《上方大洞真元妙经图》

In the age of Emperor Yao, a commoner sought instruction from the Immortal Lord: “I make bold to ask—might the ‘Great Cavern True Primordial,’ the Dao (the Way) in its vast depth together with the Qi (vital energy) of true primordiality, be explained to me?”

The Immortal Lord replied, “Your understanding is shallow; how could you be qualified to ask about this? Still, I can tell you what I have heard, and you may choose for yourself what to grasp.” He then explained, “‘Great’ may be understood as the great Dao, and ‘cavern’ means thorough penetration. The boundless Dao circulates the Qi of true unity and primal Yang—the pure, unitary, source Qi of which Daoism speaks. This Qi is inexhaustible and reaches everywhere, and so it is the root of the myriad things. If a person can preserve it, it becomes possible to cultivate the practice and attain immortality.”

The Immortal Lord continued, “Now, because of Yong’s sincerity, I specially expound these instructions for him, setting forth the essentials of many profound principles and gathering the quintessence of the various Jing (scripture/classic), so that the Dao of true primordiality may become known in the world. Heaven has sent down twelve diagrams. People should strive to comprehend the teachings within them, so that those who come later may also be warned and awakened. This is like the musician Shi Kuang tuning the bells, awaiting those of later ages who truly understand music.”

Diagram of the Void and Spontaneity

The great Dao has no beginning at the outset and no end at the last. Above, it is not bright; below, it is not dark. It stretches on without cease, hard to name, and in the end returns to what is without form and without thing. This is “the shape that has no shape, the image that has no image,” also called huhuang, the elusive and indistinct—a state difficult to see clearly and difficult to grasp. Meeting it, one does not see its beginning; following it, one does not see its end. To hold the Dao as it has been from of old, and thereby govern the myriad things of the present, and to be able to recognize the origin of the myriad things, is called understanding the guiding principles of the Dao.

The saying “human beings model themselves on Earth, Earth models itself on Heaven, and Heaven models itself on the Dao” means that the Dao is the root that accords with spontaneity and is without form or thing. The scripture says, “What lies beyond non-being is called the Dao,” meaning that the Dao transcends what is ordinarily called being and non-being, and its principle is exceedingly profound and subtle. If a person cannot abide in the state of void and spontaneity, that person cannot come into being from the Dao.

The verse says: Within the Great Void, the fundamental substance of the myriad things moves of itself; the Dao produces the one Qi, and this one Qi in turn differentiates into the myriad things. Boundless transformation fills all between Heaven and Earth; the images presented by the dragon-horse and the divine tortoise convey the correct principle between Heaven and Earth.

What this Tianzhen Huangren (a perfected immortal in Daoist legend) wrote is likewise all Taixu yunzhuan (the writing of the celestial realm in Daoist legend). How could one set them side by side and compare them?

The Marvel of the Dao (the Way): Elusive and Hard to Fathom

The Dao is a wondrous mode of existence: it is empty and formless, yet seems to contain feeling and intention; it is marvelously subtle, yet has no fixed form. Whether one meets it head-on or follows after it, it is difficult to fathom; whether it conceals itself or becomes manifest, it cannot be sought by design. People do not know why it is so, nor why it is not so. It penetrates the generation and transformation of the myriad things and is never exhausted, and so it is called the “Dao.”

Shangu says, “I wish to use words no longer, and only to contemplate in stillness the subtlety of the Dao.” Lord Lao (Laojun) says, “The Dao is something of which one can only say that it is vague and elusive. Within the vague and the elusive, there seems to be an image, and there also seems to be a real thing. In the profound dark and the dim obscurity it holds Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy); this Jing and Qi are genuine and not empty of reality, and within them there is evidence that can be trusted. From ancient times until now, the name of the Dao has never disappeared, and therefore one may by means of it observe the primal origin of the myriad things.”

The myriad things under Heaven all arise from “being” (you), and “being” arises in turn from “non-being” (wu). “Yue” (阅) means to observe, and “fu” (甫) means the beginning. That is, if one observes the transformations of Qi from within “non-being,” one can see how the myriad things begin to be generated and transformed. Among the myriad things, the human being is the most precious; if one can cultivate the Dao, one may long endure.

Note: In the scriptural text, “Shangu says” overlaps with the words of Lord Lao; the above combines them in interpretation according to the sense of the passage.

From this it can be seen that the marvel of the Dao (the Way) lies precisely here, and so the sages honor it. The Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan once advanced on his knees, moving in accord with the wind; Confucius likewise said that if one heard the Great Dao in the morning, one would have no regret even if one died that very evening. All of these reveal the profound and ineffable purport of the Great Dao.

In former times, the True Lord cultivated the Dao on Mount Wudang for forty-two years in all before ascending into the Purple Empyrean and taking his place among the immortal sages. Was this not because he employed the methods of the tortoise and snake swallowing and refining black lead, and of Heaven and Earth nurturing and refining cinnabar? Meng the Banished Immortal said, “One who can bind mercury and congeal lead can become an immortal.” Yet most people are led astray by heterodox side paths and cannot grasp the essential point. If one seeks the realm of the celestial immortals yet casually sets aside the way of the Golden Elixir (Jindan), how can one attain the state in which both form and spirit (Shen) are wondrous?

If a person is to reach the state in which form and spirit are both wondrous, the key lies in the secret essentials of the true primordial origin. When the Great Dao is about to be put into practice, diligence is what matters most. Who has not said that the path is neither close at hand nor impossibly remote, and that by pressing steadily onward along it one can ascend to the Jade Hall (the immortal realm)? The Classic of Changes says, “Walking upon a level road, the recluse who holds to what is correct meets with good fortune.” This is surely what is meant.

The Primordial Diagram of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate)

The Shen (spirit) of Taiyi, the Qi (vital energy) of Taishi, the Jing (essence) of Taichu, the form of Taisu, and the Dao (the Way) of the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) all run through heaven, earth, and the ten thousand things. They are bound by neither past nor present, and they have neither beginning nor end.

The Yi (Changes) says: "In the Changes there is the Taiji, which produces the Two Modes; the Two Modes produce the Four Images; the Four Images produce the Bagua (Eight Trigrams); the Bagua determine auspice and misfortune, and auspice and misfortune bring about great undertakings." This means that all things possess the fundamental structure of the Taiji, the Two Modes, and the Four Images. When the Four Images and the Eight Trigrams are already present but have not yet set into motion or change, this state is called the Taiji. The Taiji is the root of heaven and earth. Heaven and earth differentiate out of the Taiji, and the ten thousand things are in turn born by transformation from heaven and earth.

Humans receive the single Qi of True Origin between heaven and earth (the primordial Qi of heaven and earth), and through it they are generated, grow, and are nourished. By observing a human being, one can see the form and vitality of heaven and earth. Hence the masters say: "When Qi reaches its extreme, it transforms; once transformed, it flows freely." Free flow is the working of the Dao. "Reversal and return is the movement of the Dao." The Dao, which is formed in a state of undifferentiated wholeness, existed before heaven and earth. Silent and empty, standing alone and unchanging, it moves everywhere without ceasing and may be regarded as the source of all things under heaven. What is called the "Mother" refers to the Dao; the Dao is supreme, and nothing surpasses it.

The Dao has its pure and its turbid, its movement and its stillness. If a person cultivates in accordance with the Dao, they can bring forth the effects of spiritual illumination; if they turn their back on the Great Dao, they will in the end move toward decline and ruin. These words are truly trustworthy.

"The Diagram of the Obscure Existence of the Three Modes" is the title of the diagram, meaning a diagram that depicts the Three Modes as subtly and obscurely present.

The initial nine and the nine in the second place of the Qian hexagram correspond to the form of Kunyuan (the original principle of Earth). What is called the “great transformation” is that Qi (vital energy) congeals into turbid sediment, gradually accumulates, sinks, and settles, and so forms the great earth.

The nine in the third place and the nine in the fourth place of the Qian hexagram correspond to the form of Renyuan (the original principle of humanity). What is called the “great transformation” is that the Three Origins (the three primordial powers that constitute the process by which the cosmos generates life) gestate spiritual beings, while the Nine Qi (the nine kinds of Qi that generate the myriad things) congeal and take form. The image between Heaven and Earth appears yellow-white, like a chicken’s egg, and Qian and Kun (Heaven and Earth) generate the myriad things according to the same principle.

The nine in the fifth place and the top nine of the Qian hexagram correspond to the form of Qianyuan (the original principle of Heaven). What is called the “great transformation” is that Qi grows clear, limpid, and lofty, while Yang Qi continually accumulates to form the sky. What is said here is that Heaven encloses Earth, and Earth lies at the center of Heaven. The great earth can steadily uphold the myriad things because the great Qi propels and bears it. What is called the “great Qi” is the fortune of the times in their movement and change.

Vast as Heaven and Earth are, they still remain within the transforming and nurturing work of the Dao (the Way). The primordial Qi of harmonious blending (the fundamental Qi between Heaven and Earth that harmonizes and generates the myriad things) transforms with wondrous subtlety and gives rise to human beings, and thus the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and humanity take form. That is to say, the roots latent within human beings and things all come from Qian and Kun. The ancient sages therefore established the appropriate norms and brought them into accord with the cardinal order of Taiwu (the state of utmost emptiness, before any form or trace has appeared), so that what the people require was made complete. As for a human being, if one can bring one’s own De (Virtue/Power) into accord with Heaven and Earth and proceed by following this path, would that not be excellent? Alas for those who stray far and do not understand—ought they not to reflect?

Diagram of the Cycles of Qi

How wondrous! When Hunyuan (the primordial state in which Heaven and Earth have not yet divided and the myriad things have not yet been born) has not yet been differentiated, all is gathered into a single Qi, and the Two Modes (Yin and Yang) lie latent within it. After Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) differentiates, the Three Powers appear, and the myriad things unfold from this. The human body and the forms of the myriad things are all thereby made complete, and the operation of the allotted numbers of Qi also begins from here. To proceed by following this path—would that not be excellent? Alas for those who stray far and do not understand—ought they not to reflect?

Diagram of the Cycles of Qi

How marvelous! Before Heaven and Earth had been divided, the myriad things all returned to a single Qi (vital energy), and the two modes of Yin-Yang (Yin and Yang) lay hidden and unmanifest. After the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) divided, the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity appeared, and the myriad things were born from this. The human body, like all things, receives its root from Qi and from allotted destiny. The phrase "Fanqi Miluo" means that the vast, circulating Qi of the primordial heaven encompasses all things; "Fanqi" refers to the great-moving Brahma Qi, and "Miluo" means pervading everything.

Since the Primordial Beginning, the Qi of the Great Brahma has manifested, and Heaven and Earth entered the era of Chiming (Crimson Brightness). Heaven and Earth are the above and below of all things, while left and right are the paths along which Yin-Yang moves. As the myriad things grow and multiply, their many forms unfold, and the safety or danger of animals and plants alike is affected by the movement of Qi. Those who cultivate the Dao cannot wholly go against this movement either.

The nine orifices and four limbs of the human body all communicate with the Qi of Heaven, and the meridians of the hands and feet are each divided into three Yin and three Yang. The Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic), in the chapter "Suwen: Zheng Ji Da Lun," records the principles involved, explaining that people should choose suitable food and medicine according to the seasons, which is an important principle of nurturing life. The scripture says: "Eat according to the season, and every part of the body will be harmonized." Following the seasons is precisely the foundation of health and peace.

Each year, the Five Movements and Six Qi (Wuyun Liuqi) govern climatic change, and are called Sitian (Governing Heaven), Zaiquan (At the Spring), and the Left and Right Intervals. Beginning roughly from the Jiazi day around Dahan (Great Cold), the year enters the First Qi. The First Qi is Jueyin Wind-Wood: it governs Heaven in Si and Hai years, is at the Spring in Yin and Shen years, and acts as an interval Qi in the remaining years. It corresponds to the left guan pulse of the human body, and to the liver and gallbladder. The liver and gallbladder correspond to anger, and anger harms the Three Hun (ethereal souls). Therefore, the lofty adepts see through life as a dream, and cultivate the Yang Shen (Yang spirit) so that it endures.

Around the Spring Equinox, the Second Qi begins, which is Shaoyin Sovereign Fire, governing heat. It governs Heaven in Zi and Wu years, is at the Spring in Mao and You years, and acts as an interval Qi in the remaining years. It corresponds to the left cun pulse, and to the heart and small intestine. The heart corresponds to joy, and excessive joy harms the Shen (spirit). Those of high attainment do not cling to things with form, but perceive the great Dao from the principle of non-arising.

Around Xiaoman (Lesser Fullness), the Third Qi begins, which is Shaoyang Ministerial Fire, governing intense heat. It corresponds to the right chi pulse, the Mingmen (Gate of Life), and the Sanjiao (Triple Burner), and to fear; fear harms the blood and Qi. The enlightened understand that the gathering and dispersal of all things are natural transformations, and so they do not cling to external things but follow their natural course.

Around Dashu (Major Heat), the Fourth Qi begins, which is Taiyin Damp Earth. It corresponds to the right guan pulse, and to the spleen and stomach. The spleen and stomach correspond to worry and rumination, and excessive rumination harms the body. Those who possess the Dao understand that the many scenes presented to sight and hearing are like flowers in the sky; when they let go of desire and attachment, wisdom grows.

Around the Autumn Equinox, the Fifth Qi begins, which is Yangming Dry Metal. It corresponds to the right cun pulse, and to the lungs and large intestine. The lungs correspond to sorrow, and sorrow harms the Seven Po (corporeal souls). The Perfected see all things in the world as impermanent and empty, and so are able to maintain a clear, luminous awareness for a long time.

Around Xiaoxue (Lesser Snow), the Final Qi begins, which is Taiyang Cold Water. It governs Heaven in Chen and Xu years, is at the Spring in Chou and Wei years, and acts as an interval Qi in the remaining years. It corresponds to the left chi pulse, and to the kidneys and bladder. The kidneys correspond to fear, and fear harms Jing (essence) and Qi. The Utmost Person accumulates many good deeds in the human world and leaves meritorious works in Heaven as well. From the Fourth Qi through the Final Qi, the Qi of Earth holds sway. Each Qi lasts about sixty days before changing, and the calculation of years and dates follows the same principle.

Thus, the Dao accords with the principle of the Great Cavern, and De (Virtue) is matched with the True Source; it is truly profound and mysterious. The Dao governs the wondrous power by which all things grow, and also directs the order of their transformations. Humans receive their form from the season that corresponds to the movement of Qi, yet the human body is finite, while the mysterious One Qi is present everywhere. Those who cultivate the Dao must draw in this all-pervading Qi to nourish the finite form. Thus the form depends on Qi to exist, and Qi is the master of the form. When form and Qi preserve each other, they can aid the growth of life.

Nothing in the world is more precious than the Dao. By following the changes of the Dao, life is preserved; by acting against the movement of Qi, one may decline. Alas, the sun and moon fly past, and time does not return. One should regard worldly wealth and honor lightly, earnestly contemplate life and death, and constantly remind oneself: a person's appearance is bestowed by the Dao, Qi is bestowed by Heaven, and the physical form is bestowed by Earth.

The human body has an acupoint called "Tianzhong" (Heavenly Center). Above Tianzhong, the Qi of Heaven governs; below Tianzhong, the Qi of Earth governs; and where the Qi of Heaven and Earth meet, the Qi of the human body responds. The Six Qi mentioned in ancient texts are Yin, Yang, wind, rain, darkness, and brightness. They are distributed into the four seasons and move according to the order of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). "Three Yin" refers to Yin Qi gradually waning, and "Three Yang" refers to Yang Qi gradually waxing; wind belongs to Xun, and rain belongs to Kan; darkness indicates Yin Qi gradually growing, and brightness indicates Yang Qi gradually declining.

According to the almanac, each year has twenty-four solar terms. The seasonal terms of spring are Lichun, Jingzhe, and Qingming, and its mid-terms are Yushui, Chunfen, and Guyu; the seasonal terms of summer are Lixia, Mangzhong, and Xiaoshu, and its mid-terms are Xiaoman, Xiazhi, and Dashu; the seasonal terms of autumn are Liqiu, Bailu, and Hanlu, and its mid-terms are Chushu, Qiufen, and Shuangjiang; the seasonal terms of winter are Lidong, Daxue, and Xiaohan, and its mid-terms are Xiaoxue, Dongzhi, and Dahan. At the end of each season, eighteen days are also governed by the Earth Qi. All these climatic changes together form the order of movement of the four seasons and the Five Phases.

Qi has waxing and waning, fullness and depletion, and excess and deficiency, and skilled cultivators accord with it. Earnestly following these patterns can prolong life and increase longevity; going against them may harm life. One should avoid environments that are too cold, too hot, too warm, or too cool, and nurture the primordial Qi by accordance with the Way of Heaven. Primordial Qi is hard to accumulate but easy to dissipate; for methods of nurturing it, see the Siqi Tiaoshen Lun (Treatise on Regulating the Spirit in Accordance with the Four Qi). The sage accords with the movement of Qi and lets go of fixed attachments, and so endures long. Superior practitioners should also cultivate by the same principle.

The Liji (Book of Rites) says that humans have seven emotions: joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and desire, which arise without being learned. But if one lets the emotions pull one along, one drifts into the ordinary; only by knowing how to tame the emotions can one become a sage or worthy. Those who delight in practicing the Dadong Zhenyuan (True Origin of the Great Cavern) should do their utmost to eliminate excessive passions, for they harm body and mind like dark, gnawing worms. In this way one draws close to the Great Dao, transcends the realm of birth, death, and change, and enters a state of free and unfettered ease. How could such a state of peace and joy be lightly disregarded?