《女丹十则》

The author of the Nüdan Shize (Ten Principles of Women’s Alchemy) can no longer be identified. Older editions attribute it to “Xiangyi Gumu of Mount Jinhua,” a designation that appears rather crude. Even if the author preferred not to use a real name, there was no need to assume a sacred title, so it has been omitted here.

Although the work is called “Ten Principles,” the fifth and sixth sections are largely the same in content, and the discussion in the tenth is too vague to warrant a separate section. I have therefore made substantial cuts to these three sections, so as not to weary the reader. The other sections have also been revised. Readers who compare the original with the present text will see that these deletions and changes have their reasons and are by no means superfluous.

Apart from the Jing (scripture) itself, readers should pay close attention to every comment I have added in the text. These remarks were written only after several decades of experience; they are not casual elaborations without foundation.

An appendix, the Kunjue (Kun Formula), is included. Although it cannot be established that the piece truly comes from the hand of Sun Bu’er, its language is concise and pleasing. Fu Jinquan’s commentary abounds in metaphors and may not be easy to grasp. At the end of the piece I have explained in detail the sources of the terms “yellow sprout” (huangya) and “white snow” (baixue); readers should study them with care.

Among the scriptures of Nüdan (female Neidan, Daoist internal alchemy for women), those that record genuine oral instructions number, from ancient times to the present and throughout the country, only a little more than twenty; it is impossible to find any more. A student must read all of these books before being able to grasp the methods of beginning practice. After that one must still seek out teachers and fellow practitioners and practice in person before there is any hope of attainment. One must never, having understood only a little of the surface, consider oneself satisfied.

In the seventh month of the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China (July 1935), the 4,632nd year of the Yellow Emperor’s era, Chen Yingning of Wanjiang composed this preface.

First Section: Nurturing the True and Transforming Qi (vital energy)

Chen Yingning says: In Daoist cultivation, the key lies in the oral instructions; whether the writing is well composed is in fact unimportant. Some books are incomplete in theory, awkward in phrasing, shallow in view, or mixed with superstitious content, and are easily looked down upon. As a result the genuine oral instructions they contain are buried as well and remain unknown to anyone—truly a pity. I am compiling this book now in order to help women who already have a certain level of learning. If I copied the original books in full, people of discernment would inevitably ridicule them; I have therefore specially selected the essentials and removed the defects and the disorderly passages. Although the result is not yet entirely pure, it is already more worth reading than the originals.

Women’s cultivation differs from men’s. According to this passage of scripture, a man’s Yang Qi easily leaks out from the lower body, while a woman’s Yang Qi tends to move upward; a man’s constitution is firm and strong, a woman’s soft and yielding. A man ordinarily must guard the Yang Jing (essence) in the Dantian (energy center)—the site of cultivation within the body as Daoism describes it—and not allow it to leak outward. After long accumulation, he then refines it with the true fire within the body (a metaphor, in Neidan cultivation, for the work of refining and nurturing), so that Jing is transformed into Qi, Qi into Shen (spirit), and Shen returns to emptiness, until at last the realm of the Dao (the Way) is realized.

A woman belongs to a Yin constitution and must rely on the “numinous fat” (lingzhi, a technical term of female Neidan) in the region of the breasts in order to transform the qualities of the body. After prolonged circulation and refinement, according to the scripture, red turns to white and blood is transformed into Qi. Once blood has become Qi, one further employs the “fire phases” (huofu, which in Neidan cultivation refers to the method of regulating the advance and retreat of refinement), and can likewise turn Qi into pure Yang, finally completing the Dao and returning to the true. Therefore the preliminary work of women’s cultivation is first to refine the physical form and then to refine the original basis; men do the opposite, first refining the original basis and then the physical form.

What is meant by “nurturing the True” (yangzhen)? An ordinary person’s mind is easily shaken. If the mind and Shen (spirit) are constantly drawn inward and held fast, one readily feels aversion. Cultivation therefore begins by teaching a person to nurture the True, so that this feeling of aversion gradually lessens and the body becomes settled and harmonized. Only then can practice continue, first refining the original basis and then refining the bodily form.

In the quiet sitting of ordinary days, one should circulate the movement of Qi (vital energy) from within the Sea of Blood of the Dantian (energy center)—the place where the Dantian lies, and the region bound up with Qi and blood—and observe the chamber of Shen in the heart, the inner place where spirit is kept. One should become aware of a fine thread of clear Qi rising from the Sea of Blood. When quiet stillness has lasted long enough, Qi stirs into motion. Following that movement, it surges upward, rushes to the Niwan (the upper Dantian in the head), and then turns and descends. At this point one uses intention only slightly to guide it, accompanying the movement of Qi as it descends from the Niwan to the Chonglou (the throat). On reaching this place, one must no longer guide it with intention, lest the body be harmed; one simply follows the movement of Qi and lets it descend from the Chonglou to the space between the two breasts. There is an empty cavity there; let the Qi gather and remain for a long time. If the movement of Qi is aroused, continue the practice according to the method just described.

Cultivated in this way for forty or fifty days, Qi is able to course through, blood is transformed into Qi, and red turns to white. At this time the elixir source appears, and the mind of the Dao (the Way) likewise becomes genuine. If one can persist in quiet guarding, unremitting morning and evening and applying effort at every moment, why worry that the Great Elixir cannot form, or that a woman cannot achieve the way of the immortals? This is the first step of a woman’s cultivation. If one can truly reach a realm of the utmost profundity and subtlety, every later stage of the practice can be carried forward from here. Those who study and cultivate should exert themselves.

The text following “Yingning’s note” is fragmentary, and what survives cannot be fully interpreted.

Yingning’s commentary: When the movement of Qi (vital energy) descends from the Niwan—in Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy), the upper Dantian (energy center) in the head—one passage of the scripture says to “guide it ever so slightly with intention,” while another says “one must not use intention.” At this point, should one use intention or not? In fact, the action should lie between the intentional and the unintentional: so as to accord with what is natural, the text says “do not use intention”; yet one cannot leave the process entirely unattended, and so it also says “lead it with intention.”

Second Section: Nine Turns of Refining the Form

“Refining the form” means nurturing and regulating the body. Blood belongs to Yin. It condenses in the lower part of the body, stored in the Sea of Blood (the place where blood gathers, according to traditional medicine and Neidan) and in the womb, and is then generated from the Five Aggregates Mountain (a name for a bodily site in Neidan). It nourishes the whole body and the hundred vessels, circulating without cease and flowing through the various channels; afterward it turns into dregs the body no longer needs and is expelled.

When the turning cycle of two hundred forty ke and thirty double-hours comes to an end, the pure essence gathers and manifests once more. Formed from pre-heaven Qi, it remains within the body for the person’s use. What is meant by Qi circulating through the hundred vessels, turning into dregs and being expelled, and the pure essence finally reappearing, is precisely this process. Clear Qi rises to the breasts, while turbid Qi flows downward and becomes stasis. The key to whether one becomes an ordinary person or an immortal lies here. Therefore, in women’s cultivation one must first distinguish clear Qi from turbid Qi before a true form can be refined.

When refining the form, one should sit upright. First, use the power of the mind and Shen (spirit) to fill the mouth with saliva; rinse it gently several times, and once the saliva has become clear, inhale pure Qi (vital energy) through the nose and swallow it together with the saliva. The saliva passes through the throat into the chest and abdomen, reaching in turn the “Crimson Palace” (Jianggong, the heart region in Daoist Neidan, or internal alchemy), the “Yellow Chamber” (Huangfang, the abdominal Dantian, or energy center), and finally coming to rest at the “Guanyuan Sea of Blood” (the acupoint and Dantian region of the lower abdomen).

After a brief period of concentrated stillness, guide it from the Sea of Blood toward the Weilü (the lower end of the spine), ascend along the Jiaji, pass through the gateway at the crown of the head, and enter the Niwan (“Mud Pill,” a Neidan term for the brain). Then descend again from the Niwan and pause between the two breasts. Remain there for a time so that the saliva is transformed into Qi; this is called “one turn.” Circulate in this same sequence three times.

When the three turns are complete, massage both breasts with the hands, circling inward thirty-six times. Then bring the hands together at the center and gently guide the movement downward to the Sea of Blood, refining it once more by the method already described. One such round of refinement consists of three turns; repeat the round three times, for nine turns in all.

If a woman is calm and dignified in temperament, deeply grounded, and in good physical condition, cultivating in this way for no more than one hundred days can refine the bodily form and set her on the path of long life. Continuing to advance thereafter, she may hope to attain the “Great Elixir” (Dadan, a high-level achievement of Neidan cultivation).

Men first cultivate the “medicine” and only afterward cultivate the body; women first cultivate the body and only afterward cultivate the “medicine.” Because the male and female bodies differ, the order of cultivation also differs.

A woman cultivating the Dao (the Way) applies herself according to the oral formula already set out. When the work reaches the Sea of Blood in the Dantian (energy center)—in traditional Neidan (internal alchemy), the lower-abdominal region associated with Qi (vital energy) and blood—that place gradually grows warm. Clear Qi rises of itself, passes through the Heart Abode (where the heart resides), and goes directly to the two breasts. At this point one must not give rise to stray thoughts, but continue the circulation of the practice as usual. The clear Qi then descends of itself and returns once more to the Sea of Blood. By now the mechanism of Qi has been set in motion and true Qi has arisen: the red blood formerly called Yin is transformed into the white Qi called Yang.

If at this stage one does not refine the Qi by the firing schedule, nor regulate it by the fu—in Neidan, the measure applied together with the firing schedule—the white Qi will turn back into red blood, white becoming red again, and the work already done will have been wasted. Having reached this point, one should therefore refine it with true fire and match this with the true fu. Only when both the firing schedule and the method of the fu are correct will the Qi gather. As the Qi gathers, unusual signs also appear; if these are not explained clearly, the practitioner may misjudge the firing schedule and the method of the fu and injure the Danyuan, the source of the elixir. The practitioner must fix this carefully in memory and must not forget it. An error here not only wastes the earlier work and makes later cultivation hard to continue, but may also harm the body and even bring on a sudden flooding of blood.

The practitioner must also remember that when the Qi returns to the Sea of Blood, although it has been transformed out of blood, it is no longer blood. The Jing (scripture/classic) compares this to leaving home and coming back: someone goes out, changes in appearance, and then returns, so that even family members may fail to recognize that person and naturally cannot acknowledge them as before. Thus, as this Qi descends, the Sea of Blood has a sensation like a fish drawing in water. At this time the four limbs seem as if drunk, and the pleasure resembles that of sexual union between man and woman, so intense that it seems almost impossible to restrain.

The opening of Yingning’s commentary repeats the foregoing remarks about “a fish drawing in water,” the limbs as if drunk, and the pleasure of sexual union; the text as given breaks off at the quotation marks.

At this stage one must steady the mind and Shen (spirit) and must on no account grow indulgent. With a single thought, concentrate on the Central Palace (Zhonggong, the place within the body regarded as where primordial Qi (vital energy) gathers), condense the spirit and guard it, remaining there for a time. Qi will naturally surge upward through the passes and apertures, rise to the Muddy Pellet (Niwan, the upper Dantian (energy center) in the head), and transform into Jade Fluid (Yuye). Then, by intention, guide it down along the Layered Tower (Chonglou, the throat) until it returns and rests between the two breasts. By the method of condensing Qi, bring them into union so that Qi gathers and does not scatter. Practiced in this way over a long time, one can return to the root and revert to the origin, entering embryonic breathing (Taixi, a state in which the breath is extremely subtle, as if a fetus were breathing in the mother’s womb). Once embryonic breathing is achieved, realization of the way of immortality may be expected before long. Female adepts (Nüzhen) should strive together.

Fourth Item: Silently Circulating Embryonic Breathing.

If female practitioners can cultivate with focused attention according to the oral formula discussed earlier, true Qi (vital energy) will naturally increase little by little, and the blood will also be transformed into “Jade Liquid,” circulating from between the two breasts through the channels of the whole body to nourish it. The Jade Liquid spoken of here comes from the transformation of blood. It must be regularly warmed and nurtured by the inner primordial harmonious Qi—a calm inner breath that regulates and nourishes life—so that it can settle in the Middle Field, the Dantian (energy center) within the body, and become the foundation for further refinement.

What is meant by “inwardly circulating the primordial harmonious Qi”? The scripture holds that breath arises from within the body and is likewise settled from within. After obtaining the Jade Liquid, female practitioners are to use this inner breath to condense it and keep it from scattering, and thereby to form the Reverted Elixir, the elixir condensed in the practice of Neidan (internal alchemy). When this breath is circulated, it seems not to rely on breathing through the mouth and nose, yet it remains connected with that breathing: although it is called breath, it does not in fact take the form of ordinary breathing. The scripture calls this “borrowing the meaning of breath,” that is, using the language of outer breathing to explain the movement of the inner breath.

Breathing through the mouth and nose belongs to post-heaven breathing, while the breath that moves inwardly belongs to pre-heaven breathing. In cultivation one should give weight to pre-heaven breathing rather than deliberately controlling post-heaven breathing. Pre-heaven breathing is without form or trace, yet it rises and falls naturally with each inhalation and exhalation through the mouth and nose. After long practice, the Qi of the breath returns to its root and no longer moves through the mouth and nose. The scripture says that at this point “embryonic breathing”—a Neidan term for an inner breath regarded as lying deep within the body—has been achieved, and one is not far from the Way of immortality.

(Chen Yingning’s note: The original account of this stage of cultivation is not clear enough. Fearing that later students would find it hard to understand, I have recast it as far as possible in plain language and have revised or deleted the greater part of the original, so that the meaning is easier to grasp. As for the fine points and subtle turns, these call for a teacher’s oral transmission and personal instruction, and the student must also comprehend them for herself and verify them in her own practice. When the work has accumulated deeply and over a long time, it will naturally come to fruition, as water finds its channel. Should there one day be a sudden, thorough comprehension, one will of oneself silently accord with the subtle marvel of the Dao (the Way); there is no need to cling rigidly to the written words.)

Fifth Section: Broadly Establishing Merit and Practice

If a woman can devote herself wholeheartedly to cultivating the Great Dao, has already refined the Jade Liquid Reverted Elixir (a term in Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy) cultivation), has recognized her innate original nature, and can also maintain the practice of embryonic breathing (the name, in Daoist cultivation, for a state of deep, long, and subtle respiration), then at this point she must plant the foundation of cultivating the Way through everyday good deeds. In this way her outward conduct will be without shortcoming, and her inner cultivation will also be aided.

She should therefore serve her parents-in-law with full filial devotion, and deal with others in a loyal, honest, and sincere manner; take pity on orphans and widows, and relieve those in hardship and poverty; respect her teachers and elders, and live in harmony with her neighbors. Her bearing should not be frivolous, nor her speech arrogant, and every action should accord with principle and proper measure. In this way her temperament will naturally become calm and balanced. There is no need to pursue merit and practice by deliberate effort; merit and practice will establish themselves of their own accord.

(Chen Yingning’s note: The greater part of this piece has been deleted; what remains is already sufficient.)

Sixth Section: Firm Resolve in Sustained Practice

If a woman practitioner can meet an enlightened teacher, come to know the oral instructions, keep her conduct upright, set her resolve firmly on diligent cultivation, and persist over a long time without slackening, then the attainment of immortality is close at hand.

Yet a woman’s disposition is apt to fade and to change. When she meets with something that does not go as she wishes, it is hard to be sure she will not suddenly alter her original resolve. She may also be lured onto a wrong path and rashly form biased views, so that all her former work is entirely wasted and she sinks into suffering. By then, regret will come too late.

Although many people in the world transmit the methods of the Dao (the Way), few truly receive the transmission. They often misunderstand it themselves and mislead others as well. The oral formulas of women’s alchemy (Nüdan) are now set forth clearly, in the hope of helping those with an affinity leave the wrong path and reach the other shore. One will then no longer return to the Yellow Springs bearing hun and po that have not been brought to completion, and women will be able to preserve their complexion and delay aging. What has been cultivated and attained may be kept for a long time and not lost, so that one enjoys endless peace and happiness. Is this not a cause for joy?

The precepts are given below. The first precept is to be filial and to support one’s parents-in-law. The second is to be upright and honest in one’s person. The third is to be careful in speech. The fourth is to be cautious in action. The fifth is to respect one’s teacher and to value the methods of the Dao. The sixth is to fix one’s resolve and not change it lightly.

(Note by Yingning: Four-fifths of the original text has been deleted, because most of it is unrelated to the essential point. Explanations were originally attached to all six precepts; they have not been copied here either, because the general meaning is already clear.)

The seventh item: regulating and nourishing the primordial spirit (Yuanshen)—nurturing a person’s fundamental Shen (spirit).

Women’s practice of Neidan (internal alchemy) is more expedient than men’s. In the work of women’s Neidan, the passage from “nurturing the true” (cultivating true nature) to “embryonic breathing” (a state of practice in which the breath is minute, close to the inner respiration of a fetus) already completes the greater part. Unlike men’s cultivation, which must still pass through many steps before the realm of regulating Shen (spirit) can be reached, once women’s Neidan has been brought to embryonic breathing one should set about cultivating outward De (Virtue/Power). When this external practice has a foundation, one then proceeds to the further cultivation of regulating Shen.

This is because, in the circulation and refinement already undertaken, blood has been transformed into Qi (vital energy), and Qi can in turn be transformed into Shen. At this stage, if one does not temper one’s disposition and support the practice with outward De, Shen may fail to gather and hold, and even the work already done may be wasted. The practitioner must follow precepts and established norms, tempering mind and nature until the heart-mind is as pure as crystal. One cultivates again and again and tempers again and again, until inside and outside are pure, surface and interior equally clear and luminous, free of attachment to bodily form and unstained by worldly thoughts. When this point is reached, an opportunity for pure, numinous, and skillful transformation will of itself appear within body and mind.

When she enters meditative absorption, the practitioner may take no food and yet feel no hunger, and may neither move nor speak. Someone must watch over her at this time and must not startle her, lest Shen be injured or a deviation occur, with grave consequences.

Once a woman practitioner has reached this state, special care is required and no mistake can be allowed; someone should keep watch day and night. If her breathing seems wholly absent and her complexion shows no change—whether this lasts one or two days, five or seven days, or more than ten days—do not disturb her. Only when her nasal breath gradually becomes faintly perceptible and a slight expression returns to her countenance may one call to her softly. After she emerges from absorption, food, drink, and clothing are hers to decide; the companion who practices with her must still tend and protect her at every moment, until she reaches the realm of the emergence of Shen, when the danger may at last be considered past.

The Dao (the Way) of women’s cultivation is to transform Yin into Yang, refining oneself until Yang Qi (vital energy) is abundant and the spirit-consciousness (shenshi) is complete. Even when the body has been refined until it is as clear as ice, and the mind-spirit as limpid as autumn water, one still must not let the spirit-consciousness remain long within the body. Just as a melon falls of itself when ripe, so, once the spirit-consciousness is fully perfected, it ought to move out. At this point one may employ the method of “exiting the spirit” (chushen), causing the spirit-consciousness to leave the body.

One must not, however, let the spirit-consciousness go out too quickly, nor, at the beginning, remain outside the body for too long, lest it become lost and unable to find its way back. One should return the spirit-consciousness to the body and practice exiting and entering again and again, moving gradually from what is near to what is far. One must never indulge it at will; only after nurturing has matured and one’s attainment is firm may the spirit-consciousness be allowed to come and go freely. Once practice is thoroughly mastered, fear naturally ceases.

The cultivation of exiting the spirit must also be explained in stages. Before the Yang Spirit (yangshen)—the pure-Yang spirit-consciousness formed through cultivation—has left the body, one’s disposition should be kept in the utmost stillness, and the method of cultivation still follows the principles of nurturing the true and fostering one’s original nature, until the spirit-consciousness is complete; only then is this stage finished. After the Yang Spirit has left the body, the spirit-consciousness shifts into an active state, and the manner of cultivation differs from the previous stage. At this time one uses the method of “letting the spirit roam” (yishen), so that the spirit-consciousness becomes lively and agile, penetrating freely and without obstruction. One may wander among mountains and waters, and may also manifest transformations as circumstances allow; whenever an opportunity arises, one accumulates merit and practices good deeds. If merit and conduct are brought to completion, a day of ascension will come of itself.

Ninth Section: Awaiting Deliverance and Ascension

In the elixir methods of women’s cultivation, once the work is accomplished one forms a body of pure Yang; whenever an opportunity arises, one accumulates merit and practices good deeds. If merit and conduct are brought to completion, a day of ascension will come of itself.

After success in the cultivation of nüdan (women’s Neidan, internal alchemy), one can form a “body of pure Yang”—a body which, after cultivation, is held to have cast off the soft quality of Yin—no longer subject to restraint and free to come and go at will. At this point one should all the more widely practice merit and plant the roots of goodness. One must never, merely because Shen (spirit) roams in carefree ease, set aside the fruits of cultivating the Dao (the Way); nor may one talk of them at length and thereby leak the mysteries of Heaven and Earth’s creative transformations, or commit depraved acts contrary to the principle of Heaven. Every kind of reckless doing will certainly bring punishment. One should only exercise one’s powers in secret, protecting the state and aiding the people. When merit and cultivation are both complete, exalted sages and lofty Perfected (zhenren of high rank) will of themselves come to receive and guide her, so that she may transcend and ascend. She will then have audience at the Golden Portal, the palaces of Heaven, receive an imperial investiture, dwell long in the celestial palaces, and enjoy happiness without end.

Yet why must a nüzhen—a woman who has succeeded in cultivation—still wait for another to receive and guide her? It is because a woman originally belongs to a soft and weak body. Although she may be fortunate enough, through inner work, to achieve a Yang body, the congealed substance of Yin has not yet been entirely eliminated, and she also lacks the stage of cultivation called “returning to the void” (huanxu). She has therefore not yet exhausted the subtleties of Heaven and Earth’s creative power, and cannot ascend beyond the dusty world. The difficulty is that the bodily form is not yet firm enough. Men are said to be different: they can refine the body into a “vajra body that cannot be destroyed,” and then complete the work of returning to the void, so that the light of Shen fills Heaven and Earth. They therefore need not wait to be received and guided. They can fulfill the Dao and become Perfected, personally have audience with the Lord on High, and roam at ease, feasting in the immortal realm of Penglai.

Yingning’s note (a commentary by Yingning): I do not venture to agree with this theory, and only retain the original statement for the time being. If a woman can truly possess great wisdom and great power and attain complete liberation, then, after reaching the “top of a hundred-foot pole,” she can still advance one step further, arriving at the state in which form and emptiness are not two and self and other are forgotten, so that original nature shines and she directly transcends the bonds that have existed since beginningless time. She will then understand that the dusty world and the palaces of Heaven, suffering and joy, do not differ; male and female, Yin and Yang (Yin-Yang), are only different names, while their source is the same. The ten directions and the three realms never depart from the “gate of the mysterious female” (xuanpin zhi men, the generative root of the Dao). Immortals, Buddhas, and sentient beings alike take the mother-body as the root of life. Once this realm is reached, what remains to be said of waiting to ascend?

The phrases “different names, a common origin,” “the gate of the mysterious female,” and “seeking nourishment from the mother” are all drawn from Laozi’s Daodejing (the Classic, Jing, of the Dao and of De, Virtue/Power). They are used here to show that, although the myriad things have different names, they emerge together from the Dao, and that “mother” serves as a metaphor for the root from which all things are generated.

The most important thing in cultivation is to transform the ordinary body into a pure and sacred body. If this cannot be done, one is like a frog at the bottom of a well, still trapped at last in the bitter sea of karmic wrongdoing—how could one ever leave the cycle of rebirth and rise beyond the kalpas? If women in the world can keep their hearts unstained by dust, hold to a will that does not break under repeated setbacks, and cultivate with wholehearted devotion day and night according to the oral instructions transmitted by their teacher, then after three to five years of effort they too can realize a superior fruit of attainment. Seen in this light, what reason do people have to fear cultivation and shrink from it?

(This passage has been largely cut and revised, because much of it consists of empty generalities.)

Appendix: The Kun Instructions (Kunjue)

Composed by the Pure and Quiet Primordial Sovereign (Qingjing Yuanjun, a female immortal of Daoism), Sun Bu’er; collated and edited by Ji Yizi, Fu Jinquan.

The true transmission has its own oral formula; the true transmission has its own oral formula.

Women are endowed with the gentle and compliant virtue of the Way of Kun. Within true Yin they also possess true Yang, and for this reason cultivation is comparatively easy. The crux of the oral formula lies in beginning from “being” (you): “being” is the beginning of “non-being” (wu); to move from being toward non-being is precisely where true Yang resides. Although these two statements lay particular stress on the work of life (minggong, the practice of cultivating the body and the root of life), they also take account of both nature and life (xingming, the cultivation of mind-nature and vital life). They are the most important pivotal point in cultivation along the Way of Kun. The first statement requires returning from being to non-being; the second requires bringing forth being from within non-being.

What must be known concerning Geng and Jia should be explained in detail by those who study the Confucian learning.

“Geng and Jia made clear” is the point of entry for the cultivation of life. Geng belongs to Metal and also symbolizes the tiger; Jia belongs to Wood and also symbolizes the dragon. Geng Metal is the foundation of the practice. Jia Wood often fears being overcome by it, yet within this mutual overcoming a vitality lies hidden. Those who refine the elixir insist on seeking life within death; thus, once the tiger of Geng is subdued, the dragon of Jia arises. Between this one subduing and one arising, the transformations of life-giving and killing are already latent, and from this the principle of the reversal of Yin-Yang becomes apparent.

Once the timing of the transformations of life-giving and killing and of the reversal of Yin-Yang is understood, a method must be applied to sever the dragon’s head and grasp the tiger’s tail, so that the dragon raises no clouds and the tiger summons no wind. When wind and clouds subside, it is as if the sky were clear and the bright moon pure; when dragon and tiger are subdued, nature (xing) and emotion (qing) accord with each other. Gathering them at this point into the furnace for refinement and transformation, one can condense them into the “millet pearl” (shuzhu, a term of Daoist Neidan [internal alchemy] for the subtle elixir-body formed by refinement) and thereby achieve the aim of preserving life. In the original text the passage from “grasping the tiger’s tail” to “at once forming the millet pearl” is repeated once, with the same meaning.

The character zhi (“to know”) carries the sense of concentrated waiting and observation. When the wind is about to rise, the tiger must be subdued; only when the rain is about to fall may the dragon be severed. One must be neither too early nor too late; only by seizing the moment can the work of refinement proceed.

Without understanding the principle in this, one cannot learn the Dao (the Way). One must study and investigate the classics, so as not to fall into empty vagueness. Only if one can draw from The Great Learning and The Doctrine of the Mean and turn that insight into a new understanding has one truly seen the Dao.

These principles should be investigated again and again, and the cultivation of nature must also be thoroughly understood. The cultivation of nature and the cultivation of life are to proceed together, so that Yin-Yang mutually conjoin.

The way of the elixir (the path of Neidan, internal alchemy) takes the Classic of Changes as its foundation. The Commentary on the Judgments says: “Great indeed is Kunyuan! All things rely upon it to grow.” Kun belongs to old Yin; when Yin develops to its extreme, it gives birth to Yang. By according with the Dao (the Way) of Heaven, one can generate and nourish human beings and the myriad things; by according with the patterns of one’s own person, one can complete the Dao and become a perfected person.

If one carefully investigates where the true Yang within Kun is aroused, one can know where the “true one” within the human body arises. When this true one is obtained and guarded, the root of life is preserved. The work of nature (the cultivation of mind and innate nature) runs through the cultivation of the Dao from beginning to end; if one cannot thoroughly awaken to original nature, this root cannot abide for long. One must be like the clear moon of an autumn night, the mind unstained by a single speck of worldly thought, and must see through completely from the root that has existed since the beginningless beginning, reaching a state that neither lapses into empty stillness nor lacks freedom and unobstructedness. Only then does one achieve the dual cultivation of nature and life, bringing Yin and Yang into conjunction.

It teaches people to distinguish carefully between “being” and “non-being,” and not to betray their wholehearted zeal.

Yin and Yang are precisely being and non-being. One should attentively study the relevant contents of the Daoist Canon. After three days of practice, how true Yang arrives and how true Yin departs ought to be entirely clear. One must be able to intercept the head of the “incoming dragon” and retain the tail of the “departing tiger,” so that the two Qi (vital energy) of Yin and Yang conjoin and circulate in gentle harmony; only then can the body of the method required for cultivation be formed. Otherwise one merely wastes effort—how could one cultivate?

The key to cultivation lies right before the eyes, and Qi is aroused from this. Above is the Celestial Valley (the cultivation site in the head); below is the Spring Point (the Yongquan point on the sole of the foot). These two places must be identified correctly and must not be mistaken.

When one applies the practice as the moment requires, the key is to arouse intention by means of the gaze, to guide Qi by means of intention, to gather Shen (spirit) by means of Qi, and then to refine the True by means of Shen. In this way one connects upward with Heaven and reaches downward to Earth, and can employ the practice with ease. If the Celestial Valley does not grow warm, Qi cannot ascend; if Yongquan does not grow warm, Qi cannot descend. One must concentrate the gaze and intention on the upper and lower sites to guide the movement of Qi. These two points must be recognized accurately, without the slightest error. The zi-wu practice (cultivation carried out according to the hours of zi, wu, and the like) must be trained until fully proficient before one proceeds to cooking and refining (in Neidan terminology, a further stage of refining and nurturing).

One should accord with the proper time and know how to awaken in understanding and to cultivate; then “yellow sprouts” and “white snow” will naturally appear (originally names, in Waidan (external alchemy), for the products of elixir refining, and here borrowed as symbols of what cultivation yields).

Yingning’s comment says that “yellow sprouts” and “white snow” were originally technical terms of Waidan. Of these names, he writes, “There are things I cannot leave unsaid.” Chapter 7 of the Secret Formula of the Golden Medicine by the founding patriarch Fuli says: “The purple powder is like frost, and yellow sprouts fill the elixir chamber.” The Perfected Xu, in the Stone Casket Record, “Discourse on the Purple Mother,” also says: “A furnace of cinnabar may be ingested; taken over a long period, it can restore yang Qi (vital energy) and transform the bodily form. To reach this result, one must have the divine talisman and white snow. The divine talisman and white snow are truly precious, and can bring the dead back to life.” The Stone Casket Record, “Discourse on the Perfect Luminosity of the Divine Chamber,” says further: “Grain by grain, like red pearls; the red essence and the purple channels give rise to the Metal Lord. The Metal Lord unites with water and earth and is refined into yellow sprouts and white snow. . . . When dragon ointment and tiger brain are refined, they are treasures of the Hall of Longevity. To transmute ten thousand taels of gold is nothing remarkable; to make the aged never grow old is true mastery.”

From these statements it can be seen that terms such as “red blossoms,” “purple veins,” “yellow sprouts,” “white snow,” “red powder,” and “purple sand” refer to concrete substances refined in the furnace fire of Waidan: they can be seen, held in the hand, and ingested, and for this reason they are called the Golden Elixir.

Yingning holds that some later cultivators did not receive the true transmission or, though they had a transmission, dared not make it public because of secrecy, and so changed the explanation, calling the Jing (essence), Qi, and Shen (spirit) that coalesce within the human body and do not disperse the Golden Elixir. This already fails to accord with the methods by which the ancient immortals refined the elixir, yet some basis for it can still be found. Later still, others forced Buddhist ideas—“true suchness,” “perfect enlightenment,” and “the wondrous mind of nirvana”—and Confucian ideas—“the Limitless,” “Taiji (Supreme Ultimate),” “the principle of Heaven,” and “innate knowing”—into the doctrine of the Golden Elixir. Yingning holds that this made it ever harder for later students of immortality to understand the meaning of the Golden Elixir, and led them further and further astray.

He also laments that the Chinese were unwilling to make public the method of “transmuting mercury into gold,” so that it was lost and was instead invented by foreigners; nor have the Chinese dared to acknowledge that a medicine of deathless longevity exists, and he fears that in the future it too will be obtained first by foreigners. That a country of long history and advanced civilization should forget its own tradition, and have to seek in foreign lands the arts of the Dao (the Way) it has lost, is truly a cause for rueful reflection.