《上阳子金丹大要图》

The Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) Diagram: Before Yin and Yang have separated, the form is an undifferentiated whole, like an egg.

The Diagram of the Division of Taiji: One Yin and one Yang is the movement of the Dao (the Way). The black and turbid portion belongs to Yin; the white and clear portion belongs to Yang. Taiji is the source of Yin and Yang, while Heaven and Earth are the forms in which Yin and Yang become manifest.

The Prior-Heaven Taiji Diagram: When Yin reaches its extreme, Yang is born. Practitioners who apply this change in reverse can refine the Golden Elixir.

The Later-Heaven Taiji Diagram: When Yang reaches its extreme, Yin is born. When the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) proceed in sequence, transformation can arise.

The Diagram of the Nine Returns of the Golden Elixir: Yin and Yang join with one another, reaching the state in which water and fire are already mutually complete (Kan water and Li fire harmonized and mutually sustaining).

The Diagram of the Seven Reversions of the Golden Elixir: Within the black there is white; through transformation, the form becomes like pure Qian (pure Yang).

The Diagram of the Five Phases of the Golden Elixir: Heaven’s One generates Water, and the true Yang Qi (vital energy) stored within Water is called “black lead.”

Lead is called the ancestor of the five metals; among the directions of the Five Phases, Metal occupies the west. Here it is called not “Metal” but “silver,” named by borrowing the white color symbolized by the Dui trigram. Metal originally generates Water, yet the elixir cultivator must take Metal from the Kan position (the trigram position symbolizing Water), because the mother lies hidden within the child.

Earth’s Two generates Fire, and the true Yin Jing (essence) within Fire is called “black mercury.” Mercury is the root of cinnabar and, by direction, resides in the east. Here it is called not “Wood” but “mercury,” referring to the wood-fluid of the Zhen palace (symbolizing the east and Wood). Wood can generate Fire, yet the elixir cultivator takes Metal from within Kan, because the mother lies hidden within the child. Earth’s Two generates Fire, and the true Yin Jing within Fire is called “black mercury.” Mercury is the root of cinnabar and, by direction, resides in the east. Here it is called not “Wood” but “mercury,” referring to the wood-fluid of the Zhen palace. Wood can generate Fire, yet the elixir cultivator seeks the wood-fluid from the Li position (the trigram position symbolizing Fire), because the place where the xian-qi resides—the Qi-mechanism bound up with the waxing and waning of the moon—is precisely where the wood-fluid appears.

The Diagram of the Forward and Reverse Movements of Taiji: It presents the forward course and the reverse course of Taiji’s transformations.

The Diagram of the Form and Image of Primordial Qi: It presents the form of primordial Qi.

The Diagram of Three, Five, and One in the Golden Elixir: It presents the relationship within the Golden Elixir whereby “three and five return to one.”

Ziyang Weng (Zhang Boduan of the Song dynasty, founding patriarch of the Southern School of Neidan, or internal alchemy) said: "Very few people, past or present, truly understand the three characters 'three, five, one.' The three of the east joins with the two of the south to make five; the one of the north joins with the four of the west to make five as well. Wu and Ji (belonging to Earth among the Five Phases, representing the central palace and intention) stand in the center, and are themselves the generative number five. When the 'three families' (nature, emotion, and Jing, Qi, and Shen) meet, they form the infant (the 'sacred embryo' produced by Neidan practice). This infant is ultimately the 'one,' containing true Qi. After ten months, when the embryonic Qi is complete, one enters the foundation of the sage." Shangyangzi (Chen Zhixu) explained: "The 'one' is the ancestral Qi of Heaven and Earth. Once you understand 'three, five, one,' you will know where true lead (the primordial true Yang Qi gathered in Neidan) comes from."

Diagram of Clear and Turbid, Movement and Stillness

Qian and Kun are the substance; Li and Kan are the function.

The great Dao gives birth to one Qi, and within that one Qi Yin-Yang divides: Yin is turbid and Yang is clear; the female belongs to black and the male to white. Taishang (Laozi) said: "Know the white (brightness) yet hold to the black (darkness); know the male (strength) yet hold to the female (softness)." Therefore the scripture (Jing) says that clarity is the source of turbidity, and movement is the root of stillness. If a person can constantly preserve clarity and stillness, all things in Heaven and Earth will return to them. Niwan (here traditionally taken to be the Perfected Niwan, that is, Bai Yuchan of the Southern Song, styled Ziqing) said: "In the past I practiced for one year, and the six pulses (the pulses throughout the body) all came to rest, with Qi returning to its root. Now my whole body holds white blood (a metaphor for pure Yang Jing and Qi), and I already feel no difference between heat and cold across the four seasons." Ziyang said: "Black and white support each other; this is water and metal (metal and water generating one another)." Shangyangzi said: "Qian and Kun are the substance. Take back the single Yang line (white) from the center of the Kan trigram and fill it into Li. Therefore it is called the 'Golden Elixir.'"

Diagram of the Precious Pearl

There is one precious pearl. It first forms in the womb of the oyster, guarded and nourished by the black dragon (Lilong, the legendary black dragon said to keep a pearl beneath its chin). When the Buddha obtained it, it was called "Muni" (a Buddhist title meaning "pearl"); when the Celestial Worthy obtained it, it was called the "millet grain" (a Daoist image for the tiny size of the elixir). Great practitioners must truly know what this pearl is: it is the single point born from the meeting of Kan and Li, the crossing of water and fire. It shares its De with Heaven and Earth and shines as brightly as the sun and moon. Called the "Muni pearl," it was presented by the Dragon Girl; called "the primordial beginning suspends one pearl," it was taken by the sea oyster; called the "wish-fulfilling pearl," it is matched by the Maiden (Chanü, a metaphor for mercury and true Yin Qi); called the "fire pearl," it is a possession held by the black dragon. Worldly pearls, even those an inch across, can only be admired and given a price. This pearl, though extremely small, cannot be played with or even seen, and it is a priceless treasure.

The sun and moon are the manifestation of the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) of Qian and Kun (Heaven and Earth). Li and Kan—Fire and Water among the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), also used to represent Yin-Yang—are the expression of the working of Yin-Yang. Qian and Kun are compared to the cauldron-vessel of elixir refinement. Pearls in the world, even those a full inch across, can be admired and appraised; the “pearl” spoken of here, however, is extremely minute, invisible and impossible to handle, and yet it is a priceless treasure.

The sun and moon are the manifestation of the Jing and Qi of Qian and Kun, and Li and Kan are the expression of the working of Yin-Yang. Qian and Kun are taken as the cauldron-vessel in order to draw upon the Jing and Qi of the sun and moon; Yin-Yang is taken as the furnace fire and the charcoal in order to bring together the Qi of Kan and Li. The method of refining the elixir must invert the Yin and Yang of Heaven and Earth so that they become “Earth-Heaven Tai” (the Tai hexagram of the Yijing, or Book of Changes, symbolizing the union of Heaven and Earth). The Dao (the Way) of the elixir must further reverse the relation of water and fire so that they become “Water-Fire Jiji” (the Jiji hexagram of the Yijing, symbolizing water and fire supporting each other). The scripture says: “The sun occupies the position of Li and must be turned over to become female; Kan is matched with the Toad Palace (that is, the moon), yet it must become male.” Without a teacher’s guidance, this matter is hard to understand.

A trigram consists in the taking of an image. Where there is a substance, there must be its function; when change occurs, there must also be a coming together. If, for example, Gen (the mountain among the Bagua) is taken as substance, then Kun (Earth) is taken as function; if Zhen (thunder) is taken as substance, then Dui (the marsh) is taken as function. The Yijing says: “Finding companions in the southwest, one travels together with one’s own kind.” This is like Li and Kan matching each other—like responding to like.

In cultivating the Golden Elixir (Jindan), one must extract “metal” from within Dui. Dui is also called the White Tiger; devouring is its constant nature, and it harms people and the myriad things in great measure. If one can restrain the Green Dragon of the Palace of Zhen (the quarter occupied by the Zhen trigram), one can subdue the White Tiger. In the cultivation of the Golden Elixir, one need only subdue the White Tiger, and all the rest then becomes easy. Dui is born of Kun and carries out the Dao in Kun’s place. The metal of Qian gives rise to Dui; at the outset, because primal simplicity had scattered, Qian lodged its metal within Kan, and this is called “black lead.” Drawing the metal of Dui out of Kan is like a mother concealing the fetus she carries. The line in the Buddhist scriptures, “Open the mouth and suck the West River dry,” speaks of precisely this principle.

A diagram of the mutual resonance of forms and things (things resonating with one another according to form and nature). An explanation of the mutual resonance of forms and things.

Laojun (Lord Lao) said: Look inward at your own mind, and you will find that the mind has no fixed, unchanging substance. Look outward at your own body, and you will find that the body too has no fixed, unchanging substance. Then look from afar at the myriad things, and you will find that they likewise have no fixed, unchanging substance. Once you have grasped these three points, all that you see is only emptiness.

The Buddhists say: Between Heaven, Earth, and the universe there is a treasure, hidden secretly within the human body. They also say: "I have a thing that holds up the heavens above and supports the earth below. Do you know it?" The Yijing (Book of Changes) says that what transcends concrete form is called the "Dao (the Way)." The Yijing also says that when man and woman unite, and their Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) join together, the myriad things are transformed and born. The cultivation of all three teachings, Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist, cannot be separated from the human body and the myriad things. Master Danyang (a Daoist figure) said: "Quickly tear down the distinction between self and others, and the mountain of barriers within the heart; hurry to break open the cavities where the dragon and tiger dwell." Master Boyang (Wei Boyang) said: "The three precious gateways of the ears, eyes, and mouth must be closed and stored away, so that Jing and Qi do not leak outward; the True Person lies hidden in the deep abyss, resting freely and guarding the center of the circle." Once you understand this, you will see that the images of the dragon and tiger, and symbols such as the tortoise and snake, all appear within the human body. Without the union of these two forces, the Sacred Embryo (the inner elixir embryo spoken of in Neidan, or internal alchemy, practice) cannot be formed. Its subtlety and wonder must not be overlooked.

Diagram of the Bright Mirror of the Elixir Way

Diagram of the Precious Mirror of Ziyang's Elixir Chamber

The Suspended-Embryo Cauldron

The cauldron has a circumference of one chi and five cun, a hollow interior of five cun, and a length of one chi and two cun. It is divided into three tiers, symbolizing the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. The body and belly of the cauldron run straight from top to bottom, and each tier must be even. It is placed eight cun into the furnace and hung inside the stove without touching the ground, which is why it is called the "Suspended Embryo." It is also called the "Cinnabar Cauldron." Zhang Sui comments: this cauldron is also known as the "Furnace of the Supreme One Spirit."

Man Ting Fang (Courtyard Full of Fragrance)

The true iron ox is ugly in form and fierce in temper, and it loves to race ahead of the rest. Everyone has this ox, yet who knows how to lead it and drive it? Once the Yellow Sprout (the Qi and Jing that arise in inner alchemical practice) has been planted and has filled the courtyard, it must still be watered with the Divine Water (a practice term for the inner fluids that nourish Jing and Qi). If the Central Palace (the central region within the body) had no such ox, how could the Infant (the elixir embryo of Neidan) be conceived? The true movement and stillness of Heaven and Earth, and the generation and nurturing of life, all depend on it. When hungry, it eats tiger marrow (a symbolic expression in Neidan poetry).

When thirsty, one drinks the water in the pool of mercury. At midnight the cart is drawn and sent into the fire; rosy light bursts forth, and radiance also rises from the bottom of the sea. The herd-boy laughs; when the banquet in the Flower Pool (Huachi) is over, one rides the moonlight and goes home.

Crescent-Moon Furnace (Yanyue lu; a furnace shaped like an upturned moon)

The face of the furnace measures about one chi and two cun around, and the hearth is one chi wide across. A raised lip runs all the way around it, two cun high and two cun thick. The mouth opens upward like a cauldron and also resembles an upturned moon, and for this reason it is called the “Crescent-Moon Furnace.” Zhang Sui’s commentary says that it is also known as the “Tripod of Majestic Radiance” (Weiguang ding).

Names of Mercury and Lead

Counselor, wife, minister, quicksilver, Flowing Pearl, Jade Liquor, Spirit Water (Shen shui), Lovely Maiden (Chanü; the alchemical name for mercury), Mysterious Woman, Wood Liquor, White Snow, blue-eyed foreign boy, girl in blue-green robes, Azure Dragon of the Eastern Sea, joined pear, Floater, white of Yin fire, guest, son of the people, Heavenly Soul, foundation of the elixir, essence (Jing) of the Black Tortoise, true Yin within Yang, liquor of the lower crescent, Spirit Water, Lovely Maiden, Mysterious Woman, Wood Liquor, White Snow, blue-eyed foreign boy, girl in blue-green robes, Azure Dragon of the Eastern Sea, joined pear, Floater, white of Yin fire, guest, son of the people, Heavenly Soul, foundation of the elixir, essence of the Black Tortoise, true Yin within Yang, and half a jin of lower-crescent silver—all of the above are alternative names for mercury.

This string of names in the original contains several repetitions, and the final phrase, “half a jin of lower-crescent silver,” is set in parallel with the names that precede it, so the meaning is not easy to determine; it is therefore retained as in the original.

Golden Elixir (Jindan), Fire Elixir, Neidan (internal alchemy), Reverted Elixir, and Divine Elixir, together with True Lead, the Great Medicine, the Infant, the Spirit of the Valley, the Sacred Embryo, the daogui, the Seven Returns, the Jade-Pot Elixir, the Purple-Gold Elixir, the Crimson-Snow Elixir, the Fiery-Red Golden Elixir, the Dragon-and-Tiger Great Medicine, the Reverted Elixir of Golden Liquid, the Reverted Elixir of Jade Liquid, the Nine-Cycle Elixir, Purple-Gold Frost, True Yellow Sprout, True Yin-Yang, the True Mysterious Female, the True Father and Mother, the True Dragon and Tiger, the True Seed, the True Host, True Lead and Mercury, the True One, Lord of the Universe, Autumn Stone, the River Chariot, the Metal Sire, the Metal Consort, the Field Elixir, Lord of the Golden Tripod, the Yellow Male, the Three-Five-One, the Fair Gold Flower, the Mani Pearl, White Horse-Tooth, Gold in Water, Jade Stamens and Golden Sand, Spirit-Talisman White Snow, Turtle Jing (essence) and Phoenix Marrow, Hare Marrow and Bird Liver, the hun-soul of the sun, the po-soul of the moon, Sun and Moon within the Pot, the Jing prior to Heaven and Earth, the Great One containing True Qi (vital energy), Shang, Fu, Jun, Golden Liquid, Golden Efflorescence, the Jade Pool, the Flower Pool, and the Infant—all are different names for the Golden Elixir. Here “Golden Elixir” is chiefly a term of Neidan. It refers to the elixir attained through cultivation, and is not necessarily a physical medicinal pill.

Yellow Male, Metal Jing, Yellow Sprout, the White-Haired Old Master, the Young Lord of Plain Silk, the White Tiger of the Western Mountains, Fire Jujube, Chen, Yellow-Tooth Lead, the Host, Father and Mother, the Earth-po, Mother of the Elixir, Marrow of the Red Phoenix, True Yang within Yin, and eight taels of metal of the upper crescent are all alternative names for “lead.” Here “lead” is a symbolic term in Neidan cultivation and should not be understood simply as ordinary metallic lead.

The Purple Clarity Formula on the Fire Phasing of the Golden Elixir

One gathers the transformative power of Heaven and Earth, of Qian and Kun, as if taking the sun and moon in one’s own hands and refining them to ash. The Metal Sire (a symbolic figure in Neidan terminology) is silent and says nothing; the Lovely Maiden (a term symbolizing the yin, or mercury) has already perished; yet the Yellow Dame (a term symbolizing the harmonizing of Yin-Yang) has still not grown old, and continues to carry the embryo.

True fire phasing has, from the outset, no fixed moment and no fixed gradation. In the lead furnace the true golden liquid must be slowly warmed and nurtured; in the earthen cauldron the living mercury is first made to dry and congeal. The amount of the Great Medicine need not be reckoned in jin and liang.

The end of the original text contains repeated verses and oral formulas, and the wording after “the Great Medicine is not reckoned” appears to be defective; the sense is therefore translated directly from the text that survives.

With mercury—a metaphor in Daoist alchemy that also refers to the mind and Shen (spirit)—one cultivates the mind and Shen until it is as lively and agile as the red dragon. With lead—a metaphor in Daoist alchemy that also refers to the body and to primordial Qi (vital energy)—one condenses the Qi of the body until it is as powerful as the white tiger. When not the slightest stagnation of Yin remains within or without, there, amid the limpid brightness of the myriad phenomena, is the Jade Clarity realm, the pure celestial realm of which Daoism speaks.

Eighteen Secret Formulae of the Concordance of Elixir Methods

First, gathering the medicine: collect and restrain body and mind, and draw in and store Shen and the breath.

Second, forming the elixir: the breath gathers and condenses, and intention settles and does not move.

Third, cooking and refining: nurture the bodily form with the Golden Liquid—a metaphor for Jing (essence) and Qi in the practice of Neidan (internal alchemy)—and preserve Shen with the Jade Talisman, a metaphor for the credential that guards and sustains the spirit.

Fourth, firm sealing: cut off stray thoughts and forget the bodily form. Here “firm sealing” means making stable the foundation of cultivation.

Fifth, martial fire: rouse Shen and swiftly drive out stray thoughts. “Martial fire” means a relatively active and vigorous way of applying effort.

Sixth, civil fire: cultivate in a gentle and sustained manner, continuous and unbroken, yet without forcing. “Civil fire” means a soft, slow, and enduring way of applying effort.

Seventh, bathing: wash the inner mind clean and rinse away thought and deliberation. This is a metaphor, within cultivation, for purifying the mind.

Eighth, cinnabar: bring “being” and “non-being” into union, and let the hidden and the manifest fit one another. Cinnabar is a term of elixir alchemy; here it is used as a metaphor for the transformations of inner refinement.

Ninth, passing the barrier: it is like fruit setting on the branch, or a fetus being nurtured in the womb. It means that cultivation gradually crosses its critical junctures and little by little bears fruit.

Tenth, nurturing the embryo: it is like the hen and the dragon guarding and hatching an egg, or a cicada shedding its larval form and taking shape. It means warming and nourishing the body of the elixir while waiting for it to mature.

Eleventh, warm nurturing: know the white and keep to the black—understand without clinging to what is plainly manifest, and hold to what is secluded, still, and gathered inward—so that Shen naturally appears clear and luminous.

Twelfth, guarding against danger: prevent even a single thought from racing outward. Once the mind’s thoughts scatter, the firing of the practice will miss its proper measure.

Thirteenth, the work of cultivation: gather at dusk and draw inward at dawn; regulate and nourish according to the proper times, refining day after day.

Fourteenth, coupling: thought follows upon thought, what comes before and what comes after run through one another, and at last they merge into a single whole. Here “coupling” is a term of Neidan, referring to the union of the two Qi of Yin-Yang.

Fifteenth, the great return: facing the scenes of the outer world, the mind clings to nothing, and day and night one remains in one and the same state.

Sixteenth, the sacred embryo: draw Shen inward so that it settles and lies hidden; gather the breath so that it does not drain away outward.

Seventeenth, the nine reversions: when the firing reaches a sufficient degree, the infant appears. Here the “infant” is a metaphor, in Neidan cultivation, for the image of the elixir brought to completion.

Eighteenth, changing the cauldron: when one stage is completed, a new stage is born from it; transformation follows transformation, layer upon layer, without cease. The “cauldron” is a metaphor of elixir refining, and “changing the cauldron” means passing into a new stage of cultivation.

Lin Shenfeng, Chart of Pitch-Pot Casting in the Emblematic Forms of the Golden Elixir

The oral formula says: Cast the wooden arrow into the golden vase; this is like guiding Shen back by means of the cavity of Qi. Only a person whose thoughts are upright and whose bodily form is composed can make good use of the subtle art within it. One who understands this formula can attain “be refined and be single, and faithfully hold fast the center”—that is, be concentrated and pure, and keep to what is balanced and upright.

Master Tiandi says: The various complicated methods are for the most part only reckless schemes; only the Dao (the Way) of the Golden Elixir is like an arrow able to strike the mouth of the pot. Only when one understands the principle between “emptiness” and “non-emptiness,” and between “non-being” and “being,” will cultivation not be labor spent in vain. Master Tiandi was a native of Eastern Wu.