《道樞》Vol. 32

An Exposition of the Dao Shu, Volume 32

The Upper Section of the Cantong Qi (Different words express the same chapter, with both shallow and profound meanings; by examining Heaven and Earth, one comes to know their mind.)

The Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to the myriad things—the principles of the supreme medicine

The Dao gives birth to One, One gives birth to Two, Two gives birth to Three, and Three gives birth to the myriad things—is the principle of the supremely wondrous medicine fully contained in this saying? Who can know the source of the Dao? Perhaps only Fuxi could.

Thus came the Great Changes (Book of Changes), which embodies primordial Qi and the work of creation and transformation. At the beginning of chaos, the dark and the light—the Qi before Heaven and Earth separated—were conceived within it like an embryo. Within this, true Jing naturally draws near to what it should draw near to. Is this not simply how things are? Water flows toward dampness, and fire burns toward dryness. People can resonate with the Dao, and the Dao can resonate with people. Those in whom the human way and the Way of Heaven are joined are called sages.

Thus, the “dark” is not something that leaves people benighted. Few realize that it can also give rise to white metal, the basis of the elixir. One Yang lies beneath the five Yin, in the position of the first nine, “the hidden dragon.” The dark work returns to One, from which all things are born. Hence it is said: the kidneys are Taiji—the Supreme Ultimate. Nothing in the midst of Yin and Yang can transform and nurture the myriad things more powerfully than the sun and moon. The sun and moon are the Great Change, and also the supreme medicine: they are the citadel of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang then contain and nurture white metal. This is the way in which One is born.

The dark principle governs stillness. When the spirit and hun-soul are still, they become numinous and see through things. Once forms and images are established, this is called the Great Beginning. When chaos joins and separates into a single Qi, this is called the True One—the image of the second nine, “the visible dragon in the field.” The scripture says: “Attain the One, and all affairs are complete.” Thus the True One governs the marrow within the bones, like the virtuous maiden of “Guan Ju.” One who realizes the True One has the substance of jade and the ring of gold—this is the True One. From nonbeing, being is born; from being, one returns to nonbeing. This is the root of the returning elixir. I have never seen anyone succeed in making the supreme medicine without knowing the True One. To refine it, one must investigate the essences of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). White metal and yellow sprout are therefore the mother of the elixir. Metal in substance, mercury in name: this is not mercury in its physical form, but the liquid formed when golden blossoms condense. It embraces the One and contains the true, thereby transcending the Five Phases.

Thus arises the Great Beginning: One governs Fire, and Two governs Earth. The south is Li, so it governs Fire. Fire can generate Earth, but Earth has no fixed form and takes its place in Bing and Ding. Yin is the root of the Dao and the foundation of the medicine; Yang is…

A Plain-Language Reading of The Pivot of the Dao

General Meaning of the Scripture

The passage discusses the principles of Yin-Yang joining and the Five Phases generating and transforming one another in Neidan (internal alchemy), as well as the central place of Earth in alchemical practice.

The beginning of bodily form lies in the time before Mercury has undergone transformation. Yang cannot exist on its own, and Yin cannot generate life by itself. Yang therefore depends on Yin to arise, while Yin depends on Yang to be nurtured. Only when the two Qi (vital energies) of Yin and Yang unite can the Great Dao be accomplished.

Fire can generate Earth, and Earth can nourish all things. Thus, Earth must be used as the ingredient in alchemy, so that it can nourish and support growth; Mercury is the foundation of all things. Earth’s number is five, corresponding to the spleen, and it connects through to the Four Images (the four organs). Thus the Five Palaces and Five Emperors travel through the nine heavens, receiving the Dao and bringing forth the One. This shows that Earth occupies the central position of nine and five and is supremely honored.

A person has 36,000 spirits, 12,000 bodily forms and shadows, and 1,200 radiant essences. There are three Hun souls, seven Po souls, and five spirits. All depend on the five organs, with the spleen as their ruler. Therefore, among the ingredients, Earth’s De (Virtue/Power) is most highly esteemed, because it can transform the Five Phases and produce the supreme elixir.

The Great Simplicity is the root; once the root is established, the Dao can come forth. Do all three Dantian (energy centers) rely on this?

Above, this corresponds to the palaces of the Three Heavens: the fire of Shangqing, the metal of Yuqing, and the Earth of Taiqing. The west is associated with the seven Po souls, and the east with the three Hun souls. The Po souls are the essence of Yin and govern autumn Qi, which brings austerity and killing; the Hun souls are the essence of Yang and govern spring Qi, which brings forth new growth. Thus the Dragon and Tiger face each other, and the Hun and Po souls depend on one another.

The scripture says: “Zhen is the essence of Wood, namely cinnabar. The essence of Wood must obtain Metal before it can unite and become the master of the Great Elixir. Fire is the father, and Qi is the messenger.”

A person of aspiration need only understand how the Five Phases generate one another and take turns governing, and they can achieve the Great Elixir.

The scripture says: “Three, Five, and One are the utmost essences of Heaven and Earth. Among the four seasons, the one capable of generating life is spring.” How do the three generate all things? Heaven and Earth transform Qi, thereby bringing humans, plants, and animals into being. Here, “all things” refers to gold and silver. The three can replenish Qi, strengthen the sinews, and benefit the spirit.

Kan is Yin and holds to the One; the visible form of its Yang line is five. The three are the numinous power of Wood.

The Mysterious Pass of the Great Elixir’s Dao is probably located here. The Supreme Ultimate of things has nothing that does not return. The Earth lies within primordial chaos, like an egg; when split, it becomes the two modes.

Reading Notes

Throughout, the text links Yin-Yang, the Five Phases, the organs, and the Hun and Po souls to explain the stages of cultivation. It emphasizes the union of Yin and Yang, the supremacy of Earth, and the generation of the Five Phases—a characteristic style of Neidan literature.

Plain-Language Explanation

The term “form” refers to Heaven and Earth, Qian and Kun, and Yin-Yang. Heaven is clear and Earth turbid; all things are born and grow within them. This is like mercury serving as the pivot in an elixir, giving rise to myriad transformations.

Thus, the Perfected One—a person who has reached an exceptionally high level of cultivation—first establishes the crucible, which represents Heaven and Earth. The sun, moon, and stars, the Four Symbols, and the Five Phases all find their proper place through the crucible. Refining also draws on the colors and images of the Five Phases contained in the courses of the stars. Only then is the state of perfection reached.

If Yin and Yang do not join, Heaven and Earth become blocked. They must meet, just as Heaven descends and Earth rises, and mountain and lake exchange their qi. Heaven and Earth open and close; the sun and moon meet and shine upon one another. The Perfected One follows this pattern: once in thirty-six ten-day periods—roughly a year—there is an “arousal.” After steps such as washing and combining, is this what is called the “Nine Transformations”? Only by fully bringing the Four Symbols under one’s command can one commune with the numinous.

The Four Symbols are the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. In the Book of Changes they are the Four Symbols; in the human body they may correspond to the limbs, in the heavens to the four seasons, on Earth to the four directions, and in elixir practice to the Four Spirits.

The Azure Dragon is Yang and corresponds to Wood. It governs the sprouting and growth of life. The White Tiger is Yin and corresponds to Metal. It governs decline and contraction. The Vermilion Bird is Yang and corresponds to the sun. It contains Fire and governs the south; Earth is also lodged in it through Ji, and it governs growth. The Black Tortoise is Yin and corresponds to the moon. It contains Water and governs the north; Earth is also lodged in it through Wu. It can subdue the “Three Peng,” the three forces within the body that disturb Jing and Qi, and is the foundation of the elixir.

Once the Four Spirits unite, they enter the central palace and remain within the two Earths, Wu and Ji. The Nine Transformations mean that the Four Spirits and Five Phases dwell within, while the two symbols—the sun and moon, among others—dwell outside. The Four Spirits serve through alternating ascent and descent; the two symbols provide support and assistance. Could any part of the human body—the sinews and bones, blood and flesh, Shen and Qi—ever be lacking? If anything is deficient, illness and disease follow.

For the elixir to be perfected, Yin and Yang must support and balance each other. Only then can it be sustained. After three hundred and sixty days, once the embryo has congealed, one can restore Shen and stabilize the body, attain jade marrow and golden sinews, and be entered into the register of the Perfected.

Those who do not understand the highest principles and practice only lesser techniques may refine mercury and subdue fire, believing that by “killing” them they have obtained the medicine. Yet they do not realize that this can instead shorten their lives. It is as futile as drawing a mirror on the ground and hoping to see the liver and gallbladder in it, or refining lead into a knife and expecting it to destroy the demons of the heart.

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

Even a great beast such as the whale could not make sense of it. To produce the Supreme Elixir (zhìyào), the "unsurpassed numinous medicine" sought in Daoist internal cultivation, one must first emulate Heaven, emulate Earth, and emulate Humanity, and possess all three.

The blue qi belongs to Heaven. The sun, the moon, the Five Stars (the five principal planets, namely Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth), and the fixed stars are arrayed overhead and move without the slightest deviation, so that their "light" can pass through without obstruction. Without this whole system of celestial order, merely sealing substances in a furnace and roasting them does not amount to the Supreme Elixir. The number of ingredients and the timing of the fire must correspond to the conjunctions of the sun, moon, and five planets. If the ruler-and-minister arrangement of the ingredients (the hierarchy of a formula) is off by even a hair, it will harm one's life.

The yellow qi belongs to Earth. Heaviness brings stability; this is the function of Earth. One must also obtain Mercury (gǒng), which in alchemical writing often stands for the "True Unity Qi" (zhēnyī zhī qì) and does not refer only to quicksilver, in order to accomplish it. When the Five Sacred Peaks (the great mountains of the five directions, such as Mount Tai in the East, which symbolize the cosmic order) and the Four Great Rivers (the Yangzi, the Yellow River, and others, which symbolize the waterways) each keep their places, the land does not tilt. With mountains and rivers, and with the myriad kinds of creatures, each region benefits in its own way. Thus the Five Peaks serve as the furnace, in which Mercury transforms the myriad things. Heaven covers above and Earth bears below, and the people dwell in peace between them. Heaven and Earth are like the cauldron (dǐng), the vessel of alchemical refining, and the people are like Mercury. The human body itself is formed by the convergence of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water), so replenishment must use the essential qi of the Five Phases. In antiquity, Nüwa melted five-colored stones to mend the broken heavens, which is an apt metaphor here: bone belongs to Metal, blood to Water, flesh to Earth, qi to Wood, and warmth to Fire. This is not as simple as the Five Phases as commonly spoken of in the everyday world.

Only when these four (or the various aspects of the Five Phases) are brought into proper order does one attain the Supreme Elixir. In seeking Mercury, one must refine the essence of each "kindred" substance and use it accordingly; one must not mix in what belongs to another kind. The common saying goes that foxes and rabbits cannot nurse their young, and that thoroughbred horses, swallows, and sparrows cannot lay eggs. This is precisely the principle at issue. To understand the Five Phases and attend carefully to them in order to nourish the form is to hold the Dragon and Tiger (Lóng-Hǔ), which in internal alchemy often symbolize the two poles of Yin and Yang, of nature and emotion. Those who do not understand the Five Phases are as though they had mistaken another man for their father and mother. Therefore, qi is like wood, bone is like the tiger (the image of Metal and the Tiger), blood resembles water, and flesh resembles earth. Could the way to immortality lie in the Palace of Li (Lígōng)? In the Eight Trigrams, Li occupies the south, and in internal alchemy it often refers to the heart, or to the spirit that dwells within the heart.

Once the Five Phases are understood, there is a master within the body. The Five Phases draw close to Mercury, and when they are harmonized, they can generate the medicine that is my own. Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, Fire generates Earth, and Earth generates Metal. Spring belongs to Wood, summer to Fire, autumn to Metal, and winter to Water, while the end of each season belongs to Earth. Wood governs benevolence and is able to grow and send forth shoots, so the cinnabar (dān) is the essence of Wood. Since Wood generates Fire, cinnabar may be regarded as the child of Wood. In the eleventh month, the first Yang line is born (around the winter solstice, when the yang qi first begins to stir). In the twelfth month, it reaches... (the original text ends here, and the remainder is not recorded).

Note: This passage is a metaphorical text that blends external alchemy and internal alchemy. Through images such as Heaven, Earth, and Humanity, the Five Sacred Peaks and Four Great Rivers, Nüwa mending the sky, and the Dragon, Tiger, and Palace of Li, it binds the human body to the principles of compounding medicine. Readers should take it as a metaphor for cultivation practice and should not read it literally as a search for physical mercury or the physical Five Peaks.

In the first month, which broadly corresponds to spring, Fire governs ritual propriety (li) and nourishes all things so that they flourish. The same principle holds when refining elixirs and applying medicinals in this season. Fire is therefore the force that makes all things solid and enduring. In this season the sage refines the yin medicine into yang medicine, so that the yin body returns to a yang position. That the form is secured, the spirit made whole, and one can take Heaven as a guest are all the work of Fire. The Golden Elixir (jindan) sprouts in spring and flourishes in summer, just as grasses and trees grow according to the four seasons, and the elixir follows the same pattern.

When Fire reaches the stage of "two," it can give birth to Earth. The second, third, and fourth months broadly correspond to summer. At the end of each of the four seasons there is Earth, and Earth governs trustworthiness (xin). Nothing generated within the cycle is therefore discarded, and one must choose materials with care. Though Earth occupies the central position, it does not cling to the four corners. The four images all transform and are born through Earth, and all things come to life because of it. The "Earth" of the elixir comes from the Huachi (the Florid Pool, where the saliva and medicinal fluid gathered in alchemical discourse converge). It arises from Fire and is entrusted to the bing and ding positions, which are Fire positions, showing where Earth comes from. Wood is transformed into Earth through Fire, and Earth in turn gives birth to Metal. Thus Earth possesses five virtues, runs through beginning and end, and is the key to the use of medicinals.

(Earth flourishes at the end of each season.) Autumn governs righteousness (yi). The elixir is completed only in the seventh month. Why? After the Start of Autumn, plants bloom and bear fruit, and at this point the "nine returns and seven reversions" are also complete. After mid-autumn, Metal Qi is vigorous, the two lunar souls (referring to the phases of the moon, often linked with the images of the toad and the hare) shine full at the third and fifth days, and the elixir is perfected in a metallic body, solid and full. Mao and You are the "gates of two and eight," while Yin and Shen are the ancestors of yin and yang. Killing and completion each have their seasons, and neither may be overstepped. How so? Metal is born from Water. When autumnal Metal completes its work, it yields its place. The fifth and sixth months belong to Water, when a single yin line arises and becomes Metal. By the seventh month, Metal no longer "gives birth," because it is already the season of autumn. In the human body, the kidneys govern wisdom, and wisdom governs storage. The kidneys gather the Five Phases and the four images and quietly move the mechanism of transformation. The sage, following this principle, takes it as the foundation of the Great Transformation and the origin of the apertures, and the "three affairs" arise from this root. In terms of the seasons, this corresponds to the time when ice is firm, snow is deep, and all things lie hidden.

Vernacular Interpretation of the Daoshu

Storing (keeping the essence and qi within), the sage applies fire (warming and circulating the inner qi through focused intention), and only after a full year are the four qi (the qi of spring, summer, autumn, and winter) complete. This is why it is often said that the embryo is cast off in ten months (the stage of inner alchemy after the embryo has formed and before it emerges), and the elixir work is considered finished once it has run from the Yin month to the Hai month.

The confused person hears only "casting off the embryo in ten months" and does not realize that the four qi must all be complete, or the work does not count.

To bring the elixir to completion, one must follow the rotation of the four seasons from the very beginning. From the start up to the "tenth month," a full year has in fact already passed. Moreover, during the embryo stage there are two occasions for bathing (rest and refining periods within the practice). Only when the four seasons are complete can one "cast off the embryo." At that point the four qi have circulated once through the body, the Five Phases are all present, and the inner brilliance is scattered like stars across the sky. This is the appearance of the supreme elixir (the highest grade of inner alchemy) reaching its initial accomplishment.

The months of the eighth, ninth, and tenth, which belong to winter, are when the Five Phases reach their fullest development and then turn toward completion. The work of transformation becomes visible and returns to purple (a metaphor for the higher realms of inner practice). This is the principle of wuwei (non-action) and natural spontaneity.

Thus it is said that Yin-Yang is the root venerated by the Three Sovereigns (the legendary sage-kings of high antiquity). Which comes first, water or earth? The key lies in the root, much as with fine timber trees such as qi and zi.

The Huachi (Flowery Pool, the place where the fluids and essences gather, the dantian region) is the embryo of the "tiger." The Mao Gate is the foot of the "dragon." The Four Images and the Five Phases arise from these and circulate without end.

When discussing the elixir, if one cannot subdue it (using the principle of mutual overcoming among the Five Phases to harmonize and tame it), it will not stay settled. Metal overcomes wood, so wood returns to metal. Wood overcomes earth, so earth returns to wood. Earth overcomes water, so water returns to earth. The arrangement of the Five Phases has finer levels, numbering "ten," but only two examples are given here: Jia is the "wife" of Geng, and Bing is the "wife" of Ren, referring to the "wealth" that is taken and transformed within mutual overcoming. Those who do not understand the great harmony of the Five Phases, who do not grasp the roles of ruler and minister or the distinctions of the finest measure, and yet wish to forge the elixir, are like someone trying to climb to heaven by a ladder or to catch fish with a needle, which is impossible. Without knowing how to subdue, the spirit and qi will never join.

The Yellow Emperor said that the essential secret of the Golden Elixir lies in the divine water and the Huachi. What does this mean? It means using Yin One to subdue Yang One. Tianlao said that white is the essence of metal, which is what is called Yang One, and black is the foundation of water, which is what is called Yin One. Water is the Dao, and it also carries the meaning of the Three Ones, which are the three dantian (upper, middle, and lower). If one can hold to this, one may ride the dragon carriage and roam in Shangqing (the Highest Clarity of heaven). When the three unite into One, the work is truly complete. If one understands these matters, the elixir being refined is already more than half accomplished.

Therefore, metal is born from water, and water is nourished by metal. When metal and water are in proper measure, the elixir reaches perfect fullness. The student must thoroughly investigate the principle of water and fire to its very end.

Daoshu (The Pivot of the Way): A Vernacular Interpretation

Water and fire belong to the inner Five Phases (Wuxing), not to the water and fire outside the body. The Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang) of antiquity modeled this Way for us, and Confucius added the Ten Wings (Shiyi) to complement it. As for virtue (De), it must be cultivated within the body, and only when virtue and talent are united is it true. What does "true" mean here? Does it mean pouring golden liquor over the form? Cultivating only the outer appearance is not what I mean by true. Laozi says, "Superior virtue is not virtue," meaning that one does not treat virtue as virtue. That is seeking downward. Therefore superior virtue is like water, and inferior virtue is like metal. The Golden Elixir (jindan) has its own principle of smelting and casting, and it has a fire-timing (huohou) that follows the waxing and waning of sun and moon, passed down in succession. The scripture says, "De governs the generation of qi." When the numbers of Yin and Yang are complete at this point, the Five Phases move in their cycles, the clear and turbid unfold and furl, and Yang gradually prevails as Yin submits and returns to its treasure. This is true De. How could such a state fail to form the elixir? The Five Phases are completed in Earth. When a person takes it in, it transforms into qi and becomes a treasure, enabling long life, and so one is called a Perfected Person (zhenren). Thus Earth has five virtues, which are not the humaneness, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness that the world speaks of.

The sun is the essence of accumulated Yang, and its number is nine. In heaven it forms images, on earth it forms bodies, spreading qi and giving birth to living beings. Within it are the three-legged crow and the Yin essence, whose image contains and protects the hun and po souls as they pass through one another. Therefore Li is the fire palace, and it also has the number nine. It knots qi into the vermilion flower and refines it to stabilize the form, thus participating in the mystery of two, five, and one. Hence the sun governs the blood vessels and is the father of the elixir. In antiquity, the utmost persons refined the essence of the sun, their bodies returned to pure Yang, and they wandered in Taiqing (the Grand Clarity).

The moon is the essence of Yin. Accumulated, it becomes Kan, located in the water quarter, and its number is one. The gold in my elixir is like the moon: Yang meets Yin and condenses into substance. Therefore the Kan image has Yang within and Yin without. The sun and moon move at different speeds, and medicinal properties differ in their dryness and slowness. Yang is dry and Yin is slow, but the medicine is the reverse: Yang is slow and Yin is dry. Dryness corresponds to the moon's motion, and slowness corresponds to the sun's. The sun moves one degree per day and night, completing the heavens in a year. The moon moves twelve degrees per day and night, completing the heavens in a day. Therefore the sun and moon meet twelve times a year, and the sages took this as their model.

Taking thirty days as the "image" (xiang) refers to the cycle of the sun and moon coming together. At this point one must "open the cauldron" (kai ding) and further refine the medicinal materials.

Why is there a crow in the sun and a toad and jade hare in the moon? The crow symbolizes the essential qi (jing qi) of yin, and the toad and hare symbolize the essential qi of yang. When the two qi join and protect one another, the spirit qi (shen qi) naturally returns. When these two qi operate within the body, this is the "inner image" (nei xiang), and when they appear outside it, this is the "outer image" (wai xiang). The sun and moon are like the outer shell (fuguo), the container that encloses the medicine being refined. And what is this shell? It is the Golden Cauldron (jin ding), formed by the pairing of Kan and Li. Kan is yin and images the moon; Li is yang and images the sun. Water, earth, and metal are fundamentally the same. Within the cauldron the two qi unite and expand, shining with clear light, like the sun and moon circling endlessly through the four directions of heaven and earth. By taking this medicine and cultivating through it, one who refines for a thousand days will have exhausted yin and will not die. Below, I will try to confirm and explain this through various images.

The Dark Warrior (Xuanwu): the tortoise is yin and the serpent is yang, embodying the meaning of female and male (pin mu). This is also the Way of the Golden Tortoise (jin gui). The union of tortoise and serpent is originally the natural principle of yin and yang in heaven and earth. Therefore, the supreme medicine (zhi yao) must unite yin and yang, gather what is subtle and refined, penetrate to spirit and attain the True, and maintain the proper order of ruler and minister. Only in this way can it accord with the meeting of sun and moon and follow the circulation of the qi of the four seasons, and only then may it be called the "supreme medicine." Where lies the way of this meeting? Kan is male and Li is female, and when they combine with the sun and moon they quietly merge. When this primal qi (yuan qi) is fully exhausted, the medicinal sprout forms. The primal qi is reckoned in "six decades" (liu xun), sixty days. Beginning with the month of Yin (jian yin) and ending at Shen, this is the "Seven Returns" (qi fan). From the hour of Zi to the hour of Shen is the "Nine Returns" (jiu huan). The principle of the Seven Returns is fully exhausted here. Therefore the supreme medicine must be joined at the new and full moon (hui shuo, the end and beginning of the month), and one must follow the meanings of "changing substance, bearing offspring, and growing to maturity," never departing from this juncture from beginning to end. This is the use of "fire" (huo).

The heavens complete one cycle of day and night, about three hundred and sixty-five degrees. The sun, moon, and stars revolve around the heavens, heaven descends and earth rises, the sun unites once each day, and all things are born and transformed accordingly. Five days make one cycle of primal qi, which is the symbol of sixty hours. Thus each month contains six cycles, totaling three hundred and sixty hours. Each ten-day period (xun) of five days is the image of yang, corresponding to spring and summer, and each five-day period is the image of yin, corresponding to autumn and winter. Thus a single month already embodies the Way by which the four seasons are generated and completed, and it can be understood through this image. The fire timing (huo hou) over the course of a year, which uses the hexagram qi and the solar terms to open the cauldron vessel, follows this same principle.

The passage in the Dao Shu (Pivot of the Dao) concerns the sequence of daily fire-timing (rìyòng huǒhòu) and the waxing and waning of Yin-Yang (yīnyáng xiāozhǎng), as well as why the ultimate elixir (zhìyào) cannot be mastered through written formulas alone.

Within a single day and night there are twelve double-hours. Six belong to Yang and six to Yin, together forming the "two principles," and ten days make up one small cycle. In daily fire-timing one must keep to proper measure. Advancing, reducing, waning, and waxing each have their proper season. To "reduce" (xiāo) is to apply the fire when it should be applied; to "rest" (xī) is to stop when it should not be applied. The sun and moon meet roughly once every thirty days, and at fifteen days the moon is full. This is the image of the "two times," spanning about half a year. By the last day of the month Yin is exhausted, which is the image of a full year, and at this point the medicinal vapor is entirely concealed. The first day of the month marks birth, so the cultivation medicine also takes its image from this, and is further increased, decreased, and refined. This is the reckoning of months, days, and hours. The Classic says, "Thirty spokes share one hub," which speaks precisely of the method of applying fire. The Sages therefore relied on the images of the Changes, establishing hexagrams to fix the seasons. Zhūn (Difficulty at the Beginning) and Méng (Youthful Folly) show that the medicine is to be taken in the morning and evening: Zhūn is used in the morning and Méng in the evening, so as not to go against the brightness and darkness of the moon. Jìjì (After Completion) and Wèijì (Before Completion) are the hexagrams that govern the moon's beginning and end.

Who would have known that there is Yang within Yin? It is like lead containing white gold. Therefore the Yellow Sprout (huángyá) is produced from the River Chariot (héchē). What principle is this? It is formed through the mutual control of lead and mercury, and so the yin fledgling (the chick within Yin) is contained within the yang blossom. This is the inner image of essence (jīng). It is like parents passing on qi to form a body: the essence-qi that sustains what is empty within the body is precisely this. If one takes gold, silver, lead-flowers, and cinnabar for the Yellow Sprout, it is like taking flesh for the embryo. How could this be acceptable? Who would also know that there is Yin within Yang? Yang containing Yin is like the crow within the sun, which is exactly the meaning of the hidden resonance of Yin and Yang. Thus mercury arises from cinnabar, which is Yang containing Yin. Mercury belongs to the category of Yin yet holds a Yang nature, just as the Lí (Clinging) trigram has Yang outside and Yin inside. White gold is produced from the River Chariot, which is Yin containing Yang. "Clouds follow the dragon, and winds follow the tiger": these are the natural ways of Yin and Yang.

My ultimate elixir has its prohibitions and its procedures, each with its own methods. How could these be fully conveyed by bamboo slips? Its essentials lie in host and guest mutually nourishing one another, gathering the four Qi and refining the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water). Only then is the ultimate elixir completed. In this way one can return to the bones and marrow and increase longevity. Does this not rely on the essence (jīng) of the four spirits (shén) and the purity of the Five Phases? Those who attempt to form the elixir from solitary Yin or lone Yang can only cure illness.

If essence (jing), vital energy (qi), and spirit (shen) are not preserved, how can one return to youth and rejoin the constant? Some people see cinnabar lying beside fire with mercury (gong) at its side and claim that mercury alone can form the elixir. This is like claiming that a man can conceive by himself or a woman can bear a child alone, which has never happened since antiquity. Let me describe the Nine Transformations image (jiuzhuan faxiang), which I once drew. At its center is the Palace of Central Yellow (Zhonghuang Gong), the position of the Earth stems wu and ji. Outside it, in order, are black, white, red, and green. The Azure Dragon stands in the east, the White Tiger in the west, the Vermilion Bird in the south, and the Black Tortoise in the north. The diagram also includes the sun, moon, and stars, and the generating and overcoming relations of the Five Phases (wuxing). White gold serves as the seed image, through which one can attain spiritual communication and response. The scripture says, "When cast, it becomes a pearl," which is the work of transformation by the immortals. Used as a staff, it allows one to punish at will. Used as a mirror, it can subdue demonic spirits.

Taiyi, the Great Change, holds that the sun, moon, and stars are not lofty enough to be its height, and the four quarters and eight extremes are not distant enough to be its reach. Near at hand, it lies within the body; far off, it extends through heaven and earth. Heaven, earth, and humanity, if they attain the One, are all made great. Greatness is shown by the graph for "great" (da), which is composed of "one" (yi) over "person" (ren). The One refers to the True One (zhenyi). Whoever attains it may be established as a true person (zhenren), whose transformations are boundless, who commands spirits and summons numinous powers. All of this comes from the power of the divine elixir (shendan).

It takes in metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and holds the colors blue, yellow, red, white, and black. The four Images (sixiang) are stationed at their posts, the five spirits do not err, and the seven luminaries display their patterns, weaving a fine network of measures and standards. The Former Heaven forms the foundation, and the Latter Heaven gives it fitness. It can irrigate the body, shed the flesh, and make water travel to the edge of the sky. The Yi, which is "change" (yi), contains the myriad images. For this reason, the sage investigates the sun and moon to the utmost and penetrates the hidden and the dark.

Heaven has sixteen changes, earth has sixteen changes, humanity has sixteen changes, and ghosts have sixteen changes, which together make sixty-four. Heaven displays its images in the heavens: the five planets move through the lunar mansions, reveal fortune and misfortune, shine in alternation from dawn to dusk, and govern the interchange of Yin and Yang. Earth displays its images on the ground: it transforms qi into the myriad kinds of beings, sows and plants in their seasons, and gives each its place, whether nesting or dwelling in caves. Ghosts display their images in the unseen realm: they make the formless take form and erase the records of their sins so that they may be reborn. Humanity displays its images in the body: the body and the spirit ascend together, ride dragons and mount clouds, bow to the Nine Heavens, roam the Three Palaces, and live as long as the three luminaries.

The sage then drew on the trigrams of the Book of Changes (Yijing) to refine and nourish primal qi (yuanqi), to stabilize the physical form, and to preserve the spirit. By incorporating the Four Emblems (the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise) he penetrated to spiritual intelligence, and by employing the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) he subdued and harmonized the process. He then cycled through the twenty-four solar terms until the elixir was completed. At the stage of "ten months of nurturing the embryo" (a phase in internal alchemy (neidan) symbolizing the maturation of both spirit and form), he merged with the transformations of Heaven and Earth, and this Way could thereby enable a person to return to their origin and restore their primal source.

A human being takes shape through innate primal qi (xiantian yuanqi), yet the physical body belongs to Yin and is prone to accumulating turbid stagnation. Those who wish to return from Yin to Yang must undergo a thousand days of refinement, so that skin, hair, bone, and flesh all become like gold and jade, and only then can one ascend to heaven and attain the rank of Perfected (zhenren). This is what resolute practitioners did when they refined the elixir and their own bodies. To expect to ascend to heaven merely by taking the "great elixir" (dadan, external alchemy or waidan) would be a delusion. Those in antiquity who were able to ascend were mostly those who had long practiced internal alchemy, and so when they encountered superior elixirs they were able to ascend, because they already possessed the foundation of internal cultivation.

Long ago, the Yellow Emperor cast nine tripods at Mount Jing to represent the nine regions (jiuzhou): the first palace, Ji; the second, Jing; the third, Qing; the fourth, Xu; the fifth, Yu; the sixth, Yong; the seventh, Liang; the eighth, Yan; and the ninth, Yang. Each governed the fortune and misfortune of one region. Yet this was not the employment of the supreme elixir. The true elixir that transcends the mundane world has its ancestry in the Three Sovereigns (sanhuang), namely the Heavenly Sovereign, the Earthly Sovereign, and the Human Sovereign. Among the testamentary words of the Three Sovereigns are "the Three Gates," and the Three Gates correspond to the three tripods, three times three making nine. From this arose the superior elixir of the Upper Immortal, the superior elixir of the Middle Immortal, and the superior elixir of the Lower Immortal, which is the "Nine-Cycle Returning Elixir" (jiuzhuan huandan). Next is the Way of the Golden Liquor (jinye), which likewise follows the principle of the returning elixir. Lesser methods further down serve only to cure illness. Therefore the great elixir of the Three Sovereigns is the foundation of transcendence.

Within the elixir are three elixirs, corresponding to the Three Heavens, the Three Fives, the Three Luminaries, and the Three Powers (sancai). Within the three elixirs are nine honored presences, corresponding to the nine regions, the nine palaces, the nine qi, the nine heavens, and the nine earths. The lunar mansions of each palace are all protected by spirits, named the Nine Grades, and collectively called the Nine Tripods. One of these tripods is the great tripod of Luoyang, white as unbleached silk, with a altar of three tiers and a furnace of eight faces, where Emperor Yan entered the Li palace (the position of Fire)…

An Interpretation of the Daoshu (Pivot of the Dao)

Within the Kan (Water trigram), yin qi swirls like clouds and forms a complete world: heaven and earth, sun and moon, stars, the twenty-eight lunar mansions, the four spirits, and the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), along with rulers and ministers, people and things, and lands and mountains. There are also golden terraces and jade pavilions, precious flowers and wondrous fruits, jade liquid and sweet springs, and fragrance that fills the air. Those who consume these things may surpass the supreme immortals and roam the Fragrant Palace of the Immortals (zhifu, the realm of the immortals). Laozi said: "I was not born this way. I attained it through study."

In refining the supreme elixir (zhiyao, the highest grade of elixir), one must first set up the furnace. The furnace is the protective outer enclosure (yuanguo) of the ding (the alchemical vessel). A ding without a furnace is like a person without a house, and a city without walls cannot offer its people a secure home. The furnace is therefore the gateway of the ding. A chamber built within the furnace shelters the vessel from wind and drafts, so that the three qi (usually referring to jing, qi, and shen, or to the several qi of alchemy) do not dissipate. The altar has three tiers and the furnace has eight faces. The eight gates and the twelve Heavenly Stems are arranged according to the Dipper's position and the seasonal hours, and the whole takes the form of a tortoise-shaped mountain, sized for convenient use. The scripture says: "It came into being before heaven and earth, with walls and gates at its sides, its form resembling Penglai, the immortal mountain."

Here one must know the patterns of heaven above, the principles of earth below, and human sentiment in between. One must understand the hexagrams, penetrate yin and yang, and recognize the waxing and waning of the four seasons. One must grasp the rising and falling of the sun and the hours, and the way the advance and retreat of the fire-phases (huohou) align with the rhythms of life and death. This is the first task in cultivating the supreme elixir. Anyone who approaches it carelessly will inevitably fail.

Once heaven and earth are established, yin and yang have their boundaries, and zi and wu hold their proper positions. Spring brings growth and autumn brings harvest; this is the natural order of heaven and earth. When the sun and moon meet, yin and yang each take their place. The supreme elixir has its image, the fire-phases have their hexagrams, and their operation follows a cycle like a circuit that returns upon itself.

The first month corresponds to the "Nine in the Second Place" (jiu er), the time when the elixir body is harmonized and begins to generate. Its hexagram is Tai (Peace), and its pitch is Taicu. In Tai, Qian lies below and Kun above. As Tai begins, its lines converge and the yielding and the firm find their center. In the spring of the Yin month, sprouts emerge and flourish, the four images return to one and merge into a murky unity, and the gentleman stands in his proper place, his virtue shining greatly. This is the time of yang's increase.

The second month corresponds to the "Nine in the Fourth Place" (jiu si), the time when mercury transforms into gold. Its hexagram is Da Zhuang (Great Invigoration), and its pitch is Jiazhong. In Da Zhuang, Qian lies below and Zhen above. The yang lines grow steadily stronger, and Qian's single line transforms into spirit. Kingfisher-green elm seeds and their roots are wholly of one origin, and the clear qi presses against itself so that victory and defeat cannot yet be told. The elements sink and float, gradually take shape, and the elixir coalesces...

Mao Gate (maomen) is the threshold where yang qi begins to gather. The third month corresponds to the fifth yang line (jiuwu yao), like light that shines freshly after washing, and the work of refinement becomes clear and bright. Its hexagram is Guai (Breakthrough; Qian below, Dui above, five yang lines and one yin), and its pitch is Guxi. The Guai hexagram is the body in which yin and yang press against each other and firmness and yielding receive their order. Yin quietly dissolves within it, as when the flying dragon is in the sky. This is called yang's ascent (yangxi).

The fourth month corresponds to the top yang line (shangjiu yao), when the virtue of fire is at its height and the work should be guarded and kept hidden. Its hexagram is Qian (The Creative), and its pitch is Zhonglü. Firm and vigorous, it lies hidden like a dragon, and it shows itself like the teng snake (a legendary dragon said to have no feet) in places where there is proper order. Yin and yang are the ancestral origin, and when yang reaches its extreme it sinks, so one must be careful to guard against this. This is called yang's ascent.

The fifth month corresponds to the initial six line (chuliu yao), when the yang of the medicine is placed in a yin position. Its hexagram is Gou (Coming to Meet; Qian above, Xun below), and its pitch is Ruibin. The Gou hexagram first forms its beginnings. Frost and snow form a plain embryo that is still closed and not yet opened. Yin is the master of yang and the pivot of the Dao, and concealment serves as its gate. As the classic says, "when one treads on frost, hard ice is not far off" (lüshuang jianbing zhi). This is called yin's ascent (yinxi).

The sixth month corresponds to the second six line (liuer yao), when softness is transformed into firmness and the Way can flourish. Ordinary people attend only to mercury (gong). Its hexagram is Dun (Retreat; Gen below, Qian above), and its pitch is Linzhong. Dun means hiding one's traces, nurturing oneself in quiet retirement, and not displaying a good name, waiting for the right time to unfold. Once the condensed fluid is complete, one may then ride straight in the carriage. This is called yin's ascent.

The seventh month corresponds to the third six line (liusan yao). The nature of mercury is only firmness, and at this time the medicine is formed and its own breath is born. Its hexagram is Pi (Standstill; Kun below, Qian above), and its pitch is Yize. Pi sets up a separation even though yang has already joined with yin, so that heaven and earth take on their form. Firm and yielding lines stand opposed, the killing qi approaches, yang darkens, and yin dissolves. As the text says, "what is fine and firm brings good fortune; one holds one's beauty within and offers quiet admonition in song." This is called yin's ascent.

The eighth month corresponds to the fourth six line (siliu yao). Metal qi is now dominant and the medicine has achieved its substance, so the toad and the hare, the images of the moon, are round and bright. Its hexagram is Guan (Contemplation; Kun below, Xun above), and its pitch is Nanlü. The handle of the Dipper points to Nanlü, and one contemplates that balance in order to nurture primal qi. Decline gives way to flourishing. At the Mao and You gates, elm leaves fall and shepherd's purse grows, and one gathers and stores their sprouts, so that misfortune does not proceed. This is called yin's ascent.

The ninth month corresponds to the fifth six line (wuliu yao), when spirit and qi transform and are stored, which is the foundation of fire. Its hexagram is Bo (Splitting Apart)…

Its pitch is Wuyi (Wuyi), the image of the hexagram Bo (Splitting), with Kun (Earth) below and Gen (Mountain) above. Splitting means the body is broken down and sinks into stillness, while the flesh and skin return to their source. When things grow old, essence congeals and cannot take flight. When decline reaches its extreme, peace returns. As transformation reduces the form to its finest measure, the great auspiciousness is at hand, and the yellow lower garment is worn. This is Yin Rest (yin qi resting and nourishing). The tenth month corresponds to the top line, the Sixth Yin, when the medicine is complete. Its hexagram is Kun, and its pitch is Yingzhong (Yingzhong). Kun is yielding and transforms into qi, ash and earth take shape, and the principle lies in the hidden well and the yin channels, where the method of binding can be measured and the cycle of revolution produces growth. First one goes astray, then one is at peace; the dragons stir in conflict, and merit and name are honored by drinking blood. This is Yin Rest. The eleventh month corresponds to the bottom line, the Initial Nine, when yang qi hides its traces. Its hexagram is Fu (Return), and its pitch is Huangzhong (Huangzhong). Fu places Kun above and Zhen (Thunder) below. Yang is stored in concealment, yin virtue is undifferentiated and vast, and when its form expands it becomes the governing standard for the many. First one goes astray, then one attains. This is Yin Rest. The twelfth month corresponds to the second line, the Nine in the Second Place, when the sprouts have already grown and the Dipper points to Zi and Chou, the beginning of yielding the throne. Its hexagram is Lin (Approach), and its pitch is Dalü (Dalü). Lin places Dui (Lake) below and Kun above. The furnace is tended to completion, the dragon appears in the field, and the brilliance divides into radiance. Here, things begin to move and pass along, the host and guest are distinguished, and one does not go before things. The common people receive their share, and what is later must not be placed before. This is Yang Rest.

Tianlao said: "What has been listed above is like a string threading pearls, its threads orderly and to be followed. Is this not the close and intricate pattern of the immortals? I will now explain its use. Return (Fu) is where the loss of companions is revealed, and where fire first arises. Why? The six lines of Kun are all yin. When its first line changes into yang, the yang line lies beneath the five yin lines. Where all six lines are yin, one obtains companions. Where one line has changed to yang, the companions are lost. Fu is Kun above and Zhen below. This is the initial nurturing of the yellow sprout, the image of youthful enlightenment, and the art of transformation. Zhen reveals its change. The six lines of Qian (Heaven) are all yang, and Zhen is Qian's eldest son. Why? When the lower line of Kun changes, it becomes Zhen. When the upper line of Zhen changes, it becomes Gen, so it is the eldest son who inherits the body of Qian. Thus Kun is the position of Qian, and Qian is the position of Kun, and they alternate as host and guest. In the eleventh month, one yin line of Kun turns to yang, and by the fourth month all six lines are complete."

Jade Compendium of Alchemical Scriptures (Danjing Yutong)

Commentaries and Reference Materials

Selected Essentials and Their Meanings

Preface

Proposal for the Joint Edition of the Daoshu

Volume One

Interpretation of the Daoshu (Pivot of the Dao)

When the mercury (gong) in my elixir begins to stir, it must be subdued by the method of fu (lying low, subduing). Qian (Heaven), the hexagram of manifest yang firmness, signifies yang revealed. On the first day of the moon, the yin and yang lines meet and generate each other, and by the fifteenth, when the moon is full, yin and yang have reached full harmony. In refining the elixir, the fire is worked over fifteen days, and when gold and water unite, each finds its proper place. Mercury is yang and fiercely volatile, the hardest of substances to subdue, yet when restrained through a disciplined method, it can be held still. The east belongs to the Wood phase, where Metal grows strong from the qi of Wood. On the fifteenth day the moon stands in the east at the position of jia, the first of the Heavenly Stems, which is where fullness is reached.

Kun (Earth), the hexagram of manifest transformation, when its bottom line changes, becomes Zhen (Thunder). Zhen belongs to Wood and is yang, while Kun is yin. The single yang must be nourished with the Five Earths (wu tu). This yang is Wood, which is also mercury, much as lead contains silver. Hence it is said that Kun is the mother of Zhen. Qian and Kun together contain twelve lines, corresponding to the image of a year, and so they establish the foundation of the work. What does this mean? Yang emerges from the transformation of Kun. From the hour of zi (11 p.m. to 1 a.m.) to the hour of si (9 to 11 a.m.), the six lines complete their changes. Qian, from the hour of wu (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) to the hour of hai (9 to 11 p.m.), completes its six lines and returns to Kun. Kun is Earth, and if my elixir passes through twelve more months, the work of Earth will be complete.

The scripture says, "Gold is born from the moon" (jin cong yue sheng). On the first day, the new moon receives the talisman of solar qi, so the dawn of the new moon is Fu (Return), when yang qi first begins to flow. From the last day of the month to the first, Zhen takes up the solar talisman. Kun changes into Zhen, and the dragon follows the birth of the moon, cycling in endless return. The first month corresponds to Tai (Peace). Within the sun there are three full yang lines, the image of the sun-crow (riwu, the sun) fully realized. There are Zhun, Meng, Xu, Song, Shi, and Bi, which correspond to the days on which they preside. Therefore, on the first morning I use Zhun, and on the evening Meng. On the second morning I use Xu, and on the evening Song. On the third morning I use Shi, and on the evening Bi. From the first to the third day, all bear the image of stirring (zhen dong). The second month corresponds to Dazhuang (Great Vigor), in which the moon attaches to the sun but has not yet fully manifested. On the fourth morning I use Xiaoxu (Small Accumulation)……

In the first few days of the lunar month, the morning and evening of each day correspond to different hexagrams. On the fifth day, the Tai hexagram (Peace) is used in the morning and the Lü hexagram (Treading) in the evening. On the sixth day, the Tongren hexagram (Fellowship) is used in the morning and the Pi hexagram (Standstill) in the evening. When the moon is three days old, the Guai hexagram (Breakthrough) is used. Here, "using" a hexagram means selecting the corresponding one according to the moon's phase and the day, in order to mark the huohou (the timing of the fire, the arrangement of time, advance and retreat, and measure in cultivation).

The moon begins to give off light from its right side, and on the third day it appears in the Geng direction (one of the ancient directions), its brightness gradually becoming visible. Therefore, wherever huohou is applied, the sequence of each month is divided into six phases (hou). Across twelve months this totals seventy-two phases, and the cultivation process is thereby completed. On the seventh day, the Qian hexagram (Modesty) is used in the morning and the Yu hexagram (Enthusiasm) in the evening. On the eighth day, the Sui hexagram (Following) is used in the morning and the Gu hexagram (Work on What Has Decayed) in the evening. On the ninth day, the Lin hexagram (Approach) is used in the morning and the Guan hexagram (Contemplation) in the evening.

By the fourth month, the symbol is the Qian hexagram (Heaven). On the eighth day the moon is at its first quarter, appearing in the Ding direction (one of the ancient directions), its light stretched straight like a cord. Each month has two climatic rhythms, so the twelve months together contain twenty-four qi (solar periods). On the fifteenth day the two halves meet, and the essential qi of Yin and Yang unite, and the forms of the Qian and Kun hexagrams join as well. Here, the pairing of "two" and "eight" illustrates the correspondence of Yin and Yang, in accord with the principles of the Yijing (Book of Changes), upright and without deviation.

On the tenth day, the Shihe hexagram (Biting Through) is used in the morning and the Bi hexagram (Grace) in the evening. On the eleventh day, the Bo hexagram (Splitting Apart) is used in the morning and the Fu hexagram (Return) in the evening. On the twelfth day, the Wuwang hexagram (Innocence) is used in the morning and the Daxu hexagram (Great Accumulation) in the evening. By the fifth month, the symbol is the Gou hexagram (Coming to Meet), and the image of the sun and the crow is now complete. On the fifteenth day, the form of the Qian hexagram is complete, shining full in the east.

On the thirteenth day, the Yi hexagram (Nourishment) is used in the morning and the Daguo hexagram (Great Excess) in the evening. On the fourteenth day, the Xian hexagram (Influence) is used in the morning and the Heng hexagram (Duration) in the evening. On the fifteenth day, the Dun hexagram (Retreat) is used in the morning and the Dazhuang hexagram (Great Invigorating) in the evening. By the sixth month, the corresponding monthly ordinances and hexagram images will be explained further.

This passage from the Daoshu concerns how internal alchemy (neidan) uses the moon's phases, the trigrams and hexagrams, and the timing of the fire (huohou) to arrange the sequence by which the "fire" is applied and the elixir is formed. The text is extremely dense, so what follows renders its line of thought into plain language.

The seventh month corresponds to Pi (Stagnation), and the lunar image of the hare is now complete. Gold and water together receive the Sun's qi and nourish it until it becomes the Returning Elixir (huandan), an elixir produced through internal practice and not an external medicine. The scripture says that Qian (the Creative) signifies vigorous, brilliant light, like the sun. A day has twelve shichen, and thirty days make 360 shichen, so one day each month is set aside for applying the fire, through practices such as regulating the breath, guarding the orifices, and holding intent on the Dantian. A small cycle is twelve months.

On the sixteenth day, the morning fire uses Jin (Progress), with Kun below and Li above, and the evening fire uses Ming Yi (Darkening of the Light), with Li below and Kun above. On the seventeenth day, the morning fire uses Jia Ren (The Family), with Li below and Xun above, and the evening fire uses Kui (Opposition), with Dui below and Li above. On the eighteenth day, the morning fire uses Jian (Obstruction), with Gen below and Kan above, and the evening fire uses Jie (Deliverance), with Kan below and Zhen above.

The eighth month corresponds to Guan (Contemplation). The Five Phases move out of order and alternate in their dominance and decline, each governing one time of day. The scripture says that on the sixteenth day the lineage is passed on again: Xun and Xin appear at first light. Xun cuts off its own line, and after another sixteen days the lineage is passed on once more. When the moon is full it begins to wane, so the sixteenth day marks a single turn of diminishing. The "lack of a single qi" (the image of the waning moon) ends on the fifteenth day and then transforms its color. The sun shines upon the sun's lack, so mercury turns into liquid.

On the nineteenth day, the morning fire uses Sun (Decrease), with Dui below and Gen above, and the evening fire uses Yi (Increase), with Zhen below and Xun above. On the twentieth day, the morning fire uses Guai (Breakthrough), with Qian below and Dui above, and the evening fire uses Gou (Coming to Meet), with Xun below and Qian above. On the twenty-first day, the morning fire uses Cui (Gathering), with Kun below and Dui above, and the evening fire uses Sheng (Pushing Upward), with Xun below and Kun above.

The ninth month corresponds to Bo (Splitting Apart). The moon wanes on its right side and keeps its left, taking the shape of a hook. The day of the appearance is the bing position. Gen faces south of bing. The lower-half moon falls on the twenty-third day: the bing arc unites its essence, and the bodies of Qian and Kun are then formed.

On the twenty-second day, the morning fire uses Kun (Oppression), with Kan below and Dui above, and the evening fire uses Jing (The Well), with Xun below and Kan above. On the twenty-third day, the morning fire uses Ge (Revolution), with Li below and Dui above, and the evening fire uses Ding (The Cauldron), with Xun below and Li above. On the twenty-fourth day, the morning fire uses Zhen, and the evening fire uses Gen.

The tenth month corresponds to Kun, and the lunar image is complete once more. Having diminished again, it becomes Gen. When Bo is exhausted, Fu returns to Gen, and the single cycle of fire timing comes to its close.

Note on reading (not part of the original scripture): The phrases "the morning fire uses a certain hexagram, the evening fire uses another" pair two daily cultivation sessions with the sixty-four hexagrams. They should be read against the lunar calendar, the phases of the moon (waxing and waning half-moons, the hare, the hook-shaped crescent), and the Five Phases of metal, water, and fire. Phrases like "nourished by the Sun's qi," "mercury turns into liquid," and "Returning Elixir" are the vocabulary of internal alchemy. They refer to nurturing shen-qi, transforming jing into qi, and condensing qi into spirit, and should not be taken as literal instructions to ingest mercury. For a fuller picture, read this alongside the "fire-timing diagrams" and "lunar hexagrams" chapters before and after it in the Daoshu.

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

I. Monthly Days, Fire Timing, and Hexagram Correspondences

On the twenty-third day comes the waning half-moon (xiaxian). At this time, use half a jin of "water." In general, throughout the month, whatever is used for fire and medicinals ultimately returns to the work of "earth," which is why the product takes the form of earth-ash.

On the twenty-fifth day, use the hexagram Jian (Gradual Advance; Gen below, Xun above) in the morning, and the hexagram Guimei (The Marrying Maiden; Dui below, Zhen above) in the evening. On the twenty-sixth day, use the hexagram Feng (Abundance; Li below, Zhen above) in the morning, and the hexagram Lü (The Wanderer; Gen below, Li above) in the evening. On the twenty-seventh day, use the hexagram Xun in the morning, and the hexagram Dui in the evening.

The eleventh month is the month of Fu (Return). On the thirtieth day, the sun and moon meet, and so it is said: "Yang Kun Yuan," meaning that yin and yang qi are gathered and concealed at this point. Is the timing of the joint use of sun and moon, and the separate drawing of gold and cinnabar, the thirty days of Kun? Is it that Jie (Limitation) and Xu mutually correspond…? [The original text here contains missing or garbled characters. The intended sense is that the seasonal nodes of sun and moon correspond to their waxing and waning.]

On the twenty-eighth day, use the hexagram Huan (Dispersion; Xun above, Kan below) in the morning, and the hexagram Jie (Limitation; Dui below, Kan above) in the evening. On the twenty-ninth day, use the hexagram Zhongfu (Inner Truth; Dui below, Xun above) in the morning, and the hexagram Xiaoguo (Preponderance of the Small; Gen below, Zhen above) in the evening. On the thirtieth day, use the hexagram Jiji (After Completion; Li above, Kan below) in the morning, and the hexagram Weiji (Before Completion; Kan below, Li above) in the evening.

From these correspondences I deduce Kun. Kun dwells in the yin position. When Kun changes once, it becomes Zhen, which receives the body of Qian and is the eldest son. When Zhen changes once, it becomes Dui; when Dui changes once, it becomes Fu. Together these form the three transformations of Qian. I also deduce Qian from these correspondences. Qian dwells in the yang position. When Qian changes once, it becomes Xun, which turns to receive governance and returns to the position of Kun. When Xun changes once, it becomes Gen, and when Gen changes once more, it returns to Kun. Kun signifies that the work of the medicine is complete.

Kan and Li form the two functions, the dual uses of water and fire, of yin and yang.

II. Lead, Mercury, and "Attaining the One"

Yuanyangzi (Yuanyangzi, "Master of the Primordial Yang") says that the dragon and tiger are lead and mercury. The "Golden Tiger" is lead, the root of the returning elixir (huandan). Lead is black in color and belongs to the northern phase of water, renguei, whose number is one. Whoever understands this one can complete all things.

Therefore lead contains the five colors and receives the essence of the Five Phases, and so it is a resource that the immortal tradition holds in high regard. The Daodejing (Scripture of the Dao and Its De) says, "Embrace the One and guard the center," and also speaks of the body being self-emptying. The Dao of the One is indeed great.

Notes (to aid reading the original)

Classic: Dao Shu (The Pivot of the Dao)

Vernacular Explanation:

Can a person avoid death? What does this question refer to? It refers to the name of the "Numinous Elixir" (Lingdan), which lies within the human body itself.

To cultivate the "three" by means of the "one" is to attain flying immortality (feixian). The "three" are Wood, Lead, and Cinnabar, and the "one" is Water. Cinnabar is the essence of the sun in the south, and its essence is Mercury. Mercury is the Azure Dragon and also the number of Wood. Wood generates Fire, and Fire is red and belongs to the south, so the discussion also extends to the "parent" position of the east. If the essence of Wood obtains Metal...

The Lead that accompanies it is Metal. The Azure Dragon dwells in the east and is called the "middle son," while the metallic nature of Lead is located in the west, at the White Tiger position, and is called the "middle daughter." The Twenty-Four Sacred Hymns says: "The middle son and middle daughter, Zi and Wu, dwell at the gates of Mao and You. Only when sun and moon are distinct is nurturing at its most initial." When the middle son unites with the young daughter, both are transformed into ash and return together to Water and Earth. This is the great number of the Five Phases.

Cinnabar comes from Mercury. Mercury is the essence of Yang, naturally inclined to ascend and difficult to subdue, and so it is called the "Maiden" (chanü). Hence the saying: "The Maiden of the river is numinous and most spiritual; she takes flight upon meeting fire and is free of any dust or stain." The tiger hides and the dragon conceals itself, so that one does not know where it abides. To subdue it, one must take the "yellow sprout" (huangya) as the root. The yellow sprout is Lead, and it is also Water, while Mercury belongs to Fire. Can Water overcome Fire? Wood, being straight, is overcome by Metal; Water, being yielding, is overcome by Earth; Earth, being thick, is overcome by Wood; and Metal, being firm, is overcome by Fire. This is the principle by which Lead and Mercury take deep root in the foundation, and by which the Dao proceeds step by step until it reaches spiritual penetration.

Next, we turn to the principles of embryo-implantation (naitai), primordial qi (yuanqi), and the extension of life. At the great beginning of Heaven and Earth, the harmonized qi of origin ultimately returns to unity, and from it all things are born; therefore Qian and Kun receive the primordial qi. Water is the mother of Mercury, Water generates Metal, and Metal in turn transforms. In refining the Yin essence, one first kindles the fire and uses the hexagrams in combination: one line is added each ten-day period until reaching Jiji (After Completion), and then the cycle begins again. In this way sun and moon interact, and the Returned Elixir (huandan) emerges radiant. From the north one takes the "river chariot" (hecheng). The river chariot lies within the foundation of Water and is Mercury. It must receive a single qi from the Vermilion Bird of the south so that Water and Fire unite, and only then can the Returned Elixir be formed. The Metal of the west follows...

(The final sentence of the original appears incomplete, with possible missing characters. Common continuations in such texts discuss Metal being refined by Fire and the intercourse of Lead and Mercury. Here the translation follows the text as it appears in the source.)

Yin and yang qi are refined together in green water, and the golden flower that forms is white as jade. The dragon and the serpent stand for gold and fire. When the ingredients first enter the furnace, yin and yang are not yet subdued and steady, so they must be sealed in dense, sturdy vessels, the daoliang (a measuring spoon used in alchemy), and must not be allowed to leak.

The golden flower is mercury. Once the Returning Elixir (huandan) is completed, one can govern the life and death of all things and stand equal to Heaven and Earth. This cannot be compared with the ordinary eight stones and five metals used as mineral materials in Waidan (external alchemy). When the Maiden (zhanü, referring to mercury) and the Mysterious Yin Essence (the watery base) unite into one, the Returning Elixir is complete. The "river" (referring to the Dantian or a particular site of cultivation) does not actually contain mercury. Rather, yin and yang qi join according to the fire timing (the rhythm and timing of practice). When the fire burns vigorously and the medicine is formed, its wondrousness is like a dragon, impossible to fathom. Yet one must observe the fire timing according to the lunar phases, the waxing and waning of the moon, and watch the appearance and substance of the medicine. At this point, the method of the Returning Elixir is complete.

Ge Chuanxian (Ge Hong, the renowned Eastern Jin Daoist and physician) asked Zheng Siyuan: "Are human beings born of yin and yang? Yang essence becomes the hun (ethereal soul), yin essence becomes the po (corporeal soul), and when the two essences touch, they form shenming (spiritual intelligence). When the shen departs, the body dies. May I ask whether the shen can be preserved, and whether the body can be made to live longer?"

Zheng Siyuan replied: "The shen is preserved through the Dao, and the body is extended in life through technique."

Ge Chuanxian asked: "What is the purpose of the Dao?"

Zheng Siyuan replied: "Take the essence of gold, combine the liquid of stone, and form them into a pair of partners, yin and yang, and arrange them as hun and po, spirit and form. The body becomes one undifferentiated chaos, and the two essences respond to each other. The river chariot (the circulation of primordial qi) carries and covers all, and the timing of the cauldron (fire timing in the furnace) does not err. The great furnace blazes with fierce fire, the heat rising and glowing red. The smoke has not yet turned black, and the flames are green, as if thunderbolts were hidden in a rising wind. The qi of the Maiden fades, the cry of the Infant falls silent, and light breaks through the Two Modes (yin and yang), shining on all four walls. Time passes, and it flies like a horse galloping past a post station, and the practitioner seems to die. Then, suddenly, one dies and is reborn. The wicked are cast out, the good are brought in, and emotion and nature are transformed. Purple light spreads within, and red rays shine outward, glowing like fire born anew, and suddenly congealing into a drop of blood. This is called the 'Middle Return' (Zhonghuan). One withdraws and hides in the secret depths, mist disperses through the five viscera, and streams flow through the hundred vessels. The bones change into gold, the complexion turns to glossy jade, and the yang virtue is spread out while the yin merit accumulates. The Southern Palace records one's name for transcendence, and the Northern Emperor strikes one's name from the register of the dead."

Ge Chuanxian said: "Heaven and Earth are immensely great, and the human body is extremely small, yet one can refine the most subtle essences to form the elixir. Who could measure its depth? When qi is paired, it is harmonious; when the body stands alone, it grows sorrowful. Harmony brings long life, and sorrow brings an early death. 'One yin and one yang is called the Dao; one gold and one stone is called the elixir.' As for the stone, it rides upon yang and..."

This passage discusses the principles of alchemical refinement. The commentary follows the original paragraph by paragraph.

The opening states that heat belongs to Yang, while metal and cold belong to Yin, just as water flows downward. Fire moves toward what is dry, which is the natural order by which Yin and Yang each return to their own kind. Siyuan (an ancient commentator) holds that Yang qi reaches its peak in the month of Si (summer, the fourth lunar month), and Yin qi reaches its peak in the month of Hai (winter, the tenth lunar month). The two qi circulate without ceasing.

Next, it says that shiye (stone fluid, which in alchemical usage refers to the refined essence of minerals that can congeal into an elixir) lies hidden underground, and jinjing (the essence of metal) dwells within the mountains. If there is only solitary Yin, can its transformation be completed by itself? It remains stagnant in the deepest darkness. This is like a gentleman seeking a virtuous lady: Yin and Yang must be matched so that they are harmonized, and hun (the Yang spirit-soul) and po (the Yin bodily soul) become harmonious and whole, without scattering outward.

How, then, can the stone fluid be made to lie concealed and then be refined again? One must first gather materials from a sealed vessel shaped like a silkworm cocoon. Before the firing begins, use gentle fire; once the transmutation is complete, use strong fire so that the upper Yang qi shines downward. The center of the cauldron (fu, the alchemical vessel) must remain empty to receive the Yang qi. The process should follow the movements of the sun and moon, and one should observe the changing seasons, adjusting at each of the five appropriate moments. Work the tuoyue (the ancient bellows) vigorously so that the molten metal (jinzhi) does not scatter. Pour water over it, and the golden fluid passes from existence into non-existence; warm it with fire, and the golden fluid passes from non-existence into existence. When the white powder (sufen) gathers, it is as white as snow; when the yellow, oil-like substance (huangsu) congeals, a golden color appears. Refining repeatedly without pause allows the spirit-consciousness (shen) to transcend, demons and ghosts are dispelled, and the qi of the hun soul is raised, so that one may share the lifespan of Heaven and Earth.

Master Wei (Wei Boyang) says that three and five unite as one, the essence of Heaven and Earth. What, then, is this "one"? One is the number of water, and it is also the beginning of the Five Phases (wuxing). It can give birth to Heaven and Earth, bring the two natures of Yin and Yang into mutual union, return the Yang essence of the sun to the root of the moon's cavern (yueku), and condense the pure central qi. The Purple Numinous (ziling, the alchemical name for the primordial spirit) turns in secret and accords with the Dao of True Oneness (zhenyi). The principle in the Yijing is the embodiment of the supreme Dao: when Qian and Kun operate, the myriad things can flourish; when Kan and Li function together, metal and water can coexist. This is the pivot of the Great Dao. When the two natures of Yin and Yang join, qi and form unite, and this is the working of the Dao. Sun and moon move, cold and heat keep their seasons, moisture nourishes, and transformation flows through all things; this is the verification of the Dao. Yin qi extends while Yang qi contracts and hides; when Yang is employed, Yin conceals itself. Going and returning, they stir the emotions and contain the nature. These are the three cycles of the Dao.

What is the meaning of this principle? It is to divide the one qi, to model oneself on Heaven and Earth, and to join purposive action (youwei) with the Dao of non-action (wuwei). Must one rely on external things to do this?

Shennong (the Divine Farmer) says: "Know the white, guard the black, and one may not die." What does this mean? White is the essence of metal, but not the metal that ordinary people speak of; black is the root of water, but not the mercury that ordinary people speak of. The exterior of lead is black, but within it lies the golden flower, and this golden flower is the Azure Dragon.

Commentary on the Daoshu (Pivot of the Way)

Qian (Heaven, Yang) occupies the Wood position and its number is three. This is what is meant by "wearing coarse cloth while holding jade within," appearing outwardly like a madman. In internal alchemy (Neidan), this corresponds to the White Tiger. It also symbolizes cinnabar and mercury (quicksilver). Kun (Earth, Yin) occupies the Earth position and its number is five.

Thus it is said that "the harmony of three and five" is the master principle of the Eight Minerals (the eight mineral substances used in alchemical practice). When three and five are combined, the sum is eight.

Metal is the mother of Water, and though the mother conceals it, the child is gestated within her. Water is the child of Metal, and the child is stored within the mother's womb. Why is this so? Metal and Water conceive together, held within the mother, and they must rely on the processes of creation to be brought forth. Hence it is said: "The eldest son inherits the father's body and establishes the foundation through the mother." Cinnabar arises from Metal, so mercury flows forth as the child. To nourish the child through Metal, so that it inherits the body and flourishes, is the wondrous working of nature.

The Qiantong Jue (Formula of Hidden Penetration) says: "The dark white gives birth to the Metal Lord, lofty and towering at the very beginning." This refers to cinnabar arising from lead. The Jinbi Pian (Gold and Jade Treatise) says: "The red marrow flows and becomes mercury." Mercury is not something external. It is produced when Qian and Kun unite and receive their qi: Heaven's qi descends, Earth's qi responds, and when Yin and Yang meet, the mercury flows. Its father is Wuji (the Earth stem) and its mother is gold. From this we see that cinnabar is formed by uniting the Three Powers and corresponding to the Five Phases. How could it be fully explained by words alone?

The scripture says: "To plant grain, one must use millet; to hatch a chicken, one uses its own egg." Lead and mercury are like this: unless they are of the same kind, they cannot be used together. Emotion arises from nature, and nature follows from emotion. Emotion and nature depend on each other, and returning them to their natural state is transformation. Therefore, Qian and Kun, male and female, Metal and Water, Earth and Wood, nature and emotion share the same origin yet bear different names. What does not accord with its own kind cannot enter, so it is said that "like follows like," which is the meaning here.

Water is overcome by Earth, and Metal is nourished by Wood. Only because they overcome and generate one another do they serve as each other's parents and mothers. Mercury does not occupy the correct position of the five directions, and cinnabar is not the pairing of Dragon and Tiger. What is not of the same kind cannot be joined. Therefore it is said: "Do not damage my lead, so that my life remains whole; do not abandon my river chariot, so that I may return home." If the lead is cut off, the river chariot is empty, and whatever is done will certainly have no effect. If the lead is broken, the river chariot is severed, and whatever is attempted will produce nothing. For this reason, there is Metal within lead, and within Metal there is the Returning Elixir. One who can perceive this principle has seen the truth.

Note: This passage uses terms such as Qian and Kun, the three and five, the metal-mercury-lead-cinnabar complex, and the river chariot to discuss the principles of Yin-Yang and the Five Phases in internal alchemy, the mating of lead and mercury, and the return of spirit and qi. "Wearing coarse cloth while holding jade," "White Tiger," "Eight Minerals," and "river chariot" are mostly metaphors. They should be read alongside the oral formulas in the full work, not understood only as literal mineral substances.

To hold the essentials in one's heart and truly grasp them is to set foot on the Dao (the Way). One should rather refine the "gold within lead" than refine the "treasure within gold." The former refers to true Jing (essence) refined from lead, a metaphor for the root Qi (vital energy) of the human body. The latter treats external objects as treasures. From this we can see that the Dragon and the Tiger were originally one.

The more ingenious people's intentions become, the further they stray from the true Dao. Some say to use lead, and others say to use mercury. If one recognizes only mercury, how could Qian and Kun be described as two straight lines? How could the firm and the yielding be forcibly separated? If one takes only lead as the means, where would Gold and Water arise, and how would one walk the Way of returning? In that case, how could one hope for transformation to arise from what is genuine?

The ancient perfected sages praised lead and did not dwell much on mercury. Was this not because the two must be completed together, so that each must be praised in turn? If one must take mercury as the principal and rely on the Qi of lead to accomplish the work, why discard the root and raise the branch? Does the great Dao hide itself within "not speaking it out"? Later people are confused, like someone who tries to plow stone in hopes of a rice harvest. It is difficult, yet not entirely without result.

Within lead there is sand-mercury, just as a person has emotion (qing) and nature (xing). These are not external things. Sand-mercury in relation to lead is not a foreign kind. The "Three-One" Dao is to cultivate emotion so as to unite with nature. Once nature and emotion are united, one can return to the root and restore primal simplicity. The formula of the Golden Fluid nourishes mercury with gold, and only then can one return the soul and restore the origin. If one takes external things as emotion, nature cannot be joined, and how could the Three Palaces be secured? If one takes quicksilver as mercury, lead cannot be made intimate, and how could the Eight Stones become marvelous? The Eight Stones is another name for "Three-Five." Nature is governed within, and its place of establishment is like "Yan and E" (the place where Jing is stored). Emotion governs the outer domain, and its building and planting are like city walls. From this we know that sand-mercury is the emotion of lead, and primordial Qi is the root of a person. Gold governs the outer domain, like human emotion, while mercury governs the inner, like human nature. To control mercury with gold is to extend the meaning of uniting nature through emotion. To hold Jing and nourish Shen (spirit) is the Way of cultivating nature to unite with the True.

The Eastern Wood of Jia and Yi is the Azure Dragon, and the Western Metal of Geng and Xin is the White Tiger. The Dragon exhales and the Tiger inhales its essence. The two feed on each other and both delight in glory. Why? The Dragon is emotion and the Tiger is nature. They depend on each other and return to one another, and this is what is meant. Therefore it is said: "The flowing pearl of the sun constantly wishes to leave the person; suddenly it obtains the golden flower, turns to rely upon it, transforms into white fluid, and congeals into the true and firm." When the golden flower sings first, in an instant it dissolves into water and scatters the "horse teeth" of aging. Is this the mercury and sand of which the world speaks?

Note: This section uses the terminology of Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy), concerning the refinement of Jing and Qi and the dual cultivation of emotion and nature. Lead, mercury, Dragon, Tiger, gold, and sand are mostly metaphors for spirit and Qi within the body, not chemical lead or mercury.

Plain-Language Commentary on the Dao Shu (The Pivot of the Dao)

Cinnabar, which in internal alchemy (Neidan) is often used as a metaphor for "gold" and true essence (Jing), was discussed earlier, where the principle of "knowing the white and keeping to the black" was already set forth.

The Supreme Mystery Essence is the root of the Dao. Like a pivot, it moves heaven and earth, refines Yin-Yang, accords with nature, and corresponds with creation. For this reason the number of the "two strings" is used to fix the method: "two-eight" pairs above and below, yielding the substance of Qian and Kun, the hexagrams of Heaven and Earth. Relying on the hexagrams of the Taiyi (Great Change) and fully investigating the functions of heaven and earth, one preserves three hundred and eighty-four spirits within the six lines. The Qian counting-stalks total two hundred and sixteen and the Kun counting-stalks one hundred and forty-four. Drawing these out and extending them by analogy yields a total of 25,020, which corresponds to the number of the myriad things and completes the forms of the firm and the yielding.

The number of heaven is twenty-five and the number of earth is thirty. Together, the combined number of heaven and earth is fifty-five, by which transformations are accomplished and return is realized. Heaven accumulates Yang and earth gathers Yin; when heaven and earth are obstructed, spirit and luminosity appear. The primal transformation, once applied, has no limit in its function, and it also lies in the union of Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire: cold and heat, flourishing and withering, alternate like spring, summer, autumn, and winter, or day and night. Metal generates Water, Water generates Wood, Wood generates Fire, and Fire generates Earth; this is the function of Yang. Earth overcomes Water, Water overcomes Fire, Fire overcomes Metal, and Metal overcomes Wood; this is the function of Yin. Through mutual generation and mutual destruction, and through alternating flourishing and decline, the Five Phases accord with heaven, earth, and the four seasons, and so the substance of the myriad things is completed.

The sun is the essence of Yang and the moon is the soul of Yin. Metal is born from the moon and is the middle son of Kan (Water). The pearl is born from the sun and is the middle daughter of Li (Fire). Metal is the essence of the moon yet dwells in a Yang position, while mercury contains the Qi of Li and corresponds to a Yin line. Thus one uses the numinous power of heaven and earth to gestate the essence of sun and moon. When Yin is exhausted, Yang is born, and when Pi reaches its extreme, Tai arrives. Therefore, when gold enters raging fire, its color is not overpowered by the light, and since the beginning of creation the sun and moon have not diminished their brightness. This is because Metal and Wood operate within, Water and Fire respond without, and the vigor of Qian, which never rests, is put to use, so the radiance of the sun is not dimmed and grows ever more vigorous. This is why the sun and moon can endure for a long time, and why the myriad things have beginnings and endings.

The union of the Dragon and the Tiger is precisely the handle of this Dao. It accords with the standards of heaven and earth and the numbers of Yin and Yang, and therefore it can cause heaven to…… (the passage continues in the original scroll)

Daoshu (The Pivot of the Way): A Vernacular Explanation

The subtle responsiveness latent in the earth should be linked like strings of pearls and joined like matched jade, cycling endlessly. The ancient sages who practiced this method could precede Heaven and Earth and lead all things. They could stand alone in the world, enjoy long life and lasting vision, and keep both spirit and body from decay.

Examining the most fundamental principle of this teaching, it can be summed up in one sentence: sand and mercury (shā gǒng) cannot be refined without Qián Kūn (the qi of Heaven and Earth, of yin and yang), and dragon and tiger cannot be approached without the Jīn Gōng (the "Metal" within the union of lead and mercury).

When the Great Medicine (dà yào) is complete, there is a method for taking it. Within a single ten-day week of the sexagenary cycle (jiǎzǐ), when the day falls on a jiàn ("establish") day, and continuing through to guǐhài, this is counted as one seasonal period (jiéhòu). I first fast for three days, gather the spirit, and settle the intent, and only then take the medicine. Sixty days make one period. If the day within the sexagenary cycle is not a jiàn day, the days mǎn ("full"), dìng ("stable"), or kāi ("open") may also be used for taking the medicine.

Verification of effects after taking the medicine (each sixty-day period is one stage of verification):

At about one year (six sixty-day periods):

The body becomes light and able to travel far; the limbs move freely; the complexion takes on a lustrous glow; the five viscera are full, and evil spirits keep away; the body becomes robust; the ears hear keenly and the eyes see clearly.

At about two years:

The fingernails shine; the form and shadow become clear and distinct; essence and qi (jīng qì) increase; white hair turns black; the teeth become firm.

At about three years:

De (Virtue) becomes penetrating; the Six Jia spirits (liù jiǎ shén) attend on the practitioner; the heart opens and the eyes clear; one can know affairs in distant places in all four directions.

At about four years:

The gaze takes on radiance; the Five Spirits (wǔ shén) do not stray; hunger and thirst cease; the hundred spirits come to pay court; the five viscera are moistened; one is no longer troubled by cold or heat.

At about five years:

One can freely transform among sinking and floating, depth and shallowness, roundness and squareness, strength and weakness, length and brevity, and the vertical and horizontal.

After another six sixty-day periods:

One can transform one's appearance, changing between beauty and ugliness, youth and age.

Note: This text belongs to the narrative tradition of Daoist internal and external alchemy. Terms such as sand and mercury, dragon and tiger, the Metal Lord, and the Great Medicine are mostly metaphors for lead and mercury, yin and yang, and the fire-timing of the alchemical process. They should not be read literally as an ordinary guide to taking medicine. The descriptions of longevity and marvelous effects marked by "one verification every sixty days" follow a conventional format in the classics for describing the stages of cultivation and its verification.

When cultivation reaches a certain stage, the following signs of progress appear in sequence. In the first sixty days, the practitioner can change the size of the body at will. After another sixty days, one can freely control lightness and heaviness, becoming as light as a feather or as heavy as a mountain. After a further sixty days, one can pass through walls and penetrate solid barriers, moving in and out without obstruction and no longer bound by physical obstacles. After yet another sixty days, the xingchu (traveling kitchen, the Daoist power to conjure food and utensils from nothing through intention or ritual technique in order to host a feast) becomes boundless, and all the food and vessels needed appear at will.

These are the verifications that can be observed over six years of practice.

If one persists in fushi (the ingestion of elixirs or the performance of ritual methods) without interruption, and the accumulated skill deepens over time, one can take part in the processes of Heaven and Earth, transform one's form in countless ways, and ultimately ascend to Taiqing (Grand Clarity), the highest of the heavenly realms in Daoist cosmology, which includes Daluo Heaven, Yuqing, Shangqing, and Taiqing.

Note: The passage is a description of the "proofs of efficacy" that accompany neidan (inner alchemy) or fushi practice. It counts time in periods of sixty days (liuxun), with four periods totaling roughly six years, which corresponds to the phrase "the verification of these six years." Terms such as "small and large," "light and heavy," "passing in and out without hindrance," and xingchu are common descriptions of supernatural powers and attainments in Daoist literature. They should be read within the context of the whole work and not taken as ordinary worldly knowledge.