《自然集》

The mystery of the Dao is deep, hidden, and subtle. One must first understand one’s own mind and nature, yet this is not easy. In the books left by the ancient sages, the true principle lies concealed.

To speak of the fetal origin (taiyuan, the source of life in Neidan, or internal alchemy, cultivation) and of the root, one can grasp them only by holding the light within and silently guarding the realm of emptiness and stillness. Stillness is to be sought within activity; only when the mind is quiet and settled can one discern what is hidden and minute there. Sitting in silence and forgetting words is the proper way for those who cultivate the Dao to keep company with one another, and careful restraint in speech is the foundation of cultivation. Some so-called enlightened teachers are arrogant and self-important. Their talk is reckless and false; they rely only on hearsay, and so they cloud their own primordial spirit (yuanshen, a person’s innate Shen). They fear neither the clear scrutiny of Heaven nor a fall into the six paths of rebirth.

The Dao is originally without words and without action, yet the wondrous principle within it can seize the very quintessence of Heaven and Earth. This principle may be known only through one’s own direct experience. From emptiness, concrete being arises, and some are able to understand it. Yin-Yang is to be harmonized in the jade furnace (yulu, the bodily symbol in Neidan cultivation). Advancing the fire (jinhuo, the use of intention in Neidan to carry the stages of practice forward) must not be delayed, so that the movement of Qi passes through the twin passes (shuangguan, the two critical apertures of cultivation) and goes straight to the Muddy Pellet (niwan, the aperture of cultivation in the head). Radiance will then appear of itself.

The Golden Liquid Returned Elixir (jinye huandan, the Neidan name for refining Jing into Qi and forming the elixir) is like a descent along jade steps. After cooking and refining, white snow flies about. The yellow sprout (huangya, a Neidan term for the vitality that first arises in cultivation) gradually grows and forms a foundation like that of Heaven and Earth. The true path within the body is no longer lost, and the nectar produced by this transformation fills the jade pool (yuchi, the saliva of the mouth).

In hunger one seems already full, and after being full one seems hungry and thirsty again. One drinks the finest ghee (tihu, a metaphor for sweet saliva) to nourish the water of the kidneys. The earthly door (dihu, the aperture of the lower body) is shut fast; true Jing is refined and transformed, and the jade pistil (yurui, a Neidan term for the refined essence) is swallowed and taken in. A rainbow-like configuration gathers in the Yellow Court (huangting, the central region of Neidan cultivation in the human body). When the Metal Lord (jingong, a Neidan term often used for a certain refined Qi, or for the elixir, in cultivation) is seen, the face turns red. Let the infant (yinger, a Neidan term symbolizing the newly arisen intent of the elixir) and wu and ji (wuji, terms of the Five Phases, here the earth Qi of cultivation) together guard the primordial spirit.

One presses on all the way until they meet in the heavenly palace. After fullness, hunger is felt again; one drinks the finest ghee to nourish the kidney water, closes the earthly door, refines true Jing, and swallows the jade pistil. A rainbow-like configuration gathers in the Yellow Court; the Metal Lord appears, and the complexion is ruddy. Let the infant and wu and ji together guard the primordial spirit.

One presses on all the way until they meet in the heavenly palace. The fair maiden (chanü, a Neidan term often used for yin Jing and Qi) weeps without ceasing, and the youth Ding (dinglang, a Neidan term often used for yang Jing and Qi), seeing this, lets out a long sigh. The two agree to meet, yet in the turn of an eye they come together and part again.

The mountaintop gleams with white snow, and the Xun wind (the gentle wind of the Bagua, or Eight Trigrams) stirs softly. Sweet dew descends, and I drink the daogui (the elixir, here the essence of Neidan, or internal alchemy). Regulating the fire phase demands great care. Hold to Yin stillness for a long time and nourish the primordial Shen (spirit), like a divine tortoise lying in hibernation. When the elixir is complete, gold and jade fill the hall, and the sun and moon (the Crow and the Hare) may rise in the east and set in the west as they please. If one can invert Kan and Li (water and fire) and make them unite, one can refine and nurture the hun and po souls and lay the foundation of the Sacred Embryo.

When admiring flowers, choose a place blanketed in white snow. Circulate the Qi of Yin-Yang so that the two meet, as if drinking from a jade cup. In the Three Fields (the upper, middle, and lower Dantian), warm and nourish the harmonized body of the Four Images (metal, wood, water, and fire). In the Palace of Five Brilliances (the dwelling of the spirits of the five organs), guard what is true. Cultivate the six-foot body to perfect the self, and transform seven golden lotuses that follow you wherever you go. In accord with the Bagua, ride the phoenix and crane homeward, rising straight beyond the nine heavens in full splendor.

Coda: Ten years of bitter practice, earning a living amid the Nine Avenues (the streets of the mortal world). Through eight hundred kinds of cultivation, the jade body is forged, and the Seven Star Sword has always slain evil spirits. Within the Six Directions, penetrate Xi and Yi (the subtle mystery of the Dao), and sing the Wuwei (non-action) of the Five Patriarchs (the five founding masters of Quanzhen, or Complete Perfection). Who can know the work carried out within the four quarters? Simply tend the Three Fields and gather the essence. Two heavenly spirits (the spirits of Yin and Yang) balance each other, and a bright moon appears, illuminating the hidden mechanism.

[Nanlü mode · Yizhihua] Ever since I left home to study the Dao, I happened to meet an enlightened master. I labored for over ten years, applying myself day and night. My master transmitted to me the wondrous Dao of emptiness and nothingness and taught me to guard the Dantian (energy center) firmly. For the sake of this remaining span of life I practice the Daoist arts, circulating the fire phase to refine and increase. Entering stillness and concentration is "bathing" (the stage of gentle nourishment without the application of fire).

In Liangzhou, the cultivator of the Dao (the Way) keeps a mind that is still and steadfast, and a will that does not move in the slightest. Cultivating the Golden Elixir (Jindan), a term of Neidan (internal alchemy), is undertaken in order to escape calamity, hardship, and suffering and to remain far from worldly vexation. One must transform the ordinary body and mind, speak little, and gather in Shen (spirit); in a brief moment, lead and mercury—metaphors in the art of Neidan for Yin-Yang, Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), and the like—can be condensed.

Those who have a foundation can return to simplicity and recover their original truth. Those who have aspiration hope to mount the clouds and ride the mists. Those who have a destined affinity can ascend to the realm of the immortals. Beginners should make their resolve firm and abide by the oral instructions of cultivation. One sees worldly people greedy for wealth and fond of desire, paying no heed to nature and life; one after another, they think only of amassing gold, silver, and jewels. When their span of life is exhausted, they can take nothing with them, and are left only with spirit spent and form and spirit withered. From ancient times to the present, immortals were originally ordinary people who brought their cultivation to completion. One must discern the changes of movement and stillness in body and mind, and distinguish what is primary from what is secondary in Neidan practice; one should concentrate on gathering and refining mercury and lead, and must not delay or become obstructed. One should also examine oneself: is what one seeks, in the end, being, or non-being?

One prays to august Heaven and burns pure incense, as if the fragrant smoke rose straight into the clouds; in an instant, the transformations of creative power are already complete. The body is light and graceful, as if one were seeking gulls and egrets beneath the sea. What brings joy is a mind that is calm, plain, pure, and open. Master and disciples walk on together smiling, hastening together toward the immortal capital and returning to the Three Isles of Penglai, the legendary immortal mountains in the sea.

Day and night one applies effort to the work, not allowing stray thoughts to pull one astray; mind and spirit enter a state that is deep, dim, and elusive. The Gate of Heaven stands open, and the realm of the Dao is clear and empty; the Door of Earth is tightly shut, and choutian in Neidan practice—the method of regulating and of increasing or decreasing the Jing and Qi within the body—proceeds without cease. The work of cultivation gradually becomes limpid and settled. One sits alone in stillness, forgetting speech and remaining silent; one turns the River Cart (heche), a metaphor in the art of Neidan for guiding the circulation of Jing and Qi, so that it flows gently above and below. After the work is accomplished, one must hold to the state of what is pure, correct, and essential: it seems that something has been achieved, and yet it is as if nothing at all has been gained. Clear and undimmed, one does not depart from the original path. The mind within embraces the myriad phenomena, yet body and mind are untouched by the slightest care.

In “Crows Crying at Night” it is said that one should circulate the fire of Kun and the heaven of Qian—Neidan terms used as metaphors for Yin-Yang Qi and the timing of the fire—and diligently guard the Jade Furnace (yulu), a metaphor for the refining of the elixir. One refines true mercury until it becomes the supreme treasure, and cooks white snow until it is like pearls of gold. One tempers the Yellow Sprout (huangya)—in Neidan cultivation, a symbol of newly arising Jing and Qi, or of the sprout of the elixir—so that it becomes the foundation; one ingests the daogui, a small measure of elixir medicine and also a common metaphor in Neidan practice, and studies true earth (zhentu), a metaphor in the art of Neidan for harmonizing and bearing Jing and Qi. One then gathers in and subdues the dragon and the tiger (longhu), symbols of the two powers of Yin and Yang, and attains a realm of spiritual power like that of summoning the wind and calling the rain.

At the final stage of refining, one can transform into a Golden Immortal—one who has attained the Dao (the Way) and become an immortal—leave the mortal body, and depart upon the wind. A clear, cold light fills the whole of space. There are the Infant and the Lovely Maiden, terms in Neidan (internal alchemy) used as metaphors for Yin-Yang Qi (vital energy), and also the Yellow Dame, a metaphor for the power that harmonizes Yin-Yang, who brings them together. In an instant Yin-Yang unite, and the host of immortals dance with joy. The practitioner leaves the dusty world and no longer indulges in passion and desire; from then on, never looking back, one seeks with a single mind Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin, immortals of Daoist legend, often called together “Zhong-Lü.” Reaching Penglai, the legendary immortal mountain in the sea, one attends the ancestral master and dwells among the immortals. Qi rises and falls among the Three Palaces, the three sites of cultivation within the body; breath is regulated long and continuous, and True Earth is refined and nourished—a Neidan term for the central power that harmonizes and bears Yin-Yang. One gathers the Yellow Sprout, a metaphor for the Jing (essence) and Qi newly born in Neidan, harmonizes Dragon and Tiger, metaphors for the Yin-Yang Qi within the body, rides a white crane, and mounts a phoenix carriage. Leaving the mortal world, one sets out on the path of ascending to immortality; then, keeping company with the clear wind and joining the bright moon as a fellow master of the Dao, one flies into the heavenly palace and roams the mansions of the immortals.

[Shuangdiao] Xinshui Ling

For several decades I applied myself intently to this method of cultivation before I grasped the wondrous transformations transmitted by the sages, understood how floating and sinking may be returned to the subtle principle, and refined and nourished the Dantian (energy center) with Kun fire, the firing times in Neidan cultivation that symbolize the power of Yin. First one draws in scattered thoughts and is no longer entangled by the mundane world.

Zhumating

In cultivation the breath must be regulated so that it is long and unbroken; the working of respiration resembles the movement of wind and cloud, and it too has its proper order. When the movement of Qi rises, falls, and changes within the Three Palaces, one can comprehend the mystery of the “nine reversions and seven returns,” a Neidan term for the process in which Jing and Qi are repeatedly transformed and condensed. One guides the River Cart, a metaphor for the circulation of Qi through the channels of the body, so that it turns like smoke; it then becomes a clear wind and goes straight to the court of the Metal Lord—the Metal Lord being a Neidan term commonly used for the Jing and Qi associated with the nature of Metal. If the mind of the Dao is to remain firm, one must, amid Qi surging like the Yellow River, send that movement of Qi through the Muddy Pellet, an important point, or site of cultivation, in the head.

Bubujiao

The Great Dao has never, from ancient times, been within everyone’s reach: it is now hidden, now apparent, leaving signs yet showing no form. Within the pot lies another heaven and earth, a metaphor for the world that takes shape of itself inside the practitioner; one refines the Golden Elixir (Jindan) and nurtures the embryo immortal, a figure in Neidan cultivation for the immortal embryo now being gestated. Along the path of the Double Pass, a barrier bound up with the movement of breath within the body, the breath continues without cease, condenses into sweet dew, and is often swallowed.

Chenzui Dongfeng

The moment when one’s span of life comes to an end chooses no one, nor does it care whether a person is rich and honored or holds high office. How long, after all, will one put off cultivation before being willing to stop? Every day one vows again and again, again and again. This year is deferred until next year, cultivation is delayed, and the road ahead grows all the longer. How, then, can one escape the cycle of birth and death?

Yan’er Luo Guo Desheng Ling

I once met an enlightened master and received from him the transmission of the true methods of the Dao (the Way), and he guided me onto the path of Wuwei (non-action). My master taught me to lessen craving and desire, to apply more effort and cultivate more good deeds, not to be bound by fame, rank, and profit, and to read more of the ancient books. These books all contain principles that penetrate the mysterious and the subtle, and my master studied them carefully together with me.

When the practice is complete and the creative transformation appears, others have no way of perceiving it. The key lies in firmness of resolve; once the mind is firm, accomplishment comes of itself.

Gu Mei Jiu

Place lead and mercury in the cauldron to be heated and refined, and continue the refining and nurturing until they become a precious treasure. The subtlety lies in mastering the front string and the back string (the timing for regulating the fire in Neidan (internal alchemy)). Within this there is of itself a clear path: guide the primordial spirit (a person’s original Shen (spirit)) into the palace, and employ the essential transformations within the Three Passes (the apertures through which the movement of Qi (vital energy) passes in cultivation). The One Qi of Prior Heaven (the innate original energy) courses through the Three Fields (the upper, middle, and lower Dantian (energy centers)); nine transmutations take place in the furnace, and smoke and flame rise. Images such as dragon and tiger, tortoise and snake, symbolizing the transformations of Yin-Yang, coil about and unite. All of this arises of itself, and in the end a Zhenren of Wuwei (a Perfected Person of non-action) will naturally appear.

Chuan Bo Zhao

This truly fills one with such joy that laughter never ceases, as if one were sleeping at ease in the same room with all the immortals. There is no longer any need to go about seeking the Dao or practicing Chan meditation. Smoke and flame rise in the furnace; dragon and tiger, tortoise and snake coil about and unite. These transformations all arise of themselves, and in the end a Zhenren of Wuwei will naturally appear.

Chuan Bo Zhao

This truly fills one with such joy that laughter never ceases, as if one were sleeping at ease in the same room with all the immortals. There is no need to go about seeking the Dao or practicing Chan; rather, one should often sit in stillness and forget speech. Harmonize the true breath (calm, subtle respiration) so that the breathing is not hurried; within it there is both the Qi of Prior Heaven and the Qi of Later Heaven.

Dian Qian Huan

I urge worthy and discerning persons to read the Zhixuan Pian often. Everyone aspires to the great Dao of Wuwei. Once cultivation is complete and merit accomplished, one may mount a crane and ascend. Only then has one truly entered the Dao of Wuwei, and fulfilled the aspiration for practice made at the outset. When cultivation reaches the state of neither coming nor going, who would still wish to cling to a long life in the world?

Xiezhi Mode

From now on, who will still be entangled by the secular world? The practitioner transcends the ordinary and enters the sacred realm, transforming in accord with circumstances. The methods of the Dao and the “choutian” of cultivation (a Neidan term for the regulation of Yin-Yang and the firing process) are both to be forgotten and firmly maintained. Chant the methods of the Dao all the way to Penglai and Langyuan (the immortal realms of legend). This Ziran Ji (Collection of Spontaneity) has been written; it is in itself a piece that speaks of the Dao of emptiness. The aspiration is already fulfilled.

Zhenggong: Gun Xiu Qiu

Apply effort in cultivation so that concentration and wisdom are opened; refine and nurture the Three Sovereigns, and form the sacred embryo (a metaphor in Neidan that likens the fruit of cultivation to an embryo). The infant is suddenly stirred and in an instant flies across the Lingtai (the place where mind and Shen reside). Entering the inner court of the Yellow Court (the imaginal site of cultivation within the body), one joyfully activates the Yang Pass and sets dragon and tiger in motion. In a moment these powers are gathered into one, then further refined through rising and descending, floating and sinking, and forged so as to dissolve the Three Calamities.

Zhenggong: Gun Xiu Qiu

When practicing, concentrate on cultivation so that stability of mind and wisdom gradually open; then refine and nourish the Qi (vital energy) of the Three Sovereigns and condense it into the sacred embryo (a way of speaking, in the cultivation of Neidan, internal alchemy, of newly born spiritual nature or of the elixir’s completion). The infant (symbol of the sacred embryo) is suddenly stirred and, in the blink of an eye, flies past the Spirit Terrace (the place where mind and Shen, or spirit, reside) and arrives at the inner courtyard of the Yellow Court (the inner landscape within the body where Jing, or essence, and Qi are refined and nourished). It joyfully activates the Yang Pass (the aperture through which Jing and Qi enter and leave) and sets in motion the dragon and tiger (opposing forces such as lead and mercury, or Yin-Yang). In a moment the two become one, refining and transforming the Qi that floats and sinks, and smelting it so as to dissolve the Three Calamities (a general way of speaking, in the context of cultivation, of obstacles of body and mind). The Three Blossoms gather in the Mud-pill Palace at the crown of the head (the inner landscape of the head). The Five Qi (the Qi of the Five Phases—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) face toward the original Shen, circle the Jade Street (a passageway in the inner landscape), and then descend through the Twelve Towers (inner apertures such as those of the throat).

After lead and mercury (terms in the art of Neidan symbolizing the two Qi of Yin and Yang, or Jing and Qi) have been harmonized and refined to completion, one suddenly finds that the Kan maiden and the Li lad (symbolizing, respectively, the Yin of the Kan trigram and the Yang of the Li trigram) stand displaced from each other. Thereupon the Metal Lord (commonly used in Neidan to refer to lead or the yang force) naturally gathers into one place; creative transformation forms the elixir, and one is filled with joy.

Who could know how much effort I devoted to quiet sitting? This time, at last, I am no longer stained by the dust of the mundane world. In childhood I once visited an enlightened teacher, and the teacher taught me to leap clear of the Stronghold of Lost Souls (the condition of having lost one’s original nature).

One should constantly guard the Jade Furnace (the place of body and mind where Neidan is refined and nourished) and open the Eight Gates (the inner apertures spoken of in cultivation). Circulate Kan and Li so that Yin and Yang reverse and join; drive the River Cart (a way of speaking, in the art of Neidan, of guiding the movement of Jing and Qi), carry Jing and Qi into the palace, and then gather them outside the Three Fields (the upper, middle, and lower Dantian, or energy centers).

Whether sitting or lying down, one should make Yang Qi rise and Yin Qi descend. When one aperture opens, the hundred apertures become clear as well. Regulate and refine according to the nine reversions and seven returns (the process in Neidan by which Jing and Qi are repeatedly transformed and brought back) so as to dissolve the Three Calamities. Breathing returns to the wondrous Dao (the Way); harmonize the true breath (steady, subtle respiration) so that the breath grows full, and refine and nourish the essential refinement so that it returns into the Sea of Qi (the lower Dantian).

Refine and nourish the original Shen so that mind and Shen are at ease; tend the embryo immortal (the name for the sacred embryo formed by Neidan), and the heart is glad. The Qi of the Three Fields rolls and surges, coursing through the chest, so that Yang rises and Yin descends. When one aperture opens, the hundred apertures become clear as well. Through regulation by the nine reversions and seven returns, breathing returns to the wondrous Dao; harmonize the true breath so that the breath grows full, and then refine and transform the essential refinement so that it returns into the Sea of Qi.

Refine and nourish the original Shen so that mind and Shen are at ease; tend the embryo immortal, the heart full of joy, as the Qi of the Three Fields rolls and surges and courses through the chest. Only through smelting can the supreme treasure be achieved and the work of cultivation grow deep. Countless words are all contained within it, and its foundation lies in the principles of the Daodejing and the Yinfujing—the Jing (scripture/classic) of the Dao and of De (Virtue/Power), and the Scripture of the Hidden Talisman. Activate the Heavenly Pass (an aperture in the inner landscape) so that nourishing Qi moistens the four directions; from between heaven and earth gather and refine the medicines (the name, in the art of Neidan, for cultivation materials such as Jing and Qi). Swiftly ascending among the white clouds, only after cultivation through many kalpas can transformation and attainment be reached.

At the beginning of study one must set a firm resolve and truly love the practice, reading widely in the scriptures and their commentaries. All at once the mind opens in clear awakening, and one understands why, in former days, one was lost in confusion and buried in obscurity. There really is, after all, a path of ascent to immortality, along which one may pass freely and walk wherever one wishes. Having repaid the debts of old adversaries (entanglements of former lives or of human ties), one has now cut off every kind of attachment and is no longer stained by calamities of any kind.

When sitting quietly and entering stillness, the practitioner works in silence, discerning principle and distinguishing right from wrong. Though the mind is empty and still, free of stray thoughts, one must still remain settled and patient; only then can one take the path that leaves birth and death behind and cultivates true realization. Even if one is as solitary and given to Wuwei (non-action) as a withered pine, one must keep nurturing the practice day and night. For the time being, wait patiently for the right moment. Although cultivation may seem close at hand, one must still clarify the principle, guard purity and stillness, and persevere. When merit and practice are complete, one can ascend alone to the Heavenly Terrace.

To cultivate the Dao (the Way), one need not specially read the classics of the Three Teachings, nor learn the so-called talent for composing a poem in seven steps; one need only persist in practice amid dim, silent stillness. Once the jade body is refined, one may ride the wind and depart; a clear, cold radiance carries a person into the realm of the holy and the perfected. Becoming an immortal guest of Penglai depends entirely on accumulating three thousand deeds of merit and practice; then one can shed the ordinary body and bring the immortal embryo to completion.

When weary, one rides a blue luan up to heaven, then mounts a white crane back to the human world, able to ascend in transformation and enter the immortal realm. The yellow sprout gradually grows, yet others can hardly perceive it; by quietly guarding and nurturing it in the “Jade Hare’s nest,” one can avoid faults and calamities. Wait patiently for now—the day when merit and practice are complete is already near, and then one can ascend alone to the Heavenly Terrace.

There is the practice of stillness, and there is also the practice of stability; in the heart there is no attachment, and there is no attachment. Now the duties of human relations have been settled, and one has leapt clear of the sea of the human world, confused and turbulent, where right and wrong are interwoven.

Zhenggong · Duanzhenghao

Set aside right and wrong, brush away contention, and firmly rein in the monkey of the heart and the horse of the will. I wish only to let my wide sleeves flutter in the west wind, and to watch the sun and moon in their courses and day and night succeed one another.

Gunxiuqiu

Begging alms from a thousand households is enough to get by; wearing clothes patched by a hundred families brings no shame. Whatever worn and broken things there are, I take them to cover my body, and look with pride past the dukes and nobles of the human world. I wish only to sing a Daoist song at my leisure, and, tipsy and hazy, to bow and salute others. The holy broth and immortal wine begged as offerings, and things of the Surao kind, are my outfit. I want only to drink today if there is wine today, and to go begging again tomorrow if there is no money tomorrow; in the end I am unhurried and at ease, free of care and worry.

However many books one may accumulate, one cannot be sure of leaving them all to one's descendants; however much gold and silver one may hoard, one's descendants may not be able to keep it. I urge you not to wear yourself out like an ox or a horse for the sake of your children and grandchildren. Today clouds and mist wind about the hills, and the mountain scenery is at its finest; tomorrow the frost descends and the waters fall, and the traces along the water's edge fade away as well. Who can withstand time rushing past so swiftly?

Even if books, gold, and silver are all gathered up for a time, they still may not be passed on to one's descendants for them to hold. I urge you not to toil your whole life for your children and grandchildren. Today clouds and mist rise among the mountains, and the view is just right; tomorrow the frost comes down and the waters recede, and the scene is already changed. Time flies as swiftly as the sun and moon in their courses—how can it be kept?

One has only just seen people carrying flower lanterns at the Lantern Festival, and in the blink of an eye it is already Qingming, with willows set before the gates. One has only just performed the spring purification rite beside the water—the custom of going to the waterside in spring to drive away ill fortune—and passed cups of wine along the winding stream, when, before one knows it, the sound of the tuo drum, the drum used in racing boats, is heard again, and the dragon-boat contest has already begun. The seventh day of the seventh month has only just passed, and it is already the ninth day of the ninth month. How many times in a lifetime can we gather together in joy? Many springs and autumns are spent in vexation. Look at the bustle of worldly affairs: one still hopes to muddle through the days at random, heedless of how time hurries away like flowing water, and when one turns back, one's hair is already white.

Some people lay out gardens, grinding bricks and building walls; others raise pavilions and towers, carving beams and pillars with the utmost refinement. They exhaust heart and strength, and at last complete their gardens and residences. Yet today the land belongs to the Zhang family, and tomorrow it is the Li family's pavilion—every change as swift as the turning of a hand.

They clear away thorns and turn wasteland into ponds; they root out weeds and plant flowers and trees far and wide. The scenery of the four seasons is as beautiful as brocade, yet how many times can the master of the garden come here to wander and enjoy it? The pavilions before one's eyes will soon decay, the flowers and trees will gradually wither, and the thorns will grow back again, moving passersby to sigh over the shifts of rise and decline. Once rare blossoms and unusual plants showed a thousand kinds of elegance; now they have all become untended wildflowers and weeds covering the ground, filling one with melancholy. Indeed, the leaves will in the end fall in autumn.

Stop speaking of Yao and Shun, or of Jie and Zhou (the legendary sage-kings and tyrants, respectively). Better to speak of Hao, Wang, Sun, Tan, Ma, Qiu, and Liu. They were all disciples of Wenzhongzi (the Sui-dynasty thinker Wang Tong), and kindred spirits of Kangcangzi (a Daoist figure). Stop speaking of the office-holding Zhang Pingshu (the Daoist Zhang Boduan) and of Liu Xingshou of Yanyue (“xingshou” was an old term for singing girls and the like; what “Yanyue” refers to is unclear). Better to speak of Patriarch Wang of the Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) tradition (the Quanzhen patriarch Wang Chongyang); attainment in the Dao (the Way) still falls short of Ma Banzhou, who turned his heart around (so the original reads; the reference is unclear).

To the tune of “Zui Taiping”: Han Zhongli (one of the Eight Immortals) was originally a general commanding troops, and Lan Caihe (one of the Eight Immortals) was originally a comic performer. Xuanhuzi (a Daoist figure) had never in fact gone to sell wine, yet the corpse of Iron-Crutch Li (one of the Eight Immortals) was burned by fire. The immortal Helan led Imperial Uncle Cao (one of the Eight Immortals) into the Dao, and Han Xiangzi (one of the Eight Immortals) knew how to brew wine that could be made very quickly. Lü Dongbin (one of the Eight Immortals) lay drunk three times at Yueyang Tower, and also awakened a green willow.

Coda: Do not ask when the cultivation of merit and the accumulation of virtue can be completed. Once you awaken to the Mysterious Pass (a term in Neidan, or internal alchemy, pointing to the inner crux), you may turn back toward the Great Dao. Do not rush about in vain amid the rights and wrongs of self and others; turn back early from the sea of suffering. Why still speak of the Shen (spirit) roaming the four quarters, or of the Three Islands and Ten Continents (the legendary mountains in the sea where immortals dwell)? The immortals conceal their traces and bury their names, waiting only to depart from what lies before the eyes.

Also in the Zhenggong mode; the title of the song is missing.

What I practice is a method of benefiting myself and getting free; what you practice is a business of harming the many while looking only to set up households of your own. You call me mad, yet you are madder than I. Here I have already seen through fame and profit—without fame, without profit, I have penetrated everything. The force with which you contend for fame and chase profit is, by contrast, astonishing. Here I laugh as I watch the arena of fame and profit, seeing through it all with a clear mind. Why keep rushing about for the sake of private romantic attachments? Even if you amass ill-gotten wealth and pile up a great store of useless goods, how will you escape when death is at hand? In the end you cannot avoid the cycle of rebirth, and will be reincarnated as a horse or a mule. The road to Heaven is perfectly clear, yet few are willing to walk it; although Hell has no gate, those who enter are many. In the end one can only fall into ruin and destitution.

The Ziran Ji (Collection of the Natural) ends.

Here ends the complete text of the Ziran Ji (Collection of the Natural).

The pieces gathered in this section are all sanqu. The original does not indicate the tune modes, which have been supplied here according to the sense of the text.

The original is headed only “Zhenggong” and gives no tune title. On examination, the Taihe zhengyin pu compiled by Zhu Quan of the Ming dynasty includes Deng Xueke’s song-suite Yuedao (Delighting in the Dao [the Way]), whose tune title is marked “Zhenggong · Duanzhenghao,” matching what is recorded here. What follows has been collated against the Ming edition, and this will not be noted item by item.

In the Ming edition these two lines read: “We cadge a little leftover ritual food and wine; this foolish drum and these clappers of ours are our whole outfit.” The yugu and the jianzi are simple percussion instruments used by Daoist priests when begging or performing; the lines say that these are the gear they carry with them.

“Gang yisi” appears in the Ming edition as “daganglai zhishi”; both wordings make sense.

In the Ming edition the line reads: “Were it not for Patriarch Wang, who expounded Quanzhen (Complete Perfection), one could not lay hold of Ma Banzhou, who beats the wheel.” “Patriarch Wang” refers to Wang Chongyang, founding patriarch of the Quanzhen school; “Ma Banzhou” refers to the Quanzhen Daoist Ma Yu.