《紫阳真人内传》

The Perfected of Ziyang was surnamed Zhou and named Yishan, with the courtesy name Jitong. He was from Ruyin and was said to be a seventh-generation descendant of Zhou Bo, the Han dynasty chancellor. The Zhou family were local notables, with members serving as officials for generations. His grandfather, Zhou Xuan, served as governor of Qingzhou in the first year of Yuanfeng, and his father, Zhou Mi, had been magistrate of Fanyang County. After Zhou Yishan was born, his father rose through the ranks and eventually became an assistant official in Chenliu Commandery.

At sixteen, Zhou Yishan went with his father to live in Chenliu Commandery and began studying the Classic of Filial Piety, the Analects, and the Book of Changes. He was composed and sparing of words, rarely showing his emotions. He liked to sit quietly by himself and had little interest in making the acquaintance of celebrated men. His thoughts were careful and focused, and what he held in his mind often seemed to resonate outwardly.

He would often stand facing due east at sunrise, rinse his mouth, swallow the saliva, then practice breathing and drawing in Qi (vital energy) more than a hundred times, followed by two bows to the sun. He did this every day for several years. His father found it strange and asked what he was doing. Kneeling, Zhou Yishan replied, “I love the radiance of the sun as it rises, so I pay my respects to it.”

On the morning of every first day of the lunar month, he would walk through the markets and lanes. Whenever he met people who were poor and starving, he would take off his clothes and give them away. At times he climbed famous mountains and let out a long, sorrowful sigh; at other times he entered a stone chamber and laughed with delight by himself.

There were many celebrated men in Chenliu at the time. Hearing that Zhou Yishan was virtuous and had a calm, gentle disposition, they came to visit him in droves. He often turned them away, claiming to be ill. Cai Cheng, a respected recluse of Chenliu who had served as a Palace Attendant in the Han dynasty and knew something of Daoist arts, heard of Zhou Yishan’s conduct and came to see him several times, but was also refused. His father could not understand this. Angrily, he scolded Zhou Yishan and urged him to go out and receive his guests. With no way to refuse, Zhou Yishan came out to meet them. They asked him many questions and spoke of the ways of immortals and the arts of transformation. Zhou Yishan simply remained inwardly still and collected his spirit, nodding faintly in acknowledgment without ever replying.

That year, a severe drought struck, and Chenliu suffered a terrible famine. The price of rice rose to a thousand coins per dou, and starving people were everywhere along the roads.

You then brought out all your wealth and did everything you could to help those in distress, quietly doing good deeds without letting anyone know. You sat in silence, gathered your spirit, and stilled your mind. You only nodded in response and did not say a word.

That year, a severe drought struck, and Chenliu suffered a terrible famine. A dou of rice sold for a thousand coins, and hungry people were everywhere along the roads. You gave away your entire fortune to help them, offering aid in secret so that no one knew these acts of kindness were yours. You regarded all things as if they were newborn infants. In this way, you quietly accumulated good De and spread kindness and generosity with a benevolent heart.

There was also a man named Huang Tai who lived in Chenliu. He had no wife or children and lived alone, with no relatives. No one knew where he had come from. He often wore tattered leather trousers and a leather coat, and sold straw sandals in the Chenliu marketplace. You would sometimes pass through the market in secret and see Huang Tai in his ragged clothes. You had heard from the methods of the immortals that an immortal’s pupils were round and regular. Although Huang Tai’s clothes were in tatters, his eyes were bright and well formed. You privately sensed that he was extraordinary and felt delighted.

After returning home, you sent people many times to buy his straw sandals, placing gold, silver, coins, and silk inside them and secretly sending them to him. You did this more than once. Later, Huang Tai came to your home. You went out to greet him, bowed, and invited him into a quiet chamber for cultivation. Only then did you learn that he was an immortal of Mount Zhong.

Huang Tai said, “I have heard that you delight in Daoist arts, quietly practice good De on a broad scale, and earnestly seek the mysterious Dao. This moved me, so I have come to visit. I am Su Lin, an immortal of Mount Zhong, courtesy name Zixuan, originally from the state of Wei. I was born in the final years of Duke Ling of Wei. In my youth, I loved the study of Dao and De and followed Master Cen as his student. Master Cen taught me the preliminary arts for refining the body and dispelling calamities. Later, I passed these on to Lord Qiu, who taught me the methods of breath cultivation and of restoring Shen and guarding the hun soul. Practicing these methods proved highly effective, and I gained great benefit from them. Lord Qiu told me, ‘The knowledge of these arts goes only this far…’”

Mr. Cen passed on to me simple methods for cultivating the body and warding off calamities. Later, he introduced me to Lord Qiu. Lord Qiu taught me how to absorb Qi, gather and contain my Shen and Qi, and protect my hun and po souls. I practiced as instructed, and the results were clear; I benefited greatly.

Lord Qiu told me, “My knowledge of these arts ends here. I cannot enable you to ascend to heaven in broad daylight and become a true official in the heavens. I will introduce you to Juanzi.” Juanzi was an immortal of the middle rank. He tested me for many years, then taught me the method of maintaining the Three Ones. The Three Ones are the Mysterious Truth in the Grand Tenuity and the foundational pattern of Shangqing. They are also called the Dongzhen, the Wondrous Scripture, and the Unadorned Spirit. The Young Lord of the Eastern Sea kept this book in the City of Luminous Scenery, in the Chamber of Jade Clouds. He would not pass it on to anyone absent from the registers of immortals. This book is profound and secret; it must not be revealed to anyone who is not wise and worthy. Your intention is utterly sincere, so I will pass it on to you.

On each of the eight seasonal nodes—the Beginning of Spring, Spring Equinox, Beginning of Summer, Summer Solstice, Beginning of Autumn, Autumn Equinox, Beginning of Winter, and Winter Solstice—you must visualize and practice this method. In this way, you can both avert all kinds of calamities and keep the body from wasting away. Those who can maintain it will summon cloud chariots and feathered canopies, ride them and command the winds and rain, while thunder and lightning roar. This is the wondrous method of the earthly immortals and the true way to long life.

After receiving this method, I was able to roam among famous mountains and travel to the halls of Fangzhu, resting on the hills of Danling. I gazed out over the world in all eight directions, making my home wherever I pleased and wandering freely. For several hundred years, I was entirely content; once content, I thought of settling here. The saying “when things reach great prosperity, decline does not return” does not mean simply following the workings of Heaven’s Dao and changing as fortune waxes and wanes. So I deliberately plunged into the polluted world of dust, observing its noisy, tangled affairs. Like someone who makes a living selling shoes and wears worn-out footwear, I settled in a lowly place and called myself mediocre and incapable, as though I could not even tell the vermilion and green colors of worldly dust apart. Yet you still had the eye to recognize the true Dao, and you bestowed gifts on me many times—something I had never expected. Delighted that your heart was set on the Way, I came especially to visit you.

You bowed repeatedly, overcome by grief and joy. You even advanced on your knees and said, “Since childhood, I have loved the Way of long life and wished only to ascend to immortality and transcend the world. Day and night I have quietly reflected, hoping to meet a True Person, bathe in the pure current of the Dao, and receive its wondrous secrets.”

Now that the spirits have opened the way and the divine beings have descended, I have been able to meet an Immortal. My wish of a thousand autumns has finally been fulfilled; there could be no greater joy. I bowed again and asked to receive the essential secret. The Immortal said, “Sit down, and I will tell you. From your youth, you understood how to restore Yang—reviving the vital essence of life and returning to the source—and how to prevent your essence from dissipating. You also knew that, when meeting others, one should bathe in a current of purity and receive wondrous formulas. Now that the spirits have opened the way and the divine beings have descended, you have been able to meet an Immortal. Your wish of a thousand autumns has been fulfilled; there could be no greater joy.” I bowed again and asked to receive the essential instructions.

The Immortal said, “You understand a little about guiding and circulating Qi—nourishing life by regulating the body, moving Qi, and controlling the breath—and about swallowing radiant forms and drinking sweet dew, a Daoist practice of visualizing the light of the sun and moon and swallowing saliva. So you need no longer rely on Yin Elixir inner methods, techniques for replenishing the body through internal cultivation, to nourish your prenatal essence. However, the three worms within you have not yet been eliminated, and the Three Corpses have not yet died. That is why you have not yet mastered the essentials of guiding and circulating Qi.

“You can begin by taking small pills that suppress the worms and kill the grain worms. There are three kinds of worms, called Qinggu, Baigu, and Xueshi; together they are known as the three worms. If they remain in the body, they make a person restless and bloated, obstruct the mind, and make it hard to hold firmly to one’s thoughts. A little food leaves one feeling hungry; one is easily overcome by sorrow and grief, and finds it difficult to concentrate the spirit and will. They can also harm the body through irregular eating. Even after giving up grain, the body remains heavy and sluggish, and the spirit dull and oppressed. Dreams become unreal, the mind confused, and vulgar, perverse thoughts cannot be dispelled. All this happens because the worms remain inside and disturb the Five Viscera.

“The prescription for killing the worms is: five liang of aconite, seven sheng of hemp seed, six liang of Rehmannia, a seven-inch piece of large Cornus root, seven liang of atractylodes, four liang of cinnamon, and five liang of Yunzhiying—a total of seven ingredients. First, use calamus root to brew a sweet wine, made from grain, clear and full-bodied, with a rich flavor; prepare one dou and a half. Chop the seven ingredients and place them in a vessel to soak, or leave them unchopped. After three nights, take them out and dry them in the sun. Then soak them in the wine again and, after three nights, take them out and dry them. Repeat this until all the wine has been used. Finally, dry the ingredients in the sun, pound them in an iron mortar, and sift them into a fine powder.”

Mix white honey (bee honey) with the medicinal powder and roll it into pills. Take them in the morning, facing east. At first, take two pills each time, each about the size of an adzuki bean. Then gradually increase the dose by one pill at a time, up to a little more than ten. The text says this method can treat accumulated stagnation in the abdomen, Qi surging upward, and constraint in the chest. It can also make the skin lustrous, the body feel light, and the face radiant.

After one course has been taken, the “grain worms”—creatures said in ancient times to live inside the body and hinder cultivation—will die. Once they have died, the Three Corpses, spirits or malign impurities believed in Daoism to inhabit the body and damage one’s practice, will wither and then fall away on their own. This medicine can also be prepared and taken repeatedly; one need not stop after a single course. Next, prepare Four-Filler Pills, adding one liang each of zengqing, a mineral used in Daoist alchemy, and yellow essence. These are used to stop eating grain. After giving up grain, one may practice daoyin, health techniques for regulating the body and circulating Qi, and “nourishing through Qi,” using breathing exercises to care for the body. If you do not yet know how to practice these methods, you may first take any one of several herbs: giant sesame, poria, atractylodes, cinnamon, asparagus root, coptis, rehmannia, rhubarb, peach bran, or peach bark.

Even if these medicines are taken and prove effective, without the methods for cultivating the Nine-Turn Divine Elixir and Golden Liquor, one cannot ascend to immortality. These medicines may help prolong life, but cannot free a person from death. You should practice in sequence: take the medicines used in these methods for five years, until the body becomes lustrous and you can see the Five Zang organs inwardly; then seek the immortals’ essential instructions for ascending to immortality.

An immortal said: “There are many kinds of medicine, and immortals too have different ranks. Some ride clouds and dragons and ascend to Heaven in broad daylight. They become companions of the Taiji Perfected and are appointed as chiefs among the immortal officials, ranking among such figures as the Duke of True Governance, the Duke Who Sets the Origin, the Duke of Great Birth, the Yellow-Central Grandee, the Elder of Nine Qi, and the Duke of the Immortal Capital. These are all high-ranking immortals. Some serve as immortal ministers or immortal grandees, ranked below the high immortals. Others patrol the Five Sacred Peaks, or travel to the Great Clarity and command ghosts and spirits; these are middle-ranking immortals. Still others are appointed to govern a mountain and command its local ghosts and spirits, or travel around the region of Mount Xiaoyou and gather in the Palace of Clear Emptiness; these are lower-ranking middle immortals.”

If you can abstain from the five grains yet live forever, and stand beneath the sun by day without casting a shadow, you belong among the lower immortals. Some undergo bodily release by day—their remains are left behind or vanish as their spirit consciousness departs the body and becomes immortal—and pass through death into a shadowy realm before attaining immortality. They rank one grade below the other lower immortals.

I received the secret instructions of Juanzi and was skilled in upholding the Way of the Three Ones, by which one guards and refines the three vital spirits within the body. I could command ghosts and spirits, and I also received the true seal of the Sovereign Lord of Taiji. Appointed to oversee famous mountains, I thereby attained long life. These teachings are also listed at the beginning of the Sovereign Lord of the Golden Tower’s True Book, as important secrets among many wondrous methods. Yet my learning is limited, and my attainment reaches only that of an earthly immortal.

Your name has already been inscribed in the upper realm’s golden register at Fangzhu Palace. Heaven’s court has also ordered you entered in the blue immortal rolls and bestowed a title upon you. “Golden Gate, Jade Name” means that the celestial bureaucracy has already determined your immortal name. You are destined to ride clouds and dragons, ascend to the realm of Purple Yang and Supreme Clarity, wear a robe of golden truth and jade radiance with a dragon sash and tiger belt, and receive investiture as a Perfected One.

My arts can be taught only to those who cultivate the way of earthly immortals and attain immortality through bodily release. They are not suited to you, a Perfected One. I, too, am only a middle-ranking immortal and am not qualified to be your teacher.

Still, guarding the One and refining the spirit—concentrating on and preserving the vital spirits within the body—is a fine method for middle-ranking Perfected Ones and earthly immortals, even though it is not the way of the highest Perfected Ones. Once perfected, it enables you to pay homage to the spirits of a thousand mountains and draw in the vital energies of rivers and marshes; to exhale stale Qi beneath the Seven Blossoms and inhale pure Qi above the Three Offices; and to honor the Red Child, pay respects to the Perfected One, and revere the Infant. The Red Child, Perfected One, and Infant are all names for the vital spirits within the body. The Three Perfected Ones are sovereign lords who dwell in the palaces of the body, formed from the convergence of the twenty-four Qi. They are distributed throughout Taiwei and are also known individually as the Twenty-Four Perfected Ones. If you cultivate this Way well within the three-inch space of the body, you will see the Perfected Ones of the Three Palaces. After seeing them, you will behold cloud chariots and feathered canopies, with a thousand chariots and ten thousand riders; you will ride forth with them, have your name entered in the Nine Charts, and ascend to Supreme Clarity.

The upper-origin Qi is put to use at the beginning of spring and comes from the Eastern Dipper; the middle-origin Qi is put to use at the beginning of summer and comes from the Southern Dipper; the lower-origin Qi is put to use at the beginning of winter and comes from the Northern Dipper. As these three kinds of primordial Qi rise, the practitioner should visualize themself rising along with them. The sun’s four seasonal turning points recur throughout the year, and the Way of guarding the One likewise moves back and forth in harmony with them.

This Daoist method is rare, yet its effects are far-reaching. The principles of its practice may seem ordinary, but the life it brings can endure for a long time. It is said that one who masters this method can transform into countless forms, pass through water and fire, subdue tigers and leopards, and command ghosts and spirits. You, too, should study this Way and gradually advance in cultivation. I now pass on to you two hundred formulas from the Method of Guarding the Three Ones (a practice for maintaining the Three Ones, the spirits within the body) and the Book of Numinous Wonder and Lesser Abundance (a Daoist cultivation text), and I also have you take stone fungus, vermilion stalk, and several kinds of lingzhi (immortal herbs). With this, I have transmitted all the Daoist methods I practice. I am not testing you.

I have been summoned to Xuanzhou (a legendary immortal realm) and will leave for thirty days. After some time, we will meet again, and I will answer what you have yet to understand. You should cultivate on your own, or you may travel far in search of a master. If you truly wish to understand the mysteries of the Dao in their entirety and investigate the subtle and profound principles, you must undergo trials of hardship and danger and journey among the Five Sacred Peaks. Even if you meet a Perfected One, they will not immediately transmit the true Daoist methods to you. For more than a hundred years, you will still be unable to obtain cloud chariots and feathered canopies (the vehicles and retinues of immortals), or robes bearing dragons and tigers (garments that signify immortal status).

You bow twice, accept the instruction, and withdraw. Afterward, you observe abstinence, bathe, and fumigate yourself with five kinds of incense. For seven days and seven nights, you do not sleep; you sit upright with your hands clasped and focus your thoughts on the Most High Dao. At dawn, you burn incense, bow twice toward the north, and then take this divine lingzhi. Within five years, you will be able to see a thousand miles away. Your body will grow light and strong: you will be able to leap ten zhang and walk five hundred li in a day. You will also be able to conceal yourself or appear at will, vanishing instantly while seated. You will be able to roam famous mountains and seek out immortals. Hearing that Master Luan of Mount Meng has attained the Dao and can recite the Scripture of the Dragon’s Leap (a Daoist text concerning cultivation and immortal travel), you set out to seek him.

Entering the Yellow Court within Meng Mountain’s great cavern, he met Yanmenzi. Yanmenzi rode a white deer, held a feathered canopy, and leaned on a staff of green-haired bamboo. More than ten jade maidens attended him. The Perfected One bowed before him and asked for the essentials of attaining long life.

Yanmenzi said, “Your name is already listed on the Cinnabar Terrace, the Daoist register of immortals. Why worry that you will fail to become an immortal? Many immortals dwell in the Clear Void Cavern Palace on Mount Wangwu. You are just beginning your practice, so you should climb this mountain.” The Perfected One then crossed rivers and climbed the mountain.

He explained, “I heard that Master Luan attained the Dao on this mountain and can recite the Dragon-Lifting Scripture. So I came to pay him a visit and hoped to study this scripture with him.” Yanmenzi replied, “Master Luan is only a lesser immortal, while you are a Perfected One. To seek instruction from an immortal in the true Dao would be an unnecessarily roundabout course. The Perfected One you encounter is the teacher suited to you; the teachings of intermediate immortals and those below are not what you should study.”

Yanmenzi brought out the Dragon-Lifting Scripture and gave it to him. He also transmitted the Inner Writings of the Three Sovereigns, a Daoist manual for summoning spirits and subduing demons, so that he could call upon spirits and punish the myriad ghosts. Afterward, the Perfected One withdrew to Mount Shaoshi to observe purification for three months, then traveled to Mount Wangwu and climbed it. He opened the cavern gate and entered the Cinnabar Chamber, where he met many immortals. They were all dressed in plain robes and reciting scriptures. When they saw the Perfected One, they rose to greet him.

Zha Tazi transmitted to the Perfected One sixteen pieces of the Chart of Zhi, and also gave him the Secret Talisman of the Five Phases. The Perfected One then withdrew to observe purification. Later, he climbed Mount Wangwu again and met Master Huang, from whom he received the Divine Prescriptions on Yellow Silk, the Five Emperors and Six Jia, the Left and Right Spirit Flight, and other texts, amounting to forty-four formulas.

After this, the Perfected One withdrew and climbed Mount Fanzhong, where he met Lord Shangwei. He received from Taisu the Register of Left Yi’s Merged Cavern of Eastern Darkness and Obscure Origin, the Code of Right Geng’s Plain Writings for Capturing and Slaying, and the Five Emperors and Six Jia, the Left and Right Spirit Flight, and other texts, amounting to forty-four formulas. Afterward, he again withdrew and climbed Mount Fanzhong, where he met Lord Shangwei and received from Taisu the Register of Left Yi’s Merged Cavern of Eastern Darkness and Obscure Origin and the Code of Right Geng’s Plain Writings for Capturing and Slaying.

He then fasted for three months, climbed Mount Songgao, entered the cave gate, and encountered the Central Yellow Old Lord—a revered deity who dwells at the center and governs the Daoist arts—as he toured the Cinnabar City. The Yellow Old Lord had secretly come to Dongting, where he met with a gathering of immortals inside the Tai Shi cave gate on Mount Songgao. There, purple clouds served as a canopy and warm, lustrous jade as a couch. The immortals wore phoenix-patterned robes and divine crowns, and carried the tally of the Perfected. A bell of flowing gold hung on the left, while an Eight-Radiance staff was held on the right. Divine tigers guarded the cave gate, and numinous beasts protected Tai Shi. The attendants on the left were pure and perfected young boys; those on the right were Jade Maidens of Great Harmony, more than a hundred of each. They offered divine wine, chanted the thirty-nine chapters of the Great Cavern Perfect Scripture and the twenty-four chapters of the Wondrous Scripture of Great Being, and practiced the twenty-one melodies of the Supreme One’s Plain Numinous Scripture.

In the central courtyard stood the Jade Maiden of the Azure Waist, holding a lamp of dark jade and southern thunder. She scattered flowers and burned incense as she attended the Yellow Old Lord. He wore a Three-Blossom Nine-Yang headcloth, played a plain zither adorned with cloud pearls, and was clothed in golden light. His bearing was solemn, his eyes shone like lightning, and his mouth held a piece of jade paste.

When he arrived, he bowed with his forehead to the ground and bowed twice, asking for long life without death and release from the mortal world. He also hoped that one day he might assist the celestial officials. The Yellow Old Lord asked, “When you practiced visualization in the Chamber of the Cavern, did you see Lord White Origin?” He replied, “I did practice visualization in the Chamber of the Cavern, and I have seen Lord White Origin.”

The Yellow Old Lord said, “Your cultivation of the Dao is not yet sufficient. You must continue your travels and receive the various essential instructions. When the time is ripe, I will transmit to you the scriptures of the Supreme Perfected. Although you have seen Lord White Origin, you have not yet seen Lord Brilliant Hero. You must continue your practice.” He bowed again in thanks for the instruction, then bowed with his forehead to the ground and asked to follow the dragon carriage as its herald.

The Yellow Old Lord said, “Within the Chamber of the Cavern, at the very heart of essence, there is a great spirit whose name cannot be spoken. He dwells in the Purple Chamber and travels through the Cinnabar Field, reaching upward to the Great Tenuity and downward to the Cavern of Mystery. A lesser manifestation is Lord White Origin; a higher manifestation is Lord Brilliant Hero. To see Lord White Origin is to attain the state of a lesser immortal and gain three thousand years of life. Only by seeing Lord Brilliant Hero does one reach the state of a Perfected and gain ten thousand years of life. Devote yourself to practicing the mysterious Dao.”

Baiyuan Jun and Wuying Jun represent two different levels of attainment. Seeing Baiyuan Jun marks only the first success in cultivation and can extend one’s life by three thousand years. Seeing Wuying Jun signifies that one has attained the Dao and can extend one’s life by ten thousand years. You may continue to cultivate diligently and visualize these deities, but do not attempt this lightly.

Perfected Person Ziyang bowed once more. Having received the instruction, he took his leave and began traveling among the famous mountains and great marshes of the realm. He went west and climbed White Sky Mountain, where he met Master Shaye Bo and received the Supreme Clarity Upper Scripture. He then climbed Mount Emei and entered the Golden Palace in the Hollow Cave, where he met Master Ning and received the Eight Endowments and Ten Formulas of the Great Elixir’s Hidden Writings. Next, he climbed Mount Min, met Master Yin, and received the Nine Red Mottled Talismans.

After that, he climbed Mount Qi, met Zang Yanfu, and received the Formula and Instructions for the Plain Silk of Sorrow and Joy. He climbed Mount Liang, met Cheng of Huainan, and received the Three Diagrams of the Heavenly Pass. He then climbed Ox Head Mountain, met Zhang Zifang, and received the True Scripture of Supreme Clarity. At Mount Jiuyi, he met Li Boyang and received the Hidden Scripture of the Li Lineage.

He continued his travels to Mount Zhong, where he met Gaoqiu Zi and received the twenty-seven chapters of the Golden Elixir Formulas. He climbed Mount Heming, met Lord Yang’an, and received the Golden Liquid Elixir Scripture and the Diagram of the Nine Cauldrons’ Divine Elixir. At Mount Meng, he met Master Qingjing and received the Transmission of Yellow Silk.

Later, he climbed Mount Luhun and entered a hidden chamber in the Yi River caves, where he met Li Zier and received the Eight Arts of Hidden Places. He climbed Mount Rong, met Zhao Boxuan, and received the Plain Words of Three Nines. At Mount Yangluo, he met Lord Youyang and received the Azure Essentials and Purple Writings and the Three-Five Sequential Practice. He climbed Mount Huo, met Lord Siming, and received the Azure Diagram of the Mandate of Life and the Registers of the August Sovereign. At Mount Niaoshu, he met Master Mo Di and received the Inner Vision Diagram and Central Scripture of Purple Radiance. Finally, he climbed Mount Yaoming, met the Divine Youth Houye, attendant to the Great Emperor, and received the Scripture of the Golden Root.

Here, “preserve” refers to the Daoist cultivation practice of retaining deities in awareness and visualizing them. The scriptures, talisman diagrams, and formulas listed are cultivation texts transmitted by the various immortal masters.

Then he ascended Mount Weiyu and met Sima Jizhu, receiving Concealing and Transforming the Form through the Essence of Stone and Golden Light. He then ascended Mount Dating, met Liu Zixian, and received The Divine Methods of Seven Transformations.

He ascended Duguang and climbed Jianmu, where he met the divine child of the Night of the Emperor’s Retinue and received The Scripture of the Golden Root. He then ascended Mount Weiyu again, met Sima Jizhu, and received Concealing and Transforming the Form through the Essence of Stone and Golden Light. Next he ascended Mount Dating, met Liu Zixian, and received The Divine Methods of Seven Transformations.

He ascended Duguang again and climbed Jianmu, where he met Gu Xizi and received the methods of Yellow Qi, the arts of the Great Void, and the essential teachings of the Three Paths of Yang Essence. He then ascended Mount Tongbai, met Wang Qiao, and received The Cinnabar Talisman of the Plain Memorial. He ascended Mount Taihua, met Red Pine Master of Southern Marchmount, and received The True Book of the Upper Origin. He then ascended Mount Taiming, met the Lord of the Immortal Capital of the Nine Elders, and received The Four True Methods of Yellow Water and Lunar Radiance.

He came to Mount Heli, met the Emperor, and received The Scripture of the Eight Qualities of the Perfected and The Hidden Book of the Most High. He ascended Mount Jing, met Master Huangtai Wanbi, and received The Central Scripture of the Nine Truths. He then ascended the Dragon-Black Feathered Wilds, met ten Jade Youths and the Elder of the Nine Qi, and obtained The Method of Wearing White Feathers and a Purple Canopy and Taking in Yellow Water and Lunar Radiance.

He came to the Mulberry Grove and ascended Mount Fugguang, where he met the Youth Lord of the Blue Perfected and received The Secret Characters of the Golden Book. Afterward, he retreated southward to Vermilion Fire and ascended Mount Danling, where he met Gong Zhongyang and received The True Record of Immortal Prohibitions.

He then ascended Mount Kong to the west and saw Lord Wuying in the Western Cavern Chamber. Lord Wuying stood on the left, Lord Baiyuan on the right, and Lord Huanglao in the center. Lord Wuying wore a robe woven from golden essence brocade and vermilion and green jade silk. His red radiance shone brilliantly like the morning clouds, lighting up the sky. At his waist he wore the seal of the Most High’s numinous Qi, and upon his person he carried the Nine-Chapter Ward against Evil. On his head was a crown of emerald and purple dragons. He was the grandfather of the Crimson Child of the Upper Origin, the Great Mystery, and the Cinnabar Numen.

On the left, the Azure Palace (the spirit and Qi of the East) turns, and spirit and Qi fill the myriad spirits throughout the body. Before Heaven and Earth took shape, all things had already begun to emerge from the void.

Lord Baiyuan wears brocade woven with cinnabar and jade, and a layered robe patterned with clouds. Scarlet shows through his white radiance, whose brilliance streams up to the heavens. Its light illuminates the spirits and clarifies the dark, yellow Qi of Heaven and Earth. At his waist hangs the seal of the Supreme One’s numinous essence; on his body he bears the strategy for subduing demons of the Mysterious Origin. On his head is a crown that summons dragons. He is the father of the Red Child of the Upper Origin—the spirits of the Upper Origin—who dwell in the Jade Chamber and Cloud Court. Beside him on the right is the Chamber of Bright Clarity, where life’s generative force turns day and night.

The Yellow Old Lord at the center is the teacher of the Four True Kings of the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). He is venerable in age and high in rank. Above, he connects with the Nine Heavens; at the center, he dwells on Kunlun. The Yellow Gate lies outside and the Purple Door within. Together with two other divine lords, he enters the human Cavern Chamber, the palace within the body where spirits are visualized. It extends for about three inches, and its full array of ceremonial dignity is in place.

If you focus your mind on visualizing the spirits until you can see them, you may become a perfected being. Seeing Lord Baiyuan can make you a lower perfected being, with a lifespan of three thousand years. Seeing Lord Wuying can make you a middle perfected being, with a lifespan of ten thousand years. Seeing the Yellow Old Lord allows you to endure as long as Heaven and Earth, become a perfected being, and have your name entered in the Golden Terrace.

After seeing the Yellow Old Lord, the perfected being bows twice and touches his head to the ground, asking to receive the essential instructions of the highest truth. The Yellow Old Lord says, “Return and look within your own Cavern Chamber.” The perfected being closes his eyes and turns his gaze inward. After a long while, he indeed sees two great spirits inside the Cavern Chamber: Lord Wuying and Lord Baiyuan. Their clothing and appearance are just as they were when he saw them in the empty mountain. The Yellow Old Lord smiles and says, “How subtle and profound! Only through your sincere and focused visualization could you see them. This is the Way of ascending to Heaven in broad daylight. Return to Changshan, and I will transmit to you the Way of the highest truth.”

The perfected being then returns to his stone chamber on Changshan, observes purification rites, recites the Dao, and continues his cultivation for more than ninety years. Afterward, Lord Wuying and the Yellow Old Lord transmit to him the thirty-nine chapters of the Great Cavern Perfect Scripture.

There were twenty-one Jade Youths and twenty-one Jade Maidens who served in attendance in turn and burned incense. After eleven years of day-and-night practice, he at last rode the clouds and drove a dragon, ascending to Heaven in broad daylight. He went to the Taiwei Palace, a palace in the celestial realm, where he received the Heavenly Scriptures and was invested as the Perfected of Ziyang. He wore a yellow banner and the Eight-Powers Staff, ritual implements symbolizing majesty; carried a flowing-gold bell; dressed in a robe of natural design; ate jade nectar and drank golden liquid. He governed the Golden Court and Bronze City on Mount Geyan, known as the Palace of Ziyang.

There were eight Perfected Ones of Ziyang, and he held a place in the right-hand ranks. Three times each month he ascended Mount Kunlun, and every morning he paid court to the Emperor Lord of Taiwei. He made Mount Panzhong a subsidiary palace of Ziyang, known as the Hidden Palace of Dongting. In Mount Panzhong there is a cave, whose hidden passage leads to the Clear Void, Lesser-Being Heaven on Mount Wangwu, and secretly also to Weifeng.

The Perfected One said, “Heaven has no such thing as an empty space. There are caves in mountains; if people had no mountains, where would there be caves? The hidden passage in the cave leads to the Clear Void, Lesser-Being Heaven on Mount Wangwu, and secretly also to Weifeng.”

The Perfected One said: “The empty, formless space within Heaven is called the ‘Void’; the hollow inside a mountain is called a ‘Cavern’; and the hollow within a person’s head is called a ‘Chamber.’ The mountain’s hollow expanse is the Cavern Court; the head’s hollow expanse is the Cavern Chamber, the place within the head where the gods are held in meditation. Thus the Perfected One, a person who has attained the Dao, can move freely through Heaven, mountains, and the human body, entering a realm without obstruction. Even if Mount Penglai were reduced to the size of a grain of millet, it could still contain the whole world in all directions, and Heaven and Earth would be unable to bear it.

If you concentrate on holding the true gods in meditation and guarding the Three Palaces—the chambers of the gods within the body—and pay homage to the One God, the principal deity within the body, with tireless devotion, you will surely see Yuan Ying, Bai Yuan, Huang Lao, and other gods in the Cavern Chamber. When the cloud chariot and feathered canopy, the conveyance and retinue of the immortals, descend, you will become a Perfected One. First cultivate the Three Ones, the method of meditating on the Three Palaces and the One God within the body; only afterward may you roam among famous mountains and explore the Cavern Chamber of the Western Eye. This is an essential instruction.

The Perfected One Zhou Jun said: “Anyone destined to attain the immortal Dao must first undergo a hundred lesser trials. Only after passing them all will the immortals recommend them. Next, they must petition the Three Officials, the divine authorities who govern Heaven, Earth, and Water, to have their offenses removed. Then they must go to Mount Tai to have their names erased from the registers of the dead and entered in the immortal registers. After entering the immortal registers, they must still undergo twelve great trials, personally examined by the Perfected One of the Supreme Ultimate. Those who pass at the highest level become high immortals; those who pass at the middle level become earthbound immortals; and those who pass at the lowest level undergo corpse liberation in broad daylight, their bodies left behind or transformed as they become immortal. Those who fail all twelve trials will still attain the outcome of corpse liberation. But a person who undergoes corpse liberation is merely one who returns to the earth; they cannot be called an immortal.

Su Zixuan was later summoned by Xuanzhou, the legendary realm of immortals, and appointed True Mandate Senior Minister. One day he rode a cloud chariot to Chenliu. The chariot was adorned with dragons and tigers, and attendants held up a feathered canopy. Then he ascended to Heaven. Many people saw him slowly rising toward the northwest. After a long while, clouds and mist covered him, and he could no longer be seen.

Zhou Jun transmitted nearly two hundred instructions on cultivating and guarding the Three Ones, along with profound teachings. Juanzi was Zixuan’s teacher. Juanzi appears to have been a practitioner of purification and cultivation. In his youth, he liked to take medicines made from plants and absorb their essence. He focused his thoughts and thereby communicated with Heaven. Later, while fishing in a river marsh, he met a young boy from the Eastern Sea. The boy said to him, ‘If you catch a carp, cut it open.’ Juanzi later caught a carp, just as foretold, and cut open its belly. Inside he found the method taught by the Lord of the Golden Gate Emperor for cultivating and guarding the True One of the Three Origins. He then lived in seclusion on Mount Du and gained the power to summon wind and rain.”

He had studied the Dao in the human world for 2,700 years. One day, he told someone, “I have been summoned to Great Subtlety, where the celestial officials dwell, and appointed to the rank of Immortal Lord.” With that, he departed, and no one ever learned what became of him. He said to Zixuan, “Within the Northern Dipper are the Three Ones, a triad of deities within the body or in the heavens. They should be worshipped on festival days. After twenty years, the Three Ones will appear. Whoever sees them can attain long life and become an immortal.”

There are also Three Ones within the human body, who can enable a person to live forever. By visualizing the Three Ones, one’s name can be entered in Heaven’s jade register. By visualizing the Cavern Chamber, the divine chamber in the brain, one can resonate with Heaven. By visualizing the Three Origins, the deities of the upper, middle, and lower Dantian, one can rise to become a perfected immortal. The August Heaven Emperor Lord of the Golden Watchtower of Highest Clarity rides clouds and dragons as he travels through the nine heavens. His power comes precisely from cultivating visualization of the Cavern Chamber and the Three Origins’ True One.

I consumed the essences of plants and trees for three hundred years, practiced breath cultivation for five hundred years, devoted myself to quiet contemplation for six hundred years, guarded the Three Ones for three hundred years, guarded the Cavern Chamber for six hundred years, and guarded the Mysterious Elixir, the Neidan in the Mudball Palace, for five hundred years. I also traveled among famous mountains, visited the Eight Seas, and journeyed across the Five Sacred Peaks, resting in grottoes. I delighted in the drooping branches of woodland plants, listened to the calls of birds and beasts, and admired the flourishing vitality and abundance of all things among rivers and hills. I also adapted myself to the seasonal cycles of cold and heat. I hunted and fished along flowing streams, wandered by secluded waters, and quieted my mind in the mountains. I kept the True Dao in mind, regulated my breath, summoned the Six Dings, the six protective deities of Daoism, and traveled under the guard of jade maidens. I went to and fro in every direction; there was nowhere I could not reach.

For more than 2,700 years I guarded my body and contemplated the immortals. I truly enjoyed being an intermediate immortal and took no part in worldly affairs. Now at last I have been summoned away, and so I bid you farewell.” It is said that as Yunjuan departed, he wrote these words and left them with Zixuan as a farewell. Guarding the Three Ones can make one an earthly immortal; guarding the Cavern Chamber can make one a perfected being; guarding the Mysterious Elixir can raise one to the Palace of Great Subtlety.

The Mysterious Elixir is the Mud Ball Palace (the brain chamber in the head, or the Upper Dantian). This interpretation appears in the Scripture of the Most High’s Unadorned Numinous Essence. Through cultivating the Three Ones (guarding the three currents of vital energy or deities within the body), one may become an Earth Immortal. Guarding the Cavern Chamber (the palace within the body where spirits are kept) can make one a Perfected Person. Guarding the Mysterious Elixir allows one to ascend to the Palace of Great Subtlety in the heavens. Practice diligently, and you will naturally obtain this book. What it says is trustworthy. Do not disclose it lightly to the unworthy. The Perfected Person said: “If the world has yet to be at peace, and someone aspires to the Dao and chooses a life of seclusion, you may pass this book on to them. Be sure to exercise caution; it is better not to proclaim it publicly.”

The base text of the Method for Summoning and Calling was originally copied in the first month of the third year of Long’an in the Jin dynasty, on the seventh day, a jiazi day.

Another note says: Lord Zhou was born on the fifth day of the seventh month of the first year of Yuanfeng in the Later Han, a yimao day. In the first year of Yuankang, he received the Regulations for the True and Pure Three Ones from Lord Su. The book states that it contains 3,488 characters; counting them now, however, yields 3,489. It is unclear which character is extra, so it would be unwise to delete one and test the result without further thought.

Catalogue of Daoist Books Received by Lord Zhou

Method of the Three Primordial True Ones Guarded by the Sovereign Lord of the Golden Que: transmitted by the Youth of the Eastern Sea to Juanzi, by Juanzi to Master Su, and by Master Su to Master Zhou.

In the Great Cavern of the Yellow Court on Mount Meng, Master Luan searched for the Scripture of the Dragon’s Leap and met Master Yanmen, from whom he received the Scripture of the Dragon’s Leap and the Inner Writ of the Three Sovereigns. These are stored in the Yellow Court.

The sixteen poems of Master Zhao Tazi’s Illustrations of Zhi Plants and the Secret Talismans of the Five Phases are stored in the Cinnabar Chamber at the entrance to the cavern on Mount Wangwu.

One chapter of Master Wang’s Divine Prescriptions on Yellow Silk, together with the books The Five Emperors and Six Jia and The Left and Right Numinous Flights, and the twenty-four formulas, are stored on Mount Wangwu.

The Register of Left Yi’s Merged Caverns and Eastern Mists and the Statutes for Right Geng’s Plain Texts and the Capture and Slaying of Spirits, transmitted by Lord Wei Taisu, are stored on Mount Fanzhong.

The Wondrous Scripture of Great Abundance and the Scripture of the Most High’s Unadorned Numinous Essence, belonging to the Jade Maiden of Great Harmony, are stored within the copper of Dancheng.

Mr. Shaye’s Taiqing Shang Jing (Supreme Clarity Upper Scripture) is hidden in White Cloud Mountain.

Mr. Ning’s Dadan Yin Shu (Hidden Book of the Great Elixir), comprising the Eight Endowments and Ten Instructions, is hidden in the Golden Casket Palace on Mount Emei, a place said to hold books of immortals.

Mr. Yinsheng’s Jiuchi Ban Fu (Nine Crimson Mottled Talisman) is hidden in Mount Min.

Zang Yanfu’s Youle Qusu Jueci (Formula and Verses on Worry and Joy) is hidden in Mount Qi.

Huainan Zicheng’s Tianguan Santu (Three Diagrams of the Heavenly Pass) is hidden in Mount Liang.

Zhang Zifang’s Taiqing Zhenjing (Supreme Clarity True Scripture) is hidden in Mount Niushou.

The Youshen Jing (Hidden Spirit Scripture) of the Li family is hidden in the Nine Peaks.

Gao Le’s Qusu Jueci (Formula and Verses on the Crooked and Plain) is hidden in Mount Qi.

Huainan Zicheng’s Tianguan Santu (Three Diagrams of the Heavenly Pass) is hidden in Mount Liang.

Zhang Zifang’s Taiqing Zhenjing (Supreme Clarity True Scripture) is hidden in Mount Niushou.

The Youshen Jing (Hidden Spirit Scripture) of the Li family is hidden in the Nine Peaks.

Gao Qiuzi’s Jindan Bafang (Eight Methods of the Golden Elixir), consisting of twenty-seven sections, is hidden in Mount Zhong.

Yang’an Jun’s Jinye Danjing (Golden Liquor Elixir Scripture) and Jiuding Shendan Tu (Diagram of the Divine Elixir in the Nine Cauldrons) are hidden in Mount Heming.

Mr. Qingjing’s Biaobiao Huangsu Zhuan (Yellow Silk Transmission of the Eight Directions) is hidden in Mount Meng.

Li Zier’s Yindi Bashu (Eight Methods for Concealing Oneself in the Earth) is hidden in Mount Luhun, concealed within a cavern in the Yi River valley.

Zhao Boxuan’s Sanjiu Suyu (Plain Words of the Three Nines) is hidden in Mount Emei.

Youyang Jun’s Danzi Zishu (Purple Book of Cinnabar Characters) and Sanwu Shunxing (Following the Course of the Three and Five) are hidden in Mount Yangluo.

Siming Jun’s Jingming Qingtu (Blue Diagram of the Mandate of Life) and Shanghuang Ji (Register of the Supreme Sovereign) are hidden in Mount Dahuo.

The Zidu Yanguang Neishi Zhongfang (Central Method of Inner Vision in Purple Measure and Flame Light), received by Mo Di, is hidden in Mount Niaoshu.

The Jingen Zhi Jing (Scripture of the Golden Root) of the Great Emperor’s Night-Watching Divine Youth is hidden in Mount Yaoming.

Sima Jizhu’s Shijing Jinguang Cangjing Huaxing Fa (Method of Stone Essence and Golden Light for Concealing the Form and Transforming the Body) is hidden in Mount Weiyu.

Liu Zixian’s Qibian Shenfa (Divine Method of Seven Transformations) is hidden in Mount Dating.

Gu Xizi’s Huangqi Zhi Fa (Method of Yellow Qi), Taikong Zhi Shu (Art of the Great Void), and Yangjing San (Three Yang Essences) are hidden in … [the original does not specify the place of concealment].

Liu Zixian’s Qibian Shenfa (Divine Method of Seven Transformations) is hidden in Mount Dating.

Gu Xizi, in the mountains of Jianmu at Duguang, received the Method of Yellow Qi, the Art of Great Emptiness, and the Essentials of the Three Paths of Yang Essence.

Prince Qiao, in the mountains of Tongbai, received the Plain Memorial to the Cinnabar Talisman.

Red Pine Master of Mount Heng, in the mountains of Taihua, received the True Book of the Upper Origin.

The Lord of the Immortal Capital of the Nine Elders, in the mountains of Taiming, received the Four True Methods of Yellow Water and Lunar Radiance.

The Sovereign, in the mountains of Heli, received the True Scripture of the Eight Plain Tablets and the Hidden Book of the Most High.

Master Wan, at the Yellow Terrace on Mount Jing, received the Central Scripture of the Nine Realms of Truth.

Ten Jade Youths and the Elder of the Nine Qi received the White Feathers, Purple Canopy, and Yellow Water with Lunar Radiance at Xuanzhong in the Feathered Wilds.

The Young Lord of the Azure Truth, in the mountains of Fuguang, received the Secret Characters of the Golden Book.

Gong Zhongyang, in the Chamber of the Vermilion Fire and Cinnabar Land, received the True Record of Immortal Taboos.

The Great Cavern Scripture of Truth of the Central Yellow Old Lord comprises thirty-nine chapters. Lord Zhou received it in the mountains of Changshan, at a place recorded as the mountains of Fuguang.

These are the scriptures Lord Zhou received. In the original text, the entries for the True Record of Immortal Taboos and the Great Cavern Scripture of Truth each appear twice.

Two Perfected Ones composed these poems:

Riding in a carriage through a remote and mysterious realm, sheltering a tranquil body and supporting the grove where the morning sun first rises. Subtle Dao meets and blends with primordial chaos; crimson clouds of vapor stretch and rise among the peaks. The Eight Visions hold the jade wheels at rest, while from the quiet carriage one beholds the luminous True Way.

With the left hand, draw in flight and roam; with the right, look back, ranging beyond the eight quarters of the sky. In open clarity, discern the dawn and the proper time; looking upward in communion, summon the Sovereign. When principle reaches its utmost, all things naturally connect; how could a numinous body be measured by precious things?

To the west, mystery and depth conceal the source from view; radiant brightness shines in every direction. The clear breath of the distant reaches flows forth, and light nurtures the myriad things, rising beyond a realm of gleaming purity. The white palace stands amid the mingled radiance of sun and moon, where one dwells at ease in a life as refined as orchids.

Set out by carriage, soar beyond the Eight Visions, swiftly gather together, and turn south. Fly through the air above the Wilds of Yangyu, chanting in the city of the Eight Extremes. Who would call ten thousand miles far? I surpass the ordinary, unbound by the numinous realm.

Meet with sincere hearts and delight in refined pleasure; steady the carriage and discuss the subtle Dao. The highest Dao opens into clarity; knowing what lies ahead, life itself becomes gentle and renewed.

At dawn, I follow the season’s Qi and bear the light of Jingyang. I climb to the place where radiance gathers, wander among lofty heights layered in mystery, and suddenly descend astride a flying dragon. I soar beyond the horizons of the eight directions and glide near Changhe, the Gate of Heaven.

In the cinnabar chamber, winds gather and stir; cloud Qi meets in a deep, spacious expanse. Dieyugu Xizi dwells peacefully in the great void. Within the long brocade, scenes of light appear, while drifting clouds and mist spread across the mountains.

The palace halls of Guanghan, the legendary moon palace, lie empty and far removed. All things blend together in the Dao realm of deep, undifferentiated chaos. Stillness gathers, and the eight directions suddenly open into clarity. Among the white mountains, a path stretches on without end. I roam through the realm of Yangliao and travel back and forth through the void. Dieyugu Xizi rests in the great void; visions emerge within the long brocade, and clouds and mist cover the mountains. The palace halls of Guanghan lie empty and far removed, as all things unite with the Dao of chaos. After stillness, the eight directions grow clear, and the path among the white mountains remains open. I drift through the realm of Yangliao as a clear wind moves clouds and mist through the void.

At the Taiwei observatory, sounds mingle in profusion; the land of the Nine Mysteries rises steep and perilous. There, guests who preserve stillness send out penetrating, prolonged cries from a cold and secluded place. To the west is the Master of the Six Ridges. He seeks radiance and meets with the words of dawn.

I did not come as a guest of the August Immortals, nor do I depart as a companion of the flying immortals. I rise into the sky, riding beneath a canopy adorned with feathers, and wander by clear, cold waters. I pass above the eight extremes, ascending through the air as lightly as clear smoke.

I drive away from the realm of the Three Mysteries; the flowing chime of my bells seems to fly toward the River of Heaven. The Court of Great Harmony shines brilliantly, and the Qingxu Observatory of Yuyi, associated with the solar deity Yuyi, is deep and clear. Jie Lin, the numinous being associated with the moon deity, is far beyond the drifting haze. Seeking radiance, I behold the brilliant splendor of the Seven Spirits.

At ease, I roam through the distant purple heavens and travel in secluded realms to the Hall of the Nameless. The dragon carriage turns back, bearing the jade wheel; the scenes in the four directions spread out around it. For now, I await the moment when the way opens, and revisit the Highest Dao until daybreak.

Hua Qiao, a native of Jinling and magistrate of Jiangcheng County, came from a family that had worshipped popular local deities for generations. One day, he dreamed that a group of ghosts and spirits took him around to play and feast. They gave him wine, and he drank until he was drunk. When he returned home, he vomited up everything he had drunk and eaten.

Several years later, the ghosts and spirits began setting deadlines for him to recommend talented people. With no choice, Hua Qiao recommended more than ten people in succession, all of whom later died. The spirits judged that the people he recommended were indeed capable, and that he knew how to recognize talent. They therefore kept increasing the number of people they required him to put forward. If he delayed even slightly, they punished him. Fearing that the spirits would eventually torment him, Hua Qiao abandoned popular beliefs, entered the Dao, and began cultivating. He went to pay his respects to Xu Zhi, Libationer of Danyang, and received the methods for serving the Dao. After that, the ghosts and spirits dispersed one by one and no longer had dealings with him.

Several years after he began serving the Dao, Hua Qiao suddenly dreamed of two men, about fifty years old, whose appearance and clothing were extraordinary. Later, the two did indeed appear. In some months, they visited the quiet chamber in Hua Qiao’s home—used for worship and cultivation—as many as thirty times. Only Hua Qiao could see them. One was surnamed Zhou and the other Pei. Mr. Pei valued learning and reason, and the subjects Hua Qiao discussed did not meet with his approval. Mr. Zhou seemed less severe than Mr. Pei.

The two men taught Hua Qiao scriptures in turn. Their contents could be read alongside the Five Thousand Words, another name for the Dao De Jing. Most dealt with Daoist precepts, rules of conduct, and ways of cultivating one’s nature; they also included apocryphal prophecies, which use coded language and predictions to explain Heaven’s will and worldly affairs. The scriptures they transmitted were kept secret. Mr. Zhou personally wrote a biography, while Mr. Pei’s work remained unfinished. Mr. Pei’s preface to the music and Mr. Zhou’s biography are recorded elsewhere.

The inner biography of Perfected Ziyang ends here.

1. In “The Inner Biography of Lord Zhou, Perfected Ziyang,” included in juan 106 of the Seven Slips from a Cloudy Satchel (Yunji Qiqian), the character “sincerity” appears before “resonance.”

2. According to the Yunji Qiqian, the character “transmit” should be “encounter.”

3. The two characters “Three Worms” have been added on the basis of the Yunji Qiqian.

4. The two characters “grain abstinence” appear as “abstaining from grain” in the Yunji Qiqian.

5. In the Yunji Qiqian, this sentence reads: “If the methods of Daoyin and breath cultivation have not been mastered correctly.”

6. The character “immortal” has been added on the basis of the Yunji Qiqian.

7. The character “day” has been added on the basis of the Yunji Qiqian.

8. The original text reads “whole”; this has been changed to “Golden Elixir” in accordance with the preceding passage.

9. The character “Elixir” has been added on the basis of the preceding passage.