《玄风庆会录》

The Imperial Preceptor, Perfected Changchun, was once summoned by imperial decree to appear before the emperor. At first he was unwilling to leave his mountain retreat, but eventually he had no choice and set out. He left the Central Plains, crossed the shifting sands, and expounded the principles of Dao and De to the ruler, helping him govern. He also urged an end to warfare and saved many lives. Once his mission was accomplished, he withdrew from public life and eventually departed this world, ascending to Heaven.

In the thousands of years since the Most High, the Mysterious Origin (Laozi) journeyed west, there has been only one figure like Perfected Changchun. The events of his journey there and back are recorded in detail in The Journey to the West. Only his subtle words and profound teachings on the Dao, spoken in conversation with the emperor, were recorded by the emperor’s close attendants and kept secret. Many years later, they became known to the wider world. Now they are to be printed and passed down, so that people everywhere may share in learning of this wondrous gathering, a celebration of the mysterious Dao. This preface was written on the winter solstice of the renchen year.

Yila Chucai, Yuan dynasty court attendant, General of the Zhaowu rank, and Vice Minister of Rites in the Ministry of Rites, compiled this work by imperial command.

In reverent obedience to the emperor’s decree: summon the eminent Daoist, Perfected Changchun. On the second day of the first month of the jimao year, the emperor issued an edict appointing the officials Liu Zhonglu and Zi Shao to seek him out. The text that follows was compiled by Yila Chucai under imperial command.

At the emperor’s command, the court sent an envoy to invite the revered Daoist master Changchun Zhenren (Qiu Chuji). On the second day of the first month of the year ji-mao, the emperor issued an edict ordering the official Liu Zhonglu to carry it and seek him out. Liu traveled as far as Donglai. The invitation accorded with the emperor’s wishes, so Changchun Zhenren was welcomed with due ceremony. He did not let the long journey deter him and came to honor the invitation.

On the sixteenth day of the tenth month, in the winter of the year ren-wu, the emperor was hunting at the southern foot of the Snow Mountains in the Western Regions. That evening, at his encampment, he had torches set up in the courtyard and a seat left vacant, then respectfully invited Changchun Zhenren to take it. He asked the master about the Way to long life.

The master replied, “The Dao gives birth to Heaven and Earth, as well as to the sun, moon, and stars, spirits and gods, and all things. People know only that Heaven is vast; they do not know that the Dao is vaster still. In my life, I left my family and became a Daoist, devoting myself to learning this principle.

“The Dao gave birth to Heaven and Earth, and after Heaven and Earth came into being, they gave birth to humankind. When people were first born, their spirit was bright and their movements as light as flight. Fungi that grew from the earth tasted good naturally, and people could eat them without cooking. In those days, fire was not yet used to cook food. The fungi were fragrant, and people enjoyed their flavor when they smelled their aroma. Later, the body gradually grew heavy, and the spirit’s radiance faded. This happened because craving and desire grew ever stronger.

“For this reason, those who cultivate the Dao do not covet the things that ordinary people love, nor do they yearn for the places where they settle in comfort. They keep away from sights and sounds, delighting in quietude; they reject rich flavors, finding beauty in simplicity. If the mind clings to anything, it cannot understand the Dao and De.

“When the eyes see beauty, the ears hear sounds, the mouth craves flavors, and the mind pursues desire, one’s original Qi is dissipated. It is like a balloon: only when full of air does it spring back; once the air escapes, it is no longer full. Qi is the root of human life. Chasing external things and indulging in reckless thoughts causes one’s original Qi to drain away, just as air leaks from a balloon.

“Heaven and Earth give rise to two kinds of living things: plants and animals. Plants and trees belong to the first kind. They have no awareness and grow luxuriantly when moistened by dew. Humans and animals belong to the second kind: they have vital activity and desires, and need clothing and food. Without these, they cannot easily make their way through life, so they must work to secure them. Busy from morning to night with all kinds of affairs, they become burdened by the needs of the body and its appetite.

“Men belong to Yang and to Fire; women belong to Yin and to Water.”

Only Yin can dispel Yang, just as water can overcome fire. Therefore, those who study the Dao must first abstain from sexual indulgence. Toiling to provide food and clothing can scatter one’s thoughts and dissipate one’s original Qi, though only to a limited degree. Lustful desire, by contrast, damages the spirit and also dissipates original Qi, but to a far greater extent.

The Dao gives rise to the two primal powers of Heaven and Earth. What is light and pure becomes Heaven: Heaven belongs to Yang and corresponds to fire. What is heavy and dense becomes Earth: Earth belongs to Yin and corresponds to water. People live between Heaven and Earth and carry both Yin and Yang within them. Those who study the Dao understand how to cultivate: they cast off extravagance and suppress desire, preserve their essence and Qi, guard their spirit, and devote themselves to cultivating Yang Qi. In this way, Yin Qi recedes and Yang Qi is preserved. In the end, they ascend to Heaven and become immortals, like flames rising upward. The foolish and deluded drink wine as though it were water, take reckless indulgence as normal, give free rein to their desires, deplete their essence and Qi, and damage their spirit. As a result, Yang Qi weakens and Yin Qi flourishes, and they sink beneath the earth to become ghosts, like water flowing to the lowest place.

Those who cultivate the Real are like people pushing a stone up a high mountain: the higher they climb, the harder it becomes, and one misstep may undo all the effort that came before. Because this path is difficult, few in the world follow it. Those who turn away from the Dao and chase desire are like people casting a stone down a steep slope: the farther it falls, the easier it goes, and in an instant it plunges beyond return. Because this path is easy, most people follow it, yet few awaken to what they are doing.

The methods of cultivation I have described so far are those that ordinary people should follow. The way of the Son of Heaven, however, is different. Your Majesty is originally a being from Heaven, favored by Heaven and entrusted with its mandate. Through the agency of my house, you have eliminated the violent and enabled the people to live in peace, carrying out Heaven’s punishment with reverence. This is like wielding an axe on behalf of a master craftsman to cut timber: the work is arduous, but once the task is done and the appointed term has ended, you may ascend to Heaven and return to your original place.

In life in this world, it is especially important to restrain one’s desires for sensual pleasures and reduce one’s indulgences and cravings. Only then can one preserve the body and enjoy health and longevity. Ordinary people have only one wife, yet still damage their bodies through excessive indulgence. How much greater must the harm be to an emperor who keeps many consorts? Your Majesty has many women in the palace, and I have also heard that Liu Zhonglu and others recently selected women in Zhongdu to fill the imperial harem. I have privately heard a Daoist scripture say: “If you do not look upon things that stir greed, your mind will not be disturbed.” Once you have seen them, it is difficult to give them up. I hope Your Majesty will take this to heart.

People take the body to be themselves, but it is only a temporary form, received from one’s parents. Shen (spirit) is the true self, received from the Dao. What can think, and remains present whether one is awake or asleep, is Shen. By doing good and cultivating the Dao, one can ascend to Heaven and become an immortal. By doing evil and turning away from the Dao, one will descend into the earth and become a ghost.

The Dao brings forth and nourishes all things, just as gold is cast into vessels of many shapes. When the vessels are melted down, they become gold again. In the same way, if people do good, they can return to the Dao. People in the world regard sensual pleasures, clothing, and food as happiness, but these are not true happiness; at their root, they are still suffering. People take the illusory for the real and suffering for joy—is that not pitiable? They do not know that the supreme joy of Heaven is true happiness.

We left our parents to study the Dao and lived among mountain crags and in caves. Four of us studied the Dao together: Qiu, Liu, Tan, and Ma. Three completed their merit and attained the Dao; they have now ascended to Heaven and become immortals. My period of hardship and cultivation is not yet complete. I eat only once a day, with a single kind of food in one bowl, and remain content and at peace as I await the right time. Those who are wealthy and powerful can aid the people and save the world, cultivating the Dao by doing good without cease and accumulating merit. That is another way. As long as one accumulates goodness and follows the Dao, why worry about being unable to become an immortal?

The Central Plain has enjoyed peace for a long time, and Heaven has repeatedly sent down scriptures and teachings urging people to do good. Such teachings have circulated north of the Yellow River, in Western Sichuan, and in Jiangzuo.

During the Eastern Han dynasty, Yu Ji obtained the 150 volumes of the Scripture of Great Peace. They describe methods for cultivating body and mind and governing the state. If Daoists in the Central Plains recited and practiced these scriptures, they could gain blessings and cultivate the fruits of the Dao. Then, on the seventh day of the first month in the first year of Yongshou, during the reign of Emperor Huan of Han, the Supreme One, a revered Daoist deity, descended to Shu and bestowed on Celestial Master Zhang Daoling scriptures including the Scripture of the Southern Dipper and Northern Dipper and the Registers of the Twenty-Four Stages, numbering more than a thousand volumes in all. In the Jin dynasty, Wang Zuan encountered the Supreme Lord of the Dao arriving through the air in a sacred carriage and received several dozen volumes of scriptures. During the Northern Wei, Celestial Master Kou Qianzhi lived on Mount Song and received more than sixty volumes of Daoist scriptures from the Supreme One and other revered deities. These scriptures all describe methods for cultivating the mind and following the Dao, praying for blessings and averting disasters, driving away mountain spirits and ghosts, and treating illness and epidemics. There are many other teachings in the scriptures, too numerous to list one by one.

The scriptures were sent down in the hope that emperors, officials, and common people, from ancient times to the present, would all do good. Their teachings cover many subjects; here, only the main points are given. Among all things between Heaven and Earth, human beings are the most precious. To obtain a human body is therefore exceedingly rare, like a qilin having only one horn, while the myriad things in the world are as numerous as the hairs on an ox. Since you have already obtained this rare human body, you should quickly take the path of cultivating the Real, do many good deeds, and accumulate blessings and virtue, gradually reaching the wondrous realm of the Dao.

Whether emperor or commoner, though their ranks differ, they receive the same essential nature and life. Emperors are all heavenly beings who have descended to the human world as punishment for their offenses. If they do good and accumulate blessings, then after death, when they ascend to Heaven, their rank will be higher than before. If they fail to do good and accumulate blessings, the opposite will happen. Heavenly beings with few merits and shallow virtue will descend to the human world again; only after cultivating blessings and helping the people can they attain a higher rank.

In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor, Xuanyuan, descended to the human world by Heaven’s decree. In his first life he was a commoner, in his second an official, and only in his third did he become a ruler. He aided the people and brought them peace, continually accumulating merit and virtue. When his lifespan ended, he ascended to Heaven and attained a higher rank than before.

Your Majesty’s method of cultivation is not complicated: outwardly, accumulate hidden virtue; inwardly, guard your spirit. Caring for the people and protecting them, so that all under Heaven may be at peace, is the practice of goodness outwardly. Reducing desire and nourishing the spirit is inner cultivation. The human body depends on food and drink: their essence becomes Jing and Qi, while the waste becomes urine and feces. Indulging desire and becoming absorbed in sensual pleasures depletes Jing and Qi, leaving a person weak and exhausted.

Your Majesty should value and conserve Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy). Even once each night causes great depletion, so how much more so does indulging in desire? Even if you cannot abstain entirely, simply learning to restrain your desires brings you close to the Way of nourishing life.

Shen (spirit) is the root on which Qi depends, while Qi is like a mother that nourishes the body. As Qi passes through the monthly cycle, it becomes menstrual blood; as it passes through the nose, it becomes mucus; through the tongue, it becomes saliva; when it reaches the body’s surface, it becomes sweat; when it moves within the body, it becomes blood; when it reaches the bones, it becomes marrow; and when it reaches the kidneys, it becomes Jing and Qi. When Qi is abundant, a person can live; when it is exhausted, a person dies. When Qi is vigorous, a person is strong; when it is weak, a person grows frail. You should always keep Qi from dissipating, as a child depends on its mother. Once Qi has dissipated, it is like a child who has lost its parents and all support.

Shen and Qi are one and the same, and Jing and marrow share a single source. Your Majesty might try sleeping alone in quiet seclusion for a full month; surely you would feel clear-minded and refreshed, with strong sinews and bones. The ancients said, “Taking medicine for a thousand days is not as good as sleeping alone for one night.” Medicines come from plants, while Jing and Qi are formed from the marrow. What benefit is there in giving up the Jing and Qi of the marrow to replenish yourself with herbs? It is like having a bag of gold but continually exchanging the gold for iron. In time, the gold is used up, and although the bag remains full, all that is left inside is iron. How is the principle of taking medicine to nourish life any different?

In ancient times, people married and established families to continue their lineages. The sages Zhou Gong, Confucius, and Mencius all had children. Confucius reached maturity of mind after the age of forty, and Mencius became unmoved by external things after forty. Once people pass the age of forty, their Qi and blood have already begun to decline, so they should abstain from excessive desire. Your Majesty has many children and a flourishing lineage; all the more reason to preserve your health and restrain your desires. This is for your own good.

Long ago, Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty was said to be a celestial being. An immortal named Lin Lingsu led him on a spiritual journey through the heavens and into the palace where he lived. A plaque above the palace bore the words “Divine Empyrean.” There, he felt no hunger or thirst, no cold or heat; he roamed freely, without a care, and wished to stay forever, with no desire to return to the human world. Lin Lingsu urged him, saying, “Your Majesty has a destiny in the human world. Your allotted term of service as Son of Heaven is not yet complete. How can you remain here?”

Later, someone asked about this matter. Since the Jurchen kingdom rose to power, General Lou Shi, serving the founding emperor, captured the retired emperor. The retired emperor later returned north and died of old age in the capital, Shangjing. From this we can see that the joys of heaven far surpass those of the human world—not merely by ten thousand times. We can also see that while one’s karmic conditions, the circumstances that bring things about, have yet to run their course, how could one simply depart at once?

In my early years as a monk, I had four fellow practitioners. Three of them have since ascended and transformed, leaving like cicadas shedding their shells. Since they could cast off this mortal body and depart, they could manifest in countless forms and do anything. I have endured every hardship, yet still have not been able to leave the world of dust, because my karmic conditions have not yet come to an end.

Before people are born, they are within the Dao: neither cold nor hot, neither hungry nor thirsty, and free of thoughts and worries. This is true happiness. Once born, they take on a physical form. Their eyes see all kinds of colors, their ears hear all kinds of sounds, their tongues taste flavors, and their minds dwell on affairs. Then troubles and concerns arise one after another. The ancients believed that the heart-mind and thoughts were hard to control, so they likened the heart-mind to a monkey and thoughts to a galloping horse. This shows how difficult they are to restrain. As the ancients said, “It is easy to subdue a fierce beast, but hard to tame the heart within the small space of a person’s chest.” Subduing this heart-mind is the shortest path to attaining the Dao and ascending to heaven.

Those who cultivate the Dao refine their true nature and train the heart-mind, keeping their thoughts from attaching to anything. They become like the vast sky or a still pool of water. When the wind stops, the water lies calm and clear, reflecting all things so they can be seen distinctly. When the wind rises, the water churns and grows murky; how then can it reflect anything? A person’s original true nature is still, like motionless water. But the eyes crave sights, the ears crave sounds, the tongue craves flavors, and the heart-mind clings to affairs. These thoughts arise one after another and surge in turn, like waves whipped up by a fierce wind.

At the beginning, it is difficult for those who cultivate the Dao to discipline their thoughts. With time and sustained effort, they gradually diminish the clutter in the heart-mind until they reach Wuwei (non-action), acting without being driven by selfish desire or delusion. A Daoist cultivates alone, and even governing the inner heart-mind is so difficult. How much harder must it be for an emperor, who possesses all under heaven and handles countless affairs each day, to govern his own heart-mind?

Simply by restraining sexual desire and reducing excessive worry, one can receive Heaven’s protection. How much more worthy of praise, then, are those who uphold strict precepts throughout their lives until the very end?

Long ago, the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan—an ancient ruler of legend—invented the bow and arrow and fashioned weapons to bring the world under his authority. After achieving success in his undertakings, he asked the immortal Guangchengzi about the art of nourishing life. Guangchengzi replied, “Do not let your thoughts run on in confusion. Those words are enough.”

I believe the key to cultivating oneself lies in maintaining balance and harmony. Excessive anger harms the body; excessive joy depletes the spirit; excessive worry drains vital energy. These three emotions all greatly hinder the cultivation of the Dao and should be restrained. Since Your Majesty understands that Shen (spirit) is the true self, while the body is only a temporary form, when you see beauty and feel desire stir, you should remember that the body is illusory and Shen is real. In this way, you can naturally put an end to desire.

A long life is rare. Birds and beasts reproduce year after year, yet their young often die quickly; few reach maturity or old age. The same is true of human infants and children. Therefore, twenty or thirty years of age counts as a short life, forty or fifty as an average life, and sixty or seventy as a long life. Your Majesty has now entered the years of long life, and should cultivate De (Virtue) and preserve the body in pursuit of longevity.

Those who leave home to cultivate the Dao wear coarse clothes, eat plain food, and accumulate no wealth, fearing that such things will harm the body and diminish their blessings. Those who cultivate the Dao while living at home should also keep their food, residence, precious objects, and possessions within their means, and avoid excessive luxury.

Beyond the Four Seas and within the world, there are countless lands, each with rare treasures. Yet none surpass the Central Plain, which possesses in full the classical teachings that guide the world, along with methods for governing the state and cultivating oneself. It has also repeatedly produced extraordinary people who cultivated the Dao, became immortals, and ascended to Heaven. Shandong and Hebei are among the world’s most fertile regions, producing fine grains, delicious vegetables, fish, salt, and silk for use throughout the land. Since ancient times, those who held these regions often became great powers. For this reason, rulers who founded dynasties throughout history placed great importance on the way of self-cultivation. This passage also reiterates that extraordinary people in the Central Plain have often cultivated the Great Dao and ascended to Heaven.

Shandong and Hebei are fertile regions, rich in fine grain, vegetables, fish, salt, and silk fabrics, and able to supply the needs of other parts of the country. Since ancient times, whoever held this land could establish a great state, so rulers throughout the dynasties have fought to control it.

Now this region belongs to the people, but warfare has followed warfare. The people have scattered and fled, and have yet to settle down. Capable officials familiar with local affairs should be sent to plan its administration, and the local people should be exempted from taxes for three years. In this way, the army and the state will have an ample supply of silk and cloth, while the people can recover and rebuild their lives: both aims will be achieved at once. This is also a way to reassure the people and seek blessings. If this is done, Heaven will surely offer its protection, and all will go well.

I live ten thousand li away, yet when you summoned me, I came without hesitation despite the distance. I have already explained the methods for cultivating the self and nourishing life. As for how to govern the state and bring peace to the people, what reason would I have to keep anything hidden? As I said earlier, to settle the people of Shandong and Hebei, appoint upright and capable officials to go there and make plans according to the methods described above. This will surely accord with Heaven’s will. If unsuitable people are appointed, they will do harm instead of good.

When the Jin first gained the realm, they began by establishing a foothold in the east. At the time, they were still unfamiliar with the customs and ways of life in the Central Plain, so they enfeoffed Liu Yu at Dongping and had him administer the region for eight years before taking it back. This, too, was a sound strategy for laying the foundations of a dynasty. I hope you will give it careful consideration.

I have already imparted in full the essential methods for cultivating the self and nourishing life. I have also outlined, in brief, how to govern the state and bring peace to the people. Whether to adopt or discard these proposals is for you alone to decide.

In the tenth year after Emperor Shizong of Jin ascended the throne, he indulged excessively in sensual pleasures and overtaxed his body, becoming very weak and exhausted. At every court audience, two people had to support him as he walked. After that, he sought widely for accomplished Daoists and methods of caring for his health. He also summoned me to ask about the principles of cultivating the Dao. I answered as I have described above, and his health gradually improved; he was able to walk normally again. He eventually died after reigning for thirty years.

Throughout my life, in learning the Dao, I have sought a state of mind free from thought and worry. In a dream, it seemed that Heaven’s will told me that my merit in cultivation was not yet complete, and that I must wait for the right time before I could ascend and transform.

The physical body is merely an illusory, temporary possession, like an inn borrowed on a journey or a husk left behind after a creature sheds it. What is there to cling to? Once the true body ascends, it can manifest in hundreds or thousands of forms and go anywhere. Even after spending a thousand, or even ten thousand, years in heaven, if a matter arises, one may descend to the human world under Heaven’s command and take birth in an ordinary person’s body.

When the teaching had ended, the Celestial Emperor said, “You have instructed me earnestly, again and again. I respectfully accept your command. These are all difficult things to accomplish, but how could I fail to follow the immortals’ mandate and carry them out diligently? I have already ordered my close attendants to record your words in the bamboo slips, and I will read them myself. If any of their profound meanings remain unclear to me, I will ask you about them again later.”