機莫外求
If one discerns the beginning of the Buddha's path, There will be the blessed city of the West. After the circulation in conformity with the law, There is a turn upward towards heaven when the breath is drawn in. When the breath flows out energy is directed towards the earth. One time-period consists of six intervals (hou). In two intervals one gathers Moni (Sakyamuni). The great Tao comes forth from the center. Do not seek the primordial seed outside!
且道之妙用 莫如法輪 The most marvelous effect of the Tao is the circulation in conformity with the law. 運行不蹊 莫如道路 What makes the movement inexhaustible is the path. 遲速不等 莫如規則 What best regulates the speed are the rhythms (kuei). 限數不差 莫如候法 What best determines the number of the exercises is the method of the intervals (hou). 是圖也 大備法全 而西來眞面目 無不在此矣 This presentation contains the whole law, and the true features of the Buddha from the West are contained in it. 且其中之元妙行持 莫如呼吸 消息往來 莫如闔闢 不外道路 莫如眞意 有所起止 莫如界地 The secrets contained in it show how one gets control of the process by exhaling and inhaling, how the alternation between decrease and increase expresses itself in closing and opening, how one needs true thoughts in order not to deviate from the way, how the firm delimitation of the regions makes it possible to begin and to stop at the right time. 舍己從人 備著此圖 全泄天機 愚夫俗人得之 亦無不成也 I sacrifice myself and serve man, because I have presented fully this picture which reveals the heavenly seed completely, so that every layman and man of the world can reach it and so bring it to completion. 茍無其徳 縱有所遇 天必不附其道 He who lacks the right virtue may well find something in it, but heaven will not grant him his Tao. 何也 Why not? 徳之於道 如鳥之羽翰 缺一無所用也 The right virtue belongs to the Tao as does one wing of a bird to the other: if one is lacking, the other is of no use.
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必須忠孝仁義 五戒全淨 然後有所妄焉 Therefore there is needed loyalty and reverence, humaneness and justice and strict adherence to the five commandments5; then only does one have the prospect of attaining something. 而其中精微奧妙 盡在慧命經中 兩相參看 無不得其眞矣 But all the subtleties and secrets are offered in this Book of Consciousness and Life to be pondered and weighted, so that one can attain everything in its truth. 任督二脈圖 3. The Two Energy-Paths of Function and Control 現出元關消息路 休忘白脈法輪行 常教火養長生窟 檢點明珠不死關
There appears the way of the in-breathing and out-breathing of the primordial pass. Do not forget the white path below the circulation in conformity with the law! Always let the cave of eternal life be nourished through the fire! Ah! Test the immortal place of the gleaming pearl!
蓋此圖於前二圖 原是一也 This picture is really the same as the one that precedes it. 所重續者何爲 是恐修道之人 不知自身有法輪之路道 The reason that I show it again is so that the person striving for cultivation of the Tao may know that there is in his own body a circulation with the law. 故備此圖以曉同志耳 I have furnished this picture in order to enlighten companions in search of the goal. 蓋人能通此二脈 則百脈倶通矣 When these two paths (the functioning and the controlling) can be brought into unbroken connection, then all energypaths are joined. 所以鹿之睡時 鼻入肛門 通其督脈 The deer sleeps with his nose on his tail in order to close his controlling energy-path. 鶴龜通其任脈 The crane and the tortoise close their functioning-paths. 三物倶有千歳之壽 Hence these three animals become at least a thousand years old. 何況人乎 How much further can a man go! 修道之士 既轉法輪以運慧命 何患不長其壽而成其道也 A man who carries on the cultivation of the Tao, who sets in motion the circulation in conformity with the law, in order to let consciousness and life circulate, need not fear that he is not lengthening his life and is not completing his path. 道胎圖 4. The Embryo of the Tao 有法無功勤照徹 According to the law, but without exertion, one must diligently fill oneself with light. 忘形顧裏助眞靈 Forgetting appearance, look within and help the true spiritual power! 十月道胎火 Ten months the embryo is under fire. 一年沐浴温 After a year the washing and baths become warm. 且此圖楞嚴經原本有之妙旨 This picture will be found in the original edition of the Leng-yen-ching.
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俗僧不知道胎者 因當初未續圖之過耳 But the ignorant monks who did not recognize the hidden meaning and knew nothing about the embryo of the Tao have for this reason made the mistake of leaving this picture out. 今已闡揚 修士方知如來有道胎 眞實之功夫在矣 I only found out through the explanations of adepts that the Julai (Tathagata) knows real work on the embryo of the Tao. 蓋胎者非有形有像 而別物可以成之 實即我之神炁也 This embryo is nothing corporeally visible which might be completed by other beings, but is in reality the spiritual breath-energy of the ego. 先以神入乎 其炁後炁來包乎 First the spirit must penetrate the breath-energy (the soul), then the breath-energy envelops the spirit. 其神 神炁相結 而意則寂然不動 所謂胎矣 When spirit and breath-energy are firmly united and the thoughts quiet and immobile, this is described as the embryo. 且炁凝而後神靈 The breath-energy must crystallize; only then will the spirit become effective. 故經曰親奉覺應 Therefore it is said in the Leng-yen-ching: "Take maternal care of the awakening and the answering". 二炁培養 The two energies nourish and strengthen one another. 故曰日益増長 Therefore it is said: "Daily growth takes place". 炁足胎圓 從頂而出 When the energy is strong enough and the embryo is round and complete it comes out on the top of the head. 所謂形成出胎 親爲佛子者矣 This is what is called: the completed appearance which comes forth as embryo and begets itself as the son of the Buddha. 出胎圖 5. The Birth of the Fruit 身外有身名佛相 念靈無念即菩提 千葉蓮花由炁化 百光景耀假神凝
Outside the body there is a body called the Buddha image. The thought which is powerful, the absence of thoughts, is Bodhi. The thousand-petal lotus flower opens, transformed through breath-energy. Because of the crystallization of the spirit, a hundred-fold splendor shines forth.
楞嚴咒曰爾時世尊從肉髻中 涌百寶光 In the Leng-yen-chou6 it is said: "At that time the ruler of the world caused a hundredfold precious light to beam from his hair knots. 光中湧出千葉寶蓮 In the midst of the light shone the thousand-petal, precious lotus flower. 有化如來坐寶花中 And there within the flower sat a transformed Julai. 頂放十道百寶光明 皆徧示現 And from the top of his head went ten rays of white, precious light, which were visible everywhere.
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大衆仰觀放光如來 宣説神咒者 The crowd looked up to the outstreaming light and the Julai announced: 即陽神之出現也 故名曰佛子 'The divine, magic mantra is the appearance of the light-spirit, therefore his name is Son of Buddha'". 茍不得慧命之道 枯寂口禪 焉有自身 If a man does not receive the teaching about consciousness and life, how could there develop out of his own body the Julai, who sits and shines forth in the lotus flower and appears in his own spirit-body! 焉得謂世尊爲小道乎 Many say that the light-spirit is a minor teaching; but how can that which a man receives from the ruler of the world be a minor teaching? 此即泄楞嚴之秘密 曉喻後學 Herewith I have betrayed the deepest secret of the Leng-yen in order to teach disciples. 得此道者 立超聖域 不落凡塵矣 He who receives this way rises at once to the dark secret and no longer becomes submerged in the dust of everyday life. 化身圖 6. Concerning the Retention of the Transformed Body 分念成形窺色相 共靈顯迹化虚無 出有入無承妙道 分形露體共眞源
Every separate thought takes shape and becomes visible in color and form. The total spiritual power unfolds its traces and transforms itself into emptiness. Going out into being and going into non-being, one completes the miraculous Tao. All separate shapes appear as bodies, united with a true source.
面壁圖 7. The Face Turned to the Wall 神火化形空色相 性光返照復元眞 心印懸空月影淨 筏舟到岸日光融
The shapes formed by the spirit-fire are only empty colors and forms. The light of human nature [hsing] shines back on the primordial, the true. The imprint of the heart floats in space; untarnished, the moonlight shines. The boat of life has reached the shore; bright shines the sunlight.
虚空粉碎圖 8. Empty Infinity 不生不滅 無去無來 一片光輝周法界 雙忘寂淨最靈虚 虚空朗徹天心耀 海水澄清潭月溶 雲散碧空山色淨 慧歸禪定月輪孤
Without beginning, without end, Without past, without future. A halo of light surrounds the world of the law. We forget one another, quiet and pure, altogether powerful and empty. The emptiness is irradiated by the light of the heart and of heaven. The water of the sea is smooth and mirrors the on in its surface. The clouds disappear in blue space; the mountains shine clear. Consciousness reverts to contemplation; the moon disk rests alone.
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Bibliography Esposito, Monica. "Huiming jing 慧命經", in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio, ed. London and New York: Routledge, 2008: 520-1. Komjathy, Louis, "Daoist Texts in Translation", 2004. Wilhelm, Richard. The Secret of the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book of Life. New York: Harcourt Brace and Company, 1962 (1931): 69-78.
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老氏碑 Lao-shih Pei Stele of Gentleman Lao By Hsieh Tao-heng 薛道衡 Translated by James Legge
Contents Author's Introduction Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 3 8 12 15
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Author's Introduction This sovereign was the emperor Wăn (文帝) the founder of Sui (隋高祖), originally Yang Kien, a scion of the House of Sui, a principality whose name remains in Sui-kâu, of the department Teh-an in Hû Pei. He was certainly the ablest man in the China of his day, and deserves a portion of the praise with which Mr. Hsieh celebrates him after his extravagant fashion. He claimed the throne from the year 581. While doing honour to Confucianism, he did not neglect the other two religions in the empire, Tâoism and Buddhism; and having caused the old temple of Lâo-dze to be repaired in grand style in 586, he commissioned Hsieh Tâo-hăng to superintend the setting up in it a commemorative Tablet of stone. I pass over all this, which is related at great length, and proceed to give the inscription. It occupies no fewer than 352 characters in 88 lines, each consisting of four characters. The lines are arranged in what we may call eleven stanzas of equal length, the second, fourth, sixth, and eighth lines of each rhyming together. There is a good deal of art in the metrical composition. In the first six stanzas the rhyming finals are in the even tone and one of the deflected tones alternately. In the last five stanzas this arrangement is reversed. The rhymes in 7, 9, and 11 are deflected, and in 8 and 10 even. The measure of four characters is the most common in the Shih King or Ancient Book of Poetry. It continued to be a favourite down to the Thang dynasty, after which it fell very much into disuse. Through the many assonances of the Chinese characters, and the attention paid to the tones, we have in Chinese composition much of the art of rhyming, but comparatively little of the genius of poetry. (Legge, 1891: 315-6)
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The Stone Tablet in the Temple Of Lâo-dze By Hsieh Tâo-Hăng of the Sui Dynasty 1 1. After the Thâi Ki (or Primal Ether) commenced its action, the earliest period of time began to be unfolded. The curtain of the sky was displayed, and the sun and moon were suspended in it; the four-cornered earth was established, and the mountains and streams found their places in it. Then the subtle influences (of the Ether) operated like the heaving of the breath, now subsiding and again expanding; the work of production went on in its seasons above and below; all things were formed as from materials, and were matured and maintained. There were the (multitudes of the) people; there were their rulers and superiors. 2. As to the august sovereigns of the highest antiquity, living as in nests on trees in summer, and in caves in winter, silently and spirit-like they exercised their wisdom. Dwelling like quails, and drinking (the rain and dew) like newly-hatched birds, they had their great ceremonies like the great terms of heaven and earth, not requiring to be regulated by the dishes and stands; and (also) their great music corresponding to the common harmonies of heaven and earth, not needing the guidance of bells and drums. 3. By and by there came the loss of the Tâo, when its Characteristics took its place. They in their turn were lost, and then came Benevolence. Under the Sovereigns and Kings that followed, now more slowly and anon more rapidly, the manners of the people, from being good and simple, became bad and mean. Thereupon came the Literati and the Mohists with their confused contentions; names and rules were everywhere diffused. The 300 rules2 of ceremony could not control men's natures; the 3000 rules2 of punishment were not sufficient to put a stop to their treacherous villanies. But he who knows how to cleanse the current of a stream begins by clearing out its source, and he who would straighten the end of a process must commence with making its beginning correct. Is not the Great Tâo the Grand Source and the Grand Origin of all things? 4. The Master Lâo was conceived under the influence of a star. Whence he received the breath (of life) we cannot fathom, but he pointed to the (plum-) tree (under which he was born), and adopted it as his surname3; we do not understand3 whence came the musical sounds (that were heard), but he kept his marvellous powers concealed in the womb for more than seventy years. When he was born, the hair on his head was already white, and he took the designation of 'The Old Boy' (or Lâo-dze). In his person, three gateways and two (bony) pillars formed the distinctive marks of his ears and eyes; two of the symbols for five, and ten brilliant marks were left by the wonderful tread of his feet and the grasp of his hands. From the time of Fû-hsî down to that of the Kâu dynasty, in uninterrupted succession, dynasty after dynasty, his person appeared, but with changed names. In the times of kings Wăn and Wû he discharged the duties, (first), of Curator of the Royal Library4, and (next), of the Recorder under the Pillar4. Later on in that dynasty he filled different offices, but did not change his appearance. As soon as Hsüan Nî5 saw him, he sighed over him as 'the Dragon,' whose powers are difficult to be known6. Yin (Hsî), keeper of the (frontier) gate, keeping his eyes directed to every quarter, recognised 'the True Man' as he was hastening into retirement. (By Yin Hsî he was prevailed on) to put forth his extraordinary ability, and write his Book in two Parts7, – to lead the nature (of man) back to the Tâo, and celebrating the usefulness of 'doing nothing.' The style of it is very condensed, and its reasoning deep and farreaching. The hexagram which is made up of the 'dragons on the wing8' is not to be compared with it in exquisite subtlety. (The Zo Kwan) which ends with the capture of the Lin, does not match it in its brightness and obscurity. If employed to regulate the person, the spirit becomes clear and the will is still. If employed to govern the state, the people return to simplicity, and become sincere and good. When one goes on to refine his body in accordance with it, the traces of material things are rolled away from it; in rainbow-hued robes and mounted on a stork he goes forwards and backwards to the purple palace; on its juice of gold and wine of jade9 he feasts in the beautiful and pure capital. He is lustrous as the sun and moon; his ending and beginning are those of heaven and earth. He who crosses its stream, drives away the dust and noise of the world; he who finds its gate, mounts prancing up on the misty clouds. It is not for the ephemeral fly to know the fading and luxuriance of the Tâ-khun10, or for a Făng-î11 to fathom the depth of an Arm of the sea. Vast indeed (is the Tâo)! words are not sufficient to describe its excellence and powers! 5. Kwang Kâu tells us, that, 'when Lâo Tan died, Khin Shih went to condole (with his son), but after crying out three times, immediately left the house12.' This was what is called the punishment for his neglecting his Heaven (-implanted nature), and although it appears as one of the metaphorical illustrations of the supercilious officer, yet there is some little indication in the passage of the reappearance of the snake after casting its exuviae13. [At this point the author leaves the subject of the Tâo and its prophet, and enters on a long panegyric of the founder of the Sui dynasty and his achievements. This sovereign was the emperor Wăn (文帝) the founder of Sui (隋高祖), originally Yang Kien, a scion of the House of Sui, a principality whose name remains in Sui-kâu, of the department Teh-an in Hû Pei.]
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The Inscription Back in the depths of ancient time; Remote, before the Tîs began; Four equal sides defined the earth, And pillars eight the heaven sustained. All living things in classes came, The valleys wide, and mighty streams. The Perfect Tâo, with movement wise, Unseen, Its work did naturally. Its power the elements14 all felt; The incipient germs of things15 appeared. Shepherd and Lord established were, And in their hands the ivory bonds16. The Tîs must blush before the Hwangs17; The Wangs must blush before the Tîs17. More distant grew Tâo's highest gifts, And simple ways more rare became. The still placidity was gone, And all the old harmonious ways. Men talents prized, and varnished wit; The laws displayed proved but a net. Wine-cups and stands the board adorned, And shields and spears the country filled. The close-meshed nets the fishes scared: And numerous bows the birds alarmed. Then did the True Man18 get his birth, As 'neath the Bear the star shone down19. All dragon gifts his person graced; Like the stork's plumage was his hair. The complicated he resolved20, the sharp made blunt20, The mean rejected, and the generous chose; In brightness like the sun and moon, And lasting as the heaven and earth20. Small to him seemed the mountains five21, And narrow seemed the regions nine21; About he went with lofty tread, And in short time he rambled far. In carriage by black oxen drawn22, Around the purple air was bright. Grottoes then oped to him their sombre gates, And thence, unseen, his spirit power flowed forth. The village near the stream of Ko23 Traces of him will still retain23; But now, as in the days of old, With changed times the world is changed. His stately temple fell to ruin His altar empty was and still; By the nine wells dryandras grew24, And the twin tablets were but heaps of stone. But when our emperor was called to rule, All spirit-like and sage was he. Earth's bells reverberated loud, And light fell on the heavenly mirror down. The universe in brightness shone, And portents all were swept away; (All souls), or bright or dark25, revered, And spirits came to take from him their law.
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From desert sands26 and where the great trees grow26, From phoenix caves, and from the dragon woods, All different creatures came sincere; Men of all regions gave their hearts to him. Their largest vessels brought their gifts, And kings their rarest things described; Black clouds a thousand notes sent forth; And in the fragrant winds were citherns heard27. Through his transforming power, the tripods were made sure; And families became polite and courteous. Ever kept he in mind (the sage) beneath the Pillar28, Still emulous of the sovereigns most ancient29. So has he built this pure temple, And planned its stately structure; Pleasant, with hills and meadows around, And lofty pavilion with its distant prospect. Its beams are of plum-tree, its ridge-pole of cassia; A balustrade winds round it; many are its pillars; About them spreads and rolls the fragrant smoke30; Cool and pure are the breezes and mists. The Immortal officers come to their places31; The Plumaged guests are found in its court31, Numerous and at their ease, They send down blessing, bright and efficacious. Most spirit-like, unfathomable, (Tâo's) principles abide, with their symbolism attached32. Loud is Its note, but never sound emits33, Yet always it awakes the highest echoes. From far and near men praise It; In the shades, and in the realms of light, they look up for Its aid; Reverently have we graven and gilt this stone And made our lasting proclamation thereby to heaven and earth. Notes 1. Hsieh Tâo-hăng 薛道衡, called also Hsüan-khing (玄卿), was one of the most famous scholars and able ministers of the Sui dynasty (581-618), and also an eloquent writer. His biography is given at considerable length in the fifty-seventh chapter of the Books of Sui. For about 200 years after the end of the Zin dynasty, the empire had been in a very divided and distracted state. The period is known as the epoch of 'The Southern and Northern Dynasties,' no fewer than nine or ten of which co-existed, none of them able to assert a universal sway till the rise of Sui. The most powerful of them towards the end of the time was 'The Northern Kâu,' in connexion with the Wû-khăng (武成) reign of which (558-561) the name of our Hsieh first appears. In the Wû-phing ( 武平) reign of 'The Northern Khî (570-576),' we find him member of a committee for revising the rules of 'The Five Classes of Ceremonial Observances,' and gaining distinction as a poet. When the emperor Wăn (文帝), by name Yang Kien (楊監), a scion of the ruling House of Sui, a small principality in the present Hû-pei, and founder of the dynasty so called, had succeeded in putting down the various conflicting dynasties, and claimed the sovereignty of the empire in 581, Hsieh freely yielded his allegiance to him, and was employed in the conduct of various affairs. The important paper, of the translation of the greater part of which a translation is here attempted, was the outcome of one of them. Wăn Tî regularly observed the Confucian worship of God, but also kept up the ceremonies of Buddhism and Taoism. Having repaired the dilapidated temple of Lâo-dze at his birth-place, he required from Hsieh an inscription for the commemorative tablet in it, the composition of which is referred to the year 586, 'the sixth year of Sui's rule over all beneath the sky.' Hsieh appears to have been a favourite with the emperor Wăn, but when Wăn was succeeded in 605 by his son, known as Yang Tî (煬帝), his relations with the throne became less happy. Offended by a memorial which Hsieh presented, and the ground of offence in which we entirely fail to perceive, the emperor ordered him to put an end to himself. Hsieh was surprised by the sentence, and hesitated to comply with it, on which an executioner was sent to strangle him. Thus ended the life of Hsieh Tâo-hăng in his seventieth year. His death was regretted and resented, we are told, by the people generally. A collection of his writings was made in seventy chapters, and was widely read. I do not know to what extent these have been preserved; if many of them have been lost, and the paper, here in part submitted to the reader, were a fair specimen of the others, the loss must be pronounced to be great. Of this paper I have had two copies before me in translating it. One of them is in Ziâo Hung's
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'Wings to Lao-dze;' the other is in 'The Complete Works of the Ten Philosophers.' Errors of the Text occur now in the one copy, now in the other. From the two combined a Text, which must be exactly correct or nearly so, is made out. 2. Compare vol. xxviii, p. 323; par. 38. 3. Li (李), a plum-tree. For this and many of the other prodigies mentioned by Hsieh, see what Julien calls 'The Fabulous Legend of Lâo-dze,' and has translated in the Introduction to his version of the Tâo The King. Others of them are found in the Historical, or rather Legendary, Introduction in the 'Collection of Tâoist Treatises,' edited by Lû Yü in 1877. 4. The meaning of the former of these offices may be considered as settled; – see the note in Wang Kăn-kâi's edition of the 'Historical Records (1870),' under the Biography of Lâo-dze. The nature of the second office is not so clearly ascertained. It was, I apprehend, more of a literary character than the curatorship. 5. Confucius, who was styled after the beginning of our era for several centuries 'Duke Nî, the Illustrious.' 6. See vol. xxxix, pp. 34, 35. 7. See vol. xxxix, p. 35. 8. The Khien or first of all the hexagrams of the Yî King; but the sentence is to be understood of all the hexagrams, – of the Yî as a whole. 9. Compare Pope's line, 'The juice nectareous, and the balmy dew.' 10. Vol. xxxix, p. 166. 11. Vol. xxxix, p. 244. 12. Vol. xxxix, p. 201. 13. Referring, I suppose, to the illustration of the fire and the faggots. 14. 'The five essences;' meaning, I think, the subtle power and operation of the five elements. 15. So Williams, under Wei (微). See also the Khang-hsî Thesaurus under the phrase 三微. 16. 'Bonds' with written characters on them superseded the 'knotted cords' of the primitive age. That the material of the bonds should be, as here represented, slips of ivory, would seem to anticipate the progress of society. 17. The Hwangs (皇) preceded the Tîs in the Tâoistic genesis of history; and as being more simple were Tâoistically superior to them; so it was with the Tîs and the Wangs or Kings. 18. This of course was Lâo-dze. 19. See above, p. 313, par. 4. 20. In the Tâo Teh King, p. 50, par. 2, and p. 52, par. 1. The reading of line 7 is different in my two authorities: – in the one 日 角月角; in the other 日前月角. I suppose the correct reading should be – 日前月角, and have given what I think is the meaning. 21. Two well-known numerical categories. See Mayers's Manual, pp. 320, 321, and p. 340. 22. So it was, according to the story, that Lâo-dze drew near to the barrier gate, when he wished to leave China. 23. The Ko is a river flowing from Ho-nan into An-hui, and falling into the Hwâi, not far from the district city of Hwâi-yüan. It enters the one province from the other in the small department of Po (亳州), in which, according to a Chinese map in my possession, Lâo-dze was born. The Khang-hsî Thesaurus also gives a passage to the effect that the temple of his mother was hereabouts, at a bend in the Ko. 24. The nine wells, or bubbling springs, near the village where Lao was born, are mentioned by various writers; but I fail to see how the growth of the trees about them indicated the ruin of his temple.
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25. I have introduced the 'all souls' in this line, because of the 鬼 in the second character. Williams defines the first character, yao (曜), as 'the effulgence of the sun,' and of 'heavenly bodies generally;' the second (魄) is well known as meaning 'the animal soul,' and 'the dark disk of the moon.' The Thesaurus, however, explains the two characters together as a name for the pole star (北辰; see Analects I, i); and perhaps I had better have followed this meaning. 26. The 'desert sands' were, no doubt, what we call 'the desert of Gobi.' The trees referred to were 'in the extreme East.' The combination phan-mû is not described more particularly. 27. This and the three preceding lines are not a little dark. 28. 'The (sage) beneath the Pillar' must be Lâo-dze. See above in the Introductory notice, p. 313. 29. See the note on the meaning of the epithet 太上, vol. xxxix, p. 40. 30. 'The smoke,' I suppose, 'of the incense, and from the offerings.' 31. Tâoist monks are called 'Plumaged or Feathered Scholars (羽士),' from the idea that by their discipline and pills, they can emancipate themselves from the trammels of the material body, and ascend (fly up) to heaven. Arrived there, as Immortals or Hsien (仙), it further appears they were constituted into a hierarchy or society, of which some of them were 'officers,' higher in rank than others. 32. An allusion to the text of the hexagrams of the Yî King, where the explanations of them by king Wăn, – his thwan, are followed by the symbolism of their different lines by the duke of Kâu, – his hsiang. 33. See the Tâo Teh King, ch. xli, par. 2.
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老氏碑 Lao-shih Pei 隋薛道衡老子廟碑曰自太極權輿上元開闢舉天維而懸日月横地角而載山河一消一息之精靈上生下生之氣候固以財成 庶類亭毒羣品有人民焉有君長焉至若上皇邃古夏巢冬穴靜神習智鶉居轂飲大禮與天地同節非折疑於俎豆大樂與天地 同和豈考擊於鍾鼓逮乎失道後徳失徳後仁皇王有步驟之殊民俗有淳醃之變於是儒墨爭騖名法並馳禮經三百不能檢其 情性刑典三千未足息其奸宄故知潔其流者澄其源直其末者正其本源源本本其惟大道乎老君感星載誕莫測受氣之由指 樹爲姓未詳吹律之本含靈在孕七十餘年生而白首自以老子爲號其狀也三門雙柱表耳目之奇蹈五把十影手足之異爰自 伏羲至於周氏綿杞歴代見質變名在文王武王之時居藏史柱史之職南朝屢易容貌不改宣尼一睹嘆龍徳之難知關尹四望 識眞人之將隱乃發揮衆妙著書二篇率性歸道以無爲用其辭簡而要其旨深而遠飛龍成卦未足比其精微獲麟筆削不能方 其顯晦用之治身則神清志靜用之治國則反樸還淳既而錬形物表卷迹方外蜺裳鶴駕往來紫府金漿玉酒讌衍清都參日月 之光華與天地而終始涉其流者則擯落囂塵得其門者則騰驤雲霧大椿凋茂非蜉蝣之所知溟渤淺深豈馮夷之能測盛矣哉 固無徳而稱也莊周云老聃死秦佚弔之三號而出是謂遯天之形雖復傲吏之寓言抑亦蟬蛻之微旨 皇帝誕靈縱叡接統膺期照春陵之赤光發芒山之紫氣珠衡月角天表冠於百王明鏡衢罇聖徳會於千祀周道云季多難在時 九鼎共海水同飛兩日與洛川倶斷天齊地軸之所蛇食鯨呑銅陵玉壘之區狼顧鴟跱黄延奸宄鄭阻兵禍大縱毒螫將遍函夏 神謀内斷靈武外馳應攙搶而掃除仗旄鉞而斬伐共工既剪重立乾坤蚩尤就戮更調風雨宰制同造化之功生靈荷魂魄之賜 萬方欣戴九服謳謌乃允答天人祇膺揖讓升泰壇而禮上帝坐明堂而朝群后昔軒轅顓頊建國不同大昊少昊邦畿各異舜改 堯都夏遷虞邑歴選前辟義存創造惜十家之産愛兆民之力經始帝居不移天府規模紫極仍據皇圖下宇上棟務存卑儉右平 左摵聿遵制度朝夕正殿不別起于鴛鸞升降靈臺豈更營于鳷鵲憂勞庶績矜育蒼生念玆在玆發於寤寐棘林肺石特降皇情 祝網泣辜深存寬簡草纓知恥畫服興慙天無入牢之星地絶城牛之氣延閣廣内考集群典石渠壁水闡揚儒業綴五禮於將壞 正六樂於已崩總章溺志之音大師咸功之頌承華養徳作貳東朝外正萬邦内弘三善兩離炳耀重日垂明永固洪基克隆鼎祉 重以維城磐石多藝多才良佐寶臣允文允武爲王室之蕃屏成神化之丹青致世俗於潤塗鈉需民於壽域旄頭垂象窮髮成形 獯獫作患其來久矣無上筭以制之用下策而難服自我開運耀徳戢兵感義懷仁稱藩請朔稽顙款塞匍匐投掌 牱夜郎之所 靡漠桑榆之地咸被聲教並入提封閩越勾吴不愆貢職夫餘肅慎無絶夷邸遐邇提福文軌大同自三代之餘六雄競逐秦居閏 位漢雜霤道魏氏則虐深華夏有晋則化成夷狄降斯以後粹駁不分帝迹皇風寂寥千載天命聖徳會昌神道變億兆之視聽復 三五之規模固以幽明贊協符瑞彪炳千年靈蔡著天性以效徵三足神烏感陽精而表質春泉如醴出自京師秋露凝甘褊於竹 葦星光若月云氣飛煙三農應銅爵之嗚五緯叶珠囊之度信可以揚鑾動蹕肆覲東后玉檢金繩登封岱岳而謙以自牧爲而不 宰尚寢馬卿之書未允梁松之奏在青蒲之上常若乘奔處黄屋之下無忘夕惕雖蒼璧黄琮事天事地南正火正屬神之提猶恐 祀典未弘秩宗廢禮永言仁里尚想玄極壽宮靈座麋鹿徙倚華蓋罽壇風霜凋弊乃韶上開府儀同三司亳州刺史武陵公元冑 考其故迹營建祠堂皇上往因歴試總斯蕃部猶漢光司隸之所魏武兖州之地對苦相之兩城繞渦穀之三水芝田柳路北走粱 園沃野平皋東連譙國望水置槷揆景瞻星擬玄圃以疏基横玉京而建宇雕楹畫拱磊砢相扶方井圓洲參差交映尊容肅穆仙 衛儼而無聲神館虚閑洎瀝降而成嚮清心潔行之士存玄守一之儔四方輻凑千里波屬知如在之敬申醮祀之禮顯仁助於王 者冥福資於黎獻允所謂天大道大難幾者矣若夫名言頓絶幽泉之路莫開形器不陳妙物之功難著騰茂實飛英聲圖丹青鏤 金石不可以已而在玆乎?歳次敦牂律中姑洗大隋馭天下之六載也乃詔下臣建碑作頌其詞曰 悠哉振古邈矣帝先 四紀維地八柱承天 叢生類聚廣谷大川 至道靈運神功自然 五精應感三微相繼 樹以司牧執其象契 帝迹慙皇王猷謝帝 上徳逾遠淳風漸替 時乖澹泊俗異沖和 尚賢飾智懸法張羅 内修尊俎外事干戈 魚驚網密鳥亂弓多 眞人出世星精下斗 龍徳在躬鶴髮垂首 解紛挫鋭去薄歸厚 日角月角天長地久 小玆五嶽隘此九州 逝將高蹈超然遠遊 青牛已駕紫氣光浮 玄門洞啟神化潛流
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賴鄉舊里渦川遺邇 古往今來時移世易 靈廟凋毀祠壇虚寂 九井生桐雙碑碎石 維皇受命乃神乃聖 響發地鍾光垂天鏡 宇宙開朗妖氛蕩定 曜魄同尊參神取正 流沙蟠水鳳穴龜林 異類歸款萬方宅心 鴻盧納賮王會書琛 青雲千呂薰風入琴 化致鼎平家興禮讓 永言柱下猶慙太上 乃建清祠式圖靈狀 原隰爽塏亭皐彌望 梅梁桂楝曲檻叢楹 煙霞舒卷風務凄清 仙官就位羽客來庭 禳禳簡簡降福明靈 至神不測理存繫象 大音希聲時振高響 遐邇讚頌幽明資仰 敬刊金石永播天壤
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Punctuated Text 隋薛道衡老子廟碑曰:自太極權輿、上元開闢、舉天維而懸日月、横地角而載山河、一消一息之精靈、上生下生之 氣候、固以財成庶類、亭毒羣品、有人民焉、有君長焉。至若上皇邃古、夏巢冬穴、靜神習智、鶉居轂飲、大禮與 天地同節、非折疑於俎豆、大樂與天地同和、豈考擊於鍾鼓。逮乎失道後徳、失徳後仁、皇王有步驟之殊、民俗有 淳醃之變、於是儒墨爭騖、名法並馳、禮經三百、不能檢其情性、刑典三千、未足息其奸宄。故知潔其流者澄其源、 直其末者正其本、源源本本、其惟大道乎。老君感星載誕、莫測受氣之由、指樹爲姓、未詳吹律之本、含靈在孕七 十餘年、生而白首、自以老子爲號。其狀也、三門雙柱、表耳目之奇;蹈五把十、影手足之異。爰自伏羲、至於周 氏、綿杞歴代、見質變名、在文王武王之時、居藏史柱史之職、南朝屢易、容貌不改。宣尼一睹、嘆龍徳之難知; 關尹四望、識眞人之將隱。乃發揮衆妙、著書二篇、率性歸道、以無爲用、其辭簡而要、其旨深而遠。飛龍成卦、 未足比其精微、獲麟筆削、不能方其顯晦。用之治身則神清志靜、用之治國則反樸還淳。既而錬形物表、卷迹方外、 蜺裳鶴駕、往來紫府、金漿玉酒、讌衍清都、參日月之光華、與天地而終始。涉其流者則擯落囂塵、得其門者則騰 驤雲霧。大椿凋茂、非蜉蝣之所知;溟渤淺深、豈馮夷之能測。盛矣哉、固無徳而稱也。莊周云:老聃死、秦佚弔 之、三號而出。是謂遯天之形。雖復傲吏之寓言、抑亦蟬蛻之微旨。 皇帝誕靈縱叡、接統膺期、照春陵之赤光、發芒山之紫氣。珠衡月角、天表冠於百王;明鏡衢罇、聖徳會於千祀。 周道云季、多難在時。九鼎共海水同飛、兩日與洛川倶斷。天齊地軸之所、蛇食鯨呑;銅陵玉壘之區、狼顧鴟跱。 黄延奸宄、鄭阻兵禍、大縱毒螫、將遍函夏、神謀内斷、靈武外馳。應攙搶而掃除、仗旄鉞而斬伐。共工既剪、重 立乾坤;蚩尤就戮、更調風雨。宰制同造化之功、生靈荷魂魄之賜。萬方欣戴、九服謳謌、乃允答天人、祇膺揖讓。 升泰壇而禮上帝、坐明堂而朝群后。昔軒轅顓頊、建國不同。大昊少昊、邦畿各異。舜改堯都、夏遷虞邑、歴選前 辟、義存創造。惜十家之産、愛兆民之力。經始帝居、不移天府。規模紫極、仍據皇圖。下宇上棟、務存卑儉。右 平左摵、聿遵制度。朝夕正殿、不別起于鴛鸞;升降靈臺、豈更營于鳷鵲。憂勞庶績、矜育蒼生。念玆在玆、發於 寤寐。棘林肺石、特降皇情。祝網泣辜、深存寬簡。草纓知恥、畫服興慙。天無入牢之星、地絶城牛之氣。延閣廣 内、考集群典。石渠壁水、闡揚儒業。綴五禮於將壞、正六樂於已崩。總章溺志之音、大師咸功之頌。承華養徳、 作貳東朝、外正萬邦、内弘三善。兩離炳耀、重日垂明。永固洪基、克隆鼎祉。重以維城磐石、多藝多才、良佐寶 臣、允文允武。爲王室之蕃屏、成神化之丹青。致世俗於潤塗、鈉需民於壽域、旄頭垂象、窮髮成形。獯獫作患、 其來久矣。無上筭以制之、用下策而難服。自我開運、耀徳戢兵、感義懷仁、稱藩請朔、稽顙款塞、匍匐投掌。 牱夜郎之所、靡漠桑榆之地、咸被聲教、並入提封。閩越勾吴、不愆貢職;夫餘肅慎、無絶夷邸。遐邇提福、文軌 大同。自三代之餘、六雄競逐、秦居閏位、漢雜霤道、魏氏則虐深華夏、有晋則化成夷狄。降斯以後、粹駁不分、 帝迹皇風、寂寥千載、天命聖徳、會昌神道。變億兆之視聽、復三五之規模。固以幽明贊協、符瑞彪炳。千年靈蔡、 著天性以效徵;三足神烏、感陽精而表質。春泉如醴、出自京師。秋露凝甘、褊於竹葦。星光若月、云氣飛煙。三 農應銅爵之嗚、五緯叶珠囊之度。信可以揚鑾動蹕、肆覲東后。玉檢金繩、登封岱岳。而謙以自牧、爲而不宰。尚 寢馬卿之書、未允梁松之奏。在青蒲之上、常若乘奔;處黄屋之下、無忘夕惕。雖蒼璧黄琮、事天事地。南正火正、 屬神之提。猶恐祀典未弘、秩宗廢禮。永言仁里、尚想玄極。壽宮靈座、麋鹿徙倚。華蓋罽壇、風霜凋弊。乃韶上 開府儀同三司亳州刺史武陵公元冑、考其故迹、營建祠堂。皇上往因歴試、總斯蕃部、猶漢光司隸之所、魏武兖州 之地。對苦相之兩城、繞渦穀之三水。芝田柳路、北走粱園。沃野平皋、東連譙國。望水置槷、揆景瞻星。擬玄圃 以疏基、横玉京而建宇。雕楹畫拱、磊砢相扶。方井圓洲、參差交映。尊容肅穆、仙衛儼而無聲;神館虚閑、洎瀝 降而成嚮。清心潔行之士、存玄守一之儔、四方輻凑、千里波屬。知如在之敬、申醮祀之禮。顯仁助於王者、冥福 資於黎獻。允所謂天大道大、難幾者矣。若夫名言頓絶、幽泉之路莫開;形器不陳、妙物之功難著。騰茂實、飛英 聲、圖丹青、鏤金石、不可以已、而在玆乎?歳次敦牂、律中姑洗。大隋馭天下之六載也、乃詔下臣建碑作頌、其 詞曰: 悠哉振古、邈矣帝先 四紀維地、八柱承天 叢生類聚、廣谷大川 至道靈運、神功自然 五精應感、三微相繼 樹以司牧、執其象契 帝迹慙皇、王猷謝帝 上徳逾遠、淳風漸替 時乖澹泊、俗異沖和 尚賢飾智、懸法張羅 内修尊俎、外事干戈 魚驚網密、鳥亂弓多 眞人出世、星精下斗 龍徳在躬、鶴髮垂首
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解紛挫鋭、去薄歸厚 日角月角、天長地久 小玆五嶽、隘此九州 逝將高蹈、超然遠遊 青牛已駕、紫氣光浮 玄門洞啟、神化潛流 賴鄉舊里、渦川遺邇 古往今來、時移世易 靈廟凋毀、祠壇虚寂 九井生桐、雙碑碎石 維皇受命、乃神乃聖 響發地鍾、光垂天鏡 宇宙開朗、妖氛蕩定 曜魄同尊、參神取正 流沙蟠水、鳳穴龜林 異類歸款、萬方宅心 鴻盧納賮、王會書琛 青雲千呂、薰風入琴 化致鼎平、家興禮讓 永言柱下、猶慙太上 乃建清祠、式圖靈狀 原隰爽塏、亭皐彌望 梅梁桂楝、曲檻叢楹 煙霞舒卷、風務凄清 仙官就位、羽客來庭 禳禳簡簡、降福明靈 至神不測、理存繫象 大音希聲、時振高響 遐邇讚頌、幽明資仰 敬刊金石、永播天壤
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老子碑 The Stone Tablet in the Temple Of Lâo-dze By Hsieh Tâo-Hăng of the Sui Dynasty 1 自太極權輿 上元開闢 1. After the Thâi Ki (or Primal Ether) commenced its action, the earliest period of time began to be unfolded. 舉天維而懸日月 横地角而載山河 The curtain of the sky was displayed, and the sun and moon were suspended in it; the four-cornered earth was established, and the mountains and streams found their places in it. 一消一息之精靈 上生下生之氣候 固以財成庶類 亭毒羣品 Then the subtle influences (of the Ether) operated like the heaving of the breath, now subsiding and again expanding; the work of production went on in its seasons above and below; all things were formed as from materials, and were matured and maintained. 有人民焉 有君長焉 There were the (multitudes of the) people; there were their rulers and superiors. 至若上皇邃古 夏巢冬穴 靜神習智 2. As to the august sovereigns of the highest antiquity, living as in nests on trees in summer, and in caves in winter, silently and spirit-like they exercised their wisdom. 鶉居轂飲 大禮與天地同節 非折疑於俎豆 大樂與天地同和 豈考擊於鍾鼓 Dwelling like quails, and drinking (the rain and dew) like newly-hatched birds, they had their great ceremonies like the great terms of heaven and earth, not requiring to be regulated by the dishes and stands; and (also) their great music corresponding to the common harmonies of heaven and earth, not needing the guidance of bells and drums. 逮乎失道後徳 3. By and by there came the loss of the Tâo, when its Characteristics took its place. 失徳後仁 They in their turn were lost, and then came Benevolence. 皇王有步驟之殊 民俗有淳醃之變 Under the Sovereigns and Kings that followed, now more slowly and anon more rapidly, the manners of the people, from being good and simple, became bad and mean. 於是儒墨爭騖 名法並馳 Thereupon came the Literati and the Mohists with their confused contentions; names and rules were everywhere diffused. 禮經三百 不能檢其情性 刑典三千 未足息其奸宄 The 300 rules2 of ceremony could not control men's natures; the 3000 rules2 of punishment were not sufficient to put a stop to their treacherous villanies. 故知潔其流者澄其源 直其末者正其本 But he who knows how to cleanse the current of a stream begins by clearing out its source, and he who would straighten the end of a process must commence with making its beginning correct. 源源本本 其惟大道乎 Is not the Great Tâo the Grand Source and the Grand Origin of all things? 老君感星載誕 4. The Master Lâo was conceived under the influence of a star. 莫測受氣之由 指樹爲姓 未詳吹律之本 含靈在孕七十餘年 Whence he received the breath (of life) we cannot fathom, but he pointed to the (plum-) tree (under which he was born), and adopted it as his surname3; we do not understand3 whence came the musical sounds (that were heard), but he kept his marvellous powers concealed in the womb for more than seventy years. 生而白首 自以老子爲號 其狀也 When he was born, the hair on his head was already white, and he took the designation of 'The Old Boy' (or Lâo-dze).
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三門雙柱 表耳目之奇 蹈五把十 影手足之異 In his person, three gateways and two (bony) pillars formed the distinctive marks of his ears and eyes; two of the symbols for five, and ten brilliant marks were left by the wonderful tread of his feet and the grasp of his hands. 爰自伏羲 至於周氏 綿杞歴代 見質變名 From the time of Fû-hsî down to that of the Kâu dynasty, in uninterrupted succession, dynasty after dynasty, his person appeared, but with changed names. 在文王武王之時 居藏史柱史之職 In the times of kings Wăn and Wû he discharged the duties, (first), of Curator of the Royal Library4, and (next), of the Recorder under the Pillar4. 南朝屢易 容貌不改 Later on in that dynasty he filled different offices, but did not change his appearance. 宣尼一睹 嘆龍徳之難知 As soon as Hsüan Nî5 saw him, he sighed over him as 'the Dragon,' whose powers are difficult to be known6. 關尹四望 識眞人之將隱 Yin (Hsî), keeper of the (frontier) gate, keeping his eyes directed to every quarter, recognised 'the True Man' as he was hastening into retirement. 乃發揮衆妙 著書二篇 率性歸道 以無爲用 (By Yin Hsî he was prevailed on) to put forth his extraordinary ability, and write his Book in two Parts7, – to lead the nature (of man) back to the Tâo, and celebrating the usefulness of 'doing nothing.' 其辭簡而要 其旨深而遠 The style of it is very condensed, and its reasoning deep and far-reaching. 飛龍成卦 未足比其精微 The hexagram which is made up of the 'dragons on the wing8' is not to be compared with it in exquisite subtlety. 獲麟筆削 不能方其顯晦 (The Zo Kwan) which ends with the capture of the Lin, does not match it in its brightness and obscurity. 用之治身則神清志靜 If employed to regulate the person, the spirit becomes clear and the will is still. 用之治國則反樸還淳 If employed to govern the state, the people return to simplicity, and become sincere and good. 既而錬形物表 卷迹方外 蜺裳鶴駕 往來紫府 金漿玉酒 讌衍清都 When one goes on to refine his body in accordance with it, the traces of material things are rolled away from it; in rainbowhued robes and mounted on a stork he goes forwards and backwards to the purple palace; on its juice of gold and wine of jade9 he feasts in the beautiful and pure capital. 參日月之光華 與天地而終始 He is lustrous as the sun and moon; his ending and beginning are those of heaven and earth. 涉其流者則擯落囂塵 得其門者則騰驤雲霧 He who crosses its stream, drives away the dust and noise of the world; he who finds its gate, mounts prancing up on the misty clouds. 大椿凋茂 非蜉蝣之所知 溟渤淺深 豈馮夷之能測 It is not for the ephemeral fly to know the fading and luxuriance of the Tâ-khun10, or for a Făng-î11 to fathom the depth of an Arm of the sea. 盛矣哉 固無徳而稱也 Vast indeed (is the Tâo)! words are not sufficient to describe its excellence and powers!
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莊周云 老聃死 秦佚弔之 三號而出 5. Kwang Kâu tells us, that, 'when Lâo Tan died, Khin Shih went to condole (with his son), but after crying out three times, immediately left the house12.' 是謂遯天之形 雖復傲吏之寓言 抑亦蟬蛻之微旨 This was what is called the punishment for his neglecting his Heaven (-implanted nature), and although it appears as one of the metaphorical illustrations of the supercilious officer, yet there is some little indication in the passage of the reappearance of the snake after casting its exuviae13. [At this point the author leaves the subject of the Tâo and its prophet, and enters on a long panegyric of the founder of the Sui dynasty and his achievements. This sovereign was the emperor Wăn (文帝) the founder of Sui (隋高祖), originally Yang Kien, a scion of the House of Sui, a principality whose name remains in Sui-kâu, of the department Teh-an in Hû Pei.]
The Inscription 悠哉振古 四紀維地 叢生類聚 至道靈運
邈矣帝先 八柱承天 廣谷大川 神功自然
Back in the depths of ancient time; remote, before the Tîs began; Four equal sides defined the earth, and pillars eight the heaven sustained. All living things in classes came, the valleys wide, and mighty streams. The Perfect Tâo, with movement wise, unseen, Its work did naturally.
五精應感 樹以司牧 帝迹慙皇 上徳逾遠
三微相繼 執其象契 王猷謝帝 淳風漸替
Its power the elements14 all felt; the incipient germs of things15 appeared. Shepherd and Lord established were, and in their hands the ivory bonds16. The Tîs must blush before the Hwangs17; the Wangs must blush before the Tîs17. More distant grew Tâo's highest gifts, and simple ways more rare became.
時乖澹泊 尚賢飾智 内修尊俎 魚驚網密
俗異沖和 懸法張羅 外事干戈 鳥亂弓多
The still placidity was gone, and all the old harmonious ways. Men talents prized, and varnished wit; the laws displayed proved but a net. Wine-cups and stands the board adorned, and shields and spears the country filled. The close-meshed nets the fishes scared: and numerous bows the birds alarmed.
眞人出世 龍徳在躬 解紛挫鋭 日角月角
星精下斗 鶴髮垂首 去薄歸厚 天長地久
Then did the True Man18 get his birth, as 'neath the Bear the star shone down19. All dragon gifts his person graced; like the stork's plumage was his hair. The complicated he resolved20, the sharp made blunt20, the mean rejected, and the generous chose; In brightness like the sun and moon, and lasting as the heaven and earth20.
小玆五嶽 逝將高蹈 青牛已駕 玄門洞啟
隘此九州 超然遠遊 紫氣光浮 神化潛流
Small to him seemed the mountains five21, and narrow seemed the regions nine21; About he went with lofty tread, and in short time he rambled far. In carriage by black oxen drawn22, around the purple air was bright. Grottoes then oped to him their sombre gates, and thence, unseen, his spirit power flowed forth.
賴鄉舊里 古往今來 靈廟凋毀 九井生桐
渦川遺邇 時移世易 祠壇虚寂 雙碑碎石
The village near the stream of Ko23 traces of him will still retain23; But now, as in the days of old, with changed times the world is changed. His stately temple fell to ruin his altar empty was and still; By the nine wells dryandras grew24, and the twin tablets were but heaps of stone.
維皇受命 響發地鍾 宇宙開朗 曜魄同尊
乃神乃聖 光垂天鏡 妖氛蕩定 參神取正
But when our emperor was called to rule, all spirit-like and sage was he. Earth's bells reverberated loud, and light fell on the heavenly mirror down. The universe in brightness shone, and portents all were swept away; (All souls), or bright or dark25, revered, and spirits came to take from him their law.
流沙蟠水 異類歸款 鴻盧納賮 青雲千呂
鳳穴龜林 萬方宅心 王會書琛 薰風入琴
From desert sands26 and where the great trees grow26, from phoenix caves, and from the dragon woods, All different creatures came sincere; men of all regions gave their hearts to him. Their largest vessels brought their gifts, and kings their rarest things described; Black clouds a thousand notes sent forth; and in the fragrant winds were citherns heard27.
化致鼎平 永言柱下 乃建清祠 原隰爽塏
家興禮讓 猶慙太上 式圖靈狀 亭皐彌望
Through his transforming power, the tripods were made sure; and families became polite and courteous. Ever kept he in mind (the sage) beneath the Pillar28, still emulous of the sovereigns most ancient29. So has he built this pure temple, and planned its stately structure; Pleasant, with hills and meadows around, and lofty pavilion with its distant prospect.
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梅梁桂楝 煙霞舒卷 仙官就位 禳禳簡簡
曲檻叢楹 風務凄清 羽客來庭 降福明靈
Its beams are of plum-tree, its ridge-pole of cassia; a balustrade winds round it; many are its pillars; About them spreads and rolls the fragrant smoke30; cool and pure are the breezes and mists. The Immortal officers come to their places31; the Plumaged guests are found in its court31, Numerous and at their ease, they send down blessing, bright and efficacious.
至神不測 大音希聲 遐邇讚頌 敬刊金石
理存繫象 時振高響 幽明資仰 永播天壤
Most spirit-like, unfathomable, (Tâo's) principles abide, with their symbolism attached32. Loud is Its note, but never sound emits33, yet always it awakes the highest echoes. From far and near men praise It; in the shades, and in the realms of light, they look up for Its aid; Reverently have we graven and gilt this stone and made our lasting proclamation thereby to heaven and earth.
Bibliography Legge, James. The Texts of Taoism: Part II of II, Sacred Books of the East, Volume 40. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891: 311-9.
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龍虎經 Lung-hu Ching Scripture of the Dragon and Tiger Translated by Eva Wong
Contents Bibliographic Information Author's Introduction Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 2 3 6 8 17
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Bibliographic Information Guwen longhu jing zhushu 古文龍虎經註疏: Commentary on the Ancient Scripture on the Dragon and Tiger: DZ 996; JY 122. Abbreviated as Longhu jing zhu 龍虎經註. An anonymous text of uncertain date. The primary text of the Longhu jing 龍虎經 (Scripture on the Dragon and Tiger) is a highly symbolic presentation of the process of internal alchemy (neidan 内丹). The commentary, containing a primary and secondary exegesis, was edited by two Song-dynasty (Northern: 960-1126; Southern: 1127-1279) Daoists, a certain Wang Dao 王道 and Zhou Zhenyi 周真一. These Daoists also contributed notes to the secondary commentary. (Komjathy, 2004: 29-30) The primary text of The Dragon-Tiger Classic is found in its commentaries, Ku-wen Lung-hu Ching Chu-shu 古文龍 虎經注疏 (TT 996) and Ku-wen Lung-hu Shang Ching Chu 古文龍虎上經注 (TT 997). The Dragon-Tiger Classic is also known as Chin-tan Chin-pi Ch'ien-t'ung Chüeh 金丹金碧潛通訣, which is abbreviated as Chin-pi Ch'ien-t'ung 金 碧潛通.
Author's Introduction About the Dragon-Tiger Classic The Dragon-Tiger Classic is regarded by contemporary practitioners of Taoist alchemy to be the most complete guide to spiritual transformation. It describes the ingredients, the catalysts, the equipment, the nature of the physiological transformations, and, most important, the schedule of the firing process needed to initiate the alchemical interactions. All this information is encoded in a set of mnemonics of 1,293 words, making the Dragon-Tiger Classic one of the most challenging alchemical treatises to understand. That so much information is packed into so few words does not mean that there is little to say about the transformations. Rather, it is characteristic of Taoist alchemical treatises to reveal only partial information, and even then, in symbolic language. Since the basic information was general knowledge among the community of practitioners and instructions for advanced adepts were transmitted orally, Taoist alchemical treatises often leave out the most basic and the most advanced information. This arrangement worked well as long as there was an active community of practitioners. However, as practitioners dwindled, knowledge not written down was lost. Given the complexity of the alchemical processes described in the Dragon-Tiger Classic and the amount of background information needed to understand the text, I have written a "reader's guide" for it. Unless you are extremely familiar with the theory and practice of Taoist alchemy, I would urge you to read this introduction before you tackle the text and the commentaries. My own understanding of the Dragon-Tiger Classic was helped tremendously by my practice of the Taoist alchemical arts. It has allowed me to reconstruct missing information and unravel the multiple layers of meanings encoded in the text. The authorship of the Dragon-Tiger Classic is unknown. The version in the Cheng-t'ung Taoist canon was edited by two Sung dynasty (960-1279 CE) Taoists, Wang Tao and Chou Chen-i, who also added comments in parts of the Secondary Commentary. Wang Tao considered the Dragon-Tiger Classic one of the oldest known texts of Taoist alchemy, possibly written before the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE). However, Chu Hsi, the Sung dynasty neoConfucianist philosopher, argued that the text was written much later, probably during the T'ang dynasty (618-906 CE). At present, there is no agreement about when the Dragon-Tiger Classic was written. The authorship of the Primary Commentary is also unknown, and there is no information about when it was written. All we can say is that it could not have been written earlier than the second century CE because it contains extensive references to the Tsan-tung-chi (Triplex Unity), the alchemical classic of the Eastern Han. The Secondary Commentary was most likely a work of the Sung dynasty because it contains ideas that were characteristic of the internal-alchemical treatises of that period. Three levels of meaning are encoded in the Dragon-Tiger Classic. The original text can be read simultaneously as a manual of external, sexual, and internal alchemy. The Primary Commentary can be read as a manual of both sexual and internal alchemy, and the Secondary Commentary is best read as a manual of purely internal alchemy. To understand these three levels of meaning, we need to first familiarize ourselves with the three forms of Taoist alchemy–external, sexual, and internal. (Wong, 1997: 2-3)
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Dragon-Tiger Classic 1. The Chamber of the Spirit Is the Pivot of the Elixir The chamber of the spirit is the pivot of the elixir. It is the mother and father of all minerals. It is the secret residence of cinnabar and mercury. 2. Yang Exits and Yin Enters Yang exits and yin enters. They flow and light up the two directions. Three is their number, and they are patterned after water and fire. 3. Control Comes from the Ruler Control comes from the ruler. The warrior puts down rebellion. The scholar exercises softness. The element earth flourishes in all four seasons. When the best earth is in command, it will take the sword to conquer adversities and protect the four directions. 4. The Numerics of K'an and Li Are One and Two The numerics of k'an and li are one and two. They move exclusively between north and south. They occupy the highest place among the seventy-two minerals. 5. Hardness and Softness Embrace Hardness and softness embrace. Yin and yang follow their natural tendencies. Metal and fire perform their duties. Metal and water accept each other. Female and male become one. Everything functions in an orderly way. 6. The Transformation of the Spirit is Patterned after the Hexagrams Chi and Wei The transformation of the spirit is patterned after the hexagrams chi and wei. Reaching the end, the process returns to the beginning. The period is marked by the ninth day of the lunar month, when yang becomes harmonious in the morning and evening. Having completed its circuit, yang is united with the celestial mind. The yang components of the hexagram end at ssu. Pure yin emerges at li and wu. It passes through the southern position of ting and ends at the hour of hai. 7. Water and Fire Have Have Their Own Territory Water and fire have their own territory. They keep to their domain, becoming winter and summer. Benevolence and integrity are manifested in the east and west. The five elements govern the cycle of the four seasons. In this way, yin and yang make use of each other. Following the numerics of one and three, everything is kept in order. 8. Set Up Positions in the Chamber of the Spirit Set up positions in the chamber of the spirit and the transformations will occur within. The chamber of the spirit consists of an upper and a lower crucible. Establishing the positions means intertwining the female and male. In the transformation, cinnabar and mercury emerge. In the creation of cinnabar and mercury, metal and earth are applied. The application of these two substances is not tied to the positions of the yin and yang components in the trigrams. The winged one flies to the precarious void. Cinnabar and mercury are elusive in their coming and going. The positions of the upper and lower crucibles are also unstable. The only thing that is certain is that cinnabar and mercury dissolve when they return to the Central Palace. Only earth can control cinnabar and mercury, for earth embodied the essence of all the minerals and is the ancestor of the elixir. 9. Substance and Nonsubstance Control Each Other Substance and nonsubstance control each other. The Red Raven flies in the sky. Purple rays illuminate the sun. Cinnabar and mercury both dissolve. 10. Instructions Are Not Given Superfluously Instructions are not given superfluously and theories are not just empty talk. The words in the texts reveal the mysteries and unlock the numinous. The information is displayed in the yin and yang components of the hexagrams. The path lies in the cycle of the five elements. The male in k'an is the essence of metal. The female in li is the light of the fire. Metal and wood control each other. Water and fire subdue each other. Earth grows strong in the home of metal. The three substances are dissolved. When the four seas are gathered, there will be peace and balance. All this is accomplished by the emperor of the wood in the Central Palace. 11. The Fire of Metal Is the True Lead The fire of metal is the true lead. The glow in the cinnabar powder comes from metal and fire. The subtleties of transformation have been discussed in detail elsewhere. When yang stirs, yin wanes. The undifferentiated whole emerges when the numerics of one and nine are complete. The precious essence now coalesces. The medicine corresponds to the pattern of the hexagrams. Metal has 384 pearls. They weigh one pound, or sixteen ounces. When the essence of metal melts, the two vapors (yin and yang) become the elixir. At the appointed time, fire is applied to the
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Green Dragon. The chamber of the spirit refines the essence. Metal and fire mutually push and pump. The yang of the mate nourishes the mysterious water. The yin of the female turns the red into gold. Yin and yang intertwine in copulation. The liquid essence embraces the primordial vapor. All things are created from the void and are nurtured to become their kind. Of all the elixirs, this one is the most numinous. It is the source of longevity. 12. It Becomes Subtle and Moist, Bright and Shiny It becomes subtle and moist, bright and shiny. The lord of the beginning cultivates the mercury. Within the sacred chamber is the empty cavern. The mysterious white gives birth to the mate of metal. It occupies a strong and honored place from the start. The three and five hold on to each other. The essence flies in to moisten and nourish. 13. The Mysterious Woman Unfolds the Process The Mysterious Woman unfolds the process. Wu and chi are enhanced by the celestial fire. The celestial fire gradually runs out, following the pattern of the mysterious. 14. In Revealing the Nature of the Elixir In revealing the nature of the elixir, there is no need to mention again the importance of ch'ien and k'un. Cinnabar is the father of mercury. Wu and chi are the mothers of yellow gold. The harmonics of the bell vibrate to the numerics of two and six. The pivot of the North Pole Star is built on three and nine. The crimson youth plays with the Red Raven, and the Green Dragon emerges in the transformation. 15. Initially K'un Is Transformed into Chen Initially k'un is transformed into chen. On the third day, the moon rises in keng. East and west are separated into mao and yu. The dragon and tiger will find each other. K'un is then transformed into tui. On the eighth day, the moon rises in ting. There is half a pound of metal in the upper registers. In the third transformation, k'un becomes ch'ien. On the fifteenth day, the three yang components are in place, in roundness, they shine in the eastern position of chia. The water of metal warms the sun. The red marrow flow and becomes mercury. The new bride displays her golden splendor. The moon becomes full and then begins to wane. 16. In Sixteen Days They Diminish In sixteen days they diminish. Initially, ch'ien wanes to become the trigram sun. Flat and bright, the moon appears in the direction of hsin. Ch'ien continues to wane, becoming ken. On the twenty-third day, in the lower registers, water is now at half a pound. The moon rides in the southern position of ping. In the third shade of waning, ch'ien becomes k'un. K'un is complete on the thirtieth day. The northeast loses its light. The moon disappears into the earth at the position i. The moon of k'un and i is dark. Earth, wood, and metal are dissolved. Following k'un, the dragon of chen is born. 17. Ch'ien and K'un Are at the Beginning and the End Ch'ien and k'un are at the beginning and the end. Therefore they are called the dragon of chen. During the thirty days of the month, k'un gives birth to chen, tui and ch'ien; and ch'ien gives birth to sun, ken, and k'un. The eight trigrams are arranged in their order of brightness. They move around but do not lose their center. 18. Regulate the Fire for Sixty Days Regulate the fire for seventy days. The transformations will be your witness. Something like an egg will appear in the chamber of the spirit. The five mountains are connected by subterranean caverns. The pivot will be present at the great gathering. 19. The First Fires Are Small and Warm The first fires are small and warm, like the initial movement of the components of the hexagrams. The top is crowned with the essence of the golden metal. The bottom carries the primordial shape of k'un. The unadorned nectar flows harmoniously in the middle. Everything is patterned after the Three Domains. The movement of ch'ien is in conjunction with the three lights. The stillness of k'un holds the vapor of yang. 20. Begin the Work in the Chamber of the Spirit Begin the work in the chamber of the spirit. The Golden Elixir will gradually materialize. Everything must be stable. The refined vapor flies around in the enclosure. The numinous doorway opens and closes. In the realm of the inaudible and invisible, creation occurs in the cavity of the deep spring. 21. The Vapor of Yang Activates K'un The vapor of yang activates k'un. The image of the sun is at the extreme south. The five stars (planets) are strung together like pearls. The sun and moon are in conjunction. The grains of the golden cinnabar are separated. Inhalation and exhalation are in harmony.
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22. The Glorious Dome Covers the Top The glorious dome covers the top. The Three Altars support from below. The ones who direct destiny and grant prosperity are securely hidden. They determine whether debts need to be paid. 23. Earth in the Central Palace Is Tempered by Fire Earth in the Central Palace is tempered by fire. Metal enters the water of the north. The three elements water, earth, and metal undergo transformation for sixty days. Everything must occur naturally. They should first be preserved and then extinguished. If the fire is too strong, the effects will be halved. If the quicksilver is unstable, it may stay together or separate. If hardness and softness conflict and do not penetrate each other, it is not the fault of fire. Rather, earth is to blame. 24. Earth Guards the Central Palace Earth guards the Central Palace and envelops the four directions. The three lights are in harmony with each other and peace is established. The five viscera are nourished within. The four limbs are balanced. Water freezes and fire is extinguished. The glow is hidden but there is a radiance within. Metal and wood support each other. The elusive brightness is concealed inside. Set the water at the right temperature and stoke the fire. Initiate the process and everything will be transformed. The Tao is now close and within reach. 25. When Water Is Coupled with Earth When water is coupled with earth, clouds of emerald haze are born. The yellow and black are mixed with the original undifferentiated essence, and a purple aura surrounds the sun. Water gives birth to the ten thousand things. These secrets are known only to the sages. 26. The Best Metal Is Initially White The best metal is initially white. Refine it, and it will turn yellow. Tame it, and it will be transformed in the Central Palace. Locked inside, the yellow metal does not fly out. Smoke and clouds rise as earth is set on fire. 27. Substance and Nonsubstance Subdue Each Other Substance and nonsubstance subdue each other. Above is the residence of the Green Dragon. The two nonsubstances originate from substance. The numinous transformations are difficult to enumerate. 28. Refine the Silver in the Lead Refine the silver in the lead and the sacred substance will emerge. Silver is the essence of gold, and lead embodies the spirit of the north. Water is the pivot of the Tao. Its number is one and it is the origin of yin and yang. Therefore it had within it the essence of silver. Lead is transformed into the yellow elixir. It takes its place among the five minerals. Lead is black on the outside. It takes on the color of north. Inside it is the essence of gold. It hides a piece of jade within, but externally it is a wild man. 29. Silver Is the Mother of Lead Silver is the mother of lead; the mother hides in the lead. Lead is the child of silver; the child is enclosed in the womb of the silver. The true simplicity is subtle and elusive. Sometimed it exists and sometimes it does not. In the hot fires of the charcoal pit, lead sinks and silver rises. Pure and white, it appears like a jewel, and can be used to construct the yellow cart. 30. Grain Is the Essence of Metal Grain is the essence of metal. Water becomes the yellow fluid. It travels to the area measuring one inch square and merges with the Three Domains. Like sky and earth before separation, it is shaped like an egg. 31. Something Rises from the Sphere Something rises from the sphere. It is shaped like a Peng-lai jug. Locked and secured inside, the spirit circulates. The design is patterned after a furnace. It is concealed and guarded. In control and wrapped around itself, it is protected from harm. All this is a part of the natural way, for the transformations of the spirit are limitless. 32. Lodestone and Metal Are Attracted to Each Other Lodestone and metal are attracted to each other even at a distance. But, compared with them, the contents of an egg are even more attached to each other. Coming together, they give birth. The best metal and earth are always with mercury. 33. The Emphasis on the Firing Process Is Not Empty Talk The emphasis is on the firing process is not empty talk. It is not an attempt to inflate the importance of this book. The methods of the elixir have been discussed elsewhere. Thus there is no need to enumerate them here. Therefore only the mnemonics of firing are presented in the text.
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龍虎經 Lung-hu Ching 1 神室者、丹之樞紐、衆石之父母、砂汞別居 2 出陽入陰、流曜二方、列數有三按、象水火 3 制猶王者、武以討叛、文懷柔、土旺四季土徳以王、提劍偃戈、以鎭四方 4 坎離數一二、南北獨爲經、故冠七十二石之長 5 剛柔有表裏、陰陽禀自然、金火當直事、金水相含受、雌雄併一體、用之有條理 6 變化既未神、終則復更始。初九爲期度、陽和准旦暮、周歴合天心、陽爻畢於已;正陰發離午、自丁終於亥 7 水火各一方、守界成寒暑、東西表仁義、五行變四時。如是則陰陽互用、順三一而得其理 8 神室設位、變化在乎其中矣。神室者、上下釜也;設位者、列雌雄配合之密也。變化爲砂汞。砂汞者、金土 二用。二用無爻位、張翼飛虚危。往來既不定、上下亦無常。獨居不改化、歸中宮宮非土不可制包嚢衆石、 爲丹祖宗 9 有無相制、朱雀炎空。紫華曜日、砂汞滅亡 10 訣不輒造、理不虚擬、約文伸奥、叩索神明。演成卦爻、五行爲經、坎雄金精、離雌火光;金木相伐、水火 相剋、土旺金郷、三物倶喪、四海輻輳、以致太平。並由中宮土徳、黄帝之功 11 金火者、眞鉛也。丹砂著明、莫大乎金火。言窮微以任化、陽動則陰消、混沌終一九、寶精更相持。卦與藥 合金有三百八十四、銖銖據一斤爲十六兩也。金精一化、二氣成丹青龍受符。當斯之時、神室錬其精、金火 相運推、雄陽翠玄水、雌陰赭黄金、陰陽混交接、精液包元氣、萬象憑虚生、感化各有類。衆丹之靈迹長生 、莫不由 12 於是玄潤光澤。元君始煉汞、神室含洞虚。玄生白金公、巍巍建始初。冠三五相守、飛精以濡滋 13 玄女演其序、戊己貴天符、天符道漸剥、難以應玄圖 14 故演作丹意、乾坤不復言。丹砂流汞父、戊己黄金母、鍾律還二六、斗樞建三九、赤童戯朱雀、變化爲青龍 15 坤初變成震、三日月出庚;東西分卯酉龍虎自相尋、坤再變成兌、八日月出丁、上弦金半斤;坤三變成乾、 十五三陽備、圓照東方甲。金水温太陽、赤髓流爲汞、姹女弄金璫。月盈自合虧 16 十六轉相減、乾初缺成巽、平明月見辛;乾再損成艮、二十三下弦、下弦水半斤;月出於丙南、乾三損成坤 、成坤三十日、東北喪其朋。月没於乙地、坤乙月既晦、土木金將化、繼坤生震龍
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17 乾坤括終始、故曰震龍也、如上三十日、坤生震兌乾、乾生巽艮坤。八卦列布曜、運移不失中 18 調火六十日、變化自爲證。神室有所象、雞子爲容形、五嶽峙潜洞、際會有樞轄 19 發火初温微、亦如爻動時。上戴黄金精、下負坤元形、中和流素津、參合考三才、乾動應三光、坤静含陽氣 20 神室先施行、金丹然後成。可不堅乎?煉化之器、包裏飛凝、開闔靈戸。希夷之府、造化泉窟 21 陽氣發坤、日晷南極、五生連珠、日月合璧?金砂依分、呼吸相應 22 華蓋上臨、三台下輔、統録之司、當密其固。詰責能否 23 火錬中宮土、金入北方水、水土金三物、變化六十日。自然之要、先存後亡。或火數多、分兩違則、或水銀 不定、同處別居。剛柔抗衡、不相渉入。非火之咎、譴責於土 24 土鎮中宮、籠罩四方。三光合度、以致太平。五臟内養、四肢調和。水涸火滅、含曜内朗。金水相瑩、閉塞 流暉。調和温水、發之倶化、道近可求 25 水土獨相配、翡翠生景雲、黄黒混元精、紫華敷太陽、水能生萬物、聖人獨知之 26 金徳尚白、錬鉛以求黄色焉。感化生中宮、黄金鎖不飛灼、土煙雲起 27 有無互相制、上有青龍居。兩無宗一有、靈化妙難窺 28 錬銀於鉛、神物自生。銀者金精、鉛包北靈。水者道樞、陰陽之始、故懷銀。精鉛化黄丹、寄立五金。爲鉛 外黒、色稟北方、内懷銀精。被褐懷玉、外似狂夫 29 銀爲鉛母、母隱鉛中。鉛者銀子、子藏銀胞。眞素渺邈、似有似無。灰池炎灼、鉛沉銀浮、潔白見寶、可造 黄轝 30 殼爲金精、水還黄液。俓寸之質以混三才、天地未分、象若雞子 31 圓高中起、狀似蓬壷。關閉微密、神運其中。爐竈取象、固密全堅。委曲相制、以使無虞、自然之理、神化 無方 32 磁石吸鐵、隔礙潜通。何況雞子、配合而生!金土之徳、常與汞倶 33 火記不虚作、鄭重解前文。丹術既著、不復重擬!故演此訣、以附火記焉
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龍虎經 The Dragon-Tiger Classic 神室者丹之樞紐章第一 1. The Chamber of the Spirit Is the Pivot of the Elixir 神室者丹之樞紐 The chamber of the spirit is the pivot of the elixir. 衆石之父母 It is the mother and father of all minerals. 砂汞別居 It is the secret residence of cinnabar and mercury. 出陽入陰章第二 2. Yang Exits and Yin Enters 出陽入陰 流曜二方 Yang exits and yin enters. They flow and light up the two directions. 列數有三 按象水火 Three is their number, and they are patterned after water and fire. 制猶王者第三 3. Control Comes from the Ruler 制猶王者 武以討叛 文懷柔 Control comes from the ruler. The warrior puts down rebellion. The scholar exercises softness. 土旺四季 The element earth flourishes in all four seasons. 土徳以王 提劍偃戈 以鎭四方 When the best earth is in command, it will take the sword to conquer adversities and protect the four directions. 坎離數一二章第四 4. The Numerics of K'an and Li Are One and Two 坎離數一二 The numerics of k'an and li are one and two. 南北獨爲經 They move exclusively between north and south. 故冠七十二石之長 They occupy the highest place among the seventy-two minerals. 剛柔有表裏章第五 5. Hardness and Softness Embrace 剛柔有表裏 陰陽禀自然 Hardness and softness embrace. Yin and yang follow their natural tendencies. 金火當直事 金水相含受 Metal and fire perform their functions. Metal and water accept each other. 雌雄併一體 用之有條理 Female and male become one. Everything functions in an orderly way.
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變化既未神章第六 6. The Transformation of the Spirit is Patterned after the Hexagrams Chi and Wei 變化既未神 終則復更始 The transformation of the spirit is patterned after the hexagrams chi and wei. Reaching the end, the process returns to the beginning. 初九爲期度 陽和准旦暮 The period is marked by the ninth day of the lunar month, when yang becomed harmonious in the morning and evening. 周歴合天心 陽爻畢於已 Having completed its circuit, yang is united with the celestial mind. The yang components of the hexagram end at ssu. 正陰發離午 自丁終於亥 Pure yin emerges at li and wu. It passes through the southern position of ting and ends at the hour of hai. 水火各一方章第七 7. Water and Fire Have Have Their Own Territory 水火各一方 守界成寒暑 Water and fire have their own territory. They keep to their domain, becoming winter and summer. 東西表仁義 五行變四時 Benevolence and integrity are manifested in the east and west. The five elements govern the cycle of the four seasons. 如是則陰陽互用 順三一而得其理 In this way, yin and yang make use of each other. Following the numerics of one and three, everything is kept in order. 神室設位章第八 8. Set Up Positions in the Chamber of the Spirit 神室設位 變化在乎其中矣 Set up positions in the chamber of the spirit and the transformations will occur within. 神室者上下釜也 The chamber of the spirit consists of an upper and a lower crucible. 設位者列雌雄配合之密也 Establishing the positions means intertwining the female and male. 變化爲砂汞 砂汞者金土二用 In the transformation, cinnabar and mercury emerge. In the creation of cinnabar and mercury, metal and earth are applied. 二用無爻位 張翼飛虚危 The application of these two substances is not tied to the positions of the yin and yang components in the trigrams. The winged one flies to the precarious void. 往來既不定 上下亦無常 Cinnabar and mercury are elusive in their coming and going. The positions of the upper and lower crucibles are also unstable. 獨居不改化歸中宮 The only thing that is certain is that cinnabar and mercury dissolve when they return to the Central Palace. 非土不可制 包嚢衆石 爲丹祖宗 Only earth can control cinnabar and mercury, for earth embodied the essence of all the minerals and is the ancestor of the elixir.
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有無相制章第九 9. Substance and Nonsubstance Control Each Other 有無相制 朱雀炎空 Substance and nonsubstance control each other. The Red Raven flies in the sky. 紫華曜日 砂汞滅亡 Purple rays illuminate the sun. Cinnabar and mercury both dissolve. 訣不輒造章第十 10. Instructions Are Not Given Superfluously 訣不輒造 理不虚擬 Instructions are not given superfluously and theories are not just empty talk. 約文伸奥 叩索神明 The words in the texts reveal the mysteries and unlock the numinous. 演成卦爻 五行爲經 The information is displayed in the yin and yang components of the hexagrams. The path lies in the cycle of the five elements. 坎雄金精 離雌火光 The male in k'an is the essence of metal. The female in li is the light of the fire. 金木相伐 水火相剋 Metal and wood control each other. Water and fire subdue each other. 土旺金郷 三物倶喪 Earth grows strong in the home of metal. The three substances are dissolved. 四海輻輳 以致太平 When the four seas are gathered, there will be peace and balance. 並由中宮土徳 黄帝之功 All this is accomplished by the emperor of the wood in the Central Palace. 金火者眞鉛也章第十一 11. The Fire of Metal Is the True Lead 金火者眞鉛也 The fire of metal is the true lead. 丹砂著明 莫大乎金火 The glow in the cinnabar powder comes from metal and fire. 言窮微以任化 陽動則陰消 The subtleties of transformation have been discussed in detail elsewhere. When yang stirs, yin wanes. 混沌終一九 寶精更相持 The undifferentiated whole emerges when the numerics of one and nine are complete. The precious essence now coalesces. 卦與藥合 金有三百八十四銖 銖據一斤爲十六兩也 The medicine corresponds to the pattern of the hexagrams. Metal has 384 pearls. They weigh one pound, or sixteen ounces.
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金精一化 二氣成丹 青龍受符當斯之時 When the essence of metal melts, the two vapors (yin and yang) become the elixir. At the appointed time, fire is applied to the Green Dragon. 神室錬其精 金火相運推 The chamber of the spirit refines the essence. Metal and fire mutually push and pump. 雄陽翠玄水 雌陰赭黄金 The yang of the mate nourishes the mysterious water. The yin of the female turns the red into gold. 陰陽混交接 精液包元氣 Yin and yang intertwine in copulation. The liquid essence embraces the primordial vapor. 萬象憑虚生 感化各有類 All things are created from the void and are nurtured to become their kind. 衆丹之靈迹 長生莫不由 Of all the elixirs, this one is the most numinous. It is the source of longevity. 於是玄潤光澤章第十二 12. It Becomes Subtle and Moist, Bright and Shiny 於是玄潤光澤 It becomes subtle and moist, bright and shiny. 元君始煉汞 神室含洞虚 The lord of the beginning cultivates the mercury. Within the sacred chamber is the empty cavern. 玄生白金公 巍巍建始初 The mysterious white gives birth to the mate of metal. It occupies a strong and honored place from the start. 冠三五相守 飛精以濡滋 The three and five hold on to each other. The essence flies in to moisten and nourish. 玄女演其序章第十三 13. The Mysterious Woman Unfolds the Process 玄女演其序 戊己貴天符 The Mysterious Woman unfolds the process. Wu and chi are enhanced by the celestial fire. 天符道漸剥 難以應玄圖 The celestial fire gradually runs out, following the pattern of the mysterious. 故演作丹意章第十四 14. In Revealing the Nature of the Elixir 故演作丹意 乾坤不復言 In revealing the nature of the elixir, there is no need to mention again the importance of ch'ien and k'un. 丹砂流汞父 戊己黄金母 Cinnabar is the father of mercury. Wu and chi are the mothers of yellow gold. 鍾律還二六 斗樞建三九 The harmonics of the bell vibrate to the numerics of two and six. The pivot of the North Pole Star is built on three and nine. 赤童戯朱雀 變化爲青龍 The crimson youth plays with the Red Raven, and the Green Dragon emerges in the transformation.
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坤初變成震章第十五 15. Initially K'un is Transformed into Chen 坤初變成震 三日月出庚 Initially k'un is transformed into chen. On the third day, the moon rises in keng. 東西分卯酉 龍虎自相尋 East and west are separated into mao and yu. The dragon and tiger will find each other. 坤再變成兌八 日月出丁 上弦金半斤 K'un is then transformed into tui. On the eighth day, the moon rises in ting. There is half a pound of metal in the upper registers. 坤三變成乾 十五三陽備 圓照東方甲 In the third transformation, k'un becomes ch'ien. On the fifteenth day, the three yang components are in place, in roundness, they shine in the eastern position of chia. 金水温太陽 赤髓流爲汞 The water of metal warms the sun. The red marrow flow and becomes mercury. 姹女弄金璫 月盈自合虧 The new bride displays her golden splendor. The moon becomes full and then begins to wane. 十六轉相減章第十六 16. In Sixteen Days They Diminish 十六轉相減 乾初缺成巽 平明月見辛 In sixteen days they diminish. Initially, ch'ien wanes to become the trigram sun. Flat and bright, the moon appears in the direction of hsin. 乾再損成艮 二十三下弦 下弦水半斤 Ch'ien continues to wane, becoming ken. On the twenty-third day, in the lower registers, water is now at half a pound. 月出於丙南 The moon rides in the southern position of ping. 乾三損成坤 成坤三十日 In the third shade of waning, ch'ien becomes k'un. K'un is complete on the thirtieth day. 東北喪其朋 月没於乙地 The northeast loses its light. The moon disappears into the earth at the position i. 坤乙月既晦 土木金將化 The moon of k'un and i is dark. Earth, wood, and metal are dissolved. 繼坤生震龍 Following k'un, the dragon of chen is born. 乾坤括終始章第十七 17. Ch'ien and K'un Are at the Beginning and the End 乾坤括終始 故曰震龍也 Ch'ien and k'un are at the beginning and the end. Therefore they are called the dragon of chen. 如上三十日 坤生震兌乾 乾生巽艮坤 During the thirty days of the month, k'un gives birth to chen, tui and ch'ien; and ch'ien gives birth to sun, ken, and k'un. 八卦列布曜 運移不失中 The eight trigrams are arranged in their order of brightness. They move around but do not lose their center.
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調火六十日章第十八 18. Regulate the Fire for Sixty Days 調火六十日 變化自爲證 Regulate the fire for seventy days. The transformations will be your witness. 神室有所象 雞子爲容形 Something like an egg will appear in the chamber of the spirit. 五嶽峙潜洞 際會有樞轄 The five mountains are connected by subterranean caverns. The pivot will be present at the great gathering. 發火初温微章第十九 19. The First Fires Are Small and Warm 發火初温微 亦如爻動時 The first fires are small and warm, like the initial movement of the components of the hexagrams. 上戴黄金精 下負坤元形 The top is crowned with the essence of the golden metal. The bottom carries the primordial shape of k'un. 中和流素津 參合考三才 The unadorned nectar flows harmoniously in the middle. Everything is patterned after the Three Domains. 乾動應三光 坤静含陽氣 The movement of ch'ien is in conjunction with the three lights. The stillness of k'un holds the vapor of yang. 神室先施行章第二十 20. Begin the Work in the Chamber of the Spirit 神室先施行 金丹然後成 Begin the work in the chamber of the spirit. The Golden Elixir will gradually materialize. 可不堅乎 煉化之器 包裏飛凝 Everything must be stable. The refined vapor flies around in the enclosure. 開闔靈戸 希夷之府 造化泉窟 The numinous doorway opens and closes. In the realm of the inaudible and invisible, creation occurs in the cavity of the deep spring. 陽氣發坤章第二十一 21. The Vapor of Yang Activates K'un 陽氣發坤 日晷南極 The vapor of yang activates k'un. The image of the sun is at the extreme south. 五生連珠 日月合璧 The five stars (planets) are strung together like pearls. The sun and moon are in conjunction. 金砂依分 呼吸相應 The grains of the golden cinnabar are separated. Inhalation and exhalation are in harmony. 華蓋上臨章第二十二 22. The Glorious Dome Covers the Top 華蓋上臨 三台下輔 The glorious dome covers the top. The Three Altars support from below.
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統録之司 當密其固 The ones who direct destiny and grant prosperity are securely hidden. 詰責能否 They determine whether debts need to be paid. 火錬中宮土章第二十三 23. Earth in the Central Palace Is Tempered by Fire 火錬中宮土 金入北方水 Earth in the Central Palace is tempered by fire. Metal enters the water of the north. 水土金三物 變化六十日 The three elements water, earth, and metal undergo transformation for sixty days. 自然之要 先存後亡 Everything must occur naturally. They should first be preserved and then extinguished. 或火數多 分兩違則 If the fire is too strong, the effects will be halved. 或水銀不定 同處別居 If the quicksilver is unstable, it may stay together or separate. 剛柔抗衡 不相渉入 非火之咎 譴責於土 If hardness and softness conflict and do not penetrate each other, it is not the fault of fire. Rather, earth is to blame. 土鎮中宮章第二十四 24. Earth Guards the Central Palace 土鎮中宮 籠罩四方 Earth guards the Central Palace and envelops the four directions. 三光合度 以致太平 The three lights are in harmony with each other and peace is established. 五臟内養 四肢調和 The five viscera are nourished within. The four limbs are balanced. 水涸火滅 含曜内朗 Water freezes and fire is extinguished. The glow is hidden but there is a radiance within. 金水相瑩 閉塞流暉 Metal and wood support each other. The elusive brightness is concealed inside. 調和温水 發之倶化 道近可求 Set the water at the right temperature and stoke the fire. Initiate the process and everything will be transformed. The Tao is now close and within reach. 水土獨相配章第二十五 25. When Water Is Coupled with Earth 水土獨相配 翡翠生景雲 When water is coupled with earth, clouds of emerald haze are born. 黄黒混元精 紫華敷太陽 The yellow and black are mixed with the original undifferentiated essence, and a purple aura surrounds the sun.
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水能生萬物 聖人獨知之 Water gives birth to the ten thousand things. These secrets are known only to the sages. 金徳尚白錬鉛章第二十六 26. The Best Metal Is Initially White 金徳尚白 錬鉛以求黄色焉 The best metal is initially white. Refine it, and it will turn yellow. 感化生中宮 黄金鎖不飛灼 Tame it, and it will be transformed in the Central Palace. Locked inside, the yellow metal does not fly out. 土煙雲起 Smoke and clouds rise as earth is set on fire. 有無互相制章第二十七 27. Substance and Nonsubstance Subdue Each Other 有無互相制 上有青龍居 Substance and nonsubstance subdue each other. Above is the residence of the Green Dragon. 兩無宗一有 靈化妙難窺 The two nonsubstances originate from substance. The numinous transformations are difficult to enumerate. 錬銀於鉛章第二十八 28. Refine the Silver in the Lead 錬銀於鉛 神物自生 Refine the silver in the lead and the sacred substance will emerge. 銀者金精 鉛包北靈 Silver is the essence of gold, and lead embodies the spirit of the north. 水者道樞 陰陽之始 Water is the pivot of the Tao. Its number is one and it is the origin of yin and yang. 故懷銀 Therefore it had within it the essence of silver. 精鉛化黄丹 寄立五金 Lead is transformed into the yellow elixir. It takes its place among the five minerals. 爲鉛外黒 色稟北方 内懷銀精 Lead is black on the outside. It takes on the color of north. Inside it is the essence of gold. 被褐懷玉 外似狂夫 It hides a piece of jade within, but externally it is a wild man. 銀爲鉛母章第二十九 29. Silver Is the Mother of Lead 銀爲鉛母 母隱鉛中 Silver is the mother of lead; the mother hides in the lead. 鉛者銀子 子藏銀胞 Lead is the child of silver; the child is enclosed in the womb of the silver. 眞素渺邈 似有似無 The true simplicity is subtle and elusive. Sometimed it exists and sometimes it does not.
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灰池炎灼 鉛沈銀浮 In the hot fires of the charcoal pit, lead sinks and silver rises. 潔白見寶 可造黄轝 Pure and white, it appears like a jewel, and can be used to construct the yellow cart. 殼爲金精章第三十 30. Grain Is the Essence of Metal 殼爲金精 水還黄液 Grain is the essence of metal. Water becomes the yellow fluid. 俓寸之質 以混三才 It travels to the area measuring one inch square and merges with the Three Domains. 天地未分 象若雞子 Like sky and earth before separation, it is shaped like an egg. 圓高中起章第三十一 31. Something Rises from the Sphere 圓高中起 狀似蓬壷 Something rises from the sphere. It is shaped like a Peng-lai jug. 關閉微密 神運其中 Locked and secured inside, the spirit circulates. 爐竈取象 固密全堅 The design is patterned after a furnace. It is concealed and guarded. 委曲相制 以使無虞 In control and wrapped around itself, it is protected from harm. 自然之理 神化無方 All this is a part of the natural way, for the transformations of the spirit are limitless. 磁石吸鐵章第三十二 32. Lodestone and Metal Are Attracted to Each Other 磁石吸鐵 隔礙潜通 Lodestone and metal are attracted to each other even at a distance. 何況雞子 配合而生 But, compared with them, the contents of an egg are even more attached to each other. Coming together, they give birth. 金土之徳 常與汞倶 The best metal and earth are always with mercury. 火記不虚作章第三十三 33. The Emphasis on the Firing Process Is Not Empty Talk 火記不虚作 鄭重解前文 The emphasis is on the firing process is not empty talk. It is not an attempt to inflate the importance of this book. 丹術既著 不復重擬 The methods of the elixir have been discussed elsewhere. Thus there is no need to enumerate them here. 故演此訣 以附火記焉 Therefore only the mnemonics of firing are presented in the text.
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Bibliography Wong, Eva. Harmonizing Yin and Yang: The Dragon-Tiger Classic. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1997. Komjathy, Louis, "Daoist Texts in Translation", 2004. Ku-wen Lung-hu Ching Chu-shu 古文龍虎經注疏. Tao-tsang 996, vol. 20, pp. 33-63. Pei-ching: Wen-wu Chu-pan-she, 1987.
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夢説 Meng Shuo Discourse on the Dream State By Pai Yü-ch'an 白玉蟾 Translated by Alfredo Cadonna
Contents Bibliographic Information Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 3 4 5 7
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Bibliographic Information Meng Shuo is a short piece of writing, a total of 447 charachers. It is included in Tao-tsang 1074, Huan-chen Chi 還眞 集. Meng Shuo is attributed to Pai Yü-ch'an 白玉蟾 (1194-1229?) who was a Taoist master, a poet, a calligrapher, and author of several important works on Taoism. He was one of the Five Patriarchs of the Southern Lineage (Nan-tsung Wu-tsu 南宗五祖).
Master Pai Yü-ch'an 白玉蟾
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Discourse on the Dream State When one talks about dreaming, one is referring to a state produced by the transformation of qì 氣 (breath/vapor/prāna). When Yáng takes Yīn as its guide and one observes hún 魂 (celestial/ascendant subtle spirits) being conducted by pò 魄 (terrestrial/descendant subtle spirits) (pò shén 神), one dreams but one's view is clear and [one's dream is a] lucid [dream] (lǎngrán qīngjiàn 朗然清見). When Yīn takes Yáng as its guide and one observes pò 魄 (terrestrial/ descendant subtle spirits) being conducted by hún 魂 (celestial/ascendant subtle spirits), one is obsessed by the [indefinite] desires for the [indefinite] things in this world and consequently, in the dream-state, one starts travelling racked by instability and disorder and one's dreaming is a mental and obscure form of dreaming. Once upon a time the Divine Farmer Shén Nóng 神農, grieving over the sorrows of his people, during a dream-state visited the Celestial Court (Tiāntíng 天庭) where the Celestial August (Tiān Huáng 天皇) transmitted scriptures to him which had the various medicinal plants as their object. The Yellow Emperor Xuān Yuán 軒轅, longing after the Way (Dào 道), during the dream-state, visited the Country where the Supreme Court of Huà Xū 華胥 was located. Zhuāng Zhōu 莊周, explaining the Way, during a dream-state [found himself] transformed into a butterfly. Confucius (Kǒngzǐ 孔子), collating the Book of Changes (Zhōuyì 周易), during a dream-state met the Duke of Zhōu 周. The Heart (xīn 心) of these Saints was one with the Way (Dào 道) and [this same Heart/centre of each being] stimulated their entering into the dream-state. Their Yáng spirits (Yáng shén 陽神) sparkle out of the Yīn mass (shuò yú qún Yīn 爍於群陰), extremely luminous, extremely clear; though in the dream-state, their dreams are not dreams (suī mèng fēi mèng 雖夢非夢) and are produced by [and produce] spiritual subtleties. From this [we can understand] the reason why the ordinary man's dreaming is something distant and fallacious (xuángé 懸隔): the ordinary man's mind (xīn 心) is avid and obsessed (tān 貪) by worldly affairs, it wanders and is puffed up with [excessive] passions, it is entangled and obstructed in the waves of the river of emotions (aìhé 愛河). How can [the ordinary man] understand a bit [of Reality]? As for the Original Spirit (yuánshén 元神), in the daytime it has its residence in the head (shǒu 首). When the eyes are avid and obsessed by its vision, the Spirit is infected by the [appearance and excessive] desires (sè 色). This is dreaming through the eyes [and the sight]. When the ears are avid and obsessed by its hearing, the Spirit is infected by the sounds (shēng 聲). This is dreaming through the ears [and the hearing]. When the nose is avid and obsessed by the smell, the Spirit is worried by the scents (xiāng 香). This is dreaming through the nose [and the smell]. When the mouth is avid and obsessed by the taste, the Spirit is infected by the flavours (wèi 味). This is dreaming through the mouth [and the taste]. As for the Original Spirit (yuánshén 元神), at night it goes back into the heart (xīn 心). After one has fallen asleep, the pò 魄 (terrestrial/descendant subtle spirits) rest and the hún 魂 (celestial/ascendant subtle spirits) dream and everything is vague and confused; there is an absence of any clear vision, everything is upside down downside up (diāndiān dǎodǎo 顛顛倒倒). Following mental labouring, one subjects oneself to illusory transformations: that is why one is dreaming when one's eyes are open and when one's eyes are closed one is dreaming as well. When the heart-field (xīntián 心田) is not pure, the Spirit cannot takes its residence in it and in the long run (rìjī yuèlěi 日積月累) the essential spirits disperse. That is why [the ordinary men] fall into the Six Paths (liùqù 六趣) and enter the realm of dream and delusion. This is what the Ancients called "the Root [giving birth to] of Life and Death". When a [single] thought is produced that is dreaming and delusion, the Root of Life and Death. That is why men who cultivate themselves do not dream: free in the wind (sǎsǎ 灑灑), they obtain and stay in a state of liberation in the daylight; free in the wind, they obtain and stay in a state of liberation in the night. Their shén 神 (Spirit) stays embraced with their qì 氣 (breath/vapor/prāna) and their qì 氣 stays embraced with their shén 神 (Spirit). [Their shén 神 and qì 氣] are unified in a single unit. Yīn and Yáng transcended, what kind of dream can there ever exist? The one who studies the Way is able to know the principles which govern dreaming; he is the Master-Ruler (zhǔzǎi 主宰), the director of the dream work. He is able to transcend Life and Death and being beyond Life and Death he is not deceived by Yīn and Yáng. You true disciples should appreciate this!
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The Chinese text conforms to the woodblock text at the end of the original article (page 207).
夢説 Meng Shuo 夢之為言、因氣化而有也。陽御於陰、乃魂制魄、神或有夢、朗然清見也。陰御於陽、乃魄制魂、神被物欲 所蔽、故夢遊昏亂、闇然不明也。昔者神農氏憂民疾苦、夢遊天庭、天皇賜與嘗草之書。軒轅氏慕道、夢遊 華胥大庭之國。莊周論道、故夢化為蝴蝶。孔子賛《周易》、故夢見於周公。此聖人之心與道冥合、因感而 有夢、陽神爍於群陰、明明朗朗、雖夢非夢、乃出神之妙也。是故凡夫之夢、與此懸隔。凡夫之心、貪著其 事、流吹慾海、沉滯愛河。豈知一點元神、晝則居于首、眼貪觀於色、神即染之於色、此眼中之夢也。耳貪 聽於聲、神即染之於聲、此耳中之夢也。鼻貪嗅於香、神即著之於香、此鼻中之夢也。口貪食於味、神即染 之於味、此口中之夢也。夜則神歸棲於心、纔睡着時、陰魄裹魂、夢寐昏濁、無所不見、顛顛倒倒、隨念幻 化、此所以開眼有夢、而瞑目即有夢也。蓋因心田不清、神不守室、日積月増、精神耗散、故墮於六趣而入 於夢幻之境。古人所謂生死之根、只是箇念頭、造化即夢幻、是生死根也。是以大修行人無夢、白日脱洒洒、 夜間亦脱洒洒、神守於氣、氣抱於神、混融一片、超出陰陽之外、何夢之有。學道人若能知夢裡是夢、做得 主宰、便是出生死之外、不被陰陽之所蔽也。學者味之。
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夢説 Discourse on the Dream State 夢之為言 因氣化而有也 When one talks about dreaming, one is referring to a state produced by the transformation of qì 氣 (breath/vapor/prāna). 陽御於陰 乃魂制魄 神或有夢 朗然清見也 When Yáng takes Yīn as its guide and one observes hún 魂 (celestial/ascendant subtle spirits) being conducted by pò 魄 (terrestrial/descendant subtle spirits) (pò shén 神), one dreams but one's view is clear and [one's dream is a] lucid [dream] (lǎngrán qīngjiàn 朗然清見). 陰御於陽 乃魄制魂 神被物欲所蔽 故夢遊昏亂 闇然不明也 When Yīn takes Yáng as its guide and one observes pò 魄 (terrestrial/ descendant subtle spirits) being conducted by hún 魂 (celestial/ascendant subtle spirits), one is obsessed by the [indefinite] desires for the [indefinite] things in this world and consequently, in the dream-state, one starts travelling racked by instability and disorder and one's dreaming is a mental and obscure form of dreaming. 昔者神農氏憂民疾苦 夢遊天庭 天皇賜與嘗草之書 Once upon a time the Divine Farmer Shén Nóng 神農, grieving over the sorrows of his people, during a dream-state visited the Celestial Court (Tiāntíng 天庭) where the Celestial August (Tiān Huáng 天皇) transmitted scriptures to him which had the various medicinal plants as their object. 軒轅氏慕道 夢遊華胥大庭之國 The Yellow Emperor Xuān Yuán 軒轅, longing after the Way (Dào 道), during the dream-state, visited the Country where the Supreme Court of Huà Xū 華胥 was located. 莊周論道 故夢化為蝴蝶 Zhuāng Zhōu 莊周, explaining the Way, during a dream-state [found himself] transformed into a butterfly. 孔子賛周易 故夢見於周公 Confucius (Kǒngzǐ 孔子), collating the Book of Changes (Zhōuyì 周易), during a dream-state met the Duke of Zhōu 周. 此聖人之心與道冥合 因感而有夢 The Heart (xīn 心) of these Saints was one with the Way (Dào 道) and [this same Heart/centre of each being] stimulated their entering into the dream-state. 陽神爍於群陰 明明朗朗 雖夢非夢 乃出神之妙也 Their Yáng spirits (Yáng shén 陽神) sparkle out of the Yīn mass (shuò yú qún Yīn 爍於群陰), extremely luminous, extremely clear; though in the dream-state, their dreams are not dreams (suī mèng fēi mèng 雖夢非夢) and are produced by [and produce] spiritual subtleties. 是故凡夫之夢 與此懸隔 凡夫之心 貪著其事 流吹慾海 沉滯愛河 From this [we can understand] the reason why the ordinary man's dreaming is something distant and fallacious (xuángé 懸隔): the ordinary man's mind (xīn 心) is avid and obsessed (tān 貪) by worldly affairs, it wanders and is puffed up with [excessive] passions, it is entangled and obstructed in the waves of the river of emotions (aìhé 愛河). 豈知一點 How can [the ordinary man] understand a bit [of Reality]? 元神晝則居于首 As for the Original Spirit (yuánshén 元神), in the daytime it has its residence in the head (shǒu 首). 眼貪觀於色 神即染之於色 When the eyes are avid and obsessed by its vision, the Spirit is infected by the [appearance and excessive] desires (sè 色).
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此眼中之夢也 This is dreaming through the eyes [and the sight]. 耳貪聽於聲 神即染之於聲 When the ears are avid and obsessed by its hearing, the Spirit is infected by the sounds (shēng 聲). 此耳中之夢也 This is dreaming through the ears [and the hearing]. 鼻貪嗅於香 神即著之於香 When the nose is avid and obsessed by the smell, the Spirit is worried by the scents (xiāng 香). 此鼻中之夢也 This is dreaming through the nose [and the smell]. 口貪食於味 神即染之於味 When the mouth is avid and obsessed by the taste, the Spirit is infected by the flavours (wèi 味). 此口中之夢也 This is dreaming through the mouth [and the taste]. 夜則神歸棲於心 As for the Original Spirit (yuánshén 元神), at night it goes back into the heart (xīn 心). 纔睡着時 陰魄裹魂 夢寐昏濁 無所不見 顛顛倒倒 After one has fallen asleep, the pò 魄 (terrestrial/descendant subtle spirits) rest and the hún 魂 (celestial/ascendant subtle spirits) dream and everything is vague and confused; there is an absence of any clear vision, everything is upside down downside up (diāndiān dǎodǎo 顛顛倒倒). 隨念幻化 此所以開眼有夢 而瞑目即有夢也 Following mental labouring, one subjects oneself to illusory transformations: that is why one is dreaming when one's eyes are open and when one's eyes are closed one is dreaming as well. 蓋因心田不清 神不守室 日積月増 When the heart-field (xīntián 心田) is not pure, the Spirit cannot takes its residence in it and in the long run (rìjī yuèlěi 日積月累) the essential spirits disperse. 精神耗散 故墮於六趣而入於夢幻之境 That is why [the ordinary men] fall into the Six Paths (liùqù 六趣) and enter the realm of dream and delusion. 古人所謂生死之根 This is what the Ancients called "the Root [giving birth to] of Life and Death". 只是箇念頭 造化即夢幻 是生死根也 When a [single] thought is produced that is dreaming and delusion, the Root of Life and Death. 是以大修行人無夢 白日脱洒洒 夜間亦脱洒洒 That is why men who cultivate themselves do not dream: free in the wind (sǎsǎ 灑灑), they obtain and stay in a state of liberation in the daylight; free in the wind, they obtain and stay in a state of liberation in the night. 神守於氣 氣抱於神 Their shén 神 (Spirit) stays embraced with their qì 氣 (breath/vapor/prāna) and their qì 氣 stays embraced with their shén 神 (Spirit). 混融一片 [Their shén 神 and qì 氣] are unified in a single unit.
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超出陰陽之外 何夢之有 Yīn and Yáng transcended, what kind of dream can there ever exist? 學道人若能知夢裡是夢 做得主宰 The one who studies the Way is able to know the principles which govern dreaming; he is the Master-Ruler (zhǔzǎi 主 宰), the director of the dream work. 便是出生死之外 不被陰陽之所蔽也 He is able to transcend Life and Death and being beyond Life and Death he is not deceived by Yīn and Yáng. 學者味之 You true disciples should appreciate this!
Bibliography Cadonna, Alfredo, "Ladies Shì 是 and Gentleman Gè 箇 - Being a Sequel to 'What is Not Dream within the Dream' and a First Annotated Translation of a Different Version of the Mèngshuō 夢説 by the Taoist Master Bái Yùchán 白玉蟾", in Christoph Anderl and Halvor Eifring, eds. Studies in Chinese Language and Culture: Festschrift in Honour of Christoph Harbsmeier on the Occasion of His 60th Birthday. Oslo: Hermes Academic Publishing, 2006: 195-207.
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内經圖 Nei-ching T'u Diagram of the Inner Channels Contents The Diagram Introductory Passages Translation Bilingual Text Transcription and Word-by-Word Translation Bibliography
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2 8 12 16 22 32
Diagram of the Inner Channels Nei-ching T'u (Neijing Tu; Jap. Daikeizu) 内經圖 Ink rubbing; ink on paper
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Diagram of the Inner Channels with printed Chinese characters
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Diagram of the Inner Channels with printed Chinese characters
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Diagram of the Inner Effulgences Nei-ching T'u 内景圖
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The diagram of Taoist anatomy and physiology in the Shih Lin Kuang Chi encyclopedia, from the edition of + 1478. The picture is probably of the early + 13th century. Several wheels of water-raising machinery for circulating the chhi are seen, with the co-operation of Yang dragon and Yin tiger to produce the 'baby boy' enchymoma. The upward passage of the ching to nourish the brain is drawn in a railway-line convention, and at the top on the right the 'three corpses (or worms)' of death and decay are seen leaving the regenerated body. (Needham, 1983: 112) This is the thirteenth-century diagram entitled the "Section on Medical Learning" (I-hsüeh Lei 醫學類), which is preserved in the fifteenth-century encyclopedia Shih-lin Kuang-chi 事林廣記. Some editions of this diagram are titled "Diagram of Master Smoke Curtain" (Yen-luo-tzu T'u 煙蘿子圖).
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Introductory Passages Introductory passages selected from various sources Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu 内經圖 or 内景圖・修真圖 Chart of the Inner Warp (or: Chart of the Inner Landscape); Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection The Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu are two charts of the human body. They are first mentioned in the Qing period and are probably late, but their origins are unclear. Both charts are cognate to Yanluo zi's 煙蘿子 (tenth century?) diagrams of the body found in the Xiuzhen shishu (18.2a-3a; see fig. 12), which include anatomical details but add elements of neidan symbolism. A synthesis of Yanluo zi's charts was later drawn on a lateral representation of the body in the Huangdi bashiyi nanjing zuantu jujie 黄帝八十一難經纂圖句解 (Charts and Explications on the Scripture of the Eighty-One Difficult Points [in the Inner Scripture] of the Yellow Emperor; preface dated 1269; CT 1024, preface, 4ab) and in the 1478 edition of the Song-dynasty Shilin guangji 事林廣記 (Extensive Records of the Forest of Affairs; see Needham 1983, 110-11). Moreover, some alchemical elements of the body are foreshadowed in two charts that represent the body as a mountain, contained in Xiao Yingsou's Duren shangpin miaojing neiyi 度人上品妙經内義 (Inner Meaning of the Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters on Salvation; CT 90, 8a-b; see fig. 13) and in Chen Zhixu's Jindan dayao (Tu 圖; CT 1068, 3a-b). These alchemical elements reappear in the Neijing tu. Inner Landscape. The Neijing tu represents a side view of the body. The head is Mount Kunlun and the spinal cord is a meandering watercourse flowing out from it. The pole star and the Northern Dipper (beidou) represent the heart, and the buffalo ploughing and planting the elixir of life represents the intestines. The accompanying text contains the names of the gods of the five viscera (wuzang) and the gallbladder according to the Huangting jing (Scripture of the Yellow Court) and the symbolism of neidan. The chart was engraved in 1886 on a stele in Beijing's Baiyun guan (Abbey of the White Clouds) on Liu Chengyin's 劉誠印 (or Liu Suyun 劉素雲) initiative, based on an old silk scroll found on Mount Song (Songshan, Henan). A colored scroll, kept in the Museum of the History of Chinese Traditional Medicine in Beijing, was painted at the Palace of Fulfilled Wishes (Ruyi guan 如意館) of the Imperial Palace during the Qing Period. (Despeux, 2008) Nei-ching T'u and Hsiu-chen T'u Building on earlier traditions, especially those of the Huangting jing, the neidan view of the human beings has often been represented in diagrams and illustrations. The most famous are the Neijing tu 内經圖 (Chart of the Inner Warp), whose main version dates from 1886 and is found in Beijing's Baiyun guan 白雲觀 (White Cloud Temple), and the more detailed Xiuzhen tu 修真圖 (Chart of the Cultivation of Perfection), transmitted in several versions (Pregadio and Skar: 2000) Inner Deities in the Nei-ching T'u Neidan has preserved visible traces of earlier practices in both of its best-known charts of the inner body, the Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu. The Neijing tu includes several divine beings in its representation of the "inner landscape," and the Xiuzhen tu explicates its visual map of the inner alchemical process with passages related to the Huangting jing (Pregadio, 2008) Ancient Chinese View of the Human Body and the Nei-ching T'u Visualization charts are often used to aid the adept in his quest. One nineteenth-century example, entitled 'Illustration of Inner Circulation', presents the interior landscape of the human body without the limbs. The practice of inner alchemy involves the channelling, refining and reversal of the yin and yang energies in different regions of the body. In the diagram, complementary images of yin and yang energy intermingle in the head, upper torso and lower torso, which are connected by the spinal cord. On top of the head stand nine peaks, which symbolises the 'nine palaces', or the yang energy of the upper body. The two dots of the eyes – the sun and moon – represent yang and yin energy respectively. Beneath a pagoda, which symbolises the throat are the lungs, the liver (a mulberry grove), the heart (Herd Boy), the kidney (Weaving Girl), and the dantian (lower cinnabar field, the alchemical crucible represented by a burning cauldron). The 'Weaving Girl' and the 'Herd Boy' stars dominate the torso. The weaver (the kidney) sits at the site of water (yin) in the Five Phase system. Her lover, the Herd Boy (the heart), sits at the site of fire (yang) in the Five Phase system; hence they enact a circuit of intermingling yin and yang energies in the middle section of the body. To their right four interlocked taiji (tai-chi) emblems hover over the crucible, emitting rays of yang energy. The holy grail of inner alchemy, the elixir of pure yang energy, is represented by the trigram qian (three solid lines). The infant born of the union of the Weaving Girl and the Herd Boy strings pieces of coin together to form the constellation of the Dipper – the star of fate – thus creating a new life for the body.20
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The bureaucratic imperative that structures Datong and Peach Blossom Spring remains the organisational principle of the Taoist utopian body, albeit primarily as metaphor. Kristofer Schipper, a scholar and ordained Taoist priest, wrote: The Taoists say that 'the human body is the image of a country.' For them the human body is like a landscape with mountains, lakes, woods, and shelters. Moreover, the body as a 'country' has an administration with a ruler and officials. The heart, or more accurately the spirit inhabiting it, generally is considered to be the ruler or king of the body while the other viscera are the officials (Schipper 1978: 355).21
(Ko, 2005) Diagram of the Internal Texture of Man Visitors to the White Clouds Taoist temple (Pai Yün Kuan 白雲觀) at Peking have long been accustomed to admire an engraved stone stele entitled Nei Ching Thu; we reproduce a rubbing of it in Fig. 1587. This 'Diagram of the Internal Texture of Man' was made in 1886, as the inscription says, by a Taoist named Liu Chhêng-Yin 劉成印 (Su Yün Tao Jen 素雲道人), who found it on a beautiful old silk scroll in the library of a temple at Kao-sung Shan 高松山, together with explanations of anatomical names of joints, tracts, viscera, etc. Realising the importance of this for physiological alchemy (chin tan ta tao 金丹大道, as he calls it), he had the picture carved in stone. The general scheme is obviously very reminiscent of diagrams that we have already studied (Figs. 1584, 1586); it represents a sagittal section of the human body seen from the left, but it is much more fanciful and poetical than any of them. The body is again pictured as a mountain with crags projecting from the spinal column and the skull. Without going into too much detail, we can easily distinguish a greater and a lesser circulation of the Chen chhi 眞氣, forming reverted regenerative enchymomas. Most of the viscera appear only as inscriptions below and around the heart, which is represented as a ring of seething blood with the Herdboy (Niu-lang 牛郎) in the quiet centre of it; underneath and to the right the reins are symbolised by the Weaving Girl (Chih-nü 織女) working at her spinning-wheel, and sending up the chhi to the throat and trachea (the twelve-storied tower, shih-erh lou thai 十二樓臺) and the brain (ni wan kung 泥 丸宮) where the shen shui 神水 is added to it before it is sent down to the central region of vital heat. This corresponds to the 'conjunction of heart and reins (hsin shen chiao hui 心腎交會) discussed on p. 73 above. The greater circulation, on the other hand, involves the spinal column. At its base in Fig. 1587 we see the treadmill water-raising machine (Yin Yang hsüan cha chhê 陰陽玄蹅車) which has to work to send the ching chhi 精氣 upwards – Khan shui ni liu 坎水逆流, as the neighbouring inscription says. At this point, flames seen bursting forth from a ting 鼎 symbolise the unveiling of the Yang within the Yin of the seminal fluid and its chhi. Just alongside we see the lowest of the three gates (san kuan 三關) of the spinal cord or column, more prominently depicted than the other two, one of which is visible at the level of the heart, the other just above that of the trachea-pagoda. Once the ching chhi has been made to circulate thus upwards it again joins with the shen shui and finds its way down to the Yellow Courts where the enchymoma forms, this being symbolised by a glory emanating from a pack of four Yin-Yang symbols, emblems which represent, together with the 'vital Earth' (chung thu 中土) at the centre, the five elements and the four directions of space (cf. Fig. 1552). Near by a ploughboy and an ox working hard ground symbolise the skill and strength needed for the conduct and timing of the exercises. A captions says: 'the iron ox ploughs the field where coins of gold are sown', another reference to the 'golden', or more strictly Metallous, enchymoma of immortality. If space permitted, many other allegories in the design could be expounded. For example, in the head sits Lao Tzu, and beneath him stands the 'blue-eyed barbarian monk', supposedly Bodhidharma. More interesting for us is the fact that two of the tracts are represented. Here we cannot properly discuss the dorsal median tract (tu mo 督脈) and the ventral median tract (jen mo 任脈), two of the eight auxiliary tracts or routes of circulation of the chhi important in medical physiology, because they must be dealt with in their space in Sect. 44 under acupuncture. But they appear very clearly in the picture as the two curving lines at the position of the 'face', the tu mo coming down over the top of the head as far as the central point of the maxillary junction above the teeth of the upper jaw, the jen mo coming up to its last point on the chin, and having at its origin a pool of chhi depicted. (Needham, 1983: 114, 116) Nei-ching T'u Neijing Tu, stone rubbing from the Baiyunguan Temple, Beijing. The inner landscape, reflecting the ancient Taoist medico-philosophical concept of the human body as a microcosm: stars depicted as the herdboy (in Aquila); a woman spinning (Vega in Lyra); an old man symbolising the Lord of the Inner World; a forest representing gan, one of the fundamental bodily functions; a mountain ridge representing the spine. Specifically Taoist alchemical symbols include: the lower field of cinnabar (dantian) as a revolving circle of taiji (yin-yang) symbols, radiating heat, and as a field being ploughed to cultivate the herb of immortality. Collection Dan Vercammen, Belgium. (Van Alphen, 1995)
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Nei-ching T'u (Diagram of the Inner Realm), 13th century. This 'inner' landscape depicts the body as a microcosm, where a forest symbolizes one of the essential bodily functions called gan, the herb of immortality is cultivated in a field, various figures represent lords and stars, and Ancient Taoist medico-philosophical concepts are symbolized by such signs as yin and yang. (Matuk, 2006: 2) China and the Alternative Anatomy Although ancient civilizations such as Egypt, China, Babylonia, and India were producing some of history's first medical illustrations before 1500 B.C. (Netter, 1957) (Figure 16), many disregard these as contributions to the development of anatomy (MacKinney, 1965). "It is evident that the Chinese have not pursued in medicine a program calculated to lead them to any great success. They have undoubtedly been held back in this as in other spheres of knowledge by their extreme reverence for ancestral beliefs and customs," (Waye, 1973). Thus, the foundations of anatomical inquiry are traditionally attributed to the Ancient Greeks (Allbutt, 1921). From the Han dynasty (221 B.C. - 220 A.D.) to the 19th century, the West underwent revolutions in printing technology, art, anatomy, and medicine. Disproved theories were continually being replaced with new ones, a revered practice in the West. But, in China, little changed. Rather, history accumulated in layers; new thoughts co-existed with old ones. Chinese history's quintessential medical text, The Huang Di Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine), had amassed new theories since before 200 B.C. (Alphen and Aris, 1995) such that the most current medical knowledge always had roots centuries old. Similarly, illustrations remained so unchanged from their earliest symbolic representations that we wonder whether this reflects a lack of the observational skill the Greeks took centuries to perfect. More likely, it shows their concern was not, as it was for the Greeks, over the exact locations and appearances of particular structures; rather, it was on the ideas and deductions to be drawn from them. Ultimately, a chart of acupunctural points and the courses of qi within the body is just as successful in communicating the thought behind it as an illustration from Vesalius' Fabrica is in elucidating tissues such as muscles. Without the means for making concrete observations, the Chinese based their knowledge of anatomy on metaphor. They compared the body to their perceived universe, where health was a balance of Yin (negative, female energy), Yang (positive, male energy), and the Five Phases (earth, water, metal, fire, wood) (Alphen and Aris, 1995). Physicians of China, a country rooted in agriculture, likened the body to a plant. They described a flowering of the face, a body being nurtured by the zang (organs) and illness as a wilting, fading, limpness, shriveling, or desiccation (Kuriyama, 1999). The Chinese drew mystical numerical associations, called the Da shu, or "great numbers." It was no coincidence to the ancient Chinese, for example, that our four limbs matched the number of seasons and directions, and that in the one record of a human dissection on the body of the rebel Wangsun Qing, the hired butchers of his captor, Wang Mang, reported finding five zang (liver, gall bladder, heart, spleen, kidneys) corresponding to the five planets; 12 vessels circulating blood and air corresponding to the 12 rivers flowing toward the Central Kindgom; and 365 parts of the body, one for each day of the year (Lingshu 13/311). Internal organs were not regarded as distinct entities describable by shape, color or form; or as having distinct functions the way we consider legs suitable for walking and eyes useful for sight. Such things as thought and blood flow were not assigned origins in the brain and in the heart as they had been for the Ancient Greeks (Gordon, 1949). Neither were direct causes and effects acknowledged as when a nerve is cut, the arm falls limp, or when an artery is blocked, the pulse disappears. Rather, Chinese physicians saw unbiased power shifting among the body's parts; they drew indirect causes and effects for affected organs with larger spans of time between events. Thus, a weak spleen could lead to emaciation and a lung injury to a coarsening of the skin (Suwen 8/28 - a manuscript preserving the text of the Nanjing, first compiled during the Han Dynasty 221 B.C. - 220 A.D.). They conceived an imaginary organ system called "the three burning spaces," one of the six fu, distributed over upper, middle, and lower parts of the body, and representing heaven, earth, and man (Veith, 1973). They had mastered the art of pulse diagnosis, well recorded in the Nanjing, (The Classic of Difficult Issues). Pressing the wrist lightly a physician could assess the state of the skin and pores and of the lungs that governed them. Pressing harder, he could determine the state of blood vessels. Still pressing harder, he gleaned information on the tendons and liver, and at the deepest level, he could know the condition of the kidneys and of the bones over which they presided (Figure 17). Illustrations of the pulse, or mo, place it within the theory of the Five Phases; they show links between the hollow pulse of fire, the floating pulse of metal, the slow beat of earth, the deep rhythms of water (Figure 18) (Kuriyama, 1999). What a Greek physician would have manually had to investigate in order to locate the source of illness, the Chinese physician would deduce by a mere look from the five characteristic colours, or wuse, on the body's surface. From these, he could tell whether a patient suffered pain (green or black), cold (white) or fever (red or yellow) (Kuriyama, 1999) (Figure 19). When the Chinese empire became unified and isolated states formed economic ties, the body became a metaphor for the state as well as a microcosm of the universe (Figure 4). It was seen as composed of depots and palaces connected by conduits. Invisible vapors called qi flowed through these conduits and maintained health, while obstruction caused illness (Alphen and Aris, 1995). Acupuncture was a way of influencing the bodily functions by redirecting the flow of qi within the conduits by various techniques of needle insertion. Developed in the 2nd century, it
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eventually replaced older procedures of bleeding, still a popular practice in the West at the time. Charts of the various directions and locations of qi traditionally show four views: front, back, side, and a view with organs (Alphen and Aris, 1995). These charts, created during the seven centuries between the Song period and the 19th century, demonstrate the ancient Chinese disregard for specific organ morphology (Figure 20). (Matuk, 2006: 5-7) Taoist View of the Human Body as the Natural World An expanded vision of the body as the natural world appears in the medieval Daoist school of Highest Clarity (Shangqing 上清). According to this, the human body is not only a combination of natural patterns and energies but also an inner sphere containing supernatural landscapes and divine beings. The body is a complete world with mountains and rivers, a divine and cosmic realm, a paradise and residence of the gods. This understanding appears first in the Huangting jing 黄庭經 (Yellow Court Scripture), a visualization manual from the fourth century C.E. In a more recent visual depiction, it is found in the Neijing tu 内經圖 (Chart of Interior Passages). Here the celestial headquarters within is located in the head and matches the immortals' paradise of Mount Kunlun. It is depicted as a large, luscious mountain surrounded by a wide lake and covered with splendid palaces and wondrous orchards (see Fig. 2: Neijing tu). Between the eyes, which are the sun and the moon, one can move inside to the Hall of Light, one of nine palaces in the head. Best reached by passing through the deep, dark valley of the nose, it is guarded by the two high towers of the ears. To attain entry one has to perform the physical/ritual exercise of "beating the heavenly drum": with both palms covering the ears, snap the index and middle fingers to drum against the back of the skull. Underneath the valley of the nose is a small lake, i.e., the mouth. This regulates the water level of the upper lake in the head and raises or lowers it as necessary. Crossing the mouth-lake over its bridge (tongue) and moving further down, one reaches the twelvestoried tower of the throat, then comes to the Scarlet Palace (heart), the Yellow Court (spleen), the Imperial Granary (stomach), the Purple Chamber (gall), and various other starry palaces transposed into the body's depth. Going ever deeper, another cosmic region is reached, with another sun and moon (kidneys). Beneath them, the Ocean of Qi extends with another Mount Kunlun in its midst. Various divine beings, moreover, reside in the body, creating vitality and providing spiritual resources. The Daoist vision of the body as a network of celestial passageways and starry palaces closely overlaps with the medical understanding of the body as consisting of various aspects of qi and the phase-energetics of the five organs and six viscera. Many acupuncture points have Daoist connotations, and Chinese healing practices and physical longevity exercises are at the root of Daoist practice. Without losing any aspect of the medical dynamics, the Daoist vision provides a more cosmic and spiritual dimension of the same basic understanding, allowing adepts to move beyond mundane existence toward a greater, more spiritual realm, reaching out for the gods in the stars and thereby for the Dao at the center. (Kohn, 2006: 8-10) Taoist View of the Human Body as the Natural World Reorienting the body to be the container of heavenly palaces and deities, to be in fact a cosmos in itself, adepts attain oneness in body and spirit with the cosmic dimensions of the universe. As all parts of the body are transformed into divine entities and firmly guarded by their responsible gods, the very physicality of the adept turns into a cosmic network and becomes the celestial realm in which the gods reside. Visualizing and feeling the gods within the bodily self, the Daoist becomes a more cosmic being, transforming but not relinquishing his physical, embodied nature. (Kohn, 2006: 11)
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Diagram of Internal Pathways Translated by Louis Komjathy Preliminary Notes 1. Order of the inscriptions is different from the order followed in the bilingual translation below (pp. 14-19). 2. Pinyin transcription in Komjathy's article is changed to modified Wade-Giles. 3. Chinese characters and deity (spirit) names in parantheses are added by the redactor.
Inscriptions in the Figures Figs. 2, 3, and 4 1. Mysterious yin-yang treadmill1 2. K'an-water flowing in reverse2 3. Correct elixir field 4. Spirit of heart, called elixir origin (tan-yüan 丹元), tzu (字) guarding the numen (shou-ling 守靈)3 5. Spirit of kidneys, called mysterious obscurity (hsüan-ming 玄冥), tzu nourishing the child (yü-ying 育嬰) 6. Spirit of spleen, called continuously existing (ch'ang-tsai 常在), tzu hun pavilion (hun-t'ing 魂亭) 7. Spirit of gallbladder, called dragon glory (lung-yao 龍曜), tzu majestic illumination (wei-ming 威明) 8. Spirit of lungs, called4 brilliant splendor (hua-hao 華皓), tzu emptiness complete (hsü-ch'eng 虚成) 9. Spirit of liver, called dragon mist (lung-yen 龍烟), tzu containing illumination (han-ming 含明) 10. Engraving the stone, the lad holds a string of cash5 11. Cowherder constellation6 12. Mysterious pass hidden in fifty regions7 13. Weaving Maiden transporting and transferring 14. Central elixir field 15. Iron ox plowing the field where coins are sown 16. This field is the earth of ken-mountain 8 17. Cavity of the two kidney storehouses 18. Mountains and streams decocting in a half-sheng9 cauldron 19. Upper pass of jade perfection10 20. Cavity of the numinous peak 21. Summit of the great peak 22. Numinous11 terrace of the thickly-meshed net 23. Ni-wan palace12 24. A grain of millet containing the world 25. Prefecture of ascending yang 26. Mountain of nine peaks 27. Eyebrows of white-headed Lao-tzu hanging down to earth 28. If you orient yourself towards the mysterious, the mysterious will be attained 29. Outside this mystery, there is no mystery13 30. Governing vessel (tu-mai 督脈) 31. Conception vessel (jen-mai 任脈) 32. Origin of the ascending method 33. Larynx 34. Ch'i sickness over the descending bridge14 35. The blue-eyed foreign monk holding up the heavens15 36. Palace of the sweet spring and cold peak16 37. The twelve-storied pagoda stores the secret transmission17
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Inscriptions in the Main Body of Text 我家耑種自家田 内有靈苗活萬年 花似黄金色不異 子如玉粒果皆圓 栽培全賴中宮土 灌溉須憑上谷泉 功課一朝成大道 逍遙陸地作蓬仙
I am properly and attentively cultivating my own field – Inside there are numinous sprouts18 that live for ten thousand years. The flowers resemble yellow gold, their color not uncommon; The seeds are like jade grain, their fruits perfectly round. Cultivation completely depends on the earth of the Central Palace; Irrigation necessarily relies on the spring in the Upper Valley. The practice is completed suddenly and I attain the great Tao – I wander carefree19 over land and water as an immortal of P'eng-lai.20, 21
鐵牛畊地種金錢 刻石兒童把貫串 一粒粟中藏世界 半升鐺内煮山川 白頭老子眉垂地 碧眼胡僧手托天 若向此糸玄會得 此糸糸外更無糸
The iron ox plows the field where golden coins are sown; Engraving the stone, the young lad holds a string of cash. A single grain of millet contains the entire world; Mountains and streams are decocted in a half-sheng cauldron. The eyebrows of white-headed Lao-tzu hang down to the earth, And the blue-eyed foreign monk holds up the heavens. Orient yourself towards the mysterious and it is realized – Outside of this mystery there is no other mystery.
復復連連歩歩週 機關撥轉水東流 萬丈深潭應見底 甘泉湧起南山頭
Repeatedly, constantly, [the treadmill] is peddled in cycles;22 When the mechanism revolves, the water flows eastward. The water, ten-thousand fathoms deep, is seen straight to its bottom; A sweet spring bubbles up, rising to the summit of Southern Mountain.23
Fa-tsang24 法藏 says: "Violet eyes25 clarify the four great oceans; the white light26 pervades Mount Sumeru."27 Tz'u-shih28 慈氏 says: "Between the eyebrows white light constantly emanates29; this can liberate all sentient beings from the suffering of ceaseless reincarnation." Colophon This diagram has never been transmitted before. The fundamental reason for this is because the Way of the Elixir is vast and subtle, and there are obtuse people30 who do not have the ability to grasp it. Consequently, it rarely has been transmitted in the world. I happened to observe the diagram among the books and paintings in the study (chai 齋) of Kao Sung-shan 高松山. By chance, it was hanging on a wall. The skill used in its painting technique is finely executed. The annotations of the joints and articulations (chin-chieh 筋節), meridians and vessels (mai-lo 脈絡) are clearly distinguished, and each one contains specific cavities (ch'iao 竅). I examined [the diagram] for a long time and realized that my comprehension was growing. I began to realize that exhalation and inhalation (hu-hsi 呼吸) as well as expelling and ingesting (tu-na 吐納) of the human body are the waxing and waning31 as well as the ebb and flow of the cosmos. If you can divine and gain insight into this, you will have progressed more than halfway on your inquiry into the great Way of the Golden Elixir (chin-tan ta-tao 金丹大道). In truth, I did not dare to keep this for myself alone. Therefore, I had it engraved on a printing block [so that it might be] widely disseminated. Engraved with deep reverence as an inscribed record by Liu Ch'eng-yin, the Taoist Su-yün Printing block preserved at Pai-yün Kuan in Pei-ching
278
Notes These textual notes are added by the redactor
1. "Treadmill" translates ch'a-ch'e 蹅車, found in the original stone stele. Ch'a 蹅 means "to splash one's foot in mud" or "to drag one's foot in mud". Treadmill is also written with t'a 踏, which means "to step on, stamp on, tread on, trample, walk". In this context, however, ch'a-ch'e and t'a-ch'e are synonymous. 2. The k'an 坎 is one of the eight trigrams (pa-kua 八卦) and it symbolizes water as well as the direction north. Through action of the mysterious yin-yang treadmill (yin-yang hsüan ch'a-ch'e 陰陽玄蹅車), energy is sent toward "north", that is, upward to the head. 3. These deity names have their origin in eighth chapter of the third-century Shang-ch'ing 上清 classic Most High Jade Scripture on the Internal View of the Yellow Court (T'ai-shang Huang-t'ing Nei-ching Yü-ching 太上黄庭内景玉經). 4. The tzu 自 is clearly a scribal error for homophonous tzu 字 (here meaning "given name", "epithet", or "cognomen"). The wrong tzu 自 is marked with gray throughout the present text. 5. In order to form large monetary units, Chinese people used a string to hold a hundred or a thousand coins in place. 6. The cowherd (niu-lang 牛郎) and the weaving girl (chih-nü 織女) symbolize the heart and the kidneys respectively. According to Chinese mythology, a heavenly weaver girl fell in love with a mortal cowherd. But they were destined to separate and meet each other only once a year. Thus every year, on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, they cross a bridge built by magpies, known as the magpie bridge (ch'iao-ch'iao 鵲橋), and spend the day together. 7. There is another possible way to translate the word wu-shih 五十, rendered here as "fifty". The context here would tend to suggest that what is intended by wu-shih may be "five-and-ten", the numbers assigned to the phase/element earth (t'u 土) in the former heaven (hsien-t'ien 先天) eight trigrams. Thus the mysterious pass may be hidden in the region of earth, the bodily location where the five phases (wu-hsing 五行) unite. 8. The Ken 艮 is one of the eight trigrams and it represents mountain. 9. The sheng 升 is a measure of capacity equaling .36 U.S. dry pint. 10. The term inscribed here as yü-chen 玉真 is more commonly written as 玉枕, meaning "jade pillow". Chen 真 (truth, perfection) is homophonous with chen 枕 (pillow). 11. Another version of the diagram gives yü-lo hsiao-t'ai 鬱羅蕭台 ("desolate terrace of the thickly-meshed net") instead of yü-lo ling-t'ai 鬱羅靈台. The hsiao 蕭 is probably a scribal error. 12. The palace of nirvāna (ni-wan-kung 泥丸宮), or ni-wan 泥丸, is a name for the top of the head, the brain (or the cerebral region), or the upper elixir field (shang tan-t'ien 上丹田). The term is originated from the early Chinese Buddhist transliteration of the Sanskrit "nirvāna." 13. The ssu 糸 ("silk") is generally thought to be a scribal or copying error for hsüan 玄 ("mystery"). The characters ssu are indicated with gray throughout the present text. 14. The descending bridge is the tongue which connects the governing and conception vessels (tu-mai 督脈 and jenmai 任脈) like a bridge. 15. The "blue-eyed foreign monk" (pi-yen hu-seng 碧眼胡僧) is a standard name for Bodhidharma, the founder of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism. 16. This refers to the "twelve-storied pagoda" (shih-erh-lou t'ai 十二樓臺) that represent the twelve rings of the trachea, or the throat. However, in the present version of the diagram, there is no corresponding Chinese inscription. 17. See note 16. 18. Numinous sprout (ling-miao 靈苗) represents the sacred fetus (sheng-t'ai 聖胎) or immortal fetus (hsien-t'ai 仙胎), which is thought to be immortal. 19. "Carefree" translates hsiao-yao 逍遙, which means "to jaunt", "to stroll in freedom", or "to wander aimlessly about", and, by extension, "being at leisure" or "freedom of action". The term is variously rendered as "carefree wandering", "purposeless wandering", "wander without purpose", or "roaming". This expression is the title of the opening chapter of Chuang-tzu. Isabelle Robinet explains hsiao-yao thus: "The term hsiao-yao means "to come and go" or "to idle about" and yu 遊 means "to go for a walk" or "promenade." For the Chinese, the word yao 遙 must be seen in relation to terms meaning "to cross over" or "to go beyond," and to other words indicating pleasure, agreeableness, or a lack of depth. Yu evokes the image of a waving flag. As linked together in the Chuang-tzu, these terms are often translated as "distant excursions" and express the idea of lightness as well as transcendent movement or flying freely within the beyond." (1993: 170) 20. In Chinese mythology, P'eng-lai 蓬萊 is a divine island, a fairy isle in the Eastern Sea or the Sea of P'o 渤. It is believed to be a paradisiacal land where immortals and herbs of deathlessness are found. 21. These verses are adapted, with slight changes, from a poem attributed to Lü Tung-pin 呂洞賓, a T'ang-Five Dynasties Taoist adept, who is regarded as ancestor of the Complete Reality (Ch'üan-chen 全眞) school. It is recorded in volume 857 of the Complete [Collection of] T'ang Poetry (Ch'üan T'ang Shih 全唐詩), a famous work compiled by government scholars and first published in 1705 A.D.
279
22. A colored version of the Nei-ching T'u, originally preserved in the Ch'ing Dynasty (1644-1911) Imperial Art Gallery, gives a variant for the first line of this poem. It reads "The gate of all wonders, where should it be sought?" (Chung-miao chih men, ho ch'u ch'iu? 衆妙之門何處求). 23. These verses are also adapted from a poem attributed to Master Lü Tung-pin. However, it is not found in the Complete [Collection of] T'ang Poetry. 24. According to Komjathy, Fa-tsang 法藏 "most likely refers to the historical Fazang (643-712), the third patriarch of Huayan Buddhism who systematized its teaching" (2009: 84). Komjathy also notes that Fa-tsang may be "an allusion to the name of Amitābha before his attainment of Buddhahood" (85). Fa-tsang also means "Dharma Storehouse", which is usually a reference to the scriptures of the Buddhist canon. 25. Being a blend of blue and red, kan 紺 denotes a violet or purplish color. 26. Pai-hao 白毫, or "curl between the eyebrows", is a reference to the curl of white hairs between Śākyamuni's eyebrows. It is one of the thirty-two characteristic features or signs (san-shih-erh hsiang 三十二相) of the Buddha. In the Mahāyāna sūtras, it is said that when the Buddha taught, he sent out a ray of light from the tuft of white hair between his brows; this light blazed forth, penetrated the ten directions and revealed all worlds. The term pai-hao kuang 白毫光, "a ray of light from the tuft of white hair", is also used as a synonym of the Buddha. 27. In Buddhist cosmology, Mount Sumeru (Hsü-mi Shan 須彌山) is a towering mountain at the center of the universe. It is in the center of a great ocean, on a golden wheel. The sun and moon circle around it. Hsü-mi is transliteration of the Sanskrit Sumeru, also translated into Chinese as Miao-kao Shan 妙高山, or "Wondrously High Mountain". 28. Tz'u-shih 慈氏, meaning the "Compassionate One" or "Benevolent One", is a Chinese translation of Maitreya (Mile 彌勒). Thus, Tz'u-shih is one of the two epithets of Maitreya Buddha (Mi-le Fo 彌勒佛), the other being A-i-to 阿逸 多 (Skt. Ajita; "invincible"). Maitreya is an important Mahāyāna bodhisattva. His name is derived from the Sanskrit maitrī (Pali mettā), which means "lovingly kind," or "benevolent." He is understood to be bodhisattva who will appear in this world to become the next Buddha after 5,670,000,000 years when he ends his life in the Tuṣita Heaven (Toushuai T'ien 兜率天). 29. See note 26. 30. Tun-ken-jen 鈍根人 means "person of dull faculties". It denotes dull, incapable, foolish and stupid people who are unable to comprehend spiritual truths. 31. Ying-hsü 盈虚 is more commonly written as shih-hsü 實虚. The terms are synonymous. 32. The Chinese character translated as "buddhahood" is and it is not found in Chinese dictionaries. The character consists of radical jen (亻; "human"), "west" (hsi 覀; presumably a reference to India) and "country" (kuo 國). It probably means "[enlightened] person of the western country", i.e., the Shakyamuni Buddha. This character is replaced with fo 佛 (buddha) in the text.
280
内經圖 Diagram of Internal Pathways Upper Section
281
1 巨峯頂 2 延壽 3 泥丸宮 4 一粒粟中藏世界 5 仙佛 6 昇陽府 7 九峯山 8 鬱羅靈台 9 白頭老子眉垂地 10 若向此玄玄會得 11 此糸糸外更無糸 12 靈峯之穴 13 玉真上關 14 昇法之源 15 飱咽 16 督脈 17 二腎府之穴 18 半升鐺内煮山川 19 十二樓臺藏秘訣 20 氣疾 21 降橋 22 碧眼胡僧手托天 23 任脈
Summit of the great peak Prolonging longevity [and [attaining] immortality and Buddhahood] Ni-wan Palace12 A grain of millet containing the world [Prolonging longevity and] [attaining] immortality and Buddhahood32 Prefecture of rising yang Mountain of nine peaks Numinous11 terrace of the thickly-meshed net Eyebrows of white-headed Lao-tzu hanging down to earth If you orient yourself towards the mysterious, the mysterious will be attained Outside this mystery, there is no mystery13 Cavity of the numinous peak Upper pass of jade perfection10 Origin of the ascending method Larynx Governing vessel (tu-mai) Cavity of the two kidney storehouses Mountains and streams decocting in a half-sheng9 cauldron The twelve-storied pagoda stores the secret transmission17 Ch'i sickness ... ... over the descending bridge14 The blue-eyed foreign monk holding up the heavens15 Conception vessel (jen-mai)
24 法藏云 紺目澄清四大海 白毫宛轉至須彌
Fa-tsang24 says: "Violet eyes25 clarify the four great oceans; the white light26 pervades Mount Sumeru."27
25 慈氏云 眉間常放白毫光 能滅衆生轉輪苦
Tz'u-shih28 (Maitreya Buddha) says: "Between the eyebrows white light constantly emanates;29 this can liberate all sentient beings from the suffering of ceaseless reincarnation."
282
Middle Section
26 五十境内隱糸關 27 心神丹元字守靈 28 牛郎橋星 29 艮土 30 者田 31 刻石兒童把貫串 32 胆神龍曜字威明 33 肺神華皓自虚成 34 肝神龍烟字含明 35 我家耑種自家田 内有靈苗活萬年 花似黄金色不異 子如玉粒果皆圓 栽培全賴中宮土 灌溉須憑上谷泉 功課一朝成大道 逍遙陸地作蓬仙
Mysterious pass hidden in fifty regions7 The spirit of the heart is [called] Elixir Origin (Tan-yüan), given name Guarding the Numen (Shou-ling).3 Cowherder constellation Ken-mountain 艮 earth 8 This field [is the earth of ken-mountain] Engraving the stone, the lad holds a string of cash5 The spirit of the gall bladder is [called] Dragon Glory (Lung-yao), given name Majestic Illumination (Wei-ming). The spirit of the lungs is [called4] Brilliant Splendor (Hua-hao), given name Emptiness Complete (Hsü-ch'eng). The spirit of the liver is [called] Dragon Mist (Lung-yen), given name Containing Illumination (Han-ming). I am properly and attentively cultivating my own field – Inside there are numinous sprouts18 that live for ten thousand years. The flowers resemble yellow gold, their color not uncommon; The seeds are like jade grain, their fruits perfectly round. Cultivation completely depends on the earth of the Central Palace; Irrigation necessarily relies on the spring in the Upper Valley. The practice is completed suddenly and I attain the great Tao – I wander carefree19 over land and water as an immortal of P'eng-lai.20, 21
283
36 織女運轉 37 腎神玄冥字育嬰 38 脾神常在字魂亭 39 中丹田 40 鐵牛畊地種金錢
Weaving Maiden transporting and transferring The spirit of the kidneys is [called] Mysterious Obscurity (Hsüan-ming), given name Nourishing the Child (Yü-ying). The spirit of the spleen is [called] Continuously Existing (Ch'ang-tsai), given name Ethereal Soul Pavilion (Hun-t'ing). Central elixir field Iron ox plowing the field where coins are sown
284
Lower Section
41 正丹田 42 坎水逆流
Correct elixir field K'an-water flowing in reverse2
43 復復連連歩歩週 機關撥轉水東流 萬丈深潭應見底 甘泉湧起南山頭
Repeatedly, constantly, [the treadmill] is peddled in cycles;22 When the mechanism revolves, the water flows eastward. The water, ten-thousand fathoms deep, is seen straight to its bottom; A sweet spring bubbles up, rising to the summit of Southern Mountain.23
44 陰陽玄蹅車
The mysterious yin-yang treadmill1
45 鐵牛畊地種金錢 刻石兒童把貫串 一粒粟中藏世界 半升鐺内煮山川 白頭老子眉垂地 碧眼胡僧手托天 若向此糸玄會得 此玄玄外更無糸
The iron ox plows the field where golden coins are sown; Engraving the stone, the young lad holds a string of cash.5 A single grain of millet contains the entire world; Mountains and streams are decocted in a half-sheng9 cauldron. The eyebrows of white-headed Lao-tzu hang down to the earth, And the blue-eyed foreign monk holds up the heavens. Orient yourself towards the mysterious and it is realized – Outside of this mystery there is no other mystery.
285
Colophon 46 此圖向無傳 This diagram has never been transmitted before. 本縁丹道廣大精微 鈍根人無從領取 The fundamental reason for this is because the Way of the Elixir is vast and subtle, and there are obtuse people30 who do not have the ability to grasp it. 是以罕傳於世 Consequently, it rarely has been transmitted in the world. 子偶於高松山齋中 檢觀書畫 I happened to observe the diagram among the books and paintings in the study (chai 齋) of Kao Sung-shan 高松山. 此圖適懸壁上 By chance, it was hanging on a wall. 繪法工細 The skill used in its painting technique is finely executed. 筋節脈絡註解分明 一一悉藏竅要 The annotations of the joints and articulations (chin-chieh 筋節), meridians and vessels (mai-lo 脈絡) are clearly distinguished, and each one contains specific cavities (ch'iao 竅). 展玩良久 覺有會心 I examined [the diagram] for a long time and realized that my comprehension was growing. 始悟一身之呼吸吐納 即天地之盈虚消息 I began to realize that exhalation and inhalation (hu-hsi 呼吸) as well as expelling and ingesting (tu-na 吐納) of the human body are the waxing and waning31 as well as the ebb and flow of the cosmos. 苟能神而明之 金丹大道 思過半矣 If you can divine and gain insight into this, you will have progressed more than halfway on your inquiry into the great Way of the Golden Elixir (chin-tan ta-tao 金 丹大道). 誠不敢私為獨得 In truth, I did not dare to keep this for myself alone. 爰急付梓 以廣流傳 Therefore, I had it engraved on a printing block [so that it might be] widely disseminated. 素雲道人敬摹并識 Engraved with deep reverence as an inscribed record by [Liu Ch'eng-yin,] the Taoist Su-yün 明善書局印行 Published by Ming-shan (Illuminating Virtue) bookstorea Printing block preserved at Pai-yün Kuan in Pei-chingb a. This sentence is not found in Komjathy's article; it is added by the redactor. b. This inscription in Komjathy's translation is found in a different version of the diagram.
286
Transcription and Word-by-Word Translation First lines are Chinese readings in modified Wade-Giles transcription system, second lines are in Pinyin transcription system. Third lines are translations of Louis Komjathy.
1
巨
峯
頂
Chü4 feng1 Jù fēng Large; great peak Summit of the great peak
ting3 dǐng top; summit
2
延
壽
Yen2 shou4 Yán shòu Prolong longevity Prolonging longevity [and [attaining] immortality and Buddhahood] 3
泥丸
宮
Ni -wan kung1 Níwán gōng Ni-wan palace Ni-wan palace 2
2
4
一
粒
粟
i li li yī lì lì One grain millet A grain of millet containing the world 1
4
4
中 chung zhōng inside
藏 1
世界
ts'ang cáng store; hide 2
5
仙
佛
hsien1 xiān Immortal
fo2 fó buddha
[Prolonging longevity and] [attaining] immortality
and Buddhahood
6
昇
陽
府
Sheng yang Shēng yáng Rise yang Prefecture of rising yang 1
2
fu3 fǔ prefecture; storehouse; palace
7
九
峯
Chiu3 feng1 Jiǔ fēng Nine peak Mountain of nine peaks
山 shan1 shān mountain
8
鬱
羅
靈
台
Yü4 lo2 ling2 t'ai2 Yù luó líng tái Thick net numinous terrace; tower; platform Numinous terrace of the thickly-meshed net
287
shih4-chieh4 shìjiè world
9
白
頭
老子
眉
垂
地
Pai2 t'ou2 Lao3-tzu3 mei2 ch'ui2 Bái tóu Lǎozǐ méi chuí White head Lao-tzu eyebrow hang down Eyebrows of white-headed Lao-tzu hanging down to earth
ti4 dì earth
10
若
向
此
玄
玄
會得
Jo4 hsiang4 tz'u3 hsüan2 hsüan2 hui -te2 Ruò xiàng cǐ xuán xuán huìdé If face toward this mystery mystery able to; understand If you orient yourself towards the mysterious, the mysterious will be attained 4
11
糸 (玄)
此
糸 (玄)
外
更
Tz'u hsüan hsüan wai Cǐ xuán xuán wài This mystery mystery outside Outside this mystery, there is no mystery 3
2
2
4
keng gèng further
12
靈
峯
之
穴
Ling2 feng1 chih1 Líng fēng zhī Numinous peak of Cavity of the numinous peak
hsüeh2 xué cavity
13
玉
真
上
關
Yü4 chen1 shang1 Yù zhēn shāng Jade truth; perfection upper Upper pass of jade perfection
kuan1 guān pass; barrier
14
昇
法
之
Sheng fa chih Shēng fǎ zhī Ascend method of Origin of the ascending method 1
3
源 1
yüan2 yuán origin
15
飱咽 Sun1-yen4 Sūnyàn Larynx Larynx 16
督
脈
Tu1 mai4 Dū mài Supervise pulsating channel; meridian; vessel Governing vessel
288
糸 (玄)
無 4
wu wú no
2
hsüan2 xuán mystery
17
二
腎
府
Erh4 shen4 fu3 Èr shèn fǔ Two kidney storehouse Cavity of the two kidney storehouses
之
穴
chih1 zhī of
hsüeh2 xué cavity
18
半
升
鐺
内
Pan4 sheng1 tang1 nei4 Bàn shēng dāng nèi Half liter vessel; griddle inside Mountains and streams decocting in a half-sheng cauldron
煮
山
川
chu3 zhǔ cook; boil
shan1 shān mountain
ch'uan1 chuān river; stream
藏
秘
訣
mi mī hidden; secret
chüeh2 jué instruction; formula
19
十
二
樓
臺
Shih erh lou t'ai ts'ang Shí èr lóu tái cáng Ten two story tower; platform store; hide The twelve-storied pagoda stores the secret transmission 2
4
2
2
2
1
20
氣
疾
Ch'i4 chi2 Qì jí Ch'i sickness Ch'i sickness ... 21
降
橋
chiang4 ch'iao2 jiàng qiáo descend bridge ... over the descending bridge 22
碧
眼
胡
僧
手
Pi yen hu seng Bì yǎn hú sēng Blue-green eye foreign monk The blue-eyed foreign monk holding up the heavens 4
3
2
1
shou shǒu hand
3
23
任
脈
Jen4 mai4 Rèn mài Duty pulsating channel; meridian; vessel Conception vessel 24
法藏
云
Fa3-tsang4 yün2 Fǎzàng yún Fa-tsang say Fa-tsang says:
289
托
天
t'o tuō hold up
t'ien1 tiān heaven
1
紺
目
澄清
Kan4 mu4 ch'eng2-ch'ing1 Gàn mù chéngqīng Violet eye purify; clarify "Violet eyes clarify the four great oceans;
白
毫
四
大
海
ssu4 sì four
ta4 dà great
hai3 hǎi sea; ocean
宛轉
至
Pai hao wan -chuan Bái háo wánzhuǎn White fine hair in a roundabout way the white light pervades Mount Sumeru." 2
2
2
3
須彌
chih Hsü1-mi2 zhì Xūmí arrive, reach Sumeru 4
25
慈氏
云
Tz'u 2-shih4 yün2 Císhì yún Compassionate, Benevolent One say Tz'u-shih (Maitreya Buddha) says:
眉
間
常
放
白
Mei2 chien 1 ch'ang2 fang4 pai1 Méi jiān cháng fàng bāi Eyebrow between constant release white "Between the eyebrows white light constantly emanates;
能
滅
衆
生
毫
光
hao2 háo fine hair
kuang1 guāng light
轉輪
苦
Neng2 mieh 4 chung4 sheng1 chuan3-lun2 k'u3 Néng miè zhòng shēng zhuǎnlún kǔ Able to extinguish all living [being] reincarnation suffering this can liberate all sentient beings from the suffering of ceaseless reincarnation." 26
五
十
境
Wu3 shih2 ching4 Wǔ shí jìng Five ten region Mysterious pass hidden in fifty regions
内
隱
糸 (玄)
關
nei4 nèi inside
yin3 yǐn hide
hsüan2 xuán mystery
kuan1 guān pass; barrier
元
字
守
靈
27
心
神
丹
Hsin1 shen2 tan1 yüan2 tzu4 shou3 Xīn shén dān yuán zì shǒu Heart spirit; deity elixir origin given name to guard The spirit of the heart is [called] Elixir Origin, given name Guarding the Numen. 28
牛郎
橋
星
Niu -lang ch'iao Niúláng qiáo Cowherd bridge Cowherder constellation 2
2
2
hsing1 xīng star
29
艮
土
Ken t'u3 Gèn tǔ Ken earth Ken-mountain earth 4
290
ling2 líng numinosity
30
者
田
Che3 t'ien2 Zhě tián That which field This field [is the earth of ken-mountain] 31
刻
石
兒童
把
貫串
K'o4 shih2 erh2-t'ung2 pa3 Kè shí értóng bǎ Engrave stone child; boy hold Engraving the stone, the lad holds a string of cash.
kuan4-ch'uan 4 guànchuàn string (for holding coins in place); to piece together
32
胆
神
龍
曜
字
威
明
Tan shen lung yao tzu wei ming2 Dǎn shén lóng yào zì wēi míng Gallbladder spirit; deity dragon glory given name majestic illumination The spirit of the gall bladder is [called] Dragon Glory, given name Majestic Illumination. 3
2
2
4
4
1
33
肺
神
華
自 (字)
皓
虚
成
Fei4 shen2 hua2 hao4 tzu4 hsü1 Fèi shén huá hào zì xū Lung spirit; deity flowery bright, luminous given name emptiness The spirit of the lungs is [called] Brilliant Splendor, given name Emptiness Complete.
ch'eng2 chéng complete; attain
34
肝
神
龍
烟
字
含
明
Kan1 shen2 lung2 yen1 tzu4 han2 Gān shén lóng yān zì hán Liver spirit; deity dragon smoke; mist given name contain The spirit of the liver is [called] Dragon Mist, given name Containing Illumination.
ming2 míng bright; illumination
35
我
家
種
耑
Wo chia tuan chung Wǒ jiā duān zhǒng I; my home; family devotedly to seed; cultivate I am properly and attentively cultivating my own field, 3
内
1
有
1
靈
3
苗
活
自
家
tzu zì own
chia jiā home; family
4
田 1
萬
年
Nei4 yu3 ling2 miao 2 huo2 Nèi yǒu líng miáo huó Inside exist numinous sprout to live Inside there are numinous sprouts that live for ten thousand years.
wan4 nien2 wàn nián ten thousand year
花
似
不
異
4
Hua ssu huang chin se Huā sì huáng jīn sè Flower resemble yellow gold color The flowers resemble yellow gold, their color not uncommon;
pu bù not
i4 yì unusual; strange
子
果
皆
圓
chieh 1 jiē all
yüan2 yuán round; whole
1
黄 4
如
金 2
玉
色
t'ien2 tián field
1
粒
Tzu3 ju2 yü4 li4 kuo3 Zǐ rú yù lì guǒ Seed like jade grain fruit The seeds are like jade grain, their fruits perfectly round.
291
4
栽培
全
中
賴
宮
土
Tsai1-p'ei2 ch'üan2 lai4 chung1 kung1 Zāipéi quán lài zhōng gōng Cultivation completely depend on middle palace Cultivation completely depends on the earth of the Central Palace;
灌溉
須
憑
上
Kuan -kai hsü p'ing shang Guàngài xū píng shàng Irrigation must; necessarily rely on upper Irrigation necessarily relies on the spring in the Upper Valley. 4
4
1
功課
2
一
4
朝
成
t'u3 tǔ earth
谷
泉
ku gǔ valley
ch'üan2 quán fountain, spring
3
大
道
Kung1-k'o4 i1 chao1 ch'eng2 ta4 Gōngkè yī zhāo chéng dà Work; lesson one day attain great The practice is completed suddenly and I attain the great Tao;
逍遙
陸地
作
蓬
仙
Hsiao -yao lu -ti tso P'eng Xiāoyáo lùdi zuò Péng Jaunt, stroll; idle about land arise; become P'eng[-lai] I wander carefree over land and water as an immortal of P'eng-lai. 1
2
4
4
Tao4 Dào Tao
4
2
hsien1 xiān immortal
36
織
女
運轉
Chih1 nü3 yün4-chuan3 Zhī nǚ yùnzhuǎn Weave woman revolve (a machine); spin Weaving Maiden transporting and transferring 37
腎
神
玄
冥
字
育
嬰
Shen4 shen2 hsüan2 ming2 tzu4 yü4 ying1 Shèn shén xuán míng zì yù yīng Kidney spirit; deity mystery dark given name nourish infant The spirit of the kidneys is [called] Mysterious Obscurity, given name Nourishing the Child. 38
脾
神
常
在
字
魂
亭
P'i shen ch'ang tsai tzu hun t'ing2 Pí shén cháng zài zì hún tíng Spleen spirit; deity constant exist given name hun-soul pavilion The spirit of the spleen is [called] Continuously Existing, given name Ethereal Soul Pavilion. 2
2
2
4
4
2
39
中
丹
田
Chung tan Zhōng dān Middle elixir Central elixir field 1
1
t'ien2 tián field
40
鐵
牛
畊
地
Tieh3 niu2 keng1 ti4 Tiě niú gēng dì Iron ox till earth Iron ox plowing the field where coins are sown
種
金
chung3 chin1 zhǒng jīn to seed; sow metal; gold
292
錢 ch'ien2 qián coin
41
正
丹
田
Cheng4 tan1 Zhèng dān Correct elixir Correct elixir field
t'ien2 tián field
42
坎
水
逆
流
K'an3 shui3 ni4 Kǎn shuǐ nì K'an water reverse K'an-water flowing in reverse
liu2 liú flow
43
復復
連連
歩
歩
週
Fu -fu lien -lien pu pu Fùfù liánlián bù bù Repeatedly continuously to step; peddle to step; peddle Repeatedly, constantly, [the treadmill] is peddled in cycles; 4
4
機
2
2
4
關
4
撥轉
水
Chi1 kuan1 po1-chuan3 shui3 Jī guān bōzhuǎn shuǐ Mechanism pass; barrier revolve water When the mechanism revolves, the water flows eastward.
萬
丈
深潭
chou1 zhōu cycle; one round
東
流
tung1 dōng east
liu2 liú flow
應
見
Wan chang shen -t'an ying chien Wàn zhàng shēntán yīng jiàn Ten-thousand ten feet deep pool should see The water, ten-thousand fathoms deep, is seen straight to its bottom; 4
甘
4
泉
1
湧
2
1
起
南
底 ti3 dǐ bottom
4
山
頭
Kan1 ch'üan2 yung3 ch'i3 nan2 shan1 Gān quán yǒng qǐ nán shān Sweet fountain bubble up rise south mountain A sweet spring bubbles up, rising to the summit of Southern Mountain.
t'ou2 tóu head; summit
44
陰
陽
蹅車
玄
Yin1 yang2 hsüan2 Yīn yáng xuán Yin yang mysterious The mysterious yin-yang treadmill
ch'a3-ch'e1 chǎchē treadmill
45
鐵
牛
畊
地
種
金
錢
Tieh niu keng ti chung chin Tiě niú gēng dì zhǒng jīn Iron ox till earth to seed; sow metal; gold The iron ox plows the field where golden coins are sown; 3
刻
2
石
1
兒童
4
3
把
K'o4 shih2 erh2-t'ung2 pa3 Kè shí értóng bǎ Engrave stone child; boy hold Engraving the stone, the young lad holds a string of cash.
1
ch'ien2 qián coin
貫串 kuan4-ch'uan 4 guànchuàn string (for holding coins in place); to piece together
293
一
粒
粟
中
i1 li4 li4 chung1 yī lì lì zhōng One grain millet inside A single grain of millet contains the entire world;
半
升
鐺
藏
世界
ts'ang2 cáng store; hide
shih4-chieh4 shìjiè world
煮
山
内
川
Pan sheng tang nei chu Bàn shēng dāng nèi zhǔ Half liter vessel; griddle inside cook; boil Mountains and streams are decocted in a half-sheng cauldron.
shan shān mountain
白
地
4
1
1
頭
4
老子
3
眉
垂
Pai2 t'ou2 Lao3-tzu3 mei2 ch'ui2 Bái tóu Lǎozǐ méi chuí White head Lao-tzu eyebrow hang down The eyebrows of white-headed Lao-tzu hang down to the earth,
碧
眼
胡
僧
手
Pi yen hu seng Bì yǎn hú sēng Blue-green eye foreign monk And the blue-eyed foreign monk holds up the heavens. 4
3
若
2
向
1
糸 (玄)
此
ch'uan1 chuān river; stream
1
ti4 dì earth
托
天
shou shǒu hand
t'o tuō hold up
t'ien1 tiān heaven
玄
會得
3
1
Jo4 hsiang4 tz'u3 hsüan2 hsüan2 Ruò xiàng cǐ xuán xuán If face toward this mystery mystery Orient yourself towards the mysterious and it is realized.
hui4-te2 huìdé able to; understand
此
無
玄
玄
外
更
Tz'u hsüan hsüan wai Cǐ xuán xuán wài This mystery mystery outside Outside of this mystery there is no other mystery. 3
2
2
keng gèng further
4
wu wú no
4
糸 (玄) 2
46
此
圖
向
無
傳
Tz'u t'u hsiang wu Cǐ tú xiàng wú This diagram in past; earlier not This diagram has never been transmitted before. 3
本
2
4
縁
丹
ch'uan2 chuán transmit
2
道
廣大
精微
Pen3 yüan2 tan1 tao4 kuang3-ta4 ching1-wei1 Běn yuán dān dào guǎngdà jīngwēi Fundamental reason elixir way vast subtle The fundamental reason for this is because the Way of the Elixir is vast and subtle,
鈍
根
人
無從
領取
tun ken jen wu -tsu'ng ling3-ch'ü3 dùn gēn rén wúcóng lǐngqǔ dull; incapable faculty person; people unable receive and there are obtuse people who do not have the ability to grasp it. 4
1
2
2
2
294
hsüan2 xuán mystery
是以
罕
傳
於
世
Shih4-i3 han3 ch'uan2 yü2 shih4 Shìyǐ hǎn chuán yú shì Therefore rarely transmit in world Consequently, it rarely has been transmitted in the world.
子
偶
於
高
Tzu Zǐ Pupil, disciple
ou ǒu by chance
yü yú at
Kao Gāo High; Long
檢
觀
3
3
2
松 1
書
Sung Sōng Pine
山
齋
Shan Shān Mountain
1
1
中
chai zhāi study; studio 1
chung1 zhōng inside
畫
chien 3 kuan1 shu1 hua4 jiǎn guān shū huà examine; inspect observe book painting I happened to observe the diagram among the books and paintings in the study (chai 齋) of Kao Sung-shan 高松山.
此
圖
適
Tz'u 3 t'u2 shih4 Cǐ tú shì This diagram just By chance, it was hanging on a wall.
繪
法
懸
壁
上
hsüan2 xuán hang
pi4 bì wall
shang4 shàng above; up; on
工
細
Hui fa kung hsi4 Huì fǎ gōng xì Draw, paint technique; method to work fine The skill used in its painting technique is finely executed. 4
3
1
筋
節
Chin1 Jīn Muscle; sinew The annotations distinguished,
chieh 2 jié joint; node of the joints
一
脈絡
一
註解
悉
藏
i1 i1 hsi1 ts'ang2 yī yī xī cáng one one in all cases contain and each one contains specific cavities (ch'iao 竅).
展
分明
mai4-lo 4 chu4-chieh3 fen1-ming 2 màiluò zhùjiě fēnmíng meridians [and] vessels explanatory note clearly distinguished; clearly arranged and articulations (chin-chieh 筋節), meridians and vessels (mai-lo 脈絡) are clearly
玩
良
久
竅
要
ch'iao4 qiào cavity, orifice
yao4 yào essential; important
覺
有
會心
Chan3 wan2 liang2 chiu3 chüeh2 yu3 hui4-hsin1 Zhǎn wán liáng jiǔ jué yǒu huìxīn Open; unfold enjoy very long time realize exist understanding I examined [the diagram] for a long time and realized that my comprehension was growing.
始
悟
一
身
Shih3 wu4 i1 shen1 Shǐ wù yī shēn Begin realize one body I began to realize that exhalation and human body
之
呼吸
吐納
chih1 hu1-hsi1 zhī hūxī of exhalation [and] inhalation inhalation (hu-hsi 呼吸) as well as
295
t'u3-na4 tǔnà blow out [and] draw in, expell [and] take in expelling and ingesting (tu-na 吐納) of the
即
天
地
之
盈虚
消息
chi2 t'ien1 ti4 chih1 ying2-hsü1 jí tiān dì zhī yíngxū mean; are heaven earth of fullness [and] emptiness are the waxing and waning as well as the ebb and flow of the cosmos.
苟
能
神
而
明
之
Kou neng shen erh Gǒu néng shén ér If able to divine and If you can divine and gain insight into this,
ming míng clarify
金
思過半矣
3
2
丹
2
2
大
chih1 zhī this
2
道
hsiao1-hsi2 xiāoxí growth [and] decay; ebb [and] flow
chin1 tan1 ta4 tao4 ssu1 kuo4 pan4 i3 jīn dān dà dào sī guò bàn yǐ golden elixir great way can largely comprehend the other half you will have progressed more than halfway on your inquiry into the great Way of the Golden Elixir.
誠
不
敢
私
為
Ch'eng pu kan ssu Chéng bù gǎn sī Indeed not dare I In truth, I did not dare to keep this for myself alone. 2
爰
4
3
急
wei wéi for
1
付
2
獨
得
tu dú alone
te2 dé have
2
梓
以
廣
流傳
Yüan2 chi2 fu4 tzu3 i3 kuang3 Yuán jí fù zǐ yǐ guǎng Therefore quickly send cut block for printing so that widely Therefore, I had it engraved on a printing block [so that it might be] widely disseminated.
素
雲
道人
敬
并
摹
liu2-ch'uan 2 liúchuán spread
識
Su yün Tao -jen ching mo ping chih4 Sù yún Dàorén jìng mó bìng zhì Pure Cloud Taoist respect engrave; copy and; also record Engraved with deep reverence as an inscribed record by [Liu Ch'eng-yin,] the Taoist Su-yün 4
明
2
善
4
2
書局
4
2
印行
Ming2 shan4 shu1-chü2 yin4-hsing2 Míng shàn shūjú yìnxíng Illuminate Goodness; Virtue bookstore publish Published by Ming-shan (Illuminating Virtue) bookstore1 Note 1. This last sentence is not found in Komjathy's article; it is added by the redactor.
296
4
Bibliography Despeux, Catherine. "Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu", in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio, ed., London and New York: Routledge, 2008: 767. Ko, Dorothy, "Bodies in Utopia and Utopian Bodies in Imperial China", in Jörn Rüsen, et al. Thinking Utopia: Steps Into Other Worlds. New York: Berghahn Books, 2005: 98-9. Kohn, Livia, ed., Daoist Body Cultivation: Traditional Models And Contemporary Practices. Hawaii: University of Hawaii Press, 2006: 8-10, 11. Komjathy, Louis, "Mapping the Daoist Body, Part One: The Neijing Tu in History", Journal of Daoist Studies (JDS), volume 1 (2008), pp. 76-7. ______________, "Mapping the Daoist Body, Part Two: The Text of the Neijing Tu", Journal of Daoist Studies (JDS), volume 2 (2009), pp. 64-108. Matuk, Camillia, "Seeing the Body: The Divergence of Ancient Chinese and Western Medical Illustration". The Journal of Biocommunication (JBC), vol. 32, no. 1, September 2006: 2, 5-7. Needham, Joseph, et al. Science and Civilisation in China. Volume V, Part 5: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Physiological Alchemy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983: 112 fig. 1586; 114, 116. Pregadio, Fabrizio. "Inner deities", in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio, ed., London and New York: Routledge, 2008: 84. Robinet, Isabelle. Taoist Meditation: The Mao-shan Tradition of Great Purity. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1993: 170. Van Alphen, Jan, et al. Oriental Medicine. Chicago: Serindia Publications, 1995: 163.
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内日用經 Nei Jeh-yung Ching The Scripture for Daily Internal Practice Translated by Louis Komjathy; Frederic Henry Balfour
Contents Bibliographic Information Author's Introduction Translation 1 Translation 2 Chinese Text Bilingual Text 1 Bilingual Text 2 Bibliography
2 2 3 5 6 7 9 11
298
Bibliographic Information Taishang laojun nei riyong miaojing 太上老君内日用妙經: Most High Lord Lao's Wondrous Scripture for Daily Internal Practice: DZ 645. Abbreviated as Nei riyong jing 内日用經. This is a Song-dynasty (Northern: 960-1126; Southern 1127-1279) text of unknown provenance, which emerged through the coupling of internal alchemy (neidan 内丹) and the earlier tradition of clarity and stillness (qingjing 清靜). Associated with the Taishang laojun wai riyong miaojing, this text focuses on self-cultivation principles and meditation practice. (Komjathy, 2004) […] a set of two Daoist texts that, dating from the Song dynasty (960-1260), provides a comprehensive example of how the workings of harmony and transcendence are described in indigenous terms. The texts have parallel titles, "The Venerable Lords's Wondrous Scripture of Exterior Daily Practice" and "Of Interior Daily Practice" (Taishang Laojun wai/nei riyong miaojing) and occur in sequence in the Daoist Canon (DZ 645 and 646). Part of the famous "harmonizing of the three teachings" (Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism) that dominated Song-dynasty thinking, they contain both Confucian and Buddhist tenets, while at the same time following inner alchemy, the dominant Daoist practice of the time. The scripture on "exterior practice" accordingly specifies a total of forty-seven rules of conduct that allow the dissolution of desires and establishment of harmony, while its counterpart on "interior practice" describes meditative exercises that, through the revolution of yin/yang or water/fire energies in the body, result in the creation of an immortality elixir or "great medicine" that will transform the adept into an immortal. (Kohn, 2000: 27-8) Author's Introduction Abbreviated as Nei riyong jing (Scripture for Daily Internal Practice), this scripture (jing) is a Song dynasty (Northern: 960-1127; Southern: 1127-1279) text that emerged through the coupling of internal alchemy (neidan) and the earlier tradition of clarity and stillness. This scripture is a latter continuation and development of a group of Tang-dynasty (618-907) works that could be labeled "Clarity-and-Stillness literature." The most well known and influential of these is the Taishang laojun shuo chang qingjing miaojing (Wondrous Scripture on Constant Clarity and Stillness as Spoken by the Great High Lord Lao; DZ 620), usually abbreviated as Qingjing jing (Scripture on Clarity and Stillness). The Scripture for Daily Internal Practice is a Daoist text of unknown authorship, but probably was composed during the Southern Song period (1127-1279). As the name suggests, there is another associated text – the Taishang laojun wai riyong miaojing (Wondrous Scripture for External Daily Practice of the Great High Lord Lao; DZ 646). The former discusses meditation, while the latter emphasizes ethical practice. A scarcity of historical sources on the Scripture for Internal Daily Practice, as well as its relative obscurity in the later Daoist tradition, makes the original context of its composition difficult to ascertain. What is clear is that the scripture embodies the cross-pollination of the Tang-dynasty (618-906) Clarity-and-Stillness literature and the internal alchemy traditions of the Song dynasty. With regards to the Clarity-and-Stillness literature, the most representative and well-known work is the Scripture on Clarity and Stillness. This text emerged under the influence of Buddhist insight meditation (vipaśyanâ) and expresses a form of wisdom (zhi) based on the practice of observation (guan). Composed of verses in four and five character combinations, it combines the worldview of the Daode jing (Scripture on the Dao and Inner Power) with the practice of Daoist observation and the structure (as well as some content) of the Buddhist Panruo xinjing (Heart Sutra of Perfect Wisdom; T. 250- 57). Similarly, the Scripture for Daily Internal Practice also employs the format of verses in four and five character combinations (380 characters in total). (Komjathy, 2002-2003: 9) Author's Introduction I have nowhere found any mention of the author of this brief composition, or of its date. The use of Buddhistic expressions in it shows that it cannot have had a very early origin. It belongs to the same category of Tâoist writings as the Khing Kăng King, which is the first of these appendixes. Lî Hsî-yüeh says, 'The Treatise is called "the Directory for a Day," as showing that during all the hours (the Tâo) should not be left for a single instant (comp. the words of Confucius at the beginning of the Kung Yung). Let the work be done, and there is sure to be the result promised; only there must be the Purity insisted on both of body and mind. In the second paragraph it is said, "During the twelve hours of the day let the thoughts be constantly fixed on absolute Purity;" and in the last paragraph, "During the twelve hours be always pure and undefiled;" – thus showing what the main teaching of the Great Tâoistic system is, and the preeminent place which Purity occupies in the "Directory for a Day." The style is so clear and simple that I have left it without note or comment.' (Legge, 1891: 269)
299
Wondrous Scripture for Daily Internal Practice of the Great High Lord Lao Now, as for your daily practice, Keep your eating and drinking regulated; Restrain your speaking and meditate alone. Do not allow even a single thought to arise. The ten thousand affairs are all forgotten. Then preserve your spirit and stabilize your intent. The mouth and lips are mutually locked up; The teeth should be lightly touching. Your eyes do not see a single thing; Your ears do not hear a single sound. Unified, the heart-mind is guarded within. Continually harmonize your breathing. Subtle, still more subtle, make a light exhale. It is as if the breath exists, as if it does not exist. Nothing is allowed to separate or interrupt. Then the fire of the heart naturally descends; The water of the kidneys naturally ascends. Inside your mouth, the sweet dew arises of itself. The numinous Perfected support your body And you spontaneously know the path to long life. During the twelve double-hours of the day, Constantly seek clarity and stillness. The numinous tower of the heart emptied of all things: This is called clarity. Not allowing even a single thought to arise: This is called stillness. The body is the dwelling place of qi. The heart is the residence of spirit. When intent moves, spirit is agitated; When spirit is agitated, qi is dispersed. When intent is stable, spirit remains settled; When spirit remains settled, qi gathers. The perfect qi of the Five Phases Then gathers together and forms a pinch of elixir. Then naturally in the body a sound can be heard. Walking and standing, sitting and lying down, One constantly practices awareness. In the body, it is as if there is the movement of wind. In the belly, it is as if there is the sound of thunder. Infusing and harmonizing qi fully, A rich liquid pours into the top of the head. When you drink from this pinch of elixir, Your ears begin to hear the tunes of the immortals. These are the sounds of the stringless melodies Sounding spontaneously without any strumming, Reverberating naturally without any drumming. Spirit and qi then combine together Like a child being cherished in the womb. If you can observe the inner regions, Spirit naturally begins to communicate. This is the residence of emptiness and nonbeing, The place where you can reside with the sages. If you refine the combination through nine revolutions, You will bind and complete the great cinnabar elixir. Spirit then spontaneously enters and leaves. Your years will match those of heaven and earth; Your radiance will join with that of the sun and moon. Then you will cast off arising and passing away. Each day that you cease to practice this, Surely there will be injury and disease. So, during all the twelve double-hours of the day,
300
Constantly seek clarity and stillness. Qi is the mother of spirit; Spirit is the child of qi. Like a hen incubating an egg, Preserve spirit and nourish qi. Then, you will never be separated from the Wondrous. Mysterious and again more mysterious; In the human body, there are Seven Treasures. Use them to support the country and pacify the people. Then your essence, qi, and blood will be abundant. Essence is quicksilver; Blood is yellow gold; Qi is beautiful jade; Marrow is quartz; The brain is numinous sand; The kidneys are jade rings; And the heart is a glittering gem. These are the Seven Treasures – Keep them firmly in your body, never letting them disperse. Refine them into the great medicine of life. Then with all of the ten thousand spirits, You will ascend to the immortal realms. Translated by Louis Komjathy
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Classic of the Directory for a Day 1. As to what should be done in a day, when the eating and drinking has been arranged, let one sit straight with his mouth shut, and not allow a single thought to arise in his mind. Let him forget everything, and keep his spirit with settled purpose. Let his lips be glued together, and his teeth be firmly pressed against one another. Let him not look at anything with his eyes, nor listen to a single sound with his ears. Let him with all his mind watch over his inward feelings. Let him draw long breaths, and gradually emit them, without a break, now seeming to breathe, and now not. In this way any excitement of the mind will naturally disappear, the water from the kidneys will rise up, the saliva will be produced in the mouth, and the real efficaciousness becomes attached to the body. It is thus that one acquires the way of prolonging life. 2. During the twelve hours of the day let one's thoughts be constantly fixed on absolute Purity. Where one thought (of a contrary kind) does not arise, we have what we call Purity; where nothing (of a contrary kind) enters the Tower of Intelligence (= the mind), we have what we call the Undefiled. The body is the house of the breath; the mind is the lodging of the spirit. As the thoughts move, the spirit moves; as the spirit moves, the breath is distributed. As the thoughts rest, the spirit rests when the spirit rests, the breath is collected. The true powers of the five elements unite and form the boat-like cup of jade, (after partaking of which), the body seems to be full of delicious harmony. This spreads like the unguent of the chrismal rite on the head. Walking, resting, sitting, sleeping, the man feels his body flexible as the wind, and in his belly a sound like that of thunder. His ears hear the songs of the Immortals, that need no aid from any instrument; vocal without words, and resounding without the drum. The spirit and the breath effect a union and the bloom of childhood returns. The man beholds scenes unfolded within him; Spirits of themselves speak to him; he sees the things of vacuity, and finds himself dwelling with the Immortals. He makes the Great Elixir, and his spirit goes out and in at its pleasure. He has the longevity of heaven and earth, and the brightness of the sun and moon. He has escaped from the toils of life and death.1 3. Do not allow any relaxation of your efforts. During all the hours of the day strive always to be pure and undefiled. The spirit is the child of the breath; the breath is the mother of the spirit. As a fowl embraces its eggs, do you preserve the spirit and nourish the breath. Can you do this without intermission? Wonderful! wonderful! The mystery becomes still deeper! In the body there are seven precious organs, which serve to enrich the state, to give rest to the people, and to make the vital force of the system full to overflowing. Hence we have the heart, the kidneys, the breath, the blood, the brains, the semen, and the marrow. These are the seven precious organs. They are not dispersed when the body returns (to the dust). Refined by the use of the Great Medicine, the myriad spirits all ascend among the Immortals.2 Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour
Notes 1. Accustomed to the phraseology of the Text all his life, the commentator Lî, as has been seen, did not think it necessary to append here any notes of explanation. A few such notes, however, will be welcome to an English reader. 'The twelve hours of the day:' – a Chinese hour is equal to two of our hours, and their twelve to our twenty-four. The twelve hours are named by the twelve branch terms of the cycle. 'The boat-like cup of jade' seems to be a satisfactory rendering of the Chinese characters tâo kwei in the Text, which might be translated 'knife, and jade-symbol.' But Tâo, commonly meaning 'knife,' is in the Shih King (I, v; VII, 2) used of 'a small boat.' In the Khang-hsî Thesaurus, under the phrase, we have the following quotation, as if from Ko Hung's Biographies of Immortals: 'Khăn Hsî, a native of the territory of Wû, was studying the Tâo in Shû, when the master Lâo sent a beautiful young lady to him with a tray of gold and a cup of jade filled with medicine, and the message, "This is the mysterious elixir; he who drinks it will not die." And on this he and his wife had each a tâo kwei.' See the account in Ko Hung's work, which is much more diffuse. In the mention of 'the chrismal rite' there is a reference to what Dr. Williams calls 'a kind of Buddhist baptism or holy unction, by sprinkling, which confers goodness,' 'administered to children, idols, &c.' (See under the characters kwân and ting.) 2. If we were sure that we had exactly hit the meaning and spirit of every part of this paragraph, it would hardly be worth while to give more space to its illustration. A sufficient number of the best of the Treatises of the later Tâoism have been placed before the reader to show him how different they are from the writings of Lâo and Kwang, and how inferior to them. It might seem as if Kwang-dze, when be ceased to write, had broken the staff of Tâoism and buried it many fathoms in the earth. We can hardly wonder that Confucianists, such as Kû Hsî, should pronounce, 'What the sect of Tâo chiefly attend to is, – the preservation of the breath of life;' and that Buddhists, such as Liû Mî, should say of it, 'Long life being attained, its goal is reached.'
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太上老君内日用妙經 T'ai-shang Lao-chün Nei Jeh-yung Miao-ching 夫日用者飲食則定禁口獨坐莫起一念萬事倶忘存神定意口唇相粘牙齒相著眼不視物耳不聽聲一心内守調息綿 綿微微輕出似有如無莫教間斷自然心火下降腎水上昇口内泔津自生靈眞付體自知長生之路十二時辰常要清靜 靈臺無物爲之清一念不起爲之靜身是氣之宅心是神之舍意行則神行神行則氣散意住則神住神住則氣聚五行之 眞氣結成刀圭自然身中有聲行處座臥常覺身體如風之行腹内如雷之鳴冲和氣透醍醐灌頂自飲刀圭耳聽仙音無 弦之曲不撫而自聲不鼓而自鳴神氣相結如男子懷孕得觀内境神自言語是虚無之宅與聖同居煉就九轉結成大丹 神自出入與天地齊年日月同明脱離生滅矣毎日休教有損失十二時辰常要清靜氣是神之母神是氣之子如雞抱卵 切要存神養氣能無離乎妙哉玄之又玄人身中有七寶事爲富國安民精炁血滿也精是水銀血是黄金炁是美玉髓是 水晶腦靈砂腎是璋璖心是珊瑚此是七寶歸身不散煉就大藥萬神盡登仙矣 Punctuated Text 夫日用者、飲食則定。禁口獨坐、莫起一念、萬事倶忘、存神定意、口唇相粘、牙齒相著、眼不視物、耳不 聽聲、一心内守、調息綿綿、微微輕出、似有如無、莫教間斷、自然心火下降、腎水上昇、口内泔津自生、 靈眞付體自知。長生之路、十二時辰常要清靜。靈臺無物爲之清、一念不起爲之靜、身是氣之宅、心是神之 舍。意行則神行、神行則氣散;意住則神住、神住則氣聚。五行之眞氣、結成刀圭、自然身中有聲、行處座 臥、常覺身體如風之行、腹内如雷之鳴。冲和氣透、醍醐灌頂、自飲刀圭、耳聽仙音、無弦之曲、不撫而自 聲、不鼓而自鳴。神氣相結、如男子懷孕得觀内境、神自言語、是虚無之宅、與聖同居、煉就九轉、結成大 丹。神自出入、與天地齊年、日月同明、脱離生滅矣。毎日休教有損失、十二時辰常要清靜、氣是神之母、 神是氣之子、如雞抱卵、切要存神養氣、能無離乎?妙哉!玄之又玄。人身中有七寶、事爲富國安民、精炁 血滿也。精是水銀、血是黄金、炁是美玉、髓是水晶、腦靈砂、腎是璋璖、心是珊瑚。此是七寶、歸身不散、 煉就大藥、萬神盡登仙矣。
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太上老君内日用妙經 Wondrous Scripture for Daily Internal Practice of the Great High Lord Lao 夫日用者 飲食則定 禁口獨坐 莫起一念 萬事倶忘 存神定意 口唇相粘 牙齒相著 眼不視物 耳不聽聲 一心内守 調息綿綿 微微輕出 似有如無 莫教間斷 自然心火下降 腎水上昇 口内泔津自生 靈眞付體 自知長生之路 十二時辰 常要清靜 靈臺無物爲之清 一念不起爲之靜 身是氣之宅 心是神之舍 意行則神行 神行則氣散 意住則神住 神住則氣聚 五行之眞氣 結成刀圭 自然身中有聲 行處座臥 常覺身體如風之行 腹内如雷之鳴 冲和氣透 醍醐灌頂 自飲刀圭 耳聽仙音 無弦之曲 不撫而自聲 不鼓而自鳴 神氣相結 如男子懷孕 得觀内境 神自言語 是虚無之宅 與聖同居 煉就九轉
Now, as for your daily practice, Keep your eating and drinking regulated; Restrain your speaking and meditate alone. Do not allow even a single thought to arise. The ten thousand affairs are all forgotten. Then preserve your spirit and stabilize your intent. The mouth and lips are mutually locked up; The teeth should be lightly touching. Your eyes do not see a single thing; Your ears do not hear a single sound. Unified, the heart-mind is guarded within. Continually harmonize your breathing. Subtle, still more subtle, make a light exhale. It is as if the breath exists, as if it does not exist. Nothing is allowed to separate or interrupt. Then the fire of the heart naturally descends; The water of the kidneys naturally ascends. Inside your mouth, the sweet dew arises of itself. The numinous Perfected support your body And you spontaneously know the path to long life. During the twelve double-hours of the day, Constantly seek clarity and stillness. The numinous tower of the heart emptied of all things: this is called clarity. Not allowing even a single thought to arise: this is called stillness. The body is the dwelling place of qi. The heart is the residence of spirit. When intent moves, spirit is agitated; When spirit is agitated, qi is dispersed. When intent is stable, spirit remains settled; When spirit remains settled, qi gathers. The perfect qi of the Five Phases Then gathers together and forms a pinch of elixir. Then naturally in the body a sound can be heard. Walking and standing, sitting and lying down, One constantly practices awareness. In the body, it is as if there is the movement of wind. In the belly, it is as if there is the sound of thunder. Infusing and harmonizing qi fully, A rich liquid pours into the top of the head. When you drink from this pinch of elixir, Your ears begin to hear the tunes of the immortals. These are the sounds of the stringless melodies Sounding spontaneously without any strumming, Reverberating naturally without any drumming. Spirit and qi then combine together Like a child being cherished in the womb. If you can observe the inner regions, Spirit naturally begins to communicate. This is the residence of emptiness and nonbeing, The place where you can reside with the sages. If you refine the combination through nine revolutions,
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結成大丹 神自出入 與天地齊年 日月同明 脱離生滅矣 毎日休教有損失 十二時辰 常要清靜 氣是神之母 神是氣之子 如雞抱卵 切要存神養氣 能無離乎妙哉 玄之又玄 人身中有七寶 事爲富國安民 精炁血滿也 精是水銀 血是黄金 炁是美玉 髓是水晶 腦靈砂 腎是璋璖 心是珊瑚 此是七寶 歸身不散 煉就大藥 萬神盡登仙矣
You will bind and complete the great cinnabar elixir. Spirit then spontaneously enters and leaves. Your years will match those of heaven and earth; Your radiance will join with that of the sun and moon. Then you will cast off arising and passing away. Each day that you cease to practice this, surely there will be injury and disease. So, during all the twelve double-hours of the day, Constantly seek clarity and stillness. Qi is the mother of spirit; Spirit is the child of qi. Like a hen incubating an egg, Preserve spirit and nourish qi. Then, you will never be separated from the Wondrous. Mysterious and again more mysterious; In the human body, there are Seven Treasures. Use them to support the country and pacify the people. Then your essence, qi, and blood will be abundant. Essence is quicksilver; Blood is yellow gold; Qi is beautiful jade; Marrow is quartz; The brain is numinous sand; The kidneys are jade rings; And the heart is a glittering gem. These are the Seven Treasures – Keep them firmly in your body, never letting them disperse. Refine them into the great medicine of life. Then with all of the ten thousand spirits, you will ascend to the immortal realms.
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内日用經 Classic of the Directory for a Day 夫日用者 飲食則定 禁口獨坐 莫起一念 As to what should be done in a day, when the eating and drinking has been arranged, let one sit straight with his mouth shut, and not allow a single thought to arise in his mind. 萬事倶忘 存神定意 Let him forget everything, and keep his spirit with settled purpose. 口唇相粘 牙齒相著 Let his lips be glued together, and his teeth be firmly pressed against one another. 眼不視物 耳不聽聲 Let him not look at anything with his eyes, nor listen to a single sound with his ears. 一心内守 Let him with all his mind watch over his inward feelings. 調息綿綿 微微輕出 似有如無 莫教間斷 Let him draw long breaths, and gradually emit them, without a break, now seeming to breathe, and now not. 自然心火下降 腎水上昇 口内泔津自生 靈眞付體 In this way any excitement of the mind will naturally disappear, the water from the kidneys will rise up, the saliva will be produced in the mouth, and the real efficaciousness becomes attached to the body. 自知長生之路 It is thus that one acquires the way of prolonging life. 十二時辰常要清靜 During the twelve hours of the day let one's thoughts be constantly fixed on absolute Purity. 靈臺無物爲之清 一念不起爲之靜 Where one thought (of a contrary kind) does not arise, we have what we call Purity; where nothing (of a contrary kind) enters the Tower of Intelligence (= the mind), we have what we call the Undefiled. 身是氣之宅 心是神之舍 The body is the house of the breath; the mind is the lodging of the spirit. 意行則神行 神行則氣散 As the thoughts move, the spirit moves; as the spirit moves, the breath is distributed. 意住則神住 神住則氣聚 As the thoughts rest, the spirit rests when the spirit rests, the breath is collected. 五行之眞氣 結成刀圭 The true powers of the five elements unite and form the boat-like cup of jade, 自然身中有聲 冲和氣透 (after partaking of which), the body seems to be full of delicious harmony. 醍醐灌頂 自飲刀圭 This spreads like the unguent of the chrismal rite on the head. 行處座臥 常覺身體如風之行 腹内如雷之鳴 Walking, resting, sitting, sleeping, the man feels his body flexible as the wind, and in his belly a sound like that of thunder.
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耳聽仙音 無弦之曲 不撫而自聲 不鼓而自鳴 His ears hear the songs of the Immortals, that need no aid from any instrument; vocal without words, and resounding without the drum. 神氣相結 如男子懷孕 The spirit and the breath effect a union and the bloom of childhood returns. 得觀内境 神自言語 是虚無之宅 與聖同居 The man beholds scenes unfolded within him; Spirits of themselves speak to him; he sees the things of vacuity, and finds himself dwelling with the Immortals. 煉就九轉 結成大丹 神自出入 He makes the Great Elixir, and his spirit goes out and in at its pleasure. 與天地齊年 日月同明 He has the longevity of heaven and earth, and the brightness of the sun and moon. 脱離生滅矣 He has escaped from the toils of life and death.1 毎日休教有損失 Do not allow any relaxation of your efforts. 十二時辰常要清靜 During all the hours of the day strive always to be pure and undefiled. 氣是神之母 神是氣之子 The spirit is the child of the breath; the breath is the mother of the spirit. 如雞抱卵 切要存神養氣 As a fowl embraces its eggs, do you preserve the spirit and nourish the breath. 能無離乎 妙哉 玄之又玄 Can you do this without intermission? Wonderful! wonderful! The mystery becomes still deeper! 人身中有七寶 事爲富國安民 精炁血滿也 In the body there are seven precious organs, which serve to enrich the state, to give rest to the people, and to make the vital force of the system full to overflowing. 精是水銀 血是黄金 炁是美玉 髓是水晶 腦靈砂 腎是璋璖 心是珊瑚 Hence we have the heart, the kidneys, the breath, the blood, the brains, the semen, and the marrow. 此是七寶 These are the seven precious organs. 歸身不散 They are not dispersed when the body returns (to the dust). 煉就大藥 萬神盡登仙矣 Refined by the use of the Great Medicine, the myriad spirits all ascend among the Immortals.2
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Bibliography Legge, James. The Texts of Taoism: Part II of II, Sacred Books of the East, Volume 40. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1891: 269-72. Komjathy, Louis. "Developing Clarity and Stillness: The Scripture for Daily Internal Practice." The Dragon's Mouth: Journal of the British Taoist Association, Winter 2002-2003: 9-13. Komjathy, Louis, "Daoist Texts in Translation", 2004. Kohn, Livia. "Chinese Religion", in The Human Condition: A Volume in the Comparative Religious Ideas Project. Robert Cummings Neville, ed., Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000: 21-47.
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百字碑 Pai-tzu Pei The Hundred-Character Tablet By Lü Tung-pin 呂洞賓 Translated by Thomas Cleary
Contents Author's Introduction Original Stele 1 Translation 1 Original Stele 2 Translation 2 Bibliography
2 3 4 5 6 7
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Author's Introduction The first selection is a commentary on Ancestor Lü's seminal work, The Hundred-Character Tablet. This piece shows a strong trace of the psychophysical yoga practice associated with the Southern school of Complete Reality. (Cleary, 1991: 184)
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呂僊翁百字碑 Lü Hsien Weng Pai-tzu Pei Stele 1
百 呂 字 僊 碑 翁
来 二 十 句 端 的 上 天 梯
311
得 知 坐 聽 無 弦 曲 明 通 造 化 機 都
甘 露 灑 須 彌 自 飲 長 生 酒 逍 遙 誰
生 返 復 普 化 一 聲 雷 白 雲 朝 頂 上
囘 氣 回 丹 自 結 壺 中 配 坎 離 陰 陽
物 要 不 迷 不 迷 性 自 住 性 住 氣 自
宗 祖 無 事 更 尋 誰 真 常 須 應 物 應
養 氣 忘 言 守 降 心 爲 不 為 動 静 知
呂 僊 翁 百 字 碑
呂僊翁百字碑 The Hundred-Character Tablet - 1 養氣忘言守 降心爲不為 動靜知宗祖 無事更尋誰 真常須應物 應物要不迷 不迷性自住 性住氣自囘 氣回丹自結 壺中配坎離 陰陽生返復 普化一聲雷 白雲朝頂上 甘露灑須彌 自飲長生酒 逍遙誰得知 坐聽無弦曲 明通造化機 都来二十句 端的上天梯
Nurturing energy, forget words and guard it. Conquer the mind, do nondoing. In activity and quietude, know the source progenitor. There is no thing; whom else do you seek? Real constancy should respond to people; In responding to people, it is essential not to get confused. When you don't get confused, your nature is naturally stable; When your nature is stable, energy naturally returns. When energy returns, elixir spontaneously crystallizes, In the pot pairing water and fire. Yin and yang arise, alternating over and over again, Everywhere producing the sound of thunder. White clouds assemble on the summit, Sweet dew bathes the polar mountain. Having drunk the wine of longetivity, You wander free; who can know you? You sit and listen to the stringless tune, You clearly understand the mechanism of creation. The whole of these twenty verses Is a ladder straight to heaven.
Translated by Thomas Cleary
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呂仙翁百字碑 Lü Hsien Weng Pai-tzu Pei Stele 2
百 呂 字 僊 碑 翁 甚 不 爭 名 曾 共 高 人 論
頭 悶 和 光 且 同 塵 但 把 俗 情 混 因
如 無 守 本 分 不 在 人 殻 中 免 却 心
不 係 名 私 下 憑 信 行 遇 有 不 輕 狂
聽 莫 論 他 人 非 只 尋 自 己 病 官 中
又 我 不 競 見 者 如 不 見 聽 者 如 不
曾 飲 色 慾 巳 罷 盡 財 又 我 不 貪 氣
本 性 好 清 靜 保 養 心 猿 定 酒 不 何
呂 仙 翁 百 字 碑
The lower left part of the 9th character in line 6 (殻) is "arrow" (弓), not "table" (几). The character means "to shoot with arrow".
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呂僊翁百字碑 The Hundred-Character Tablet - 2 本性好清靜 保養心猿定 酒不何曾飲 色慾巳罷盡 財又我不貪 氣又我不競 見者如不見 聽者如不聽 莫論他人非 只尋自己病 官中不係名 私下憑信行 遇有不輕狂 如無守本分 不在人殻中 免却心頭悶 和光且同塵 但把俗情混 因甚不爭名 曾共高人論
My original nature likes pure quiet. Protecting and nourishing my heart will stabilize it's monkeyness. Wine? Again I never drink. Sexual desire has stopped completely. Wealth? Again I am not greedy. Anger? Again I do not escalate an argument. I see things as if not seeing. I hear things as if not hearing. I do not discuss another person's mistakes. I seek only into my own illness. My name has no links to government officials. My private foundation is based on trustworthy deeds. If in a high position, I am neither trivial nor flamboyant. If in obscure poverty, I keep to my own duty. I am not within any person's shooting range. I avoid and refuse depressions of my heart. As I harmonize in light, I also merge with dust. I only deal with worldly affairs as they mix. How is it that I do not struggle for renown? By having been together with a noble person discussing this.
Translator unknown
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Bibliography Cleary, Thomas. Vitality, Energy, Spirit: A Taoist Sourcebook. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1991: 184, 185.
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破迷正道歌 P'o-mi Cheng-tao Ko Song of Dispelling Delusion and Rectifying Tao By Chung-li Ch'üan 鍾離權 Translated by Silfong Tsun
Contents Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 7 9 14
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Song of Dispelling Delusion and Rectifying Tao The original translation by Silfong Tsun is reworked by the redactor and some technical terms are substituted with more suitable words. Cantonese transcription is changed to Mandarin (using modified Wade-Giles).
Because of the fact that you are eligible for ascending to heaven, I am imparting to you the pithy instructions on the heavenly mechanism. It is short and consists of only a few words, However, one will thoroughly understand the countless holy scriptures if only he gets this single sentence. Just one instruction is enough to let one know the things of the remote heaven, And to sweep away all side-tracks.1 If this truth of the Tao of divine immortals is spoken, It is about the nothingness of the heaven and the earth, and the emptiness of the upside and downside. When it is disclosed, the wood and the metal2 are not separated, And the true lead and true mercury3 are immaterial. Whoever knows this truth of the heavenly mechanism, He will be able to combine the sun and the moon and ascend high. There is actually no k'an or li,4 no dragon or tiger, And there is no crow dwelling in the west or rabbit5 dwelling in the east. It (the key) is not one's liver, lung, heart, or kidney, And it is not one's spleen, stomach, gallbladder, or ching. It is not thinking, imagining or acting, And it is not located at any of the three fields6 of the upper, middle, or lower regions. It is not located at any place between one's spinal handle7 and K'un-lun;8 It is not semen, spit, breath or blood, And it is not one's urinary bladder or any spirits dwelling at his five viscera.9 These things flow out from every human body, In all seasons including spring, summer, autumn and winter, Yet who can know their former heaven and former earth places? When these two things are combined, they are totally one pound10 in weight; During the time of hsien, wang, hui, and shuo,11 the quantity that fits the origin can be collected; Day and night, they circulate and never stop. Just gather them according to the timing with awareness of whether they are old or young, And unite the chia 甲 and keng 庚12 within a short moment. It is just located at the southwest place where k'un is produced. Concoct it slowly, and gradually move it to the ken 艮 palace. Try to stir the heavenly mechanism lightly, The true energy is then always congregated in the great emptiness. When the ch'ien 乾 and the k'un 坤13 are used as the cauldron and the vessel, The universe will be turned upside down and you will be able to travel all over it freely. Move the southern constellation to the position of the northern constellation; Let the golden crow14 fly into the palace of the jade toad.15 When the jade rabbit dwells in the great yang (sun), The increase and decrease happen at the great yin will naturally be harmonious. Find the medicine right after the front hsien, And stop and balance the energy right before the back hsien. Between the two hsiens what should be done is gathering. Find out the ancestor by understanding the former, latter, existence, and inexistence He is the host and I am the guest, When I float up you will probably sink down. When both the floating and sinking are regulated and returned to one place, During both the cleansing and purifying16 the emptiness is always there. The li and the k'an are actually not at the south or the north. How can the chen 震 and the tui 兌17 dwell at the west or the east? If one can meet a divine immortal who personally gives him the instructions, He will be able to grab the Northern Dipper18 and the wheel of the celestial cycle, And absorb yin and yang through his palms, And then suddenly myriads of beings will be created. For these instructions on golden fluid reverted elixir, If you have not met an immortal teacher, do not force yourself to interpret them. If you can really gather the energy of former heaven, Grab the sun and the moon and hold them in your hands, And let them impact each other day and night and combine into one piece, The singing of dragon and the roar of tiger will be heard by themselves.
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At the beginning there will be roaring sounds of wind from above and below. And gradually they will coagulate and purple cloud will be produced. When the cloud fills the mountain and covers the sun and the moon, That moment it will be hazy. Silently, the cloud and the haze will move by themselves. And in the concentration19 the thunderclaps will be heard from time to time. The purple phoenix and the black rabbit will meet at one place; The golden crow and the jade rabbit will of themselves compete with each other; The tiger will circumambulate and the dragon will whirl about to find the supreme treasure; The duke metal will marry the young girl. In this meeting of the son and the mother, The divinity and the uncreated energy will return to the root and combine into the original truth; When the seed of truth of the very beginning, Drops into the elixir field, the season will always be spring even if millions of centuries elapse. When the former heaven and former earth return to one place, They are as flawless as when the primordial chaos was not yet broken. The coming creations will naturally fit the holy principle, With the green leaves, the color of the red flower will be vivid. From above and below, the water and the fire will of themselves pour; When the two energies combine and coagulate, the sacred embryo will come into being; A hundred days later, a divine scene will naturally occur, And the supermundane one who transcends births and deaths will naturally be there. If you can really prevent the danger for those one hundred days, Your blood will turn into the ointment-like substance and your body will be like silver; If you can really save all the energies and completely prevent the leaking for those one hundred days. The flowing jade ointment will nourish you and emit light; The true energy will be steaming inside so that the outside cold and heat will be the same to you, Then you will be a noble person of the unsurpassed Tao. In this glowing condition, forge and refine it for three hundred days. The sudden rains and storm wind will fill the great emptiness; The countless flashes of lightning will be dazzling; The thunder will make the heavenly gate trembling and frighten ghosts and spirits. Uncover the universe and let the white snow fly. Grab ch'ien and k'un inversely to receive the spring without night; Then your bones will be changed due to the regain of yang and your body will become immortal; The nine returnings and the sevenfold reversion will produce the body of truth. The hard working will last for about ten months in total. Then your inside and outside will be empty and luminous, and your appearance and interior will be real. Then, when you converge you appear as a body, and when you disperse you are the energy. Having returned to the original source, you are the same as the great emptiness; Your unrestricted transformations and movements will be incomprehensible for mundane people. This teaching is imparted from ancestors to ancestors in such a way it comes to the present day; The single principle of it can transform and fit all the principles of the great earth; The instructions of divine immortals will never be false. If you can maintain it for one to two more years, You will gain an unlimited lifespan of more than hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of eons. If anyone can master these instructions for refining the golden fluid body, He will be able to fly freely riding on a phoenix or a crane, Shuttle between existence and nonexistence without any obstruction, And travel in the three islands of P'eng-lai20 unrestrictedly. Even if hundreds of thousands of eons elapse, When the oceans turn to mulberry fields, his face will still be unchanged. How sad! For the countless people who seek immortality, The practices of most of them are not the way to heavenly immortality. Many of them are deluded by wild foxes, spirits or ghosts, How can the sayings of ghosts and demons be trusted? Some of them travel all over the world to find the mysterious teachings, But what they get are only evil teachings and inferior techniques. They are foolish and deluded by attachments, yet they are stubborn and can hardly be taught or changed, So that they continue to mislead others, just like a blind leading many blind people. For example, some people eat only pine nuts or special foods, In such a way how can they break off their roots of births and deaths? Some people practice meditation or breathing techniques for entering into a state of forgetting the body. However, in such a way, how can their energy running in the hundreds of channels return to the sources? Some people meditate on their elixir fields while practicing breathing skills, Finally they simply cannot succeed in mastering the truth of embryo-immortals;
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Some people regard breath-ceasing as the former heaven stage, But when they become old they still achieve nothing so that their efforts are also unavailing; Some practices use one's mouth and nose as the occult gates, Those are like wrapping wind with a broken net; Some people regard their hearts as the square inch21 and mediate on them, How can they return to the source and see the ancestral origin? Some people accumulate their ching which are regarded as the lead and the mercury, This might trigger some wheeling but still is not the same thing as the golden elixir. Some people insist that their spirits and inside airflows are the sons and the mothers, They are also far away from the heavenly immortality; Some people imagine that their craniums are unclosed and do the imaginary refining and fostering, They are just wasting their efforts and times; Furthermore, some people shrink their glans penis or massage their breasts, Those are exactly the unorthodox and inferior techniques; Furthermore, some people imaginarily impel their energy to run and think that is the fire-timing, This practice may last for nine or three years, however, it can do nothing but mislead people; Some people focus on the tips of their noses and the passing breathings to imbibe the original energy, This may cause some unhealthy airflows sounding within their stomachs. Even if they can realize their hearts and their natures, After they die they can only be yin spirits. How many those useless teachings do you know? They just make your skeletal body toil in vain. Stopping thoughts and taming minds are regarded by some people as the purity and tranquility, In fact their achievement is just the dead-end emptiness; Day and night, some people devotedly practice their techniques at the times of tzu 子 and wu 午,22 Do the heaven and the earth have bad times? Some people practice breath-stopping alone or practice visualizations and imaginations; Some people insist that root of their tongues is the red dragon;23 Some people imaginarily run their celestial cycles according to the trigrams; Some people are sure that their spleen is the yellow court; Some people say that their kidneys are the sources of creations; Some people hold their gate of tail24 firmly because that place is believed to be the root of life; Furthermore, some people try to return to the origin by ingesting water and fire; Some people try to recharge themselves by absorbing the energy of other people during sexual conducts, or even suck their lousy outflows; Some people face upward to the sky to absorb the energy of the sun and the moon, They call earthly p'o-soul 魄 as "the heavenly hun-soul 魂"; Some people swallow their saliva which is regarded as the essence of creations and transformations; Some people reject all the five flavors25 and think that is equal to reality cultivation; Day and night they eat only one meal and think of this as a daily practice, Their bodies become weak and exhausted like a demon's body. Some people bend their bodies or lie on their backs and knock their jade doors; Some people embrace the origin and preserve the one by moving their eyeballs; Some people raise their shoulders, retract their necks, and meditate on their spinal columns; Some people imaginarily move the flowing pearl and concentrate on their so-called great yin; Some people write false talismans and recite wrong incantations; Some people spend lots of money to study how to conceal themselves by making their bodies invisible; Some people massage their bodies and utter the sounds of the six characters;26 Some people worship stars and pay homage to constellations diligently;27 Some people inhale clean air and exhale turbid air intentionally and say that is the fundamental of elixir; Some people clamp their yang-gates firmly, causing the fire [of their impure energy] to burn violently, With the flaming heat permeating their bodies, They are called the natural born geniuses of the great Tao. They read and study invocations, repeat eulogies and ritual registers, They erect altars and prostrate themselves for offerings, in hope of ascending to heavens. Such countless teachings that can be classified into the three thousand and six hundred side-tracks, All failed to recognize the one who accompany their body day and night. If you can get the chance to meet an enlightened master and receive his instructions, In a moment the creations and transformations will occur. The energy of oneness circulates freely, It exists dispersedly in everything including human bodies. When a person who thoroughly understands this gain the energy of former heaven, During a whole night the sound of the thunder will not pause for a moment. Among the countless flashes of lightning, The formless two energies will meet each other and combine.
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Incomparably, the gate of heaven will be broken, The thunder, lightning, wind and rain will come all at the same time. When the inversions occur, the positions will be exchanged, The countless flows of flaming energy will run disorderedly and violently, The tiger will circumambulate the furnace of medicine to strive for creative transformations; The dragon will whirl about the golden cauldron and want to fly upward; The four forms and the five elements will return together at wu-chi 戊己,28 To cook and refine the golden fluid which is the essence of the combined original energies. The myriad purple clouds will envelop the Northern Sea, The thousands of energy flows of the hundreds of channels will impact the K'un-lun, The true energy will be so bright that the constellations will become comparatively dark; The red light will be so luminous that the sun will become comparatively dim. The increases and decreases will happen naturally by the advancing or retrograding, Between the front hsien and the back hsien, that which is true can be determined. One must recognize whether the head of elixir is old or young, And the actions of extracting and adding will take just a moment. The time of the embryo's coagulation depends on the fire-timing, When the flaming true fire burns within the universe, The ch'ien and k'un, above and below will all be thoroughly red. One fire and one water, in such a way the interlaced diagrams29 can be formed; One ascent and one descent, the rising and sinking will take place naturally; One coming and one going, the guest and the host must be distinguished; One is preceding and another one is succeeding, the king and the minister are there; One yin and one yang, this is how the universe is formed; One is hard and another one is soft, they will be proportional naturally. Winter and summer solstices are the turning points; Vernal and autumnal equinoxes determine whether it is cold or warm; They go, come, rise, and sink, yet they are formless; They circulate day and night according to the timing. If one has not gained those instructions imparted by the remote ancestors, How can he know the short-moment work of the great Tao? Force the handle of the Northern Dipper return, this is the principle of the occult gate; When the handle of the dipper is turned to the heavenly gate, all things will be thoroughly connected. During a short period the tiger and the dragon will fight against each other frequently, And they will combine in a moment. When the monkey and the distracted one are caught, It will return to the primordial chaos within which all things are not yet divided. These are the instructions on combining the wood and the metal, The true lead and true mercury which are the essences of the heaven and the earth. These instructions on the golden elixir and its fire-timing, Is for the integration that takes place at the yellow court. This combination of the essences, this uncreated energy of the oneness, is the medicine of eons, It exists forever and brings along the everlasting springtime. Within three thousand time units the infant will take shape, After working for a hundred days the creation will be numinous. After ten months of refinement, the practitioner's body will become purely yang, Then naturally, neither cold nor heat will be able to harm him. His jade-like body will be covered by auspicious energies and colorful clouds, The phoenixes and cranes will come dancing face to face to receive him; The jade women will come in pairs with the purple edict, His name will be added into the record of heavenly residents, and he will be called a true man. With golden light enveloping his body, mundane people will have difficulty staring at him. There will be honor guards moving along with him at his left and right sides, The Immortal cranes will guide him to the origin, And he will ascend to heaven in broad daylight to visit the jade capital.
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Notes 1. Side-tracks (p'ang-men 旁門) are incorrect or unorthodox teachings, or the teachings that cannot directly liberate living beings from birth and death cycle. Some techniques may be so powerful that they allow the practitioners to summon spirits and defeat demons, and the proper use of these techniques can produce a lot of merit; some other practices can produce plenty of merits and blessings and lead the practitioners to the liberation, however, since they cannot directly liberate the practitioners from birth and death cycle, they are also called "side-tracks". 2. Two of the five phases (wu-hsing 五行). 3. Symbols often used in alchemical scriptures. 4. Two of the eight trigrams (pa-kua 八卦). 5. The dragon, tiger, crow and rabbit are symbols often used in alchemical scriptures. 6. The three fields or three elixir fields are upper, middle, and lower elixir fields. 7. Spinal handle (chia-chi 夾脊) is the second pass (kuan 關), located in the middle of the spinal column where it joins the ribs at chest level, at the shoulder blades. 8. K'un-lun is a Central Asian mountain chain. It represents west-metal-true sense-the mind of Tao, as well as primordial unified energy, the source of all being. In alchemical meditation systems of the "lesser vehicle" of Taoism, the K'un-lun also is used as a code word for the head. 9. The five viscera (wu-tsang 五臟 or五藏) are the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. 10. One Chinese "pound" (chin 斤), the standard measure for larger amounts of gold during the early Han, is equal to 1.3 pounds or 0.5897 kilograms. 11. When the sun-earth-moon angle is 90 degrees, this is called hsien 弦. The first quarter of the moon is called upper hsien, and the last quarter of the moon is called lower hsien. Wang 望 is the day of full moon, the fifteenth day of a Chinese month. Hui 晦 is the end of a cycle of moon, the last day of a Chinese month. Shuo 朔 is the day of a new moon, the first day of a Chinese month. 12. Chia 甲 is the first and keng 庚 is the seventh of the ten heavenly stems (shih-t'ien-kan 十天干). 13. K'un 坤, ken 艮, and ch'ien 乾 are three of the eight trigrams. 14. Golden crow is believed to live in the sun and it often represents the sun. 15. The palace of the jade toad (yü-ch'an kung 玉蟾宮) is the moon. 16. Cleansing and purifying (mu-yu 沐浴) means cleansing the ascent of yang and purifying the descent of yin during the microcosmic orbiting practice. 17. Chen 震 and tui 兌 are two of the eight trigrams. 18. Northern Dipper (Pei-tou 北斗) is the Big Dipper (i.e. Ursus Major) or the Great Bear constellation, which consists of seven stars. 19. Concentration translates ting 定. The word ting means "to settle," "to stabilize," "firm," "solid." It is first used in a meditative context in translations of Buddhist texts, where it appears as one of the technical terms for samādhi or the full and intense concentration of the mind on one object. In this sense, ding has been rendered as "intent contemplation" or "perfect absorption." Later a more technical, meditative use of ding became common. Ting is also translated as "meditative concentration", "absorption", "meditative absorption", or "fixation". 20. P'eng-lai 蓬萊 is a divine island, a fairy isle in the Eastern Sea or the Sea of P'o 渤. It is believed to be a paradise-like place where immortals and herbs of deathlessness are found. 21. Square inch (fang-ts'un 方寸) is the alternate, anatomical name for heart. In Taoism, all things start in the beginning with the Tao, from the square inch. 22. The time of tzu 子 is from 11 PM to 1 AM, while the time of wu 午 is from 11 AM to 1 PM. 23. Red dragon (ch'ih-lung 赤龍) is a cover name for the tongue. 24. Gate of tail (wei-lü 尾閭) is the first pass (kuan 關). It is located at the level of the coccyx. The term wei-lü refers to a mythical place mentioned in Chuang-tzu 17, an orifice in the ocean where water endlessly leaks away without ever being exhausted. 25. The five flavors, or five tastes (wu-wei 五味), are sour, bitter, sweet, pungent, and salty. 26. The six characters (liu-tzu chüeh 六字訣; literally "instructions on the six character[-sound]s") is breathing technique. It consists of inhaling through the nose and exhaling in six ways through the mouth. The corresponding sounds are designated by six characters: hsü 噓, ho 呵 (or hsü 呴), hu 呼, ssu 呬, ch'ui 吹, and hsi 嘻. 27. See note 1. 28. Here, wu-chi 戊己 represents the central palace (chung-kung 中宮), also known as the "seat of wu-chi" (wu-chi wei 戊己位). Wu and chi are the fifth and sixth of the celestial stems which when paired represent earth, one of the five phases (wu-hsing 五行). Element earth corresponds to spleen, the central organ where the four elements unite. 29. Interlaced diagrams (yao-hsiang 爻象; literally, the "lines [and] simulacra") are the sixty-four trigrams.
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破迷正道歌 P'o-mi Cheng-tao Ko 正陽真人鍾離述 若非符契天緣事 一訣便知天外事 説破木金無間隔 也無坎離并龍虎 非思非想非爲作 不是膀胱五臟神 二物相和重一斤 片餉之間併甲庚 真炁時時聚太空 金烏飛入玉蟾宮 後弦之前炁停勻 我若浮時你却沉 震兊豈則在西東 頃刻之間萬物生 日月擒來兩手中 漸凝漸結紫雲生 定裏時聞霹靂聲 金公姹女結婚姻 入得丹田萬古春 緣來紅花一色新 自有超凡出死生 玉膏流潤生光明 驟雨顛風滿太空 倒提乾坤不夜春 内外虛明表裏真 祖祖相傳古到今 百千萬億劫無窮 蓬萊三島任縱横 緫是天仙道不同 盡是邪門小法功 如何脱免死生根 到底胎仙學未成 恰似滿網去包風 轉與金丹事不同 枉施功力謾勞神 九載三年悞了人 到頭終久做隂靈 下稍終久是頑空 執定舌根做赤龍 執定尾閭爲命根 便道地魄是天魂 身體尫羸似鬼形 搬運流珠想太隂 瞻星禮斗受辛勤 呼作天真大道根 不識隨形晝夜人 散在萬物與人身 二炁相交豈有形 無量火炁亂崢嶸 烹錬金液混元晶 紅光赫赫太陽昏
故把天機訣與君 掃盡旁門不見蹤 真鉛真汞豈有形 也無烏兔各西東 不在三田上下中 此物在人身中出 弦望晦朔合本數 只在西南産本位 謀得乾坤爲鼎器 太陽裏面藏玉兔 兩弦之間爲採取 調得浮沉歸一處 若遇神仙親指訣 這些金液還丹訣 晝夜打交成一塊 雲滿山中遮日月 紫鳳烏兔交一處 這番子母裏相會 先天先地歸一處 上下水火自澆灌 果然百日防危險 真炁薰蒸無寒暑 電光晃耀無窮數 換骨回陽身不朽 聚則成形散則炁 一理便合天地理 會得金液種形法 若更萬年百千劫 倶被野狐涎昧定 愚迷執強難教化 有如忘形習定息 有如息氣爲先天 有如思心爲方寸 有執氣神爲子母 更有縮龜并錬乳 鼻頭閒息服元炁 知他多少閑門戸 晝夜專行子午法 更有周天行卦象 更有還元服水火 更有咂津爲造化 曲身偃仰叩玉戸 更有書符并念咒 入清吐濁爲丹本 看讀念讚持科籙 有緣遭遇明師指 達人採得先天炁 摧塌天關無可比 虎繞藥鑪爭造化 萬朵紫雲籠北海 加減自然分進退
片言半句無多字 若言此理神仙道 誰知這箇天機理 非肝非肺非心腎 豈干夾脊至崑崙 四時春夏及秋冬 循環晝夜不曾空 慢慢調和入艮宮 顛倒宇宙任縱横 太隂加減自和同 先後存定祖和宗 沐浴潜藏緫是空 捉住北斗周天輪 不遇仙師莫強攻 自有龍吟虎笑聲 此時一陣似朦朧 金烏玉兔自相爭 神炁歸根合本真 混沌未分豈有痕 二炁交結産胎嬰 血化爲膏體似銀 可爲無上道高人 雷震天關鬼神驚 九還七返化真形 返本還元太虛同 神仙口訣不爲虛 乗鸞跨鶴自飛騰 海變桑田貌亦同 鬼言妖語怎生聽 依然一盲引衆盲 如何百脉盡歸宗 至老無成也是空 怎得歸元見祖宗 亦隔天仙萬里程 正是邪門小法功 引得邪風肚裏鳴 勞漉空動骷髏形 天地豈有惡時辰 更有種頂作黄庭 更有採補吸婬精 斷除五味是修真 抱元守一運雙睛 破券分環學隱形 陽關緊勒火飛騰 設壇拜醮望飛騰 頃刻之間造化生 一夜雷聲不暫停 雷電風雨一齊生 龍蟠金鼎要飛騰 千條百脉撞崑崙 前弦後弦定其真
萬巻仙經一語通 天地虛無上下空 便會日月得高奔 不干脾胃膽和精 不是精津炁血液 先天先地誰人識 依時採取知老嫰 試把天機輕撥動 南辰移入北辰位 前弦之後尋藥物 他是主時賓是我 離坎本來無南北 撮得隂陽歸掌内 果然採得先天炁 初時上下風聲吼 默默自然雲霧動 虎繞龍蟠尋至寶 一點最初真種子 生發自然合聖理 自然白日生神象 果然百日無虧失 炎炎鍛錬三百日 掀翻宇宙飛白雪 辛苦都來十箇月 變化往來人莫測 更若保守一二載 出有入無無阻礙 堪嗟無限學仙者 雲遊四海叅玄妙 有如餈松并服餌 有如呼吸想丹田 有如口鼻爲玄牝 更有積精爲鉛汞 有如開頂爲錬養 更有行炁爲火候 假若識心并見性 止念降心爲清淨 孤修閉息行存想 更有指腎爲造化 更有仰天吸日月 晝夜一餈爲日用 竦肩縮項思脊骨 按摩吁呵六字訣 炎炎遍身通透熟 三千六百傍門法 一炁循環無阻礙 電光熌熌無窮數 顛倒顛時交換位 四象五行歸戊己 真炁輝輝星斗暗 丹頭老嫩須亦認
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抽添運用片時中 一水一火分爻象 一隂一陽爲天地 往來上下無形象 驅回斗柄玄關理 擒得猩猩倶鶻突 只此火候金丹訣 三千刻内嬰兒象 瑞氣彩雲遮五體 金光罩體人難視
結胎火候有時刻 一升一降自浮沉 一剛一柔自均勻 循環晝夜有時辰 斡轉天關萬象通 混混沌沌未分明 全憑交結在黄庭 百日功夫造化靈 鸞鶴對舞而前迎 節制儀威左右行
真火炎炎燒宇宙 一來一去分賓主 冬夏二至爲節候 若非土祖相傳訣 片餉龍虎頻頻闘 此時木金交併法 混元一炁千年藥 十月錬成純陽體 玉女雙雙持紫詔 仙鶴接引朝元去
乾坤上下盡通紅 一前一後有君臣 春秋二分定寒温 豈知大道片時功 二物交合頃刻中 真鉛真汞天地晶 萬劫常存不夜春 自然寒暑不來侵 名曰方號喚真人 白日飛昇謁上京
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破迷正道歌 Song of Dispelling Delusion and Rectifying Tao 若非符契天緣事 故把天機訣與君 片言半句無多字 萬巻仙經一語通 一訣便知天外事 掃盡旁門不見蹤 若言此理神仙道 天地虛無上下空 説破木金無間隔 真鉛真汞豈有形 誰知這箇天機理 便會日月得高奔 也無坎離并龍虎 也無烏兔各西東 非肝非肺非心腎 不干脾胃膽和精 非思非想非爲作 不在三田上下中 豈干夾脊至崑崙 不是精津炁血液 不是膀胱五臟神 此物在人身中出 四時春夏及秋冬 先天先地誰人識 二物相和重一斤 弦望晦朔合本數 循環晝夜不曾空 依時採取知老嫰 片餉之間併甲庚 只在西南産本位 慢慢調和入艮宮 試把天機輕撥動 真炁時時聚太空 謀得乾坤爲鼎器 顛倒宇宙任縱横 南辰移入北辰位 金烏飛入玉蟾宮 太陽裏面藏玉兔 太隂加減自和同 前弦之後尋藥物 後弦之前炁停勻 兩弦之間爲採取 先後存定祖和宗 他是主時賓是我 我若浮時你却沉 調得浮沉歸一處 沐浴潜藏緫是空 離坎本來無南北 震兊豈則在西東 若遇神仙親指訣 捉住北斗周天輪 撮得隂陽歸掌内 頃刻之間萬物生
Because of the fact that you are eligible for ascending to heaven, I am imparting to you the pithy instructions on the heavenly mechanism. It is short and consists of only a few words, However, one will thoroughly understand the countless holy scriptures if only he gets this single sentence. Just one instruction is enough to let one know the things of the remote heaven, And to sweep away all side-tracks.1 If this truth of the Tao of divine immortals is spoken, It is about the nothingness of the heaven and the earth, and the emptiness of the upside and downside. When it is disclosed, the wood and the metal2 are not separated, And the true lead and true mercury3 are immaterial. Whoever knows this truth of the heavenly mechanism, He will be able to combine the sun and the moon and ascend high. There is actually no k'an or li,4 no dragon or tiger, And there is no crow dwelling in the west or rabbit5 dwelling in the east. It (the key) is not one's liver, lung, heart, or kidney, And it is not one's spleen, stomach, gallbladder, or ching. It is not thinking, imagining or acting, And it is not located at any of the three fields6 of the upper, middle, or lower regions. It is not located at any place between one's spinal handle7 and K'un-lun;8 It is not semen, spit, breath or blood, And it is not one's urinary bladder or any spirits dwelling at his five viscera.9 These things flow out from every human body, In all seasons including spring, summer, autumn and winter, Yet who can know their former heaven and former earth places? When these two things are combined, they are totally one pound10 in weight; During the time of hsien, wang, hui, and shuo,11 the quantity that fits the origin can be collected; Day and night, they circulate and never stop. Just gather them according to the timing with awareness of whether they are old or young, And unite the chia 甲 and keng 庚12 within a short moment. It is just located at the southwest place where k'un is produced. Concoct it slowly, and gradually move it to the ken 艮 palace. Try to stir the heavenly mechanism lightly, The true energy is then always congregated in the great emptiness. When the ch'ien 乾 and the k'un 坤13 are used as the cauldron and the vessel, The universe will be turned upside down and you will be able to travel all over it freely. Move the southern constellation to the position of the northern constellation; Let the golden crow14 fly into the palace of the jade toad.15 When the jade rabbit dwells in the great yang (sun), The increase and decrease happen at the great yin will naturally be harmonious. Find the medicine right after the front hsien, And stop and balance the energy right before the back hsien. Between the two hsiens what should be done is gathering. Find out the ancestor by understanding the former, latter, existence, and inexistence He is the host and I am the guest, When I float up you will probably sink down. When both the floating and sinking are regulated and returned to one place, During both the cleansing and purifying16 the emptiness is always there. The li and the k'an are actually not at the south or the north. How can the chen 震 and the tui 兌17 dwell at the west or the east? If one can meet a divine immortal who personally gives him the instructions, He will be able to grab the Northern Dipper18 and the wheel of the celestial cycle, And absorb yin and yang through his palms, And then suddenly myriads of beings will be created.
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這些金液還丹訣 不遇仙師莫強攻 果然採得先天炁 日月擒來兩手中 晝夜打交成一塊 自有龍吟虎笑聲 初時上下風聲吼 漸凝漸結紫雲生 雲滿山中遮日月 此時一陣似朦朧 默默自然雲霧動 定裏時聞霹靂聲 紫鳳烏兔交一處 金烏玉兔自相爭 虎繞龍蟠尋至寶 金公姹女結婚姻 這番子母裏相會 神炁歸根合本真 一點最初真種子 入得丹田萬古春 先天先地歸一處 混沌未分豈有痕 生發自然合聖理 緣來紅花一色新 上下水火自澆灌 二炁交結産胎嬰 自然百日生神象 自有超凡出死生 果然百日防危險 血化爲膏體似銀 果然百日無虧失 玉膏流潤生光明 真炁薰蒸無寒暑 可爲無上道高人 炎炎鍛錬三百日 驟雨顛風滿太空 電光晃耀無窮數 雷震天關鬼神驚 掀翻宇宙飛白雪 倒提乾坤不夜春 換骨回陽身不朽 九還七返化真形 辛苦都來十箇月 内外虛明表裏真 聚則成形散則炁 返本還元太虛同 變化往來人莫測 祖祖相傳古到今 一理便合天地理 神仙口訣不爲虛 更若保守一二載 百千萬億劫無窮 會得金液種形法 乗鸞跨鶴自飛騰 出有入無無阻礙 蓬萊三島任縱横
For these instructions on golden fluid reverted elixir, If you have not met an immortal teacher, do not force yourself to interpret them. If you can really gather the energy of former heaven, Grab the sun and the moon and hold them in your hands, And let them impact each other day and night and combine into one piece, The singing of dragon and the roar of tiger will be heard by themselves. At the beginning there will be roaring sounds of wind from above and below. And gradually they will coagulate and purple cloud will be produced. When the cloud fills the mountain and covers the sun and the moon, That moment it will be hazy. Silently, the cloud and the haze will move by themselves. And in the concentration19 the thunderclaps will be heard from time to time. The purple phoenix and the black rabbit will meet at one place; The golden crow and the jade rabbit will of themselves compete with each other; The tiger will circumambulate and the dragon will whirl about to find the supreme treasure; The duke metal will marry the young girl. In this meeting of the son and the mother, The divinity and the uncreated energy will return to the root and combine into the original truth; When the seed of truth of the very beginning, Drops into the elixir field, the season will always be spring even if millions of centuries elapse. When the former heaven and former earth return to one place, They are as flawless as when the primordial chaos was not yet broken. The coming creations will naturally fit the holy principle, With the green leaves, the color of the red flower will be vivid. From above and below, the water and the fire will of themselves pour; When the two energies combine and coagulate, the sacred embryo will come into being; A hundred days later, a divine scene will naturally occur, And the supermundane one who transcends births and deaths will naturally be there. If you can really prevent the danger for those one hundred days, Your blood will turn into the ointment-like substance and your body will be like silver; If you can really save all the energies and completely prevent the leaking for those one hundred days. The flowing jade ointment will nourish you and emit light; The true energy will be steaming inside so that the outside cold and heat will be the same to you, Then you will be a noble person of the unsurpassed Tao. In this glowing condition, forge and refine it for three hundred days. The sudden rains and storm wind will fill the great emptiness; The countless flashes of lightning will be dazzling; The thunder will make the heavenly gate trembling and frighten ghosts and spirits. Uncover the universe and let the white snow fly. Grab ch'ien and k'un inversely to receive the spring without night; Then your bones will be changed due to the regain of yang and your body will become immortal; The nine returnings and the sevenfold reversion will produce the body of truth. The hard working will last for about ten months in total. Then your inside and outside will be empty and luminous, and your appearance and interior will be real. Then, when you converge you appear as a body, and when you disperse you are the energy. Having returned to the original source, you are the same as the great emptiness; Your unrestricted transformations and movements will be incomprehensible for mundane people. This teaching is imparted from ancestors to ancestors in such a way it comes to the present day; The single principle of it can transform and fit all the principles of the great earth; The instructions of divine immortals will never be false. If you can maintain it for one to two more years, You will gain an unlimited lifespan of more than hundreds of thousands of millions of billions of eons. If anyone can master these instructions for refining the golden fluid body, He will be able to fly freely riding on a phoenix or a crane, Shuttle between existence and nonexistence without any obstruction, And travel in the three islands of P'eng-lai20 unrestrictedly.
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若更萬年百千劫 海變桑田貌亦同 堪嗟無限學仙者 緫是天仙道不同 倶被野狐涎昧定 鬼言妖語怎生聽 雲遊四海叅玄妙 盡是邪門小法功 愚迷執強難教化 依然一盲引衆盲 有如餈松并服餌 如何脱免死生根 有如忘形習定息 如何百脉盡歸宗 有如呼吸想丹田 到底胎仙學未成 有如息氣爲先天 至老無成也是空 有如口鼻爲玄牝 恰似滿網去包風 有如思心爲方寸 怎得歸元見祖宗 更有積精爲鉛汞 轉與金丹事不同 有執氣神爲子母 亦隔天仙萬里程 有如開頂爲錬養 枉施功力謾勞神 更有縮龜并錬乳 正是邪門小法功 更有行炁爲火候 九載三年悞了人 鼻頭閒息服元炁 引得邪風肚裏鳴 假若識心并見性 到頭終久做隂靈 知他多少閑門戸 勞漉空動骷髏形 止念降心爲清淨 下稍終久是頑空 晝夜專行子午法 天地豈有惡時辰 孤修閉息行存想 執定舌根做赤龍 更有周天行卦象 更有種頂作黄庭 更有指腎爲造化 執定尾閭爲命根 更有還元服水火 更有採補吸婬精 更有仰天吸日月 便道地魄是天魂 更有咂津爲造化 斷除五味是修真 晝夜一餈爲日用
Even if hundreds of thousands of eons elapse, When the oceans turn to mulberry fields, his face will still be unchanged. How sad! For the countless people who seek immortality, The practices of most of them are not the way to heavenly immortality. Many of them are deluded by wild foxes, spirits or ghosts, How can the sayings of ghosts and demons be trusted? Some of them travel all over the world to find the mysterious teachings, But what they get are only evil teachings and inferior techniques. They are foolish and deluded by attachments, yet they are stubborn and can hardly be taught or changed, So that they continue to mislead others, just like a blind leading many blind people. For example, some people eat only pine nuts or special foods, In such a way how can they break off their roots of births and deaths? Some people practice meditation or breathing techniques for entering into a state of forgetting the body. However, in such a way, how can their energy running in the hundreds of channels return to the sources? Some people meditate on their elixir fields while practicing breathing skills, Finally they simply cannot succeed in mastering the truth of embryo-immortals; Some people regard breath-ceasing as the former heaven stage, But when they become old they still achieve nothing so that their efforts are also unavailing; Some practices use one's mouth and nose as the occult gates, Those are like wrapping wind with a broken net; Some people regard their hearts as the square inch21 and mediate on them, How can they return to the source and see the ancestral origin? Some people accumulate their ching which are regarded as the lead and the mercury, This might trigger some wheeling but still is not the same thing as the golden elixir. Some people insist that their spirits and inside airflows are the sons and the mothers, They are also far away from the heavenly immortality; Some people imagine that their craniums are unclosed and do the imaginary refining and fostering, They are just wasting their efforts and times; Furthermore, some people shrink their glans penis or massage their breasts, Those are exactly the unorthodox and inferior techniques; Furthermore, some people imaginarily impel their energy to run and think that is the fire-timing, This practice may last for nine or three years, however, it can do nothing but mislead people; Some people focus on the tips of their noses and the passing breathings to imbibe the original energy, This may cause some unhealthy airflows sounding within their stomachs. Even if they can realize their hearts and their natures, After they die they can only be yin spirits. How many those useless teachings do you know? They just make your skeletal body toil in vain. Stopping thoughts and taming minds are regarded by some people as the purity and tranquility, In fact their achievement is just the dead-end emptiness; Day and night, some people devotedly practice their techniques at the times of tzu 子 and wu 午,22 Do the heaven and the earth have bad times? Some people practice breath-stopping alone or practice visualizations and imaginations; Some people insist that root of their tongues is the red dragon;23 Some people imaginarily run their celestial cycles according to the trigrams; Some people are sure that their spleen is the yellow court; Some people say that their kidneys are the sources of creations; Some people hold their gate of tail24 firmly because that place is believed to be the root of life; Furthermore, some people try to return to the origin by ingesting water and fire; Some people try to recharge themselves by absorbing the energy of other people during sexual conducts, or even suck their lousy outflows; Some people face upward to the sky to absorb the energy of the sun and the moon, They call earthly p'o-soul 魄 as "the heavenly hun-soul 魂"; Some people swallow their saliva which is regarded as the essence of creations and transformations; Some people reject all the five flavors25 and think that is equal to reality cultivation; Day and night they eat only one meal and think of this as a daily practice,
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身體尫羸似鬼形 曲身偃仰叩玉戸 抱元守一運雙睛 竦肩縮項思脊骨 搬運流珠想太隂 更有書符并念咒 破券分環學隱形 按摩吁呵六字訣 瞻星禮斗受辛勤 入清吐濁爲丹本 陽關緊勒火飛騰 炎炎遍身通透熟 呼作天真大道根 看讀念讚持科籙 設壇拜醮望飛騰 三千六百傍門法 不識隨形晝夜人 有緣遭遇明師指 頃刻之間造化生 一炁循環無阻礙 散在萬物與人身 達人採得先天炁 一夜雷聲不暫停 電光熌熌無窮數 二炁相交豈有形 摧塌天關無可比 雷電風雨一齊生 顛倒顛時交換位 無量火炁亂崢嶸 虎繞藥鑪爭造化 龍蟠金鼎要飛騰 四象五行歸戊己 烹錬金液混元晶 萬朵紫雲籠北海 千條百脉撞崑崙 真炁輝輝星斗暗 紅光赫赫太陽昏 加減自然分進退 前弦後弦定其真 丹頭老嫩須亦認 抽添運用片時中 結胎火候有時刻 真火炎炎燒宇宙 乾坤上下盡通紅 一水一火分爻象 一升一降自浮沉 一來一去分賓主 一前一後有君臣 一隂一陽爲天地 一剛一柔自均勻 冬夏二至爲節候 春秋二分定寒温 往來上下無形象 循環晝夜有時辰 若非土祖相傳訣 豈知大道片時功
Their bodies become weak and exhausted like a demon's body. Some people bend their bodies or lie on their backs and knock their jade doors; Some people embrace the origin and preserve the one by moving their eyeballs; Some people raise their shoulders, retract their necks, and meditate on their spinal columns; Some people imaginarily move the flowing pearl and concentrate on their so-called great yin; Some people write false talismans and recite wrong incantations; Some people spend lots of money to study how to conceal themselves by making their bodies invisible; Some people massage their bodies and utter the sounds of the six characters;26 Some people worship stars and pay homage to constellations diligently;27 Some people inhale clean air and exhale turbid air intentionally and say that is the fundamental of elixir; Some people clamp their yang-gates firmly, causing the fire [of their impure energy] to burn violently, With the flaming heat permeating their bodies, They are called the natural born geniuses of the great Tao. They read and study invocations, repeat eulogies and ritual registers, They erect altars and prostrate themselves for offerings, in hope of ascending to heavens. Such countless teachings that can be classified into the three thousand and six hundred side-tracks, All failed to recognize the one who accompany their body day and night. If you can get the chance to meet an enlightened master and receive his instructions, In a moment the creations and transformations will occur. The energy of oneness circulates freely, It exists dispersedly in everything including human bodies. When a person who thoroughly understands this gain the energy of former heaven, During a whole night the sound of the thunder will not pause for a moment. Among the countless flashes of lightning, The formless two energies will meet each other and combine. Incomparably, the gate of heaven will be broken, The thunder, lightning, wind and rain will come all at the same time. When the inversions occur, the positions will be exchanged, The countless flows of flaming energy will run disorderedly and violently, The tiger will circumambulate the furnace of medicine to strive for creative transformations; The dragon will whirl about the golden cauldron and want to fly upward; The four forms and the five elements will return together at wu-chi 戊己,28 To cook and refine the golden fluid which is the essence of the combined original energies. The myriad purple clouds will envelop the Northern Sea, The thousands of energy flows of the hundreds of channels will impact the K'un-lun, The true energy will be so bright that the constellations will become comparatively dark; The red light will be so luminous that the sun will become comparatively dim. The increases and decreases will happen naturally by the advancing or retrograding, Between the front hsien and the back hsien, that which is true can be determined. One must recognize whether the head of elixir is old or young, And the actions of extracting and adding will take just a moment. The time of the embryo's coagulation depends on the fire-timing, When the flaming true fire burns within the universe, The ch'ien and k'un, above and below will all be thoroughly red. One fire and one water, in such a way the interlaced diagrams29 can be formed; One ascent and one descent, the rising and sinking will take place naturally; One coming and one going, the guest and the host must be distinguished; One is preceding and another one is succeeding, the king and the minister are there; One yin and one yang, this is how the universe is formed; One is hard and another one is soft, they will be proportional naturally. Winter and summer solstices are the turning points; Vernal and autumnal equinoxes determine whether it is cold or warm; They go, come, rise, and sink, yet they are formless; They circulate day and night according to the timing. If one has not gained those instructions imparted by the remote ancestors, How can he know the short-moment work of the great Tao?
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驅回斗柄玄關理 斡轉天關萬象通 片餉龍虎頻頻闘 二物交合頃刻中 擒得猩猩倶鶻突 混混沌沌未分明 此時木金交併法 真鉛真汞天地晶 只此火候金丹訣 全憑交結在黄庭 混元一炁千年藥 萬劫常存不夜春 三千刻内嬰兒象 百日功夫造化靈 十月錬成純陽體 自然寒暑不來侵 瑞氣彩雲遮五體 鸞鶴對舞而前迎 玉女雙雙持紫詔 名曰方號喚真人 金光罩體人難視 節制儀威左右行 仙鶴接引朝元去 白日飛昇謁上京
Force the handle of the Northern Dipper return, this is the principle of the occult gate; When the handle of the dipper is turned to the heavenly gate, all things will be thoroughly connected. During a short period the tiger and the dragon will fight against each other frequently, And they will combine in a moment. When the monkey and the distracted one are caught, It will return to the primordial chaos within which all things are not yet divided. These are the instructions on combining the wood and the metal, The true lead and true mercury which are the essences of the heaven and the earth. These instructions on the golden elixir and its fire-timing, Is for the integration that takes place at the yellow court. This combination of the essences, this uncreated energy of the oneness, is the medicine of eons, It exists forever and brings along the everlasting springtime. Within three thousand time units the infant will take shape, After working for a hundred days the creation will be numinous. After ten months of refinement, the practitioner's body will become purely yang, Then naturally, neither cold nor heat will be able to harm him. His jade-like body will be covered by auspicious energies and colorful clouds, The phoenixes and cranes will come dancing face to face to receive him; The jade women will come in pairs with the purple edict, His name will be added into the record of heavenly residents, and he will be called a true man. With golden light enveloping his body, mundane people will have difficulty staring at him. There will be honor guards moving along with him at his left and right sides, The Immortal cranes will guide him to the origin, And he will ascend to heaven in broad daylight to visit the jade capital.
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Bibliography Tsun, Silfong. "A Poem that Enlightens Those Who Get Lost and Rectifies the Way to Tao".
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金闕帝君三元眞一經 Chin-ch'üeh Ti-chün San-yüan Chen-i Ching The Scripture of the Three Primordial, Perfected, Ones by the Imperial Lord of the Golden Portal Transmitted to Chüan-tzu 溳子 Translated by Poul Andersen
Contents Bibliographic Information Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
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Bibliographic Information The Chin-ch'üeh Ti-chün San-yüan Chen-i Ching 金闕帝君三元眞一經 (TT 253; abbreviated as San-yüan Chen-i Ching 三元 真一經) is a quite short, but nonetheless important Taoist text, originating from the famous Mao-shan 茅山 sect. It is a part of the early Highest Clarity (Shang-ch'ing 上清) textual corpus, which focuses on revelations to Yang Hsi 楊羲 (330-386) between 364 and 370 C.E. It deals with a meditation tradition associated with Imperial Lord Golden Portal (Chin-ch'üeh Tichün 金闕帝君), the supreme ruler of the world to come. The object of the meditation is the Three Ones (San-i 三一). The text is received by Chou I-shan 周義山, a man, presumably legendary, of the Later Han dynasty who was elevated to Shang-ch'ing as Purple Yang True Man (Tzu-yang chen-jen 紫陽眞人). This is the first text which Chou received from his master Su Lin 蘇林; it represents the essence of Su's teaching, which he himself has received from Chüan-tzu 溳子. The biography refers time and again to this text, sometimes under the designation "the Method of Holding The Three ones" (shousan-i chih fa 守三一之法). Chin-ch'üeh Ti-chün San-yüan Chen-i Ching forms a part of the Shang-ch'ing material, and that it goes back to before the year 399. The book is considered to be a part of the teaching transmitted by Su Lin. We may conclude that Chin-ch'üeh Tichün San-yüan Chen-i Ching, which forms a part of Su's biography, was revealed to Yang Hsi (probably by the author, the immortal Chou I-shan) in the years between 364 and 370 A.D. The book has been transmitted in two rather different variants. One of them is found in Tao-tsang, vol. 120, and the other has been included in Yün-chi Ch'i-ch'ien 雲笈七籤. There is a somewhat longer edition of the last variant in the anthology Tung-chen T'ai-shang Su-ling Tung-yüan Ta-yu Miao-ching 洞眞太上素靈洞元大有妙經; its compilation can be dated to the sixth century A.D., and that the variant occurring here is probably the basis of the Yün-chi Ch'i-ch'ien variant. It is thus safe to assume that, compared with the Yün-chi Ch'i-ch'ien variant, the Tao-tsang variant is closer to the original, and accordingly the following translation has been based on this variant. In a few emendations I have however followed the Yün-chi Ch'i-ch'ien variant, which does after all represent a tradition in no circumstances more distant than a few centuries from the original text. (Summarized from the author's introduction; Andersen, 1979: 1, 4, 7-8, 10, 11, and Komjathy 2004.)
This illustration is taken from Shàng-qīng Jīn-què-dì-jūn wù-dòu-sān-yī tú-jué, Dào-zàng, vol. 534, p. 16b. Thus in precisely this form it is no older than the printing of the present Dào-zàng (second half of the fifteenth century), but it was undoubtedly drawn on the basis of an earlier picture. (Andersen, 1979: 26 fig.1)
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The Scripture of the Three Primordial, Perfected, Ones by the Imperial Lord of the Golden Portal Transmitted to Juan-zi by The Green Youth of The Eastern Sea It is through these that the Perfected venerates Unity and becomes Perfected: The Upper One, being The Celestial Emperor of the entire body; The Middle One, being The Cinnabar Sovereign of The Crimson Palace; The Lower One, being The Primordial King of The Yellow Court. Together they supervise the twenty-four breaths of the body and bring them in accord with The Twenty-four Perfected of Tai-wei. Breath is that which binds together the insubstantial vapour and produces spirit. Each of The Three Primordial has a thousand chariots, ten thousand horsemen and a cloud chariot with a feather canopy. With this [entourage] they enter Zi-gong and ascend to Shang-qing. They are recorded in the primordial registers; their rank is Perfected and they fly through the nine skies. If you can hold them firmly, then The Three Ones can be seen. If The Three Ones can be seen, then the thousand chariots and the ten thousand horsemen will arrive. The feather-canopied cloud chariots can be mounted. You ascend to heaven in the full light of day and rise up to Tai-wei. In Tai-wei there are twenty-four breaths. They commingle in Hun-huang in order that the breath may be bound together and transformed. At a certain time they suddenly disperse. In the breath there are twenty-four Perfected, it is in this way that the breath of the Imperial Sovereigns, The Three Ones, achieves division and transformation. When you are able to hold The Three ones of the body [here below], then the Imperial Sovereigns, The Three Ones of Taiwei above will descend and appear outside [your body] in order to speak with you. In the body there are also twenty-four Perfected. They are also created through the division and transformation of the refined light and clear breath of the body. If the cloud chariots come to meet them and they ascend to Tai-wei, then The Twenty-four Perfected of Tai-wei, and the gods of the body, will feast together in Hun-huang. Their combined radiance diffuses and soars up; they bring the inner and outer powers in harmony. They go in and out of Shang-qing; they stop and rest in Tai-wei. At the same time you should also cultivate Dong-fáng. Separately situated in Dong-fáng are The Yellow Portal, The Purple Door and The Chamber of The Mysterious Essence. These are common places of repose of the Venerable Lords, The Three Ones of the body. The reason for cultivating this palace at the same time is that you then more quickly will perceive The Ones. [Those who seek to become] Perfected [by virtue] of Dong-fang must have Holding The Ones as their basic practice. [Those who seek to become] Perfected [by virtue] of Holding The Ones must have the cultivation of Dong-fang as supplementary practice. Thus The Three Ones are necessary for both, and Dong-fang does service for both. Though their abodes are different, yet each is equally indispensable in the practice of the other. If you individually obtain only one of these methods and persistently concentrate on it, then you can no more than enter Tai-qing; your rank will be no higher than King of Immortals of Tai-qing; you will not be able to roam to Tai-wei nor float up to Shang-qing. This is a mark of the ultimate realization of the Perfected Emperor, The Upper one; of the complete realization of the Perfected Sovereign, The Middle One; and of the wondrousness of the Perfected King, The Lower One. The Celestial Sovereign attained ultimate realization and therefore above became The Sovereign Ultimately Realized. The Terrestrial Sovereign attained complete realization and therefore above became The True and Only. The Sovereign of Man attained wondrousness and therefore above became The Lord of the Multitudinous Wonders. The Three Sovereigns came to share in Perfection through Holding The Ones; therefore The Ones did not keep themselves hidden. This was the ultimate realization of their [i.e. The Three Sovereigns'] perfection. The Three Ones were all clearly visible. [The Three Sovereigns] attained Unity and were born. Therefore those mortals who learn from The Three Sovereigns emphasize Holding The Perfected Ones. When you seek to hold The Perfected Ones your mind must be open and simple, your spirit fixed, absorbed in the exertion of a mysterious influence. Therefore the hundred thoughts are not born, and the meditation is not dispersed. Once you look inward for three months, concentrating on The Ones, then their divine light will be transformed and born, and you will roam together with them outside your body. This is attained from the starting point of simplicity through guiding the thoughts so that they do not disperse, and concentrating on the breath so that it becomes perfectly harmonious. It is the fastest way of reaching the goal. But after simplicity has dispersed and Perfection has departed, then the trivial and false gradually arise, the contentious heart is born in disorder. Thus The Ones do not appear straight away, the spirits do not respond immediately. It is not that they do not wish to stay, but that he who seeks to fixate them is not concentrated, he who seeks to contemplate them is not discerning. It is only after years of effort that it begins to resemble [the ideal], if you can purify your heart and hold the world at a distance, concentrate your mind and be without plans, then you will still need three months of exertion before you stand face to face with The Ones. The Three Primordial are The Noble Perfection of The Nine Heavens, The True Way of The Most High. Thus The True and Only Great Way by means of them [i.e. The Three Primordial] brought forth The Perfected Emperors, The Mysterious Perfection of The True Way by means of them gave birth to the great gods. As for the separation and transformation of The Three Primordial, they were born out of Unity. Therefore the multitude of the Perfected return to Unity, and in this way their mysterious work is accomplished. This [i.e. Unity] is the ancestor of The True Way, the source of The Primordial Breath. The method of The Three Ones is to be found complete in The Three Primordial. They embrace the sacred books, they treasure the divine scriptures. The first instruction is Da-dong-zhen-jing. The second instruction is Da-you-miao-jing.
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The third instruction is Tai-shang-su-ling. Therefore the Imperial Lord, The Upper One, treasures Da-dong-zhen-jing. The Cinnabar Sovereign, The Middle One, treasures Da-you-miao-jing. The Primordial King, The Lower One, treasures Tai-shang-su-ling. These three texts are the quintessential part of The Way to Perfection, the supreme documents of The Three Ones. Moreover they are the 'forbidden instructions' of Shang-qing. Truly wondrous and indescribable! This way is not distant! Holding The Ones brings about the appearance of The Three ones. When you see them, you can ask for these scriptures. You will surely also be entrusted with The Method of Holding The Three Ones, being the first part of The Writings of Perfection of The Imperial Lord of The Golden Portal of The August Heaven of Shang-qing, the most wondrous instruction of the multitudinous Perfected. If you can hold The Ones, The Ones will also hold you. If you can see The Ones, The Ones will also see you. Whether you are coming or going, in all circumstances and during all activities, you must constantly think of The Ones. Eating and drinking, think of The Ones. Happy and rejoicing, think of The Ones. Sad and grieving, think of The Ones. Afflicted and suffering, think of The Ones. In danger and distress, think of The Ones. Crossing fire and water, think of The Ones. Travelling by carriage or on horseback, think of The Ones. In times of crisis think of The Ones. There are those who think of The Ones, but from start to finish merely gaze; their thoughts are still many. The thoughts must be concentrated. Ill-fated persons, their will is not firm! Or if it is firm, it cannot endure. They know the names of The Ones but cannot hold them. Or if they can hold them, they cannot be resolute. They boast and bluster but cannot constantly hold [The Ones]. Therefore The Three Ones depart, and then the true breath disappears. If you have lost the true breath, then your breath will be corrupt. If your breath is corrupt, then the day of your death will be near. When ordinary people study The Way, they seek but the transitory and trivial and have no faith in the worth of The Perfected Ones. At the start they may have the will, but later they will surely go to ruin. This is because their intentions are not united so that the corrupt breath penetrates into them. The precepts of Holding The Ones warn against lack of concentration. If you have concentration, but without endurance, or if it endures but is not essential, then The Three Ones will depart. Your body will be an empty house without a master. In this disastrous condition, how could you endure for long? Breath cleaves together and becomes essence; essence is set in motion and becomes spirit; spirit is transformed and becomes The Child. The Child rises and becomes The Perfected. The Perfected ascends and becomes The Infant. These are The Perfected ones. Heaven has Three Luminaries, namely the sun, the moon and the stars. They are also The Three Essential. By means of these long life is achieved. Man has Three Treasures. These are the three cinnabar-fields. They are also The Three Perfected. By means of them eternal life is achieved. Ling-bao-jing says: "The Celestial Essential, The Terrestrial Perfected, these three treasures endure forever"; this refers to the above-mentioned. The upper cinnabar-field is situated between the two eye brows. The middle cinnabar-field is The Crimson Palace of the heart. The lower cinnabar-field is situated three inches below the navel. In all, three cinnabar-fields. The Infant dwells in the palace of the upper cinnabar-field. The Perfected dwells in the palace of the middle cinnabar-field. The Child dwells in the palace of the lower cinnabar-field. Starting from above the space between the two eyebrows and going one inch inward, one comes to Ming-tang. Two inches inward one comes to Dong-fang. Three inches inward one comes to the palace of Dan-tian, also called Ni-wan. Here 'inward' refers to the direction toward the back of the neck. The palace of Dan-tian Ni-wan is perfectly square, each side measuring one inch. The purple breath surges up to heaven and shines out to a distance of ninety thousand miles. [The palace] is covered by the seven stars of The Big Dipper, the bowl of The Dipper is the cover, and the handle points forward and outward. It waxes large and small, a welter of flying forms – it is fixated in the-mind. The Upper Primordial, The Infant dwells here, covered by The Dipper. The taboo name of The Infant is Xuan-ning-tian, his cognomen is San-yuan-xian. His rank is Celestial Emperor of Ni-wan. To his right, facing him, is an Imperial Minister. He is born through the ascent and transformation of the refined spirit of the teeth, tongue and brain. His taboo name is Zhaole-jing, his cognomen is Zhong-xuan-sheng. Above he is invested as imperial Minister. Together these two rule in Ni-wan. Both are dressed in a scarlet, embroidered robes. They look like newborn infants. The Celestial Emperor holds The Divine-Tiger-Talisman of Shang-qing. The Imperial Minister holds Da-dong-zhen-jing. They sit either both facing outwards or facing each other. Inwardly they watch over Ni-wan and the face, eyes, mouth, tongue, teeth, ears, nose and hair. Outwardly they frighten off the manifold demons and evil spirits of The Six Heavens. Once every five days the three hún-souls come to pay hommage to them and receive instructions. The heart is the middle cinnabar-field. It is called The Crimson Palace and protects the center of the heart. It is perfectly square, each side measuring one inch. Its red vapours reach up to heaven and shine out to a distance of thirty thousand miles. It transforms itself in confusion – it is fixated in the mind. The Middle Primordial, The Perfected dwells here. His taboo name is Shén-yun-zhu, his cognomen is Zi-nán-dan. His rank is Cinnabar Sovereign of The Crimson Palace. To his right is a minister. He is formed through the cleaving together and transformation of the refined spirit of the four viscera, whereafter he is invested as a minister in The Crimson Palace. His taboo name is Guang-jian. His cognomen is Si-líng. Together these two rule in The Crimson Palace. Both are dressed in robes of red brocade. They look like newborn infants. The Cinnabar Sovereign holds in his left hand the planet Mars, in his right hand Tai-bao-jing. The minister holds Da-youmiao-jing and The Eight Luminairies. They sit either both facing outwards or facing each other. Inwardly they watch over the muscles, bones, five viscera, blood and flesh. Outwardly they frighten away and dispel the harmful effects of the manifold evil influences. They nurture the light and pacify the spirit, so that one may obtain eternal life and perpetual youth and become a
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winged immortal in Tai-xiao. Once every three days the three hún-souls and the seven po-souls come to pay hommage to them and receive instructions. The place three inches below the navel is called The Gate of Destiny, The Palace of The Cinnabar-field. The Lower Primordial, The Child dwells here. Each side measures one inch. The white breath surges up to heaven and shines out to a distance of seventy thousand miles. It waxes large and small, a welter of flying forms – it is fixated in the mind. The taboo name of The Lower Primordial, The Child is Shi-míng-jing, his cognomen is Yuan-yang-chang. His rank is Primordial King of The Yellow Court. To his right is a Guardian Minister. He is born through the binding together of vapour, ascent and transformation of the spirit of the essence, breath and spittle, whereafter he is invested as minister in The Palace of The Cinnabar-field. His taboo name is Gui-shang-ming, his cognomen is Gui-xia-xuan. Together these two rule in The [Palace of The] Cinnabar-field in the lower division of the body. Both are dressed in robes of yellow, embroidered gauze. They look like newborn infants. The Primordial King of The Yellow Court holds in his left hand the planet Venus, in his right hand Yu-chen-jin-zhen-jing. The minister holds Tai-shang-su-ling-jing and Jiu-ting-shengjing-fu. They sit either both facing outwards or facing each other. Inwardly they watch over the four limbs, the juices and blood, and the receptacles: intestines, stomach and bladder. Outwardly they dispel calamity and disaster and repel the manifold evil influences. Three times each day the three hún-souls and the seven po-souls come to pay hommage and receive instructions from The Primordial King. The method of Holding The Ones: On the day li-chun at midnight one sits upright, facing east, exhales nine times and swallows the spittle thirty-five times. Then one fixates the seven stars of The Big Dipper. It comes slowly downward until it rests above one's head, receding toward heaven [i.e. upright], with the handle pointing directly forward toward the east. One fixates it in such a way that the two stars Yin-jing (Essence of Yin) and Zhen-ren (The Perfected) are just above the top of the head, while the two stars Yáng-ming (Brightness of Yáng) and Xuán-ming (Mysterious Darkness) are placed further up. Yáng-ming and Yin-jing are behind, Xuánming and Zhen-ren are in front. At this the thoughts are as if fixated. When these positions are established one further meditates on the Venerable Lords, The Three ones. Suddenly they are transformed and emerge; they appear together in the bowl of The Dipper. After a short while the three ministers are also born in the same way as The Three Venerable. Again after a short while one sees these six ascend together to Xuán-míng, go east, passing Gang-xing, until they reach Tian-guan (The Gate of Heaven), where they stop. They all turn toward one's mouth, and further one fixates the vision of them. The Upper Primordial leans with his hand on the upper minister, The Middle Primordial leans with his hand on the middle minister, and The Lower Primordial leans with his hand on the lower minister. Thereupon one breathes in once, very deeply. The Upper Primordial and his minister follow with the breath and enter the mouth. They ascend and return to the Ní-wán palace. Thereafter one breathes in once more, very deeply. The Middle Primordial and his minister follow with the breath and enter the mouth. They descend and return to The Crimson Palace. Thereafter one breathes in once more, very deeply. The Lower Primordial and his minister follow with the breath and enter the mouth. They descend and return to the lower cinnabar-field. One fixates the star Tian-guan and brings it down before the mouth at a distance of seven feet. The Three Ones make their entrance into one's three palaces. When all this is completed then one meditates to determine that The Perfected Ones are at rest in their respective palaces. Sitting or lying down one meditates on them in the mind. If one has some desires, then one states them inwardly point by point. If one has a request, it can also be presented here. Meditation requires only peace and solitude. One can also meditate in the daytime in a quiet bedchamber. When one fixates The Three Ones on the day li-xia, one faces south and meditates as before, on the day li-chun. When one fixates The Three Ones on the day li-qiu, one faces west and meditates as on the day li-xia. When one fixates The Three Ones on the day li-dong, one faces north and meditates as on the day li-qiu. Having determined through meditation that The Three Ones are at rest in their respective palaces, one very quietly recites the following invocation: The five directions are governed by The Dipper, spirit brings down the seven stars. The Three Venerable emerge and are transformed, above they summon The Purple Court. The Six Gods come and go in the three palaces and at the cinnabar walls. Mysteriously they communicate with The Great Emperor, below they penetrate to The Yellow Quiescence. The Celestial Perfected watch over them and summon forth The Six Ding. The immortals drift up together with them and ride the vapours of The Three Pure [Celestial Regions]. The four limbs become firm and imperishable, the five viscera are born of themselves.
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The Chinese text conforms to the woodblock Tao-tsang text at the end of Andersen's book.
金闕帝君三元眞一經 Chin-ch'üeh Ti-chün San-yüan Chen-i Ching 溳子授東海青童君 眞人所以貴一爲眞者上一爲一身之天帝中一爲絳宮之丹皇下一爲黄庭之元王並監統身中二十四氣以應太微二十四眞 未氣者結虚煙而成神也三元君各有千乗萬騎雲車羽盖常以内入紫宮以登上清列錄元圖位爲眞人飛行九霄 若能守之彌固則三一可見三一可見則千乗萬騎至矣羽盖可御雲車可乗白日昇天上造太微 太微中有二十四氣混黄雜聚將結炁而變化有時忽爾而分流也氣中有二十四眞人皆三一帝皇之炁所以致分道變化矣 既能守身中三一則上太微中三一帝皇之君而降見於外與子言矣身中復有二十四眞人亦身中精光爽氣所分化而造也若 雲車來迎以登太微太微二十四眞人倶與身中神明合宴於混黄之中共景分升倶齊内外之徳也皆出入上清寝止太微 又當兼行洞房洞房之中自有黄闕紫戸玄精之室身中三一尊君常栖息處所也兼行之者見一神益速也洞房眞人須守一爲 根本守一眞人須洞房爲華盖故三一相須洞房相待雖其居不同而致道用齊相須若但各得一道注心堅固者可入太清而已 位爲太清仙王耳不得游行太微浮登上清 上一眞帝之極也中一眞皇之至也下一眞王之妙也天皇得極故上成皇極地皇得至故上成正一人皇得妙故上成衆妙之君 三皇體眞以守一故一無藏形其眞極也三一倶明得一而生是故三皇世人學之者皆貴守眞一 守眞一心樸神凝混專玄感所以百念不生精意不散但三月内視注心一神神光化生身外與之而游是注念不散專氣致和由 樸之至也得之速也自樸散以來眞離之後華僞漸起競心亂生 故一不卒見神不即應非不欲住存之者不專思之者不審故起積年之功始有髣髴也若能心齊遠世專心無營亦必三月之感 與一倶面也 三元者九天之玉眞太上之正道也故正一大道以出眞帝正道玄眞以生大神三元解變則一之所生故衆眞歸一而玄功成焉 此正道之祖元氣之根始也 夫三一之法觀道備於三元緫括靈篇握寶神經第一之訣大洞眞經第二之訣大有妙經第三之訣太上素靈是故上一帝君寶 大洞眞經中一丹皇寶大有妙經下一元王寶太上素靈此之三文眞道之至精三一之極章並上清之禁訣也妙截無名其道不 遠守一所生三一見矣子既見一可求此經亦當秘授守三一法皇天上清金闕帝君眞書之首篇衆眞之妙訣 子能守一一亦守子子能見一一亦見子子身進退千端萬事常當念一飲食念一喜樂念一哀慼念一疾病念一危難念一履水 火念一乗車馬念一有急念一 人之念一舉止屬目念亦多矣思念專矣患人有志不固固不能久知一名字而不能守守不能堅志多有誇心不能恒守故三一 去則正氣離夫失正氣者故氣邪氣邪則死日近也 俗人學道多尋浮華不信眞一爲貴初有其志復必變敗由用志不一邪氣來入故也 守一之戒戒於不專專復不久久不能精則三一去矣身爲空宅無主其禍安久哉 氣結爲精精感爲神神化爲嬰兒嬰兒上爲眞人眞人升爲赤子此眞一也 天有三玄謂日月星也亦有三精是用長生人有三寶三丹田也亦爲三眞是用永存靈寶經曰天精地眞三寶常存此之謂也 兩眉間上丹田也心絳宮中丹田也臍下三寸下丹田也合三丹田也赤子居上丹田宮眞人居中丹田宮嬰兒居下丹田宮兩眉 間上却入一寸爲明堂却入二寸爲洞房却入三寸爲丹田泥丸宮却入者却就項後之背向也丹田泥丸宮正四方面各一寸紫 氣衝天外映九萬里 覆北斗七星魁爲盖以杓柄前指外向也變化大小飛形恍惚在意存之上元赤子居中在斗盖之下赤子諱玄凝天字三元先位 爲泥丸天帝君其右有帝卿一人相對是齒舌腦之精神升化而生也諱肇勒精字仲玄生上人爲帝卿君
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此二人共治泥丸中並著赤繡衣貌如嬰兒始生之形天帝君執上精神虎符帝卿執大洞眞經坐倶外向或相向也内以鎮守泥 丸面目口舌齒兩耳鼻髪之境外以威震六天萬鬼凶惡之魔也三魂五日一來朝而受事焉 心爲中丹田號爲絳宮鎮心中中央正四方方面各一寸朱煙叅天外映照三萬里變化恍惚在意存之中元眞人居其中諱神運 珠字子南丹位爲絳宮丹皇君其右有輔皇卿一人是四藏之精神結化也入絳宮爲輔卿諱光堅字四靈此二人共治絳宮中並 著朱錦衣貌如嬰孩始生之形丹皇君左手把熒惑星右手執太保經輔郷君執大有妙經八景坐倶外向或相向也内以鎮守筋 骨五藏血肉之境外以震消萬邪之不祥養光安神長生久視飛仙太霄三魂七魄三日一來朝而受事焉 臍下三寸號命門丹田宮下元嬰兒居其中四方各一寸白氣衝天外映照七萬里變化大小飛形恍惚在意存之下元嬰兒諱始 明精字元陽昌位爲黄庭元王其右有保鎮弼卿一人是精氣津液之神結煙昇化也入在丹田宮弼卿諱歸上明字谷下玄此二 人共治丹田下元中並著黄繡羅衣貎如嬰孩始生之形黄庭元王左手把太白星右手執玉晨金眞經弼卿執太上素靈經九庭 生景符坐倶外向或相向也内以鎮守四肢津血腸胃膀胱之府外以消災散禍辟却萬邪三魂七魄一日三來朝受事於元王矣 守一之法至立春之日夜半之時正坐東向吹氣九過嚥液三十五過畢乃存北斗七星冉冉來下在我頭上却向天以杓柄正向 前指東也存隂精眞人二星親薄頭頂上陽明玄冥二星却在上也陽明隂精二星在星後面玄冥眞人二星在前面於是髣髴存 念位定 又思三一之尊君忽乃變生共出在斗魁之中須臾三卿君復生如三尊須臾見六人倶登玄冥剛行東去達天關而止倶向我口 又存見上元手扶上卿中元手扶中卿下元手扶下卿也我乃咽氣一通良久止上元二人從氣中來入我口上升還泥丸宮次嚥 氣一通良久中元二人從氣中入來我口下徊絳宮中次嚥氣一通良久下元二人從氣中來入我口下徊入下丹田中 存天關星令去口七尺星令對口前三一入我三宮中都畢乃精念眞一各安所在坐卧思之在心心有所願事事心啓之所求者 亦心啓求之存思唯令静寂静之寢室晝日赤可存思 立夏存三一南向如初立春精思立秋存三一西向如立夏精思立冬存三一北向如立秋精思存思三一各安其宮畢乃微祝曰 五方命斗神致七星三尊凝化上招紫庭六神徘徊三宮丹城玄通大帝下洞黄寧天眞保衛召引六丁神仙同浮乗煙三清四體 堅錬五臓自生 右守三元眞一經訣 金闕帝君三元眞一經
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Punctuated Text 溳子授東海青童君 眞人所以貴一爲眞者、上一爲一身之天帝、中一爲絳宮之丹皇、下一爲黄庭之元王、並監統身中二十四氣、以應太 微二十四眞 未氣者、結虚煙而成神也。三元君各有千乗萬騎、雲車羽盖、常以内入紫宮、以登上清、列錄元圖、位爲眞人、飛 行九霄 若能守之彌固、則三一可見、三一可見、則千乗萬騎至矣。羽盖可御、雲車可乗、白日昇天、上造太微 太微中有二十四氣、混黄雜聚、將結炁而變化、有時忽爾而分流也。氣中有二十四眞人、皆三一帝皇之炁、所以致 分道變化矣 既能守身中三一、則上太微中三一帝皇之君、而降見於外、與子言矣。身中復有二十四眞人、亦身中精光爽氣所分 化而造也。若雲車來迎、以登太微、太微二十四眞人、倶與身中神明合宴於混黄之中、共景分升、倶齊内外之徳也。 皆出入上清、寝止太微 又當兼行洞房、洞房之中、自有黄闕紫戸玄精之室、身中三一尊君、常栖息處所也。兼行之者、見一神益速也。洞 房眞人須守一爲根本、守一眞人須洞房爲華盖、故三一相須、洞房相待、雖其居不同、而致道用齊相須、若但各得 一道、注心堅固者、可入太清而已、位爲太清仙王耳、不得游行太微、浮登上清 上一眞帝之極也。中一眞皇之至也。下一眞王之妙也。天皇得極、故上成皇極;地皇得至、故上成正一;人皇得妙、 故上成衆妙之君 三皇體眞以守一、故一無藏形、其眞極也。三一倶明、得一而生、是故三皇世人學之者、皆貴守眞一 守眞一、心樸神凝、混專玄感、所以百念不生、精意不散。但三月内視、注心一神、神光化生身外、與之而游、是 注念不散、專氣致和、由樸之至也。得之速也。自樸散以來、眞離之後、華僞漸起、競心亂生 故一不卒見、神不即應、非不欲住、存之者不專、思之者不審、故起積年之功、始有髣髴也。若能心齊遠世、專心 無營、亦必三月之感、與一倶面也 三元者、九天之玉眞、太上之正道也。故正一大道、以出眞帝、正道玄眞、以生大神、三元解變、則一之所生、故 衆眞歸一而玄功成焉。此正道之祖、元氣之根始也 夫三一之法、觀道備於三元、緫括靈篇、握寶神經、第一之訣大洞眞經、第二之訣大有妙經、第三之訣太上素靈、 是故上一帝君寶大洞眞經、中一丹皇寶大有妙經、下一元王寶太上素靈、此之三文、眞道之至精、三一之極章、並 上清之禁訣也。妙截無名、其道不遠、守一所生、三一見矣。子既見一、可求此經、亦當秘授守三一法、皇天上清 金闕帝君眞書之首篇、衆眞之妙訣 子能守一、一亦守子;子能見一、一亦見子、子身進退、千端萬事、常當念一、飲食念一、喜樂念一、哀慼念一、 疾病念一、危難念一、履水火念一、乗車馬念一、有急念一 人之念一、舉止屬目、念亦多矣。思念專矣。患人有志不固、固不能久、知一名字而不能守、守不能堅志、多有誇 心、不能恒守、故三一去則正氣離、夫失正氣者故氣邪、氣邪則死日近也 俗人學道、多尋浮華、不信眞一爲貴、初有其志、復必變敗、由用志不一、邪氣來入故也 守一之戒、戒於不專、專復不久、久不能精、則三一去矣。身爲空宅無主、其禍安久哉 氣結爲精、精感爲神、神化爲嬰兒、嬰兒上爲眞人、眞人升爲赤子、此眞一也 天有三玄、謂日月星也。亦有三精、是用長生、人有三寶、三丹田也。亦爲三眞、是用永存、靈寶經曰:「天精地眞、 三寶常存」此之謂也
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兩眉間、上丹田也。心絳宮、中丹田也。臍下三寸、下丹田也。合三丹田也。赤子居上丹田宮、眞人居中丹田宮、 嬰兒居下丹田宮、兩眉間上、却入一寸爲明堂、却入二寸爲洞房、却入三寸爲丹田泥丸宮、却入者、却就項後之背 向也。丹田泥丸宮、正四方面各一寸、紫氣衝天、外映九萬里 覆北斗七星魁爲盖、以杓柄前指外向也。變化大小、飛形恍惚、在意存之、上元赤子居中、在斗盖之下、赤子諱玄 凝天、字三元先、位爲泥丸天帝君、其右有帝卿一人相對、是齒舌腦之精神、升化而生也。諱肇勒精、字仲玄生、 上人爲帝卿君 此二人共治泥丸中、並著赤繡衣、貌如嬰兒始生之形、天帝君執上精神虎符、帝卿執大洞眞經、坐倶外向、或相向 也。内以鎮守泥丸、面目、口舌齒、兩耳、鼻髪之境、外以威震六天萬鬼凶惡之魔也。三魂五日一來朝、而受事焉 心爲中丹田、號爲絳宮、鎮心中中央、正四方方面各一寸、朱煙叅天、外映照三萬里、變化恍惚、在意存之、中元 眞人居其中、諱神運珠、字子南丹、位爲絳宮丹皇君、其右有輔皇卿一人、是四藏之精神結化也。入絳宮爲輔卿、 諱光堅、字四靈。此二人共治絳宮中、並著朱錦衣、貌如嬰孩始生之形、丹皇君左手把熒惑星、右手執太保經、輔 郷君執大有妙經八景、坐倶外向、或相向也。内以鎮守筋骨、五藏、血肉之境、外以震消萬邪之不祥、養光安神、 長生久視、飛仙太霄、三魂七魄三日一來朝、而受事焉 臍下三寸號命門丹田宮、下元嬰兒居其中、四方各一寸、白氣衝天、外映照七萬里、變化大小、飛形恍惚、在意存 之、下元嬰兒諱始明精、字元陽昌、位爲黄庭元王、其右有保鎮弼卿一人、是精氣津液之神、結煙昇化也。入在丹 田宮弼卿、諱歸上明、字谷下玄。此二人共治丹田下元中、並著黄繡羅衣、貎如嬰孩始生之形、黄庭元王左手把太 白星、右手執玉晨金眞經、弼卿執太上素靈經、九庭生景符、坐倶外向、或相向也。内以鎮守四肢、津血、腸胃、 膀胱之府、外以消災散禍、辟却萬邪、三魂七魄一日三來朝、受事於元王矣 守一之法。至立春之日、夜半之時、正坐東向、吹氣九過、嚥液三十五過、畢、乃存北斗七星、冉冉來下、在我頭 上、却向天、以杓柄正向前指東也。存隂精、眞人二星、親薄頭頂上、陽明、玄冥二星、却在上也。陽明、隂精二 星在星後面、玄冥、眞人二星在前面、於是髣髴存念位定 又思三一之尊君、忽乃變生、共出在斗魁之中、須臾、三卿君復生如三尊、須臾、見六人倶登玄冥、剛行東去、達 天關而止、倶向我口、又存見。上元手扶上卿、中元手扶中卿、下元手扶下卿也。我乃咽氣一通、良久止、上元二 人從氣中來入我口、上升還泥丸宮、次嚥氣一通、良久、中元二人從氣中入來我口、下徊絳宮中、次嚥氣一通、良 久、下元二人從氣中來入我口、下徊入下丹田中 存天關星、令去口七尺、星令對口前、三一入我三宮中、都畢、乃精念眞一各安所在、坐卧思之在心、心有所願、 事事心啓之、所求者亦心啓求之、存思唯令静寂、静之寢室、晝日赤可存思 立夏存三一、南向、如初立春精思;立秋存三一、西向、如立夏精思;立冬存三一、北向、如立秋精思。存思三一、 各安其宮。畢乃微祝曰:「五方命斗、神致七星、三尊凝化、上招紫庭、六神徘徊、三宮丹城、玄通大帝、下洞黄寧、 天眞保衛、召引六丁、神仙同浮、乗煙三清、四體堅錬、五臓自生」 右守三元眞一經訣 金闕帝君三元眞一經
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金闕帝君三元眞一經 The Scripture of the Three Primordial, Perfected, Ones by the Imperial Lord of the Golden Portal 1a
可 御 雲 車 可 乗 白 日 昇 天 上 造 太 微 太 微 中
三 一 可 見 三 一 可 見 則 千 乗 萬 騎 至 矣 羽 盖
元 圖 位 爲 眞 人 飛 行 九 霄 若 能 守 之 彌 固 則
騎 雲 車 羽 盖 常 以 内 入 紫 宮 以 登 上 清 列 錄
氣 者 結 虚 煙 而 成 神 也 三 元 君 各 有 千 乗 萬
監 統 身 中 二 十 四 氣 以 應 太 微 二 十 四 眞 未
中 一 爲 絳 宮 之 丹 皇 下 一 爲 黄 庭 之 元 王 並
眞 人 所 以 貴 一 爲 眞 者 上 一 爲 一 身 之 天 帝
溳 子 授 東 海 青 童 君
金 闕 帝 君 三 元 眞 一 經
果 一
溳子授東海青童君 Transmitted to Juan-zi by The Green Youth of The Eastern Sea 眞人所以貴一爲眞者 It is through these that the Perfected venerates Unity and becomes Perfected: 上一爲一身之天帝 中一爲絳宮之丹皇 下一爲黄庭之元王 The Upper One, being The Celestial Emperor of the entire body; The Middle One, being The Cinnabar Sovereign of The Crimson Palace; The Lower One, being The Primordial King of The Yellow Court. 並監統身中二十四氣 以應太微二十四眞 Together they supervise the twenty-four breaths of the body and bring them in accord with The Twenty-four Perfected of Taiwei. 未氣者 結虚煙而成神也 Breath is that which binds together the insubstantial vapour and produces spirit. 三元君各有千乗萬騎 雲車羽盖 Each of The Three Primordial has a thousand chariots, ten thousand horsemen and a cloud chariot with a feather canopy. 常以内入紫宮 以登上清 With this [entourage] they enter Zi-gong and ascend to Shang-qing. 列錄元圖 位爲眞人 飛行九霄 They are recorded in the primordial registers; their rank is Perfected and they fly through the nine skies. 若能守之彌固 則三一可見 If you can hold them firmly, then The Three Ones can be seen. 三一可見 則千乗萬騎至矣 If The Three Ones can be seen, then the thousand chariots and the ten thousand horsemen will arrive. 羽盖可御 雲車可乗 The feather-canopied cloud chariots can be mounted. 白日昇天 上造太微 You ascend to heaven in the full light of day and rise up to Tai-wei.
339
1b
止 太 微 又 當 兼 行 洞 房 洞 房 之 中 自 有 黄 闕
共 景 分 升 倶 齊 内 外 之 徳 也 皆 出 入 上 清 寝
十 四 眞 人 倶 與 身 中 神 明 合 宴 於 混 黄 之 中
分 化 而 造 也 若 雲 車 來 迎 以 登 太 微 太 微 二
身 中 復 有 二 十 四 眞 人 亦 身 中 精 光 爽 氣 所
外 與 子 言 矣
三 一 則 上 太 微 中 三 一 帝 皇 之 君 而 降 見 於
帝 皇 之 炁 所 以 致 分 道 變 化 矣 既 能 守 身 中
忽 爾 而 分 流 也 氣 中 有 二 十 四 眞 人 皆 三 一
有 二 十 四 氣 混 黄 雜 聚 將 結 炁 而 變 化 有 時
太微中有二十四氣 In Tai-wei there are twenty-four breaths. 混黄雜聚 將結炁而變化 They commingle in Hun-huang in order that the breath may be bound together and transformed. 有時忽爾而分流也 At a certain time they suddenly disperse. 氣中有二十四眞人 皆三一帝皇之炁 所以致分道變化矣 In the breath there are twenty-four Perfected, it is in this way that the breath of the Imperial Sovereigns, The Three Ones, achieves division and transformation. 既能守身中三一 則上太微中三一帝皇之君 而降見於外 與子言矣 When you are able to hold The Three ones of the body [here below], then the Imperial Sovereigns, The Three Ones of Taiwei above will descend and appear outside [your body] in order to speak with you. 身中復有二十四眞人 In the body there are also twenty-four Perfected. 亦身中精光爽氣所分化而造也 They are also created through the division and transformation of the refined light and clear breath of the body. 若雲車來迎 以登太微 太微二十四眞人 倶與身中神明合宴於混黄之中 If the cloud chariots come to meet them and they ascend to Tai-wei, then The Twenty-four Perfected of Tai-wei, and the gods of the body, will feast together in Hun-huang. 共景分升 倶齊内外之徳也 Their combined radiance diffuses and soars up; they bring the inner and outer powers in harmony. 皆出入上清 寝止太微 They go in and out of Shang-qing; they stop and rest in Tai-wei. 又當兼行洞房 At the same time you should also cultivate Dong-fáng.
340
2a
三 皇 體 眞 以 守 一 故 一 無 藏 形 其 眞 極 也 三
至 故 上 成 正 一 人 皇 得 妙 故 上 成 衆 妙 之 君
眞 王 之 妙 也 天 皇 得 極 故 上 成 皇 極 地 皇 得
清 上 一 眞 帝 之 極 也 中 一 眞 皇 之 至 也 下 一
已 位 爲 太 清 仙 王 耳 不 得 游 行 太 微 浮 登 上
須 若 但 各 得 一 道 注 心 堅 固 者 可 入 太 清 而
相 須 洞 房 相 待 雖 其 居 不 同 而 致 道 用 齊 相
一 爲 根 本 守 一 眞 人 須 洞 房 爲 華 盖 故 三 一
也 兼 行 之 者 見 一 神 益 速 也 洞 房 眞 人 須 守
紫 戸 玄 精 之 室 身 中 三 一 尊 君 常 栖 息 處 所
洞房之中 自有黄闕紫戸玄精之室 Separately situated in Dong-fáng are The Yellow Portal, The Purple Door and The Chamber of The Mysterious Essence. 身中三一尊君 常栖息處所也 These are common places of repose of the Venerable Lords, The Three Ones of the body. 兼行之者 見一神益速也 The reason for cultivating this palace at the same time is that you then more quickly will perceive The Ones. 洞房眞人須守一爲根本 [Those who seek to become] Perfected [by virtue] of Dong-fang must have Holding The Ones as their basic practice. 守一眞人須洞房爲華盖 [Those who seek to become] Perfected [by virtue] of Holding The Ones must have the cultivation of Dong-fang as supplementary practice. 故三一相須 洞房相待 Thus The Three Ones are necessary for both, and Dong-fang does service for both. 雖其居不同 而致道用齊相須 Though their abodes are different, yet each is equally indispensable in the practice of the other. 若但各得一道 注心堅固者 可入太清而已 位爲太清仙王耳 不得游行太微 浮登上清 If you individually obtain only one of these methods and persistently concentrate on it, then you can no more than enter Taiqing; your rank will be no higher than King of Immortals of Tai-qing; you will not be able to roam to Tai-wei nor float up to Shang-qing. 上一眞帝之極也 中一眞皇之至也 下一眞王之妙也 This is a mark of the ultimate realization of the Perfected Emperor, The Upper one; of the complete realization of the Perfected Sovereign, The Middle One; and of the wondrousness of the Perfected King, The Lower One. 天皇得極 故上成皇極 The Celestial Sovereign attained ultimate realization and therefore above became The Sovereign Ultimately Realized. 地皇得至 故上成正一 The Terrestrial Sovereign attained complete realization and therefore above became The True and Only. 人皇得妙 故上成衆妙之君 The Sovereign of Man attained wondrousness and therefore above became The Lord of the Multitudinous Wonders. 三皇體眞以守一 故一無藏形 The Three Sovereigns came to share in Perfection through Holding The Ones; therefore The Ones did not keep themselves hidden. 其眞極也 This was the ultimate realization of their [i.e. The Three Sovereigns'] perfection.
341
2b
者 九 天 之 玉 眞 太 上 之 正 道 也 故 正 一 大 道
專 心 無 營 亦 必 三 月 之 感 與 一 倶 面 也 三 元
故 起 積 年 之 功 始 有 髣 髴 也 若 能 心 齊 遠 世
不 即 應 非 不 欲 住 存 之 者 不 專 思 之 者 不 審
離 之 後 華 僞 漸 起 競 心 亂 生 故 一 不 卒 見 神
致 和 由 樸 之 至 也 得 之 速 也 自 樸 散 以 來 眞
神 光 化 生 身 外 與 之 而 游 是 注 念 不 散 專 氣
百 念 不 生 精 意 不 散 但 三 月 内 視 注 心 一 神
貴 守 眞 一 守 眞 一 心 樸 神 凝 混 專 玄 感 所 以
一 倶 明 得 一 而 生 是 故 三 皇 世 人 學 之 者 皆
三一倶明 The Three Ones were all clearly visible. 得一而生 [The Three Sovereigns] attained Unity and were born. 是故三皇世人學之者 皆貴守眞一 Therefore those mortals who learn from The Three Sovereigns emphasize Holding The Perfected Ones. 守眞一 心樸神凝 混專玄感 When you seek to hold The Perfected Ones your mind must be open and simple, your spirit fixed, absorbed in the exertion of a mysterious influence. 所以百念不生 精意不散 Therefore the hundred thoughts are not born, and the meditation is not dispersed. 但三月内視 注心一神 神光化生身外 Once you look inward for three months, concentrating on The Ones, then their divine light will be transformed and born, and you will roam together with them outside your body. 與之而游 是注念不散 專氣致和 由樸之至也 This is attained from the starting point of simplicity through guiding the thoughts so that they do not disperse, and concentrating on the breath so that it becomes perfectly harmonious. 得之速也 It is the fastest way of reaching the goal. 自樸散以來 眞離之後 華僞漸起 競心亂生 But after simplicity has dispersed and Perfection has departed, then the trivial and false gradually arise, the contentious heart is born in disorder. 故一不卒見 神不即應 Thus The Ones do not appear straight away, the spirits do not respond immediately. 非不欲住 存之者不專 思之者不審 It is not that they do not wish to stay, but that he who seeks to fixate them is not concentrated, he who seeks to contemplate them is not discerning. 故起積年之功 始有髣髴也 若能心齊遠世 專心無營 亦必三月之感 與一倶面也 It is only after years of effort that it begins to resemble [the ideal], if you can purify your heart and hold the world at a distance, concentrate your mind and be without plans, then you will still need three months of exertion before you stand face to face with The Ones. 三元者 九天之玉眞 太上之正道也 The Three Primordial are The Noble Perfection of The Nine Heavens, The True Way of The Most High.
342
3a
一 所 生 三 一 見 矣 子 既 見 一 可 求 此 經 亦 當
章 並 上 清 之 禁 訣 也 妙 截 無 名 其 道 不 遠 守
太 上 素 靈 此 之 三 文 眞 道 之 至 精 三 一 之 極
洞 眞 經 中 一 丹 皇 寶 大 有 妙 經 下 一 元 王 寶
經 第 三 之 訣 太 上 素 靈 是 故 上 一 帝 君 寶 大
神 經 第 一 之 訣 大 洞 眞 經 第 二 之 訣 大 有 妙
夫 三 一 之 法 觀 道 備 於 三 元 緫 括 靈 篇 握 寶
之 祖 元 氣 之 根 始 也
一 之 所 生 故 衆 眞 歸 一 而 玄 功 成 焉 此 正 道
以 出 眞 帝 正 道 玄 眞 以 生 大 神 三 元 解 變 則
故正一大道 以出眞帝 正道玄眞 以生大神 Thus The True and Only Great Way by means of them [i.e. The Three Primordial] brought forth The Perfected Emperors, The Mysterious Perfection of The True Way by means of them gave birth to the great gods. 三元解變 則一之所生 As for the separation and transformation of The Three Primordial, they were born out of Unity. 故衆眞歸一而玄功成焉 Therefore the multitude of the Perfected return to Unity, and in this way their mysterious work is accomplished. 此正道之祖 元氣之根始也 This [i.e. Unity] is the ancestor of The True Way, the source of The Primordial Breath. 夫三一之法 觀道備於三元 The method of The Three Ones is to be found complete in The Three Primordial. 緫括靈篇 握寶神經 They embrace the sacred books, they treasure the divine scriptures. 第一之訣大洞眞經 The first instruction is Da-dong-zhen-jing. 第二之訣大有妙經 The second instruction is Da-you-miao-jing. 第三之訣太上素靈 The third instruction is Tai-shang-su-ling. 是故上一帝君寶大洞眞經 Therefore the Imperial Lord, The Upper One, treasures Da-dong-zhen-jing. 中一丹皇寶大有妙經 The Cinnabar Sovereign, The Middle One, treasures Da-you-miao-jing. 下一元王寶太上素靈 The Primordial King, The Lower One, treasures Tai-shang-su-ling. 此之三文 眞道之至精 三一之極章 These three texts are the quintessential part of The Way to Perfection, the supreme documents of The Three Ones. 並上清之禁訣也 Moreover they are the 'forbidden instructions' of Shang-qing. 妙截無名 其道不遠 Truly wondrous and indescribable! This way is not distant! 守一所生 三一見矣 Holding The Ones brings about the appearance of The Three ones. 子既見一 可求此經 When you see them, you can ask for these scriptures.
343
3b
日 近 也 俗 人 學 道 多 尋 浮 華 不 信 眞 一 爲 貴
去 則 正 氣 離 夫 失 正 氣 者 故 氣 邪 氣 邪 則 死
守 守 不 能 堅 志 多 有 誇 心 不 能 恒 守 故 三 一
患 人 有 志 不 固 固 不 能 久 知 一 名 字 而 不 能
一 人 之 念 一 舉 止 屬 目 念 亦 多 矣 思 念 專 矣
危 難 念 一 履 水 火 念 一 乗 車 馬 念 一 有 急 念
一 飲 食 念 一 喜 樂 念 一 哀 慼 念 一 疾 病 念 一
見 一 一 亦 見 子 子 身 進 退 千 端 萬 事 常 當 念
首 篇 衆 眞 之 妙 訣 子 能 守 一 一 亦 守 子 子 能
秘 授 守 三 一 法 皇 天 上 清 金 闕 帝 君 眞 書 之
亦當秘授守三一法 皇天上清金闕帝君眞書之首篇 衆眞之妙訣 You will surely also be entrusted with The Method of Holding The Three Ones, being the first part of The Writings of Perfection of The Imperial Lord of The Golden Portal of The August Heaven of Shang-qing, the most wondrous instruction of the multitudinous Perfected. 子能守一 一亦守子 子能見一 一亦見子 If you can hold The Ones, The Ones will also hold you. If you can see The Ones, The Ones will also see you. 子身進退 千端萬事 常當念一 Whether you are coming or going, in all circumstances and during all activities, you must constantly think of The Ones. 飲食念一 喜樂念一 Eating and drinking, think of The Ones. Happy and rejoicing, think of The Ones. 哀慼念一 疾病念一 Sad and grieving, think of The Ones. Afflicted and suffering, think of The Ones. 危難念一 履水火念一 In danger and distress, think of The Ones. Crossing fire and water, think of The Ones. 乗車馬念一 有急念一 Travelling by carriage or on horseback, think of The Ones. In times of crisis think of The Ones. 人之念一 舉止屬目 念亦多矣 There are those who think of The Ones, but from start to finish merely gaze; their thoughts are still many. 思念專矣 The thoughts must be concentrated. 患人有志不固 固不能久 Ill-fated persons, their will is not firm! Or if it is firm, it cannot endure. 知一名字而不能守 守不能堅志 They know the names of The Ones but cannot hold them. Or if they can hold them, they cannot be resolute. 多有誇心 不能恒守 They boast and bluster but cannot constantly hold [The Ones]. 故三一去則正氣離 Therefore The Three Ones depart, and then the true breath disappears. 夫失正氣者故氣邪 If you have lost the true breath, then your breath will be corrupt. 氣邪則死日近也 If your breath is corrupt, then the day of your death will be near. 俗人學道 多尋浮華 不信眞一爲貴 When ordinary people study The Way, they seek but the transitory and trivial and have no faith in the worth of The Perfected Ones.
344
4a
丹 田 也 赤 子 居 上 丹 田 宮 眞 人 居 中 丹 田 宮
心 絳 宮 中 丹 田 也 臍 下 三 寸 下 丹 田 也 合 三
地 眞 三 寶 常 存 此 之 謂 也 兩 眉 間 上 丹 田 也
丹 田 也 亦 爲 三 眞 是 用 永 存 靈 寶 經 曰 天 精
日 月 星 也 亦 有 三 精 是 用 長 生 人 有 三 寶 三
眞 人 眞 人 升 爲 赤 子 此 眞 一 也 天 有 三 玄 謂
氣 結 爲 精 精 感 爲 神 神 化 爲 嬰 兒 嬰 兒 上 爲
精 則 三 一 去 矣 身 爲 空 宅 無 主 其 禍 安 久 哉
故 也 守 一 之 戒 戒 於 不 專 專 復 不 久 久 不 能
初 有 其 志 復 必 變 敗 由 用 志 不 一 邪 氣 來 入
初有其志 復必變敗 At the start they may have the will, but later they will surely go to ruin. 由用志不一 邪氣來入故也 This is because their intentions are not united so that the corrupt breath penetrates into them. 守一之戒 戒於不專 The precepts of Holding The Ones warn against lack of concentration. 專復不久 久不能精 則三一去矣 If you have concentration, but without endurance, or if it endures but is not essential, then The Three Ones will depart. 身爲空宅無主 其禍安久哉 Your body will be an empty house without a master. In this disastrous condition, how could you endure for long? 氣結爲精 精感爲神 神化爲嬰兒 Breath cleaves together and becomes essence; essence is set in motion and becomes spirit; spirit is transformed and becomes The Child. 嬰兒上爲眞人 眞人升爲赤子 此眞一也 The Child rises and becomes The Perfected. The Perfected ascends and becomes The Infant. These are The Perfected ones. 天有三玄 謂日月星也 Heaven has Three Luminaries, namely the sun, the moon and the stars. 亦有三精 是用長生 They are also The Three Essential. By means of these long life is achieved. 人有三寶 三丹田也 Man has Three Treasures. These are the three cinnabar-fields. 亦爲三眞 是用永存 They are also The Three Perfected. By means of them eternal life is achieved. 靈寶經曰 「天精地眞 三寶常存」 此之謂也 Ling-bao-jing says: "The Celestial Essential, The Terrestrial Perfected, these three treasures endure forever"; this refers to the above-mentioned. 兩眉間 上丹田也 The upper cinnabar-field is situated between the two eye brows. 心絳宮 中丹田也 The middle cinnabar-field is The Crimson Palace of the heart. 臍下三寸 下丹田也 The lower cinnabar-field is situated three inches below the navel. 合三丹田也 赤子居上丹田宮 In all, three cinnabar-fields. The Infant dwells in the palace of the upper cinnabar-field. 眞人居中丹田宮 The Perfected dwells in the palace of the middle cinnabar-field.
345
4b
人 爲 帝 卿 君 此 二 人 共 治 泥 丸 中 並 著 赤 繡
之 精 神 升 化 而 生 也 諱 肇 勒 精 字 仲 玄 生 上
丸 天 帝 君 其 右 有 帝 卿 一 人 相 對 是 齒 舌 腦
斗 盖 之 下 赤 子 諱 玄 凝 天 字 三 元 先 位 爲 泥
大 小 飛 形 恍 惚 在 意 存 之 上 元 赤 子 居 中 在
北 斗 七 星 魁 爲 盖 以 杓 柄 前 指 外 向 也 變 化
正 四 方 面 各 一 寸 紫 氣 衝 天 外 映 九 萬 里 覆
宮 却 入 者 却 就 項 後 之 背 向 也 丹 田 泥 丸 宮
堂 却 入 二 寸 爲 洞 房 却 入 三 寸 爲 丹 田 泥 丸
嬰 兒 居 下 丹 田 宮 兩 眉 間 上 却 入 一 寸 爲 明
嬰兒居下丹田宮 The Child dwells in the palace of the lower cinnabar-field. 兩眉間上 却入一寸爲明堂 Starting from above the space between the two eyebrows and going one inch inward, one comes to Ming-tang. 却入二寸爲洞房 Two inches inward one comes to Dong-fang. 却入三寸爲丹田泥丸宮 Three inches inward one comes to the palace of Dan-tian, also called Ni-wan. 却入者 却就項後之背向也 Here 'inward' refers to the direction toward the back of the neck. 丹田泥丸宮 正四方面各一寸 The palace of Dan-tian Ni-wan is perfectly square, each side measuring one inch. 紫氣衝天 外映九萬里 The purple breath surges up to heaven and shines out to a distance of ninety thousand miles. 覆北斗七星魁爲盖 以杓柄前指外向也 [The palace] is covered by the seven stars of The Big Dipper, the bowl of The Dipper is the cover, and the handle points forward and outward. 變化大小 飛形恍惚 在意存之 It waxes large and small, a welter of flying forms – it is fixated in the-mind. 上元赤子居中 在斗盖之下 The Upper Primordial, The Infant dwells here, covered by The Dipper. 赤子諱玄凝天 字三元先 The taboo name of The Infant is Xuan-ning-tian, his cognomen is San-yuan-xian. 位爲泥丸天帝君 His rank is Celestial Emperor of Ni-wan. 其右有帝卿一人相對 To his right, facing him, is an Imperial Minister. 是齒舌腦之精神 升化而生也 He is born through the ascent and transformation of the refined spirit of the teeth, tongue and brain. 諱肇勒精 字仲玄生 His taboo name is Zhao-le-jing, his cognomen is Zhong-xuan-sheng. 上人爲帝卿君 Above he is invested as imperial Minister. 此二人共治泥丸中 Together these two rule in Ni-wan.
346
5a
一 人 是 四 藏 之 精 神 結 化 也 入 絳 宮 爲 輔 卿
字 子 南 丹 位 爲 絳 宮 丹 皇 君 其 右 有 輔 皇 卿
恍 方 惚 面 在 各 意 一 存 寸 之 朱 中 煙 元 叅 眞 天 人 外 居 映 其 照 中 三 諱 萬 神 里 運 變 珠 化
心 爲 中 丹 田 號 爲 絳 宮 鎮 心 中 中 央 正 四 方
來 朝 而 受 事 焉
以 威 震 六 天 萬 鬼 凶 惡 之 魔 也 三 魂 五 日 一
以 鎮 守 泥 丸 面 目 口 舌 齒 兩 耳 鼻 髪 之 境 外
符 帝 卿 執 大 洞 眞 經 坐 倶 外 向 或 相 向 也 内
衣 貌 如 嬰 兒 始 生 之 形 天 帝 君 執 上 精 神 虎
並著赤繡衣 Both are dressed in a scarlet, embroidered robes. 貌如嬰兒始生之形 They look like newborn infants. 天帝君執上精神虎符 The Celestial Emperor holds The Divine-Tiger-Talisman of Shang-qing. 帝卿執大洞眞經 The Imperial Minister holds Da-dong-zhen-jing. 坐倶外向 或相向也 They sit either both facing outwards or facing each other. 内以鎮守泥丸 面目 口舌齒 兩耳 鼻髪之境 Inwardly they watch over Ni-wan and the face, eyes, mouth, tongue, teeth, ears, nose and hair. 外以威震六天萬鬼凶惡之魔也 Outwardly they frighten off the manifold demons and evil spirits of The Six Heavens. 三魂五日一來朝 而受事焉 Once every five days the three hún-souls come to pay hommage to them and receive instructions. 心爲中丹田 The heart is the middle cinnabar-field. 號爲絳宮 鎮心中中央 It is called The Crimson Palace and protects the center of the heart. 正四方方面各一寸 It is perfectly square, each side measuring one inch. 朱煙叅天 外映照三萬里 Its red vapours reach up to heaven and shine out to a distance of thirty thousand miles. 變化恍惚 在意存之 It transforms itself in confusion – it is fixated in the mind. 中元眞人居其中 The Middle Primordial, The Perfected dwells here. 諱神運珠 字子南丹 His taboo name is Shén-yun-zhu, his cognomen is Zi-nán-dan. 位爲絳宮丹皇君 其右有輔皇卿一人 His rank is Cinnabar Sovereign of The Crimson Palace. To his right is a minister. 是四藏之精神結化也 入絳宮爲輔卿 He is formed through the cleaving together and transformation of the refined spirit of the four viscera, whereafter he is invested as a minister in The Crimson Palace.
347
5b
大 小 飛 形 恍 惚 在 意 存 之 下 元 嬰 兒 諱 始 明
四 方 各 一 寸 白 氣 衝 天 外 映 照 七 萬 里 變 化
臍 下 三 寸 號 命 門 丹 田 宮 下 元 嬰 兒 居 其 中
而 受 事 焉
長 生 久 視 飛 仙 太 霄 三 魂 七 魄 三 日 一 來 朝
血 肉 之 境 外 以 震 消 萬 邪 之 不 祥 養 光 安 神
景 坐 倶 外 向 或 相 向 也 内 以 鎮 守 筋 骨 五 藏
惑 星 右 手 執 太 保 經 輔 郷 君 執 大 有 妙 經 八
錦 衣 貌 如 嬰 孩 始 生 之 形 丹 皇 君 左 手 把 熒
諱 光 堅 字 四 靈 此 二 人 共 治 絳 宮 中 並 著 朱
諱光堅 His taboo name is Guang-jian. 字四靈 His cognomen is Si-líng. 此二人共治絳宮中 Together these two rule in The Crimson Palace. 並著朱錦衣 Both are dressed in robes of red brocade. 貌如嬰孩始生之形 They look like newborn infants. 丹皇君左手把熒惑星 右手執太保經 The Cinnabar Sovereign holds in his left hand the planet Mars, in his right hand Tai-bao-jing. 輔郷君執大有妙經八景 The minister holds Da-you-miao-jing and The Eight Luminairies. 坐倶外向 或相向也 They sit either both facing outwards or facing each other. 内以鎮守筋骨 五藏 血肉之境 Inwardly they watch over the muscles, bones, five viscera, blood and flesh. 外以震消萬邪之不祥 Outwardly they frighten away and dispel the harmful effects of the manifold evil influences. 養光安神 長生久視 飛仙太霄 They nurture the light and pacify the spirit, so that one may obtain eternal life and perpetual youth and become a winged immortal in Tai-xiao. 三魂七魄三日一來朝 而受事焉 Once every three days the three hún-souls and the seven po-souls come to pay hommage to them and receive instructions. 臍下三寸號命門丹田宮 The place three inches below the navel is called The Gate of Destiny, The Palace of The Cinnabar-field. 下元嬰兒居其中 四方各一寸 The Lower Primordial, The Child dwells here. Each side measures one inch. 白氣衝天 外映照七萬里 The white breath surges up to heaven and shines out to a distance of seventy thousand miles. 變化大小 飛形恍惚 在意存之 It waxes large and small, a welter of flying forms – it is fixated in the mind. 下元嬰兒諱始明精 字元陽昌 The taboo name of The Lower Primordial, The Child is Shi-míng-jing, his cognomen is Yuan-yang-chang.
348
6a
守 一 之 法 至 立 春 之 日 夜 半 之 時 正 坐 東 向
七 魄 一 日 三 來 朝 受 事 於 元 王 矣
胃 膀 胱 之 府 外 以 消 災 散 禍 辟 却 萬 邪 三 魂
坐 倶 外 向 或 相 向 也 内 以 鎮 守 四 肢 津 血 腸
晨 金 眞 經 弼 卿 執 太 上 素 靈 經 九 庭 生 景 符
生 之 形 黄 庭 元 王 左 手 把 太 白 星 右 手 執 玉
治 丹 田 下 元 中 並 著 黄 繡 羅 衣 貎 如 嬰 孩 始
丹 田 宮 弼 卿 諱 歸 上 明 字 谷 下 玄 此 二 人 共
卿 一 人 是 精 氣 津 液 之 神 結 煙 昇 化 也 入 在
精 字 元 陽 昌 位 爲 黄 庭 元 王 其 右 有 保 鎮 弼
位爲黄庭元王 His rank is Primordial King of The Yellow Court. 其右有保鎮弼卿一人 To his right is a Guardian Minister. 是精氣津液之神 結煙昇化也 入在丹田宮弼卿 He is born through the binding together of vapour, ascent and transformation of the spirit of the essence, breath and spittle, whereafter he is invested as minister in The Palace of The Cinnabar-field. 諱歸上明 字谷下玄 His taboo name is Gui-shang-ming, his cognomen is Gui-xia-xuan. 此二人共治丹田下元中 Together these two rule in The [Palace of The] Cinnabar-field in the lower division of the body. 並著黄繡羅衣 Both are dressed in robes of yellow, embroidered gauze. 貎如嬰孩始生之形 They look like newborn infants. 黄庭元王左手把太白星 右手執玉晨金眞經 The Primordial King of The Yellow Court holds in his left hand the planet Venus, in his right hand Yu-chen-jin-zhen-jing. 弼卿執太上素靈經 九庭生景符 The minister holds Tai-shang-su-ling-jing and Jiu-ting-sheng-jing-fu. 坐倶外向 或相向也 They sit either both facing outwards or facing each other. 内以鎮守四肢 津血 腸胃 膀胱之府 Inwardly they watch over the four limbs, the juices and blood, and the receptacles: intestines, stomach and bladder. 外以消災散禍 辟却萬邪 Outwardly they dispel calamity and disaster and repel the manifold evil influences. 三魂七魄一日三來朝 受事於元王矣 Three times each day the three hún-souls and the seven po-souls come to pay hommage and receive instructions from The Primordial King. 守一之法 The method of Holding The Ones: 至立春之日 夜半之時 正坐東向 吹氣九過 嚥液三十五過 On the day li-chun at midnight one sits upright, facing east, exhales nine times and swallows the spittle thirty-five times.
349
6b
手 扶 下 卿 也 我 乃 咽 氣 一 通 良 久 止 上 元 二
又 存 見 上 元 手 扶 上 卿 中 元 手 扶 中 卿 下 元
倶 登 玄 冥 剛 行 東 去 達 天 關 而 止 倶 向 我 口
之 中 須 臾 三 卿 君 復 生 如 三 尊 須 臾 見 六 人
定 又 思 三 一 之 尊 君 忽 乃 變 生 共 出 在 斗 魁
面 玄 冥 眞 人 二 星 在 前 面 於 是 髣 髴 存 念 位
玄 冥 二 星 却 在 上 也 陽 明 隂 精 二 星 在 星 後
指 東 也 存 隂 精 眞 人 二 星 親 薄 頭 頂 上 陽 明
冉 冉 來 下 在 我 頭 上 却 向 天 以 杓 柄 正 向 前
吹 氣 九 過 嚥 液 三 十 五 過 畢 乃 存 北 斗 七 星
畢乃存北斗七星 Then one fixates the seven stars of The Big Dipper. 冉冉來下 在我頭上 却向天 以杓柄正向前指東也 It comes slowly downward until it rests above one's head, receding toward heaven [i.e. upright], with the handle pointing directly forward toward the east. 存隂精 眞人二星 親薄頭頂上 陽明 玄冥二星 却在上也 One fixates it in such a way that the two stars Yin-jing (Essence of Yin) and Zhen-ren (The Perfected) are just above the top of the head, while the two stars Yáng-ming (Brightness of Yáng) and Xuán-ming (Mysterious Darkness) are placed further up. 陽明 隂精二星在星後面 玄冥 眞人二星在前面 Yáng-ming and Yin-jing are behind, Xuán-ming and Zhen-ren are in front. 於是髣髴存念位定 At this the thoughts are as if fixated. 又思三一之尊君 When these positions are established one further meditates on the Venerable Lords, The Three ones. 忽乃變生 共出在斗魁之中 Suddenly they are transformed and emerge; they appear together in the bowl of The Dipper. 須臾 三卿君復生如三尊 After a short while the three ministers are also born in the same way as The Three Venerable. 須臾 見六人倶登玄冥 剛行東去 達天關而止 Again after a short while one sees these six ascend together to Xuán-míng, go east, passing Gang-xing, until they reach Tianguan (The Gate of Heaven), where they stop. 倶向我口 又存見 They all turn toward one's mouth, and further one fixates the vision of them. 上元手扶上卿 中元手扶中卿 下元手扶下卿也 The Upper Primordial leans with his hand on the upper minister, The Middle Primordial leans with his hand on the middle minister, and The Lower Primordial leans with his hand on the lower minister. 我乃咽氣一通 良久止 Thereupon one breathes in once, very deeply.
350
7a
立 秋 存 三 一 西 向 如 立 夏 精 思
立 夏 存 三 一 南 向 如 初 立 春 精 思
唯 令 静 寂 静 之 寢 室 晝 日 赤 可 存 思
所 願 事 事 心 啓 之 所 求 者 亦 心 啓 求 之 存 思
乃 精 念 眞 一 各 安 所 在 坐 卧 思 之 在 心 心 有
口 七 尺 星 令 對 口 前 三 一 入 我 三 宮 中 都 畢
來 入 我 口 下 徊 入 下 丹 田 中 存 天 關 星 令 去
絳 宮 中 次 嚥 氣 一 通 良 久 下 元 二 人 從 氣 中
一 通 良 久 中 元 二 人 從 氣 中 入 來 我 口 下 徊
人 從 氣 中 來 入 我 口 上 升 還 泥 丸 宮 次 嚥 氣
上元二人從氣中來入我口 The Upper Primordial and his minister follow with the breath and enter the mouth. 上升還泥丸宮 They ascend and return to the Ní-wán palace. 次嚥氣一通 良久 Thereafter one breathes in once more, very deeply. 中元二人從氣中入來我口 The Middle Primordial and his minister follow with the breath and enter the mouth. 下徊絳宮中 They descend and return to The Crimson Palace. 次嚥氣一通 良久 Thereafter one breathes in once more, very deeply. 下元二人從氣中來入我口 The Lower Primordial and his minister follow with the breath and enter the mouth. 下徊入下丹田中 They descend and return to the lower cinnabar-field. 存天關星 令去口七尺 One fixates the star Tian-guan and brings it down before the mouth at a distance of seven feet. 星令對口前 三一入我三宮中 The Three Ones make their entrance into one's three palaces. 都畢 乃精念眞一各安所在 When all this is completed then one meditates to determine that The Perfected Ones are at rest in their respective palaces. 坐卧思之在心 Sitting or lying down one meditates on them in the mind. 心有所願 事事心啓之 If one has some desires, then one states them inwardly point by point. 所求者亦心啓求之 If one has a request, it can also be presented here. 存思唯令静寂 静之寢室 晝日赤可存思 Meditation requires only peace and solitude. One can also meditate in the daytime in a quiet bedchamber. 立夏存三一 南向 如初立春精思 When one fixates The Three Ones on the day li-xia, one faces south and meditates as before, on the day li-chun. 立秋存三一 西向 如立夏精思 When one fixates The Three Ones on the day li-qiu, one faces west and meditates as on the day li-xia.
351
7b
金 闕 帝 君 三 元 眞 一 經
右 守 三 元 眞 一 經 訣
錬 五 臓 自 生
保 衛 召 引 六 丁 神 仙 同 浮 乗 煙 三 清 四 體 堅
神 徘 徊 三 宮 丹 城 玄 通 大 帝 下 洞 黄 寧 天 眞
五 方 命 斗 神 致 七 星 三 尊 凝 化 上 招 紫 庭 六
存 思 三 一 各 安 其 宮 畢 乃 微 祝 曰
立 冬 存 三 一 北 向 如 立 秋 精 思
立冬存三一 北向 如立秋精思 When one fixates The Three Ones on the day li-dong, one faces north and meditates as on the day li-qiu. 存思三一 各安其宮 畢乃微祝曰 Having determined through meditation that The Three Ones are at rest in their respective palaces, one very quietly recites the following invocation: 「五方命斗 神致七星 The five directions are governed by The Dipper, spirit brings down the seven stars. 三尊凝化 上招紫庭 The Three Venerable emerge and are transformed, above they summon The Purple Court. 六神徘徊 三宮丹城 The Six Gods come and go in the three palaces and at the cinnabar walls. 玄通大帝 下洞黄寧 Mysteriously they communicate with The Great Emperor, below they penetrate to The Yellow Quiescence. 天眞保衛 召引六丁 The Celestial Perfected watch over them and summon forth The Six Ding. 神仙同浮 乗煙三清 The immortals drift up together with them and ride the vapours of The Three Pure [Celestial Regions]. 四體堅錬 五臓自生」 The four limbs become firm and imperishable, the five viscera are born of themselves.
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Bibliography Andersen, Poul. The Method of Holding the Three Ones: A Taoist Manual of Meditation of the Fourth Century A.D.. London: Curzon Press, 1980: 39-47. Komjathy, Louis, "Daoist Texts in Translation", 2004.
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太上昇玄消災護命妙經 T'ai-shang Sheng-hsüan Hsiao-tsai Hu-ming Miao-ching Miraculous Scripture of the Highest Mystery Ascending, Disaster Dissolving, and Life Protecting Translated by Ho-chi Yuen
Contents Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text
2 3 4
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Miraculous Scripture of the Highest Mystery Ascending, Disaster Dissolving, and Life Protecting At the time, The Original Universal Lord was in the Forest of the Seven Treasures, and inside the Palace of the Five Luminaries. He was with the infinite number of holy ones, radiating infinite light, illuminating the infinite number of worlds, observing the infinite number of living beings, who are suffering infinite pain and worries: Roving about in the worlds, reincarnating between life and death, floating on the river of sensual love, drifting in the sea of desires, sunk in the pleasures of the senses, confused by the questions of being and non-being: no emptiness or emptiness? No form or form? Non-non-being or non-being? Being or non-being? Thus they are ultimately in darkness. They cannot luminate themselves, and they are still in a state of confusion and doubt. The [Original] Universal Lord then said: All you living beings, [you] find being in no being, non-being in non-nonbeing, form in no form, and emptiness in no emptiness; [you consider] non-being as being, non-non-being as nonbeing, non-form as form, and non-emptiness as emptiness. Emptiness is just emptiness, but emptiness is not absolute emptiness; form is just form, but form is not absolute form; so emptiness is form, and so form is emptiness. If you can understand that emptiness is not really emptiness, and form is not really form, such a state of mind is called "fully luminated," and you can then begin to attain the Miraculous Message. Knowing the Way of No-Emptiness, you can observe all phenomena without obstacles, enter all of the miraculous doors, and by your own accord achieve realization. You can be free from all the webs of doubt, and detach from your perceptive fixation on "emptiness". You can cleanse the six senses, and sever all evil obstacles. I now teach you these Miraculous Scriptures, which is called "Life Protection," in order to deliver all living beings, so they can honor it no matter where they are. Teach it to the world, and it will be read and chanted widely. When that occurs, the heavenly spiritual kings, the evil-destroying Jin Gang, the Fa protecting spiritual children, the sufferer-rescuing true immortals, the fierce beasts with radiant eyes, and all of the hundreds and hundreds of billions of beings, will gather together to protect these Scriptures, defend it anywhere they are, and deliver all the living beings, so that they can be free of all corruptions. At the time, The [Original] Universal Lord said this hymn: You look but do not see me, You listen but do not hear [me]; Depart from all extremes, This is called the Miraculous Way (Tao).
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太上昇玄消災護命妙經 T'ai-shang Sheng-hsüan Hsiao-tsai Hu-ming Miao-ching 爾時元始天尊在七寶林中五明宮内與無極聖衆倶放無極光明照無極世界觀無極衆生受無極苦惱宛轉世間輪廻 生死深根愛河流吹欲海沈滯聲色迷惑有無無空有空無色有色無無有無有有無有終始暗昧不能自明畢竟迷惑 天尊告曰汝等衆生從不有中有不無中無不色中色不空中空非有爲有非無爲無非色爲色非空爲空空即是空空無 定空色即是色色無定色即色是空即空是色若能知空不空知色不色名爲照了始達妙音識無空法洞觀無礙入衆妙 門自然解悟離諸疑網不著空見清靜六根斷除邪障我即爲汝説是妙經名曰護命濟度衆生傳教世間流通讀誦即有 飛天神王破邪金剛護法靈童救苦眞人金精猛獸各百億萬衆倶侍衛是經隨所供養捍厄扶衰度一切衆生離諸染著 爾時天尊即説偈曰 視不見我 聽不得聞 離種種邊 名曰妙道 Punctuated Text 爾時、元始天尊在七寶林中、五明宮内、與無極聖衆倶放無極光明、照無極世界、觀無極衆生受無極苦惱、 宛轉世間;輪廻生死;深根愛河;流吹欲海;沈滯聲色;迷惑有無;無空有空;無色有色;無無有無;有有 無有;終始暗昧;不能自明;畢竟迷惑。 天尊告曰:汝等衆生從不有中有;不無中無;不色中色;不空中空。非有爲有;非無爲無;非色爲色;非空 爲空。空即是空、空無定空。色即是色、色無定色。即色是空、即空是色。若能知空不空、知色不色名爲照 了、始達妙音識無空法、洞觀無礙。入衆妙門、自然解悟。離諸疑網。不著空見、清靜六根。斷除邪障、我 即爲汝説是妙經。名曰:「護命」濟度衆生。傳教世間、流通讀誦。即有飛天神王、破邪金剛、護法靈童、救 苦眞人、金精猛獸各百億萬衆倶侍衛是經、隨所供養。捍厄扶衰、度一切衆生離諸染著。爾時、天尊即説偈 曰: 視不見我、 聽不得聞、 離種種邊、 名曰妙道。
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太上昇玄消災護命妙經 Miraculous Scripture of the Highest Mystery Ascending, Disaster Dissolving, and Life Protecting 爾時 元始天尊在七寶林中 五明宮内 At the time, The Original Universal Lord was in the Forest of the Seven Treasures, and inside the Palace of the Five Luminaries. 與無極聖衆倶放無極光明 照無極世界 觀無極衆生受無極苦惱 He was with the infinite number of holy ones, radiating infinite light, illuminating the infinite number of worlds, observing the infinite number of living beings, who are suffering infinite pain and worries: 宛轉世間 輪廻生死 深根愛河 流吹欲海 沈滯聲色 迷惑有無 無空有空 Roving about in the worlds, reincarnating between life and death, floating on the river of sensual love, drifting in the sea of desires, sunk in the pleasures of the senses, confused by the questions of being and non-being: no emptiness or emptiness? 無色有色 無無有無 有有無有 No form or form? Non-non-being or non-being? Being or non-being? 終始暗昧 Thus they are ultimately in darkness. 不能自明 畢竟迷惑 They cannot luminate themselves, and they are still in a state of confusion and doubt. 天尊告曰 汝等衆生從不有中有 不無中無 不色中色 不空中空 The [Original] Universal Lord then said: All you living beings, [you] find being in no being, non-being in non-nonbeing, form in no form, and emptiness in no emptiness; 非有爲有 非無爲無 非色爲色 非空爲空 [you consider] non-being as being, non-non-being as non-being, non-form as form, and non-emptiness as emptiness. 空即是空 空無定空 色即是色 色無定色 即色是空 即空是色 Emptiness is just emptiness, but emptiness is not absolute emptiness; form is just form, but form is not absolute form; so emptiness is form, and so form is emptiness. 若能知空不空 知色不色名爲照了 始達妙音 If you can understand that emptiness is not really emptiness, and form is not really form, such a state of mind is called "fully luminated," and you can then begin to attain the Miraculous Message. 識無空法 洞觀無礙 入衆妙門 自然解悟 Knowing the Way of No-Emptiness, you can observe all phenomena without obstacles, enter all of the miraculous doors, and by your own accord achieve realization. 離諸疑網 不著空見 You can be free from all the webs of doubt, and detach from your perceptive fixation on "emptiness". 清靜六根 斷除邪障 You can cleanse the six senses, and sever all evil obstacles. 我即爲汝説是妙經 名曰護命 濟度衆生 I now teach you these Miraculous Scriptures, which is called "Life Protection," in order to deliver all living beings, so they can honor it no matter where they are. 傳教世間 流通讀誦 Teach it to the world, and it will be read and chanted widely.
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即有飛天神王 破邪金剛 When that occurs, the heavenly spiritual kings, the evil-destroying Chin-kang [Vajra], 護法靈童 救苦眞人 金精猛獸 the Fa [Dharma] protecting spiritual children, the sufferer-rescuing true immortals, the fierce beasts with radiant eyes, 各百億萬衆倶侍衛是經 and all of the hundreds and hundreds of billions of beings, will gather together to protect these Scriptures, 隨所供養 捍厄扶衰 度一切衆生離諸染著 defend it anywhere they are, and deliver all the living beings, so that they can be free of all corruptions. 爾時 天尊即説偈曰 At the time, The [Original] Universal Lord said this hymn: 視不見我 聽不得聞 離種種邊 名曰妙道
You look but do not see me, You listen but do not hear [me]; Depart from all extremes, This is called the Miraculous Way (Tao).
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金丹四百字 Chin-tan Ssu-pai-tzu Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir By Chang Po-tuan 張伯端 and 金丹四百字解 Chin-tan Ssu-pai-tzu Chieh Explanations of the Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir By Liu I-ming 劉一明
Translated by Thomas Cleary
Contents Bibliographic Information Author's Introduction Translations Four Hundred Words on the Gold Elixir Explanations of the Four Hundred Words on the Gold Elixir Explanatory Verses Twenty-Four Essentials for Students Twenty-Four Secrets of Alchemy Bibliography
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Bibliographic Information Jindan sibaizi 金丹四百字: Four Hundred Characters on the Golden Elixir: DZ 1081. Also appearing in Xiuzhen shishu 修真十書 (Ten Texts on Cultivating Perfection): DZ 263, j. 4. Attributed to Zhang Boduan 張伯端 (d. 1082), commonly recognized as a central, early patriarch of the so-called Southern Lineage (Nanzong 南宗) of internal alchemy (neidan 内丹) and famous for his Wuzhen pian 悟真篇 (Chapters on Awakening to Perfection). Its earliest commentary dates from 1240. As the title indicates, this is a concise symbolic work on alchemical practice. Jindan sibaizi jie 金丹四百字解: Explanations of the Jindan sibaizi: ZW 266: Appearing in the Daoshu shier zhong 道 書十二種 (Twelve Daoist Texts). A commentary on the Jindan sibaizi 金丹四百字 (Four Hundred Characters on the Golden Elixir) by Liu Yiming 劉一 明 (Wuyuanzi 悟元子 [Master Awakening to the Origin]; 1734-1821), eleventh generation Longmen 龍門 (Dragon Gate) patriarch. Explains the meaning of the symbolic language and abstruse terminology of internal alchemy in terms of 18th-century Longmen views. (Komjathy, 2004) Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir This alchemical treatise ascribed to Zhang Boduan consists of twenty pentasyllabic poems. A lengthy undated preface states that it was intended for Ma Ziran 馬自然, a contemporary of Zhang Boduan and a putative disciple of Liu Haichan. The first allusion to the text is in a letter of thanks addressed by Bai Yuchan to Zhang Boduan in 1216. Bai claims to have come across the writings and commentaries by Ma Ziran on Mount Wuyi (Wuyi shan, Fujian), where he first read a work entitled "Sibai yan" 四百言 (Four Hundred Words; Xiuzhen shishu, 6.4b). While the commentator Huang Ziru 黄自如 (fl. 1241) seems to have no doubts about the authorship of the Jindan sibai zi, Yu Yan believed it to be a forgery written by Bai Yuchan himself. The poem describes the inner alchemical process in a way similar to the Wuzhen pian, but borrows technical language from the Zhong-Lü texts. It was first included in Bai Yuchan's lost collection entitled Qunxian zhuyu ji 群仙 珠玉集 (Anthology of Pearls and Jade of the Gathered Immortals; van der Loon 1984, 149). Since then, several editions with commentaries have appeared. (Baldrian-Hussein, 2008: 558-9) Author's Introduction One of the most important figures in the emergence of the Complete Reality movement was the eleventh-century adept Chang Po-tuan, who became known as the founder of the southern sect of the Complete Reality school. Chang is particularly known for his classic Understanding Reality, which has been a standard text of spiritual alchemy ever since, ranked on a par with the ancient Triplex Unity. Another of Chang's important writings, translated here as The Inner Teachings of Taoism, presents a summary of Taoist practice in the alchemical format. It is a simplified, condensed version of the teachings of Understanding Reality, giving the main outlines of the alchemical work in twenty short verses. This text is presented here with a modern explanation written by the great Taoist commentator Liu I-ming in 1808. The Inner Teachings of Taoism became a very popular text, perhaps because of its brevity and accessibility. It was originally untitled, but later became known as Four Hundred Words on the Gold Elixir. Following his verse-by-verse elucidation of Chang Po-tuan's text, Liu I-ming gives a summary in classic fashion with twenty verses of his own composition. Because of the general nature of Chang's text, Liu then adds notes on essentials of Taoist study and secrets of alchemy, to clarify practical procedure in an orderly fashion. Liu I-ming was one of the foremost interpreters of Taoist classics in his time, and from a modern point of view his commentaries are unsurpassed in clarity. Deeply versed in both noumenal Confucianism and Ch'an Buddhism, he was dedicated to restoring the original principles and practices of Complete Reality Taoism. (Cleary, 1986: xiv, xv, xvi)
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金丹四百字 Four Hundred Words on the Gold Elixir 1 眞土擒眞鉛 眞鉛制眞汞 鉛汞歸眞土 身心寂不動
True earth arrests true lead; True lead controls true mercury. Lead and mercury return to true earth; Body and mind are tranquil and still.
2 虚無發下雪 寂靜發黄芽 玉爐火温温 鼎上飛紫霞
Nothingness produces white snow; Quiescence produces yellow sprouts. The fire warm in the jade furnace, Over the crucible flies violet mist.
3 華池蓮花開 神水金波靜 夜深月正明 天地一輪鏡
Lotuses bloom in the flower pond; Golden waves are quiet on the spiritual water. Deep in the night, the moon just bright, Heaven and earth are in one round mirror.
4 朱砂煉陽氣 水銀烹金精 金精與陽氣 朱砂而水銀
Red sand refines to positive energy; Liquid silver cooks into metal vitality. Metal vitality and positive energy, Red sand and liquid silver.
5 日魂玉兔脂 月魄金烏髓 掇來歸鼎中 化作一泓水
The solar yang soul, the fat of the jade rabbit; The lunar yin soul, the marrow of the gold raven: Put them in the crucible and transmute them Into a flood of water.
6 藥物生玄竅 火候發陽爐 龍虎交會時 寶鼎産玄珠
The medicines are produced in the occult opening; The firing process arises in the yang furnace. When the dragon and tiger have mated, The gold crucible produces a mystic pearl.
7 此竅非凡物 乾坤共合成 名爲神氣穴 内有坎離精
This opening is not an ordinary aperture: Made by heaven and earth together, It is called the lair of spirit and energy; Within it are the vitalities of water and fire.
8 木汞一點紅 金鉛三斤黑 鉛汞結丹砂 耿耿紫金色
Wood mercury, one dash of red; Metal lead, three pounds of black. Mercury and lead combine into granules That shine violet-gold.
9 家園景物麗 風雨正春時 犁鋤不廢力 大地皆黄金
The home garden's scenery is beautiful; The weather is that of spring. Without working with plow and hoe, The whole earth is golden.
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10 眞鉛生於坎 其用在離宮 以黒而變紅 一鼎雲氣濃
True lead arises in water; Its function is in the palace of fire: Turning black to red, Fog is thick in the crucible.
11 眞汞産於離 其用卻在坎 奼女過南園 手持玉橄欖
True mercury comes from fire; Its function is in water. The maiden goes to the south garden; Her hand grips the jade balustrade.
12 震兌非東西 坎離不南北 斗柄運周天 要人會攢簇
Thunder and lake are not east and west; Water and fire are not north and south. The handle of the dipper circles the heavens, Requiring people to understand how to aggregate.
13 火候不須時 冬至豈在子 及其沐浴法 卯酉時虚比
The firing process does not call for set times; The winter solstice is not in december. As for the rules for bathing, spring and autumn Are also metaphors without reality.
14 烏肝與兔髓 擒來歸一處 一粒復一粒 從微而至著
The raven's liver and the rabbit's marrowGrab them and put them back in one place. Grain after grain, From vagueness to clarity.
15 混沌包虚空 虚空括三界 及尋其根源 一粒如黍大
The undifferentiated contains space; Space contains the world: When you look for the root source, It is the size of a grain.
16 天地交眞液 日月含眞精 會得坎離基 三界歸一身
Heaven and earth share the liquid of reality; Sun and moon contain the vitality of reality. When you understand the foundation of water and fire, The world is in your body.
17 龍從東海來 虎向西山起 兩獸戰一場 化作天地髓
The dragon comes from the eastern sea; The tiger comes from the western mountains. The two beasts have a battle And turn into the marrow of heaven and earth.
18 金花開汞葉 玉蒂長鉛枝 坎離不曾閑 乾坤今幾時
Gold flowers bloom with mercury petals; Jade stems grow on lead twigs. Water and fire have never been separate; How long do heaven and earth endure?
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19 沐浴防危險 抽添自謹持 都來三萬刻 差失恐豪釐
Bathe and ward off danger, Extract and add, taking care. In all, there are thirty thousand intervals; Beware of even the slightest slip.
20 夫婦交會時 洞房雲雨作 一載生箇兒 箇箇會騎鶴
When husband and wife mate, Clouds and rain form in the secret room. In a year they give birth to a child, And each rides on a crane.
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金丹四百字解 Explanations of the Four Hundred Words on the Gold Elixir 註疏四百字眞義歌 Explanatory Verses 1 眞意發眞知 靈知亦自應 三家合一家 倏爾身心定
True intent arouses real knowledge; Conscious knowledge also spontaneously responds. The three join as one, And at once body and mind are settled.
2 虚室卻生光 靜中又復陽 采來勤鍛錬 化就紫金霜
The empty room produces light; In quietude yang is restored: Gather it and diligently refine it, Transforming it into violet-gold frost.
3 靈竅慧光生 性現塵情滅 朗朗夜明珠 無處不皎潔
In the spiritual opening the light of wisdom arises; Essence appears, and feelings about objects vanish. Clear and bright the jewel that glows in the dark; Everywhere is bright and clean.
4 燥性化眞性 人心變道心 若非神火鍛 礦裡怎分金
Volatility transmutes into true essence; The human mind changes into the mind of Tao. Without refinement by the spiritual fire, How can gold be separated from the ore?
5 眞知與靈知 兩者班同氣 經火烹錬成 渾淪沒點弊
Real knowledge and conscious knowledge; These two are originally the same energy. Subjected to refinement by fire, They merge without a trace of defect.
6 元竅眞靈露 趁時下手栽 性情相眷戀 長出大丹材
In the occult opening real consciousness appears; Take the opportunity to get to work to nurture it. When essence and sense cleave to one another, They always produce the material for the elixir.
7 有個虚靈竅 號爲玄此門 中藏神與氣 原是魂魄根
There is an opening of open awareness Which is called the opening of the mysterious female; Therein are stored spirit and energy, Originally the root of the celestial and earthly souls.
8 靈知火裡精 眞知水中寶 水火陰氣消 光鮮著實好
Conscious knowledge is the vitality within fire; Real knowledge is the jewel within water. When negativity within water and fire vanishes, The light is brilliant, truly sound.
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9 靈藥自家有 何須在外噚 護持常照應 左右儘珠林
The spiritual remedy is inherent in oneself; What is the need to seek it outside? Preserve the responsiveness of constant shining, And everywhere you go becomes a forest of jewels.
10 眞知總是眞 卻要靈知配 錬去後天陰 兩家成一塊
Real knowledge is all real, But it needs to be espoused by conscious knowledge. Refining away the yin of acquired conditioning, The two become one whole.
11 靈知好外遊 須借眞知制 以婦去從夫 坎離即既濟
Conscious knowledge likes to wander outside And needs to be governed by real knowledge; When the "wife" follows the "husband," Water and fire balance each other.
12 震兌和坎離 精神情性象 若知攢簇方 獨歩崑崙上
Thunder, lake, water, and fire Are symbols of vitality, spirit, sense, and essence; If you know how to aggregate them, You walk alone atop the mountains of the immortals.
13 火侯不拘時 何勞噚子午 沐浴洗塵心 卯酉豈能主
The firing process is not related to hour or season; Why bother to seek midnight and noon, winter and summer? Bathing is washing the dusty mind; How can spring and autumn govern it?
14 金情與木性 不得有偏差 兩者如同氣 靈根自發花
"Metal" sense and "wood" essence Should not be unbalanced or disparate. The two are as the same energy; The spiritual root blooms of itself.
15 大則包虚空 小還如黍米 若問這根源 一眞而已矣
So great as to enfold space, Yet small as a grain of rice; If you ask about this root source, It is the one reality atone.
16 天地日月精 吾身本自有 眞靈若不迷 造化常在手
The vitalities of heaven and earth, sun and moon, Are fundamentally inherent in our bodies. If reality and consciousness do not stray from each other, Creation is always in the palm of your hand.
17 性起情來制 情生性去牽 相爭相鬧罷 仍舊是先天
When essence arises, sense comes to stabilize it; When sense arises, essence goes to lead it. When their conflict and struggle are ended, Then, as of yore, they are unconditioned.
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18 木性金情交 眞知靈知閤 武錬與文烹 現出玲瓏塔
Essence and sense merge; Real and conscious knowledge join. With fierce refinement and gentle cooking, A crystal-clear temple is produced.
19 持心名沐浴 温養有抽添 刻刻防危險 功深自入玄
Controlling the mind is called bathing; Incubation involves extraction and addition. At every moment, forestall danger; As accomplishment deepens, you naturally enter the mystery.
20 會的陰陽理 聖胎不難結 生子又生孫 長生永不滅
When you understand the principle of yin and yang, The spiritual embryo is not hard to form; Producing a child, also producing grandchildren, Eternal life never ends.
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學人二十四要 Twenty-Four Essentials for Students 1 看破世事 世事若還看不破 身沈苦海怎能出
See through things of the world. If you cannot see through the things of the world, You will sink into an ocean of suffering. How can you get out?
2 斬斷牽纏 牽纏設若不能斷 六道輪迴在眼前
Cut off entanglements. If you cannot cut off entanglements, The vicious cycles of compulsive habit stand before you.
3 窮究理義 不知辨別身心理 邪正難分誤路程
Thoroughly investigate principle and meaning. If you do not know how to discern the principles of body and mind, You cannot distinguish aberration and sanity, and miss the road.
4 噚師訪友 虚心即便能實腹 自滿到老無一長
Find a teacher and associates. When you empty the mind, you can fill the belly; If you are self-satisfied, you will grow old without development.
5 立志長久 要成經久不易事 必須經久不已功
Make determination endure. If you want to accomplish something that endures unchanging, It requires work that endures unceasing.
6 除去嗔恨 嗔恨若還不掃淨 滿腔濁氣掩眞宗
Get rid of anger and hatred. If you do not sweep yourself clean of anger and hatred, You will be full of turbulence, which will obscure the truth.
7 舍的色身 看得色身如假物 自然有路覓眞身
Relinquish attachment to the physical body. See the physical body as something temporary and artificial, And naturally there will be a way to seek the real body.
8 不怕勞苦 心強必上高山頂 怕苦終久不入眞
Do not be afraid of hard work. With strength of mind, one will be able to climb to the summit; If you are afraid of hardship, you will never enter the real.
9 忍辱受垢 忍辱卑而不可踰 受垢柔而即能強
Tolerate ignominy and endure dishonor. Tolerate ignominy, and though lowly you cannot be surpassed; Endure dishonor, and through yielding you can be strong.
10 饒人讓人 屈己尊人爲要著 平心下氣是良方
Forgive people and defer to others. It is essential to humble oneself and honor others; Equanimous deference is a good method.
11 輕財重命 試問堆金等岱嶽 無常買的不來無
Take possessions lightly; take life seriously. Ask yourself-even if you pile up mountains of gold, Can you buy off impermanence?
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12 物我同觀 物我同源無貴賤 若分彼此起塵氛
View others and self as the same. Others and self have the same source, without high or low; If you discriminate between "them" and "us," you raise dust.
13 酒色不迷 戒酒自然性不亂 絶色必定命堅牢
Do not be deluded by alcohol or sex. If you do not drink, your nature will not be deranged; If you are chaste, your life force will be stable.
14 飢寒順受 衣食隨縁修妄想 若怕飢寒志不堅
Accept hunger and cold as they come. Dressing and eating according to circumstances, stop idle imagination; If you are afraid of hunger and cold, your will worft be firm.
15 生死任命 死生二事儘由天 訪道一心常在我
Leave life and death to destiny. Two things, death and life, depend entirely on nature; The one will to seek the Way is always up to oneself.
16 廣行方便 到處積功兼累行 見危盡力以扶人
Do whatever you can to be helpful. Wherever you are, continue to perform worthy deeds; Seeing danger, exert your utmost power to help people.
17 不愛熱鬧 紛華境裡易迷眞 聲色場中能亂性
Do not take a liking to excitement. It is easy to lose the real in the midst of excitement and glamour; In the realms of the senses you can derange your essential nature.
18 不傲不盈 高傲即便起人惡 盈滿必非載道材
Do not be proud or complacent. Arrogance arouses the hatred of others; If you are self-satisfied, you cannot bear the Tao.
19 不貪美味 君子謀道不謀食 小人養口不養心
Do not crave fine food. Superior people plan for the Way, not for food; Inferior people nurture the palate, not the mind.
20 不言是非 各人自掃門前雪 莫管他人屋上霜
Do not talk about right and wrong. Everyone should sweep the snow from his own door And not be concerned about the frost on another's roof.
21 聰明不用 有才不使常如拙 有智深藏卻似愚
Do not use intellectual brilliance. If you have talent, do not employ it; always be as if inept; If you have knowledge, hide it, appearing to be ignorant.
22 睡少功多 朝乾夕惕功無歇 廢寢忘食志要堅
Sleep less and work more. Working by day, cautious by night, effort never ceasing, Giving up sleep, forgetting to eat, the will must be firm.
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23 不愛好物 珠玉金銀身外物 精神性命本來珍
Do not take a liking to fine things. Pearls and jade, gold and silver, are things outside the body; Vitality and spirit, essence and life, are the fundamental treasures.
24 始終如一 用功不力難深造 抱道而亡方見眞
Be consistent from beginning to end. If you work without strength, it is hard to reach deep attainment; Only when you die embracing the Tao do you see reality.
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丹法二十四訣 Twenty-Four Secrets of Alchemy 1 修補丹房 培養後天 堅強色身 培養後天第一端 精神氣旺耐飢寒 色身修得堅強瞭 避雨遮風好錬丹
Repair the alchemical workshop. Nourish the temporal; Strengthen the physical body. To nourish the temporal is the point of departure; When vitality, energy, and spirit are vigorous, one can bear hunger and cold. Having cultivated the physical body until it is firm and strong, Giving shelter from the rain and wind, it is good for refining the elixir.
2 錬己築基 懲忿窒欲 克己復禮 錬己持心是築基 塵情妄念儘抛離 果然錬到己無處 不動不搖物怎迷
Refine the self and set up the foundation. Overcome anger and lust; Conquer the self and return to normalcy. Refining the self and mastering the mind are building the foundation; Mundane feelings and idle thoughts are all to be thrown away. When you have refined your self to where it does not exist, You are imperturbable and unshakable, and cannot be deluded by things.
3 立鼎安爐 剛以固其志 柔以用其功 志念堅牢爲立鼎 工夫漸進是安爐 剛柔兩用無偏勝 準備隨時運火符
Set up the crucible and furnace. Stabilize the will with firmness; Do the work with flexibility. Making the will firm and strong is setting up the crucible; Gradually progressing In the work is setting up the furnace. Firmness and flexibility are both used, without imbalance; Having prepared, work the fire and the convergence according to the time.
4 採取藥物 假中噚眞 砂裡淘金 大藥三般精氣神 須先辨別假和眞 是非隻隔一些子 莫把魁罡認北辰
Cull the medicines. Seek the real in the artificial; Pick the gold out of sand. The great medicines are three-vitality, energy, spirit; It is necessary first to distinguish the true from the false. The division between right and wrong is slight; Be careful not to mix them up.
5 以鉛制汞 眞知不昧 靈知不飛 金情別號是眞鉛 木性輕浮以汞傳 曉得情來鈴性法 人心不起道心園
Use lead to control mercury. When real knowledge is not obscured, Conscious knowledge is not flighty. Another name for sense is true lead; Essence, light and mercuric, is represented as mercury. When you understand the method of bringing sense to stabilize essence, The human mentality does not arise and the mind of Tao is complete.
6 黄婆調和 眞意不散 陰陽自和 可知眞意是黄婆 一信能調四象和 攅簇五行皆借力 全形造命不離它
The yellow woman harmonizes. When true intent does not scatter, Yin and yang naturally harmonize. You should know that the true intent is the "yellow womad'; Truthfulness alone can harmonize the four forms, Aggregating the five elements uses its power; Perfecting the being and building life are not apart from it.
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7 鉛汞相投 性去求情 情來歸性 以鉛投汞情歸性 以汞投鉛性戀情 情性相交無隔礙 何愁大道不能成
Lead and mercury intermingle. Essence goes to seek sense; Sense comes back to essence. Putting the lead in the mercury, sense returns to essence; Putting the mercury in the lead, essence cleaves to sense. When sense and essence merge without obstruction, There is no worry that the great Way will not be accomplished.
8 運火鍛錬 振發正氣 掃除邪氣 文烹武錬是仙方 火發神爐陰與陽 鍛儘千般波滓物 自然大藥起霞光
Work the fire to smelt and refine. Activate sane energy; Sweep out aberrant energy. Gentle cooking and fierce refinement are the methods of immortals; Fire comes forth in the spiritual furnace, yin and yang, Burning away the thousand kinds of pollutants. Naturally the great medicines emanate misty light.
9 還丹凝結 剛柔相當 性情如一 性情如一號還丹 朗朗眞靈結就團 已得當初無價寶 小心護守運神觀
The restored elixir congeals. Firmness and flexibility balance each other; Essence and sense are as one. When essence and sense are unified, that is called the restored elixir; Bright and clear, reality and consciousness join into one whole. Having obtained the original priceless jewel, Carefully guard it; practice observation of the spirit.
10 沐浴温養 念莫教起 意不使散 滌垢洗塵沐浴方 勿忘勿助閤陰陽 諸縁不起丹元固 養的靈根花蕊芳
Bathe and incubate. Do not let thoughts arise; Do not let attention scatter. Washing off defilement and dust is the method of bathing; Do not be negligent, do not be forceful, join yin and yang. When entanglements do not arise, the basis of the elixir is stable; Nurturing the spiritual root, the flower buds are fragrant.
11 丹元成熟 黒中有白 靜極而動 黒中有白長生藥 暗裡藏明續命湯 錬就玲瓏明淨物 通天徹地放毫光
The basis of the elixir becomes mature. Within black there is white; When quietude culminates, there is movement. Within black there is white-the herb of long life. Within darkness is concealed light-the life-prolonging tonic. Refining it into something crystal-clear and pure, It penetrates heaven and earth with a ray of light.
12 吞服金丹 收神入室 點化群陰 服丹不是外來丹 錬就眞靈在内安 五府生光陰氣化 不迷不昧破關蘭
Ingest the gold elixir. Gather the spirit into the room, Transmuting earthliness The elixir ingested does not come from outside; The refined real consciousness rests within. The internal organs produce light; earthly energy is transmuted; Without confusion or obscurity, obstacles are broken through.
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13 移爐換鼎 本原到手 隨時種栽 金丹到手有眞傳 換鼎移爐玄又玄 從此虚心烹大藥 先天竅裡錬先天
Move the furnace and crucible. The root source in hand, Plant and nurture according to the time. The gold elixir in hand, there is true transmission; Moving the furnace and crucible is a mystery within mystery. Henceforth carefully cook the great medicine, Refining the primordial within the primordial opening.
14 凝結聖胎 百神倶集 五行混成 五氣朝元聚靈台 先天種子己牢栽 如痴如醉如昏睡 恍惚杳冥結聖胎
Congeal the spiritual embryo. All the spirit gathered, The five elements merge. The five energies return to the origin and gather on the spiritual pedestal; The primordial seed is already firmly planted. As though an idiot, as though drunk, as though deep asleep, In ecstasy and profound abstraction you congeal the spiritual embryo.
15 朝屯暮矇 知雄守雌 天然火錬 知雄更要守其雌 水火燻蒸不問時 自有樞機番卦象 何須著意強施爲
Difficulty in the morning, darkness at night. Know the male, keep the female; Refine with the natural fire. Knowing the male, it is also necessary to keep the female. Steaming with water and fire is not a matter of the hour. There is naturally a pivot which turns over the trigrams; What is the need to make conscious effort?
16 温養胎胚 如雞抱卵 似蚌含珠 專一猶如雞抱卵 至誠恰似蚌含珠 時時靜守虚靈竅 免得爐中水火孤
Incubate the embryo. Like a hen sitting on an egg, Like an oyster embracing a pearl. Concentrate single-mindedly, like a hen sitting on an egg; Be thoroughly sincere, like an oyster embracing a pearl. Hour after hour quietly watch over the aperture of open awareness, To avoid letting water and fire be isolated in the furnace.
17 防危慮險 外無其身 内無其心 陽氣未純猶有險 餘陰不盡要防危 後天滓質如消化 可保胎元莫損虧
Forestall danger. Externally oblivious of the body, Internally oblivious of the mind. Before celestial energy is thoroughly pure, there is still danger; As long as earthly energy Is not exhausted, it is necessary to prevent peril. If the pollution of acquired conditioning is dissolved away, It can be guaranteed that the embryo will not be damaged.
18 十月胎圓 先天氣純 後天氣化 十月工夫胎始園 後天化儘先天全 清清淨淨別無物 非色非空一自然
In ten months the embryo is mature. Primordial energy is pure; Conditioning is evaporated. After ten months of work, the embryo is finally mature; When conditioning is all dissolved, the primal is complete. Utterly pure and clean, there is nothing else; It is one naturalness, neither form nor void.
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19 待時脱化 無私無爲 不即不離 脱化原來有日期 錯前錯後倶非宜 誠中達外無容強 瓜熟自然蒂落離
Wait for the time to break free. No thought, no doing, Not obsessed, not indifferent. Basically there is a time to break free, transformed; It will not do to be too early or too late. Truthfulness within reaches outside, not admitting force; When a melon is ripe, it naturally separates from the stem.
20 嬰兒出現 打破混沌 跳入虚無 守定黄庭養谷神 形全氣足火停輪 乍雷一響天門破 跳出金剛不死人
The infant emerges. Breaking through nondifferentiation, Leaping into nothingness. Keep still in the yellow court and nurture the valley spirit; With body complete and energy replete, the fire is stopped With a peal of thunder, the gate of heaven opens, And out leaps the indestructible immortal person.
21 乳哺三年 光而不耀 明而不用 眞靈錬就一金身 萬古千秋不落塵 乳哺三年光不耀 知前曉後聖而神
Breast-feed for three years. Enlightened but not shining, Illumined but not using it. When real consciousness is refined into a golden body, It never ever falls into the dust. Nursing it for three years, enlightened but not shining, Knowing before and understanding after, the sage is spiritual.
22 出入自便 形神倶妙 與道閤眞 形神倶妙等虚空 與道閤眞萬法通 顯晦逆從人莫測 聚而有象散而風
Exiting and entering at will. Body and spirit both sublimated, Merging into reality with the Tao. Body and spirit both sublimated, equal to space, Merging in reality with the Tao, all things are penetrated. Appearing, hiding, going against or along, no one can fathom it; Clustered, there is form; dispersed, the wind.
23 面壁九年 有無倶不立 天地悉歸空 九年面壁有誰知 入室工夫不待思 天地歸空凡聖去 寂寥境内結仙居
Facing a wall for nine years. Neither being nor nonbeing stand; The universe is ultimately empty. Nine years facing a wall, who is there that knows? The work of entering the room does not depend on thought. The universe returns to emptiness; ordinary and holy are gone; In the realm of silent serenity, the abode of immortals is built.
24 子又生孫 變化無窮 神妙不測 子又生孫凡聖同 隻分順去逆來中 古仙留下大丹訣 變化無窮到處通
The child also produces grandchildren. Transformation without end, Unfathomable spiritual wonders. The child also produces grandchildren; ordinary and sage are the same – The only distinction is in going along or coming back in reverse. Ancient immortals left the secret of a great elixir, With endless transmutations, getting through everywhere.
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Bibliography Cleary, Thomas. The Inner Teachings of Taoism. Boston: Shambhala Publications, 1986. Baldrian-Hussein, Farzeen. "Jindan sibai zi 金丹四百字", in The Encyclopedia of Taoism, Fabrizio Pregadio, ed., London and New York: Routledge, 2008: 558-9. Komjathy, Louis, "Daoist Texts in Translation", 2004.
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素書 Su-shu The Book of Simplicity By Huang Shih Kung 黄石公 Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour
Contents Bibliographic Information Author's Introduction Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 2 3 6 8 16
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Author's Introduction It is related that one day, during the reign of Chuang Hsiang, third King of the Ts'in dynasty (B.C. 247-244), a youth named Chang Tsz-fang, afterwards Marquis of Lin, was wandering alone upon a river-bank. Suddenly his attention was attracted by a strange-looking old man, who was standing upon a bridge that spanned the stream. While he was wondering what sort of a person this could be – for there was something remarkable about the grey-beard's appearance – the object of his contemplation deliberately kicked off his sandal, and then called to Tsz-fang to fish it out of the water for him. The youth complied. No sooner, however, had the old man put it on again, than he as deliberately kicked off the other, motioning to Tsz-fang to go in search of it once more. His shoe having been restored to him a second time, he let it fall into the water again; and the pious boy, respecting the eccentricities of age, plunged a third time from the bridge in search of it, and then, reverently kneeling, placed it on the mysterions being's foot himself. "Good!" said the ancient man; "you will do. Meet me here in five days' time, in the morning early." So Chang Tsz-fang, whose curiosity was now on the alert, hastened to the rendezvous at the appointed time; but alas! the old man was there before him, and, reproving the youth for his want of respect in keeping him waiting, told him to come again next day. But the old man was again before him, and the promised revelation was again postponed in consequence. The third time, however, Chang took the precaution of sleeping on the bridge all night; and ere dawn of day had the satisfaction of seeing his venerable friend approach. "Now," said the latter, "you shall have the reward due to you. Take this book," he continued, drawing a manuscript from his capacious sleeve; "he who studies the precepts herein contained may become the preceptor of a King! I now leave you; but if you will repair thirteen years from now, to Ku Ch'êng, you will see a yellow stone; that will be I, in metamorphosis." Thereupon the being disappeared, leaving in the hands of the astonished youth the tract we now give below. It is popularly ascribed to Huang Shih Kung, or his lordship YellowStone. (Balfour, 1894: 95) The title of the book here translated, therefore, means, in full, 'Book of the Doctrines professed by the Su Wang,' – the Pure or Simple Prince, or, to use the longer phrase, Exalted Emperor of Sublime Simplicity. Who this person was I do not know; but the title certainly does not belong specially to Confucius. Neither can I guess what Mr. Wylie means by describing the 'Su Shu' as a military treatise; seeing that war is scarcely so much as referred to in it. It is simply an application of the Taoist doctrines of purity and simplicity to political, social, and individual life, and a remarkably beautiful book it is, from the standpoint of high morals. Mr. Wylie attributes it to Chang Shang-ying of the Sung dynasty. (Balfour, 1894: 102)
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The Su Shu I. Now Tao, Virtue, Benevolence, Rectitude and Decorum – these five things are all one Principle. As regards the Way of Tao, it is the Way that all men should walk in; making use of all things, they yet know not the source from which they spring. Virtue is what all men should obtain; then everyone will have what he naturally needs. The Benevolent are such as all men love; for where there is a merciful, liberal, sympathetic disposition, there will be a systematic compliance with the mutual wants of others. The Right-minded are those who act properly and justly towards their fellows, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked; by virtue of which they establish their own merit and give equitable decisions on the affairs that are brought before them. Decorum is what all men should observe, both in rising in the morning and retiring to rest at night; then the duties connected with human relationships will be performed in their due order. Now it is necessary to observe these five courses of action if one wishes to fulfil the proper functions of a man; there is not one which may be omitted. The Sage and the superior man understand the law which governs prosperity and decay; they are well versed in the calculation of failure and success, they can discern between the conditions of orderly government and of anarchy, and know when to accept and when to decline appointments. Thus, abiding in retirement and holding fast their principles, they wait for seasonable opportunities; and if a proper time arrives, they act. By this policy they are able to gain the highest offices in the State; and when the occasion presents itself, they strike out in some decisive action by which they achieve merit such as never had been achieved before. But if the opportunity does not offer, they just die when their time comes, and there is an end of it; so that the principles they hold are exalted in the extreme, and their fame descends to generations yet unborn. II. He whose virtue is all-sufficient to gain the affectionate esteem of those most distant from him, whose good-faith is all-sufficient to mould confidence of the people, whose ability is all-sufficient to reflect the example of the ancients as in a mirror, and whose perspicacity in all-sufficient to superintend his subordinates: such a man is distinguished above all others. He whose conduct suffices as an example for others to imitate, whose wisdom is great enough to enable him to decide equitably in cases of enmity and mutual suspicion, whose good-faith causes others to keep their promises, and whose incorruptibility ensures a fair allotment of whatever there may be to divide: such a man is eminent above all others. He who, in an official position, does not fail in the performance of his duties, abides steadfast in his rectitude without swerving, incurs hatred or suspicion yet does not desert his post, and never illicitly avails himself of any opportunity of self-advantage which may come in this way: such a man is a hero. III. By abandoning the appetites and restraining the passions, you may escape trouble and anxiety. By suppressing wrong and renouncing evil, you may ward off calamities. By avoiding over-indulgence in wine and curbing the carnal desires, you may escape defilement. By keeping clear of calumny and beyond the reach of suspicion, you may avoid hindrance to your affairs. By extensive study and eager questionings you may greatly enlarge your knowledge. By a high course of conduct and a reserve in conversation, you may cultivate the person. By courtesy, frugality, modesty, and moderation, you may preserve your possessions from diminution. By deep calculations and taking thoughts for the distant future, you may avoid poverty. By consulting with the benevolent and making friends of the outspoken and blunt, you may receive support in seasons of adversity. By doing to others as you would wish to be done by, and being sincere and honest in all your dealings, you may attract all men to become your friends. By committing responsibilities to able men, and making special use of their special faculties, you may materially further the business of the State. By abhorring the wicked and expelling slanderers from your presence, you may put a stop to disorder. By testing the practices of to-day by investigating those of ancient times, you may avoid blunders. By first estimating [the pros and cons of an affair] and then calculating [what ought to be done under the circumstances] you will be prepared to meet the most unexpected emergencies. By providing against disaffection and knowing how to use your power, you will be able to unravel complications. By keeping your knowledge to yourself and only acting as opportunity occurs, you avoid getting into trouble [by failing in what you professed yourself able to perform]. By firmness and stability of purpose, you will establish merit. By unwearying efforts and impregnable virtue, you will be able to preserve yourself securely until death. IV. As regards the methods employed for forming deliberate intentions and doing straightforward actions, there is none that will enable you to continue longer in the course you desire to pursue than that of ample deliberation; and none that will enable you to pursue that course in greater peace than the patient bearing of insult. There is nothing more important than the cultivation of virtue; there is no greater cause of joy than the love of goodness; there is nothing that will give you deeper insight into hidden things than perfect sincerity in word and deed; there is nothing that will make you clearer-sighted than understanding the nature of all created beings; there is nothing more felicitous than contentment, nothing bitterer than covetousness, nothing more sorrowful than the dispersion (or loss) of animal vigour, no greater sickness than that which results from the vicissitudes of life, nothing shorter than a career of unlawful gain, nothing that tends more to secrecy (or stealthiness) than avarice, nothing that isolates a man more than trusting to himself alone, nothing more dangerous than employing those whom you have reason to suspect, and nothing more certain to bring ruin to you than unfairness or partiality.
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V. Those who proclaim their own cleverness to their inferiors are themselves ignorant. Those who are unconscious of their own faults are blinded. Those who are so fascinated by anything as to be unable to turn away from its pursuit, are deluded. Those who provoke animosity by [irritating] words, will incur disaster. Those whose commands are at variance with their consciences will meet with failure. Those who mislead people by countermanding the orders they have previously given, will bring ruin upon the affairs they have in hand. If a man is angry without inspiring awe, the delinquency will be repeated. A man who acquires a false reputation for honesty and brings shame on others, will meet with retribution. It is dangerous, first to treat a man with contumely and afterwards entrust him with responsibility. It is inauspicious to treat the honourable with negligence or disrespect. A man who hides an alienated heart under a friendly face will be shunned. If [a sovereign] loves flatterers and keeps aloof from the honest and true, his kingdom will soon fall. He who consorts much with beautiful women, and avoids the society of the virtuous, is deluded. If women are openly allowed to have audiences of the sovereign, internal disorder will ensue. If the monarch gives office to his private friends and minions, the emoluments of the State will be squandered in vain. He who oppresses his subjects and gets the better of them by main force, is a usurper. He whose reputation is greater than his actual abilities, is obliged to exert himself to the utmost to keep up that reputation – and without result. To make little of one's own faults and be severe to others', is not the way to govern. He who is generous as regards himself and niggardly in dealing with his fellows, will be abandoned. He who ignores merit on account of some trifling lapse, will suffer injury himself. He who estranges the people from him will be ruined without hope. He who employs people irrespective of their peculiar capabilities will incur the evil results of his laxity. He who bestows rewards with a grudging face will receive a grudging service. He who promises much and gives little will be murmured at. He who makes advances to another and then suddenly breaks off intercourse with him, will meet with unexpected opposition. He who is niggardly in bestowal and yet looks for a large return, will get no return at all. He who in a position of honour forgets the humble – or, the friends of humbler days – will not enjoy his honours long. To harbour old grievances in one's memory and ignore present merit, is inauspicious. Not to select upright men when employing people, is dangerous. He who employs others by main force will have nobody to obey him. To appoint officials in deference to requests made by the friends of the candidates for office, will result in disorder. He who loses that in which consists his power, will become weak. He who devises plans for the benefit of the inhuman – or, he who allows the inhuman to form plans for him – will be placed in jeopardy. If secret counsels be bruited abroad, defeat will be the result. He who hoards much and gives out grudgingly, will find his substance diminishing. Where the military leaders are in penury and fashionable idlers wealthy, the State will fall. A man who openly accepts bribes, is self-deceived – or, does so against his own conscience. He who, hearing of virtuous deeds, makes no account of them, but never forgets a fault, is tyrannical. He who commits responsibilities to the untrustworthy, and none to those who may be confided in, is muddle-headed, or stupid. If a man nourishes the people according to virtue, all will come flocking to him; but if he holds them in restraint by means of punishments, they will disperse. If small merit be not rewarded, great merit will not be performed; if petty injuries be not forgiven, serious animosities will arise. If rewards be bestowed upon the undeserving, and punishments on the unwilling – i.e., on those who know they have not incurred any penalty – the people will revolt. To reward those who have no merit and punish those who have committed no fault, is truculent. Listening with delight to flattery and with disgust to candid expostulation, will bring about the ruin of the State. To be content with one's own will result in a nation's tranquillity; but to covet what belongs to another leads to oppression and wrong-doing. VI. Enmities result from not abandoning little faults; misfortunes arise from not making decided plans beforehand. Happiness results from the accumulation of good deeds; misery, from the accumulation of wicked ones. Famines come about from depreciating agriculture; cold results from the neglect of weaving. Tranquillity results from securing the services of suitable men; danger from losing men of ability. Wealth results from meeting [opportunities] half-way – or, taking advantage of whatever may turn up; penury, from rejecting such opportunities. If those in authority are not perpetually vacillating, their subordinates will not be a prey to perplexity. Those who despise their superiors should not be held guiltless; while those who oppress their inferiors show by so doing their want of affection for them. If ministers of the Presence do not receive proper consideration from the sovereign, he will be lightly esteemed by those of his ministers who are at a distance. If you are naturally suspicious, you cannot have confidence in others; but if you are of a confiding nature, you will not suspect people. The depraved have no true friends. A perverted sovereign will have no upright ministers. A State in danger has no virtuous man to the front; there are no good men under a disorderly government. Those who sincerely love others will search eagerly for men of virtue; and those who take pleasure in virtuous men will nourish the people generously. Where there is a State whose power has been established by sheer force of merit, all able men will resort to it; but virtuous men will retire from a State that is on the verge of ruin. Where the soil is thin, large things will not grow; where water is shallow, large fishes will not disport themselves; if a tree is leafless, no large bird will rest upon it; if a forest is sparse, no large animal will take up his abode in it. If a mountain is high and steep, it will easily fall; if a pool is full of water, it will overflow. Those who throw away jade and cling to a common stone, are blind. Those who cover up a sheep in a tiger's skin will incur ridicule. If you don't hold a coot by the collar, you will put it on upside down. If you don't look at the ground as you walk, you will fall. If the posts of a house are weak, the rooms will come to grief; and if the supports of a Government are feeble, the State will be ruined. If the foot is cold, the heart will be injured; and if the populace are angered, the State will suffer. Before the mountain falls, the base is undermined; and before the State falls, the people are in extremity. If the root of a tree is rotten, the leaves will decay; if the people are worn out, the State will be annihilated. If you drive a carriage in the ruts made by another carriage that has been overturned, you will meet the same disaster; and if you follow the example set by a State
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that is already lost, yours will be lost too. Having already seen, therefore, the bad results which will accrue from a given line of conduct, take care not to give rise to them again; if you dread such consequences, make provision against them beforehand. To have a proper dread of danger is the way to ensure safety; to have a proper dread of the extermination [of one's State] is the way to preserve it. So, as regards the conduct of a man: if it be in accordance with right principle, it will be auspicious; if not, it will be the reverse. It is not the spirits or holy ones who will give one happiness; one must be endowed with it naturally. If a man discharges his functions on virtuous plans, no evil will ensue; but if he does not take forethought for what is yet far off, sorrow will come speedily upon him. When [two or more] persons have one object in view, they will achieve it; when they are benevolent, they will share each other's disappointments. The wicked all consort one with another. Those who are equally beautiful are jealous to each other. Those whose shrewdness is equally great will scheme one against the other. Those whose positions are equally high will injure each other. Those who are competing for gain will be envious of one another. Those whose voices are the same will respond to one another. Those who are subject to similar influences will be similarly affected. Those who belong to the same category conform to each other's habits. Those who are righteous will love each other. Those who are in the same difficulty will assist each other. Those who are guided by the same principle of right will arrive at completion together – or, will [aid in] completing each other. Those who possees the same skill will check each other's performances. Those who have the same adroitness will compete with each other. The above embody an unvarying principle in each case, and the principle cannot be successfully opposed by anybody. To give free rein to oneself and prescribe laws for others, will lead to disobedience; but if a man who attempts to reform his fellows is upright himself, all will follow his example. If a monarch runs counter to his people, he will have great difficulty in enforcing obedience; but if he guides himself by his people's wishes, affairs will go on easily. In the former case, disorder will ensue; in the latter, the government will be tranquilly accomplished. It is in this way that a man may achieve the proper regulation of himself, his household, and his State.
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黄石公素書 Huang Shih Kung Su-shu 原始章第一 夫道徳仁義禮五者一也道者人之所蹈使所使萬物不知其所由徳者人之所得使萬物各得其所欲仁者人之所親有 慈惠惻隱之心以遂其生成義者人之所宜賞善罰惡以立功立事禮者人之所履夙興夜寐以成人倫之序夫欲爲人之 本不可無一焉賢人君子明乎盛衰之道通乎成敗之數審乎治亂之勢友乎去就之理故潛居抱道以待其時若時至而 行則能極人臣之位得機而動則能絶代之功如其不遇沒身而已是以其道足高而名垂於后代 正道章第二 徳足以懷遠信足以一異義足以得衆才足以鑒古明足以照下此人之俊也行足以爲儀表智足以決嫌疑信可以使守 約廉可以使分財此人之豪也守識而不廢處義而不回見嫌而不苛免見利而不苛得此人之杰也 求人之志章第三 絶噬柰慾所以除累抑非損惡所以讓過貶酒闕色所以無污避嫌遠疑所以不誤博學切問所以廣知高行微言所以修 身恭儉謙約所以自守深計遠慮所以不窮親仁友直所以扶順近恕篤行所以接人任材施能所以濟務癉惡斥讒所以 止亂推古驗今所以不惑先揆后度所以應卒設變致權所以解結括囊順會所以無咎橛橛梗梗所以立功孜孜淑淑所 以保終 本徳宗道章第四 夫志心篤行之術長莫長於博謀安莫安於忍辱先莫先於修徳樂莫樂於好善神莫神於至明莫明於體物吉莫吉於自 足若莫若於多願悲莫悲於精散病莫病於無常短莫短苟得幽莫幽於貪鄙孤於孤於自恃危莫危於任疑敗莫敗於多 私 遵義章第五 以明示下者暗有過不知者蔽迷而不返者惑以言取怨者禍今與心乖者廢后令繆前者怒而無威者犯好直辱人者殃 刃辱所任者危慢其所敬者凶貌合心離者孤親讒遠忠者亡近色遠賢者昏女謁公行者犯私人以官者浮淩下取勝者 慢名不勝實者耗略已而責人者不治自厚而薄人者卉以功卉過者損群不外異者淪既用不任者疏行賞恪色者沮多 許少與者怨既迎而拒者乖薄施厚望者不報貴而忘賤者不久念舊惡而卉新功者凶用人不正者殆疆用人者不畜爲 人擇官者亂先其所疆者弱決策於不仁者廢陰計外泄者敗厚斂薄施者凋戰士貧游士富者衰貨賂公行者味聞善忽 略記過不忘者暴所任不可信所信不可任濁牧人以徳者集繩人以刑者散小功不賞則大聞功不立少過不赦則大怨 悲必生賞不服人罰不甘心者叛賞及無功罰及無罪者酷聽讒而美聞諫而仇者亡能有其有者安貪人之有者殘 安禮章第六 怨在不舍小過患在不預定謀福在積善禍在積惡饑在賤農寒在惰織安在得人危在失事富在迎來貧在卉時上無常 躁下多疑心輕上生罪侮下無親近臣不重遠臣輕之自疑不信人自信不疑人枉士無直友曲上無直下危國無賢人亂 政無善人愛人深者求賢急樂得賢者養人厚國將霸者士者歸邦將亡者賢先避地薄者大物不産水淺者大魚不游樹 禿者大禽不棲林疏者大獸不居山峭者崩澤淺者溢卉玉取石者盲羊質虎皮者辱衣不舉領者倒走不視地者顛柱弱 者屋壞輔弱者國傾足寒傷心人怨傷國山將崩者下先隳國將衰者人先弊根枯枝朽人困國殘與覆車同軌者與亡同 事者滅見將生者慎將生惡其述者須避之畏危者安畏亡者存夫人之所行有道則吉無道則凶吉則百福所歸凶者百 禍所攻非其神聖自然所鐘務善業策者無惡事無遠慮者有近憂同志相得同仁相愛同惡相黨同愛相求同美相妒同 志相謀同貴相害同利相忌同聲相應同類相依同義相親同難相濟同道相成同藝相規同巧相勝此數之所得不可與 理違釋已而教人者逆正已而化人者順逆者難從順者易行難從刖亂易行則理如此理身理家理國可也
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Punctuated Text 原始章第一 夫道、徳、仁、義、禮五者一也。道者、人之所蹈、使所使萬物不知其所由。徳者、人之所得、使萬物各得 其所欲。仁者、人之所親、有慈惠惻隱之心、以遂其生成。義者、人之所宜、賞善罰惡、以立功立事。禮者、 人之所履、夙興夜寐、以成人倫之序。夫欲爲人之、本不可無一焉。賢人君子、明乎盛衰之道、通乎成敗之 數、審乎治亂之勢、友乎去就之理。故潛居抱道、以待其時。若時至而行、則能極人臣之位。得機而動、則 能絶代之功。如其不遇、沒身而已。是以其道足高、而名垂於后代。 正道章第二 徳足以懷遠、信足以一異、義足以得衆、才足以鑒古、明足以照下、此人之俊也。行足以爲儀表、智足以決 嫌疑、信可以使守約、廉可以使分財、此人之豪也。守識而不廢、處義而不回、見嫌而不苛免、見利而不苛 得、此人之杰也。 求人之志章第三 絶噬柰慾、所以除累。抑非損惡、所以讓過。貶酒闕色、所以無污。避嫌遠疑、所以不誤。博學切問、所以 廣知。高行微言、所以修身。恭儉謙約、所以自守。深計遠慮、所以不窮。親仁友直、所以扶順。近恕篤行、 所以接人。任材施能、所以濟務。癉惡斥讒、所以止亂。推古驗今、所以不惑。先揆后度、所以應卒。設變 致權、所以解結。括囊順會、所以無咎。橛橛梗梗、所以立功。孜孜淑淑、所以保終。 本徳宗道章第四 夫志心篤行之術、長莫長於博謀。安莫安於忍辱。先莫先於修徳、樂莫樂於好善、神莫神於至。明莫明於體 物、吉莫吉於自足、若莫若於多願、悲莫悲於精散、病莫病於無常、短莫短苟得、幽莫幽於貪鄙、孤於孤於 自恃、危莫危於任疑、敗莫敗於多私。 遵義章第五 以明示下者暗、有過不知者蔽、迷而不返者惑、以言取怨者禍、今與心乖者廢、后令繆前者、怒而無威者犯、 好直辱人者殃、刃辱所任者危、慢其所敬者凶、貌合心離者孤、親讒遠忠者亡、近色遠賢者昏、女謁公行者 犯、私人以官者浮、淩下取勝者慢、名不勝實者耗、略已而責人者不治、自厚而薄人者卉、以功卉過者損、 群不外異者淪、既用不任者疏、行賞恪色者沮、多許少與者怨、既迎而拒者乖、薄施厚望者不報、貴而忘賤 者不久、念舊惡而卉新功者凶、用人不正者殆、疆用人者不畜、爲人擇官者亂、先其所疆者弱、決策於不仁 者廢、陰計外泄者敗、厚斂薄施者凋、戰士貧、游士富者衰、貨賂公行者味、聞善忽略、記過不忘者暴、所 任不可信、所信不可任濁、牧人以徳者集、繩人以刑者散、小功不賞則大聞功不立、少過不赦則大怨悲必生、 賞不服人、罰不甘心者叛、賞及無功、罰及無罪者酷、聽讒而美、聞諫而仇者亡、能有其有者安、貪人之有 者殘。 安禮章第六 怨在不舍小過、患在不預定謀、福在積善、禍在積惡、饑在賤農、寒在惰織。安在得人、危在失事。富在迎 來、貧在卉時。上無常躁、下多疑心。輕上生罪、侮下無親。近臣不重、遠臣輕之。自疑不信人、自信不疑 人。枉士無直友、曲上無直下。危國無賢人、亂政無善人。愛人深者、求賢急。樂得賢者、養人厚。國將霸 者士者歸、邦將亡者賢先避。地薄者大物不、産、水淺者大魚不游、樹禿者大禽不棲、林疏者大獸不居。山 峭者崩、澤淺者溢。卉玉取石者盲、羊質虎皮者辱、衣不舉領者倒、走不視地者顛。柱弱者屋壞、輔弱者國 傾。足寒傷心、人怨傷國。山將崩者、下先隳;國將衰者、人先弊。根枯枝朽、人困國殘。與覆車同軌者、 與亡同事者滅。見將生者慎將生、惡其述者須避之。畏危者安、畏亡者存、夫人之所行、有道則吉、無道則 凶。吉則百福所歸、凶者百禍所攻。非其神聖、自然所鐘。務善業策者無惡事、無遠慮者有近憂。同志相得、 同仁相愛、同惡相黨、同愛相求、同美相妒、同志相謀、同貴相害、同利相忌、同聲相應、同類相依、同義 相親、同難相濟、同道相成、同藝相規、同巧相勝、此數之所得、不可與理違。釋已而教人者逆、正已而化 人者順。逆者難從、順者易行。難從刖亂、易行則理。如此理身、理家、理國可也。
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素書 The Book of Plain Words 1 夫道 徳仁義 禮五者一也 Now Tao, Virtue, Benevolence, Rectitude and Decorum – these five things are all one Principle. 道者 人之所蹈 使所使萬物不知其所由 As regards the Way of Tao, it is the Way that all men should walk in; making use of all things, they yet know not the source from which they spring. 徳者 人之所得 使萬物各得其所欲 Virtue is what all men should obtain; then everyone will have what he naturally needs. 仁者 人之所親 有慈惠惻隱之心 以遂其生成 The Benevolent are such as all men love; for where there is a merciful, liberal, sympathetic disposition, there will be a systematic compliance with the mutual wants of others. 義者 人之所宜 賞善罰惡 以立功立事 The Right-minded are those who act properly and justly towards their fellows, rewarding the good and punishing the wicked; by virtue of which they establish their own merit and give equitable decisions on the affairs that are brought before them. 禮者 人之所履 夙興夜寐 以成人倫之序 Decorum is what all men should observe, both in rising in the morning and retiring to rest at night; then the duties connected with human relationships will be performed in their due order. 夫欲爲人之 本不可無一焉 Now it is necessary to observe these five courses of action if one wishes to fulfil the proper functions of a man; there is not one which may be omitted. 賢人君子 明乎盛衰之道 The Sage and the superior man understand the law which governs prosperity and decay; 通乎成敗之數 審乎治亂之勢 友乎去就之理 they are well versed in the calculation of failure and success, they can discern between the conditions of orderly government and of anarchy, and know when to accept and when to decline appointments. 故潛居抱道 以待其時 若時至而行 Thus, abiding in retirement and holding fast their principles, they wait for seasonable opportunities; and if a proper time arrives, they act. 則能極人臣之位 得機而動 則能絶代之功 如其不遇 By this policy they are able to gain the highest offices in the State; and when the occasion presents itself, they strike out in some decisive action by which they achieve merit such as never had been achieved before. 沒身而已 是以其道足高 而名垂於后代 But if the opportunity does not offer, they just die when their time comes, and there is an end of it; so that the principles they hold are exalted in the extreme, and their fame descends to generations yet unborn. 2 徳足以懷遠 信足以一異 He whose virtue is all-sufficient to gain the affectionate esteem of those most distant from him, whose good-faith is allsufficient to mould confidence of the people, 義足以得衆 才足以鑒古 明足以照下 whose ability is all-sufficient to reflect the example of the ancients as in a mirror, and whose perspicacity in allsufficient to superintend his subordinates:
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此人之俊也 such a man is distinguished above all others. 行足以爲儀表 智足以決嫌疑 He whose conduct suffices as an example for others to imitate, whose wisdom is great enough to enable him to decide equitably in cases of enmity and mutual suspicion, 信可以使守約 廉可以使分財 whose good-faith causes others to keep their promises, and whose incorruptibility ensures a fair allotment of whatever there may be to divide: 此人之豪也 such a man is eminent above all others. 守識而不廢 處義而不回 He who, in an official position, does not fail in the performance of his duties, abides steadfast in his rectitude without swerving, 見嫌而不苛免 見利而不苛得 incurs hatred or suspicion yet does not desert his post, and never illicitly avails himself of any opportunity of selfadvantage which may come in this way: 此人之杰也 such a man is a hero. 3 絶噬柰慾 所以除累 By abandoning the appetites and restraining the passions, you may escape trouble and anxiety. 抑非損惡 所以讓過 By suppressing wrong and renouncing evil, you may ward off calamities. 貶酒闕色 所以無污 By avoiding over-indulgence in wine and curbing the carnal desires, you may escape defilement. 避嫌遠疑 所以不誤 By keeping clear of calumny and beyond the reach of suspicion, you may avoid hindrance to your affairs. 博學切問 所以廣知 By extensive study and eager questionings you may greatly enlarge your knowledge. 高行微言 所以修身 By a high course of conduct and a reserve in conversation, you may cultivate the person. 恭儉謙約 所以自守 By courtesy, frugality, modesty, and moderation, you may preserve your possessions from diminution. 深計遠慮 所以不窮 By deep calculations and taking thoughts for the distant future, you may avoid poverty. 親仁友直 所以扶順 By consulting with the benevolent and making friends of the outspoken and blunt, you may receive support in seasons of adversity. 近恕篤行 所以接人 By doing to others as you would wish to be done by, and being sincere and honest in all your dealings, you may attract all men to become your friends.
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任材施能 所以濟務 By committing responsibilities to able men, and making special use of their special faculties, you may materially further the business of the State. 癉惡斥讒 所以止亂 By abhorring the wicked and expelling slanderers from your presence, you may put a stop to disorder. 推古驗今 所以不惑 By testing the practices of to-day by investigating those of ancient times, you may avoid blunders. 先揆后度 所以應卒 By first estimating [the pros and cons of an affair] and then calculating [what ought to be done under the circumstances] you will be prepared to meet the most unexpected emergencies. 設變致權 所以解結 By providing against disaffection and knowing how to use your power, you will be able to unravel complications. 括囊順會 所以無咎 By keeping your knowledge to yourself and only acting as opportunity occurs, you avoid getting into trouble [by failing in what you professed yourself able to perform]. 橛橛梗梗 所以立功 By firmness and stability of purpose, you will establish merit. 孜孜淑淑 所以保終 By unwearying efforts and impregnable virtue, you will be able to preserve yourself securely until death. 4 夫志心篤行之術 長莫長於博謀 As regards the methods employed for forming deliberate intentions and doing straightforward actions, there is none that will enable you to continue longer in the course you desire to pursue than that of ample deliberation; 安莫安於忍辱 and none that will enable you to pursue that course in greater peace than the patient bearing of insult. 先莫先於修徳 樂莫樂於好善 There is nothing more important than the cultivation of virtue; there is no greater cause of joy than the love of goodness; 神莫神於至 明莫明於體物 there is nothing that will give you deeper insight into hidden things than perfect sincerity in word and deed; there is nothing that will make you clearer-sighted than understanding the nature of all created beings; 吉莫吉於自足 若莫若於多願 there is nothing more felicitous than contentment, nothing bitterer than covetousness, 悲莫悲於精散 病莫病於無常 nothing more sorrowful than the dispersion (or loss) of animal vigour, no greater sickness than that which results from the vicissitudes of life, 短莫短苟得 幽莫幽於貪鄙 nothing shorter than a career of unlawful gain, nothing that tends more to secrecy (or stealthiness) than avarice, 孤於孤於自恃 危莫危於任疑 nothing that isolates a man more than trusting to himself alone, nothing more dangerous than employing those whom you have reason to suspect, 敗莫敗於多私 and nothing more certain to bring ruin to you than unfairness or partiality.
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5 以明示下者暗 Those who proclaim their own cleverness to their inferiors are themselves ignorant. 有過不知者蔽 Those who are unconscious of their own faults are blinded. 迷而不返者惑 Those who are so fascinated by anything as to be unable to turn away from its pursuit, are deluded. 以言取怨者禍 Those who provoke animosity by [irritating] words, will incur disaster. 今與心乖者廢 Those whose commands are at variance with their consciences will meet with failure. 后令繆前者 Those who mislead people by countermanding the orders they have previously given, will bring ruin upon the affairs they have in hand. 怒而無威者犯 If a man is angry without inspiring awe, the delinquency will be repeated. 好直辱人者殃 A man who acquires a false reputation for honesty and brings shame on others, will meet with retribution. 刃辱所任者危 It is dangerous, first to treat a man with contumely and afterwards entrust him with responsibility. 慢其所敬者凶 It is inauspicious to treat the honourable with negligence or disrespect. 貌合心離者孤 A man who hides an alienated heart under a friendly face will be shunned. 親讒遠忠者亡 If [a sovereign] loves flatterers and keeps aloof from the honest and true, his kingdom will soon fall. 近色遠賢者昏 He who consorts much with beautiful women, and avoids the society of the virtuous, is deluded. 女謁公行者犯 If women are openly allowed to have audiences of the sovereign, internal disorder will ensue. 私人以官者浮 If the monarch gives office to his private friends and minions, the emoluments of the State will be squandered in vain. 淩下取勝者慢 He who oppresses his subjects and gets the better of them by main force, is a usurper. 名不勝實者耗 He whose reputation is greater than his actual abilities, is obliged to exert himself to the utmost to keep up that reputation – and without result. 略已而責人者不治 To make little of one's own faults and be severe to others', is not the way to govern. 自厚而薄人者卉 He who is generous as regards himself and niggardly in dealing with his fellows, will be abandoned.
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以功卉過者損 He who ignores merit on account of some trifling lapse, will suffer injury himself. 群不外異者淪 He who estranges the people from him will be ruined without hope. 既用不任者疏 He who employs people irrespective of their peculiar capabilities will incur the evil results of his laxity. 行賞恪色者沮 He who bestows rewards with a grudging face will receive a grudging service. 多許少與者怨 He who promises much and gives little will be murmured at. 既迎而拒者乖 He who makes advances to another and then suddenly breaks off intercourse with him, will meet with unexpected opposition. 薄施厚望者不報 He who is niggardly in bestowal and yet looks for a large return, will get no return at all. 貴而忘賤者不久 He who in a position of honour forgets the humble – or, the friends of humbler days – will not enjoy his honours long. 念舊惡而卉新功者凶 To harbour old grievances in one's memory and ignore present merit, is inauspicious. 用人不正者殆 Not to select upright men when employing people, is dangerous. 疆用人者不畜 He who employs others by main force will have nobody to obey him. 爲人擇官者亂 To appoint officials in deference to requests made by the friends of the candidates for office, will result in disorder. 先其所疆者弱 He who loses that in which consists his power, will become weak. 決策於不仁者廢 He who devises plans for the benefit of the inhuman – or, he who allows the inhuman to form plans for him – will be placed in jeopardy. 陰計外泄者敗 If secret counsels be bruited abroad, defeat will be the result. 厚斂薄施者凋 He who hoards much and gives out grudgingly, will find his substance diminishing. 戰士貧 游士富者衰 Where the military leaders are in penury and fashionable idlers wealthy, the State will fall. 貨賂公行者味 A man who openly accepts bribes, is self-deceived – or, does so against his own conscience. 聞善忽略 記過不忘者暴 He who, hearing of virtuous deeds, makes no account of them, but never forgets a fault, is tyrannical.
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所任不可信 所信不可任濁 He who commits responsibilities to the untrustworthy, and none to those who may be confided in, is muddle-headed, or stupid. 牧人以徳者集 繩人以刑者散 If a man nourishes the people according to virtue, all will come flocking to him; but if he holds them in restraint by means of punishments, they will disperse. 小功不賞則大聞功不立 少過不赦則大怨悲必生 If small merit be not rewarded, great merit will not be performed; if petty injuries be not forgiven, serious animosities will arise. 賞不服人 罰不甘心者叛 If rewards be bestowed upon the undeserving, and punishments on the unwilling – i.e., on those who know they have not incurred any penalty – the people will revolt. 賞及無功 罰及無罪者酷 To reward those who have no merit and punish those who have committed no fault, is truculent. 聽讒而美 聞諫而仇者亡 Listening with delight to flattery and with disgust to candid expostulation, will bring about the ruin of the State. 能有其有者安 貪人之有者殘 To be content with one's own will result in a nation's tranquillity; but to covet what belongs to another leads to oppression and wrong-doing. 6 怨在不舍小過 患在不預定謀 Enmities result from not abandoning little faults; misfortunes arise from not making decided plans beforehand. 福在積善 禍在積惡 Happiness results from the accumulation of good deeds; misery, from the accumulation of wicked ones. 饑在賤農 寒在惰織 Famines come about from depreciating agriculture; cold results from the neglect of weaving. 安在得人 危在失事 Tranquillity results from securing the services of suitable men; danger from losing men of ability. 富在迎來 貧在卉時 Wealth results from meeting [opportunities] half-way – or, taking advantage of whatever may turn up; penury, from rejecting such opportunities. 上無常躁 下多疑心 If those in authority are not perpetually vacillating, their subordinates will not be a prey to perplexity. 輕上生罪 侮下無親 Those who despise their superiors should not be held guiltless; while those who oppress their inferiors show by so doing their want of affection for them. 近臣不重 遠臣輕之 If ministers of the Presence do not receive proper consideration from the sovereign, he will be lightly esteemed by those of his ministers who are at a distance. 自疑不信人 自信不疑人 If you are naturally suspicious, you cannot have confidence in others; but if you are of a confiding nature, you will not suspect people. 枉士無直友 曲上無直下 The depraved have no true friends. A perverted sovereign will have no upright ministers.
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危國無賢人 亂政無善人 A State in danger has no virtuous man to the front; there are no good men under a disorderly government. 愛人深者 求賢急 樂得賢者 養人厚 Those who sincerely love others will search eagerly for men of virtue; and those who take pleasure in virtuous men will nourish the people generously. 國將霸者士者歸 邦將亡者賢先避 Where there is a State whose power has been established by sheer force of merit, all able men will resort to it; but virtuous men will retire from a State that is on the verge of ruin. 地薄者大物不産 水淺者大魚不游 Where the soil is thin, large things will not grow; where water is shallow, large fishes will not disport themselves; 樹禿者大禽不棲 林疏者大獸不居 if a tree is leafless, no large bird will rest upon it; if a forest is sparse, no large animal will take up his abode in it. 山峭者崩 澤淺者溢 If a mountain is high and steep, it will easily fall; if a pool is full of water, it will overflow. 卉玉取石者盲 羊質虎皮者辱 Those who throw away jade and cling to a common stone, are blind. Those who cover up a sheep in a tiger's skin will incur ridicule.3 衣不舉領者倒 If you don't hold a coot by the collar, you will put it on upside down. 走不視地者顛 If you don't look at the ground as you walk, you will fall. 柱弱者屋壞 輔弱者國傾 If the posts of a house are weak, the rooms will come to grief; and if the supports of a Government are feeble, the State will be ruined. 足寒傷心 人怨傷國 If the foot is cold, the heart will be injured; and if the populace are angered, the State will suffer. 山將崩者 下先隳 國將衰者 人先弊 Before the mountain falls, the base is undermined; and before the State falls, the people are in extremity. 根枯枝朽 人困國殘 If the root of a tree is rotten, the leaves will decay; if the people are worn out, the State will be annihilated. 與覆車同軌者 與亡同事者滅 If you drive a carriage in the ruts made by another carriage that has been overturned, you will meet the same disaster; and if you follow the example set by a State that is already lost, yours will be lost too. 見將生者慎將生 惡其述者須避之 Having already seen, therefore, the bad results which will accrue from a given line of conduct, take care not to give rise to them again; if you dread such consequences, make provision against them beforehand. 畏危者安 畏亡者存 To have a proper dread of danger is the way to ensure safety; to have a proper dread of the extermination [of one's State] is the way to preserve it. 夫人之所行 有道則吉 無道則凶 So, as regards the conduct of a man: if it be in accordance with right principle, it will be auspicious; if not, it will be the reverse.
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吉則百福所歸 凶者百禍所攻 非其神聖 自然所鐘 It is not the spirits or holy ones who will give one happiness; one must be endowed with it naturally. 務善業策者無惡事 無遠慮者有近憂 If a man discharges his functions on virtuous plans, no evil will ensue; but if he does not take forethought for what is yet far off, sorrow will come speedily upon him. 同志相得 同仁相愛 When [two or more] persons have one object in view, they will achieve it; when they are benevolent, they will share each other's disappointments. 同惡相黨 同愛相求 The wicked all consort one with another. 同美相妒 Those who are equally beautiful are jealous to each other. 同志相謀 Those whose shrewdness is equally great will scheme one against the other. 同貴相害 Those whose positions are equally high will injure each other. 同利相忌 Those who are competing for gain will be envious of one another. 同聲相應 Those whose voices are the same will respond to one another. 同類相依 Those who are subject to similar influences will be similarly affected. Those who belong to the same category conform to each other's habits. 同義相親 Those who are righteous will love each other. 同難相濟 Those who are in the same difficulty will assist each other. 同道相成 Those who are guided by the same principle of right will arrive at completion together – or, will [aid in] completing each other. 同藝相規 Those who possees the same skill will check each other's performances. 同巧相勝 Those who have the same adroitness will compete with each other. 此數之所得 不可與理違 The above embody an unvarying principle in each case, and the principle cannot be successfully opposed by anybody. 釋已而教人者逆 正已而化人者順 To give free rein to oneself and prescribe laws for others, will lead to disobedience; but if a man who attempts to reform his fellows is upright himself, all will follow his example. 逆者難從 順者易行 If a monarch runs counter to his people, he will have great difficulty in enforcing obedience; but if he guides himself by his people's wishes, affairs will go on easily.
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難從刖亂 易行則理 In the former case, disorder will ensue; in the latter, the government will be tranquilly accomplished. 如此理身 理家 理國可也 It is in this way that a man may achieve the proper regulation of himself, his household, and his State.
Bibliography Balfour, Fredrick. Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative. London/Shanghai: Trübner and Co./Kelly and Walsh, 1894: 95-102.
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胎息經 T'ai-hsi Ching Scripture of the Embryo Breathing Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour
Contents Bibliographic Information Author's Introduction Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 2 3 4 5 6
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Bibliographic Information Gaoshang yuhuang taixi jing 高上玉皇胎息經: Scripture on Embryonic Breathing of the Exalted Jade Sovereign: DZ 14. Abbreviated as Taixi jing 胎息經. An anonymous text of uncertain date. The text emphasizes daoyin 導引 (lit., "guiding and leading"; gymnastics), qiingestion, and embryonic breathing (taixi 胎息) methods. (Komjathy, 2004) Author's Introduction The following treatise, belonging though it does to a corrupted development of Taoism proper, may claim a place in the present series as being an amplification of the sixth chapter of the Tao Tê Ching. It teaches that in the whole Universe there is but one Breath, or Being, a participation in which results in Life or Birth. This Breath is as it were a vast and inexhanstible reservoir, whence all things derive their existence; but it is double, embodying the Yin or feminine Principle of Nature with the Yang, and from these producing all things. The sixth chapter of the Tao Tê Ching, constituting the text or key-note of the present essay, is to the following effect: – "The Breath, or Spirit, of the Deep is imperishable. It is called the Azure (Heaven) and the Mother (Earth). The passage through which these Two Influences emerge and enter is called the root of the visible creation. They are ceaseless in action as though permanent, and may be used without ever being exhausted." (Balfour, 1894: 63)
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Tai Hsi Ching The Embryo is formed by the concretion of concealed Breath; and the Embryo being brought into existence, the Breath begins to move in Respiration. The generative auræ of the Great Empyrean all constitute one Breath. The Great or Universal Spirit, lying in readiness, becomes united with the embryo, and the embryo, being thus united with it, develops respiration. Then the embryo is like a flower, of which the navel is the peduncle; and as the umbilical cord is connected with the placenta, the embryo inhales and exhales simultaneously with the mother, one inhalation and one exhalation constituting Respiration. A period of absolute quiescence follows, [during which] the unmixed virility of the embryo – the pure Yang – increases day by day; and when the months are fulfilled the body is fully formed and parturition takes place. This is what Yuen Shih – the First Person in the Taoist Trinity – makes known to men, in order that they may preserve their breath intact until it becomes soft and pliable as a little child's. The entrance of Breath into the body is Life; the departure of the Spirit from the external form is Death. The external form of a man is his body; the spirit is the intelligent part of the breath; perception is the controller of the external form. The breath effects the completion of this form; as long as the outer form and the spirit are not separated, the breath will enter the body; and if the spirit remains in the body, the body will assuredly live for ever. But if the spirit departs, the breath will be dispersed and the body will decay; that is death. Therefore it may be said that death is the source of the life and life the source of death. He who understands the Spirit and the Breath may live for ever; he who rigorously maintains the Empty and Non-existent may thereby nourish the Spirit and the Breath. Spirit and Breath are One; they come from Emptiness and Non-existence. From the disruption of Chaos until now they have never either diminished or increased. Wherefore it is said that the Spirit of the Deep is immortal. When a man is able to discard his senses of sight and hearing, and to abstain from understanding and knowing, this amounts to a rigorous maintenance [of the Empty and Non-existent], by means of which he nourishes [the Spirit and the Breath]. But if he recognises the Actual and the Existent he will be deceived, and he himself the means of shortening his own life. When the Spirit moves the Breath moves; when Spirit is still the Breath is still. The Spirit is identical with the Will. The Breath is that which pervades, or is co-extensive with, the whole body. The Will is the conductor of the Breath. The Breath accompanies the Spirit, and the Spirit conducts the Breath, which, in moving or resting, takes its cue from the Spirit; so that the Spirit and the Breath necessarily nourish one another. If you desire to attain to immortality, the Spirit and the Breath must be diffused through one another. The Spirit of the Deep is immortal. It is called the Azure (Heaven) and the Mother (Earth); the Emptiness which exists in the centre of the ancestral Breath before the birth takes place. Heaven and Earth are also called the Cavity where resides the Breath. If one closes the eyes and looks inwards, consolidating the Spirit and causing it to enter this Cavity, the Spirit and the Breath will pervade each other and be firmly maintained within; and by this means immortality may be obtained. If the Heart is perfectly devoid of thoughts – neither going nor coming, issuing nor entering – it will dwell permanently within of its own accord. The Heart is the abode of the Spirit. If it exercises itself in thinking, it will go backwards and forwards and out and in, and be unable to dwell permanently within. The spirit and the breath of an infant in the womb are both alike motionless; so that [the heart], being devoid or thoughts, neither comes nor goes, emerges nor enters in. Now if a man is able to concentrate his breath and enfold his spirit like a little child, the pure virile principle will be agglomerated, and he will return from a state of age to that of a boy and live for ever. This is the nourishment of the Spirit and the Breath by rigorously maintaining the Empty and the Non-existent. Wherefore I say, Discard the will, revert to the Empty and Non-existent, and let your mental vacuity be permanent. Be diligent in pursuing this course; for it is the true road to take. To sum up the whole: Act permanently and strenuously. Lao Tsze said, "If you employ [such methods] without diligence you will receive no help." The meaning of "diligence" as here used implies never neglecting; that is, a constant practice, as though permanent. "True" means not false; it is the straight road, not a side gate. In the Thirty-six Imbibements the first thing is that the exalation should be very slight; the inhalation very long drawn. Whether sitting or lying, this rule should be alike observed; walking and standing there should be tranquillity. Guard against clamour and crowds; avoid the odour of fish and meat. That which is metaphorically called the Respiration of the Embryo is truly called the Inner Elixir. It not only cures diseases, but confers immortality. He who continuously pursues this practice will have his name inscribed upon the Register of the Immortals. This is a guide-book to Embryonic Respiration. If the breath be regulated and the saliva [properly] swallowed, the primogenial breath of the Inner Palace may be recruited. The saliva should be swallowed thrice every two hours; to swallow during the period between eleven and one at night will do still more towards the nourishment of Life.
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高上玉皇胎息經 Kao-shang Yü-huang T'ai-hsi Ching 玉皇天尊曰胎從伏氣中結氣從有胎中息氣入身來謂之生神去離形謂之死知神氣可以長生故守虚無以養神氣神行即 氣行神住即氣住若欲長生神氣相注心不動念無來無去不出不入自然常在勤而行之是眞道路 Punctuated Text 玉皇天尊曰、胎從伏氣中結、氣從有胎中息。氣入身來謂之生、神去離形謂之死。知神氣可以長生、故守虚無以 養神氣。神行即氣行、神住即氣住。若欲長生、神氣相注。心不動念無來無去、不出不入自然常在。勤而行之是 眞道路。
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胎息經 Respiration of the Embryo
眞 無 神 可 道 來 住 以 路 無 即 長 去 氣 生 不 住 故 出 若 守 不 欲 虚 入 長 無 自 生 以 然 神 養 常 氣 神 在 相 氣 勤 注 神 而 心 行 行 不 即 之 動 氣 是 念 行
氣 入 身 來 謂 之 生 神 去 離 形 謂 之 死 知 神 氣
玉 皇 天 尊 曰 胎 從 伏 氣 中 結 氣 從 有 胎 中 息
高 上 玉 皇 胎 息 經
玉皇天尊曰 胎從伏氣中結 氣從有胎中息 The Embryo is formed by the concretion of concealed Breath;1 and the Embryo being brought into existence, the Breath begins to move in Respiration. 氣入身來謂之生 神去離形謂之死 The entrance of Breath into the body is Life; the departure of the Spirit from the external form is Death. 知神氣可以長生 故守虚無以養神氣 He who understands the Spirit and the Breath may live for ever; he who rigorously maintains the Empty and Non-existent may thereby nourish the Spirit and the Breath. 神行即氣行 神住即氣住 When the Spirit moves the Breath moves; when Spirit is still the Breath is still. 若欲長生 神氣相注 If you desire to attain to immortality, the Spirit and the Breath must be diffused through one another. 心不動念無來無去 不出不入自然常在 If the Heart is perfectly devoid of thoughts – neither going nor coming, issuing nor entering – it will dwell permanently within of its own accord. 勤而行之是眞道路 Be diligent in pursuing this course; for it is the true road to take.
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Bibliography Balfour, Fredrick. Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative. London/Shanghai: Trübner and Co./Kelly and Walsh, 1894: 63-6. Komjathy, Louis, "Daoist Texts in Translation", 2004.
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太一生水 T'ai-i Sheng Shui The Great One Gives Birth to the Waters Translated by Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall
Contents Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
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The Great One Gives Birth to the Waters In the Great One1 giving birth to the waters, the waters collaterally assist the Great One, thereby producing the heavens. The heavens assist the Great One, thereby producing the earth. The heavens and the earth again assist each other, thereby producing the spiritual and numinous. The spiritual and numinous assist each other, thereby producing yin and yang qi. Yin and yang qi assist each other, thereby producing the four seasons. The four seasons again assist each other, thereby producing the hot and the cold. The hot and the cold again assist each other, thereby producing the moist and the dry. And the moist and the dry assist each other, culminating in producing the yearly cycle. Thus it is the moist and the dry that give birth to the yearly cycle; it is the hot and the cold that give birth to the moist and the dry; it is the four seasons that give birth to the hot and the cold; it is the yin and yang qi that give birth to the four seasons; it is the spiritual and the numinous that give birth to the yin and yang qi; it is the heavens and the earth that give birth to the four seasons; it is the Great One that gives birth to the heavens and the earth. Thus it is that the Great One is hidden away in the waters, and travels with the seasons. It completes a cycle only to begin again, making itself the mother of everything that happens. Is is alternatively deficient then full, making itself the guiding pattern of everything that happens. This is not something that the heavens can diminish, nor something that the earth can alter, nor something the yin and the yang qi can bring to closure. Exemplary persons know this as what is called . . . The way of tian is to prize softness. It pairs away at what has culminated in order to benefit new growth. It attacks the strong, and punishes the hard; it aids the soft and benefits the weak. The dirt beneath our feet we call the earth, and the qi above our heads we call the heavens. As for dao, it is just another style name for the same things. But what, may I ask, is its proper name? Those would accord with dao in their undertakings must do so in the name of dao. It is thus that they are successful at what they do and are personally longlived. Even the sages who accord with dao in the undertakings do so in its name. It is thus that they are successful in their accomplishments and personally go unharmed. The different names for the heavens and the earth – both their original name and their style name – are also well-established. It is just that in trying to venture beyond these categories, we do not think that such names are fitting. The heavens are wanting in the northwest, but the earth beneath compensates for this deficiency by its height. The earth is wanting in the southeast, but the heavens above compensate for this deficiency by their height. Any deficiency above is made up for in what is below, and any deficiency below is made up for in what is above. Note 1. The editors of the Guodian Chumu zhujian (1998): 125 n.1 identify the taiyi 太一 with dao on the basis of a passage in the Lushi chunqiu: 道也者精也不可爲名強爲之名謂之太一 As for dao, it is vitality. It cannot be given either form or name. If forced to name it, I would call it the Great One.
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太一生水 T'ai-i Sheng Shui 大一生水水反大一是以成天天反大一是以成地天地[]相也是以成神明神明相也是以成陰陽陰陽相也是以成陰陽 陰陽相也是以成四時四時相也是以成滄燃滄燃相也是以成濕燥濕燥相也成歳而走故歳者濕燥之所生也濕燥者 滄燃之所生也滄燃者四時[之所生也四時]者陰陽之所生[也]有陰陽者神明之所生也神明者天地之所生也天地者 大一之所生也是故大一藏於水行於時逾而或□□□□萬物母能缺能盈以其為萬物經此天之所不能殺地之所不 能埋陰陽之所不能成君子知此之謂□□□□□□□□□□下土地而謂之地上氣也而謂之天道亦其載也晴晦其 名以道從事者必托其名故事成而身長聖人之從事也亦托其名故功成而身不天地名才並立故過其方不災相□□ □□天道貴弱缺成者以益生者伐於強資於弱□□□天不足於西北其下高以強地不足於東南其上商以強故不足 於上者有餘於下不足於下者有餘於上 Punctuated Text 大一生水、水反大一、是以成天;天反大一、是以成地;天地[]相也、是以成神明。神明相也、是以成陰陽。 陰陽相也、是以成陰陽。陰陽相也、是以成四時。四時相也、是以成滄燃。滄燃相也、是以成濕燥。濕燥相 也、成歳而走。 故歳者、濕燥之所生也。濕燥者、滄燃之所生也。滄燃者、四時[之所生也。四時]者、陰陽之所生[也];有陰 陽者、神明之所生也。神明者、天地之所生也。天地者、大一之所生也。是故大一藏於水、行於時、逾而或 □□□□萬物母、能缺能盈、以其為萬物經。此天之所不能殺、地之所不能埋。陰陽之所不能成、君子知此 之謂□□□□□□□□□□ 下土地、而謂之地;上氣也、而謂之天。道亦其載也、晴晦其名。以道從事者、必托其名、故事成而身長。 聖人之從事也、亦托其名、故功成而身不。天地名、才並立、故過其方不災相□□□□ 天道貴弱。缺成者、以益生者。伐於強、資於弱、□□□。天不足於西北、其下高以強;地不足於東南、其 上商以強。故不足於上者、有餘於下;不足於下者有餘於上。
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太一生水 The Great One Gives Birth to the Waters 大一生水 水反大一 是以成天 In the Great One1 giving birth to the waters, the waters collaterally assist the Great One, thereby producing the heavens. 天反大一 是以成地 The heavens assist the Great One, thereby producing the earth. 天地 [ ] 相也 是以成神明 The heavens and the earth again assist each other, thereby producing the spiritual and numinous. 神明相也 是以成陰陽 The spiritual and numinous assist each other, thereby producing yin and yang qi. 陰陽相也 是以成四時 Yin and yang qi assist each other, thereby producing the four seasons, 四時相也 是以成滄燃 The four seasons again assist each other, thereby producing the hot and the cold. 滄燃相也 是以成濕燥 The hot and the cold again assist each other, thereby producing the moist and the dry. 濕燥相也 成歳而走 And the moist and the dry assist each other, culminating in producing the yearly cycle. 故歳者 濕燥之所生也 Thus it is the moist and the dry that give birth to the yearly cycle; 濕燥者 滄燃之所生也 it is the hot and the cold that give birth to the moist and the dry; 滄燃者 四時[之所生也 it is the four seasons that give birth to the hot and the cold; 四時]者 陰陽之所生[也] it is the yin and yang qi that give birth to the four seasons; 有陰陽者 神明之所生也 it is the spiritual and the numinous that give birth to the yin and yang qi; 神明者 天地之所生也 it is the heavens and the earth that give birth to the four seasons; 天地者 大一之所生也 it is the Great One that gives birth to the heavens and the earth. 是故大一藏於水 行於時 Thus it is that the Great One is hidden away in the waters, and travels with the seasons. 逾而或□□□□萬物母 It completes a cycle only to begin again, making itself the mother of everything that happens. 能缺能盈 以其為萬物經 Is is alternatively deficient then full, making itself the guiding pattern of everything that happens.
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此天之所不能殺 地之所不能埋 陰陽之所不能成 This is not something that the heavens can diminish, nor something that the earth can alter, nor something the yin and the yang qi can bring to closure. 君子知此之謂□□□□□□□□□□ Exemplary persons know this as what is called . . . 天道貴弱 The way of tian is to prize softness. 缺成者 以益生者 It pairs away at what has culminated in order to benefit new growth. 伐於強 資於弱 □□□ It attacks the strong, and punishes the hard; it aids the soft and benefits the weak. 下土地 而謂之地 上氣也 而謂之天 The dirt beneath our feet we call the earth, and the qi above our heads we call the heavens. 道亦其載也 As for dao, it is just another style name for the same things. 晴晦其名 But what, may I ask, is its proper name? 以道從事者 必托其名 Those would accord with dao in their undertakings must do so in the name of dao. 故事成而身長 It is thus that they are successful at what they do and are personally long-lived. 聖人之從事也 Even the sages who accord with dao in the undertakings do so in its name. 亦托其名 故功成而身不 It is thus that they are successful in their accomplishments and personally go unharmed. 天地名 才並立 The different names for the heavens and the earth – both their original name and their style name – are also wellestablished. 故過其方不災相□□□□ It is just that in trying to venture beyond these categories, we do not think that such names are fitting. 天不足於西北 其下高以強 The heavens are wanting in the northwest, but the earth beneath compensates for this deficiency by its height. 地不足於東南 其上商以強 The earth is wanting in the southeast, but the heavens above compensate for this deficiency by their height. 故不足於上者 有餘於下 不足於下者有餘於上 Any deficiency above is made up for in what is below, and any deficiency below is made up for in what is above.
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Bibliography Ames, Roger T. and Hall, David L.. Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003: 229-31.
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道原 Tao-yüan Tao the Origin Translated by Robin S. Yates
Contents Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 4 5 7
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Tao The Origin At the beginning of eternal nonexistence, Totally the same as the Great Void; Vacuous and the same, it was the One; Being the One constantly, it was nothing more. Misty and blurred, It did not yet possess light and dark. Daemonic and faint, yet it filled everywhere, Quintessentially quiescent, it was not luminous. Therefore it did not possess form; Immensely penetrating despite being nameless. Heaven was unable to cover it; Earth was unable to hold it up. So small, it could bring smallness to completion; So large, it could bring largeness to completion. It filled up all within the Four Seas, And embraced what was outside them. In Yin it was not rotted, In Yang it was not scorched. It took One as its measure and did not change And was able to be right for the crawling insects. The birds flew by acquiring it; The fish swam by acquiring it; The wild animals ran by acquiring it. The myriad phenomena lived by acquiring it; The numerous affairs were successfully completed by it; All men used it, But no one knew its name. All men employed it, But no one saw its form. The One was its appelation, The Void was its dwelling; Nonaction was its original constitution; Harmony was its use. For this reason, the superior Tao is so high it cannot be scruntinized, It is so deep it cannot be fathomed. It is clear and bright, but no one can name it; It is broad and large, but no one can give it a form; It stands alone and is not paired with anything else And none of the myriad phenomena is able to issue it orders. Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, The [four] seasons, the sun and moon, The planets and constellations and cloudy vapors, The wrigglers that walk and the crawlers that move, And the plants that grow roots All take their life from the Tao But they do not decrease it. They all return to the Tao But they do not increase it. It is hard and strong, yet it is not broken, It is soft and weak, yet cannot be changed. The subtlest of the fine cannot reach it; The furthest of the distant cannot pass it. Therefore it is only the Sage who is able to examine the formless, Who is able to hear the [sound]less. When he knows the reality of the Void, Later he is able to be supremely empty: Then he penetrates to the quintessence of Heaven and Earth, Penetrates to sameness and lacks differentation, And harmonizes everywhere, yet it is not full. One who practices this Tao Is called "Capable of Being Quintessential."
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He who is bright assuredly is able to examine into the distant, He knows what other men cannot know, He gains what others cannot acquire: This is called "Examining into the Far and Knowing the Distant." If the sage king uses such a one, The world submits. Without likes, without hates, When the superiors use . . . then the people are not deluded and confused. When the superiors are empty and inferiors quiescent, then the Tao gains its correct position. The trustworthy are able to be without desires, And can issue commands to the people: If you are extremely trustworthy and without affairs then the myriad phenomena are everywhere arranged. Divide them according to their natural divisions, then the myriad people will not fight. Bestow positions on them according to their names, then the myriad phenomena will settle themselves. Do not labor on behalf of order, Do not be idle because of disorder. Broad and large, and troublesome tasks will not reach you; Deep and subtle, and searching will not find you. Now be One and not transform, Gain the root of the Tao, Grasp the few to know the many, Gain the essentials of affairs, Lay hold of the correct to correct the irregular. First know highest antiquity, Later . . . quintessentially bright. Embrace the Tao and control the measures And the world can be unified. Observe highest antiquity, And discern everywhere where it can be used. Search into matters before they are nothing; Control them when you have the means.
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道原 Tao-yüan 恒無之初迵同大虚虚同爲一恒一而止濕濕夢夢未有明悔神微周盈精靜不熙故未有以萬物莫以故無有形大迵無 名天弗能覆地弗能載小以成小大以成大盈四海之内又包其外在陰腐在陽不焦一度不變能適蚑蟯鳥得而飛魚得 而游獸得而走萬物得之以生百事得之以成人皆以之莫知其名人皆用之莫見其形一者其號也虚其舍也無為其素 也和其用也是故上道高而不可察也深而不可測也顯明弗能為名廣大弗能為形獨立不偶萬物莫之能令天地陰陽 四時日月星辰雲氣蚑行蟯動戴根之徒皆取生道弗為益少皆反焉道弗為益堅強而不撌柔弱而不可化精微之所不 能至稽極之所不能過故唯聖人能察無形能聽無聲知虚之實後能大虚乃通天地之精通同而無間周襲而不盈服此 道者是謂能精明者固能察極知人之所不能知服人之所不能得是謂察稽知極聖王用此天下服無好無惡上用而民 不迷惑上虚下靜而道得其正信能無欲可為民命信無事則萬物周遍分之以其分而萬民不爭授之以其名而萬物自 定不為治勸不為亂解廣大弗務及也深微弗索得也夫為一而不化得道之本握少以知多得事之要操正以正畸前知 太古後精明抱道執度天下可一也觀之太古周其所以索之未無得之所以 Punctuated Text 恒無之初、迵同大虚。虚同爲一、恒一而止。濕濕夢夢、未有明悔。神微周盈、精靜不熙。故未有以、萬物 莫以。故無有形、大迵無名。天弗能覆、地弗能載。小以成小、大以成大。盈四海之内、又包其外。在陰腐、 在陽不焦。一度不變、能適蚑蟯。鳥得而飛、魚得而游、獸得而走;萬物得之以生、百事得之以成。人皆以 之、莫知其名。人皆用之、莫見其形。一者、其號也、虚其舍也、無爲其素也、和其用也。是故上道高而不 可察也、深而不可測也。顯明弗能爲名、廣大弗能爲形、獨立不偶、萬物莫之能令。天地陰陽、四時日月、 星辰雲氣、蚑行蟯動、戴根之徒、皆取生、道弗爲益少;皆反焉、道弗爲益。堅強而不撌、柔弱而不可化。 精微之所不能至、稽極之所不能過。故唯聖人能察無形、能聽無聲。知虚之實、後能大虚;乃通天地之精、 通同而無間、周襲而不盈。服此道者、是謂能精。明者固能察極、知人之所不能知、服人之所不能得。是謂 察稽知極。聖王用此、天下服。無好無惡、上用而民不迷惑。上虚下靜而道得其正。信能無欲、可爲民命; 信無事、則萬物周遍、分之以其分、而萬民不爭;授之以其名、而萬物自定。不爲治勸、不爲亂解。廣大、 弗務及也;深微、弗索得也。夫爲一而不化、得道之本、握少以知多;得事之要、操正以正畸。前知太古、 後精明。抱道執度、天下可一也。觀之太古、周其所以。索之未無、得之所以。
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道原 Tao The Origin 恒無之初 迵同大虚 虚同爲一 恒一而止 濕濕夢夢 未有明悔 神微周盈 精靜不熙 故無有形 大迵無名 天弗能覆 地弗能載 小以成小 大以成大 盈四海内 又包其外 在陰腐 在陽不焦 一度不變 能適蚑蟯 鳥得而飛 魚得而游 獸得而走 萬物得之以生 百事得之以成 人皆以之 莫知其名 人皆用之 莫見其形 一者其號也 虚其舍也 無爲其素也 和其用也 是故上道高 而不可察也 深而不可測也 顯明弗能爲名 廣大弗能爲形 獨立不偶 萬物莫之能令 天地陰陽 四時日月 星辰雲氣 蚑行蟯動 戴根之徒 皆取生道 弗爲益少 皆反焉 道弗爲益
At the beginning of eternal nonexistence, Totally the same as the Great Void; Vacuous and the same, it was the One; Being the One constantly, it was nothing more. Misty and blurred, It did not yet possess light and dark. Daemonic and faint, yet it filled everywhere, Quintessentially quiescent, it was not luminous. Therefore it did not possess form; Immensely penetrating despite being nameless. Heaven was unable to cover it; Earth was unable to hold it up. So small, it could bring smallness to completion; So large, it could bring largeness to completion. It filled up all within the Four Seas, And embraced what was outside them. In Yin it was not rotted, In Yang it was not scorched. It took One as its measure and did not change And was able to be right for the crawling insects. The birds flew by acquiring it; The fish swam by acquiring it; The wild animals ran by acquiring it. The myriad phenomena lived by acquiring it; The numerous affairs were successfully completed by it; All men used it, But no one knew its name. All men employed it, But no one saw its form. The One was its appelation, The Void was its dwelling; Nonaction was its original constitution; Harmony was its use. For this reason, the superior Tao is so high It cannot be scruntinized, It is so deep it cannot be fathomed. It is clear and bright, but no one can name it; It is broad and large, but no one can give it a form; It stands alone and is not paired with anything else And none of the myriad phenomena is able to issue it orders. Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, The [four] seasons, the sun and moon, The planets and constellations and cloudy vapors, The wrigglers that walk and the crawlers that move, And the plants that grow roots All take their life from the Tao But they do not decrease it. They all return to the Tao But they do not increase it.
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堅強而不撌 柔弱而不可化 精微之所不能至 稽極之所不能過 故唯聖人 能察無形 能聽無聲 知虚之實 後能大虚 乃通天地之精 通同而無間 周襲而不盈 服此道者 是謂能精 明者固能察極 知人之所不能知 服人之所不能得 是謂察稽知極 聖王用此 天下服 無好無惡 上用 而民不迷惑 上虚下靜 而道得其正 信能無欲 可爲民命 信無事 則萬物周遍 分之以其分 而萬民不爭 授之以其名 而萬物自定 不爲治勸 不爲亂解 廣大弗務及也 深微弗索得也 夫爲一而不化 得道之本 握少以知多 得事之要 操正以正畸 前知太古 後精明 抱道執度 天下可一也 觀之太古 周其所以 索之未無 得之所以
It is hard and strong, yet it is not broken, It is soft and weak, yet cannot be changed. The subtlest of the fine cannot reach it; The furthest of the distant cannot pass it. Therefore it is only the Sage Who is able to examine the formless, Who is able to hear the [sound]less. When he knows the reality of the Void, Later he is able to be supremely empty: Then he penetrates to the quintessence of Heaven and Earth, Penetrates to sameness and lacks differentation, And harmonizes everywhere, yet it is not full. One who practices this Tao Is called "Capable of Being Quintessential." He who is bright assuredly is able to examine into the distant, He knows what other men cannot know, He gains what others cannot acquire: This is called "Examining into the Far and Knowing the Distant." If the sage king uses such a one, The world submits. Without likes, without hates, When the superiors use . . . Then the people are not deluded and confused. When the superiors are empty and inferiors quiescent, Then the Tao gains its correct position. The trustworthy are able to be without desires, And can issue commands to the people: If you are extremely trustworthy and without affairs, Then the myriad phenomena are everywhere arranged. Divide them according to their natural divisions, Then the myriad people will not fight. Bestow positions on them according to their names, Then the myriad phenomena will settle themselves. Do not labor on behalf of order, Do not be idle because of disorder. Broad and large, and troublesome tasks will not reach you; Deep and subtle, and searching will not find you. Now be One and not transform, Gain the root of the Tao, Grasp the few to know the many, Gain the essentials of affairs, Lay hold of the correct to correct the irregular. First know highest antiquity, Later . . . quintessentially bright. Embrace the Tao and control the measures And the world can be unified. Observe highest antiquity, And discern everywhere where it can be used. Search into matters before they are nothing; Control them when you have the means.
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Bibliography S. Yates, Robin. Five Lost Classics: Tao, Huang-Lao, and Yin-Yang in Han China. New York: Ballantine Books, 1997: 173-7.
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打坐歌 Ta-tso Ko Song of Silent Sitting Attributed to Chang San-feng 張三豐 Translated by Wong Kiew Kit
張三豐打坐歌 Chang San-feng's Song of Silent Sitting 初打坐 學參神 這個消息在玄關 秘秘綿綿調呼吸 一陰一陽鼎内煎 性要悟 命要傳 休將火候當等閒 閉目觀心守本命 清靜無為是根源 百日内 見應驗 坎中一點往上翻 黄婆其間為媒約 嬰兒姹女兩團圓 美不盡 對誰言 渾身上下氣沖天 這個消息誰知道 啞子做夢不能言 急下手 採先天 靈藥一點透三關 丹田直上泥丸頂 降下重樓入中元 水火既濟眞鉛汞 若非戊己不成丹 心要死 命要堅 神光照耀遍三千 無影樹下金雞叫 半夜三更現紅蓮 冬至一陽來復始 霹靂一聲震動天 龍又叫 虎又歡 仙藥齊鳴非等閒 恍恍惚惚存有無 無窮造化在其間 玄中妙 妙中玄 河車搬運過三關 天地交泰萬物生 日飲甘露似蜜甜 仙是佛 佛是仙 一性圓明不二般 三教原來是一家
Sitting silently, practice meditation; The impulse is at yuanguan. Continuously and gently regulate your breathing; One yin and one yang brewing in the internal cauldron. Nature must be enlightened, life be preserved. Don't rush, let the fire burn slowly. Close your eyes and look at your heart of life. Let tranquility and spontaneity be the source. In a hundred days you will see a result: A drop of elixir rises from kan, The Yellow woman is the matchmaker in between, Both the baby and the red lady are perfect. The beauty is boundless and inexplicable, All over the body vital energy arises. Who can know such a marvelous experience? It's like a dumb person having a beautiful dream. Swiftly take in the primordial essence; The elixir breaks through the three obstacles, Rising from dantian to the top at niyuan, Then submerging into the zongyuan. Water and fire combine for form real mercury, Without wu and ji there is no elixir. Let the mind be still, and life be strong. The spirit radiates throughout 3,000 worlds. Golden cockerel crows beneath the shadowless tree, The red lotus blossoms in the middle of night. Winter comes the sun shines again, A thunderous roar shatters heaven and earth. Dragons call, tigers play, Heavenly music fills the sky with harmony. In nebulous mixture everything is empty, The infinite phenomena are all here. Marvelous in its mystery, mysterious in its marvel. The circulation of the stream breaks through the three obstacles; All phenomena are born in the union of heaven and earth. Drink the dew of nature, sweet like honey, Saints are buddhas, buddhas are saints. When the ultimate reality reveals dualism disappears, Now I realize all religions are the same!
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飢則吃飲困則眠 假燒香 拜參禪 豈知大道在目前 昏迷吃齋錯過了 一失人身萬劫難 愚迷妄想西天路 瞎漢夜走入深山 天機妙 非等閒 泄露天機罪如山 四正理 著意參 打破玄機妙通玄 子午卯酉不斷夜 早拜明師結成丹 有人識得眞鉛汞 便是長生不老仙 行一日 一日堅 莫把修行眼下觀 三年九載功成就 煉成一粒紫金丹 要知此歌何人作 清虚道人三豐仙
Eat when hungry, sleep when tired, Offer a joss stick and practice meditation. The great Tao is just before your eyes, If you are deluded, you'll miss the chance. Once you've lost your human form you may have to wait a million eons. The uninformed dream of going to heaven, The blind go into a deep forest to practice. The ultimate secret is marvelous beyond the profane, Letting out the ultimate secret is heavy sin. The four true principles you have to cultivate, Breaking the gate of mystery to reach the marvelous. Cultivate day and night without break, Get a master early to develop your elixir. There are people who know that real mercury Is the elixir of longevity and immortality. Cultivate each day, be more determined each day; Do not regard spiritual cultivation as just an ad hoc task. To succeed one must cultivate for three years, nine years, Before a pearl of elixir can be cultivated. If you want to know who composed this song, It's by the Taoist Priest of Purity and Void, the Saint Zhang San Feng.
Bibliography Kiew Kit, Wong. The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan: A Comprehensive Guide to the Principles and Practice. Boston: Tuttle Publishing, 1996: 19-21.
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大通經 Ta-t'ung Ching Scripture of the Great Pervader Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour
Contents Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 3 4 5
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Universal Understanding The Ta T'ung Ching1 That which is born in the state of Previous Existence, is born invisible – or formless; being extant in the state of Subsequent Existence, it is incorporeal. But that which is incorporeal has never really been extant; wherefore such a thing may be said to be unthinkable. The inherent nature [of man] is quiescent; then his mind is within him.2 The mind [of man] is active; then his nature is within him.3 When the mind prevails, the inherent nature is annihilated; when the mind is annihilated, the inherent nature becomes manifested. Resembling emptiness, without external form, it is then pure and pellucid, perfect and complete. The Great Tao is without peer; wherefore [its votary] ever maintains, interiorly, the Actual – the Existent. His unalloyed inherent nature is inactive; wherefore his mind never asserts itself externally. Self-sufficient and spontaneous, illimitable in extent [are the internal resources of such a man]! Whatever may be the circumstances of surroundings with which he is brought into contact, he ignores them all; he is not engulphed in the toils of the Six Despoilers; living in the dusty world, he is yet outside of it; he is not drawn into the transmutations of the myriad affinities. Being perfectly quiescent, he never moves; possessing perfect harmony, he never changes. His wisdom reflects, as in a mirror, the entire Universe; his emptiness evolves inaction. The existence of Law he perceives to be its absence; Not to cultivate [Tao] he understands as, really, its cultivation; He embracingly upholds the myriad forms of Life Without so much anxiety as the tip of a thread of silk. Notes 1. The most superficial perusal of this essay will be found sufficient to detect the strong Buddhist influences to which the author was subjected. Its date is therefore probable later than the Han. 2. That is, while quiescence, which is the real nature of man, is in the ascendant, the mind remains inactive; it does not emerge from the interior. 3. When the mind bursts forth in action, the inherent nature of man, being quiescent, takes no part in it, but remains tranquilly within.
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大通經 Ta-t'ung Ching 先天而生生而无形後天而存存而无體然而无體未嘗存也故曰不可思議靜爲之性心在其中矣動爲之心性在其中 矣心生性滅心滅性現如空无相湛然圓滿 大道无相故内其攝於有眞性无爲故外不生其心如如自然廣无邊際境忘境不沉於六賊之魔居塵出塵不落萬緣之 化致靜不動方大明虚變无爲 頌曰有法悟无法无脩解有脩包含萬象體不掛一絲頭 Punctuated Text 先天而生、生而无形;後天而存、存而无體。然而无體未嘗存也、故曰 「不可思議」。靜爲之性、心在其中 矣;動爲之心、性在其中矣。心生性滅、心滅性現、如空无相、湛然圓滿。 大道无相、故内其攝於有;眞性无爲、故外不生其心。如如自然、廣无邊際。境忘境不沉、於六賊之魔。居 塵出塵、不落萬緣之化。致靜不動、方大明虚變无爲。 頌曰 有法悟无法、无脩解有脩 包含萬象體、不掛一絲頭
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大通經 Universal Understanding 先天而生 生而无形 That which is born in the state of Previous Existence, is born invisible – or formless; 後天而存 存而无體 being extant in the state of Subsequent Existence, it is incorporeal. 然而无體 未嘗存也 故曰不可思議 But that which is incorporeal has never really been extant; wherefore such a thing may be said to be unthinkable. 靜爲之性 心在其中矣 The inherent nature [of man] is quiescent; then his mind is within him.2 動爲之心 性在其中矣 The mind [of man] is active; then his nature is within him.3 心生性滅 心滅性現 When the mind prevails, the inherent nature is annihilated; when the mind is annihilated, the inherent nature becomes manifested. 如空无相 湛然圓滿 Resembling emptiness, without external form, it is then pure and pellucid, perfect and complete. 大道无相 故内其攝於有 The Great Tao is without peer; wherefore [its votary] ever maintains, interiorly, the Actual – the Existent. 眞性无爲 故外不生其心 His unalloyed inherent nature is inactive; wherefore his mind never asserts itself externally. 如如自然 廣无邊際 Self-sufficient and spontaneous, illimitable in extent [are the internal resources of such a man]! 境忘境不沉 於六賊之魔 Whatever may be the circumstances of surroundings with which he is brought into contact, he ignores them all; he is not engulphed in the toils of the Six Despoilers; 居塵出塵 不落萬緣之化 living in the dusty world, he is yet outside of it; he is not drawn into the transmutations of the myriad affinities. 致靜不動 方大明虚變无爲 Being perfectly quiescent, he never moves; possessing perfect harmony, he never changes. His wisdom reflects, as in a mirror, the entire Universe; his emptiness evolves inaction. 頌曰 有法悟无法 无脩解有脩 包含萬象體 不掛一絲頭
The existence of Law he perceives to be its absence; Not to cultivate [Tao] he understands as, really, its cultivation; He embracingly upholds the myriad forms of Life Without so much anxiety as the tip of a thread of silk.
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Bibliography Balfour, Fredrick. Taoist Texts: Ethical, Political and Speculative. London/Shanghai: Trübner and Co./Kelly and Walsh, 1894: 68.
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天隱子 T'ien-yin-tzu Book of
Heavenly Seclusion Master Translated by Livia Kohn
Contents Bibliographic Information Author's Introduction Translation Chinese Text Bilingual Text Bibliography
2 2 3 8 11 20
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Bibliographic Information Tianyinzi 天隱子: [Book of] Master Heavenly Seclusion: DZ 1026. Attributed to Sima Chengzhen 司馬承禎 (647-735), the twelfth Shangqing 上清 (Highest Clarity) patriarch, this is a practical manual on observation (guan 觀) and attaining the Dao (dedao 得道). It outlines this path in terms of "five progressive gateways." (Komjathy, 2004) Author's Introduction Tianyinzi 天隱子 (DZ 1026), edited by Sima Chengzhen. This work outlines five general stages to the Tao, beginning with preparatory measures such as fasting and abstention as well as the establishment of the meditation chamber. The Tianyinzi is the only text of the group that has been published also in non-Taoist collections. Especially the Congshu jicheng 叢書集成 edition supplies valuable variants and editions. (Kohn, 1987: 78) Authorship of the Tianyinzi was not always clear, although the standard interpretation follows the claim made in chapter one above that Sima Chengzhen received the teaching from a master of that name and edited the text. This understanding was contested in 1162, when a certain Hu Lian 胡璉 added a postface to the text in which he stated that it was written by Sima Chengzhen himself and only ascribed to Tianyinzi. The first paragraph of the preface appears to have been added later: the text is referred to as beginning with the second paragraph in bibliographic materials of the Song dynasty. Another postface was included later. It appears first in late Ming editions of the text and describes the practical procedures of Taoist meditation including various methods of gymnastics and physical exercises. Since the date of this postface remains unclear and it cannot be linked historically or in contents with Sima Chengzhen and his was of Taoist meditation, I have not included it in this volume. (Kohn, 1987: 145)
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Book of
Heavenly Seclusion Master Preface Whereas the path of spirit immortality has long life as its basis, the starting point for long life is the nourishment of breath. This breath is first received from heaven and earth, then it is harmonized through yin and yang. When yin and yang are spiritual and empty we speak of the mind. The agents governing the mind during night and day, waking and sleeping are the hun 魂, and the po 魄 souls. It is because of them that the human body is never far removed from the path of immortality. I do not know where Tianyinzi came from. He wrote this booklet in altogether eight sections. It encompasses the secret and the marvellous and deals with things hardly attainable by people through study alone. Looking now at the various techniques of cultivating and refining body and breath, of nourishing and harmonizing mind and emptiness,1 we find that the "return to the root" goes back to Boyang 伯陽,2 whereas the "emittance of radiance" is found with Zhuang Sou 莊叟.3 Long life and eternal vision4 can verily be found in this book. I have practised the techniques of the Tao myself. Now I feel compassion for the people of the world who often die an untimely death rather than fulfilling their natural life-spans. Therefore, I thought of transmitting this teaching to fellow adepts of long life. I have simplified it so that it can be practised and referred to easily. Ever since the time of Laozi, there has only been this teaching of Tianyinzi. 1. Spirit immortality When man is born, he is endowed with the breath of emptiness,5 his essence and intelligence are of penetrating awareness. When thus learning finds no obstructions, we speak of "spirit." Make the spirit settle within and emit its radiance without! This way you will naturally be different from normal people. You will be called a spirit immortal. Yet, a spirit immortal is still a man. The accomplishment of spirit immortality lies in cultivating one's breath of emptiness and never letting it be defiled by the common world.6 It is found in following one's own nature and never letting oneself be obstructed by false views. Joy and anger, sadness and happiness, love, hate, and desires are the seven perversions of the emotions. Wind and damp, cold and heat, hunger and satiation, labor and idleness are the eight perversions of breath. Ridding oneself of these is to establish immortality.7 2. Simplicity 8 The Yijing says: "The way of heaven and earth is simple."9 What does this mean? Tianyinzi says: Heaven and earth are above my head and beneath my feet. When I open my eyes I can see them clearly and I can speak of them without relying on any complex devices. Thus I say that consummate simplicity is the virtue of immortality.10 (Note: The Scripture says: "The perfect Tao is not complex, the perfect man does not act."11) What path should be used to seek this? He says: Without seeking you cannot know; without a path you cannot attain the goal. All students of spirit immortality must first of all realize simplicity. If the teachings are marvellous, artful, and attractive, they will only lead people astray. They will not lead them back to the root of things.12 Such could never be my teaching. (Note: There are people in the world who study immortality but – to the contrary – are only deluded by it. There are also people who study breathing but – to the contrary – are only made sick by it.13) 3. Gradual Progress Toward the Gate of the Tao In the Yijing, there is the hexagram "Progressive Advance."14 Laozi speaks of the "Marvellous Gate."15 When human beings cultivate inner perfection and realize their natures they cannot expect any sudden enlightenment. Rather, they must progress gradually and practise the techniques in peace. Thus the following five progressive gates to the Tao have been established:16 The first is fasting and abstention 齋戒. The second is seclusion 安處. The third is visualization and imagination 存想. The fourth is sitting in oblivion 坐忘. The fifth is spirit liberation 神解. What does fasting and abstention mean? It means cleansing the body and emptying the mind.17 What does seclusion mean? It means withdrawing deep into the meditation chamber.18 What does visualization and imagination mean? It means taming the mind and recovering inner nature.19 What does sitting in oblivion mean? It means letting go of the personal body and completely forgetting oneself.20 What does spirit liberation mean? It means spirit pervasion of all existence.21
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Thus, when someone practises according to these five steps, he will perfect step one, then only gradually proceed to cultivate step two. When he has perfected step two, then only will he go on to step three. After perfecting step three, he will gradually move on to step four. When he has perfected step four, he will finally pass on to step five. Thereby spirit immortality will be attained. 4. Fasting and Abstention Fasting and abstention do not merely mean that one lives on vegetables and mushrooms. Cleansing the body is not just bathing to remove the dirt. Rather, the method implies a regulation of one's food intake so that it is perfectly balanced and a practice of massage which will make the body radiate with a glow. Man is endowed with the breath of the five phases.22 He lives on things equally consisting of the five phases. From the time when he takes shape in the womb man breathes in and out and circulates blood and essence. How could it be possible for him to stop eating and attain long life? People of the world don't usually realize that abstention from food and living on breath are only temporary measures of the Taoists. It does not mean that we completely abstain from all cereals. When we speak of fasting and abstention from food we refer to the purification of nourishment and to moderation of intake.23 If one is hungry one eats – but never to satiation.24 This is what we mean by establishing a balanced diet. Don't eat anything not well cooked! Don't eat strongly flavored dishes! Don't eat anything rotten or conserved!25 These are our basic abstentions. Massage your skin with your hands so that it becomes moist and hot. This will drive out all cold breath. The body will radiate with a glow! Refrain from long sitting, long standing, long exhaustive labor! All these are basic abstentions.26 They serve to balance and regulate the body. If the body is strong, the breath is whole. Thus fasting and abstention constitute the first of the gates to the Tao. 5. Seclusion What is meant by seclusion?27 It has nothing to do with living in ornate halls, in cavernous buildings, on double matting and thick carpeting. It means sitting with one's face to the south, sleeping with one's head to the east, complying in everything with the harmonious rhythm of yin and yang.28 Light and darkness should be in balance. The room should not be too high. If it is too high, yang is predominant and there will be too much light. The room should not be too low. If it is too low, yin is predominant and there will be too much darkness. The reason for this precaution is that when there is too much light, the po soul will be harmed. When there is too much darkness, the hun soul will suffer. In human beings the hun soul is yang and the po soul is yin. Any harm done to them due to light or darkness will cause sickness and disease. When things are arranged in the proper balanced way we may speak of a chamber of seclusion. Also, one should not forget that among the breaths of heaven and earth there may be violent yang29 that attacks the flesh or lascivious yin that overpowers the body. How can one not be wary to guard against these? During the progressive advance of cultivation and nourishment there is no proper seclusion unless these instructions are carried out. Thus Tianyinzi says: The room I live in has windows on all four sides. When wind arises I close them; as soon as the wind has died down I open them.30 In front of my meditation seat a curtain is suspended, behind it a screen has been placed. When it is too light, I draw the curtain to adjust the brightness inside. When it gets too dark, I roll the curtain up again to let light in from outside. On the inside I calm my mind, on the outside I calm my eyes. Mind and eyes must be both completely at peace. If either light or darkness prevails there will be too many thoughts and too many desires. How then could I ever calm myself inside and out? Thus in studying the Tao, seclusion marks the second step. 6. Visualization and Imagination Visualization is producing a vision of one's spirit(s). Imagination means creating an image of one's body.31 How is this accomplished?32 By closing one's eyes one can see one's own eyes. By gathering in one's mind one can realize one's own mind. Mind and eyes should never be separate from one's body and should never harm one's spirit(s): this is done by visualization and imagination. Normal people direct their eyes only toward other men to the end of their days. Therefore their minds tend to keep wandering outside. When the mind is concerned with outer affairs all the time it in turn causes the eyes to continue looking to things outside.33 Brightly sparkling their light floats around and never reflects back on themselves. How can people not become sick from this and end up dying prematurely? Therefore "return to the root means tranquillity, and tranquillity means to recover life."34 To recover life and perfect one's inner nature is called "the gate of all subtleties."35 Thus, with the step of visualization and imagination the task of learning the Tao is half completed.
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7. Sitting in Oblivion Sitting in oblivion is the perfection of visualization and imagination, the utter oblivion of visualization and imagination. To put the Tao to action but not oneself act: isn't that the meaning of sitting? To see something and not act in relation to it: isn't that the meaning of oblivion? Why do we speak of not acting? Because the mind remains free from agitation. Why do we speak of not seeing?36 Because the body is obliterated completely. Someone asks: "If the mind is unmoving, does it have the Tao then?" Tianyinzi remains silent and does not answer. Another asks: "If the body is obliterated, does it have the Tao then?" Tianyinzi closes his eyes and does not look. Then someone awakens to the Tao and, in withdrawing, says: "The Tao is really in me. What person is this 'me'? What person actually is this Tianyinzi?"37 Thus, self and other are both forgotten. Nothing is left to radiate. 8. Spirit Liberation Step one, fasting and abstention, is called liberation through faith.38 (Without faith, the mind cannot be liberated.) Step two, seclusion, is called liberation through tranquillity. (Without tranquillity, the mind cannot be liberated.) Step three, visualization and imagination, is called liberation through insight. (Without insight, the mind cannot be liberated.) Step four, sitting in oblivion, is called liberation through absorption. (Without absorption, the mind cannot be liberated.39) When the four gates of faith, tranquillity, insight, and absorption have been pervaded by the spirit, then we speak of spirit liberation. By "spirit" we mean that which arrives without moving, is swift without hurrying.40 It pervades the rhythm of yin and yang. It is as old as heaven and earth.41 When the three agents, heaven, earth, and man, are combined there are changes.42 (Note: The Xici [II.2] says: "When the changes come to an end, there is transformation. Where there is transformation, there is pervasion. Where there is pervasion, there is continuity.") When the myriad beings are equalized, then we speak of the Tao and the virtue.43 (Note: This refers to Laozi's Daojing and Dejing.) When the one original nature of all is realized, then we speak of suchness.44 (Note: The Lotus Sūtra, the Lankāvatāra Sūtra, and the Nirvāna Sūtra of Shakyamuni all deal with the "one original nature.") By entering into suchness one returns to non-action.45 (Note: The Yuanjue jing says: "Whether there is the threefold embodiment of the Buddha in action or in non-action or the metamorphosis body of the Buddha which cannot fall back into mundane destiny, all is the one original nature."46) Tianyinzi says:47 "I am born with the changes; I will die with the changes. In accordance with the myriad beings I move; going along with the myriad beings I rest.48 Perversion comes from the original nature; perfection comes from the one original nature.49 Through spirit I am liberated from all: life and death, movement and rest, perversion and perfection." Among human beings the liberated ones are called spirit immortals. Those in heaven are called heavenly immortals; those on earth are called earthly immortals; those in water are called water immortals.50 Those who pervade all are called spirit immortals. Thus the path to spirit immortality consists of the five progressive gates of study. They all lead only to the one goal.51 Notes 1. This section of the introduction is quoted also in the Baizhuan shuzi 百傳書子. 2. Boyang is one of the names of Laozi. The quotation is taken from Daodejing 16. 3. Zhuang Sou is the respectful name used for Zhuangzi by Tang and Song poets. 4. Daode jing 59. 5. The Daoshu (2,4a) and the Congshu jicheng have 靈 for 虚 "breath of numinosity." 6. The Daoshu (2.4a) here reads: "… never attaining it by worldly discussions and analyses." Like the DZ edition it gives 論折 for 論汚 which is found in the Congshu jicheng. 7. This paragraph occurs as a note in the DZ edition, but has been integrated into the text frequently. The seven emotions are already found in the "Liyun" chapter of the Liji. Here we have 懼 "fear," instead of 樂 "happiness." 8. Yijian 易簡 is written as Jianyi 簡易 in the Daoshu.
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9. A similar quotation is found in Yijing, Xici I.1. Here yi is correlated with heaven 乾, while jian corresponds to earth 坤. 10. The Congshu jicheng has 易簡易簡 instead of 易易簡簡. It also reads 謂 for 徳: "Thus I speak of simplicity. Simplicity is an expression for spirit immortality." 11. The latter part of this quotation is found in Zhuangzi 58/22/18. 12. Daode jing 16. 13. The Daoshu (2,4b) includes this note in the text and reverses the order of the two statements. In the Congshu jicheng edition, 炁 is written 氣. For a distinction between the two variants see Zhu, 1982. 14. Wilhelm, 1979: 196 (no. 56). 15. Daode jing 1. 16. The Daoshu (2,4b) summarizes this paragraph in one sentence. The subsequent explanations it includes in the later sections. The Congshu jicheng version adds: "As I enter them through insight, the Tao becomes visible." 17. Daodejing 3. In the Zhuangzi "emptying the mind" corresponds to the "fasting of the mind" (9/4/28). 18. The meditation chamber 靜室 was already instituted by the Celestial Masters in the second century (Stein, 1963: 38). 19. This refers back to the third section of the Zuowanglun. 20. Zhuangzi 19/6/92; Zuowanglun 1b. 21. In the Zhuangzi (29/12/14), one finds the notion that "knowledge is pervaded by the spirit." In addition, the Zhuangzi (19/6/92) describes mystical union in terms of "making oneself identical with the Great Thoroughfare." In Buddhism we find the expression "spirit pervasion" in descriptions of the deep and transcendent samādhi of the Buddha. He then emits a bright light and has possession of supernatural powers (Yuanjue jing T. 17, 913a; Vimalakīrti Nirdesa T. 14, 539a). 22. Zuowanglun 11ab; YJQQ 14,13b cites the Huangdi neijing suwen 黄帝内經素問 to the same extent. 23. The Daoshu (2,4b) shortens this and defines fasting as "purification" and abstention as "regulation." For a study of Taoist dietetic abstentions see Lévi, 1983. 24. Cf. Sun Simiao, Cunshen lianqi ming 1b. 25. Maspero, 1971: 368. 26. This follows the Daoshu (2,5a). The DZ edition leaves out 勿 before every item. The same abstentions are described in Sima Chengzhen's Fuqi jingyi lun, section 6 (YJQQ 57,19b) with reference to the Huangdi neijing suwen (23,10b). Already the Zhuangzi contains warnings against exertion of the body (Robinet, 1983: 79). 27. This expression for "seclusion" goes back as far as the Shijing. It also occurs in the "Xinshu" 心術 chapter of the Guanzi 管子 and in Buddhist literature. The Yuanjue jing mentions it in the context of a progressive system as the step to be taken after "meticulous observation of the precepts" (T. 17, 914b). 28. The Daoshu (2,5a) has: "The place where one lives must completely accord with the harmonious rhythm of yin and yang." 29. The Congshu jicheng here has 元 for 亢. The expression "violent yang" 亢陽 is reminiscent of 亢龍, "violent dragon," found in Xici I.8. 30. Opening and closing the doors in order to keep up accordance with yin and yang, qian and kun, is already mentioned in Xici I.11.
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31. I use the term "imagination" to refer to the deliberate creation of images on the basis of actual experience. As such it stands in opposition to "fantasy" which refers to images largely devoid of relation to reality. A similar usage of these terms is found in the psychology of C.G. Jung. 32. This sentence is added by the Daoshu (2,5b). 33. In Taoist theory, the mind is closely related to the eyes. See especially Wu Yun's Xinmu lun 心目論 (DZ 1038). 34. Daodejing 16. 35. Daodejing 1. 36. Cf. Zuowanglun 4b. The Chan history Chuandeng lu has a similar statement: "Not seeing and hearing is to see and to hear truly." 37. The first three sentences of this paragraph are added by the Daoshu (2,6a). A different version is given in the Congshu jicheng: "Someone asks: 'How do you attain the unmoving state of the mind?' TianYinzi remains silent and does not answer. Another asks: 'How do you attain the obliteration of the body?' Tianyinzi closes his eyes and does not look." This section is a rare instance where one ran glimpse the concrete setting in which the methods were taught. The scene is reminiscent of Chan Buddhism. 38. The expression 信解 translates the Sanskrit adhimukti (Robinet, 1983: 94). 39. The order of the various kinds of liberation is different in the Daoshu edition: Step one, faith; step two, absorption; step three, tranqullity; step four, insight. 40. Zhuangzi 26/11/17. 41. Daode jing 7. 42. For the three agents 三才 see Yijing, Shuogua 2. 43. The idea of "equalization of all beings" is taken from the Zhuangzi (ch. 2). 44. This translates bhūtatathatā, the eternal, unchanging power behind all phenomena. 45. Non-action is an early translation for nirvāna. 46. These two sections are added in the Congshu jicheng edition. The quotation resembles the Yuanjue jing (T. 17, 921b). 47. This follows the Daoshu (2,6b). In the DZ edition, the 曰 is omitted. 48. Zhuangzi 34/13/14 and 40/15/10. 49. The Tao as the original one nature of the cosmos which underlies all being is an important concept in Tang Taoist philosophy. The expression then used was 道性, a direct replica of the Buddhist 佛性. For details of this concept see Kamata, 1966. 50. This third category is added in the Congshu jicheng edition. Heaven, earth, and water are the three major departments of the universe according to the world view of the Celestial Masters (Ōfuchi, 1985). 51. Following the Congshu jicheng version.
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天隱子 T'ien-yin-tzu 序 神仙之道以長生爲本長生之要以養氣爲根夫氣受之於天地和之於陰陽陰陽神靈謂之心主晝夜寤寐謂之魂魄是 故人之身大率不遠乎神仙之道矣天隱子吾不知其何許人著書八篇包括秘妙殆非人間所能力學者也觀乎修煉形 氣養和心靈歸根契於伯陽遺照齊於莊叟長生久視無出是書承禎服習道風惜乎世人夭促眞壽思欲傳之同志使簡 易而行信哉自伯陽以來惟天隱子而已矣唐司馬承禎謹序 神仙章 人生時禀得靈氣精明通悟學無滯塞謂之神宅神於内遺照於外自然異於俗人則謂之神仙故神仙亦人也在於脩我 靈氣勿爲世俗所淪汚遂我自然勿爲邪見所凝滯則成功矣喜怒哀樂愛惡欲七者情之邪也風寒暑濕飢飽勞佚八者 氣之邪也去此則仙道近矣 易簡章 易曰「天地之道易簡」者何也天隱子曰天地在我首之上足之下開目盡見無假繁巧而言故曰易簡易簡者神仙之謂 也經曰至道不繁至人無爲然則以何道求之曰無求不能知無道不能成凡學神仙先知易簡苟言涉奇詭適足使人執 迷無所歸本此非吾學也世人學仙反爲仙所迷者有矣學氣反爲氣所病者有矣 漸門章 易有漸卦道有漸門人之修眞達性不能頓悟必須漸而進之安而行之故設漸門觀我所入則道可見矣漸有五門一曰 齋戒二曰安處三曰存想四曰坐忘五曰神解何謂齋戒曰澡身虚心何謂安處曰深居靜室何謂存想曰收心復性何謂 坐忘曰遺形忘我何謂神解曰萬法通神是故習此五漸之門者了一則漸次至二了二則漸次至三了三則漸次至四了 四則漸次至五神仙成矣 齋戒章 齋戒者非蔬茹飲食而已澡身者非湯浴去垢而已蓋其法在乎節食調中摩擦暢外者也夫人禀五行之氣而食五行之 物實自胞胎有形已呼吸精血豈可去食而求長生但世人不知休糧服氣是道家之權宜非永絶食粒之謂也故食之有 齋戒者齋乃潔淨之務戒乃節約之稱有飢即食食勿令飽此所謂調中也百味未成熟勿食五味太多勿食腐敗閉氣之 物勿食此皆宜戒也手常摩擦皮膚温熱熨去冷氣此所謂暢外也久坐久立久勞久役皆宜戒也此是調理形骸之法形 堅則氣全是以齋戒爲漸門之首矣 安處章 何謂安處曰非華堂邃宇重裀廣榻之謂也在乎南向而坐東首而寝陰陽適中明暗相半屋無高高則陽盛而明多室無 卑卑則陰盛而暗多故明多則傷魄暗多則傷魂人之魂陽而魄陰苟傷明暗則疾病生焉此所謂居處之室尚使之然況 天地之氣有亢陽之攻肌淫陰之侵體豈可不防慎哉修養之漸倘不法此非安處之道術曰吾所居室四邊皆窗戸遇風 即闔風息即闓吾所居座前簾後屏太明即不簾以和其内暗太暗則捲簾以通其外耀内以安心外以安目心目皆安則 身安矣明暗尚然況太多事慮太多情欲豈能安其内外哉故學道以安處爲次 存想章 存謂存我之神想謂想我之身閉目即見自己之目收心即見自己之心心與目皆不離我身不傷我神則存想之漸也凡 人目終日視他人故心亦逐外走終日接他事故目亦逐外瞻營營浮光未嘗復照奈何不病且夭耶是以歸根曰靜靜曰 復命成性存存衆妙之門此存想之漸學道之功半矣 坐忘章 坐忘者因存想而得