《灵宝净明大法万道玉章秘诀》

Disciple Fang Wen respectfully bows before the True Master to ask about several points of doubt in the Huangsu shu (Scripture of the Yellow Silk), hoping for guidance so that the fundamental principles within it may become clear.

The book says: “The five Qi (vital energy) pay court to the origin; the three yang gather at the crown.”

I have seen that the Chuandao ji (Collected Transmission of the Dao, the Way), written by True Immortal Zhongli and True Immortal Lü, when discussing the refining of the great medicine and the forming of the Golden Elixir (jindan), also says “the five Qi pay court to the origin; the three flowers gather at the crown.” The five Qi are connected with the Five Phases (wuxing), and some take them to mean the Qi of the five viscera. Here the text speaks of “three yang,” while there it speaks of “three flowers”; yang, too, refers to Qi. The yang Qi of the human body gathers in the head, and the Qi of the five viscera naturally rises to the Niwan (the seat of the brain, as Daoism describes it). Thus the eyes can see, the ears can hear, the nose can smell, and the tongue can taste. The “five Qi pay court to the origin; the three flowers gather at the crown” spoken of in refining the Golden Elixir may well involve a further principle of transformation. I earnestly beg the Master to explain it clearly.

What is meant by the “five Qi” is that the Qi of the five viscera, once brought together, turn toward the Palace of the Origin. The Palace of the Origin refers to the lower origin (the region of the Dantian, the energy center, in the lower body). One first makes the lower origin firm, and only then opens through to the middle origin; once the middle origin has been reached, the five Qi pay court to the upper origin (the upper part of the body). This is called the “three yang.” “Flowers” is another way of speaking of the “three yang.” As the primordial yang circulates, it condenses into five; in the course of its transformation it returns to three. When this point is reached, the elixir is complete. Auspicious clouds arise above the crown, and the Qi of the crown gate has already opened, bright as the sun and moon; the ears can hear and the nose can smell. Yet these are still not the state in which the five Qi truly pay court to the origin and the three yang truly gather at the crown.

The book further says: “One ought to reflect on where this body of a human being comes from.”

Fang Wen holds that people today do not know whence life comes. The human body originates in the “One Qi” (vital energy) between Heaven and Earth—the primordial vital energy of which Daoism speaks. This vital energy divides into the two halves of Yin-Yang, then unites with the Qi of one’s father and mother, and becomes the starting point of the creative transformation of life. Since life is known to arise from this, cultivation should also begin here; only this is the path for investigating the root of creative transformation. If one cultivates only solitary Yin, one has not grasped the essential purport. I earnestly beg you to bestow your instruction in secret.

When a person is first born, the root lies in the “One.” When the “One” is joined with “speech,” it becomes the “Two,” and this is what is meant by the saying of “the One and the Two.” The One and the Two transform into and generate one another, and thus true water and true fire take form, while Jing (essence) and Shen (spirit) are likewise brought to completion. To grasp true water and true fire is to know whence life comes. I earnestly beg your instruction.

The book says: “If the courses of the sun and moon fall into disorder, no efficacious result can be achieved.”

Fang Wen carefully studied the Danjing (elixir scriptures) and found that they all take the movement and manifestation of the sun and moon as their rule; this is precisely the emblem of the true method. One who can model oneself on the sun and moon can grasp the patterns of the creative transformation of Heaven, Earth, and Yin-Yang. As for the claim that disordered movement of the sun and moon makes success impossible, the Zhouyi Cantong Qi (a Daoist classic that sets forth the principles of elixir refinement) says: “The sun and moon conjoin with one another and uphold Yang Qi.” It also says: “When Yin Qi is put into effect, things of Yin nature turn yellow.” And it says: “If one departs from the correct Dao (the Way) by even the slightest degree, regret and error will seize the opening and enter.” The Zhenjun Danjing (Elixir Scripture of the True Lord) says: “Probing and taking must regard the day; gathering must heed the proper moment.” The Perfected Zhang also says in a poem: “If there is an error even as fine as a hair, the elixir cannot be refined.”

What, then, does this so-called error actually refer to? How can disorder be avoided? This concerns huohou (the mastery of timing and heat in the process of elixir refinement). I earnestly beg you to transmit the oral instructions.

The emblem of the sun and moon is rooted in Jing and Shen; the arising of Jing and Shen lies within the “One” and the “Two.” The poem says: “If there is an error even as fine as a hair, the elixir cannot be refined.” What, then, does this so-called error actually refer to? How can disorder be avoided? This concerns huohou. I earnestly beg you to transmit the oral instructions.

The movements and changes of the sun and moon depend fundamentally on spirit. The arising of spirit lies within the “one” and the “two”; “one and two” are the proper numbers of the firing times—the grasp of timing and pace in the process of refining the elixir. Water and fire have the functions of extraction and augmentation. In cultivation one must select the month within the year, the day within the month, and the hour within the day; only then will there be no error. These words are recorded in the firing times. The book says: “Discern water and fire, join dragon and tiger, understand the elixir medicine, comprehend lead and mercury, know how to employ extraction and augmentation, and turn the river chariot.”

I, Fang Wen, have studied the elixir classics in depth and found that what they say is nothing other than Yin-Yang, from which merely several dozen different names are derived. Water and fire, dragon and tiger, lead and mercury, and the river chariot all speak of one and the same thing. Yet why does it say here that one must “discern water and fire, join dragon and tiger, understand the elixir medicine, comprehend lead and mercury, and turn the river chariot”? To recognize water and fire is already to recognize dragon and tiger; to recognize dragon and tiger is already to recognize lead and mercury. These are the materials of the elixir medicine. Why, then, does it speak separately of “discerning,” “joining,” “understanding,” “comprehending,” and “turning”? The measure of extraction and augmentation belongs originally to the firing times; if one does not recognize the medicinal materials, how can one master extraction and augmentation? I hope someone will point out the essential point, so that these statements do not conflict with one another and later students may readily understand them.

Water and fire and dragon and tiger are different names for one and the same thing. To speak of water and fire is to speak from the side of nature—inherent nature, the inner state—and so it is called “discerning”; at this point there is as yet no actual application. To speak of dragon and tiger is to speak from the side of feeling—disposition, the state of activity—and so it is called “joining”; at this point application has already begun. To speak of lead and mercury is to speak from the side of form; only when one understands that they are the materials for refining the elixir can one be said to comprehend them. When one can master extraction and augmentation, one can turn the river chariot—in Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy), the name for the route along which Qi (vital energy) circulates within the body.

The book says: “Use the hun to restrain the po, and one can understand the arising and the setting of the sun and moon.”

The rising and setting of the sun and moon are the ultimate law of the operation of the Heavenly Dao (the Way) and of the transformations of Yin-Yang. The hun and po are a person’s spiritual activity, and they can be known by the person. Why is it said that one must use the hun to restrain the po before one can understand the movement of the sun and moon?

What is discussed here is the two kidneys. The right kidney is the Mingmen (Gate of Life), the root of vital activity; it belongs to Yang and corresponds to the hun (ethereal soul). The left belongs to Yin and the right to Yang. The Yin-Yang positions and the left-right relations described in the text are meant to show that the right kidney restrains the po (corporeal soul). The Qi (vital energy) of the right kidney rises to the left eye at midnight, while the Qi of the left kidney emerges at the right eye at noon, and from this the rising and setting of the sun and moon can be observed. The zi hour and the wu hour are the critical moments when the Qi of the sun and moon comes forth.

The book says that the two kinds of Qi of the heart and the kidneys join with each other and are therefore called “true water” and “true fire.” The heart and the kidneys correspond to Kan and Li—water and fire among the Bagua (Eight Trigrams)—which everyone possesses. Yet the alchemical classics also say that gathering the medicine has its days and hours and does not lie in the heart and kidneys; Zhang Yifu’s alchemical classic likewise says that it is a mistake to take the heart and kidneys for Kan and Li. What, then, is meant here by “true water” and “true fire”?

Only when the heart and the kidneys intersect can they be called “true”; if they do not intersect, they cannot become true, because only after they intersect can something new be produced.

The book says that the dragon refers to the heart and the tiger to the kidneys. Kidney Qi is easily dissipated, while heart fluid is not easily accumulated; the key lies in understanding the moment when the two join. The methods of gathering and refining include “giving rise to water within fire and giving rise to fire within water,” which contain the method of employing Yin and Yang in reverse.

The tiger and the dragon are also other names for water and fire. Another account calls the dragon Wood and the tiger Metal of the Five Phases. If dragon and tiger also correspond to Metal and Wood, why is the heart called the dragon and the kidney called the tiger? Why is it said that kidney Qi is easily dissipated while heart fluid is not easily accumulated? The so-called moment of joining is the time when one sets to work in cultivation; the joining of dragon and tiger is also the joining of the Qi of the sun and moon.

The Qi of the heart and the kidneys already has its time of intersection. What, then, is the so-called “seeking and taking” actually meant to take, and from where is it sought? Is what is taken visible or invisible, and can it be named? “Giving rise to water within fire and giving rise to fire within water” does indeed speak of the reversed use of Yin and Yang; but within the human body, how can one bring about water within fire and fire within water? At the end of the text these questions are raised one by one, with a request for a detailed explanation.

This passage begins by saying that what is set forth here and what was said earlier can be read against one another and converted each into the other. “Fire is born from wood, and metal is born from water” refers to the relations of mutual generation among the Five Phases (Wuxing: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water); it is also called “the child reversed,” meaning that the relation of child and mother is here viewed in reverse. Within the human body, how can one bring about water born in the midst of fire, and fire born in the midst of water? Let each point be explained in full.

The reply says that the earlier words and the present statement can be converted into one another. “Fire is born from wood, and metal is born from water” is the same as “the child follows the father”: the child accords with the father and returns to the root, and thereby obtains true nature. Yet if water and fire do not join and transform, they cannot take effect. What is called water born within fire and fire born within water is precisely the key method, in the cultivation of Neidan (internal alchemy), for bringing water and fire to cross and assist one another. By applying the firing times (huohou), one can cause water to be generated; the oral formula involved cannot be set down clearly in writing.

The scripture says that the medicinal materials of “Neidan” issue from the heart and the kidneys, and that everyone possesses them. The numinous embryo is conceived and nurtured by true Qi (Qi, vital energy—the innate primordial energy spoken of in cultivation), just as the dragon has its pearl and the ox its bezoar; its root lies in the yellow sprout, and only after the yellow sprout has emerged can Neidan be refined to completion.

Fang Wen, examining the writings of exalted perfected ones (realized persons who have attained the Dao, the Way) in the Danjing and the Guxiu lu, holds that the so-called medicinal materials do not lie between the heart and the kidneys. If the materials were between the heart and the kidneys, then everyone would be able to form a numinous embryo. Yet Yin alone or Yang alone—the two poles of Yin-Yang—cannot generate transformation: by what means does the dragon produce its pearl? And through what cultivation does the ox come to have its bezoar? As for the “yellow sprout,” what, after all, is it, and can it be seen? Why is it called the yellow sprout? The yellow sprout is the initial root of the Great Elixir. Once the yellow sprout has been obtained, one must still continue cultivating according to the firing times before Neidan can be completed. By what method, then, is the yellow sprout to be brought forth?

If the medicinal materials are not in the heart and the kidneys, then where are they? The functions of the heart and of the kidneys each have their own root. The dragon does not listen by means of the ears, but listens with the mouth, and is also adept at inner contemplation; the ox can stir its throat, whereas a human being cannot. Therefore, relying only on the medicinal materials that the heart and kidneys themselves possess cannot refine the true elixir.

The scripture further says: “Join dragon and tiger, and distinguish the elixir medicine. Within cinnabar there is mercury; within lead there is silver. When lead and mercury come together and are refined by firing, the elixir medicine forms of itself.” Here “dragon and tiger” are terms in the art of Neidan representing opposed forces such as Yin-Yang and water and fire; “lead and mercury” are symbolic expressions in the art of alchemy.

To bring the dragon and the tiger into union, one must first clearly discern the elixir medicine. If the elixir medicine has not yet been clearly discerned, how can the dragon and the tiger be brought into union? What are called the dragon and the tiger are the elixir medicine itself. Once the elixir medicine is clearly discerned, one knows that there is silver within lead; when lead and mercury come together and are tempered and refined, they will naturally be produced.

To bring the dragon and the tiger into union, one must first clearly discern the elixir medicine. If the elixir medicine has not yet been clearly discerned, how can the dragon and the tiger be brought into union? The dragon and the tiger are the elixir medicine; only after the elixir medicine has been clearly discerned can the dragon and the tiger be brought into union. There is mercury within the cinnabar and silver within the lead—this is what the elixir medicine refers to—yet the mercury spoken of here is not ordinary mercury. The scriptures (Jing) say: “Common mercury and common lead are not worth the trouble of fussing over.” This is precisely the point.

Warm nurturing and tempering refer to the fire timing (mastery of the force of the fire and of the right moment in the process of refining the elixir). How to grasp the fire timing is nowhere stated plainly in the books; they only say that one must temper and refine. In concrete terms, how ought the fire to be applied? I hope for detailed instruction.

This is speaking of the fire timing, and it also involves the saying that “the hun (ethereal soul) controls the po (corporeal soul).” If one understands controlling the po by means of the hun, one can see the principle of the fire timing. In the use of fire timing, the work of one month can be shifted and completed in a single double-hour, and the work of one day can be shifted and completed in a single quarter-hour; it does not depend on the passing of long years and many days.

The book says: “The method of extracting and adding lead and mercury requires a thorough grasp of the laws by which Heaven and Earth revolve.”

What is ordinarily called extraction and addition is, after the medicine has already been obtained and placed in the furnace, the adjustment of the fire timing by increase and decrease. What is called a thorough grasp of the laws of Heaven and Earth means according with the advance and retreat of the courses of the sun and the moon. The scriptures say: “Ten thousand discourses and a thousand classics all speak of the principle of ultimate truth, yet they do not write the fire timing into the written word. To understand the point in the oral instructions where the mysterious principle is penetrated, one must discuss it carefully with the immortals.” From ancient times to the present, the fire timing has never been transmitted in writing. I earnestly beg to be granted the oral instructions conferred in a dream, or to be allowed to receive the sage’s guidance in person. Although I have already read the books of formulas, I still fear that I have not grasped their true meaning; and when the time comes to apply real effort, deviations may also arise. Today I am fortunate enough to seek instruction, and so I sincerely knock and inquire, hoping to verify and correct what I have learned—this is truly a great honor. I ask the Master to reply.

The fire timing in the method of interception ought to be explained through instruction given face to face.

Fang Wen respectfully paid homage to the True Master. In the past, when you were in Yuzhang (the area of present-day Nanchang in Jiangxi), you exchanged verses with the assembled immortals: “On the sharp tip of the blade there are two pointed corners; the Golden Elixir (Jindan) flies up and then falls. One must still wait until the Mid-Autumn of the eighth month—be sure to remember this, and do not forget.” There was also a line: “Two horns grow forth upon the sharp tip of the blade, and the Golden Elixir arises along with them, refined only above.” All of these speak of the great elixir of the highest grade (advanced Neidan, internal alchemy).

Although Fang Wen already knew these sayings, he did not understand whether they were correct. He earnestly begs the True Master to recount the experiences of his former cultivation and to bestow teaching.

Fang Wen respectfully observed the True Master performing the “Three-Five Flying Steps” (Sanwu Feibu, the Daoist ritual method of pacing the stars and treading the Dipper). Could this be the method recorded in the hidden scriptures? Is it the rite in which the Emperor Lord of Taiwei (Taiwei Dijun) guards “Tianying,” protects “Yanqi,” and visualizes “Yuanfu”? Having seen you perform this method, Fang Wen earnestly requests your written instruction.

In addition, Fang Wen also saw the True Master transmit the method of the “Yishen Three-Five Flying Steps.” Could this likewise be a method recorded in the hidden scriptures? Is it the rite in which the Emperor Lord of Taiwei guards Tianying, protects Yanqi, and visualizes Yuanfu? Having seen it, Fang Wen earnestly requests your written instruction.

Fang Wen further respectfully observed the method of the “Yishen Fang” transmitted by the True Master. Could this be an essential instruction imparted from the golden mouth of Lord Lao (Laojun), or a method of the Six Ding Jade Maidens (Liuding Yunü)? He earnestly requests your guidance. Fang Wen submits these questions and awaits a reply.

This passage discusses the veiled language of Neidan (internal alchemy) cultivation, and also the transmission of the Lingbao and Jingming teachings.

“The edge of one blade” means that Metal is hidden within Water, and “two horns” means that Wood is hidden within Fire. Only by using Wood to draw Fire can Water be brought to a boil. These expressions borrow the imagery of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) to explain the pairing and the firing process in the elixir method. “Mid-autumn of the eighth month” corresponds to the number fifteen; fifteen is a number in the Hetu (River Chart, an ancient diagram symbolizing the numerical order of Heaven and Earth), while the eighth month belongs to Metal. The mention of “drawing the spleen” does not refer only to the fifteenth day of the eighth month.

“Three-five flying steps” deliberately says “three-five,” and not “three-six” or “four-five,” because it refers to the “Zhenren Star” (a stellar term used in the text). The practitioner must empty the self so that body and mind can be put to use, preserve and nourish the self until the state of the Zhenren (Perfected Person) is reached, and hold to the “number of three threes.” The Zhenren Star is the third star. Only one who can preserve and nourish the Zhenren is able to transform. These matters are not the so-called arts of the “Golden Mouth Essential Formula” or the “Six Ding Jade Maidens.”

“Dingyi” is likewise veiled language. “Ding” belongs to Fire, and “yi” also belongs to Fire; what is called “Dingyi” is fire within fire: joining true fire with ordinary fire. This concerns the firing process of Neidan cultivation. The author says that this teaching was not transmitted to others, but was indicated separately by another means.

Fang Wen says that he respectfully witnessed the True Teacher establishing the Lingbao Jingming teachings. The wondrous Dao (the Way) of Lingbao appears in the Duren Jing (Scripture of Salvation), which contains many teachings. Fang Wen once inquired into one or two of them, and he earnestly asks the True Teacher to expound the teachings of the Duren Jing more broadly, to take them as the foundation of the teaching, and to put the Lingbao Jingming teachings into practice. The cultivation of talismanic methods lies in the long accumulation of good deeds and merit.

Fang Wen further says that the Scripture of Returning the Corpse and Raising the Dead of the Nine Elder Lords originally comes from the True Scripture of Salvation and likewise belongs to the Lingbao teachings. He therefore earnestly requests the True Teacher to bestow the authentic text of the scripture and to instruct the practitioners in the altar. The above is Fang Wen’s statement and request.

The Duren Jing (Scripture of Salvation) was first transmitted by Taishang, the Most High—a revered deity of Daoism—to the Daojun (Lord of the Dao), and then passed on by the Daojun to me. I had not yet fully grasped its subtleties, so the Daojun pointed directly to the Jingming teaching, whose essential aim is to purify the mind and illuminate one’s nature, and held it to be the key to understanding and practicing the Duren Jing. It is like grasping the main outline of the whole, subtle in the extreme; if one only cultivates it diligently, there is no need to read too much. As the saying goes, break open a single gate and one may pass straight through to nine great ways. Do you understand the principle in this?

The text also speaks of the “Nine Heavens,” the “Three Heavens,” and “three and nine.” These are all essential and profound matters, which you presumably do not yet understand clearly. What is called “three and nine” refers to the number twelve. Set aside the “three” and take the “nine,” and one has the Nine Tripods; retain the “three” and put it to use as three, and one has the Three Passes. This is precisely the method of the Three and the One, a rule of cultivation organized around “three” and “one.” One gives rise to three, and two gives rise to four: this is the working of the two powers of Metal and Wood among the Five Phases (Wuxing).

In former times, the Huishi Qisi zhi Jing (Scripture of Returning the Corpse and Raising the Dead) was the scripture through which the method of salvation was transmitted. Today its authentic text has become corrupted and disordered, and many passages can no longer be made out. Meddlesome enthusiasts have further altered it on their own authority, and so the section entitled the Mirror of Qi (Qi, vital energy) contains much that will lead people astray. Recently I wrote the Danjing Yuanshi (An Account of Matters Concerning the Elixir Well), though the relevant timings and numbers have not yet been settled. As for this scripture, it can be issued only after a few days, and in the end it will be transmitted to you.

The bright-red Golden Elixir (Jindan), that is, the red Golden Elixir, can be refined in a single day, and this saying of the ancient immortals is indeed worthy of trust. To speak of refining for nine years, or for three, is only to drag out the days of cultivation.

There are also those who say that with no more than a moment’s effort one may forever enjoy boundless peace and joy. What method of the Dao (the Way) could be so swift? There is further the saying, “cast mercury into lead, and cast lead into mercury,” by which the transformations of Yin-Yang are brought about and the work of creation is accomplished, and this too takes only a moment. It is also said that true lead is the gold within mercury. A poem of the ancient immortals says, “People of the world do not recognize the gold within water,” and further, that one who recognizes it is a true immortal. Thus, to obtain this bit of true gold is to be able to become an immortal. A poem by Master Lü says, “Seize the golden Jing (essence) and make it the foundation of life,” and again, “One must obtain true lead in order to refine Jia and Geng; for fire, take the marrow of the red phoenix of the south; for water, seek the Jing of the black turtle of the northern sea.”

Seen in this light, water and fire are simply water and fire; what is meant by water and fire is the heart and the kidneys. True lead, however, is true lead, and it does not lie within the water and fire that the heart and kidneys represent. To refine this true lead is the great Dao. I earnestly beg a true master to instruct with compassion, to conceal nothing, and to transmit this method clearly yet in secret.

Fang Wen respectfully submits these words and requests a reply.

Within a single day, one takes the “Qi (vital energy) of Yellow Simplicity” (the primordial Qi represented by Yellow Simplicity) and swallows it, eighty-one wen in all. What is called “eighty-one wen” is nine multiplied by nine, symbolizing the sum total of the primordial Qi of Yellow Simplicity. If one wishes to understand how to draw upon the clear Qi and the turbid Qi, one must master the practice of “retaining the turbid and discarding the clear.” Apart from this there is no other secret, and it can be accomplished in a moment.

As for “casting mercury into lead and lead into mercury,” this is the method by which Yin-Yang unite and generation and transformation arise; “the heart joining the kidneys and the kidneys joining the heart” means that the two kinds of Qi of the heart and the kidneys meet and rely upon one another, combining into an undivided, integral primordial Qi. If one wishes to understand how to draw upon the clear Qi and the turbid Qi, one must still master the practice of “retaining the turbid and discarding the clear.” Apart from this there is no other secret, and it can be accomplished in a moment.

“Casting mercury into lead and lead into mercury” is still a method of creative transformation; the Qi of the heart and the Qi of the kidneys intersect, so that the two Qi join with one another. They do not depart from the “metal of one and two”—this is the child within the lead. One who understands the mother thereby recognizes the child within. The Qi of the left kidney rises to the liver, then reaches the lungs, enters the crown of the head, and afterward returns from the crown to the center. What is called “five divisions above and below” means that the total Qi ascends to the mysterious place. From this one may understand that the metal of true lead is related to the meanings of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) and of the heavenly stems and earthly branches represented by “jia and geng.”

Fang Wen (as the writer styles himself in the text) once received transmission of the Divine Method of the Five Thunders of the Most High. It is said that this method was transmitted when the true master met Perfected Lord Wang of Jade-Cavern Ling’an on Mount Hua. Today only the true texts of the five seal-imprints remain; the rest—the divine methods of the four quarters used in offering sacrifices (Zhaijiao, the purification ritual)—are incomplete, and, together with talismanic graphs such as the “Red Goose,” no corresponding items of instruction have been seen. It is therefore feared that this is not a true transmission. He earnestly requests that the true master specially bestow a revelation of the complete contents. Fang Wen submits this reply.

Taken as a whole, it is in the end no match for the Five Thunders Method of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) as practiced today, and it only wastes mind and effort in vain. The Five Thunders Method carried out the other day by the true master who supervised the ordination is what truly matters.

Fang Wen personally issues this. Fang Wen submits this reply.

Taken as a whole, it is in the end no match for the Five Thunders Method of Zhengyi (Orthodox Unity) as practiced today, and it only wastes mind and effort in vain. The Five Thunders Method carried out the other day by the true master who supervised the ordination is what truly matters.

From the guiyou year, when he had just turned twenty, Fang Wen met a Daoist named Li from Xichuan. He asked him about the refining of mercury and took him as his teacher in order to learn the methods of gathering and refining. In the gengzi year he met a Daoist priest named Chen from the Eastern Capital and consulted him on what the elixir scriptures say concerning lead and mercury. In the guimao year he further encountered Master Wang from Heshuo and several Daoist priests of the capital; he called upon his fellow townsman, Academician Wang, and with him discussed the Cantong qi, the lead and mercury in the elixir furnace, and the firing times of elixir refining.

Last year, while Fang Wen was serving in office at Chongren, he met a leading disciple of Master Wang of Jiangzhou, who transmitted to him in detail the method of refining the fire in Neidan (internal alchemy). This matter has already been reported in a memorial to the Most High, and he has formed a bond with this companion in the elixir, discussing the firing times with him at length. The essentials of the firing times are not set down in writing; they depend solely on oral transmission and instruction from mind to mind. Fang Wen now reports to his true master and asks the master to distinguish what is right from what is wrong and to clarify the exact content, so that Fang Wen may no longer be in doubt. Fang Wen intends to begin cultivation in the gengxu year in order to complete the Great Medicine, and he earnestly begs the true master for guidance and instruction.

Fang Wen now quietly inquires about the matter of the firing times and earnestly begs the true master to reveal and explain it in detail and to grant a response. Fang Wen respectfully submits this request and awaits a reply.

Without first mastering the methods of entry, one easily takes many detours. These matters are nothing extraordinary, and I had not originally meant to set them all out in full. Take the method of gathering the medicine: one must first ask what medicine is to be gathered. Can it be seen or not, heard or not? Sometimes it is neither seen nor heard; sometimes it must be both seen and heard. The crux lies only between “one” and “two.”

The method of using fire concerns the fire timing of the celestial circuit. The oral formula for refining the form is still not enough to refine the Golden Elixir (Jindan). If one wishes to complete the elixir, one must discern the fire timing within it, and there is a corresponding method for the moment one sets to work. To understand what concerns the heart, one must trace it from within the kidneys. There is true fire in the kidneys, and the golden liquid can then arise in the lead cauldron.

What is meant by “the lead cauldron gives rise to the golden liquid”? Wood can generate fire, and metal can generate water. Water and fire stand to each other as husband and wife; metal and wood stand to each other as father and son. Only when there are father and son is there a household. The so-called household is the elixir within the spleen. For husband and wife to unite, they must first restrain one another. If they cannot overcome each other, they cannot be regulated; if they cannot be regulated, they cannot generate one another. To know how this works, the crux again lies in “one and two.” That sense of “one and two” still calls for careful reflection. This much will be said for now; if anything remains unclear, it may be brought out by analogy.

Fang Wenbing requests instruction on the following questions. In the sword formula, the mutual overcoming of metal and wood—from which day should it begin? Thereafter, should one practice visualization (cunxiang) every day? At what time should one visualize, or is there no fixed hour? Is it only on days of metal and fire? And what of the night? On the day when metal and water generate one another, from what time should the “casting” begin? Thereafter, does one cast every day, and is there a fixed hour? And what of the night? How should one nourish for a year? How should one grind the sword? To which day, specifically, does the so-called day of metal and water generating one another refer? At the end of the oral formula there is the phrase “heart transmission” (xinshou)—what does it mean?

Mutual overcoming and mutual generation refer to days of overcoming and generation reckoned by the heavenly stems and earthly branches. “Heart transmission” means concealed oral formulas and methods; how they are applied must follow the teacher’s instruction, and belongs to an art transmitted in secret.

In the text, “gathering the medicine,” “casting,” “grinding the sword,” “visualization,” and the like are terms of Neidan (internal alchemy). They borrow the mutual generation and overcoming of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and the casting and refining of a sword, as metaphors for regulating and refining body and mind together with the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) within the body. The original text does not go on to explain the concrete procedure of each operation.

If a ritual text—the written words or talismanic script used in performing a method—is to carry out the “Eight Arts of Concealing the Earth through the Cinnabar-Radiance Jing (essence) of the Dao (the Way),” the formal taboo-names and the hidden names of the Jade Sovereign Dao Lord differ from one another. If one also does not recognize Celestial Seal Script (tianzhuan), the seal script used in Daoism, one may consult what is set out below. These are all secret oral formulas; in use they must follow the teacher’s instructions, and they belong to esoterically transmitted methods.

The formal taboo-names of the Jade Sovereigns of the Eight Palaces are as follows. The Gen Palace is called “Taiqi”; the Zhen Palace is called “Youyao,” also written “Youliao”; the Xun Palace is called “Wuying”; the Li Palace is called “Boshi”; the Kun Palace is called “Yunzhu”; the Dui Palace is called “Eryi,” also written with the character meaning “principle” rather than the character meaning “instruments”; the Qian Palace is called “Yuanfu”; and the Kan Palace is called “Yinjing.”

The titles of the Purple Clarity Thearch are “Yinming,” “Yinting,” and “Yinling.”

Although these titles differ from one another, all are hidden taboo-names of the Jade Sovereign Lord of the Northern Dipper within the Eight Palaces. When they are used, one chooses according to the direction in which one is located, just as gold hidden in stone is called ore and, after smelting, becomes the elixir.

If the ritual text wishes to ask about a swift method for summoning and commanding Jade Maidens—goddesses who, in Daoist methods, act when summoned—or if one finds that the names and talismanic scripts of the Six Ding Jade Maidens, the goddesses corresponding to the Six Ding deities, often differ and hopes for instruction, then the following may be known.

The methods for summoning and commanding Jade Maidens all come from one and the same transmission. Those whose hearts and intentions are sincere, however, more readily obtain a sympathetic response. If one now seeks a method free of errors, the White Ape Scripture (Baiyuan Jing) comes first.