《紫阳真人悟真篇注疏》Vol. 1

The Annotated Commentary on the Wuzhen Pian by the Perfected Ziyang is a Daoist work that provides annotations and explanations of the Wuzhen Pian. It is included in The Daoist Canon of China: The Taiqing Golden Elixir Scriptures.

The book’s contents, in order, include the “Preface to the Annotated Commentary on the Wuzhen Pian,” the “Preface to the Commentary on the Wuzhen Pian,” the “Preface to the Wuzhen Pian,” and Volumes One through Eight. The volumes contain seven-character poems in four-rhyme stanzas, five-character poems in four-rhyme stanzas, sixty-four quatrains, discussions of inner and outer medicines, and twelve poems titled “Xijiang Yue,” among other material. They also include “Reading the Cantong Qi,” “A Song Presented to Daoist Liu of White Dragon Cave,” “The Stone Bridge Song,” and the “Postface to the Wuzhen Pian.”

The Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality) divides cultivation into two paths, the “School of Nature” and the “School of Life,” teaching people to practice each separately. It also distinguishes between inner and outer medicines, teaching that both must be cultivated. This book is truly a model among the alchemical scriptures of every age. Its importance for transmission to later generations and the establishment of a teaching makes it worthy of enduring alongside the Zhouyi Cantong Qi (Token for Joining the Three in Accordance with the Book of Changes).

Before Ye Wenshu annotated the Wuzhen Pian, Daoist methods were passed only from master to disciple, and no one had written a commentary on them. After Ye Wenshu’s annotations appeared, however, people became obscured by the commentaries and found it difficult to discern their errors. I have seen commentaries by dozens of authors. Most explain the text one-sidedly from the standpoint of solitary cultivation, or offer confused interpretations based on heterodox teachings. As a result, the Great Way of the Golden Elixir—the Daoist path of Neidan (internal alchemy)—has become difficult to hear of in the world. People are at a loss about where to begin, and the transmission from master to disciple has nearly died out. Once the lineage is broken, where can anyone hear the true teaching? Thus, few people truly hear of this Way, and fewer still can practice in accordance with it.

The Zixian commentary that circulates in the world is prized because it is said to have been transmitted directly by a perfected person. Yet people do not realize that someone took Wong Baoguang’s commentary and falsely attributed it to Daoguang. I have examined this matter in detail at the end of the text. The Anonymous Master, too, was a successor in the lineage of the perfected person. In the past, in the guisi year of the Qiandao era, he saw Ye Wenshu’s commentary and judged it mistaken. Fearing that later generations would therefore misunderstand the Great Way, he composed this explanation to clarify it broadly and develop its meaning in detail. He praised the wondrous function of the “single pellet” of medicine, explained the principles of the “Three Vehicles,” and disclosed the secrets of the alchemical Way, thereby making his master’s intention clear.

Some time ago, when I was in Ruiyang, someone showed me several passages from the Zixian commentary circulating in the world. I found that its explanations differed from those in other commentaries. When I compared them with what my father and master had transmitted, they did not accord, and I was deeply puzzled. After reading them several times, I gradually grasped their subtle meaning. Later, when I obtained the complete text, I studied and pondered it repeatedly, neglecting sleep and meals as I examined every word and sentence in depth and turned it over in my mind.

My elder brother, Zhongfu, the assistant county magistrate, and others would sometimes share what we had learned, ask and answer questions, and discuss difficult points. We studied and investigated the text in this way for several years before I understood that its central teaching accorded with the way of the Great Elixir described in the Cantong qi.

In my youth, the Cantong qi first gave me insight into the profound teachings of the Daoist tradition. But at the time I could not yet bring them together into a coherent understanding, nor did I make a separate effort to study them in depth; I mainly read the Wuzhen pian. Though I came to understand its general meaning, I later discovered that it had both inner and outer layers of meaning. I still could not fully grasp the “mystery of a single moment”—the subtle secret of a crucial instant. What is more, the immortals regarded these teachings as secret transmissions and would not state them plainly in books. I wanted to seek instruction from a master, but could find no teacher to reveal the key. I also tried to establish the matter from written sources, but could find no adequate evidence. This weighed on my mind, and I could not put it out of my thoughts.

Later, Heaven granted my wish. In the summer of the Xinwei year of the Zhishun era (1331), I met a master and received the oral instructions. When I returned home and told my elder brother, he was so happy that he could not sleep all night. Afterward, I read the commentary by the Anonymous Master and found that it matched exactly what my teacher had transmitted. Only then did I understand that the way of the celestial immortals could be cultivated, and that the original spirit—the person’s fundamental spirit—does not die. The immortals Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, and others cultivated this very same Way. With only a brief effort, one can ascend to the realm of the sages. This method truly is a Dao concealed by Heaven, so I swore not to transmit it lightly.

Alas! I began serving as a professor at the Confucian school of Shaoxing Circuit in the Guihai year of the Yan You era (1323), and now I am fifty-two. After enduring one hardship after another, I resolved to abandon fame and profit and devote myself to understanding my nature and fulfilling my life through cultivation. I have pursued this Way with firm commitment and studied it diligently, never betraying my desire to seek the Way. Fortunately, I met a master and attained the Way. Had I continued along the worldly path, at best I might have accumulated some wealth and risen a few ranks in office. I would have spent my whole life in busy pursuits; what benefit would that have brought me?

Now that I know the Way, if I do not cultivate it, I am choosing ignorance for myself. Once the human body is lost, it is hard to encounter again even after a thousand kalpas—how much harder still to hear the Great Way? After hearing the Way, I made a vow to bring deliverance to all people. Yet when I reflect in the stillness of night, I dare not casually reveal Heaven’s secrets. How, then, should I point people toward the path, so they can follow its entryway and begin their cultivation? To disregard Heaven’s retribution and reveal the secrets recklessly would only bring folly upon myself. Once the human body is lost, it is hard to encounter again even after a thousand kalpas—how much harder still to hear the Great Way?

At that time, after hearing the teachings of the Dao, I vowed to bring salvation to all people. In the quiet of the deep night, I considered the matter again and again, yet did not dare lightly reveal Heaven’s secrets. How, then, could I show people the way and guide them onto the correct path? Rather than face Heaven’s punishment, I broke the oath I had made to my master and set down what I knew in writing and speech.

People had long been lost in confusion; how could they readily believe these principles? So I gathered passages in which the patriarchs of earlier generations refuted heterodox methods of cultivation, to show people that following such methods could never bring them to the rank of a Celestial Immortal. I hoped they would turn back and reflect on where the path into the Dao truly begins. For this reason, I titled this section Exposing Misconceptions in the Study of Immortality.

Once misconceptions had been dispelled, how should people be guided into the profound depths of the Dao? I therefore selected ten texts on the immortal Dao from various scriptures whose central aims were in accord. Drawing on the secret teachings transmitted by my master, I explained their meaning and wrote commentaries to clarify the orthodox method of the immortal Dao. I therefore titled this work The Orthodox Lineage in the Study of Immortality. These texts are recorded separately in another collection.

Who could have foreseen that my elder brother would die suddenly, unable to cultivate alongside me? This made me all the more vigilant. As the years passed and my body grew frail, I devoted myself more intently to cultivation and grew more eager to make progress. Some passages in The Nameless One’s Commentary were not sufficiently clear, and its account of the images used in cultivation (symbols that explain the stages and relationships of the alchemical process) was incomplete. I therefore wrote explanatory notes for every chapter, seeking to clarify the central aim of The Orthodox Lineage in the Study of Immortality, the images used in the Golden Elixir method, and how these symbols work together.

The Wuzhen pian discusses different methods, including Neidan and Waidan, so its poems do not always use the same language. At times it speaks of “setting up the furnace and establishing the cauldron”; elsewhere, it says one need only tend the medicine furnace, without wood or charcoal. Sometimes it says the Elixir can be refined in an instant; elsewhere, that it can be made in a day but takes ten months to mature. At times, one thing serves as a metaphor for a method, while elsewhere the same method is represented by several different things. At other times, several kinds of stone serve as metaphors for one and the same thing.

There are many such differences, and readers can easily become confused. If they use one passage to explain another, they may find that it does not fit; if they use a different passage, it may contradict the first. People can then easily turn misinterpretation into heterodox practices. Once their understanding becomes one-sided, their confusion deepens. They may even cultivate using mistaken methods and then pass those errors on to others, allowing confusion to persist from generation to generation. This is truly lamentable.

The poems and lyrics are now arranged in separate categories, with their titles marked on the left. Reading the main text alone is enough to grasp its general meaning; the detailed commentaries make it clearer still. Anyone who comes into possession of this book has a connection to the Way of the Immortals. Anyone who hears of this path of cultivation has such a connection as well, and should begin practicing at once without hesitation.

Practitioners should withdraw from the turmoil of the secular world and devote themselves to holding fast to the primordial unity, making the heart-mind empty and still. They should cultivate all three vehicles—the different levels of cultivation—so as not to waste their lives. Having received instruction from the Immortals, they must strive all the harder to advance. How could they grow lax?

As for the highest vehicle of cultivation, it must be realized through one’s own insight; it cannot be conveyed through written words or speech. Some people today learn only doctrines passed from mouth to ear, fall into the emptiness and stillness taught by heterodox paths, and confuse these with the abstruse principles of the Way of the Immortals. Neither school is correct, and both methods of cultivation give weight to only one side. Many people have therefore sunk into delusion and error. I hope that all who study the Way of the Immortals will strive together to make progress, while each cultivates upward through the stages suited to them. In this way, they may repay even a fraction of the kindness of their teachers, perfected persons, fathers, and elder brothers.

In the first year of the Zhiyuan era, Dai Qizong, known by the courtesy name Tongfu and the sobriquet Kongxuanzi of Qingji, respectfully wrote this preface.

Preface to the Annotations on the Wuzhen Pian

On the day when Perfected Lord Xu of Xishan—a legendary perfected adept—ascended to immortality, he is said to have declared: “One thousand two hundred and forty years after my ascension, eight hundred people within the Five Mounds will attain the Dao and become Immortals. A sandbar will rise in the Gan River of Yuzhang and stretch across its mouth. That will be the time when the prophecy is fulfilled.”

Respectfully prefaced by Zong Tongfu.

The day Xu Zhenjun of Xishan, the immortal of Jin dynasty legend, ascended to Heaven, he said, “One thousand two hundred and forty years after my ascent, eight hundred people among the Five Tombs will attain the Dao and become immortals. A great sandbar will rise in the Gan River at Yuzhang, stretching across its mouth. That will be the time when the prophecy is fulfilled.”

From Xu Zhenjun’s ascent to the Jiazi year of the Chunxi reign was exactly one thousand two hundred and twenty-six years. At that time, a great sandbar lay across the river, seeming to accord with the prophecy. Alas, the Perfected One of Jingyang—Xu Zhenjun’s bestowed title—was entrusted by Heaven to oversee immortal affairs in the Jin dynasty, and now his prophecy has come true in this way. From this I know that those in the Five Tombs who devote themselves to cultivating this Dao must be disciples or later followers of the Wuzhen Pian.

Heaven is about to let the True Wind spread throughout the world and bring the prophecy of immortals in Yuzhang to fulfillment. In the august Great Song, the Perfected One of Awakening to Truth was born, to oversee the registers of immortals and secretly assist the imperial house. Otherwise, how could he have received the title “Violet Mystery” and taken his place among the highest heavens?

The Immortal Elder of Awakening to Truth attained the Dao on Mount Qingcheng and took elixirs by the shores of Pan Lake. After he transmitted the Dao once, Guangyizi appeared; after he transmitted it a second time, Wumingzi appeared. They are true later followers of the immortals. Zhongling is a place that nurtures outstanding talent; their appearance among the Five Tombs foretells the fulfillment of the prophecy that Hongdu would produce immortals.

Sadly, many people have forced interpretations onto the Wuzhen Pian, straying from its original meaning. It is difficult to turn back the tide once it has swept away, or to stem its many tributaries and guide them back to the right course. Wumingzi and Shouhaizi therefore wrote commentaries, explaining it word by word. Each word is pure gold, each sentence uncut jade, and their contribution to spreading this Dao is great. One day, they showed me the book, and I wrote this preface for it. This is its general purport.

Preface by Chen Daling, the Elder of Ziyang of Wuling.

Kongxuanzi says: Zhang Boduan, also known as Perfected Ziyang and a practitioner of Neidan, took elixirs and cultivated himself in the area around Pan Lake. According to Bai Yuchan’s Four Mountains: Discourses on the Dao, Zhang Pingshu succeeded only after receiving help from Ma Duyun, while Daoguang completed the elixir only after receiving help from Zhang Huanwei. The statement that Zhang took elixirs at Ke Lake means that he followed Ma Chuhou’s method of refining, nourishing, and cultivating himself.

After the Perfected One attained the Dao, Ma Chuhou was in Hedong. Before leaving, the Perfected One gave him the Wuzhen Pian, enabling the work to be passed down. Lu Yanfu’s account gives the relevant details. The book later passed into the hands of Guangyizi.

Liu Yongnian called himself Shunli. In the Ren Shen year of the Shaoxing era (1152), Guangyizi published the Tongzhen Meaning, with the Cantong Qi Divided into Sections. In his preface, he wrote that the Cantong Qi had already explained in full the essentials of Golden Elixir cultivation. Those who failed to investigate this classic deeply merely picked out incidental details, fixated on minerals, medicines, and the timing of the firing process, and assumed these could produce an elixir. In doing so, they departed from the classic’s original meaning. In the Wu Wu year of the Shaoxing era (1138), Liu Yongnian had met someone who had attained the Dao. This person personally taught him the oral instructions and told him that he need only study the Cantong Qi to discover that the principles in the text matched those in the oral teachings. Liu followed his teacher’s instructions and studied the work; finding its principles clear and evident, he no longer had any doubts. He then gathered versions from many sources—more than a thousand in all—carefully collated and corrected them, and published the result for circulation, so that those who loved this path could grasp its true meaning. Could this be a small contribution?

Qizong had seen the edition published by Guangyizi. At the time, the Secret Pavilion edition, held in the imperial library, had not yet been published, so that edition still contained errors in both its wording and its interpretation. In my reading of the Cantong Qi, I consider Bao Zhongqi’s corrected Secret Pavilion edition the standard. Bao’s edition, however, also has a few errors. If one is to adopt the explanations in the Tongzhen Meaning, the main text should follow Peng Zhenyi’s commentary and corrections. Qizong’s work was to annotate the main text and collate it.

Chen Xianweng of Ziyang was from Wuyi. He left behind a collection of recorded sayings in sixty-four sections, discussing the two methods of cultivating nature and life, as well as the inner and outer medicines. He also said, “Unless you read the ancient Upper Scripture of the Dragon and Tiger, you will not understand the mysteries of the two cords of Metal and Water. Unless you read the Cantong qi, you will not understand the principle by which the Sun and Moon each take a pound of essence. Unless you read the Wuzhen pian, you will not understand the wondrous methods of the Golden Elixir set out in its two chapters.”

This path of cultivation is the most mysterious of the mysterious. Practitioners must gather the original Qi of the Dragon and Tiger before they have separated, and absorb the vital essence of the Tortoise and Snake at the moment they are first conceived. Among the transformations of the three hundred lines, there are both gentle and forceful firing phases; among the sixty hexagrams, special importance is given to the hexagrams Zhun and Meng. The Elixir can coalesce in an instant, but the Dao takes more than nine years to attain.

He also said, “The Dao comes from within, but the furnace and cauldron must be set up outside. The Dao comes from outside, but true lead and true mercury are within. One pound of inner medicine, one pound of outer medicine: purple gold becomes purple powder, and the purple powder then becomes the Golden Elixir.” This explains the difference between the precelestial inner and outer medicines: they share the same source and differ only in name. The principles of inner and outer cultivation have been explained to the utmost; nothing can be added to them. Thus, the outer medicine and inner medicine are connected, and when the inner is connected through, the outer must be as well. From this, we can see that Ziyang’s Daoist method is the same as the one described in the Wuzhen pian.

My late father once told me, “After attaining the Dao, the Immortal of Tiantai was appointed by the Supreme Emperor to become the Perfected One of Purple Mystery. He secretly aided the capital, sometimes appearing and sometimes disappearing. He often lived among ordinary people, yet no one recognized him. In his youth, he studied alongside my grandfather at Biyong, the ancient state academy, but neither of them passed the examinations. Later, his innate spiritual roots emerged. While reading Buddhist books, he suddenly received an insight; then, as he struck bamboo, he experienced another realization. In an instant, he understood the principle of nonbirth, transcended directly, and entered the true void and the sea of pure nature—that is, the pristine nature. In his later years, he met a literary man of Qingcheng in Chengdu, fully grasped the essentials of the Golden Elixir, and deeply understood the art of reversing and interchanging Yin and Yang, as well as the way Heaven and Earth turn and transform to bring forth the myriad things.”

In this way, one cultivates the true nature and restores life to its source. The body is refined and transformed until one ultimately reaches the formless state. By holding to the Way of Oneness, one empties and stills the mind, and both nature and life return to quiescence and emptiness. The body and spirit then attain a wondrous state: united with the Dao in truth, they undergo endless transformations and appear throughout the entire Dharma Realm. This wondrous power is used to save widely the beings who have lost their way.

Long ago, during the Yuanfeng era, he widely expounded the Buddhadharma with Liu Fengzhen and others. He also entered quiescence through the teaching of “abiding in repose through nonbirth,” manifesting extinction through the principle of nonbirth. After Liu Fengzhen’s disciples cremated his remains, they found several hundred relics, each about the size of a cherry pit. Seven years later, Liu Fengzhen’s disciples came to Mount Wangwu and saw him once more, meeting with immortals as before. This, too, displayed the wondrous state in which body and spirit are perfected and nature and life are both complete.

Xianpu was compassionate by nature, generous and open-hearted. He investigated the principles of things, probed the depths of nature, and thereby came to understand the Way of life. He held that Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism share the same foundations and have no difference in their wondrous workings. Unwilling to focus only on his own attainment, he wrote the Wuzhen Pian to instruct later students. The work first guides people in cultivation through the Way of immortals and the Way of nature and life, so it opens with verses praising the art of the Golden Elixir. It concludes by using Chan poems to dispel delusion through true suchness and emptiness.

The essential instructions for the Golden Elixir place true Yin and true Yang, represented by the number sixteen, in the furnace and cauldron—the symbolic implements of alchemical refinement—and guide the primordial Qi into them, condensing it into a pill the size of a grain of millet, called the “True Qi of the Great One.” The opening section therefore presents sixteen seven-character quatrains in four lines, representing the numbers of true Yin and true Yang. Next comes one five-character quatrain in four lines, representing the number of Taiyi, or the single Golden Elixir. Once this pill is obtained, it is placed in the Dantian, the internal cultivation site in the lower abdomen. Fire is then circulated and the practice carried out according to the sequence of the sixty-four hexagrams. The work accordingly continues with sixty-four quatrains, corresponding to the sixty-four hexagrams of the Zhouyi.

The work of regulating the firing process, including the period of bathing, lasts twelve months. For this reason, twelve more poems in the Xijiang Yue tune were added, corresponding to the rhythm of the year in the celestial cycle. After ten months of practice, the embryo is complete and the body is transformed into pure Yang Qi. Thus, a total of eighty-one regulated poems were composed, symbolizing the nine times nine of pure Yang. After the body has been transformed into Qi, one must preserve the primordial essence for nine years, refine Qi into Shen, and then unite Shen with the Dao. In this way, both body and spirit attain a wondrous state, ascending into the formless and joining with the Dao in its reality, reaching a realm beyond comprehension. Shen, nature, body, and life then all return to their ultimate source of empty stillness. The volume therefore concludes with thirty-six poems and lyrics praising the Chan Buddhist nature of the Dao.

All of the above takes its imagery from the main principles of Golden Elixir cultivation, and the sequence follows accordingly. The subtle details of the substances, firing process, and oral instructions are embedded in the songs and poems; readers can grasp them through close attention to the text. As the book later circulated more widely, its wording and chapter order varied considerably, and many errors crept in. Only the family copy preserved by Sicheng, grandson of Lord Lu of the Longtu Academy, is authentic: it is the version personally transmitted by the Immortal Master. At the end of the volume, Sicheng also gives a detailed account of how he obtained it. The author acquired this authentic copy while traveling around Dongting. After collating it, he came to understand the Immortal Master’s purpose in writing: every part of the sequence takes its imagery from the methods of Golden Elixir practice. Though the wording is concise, it contains all the subtle principles; though its meaning is concealed, its metaphors are apt. It is truly a reliable guide for those who study the Dao, and an essential introductory text. Today, many practitioners take their methods from collateral schools and use unrelated teachings as corroboration.

Some people have forced references to the “Celestial Court,” “Supreme Treasures,” “Jade Flask,” “Gui Elixir,” and “Womb of Primordial Unity” into their explanations. In the end, they have missed the essentials of probing the root and strengthening the foundation. There was also a man named Ye Wenshu, who explained the Wuzhen pian through Taiji and the number of Great Expansion in the Zhouyi. He offered distinctions and interpretations, then added diagrams at the end of the book, calling it the Supplementary Commentary on the Wuzhen pian. This is like looking at a shadow through curtains and mistaking a horse for the Qian trigram. It not only distorts the original text but also confuses and misleads those who study it.

The Immortal Elder once said, “A person who refuses to examine his own errors, yet teaches others the wrong path, leaves them trapped in confusion forever. How could anyone bear to deceive his own conscience in this way?” Surely he was speaking of people like Ye Wenshu.

Ye did not understand that one grain of the Golden Elixir is the primordial Qi of Taiji. The sages gathered this primordial Qi through the “two and eight” substances—a term in alchemy for the ingredients in which Yin and Yang unite—and refined it into a grain of the Golden Elixir in a single double-hour. Once refined, it could be swallowed, allowing one to transcend the ordinary and become a sage. Thus the Immortal Elder said, “Within a single double-hour, the Elixir is complete.” He also said, “Swallow one grain of numinous elixir, and you will know that your destiny is no longer at Heaven’s command.” Could these words be empty?

Ye did not understand this principle. Instead, he claimed that the “single double-hour” required for refining the Elixir did not really mean just one double-hour. If the process took longer, then one would have to say it required three years, or even nine. How could that be called the utmost simplicity and ease? Why, then, did the Immortal Elder say, “In no more than a brief moment, one may enjoy boundless ease forever”?

Ye also interpreted “one grain” to mean “one day,” supposing that there was an Elixir that could be refined in a single day. He further cited Zhenyizi’s words, “Take one grain each day,” as evidence, though he did not understand what Zhenyizi meant.

If we calculate on the basis that “one pill is taken each day, and each day yields one day’s elixir,” then after three or nine years there must be more than three thousand pills. Would the Immortal Adept really have used a phrase like “one pill” to deceive people? These two signs are enough to show that Wenshu did not understand the art of the Golden Elixir. His commentary is therefore jumbled and mistaken in more than one place. He also failed to realize that Taiji and the numbers of Dayan are merely symbols borrowed to represent the regulation of the Fire Phases. They may seem similar, but they are not the same thing. To treat these symbols as a method for attaining the supreme Dao of the Golden Elixir is like painting a dragon and hoping for rain, or drawing a cake to satisfy one’s hunger. How could that possibly work?

My own learning is slight and shallow. Fortunately, I received the Immortal Adept’s lineage and teachings, and day and night I remain mindful of his beneficence. How could I bear to watch in silence as mistaken teachings muddle the true Dao, without explaining the Immortal Adept’s original intent, setting the record straight, and offering guidance to later students and those who have not yet understood? So, without fear of Heaven’s punishment, I speak plainly and reveal the secrets of Heaven, explaining this true text in accordance with the Immortal Adept’s secret instructions:

To refine the great medicine of the Golden Elixir, one must first understand the primordial Qi that existed when Heaven and Earth had not yet separated and all was nameless chaos, and use it as the foundation of the elixir. Next, one must distinguish true Yin and true Yang, two substances of the same kind and devoid of feeling, each weighing eight liang, and use them to form the furnace and vessel. With the true Qi within the furnace and vessel, one arranges and sets it in motion according to the prescribed symbolic pattern, circulating it through the full circuit of Heaven to draw forth the primordial Qi of the precelestial state. In less than half an hour, it condenses into a single pill, attached within the vessel and as small as a millet grain. This is called the Golden Elixir.

Take this single pill of the Golden Elixir and swallow it into the Five Viscera. It will then subdue the Jing and Qi throughout the body, preventing them from dissipating, just as a cat catches a mouse or a bird is subdued and can no longer fly away. Then refine them by circulating the true Qi of Yin and Yang. This is called the Yin Talisman and Yang Fire, and it nourishes the Jing and Qi until they transform into the substance of liquid gold. Suddenly, something seems to surge at the tailbone, rush straight through the paired passes of the spinal region, and rise in reverse toward the Niwan, the cultivation point within the crown of the head. Its sound can be clearly heard. It reaches the upper palate, then descends into the mouth, drop by drop, in the shape of sparrow’s eggs. It is fragrant and sweet to the taste. This is called the Golden Elixir restored through liquid gold.

Slowly swallow the elixir into the Dantian (the internal alchemy center below the navel), where it congeals into the sacred embryo, the name for the mature elixir body in Neidan practice. After ten months, when the embryo’s Qi is complete and the firing process has reached its full measure, shed the old embryo and undergo bathing and restorative care. You will then become a body of pure Yang, no longer troubled by hunger or thirst, cold or heat, and no longer vulnerable to injury from weapons, tigers, or rhinoceroses. You will have become an immortal on earth.

Only at this stage should you begin to dwell in a quiet, secluded place. Sit in meditation facing a wall for nine years, allowing thoughts to return to emptiness and stillness. This is called “embracing the One”: maintaining undivided focus and bringing the mind and spirit to rest. When nine years of practice are complete, body and spirit will naturally attain a wondrous and refined state. Nature and life will both be perfected, in true union with the Dao, and transformation will become unfathomable. This is the “Great Return Elixir of the Nine Turns of Golden Liquefaction.”

Though the methods of elixir cultivation are divided into three, they rest on the same principle: one must proceed from the small to the middle, then from the middle to the great. This is the sequence for cultivating Neidan and entering the Great Dao. I have therefore divided the teaching into three volumes. The first explains refining the Golden Elixir as a protective method for strengthening one’s power and overcoming enemies. The middle volume explains how to regulate the firing process to refine the Golden Liquefaction Elixir, as a method for enriching the state and bringing peace to the people. The final volume explains the Great Return Elixir of the Nine Turns, the immortal’s way of embracing the One. Together, these three volumes are called the “Great Teaching of the Three Vehicles,” and serve to clarify the true meaning of the Scripture of the Hidden Tally. This is the highest rank of the supreme, limitless Way and of the highest-grade celestial immortals; it is the most genuine and wondrous Dao.

The five venerable masters and patriarchs transmitted orally only this one method. Its essential instructions are exceedingly concise, amounting to no more than a few sentences. Fearing that Heaven’s secrets might be revealed, the sages used terms such as Qian and Kun, the furnace and cauldron, the dragon and tiger, and lead and mercury, along with countless other names, as veiled metaphors. These are merely figurative names for the symbols and principles of Golden Elixir cultivation. I have now gathered these different terms and identified precisely what each one refers to, leaving out none of the subtleties.

The author feared that those studying the Dao had not yet grasped the subtleties of how to apply the methods of cultivation. He therefore examined them repeatedly and weighed them carefully, then wrote Detailed Explanations of Directly Pointing to Awakening, Treatise on the Essential Secrets of the Three Vehicles, and Poems on the Essential Secrets of the Three Vehicles, appending them to the end of the volume. He says that he has exhausted the limits of his knowledge and explained the most subtle points as fully as he could. In this way, he claims to have laid bare the true mysteries of Heaven and Earth and fully revealed the secrets of the “Immortal Boat”—a metaphor for the hidden teachings of cultivation, likened to an immortal traveling by boat.

The author hopes to leave these writings to those who share his aspirations, so that they may study the teachings more deeply, reach their essential meaning with clarity, and use the truths expressed in Awakening to Reality as a standard for distinguishing the proper Dao. In this way, they will no longer be misled by the teachings of heterodox schools. The preface was written at the Mid-Autumn Festival in the guisi year of the Qiandao era of the Southern Song (1173), and is signed “Xi Baoguang, the Nameless One of Xiangchuan.”

Master Kongxuanzi says: Wu Lingzi divided the contents of the Yinfu Jing into upper, middle, and lower scrolls, calling them the “Great Teaching of the Three Vehicles.” He considered this arrangement consistent with the scripture’s purpose. His view is based on the interpretation of the Yinfu Jing by the Perfected One of Jinhua.

The Perfected One of Jinhua explains: “The teaching about defeating an enemy through military strength describes a method of refining and nourishing the body with liquid gold. It gathers the Yang Hun and dispels the Yin Po, much as a Yang army defeats Yin bandits. By means of the Five Phases overcoming one another and the Eight Trigrams interacting, life returns to its root and resumes its mandate, ultimately refining an elixir. The many methods for refining the Reverted Elixir all depend on spirit water and the Flower Pool. These are important terms in Neidan cultivation: they refer to the vital essences used in refining the elixir and to the place within the body where this refinement takes place.

“People live between Heaven and Earth. If they do not understand the principles governing their movement, they can easily be depleted by Yin influences. Time then passes quickly, the spirit gradually dissipates, and the body declines. The sages therefore established symbols and methods to guide true Yang Qi within the body to condense into a divine elixir, allowing body and spirit to endure and unite with the Dao. This is like defending a state against invasion with a strong army: one cherishes and uses the state’s resources, restores its prosperity, and then cultivates the Way of the immortals, who embrace the One.

“The verse says: The spirit water in the Flower Pool is like jade mercury and golden lead. Heaven and Earth provide the means; the sun and moon perform the firing. The Tun and Meng hexagrams set the firing times in motion, and the cultivator carefully judges when to advance and retreat. The firing schedule, including extraction, addition, and bathing, proceeds through nine revolutions over the course of a year. The Qi of Kan and Li circulates, and the work is completed in thirty. With unwavering effort, one can shed the mortal body and become an immortal.”

“The method for enriching the state and settling the people” refers to a method of refining Qi. The Inner Scripture of Laozi says, “The human body is structured in the likeness of a state.” The sages regarded the body as a state, the heart as its ruler, and Jing and Qi as its people. When the people are at peace, the state is at peace; when they are scattered, the state is empty. By cherishing Jing and Qi, a person helps attain longevity. A ruler cares for the people as for infants, constantly seeking to nourish and protect them so that they are at peace and the state is prosperous. This is called “the method for enriching the state and settling the people.”

The human body is formed from the Jing and blood received from one’s parents, and is also brought forth through primordial Qi. The Perfected One of Zhonghuang says, “Flesh and bone have Jing and blood as their root; spiritual awareness has primordial Qi as its root.” Shen and Qi are the roots of nature and life.

Spirit (Shen) is the child of Qi, and Qi is the mother of Spirit. This is what is called “child and mother” within the body. Spirit and Qi must remain together, never parting, so that Qi can become clear and still. The flesh and bones of the body have Jing and blood as their foundation; lucid awareness has primordial Qi as its foundation. Spirit and Qi together form the basis of life.

Keep Spirit and Qi together and let Qi settle in the Dantai—the place within the body where Neidan is cultivated. Then transformation will occur naturally.

A verse of praise says: The Gate of Heaven, at the crown of the head and other places regarded as openings for the breath, should remain open; the Earth Gate, the lower place of closure and concealment, should be shut. Let the breath continue without interruption, not even for a moment. Draw the inhalation deep to its root, and send the exhalation fully out. Spirit is called the “child,” and Qi the “mother.” They depend on one another like a hen incubating an egg or a fish living in water. Once the sacred embryo—the inner achievement formed through the gathering of Spirit and Qi—has taken shape, one will naturally shed the old body like a cicada emerging from its shell.

The practice of immortals embracing the One—holding body and mind in unity with the Dao—is always a way of refining Spirit. It is not something simply obtained on its own. Those who attain the Dao can often hold to the One and keep to the Center, preventing Spirit and Qi from dissipating. Thus they roam freely and become perfected beings.

Another verse of praise says: The Dao is the foundation of nature, and nature is the source of the mind. Mind and nature are one; they can respond and transform in accord with circumstances, without limit. The everyday lives of ordinary people, too, can be called natural. If one can understand this, one can forget distinctions and outward appearances, and cease clinging to words. Empty the mind and fill the abdomen—calm the mind and make Qi abundant—then embrace the One and return. Only after the work is complete through nine turns, a process of gradual, repeated refinement, can one become an immortal.

It also says that the method of cultivating Spirit can bring about boundless transformation and make one an immortal; the everyday affairs of ordinary people, too, embody the natural. If one understands this, one forgets mind, appearance, and words, empties the mind and fills the abdomen, and embraces the One and returns. Only when the work is complete through nine turns can one become an immortal.

Cultivating Spirit can still the body and free the spirit, bringing ease and freedom. Cultivating Qi can bring forth an embryo immortal. Those who refine the body make Spirit and Qi interact and mingle in harmony, as in forming an embryo and nurturing an infant; in the end, they shed the old body like a cicada emerging from its shell. The art of refining the body can restore old age to youth. It is a way to preserve the body, prolong life, and remain in the world.

I have carefully gathered and arranged these passages to explain why the Patriarch Wumingzi divided the commentary into three volumes. Another version omits the name “Wumingzi” and gives the attribution as “Yuanming.”

Preface to the Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality)

Alas, human life is hard to attain, yet time slips away with ease. Who can know how long cultivation will take, or how anyone can escape karmic retribution? If we do not reflect and awaken early, but simply wait for life to end, even a single mistaken thought at the moment of death may send us into the three evil paths—the Buddhist realms of hell, hungry ghosts, and animals—where we will endure vast ages with no end to our suffering. By then, regret will come too late.

For this reason, Laozi and Śākyamuni both taught expedient methods through the study of nature and life, showing people how to practice and free themselves from the cycle of birth and death. Buddhism takes emptiness and stillness as its foundation. If one awakens suddenly and realizes the whole truth, one can transcend birth and death directly and reach the Other Shore. But if habitual tendencies and afflictions remain from one’s cultivation, one is still bound by a life subject to birth and death. Daoism takes refining and nurturing as its guiding principle. If one grasps the key, one can attain the realm of the sage; if one has not yet understood one’s nature, one remains trapped by the illusory physical form.

The Zhouyi says, “Exhaust the principles and fully realize one’s nature, thereby fulfilling one’s destiny.” The Luyu teaches, “Do not speculate, do not insist, do not be obstinate, and do not be self-centered.” These passages show that Confucius, too, explored the mysteries of nature and life in depth. Yet his statements are often brief and do not elaborate fully. Why? His teaching focused chiefly on ordering human relationships and putting benevolence, righteousness, propriety, and music into practice as guidance for life in the world. He therefore did not openly expound the Dao of Wuwei (non-action). Instead, he embedded methods for cultivating life in the hexagrams of the Yi and wove the principles of nature and life into subtle teachings.

The Zhuangzi investigates the burdens imposed by external things and explores the freedom of one’s nature. Mencius speaks of skillfully nourishing one’s vast, flowing Qi. Both approaches closely concern the cultivation of nature and life. In the Han dynasty, Wei Boyang drew on the principles of the Yi to explain how Yin and Yang combine, and wrote the Cantong qi to illuminate the function of cultivating the Great Elixir, the central goal of internal alchemy. In the Tang dynasty, the National Preceptor Zhong began his recorded sayings by discussing the thought of Laozi and Zhuangzi, thereby revealing the foundation and lineage of the highest Dao. Thus, although the teachings are divided into three schools, their principles ultimately converge.

In later generations, Buddhist and Daoist practitioners each devoted themselves to a single path, criticizing and rejecting one another. As a result, the essential teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism were obscured, and people strayed from the true path, unable to bring the traditions together and unite them as one.

Today, some people believe that Daoism centers on cultivating life, yet they do not know that methods for cultivating life fall into two categories: those that are easy to encounter but difficult to succeed with, and those that are hard to encounter but easy to succeed with. Refining the Qi of the Five Buds by gathering and refining the vital energies of the five directions; taking in the radiance of the Seven Luminaries by visualizing the light of the sun, moon, and five planets; directing the mind and massaging the body; inhaling pure Qi and exhaling turbid Qi; reciting scriptures and holding incantations; sprinkling water and reciting talismans; clicking the teeth to gather Shen; abstaining from sex and food; visualizing the deities within the body; holding the breath and directing the mind to the space between the eyebrows; replenishing the brain and returning Jing; practicing sexual arts; and taking medicines prepared from metals, minerals, plants, and trees—all belong to the methods that are easy to encounter but difficult to succeed with. Most of these practices do not reach the root of cultivating the body. So despite the great effort they demand, they often produce no visible results.

Even with wholehearted, arduous practice day and night, these methods can at most prevent illness and avert unexpected calamities. Miss a single day of practice, and the effects of earlier effort will gradually fade. Let the years pass in this way, and true success will be hard to attain. It is regrettable that these methods cannot bring lasting life, restore the state of an infant, renew youth, or even lead to transformation and flight into the heavens.

Practitioners in recent times often become attached to improper things. They do not understand the true subtle method, yet turn around and accuse the immortals of deliberately speaking falsely. They do not realize that those who attain the Dao have all accomplished this through refining the Golden Elixir. To avoid revealing Heaven’s secrets, the immortals merely used other explanations as a disguise.

Among these methods, breath retention alone, if practiced by letting go of contrivance and quieting stray thoughts, comes close to the seated meditation of Buddhism’s Two Vehicles—the practitioners of the Śrāvaka and Pratyekabuddha paths. With diligent practice, one may enter meditative absorption and send forth the spirit. But spirit is Yin, and the form it relies on is also difficult to keep stable for long, so it must continually move from one place of support to another. Without mastering the method of the return of Gold and Mercury—in which Gold and Mercury symbolize the union and refinement back of Yin-Yang essence and Qi—how can one restore Yang, transform the bones, and ascend into the heavens in broad daylight?

The refinement of the Golden Elixir through the liquid elixir (also called the Return of the Golden Liquid, a term in Daoist internal alchemy) may seem hard to encounter, yet once truly mastered, it can produce results relatively quickly. Practitioners must thoroughly understand the changes of Yin-Yang and deeply grasp the transformations of Heaven and Earth. Only then can the two currents of Qi meet at the Yellow Path—the axis along which Qi moves in internal alchemy—and the Three Natures, the inner elements known as Jing, Qi, and Shen, gather in the Primordial Palace, where the body’s primordial Qi resides. They must harmonize the Five Phases and the Four Images, bringing forth the dragon’s roar and the tiger’s howl, the husband’s call and the wife’s response—covert expressions for the corresponding union of Yin and Yang currents within the body. Only after refinement in the Jade Cauldron and the blazing fire of the Golden Furnace can the Mysterious Pearl, a symbol of the coalesced inner elixir, appear, and the Great Unity, the origin of the Dao or the highest true Qi, return to its true nature. The whole process takes only a moment, yet it can bring lasting peace and joy.

As for guarding against danger and carefully applying extraction and replenishment—the internal alchemical practice of regulating the fire and increasing or decreasing the currents of Qi—the key is to nourish upright Qi and preserve inner fullness by holding to the feminine and embracing the One: maintaining softness and stillness, with attention undivided. In this way, Yang Qi can revive and Yin Qi recede. When the cycle of practice is complete, one can be transformed beyond the womb, attain spiritual transfiguration, enter the register of the immortals, and receive the title of a perfected person. This is the moment when a great man achieves success and renown.

Today, some who study the Dao take lead and mercury to mean two kinds of Qi, the five viscera and six bowels to represent the Five Phases, the heart and kidneys to stand for Kan and Li—names of Bagua trigrams often used to signify Yin and Yang, water and fire—the liver and lungs to represent the dragon and tiger, Shen and Qi to represent mother and child, and bodily fluids to represent lead and mercury. Yet they do not understand the rising and sinking of the currents of Qi, nor can they distinguish host from guest. This is like claiming another person’s property as one’s own, or calling a child from another family one’s own. How could they understand the subtle workings of Metal overcoming Wood, or the mysteries of Yin and Yang acting upon one another? Such practice throws the courses of the sun and moon into disorder and leaves lead and mercury in separate furnaces. How could they hope to form the Return Elixir?

From childhood, I have been close to and studied Daoist arts, and have read widely in the scriptures of the Three Teachings—Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. I have also devoted attention to the study of penal law, writing and arithmetic, medicine and divination, military strategy and formations, astronomy and geography, and the arts concerning good and ill fortune, death and life.

Among all the methods, only the Golden Elixir is discussed throughout the various classics, verses, poems, and treatises. They speak of terms such as the Sun’s soul and the Moon’s corporeal soul, the Geng Tiger and Jia Dragon, mercury and cinnabar, white metal and black tin, and the Kan male and Li female, saying that these can refine the elixir of returned Golden Liquid. Yet they never explain what “true lead” and “true mercury” actually are, nor clarify the rules of the firing process or the essentials of nurturing the elixir. Later, some deluded seekers of the Dao relied on their own imaginings and freely annotated the writings of the ancient sages, producing one error after another. This not only distorted the original meaning of the immortal scriptures but also misled later students.

I had never met a truly accomplished master and could not obtain the oral instructions, so I was restless in both sleep and waking and worn down in spirit. Although I traveled among the mountains and seas, asking every worthy person I encountered, wise or foolish, no one could explain the true purpose of the Golden Elixir and bring me to complete understanding. Later, in the year Jiyou of the Xining era (1069), I accompanied Lord Lu, a Longtuge Academician, to Chengdu. My resolve to seek the Dao had never wavered, and my original sincerity had grown still firmer. At last, my devotion moved a Perfected One to transmit the oral instructions on the Golden Elixir, its medicines, and the firing process. The words were exceedingly brief yet went straight to the root. Following a single thread, one could understand the source; hearing just one sentence brought sudden clarity, as clouds and mist part and the sun shines bright. The dust within the heart was swept away, and understanding became clear. When compared with the immortal scriptures, these teachings matched them completely.

I see that although many people in the world study the arts of immortality, very few truly understand their essential meaning. Since I have received the true transmission from a Perfected One, how could I remain silent? I therefore wrote down what I had understood in regulated verse, in eighty-one poems, and titled the work Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality). Sixteen seven-character quatrains in regulated verse embody the number “two times eight”; sixty-four jueju poems correspond to the number of hexagrams in the Zhouyi (Book of Changes); and one five-character poem symbolizes the odd number of the Great One. Later, I added twelve lyrics to “Xijiang Yue” (“Moon over the Western River”), corresponding to the seasonal divisions of the year. These poems and lyrics also encompass the hierarchy of the furnace and vessel, the proportions of the medicines, the advance and retreat of the firing process, the order of host and guest, and such matters as presence and absence, existence and nonexistence, good and ill fortune, and regret and distress.

After completing the Wuzhen Pian, I felt that the book dealt mainly with methods for preserving life and strengthening the body, and had not yet fully explored life’s source or the nature revealed through awakening. So I studied Buddhist scriptures and the Records of the Transmission of the Lamp, a work recounting how the Chan patriarchs transmitted the Dharma. When I read the story of a patriarch who awakened upon hearing bamboo being struck, I composed songs, hymns, poems, lyrics, and pieces in varied forms—thirty-two works in all—and appended them to the end of the volume. I hoped in this way to explain fully the principle of returning to the source and illuminating one’s nature. May those who share this aspiration, after reading them, grasp the root through its branches, abandon illusion, and return to truth.

On New Year’s Day in the yimao year of the Xining era (1075), Zhang Boduan, also known as Pingshu, of Tiantai wrote this preface.

Collected Commentaries on the Wuzhen Pian by Perfected Ziyang, Volume One

Commentary by Weng Baoguang, the unnamed elder of Xiangchuan; transmitted and compiled by Chen Daling of Wuyi; subcommentary by Dai Qizong, the Empty and Mysterious Master of Jiqing.

Sixteen seven-character quatrains, expressing the number “one jin and two eight.”

If you do not seek the Great Dao and find your way out of delusion, then however outstanding your talents and virtue, how can you be called a true man? A hundred years pass as swiftly as a spark struck from stone; the circumstances of a lifetime vanish like bubbles on water.

People devote themselves to grasping wealth, status, and worldly glory, yet fail to notice their looks and bodies gradually growing haggard and frail. Consider this: even if you piled up gold and silver in quantities as vast as mountains, could you buy your way out of death? In the end, no wealth can purchase escape from death.

The commentary says: People in the world regard wealth and high status as the most precious things. Since these are what people pursue, people everywhere often exhaust their strength and devote their whole lives to chasing them, taking possession of them as a source of happiness.

In doing so, they merely become absorbed in wealth, official rank, fame, and sensual pleasures, without realizing that these things are like weapons that injure life and shackles that imprison them. People do not understand the mysteries of the Dao and De, or of nature and life. They crave fame and profit, indulge greed and anger, and drown in a sea of passion and desire. Their disputes over right and wrong, and their constant scorekeeping against one another, wear them down; the joys and sorrows in their hearts also harm body and mind. These bring on “Corpse Demons”—the baleful influences that, in Daoism, obstruct cultivation and drain life—diminishing their Qi and shortening their years. As the seasons of cold and heat turn, a person’s looks and radiance gradually fade.

A human life passes in an instant; a hundred years flash by like sparks struck from stone. Even if someone amassed gold and silver piled as high as the Dipper and fine jade in quantities like the mountains of the south, when impermanence arrives, how could such riches buy back the body and keep it from becoming a nest for ants? How sad, how painful! The body’s lifespan may not yet have run its course, while the True Spirit—the person’s authentic spiritual nature—may already have moved on to another body. Celestial Master Xujing said, “If you do not awaken in this life, after death you will change to another body. Born into another body, you will continue turning through this cycle without awakening.” Ah, rather than be reborn as another kind of being without knowing it, why not abide in the Great Dao?

Once cultivation of the Dao is complete, one can ascend beyond the blue heavens, ride the clouds and drive dragons, and roam the boundless realm, no longer constrained by the transformations of life and death. One becomes a “True Person,” someone who has attained the Dao. Only then has a great man truly fulfilled his aspirations and reached the highest honor and distinction.

If one is merely swept along by trivial worldly affairs, filled with mundane thoughts and trapped in the snares of society, then even with the talents of Sima Qian or Ban Gu, or the prominence of Su Qin or Zhang Yi, one is no more than a lonely ghost wandering the earth, or a lifeless shell. How could such a person be called a true great man?

Thus the Immortal Elder—a respectful title for someone accomplished in cultivation—begins by reciting this stanza to those of his time who were discerning and understood principle. On hearing a single phrase, they should grasp its meaning and hasten to seek the Great Dao, leaving the path of delusion. Only by accomplishing one’s work through Wuwei (non-action) can one be a true great man; nothing else is worth esteeming. The disciple Zongyuan, who studied with the Immortal Elder, said: “I read the Immortal Elder’s poems and the commentary by the Nameless Master every day, yet still fail to awaken. How utterly foolish I am! Anyone who hears or sees these teachings—how could they not set to work on cultivation at once?”

Another commentary says: “The hardest thing is to encounter a clear-sighted master; the easiest is to attain the Dao.” Even while holding office and enjoying wealth and distinction, one can make friends who share one’s purpose and seek the Dao together, refine a grain of millet—an image for an exceedingly minute Elixir or cultivation achievement—in a very short time, and attain the Dao on the spot. Yet officials of high rank and wealth often keep their gates guarded and their households secluded. When people of the Dao see this, they keep their distance. This shows that encountering a clear-sighted master is difficult, while attaining the Dao is easy.

Another view holds that finding a clear-sighted master is easy, while attaining the Dao is difficult. A cultivator carries a hundred coins on the end of a staff, travels alone across the Four Seas, nurtures the spiritual root, and personally transmits the Great Dao. Yet the alchemical symbols of the Dragon and Tiger are easy to explain, while the secret of the knife and measure—a term for the substances or Elixir used in alchemy—is hard to disclose. After obtaining the Elixir, one must realize it through wordless understanding; and there is no fixed method for refining lead, an internal alchemy term for refining and nurturing Jing and Qi. This shows that meeting a clear-sighted master is easy, while truly attaining the Dao is difficult. How can one personally inquire into the Mysterious Pass, the crucial secret of cultivation, and bring both of these aspects together?

When the Immortal Elder traveled through Chengdu, he met the Elder of Qingcheng Mountain, a cultivator there, and received instruction in the Way of the Golden Liquid Reverted Elixir, an important term in internal alchemy. He lamented how difficult it was to attain the Dao, and wrote this poem as a token of fellowship with fellow practitioners of the Elixir Way. The poem says: “Consider this: can gold piled mountain-high buy a life free from transience, one that never passes away?” Its meaning is expressed with great directness and clarity.

Even if someone offered precious jade discs and led four horses as a gift, it would still be better to sit down in peace and cultivate the Great Dao. The Immortal Elder has long since departed, and a friend who understands him as profoundly as flowing water is now hard to find. Ziye Lushu said: “The Dao does not fail people; people fail the Dao.”

Even if a person lives for a hundred years, no one can know in advance how long they will live or whether their fortune will be favorable or adverse. Yesterday they were still riding a horse through the streets; today they lie in a coffin, reduced to a corpse.

After death, neither spouse nor possessions belong to them anymore. But the wrongs they committed in life cannot easily be concealed or escaped. If they do not seek the “Great Medicine,” the essential elixir or attainment of Daoist internal alchemy, how could they ever hope to encounter it? Even if they know the Way of cultivation, failing to put it into practice is foolish.

The commentary says: A person’s lifespan, the success or failure of their career in office, and whether they are wealthy and honored or poor and lowly all seem to have been arranged in the unseen realm. Ordinary people, however, cannot predict them in advance. So even if someone can live to a hundred, reaching seventy is already uncommon. The human body is limited and fragile, yet people bustle about all day, pursuing things without end whose outcomes cannot be foreseen. Is this not a hard predicament? Once the breath stops, a person suddenly collapses and can no longer know where they are bound. Is this not life’s great sorrow?

Someone may still be riding out on horseback one day and be a corpse the next. Even after breathing out, there is no guarantee that one will breathe in again. At that point, even high rank and a generous stipend, a home piled with treasures, a splendid residence, and a beautiful wife whose looks could captivate a whole city must all be left behind; none of them belongs to the person any longer. The only thing that can follow someone and cannot be concealed is the wrongdoing they have committed in the past. Nothing in the human world can be taken along; only karmic force accompanies a person.

For those who wish to escape the cycle of rebirth and free themselves from the bonds of the world, the best method is to cultivate the great medicine of the Golden Elixir, a key practice of Daoist internal alchemy (Neidan). It is a wondrous ladder for ascending to Heaven and a shortcut to transcend the ordinary. The principle is exceedingly simple: even an ignorant, unremarkable person can quickly attain the state of a sage, provided they practice. Yet the highest sages prize this Way and will not reveal it lightly. Those who transmit it often pass it on only by word of mouth, leaving no written record, so it is hard to encounter. Unless one seeks it diligently and perseveres with unwavering resolve, moving Heaven with sincere devotion, it is usually difficult to hear even a little of it.

In the past, Xie Ziran knew that this Way was hard to find and wanted to go to Penglai in search of a true master. She spent her entire fortune preparing a boat and, undeterred by the dangers of fierce winds and towering waves, insisted on setting out without fear. Later, she attracted the attention of a divine being, who said to her, “Penglai is separated from this place by thirty thousand li of the Weak Waters. Not even a blade of grass can float across them. How do you expect to get there? Sima Ziwei lives on Mount Chicheng. You can go and become his student.” So Xie Ziran turned her boat around and went to Mount Chicheng in search of him.

Sima Ziwei lived on Mount Chicheng. You went there to take him as your master. Xie Huizhou traveled to Mount Chicheng in search of him, and indeed met Ziwei and received his teachings. He practiced without interruption thereafter, and within a few years ascended to heaven in broad daylight. Alas, when a person’s sincere intention comes from the heart, it can move the gods and immortals, and opportunities may be found wherever one goes. If one can be so focused and steadfast, why worry about failing to cultivate the Golden Elixir? The Dao does not let people down; people are the ones who often let the Dao down.

The Cantong qi (Seal of the Unity of the Three, a Daoist alchemical classic) says, “The Great Dao favors no one and excludes no one; it is transmitted only to those of worthy virtue.” If you do not seek it sincerely and aspire to it with all your effort, how can you encounter the Great Dao? The secret essentials of the Golden Elixir are indeed difficult to find. Those who do find them often possess an immortal root, or may have ancestors who accumulated deep hidden virtue—that is, good deeds done unseen. Yet cultivation also requires financial resources, as well as the participation of three fellow alchemists before it can succeed. Only those who understand the matter deeply grasp this principle; it is truly difficult to explain every detail.

The Perfected Yin’s Treatise on the Subtlety of the Six and Five says, “Anyone who wishes to learn this Dao must have financial resources. Without them, the Golden Elixir cannot be refined. Three people are also needed for the practice.” Lord Wang Chongxi met the immortal Liu Haichan and received instruction in the Golden Elixir, but lacked the means to begin cultivating. He therefore went to Luoyang to visit the wealthy Han Gong, and with his support completed his Daoist work and departed. If someone already understands this Dao and has the means, yet does not begin cultivating promptly, is that not exceedingly foolish?

The immortal gave Lord Liu a poem that says, “I hear that you have known the Way of the Medicine for many years. Why do you not gather your spirit and refine and nourish mercury and lead? Do not let the wind blow out the candle flame; do not blame Heaven for the suffering of the six paths of rebirth, through which beings cycle among different states of life.” This too expresses the same meaning.

A note in another version says, “Qilins and phoenixes do not often appear in the world, and immortals are rarely seen. If someone can see through this body, which is like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, and a shadow, and escape the suffering of birth and death, aging, and illness, that is a rare thing in the world. When, along the path of cultivating the Dao, you meet a master and receive the essential teachings from them, you should begin practicing at once; even then, it is still too late.” The final stanza of the immortal’s poem says, “If you do not seek the Great Dao, how can you encounter it? To know it yet fail to cultivate it is foolishness.” These words are indeed earnest and heartfelt admonitions.

Having been fortunate enough to meet a perfected master who had attained the Dao, how could he remain sluggish or neglect his practice? So he rose in the middle of the night and carried out the aspiration he had always held: in half a year, he condensed the Neidan (internal alchemy) into a grain of millet. He embraced the “spirit embryo,” formed through nine years of cultivation—the Jing, Qi, and Shen (essence, vital energy, and spirit) matured through Neidan practice—and concealed it in the Great Void, the boundless expanse of emptiness. He then traveled in spirit to the farthest reaches of the eight directions, revealed half his figure amid purple clouds, and fulfilled the immortal’s prophecy at Hongdu, ensuring that Xu Jingyang, the Daoist immortal of the Jin dynasty, would not be the only one to serve as its protector.

The commentary says: Perfected Master Xie of Guozhou ascended to heaven from Golden Spring Mountain, outside the western gate of the prefectural city. In the twelfth month of the eleventh year of the Zhenyuan era, he rose lightly into the sky in broad daylight, witnessed by the local people. The commandery governor, Li Jian, reported the event to the court and wrote a biography of him. The emperor issued an edict praising him, saying that Xu Jingyang had aided the Jin dynasty.

The memorial says: The Perfected Xie of Guozhou—Xie Ziran, who according to tradition attained the Dao and ascended—ascended bodily into the daylight at Jinquan Mountain, outside the western gate of the prefectural city. In the twelfth month of the eleventh year of the Zhenyuan era, local people all witnessed it with their own eyes. The prefect, Li Jian, reported the event to the court and wrote a biography of her. The emperor issued an edict praising her, saying, “Within this jurisdiction, numinous immortals have manifested extraordinary signs, causing the wondrous Daoist influence to flourish further and the highest Dao to spread widely.”

Han Yu recorded the event in a poem: “In Nanchong County, Guozhou, / It was cold, as when Xie Ziran was here. / The children were startled, knowing nothing, / Except that they had heard of immortals. / She devoted herself to learning their arts, / There at Jinquan Mountain. / One day she sat in empty space; / Clouds and mist arose around her. / It was like hearing the notes of reed pipes, / Coming from the distant heavens. / In an instant she rose lightly, / Drifting like vapor among the clouds. / The village clerks reported what had happened; / The prefect was amazed and filled with wonder. / He hurried there with his officials, / While the people hastened ahead of one another. / They entered, but saw no one inside— / Only cap, clothes, and shoes, like a cicada’s cast-off shell. / All said it was an immortal’s deed, / A true account, worthy of being passed down.” The poem says that the children were astonished but did not understand why; they had only heard of immortals. Xie Ziran studied the arts of the Dao at Jinquan Mountain. One day she suddenly sat in midair, surrounded by swirling clouds and mist, as though celestial music were sounding from above. Soon she rose lightly into the sky and drifted away like vapor in the clouds. The village clerks reported the event, and the prefect, astonished and amazed, hurried there with his officials as people rushed to see for themselves. When they entered, she was gone; only her clothes, cap, and shoes remained, like a cicada’s shed shell. Everyone said this was an immortal’s deed, a true account that could be passed down.

Wang Bohou’s Notes from the Study of Hardship records: Wang Quan, whose courtesy name was Banzhen, was from Yangping in Qixia. During the Yuanfeng era, Emperor Shenzong bestowed on him the title “Recluse of Harmonious Purity.” Zhang Yunshi wrote an inscription recording his merits and conduct, describing him as exceptionally gifted and comparing him to Chen Tuan of Tuyang. It is not known that Master Cheng Yichuan ever wrote a poem about him; he only once sent a poem to Wang Zizhen: “I too possess an elixir—do you believe it? When the time comes to use it, it can also help the people.” When Master Yichuan was about to enter Mount Song, Wang Zizhen was already waiting beneath a pine tree. The master asked how he knew he was coming. He replied, “Word came last year.” In fact, the master had intended to go the previous year but later had to abandon the plan.

The Miscellaneous Notes from the Gai Studio also records: Wang Quan, courtesy name Zizhen, was a man of the Dao whom the Duke of Fu, Zheng Gong, once invited as a guest. During the Yuanfeng era, Emperor Shenzong bestowed on him the title “Recluse of Harmonious Purity.” In the third year of the Yuanfu era, he traveled to Maoshan and received the Shangqing registers—Daoist registers conferred by the tradition, signifying that the recipient had received Daoist teachings and a ritual office. Earlier, a stone cave in the central peak of Maoshan had suddenly opened. It was a side entrance to the Grotto-Heaven of Huayang. The cave entrance had been closed for a thousand years since the immortal Zuo Yuanfang departed, and only now had it opened again. For several days before it reopened, sweet dew fell repeatedly on the mountain. The Daoist Liu Hunkang said, “This dew is an unusual sign.” Before long, Master Wang arrived. On the night he received the registers, celestial music sounded in the air. The event was also recorded in an inscription on the mountain.

The growth of plants depends on both Yin and Yang. Without either one, they cannot flourish and bloom. When plants first sprout, they put out green leaves: Yang Qi is the first to stir. Then red flowers appear, as Yin Qi follows.

The joining of Yin and Yang is the ordinary pattern of change between Heaven and Earth. Its deepest mystery lies in their interaction, yet few people can understand and grasp this source. I urge those who cultivate the Dao: if you do not yet understand the changes of Yin and Yang, do not rush into practice.

Before plants begin to grow, they contain within them an undivided, simple vitality. When a seed splits and sends out a sprout, it receives the One Qi and comes to life. First it puts forth a stem, symbolizing the One Qi; then it divides into two leaves, symbolizing Yin and Yang. A new shoot grows between the leaves, symbolizing the Three Powers: Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. After this, branches and leaves gradually flourish, and flowers and foliage grow abundant and beautiful. In spring, Yang Qi drives plants to sprout and put out green leaves. In summer, Yang Qi sustains their growth and brings forth red flowers. In autumn, Yin Qi draws them inward and they bear fruit. In winter, Yin Qi causes them to wither, and their nourishment returns to the roots. When Yin and Yang work together, the process of transformation and nurture never ceases; without either one, nothing can grow. Thus Master Zhenyizi says, “Isolated Yin cannot generate on its own; isolated Yang cannot bring anything to completion on its own.” When Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth unite, the myriad things are born and nurtured; when men and women unite, life is reproduced.

The alternation of Yin and Yang is an ordinary pattern we can observe every day. The deeper principle, which cultivation seeks to experience, is how their Qi transforms into one another and serves each other. The scriptures hold that practitioners who refine and nourish this principle can transcend life and death. Those who study the Dao but do not understand this, and do not know how to return to the root, remain in ignorance.

Within Yang is wrapped Yin essence, whose nature is not firm. Do not mistake isolated Yin essence for Yang Qi: cultivating this alone will only further deplete the body. Exerting the body through massage and daoyin exercises is not the foundation of cultivating the Dao; absorbing Qi and consuming the clouds’ rosy vapors are merely extravagant pursuits. People vainly seek to refine and subdue lead and mercury—symbolic terms in Daoist internal alchemy—but when will they ever bring the dragon and tiger under control? I urge you to investigate the source of life thoroughly. Returning to the root and restoring the origin is the most important medicine.

The commentary explains: “Yin essence wrapped in Yang” refers to one’s own true essence. Essence can transform into Qi, and Qi can transform into Shen, nourishing and circulating throughout the body. Nothing is more important. Just as a lamp goes out when its oil is spent, a person dies when their marrow is exhausted. This means that Jing and Qi truly form the foundation of the whole body.

Yet this essence belongs to Yin; its substance is not firm, and it is easily dispersed. Ordinary urination and bowel movements, as well as mucus, saliva, sweat, and tears, all cause it to be lost. It is therefore difficult to gather and contain, and not easy to refine. Practitioners of old called it “the sun’s streaming radiance” and considered its nature fierce. Unless it is restrained by “the true unity of the primordial chaos”—the fundamental Qi that is blended and pure—and by the Yang Elixir, then nourished by the Yang fire within Yin, it cannot be condensed and transformed. To cultivate this one thing alone is only to suffer greater depletion.

Exerting the body through massage and daoyin, however strenuous, is not the true path. Absorbing Qi and consuming the rosy vapors of the clouds are ultimately futile pursuits. Even swallowing the essences of the sun and moon, making the Five Organs shine, circulating Qi through the two passes along the spine, replenishing the brain and restoring essence, or pursuing such methods as corpse liberation—the Daoist teaching of shedding the physical form to become an immortal—rebirth, and the emergence of Shen in meditative stillness, all amount, in the end, to cultivating only the Yin essence wrapped within Yang. Yin alone, without Yang, is like a hen laying an egg by itself and expecting to hatch a chick. How could that be possible?

Master Zhongli said: “Mucus, saliva, essence, fluids, Qi, blood, and liquid—these seven are all Yin. If you take them as the foundation for becoming an immortal, how could your spirit roam through the Jade Capital, the Daoist realm of immortals?” It follows that not only the body’s essence but also its Five Organs and six viscera belong to Yin; they are not pure Yang. Is it right to call the heart and kidneys Kan and Li—the Water and Fire trigrams of the Book of Changes—and the liver and lungs the dragon and tiger, to treat Shen and Qi as mother and child, and to regard bodily fluids as lead and mercury? To cling to these bodily substances in pursuit of a pure Yang state is like adding ice to ice, trying to dispel heat with hot soup, or making a tortoise and snake fly: the more one does, the farther one strays from the true path.

The Cantong qi, an important Daoist scripture on internal alchemy, says: “Let two women live together; their appearances are not the same. Su Qin must persuade them to unite, and Zhang Yi must act as their matchmaker.” This means that Yin and Yang are different in nature; merely bringing them together and harmonizing them still cannot make them truly one.

The Cantong qi says: “Let two women live together, and their appearances differ greatly. Su Qin comes to reconcile them, and Zhang Yi acts as matchmaker. With clever tongues and pleasing words, they speak heart to heart and bring the two together as husband and wife. Even if their hair falls out and their teeth decay, in the end they still cannot know one another.” Here, “a woman marrying a woman” is used as a metaphor for refining Yin with Yin, which, it argues, cannot give rise to the Way of transformation and generation.

The “True Dragon” and “True Tiger” refer to “one” and “eight.” The “True Lead” and “True Mercury” are the Qi of the Dragon and Tiger’s two trigrams—that is, the two Qi of Yin and Yang in Neidan (internal alchemy) practice. This Great Dao is exceedingly simple and close at hand within oneself; it is not remote. Sadly, some who study the Way cling to prejudice, taking medicines from heterodox and disparate paths for Lead and Mercury, while denying the true formulas of the Great Dao. This is truly regrettable.

Thus Master Zhongli says: “Those who seek immortality but do not recognize True Lead and True Mercury will gain nothing, even if they pore over thousands upon thousands of alchemical texts. If they do not understand what these words contain, they will denounce true teachings as empty talk.” The Immortal Master therefore directly points out the source from which Lead and Mercury arise: that is, where the body comes from and how life is established. If one can return to the root and restore the source, cultivating by reversing the ordinary person’s way of practice, the True Dragon and True Tiger will naturally be subdued, and True Lead and True Mercury will naturally settle. What could accomplish this, if not the supreme medicine?

In recent times, some people have men and women aged sixteen engage in intercourse, release Jing (essence), and conceive a child. They call this “Embryonic Origin Elixir” or “Purple River Cart,” and treat it as the great medicine of the Golden Elixir. This is like joining bamboo tubes together in an attempt to touch the moon: it only takes one farther from the true goal. After Heaven and Earth have come into being, nothing with form or substance is the supreme medicine. Things with form and substance belong to the acquired realm; they are not the prenatal Dao.

Shangyangzi quotes the Cantong qi: “This is neither the method of traversing the viscera nor the method of inward vision and visualization. So-called Yin methods and the Nine-One techniques will confuse the clear and turbid and disturb the primordial womb. Many derivative practices of this kind have arisen, in a thousand forms and ten thousand varieties, too many to count.” Perfected Peng likewise says that people do not understand the root of the Great Dao, but instead pursue heterodox techniques. They practice Yin methods and the Nine-One techniques, disturbing the primordial womb; in this way, all sorts of practices that depart from the true path continue to proliferate.

Perfected Person Peng said: “People in the world do not understand the root of the Great Dao, but instead pursue side paths and heterodox practices. Most of these depart from the proper path, violate the principles of Heaven, and turn away from the true Great Dao. They do not understand the writings of the Yellow Emperor and have entirely lost the purpose of the Old Lord. They intend to seek longevity, yet end up harming their bodies.”

I say: “When people in the world cultivate solely through attachment to their own body and mind, then a thousand paths and ten thousand methods can all become side paths. The Immortal Elder, out of compassion for people, plainly pointed out that they should investigate the source from which life comes. Does this not directly reveal the secret workings of Heaven? It accords exactly with what Master Zhongli said: ‘The gate through which I am born is the door through which I die.’

“This principle is profound, but sadly few people in later times have truly understood it. Human life comes from karmic consciousness—the awareness formed by karma and discriminating thought—and departs along with karmic consciousness. The Qi of a single Yang courses through the body; even a man has a Yin aspect within him. If one clings only to one’s own body in cultivation, how can one restore one’s original nature and return to the root? By what means can one restore Yang and transform the bones—that is, revive Yang Qi and change the body?

“Therefore, great practitioners who seek the true precelestial lead—that is, the innate, authentic Qi of Oneness used in alchemical practice—should seek it at the source where life first receives Qi and the body takes shape. Only then may they obtain the precelestial Qi of Oneness and restore their original nature, returning to the root. This is the method by which men cultivate immortality.

“For women, the breasts are where the Qi of life gathers, so their method is more straightforward. Thus, the cultivation of immortality by men is called ‘refining Qi,’ while that of women is called ‘refining the form.’ When a woman symbolized by the Kan trigram cultivates, she first gathers Qi in the breasts, then sets up the furnace and cauldron—that is, establishes the bodily and mental conditions for Neidan practice—and carries out the method of Great Yin form refinement. This practice is more readily brought to success, and there is a reason for that.

“During the Xuanhe era, Lü Dongbin was traveling through Wuxing when he met a courtesan named Zhang Zhennu. She was beautiful, with a quiet and unassuming nature. Though she lived in the world of pleasure, every night she still bathed, changed her clothes, burned incense, and prayed to Heaven, earnestly seeking release from the mundane world. Lü Dongbin went to visit her disguised as a scholar. Zhennu saw that he was elegant in bearing and quite extraordinary…”

Lu Dongbin, an Immortal of the Dao, took the form of a learned man and came to visit her. Zhen Nu saw his handsome appearance and exceptional bearing, and treated him with great respect. After welcoming him warmly, she saw him off. He returned the next day. They continued to meet in this way for more than a month, yet he never had sexual relations with her.

Zhen Nu said, “You have honored me with so many visits, yet you have never stayed the night and let me attend to you as I wish. Is it because you think my station is too low, and that I am unworthy to serve you?”

The learned man replied, “That is not so. What matters in people is that their hearts understand one another. Why must it come to this? Every night you pray to Heaven. What is it that you ask for?”

Zhen Nu said, “Since I have fallen into this way of life, what else could I ask for? I only think that, once I entered this gate, I began adorning myself in vain and mistaking falsehood for truth. I sing licentious songs, taking sorrow for joy. The human body is nothing but a mass of putrid pus and blood, yet people use outward adornment to deceive others. I often regret this and lament that foolish people in the world do not know how to value themselves. Those who come to me see me as a flower; their hearts are stirred, and they become infatuated and cannot let go. They do not come only to spend money; many have injured their health and even lost their lives because of it. Though I associate with people through a false appearance, I feel that my guilt grows heavier. All I can do is pray day and night to Heaven, asking to be freed from this life soon.”

The learned man said, “Since you have such resolve, why not study the Dao?”

Zhen Nu said, “I am trapped here. Where could I find a teacher?”

The learned man said, “Would you accept me as your teacher?”

Zhen Nu immediately bowed to him. The learned man said, “When you come again, I will instruct you.” With that, he left.

Zhen Nu longed day and night for his return, but he did not come. Filled with regret, she wrote a few lines: “I met my teacher so many times, yet never spoke a single word. How can I sit face to face and talk with him again, as before? The precious hours have passed in vain; now, whom can I ask for guidance?” Before she had finished the poem, the learned man suddenly arrived. He read it and continued the poem: “There is no secret method; I will tell you one thing. After midnight and before noon, sit quietly and regulate your breathing. Let the breath rise through the two gates along the spine, passing through Kunlun, the place of cultivation in the head. In times of danger, recall what I have told you, and you will find strength.”

Zhen Nu was overjoyed. The learned man then transmitted to her the Taiyin Lianxing Dan method, a Daoist internal practice for refining and nourishing the body through Yin essence.

Later, Zhen’s spirit and Qi were abundant and settled, as though he had attained great awakening. He did not know that much more had been secretly taught to him, and he told no one of it. As they parted, Buchan Gong said to him, “Kan, Li, Kun, and Dui—the trigrams corresponding to Water, Fire, Earth, and Marsh—belong to the temporal positions of Zi, Wu, and the others. You must understand the foundation of your own cultivation. The shaking of thunder beneath the earth and rain falling on the mountain peak speak of washing the Yellow Sprout so that it can break through the soil. Once you have seized the Metal Essence, seal and secure it firmly. Only by discerning Jia and Geng can you bring the Dragon and Tiger to life. When others ask who your teacher was, say only that the master’s surname was Lü.”

Only then did Zhen understand that the other man was Master Lü. He then feigned madness, begged in the marketplace, and withdrew to a desolate place to cultivate the true teachings in secret. After three years, he departed through corpse liberation, a Daoist mode of attaining immortality in which the practitioner’s body remains while consciousness leaves. Cultivation is open to women and men alike: with bold and diligent effort and unwavering resolve, anyone can attain the Great Dao.

The commentary explains: “Say only that the master’s surname was Lü.” Only then did Zhen understand that the other man was Master Lü. He therefore feigned madness, begged in the marketplace, withdrew to a desolate place to cultivate the true teachings in secret, and departed through corpse liberation three years later. Cultivation is open to women and men alike: with bold and diligent effort and unwavering resolve, anyone can attain the Great Dao.

The commentary says that “the flowing pearl of the sun” in the Cantong qi was originally a metaphor for spirit-mercury, a Daoist alchemical term for a mercury substance that is difficult to subdue. Wumingzi’s interpretation of it as the “mercury” within the human body is also plausible.

The Supreme One says, “All things bear Yin and embrace Yang.” All things arise from the union of Yin and Yang. Humans, like all things, inherently possess Yang Qi, so why is the human body described here as wholly Yin? Because people are born after Heaven and Earth have come into being and belong to the realm of formed things. Once they have a body, they are constrained by Yin-Yang and the Five Phases, and are therefore regarded as Yin, unable to transform themselves. The Cantong qi says, “If things lacked Yin and Yang, they would defy the Way of Heaven and depart from their source.” The Perfected Peng also says, “Neither solitary Yin nor solitary Yang can bring forth life on its own.”

The subtlety of refining the External Elixir is not that Yin must be cast aside. “Pure Yang” here refers to the primordial Qi that arose before Heaven and Earth, can take form from the formless, and can return the formed to the formless. It can transform postcelestial Qi into prenatal Qi, and so is called “Yang.”

Someone asked, “Yang Qi envelops Yin essence, whose nature is not strong enough for use. Yet you also say that the Yang Fire within Yin must be used to nurture it. Why?” The reply was: “This refers to the true fire in the large and small furnaces and cauldrons. The human body is inherently pure Yin, but it contains a single spark of true fire in the primordial sea. If it is restrained by obtaining the Yang Elixir, it will not scatter. Then, by using the Yang Fire within Yin to nurture it, the Reverted Elixir can congeal. Yin essence cannot be cultivated on its own; it must be cultivated together with Yang. Nourish and nurture it with the breath, and bring the fire of the large and small furnaces and cauldrons into the body; then the Reverted Elixir will congeal and transformation will follow. In the large and small furnaces and cauldrons, this is called ‘Yang Fire within Yin’; in the human body, it is called ‘Yang essence within Yin.’”

The “Purple River Cart,” a substance or practice in Daoist arts used to strengthen the body, serves in immortal prescriptions to care for a sickly, weakened body. It cannot be equated with a practice that can transform both body and spirit.

Commentary for this text was written by the Nameless Elder Bao Guang of Xiangchuan, compiled and transmitted by Chen Daling of Wuyi, and explained in a subcommentary by Dai Qizong, the Mysterious Master of Qingkong.

If you do not understand the true source of True Lead, the crucial substance in Neidan cultivation that symbolizes inner foundations such as essence and Qi, then no matter what methods you practice, your efforts will ultimately be in vain.

Some abandon their spouses in the mistaken hope of separating Yin and Yang; others give up food, only to empty their stomachs and intestines. Plants, trees, gold, and silver are merely material remnants, while clouds, rosy mists, the sun, and the moon are only indistinct outward appearances. Even when combined with breathing exercises and visualization, these methods remain fundamentally different from the cultivation that leads to the Golden Elixir.

The commentary says, “The key to True Lead lies in…” The note is unfinished here. The text later reiterates that plants, trees, gold, and silver are merely material remnants, and that clouds, rosy mists, the sun, and the moon belong to the realm of indistinct outward appearances. Even the practice of breathing exercises and visualization remains different from the Way of the Golden Elixir.

The essential principle in cultivating true lead (a technical alchemical term for the key ingredient used in alchemy) rests on “the energy of two and eight.” Apart from this, nothing is the true Great Dao; it is merely wasted effort. The Song for Breaking Delusion by Yimen says, “Loneliness and isolation are not the Dao; Yin and Yang have lost their fundamental purpose.” Master Wang says, “Those who study the Dao insist on abandoning their wives and concubines, yet do not understand the principle of Wuwei (non-action), through which nothing is left undone.” Gao Xiangxian says, “At times Yang is paired alone; at times Yin lodges alone.” All these statements refer to solitary Yin and lonesome Yang: cultivating only one thing.

Some people fail to understand what these words mean and instead adopt sexual techniques—methods of cultivation based on intercourse between men and women—and use them to disparage the way of the immortals. Who should bear the blame for this? They do not know that “Yang husband and Yin wife” is a metaphor for the principle of Yin and Yang pairing, not a reference to human spouses.

The Song for Breaking Delusion also says, “Abstaining from food is not the Dao; after death, you will become a hungry ghost.” The various methods mentioned above all concern tangible dregs formed after Heaven and Earth came into being. They are easy to encounter but difficult to cultivate successfully. How could they be compared with the great medicine of the Golden Elixir?

Methods such as abstaining from food and grain, regulating the breath and visualizing, are all side-path techniques. Practitioners in the world often misunderstand the phrase “do not abandon your wife” and then mistake techniques for drawing in Yin energy for the Golden Elixir.

Why not read the Song for Breaking Delusion by Perfected Tai Bai from beginning to end? It says: “Breath circulation is not the Dao; bodily fluids are not the divine water. Visualization is not the Dao; how can a painted cake satisfy hunger? Drawing in Yin energy is not the Dao; when Jing and Qi are exhausted, nature and life perish along with them. Giving up salt is not the Dao; food then has no flavor. Abstaining from grain is not the Dao; hunger harms the spleen and stomach. Abandoning one’s wife and children is not the Dao; this causes Yin and Yang to lose the basis of their union.”

Then what is the Dao? “The Great One contains true Qi.” Qi joins with Qi, without the bodies joining, and its ascent and descent follow the workings of Heaven and Earth. Two things work together, their source beginning with the Primordial Origin. The Maiden and the Infant—alchemical terms for the two forces of Yin and Yang—are paired to form “already crossed,” a state of Yin and Yang blending in harmony. This is the way of Yin and Yang itself, like the union of husband and wife; there is therefore no need to abandon one’s wife and children. How can solitary Yang accomplish anything?

Transcending the world to become a Golden Immortal is no easy matter, and the Golden Elixir cannot be refined lightly. Those truly committed to the Dao do not readily divulge its secrets. The profound meaning contained in the Great Cavern Scripture is hidden and difficult to fathom. When the Five Phases do not follow their usual course, a tiger can be born in water.

The Five Phases—the five basic elements that make up all things—move in reverse order, and the Dragon is born from Fire. These words truly express a subtle principle: the power of the Great One (Taiyi), the original Qi spoken of in Daoism. The regulated verse composed by the Immortal Elder, a name for an immortal who cultivates the Golden Elixir, expounds precisely this principle: leaving the world through the Dao and becoming a Golden Immortal is no easy matter. Even those of steadfast resolve may not readily reveal the true formula; the profound meaning contained in the Great Cavern Scripture is hidden and obscure.

When the Five Phases do not move in their usual order, the Tiger is born from Water. When they move in reverse order, the Dragon is born from Fire. These words are indeed mysterious; they speak precisely of the power of the Great One.

This is the very heart of the Immortal Elder’s regulated verse. The “Song for Dispelling Delusion” by Yimen says: “The Great One contains the true Qi; the Dragon is born from Fire, and the Tiger rises from Water. The principle of Yin and Yang moving in reverse has its source in the Primordial Beginning, the root from which all things arise. Though the Five Phases move outside their usual sequence, they remain in accord with the Way of Heaven and Earth.” As for the notion of “sending away the wife,” nothing explains the matter as clearly as the “Song of the Great One.” Since people in the world do not understand the Five Phases moving in reverse, how could they grasp that true Yin and Yang need not be separated through “sending away the wife”? If those who study immortality cannot even make sense of all the terms in the books of the immortals, how can they read the full texts closely and understand how their principles fit together?

Thus the Great Way of the Golden Elixir has been passed down for a long time, but books have been lost, human nature has grown clouded, and the principles have become obscure. Some mistakenly took “sending away the wife” to mean separating Yin and Yang, then distorted the teaching into one about relationships between worldly husbands and wives, leading it into licentious doctrines. How regrettable!

Once the elixir has been refined and the original Qi is abundant, one can naturally abstain from the five grains. This does not mean taking medicines such as black beans or sesame seeds to get through a famine. Some people abstain from grain by taking medicines in the hope of prolonging life; how could this make them pure-Yang immortals? Even if someone attains longevity by eating only plants, that person’s form is still not pure Yang. These words warn people to understand the Great Way and reject heterodox teachings. This section was arranged by Xuankongzi according to its subject.

Those who study immortality must cultivate the way of the Celestial Immortals; the Golden Elixir is the most essential practice.

When Yin and Yang meet, their natures and dispositions unite. Where the Five Phases are complete, the Dragon and Tiger coil together and merge.

At the outset, Wu and Ji—Earth’s celestial stems, which here serve as the medium for harmonizing Yin and Yang—act as matchmakers, bringing Yin and Yang together like husband and wife.

Once the work is complete, one need only pay homage at the Emperor’s Palace, riding a phoenix aloft amid the radiance of the nine rosy clouds.

The commentary says that immortals are divided into several ranks. The Yin Spirit, a subtle and numinous consciousness detached from the body, is wondrously effective but has no form; this is called a ghost immortal. One who lives among people without illness or distress and can attain longevity is called a human immortal. One who can soar through the air and travel amid mist, free from hunger and thirst and untouched by cold or heat, and who can roam among the islands and live forever, is called an earthly immortal.

When both form and consciousness reach a subtle and wondrous state and unite with the Dao in truth, a person may walk beneath the sun and moon without casting a shadow, pass through metal and stone without obstruction, and remain unharmed by fire or water. Their transformations are without limit: at times they appear old, at times young; their presence and absence are hard to fathom, as though they exist and yet vanish. When dispersed, they become Qi; when settled, they condense into bodily form. Even turtle-shell divination cannot discern them, and neither ghosts nor spirits can know of them. Such a person is called a celestial immortal.

True Lord Yin says: If one can cut off desire and practice embryonic breathing—a method of regulating the breath and entering stillness as though breathing in the womb—and turn one’s consciousness into the body, then, in meditation, lodge in a corpse and use the Yin Spirit to transform and generate without decay, one can become a lower-grade immortal. If one receives instruction in methods such as the Six Jia talismans and registers, Zhengyi Mengwei, or the Shangqing Dadao scriptures and registers, or attains the Dao through sword arts of protection, corpse liberation, and related practices, one is counted among the immortals of the Southern Palace. Such practitioners dwell in hidden grottoes and belong to the middle grade of immortals. If one attains the Dao by cultivating the great medicine of the Golden Elixir, one can ascend to Heaven with the whole body and become a supreme celestial immortal of the boundless realm.

For this reason, the Immortal Master urges those who cultivate the Dao to set firm and lofty aspirations and rise above the ordinary. They should not be content with becoming middle- or lower-grade immortals, but should pursue directly the highest of the nine ranks: the supreme celestial immortal.

The five metals, the eight minerals, and substances such as cinnabar, mercury, black lead, white tin, yellow lead oxide, realgar, orpiment, arsenic trioxide, sublimed arsenic, copper carbonate, copper sulfate, autumn stone, plant-ash frost, and the residues and precipitates produced by boiling, refining, and processing them—all belong to the acquired world. So too do one’s own saliva, Jing, Qi, and blood. Before Heaven and Earth had separated, however, the true primordial Qi of the undivided whole came into being from nothing.

A sage can use a method to gather and concentrate a pill in the space of one double-hour. It is as small as a millet grain, so it is called the “Golden Elixir,” and is also known as “True Lead,” “Yang Elixir,” “True Essence of the One,” “True Water of the One,” “True Water,” “Water Tiger,” or “the Great One containing True Qi.” Whoever swallows this pill immediately ascends to the sacred realm. This is a high rank in the celestial registers of immortals and the great path to becoming a celestial immortal, yet almost no one in the world knows of it.

The “Qi of the True One” came into being before Heaven and Earth, blended into the midst of emptiness. It is elusive and profound, unseen, unheard, and beyond touch. How, then, can it condense into an elixir pearl the size of a millet grain? The sage uses what is substantial to make emptiness clear, and what has form to make the formless clear. What is “substantial” is “True Yin” and “True Yang”—things of the same kind, without conscious awareness. What is “empty” is the “Qi of the first crescent at the two arcs” (the Qi arising when Yin and Yang first begin to unite), which has Qi but no shape or substance. When the two reveal one another, something is produced. This is the “Qi of the True One,” condensed into an elixir pearl the size of a millet grain.

The scripture says, “The Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning suspended a precious pearl, as large as a millet grain, within the void and mystery.” This is the relevant proof. Fearing that the secrets of Heaven and Earth’s creative transformation might be revealed, the sages used “Azure Dragon” and “White Tiger” as metaphors for True Yin and True Yang, and “the Qi of the two arcs” as a metaphor for “True Lead” and “True Mercury.” In his poems and lyrics, the Immortal Elder also gave the Azure Dragon many other names: “Red Dragon,” “Thunder Dragon,” “Heavenly Soul,” “Qian Image,” “Qian Furnace,” “Jade Tripod,” “Jade Liquid,” “Fusang,” “Sea Dragon,” “Upper Arc,” “Eastern Yang,” “Eldest Son,” “Red Mercury,” “Cinnabar,” “Cinnabar Tripod,” “Li Sun,” and “Red Phoenix,” among others. Each is simply a different thing used as a metaphor for the Azure Dragon. As for the White Tiger, the original text goes on to list names such as “Black Lad,” “Red Mercury,” “Cinnabar,” “Cinnabar Tripod,” “Li Sun,” and “Red Phoenix,” and says that these, too, are merely metaphorical names for the Azure Dragon.

The White Tiger, an image in Neidan that symbolizes the Yin aspect, is also called the Black Tiger, the Dui Tiger, the Earthly Po, the Kun position, the Kun cauldron, the Golden Cauldron, the Golden Furnace, Mount Hua, the Cliff Tiger, the Lower Crescent, the Western River, the Maiden, Black Lead, the Crescent Furnace, the Kan Moon, the Black Tortoise, and so on. These names are all metaphors for the White Tiger.

The Qi contained in the Dragon is called True Mercury. It is also known as the Enchanting Maiden, Wood Fluid, the Green Maiden, Mercury Wrapped in Sand, Mercury Wrapped in Vermilion, Solar Essence, emotion, Yellow Sprout, Flowing Pearl, Green Robe, Woman, the Golden Crow, the Li Maiden, the Female Dragon, True Fire, the Twenty-Eight Bride, Jade Fluid, Jade Fungus, and so on. These names all refer to the same thing. The Qi contained in the Tiger is called True Lead. It is also known as the Golden Duke, Golden Essence, Metal in Water, Silver in Water, nature, White Snow, White Silk, Young Lord, Jade Hare, the Kan Lad, True Water, the Ninety-Three Young Lord, and the Knife Measure. These names, too, all refer to the same thing.

When the two substances meet, emotion and nature unite: the two substances in question are the Dragon and Tiger. The Azure Dragon is in the east, which belongs to Wood. Wood can generate Fire, so the Qi contained in the Dragon belongs to Fire; this is “emotion,” corresponding to the Vermilion Bird of the south. The White Tiger is in the west, which belongs to Metal. Metal can generate Water, so the Qi contained in the Tiger belongs to Water; this is “nature,” corresponding to the Black Tortoise of the north. The Dragon belongs to Wood, the Tiger to Metal; emotion belongs to Water, and nature to Fire. Together, these are called the Four Images. The Four Images meet at the center and form the Elixir. The center belongs to Earth; this is what is meant by the True Five Phases.

When the Dragon and Tiger join, emotion and nature unite. When the Dragon and Tiger unite to form the Elixir, the Five Phases are complete. Hence the saying: “When the two substances meet, emotion and nature unite; where the Five Phases are complete, the Tiger and Dragon coil together.”

The Wood Dragon is in the east and the Metal Tiger in the west, separated from one another. How can they be brought together, like a husband and wife joining? The key is the Yellow Matron, who symbolizes Earth’s role in harmonizing what lies at the center. With her left hand she seizes the Dragon, and with her right she grasps the Tiger, bringing them into one. Wu and Ji belong to Earth, which is why she is called the Yellow Matron.

Gold and Wood are separated from one another, yet the Yellow Matron can bring them together. She enables them to join in harmony, like a matchmaker who arranges a marriage and brings the two parties together gladly as husband and wife. Wu and Ji both belong to Earth, and so they are called the “Yellow Matron.” Though Gold and Wood are separated, their union depends on the Yellow Matron’s mediation. When the two are apart, the Qi of the True One lies hidden; when they join, the Qi of the True One transforms. After this transformation, the True Person appears. This is the principle symbolized by Waidan (external alchemy).

After taking the Golden Elixir, one must continue for ten months to refine the body and transform Qi. Then, after nine years of guarding the Primal One, Qi can transform into Shen (spirit). Only then can one attain a state in which both body and spirit are wondrously refined, unite with the Dao, and receive the registers and talisman diagrams bestowed by the celestial realm, becoming an honored guest of heaven. Once the elixir is refined, a practitioner in the human world can attain the Dao and ascend to heaven: surrounded by rosy clouds of nine colors, wind rising beneath both arms, riding phoenixes and luan birds, and roaming through the blue sky. Without deep spiritual roots from a former life and the accumulation of much hidden virtue, who could reach such a state?

Lu Ziye said, “A Celestial Immortal cannot realize the Great Dao without relying on the Golden Elixir.” What, then, is the Golden Elixir? The answer is: “It is originally something of my own, merely lodged in the Palace of Kun.” What are the two things referred to here? They are “I” and “the other.” When the two come together, feeling and nature harmonize, and the Five Phases are complete. The so-called Dragon and Tiger refer only to feeling and nature.

How, then, does this union take place? “Having function” means acting without clinging to the use of one’s abilities; “without achievement” means bringing things to completion without deliberately seeking results. However dense the bamboo grove, it cannot stop flowing water from passing through; however high the mountain peaks, they cannot hinder white clouds from flying.

Wu and Ji mean “the center,” or occupying the proper position; they also refer to the Earth of intention. When one’s intention meets the other’s, it is like the affections of husband and wife coming into harmony, naturally bringing ease and joy without clinging to function or deliberately seeking achievement. Wu and Ji are therefore called the place where all things come into being and transform, because the coming into being and transformation of all things are connected with intention. True Earth has no fixed position, and true intention has no concrete form. How wondrous!

The Collection of Transmitting the Dao says that immortals have different levels: beings with Yin alone and no Yang are ghosts; beings with Yang alone and no Yin are immortals; and beings in whom Yin and Yang are mixed are human. Only humans can become ghosts or cultivate to become immortals.

There are five grades of immortals. Ghost immortals are people who have transcended the Yin realm, but whose consciousness and form remain indistinct and whose names are not recorded in the registers of the ghost realm or the Three Mountains. Though they no longer undergo reincarnation, they find it difficult to return to immortal realms such as Penglai and Yingzhou. In the end, with nowhere to settle, they can only be reborn or take up residence in another person’s body. This method of cultivation keeps the consciousness within the body, focused and undispersed, then brings forth a Yin spirit from thought. What is attained is merely a clear, numinous ghost, not an immortal of pure Yang. Because single-minded concentration gathers the Yin spirit and keeps it from dispersing, this is called becoming a ghost immortal. It is laughable when those who revere Buddhism cultivate to this stage and then claim to have attained the Dao.

Human immortals cannot fully cultivate the Great Dao. They master only one kind of magical art or cultivation method, which allows them to live comfortably and extend their lives.

Earth immortals follow the patterns by which Heaven and Earth ascend and descend, and draw on the principles of the sun and moon’s movements and the generation and transformation of all things. Within the body, they take years and months as their measure, subdividing the hours of a single day. They understand how Dragon and Tiger are paired and Kan and Li are joined—that is, how Yin and Yang intermingle in cultivation—and reverse the Five Phases. The breath circulates as between mother and child, while the fluids move as between husband and wife. Through the repeated cultivation of the three Dantian (energy centers), they refine an elixir and store it for a long time in the lower Dantian. They then refine the body and remain in the world, living forever without dying as Earth immortals who dwell among humankind.

Spirit immortals, weary of dwelling in the mortal world, continue their cultivation until their bodies are refined and transformed, revealing the appearance of an immortal. The Five Qi gather at the origin, and the Three Yang energies converge at the crown. When their cultivation is complete, they forget the body, and the embryo immortal naturally transforms. Yin energy is exhausted and Yang energy becomes pure; thus another body forms outside the body. Casting off their mortal substance, they ascend to immortality, pass beyond the ordinary and enter the sacred realm, take leave of the mortal world, and return to the Three Mountains.

Heavenly immortals, weary of dwelling on the Three Islands, transmit the Great Dao among humankind. Once their cultivation is complete, they return to the grotto heavens by means of a celestial register, ascend to the Eight Heavens, and then rise to the realm of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing). The phrase “the numinous origin arises naturally” means that form emerges from the formless; the cultivation of the elixir way, by contrast, transforms what already has form.

At first it has form: from “nonbeing,” “being” comes forth. Take it in, and what has no substance condenses into substance. Once substance has formed, the formed can again be transformed into the formless; through this transformation, acquired Qi returns to primordial Qi. “Substance-less” refers to the True One Qi, the pure, undivided primordial energy. It is hidden within the “tiger,” pure and unmixed. If a person can recognize its essential secret, they can draw in and take the True One Qi. With just this single particle of True One Qi, could one not enter the realm of the sage swiftly, without deliberate effort? This is why sitting in isolation and cultivating alone, while repeatedly attending to the timing of the fire and the ingredients, may still fail to bring success.

All things originally come from one source, and each contains Yin-Yang. Their union gives rise to the Four Images; the Four Images return to unity, within which Earth is also present, forming the true Five Phases. When the Five Phases combine as one but have not yet fully fused, they return to their source: this is the Golden Elixir. All things each harbor the True One Qi. Since all things share the same source, the True One Qi within them can be brought into union. The “two things” mentioned in the Scripture Taught Orally at Shangyan Cliff refer to two signs that appear within the body once cultivation has reached a certain stage: first, a bright, pure whiteness; then, through further effort, a vision appears that awakens insight in the mind. How, then, could the formed body not be transformed, until body and spirit are both wondrously perfected?

The True Dragon and True Tiger unite and condense, dividing into two things. Each of the two contains the Four Images, which together form the Five Phases; only when the two unite does the Elixir take shape. If one can remain steadfast and still, with an inner light like the moon, this is “the empty chamber giving birth to brightness”—a radiant vision appearing when the mind is empty and still. One must also see a red light surge forth like the sun’s disk, and continue to hold to it; afterward, the white light will disappear. Once these two signs have appeared, the foundation of the Elixir is in place, and the elixir is about to condense.

This method is even more subtle among genuine cultivation practices, simply because I am unlike other people.

I know that the principle of reversing Yin and Yang comes from Li and Kan, the trigrams that symbolize fire and water. But who understands how to determine what takes precedence amid rising and sinking?

The Golden Cinnabar Cauldron—the symbol of alchemical refinement—must retain the Mercury within cinnabar; in the Jade Pool, where saliva or bodily fluids gather, the Silver in the water must first sink.

The wondrous work of cultivation turns the timing of the fire, and cannot be completed in a single day or night. In the end, it will reveal an image like the sun appearing in a deep pool.

The commentary says: The Great Way of the Golden Elixir (the path of Neidan, or internal alchemy) is supremely sacred and divine, supremely precious and exalted, yet also supremely simple and easy. It is the most mysterious of mysteries, the most subtle of subtle teachings, and few people in the world have heard of it. The Perfected Person Ziyang (Zhang Boduan, courtesy name Pingshu) was exceptionally gifted and alone grasped its deeper meaning. Thus Master Chongxi said: “The Great Way of the Golden Elixir is rejected by all who cultivate the Way in the world; only Pingshu truly understands it. It is as lofty and vast as Mount Tai and the rivers and seas. How could ordinary hills and streams presume to compare with it?”

The Li trigram belongs to Fire and Yang and occupies the south, yet it is called “female” because its outer aspect is Yang while its inner aspect contains Yin. This is true Mercury, a Neidan term for a substance symbolizing a kind of Yang within Yin. The Kan trigram belongs to Yin and occupies the north, yet it is called “male” because its outer aspect is Yin while its inner aspect contains Yang. This is true Lead, a Neidan term for a substance symbolizing a kind of Yin within Yang. Hence the Perfected Person Ziyang said: “The sun resides in the position of Li, yet turns out to be female; Kan is paired with the Toad Palace—the moon palace—yet is male. If you do not understand the meaning of this inversion, do not presume to speak grandly on the basis of shallow views.”

The descriptions of Kan as male and Li as female are like the father’s Jing and the mother’s blood. They also correspond to the crow within the sun and the jade rabbit within the moon, Mercury in cinnabar and silver refined from Lead, and the blackness of Heaven and the yellowness of Earth. These are different symbols pointing to the two incipient Qi of the Dragon and Tiger—the paired Yin-Yang forces in Neidan—that is, the state in which Yin and Yang Qi first come together.

“Host” and “guest” ordinarily refer to Yang Qi, which is honored and placed on the left, as the host, and Yin Qi, which is lower and placed on the right, as the guest. Li is Fire, and Fire rises. Fire accords with the nature of Wood; both are light, buoyant, and Yang, so Fire is ordinarily the host. Kan is Water, and Water flows downward to moisten. Water accords with the nature of Metal; both sink and belong to Yin, so Water is ordinarily the guest. This is the usual principle.

In Neidan cultivation, however, Li is instead called female and Kan male. The host thus becomes the guest, and the guest becomes the host. This is called “inversion.” Hence the saying: “Know that the inversion of host and guest comes from Li and Kan. Who can understand how host and guest are determined after floating and sinking have changed?” Here, host and guest are determined by inverting and matching the two incipient Qi taken from the Dao; the usual relationship between host and guest does not apply. That is why the text specifically says “determine the host and guest.”

Everyone inherently possesses the elixir of long life, but through their own ignorance they cast it away for nothing.

When sweet dew descends, the Qi of Heaven and Earth unite. Where the yellow sprouts grow, Kan and Li—the trigrams that symbolize water and fire, Yin and Yang—meet. How could a frog at the bottom of a well believe that a dragon’s cavern exists? How could a parrot on a fence know of a phoenix’s nest? This means that those with limited understanding find it hard to grasp profound principles.

The Golden Cauldron represents the Yin, symbolized by metal, yet it contains the Qi of fire, signifying Yang within Yin and corresponding to the White Tiger. The Jade Pool represents the Yang, symbolized by jade, yet it contains the Qi of water, signifying Yin within Yang and corresponding to the Azure Dragon. Mercury in the cinnabar sand is the Dragon’s string Qi; silver in the water is the Tiger’s string Qi. Those who cultivate the Golden Elixir must first guide the Dragon’s Qi toward the Tiger’s Qi so that the Tiger’s Qi can hold it fast. Then the two currents of Qi blend and their two dispositions unite. Through the practice and refinement that follow, a pure essence will naturally condense.

The “fire” spoken of here is the string Qi of the Dragon and Tiger. “Dan” means the beginning of the day. The hour of Zi marks the start of the day’s six Yang periods, so “sun” also carries the meaning of “one.” The sages turn the Elixir fire, achieving wondrous results: in less than half an hour, they refine a pure essence. It condenses into a grain the size of millet and appears in the Northern Sea, shining brightly through the curtains, like a red sun rising from a deep pool. “Before the end of the morning” means that the Golden Elixir is complete in less than one watch; this is the sign manifested by the elixir.

The commentary says: Kan the male and Li the female, the crow in the sun and the rabbit in the moon, the dark Heaven and the yellow Earth—all symbolize the union of Yin and Yang. The Golden Cauldron belongs to Yin and contains fire; the Jade Pool belongs to Yang and contains water.

A commentary says: “The male of Kan and the female of Li” (the Yin and Yang energies symbolized respectively by the Kan and Li trigrams), “the sun’s crow and the moon’s rabbit” (the Golden Crow in the sun and the Jade Rabbit in the moon), and “the heavens dark, the earth yellow”—all these expressions describe Yin and Yang joining. Fire is held in the cauldron of golden Yin, and water in the pool of jade Yang. What originally occupied the host’s position becomes the guest, while what originally occupied the guest’s position becomes the host. These are all ways of taking Yang from within Yin and Yin from within Yang.

By inverting the Five Phases and reversing the work of cultivation, one ultimately reaches Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate). Here, “Taiji” refers to the primordial Qi that existed before Heaven and Earth had separated. The Golden Elixir condenses through a gathering of Yang. The “fire” being discussed is not ordinary worldly fire, but the two energies of Yin and Yang symbolized by the moon’s first and last quarters. At first, the energies of these two quarters exist as Qi alone, without form or substance; their source is pure and unmixed. Over the course of a year, they correspond to the balanced Yin and Yang of mid-spring and mid-autumn. Over the course of a month, they represent the state at the moon’s first and last quarters, when Metal and Water each occupy half.

Shangyangzi Chen Zhengxu said, “Who would believe the word ‘wondrous’?” Those who cultivate the Dao differ from ordinary people: worldly people are absorbed in desire, while cultivators can discern what to accept and what to refuse even within desire. What does it mean to discern what to accept and refuse? The sages reverse the usual positions of the Li and Kan trigrams and put them to use, calling this “fire above, water below.” They reverse the Qian and Kun trigrams, calling this “earth above heaven.” They reverse the relationship between husband and wife, calling this “the man below, the woman above.”

According to worldly convention, fire rises and wood floats above, occupying the host’s position; water descends and metal sinks below, occupying the guest’s position. This is the ordinary way of the human world and follows the natural movement of the Five Phases. The way of cultivating immortality does the opposite: fire and wood, which would ordinarily float upward, are brought down and made guests; metal and water, which would ordinarily sink, rise against their natural course and become hosts. This is the way of the immortals, a practice that transcends worldly convention. It is called “Water and Fire in Harmony,” in which water and fire mingle and balance, and “inverting the Five Phases.”

Expressions such as “golden cauldron and jade pool” explain the underlying method of using Yin and Yang in reversed order. To understand them simply as retaining something and making it sink first would miss their original meaning. Ziye’s use of the golden cauldron as a metaphor for what comes together accords with the intent of the Perfected One of Ziyang: one’s own Jing, Qi, blood, and fluids are like “mercury within cinnabar”—an image for the essence that must be gathered and contained—and must not be allowed to dissipate. Hence the instruction to preserve the essence within each other.

“Numinous Pool,” “Elixir Well,” and “Elixir Spring” all refer to silver within water—that is, the single point of primordial Qi. “First descend, then retain” means first allow it to arrive, then make it stay and keep it from departing. You must obtain it without causing yourself any loss. “Take the initiative first” means that when the other arrives, I wait here: when Lead arrives, Mercury welcomes it; when the Kan trigram stirs, the Li trigram receives it. “Lead,” “Mercury,” “Kan,” and “Li” are all symbolic terms in Neidan cultivation, used to describe the union of Yin and Yang Qi. In refining the Golden Elixir, the first thing is to grasp the essential meaning of the four words “to retain, first descend.”

“To circulate the fire without haste” means that the firing process must not be rushed; one must refine at a measured pace and at the proper time. The Cantong qi says, “When the fire is first kindled, its force is gently warm, like the moment the Yin and Yang lines begin to move.” Master Chunyang says, “In the depth of night, the water clock sounds long; warmth slowly rises in the Lead cauldron, and its light shines through the curtain.” This means that when the transformation of the myriad things first begins, they receive Yin and Yang Qi in a single instant. The way of the Highest Immortals, which refines and nourishes primordial Qi, proceeds even more swiftly. Thus the Buddhist scripture says, “Like dew, like lightning”: it is so subtle and its changes so swift that it cannot remain for long. If it stays too long, it suffers loss, diminishing the effectiveness of cultivation. If you can obtain this primordial true Lead and return it to the “Suspended Embryo Chamber,” a symbolic place of refinement and nourishment in Neidan cultivation, it will be like the red sun reflected in a deep pool.

Everyone already possesses the medicine of longevity within them. Only through ignorance do they cast it away in vain.

When sweet dew descends, Heaven and Earth unite; where the yellow sprouts emerge, Kan and Li meet.

How could a frog at the bottom of a well believe that a deep pool could be home to a dragon? How could a crow by a fence know that a phoenix builds its nest?

Once the Elixir is refined, it is naturally like a house filled with gold. Why seek herbs or learn the art of firing any longer?

Sweet Dew and Yellow Sprout are both names for the Golden Elixir. Heaven and Earth, and Kan and Li (the trigrams that represent water and fire in the Book of Changes), all symbolize the Dragon and Tiger. When the energies of Heaven and Earth mingle, Sweet Dew descends; when the energies of Kan and Li join, the Yellow Sprout appears. The meeting of the Dragon and Tiger’s two cords (the movements of Yin and Yang) causes the Qi of True Unity (the pure, undivided source Qi) to congeal. Everyone possesses this supreme treasure within themselves. But because it is so close at hand, people overlook and discard it. They do not know that it is the very ladder by which one ascends to Heaven.

People who have pursued the Dao in recent times often cling to heterodox methods: fixating on isolated Yin or isolated Yang, trying to create something new from what already exists, or pursuing various methods that seem easy to encounter but are difficult to master. In the end, they lead themselves astray. They do not know that this Dao is simple and readily attained. Like frogs at the bottom of a well or sparrows among hedges, how could they know of the Dragon’s lair and the Phoenix’s nest?

Once a jewel the size of a millet grain appears suspended before you, the gold of Heaven and Earth can be taken with your own hands. In the past, Shao Gangzhong excelled at refining gold and silver, and people called him the “Little King of Huainan.” Later, while on the water, he met the immortal master Han Zitao. Shao faced north and bowed to him as his teacher, offering one hundred yi of mercury-gold (an alchemical product of mercury, measured in the ancient unit yi). Han Zitao smiled and refused. Shao Gangzhong then pricked his finger and wrote an oath in blood, and only then did Han Zitao transmit the Dao to him. After the transmission, Han took a handful of mercury into his mouth and rinsed it around before spitting it into a basin of water. The water immediately boiled. When the boiling subsided, a large mass of purple gold had formed in the basin. The author uses this story to show that the great medicine of Neidan has such wondrous powers. How could those who spend all year handling plants and burning thatch possibly understand it? The scripture’s words, “The Earth’s hidden store is released, and gold and jade reveal their forms,” likewise support this teaching.

The commentary says that Lü Chunyang could turn earth, tiles, and stones into gold; that the immortal woman Geng of the Southern Tang could knead snow into silver; and that Chen Niliwan could dry mercury by holding it in his mouth. The Record of Transmitting the Dao says that water in the mouth can dry mercury. These are all proofs that the relevant arts had reached maturity. The above concerns external medicine, the substances used in Waidan.

The tiger leaps and the dragon soars; wind and waves surge as the Mysterious Pearl forms in the central position. This describes a scene in Neidan (internal alchemy) practice. The commentary compares the “tiger” to the Golden Elixir and the “dragon” to one’s own true Qi (vital energy). True Qi rises from the Sea of Qi, surging like wind and waves. In the Dantian (energy center), the tiger and dragon unite in the chamber of spirit, ultimately forming the “Mysterious Pearl.”

Fruit grows on the branch and, in time, ripens; a fetus develops in the womb and, in time, is born. The commentary compares this to the gradual gestation and maturation of Neidan within the body. Through the nurturing of the firing process, the sacred embryo takes shape. After ten months of cultivation, it ultimately sheds its womb and undergoes spiritual transformation.

The roots of the Northern and Southern schools are reflected in the changes of the trigrams; the firing process, from morning to night, must also accord with the timing of Heaven and follow the proper measure. In the commentary, “north and south” refer to the Zi and Wu hours, indicating the times used in cultivation. “Firing process” is a Neidan term for managing timing and progress throughout practice.

A true recluse who cultivates the Dao can live amid the worldly dust. Why must one live in the deep mountains and cultivate alone?

“Source of the lineage” refers to the root from which things begin; “dawn and dusk” refer to the beginnings of day and night. The Zi hour marks the beginning of the six Yang phases, so at dawn the Zhun hexagram governs, indicating the time to advance the fire. The Wu hour marks the beginning of the six Yin phases, so at dusk the Meng hexagram governs, indicating the time to advance the water. Here, “advancing the fire” and “advancing the water” are terms in Neidan (internal alchemy): they refer to scheduling the refinement process according to the waxing and waning of Yin-Yang.

Two hexagrams govern each day. At the end of thirty days, after the Ji Ji and Wei Ji hexagrams have passed, the cycle returns to its beginning and continues without end. Thus, the hexagram images rotate each day. The Cantong qi says: “On the first day, Zhun governs in the morning, and Meng should take over at dusk. One hexagram is used for day and one for night, in their proper order. At the end of the month, Ji Ji and Wei Ji govern; once they have finished, the cycle begins again.” This is precisely what it means.

Two hexagrams govern each day, and with the addition of the four “male and female” hexagrams, which symbolize the union of Yin and Yang, a month corresponds to all sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred eighty-four lines, matching the number of days in a year and the intercalary month. The first nine line of the Qian hexagram arises from the first six line of the Kun hexagram. Qian has a tally value of thirty-six, for a total of two hundred sixteen across its six lines. The first six line of Kun arises from the first nine line of Qian. Kun has a tally value of twenty-four, for a total of one hundred forty-four across its six lines. Together these make three hundred sixty, matching the number of degrees in the celestial circuit. The movements, conjunctions, risings, and settings of the sun and moon all follow the patterns shown by the hexagram lines.

The moon moves faster, completing one circuit of the heavens in a month; the sun moves more slowly, completing one circuit in a year. “Pivoting heaven” refers to the pivotal direction indicated by the Dipper’s handle. The Dipper’s handle makes one circuit of the heavens in a day and night, changing each month the earthly branch toward which it points—for example, in the first month it points to Yin, and in the second month to Mao.

Take the first month, when the Dipper points to Yin. If the sun has not yet crossed its station, place Yin at the Hai position; when the calculation reaches the You hour, the Dipper points to Zi. If the sun has already crossed its station, place Yin at the Xu position; when the calculation reaches the Yin hour, the Dipper points to Wu.

An adept of the highest rank understands the rising and descending of Yin and Yang, knows the moon’s waxing and waning, and works the fire at the Zi and Wu hours in accordance with the changes between day and night.

After several months of regular practice, the seasonal cycle comes into alignment with the celestial patterns. During cultivation, one must follow the direction of the Big Dipper as it turns; this is why it is said to accord with the “Celestial Pivot.” The Celestial Pivot is the hub of the Big Dipper and also refers to the celestial pole in the region of the North Pole. The Song of Yimen says: “Within the twelve gates, Heaven—or, in another version, the Moon—moves with the monthly branch; the clepsydra follows the hours, laying out its course again and again.” This is what the passage means. The mystery of the Supreme Dao lies here: Kan and Li (Water and Fire) rise and descend, joining to produce the numinous medicine, which congeals into the “Yellow Sprout,” an alchemical term for the newly formed elixir.

Another text says: for example, in the first month, when the month is established at Yin, at the hour of Xu on the Beginning of Spring the direction is Gen, while at the hour of Xu on Rain Water it is Yin. Hence the saying: “Each month, add the Xu position; at every hour, you can see Pojun [a star in the Big Dipper].” The great medicine of the Golden Elixir is already within everyone; it is not found only among ordinary people or in the court. Sadly, many see the “Dragon” without recognizing it as the Dragon, and see the “Tiger” without recognizing it as the Tiger. How many are there who can cultivate by reversing the ordinary course of things? In an instant, they can form a jewel the size of a millet grain. An ancient poem says: “Take it and place it in your palm: its rosy radiance shines brilliantly; swallow it into your belly, and the palaces within are renewed.” It also says: “The Great Dao is hidden in the court and among ordinary people; who among those in the mountains truly knows it?”

The commentary says that the Golden Elixir (Jindan) condenses from primordial Qi and changes through the body’s acquired Qi. The “surging wind and waves” refer to the body’s Qi meeting the Golden Elixir; the “appearance of the Dark Pearl” refers to the body’s Qi joining with the Golden Elixir.

The Zi and Wu positions along the Sun’s course are called the “Sun’s Zi-Wu”; the Zi and Wu positions first indicated by the Northern Dipper are called the “Dipper’s Zi-Wu.” Zi and Wu mark the true north and south in geographical space. By studying and applying these principles, one can bring the movements within oneself into accord with the courses of the Sun and the Northern Dipper. These teachings are secret instructions passed on orally by the master.

The places traversed by the Sun correspond to the gathering of Shen and Qi; in common usage, this is called the “monthly general.” The directions indicated by the Northern Dipper correspond to the activation of the Qi mechanism; in common usage, this is called the “monthly construction.” The timing of one’s actions must accord with the degrees of the celestial bodies: use the Sun’s Zi-Wu positions and follow the monthly construction indicated by the Northern Dipper.

The Zi-Wu positions indicated by the Northern Dipper relate to the divisions of day and night: Zi has its day and night divisions, and Wu does as well. The Moon waxes and wanes as the hours pass, growing at Zi and diminishing at Wu. The north and south spoken of here are determined by the Zi-Wu positions, as are dawn and dusk. The hours from Zi to Si are called dawn; those from Wu to Hai are called dusk. This is the dawn and dusk of the Immortal Way, not the dawn and dusk of everyday usage, which are defined by sunrise and sunset.

There is another method in the Tiancheng tradition: at the beginning of a solar term, add Hai to the monthly construction to make the calculation; at the beginning of a central qi, add Xu to the monthly construction. This determines the directions indicated by each of the twelve double-hours.

After the Perfected Peng finished writing The Comprehensive Commentary on the Chapters of the Cantong qi, he read the four lines in the Cantong qi that begin, “The Five Phases turn contrary to their proper course.” He believed these lines revealed the key to the interaction of Heaven and Earth and explained the alternation of Yin and Yang. He therefore discussed the relevant instructions under the titles “Black Lead, Water Tiger” and “Red Lead, Fire Dragon,” giving the work the name The Golden Ladle Key to the Inner Image of the Returning Elixir. Its discussion of the Tiger’s substance and the Dragon’s function concerns the formation and transformation of the Great Elixir—that is, the Golden Elixir cultivated through Neidan.

Today, the Master Without a Name borrows these terms to distinguish Neidan from Waidan, taking only the book title and not its original text. Although this is not the original meaning intended by Zhenyizi, the reasoning is still sound. The discussion above concerns the inner medicine.

The Commentary and Subcommentary on the Wuzhen Pian by the Perfected One of Ziyang, Volume Three

Commentary by the Elder Weng Baoguang, the nameless man of Xiangchuan; transmitted and compiled by Chen Dayun of Wuyi; explanatory subcommentary by Dai Qizong, the Master of Empty Mystery of Jiqing.

The Yellow Sprout and White Snow, symbolic terms in internal alchemy, are not difficult to find, yet those with insight must still seek them through virtue. The transformations of the Four Images and Five Phases all depend on Earth; the Three Primes and Eight Trigrams likewise depend on Ren Water, which belongs to Water and often symbolizes water in internal alchemy theory. When one cultivates a numinous and subtle nature, ordinary people find it hard to recognize. Once the dark, demonic thoughts and false notions in the heart have been entirely dispelled, ghosts and spirits can no longer intrude. I would like to leave these secrets to the world, but have yet to meet a true kindred spirit who understands them.

The subtle essences of the Dragon and Tiger are called “Yellow Sprout” and “White Snow.” The Great Medicine—the essence sought in alchemical practice—rests on these as its foundation. This principle is originally very simple, and the practice is not difficult. But without deep merit and good deeds, it is hard to encounter a true teacher and receive instruction in the mysterious essentials.

The Great Dao arises from nothingness as a single Qi (vital energy), which then divides into Yin-Yang. These are 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 form the Four Images, which come together to form the Elixir. Earth is the foundation of the Elixir’s formation. Earth has no fixed position but is distributed throughout the four seasons. Without Earth’s harmonizing influence, the seasons cannot proceed smoothly or nurture the myriad things. Thus, both the Four Images and the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) depend on Earth.

Ren belongs to Water and is also the Qi of the True One, called “True One Water.” It arose before Heaven and Earth and later transformed into the Yang Dragon and Yin Tiger. When the Dragon and Tiger unite, they form the Elixir, which belongs to Earth. The Dragon belongs to Wood, and the Tiger belongs to Metal. These three are called the “three natures and three origins,” and all arise through transformations of True One Water.

The Eight Trigrams (Bagua) also derive from transformations of the Qi of the True One. Its first transformation became Heaven, represented by the Qian trigram, the father; its second became Earth, represented by the Kun trigram, the mother. The Yang Qi of Qian joined with the Yin Qi of Kun and first gave birth to the eldest son, Zhen; next to the middle son, Kan; and third to the youngest son, Gen. Then the Yin Qi of Kun joined with the Yang Qi of Qian and gave birth in turn to the eldest daughter, Xun; the middle daughter, Li; and the youngest daughter, Dui. This shows that Qian and Kun join to give birth to three sons and three daughters, all of whom likewise arise through transformations of True One Water. Hence the saying: “How could the three origins and the Eight Trigrams be separate from Ren Water?” Since Heaven and Earth were first formed, everything with form and a name has come into being through transformations from this source.

The generation and transformation of all things cannot be separated from the “Water of the True One,” a Daoist term symbolizing the original essence and Qi. Thus, the Three Origins and the Eight Trigrams, too, depend on Ren Water. Since Heaven and Earth were first opened, everything with form and a name has arisen and changed through this original source.

Zhenyizi said: “The essence of the True One is the mother of Heaven and Earth, the root of Yin and Yang, the source of Water and Fire, the sovereign of the sun and moon, the wellspring of the Three Powers—Heaven, Earth, and humanity—and the ancestor of the Five Phases. All things receive it and grow; the many kinds of spirits follow it as they unfold or withdraw. Whether lofty Heaven or deep Earth, grotto abodes or famous mountains, celestial phenomena or divine officials, immortals or sacred assemblies, wind and rain, darkness and brightness, spring, summer, autumn, or winter—before any of these appear, they all begin in this source and transform through the arising of lead Qi.”

When practitioners of Neidan obtain the Water of the True One, they have everything needed for their cultivation. The “Millet Seed of the True One” is a metaphor in Neidan for the minute seed of the Elixir. Once it is gathered into the five viscera and tended through the firing process over a ten-month cycle, all Yin residue is refined away. It can then become a True One immortal of pure Yang, beyond the reach of Yin demons and corpse ghosts.

Xianhuang wanted to leave these secret teachings to the world, but had heard of no one who truly understood them, for their principles lie far beyond ordinary understanding. Cultivating immortality requires accumulated roots of goodness and an endowment of numinous bones. These are not formed in one or two lifetimes, but amassed continually over countless ages. When such a person comes forth, they naturally bear an air that rises above the mundane.

Alas, those who are like walking corpses and skeletons, hoping to ascend to immortality with nothing more than a bottle and a bowl, can scarcely become true immortals. Why not feel your own heart and ask whether it differs at all from the hearts of ordinary people? If it does not, the path of immortal cultivation remains far away. I regard cultivation of the Immortal Way as an endless undertaking, and make broad understanding my charge. Though I see myself as standing above the crowd, like a crane among chickens, some laugh at me as impractical and remote. Yet I know I am no ordinary person. Chijingzi and Songnai are my friends; Penglai and Fangzhang are my home. In time I will meet an extraordinary adept who transmits the highest Dao directly, form a bond with a kindred friend, and refine a Golden Elixir the size of a millet seed.

The Immortal Master wishes to reveal to the world this secret that is not meant to be passed on publicly. My understanding is shallow and my nature dull, yet I know I am no ordinary person. Red Essence, the immortal of Daoist legend, and the pines are my friends; Penglai and Fangzhang, the fabled islands of the sea, are my home. I will naturally encounter an extraordinary person who will personally teach me the Supreme Dao. Then, joined with a like-minded friend of the heart, I will be able to refine an elixir the size of a grain of millet. The Immortal Master wishes to find someone to whom he can pass on this secret. Do not blame me for never having found a suitable person: where could I meet someone like that?

The commentary says: “Earth” refers to the place where things gather and return to the ultimate; “Ren” refers to the moment when the generation of all things begins. The “Water of True Oneness” is Qi before it takes form, while the “Millet of True Oneness” is Qi that has already gathered into form. Each of the Four Symbols, the four basic symbols in the theory of elixir refinement, contains True Earth: One and Four combine to make Five, and Two and Three combine to make Five as well. Thus Earth is present within all Four Symbols.

Ren belongs to Water and is born of Heaven’s One. Ren lies before Zi and represents the beginning of the first stirring of Yang. The phrase “Ren comes before Zi” refers to the moment between the end of Hai and the beginning of Zi. Because this is the root of generative Qi and the source that precedes the Five Phases, everything begins with Ren. Master True Oneness says, “The essence of True Oneness is the key that brings about transformation.” This saying comes from The Golden Key. The generation of both Lead and Mercury depends on the Water of True Oneness—that is, Ren Water.

Devote yourself to seeking True Lead, and do not let time slip away lightly. Once you have seized the Earthly Soul and gathered in Vermilion Mercury, the Heavenly Soul will naturally come to restrain Water and Metal. One may say that when one’s Dao is profound, the Dragon and Tiger are tamed; when one’s De is abundant, even ghosts and spirits show respect. Once you know how to attain longevity equal to that of Heaven and Earth, troubles can no longer weigh on your heart.

The commentary says: “True Lead” refers to the Golden Elixir. “Earthly Po” refers to the White Tiger in external alchemy and to the Golden Elixir in internal alchemy; “Heavenly Hun” refers to the Azure Dragon in external alchemy and to oneself in internal alchemy. “Vermilion Mercury” refers to the cord-like Qi of the external Azure Dragon in external alchemy and to one’s own true Qi in internal alchemy. “Water Gold” refers to the cord-like Qi of the external White Tiger in external alchemy and to the Golden Elixir in internal alchemy. These are also called “Mercury Wrapped in Vermilion” and “Silver in Water.” All of these are metaphors pertaining to both internal and external alchemy.

The Immortal Master urges those who cultivate the Dao to hurry and refine the Golden Elixir, transcend life and death, and not let their time pass in vain. In cultivation, the White Tiger must subdue the Azure Dragon; the Azure Dragon will in turn naturally subdue the White Tiger. When the two kinds of Qi intertwine, the Golden Elixir is formed. Once obtained, it is swallowed into the abdomen to gather and hold one’s own true Qi. As that Qi attaches itself to the Golden Elixir and congeals, a sacred embryo takes shape. Once the inner True Dragon has been subdued, the dragons and tigers of the world will naturally submit; once inner refinement has transformed the spirit-soul and ghost-soul into a sacred state, the spirits and ghosts of the world will naturally show reverence. Who could accomplish this without profound Dao practice and great virtue and renown?