《抱朴子养生论》

Baopuzi said that the human body is like a state. The chest and abdomen are like palaces, the four limbs like the borders of the realm, the joints like officials of every rank, and the body’s textures and orifices like roads that run in every direction. The spirit (Shen) is like the sovereign, the blood like the ministers, and Qi (vital energy) like the common people. Therefore one who truly understands cultivation governs the body just as a wise ruler governs the state. When the ruler cherishes the people the state is secure; when a person treasures their own Qi the body is preserved. When the people suffer hardship the state declines and perishes; when Qi weakens the body likewise decays.

Thus those who cultivate according to the Dao (the Way) begin to regulate and nourish themselves before illness appears, rather than waiting until the body has already deteriorated before applying remedies. Life is difficult to keep intact yet easy to dissipate; Qi is hard to keep pure and clear yet easily becomes turbid. If one can discern the proper moment and restrain desires, life can be nourished and protected.

Those skilled in nurturing life must first eliminate the “six harms” if they hope to extend their years. These six harms consist of remaining indifferent to fame and profit, restraining the pleasures of sound and beauty, reducing greed for wealth and possessions, moderating the flavors of food and drink, eliminating flattery and falsehood, and dispelling dejection and jealousy. If these six kinds of detriment are not removed, the cultivation of life remains empty talk. Even if the mind aspires to the Great Dao and the mouth recites the true Jing (scriptures), this cannot compensate for losses at the root; it is like abandoning the foundation while attending only to the branches.

To nourish body and mind and preserve original authenticity one should think little, attach little, laugh little, speak little, rejoice little, anger little, indulge little in pleasure, sorrow little, like and dislike little, toil little, and employ little cunning. Excessive thinking scatters the Shen; excessive attachment fatigues the mind-spirit; excessive laughter agitates the viscera; excessive speech injures the primordial Qi; excessive joy may throw the body out of harmony; excessive anger sends blood and Qi surging; immersion in pleasure disorders the mind-spirit; excessive sorrow withers a person; excessive desire damages the will and Qi; excessive aversion agitates the Jing (essence) and Qi; excessive affairs tense the sinews and vessels; excessive scheming plunges thought into confusion. These injuries to life are more severe than the cuts of an axe, and these damages to longevity more fierce than the ravages of wolves.

Do not sit for long periods, walk for long, look for long, or listen for long. Do not force food when not hungry or drink when not thirsty; eating without hunger tires the spleen, drinking without thirst distends the stomach. The body should move regularly and diet should be moderate; movement should not be excessive, and eating sparingly should not reach the point of hunger. In winter do not go empty-stomached in the morning; in summer do not eat to fullness at night. Rise neither so early as before the cock crows nor so late as after the sun has risen.

When the mind is clear and still the Shen can peacefully occupy its place; when the breath is settled, pathogenic Qi and harmful influences remain far from the body. Deceiving others displeases the spiritual powers; quarreling with others frustrates the Shen and Qi. Slighting and insulting others diminishes one’s fortune; taking the lives of living beings injures one’s span of years. Performing one good deed delights the hun spirit; committing one evil deed delights the po spirit. The hun and po spoken of here are Daoist notions used to describe a person’s spiritual and vital functions; the text holds that the hun rejoices in life while the po rejoices in death.

One should constantly maintain a mind of broad harmony and ease, remaining tranquil and detached, so that the body is naturally at peace and calamities do not readily invade. For such a person the register of the living records the name, and the register of the dead remits the offenses. The principles of nurturing life are essentially these.

As for refining the returned elixir (the medicinal elixir of which Daoism speaks) in order to nourish the brain-Shen, and transmuting the golden liquor in order to retain the Shen, these belong to the mysterious methods of the Highest Perfected (advanced cultivators who have attained the Dao) and are not practices that ordinary people of blood and flesh, who live by eating and drinking, can take up by overstepping their own capacities. Among ten thousand people, those who truly succeed are exceedingly few.

Lord Lao said: “If one persistently practices this method of the Dao (the Way) that I have transmitted, those of superior aptitude who cultivate it fully can preserve life and extend longevity; those of middling aptitude who practice a portion of it can avoid disasters and illness; those of lesser aptitude who practice it regularly can still escape premature death and unforeseen calamity; the foolish who lose the Dao thereby harm their innate nature. Is this not precisely the principle of which we speak?”

Here “Dao” refers to the Daoist path of nourishing life and cultivation practice. The distinctions of “superior practitioners, middling practitioners, and lesser practitioners” are drawn according to a person’s aptitude and degree of cultivation.

The Yangsheng Lun of the Baopuzi concludes at this point. Note: the character “ai” appearing here is written as “yang” (nourish) in the Inner Chapters of the Baopuzi.