《阴符发秘》

Yinfu Fami (Revealing the Secrets of the Yinfu Jing) is Zhang Qingye's commentary on the Yinfu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman). "Fami" means "to bring out the secret," that is, to expound the meanings concealed within the text.

The new critical edition also includes the author's preface to the Yinfu Fami and its three fascicles (shang, zhong, and xia). It further collects corrections to the scripture and its commentary (chuan). Appended are the Xuanmen Jiebai (Clear Admonitions of the Mysterious Gate), dated to the bingyin year of the Qianlong reign (1746), a colophon to the Yinfu Jing stele at Qingyang Palace, and the Zimu Daoren Biezhuan (Separate Biography of the Daoist Zimu).

My friend Wentong has recently been studying Daoist works. He collected the Commentary on the Laozi (Laozi zhu) and the Meanings of the Laozi (Laozi yi) by the Tang-dynasty Daoists Cheng Xuanying and Li Rong, collated them, and is preparing them for publication. He also obtained Revealing the Secrets of the Yinfu (Yinfu fami), written by the Qing Daoist Zimu Daoren, Zhang Qingye, and has compiled a chronological biography of him, which he also plans to print. Wentong has devoted great care to this work.

Wentong holds that Chan Buddhism (Chanzong) is a branch of Buddhism that developed within China, that Song-dynasty Neo-Confucianism (Lixue) was influenced by it, and that the Daoist Quanzhen school arose after Chan and Neo-Confucianism. This account does capture the broad outline of how the three teachings were transmitted and diverged, and I cannot easily refute it.

Zimu Daoren appeared relatively late, and it is unlikely that he was entirely untouched by the Quanzhen school. However, Fan Yibin wrote the Xuanjie (Explanation of the Mysteries) as a sequel to Revealing the Secrets of the Yinfu. In his preface he says: "Zimu Daoren lived in Sichuan and was long familiar with the Nangong arts (a lineage of Daoist neidan practice), yet he attained the Way through inner alchemy." After the Song dynasty, Daoism divided into two lineages: the Northern Lineage (Beizong), which later developed into the Quanzhen school, and the Southern Lineage (Nanzong), which did not necessarily follow that path. Revealing the Secrets of the Yinfu explains in detail the principle that "Heaven and humanity arise together, and sun and moon have their fixed numbers," and it repeatedly cites the Cantongqi (Seal of the Unity of Three, a classic of Daoist inner alchemy) and the writings of Zhang Ziyang (Zhang Boduan, a Northern Song inner alchemist). The Southern Lineage regards these books as its standard texts. Therefore, Zimu Daoren's learning cannot be classified simply as belonging to the Quanzhen school. The Xuanjie, for its part, seems to lean toward the Southern Lineage.

Taken as a whole, Daoism has declined steadily since the time of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. Only Zhuangzhou's teaching is broad enough to clarify the state of free and easy wandering (xiaoyao) that depends on nothing. In the Wei and Jin periods people valued the mysterious and the abstruse, and even then they did not yet fully believe in the doctrine of immortals. Zuo Yuanfang and Wei Boyang discussed the arts of "supplementing and guiding" (bu dao zhi shu), methods of cultivating body and mind to seek longevity. Zhang Ziyang inherited this line of teaching and became the representative of the Southern Lineage. Although Wang Chongyang's thought was close to Chan Buddhism, the stages of practice taught by his disciples still aimed at ascending to immortality. Thus both the Southern and Northern Lineages essentially belong to the category of technique (fangshu), and not to what the ancients called the Dao (daoshu).

Once one falls into technique, its application inevitably depends on concrete things such as sound, color, bodily form, and breath, and sometimes it becomes bound to details such as yin-yang and numerical calculation. The more refined the methods, the narrower the scope of the Dao becomes. This is a change that occurred in the development of Daoism. Nevertheless, Zimu Daoren's learning did have a real transmission, and he expressed it through the Yinfu. That text was highly valued in its time, so how could it be overlooked? For this reason I have written a preface for Revealing the Secrets of the Yinfu, briefly setting out my own views, and I ask Wentong to correct them.

Written by Xie Wuliang in the twelfth month of the thirty-fifth year of the Republic (December 1946).

Among the works of the ancient sages, most explain principles through concrete things. Only the Yijing (Book of Changes) sets its hexagrams before the eye while containing within them all the affairs and principles of the world. The rise and fall of later dynasties and the order or disorder of political affairs may be regarded as manifestations of the Yijing's divinatory verifications. The classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections of every age may likewise be regarded as commentaries on the Yijing. The Yinfu Jing (Classic of the Hidden Talisman) is perhaps its outer and inner counterpart.

The Yinfu Jing is barely more than four hundred characters long, yet it speaks of the vastness of heaven and earth and of time without beginning or end. It also speaks of how the myriad things arise from the One and transform into countless forms, and its purport is both broad in scope and penetrating in its finest details. Its ultimate aim does not differ from the principles the Yijing expresses in zhenxia qiyuan (the new beginning that arises once one cycle has ended) and jing zhong han dong (motion contained within stillness). It is only that the Yinfu Jing's phrasing is peculiar and its characters abstruse, so later readers have searched these perilous passages for hidden meanings. This has produced many divergent interpretations that obscure its original intent. If one can calm the mind, return to oneself to experience the text, and consult the various canons to understand it, then the Buddhist teaching of fei kong fei se (neither empty nor form), the Laozi's chang qing chang jing (constantly clear, constantly still), and the Confucian wuji taiji (the Limitless and the Supreme Ultimate) all in fact flow from one and the same principle.

My fellow townsman Mu Daoren gave up scholar's garb and took up Daoist robes. They are learned and lived in Chengdu for more than twenty years. Besides studying the canons of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism in depth, they also grasped the subtle wonders of the Yinfu Jing. As for what the text calls the sandao wuzei (the three robbers and five thieves, that is, the transformations of interaction among heaven, earth, humanity, and the myriad things), the shaji (the killing mechanism, the trigger of generation and destruction), and the qiqi (profound devices), they wrote down their own understanding grounded in personal practice and were glad to explain it. Compared with Guo Xiang's commentary on the Zhuangzi, their interpretation is more closely tied to reality.

Mu Daoren put it well: "Ren zhe jian zhi wei zhi ren, zhi zhe jian zhi wei zhi zhi," meaning that the benevolent see it as benevolence and the wise see it as wisdom. Explaining the Yinfu Jing through the principles of the Yijing allows its meaning to be conveyed completely. To have treated it merely as a military manual was to see only one side and miss much of it.

I have never been especially familiar with the Yinfu Jing. Though I now possess the text, I may not be able to read it well, and even if I do read it, I may not fully understand it. I therefore simply read it by the method I use for reading the Yijing, and seek to understand it by the method I use for understanding the Yijing.

Yinfu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman)

Some say the Yinfu Jing discusses the art of war, and that earlier interpreters saw only one part of it and missed the whole. I was not originally familiar with this scripture. When I read it now, I often find it hard to make sense of, and even when I manage to understand it, I am not sure I grasp it fully. For this reason, I can only read it the way one reads the Yijing (Book of Changes), and interpret it the way one interprets the Yijing.

Written by Ruogu Shen Yuyun at the Stone Chamber in Jincheng (Chengdu), in early winter of the twelfth lunar month of the jiaxu year of the Qianlong era (1754).

Preface

In my youth I traveled widely and came to understand deeply that the affairs of the world are impermanent, like the mayfly (an insect with a very brief lifespan). In the winter of the guimao year, I came to the Shu region, where the mountains and rivers are steep and strange and all things constantly change. This made me all the more convinced that the transforming power of creation (the force by which heaven and earth give birth to all things) truly exists, and that nothing in the world is wholly empty. In the autumn of the jiyou year, I retreated to a place thick with cypress trees in Rongcheng (Chengdu), far from the mundane world, cultivating the Dao (the Way) of stillness and emptiness. Every morning and evening I studied the Yinfu Jing.

A guest asked me, "Why do you love reading this scripture?" I smiled and did not answer. He went on, "I have heard that the Yinfu Jing was written by the Yellow Emperor, and some say it is a work of the Spring and Autumn period. Zhu Xi held that it came from someone who awakened to the Dao in the Warring States period. Nowadays some regard it as a book on nourishing life, some say it teaches the governance of the state, and others take it for a manual of military strategy. As for the commentaries, they are even more varied and contradictory. Please explain in detail."

I replied, "What you say is both right and wrong." The guest rose in anger and demanded, "How can you say something so absurd?" I said, "It is not absurd. The Yijing says that the benevolent see benevolence in it, and the wise see wisdom in it. Those who withdraw from the world to cultivate themselves regard it as a book of nourishing life, and they are right to do so. Those who govern the state regard it as a guide to governance, and they are also right. Generals regard it as military strategy, and that too is reasonable. But if one clings to a single interpretation and insists that only it is correct, one is mistaken. The principles of the Yinfu Jing are not confined to any one use, nor can they be bound by a fixed explanation. When extended to all kinds of affairs and principles, they all connect. This is precisely why it is called the Yinfu.

It is a text transmitted from Mount Kongtong (the place where, according to legend, the Yellow Emperor inquired about the Dao from Guangchengzi), and it is regarded as the source of the fen, dian, qiu, and suo (ancient legendary books) and of the writings of the three teachings and the hundred schools. It traces the beginning and end of things through the hidden and manifest patterns of heaven and earth. It explains the principles of what precedes birth and what follows it, and how life arises and why it perishes. Heaven, earth, and humanity stand together as the Three Powers (sancai), and the principles within them are one. Therefore the scripture uses the Dao of Heaven to illuminate the Dao of humanity. Its words are concise and its meaning complete and profound, yet its practice is not difficult."

In sum, one must first discern the key to how things change, then understand how change arises and when its moment comes, and guard against being constrained or having the situation collapse. The practice that runs through all of it is to take naturalness and stillness as its root, and the principle to follow is to emulate the vigorous, ceaseless movement of the Dao of Heaven (tiandao). If one can understand, anticipate, experience, and put this into practice, one can transcend the realm of what has life and form and reach the state of no sound and no shape. Forgetting birth and death, one merges with the Great Void (taixu), the vast and boundless emptiness. How could this be only a way of nourishing life, governing a state, and waging war?

As for the claim that this book dates from the Spring and Autumn or Warring States period, there is no solid evidence for it. I will leave the question open rather than settle it. Those who insist on sorting everything into right and wrong will say the book is both right and wrong.

A guest said: "I have understood the main purpose of the book. You have studied it so carefully that you must have gained some insight of your own. Why not take up your brush, write down your understanding, and complete an annotation in your own school, so that like-minded readers can also read it? Why keep your insights hidden?"

I replied: "Alas! Lu Jiuyuan (courtesy name Zijing, a scholar of the Song dynasty) once said, 'The Six Classics annotate me.' Why should I annotate the Six Classics again? The Yinfu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talismans) is the same."

The guest said: "That is not right. Of course I know that once one grasps the image, one may forget the words, and once one grasps the principle, one may forget the image, just as one forgets the fish trap once the fish is caught. But can someone who is still fishing forget the trap?"

I replied: "That may be so, but I am not deliberately keeping my views to myself. If I set my own shallow understanding down on paper, it is bound to be called right by some and wrong by others. In truth, I cannot even be sure whether it is correct, and I do not know whether people will regard it as absurd."

Written by the Daoist Zimu, Zhang Qingye of Changzhou (in present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu), at Ziyang Cave on the fifteenth day of the second month of the jiaxu year of the Qianlong reign.

Yinfu Fami (Revealing the Secrets of the Yinfu Jing), Volume One

Annotated by Zhang Qingye, courtesy name Zihuan, the Eighty-Year-Old Child of Changzhou.

To observe the regularities of the Way of Heaven (Tiandao) and to act in accordance with its manner is the whole of the principle.

The nature of the Heavenly Dao is empty, still, and unpretentious. It does not give birth to things for its own sake, yet it allows the myriad things to grow. Its operations are impartial and spontaneous. It does not personally bring about any change, yet it causes the myriad things to transform without end. The opening and closing of qi between heaven and earth, and the alternating illumination of sun and moon, are the pivots of cosmic transformation (zaohua), and they can also serve as standards for cultivating the self. If people understand these principles and put them into practice in their own cultivation, they have grasped the essential meaning of the Yinfu Jing (Scripture of Hidden Symbols).

Heaven has five thieves (wuzei), the forces that bring about the transformation of things. Those who see them clearly will flourish. The five thieves also dwell within the human heart. Those who hold them in check and act in accordance with the Heavenly Dao seem able to grasp the universe in their hands and to let all manner of change arise from within themselves.

The commentary states that the "five thieves" are operations generated by the interaction of heaven, earth, yin, and yang, such as the sense objects of color, sound, fragrance, flavor, and touch. These also manifest in human perception, through the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body. Such senses easily stir desire and passion, leading people to pursue private ends and become lost in attachment, even to the point of dying without awakening. As the Daodejing says, "Five colors blind the eyes; five tones deafen the ears." If one can see through the pull of the senses and desires and not mistake them for the true self, one can act in accordance with the Heavenly Dao. The Heavenly Dao is without partiality and without speech, and it is not governed by external things. Those who can be like this regard heaven and earth as a single body, regard ten thousand years as a single moment of thought, align themselves with the creative transformations, and use the mind to grasp the pivot of change.

The nature of a human being is their heavenly nature, and the human mind is the pivot from which change is set in motion. Establishing the principle of the Heavenly Dao makes it possible to settle body and mind.

The commentary says: The heart that is undisturbed by the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) is human nature (xing), the true substance that is without thought, without action, and quiet and still. When ordinary people encounter external stimuli such as sounds and colors, they give rise to distinctions, likes, and dislikes. These distinctions and attachments and aversions are precisely the scheming thoughts (jiqiao zhi nian) that drive the spirit into peril. If a person can still the scheming mind and fully accord with their nature, then heart and nature, Heaven and humanity, are no longer separate. "Establishing" (li) and "settling" (ding) refer to firmly establishing a steadfast understanding that is not swayed in the slightest.

When the Way of Heaven sets in motion the force of autumnal severity (sushā zhi ji), the positions of the stars shift. When the earth sets in motion this force, dragons, snakes, and jiao-creatures appear on land. When humanity sets in motion this force, Heaven and earth undergo changes as though overturned. When Heaven and humanity move and change together, the foundation of the transformations of the myriad things is thereby established.

The Heavenly and Earthly Mechanism of Killing (tiandi fada "sha ji") refers to the hidden operation and activation of qi-dynamics within heaven and earth. The ten thousand things are originally quiet and still, and their arising and perishing transform into one another. Once the qi-dynamics stir, the ten thousand things are set in motion, rising and falling accordingly, like the straw dogs (chugou) discarded after sacrificial rites. This is why it is called the "Mechanism of Killing," which means that heaven and earth have no benevolence and simply allow the ten thousand things to change according to their own nature.

The sun, moon, and stars move to the right, while the positions of the constellations shift to the left, and light shines down from the sky. This is what is meant by yin qi turning austere and cold, issuing from heaven and meeting the earth. When the dragon and the serpent wake from their hibernation, they quietly rise upward. As the qi-dynamics ascend, the ten thousand things respond in kind. This is what is meant by yang qi blazing forth, issuing from the earth and meeting heaven.

The human body is a small heaven and earth. When the qi-dynamics circulate within the body, they pervade the six directions of empty space (liuxu, which refers to above, below, and the four cardinal directions), and the positions of Kan and Li (water and fire) also reverse and transform. Is this not precisely the situation in which one's own heaven and earth turn over, the qi rises, and body and mind respond accordingly?

What is meant by "the heavenly and human activating together" (tianren he fa)? Humans dwell between the interaction of heaven and earth, yet they often cannot govern themselves. Driven by the "Five Thieves" (factors that deplete a person's spirit and life), they fail to move in step with the operations of heaven and earth and thus turn away from the Dao. Now, if one intends to take heaven's Dao as the model for stabilizing oneself, then heaven and humanity become one and are no longer separate. When heaven and earth activate the Mechanism of Killing, humans also activate with them; when humans activate the Mechanism of Killing, the heavens, earth, and all things respond in kind. This is what is called "the heavenly and human activating together."

"The ten thousand transformations establish their foundation" (wanhua ding ji) means that at the moment of heavenly and human activation, one obtains the power by which the yin and yang of heaven and earth harmonize and operate, and also grasps the subtle mystery by which yin and yang generate the ten thousand things. One then regenerates the pivot of the fundamental root and re-establishes the source of life. In this way, the "birth that is not born" (bu sheng zhi sheng) grows from here, and the pivot of the "transformation that is not transformed" (bu hua zhi hua) also manifests from here.

The essential purpose of this passage is entirely summed up in the phrase "the heavenly and human activating together," which serves as the guiding principle of the entire Yinfu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman).

Earlier commentators read the yin in the title Yinfu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman) as meaning "dark" or "hidden," but this reading is mistaken. The ancients spoke of "fenyin" and "cunyin," terms for brief spans of time, and here yin refers to time. The Cantong Qi (Kinship of the Three), a classic of Neidan (internal alchemy), mentions the essentials of guarding the forbidden gate and hastening the proper moment. This shows that "heaven and humanity acting together" (tianren hefa) means carrying out cultivation in accordance with the right moment, so as to seize the opportunity for transformation. Why do we say this? The middle chapter of the Yinfu Jing states: "When eating and drinking accord with the seasons, the body's parts are harmonized; when the trigger is set rightly, the changes of the myriad things are settled." This can serve as proof.

People differ in natural disposition, some quick and some dull, and both can be gathered in and concealed. The evil thoughts arising from the nine orifices, including the ears, eyes, mouth, and nose, hinge on the "sanyao" (the Three Essentials), usually understood as the ears, eyes, and mouth. The practitioner can make these stir, or can make them still.

The commentary says that the sage's original nature (xing) can align with Heaven and Earth, while ordinary people's natural endowments vary in quickness or dullness, yet all can be gathered in and concealed. What is called "concealing and storing" (fucang) means withdrawing the mind-spirit and hiding it in subtle, secluded places. It is like the season gradually sending forth yang qi while the true yin qi still lies hidden beneath the earth, using that concealment to brew the yang. Afterward, the pure and austere qi and the bright and manifest qi can rise and fall in exchange, forming the vast, lofty, deep, and inexhaustible momentum of Heaven and Earth.

People cannot continue without pause because they do not understand fucang. They cannot conceal and store because the nine orifices of the body, namely the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, the mouth, and the front and rear openings, are not guarded with caution. The nine orifices are the doorways through which innate nature (tianxing) meets the "five thieves" (wuzei), the various desires and sensory functions that disturb the heart and deplete jing and qi. Without these doorways, external things could not lure nature toward deviance and falsity, and the heart could not thereby stir the Five Phases (wuxing: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) or disturb the original nature.

Among the nine orifices, the most sensitive are the ears, eyes, and mouth, called the "three essentials" (sanyao), and they are the key to cultivating oneself into a sage. When the three essentials move outward and the mind-spirit escapes through them, this is the beginning of entering deviance. Letting them become still, gathered in, concealed, and guarded within is an important path of cultivating the Dao. Therefore, the ability of the three essentials to move and to rest is precisely what determines whether a person advances toward sagely clarity or toward wild delusion.

When fire arises from wood, a calamity once set in motion must be stopped promptly. When treachery grows within a state and seizes its moment to act, the state will collapse. One who understands these principles and cultivates them is called a sage.

The commentator says that the first four lines of this passage describe how the Prior Heaven (xiantian) turns into the Posterior Heaven (houtian), so that the marvelous becomes decayed. The last two lines describe the return from Posterior Heaven to Prior Heaven, so that decay turns back into the marvelous. The essential point of the whole passage lies in four characters: shi (timing), dong (movement), zhi (knowing), and xiu (cultivation).

Why is this so? "Fire is born of wood" means that the mind (xin) originates in nature (xing). "Disaster, once it arises, must be overcome" means that innate nature transforms into the human mind, like flames rising upward and stirring the seven orifices. "Treachery is born in the state" means that emotion (qing) originates in nature. "When the moment moves, it must collapse" means that once emotion transforms into essence (jing), it is like water dripping downward and striking the two orifices below. Fire rises but cannot return, and water flows down but cannot come back. The Dantian (dantian), the energy center in the middle of the body as internal alchemy (neidan) describes it, is empty and without support. What, then, could sustain it?

Yet "moment of movement" should not be understood to mean that collapse is always inevitable. For this reason the commentator goes on to say that one must "know it and cultivate it." The "moment of movement" is the instant when heaven and humanity respond to each other and stir together, the threshold between Prior and Posterior Heaven and between becoming a sage and remaining an ordinary person. If emotions disturb the mind at this moment, Prior Heaven turns into Posterior Heaven, and this is the warning contained in "when the moment moves, it must collapse." If one can use the natural "killing force" (shaji) within oneself at this moment, a force that in internal alchemy refers to the power of subduing and gathering one's functions, then one can return from Posterior Heaven to Prior Heaven. Is this not the beginning by which the myriad transformations establish their foundation?

"Knowing" means perceiving the trigger that sets this moment in motion. "Cultivation" means applying effort promptly when the trigger arises, following the practice that can be sustained over the long term once it has been attained.

Zi Yang Zhenren's Ode on the True Lead (Zhen Qian Ming) can serve as proof. The Ode says: "A thought that strays from the right course will flow downward and be lost; a thought that awakens to understanding, once held fast, can condense into the True Lead (zhen qian), an important metaphor in internal alchemy (neidan) for the medicinal substance formed when jing, qi, and shen gather together. Let it rise and join with the Li trigram (symbolizing fire and the heart); then add nourishment so that the Kun trigram transforms into Qian (symbolizing the transformation of yin and yang, the return of yin to yang). When yin and yang return to transformation, one can return to the original source. When one reaches utmost emptiness and utmost stillness, the Dao operates of its own accord. If a person cultivates in accordance with this, they can ascend and become an immortal."

This passage has only twenty-four characters, yet if a person believes it and practices it, it truly has the power to lift one from the mortal realm into the realm of the sages. How could anyone who reads the Yin Fu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman) glance through it carelessly? As a child I loved reading the Yin Fu Jing, and I never stopped, whether in winter or summer. One day, in a state free of thought and dream, I suddenly heard someone else reciting this scripture. When the recitation reached this point, the wording differed greatly from the received text. I still remember the lines: "The heart arises from within nature; once a thought stirs, it must be restrained. Essence arises from within qi; once passion moves, it will scatter." At the time I thought this was an unauthorized alteration of the sages' classic, and I felt indignant. Upon waking and reflecting carefully, however, I found that the lines had considerable meaning. From this we can see that fifty years ago the ancient sages seemed already to have foreseen that people today would annotate the Yin Fu Jing. It is truly remarkable.

Revealing the Secrets of the Yin Fu Jing, Middle Volume

Annotated by Zhang Qingye (Zhang Qingye Zi), an elderly child of eighty from Changzhou

Heaven gives life and heaven takes life; this is the operating pattern of the Dao.

[Commentary] This chapter specifically clarifies the true moment when Heaven and humanity stir together, and the definite moment when a person activates the mechanism of killing. The chapter opens without yet developing the argument directly, so first let us note that when the seasons of generation arrive, all things flourish and grow, and in the season of austere decline, they wither. This is the regular operation of nature. As the Most High (Taishang) said: "Heaven and earth are not benevolent; they regard the myriad things as straw dogs used in sacrifice." To be "not benevolent" means that Heaven has no partiality at all, and so it cannot be called benevolent or not benevolent. This is exactly what the scripture means by "Heaven gives life and heaven takes life; this is the operating pattern of the Dao."

Heaven and earth draw on the rise and decline of the four seasons to bring about the growth, decay, and renewal of the myriad things. The myriad things in turn act upon people, and people likewise make use of them and harm them. If people accord with the seasonal timing and come to understand the regular patterns by which nature operates, they can reduce the damage that desire does to their original nature and stop wantonly destroying the myriad things. In this way, heaven and earth each keep their proper place, and the myriad things are able to grow.

The so-called "shí qí shí" (eating in its proper time) means taking in and receiving at the right moment. When one grasps the opportune time, the parts of the body come into harmony. When qi (the circulation and stirring of vital energy within the body) is activated appropriately, the transformations of the myriad things also settle into order. Commentators further explain this as a practice within cultivation: when the moment arrives, yin and yang qi circulate, and the practitioner swallows the refined qi they have taken in down into the five zàng organs. This settles and harmonizes the organs and adjusts the xíng shén (form and spirit), so that the practitioner gradually comes into union with the Dao (the Way).

People recognize the wondrousness (shénmiào) of a power when it becomes manifest, but they do not recognize that the seemingly formless, non-acting (wúwéi) root is precisely what makes that wondrousness possible.

The sun and moon move according to fixed patterns, and their waxing and waning follow set measures. From this, the achievements of the sage arise, and the wondrous functions of shenming (numinous spirit-illumination) become manifest.

Here, shenming refers to a subtle, numinous efficacy that is difficult to fathom. The Jing (scripture) uses the regularity of the sun and moon to illustrate a point: changes that seem ordinary, and that everyone can observe, contain the source of cosmic transformation (zaohua). Sagely achievement (shenggong) and shenming emerge precisely within this ordinary yet regular process of change.

This passage follows the preceding discussion of the "inconceivable wondrous functioning" and explains how the sage's achievement arises and how its spirit-like transformations become manifest. The sun rises and sets, the moon waxes and wanes, and from youth to old age and from antiquity to the present, people see these things every day without necessarily understanding the principles behind them. In truth, transcending birth and death, along with all the various marvelous transformations, is connected with this.

This section contains four lines, and the commentator holds that the scripture's essential meaning gathers in two characters, "great" (da) and "birth" (sheng). The first two lines speak of "great," and the last two speak of "birth." The phrase "the sage's achievement is born" means that it necessarily arises at the time when the sun and moon meet.

The movements of the sun and moon each follow fixed measures. The sun advances one degree each day, while the moon (Taiyin) advances more than thirteen degrees each day. Each month, the moon meets and opposes the sun, and each cycle passes through six phases. The phases before the full moon belong to the Three Yang and correspond in the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) to Zhen, Dui, and Qian. The phases after the full moon belong to the Three Yin and correspond to Xun, Gen, and Kun. The commentary also summarizes the coordination of their motions as "the sun moves five degrees, the moon moves sixty degrees," and so it says, "the lunar seasons number five or six, and the warp and weft serve the sun's command." This means that the moon's seasonal phases and movements follow the regular relation between sun and moon.

The commentator also quotes a mnemonic formula: "When the Yin fire ceases, the Yang fire wanes; the principle divides into lying and standing, following the lines of Fuxi. Then, along with the moon of black and white in the heavens, the six stages complete, and the dark and bright phases join." This formula maps the waxing and waning of the moon onto the circulation of energy within the human body. The monthly cycle in the body is called the "lesser cosmic orbit" (xiao zhoutian), a term from internal alchemy (Neidan) that describes the circulation of vital energy (Qi) within the body. The sun's cycle begins at the winter solstice, when a single Yang energy is born. The sun advances thirty degrees each month and completes 360 days in a year, meeting the Taiyin across twelve positions. This corresponds to the body's "greater cosmic orbit" (da zhoutian) over a full year, explaining the circulation of Qi through the rhythms of an entire year.

The greater and lesser cycles of the sun and moon each follow fixed measures. The commentator says that cultivation must accord with the timing of heaven and with changes in the body. The three days before and after the new moon, together with the three days before and after the full moon, make fourteen days in total, and these are called "great" (da). The three days before and after each quarter moon, also fourteen days, are called "small" (xiao). Here "new moon" (shuo) refers to the moon's dark phase, "full moon" (wang) to its bright phase, and "upper and lower quarter" to the intermediate stages of the moon's changing phases. The "Heavenly Mechanism of the Yin Talisman" (tianji yinfu) responds only to the "great" periods and not to the "small" ones. Therefore the "great medicine" (da yao), a term in internal alchemy for a key agent or achievement of practice, necessarily arises at the seasons when the sun and moon conjoin and oppose.

The phrase in the scripture, "the two sevens gather, and assist the person," refers specifically to the three days before and after the new moon (the first day of the lunar month) and the three days before and after the full moon (the fifteenth day). When a Perfected Person (zhiren) cultivates, they align their practice with the movement of the sun and moon. This is called huofu (fire talisman), meaning that cultivation is arranged according to the rhythm of heavenly time.

Why do this? The fluids of the human body are all transformed from Qi (vital energy), so Qi can be regarded as the root of fluids. The moon, Taiyin, governs the Qi and water of all things. In the Huangdi Neijing (Inner Classic of the Yellow Emperor), Qi Bo also explains that when the moon is full, the body's qi and blood are abundant and the flesh is firm; when the moon wanes, the flesh weakens, the weiqi (protective qi that guards the body) disperses, and the body appears frail and isolated. Aquatic creatures show similar changes: when the moon wanes, the brains of fish diminish, and when the moon is full, clams and oysters grow plump.

Therefore, the great Dao described in the Yinfu Jing (Scripture of Hidden Accord) takes sun and moon as its standard. One observes the waxing and waning of the moon and cultivates in accordance with the seasons. In this way, the qi-mechanisms of heaven and earth and of the human body naturally correspond, and yin and yang respond to each other. This correspondence is called wuji. The so-called "heavenly talisman wuji" means that from the last day of the lunar month to the morning of the new moon, the water-qi belonging to Kan in the moon flows toward the sun's center, which represents Wu; and the fire-qi belonging to Li in the sun returns to the moon's center, which represents Ji. Hence it is called tianfu (heavenly talisman). Once fire timing (huohou) accords with heavenly time, the vitality by which all things are born begins to sprout, and cultivation can be expected to reach completion and manifest its wondrous efficacy. Chunyangzi (Lü Dongbin) said, "When someone asks me the method of cultivation, I point afar to the wheel of sun and moon in the sky," which expresses this meaning. "The tides of the sea below and the moon above, following their waxing and waning, respond to fullness and waning." The waxing and waning of the moon is precisely the pivot for drawing and adding (chouti, adjusting the fire timing and progress of practice) in cultivation, and it is also described as the source of creation in empty space.

Moreover, the breathing and resonance between heaven and earth can also be seen in the moon's influence. For three days before and after the new and full moons, the moon's influence is greater and the sea tides are stronger; for three days after the first and third quarter, its influence is smaller and the tides are weaker. Cui Xifan's Tianyuan Ruyao Jing (Mirror of Entering Medicine from the Celestial Origin) says, "Heaven responds to the stars; earth responds to the tides." This speaks precisely of the mutual correspondence between celestial phenomena and the tides on earth. Therefore, the magnitude of the moon's influence follows a definite pattern.

This is indeed the profound meaning of the Way (Dao) in the Yinfu Jing (Classic of the Hidden Talisman), which has not been transmitted through the ages.

What is called "stealing the mechanism" refers to the principle of secretly according with and making use of the heavenly mechanism (tianji), which people in the world cannot see and find hard to know. The gentleman who obtains it can hold fast to himself, while the petty person who obtains it comes to despise his own life. The commentary says: one uses the subtle function that cannot be seen, practices non-action (Wuwei), and brings oneself into accord with the timing of Heaven and Earth and the regularities of the sun and moon. One cultivates in stillness and gathers body and mind in concealment, mixing with the common world without losing one's authenticity. In this way the sinews are strengthened, and both spirit (shen) and form reach a refined state. This is why the gentleman, having obtained this Way, is able to hold fast to himself. Lesser people, on hearing of the great Dao, often burst out laughing. Some rely on a little attainment from cultivation and their own cleverness to act recklessly, and in the end they lose their bodies and ruin their households, dying without ever understanding why. They regard the learning of Heaven and humanity as lighter than a feather and treat life as cheap as dust. This is what is meant by the petty person who, having obtained this Way, instead despises life. The common saying "When a wicked person obtains the correct method, the correct method itself turns wicked" speaks to this same principle.

Secrets of the Yinfu Revealed (Yinfu Fami), Volume Two

Commentary by Zhang Qingye (style name Yezi) of Changzhou, the octogenarian child

The deaf are the ones who are good at observing, and the blind are the ones who are good at listening. Cutting off reliance on a single sense yields ten times the effect of ordinary practice; practicing repeatedly by day and night, three times over, yields ten thousand times the effect.

The commentary says: this chapter opens by restating that the key to the three essentials of the previous volume lies in quieting the mind, gathering inward, and returning to the source. It also introduces what follows: among the three essentials there is one more subtle and more vital, the pivot through which one reaches the realm of the sages. If one does not rely on the ears, the function of the other senses will be correspondingly strengthened; if one does not rely on the eyes, hearing will likewise grow sharper. How much more so if all three senses can be returned inward and cultivated without pause, day and night. Then how could the efficacy of secretly perceiving and making use of the heavenly mechanism be measured in full?

The mind is born through external things and perishes through them as well; the crux lies in the eyes.

Heaven and Earth appear to bestow no favors, yet from this very absence comes the greatest favor. When thunder suddenly crashes and fierce winds rise, all things without exception are stirred by them. Extreme joy causes the original nature (xing) to overflow with a surplus, and extreme stillness causes the original nature to become clear and simple. Heaven and Earth appear to show partiality, yet what their movement accomplishes is the greatest impartiality.

The commentary explains that the previous chapter concerned closing the eyes and turning the light inward, the practice of huiguang fanzhao (turning the light back to illuminate oneself). This section shows that hearing a sound and grasping the subtle principle within it results from the sound entering the interior, through which the xin-shen (heart-mind spirit) becomes penetrating and open. Extreme stillness enables the original nature to become clear and simple. Heaven and Earth appear partial, but their actual working is the most impartial of all.

Qin (qin, "to seize, to control") governs the myriad things, and the key lies in qi (vital energy). The character qin here does not mean a bird; it means to seize, to restrain, or to drive. Qi is the fundamental force by which all things move and transform.

Qin (qín) refers to something that, like a bird in flight, easily soars away and is hard to gather back. Here it is chiefly a metaphor for the scattered spirit-consciousness (shénshí). To subdue it, one must rely on Qi (qì). The Qi here is not merely the breath within the body but the primal vital energy (yuánqì) and the underlying mechanism by which heaven and earth move and humans respond to heaven in mutual resonance. The commentary says that Shen (shén) and Qi cooperate with each other, like a man and a woman uniting or fire and firewood depending on one another. By using Qi to gather in the spirit-consciousness, one keeps it from chasing after worldly glitter (fēnhuá) and desire, and it becomes like a wanderer far from home who suddenly rekindles the wish to return. The essential point of cultivation lies in grasping the occasions on which humans and the cosmos stir each other.

Life is the root of death, and death is the root of life; blessing secretly contains calamity, and calamity may also arise from blessing. The commentary goes on to point out that all things, even as they grow, move toward death. The saying "the one who keeps generating (shēng shēng zhě) does not truly live (bù shēng)" means that ceaselessly pursuing external change is not true life. The primal spirit (yuánshén) passes through "death" and is then reborn, so the practitioner must learn "death" before physical death arrives. Here "death" refers to restraining agitated movement and letting go of attachments, so that the original nature becomes still, settled, and constantly abiding without wavering.

The commentary says that everything that comes into being must eventually die, which is why it says, "the one who keeps living does not live" (shengsheng zhe bu sheng). Clinging to endless growth and proliferation actually prevents one from lasting. The yuanshen (primordial spirit), the true spirit of a person, can be revived after undergoing changes like death, so one must learn to "die" before actually dying (wei si xian xue si). What does this mean? The xingti (nature-substance), the essential body of one's nature, is undisturbed. It is still and constant, and fundamentally has no coming or going, no birth or death. The trouble is that the human mind constantly runs outward, so one must be skilled at fucang (concealing and storing), that is, gathering the shen (spirit) inward and keeping it from view. This is the method of "learning to die before dying": rooting the foundation of life in "death." Without understanding fucang, one will only chase after growth. What is called birth and death is simply the mind giving rise to thoughts because of external things. When the mind clings to external things under the pull of desire, the body naturally changes with time and perishes. Therefore it is said that clinging to endless growth is precisely the source of death.

Blessings contain within them calamity. The jiaolong (scaly dragon) rises from the land because the frost and snow have receded at its root, and thunder rolls and winds rise from a season of hidden dormancy. Calamity too gives birth to blessings. When treachery accumulates within a state, it often signals a moment about to collapse. When branches flourish and flowers bloom brilliantly, this may be the very beginning of withering.

Natural change is not the only thing that works this way; human affairs and the ways of the world do too. Deadly dangers such as axes and poisons often lurk among pillows, mats, food, and drink. Arrows shot from behind and stones thrown into a well when someone is already down may come from those who are closest to us. This is what Taishang (the Most High, here referring to Laozi) meant by "be wary of favor and wary of disgrace." It is also the principle behind what the Huohou Tu (Diagram of Fire Timing), an illustrated explanation of changes in alchemical fire regulation, calls xing de xiang fu (punishment and virtue turning into one another): punishment and virtue, misfortune and fortune, transform into and restrain each other. Whether in dealing with the world or in cultivating the Dao, one should keep these words firmly in mind.

The foolish see the patterns and changes of heaven, earth, and the myriad things, and from them perceive the sage's Dao. I observe the patterns and changes of the times and of affairs, and from them discern the principles of things.

The commentary notes that when people hear the principle of "observing the heavens and examining the earth" (guan tian cha di), they assume the learning of the Yinfu (Hidden Talisman) Classic must lie in the celestial patterns above and the terrestrial textures below. They press their inquiries, divide and analyze, and chase the clues behind the words. But the power to seize spiritual efficacy and alter one's destiny (ming) cannot reside in such places. Anyone who devotes attention only to the textures of heaven and earth and believes himself enlightened is, in truth, a fool.

As for perceiving the Dao in the moment's circumstances and the transformations of things, this is what the earlier text calls "being spiritual without being spiritual" (bu shen er shen). Shi (timing) refers to the critical moment when calamity is about to arise and change is about to begin. Wu (things) refers to the time when myriad desires become tangled together. When a person, just as disaster is about to arise and change begins to stir, not only prevents the situation from developing to the point of inevitable defeat and collapse but also detects the omens, addresses them, and turns the situation around, then he may truly be said to understand the principle of the transformation of timing.

When a person is confronted by the confusion of external temptations, not only prevents people from harming and vying with one another but also turns his mind inward, observes within, and gathers and conceals the tendencies that could lead to chaos, then he may truly be said to understand the principle of the transformation of things. He must also be able to detect these tendencies, address them, and reverse them.

The changes of timing and the principles of things are not remote. Every movement from morning to night, every thought, and all the circumstances encountered in daily life are the immediate places of cultivation. They seem ordinary, yet they are precisely the key passageways by which ordinary people turn toward sagehood. If the foolish abandon these principles at hand and seek some other path, are they not seeking the far while discarding the near?

The ancients said: "A natural cauldron-furnace (dinglu), ready-made medicinals (yaowu), and talisman fire (fuhuo) that operates by itself." Here, the cauldron-furnace, the medicinals, and the talisman fire are metaphors from Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy). They refer respectively to the foundation of practice, the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) being refined, and the naturally operating fire-timing. Without a sage's own practice and genuine realization, such words could not have been spoken.

People measure the sage with the dull, worldly notions of the ordinary mind, but I do not measure the sage with such notions. People expect the sage to show extraordinary, uncommon qualities, but I do not expect such things of the sage. To treat water as a place one can sink into, or fire as a place one can enter, is to bring ruin upon oneself.

The commentary says that the sage reveals a plain and unadorned true nature, conceals sharpness, and lives among ordinary people without seeming out of place. Everyone in the world appears clever, while the sage alone seems dim. Therefore, if people judge the sage by shallow and ignorant standards, they will think less of the sage, as though sinking into water. If they judge the sage by strange and excessively lofty standards, they will place the sage far beyond ordinary reason, as though walking into fire. Neither view is adequate for speaking of the Great Dao (dadao). The saying "sinking into water and entering fire brings ruin upon oneself" is like the common proverb about spitting at the sky while lying on one's back: the spit only soils one's own face. The commentary further says that true understanding comes only once one becomes a Zhenren (perfected person, one who has realized the Dao). Who can determine that the so-called sage is not an ordinary person, or that the so-called ordinary person is not a sage? And who can understand how not displaying brilliance achieves brilliance, or how not displaying spiritual marvels achieves the marvelous?

The Dao of nature takes stillness and tranquility (qingjing) as its foundation, and therefore the myriad things of heaven and earth are able to grow. As the way of heaven and earth gradually unfolds and shifts, Yin and Yang wax and wane. As Yin and Yang move one another, transformation follows its natural course.

So the Sage, understanding that the way of nature cannot be opposed, adjusts and makes use of it by following its regularities. When the Dao of utmost stillness is reached, even the lüli (the system for reckoning the solar terms and calendar) cannot fully align with it. Thus there arose the qiqi (wondrous instruments used to deduce and manifest natural transformations), from which the myriad things were generated, along with the Bagua (Eight Trigrams, the symbolic system used to represent the myriad phenomena of Heaven and Earth), the jiazi (the sexagenary cycle of heavenly stems and earthly branches used for reckoning time), as well as subtle adaptations and profound, hidden patterns of change. The principle by which Yin and Yang restrain one another and wax and wane into each other is thereby made clearly visible in images such as the hexagrams.

This passage follows on from the one before it and concerns the principle of the Primordial Sage (Xiantian shengren): even Heaven cannot defy it, so how much less could humans? The sage follows this principle to fix precise methods that fully manifest the natural Dao (ziran zhi Dao). However, the phrase "therefore he made it" (yin er zhi zhi) is not yet a fixed rule. It only introduces the meaning of the following scripture passage, "thereupon there arose the wondrous vessel" (yuan you qi qi).

The sage further says that the natural Dao is vast and formless, deep and without trace. It cannot be sought through sound, and how could it be measured by image and number? For this reason the sage could not help but reveal how the wondrous vessel (qi qi) is made. The commentator holds that past and present commentaries on the Yin Fu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman) often explain the "wondrous vessel" in convoluted and fragmented ways that fail to convey the scripture's intent, when the scripture's opening has already spoken clearly. The words "establish" (li) and "fix" (ding) in "establish Heaven and fix the human" (li tian ding ren), and "fix the foundation of the myriad transformations" (wan hua ding ji), all implicitly point to the wondrous vessel. This is what the Yijing (Book of Changes) calls "rectifying the position and gathering the mandate" (zheng wei ning ming), meaning to set one's place in order and gather the Heavenly mandate.

The name "wondrous vessel" has been understood differently across ages. The Daodejing calls it the "mysterious female" (xuan pin), a mysterious maternal body. The Cantong qi (Kinship of the Three) calls it the "cauldron and furnace" (ding lu), the vessel used for alchemical refinement. The Huangting jing (Yellow Court Scripture) calls it the "cinnabar field" (dantian), the place within the body where essence and qi are cultivated. The names differ, but the intent is the same. Each uses an image to show that the sage draws on yin and yang and contains the transformations of creation, and so must have a place that serves as both foundation and site of cultivation.

The "wondrous" (qi) in the name signifies pairing and coordination, while the "vessel" (qi) signifies the place that contains what is within. Therefore the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate) is the wondrous vessel of Heaven and Earth, and the wondrous vessel is the Taiji within the human body.

This "marvelous vessel" stands apart from Heaven and Earth, yet it gives rise to Heaven and Earth. It does not keep company with the myriad dharmas, yet it transforms and generates the myriad things. It transcends all spirits and is supreme, with nothing standing opposite to it, which is why it is called the "marvelous vessel." In truth, it is the primordial Qi (vital energy) of the Dao, the root of all transformation, and the foundation of the Yinfu Jing (Scripture of the Hidden Talisman). The sage relies on it to begin cultivation and to carry out the work.

The mechanism of killing and punishment is set in motion within this vessel, and the essence of the three powers of Heaven, Earth, and humanity is drawn from it. The "Three Essentials" (the key elements of cultivation) return through it, and the "spirit that is not spirit," a subtle power that appears formless and inactive yet works effectively, manifests through it. To nourish Yin-Yang by following this vessel is to give birth to humans and all things; to carry out creation by reversing its course is to become a sage and attain the Dao. When the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) turn, the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) take shape accordingly; when the two modes of Yin and Yang circulate, the sexagenary cycle of the stems and branches arranges itself in sequence. By combining the tracing of origins with the hidden patterns of change, one can bring spirits to respond and make demons withdraw. These are all the functions of the vessel.

Understand that between Heaven and Earth, the myriad things ultimately return to the myriad images; the myriad images ultimately return to the hexagrams and lines; the hexagrams and lines ultimately return to the stems and branches; the stems and branches ultimately return to the Bagua; the Bagua ultimately return to the Five Phases; the Five Phases ultimately return to the Four Images; the Four Images ultimately return to the Two Modes; and the Two Modes ultimately return to the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). When one attains the primordial source of the Taiji, the Bagua will naturally revolve within, the sexagenary cycle will naturally advance and recede, and Yin and Yang will naturally rise and fall.

When the work is complete and the attainment of the Dao is fully realized, Yin Qi is exhausted and Yang Qi becomes pure, and spirits naturally appear. Having grasped this root, all affairs find their footing. This is perhaps what is meant by the marvelous vessel! Once one truly attains the marvelous vessel, the wonder of "the universe in one's hand" and the mystery of "myriad transformations born from the body" that were described earlier can now be seen within the "Three Essentials." They fill the four limbs and spread through the six directions (above, below, and the four cardinal points), filling Heaven and Earth. Their form is distinct and clear, and nothing is more evident or conspicuous than this, which is why it is said to reveal itself plainly within form.

Alas! The sun, moon, and stars shine clearly, and the transformations of the myriad things all lie open before the eyes. What can a person do, that one would willingly give oneself up? One must strive, one must strive!

Observe the regularities of the Dao of Heaven (Tiandao) and act in accordance with its movements.

[The two characters jin yi ("it is complete") are a eulogy that sums up the purport of the entire scripture.]

[The sixteen characters "Heavenly nature (tianxing) is the human; the human mind is the pivot (ji) of change. To establish the Dao of Heaven is to settle the human world" are an annotation explaining the scripture. "Heavenly nature is the nature that humans receive" explains the opening two lines. "The human mind is the pivot that sets change in motion" explains "the five thieves dwell in the heart." "Establishing the Dao of Heaven to settle people" explains the three lines beginning with "operate in Heaven."] The scripture above totals thirty-four characters.

Heaven has five workings. If people can perceive them, they will flourish. When the five workings stir within the human heart and operate in accordance with the Dao of Heaven, one can grasp the transformations between Heaven and Earth, so that the transformations of the myriad things arise from within oneself.

[Here, Heavenly nature corresponds to human nature, and the human mind is the pivot of change. Establishing the standard of the Dao of Heaven is meant to stabilize human affairs.]

When Heaven's killing-force (shaji) stirs, stars fall or go into hiding. When Earth's killing-force stirs, dragons and snakes appear on dry land. When the human killing-force stirs, Heaven and Earth are also overturned. When Heaven and humanity stir and change together, the myriad things thereby lay the foundation for their transformations.

Human endowment varies in nimbleness and dullness, and it can be gathered in and concealed. The delusions (xie wang) that arise from the nine orifices of the body hinge on three places: the ears, the eyes, and the mouth. These three can act, and they can also remain still.

Wood gives birth to fire, and calamity arises from it. Treachery is born within the state, and when the moment arrives, it will perish. Those who understand these principles and cultivate accordingly are called sages (sheng ren).

[Heaven can cause the myriad things to live and can cause them to die. This is the regularity of the Dao.]

[These eight characters are an annotation explaining the scripture. The opening passage says that killing contains life, and the next says that life contains killing. The passage in between, on gathering in and concealing and on the transformations of stillness and motion, explains cultivation.] The scripture above totals seventy-six characters. Together with the thirty-four characters before it, the total is one hundred and ten characters. The older edition arranged this material as the Upper Section and mistakenly listed the eight-character annotation as the opening line of the Middle Section.

Middle Scroll (Zhongjuan)

Heaven, earth, and the myriad things take from one another. Heaven and earth draw on the myriad things, the myriad things draw on humanity, and humanity in turn draws on the myriad things. When these three forms of taking each find their proper measure, the three powers of heaven, earth, and humanity are secure. Thus, when eating and drinking keep to their seasons, the parts of the body are regulated, and when one grasps the pivot on which affairs turn, the transformations of the myriad things are steady. People recognize the wonders that are plainly visible, but they do not realize that the ordinary and the unremarkable are the root from which those wonders emerge. The sun and moon follow fixed courses, and all things, great and small, have their set patterns. From these the achievements of the sage arise, and from them the spirits make themselves manifest.

Those who grasp this hidden pivot of operation are unseen and unintelligible to everyone under heaven. The gentleman who obtains it can preserve himself, while the petty person who obtains it may thereby lose his life.

The blind have keen hearing, and the deaf have sharp sight. Concentrating on the use of a single sense can make its efficacy surpass that of ordinary people tenfold, and using it repeatedly, without slackening day or night, can raise that efficacy to ten thousandfold.

The mind is born through external things and is also destroyed through them, and the key lies in what the eyes see. This means that human thought is easily stirred by the things one perceives.

The Dao (dào) of heaven appears to show no partiality, yet from it arises profound grace. Thunder roars and fierce winds rise, and the myriad things all stir in response. Supreme joy makes the nature full, and supreme stillness keeps the nature clear and free of craving. The Dao of heaven appears extremely partial, yet in its application it is exceedingly impartial. The actions of birds and beasts are governed by Qi (qì). Life is the root of death, and death is also the root of life; benefit may arise from harm, and harm may arise from benefit.

The foolish take the patterns of the myriad things in heaven and earth to be the wisdom of the sage, whereas I apprehend clarity through the seasons and the patterns of things. Others regard feigned knowledge as enlightenment, but I do not use folly to guess at the sage. Others expect the sage to display something extraordinary, but I do not measure the sage by the extraordinary. When people see the sage cut off private gain and forget cleverness, they think him dull. When they see him administer punishments, bestow rewards, give, and take away, they find his conduct peculiar.

To sink water into fire is only to bring about one's own destruction. The Dao of nature is inherently still, and therefore heaven and earth and the myriad things are able to come into being. As the principles of heaven and earth gradually unfold, Yin-Yang (yīnyáng) wax and wane in mutual alternation. As Yin and Yang shift against one another, transformation proceeds smoothly. The sage understands that the Dao of nature must not be violated, and therefore he follows it……

Water sinking into fire is tantamount to self-destruction. The Dao (the Way) of nature takes stillness as its root, and for this reason Heaven, Earth, and the myriad things are able to come into being.

The principles governing the operation of Heaven and Earth gradually become manifest, and Yin-Yang thereby wax and wane against each other. Yin and Yang propel one another, and transformations unfold in accordance with regularity. The sage understood that the Dao of nature must not be opposed, and so accorded with it in regulating affairs. The Dao of utmost stillness is profound and unfathomable; even the calendar cannot fully correspond to it.

[Note: The above forty-two characters are commentary (zhuan), used to explain the scripture (Jing).]

Thereupon a marvelous instrument came into being, from which arose the myriad phenomena, the Eight Trigrams (Bagua), and the jiazi cycle (the system of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches used to count years and days), and within which lie subtle mechanisms and hidden transformations.

The principle of the mutual waxing and waning of Yin and Yang advances manifestly into the forms of the myriad things.

[Note: The above thirteen characters are commentary, used to praise the scripture.] The scripture above totals 224 characters and was listed in older editions as the lower part. The separately marked commentary totals 142 characters, which together with the scripture comes to 302 characters. Older editions combined scripture and commentary into 444 characters; reckoned by the length of a text of three hundred characters, this is clearly far too many. Now that the meaning of the wording has been clarified, the boundary between scripture and commentary is clear.

Appendix One: Xuanmen Jiebai (Admonitions of the Mysterious Gate)

The Bingyin year of the Qianlong reign (1746).

In the Renxu year (the seventh year of the Qianlong reign, 1742), late at night, after the burial of both parents had been completed, the Daoist Mu unknowingly forgot the distinction between self and world and was suddenly liberated. In the following year, the Guihai year (the eighth year of the Qianlong reign, 1743), the Daoist also entered Sichuan. The meaning of the text and the distinction between scripture and commentary remain clearly visible.

Appendix One: Xuanmen Jiebai (Admonitions of the Mysterious Gate)

The Bingyin year of the Qianlong reign (1746).

In the quiet night of the renxu year, after he had finished arranging his parents' burial, Mu Daoren suddenly forgot both himself and the mundane world, and in an instant he felt his body and mind liberated. The following year, guixi, he entered the Shu region and settled in Chengdu, moving between the Qingyang Palace and the Wuhou Shrine. Considering how deeply he had been favored, he felt all the more ashamed of his insufficient cultivation, so he diligently exhorted himself day and night, hoping to accumulate merit bit by bit and thereby repay the Four Debts of Gratitude (a Buddhist term referring to the kindness of parents, sentient beings, the state, and the Three Jewels).

Yet having taken refuge in the Dao (the Way) of stillness and non-action, and having no opportunity to present his own views, he could only set forth everything he had realized and exhort those who would seek the Dao in later times. He solemnly declared to the assembly that Heaven has only one Dao, and the sage has only one mind. Although the teachings of the various schools differ in form, their standards of conduct are the same. From this we know that filial piety, fraternal respect, loyalty, and trustworthiness are the common foundation of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, while propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame are the principles established by the sages of every age. Once the foundation is firmly set, what difficulty is there in attaining the Dao and ascending to immortality? If the root is damaged, how can one speak of ascension at all?

As for other heterodox doctrines, most arise from errors in transmission. As for deluding the world and deceiving the common people, this comes from studying and practicing in the wrong direction. The Daodejing, in five thousand characters, takes stillness and purity as its essential aim. The Four Hundred Character Classic of the Golden Elixir (Jindan) stresses guarding one's true nature. The Cantong Qi and the Wuzhen Pian never speak of commanding ghosts and spirits or driving away deities. The Xinyin Jing and the Qinghua Lu have never advocated burning straw or refining mercury. Whether one cultivates inner or outer practice, the measure is the depth of one's virtue (De, Virtue/Power). As for Sheng Shi's Zhixuan Pian and Cui Gong's Ru Yao Jing, every chapter and every character insists on single-minded diligence. The Longhu Jing and the Tongfu Tiejuan Wen are likewise clear and exact in what they say. It is only because human hearts are divided between public and private concerns that affairs end in success or failure. If one blames the former teachers for this, one will drift through the calamities of the mundane world with no day of release. Is this not lamentable?

Now, out of deep compassion, I have made a vast vow, and I will point directly to the key to cultivating the Dao and set forth its essential principles. I take this vow in a blue robe, and I earnestly ask you all to listen carefully. From ancient times, those who were able to ascend together with their whole families were all people of profound merit. Those who were able to gather their spirit (Shen, spirit) and harmonize their breath (Qi, vital energy) were likewise practitioners who were wholly devoted and persevered without wavering.

Therefore, the steps and rules of cultivation follow fixed principles, and the "Seven Returns and Nine Reversions" (qi fan jiu huan) have a definite sequence. The "Taiyi Containing True Qi" (Taiyi, the primordial true qi of Daoist doctrine) must be gathered through the guidance of spirit intention, not merely by swallowing saliva or ingesting breath. The moment when the first Yang (yi yang) is reborn must accord naturally with non-action (wuwei) and absence of deliberate thought. This is not simply sitting in silence or clinging to an empty void. Those who cultivate in this grounded way will see results as their skill matures. Those who seek in empty fashion, like grasping at wind and catching at shadows, will never find it, even over a lifetime.

In recent times, as more people seek teachers, the paths have multiplied and diverged, while moral virtue (de) has grown ever thinner and understanding ever more clouded. Some cling to a single extreme and refuse to turn back until death. Some hesitate indecisively and accomplish nothing in their whole lives. Some feign madness to deceive others, transgressing propriety and measure. Others pretend to refine gold and silver in order to bewitch the crowd, violating Heavenly Principle and deceiving their own conscience. No wonder that students of the Dao are as numerous as cattle hairs, while immortality is as rare to encounter as a rabbit's horn. Some have even been hastily buried in the wilderness, their corpses left in ditches, and one calamity after another follows. The world knows this is the wrong road. Today the transmission of the immortal Dao has nearly been severed. To exhort those who come after, all of us should reflect deeply and turn back at once.

Cultivation must follow rules step by step and uphold the bonds of human relationships at every turn. Strive to be filial to parents, brotherly to siblings, and loyal and trustworthy, diligently practicing propriety, righteousness, integrity, and a sense of shame. Understand that the Great Dao lies within the ethical norms and bonds of human relations, and apart from these there is no Dao. Widely perform good deeds and accumulate abundant hidden merit (yin de). Only then can one who cultivates inner alchemy (neidan) subdue the Dragon and Tiger within the body (the symbols of the mutual interaction of yin, yang, and vital essence in inner alchemy) and win the respect of gods and spirits. Only then can one who practices the furnace fire (the external alchemy of refining elixirs in a furnace, waidan) eliminate demonic obstacles and gather blessings. Practicing according to these principles is like holding a certified contract: secure and reliable. Seeking the goal in this way also makes it easy to attain, as easily as taking an object from one's own bag.

If anyone does not believe this, let them sincerely call upon the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the supreme deities revered in Daoism, as witnesses. If what I have said is false and deceitful, may the gods visit punishment upon me, and may I be reborn as a creature of the four modes of birth (womb-born, egg-born, moisture-born, and transformation-born).

Respectfully submitted.

Appendix II: Colophon to the Stele of the Yinfu Jing at Qingyang Palace

Many people speak about the Yinfu Jing (Classic of the Hidden Accord). Some say it was composed by Guangchengzi and transmitted to the Yellow Emperor. Others say it was written during the Spring and Autumn period. As for Ziyang Zhenren, he holds that...

Many people throughout history have discussed the Yinfu Jing (Scripture of Hidden Symbols). Some hold that Guangchengzi composed it and passed it on to the Yellow Emperor. Some date it to the Spring and Autumn period. The Ziyang school held that it came from an adept who had awakened to the Dao during the Warring States era. Others regard it as a classic of self-cultivation, statecraft, or military strategy. The commentaries are many and varied, and their views are far from consistent. I would sum it up in one sentence: all of these views are correct, yet none is entirely so.

Why do I say this? The Yijing (Book of Changes) states: "The benevolent see it and call it benevolence; the wise see it and call it wisdom." In other words, different people perceive different principles in the same thing. Those who withdraw from the world to cultivate themselves regard the Yinfu as a book of life-nourishing practice, and they have a point. Those who govern the realm regard it as a book of kingly administration, and they too have a point. Those who lead troops in battle call it a manual of warfare, and that reading is equally defensible. Yet if one clings to any single one of these readings, one is in fact mistaken. The Yinfu is not bound by a single interpretation, nor confined to a fixed doctrine. When one uses it to probe the countless affairs and principles of things, it fits them all. This is precisely why it is the Yinfu.

It is a scripture transmitted in the lineage of Mount Kongtong, and it is the source of ancient works such as the Sanfen (Three Mounds), Wudian (Five Canons), Basuo (Eight Searches), and Jiuqiu (Nine Hills), as well as the textual foundation of the Three Teachings and the hundred schools. It traces the beginnings and endings of things through the visible and hidden realms of heaven and earth. It clarifies why things come into being and why they perish, both before and after heaven, earth, and humankind came into existence. Heaven, earth, and humanity are together called the sancai (Three Powers), and their fundamental principle is originally one. Therefore the Yinfu uses the Dao of Heaven to illuminate the Dao of humanity. Its words are concise, yet its meaning is complete and profound, and it is not difficult to put into practice.

In sum, the Yinfu first teaches how to discern the subtle transformations of things, then how to recognize the direction and timing of their movements, and how to guard against decline and collapse. The method of cultivation that runs throughout is to take naturalness and utmost stillness as its root, and the principle it follows is to emulate the vigorous movement of the Dao of Heaven. If one can understand, guard against, realize, and practice in this way, one can transcend the state of living, embodied beings and attain the realm beyond sound and scent. One can forget the distinction between birth and death and merge with the Great Void. How could its significance be limited to life-nourishment, statecraft, and military strategy?

As for the claim that the Yinfu was composed in the Spring and Autumn or Warring States period, there is at present no evidence for it, so I will set it aside here. Thus, the views of the various schools are all correct, yet none is wholly so. Now Wang Laitong has carved this scripture onto a stele in a Daoist hall. With a sincere and steadfast heart, he not only advances his own practice but is also capable of inspiring those who come after. I am deeply pleased by this, and so I have written this colophon.

Written and prefaced by Zhang Qingye, a Daoist of Changzhou.

In the sixteenth year of the Qianlong reign (1751), the year of xinwei, the Sidao Temple (Sidao yuan) relied on utter sincerity and steadfast faith. Its members not only cultivated themselves diligently but also gave enlightenment to later generations. I rejoice at this, and therefore write this colophon for the book.

Written and prefaced by Zhang Qingye, a Daoist of Changzhou.

On an auspicious day of the fourth month in the sixteenth year of the Qianlong reign (1751), the year of xinwei, the resident Daoist Wang Laitong respectfully erected this stele.

Appendix Three: Biography of the Daoist Zimu, written by Yang Runliu.

Zhang Qingye, courtesy name Zihuan, was also known as Daoist Zimu. He was originally named Zun and was a native of Changzhou in Jiangnan. He was probably born in the fifteenth year of the Kangxi reign (1676), the bingchen year. In his youth he was a scholar, widely learned, skilled at composing poetry, and his calligraphy followed the model of Yan Zhenqing. He was a well-known literatus in the Wu region.

He traveled widely and held aspirations that transcended worldly concerns. After arriving at Taizi Slope on Mount Wudang, he followed the Perfected Yu Taiyuan and took Daoist vows. In the first year of the Yongzheng reign (1723), at the age of forty-eight, he traveled upstream along the Yangzi into Shu (Sichuan) and toured the scenic sites of Mount Emei and Mount Qingcheng. Observing the steep and extraordinary shape of the mountains and the changes in human affairs, he came to believe even more firmly that there is a subtle principle linking the existence and disappearance of all things.

He lived successively at the Linjiang Temple and the Xizi Palace in Chengdu, owning only a qin and a bed, and his life was simple and unconstrained. Earlier, the Sichuan Governor De had submitted several memorials requesting approval for a certain administrative matter, but the court had never granted it, and his advisers were troubled by this. Zhang revised a few characters in the memorial, and when it was submitted again, the matter was finally accomplished. The governor was greatly astonished and wished to recruit him into office. Zhang refused, so the governor asked him to oversee affairs at the Temple of Marquis Wu. (The above account is according to Mr. Liu Yubo.)

In autumn of the seventh year of the Yongzheng reign (1729), Zhang, then fifty-four, moved to the Temple of Marquis Wu. He declined worldly social contacts and devoted himself quietly to cultivating the Way of stillness, emptiness, and non-being, and in his spare time he read and studied the Yinfu Jing (Scripture of Hidden Talismans). With his remaining energy he also repaired the temple grounds and gardens, planting pines and cypresses, so that the halls and walls were renewed. In a side courtyard of the temple stood a pond of lotuses that he had planted with his own hands. In the courtyard was a pavilion named "Lotus Boat," and south of the Lotus Boat was a Daoist hall whose old plaque read "Hidden Secrets."

There is a studio named Ou Chuan (Lotus Boat). South of the Lotus Boat is the Daoist monastery, whose original plaque read Cangmi (Hidden Secrets). Further south lies Ziyang Cave (Ziyang Dong). Its scenery is deep and tranquil, and its old appearance has been renewed, thanks entirely to the efforts of this Daoist priest.

According to research, in the fourth year of the Qianlong reign (1739), the Daoist, then sixty-four, wrote an inscription for the ancestral graves of Qingyang Palace (Qingyang Gong) and signed it "Zhang Qingye, the Daoist of Changzhou, who reopened the Wuhou Shrine." The record An Xia Shu Daoren Li Qingyang Gong (The Daoist of An Xia Shu Who Administered Qingyang Palace) states that he did not take charge of Qingyang Palace until the eighth year of the Qianlong reign, so at the time he wrote the inscription for the graves alone, which explains the signature.

According to the Chengdu Lingmiao Zhi (Gazetteer of Chengdu's Tombs and Temples), in the seventh year of the Qianlong reign (1742), the Daoist, then sixty-seven, also replanted cypress trees in the rear hall. In the same year he returned to the Jiangnan region and buried his parents. From then on, he seemed to forget the burdens of his origins, and his mind settled into calm detachment; he was still sixty-seven at this time. The following year, the eighth year of the Qianlong reign (1743), he re-entered Shu (Sichuan).

At that time, the magistrate of Huayang County, An Hongde, and the magistrate of Chengdu County, Xia Shaoxin, rebuilt Qingyang Palace and restored its temple lands. Respecting the Daoist's lofty and reclusive character, they entrusted the palace to his management. The Daoist said, "Qingyang Palace is the ancestral seat of Daoism, and it is my responsibility, but I am old and have no ability to fulfill it." Prefect Wen also made repeated requests, and since the Daoist could not firmly refuse, he had his disciple Wang Yicui take over the management. He himself often traveled between Qingyang Palace and the Wuhou Shrine. According to the old gazetteer, the prefect of Chengdu at that time was Wang Shixiang.

Two years later, in the tenth year of the Qianlong reign (1745), the Daoist, then seventy, installed a bell and wooden clappers (zhong ban) at Qingyang Palace to summon the Daoist community and to receive Daoist visitors from elsewhere. The zhong ban were the instruments used in Daoist monasteries to gather the community. Daoists from various regions heard the news and came in great numbers, and the palace's monastic rules were revived, so that it became, in effect, a large Daoist monastic community (conglin), a place where Daoist priests gathered to practice.

In the eleventh year of the Qianlong reign (1746), the Daoist, then seventy-one, reflected on the great honor he had received and cultivated vigilance and self-discipline day and night. He therefore wrote down all of his insights in full to encourage those who would come after him, and compiled them into Xuanmen Jiebai (Admonitions of the Mysterious Gate).

In the xinwei year (the sixteenth year of the Qianlong reign, when the Daoist was seventy-six), the Daoist reflected on the favor and grace he had received and remained cautious and watchful day and night. He therefore set down all of his insights in writing to encourage later practitioners, producing the Xuanmen Jiebai (Admonitions of the Mysterious Gate). In the same year, the abbot Wang Laitong had the Yinfu (Classic of the Hidden Accord) carved onto a stele. The Daoist wrote out the text himself and added a colophon on the back of the stele.

In the jiaxu year (the nineteenth year of the Qianlong reign, when the Daoist was seventy-nine), he completed the Yinfu Fami (Secrets of the Yinfu Revealed) and signed it "Old Child of Eighty." Scholarly study indicates that he was in fact seventy-nine at the time. Shen Yuyun of Ruodong wrote a preface for the work.

In the jihai year (the twenty-fourth year of the Qianlong reign, when the Daoist was eighty-four), the Qingyang Palace, a Daoist monastery, expanded its halls and gates. The various projects were completed in succession over eleven years. The stele commemorating the rebuilding of Qingyang Palace was erected, and its inscription was composed by An Hongde.

In the guiwei year of the twenty-eighth year of the Qianlong reign, the Daoist passed away peacefully without illness, at the age of about eighty-eight. His hair had grown thin and white, his speech was elegant and refined, and he was skilled in calligraphy. He is the author of the Tandong Cao (Draft Writings from Tandong).

Later, in the renchen year of the thirty-seventh year of the Qianlong reign, Fan Yibin of Shenyang obtained the Daoist's Fami. Fan Yibin had inherited the teachings of Master Songshan and saw that the secret instructions the Daoist transmitted shared the same lineage. He judged that the Daoist's instructions had already brought the hidden matters into the open, but that the sense of "still containing hidden meanings not yet fully disclosed," implied by the title Fami, still required later readers to interpret. He therefore wrote the Yinfu Xuanjie (Mysterious Explanations of the Yinfu). In his preface he wrote: "The Daoist had long mastered the methods of the Southern Palace (the Daoist cultivation arts), yet he ultimately attained the Way through internal alchemy (neidan). It is regrettable that he had already departed this world through shijie (the Daoist term for a practitioner's transcendent release from the body), and I was unable to receive his instruction in person."

A careful study of the tombstone of a Daoist adept, restored in the twenty-first year of the Republic (1932) by Liu Jiaobin, abbot of Qingyang Palace, shows that the inscription is very brief and that the account in the Chengdu Gazetteer is likewise not detailed. The scholar Meng Wentong, working from the text on the stone, established that the adept was eighty-four years old in the Jimao year of the Qianlong reign (the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong, 1759). He then examined the various prefaces and recorded events and, through calculation, inferred the adept's year of birth, lineage, and life history. Zhengfang adopted these findings and wrote them up as a separate biography, in the hope that it might help those who seek to trace the lineage of the Daoist tradition.