《先天金丹大道玄奥口诀》

When I was young I read the elixir scriptures (Daoist classics describing the cultivation of Neidan [internal alchemy]). In the passages that borrow images of things to illustrate principles I grasped a little. I was already married and serving as an official away from home; though I enjoyed reciting them I had no leisure to practice.

At twenty-eight, repeatedly punished for frontier affairs, I was banished to Chongling. Passing Yueyang a guest showed me verses by Huiweng of Beishan: “Ten thousand ravines, the cloud-Qi (vital energy) deep; through ten thousand deaths form and soul grow wings.” I read them and sighed: “Heaven and earth cycle and return; why could I not awaken a year earlier?” I dismissed my concubines and the delusive thoughts in my mind suddenly emptied.

One day at Yaying Pavilion I met a recluse of the mountains. He spoke of the essential secrets of the elixir Way in language reserved yet clear and easy to understand. Thinking it too obvious I treated it lightly and left without hearing him out. After reaching Mount Jiuyi I built a thatched hut with friends and entered the mountains to visit. In the intervals of teaching I gradually thought of cultivating myself and used quiet sitting as an aid. The fire-timing, tallies and nodes, and hexagram-image rhythms of elixir learning all seemed to accord with the oral formulas. In quiet practice I had personal realizations and recalled the words that man had transmitted at Yaying Pavilion. Just as I prepared to adjust my method accordingly I received orders to return north to my native place.

Those who saw me were astonished that my graying beard had turned black again, which made me believe still more in the marvels of elixir learning. Even a change in the hair of the topknot was enough to cherish; how much more if one obtained true transmission and practiced according to the formulas?

Soon I received an imperial appointment as assistant in the Jiangchan military staff and rode alone to the garrison. Official duties were heavy; in leisure I studied the Laozi and the Yijing, often regretting the lack of like-minded companions. Suddenly Mr. Huo Huiran of Piling came visiting with elixir formulas. Reading them I found they matched what I had heard years before in Yueyang.

This elixir formula takes the true medicine, Kun earth, and fire-timing as the three essential points of the elixir school. Its source flows from the Wuzhen pian and its outline is no different from Zhou Dunyi’s Taiji tu (Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate). The book also criticizes those who use filthy heterodox theories of the Rongcheng type to interpret the Wuzhen pian, catering to the desires of scholar-officials and thereby distorting the elixir Way of Perfected Ziyang.

Alas, why did Mr. Huo not meet me ten years earlier? Then during my leisurely stay on Mount Jiuyi I could have received his guidance and gradually entered more deeply into the elixir Way. Now he asks me to write a preface for this oral formula. Ah, the water-po and fire-hun, the sacred scripture of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), the wu month and ji day, the true earth in its proper position—Qian and Kun are my elixir cauldron, Kan and Li my elixir materials, the Fu and Gou hexagrams my fire-timing. If the principle of the yellow center can penetrate so that the ultimate Dao condenses into one, then dim Qi and turbid filthy substance will be thoroughly transformed, body and mind will be full and luminous, and cultivation will reach maturity.

If one seeks the Wuji among later-heaven external things or looks for the proper position in other objects, without reflecting that the transformation of one’s own Qi-temperament is no easy matter, and instead vainly tries to cultivate by means of one-sided yin and dim-turbid things, one is not far from straying onto deviant paths.

I, Liu Zicheng, have long regarded worldly thoughts lightly and do not know the taste of wealth and rank. Weary of official rushing I intend to resign and retire, building a hut beneath Five Elders Peak so that clouds and mist veil the valleys. If later Mr. Huo visits we can support and remind each other so that the cultivation learning of the Wuzhen pian receives clear verification. If this happens, and if Zhou Dunyi’s Taiji tu (Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate), the clear Qi of the night spoken of by Mencius, and the way of the Qian dragon in the Taiyi can all be transmitted to later generations, then even if Mr. Huo’s life has been one of hardship it will count as achievement, and I can avoid being mocked for deliberately seeking strange Ways.

I therefore write this preface and present it to Mr. Huo as we part. On an auspicious day at the Beginning of Summer in the xinhai year of Chunyou, composed by Yuyuanzi Liu Zicheng Qingshu.

The sentiments expressed by Qu Yuan when he composed “Far-off Journey” and the anxiety and indignation felt by Zhu Wengong while studying the Cantongqi arise from a kindred spirit. The art of the Golden Elixir (Jindan) originates in the Huangdi Neijing and was later elucidated by Wei Boyang; it is by no means a vain or absurd teaching. Yet although many in recent times have studied the relevant scriptures and written books to expound this learning, those who truly grasp its original meaning remain exceedingly few. Innate talent cannot of course be forced, but this is also bound up with the loss of ancient scholarship.

I have admired this Dao (the Way) since childhood and only in old age have I gained some understanding of it, yet the years have already slipped away and I fear there is no longer time to transmit it. My fellow townsman Master Huo showed me this book; what it reveals is abundant and far superior to the writings of others. I therefore gladly compose this preface for it, and I also invoke the examples of Qu Yuan and Zhu Wengong studying the Cantongqi in order to inspire later students.

On the first day of the fourth month in the jiyou year of the Chunyou era, You Qing of Jinling respectfully wrote this preface.

Composed by Huo Jizhi of Jinling.

The Great Dao (the Way) arises from the precelestial and is originally spontaneous of itself. From Wuji (the as-yet undifferentiated state) it develops into Taiji (Supreme Ultimate, the state in which Yin-Yang begin to differentiate); the Dao remains hidden within forms that have not yet become manifest. After Taiji gives rise to Heaven and Earth, the Dao appears within the myriad formed things. Thus Yin-Yang generate the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and the Five Phases contain the inherent natures of all things; once these natures become apparent, they produce all kinds of transformations. Each time a form comes into being, it is as if a small heaven and earth has been established. From this it can be known that the human body is likewise: the spirit waxes and wanes, Qi (vital energy) and blood have fullness and deficiency, and there is nothing that does not correspond to the Yin-Yang transformations of Heaven and Earth.

The human body also has a distinction between the “precelestial” and the “postcelestial.” What is the precelestial? It is the most authentic inner reality. It is rooted within the square inch (referring to the heart), and its form is mysterious, empty, and subtle. The ancients used lead and mercury as metaphors for it, entrusted it to Metal and Wood, and also called it the dragon and the tiger. In general, these names refer to two things, and they can also be understood in terms of the Four Images (four interacting symbols); they constitute the clear and numinous aspect of the Five Phases and belong to the precelestial of the human body.

What is the postcelestial? Here it refers to a person’s five viscera. The five viscera are the formed yet obscure physical foundation, used to nourish this body that is subject to wear and tear. Cultivating them can reduce the occurrence of illness and prolong life, yet it is difficult thereby to slough off the old body and transform into an immortal. This is the formed and substantial aspect of the Five Phases, belonging to the postcelestial of the human body.

The precelestial Great Dao is deep, hidden, and subtle, not easy to comprehend; the principles of the postcelestial are superficial and relatively easy to perceive. Some take the sitting meditation and Chan investigation of the Nature School (the lineage whose core practice is recognizing original nature) as the precelestial Dao, believing there is no need to do anything, nor to speak of Yin-Yang creation, merely sitting quietly in Wuwei (non-action). This belongs to the cultivation methods of Chan studies; the author regards it as biased toward Yin stillness and not the immortal path of cultivating the Yang spirit. If the Nature School were itself the Great Dao, why would the ancient sages have spoken of the “Golden Elixir” and of “immortals”? Simply speaking of cultivating nature would have sufficed. Yet people often do not know what the precelestial is within themselves, nor do they understand what lead and mercury or dragon and tiger refer to. If the elixir method concerned only one thing, why then speak of two things and the Four Images? Without transmission from an immortal teacher, these principles are ultimately difficult to conjecture out of thin air. What Zhang Boduan (courtesy name Pingshu) said—“Even if one’s intelligence exceeds that of Yan Hui and Min Ziqian, if one does not encounter a true teacher, one should not force oneself to guess”—is precisely this point.

There are also those who abandon the precelestial and study only the postcelestial, holding that the Huangting Jing takes the five viscera as primary and that human cultivation takes Qi and blood as primary, so that merely practicing visualization and inner observation, swallowing saliva and taking in Qi, is enough to become an immortal. The author points out that the postcelestial Five Phases cannot fly upward and transform; they are merely formed bodily things, not that one Qi within the void. Master Zhongli’s verse says: “The heart and kidneys cannot be taken directly as Water and Fire; how then can Kan and Li be taken directly as mercury and lead?” This is exactly the meaning. The formed Five Phases can only assist in prolonging life and reducing illness; they cannot enable one to ascend to authenticity. The precelestial Five Phases, however, are like the Water and Fire in the sun and moon, possessing symbols but no substantial body, and therefore they can fly and transform, accomplishing the immortal Dao. Those who study this should truly awaken to this point.

The precelestial Golden Elixir is an inner thing that a person already possesses before being born. It is divided into two kinds, situated in the east and the west, called lead and mercury, also called Metal and Wood. Metal and Water share the same palace, Fire and Wood occupy the same position, and so they are also called the Four Images. Without Wu and Ji (the Yin and Yang natures of Earth) to harmonize and conjoin them, the two cannot return to the center. The crucial point of cultivation is to observe the timing of the movement and stillness of Heaven and Earth and to experience the waxing and waning of the sun and moon; this is the essential purport of “observing the Dao of Heaven and holding fast to Heaven’s movements.” Yet the Wu and Ji of Heaven and Earth do not appear at every moment; one must understand when they are present before one can proceed with the work. This is what is known as the fire timing (the method in Neidan (internal alchemy) of mastering timing and process).

Some say that since the spleen belongs to Earth, why then is it said there is no Earth? This is because the spleen belongs to postcelestial Earth, that is, the Earth represented by Chen, Xu, Chou, and Wei, and is not the Wu and Ji spoken of here. What Zhang Boduan said—“Only by thoroughly understanding Yin-Yang and investigating creation can one cause the two Qi to meet on the Yellow Path, cause the three natures to blend in the Original Palace, circulate the Five Phases and harmonize the Four Images”—refers to this principle of cultivation.

My family has resided for generations in Piling (the region of present-day Changzhou in Jiangsu). My late father, Lord Shanggu, formerly encountered a sage and received the transmission, truly obtaining the methods of this lineage. He disregarded the suspicion of leaking secret teachings and carefully drew the precelestial lead and mercury together with the fire timing into a diagram, transmitting it to later learners. If a person whose immortal affinity matches mine should meet me, one who can see through fame and profit as bubbles and illusions, who laments that human life and death are like a lamp flame in the wind, and who wishes to hear the essential secrets of the Great Dao, I will not conceal them from him.

The roots of plants and trees depend on ordinary soil for nourishment, so the roots are able to survive; once the roots are lost, the plants and trees wither. A human being’s root originally resides within the self, yet if it has already dispersed, one must rely on “Wu-Ji True Earth” (a Neidan (internal alchemy) term denoting the fundamental power that harmonizes and occupies the center) in order to nourish it and thereby return to the root. Dispersal is followed by return, therefore Laozi said: “Returning to the root is called stillness; this is called restoring life.” The meaning is that returning to the root brings one into stillness, and this is termed the restoration of one’s original vital condition.

A person’s root resembles the root of plants and trees, yet it comes forth in an inverted manner. Pingshu (Zhang Boduan) said: “Without understanding the inverted changes within the mysterious, how could one know the marvel of planting in fire?” The “planting of lotus in fire” spoken of here likewise refers to this metaphor of inner refinement that proceeds contrary to ordinary logic. The scripture also says: “Qi (vital energy) after Qi returns to the former root; the lucid hun follows the original root; the flying root scatters the mysterious leaves.” This means that the breaths of Qi gradually return to their original root, the clear hun-spirit follows and returns to the root, and the scattered roots together with the mysterious foliage thereby undergo change.

Diagram Directly Indicating the Golden Elixir (Jindan) Medicines

Pingshu stated that lead and mercury are the two medicines used in elixir refinement; he further said: “When these two substances meet, emotion and nature are united.” Daoguang said: “One thing is divided into two.” Yunfang said: “Apart from these two medicines of lead and mercury, all other talk is merely deception of the foolish.” Lead and mercury here are Neidan terms that refer to the corresponding Yin-Yang elements in cultivation; they do not mean the metals employed in Waidan (external alchemy).

These two medicines do not reside in the five viscera, nor are they Jing (essence), blood, or saliva; they cannot be obtained by visualization, meditative sitting, empty sitting, or “caizhan” (a cultivation practice that takes sexual intercourse as a means of gathering and replenishing). Lead and mercury need not be sought outside the body; they should be realized from within oneself. Heaven and earth rely upon these two elements for their enduring operation, and a person’s daily vital activities likewise depend on them. Thus the Yijing says: “The common people use them daily without knowing.” Those who can grasp this fundamental principle are few.

Pingshu also said: “If Li and Kan are without the harmonizing of Wu-Ji, even if the Four Images combine, the Golden Elixir cannot be refined.” He further said: “The Four Images and the Five Phases all rely on Earth.” And: “Originally Wu-Ji acts as the matchmaker.” This means that Wu-Ji True Earth performs the functions of harmonizing and mediating in Neidan cultivation.

People only see the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, yet they fail to perceive Wu and Ji (the two Heavenly Stems of Central Earth). In reality, Wu and Ji are contained within Heaven and Earth; when observing the human body, one should use the same method. When Heaven and Earth operate at the time when Wu and Ji hold command, there is a corresponding Wu and Ji within the human body as well. What is called “looking upward to observe Heaven, looking downward to examine oneself” means that, by observing the operations of Heaven and Earth, one obtains the complete Qi (vital energy) of Heaven and Earth’s Wu and Ji, and uses it to replenish the deficiency of Wu and Ji within oneself. The Yinfu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman) says: “Heaven has five thieves; those who see them prosper.” This means that the myriad things steal the Qi of Heaven and Earth, and human beings likewise take vital force from the myriad things. Another name for Earth is the Dantian (energy center); the Dantian belongs to Earth, and what is spoken of as “the Dantian removing Metal” also returns to Earth. Once one understands the principle of Wu and Ji, one may begin cultivation; this is called fire phasing.

Fire phasing refers to the meeting of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) of the human body with Heaven and Earth, causing the vital Qi that returns to the original source to gather and disperse along the central path. At the beginning there is no need to expend effort circulating Qi or practicing breathing techniques, nor to apply skillful methods with deliberate intent. One need only grasp a single opportune moment, and the work of creation will be completed in every particular. If advance and retreat are discussed according to the progression of sun and moon, there are naturally corresponding numbers of days, which cannot be forcibly arranged. If discussed in terms of days, there is of itself a monthly cycle of Yin-Yang change; a month and a year are likewise so. If discussed specifically according to the double-hours, one must clearly discern the coming and going of the mechanisms of generating and killing, the Daogui (an alchemical term referring to the crucial point of the medicine or of fire phasing) and the River Chariot (a term of Neidan (internal alchemy), referring to the process of Qi circulating within the body), and one must also understand how to turn the door of death into the door of life. In this way, the ten-month completion of the embryo, the hundred-day accomplishment of the work, and the twelve-year soaring ascent (Daoist cultivation terms referring to successful practice and transcendent elevation) are all contained therein.

Twelve Verses Pointing Out Delusions on the Great Dao (the Way) of the Golden Elixir (Jindan)

This is not a Chan Buddhist method of cultivation.

The cultivation of the Golden Elixir depends entirely upon receiving mind-to-mind transmission; it differs from the Buddhist school, which only learns seated meditation. The medicine must undergo cooking and refining, and fire phasing must also be mastered; when the Qi of the Yang Shen (the purely yang spirit spoken of in Daoist cultivation) is sufficient, one can become an immortal.

This is not a method of cultivation that relies on visualization (concentrating the mind upon a particular scene during seated meditation).

The Great Dao does not rely on deliberate visualization; what are called mercury and lead are not black quicksilver and lead. One should know that the priceless treasure of long life is that tangible mysterious pearl, shining brightly through the night.

This is not a method of cultivation that relies on performing ritual methods (practicing Daoist magical arts and ceremonies).

Burning incense, knocking the teeth, concentrating the Shen (spirit) by visualizing or gathering and guarding the spirit-Qi in seated meditation, forming ritual hand seals, drawing talismans, and summoning the various deities—none of these is the Golden Elixir cultivation spoken of here. So long as the Qi of the Yang Shen is sufficient, one can become an immortal.

Not Visualization

Cultivating the Great Dao (the Way) does not rely on visualization (cunxiang, concentrating in seated meditation upon a particular image or scene). The so-called mercury and lead (terms in Neidan, internal alchemy, that symbolize the Jing, essence, and Qi, vital energy, of Yin-Yang) do not refer to black lead and metallic mercury. One must know that the priceless treasure of immortality possesses a true form; that mysterious pearl (an image symbolizing the Golden Elixir) shines brightly through the night.

Not Ritual Practice

Burning incense, knocking the teeth, visualizing the spirits (cunshen, calmly observing and guarding the spirits within the body), as well as forming mudras, drawing talismans, and summoning the myriad numina, are none of them the work that leads to the superior Great Dao. Within genuine cultivation there remains a more fundamental True Origin of its own.

Not the Five Viscera

Mercury and lead are the images of Kan and Li (trigrams in the Bagua, Eight Trigrams, that symbolize water and fire), also called the Infant, the Maiden, the Tiger, the Dragon, and so forth. These are not the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, or kidneys; the True Origin resides separately in the Crystal Palace (a symbolic site of cultivation in Neidan, internal alchemy).

Not Sexual Techniques

The cultivation of Neidan (internal alchemy) consists entirely in cutting off lust and deluded attachment; the moment one speaks of the arts of the bedchamber, it is foolishness. The Supreme Immortals cultivate the way of purity and stillness; how could one establish the foundation of the Elixir amid filth and turbidity?

Seeking the Original Root

After Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate) differentiated into Heaven and Earth (Qian and Kun), the original ancestral Qi (vital energy) and root-origin of the myriad things no longer manifested. Even plants and trees are able to seek out and firmly hold to their roots; cultivating authenticity likewise consists entirely in learning to return to the origin and revert to the root.

Recognizing the Medicines

Donghua and the White Turtle Terrace gaze at each other from afar; the towering Golden Palace opens toward this place. One sees the True Person ascending into the Jade Mansion (a palatial hall in the immortal realm); in stillness and concentration one hears thunder that shakes the heavens.

Knowing the True Earth

When Yin-Yang conjoin, cooking and refining arise of themselves; if one does not include the central True Earth (the element in Neidan, internal alchemy, that occupies the center and harmonizes Yin-Yang) among them, the wondrous principle remains incomplete. When have Wu and Ji ever existed between Heaven and Earth (terms of the Five Phases that here symbolize the central Earth)? One must still further seek the True Earth transmitted from teacher to student by mind-to-mind conferral.

Awakening to Fire Timing

Fire timing refers to the opportune moments of advance and retreat, increase and decrease in the process of refining the Elixir; the transformations of fullness and emptiness, waxing and waning, are subtle and hard to discern. The three foldings of the jade qin (a Neidan, internal alchemy, term whose precise meaning is unclear)—do you know its significance? Spiritual light slowly rises within the precious tripod.

Viewing the Elixir Chamber

The Valley Spirit and the Mysterious Female (Daoist terms used to designate the profound origin capable of generating and transforming) are the Elixir Chamber, which is also the way of long life without death. The Spirit Embryo (symbolizing the formed inner elixir in Neidan, internal alchemy, cultivation) conjoins and coagulates within it; when pure Yin is completely exhausted, it turns into pure Yang.

Forming the Immortal Embryo

After the Spirit Embryo has formed, it is warmed and nourished in the jade furnace; with one Qi returning to Yang, one reverts to the root. Transformations such as soaring and concealing oneself are all mastered by oneself, because there exists a body outside the body (the symbolic “body outside the body” of cultivation).

Guarding Beginning and End

The wondrous secrets of immortal cultivation are indeed extremely precious and rarely encountered, yet once one meets with them, one ought to know that completing the cultivation is by no means impossible. In the work of refining the elixir, the practice of advancing the fire cannot be interrupted; once the yang spirit is refined to completion and emerges, one can fly and ascend.

Afterword

The ancients said, “Immortals can be attained through study, and immortality can likewise be achieved through effort.” These words rest on a firm basis and are not empty talk.

I, Juchuan, have lived for generations in Piling. My great-grandfather, Junior Preceptor Duke of Jin, entered government service as the top graduate of the civil examinations. While serving Emperor Huizong of Song he associated with immortals and fangshi. The family has handed down through the generations a Chart of the Golden Elixir (Jindan). It was once shown to Lin Lingsu, who was informed that it was a wondrous secret transmitted by Chen Xiyi (a Daoist figure known as Master Xiyi). Lin Lingsu understood its inner meaning, but my great-grandfather’s affinity with the study of the Dao (the Way) was different; he found it tedious to listen to and never succeeded in grasping it. Later my great-grandfather gave the chart to Privy Councilor Guo Gong Sanyi, who was the father of my great-grandmother Lady Guo, Duchess of Yue. Guo Gong was quite fond of Daoist arts, yet he did not thoroughly investigate and understand its contents, and so the chart has remained in the family’s collection.

More than ninety years later, in the Jiading period, my father, Prefect of Shanggu, happened to encounter the Barefoot Perfected Chen of Mount Wudang. Perfected Chen first transmitted this method of the Dao to my father. After returning home my father restudied the old chart and found that its contents matched the transmitted method of the Dao completely. He therefore added oral formulas and annotations, intending to have it printed, but he died before the blocks could be carved. I lamented that this mysterious study of the Dao had no one to carry it on, and fearing that the book might be lost, I burned incense and swore an oath to Heaven, then commissioned the carving of printing blocks so as to fulfill my father’s dying wish.

Alas! People of the world all cling to life and detest death, yet they are constantly burdened by desires, unable to firm their resolve and persevere, and in the end they give up halfway. From this one sees that hearing of the Great Dao is easy, but true cultivation is hard. From childhood I have loved studying the Dao; from the age of two or three I practiced sitting in stillness. My father, fearing I would neglect my examination studies on this account, often tried to stop me, yet I never abandoned it. After I reached adulthood, various worldly matters and attachments to fame and profit entangled me, and thoughts of cultivating the Dao were laid aside.

Later my father transmitted the oral formulas to several disciples. Among them, some heard and then went to practice, some practiced but not with full dedication, and some liked listening to the Dao but did not like actually cultivating. I, however, received the personal transmission from my father. He once cautioned me: “I have obtained the way of the immortals, yet I lack the good fortune of an immortal. Now I am old; my cultivation has been intermittent, and I have not been able to complete the work. The foundation of body and mind on which cultivation of the Dao depends has already declined, and I fear I shall soon migrate and transform (a Daoist term meaning to leave this world). I have an affinity with Jiezhai and can entrust this great matter to him.”

In an auspicious month of the jia-yin year, my father traveled to Shuchuan and drank and conversed at length with Jiezhai. One day he suddenly took his leave. Those present perceived his intention. The next day he wrote to me: “The tiger is subdued and the dragon descends; at the time of departure there is no hurry. Having a son to whom I can entrust things, there is nothing to think about.” Here “the tiger is subdued and the dragon descends” is a common expression in Neidan (internal alchemy) cultivation, referring to the refining and subduing of the Yin-Yang, dragon-tiger, and other symbolic forces within the body. My father thereby indicated that his cultivation had already made progress, and also that I need not worry about later affairs.

Alas! If my father had had remaining strength to complete his own cultivation, how could he have stopped at merely this? I have therefore written this account after the Chart of the Golden Elixir.

I respectfully kowtow and compose this text.

According to the old preface by Privy Councilor Guo Gong: When I read the “Biography of Zhang Liang” in the History of the Han and saw that Zhang Liang received a book from the Yellow Stone Duke, I found it extremely extraordinary. Zhang Liang, in the midst of talking and laughing, assisted his sovereign in accomplishing a great enterprise, unmatched by anyone; clearly he had something to rely upon. Yet the “Biography of Zhang Liang” states that what he obtained was a chapter of the Military Methods of the Grand Duke. Nowadays this military treatise circulates in the world and everyone can read it; I believe the wondrous purport Zhang Liang obtained must have gone beyond this, and perhaps there was another secret transmission.

I once saw in the home of my son-in-law Huo Duanfa a book that had been collected by the family for generations. It was already old, and the household itself did not know where it had come from. Lin Lingsu, upon seeing it, was greatly astonished and said that this was a mind-method personally transmitted by Chen Xiyi. I took the book to show Lin Lingsu, and he indeed considered it a remarkable work. Later I brought it to him again and asked him to distinguish its true inner meaning. Not long afterward I crossed the Goryeo Sea by boat and encountered many dangers along the way; whenever I tested the methods spoken of in the book, none failed to prove efficacious. It can indeed serve as a treasure for cultivating one’s own person.

I hope to transmit it to my descendants, regretting only that I have not been able to transmit it personally, and so I write this preface to admonish them.

On the Shangsi day of the eleventh month of the first year of Xuanhe, Guo Sanyi composed this preface.

Huo Jun, Regional Commander of Shanggu, whose personal name was Huai and courtesy name Boyu, was a native of Piling. During the Chongning era he took first place in the imperial examinations; he was the great-grandson of Junior Preceptor Duke Jin. Master Huo was innately brilliant and widely learned, thoroughly familiar with the profound teachings of the Nine Schools and Hundred Schools. His nature was generous and unrestrained, free of worldly constraints; he held wealth in light regard and delighted in acting righteously, often rushing to help others in their difficulties and taking their sufferings as his own.

He once met a sage and received the oral transmission of the elixir method, thereby mastering the way of corpse liberation (shijie), a Daoist cultivation practice of shedding the physical body and transcending. In the winter of the year Jia Yin, without having fallen ill, he manifested his transformation and departed at a side courtyard of Zhao Guanwen’s private residence in Leichuan.

His son Juchuan also held the aspiration to leave the world and cultivate the Dao. Although he repeatedly sat for the civil service examinations and gained empty fame, he regarded official honors as so much dirt and felt no regret at departing from worldly life, as if intending to remain thus throughout his life. One day he had the elixir secrets transmitted from his father’s heart printed and circulated, thereby continuing his father’s last wish. I thus had the opportunity to see this book, yet because my learning is shallow I was unable to seek instruction from him; I too have the aspiration to cultivate the Dao and hope to study its contents.

The Zhonghe Festival of the year Ding Si of the Baoyou era.