《证道歌》

Those who seek to ascend as immortals and ride the clouds must first understand the "True One" (Zhenyi). The True One is the Dao (the Way). The Dao is the origin of all things, and the origin of all things is the primordial Qi (vital energy) that human beings receive at birth. Qi transforms and gives rise to the myriad things, and people too are born by receiving this primordial Qi.

The Daojing (Jing, scripture) says, "The Dao is empty, yet it can be put to use." The Yujingshan Jing speaks of the harmonious, empty and still Qi, of exhaling the turbid and drawing in the clear, and of using embryonic breathing to quiet the passes and apertures within the body. The Huangting Jing says that breathing in primordial Qi can lead to immortality, just as an infant in its mother's womb lives by embryonic breathing.

The states of primordial Qi are many and varied, and are hard to explain all at once. For this reason the sages of antiquity left behind many texts of cultivation and their oral instructions, such as the Longhu, the Cantong qi, and the Daodejing, as well as the Yinfu, Youji, and Yufang and other works. Some were written as hymns, some as poems, some as talismanic formulas or as records. All of these methods explain the principles of embryonic breathing and guide later students toward the great Dao. The great Dao is profound and subtle and difficult to state directly, so the sages often expressed the formulas in veiled language, borrowing metals and minerals as metaphors and calling it "lead" and "mercury," or "cinnabar" and "quicksilver."

Today there are people who do not understand the purpose of these metaphors and cannot grasp the sages' true meaning. Instead they cling to external procedures, refining elixirs and consuming them, believing this will bring long life. Such practice lies far from the path of immortality. If they are unwilling even to learn the principle of embryonic breathing, how could they know the depth of the immortals' scriptures and the sages' formulas?

An old song says: "To refine the medicine, one must know the oral formula; the secret of the Mysterious Pass lies hidden in the ancient scriptures. When the work of returning the elixir is complete, a celestial carriage will arrive on five-colored auspicious clouds to welcome you." Master Guigu said that even sages must accomplish their attainment through learning; they were not born that way. Confucius likewise said that he was not born knowing, but acquired knowledge through study. The Buddhist Lotus Sutra says that building a palace in empty space may not be difficult. The True Person of the Three Primes (Sanyuan) said that without the path of learning, no one can ascend and become an immortal.

The Lotus Sutra also uses the image of digging a well: as you dig, you first remove the upper layer of yellow earth, and gradually you see black mud, and then you know water is not far away. Wei Boyang said, "The oral formula is not invented from nothing, and the Dao is not achieved from nothing." It is like those who sit for the imperial jinshi examination, who often study for a long time in deep mountains and secluded valleys, and only after their studies are complete can they pass the examination and have their names placed on the golden list. Seeking immortality likewise requires tracing back to the root and grasping its principles before one can attain any understanding.

Someone asks: "What is this oral formula most closely related to?" The answer is: "The Dao and Qi are the most closely related." That is, one must use wisdom to perceive the relationship between the Dao and Qi. Fish live by water and die when they leave it; people live by Qi and die when their breath ceases. Qi is the root of the person, and the Dao is the root of Qi. In this sense, Qi is the mother of the person, and the person is the offspring of the Dao. The Xisheng Jing says that the Dao nurtures its mother, and the way of nurturing the mother is called "filial piety." The "mother of the Dao" here refers to Qi. The mother of all immortals and the mother of human life are both fully present within the human body.

In the past, twelve people in the Jin dynasty, including Wu and Xu of Xishan in Yuzhang, cultivated and nurtured the "mother of the Dao" together. It is said that they all attained the Dao during the Yuankang era of the Jin, and the remains of their altar grounds still survive today. This is not empty talk.

Those who study the Dao and wish to seek long life cannot depart from their own primordial Qi. The old song urges people not to act recklessly, and says that all practices which seek some other method only bring suffering in vain. The Daojing says: "Cultivate the Dao in your own person, and your De (Virtue) will be genuine." It also says: "Keep it in yourself, and it gives birth to Shen (spirit); bestow it on others, and it gives life to others." Beyond this, there is nothing else to pursue. External lead, mercury, stone, and gold, and all the various minerals, plants, and trees, are not the divine medicines spoken of here.

I have written fifteen Zhengdao Ge (Songs of Verifying the Dao) and leave them for later students of the Dao, hoping they will put their principles into practice and in the end return together to the great Dao of Wuwei (non-action).

A passage at the opening of the Zhengdao Ge (Song of Realizing the Dao) has been lost, and the original text has not been preserved.

Realizing the Dao, Part One

Let the Golden Essence (the Jing and Qi spoken of in inner cultivation) circulate to nourish the myriad spirits within the body (the Shen-energies found throughout body and mind), and one will naturally attain immortality and long life. Do not cling to the pleasures of desire as ordinary people do, busy and hurried all day long, only to end as a heap of dust.

Realizing the Spiritual Medicine, Part Two

The Dao is by nature nameless and formless; only reluctantly is it called "Dao." Within the one body, Jing, Qi, and Shen are the most subtle and marvelous. The spiritual medicine does not come from anything outside the self; when Yin-Yang restrain and harmonize one another, the cultivation will succeed.

Realizing the Ninefold Returned Elixir, Part Three

Heaven and Earth are the furnace and cauldron, and the medicine lies within the self. The transformations of Yin-Yang are fathomless, and so are called divine. When the primal Qi condenses, it changes like flying frost; after nine turns (in Neidan, a phrase for the repeated process of refinement), the Returned Elixir is formed. The Returned Elixir is, at root, the fluid transformed from the Qi of Supreme Harmony.

Realizing the Fire Phasing, Civil and Martial, Part Four

Spring, summer, autumn, and winter succeed one another, and the shadow of the sun shifts with them. Dragon and Tiger (in Neidan, the two forces of Yin and Yang) pair together and move through Kan and Li (symbols of water and fire, often also used to stand for Yin and Yang). Between day and night, Heaven and Earth enact their union and harmony (the joining and balancing of Yin and Yang); the hour of Zi stands opposite the hour of Wu, and between them the cycle is divided into twelve double-hours.

Realizing the Spirit's Movement of Fire, Part Five

In refining the medicine, one must know how to move the fire with the intent of the Shen. Do not mistake the fire that burns wood and charcoal in the world for the fire of the elixir; the fierce flame transformed from the Three Flowers (an image of Jing, Qi, and Shen gathered together in inner cultivation) lies within the self. If one only rushes about in vain, the days and months will slip away for nothing.

Realizing the Golden Flower and Yellow Sprout, Part Six

The Yellow Sprout (in Neidan, an image of the newly arisen true Qi) should accord with the measures of the musical pitches. Heaven and Earth conceal it, and it is called the "True One" (the pure, undivided original Qi). If one nurtures the feeling of spring in the Flower Pool (in inner cultivation, the place of fluid in the mouth or within the body), the myriad things will be conceived and grow, then blossom and bear fruit.

Realizing the Black Lead and White Mercury, Part Seven

On the third day after the geng day, the Gate of Dui (the doorway symbolized by the Dui trigram) opens; from this the Black Metal (in Neidan, an image of lead) conceives an embryo of white silver. Nine and six are the numbers of Yin and Yang. In spring and summer the numbers three and five are applied, while in autumn and winter the numbers seven and nine move back and forth.

Realizing the Red Dragon and Golden Tiger, Part Eight

Within Wood a fierce fire lies hidden, called the Green Dragon of jia; beneath Water gold lies hidden, called the White Tiger of geng. The key to the creative transformations of Heaven and Earth lies in three marvelous powers; only by investigating the changes of Yin-Yang can one see the principle within them.

Realizing the Dark Radiance and the Golden Cauldron, Part Nine

The diagram of the Golden Cauldron is divided into three legs, and its size is no more than one inch. Yin-Yang are released and transformed from within it, and its form resembles Qian and Kun. The cauldron need not be cast of gold or silver; it is the gateway through which the hidden dragon (the image of the first line of the Qian hexagram in the Yijing) transforms and reveals its mysterious workings.

The diagram of the three-legged cauldron is divided by inches and tenths of an inch; Yin-Yang (阴阳) emerges from within it, presenting the images of Qian and Kun. The cauldron need not be cast from gold or silver; the "hidden dragon" of the first yang line is precisely the gateway of transformation.

Verifying the Dao Through the True Purport, Chapter Ten

The Daodejing (道德经, Jing, the classic) says that "being" brings benefit, and also that it is "non-being" that gives a thing its use. The form without form exists within a single Qi (气, vital energy); in the end, one must still return to the root of life and go back to the original source.

Verifying the Sun's Flowing Pearl, Chapter Eleven

The Qi of Supreme Harmony circulates throughout the body, and this is called "flowing." The Qi of primal yang is perfectly rounded, like a single pearl. The upper, middle, and lower Dantian (丹田, energy centers) occupy the positions of Qian and Kun within the body. The breath turns like a door pivot, setting the movement of Qi in motion.

Verifying Mother and Child, Preserving the Spirit and Dwelling in the World, Chapter Twelve

If one wishes to live long, Qi is the root of life. Qi moves through the upper, middle, and lower regions and keeps the internal organs pure. The metals and minerals of the world all belong to the Yin category; a decaying body must be nourished and supplemented through the refining of the yang elixir.

Verifying That Cultivating Primal Qi Brings One to Become a Perfected Person, Chapter Thirteen

Cultivating primal Qi allows the Shen-Qi (神气, spirit and vital energy) within the body to transform and arise. Primal Qi is originally within oneself and need not be sought outside. With each breath, Qi travels from the Flower Pool (华池, a term of Daoist Neidan, 内丹, internal alchemy, usually referring to where saliva gathers in the mouth) and rises to the Upper Scenery. By following the Way of Heaven, one can attain a deathless body.

Verifying That Entwining Jing and Transforming the Heavenly Way Makes an Immortal, Chapter Fourteen

When the precious elixir has been refined through nine transformations, Jing (精, essence) and Qi are kept firmly in the Dantian and rise straight to the Niwan (泥丸, the Muddy Pellet, a Daoist term for a region in the brain), completing the work of cultivation. Immortals are pure, still, and empty, transcending the Three Realms; they shed the physical body and transform away, like a snake sloughing its skin or a cicada leaving its shell.

Verifying the River Cart, Chapter Fifteen

The cart of the Kun image is lodged in the earth's position, and the Kan water is like a river, belonging to the direction where the Dark Warrior resides. One who attains the Dao can rise and become honored; one who loses the Dao sinks down and becomes "light." (The meaning of the final phrase, "sinks to become light," is translated as it stands in the original and its sense is unclear.)

In cultivation, the true Qi of the Eight Plain Ones (八素真气, a Daoist term for refined, subtle true Qi) rises to pay court to the Niwan, then condenses in the Jade Palace (琼宫, a Daoist term for a palace within the body), transforming into a supreme immortal. The Dao is within one's own body and need not be sought outside.