《稚川真人校证术》

Zhichuan Zhenren's Verification of the Art (Zhichuan Zhenren jiaozheng shu)

The Diagram of the Prior Heaven is not reproduced here.

Lineage chart of transmission: copied by Chuanke Yang Moyang and Xu Zhouhua, with the compiler's name concealed; Master Meng of Yanshan, whose master is not recorded.

On the Prior Heaven

All things receive the Qi (vital energy) of the Prior Heaven. Its direction is the west, belonging to Geng and Xin, and it corresponds to Venus, the Taibai Metal Star in the sky, which is also the Queen Mother of the West. It can produce the Red Phoenix Marrow of the south. This is called the Posterior Heaven, and its name is "Golden Lead." It is also called "Beautiful Golden Flower," "Lead-White Frost," or "Golden Liquid."

Even when it is refined with the fiercest fire, it can never be exhausted. When it meets Earth, it dries out, and from this the achievement of the sage becomes manifest. When it unites with its mother substance, it generates; the embryo forms from this, and bone and flesh grow from this as well. This is the principle of creation and transformation: it can bring something forth from nothing. "Metal can fell Wood and make it flourish" speaks of precisely this principle.

When the Four Images are complete, the center occupies the ruling position; when the Three Families gather, the Central Palace becomes the treasure. What is called "the treasure as ruler" is not easily understood by those who do not grasp the secrets of refining the Great Elixir. This is the principle by which the Prince of Huainan refined autumn mineral and produced inexhaustible treasures. For this reason, the Supreme Emperor treasured this art and also pitied living beings, transmitting it only once in ten thousand kalpas. Whoever receives it must already have an immortal affinity from a former life; if it is passed to an unsuitable person, the calamity will implicate nine generations of ancestors. The secret admonition says: "To conceal the Way of Heaven and divulge the great treasure is a crime that cannot be pardoned."

Explanation of the True Formula

Within the male lies a female essence; it bears Yin-Qi on its back, yet embraces the Yang Jing (essence). The Four Images all depend on harmonious blending. When Earth unites with Metal, gold can be produced.

Explanation of the Evidence of the Great Medicine

Refine powder into lead, and transform stone into dust. Through natural firing, remove the lead and extract the cinnabar. Then place it in the Flower Pond (an alchemical term for the vessel or environment used for refining and nurturing), so that it returns to its original source and its former color; then place it in the Spirit Chamber (the chamber used for sealing and nurturing the elixir during refining), and continue to warm and nourish it with fire. After a full sixty days of refining and nurturing, the Golden Liquid Elixir can be completed. Whoever takes it will become an immortal.

Refining the Great Elixir (a term for one approach to Neidan, or internal alchemy) follows the same process by which heaven and earth come into being and transform. Thus Taiyi (the state before heaven and earth divide and before the myriad things appear) precedes Taisu (the state in which the myriad things have not yet taken form or substance). At that time, though all was void, still, and profound, no sign had yet appeared. Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate, the fundamental state in which heaven, earth, and the myriad things begin to form) in turn precedes Taiyi (the Supreme Unity); Taiyi gives birth to the myriad things, and its initial state is called Chaos. Within Chaos lies the essence of Taiyi, which is the root of heaven and earth and the starting point of all things.

After the One Qi (vital energy) divides, the Two Modes of heaven and earth (the two Qi of Yin-Yang) are distinguished. Then emerge Qian and Kun, Yin-Yang, the Three Powers (heaven, earth, and humanity), the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and such things as the five metals and eight minerals. Those who practice the alchemical method take Qian and Kun as the cauldron and furnace and the human body as the medicinal substance. They seize the moment of Yin-Yang transformation, finely harmonize water and fire, and follow the patterns of Yin-Yang change symbolized by Kan and Li and by Pi and Tai, enduring long and arduous cultivation. In movement they begin from "Yang Nine"; in stillness they begin from "Yin Six." This is the general meaning of cultivating the elixir.

Ge Xianweng's "Chant of the Spirit Chamber"

The spirit chamber of inner refining (a metaphorical "furnace chamber" for body and mind, or for the workings of the method) is only newly completed once its deeper and shallower levels have been arranged; within it, the inner and outer parts each have their own arrangement and their own names.

The White Tiger must be paired with the Azure Dragon, and the Azure Dragon must travel together with the White Tiger. Here the Azure Dragon and White Tiger are terms in Neidan that symbolize Yin-Yang, the medicinal substances, or the movements of Qi. The two Qi of Yin-Yang are originally united, and the myriad things are born from Earth. Within the profound there is a deeper profundity; once one truly understands, everything becomes clear on its own. Within the nine-fold city, who would still be arguing?

Origins of the Secret Teaching

True lead is born from geng, and true mercury is born from hai. Here true lead and true mercury are alchemical terms, while geng and hai are directions or temporal positions expressed through the heavenly stems and earthly branches.

This method takes two elements as its foundation: one uses Yang to manage the mercury and uses Yin to restrain geng, so that the two are joined in the Central Palace (the central position, or the core place in inner refining). When the fire phases above and below blaze intensely, the foundation of the elixir is gradually formed. After a period of one seven-day cycle (about fourteen days), this method was transmitted by an unnamed person to three people, and later passed down to the Yellow-Capped Daoist Cui (a Daoist priest).

This art is called the "Golden Mercury Elixir Method." The Yellow-Capped Daoist Cui lived for more than ninety years and afterward disappeared without a trace. The method is divided into four transformations: the first is called "Approaching the Embryo and Borrowing Qi," the second "Yin Substance and Yang Embryo," the third "Six Spirits Subduing the Corpse," and the fourth "Vermilion Marrow Changing the Form."

Mercury is the essence of trees and wood, and also the marrow of cinnabar. To make it take form like an embryo, one must rely on pure Yang qi (vital energy); without this Yang qi, even a true maternal substance can hardly be refined. In the first transformation, the mercury responds to the qi of true Yang, which is called "borrowing the embryo's blackness."

Within the embryonic gestation, Yang qi must be kept hidden, and even while Yin qi lies concealed, one must not forget to warm and nourish it with Yang qi. One must also rely on the "knotting of the geng blackness," using pure Yang qi to guard the elixir substance within the furnace and cauldron. The practitioner must be careful and prudent, and must not presume to know better. In the second transformation, the Yang crystal is obtained, yet the outer surface of the elixir substance still shows a Yin nature.

The method of the "Six Spirits" (liu shen), as spoken of by the immortals, has always been kept secret and never passed to outsiders. With a mild fire, the practitioner warms and nourishes in stages, keeping both inside and outside purely Yang. The foolish, if they do not ponder the principle within, can only sigh in vain until death. In the third transformation, the formerly fluid nature of the elixir substance changes, and the Yang qi condenses to form the "corpse" (shi).

One must understand the fundamental principle by which two substances unite; once the qi of true lead is obtained, the workings of the refining process will flow through unobstructed. With a mild fire, one warms and nourishes, letting the qi of Yin-Yang commingle in the central palace. After seven days the Dao of the elixir is complete, and golden grains form of themselves. Once the four transformations are complete, the marrow of cinnabar alters its form.

Zhongcheng of the West followed the Daoist Master Cui Huangguan for many years, reverent and careful, enduring hardship and passing many trials without ever growing lax. Master Cui said, "You are now ready to receive the Dao teachings." An auspicious day was then chosen and an altar set up. Zhongcheng burned incense and swore an oath, bowed twice with his head to the ground, and received the transmission kneeling.

Master Cui then admonished him: "When I once sought the essential secrets of immortality, I was permitted to pass the orthodox transmission to only one person. You have the bearing and the natural capacity of a true cultivator, and even among a crowd you stand out as transcendent. Now I am entrusting to you in full the secret methods handed down by the immortal masters: the medicinal substances, their measures, the timing of the fire, and the essential principles of practice. If in future you meet someone of careful and complete virtue who devotes themselves wholly to seeking the Dao, then you may transmit it to them. You must also pass it on just as I have to you, concealing nothing." He then transmitted the scripture (Jing) of the "Four Transformations and Nine Cycles."

"The first transformation is like causing the embryo to take form by borrowing black qi. The second transformation causes a Yin substance to conceive the embryonic qi of Yang. The third transformation changes the Six Spirits and the hidden corpse (here, an alchemical term for a congealed substance). The fourth transformation uses the marrow of cinnabar to alter its form."

By day and night, adjust the firing phases (huohou) according to the hexagrams Zhun and Meng (names of hexagrams in the Yijing, used here to symbolize the Yin-Yang transformations in the course of cultivation), and the potency of the true lead will appear. Refine and nourish gently with a mild, slow fire, so that the Qi of Yin-Yang meets and responds in the central palace (the central region of the body or of the cauldron). After seven days the refining is complete, and golden granules form of their own accord. The precious elixir passes through four transformations in the end, and the vermilion essence changes form along with it.

By day and night, adjust the firing phases according to the hexagrams Zhun and Meng, then use the true mother to refine the true lead.

When immortals speak of this stage, they often keep their lips sealed, refusing to let ordinary people seek it deliberately.

The crimson Golden Elixir condenses from mercury into gold; it must be returned to true earth and in the end be united with true nature.

Divide the day into three periods to govern the firing phases, and seal the furnace and cauldron with care; if the fire is too strong, it may instead harm the body.

This secretly transmitted divine method is something I verified in person, and only now do I believe that within the profound mystery there is a separate lineage of transmission.

Gather in the tiger and dragon (symbolizing the two Qi of Yin-Yang) and return them to the proper earth, and the transformations of creation will turn of themselves, giving rise to the "infant" (in Neidan practice, an image symbolizing the completion of the elixir).

True Mystery

This wondrous method is truly great, and it comes from personal verification. Throughout the entire process it never departs from two medicines: one is Yang, the other Yin. The Yang side is called true lead, and the Yin side is called true mercury. When the two are joined in the central palace, they naturally stimulate and respond to each other. Reaching "Jiji" (Already Crossed, the state of Yin-Yang harmony) brings success; even if Jiji has not yet been reached, one may still continue the refining.

The firing phases must be governed according to three periods in a day and must not be missed; after seven days, the fire is stopped. The growth of the Golden Elixir within the cauldron depends wholly on the practitioner's single-minded Dao-heart. The Azure Dragon soars and the White Tiger is restrained; one restrains and the other lies hidden, and in turn they become a relationship of mother and child generating each other. When the number of the nine turns is sufficient, the Yellow Sprout will appear. To obtain the Yellow Sprout is to have the foundation of the immortals' household. When the elixir is generated again, the Azure Dragon turns back into cinnabar.

With a single grain of cinnabar, one first makes an offering to Heaven and Earth, and then takes it oneself, and one will be forever removed from the registers of death. A chicken can become a phoenix, and a snake can become a dragon; I have personally transmitted all these transformations, and their key lies in completing the work of nine times nine. In the past I received the transmission from my teacher, and it depended entirely on mastering the firing phases. When the firing phases are right, Golden Bloom can be refined; once there is an error in the firing phases, one drifts further and further from success. The secret of the firing phases I now explain to you; once you have received it, do not disclose it to others. If I did not speak, I fear this root of the Heavenly Dao would be cut off. Transmitted by Zhongcheng of the West, this text is extremely precious and secret.

Therefore, the Treasure Song

People in the world treasure gold and jade, yet do not realize that these things will in the end be lost. Some devote their minds to dressing and adornment, others to building splendid palaces; they exhaust every means and display every skill, only to find in the end that it is all illusory and impermanent. Why not cultivate the Returned Elixir (huandan) and seek a long life?

Song of Elixir Refining

To refine the Great Medicine, one cannot do without Jia and Geng (terms from ancient alchemy, often used to refer to particular ingredients or to the pairing of Yin-Yang). Once the refining is complete, the "elder brother" and the "maiden" (alchemical code words for ingredients that match each other) draw close and unite. Behold the moment the elixir is perfected: it is as if a single crane's cry resounded across ten thousand miles of heaven and earth.

Secret Method of Elixir Refining

Liang (an alchemical term whose precise referent depends on context) has no head, and the cauldron (a vessel used in elixir refining) has no ears; Geng forms the outside as the surface, and Xin forms the inside as the lining. The Vermilion-Robed One (a code name for a red ingredient or elixir) and the Red Diamond Marrow (a code name for a red ingredient used in the refining): apart from these, nothing else can be made directly into an elixir, save by letting Water and Fire work in concert.

For the ingredient of mercury there is no substitute: first refine it into bone, then refine it into flesh. When bone and flesh cling to one another and merge into one, the River Chariot (an alchemical term, often used figuratively for the circulation of the ingredients or the refining process) can then move back and forth.

Gold is transformed into gold, and silver into silver; what other marvelous thing could there be? After three rounds of transmutation and division of the embryo, add the Ancestral Origin (in alchemy, the fundamental or key ingredient), and all the rest is mere dross.

Swallows and sparrows cannot give birth to a phoenix, nor can foxes and hares nurse a horse. Without the true parent ingredients, whatever is produced is entirely false.

Method of Piercing the Heart and Establishing Control

Heaven makes the piercing of the heart; Earth makes the establishing of control. When the Eight Minerals (mineral ingredients used in alchemy) melt away, the Five Metals (metallic ingredients used in alchemy) return to their own kind. To dry the cinnabar and mercury (an alchemical term referring to ingredients such as cinnabar and quicksilver), one must rely on the Ancestral Qi (in alchemy, the fundamental, key Qi). Nourish the fire for seven days, so that the fire phase repeatedly attains Jiji, "Already Crossed" (a state of harmony between Yin and Yang); then nourish the fire for another seven days, after which pour on the medicinal liquid so that the ingredients are saturated and refined.

Formula for Transmission to Later Generations (a mnemonic verse for passing the teaching down to later people)

Long ago, my late master once warned me: "This art is subtle and profound, and it can help a person complete the Golden Elixir (Jindan). Yet some people, being of slight fortune, treat it merely as a precious treasure when they obtain it." He added: "When a person of noble character obtains it, it is good fortune; when a petty person obtains it, it is misfortune." The Yinfu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman) says: "When the noble person obtains it, they will surely rest content in simple poverty; when the petty person obtains it, they will make light of life."

A cultivator of the Dao (the Way) who obtains this art becomes inwardly rich; even if their circumstances are poor, it remains precious and a source of joy. The petty person, however, will think: "Birth and death are the natural order of things. How could lifeless metal and stone possibly allow a living body of flesh and blood to live forever?" They want only a wealthy household and high rank, to dwell in splendid houses, wear brilliant robes, feast at lavish banquets, listen to song and watch dance, drink wine and eat meat, indulging in every pleasure without restraint. Should heavenly punishment fall upon them one day, even the master who first transmitted the art to them will be implicated. How can one not be cautious?

If you abandon the conduct of the noble person and hold to the outlook of the petty person, the calamity will not fall on you alone, and with what face could I meet my late master in heaven? The patriarchs and immortal masters of every generation, when transmitting this art, never failed to instruct and warn again and again. How dare I not hold it in reverent awe? Now that the art has been passed on to you, you should take this as a lesson, observe its precepts with care, and let your blessings and prosperity endure without decline.

Note: The "得1" in the original text appears to be an error of text recognition or typesetting; in light of the context it has been understood as "得之" ("obtains it"). The content of the first paragraph is repeated elsewhere in the original text.

Zhongcheng of the West transmitted the teachings to Dai Daoheng. That night fell on a jiazi day, the seventh day after the Upper Origin Festival. Dai Daoheng faced west toward the Northern Dipper, knelt for a long while, and begged to be taught the method of "Immortal Guardianship" (xianwei). Zhongcheng of the West told Dai:

"Long ago, Ge the Immortal passed the methods of the Dao to Zheng Siyuan, and Zheng Siyuan passed them on to Ge Zhichuan. Ge Zhichuan was a descendant of the Immortal Elder. Yet the Immortal Elder did not hand the methods to his own son but to Zheng Siyuan. Why was this? Presumably because those who cultivate the elixir arts should not choose their recipients by kinship alone, such as father and son or elder and younger brother. Ge Zhichuan upheld his father's aspirations, while Zheng Siyuan repaid the debt to his teacher by carrying on the lineage, and so both sides were well provided for. The immortals and patriarchs of every age attained the Dao through alchemical refinement and self-cultivation, and their transmissions and receptions each had their own fitting form.

"Now I will pass on to you my late teacher's oral instructions, the lineage and the methods of transmission described above, and the secret of the technique of 'Piercing the Heart and Establishing the Rule.' I should also explain that this art may be practiced first, and afterward one may cultivate the 'Nine-Cycle Golden Liquid Returned Elixir' (a Daoist alchemical term for the returned elixir of golden liquid refined through nine cycles). Only once a sage master has given guidance may the Great Medicine be successfully refined."

Dai Daoheng bowed again, touching their head to the ground, and said: "Now that I have received your instruction, how dare I fail to follow it with reverence and care? I depend entirely on my teacher's guidance. If one day I am able to refine the nine-cycle cinnabar, I wish to keep receiving your teaching."

Note: In the original text, "仙翁日" should be read as "仙翁曰" ("the Immortal Elder said") according to context. The first half contains repeated characters, and the "2" in "传2思远" ("passed to 2 Siyuan") also appears to be a textual corruption, so the passage has been arranged and understood according to context.

Dai Daoheng transmitted to Yang Xu the cultivation method known as the "Cinnabar Marrow Form-Transforming Elixir Art." Dai Daoheng was by nature aloof, upright, and unwilling to follow the crowd. At twenty he already admired the immortals' Dao (the Way), and his resolve to seek immortality never wavered. Later he met a Perfected One (Zhenren), from whom he received, one after another, teachings on gold, mercury, and the methods for guarding the alchemical process. He awakened suddenly, as though he had found a shortcut in cultivation. He pondered its essentials deeply and established his own method, and so grasped the true principle. One may say that his understanding was profound and his De (Virtue) deep.

At first, Dai Daoheng did not want others to know of these things. Later, two brothers from the same prefecture, Yang Xu and his brother, long sought the Dao from a Perfected One. As their cultivation deepened over time, their merit grew more evident by the day. Recognizing that Dai Daoheng was no ordinary man, they served him wholeheartedly and tirelessly for many years. Dai Daoheng, in turn, saw that the brothers were extraordinary and had long possessed an affinity with immortality. He therefore chose an auspicious day and passed on to them all of the oral instructions for the elixir method, along with everything he himself had realized. This may be called transmitting the Dao to the right people; though the essentials he handed down were brief, they were supremely subtle.

Zhenyizi's "Song of the Golden Elixir"

The great Dao brought my body into being, and the Yin-Yang forces of Qi (vital energy) lodge within my form. I dwell between Heaven and Earth, passing through the turning wheel of life and death. Within life and death there is another gateway to transcendence, though the paths differ from one another.

One is the path of Yin stillness, in which one reaches luminous quiescence amid profound calm. Cultivating the "Shen (spirit) within Yin" belongs to the practice of the West. Another is the path within Yang, subtle and hidden, recorded in the scriptures transmitted by the immortals.

This path points straight to the root of Heaven and Earth, which is called the "True One." It was born before Heaven and Earth, and Heaven and Earth were opened from it. The practitioner must gather and store it, refining it into the "Chamber of Geng and Xin" (a symbol of the inner-cultivation state in which metal Qi condenses). Then one welcomes the "Dragon in the Wood" (an alchemical term for the dragon image within the nature of wood, or the Qi of the East) and unites with it, bringing them into accord through secret oral formulas.

The two suddenly join like husband and wife, and gradually children are born. After ten months the children mature, and in the end all of them transform into golden liquid. The golden liquid is then refined into a divine elixir, and upon taking it one transcends the limits of Heaven and Earth. Now I have told all of this to fellow seekers of the Dao: where else do you still need to search? The sun and moon race by as swiftly as the wind, and a human life is no more than thirty-six thousand days.

Eulogy by the Yellow-Capped Daoist Cui

The original text here is repetitive and incomplete. The first half repeats the closing lines of the "Song of the Golden Elixir," after which only the words "The Yellow-Capped Daoist Cui's eulogy says" remain, with no complete text of the eulogy. An independent translation of the eulogy therefore cannot be produced from it.

The Supreme Dao (the highest and most exalted Way) is vast and boundless, and is the root of heaven and earth. It moves through the True Unity (pure, undivided, original Qi) and opens the gateway of the mysterious.

In refining the divine elixir, one follows the natural course of creation and transformation, and the timing of the fire is not complicated. Draw out the true mercury and pair it with the true lead.

Let the ingredients pass through the revolutions of heaven and earth and the movements of the sun and moon, then temper them with the Qi of cold and heat, so that they divide into southern and northern parts. When the eastern and western parts come together, the mercury appears white and the lead appears red. Whoever takes this cinnabar will be counted among the immortals.

Here ends the Zhichuan Zhenren Jiaozheng Shu (Master Zhichuan's Verified Methods).

Collation Note 1: The character "得" was originally missing and has been supplied according to the sense of the text.

Collation Note 2: The two characters "传一" were originally miswritten as "得."