《悟真篇注释》

Confucius once told me: After the Celestial Elder of Tiantai perfected his cultivation of the Dao, he received the title “Perfected Man of Purple Yang” by imperial decree. He secretly assisted the imperial house, appearing and disappearing in the world from time to time, yet no one recognized him. In his youth, the Celestial Elder studied alongside my grandfather at the Biyong, the ancient imperial academy. He alone failed to pass the examinations. Naturally endowed with spiritual insight, he was studying Buddhist texts when, prompted by the sound of a struck bamboo, he suddenly understood the principle of non-arising. He went straight beyond distinctions and attachments and entered the realm of true emptiness and stillness. In his later years, he met the Elder of Qingcheng in Chengdu and learned the innermost secrets of Golden Elixir cultivation. He fully grasped the key to the interaction of Yin-Yang and the ceaseless cycle of change and generation in Heaven and Earth. Thus he could cultivate a return to the root and a restoration of life, ascend into the formless realm, preserve and embrace the Origin in its unity, and clarify his original mind until he reached a state of empty stillness. His body and spirit wondrously united without obstruction, joining the Dao in truth. His transformations were limitless, and he could manifest throughout the Dharma realm; through these wondrous powers, he widely saved beings lost in delusion. Even to this day, very few have truly met him and practiced his way of cultivating nature and life.

During the Yuanfeng era, he and the disciples of Liu Fengzhen widely expounded the Buddhist Dharma. He left verses expressing the principle of non-arising, then entered quiescence. Liu Fengzhen and the others cremated his remains and found several hundred śarīra relics, each as large as a fruit of the sedge. Seven years later, Liu Fengzhen’s disciples went to Mount Wangwu and met him again; his appearance was just as before. This shows the wondrous nature of both his body and spirit, and demonstrates that nature and life can be perfected together.

The Celestial Elder was compassionate and benevolent, generous and open-hearted. He could thoroughly investigate things and principles, exhaust the nature of his own being, and thereby cultivate until both nature and life were perfected. He held that Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism shared the same essential aim and differed in none of their wondrous functions. Unwilling to cultivate only for his own attainment, he wrote the Wuzhen Pian to instruct later students. He first guided people through the Dao of immortality and longevity, so the opening discusses Golden Elixir methods that give priority to nature and life. At the end, he dispels delusion through the emptiness of suchness, and so concludes the book with Chan Buddhist verse.

The essentials of the Golden Elixir are to establish the true Yin and true Yang substances of two and eight as the furnace and cauldron, gather the primordial Qi within them, and refine it into an elixir the size of a millet grain, called “Taiyi Embracing the True.” Thus, the opening consists of fifteen seven-character poems in four lines, corresponding to the numbers of true Yin and true Yang, two and eight; another five-character poem symbolizes the single elixir of Taiyi. Once this elixir is obtained, it is ingested into the Dantian. Then the firing process is applied according to the sequence of the sixty-four hexagrams, which is why the text includes sixty-four quatrains corresponding to the sixty-four hexagrams of the Zhouyi.

The work of regulating the fire and refining the elixir takes ten months; together with the bathing and nourishing period, the total is twelve months. The text therefore continues with twelve poems titled “Xijiang Yue,” corresponding to the annual cycle of time. When the ten months of work are complete, the Neidan embryo matures and transforms into pure Yang Qi. For this reason, the text also contains a total of eighty-one regulated verses, symbolizing the number of pure Yang: nine times nine. After the body has transformed into Qi, one continues to embrace the Origin and cultivate for nine years, refining Qi into Shen and finally uniting Shen with the Dao. In this way, body and spirit attain wondrous perfection. At the height of this wonder, they become formless; spirit merges mysteriously with the Dao, beyond fathoming. Nature and life both return to their ultimate source in empty stillness. The book therefore concludes with the Chan Buddhist teaching on the nature of the Dao.

All that has been said above outlines the general principles of Golden Elixir cultivation and explains the arrangement of the chapters. As for the substances, firing process, and oral instructions, they are embedded in the poems, and readers may follow the text to seek understanding. As this book gradually spread, its wording and doctrines came to differ in many places, and it acquired numerous errors and omissions. Only the version preserved by the family of Sicheng, grandson of Lord Lu of the Dragon Diagram, is authentic; it is the text the Celestial Elder transmitted personally. At the end of the volume, the Celestial Elder also wrote a preface in his own hand, explaining in detail what he had attained.

While traveling through the Grotto Heavens, I obtained this true text and collated it. Only then did I understand the Celestial Elder’s purpose in writing it: the arrangement of the chapters follows the images and numbers of the Golden Elixir. The wording is concise, yet the principles are complete and clear; the meaning is subtle, yet the metaphors are apt. It is truly a guide for later students of cultivation and an important work among the scriptures, worthy of study.

Today, scholars often explain it through unrelated, heterodox teachings. Some force ideas such as “the supreme treasure of the celestial court,” “the Golden Elixir in the jade vessel,” and “the numinous elixir of primordial unity” onto the text, but in the end they cannot show that these claims have any solid foundation. Ye Wenshu, for his part, used Taiji and the numbers of Dayan to explain and analyze the book, adding diagrams at the end under the title Wuzhen Pian Waizhuan (Commentary Outside the Wuzhen Pian). This is like peering at shadows through a curtain or mistaking a horse for the Qian trigram. It not only distorts the true scripture but leaves students even more confused.

Alas, the Immortal Elder once said, “If a person does not understand, does not reflect on their own errors, and instead teaches others the wrong path, leaving them forever trapped in confusion, how can they bear to deceive their own conscience?” Is this not a description of Wenshu?

How could he know that the Golden Elixir—the elixir formed through the refinement of Jing and Qi in Neidan practice—is, in truth, the single Qi of Taiji, the source from which all things arise? The sages take the “two eights,” a symbol of Yin-Yang in mutual complement, and gather its Qi within a single double-hour, refining it into one pill. Swallow it, and one can ascend to the realm of the sages. The Immortal Elder said, “Within a single double-hour, the Elixir is complete.” He also said, “Swallow one Golden Elixir, and you will know that your life and destiny are no longer governed by Heaven.” Could these words be empty talk?

Wenshu did not understand this principle and instead claimed that the teaching of “one moment” was wrong. If “one moment” does not mean a single double-hour, must we then say that refining the Elixir necessarily takes three or nine years? This practice is, by nature, supremely simple and easy. That is why the Immortal Elder said that in only a brief moment one can enjoy boundless bliss forever.

Wenshu also interpreted “one pill” to mean refining one pill each day, and cited the teachings of Zhen Yizi to claim that one must swallow a pill daily. By that reasoning, in three or nine years one would have to swallow more than a thousand pills. Would the Immortal Elder have deliberately used “a single double-hour” to deceive people? These two points alone are enough to show that Wenshu plainly did not understand the art of the Golden Elixir.

His commentary is therefore often confused and mistaken. He did not know that Taiji and the number of the Great Expansion—a mathematical principle used in the Changes to derive patterns of transformation—are merely metaphors for the timing of regulating the fire in Neidan practice. To seize on these symbols in the hope of finding the Great Dao of the Golden Elixir is like drawing a dragon to summon rain or drawing a cake to satisfy hunger. How could it possibly bring success?

Though my talents are meager, I have followed the traces left by the Immortal Elder. Having received the true transmission and its spiritual resonance, I dare not forget it day or night. How, then, could I stand by while right and wrong are confused, without clarifying the Immortal Elder’s words and original intent? Therefore, I do not fear Heaven’s punishment: I state this heavenly secret plainly and, in accordance with my master’s secret instructions, annotate this authentic text. The work is divided into three volumes. The first explains “the defense of strengthening the troops and conquering the belly,” through gathering the Golden Elixir; the middle volume explains the method of enriching the state and bringing peace to the people, through circulating the fire; the final volume explains the Dao of immortals embracing the One, through entering the realm of the formless. Every passage explains the actual practice, leaving out not the slightest detail. Those who share this aspiration will understand it clearly upon reading and reach the Great Dao directly, no longer misled by heretical paths and side roads.

Respectfully prefaced by Wumingzi.

According to Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy), refining the Golden Elixir requires sitting still at the time of the Mid-Autumn Festival, just as Yang energy first stirs, and guarding the pivot of the Northern Dipper—the key star position in its constellation. The ritual arena is divided into three levels. With the left hand, one seizes the Dragon to determine the timing within the cauldron; with the right hand, one seizes the Tiger to finely regulate the alchemical firing. Here, “Dragon” and “Tiger” are symbols in Neidan practice, referring to the two forces of Yin and Yang. The “cauldron” is the body or alchemical furnace, while “timing” and “firing” refer to the right moment and the regulation of heat during cultivation.

During practice, the civil and martial forces do battle within the Mysterious Gate, advancing and retreating in turn as they contend at the Female Portal—the Yin gateway that, in Neidan, refers to the point where Yin and Yang meet. Breath, talismanic timing, and the water clock must all accord with the circulation of the heavenly cycle, without the slightest error. After a short while, when the three battles are complete, one can seize the Elixir Pearl and swallow it. This is therefore called the “art of triumph through a mighty army.” “Battle” refers to the union of Yin and Yang; “army” refers to the Dragon and Tiger. If the Golden Elixir cannot be brought into the mouth within one double-hour, this is the “art of battling the belly.” The Scripture of Western Florescence says, “The key to triumph through a mighty army lies in nurturing the Mysterious Pearl.” Thus the Immortal Elder first set out twenty-eight seven-character poems to explain the number of the Dragon and Tiger, then one five-character poem to signify refining one Golden Elixir in a double-hour. The commentator accordingly provided a tabular explanation of the upper scroll, clarifying the meaning of “triumph through a mighty army” and making the method of gathering and refining the Golden Elixir clear.

Fifteen Seven-Character Poems in Four-Beat Meter

One who does not seek the Great Dao and instead strays from delusion, however gifted, cannot be called a true great man. A hundred years pass like a spark of fire, and the circumstances of a lifetime are as brief as a bubble on water.

In pursuit of profit, rank, and splendor, people neglect their bodies and appearance, secretly growing more haggard and withered day by day. Consider this: even if one piled up gold and silver as high as a mountain, could it truly buy what cannot be obtained in the first place?

What the world values most is no more than wealth and status, yet both vanish in an instant like a flash of fire. A person’s life and circumstances, too, are as brief as a bubble on water.

In pursuit of profit, rank, and splendor, people neglect their bodies and appearance, secretly growing more haggard and withered day by day. Consider this: even if one piled up gold and silver as high as a mountain, could it truly buy what cannot be obtained in the first place?

What people in this world value above all is wealth and status. These are precisely what people desire, so no one under Heaven fails to chase after the satisfaction of private desires and the fulfillment of lifelong ambitions, striving eagerly to get ahead. Look closely at why: people are simply bewitched by fame, profit, sensual pleasures, and beauty. In truth, these harm one’s life like blades and spears, and bind one like shackles.

Why is this so? People in the world do not understand the preciousness of the heart of Dao and De, or of the Great Way of nature and life. They crave only fame and profit, allowing greed and delusion to grow, sinking into romantic attachments and desires, and endlessly weighing right and wrong, self and other. Joy and anger, sorrow and pleasure torment one another and damage the body. Thus, corpse demons—Yin forces in Daoist thought that harm life and hasten decline—drive life toward its end, while cold and heat wear away the radiance of one’s appearance. A human life is no more than a fleeting moment, like light reflected on water; a hundred years pass as quickly as a spark struck from stone. Even if one amassed gold enough to measure by the bushel and piled up jade like a mountain, when life comes to an end, how could any of it buy life back and keep one from becoming a nest for ants and worms?

How sad, how painful! A person’s lifespan may not yet have run its course, yet the soul has already entered another body. The Perfected Lord Xujing, revered as an immortal in Daoism, said, “If you do not awaken in this life, after death you will enter another body. Though you pass through rebirth again and again, you will still not awaken.” Alas, rather than be reborn as another kind of being, why not abide in the Great Way?

When cultivation of the Dao is complete, one can transcend the azure heavens—the celestial realm of Daoist belief—ride the clouds and harness flying dragons, and roam the boundless expanse, never again changing one’s original nature and attaining the title of “Perfected One.” This is when a great man fulfills his aspirations; it is the happiest and most glorious of days. If one merely busies oneself with petty worldly affairs, fills one’s heart with mundane concerns, and falls into the snares of the world, then even with the talent and virtue of Confucius and Mencius, and the fame and prestige of Su Qin and Zhang Yi, one will ultimately be no more than a wandering soul in the dust, a lifeless Yin ghost. How could that be called a true great man?

Therefore, when the Immortal Master—the Daoist author—began the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality), he wrote these words especially for those of penetrating insight and elevated understanding, hoping they would awaken from a single sentence, quickly seek the Great Way, leave the path of delusion, and act in accordance with Wuwei (non-action). Only this makes a true great man; nothing else is worth pursuing.

Although people are often said to live for a hundred years, no one can know in advance who will live long or die young, who will prosper or fall into hardship. Someone may be riding through the streets on horseback one day, only to lie in a coffin the next.

In the end, one must let go of one’s wife and possessions; they do not truly belong to oneself. Only the sins and karma one has accumulated throughout life follow one after death, beyond concealment.

A person’s lifespan, circumstances, and wealth or poverty seem to be fixed by fate. How could anyone calculate them and know them in advance? Life is limited, and the body readily declines. Is it not futile toil to rush about all day, chasing desires without end? Once the breath stops, a person can no longer return and does not know where they will go. Is that not cause for sorrow?

Thus, someone who rode through the streets on horseback yesterday may be a corpse today. There is no guarantee that the breath breathed out will be breathed in again. At that moment, even a high office and generous salary, priceless treasures at home, and a beautiful wife must all be left behind. Nothing can accompany a person in death or be concealed: only the sins and karma accumulated in this life. Hence the saying: “Of all things, none can be taken along; only karma follows you.”

The True Person Cao, a Daoist cultivator, wrote in a lyric: “We lament life’s ceaseless busyness, yet cannot escape the entanglement of worldly desires. Suddenly, the breath in the throat stops, and the person’s spirit disperses. However bitterly wife and children grieve and cry, however many words they speak, they cannot bring the dead back. Even if one spent a lifetime scheming, once fallen into a desolate grave, one has lost the ability to think clearly.” These words are indeed true.

If one does not seek the “Great Medicine,” the object sought through Daoist internal alchemy, how could one ever have the chance to encounter it?

If people wish to escape the cycle of rebirth and no longer be entangled in worldly concerns, the best way is to cultivate the Great Medicine of the Golden Elixir. It is said to be a numinous ladder to Heaven, a shortcut beyond the ordinary world. This path may seem simple and easy: even those of dull aptitude and low status can swiftly attain the realm of sages, provided they obtain the method and practice it.

Yet the sages of antiquity regarded this Daoist teaching as supremely precious and would not reveal it lightly. They passed it on only through oral instructions to the worthy and wise, never committing it to writing. Thus, although the teaching is hard to encounter, once obtained it is easy to master. Unless one seeks it diligently, remains steadfast in purpose, and moves Heaven through sincere devotion, one is unlikely even to hear of anyone who has truly received it.

Knowing how hard this path was to find, Xie Ziran admired the perfected beings of Penglai. She gave herself over to sincerity, spent all her family’s wealth, and prepared a boat. Undeterred by the dangers of towering waves and deep waters, she set out straight for Penglai without the least fear. Her resolve moved the sea god, who told her, “Penglai lies thirty thousand li from here, across the Weak Waters, where not even a blade of grass can float. How do you expect to reach it? Sima Ziwei lives on Mount Chicheng. Go and take him as your teacher.”

Xie Ziran turned her boat around and went to Mount Chicheng to seek him out. There she indeed met Sima Ziwei and received the Daoist teaching from him. After only a few years of cultivation, she ascended to Heaven in broad daylight. Ah, when sincerity arises within, it can reach beyond oneself and receive a response; nothing is beyond its power. If one could devote oneself and remain resolute as she did, why worry that the Dao of the Golden Elixir could not be attained? The Dao has not failed people; people are often the ones who fail the Dao.

The Cantong qi (Token for Joining the Three, an important Daoist classic on internal alchemy and alchemical practice) says, “The Dao favors no one and rejects no one; it transmits itself only to the worthy and wise.” Without holding fast to sincerity and striving to seek it, how could one ever encounter it?

To encounter the secret method of the Golden Elixir and yet fail to practice it is the height of folly. The mysteries of the Golden Elixir are indeed hard to encounter. As the Cantong qi says, the Dao is transmitted only to the worthy and wise. Without sincere and steadfast admiration, how could one receive it? To encounter it and not practice it is the greatest folly.

The secret of the Golden Elixir is truly hard to encounter. Those who do encounter it must have had the foundations for becoming an immortal in a past life, and their ancestors must have accumulated deep hidden merit through good deeds. They also need substantial financial resources and three companions to put this method of cultivation into practice. Those who understand its principles naturally know how difficult these matters are to explain.

When Wang Chongzhao met Lord Haichan and learned the Way of the Golden Elixir, he could not begin cultivating because he had no money. He therefore went to Luoyang to visit the two men Han and Fu, relied on the help of people with means, and ultimately attained the Dao and departed. If someone encounters this path of cultivation and has companions willing to cultivate together and contribute their help, yet still refuses to cultivate, that person is truly foolish.

The Immortal Elder gave Lord Liu a poem that says: “I hear you have known the medicines for many years. Why, then, do you not gather your spirit and refine lead? Do not let the wind blow out the candle flame; if you fall into the six paths of rebirth, you will have no one to blame but yourself.” This describes precisely such a situation.

In learning the way of the immortals, one must learn the way of the Celestial Immortals (those who cultivate to become immortals and transcend the ordinary world).

Immortals are divided into several ranks. An yin spirit (the spiritual awareness that appears after cultivating the primordial spirit) is highly numinous but has no form; this is the rank of the ghost immortal. Those who can live in the world free from illness and distress, and enjoy a long life, are human immortals. Those who can rise into the sky and ride the mists, need neither food nor rest, suffer neither cold nor heat, roam among the islands, and live forever are earth immortals.

Those whose body and spirit have both reached a wondrous state and become one with the Dao walk beneath the sun and moon yet cast no shadow, and pass through metal and stone without hindrance. Their transformations are endless: at times they appear old, at times young; at times they vanish, at times they appear; at times they exist, at times they disappear. When gathered, they take form; when dispersed, they become Qi. Neither yarrow stalks nor tortoise shells can divine their nature, and even ghosts and spirits cannot know them. These are heaven immortals.

Thus Yin Zhenjun said: If one can cut off desire and cultivate fetal breathing—a breath as subtle as that of a fetus—and practice the Dao through methods such as shifting the spirit and leaving the shell, entering meditation and casting oneself into a corpse, or attaining an indestructible body through the yin spirit, one has reached the lower rank of immortals. Those who receive Daoist methods such as the Three Jia talisman registers, the Taiyi Mengwei covenant, and the Shangqing Three Caverns scriptures and rites, or attain the Dao through sword arts or corpse liberation, are all immortals listed in the Southern Palace. They dwell in various grotto abodes and belong to the middle rank. Those who cultivate the great medicine of the Golden Elixir and attain the Dao can ascend bodily to the heavens and become supreme heaven immortals of the Limitless rank.

The Immortal Elder exhorts those who cultivate the Dao: They should set themselves lofty and generous aspirations, cut off deluded thoughts and worldly vanity, still the spirit, and delight in Wuwei (non-action). They should not be content with the middle or lower ranks of immortals, but should attain the supreme, Limitless rank.

The Golden Elixir is the highest path of cultivation. The Immortal Elder exhorts those who cultivate the Dao to set lofty aspirations, put an end to deluded thoughts and worldly vanity, and gather the spirit in the way of Wuwei. They should not be content with the middle or lower ranks of immortals, but should attain the supreme, Limitless rank. The Golden Elixir is the most essential foundation.

There are seventy-two methods of alchemy. For those who wish to become Celestial Immortals, the simplest and most effective method is the Great Way of the Golden Elixir, the most orthodox and clearly defined path. The Golden Elixir described here is something that comes into being from “nonbeing.” It is not made from the metals, minerals, cinnabar, mercury, black lead, white tin, male and female substances, arsenic powder, autumn stone, plants, or other materials formed after Heaven and Earth came into being. Nor is it refined from things already present in the human body, such as fluids, Jing and Qi, or blood. It is drawn solely from the original, undivided Qi that existed in chaos before Heaven and Earth were born—the Daoist concept of primordial Qi.

Following the method, practitioners gather this primordial Qi within a single double-hour and condense it into an elixir the size of a grain of millet. This is called the Golden Elixir, and is also known as True Lead, the Yang Elixir, True Mercury, the Essence of True Unity, the Water of True Unity, Water and Fire, or the True Qi Contained in Taiyi. The scripture says that anyone who takes this elixir will immediately ascend to the realm of the sages. This is called the highest attainment in cultivation: the mysterious method of the Celestial Immortals, rarely heard of in the world.

When Yin and Yang meet, feeling and nature unite; where the Five Phases are complete, the Dragon and Tiger coil together and merge.

The Qi of True Unity, the most fundamental and original Qi, existed before Heaven and Earth took shape. It was blended with the void, dim and profound—unseen, unheard, and beyond touch. How could it gather and condense into an elixir pearl the size of a millet grain?

The sages used visible things to illustrate invisible principles. What is said to be real and formed is “true Yin and true Yang.” Matched with them, of the same kind yet without form, is the “Qi of the first quarter-moons of the twenty-eight lunar mansions”—a metaphor for the subtle movement of Qi as Yin and Yang first arise, before they take shape. It has Qi but no substance. When the two reflect one another, something is born: the pearl the size of a millet grain, formed by the condensation of the Qi of True Unity. A scripture says, “The precious pearl of the Primordial Beginning, within the empty mystery, is as large as a millet grain.” This confirms the point.

The sages feared that they might reveal Heaven’s secrets, so they used the Azure Dragon and White Tiger as metaphors for true Yin and true Yang, and also spoke of true lead and true mercury. In the poetry of the Immortal Master, the Dragon is also called the Red Dragon, Thunder Dragon, Heavenly Soul, the Qian family, Qian furnace, Jade Cauldron, Fusang, Jade Pool, the half-moon of the lower quarter, Eastern Yang, Eldest Son, Vermilion Mercury, Vermilion Cinnabar Cauldron, Li Sun, and Red Phoenix. All these names use the Dragon as a metaphor for the Azure Dragon.

The Tiger, in turn, is called the Black Tiger, Dui Tiger, Earthly Soul, Kun position, Kun Cauldron, Golden Cauldron, Golden Furnace, Mount Hua, the half-moon of the upper quarter, Western River, Youngest Daughter, black lead, Crescent-Moon Furnace, Kan Moon, and Black Tortoise. All these names use the Tiger as a metaphor for the White Tiger.

The fractional-moon Qi on the Dragon’s side is also called the Enchantress, Wood Mercury, Green Maiden, Mercury Wrapped in Vermilion, feeling, Yellow Sprout, Flowing Pearl, Maiden in Green, Golden Crow, Li Maiden, Female Dragon, True Fire, Enchantress of the twenty-eight lunar mansions, Jade Fungus, and Wood Fluid. These are all metaphors of the same kind. The fractional-moon Qi on the Tiger’s side is called true lead, Golden Lord, Golden Essence, metal within water, silver within water, nature, Golden Flower, White Snow, Young Lord in White Silk, talismanic water, Young Lord of the ninth and third lunar mansions, Jade Hare, Kan Youth, Male Tiger, and Blade Measure. These too are metaphors of the same kind.

When the Dragon and Tiger meet, feeling and nature unite. The Azure Dragon dwells in the east and belongs to Wood. Wood can generate Fire, so the Dragon’s fractional-moon Qi belongs to Fire and is called “feeling”; it corresponds to the south and is also called the Vermilion Bird. The White Tiger dwells in the west and belongs to Metal. Metal can generate Water, so the Tiger’s fractional-moon Qi belongs to Water and is called “nature”; it corresponds to the north and is also called the Dark Warrior. The Dragon belongs to Wood and the Tiger to Metal; nature belongs to Water and feeling to Fire. These elements gather in the central palace, return to Wu and Ji, the Earth stems, and thereby form the Elixir. The Elixir belongs to Earth; this is what is called the “true Five Phases.” Hence the saying: “When the two things meet, feeling and nature unite; where the Five Phases are complete, the Tiger and Dragon coil together.”

This is because Wu and Ji, which correspond to Earth, must act as matchmakers, allowing two forces like husband and wife to unite for a long time and live together in harmony.

The Wood Dragon is in the east and the Metal Tiger in the west. Separated from each other, how could they join on their own and bring about transformation? What brings them together is the Yellow Matron, the force that mediates and harmonizes, linking Yin and Yang. Only by guiding the Wood Dragon with the left hand and controlling the Metal Tiger with the right can they be brought together. Since the Dragon and Tiger dwell in the east and west, the Yellow Matron must bring them together. Without a matchmaker, how could they become husband and wife and unite in joyful harmony? This refers to the True One Qi—the pure, primordial vital energy—responding and gathering together to refine the Golden Liquid Return Elixir, the elixir produced through internal alchemy. In fact, this is a symbol of the “external medicine.”

When the work is complete, one can ascend to the Jade Palace in Heaven. The whole body is enveloped in clouds of nine-colored radiance, and one rises astride a blessed luan bird.

After taking this Golden Elixir, one must continue cultivation for ten months to refine the physical form into Qi. Then, after nine years of embracing the One—that is, steadfastly holding to the primordial Qi—one can transform Qi into Shen, bringing both body and spirit to a subtle and wondrous state. United with the Dao in truth, one rides a luan or crane into the ninefold radiance of the heavens and ascends to the Jade Palace.

The true wonder of this method lies in its marvelous truth. I alone have understood it, and so I differ from ordinary people.

This Daoist method is supremely divine and sacred, utterly simple and easy, exalted and precious, mysterious and profound, and surpassingly subtle. Few in the world have ever heard of it. The Immortal Elder was exceptionally gifted, far beyond ordinary people, and alone understood its profound intent. Immortal Elder Chongzhao said: “Among the Daoist practitioners in the world, no one has been recognized as having attained the Way of the Golden Elixir; only Pingshu has achieved it. How could ordinary hills and roadside puddles compare with Mount Tai and the rivers and seas?”

I know that the reversals and transformations of the Elixir method arise from Li and Kan, the Fire and Water trigrams of the Bagua, often used to symbolize Yin and Yang. But who can understand how to determine their relative roles and distinguish host from guest amid their rising and sinking?

The Li Trigram (representing fire and the south) belongs to Yang, yet it is called female because it is Yang on the outside and Yin within. This is true Mercury. The Kan Trigram (representing water and the north) belongs to Yin, yet it is called male because it is Yin on the outside and Yang within. This is true Lead. The Immortal Elder said, “The sun dwells in the Li position, yet is called female; the moon’s toad in Kan, by contrast, is called male. Those who do not understand the principle of Yin and Yang being reversed should not speak grandly on the basis of shallow views.”

Calling Kan male and Li female is like the father’s Jing and the mother’s blood; it is also like the crow in the sun and the jade rabbit in the moon, Mercury in cinnabar and silver in lead ore, or the Yellow Male in heaven and the Dark Maiden on earth. These expressions all point to the two kinds of Yin-Yang Qi known as the first and second crescents.

“Host and guest” means that Yang is honored and dwells on the left, so it is called the host; Yin is humble and dwells on the right, so it is called the guest. Li belongs to fire: fire rises, and, like wood, is light and buoyant. It belongs to Yang and is therefore normally the host. Kan belongs to water: water sinks, and, like metal, is heavy and settling. It belongs to Yin and is therefore normally the guest. This assigns host and guest according to the usual order.

Here, however, Li is called female and Kan male, and the relation between host and guest is reversed accordingly. This is what is meant by “reversal.” Hence the saying: “To understand the principle of reversal, begin with Li and Kan. Who can distinguish floating from sinking and determine host and guest?” Determining host and guest here means arranging them in their reversed order according to the Qi of the two crescents in Daoist practice; it does not follow the everyday order of host and guest.

The Golden Tripod, a term in alchemy for the cauldron and furnace used in cultivation, must retain the Mercury within cinnabar; the Jade Pool, a term for the place that receives fluids during cultivation, first draws down the silver in water.

The “Golden Cauldron” uses gold as a metaphor for something Yin in nature, yet the cauldron contains Yang Qi (vital energy that is Yang in nature). It symbolizes Yang within Yin; this is the White Tiger. The “Jade Pool” uses jade as a metaphor for something Yang in nature, yet the pool contains Yin Qi (vital energy that is Yin in nature). It symbolizes Yin within Yang; this is the Azure Dragon. “Mercury in the sand” refers to the Dragon’s resonant Qi, the Yin-Yang energy contained within the Dragon.

Those who practice the methods of alchemy, if they wish the Tiger to retain the Dragon’s Qi, must first guide the Dragon to the Tiger’s position. Then they bring the two energies into close union, harmonize the feelings of Yin and Yang, and refine them through the stages of the fire. The essence of True Unity, formed through the union of Yin and Yang, will then condense naturally. As for “fire,” it is the subtle method that the sages kept secret and did not transmit: it can reach as high as eighty-four thousand li and descend to the depths of the Great Abyss at the North Pole. When stirred, it gives rise to fire. Thus, sages use fire to refine the elixir and bring it to completion, while fools use fire and invite disaster.

The fire’s subtle operation of its stages takes less than a full day;

in the deep pool, a sun appears.

Fire is the Qi of the two resonant strings of Yin and Yang, and it is also the beginning of a day. The Zi hour, at midnight, marks the start of the six Yang energies, which is why it is called “dawn,” or a “day.” When sages set the alchemical fire in motion, it works with wondrous efficacy: in less than half an hour, they obtain the essence of True Unity, which condenses into an elixir the size of a millet grain. It appears in the Northern Sea, its radiance shining through the curtains, as though a bright sun were rising from a deep pool. “Before the end of dawn” means that the Golden Elixir can be refined within a single hour. This describes the symbolic signs and process of the external alchemical method.

The Tiger leaps and the Dragon soars; winds and waves surge.

Yin and Yang take their proper place at the center and form the Mysterious Pearl, the subtle alchemical bead.

Fruit grows on a branch and, in time, ripens;

a fetus develops in the womb—how could it be any different?

This poem describes how the “Essence of True Unity”—regarded in alchemy as the pure, subtle source of Qi—congeals into an elixir, and how the Dragon and Tiger unite to form the sacred embryo.

The Tiger in the text is the Golden Elixir, also called True Lead or True Earth. Once swallowed, it is also known as the Yang Elixir. The Dragon is one’s own True Qi, the source of one’s vital energy. “Wind and waves” refers to True Qi rising from the lower Sea of Qi, surging like waves and moving like wind. The “central, proper position” is the Golden Embryo’s spirit chamber within the elixir, the place where alchemical transformation occurs. The “Mysterious Pearl” refers to the infant, that is, the Golden Liquid Restored Elixir.

The Golden Elixir congeals from the subtle Qi that existed before Heaven and Earth took shape. It is therefore called the mother, the ruler, Lead, or the Tiger. One’s own True Qi arises after Heaven and Earth, so it is called the child, the minister, Mercury, or the Dragon. The Golden Elixir comes from outside; after it is swallowed, one’s own True Qi rises from the lower Sea of Qi, surging like wind and waves and gathering there. This is like a minister paying court to a ruler, or a child longing for its mother. The Dragon and Tiger unite in the spirit chamber, the Earthen Crucible—the inner place of alchemical transformation—and form the sacred embryo. The scripture compares this process to a fruit forming on a tree and to a fetus growing in the mother’s womb, showing that the formation of the embryo resembles natural gestation. After ten months, when the embryo’s Qi is complete, it emerges from the womb and enters the realm of spiritual transformation.

“South and North, their source and lineage, unfold through the trigrams; at dawn and dusk, the firing times accord with the Celestial Pivot” means that the origins and lineages of the Southern and Northern Schools are expressed through the unfolding of the trigrams. The firing times observed in morning and evening cultivation should accord with the Celestial Pivot—the hub of the celestial movements, which can also refer to the principles governing their cycles.

“North” and “south” refer to the Zi hour and the Wu hour. “Root source” refers to the essential starting point of cultivation. Dawn and dusk correspond to day and night: the Zi hour marks the beginning of the six Yang energies and is therefore called “dawn.” The Zhun hexagram governs this time, symbolizing advancing the fire—the process of refining and nourishing by applying Yang energy at the proper time. The Wu hour marks the beginning of the six Yin energies and is therefore called “dusk.” The Meng hexagram governs this time, symbolizing advancing the water—the process of refining and nourishing by applying Yin energy at the proper time.

Each day, two hexagrams govern in sequence, beginning with Zhun and Meng and ending with Ji Ji and Wei Ji, before the cycle begins again. This is called “rotating through the hexagram images.” The Cantong qi (Token for Joining the Three) says: “At dawn on the first day of the lunar month, Zhun governs; by dusk, Meng takes its place. One hexagram is used for day and one for night, and they proceed in sequence.” The cycle runs through Ji Ji and Wei Ji to the end of the month, then returns to the beginning and repeats. Two hexagrams per day, together with the four hexagrams representing the union of Yin and Yang, make sixty-four hexagrams in a month. With six lines in each hexagram, this totals 384 lines, corresponding to the days of the year and the intercalary remainder.

The first nine of the Qian hexagram is reckoned from the first six of the Kun hexagram. Qian has a numerical value of thirty-six; its six lines total 216. The first six of Kun is reckoned from the first nine of Qian. Kun has a numerical value of twenty-four; its six lines total 144. Together they add up to 360, symbolizing the degrees of the celestial circuit. The movements, conjunctions, risings, and settings of the sun and moon are all encompassed by changes in the hexagrams and their lines. The moon moves faster, circling the heavens once in a month; the sun moves more slowly, circling them once in a year.

The “Celestial Pivot” refers to the pivot of the Northern Dipper. The direction of the Dipper’s handle changes with the time of night and the month: each night it circles the heavens once, and each month it shifts by one direction. For example, the first lunar month is associated with Yin, and the second with Mao. Take the first month: if the sun has not yet passed the boundary of its celestial sector, add Hai to Yin; tracing forward to the You hour brings Zi into view, indicating that in the first month the Dipper points toward You at the Zi hour. If the sun has already passed that boundary, add Xu to Yin; tracing forward to the Yin hour brings Wu into view, indicating that in the first month the Dipper’s handle points toward Yin at the Wu hour.

Superior practitioners understand the moon’s waxing and waning and the rise and fall of Yin and Yang. Using the Northern Dipper’s direction, they carry out the talismanic fire of the Zi and Wu hours—the internal alchemical stages applied at the proper times—and know how to increase or decrease the measures of the fire process. By following the Dipper’s movement, they naturally accord with the degrees of the celestial bodies’ motions. This is called “joining with the Celestial Pivot.” Herein lies the mystery of the highest Dao.

A person who truly withdraws to cultivate the Dao can remain tranquil even while living amid the court and the marketplace. There is no need to go off alone to the remote mountains to practice.

The Golden Elixir—the gathered essence of Jing, Qi, and Shen sought through Neidan cultivation—is something everyone already possesses. It is not limited by whether one lives in the court and marketplace or in the mountains and forests. Yet many people, even when they encounter the “dragon” and “tiger”—Neidan terms for the two kinds of Yin-Yang energy—do not know how to recognize them, much less how to cultivate by reversing the ordinary course of things. How many can actually do so? In an instant, they can condense into a precious pearl as large as a millet grain. Resting in the palm, it shines with the colors of rosy clouds; swallowed into the belly, it seems to renew a splendid palace. The Great Dao can be concealed amid the court and marketplace, while those in the mountains may not know of it. How could people who cling only to solitary Yin or hold fast to Yang energy alone understand this Way?

Yellow Sprout—a Neidan term for the subtle transformation of dragon energy—and White Snow—a Neidan term for the subtle transformation of tiger energy—are not hard to find. But true understanding requires deep virtue. The transformations of the Four Images, represented by Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water, and of the Five Phases all depend on Earth to bring them into harmony.

The dragon’s cord-like energy is called Yellow Sprout; the tiger’s cord-like energy is called White Snow. The root of the Great Medicine truly lies here. The Way of cultivation is simple to describe, and its workings are not remote. But without accumulated merit and virtue, it is difficult to meet a true teacher and receive the essential instruction. Its foundation is this: from emptiness arises one Qi, the primordial unity of energy; this one Qi divides into Yin and Yang, called the dragon and the tiger. The dragon belongs to Wood, and Wood generates Fire; the tiger belongs to Metal, and Metal generates Water. Wood, Fire, Metal, and Water together are called the Four Images. Their union forms the Elixir, whose formation takes Earth as its foundation. Earth has no fixed form; it is distributed among the four directions and the four seasons. Without the Earth energy corresponding to each season, the seasons cannot complete their cycles, and the myriad things cannot grow. Thus, the transformations of the Four Images and the Five Phases all depend on Earth.

The transformations of the Three Origins—the three levels or kinds of primordial energy—and the Eight Trigrams also depend on Ren Water, the Water element associated with the Heavenly Stem Ren.

Ren belongs to Water and is therefore the Qi of the True One—the original, undivided vital energy at the beginning of the cosmos. The Qi of the True One is also called the Water of the True One. It existed before Heaven and Earth took shape, and later transformed into the Yang Dragon and Yin Tiger. When Dragon and Tiger unite, they can form the Elixir. The Elixir belongs to Earth, the Dragon to Wood, and the Tiger to Metal. Metal, Wood, and Earth are called the “Three Natures,” or the “Three Primordials.” Their transformations have never departed from the Water of the True One.

The Eight Trigrams describe how the Qi of the True One transformed and gave rise to Heaven and Earth. Its first transformation was Heaven, represented by the Qian trigram and symbolizing the father; its second was Earth, represented by the Kun trigram and symbolizing the mother. When the Yang Qi of Qian joined with the Yin Qi of Kun, they successively gave rise to the eldest son Zhen, the middle son Kan, and the youngest son Gen: the union of Qian and Kun thus produced the Three Yangs. Then the Yin Qi of Kun joined with the Yang Qi of Qian, successively giving rise to the eldest daughter Xun, the middle daughter Li, and the youngest daughter Dui: the union of Kun and Qian thus produced the Three Yins. These transformations, too, all originate in the Qi of the True One. How, then, could the Three Primordials and the Eight Trigrams be separate from Ren Water?

The Three Primordials and the Eight Trigrams are not the only things transformed from the Qi of the True One. Since the opening of Heaven and Earth, everything with form and a name has also been generated and transformed from it. Zhenyizi says: “The essence of the True One is the mother of Heaven and Earth, the root of Yin-Yang, the foundation of Water and Fire, and the source of the sun and moon. It is also the origin of the Three Powers—Heaven, Earth, and humanity—and the ancestral basis of the Five Phases. All things depend on it to grow and take shape, and the many numinous beings receive it as they manifest vitality or decline. The vast heavens and deep earth, grotto heavens and famed mountains, celestial signs and numinous spirits, immortals, Buddhas, worthies, and sages, as well as wind and rain, darkness and brightness, the new and full moon, and spring, summer, autumn, and winter—all, before they appear, arise and transform from this ‘lead Qi.’ If those who practice the alchemical method can obtain the Water of the True One, they may say that they have secured the foundation required for cultivation.”

The wondrous form attained through cultivation is difficult for others to discern. Once the body’s baleful Yin energy has been entirely dispelled, Yin demons and ghosts can no longer intrude. All of this arises and transforms through lead energy. For those cultivating the Golden Elixir, obtaining the “True One Water”—an alchemical term for the true Yang essence sought through cultivation—means that everything is in place.

Swallow and gather the “True One Millet,” a metaphor for the minute, pure elixir, and bring it into the Dantian (energy center). There, tend the fire and refine it for ten months, purging every kind of Yin energy. The body will then transform into a pure Yang immortal. Yin demons and corpse ghosts will have nowhere to hide and will flee in every direction.

I would preserve this secret among humankind, but I have never met anyone who truly understands it.

When roots of goodness—the sound foundations for the Dao—are planted, the numinous bones, the innate potential for cultivation, begin to take shape. Once these numinous bones have formed, the path to becoming an immortal has a foundation. Planting roots of goodness and forming numinous bones both take a long time. They are cultivated not in just one lifetime, but across lifetime after lifetime. When the roots of goodness come to fruition, they reveal an air of someone who has left the ordinary world behind.

Alas, some people are like wandering ghosts or walking corpses: they take up nothing more than a bottle and a bowl and imagine they can ascend to immortality. Those with a true affinity for the immortals are hard to find. Why not look within and consider carefully: is your nature of mind really any different from that of ordinary people? If it is not, then you have no foundation for becoming an immortal. My own path to immortality has no end; I must broaden my understanding, become fully conversant, and keep transforming and advancing. The root of Dao cultivation lies within oneself. One must rise above the ordinary world, standing out like a crane among chickens. Others may laugh at me for being impractical and aloof, but I know I am no ordinary person. Yellow Essence and Red Pine, the legendary immortals, are my friends; Penglai and Fangzhang, the legendary islands of the immortals, are my home. In time I will surely meet an extraordinary adept, receive the transmission of the highest Dao, and befriend those who share my aspirations, until at last I refine a single grain of the Golden Elixir. The immortal master wishes to leave his subtle teaching among humankind; do not blame Zhong Ziqi, the discerning listener who understood Boya’s music, for never appearing. Where can I find someone like myself?

Devote yourself to seeking True Lead, an alchemical term for the Golden Elixir or primordial Qi, and do not waste your time lightly. Once the Earth’s Soul, the essence within Yin, subdues Vermilion Mercury, a metaphor for the energy within Yang, the Heaven’s Soul, the essence within Yang, will naturally come to restrain Water Metal, an alchemical term for substances or vital essences associated with water and metal.

One may say that when Dao attainment is profound, the dragon and tiger—the forces symbolizing Yin and Yang in alchemy—are naturally subdued; when De is deep, even ghosts and spirits show reverence.

True Lead is the Golden Elixir: it is the primordial One Qi, the original energy that existed before Heaven and Earth took form. It is like the bright moon, sometimes full and sometimes waning; it is also like the river tide, sharing the moon’s source and belonging to the same current.

True lead is the Golden Elixir. It refers to the original Qi, the primordial vital energy from which Heaven and Earth first arose. It is like the bright moon, sometimes full and sometimes waning. It shares its source with the tides of the rivers, and belongs to the same lineage as the moon.

The Earthly Soul is an external medicine and refers to the White Tiger; the Heavenly Hun is also an external medicine and refers to the Azure Dragon. The internal medicine is the Golden Elixir. Within the human body, vermilion mercury represents the inner medicine; outside the body, the Dragon’s string Qi represents the outer medicine. The Golden Elixir is also called “silver in water.” These expressions all describe the relationship between the inner and outer medicines.

As each day passes, life diminishes with it. We should devote ourselves to seeking a worthy teacher and, as soon as possible, refine the Golden Elixir so that we may transcend life and death. Once the White Tiger’s Hun is subdued, the Azure Dragon’s Po will naturally be restrained as well. When the two kinds of Qi join and mingle, the Golden Elixir is formed. After obtaining it, use it to subdue the true mercury within yourself. As the true mercury transforms, the Golden Elixir gives rise to the sacred embryo, the inner body brought forth through cultivation.

Once the true Dragon and true Tiger within the body have been subdued, the ordinary Dragon and Tiger outside it will naturally grow calm. Once the body’s Shen, Hun, ghosts, and Po have been transformed into the sacred, the world’s Yin spirits and lingering ghosts will also pay their respects. Who could accomplish this without deep De (Virtue) and lofty cultivation?

Once you know that life can endure and remain alongside Heaven and Earth, troubles will no longer have a chance to well up in your heart.

The body is transformed into a pure-Yang body, and its lifespan becomes equal to Heaven and Earth’s. One can stand beyond worldly things while also living freely among people. When every thought in the heart is emptied, troubles can no longer take hold there.

Do not refine elixirs such as the Three Yellow and Four Spirits. Seeking medicines from plants and trees is not the true Dao. The two Qi of Yin and Yang must be of the same kind, joining and responding to each other. When they reach the state of “two eight in balance”—each Yin and Yang attaining its proper measure and coming into harmony—they will naturally draw together.

The Three Yellow substances and the Four Spirits, along with metals, minerals, herbs, and wood, all came into being only after Heaven and Earth had formed. They are things with form and substance, so how could anything with form be transformed into the formless? Thus, the Jing of the Western Florescence (Xihua Jing) says: “Flesh from outside cannot form a fetus; flowers fastened on cannot bear fruit.”

The Qi of True Unity—the primordial Qi that precedes Heaven and Earth—arises before Heaven and Earth. It is profound and subtle, beyond measure. Through the union and interaction of two things that are of the same kind and correspond to each other, images are stirred into being. “Of the same kind” refers to things that can resonate without worldly desire, and manifest without shape or color: the two corresponding substances described as “eight ounces of crow’s liver and half a catty of hare’s marrow.”

At the bottom of the pool, the sun glows red; the baleful Yin Qi vanishes. On the mountain peak, the moon shines white; the medicinal sprout first appears.

“Pool Yin” symbolizes the sun, while “Mountain Yang” symbolizes the moon. The red sun appearing at the bottom of the pool signifies Yang within Yin. Since Yang within Yin is pure Yang, without Yin, the baleful Yin Qi dissipates. This is the Tiger’s first-birth Qi, called “Red Lead.” The white moon on the mountain peak signifies Yin within Yang. It is the Qi present when the Dragon is first born, called “Black Mercury.”

The sage takes these two medicines and, within a single double-hour, works them together until they congeal into one Yang Elixir. It forms in the “Northern Sea”—a specific location within the body in Neidan practice—shining like the sun, its light even penetrating the curtains. The sage then immediately gathers it into the abdomen to transform the body’s own “Yin Mercury.” Yin Mercury is the baleful Yin Qi throughout the body. Once transformed by the Yang Elixir, all the baleful Yin Qi dissipates, as when the morning sun rises from the Eastern Sea, casting its light and dispelling demons and evil spirits.

The body’s Yin Mercury rises from below the Dantian to the crown. As soon as it receives the Qi of the Yang Elixir, it gradually congeals and begins to sprout like a tender medicinal shoot. This is what “the medicinal sprout first appears” means. It is also like the moon at the start of the month, when it meets the sun: at sunset, the moon has just received the sun’s light, and a faint glow appears in the Geng position above the western mountain, shaped like an eyebrow and tender in its radiance. The image of the newly appearing moon symbolizes the first formation of the inner and outer medicines.

To understand true lead and mercury, people today must know that they are not ordinary lead ore and quicksilver.

The Jing of the Western Florescence (Xihua Jing) says: “The yin within yang is called the Maiden; the yang within yin is called the Golden Lord.” They are the husband and wife within the pot, and the ladder leading to the Purple Palace, the Daoist realm of immortals. Grasp their principle, and becoming an immortal seems close at hand; lose your way in it, and the immortal path lies far beyond reach. In Waidan (external alchemy), true lead and true mercury are the Qi (vital energy) of the Dragon and Tiger at the beginning of their waxing phases. In Neidan (internal alchemy), they are the true Qi within oneself—that is, the Golden Elixir. These are what is meant by recognizing true lead and mercury; nothing else is genuine. These two true substances can transform what has form into what is formless and enable a person to become an immortal. They cannot be compared with ordinary lead and mercury found in the world.

Without understanding the principle of Yin-Yang reversal within the mystery, how could one know that a lotus can grow in fire?

By ordinary reasoning, a man cannot become pregnant, and a lotus cannot grow in fire. Yet the Dao of the immortals has the wondrous power to reverse Yin-Yang, making a man pregnant just as a lotus might be planted in fire. Why is this so? The sun belongs to the Li trigram: originally yang, it turns into yin. The moon belongs to the Kan trigram: originally yin, it turns into yang. This is the reversal of Yin-Yang. Once Yin-Yang has been reversed, the Golden Elixir can form. Then the Golden Elixir transforms the mercury within oneself, turning it into an infant. This is like a man becoming pregnant—is this not Yin-Yang reversed? To grasp this principle is to understand the meaning of “planting a lotus in fire.”

Draw the White Tiger back—symbolizing yang energy or metal energy—and let it rest and grow within the body. From this, a luminous pearl forms, symbolizing the inner elixir, just as the moon becomes full.

The Azure Dragon and White Tiger are both the essence of True Unity, a term in alchemy for the fundamental essence and Qi from which the elixir is formed. They dwell in the east and west respectively, yet in truth come from the same source and differ only in name. The essence of True Unity belongs to mercury, which is called the Azure Dragon and is located in the east; hence it is said that the essence of True Unity dwells in the east. The White Tiger was originally the child of True Unity. It takes up temporary residence in the west, though its root and origin remain in the east.

The Immortal Elder said, “The Golden Lord, a symbolic name for alchemical substances such as gold and lead, is originally the son of the eastern household, yet is sent to lodge with the western neighbor. Once you recognize him, call him home and let him rest; then have him become kin to the Maiden, a symbolic name for mercury or a feminine alchemical substance.” Thus the White Tiger must be brought home and joined with the Azure Dragon as a husband and wife, so that they produce a pearl bright as the full moon.

In Waidan (external alchemy), one first takes the western half of the waxing moon, symbolizing eight ounces of Yang Metal; then one takes the eastern half of the waning moon, symbolizing half a catty of Yin Water. When the essences of these two half moons are combined, they form the elixir, round as the bright moon. The Record of the Great Elixir’s Firing Times says that the numinous elixir is only the size of a millet grain, yet weighs more than a catty. The two portions of eight ounces that together make one catty correspond to the image of the full moon described by the Immortal Elder; both are metaphors for the form and weight of the external elixir. Once this pill has been refined, it is swallowed, and the Golden Elixir is transformed into the White Tiger. The White Tiger is then gathered back into the abdomen and joined with one’s own mercury. Next, one applies the Yin Talisman and Yang Fire—the firing times that symbolize Yin-Yang change in alchemy—and cycles through the refinement according to the sequence of the sixty-four hexagrams, producing the Golden Liquid Returning Elixir. This elixir too is described as weighing one catty and being round as the full moon; this is a metaphor for the cultivation of the internal elixir.

The full moon serves as a metaphor for the internal elixir because each hexagram used to regulate the firing process has six lines, and the sixty-four hexagrams together have 384 lines. These symbolize one catty of 384 zhu. For the external elixir, the full moon refers instead to taking half a moon at the waxing phase and half at the waning phase, together making the number “two eights.” The Cantong qi says: “The number of the Dui hexagram at the waxing phase is eight; the number of the Gen hexagram at the waning phase is also eight. When the essences of the two phases are joined, the forms of Heaven and Earth take shape. Two eights make one catty, and the principles of the Yi are thereby set straight, without bias.” Zhenyizi explains that the waxing and waning phases symbolize the measure of one catty, while the 384 lines correspond to the firing times in alchemy; the number of lines is the basis for calculating those firing times. In speaking of the full moon, the Immortal Elder sought to help practitioners understand the principles of creation and distinguish the respective “two eights” of internal and external alchemy, without confusing the two.

There is no need to keep watch over the medicine furnace and monitor the firing process. Simply settle the mind and spirit, regulate the breath, and let things follow their natural course. As the Yin Qi within gradually disappears and the Neidan is refined to completion, one can transcend the constraints of ordinary life and prolong one’s years. Here, “fire” and “medicine furnace” are metaphors, not literal fire and a furnace in the world.

“Fire” refers to the primordial Qi (original vital energy) from which the Yin-Yang of Heaven and Earth first arose. Qingxia Zi says that the cauldron is not a metal cauldron, and the furnace is not a medicine furnace. Fire arises from the Li trigram (which symbolizes fire), while water corresponds to the Kan trigram (which symbolizes water). When the three natures within a person converge, the two medicines of water and fire naturally come together. Once they are properly sealed so that the fetal origin does not leak away, transformation will happen swiftly. Gao Xiangxian also says that Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, are like a man and woman joining; the Four Images and Five Phases gather in correspondence. Day and night proceed according to natural patterns, so there is no need to anxiously monitor the firing process.

In practice, one need only settle the spirit, still the breath, and harmonize the gentle and vigorous fires—metaphors for differing degrees of effort in cultivation. Follow the signs and times for their operation, without the slightest error. After the elixir has congealed, advance and withdraw the Yin Talisman and Yang Fire at the proper times, using the method of drawing out and adding in (adjusting Yin and Yang and increasing or decreasing the firing intensity), while carefully guarding against deviations. After ten months of practice, the Yin Qi will be gone and body and mind will become pure Yang. One can then transcend ordinary life and prolong one’s years. The author adds that this is still only the stage of returning the elixir through liquid gold. One must continue to hold to the One for nine years, until Qi returns to its root, body and spirit are both wondrous, and one ultimately unites with the Dao and realizes the truth.

One should know where the source of the medicines arises: it is in the southwest, which cultivation calls the “native land.”

The Scripture of Western Florescence says, “The medicine is born in the southwest and must be gathered back to the positions of Wu and Ji. You must discern the moment when it appears; once you begin the work, there will be a day suited to it.” The southwest belongs to Kun, the place where the tiger is born. It is also the direction from which the moon rises, and so it is called the “native home.” The moon is the manifestation of the essence of Metal and Water. As it waxes from the first quarter to the full moon and then wanes, the Qi of Metal and Water join to produce the medicine. Like herbs growing from the soil and streams converging into rivers, its source truly lies in the Kun Mother. Here, “medicine” is a term in Neidan cultivation for the vital essence and Qi condensed through practice. “Kun Mother” uses the Kun trigram to symbolize the source that brings forth and nurtures all things.

“When Lead appears as Water begins to arise in the Gui phase, it must be gathered at once. When Metal Qi reaches the time after the full moon, as the moon moves on and begins to wane, it should no longer be gathered.”

“Lead appearing as Gui arises” refers to the time when Water first arises and the moon is full. “Metal reaching the time after the full moon” refers to the moon’s waning after it has passed its fullness. Whether one acts at the right time or misses it depends on the oral formula; the key is a transmission from teacher to student, heart to heart. An old poem also says, “Its source truly lies in the Kun Mother.”

When Lead encounters the sprouting of “Gui” Qi, it is like the moon at its fullness. When the Golden Elixir reaches the time after the full moon, the moon begins to wane. The key to knowing when the time is right and when it has passed lies in the oral formula, which must be transmitted personally by the master. An ancient poem says: “Count the breaths of the celestial cycle, count them moment by moment; the jade clepsydra sounds, each drop marking its sign.” This is a secret formula passed orally from one realized adept to another.

In the postface to the Wuzhen Pian, Lu Sicheng says that many who transmit this poem mistake “Lead” for “if” and “Gold” for “as,” thereby gravely misunderstanding Zhang Xiānwēng’s (Zhang Boduan’s) original intent. Gold and Lead are the Golden Elixir. According to this interpretation, one must practice at the hour of Zi on a Gui day, without exceeding the allotted time, and so must gather the substance promptly. It is unsuitable to wait until after the full moon. This is a celestial secret: the formula should be transmitted orally and not written in books. Lu Sicheng disclosed a hint of it to correct the errors of later students, but did not explain its source, fearing the secret would circulate in written texts. Since we have personally received the wondrous oral formula, we should naturally understand it. If we still do not, it is like a pearl the size of a grain of millet suspended five zhang above the ground, impossible to reach. Alas, heterodox teachings circulate in confusion. Some take Gui Dan for Lead and Gold, gathering it when the Heavenly Gui arrives, as if this were child’s play. Ye Wenshu also says “Kun receives Gui”—that, too, can only be dismissed with a laugh. Such claims arise because these people have never met a true master, and so make reckless associations and confused interpretations.

Return the elixir to the earthen cauldron—which, in alchemical language, is a metaphor for the inner furnace within the abdomen—and seal it firmly so nothing leaks out. Then draw in the Flowing Pearl, an alchemical term here referring to the substance undergoing transformation, and match it with Mercury.

Ingest the elixir and let it return to the earthen cauldron of the Yellow Court, the body’s central locus in Daoist inner cultivation. Seal the womb securely so the elixir’s Qi cannot escape. Then circulate the fire so the Flowing Pearl flies into the Mercury and joins with the womb, congealing into a numinous elixir.

The combined weight of the ingredients is one jin, which must consist of two portions of eight liang each. The regulation of the firing process depends on the Qi of Yin and Yang.

The ingredients described here are eight liang of Crow’s Liver and half a jin of Hare’s Marrow, together making exactly one jin; hence the saying, “One jin requires two eight-liang portions.” The firing process does not involve actual fire; it means regulating and applying the Qi of Yin and Yang.

The teachings in ten thousand volumes of immortal scriptures are broadly alike. The essential principle of the Golden Elixir lies here: following the form generated in the position of Kun, the Yin, one places the seed at the point of union in the household of Qian, the Yang.

Do not wonder that the secrets of Heaven—the crucial mysteries of cultivation—have all been revealed. Those who study the Dao are often blinded by their own confusion. If you can grasp the meaning of the poem, you can attain the realm of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the three highest deities revered in Daoism, and become an immortal sage of the Highest One.

In the end, the myriad volumes of immortal scriptures all point to the same purpose. Most hold that the Qi of the “first quarter moon at two-eight” (the primordial energy born of the union of Yin and Yang, at its earliest stage) is the fundamental material for refining the Elixir. Cultivators follow the principle by which the Mother Kun (the Earth, symbolizing Yin and generation) gives birth to the myriad things, then reverse this natural process in their cultivation. Once the Elixir has been refined, they plant it where the Father Qian (Heaven, symbolizing Yang and sovereignty) and the Mother Kun respond to one another, and refine it with talismanic fire, the method of regulating the fire during alchemical work. The mysteries of alchemy depend on two essentials: “lead” and “fire.” The Immortal Elder has already revealed the secrets of Heaven in full, yet students of the Dao remain confused. Why not observe what is close at hand within yourselves and thereby understand the Great Dao? In this way, you can form a Golden Elixir the size of a millet grain and take your place before the Supreme Emperor.

Plants and trees possess both Yin and Yang forces; without either one, they cannot flourish. Leaves grow first, as Yang Qi appears first; red flowers bloom afterward, as Yin Qi follows.

The Dao of Yin and Yang is at work in the daily course of things, yet the true source can return to the root. Who understands this principle? I tell those who study the Dao: if you do not understand Yin and Yang, do not mock them lightly.

Before plants and trees begin to grow, they contain an unadorned vitality. When the seed splits and a shoot emerges, it receives the One Qi, the primordial energy from which the myriad things arise, and begins to grow. It sends up a single stem, symbolizing the first emergence of the One Qi. I tell those who study the Dao: if you do not understand Yin and Yang, do not mock them lightly.

Before plants and trees begin to grow, they contain within them the purest, simplest vitality. When a seed splits open, it receives one Qi—the primordial energy from which all things arise—and begins to sprout. It first sends up a single stem, symbolizing “one Qi”; then it unfolds two leaves, symbolizing Yin and Yang; next, a new shoot emerges between the leaves, corresponding to the Three Powers: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity.

After this, the branches gradually spread, and flowers and leaves grow ever more abundant. In spring, plants and trees grow and their leaves turn green; in summer, they continue to grow and bloom with red flowers. This is driven by Yang Qi. In autumn, plants and trees draw inward and bear fruit; in winter, they wither, fall, and return to the earth. This is driven by Yin Qi. Only through the cooperation of Yin and Yang can all things continue to come into being. Without either one, nothing could grow.

Zhenyizi said, “Isolated Yin cannot grow on its own, and Yang alone cannot bring anything to completion.” Thus, Heaven and Earth unite, and all things are born in abundance; men and women unite, and living things propagate. People put these principles to use every day, yet take them for ordinary facts of life. They do not know the deep roots and subtle principles hidden within them, nor do they understand the key to Yin and Yang’s cycles and their reciprocal use. Still less do they know how to use them to transcend life and death. If scholars fail to understand these principles and instead mock me, they are only deceiving themselves.

“Third: Men and women unite, and all things come into being through this. People put these principles to use every day, yet take them for ordinary facts of life. They do not know the deep roots and subtle principles hidden within them, nor do they understand the key to Yin and Yang’s cycles and their reciprocal use, by which one may transcend life and death. If scholars fail to understand these principles and instead mock me, they are only deceiving themselves.”

Of all the words, “Three-Five-One,” few people from ancient times to the present have truly understood them. The number three of the East and the number two of the South combine to make five; the number one of the North and the number four of the West also combine to make five.

Wu and Ji—the Heavenly Stems associated with Earth, often used to symbolize the central Earth—each settle in their proper position and correspond to their generative numbers. When the Three Families, the three elements of cultivation, come together, they form the embryo, the result of Neidan practice.

The numbers “three, five, and one” are all bound up with the Dragon and Tiger, which symbolize the Yin and Yang energies in alchemy. The Dragon belongs to Wood, whose number is three and whose direction is east. Wood generates Fire, so the Dragon’s subtle Qi belongs to Fire; Fire’s number is two, and its direction is south. Since both arise from the same source, three and two combine to form five.

The Tiger belongs to Metal, whose number is four and whose direction is west. Metal generates Water, so the Tiger’s subtle Qi belongs to Water; Water’s number is one, and its direction is north. Since both arise from the same source, four and one combine to form five as well.

The two fives meet in the central palace of Wu and Ji, the central position associated with Earth. Earth’s number is five, so together they form “three fives.” When the three fives unite, they generate the Elixir, and the Elixir is the One. Since ancient times, few people have truly understood these words; fewer still have been able to cultivate the Infant, a stage in Neidan that symbolizes a newly born true body.

The Infant is the One, which contains true Qi. After ten months, the embryo is complete, and one enters the foundation of sagehood. The One is the Elixir, and the Elixir is the Infant. This One is also the true Qi of the One, the mother of Heaven and Earth. The true Qi of the One within me is the child born of the mother of Heaven and Earth.

Use the mother Qi to gather it in and return it to the five inner organs, settling and stabilizing the child Qi. This is like a cat pinning down a mouse so that it cannot escape. Thus the child and mother Qi cling to one another and congeal within the womb as the Infant, the One; this is why it is called “the Great One containing the Real.” To keep the true Qi of the One within oneself is like carrying a child: when the ten months are complete, the sacred embryo is born naturally. Cultivation works the same way: when ten months of practice are complete, one naturally reaches the sacred state. Hence the saying: “When the embryo is complete after ten months, one enters the foundation of sagehood.”

Do not mistake isolated Yin for having Yang. Cultivating a single thing on its own only makes it grow weaker. Exhausting the body with pressing, daoyin exercises, and similar methods is not the Great Dao. Refining Qi and “dining on rosy clouds”—a method of ingesting the vapors of the clouds—are also deluded pursuits.

The essence hidden within the human body—the subtle substance of life—is Yin. This is one’s own true essence. Essence can transform into Qi (vital energy), and Qi can in turn transform into Shen (spirit), nourishing the whole body. The body’s nutritive Qi and defensive Qi also have this as their foundation. It is like a lamp: when its oil is used up, the flame goes out. When the marrow is exhausted, the body, too, declines. This shows that essence and Qi truly are the foundations of life.

Yet essence and Qi belong to Yin. They are like mercury contained in cinnabar, or fire hidden in wood. Fire readily flares outward; it is difficult to contain and hard to refine. Without the “Yang Elixir of Primordial Unity,” which symbolizes the power of pure Yang in Neidan (internal alchemy), it cannot be made to gather and transform. If one cultivates only this Yin substance, one will instead grow weaker day by day. Massage and Daoyin exercises that strain the body are not the correct path; ingesting clouds and taking in Qi are merely practices of the deluded. Even swallowing the essences of the sun and moon until the organs seem to glow, circulating the breath through the Jiaji (a point along the spine used in cultivation) to nourish the brain and restore essence, or pursuing such states as bodily liberation, rebirth, and the emergence of Shen into meditative absorption—all the myriad methods, in the end, cultivate only one thing in isolation.

Yin without Yang is like a bird trying to hatch itself inside an egg: how could a chick possibly emerge? Master Zhongli said, “Tears, saliva, fluids, essence, Qi, blood, and liquid—these seven things are all Yin by nature. If you take them as the ingredients for refining the Elixir, how could they make Shen ascend to Jade Capital, the Daoist celestial realm?”

Within the human body, not only is true essence Yin; the five organs and six bowels are Yin as well, and none is pure Yang. So does it make sense to take the heart and kidneys as Kan and Li, and the liver and lungs as the Dragon and Tiger? Does it make sense to take Shen and Qi as mother and child, and bodily fluids as mercury and lead? To cling to such methods to nourish the body while seeking a state of pure Yang is like adding ice when it is already cold, or pouring hot soup on something already hot. It is like trying to make a tortoise fly or a snake dance: such efforts only take one further from the correct path.

The Cantong Qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three) says: “Let two women live together in one room. Both are beautiful. Then let Su Qin persuade them and Zhang Yi act as matchmaker. However eloquent they may be, however pleasing their words, and however sincerely they try to bring them together, even if they marry and remain together until their hair is dry and white and their teeth have rotted, they will still never know one another. If a woman is married to a woman, Yin is used to refine Yin. How could they unite and transform to give rise to new life?”

People in general vainly seek lead and mercury—terms from alchemy for the substances used in elixir making, or for Yin and Yang energies. When will they truly subdue the tiger and dragon, the two forces that symbolize the union of Yin and Yang? I urge you to search deeply for the root of your own life. Returning to your original nature and going back to the source is the most important medicine of all, the supreme king of medicines.

The true tiger and true dragon refer to “two and eight”; true lead and true mercury refer to the Qi of the two crescents, where Yin and Yang meet. This principle is exceedingly simple and close at hand. Yet students of the Dao cling to biased views and settle on side paths. Unable to distinguish among the different kinds, they vainly seek lead and mercury. Why not understand that the Immortal Elder has already stated plainly that one must investigate the source from which lead and mercury arise, asking where the root of one’s own life comes from and how life is established? From this, one returns to the root and source; the true dragon and true tiger are then subdued naturally, and true lead and true mercury settle naturally. What enables this is rightly called the “king of medicines.” In recent times, some have mistaken the small Hunyuan medicine—a thing of postcelestial form and substance—for the Golden Elixir. This is like joining bamboo tubes together to point at the moon: it is far from the true principle. All things with form and substance that appear only after Heaven and Earth have come into being are not supreme medicines. Whatever belongs to postcelestial form and substance is not the precelestial Dao.

If you do not understand that true lead is the root, then no matter what methods you employ, all your efforts will ultimately be in vain.

Cultivation must not involve abandoning one’s wife and children or wrongly separating Yin and Yang. The Song on Breaking Through Delusion at Yimen says, “Yin without Yang is not the right Way; Yin and Yang have each lost their proper place.” Perfected Wang says, “Students of the Dao force themselves to leave their wives and concubines, yet do not understand that within Wuwei (non-action) there is naturally nothing that is not done.” Gao Xiangxian says, “Some have only Yang and live alone; others have only Yin and dwell in solitude.” These words mean that favoring Yin or Yang, cultivating only one side in isolation, or fixating on bedroom arts for controlling women are all contrary to the right Way. To denigrate the Way of the Immortals and stray onto a mistaken path is a grave error.

Abstaining from food only leaves the stomach and intestines empty.

The Song for Breaking Delusion says: “Clinging to the body as one’s root is not the true Dao; after death, one will become a hungry ghost.” These words are indeed well-founded.

Plants and trees, gold and silver, all belong to the formed remnants. Clouds and rosy mists, the sun and moon, are likewise only vague images. Even when breathing exercises—methods of cultivation that regulate the breath—and visualization—methods that use the mind to form images—are added, they still differ from the way of the Golden Elixir.

The song speaks of formed dregs that appear after Heaven and Earth come into being. Such things are easy to encounter but difficult to refine. How can they be compared with the way of the Golden Elixir?

A five-character poem, symbolizing the marvel of the Great One.

The woman wears blue robes; the young lord is draped in white silk.

The woman refers to the dragon’s initial Qi, the Yin-Yang energy represented by the dragon. It is Yin within Yang, hence the name “woman”; it is also called the “Wood Maiden.” Born from the Azure Dragon, she wears blue. The young lord refers to the tiger’s initial Qi. It is Yang within Yin, hence the name “Metal Lord.” Born from the White Tiger, he is draped in white silk.

What can be seen cannot be used; what can be used cannot be seen.

What has visible form belongs to the kind of dregs that arise after Heaven and Earth come into being. Because it has form, it can be seen, but it cannot be used to refine the Elixir. What is formless yet perceptible is the Yin-Yang energy within the initial crescent. Though unseen, it can be put to use.

They meet amid the indistinct; transformation takes place in the deep and distant darkness.

“Indistinct” and “deep and dark” refer to the Qi of the primordial, undivided One, the original Qi before Heaven and Earth separated. It arose before Heaven and Earth and cannot be measured. Within the indistinct there is a “thing”: this refers to the dragon’s original Qi. Within the deep darkness there is “essence”: this refers to the tiger’s initial-crescent Qi. The dragon’s and tiger’s two initial Qi blend and transform amid the indistinct and the deep darkness, and thus the numinous transformations of the True One become manifest. This is the process by which formless Qi gives rise to formed things.

In an instant, flames leap up, and the perfected person appears of himself.

The “True Person” refers to the Golden Elixir. The sages compress the changing climate of an entire year into a single double-hour, then divide that double-hour into six stages. They apply the firing process to refine the elixir in only two of those stages, thereby condensing the “essence of the True One” and forming a Golden Elixir the size of a millet grain, which appears in the Northern Sea. Is this not like refining with fire in an extremely brief time, until the True Person appears? This principle is exceedingly subtle. Without a transcendent master personally transmitting the oral instructions, who could understand its mysteries?

The Immortal Elder’s meaning is this: although the Golden Elixir derives from the transformation of Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate) Qi, it cannot form unless the two kinds of Yin-Yang Qi join together. The Elixir belongs to Earth. The Dragons and Tigers—the two symbols used in alchemical practice—together with the two kinds of Yin-Yang Qi make up the Four Symbols, or four basic emblems. When the Four Symbols gather in the central palace, the Five Phases take shape.

The Taishang Ge (Song of the Most High) says, “The Five Phases are the ingredients; the Four Symbols must not be transgressed.” Thus, only when the Five Phases and Four Symbols are harmonized and brought together can the Golden Elixir form. This poem of four five-character lines embodies the subtle principle of the Great One, the Way of Ultimate Unity, containing and concealing true Qi.

Commentary on the Wuzhen Pian, fascicles one and two. Annotated by the nameless elder Weng Yuanming of Xiangchuan.

The Great Dao, empty and without form or trace—the source from which all things arise—first gave birth to a single Qi, the original vital energy of the cosmos. This Qi divided into Yin and Yang. Yang Qi, purest and lightest, rose and floated above to become Heaven; Yin Qi, heaviest and murkiest, sank and settled below to become Earth. When pure Yang Qi continually gathers and ascends to Heaven, it is called an immortal; when pure Yin Qi gathers and sinks beneath the Earth, it is called a ghost. Human beings are born endowed with both Yin and Yang Qi and dwell between Heaven and Earth, with the potential to become either immortals or ghosts.

Thus, if people understand cultivation and gradually eliminate the Yin Qi within them, transforming their bodies into pure Yang Qi, they can ascend to immortality. If they do not understand cultivation and gradually deplete their original Yang, their bodies will transform into pure Yin Qi, and they will become ghosts. The Book of Changes says, “What comes from Heaven tends upward; what comes from Earth tends downward.” Things always return to where their own kind belongs.

The sages looked up to observe the celestial patterns and down to examine the Earth. They knew that human beings receive the refined essence of Heaven and Earth and are the most spiritually endowed and honored among all things. Therefore, they used substances embodying true Yin and true Yang, taking the single Qi that existed before Heaven and Earth took shape to refine an elixir. They then took this elixir into the Dantian Qi Sea, the place in the abdomen where original Qi gathers, and used it to govern the Qi that had subsequently formed within the body. In this way, the Qi throughout the body gathered and returned to a single place, like the myriad kingdoms paying homage to their ruler and the multitude of stars circling the North Star.

Because the human body comes into being through the union of one’s parents, practitioners take the pure essence of Yin and Yang as the basis for transformation, calling it the “Yin Talisman” and “Yang Fire.” In cultivation, they cycle through the sequence of the sixty-four hexagrams and, over the course of a day and a night, model the changes of the seventy-two seasonal periods and twenty-four solar terms of a year. In this way, they gather a force equivalent to 4,320 years of the vital energy of Heaven and Earth and concentrate it in the Dantian Qi Sea, where it nurtures the “Child Pearl,” the embryo of the elixir that gradually forms through Neidan cultivation. The Child Pearl resides in the central palace, abiding in Wuwei while also governing the timing of the fire’s operation outside itself. Thus, the Yin-Yang talisman and fire respond outwardly, while a true, unified spiritual body forms within. After ten months of gestation, the elixir embryo breaks free and transforms: the body becomes pure Yang, no longer troubled by hunger or thirst or assailed by cold or heat.

For this reason, the scriptures use “enriching the state and settling the people” as a metaphor for cultivation: the state represents the body, and the people represent Jing and Qi. The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state is at peace. Without a ruler, the people have nowhere to turn; without subjects, a ruler cannot govern the state. In cultivation, the elixir is likened to the ruler and the firing process to the subjects. When the elixir and the firing process work together and order within and without is harmonized, it is like peace throughout the realm and Jing and Qi at rest. The body, as a state, is then full and prosperous. The Scripture of Western Florescence says, “When Jing is whole and Qi is abundant, the state is enriched and the people are settled.” This describes the state attained after ingesting the Golden Elixir.

The Immortal Master, the author of this work, wrote sixty-four quatrains in the sequence of the hexagrams in the Zhou Book of Changes to explain the arrangement of the firing process. He then added twelve poems titled “Xijiang Yue,” symbolizing the twelve-month course of cultivation associated with the bathing practice. The commentator therefore compiled these texts into the middle volume to clarify the operation of the fire and the meaning of “enriching the state and settling the people.” The general sequence for cultivating the Golden Elixir should be as described here.

The Golden Elixir, pure Yang at its utmost strength, can be refined in a single day. The words handed down by the immortals of antiquity are indeed worth trusting. The claim that cultivation takes three or nine years is merely a way of delaying the process and stretching it out.

In refining the great medicine of the Golden Elixir, the actual work takes no more than half an hour; then the Golden Elixir can be obtained and consumed. The “one day” spoken of here means that the sages compressed the seasonal changes of a year into one month, the changes of a month into one day, and the work of a day into a single double-hour. In this sense, the Golden Elixir can be refined within that double-hour. “One day” is simply a general way of describing all these stages together. As the Immortal Elder says, “Exchange a double-hour for a day, and the divine work begins”—this is precisely what it means. Once the Golden Elixir enters the mouth, one can immediately ascend to the realm of the sages. The point is that the effects come so swiftly: why would cultivation need to be delayed for three or nine years?

First use Qian and Kun—the Yin-Yang forces that symbolize Heaven and Earth in the Book of Changes—as the cauldron and vessel for alchemy. Then gather the Crow and Rabbit, symbols of the sun and moon that also refer to the Yin-Yang ingredients, and cook them together. Once these two forces have been driven to converge in the Yellow Path, the central region within the body where Yin and Yang meet and the medicine congeals, how could the spiritual elixir fail to form?

An ancient song says, “The sun and moon are the very essence of Qian and Kun; all the myriad forms stand forth, made clear by them.” The sages use Qian and Kun as metaphors for the cauldron and vessel, and the sun and moon for the ingredients. Qian and Kun are also the True Dragon and True Tiger. The ingredients are the two Qi of the True Dragon and True Tiger at the beginning of their waxing phase. Wei Boyang says, “The cauldron is not truly a cauldron, and the medicine is not truly medicine.” The sages borrow these names and images as metaphors. What matters is the union and refinement of the two Qi of the True Dragon and True Tiger at the beginning of their waxing phase, so that pure and unified Jing and Qi congeal within the central palace of the Northern Sea. Thus the Immortal Elder says, “Once the two forces have been driven to converge in the Yellow Path, how could the spiritual elixir fail to form?” The Yellow Path is the place in the central palace where the medicine congeals.

Take the full Yang Qi at the center of the Kan palace, symbolized by water and by Yang within Yin, and use it to transform the Yin Qi within the Li palace, symbolized by fire and by Yin within Yang. From that point, Yin and Yang transform into one another, forming the firm and vigorous body symbolized by the Qian trigram. Whether it lies hidden or soars aloft is governed by the mind.

Li (composed of Yang lines on the outside and Yin lines within) and Kan (composed of Yin lines on the outside and Yang lines within): use the outer Yang to transform the inner Yin, and they can become Qian, the pure Yang trigram. The Golden Mother, symbolizing the utmost Yang Qi, is the Yang Elixir, condensed in the central palace of the Northern Sea. Take it to transform the Yin Mercury within yourself, which symbolizes Yin substance, and you can become a body of pure Yang. Afterward, apply the firing process, extracting and adding, advancing and withdrawing, all guided by your own inner awareness. Some people regard Gui Dan as the middle line of Kan, but they do not realize how far this is from the great Golden Elixir medicine: Gui Dan is merely a turbid substance of the postcelestial realm, not the primordial One Qi of the precelestial realm.

Without Wu and Ji—the Yin and Yang energies of Earth—Li and Kan cannot form the Elixir, even if they contain the Four Images, symbolic of Yin and Yang, the sun and moon, and other things. Only when each of the two contains true Earth can the Golden Elixir return to its origin.

The Cantong qi says, “Ji within Li is the sun’s light; Wu within Kan is the moon’s essence.” Wu and Ji within Li and Kan symbolize the bowstring Qi of the Dragon and Tiger respectively—the Qi occupying a state of harmony amid Yin-Yang change. Wu and Ji both belong to Earth, yet each lies within one of the Dragon and Tiger, so both have true Earth. Without Earth Qi, how could the Dragon and Tiger unite, bringing the Four Images into true Earth to form the Elixir? Because each possesses Earth Qi, the Dragon and Tiger can join and Wu and Ji can unite. The Four Images converge, the Elixir is refined, and thus it returns to its origin.

The position of Li, where the sun resides, is instead Yin and is called female. Kan, paired with the Moon Palace, is instead Yang and is called male. If you do not understand this principle of Yin and Yang being reversed, do not make sweeping claims based only on superficial understanding.

The crow in the sun symbolizes Yin, so it is called the “Li female”; the jade rabbit in the moon symbolizes Yang, so it is called the “Kan male.” To discuss these principles without understanding this is like looking at the sky through a tube: the view is exceedingly narrow.

The Dragon Mercury of Zhen emerges from the position of Li; the Tiger Lead of Dui is born in the direction of Kan. Both of these medicines are due to …

The Dragon Mercury of the Zhen trigram, which symbolizes eastern Wood, arises from the Li region, associated with the Li trigram and southern Fire. The Tiger Lead of the Dui trigram, which symbolizes western Metal, is produced in the Kan direction, associated with the Kan trigram and northern Water. In both cases, the child gives birth to its mother in reverse; ultimately, the Five Phases—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—must converge at the center.

Mercury belongs to Wood, and Wood gives birth to Fire. According to the usual generating cycle of the Five Phases, then, Wood is Fire’s mother, and Fire is Wood’s child. But cinnabar belongs to Fire and corresponds to the Li trigram, while mercury arises from cinnabar. Fire thus gives birth to Wood in reverse, which is why this is called “the child giving birth to its mother.” The verse of Perfected Tai Bai says, “The art repeatedly reverses the Five Phases; the Dragon emerges from within Fire.” It describes this reverse generation among the Five Phases.

Lead belongs to Metal, and Metal gives birth to Water. In the usual generating cycle, therefore, Metal is Water’s mother, and Water is Metal’s child. But black lead belongs to Water and corresponds to the Kan trigram, while silver arises from lead. Water thus gives birth to Metal in reverse. A verse says, “The Five Phases do not proceed in their usual order; the Tiger is born within Water,” also referring to this reverse generation. The Immortal says “lead is born in Kan,” rather than “silver is born,” because the silver contained in lead is called “true lead,” also known as “silver in water.” “Lead” is therefore used to refer to it.

Mercury and lead generate one another, forming the Four Images, which symbolize the transformations of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases. When they then converge at the center, they form the Five Phases. Once the Five Phases have gathered, the Golden Elixir is complete. Hence the saying, “The Five Phases must all enter the center.”

Trigram images serve to compare and reveal principles. Once you grasp the images, you can let go of their literal wording and understand their meaning. Later people, however, became confused and clung to the trigram images, acting according to the qi dynamics represented by the trigrams in the hope of ascending to immortality.

The trigrams are merely a tool for explaining the firing process. When Wei Boyang read the Yijing (Classic of Changes), he realized that the workings of the Golden Elixir accorded with its principles. He therefore wrote the Cantong qi (Token for Joining the Three), using the Yijing’s trigrams to explain the principles of refining the Great Elixir and pass them on to later generations. He compared Qian and Kun to the cauldron and vessel, and Kan and Li to the ingredients. Qian and Kun symbolize the vessels used in alchemical refinement; Kan and Li symbolize the lead and mercury within them. Qian and Kun are the root of all the trigrams, while Kan and Li are the essential energies born from Qian and Kun. Thus these four trigrams are placed at the center, just as the spirit embryo—the fetal form spoken of in Neidan practice—and lead and mercury are set within the Dantian. They occupy the center and govern what lies outside, so they are not included in the sequence through which the other trigrams turn.

The remaining trigrams are distributed across a month to represent the movement of the fire phases—the regulation of heat during alchemical refinement. The cycle begins with Zhun and Meng and ends with Jiji and Weiji, then repeats without end, like a constantly turning wheel. Two trigrams govern each day, making sixty over thirty days; add Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li, and the total is sixty-four. The total number of lines is counted as 364, symbolizing the year and its intercalary day. A further 384 zhu symbolize the weight of the Golden Elixir: one jin, or sixteen liang. These are all simply analogies drawn from the trigrams. A student need only observe the trigrams and grasp from them how to apply the firing phases. Once the firing phases are understood, the trigrams can be set aside; there is no need to cling to them.

Some scholars today, however, become fixated on the qi of the trigrams, exhausting themselves and racking their brains in the hope of ascending to heaven by these means. This is truly lamentable. The ancients said that once you have the fish, you can forget the fish trap; once you have the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Yet people today mistake the trap and snare themselves for the fish and rabbit, moving ever farther from the Dao.

Swallowing saliva and drawing in breath are simply ordinary daily practices. There must also be a genuine seed for transformation to take place. Without a true seed in the cauldron, it is like trying to cook an empty pot over a fierce fire.

What people call swallowing saliva and taking in breath consists only of postcelestial substances generated by Heaven and Earth. It is not the true “taking in of Qi” (refining and cultivating the original Qi of the precelestial state). To take in Qi truly, one must first settle Qi into stillness before refining it. The scripture’s phrase “settle Qi without taking in Qi” means to settle Qi first and not rush to take it in. The key to longevity lies in settling Qi.

The “Qi of the True One” (the original Qi that is genuine and precelestial) blends within the deep and indistinct; it is difficult to find. The sages used methods to bring it to rest, and so could discover “the thing” in the dim and obscure, and sense “essence” in the fleeting and indistinct. They then transformed and refined this essence and thing into an elixir, and took it into the Dantian (the body’s center for cultivating internal alchemy). This enables the myriad things to come into being. The “thing” that can bring about transformation and generate the myriad things is therefore the true seed. Without this true seed, taking into the Dantian substances produced by any number of methods is futile—like heating an empty pot over a great fire: in the end, it will be ruined.

On Mount Huayue, the male tiger roars; beneath the sea at Fusang, the female dragon sings. The Yellow Matron (a symbol of the power that harmonizes and brings things together) naturally acts as matchmaker, joining them as husband and wife, united in purpose.

Huayue symbolizes the western mountain and also the tiger. The male tiger refers to the cord-like Qi within the tiger: Yang within Yin, hence the name male tiger. Fusang is where the sun rises from beneath the sea and is used to symbolize the dragon. The female dragon refers to the cord-like realm within the dragon: Yin within Yang, hence the name female dragon. These two forces are separated from one another, dwelling in the east and west. The Yellow Matron can bring them together as husband and wife, uniting them in harmony and thereby producing the Yellow Sprout (the nascent elixir substance in internal alchemy).

The purpose of harmonizing lead and mercury is to refine them into an elixir. Neither the greater nor the lesser side is diminished; both are preserved.

Commanding the dragon makes fiery mercury rise and scatter; governing the tiger makes watery lead glitter. By restraining the forces of transformation and setting them in motion, then allowing the precelestial and Qi to congeal into an elixir, one naturally avoids any damage. Thus both the greater and lesser sides are preserved. The dragon is large and the tiger small, symbolizing Yang’s exalted status and Yin’s lower status.

If you ask what true lead is, it is the toad’s radiance (a moonlike glow) shining over the western river throughout the day.

The Golden Elixir is formed when the two Qi of Metal and Water condense at the waxing and waning phases of the moon. This is called “true Lead.” “Toad Light” refers to the essence of Metal and Water and belongs to Yin. “Shining” describes how it reflects the radiance of the sun, symbolizing the union of Yin and Yang. The West belongs to Metal, corresponding precisely to the balanced Qi of the eighth lunar month; “river” refers to Water. The sages held that on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the Qi of Metal and Water resonate and condense, forming the essence of “true unity.” Hence the saying, “Toad Light shines all day over the Western River.”

If you do not understand Yang essence or the relations between host and guest, closeness and distance, you will not know what to draw near to and what to keep at a distance. If you treat bedroom arts as a method of cultivation, merely sealing the Tail Gate (an opening near the end of the spine), you will not realize how many people in the world have been harmed by this mistake.

Zhongli said: The human body is composed of the Four Great Elements (the four constituents of the body), and the body as a whole belongs to Yin. If people do not understand what Yang essence is, they will mistake the object of cultivation. Yang essence is the Qi of true unity, an utterly Yang substance, also called the “Yang Elixir.” The true Qi within oneself belongs to Yin and is the body’s foundation, nourishing and protecting the whole body. The Yang Elixir, by contrast, comes from outside and is used to govern one’s own Yin Mercury (the inner essence belonging to Yin). In this way, the Yang Elixir becomes the host, while one’s own Yin Mercury becomes the guest. The two resonate with each other and condense into golden sand, which stabilizes and does not disperse. Then, through the refinement of the fire phases, it becomes the returning elixir of liquid gold. Since the Yang Elixir comes from outside, it is called “distant”; since one’s own true Qi is within, it is called “close.” Only by understanding the relations of closeness and distance, host and guest, can the Dao be cultivated to completion.

Those who are mistaken do not understand this principle. Instead, they practice bedroom arts to control women, forcibly sealing their essence and Qi, and claim that this is refining a “Yin Elixir” that can prolong life. This is like trying to put out a fire with firewood. The scriptures say: “Fire arises from wood, and calamity follows as a result of their mutual overcoming.” This practice leads people badly astray. How could one fail to exercise caution?

In using “Lead,” ordinary lead must not be used; and if true Lead is used, it must not then be discarded. This is the real secret of using Lead: to use Lead while knowing how not to cling to it—that is the practical truth.

Ordinary Lead refers to the turbid substance formed after birth. True Lead is the Qi of the True One, regarded as the pure primordial Qi that precedes birth. A person’s Jing and Qi dissipate every day, making it difficult for them to gather and form the Sacred Embryo, the Neidan spoken of in cultivation. The sages therefore refine True Lead to subdue this dissipation and gather Jing and Qi into “sand.” Then, following the daily sequence of the firing process, they gradually increase Mercury Qi. As Mercury Qi grows and Lead Qi disperses, this increase of Mercury and reduction of Lead works in a subtle way.

When ten months of firing-process cultivation are complete, the cycle of six hundred hexagrams also ends. Lead Qi then rises and disperses, drifting away piece by piece like dust in a bright window. After nine years of holding fast to the One, all the Lead Qi has completely floated away, leaving only pure “Qian mercury.” Once the Lead is exhausted and the Mercury is pure, it transforms into the Great Returning Elixir of Golden Liquid. The body becomes pure Yang and shares Heaven’s longevity. Thus, to use True Lead is also to discard it. Can the claims about “using Lead” and “not using Lead” really be false? When you hear that cultivation of the Dao has reached this point, you should swear before Heaven: “My teacher’s kindness is beyond repayment. I vow to cultivate the Great Dao to completion and repay that kindness. If I betray my teacher, it will be as though I have betrayed Heaven.”

When a bamboo vessel breaks, it should still be mended with bamboo strips; to hatch a chicken, one should use an egg. All other methods are wasted effort. What could compare with True Lead’s accord with the sages’ method of cultivation?

If an object made of bamboo is damaged, is it suitable to mend it with metal or wood? It must still be mended with bamboo for the object to be made whole again. When a chick is about to hatch, will it work to incubate it with earth or stones? Of course it must be hatched from an egg. All other methods are futile. What could compare with True Lead’s accord with the sages’ method?

If a bamboo vessel breaks, can it be repaired with metal or wood? It must be mended with bamboo for the vessel to be restored to wholeness. If a chick is to hatch from its shell, can it be wrapped in earth or stone? It must remain sheltered by the eggshell for life to be nurtured. The Perfected One Tao said, “A broken bamboo must be joined with bamboo, and damaged wood repaired with wood. A leaking roof must be covered with tiles; a weakened person must be supported by their own kind. If one cultivates the Dao to return to the root and recover one’s true nature without Qi of the same kind, relying only on human techniques, all effort will ultimately be in vain.” The Cantong qi (Token for Joining the Three), a Daoist alchemical classic, says, “It is easy to work with things of the same kind; with things of a different kind, skillful action is difficult. To refine the elixir that, when taken, brings transcendence, one should use things of the same kind.”

Human beings receive the finest Qi of Heaven and Earth at birth. True Lead, the primordial Qi of Heaven and Earth, is the mother Qi; it is entrusted to things of the same kind, within which it gestates. Thus, True Lead is the mother Qi, while the Jing and Qi within me are the child Qi. This is the wondrous principle by which like gives rise to like. How can one attain this state? It is a secret essential known only to sages, and a crucial law of following nature.

When a medicinal substance encounters Qi of its own kind, it can take form. When the Dao joins with the realm of emptiness and stillness, it appears naturally. Only after swallowing a single Golden Elixir can one understand that one’s nature and life are not governed by Heaven.

There is a unified existence that was present before Heaven and Earth took shape. The sages reluctantly gave it the name “Qi of the Primordial Unity,” the source Qi from which all things arise before the chaos is divided. Look for it and it cannot be seen; listen for it and it cannot be heard; try to grasp it and it cannot be caught. The sages attune themselves to it through the Qi of “the first quarter moon at sixteen,” an alchemical term for Yin and Yang in harmony, like the moon at its first quarter. Then numinous Qi descends and condenses into form. In the hidden, mysterious emptiness, it coalesces into an elixir the size of a grain of millet. Taking it enables the Cinnabar of the Qian Self, an alchemical term for a substance within the body refined through practice, to be established and formed; ultimately, it transforms the practitioner into a pure Yang body that lives as long as Heaven and Earth. Ziyuanzi said, “In the end, the principles of life and death are governed by Heaven and Earth; a person’s nature and life belong from the outset to Mercury and Lead,” alchemical terms symbolizing Yin and Yang substances used in the elixir. Does this not mean that one’s fate is in one’s own hands, and not in Heaven’s?

The Dao gives rise to one Qi from emptiness. This one Qi then generates Yin and Yang; Yin and Yang unite once more to produce three bodies. These three continue to generate, and the myriad things flourish.

The Dao is originally formless, yet it manifests as form; it is originally without things, yet it gives birth to their forms. Once form exists, transformation begins: one gives rise to two, two to three, and three to the myriad things and Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang unite once more to produce three bodies; these three continue to generate, and from them the myriad things flourish.

The Dao (the Way) is originally empty and still, yet it can manifest a real form; originally formless, it can transform and give rise to things with form. Once form appears, life begins to develop: the One divides into two, the two into three, and the three give rise to the myriad things. All things bear Yin and face Yang; the Qi (vital energy) of Yin and Yang blends and harmonizes, creating balance. Before things have taken visible form, this harmonizing Qi cannot be seen. Once form has arisen, the light and clear Qi becomes Yang, while the heavy and turbid Qi becomes Yin. Thus, Heaven belongs to Yang and is the father; Earth belongs to Yin and is the mother. The two Qi of Yin and Yang interweave, and their two natures join to form three kinds of bodies, called the “Three Powers”: Heaven, Earth, and humanity. The Book of Changes (Yijing) says, “When Heaven and Earth unite, the myriad things are transformed and nourished to fullness; when man and woman unite, the myriad things are brought into being.”

By investigating the profound principles within this process, sages can understand the source of the myriad things; by pursuing its wondrous transformations to their limits, they can understand the principle by which things come into being. They can therefore return to the root and source, reversing the usual process of creation: they take as their elixir the fundamental Qi by which Heaven and Earth bring forth the myriad things, and use the refined essence of Yin and Yang as the fire of Wuwei (non-action). They refine the body, returning it to a single Qi, then refine that Qi, returning it to emptiness. In this way, they unite themselves with the Dao, reaching a state of wondrous clarity, limitless transformation, and unfathomable concealment and appearance. Those who complete this cultivation are called “Realized Beings.” Here, “elixir,” “fire,” and “refining the body” are terms from Neidan (internal alchemy). They refer to taking one’s own Jing (essence) and Qi as the objects of cultivation, refining them step by step and returning them to their source.

The snow mountains produce cream of ghee, a refined dairy fat often used as a metaphor for what is pure and exquisite. It is poured into the furnace of creation in the east. The snow mountains are white, symbolizing the west, and thus the Golden Elixir. Taking a single Golden Elixir is as rich and delicious as cream of ghee. It enters one’s Dantian (energy center), the place where Jing and Qi are cultivated and refined in Neidan; there it is refined in the furnace and finally congeals into the sacred embryo, the inner attainment produced by cultivation.

If Zhang Qian had crossed Mount Kunlun and traveled northwest, he would have seen Magu, the legendary female immortal.

Mount Kunlun lies amid the sea. The Mount Kunlun within my body also lies amid the sea of water in the Lower Origin. Its form resembles Mount Kunlun, but in truth it is where the stages of firing are set in motion. Mount Kunlun has a gate called the “Mysterious Gate,” or “Heavenly Gate.” The Heavenly Gate lies in the northwest, in the position of Qian. When the Immortal Elder says, “Plant it in the Palace of Conjunction in the Qian domain,” he means this place; that is why it is said to lie in the northwest.

Cross Mount Kunlun and set the stages of firing in motion; entering through the Mysterious Gate is like Zhang Qian meeting Magu. Zhang Qian symbolizes the Qian trigram, representing Yang Fire, and also True Mercury. Magu symbolizes the Kun trigram, representing the Yin Talisman, and also True Lead. The meaning is that when True Lead in the alchemical furnace begins to meet True Mercury, the two undergo transformation. The True Embryo blends within, while the True Fire draws it in from without. The Kun and Qian tallies join; Yin Water follows the Yang Talisman in its course. The two stages of firing communicate with each other, and Lead and Mercury meet and respond to one another. This is the foundation of the Immortals’ Way. The story of Zhang Qian traveling by raft to the Moon Palace and meeting the Maiden constellation likewise serves as a metaphor for the meeting of Yin and Yang.

The Maiden (an alchemical term for Mercury) moves back and forth according to its own fixed measures: the first stage of its course must be short, and the later stage long.

The Maiden is Mercury, or Mercury Fire; its movements back and forth follow fixed measures. “The first course” refers to the action of the external medicine, and “the later course” to the action of the internal medicine. At the beginning of alchemical practice, Mercury Fire is applied for less than half an hour; True One Essence can then be obtained and ingested. Hence the saying, “The first course must be short.” After taking the elixir, one applies the Mercury Fire within oneself, but this requires ten months of work. Hence the saying, “The later course is long.”

Upon returning, enter the dwelling of the Yellow Matron (an alchemical term for the medium that harmonizes Lead and Mercury), and let the Duke of Metal (an alchemical term for medicines of the gold and lead types) take her as his wife, becoming an old bridegroom.

The inner image of the Yellow Matron (Huangpo), which refers to Earth of the Spleen or to a medium that harmonizes Yin and Yang, is the “earthen crucible of the Golden Womb”: Earth serves as the furnace and crucible in which the Golden Elixir is conceived. The Metal Lord (Jingong), referring to true Lead, is true Lead; the Old Bridegroom symbolizes pure Yang. As the true Mercury flies into the chamber of Shen (spirit) through the circulating phases of the fire, it joins and matches with true Lead. The two blend together and transform into a body of pure Yang. Hence the phrase “marry the Metal Lord and become the Old Bridegroom.” “Return” means to conclude the work and gather in the results of cultivation.

When applying the firing process, divide it into a left and a right army. Let the other side occupy the main position, and take the guest position yourself. The text advises you not to underestimate your opponent when facing them, lest you lose your own priceless treasure.

This passage explains how to apply the firing process. “Commander” refers to the firing process. The left side belongs to the civil aspect, and the right to the martial aspect. The practitioner condenses the firing process of a whole year into one month, then condenses that of one month into a single day. The six double hours from Zi to Si belong to Yang and symbolize the spring and summer energy of growth and flourishing. They are therefore called the civil fire, placed on the left, and also known as Yang Fire. The six double hours from Wu to Hai belong to Yin and symbolize the autumn and winter energy of decline and contraction. They are therefore called the martial fire, placed on the right, and also known as the Yin Talisman.

“To let the other side occupy the main position, and take the guest position yourself” means to maintain softness rather than firmness, and stillness rather than contention. The host symbolizes Yang and firmness, which tend toward striving to win; the guest symbolizes Yin and softness, inclined toward stillness.

The mind should always remain alert, cautious, and reverent. The art of war speaks of “using rest to await the weary” and of “controlling others without being controlled by them.” These sayings express the same principle. The key to applying the methods of cultivation lies in the timing of the fire: how to regulate its force and choose the right moment. The key to mastering that timing lies with the practitioner. It is like a guest visiting a host, conducting every advance and retreat with respect and caution, and never acting rashly. Anyone who applies the timing of the fire in cultivation must understand this.

Before setting the fire in motion, first determine the times and intervals, distinguishing the Zi and Wu periods; then follow the changes of Yin and Yang, making them the foundation of refinement. Bring the transformations of the sixty-four hexagrams within the scope of the Yin Talisman, the laws that correspond to the changes of Yin and Yang, and use the Yang fire to stir the Qi of the twenty-four solar terms. Hold the key to the Heavenly Pass, the pivot of celestial timing, in your hand, and keep the Earth’s Axis, the hub of the earth’s movement, in your heart. Gather the pivotal changes of the seventy-two pentads, the finer divisions of the seasons in ancient reckoning, and draw them back into the cauldron; then collect the three thousand six hundred kinds of orthodox Qi within the embryo. The method must be applied correctly, and the withdrawing and adding of the fire must follow an order. Take care to guard against danger whenever it is set in motion, and do not allow the slightest error. Only then can the outer process accord with the signs of Yin-Yang change, while within, the body of True Unity takes shape. If one’s attention is not sufficiently reverent, or the seasonal intervals are misjudged, the Maiden will escape, the numinous embryo in the cauldron will fail to form, and the priceless Reverted Elixir will be lost. Now, standing before the battle line, how could one fail to remain yielding and still, or charge forward rashly while underestimating the enemy?

The White Tiger of the Western Mountain is fierce, and even the Azure Dragon of the Eastern Sea cannot withstand it. Seize them with both hands and make them fight fiercely; in the end, they transform into a single lump of purple-gold frost.

This poem speaks of outer imagery, as explained earlier in the third piece of the fourth rhyme. Purple-gold frost is the Golden Elixir. Lord Haichan said: “With your left hand seize the Azure Dragon’s head; with your right hand grasp the White Tiger’s tail. Send them both into your mouth and swallow them. One might suppose this thing is wonderfully sweet; examine it closely, and it is in fact metal within water. Only then can one grasp the mysterious and subtle truth.” This passage may serve as corroboration. It is not correct to interpret the two hands as the two beasts.

When the moon reaches the thirtieth day, the Yang Hun has been completely extinguished, and the water of the Yin Po fills the entire lunar disk. The moon is therefore utterly dark, corresponding to the Kun hexagram of the Book of Changes, and this phase is called “Dark Moon.” At this time, on the Dark Moon and New Moon days, the moon and sun move together as if joined in one body, traveling and revolving in unison.

On the second day, the moon receives the sun’s light and begins to bring forth brightness, gradually separating from the sun. At sunset on the third day, a slender crescent appears in the Geng direction (west). A single ray of yang light emerges within the wholly yin lunar disk, symbolizing the Yang Hun arising from the Yin Po and corresponding to the Zhen hexagram. At this point, the metal of the Yang Hun has just begun to sprout: this is the initial growth of the medicinal sprout spoken of in alchemy.

On the eighth day, two portions of yang energy emerge within the moon, corresponding to the Dui hexagram. The Yang Hun within the Yin Po has now reached its halfway point, and the moon’s face is straight as a string; this is why the phase is called “First Quarter.” Before the First Quarter belongs to yang, and afterward to yin. Yin contains half of yang, symbolizing the taking of eight ounces of gold from water. At this point, the medicinal nature is balanced and its aspect complete.

By the fifteenth day, all three portions of yang energy are in place, corresponding to the Qian hexagram. The water of the Yin Po has vanished, and the metal of the Yang Hun fills the lunar disk. The moon is full, entirely yang and without yin, and this phase is called “Full Moon.” When yang energy reaches its height, yin energy begins to arise. On the sixteenth day, one portion of yin energy emerges in the wholly yang lunar disk, symbolizing the Yin Po arising from the Yang Hun and corresponding to the Xun hexagram.

The moon then gradually wanes. By the twenty-third day, two portions of yin energy have arisen, corresponding to the Gen hexagram. The Yin Po within the Yang Hun has now reached its halfway point, and the moon’s face is straight as a string; this is why the phase is called “Last Quarter.” Before the Last Quarter belongs to yin, and afterward to yang. Yang contains half of yin, symbolizing the taking of half a pound of water from metal. Here too, the medicinal nature is balanced and its aspect complete.

The sages gather these two kinds of “two-eights” energy: the gold within water symbolized by the First Quarter, and the water within gold symbolized by the Last Quarter. They bring them into the Furnace of Creation—a metaphor for internal alchemical practice—and refine them until the Qi of True Unity transforms into an elixir the size of a grain of millet. They then place it in the belly to nurture and refine it, ultimately transforming it into the Golden Elixir of Returning to the Origin. This entire process depends on the Yin Talisman, the yang fire, and the advancing and withdrawing, increasing and decreasing of the fire’s timing. Even the slightest deviation can prevent the alchemical path from succeeding. In this chapter, the immortal master repeatedly urges practitioners to carry out the refining themselves, and his insistence has profound meaning.

First, observe the celestial signs and understand the patterns of movement of the “Five Thieves.” Next, examine the geography so that the people may be settled. Only when the people are secure and the state is prosperous can one speak of going to war; only after victory can one behold the sage.

The “Five Thieves” correspond in Heaven to the Five Planets, on Earth to the Five Sacred Mountains, among the spirits to the Five Emperors, in the directions to the five regions, and within the human body to the five viscera. In human conduct they correspond to the Five Constant Virtues; among the myriad things, they correspond to the Five Phases, five colors, five kinds of Qi, five tones, five metals, five flavors, and five grains. The scripture says, “Heaven has Five Thieves; those who perceive them will prosper.” If practitioners can discern these correspondences and cultivate by reversing the ordinary course, they can grasp the transformations of Heaven and Earth, causing the changes of the myriad things to unfold within themselves.

In the art of examining geography, the most important thing is to bring stability to the people. The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state can be peaceful and prosperous. The sage compares the self to a state, Jing and Qi (essence and vital energy) to the people, the firing process to ministers, and the Elixir to the ruler. If practitioners can discern these relationships and cultivate in reverse, they can grasp the transformations of Heaven and Earth, causing change to unfold within themselves.

If we can personally subdue the “Five Thieves” and transform Yin-Yang through reverse cultivation, we can seize the “Essence of the True One” (the fundamental essence and Qi required for alchemical practice), turning the Yin Mercury within us (an Neidan term for Yin-natured essence and Qi) into the nature of Qian Yang. In this way, Jing and Qi can be kept secure. When we seek battle, we can win, and the use of the firing process will carry no danger. When ten months of work are complete, we can be reborn and attain a sacred body, becoming true immortals. Hence it is said that only after victory can one behold the sage.

The Sun and Moon meet once every thirty days. To change the dates in accordance with the seasons is to employ a wondrous method. By understanding when to defend the city and when to fight in the open field, and by discerning good fortune from ill, one can cause the spirit-sand to flourish in the Elixir Cauldron and refine it until it is ruddy and full.

Yin Qi and Yang Qi join once each month. The sage follows this pattern, compressing the changes of a month into a single day and distributing the changes of that day among the twelve double-hours. When working according to the rhythm of the talismanic fire—the cycles of advancing and withdrawing the fire during cultivation—one must keep the mind and body as steady as a fortified city, and bathe and nourish them at the proper times. Once the back-and-forth of attack and defense has ceased, Yin and Yang join in a contest like dragons and tigers at war. The so-called “divine work” is the mastery of the timing for advancing the fire. If Yin and Yang fall into disorder and the sun and moon lose their proper courses, the external cycles of fire may continue while the internal cycles of the talismanic timing remain still and unresponsive, making cultivation difficult to bring into harmony. Those who follow the Dao know when to advance the fire and when to withdraw the water—that is, to gather in the fire and harmonize the water Qi—and can discern good fortune from ill. Moving in accord with the celestial signs and secretly in harmony with the timing of Heaven, they naturally set the spirit embryo—the inner life embryo in Neidan cultivation—in motion within the body, while the spirit cauldron, a metaphor for cultivation, grows brighter.

The precious words of the Yinfu Jing number more than three hundred, while the wondrous passages of the Daode Jing number more than five thousand. Although there have been many high immortals throughout the ages, they have all grasped the essentials of penetrating the true Dao from these works.

These two classics encompass the many scriptures and form the central pivot of the teachings of the various masters. Those who have understood the Great Dao throughout the ages have grasped its principles through them.

On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, people admire the moon; this is when Metal essence—the refined essence of Qi associated with Metal in Neidan terminology—is abundant. When the moment of “one Yang returning” arrives, when Yang Qi first arises at the extreme of Yin, one should advance the fire without delay.

The fifteenth day of the eighth month is when the Qi of Metal and Water flourishes. “One Yang returning” refers to midnight, the Zi hour. The cycles of fire in both Neidan and Waidan must be advanced together, without delay, so that the opportunity is not missed.

Few people understand the Gate of the Mysterious Female, the source of life’s generation, and instead mistakenly identify it with the mouth and nose, pointlessly practicing breathing exercises. Even if they continue these exercises for many years, how could that bring the Golden Crow, symbolizing Yang, together with the Jade Hare, symbolizing Yin?

The scripture says, “The Gate of the Mysterious Female is the root of Heaven and Earth. It flows on without interruption, seeming almost to exist; when used, it need not be forced.” These are truly subtle and supremely profound words. Few people in the world understand their meaning. Without guidance from a Realized Person (one who has attained the Dao), who could understand them?

Recently, Ye Wenshu claimed that the point between the two kidneys is a “Hunyuan Acupoint,” then forced an interpretation on that basis. His error is especially serious. The Mysterious Female consists of two things in relation to each other; how could it be a single acupoint? From the creation of Heaven and Earth onward, without these two functions, how could the myriad things have come into being? Thus both Neidan (internal alchemy) and Waidan (external alchemy) take them as their foundation. The sages concealedly called them the “Crescent-Moon Furnace” and the “Suspended-Womb Cauldron,” symbolic terms in alchemy. The Golden Crow here refers to the Golden Elixir. The Golden Elixir subdues the mercury within the body—an alchemical symbol—just as a cat pins down a mouse or a crow seizes a rabbit, leaving it unable to escape. If one takes the mouth and nose to be the Mysterious Female, then no matter how continuously one practices breathing techniques for a thousand years, one will only grow weaker and weaker.

Do not mistake the “Gate of Death” for the Gate of Life, nor stubbornly call the Gate of Life the Gate of Death. Only by grasping the principle of the “killing mechanism” and cyclical transformation can one know that within calamity there is also the potential for life.

When Yin-Yang and the Five Phases follow their usual course, life arises; when they go against it, death follows. This is the ordinary understanding. How could ordinary people know that there is a kind of “life that does not arise” that is long life, and a kind of “following that does not follow” that is the highest form of compliance? Once one understands this principle of cyclical transformation, one can see that life is hidden within calamity, and that a man, too, can “become pregnant”—that is, form the internal elixir through cultivation. The “killing mechanism” here means the “mechanism of theft”: grasping the essential key to life amid transformation.

As soon as the moon’s first half-circle of light appears at the edge of the sky, the sounds of the dragon’s cry and the tiger’s roar are already present. This is the right time to cultivate the “two eights”; the elixir can be refined in a single double-hour.

The “half-moon” corresponds to the number “one eight.” The Immortal Master uses this image to point out that the Dragon and Tiger each have an “eight,” which together make “two eights.” The wondrous function of the Dao unfolds within a single double-hour. At this time, the water source is clear, and Qi is present but has not yet taken on physical form. Cultivating the “two eights” in this state is said to refine the elixir in a single double-hour.

“The half-moon” refers to the number “one-eight.” The Immortal Elder points out that the Dragon and the Tiger each have a number of “one-eight”; together, they make “two-eight.” The subtle workings of the Dao are all contained within a single double-hour: at this time the water source is at its purest, with Qi but no form or substance.

In the course of a year, there is only one day on which one may practice; within that day, only one double-hour is used; and that double-hour is divided into six watches, or stages. In actual practice, no more than two watches are needed for the Golden Elixir to be refined. The remaining four watches have other uses. This is a heavenly secret, unwritten in books and transmitted only orally from teacher to disciple. The Immortal Elder calls the entire process a single double-hour, hence the saying, “Within one double-hour, the refining of the Golden Elixir is brought to completion.”

Ye Wenshu did not understand this principle. He presumed to explain that although the ingredients are refined within a single period, there is no need to use the entire double-hour. In truth, he did not know the essential method at all and was merely guessing for himself—a truly laughable thing. If the process took more than one double-hour, would it not have to drag on for a long time? How, then, could it be called supremely simple and easy? This wondrous Dao is indeed not something ordinary people can readily hear of.

I have carefully consulted Nan Guizi’s Record of the Fire Phases for the Great Elixir. It states that when the sages begin their practice and refine the lead medicine, they steal the Qi of the Three Origins in one great cycle of the heavenly circuit and seize 20,736,000 portions of pure, correct Qi. They gather it in the cauldron of Qian and Kun, which symbolizes Heaven and Earth, and bring it together at the abode of life and death, which symbolizes the place of Yin-Yang transformation. The various numerical principles of Heaven and Earth, the sun and moon, the Dragon and Tiger, generation and transformation, and the Yin-Yang and Five Phases are all drawn together and refined within one double-hour into a single sacred elixir. It is the size of a millet grain yet weighs one jin. It is numinous, sacred, supreme, and precious: the primordial essence of Heaven and Earth, and the master of one’s entire being.

This may be called stealing the transformations of Heaven and Earth and of Yin-Yang: the cosmos seems held in one’s hands, and the transformations of all things arise from within oneself. Through this practice, the practitioner becomes a perfected immortal and gains the ability to pay homage to the Supreme Emperor. Thus the Immortal Master’s saying, “Within one double-hour, the refining of the Golden Elixir is brought to completion,” is no empty claim. This passage is proof.

By refining Yin Qi with fire, one can draw the Yang Qi hidden within it. The workings of the cosmos seem to lie in one’s hands, and the transformations of all things arise within oneself. Through this, the practitioner becomes a perfected immortal and gains the ability to serve the Lord on High. My immortal master therefore said, “The Golden Elixir can be refined in a single double-hour.” These are no empty words; what I have described above is the proof.

Fire is born from Wood and conceals its sharp force within. If you do not understand the study of alchemical methods, you must not force the process. This is how disaster arises, harming you instead. To master the fire, you must seek the “Metal Lord,” an alchemical term often used to refer to the Metal nature or Metal Qi that can control fire.

The scripture says, “Fire is born from Wood; calamity erupts when the Yao positions overcome one another. Jing and Qi arise within the body, but scatter as soon as desires stir. If you do not understand the study, you will harm yourself.” Lord Lü said, “When fire ignites among the seven apertures, guard them closely; do not let it burn through the course of the River Chariot.” To subdue the fire, one must rely on the Metal Lord. The Cantong qi (Seal of the Unity of the Three) says, “To subdue it, take Yellow Sprout as the foundation.” This is what it means.

In setting up the furnace and cauldron, one must model them on Qian and Kun, the trigrams representing Heaven and Earth in the Book of Changes. Refine the essence to subdue the hun and po souls. All things gather and disperse, interweaving as they transform. How could I dare to explain these mysteries carelessly and in full?

Yang Qi accumulates to form Heaven. Heaven is above, yet cannot moisten what lies below. Yin Qi accumulates to form Earth. Earth is below, yet cannot rise upward. Heaven and Earth, then, cannot unite; and if they do not unite, how can they give birth to the myriad things? Though Heaven is supremely Yang, it still contains a measure of Yin, which allows it to descend. Though Earth is supremely Yin, it also contains a measure of Yang, which allows it to rise. When Yin and Yang Qi unite, the myriad things are nurtured into being. Transformation arises precisely through the union of Qi.

The Way of the Golden Elixir, in setting up the furnace and cauldron and refining the essence to subdue the hun and po souls, follows Heaven and Earth in every respect. The Song of Mother and Child says, “When feelings unite, no medicine is needed; when Qi unites, no words need be spoken.” This is exactly what it means. The Golden Elixir takes Qi as its foundation. Like joins with like, congealing and bringing forth transformation: first, something comes into being from nothing; then, from being, it returns to nothing. In this way, transformation is without end. This is the secret of Heaven. How could I dare say too much and invite transgression by revealing it carelessly?

The Qi of Kan Water brews the metal and water like flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. Fire rises from Kunlun, here referring to the head or upper region in alchemical terminology, and Yin and Yang unite through it. When the two substances can be brought into harmony, the medicine will naturally be refined, and its fragrance will spread throughout the body.

“Kan lightning” refers to the fire concealed within Kan water. It is also called the “Yin Tally”: the string-like Qi held by the tiger, a kind of energy that arises when Yin and Yang interact. The “direction of Metal and Water” refers to the northwest, the position of Qian, where the dragon resides. The west is also Heaven’s Gate, known as the Mysterious Gate. Here, the tiger uses fire hidden within Yin to smelt the Qian dragon, and the dragon responds by sending fire forth from Kunlun. When the two fires unite, the essence of the True One naturally condenses. At this point, taking the elixir brings harmony to every part of the body, filling it with fragrance and radiance.

The Cantong qi says: “When golden cinnabar enters the five viscera, vapor spreads like wind and clouds; the elixir’s energy steams through the limbs, and the face takes on a joyful, lovely hue. The sideburns turn black, and the teeth grow anew; an old man regains his youth and vigor, while an old woman becomes a young maiden.” Is this not just what it means for the fragrance of the elixir to fill the body after it is taken? After taking the elixir, one sets the Yin-Yang tally fires in motion: the tiger uses fire within Yin to smelt its Mysterious Gate, while the dragon responds by sending fire forth from Kunlun. When the two unite, the Golden Liquid returns to the Elixir and is naturally refined. Radiance increases throughout the body, which becomes suffused with fragrance and beauty. This poem uses images and signs of cultivation to describe both Neidan (internal alchemy) and Waidan (external alchemy).

To make the Valley Spirit—the subtle, hidden vitality within the body—endure without perishing, one must establish a foundation in the Mysterious Female, the root of Yin-Yang union and the generation of all things. Once true gold returns to the Golden Chamber, the inner foundation symbolized by the alchemical furnace, a perfect orb of spiritual light will never depart. These lines use images and signs of cultivation to describe both Neidan (internal alchemy) and Waidan (external alchemy).

The Book of Changes says, “The changes of Yin and Yang are beyond measure; this is called Shen (spirit).” Shen has no fixed form, yet it can respond to things and communicate with them, like a sound echoed in an empty valley. Hence it is called the “Valley Spirit.” Shen depends on Qi (vital energy) to exist, and Qi is produced by Jing (essence), the subtle material on which life depends. Jing can generate Qi, and Qi can generate Shen. Thus Shen and Qi govern the body, while the body is where Shen and Qi dwell. Without Shen and Qi, the physical form cannot grow; without a physical form, Shen has nowhere to take its place. These three depend on one another, and life comes into being through their union.

To seek long life, one must rely on the “Mysterious Female,” the Daoist name for the source that gives birth to life and generates the myriad things. Only by first establishing the foundations of cultivation can one hope to attain long life. All things are born from the two fundamental forces, Yin and Yang, and also die through them. They are the foundation of Heaven and Earth, the source of the Five Phases, the root of Yin and Yang, and the basis of transformation in all things. By means of this principle, the sages refined Waidan (external alchemy), using external substances to make elixirs, and cultivated the inner medicine, refining Jing, Qi, and Shen through their own practice. Then the essence of True Unity, the pure and undivided source of life, returns to the “Golden Chamber,” a metaphor for the place within the body where Daoists cultivate and refine. It manifests as a mass of numinous light, transforming from form into Qi and from Qi into Shen. When both form and Shen attain subtle perfection, they unite with the Dao and realize the True. They can then appear and vanish, changing in ways that defy measurement.

The Three Powers—Heaven, Earth, and humanity—rob one another, drawing on one another’s vital essence and energy. The secret to attaining the Dao and becoming an immortal lies hidden in this mechanism. Once the transformations of all things have settled, thoughts come to rest and every part of the body becomes harmonious and unobstructed. In this way, one experiences the Dao of Wuwei (non-action).

Heaven and Earth draw on the myriad things through the changes of the four seasons. Thus things flourish and decline, and cannot flourish forever. The myriad things nourish people through the Five Flavors; people are therefore born and die, and cannot live forever. People draw on the myriad things through the Qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water). Thus things are destroyed or brought to completion, and cannot remain unchanged forever. This is what is called the “Three Robberies.”

Once Heaven, Earth, and humanity—the Three Powers—are each settled in their proper place, the world naturally gives rise to all kinds of change: flourishing and decline, life and death, prosperity and withering, day and night, coming and going, appearing and disappearing, decay and renewal, self and things, right and wrong. These changes arise in profusion and cycle without end, beyond our ability to predict. This is the Dao of nature. If one can unite the “Three Robbers”—the mutual interactions and exchanges among Heaven, Earth, and humanity—grasp and turn the pivot of their operation, and use it in accord with moments of reversal, then every part of the body can find its proper place, and the myriad transformations can be brought to rest. Once the transformations are at rest, the many thoughts, too, will subside.

As the Qi of the Pi hexagram (Obstruction) and the Tai hexagram (Peace) first meet, all things become abundant and grow. The Tun and Meng hexagrams, in turn, receive the Qi shown by their images and embody the beginning of generation. Once you grasp their essential meaning, there is no need to cling to the hexagram images. Insisting on tracing the changes of each line will only waste your spirit.

The winter and summer solstices mark the beginnings of Yin and Yang, respectively; the Zi and Wu hours mark the beginnings of night and day. The sages used the Yin Talisman and Yang Fire—terms in Neidan for the operation of Yin-Yang Qi and the cycling of the fire phases—to follow the rhythms of Yin and Yang rising and descending between Heaven and Earth, and the cycles of the sun and moon in their passage. They gathered the four seasons, the Eight Trigrams, the seventy-two pentads, and the twenty-four Qi (seasonal markers corresponding to particular Qi) within the cauldron, a metaphor in Neidan, and condensed them into the body of “True Unity.” The principle is clear and the method is not complicated; one must not act recklessly. This is why hexagram images are used to explain it.

The sages divided a month into three ten-day periods to explain subtle principles and the use of the fire phases. The images of the hexagram lines are like a fish trap or a rabbit net: tools that help one grasp the principle. Tun and Meng head the hexagrams. They symbolize the beginnings of regulating the fire and generating life, and also mark the source from which the Qi of creation first receives and nurtures its generative power. Thus Tun is taken in the morning and Meng in the evening; this, in broad terms, is how one applies the Qi.

As for Yin and Yang rising and descending between Heaven and Earth, when spring reaches the second lunar month and the spring equinox, Yang Qi rises between Heaven and Earth. Yin and Yang are then equal, and the weather is mild, neither cold nor hot. This corresponds to the Tai hexagram, and also to the moon at first quarter. At this time the two Qi, Yin and Yang, naturally join. The sages no longer advance the fire phases; this is called “bathing,” a stage in Neidan when the fire is temporarily eased and the breath is brought into harmony.