《还金述》

I once read the Jinbi Jing (Scripture of Gold and Jade-Green), where Master Wei says: "Three and Five joined as One is the most subtle thing between Heaven and Earth." I pondered this for ten years before I grasped its meaning.

In my view, this "One" corresponds to the number of Water and is the beginning of the Five Phases (Wuxing). Its color belongs to the north, yet it contains all five colors. Cultivating it brings one into accord with the Dao (the Way) and with the natural order, and so it can generate Heaven and Earth and serve as the root of Yin-Yang, the female and the male. After this, one must return the Sun's essence (Jing) to the lunar cavern (a Neidan term for the yin-natured place that corresponds to the moon), so that the essence condenses within the central Qi, setting the numinous Qi in motion and letting the two respond to one another until they finally unite with the Dao. None of this can be glimpsed or stolen by the worldly practitioners of technique.

Most students of the Dao today believe that mercury can be refined into the Golden Elixir (Jindan) and that cinnabar-mercury can serve as the Heche (the "river cart," a term from Daoist alchemy for the force or process that carries the medicines through their circulation). They do not know that mercury is born from lead, and cinnabar from gold. Having failed to identify the true medicine, they substitute other things for it. This is like stringing blossoms together and calling them fruit, or cutting open the body to implant an embryo. Such methods only damage Jing and Qi and cannot preserve the self.

Most students of the Dao in the world take mercury for the Golden Elixir and cinnabar-mercury for the Heche, not knowing that mercury is born from lead and cinnabar from gold. Having failed to identify the true substance, they substitute other things for it. This is like stringing blossoms together and calling them fruit, or cutting open the body to implant an embryo. Once Jing and Qi are harmed, the self cannot be preserved. People everywhere have strayed onto the wrong paths, like leaking vessels that cannot become a seamless whole. Many earnest seekers are left bewildered and in the end can only wait. Some say the ancients spoke idly and that no such Way exists in the world. This view is utterly foolish, and I do not endorse it.

Therefore, drawing on the principles of the scriptures, I have written three chapters, upper, middle, and lower, for like-minded companions to examine and verify.

The ancients borrowed the hexagram images of the Book of Changes (Yijing) to compose their scriptures because they held that the supreme Dao (the Way) corresponds to Heaven and Earth. Taishang (the Daoist honorific for the highest deity, or for the Great Dao itself) first divided the One Qi (vital energy) into the two modes of Yin-Yang. Only after Yin and Yang were distinguished did the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity appear. Thus Qian and Kun move in their courses and all things find their proper place, while Kan and Li interact so that metal and water unite. This is the pivot of the Dao.

When men and women reach adulthood, Yin and Yang are paired: their breaths mingle and their bodies join, and the transformations that follow have no fixed pattern. This is the working of the Dao. The sun and moon travel their courses, cold and heat succeed one another, and the nourishing, moistening qi circulates and changes. This is the proof of the Dao. When Yin qi expands, Yang qi contracts; when Yang qi is active, Yin qi lies hidden. In this going and returning, one seeks to bring emotion and nature into accord, and this is the Dao's cycle of return. Whoever understands this will know that when the One Qi is differentiated in imitation of Heaven and Earth, things with form can naturally be brought back into accord with their original root. What need is there for anything else to accomplish it?

Let us now examine the Inner Scripture of Yellow and White with care. Shennong said: "Know the white yet hold to the black, and though you seek death, you will not find it." Here "white" is the essence of metal, not the metal of the everyday world, and "black" is mercury, not the mercury of the everyday world.

The Scripture of the Dragon and Tiger says: "Lead is black on the outside, yet within it holds the flower of gold." The flower of gold refers to the Azure Dragon, and also to yellow lead. It belongs to Qian, occupies the position of Wood, and has the number three. The text also says: "Wearing coarse clothes, with jade hidden in the breast, he looks outwardly like a wild man." Here the "jade" refers to the White Tiger, and also to mercury. It belongs to Kun, occupies the position of Earth, and has the number five. Hence the saying: "When three and five are in harmony, the eight minerals each keep to their proper order." Three and five correspond to the positions of Wood and Earth, and together they total eight.

The scripture further says: "Metal is the mother of water, and the mother is hidden in the womb of her child; water is the child of metal, and the child is hidden within the mother's womb." This means that metal and water hold each other within themselves, gestating inside the maternal body and awaiting the work of creation and transformation to be born. It also says: "The eldest son inherits the father's body and establishes his foundation through the mother." This means that cinnabar sand arises from metal and mercury flows forth as its child; metal is used to nourish the child, so that it receives its substance and grows. This Dao accords with nature, and its source is exceedingly subtle, so it must not be left unconsidered.

The Qianji Secret on Hidden Communication (Qiantong jue) says: "The Dark White gives birth to the Metal Lord, who stands majestically as the beginning of all things." This shows that cinnabar is born from lead. The Song of Gold and Jade (Jinbi ge) says: "The marrow of red essence flows and transforms into mercury, and the mercury reveals a bright radiance." This shows that mercury is not a separate, independent thing, but is produced when Qian and Kun unite and receive qi. Even when it is about to form but has not yet formed, a vivid sign already appears.

Therefore the scripture says: "The sage does not arbitrarily decide how things come to be, but looks upward and observes the signs that Heaven reveals." The Heavenly tally is a token of verification: the qi of Heaven descends and the qi of Earth responds, Yin and Yang unite, and so the Flowing Pearl descends. The Flowing Pearl is also called flowing mercury. The scripture says further: "Cinnabar is the father of flowing mercury, and Wu and Ji are the mother of yellow gold." These statements suffice to show that when cinnabar and mercury unite, they embody the Three Powers and respond to the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). They are not ordinary substances of the world.

The Cantong qi says: "To plant grain you must use grain seed; to hatch chickens you must use eggs." This means that emotion is divided off from nature, and nature in turn is bound to emotion; emotion and nature depend on each other and in the end return to their natural state, and this is what is called transformation. Lead and mercury are the same: things of different natures cannot act upon one another, yet their true natures, from beginning to end, remain mutually dependent.

For this reason the scriptures use varied expressions to indicate these correlative relationships: Qian and Kun, female and male, metal and water, earth and wood, emotion and nature, dragon and tiger. Although the names differ, only things of the same kind can unite, and if they are wrongly paired they cannot interact. Hence the saying: "Like follows like; if affairs go against the principle, no treasure can be refined."

Water is restrained by earth, and metal is completed through earth. Mutual overcoming and mutual generation alternate, and each becomes the parent of the other. Mercury does not stand in the correct position among the Five Phases, and cinnabar cannot be completed by the pairing of dragon and tiger alone. Therefore the scripture says: "Mixed kinds are not of one species; how could they merge into one body?" An old song also says: "Do not damage my lead, so that my life may be preserved; do not destroy my cart, so that I may return home." It says further: "When the lead is cut off, the River Cart is empty, and what is done will surely be without merit; when the lead is broken, the River Cart is severed, and what is made has no way to come into being."

The Five-Chapter scripture also says: "Within lead there is gold, and within gold there is a treasure. Know the treasure, discern the treasure, cultivate the mind and refine the body, and the worthy will attain the Dao." It says further: "Better to refine the gold within the lead than to refine the treasure within the gold." The sages used such sayings as metaphors to instruct later students, fearing that people would not understand, and so they explained the matter again and again. This also lets us know that the two things indicated by dragon and tiger originate, at root, from a single substance.

Those who grasp the principle find it as easy as turning over a palm; those who have lost the path find it as hard as climbing to Heaven. People of the world, not yet enlightened, follow later doctrines, abandon what is easy to grasp, and pursue what is difficult. The more urgently they apply their minds, the farther they stray from the true principle, and so their opinions grow tangled and the true and the false are confused.

Some ask whether lead should be used, and others whether mercury should. If mercury were made the principal, how could Qian and Kun be established, and how could the firm and the yielding be distinguished? If only impure lead were used, whence would metal and water arise, and how would the Dao of return operate? How could true transformation occur at all? From ancient times the songs and formulas have praised only the efficacy of lead and have not spoken of the subtlety of mercury. If the two must be accomplished together, why do the scriptures not praise them both? And if mercury is the principal and only borrows the qi of lead to be completed, how can one discard the root and keep the branch?

Since this was the author's original intention, and yet later students' understanding has come to this, it is like trying to plant rice on stones or to seek fish in trees; a harvest is truly hard to obtain. What is more, the written texts that have been handed down are not necessarily perfectly subtle, and oral instruction does not always meet a genuine perfected person. The difference between knowing and not knowing is like that between a thousand miles away and what lies in the palm of one's hand; if one is not a true person, how can one discern the real principle? For now, let us consider what people commonly say. Some say: "Those who speak do not understand; those who understand do not speak." But where, then, does the Dao lie hidden between speaking and not speaking?

Those who claim that mercury can be refined into the Golden Elixir (金丹, Jindan) speak recklessly, and those who say that cinnabar can make a person immortal do not understand the principle. The words of the ignorant and the deluded lie far from the true art of the Dao (道, the Way).

"Cinnabar and mercury" is another name for the "Old Maiden," and "sand" refers to the most precious thing within lead. When the alchemical classics speak of "sand and mercury," they mean precisely this true secret. Lead contains sand and mercury just as a person has emotion and nature: emotion and nature are not added to a person from outside, and sand and mercury are not foreign substances apart from lead. In cultivating the "Way of the Three Unities," one must refine and temper emotion and nature until the two unite, and only then can one return to the root and revert to simplicity. The art of the Golden Liquid, for its part, uses gold to nourish mercury, and in this way returns to the original source.

If something foreign is forced to serve as "emotion," nature cannot unite with it; and if ordinary quicksilver is substituted for the "mercury" spoken of here, lead cannot join with it. If nature cannot unite with the Three Palaces, how can it be made secure? If lead cannot be close to the Eight Minerals, how can its subtlety be revealed? The so-called "Eight Minerals" are simply another name for the "Three and Five."

The Cantong qi (《参同契》) says: "Use names to fix the emotions; use characters to guide the nature." It also says that only when gold returns to its original nature can it be called the "Returned Elixir." The Returned Elixir is the method of the elixir that returns to the source. The Cantong qi further says: "Nature governs the inside, like the building of an inner wall; emotion governs the outside, like the raising of an outer wall." Thus sand and mercury are the emotion and nature of lead, while primordial Qi (气, vital energy) is the root of a person. Gold governs the outside and is therefore called "emotion"; mercury governs the inside and is therefore called "nature." To restrain mercury with gold means to gather in the emotions so that emotion and nature unite; to nourish Jing (精, essence) and Qi and preserve Shen (神, spirit) is the method of cultivating nature and uniting with the True.

The scripture says again: "The dragon calls to the tiger, and the tiger draws in the dragon's essence; the two join with each other, each craving the other's finest part." Here the dragon refers to the east, to Jia-Yi Wood, the Azure Dragon; the tiger refers to the west, to Geng-Xin Metal, the White Tiger. The dragon stands for emotion and the tiger for nature. Emotion and nature depend on each other, which speaks to the principle of their union and return. An old song says: "Gather in your own body and your souls, and use them as the tiger's hungry meal; when the tiger comes to devour, marrow and fat are born." From this one can understand what is said there about the principle of breathing.

The scripture also says: "The Sun's flowing pearl always wishes to leave a person; only when it finally obtains the Golden Flower do they turn and cling to each other, transforming into a white liquid that congeals and hardens. The Golden Flower acts first, and before long it disperses into water, showing patterns like horse's teeth; the yang Qi then arrives to join with it, and emotion and nature naturally unite." This shows that one must establish the pairing of Qian and Kun, and set Water and Fire in motion so that they accord with the seasons and with the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity; only then can the so-called cinnabar be refined.

Subtle words point directly, and the principle of the great Dao is utterly simple. Consider how creation and transformation bring forth the myriad things: they are not deliberately arranged so that every blue, yellow, red, and white resembles the others. Each thing receives its own nature and accords with what is real, and this is the natural principle. When the scripture mentions "cinnabar and the essence of wood, which unite when they meet gold," and also "white horse's teeth, fine cinnabar" and "pure whiteness reveals a treasure that can make yellow gold," none of this refers to the cinnabar and quicksilver of the everyday world. If one tried to refine with ordinary cinnabar and quicksilver, they would turn to white smoke in a moment. How could they ever disperse into water and show patterns like horse's teeth?

One who understands will observe closely, and from this single point alone can tell whether an alchemist is genuine or false. When the true practitioner is recognized, one's correct nature will not be led astray; when the correct nature is not led astray, one draws nearer to the Dao day by day, and the root is naturally set right. Why, then, rely on empty reputation, turn away from the world, and fast in the mountains while refining elixirs, merely hoping to encounter the Dao? For this reason, the author restates the principle of emotion and nature, examines the meaning of sand and mercury, and repeatedly explains the intention behind the ancient sages' use of imagery as metaphor, hoping that readers will not stop at the commentaries of later ages.

White represents the essence of Metal, and black represents the foundation of Water. Water is the pivot on which the Great Dao (道, the Way) turns, and it has its own corresponding numbers and principles. For this reason the scripture (经, Jing) says: "Know the white, keep to the black, and the spirits and illumination will come of themselves." From this we learn that the profound and subtle essence is the root of the Dao. Once one grasps this pivot, Heaven and Earth are as though tempered in a forge, Yin-Yang (阴阳) harmonize with one another, and the workings of nature accord with the process of creation and transformation.

Thus one must fix the numbers of the two "strings," matching the upper and lower with the numbers two and eight, so as to form the images of Qian and Kun. By examining the sixty-four hexagrams, one can exhaust the workings of Heaven and Earth. Each hexagram has six lines, and calculated by the tally numbers they total three hundred and eighty-four lines, within which the numinous operation resides. The stalk number of Qian is 216 and that of Kun is 144. Extended from these and applied by analogy to every kind of case, the total comes to 11,520, which corresponds to the number of the myriad things and also contains the forms of firmness and softness in their transformations. The number of Heaven is twenty-five and the number of Earth is thirty; together the numbers of Heaven and Earth total fifty-five, and so they are able to bring about transformation and to return transformation to its source.

The accumulation of Yang qi (气, Qi) forms Heaven, and the gathering of Yin qi forms Earth. When Heaven and Earth are closed and obstructed, the work of the spirits and illumination (神明) also becomes manifest. Although the transformations of primordial qi proceed without cease and their wondrous operation is inexhaustible, they still appear as the interaction of Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire, in accord with cold and heat, flourishing and decline. Just as spring, summer, autumn, and winter succeed one another and day and night alternate, the movement of Yang appears as Metal generating Water, Water generating Wood, Wood generating Fire, and Fire generating Earth. The movement of Yin appears as Earth overcoming Water, Water overcoming Fire, Fire overcoming Metal, and Metal overcoming Wood. The Five Phases (五行, Wuxing) generate and overcome one another, alternately rising and declining, and accord with Heaven, Earth, and the four seasons, so that the myriad things come to maturity.

The sun is the essence of Yang, and the moon is the vital soul of Yin. Metal is born from within the moon and is called the "Kan man"; the pearl congeals from within the sun and is called the "Li woman." Kan and Li here are names of hexagrams in the Yi (Changes), and they also symbolize Water and Fire, Yin and Yang. Metal is the essence of the moon, yet it holds the Yang position. Mercury (a term in alchemy, often referring to quicksilver) unites with the qi of Li fire so as to correspond to the Yin line. The numinous qi of Heaven and Earth nurtures the essence of sun and moon, and when obstruction reaches its extreme it turns into free passage, as Yin qi is exhausted and Yang qi is born.

Therefore, when Metal enters fierce fire, its color does not lose its luster; and since the opening of Heaven and the establishing of Earth, the sun and moon have never been diminished. This shows that Metal and Wood operate within while Water and Fire respond from without, and that the Way of Qian is strong and unceasing, and so can exert its function. The radiance of sun and moon is not depleted but grows ever more evident. Heaven and Earth, sun and moon, are able to run for a long time, accompanying the myriad things from beginning to end. They are also like the pairing of dragon and tiger: they are the pivot of the Dao, they accord with Heaven and Earth and with the laws of Yin-Yang, and they cause the transformations of primordial qi to respond in secret, like linked pearls and joined jades, revolving without rest.

The sages of earlier ages cultivated this Dao and tempered the myriad things, and so they were able to give birth to Heaven and Earth and to command the myriad things, standing alone and enduring, their bodies and spirits unchanged. This wondrous operation is vast and profound, and few in the world can fathom it. One who attains it seems to hold Heaven and Earth in the hand, with creation and transformation revolving from within oneself. Such a person can pass from the ordinary into sagehood, have their name entered in the Golden Register (金簿, a register recording the names of immortals), and stand alongside earlier masters such as the Yellow Emperor and Laozi (Laojun). This also shows that one must begin from this teaching of the Dao, for there is no other path.

For all who share this aspiration and wish to draw near to the Dao, the key lies in carefully seeking the true secret and, above all, receiving it from a teacher. One must not hold forth on the basis of shallow accounts merely heard, for otherwise the essential point will be lost. Alas, people today do not understand the intent of the spirits and illumination, nor do they grasp the principles of Heaven and Earth. They pursue only the surface meaning of the words and then reason from their own ideas. They do not know that the ancients had already set aside the branches that cannot be learned; those who discuss only the twigs and leaves never obtain the root, and so the deluded point the way for one another. How could they ever trace back to the true source? How can shallow Confucian scholars of the woods and fields be called prescient?

I used to attend upon an elder and hear him explain these principles. He held that the cinnabar and mercury used in refining the elixir cannot be successfully refined if they are separated from Qian, Kun, Yin, and Yang, and that the dragon and tiger cannot unite if they are separated from the "Metal Lord" (金公, an alchemical term for the symbol of Metal). I have therefore set out these rough principles for others to consult, so as to avoid misunderstanding.

When the Immortal claps their hands, the snow gathers into a single mass; the Yellow Blossom wishes to enter the Purple River, yet this is by no means easy.

Mother and child, the two together, are for a moment transformed into flowing water, and the process of transformation resembles that of the Nine-Turn Elixir (jiuzhuan dan, an elixir refined through repeated cycles of preparation).