《女子丹经汇编》Vol. 4

This passage explains the principles of “refining oneself first, knowing what is forward and what is reverse, and awaiting the birth of the medicine” in neidan (internal alchemy) cultivation, and uses the Journey to the West allegory of fetching the true scripture to illustrate the point.

The mind-monkey, the will-horse, and refining oneself

What is most to be feared is the “mind-monkey” running wild and the “will-horse” throwing its weight about—that is, thoughts flying everywhere and desires surging, with no knowing how to subdue and tame them; how then could one cross the sea and bring back the true scripture? Therefore one must first refine oneself (lianyi): refine the person until thoroughly mature, so that Yuanshen (primordial spirit—the true nature in stillness, the true intent in movement) is whole and true Qi is vigorous; the seven emotions do not arise, the five thieves (desires stirred by the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body) do not run riot, the six roots (the six sensory faculties) are deeply settled, form and appearance are both forgotten—and only then can one speak of entering the “lotus chamber” to seek the elixir.

The Correct Principles of Celestial Immortality says: “Refining oneself” means: what ought to be done, one cultivates through bitter effort and earnest practice—that is refining; what ought not to be done, one forbids entirely—that is refining; one advances with resolve and must seek completion—that is refining; one cuts off greedy attachment and leaves no lingering love—that is refining; one bars old habits and is wholly unstained—that is refining. The “self” (yi) here is the true nature in quiet concentration and the true intent when thoughts move—it is another name for Yuanshen.

The ancients said: “Before refining the returned elixir, first refine the nature; before cultivating the great medicine, first cultivate the mind.” That is exactly this path of refining oneself.

Forward and reverse

Forward (shun) gives birth to the human being; reverse (ni) makes the immortal. In the hexagrams, Kun above and Qian below form Earth over Heaven (Di Tian Tai)—that is precisely this true meaning. When you reach the furnace, do not marvel that the elixir is hard to form—if you can turn the sheep-cart around (a metaphor for yang reversing its course and the union of Kan and Li), you will naturally see “Heaven.” If you do not know how to turn it around, the multitude of yin blocks the way; how could you remove turbid yin and behold the heart of Heaven? Therefore, in seeking immortality, it matters not whether one is man or woman—what matters is clearly knowing within the body what is forward and what is reverse.

Master of Non-duality (Bu’er Yuanjun) said: Fix your gaze on the yunqi (the subtle stirring when breath and pulse first murmur, chaos just awakening)—that is the moment to watch; keep in mind the two roads, forward and reverse.

The Rootless Tree says: Forward is the ordinary person, reverse is the immortal—it all lies in “turning it upside down, turning it upside down” in the middle.

The elixir path uses “reverse,” hence the Tai hexagram has Kun above and Qian below—only then can Heaven and Earth interact and the ten thousand things flow.

Birth of the medicine

When spirit and form seem dazed and far-off, dim and almost foolish, yet body and mind are fused and harmonious—that is exactly the season when the medicine (yao) is born. When there is trust in the Dantian (energy center) and the opportune moment has come, that is the place to begin (if the text continues, it usually goes on to explain how to grasp this juncture).

Plain-language explanation

First section (Preparation before gathering the medicine)

Once signs appear in the Dantian and the moment is ripe, you must quickly ready your fire-phase craft—the work of refining and gathering—to collect the “jade mushroom,” the congenital essence that can be turned into elixir.

This elixir comes from one’s parents and lies hidden in the qi-convergence point, where qi gathers. In youth and full vigor there is a window for outward “gate-passing and change”: essential qi tends to spread outward and can be felt in that shift. The practitioner must catch that turning point and reverse the flow, drawing it back into the Yellow Center (the central palace around the Dantian); only then is it called elixir (Dan). When the elixir first arises, there are signs you can observe.

The Daodejing says: “Vague and indistinct, yet within it is something; dim and deep, yet within it is essence.” The secret verse for the Mudball Palace (upper Dantian) runs: “When spirit and consciousness merge in stillness and qi returns at the right time, flesh and bone fuse together without your knowing.” Master Yin (Yin Xi) said: “Suddenly the pores itch; the limbs feel soft and weak; the mind is hazy and unclear—this is the sign that the elixir is forming.” There is also a sign you can hear: Shao Yong wrote, “Suddenly at midnight a clap of thunder; gate after gate, door after door, open in turn”; Hunranzi said, “When the time comes, qi transforms; when the mechanism moves, the reed-pipes sound—that is when the sign arrives.” When qi has fully arrived and the transforming mechanism stirs, it is like hearing those pipes: that is “the sign has come,” also called the Living Zizi hour (the first stir of Yang—the moment to gather the medicine). The instant you perceive this sign, you must be ready; the fire work cannot be late by a single breath. Miss it when it is right before you, and how could you gather the “jade mushroom” in the blink of an eye?

Second section (Gathering the medicine)

In a flash you see within the primordial field that one grain of “elixir,” blazing like a golden pill.

If you do not use Xun-wind (breath—the gentle pulsing of embryonic respiration) to drive the bellows (the opening and closing of the breath like a wind box), then even if you mean to pass the gates and gather the medicine, it will be hard indeed.

Note: Here “elixir,” “jade mushroom,” and “medicine” in female-elixir (Nüdan) teaching usually refer to the congenital substance refined from bodily essence and qi—often described through images tied to the monthly cycle and the Ren and Du pathways. “Gate-passing” and “passing the barrier” mean the movement of essence through the body’s checkpoints; gathering the medicine must be done when the Living Zizi hour arrives and the sign is present, with the fire applied in time. The logic matches male-elixir “Living Zizi” gathering, though the verses often speak through metaphors drawn from the female body.

Golden Elixir (the “medicine” refined inward) once formed is like a round, bright pellet of gold. Without Xifeng (Si feng—the “breath of Xun,” standing for the breathing qi) to drive the tuoyue (the bellows that open and close with each inhale and exhale), how could that force pass Weilü (the coccyx region), rise through Jiaji and Shuangguan (key points along the spine), reach Niwan (inside the crown, corresponding to the upper Dantian), and finally return to the Dantian (usually the lower energy center)?

Ruyao Jing (Mirror for Compounding the Medicine) says: “Raise the Xun wind; move the Kun fire.” Xiao Zixu also says: “The qián-kūn bellows beat to a count.” Here, Xifeng means the breath; tuoyue means the “message” (opening/closing, ascent/descent) between one breath and the next. Only through breath-qi can that message be stirred so the “medicine” ascends and descends within the body and completes one circuit of the Xiao Zhou Tian (Small Heaven Circuit).

Liu Huayang said: On the path of cultivating the Golden Elixir, at the time when yang qi is rising, fix the spirit in the Qi acupoint (the gate for gathering and holding qi), and with the tuoyue’s Xifeng send breath in and out toward the “furnace” like a smith pumping bellows or drawing the wind box. When wind rises, fire flares; when fire flares, essence transforms; when essence transforms, Qi (pre-heaven qi) is born. Gathering this newborn qi and letting it circulate up and down in the body is called “Zhou Tian” (the full circuit).

Fusang Red Sun (The Proper Elixir) — One Section

The “proper elixir” is like the red sun rising in the east and shining westward. At this moment one must quickly use the “fire wheel” to cross the “vast turbulent sea,” ascending from Weilü (near the coccyx, often taken in inner cultivation as the starting point of the Qi circuit) through Jiaji and the Shuangguan (Double Pass).

Chunyangzi said: After the midnight period and before the noon period, sit with breath settled; when Qi passes Jiaji and Shuangguan, it is like crossing Kunlun. He also said: The noble person observes carefully after midnight and before noon—Tianjin (the “Celestial Ford,” the vital zone at the crown of the spine in inner alchemy) lies right at the spine’s summit. Xiao Zixu likewise said: Again and again one smiles and points to the path of Kunlun; between Jiaji the road is clearly passable.

This is the way of reverse circulation (cultivation that runs counter to the ordinary downward/outward flow of Qi). On the left side, without the deer cart it cannot be pushed forward. Pulling the deer cart means true intent (zhenyi)—focused, undivided mind; only this single thread of true intent can surmount obstacles, pass the Double Pass, ascend Kunlun, descend the Magpie Bridge, and send living mercury into the golden cauldron’s spirit chamber, where it becomes the body’s everlasting treasure.

“Uniting the Elixir” (He Dan)

The Gen lad figures the medicine coming from the Gen palace (the northeast position, in inner alchemy often the dantian or where the elixir first forms). The Nest of Primordial Chaos is the Ancestral Qi cavity (where pre-heaven Qi gathers). Medicine from the Gen palace enters the Ancestral Qi cavity from the northeast and joins true lead, like husband and wife tying the silk cord. When it first returns, it is not yet easy to congeal; one must tightly close the six gates (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and related openings—emblems of non-leakage), regulate breath in an unbroken fine stream, and let spirit-fire steam and fuse until the two become one. The fire for uniting the elixir must be gentle fire (wen huo), warm and steady—not the martial fire (wu huo) of the gathering phase. Hence one needs great harmony (taihe)—Yin and Yang balanced, neither scorching nor cold—before one can “touch hand and spring comes forth.”

“Fire Phases” (Huo Hou)

Books on fire phases may run to six hundred scrolls, yet the true junctures are often left unclear. The clearest accounts remain those in the Chongxu line: only when breathing is distinct and settled can one finish the essential meaning of fire phases in immortality cultivation (here continuing the thread: uniting the elixir and tending the fire both hinge on breath and settled mind).

Zixian said: “Sages transmit the medicine but not the fire”—since antiquity, those who truly grasp huohou (fire phases and timing) have been few. Myriad volumes of elixir scriptures seldom set huohou down in writing. Only Chongxu stated: “Who says huohou cannot be transmitted? When it turns silently with circumstance and affinity, one enters the subtle realm; those who penetrate it follow a lineage of thousands of sages—breath clear and distinct, and immortality is settled.” Thus the secret of huohou must be sought within zhenxi (true breath—the breath that answers the mind and returns to the root to restore life).

Breath arises from the mind: when the mind is still, breath settles; breath after breath returns to the root—this is the mother of the Golden Elixir. Huohou is not of one kind alone; ancients spoke of inner and outer. Outer huohou is active and deliberate, belonging to the work of zhuji (laying the foundation). Inner huohou is what comes after the elixir is obtained—letting nature take its course, wuwei (non-action) nurturing and warming. In all cases one cannot leave aside the two characters “breath”: without adjusting breath in outer huohou, elixir qi cannot circulate; without adjusting breath in inner huohou, the elixir cannot be warmed and kept. Hence Liu Huayan said: ordinary breath-fire can transform the grain essence of food and drink to assist yuan jing (original essence); ordinary shen fire (spirit fire) can transform yuan jing to assist yuan qi (original vital energy); ordinary yuan qi fire can transform breath to assist yuan shen (original spirit); yuan shen fire can in turn transform form, return to emptiness, and help complete the Great Dao. From beginning to accomplishment, ascent to the rank of Daluo immortal relies on the power of “fire.” One must also know: fire and hou (phase, timing) are never separate—fire answers the phase, and when the phase arrives, fire arrives as well.

Therefore beneath the two characters “huohou” lie section-by-section entries; without transmission from a master, one can hardly grasp them in the heart; one must cultivate virtue and covenant with Heaven to seek instruction from a teacher.

Wenyang (Nurturing Warmth)

White snow has been sown upon green sand—cold and warmth must be balanced, never skewed;

When the thirty-six palaces (the body’s cavity-centers) are full of spring, naturally a path opens to ride the immortal raft.

(Broad sense: Within, as white snow planted in green sand, cold and warmth must be harmonized without error; when the thirty-six palaces abound with spring qi, a way naturally appears, as if crossing on a immortal raft.)

After “white snow sows the sand” and “gold and lead are paired,” wood and mercury (the yin-yang of water and fire) must still be matched properly: block off excess cold and dryness, balance the firing, and warm-nurture “green cinnabar” (the inner-alchemical image of the medicine) in a gentle way. The “warmth” spoken of here is not scorching heat but a sustained state of nurture—neither cold nor hot. Too cold and the water freezes, so the elixir cannot congeal; too hot and the fire dries out, so the elixir scorches and withers. Hence one takes “warm nurturing”: enveloping with ease, gestating slowly, and letting change proceed of itself. It is like heaven’s grace moistening the ten thousand things with rain and sunshine in season; like a mother carrying a child, with measured rest and activity; like a dragon guarding a pearl, lying hidden without stirring; like a hen brooding eggs, with warmth unbroken.

Before the Zi hour (midnight) one “advances the fire” (to assist yang); after the Wu hour (noon) one “withdraws the talisman” (draws off the fire); at other times one regulates the breath in a fine, continuous thread, as if present yet absent, clearing stray thoughts—dull as if foolish, sparing of words. The ancients said: “Gathering the medicine falls in a single moment; harmonizing the mercury requires ten months.” They also said: “When the ten-month embryo is complete, one then enters the foundation of sagehood.” If one is not skilled in warm nurturing, how can the embryo be full and round? The so-called “thirty-six palaces” refer to the circuit of heaven turning through three hundred sixty degrees. Each time one completes one round of the circuit, one rests awhile; the circuit of heaven has its sequence, warm nurturing has its measure, and one must nurture fully before the sacred embryo is formed. The finer items and degrees are not committed to bamboo and silk, for fear of revealing heaven’s secret. Alas! The boat that ascends to immortality is not far off, and there is a path to ascension—it is only that people do not cultivate De (virtue), do not covenant with heaven, and do not seek with empty, sincere hearts.

Embryonic Breathing (Taixi)

At this stage of practice one must not be careless or coarse. Spirit (Shen) and Qi (vital energy) merge finely with the breath, becoming one with the Great Void (Taixu). If you ask what nourishing the embryo resembles, it is like the time before your parents had yet begotten you—nurturing quietly within the formless and imageless.

After the Elixir Forms

Once the elixir has formed, Shen (consciousness and spiritual awareness) and Qi (prenatal vital energy) gather in one place: spirit follows qi and condenses, qi follows spirit and comes to rest—like pregnancy. That is why it is called the “embryo” (tai): not a literal fetus in the belly, but the place where spirit and breath both abide.

The embryo is where spirit is housed; breath (xi) is what gives rise to the embryo. The embryo exists because of breath, and breath stays because of the embryo: without breath the embryo cannot form; without spirit breath has no master. Spirit and breath depend on each other—this is true embryonic breathing (taixi).

At this stage you must not be careless. Forget appearances and forget the body (wangxiang wangxing); let body and mind share one substance with the Great Void. Let the true breath flow on, fine and continuous, as if there and not there, as if forgotten yet still present—like fish gliding in a spring pond, like the thread of life in insects in winter sleep. On the out-breath, qi reaches the root; on the in-breath, it reaches the crown. All day long you rest in primordial chaos, as before birth in the womb.

Buer Yuanjun said, “Breath upon breath returns to the primordial Heaven”—he meant this stage. When breath rests and the pulse stills, spirit settles; only after spirit is settled can you rise from absorption. Then the sacred embryo (the “spiritual fetus” of inner alchemy) is complete.

Stages (Order of Fire Phases)

Gathering the medicine and firing the elixir follow a fixed sequence. Kan, Li, Gen, and Xun (the four trigrams and four images, standing for body–mind and the directions of the fire phases) must be inverted, returned, and worked again and again. When practice has completed the full nine-times-nine count of revolutions (eighty-one, or a complete cycle of the heavenly circuit), how could you fail to become an immortal beyond the physical (a transcendent who has left ordinary form behind)?

The Difference Between Soft Persons and Rigid Persons

Those who follow the “soft person” path (often women or bodies that lean yin-soft) and those who are “rigid persons” (bodies that lean yang-hard) do not cultivate in the same way, yet attainment is often easier for the soft person. The rigid person must subdue and settle the qi, which commonly takes three years; the soft person sometimes needs only one year, because the “elixir” (dan) is already within the body (in female internal alchemy, essence-qi is said not to leave the body, so one need not rely entirely on outward seeking as many male methods do).

Qi may be easier to settle, but the Red Channel (chì mài—the menstrual cycle and blood circulation) is what most obstructs the Great Way. If she is truly a heroine among women and can sever the Red Channel (zhǎn chì mài—stopping menstruation, without leakage), so that menstrual blood no longer drains outward, foundation building (zhù jī—establishing the root of practice) can be considered secure.

After Foundation Is Established

Once the foundation is firm, one applies refining essence into qi (liàn jīng huà qì): the outer two yang lines of the Li trigram “consume” the outer two yin lines of the Kan trigram, symbolizing water–fire copulation (shuǐ huǒ jiāo gòu) and the formation within of a Qian body (qián tǐ—the image of a purely yang form).

Yet even when Kan–Li work is sufficient and the Qian body appears, qi is still not fully transformed and spirit is still not fully luminous. One must advance further to refining qi into spirit (liàn qì huà shén): the single yang line above in Gen transforms the single yin line below in Xun, melting away outward yin and miscellaneous qi until spirit grows purer; when the microcosmic orbit has turned enough and the nine-times-nine cycle returns to pure yang, one still needs refining spirit and returning to emptiness (liàn shén huán xū) to become an immortal beyond the mundane.

Leaving the Shell

When the degrees of the sixty-four hexagrams (or the full orbit) have run their course, the yang spirit suddenly roams to the upper field (shàng tián—the upper dantian, the Mud Pill Palace).

A clap of thunder, as if the Heavenly Gate (tiān mén—the fontanel at the crown) had opened, and white vapor can be seen rising above the head—an image of the spirit leaving its shell and shedding the ordinary birth-body.

Birth from the Revolution of Heaven

When the practice of the Revolution of Heaven (zhou tian) reaches the seventy-sixth degree, the Sacred Embryo (sheng tai) is complete. The Yang Spirit (yang shen) moves from the middle Dantian to the upper Dantian, breaks through the crown, and emerges—this is called birth from the embryo (tuo tai), like a newborn leaving the womb, as the primordial spirit (yuanshen) separates from the ordinary body.

Zhong Liquan said: “Thunder shakes the Gate of Heaven; ghosts and spirits are all startled; the cosmos is overturned and white clouds rise.”

The True Transmission of the Golden Elixir says: “Suddenly thunder sounds at the crown, and one holds an infant in the arms.”

The spirit can emerge from the embryo because the spirit has become settled. Chongxu Zhenren (Liezi) said: At first the spirit cannot settle on its own; it must rely on the two Qi (usually breath and inner Qi) to settle. When Qi is settled, the spirit follows and settles. When Qi is settled to the point of no longer depending on external breath, the spirit leaves what it relied on and stands alone—only then can it leave samadhi and abandon the body to exit samadhi. If one has not reached great samadhi (deep meditation, spirit and Qi highly condensed), the spirit still depends on support and cannot leave Qi—how then could it leave the physical body? Therefore one must practice mind and breath mutually depending; only when the spirit is settled can one leave samadhi. The scenes at emergence differ: some emerge amid flowers falling from the sky; some amid a seven-tiered pagoda; some through a body outside the body (another Yang Spirit form); some amid wind, clouds, and thunder, as with Ma Danyang Zhenren; some amid fragrant wind and auspicious Qi, as with Buer Yuanjun. In all cases, the spirit’s emergence comes from a single thought in settled stillness; the visions too arise from a single thought—even billions of bodies arise from a single thought. One must not doubt that the essence differs because the way of leaving samadhi differs. “White Qi floating” is only one example given as proof.

Nursing the Infant

Verse:

The newborn’s Qi is not yet pure;

Still swallow wood-mercury to restore true nature.

Wait and nurse for three years—

Then change and communicate with spirit; the fruit is true divinity.

The ancients said: “When the infant is first born, it is not yet nursed…” (as in the verse above)

In plain terms: The newly “born” infant (the Yang Spirit) still has impure Qi; one must still warm and nourish it with wood-mercury (inner refined true Yang, essence-Qi) to return to original truth. One must patiently nurse it for about three years before it can transform, communicate with spirit, and become true divinity.

Note: Terms such as “seventy-sixth degree,” “middle and upper fields,” and “wood-mercury” are inner alchemy (Neidan) vocabulary. References to Zhongli, Chongxu, The Golden Elixir True Transmission, Ma Danyang, and Buer Yuanjun follow the original sources without change of meaning.

In the old teaching it is said: “A newborn infant is not yet a full human being; it depends on the nurturing grace of the Kun Mother (the maternal, yin-nourishing power).” This compares the freshly arisen single breath in practice to an infant that must be slowly nourished like suckling until, it is said, it has been tended for “three years” before it can transform and become spiritually responsive. One must therefore also “swallow the wood-mercury” (in internal alchemy, harmonizing essence and qi through images such as wood and mercury) to restore the “original truth” (one’s innate true essence and qi). The “three years” spoken of here are not three calendar years; they mean completing “three revolutions of the small circuit” (three small heavenly cycles in inner refinement).

Wall-Gazing Meditation

Even when the elixir method seems already accomplished, further work remains: in a “grotto heaven” (a famous mountain cave or retreat, standing for a still cultivation setting), one gathers the spirit and sits in quiet. One forgets the body and enters deep samadhi, sitting until the “nine years” are complete and even “emptiness” is shattered—only then has one truly realized “emptiness.”

The work of wall-gazing belongs to the kind of practice called Wuwei (non-action). Bu’er Yuanjun said: “When all affairs have been spoken of, sit motionless in a small shrine niche; the body lightly rides purple qi, the heart is washed in a clear pool; qi blends yin and yang into one, spirit joins heaven and earth in mutual participation; when merit is full one attends the jade palace at dawn, and with a long cry departs the misty peaks.” After the “suckling” stage is full, one chooses a famous mountain grotto, clears the mind and sits still, facing the wall to tune the spirit: going out, one takes the great void as the realm of release; going in, one takes the upper field (upper Dantian, within the head) as the place to dwell; forgetting form and entering samadhi to refine true emptiness. Refine until within “emptiness” there is no emptiness left to cling to—break through emptiness, and only then does the spirit return to emptiness. This is the meaning of Patriarch Bodhidharma’s nine years facing the wall—not merely sitting nine years, but describing this deepest work of “wall-gazing samadhi and refining true emptiness.”

Ascent

When refinement reaches true emptiness, the Dao grows higher; the elixir scripture issues its decree, and one steps up into the clouds. From then on one forever dwells in the jade pool garden and follows the spirit consort to the morning audience.

This verse depicts the signs of merit complete and ascending to fruition: inner refinement reaching the layer of “true emptiness,” the path higher still; as if receiving a decree from the elixir writ, stepping upward on clouds; dwelling forever in the jade pool (a fairyland image), accompanying the spirit consort (in female alchemy, an immortal partner or inner spirit) to morning court—all poetry for the verification of “chongju” (ascent and transcendence). It remains metaphor; it is not instruction to seek outward miracles.

Master Buyuan said: “When the auspicious moment arrives and one emerges from the valley, the Shenxiao Heaven (the lofty immortal realm in Daoism) is within reach”; and again: “Once immortal and mortal are parted, one may lightly cross the tides of the sea of birth and death.”

When huanxu (returning spirit to emptiness) is achieved and ascension is at hand, edicts descend from heaven, cloud cranes come to welcome one, and one attends the feast at the Jade Pool and presents oneself before the Golden Mother (Xiwangmu, Queen Mother of the West) to receive registers and charts. With jade towers and celestial palaces as home, and Xiangfei and Yaoji as companions—what joy could surpass this? One only grieves that the world lacks women of resolute will who cannot stand among Magu (the female immortal). If a woman is truly a heroine among women, cultivates virtue and pledges herself to Heaven, seeks with an empty mind and sincere heart, and is able to practice this Way, she may attain more easily than men; one should resolve and encourage oneself.

The Little Library of Female Daoist Studies

Preface to the Reprint of The Little Library of Female Daoist Studies

To promote Daoist culture, recover the treasures of the Daoist canon, and supply theory and practical guidance for cultivation of the immortal Way, The Little Library of Female Daoist Studies is now reprinted.

This collection was compiled by the scholar and advocate of the Way Chen Yingning, who, in light of women’s physiological and psychological characteristics and in the spirit of seeking truth in the immortal Way, gathered widely from historical texts on female cultivation and selected five works: Kunming Miaojing, Nügong Zhengfa, Nüdan Shize, Nannü Dangong Yitong Bian, and Nüdan Shiji—among the rare books devoted solely to women’s practice.

This reprint presents all five in one volume without altering the original text.

Today we are issuing this book in a new edition. Without altering the original text, we have bound the entire work in two volumes for ease of reading and keeping. Given the limits of current printing conditions and standards, we ask readers to understand and correct any missing characters or similar flaws.

Fu Yuantian

25 August 1994, written at Feixian Abbey (Feixian Guan), Mount Qingcheng

Kun Ning Jing (Classic of Feminine Tranquility)

Editorial Aims of the Women’s Daoist Studies Pocket Library

First, to select from women past and present fine conduct, worthy words, and short writings that help cultivate noble character and enrich the mind—on the side of psychology and self-cultivation.

Second, to select from all ages women’s methods of cultivation and related scriptures, treatises, and poetry that help develop outstanding ability and a strong body—on the side of physiology and cultivation.

Third, Daoist learning (the Chinese tradition of Neidan internal alchemy, nourishing life, and related disciplines) is a national essence of China, found in no other country and unique to ours. In the past, women’s education was not widespread, so access to this profound learning was difficult; now, in the spirit of equality between men and women, it is gradually being opened to women.

Fourth, ancient authors vary in depth: some are very abstruse, some lean toward the vulgar and lack refinement. For the sake of popularization, abstruse passages receive notes so readers can grasp them easily; vulgar passages are lightly polished so they do not offend good taste.

Fifth, the editorial aim of this series is to promote China’s native Daoist learning and to dispel superstition thoroughly; any text that smacks of superstition is excluded.

Vernacular Explanation

When Daoist learning first arose cannot be traced with certainty. Among surviving documents, the earliest we can point to is the teaching on cultivation that Guangchengzi—traditionally said to be the Yellow Emperor’s master—passed on to the Yellow Emperor, more than four thousand six hundred years ago. From that line, transmission has continued without break.

In between, narrow-minded Confucian scholars often suppressed it, and Buddhism, courting power, pushed it aside; on the surface it seemed to vanish. Yet recluses in mountains and wanderers on rivers still passed the essentials mouth to mouth, unchanged for thousands of years. They had sworn not to put the key formulas into books, so outsiders could not know the inner truth. Confucian and Buddhist writings piled up like mountains, while genuine Daoist works were as sparse as stars at dawn; books devoted specifically to women’s cultivation were even harder to find.

Some twenty years ago I already wanted to circulate secret alchemical classics to the world, but the right conditions never came; delay followed delay, with little to show for it. Now I have been fortunate to meet Mr. Zhang Zhuming, master of Yihuatang, who shares the same aim. After discussion we decided to compile the Series of Small Daoist Works for Women, with the Kun Ning Miao Jing as the first volume. We gathered block-printed editions, manuscript copies, and family-held texts—six versions in all. Wording differed among them; wrong characters and missing lines were beyond count. We collated the six against one another, chose the best readings, and read and polished the whole text again and again until its face was transformed. I dare not call it flawless, but what flaws remain are no more than small blemishes in an otherwise sound whole. Wishing to publish quickly, we print it now; if a special secret edition should turn up later, we can revise once more and perhaps come closer to perfection—that can wait for another day.

Classic: Compilation of Women's Inner Alchemy Classics

Background to the Scripture

In the first month of the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China (Year 4631 of the Yellow Emperor calendar), Chen Yingning of Anhui wrote this note at Hongdao Studio in Shanghai.

Notes for Reading This Scripture

I

Women who study the Way often suffer from having no books to read and no classics properly explained. Though many seek the Way, they cannot find the path at first and often take wrong turns; when the seed is wrong, the fruit is wholly amiss—a cause for regret. Now that this book is in circulation, if those who grasp the deep meaning of the Way (xuanli) read the text thoroughly and study it with care, adapting their teaching to the times and speaking according to each person's capacity so that all can understand, with understanding (jie) matching practice (xing), that would be no small ray of light on the road ahead for women studying the Way.

II

This scripture first explains how creation and human birth work, then how a woman's character and virtue are cultivated, then the roots of body, mind, nature, and life (xingming), then secret essentials such as the golden elixir and jade dipper, then setting the mind on verified practice, jointly investigating the profound, and ascending together into the ranks of immortals. The methods that female cultivation (kundao / women's inner alchemy) ordinarily requires are largely covered here, and they fit women's psychological and physical needs. If the teaching is given well, the results can be very broad.

III. When Buddhist Dharma masters expound the sutras, lay women often sit among monks, nuns, and lay devotees to listen. When others press their palms together, they press their palms together; when others bow, they bow; when others chant, they chant along. When others close their eyes, lower their heads, and doze off, they close their eyes, lower their heads, and doze off too. Sometimes they start awake suddenly and still force themselves to stay awake, looking thoroughly awkward. When the lecture ends and they are asked what the main point of the scripture was, they often have nothing to say and can only reply, “I don’t understand.” To claim that listening to the sutras this way still brings some benefit from hearing the Dharma is to deceive oneself. The reasons are roughly these: first, the meaning of the sutras does not match women’s temperament and daily situation, so they feel it has nothing to do with them; second, the speaker gets through the session with a flat, dull delivery that fails to lift the audience’s spirits, and nearly everyone in the hall slips toward a hypnotic daze. Buddhist sutra lectures thus often remain ceremony only, impressive in form but empty in substance.

IV. Those who expound the Kun Ning Jing should try to avoid the second failing described above in Buddhist lectures: the hall should be comfortably warm and the air should circulate; every ritual and arrangement of the space should be adjusted flexibly as needed, without clinging rigidly to fixed rules. If funds are limited, burning a small amount of fine incense is enough; other furnishings can be kept simple. What matters most is that listeners’ minds stay calm and their attention gathered—not that they sink into sleepy confusion.

V. Qualifications a Lecturer Should Meet

Anyone who serves as lecturer must possess knowledge in four areas: first, a thorough grasp of philosophical principles such as Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), Yin-Yang, the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and the Bagua (Eight Trigrams); second, familiarity with the lives and deeds of outstanding women in ancient China; third, a clear understanding of the roots of body-mind and nature-and-life (Xingming); and fourth, a solid knowledge of the concrete methods of female inner alchemy (Nüdan). If any one of these four branches of learning is missing, the scripture cannot be explained properly.

VI. Scheduling of Lectures

Each session should be limited to one hour. Lectures that run too long make it hard for the audience to retain what they hear. The text itself is not long: the whole book has eighteen chapters. If one chapter is covered per session, eighteen sessions will finish it; if half a chapter is covered each time, thirty-six sessions will also suffice. Whether to meet once a day, once every two or three days, or once a week may be decided as circumstances require.

VII. Preparing the Lecture Room

The lecture room should be equipped with a blackboard and chalk. When a phrase or line bears on the meaning of the scripture, it may be written on the spot so the audience can compare and follow along.

VIII. Rules Regarding Cultivation Oral Formulas

In female inner alchemy practice, some operational oral formulas (koujue) are not suitable for public teaching and must be handled entirely according to the rules handed down by earlier generations. Lecturers must not break established custom, and listeners must not pressure them to disclose such material in the open.

Chapter 2: Transforming Qi

The two qi of yin and yang in heaven and earth—the two polarities—intermingle and pervade all things. The root of every beginning lies in Qian (Heaven, yang); the shaping of the embryo and its growth and nurture lie in Kun (Earth, yin).

Kun takes yielding compliance and steadfast rectitude as its De (virtue): it receives the impetus of Qian and moves with it, gathering and storing essence-qi until form coalesces—its path is “rightness.” Nothing but Kun can bear and nourish the myriad things; paired with Qian, the two establish the order of heaven and earth. Only through single-mindedness, preserved purity, and yin-yang kept in balance does wondrous generation arise. All things depend on this for sustenance; even each breath in and out is sustained thereby—here lies the principle of unceasing life, and here the source of transformation: movement concealed within stillness, clear and turbid separating of themselves, never to be poured together into muddy depths.

To grasp the framework of feminine virtue, one must first discern the depth of “Kun yuan” (the primordial foundation of Kun): earth upholds heaven without standing empty; within yin, yang is present and works subtly. Establish oneself as a model through the “four conduct” (norms of womanly virtue), and govern the seven emotions until they return to the supreme Dao; integrity may be recorded for ages, sincere devotion may attest to the Purple Palace (the inner abode of spirit in cultivation). To expound scripture is to set a mother’s pattern for a thousand years; to take up the brush is to leave a norm for generations of women’s teaching—when speaking of the work of sustaining life, the first task is to proclaim clearly this essential meaning.

Opening (General Discussion)

Yin and Yang alternate in ceaseless circulation; day and night turn without end, the vigorous current of transformation never resting. Qi is marked by the two extremes of the winter and summer solstices, and in its turning it holds the shifts of the upper, middle, and lower Three Origins (Sanyuan). The pivot of generation and transformation stays hidden and does not show itself; the crux lies in the central palace (zhonggong). Substance and function interlock, each concealing the other at their meeting. Vast and all-pervading, at first it arises from non-being into being, and in the end it returns from being to non-being. Blended into one, flowing between above and below, it moves from fullness to emptiness and from emptiness back to fullness. Empty and full chase each other, and it is hard to tell where emptiness or fullness begins; being and non-being intertwine, and the signs of being and non-being are hard to fathom.

Primordial Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) is the root of creation and transformation, the vitality of humans and the myriad things, and the great Way of Qian and Kun. A woman embodies the body of Kun and receives the function of Qian; the essentials lie in “stillness” and “oneness”: in stillness she dwells solely in peace, in oneness she refines solely into De (Virtue/Power), without forced contrivance or arbitrary discrimination, following the constancy of Heaven’s Dao. With “xi shou” (gathering in and receiving) as the foundation, she grasps the true mechanism, harmonizes the sun and moon within the body (often meaning essence, Qi, and spirit, or Kan and Li), preserves them as if a thread that never breaks and lets them run their course, each breath returning to the root cavity (dantian and related centers). It is like drawing clear spring water from the “water mansion” (the lower dantian and kidney water) and nurturing the bright soul in the “spirit platform” (the heart and upper dantian). When one penetrates these subtle principles, one draws near to the realm of the immortal guest at the jade pool.

Chapter Three: Purifying Karma

To ascend the immortal ranks, one must first eliminate evil karma; while evil is not exhausted, De cannot grow. If the heart clings to desire and feeling attaches to love—whether in lingering tenderness or in weeping and laughter—the threads of emotion twist like vines that never break, drawing one into the depths of sinking; or one falls wrongly into a net, wronged on a diverging path. On the dark terrace the grief is piercing, leaving only the regret of reason and feeling; in the drifting earth of the grave, the stem of lust and love still clings. Bound thus, how can one escape the wheel of rebirth? To leave the ford of delusion, one relies only on the torch of wisdom (the light of prajna-like insight).

In body, speech, and mind—the three karmas—never invite fault; in killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct, do not lightly transgress. With single-minded sincerity turned toward good, it is like fine grain bathed in the morning sun; myriad thoughts sink away, like boiling water poured on snow. Only after the source and root are cleansed can one properly cultivate; awaken to causes and conditions, and realizing the Dao is not hard.

After the dust of worldly toil and karmic debts has been swept away and defilement is fully cleared, the heart-mind opens and becomes bright. When day and night practice merge into one continuous effort, the thorns and wild growth in the heart are parted, and the heavenly light of one’s inborn nature shines clearly. As the subtle, numinous qi appears, the De of innate goodness shows itself naturally. Gather the spirit and devote yourself to cultivating fine virtue and good deeds. Accumulate goodness and blessing passes to later generations; act wrongly and misfortune is left behind as well—the Kun hexagram in the Book of Changes (Yijing) already teaches that goodness must be stored deep and carried out in real deeds.

The Dao of the Supreme One (Tai Shang) speaks of “concentrating the qi to reach softness”; the documents of Chu also say that “only goodness is real.” Let temperament be gentle and compliant; hold the center and the qi stays upright—goodness in the end returns to softness: compassion and humility. Keep intention dignified; in bearing be restrained, warm, quiet, empty, and harmonious. Hold to oneness and you can respond subtly to the ten thousand things. Nourish qi and speak little; keep the mind clear and do not contend with others. Cherish the lives of things to nurture the vital impulse; probe the essentials of the Great Dao to clarify true nature. Fulfill human relationships in daily life, and at the same time cultivate the hidden mystical inner work in secret. Do not stop at painted images and empty talk—you must go deeply into the mind-seal of “returning the elixir” (huandan). Do not neglect a good deed because it seems small; do not hate another person because they have done good.

In clear moon and gentle wind, blend your light with the world (heguang tongchen); in the inner rooms of ordinary life, let innate nature rest at ease. Burn incense and bow in respect; contemplate the original spirit (yuanshen). Refine yourself with clear water and open the treasury of radiant light. Do not say that women lack outstanding ability—know that within the mystical gate there is the wonder of the Kun Ning method, by which women too can complete elixir cultivation.

In heaven there are five “thieves”—factors within the five phases or the seasons that must be handled wisely and put to use, not left to work harm unchecked—and when they are used correctly, prosperity follows. In the human person there are five kinds of blessing; when they are cultivated, conduct becomes good and upright. Great virtue does not parade itself as virtue; it flows on like a river in its natural course. Small virtue is built drop by drop; only by steady practice in daily life can it nurture and transform the self.

As “substance” (ti), one should know where to stop and keep still, as in the Gen (Keeping Still) hexagram of the Yijing; as “function” (yong), one should adapt flexibly and respond to change. Holding to the middle way, outer bearing and inner principle become one; when the great transformation is fulfilled, one nears the sage’s realm, and its subtle wonder cannot be exhausted. For women in cultivation, the first requirement is to clear away crooked thoughts and hidden ill intent from the heart.

Where does the key lie? In telling delusion from truth and seeking what is real. Problems common among women include excessive partiality, ambiguity, and suspicious hesitation—hard to decide and slow to act—so desire easily grows proud and foolish, while understanding often swings back into confusion. Moreover, they read scriptures and histories less often. Daughters of official families mostly vie for splendor within embroidered chambers; ladies of good families content themselves with chanting poetry in the breeze and snow. Skill with needle and thread already counts as rare talent in the inner quarters; cloying dance and love songs are praised as glamorous feats—how many know that quiet integrity is true excellence, and lofty purity is the higher virtue?

In antiquity Beiguo resigned office and left a fine name in Chu; Meng Guang raised her tray to eyebrow height and was held up as the model of wifely virtue beside Liang Hong, the reclusive scholar of the Eastern Han. Yet admonitions such as the Nüjie (Admonitions for Women) are often vague in wording; though the Lienü zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Women) was compiled, the transmission remains incomplete. For this reason the meaning of Kunning (Peace of the Feminine) is carefully unfolded as a norm for the inner household: fine character within the women's quarters takes establishing virtue as its root; talented women in their prime take reverence for this path as their aim. From beginning to end it must not be abandoned, so the foundation can forever stand firm.

This passage comes from texts on nüdan (female internal alchemy), and explains self-cultivation and nüdan practice grounded in Kun virtue and the virtue of softness.

The Meng hexagram speaks of “nourishing correctness while still unformed”—meaning that from youth one is nurtured in the right Way; that is the foundation for attaining sage virtue. The Kun hexagram governs yielding and receptivity, symbolizing “originating penetration” (yuan heng); for women the fitting path is to overcome hardness through softness and to nourish virtue through stillness. In antiquity many women of virtue set an example across a lifetime: nature refined like orchid and heart fragrant as orchid, words and deeds worthy of imitation; holding to chastity and not rushing into marriage, cultivating quietly in the inner quarters for ten years. Disposition warm, thick, and gentle, wisdom stored within and bearing elegant restraint. Rising early and retiring late, revering elders with sincere devotion. Kind to servants below, strict and dignified toward oneself; every movement and every word accorded with ritual and propriety.

Histories serve as mirrors; the biographies of women record many models: some moved the divine through filial piety, some were utterly faithful to a husband, some held their integrity firm as autumn frost, some were resolute as the midday sun; some righteousness pierced metal and stone, some chivalry could stir wind and thunder; some wit could resolve great doubts, some learning could aid the age. Examining these virtues, their fragrance lingers through the ages; drawing on this fine bearing adds luster to a lifetime.

Ladies in the inner quarters should take the ancients as mirrors: do not envy empty show, do not parade literary flair; wash away rouge and powder, do not boast of gaudy dress or strange makeup; keep brush and ink upright, do not write ornate or seductive lines. Fulfill human relations, love learning, honor ritual and know poetry; devote yourself to needlework and weaving, and do not pursue only clever tricks and fancy patterns. Keep household food and daily provision clean and orderly, and put thrift and diligence into practice; take yielding virtue as your standard, and a good name will naturally be achieved.

Going further, you may refine the true nature and preserve primordial essence, working inwardly and outwardly, morning and evening cultivating essence and qi—so that even while remaining a maiden you may attain the Way, and in the end ascend riding the phoenix and crane (becoming an immortal).

The Way of the wife lies in dignity and composure; it is also the foundation of cultivation. Woman pairs with Qian (Heaven, the husband) and should stand as a model for motherhood. When the time comes to marry and tie the sash of adulthood, parents give gentle instruction: be reverent and self-restrained, and do not go against your husband. The ethics of husband and wife are the beginning of human relations; governing the household requires teaching and transformation, and the wife of the house must observe ritual and propriety. She may share with her husband in drawing the deer cart and gladly wear plain clothes, personally manage the well and the mortar, and not feel ashamed of simple tea and coarse food; she should meddle little in outside affairs and not speak freely to outsiders about inner household matters. She both assists the head of the family and instructs children and grandchildren.

In antiquity there were worthy wives such as Jiang of Lu, who kept up diligent work; Mencius’s mother, who moved three times for his education; those who used bear gall pills to help with study, or preserved pickled fish to nurture integrity; who studied through a screen, or cut their hair to entertain a guest. The sages of old are gone; those who come after should carry on their fine example. In every wealthy and noble house, pride and arrogance must be put away; when benevolence and yielding flourish within the gates, children and grandchildren will spread a good name far and wide. If one is poor and lowly, resentment and complaint must be cut off; when husband and wife live in harmony, they can have enough to eat and faces bright with joy, and their descendants will prosper. Guard against greed and folly to calm harsh tempers; wake from blind attachment to block dissipation and lust. When a woman’s virtue is intact, the human way is fulfilled; accumulating good deeds brings sons and long life, cultivating merit brings peace of body and a bright reputation. When fine virtue is complete, entry into profound cultivation becomes possible. Having already exhorted her in her proper duties, she is further given the true scripture: trace the source and probe the root, see nature and illuminate the mind; the Golden Elixir need not be sought outside—the foundation of the feminine way (Kun) lies in one’s own person.

In primordial times heaven and earth were undifferentiated chaos; yin and yang had not yet split apart, and the ten thousand things were plain and unsophisticated. Later, as yin and yang were harmonized, the world was still wholly mild and unified, and names and forms had not yet been distinguished. In middle antiquity Fu Xi and Shen Nong laid out the trigrams and invented writing; teaching arose and classical admonitions circulated, flourishing especially in the age of Yu and Xia. The classics that were handed down were all, at root, heart transmission (xinchuan); they did not separate men from women.

After all, human beings share one primordial qi (yuanqi); though the body differs as male or female, the principle is the same. Jing (essence) and qi (vital energy) take shen (spirit) as their master; whether they are clear or turbid depends on the mind-sovereign (xinjun) turning inward in self-examination. One must reduce desires and release emotional fixation, lay the foundation and refine the self (zhuji lianji), let the mysterious female (xuanpin) gather and harmonize, refine in step with the tidal rhythm (chaoxin), and “extinguish the shadow” (mieying)—stopping leakage and gathering spirit. These are truths close to everyday life, yet from a dusty heart one can directly accord with the crown of heaven.

Dingguan (fixed contemplation) is the work of overcoming the self; the Yellow Court Scripture (Huangting) hides the true person’s form; Xihua expounds subtle transformation, and the Golden Mother (Jinmu) draws in the spiritual wind. Perfecting the form need not wait for corpse liberation (shijie); refining qi can ascend straight into the high vault. Celibate purity without sexual union or the drain of nurturing makes it easy to transform the body and open enlightenment. Women more often suffer turbid loss through menstrual leakage and childbirth; they must purify the will and refine their bearing, cast off selfish desire entirely and still every distraction, study scriptures and treatises broadly, and enter the gate of manifold wonders.

This chapter is a general exposition of female neidan (nüdan, women’s internal alchemy). It stresses that, like male practice, it shares the one primordial unity and centers on heart transmission, while also noting that the female body is often hindered by menstruation, leakage, and childbirth; hence the emphasis on purifying the will, stopping leakage, and dingguan. References such as the Huangting, Xihua, and the Golden Mother are standard terms in neidan and the female cultivation tradition.

Human life is like a vast sea of dust, with waves surging and land and water shifting; morning and evening have alternated from ancient times to the present. Life is brief, a mere sojourn—how lamentable that this shell of a body in the five turbid realms wakes from a dream in a single night; a hundred years flash by, skin wrinkling and hair whitening, unable to hold rosy cheeks or jade-like beauty—they soon lie in green mounds.

Some are burdened by children; others drown in worldly splendor. Unless you seek early release from this maze, how can you long remain in the ordinary realm? Life is already so uncertain; after death, how can one transcend?

Women are naturally quiet and refined, so the path of female elixir cultivation is steady: keep the golden essence firmly in the mysterious chamber (dantian and related centers), cut off Heavenly Water at the successive passes (meaning stop leakage and refine essence—female elixir terminology), and the fruit of practice can surpass elixirs such as Crimson Snow; the spirit can roam gardens of immortality like Langfeng. There is no need to envy painted faces and coquetry, nor to mince like actors on stage. Seize this opportunity of universal salvation and quickly board the “ferry of the teaching,” retiring to cultivate in seclusion.

Female perfected ones who attained the Way in antiquity mostly dwelt on the peaks of Penglai. You must rouse the delusion at the pillow and not take the shadows before your eyes as real; you must understand the work of “return and reversal,” and begin with speed and urgency.

Purity and stillness are the root of nature and life; the subtle principle of Kun origin (the yin, earth, and female foundation of practice) is known to few. When the eastern horizon shows a sliver of dawn moon, investigate all the way back to “before this body of life yet existed”—that is, begin from the prenatal, before birth.

(This chapter is a general overview of female elixir: it urges early departure from worldly toil, steady cultivation of the Kun path, return to the prenatal, and uses the dawn moon and the time before birth as images pointing to where to begin.)

When Yin and Yang qi meet in mutual resonance, the yellow qi at the central palace responds to the profound principle; within the mutual generation of the Five Phases, only when Earth holds the center can the pattern come to completion. Its virtue is steady, its practice deep, the heart-mind single-minded, and its application true and constant. It can nourish all kinds of beings and foster growth and propagation—above it aligns with celestial signs, below it connects with the deep abyss, harmonizing the hundred meridians and irrigating the upper, middle, and lower dantian.

When the “yellow sprout” first breaks soil, it is like seeing tender medicinal shoots; when “white snow” congeals like fine curd, it is like hearing the subtle sound of an ice vessel—both are metaphors for scenes of inner refinement. One must guard the original essence at the Mysterious Female (Xuanpin); with a single thought, sink into the silent dark. At the outset, restrain the self; in practice, preserve the spirit (Shen). In the four deportments of walking, standing, sitting, and lying, maintain still illumination; in inner contemplation and visualization, settle the heart. Only when the Heavenly Sovereign (the heart) is tranquil and fixed can one circulate Qi through the full circuit. Without grasping the true meaning, every label is empty. Building a house begins with laying the foundation; firing a furnace begins with kindling the flame—the principle is the same. The Five Phases gather and cluster, forming the bond of the spirit platform at the central palace; the Four Emblems are arranged, unfolding the mystery of the elixir chamber in the Kun matrix. Without recognizing the Mysterious Pass (Xuanguan), it is hard to speak of the supreme Dao.

Fundamental Chapter Eleven

While living in the world, if one wishes to discuss the supreme Dao, one must constantly clarify the fundamental root of embodied life, and in the teachings of immortals exhaustively investigate nature and life (Xingming). The heart-mind is itself the Dao; only then can the Dao be realized.

In human life, whether man or woman, whoever can recognize their own “original root” may enter the Way. Here “root” (ben) means the source of xing (nature—the origin of mind-nature and spiritual clarity); “stem” (gen) means the tie of ming (life—where life and essential qi are bound, like the stem of a fruit. As with a tree, one must first strengthen the root; only when the root is firm can branches and leaves grow. As with fruit and flowers, growth begins at the stem, where nourishment is stored until ripening. How can people fail to preserve this human root well? Looking back to the beginning, the original root was once secure—yet people willingly harm themselves: injuring their nature, slighting their life, falling among the “multitude of the blind,” so that from the Primordial Beginning that single thread of spiritual light gradually wears away until it sinks into oblivion. Consider all things in the cosmos—each has its root; even the tiniest living creatures know how to nurture life. Are humans truly beneath them?

That said, if blood and qi are not in harmony, the root cannot stand; if the physical body leaks, the root cannot be whole; repeated childbirth weakens the root; attachment to desire makes it hard to hold firm; dullness and confusion cloud the root; restless spirit unsettles it; greed and selfish turmoil defile it; habituated deceit erodes it. For these reasons cultivation often fails to advance. If one recognizes these faults and clears them away—neither shaking the root nor wounding the stem, cherishing xing and ming diligently, guarding jing and qi at every moment; settling the spirit and holding to truth, discarding falsehood and keeping sincerity, investigating only toward the “root”—one may attain long life.

(What follows is the title Chapter Twelve on Nature and Life and a fragment from the preceding text: “…in cherishing; your jing, your qi, add protection in due time…”—the same sense as “cherish diligently, guard in due time” above, a repeated phrase at the chapter junction.)

Ming (life, the mandate of heaven) ultimately springs from xing (true nature, original nature); xing in turn is rooted in ming. The two are the root of heaven and earth and the pivot of all spiritual beings. Before concrete life takes shape, all alike share this one xing; once ming arises, it never departs from this xing.

The innate goodness and clarity in every person is complete in all. Though men and women differ, xing itself is not different. Tracing back to the beginning, even the name “xing” did not yet exist; when Taiji (the undifferentiated ground before heaven and earth were split) had not yet been distinguished, how could xing and ming be separated? Once the Two Modes (Yin-Yang) arose, xing and ming could be spoken of as distinct: xing is the treasure of ming, and ming is the source of xing. Nourishing xing is preserving the original mind; cultivating ming is the path to uniting with the Dao and attaining the Way.

Do not talk yourself into “ming is fixed and cannot be changed”—that belittles ming; do not say “xing is originally evil”—that misreads xing. To grasp the root of xing and ming, one must penetrate how Qian (Heaven, yang) and Kun (Earth, yin) subtly function: yang holds yin within to receive form; the moon embraces the sun within to give forth light—the original interplay of yin and yang and the traffic between heaven and earth is precisely the subtle principle of xing and ming.

Movement has no beginning; when movement reaches its limit, yin appears. Stillness has no end; when stillness reaches its limit, yang appears. One yin and one yang, movement and stillness, clarity and turbidity, above and below—creation manifests from this; the root of yin-yang and movement-stillness is the key to xing, ming, body, and mind.

When a single thought of numinous awareness shines through, the xinghai (the mind-nature like a sea, deep and all-containing) constantly radiates the light of wisdom; when the myriad things return to emptiness, the mingmen (the gate of life—the crucial site in neidan for refining and extending life) alone opens the path of life. Fully realizing xing is fully receiving and fully returning (fully receiving heaven’s mandate and fully returning to the root); cultivating ming is cultivating immortality and the Dao. Alternating work on xing and ming—only then has one reached the utmost.

The substance of the mind rests in Wuwei (non-action): clear and still, ordinarily without ripples; the first stirrings of change have not yet appeared, and the mechanism of creation seems to vanish from view. Like Wuji (the Limitless), it forms one undifferentiated whole—silent and unmoving; in the great void no fixed form is seen, and its subtlety cannot be ranked alongside other things. Within wei, wei, jing, and yi (the hidden, the subtle, the pure, and the unified—the mind in its most refined and single-pointed state), Yin-Yang begin to distinguish, and only then is there something like a “pivot” or hub—people reluctantly call it the Heart of Heaven (Tianxin, the pivot of heaven and earth). Pre-heaven Qi (innate vital energy) and post-heaven Shen (the spirit of later cultivation) are paired: with post-heaven substance, yet named with pre-heaven terms.

Thus heaven and earth rely on it to establish xing (nature) and ming (life); persons rely on it to settle body and mind; the transmission of mind in the age of Yao and Shun, and sages rely on it to keep the Dao (the Way) ever present. The myriad things all return to one source; the three teachings ultimately converge in one truth. Only the true, only the one—always awake, always clear; even in emptiness there is no dimness, and its substance is bright and pure.

When you see that the mind of the Dao (daoxin) is the root of the human mind (renxin), you will also see that the human mind is precisely the functioning of the mind of the Dao. To speak of the mind of the Dao is not to treat it as a fixed thing; to speak of the human mind is not to treat it as another fixed thing. To say “there is mind” does not take mind as a real deluded mind; to say “no mind” does not take mind as empty nothingness. Do not move the deluded mind (wangxin), yet activate the awakened mind (juexin)—the awakened mind always illumines, the deluded mind is always empty, the substance is unmoved as such, and only then does the true mind (zhenxin) appear.

“Preserving and losing” are still methods of practice; when both preserving and losing are forgotten, that is Xinzai (heart fasting—when the heart is single and outer things do not enter) attained alone. Confucius’s Four Prohibitions (look not at what violates ritual, listen not, speak not, act not) also come down to the natural. Like a cold pool reflecting the moon, still water empty and bright—the mind-substance is clear and deep, and so it is. Nature good, nature evil are only expedient words; mind of the Dao, human mind have been debated for ages—if you cling to words and grasp at forms, it is hard to reach what is originally so. Pre-heaven and post-heaven—are they united or divided?

Today I open the mind-substance for you: seek only the mind of the Dao, without drilling into “human mind”; emit only the true mind, without producing deluded mind; preserve only the awakened mind, without stirring selfish mind; abide only in no-mind, without clinging to having mind. Unmoved as such, Ta Ding (great settling and single-pointed stability)—the hundred parts of the body obey its command. Cultivating the Dao or refining immortality—each achieves according to their own realization of mind.

Chapter on Pointing to the Xuan, Fourteen — Vernacular Interpretation

Xuan (the Mystery) has never had a fixed referent. Once you point to it, what you point at is no longer Xuan. Since there is nothing that can be pointed to, Xuan cannot be made clear in words. What then can be said? Emptiness (xu) is its likeness.

Within Xuan there is further Xuan—this is what is called liaoyi (the ultimate meaning fully penetrated): mind-nature is still and unmoving, and even the idea of empty space is broken through. Without form, without appearance—how could there be any “purport” to speak of? Yet this wondrous method belongs to the supreme vehicle; Xuan upon Xuan cannot be described by any name at all.

The pure Dao-body—myriad kinds of beings can reach this state; sudden awakening to the innate radiance directly transcends the boundless. People of middling and lower capacity rarely hear such subtle principle. Therefore upaya (skillful means, doors adapted to beings) is used to guide them: doctrine may come second, but the Dao to which all return is the same. Those who resolve to cultivate truth can take this as their standard.

The subtlety of the Dao is stored in xuanwei (profound subtlety), and spirit (shen) gathers in xuanpin (the mysterious female gate—the opening of receiving and nurturing). The gate of life and the door of death, exiting Kan and entering Li (Kan as water, Li as fire—the ascent and descent of essence-qi in the body)—none of these depart from here; Xuan is this pass. Bellows (tuo) and pipe (yue), yin and yang; setting the furnace and establishing the tripod (metaphors in inner refinement for laying the root and hub of practice)—these too lie nowhere else; Xuan is this key.

This Xuan is master of xing and ming (nature and life), root of zaohua (creation and transformation), seed of the embryo, dwelling of yuanshen (original spirit)—hence the name five Xuan, establishing the utmost of sancai (Heaven, Earth, and Humanity).

Heart, liver, spleen, and lungs each have what they store; yet jingyuan (essence-source) alone returns to shenhai (the sea of the kidneys—the body’s gathering place of essence-qi). Here is both the body’s pivot and a place like the resting place of the stars: the hundred vessels circulate and all converge here; the three chariots (the inner transport of jing, qi, and shen) also set out from this hub. For men and women alike, the key to refinement lies here.

Xuan! The aperture is dim and indistinct—being within non-being, non-being within being. I would point with a finger, but in the end there is nothing to point at. Once this layer of mystery is understood, then gathering the medicine and applying the fire (in inner alchemy: gathering pre-heaven essence and working the firing process) upon it naturally completes seven returns and nine reversions (the cycles of the firing process and return to the root). Without the work of lianji (first refining mind-nature and clearing defilements), one can hardly zhuji (lay the foundation) and begin in earnest.

Immortals and sages through the ages have spoken of this in full detail. When the true mechanism is revealed, the great elixir is easy to complete; when kunyuan (ties with the receptive/feminine principle) is widely formed, companions in the Dharma lineage succeed together.

Golden Elixir, Chapter Fifteen

Through countless kalpas, truly accomplished cultivation and a legacy meant to last a thousand years are rare; heirs to that teaching are hard to find. Who can tell charred paulownia from ordinary wood, or split jade and know real treasure from mere jing stone? Even across kinds—rabbit and fox, horse and foal—creatures still seek one another; yet sparrows nest in a phoenix’s roost and petty virtue swaggers as if it were the Way. People like that still dream of long life and of carrying the Great Dao on their shoulders—no different from trying to walk while bearing a mountain. While birth and death remain unclear, how could they grasp the essentials of the Golden Elixir? Better to still the mind than wander into side paths. Students everywhere are largely like this; looking across the realm within the four seas, it is truly lamentable. Women, moreover, often have not awakened to the subtle mystery; they sit deep in the inner quarters and only enjoy the view. Even when aspiration is there, where is a teacher to be found? Out of compassion for their gentle nature, a shortcut is opened: take what is genuinely true, with principles kept whole and not split apart. In this one body alone, trace the source to the root—female elixir practice is very simple; the Kun (feminine) Way is very easy. When the dawn sun rises in the east and light first touches the dew, circulate “mercury” and pair it with “lead,” so spirit (Shen) and qi (vital energy) dwell together. Gathering qi is the homeland of generating life; preserving spirit is the path of refining spirit. First cut off lust and forget emotional entanglements, then enter the chamber and sit in meditation; refining the self follows the same course as for men. Regulate the breath in a continuous, unforced stream. Where the one yang stirs, perform the work of the zi, wu, mao, and you hours; when the hundred meridians open, fix the positions of Qian (Heaven, Father, Yang), Dui (Lake), Kan (Water), and Li (Fire). When the Mysterious Female (Xuanpin—the dark, profound gate of generation) is established, the cauldron is complete and the yellow sprout appears; when the bellows (tuo yue—the “wind box,” a metaphor for breathing) open, heaven drops sweet dew. Original essence condenses “mercury” at the upper mud ball (niwan, the crown); spirit fire circulates and “burns” the jade peak (a metaphor for yang qi rising within the body). Carefully watch for the signs that the tidal flow is about to arrive; reverse the Yellow River (the Ren meridian, or the image of essence flowing upward against its usual course) and the water opens by itself. Golden essence turns to fluid; cinnabar “mercury” streams with light. Guard the spirit elixir in the original chamber; nourish true qi in the yellow chamber. In seven times seven (forty-nine days) the elixir foundation is secured; at one hundred days the red dragon descends. Refining the form is refining qi—this is the method of the great elixir.

Jade Dipper, Chapter Sixteen

The chapter title “Jade Dipper” uses a dipper carved from jade as a metaphor for the vessel or measure in inner refinement: holding essence, receiving qi, and gauging fire phases—like a dipper measuring water or grain, where the crucial point is not missing the proper measure. It follows the “great elixir method” of the previous chapter and is devoted to the sequence of fire phases or ritual vessels figured as the jade dipper. (The main text of this chapter is not preserved in the received version; only the title is available, so the above is a brief note based on the chapter heading alone.)

The waters of the Yellow River flow unimpeded of themselves. Golden essence turns to liquid; cinnabar mercury (zhu gong) shimmers with flowing light. In the primordial chamber (yuanshi, the Dantian) one guards the spirit elixir; in the yellow chamber (huangfang, the middle palace) one nourishes true Qi. After forty-nine days the elixir foundation is firm; a hundred days later the red dragon descends. Refining the form is refining Qi—this is the method of the great elixir.

Chapter Sixteen: The Jade Dipper

Heaven has the Seven Luminaries (the sun, moon, and five planets), wielding the pivot of the Xuanji (the mechanism of the Northern Dipper); humans have the seven apertures, through which form and spirit are put to use. The meridians align with the degrees of the celestial circuit; the stars gather at the mysterious apertures (xuanqiao). Once you grasp the principle of the Jade Dipper’s pivot and balance, you may ascend directly to the rank of celestial truth (tianzhen). By this you may broadly extend the ferry of salvation and be led straight into the realm of immortals.

Women who practice must keep body and mind pure and offer sincere incense. Each quiet night, at the zi hour when the one Yang returns, sit upright with concentrated spirit, settle the breath and let the light descend, knock the teeth to gather essence, and silently recite the spirit scripture. Fix the spirit in the sea of origin (yuanhai), pass straight through the kidney hall, go through the jade pillar pass at the spine, and ascend to pay homage to the Jade Emperor. Star essence moves the seal; the celestial sun blazes bright; above you connect with the Northern Dipper; purple Qi lifts the brows. Visualize the true form illuminating your yellow chamber. The spirit elixir’s inner palace—its radiance gathers and releases: green, red, white, yellow, corresponding to Wood, Fire, Metal, and Earth; kidney water and dark essence take five colors, directly mingling with the Dipper’s light in fivefold union, all entering the elixir origin, stored in the sea of essence, transforming into the form of a true person, bursting forth from the crown. Passing through the palace of the North Pole, with sincere intent pay ritual homage, circuit the Dipper citadel, and return to the original body. Gather in the golden light, nurture essence and wash the marrow; the five Qi pay homage at the origin—no achievement surpasses this. Diligently practice for three years and you may soar to distant heights.

This is the secret chapter of the Jade Dipper, the supreme teaching of the highest vehicle; the wise who truly cultivate may receive it when karmic affinity allows.

Chapter Seventeen: Verification

(The title “Chapter Seventeen: Verification” appears in the source only as a chapter heading; no main text follows it there.)

Plain-Language Reading of “Compilation of Female Elixir Scriptures, Chapter Eighteen: On Generating the Aspiration”

Cultivating the Way, seeking transcendence, and aspiring to sagehood or worthiness have never been divided by gender; the only difference lies in whether the heart is single-minded and sincere. Only with unbroken utmost sincerity and thoughts that do not scatter can practice endure. Divinity and clear awakening both rest in the person who practices. If one truly carries this out in person, wisdom naturally becomes thorough and all-pervading.

To hear the Great Way, one must understand what “genuine cultivation” is. If cultivation is not genuine, from what could any fruit of realization come? Know that “actual realization” (shizheng) stresses a real state of attainment, not branch topics and nominal labels. Only by exhausting heavenly principle, fully releasing one’s original nature, and extending this through to work on life (ming gong) can one break free of the cage of the ordinary and enter the realm of sages.

What the world calls cultivation is mostly mere conformity to names and routines. Because people chase nominal appearances, they never gain real skill. A whole lifetime passes without awakening—a matter truly worth sighing over. Although Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism all speak of verified realization, the ranks and stages of accomplishment need not be identical. If one clings one-sidedly only to beginning or end, or only to substance or function, it is often hard to reach the ultimate. You should know: in women’s practice, skill is graded in nine ranks, each rank again divided into three steps—three tiers times nine make twenty-seven layers. Dual cultivation of nature and life (xingming shuangxiu) is the orthodox path of the great vehicle; to clarify substance and master function, one must penetrate beginning and end. When the yang spirit (yangshen) universally transforms, light fills empty space; yet empty space without fixation on “emptiness”—then where is anything not real? Within this lie the mechanisms of yin-yang waxing and waning and of movement, stillness, growth, and decline. Serene silence and perfect roundness without obstruction make the true mark self-evident. May you all enter deeply into this meaning, matching real effort to real verification, and not pursue empty reputation. The Way of the Supreme (Taishang) lies in forgetting emotional entanglement and cutting off stray thoughts and worldly attachments. Verified realization is not hollow; the aspiration must be sought upward.

The primordial void (taixu—the empty stillness at the origin of the cosmos) is unfathomably remote; the great Dao’s vows are vast and deep. The sea of suffering (in cyclic rebirth) seems boundless, yet with one turn of mind toward the source, the other shore is here and now. May all devout believers, now and in the future, share this incense of the heart and earnestly vow: to awaken true faith and not give rise to doubt; to awaken diligent zeal and not give rise to sloth; to awaken resolute determination and not give rise to entanglement; to awaken humble submission and not give rise to arrogance; to awaken aspiration upward and not give rise to worldly attachment; to awaken pure clarity and not give rise to craving; to awaken compassionate kindness and not give rise to harm; to awaken wisdom and not give rise to greed or anger; to awaken all-embracing flexibility and not give rise to clinging—may all refrain from evil and actively practice good. (The many parallel lines “awaken … and not give rise to …” mean to use one focused mind to counter each kind of delusion.)

Correct Methods of Female Practice

(Title: the orthodox methods of cultivation for women.)

Daoist Studies Mini-Series · Editorial Note

I. Origins of Daoist Studies

The Daoist intellectual tradition stems from the pre-Zhou and Qin “Daoist” lineage. That lineage begins with the Yellow Emperor, reaches its full form in Laozi (La Dan), and flows on through Zhuang Zhou and Lie Yukou; it then shifts into Han Fei and Guiguzi, and further into Heguanzi, the Huainan Masters, and others. China’s Daoist history reaches back more than two millennia before the rise of Buddhism in India, so the depth of the Daoist roots is hard for many world religions and philosophies to match.

II. Branches within the Daoist Tradition

One stream of the Daoist tradition transformed into Confucianism; as Confucianism split again, it became Song and Ming Neo-Confucianism. Thus the scope of Daoist studies is broader than that of Neo-Confucianism alone. (The original may repeat lines in layout; the sense is as above.)

III. Cultivation and the Immortal Arts

The cultivation branch within Daoism is what later generations of immortality seekers took as their model. The Yellow Emperor studied immortality even while at war; Laozi explicitly taught the way of long life and clear vision—so the term “Daoist studies” also includes what is called the immortal arts (xianxue).

The editor had long planned to compile a series on the Way of immortality—material broad and deep. The original idea was to print it gradually in woodblock editions, but bringing the whole set out would still take considerable time. Many scholars wanted access to the sources sooner, and the editor also hoped to reach as wide a readership as possible, so further effort went into a smaller companion set, the “Pocket Series in Daoist Studies”: selections kept sharp, publication kept timely, and the approach stressed what can be used and practiced, with little empty talk. Each volume is short, yet the methods it covers can be many.

The editorial aim of this book is to promote China’s own native Daoist learning; at the same time it firmly rejects superstition—anything in the text that smacks of superstition is excluded from this series.

(What follows is a preface by Chen, belonging to the section on orthodox female practice.)

The original title of this work is Jinhua Direct Pointing: The Correct Method of Female Practice, attributed to Qingxia Lingyang Daoren. It was written to circulate in the world as one of the dedicated books on female Neidan (women’s internal alchemy), so that nuns or women devoted to the Way could use it to compare and test their own quiet cultivation.

Because so much time has passed, however, blind practice and reckless refinement have left the text in disarray. For example, the opening piece called “General Remarks,” though about twelve hundred characters long, is mostly patched together from stale, empty formulas, so it is not reproduced in full here. There are also four pieces on “Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Heterodox Teachings” that have nothing to do with female Neidan; their summaries of the three teachings and their history contain many gaps, and the piece on “heterodox teachings” is especially coarse in language, so all four have been removed.

Sections one through six deal exclusively with female Neidan methods. Although these are artificial, contrived techniques rather than wholly natural ones, such approaches have circulated for a long time, and students of the Way cannot afford to ignore them. Section seven is judged too brief. Sections eight and nine discuss the Yang spirit (Yang Shen) and mix in a good deal of vocabulary from other religions, which differs noticeably from terms common in the immortality tradition; the present edition follows the Yang Yiyu woodblock print of the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858) in revising the text, so that false pearls are not passed off as real. Section ten is of little consequence. Section eleven is only the author’s speculation and need not be taken too seriously. The two appendices are for reference only.

Originally, sixteen heptasyllabic quatrains titled Quick Keys to the Correct Method of Female Practice appeared at the end of the volume; their use matches that of the earlier sections and largely repeats them, so they are omitted.

Note to Readers

Sixteen heptasyllabic quatrains at the end of the volume, titled Quick Keys to the Correct Method of Female Practice, repeat the same usage as the preceding sections and are therefore left out.

The study of cultivating immortals rests on four fundamental principles: first, emphasize actual practice, not empty talk; second, teach concrete methods, not abstract theory; third, value “reverse application,” not going with the flow; fourth, prize oral formulas and secret methods, not literary polish. Anyone who carefully reads alchemical classics and Daoist writings should hold to these four points to avoid confusion. This book fits the second, third, and fourth: it deals with affairs, not theory; it practices reversal, not compliance; it transmits formulas, not prose. Only the original was later tampered with by later hands—passages like “ma ni duo luo” and the like mixed meanings so that whole sections on women’s practice became neither fish nor fowl, straying from the aim of the immortal way and failing the first principle of “being practical.” Therefore obvious interpolations and false changes have been cut away to restore what is genuine. Readers with discernment will understand this intent.

June, the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China (the 4632nd year of the Yellow Emperor’s era), Chen Yingning of Wanjiang, written in Shanghai.

Correct Methods of Women’s Practice

Original author: Lingyang Daoren

Revised and edited: Chen Yingning

General Discussion

When a man reaches two-eight (about sixteen), fullness of essence leads to emission; when a woman reaches two-seven (about fourteen), fullness of menses leads to overflow. To neither emit nor overflow, one must understand “wind” and “fire”: fire means the primordial spirit (yuanshen); wind means true breath (natural respiration). Spirit and breath rely on each other, attained through guan (inner observation): the method enters from the mysterious aperture of the eyes inward to the qi cavity; qi wraps the spirit and the spirit concentrates within—all sustained by intent. When natural wind and fire meet, without deliberately manipulating breath or stopping it, essence can be transformed into qi and qi can enrich spirit; when spirit is full the form transforms, and there arises a body outside the body (a metaphor for the yin spirit or yang spirit leaving the form, according to various schools).

The oral formula says: Keep Shen (spirit, mind, and awareness) and xī (breath and vital breath) constantly in mutual attunement, never parting or scattering, and the body will seem as if renewed, while yù yè (saliva and the clear fluid produced in practice) flows without cease. Only by long inward gazing at the abode of longevity can yáng shén (the manifestation of purely yang spirit) appear through the dǐng mén (the crown gate at the baihui region). Know that all things that live must die, and also realize: yuán shén (original spirit) can be reborn even in “death.” When mind can dwell in qi and qi stays within the body, the yīng’ér (the inner “holy fetus” of Neidan) can be nourished in stability and fixed karma can be fulfilled. If one cultivates accordingly, why fear that the inner elixir will not form?

The method: Take the Chong, Ren, and Du meridians as the routes of transformation, circulating among the outer, middle, and inner passes; only female practice differs slightly from male practice—the work begins at the upper pass rǔ xī (the gate related to the breasts and chest), then at the middle pass within the navel, and finally returns to the lower pass zǐ gōng (uterus); then the middle and lower passes are united as one cavity for refinement. For men, refining essence is called refining qi in the Sun; for women, refining blood is called refining form in the Moon.

The secret of huǒ fēng (timing of fire and the inner “bellows” of ascent and descent) lies in distinguishing wén hòu and wǔ hòu (gentle, slow fire and vigorous, intense fire): apply martial fire in the middle phase and gentle fire at the start and finish; in the running of the zhōu tiān (qi circulating one full circuit along the Ren, Du, and related channels), never depart from zhǐ and guān (fixed breath and inner observation). Within the twelve double-hours of a day, wherever intention reaches, one may begin the work; xiān tiān zhī qì (pre-heaven qi) and hòu tiān zhī qì (post-heaven qi from breath and bodily refinement) when truly merged make daily life feel mildly intoxicated—soft, harmonious, and at ease.

Worldly women often carry heavy habitual taint, crave meat and strong flavors, and easily stir desire; seeing others marry, they brood in self-pity; spring stirrings and autumn grief invite frail illness; eating much raw or cold food worsens jīng zhì (menstrual stagnation); if further tempted from outside, body and reputation are often ruined together—a regret for life. Take this as a warning and do not weave karmic bonds. Those who can endure find peace; those who can repent find joy. Treat intention as carefully as carrying a brimming bowl; keep the heart like still water. Constantly emulate the jīn rén (the “golden person” who keeps silent)—seal the mouth and hide the tongue. In movement or stillness, in every act, guard purity and wholeness; shatter the gate of emotion and leap out of the sea of desire. The tiān guǐ (menstruation and yin essence—the root of a woman’s nurturing life) within the body is the source of sustaining life; urgently seek the method to refine it into truth; merit accumulates in the human realm, spirit returns to heaven. Fellow cultivators, each encourage yourselves.

To recognize the foundation, first purify the mind

To know the “foundation” of practice, you must first purify intention: let the mind not cling to worldly thoughts, not be pulled by outer things; as desires quiet, the heart naturally settles into clarity—bright as a mirror, clear as still water. Only when the mind is pure can you truly seek the “foundation.”

The Kun body and the body’s pass-points

Women belong by nature to Kun (yin): the back is yin, the belly yang. The outer opening is at the breasts; the inner path is Ruxi (the inner qi route between the breasts and the heart region—often treated in female alchemy as the “upper elixir cavity”). It lies roughly at the sixth story (the chest and diaphragm) about six and a half parts along, paired with the outer gate of the ten-story tower (the outer passes of throat and head/face).

Posture and fixing qi

In sitting, first straddle the crane (legs crossed as when riding a crane) and tightly close the lower pass (Quanfei, the lower yin and Pinhu region) so primordial qi can be held; qi rises through the upper pass (the Ruxi area), while below you guard against leakage. The middle pass sits about one inch and three tenths inside the navel.

Guarding the three passes and reducing the five leakages

To lessen the “five leakages,” guard the three passes: ears often listen inward, eyes often look inward, mouth closed with few words; breath is gathered into Ruxi, spirit is fixed in the Jinsi (the seat of heart/nature); when nature is settled, the Juehai (sea of consciousness) clears, intention rests on the Dangong (dantian, qi sea). One mind returns to oneness—only inner looking: the Golden Mother looks at the heart, the Old Child looks at the aperture—through all two-six periods (every hour of the day and night), watch the place before a thought arises; the seven emotions do not stir, the Wuyun (five aggregates) are empty by nature, the heart stays free and lively, not stuck. In the line of Patriarch Lü: the source of the Dao is in Yuqing (Jade Clarity); condense spirit-qi in the qi cavity, intention on the lower dantian; lead intention from the eyes into the qi cavity so pre-heaven and post-heaven qi merge—this must be kept moment by moment (held at all times).

Three essentials of female elixir

For women, Ruxi is the upper elixir cavity; behind the navel, before the kidneys is the middle pass; Pinhu is the lower pass, the uterus the great cauldron. Intention also enters from the eyes into Ruxi, in one breath with the inside of the navel and the uterus—here lie the pre-heaven seed and the root of life.

Yin and yang essences

Men take Yuanjing (primordial essence) as the utmost yang qi; women take true blood as the utmost yin essence. Upper, middle, and lower passes connect in one qi with Ruxi and the uterus—the hub where female elixir recognizes the foundation and gathers and refines.

(Opening overview)

Men’s original essence (yuan jing) is the utmost yang qi; women’s true blood is the utmost yin essence. Both are the treasure that gives life and the root of myriad transformations. In men it is stored at the Gate of Life (mingmen); in women at the yin opening (pinhu), the uterus. When desire stirs, essence and blood are hard to keep; when the mind is calm it is somewhat easier to preserve them, yet one still needs “wind and fire”—breath and focused intention—to refine and transform them so they can endure.

Section 2: Beginning cultivation of the menses

From about age fourteen the menses flow; each time blood leaves the body there is depletion. Though new menstrual fluid forms every month, there is still a monthly loss. Those who set out to “cultivate the menses” (xiu jing) should refine and transform that substance; if one is already past menopause, practice first aims to bring the menses back (Chen Yingning notes that folk teaching often puts it this way—one need not treat this as a rigid rule). Menstrual fluid is the root of life and nature (xingming); the way to start is to work as if deliberately (youwei): first replenish qi and blood and avoid further reckless waste. Being and non-being are one continuum—“being” (you) is where “non-being” (wu) begins, and “non-being” is where “being” ends. First apply effort where there is “being,” until post-heaven qi opens the channels; then apply intention where there is “non-being,” until pre-heaven qi fills. Let the gaze follow intention; let spirit and breath stay joined—thus blood can be transformed to augment qi, and qi refined to nourish spirit.

Begin from the middle gate (zhongguan), the region of the middle dantian: with intention as if exerting, draw straight upward thirty-six times to the upper gate (shangguan); then circle left and right thirty-six times each, reaching the breasts, and circle left and right thirty-six times again at each breast. If the crown (tiangu, “heaven valley”) does not feel warm, qi has not risen; if the lower yin (diquan, “earth spring”) does not feel warm, qi has not descended. Lead with intention and fix the gaze on the upper and middle gates; cross the hands below the navel and above the spring (quan), and with intention as if exerting, draw upward thirty-six times to the breast stream (ruxi), then to the inner opening at the breast, circling left and right thirty-six times each.

Section 3: Methods of “cutting the dragon” (duan long)

The secret “cutting the dragon” practice combines deliberate (youwei) work. At the zi and wu hours, sit in a posture like straddling a crane. Click the teeth seventy-two times to open the lung-shu points; use post-heaven intention with natural nasal breathing, thirty-six cycles, until the channels of the whole body feel open.

(Yingning’s note: The original passage is very terse and might confuse readers, so the following explanations have been added. What is meant by “knocking the teeth seventy-two” is knocking the teeth seventy-two times. What is meant by “thirty-six times” is thirty-six nasal breaths—one exhalation and one inhalation count as one breath (xi). If you count by breathing, thirty-six exhalations and thirty-six inhalations make seventy-two in all, the same as the number of tooth knocks: knock once on each exhalation and once on each inhalation. Thus “with thirty-six nasal breaths,” the tooth knocking comes to seventy-two times.)

Press the heels firmly against the “Spring Gate” (the perineum region). Cross both hands below the navel and, in imagination, as if exerting force, pull straight upward thirty-six times, up to the “Upper Pass” (the barrier near the upper Dantian at the back of the head). Then, coordinating with the mind, rotate each eye left and right thirty-six times; move attention to the “Middle Pass” (the mid-spine barrier) and rotate each eye thirty-six times again. Raise both hands toward the sky, first gently thirty-six times, then firmly thirty-six times. When the Weilü (the coccyx region) suddenly stirs, put both hands on the hips, clench the teeth, lift both shoulders straight up—the “Jiaji” and “Shuangguan” (key points along the spine) and Feishu (a Bladder back-shu point) all move with this. In imagination, drive the head and back upward until Qi passes through Yuzhen (the occipital point) and reaches Niwan (the upper Dantian). Then cover the upper lip with the lower lip and, in imagination, send the true Qi (zhenqi) upward into Niwan, down near the nostrils.

Press the tongue to the upper palate (forming the “Heavenly Bridge”); saliva will come of itself (called sweet dew, ganlu). With a slight nasal pinch, swallow the fluid with your intention and send it below the navel. Place the hands on the “Pimen” (the genital region) and, as if exerting force in the mind, send it all the way to the “Zigong”—the alchemical “uterine cauldron” of practice—not thirty-six times. When sweet dew enters the cauldron, warm Qi swirls; the heels stay pressed, body and mind settle together, and the inner “palace” is quiet. Wei Yuanjun (Wei Huacun, a Shangqing female immortal) said: The treasure returns to the Northern Sea, safe and secure.

Section Four: Refining the Breasts and Returning to Youth

(Outline of the method:) Take the breasts as the place of focus and circulation; press the heels firmly, settle body and mind, and keep the inner palace quiet. Wei Yuanjun said: The treasure returns to the Northern Sea, safe and secure.

Plain-Language Explanation

The breasts sit on the pathway where qi moves up and down: above they connect with the heart and lungs; below they can reach through to the qi sea (the area around the lower Dantian below the navel). If you want practice to bring the breasts closer to a maiden-like form, the decisive work lies in the “duan long” method (stopping menstruation and gathering what would otherwise be lost): together with sending the “sweet dew” (saliva) upward from the mouth, all the way to the crimson palace (heart region, chest center), fix your attention on the left and right breast and mentally rotate each thirty-six times counterclockwise and thirty-six times clockwise.

In practice: lightly seal the upper and lower lips, gently clench the teeth, and do not breathe through the nostrils outward; switch to inner breathing (embryonic breathing, breath-holding, and the like). At the breasts, use the centers of both palms to knead and press the left and right breast respectively, seventy-two times in all, slow at first then faster, light at first then firmer. After about a hundred days of steady work, when the practice is complete, the breasts may become like walnuts in size and firmness. An old verse on breast refinement attributed to the Immortal Maiden Feng says: the left is the sun, the right is the moon; together they form one yin and one yang. When nasal breath runs inward, it is called “yun gang” (circulating the canopy star—here, guiding qi inward along a set route). To return yin-yang qi to the positions of sun and moon, you must refine both palms with “zhen huo” (true fire—the warming force of inner work, not stove fire, usually the heat transformed from intent, breath, and essence). Some versions read “both chambers” (shuang fang), meaning the two breasts, instead of “both palms.”

Brief Glossary

• Duan long: In female alchemy (nüdan), often means stopping menstruation and gathering yin essence so it is not lost outward.
• Crimson palace (jiang gong): The chest center and region before the heart; qi ascending passes through here.
• Yun gang: Inner qi moving along a fixed circuit; here it is paired with inward nasal breathing.
• Zhen huo (true fire): The nourishing warmth produced in inner refinement—not ordinary fire, but mostly the heat from intent, breath, and essence combined.

Commentary by Ying Ning: Sections two through four describe three stages of practice. Though the wording is clear, beginners should still be very cautious after reading them and must not rush into practice. It is best to read several classics on internal alchemy, sort out the sequence of stages, and only try after you can see how the parts fit together. No matter how plainly those three stages are explained, beginners must not act lightly; they should read widely, clarify the order of practice, and only experiment once they have integrated the logic. They must also be extremely careful: at the first sign of blockage, stop at once—otherwise deviation and illness come easily. This book alone is never enough.

Ying Ning vowed to publish and circulate more than ten secret manuals on female elixir cultivation from antiquity, with annotation, collation, and correction where needed, so as to form one of the most complete series of female elixir instructions from past and present, to be issued in installments. In former times, the hardest part for women in cultivation was having almost no books to read; today the problem of access to texts is largely solved, yet one must still read widely, study deeply, and seek out those who have actually practiced this path to discuss with them—only then may one gain some entry into the method.

Section 5: Establishing the Cauldron and Forming the Embryo

For men, the cauldron is taken as the lower, middle, and upper fields; for women, the cauldron is the womb (zigong), the area within the navel (qi nei), and the breast creek (ru xi). The womb lies about one cun and three fen outside the lower dantian, roughly two cun and eight fen from the navel, and below the upper pass at the breast creek—above is the breast creek, in the middle is the area within the navel, below is the womb. In terms of location the order is from outside inward; in practice the movement is from inside outward. Men have no womb; they take the lower dantian as the great cauldron. Hence the names look similar but the actual setup differs.

Yingning’s commentary: When alchemical classics discuss the “ding” (cauldron), they usually discuss the “lu” (furnace) as well—the ding above and the lu below. This book speaks only of the ding and not the lu, and it calls the upper, middle, and lower regions all by the name “ding,” which does not match the established pattern of the ancients. Measurements in the classics such as “one cun three fen” and “two cun eight fen” are also hard to treat as fixed standards; students need not cling to these figures, lest they be led astray.

Method from Lu Immortal’s Jinhua Ji (in gist): “The two eyes return the light”—the two eyes gaze level along one line, and attention is held from the line level with both eyes down to the lower dantian. After a woman has completed the “duan long” (severing the dragon) practice, she first sits quietly for a certain number of quarter-hours; then she withdraws attention from between the two eyes and directs it to the “ruxi” (breast stream) thirty-six times, then to inside the navel, then to the lower dantian (i.e., the “gong”/uterus), each thirty-six times. Next she uses intention to lead “Huachi water” (saliva in the mouth) to the upper ding, leads the two fluids of heart and lung to the upper ding, then uses intention to send “true gold from the sea” (kidney essence) to the upper ding; then, as if exerting force, sends it downward, through the middle ding to the lower ding (the great ding), where it circles eighteen times; inner fire rises, the ding is stable, and the embryo congeals.

Yingning’s commentary: What this passage is actually meant to accomplish is not clear even from the text itself; beginners will probably find it hard to follow in practice.

Breathing and Fetal Breathing

When breathing is regulated and smooth, faults such as windy, labored, or shallow breath can be avoided. Take nasal breathing as the standard: each exhalation and inhalation should root all the way down. Over time this becomes fetal breathing (taixi)—breathing without deliberate effort, with qi circulating on its own inside the body. When the breath moves, the pulse moves; when the breath stills, the pulse stops. An old text says: “Swallowing qi cannot grant long life; long life depends on subduing qi (fuqi).” When true breath circulates, qi can be subdued.

After severing the dragon (duanlong—the practice of restraining lust and stopping leakage), rest quietly for a while. When the seven emotions have not yet stirred and stray thoughts do not arise: press the heels toward the spring gate (quanfei, the perineal region), lips lightly sealed over the teeth with the teeth slightly hidden, intention following the gaze, and hold awareness between heart and kidneys—tradition places them “three inches and eight tenths” apart. Rotate left and right, each counted by breaths, forty-nine breaths in all. Sweet dew (ganlu, saliva in the mouth) arrives on its own; swallow it downward. This “lifting” draws qi back below the navel, and qi then condenses and holds. Long practice yields fetal breathing: without forcing exhale, inhale, or lift, exhaling, inhaling, and lifting happen of themselves. Within the female gate (pinhu, the lower Dantian and yin aperture), opening and closing occur naturally, warm as spring, and the elixir (dan, the refined essence of inner practice) gradually takes form.

(Note by Yin Ning: This text does not spell out what signs appear between ordinary breath regulation and fetal breathing; the claim that heart and kidneys are three inches and eight tenths apart should not be taken as reliable evidence.)

Section Seven: Fluid Returns, the Fetus Forms

In a man’s cultivation, use the River Chariot (heche—the image of essence and qi rising along the Governing Vessel) and spirit fire (shenhuo, intentional or inner fire) to still breath and still wind. Day by day gather and return to the furnace; first refine minor medicine (xiaoyao), until qi is full and spirit is round, then form major medicine (dayao). Five dragons escort the sage (wulong peng sheng—five qi or the qi of the five viscera lifting spirit and qi upward): circulation accords with nature. Move from the lower field (xiatian, lower Dantian) to the middle field (zhongtian, middle Dantian) to nourish qi and spirit; then move to the upper field (shangtian, upper Dantian). First penetrate the crown gate (dingmen, the baihui area at the crown). Jade fluid returns to elixir (yuye huandan—saliva and refined essence unite); it is like ghee pouring over the head (tihu guan’ding—a image of cool clarity descending from above). When the yang spirit is fully refined, one is called an immortal (shenxian).

If one asks about the yuyehuandan (jade fluid returning to the elixir—the state in inner refinement when essence and qi are full, like the elixir restored): it is said that the chìlóng (red dragon—menstruation and blood circulation) turns into the báifèng (white phoenix—qi movement and pure yang qi), filling the xiàtián (lower field—the lower abdomen and dantian region), as if carrying a child; when the work is complete, qi transforms into spirit, the spirit light becomes round and full, and emerges through the dǐngmén (fontanel at the crown), refining a yángshén (yang spirit—as opposed to the purely yin “yinshen,” a yang-nature primordial spirit that can leave the body). Jade fluid returning elixir and tíhú guàndǐng (sweet dew pouring through the crown) all depend on the steps that came before; one must be like Wángmǔ (Queen Mother of the West) in the Kūnlún Palace, listening to subtle sounds—heart and breath unified, spirit listening inward to the inner landscape.

(Comment by Yingning: The discussion of women’s practice is too brief to serve as a reliable method.)

Section 8: Refining and Transforming the Yang Spirit

Men’s neidan (internal alchemy): exchange essence to augment qi, refine qi into spirit.

Women’s neidan: exchange blood to augment qi, refine qi into spirit; both use huǒfēng (fire and wind—warming and circulating through coordinated intent and breath). The crux of duànlóng (cutting the dragon—stopping menstruation, severing the red dragon) for women lies in transforming blood into qi; it is also said: regulate breath, transform qi into spirit. If qi is not refined, spirit is insufficient, the body is not solid, and one has only yīnshén (yin spirit—spirit that cannot leave the body), and cannot achieve yángshén.

Method: In stillness, use the liùzìjué (six-character formula—breath-regulation methods such as “xū, hē, hū, chuī, xī, xī” and the like): from within the navel, rise to the central dāntián, rotate thirty-six times to the left and thirty-six to the right, then mentally circulate the sān zì (three characters—the oral text reads “three characters,” often paired with the six-character formula; the exact three depend on transmission from the master). Another line reads lán zì (character used in the oral formula—wording follows oral teaching).

Section Nine · Yang Spirit’s Luminous Completion

In the east, which corresponds to the liver, turn your focused attention left and right thirty-six times in the liver region, silently reciting and circulating the character luo. In the south, which corresponds to the heart, turn left and right thirty-six times at the heart, holding and circulating bo. In the west, which corresponds to the lungs, turn left and right thirty-six times at the lungs with dai. In the north, which corresponds to the kidneys, turn left and right thirty-six times at the kidneys with tai.

Then raise your intention to the Mud Pill (niwan—the upper Dantian within the crown) and again turn left and right thirty-six times on each side, keeping awareness centered. Gather hun, shen, po, and qi into the upper aperture and refine them into yang. Let yin essence rest in the Great Cauldron (the inner vessel of alchemy, often the Dantian or central palace), and in still stillness guard the Embryo (the “sacred fetus” of inner practice).

Pass the meaning of those characters again and again through the Middle Pass (the barrier along the Conception or Governing channels, or between upper and lower Dantian) until nine rounds are complete. Yin rises and yang descends and meets in the Middle Cauldron (the central Dantian). The crown aperture becomes luminously full—guang yuan—as if the Queen Mother of the West (Wangmu), chief among the female immortals, were seated in the Kunlun Palace (Mount Kunlun as the crown palace or inner landscape), listening to that wondrous tone beyond strings: the subtle, silent music of the inner vision.

This section explains the sequence of methods in female form-restoration practice: returning the elixir, nurturing, and ascending to the origin. Where the text repeats itself, it is read as one continuous thread of meaning.

Returning the Elixir and Heart–Kidney Communion

When jade fluid in the mouth cycles back and the returning elixir first forms, yet the pure yang spirit is not yet complete, one draws on the image of “attaining the pearl in the red water”: essence in the kidneys condenses like a pearl in red water. Another image is the Queen Mother of the West at Kunlun, hearing in the ears the wondrous tone of the stringless lute—not literal music, but the subtle sound that appears in the inner landscape when spirit and qi vibrate together. The heart is the vermilion bird; when one returns with utmost sincerity and the root of intention turns back to the origin, the vermilion bird descends from the void. Once the six roots are released, the light of spirit rounds by itself. The kidneys are like Wangxiang (the water-beast metaphor); they soon obtain the precious pearl and present it forward, its light filling the ten directions. When heart and kidneys have met, spirit and qi unite of themselves, and a true seed is formed to nourish the sacred embryo.

Nature and Emotion as Water and Fire, and the Method

The sacred embryo must be guarded in the Purple Chamber (the womb / the chamber within). The liver governs benevolence, imaged as a white parrot in flight; the lungs govern righteousness; when metal and wood join, nature and emotion harmonize. The tiger submits and the dragon descends—water and fire are settled. The pure treasure vase stands for lung fluid; the willow branch for the tip of liver wood; the nectar of the Flower Pool is like sweet dew. Sit firmly atop Kunlun at the Mudball Palace; in practice, fierceness must hold steadiness within. The intention moves the “three characters” (often spirit, qi, and jing, or each school’s secret syllables) to where true breath resides—the great cauldron of the lower dantian; the millet pearl spins and is cast into the navel. In the mouth there may be imagined syllables such as “bu bu xi li,” or very faint vocalization; with undivided intent, outer concerns are forgotten, and concentration and insight merge. Let the waves of the southern sea roll again—one only keeps constant clarity and constant stillness. When primordial yang is full, the fire of spirit rounds, and the great medicine rushes the passes, it is still only a settled heart, pure intent, and unmoving silence.

Nine Revolutions, Seven Returns, and Completion

This supreme method and its subtle true mechanism are finer still than the “dragon-severing method” (in female alchemy, stopping menstruation and slaying the red dragon). Following the formula through nine revolutions, one attains seven returns; merit gathers within the navel, yang spirit appears at the fontanel, precious light ascends, form and spirit are both wondrous, merit is complete—and one feels the jade edict descend (a metaphor for inner verification and union with the Dao).

The core of the whole section: through heart–kidney communion and the self-union of spirit and qi, form the sacred embryo; guard the Mudball Palace above and warm the navel cauldron below; in constant clarity and stillness complete nurturing and return to the origin, until yang spirit is full and round.

Plain-Language Commentary

The great cauldron is already set, the great medicine is already complete…

The great cauldron (the Dantian furnace-vessel) is already settled; the great medicine (internally refined Jing and Qi) is already complete; the sacred embryo (the “infant” formed by the inner elixir) is already achieved; the Yang spirit (pure Yang spirit-intent) has already appeared. After this one must still nurture it through warmth: warm and nourish for three years as one would suckle an infant, and remain in long stillness as in nine years of wall-facing meditation; breathing is fine and unbroken, mind-intent stays single and undivided; spirit and breath reflect each other. Within three thousand days one must guard this single thought as one guards a newborn—never forgetting it for a moment—without deliberately seeking “emptiness” or “detachment.” The two eyes hang lightly like a curtain; spirit-light follows mind-intent inward and settles in the inner aperture; the stiller one is, the deeper one goes. Warmth in the body is like spring; sweet dew in the mouth arises again and again; true Qi circulates through the whole body, starting first from the “uterine palace” (the lower Dantian and womb region), then rising and descending along the Ren and Du channels; the river chariot (circulation of the microcosmic orbit) turns on its own, thereby transforming the ordinary body and completing the true body.

When a man reaches “chaoyuan” (ascending to the Origin), white light first penetrates the crown gate; sweet dew arises frequently; Qi moves through the body—likewise starting from the “uterine palace,” then ascending behind and descending in front, the river chariot turns by itself, easily transforming the ordinary frame into the true form. For a man at chaoyuan, white light penetrates the crown; afterward black, green, red, and golden lights appear in sequence. For a woman at chaoyuan, black light first penetrates the crown, then red, white, green, and gold appear in order. When practice is complete and radiance is fully integrated, the five lights return to one; within the body it is like thunder from the earth; the celestial gate (the crown aperture) opens by itself. The Yang spirit emerges—once out, it returns at once; first near, then far—one must not be lost in spiritual powers. At this stage one must be all the more careful.

Section Eleven: Achievement Complete—Transcending the Ordinary

The Yang spirit goes in and out freely; the true self wanders at ease. One may still remain in the human realm for a time and accumulate merit widely; when merit is deep and conditions mature, a clear teacher will come to guide. One is first led to meet the Jade Emperor, then pays homage to the heavens, then goes to the Jade Pool to attend the Golden Mother (Xiwangmu), receives appointment as an immortal, and thus transcends the ordinary and enters sagehood.

Appendix: First Treat Menstrual Illness

(For women cultivating the inner elixir) one must first regulate menstrual and vaginal discharge disorders: conditions before and after pregnancy, postpartum issues, amenorrhea (jing bi), flooding and leakage (beng lou), and the like—all must be healed before one speaks of cultivation; otherwise the body is obstructed and achievement is hard. In the original text, phrases about amenorrhea and about “remaining in the human realm” seem joined or miscopied in transmission; the appendix’s intent is: while menstrual illness is not yet cured, do not rashly practice; after recovery, follow the path above to accumulate merit and transcend the ordinary.

Plain-Language Interpretation of Collected Women's Elixir Scriptures

1. Exercise Methods for Illness Before and After Childbirth, Amenorrhea, and Related Conditions

When illness arises from before or after childbirth or amenorrhea, add waist kneading to your existing practice: knead left and right thirty-six times each; move both shoulders up and down, also thirty-six times on each side. Then add navel-center massage: cross both hands and rub seventy-two times each; stop only when you feel inner heat.

For flooding menses or leukorrhea, add the inverted tiger-hanging method to the practices above: a horizontal beam is suspended overhead; hang upside down by both feet, body like a golden hook, hands pressing the ground; fix attention on the area below the navel and circle left and right one hundred twenty times; practice daily at zi hour and wu hour; this can also treat amenorrhea, blood stasis, and blood spots.

Within the practices above you may also add forward golden-turtle hook: beam overhead, hang forward with palms together, toes able to touch the ground; both eyes half-closed (curtains lowered), head bowed observing the heart, thirty-six times each side; intention follows the gaze, guarding six tenths below the navel, again thirty-six times; gaze then observes the affected area, also thirty-six times. Other illnesses can be handled by the same logic, worked through one by one.

Secret method: using true fire of the mind-spirit to treat illness is a healing secret transmitted by Wei Yuanjun, Cui Fengsun, Matuan Yu, Choubie, and others.

2. Drawing Back Menses After They Have Ceased

When monthly water (menstruation) has stopped, you must first draw it back. In the dragon-cutting method, change the intention from lifting upward to sending downward; change left-right circling to left-right kneading; after one hundred days of practice the menses can return. After flow resumes, wait three days, then use the previous dragon-cutting and related methods again; after another one hundred days when the work is complete, you may then stop dragon-cutting.

Women's Practice: Four Mottos · Motto on the Character Zhen (True/Chastity)

The upright qi of Heaven and Earth—only humans can fully preserve it; standing centered without leaning, then you need not be ashamed before Heaven.

Guard uprightness and you guard constancy; Kun yuan (Earth's origin) is supremely precious; Kun's nature is soft yet can be firm, yielding in accord with Qian (Heaven).

Rash words of unconstancy—human relations daily fail; seeing, hearing, speaking, acting—restrain them with li (ritual/propriety).

In practice and daily life, act according to rule and measure—neither leaning nor skewing. Restrain body and mind, return to purity, and do not let outward things pull your will.

Bear yourself with dignity and gravity; hold fast to great integrity so upright qi fills you—then the body of the Dao can be vast.

From here enter the Way, aspiring to sagehood and worthiness. Women who keep their chastity and devotion should each encourage themselves.

Inscription on “Stillness” (Jing)

Humans receive life in stillness, one with the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate); heart, fate, nature, and feeling are originally unified, not split apart.

After birth the postnatal heart stirs; heavenly principle and human desire stand together. When desire overpowers principle, the body of the Dao is endangered; when principle wins, desire gradually lessens.

Remove desire and preserve principle; the spirit platform (mind) should be clean. The sages’ heart-method lies in “washing the heart” (cleansing stray thoughts) and “youmi” (nurturing within secrecy).

Like polishing a mirror to remove tarnish, like facing the wall (sitting quietly toward a wall, with little movement and few entanglements)—through such work the five skandhas (form, feeling, perception, formations, consciousness) are gradually emptied, and all conditions return to deep stillness.

In not chasing what the eyes see or what the ears hear, true nature stirs like a seed embryo—this is the root work of the long-life study.

As for women, their constitution suits stillness and inward gathering (jing xi). To take stillness as master and preserve sincerity is to stand in the same line as the immortals and buddhas.

Inscription on “Purity” (Chun)

Sages, worthies, immortals, and buddhas are utterly sincere from start to finish; heavenly principle is undivided and moves freely on its own.

Ordinary people’s thoughts are mixed and impure; even a brief pause is not enough to condense the supreme Dao.

The sun and moon shine on and on; the four seasons complete themselves in time. Cultivating truth and nurturing nature requires constancy like heaven and earth.

In haste or hardship, never abandon humaneness; endure without ceasing, and cut through the disturbance of the seven emotions.

When practice ripens, wonder comes of itself and light gradually gathers (jixi). The slightest break in continuity, and learning the Way cannot succeed.

“Purity” does not stop there—you must guard the heart of the Dao. Women who have the affinity may live out their lives without shame before this teaching.

Inscription on “One” (Yi)

The Dao is not far from people; people estrange themselves from it. If virtue of heart is divided (two or three), there will surely be no real effect.

This is true of all things—how much more this subtle mystery. Hold to “one” without drifting (zhu yi wu shi), and you grasp what matters.

Do not fall into heterodox paths or stray into foreign teachings; within the nondual dharma gate lie the openly transmitted essentials.

The great void is undivided; in emptiness faint signs appear. Guard the inch of heart (a single point of right intent within), and silently probe the depths of the inner elixir (Neidan).

General Overview

All things in the world follow this pattern—how much more so the subtle Dao? Only by holding to unity and keeping the mind from scattering can one grasp what matters.

Do not fall into heterodox paths or mix in teachings from other traditions; within the single gate of non-duality alone can true secrets be retained.

The great void is one undivided whole; only in emptiness do signs appear. Guard the heart within the square inch and silently contemplate the inner elixir’s mystery.

Women especially must not abandon themselves. Inwardly, practice dual cultivation of nature and life (xingming shuangxiu); outwardly, keep integrity and proper conduct.

With one heart and one virtue, one can go deep; when the fruit of the Dao is full and bright, the immortal ranks may also be within reach.

Collected Essentials of the Elixir

Kunyuan Juelu (Awakening Path of the Kun Origin) says: Before formally entering the Way, one must first keep the five precepts. First, not taking life—that is benevolence. Second, not stealing—that is righteousness. Third, not sexual misconduct—that is propriety. Fourth, abstaining from wine and meat—that is wisdom. Fifth, not speaking falsely—that is trustworthiness. When the five precepts are firm, one must also shut out the six desires: the eyes must not look wildly, the ears must not listen wildly, the nose must not smell wildly, the tongue must not speak wildly, the body must not move wildly. When the six desires are shut out, how can the seven emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, hatred, and craving—not be cleared away? Only when the seven emotions are gone can one enter the chamber and begin practice in earnest.

Kun Ning Jing says: “Without the true work of refining the self (lianyi), one can hardly begin at all.” It also says: “One must first cut off desire and forget entanglements, then enter the chamber to sit in meditation; refining the self is the same for women as for men—regulate the breath so it is continuous and fine, and do not force deliberate exhalation and inhalation.” It also says: “The four great [constituents] of the one body find affinity at the Central Palace and Spirit Platform; when the two qi unite, the middle yellow responds to the mysterious; among the mutual generation of the Five Phases, earth (the intention of the spleen) is what completes the whole.” It also says: “A trace of dawn moon dew in the east— exhaustively seek the time before the body was born.” It is like building a house: one must first open the door and enter; like firing a furnace: one must first kindle the fire.

Discourse on Difficulties in Cultivating Truth states that for men entering the path, the essential work is refining Qi (lian qi), called solar Qi refinement (taiyang lian qi). When Qi can circulate and return, and the White Tiger (bai hu)—the descending image tied to the man’s seminal barrier—once “descends,” the body becomes like a child’s body (tong ti). After that, post-heaven essence (houtian zhi jing) no longer leaks outward; one can extend life and also form the inner elixir (jie dan).

For women entering the path, the essential work is refining form (lian xing), called lunar form refinement (taiyin lian xing). When form and Qi settle into stillness and the Red Dragon (chi long)—the image of menstrual flow—is “cut off,” the bodily sign tends toward the metaphor of a male body (nan ti); turbid yin blood (yin zhuo zhi xue) no longer flows downward, so one can step out of the realm of death and enter the path of life. Thereafter one may practice along the same line of work as men, and in one year may obtain the Great Elixir (da dan). Still, women’s practice has its own gates (qiao), timings (shi) (hours, and junctures tied to the monthly cycle), and methods (fa); these cannot be treated as one uniform rule.

Upper Medicine Spirit Mirror, Three Fates Chapter says: the human navel (qi) is called Mingmen (ming men, Life Gate); above it is Yuanguan (yuan guan), in the middle is Huangting (huang ting, Yellow Court), and below is Qihai (qi hai, Sea of Qi).

Lazy Daoist (Lan Daoren) says: women’s ming (life-root) divides into upper, middle, and lower loci: the upper is the Yang cavity (yang xue), the middle is the Yellow Chamber (huang fang), and the lower is Dantian (dantian, energy center). When young, one mostly begins from the lower; in decline, from the middle; when full and mature, from the upper.

Discourse on Difficulties in Cultivating Truth also says: a man’s ming (life-root) lies in Dantian; a woman’s ming lies in the breast (ru)—here ru means xue yuan (blood root), the root of blood, about one cun two fen below Shanzhong (dan zhong, Chest Center) between the breasts, not the breasts on either side themselves. For women, blood (xue) stands as the image of kidney (shen); in practice it is truly an empty opening (kong qiao), an inwardly guarded void: xue yuan generates blood, Dantian generates the elixir. The work is to keep the mind fixed on the empty opening between the breasts at zi and wu hours (zi wu er shi, midnight and noon periods), with breathing fine and prolonged, exhaling less and inhaling more (chu shao ru duo). When the monthly flow (yue xin) arrives, move Qi from Dantian upward to reach the breasts (rufang); or, when the monthly flow comes, one takes up the work as a man would at the Living Zi Hour (huo zi shi), the moment when essence stirs.

(Passages such as “thereafter apply men’s methods to cultivate; first extend life, then one can form the elixir,” and “in one year one can obtain the Great Elixir,” repeat slightly in the source; the gist is the same: after lunar form refinement cuts the Red Dragon, one may combine the yang line of fire-timings to form the elixir and extend life.)

This passage comes from discussions of female neidan (internal alchemy) cultivation. The Kun Ning Jing says: “When the morning sun rises in the east and light touches the dew, transport mercury to match lead, and Shen and Qi both stay in place.” The image is like dawn breaking and beads of dew appearing: within the body Yin and Yang begin to unite and circulate—using “mercury” to pair with “lead” (in inner alchemy, a metaphor for matching Jing and Qi, or Yin and Yang), while spirit and true Qi settle and no longer scatter outward. “Accumulating Qi” is where generated Qi gathers; “preserving Shen” is the path along which spirit is refined. When the “first stir of Yang” appears, one must apply effort at the zi, wu, mao, and you hours; when the hundred meridians are open, one must fix the positions of Qian-Kun and Kan-Li (Yin-Yang and water-fire within the body)—that is what this means.

But “moon correspondence” (yuexin) here does not mean waiting until menstruation has already begun. The Sanming Pian says: “Like a person who has not yet arrived home, but the letter arrives first.” On the day the “letter” arrives, the practitioner herself will feel it—perhaps soreness in the waist and legs, perhaps fullness in the head, perhaps loss of appetite. This is the qi-sensation when the “letter” is about to come and blood is on the point of transforming; it is really Qi, not blood already flowing. About two and a half days before the menses appears, one should concentrate on practice. If bleeding has already started, the “Red Dragon” (menstrual blood, yin essence) must not be forced or held; many have been harmed by reckless circulation. One must wait until two and a half days after the period, then test with white silk: only when it shows golden yellow is that the verification of menses ended (the “post-menses seal”). Then one practices as before, using intention to circulate upward and “cut” it. After several months, the color of the menses shifts from red to yellow, from yellow to white, until it is fully transformed and gone—this is the Way of “returning from having to non-being.”

If one is already past forty-nine, with the waist dry and blood exhausted, it may seem there is no chance of renewal; yet with long-term gentle nurturing, blood essence can still regenerate and the body can again be like a maiden’s—another marvel of “producing from non-being.” When one sees it return, a single “cut” transforms it, and the root of life arises again. Lazy Daoist also said: after long “turning the light inward” and regulating the breath, true breath naturally comes and goes, opening and closing, until Yan E (the inner foundation of the Dantian and sea of Qi) is formed; when Shen and Qi are full, true Yang naturally flourishes, menstrual flow ceases on its own, and the breasts shrink like a man’s—this is called “cutting the Red Dragon.” Thereafter, in seven days one completes the greater return and small circulation (microcosmic orbit); in principle and method there is no longer any difference from male cultivation.

Heaven and earth give rise to the myriad things through the harmonious intertwining of Yin and Yang and natural, joyful nurturing; human beings are the same. In the logic of creation, men and women are fundamentally alike—both belong to the Dao of “no deliberate thought, no forced action” (Wuwei), following what is natural.

The alchemical classics state this plainly: in female practice, blood serves as the kidney (in women’s cultivation, “blood” is often taken as the foundation corresponding to men’s “essence/kidney”). The Inner Classic also says: at eight years the boy’s kidney qi is full, hair grows and teeth are replaced; at seven years the girl’s kidney qi flourishes, teeth are replaced and hair grows—so both men and women have kidney and a root of qi. Why then speak only of the Zishi hour and teach a single method for men alone?

Turn again to texts on seeding (conception): within the woman’s yin there is a form like a lotus bud, called the womb palace (zigong). The menses flow once a month; after they clear, on whatever day it may be, signs of “yunyu and joyful nurturing” appear: inner qi steams and heat rises, the head grows dizzy and the body heavy, the menstrual qi stirs slightly, and the lotus bud seems about to open. At this moment vital force is at its peak—follow it, and conception and embryo are possible; reverse it, and that is what female elixir texts call Huo Zishi (the “Living Zishi”—not necessarily midnight’s Zishi, but this moment when life stirs after the menses as the hour to begin practice).

This is not a matter of guessing: body and mind must be pure and still before one can silently discern and feel it in quiet absorption. How exactly to grasp it depends entirely on the student’s spirit and insight—it cannot be copied from men’s methods or settled by words alone.

The Living Seed and the Way of Kun

Classical elixir texts often explain the “living seed” (huozi) in the Way of Qian (male): the moment true Qi stirs and the vitality that can form the elixir. For the Kun body (female), ancient authors spoke less plainly about the living seed. Yet the Changes says: “Heaven and earth mingle in dense harmony; the myriad things take form in richness; male and female unite in essence; the myriad things are born and transformed.” The Rites also says: “Food, drink, male and female—these are among humanity’s greatest desires.” In broad terms, Qian and Kun—one moving, one still; one straight and focused, one receptive and closing—share the same pivot; their mechanism is not two. Look at the animal kingdom: sows, cows, and ewes at the season of dense harmony and eager breeding always cry out loudly—it is the moment that compels them. Heaven gives birth to the myriad things; humans are most spiritually endowed, and they too have this season; when the living seed arrives, humans are only more spiritually endowed than beasts and keep silent through restraint. Confucius said, “The people may be made to follow it, but not to understand it”—the forward path (ordinary people following desire) can be guided; the reverse path (cultivation: turning inward to gather Qi) cannot be stated plainly to the masses. Cultivators look up at the waxing and waning moon and know they must turn inward to cultivate virtue and take stillness as the work—gathering and closing in pre-heaven true Qi and not letting it turn into blood. That is the entry-level skill of “severing the red dragon.”

On Similarities and Differences in Male and Female Elixir Work (title of section)

Editorial Aims of A Small Library of Women’s Daoist Learning

1. Select fine words and deeds of women through the ages and short works that can nurture a noble female character and instill excellent intelligence—psychological aspect.

2. Select methods of self-cultivation by women through history, scriptures, and poetry that can foster outstanding female talent and strengthen women’s health broadly—physiological aspect.

A Few Notes About This Book

Third: Daoist studies are a refined treasure of Chinese civilization—found nowhere else in the world and unique to our country. In the past, because women’s education had not yet become widespread, it was hard to approach and study this extremely profound discipline. Now, in line with the principle of equality between women and men, knowledge in this area is being opened up step by step.

Fourth: Ancient authors wrote at varying levels of depth: some texts are very abstruse and hard to read; others are overly colloquial and not sufficiently refined. To make them easier to spread, obscure passages are always supplied with notes so readers can understand; colloquial passages are lightly polished so they are not dismissed as insufficiently elegant.

Fifth: The editorial aim of this book is to promote China’s native Daoist tradition and to resolutely dismantle superstition. Any passage that smacks of superstition is excluded without exception.

Notice to Readers

I. This book was compiled in the Guangxu Guimao year (1903)—eight years before the founding of the Republic.

II. The author was a woman who never married and served her mother with exceptional filial devotion. The mother remained a widow; the daughter preserved her chastity. Both mother and daughter were devoted to the Way but had no master to transmit the teaching; they could only search various Daoist books for oral formulas and key instructions. At her mother’s command, she compiled this book; the content consists entirely of excerpts copied from other Neidan (internal alchemy) classics—not original work by the author herself.

III. Among the books copied, some are better and some worse, so the theory occasionally contradicts itself and the prose can still feel long and tedious. Although lightly edited and trimmed, the original meaning could not be fully altered. Readers should use their own judgment to distinguish and choose.

IV. Titles in the text such as Xiangyi Gumother, Xuantian Shangdi, Jinxue Dijun, Yaochi Wangmu, and Yuanming Daomu are borrowed pseudonyms from other works. From today’s standpoint of rejecting superstition, such names ought not to be kept; but because the source text uses them as written, they are reproduced here without change.

V. The book states that after a woman completes internal elixir cultivation, she still needs someone to “await salvation” (daidu—meaning guidance and completion by a male teacher or an exalted immortal). That view is incomplete and largely reflects older customs that favored men over women. Unequal treatment of women appears in many religious systems, not only in China; overturning such conventions will depend on truly outstanding women in their own right.

VI. A passage attributed to Jinxue Dijun argues as follows: Some hold that unless the Red Dragon (menstruation and yin-blood) is fully “slain,” the elixir cannot coalesce and the Way cannot be realized—yet they fail to see that if blood were truly exhausted, qi would be exhausted with it. When a man’s jing (essence) is depleted, the Golden Elixir is likewise hard to form; the principle is the same. Male jing and female blood can seldom be treated as something to cut off entirely: without blood, qi has no basis from which to arise; when blood transforms into qi, essence and qi can circulate. If elixir work truly required blood to be fully spent, why do the young fall ill when qi and blood are dried up? That shows cultivation cannot simply discard the dimension of “blood”; it is not enough to treat the matter as merely slaying the Red Dragon.

Note: “Zhan Chilong” (Cutting the Red Dragon) means that through cultivation one refines menstruation until it no longer comes—it does not mean that a woman’s menstrual blood dries up or is exhausted. If Zhan Chilong is taken to mean blood stopping completely, blood running out, or blood withering, that wrongly equates normal cultivation with “gan xue lao” (dry blood consumption—a condition of ceased menses and bodily depletion). That is a serious error.

If a woman truly has this illness, she must first use dedicated gongfu and combine it with medicine so that menses return to normal and come each month like a healthy person; only after that should she follow the Zhan Chilong formulas step by step to refine away menstruation—that order is fixed. To treat the effects of Zhan Chilong and gan xue lao as the same thing is a major mistake.

Seven: Men and women start differently because their physiology differs. For a woman to enter the Way, she must first understand some ordinary medical knowledge and then practice gongfu, so she does not go wrong on the path. Those who study immortality do not skip learning medicine—this rests on real grounds, not empty talk about mysterious principle or something mind-and-nature alone can replace.

Entry Eight

Whether man or woman, if from birth one lacks the capacity to conceive an ordinary human fetus, there is no question of forming an “immortal embryo” (xiantai). Bearing a child and attaining the Dao follow the same underlying logic; the difference lies only in “forward flow” and “reverse flow”: ordinary people follow creation’s course to conceive, while what female alchemy calls “cutting the Red Dragon” (zhan chilong) means reversing that creative process in cultivation. If the body never held that spark of creative life in the first place, yet one mistakenly believes oneself “capable,” or takes cessation of menstruation as proof of immortality, one has gone astray. On that mistaken view, would not every woman over fifty whose menses stop naturally qualify as an immortal? If one says the elderly are a special case, there are also young women today whose menstruation stops because the uterus or ovaries were removed by surgery—can that count as “cutting the Red Dragon”? The crucial points here cannot be examined too carefully.

Colophon

October of the twenty-fourth year of the Republic of China (1935), the 4,632nd year of the Yellow Emperor’s era. Inscribed by Chen Yingning of Wanjiang (preface).

Collection of Female Alchemy Classics (Nüdan Jing Huibian)

From childhood Zehuan lost her father. Her mother remained a widow without a son; she had only the three sisters. Before long the second sister died young, and the third was already betrothed and awaiting marriage. Zehuan could not bear to see her mother live alone in loneliness. She resolved to keep her chastity and support her mother, vowing never to marry. From the age of twelve she fasted with her mother; mother and daughter amused themselves with writings such as the Songs Exhorting Goodness. She often envied the beauty of cultivation described in morality books and the dignity of immortals and buddhas, yet she regretted having no clear teacher to point out the essentials of practice, and no alchemy classics (danjing) by which to verify body and mind. She could only pray silently for heaven to send an opportunity—thus for nearly ten years.

Suddenly, in the summer of the gengzi year (1900), turmoil broke out in the capital. She took her mother away early to take refuge on Mount E. Only then did she learn that in the Buddhist tradition there were works on female practitioners: the Sutra of Lady Māyā, the Sutra of Matangī, the Sutra of the Daughter of Elder Anāthapiṇḍada, the Biographies of Bhikṣuṇīs, the Biographies of Virtuous Women (compiled by Hainan Yishao), and others. Later she obtained one copy of the Mani Candle for the Feminine (Moni Zhukun Ji), comprising some seventy-odd titles, assembled by Ruzhi’s wife, the laywoman (upasika) named Shanyi. Yet the Buddhist canon’s meaning is vast and deep; it speaks much of the nature of mind (xinxing) and little of life-practice (minggong), so it is not something a beginner can easily take up. As for female Neidan (internal alchemy) in the Profound School (Daoism), it is often scattered through various parts of the Daoist Canon (Daozang), without order and without a dedicated book. Faced with a sea of literature, one truly does not know where to begin.

Overestimating her ability, she excerpted passages from the classics and gathered material on female alchemy into about a hundred pages, which she read to her mother—partly to dispel loneliness, partly to encourage secret cultivation. While fulfilling filial duty and bringing joy to her mother, she also obeyed her mother’s command: from what she had collected on female alchemy she drew out the points where male and female practice differ and agree, copied them into a separate volume of about five thousand characters, and gave it the title Discourse on the Similarities and Differences between Male and Female Alchemical Practice (Nannü Dangong Yitong Bian), keeping it on her desk so that male and female methods would not be confused—a mistake that invites strange illness and the ridicule of those who only talk emptily. Knowing she could hardly avoid others’ censure, she dares not claim this was for the public good or for fellow seekers.

Collection of Female Alchemy Classics — related entries

In the spring of the guimao year of the Guangxu reign (1903), Zhuyang Nüshi (Lady of Bamboo Sun) Yan Zehuan Yanqing wrote this account herself.

On the Similarities and Differences Between Male and Female Alchemy

Compiled by Zhuyang Nüshi Yan Zehuan Yanqing

Collated by Xianjing Nüshi He Weilie Quanzhen

Revised and edited by Chen Yingning of Wanjiang

Collected Sayings

Sun Yuanjun says in his commentary on the Kun Jue (Female Secret):

The Commentary on the Judgment of the Book of Changes states: “How sublime is the primal Kun! All things receive life from it.” The Kun trigram belongs to old yin; when yin reaches its limit, yang is born. If one follows the way of Heaven, the myriad things are generated; if one follows it in one’s own person, one can attain the Dao and become an immortal.

The ancient mother Xiangyi said:

When men cultivate, they usually begin with the initial work of zhuji (laying the foundation of practice). Women’s practice differs from men’s: in men, yang flows downward and is lost; in women, yang rises upward. Men’s bodies are hard; women’s are soft. Men use the yang essence in the dantian (energy center in the lower abdomen), guarding and storing it so it is not leaked outward; after long accumulation, they refine it with the “fire talisman” (inner alchemical fire of intent), transforming essence into qi, qi into shen, and shen into emptiness, step by step until the work is complete and they can ascend as immortals.

Women are not the same: women’s bodies are inherently yin and turbid, made of blood; they transform their temperament through the “spiritual fat of the breasts” (in female alchemy, milk is the metaphorical basis of refinement). With sustained circulation and refinement, naturally “red turns back to white” (menstrual blood’s color shifts from red to white, a metaphor for successful refinement), and blood becomes qi. Once blood has become qi, one still uses the fire talisman to refine further, so that qi returns to pure yang, completes the Dao, and returns to truth.

Women’s initial work first refines form and substance, then refines the original yuan; unlike men, who first refine the original yuan and then form and substance. Because bodily nature differs, the methods differ. Unless teachings are divided into separate gates for each, how could yin and yang be created and transformed so that men and women cultivate together in mutual support? Once form and substance are true, … (the original text continues here)

Section 1

When a woman first begins practice, she must first refine the physical form and only then refine the original yuan; this is the opposite of men, who first refine the original yuan and then refine the physical form. Because male and female constitutions differ, the order of effort also differs. If these are not explained clearly by category, how can one speak of creating and transforming yin and yang, or of men and women attaining the Way together? Someone might ask: the body is already mine—why must I still “refine the form”? Because a woman’s body belongs to yin and is turbid by nature, unlike a man’s body, which partakes of yang vigor; without smelting and training, blood cannot be transformed into qi, so how can one gestate the pre-heaven and give birth to true qi? Without true qi, the body remains purely yin—how then can one return the elixir and complete the Great Way? Therefore a woman must first refine the form before she can proceed further.

Section 2

The Way of the female adept (nüzhen) differs greatly from that of men. The man’s Way emphasizes “refining the medicine,” so the earlier steps have already been explained; if one applies effort morning and evening with sincere diligence, so that the blood of the five viscera all returns and becomes qi, true qi can naturally be generated. Only after true qi arises in secret can the turbid yin body turn into pure yang; when effort reaches this stage, one can “apply fire and move the talisman,” and only then is the practice comparable to the man’s. If categories are not distinguished, how can the work take effect? Thus the man first refines medicine then form, while the woman first refines form then medicine—constitutions being different, the sequence differs. In establishing the teaching for disciples, I must make the order explicit, so that students do not go astray.

Section 3

In female elixir practice, the principle is simply: the woman first refines the form, then refines the medicine. Constitutions being divided, the order of work before and after differs. In legislating the teaching for disciples, I must give separate, clear instructions so that learners are not shortchanged.

Section 4

Female elixir practice is not complicated in principle, and in operation it is not especially difficult. The reason scriptures seldom transmit women’s cultivation is largely that in the past there was no “dual ferrying of men and women” (men and women attaining together and guiding one another). In spreading the teaching now, I truly wish both men and women to be doubly ferried, so I add a section for women after the elixir books.