《道樞》Vol. 23

Interpretation

Dao (the Way) cultivation broadly falls into three practices: refining the form (lian xing), refining the vital energy (lian qi), and refining the spirit (lian shen). The essentials lie in accords with the seasonal cycles of the four seasons, drawing on the transformations of the Five Phases (wuxing), and in the application of Kan (Water) and Li (Fire) in mutual correspondence, with the interaction of Yin and Yang. When this is achieved, the "dragon and tiger" within the body, namely the Yin and Yang energies, begin to stir, and the three Dantian (energy centers)—at the space between the eyebrows, the chest, and the lower abdomen—fill with qi. These merge into a single whole, and true qi lies hidden within the body. What is meant by "the Xuan valley and the three fields filled with qi, entering the Xuan above," is that the upper region is not dark, the lower region is not dim, and only then can one refine qi and unite it with shen.

Qi here refers to the qi within qi: vast and flowing through the four limbs, soft and still, with the spirit-soul lightly rising. True qi, mingled throughout the body, enters below the navel. When qi returns to the navel it becomes breath (xi), and when shen enters qi it becomes the embryo (tai); the embryo and breath unite, a state called "Taiyi holding the True" (Taiyi han zhen). Only then can one proceed to refine shen.

There are four aspects of the complete spirit: heart (xin), intention (yi), nature (xing), and spirit (shen), which are fundamentally one body. The heart is the dwelling place where shen is stored. When shen embraces qi and returns it to its root, it can then guard itself, and this is the beginning of entering sagehood.

The method of refining the form begins with calming the heart and regulating the breath. When qi is still and continuous, and shen is held within the chamber (inner observation), qi enters the Dantian; this is the refining of form. Qi is the most refined essence of Yin and Yang. The Heaven's Yang soul, once refined, forms a vessel that can generate shen-qi and become an image of Taiyi. It flows through the hundred vessels and disperses throughout the body, so that the five viscera and six bowels, divided into three functions, strengthen the form and fortify the bones. When qi settles, shen is born. How can qi be made to settle? One must sit in stillness: cross the legs, forget emotions and thoughts, let the breath move in and out continuously, like the breathing of a tortoise. Before long, true qi pervades the body; the breath in the nose seems to exit yet does not, moves yet is still, and Yin embraces Yang. Then the Red Dragon (Yang qi) is driven upward through seventy-two motions, and Heaven's Yang descends into the Li palace (the position of heart and fire). The Li palace, receiving qi, transforms it into true fire, which refines the form, and Yin pathogens are transformed into sweat and expelled. Repeated five times, this accords with the 360 cycles of the heavenly circuit (zhoutian), and the light of Yang fills the body, and qi flows freely.

(Essential meaning: Inner qi does not leak outward, and external qi does not invade; Yang fire arises from the position of Li. Through seated embryonic breathing, the alignment of Kan and Li, and the fire-timing of the heavenly circuit, one proceeds in sequence to refine form, refine qi, and refine shen.)

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Interpretation

Vernacular Commentary on the Daoshu (Pivot of the Dao)

Section 1 (Refining Qi and Guarding Shen)

To guard the "child and mother" (zimu), embracing Yin within and carrying Yang without, is the method of refining Qi (vital energy). Next, one holds fast to the mind-spirit and returns it to its origin. When Shen (spirit) is in the ears, it hears; when it is in the eyes, it sees; when it is on the tongue, it tastes; when it is in the heart, it transforms; and when it is in intention, it comes and goes in a flash. If Shen dwells for a long time among the six roots (liugen) and the six roots no longer receive external things, the six roots will naturally become still. When Qi and Shen unify, Shen becomes true Shen. This is called "the six roots entering the chamber."

Section 2 (Upright Body Entering Stillness)

One sits upright, and once Shen and Qi are settled, the inner scenery does not leak outward, the outer scenery does not enter the heart, and the heart holds not a single thought. One listens outwardly yet hears nothing. Whether the eyes are closed or open, Shen remains in the heart. Qi returns below the navel, and brain-Qi naturally fills; the tongue presses against the upper palate, and saliva wells up of its own accord. The hands cradle the navel, and the fire of the Dantian (energy center) is warm and gentle. Intention roams the vast sky, and divine light illuminates itself. When the six roots are settled, self and things are both forgotten. After a long time one becomes dim and silent, dark and obscure, and Shen no longer attends to the body while the body no longer attends to Shen; host and guest separate. Within the Great Void (taixu) one sees a light the color of tangerine, neither inside nor outside. Hold it without losing it, like the radiance of the moon or the reflection in a mirror, keeping it in mind with intention without separation.

Section 3 (Inner Illumination and Form and Spirit)

In a dazed state, inner illumination occurs, and the light spreads outward on its own, as large as a cartwheel. Intention looks only upward, and within it there is an "image of self." Shen leaves the body and abides within the light; form becomes visible in Shen, and Shen regards form. Form and Shen look upon each other, and the light spreads like moonlight on snow. Form and Shen are both wondrous, and one unites with the Dao to become true. When Shen returns to the body, is this the True Person? When it goes forth, is it a numinous being? After a thousand days of work, it can leave the body and ascend; after ten thousand days of use, Shen has already entered within. At this time one should circulate "heart fire" to nourish it.

Section 4 (Heart Fire and the Twelve Double-Hours)

What is heart fire? It is hazy and dim, yet within it there is a thing; it is dark and obscure, yet within it there is the True. The day has twelve double-hours, six Yang and six Yin. The practitioner begins the work at the zi hour. Zi is Yang and chou is Yin. Take the "kuai" of the mysterious female (xuanpin) as Yang: when the kuai is on the left, it descends through the Golden Gate (jinguan); when it is on the right, it descends through the Jade Door (yuhu). When the hour is zi, Yin is within Yang. The right kidney is like the moon, and within it a Qi of the Jade Hare issues from the right nostril; this is what is called the "kuai." Thereupon, one first circulates water three times and then circulates fire three times, corresponding to "After Completion" (Jiji).

Section 5 (The Chou Hour and What Follows)

When the hour is chou, Yang is within Yin. (The original text that follows, at points such as "kuai on the left," connects with the zi hour described above and still explains how to practice according to the double-hour, the left and right kidneys and nostrils, and the sequence of water and fire.) The left kidney is like the sun, and within it a Qi of the Golden Crow issues from the left nostril. One again circulates fire three times and water three times, corresponding to "Before Completion" (Weiji). Thus water and fire circulate alternately, and Shen and Qi nourish each other. This is warming with heart fire, causing the True within the dark obscurity to gradually grow.

The above, from the end of the third section through the fifth, is to be rendered into readable vernacular while remaining faithful to the original meaning, linking the concepts already introduced (zi and chou, water and fire, Jiji, xuanpin, the Golden Gate and Jade Gate, and so on).

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Interpretation

Daoshu (The Pivot of the Dao): A Vernacular Commentary

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I. Yin-Yang, Water-Fire, and the Rise and Fall of Breath

Yin corresponds to the left kidney, and yang to the right kidney. Within the left kidney is the vital breath of the Golden Crow (jinwu, yang qi), which is exhaled through the left nostril. Within the right kidney is the vital breath of the Jade Hare (yutu, yin qi), which is inhaled through the right nostril.

This is the method of which it is said, "one exhalation and one inhalation constitute the joyful practice."

During cultivation, one first performs three fire breaths (exhaling yang qi three times), then three water breaths (inhaling yin qi three times). This corresponds to the principle of yin and yang in the hexagram Weiji (Before Completion) of the Yijing (Classic of Changes).

The Taiyi hanguang (Taiyi Embracing the Light) says: "The right is yin, the left is yang." Thus the Yijing says, "One closing and one opening is called transformation; the unending flow of coming and going is called penetration."

That which opens and expands is yang qi; when exhaled, it becomes the true fire of the Sun-Soul (rihun zhenhuo). That which curls and closes is yin qi; when inhaled, it becomes the true water of the Moon-Soul (yuepo zhenshui).

The Yijing states that "the Qian is firm, the Kun is yielding," and this is precisely what is meant.

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II. Primordial Qi and the Mysterious Female

Primordial qi (yuanqi) differentiates between the firm and yielding of Metal and Wood, and the Mysterious Female (xuanpin, which Daoists take to refer to the lower dantian and the gate of generation) operates within this process.

Qi sinks when taken in and floats when released, rising and falling with each breath. The male (yang) turns and the female (yin) follows, circulating within the dantian (the sea of qi in the lower abdomen). Here lies the entirety of the matter of going out toward death and coming in toward life.

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III. The Method of the Zi Hour

If one wishes to refine the bright mirror of the cinnabar heart, there are also specific methods:

At the Zi hour (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.): the left rises and the right descends; the left casts and the right receives.

At the Wu hour (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.): the right rises and the left descends; the right casts and the left receives.

One exhalation issues from the heart and lungs; one inhalation enters the kidneys and liver. Each breath connects to the four viscera (heart, liver, spleen, and lungs) and converges at the cauldron of Wuji (Earth) at the central palace, which is the dantian.

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IV. Concrete Practice at the Zi Hour

I often sit in quiet stillness at the Zi hour, forgetting contrivance and contemplating the subtle (putting aside distracting thoughts and observing the profound principle):

I sit either facing south or facing east, with the left foot on top. First I close my eyes and tap the Heavenly Drum (lightly striking the head). Then I knock the teeth together thirty-six times each to gather the spirit. I rub the left and right hands together seven times, breathe out fire nine times, and rub the palms to warm the heavenly dwelling (the head) twenty to thirty times. Next I warm the left kidney as the Goat Cart, the right kidney as the Deer Cart, and the area below the navel as the Great Ox Cart, thirty-six times each. Then I perform guiding exercises, moving and rubbing the four limbs and rotating and stretching the hundred bones to open the channels. Once the qi flows freely, I practice breath regulation and swallow the saliva three times, which is the Three Swallows from the Flowery Pool (huachi sanyan).

The mysterious throat (xuanying) is the shore between life and death. When one inhales the clear and exhales the mysterious, the two qi have already exchanged. It can thus be known that water and fire are the gates to longevity.

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V. The Great Medicine and the Hexagram Lines

The great medicine (dayao, the elixir material) weighs three hundred and eighty-four zhu and corresponds to the number of hexagram lines.

At the first quarter of the Zi hour, I circulate the spirit of the midday sun, which is called Shaoyang (Lesser Yang). I sit evenly facing south with the left foot on top, close my eyes, forget contrivance, hold the hands in the grasping-fist posture, and clench the two kidneys tightly.

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Summary of Key Concepts

Concept	Meaning
Golden Crow / Jade Hare	Yang qi of the left kidney, yin qi of the right kidney
True fire of the Sun-Soul / True water of the Moon-Soul	Exhaled yang fire; inhaled yin water
Mysterious Female	The dantian, the passage for the entry and exit of qi
Cauldron of Wuji	The central palace dantian, where qi is refined
Three Swallows from the Flowery Pool	Swallowing saliva three times to nourish essence and qi
Great medicine	The elixir material, weighing 384 zhu in correspondence with the hexagram lines

The passage as a whole explains that breath serves as the pivot. At the Zi and Wu hours, one guides the body according to the rising and falling of yin and yang, combining guiding exercises, rubbing, and breath regulation so that qi moves through the channels and condenses into true qi. This lays the foundation for refining the elixir.

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Interpretation

A Plain-Language Reading of The Pivot of the Dao

Gently tap the teeth together and press the tip of the tongue against the upper palate. Inhale pure Qi through the nose, breathing softly and at length, then pause once the Qi fills the abdomen. Next, hold the breath so that Qi does not escape and outside Qi does not enter. Silently count the breaths, using intention to settle the spirit.

Then focus the intention on the lower Dantian (energy center). Imagine that beneath the immortal mountain Yingzhou in the Northern Sea, clouds of five colors appear. Within them, a sun emerges, small as a pellet, and at once transforms into a wheel of fire. It burns upward at the “Heavenly Gate” (the crown of the head) and downward at the “Earthly Gate” (the lower aperture). Qi courses through the nine apertures and refines the “palaces of the Five Viscera.” Once refined, these palaces transform into clouds of five colors that rise and gather at the “Jade Pool” (where saliva collects beneath the tongue).

Continue holding the breath. When the inner fire has dwindled to the size of “one zhu” (an extremely minute amount), stir the five Qi in the mouth, rinse the mouth twenty or thirty times, tap the teeth in three sets, then swallow the saliva in three portions to correspond to the “Three Yang.” The saliva descends along the left side, passing through the “Golden Pass”; on the right, it passes the Five Viscera and enters the “Cauldron” (the Dantian), where it comes to rest. Then exhale slowly, letting the breath flow on at length. This step is called “Clouds Moving.”

Next, close the eyes and sit quietly, clasping the hands as before. Use the tongue as an “iron ox,” moving it from side to side within the “Three Peaks” beneath the tongue, until Jade Saliva fills the Jade Pool. Clench the teeth and press the tip of the tongue against the upper palate. As before, draw in Qi and hold the breath so that neither inner nor outer Qi enters or leaves. Silently count the breaths and focus the intention on preserving the spirit.

Then focus the intention on the lower Dantian. Between the kidneys is a Cauldron, and within it is an infant named “Heavenly Sovereign, Primordial Lord.” Sit upright and see the infant radiating five-colored light. Then focus the intention on the heart: imagine a red lotus bud, still unopened. Within it is a “Maiden,” named “Spirit of the Earthly Queen,” standing amid clouds of five colors. She descends and joins with the Heavenly Sovereign. In an instant, the primordial fire of the lower Dantian rises and meets the water of the Jade Pool. This is the firing phase called “Water and Fire in Balance.” Hold the breath and wait until the fire has dwindled to one zhu. Rinse the Jade Saliva in the mouth twenty or thirty times, tap the teeth in three sets, then swallow it in three portions to correspond to the “Three Yin.” It descends along the left side through the Golden Pass; on the right, it passes the Jade Palace and enters the Cauldron, where it comes to rest. Then slowly exhale the turbid Qi, letting the breath flow on at length. This is called “Rain Descending,” also known as “the dragon goes first and the tiger arrives afterward.”

Following the same method, proceed with fire first and water afterward until the hour of the Ox. When the Qi is clearly felt in the right nostril, switch to water first and fire afterward, and let it descend through the “Jade Gate” on the right. At one quarter past noon, set in motion the “spirit in the moon,” named “Lesser Yin”...

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Interpretation

This passage discusses preserving and contemplating and settling the breath in Neidan (internal alchemy): how breath and intention bring Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy) together, and how the stages of firing over a day are matched to trigrams, seasonal nodes, and numerical measures.

First, in the Yin phase, place the right foot above the left, following the method described earlier.

During the Yin practice, begin with the right foot on top, as described before.

Preserving and contemplating is a Yin method of settling; it keeps Shen from straying outward.

“Preserving and contemplating” is a Yin method for settling the mind: it keeps Shen from scattering and wandering outward.

When the breath settles, Qi interacts.

When the breath becomes steady, the Qi within the body interacts and circulates.

In a single settled breath, the Six Directions are contained.

In the instant when one breath settles, it encompasses the Six Directions—the whole realm in which Heaven, Earth, the four quarters, and one’s own body are united.

Therefore, use breathing to activate the Three Yin and Three Yang, so that the Qi above and below may interact; then govern the Three Sons and Three Daughters, bringing Jing (essence) together through their union.

Use the breath to activate the Three Yin and Three Yang, allowing the Qi above and below to meet. Then govern the Three Sons and Three Daughters—images within the inner landscape that symbolize Yin-Yang essence and Qi—to bring Jing together.

In this way, when the mind is held steady, Shen unites; when the breath settles, Qi unites.

The mind held steady brings Shen together; the breath settled brings Qi together.

The breath is the Primordial Fire.

The breath is the body’s Primordial Fire, the fire of life and of the Elixir.

The firing process uses twenty-four zhu, corresponding exactly to the four trigrams and twenty-four lines, and matching the twenty-four seasonal nodes of the year.

The measure for the firing process is twenty-four zhu. This corresponds to the four trigrams and twenty-four lines, as well as to the year’s twenty-four seasonal nodes.

Thus, to use fire measured as twenty-four zhu is to accumulate nine thousand six hundred settled breaths.

One who uses fire measured at twenty-four zhu accumulates nine thousand six hundred settled breaths.

For each period of holding the breath, four hundred breaths yield one zhu of fire.

Roughly, four hundred breaths during one period of holding the breath accumulate one zhu of fire.

After twenty-four such periods, the fire amounts to twenty-four zhu.

After twenty-four periods of holding the breath, the fire reaches twenty-four zhu.

As the saying goes: “Accumulate water and it becomes the sea; accumulate Qi and it becomes Shen.” This is what it means.

Hence the saying: “Accumulate water and it becomes the sea; accumulate Qi and it becomes Shen”—this is the principle being described.

The firing process of one day’s circuit of the heavens can thus achieve what would otherwise take twelve years to attain immortality.

The work accomplished by completing a day’s circuit of the heavens is said to equal twelve years of the ordinary pursuit of immortality. This describes the intensity of the firing process; it is not a literal calculation.

A person’s Qi and blood circulate eight hundred and ten units over the course of day and night.

The Qi and blood of the human body circulate for about eight hundred and ten units in a day and a night, as the text goes on to compare them with measures of length.

If a practitioner can align the inner measures of cun, settled breath, zhu, and liang with the hundred ke of a day, then the Way of observing Heaven is as if held in the palm of the hand.

If a practitioner can align the inner measures of cun, settled breath, zhu, and liang with the hundred ke of a day—the ancient division of day and night into one hundred ke—then the Way of observing Heaven seems to lie in the palm of the hand: the movements of Heaven and Earth correspond point by point to those of the body.

The upper three lines of the trigram are Yin; they correspond to one inhalation, into which Qi enters for three cun.

The upper three lines of the trigram are Yin. They correspond to one inhalation, with Qi entering for about three cun.

A dao is two chi and four cun; a gui is two zhang and four chi; a zhu is twenty-four chi; and a liang is twenty-four zhu.

One dao equals two chi and four cun; one gui equals two zhang and four chi; one zhu equals twenty-four chi; and one liang equals twenty-four zhu. In Neidan, these measures of length and weight serve as successive stages for describing the consolidation of Jing and Qi.

In the smaller reckoning, one line is one cun, and one breath is six cun.

In the smaller reckoning, one line equals one cun and one breath equals six cun.

When one breath is settled, it counts as sixteen movements and yields two chi and four cun. This is the medicine of the Flowing Pearl.

To settle one breath is to count sixteen movements, yielding two chi and four cun. This is the medicine of the Flowing Pearl, the initial stage of Jing and Qi circulating like a pearl.

In the middle reckoning, one line is one chi, and ten breaths are six chi.

In the middle reckoning, one line equals one chi and ten breaths equal six chi.

When forty breaths are settled, they count as one hundred and sixty movements and yield two zhang and four chi, one gui. At this stage, blood and Qi no longer flow away but gather to form the cauldron.

Settling forty breaths gives one hundred and sixty movements and yields two zhang and four chi, or one gui. Here blood and Qi no longer flow wastefully; they gather into the cauldron, the vessel of the Dantian (energy center).

Is this the state that Master Chunyang meant when he said, “At that time, I drank the dao and gui myself”?

Perhaps this is the state Master Chunyang, a revered teacher often mentioned in Neidan texts, meant by “At that time, I drank the dao and gui myself.” The dao and gui were names for a small dose of immortal medicine; here they suggest Jing and Qi first taking form, then nourishing and transforming themselves.

In the Great Expansion reckoning, one line is one zhang, and one breath is six zhang.

In the Great Expansion reckoning, one line equals one zhang and one breath equals six zhang.

When four hundred breaths are completed, they count as one thousand six hundred movements and yield twenty-four zhang, one zhu. At this stage, blood and Qi no longer flow away but undergo transformation.

Four hundred completed breaths give one thousand six hundred movements and yield twenty-four zhang, or one zhu. Blood and Qi no longer flow away; instead, they complete a transformation.

When fire is circulated through day and night, the total should reach one liang, nine zhu, seven dao and half a gui. By the text’s reckoning this comes to eight hundred and ten, the Earth number of the stage in which blood and Qi no longer flow away.

Firing over the course of day and night should accumulate to one liang, nine zhu, seven dao, and half a gui. According to the text’s calculation, this totals eight hundred and ten: the Earth number for the stage in which blood and Qi no longer flow away. Earth symbolizes consolidation and support.

The passage organizes breathing, holding the breath, trigram lines, the twenty-four seasonal nodes, and measures such as cun, zhu, liang, and gui into a system of inner bodily measurement. This is characteristic of approaches to firing times and number symbolism in Neidan texts from the Song and Yuan periods onward. It is best read as imagery and stages of cultivation, not as a precise account of modern physiology.

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Interpretation

A Plain-Language Reading of “The Eight Substances of Golden Mystery” from The Pivot of the Dao

(The chapter title broadly means: Guard the “spirit chamber” well and regulate the breath. When the count reaches “nine times nine,” the spirits will come to dwell there.)

Those who practice Neidan (internal alchemy) must first understand Yin-Yang outside the body and know the positions and functions of the five Zang organs and six Fu organs within it. Only then can they begin the practice.

The human body has 360 joints and 84,000 pores. Not one place is without the subtle qualities on which cultivation depends.

Along the spine runs a line called “Jiaji” and “Heavenly Pillar,” divided into 24 sections. Hidden along the back are the “Three Passes”:

• From bottom to top: Beneath the lowest section, the coccyx, lies “Dove’s Tail,” around the pit of the chest. It is the gateway through which the Valley Spirit—the Daoist name for the center of emptiness and stillness—comes and goes. Below this are the Coccyx Pass, Sea Gate, and Hui Pass.
• The middle section: Behind the elbows, opposite the heart, lies the Pass of the Nine-Heavens Fire Dragon and Flying Bird.
• The upper section, behind the neck and shoulders: This is called the Great Vertebra. It is the Pass of Dipper and Ox, the Waterwheel’s Threefold Passage to the Upper Clarity, Flying Steps toward the Origin, and Transformation of Scales.

This is the route by which the Geng Tiger and Jia Dragon travel back and forth and return.

The front of the body is called the Threefold Penghu. It is about three feet long and divided into three regions, the Dantian (energy centers):

1. Upper Dantian: From the Muddy Pellet—the point at the crown of the head where the mind is focused—to the neck. It is called the Brain Palace and divided into nine lobes. It is a sea where marrow, brain, and blood gather, and also the Gate of the Mysterious Female, where Yin and Yang first begin to emerge.

2. Middle Dantian: From “the end of the neck” to “the end of the stomach.” It is called the Crimson Palace and divided into nine openings. It is a sea where fluids and aqueous substances gather, and also the Heart Gate of Li Fire.

3. Lower Dantian: From “the end of the stomach” to “the end of the navel.” It is called the Mysterious Palace. It encompasses the Four Images and sets out the Nine Palaces. It is a sea where Shen (spirit), Jing (essence), and Qi (vital energy) gather, and also the Gate of the Balanced Center.

Each of the three fields has three layers of diaphragm, and they are not connected to one another.

The palace of the Upper Origin shines brightly, displaying the myriad forms. The palace of the Middle Origin settles the clear Yang of the five Zang organs. The palace of the Lower Origin conveys the turbid Yin of the six Fu organs. The six Fu organs are in front, and the five Zang organs behind; channels and openings connect them, each with its own points of passage.

• Heart: Corresponds to the Li trigram and governs Shen (spirit). It connects with the tongue and pairs with the small intestine. It generates blood and vessels, opens at the sweat pores, has its flourishing in the hair, and its sound is speech.
• Kidneys: Correspond to the Kan trigram and govern Jing (essence). They connect with the ears and pair with the bladder. They generate bone marrow, fat, the womb, saliva, and teeth; their sound is groaning.
• Lungs: Correspond to the Dui trigram and govern the Po (corporeal soul). They connect with the nose and pair with the large intestine. They generate Qi, skin and body hair, nasal discharge, and hair; their sound is weeping.
• Liver: Corresponds to the Zhen trigram and governs the Hun (ethereal soul). It connects with the eyes and pairs with the gallbladder. It generates sinews, tears, and nails; its sound is calling out.
• Spleen: Corresponds to the Kun trigram. Its governing function…

Note: Terms such as “Three Passes,” “Three Fields,” and “Geng Tiger and Jia Dragon” belong to the body imagery and timing methods of Neidan. They are often used alongside visualization, breath regulation, and focused attention on the spine and Dantian. They should be read in relation to the surrounding chapters of the full text, rather than taken out of context as medical anatomy.

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Interpretation

A Plain-Language Reading of The Pivot of the Dao (Dao Shu)

(The opening lines are fragmentary in the received text. Their general meaning appears to be that the images of the trigrams and the will are linked, and that the mouth and stomach correspond, giving rise to flesh, brain, marrow, saliva, and other substances.)

The tongue is the root of the heart, and the stalk (here referring to the vital point of the reproductive and kidney system) is the kidney’s sprout. These come about when the original Qi (primordial Qi) embraces Yin and carries Yang, harmonizing with the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) to generate the six-foot human body. From the age of one to sixteen, True Unity (the pure primordial Qi) is complete, amounting to roughly one jin. After growing up, it gradually dissipates. The food and drink of daily life gather in the stomach and are secretly refined by the primordial fire (the warming fire of the Dantian). The clear part rises like clouds and rain, flying upward to moisten the heavens; the turbid part sinks like earth and excrement, then drains away through the earth.

Thus the ascending, moistening water of daily life (saliva in the mouth and Qi that rises in its clear form) washes the chest and intestines, while the wonderful Yang fire (the Yang fire that refines and transforms) burns and refines the physical form. The ascending, moistening substance gathers in the mouth as water. According to the Five Phases’ cycle of overcoming, it overcomes in the lungs and becomes spittle, in the heart and becomes blood, and in the kidneys and becomes Jing (essence). Jing is the true lead (the true essence gathered through internal refinement) of the Sea Palace (the lower Dantian, or Kan Palace). It uniquely contains all Five Phases and is therefore the flowing pearl of the Great Yang (a pearl formed from Yang Qi that can rise upward). Its nature is fierce and difficult to restrain. When the true fire of Heavenly Five (the true fire of the five organs, especially kidney fire) rises from below to overcome it, it flies upward to the Mud Ball (the area around the Hundred Meetings point at the crown of the head, in the upper Dantian) and flows through the hundred vessels. It can then fill the marrow and brain, strengthen bones and flesh, invigorate Qi and blood, nourish the hair, and refine the sinews and intestines. In this way, it settles the myriad spirits and reaches the Three Palaces (the palaces of the brain, heart, and kidneys, or the upper, middle, and lower Dantian).

During the day or night, while walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, if distracting thoughts or disturbances suddenly arise, enter a room, sit cross-legged, close the eyes and mouth, and hold the fists firmly (to secure Jing). Quiet the thoughts and turn inward. Imagine the two channels of the kidneys on the left and right joining at the Jiaji (an important point on the Governing Vessel), like a single thread. Let them extend upward along the Heavenly Pillar (a point at the back of the neck) and pass straight through to the Mud Ball.

Once this is done, regulate the Qi. First, draw it upward with a tightening motion from below the cavity sac (the area around the perineum) and from the two points beside the kidneys: breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, draw inward, until the single Qi reaches the brain. Then close off the mouth and nostrils; do not direct the Qi. As before, begin below the cavity sac and breathe out, breathe in, breathe out, draw inward, moving more slowly as the Qi rises, returns, and turns downward. What is this turning? It is the inner turning of the mysterious tortoise’s neck-drawing gate (a metaphor in internal cultivation for placing the tongue against the upper palate and passing Qi through the mysterious pass). Count silently to eighty-one. One turn consists of three counts; the key is to seal the nostrils tightly and, within a single inhalation, turn the tortoise gate inward eighty-one times. Do not let the breath burst out or the Qi rush and collide at the nose. Regulate it continuously and gently. By the time it reaches the hundred gates (the body’s joints and passages), only one inhalation has occurred, yet the breath is already steady and the eighty-one turns are complete. Move slowly and continuously, and the flow will become smooth and free.

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Interpretation

Yet there is no need to force it. Simply feel the two kidneys flowing freely and the hundred channels at ease; the heart filled with joy, the spirit and mind delighted, the bones and body light and nimble, and the Qi clear as if washed clean—like being immersed in a warm bath.

When first learning to circulate Qi, the Qi has not yet been tamed and the timing is not yet mature. The passages of the mouth and nose remain tightly closed, so the practice is indeed difficult. But do not fear the Qi surging upward. Proceed gradually, from nine to nine. When turning the breath, use one set of nine, two sets, or three. If the Qi surges upward and is difficult to regulate, pause for a while, then slowly regulate it again, guiding it into the Dantian (energy center). When the heart is clear and the mind settled, the mouth may open slightly, but do not let the nose open freely; this is called the life-breath. With time, when it has become peaceful and steady, stop here. As the fluids steam and flow, do not hastily throw off your clothes and bedding—this is the breath. When the breath can reach four sets of nine, six sets, and even the full count of nine sets of nine, regulate the Qi and settle the heart. Hold the mouth full of fluid, and at the same time send the fire leftward and swallow it nine times, until it reaches the Sea of Qi (the sea of true Qi stored in the Dantian). Then all baleful influences will withdraw on their own. This is the Lesser Return Elixir.

Even without encountering the great work of Heaven and Earth, if one practices this daily method for one cycle of twelve years, one can still renew one’s bones and blood, restore a youthful face and dark hair, and become firm and free of leakage.

In the secret chamber of the Wind and Thunder Gate: after completing the daoyin exercises, sit cross-legged in the positions of Qian and Xun. Straighten the spine and clench the hands, close the eyes and quiet the heart, directing the will to gather the spirit. Move the Dragon’s Tail (the root of the tongue) around the inside and outside of the teeth, from side to side and up and down, as well as around the tongue root. As you move it, swish the saliva; when the Water of Flying Heaven (the saliva in the mouth) has filled the mouth, hold it there. Next, settle the heart and turn the gaze inward. Within the two kidneys and the Sea of Qi, envision a blazing sun amid crimson clouds, its red light burning brightly, shaped like a fiery pearl and as large as a yellow orange. Focus the heart on the fiery pearl, and with intention draw out a strand of fire as thick as a rope. Turn it and guide it to Dui (the Dui position of the Eight Trigrams, corresponding to a part of the human body). This is called the Golden Pass. When it reaches Dui, fire and metal rub against each other, and a strange sound must arise. Apply a little intention and bring it toward the body; draw it with the heart and rub with the hand, guiding it past the upper part of Dui, along Li and into Zhen, where it stops. Then divide off the spring of Flying Water in the mouth and swallow it straight down on the left, until it reaches Dui and joins with the fire. It returns to the Dantian; this counts as one swallow. If you feel the swallow has not carried it fully downward, gently roll the fluid from above, open the throat as if swallowing into empty space, and let the Qi-fire drive it downward on the left; then it will reach its destination.

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Interpretation

Plain-Language Interpretation

For ordinary people, if the methods for drawing in, swallowing, and circulating true Qi are unclear, the Qi in the lower burner cannot be fully discharged. Instead, it becomes a harmful Yin influence that stagnates and forms accumulations in the six fu organs, damaging the body. This shows that the one fire and one water in the mouth make up a single count. If you take them up and put them to use in this way—sixty winds and sixty thunders, without a day’s pause—the count of Shen and Qi will reach a full year, and the practice can be brought to completion.

On the tenth day of practice, use intention to picture drawing fire from the center of the “sea” (the Dantian Qi Sea), while circulating water and fire through the positions of the Qian, Dui, Li, Xun, and Zhen trigrams, making nine revolutions. When dampness arises, let it moisten and descend. At the beginning, the mind is often unsettled. This means the harmful Yin influence is being burned away and is preparing to do battle; steady the mind and do not waver. Seventy days mark an intermediate change, and after one hundred days comes a minor sign of attainment.

On the twentieth and thirtieth days, although the Qi and bearing may feel clear, there may be alternating cold and heat as the six fu organs are stirred. By the seventieth day, the water source gradually fills, as if something were leaking downward, and urination becomes frequent. Although the three Dantians are connected, the six emotions still cause disturbance. A minor battle occurs in a single day: the tide arrives like surging waves, and the fire flares like rolling thunder. Then the five zang organs open through, the nine diaphragms are secretly connected, and the amount of food one can eat doubles.

By the one hundred and fiftieth day, the food worms withdraw. By the one hundred and eightieth day, the various worms come out—the chi worm, wheat worm, red-bean worm, and aster worm, among others—sometimes resembling chicken droppings, sometimes gallbladder fat. By the two hundredth day, true Qi reaches the five zang organs. When it enters the lungs, a hundred poisons recede; when it enters the liver, heart, spleen, and kidneys, the five colors—various colors of illness and foul Qi—recede. Impurities are discharged downward, accompanied by hidden pains like needle pricks.

By the two hundred and fiftieth day, the clear zang organs and turbid fu organs are all cleansed. One then sees a wheel of fire, formed from a single Qi, turning and gathering. The five inner organs are clear; the limbs move freely, and the hundred meridians feel light and unbound. Hearing and sight grow keen, the marrow fills and the bones become firm, the flesh becomes supple and the sinews strong, and with Qi complete, the blood flows without stagnation. Above the Qi Sea below the navel, substance builds up in layers inside, plump like a silkworm at rest. Once it completes a circuit, Qi can be made to cease moving. Original Qi naturally resides within the Cinnabar Sea (Dantian), where fire gathers in the central palace, felt faintly as a weight like two fists. The area below the navel is constantly warm. When the stomach is empty, the wheel of fire rises and circulates through the Eight Trigrams, sounding like a thunder chariot. Flying water and Jade Liquid fill the mouth at a thought; original fire and the numinous pearl circulate through the three palaces—the upper, middle, and lower Dantians. Then the eight harmful influences, meaning the various inner and outer disturbances, are kept at a distance. Only then does one understand what it means to return the Elixir.

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Interpretation

A Plain-Language Interpretation of The Pivot of the Dao

The instructions for the specific method say: First settle the “Celestial Heart” (the point of clarity within the heart-mind) and purify “Wu and Ji” (the Qi of the Spleen and Stomach in the central palace). Gather Qi during the two double hours of Si and Hai. Take Yin and Shen as images, imagining Qi turning like the Milky Way and circulating throughout the body in the “Golden Cauldron” (the Dantian).

At first, the movement of Qi is like a rainbow circling the sky. Then loosen your clothing, quiet the mind, lie back with your legs bent, and rub your palms until they are warm. Follow the method of “bathing the face” by warming it with your palms.

Once the whole body feels unobstructed, regulate the breath lightly, close your eyes, and keep your attention on the gateways and apertures. Practice inner observation: emerald waves appear before the eyes, filling Heaven and Earth. The Five Spirits (spirit, ethereal soul, corporeal soul, intention, and will) naturally grow quiet, and distracting thoughts gradually subside.

Next, form a palace within the body from the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate): the left side is the “Golden Hall,” where you envision an “infant”; the right is the “Jade Chamber,” where you envision a “maiden.” The two emerge in secret and unite. When the two Qi merge, Lead and Mercury (Yin-Yang essence and Qi) have condensed in the Golden Cauldron.

At this point, quickly set the “Earthly Fire” in motion. Turn left in three successive rotations and contract inward into emptiness, so that the Qi enters the “cavity pouch” (the Dantian and the surrounding apertures) one after another.

First reversal: Inhale, draw in, and pass through. The Qi enters the major joints and passes through the “Pass Behind the Elbows.” Pause for twenty-six breaths; if you pant, let the breath settle a little.

Second reversal: Lower the back of the neck, hook both hands backward toward the face, then begin beneath the cavity pouch and turn left in three successive rotations. Contract as you inhale and draw in the breath. Pass through the “Dipper and Ox Pass,” and pause for twenty-six breaths; if you pant, let the breath settle a little.

Third reversal: Sit up, moving as if turning back like a phoenix’s wings. Twist upward, raising the “Great Ox’s Chariot” (an image of Qi ascending). Then begin beneath the cavity pouch and turn left in three successive rotations. Contract as you inhale and draw in the breath, raising it to the “Niwan” (the crown of the head). Bow the head and nod three times, holding for twenty-six breaths each time; if you pant, let the breath settle a little.

These three “reversals” begin at the diaphragm and chest. If both the Fire Path and the Water Source are sluggish, the movement should be slow and broad; do not follow every count rigidly. Forcing yourself to meet the prescribed numbers can cause harm. Proceed only within your capacity, gradually increasing from ten to twenty, then fifty breaths, until you reach a suitable amount.

Once the Fire rises, the Water surges, and the practice flows through without obstruction, continue practicing with a daily count. Only after completing the full count for one year may you say the work is accomplished.

“Flying Water” (Water Qi rising) is relatively easy, like rinsing the mouth. “Primordial Fire” (the true Fire of the Dantian) is difficult to draw out. The Primordial Fire at the center of the sea has Qi but no substance. Focus the mind and remain in a state of indistinct stillness, then draw it out through intention. When spirit joins with the Dao, the Fire within the pearl emerges at the thought, circling through the Eight Trigrams. Heat burns below the navel, and sound issues from Dui (the mouth).

The Fire first drawn forth is no larger than the pulse in a finger. After practicing for a long time and passing through the Eight Trigrams, it can reach the Dui position in no more than thirty days.

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Note: The original text describes a bodily method of Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy). The names of the passes, the counts of the reversals, and images such as Lead and Mercury, the infant, and the maiden are mostly metaphors, and different schools interpret them differently. The translation above follows the apparent meaning for ease of reading. Actual practice requires oral instruction from a teacher and should not be attempted on the basis of written text alone.

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Interpretation

When the gate first opens, sounds arise within the body. After about sixty days, they are like the calls of turtle doves and pigeons; after about ninety days, like water boiling in a cauldron; after a hundred days, like surging waves; and after half a year, like thunder. At this point, the embryo’s Qi has congealed, and the True Fire is formed.

During the first thirty days, the Fire is weak and the Water sluggish; the passages remain blocked, and one feels dazed and unable to exert oneself. In addition, poisonous creatures, corpse spirits, the Eight Evils, and Yin souls are burned by the Fire and turn into demonic obstacles, making one prone to anger, greed, and desire. At this time, one need only keep the True Fire from going out.

When the three rounds of cultivation are complete, lie down briefly, then sit upright in clear stillness, with the mind calm and the breath settled. Hold “flying water” in the mouth and swallow it down the left side, one mouthful at a time. At the same time, guide the Fire nine times, down to the Cinnabar Sea (the Dantian energy sea). This is the “Great Return,” in which the Golden Essence attains unity.

When the work of one celestial cycle is complete, choose a sacred mountain or other auspicious place. On the month, day, and hour of Hai, remove your clothes and lie down. Move gently and bathe, waiting for the flow of Qi to open and spread freely. Close the eyes and secure the gate; observe the movement and stillness of the Palace of the True Maiden (the womb, or the embryo’s origin). What is within should weigh about one jin. The Qi of male and female should accord with the number sixteen; their feelings should be in harmony and their hearts deeply absorbed.

The whole body should feel gently warm, like a couple whose love flows freely and whose union is harmonious. By the hour of Yin, the Holy Embryo has become firm within.

From the hour of Zi onward, gently secure the Golden Gate. Sit upright and still, without turning or swaying. At the hour of Yin, release your hands and stretch your legs, letting the mind move freely. Rise and sit with the support of a table: for the first ten days, do not walk more than twenty-four paces; gradually increase this to a hundred. After a month, you may move about freely.

At the very moment of great union, one celestial cycle is gained within a single hour. Thus the three thousand six hundred upright Qi are complete, as are all seven hundred and twenty lodgings. Even the One Qi, the Two Forms, the Three Powers, the Four Images, the Five Phases, the Six Pitch Pipes, the Seven Stars, the Eight Trigrams, the Nine Palaces, the Ten Heavenly Stems, the Twelve Earthly Branches, the Twenty-Four Qi periods, and the Seventy-Two seasonal markers are all fully present, one by one, within a single womb.

Having obtained the true Qi of the Great Changes, weighing three hundred and eighty-four zhu, I use it to form the numinous embryo. Then the crown of the head, the Skull Gate, gradually opens and quietly splits apart. Every movement and pause, every drawing close and bearing forward, depends on intention. Examine it carefully and thoroughly, and let not a single thought be deviant; only then can it be completed.

When the ten-month term is complete, the spirit longs to burst forth and leave the womb, and the mind becomes restless. Then the Skull Gate shakes like thunder and the crown splits open as if flames were surging. The spirit rises through the twenty-four joints of the Heavenly Pillar and emerges from the crown. At this moment, keep the mind calm and the intention settled.

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Interpretation

A Plain-Language Interpretation of The Pivot of the Dao (Dao Shu)

Carry out in practice all the required exercises and rules, and examine yourself against the ten faults—the ten common failings in cultivation. Once you have completed the period of one zhang and two years mentioned in the scripture, your spiritual powers will be fully developed, and your spiritual and conscious natures will become wholly integrated, no longer scattered.

Then you will be able to travel both near and far, and see through what is mysterious and hidden. Almost nowhere in the transformations of Heaven and Earth will remain beyond your understanding and insight.

Only when your merit is deep and your De (Virtue) substantial will you shed your physical body like an insect casting off its old shell, ascend to the heavenly court, and pay homage to the Jade Emperor—one of the highest deities in the Daoist heavens, here an image of the attainment of ascension.

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