《墉城集仙录》

The Holy Mother Primordial Lady, the mother of the Old Lord in Daoist mythology, is a divine being formed from the confluence of the subtle, harmonious Qi of the hidden Yin. She is also called the Mysterious and Wondrous Jade Maiden and revered as the teacher of the Supreme Emperor. The Supreme Old Lord had already come into being before Heaven and Earth were created. Through countless cosmic cycles, he manifested to teach and transform, though the changes through which he appeared and withdrew are too many to recount. To reveal the beginning of life’s generation in the human world, the Old Lord divided his divine form and entrusted it to the Primordial Lady’s womb, descending once more into the world.

In ancient times, when Heaven and Earth had only just taken shape, the Old Lord was once born at Tian’gang’s Spirit Mirror Mountain. In the eighth year of King Yang Jia’s reign in the Shang dynasty, a gengshen year, the Old Lord rode upon sunlight, driving nine dragons. He transformed into a radiant orb like a nine-colored pellet, descended from Heaven, and entered the Primordial Lady’s womb. At that time, she lived beside the Wo Spring in Qu Ren Village, Lai Township, Ku County, in the state of Chu. One day, while dozing in the afternoon, she felt a ray of sunlight, like a shooting star, enter her mouth, and so she became pregnant. She carried the child for eighty-one years. Strange fragrances constantly drifted through her room, which shone with light like that of the sun and moon; spirits appeared to guard her. Her appearance remained exceptionally beautiful, and she did not grow old.

On the fifteenth day of the second month of the gengchen year, the ninth year of King Wu Ding’s reign in the Shang dynasty, the Primordial Lady gave birth while holding onto a plum tree, and the Old Lord emerged from her left cheek. At that moment, nine dragons surged up from beneath the ground and soared through the sky, spouting water to bathe him. Nine wells later formed where the dragons had appeared. They still stand at the Taiqing Palace in Bozhou and are known as the Nine Wells.

After his birth, the Old Lord could walk nine steps. With each step, a lotus flower sprang up beneath his feet to support him. The sun and moon shone brightly, and the spirits came to guard him. Pointing to the plum tree, he said, “This shall be my surname.” Thus he took the surname Li, and people of that time also called the Primordial Lady Mother Li. After taking nine steps, he pointed his left hand toward Heaven and his right hand toward Earth, and said, “Above Heaven and below Heaven, I alone am supreme. What is there to celebrate in the sufferings of the world?”

Within three days of Laozi’s birth, his body changed nine times. He was nine feet tall, with green eyebrows and white hair. His forehead was round and full like the sun, and his gaze deep as the moon. His nose had twin pillars, and his ears had three gates. His brows and eyes were handsome, his square mouth well formed, his steps steady, and his fingers long and open. His body bore seventy-two distinctive features and eighty-one auspicious forms; everything was complete.

When the Primordial Lady, a revered female immortal, saw that his hair was already white at birth, she called him “Laozi,” meaning “Old Master.” Some say Laozi himself once said that he had nine names. Others claim he had thirty-six honorific titles and seventy-two names.

The Mysterious and Wondrous Inner Chapter records: When the Lord Lao was born, the gods of Heaven and Earth all came to the courtyard to greet him. The Sun Youth radiated light, and the Moon Consort scattered flowers. The Seven Primordials, the stellar spirits represented by the Big Dipper, shone in every direction, while the Three Pure Essences, the three clear and luminous vital energies of Daoism, filled the courtyard. Flowers sent out their fragrance, and lotuses sprang up on the land. Divine youths and Mysterious Maidens stood at his sides. A distant, wondrous spirit music sounded in the air, and heavenly music shook the skies.

The Lord Lao then served the Primordial Lady with reverence, quietly expounding the mysterious and wondrous Great Dao. He prepared to teach living beings far and wide and to promote the Orthodox Way with great vigor. In a moment of leisure, the Primordial Lady said to the Lord Lao: “When I look at the human body, I see that it is made from things temporarily borrowed from six powers. What are these six powers? The Wood Spirit Jia-Yin governs the bones; the Metal Spirit Jia-Shen governs the teeth and nails; the Earth Spirit Jia-Xu governs the flesh; the Wind Spirit Jia-Chen governs the breath; the Fire Spirit Jia-Wu governs warmth; and the Water Spirit Jia-Zi governs moisture. The Wood Spirit also governs the liver, the Fire Spirit the heart, the Earth Spirit the spleen, the Metal Spirit the lungs, the Water Spirit the kidneys, and the Wind Spirit the gallbladder. Together, these six powers make up the human body.

“Accordingly, the human body has five organs and six bowels, nine palaces and twelve chambers, four limbs and five bodily parts, three zang and nine orifices, one hundred and eighty vital joints and hinges, and three hundred and sixty bones. Each is placed within the body according to its proper affiliation.”

Thus, people are able to move, see, and breathe; eat and drink; speak; distinguish what they like and dislike; and understand right and wrong. When harmony is lacking within a family, illness arises.

Each person is born in a particular year, month, day, and hour, and the corresponding lunar lodges—those marking the positions of the stars—are thought to influence wealth and poverty, status and lowliness, and the length of one’s life. Yet all things in the world that come together eventually part; whatever is born will die, whatever succeeds may fail, whatever flourishes will decline. This is the usual course of things. The body must eventually decay, consciousness must one day disperse, and life must inevitably come to an end. This is truly frightening. While consciousness remains, a person is alive; when it departs, the person becomes a corpse. Is this not grievous?

This happens because the five colors disturb the eyes, making it hard to see clearly; the five sounds disturb the ears, making it hard to hear clearly; and the five flavors disturb the mouth and tongue, dulling their natural sensations. Confused choices unsettle the heart and stir the mind. Unrestrained cravings and desires scatter the spirit. Hatred and attachment, when left unchecked, weary and trouble the heart. If these influences are not removed in time, one’s resolve will be worn down day by day, and one’s life will grow shorter day by day. How could this not serve as a warning?

The five colors are like awls that pierce the eyes; the five sounds, like hammers that block the ears; the five flavors, like axes that wound the tongue. All manner of possessions are like a blazing fire that consumes the body. These things invite calamity; they are where troubles and injuries gather.

The Primordial Lord (a title for a revered Daoist deity) said: If you value longevity, begin with yourself, then extend your care to your family and community, and eventually to all under Heaven. Children should be filial, and ministers should be loyal; those in high positions should be caring, and those below them should be respectful. Only by keeping food, drink, sounds, and sights in due measure can one accord with the Dao and return to one’s true nature. If you pursue longevity solely for yourself, seeking to remain forever in Wuwei (non-action), while evading your responsibilities to those above and below you, failing to be loyal or filial and disregarding the aid you owe others, then this narrow-minded pursuit of goodness runs counter to the Dao and is itself a loss of De. Even if you could set aside fear for yourself and forget the pleasures of sounds, sights, food, and drink, becoming like withered wood and cold ashes…

Even if one could eliminate attachment to the “self,” forget the pleasures brought by appearances and flavors, and cultivate oneself until one was like withered wood or dead ashes, what would be precious about that? Those who cultivate the Dao should be at ease and free from entanglements, peaceful and always able to move through life with understanding. They should pass through immeasurable ages, aiding all living beings. This is the kind of long life that deserves to be valued.

Long life is difficult to attain; it depends on loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and righteousness. When these virtues are present, one’s merit benefits others, and one’s lifespan can naturally be extended. Without these virtues, to remain alone in the mountains and forests, keeping company with plants, trees, and stones, is simply to waste one’s life. After death, suffering still awaits: one’s earlier offenses have not been erased, and no merit has been accumulated. One will lose human status and be reborn in a remote foreign land, or become an alien creature such as a bird, a fish, or a being dwelling beneath the water, forever cut off from the Dao. This is truly heartbreaking.

Those who cultivate through good deeds can remain in happiness and ease; those who devote their hearts and minds to evil will head toward death and endless suffering. Practitioners of the highest order accumulate good deeds and thereby attain lasting life. They are called “Perfected Ones” (zhenren), those who have realized the Dao and become perfected. Heaven and Earth will one day be destroyed, but the Perfected Ones will not perish. They transcend the Three Realms—the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm—and roam freely in the Upper Clarity heavens, the higher celestial realms described in Daoism.

The scripture warns people by describing the consequences of a single evil deed: when ordinary people accumulate one thousand evils, their descendants will become demonic and rebellious; with two thousand, they themselves will become servants; with three thousand, they will suffer illness, loneliness, and hardship; with four thousand, they will encounter plague and exile; with five thousand, they will become ghosts of the Five Prisons; with six thousand, prisoners in the Twenty-Eight Hells; with seven thousand, laborers in the various hells of the four directions; with eight thousand, they will fall into the Ice Hell; with nine thousand, they will enter the Bian-di Hell; and with ten thousand, they will fall into the Bili Hell, one of the hells described in Daoism. All ten thousand evils begin with the Three Actions of body, speech, and mind: bodily conduct, words, and thoughts. Each deed sets another in motion, until they accumulate into ten thousand evils. Those who fall into the Bili Hell will never be pardoned. Their punishment stretches on without end, and no one can rescue them. How could this fail to cause grief?

As soon as people recognize that they have committed an evil deed, they should correct it at once and never repeat it. Then they will not be far from the Dao. If they are troubled by evil spirits, they should purify their minds, examine themselves, repent, and cultivate themselves; in this way they can turn from evil toward good.

When a person performs one good deed, the mind and spirit become settled; when they perform ten, their vital energy grows stronger; when they perform a hundred, auspicious signs descend; when they perform a thousand, their descendants can become immortals and perfected beings. By performing two thousand good deeds, one can become an officer in the realm of sages, perfected beings, and immortals; with three thousand, a prominent figure among the immortals; with four thousand, a teacher under Heaven and ruler over the hosts of sages, perfected beings, and immortals; with five thousand, a leader among them; with six thousand, a minister among them; with seven thousand, a prince or king among them; with eight thousand, an emperor among them; with nine thousand, one of the Five Emperors of Primordial Beginning; and with ten thousand, the Supreme Jade Emperor.

The Primordial Goddess said: “The foundation of all ten thousand good deeds is the cultivation of the three karmic actions of body, speech, and mind. The ten good deeds nourish one another, eventually accumulating into ten thousand. Good deeds increase one’s lifespan; evil deeds diminish it. Divine offices oversee the rewarding of good and punishment of evil, and the principle of karmic retribution allows no discrepancy. The root of long life lies in doing good. Be vigilant and spur yourself on.”

The Primordial Goddess also said: “People live between Heaven and Earth and receive Qi that may be clear or turbid, firm or yielding. Thus their cultivation differs, and their temperaments take different forms. Those with clear Qi are intelligent and perceptive; those with turbid Qi are violent and foolish. Those with firm Qi are solemn and strong; those with yielding Qi are compassionate and generous. Just as wood is strong and upright, earth benevolent and harmonious, water humble and yielding, fire fierce, and metal stern and prone to breaking, so too do people develop their temperaments according to the Qi they receive. The wise can restrain and master their temperament, thereby extending their lifespan; the foolish indulge their desires and damage their nature. Nature is the source of destiny, and destiny is the foundation of life. One should strive to cultivate and diligently refine oneself, nurturing life to nourish one’s nature and guarding the spirit to preserve life. In this way, one can leave suffering behind and ascend to a realm of peace and joy, with blessings without end.”

Human life is sustained by Shen and Qi: when Shen and Qi are settled, life can continue; when they are severed, a person dies. Qi condenses to form Jing, and Jing condenses to form Shen. When Shen and Qi are abundant, one can attain longevity. The Primordial Lady said: People know only to satisfy their appetites with rich foods, not that delicacies can also shorten their lives. They know only to glorify themselves with titles and stipends, not that a life of luxury and high rank can also harm them.

Therefore, those who cultivate the Dao use the “Nine Elixirs,” methods of cultivation and refinement in Daoism, to nourish the body; they use the “Five Spirits,” the spirits of the five organs within the body, to release blockages; they guide the breath back to the root of life; and at the “Three Passes,” bodily gateways described in cultivation, they cut off the sources of impediments to practice. Through repeated cultivation and refinement, the body’s joints and channels become free-flowing and the mind and body clear. Only by undoing the constraints inherited from birth can one recognize one’s original nature. Once this original nature is recognized, one can become a high immortal.

An immortal is made through inner learning and realization. The Dao must be sought within and cultivated in secret before one can accord with it. To become a perfected one is to cultivate stillness and profundity until one accords with the true Dao. To become spirit-like requires steadily accumulating responsiveness until one can commune with the numinous. By constantly guarding the mind and spirit and keeping them undivided, one draws close to becoming an immortal. But if thoughts chase after one another and the spirit grows weary, while the body is troubled and unable to focus, every state—movement or stillness—wears down Jing and Qi. Even with keen eyes and ears and broad learning, one may spend a lifetime seeking the Dao and only drift farther from it.

A person who does not cultivate the Dao is like an illusory apparition, merely lodging for a time between Heaven and Earth. If one gathers in the breath, nourishes the spirit, and diligently and single-mindedly cultivates the true, then, in time, one can attain the Dao. Once the Dao is attained, one can dwell together with Heaven and Earth within the Great Origin, the source from which the cosmos began. If one goes further, penetrating emptiness and realizing the original source, one can abide with the Great Origin in a state of utter stillness and formlessness. Whoever fully awakens to this stillness sees nothing and hears nothing, merging completely with the Dao.

The Primordial Lady also said: The Dao is the utmost reality, empty, still, and open. “Wei” is a means of relying on the mysterious workings of transformation. The Dao’s primordial form can be used, through ritual methods, to aid people in the world. Human beings possess spiritual awareness and, through cultivation, can accord with the Dao. If they learn to cultivate the Dao, they can transform naturally. The essentials of the Dao lie in what is profound yet concise and easy to put into practice; the secret essentials of its methods lie in talismans, medicines, and “black.”

The secrets of cultivation lie chiefly in talismans, medicines, and Qi (vital energy). Talismans are the numinous characters of the sun, moon, and stars, tokens through which Heaven conveys its true intent. Medicines are the essence of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), the refined substance formed from the vital energies of the earth. Qi is the pure energy produced by the harmonizing of Yin-Yang, and the source of the numinous nature of all things. These three are essential to the cultivation of the Dao and treasures cherished by those who seek immortality. One who cultivates all three can endure for a long time and widely aid and save living beings.

The Primordial Lord said, “How can the Dao be brought to fruition? The key lies in how people themselves cultivate and spread it. Medicines can refine and nourish the body; talismans can summon the spirits. When the spirits gather, the mind and spirit become clear and responsive. When the body is strengthened, Qi becomes stable. With spirit and Qi complete, the breath of Qi steady, and the body strong, life can be preserved. Once life is preserved, one can transform Qi into essence, enter deeply into the original state, and fly through the void. Birth and death, coming and going, all follow their natural course; thus one can endure for a long time. Even when those who have attained the Dao face a great calamity in which Heaven and Earth collapse, disaster cannot harm them. This is the power of talismans and medicines.”

The Primordial Lord also said, “In ancient times there were seventy-two chapters on the transformative powers of precious scriptures and the methods for cultivating the Returning Elixir and Golden Liquid. Today, only nine remain, divided into three volumes of three chapters each. The three chapters in one of these volumes make up the Scripture of the True Elixir. The nine chapters are titled: first, ‘Mysterious White’; second, ‘Golden Essence’; third, ‘Flying Talisman’; fourth, ‘Golden Flower’; and fifth, ‘Three and Five.’ These five are called the ‘Five Talismans.’ The remaining titles are ‘White Snow,’ ‘Male and Female,’ ‘White Flower,’ ‘Golden Liquid,’ ‘Elixir Flower,’ ‘Five Colors,’ ‘Mud and Mercury,’ ‘Golden Essence,’ and ‘Nine Cauldrons.’ These are all called the ‘Ninefold Returning Elixir.’ Attaining any one of these methods of making an elixir is enough to attain long life; there is no need to cultivate them all.”

The Way of the Divine Elixir passes through three changes and five transformations, reaching at most nine. Medicines refined from plants and trees rot when buried in the earth, disintegrate when boiled, and char when burned. They cannot make themselves grow again, so how could they enable people to live forever? The Way of the Golden Elixir is the opposite: the longer it is fired, the purer it becomes; once cooled, its wonders become more apparent. Thus it can enable people to live forever.

So he ordered Lord Lao to refine elixirs, in order to show people the foundations of cultivating the Dao. A well known as the Elixir Well still stands in Bozhou today. The Primordial Lady said, “Although the nine elixirs are the same, the attainments of those who take them still depend on their own cultivation. Those of superior capacity become celestial officials after taking them; those of middling capacity take their place among the immortals of Kunlun; and even those of lesser capacity can live forever and become immortals in this world.

“The Nine Elixirs and the Golden Liquor, an immortal medicine of Daoist legend, are both foundations for ascending to Heaven. Those who take the Nine Elixirs can become celestial officials, with cloud dragons coming to welcome them. Those who take the Golden Liquor will see their bodies turn golden, then ascend to Heaven. Yet the key lies in performing good deeds, accumulating De, and cultivating over a long period. Only then will the divine elixir come. Those without merit or cultivation cannot expect to become immortals.

“Long ago, I received from the Celestial Lord of Primordial Beginning twelve hundred methods of cultivation. I endured countless tribulations and guided many people to salvation. In ages past, the Great Immortal of Perfect Reality, the Heavenly Emperor, the Supreme Emperor, Taiwei, the Primordial Lady Taiyi, as well as the Mysterious Maiden and the Yellow Emperor, all received these teachings and attained the Great Dao. Daoist methods are not to be practiced lightly; they must be transmitted to the right people. Those who sink into desire, cling to sensual pleasures, and are always caught up in right and wrong are like stones dropped into a river: once gone, they never return. How tragic.

“This Daoist method is profound and mysterious, kept secret in the Jade Terrace of the Nine Mysteries, a pavilion in the fabled realm of immortals. It is transmitted only once every ten thousand years. Only those whose names appear in the Register of Mystery and on the Jade Roll have the chance to see its texts. Those without karmic affinity from past lives, or whose inborn capacities are obstructed by hardship, cannot hear of it.”

After the Primordial Lady had finished speaking, an ornate carriage and a feathered canopy were made ready, and her celestial officials and attendants assembled in solemn ranks. She then mounted the Chariot of the Eight Radiances, a vehicle for immortals, and ascended to Heaven in broad daylight. Lord Lao rode a white deer, escorting the carriage above the juniper tree as they returned to Great Clarity, the Daoist celestial realm. The deer’s hoofprints can still be seen on the tree today.

Some also say that the Primordial Lady holds the highest rank. She governs Heaven and Earth, harmonizes Yin-Yang, commands the winds and rains, directs the movements of the Five Planets, regulates cold and heat, and holds the pivot of Heaven and Earth in her hands. All the immortals of the Three Realms—Heaven, Earth, and Water—depend on her and are under her authority. She also governs human life and death and the rise and decline of the world.

For this reason, calling her the Holy Mother of the Old Lord (Taishang Laojun, a revered Daoist deity) shows that all life in Heaven and Earth has a source, and that those who seek the Dao and pursue cultivation have a foundational lineage of instruction. She therefore moved the Primordial Lord Taiyi, a revered Daoist deity, to explain the essential methods of returning the Elixir and Golden Liquids, a Daoist alchemical term for key teachings in Neidan cultivation, and to pass them on to the world.

Primordial Lady of the Golden Mother

The Golden Mother Primordial Sovereign, also known as the Ninefold-Spirit, Wondrously-Mysterious Golden Mother of Turtle Mountain and the Great-Spirit, Nine-Radiance Golden Mother of the Turtle Terrace, is the Queen Mother of the West. She is the embodiment of the West’s most wondrous Qi (vital energy), and the most exalted spirit within the deep and hidden Yin Qi.

In ancient times, Dao (the Way) was deep and still, and nothing had yet appeared. As the Great Dao was about to display its mysterious power and bring forth the myriad things, it first used the Eastern qi of utmost truth to bring forth the Wood Duke. He was born above the Blue Sea, in the realm of Azure Spirit. He governs the Qi of Yang harmony and rules the East; he is also called the Lord Duke. Then the Great Dao used the West’s most wondrous Qi to bring forth the Golden Mother. She was born in Yichuan, in the Divine Continent. Her surname was Wei, and from birth she could fly. She governs the Qi of Yin spirits and rules the West; she is also called the Queen Mother.

Both the Wood Duke and the Golden Mother received the Dao’s pure and profound Qi, which gathered and took form. Together, they harmonize the two Qi of Yin and Yang, nurture Heaven and Earth, and bring forth the myriad things. The Golden Mother embodies the foundation of yielding gentleness and is the source of the utmost Yin Qi. Dwelling in the West, she nurtures all beings like a mother. All women in Heaven, the human world, and the Three Realms and Ten Directions who attain the Dao and become immortals fall under her rule.

The Golden Mother dwells in the regions of Turtle Mountain, Mount Chong, Kunlun’s Dark Garden, and the Garden of Ban Feng. There stand tier upon tier of golden walls, twelve jade towers, the Gate of Jade Blossoms, the Hall of Luminous Green, the nine-tiered Dark Terrace, and rooms of purple, emerald, and cinnabar. To the left, her palace gardens adjoin the Jade Pool; to the right, they are encircled by Emerald Waters. Below the mountain lie nine layers of Weak Water, with waves rising ten thousand yards high. Only by riding a wind chariot or driving a feathered carriage can one reach the place. There are also jade gates soaring into the heavens, green terraces reaching up to the clouds, and houses of blue jade alongside palaces in vermilion and purple.

A continuous stretch of richly colored curtains glittered in splendor, their radiance shining in every direction like the bright moon. She wore an ornate crown and carried a sacred talisman. Immortal maidens attended her on the left, while feathered attendants—young servants of the immortals—kept her company on the right. A canopy of precious gems reflected light across the courtyard, and featherlike curtains screened its center. Beside the steps grew white-ring trees and groves of crimson-hardwood trees. Their sky-blue branches intertwined in layer upon layer, and their jade-like trunks rose high into the clouds. Even without wind, the trees naturally gave forth clear, harmonious sounds, playing the music of the Eight Assemblies—the celestial music of the Daoist heavens.

The Divine Continent lies southeast of Mount Kunlun. For this reason, the Erya says that the place where the Queen Mother of the West resides lies beneath the sun. The Erya also records that the Queen Mother’s grove contains crimson-hardwood trees, with dense sky-blue branches and jade-like trunks rising high above. Even when there is no wind, clear celestial music can be heard among the trees.

The Erya further says that the Queen Mother had tousled hair, wore a sheng—a kind of ancient crown ornament—had tiger’s teeth, and was skilled at giving long cries. This description actually refers to the deity of the White Tiger of the Western Direction, whom the Queen Mother sent forth; it is not the Queen Mother’s true appearance.

The Celestial King of Primordial Beginning granted the Queen Mother of the West authority over the myriad heavens, along with the Register of Nine Lights of Turtle Mountain, a celestial catalogue of registers and talismans. This enabled her to summon and dispatch the myriad spirits, command the perfected sages, oversee oaths and attest to covenants, and direct the ceremonial retinues of the immortals throughout the heavens. Whenever the Heavenly Worthies and Supreme Sages held audiences or banquets, or conducted examinations and inspections, the Queen Mother of the West was always present. She also took part whenever the precious Shangqing scriptures or the jade books of the Three Caverns, important Daoist texts, were transmitted or used to guide people toward deliverance.

Long ago, when the Yellow Emperor campaigned against Chiyou, Chiyou was so powerful that the Yellow Emperor could not stop him. Chiyou could also perform many kinds of magic: he summoned wind and rain, breathed out smoke and mist, and threw the Yellow Emperor’s troops into confusion. The Yellow Emperor withdrew to rest at the foot of Mount Tai. Drowsy with worry, he fell asleep. The Queen Mother of the West then sent a messenger. Wearing a black fox-fur coat, the messenger gave the Yellow Emperor a talisman and said, “Taiyi, the Supreme Deity, is before you. Whoever obtains this talisman will prevail. Used in battle, it is certain to bring victory.”

The talisman was three inches wide and one foot long, its color gleaming blue-green like jade, with characters written on it in cinnabar. After the Yellow Emperor put on the talisman, the Queen Mother of the West sent a woman to him. She had a human head and a crow’s body, and said to the Yellow Emperor, “I am the Dark Maiden of the Nine Heavens.”

She taught the Yellow Emperor, the legendary ruler of antiquity, the essentials of the Three Palaces and Five Intentions of Yin-Yang, the arts of Taiyi Dunjia and Liuren for calculating dates and directions and planning military advances and retreats, the secrets of the Yinfu, and the writings on the Five Talismans and Five Victories of the Lingbao tradition. With these strategies, the Yellow Emperor defeated Chiyou in the central region, then campaigned against Yugang at Banquan, pacified the realm, and established his capital at Zhuolu in Shanggu.

Several years later, the Queen Mother of the West sent the spirit of the White Tiger, riding a white tiger, to the Yellow Emperor’s court to present him with a map. In his later years, she also taught him the Way of Clear Stillness and Original Being, the Way of Correct Truth, and admonished him: “If you never stop eating, your body cannot become light and healthy. If you never stop thinking, your spirit cannot become clear. If you indulge in sights and sounds, your heart cannot be at peace. When the heart and spirit are unsettled, the spirit cannot be keen; when the spirit is dull, the Dao is difficult to cultivate. The mysteries of cultivating the Dao do not lie in gazing up at the stars, worshipping the Northern Dipper, or exhausting yourself through hardship and toil. What matters is keeping the heart clear and still, no longer rushing about after stray thoughts and worldly affairs. Then you may hope to attain the Way of the immortals and live long.”

Later, when Yu Shun was acting as regent, the Queen Mother of the West sent a messenger to present him with a white jade ring and gave a map to Yi, one of Shun’s ministers. Shun then expanded the Nine Provinces established by the Yellow Emperor into twelve provinces. The Queen Mother also sent Shun a jade pipe called the Huangguan; playing it could harmonize the winds of the eight directions.

In the twenty-fifth year of King Zhao of Zhou, in the year Yimao, the Old Lord—Laozi’s honorific title in Daoism—and the perfected person Yin Xi traveled beyond the eight directions and went west to Turtle Terrace, where the Old Lord expounded the Classic of Constant Clarity and Stillness. In a preface, the immortal Ge Xuan of the Left Palace of the Supreme Ultimate said: “I received this classic long ago from the Lord of the Eastern Florescence. The Lord of the Eastern Florescence received it from the Lord of the Golden Palace, who in turn received it from the Queen Mother of the West. Until now, it had been passed on orally, without being written down. I am recording it now and transmitting it to the world.”

In the time of King Mu of Zhou, he ordered a chariot to be prepared and set out in a carriage drawn by eight fine horses. The text then lists the horses’ names and the charioteers: Zao Fu served as driver, and Gao Shang rode at the right side of the chariot. It later mentions another carriage and its horses, but some wording is repeated in the original, and the account of the carriage team is incomplete.

Then King Mu of Zhou traveled by chariot, with Quhuang harnessed on the right and Yushu on the left. In the other pair, Daoli was on the left and Baiyao on the right. Shen Bai drove the chariot, with Ben Rong riding at its right side. The chariots raced a thousand li and reached the territory of the Jusu people.

The Jusu people offered King Mu the blood of a white swan to drink, and prepared the milk of cattle and horses to wash his feet. After the people in the two accompanying chariots had drunk, they continued on their way and spent the night at the foot of Mount Kunlun, on the north bank of the Red River. The next day, King Mu climbed a hill on Mount Kunlun and gazed upon the palace of the Yellow Emperor. There he set up a stone marker, hoping that his visit would be remembered by later generations. He then paid a formal visit to the Queen Mother of the West as a guest and drank wine beside the Jade Pool. The Queen Mother sang to King Mu, who answered her in song; their lyrics sounded sorrowful. Afterward, King Mu looked toward the place where the sun sets, which legend says can be reached in a single day by traveling ten thousand li. He sighed, “My De is insufficient. Will later generations perhaps hold me to account for my failings?”

It is also said that King Mu presented the Queen Mother of the West with a white jade tablet and layered brocade to wish her a long life. He sang “Song of the White Clouds,” carved a record of his journey into stone on Mount Yi, and then returned.

Those who ascend to heaven and become immortals are divided into nine ranks. The highest rank is the Upper Immortal, called the True King of the Nine Heavens; the second is the True Sovereign of the Three Heavens; the third, the Most High Perfected Person; the fourth, the Flying-Heaven Perfected Person; the fifth, the Numinous Immortal; the sixth, the Perfected Person; the seventh, the Numinous Person; the eighth, the Flying Immortal; and the ninth, the Immortal. These ranks follow a set order and cannot be skipped.

When ascending to heaven, one first pays respects to the Lord of Wood, the revered deity of the eastern immortal realm, and then visits the Mother of Metal, the Queen Mother of the West. Only after receiving an appointment may one ascend to the Nine Heavens, enter the Three Pure Ones’ realms, pay respects to the Most High, and attend court before the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning. Thus, in the early Han, four or five children were playing by the road when one of them sang: “Put on a blue skirt, enter Heaven’s gate, bow to the Mother of Metal, and pay respects to the Lord of Wood.”

It is also said that when ascending to heaven, one must first pay respects to the Lord of Wood and then visit the Mother of Metal. Only after receiving an appointment may one ascend to the Nine Heavens, enter the Three Pure Ones’ realms, pay respects to the Most High, and attend court before the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning.

In the early years of the Han dynasty, four or five children were playing by the roadside. One of them sang, “Wearing a blue skirt, entering the Gate of Heaven; paying respects to the Golden Mother and making obeisance to the Duke of Wood.” No one at the time understood what this meant. Only Zhang Zifang (Zhang Liang) understood, so he went to pay his respects. He said, “This is a Jade Boy of the Eastern Duke (a young immortal who serves the Eastern Duke). After immortals attain the Dao and ascend to Heaven, they should pay respects to the Golden Mother and make obeisance to the Duke of Wood. Those who have not transcended the mortal world and entered the realm of immortals cannot know the way that leads to the immortal Dao.”

Emperor Xiaowu of Han, Liu Che (Emperor Wu of Han), was devoted to the pursuit of long life. In the first year of the Yuanfeng era, he climbed Mount Song, built the Terrace for Seeking the True, and observed purification and quiet contemplation. On the Wuchen day of the fourth month, the Queen Mother sent Wangzi Deng, a Jade Maiden of Tangcheng, to tell Emperor Wu: “I have heard that you wish to give up the emoluments of ruling the four seas and set aside the dignity of a sovereign of ten thousand chariots in order to seek the true Dao of long life. How diligent you are! On the seventh day of the seventh month, I will descend for a short visit.”

Emperor Wu asked Dongfang Shuo to determine whether this event truly involved a supernatural response. He then observed purification for a hundred days and burned incense in the palace. After the second watch of the night, bank upon bank of white clouds rose in the southwest and drifted straight toward the palace. As they drew near, they revealed clouds glowing with nine-colored light, while the sound of flutes and drums filled the sky. Dragons and phoenixes, along with crowds of people and horses, rode qilin and mounted deer as escorts. There were also carriages, heavenly horses, colored banners, and feathered ceremonial ornaments. A thousand chariots and ten thousand horsemen lit up the palace towers. Immortal attendants stood packed in close ranks, so numerous that each seemed more than ten feet tall. Once the procession arrived, the attendants vanished from sight.

The Queen Mother rode in a carriage of purple clouds, drawn by a qilin marked with nine-colored patterns. She carried a celestial talisman of command and wore a numinous seal of adamantine. Her yellow brocade robe was vividly patterned and shone with golden light. At her waist hung the Sword of Divided Radiance; she wore a great sash of flying clouds, her hair piled in a lofty, ornate coiffure, and a crown of dawn tassels of Supreme Truth. On her feet were square jade shoes patterned with phoenixes. She appeared to be about twenty years old, with a graceful bearing and peerless beauty—a true immortal. As she alighted from her carriage, two women supported her. She then ascended her seat and sat facing east. Emperor Wu knelt and bowed, then asked after her comfort and well-being.

After they had stood waiting for some time, the Queen Mother of the West invited Emperor Wu of Han to sit and served him rare delicacies from Heaven: fragrant flowers and fruits, purple mushrooms, and elixirs. The dishes were dazzling and extraordinary, made up of things unknown in the human world. Emperor Wu could not even name them.

The Queen Mother then had her attendant bring peaches. Seven were set on a jade plate, each as large as a fledgling’s egg. She gave Emperor Wu four and ate three herself. As he ate, he saved the peach pits. When the Queen Mother asked why, he replied that he wanted to plant them. She said, “These peaches bear fruit only once every three thousand years. How could they possibly grow in the barren soil of the human world?”

Next, the Queen Mother ordered her attendants to perform. Wang Zideng played the music of Eight Orbs’ Ao; Dong Shuangcheng played the Yunhe sheng; Young Master Shi struck the jade of Kunting; Xu Feiqiong played the reed pipe of Zhenling; Wan Linghua struck the stone of Wuling; Fan Chengjun struck the chime stone of Dongyin; Duan Anxiang played the Jiutian jun; and Fa Ying sang “The Song of Mysterious Spirit.” The music soared and rang out, and celestial melodies resounded through the air. When the singing and music ended, Emperor Wu left his seat, bowed to the ground, and asked how he might attain long life.

The Queen Mother said, “If you can hold worldly splendor lightly, take pleasure in simplicity, avoid luxury in your dwelling, and devote yourself to understanding the Dao of emptiness, stillness, and Wuwei (non-action), your practice will naturally advance. But you indulge in sensual pleasures, give free rein to desire, kill arbitrarily, and live in extravagance and excess. All this brings ruin to body and mind. Lust is like an axe that cleaves the body; killing invites retribution; extravagance damages the heart. When desire accumulates, the spirit declines; when sexual excess becomes unrestrained, life is cut short. Your body is finite, yet it contains within it calamities that destroy its form. This small frame suffers countless harms, yet you hope to use it to escape the Three Corpses—the spirits said in Daoism to dwell within the human body, urge people toward wrongdoing, and damage their lives—and thereby preserve your body and live forever. That is exceedingly difficult. It is like a gull without wings hoping to fly across the Celestial Lake, or a fungus that lives from dawn to dusk imagining it can enjoy a long life.”

If you can clear away all kinds of disorder, remove impurities, and transform your thoughts; nurture the original spirit in the Crimson Palace, where the heart spirit resides within the body, and close the gate of sexual desire; restrain extravagance in a quiet room; cherish living beings and do them no harm; uphold compassion and take joy in giving; cultivate the breath and treasure Jing and Qi—could you still fail to keep your hair and beard? If you cannot do these things, you are like someone trying to cross a great river while carrying a stone: in the end, success will be beyond reach.

The Emperor knelt and accepted the Queen Mother of the West’s admonition. He said, “I truly lack ability. I have sunk into worldly life, and after inheriting the legacy of my ancestors, I became entangled in worldly affairs. My punishments and policies have often been misguided, and my offenses have piled up like a mountain. From this day forward, I will act in accordance with these words.”

The Queen Mother of the West said, “You already understand the methods for nurturing your nature and the essentials of regulating the body. What matters is only diligent practice and steadfast persistence. My teacher, the Heavenly King Yuanshi, a revered Daoist deity, once taught me a secret formula on the Terrace of Yanxiao: If you wish for long life, first regard the body as something outside yourself, then seek the way through self-cultivation. Hold firmly to the Three Ones, the three vital spirits in the body, and nurture the root of life. Let sweet dew from the Mysterious Valley moisten the Jing hidden deep within, so that pure Jing flows into the Gate of Heaven, an important aperture in the head. The Golden Chamber, where the spirits are stored within the body, revolves at the Central Pass, an inner aperture of the body. The blue and white Qi become distinct and gather in the Muddy Pellet, the spirit chamber in the head. Nourish the fluids, seal in the Jing, and settle the body’s spirits. Let the Three Palaces, the body’s three inner chambers, each rest in its proper place, and guard the Crimson Palace.

“Let the Wu and Ji Qi in the Yellow Court, where the body’s spirits and Qi reside, remain undispersed, and let them circulate through the five organs and twelve channels. Regulate the breath through inhalation and exhalation, bringing the six viscera into harmony and the hun and po souls to peace. Dispel all illnesses, withstand cold and heat, preserve Jing and Qi, and prolong life so that one may endure for a long time. This is the essential method of cultivating the Dao by breathing in the Qi of Great Harmony and guarding one’s natural authenticity. Anyone who practices in this way can attain long life, command ghosts and spirits, and travel across the Five Sacred Mountains, though they still cannot ascend and fly through the empty expanse. If you can accomplish these things, they will be enough to free you from the world of dust. No one who studies to become an immortal fails to begin here.

“As for the Supreme One’s numinous medicines, the Lord Above’s wondrous substances, the Yin-Grown herbs beneath the earth, and the marvelous plants among the layered clouds, these are medicines used by the immortals. If you obtain the finest immortal medicines, you can live beyond your allotted years, right up to old age. These are precisely the medicines consumed by the Supreme One.”

Those who obtain the highest-grade elixirs can live for ages without growing old, surpassing the usual limits of human life. These are taken by the Supreme One, the highest deity in Daoism; even the middle-rank immortals cannot keep them. Those who obtain the middle-grade elixirs can also outlive the usual span of life, though they eventually die. These are taken by the Perfected Ones of Heaven, those who have attained the Dao; they are beyond the reach of the lower-rank immortals.

One grade below these are such medicines as the Nine Elixirs and Golden Liquid, Purple Radiance and Rainbow Essence, the Ninefold Refinement of Great Clarity, the Syrup of the Five Clouds, Dark Frost and Crimson Snow, the Three Yellow Elixirs of Soaring Flight, White Fragrance of Bundled Ying, the Eight Minerals and Thousand Zhi of Dark Islet, the Nine Lights of Weixi, Stone Gall from the Westward Flow, Green Coins of Bundled Cang, Surplus Grain of High Mound, Jade Fields of Jishi, the Return Elixir of Great Void, Golden Orchid Vessels, Crimson Grass of Long Radiance, and Flying Stalks of Cloud Children. Those who take these medicines can ascend to Heaven in broad daylight. They are taken by flying immortals, and are unknown to terrestrial immortals.

One grade below these are medicines such as the resin of pine and cypress, the sunken essence of mountain ginger, chrysanthemum, alisma, goji berry, poria, calamus, asparagus root, sesame, yellow essence, numinous flight, red boards, peach gum, tree blossoms, cimicifuga, teasel root, year-round renewal, and coptis. These are only some of the herbs; there are many kinds, with more than a thousand names. Taking them can prolong life. Though they cannot grant eternal life or ascent to the blue heavens, they can nourish the body, restore a youthful appearance, and enable one to command spirits and become a terrestrial immortal. Those who cultivate the Dao should advance through these stages in order to attain higher realms.

If one can regulate the breath and guide the vital essence so that it does not dissipate, one can live for a long time; when the breath endures, death does not come. Then there is no need to spend money seeking medicinal minerals or toil in pursuit of them: what one relies on is already within oneself. Ordinary people use this principle every day without knowing it. This is the highest-grade Dao and the key to following nature.

Within the human body, spirit is bestowed by Heaven, bodily form by Earth, and Qi by the Dao. When Qi is present, a person lives; when Qi departs, a person dies. The same is true of plants and all other things.

Human life takes the Dao as its foundation. How could one fail to nourish the spirit and strengthen one’s primordial Qi, in order to preserve one’s body? The sages of the highest order prize the wholeness of both body and spirit. Is it not a cause for sorrow when the body perishes and the spirit scatters? Once you lose this body, you must pass through countless kalpas before you can regain human form. You should cherish it. These words I have spoken were transmitted to me by my master, the Heavenly King Yuanshi. She then ordered the Jade Maiden Li Qingsun, a female immortal who served the immortals, to write them down and present them to the Celestial Emperor, instructing him to cultivate them diligently.

The Queen Mother of the West ordered her carriage prepared and was about to depart. The Celestial Emperor rose from his seat, bowed, and asked her to stay. The Queen Mother then had her maid summon the Lady of Highest Origin, a female immortal of the heavens, to descend with her to the Celestial Emperor’s palace. After a long while, the Lady of Highest Origin arrived, took her seat again, and the heavenly banquet was laid out.

Some time later, the Queen Mother asked the Lady of Highest Origin to bring out the Book of the Eight Convergences, the Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Sacred Peaks, the Numinous Flying Talisman of the Five Emperors and Six Jia, and other texts and talismans, twelve items in all. The Queen Mother said that in Heaven these books were transmitted only once every forty thousand kalpas, while in the human realm they could be passed on once every forty years to a person of the Dao. She then ordered her maid Song Lingbin to open the brocade cloud pouch and take out a volume to give to the Celestial Emperor. The Queen Mother rose and placed the book in his hands herself.

The Queen Mother pronounced this blessing: “Heaven is high and Earth is low; the Five Sacred Peaks guard the body. The primordial waters surge forth, dark Qi gathers, and the great marsh holds wondrous, mysterious essence. The Way of Heaven moves through the nine directions, and Yin-Yang and the Six Directions are thereby kept in lasting stability. The Supreme Eight Convergences, a scripture composed of celestial writing, is the method and token for ascending through the skies; true immortals use this token to communicate with the spirit realm. If it is disclosed or lost, the Celestial Court will punish you. Treasure this book, and you may attain longevity. Be sure to take care. I solemnly admonish Liu Changping: the Supreme Eight Convergences is the method and token for ascending through the skies; true immortals use it to communicate with the spirit realm. If it is disclosed or lost, the Celestial Court will punish you; treasure it, and you may attain longevity. Remember these words.”

When the blessing was complete, the Celestial Emperor bowed and accepted the book.

The Queen Mother of the West said, “Those who are just beginning to study the Dao and receive Fulu (talismans and registers) should offer separate sacrifices to the true spirits of the rivers, mountains, and peaks. Only after fasting and purification should they wear the talismans. After forty years, if you wish to pass on what you have received, you may transmit it to Dong Zhongjun and Li Shaojun. As an emperor, you should be especially diligent in sacrificing to the rivers, mountains, and peaks, so as to bring stability to the state. Submit memorial slips to the true spirits and pray that they protect the people.”

After speaking, the Queen Mother and the Lady of the Upper Primordial Realm ordered their carriage prepared and departed. Their attendants gathered, and just as they were about to ascend to heaven, the Queen Mother smiled and pointed at Fang Shuo. “He is a child from my neighborhood, naturally fond of joking. He once came three times to steal peaches. He formerly served as an immortal official under the Great Supreme One, but his fondness for jade wine made him neglect his duties, so he was demoted to assist you. He is no ordinary mortal.”

Later, Emperor Wu ignored the Queen Mother’s warning. He indulged in drink and sensual pleasures and continued to wage wars: campaigning in Liaodong, attacking Korea, opening roads into the southwestern Yi lands, and building towers and palaces on a grand scale. The people of the realm grew sorrowful and resentful, and Emperor Wu lost the right path. He once performed sacrifices at three places—Huizhong, Linhai, and the Eastern Sea—but the Queen Mother never appeared again.

The Daoist books Emperor Wu had received were kept on the Cypress Beam Terrace, where they were later destroyed by a heavenly fire. Li Shaojun shed his physical form and departed—what Daoism describes as casting off the body, leaving the world, and becoming an immortal. After ascending to heaven, Dongfang Shuo never returned. Following the calamity of the witchcraft affair, Emperor Wu’s remorse deepened. In the second year of Yuanshi, he died at the Five Persimmon Palace and was buried at Maoling.

Later, more than fifty volumes of Daoist books kept at Maoling in a golden chest appeared one day on Baodu Mountain. A jade chest and jade staff also appeared in the market at Fufeng. When people inspected Maoling, they found the tomb still as it had been; yet the chest and staff had appeared elsewhere. This too was regarded as evidence of immortality achieved through the transformation of one’s bodily form.

It is also said that Great Lord Mao Ying once governed Mount Gouqu in the south. On the ji-you day of the eighth month in the second year of Yuanshou, in the mountains of Nandu… Later accounts state that the jade chest and staff appeared in the market at Fufeng, while Maoling’s tomb remained intact. The chest and staff had appeared among the living, and this too was regarded as evidence of immortality achieved through the transformation of one’s bodily form.

There was also Lord Maoying of Great Mao, who governed Mount Gouqu in the south. On the jiyou day of the eighth month in the second year of Yuanshou, the Perfected One of Southern Marchmount, Lord Chi, Lord Wang of the Western Citadel, and the Azure Youth of Fangzhu all accompanied the Queen Mother of the West when she descended to Maoying’s dwelling.

Soon afterward, the Great Emperor of Heaven sent his embroidered-robed envoy, Ling Guangziqi, to bestow on Maoying a divine seal and jade tablet. The Lord Emperor of Taiwei sent Guan Xiutiao, an imperial censor of the Three Heavens’ Left Palace, to present him with an eight-dragon brocade carriage and a splendid robe with purple feathers. The Lord of the Great Dao Above sent his Assistant Dawn Minister, Shi Shumen, to give him a true golden-tiger talisman and a bell of flowing gold. The Sage Lord of the Golden Gate then ordered the Perfected One of Taiji to send Wang Zhong, Bao Qiu, and others—jade attendants of the Upper Mystery in the Orthodox Unity tradition—to present Maoying with Fourfold Swallow Embryo and the divine mushroom of flowing radiance.

After the four envoys had presented their gifts, they instructed Maoying to ingest the numinous mushrooms, wear the jade seal, put on the splendid robe, adjust his cap, fasten on the talismanic registers, and stand holding the bell. The four envoys told him: “By ingesting the Fourfold Hidden Mushroom, you may become a True Lord. By ingesting the Jade Mushroom of the Golden Gate, you may serve as Director of Lifespans, a divine office that governs longevity and the registers of life. By ingesting the Golden Essence of Flowing Radiance, you may serve as Director of Emoluments, who governs rank and reward. By ingesting the Long-Shining Pair in Flight, you may become a True Earl. By ingesting the Night-Luminous Grotto Herb, you may assume overall command of the Left and Right Palace Censors. Since you have now ingested all these, your lifespan will equal that of Heaven and Earth. You will rank as the Supreme Perfected Director of Lifespans and Upper Minister of the Eastern Marchmount, command the immortals of the Hao-Yue region, and oversee the source veins of the mountains east of the Yangzi.”

When they had finished speaking, the four envoys departed together. The Emperors of the Five Directions each arrived in the courtyard in a carriage and attire suited to their direction. They conveyed the Great Emperor’s decree and bestowed on Maoying a purple jade tablet and a golden scroll inscribed with the words “Nine Bestowals.” They ennobled him as Upper Minister of the Eastern Marchmount, True Lord Director of Lifespans, and Perfected One of the Great Origin. When the ceremony was over, the Five Direction Emperors departed together.

The Queen Mother of the West and Maoying’s teacher, Lord Wang of the Western Citadel, arranged a heavenly banquet for him. They drank and feasted merrily, singing “The Song of Mysterious Numinous Power.” After the banquet, the Queen Mother of the West took Lord Wang of the Western Citadel and Maoying to visit Maoying’s two younger brothers, and taught each of them the essential methods of the Dao.

The Queen Mother of the West commanded Lady of the Upper Origin to transmit four precious scriptures—The Great Empyrean, The Hidden Writings, The Vermilion Radiance, and The Essence of the Dao—to Mao Gu and Mao Zhong. The Queen Mother herself held The Great Empyrean and The Hidden Writings, and had her attendant Zhang Lingzi preside over the covenant ceremony, during which the scriptures were bestowed on Mao Ying, Mao Gu, and Mao Zhong. When the ceremony was over, the Queen Mother ascended to heaven and departed.

Later, Lady Wang Huacun, the Primordial Lady of Purple Emptiness, observed ritual purification and cultivated herself in seclusion at the Hidden Origin Terrace on Yangluo Mountain. The Queen Mother of the West and the Sage Lord of the Golden Palace descended to the terrace in the Eightfold Radiance Carriage, an ornate conveyance used by immortals. Together they traveled to the Upper Palace of Clear Emptiness and transmitted to Wang Huacun the four scrolls of The Hidden Writings of Jade Clarity. At that time, more than thirty immortals and perfected beings—including the Three Origins Ladies Feng Shuangli and Zhu Ziyang; the Left Immortal Lord, Shi Lucheng; the High Immortal of the Supreme Ultimate, Lord Yan Gai; the Perfected One of the Western City, Wang Fangping; the Perfected One of Great Emptiness; Redpine of Southern Peak; and Wang Ziqiao, the Perfected One of Tongbai—sang the Yang and Yin Songs of the Supreme Ultimate.

The Queen Mother of the West sang: “I ride the Eightfold Radiance Carriage, solemnly entering the immortal realm of Jade Clarity. The dragon banners sweep across the heights, while tiger guards command the vermilion-clad troops. At ease, I arrive beside the wondrous ford. All things come forth and flourish without end. Once this journey is made, when shall we meet again? Perhaps only when the cycles of tribulation have run their course and heaven and earth collapse. Then one should seek the ‘image within nonbeing’: neither deathlessness nor existence. Realize the natural Dao, quietly observe the myriad things, and unite with the profound Dao. Southern Peak rises, a pillar of the perfected immortals, its essence illumined by jade light. Take up a task without becoming attached to it; with an empty heart, one can receive the vital energy. We gather in joy at the bend of the Crimson River, sharing endless delight.”

After the Queen Mother finished singing, the Three Origins Ladies answered with a song. Then the Queen Mother, the Three Origins Ladies, Ziyang, the Left Immortal Lord, the Immortal Lord of the Supreme Ultimate, Lord of Clear Emptiness, and the others took Wei Huacun of Southern Peak with them and traveled southeast toward Mount Tiantai and Mount Huo.

She passed through Jintan at Jurqu and hosted a banquet for the Perfected Lady Taiyuan in the Huayang Grotto-Heaven. She also left Huacun beneath a jade hall in the grotto palace on Mount Huo. All the assembled Immortals and Perfected Ones followed the Queen Mother up to Heaven and returned to Turtle Terrace.

The Most Perfect Golden Mother (Xiwangmu, the Queen Mother of the West) is the teacher of all things. She governs and examines the Immortals and Perfected Ones, holds the exalted rank of a sacred being, and oversees the registers of the netherworld and the human realm. Bian Dongxuan personally went to pay court to her and received the Daoist teachings, while Xie Ziran served her and thereby attained immortality. For this reason, the biographies of Bian Dongxuan and Xie Ziran call the Golden Mother “Teacher Golden Mother”; they mean the Queen Mother of the West. The Mystical Classic records many other related events, which are not transcribed here one by one.

This concludes Book One of the Collected Records of Immortals of the Walled City. Book Two is titled “The Lady of Highest Primordial Beginning.”

The Lady of the Upper Origin was a disciple of the Dao Lord. Another account says that she attained the Dao and became an immortal in remote antiquity, joining the ranks of the immortals and overseeing their registers of names. Her status was second only to the Golden Mother of the Turtle Terrace, the Queen Mother of the West. When the Golden Mother descended, she would often send a maidservant ahead to announce her arrival, as a forerunner to her visit as a guest.

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, was devoted to the way of the immortals. He had once held prayers and sacrifices at famous mountains, seeking a response. On the night of the seventh day of the seventh month in the xinwei year, the first year of Yuanfeng (110 BCE), the Queen Mother of the West descended to the Han palace after her arrival had been announced for a second time. Emperor Wu performed the rites, bowing with his forehead to the ground, then stood in attendance for a long while. The Queen Mother called him to sit and served him food from the celestial realm. As the feast was drawing to a close, she ordered her attendants to prepare her carriage for departure. Emperor Wu rose from his seat, bowed with his forehead to the ground, and earnestly begged her to stay. The Queen Mother sat down again and told her maidservant Lang Mixiang to invite the Lady of the Upper Origin.

Emperor Wu did not know which immortal the Lady of the Upper Origin was. The Queen Mother said, “She is the mother of Wang Jiuguang. She respectfully declined the invitation, saying: ‘For more than four thousand years, the affairs of the celestial realm have kept me so busy that I have been unable to come and pay you a visit. Liu Che is devoted to Daoist arts, so this is a good opportunity to see him. He seems reasonably perceptive and perhaps capable of further cultivation. Yet his bearing is lax, his spirit impure, and the qi and blood in his mind turbid. His five organs are impure, his stomach and intestines are hollow and weak, his bones lack fluids, and his pulse qi floats and surges upward. He has much flesh but too little vital essence. He has lost his childlike state, while the Three Corpses—evil spirits believed in Daoism to dwell in the body and hinder cultivation—are cunningly causing disorder within him. Nor can he maintain the qi of dark and light for long. Though I ought to speak with him, it will likely be difficult for him to reach the highest Dao. I fear he does not have the qualities needed to become an immortal.’”

The Queen Mother continued, “It has been a long time since I last came among humans. The human world is indeed filthy, but now and then it is possible to visit and relieve one’s boredom. I would find it dispiriting to sit facing my host without speaking. Could you come for a little while? If you would graciously make the journey, I will stop and wait for you.”

Emperor Wu saw the maidservant descend from the hall, and in an instant she was gone. After a while, she returned. The Lady of the Upper Origin had sent another maidservant with a message: “A Huan bows twice.” She also said, “The one above is feeling dispirited. Could the Lady come for a little while? If you would kindly make the journey, we will stop and wait.”

(Liu Che) asked after the Queen Mother’s recent health and daily life. He said, “The River of Crimson Light (the celestial river) lies between us, and I have also been burdened by affairs of state, which have left my appearance haggard. For nearly five thousand years, I have admired your radiance, and my devotion has never changed. I now respectfully present a token of my regard, and you have graciously come to visit me here. When I heard your command, I immediately prepared my carriage and set out. But I had already received an order from the Great Emperor Lord to go to the Dark Isle (a name for an immortal realm) and set the Celestial Origin in order (the calendar of Heaven, or its governing principles). I am about to leave for a short while. Once the task is done, I will return to join the banquet. I beg you to wait a little.”

The Celestial Emperor then asked the Queen Mother, “May I ask what rank the Perfected Lady of the Upper Origin holds?” Before the Queen Mother could answer, the Lady arrived. As she came, the sound of flutes and drums could also be heard in the clouds. More than a thousand civil and military officials accompanied her. They were all women, about eighteen or nineteen years old, strikingly beautiful and radiant. Most wore blue robes, and all were numinous officials.

The Lady was in her twenties, naturally elegant and lovely, with exceptionally bright eyes. She wore a robe of crimson frost, patterned with interwoven cloudlike colors, unlike either brocade or embroidery and difficult to describe. Her hair was arranged in a three-cornered coiffure, with the rest hanging loose to her waist. She wore a Ninefold Spirit Nightglow Crown, carried a Six-Mountain Fire Jade, and wore a sash of patterned phoenix and luminous jade. At her waist hung a flowing yellow essence-sweeping sword.

The Lady entered the hall and bowed to the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother invited her to sit, then told Liu Che to sit facing north. The Lady laid out a banquet with exquisite, precious dishes much like those the Queen Mother had served. The Queen Mother admonished Liu Che: “This is the Mother of True Origin, a revered spirit. You should rise and pay your respects.” Liu Che stood and bowed, asked after the Lady’s well-being, and then sat down again.

The Lady smiled and said, “People living in the world of the Five Turbidities are naturally drawn to wine and sensual pleasures, fame and profit, and fine food. As emperor, Liu Che faces even more distractions than ordinary people. Yet he has managed to withdraw from a life of luxury and splendor and set his heart on seeking the fundamental Daoist teachings. He truly has such an aspiration.” The Queen Mother said, “This shows that he sincerely seeks the Dao.”

The Lady said to Liu Che, “Do you love the Dao? I have heard that you have repeatedly summoned practitioners of the arts of transcendence, and have also made offerings at sacred mountain shrines and prayed to the rivers. You have indeed been diligent, but there is a reason you have not obtained what you seek despite your efforts. Your temperament is impatient…” The Queen Mother said again, “This shows that he sincerely seeks the Dao.”

Now the Mother has deigned to leave the dwelling of the Heavenly Worthy and come to your ordinary home. I have brought the celestial immortals down to the altar where you have set out your offerings. With sincere devotion, I have chanted the wondrous music of the immortals, and solemnly instructed you in the rules of cultivation and the duties you must observe. If you diligently cultivate according to these clear precepts, then within a hundred years I will surely lead you to the realm of Xuandu and welcome you into the immortal lands of Kunlun. There you will take your place among the immortal officials and roam throughout the ten directions. My words are true; you must strive in your cultivation. If you cannot do these things, there is nothing more to say.

After hearing this, Di left his seat, knelt, and gave thanks. “Your servant is dull by nature and was born and raised in a chaotic, defiled world. I am like someone facing a wall, unable to understand the Great Dao. Yet I cling to life and fear death, and I am willing to honor the spirits. Only now, having heard your instruction, do I understand that this is Heaven’s arrangement. I will keep your teachings firmly in mind and make them my guiding principles. A lowly person such as I ought to be rescued. I ask only that you compassionately protect me and grant me the wondrous methods of the Dao.”

The Lady told Di to return to his seat. The Queen Mother said to her, “Your words just now were very urgent. You wanted someone who has not yet understood to reflect seriously on his aspirations.”

The Lady replied, “If he is wholeheartedly devoted to the Dao, then even if he were to throw himself to a hungry tiger, give his life in fire, or face danger and hardship, his mind would remain steadfast. There is no need to worry. But if he has no aspiration to seek the Dao, then someone who doubts what is true and false and harbors suspicion will not be frightened even by stern words. A stern warning is meant to strengthen his resolve. Since the Mother has come out of concern for him, she will surely grant him the method of corpse liberation—the Daoist means of shedding the mortal body and attaining immortality.”

The Queen Mother said, “This child has devoted himself to cultivating the Dao for a long time, yet has never met a good teacher. He is gradually losing his original resolve and even beginning to doubt that immortals exist in the world at all. That is why I left Ban Palace and came for a time into the dusty world: to strengthen his resolve to cultivate the Dao and help him follow it without further doubt. Seeing him today has only deepened my concern. He has cultivated the Dao for a long time without meeting a good teacher, and now he is on the verge of losing his true resolve and doubting that immortals exist in the world. That is why I left Ban Palace and came into the dusty world—to strengthen his resolve and free him from doubt.”

“Seeing you today has stayed on my mind. As for your future release from the body and descent into the lower realm—a Daoist term for leaving the bodily form, transforming, and becoming an immortal—I am not especially concerned. In three years, I will surely grant you half a dose of the Elixir and a stone statue powder. I will give them to you directly then, and you will be able to leave the mortal world completely, with no need to remain here. The threat from the Xiongnu has not yet been quelled, and fighting continues at the borders. Why should you hastily give up your supreme position in the world and withdraw to the mountains now? We should first find out what Qingdu will ultimately do. If he changes his mind, I will come again many times.”

The Queen Mother turned to the emperor and said, “You should follow the teachings of the Lady of Upper Prime. You will surely attain long life; how could you fail to cultivate diligently?”

The emperor knelt and replied, “I will certainly write these words on a golden tablet and follow them as a rule for the rest of my life.”

The emperor then noticed a scroll in the Queen Mother’s cloth case, enclosed in a purple brocade pouch, and asked, “Is this a method of cultivation for divine immortals? May I see its title?” The Queen Mother took it out and showed it to him. “This is the Chart of the True Forms of the Five Sacred Peaks, a Daoist book depicting the shapes of the Five Sacred Peaks and their divine prohibitions. Yesterday, the immortals of Mount Qingcheng came to ask me for it, and I am about to pass it on to them. This is a secret text handed down from the Three Heavens Supreme One. It is precious and strictly forbidden to transmit, and it is not suitable for a mortal like you to carry. For now, I will give you the Scripture of the Birth of Numinosity. It can enable a person to communicate with the spirits and strengthen their resolve.”

The emperor bowed repeatedly and continued to plead. The Queen Mother then said, “Long ago, in the first year of the Clear Void of the August Sovereign, the Dao Lord Supreme One of the Three Heavens surveyed the Six Directions, examining the lengths of the seas and rivers and the heights of the hills and mountains. He established the Pillars of Heaven to stabilize the earth, and raised Mount Wang as a mountain that guards and supports the land. He honored Kunling, making it a dwelling place for immortals, and honored Pengshan, assigning it as a home for perfected beings—immortals who have attained the Dao. He also placed the Fire God at the source of Utter Yin and the Great Emperor in the realm of Fusang.

“Thus, the mound of Fangzhang became a dwelling place where destinies are governed, and the island in the Canglang Sea became a home for the Nine Elders. Zuying, Xuanyan, Changyuan, Liusheng, Fenglin, and Juku are the names of the six isles. They are all situated in the mysterious currents of the vast Cangliu Sea.”

The blue-green and black hues in the water mingle and flow, while the waves stir the gathered spirits—the numinous beings of mountains, rivers, lakes, and marshes. The immortals and jade maidens dwell together in the distant, profound realm of Cangming. Their names may be difficult to discern, but their true nature is clear. Observe the contours of the mountains and the courses of their streams; study the winding paths of rivers and peaks. You will see ridges circling back, mounds and rises curving about, peaks soaring high, and hills stretching far away, their winding forms like written characters.

Thus people gave names according to the shapes of mountains and rivers, carefully distinguished names from realities, and drew these forms, concealing them in the Mysterious Terrace, a sacred place where secret writings are stored. Once transmitted, these diagrams became tokens of trust for the numinous beings and perfected ones. When immortals wear them, they are like official credentials; Daoist practitioners, too, carry them as they would written texts, and by their means travel among the mountains and rivers. All the gods and spirits dwelling there will honor them and draw near.

Though your conduct has not always been proper, your repeated journeys into mountains and marshes in search of what you sought have never turned your heart from the Dao. I admire your sincerity, and now I entrust this to you. You must uphold it with the same solemn care you would show in serving a ruler or a father. If you reveal it, lose it, or show it to others, disaster and punishment will surely follow.

The Lady said to the Emperor, “Mother has now repaid you with the jade-and-pearl gift, bestowed the Writings of the Purple Terrace, and granted you the Book of the Eight Assemblies and the Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Sacred Peaks, which depicts the contours of their mountains and rivers. These may be called treasures of the highest value, as well as the mysterious scriptures of the Supreme Deity. Unless you had received a mandate and been united with the spirits, you would not have seen these writings. Now, though you have obtained the diagrams and understood their subtle principles, you still lack the talismans of the Five Emperors and Six Jia that summon the flying spirits on either side; the tokens of the jade maidens of the Six Ding under the Great Yin, which connect with the perfected and pursue spirits; the writings of the Six Wu under the Great Yang, which summon gods and draw in celestial radiance and vital essence; the writings of Left Yi for binding and concealing within the primordial cavern; the ordinances of Right Geng for purifying, summoning, seizing, and killing; the Six Gui methods of concealing oneself underground, comprising eight arts; the Nine Red Class talisman of Bing and Ding for entering fire; the method of the Six Xin for entering metal and bringing forth yellow water and lunar radiance; the art of the Six Ji for concealing one’s form and transforming one’s body through the essence of stone and golden light; the Eight Endowments, Ten Decisions, and six sacred rites of awe associated with Zi, Wu, Mao, and You; the secret formulas of the Earthly Perfected and the Plain Silk, and the Purple Writings of Long Life associated with Chou, Chen, Wei, and Xu; the method of proceeding in sequence through the Three and Five; and the art of inwardly contemplating the central region through the Purple Measure and Flaming Radiance associated with Yin, Si, Shen, and Hai.

“Without these twelve categories of methods, how could you summon the mountain spirits, call forth the earth gods, capture the myriad essences, and drive away the hundred ghosts?”

If you do not possess these twelve arts, how can you summon mountain spirits, call forth earth deities, gather the myriad kinds of spirits, drive away the hundred ghosts, summon tigers and leopards, or command flood dragons? You know only one of them and have yet to learn the others.

The Emperor (here, the seeker of the Dao, Che) rose from his seat and knocked his head to the ground. “I, Che, am an ordinary person in the turbid world below and do not understand the pure, true Dao. To hear the Great Dao today is truly a blessing for my nature and life: I have had the good fortune to meet the Holy Mother. Now that the Holy Mother is about to grant me the True Forms—the true writings and formulas used in Daoist arts—I ask the Lady to transmit them to me as well, so that I may help the world. You have now told me of the arts for employing the Six Jia, Six Ding, and Six Wu—the divine generals used in Daoist practice to summon deities and command spirits—and for bringing about efficacious responses. The benefit of this teaching is boundless. I beg you to instruct me and quench my thirst for the Dao, so that cloud and rain may nourish a withered tree and sweet dew may fall upon scorched grass. I dare say no more.” The Emperor repeated his request again and again.

The Queen Mother then said to the Lady, “The precious writings of the True Forms are revered by the spirit officials. This man is determined to obtain them and has sworn that he will; therefore, I have made an exception to the precepts and transmitted them to him. But the arts of the Five Emperors and Six Jia, and those for approaching the true spirits and summoning the deities, are exceedingly profound. They require a body and mind free of impurity and a heart wholly devoted to the task; I fear they may not be suitable for people of the turbid world to practice. Since I have already bestowed the True Forms on Che, you should transmit them to him. I remember that you and I once ascended Mount Xuanlong, Mount Yuye, and Mount Yaozhen. There, the youth Prince Wangzi asked me for the Supreme Hidden Scripture, an ancient secret Daoist text. I said then that the Ninefold Three Secret Words must not be disclosed to a middle immortal. You also said that you would uphold the prohibition and help Prince Wangzi obtain the text. Since I find it difficult to go against his wishes, it is not that I begrudge him the transmission. Today’s matter is much like that earlier one. Later, we ate spirit melons at Zhuling, and they tasted excellent. When I think of those events, more than seven thousand years have passed. Since you have already told Che the names of the twelve arts, you should set them down in a text. Why make the host knock his head to the ground and beg a certain Yi until he bleeds?”

The Lady said, “If Huan truly begrudged it, he would not have brought it here in the first place. This is a scripture that came from the True Person Red Child, who presides over the writings of the assembled beings of Great Emptiness. Its transmission has always distinguished between men and women, and it should also be transmitted to those who have attained the Dao. Why, then, should the host knock his head to the ground and beg a certain Yi until he bleeds?”

The Lady said, “If I truly wanted to keep this ring safe, I would not have brought it here just now. This text was composed by the Perfected One Red Child of the Great Void Assembly. When it was first transmitted, there were separate instructions for men and women. It should also be passed on to those who have already attained the Dao. I worry that Liu Che’s abilities are too limited for him to make use of it.”

The Queen Mother of the West looked displeased and said, “The heavenly prohibitions forbid revealing the secrets of Heaven; anyone who violates them will be severely punished. A transmission must be given to the right person, and the recipient must truly understand its principles. Why did you speak to someone of limited ability about the contents of the Lingfei Text? To speak of it casually is to reveal it; to speak of it without transmitting it is to make the Way of Heaven into idle street gossip. Can this prohibition really be less important than transmission? I will have the Three Palace Censors, the officials responsible for oversight in Heaven, investigate your careless disclosure.

“My Five Sacred Peaks True-Form Text, which depicts the contours and configuration of the Five Sacred Peaks, comes from the Supreme Heavenly Emperor. It is a precious and mysterious text, and a token by which Celestial Immortals verify their identities. How could it be passed casually to Liu Che? Yet Liu Che is wholeheartedly seeking immortality. He has repeatedly prayed to the spirits of the mountains and rivers and diligently observed purification, hoping for a response to his prayers. He aspires to transcend the world but has not met a clear-sighted master. That is why we chose to descend and guide him.

“As for methods of cultivating immortality, there is no need to withhold them all without exception. Do you possess some secret that brings people spiritual efficacy and can be kept to yourself alone? I am now transmitting the Five Sacred Peaks True-Form Text to Liu Che, not because I am certain he will attain the Dao, but because I want practical experience to strengthen his resolve to seek immortality, so that he will not be misled. I also hope this will guide those willing to turn toward the Dao. I want people in the ordinary world to know that such numinous realities truly exist between Heaven and Earth, and thereby refute the arrogance of those who deny them.

“That is my purpose. Your temperament is indulgent and volatile, and your eyes have not yet turned red. How could you become a true immortal and soar through the air? With diligent practice, perhaps you could still draw near to deathlessness. The Heavenly Code of Prohibitions says: ‘Long life is not difficult; hearing the Dao is difficult. Hearing the Dao is not difficult; putting it into practice is difficult. Putting it into practice is not difficult; persisting to the end is difficult.’ A master craftsperson can teach people rules and standards, but cannot make them skillful. Why, then, hide these principles?”

The Lady replied, “I will follow your instruction.”

When Dan Huan received the sacred writings from the two masters, Lord Daoying and Master Wuchang, they agreed that the teachings would be transmitted once every four thousand years, and only from woman to woman and man to man. This was a precept of the Most High, showing that those who practice the talisman for illuminating life—a spirit talisman in Daoism—must follow these rules.

Since Dan Huan received the teachings, they have been passed down in succession by such women as the Worthy Great Lady and Baolan, reaching a total of sixty-eight women. Women were not permitted to pass the scripture on to men. Recently, I saw the young Perfected Boy Qingzhen of Fugang Mountain receive the Six Jia Spirit Flight in the Taiwei Palace. The twelve teachings transmitted by the Primordial Lady were the same as those received by Dan Huan. Qingzhen was Dan Huan’s close disciple, formally initiated and personally taught by her. I have not heard that he passed the Six Jia Spirit Flight on to anyone else. As a male official, he is now about to obtain the scripture from me so that he can pass it on to Liu Che.

I told Liu Che the titles of the scripture earlier because I took pity on his longing for the Dao and wanted to help him remain steadfast and single-minded. He still seeks widely and without tiring, so I will transmit it to him in time. This, too, is a way of ensuring that men pass the teaching to men, in accordance with the precept. I hope that after diligent practice he will gain something, understand the preciousness of the Heavenly Truth—the true transmission of the celestial realm—and not take it lightly or disclose the workings of Heaven. I hope you will not blame me.

The True Form of the Mother is exceedingly precious. I took pity on Liu Che’s earnest resolve and diligence, and so transmitted it to him; this was indeed not quite appropriate.” The Queen Mother smiled and said, “Surely that can be forgiven?”

The lady then ordered her attendant, Jiluo Rong, to hurry to Fugang Mountain and ask the young Perfected Boy Qingzhen to take from his side the twelve methods for summoning spirits from the Six Jia Spirit Flight, in preparation for transmitting them to Liu Che. A short while later, the attendant returned, carrying an eight-colored jade case engraved with phoenix patterns. She took out the writings on the Six Jia Spirit Flight and said, “Your disciple Achang was just ordered to go to the Crimson River and investigate the matter of the fierce dragons and beasts under the authority of the Southern Perfected Seven Springs Lord. After finishing the task, she passed by here to receive instruction. Thanks to the Mother’s invitation, I came to Liu Che’s home. I never expected the Supreme One of the celestial realm to descend to this defiled place. I hope your journey has been comfortable and all is well.”

The maidservant Ji Luorong reported to the Queen Mother of the West: “The revered deity wished to obtain the twelve chapters of The Esoteric Writing of the Golden Book: The Six Jia and the Numinous Flight of the Left and Right Registers. They were originally intended to be transmitted to Liu Che, so I sealed a copy and gave it to a messenger. But although Liu Che seeks immortality, he is truly no fit candidate for the immortals’ way. How could such secret writings be disclosed to a mortal?

“Recently, while near the emperor, I saw many people submit memorials of advice. They said that ghosts and spirits in the mountains and forests were weeping, and lonely souls in distant regions were lamenting. In campaigns and battles, the benefits went to powerful clans and nobles, while wars that exhausted the people and drained their resources left bones scattered everywhere. The emperor’s extravagance burdens the people, and his indulgence in cruelty is unrestrained. His crimes are already plain before the Most High, and resentment has risen to Heaven. Someone like this, I fear, will never attain the Dao and become an immortal. I only refrained from disobeying because the revered deity seemed already to have made a decision.”

The Queen Mother of the West smiled and said: “There is indeed much to criticize in this man, but that need not lead us to reject him entirely. Anyone who loves the Dao and yearns for the immortals’ way can dispel a hundred faults by being sincere and devoted to the Dao, fasting, and reflecting on their failings. If they can restrain selfish desires, correct their faults and turn toward goodness, revere the true gods, and preserve the true Dao and their spirit—‘guarding the One’ is a Daoist practice of focusing on and protecting body and mind so that they return to unity—then by persisting in this for a month, they can dispel a thousand faults.

“Liu Che has sought the Dao for many years and has been fairly diligent in fasting. He has repeatedly gone to famous mountains to pray for transcendence. Weighing his merits against his faults, perhaps they have roughly balanced. From now on, however, he must be even more diligent and sincere, and follow the teachings of the Lady of the Upper Prime. He must no longer be extravagant, indulgent, or cruel, or bring exhaustion and hardship upon the people of the realm. The appeals of wronged spirits and destitute ghosts, the people’s outcry over the harm caused by grave robbing, and those who have bled and died in war will all stand as grounds for holding him to account. His past merits cannot be used to forget these offenses.”

The Lady of the Upper Prime then rose, holding an eight-colored jade casket for storing immortal writings. Facing the sky, she offered this blessing for Liu Che:

“The Nine Heavens are vast and profound; the divine spirits of the Most High shine with radiance. The spirits perceive what is hidden; purity and emptiness are clear and bright. Those who are pure and empty attain its wondrousness; those who hold fast to darkness are able to endure. Only with utmost sincerity toward the Dao can one reach the realm of the Dao; only through stillness and resonance can the true Dao be brought to fruition. To drive the spirit and debase the body damages Jing and Qi; to nurture the spirit in peace allows life to flourish.”

The methods of “Thoroughly Penetrating the Spirit and Flying” and the Six Ding can summon spirits to protect you at your sides and draw upon the essential Qi of Heaven. With practice, you can walk through empty space, conceal your form, prolong your life, turn gray hair black, and regain your youth. I am transmitting these methods to you so that you may enjoy a lifespan of forty thousand years. When Che received this transmission, he was forty years old. If you violate the prohibitions or divulge the secret methods, your entire clan will surely be destroyed. If you turn away from the Way of Heaven, you will surely sink into the underworld. You must be cautious, Liu Sheng. I am giving you this warning in particular.

Your master is the Supervising Immortal Official of the Azure Perfected Youth, the Most High Central Yellow Dao Lord, and an inner-chamber disciple of the Primordial Beginning’s Ten Heavenly Kings. His surname is Yan, his personal name is Lingyang, and his courtesy name is Bihua. He looks like an infant, and the immortal officials call him the “Azure Perfected Youth.” His nature is as clear as jade; he sees through all things, understands the sacred Way, and can respond to every kind of change. Like a deep, luminous mirror, he sees what is hidden. Exceptionally gifted, he roams the vast realms of the immortals, traces the workings of the universe back to its beginning, and resides at Xuanyuan, where he holds an immortal office. You should preserve and honor this master and cultivate according to your own aspirations. If you do not honor the methods he has transmitted, your life and destiny will surely collapse and sink into ruin.

When she had finished speaking, the Lady demonstrated each method’s steps with her fingers, one by one. There were twelve methods in all. After completing the demonstration, she warned the Emperor again: “The Five Emperors are the numinous, perfected essences who govern the five directions; the Six Jia are spirit gods who connect the six directions. Wear and honor them, and you can attain long life. The Supreme Lord sealed this book away on the Terrace of Mysterious Radiance. You must cherish and guard it.”

The Queen Mother said: “This book was compiled by the Most High of the Three Heavens. It is kept in the Chamber of the Numinous Altar on the Terrace of Purple Mounds, sealed in a casket of ornate jade, wrapped in silk from orchid-patterned slips, bound with a cord from the Northern Net, and stamped with the seal of the Great Emperor. The person who receives this book must transmit it to one person every forty years. If there is no suitable recipient, the transmission may be delayed for eighty years.”

If there was no suitable person, the teaching could be passed on to two people at once, once every eighty years. Those who had attained the Dao were to transmit it once every four hundred years; those who had attained immortality, once every four thousand years; those who had attained the Real, once every forty thousand years; and those able to ascend to the realm of the Great Highest, once every four hundred thousand years.

To pass Daoist teachings on to an unsuitable person was called “revealing Heaven’s Dao”; to meet a suitable person and withhold the teaching was called “concealing Heaven’s treasure”; to transmit it at will, outside the prescribed intervals, was called “slighting Heaven’s elder”; and to receive the teaching without reverence was called “disrespecting Heaven’s grace.” These four transgressions—revealing, concealing, slighting, and disrespecting—were like blades and axes that brought death, or vehicles that carried calamity. Those who revealed Heaven’s Dao would die on the road, suffer punishment by the earth, and have their bones shattered. Those who concealed Heaven’s treasure would be blind and deaf in their next life; their fortunes would wither in both lives, and they would die young. Slighting Heaven’s elder would bring calamity upon one’s parents and punishment in Xuandu, the celestial palace of Daoist belief. Those who disrespected Heaven’s grace would die suddenly, fall into an evil realm, and in their next life suffer abandonment and illness. These are the precepts and prohibitions of the Daoist tradition, given as mutual warnings; they must be observed with great care.

The Queen Mother of the West then bestowed upon the Yellow Emperor the Diagram of the Five Sacred Peaks’ True Forms, a Daoist talismanic chart depicting the contours and numinous realms of the five peaks. After bowing and receiving it, the Yellow Emperor watched as Lady Wang herself played the “Pride of Cloud Jade,” then sang the “Steps of the Mysterious.” The Queen Mother directed her attendant Tian Sifei to sing in response. When the singing was over, the Queen Mother told the Yellow Emperor the names of her companions and the names of the crowns they wore, the sashes they tied, and the objects they carried, so that he could understand and record them.

At daybreak, the Queen Mother and the Lady of the Primordial Beginning departed together in a carriage. Their dragon-and-tiger carriages, horses, and retinue followed behind, with music just as it had been on their arrival. The dense clouds turned to fragrance, and they headed southwest, vanishing only after a long while.

Only after meeting the Queen Mother and the Lady of the Primordial Beginning did the Yellow Emperor believe that immortals truly existed in the world. Yet he did not devote himself to diligent cultivation. In the end, he departed only through “corpse liberation,” the Daoist transformation of the body by which one leaves the mortal form; he did not ascend to Heaven. The Queen Mother, the Lady of the Primordial Beginning, and the Azure Perfect Youth all said that the Yellow Emperor lacked the aptitude to become an immortal. This was indeed a discerning judgment of what lay hidden. Still, the Yellow Emperor had eaten immortal peaches, numinous fruits, and the food and wine of Heaven. The response evoked by his wholehearted pursuit of the Dao also shows that he was no ordinary mortal. Otherwise, how could the objects that appeared in Maoling have come from beyond the human world? Perhaps this was also a way of revealing the miraculous, so that people would know not to dismiss or deny the existence of immortals.

From then on, Emperor Xiaodi obtained and consumed these things. They had come in response to his sincere and earnest quest for the Dao, showing that he was no ordinary mortal. Otherwise, how could objects from Maoling have appeared among the living? This was simply a way of manifesting signs of the extraordinary, so that people would understand that the affairs of the immortals should not be dismissed lightly.

Later, in the fourth year of the Jiedi era of Emperor Xiaoxuan (the Yimao year), Mao Ying, a native of Xianyang whose courtesy name was Shushen, received the mandate of the Nine Gifts of Gold. He was enfeoffed as True Lord Siming, Senior Minister of the Eastern Peak, and Perfected Person of Taiyuan. After the Five Emperor Lords had bestowed the registers, each ascended to Heaven and departed.

Mao Lord’s teacher, Lord Wang of Perfect Truth, the Queen Mother of the West, and the Lady descended to the Huayang Celestial Palace at the tomb of Jintan on Mount Jurong to host a banquet for Mao Lord. At that time, the middle Mao Lord was named Gu, with the courtesy name Jiwei; the younger Mao Lord was named Zhong, with the courtesy name Sihe. The Queen Mother and Lord Wang taught them spiritual formulas—the secrets of cultivation—and bestowed on them purple silk registers of their heavenly mandates. Mao Gu was enfeoffed as Lord of the Registers of Destiny, and Mao Zhong as Lord Who Preserves Life. They, too, took part in the assembly of attendants to the Perfected.

Lord Wang told the two Mao Lords, “The Lady is the mother of the True Sovereign of the Three Heavens and a revered deity of the Upper Origin. She administers the registers of names of the Jade Youths and Jade Maidens of the ten directions. You may state your names, then leave your seats and bow again to ask her for the essentials of attaining long life.”

Moved by their earnest devotion in seeking the Dao, the Lady ordered her attendant Song Bifei to bring out a purple brocade pouch. She opened a green-gold case and gave the two Mao Lords four scriptures: the Scripture of the Flowing Pearls of the Three Origins, the Scripture of the Elixir Radiance and Essence of the Dao, the Scripture of the Eight Arts of Hidden Earth, and the Scripture of the Taiji Register of Radiant Images. The Queen Mother then ordered her attendant Li Fangming to bring out a vermilion jade casket. She opened a cloud-pearl case, took out the Scripture of the Jade Pendant and Golden Hall, the Scripture of the Hidden Writings of the Great Empyrean, and the Inner Writings on the Two Radiances of the Caverns’ Flight, and transmitted them to Lord Siming. When the scriptures had been bestowed, the Queen Mother and the Lady took their leave. Surrounded by a thousand chariots and ten thousand riders, they rose into the sky and returned to the heavens.

Lady Li of Radiant Efficacy

Lady Li of Radiant Efficacy, of the Eastern Palace on the Fangzhang Terrace, is the Lord of the Dao and Mandate of the Central Mystery of the Northern Origin. When the scriptures had been bestowed, the Queen Mother and the Lady took their leave. Surrounded by a thousand chariots and ten thousand riders, they rose into the sky and returned to the heavens.

Lady Li of Radiant Efficacy

Lady Li of Zhaoling Palace at Fangzhang Terrace was the daughter of Lord Daojun Li Qingbin of Beiyuan Central Mystery and the younger sister of Li Lingfei, the Jade Gentleman and Grand Guardian. She attained the Dao during the reign of King Tang of Shang and ascended to heaven in broad daylight. She was granted a celestial mandate and invested as Lady Zhaoling of the Eastern Palace. She dwelt in the Thirteenth Vermilion Hall on Fangzhang Terrace.

On the night of the twenty-second day of the eighth month in the third year of Xingning under Emperor Ai of the Eastern Jin (the year yichou), Lady Li descended to the home of the Perfected Yang Xi. She wore purple brocade and carried a divine tiger talisman, a token of divine office or authority, in her sash. In her hand she held a flowing-gold bell. She appeared to be about thirteen or fourteen years old. Beside her were two attendants, both named Yinhui, who looked about twenty-one or twenty-two. They wore blue silk gauze robes and carried two white jade caskets bound with blue ribbons. One was inscribed “The Supreme Emperor’s Writ”; the other, “The Supreme One’s Jade Text.”

At her waist Lady Li wore a blue-green jade sash, shaped like the seal pouch worn by people in the world below. The hidden seal she carried was about five zhang long and three or four chi wide. She descended together with the Immortal Ladies of the Upper Origin, Purple Tenuity, and Right Radiance, among others. As she took her leave, she composed this poem:

Cloud Pond rests beside the heavenly palaces, where divine light shines;

At dawn, the jade palace gates open, and nine kinds of music sound from their vermilion hinges.

Purple clouds rise and illuminate the red gates; fragrant smoke drifts through green windows.

Four chariots sweep their tiger banners; blue cakes are cast into the dark void.

The canopy turns with the clouds; phoenixes and luan birds guide six dragons.

I drive past the ridges of the Five Sacred Mountains, arriving at the lord’s chamber in the Threefold Immortal Realm.

Suddenly I smell the foul stench of noisy impurity; myriad turbid vapors trouble my breast.

The stench of rank things taints the spirit; the clamor of worldly life jars against De.

Even clear, bright jade shines so brilliantly—why insist on praising oneself?

I should have bowed and taken my leave sooner. Sitting here in the human world, even worms will soon breed.

As she departed, she chanted again: “Do not let the heart grow confused, and do not let the spirit roam unchecked. If you cultivate the Dao without following its proper course, then when calamity comes you will not know to wake up, and you will lose your original nature forever. So I am leaving you now. Will I come again to the Xu family? I will return. You need only cultivate diligently.”

On the third day of the ninth month that year, Lady Li descended again and sang:

Drinking freely, I behold many wondrous sights, then suddenly journey in every direction.

Why this should be so, I do not know; it is simply that my heart has always longed to roam among the immortals.

When we meet, we are all glad; when we cannot meet, we feel no sorrow.

Let the shadow roam freely through the dark void; two meetings will surely form a bond of fate.

On the night of the first day of the twelfth month, she sent a poem to Xu Yufu:

My flying chariot rises to the lofty Morning Terrace, carrying me to the edge of Dark Ridge.

I reach out and take hold of the Purple Emperor’s sleeve; in an instant, the winds of the eight directions propel my chariot.

Jade radiance gives wings to the green curtains; Qingxin sways a fan like a graceful willow.

Chariot and crown shine brilliantly; jade pendants chime, and moon pearls are fastened to my sash.

As soon as I enter the dusty world, its winds press upon me; I must cover my nose and avoid the filth along the road.

Rank, foul things weaken my spirit and vital energy; a hundred illnesses also cloud the mind.

Why not rise lightly and wander with ease through the Great Void?

The Lady of the Three Origins, surnamed Feng and named Shuanglizhu, is a high-ranking perfected immortal of the Shangqing realm. She also oversees solemn oaths and presides over the affairs of those who first attain immortality, realize the fruit of the Dao, or transcend the world and attain the Dao to become perfected immortal lords.

In the fifth year of the Yonghe era of Emperor Mu of Jin (the yiyou year), the Lady met with the Queen Mother of the West, the Lord of the Southern Pole, the Lord of the Nine Subtlety, the Left Immortal Lord of Ziyang, Shi Lucheng, the High Immortal Count of the Supreme Ultimate, the Youth Yan Gai, Wang Fangping, the General Perfected One of the Western City, the Perfected One of the Great Void, Red Pine of Southern Mount Heng, the Perfected One of Tongbai, Wang Ziqiao of the Right Assistant, and others. They gathered in the Crimson Chamber of the Upper Palace of Minor Clarity and Emptiness to hold a banquet for Lady Wei Huacun, the Violet Void Lady of Southern Mount Heng. They presented the rare delicacies of the immortals and played celestial music, its nine spiritual tones perfectly matched and its eight notes clear and harmonious.

The Queen Mother rose, keeping time as she sang. When she had finished, the Lady of the Three Origins played the Cloud Ao, a kind of celestial music, and sang in response:

Jade Clarity appears above the nine heavens; the sashes and crowns of the spirits stream beyond the rosy clouds. The towers and pavilions of the cloud heights stand lofty and bright; the dwellings of the immortals are abundant and lovely in their seclusion. Five-colored Qi raises the emerald canopy, while pure winds from all eight directions sweep across the dark blue firmament. Raising my head, I chant songs that dispel demons; lowering it, I study wisdom and insight. Ten thousand perfected ones open wondrous scenes of light and gather by appointment in the Crimson Chamber. Immortals of outstanding De and renown stand tall, their radiance shining as they drift like fliers. Palaces rise in the heavens atop celestial peaks; grotto dwellings lie deep and still. I roam the seas and understand the limits of what is seen from a well; I follow the true Dao and perceive the world’s defilement. Dance and music unfold through layer upon layer of heaven, and orchids and fish alike naturally forget their former ways. Let me return to the boundless expanse of the Great Void, and from now on leave the brief human world for good.

When the song ended, the assembled perfected immortals each sang Yin songs and Yang songs. Some sang of the essentials of inner cultivation and realizing the Dao; others praised the beauty of accumulating merit and practicing the Way; still others described cultivation methods involving liquid gold and frostlike blossoms. These songs differ somewhat from the Yang songs in the Scripture of the Divine Cavern. They are all subtle utterances of celestial immortals.

Lady Wang of the Southern Pole was the fourth daughter of the Queen Mother of the West. Her personal name was Lin, and her courtesy name was Rongzhen. She was also called Lady Ziyuan and the Primordial Lord of the Southern Pole. She governed the Palace of Great Elixir and was appointed the Chief Guardian of Fate to the Sage Lord of the Golden Gate. The “Song of Yang of the Divine Cavern of Rongzhen” differs slightly; it probably consists of subtle words spoken by beings of heavenly truth.

During the reign of Emperor Ping of Han, Lady Wang of the Southern Pole descended to a stone chamber on Mount Yangluo and taught the Perfected One of Clear Emptiness and King Wang Bao of the Lesser Abode, whose courtesy name was Zideng, thirty-one scrolls of scriptures, including the Supreme Treasure Text. She was then about sixteen or seventeen years old, dressed in a brocade cloak and a skirt of blue feathers. She wore a tiger-written talisman at her left side and carried a spirit-wielding implement at her right. Her features were composed and her bearing seemed natural from birth. She rode in a carriage beneath a feathered canopy, drawn by nine dragons, with nine thousand female riders in attendance.

She lived on Mount Changli, in the Cinnabar Sea of Boyang, and oversaw the instruction of those destined to become Perfected Ones. In the third year of Xingning in the Jin dynasty (an yichou year), she descended to the home of the Perfected Yang Xi, where she met with eight True Immortals. She composed a poem and taught it to Yang Xi:

“Riding the wind and mounting the Qi, I wave my feathered fan,

roaming through the Great Void and soaring to the distant heights of the eight directions.

I gaze up beyond Purple Dawn and look down on places far removed from the world of dust.

With a wondrous mind, I inquire into the Way of Emptiness;

moving above and below, I never linger.

Between the two extremes of dependence and freedom from dependence,

those who depend on something are also without action.

Realize the Void, and you can transcend death;

recognize what is truly there, and you can nurture life.

The Eastern Guest comes to meet us, and together we chant aloud.

Why argue over dependence and freedom from dependence?”

The “Eastern Guest” refers to the High Minister of the Eastern Peak, Lord Mao of Great Mao.

She also chanted:

“Mounting a carriage of jade and brocade, I flick the reins

and circle with my head held high.

At dawn I roam the Palace of Vermilion Fire;

at dusk I feast beside the Pool of Night Radiance.

My shadow floats above the clear rosy clouds,

while eight dragons race side by side.

I roam free of dependence, and those who depend on something follow after me.

At a splendid gathering, lovely women rest in peaceful sleep.

Those who depend on something and those who do not each have their own account.

Being and nonbeing are not fixed;

what each depends on will, in the end, return to its proper place.”

On the twenty-third day of the sixth month that same year, she composed another poem and taught it to Lord Yang:

“When trees stir, kindred things must respond to one another;

when clouds gather, they await the dragon’s call before rising.

Wondrous patterns of number naturally answer one another;

when they meet the rhythm, they sound aloud.

A flying carriage departs from Western Florescence

and suddenly comes racing here in search of me.

The distant lands of the eight directions are not without joy;

when all chant together, they will naturally revere the Way within.

How sad that we remain trapped among countless bonds,

our hearts forever changing, our worries without end.”

“Wondrous numbers” refers to subtle patterns of number. “Dependence” means relying on something; “freedom from dependence” means relying on no external thing.

Even far beyond the eight directions, joy is not absent. The immortals chant together, naturally honoring the principles within. Yet it is sad to dwell in this world, a net hemmed in by the four quarters, with the heart always stirred by countless changes and concerns. Together, the company travels to the Northern Cold Terrace, where a wondrous wind opens your heart.

Long ago, the Lady passed the Treasure Scripture on to Wang Zideng. When she had finished, she said to him, “The Dao I cultivate can enable people to ascend and travel through the scenic realms of the eight directions, the realm of emptiness, and the immortal heavens of Shangqing. You must cultivate diligently. I will not deceive you.”

Then the Lord of Western Fort carried Wang Zideng north to Mount Xuanzhou, where they paid their respects to the Supreme Elder and the twenty-nine True Lords, immortal Dao sovereigns. Among these sovereigns was the Supreme Lord Gongzi Leboli. He ordered his attendants Fan Yunhua, Zhao Junzhu, and Wang Baotai to open the jade casket holding the immortal books. From it, they took out two scrolls, the Hidden Book of Shangqing and the Dragon-Text Eightfold Spirit True Scripture, and passed them to Wang Zideng. He also bestowed upon him two pints of Cloud-Jade Yang Water and Morning-Flying Elixir Essence, spirit liquids and elixirs consumed by immortals.

Wang Zideng bowed in gratitude and accepted the gifts. Returning to the Western Fort Palace, he devoted himself to cultivation for nine years. Thereafter, he could travel three thousand li in a day and see ten thousand li into the distance. Whether seated or standing, he could swiftly transform his body, and he could command the assembled spirits. Riding in a flying terrace carriage, he traveled throughout the world, visiting the Palace of Qiming in the Eastern Capital and Mount Guang Sang. There he paid his respects to the Great Thearch and received the Purple Phoenix Red Writ. He then crossed south over the Cinnabar Sea and climbed Mount Changli, where he paid court to the Primordial Lord of the Southern Pole and Lady Ziyuan, and received the Great Cinnabar Register. He also visited the Red Terrace Youth and received Cloud-Lang Frostwater, a numinous substance consumed by immortals.

The Lady said, “Did what I told you long ago ever fail you?” Wang Zideng bowed repeatedly in gratitude, then crossed west over the Great Sea of Yuqiu and the Spring of Sunken Feathers. He climbed Mount Linong and went to pay his respects to the Dao Sovereigns of the Three Sovereigns and Lady Zigae Huachen. There he received the Jade Dao Green-Character Great Perfect Hidden Book.

She then traveled north through Diao Rou Xuan Sea and climbed Mount Guangye, where she met the Great Lord of the Dao, High and Supreme, Vacuous Sovereign, Xuanqing Liwei Yuanjun. Yuanjun bestowed on her the Golden Seal of Absolute Mystery and Crimson Harmony Cloud Fungus. After bowing to Yuanjun, she consumed the cloud fungus and returned to Turtle Terrace at Kunling on Central Peak to pay her respects to the Primordial Mother of Great Truth. The Primordial Mother invested her with the title Perfected One of Pure Emptiness and Great Simplicity, and granted her such offices as King of the Lesser You Heaven and Left Protector High Lord of the Three Origins and Four Offices. She was commanded to oversee the precious writings of the Three Caverns within the grotto-palace. From then on, she could enter and leave the Shangqing realm and take up office in Taiji. She was also the Lady’s disciple.

This concludes Volume Two of Collected Immortals of the Walled City.

Collected Immortals of the Walled City, Volume Three

Compiled by Du Guangting, Master of Guangcheng of the Tang dynasty

Lady Yunhua

Lady Yunhua was the twenty-third daughter of the Queen Mother of the West and the younger sister of Lady Taizhen. Her name was Yaoji. She practiced the Daoist art called “Circling Wind, Blending with the Myriad Scenes, Refining the Spirit, and Flying Transformation.”

She once traveled to the Eastern Sea. On her way back, she passed through the Yangtze region and saw the towering peaks of Mount Wu, its secluded and beautiful forests, and a vast, level boulder like an altar. She stayed there for a long time. At that time, Yu the Great was below the mountain, controlling the floods. Suddenly a fierce wind arose, shaking the valleys and knocking rocks loose; its force was difficult to withstand. Yu happened to meet Lady Yunhua and bowed to ask for her help. She immediately ordered a maid to give Yu a document summoning the hundred gods, then sent the divine beings Kuangzhang, Yuyu, Huangmo, Dayi, Gengchen, Tonglü, and others to assist with the flood control. They split open the mountain rocks, cleared the waterways, blocked dangerous places, and cut paths along the slopes, guiding the floodwaters downstream. Yu thanked her with a bow.

Yu once climbed to a high place to visit Lady Yunhua. In an instant, she transformed into stone. At times she would suddenly rise into the air, disperse into light clouds, and gather again as evening rain; at other times she became a swimming dragon or a flying crane. Her transformations were countless, impossible to see clearly or predict, and she had no constant form. Yu doubted that her strange, fantastic transformations were those of a true immortal, so he asked Tonglü about her.

Tonglü replied, “The root of Heaven and Earth is the Dao, and sages are those who can put the power of the Dao to use. Among sages are beings of different ranks, including Perfected Ones and immortals. Some receive primordial Qi and become Perfected Ones, attaining the Dao without undergoing cultivation, as do the Duke of Wood and the Metal Mother. They are the ancestors of Yin and Yang, the source and rulers of the realm of immortals and Perfected Ones, and the origin of the transformation of all things. Lady Yunhua is the daughter of the Metal Mother. In the past, she took the Lord of the Three Origins as her teacher, received and upheld the precious scriptures of the Highest Clarity, and accepted an immortal register beneath the Purple Clarity Gate. She became the Lady of the Upper Palace of Yunhua, responsible for instructing the young aspirants to perfection. She dwells on the Terrace of Wangying. Appearing and disappearing, transforming—these are simply her ordinary ways. She formed through the gathering of primordial Qi and is united with the Dao. Her form did not arise through conception and birth; she is transformed from the lesser Yin Qi of Western Radiance.”

Qi fills the space between Heaven and Earth, moving through and acting upon every kind of plant and animal. It is vast enough to encompass the whole of creation, yet fine enough to enter the tiniest hair. In human beings, it makes them human; in the myriad things, it enables each to be what it is. Could its workings really be limited to transforming into clouds and rain, dragons and cranes, flying geese and soaring phoenixes?

Yu agreed with these words and went to pay another visit. Suddenly, he saw cloud towers, jade terraces, jasper palaces, and halls of crystal rising tier upon tier into the sky. So many divine officers stood guard that he could not distinguish them all. Lions watched over the palace gates, heavenly horses cleared the way, and venomous dragons, lightning beasts, and the Eight Majestic Guardians stood in full array beside the carriage. The Lady sat upright on a jasper terrace, where Yu bowed and put his question to her. She invited Yu to sit and said:

When the sages first established institutions, they divided the unified chaos of the Great Beginning into countless forms and dispersed the hidden source into the boundless myriad things. People therefore observed the courses of the sun, moon, and stars to determine the hours and the shadows cast by the sun; divided the land into nine provinces and founded states; set up water clocks to distinguish day from night and used the alternation of cold and heat to reckon the seasons of the year. They used the trigrams’ positions, such as Dui and Li, to establish directions, and judged terrain as perilous or level by its mountains and rivers. They built city walls to gather people and troops, made tools to protect the people, and fashioned carriages and clothing to mark distinctions of rank. They planted grain to guard against famine. These institutions took the stars as their model above, followed the laws of the divine beings and realized immortals, and served below to sustain the visible myriad things.

Thus the sun and moon wax and wane in brightness, while the growth and decay of the myriad things follow the changes of cold and heat. Thunder has its seasons of arising and subsiding; wind and rain have their patterns of movement and rest. Clear Qi and dark Qi float above, while turbid Qi flows below. The fixed measures of rise and decline, the fortunes of order and disorder, the dispositions of the wise and the foolish, innate tendencies toward good and evil, the energies of firmness and yielding, the length of life, distinctions of nobility and low status, orders of rank, responses of good and ill fortune, and the times of hardship or success—all are received from the Dao and set in place by Heaven. The sages establish guiding principles to arrange them.

Human nature emerges from a person’s endowments and circumstances. The order of high and low, the responses of good and ill fortune, and the timing of hardship or success are bestowed by the Dao and arranged by Heaven; the sages establish their guiding principles accordingly. Human nature begins in Heaven, while destiny takes shape in the human world. Heaven establishes the myriad things, which move in accordance with the Dao. When the Dao is present, the myriad things exist; when the Dao departs, they perish. Without the Dao, the myriad things cannot endure; without cultivation, one cannot attain the Dao.

The Venerable Dark One said, “Bring the mind to the utmost emptiness and stillness, and firmly hold fast to tranquility; then the myriad things will naturally return.” Here, “return” means returning to the Dao and thereby enduring forever. The Dao’s workings transform in countless ways, yet never lose their root. Thus Heaven accords with the wondrous Dao, Earth with primordial Qi, and humanity with Dao and De. What, beyond these, does not follow the Dao? The key to enduring life lies in Heaven cherishing its mystery, Earth preserving the myriad things, and people nourishing their own Qi. Only then can life be preserved.

“My destiny is in my own hands. Heaven and Earth do not seek to kill me, nor do ghosts and spirits seek to harm me; people perish of their own accord when they lose the Dao.” (The original passage repeats this statement.) You have resolve and work diligently without respite. Your achievements benefit the myriad things, your labor reaches the people, and your good deeds move Heaven. Yet you have not heard the essentials of the Supreme Dao.

Long ago, at the Gate of Purple Purity—the palace of the immortals—I received and treasured the scriptures, and diligently practiced their teachings. The Lord of the Three Origins, a Daoist deity, said to me: “The Upper True Inner Scripture is a precious book kept by the Celestial Perfected. Sealed within the Golden Terrace, it allows those who wear it to enter the Grand Tenuity, the celestial star-palace.” Then a cloud chariot carried its passenger up to Heaven, while divine warriors guarded the palace gates. I straightened my robes and entered the Jade Chamber, roaming and feasting in the Forest of the Hidden. The Immortal Lord Changzhao gazed across the great void from the Western White Mountain and drifted upon the Celestial Ford, the crossing of the Milky Way. As I rode clouds and dragons through famous mountains, Perfected Beings came to my dwelling, the spirits guarded me, and mountain sprites came to welcome me. When I traveled, I had the Eightfold Radiance Jade Wheel, the cloud chariot of immortals; when I rested, I dwelt peacefully in the Golden Hall. This is also called the wondrous text “The Supreme One’s Jade Pendant and Golden Fastening.”

You wish to cross the sea, yet have no boat. You wish to travel where sand and waves surge, yet have no cloud chariot. By land, the road is perilous and you cannot take a step; through the muddy waters, you have nothing to ride. On land, you would be stranded in a distant, dangerous place; by water, you fear being swept away and sunk. How, then, could you guide the waters of a hundred valleys and clear the courses of ten thousand rivers? What a perilous and difficult predicament.

The Most High—the Daoist honorific for the supreme deity—pitied your aspirations and prepared to transmit the Lingbao True Writ (an important scripture of the Lingbao school) to you. With it, you would be able to command tigers and leopards on land, subdue flood dragons in water, eliminate evil spirits, restrain vicious beings, and accomplish great deeds. Was your duty to draw upon the Qi of Yangming, diverting water to irrigate the hundred grains and opening channels through the many rivers? This was indeed a difficult and far-reaching undertaking. The Most High pitied your aspirations and again prepared to bestow the Lingbao True Writ upon you, so that you could command tigers and leopards, subdue flood dragons, eliminate evil spirits, restrain the fierce, and accomplish great deeds. Was this the mission bestowed by Heaven of Yangming?

The precious book I received could also enable a person to enter and leave water and fire, cry out commands in the underworld, subdue tigers and leopards, summon the Six Ding (six Yin spirits in Daoist tradition), conceal oneself and travel underground, reverse the courses of the Five Stars, preserve the lives of the nine generations of ancestors, and even contend with Heaven.

Then she ordered her attendant Ling Ronghua to bring out the cinnabar-jade case and open the precious Shangqing Writ (a treasured scripture of the Shangqing school), which she gave to Yu. Yu bowed in gratitude, received the book, and departed. With the help of Gengchen and Yuyu, he finally directed the river channels and brought the floods under control, accomplishing his great work of water management. He then established the Five Sacred Peaks and divided the land into the Nine Provinces. The Celestial Emperor bestowed on him a dark jade tablet and enfeoffed him as the Perfected One of the Purple Court.

Later, the Chu official Song Yu told this story to King Xiang. Rather than ask him about the essentials of cultivating the Dao or seek the way to long life, the king built a terrace among the mountains at Gaotang and constructed the Yangtai Palace to worship her. Song Yu composed the Rhapsody on the Goddess, entrusting it with his longing and using its words to depict licentious affairs in vile language. How could a High Perfected Immortal be slandered and brought low by such a story?

At the foot of the mountain stands a shrine, where people call her the Great Immortal. Across the mountain ridge is a Goddess Stone, said to be the form she transformed into. There are also a Stone Celestial Worthy and a Goddess Altar. The bamboo beside the altar droops as if keeping watch over it. When withered leaves and debris blow onto the altar, the branches sweep them away in the wind, keeping its surface clean and free of dirt throughout the year. The people of Chu have worshipped her for generations.

Lady of the Left of the Mysterious Clarity of Taiwei

This Lady was a high-ranking perfected female immortal in the Celestial Palace of Taiwei. On the seventeenth day of the twelfth month of the Yichou year, the third year of Xingning, she descended with Perfected Taiyuan and other immortals to the residence of the Perfected Yang Xi at the Golden Altar on Mount Gouqu. There they chanted “Song in the Northern Chun Palace.”

The song says: “This deep and flourishing realm is no true dwelling in the human world; Taiyuan Palace is my home. Does the Mysterious Lord still harbor concerns? I alone am trapped in a hazy, secluded realm, and find it hard to escape my distress.

“I ride the Fallen Phoenix and steer the purple clouds, lightly flicking my whip as I ascend the high bank at dawn. All around is silent and boundless; the scene in the sky shines with brilliant light.

“I dwell in seclusion in Yang Xi’s residence, chanting ‘Song in the Northern Chun Palace.’

“On Phoenix Mound, lush with mushrooms of immortality, traces of the immortals remain; they pass beside the Jade Grove. The dragon embryo has transformed into your form, while the Eight Jades appear in the distant dawn, gleaming white.

“Langhua flourishes and grows in the Jade Palace; strange blossoms tower above the mountain crags and gather in clusters. The great roc spreads its wings, crossing countless ranges, then beats upward into the clouds.

“From the Western Court comes the command for all to sing aloud. Immortals in the clouds ride proudly through the void, playing their music. Winds from the eight directions circle the azure heavens, and layer upon layer of mist suddenly parts.

“The numinous youth casts forth flowing golden light, and the Celestial Palace of Taiwei opens its jade table. The Three Primes—Daoist officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water, or the divine perfected beings associated with them—bow and dance; the Purple Emperor waves his sleeve in praise.

“Mysterious Qi reflects the light, and the Morning Star shines brilliantly. Chaobing raises a gleaming blade high and looks down, filling me with sorrow.

“I turn back and look with pity upon the terrestrial immortals: why do you make your home among mountain forests and streams?”

That night, the immortals descended. Perfected Taiyuan spoke of affairs in the Palace of Mysterious Clarity, and so chanted this song. The whole piece expresses the Shangqing school’s purpose of cultivating the inner way to attain perfection, and serves to harmonize the mind and spirit. The Lady’s scriptures and biographies do not clearly record her name or deeds.

The Numinous Consort of the Eastern Florescence Upper Chamber

The Numinous Consort’s dwelling is an Eastern Florescence Upper Chamber in Fangzhu Palace, the place she governs. She, too, is a high-ranking divine immortal among the Heavenly Perfected, and may have served as an aide to the Great Emperor. Her song is as follows:

Purple osmanthus grows in the Jade Garden, its red blossoms flourishing and their fragrance spreading everywhere. In the Moon Palace, a spring of immortal medicine wells forth; within the sun lies a jade pool. With my left hand I pluck the light of the Round Spirit, and with my right I draw forth the radiance of the cinnabar clouds. Flowing golden light illuminates the Crimson Court, and the scenes in all eight directions are clear and free of haze. I ride in a carriage beneath a green canopy, holding a tally and delivering orders at the Taiwei Palace. A handsome boy, transformed from the essence of the phoenix, presents me with sweet jade cream to nourish me when I hunger. Facing the morning light, I embrace the Qi of Primordial Simplicity and ride up the jade steps. I breathe in and out the primordial Qi of heaven and earth in all four directions; jade maidens follow in attendance, carrying towels. I gently wave the fan of southern clouds, and fragrant breezes stir my brocade robe. I play the Shang note, and the myriad beasts dance to the music; even the spirits of the Six Heavens rein in their might. In an instant I pass through tens of millions of years, my life long and exalted. The little fish has not yet been put in the pot to cook, yet I say that I am grieving beneath the mountain crags.

This song was composed on the night of the seventeenth day of the twelfth month of the yichou year, the third year of Xingning in the Jin dynasty (365), when the assembled Perfected Ones of the Taiyuan descended to the home of Yang Jun. It is said to have been regularly sung in the Palace of the Azure Lad, to encourage those cultivating the Dao and seeking perfection in the Green Palace. It recounts the rules that practitioners should observe and the joys of diligent cultivation. No other clear record survives of this numinous consort’s name or her cultivation.

Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity

The Lady’s name was Qing’e, and her courtesy name was Yuyin. She was the twentieth daughter of the Queen Mother of the West. She once descended to the human world and transmitted the Supreme Treasure-Shen Scripture to Pei Xuanren. After Pei Xuanren cultivated the Dao and attained its Way, he was appointed Perfected One of Clear Numen.

In the sixth month of the yichou year, the third year of Xingning in the Jin dynasty (365), the Lady descended to the home of Yang Xi. The Perfected One of Taiyuan, the Perfected One of Tongbai, Lady Youying, and Lady of Mount Heng also descended at that time. The Lady held the rank of Left Lady of the Purple Tenuity Palace. She guarded the Upper Palace on Black Ridge Mountain in Yuye and presided over the instruction of practitioners who hoped to attain perfection.

At this gathering of the assembled Perfected Ones, Lady Youying sang a song about cultivating perfection, and Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity replied in song:

Riding the swift wind straight up to the Ninth Heaven, I halted my carriage at Three Blossoms Ridge. Those who have something to hope for still wander about, looking this way and that; those who hope for nothing can be still. What is there in the Canglang waters worth all that rushing and exertion? How could it compare with passing beyond the Dark Well and transcending the world of dust?

Then I chanted:

The Turtle Tower rises lofty and splendid; moonlike pearls of radiance shine on the terrace pavilion. The immortals sit in rows in the Chamber of Nine Spirits, keeping time with their hands as they proudly chant “Great Primordial.” The jade flute brings ease to my heart and spirit, while golden sweet wine dispels my sorrow.

Then I chanted:

We feasted to our hearts’ content in the Eastern Florescence Palace, as a thousand melodies sounded together. The Azure Lord, deity of the East, called me to rise; I bowed in respect, gazing with longing toward the immortal realm of the Forest Court. Clad in feathered robes, I drift lightly in emerald light; jade pendants strike one another with clear, ringing notes. Together we point toward the Hall of High Dawn, agreeing to meet in the wondrous depths of the hidden realm.

While traveling through Shuxuan Ridge, I also chanted:

I soar beyond the ordinary and enter the crimson heavens, riding the wind as though I had reached the Ridge Court. Numinosity shines upon the immortal terrace; my rounded form drifts with the wind. I greet the morning light and embrace the Cinnabar Origin, the inner essence; riding the flying radiance, I absorb the moon’s essence. With my companions, sleeves mingling, I meet among the cloud forests and immortal halls. Vast and content, I return to the pure state of an infant. Calmly I dwell where there is nothing to rely on. Why should right and wrong, gain and loss, still occupy my thoughts? Yet people of the world contend and disturb one another amid the dust. How, then, can they speak of nourishing life?

On the sixth day of the ninth month, I descended once more and ordered Yang Jun to take up his brush and record this poem:

Loosen every bond and rise to the Great Rosy Heavens; draw in your carriage and set out for Purple Mound. Hold the eight directions of empty space in your hands and roam freely among the clouds. A single glance reveals the pattern by which creation unfolds; another finds the distant place of return. Once the essentials of the Dao are complete, a thousand sorrows can be dispelled. Having sought the Dao and found a good companion, what more is there to pursue?

After chanting, I ordered that the poem be shown to Xu Changshi Mu and the others in the commandery.

Then I chanted:

The purple sky is bright and open; the Crimson River winds beside the Dark Palace. Immortals crowd the Upper Clarity Palace, and the Cloud Terrace rises high, radiant with splendor. The Eight Chariots travel toward the Vermilion Pool, their feathered canopies reaching into the clouds. Wind and thunder roar and wheel through the Three Heavens; the sound of golden bells spreads, and jade blossoms rise in its wake. The Seven Reins reach out to the nine directions. Resting in peace, one need no longer long for home. I ask those who seek the Dao: why remain seated, keeping watch over the dusty world? Can you not dwell in the immortal realm of Eastern Florescence, tend your true nature, and harmonize the Qi of Great Harmony?

After chanting, I also ordered that the poem be shown to Xu Changshi and the others in the commandery. On the seventeenth day of the tenth month, I descended once more with the immortals and ordered Yang Jun to record these words:

He holds a jade flower canopy in his left hand—the ceremonial canopy that symbolizes the realm of the immortals—and, riding the flying radiance, steps onto the Seven Origins, a name for Daoist stars and celestial realms. The Three Mornings send forth purple light. The practitioner gazes with concentrated spirit and makes contact with luminous truth, the clear and pure state of the Dao. Transformation and ascension take place in an instant; all around, everything is governed by Great Harmony, the original Qi of unified harmony.

After finishing the chant, he again had someone show the verses to Xu Yudu. On the seventeenth day of the tenth month, he descended once more with the perfected beings and instructed Yang Jun to record:

He holds a jade flower canopy in his left hand and, riding the flying radiance, steps onto the Seven Origins. The Three Mornings send forth purple light. With concentrated spirit, he gazes and makes contact with luminous truth. Transformation and ascension take place in an instant; in every direction are one’s own spirits. The spirit opens and develops, and its realm has no bounds. One must diligently ponder the scriptures of Highest Clarity, the classics of the Daoist Shangqing school. Why remain trapped midway along the road, unable to keep your mind and spirit focused? Dwelling in a dark and secluded place, you have lost the subtle, essential key and have not even noticed the years passing.

When he had finished chanting, he spoke slowly to Yang Jun: “What is called diligence today means being diligent in your own practice and devoting yourself to understanding the subtle principles of the Dao. The cautious person can also reason by analogy and investigate those principles. The hardships of learning the Dao are beyond words. If you harbor shame or thoughts of belittling yourself, the Great Dao will seem far away. Only after you have been infused with it and learned to uphold it will its preciousness become clear. The conduct of a wise person will naturally lead others to further insight. You should now learn to forget external things in your heart.” Then he chanted:

The subtle, clear, and empty realm is deep and unfathomable; the lingering light of the setting sun rises from the eastern waters. May I find a friend who has transcended the world, quiet and self-contained, with few worldly pursuits.

He chanted the poem again and again, then said:

The wondrous person dwells in the secluded, mysterious peaks; the true spirit gathers in its cloudlike radiance. The subtle song is not without its appointed time, and the wondrous response has its moment of waiting. Is it merely emptiness and stillness? The deep resonance of the Dao has always been there. Open your heart and ascend to the Feathered Palace, the dwelling of immortals; together, feast in the Vast Cold, the legendary lunar palace. Who, one might ask, has awakened to the Great Dao? In the heart, there is only the Jade Master, a perfected immortal or one who has attained the Dao.

When he had finished chanting, he said: “Zhuo Yunxu, a spirited and exceptional man, spread his wings and soared above Mount Kongtong. Is such a person not one who possesses the dignity of a ruler for ages, yet forever leaves behind a state of a thousand chariots?”

On the thirtieth day of the second month, he chanted another stanza:

Lifting his robes, he crosses the Yong River, and so comes to meet the Lord of Fusang, the eastern god of sunrise. A grand gathering is held in the Ruins of the Great Forest, and a feast with music is set out in the Hall of Mysterious Splendor.

If one believes in the Great Dao with purity and steadfastness, why not dwell on the Eastern Peak?

This, too, concerns Shufang’s journey to Donghua, the eastern immortal realm.

Clad in multicolored robes, I cross the Swimming River and see Lord Fusang. A grand gathering is held at the Ruins of the Great Forest, and a banquet with music is laid on at the Palace of Dark Splendor.

If one believes in the Great Dao and keeps one’s purpose pure and steadfast, why not dwell on the Eastern Peak?

This, too, is a splendid scene in the Eastern Flower Immortal Realm of Shufang. On the fourteenth day of the fourth month, I composed seven stanzas. The poem says:

One

Riding the radiance of sun and moon, I set out from the ferry as dawn first breaks, then rise on the wind to Shangqing, one of the Daoist realms of immortality. Cloud terraces tower in tier upon tier; the Gate of Heaven stands wide, and the Jade City is beautiful.

The morning breeze stirs cinnabar clouds, and red vapors fall over the Golden Court. Green elixirs gather on Dark Peak, while purple mushrooms grow beneath the rocks.

Auspicious clouds circle the elixir furnace; the vapor of refined jade transforms into the Eight Jades. At ease, I gaze toward the Palace of Vast Cold, the legendary moon palace. Countless sorrows fade away, and my face grows young as a child’s.

The dragon banner calls for the opening of numinous, efficacious thunder and lightning; the tiger banner summons the Red Soldiers, the scarlet divine troops. The High Perfect Ones dwell far above the Nine Luminaries, seeing through the subtle and illuminating what lies hidden.

Who can tread this profound immortal path and come in search of my boundless years of life?

Two

Purple Tenuity, the dwelling of the Celestial Emperor and the center of the heavens, is shrouded in deep clouds; Yu Terrace glows with rosy light. Luan birds sing among ornate canopies, while Fengjun guides the dragon chariot.

Eight wolves support the red banners; white tigers sound their horns. Clouds gather and reveal a numinous palace, then return once more to the bustle of the mortal world.

Where the beautiful one dwells, loosen the horse’s reins. Those who share an affinity naturally sense and draw one another near. To seek the source takes only a moment; ten thousand years seem to pass in an instant.

The appointed day will eventually pass. How far off can the end of the cosmic tribulation be? Let the true immortals behold one another in sincerity; do not let the mind and spirit be clouded.

Wield the blade of emptiness and sever every attachment. If one remains trapped in petty obsessions, the Five Spirits—the inner spirits corresponding to the organs and Five Phases—will grieve.

Three

At dawn I set out beneath the eastern light, riding an immortal carriage across the Blue Spring. Mountain waves shake the green cliffs; winds from the eight directions stir the dark, mysterious clouds.

From afar I gaze toward the Chamber of Easy Transformation, a palace in the immortal realm. My heart longs for the immortals, and true feeling arises from this longing. The Three Metals, materials used by immortals, may serve for wandering and enjoyment; the eastern mountains are suited to long residence.

Mortals stream along the road on their journeys. Who among them can tread the path to long life?

Four

My figure drifts lightly to the Eight Rosy Clouds Ridge, lingering among the moving canopies of dawn clouds. Purple numinous vapor rises into the heavens, and my gaze reaches beyond the Nine Heavens.

The sound of jade flutes surges outward, carrying across the boundless sky. The clouds and mists disperse, and even hidden places grow clear. The High Immortals hold a banquet in Supreme Truth, the realm where immortals dwell; their pure, resonant songs have no end.

Passing back and forth between mountain peaks and courtyards, why still wait and hesitate to move forward?

Part Five

The Divine King (king among the deities) shines upon the Spirit Ford, the crossing that leads to the realm of immortals. The Seven Primordials, stellar or celestial deities in Daoism, make the sacred gates radiant. Within a space as small as a square inch—the heart or mind—one becomes still and empty, then transforms; in an instant, one can soar to Taiwei, the celestial star palace.

Wondrous music arrives with harmonious song, and the grand assembly of immortals has its appointed hour. Together with the celestial beings, gaze into the distance and rise with the morning light. The Divine King shines upon the Spirit Ford; the Seven Primordials make the sacred gates radiant. Within the square-inch space, become still and empty, then transform; with a single leap, ascend to Taiwei.

Wondrous music arrives with harmonious song, and the grand assembly of immortals has its appointed hour. Together with the celestial beings, gaze into the distance and rise with the morning light.

Commanding your carriage, race beyond the Six Directions—all that lies around Heaven and Earth. Where could there be danger or a fall?

Part Six

Banquets in the mortal world are fleeting, vanishing like the wind. Generations pass, and even the green jade pendants return to dust. Who can know the appointed end after ten thousand kalpas, cycles of immeasurably long duration? Looking back and gazing into the distance, one cannot help but grieve.

Part Seven

The numinous herb holds mysterious arts within it; look upward and take in the radiance of the stars, sun, and moon. Plants and trees flourish and sprout, renewing life without end. Those who have accumulated profound virtue are sure to prosper.

On the night of the seventeenth day of the eighth month, the Lady—a female divine being among the immortals—charged Lord Yang to tell Senior Official Xu:

“You are even-tempered and unpretentious by nature, inwardly deep and perceptive, and endowed with subtle spiritual sensitivity. The spirits have given you an extraordinary nature, enabling you to dwell in the true Dao and nurture your life. The Great Mystery has entered your name in its registers, and the Great Uncarved has inscribed your immortal name. Golden light shines from within, while jade radiance glows on your outward form. You will ride in a vermilion carriage and command the gods; you will race through Dark Isle, the dragon’s dwelling place, and ride the clouds through the hidden realms. Above, you will surely consort with Lord Gu of Yitai; below, you will govern all affairs in the Great Clarity, the pure and empty realm of the immortals.”

Then the Lady spoke with Lord Baoming about the nine directions of far-reaching intent, saying: “The mind should not hold too many thoughts. When thoughts multiply, purpose becomes scattered. To let purpose scatter and still hope to avoid illness is as difficult as shutting the gates against a fierce enemy.”

The Lady also taught methods of discipline and cultivation for practicing in the human world. Shu said: “At dawn, observe purification and visualize the eight Qi of Vast Origin, Dark Mystery, Hidden Beginning, and the rest. If the eight Qi are not yet harmonized and the numinous gateways connecting body and mind with the spirits are still blocked, sit alone in calm contemplation of the empty, still, and distant realm. Follow your nature, remain empty and quiet, and guard yourself. Then pure, harmonious sounds will rise softly, and a flowing Qi will follow. The sun and moon will hold their light, the clouds and skies will clear, and nothing will need to be sought deliberately.

“The sprouts of all things arose before Heaven and Earth were divided, and the source of myriad forms lies hidden in the pivot of creation. Living things return to their true nature; all kinds of things gather themselves back to their beginnings. Seen this way, even ten thousand years may be called brief, while a life like that of an infant can remain long and harmonious. Why cling to the search for the hidden depths of numinous spirits, or travel far away in pursuit of strange, illusory sounds?

“The human body itself is not an instrument for attaining the true Dao, and ordinary objects cannot carry its wondrous workings. One must therefore follow the ordering principle governed by the Celestial Origin, investigate the myriad vital essences to reach the furthest mystery, and seek out the Nine Celestial Coordinates—the laws governing the courses of the heavens—to discover how life springs forth. Watch the morning light shining far into the distance and gaze up at the vapor: there you will see the Six Spirits circling through the void. Study the Six Pitch Standards, the ancient system of musical tones, and the winds of the eight directions will reveal their power.

“The Great Origin sends forth a roar of Dark Mystery, and the rounded luminaries cast their radiance across the sky. Then purple clouds flourish in splendor, waves surge and mountains collapse; drifting smoke veils the myriad forms, while clear reflections float and fly. The Five Phases—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—injure one another, and the seasons fall into disorder. Metal and Earth draw close, while Water and Fire become hostile. Trees and grasses lie still, bent and fallen, and the rivers are blocked. Vast bolts of thunder and lightning crisscross, and Heaven and Earth boil. Thunder roars from east and west, tearing through all things. When the Dao of Heaven is blocked and thrown into disorder, the calamity of Yang Nine appears; when the Dao of Earth is obstructed and cannot flow, the disaster of Hundred Six takes shape.”

A person who commits even a slight error may fall into profound hardship. If one sees dragons baring their claws and fighting, blood will soon cover the earth. Good fortune and misfortune collide; every sign points to calamity, and the situation breaks apart. When the Way of Heaven is blocked, the “calamity of Yang Nine” arises; when the terrain of Earth is obstructed, the “convergence of Hundred Six” takes shape. These are terms the ancients used for disasters.

The world is unsettled, with fortune and misfortune intertwined. Even someone traveling along a level road may encounter darkness and danger, while a person living in a secure and prosperous place may not find everything going smoothly. A misstep in one’s actions may mean returning with the dead. Traveling northeast may bring the loss of companions and cause regret. Even an attempt to cross a great river may be thwarted by unfavorable circumstances, like being trapped in perilous waters and sinking to the bottom of a well.

Such calamities arise because people have lost their original nature and the myriad things have fallen out of harmony. People pursue rivalry and contention, multiplying their schemes; spirits and ghosts, too, devise their own plans, throwing Heaven and Earth into disorder. The Highest Perfected One, moved by compassion for beings swept up in worldly turmoil, opened a ford through the underworld so that the worthy might awaken, and taught methods for meeting myriad changes and nurturing life. Those who dwell amid good fortune and De often remain safe; those in places of danger are likely to decline. Those skilled in regulating the “Six Qi”—the six breaths or changes between Heaven and Earth—can extend their lives, while those who consume lingzhi mushrooms can attain a spirit of clear serenity.

Marvellous arts and profound Daoist methods are transmitted in places of pure emptiness and deep seclusion. The Golden Palaces and jade registers—immortal scriptures—are compiled on the Terrace of Weiyu. Methods for cultivating the mind and body and regulating life are subtle and profound. Immortals chant the true formulae, their radiance interweaving. When they sing their songs, they can harness the morning Qi and ascend to the Grand Tenuity, where the celestial officials reside. By practicing these methods, they can ride in a chariot and travel throughout the nine directions. The immortals ride beneath flowered canopies, passing through ranks of clouds like flowing rosy mists, and turn their gaze toward the Terrace of Wenchang.

Some arts use a furnace to refine the essence of cinnabar, then grind and refine metals and stones to make a purple elixir. They also employ immortal medicines such as langgan, causing the essences of eight kinds of jade to flow forth as clouds of Qi shine and crimson liquid swirls aloft. Dragon embryo, tiger foam, phoenix brain, cloud langgan, jade frost, the Taiji elixir, and the Three-Circled numinous metal are all medicines or alchemical ingredients listed in the scriptures. Taken in a very small dose, they can produce their effect.

Once the divine bird’s wings have spread, it reads the heavenly scriptures high in the sky, while the Celestial Realm’s chamber of Primordial Beginning appears solemn and radiant. The jade-like music of the immortals and their splendid books issue from the Palace of the Three Mysteries. One wears the precious sash bestowed by Heaven, receives the elixir granted by the Three Origins, and dons the immortal pendant from the Chamber of Cinnabar Lin. The Supreme Lord presents the precious radiance of Purple Geng, and the Great Perfect One bestows the flowing-gold fire bell. Divine youths open the carriage; nine phoenixes cry out together. Heavenly music resounds through the void, and the morning bell rings clear. The refined body becomes light and supple, and the Eight Visions—the eight forms of splendor that immortals ride—appear in the sky. A dragon carriage and tiger guards lead the procession, with banners and canopies unfurled in every direction.

One ascends to the utmost heights of Changyang and settles below in the inverted-sunlight Orchid Hall. The Moon Consort drives the carriage, while the radiance of the sun illuminates her face. The numinous maidens present incense, and its smoke drifts through the windows. At a glance behind, Yuanluo has already traveled far ahead. What could a journey of ninety thousand li possibly amount to? Only then does one understand how lofty the stages of the path to immortality are, and how subtle the search for wondrous methods must be. Taking immortal medicines and riding immortal vehicles can bring a person into accord with the divine, while the signs of good and ill fortune quickly come to pass.

Without the Great Cavern True Scripture in Thirty-Nine Chapters, transmitted by Lord Wuying and the Yellow Elder’s Jade Book, or methods such as the Seven Stars of Huoluo and the Supreme One’s Hidden Mystery, no one could rival this Way. There is also another method of cultivation: gather the spirit and focus the mind; carefully cultivate the Bright Hall, the dwelling place of the spirits within the body; direct awareness toward the Six Emptinesses—the four directions, above, and below—and awaken the vitality of the Five Viscera. Guard and seal the Primordial Gate, visualize the Nine Perfected within the body, and let the Three Qi circulate and transform into saliva, which then irrigates the Dantian (energy center). These, too, are methods of cultivation, though of a lesser order.

If a person’s sincerity in the elixir is insufficient and their practice shallow, why offer an ox, sheep, and pig as lavish a sacrifice as that of Shulin? It is enough to add such health-giving substances as Five-Cloud Water, cassia root, yellow essence, southern candle-yang herb, eastern stone hollow, green pine resin, arborvitae seeds, sesame, and poria. These can be used to prolong life and preserve longevity.

I have also carefully examined which plants and trees are most beneficial and can help people quickly, but I have not yet fully verified the effects of medicines made from wood. Recently, baleful energies have veiled the sky, and evil mists have blocked the sunlight. Demons run rampant, and illnesses arise one after another: some people suffer from wind-cold stagnation, while others develop swelling and accumulations. Calamities often strike suddenly, and illness frequently comes without warning.

The vital energy of medicines made from wood can hold back the intrusion of ghosts and spirits; the smoke they produce when burned is said to subdue evil forces. They can also strengthen the muscles, nourish the hun and po souls, increase Qi and blood, replenish the brain and marrow, drive out evil, draw in true Qi, guard Jing, and protect life. When taken as medicinal food, their power spreads throughout the body, making a person light and strong. Taken as pills or powders, they can dispel all illnesses and fill the five viscera with fluids. In this way, they can prolong life, improve eyesight, and, with long use, sharpen the spirit. The ancients called them “herbs of mountain essence” and “essence of mountain ginger.” The Supreme One’s Inscription on Guiding Immortals, a Daoist health text, says: “If you wish for long life, take mountain essence; if you wish to lighten your body and fly, take mountain ginger.” This is what it refers to.

I believe that all things have their own precious qualities, but medicines made from wood are especially beneficial to people. Now, we need their medicinal effects; in these latter times, when illnesses are common, we should all the more take them. Even if Dao cultivators have fully developed their inner cultivation, they still fear calamities from outside. The body may seem strong on the surface while declining within. Zhang Dan, the figure cited here, placed too much emphasis on one side and brought danger upon himself; this is enough to serve as a warning.

Medicines made from wood have two effects: first, they help people attain long life and longevity; second, they protect against myriad demons and sudden illnesses of every kind. I have seen Dao cultivators living at ease in the mountains and forests who took such medicines. They lived for a thousand or eight hundred years, enough to rank alongside the immortals of the Five Sacred Peaks. The relevant records are so numerous that I cannot copy and explain them all. I therefore set down here the methods for taking medicines made from wood, bringing to light the principles that are not easy to understand. If people truly believe and follow these instructions, they may be able to avoid sudden calamities.

When peace reigns throughout the realm, the energies of the four seasons are in harmony, auspicious signs appear in the heavens and all things flourish, baleful mists disperse, the Five Poisons lie hidden, the sun, moon, and stars shine steadily, and all things mature according to their nature. At that time, even if people take medicines as they see fit, they will no longer face the calamity of dying young or being struck down.

The “wood” spoken of here refers to taking it with a clear intention, to prevent calamity and illness from arising. Later, those who studied the Dao argued among themselves, often using the method of “blending into wholeness” and the method of “the Yellow Book and Red Boundary.” These do indeed belong to the key principles of Yin-Yang generation, harmony, and coordination.

When Daoist methods are used in combination to loosen bonds and escape the net, to calculate the conjunction of the Six Directions (heaven and earth and the four quarters), to follow the changes of the seasonal energies, to dispel calamities, and to congeal Jing and Qi and nurture a precious embryo—when the spirits of the brain above are kept from depletion and the Three Fields below (the body’s three Dantian) are made full; when every movement, pause, advance, and retreat accords with measure, thereby dispelling misfortune and bringing the channels and the movement of Qi into mutual resonance, so that health endures; even when one rides out safely and returns unharmed, like driving a chariot and leading six armies on a long march—these methods may offer some benefit, but they cannot be counted among the highest and most wondrous practices of the immortals.

Alas, how perilous! Though these are methods for harmonizing Yin-Yang and protecting the body, they are not paths of cultivation that transcend the secular world. They are like traveling in an ice chariot, or rocking a boat of fire amid flames, steering toward a place of drowning. Unless one truly understands the principles involved, countless people will fail; some may even thereby go against the way of Heaven…