《悟真篇注疏》Vol. 2

From formlessness, form again arises and becomes formless. Yet the formless can produce endless transformations, so change has no end. This is the secret working of Heaven. How could I dare say more, lest careless disclosure bring misfortune?

The commentary explains: At first, form arises from the formless. This refers to the external medicine—the fundamental conditions by which the medicine is formed in cultivation—relying on emptiness and the Qi of the True One, the pure, original Qi, to bring substance out of what has no substance. It does not mean using something already material to create form anew. Later, form becomes formless. This refers to the internal medicine, formed within the practitioner by means of the external medicine. It is taken into the Five Viscera, and the substance of the limbs and the whole body is refined into Qi. To say that “the formless can transform” means that, once both the inner and outer medicines have been perfected, one proceeds to refine Qi into Shen and preserve the primordial origin for nine years. Upon entering the realm of formlessness, transformation becomes impossible to fathom. If a person can understand this supreme Dao of “bringing being forth from nonbeing,” they can cultivate transformation step by step.

Three

Do not cling to the alchemical furnace and waste your effort. To refine the medicine, seek the Crescent-Moon Furnace, shaped like a half-moon. The body already possesses a natural True Fire that nurtures the medicine; why borrow firewood, charcoal, and bellows?

The notes explain: Ye Wenshu identified the space between the two kidneys as the Crescent-Moon Furnace, but this is mistaken. Some identify it with the two eyes, yet refuse to reflect on their own error and instead teach others this mistaken path. This is truly wrong. The furnace’s opening faces upward, and its shape resembles a half-moon; hence it is called the Crescent-Moon Furnace. It is also the Northern Sea, a metaphor in Daoist Neidan for a particular place within the body. The primordial ancestral Qi is present there, and within it is a natural True Fire. What need is there for firewood, charcoal, or bellows?

The commentary explains: The Jade Calyx that grows in the Crescent-Moon Furnace is the external medicine of the Yin Furnace. What is discussed here, however, is the internal medicine of the Northern Sea. Both are borrowed metaphors. The language of cultivation is circuitous and layered. Without guidance from a true master, one who clings only to these terms will find it difficult to grasp their deeper meaning. The “natural True Fire” is the True Fire already present in furnaces and cauldrons of every size in the world. It should be gathered into oneself and used to refine the Golden Elixir of Returning Cinnabar, the elixir produced through internal alchemical cultivation. It does not refer to Yin Qi within the body.

Four

The Crescent-Moon Furnace gives rise to the Jade Calyx, while the mercury in the Cinnabar Cauldron settles into calm stability. Only when the firing times and measures are properly balanced can the Yellow Sprout, the first sign of the internal medicine, be planted and gradually grow to maturity.

The “Crescent-Moon Furnace” refers to the Yin furnace, which contains Yang Qi as delicate as a jade pistil—that is, the Tiger’s resonant Qi. The “Cinnabar Tripod” refers to the Yang tripod, which contains Yin Qi like mercury—that is, the Dragon’s resonant Qi. The Golden Elixir forms entirely through the harmonizing and coordination of these two resonant energies at the proper stage of heating. This plants the sprout of “True Unity,” allowing it to grow in the “Yellow House” until it finally congeals into an elixir pearl the size of a millet grain.

Five

Swallowing saliva and taking in breath are things people commonly do. But only a genuine seed can make all things grow. If the tripod has no true seed, it is like boiling with water and fire in an empty pot.

The commentary explains: What people in the world call swallowing saliva and taking in breath consists entirely of acquired, postnatal substances that are wholly Yin; it is not the true practice of taking in Qi. To take in Qi properly, one must first “subdue the Qi” and only then take it in. The scripture says: “Subduing the Qi is not the same as taking in Qi; to take in Qi, one must first subdue it. Taking in Qi cannot bring long life; to attain long life, one must first subdue the Qi.” This is the principle being expressed.

The Qi of True Unity is blended into a deep, dark obscurity, indistinct and difficult to discern, so it is hard to find. The sages use methods of cultivation to bring it forth. Thus they see essence within the depths and see things within the indistinct; then, through transformation and refinement, they forge the Elixir. Taking it into the Dantian (energy center) enables all things to come into being. That is why one says that only what is real can make all things grow: it contains the true seed. Without the true seed, every undertaking is futile. What use is water and fire heating an empty pot? This true seed is what is called “True Lead.”

The commentary says that circulating the Golden Liquids—essence, Qi, and saliva in internal alchemy—raises them to the brain, then sends them from the upper palate into the Dantian. This is also swallowing saliva. Using the true Qi of Yin and Yang outside the body is breath absorption. This does not mean that swallowing saliva or absorbing breath is wrong; rather, without the true seed, these practices alone will have no effect. Without the true seed, what is swallowed is only pure Yin essence, and what is absorbed is only postnatal Qi, the Qi formed after birth. If the inner self lacks the postnatal mother Qi, the true Qi of Heaven and Earth’s Yin and Yang cannot join and condense with one’s own child Qi.

“Subdue” is like a cat crouching over a mouse, pinning it down so that it dares not move. “Swallow,” by contrast, is like a fish taking in water: the water enters and then flows out again, unable to remain. Another explanation holds that “subdue” means to conceal the Qi of Heaven and Earth so that it condenses into an Elixir. After breathing Qi into the Dantian, one coordinates Yin tally and Yang fire—the terms in internal alchemy for regulating Yin and Yang and the firing times—to gather the Qi of Heaven and Earth, nourish the restored Elixir of Golden Liquids, and ultimately form the sacred embryo, the perfected body produced by the completion of internal alchemy.

Six

Only by harmonizing lead and mercury can one refine the Elixir. Neither the great nor the small is harmed; each of the two powers remains intact. If one asks what true lead is, it is the toad’s radiance, a moonlike brilliance that shines throughout the day over the Western River, a direction that here has a technical meaning in internal alchemy.

The commentary explains: When the dragon (a metaphor for Yang and Fire) is set in motion, Fire Mercury rises and dances; when the tiger (a metaphor for Yin and Water) is guided into motion, Water Lead glimmers. The Qi of Yin and Yang mingles and transforms, condensing into a grain of primordial Qi the size of a millet seed. How could it be harmed? Hence the saying: “Though they differ in size, both kingdoms can be preserved.” The dragon’s greater size and the tiger’s smaller size symbolize Yang’s exalted status and Yin’s subordinate one.

The Golden Elixir forms when the essences of Metal and Water in the upper and lower lunar arcs—the waxing and waning crescents, which symbolize the Qi of Yin and Yang—condense together. It is therefore called True Lead. “Moonlight” is the essence of Metal and Water and belongs to Yin. The phrase “shines on the Western River all day long” describes the meeting of moonlight and sunlight, symbolizing the union of Yin and Yang. “West” is the direction associated with Metal among the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), while “river” refers to Water. Ancient practitioners used the image of Metal and Water Qi meeting on the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month and condensing into the essence of Golden Fluid to explain how the Golden Elixir forms.

The waxing crescent of the moon symbolizes Water, and the waning crescent symbolizes Metal. At sunrise, the waning moon appears in the east as a half-circle of golden light; it then rises to the south and disappears in the west at noon. The waxing moon, by contrast, appears in the west at noon as a half-circle of watery light; it then rises from the east and reaches the south at sunset. When these two half-circles of light come together, Metal and Water seem complete and shine throughout the day. This is a metaphor for the dragon and tiger joining, as the Qi of the two lunar arcs mingles and forms the Golden Elixir. Hence the saying: “If you ask what True Lead is, it is moonlight shining on the Western River all day long.”

The commentary says: At the “first quarter,” the Moon and Sun shine upon one another from above and below, which may be compared to daylight. Here, the image refers to a state in which the Qi of Metal and Water is exceptionally pure. At the “full moon,” the Moon faces the Sun, which may be compared to nighttime. Here, the image refers to a state in which the Qi of Metal and Water is exceptionally abundant. In its pure state, there is Qi but no material form; in its abundant state, material form remains invisible, yet seems almost to be present.

At the first quarter, Metal and Water each appear in part and remain hidden in part; at the full moon, Metal and Water are completely joined as one. By taking these changes as models, the practitioner can refine the Golden Elixir.

Earlier, the text says, “At the first quarter, Metal weighs half a jin,” but here it says that the first quarter belongs to Water. Earlier, it says, “At the last quarter, Water weighs half a jin,” but here it says that the last quarter belongs to Metal. We can see from this that “Metal weighs half a jin at the first quarter” refers to the unlit half of the Moon, which belongs to Metal; “the first quarter belongs to Water” refers to the illuminated half, which belongs to Water. The white half belongs to Metal, and the dark half to Water. The two accounts alternate to show that at the first and last quarters, Metal and Water each make up one half, together forming the wondrous “two-eight” proportion. The same applies to the last quarter. Those who do not understand this subtlety may find the passage puzzling.

Seven

Before the reverted Elixir—the Elixir formed through Neidan cultivation—has been refined, there is no need to retreat into the deep mountains. True Lead cannot be found anywhere, inside the mountains or beyond them. This supreme treasure is present in every household; people in the world simply have not fully recognized it.

The commentary says: The Dragon is not in the Eastern Sea, nor is the Tiger in the western mountains. Everyone possesses within themselves the foundation needed for cultivation. By reversing the way ordinary people use it and cultivating in accordance with the Dao, one may hope to refine the reverted Elixir.

Eight

When a bamboo vessel breaks, it should be mended with bamboo; to hatch a chick, one should use an egg. Using all manner of unrelated things will only waste effort. Better than those methods is to let “True Lead” accord with the essential method transmitted by the sages.

The commentary says: If a bamboo vessel breaks, is it suitable to mend it with metal, wood, or some other material? Only a bamboo patch can restore it to wholeness. If a chick is about to hatch, is it suitable to cover it with clods of earth or stones? It must be hatched from an egg before the chick can be heard breaking through its shell.

The Perfected Tao said: “When bamboo breaks, it must be joined with bamboo; when wood breaks, it must be mended with wood. A leaking roof should be covered with tiles; when a person is weakened, one should begin with what is of the corresponding kind.” If one does not use things of the same kind in cultivating the Dao, one’s efforts will be in vain. The Cantong qi says: “Things of the same kind are easy to work with; things of different kinds make it difficult to achieve a subtle result. If you wish to refine the art of taking the elixir and becoming an immortal, you should use things of the same kind.”

Human beings are born by receiving the numinous Qi of Heaven and Earth. “True Lead” is the mother Qi of Heaven and Earth, and it must be nurtured within something of the same kind. A person’s own True Qi is like the child Qi. When True Lead joins with one’s own True Qi, this is the subtle correspondence between things of the same kind. Thus it accords with the profound essential method transmitted by the sages and with the natural Great Dao.

The commentary says that the Perfected Tao was named Zhi. The subtle, refined Qi he transmitted is called “True Lead”: the mother Qi present at the beginning of Heaven and Earth’s formation. It rests within things of its own kind, where it is nurtured and brought to completion. My own true Qi is the child Qi. When True Lead and true Qi unite, this expresses the profound principle of kindred things joining together and accords with the esoteric workings of the most sacred sages and the great Dao of nature.

The commentary also says that the Perfected Tao, named Zhi, left behind A Separate Record of Three Grades of Supreme Medicines, which was secretly passed down through the world. On the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the first year of the Baoli era under Emperor Jingzong of the Tang, he ascended to Heaven in broad daylight from the Immortal Mei Fu’s Terrace on the Great Plum Peak of Mount Siming, in Yin County, Mingzhou, eastern Zhejiang. An inscription remains beneath the terrace.

Nine

In refining the Elixir, one must use True Lead, not ordinary lead; after using True Lead, one must also cast it aside. This is the true, wondrous secret of using True Lead. The saying “use lead, yet do not use lead” truly conveys the principle.

The commentary says that ordinary lead is a turbid substance formed after Heaven and Earth came into being, while True Lead is the true One Qi formed before Heaven and Earth. A person’s original Yang true Qi dissipates day by day and cannot gather on its own to form the sacred embryo—the Neidan produced through cultivation. Therefore, the sages refine True Lead, subdue it, and condense it into cinnabar. Then, day after day, they regulate the fire and gradually add Mercury. As the Mercury increases, the Qi of Lead gradually disperses. This is the subtle art of “drawing out Lead and adding Mercury.”

After ten months of firing, the revolutions of the sixty hexagrams come to an end. The Qi of Lead then rises and scatters in flecks, like dust seen when sunlight shines through a bright window. After nine years of cultivating the One, the original Qi is entirely dispersed, leaving only pure dry Mercury. When the Qi of Lead is spent and the Mercury has also been refined away, it transforms into the Golden Liquid Great Return Elixir. The cultivator’s body becomes pure Yang, and their lifespan equals that of Heaven. Thus it is said, “having used True Lead, one casts it aside.” “Use lead, yet do not use lead” is no empty saying. Those who hear of the great Dao and cultivate to this stage should remember their teacher’s kindness and vow to attain the Dao in repayment; to betray the teacher’s words is to betray Heaven and Earth.

Ten

The principles of emptying the heart and filling the belly are both profound. The cultivator empties the heart in order to understand the original mind. Yet it is better first to refine Lead to fill the Dantian, then guard the “gold filling the hall” gathered within the body—a metaphor for the Jing and Qi gained through cultivation.

The commentary says, “mercury” refers to a person’s Jing and Qi. Guarding Jing and Qi makes the body full, like a hall filled with gold and jade. “The One” refers to the Elixir. Embracing and holding to “the One” makes the mind empty and still, leaving nowhere for distracting thoughts and mental grime to settle.

When a person is empty and still, the body may not remain firm for long. Lead must therefore be refined to control mercury and stabilize the body. Once the body is full, the mind must in turn remain free of attachment, so one must embrace and hold to “the One,” returning the mind to emptiness and stillness. To fill the body, one must first refine lead to control mercury. After Jing and Qi have gathered and the body has changed, one then embraces and holds to “the One” to empty the mind. When the mind is empty and the body has become wondrously subtle, one can unite with the Dao and reach a state in which body and mind are formless and unobstructed. Each of these two principles has its own subtlety; their methods differ, yet they lead to the same goal. Without the insight of a great sage, they are difficult to comprehend. “Gold filling the hall” refers to the Jing and Qi throughout the whole body.

A practitioner seeking to refine lead and fill the body must avoid dissipating Jing and Qi while refining lead. If Jing and Qi are insufficient, the returned Elixir cannot form.

The subcommentary says that “abiding in emptiness and stillness” means that someone who understands the nature of one’s innate nature can make the mind empty and still, but cannot yet make the body firm. They must therefore refine lead to regulate and strengthen the body. “The body is full” means that someone who cultivates the Way of life can protect and strengthen the body, but cannot yet make the mind empty and still. They must therefore embrace and hold to “the One,” returning the mind to emptiness. Understanding one’s nature and cultivating one’s life should be undertaken in sequence. Only after both nature and life have been cultivated can they be integrated without obstruction, allowing one to unite with the Dao and realize the truth. Nature and life must not be conflated; nor should one cling to verbal doctrines, heterodox techniques, or one-sided methods of cultivation.

Eleven

In a dream, I paid homage at Xihua, the western immortal realm, and came before the Perfected Ones of the Nine Heavens. They taught me the Treatise on Pointing to the Mystery. Its principles are plainly stated in few words: it teaches only the refining of mercury and lead.

The commentary says that Gao Xiangxian once wrote: One day, his hun and po souls suddenly rose to Jade Capital, the celestial realm where the Heavenly Emperor dwells. The Lord took pity on him and commanded the Perfected One of Western Florescence, an immortal in Daoist tradition, to teach him the essentials of alchemical cultivation. His song says, in brief: Shū Tōng followed Wei Boyang, and together they laughed as they entered the “Realm of No-Thing,” a mysterious state beyond worldly affairs, where one practices Wuwei (non-action). Drawing on the Lianshan, one of the ancient works on the Yijing, they composed the Cantong qi, making it a classic of the alchemical Dao that would endure for ages. The song begins: “Heaven and Earth are the gateways of the Yijing. The Dao of Heaven brings forth the male; the Dao of Earth brings forth the female. People do not understand true Yin-Yang, and all under Heaven wander in confusion, searching for the Dragon and Tiger.” These words make many points, but ultimately they teach people to distinguish the true Dragon from the true Tiger in order to refine Lead and Mercury. Shū Tōng’s surname was Chúnyú.

The subcommentary says that the Zhixuan pian is written in an elegant, archaic style and deals specifically with Lead and Mercury. The passage quoted here, however, comes from a song by Gao Xiangxian. The author selects its main points to show that the method of awakening to the Dao is the same as that described in the Zhixuan pian and in this song.

The song says: The Yellow Emperor visited Guangchengzi in a stone chamber on Mount Kongtong and only then began to grasp the essentials of the mysterious teachings, though he still did not understand them fully. Later, he went to Mount Emei in Shu to visit the Heavenly Perfected One and the Perfected One of the One Reality. In cultivation, one should first open the “Wuji Gate,” a concealed term for inner alchemical elements represented by Wu and Ji, including the central palace and Spleen Earth. Within the gate are Metal and Water, the foundation of the Yellow Sprout, the first sign that the inner elixir is forming. The Yellow Sprout is the mother of all things. When the mother Qi gives birth to a child, it becomes the cauldron and vessel: the foundation in which the elixir is nurtured during Neidan (internal alchemy).

When the Sun’s hun and the Moon’s radiance meet, one rising and the other descending, the Mysterious Pearl, the numinous Qi cultivated in Neidan, begins to move of its own accord. It flies to Kunlun, here a key upper aperture within the body. To obtain it, one must rely on “Wangxiang,” a method of cultivation that responds through spiritual intent without clinging to outward signs. Once obtained, the Mysterious Pearl returns to the Crimson Palace, the Dantian (energy center) of the heart or the abode of the heart spirit. There it is gently nurtured until the skin grows rosy and white hair turns black; one may even be removed from the register of the dead. After ninety days, the practice is complete, and it is as though one could leave traces on Mount Qiao.

The song also says that Shū Tōng and Wei Boyang entered the Realm of No-Thing together and, drawing on the Lianshan, composed the Cantong qi, which was passed down as the king of the alchemical Dao for all ages. Heaven and Earth are the gateways of the Yijing: Heaven belongs to Yang and symbolizes the male; Earth belongs to Yin and symbolizes the female. People do not understand true Yin-Yang, so they search everywhere for the Dragon and Tiger. The Sun belongs to Li, and the Moon to Kan. The Yin and Yang Qi of Sun and Moon unite; the Golden Crow, symbol of the Sun, disappears, and the Jade Rabbit, symbol of the Moon, appears. All things arise through the response between Heaven and Earth. The two Qi of Yin and Yang mingle, and the union of man and woman follows the same principle. Cultivation should accord with the changes between day and night and with the patterns of nature; there is no need to check the firing times rigidly at every moment. Gathering the medicinal ingredients and taking the medicine each have their proper timing, and must be done with care and secrecy. The passage concludes by explaining that the Zhixuan pian is quoted here to clarify Mercury and Lead.

The Dao gives rise to a single Qi (vital energy) from emptiness, and this Qi divides into Yin-Yang. When Yin and Yang unite, they form the Three Powers of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity. Their ceaseless transformation gives birth to all things, which flourish as a result.

The commentary says: The Dao is originally empty, yet it can give rise to Qi with form. Qi seems substantial, yet at its root it is formless. Being and nonbeing interact, and thus give rise to “the One.” Hence the saying: “The One gives birth to Two; Two gives birth to Three; Three gives birth to the myriad things.” All things carry Yin on their backs and embrace Yang; the two Qi mingle and harmonize.

Before things take visible form, the harmonizing Qi of Yin and Yang cannot be seen. Once they take form, the light and clear Qi belongs to Yang, while the heavy and turbid Qi belongs to Yin. Yang Qi transforms into Heaven, and Yin Qi into Earth. The two Qi mingle, and Heaven, Earth, and humanity together form the “Three Bodies”—that is, the Three Powers—from which all things are born. The Book of Changes says: “When the Qi of Heaven and Earth mingle, all things are nurtured and brought to maturity; when male and female unite, all things multiply.”

Those who attain the Dao investigate these mysteries, trace them back to their source, and perceive their transformations. They can therefore return to the root and source, reverse and harmonize the workings of creation. They take as their Elixir the original Qi from which Heaven and Earth were formed, and as their Fire the refined Qi of Yin and Yang. They refine the body until it returns to a single Qi, then refine the Qi until it returns to emptiness. Their spirit then becomes one with the Dao: subtle, mysterious, and formless, changing without limit and appearing or vanishing beyond prediction. Such a person is called a perfected person.

The subcommentary says: The Elixir is the mother Qi; Fire is the refined Qi. Mother Qi is the state before refined Qi has divided, while refined Qi is what mother Qi becomes after dividing. Fire and medicine are, as the saying goes, one and the same. The true One, the mother Qi, is hidden within the spirit and essence of Yin and Yang and cannot ordinarily be seen directly. By seeking the true essence within Yin and Yang, one can obtain the Qi of the true One. Shi Xinglin says: “The medicine is precelestial Qi; Fire is the essence of the sun. Understand how to gather the medicine and use Fire, and you will see the Elixir form in stillness and concentration.” Wang Dao adds: “Fire is the medicine’s parents; the medicine is Fire’s offspring.”

The Yang Qi within Kan flashes like lightning, refining Metal and Water. Fire rises from Kunlun. When the two forces of Yin and Yang are harmonized and brought together, the Elixir forms naturally, and its fragrance spreads throughout the body.

The commentary explains that this chapter describes the images and methods of cultivating Neidan (internal alchemy) and Waidan (external alchemy). “Kan lightning” refers to fire within water, also called Yin Fire. It is symbolized by the tiger and is known in alchemical terminology as the Mysterious Gate, where Yin and Yang meet and the elixir is formed. Here, the tiger uses the fire within Yin to cook the Qian Dragon. The Qian Dragon then responds by kindling fire from Kunlun, the place in the body where the movement of Qi rises and unfolds. When the two fires unite, the essence of True Unity naturally congeals. If gathered and taken at this point, it can harmonize the body’s limbs and bones and produce a fragrant, delicious flavor.

The Cantong qi says that when golden sand enters the five viscera, its medicinal power spreads like mist, moving like wind and rain and steaming through the limbs. The complexion grows lustrous, white hair turns black, lost teeth grow back, an old man regains the vigor of his prime, and an old woman becomes like a young maiden. This is what is meant by true fragrance filling the whole body.

After taking the elixir, one must continue to circulate the Yin-Yang talismanic fire: the tiger uses the fire within Yin to refine the Mysterious Gate, while the dragon responds by kindling fire from Kunlun. When the two unite, Golden Essence naturally circulates upward from the Weilü, at the base of the spine, passing through the paired passes of the Jiaji in the middle of the back and reaching the Niwan, the upper Dantian in the head. It then descends bead by bead through the Chonglou, the region of the throat. Its flavor is sweet and its fragrance unsurpassed; naturally, it fills the whole body with radiance.

The commentary explains that the earlier account of the tiger cooking the Qian Dragon with Yin Fire, and the dragon responding by kindling fire, speaks in general of the two fires associated with the inner and outer medicines. The account that follows distinguishes them: the tiger’s Yin Fire refining the Mysterious Gate refers to the fire of the outer medicine, while the dragon’s answering fire from Kunlun refers to the fire of the inner medicine. The inner and outer fires of the tiger and dragon share the same names but refer to different things in practice. When the two fires unite, True Essence congeals; when the two medicines combine, Golden Essence circulates. The congealing of True Essence completes the external elixir, while the circulation of Golden Essence completes the internal elixir. Thus the phrase “fire kindles at Kunlun, Yin and Yang” means that the dragon’s fire encompasses both the inner and outer forms of Yin and Yang.

If Li and Kan—the Li and Kan trigrams among the Eight Trigrams—lack the two kinds of Yin-Yang earth, Wu Earth and Ji Earth, then although they contain the Four Symbols, emblems of changes such as Yin-Yang and the Five Phases, they still cannot form the Golden Elixir. It is precisely because Li and Kan each contain true earth and join with one another that the Golden Elixir can return to its origin and restore its source.

The Cantong qi says that Ji Earth within Li symbolizes sunlight, while Wu Earth within Kan symbolizes the moon’s essence. Wu and Ji are true earth, each residing within the Dragon and Tiger, metaphors in Daoist Neidan for the two Qi of Yin and Yang. Hence the text says, “Each harbors true earth.” Without the Qi of earth, the Dragon and Tiger could not bring the Four Symbols together, nor could they congeal into an elixir. Because each side has its own Qi of earth, the two kinds of earth unite to form the daogui, a symbol of the congealing of Neidan. Thus, when Dragon and Tiger join, Wu Earth and Ji Earth become one; once Wu and Ji unite, the Four Symbols come together and form the elixir. The Perfected Lü said, “The meeting of the two things is the foundation of cultivation; only when all Five Phases are complete and joined can it be called attaining the elixir.” This is what he meant.

Li belongs to Yang, while Ji belongs to Yin. Fire is born from the second of Earth and completed by the seventh of Heaven, and contains the fifth earth. Fire is dark within and bright without; Li is hollow at its center, symbolizing Yin within Yang. Kan belongs to Yin, while Wu belongs to Yang. Water is born from the first of Heaven and completed by the sixth of Earth, and also contains the fifth earth. Water is dark without and bright within; Kan is solid at its center, symbolizing Yang within Yin. Metal is within Kan and Wood within Li, together forming the Four Symbols. Wu Earth flows out from Kan, while Ji Earth corresponds to Li; each contains true earth. When the Four Symbols come together, the two kinds of Yin-Yang earth, Wu and Ji, also unite as one, completing the Five Phases. Through this return to the origin and restoration of the source, and through the “seven returns and nine reversions,” a Neidan term for the return and refinement of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases, the Golden Elixir is refined.

The sun is in Li’s position, yet Li is called “female”; Kan corresponds to the Toad Palace, the moon symbolized by the toad said to live within it, yet Kan is called “male.” If you do not understand the principle by which Yin and Yang reverse and correspond with one another, do not make grand pronouncements based on superficial understanding.

The commentary says: The crow in the sun belongs to Yin, so it is called the “Li maiden”; the rabbit in the moon belongs to Yang, so it is called the “Kan man.” If one does not understand the subtle principle by which Yin and Yang reverse and transform, but merely indulges in empty talk and lofty claims, one is like someone peering at the sky through a bamboo tube, with a narrow view.

The explanation says: “Reversal” means not taking Yin as only Yin, but drawing Yang out from within Yin; nor taking Yang as only Yang, but drawing Yin out from within Yang. Yin as Yin and Yang as Yang is the ordinary course of Yin and Yang. Drawing Yang from Yin and Yin from Yang, by contrast, reverses Yin and Yang and makes use of Heaven and Earth’s power of generation and transformation. Few people in the world understand this principle of the Five Phases transforming into one another and Yin and Yang serving as each other’s function. Hence it is said, “When the Five Phases reverse, the Elixir’s substance can endure in luminous awareness.” The saying “It is all because the son gives birth to the mother” expresses the same principle. Rabbits in the world are all female, but the rabbit in the moon alone is said to be male. Legend has it that it conceived by gazing at the moon, and so the moon rabbit is considered Yang.

Sixteen

Take the solid Yang line from the center of the Kan trigram, which symbolizes Water and Yang contained within Yin, and move it into the abdomen of the Li palace, which symbolizes Fire and Yin contained within Yang. The inner Yin line of the Li trigram is thereby transformed, forming the body of the Qian trigram, which symbolizes pure Yang and strength. Whether hidden or soaring, all is governed by the mind and spirit.

The commentary says: The Li trigram is Yang on the outside and Yin within; the Kan trigram is Yin on the outside and Yang within. Among female rabbits, the rabbit in the moon alone is said to be male. Legend has it that it conceived by gazing at the moon, and so the moon rabbit is considered Yang.

Note: When the Li trigram, Yang on the outside and Yin within, joins with the Kan trigram, Yin on the outside and Yang within, the Yang line at the center of Kan is taken out and placed at the center of Li, forming the pure Yang Qian trigram. The Golden Elixir, for example, is an utterly Yang substance called the “Yang Elixir,” condensed in the Northern Sea. When brought together with the Yin Mercury within oneself, it can transform the body into one of pure Yang. From then on, the timing of the fire, the withdrawing and adding, and the advances and retreats are all governed by one’s own intent.

Some people take gui-dan to be something found within Kan. In fact, gui-dan is a tangible substance that exists only after Heaven and Earth have come into being; it is not the primordial Qi that existed before their formation. To regard the heart and kidneys as Kan and Li is to stray far from the true Way of Heaven and Earth.

Commentary: The Qian trigram’s six lines, from their hidden state to their flight, serve as a metaphor for the rapid shifts in controlling the fire, withdrawing and adding, and advancing and retreating. Chapter Forty-Seven of the Cantong qi distributes the six lines of Qian across six trigrams, marking six stages in the firing process. As for gui-dan, some people take women’s menstrual blood; some collect women’s floral essence; others take the Qi of boys and girls. These are all tangible substances that exist after Heaven and Earth have come into being. Even if a person’s Qi is pure, it still belongs to the Yin category. How could it kindle a body of pure Yin and transform it into a pure Yang immortal?

Some people think that “using a person to replenish a person” means replenishing with something of the same kind, but they do not understand that the power by which Heaven and Earth govern all things constitutes our nature, while the Qi that fills all things constitutes our body. When a person first receives Qi and comes into being, is it from between the two kidneys or from the birth passage? The numinous root of Heaven and Earth and the sacred mother of Yin and Yang are the source of transformation; these alone are truly of the same kind.

Seventeen

The Dragon Mercury in the Zhen trigram arises from the Li direction, and the Tiger Metal in the Dui trigram is produced from the Kan direction. Both arise through the “son” producing the “mother.” For the Qi of the Five Phases to be complete, they must enter the center.

The commentary says, “‘Mercury’ corresponds to the Dragon of the Zhen trigram and belongs to Wood. Wood can generate Fire, so Wood is the mother of Fire and Fire its child. This is the ordinary sequence of the Five Phases. Cinnabar belongs to Fire and corresponds to the Li trigram. Mercury comes forth from cinnabar, so Fire gives rise to Wood in reverse; this is why it is called ‘the child giving birth to the mother.’ The Song of Perfected Tai Bai says, ‘In the art of reversing the Five Phases, the Dragon emerges from within Fire.’ This is precisely the principle at work.

“The Immortal Elder says ‘mercury is born from Li,’ rather than ‘mercury is born from cinnabar,’ because the mercury within cinnabar is called ‘true mercury,’ also known as ‘mercury within Fire.’ He uses the name ‘true mercury,’ and so speaks only of mercury, not cinnabar.

“‘Lead’ corresponds to the Tiger of the Dui trigram and belongs to Metal. Metal can generate Water, so Metal is the mother of Water and Water its child. This is the ordinary sequence of the Five Phases. Black lead belongs to Water and corresponds to the Kan trigram. Silver comes forth from black lead, so Water gives rise to Metal in reverse; this is why it is called ‘the child giving birth to the mother.’ The Song of Perfected Tai Bai also says, ‘When the Five Phases do not follow their ordinary sequence, the Tiger is born within Water.’ This, too, expresses the same principle.

“The Immortal Elder says ‘lead is born from Kan,’ rather than ‘silver is born from lead,’ because the silver within lead is called ‘true lead,’ also known as ‘lead within Water.’ He uses the name ‘true lead,’ and so speaks only of lead, not silver.

“Mercury and lead transform into one another, forming the Four Images—the four symbols of change among Yin-Yang and the Five Phases. The Four Images converge at the center, forming the Five Phases. When the Five Phases unite, the Golden Elixir can take shape. Hence the saying: ‘The Five Phases must all enter the center.’ Here, ‘the center’ means the central palace, or Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate).

“Later commentators explain the heart, kidneys, Qi, and bodily fluids as the Dragon and Tiger, lead and mercury. They say that kidney Qi belongs to Water, and so ‘the Tiger is born within Water’; heart fluids belong to Fire, and so ‘the Dragon emerges from within Fire.’ The commentator considers this explanation child’s play. If it is taken as the principle for refining the Great Elixir, would that not depart from the original meaning?

“Someone in the subcommentary asks me: ‘Those who cultivate life all take the heart and kidneys to be the Dragon and Tiger, lead and mercury. They say the Dragon is the heart’s fluids and that, since the heart belongs to Fire, “the Dragon emerges from within Fire.” The commentator considers this explanation child’s play. Does that mean that seeking to refine the Great Elixir would contradict it?’”

Someone asked me: “Those who discuss nourishing life all compare the heart and kidneys to the Dragon and Tiger, and Qi and fluid to water and fire. They hope these will rise and descend, mingle and unite, and congeal into an embryo. The Zhong-Lü Chuandao Ji compiled by Shi Jianwu also says that Qi is generated in the kidneys and contains the true One Water, while fluid is generated in the heart and contains the Qi of True Yang. The ingredients for Neidan come from the heart and kidneys; brought together and united, they accumulate day by day until they congeal to the size of a millet grain. This is called the great medicine of the Golden Elixir. Yet the preface to the Wuzhen Pian says that the heart and kidneys must be regarded as Kan and Li, respectively, for the Reverted Elixir to form. Is that not a very different account? In his commentary on the poem ‘Taking Kan and Li,’ Wumingzi says that treating the heart and kidneys as Kan and Li takes one far from the great Dao of Heaven and Earth. In his commentary on this same poem, he also says that treating the heart and kidneys, or Qi and fluid, as the Dragon and Tiger, Lead and Mercury, is practically child’s play. So are the heart and kidneys, and Qi and fluid, not the great medicine of the Golden Elixir?”

I replied: “Perfected Yangzheng says that the heart and kidneys are not water and fire. But if we do not know what water and fire really are, how can we understand them? Shi Xinglin says that Qi does not arise from the kidneys, and that Shen does not reside in the heart. Perfected Daoguang says that when seeking the root of the Dao, one should not focus only on the heart and kidneys. Chen Niniwan says that the heart and kidneys are not originally Kan and Li. The Zhong-Lü Chuandao Ji speaks of the heart and kidneys, and of Qi and fluid, as mother and child, husband and wife, using them as analogies for Lead and Mercury, the Dragon and Tiger, and Kan and Li. In fact, these are simply ways of using the heart and kidneys within the human body to explain Qi and fluid, then using indirect analogies to clarify Yin-Yang and its subtle workings. Those who have not received the true transmission take these analogies literally, and so stray far from the Dao. Why not further reflect on what the Zhong-Lü Chuandao Ji says: ‘Neither substance nor function is separate from Yin-Yang; all transformations of creation arise through union.’ How penetratingly it is put!”

The moon has just risen above the horizon, bright and half full. Sounds like the Dragon’s growl and the Tiger’s roar have already begun. This is the right time to practice and cultivate, grasping the “two eights”—the timing of Yin and Yang’s union. If one can master the timing within a single double-hour, the elixir can be refined.

The commentary explains that the “half-moon” refers to the number eighteen. The Immortal Elder uses the Dragon and Tiger—terms in alchemy that often represent the two forces of Yin and Yang—to stand for two eights; together they make “two eights.” At this point, the source of the medicine is utterly clear: it has Qi but no physical form. In the course of a year, there is only one day; within that day, only one double-hour; and each double-hour is divided into six phases. In practice, only two of those phases are needed to refine one Golden Elixir, which is then ingested. The remaining four phases have other wondrous uses. These are secrets of Heaven, not written in books, but passed on through oral instruction and personal transmission. The Immortal Elder did not dare set them out plainly, for fear of revealing them. Instead, he alluded to their meaning in verse, saying only in general terms: “Within one double-hour, the Elixir is completed.”

Ye Wenshu did not understand this principle or grasp its meaning. He said that the medicine needed time to be refined, and could not be completed in just one double-hour. At a loss as to what the passage referred to, he relied on his own guesses and added an unfounded explanation—a truly laughable result. If alchemy is not completed within one double-hour, then the work must be stretched over a long period. How could that be called the simplest and easiest method? This mysterious path is beyond the knowledge of ordinary people in the world.

I respectfully note that, according to Record of the Great Elixir’s Fire Timing, when the sage first begins the work of cultivation and refining “Lead”—an internal-alchemy term for the medicine or vital energy used in the process—he takes the Qi mechanism of the complete circuit of the primordial whole, before Heaven and Earth were differentiated. He also takes all thirty-six thousand of the proper numbers, gathers them in the cauldron of Qian and Kun, symbolizing Heaven and Earth, and brings them together at the place of life and death. The sage takes up the numerical principles of Heaven and Earth, the sun and moon, Dragon and Tiger, generation and transformation, Yin and Yang, and the Five Phases, and refines one Golden Elixir within a single double-hour. The pill is the size of a millet grain, yet weighs one catty. It is supremely numinous, precious, sacred, and divine; its method of refinement is supremely simple and easy. It is the original essence of Heaven and Earth and the sovereign of the body. Alchemy may be said to take up the workings of Yin and Yang throughout Heaven and Earth: the cosmos seems to be held in one’s hands, and the transformations of all things seem to arise from oneself. Through this practice, the cultivator becomes a perfected immortal and gains audience with the Supreme Emperor. Thus the Immortal Elder’s words, “Within one double-hour, the Elixir is completed,” are no false claim; this passage is proof.

The commentary further explains that “half-moon” means “eighteen.” The “eight” of the waxing moon belongs to Metal and represents Yang; the “eight” of the waning moon belongs to Wood and represents Yin. When the two eights of Yin and Yang are brought together within one double-hour, a Golden Elixir is refined. This is a secret method personally transmitted by the immortals, concerning the mysterious workings of Heaven and Earth. People of the world should not make guesses about it.

There are many explanations in the world for what “one moment” means. Some calculate it by withdrawing De, withdrawing Wu and Ji, or withdrawing Gui and Jia. Others base it on the month’s governing branch, the month general, the direction indicated by the Celestial Dipper, the winter solstice, the stirring of Yang Qi, or the descent of Gui Water. Some say it means the mind returning to the central palace, the seven celestial bodies converging, or the Five Phases gathering together. Others invoke the phases of growth, flourishing, and storage of the Five Phases; Jia, Geng, Bing, and Ren; three days and four divisions of time; the living Zi hour; the time of one’s birth; or the hour of reverse birth. Still others determine “one moment” by the sun and moon reaching their proper centers, facing one another or joining like paired discs, the union of heart and kidneys, the boundary between Hai and Zi, the three origins of Earth’s Qi, the waxing and waning moons, the positions of the stars, the stars governing the sun and moon, or the hour established by the seven origins. All these explanations claim that Yin and Yang join from a particular moment, and that one should practice accordingly. Yet those who have cultivated by these methods have not become immortals.

These people do not understand what “within one double-hour, the Elixir is completed” means: the Elixir is refined within that very double-hour and can be ingested as soon as it is complete. Why calculate and stretch the process over a long period?

Nineteen

On Mount Hua, the male tiger roars; beneath the sea at Fusang, the female dragon sings. Each day, the Yellow Matron—the force that symbolizes balance at the center and brings Yin and Yang together—joins them, making them husband and wife, united in heart and being.

The commentary explains: Mount Hua lies in the west, where the moon rises, and so symbolizes the tiger. The male tiger is the tiger’s “string Qi,” the Yang within Yin, and is therefore called the “male tiger.” Fusang lies in the east, where the sun rises, and so symbolizes the dragon. The female dragon is the dragon’s “string Qi,” the Yin within Yang, and is therefore called the “female dragon.” The dragon and tiger dwell in the east and west, while the Yellow Matron balances them at the center, bringing them together as husband and wife. From their union arise the Mysterious Pearl and Yellow Sprout, symbolic terms in internal alchemy.

The explanation says: The Seal of the Unity of the Three (Cantong qi) calls the dragon the husband and the tiger the wife, distinguishing male from female according to the way the two things overcome one another. The Treatise on Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian) speaks of the male tiger and female dragon, distinguishing them according to how their Yin and Yang intermingle. Thus, the dragon and tiger may be described as male or female in different ways depending on the point being made; neither description can be applied universally.

Twenty

The White Tiger of the western mountain charges fiercely, and the Azure Dragon of the eastern sea is equally unstoppable. Seize them both and make them clash violently; in the end, they transform into a mass of purple-gold frost, a symbol of the Golden Elixir.

The commentary explains: This passage uses external imagery. For an explanation, see the note on “When the Five Phases are complete, the tiger and dragon coil together” in the earlier regulated verse. Purple-gold frost means the Golden Elixir. The Daoist internal alchemist Liu Haichan said: “With your left hand seize the Azure Dragon by the head; with your right hand pull the White Tiger by the tail. Bring them together and swallow them. Consider how sweet this thing is! Examine it closely: it is simply gold within water. To understand its mystery is to grasp the true principle.” These words make the meaning clear. Someone who has never heard of the Great Dao might speculate wildly and take “both hands” to mean one hand gripping each of the two beasts. That would be entirely mistaken.

Twenty-one

The Red Dragon and Black Tiger dwell apart in the east and west; the Four Images, symbols of the elements of internal alchemy such as Yin and Yang and the Five Phases, meet within Wu and Ji. Through this, the hexagrams Fu and Gou—symbols of the waxing and waning of Yin and Yang—are put to use. How could the way of the Golden Elixir fail to succeed?

The commentary says: The east belongs to the Azure Dragon and corresponds to Wood. Since Wood generates Fire, the Azure Dragon’s string-like Qi belongs to Fire. Fire resides in the south and is red in color, so it is called the “Red Dragon.” The west belongs to the White Tiger and corresponds to Metal. Since Metal generates Water, the White Tiger’s string-like Qi belongs to Water. Water resides in the north and is black in color, so it is called the “Black Tiger.” The Red Dragon is also called the “Maiden,” and the Black Tiger the “Metal Lord.” These two symbols are likewise like mercury in cinnabar and silver in lead.

The union of the Red Dragon and the Black Tiger means that the Qi of the two strings meets—that is, the Qi of the four directions, east, west, south, and north, comes together. The Four Images (symbols formed through the interaction of Yin-Yang, the Five Phases, and other forces) mingle within the true Wu-Ji Earth (the Earth of the Spleen, or the fundamental Earth at the center), and congeal into a true Elixir the size of a millet grain. Gather it into the five inner organs, allowing its breath to permeate them and flow through the limbs. Then let it enter Mount Kunlun (a common Neidan term for a high point within the body), so that the Eight Waters (the body’s fluids or related movements of Qi) all come to pay court. Next, at the time of the Returning Hexagram, advance the Yang Fire; at the time of the Gou line, withdraw the Yin Talisman. In this way, circulation, drawing out and adding in (adjusting the firing process and Yin-Yang), proceeds naturally and remains properly measured at every point. The Great Way of the Golden Elixir may then soon be perfected. The original commentary repeats this passage.

The subcommentary says: The Dragon’s string-like Qi belongs to Fire, and the Tiger’s to Water. It also says that Fire in the Golden Tripod is called the White Tiger, while Water in the Jade Pool is called the Azure Dragon. This shows that Yin and Yang have no fixed positions, and Water and Fire no fixed forms. They can be used in relation to one another and continually transform; their subtle principles are inexhaustible.

Twenty-Two

One should first observe the signs in the heavens and understand the “Five Thieves” (the forces at work through the interaction of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases). Then one should examine the lay of the land and bring stability to the people. Only after the people are settled and the country is prosperous can one speak of waging war; only after the war has ended can one encounter the sage.

The “five thieves” mentioned in the commentary correspond in Heaven to the five stars, on Earth to the Five Sacred Peaks, and in the human body to the five constant virtues. In my view, they also correspond to the five directions, the five organs, and the five kinds of human temperament. In the myriad things, they include the five tones, the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), the five colors, the five metals, the five grains, the five fruits, and the five flavors.

The Scripture on the Hidden Talisman (Yinfu Jing) says: “Heaven has five thieves; those who see and master them will prosper.” If people can discern these transformations and cultivate by reversing their ordinary course, they can take the workings of Heaven and Earth into their hands and bring the transformations of the myriad things to manifestation within themselves. To understand the advantages of the land, one must keep the people at peace. The people are the foundation of the state; only when that foundation is secure can the state be peaceful and prosperous.

Thus, the sage likens himself to a state, the Elixir—the Neidan (internal alchemy) gained through cultivation—to its ruler, fire to its ministers, and Jing and Qi to its people. A person cultivating Neidan who observes the Dao of Heaven, masters the five thieves, cultivates in reverse, and draws upon Yin-Yang Qi before returning it to its source can seize the essence of “True Unity” and establish the Yin Mercury—the Yin nature of vital energy, in the terminology of internal alchemy—firmly within. When Jing and Qi are secure, the foundation of cultivation is solid, and one can prevail even after enduring trials. Therefore, if the regulation of the firing process is without error, then after ten months of effort, cultivation will be complete: one will be reborn through spiritual transformation and become a perfected immortal. Thus, only after victory can the sage be seen.

Twenty-Three

When regulating the firing process, one must distinguish the left and right armies. Let the other side occupy the principal position and oneself the guest position. I urge you not to underestimate the enemy when going into battle, or you may lose your own priceless treasure.

The commentary says that this chapter concerns the regulation of the firing process. “General” refers to the firing process; the left represents gentle fire, and the right, strong fire. The sage compresses a year’s firing process into a single month.

This commentary explains the role of “fire timing” in alchemical cultivation. Here, “fire” refers to the methods for applying fire timing. “Gentle fire” is mild and slow; “strong fire” is more forceful. “Left” symbolizes gentle fire, while “right” symbolizes strong fire. Practitioners must compress the fire timing of a whole year into a single month, then compress the timing of a month into a single day.

The six double-hours from Zi hour to Si hour belong to Yang and symbolize the rising energy of spring and summer, so they are called gentle fire and Yang fire. The six double-hours from Wu hour to Hai hour belong to Yin and symbolize the gathering, austere energy of autumn and winter, so they are called strong fire and Yin Talisman.

“Let the other take the lead, while you remain the guest” means making Yang the host—forceful and eager to contend—and Yin the guest—yielding, still, and free of contention. Practitioners should remain yielding rather than assert their strength, and keep still rather than compete for victory. This is an attitude of caution in the face of danger. The art of war says, “Use rest to await the weary,” and also, “Make the other act according to your arrangements, while you remain free of their control.” These sayings express the same principle.

The application of the Dao depends on fire timing, and the proper use of fire timing depends on the practitioner. Mastering fire timing is like a guest paying a visit to a host: one must be respectful and cautious in coming and going, and dare not act rashly. Practitioners must understand this: first use a clepsydra, a device for keeping time, to determine the hours and distinguish Zi hour from Wu hour; then establish the basis for alchemical transformation according to the changes of Yin and Yang.

The Yin Talisman and Yang fire correspond respectively to the sequence of Yin and Yang and to the arrangement of fire timing. Practitioners must incorporate the changes of the sixty-four hexagrams into the Yin Talisman and apply the progression of the twenty-four solar terms to Yang fire. They must grasp the key to changes in celestial timing, so that the pivot of the Earth’s movements, too, can be directed by the mind. Then they gather the essentials of the seventy-two pentads in the cauldron and collect the vital energy of the three thousand six hundred days of the year within the embryo. Here, “cauldron” and “embryo” are metaphors in Neidan cultivation for the process of cultivating body and mind and gathering true Qi.

The application of fire timing must follow a method: withdrawing and adding, advancing and retreating must proceed in order. Once the process begins, one must guard against danger and anticipate risk, allowing not the slightest error. Only then can one accord outwardly with the sequence of Yin and Yang and give rise inwardly to the “True One” body—a Neidan term for pure, unified Qi or the inner foundation. If one’s attention is careless and the seasonal markers fall out of order, the “Maiden” may escape and disperse. This Neidan term often refers to the Jing or Shen that must be regulated during cultivation. The numinous embryo in the cauldron will then fail to coalesce, and one will ultimately lose the priceless treasure of the Returned Elixir. When practitioners of alchemical cultivation face such a perilous juncture, how could they fail to remain yielding and still, or proceed rashly?

Fire is originally born within Wood. Though it holds a sharp force in reserve, it must not be probed and driven without restraint, or it will turn and burn you. Trouble often begins this way and ultimately harms the self. One must learn to subdue it and seek the “Golden Lord” (Jingong), a Neidan term for the Metal nature that restrains and gathers.

The commentary says that Fire is born from Wood, but when its force grows excessive, it turns around and burns the wood. Jing and Qi arise within the body, yet the reckless stirring of desire can cause them to dissipate. Without restraint, trouble will harm the self. One must therefore find a way to subdue it and draw on the power of the “Golden Lord.” Master Lü says: “Fire is set in motion through the seven apertures—the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and other openings. Guard these passages closely; do not let it burn the River Cart, the path along which Jing and Qi circulate.”

The subcommentary explains further: Wood is like the human body, and Fire is like primordial Qi. Primordial Qi is stored within the body to nourish and protect it; if it is squandered carelessly, the body will be harmed. To subdue the agitated Qi within, one must draw on the restraining power of the “Golden Lord of Heaven and Earth.” In this way, one can cultivate the root, form the sacred embryo—the embryo of the Elixir in Neidan cultivation—and attain long life and enduring vision.

“Golden Gentleman” (a symbol in alchemy for the nature of metal and metallic substances) was originally the child of the family in the east. He was sent to be raised by the western neighbors, and it was there that he grew up. Recognize him, call him home, and care for him there; then bring him together in marriage with the “Maiden” (an alchemical symbol for another ingredient or a feminine force).

The commentary explains that this meaning has already been discussed in the regulated verse above, for example in the line, “Lead the White Tiger home and raise it there.” In Golden Elixir cultivation, many symbolic functions and transformations are at work: there is Yin within Yang, and there is Yang that is also Yin; there is Yang within Yin, and Yin that is also Yang. The Yin-Yang and Water-Fire within correspond with those outside, and each has its own arrangements. Both the inner and outer realms also have three natures, four images, and the Five Phases, which interact in their operation. These symbolic configurations undergo repeated transformations, too numerous to describe fully in words. The author says that only by personally receiving the subtle instructions and reflecting on them with care can one understand them; without guidance from a genuine master, it is difficult to grasp them completely. He wrote this poem to explain the matter further, giving one example and leaving readers to understand the rest for themselves.

The explanatory notes say that he has already distinguished and described in detail the repeated transformations of Yin and Yang in writings such as Images of the Golden Elixir Method.

The twenty-sixth poem says: “The Maiden travels back and forth by different routes. The journey outward should be short, and the return journey long. When she comes back, she enters the dwelling of the Yellow Matchmaker (an alchemical symbol for the force that harmonizes and brings things together), who gives the Maiden in marriage to the Golden Gentleman, so that they become husband and wife.”

Here, the language of marriage and returning home depicts the movement, harmonization, and union of different symbolic forces in alchemy.

“Maiden” refers to mercury, or quicksilver; “mercury fire” means applying the proper timing and intensity of the fire in working with mercury. Its movement follows different routes: moving forward is the action of the external medicine, while moving backward is the action of the internal medicine. Since each action follows its own route, the text says, “Each follows its own course.”

When the sages begin refining the elixir, they apply the mercury fire for no more than half a double-hour. This is enough to obtain the “essence of the True One” and refine an elixir the size of a millet grain, which they then swallow. Hence the saying, “The forward course must be short.” After swallowing the elixir, they continue their cultivation by applying the mercury fire; this takes ten months of work. Hence the saying, “The backward course must be long.”

“Yellow Mother,” in the symbolic system of Neidan (internal alchemy), refers to the spirit chamber where the golden embryo resides. “Golden Elder” refers to true lead, while “old bridegroom” symbolizes pure Yang. True mercury, carried by the external fire’s operation, flies into the spirit chamber and joins with true lead. They merge and transform into a body of pure Yang. Hence the saying, “She marries the Golden Elder and makes him an old bridegroom.” “Returning” means gathering it into the central palace, the place at the center of the body where Neidan is cultivated.

The commentary explains further that the fire of the external medicine is called mercury fire, and the fire of the internal medicine is also called mercury fire. In cultivating the external medicine, mercury fire brings things together, thereby generating true lead. In cultivating the internal medicine, one’s own mercury fire joins with the mercury fire from outside and combines with true lead to form the sacred embryo. For this reason, both are collectively called “Maiden,” and the text says that each follows its own course. The mercury spoken of here is the material substance quicksilver; the scripture also uses quicksilver as a symbol to describe its circulation throughout the body.

Even if one knows cinnabar and black lead, without understanding the timing and intensity of the fire, all one’s efforts are in vain. The key to refining the elixir lies, by and large, entirely in the work of cultivation. The slightest error is enough to prevent the elixir from forming.

The note says that the Golden Elixir’s formation and transformation depend entirely on “Ding Gong” (here referring to mastery of the key principles of the fire’s timing and intensity). The smallest deviation in the fire’s operation can lead to a vastly different result. Therefore, although the sages pass down the ingredients, they do not readily pass down the methods for managing the fire. Their details must be discussed carefully with the immortals.

Cinnabar and black lead are not tangible substances. Here they refer to the True Dragon and True Fire, symbolic terms in Neidan practice. Understanding this is not enough: without mastering the proper timing and measure of the Fire, one still cannot refine the Elixir. Guang Ci says, “Even when three people share the same purpose, they must still be watchful of danger. I will explain the work of advancing the Fire with care.” The Mud Pill Poem says, “Without fellow practitioners to remind and correct one another, you may not realize until you awaken that the Fire in the crucible has gone astray.” Thus cultivation often depends on true fellow practitioners. If the timing and measure of the Fire are even slightly off, the Elixir cannot be formed. One must meet a true teacher to understand the Great Dao. The heart-transmitted formulas for the timing and measure of the Fire are not written down; their hidden workings are profound and kept secret by Heaven. If, through a connection formed in a past life, you encounter them, you should begin cultivating at once.

Twenty-Eight

The Song on the Treatise of the Concordance of the Three speaks of the true principle: the timing and measure of the Fire are not set down in writing. To learn the formulas that link and penetrate the mysteries, one must investigate them carefully together with the divine spirits.

The commentary says: There are six hundred chapters on the timing and measure of the Fire, all kept secret by Heaven. If, through a connection formed in a past life, you encounter them, you should begin cultivating at once.

The commentary says: These six hundred chapters on the timing and measure of the Fire are alike in content, interlinked with one another, and aligned with the seasons of Heaven. Since the workings of Heaven are secret, the sages do not write them down and pass them on. When you meet a true teacher, do not act rashly.

The exposition says: There are six hundred chapters on the timing and measure of the Fire because a month is counted as sixty hexagrams, and ten months therefore make six hundred chapters. The claim that “the chapters are alike” means that the principle is the same each day. This can be seen, broadly speaking, by reading the Cantong qi once.

Twenty-Nine

On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the moonlight is at its finest. This is when the essence of Metal—the refined energy of Neidan practice—is flourishing. When, at the Zi hour, the Yang energy begins to revive, one should advance the Fire without delay.

The commentary says: On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the energies of Metal and Water are flourishing; at the Zi hour, the Yang energy begins to revive. The work of the Fire in both Neidan and Waidan should advance together, without missing the moment.

The exposition says: The fifteenth day of the eighth month is the full moon, at its very center. On the fourteenth, it is still somewhat early to view the moon; on the sixteenth, it is already a little late. The full moon comes at just the right time, symbolizing what is fitting and balanced.

Thirty

When the Yang energy first stirs, it is time to begin refining the Elixir. The lead cauldron grows warm, its light reflecting on the curtains. It is easy to grasp the moment when the Qi first arrives, but afterward one must be especially careful in adjusting, increasing or decreasing, and applying the timing and measure of the Fire.

The commentary says: The sages probe the marvelous and seek out what is hidden, silently observing when the essence of Metal is flourishing. When the Yang energy first stirs, it is time to begin refining the Elixir; the lead cauldron grows warm, its light reflecting on the curtains. It is easy to grasp the moment when the Qi first arrives; thereafter, one must be especially careful in making adjustments, increasing or decreasing, and applying the timing and measure of the Fire.

The sage probes what is hidden and subtle, silently observing change. Knowing that the Golden Essence—the refined Qi spoken of in Neidan practice—is flourishing, at the moment when the first Yang stirs, the sage captures the dragon and seizes the tiger, regulating Yin and Yang so that Jing and Qi unite. The sage applies the proper measures of gentle and strong fire, guiding the true Qi of the Great One, the original Qi, into the Lead Cauldron, the symbolic furnace and vessel used in alchemical practice. Yin and Yang Qi interact in the Central Palace, the area regarded as the body’s center, and nourish a pill the size of a millet grain, whose light shines through the curtains. The Elixir can be obtained in less than half an hour. It is said to be easy to acquire at the beginning, when one first receives Qi.

After obtaining the Elixir, one must apply the Yin Talisman and Yang Fire, symbols of the waxing and waning of Yin and Yang in Neidan practice. Only after ten months of work can the Elixir Qi pass through the stages of Fu, Lin, Zhong, and Kun, moving in response to the changing trigrams, such as Thunder and Wind. The firing process must be adjusted in rhythm from morning to evening and from the beginning to the end of each month, in an unbroken cycle. At this time, the practitioner’s heart should be like withered wood and the mind like dead ashes: cautious and guarded, with no rash movement. Only then can the outer changes of Yin and Yang be brought into accord with the inner firing process, gradually producing Golden Liquor. The Golden Liquor rises in reverse along the Tail Gate, the key aperture at the base of the spine, to the Muddy Pellet, the cultivation aperture within the head; it then descends through the Many-Storied Tower, the throat, and returns to the Earth Cauldron of the Dantian, the symbolic furnace of the lower Dantian. This is the return of the Elixir through Golden Liquor. Its effects are hard to describe. How, then, could one fail to be cautious and guard against danger when regulating the firing process?

The Mirror for Compounding the Medicine (Rujing) says, “Receiving Qi is auspicious; guarding the city is dangerous.” These words express precisely the principle at issue here. The “Fu” and “Kun” that follow refer to the full course of Yin waning and Yang waxing over the twelve months of the year. “Thunder” and “Wind” refer to the moon’s six stages within a month, from its first appearance in the Zhen trigram to its gradual fullness in the Xun trigram. “Tun,” “Meng,” “Ji Ji,” and “Wei Ji” correspond to the beginning and end of the changes in the trigram lines across the twelve double-hours of a day and the thirty days of a month. The work of applying the firing process must accord with the rhythms of Heaven.

Thirty-One

The Mysterious Pearl, the pill of Neidan practice, has a visible form and grows along with Yang Qi. When Yang Qi reaches its height, Yin Qi begins to wane, and the form of the Elixir gradually becomes apparent. After ten months, the Elixir matures at the time of Frost’s Descent. At that moment, even spirits and ghosts are astonished.

The return of the Elixir through Golden Liquor takes visible form because, from the Winter Solstice onward, Yang Qi gradually grows, and the practitioner advances the Yang Fire accordingly, allowing the substance of the Golden Liquor to grow with it. After the first Yang is born, Yin Qi begins to grow, so the practitioner advances the Yin Talisman, causing Yin Qi gradually to wane. Only in the tenth month, at the time of Frost’s Descent, is the Elixir fully mature. The practitioner is reborn and transformed in spirit, becoming an immortal of pure Yang, enough to leave spirits and ghosts astonished and in awe.

Thirty-Two

After the first quarter and before the last quarter, the nature of the medicine is balanced and its aspects are complete. Once gathered and placed in the furnace, it is refined; after refinement, it must still be gently nourished until it matures naturally through the sustained firing process.

On the thirtieth day, the moon symbolizes the “metal of the Yang Soul,” associated with the sun, having been entirely depleted, while the “water of the Yin Po,” associated with the moon, fills the lunar disk. The moon is therefore completely dark, without any light. At this time, it takes the image of the Kun trigram, and is called “darkness.”

On the dark day and the first day of the month, the moon and sun travel together, rising and setting at the same time. On the second day, the moon begins to appear by borrowing the sun’s light, then gradually separates from it. At sunset on the third day, a crescent moon appears in the western Geng position: within pure Yin, a thread of sunlight emerges. This symbolizes the Yang Soul arising within the Yin Po, and takes the image of the Zhen trigram. At this time, the metal of the Yang Soul has just begun to grow, like the first sprout of the elixir.

On the eighth day, the second Yang line appears, taking the image of the Dui trigram. The Yang Soul within the Yin Po has now grown halfway, and the moon’s face is straight like a cord; this is why it is called the “upper bow.” Before the upper bow, the phase belongs to Yin; after it, to Yang. With Yin and Yang each at half, this symbolizes obtaining eight ounces of metal from water. The flavor is balanced and the overall aspect complete.

On the fifteenth day, all three Yang lines are present, taking the image of the Qian trigram. The water of the Yin Po has now vanished, and the metal of the Yang Soul fills the lunar disk. The moon is full, symbolizing pure Yang without Yin, and is therefore called “full moon.” Yet when Yang reaches its extreme, Yin begins to arise. On the sixteenth day, one Yin line emerges within the purely Yang lunar disk, symbolizing the Yin Po arising within the Yang Soul. This takes the image of the Xun trigram, and the moon gradually wanes.

On the twenty-third day, the second Yin line appears, taking the image of the Gen trigram. The Yin Po within the Yang Soul has now grown halfway, and the moon’s face is straight like a cord; this is why it is called the “lower bow.” Before the lower bow, the phase belongs to Yang; after it, to Yin. With Yin and Yang each at half, this symbolizes obtaining half a catty of water from metal. The flavor is balanced and the overall aspect complete.

The sages gather the essence of these two kinds of “two-eight metal and water” and place it in the furnace of Creation to refine it into the “Qi of True Unity.” It transforms into an elixir the size of a millet grain, which is then taken into the five viscera. There, it is further tended and refined through the regulated application of the fire’s warmth. In the end, it becomes the Golden Elixir of Returning the Elixir in Liquid Form. The entire process depends on the advancing and withdrawing, drawing out and replenishing of Yin Talisman and Yang Fire. The slightest error in the timing of the fire prevents the elixir from forming. In this chapter, the Immortal Master repeatedly urges practitioners to carry out the refining themselves, and he does so for good reason.

The commentary says: “‘Two-eight’ takes its image from the changes in metal and water as the moon travels; the ‘six phases’ take their image from the six stages of the moon’s waxing and waning. Metal belongs to Yang, and water to Yin. The aspects of the upper and lower bows symbolize the timing of the Yin and Yang fires. Five days make one phase, corresponding to the number of the Five Phases. Before and after the upper bow, the text describes the alternation of Yin and Yang; the same is true before and after the lower bow. Half a catty of metal and half a catty of water together make ‘two-eight.’ Each of the upper and lower bows contains this same measure of metal and water. The sages gather the essence of metal and water from both bows; because the elixir’s flavor is balanced and its overall aspect complete, it can form an elixir.

People often mistakenly think that the elixir should be gathered on the full-moon day. At full moon, the lunar disk is complete, taking the image of Qian-Jia, the time when one catty of Yang metal fills it. The subtle method of ‘two-eight,’ however, is difficult to understand without meeting a true teacher. Each of the upper and lower bows yields eight ounces of metal and water, and both contain the profound principle of metal and water matched in the ‘two-eight’ proportion.”

Thirty-third

The Eldest Son (the Zhen trigram, symbolizing the Azure Dragon) has just drunk the wine of the West, while the Young Maiden (the Dui trigram, symbolizing the White Tiger) has just opened the flowers of the Northern Garden. If the Blue Maiden (the Crimson Maiden, referring to the fire of Mercury or one’s own true Qi) then meets with the Dragon and Tiger, they must immediately be sealed within the Yellow House (the central palace, the mysterious pass of the crucible).

The commentary says that wine belongs to Yin, conceals Yin energy, and is called Yin Fire; flowers belong to Yang, conceal Yang energy, and are called Yang Fire. The Blue Maiden and Crimson Maiden symbolize the fire of Mercury. Practitioners of the Elixir summon the Azure Dragon to come and unite with the White Tiger. The White Tiger then opens the flowers of the Northern Garden and joins with the Azure Dragon; the Azure Dragon drinks the wine of the West and unites with the White Tiger. After the Dragon and Tiger meet, the Blue Maiden’s fire of Mercury is brought together with the three kinds of fire represented by the Dragon and Tiger. Once they have blended, they must immediately be sealed in the central palace of the Yellow House, so that the essence of the True One may form and the Golden Elixir be refined into the returned elixir of liquid gold. Here, “Yellow House” refers to the mysterious pass of the crucible.

The explanatory commentary says that the first two lines concern the external medicine: the Azure Dragon conceals Yin energy, and the White Tiger conceals Yang energy. The last two lines concern the internal medicine: the “Blue Maiden” refers to one’s own true Qi, which meets and blends with the two energies of the Dragon and Tiger. Another version interprets the Blue Maiden as the Azure Dragon’s string energy; that interpretation belongs to the external medicine. The poems each have their own particular meaning, so one should not insist that a single name always refer to the same thing. In the Immortal Master’s poem, the line “The Crimson Maiden forms a bond of affection” uses “Crimson Maiden” in a sense equivalent to “Blue Maiden”; the line “The Crimson Maiden travels, each to her own direction” speaks of both the internal and external.

Thirty-fourth

When the months and seasons associated with the Rabbit and Rooster arrive, Punishment and Virtue meet, and signs of the medicine have appeared. At this time, the Golden Elixir must be bathed. If the firing process continues, there is danger of overturning.

The commentary says that the second month corresponds to Virtue, and the eighth month to Punishment. These are the times for bathing, when the firing process should stop. If the firing continues, the returned elixir may be lost.

The commentary says that the present interpretation assigns the second month to Virtue and the eighth month to Punishment. Elsewhere, when discussing the moment when the Suffering and Peace hexagrams first join and all things flourish, the commentary instead assigns the second month to Punishment and the eighth month to Virtue. In the second month, all things are sprouting and growing, embodying the virtue of growth; yet elm seeds also fall, showing that Punishment is present within Virtue. In the eighth month, the season brings decline and killing, embodying Punishment; yet wheat shoots begin to grow, showing that Virtue is also present within Punishment. Thus Punishment and Virtue can be understood in relation to one another.

Thirty-Five

The Sun and Moon meet once every thirty days.

Following the changes of the seasons, use one day as one month.

In defending a city or fighting in the field, discern good and ill fortune.

As numinous cinnabar is continually added, the alchemical cauldron gradually turns red.

The commentary says: The Sun and the Great Yin (the Moon) meet once each month. The sages who cultivate the Way understand this pattern and act in accordance with it, matching the changes of a month to one day, and the changes of a day to one double-hour. “Defending a city” refers to stopping the advance of the fire during the bathing phase. “Fighting in the field” refers to the meeting of the Dragon and Tiger, when Yin and Yang unite. “Numinous work” refers to the timing of the fire’s advance: the skill of mastering the alchemical fire phases.

If Yin and Yang lose their proper order, and the Sun and Moon fail to follow their regular courses, then even if the external fire phases have begun, the internal talismanic timing will come to a halt, and the two will no longer correspond. Those who follow the Way can control the advance and retreat of Water and Fire and discern good and ill fortune, aligning themselves with the movements of the Dipper and the Winnowing Basket constellations to accord secretly with Heaven’s timing. Then the inner numinous embryo will turn of its own accord, and the alchemical cauldron will gradually grow more radiant.

The commentary says: “Using a season to replace a day” means that within a double-hour there are the Zi and Wu periods, whose Yin and Yang beginnings and endings correspond to the movements of Heaven, Earth, the Sun, and the Moon. The Dipper and Winnowing Basket constellations lie in the Gen-Yin direction, in the northeast. Yang Fire begins at Zi; by Chou and Wei it has not yet unfolded. Gen lies in the northeast, not far from the Yin position. The Moon’s Yin aspect is also hidden in the Gen direction, and the Dipper and Winnowing Basket are the places where Fire begins its life. All of this accords with Heaven’s timing. The Cantong qi says, “It begins in the northeast, in the region of the Winnowing Basket and the Dipper.” This is what it means.

As the Sun and Moon turn to the right, the crescent Moon appears in the Zhen-Geng direction. As the fire phases turn to the left, they begin in the Yin position in the first month. The hexagram corresponding to the first month is Peace.

Thirty-Six

When the Suffering and Peace hexagrams first join, all things flourish;

The Receiving and Enveloping hexagrams take in the hexagram’s Qi and receive the workings of generation.

Grasp the principle, and there is no need to cling to the hexagram images;

Insisting on tracing every changing line will only waste the mind’s effort.

(The commentary continues: As the Sun and Moon turn to the right, the crescent Moon appears in the Zhen-Geng direction; as the Sun and Moon turn to the left, the fire phases begin in the Yin position in the first month. The hexagram corresponding to the first month is Peace.)

The commentary says: The winter solstice and summer solstice are the points at which Yin and Yang respectively begin to move; the zi and wu hours are the starting points of night and day. The sages move the Yin Talisman and Yang Fire—terms in Neidan (internal alchemy) that stand for changes in Yin and Yang and the advancing and receding of the firing process—in accord with the Dao of Heaven and Earth’s ascent and descent and the patterns of the sun and moon. They gather into the cauldron—the place of refinement, or the body and mind in Neidan—all the changes of the four seasons, eight seasonal divisions, twenty-four solar terms, and seventy-two pentads. From this arises the substance of “True Unity,” that is, pure and undivided essence and Qi.

The principle is simple, and the work is not complicated; it involves no deliberate contrivance. The ancients therefore used the images of the trigrams and hexagrams to map the practice onto the thirty days of a month, illustrating its subtle workings and timing. The lines and figures of the hexagrams are only tools for explaining the principle. The Zhun and Meng hexagrams stand at the head of the hexagrams, symbolizing the beginning of the firing process and the generation of the myriad things, as well as the source from which creation receives its endowment. Thus, Zhun is used in the morning and Meng in the evening.

The Pi and Tai hexagrams symbolize the ascent and descent of Yin and Yang. At the spring equinox, Yang Qi rises to the space between Heaven and Earth, and Yin and Yang are equally balanced. The weather is mild, neither cold nor hot, so this corresponds to the Tai hexagram and to the conditions around the moon’s first quarter. At this time, Yin and Yang Qi naturally mingle, and the practitioner no longer advances the fire; this is called “bathing.” At the autumn equinox, Yin Qi descends to the space between Heaven and Earth, and Yin and Yang are again equally balanced. The weather is cool but neither cold nor hot, so this corresponds to the Pi hexagram and to the conditions around the moon’s last quarter. At this time, Yin and Yang Qi naturally mingle, and the practitioner no longer advances the water; this too is called “bathing.” The Immortal Elder says: “In the months of the Rabbit and the Rooster, when their time arrives, punishment and virtue come to the gate, and the images of the medicine appear.” “Rabbit” and “Rooster” here refer to the Mao and You months, the second and eighth months: the second month belongs to punishment, and the eighth to virtue. If those who refine the Elixir grasp the essential meaning of these four hexagrams, why bind themselves to the many hexagram lines and exhaust their minds? In his compassion, the Immortal Elder points directly to this shortcut.

The commentary goes on to explain that Pi and Tai are the months of bathing. Of the twelve months in a year, ten are used for forming the embryo, while the other two are for bathing. Zhun and Meng are the hexagrams of the sun and moon; together, their twelve lines symbolize the twelve double-hours of a day. Of the sixty-four hexagrams, the four representing Yin and Yang, male and female—Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li—are set aside. The remaining sixty are used to correspond to the thirty days of a month. The principle that Heaven and Earth rise and fall through eighty-four thousand li reaches exactly twenty-four thousand li at the spring and autumn equinoxes, placing it at the center between Heaven and Earth. This is why the balanced upward and downward positions of Yin and Yang in the Pi and Tai hexagrams are used as a metaphor.

Viewed in terms of the hours of day and night, the second and eighth months have equal hours of daylight and darkness. Viewed in terms of the moon’s phases, Yin and Yang are also equally balanced at the first and last quarters. But when the monthly hexagrams are used to describe the waxing and waning of a person’s Yin and Yang, Tai corresponds to the first month and Pi to the seventh, not to the second and eighth months. The Cantong qi says: “The Great Strength opens the Mao gate; observe mid-autumn to discern the signs of the breath.” According to this account, the second and eighth months correspond to the Great Strength and Contemplation hexagrams.

In his commentary on the Tai hexagram, Perfected Peng says that Yin and Yang Qi are balanced, as when husband and wife unite. In his commentary on Pi, however, he says that Heaven and Earth are at rest and Yin and Yang do not unite. These claims seem contradictory: one says that balance brings union, the other that balance prevents it. The actual principle is that Yin and Yang do not unite when they are equal; they unite when one exceeds the other. They do not unite when Yang is above and Yin below; they unite when Yin is above and Yang below. Once this principle is understood, there is no need to cling to the hexagram lines and exhaust the mind.

Thirty-Seven

The hexagrams of the Zhouyi are simply metaphors and tools for explaining the principles of cultivation. Once you understand their meaning, you should move beyond the literal form and stop clinging to the hexagrams. Yet people who are confused cling only to the hexagrams, follow changes in the hexagram qi, and hope to ascend to the heavens by doing so.

A commentary explains that the hexagrams are like the bamboo fish trap used to catch fish or the snare used to catch rabbits: they are tools that help one grasp the principles. The Perfected Wei Boyang read the Yijing and realized that the workings of Golden Elixir cultivation accord with the principles of the Yijing. He therefore wrote the Cantong qi, using the hexagrams of the Zhouyi to explain the methods of Golden Elixir cultivation and guide later generations.

In the text, Qian and Kun symbolize the cauldron and vessel, while the numinous embryo and spirit chamber symbolize the inner place of cultivation within the Dantian. Kan and Li symbolize the ingredients—the lead and mercury within the numinous embryo and spirit chamber. Qian and Kun are the root of all the hexagrams, while Kan and Li are their essence. These four hexagrams are therefore placed at the center, symbolizing the cauldron and vessel and the ingredients situated in the Dantian. Inner governance can regulate outer changes, so these four hexagrams are not included in the sequence for circulating the fire. The remaining hexagrams are assigned across the month to symbolize the movement of the talismanic fire within the numinous embryo and spirit chamber.

The talismanic fire begins with Tun and Meng and ends with Ji Ji and Wei Ji, then starts over, turning without pause like a wheel. Two hexagrams preside over each day, making sixty hexagrams in thirty days. Add the four hexagrams Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li, which represent the cauldron and vessel and the ingredients, and the result is sixty-four hexagrams and three hundred eighty-four lines, symbolizing the total days of a year, including leap days. This also symbolizes the measure of the Golden Elixir known as “two eight making one jin”: one jin equals three hundred eighty-four zhu. All of this uses the hexagrams simply to explain the principles. Those who understand this can use the hexagrams to grasp how the fire is circulated. Once they understand the method of using the fire, there is no need to cling to the written forms of the hexagrams.

Today, some practitioners do not understand these metaphors and instead cling to the hexagrams, laboriously calculating changes in hexagram qi in the hope of ascending to the heavens by such means. This is truly to abandon the root and pursue the branches. The ancients said that once you have the fish, you can forget the bamboo trap, and once you have caught the rabbit, you can forget the snare. But people today cling to the tools themselves, moving ever farther from the true Dao. Master Zhongli also said: “How could the Great Dao ever be fully expressed in words? Boyang borrowed the Yijing to write the Cantong qi, but later generations failed to understand its metaphors for the cultivation of immortals and mistook the tools for cultivation itself.”

The fullness and depletion between Heaven and Earth follow their own set rhythms. Only by observing their waxing and waning can one grasp the right moment. Since ancient times, the cyclical days Geng, Jia, and Shen have been associated with specific methods of cultivation. If one can use them to eliminate the Three Corpses—spirits said in Daoism to dwell within the human body, prompting wrongdoing and shortening life—then there is hope of attaining the Great Dao.

The diagrams of gua qi (the qi of the hexagrams) passed down in the world assign the seasons of the year to sixty hexagrams and match the number of breaths to each line, showing the patterns of change in water and fire, Yin and Yang. If one clings to the hexagram images and cultivates mechanically by following the diagrams, how could one understand the Great Way of the Golden Elixir? Hexagram images are only tools for grasping the underlying principles.

All sixty hexagrams arise through transformations of the pure Yin and pure Yang figures of Qian and Kun. Among them, Kan and Li receive the Yin-Yang qi at the center of Qian and Kun and occupy their proper positions. Thus Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li are the four most important hexagrams: Qian and Kun are like male and female; they are the foundation, while Kan and Li are their functioning. The sixty-four hexagrams can serve as symbols for cultivation, distinguishing the vessel from the ingredients and encompassing the cycles of the celestial orbit and its firing times—the rhythms of inner cultivation corresponding to the movements of the heavenly bodies. The Way of the Elixir connects with Heaven and Earth, and the hexagram images accord with their transformations. Thus the hexagrams of the Yijing are used to explain the principles of cultivating the Dao.

The fullness and emptiness of Heaven and Earth each follow their own cycles. Heaven and Earth are separated by eighty-four thousand li. On the day of the winter solstice, one Yang energy arises within the Earth and ascends each day by four hundred and sixty li and two hundred and forty paces. Five days make one pentad, three pentads make one solar period, two solar periods make one seasonal division, and two seasonal divisions make one season. By the spring equinox, ninety days have passed, and Yang energy has risen halfway toward Heaven, ascending a total of forty-two thousand li. At this point, half of the Yang energy has emerged within Yin, corresponding to the Tai hexagram (Qian below, Kun above). The weather turns from cold to warm, and living things begin to grow; hence this is called spring.

Yang energy continues to rise. By the summer solstice, one hundred and eighty days have passed, and it has risen the full eighty-four thousand li, reaching Heaven. At this point, Yang gives birth to Yang within itself, becoming the pure-Yang Qian hexagram. The weather turns from warm to hot, and living things flourish; this is called “fullness,” meaning abundance. When heat reaches its extreme, Yin energy begins to arise. On the day of the summer solstice, one Yin energy descends from Heaven, falling each day by four hundred and sixty li and two hundred and forty paces. By the same reckoning of the solar periods, ninety days later, at the autumn equinox, Yin energy has descended forty-two thousand li, reaching the space between Heaven and Earth. At this point, half of the Yin energy has emerged within Yang, corresponding to the Pi hexagram (Kun below, Qian above). The weather turns from hot to cool, and living things bear fruit; hence this is called autumn.

Yin energy continues to descend. By the winter solstice, one hundred and eighty days have passed, and it has descended the full eighty-four thousand li, reaching Earth. At this point, Yin gives birth to Yin within itself, becoming the pure-Yin Kun hexagram. The weather turns from cool to cold, and living things withdraw into storage; this is called “emptiness.” The sages observed the changes in the fullness and waning of Heaven and Earth, and used the Moon’s waxing and waning to express those changes: the Moon is generated by the Sun. On the third day of the lunar month it corresponds to the Zhen hexagram, symbolizing the first emergence of Yang energy; on the eighth, to the Dui hexagram, as Yang energy develops; and on the fifteenth, to the Qian hexagram. The Moon is full, symbolizing the abundance of Heaven and Earth. On the sixteenth it corresponds to the Xun hexagram, on the twenty-third to the Gen hexagram, and on the thirtieth to the Kun hexagram. The Moon has vanished, symbolizing the emptiness of Heaven and Earth.

The sages understood the patterns of waxing and waning in Heaven and Earth, and so could contemplate the changes of the year’s solar periods condensed into a single month. On the first day, Yang energy begins to arise, symbolizing the winter solstice; every two and a half days corresponds to one span of time within the month. At the first quarter, Yin and Yang are equal, symbolizing the spring equinox. On the fifteenth day, Yang energy is full, symbolizing the solar period of the fourth month and the time of pure Yang. Yang energy fills the lunar disk, so this is called “fullness.” On the sixteenth day, Yin energy begins to arise, symbolizing the summer solstice. At the last quarter, Yin is present within Yang, symbolizing the autumn equinox. The thirtieth day corresponds to the solar period of the tenth month, when Yin energy fills the lunar disk; this is called “emptiness.”

Thus the cycle repeats without end. The sages applied the Yang Fire and Yin Talisman, terms in Neidan cultivation for the cycles of advance and retreat of Yin and Yang, following the patterns of fullness and emptiness, ascent and descent, in Heaven and Earth. They also consulted the transformations of the sixty-four hexagrams from Geng to Jia and the principles of the Moon’s waxing and waning. Just as a ruler proclaims commands and clears away Yin demons, so too may the path of cultivation be brought to completion.

There are cycles of waxing and waning in Heaven and Earth, and cycles of waxing and waning in the Sun and Moon. The sage takes the patterns of their movements as a model and uses them to guide the advance and retreat of cultivation. “Geng and Jia” refer to the timing and sequence of advancing the fire, arranged according to the Moon’s waxing and waning. The Moon begins to grow at the Zhen position, which symbolizes the east and the beginning of the month, and gradually becomes full as it reaches the Geng position. At this point, the Qi of the Yin Tally begins to recede, and the Yang Fire begins to advance and grow. When the Moon reaches the Qian and Jia positions, it becomes full and then begins to wane. At this point, the Yang Fire recedes and the Yin Tally advances and grows. This too is the pattern of waxing and waning. Jia belongs to Wood and symbolizes the Dragon; Geng belongs to Metal and symbolizes the Tiger. Jia and Geng thus also embody the image of the Dragon and Tiger.

Thirty-Nine

For the Valley Spirit—the subtle, formless inner spiritual power that can respond—to endure without decline, one must establish a foundation through the Mysterious Female, the primal gateway where Yin and Yang unite and give birth to all things. Once true Jing returns to the Golden Chamber, the inner chamber where true Jing is refined and nourished, it condenses into a luminous pearl that never disperses.

Note: Geng belongs to Metal and symbolizes the Tiger; Jia belongs to Wood and symbolizes the Dragon. This also expresses the pairing of the Dragon and Tiger.

Thirty-Nine

For the Valley Spirit to endure without decline, one must establish a foundation through the Mysterious Female. Once true Jing returns to the Golden Chamber, it condenses into a luminous pearl that never disperses.

Note: The transformations of Yin and Yang are difficult to fathom, so they are called “spirit.” Spirit has no fixed form, yet it can respond and communicate. Like a valley answering an echo, it is therefore called the “Valley Spirit.” Spirit depends on Qi to take shape, while Qi in turn arises from Jing. Jing can generate Qi, and Qi can generate spirit. Qi therefore governs the body’s activity, while the body is where spirit and Qi reside. Without spirit and Qi, the physical form cannot survive; without a physical form, spirit and Qi have nowhere to settle. Jing, Qi, and spirit depend on one another, and life takes shape through their interaction.

To seek long life, one must first establish a foundation through the Mysterious Female; only then is longevity possible. All spirits arise from Jing and Qi, and decline when Jing and Qi are depleted. Jing and Qi are the foundation of Heaven and Earth, the source of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water), the root of Yin and Yang, and the basis of the transformations of all things. The sage cultivates in accordance with this principle and achieves results: the external medicine is transformed through it, and the inner elixir is refined through it as well. True Jing circulates without cease and eventually returns to the Golden Earth Crucible, which symbolizes the inner place of cultivation. There it condenses into a numinous pearl, radiant and undispersed. From there, the process gradually transforms form into Qi and Qi into spirit, attaining a state in which form and spirit are both wondrous, and presence and disappearance are beyond prediction.

Forty

Few people in the world understand the Gate of the Mysterious Female. Do not mistake breathing through the mouth and nose for the foundation of cultivation. Even if you practiced breath regulation for a thousand years, how could you make the Golden Crow, symbolizing Yang, capture the Rabbit, symbolizing Yin?

Note: The Gate of the Mysterious Female is what is called the “Root of Heaven and Earth.” This phrase is exceedingly subtle, yet few people in the world can truly grasp it. Without guidance from a genuine teacher, who could understand its mystery? By relying only on regulated breathing, even if one practiced for a thousand years, how could the Golden Crow, symbolizing Yang, unite with the Rabbit, symbolizing Yin?

The “Gate of the Mysterious Female” is the source from which all things between Heaven and Earth arise. This saying is wonderfully subtle, yet few people in the world can understand it. Without guidance from a true master, who could grasp its meaning? Some, like Ye Wenshu, have described the Mysterious Female as a primordial acupoint between the two kidneys. How could that be a glimpse of Heaven’s secret? And how could it justify rejecting other interpretations? The Mysterious Female refers to the two principles of Yin and Yang. How could it be explained by a single acupoint? Since Heaven and Earth first came into being, how could anything have been generated without these two fundamentals?

The ideas of Neidan and Waidan both arise from this. The sages concealed it under symbolic names such as the “crescent-moon furnace” and the “suspended-womb cauldron,” both terms for alchemical vessels. The Golden Crow stands for the Golden Elixir, and the hare stands for one’s own true Qi. The Golden Elixir subdues one’s own mercurial Qi, like a cat catching a mouse or an eagle seizing a hare, leaving it no chance to escape. If you take the mouth and nose to be the Mysterious Female, then even a thousand years of uninterrupted breathing practices will only make you weaker. How could that enable the Golden Crow to catch the hare and form the sacred embryo, the embryo cultivated through internal alchemy?

“Mysterious” belongs to Yang, and “female” belongs to Yin. The Book of Changes says, “Heaven is dark and Earth is yellow,” and also, “The perseverance of the mare is beneficial to Kun.” Here, “mysterious” is used as a metaphor for Yang and “female” for Yin. They are called a “gate” because all things pass through it as they come into being and perish, and Yin and Yang enter and depart through it. “Furnace” and “cauldron” are metaphors as well.

The Perfected Bao’s Song of the Mysterious Female says, “A bright point lies between the two kidneys.” Later writers therefore identified the space between the kidneys as the Primordial Acupoint. But they failed to see that the two kidneys themselves are a bodily image used to convey a subtle principle: two forms facing one another. Yin and Yang arise from a single source, though they have different names. When they are brought into union, a tiny Elixir Pearl, as small as a millet grain, appears at once. This is the true “Gate of the Mysterious Female.” Some people do not understand the metaphor and take the words of the Song of the Mysterious Female literally, insisting that the Mysterious Female is the space between the kidneys. Others mistakenly identify it with the mouth and nose. Both errors arise from a shallow understanding.

Forty-One

Though their names differ, their source is the same, and few people know the mystery within. Yin and Yang are both unfathomably subtle, and their interplay is the key to cultivation. Understand the way of decrease and increase, and you can preserve life and the body. The purple-gold elixir is the most wondrous.

The commentary says: The Dao De Jing speaks of “the nameless: the beginning of Heaven and Earth; the named: the mother of the myriad things,” and also says, “These two emerge together, though their names differ.” In the formless, imageless state, the Qi of True Unity (the original Qi of Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things) cannot be seen, so it is called the beginning of Heaven and Earth. Once the Qi of True Unity appears, it transforms into millet (here referring to minute material form) and manifests within the empty and mysterious; it then becomes the source of the myriad things.

In Heaven, it is called Li and Mercury; beneath the Earth, it is called Kan and Lead. Their source is the same, though they appear in different forms. Calling these two “the mystery within the mystery” means that in cultivating the Real, one must grasp the subtle workings of Yin-Yang transformation and understand the patterns of increase and decrease within them. Using this understanding to cultivate oneself enables one to preserve the body and safeguard life.

The “two” refers to the two Qi of Yin and Yang. “Decrease” refers to the ordinary course of the Five Phases when they proceed in their normal sequence: through this, the myriad things come into being and also pass away. Ah, the Elixir of pure Yang and purple gold is said to be both the beginning of Heaven and Earth and the source of the myriad things. The commentary calls it the “Purple Gold Elixir” and praises its supreme spiritual subtlety and wonder. This shows how difficult it is to express the Immortal Elder’s admiration and praise.

The commentary says that above, the Li trigram corresponds to mercury and Fire. Fire is hot by nature and rises, so it belongs to Li; Fire is born within Wood, just as sand contains Fire. Heaven belongs to Yang yet conceals Yin Qi: a still, cold Qi descends from Heaven. Below, the Kan trigram corresponds to silver and Water. Water is moist by nature and flows downward, so it belongs to Kan; Metal is born within Water, just as lead contains Metal. Earth belongs to Yin yet conceals Yang Qi: a bright, hot Qi rises from Earth.

Once Heaven and Earth are set in their positions, the sun and moon appear, both formed through the transformation of Water’s Yin Qi and Fire’s Yang Qi. Fire rises, light and clear, bright on the outside and dark within; Water flows downward, heavy and turbid, bright within and dark on the outside. Once Heaven, Earth, the sun, and the moon have taken shape, the Five Phases—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—also form between Heaven and Earth. Striking Metal can produce Fire; when melted, it becomes liquid. Rubbing Wood can produce Fire, while squeezing it can draw out Water. Earth is formed through Fire and nourished by Water. Metal, Wood, and Earth are not themselves formed through the interaction of Fire Qi, yet all contain both Water and Fire Qi. Water and Fire cannot generate themselves, but people can cause them to harm others; Metal, Wood, and Earth cannot harm people on their own either, but their effects arise when people put them to use. The Water and Fire among the Five Phases therefore embody Qi in a relatively complete form.

All things between Heaven and Earth belong to the Five Phases, and the Five Phases belong to Yin-Yang. Yin-Yang, in turn, both arise from Taiji—the original Qi before the differentiation of things. Their source is the same, though their names differ; their foundation is the same because both Xuan and Pin, the sources of Yin-Yang generation and transformation, arise from the true One, Taiji. Yet they appear differently because the Qi of the true One divides into Yin and Yang, each becoming its own Xuan or Pin. Thus their foundation is shared, while their manifestations differ.

Xuan and Pin both arise from the undivided Qi of Taiji. Once forms take shape, each receives a pure nature and its proper place. By cultivating through a reversal of ordinary methods, one can refine the purple-gold elixir, the elixir formed through internal alchemy.

Forty-Two

At the beginning of cultivation, one must act, and people can readily recognize this. But when one enters the realm of Wuwei (non-action), everyone understands its principle. People see only that Wuwei is the Dao’s mysterious subtlety; they do not know that cultivation through action is the foundation of Wuwei.

The commentary says that some people in the world study Buddhist methods for cultivating nature and conclude that all actions conditioned by the world are illusory. They therefore disparage Laozi’s Way of cultivating life. They know only one side and not the other; they have glimpsed the entrance but have yet to enter the hall.

How could they know that the Way of cultivating life begins with deliberate practice, using alchemical refinement to transform the body? In the middle stage, it still involves action: refining the body to refine Qi (vital energy). Only at the end does one enter the free and uncontrived state of Wuwei (non-action). Facing a wall for nine years and embracing the One while guarding the mind serve to bring the mind to emptiness and stillness, allowing one’s nature to appear. Nature is Shen (spirit); Shen and nature are originally one, and their transformations and manifestations have no fixed form. When nine years of cultivation are complete, Qi naturally transforms into Shen, and Shen naturally joins with the Dao (the Way). Thus body and spirit become wondrous together, beyond all measurement. When Shen joins with the Dao, one rises into the formless realm. Once the body has disappeared, how can this be called action or illusion? And how can one insist that nature is not life, or life not nature? If one must distinguish them, one calls them nature and life; brought together, they were never different.

Thus this Way moves from action to non-action, from doing to Wuwei, and from form to the formless. It is exceedingly vast, beyond the understanding of those whose capacities are shallow or middling. Therefore, an Immortal (a Daoist honorific for an immortal being) wrote a poem to warn later students: do not see only the mystery of Wuwei and fail to understand that action and deliberate practice are the foundation for attaining non-action and non-doing.

The commentary says that action and non-action correspond respectively to the cultivation of the nature tradition and the life tradition. They must be cultivated in sequence: first passing through the initial stage, then the middle stage, and finally bringing the work to completion. After forming the Elixir, one must pass through stages such as “ten months of gestation” and “nine years embracing the One.” Only then can the two be brought together and the wondrous formless state attained, allowing one to experience the mystery of the inseparability of life and nature.

People in the world often confuse cultivation of the nature tradition with the Golden Elixir art of cultivating life. They think that by relying on doctrines heard secondhand, abandoning action and clinging to emptiness, they can resist life and death through their so-called “original nature,” and that this is the Golden Elixir. There are many such people, but how could they truly fathom the Way of nature and life?

Forty-Three

Within darkness there is light: this is the mother of the Elixir. Within Yang’s strength lies Yin’s softness. If true emptiness—the stillness that transcends attachment—is based only on hearsay, it becomes dead emptiness. Many people abandon action and cling to nonbeing, hoping thereby to resist life and death; they take this state to be their original nature and the Golden Elixir. How, then, could they truly fathom the Way of nature and life?

White is contained within black; this is the root from which the elixir is produced. The male contains the female within it; this is the sacred embryo, the foundation on which the Neidan (internal alchemy) takes shape. The Great One (the Qi of the True Unity) resides in the crucible and must be guarded with care. When the precious Qi gathers in the Three Fields (the upper, middle, and lower Dantian energy centers), it can correspond above to the Three Terraces, a name for a constellation.

Commentary: Extracting silver from lead is called the “mother of the elixir”; drawing mercury from cinnabar is called the “sacred embryo.” These two substances can respond to and transform the Qi of the True Unity, causing it to coalesce in the Great One’s crucible. Practitioners must carefully regulate the firing process and quietly observe its principles, allowing no error, so that the three qualities may unite and form the elixir treasure, corresponding to the Three Terraces in the heavens. Here, “Taiyi” means the “Qi of the True Unity”; hence the saying, “The Great One contains the true Qi.”

Explanatory note: “Extracting silver from lead” and “drawing mercury from cinnabar” both use external substances as metaphors for the interaction of Yin and Yang. People who do not understand this mistake the phrases for methods of refining and ingesting elixirs, then make arbitrary annotations and write books that mislead many. In his poem “The Golden Tripod,” Wumingzi writes, “To retain the mercury within cinnabar, the Azure Dragon and Black Tiger each face a different direction.” The poem’s commentary also discusses this meaning. Read these three poems and reflect on them deeply, and you will understand the subtle principle contained in the “two substances”: they truly can transform the Qi of the True Unity. Ordinary lead and mercury themselves cannot do this.

Forty-Four

Amid the indistinct and elusive, seek the visible image; within the deep and subtle, search for the true Jing (essence) and Qi. Being and nonbeing enter one another and respond to each other. If you have not yet seen these things, how could you attain them through empty imagination?

Commentary: The “image” spoken of amid the indistinct and elusive is the breath of the Dragon’s string pulse; the “essence” spoken of within the deep and subtle is the Tiger’s string Qi. Both string pulses have breath, yet neither has concrete form. They are indistinct and elusive, dim and obscure, unseen and unheard: this is what is meant by the Qi of the True Unity. The Qi of the True Unity is supremely numinous, yet has no form.

Zhenyizi said: “Nonbeing” is the Dragon; “being” is the Tiger. “Nonbeing” is the Qi of mercury; “being” is the Qi of lead. Nonbeing takes shape through the prompting of being, while being gains its numinous quality through responding to nonbeing. Thus arise the visions of a millet pearl suspended in empty space and purple frost shining like the sun. It is truly regrettable that some sit rigidly and insist on imagining worldly scenes in their minds.

The commentary says that the Cantong qi speaks of “Being and Nonbeing constraining one another”: when the upper part closes, this is called “Being”; when the lower part closes, it is called “Nonbeing.” In his Tongzhen yi, Immortal Peng explains this in two layers. Here, Wumingzi cites “Being and Nonbeing constraining one another” to emphasize its meaning: this is the crucial secret of refining the Great Elixir, concealed in the words “lead and fire.” A close reading of the poem shows that the preceding lines speak of the mysterious and profound, while the following lines sum up the matter as Being and Nonbeing. It should therefore be understood according to the explanation that “the upper part closing is Being, and the lower part closing is Nonbeing.” Still, there is no need to be bound by the commentators’ interpretation. The Jinbi shangjing says “Being and Nonbeing constraining one another” in the sense that two kinds of “Nonbeing” return to a single “Being.” Those who understand the Dao grasp the Great Way without clinging to words; once they have truly penetrated it, whatever way they put it into practice will accord with its principle.

Forty-Five

When the Four Images—the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—meet, the mysterious substance takes shape. When the Five Phases—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—come together in perfect harmony, the Elixir’s light shines bright and purple. The Elixir is born anew and enters the mouth, opening the way to the divine and raising one beyond the ordinary to sagehood. Countless Dragon Spirits see it and are astonished.

The annotation says: When the Dragon and Tiger unite, the Four Images meet, and the Five Phases are complete. As the Four Images and Five Phases converge, the substance of the True One condenses into form: an Elixir pearl the size of a millet grain, radiating a purple glow. It works its secret transformation within the body, gathering itself and returning to the mouth, enabling one to commune with the divine and attain sagehood. Which among the countless Dragon Spirits could see this without wonder and reverence?

The explanatory commentary says: The Four Images are the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise; the Five Phases are Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The Great Way is originally empty and formless. The mystery of the Golden Elixir lies in gathering the Five Phases and harmonizing the Four Images. When the Four Images meet, the mysterious substance takes shape; when the Five Phases converge, the Elixir’s light appears of itself. This does not refer to the mind’s Fire and the kidneys’ Water as imagined through intention, nor does it compare the liver to a dragon and the lungs to a tiger. Heaven and Earth bring forth all beings, and within the human body there is already a numinous treasure. The Five Phases gather there, and so do the Four Images. If one can grasp the subtle workings, refine the Great Elixir, and be reborn in body, one can rise beyond the ordinary to sagehood, inspiring awe and fear in countless Dragon Spirits.

The “water of the four kidneys” likewise refers to the vital energy of fluids within the human body. The statement that “the liver is the Dragon and the lungs are the Tiger” does not mean that the liver and lungs are actual dragons and tigers. Rather, Dragon and Tiger are metaphors for the two movements of Qi, Yin and Yang. Heaven endows all things with life, and the human body, too, contains wondrous treasures. The Five Phases converge in one body, as do the Four Images. If one grasps the subtle essentials and, through harmonizing and refining, forms the “Great Medicine”—the refined Jing and Qi produced through Neidan cultivation—one can shed the ordinary body and enter the body within, transcend the common world, and attain the sacred state. Even the many Dragon Spirits will marvel and stand in awe.

Forty-six

Having drunk the elixir-like fluid of the Flower Pool (a term in Neidan cultivation for saliva or elixir-like fluid in the mouth), one’s radiance becomes clear and bright as moonlight. Ride the Golden Dragon to the Purple Tenuity (the Purple Tenuity Enclosure in the heavens, also a name for the celestial realm). Once you have come to know the immortals, you will no longer be affected by worldly change, even as seas turn into fields and fields into seas, or high mountains become deep valleys and valleys become lofty hills.

The commentary says: The “Flower Pool” is the elixir. Once the alchemical work is complete, one can shed the old body and undergo a wondrous transformation. The skin becomes white as ice and snow, and the body light, like Liezi riding the wind and clouds as he roams the eight directions of the heavens and surveys the mortal world. Seas may turn into mulberry fields, and mulberry fields back into seas; heights may become valleys, and deep valleys become hills, yet one remains unmoved.

Forty-seven

If you wish to learn the method for refining and nourishing the Returned Elixir, sow and cultivate it in your own garden. There is no need to boast about it or force your effort. Simply follow its natural course, and the fruit will ripen; you will shed the ordinary body.

The commentary says: What you refine is within your own body, and is of the same kind as yourself. The Dao is close at hand, not far away; it is like sowing seeds in your own garden, where what you plant grows naturally. This shows how near it is. When the seed is of the same kind as what you seek, success comes easily; when it is of a different kind, success is difficult. The Cantong qi says, “With things of the same kind, it is easy to apply the work; with things of different kinds, even skillful refinement is difficult.” Since this is so, why force your effort?

The commentary explains that the earlier poem says, “I calmly tend the medicine furnace, watching the fire’s timing,” and also, “Naturally, the true fire arises to nurture it.” The present poem says, “It needs no fanning or exertion.” These lines all concern the function of the inner medicine. The lines “Set up the furnace and establish the cauldron, gather it and return it for calcination; the Great Unity is in the furnace” concern the function of the outer medicine.

The “thing” spoken of here is the yang elixir. The yang elixir is of the same kind as oneself, so it readily congeals into an embryo. The Perfected One of the Muddy Pellet says, “One mu within the body is the home garden.” This is what he means.

The author says that he was fortunate to receive instruction from a master, and wishes everyone could understand and cultivate the immortal fruit together. Finding the original annotations insufficiently clear, he has therefore explained their meaning further and grouped the poems and lyrics by topic. Yet even among matters that seem simple and easy to understand, there are profound points that cannot readily be written in books and disclosed publicly.

Those who study the way of immortality, if they already have an affinity with the immortals and obtain this book, will find the path of cultivation made clear by its annotations and commentary, without risk of going astray. If they can fully grasp its meaning, one day they may attain the Great Dao. This book is a secret treasure of the immortals, protected unseen by divine spirits. How could one fail to cherish it and study it deeply?

Forty-Eight

Do not waste your effort on clever, artificial methods. Recognize the deathless art of “the other household”: in the gourd, steadily add the wine that prolongs life; in the cauldron, gather the potion that restores the soul.

The annotation says that those who cultivate the Real often cling to unsuitable methods. They devote themselves to clever, artificial techniques, yet refuse to seek the deathless formula that “the other household” naturally possesses and that accords with their own kind. In cultivation, one must gather the yang elixir in the cauldron, for it can bring a person back to life, and refine in the abdomen the mercury fire that prolongs life. These are the two true treasures for cultivating the body. The Cantong qi says, “With things of the same kind, work is easily done; with things of different kinds, even skill cannot bring success.” These words serve as confirmation.

“The other household” refers to the “string-like Qi of the White Tiger.” Later students often mistake their own essence and Qi for true lead. If that were truly the case, why would the Immortal Elder have used the phrase “the other household” to deceive the world?

The commentary says: The previous poem reads, “I turn to my own home and plant the seeds.” The Anonymous Master explains that this means there is no need to seek guidance from others: within one’s own home lies a method of longevity of the same kind. In the previous poem, the author takes himself as an example, so he says “my own”; in this poem, he instructs others, so he says “another’s home.” The phrase “of the same kind” means the same in both places. Here it does not mean that people are alike. It refers to primordial Qi—the fundamental energy from which Heaven and Earth give rise to all things—which was originally one undivided whole. To nourish primordial Qi with primordial Qi is to use limitless Qi to replenish limited Qi, and so it is easy to become an immortal. The Cantong qi (Token for Joining the Three, a Daoist alchemical classic) says, “Primordial essence flows and spreads; by means of Qi, it takes form in things.” This describes precisely how things of the same kind unite.

If one uses the Qi of the human body to replenish the Qi of the human body, the body, being Yin, merely supplements Yin with Yin. This is like a hen relying solely on herself to incubate an egg: the life within the egg remains incomplete. How, then, could one experience the wondrous joining of Yin and Yang? And how could one gather prenatal Qi into an Elixir, then transform the body into a pure Yang body and become a pure Yang immortal?

Forty-Nine

In the snowy mountains is a rich and fragrant cheese. Pour it into the eastern furnace of creation. If it crosses the Kunlun Mountains and travels northwest, only then can Zhang Qian behold Magu.

The commentary says: The whiteness of the Snow Mountain symbolizes Metal in the West—that is, the Golden Elixir. Like a drop of sweet dew, the Golden Elixir is swallowed, enters the Dantian, and falls into the furnace of transformation within the body. Since Mount Kunlun lies amid the waters of the sea, entering Kunlun actually refers to the place where the True Fire is set in motion. At the summit of Mount Kunlun is a gate called the “Mysterious Gate,” or the Gate of Heaven. The Gate of Heaven lies in the northwest, the position of Qian, so Zhang Boduan says, “Plant it toward the chamber of union in the Qian domain.” Once past the northwest barrier, the parable of Zhang Qian meeting Magu appears.

Zhang Qian is male, symbolizing the Yang Fire of the Qian trigram and also True Mercury; Magu is female, symbolizing the Yin Talisman of the Kun trigram and also True Lead. Their meeting represents this: when the True Fire crosses Kunlun and enters the vessel through the Mysterious Gate, the True Mercury inside the vessel can meet True Lead and undergo transformation. When True Lead melts within and the True Fire responds from without, the Kun image turns into the Qian image. The Yang Fire drives the Yin Talisman, and the two forces of fire operate in concert, causing Lead and Mercury to congeal. This is the foundation of the way of the immortals. The story of Zhang Qian crossing the Celestial River on a raft and meeting the Maiden constellation is used to explain the mutual union of Yin and Yang.

The explanatory commentary says: The outer fire is the True Qi between Heaven and Earth; the inner fire is the Ancestral Qi in the Primordial Sea. Only after these inner and outer fires flow into and join one another can Mercury and Lead congeal and the Sacred Embryo take shape.

Fifty

Those who understand neither Yin-Yang nor the host and guest, and do not know which side is close and which distant, shut the Tail Gate (the area near the base of the spine) while practicing in the bedchamber. In vain, they have harmed so many people in the world.

The commentary says that Zhongli Quan said: “The four great elements of the human body—earth, water, fire, and wind—are all Yin. If one does not understand what the Yang essence truly is, one will mistake the True One’s essence for something else. The essence of the True One is the utmost Yang Qi, called the Yang Elixir.

“One’s own true Qi is Yin. It governs the body and nourishes all its parts. The Yang Elixir, by contrast, comes from outside and regulates one’s own Yin mercury, the Yin essence-Qi. In this way, the Yang Elixir shifts from guest to host, while one’s own Yin mercury shifts from host to guest. The two forces cling to one another and congeal into golden sand, which will naturally not disperse. Then, refined through the firing process, it becomes the Golden Liquid Elixir of Return—the elixir liquid produced through cultivation. Thus, the Yang Elixir is outside, while one’s own true Qi is within.

“By changing what is near and far and establishing host and guest, the Way of cultivation can be brought to completion. Those who lose the right path do not understand this principle. Instead, they practice bedroom arts to control women, forcibly sealing off their essence and Qi and calling this the refining of a Yin Elixir. They hope to prolong their lives, but instead shorten them. This is like carrying firewood to put out a fire. The Scripture of the Hidden Talisman says: ‘Fire is born from wood; disaster arises and must be overcome.’ How could one fail to take care?”

The explanatory commentary says: “A guest becomes the host; what was distant becomes intimate. This is the subtlety of reversal and transformation. Some people take sealing off the coccyx—the area near the base of the spine—as the method of making the Yellow River flow backward and reversing cultivation. Many have lost their lives as a result.”

The verse after “fifty-one” says: “All things flourish and grow, but in the end they must return to their root. Returning to the root and restoring one’s original state of life allows one to endure. Those who understand the constant Dao and return to the source are not easily driven into reckless action; reckless action brings misfortune.” As for what people in the world call…

The commentary quotes: “All things grow and flourish, yet in the end each returns to its own root. Returning to the root is stillness; stillness is a return to one’s original life state. Returning to one’s original nature is constancy. To know the Way of constancy is to be clear.” This is a profound teaching of the Great One, a Daoist title for the highest Dao or a supreme deity.

Before birth, a person exists in a dark, unknowing, wholly simple state. After birth, one receives the Qi of Yin-Yang and the life bestowed by one’s parents. Through reverse cultivation, the sages seize the primordial One Qi as the foundation of alchemical practice, making the true Qi of Yin-Yang the basis for transformation. They refine the body, returning the formed body to formlessness; refine Qi, returning the vital energy to a state of utmost simplicity; and refine Shen, bringing spirit into union with the Dao. Thus, returning to the root and restoring one’s original life enables life to endure. Those who know the Way of constancy and return to the root are sages, and so can live long. Those who do not know the Way of constancy, fail to return to the root, and act recklessly are ordinary people, and so invite disaster.

52

Ou Ye, the renowned swordsmith of antiquity, personally taught the art of sword-making. The legendary sword Moye was forged by combining metal and water, and tempering softness with hardness. Once forged, the sword seemed able to sense a person’s intentions. To vanquish demons and evil spirits thousands of miles away took no more than a flash of light.

The commentary says that when Ou Ye forged swords, the Heavenly Emperor sent a divine maiden to tend the furnace. In the forging, metal and water were brought together, and softness tempered with hardness. Once forged, the sword could slay evil in an instant. Such a numinous sword is like the restored Elixir refined by a sage. Heaven and Earth serve as the furnace; Yin-Yang as water and fire; the Five Phases work together in the refining, while Shen and Qi are joined. Once refined, the Elixir can transform freely, becoming curved or straight, soft or hard, good or evil, round or square. At a movement of the mind, wherever intention directs it, the Elixir understands what is meant and acts swiftly. This is what is called the “natural divine sword.”

A person practicing alchemy who lacks this sword is like someone trying to catch fish or rabbits without a net or a snare. The Immortal Elder uses the story of Ou Ye’s sword-making to explain this principle. In fact, he uses “the image-less” (a mysterious mechanism that cannot be expressed directly and must be grasped inwardly) to refer to the Mysterious Pearl, the hidden essential teaching of internal alchemy. The image-less is the secret of Heaven’s workings.

The subcommentary says that the refined sword can perform its proper function. The natural sword is the restored Elixir returning to the root and exercising its marvelous, limitless power of transformation; like the numinous sword forged by Ou Ye, it possesses extraordinary abilities.

The commentary explains that this poem describes the use of timing and intensity in Neidan (internal alchemy) practice. “Bamboo” symbolizes an open mind free of emotion, while “striking bamboo” is a metaphor for Yin and Yang joining. “Playing the zither” represents Yin and Yang harmonizing, like the resonant sound of the instrument. The “tortoise” refers to lead and the “phoenix” to mercury; they also respectively symbolize the Black Tortoise of the north and the Vermilion Bird of the south. “Jade fungus” refers to the Qi of Yang Fire, while the “knife and measure” are ritual implements used in the Yin Tally. When the Dragon and Tiger unite and form a relationship like that of husband and wife, it is like the zither and lute sounding in harmony.

Practitioners bring Yin and Yang together, coordinating talismanic fire—the timed use of heat in internal cultivation—with the hexagram lines and the breath. They then use Shen and Qi to govern Water and Fire, thereby refining and nourishing embryonic breathing, the cultivation of inner breath in Neidan practice. Embryonic breathing circulates between Kan and Li, symbols of Water and Fire, Yin and Yang, causing them to interact in the central palace, the earthen cauldron that symbolizes the body’s inner alchemical chamber, and nourish lead and mercury. Lead and mercury continually absorb the Qi of talismanic fire, gradually producing the substance of Golden Liquid. This is called “returning the Elixir through Golden Liquid.”

The commentary also cites On the True Meaning of the Changes, which says that when tending the fire, one may sometimes feel as though something is surging upward from the coccyx, near the base of the spine. This describes a sensation of Qi moving during internal cultivation.

According to the Treatise on Understanding the Truth, during the practice of circulating the fire, one may sometimes feel something surging upward from the Weilü (the area at the end of the spine), passing through the Jiaji and the Shuangque, and rising against its natural course all the way to the Niwan (an important cultivation point in the head). Then that sensation touches the upper palate from the Niwan and descends into the mouth, one drop at a time. It is shaped like a sparrow’s egg and tastes like frozen cream: fragrant, sweet, soft, and smooth. When this sensation appears, it is called “the Golden Liquid returning to form the Elixir.” Slowly swallow it so that it settles in the Dantian, and continue in this way. Then close the eyes and look within. The Five Viscera will seem pure, clear, and empty, as though candlelight were illuminating the organs. Afterward, it may seem that ten thousand rays of golden light shine through the body, brilliant as a wheel of fire, while clouds and mist encircle you. As cultivation progresses, various signs and confirmations appear in an unbroken succession, proving the ability to transcend the ordinary and attain sagehood. These are not metaphors but real sights described by practitioners. The Immortal Elder silently endured these extraordinary visions and did not dare tell others, because they are beyond what ordinary people in this world can see or hear.

Fifty-Four

The medicine takes form only when it meets the Qi of its kind; the Dao exists within emptiness and accords with nature. Swallow a single Golden Elixir, and you will know that the principle I speak of was not decreed by Heaven.

The commentary says: There is a single, undifferentiated existence that came into being before Heaven and Earth. The sages, having no better name for it, called it the Dao, and also “the Qi of the Primordial Unity.” It cannot be seen or heard, nor can it be touched. Through the resonance of things of the same kind—here meaning the correspondence of Yin-Yang Qi—the sages made it respond and appear, condensing into form amid the depths of mystery. Take into the belly an elixir the size of a millet grain, and it can transform the lead and mercury within the body (alchemy terms for the essences of Yin and Yang) into a body of pure Yang, enduring as long as Heaven and Earth.

Zhaoyuanzi says: The relationship between life and death and the Dao has its source in Heaven and Earth; nature and life condense into form within mystery. Take the elixir the size of a millet grain, and it can transform lead and mercury into a body of pure Yang, enduring as long as Heaven and Earth. A person’s nature and life are inherently connected with lead and mercury. Hence the saying: “My life is in my own hands; it is not determined by Heaven.”

Fifty-Five

The scarlet Golden Elixir can be refined in a single day; the words left by the ancient immortals are indeed worth believing. To say that it takes nine years or three years to refine it is merely to evade the matter and deliberately prolong the time.

Commentators say that preparing the great medicine of the Golden Elixir takes less than half an hour of effort before it is complete and ready to consume. The saying that it can be “completed in one day” comes from the sages compressing the year’s seasonal changes into a month, the month’s changes into a day, and the day’s changes into an hour. Taken together, this is called “becoming an immortal in a single day.” Thus the Immortal Master says, “Replace days with hours; this is the method of divine achievement.” In other words, using hours in place of days reveals the wondrous method of cultivation.

Once the Golden Elixir is taken, one can ascend to the sacred realm. If its effects are so swift, why wait three or nine years, letting the time pass slowly? The ancient immortal Zhang Guolao wrote: “The bright red Golden Elixir is completed in a day; the Yellow Sprout never leaves the pit of mercury. Though the work has not yet passed through three transformations, when the furnace is opened, its radiance is already revealed.” This means that the bright red Golden Elixir can be prepared in a single day, and that the Yellow Sprout—a term in alchemy for the essence produced during the process—depends on the pit of mercury. Even before three transformations have taken place, its radiance is apparent when the furnace is opened. This is precisely the way of alchemy being described here.

Fifty-Six

There are easier and harder ways to cultivate the Great Dao—the fundamental path of cultivation. Success or failure depends both on oneself and on Heaven’s will. Without accumulating good deeds and practicing hidden virtue—doing good in secret without seeking reward—one will encounter various demonic obstacles along the path of cultivation.

Commentators say that whether obstacles appear is arranged by Heaven, while the practice itself rests with oneself. Without practicing hidden virtue, one may encounter obstructions wherever one goes. The previous poem said that only after swallowing a single elixir does one understand that cultivation depends on oneself, not on Heaven’s will; this praises the wondrous effects of the Golden Elixir. This poem, by contrast, reminds those who cultivate the Dao that after hearing of the Great Dao, they should also accumulate good deeds and cultivate virtue in the hope of receiving Heaven’s aid. They should not rely solely on the efficacy of the Golden Elixir and disregard the demonic obstacles that may arise during cultivation.

Fifty-Seven

Heaven, Earth, humanity, and the myriad things draw upon one another, each in its proper time; this is the key to how the immortals’ Dao and virtue operate. Once the transformations of the myriad things have settled, thoughts come to rest, every part of the body is brought into harmony, and the Way of Wuwei—non-action, or acting in accord with nature—can ultimately be realized.

Commentators say that Heaven and Earth nourish the myriad things through the changes of the four seasons. The things of the world therefore flourish and decline; they cannot flourish forever. The myriad things also nourish people through the five flavors, and people consequently live and die. Recognizing these changes makes it possible to understand the key to the operation of Dao and virtue: when the transformations of the myriad things settle, scattered thoughts cease, and the body comes into harmony, one can experience the Way of Wuwei.

The seasons change in their proper times, causing all things to wax and wane; thus nothing can flourish forever. All things nourish people through the five flavors, and people therefore are born and die; they cannot live forever. People apply the Five Phases—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—to all things, bringing them into being and transforming them, but also causing them to decline and perish. Thus nothing can remain unchanged for long. Heaven and Earth, all things, and human beings act upon one another; only then can the Three Powers—Heaven, Earth, and humanity—be in harmony. Hence arise all manner of changes: life and death, flourishing and decline, bloom and withering, day and night, coming and going, creation and destruction, rise and fall, self and other, right and wrong. They occur in profusion, cycle without end, and are difficult to fathom. This is the Way of nature.

If one can bring these three interactions among Heaven and Earth, all things, and human beings into unity, turn the pivot of their movement, and act in accord with the right moment, then the body’s parts will be harmonized, and the transformations of all things will settle of themselves. Once change has settled, all thoughts and concerns will cease, and the Way of Wuwei (non-action) will be naturally realized.

58

Though the Yinfu Jing contains more than three hundred characters, the wondrous classic Daode Jing has only five thousand. From ancient times to the present, countless high immortals have grasped the truth of the Dao through these two classics.

Note: These two classics are the guiding principles of the many scriptures and the central hinge of the various schools of thought. Among the immortals and sages of antiquity, none failed to penetrate their true meaning and attain the Great Dao through these two classics.

Though the Yinfu Jing contains more than three hundred characters, the wondrous classic Daode Jing has only five thousand. From ancient times to the present, countless high immortals have grasped the truth of the Dao through these two classics.

Note: These two classics are the guiding principles of the many scriptures and the central hinge of the various schools of thought. Among the immortals and sages of antiquity, none failed to penetrate their true meaning and attain the Great Dao through these two classics.

59

Even if your intelligence surpasses that of Yan Hui and Min Ziqian, disciples of Confucius, do not presume to guess at the teachings without a master’s instruction. Without the oral formulas of the alchemical texts that explain Neidan (internal alchemy), even someone of exceptional intelligence will not know how to form the sacred embryo, the inner achievement spoken of in Neidan practice.

Note: The many scriptures and treatises mostly list points and explain methods. The essentials of the Great Dao are not complicated; the key lies in the transmission of the heart seal, the master’s essential teaching passed down to the disciple. Without meeting a true teacher, one’s efforts will be wasted. Without a true master to impart the oral formulas, even someone as intelligent as Yan Hui or Min Ziqian cannot penetrate this Way through conjecture alone.

60

Only after the mind-monkey—the metaphor for restless, unsettled thoughts—has become completely still will the workings of the mind within the heart’s narrow space become clear. Accumulate three thousand meritorious deeds, and you will accord with the Way of Heaven. Neidan will then refine itself in the crucible, as the Dragon and Tiger, symbols in Neidan practice of the two forces of Yin and Yang, contend with one another. But if you remain attached to your household, children, and wife, it will be difficult to let go of worldly entanglements.

This commentary warns those who do not know how to turn back and correct themselves. Before refining the Return Elixir, an important stage of Neidan cultivation, a practitioner must first calm the mind, making thoughts clear and free from the pull of unruly desires and distractions. An old song compares the human mind to a monkey, saying that people are troubled in many ways because their thoughts constantly chase after things outside themselves. If one can gather in the Six Roots—the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind—one can concentrate the spirit. Perfected Lü also says that one must cultivate the mind before refining the Return Elixir.

The Record of Western Mountain says that when true immortals and supreme sages teach people to cultivate the Dao, they are in fact teaching them to cultivate the mind; to teach mind cultivation is to teach the cultivation of the Dao. When thoughts are restrained, they become upright; when indulged, they run wild. The Way of clarity and stillness arises from this, while confused and polluted states of spirit recede. This is the central point.

Cultivating the Dao depends on one’s own efforts, but also on the right time and circumstances. The Immortal Elder says that refining the Great Medicine can be easy or difficult, depending both on oneself and on Heaven’s will. Without long accumulation of good deeds and the establishment of merit, one is likely to encounter various demonic obstacles along the way. Lord Zhongli says that merit without virtue is like having no feet, while virtue without merit makes it difficult for one’s cultivation to advance. Only when both merit and practice are present does cultivation have a firm foundation. Perfected Lü also says that to take the immortal path to Penglai, one must accumulate three thousand good deeds; only when these good deeds are complete can one depart freely. When hidden virtue—doing good and accumulating De without seeking recognition—has reached a certain degree, one is sure to meet a true teacher. Then the Neidan that cooks the Dragon and Tiger in the cauldron can form naturally.

The commentary’s specific mention of “attachment to children and love for one’s wife” reflects its concern that Dao seekers may lose the true path and turn toward deviance. If they cling greedily to their children and spouse, they will remain sunk in the sea of suffering for a long time. Those who study the Dao should therefore aspire to transcend worldly attachments.

Sixty-One

Before the Return Elixir has been refined, one must hasten to cultivate it. Once it has been refined, one must also know when to be content and stop at the proper point. If one still harbors a desire for perfection and keeps reaching for more, sooner or later one will meet with calamity and disgrace.

The commentary says that when a man reaches the age of sixteen, Tiangui (the vital essence associated with growth and reproductive function) begins to flourish; by the age of sixty-four, it has been depleted. When Tiangui first arrives, the body is like the Qian trigram, pure Yang: its vital essence is full, weighing one jin. Around the age of twenty, mercury (a Neidan term often used for the body’s shifting, unstable vital essence) begins to dissipate. By thirty, about four liang have been lost; by sixty, the decline is severe, as though erosion had reached beneath the bed mat. At sixty-four, Yang reaches its limit and turns into the Kun trigram, pure Yin, and the vital essence is exhausted. Time moves like the sun and moon, never stopping for an instant. Practitioners must use lead (a Neidan term often referring to the vital essence or medicine that can subdue mercury) to gather in living mercury, and hasten to begin refining the Returning Elixir (a Neidan term for the elixir produced through refinement, or the fruits of internal cultivation).

Once the refining is complete, one must embrace the One and maintain sincerity, holding firmly to a single purpose. If one does not know how to guard oneself, but instead lets thoughts run wild, calamity and disgrace will follow. Master Zhongli said, “Once the elixir has matured, there is no need to apply the fire phases any further; continuing them will surely damage the elixir. Simply preserve it carefully and allow nothing to diminish it. When thirsty, drink water; when hungry, eat; when tired, sleep. If you can also clarify the mind and realize your true nature, then after nine years of facing a wall in cultivation, this Great Dao will grow still more expansive.”

The annotations say that Lü Chunyang (Lü Dongbin) met the Perfected Man Zhengyang, a legendary Daoist immortal, at the age of sixty-four. Ge Xianweng and Ma Ziran also met the Perfected Man Haichan (Liu Haichan) when they were sixty-four. Only then did they begin cultivating the Way of the Golden Elixir, and in time they all attained the Dao and became immortals. After cultivation of the Elixir method reaches the stage of “leaving the embryo,” the practitioner enters “bathing,” a phase of drawing in the fire and quietly nourishing and warming the Elixir. There is no need to wait a full year or insist on beginning the work at the winter solstice. The Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir says: “When the fire’s timing is not in use, the winter solstice is not at Zi; when bathing, Mao and You are also empty.” Shi Xinglin likewise says: “The winter solstice is not at Zi; bathing is not at Mao or You.” The Perfected Man Daoguang says: “After leaving the embryo and bathing, sustain and nourish it, and thereby secure long life.” The point is that neither the fire’s timing nor the bathing phase need be bound to particular solar terms or hours; they should be guided by the progress of cultivation.

All three immortals began seeking the Dao at the age of sixty-four. What method did they practice? Can it be briefly explained? The answer is that all three resolved to seek the Dao in their prime, observed precepts, and accumulated good deeds. Only at sixty-four did they receive the true transmission of the Golden Elixir, which is why they succeeded quickly in their cultivation. People who become attached to desire deplete their Jing and Qi; excessive thought harms their Shen, while overexertion dissipates their original Qi. Once true Yang—the life energy inherent in the human body—is depleted, even hearing of the Great Dao before the age of sixty-four may not lead to success. If people restrain their desires when young and seek the Dao in their prime, while their bodies have not yet declined and their Jing and Qi remain intact, they may meet a worthy teacher and practice the secret method as soon as they receive it. They can then hope for results relatively quickly. Those who have not yet met a worthy teacher should conserve their Jing and Qi, avoid overexertion, and accumulate merit through good deeds while waiting for the right opportunity.

The methods learned by these three immortals are recorded in books, which offer some clues. The Perfected Man Zhengyang showed Lü Chunyang several pills and said: “These are not pills made from the metals and minerals of the world. They are condensed from the wondrous treasures between Heaven and Earth. They have substance but no form, like clouds, fire, light, and shadows: visible, yet impossible to grasp. Once taken, they merge with a person’s soul and awareness, becoming light, numinous, and subtle.” The “Elixir” spoken of here is the refined substance produced through Neidan cultivation, not an ordinary pill with physical form.

Ge Xianweng’s Song of the Flowing Pearl says: “The Flowing Pearl has made me toil and wander, travel in every direction, and read through countless books, leaving me too busy even to sleep or eat. I sought out friends everywhere and exhausted my cinnabar and mercury; for thirty years, I sighed with worry day after day. Now I am sixty, and fear that after death I will fall into the three evil paths. Fortunately, my teacher transmitted the method of the primordial Qi of emptiness: first stabilize the Golden Tripod, then stabilize the Jade Furnace; use Li Fire to stir Kan Fire, so that cultivation has a foundation to follow. When the Jade Fluid moistens and spreads through the Grotto Chamber, that is the essential teaching transmitted by the Perfected One. A great man should keep it constantly in mind and never forget it.”

Ma Ziran’s Song of the Golden Elixir says: “There is no need to cling to any of the sixty-four hexagrams. When I met the Perfected Man Haichan as my teacher, he spoke just one sentence, and I understood that everything I had done before was wrong. The Way of returning the Elixir was right before my eyes; I simply did not know it. In the Wuyin month of the Gengzi year, I met the Perfected Man and received the oral instructions directly. It was like jade hidden in stone: before it was worked, it could not be seen; only after the stone was cut away did its whiteness appear. The returned Elixir and yellow sprouts—signs of nascent vitality in Neidan cultivation—arise in the Dantian. If they can be kept there in a stable state over time, life can be prolonged.”

The methods of cultivation received by these three immortals accord with the principles explained in the Wuzhen pian. The Perfected Man Zixuan, Zhang Boduan, lived to the age of ninety-six and underwent “release from the corpse,” a Daoist term for departing from the body at death, on the fifth day of the third month of the Renxu year, Yuanfeng 5 (1082). In the Jiyou year, Xining 2 (1069), he met his teacher in Chengdu and received the Dao; he was already eighty-two. His continued ability to cultivate afterward shows that he had cared well for himself over the years and had deep attainment. The Huangting Jing says: “Even at one hundred and twenty years, return is still possible; beyond that, truly, keeping to the Dao is difficult. One must rely on the Nine-Turn Eight-Jade Elixir, and with focused thought preserve the Seven Primordials.” This means that even those who practice the Dao may still achieve a return after passing the age of one hundred and twenty. Beyond that, keeping to the Dao becomes difficult; they can only rely on the Nine-Turn Eight-Jade Elixir, a name for a Daoist alchemical method, and concentrate on preserving the Seven Primordials, the seven original spirits or vital energies described in Daoist inner cultivation.

Sixty-two

Take what is regarded as the gate of death to be the gate of life. Do not cling to mistaking the gate of life for the gate of death. If you can guard the turning point where Yin-Yang transforms amid changing circumstances, and understand how opposites complete one another, you will know that blessings can arise from calamity.

The commentary says: When Yin-Yang and the Five Phases follow their usual course, this is life; when their usual course is reversed, this is death. That is the common understanding. Who knows that there is also a “life that does not arise,” which can make a person live long, and a “following that does not follow,” which is true following? If you understand the turning point at which opposites transform, you can bring blessings forth from calamity. “A man conceives” means that a new life is being nurtured within the practitioner.

The explanation says: Yin-Yang and the Five Phases bring me life, and those same forces also bring me death. To turn the gate of death into the gate of life is to reverse the workings of life and death. If one carelessly treats the vitality of life as ordinary and lets it follow its usual course, what originally nourished me will also lead me toward death. Ordinary people follow Yin-Yang and the Five Phases and eventually die; those who have attained the Dao reverse Yin-Yang and thereby attain long life. Immortals can take up the workings of creation that govern life and death in Heaven and Earth. They shed their illusory physical bodies; others see them as dead, but in truth they have not truly died. Their pure Yang true body—the purified body perfected through cultivation—can soar and transform, enduring as long as Heaven and Earth. Thus, “life that does not arise” means long life.

To invert the Five Phases and reverse the workings of creation may seem like going against the natural course. But to take the vital essence of Heaven and Earth and return it to the Limitless—the undifferentiated source of all things—is true following. Thus, “following that does not follow” is the highest form of following.

Sixty-three

Since ancient times, calamity and blessing have depended on and concealed one another, like shadow and echo, always accompanying each other. If one can transform the workings of life and death, calamity can become blessing in the blink of an eye.

The commentary says: Yang governs life and is called blessing; Yin governs death and is called calamity. As Yin Qi recedes, Yang Qi grows; when Yang Qi reaches its height, Yin Qi arises again. Calamity and blessing depend on and conceal one another, following each other like shadow and form. This is the natural course of things. If one can respond to and use the workings of life and death in cultivation, calamity can become blessing in the blink of an eye. The sayings “blessings arise from calamity” and “a man conceives” are therefore no empty words.

Sixty-four

Those who cultivate move among ordinary people while concealing their radiance. Where roundness is called for, they appear accommodating; where firmness is called for, they appear upright. Whether they reveal themselves or remain hidden depends on the people and the circumstances; they do not let others see through their actions.

The commentary says: Wearing coarse clothes while keeping fine jade within is a metaphor for possessing De without displaying it. “Harmonize the light and mingle with the dust” means restraining one’s sharpness and blending into the world. Practitioners make up for their own shortcomings and do not cling to distinctions between self and others. Whether in the open or in concealment, in favorable or adverse circumstances, they respond with ease. How could ordinary people see the depths of their character?

“Xijiang Yue” (Twelve poems arranged according to the rhythm of the year)

Internal medicine, the medicinal substance obtained through cultivation within the body, is like external medicine, prepared through external methods: the inner and outer must both be brought into accord. When the elixir’s head—the key ingredient or foundation of alchemical practice—is harmonized, the qualities of the inner and outer medicines should correspond, though the methods for gently nurturing the internal and external elixirs differ. The body contains its own natural true fire, and the flame within the furnace burns steadily for a long time; with the external furnace, the heat must be adjusted diligently. Nothing surpasses the true seed, the fundamental substance on which alchemical practice depends, as the most subtle key.

The commentary says: The “Yimen” passage should be understood as requiring the inner and outer to be brought into accord. When the elixir’s head is harmonized, the qualities of the inner and outer medicines should correspond, though their methods of nurturing differ. The body contains its own natural true fire, and the flame within the furnace burns steadily for a long time; with the external furnace, the heat must be increased or reduced and adjusted diligently. Nothing surpasses the true seed as the most subtle key.

The Song of Breaking Delusion at Yimen says: “When the Dao lies within the body, a furnace and cauldron must be set up outside the body. When the Dao lies outside the body, Kan and Li, lead and mercury, must be put to work within the body.” This explains the difference between Neidan (internal alchemy) and Waidan (external alchemy).

The external medicine refers to the Golden Elixir. Its transformation takes place in the “two-eight furnace,” and it can be refined in less than half an hour. The internal medicine refers to the returning elixir of liquid gold. Its transformation takes place in one’s own abdomen and takes ten months to reach completion, when the embryo is shed and the spirit is transformed. The methods for combining the two elixirs are broadly similar, but the stages of practice and the timing of the firing process differ. From the day they begin, practitioners of the Elixir Way must be cautious at the crucial moment when the internal medicine combines and forms the elixir. Even the slightest error can prevent the great medicine from forming.

Although the internal medicine burns vigorously with true fire in the earthen crucible, it still depends on the work of the external furnace: adjusting increase and decrease, and withdrawing and adding. There can be no error, or the practice will become dangerous. The changes of true fire, both inside and outside, are boundless, yet in practice they all depend on the wondrous use of true lead. True lead can subdue mercury and keep it from flying away. Ye Wenshu did not understand this principle. He claimed that the internal medicine must be cooked with true fire, while the external medicine relies on ordinary fire for regulation. This is like looking at the sky through a tube, and can only be laughed off. He did not know that although the internal and external medicines have different names, in essence they follow the same Way.

The reason for speaking of two medicines, internal and external, is that human beings are born endowed with the finest Qi of Heaven and Earth, and their bodies take shape through the transformations of Yin-Yang. Thus, Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), and Shen (spirit) are the principal elements of the human body: Shen arises from Qi, and Qi arises from Jing. All three are Yin substances formed after birth. If practitioners of the Way of cultivation cling only to working on themselves, all they can do is refine these three: Jing, Qi, and Shen. But since all three are postnatal substances, purely Yin and without Yang, how can they transform the body into pure Yang and transcend Heaven and Earth?

Thus the Immortal Elder says: “Cultivating only one thing will instead leave you weakened and depleted.” Lord Zhongli says that the seven substances—tears, saliva, essence, fluids, Qi, blood, and liquid—are all Yin things. He also says that cultivating only one thing makes it solitary Yin. Zhenyizi likewise says that solitary Yin cannot generate by itself, and solitary Yang cannot achieve completion on its own. The Cantong qi says that when a hen incubates eggs by herself, the chicks cannot live. All these sayings show that cultivation cannot be accomplished through postnatal Yin substances alone.

The sages knew that the body’s own true Qi arises after birth, belongs to Yin, and is difficult to grasp and easily lost. Therefore, they gather the true Yin and true Yang that correspond by kind within the primordial Qi. Within a single double-hour, these are drawn together and refined into one pill of utmost Yang, called “true lead.” Since this transformation takes place outside the body, it is called the external medicine. This Yang elixir is then used to subdue the Yin mercury within oneself, just as a cat catches a mouse. The Yang elixir is the mother Qi of Heaven and Earth, while one’s own mercury is their child Qi. Using the mother Qi to subdue the child Qi is precisely a correspondence between things of the same kind. Since this transformation takes place within the body, it is called the internal medicine.

Thus the Immortal Elder says: “When the medicine meets Qi of its own kind, they respond and take form; the Dao, within emptiness, accords with nature.” Zhenyizi says that before Heaven and Earth took shape, while chaos remained undivided, true lead first obtained the One and came into being; only afterward did Heaven and Earth, Yin-Yang, the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and the myriad things gradually arise. The Cantong qi also says that what came into being before Heaven and Earth stands exalted and lofty. These sayings all attest to the existence of the primordial Qi.

The primordial Yang elixir is used to subdue one’s own Yin mercury and transform it into pure Yang. Then, through the workings of the Yin-Yang talisman fire, one withdraws and adds, making adjustments. After ten months, the work is complete: the body transforms into Qi, Qi into Shen, and Shen unites with the Dao. One reaches a state of formless transformation, beyond all measure. In this way, one can transcend Heaven and Earth, stand above the transformations of creation, grasp the One Qi of Heaven and Earth, and transform Yin-Yang without being governed by its changes. All this is brought about by the One Qi that came into being before Heaven and Earth. This is the wondrous point.

The key to the wondrous Dao, therefore, lies in the true seed. How could postnatal Yin Qi be taken for the internal medicine, or postnatal cinnabar, mercury, ordinary fire, and other substances of a different kind be taken for the external medicine? Those who study the Dao should investigate its foundations and avoid being misled by false teachings. Only then can they avoid falling forever into the cycle of rebirth and setting out on a path of their own making.

Even the slightest error can prevent the Great Medicine from being refined. This is precisely what the verse means when it says, “A hair’s breadth of difference, and no Elixir can be made.” “Two and eight” does not literally refer to a furnace; it is simply a borrowed name for one. The so-called furnace is not a real object. This is said to keep people from becoming attached to a tangible vessel and sinking forever into the cycle of rebirth.

The external medicine is condensed into the Golden Elixir by the fire of Yin and Yang rising and descending. The internal medicine is likewise condensed by that fire into the Returning Elixir of Golden Liquor. Both external and internal refinement follow the patterns of Heaven and Earth in their generation. Thus, although the internal medicine differs, in essence it follows the same Dao (the Way). A Tang dynasty immortal wrote in Attaining the Numinous:

“People know that longevity lies in returning Jing (essence) and replenishing Qi (vital energy). The cinnabar is within my own being—what external thing could there be?”

These words are merely shallow remarks; they do not understand the true realm.

Consider this: can Jing be returned? Can Qi be replenished? When one breathes in and out and regulates the breath, allowing clear Qi to return and turbid Qi to leave, does that mean something goes out from within the body and then enters again from outside? How could the place to which one’s original nature returns be something that comes and goes? Some take breathing exercises to be the essence, but why, then, do they still suffer from coldness in the lower back and physical decline? Some take the Qi that enters and leaves to be Jing and Qi themselves, but why, then, do they still become exhausted and harm their bodies? Even people in their prime grow frail. Once the essence is spent, the spirit, hun, and po disperse with it—what, then, is there to “return”?

Even if someone preserves their original Qi, practices daoyin exercises for a long time, and thereby extends their life, they have attained no more than the lower rank of an earthbound immortal; they still lack the sign of ascending through the air. Only by refining the Fire Dragon externally and circulating Golden Liquor internally does one truly enter the ranks of the higher immortals. From the perspective of the higher immortals, cultivating just one method can never make one immortal. The verses clearly distinguish the internal medicine from the external medicine to make them easier to understand, yet people still fail to grasp them. Alas, their affinity is truly too shallow.

2

This medicine is supremely numinous and sacred. The only concern is that your blessings may be too scant for you to bear it. Harmonize lead and mercury—the alchemical terms that symbolize the union of Yin and Yang—and before a full day has passed, you may already see the sign of the Mysterious Pearl appearing, a symbol of accomplishment in internal alchemy.

Those who aspire to cultivate may practice even while living amid the bustle of the marketplace; it does not hinder their cultivation. The work is easy to begin, and the medicine is not far away. When the truth is laid bare, people hear it and laugh.

The commentary says: Once one has entered the practice of the Golden Elixir (the essence produced through Neidan cultivation), one can quickly reach the realm of the sages. Is this not exceedingly wondrous and profound? The signs that the Golden Elixir is taking shape can appear after less than half an hour of refining. Is this not exceedingly simple and easy? Everyone already has what is needed for cultivation; one can practice whether living among ordinary people or serving at court. Is this not close at hand? Precisely because it is so wondrous and profound, so simple and easy, and so close at hand, once its principles are fully explained, people find themselves laughing without realizing it. Those who obtain this Daoist method need only fear that their accumulated hidden merit—good deeds done quietly—is too slight for them to bear it. Those who study the Dao should strive diligently.

The explanation says: The Perfected One maintains that Golden Elixir cultivation is not restricted by location: it can be practiced among ordinary people or in the capital and at court. The work required is easy, and the ingredients...