About this page. The original text of 《甘水仙源录》 (Taixuan 太玄部, 6 volumes) is shown in Classical Chinese as transmitted in the Godners/DaoZang edition. An English interpretation of the 4 passages on this page accompanies it: select a passage or press “Interpretation” to show it. All texts in English
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Daoist learning takes the Yellow Emperor and Laozi as its roots and the Zhuangzi and Liezi as its models. Later scholars drifted ever farther from the ancient sages. On the abstruse, penetrating, vast, and far-reaching foundations of the teaching, branch after branch and school after school arose, yet true lineal transmission was hard to find—a state of affairs that lasted thousands of years.
In our day the Dao’s fortune had not wholly waned; it was only waiting for the right time to rise again. Our patriarch Chongyang was endowed with exceptional talent and came forward after a hundred generations. In the summer of the jimao year of the Zhenlong reign of the Jin (1159), at Ganhe Town on Zhongnan Mountain, he met a true immortal who gave him sacred water to drink and transmitted the authentic secret. From then on the patriarch severed worldly ties and merged with the ten thousand things. He cultivated mind and nature for three years at places such as Liujiang and Nanshi, until heart and the utmost Dao were one.
Later the patriarch traveled east to the seacoast and converted outstanding disciples—Danyang, Changzhen, Changsheng, Changchun, Yuyang, Taigu, and others. They carried the teaching forward in turn, and eminent and worthy persons appeared in their season. From the capital to commanderies and counties, grand temples and abbeys were built in many places, so that the pure current of Daoism spread widely in the world and the sage’s grace reached all under heaven. Since the opening of heaven and earth, the Daoist community had never been promoted and flourished on such a scale as in this age. The service of Patriarch Chongyang and his disciples to the teaching was indeed deep.
I, Li Daoqian, have lived since youth at the Liujiang ancestral court on Zhongnan Mountain; I have just completed fifty years there. In recent years, on business for the teaching, I have visited famous mountains and blessed grounds and seen in immortal palaces and Daoist abbeys stele texts recording the conduct of successive patriarchs and the founding of temples—many written by leading scholars, with wording as precious as fine jade, not to be taken lightly. I set down at once what I saw with my own eyes and compiled it into a book entitled Ganshui Xianyuan Lu (Record of the Spiritual Source of Ganshui), printed for circulation. If more material comes to hand, it will be added in continuation. I hope readers of later ages may consult it at any time and learn the immortal merit and Dao conduct of teachers of former generations. This may also count as one splendid mark of the teaching’s flourishing.
On the Double Ninth of the wuzi year of the Zhiyuan era, Li Daoqian, Tianle Daoist of Yimen, wrote this preface.
Dao is the foundation of enlightened rule and can bring about the transformative teaching of governing through Wuwei (non-action). The Dao of utmost truth embraces all things in its breadth; in the end it accomplishes merit without coercively dominating the myriad beings. We have inherited the enterprise established by our imperial ancestors, examined the flourishing ages of successive dynasties, and long looked up to the way of the profound gate (xuanmen). From the time the Donghua Emperor spread the teaching down to the age when Chongyang the Perfected Realized One opened minds to the Way, the authentic transmission of perfected persons in each generation has never been broken, handed down age after age; whenever the heart is moved, one can connect with the Dao, and its influence reaches everywhere without limit.
Former reigns repeatedly bestowed praise and posthumous honors, yet We still felt that reverence was insufficient. We therefore ordered Confucian officials to draft further honorific titles. The Donghua Emperor had already been titled an emperor-lord; We add only the four characters “Zifu Shaoyang” to his designation. The four perfected real persons Zhengyang, Chunyang, Haichan, and Chongyang shall be enfeoffed as Perfected Lords (Zhenjun); the seven perfected persons from Danyang downward shall all be styled Perfected Real Persons (Zhenren). Let these honorific titles be recorded in the canonical registers and transmitted to later generations.
Alas, Zhang Daoling of the Han and Ye Fashan of the Tang were both granted the title Celestial Master (Tianshi), becoming lasting glory for the Daoist tradition. At the time no one raised objection, and in later ages this became fixed precedent. What We aspire to may also approach that model.
The Donghua Patriarch Teacher may be posthumously honored as “Donghua Zifu Shaoyang Emperor-Lord.”
Zhengyang, Perfected Real Person Zhongli, may be posthumously honored as “Zhengyang Kaiwu Chuandao Perfected Lord.”
Chunyang, Perfected Real Person Lü, may be posthumously honored as “Chunyang Yanzheng Jinghua Perfected Lord.”
Haichan, Perfected Real Person Liu, may be posthumously honored as “Haichan Mingwu Hongdao Perfected Lord.”
Chongyang, Perfected Real Person Wang, may be posthumously honored as “Chongyang Quanzhen Kaihua Perfected Lord.”
Danyang, Master Ma, may be posthumously honored as “Danyang Baoyi Wuwei Perfected Real Person.”
Changzhen, Master Tan, may be posthumously honored as “Changzhen Yunshui Yunde Perfected Real Person.”
Permission was granted to confer upon Master Liu Changsheng the title Perfected One Changsheng, Auxiliary in Transforming Bright Virtue (Changsheng Fuhua Mingde Zhenren); upon Master Qiu Changchun the title Perfected One Changchun, Expounding the Dao and Principal Teacher (Changchun Yandao Zhujiao Zhenren); upon Master Wang Yuyang the title Perfected One Yuyang, Embodying Mystery and Broad Salvation (Yuyang Tixuan Guangdu Zhenren); upon Master Hao Datong the title Perfected One Guangning, Penetrating Mystery and Primordial Antiquity (Guangning Tongxuan Taigu Zhenren); and upon the lay renunciant Sun Buer the title Perfected One Qingzheng, Deep Purity, True Integrity, and Shun Virtue (Qingzheng Yuanzhen Shunde Zhenren).
This matter was ordered to be carried out by the Zhangjiao (director of the teaching), Perfected One Guangxian, Who Embodies the Dao with Sincere Brightness (Guangxian Tidao Chenming Zhenren) Zhang Zhijing, in accordance with these provisions. Promulgated in the first month of the sixth year of the Zhiyuan era.
Stele Inscription
Stele of the Patriarch of the Complete Perfection (Quanzhen) Teaching, the Divine Perfected One Chongyang of Zhongnan Mountain
Composed by Jin Yuanta, Kaifu Yitong Sansi, Shang Zhuguo, Duke of Mi.
When a dynasty’s mandate rises, outstanding figures inevitably appear. In the Dading and Longxing periods, the realm of the Dao (the Way) reached full maturity, and worthy persons and sages emerged in great numbers. As for the three…
When a new dynasty’s fortune rises, extraordinary figures invariably appear. During the Dading and Longxing reigns, sages of rounded wisdom and broad attainment emerged. Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism each hold subtle teachings: in Buddhism, the one who grasped the Buddha-mind was Bodhidharma, and the teaching he transmitted is called Chan; in Confucianism, the one who inherited Confucius’s family learning was Zisi, and his work is the Doctrine of the Mean (Zhongyong); in Daoism, the one who penetrated the essence of the Daode Jing, who embodied the Supreme Lord Laozi’s way of quietude, non-action (wuwei), and constancy through wordless transmission and effortless practice, was the True Person (Zhenren) Wang, known as Chongyangzi. The teaching he transmitted is called Quanzhen (Complete Perfection). One who casts off delusion and preserves only the true nature is a transcendent (shenxian).
The True Person’s taboo name was Gao, his courtesy name Zhiming; he was born in Da’e Village in Xianyang. His mother carried him for twenty-four months and eighteen days—by the reckoning of the twenty-four solar terms, together with the remaining Earth phase (tu) qi, she then gave birth to the True Person. He had a full beard, large eyes, and stood over six chi in height; his bearing was bold and his speech persuasive, so people deeply respected him. His family was well-off; he often lent grain to the poor, and of what he lent, half was never collected again—from this one can see his mind to help others.
At twenty he began studying for the civil service examinations and entered the prefectural school of Jingzhao; he was also skilled in military strategy. In the Jin dynasty’s Tianjuan era, when Shaanxi was recovered and the court sought talent, he set aside the civil track and turned to the military examination, changing his name to Dewei and his courtesy name to Shixiong. From this one can see his ambition. Later, as his affinity with the Way deepened and his roots of goodness accumulated, the court’s paths in civil and military office both failed to hold him; he then resolutely entered the Way and took the name he bears today.
At that time the court had abolished the Qi regime and governed in its place; the people of the Qin region were not yet settled, and famine followed. A band of robbers looted the True Person’s household. His grandfather reported to the unified command (tongfu); the authorities searched on a large scale among more than three hundred neighboring households and recovered a good deal of stolen gold, silver, and goods. They later seized the bandits’ leader. The True Person urged them: “These people were starving in the countryside—like begging from neighbors—not truly set on theft at heart. How can we bear to drive them to their deaths?” So they were released.