Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (HsiuchenT'u).pdf

修眞圖 Hsiu-chen T'u Diagram of Cultivating Perfection

Contents Contents Tables of Contents Translation Bilingual Text Visual Table of Contents Diagram of Cultivating Perfection Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection Bibliographic Information Translation Notes Chinese Texts Text Punctuated Text Original Arrangement Bilingual Text Appendices Appendix A: Selected Passages Appendix B: "Charting a New Itinerary of Perfection in Medieval China" Appendix C: Five Phases Correspondences Appendix D: The Twenty-Eight Constellations Appendix E: Weights and Measures Appendix F: Poem in the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection Select Bibliography

1 2 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 22 46 46 54 60 82 101 101 104 115 115 116 116 117

Table of Contents Translation 1. Introduction 2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens) 2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions 2.1.2b. Inscription 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells) 2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 2.2.4. Lower Extremities 3. Internal Organs 3.1. Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 3.1.1b. Inscription 3.1.2. Heart 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 3.1.3b. Inscription 3.1.4. Spleen 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 3.1.5b. Inscription 1 3.1.5c. Inscription 2 3.1.5d. Inscription 3

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10 11 11 12 12 12 12

13 13 13 14 14 15 15 15 16 16

3.2. Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat 3.2.2. Gallbladder

16 17

4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) 4.2. Lower Elixir Field

17 17

5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass 5.2. Middle Pass 5.3. Lower Pass

18 18 18

6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li) 6.2. South (K'an) 6.3. East (Chen) 6.4. West (Tui) 6.5. Center (Ch'ien)

19 19 19 19 20

7. Extraordinary Vessels

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8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods

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9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle

21

Table of Contents Bilingual Text 1. Introduction 2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens) 2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions 2.1.2b. Inscription 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells) 2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 2.2.4. Lower Extremities 3. Internal Organs 3.1. Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 3.1.1b. Inscription 3.1.2. Heart 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 3.1.3b. Inscription 3.1.4. Spleen 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 3.1.5b. Inscription 1 3.1.5c. Inscription 2 3.1.5d. Inscription 3

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87 87 88 89 89 90 91 91 92 93

3.2. Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat 3.2.2. Gallbladder

93 93

4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) 4.2. Lower Elixir Field

94 95

5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass 5.2. Middle Pass 5.3. Lower Pass

95 96 96

6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li) 6.2. South (K'an) 6.3. East (Chen) 6.4. West (Tui) 6.5. Center (Ch'ien)

97 97 97 98 98


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Visual Table of Contents First and second numbers indicate the page numbers in "Translation" and "Bilingual Text" sections respectively.

Bibliographic Information Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu 内經圖 or 内景圖・修真圖 Chart of the Inner Warp (or: Chart of the Inner Landscape); Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection The Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu are two charts of the human body. They are first mentioned in the Qing period and are probably late, but their origins are unclear. Both charts are cognate to Yanluo zi's 煙蘿子 (tenth century?) diagrams of the body found in the Xiuzhen shishu (18.2a-3a; see fig. 12), which include anatomical details but add elements of neidan symbolism. A synthesis of Yanluo zi's charts was later drawn on a lateral representation of the body in the Huangdi bashiyi nanjing zuantu jujie 黄帝八十一難經纂圖句解 (Charts and Explications on the Scripture of the Eighty-One Difficult Points [in the Inner Scripture] of the Yellow Emperor; preface dated 1269; CT 1024, preface, 4a-b) and in the 1478 edition of the Song-dynasty Shilin guangji 事林廣記 (Extensive Records of the Forest of Affairs; see Needham 1983, 110-11). Moreover, some alchemical elements of the body are foreshadowed in two charts that represent the body as a mountain, contained in Xiao Yingsou's Duren shangpin miaojing neiyi 度人上品妙經内義 (Inner Meaning of the Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters on Salvation; CT 90, 8a-b; see fig. 13) and in Chen Zhixu's Jindan dayao (Tu 圖; CT 1068, 3a-b). These alchemical elements reappear in the Neijing tu. (Despeux, 2008: 767) Cultivation of Perfection. Similar in form to the Neijing tu, but representing a front view of the body, the Xiuzhen tu is richer and includes a longer text. Several versions with different titles are known to have existed in both northern and southern China. At present, the following five versions are known: 1. A stele in the Sanyuan gong 三元宮 (Palace of the Three Primes) in Guangzhou (Canton), engraved in 1812 by Qiu Fengshan 邱鳳山 (also known as Xingzhou 行舟) when the temple abbot was Ning Liyong 寧黎永. 2. A version from Mount Wudang (Wudang shan, Hubei), printed in 1924 and entitled Xiuzhen quantu 修真全圖 (Complete Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection). An earlier version seems to have circulated on Mount Wudang, engraved on wood in 1888 by Wu Mingxuan 吳明玄 of the Longmen school. 3. The Dancheng jiuzhuan tu 丹成九轉圖 (Chart of the Nine Cycles for Achieving the Elixir), printed in the Neiwai gong tushuo jiyao 内外功圖説輯要 (Essentials of Illustrated Explanations for Inner and Outer Practices) in 1920. The author of this work, Xi Yukang 席裕康, was a trader active in the Shanghai area. 4. Another Xiuzhen quantu, printed by Duan Fu 段甫 in Chengdu in 1922. A copy of this chart was given to Joseph Needham in 1943. 5. The undated Xiuzhen tu in Beijing's Baiyun guan. Its inscription reads: "Representation obtained from a friend in the Dao, Guo Yicheng 郭一澄, at the Erxian an 二仙庵 (Hermitage of the Two Immortals), Qingyang gong (Palace of the Black Ram), Chengdu. Guo took it to Weiyang 維陽 (Yangzhou 揚州, Jiangsu) where I could contemplate it. I had it engraved on wood to circulate it widely." The various versions of the Xiuzhen tu are all associated with the Longmen tradition. The elements that distinguish this chart from the Neijing tu are mainly related to the Thunder Rites (leifa) – in particular, the spiral at the level of the kidneys, the nine "orifices of hell" at the base of the spine, and the three curls at the top of the head that represent the three primordial breaths according to the Tianxin zhengfa tradition. The chart also represents the main parts of the body, including the Cinnabar Fields (dantian), the Three Passes (sanguan, represented by the three chariots) of the back, the throat, the paradisiac and infernal worlds, and the body's divinities according to the Huangting jing, and also shows the firing process (huohou). The whole is reminiscent of a talisman illustrating a divine body that connects to the sacred world. (Despeux, 2008: 767, 770)

Diagram of Cultivating Perfection 1. Introduction There are three hundred and sixty bones and joints,1 and eighty-four thousand pores in the human body.2 There are three passes3 at the back: the Gate of Tail, Spinal Handle,4 and Jade Pillow. The Gate of Tail is at the bottom of the vertebral column, at its very end; this pass connects with the apertures of internal kidneys.5 A thin pathway of marrow6 originates from this pass, its appellation7 is the Rivulet.8 It is also known as Yellow River and it is the pathway through which the yang [energy] ascends. It directly goes up to the point between the two shoulders,9 or the Spinal Handle, and then goes up to the brain where the Jade Pillow is found. These are the three passes. In the front there are three fields; these are the Muddy Pellet,10 Earthen Crucible,11 and Jade Pond.12 The Muddy Pellet is the upper elixir field and it is one and two-tenths of an inch 13 in diameter. This hollow opens to a cavity, this is where the shen is stored. At the exact center of the space between the two eyebrows there is the Heavenly Gate.14 Going one inch inward, there is the Bright Hall.15 Another inch inward from this point is situated the Cavern Chamber.16 Still another inch inward is where the Muddy Pellet is found. The place below the point where the two brows meet is called the pillar of nose;17 it is also known as the Palace of Thunderclap.18 Under the Golden Bridge,19 inside the mouth, there are two cavities connecting with the throat; they are called the Magpie Bridge.20 Throat is situated on the neck bone, it is where the internal and external energies go in and out [of the body]. At the back there is the soft part of the throat, it is called the pharynx. What we drink and eat mixes up here and passes downward to the intestines and stomach. The throat has twelve rings, its appellation is the Tiered Tower.21 Directly below the throat there is the aperture of the lungs which leads to the heart. There is a bone above the heart, it is called Turtledove's Tail.22 Below the heart there is a cave23 called the Crimson Palace;24 it is where the dragon and tiger unite. Directly below, three and six-tenths of an inch away from it, is a place called the Earthen Crucible; it is the cave of Yellow Court, that is, the middle elixir field. To its left is situated the Bright Hall,25 to its right there is the Cavern Chamber.26 Blossomless27 dwells to its left, in the liver. White Prime27 dwells28 to its right, in the lungs. Furthermore, one and two-tenths of an inch inside this hollow is where the ch'i is stored; this is the cauldron of refinement of ch'i. Directly below it, at a distance of three and six-tenths of an inch, is the navel. Therefore it is said, "Thirty-six29 in the heaven above, thirty-six on the earth below. From heaven to earth it is eighty-four thousand miles30 and from the heart to the kidneys it is eight and four-tenths of an inch."31 Heavenly heart is found at a distance of three and six-tenths of an inch and earthly kidneys are found at a distance of three and six-tenths of an inch. In the middle of them there is the elixir field which is one and two-tenths of an inch in diameter. If it is not eight and four-tenths of an inch, then what is it?32 The appellation of the gate of navel is the Gate of Life.33 It has seven cavities; one of these connects with the external kidneys,34 it is the cavity of spirit's leaking out; it is called the Crescent Moon Furnace,35 that is, the Conception Vessel. Below it there are nine cavities which make up the Capital of Hell.36 It is also called the Sea of Energy.37 The place slightly below it, at a distance of one and three-tenths of an inch, is called the Jade Pond. It is also known as the lower elixir field and this is where the ching is stored and the medicine is collected. Its left side is the Bright Hall and its right is the Cavern Chamber.

There is another hollow cave here measuring one and three-tenths of an inch square in size. There are two cavities in this place, which connect with the internal kidneys. Inside the kidneys there is a cavity which connects with the Gate of Tail. From the Gate of Tail [the energy channel] goes down to the two halls of the kidneys38 and then arrives at the Three Mile points39 below the knees. It then goes further down [and terminates at] the Gushing Spring40 points. These are the passes and cavities of the human body that are connected with each other.

2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)1 1.

High Perfected

2.

Supreme Perfected

3.

Great Perfected

4.

Void2 Perfected

5.

Immortal Perfected

6.

Unfathomable Perfected

7.

Superior Perfected

8.

Divine Perfected

9.

Heavenly Perfected3

10. The brain has nine sections and each of these chambers are one inch in diameter.4 11. The way of no-cessation is found in visualizing, and meditating on, the Muddy Pellet.5 Garments6 of the Nine Perfected each represent the color of their corresponding pneumas,7 this is why they can fly as if they are weightless. 12. Palace of the Muddy Pellet 13. Original Destiny8 Perfected 14. Mysterious Vault of the Jade Emperor's Palace9

2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions 1.

Rich liquid 1

2.

Tower Head Drum

3.

Muddy Pellet

4.

Mysterious Mother2

5.

Numinous spirit3

6.

Heavenly Treasure

7.

Shen4

8.

Purple Tenuity5

9.

Great One6

10. Nine Empyreans7 11. Heavenly Court8 12. Appearing Pearl 13. Divine Radiance9 14. Bright Hall 15. Heavenly Eye10 16. Thunder Palace of the Nine Empyreans11 17. The throat is Sustainer and the tongue is Straightener.12 One deity reports13 to the Seven Kings14 and serves15 the Dipper as the Mother of the tongue.16 18. Center of Man17 19. Fluid Receptacle18 20. Governor Vessel19

2.1.2b. Inscription There are nine palaces in heaven and nine continents on earth.1 Man's lower elixir field has nine cavities, which are patterned after the nine continents of earth. The Muddy [Pellet] has nine caves, which accord with the nine palaces of heaven.2 The cranium is made up of eight bones3 which correspond to the eight directions. One of the names of the Muddy Pellet is the Jade Emperor's Palace in the All Canopy Heaven;4 it is also known as the Heavenly Palace of Pure Yang.5 There is a hollow cave in the center, which is called the Master of Mysterious Numinosity;6 it is also known as the Palace of the Primordial Spirit.7 Then there is the tongue; inside the tongue there is the Golden Lock Gate,8 which is equal to the tongue; it is also 9 known as the Magpie Bridge. Below the nose there is the Center of Man point and facing it there is the [Golden Lock] Gate. Between them there is the Governor Vessel. Truly, these are the roots10 of the human being; they are called the upper nine cavities.11 One of the names of the tongue is the Jade Spring of Innate Nature Roots,12 also its appellation is the Flowery Pond.13

Below the tongue there are four cavities; two of them connect with the heart, forming a humor. The other two cavities connect with the kidneys, forming the vapor.14 The Divine Chamber,15 Muddy Pellet and nine cavities, these are the palaces of the Heavenly August. There is a cave in the middle which is shaped like an egg; its form resembles16 the Mount K'un-lun.17 The Buddhists call it Mount Sumeru.18 Disciples who cultivate perfection must know these.

2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus The navel is the Gate of Life.1 Great One2 Divine Lord resides here. He is the host of the innate nature and life-destiny.3 He directs the entire body's twelve thousand spirits.4 Gate of Life5

2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)1 1. Copper Pillar Hell 2. Fire Chariot Hell2 3. Diamond-like3 Hell 4. All-Plunder Hell 5. Icy-Cold Hell 6. Kill-and-Cut Hell 7. Wind and Thunder Hell 8. Cauldron of Molten [Iron] Hell4 9. Endless Hell5

2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 1. Cavity of the Pivotal Pass1 is the gate for inviting immortality. 2. Bellows2 3. Gate of Life3 that delivers immortality is where the Northern Pole4 demon-subduing sword of wisdom5 is found. 4. Fools kill themselves with it, while sages sublimate their bodies with it.6

2.2.4. Lower Extremities 1. Gushing Spring point1 2. Gushing Spring 3. Three Miles point2 4. Three Miles point

3. Internal Organs 3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 1. Astride, Mound1 2. The seven p'o2 are stored3 in the lungs. 3. Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, Carriage4 4. Heavenly Dipper5 5. Venerable White Prime dwells here. 6. Stomach, Pleiades, Net, Beak, Orion.6

3.1.1b. Inscription The deity of the lungs has the shape of the White Tiger;1 the lungs appear like a hanging musical stone.2 They dwell on top of the five viscera3 and envelop them like a cover, therefore they are called the Flowery Canopy.4 Their deity is called Luminous Flower,5 its given name is Attainment of Emptiness.6 They weigh three pounds7 and three ounces.8 They have six petals and two ears, thus eight petals in total.9 The lung is the child of the spleen and the mother of the kidneys. The seven p'o are stored inside the lungs like infants. They are called Corpse Dog, Ambushing Corpse,10 Bird Darkness, Devouring Robber,11 Flying Poison,12 Massive Pollution, and Mob's Smell;13 thus there are these seven names.14 The nose is its officer;15 the left nostril is keng 庚, while the right nostril is hsin 辛.16 Among the pneumas the lungs correspond to coughing.17 Among the fluids18 they correspond to nasal mucus.19 In the body they correspond to body hair. Flowing upward, the pneumas reach the brain and flowing downward, the pneumas enter the spleen, therefore all pneumas belong to the lungs.20 The lungs are the root of the breathing. In the [Scripture of the] Yellow Court21 it is said, "When there is panting or the breathing is not comfortable, immediately visualize the White Prime22 and the six energies will be harmonized." 23

3.1.2. Heart The deity of the heart is shaped like the Vermilion Bird; the heart appears like an inverted hanging lotus flower.1 It is capable of transforming water and turning it into blood. Deity of the heart is called Elixir Origin,2 its given name is Guarding the Numen.3 It weighs twelve ounces. One inch below the heart is the Turtledove's Tail.4 The heart's color is like white silk [lined with] shining crimson and inside it there are seven openings and three orifices. In men of superior wisdom, the orifices of the heart are pervaded with brilliance. In men of medium wisdom, there are five orifices and cave of the heart is connected with the pneumas. In men of inferior wisdom, there are no orifices and the brilliance of the pneuma does not flow through the heart.5

The heart is the child of the liver and the mother of the spleen. The tongue is the officer of the heart.6 An opening connects with the ears; the left ear is ping 丙, while the right ear is ting 丁.7 Heart's fluid is sweat;8 when the malignant energy of the kidneys enter the heart, the sweat spills.9 The heart's associated taste is sweet. Its associated receptacle10 is the small intestine and the heart is united with it.11 In the Scripture of the Yellow Court12 it is said, "The house13 of heart department14 is like a lotus bud with closed petals;15 below it there is the house of a young boy named Elixir Origin." The young boy is the deity of the heart. Below the heart there is the Crimson Palace.

3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 1. Lordling Blossomless resides here.1 2. Middle earth gallbladder2 3. Horn, Neck3 4. Base, Room, Heart, Tail, Basket4 5. The three hun5 are stored in the liver.

3.1.3b. Inscription The deity of the liver is shaped like the Green Dragon;1 its given name is Containing Illumination.2 The liver appears like a suspended bottle-shaped gourd. It is quite3 close to the heart; it has three petals to the left and four petals to the right.4 The gallbladder5 attaches to underneath its shorter petal. The liver weighs four pounds and four ounces. It is the mother of the heart and the child of the kidneys. There are three hun6 in the liver known as the Invigorating Numinosity, Radiance of Womb,7 and Obscure Spirit. The eyes are the officers8 of the liver.9 The left eye is chia 甲 while the right eye is i 乙.10 When a man11 reach sixty, his liver pneuma declines,12 petals of his liver become thinner, his gallbladder gradually withers, and his eyesight is dimmed. In the body, the liver corresponds to the sinews.13 The liver pulse is connected with Wood14 and the liver is the viscus of the hun.15 Among the bodily fluids the liver corresponds to tears, therefore, when the malignant energy of the kidneys enter the liver, the tears are plenty.16 The gallbladder is the receptacle of the liver,17 the gallbladder and the liver are united. In the Scripture of the Yellow Court18 it is said, "When harmony is established between the hun and p'o, the bodily fluids are balanced;19 on the outer part of the body, the liver corresponds to the eyes, thus the sun and the moon are radiant.20 When all kinds of21 diseases22 accumulate, one must maintain23 Blossomless;24 since the liver operates [the energies of] all five viscera, in seven days the organs will be filled by themselves."25

3.1.4. Spleen The spleen belongs to the center and Earth,1 therefore it is effulgent throughout the four seasons2 and it is the Yellow Emperor.3 Its deity is shaped like the Phoenix.4 The spleen resembles an upside-down wing.5 Its deity is called Eternal Existence,6 its given name is Court of Hun.7 In the middle, the spleen covers the upper part of the navel, it is at the side of the stomach; it is the pneuma of the k'un and ching of the earth. It resides three inches below the heart. It weighs one pound and two ounces, it is three inches wide and one foot8 long. The spleen is the child of the heart and the mother of the lungs. On the outer part of the body, it connects with the eyebrows. The mouth 9 is its officer.10 Its deity has much hatred.11 The spleen has no fixed position,12 it governs Earth13 and it is yin, therefore the spleen is the pivot of the five viscera.14 It opens into the orifice of the mouth.15 In the body it corresponds to the cheeks. Spleen Meridian originates at the Hidden White16 and this is where the original intent17 of the flesh 18 is found.19 In the Scripture of the Yellow Court20 it is said, "It cures countless21 diseases of mankind and digests foods; it has a yellow gown22 and a purple belt,23 it regulates the dragon and tiger."24

3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 1.

The left is the Mystery,1 the Gate of Kidney

2.

The right is the Female,1 the Gate of Life-Destiny2

3.

(Three talismanic characters)3

4.

Silver River4

5.

Pivotal Mechanism5

6.

Red Pond

7.

Pond of Precious Stone

8.

Way of Gushing Valley6

9.

Water of Fountain Valley7

10. Jade Furnace8

3.1.5b. Inscription 1 The kidneys1 belong to the direction north2 and Water;3 among the trigrams they correspond to k'an 坎.4 They are shaped like the Mysterious Deer5 with two heads; their deity is called Mysterious Dark6 and its given name is Nourishing the Infant.7 The kidneys appear like egg-shaped pebbles; they are located opposite the navel, suspending from the lumbar spine.8 They weigh two pounds and one ounce. They govern the distribution of the energy of water, irrigating the entire body like roots of a tree. The one on the left is called kidney and the one on the right the [Gate of] Life-Destiny.9 They are the storehouses of living pneuma and the gate of dead pneuma;10 if you preserve them (i.e., the vital energies) then they will remain, but if you [over]use them then they will be drained.

The kidneys are the mother of the liver and the child of the lungs. The ears are the officers11 of the kidneys.12 The Heaven gives life to us, when the current of energy is transmuted, it is called ching. The ching-ch'i alternates and turns into shen. The shen; the kidneys store ching13 and the will.14 The left kidney corresponds to jen 壬, while the right corresponds to kuei 癸.15 Among the twelve horary branches the kidneys correspond to tzu 子 and hai 亥.16 Among the [six] breaths17 they correspond to ch'ui 吹.18 Among the bodily fluids they correspond to saliva. In the body they correspond to the bones.19 The kidney ch'i regulates the upper section of the triple heater, nourishes the middle20 section of the triple heater, and protects the lower section of the triple heater.21 In the Scripture of the Yellow Court22 it is said, "The palace of kidney23 department is like a dark portal24 that is round;25 inside there is a young boy26 called Upper Darkness.27 The kidneys govern the six pneumas28 and are the origin of the visceral fluids.29 On the outer part of the body, they correspond to the ears;30 they govern numerous31 bodily fluids."32

3.1.5c. Inscription 2 The internal kidneys are the Two Principles.1 Between them there is a link connecting them and this is our true essence.2 Inside, it contains two pneumas, red and white. When we were in the mother's abdomen, before we had this body, there was this cave. Because there was this cave, life has begun in this body. The left kidney is mysterious yang while the right is feminine yin.3 Inside the cavity, there is the Sea of Essence4 of True Self Later Heaven; it is also known as true lead.5 Its Buddhist name is Chaochou's dog,6 while its Confucian name is the Great Ultimate.7 Taoists call it the Native Lead of the Mysterious Water8 and also Right Ch'i of Chilling Life9 in the Direction North, and Purple River Chariot.10 Following the course of nature gives birth to ordinary men; going against it one becomes an immortal.11 One of its names is the Rivulet.12 Its another name is the Ancestral Palace. It connects with the top and bottom of the two eyes and descends into the Flowery Pond.13 From [the cavities below] the tongue comes out a fluid called the Jade Spring.14

3.1.5d. Inscription 3 Peach Vigor;1 his given name is the Lord of Unity and Extension,2 his another name is Top of the Lotus Flower.3 His cap and garment are vermilion in color and his garment is like that of the perfected men. He resides in the palace of the kidneys. It has emerald, purple, yellow, white, green, blue-green, red, and azure pneumas; actually these are the transmutations of the Eight Heavens4 of the direction north.

3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat Two cavities under the tongue are called Mysterious Breasts.1 The one at the back is called the pharynx2 and all that we eat and drink is swallowed down through this aperture. The one in the front is known as the trachea;3 its twelve segments make up the Twelve-Storied Tower,4 which connects with pure ch'i.5

3.2.2. Gallbladder The gallbladder represents the ching of Metal and ch'i of Water. Its color is [dark] green and it lies beneath the liver's shorter petal.1 The gallbladder is boldness.2 When the gallbladder is big, there cannot be any fear. Its deity3 is called Dragon Glory,4 its given name is Majestic Illumination.5 The gallbladder is shaped like the Turtle and Snake whose bodies are fused6 and it appears like a suspended sack.7 It weighs three ounces and one-sixteenth of an ounce.8 It is the receptacle organ of the liver.9 If we rely on [the standard five phases theory], the gallbladder should not be among the five viscera; it should be returned to [the category of] the six receptacles, because the gallbladder also receives energies of the fluids and it has the same path as the k'an 坎. Furthermore, it cannot be regarded as the same with the six receptacles, therefore it stands alone as the gallbladder viscus.10 It is connected with the bladder; it also governs the hair. In the Scripture of the Yellow Court11 it is said, "The gallbladder governs all physical strength preserved12 by the tiger's army. On the outer part of the body, the gallbladder corresponds to the eyes and pupils and the middle of the bridge of the nose.13 The brain and hair support each other; also, the hair becomes very bright.14 The deity of the gallbladder wears a nine-colored brocade dress with a green flower skirt."15

4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) The Crimson1 Palace; inside it there is a cave which is the innate nature of the true self. One of its names is trigram li 離;2 its another name is Hour of Wu 午.3 Also, its appellation is Southern Palace.4 It is where the chamber for refinement of the shen5 is found. Its another name is Young Girl.6 One of its names is True Yin; its another name is Blue-Eyed Foreign Child.7 Among the directions, it is the south. Above this place there is a covering bone which covers it; the physicians call it the Turtledove's Tail. Withdrawal [of the mind] from this cavity leads to mental activity [eaten up by] thoughts and worries8 of the Nine Later Heavens;9 this is also called the "dragon exiting from within the fire".10

4.2. Lower Elixir Field The pneumas inside this field are blue-green on the left, yellow on the right, black on the bottom, and white on top. The lower elixir field is also known as True Tiger,1 [Earth of]2 K'an 坎, Infant's Place,3 Mulberry Palace,4 Sea of Energy,5 Water Crystal Palace, and the Door of the Feminine.6 Inside it there is a cave, which is real ching7 of the true self and Life Stem.8 One and one-tenth of an inch above it is the place of true generation and transformation9 and the root of the heaven and earth. It is the place of whiteheaded Lao-tzu's black mystery, and the life-destiny of the true self creating10 mountains and streams. It is also called the Place of True One, the Gold within Water; its appellation is Metal Essence,11 it is also called Supreme Ching of the Former Heaven of the True Self. It is also called the Tiger Facing Life within Water,12 One Yang Returning to Beginning,13 Tzu 子 Hour,14 Moon at the Bottom of the Sea,15 Human-Light,16 and Foundation of Primordial Self.17 Thus it has these several names. Disciples who cultivate perfection must know these.

5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass The Jade Pillow pass;1 one of the names of this place is Yang Palace on the Jade Capital Mountain,2 it is also known as the Heavenly Pillar,3 Cave of the Great4 One, and Thunderclap Palace. It is found in front of the big vertebral bone,5 at an inch distance from it. Truly, this is the upward pathway for advancing6 and ascending to Heaven.7 Inner Yellow Dragon8 turns upside down,9 rolls upward, surges into the waters of Hsiang River,10 and penetrates up and down. As this pass is tight,11 the yang spirit12 must be gathered. This needs using yang pneuma in order to force the pass open, it is then transformed into true pneuma.13 When it arrives at the Magpie Bridge,14 the Altair and Vega stars15 meet16 and nourish the infant.17

5.2. Middle Pass The Spinal Handle Dual Pass1 is truly the footpath of ascending to and descending from divine immortality.2 It is our bodily pulse; it is the path of Kao-huang point.3 It is called the Dual Pass; Inner Windlass4 is found inside this point. Its left is the Great Yang, while its right is the Great Yin. It is the path of ascension of yang energy,5 it connects with the Heavenly Pillar6 point, it is also called Inner Double Grove,7 which connects with Outer Double Grove,8 where the vessel of yang pass is hidden.9 This point steams [energy] into passes and cavities, and to the Gushing Spring10 below; above, it connects with the Muddy Pellet, networks and connects with the Crimson11 Palace and the Flowery Pond.12 There it gathers water and descends to the Flowery Canopy,13 then to the place of the five phases which is inside the Life Stem14 in the lower elixir field.

5.3. Lower Pass The Pass of Gate of Tail;1 one of its names is Nine Cavities;2 its another name is Nine-Headed Lion;3 it is also called the Prince Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum.4 This yin pass5 is persistently blocked,6 often it cannot be opened for years, therefore it is named the Nine-Layered Iron Drum. The Prince is pure yang pneuma; he can cause a rich liquid to pour into the top of the head7 and he can pierce through the head, therefore it is called Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum. Indeed this is the footpath for ascending to Heaven.8 One of the names of this pass is the Gate of Earth Pivot Deity;9 its another name is Facing Up toward a Mountain Range.10 One of its names is Cave of Dragon and Tiger; its another name is Three-Forked [Bone].11 Inside the kidneys there is the Golden Cauldron,12 inside and outside are connected to each another; its three paths13 connect with14 the Spinal Handle15 above, directly penetrate the Gate of Crown16 and then the Muddy Pellet above, and connect with the bone marrows of the entire body. The Capital of Hell17

6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li) 1.

Upper Palace of the South Prosperity [Constellation]1

2.

Crimson2 Palace

3.

Exhalation is uniting with the Root of Heaven.3

4.

When the mind is immovable, the pneuma consolidates by itself.4

5.

Pneuma5

6.

Approaching chi 己6

7.

Fire Palace on the Vermilion Mound7

☲ (trigram li)

6.2. South (K'an) 1.

Dipper, Ox[-Boy], Maiden, Void1

2.

Cold Numinosity Elixir Hall

3.

Flowing to wu 戊2

4.

When the body is immovable, the ching consolidates by itself.3

5.

Ching 精

6.

Chi 己5

7.

Lower elixir6

8.

Noxious pneuma7 of the Mysterious Warrior8

9.

Rooftop, House, Wall9

☵ (trigram k'an)4

10. Going against the course of nature is the way of sages; following it is the way of ordinary men.10

6.3. East (Chen) ☳ (trigram chen)1 One of its names is the Green Dragon of the Eastern Sea. It corresponds to the direction of chia 甲.2 Wood fluid. Among the trigrams3 it belongs to chen 震. Among the directions it belongs to the east. Among the five phases it belongs to Wood. In the Tao it is the hun and it corresponds to the innate nature.4 It belongs to the mother of fire shen.5 Among the five viscera it belongs to the liver. In the heaven it is the sun. It is the location of the Chamber of the True Self's Hun.

6.4. West (Tui) ☱ (trigram tui)1 Some call it the White Tiger of the Western Mountains.2 It occupies keng 庚 position. Metal ching.3 Among the trigrams it belongs to tui 兌. Among the directions it belongs to the west. Among the five phases it belongs to Metal. In the Tao it is the p'o and it corresponds to emotions.4 It belongs to the mother of the water ching.5 Among the viscera and receptacles it is the lungs. In the heaven it is the moon. It is the location of the Chamber of the True Self's P'o.

6.5. Center (Ch'ien) 1.

Yellow Court1

2.

Center2

3.

Jade knife3

4.

☰ (trigram ch'ien)4

5.

Earthen Crucible5

6.

K'uei, shao, huan, hsing, pi, fu, p'iao6

7.

When the intent is immovable, the shen turns into numinosity by itself.7

7. Extraordinary Vessels 1.

Yang Entering [Vessel]

2.

Yang Heel [Vessel]2

3.

Conception Vessel3

4.

Yin Heel [Vessel]4

5.

Yin Transport [Vessel]5

1


1

In bottom-to-top order

1.

Winter Solstice

2.

Slight Cold

3.

Great Cold

4.

Beginning of Spring

5.

Rain Water

6.

Excited Insects

7.

Spring Equinox

8.

Clear and Bright

9.

Grain Rains

10. Summer Begins 11. Grain Filling 12. Grain in Ear 13. Summer Solstice 14. Slight Heat 15. Great Heat 16. Autumn Begins 17. Limit of Heat 18. White Dew 19. Autumn Equinox 20. Cold Dew 21. Hoar Frost Descends 22. Winter Begins 23. Slight Snow 24. Great Snow

9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle 1.

First1

2.

Second

3.

Third

4.

Fourth

5.

Fifth

6.

Sixth

7.

Seventh

8.

Eighth, [upper] crescent moon2

9.

Ninth

10. Tenth 11. Eleventh 12. Twelfth 13. Thirteenth 14. Fourteenth 15. Fifteenth, full moon3 16. Sixteenth 17. Seventeenth 18. Eighteenth 19. Nineteenth 20. Twentieth 21. Twenty first 22. Twenty second 23. Twenty third, [lower] crescent moon4 24. Twenty fourth 25. Twenty fifth 26. Twenty sixth 27. Twenty seventh 28. Twenty eighth 29. Twenty ninth 30. Thirtieth, last day5

Stele Inscription Printing block is preserved at Beijing's White Cloud Temple.

Notes to Page 9 (82)

Notes 1. Introduction 1.

2.

3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

21. 22.

In the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic: The Numinous Pivot (Huang-ti Nei-ching Ling-shu 黄帝内經靈樞), Ch'i Po 岐伯 describes the three hundred and sixty five places where the "joints" (chieh 節) intersect, "where the ch'i of the spirit (shen 神; or alternatively 'ch'i and shen') travel in and out." This idea is based on the principles of correlative cosmology. According to Chinese theories, one cycle of ascent and descent of energy between the heaven and earth (the macrocosm) lasts three hundred and sixty days, which corresponds to the three hundred and sixty bones and joints in the human body (the microcosm). Three passes (san-kuan 三關) are three centers of energy transformation, they are usually obstructed and must be opened. The first pass, or Gate of Tail (wei-lü 尾閭), is located at the level of the third vertebra above the coccyx. The second pass, or Spinal Handle (chia-chi 夾脊), is located in the middle of the spinal column where it joins the ribs at chest level, between the shoulder blades. The third pass, or Jade Pillow (yü-chen 玉枕), is at the level of the occipital bone. Each pass correspond to an elixir field (tan-t'ien). Like the three elixir fields, the three passes correspond to the three stages of the internal alchemical process: ching is transformed into ch'i in the lower pass, ch'i into shen in the middle pass, and shen into void (hsü 虚) in the upper pass. In the diagram, the three passes are symbolized by the three vehicles, or mechanisms, for the raising of the energy along the backbone: the Goat Cart (yang-ch'e 羊車), the Deer Cart (lu-ch'e 鹿車), and the Ox Cart (niu-ch'e 牛車). The term translated "Spinal Handle" is chia-chi 夾脊, which might also be read "Narrow Ridge". In Chinese medical literature, internal kidneys (nei-shen 内腎) designates the kidneys and external kidneys (wai-shen 外腎) the testicles. The "marrow" (sui 髓) does not correspond to bone marrow of Western medicine. In traditional Chinese medicine, "marrow" is a substance which is the common matrix of bones, bone marrow, brain and spinal cord. Hao 號. In Chinese internal alchemy (nei-tan), the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈) is also called the Rivulet (ts'ao-hsi 漕溪). Emending "kidneys" (shen 腎) to "shoulders" (chien 肩). There are nine chambers in the brain, known as the Nine Palaces (chiu-kung 九宮). These are arranged within the brain in two levels that proceed from the middle part of the head between the eyebrows. In Taoist terminology, the Muddy Pellet (ni-wan 泥丸) designates both the top of the head or the upper elixir field as a whole and the innermost of the Nine Palaces, the third one in the lower row. Earthen Crucible or Earthen Pot (t'u-fu 土釜), is an energy center in the region of the solar plexus, the center of the trunk. It is often used as a synonym for the Yellow Court (huang-t'ing 黄庭). The term Jade Pond (yü-ch'ih 玉池) has two meanings: the mouth (or throat) and the two kidneys. Here it designates the kidneys which are related with the lower elixir field. "[I]nch" translates ts'un 寸. Heavenly Gate (t'ien-men 天門) is the center of the top of the head, or sinciput, the opening from which the yang spirit (yang-shen 陽神) is believed to leave the body. Bright Hall (ming-t'ang 明堂) is an energy center one inch behind the midpoint between the brows. Cavern Chamber (tung-fang 洞房) is located behind the Bright Hall, two inches from the face. Pillar of nose (pi-chu 鼻柱) is the nasal bone. Palace of Thunderclap (lei-t'ing fu 雷霆府) is another name for the nasal bone. Golden Bridge (chin-ch'iao 金橋) is another name for the Magpie Bridge. See note 20. Magpie Bridge (ch'üeh-ch'iao 鵲橋) is the tongue which connects the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈) and Conception Vessel (ren-mai 任脈). It is also known as Middle Magpie Bridge (chung ch'üehch'iao 中鵲橋). Tiered Tower (ch'ung-lou 重樓), or Multi-Leveled Pagoda, is the trachea with its twelve segments. It is also known as Twelve-Storied Tower (shih-erh lou-t'ai 十二樓臺). Turtledove's Tail (chiu-lu 鳩尾) is the xiphoid process, the cartilaginous section at the lower end of the breastbone (sternum).

Notes to Pages 9-10 (82-84)

23. "[C]ave" translates hsüeh 穴, which literally means "cave" or "hole" and variously translated as "cave", "point", "hole", or "locus". It denotes an energy center or an acupuncture point. Although "cavity" is a better term here, it is rendered as "cave" to distinguish it from ch'iao 竅, which is usually translated as "cavity". 24. Crimson Palace (chiang-kung 絳宮) is variously desribed as the heart, solar plexus, or middle elixir field. In this diagram, it seems to denote the middle elixir field. The term translated as "palace" is kung 宮; Fabrizio Pregadio explains this concept in these terms: "Using a terminology that refers to the underlying bureaucratic view of the human body, each of the six main inner organs (five viscera and gallbladder) is called in the Yellow Court a 'department' (bu) and is managed by a deity who resides in a 'palace' (gong) within that organ. The single deities, who are identified by their names and the colours of their garments, rule on the organ that hosts them and supervise the corresponding function in the body." (2006: 135) 25. Although the Bright Hall usually designates the center one inch behind the midpoint between the brows and is related with the upper elixir field, according to certain classics, it also exists in the other elixir fields. Here, it is described as the Bright Hall on the left of the middle elixir field. 26. The interior of the body was thought to be like a sacred mountain which contained cavern chambers, the residing place of large numbers of divinities and the storehouses of vital energy. The Cavern Chamber (tung-fang 洞房) is situated behind the Bright Hall, two inches from the face. It is inhabited by a trinity of deities, or the Three Perfected (San-chen 三眞): White Prime, Blossomless, and Lord Huang-lao (Huang-lao Chün 黄老君). 27. Blossomless (or No Blossom, Wu-ying 無英) with the byname Lordling (Kung-tzu 公子) and White Prime (Pai-yüan 白元), with the byname Cavernous Yang (Tung-yang 洞陽), are two deities who inhabit the Palace of the Cavern Chamber (tung-fang kung 洞房宮) in the head and also descend into the liver and lungs respectively. 28. Besides the celestial gods and goddesses who reside in heaven, a veritable pantheon of Taoist deities also exists within the human being. These deities fulfill various related functions: they personify abstract notions such as the Tao, yin and yang, or the five phases (wu-hsing 五行); they allow the human being to communicate with the major – and in several cases corresponding – deities of the outer pantheon; they act as officers in the bureaucratic system that manages the whole body; they perform healing tasks by supporting the balance of the body's functions; and they are objects of meditation. The basic purpose of visualizing them is to "maintain" them (tsun 存) in their proper locations, nourish them with one's inner pneumas and essences, and invoke them so that in turn they provide protection and sustenance. This is said to ensure health, longevity, or immortality, and to defend one from calamities caused by demons and other noxious entities. Systematic descriptions of the inner deities are first found in the third-century classic Huang-t'ing Ching 黄庭經. 29. Thirty-six is a special number in Taoist cosmology. 30. "[M]ile" translates li 里, which is a traditional Chinese unit of distance equal to about a 1/3 mile or 1/2 kilometer. 31. Another idea based on correlative thinking. The distance between the heaven and earth (in the macrocosm) is believed to be eighty-four thousand miles and it corresponds to the distance between the heart and kidneys (in the microcosm), which is measured as 8 tsun 寸 (Chinese inches) and 4 fen 分 (1 fen being a tenth of an inch). 32. The distance between the Crimson Palace and Earthen Crucible is 3 tsun and 6 fen, the diameter of the Earthen Crucible is 1 tsun and 2 fen, and the distance between the Earthen Crucible and navel or Sea of Energy (ch'i-hai 氣海) point is 3 tsun and 6 fen. Thus, the distance between the heart and kidneys is 8 tsun and 4 fen, or eight and four-tenths of an inch. 33. Note that the "Gate of Life" translates sheng-men 生門, not ming-men 命門. 34. The external kidneys (wai-shen 外腎) are the testicles. 35. In this diagram, the Crescent Moon Furnace (yen-yüeh lu 偃月爐) is another name for the lower elixir field. 36. The Capital of Hell (Feng-tu 酆都) is the demonic netherworld. In certain texts, the lower nine cavities (hsia chiu-ch'iao 下九竅) are associated with the Nine Dark Hells (chiu-yu ti-yü 九幽地獄). 37. In Chinese internal alchemy, the Sea of Energy (ch'i-hai 氣海) is another name for the lower elixir field. 38. Two halls of the kidneys (shen-t'ang 腎堂) are the testicles. 39. Three Miles (san-li 三里) point of the foot is the thirty-sixth point of the Stomach Meridian (ST 36). It is located below the knee, 3 tsun 寸 inferior to tu-pi 犢鼻 (ST 35), one finger-breadth lateral to the anterior crest of the tibia.


40. Gushing Spring (yung-ch'üan 湧泉) is the first point of the Kidney Meridian (KI 1). It is located on the sole of the foot, between the second and third metatarsal bones, approximately one-third of the distance between the base of the second toe and the heel, in a depression formed when the foot is plantar flexed. 2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens) 1.

2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

One of the earliest and most common Chinese views of the cosmos is one in which there are Nine Heavens (chiu-t'ien 九天), one in the center of the sky and one in each of the eight directions surrounding the center. Nine is the number of yang, thus the nine heavens stand for pure yang, which is the celestial, unconditioned, primal state. In Springs and Autumns of Gentleman Lü (Lü-shih Ch'un-ch'iu 呂氏春秋; 239 BCE) and the [Book of] the Master of Huai-nan (Huai-nan Tzu 淮南子; 139 BCE), the Nine Heavens, or Nine Fields (chiu-yeh 九野), are nine horizontal sectors of space, corresponding to the center and eight directions, and complementing the Nine Continents (chiu-chou 九洲) on earth. Hsü 虗 is an ancient character for hsü 虚. The Muddy Pellet hosts nine deities known as the Nine Perfected, or Nine Real Men (chiu-chen 九眞), in its nine rooms. These chambers, known as the Nine Palaces (chiu-kung 九宮), are arranged within the brain in two levels that proceed from the middle part of the head between the eyebrows. Measuring one square inch in size, these cavities intercommunicate among themselves. Emending wan 丸 to chiu 九. These deities are identified by the colors of their garments, based on five phases (wu-hsing 五行) associations. "[P]neuma" translates ch'i 炁, while ch'i 氣 is either left untranslated or rendered as "energy" or "vapor" according to the context. In the present text, ch'i 炁 is often used synonymously with ch'i 氣. "Destiny" translates ming 命, which is translated elsewhere as "life-destiny". Jade Emperor (Yü-ti 玉帝) is one of the superior divinities of the Mao-shan 茅山 lineage. The Jade Emperor's Palace (Yü-ti Kung 玉帝宮) is one of the nine palaces (chiu-kung 九宮) or nine rooms (chiu-fang 九房) within the brain.


2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7.

Rich liquid (t'i-hu 醍醐) is originally a Buddhist term meaning "ghee", or the most delicate, tastiest, richest product of milk. In Buddhism it is usually used as a metaphor for the most sublime form of the Buddhist teachings. The term "rich liquid" frequently appears in the phrase "a rich liquid pouring into the top of the head" (t'i-hu kuan-ting 醍醐灌頂), which is a Buddhist metaphor for pleasure of receiving wisdom. The expression is presumably related to the experience of opening of certain energy centers in the head and resultant flow of nectar-like energy – which sometimes have an exquisite fragrance – into these cranial centers. The Original Father on High (Yüan-fu 元父) and Mysterious Mother Below (Hsüan-mu 玄母) symbolize Heaven (Yang) and Earth (Yin), the two original principles which are the source of all life. Variously translated as "numinous spirit", "numen", "numinous", "spiritual", or "luminous", ling 靈 refers to a spirit that has a certain marvelous, sacred or miraculous qualities. The shen 神 here is one of the three primary vital energies known as the ching 精, ch'i 氣, and shen. Purple Tenuity (Tzu-wei 紫微) is actually a circumpolar constellation; in the present text it designates the Palace of the Muddy Pellet (ni-wan kung 泥丸宮). The Great One (T'ai-i 太一 or 太乙) is a major Taoist deity, representing in a divinized form the first stage of the generation of the cosmos by the Tao. He is lord of the northern polar asterism and in the human body he lives in the palace of the head known as the Muddy Pellet. The Nine Empyreans (Chiu-hsiao 九霄) is a synonym for the Nine Heavens (Chiu-t'ien 九天).


8. 9. 10. 11.

12.

13. 14. 15.

16. 17. 18.

19.

Heavenly Court (T'ien-t'ing 天庭) designates the point between the eyebrows. Divine Radiance (shen-kuang 神光) designates the spiritual light emitted from the region between the eyebrows. Heavenly Eye (t'ien-mu 天目) is located three tenths of an inch (3 fen 分) above the point between the eyebrows. The Nine Empyreans – which is synonymous with the Nine Heavens (chiu-t'ien 九天) – in the macrocosm corresponds to the nose in the microcosm of the human body. Therefore the nose is called the Thunder Palace of the Nine Empyreans (Chiu-hsiao lei-fu 九霄雷府). Big Dipper (Ursus Major) constellation, known as the Northern Dipper (Pei-tou 北斗) in China, is composed of nine stars. To the seven, universally known stars forming the bowl and handle of the Dipper, two minor stars are attached: the eighth star, Sustainer (Fu-hsing 輔星), is the companion of the sixth star; and the ninth star, Straightener (Pi-hsing 弼星), is situated in the neighborhood of the constellation's handle. Though the latter is entirely invisible, the Sustainer is discernible at certain times. The belief is widespread among Taoist adepts that they only appear to those who attain certain conditions of purity and those who have the ability to see them draw from it great benefits and supernormal powers, extraordinary longevity above all. Sometimes these stars are considered as part of the total constellation of the Dipper; yet, at other times, they are considered to be the left- and right-hand assistants of the Dipper. Fu 輔 literally means a side pole attached to a cart to keep it from upsetting and denotes assistance or support, while the literal meaning of pi 弼 is a device for straightening and keeping proper form of bows and it denotes assistance. When considered as assistants, they play a role similar to that of the sun and moon which often stand on each side of the Dipper. The Sustainer is related to Mars (south) and the Straightener is associated with the pole star and yin. Compared to the seven major stars, the two ancillary stars have a less focused function; the Sustainer safeguards human destiny, while the Straightener pertains to the exorcism of demons. In his Tan-yang's Twenty-Four Instructions Handed Down by Perfected Man Ch'ung-yang (Ch'ungyang Chen-jen Shou Tan-yang Erh-shih-ssu Chüeh 重陽眞人授丹陽二十四訣), Wang Ch'ung-yang 王重陽 (1112-1170) correlates various parts of human beings to their counterparts in the universe. He says that the nine cavities or orifices (chiu-ch'iao 九竅) of the human body (the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, mouth, and tongue and throat) correspond to the seven stars of the Northern Dipper and the Sustainer and Straightener stars. According to other sources, these stars are visualized in relation to the eyes, just like the sun and moon. Chuan kao 專告 literally means "to report", but in this context it connotes staying connected (through visualization practices), or allowing communication, with the Seven Kings. The Seven Kings (Ch'i-wang 七王) is presumably a reference to the seven stars of the Northern Dipper. Feng shih 奉事 literally means "to serve", but in this context it means treating the Dipper as the primary deity in the practice of invocation or visualization. The implication is that if the adept's throat and tongue are in an ideal state, he can connect with the Northern Dipper. The "Mother of the tongue" is a reference to the Mother of the Dipper (Tou-mu 斗母), a stellar goddess who came to prominence from the Yüan dynasty (1271-1368) onwards. Center of Man (Jen-chung 人中) is the twenty-sixth point of the Governor Vessel (GV 26). It is located in the groove beneath the nose. Fluid Receptacle, or Sauce Receptacle (Ch'eng-chiang 承漿), is the twenty-fourth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 24). It is located on the chin, in the depression in the center of the mentolabial groove, below the middle of the lower lip. The Governor Vessel is the passage of energy running from the base of the spine to the top of the head, and down to the mouth.

2.1.2b. Inscription 1.

2. 3. 4.

The nine palaces (chiu-kung 九宮) are the nine astrological divisions of sky, while the nine continents (chiu-chou 九州) are the nine divisions of China, established under legendary Emperor Yü the Great (Ta-Yü 大禹). The Muddy Pellet has nine caves or rooms, where the nine deities known as the Nine Perfected (chiu-chen 九眞) reside. The cranium is composed of eight bones: the frontal, the two occipital, parietal, the two temporal, the sphenoid, and ethmoid. Mi-lo-t'ien Yü-ti-kung 彌羅天玉帝宮.


5. 6.

7. 8. 9. 10. 11.

12. 13. 14. 15. 16.

17.

18.

Ch'un-yang-t'ien Kung 純陽天宮. Hsüan-ling Chu 玄靈主, emending ch'iung 穹 to ling 靈. Mysterious Numinosity (hsüan-ling 玄靈) is another name for the three worms (san-ch'ung 三蟲), also frequently referred to as the three corpses (san-shih 三尸 or 三屍). They wish for the body to die so that they can be free; thus they cause people to act in sinful, detrimental ways and then report their wrongdoings to the heavenly bureaucracy who will shorten the lifespan of the person. Each worm dwell in one of the three elixir fields. The upper worm, which is black, about three inches long and dwells in the head, stimulates love of horses, carriages and luxurious clothes. The green middle worm, situated in the back, promotes love of food, while the third one, white and in the stomach, stimulates licentious desires. The extermination of these worms was one of the first steps that had to be taken within the practice of longevity and immortality. Yüan-shen Kung 元神宮. The primordial spirit (yüan-shen 元神) is the principle of non-material manifestation, including anything from human thinking to divinities. Golden Lock Gate (chin-so kuan 金鎖關) is another name for the Magpie Bridge, or the tongue. Reading "also" (yu 又) for "human" (jen 人). The "root" (ken 根) presumably designates sensory organs, some of which are associated with the upper nine cavities. The upper nine cavities (shang chiu-ch'iao 上九竅) are divided into seven yang and two yin cavities. The seven yang cavities are the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and mouth, while the two yin cavities designate the tongue and throat. They correspond to the nine luminaries (chiu-yao 九曜). This parallelism is further explained in the Seven Slips from the Bookcase of the Clouds (Yün-chi Ch'i-ch'ien 雲笈七籤), chapter 15: "In heaven, the nine cavities are the nine stars (chiu-hsing 九星), on earth, they are the nine continents, and in man, they are the nine cavities." Jade Spring of Innate Nature Roots (hsing-ken yü-ch'üan 性根玉泉) seems to denote the tongue as the generator of the saliva. In this context, the Flowery Pond (hua-ch'ih 華池) designates the saliva. Reading ch'i 氣 for wo 我. Here, the Divine Chamber (shen-shih 神室) is the upper elixir field. Some contemporary authors suggest an emendation here and add the word "P'eng-t'ai" 蓬臺 ("tower of [Mount] P'eng[-lai]") before the word "K'un-lun" (崑崙). With such an addition, the sentence would translate as, "its form resembles the tower of [Mount] P'eng[-lai]; the [Mount] K'un-lun is this." Mount P'eng-lai (P'eng-lai Shan 蓬萊山) is located on a divine island, a fairy isle in the Eastern Sea or the Sea of P'o 渤. It is believed to be a paradise-like place where immortals and herbs of deathlessness are found. Mount K'un-lun (K'un-lun Shan 崑崙山) is a Central Asian mountain chain. It represents west, Metal, true sense, the mind of Tao, as well as primordial unified energy, the source of all being. In alchemical traditions of the "lesser vehicle" of Taoism, the K'un-lun is also used as a code word for the head. Hsü-mi Shan 須彌山, a Buddhist term for "Mount Sumeru" derived from the transliterated Sanskrit name. In Buddhist cosmology, Mount Sumeru is a towering mountain at the center of the universe. It is in the center of a great ocean, on a golden wheel, and it rises 80,000 yojanas above sea level (yojana is an Indian measure of distance, understood by some scholars as equivalent to twelve or sixteen miles). It is surrounded by nine mountains and eight seas. The sun and moon circle around it, and the six destinies and various heavens are around and above it.

2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus 1. 2.

3. 4. 5.

Emending tso-men 左門 to sheng-men 生門. Note that the "Gate of Life" translates sheng-men 生門, not ming-men 命門. The Great One (T'ai-i 太一) is an ancient Chinese deity whose cult dates to 133 BCE. Residing in the Pole Star (Pei-ch'en 北晨), T'ai-i presided over a triad of the Three-Ones (San-i 三一) which included, in addition to itself, the Heavenly One (T'ien-i 天一) and the Earthly One (Ti-i 地一). The philosophers take T'ai-i as a synonym for the Tao, the Primordial Breath, or the Original Chaos. "[L]ife-destiny" translates ming 命. These spirits inhabiting the body are referred to as ching 精. Sheng-men 生門.

Notes to Page 12 (86-87)

2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells) 1.

2.

3.

4. 5.

The open fan containing the names of nine Buddhist hells is an indication of the Buddhist influence on Taoism. The infernal realm, or the underworld, is located in the mountain-city of Feng-tu 酆都, the Capital of Hell. The Nine Hells are a counterpart of the Big Dipper which consists of nine stars. These hells are prisons in the bowels of the earth where the prisoners are subject to all kinds of torture as a result of their evil deeds. The Chinese word for "hell" (ti-yü 地獄) literally means "prison of the earth". Fire Chariot Hell (Huo-ch'e Ti-yü 火車地獄) is a fire-pit with its fiery wheels; the sufferer first freezes, then is tempted into the chariot which bursts into flames and he perishes in the fire-pit. Each day this process is repeated many times. "Diamond-like" translates chin-kang 金剛, which is a Chinese translation of Sanskrit vajra, meaning "diamond-like" and, by extension, "adamantine", "indestructible", "extremely hard", "tough", or "impervious". It denotes an extremely hard material, which is identified with the diamond or the essential substance of gold; often used as a trope for something hard and indestructible. Cauldron of Molten [Iron] Hell (Huo-t'ang Ti-yü 鑊湯地獄) is the purgatory where the sinners are immersed in molten iron in the cauldrons. Endless Hell (Wu-chien Ti-yü 無間地獄) is the Chinese translation of Sanskrit avīci, which means "endless hell" or "the hell of unremitting pain". It is the eighth of the Eight Burning Hells (Pa-je Tiyü 八熱地獄), and those who are trapped there undergo continuous suffering without a moment's pause.

2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 1. 2.

3. 4. 5. 6.

Pivotal Pass (chi-kuan 機關) is the mechanism for sending the vital energy upward through the spinal column. Bellows (t'o-yo 槖籥) is the mechanism of ventilation in the body caused by inhalation and exhalation to kindle and fan the inner fire in the lower elixir field like a bellows used for blowing fire and producing the heat necessary for transforming ching into ch'i. Gate of Life (sheng-men 生門) is the belly or navel. The Northern Pole (Pei-chi 北極) is an asterism located in Ursa Minor. It is adjacent to the Mount K'un-lun, on whose grounds the immortals reside, according to their rank. The sword of wisdom (hui-chien 慧劍) is the sword that cuts through desires, illusion, delusion, and ignorance. The base of the body is represented as a sword blade and the herdboy riding his ox on it symbolize sending the vital energy upward through the spinal column. This is suggestive of the Taoist practice of preserving the male seminal essence (ching 精) known as "returning the ching to replenish the brain" (huan-ching pu-nao 還精補腦). If the person does not preserve the ching, it will move outward in the form of seminal emission for male adepts and menstrual blood for female adepts – both primary forms of dissipation – and will be lost. This process will lead the person to old age and eventually to death. On the other hand, if an adept preserves the ching by sealing the lower gate (the perineum), reverses the direction of flow of ching and directs it upward through the spinal column, it will be transformed into higher forms of energy (ch'i and shen). The adept will then attain longevity and eventually sagehood. Joseph Needham notes that "we are told that fools ride to their deaths on this steed while sages mount it to become immortals – this is mirrored in the famous adage, marked just above, that proceeding accordance to Nature leads to death while following counter-Nature leads to immortality (shun tsê ssu, ni tsê hsien)." 順則死逆則仙 (1983: 118). In the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Hsiu-chen Ch'üan-t'u 修眞全圖), the ox is replaced by a horse (hence the "steed") and the two parts of the sentence are in reverse order: "Sages sublimate their bodies with it, [while] fools kill themselves with it."

2.2.4. Lower Extremities 1.

Gushing Spring (yung-ch'üan 湧泉) is the first point of the Kidney Meridian (KI 1). It is located on the sole of the foot, between the second and third metatarsal bones, approximately one-third of the distance between the base of the second toe and the heel, in a depression formed when the foot is plantar flexed.


2.

Three Miles (san-li 三里) point of the foot is the thirty-sixth point of the Stomach Meridian (ST 36). It is located below the knee, 3 tsun 寸 inferior to tu-pi 犢鼻 (ST 35), one finger-breadth lateral to the anterior crest of the tibia. 3. Internal Organs

3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 1.

2.

3. 4.

5.

6.

Astride (Kuei 奎) and Mound (Lou 婁) are the 15th and 16th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations (erh-shih-pa hsiu 二十八宿). The Twenty-Eight Constellations, or Twenty-Eight Lunar Lodgings, were grouped into four clusters. The eastern Green Dragon area included the constellations chiao, kang, ti, fang, hsin, wei, and chi. The northern Mysterious Warrior, a hybrid turtle and snake in Chinese mythology, included tou, niu, nü, hsü, wei, shih, and pi. The western White Tiger area included kuei, lou, wei, mao, pi, tzu, and shen. And the southern Vermilion Bird area included ching, kuei, liu, hsing, chang, i, and chen. The ancients believed that the sun moved around the earth visiting each of the constellations one by one. These constellations were used for determining the positions of other celestial bodies, including the stations of the moon's sidereal orbit, and for a variety of astrological calculations. See Appendix D. Hun 魂 and p'o 魄 are variously translated as "ethereal soul" and "animal soul", "heavenly soul" and "earthly soul", "yang soul" and "yin soul", "higher soul" and "lower soul", and "cloud soul" and "bone soul". They are two types of vital entities, the source of life in every individual. The hun is yang, luminous, and volatile, while the p'o is yin, sombre, and heavy. They are, moreover, to be considered the epitome of the spiritual (shen 神) and the demonic (kuei 鬼): the hun represents spirit, consciousness, and intelligence, whereas the p'o represents physical nature, bodily strength, and movement. When natural death occurs, the hun disperses in heaven, and the p'o returns to earth. There are three hun and seven p'o, which were anthropomorphized and given names, and their individual attributes were described in detail. For the names of the seven p'o (ch'i-p'o 七魄) see page 29, note 14. "[S]tored" translates tsang 藏, which can be also translated as "contained" or "concealed". It is believed that the seven p'o are housed in the lungs, while the three hun are housed in the liver. Well (Ching 井), Ghosts (Kuei 鬼), Willow (Liu 柳), Star (Hsing 星), Bow (Chang 張), Wings (I 翼), and Carriage (Chen 軫) are the seven southern lunar lodgings, the 22nd to 28th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. Heavenly Dipper (t'ien-kang 天罡) is the handle of the Northern Dipper. According to Taoist cosmology, the universe is divided into three worlds: upper, middle, and lower. The middle world is covered by the clouds (the lungs) which hide the central constellation of the Dipper. Therefore in the diagram, the Dipper is placed in the lungs (the clouds of the microcosm). Stomach (Wei 胃), Pleiades (Mao 昴), Net (Pi 畢), Beak (Tzu 觜), and Orion (Shen 參) are the 17th to 21st of the Twenty-Eight Constellations.

3.1.1b. Inscription 1. 2. 3.

4.

The indwelling deity of the lungs is the White Tiger of the West who changes into a boy holding a jade baton in his hand. The hanging musical stone (hsüan-ch'ing 懸磬) is an L-shaped musical stone, suspended from above, with a definite pitch. The five viscera (wu-tsang 五臟) are five yin organs: the liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. Their yang counterparts are known as the six receptacles (liu-fu 六腑): the gallbladder, small intestine, stomach, large intestine, bladder, and triple heater. Some sources replace the triple heater with the throat. Flowery Canopy (hua-kai 華蓋) variously indicates the rib cage or upper chest, the heart region, the area below the two eyebrows, or the lungs. In the present passage it is the lungs, which cover other internal organs like a canopy.


5.

6. 7. 8. 9.

10. 11. 12.

13. 14.

15.

16. 17. 18. 19.

20. 21.

While the Hsiu-chen T'u (hereafter HCT) has Luminous Flower (Hao-hua 皓華), in the Diagram of the Inner Channels (Nei-ching T'u 内經圖) the two characters are inverted and the deity name is Flowery Luminosity (Hua-hao 華皓). The "luminosity" is associated with the white color of the lungs. The given name is Attainment of Emptiness (Hsü-ch'eng 虚成) because the lungs are inside the body, yet they are empty and they can absorb air. "[P]ounds" translates chin 斤, equaling 220 g. "[O]unces" translates liang 兩, equaling 14 g. The Chinese character for "lung" (fei 肺) designates a "flesh that bifurcates". The Classic of Medicine (Yi Ching 醫經) states that the lungs are like the eight petals of the lotus flower, with three petals hanging in front, three in back, and two petals forming like two ears. In Buddhism, a lotus with eight petals represents cosmic harmony. Ambushing Corpse (fu-shih 伏屍) is more commonly known as the Arrow in Ambush or Hidden Arrow (fu-shih 伏矢). Emending "cheater" (chuan 賺) to "robber" (tsei 賊). The "living mother" (sheng mu 生母) is a scribal error for "poison" (tu 毒). Sheng mu is written by dividing the character tu 毒 into upper and lower halves, thus creating two characters from one. Also, the character fei 非 – which is the upper half of the fei 蜚 (variant form of fei 飛) – has to be emended to verb "to fly" (fei 飛). Mob's Smell (ch'ün-ch'ou 羣臭) is more commonly known as Stinky Lungs (ch'ou-fei 臭肺). The seven p'o – as they appear in the present text – are the Corpse Dog (Shih-kou 尸狗), Ambushing Corpse (Fu-shih 伏屍), Bird Darkness (Ch'üeh-yin 雀陰), Devouring Robber (T'un-tsei 呑賊), Flying Poison (Fei-tu 非毒, 飛毒), Massive Pollution (Ch'u-hui 除穢), and Mob's Smell (Ch'ünch'ou 羣臭). Michel Strickmann translates the names of seven p'o (with some variation) as: "corpsedog, hidden dung, sparrow-sex, greedy-guts, flying venom, filth-for-removal, and rot-lung." (2002: 77) Based on the tenets of the five phases theory, each "officer", "official", or "office" (kuan 官) of the external organs is associated with one of the five viscera, with the former reflecting conditions of the latter. In classical literature, the word kuan means "organ" as well as "officer". The human body and the state are two microcosms related not only to the macrocosm but also to each other. The body is often described with bureaucratic metaphors, and governing the state is often likened to selfcultivation. At the center of the bureaucratic metaphor are the five viscera, described as "officers" in both Taoist and medical texts including the Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Basic Questions (Huang-ti Nei-ching Su-wen 黄帝内經素問). Keng 庚 and hsin 辛 are the seventh and eighth of the Ten Celestial Stems (shih-t'ien-kan 十天干). Among the five modes of action, the lungs (Metal phase) correspond to coughing. The other actions are twitching (Wood), itching (Fire), hiccupping (Earth), and shivering (Water). "[F]luids" translates yeh or i 液, which is translated elsewhere as "humor". These bodily fluids are tears (Wood), sweat (Fire), saliva (Earth), mucus (Metal), and urine (Water). According to traditional Chinese medicine, when the drops of nasal mucus (t'i 涕) run downward, they moisten the lungs. This is one of the moistening processes known as the eight moistenings (palou 八漏). The lungs govern and regulate the energies of the entire body. The verses here are from chapter 9 ("Lung Department Section") of the third-century Supreme Clarity (Shang-ch'ing 上清) classic Most High Jade Scripture on the Internal View of the Yellow Court (T'ai-shang Huang-t'ing Nei-ching Yü-ching 太上黄庭内景玉經; abbreviated as Huang-t'ing Nei-ching Ching 黄庭内景經; hereafter HTNC). It is one of the most popular and influential Taoist scriptures, and probably the earliest extant work describing the human body as animated by inner gods. It has given rise to commentaries and further elaborations. Composed in heptasyllabic meter and divided into a variety of sections, it describes the subtle physiology of the human body, including its internal divinities. It uses a poetic and secret language. It was to be recited to expel calamities and ailments and to attain longevity and spiritual quietude. The scripture was considered to be a visualization manual by Supreme Clarity adepts. It alludes to practices aiming to achieve bodily and spiritual perfection in the nourishing life (yang-sheng 養生) tradition, which can be traced back to the third century BCE. It probably had a mnemonic as well as technical role in helping those who performed these practices, and is said to allow the practitioner to see the subtle forms of his internal organs and his deities or spirits, and to maintain them in their proper bodily loci.


22. White Prime (Pai-yüan 白元) is the deity governing the lungs. Therefore it is believed that an adept should visualize the White Prime when his respiration is not harmonious. 23. The six energies (liu-ch'i 六氣) are variously glossed as the six vapors of weather (yin and yang, wind and rain, dark and light) or the six exhalations (hsü 噓, ho 呵 or hsü 呴, hu 呼, ssu 呬, ch'ui 吹, and hsi 嘻). It is believed that if a practitioner quickly visualize color white – the color of the deity of the lungs, the White Prime – when his breathing is not smooth, his six energies will be harmonized. 3.1.2. Heart 1.

The entire passage – including a part of the Scripture of the Yellow Court quotation – was adapted, with slight modifications (or scribal errors), from the Treatise on Conserving Life by Waxing and Waning (She-sheng Hsiao-hsi Lun 攝生消息論), chapter 5. This source has "lotus bud" (lien-jui 蓮蕊) for the "lotus flower" (lien-hua 蓮華). The similarity between the heart and lotus is another indication of Buddhist influence on Taoism. Indian and Chinese physicians noted a morphological resemblance between the lotus and the heart. The lotus is a very important metaphor in Buddhism; the fact that the lotus has its roots in the mud of putrid ponds but develops into a beautiful and pure white flower was primarily used to represent the process of enlightenment. The lotus was later associated with the human heart (hridāya), the bodily location of the mind (citta) and the physical site where enlightenment takes place. According to a theory that can be traced back to a commentary to the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, the heart of sentient beings has the shape of an eight-petal lotus. 2. The heart has the shape of a lotus bud and is inhabited by a young boy, dressed in red, named Elixir Origin (Tan-yüan 丹元), who regulates the body temperature and the harmonious flow of blood. 3. Shou-ling 守靈. 4. Turtledove's Tail (chiu-lu 鳩尾) is the xiphoid process, the cartilaginous section at the lower end of the breastbone (sternum). It is also the name of an acupuncture point, the fifteenth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 15). It is located on the anterior midline, 1 tsun 寸 below the xiphosternal synchondrosis. This point is named the Turtledove's Tail because the lower end of the breastbone resembles a turtledove with open wings. 5. According to Taoists, the degree of an individual's intelligence depends on the number of orifices in his heart. While the heart in people of average wisdom has three orifices, it has five or seven orifices in a person of outstanding wisdom and only one in fools. The basic point here seems to be that a man of superior wisdom is better able to control the impulses of the body with the rational mind (heart). Thus the most superior people have seven or nine orifices in their hearts to correspond to the seven or nine orifices of the body, and each heart orifice provides a passageway through which the heart's rational thinking capacity (spiritual light) can go out and control each external body orifice. (The heart – not the brain – was thought to be the primary thinking organ.) A further detailed description is to be found in a Taoist text dating from the T'ang (618-906 CE): "A person of outstanding wisdom has a heart with seven orifices, one of average wisdom has five orifices, one of modest wisdom has three orifices, one who barely reaches clarity has two. The heart of a normal person has one orifice, whereas the heart of a completely dumb person has none." According to the Heart Scripture on Original Life-Destiny and Extending Life of the Great Sagely Goddess Dipper Mother of the Most High Mysterious Numinosity (T'ai-shang Hsüan-ling Tou-mu Ta-sheng Yüan-chün Pen-ming Yensheng Hsin-ching 太上玄靈斗母大聖元君本命延生心經), the seven stars of the Big Dipper correspond to the seven orifices on the surface of the heart and these orifices communicate internally with the heart. 6. Reading kuan 官 ("officer") instead of kung chüeh 宮厥, which appears as kung ch'üeh 宮闕 ("palace" or "palace portal") in the Treatise on Conserving Life by Waxing and Waning. Both kung 宮 and kung-ch'üeh 宮闕 means "palace", therefore, without the above mentioned emendation, the sentence would translate as, "The tongue is the palace [of the heart]," or "The tongue is the palace portal [of the heart]." 7. The opening corresponding to the heart (Fire phase) is the ear. Ping 丙 and ting 丁 are the third and fourth of the Ten Celestial Stems. 8. Among the five fluids (or humors), sweat (han 汗) is the fluid that corresponds to the heart. 9. That is, there is excessive sweating not related to a hot environment or physical exertion. 10. The heart is a viscus and its associated receptacle is the small intestine. 11. According to five phases theory, both the heart and the small intestine correspond to the Fire phase, therefore the text states that the heart is united with the small intestine. 12. HTNC 10, "Heart Department Section".


13. HTNC has "palace" (kung 宮) for "house" (tsai 宅). The heart is the palace of fire (huo-kung 火宮), while the kidney is the palace of water (shui-kung 水宮). 14. Each of the five viscera and six receptacles is called a "department" or a "ministry" (pu 部) and is managed by a deity who resides in a "palace" (kung 宮) within that organ. 15. Emending "flower" (hua 花) to "petal" (yeh 葉) in accordance with HTNC 10. 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 1.

2. 3. 4.

5.

Lordling (Kung-tzu 公子) is byname of the bodily deity Blossomless (Wu-ying 無英), who inhabits the Palace of the Cavern Chamber (tung-fang kung 洞房宮) in the head and also descends into the liver. The liver is a yin organ (viscus, tsang 臟) while the gallbladder is its yang counterpart (receptacle, fu 腑). Reading Kang 亢 instead of Yüan 元. Horn (Chiao 角), Neck (Kang 亢), Base (Ti 氐), Room (Fang 房), Heart (Hsin 心), Tail (Wei 尾), and Basket (Chi 箕) are the seven eastern lunar lodgings, the 1st to 7th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. For the hun 魂, see page 28, note 2. For the three hun (san-hun 三魂), see page 31, note 6 below.

3.1.3b. Inscription 1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9.

Green is the traditional symbol of spring and it corresponds to the liver in five phases system. The deity of the liver has the shape of a Green Dragon, which transforms itself into a jade boy and maiden, one of whom carries a dragon while the other holds a liqueur. Han-ming 含明. Emending shao 少 to hsiao 小. According to the Classic of Medicine (Yi Ching 醫經), the liver has three petals (i.e., lobes) to the left and four petals to the right. The liver is a viscus (tsang 臟) and its corresponding receptacle (fu 腑) is the gallbladder. During the Later Han period (25-220 CE), the number of the hun was fixed at three. Why this number was chosen is a matter of speculation, but it may stand for the san-kang 三綱, the three relationships between emperor and subject, father and son, and husband and wife, and the three corresponding forms of obedience (san-shun 三順). Each of the three hun souls is related to heaven, the five phases, and earth respectively. The first soul always strives for the purity of man, the second always wishes him involved in manifold affairs, and the third produces his desire for comfortable living. The three hun (san-hun 三魂) are called the Invigorating Numinosity (Shuang-ling 爽靈), Radiance of Womb (T'ai-kuang 胎光), and Obscure Spirit (Yu-ching 幽精). They have a variety of names: Heavenly Hun (t'ien-hun 天魂), Earthly Hun (ti-hun 地魂), Human Hun (jen-hun 人魂); Master Hun (chu-hun 主魂), Awareness Hun (chüeh-hun 覺魂), Life Hun (sheng-hun 生魂); Heavenly Hun (t'ien-hun 天魂), Conscious Hun (shih-hun 識魂), Human Hun (jen-hun 人魂); and Primordial Spirit (yüan-shen 元神), Yang Spirit (yang-shen 陽神), and Yin Spirit (yin-shen 陰神). It is believed that the three hun are housed in the liver, while the seven p'o are housed in the lungs. Emending t'ai 台 to t'ai 胎. Emending "palace" (kung 宮) to "officer" (kuan 官). The liver has an anatomical relationship to the eyes via an internal channel, therefore the eye is the sense organ connected to the liver. It is the nourishment and moistening of liver blood that gives the eyes the capacity to see. If liver blood is abundant, the eyes will be normally moist and the vision will be good. The Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Numinous Pivot (Huang-ti Nei-ching Ling-shu 黄帝内經靈樞) 37 says: "The eye is the sense organ pertaining to the liver". The Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Basic Questions (Huang-ti Nei-ching Su-wen 黄帝内經素問) 4 says: "The liver corresponds to the direction east and the green color, and it opens into the eye". The Basic Questions 10 says: "When the liver receives blood the eyes can see". The Numinous Pivot 17 says: "Liver ch'i extends to the eyes, when the liver is healthy the eyes can distinguish the five colors".


10. Chia 甲 and i 乙 are the first and second of the Ten Celestial Stems. 11. The word "man" translates nan-tzu 男子 and is a specific reference to males. 12. The Basic Questions 1 says: "By seven [times] eight years, the liver ch'i weakens, causing the sinews to stiffen." 13. The state of the sinews (including tendons) affects the capacity for movement and physical activity. The contraction and relaxation of sinews ensures the movement of joints. The sinews' capacity for contraction and relaxation depends on the nourishment and moistening of the blood from the liver. The Basic Questions 21 says: "The ch'i of food enters the stomach, the refined essence extracted from food goes to the liver and the excess ch'i from the liver overflows into the sinews". If liver blood is abundant, the sinews will be moistened and nourished, ensuring smooth movement of joints and good muscle action. 14. According to five phases theory, the liver corresponds to Wood. 15. The hun is the mental-spiritual aspect of the liver. The Basic Questions 9 says: "The liver is the residence of the hun". 16. The ching of the kidneys nourishes the eyes and many chronic eye diseases are related to the decline of kidney ching. 17. See note 5. 18. HTNC 11, "Liver Department Section". 19. Since the liver viscus houses the hun, which belongs to Wood, and the lung viscus stores the p'o, which belongs to Metal, the hun and p'o are used here as metaphors for the Wood and Metal. When the energies that correspond to the Wood and Metal are brought to equilibrium, the bodily fluids and humors are balanced. 20. The eye is the sense organ connected to the liver. The sun symbolizes the left eye, while the moon represents the right eye. When the liver is healthy the two eyes are radiant like the sun and the moon. 21. Literally, "a hundred diseases". 22. HTNC has o 痾, which is the variant of k'o 疴 used in the present text. 23. The verb translated here as "maintain" is tsun 存, often translated as "to visualize". It denotes visualizing a bodily deity, in this case the deity of the liver. 24. The liver is where all kinds of diseases gather, therefore one must maintain (tsun 存) its deity, that is, the Blossomless (Wu-ying 無英). 25. While the lungs govern the exterior of the entire body, the liver governs the interior of the entire body. Together, the lungs and liver govern the movement of the ch'i of the entire body. The lungs provide the motivating power, while the liver controls the lumena of the channels and vessels through which the ch'i moves. Energies of all five viscera gather at the liver, therefore all diseases can be cured by strengthening the liver. Since the deity of the liver governs the energies of all five viscera, if the adept properly visualizes and preserves the Blossomless, within seven days the energies of these internal organs will be restored and all kinds of diseases will be healed. 3.1.4. Spleen 1.

The Scripture of the Yellow Court considers the spleen to be the central organ. While the four viscera are associated with the four directions, the spleen is associated with the center. According to five phases theory, the spleen also corresponds to the Earth phase. 2. According to one point of view within five phases theory, while the other four viscera should be healthy and strong in their corresponding seasons, the spleen has no season of its own and therefore should be effulgent or exuberant throughout the year, independent of the changes in seasons. 3. The spleen is associated with the Earth, therefore its color is yellow and its corresponding emperor is the Yellow Emperor (Huang-ti 黄帝). 4. The deity of the spleen is a phoenix which transforms itself into a spinning jade maiden. 5. HTNC has "platter" (p'en 盆) for "wing" (i 翼): "The spleen resembles an upside-down platter." 6. According to five phases system, all of the four seasons depend on the Earth, which is effulgent regardless of the season, therefore the deity of the spleen is called Eternal Existence (Ch'ang-tsai 常在). 7. Hun-t'ing 魂庭. In certain sources such as the Diagram of the Inner Channels, the given name of this deity is Pavilion of Hun (Hun-t'ing 魂亭). According to Isabelle Robinet, this term is a deformation of the term hun-ling 魂靈 seen in the Scripture of the Yellow Court (1993: 81). 8. The "foot" translates ch'ih 尺. 9. The mouth with the lips is the officer of the spleen. 10. Emending "palace" (kung 宮) to "officer" (kuan 官).


11. The exact implication is not clear; hence the translation is tentative. In Buddhist scriptures there is a hell named Much-Hate (To-chi 多嫉), however, this term does not seem to be related with the present text. 12. "[P]osition" translates hsing 形. Being associated with the center, the spleen has no fixed position. 13. According to five phases theory, the spleen corresponds to the Earth phase. 14. The spleen rules the ch'i of the five viscera because the spleen is the later heaven (hou-t'ien 後天) root of the engenderment and transformation of ch'i of the entire body. 15. According to five phases theory, the mouth corresponds to the spleen, and diseases of the former may reflect disorders of the latter. 16. Hidden White (yin-pai 隱白) is the first point of the Spleen Meridian (SP 1). The point is in a hidden region, where the skin color is white. It is located on the medial side of the big toe, about 0.1 tsun posterior to the corner of the nail. 17. Pen-i 本意. 18. Among the five bodily tissues (wu-ch'ung 五充), the spleen corresponds to muscles and flesh. 19. Except the two sentences from the Scripture of the Yellow Court, the entire passage is taken (with some variation) from the Eight Disquisitions on Putting Oneself in Accord with the Life[-Force] (Tsun-sheng Pa-chien 遵生八牋). This is a large collection by distinguished scholar Kao Lien 高濂 (1573-1620), who lived in retirement and devoted himself to studying everything which could promote the health of mind and body. 20. HTNC 15, "Length of the Spleen". 21. Literally, "a hundred diseases". 22. Emending liang 良 to "cloth" or "dress" (i 衣) in accordance with HTNC. 23. According to five phases theory, yellow is the color of the Earth and spleen. Purple is a hue consisting of colors of Water (yin; blue) and Fire (yang; red). Fire is mother of spleen and Earth, while Water is wife of spleen and Earth. Therefore the spleen has yellow gown and a purple belt. 24. A commentary to HTNC replaces "to regulate" (chang 章) with "to lift" (yang 揚). According to traditional Chinese medicine, the Spleen Meridian flows upward; this ascending movement of the spleen produces a "lifting" effect along the midline of the body. This force holds up the internal organs and keeps them in their proper places. If spleen ch'i is deficient and its "raising ch'i" function is weak, there may be prolapse of various organs. The dragon and tiger represent the lungs (Metal) and liver (Wood) respectively. Therefore the "lifting" action of the spleen (Earth) is said to regulate (or alternately, lift) the lungs and the liver. 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 1.

2.

When combined, the two characters hsüan 玄 and p'in 牝 make up the word "Mysterious Female". Hsüan-p'in is a well-known but enigmatic term first found in Tao-te Ching 6, and it is defined in many different ways. Hsüan represents male (yang), while p'in literally means "female" (yin); thus the term represents various sets of bipolar concepts such as the yang and yin, the Heaven and Earth, and ch'ien 乾 and k'un 坤. In the context of internal alchemy, there have been several interpretations. Some authors say that hsüan alludes to the nose (Heaven) and p'in to the mouth (Earth). Other texts equate hsüan with the upper elixir field and p'in with the lower elixir field. Still others state that hsüan-p'in designates the space between the two kidneys or the two openings of the heart. Here, hsüan and p'in connote the left and right kidneys respectively. In the Chinese medical literature, there are different theories regarding the kidneys and the Gate of Life-Destiny. According to one theory, the left is the kidney (shen 腎) while the right is the Gate of Life-Destiny (ming-men 命門). This theory specifies that the Gate of Life-Destiny is specifically the right kidney, kidney yang or kidney fire. The first discussion of the Gate of Life-Destiny can be found in the Classic of Difficult [Issues] (Nan-ching 難經), especially in chapters 36 and 39. Chapter 36 says: "The kidneys are not really two, as the left kidney is a kidney proper and the right kidney is the Gate of Life-Destiny. The Gate of Life-Destiny is the residence of the mind and is related to the original ch'i (yüan-ch'i 元氣): in men it stores ching, in women it is connected to the uterus. That is why there is only one kidney". According to another theory, the two kidneys together are named the Gate of Life-Destiny. In this interpretation, the Gate of Life-Destiny is the combination of kidney yin and kidney yang. During the Ming dynasty, Chinese physicians no longer considered the Gate of Life-Destiny as part of the right kidney, but as occupying the place between the two kidneys. Chang Chieh-pin 張介賓 (1563-1640) said: "There are two kidneys … the Gate of Life-Destiny is in between them."


3.

4. 5. 6.

7. 8.

The diagram contains several talismanic characters. Catherine Despeux suggests that the Hsiu-chen T'u and similar diagrams not only served as visual supports for teaching, but also had a magical, talismanic, or even exorcistic nature. Despeux notes that this character is shared with diagrams of other kinds used in Taoism, and bears on the analogies that occur between diagrams and talismans (fu 符). Thus the whole diagram is reminiscent of a talisman illustrating a divine body that connects to the sacred world. The whole body of the adept is a talisman: it includes only one half of the elements, its counterpart being in the heavenly world or the world of Reality (chen 眞). The talismanic character written inside the top circle corresponds to shen, while the characters inside the left and right circles correspond to ch'i and ching respectively. This point below the kidneys is where the ching, ch'i and shen are gathered when refining elixirs. When the three energies are united into one, they produce the pneuma of the true oneness (chen-i chih ch'i 眞一之炁), which emerge from the Limitless (Wu-chi 無極). Therefore this point is called the place of true oneness (chen-i ch'u 眞一處) or One Yang Returning to Beginning (i-yang fu-ch'ui 一陽復初). Silver River (Yin-ho 銀河) is Chinese name for the Milky Way. In the Scripture of the Yellow Court, the Pivotal Mechanism (shu-chi 樞機) denotes the hinges of the door-shutters that one should shut in order to protect the loci of one's inner body. Way of Gushing Valley (yung-ku-tao 湧谷道) is the left testicle. In certain texts, Valley Way (ku-tao 谷道) designates the final section of the large intestine beginning at the rectum and terminating at the anus. Water of Fountain Valley (ch'üan-ku-shui 泉谷水) designates the right testicle. Jade Furnace (yü-lu 玉爐) is another term for the kidneys. Its meaning here is not clear; however, its location – between the left and right testicles – suggests that it is related with the testes, known in Chinese medical literature as the "external kidneys" (wai-shen 外腎).

3.1.5b. Inscription 1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12.

13. 14.

Although commonly translated as "kidney", the term shen 腎 actually designates the entire urogenital system, including the kidneys and testes. According to five phases theory, the kidneys correspond to the north. The five phases system associates the kidneys with Water. They govern water and the transformation and transportation of bodily fluids in many different ways. In Chinese internal alchemy, the heart corresponds to trigram li 離, while the kidneys correspond to k'an 坎. The indwelling deity of the kidneys is a two-headed white deer which transforms itself into a jade boy. In five phases system, the kidneys correspond to the Mysterious Warrior of the North, therefore its deity is called "Mysterious". The kidneys engender water and the mysterious water (hsüan-shui 玄水; presumably the urine) is dark in color, therefore the deity of the kidneys is named Mysterious Dark (Hsüan-ming 玄冥). The kidneys store ching, which is related to procreation, and govern birth and nourishment, therefore the deity of the kidneys is called Nourishing the Infant (Yü-ying 育嬰). Emending [月數]脊 to 腰脊. Reading ming-men 命門 for ming 命. For various theories on the kidneys and the Gate of LifeDestiny, see page 33, note 2. Certain Taoist authors such as Ko Hung drew a distinction between the living pneuma (sheng-ch'i 生炁 or 生氣), produced from midnight till midday when the sun is in ascent, and dead pneuma (ssuch'i 死炁 or 死氣), produced from noon to midnight. Emending "palace" (kung 宮) to "officer" (kuan 官). The ears rely on the nourishment of the ching for their proper functioning, and are therefore physiologically related to the kidneys. The Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Numinous Pivot 17 says: "The kidneys open into the ears, if the kidneys are healthy the ears can hear the five sounds". If the kidneys are weak, hearing may be impaired. Emending "emotion" or "feeling" (ch'ing 情) to ching 精. One of the main functions of the kidneys is that they store both former and later heaven essences. Emending che 者 to "will" (chih 志). Without these two emendations, the sentence reads, "The shen; the kidneys' storing of its emotions (ch'ing 情) is …". The sentence appears to be garbled; the translation is tentative.


15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

22. 23.

24. 25. 26. 27.

28. 29.

30. 31. 32.

Jen 壬 and kuei 癸 are the ninth and tenth of the Ten Celestial Stems. Tzu 子 and hai 亥 are first and twelfth of the Twelve Horary Branches (shih-erh chih 十二支). Ch'i 氣. Ch'ui 吹 is one of the six exhalations (liu-ch'i 六氣). The marrow is also the basis for the formation of bone marrow which nourishes the bones. Thus the kidneys also govern the bone marrow and bones. If the kidney ching is strong, the bones will be strong; if it is weak, the bones will be brittle. Emending "upper" (shang 上) to "middle" (chung 中). The kidneys belong to the lower section of the triple heater (san-chiao 三焦), which is sometimes compared to a "drainage ditch". The organs of the lower heater (hsia-chiao 下焦) are particularly concerned with the excretion of impure body fluids. The kidneys have the function of providing ch'i for the bladder to store and transform urine. HTNC 12, "Kidney Department Section". The kidneys are the source of the nine bodily fluids and all the humors of the body's liquid element. Therefore they are referred to as the Palace of Water (shui-kung 水宮), while the heart is called the Palace of Fire (huo-kung 火宮). Emending "pass" (kuan 関) to "portal" (ch'üeh 闕). The shape of the kidneys resemble a double portal. According to ancient Chinese thought, the bean-shaped kidneys resemble round stones or a reclining ox. The deity of the kidneys is a two-headed white deer which transforms itself into a jade boy (yü-t'ung 玉童). Adding "obscurity" (ming 冥) in accordance with HTNC. (HTNC is composed in heptasyllabic lines and the HCT sentence here has only six characters.) The "darkness" is associated with the color of the kidneys. Upper Darkness (Shang-hsüan 上玄) actually denotes the heart and the deity of the kidney is called Mysterious Obscurity (Hsüan-ming 玄冥). HTNC has "six receptacles" (liu-fu 六腑) for the "six pneumas" (liu-ch'i 六炁). HTNC has "nine fluids" (chiu-yeh 九液) for the "visceral fluids" (tsang-yeh 臟液). The nine bodily fluids are the fluids of the nine cavities, or nine orifices (chiu-ch'iao 九竅), the seven yang cavities (ch'i-ch'iao 七竅) of the head (the eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth) and the two yin cavities of the abdomen. See note 12. Literally, "a hundred [bodily] fluids". HTNC has yeh-chin 液津 for chin-yeh 津液. Since the kidneys govern water, they also govern the transformation and transportation of all bodily fluids.

3.1.5c. Inscription 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

7. 8.

The Two Principles (liang-i 兩儀) are the two primary symbols representing yin and yang. Chen-ching 眞精. See page 33, note 1. Emending hsiang 相 to ching 精. True lead (chen-ch'ien 眞鉛) is the symbol of primordial energy and real knowledge. "Chao-chou's Dog" (usually written as "Chao-chou Kou-tzu" 趙州狗子) is the name of a famous Ch'an (Zen) kung-an (公案; Jap. kōan). More commonly known with its Japanese name as "Jōshū's 'Mu'", this is the first of the forty-eight "cases" of the famous 13th century kung-an anthology known as The Gateless Barrier (Wu-men Kuan 無門關; Jap. Mumonkan): "A monk asked the master Chaochou [Jap. Jōshū], 'Has a dog the buddha nature or not?' [Chao-]chou answered, 'Not.'" (趙州和尚、因僧問、｢狗子還有佛性也無｣。州云、｢無｣。) T'ai-chi 太極. Hsüan-shui hsiang-ch'ien 玄水郷鉛. The mysterious water, or mysterious liquid, is a synonym for mercury. Lead (ch'ien 鉛) and mercury (hung 汞) are the two central substances, or symbols, in the Chinese alchemy. Native lead represents yin containing true yang, and is matched by cinnabar, which represents yang containing true yin. Native cinnabar and native lead respectively correspond to li ☲ and k'an ☵, which represent yang and yin in their later heaven (hou-t'ien 後天) state. They contain true mercury and true lead which respectively correspond to authentic yang (the inner yin line of li) and authentic yin (the inner yang line of k'an).


9.

10.

11.

12. 13. 14.

The term translated "right ch'i" is cheng-ch'i 正氣. Also translated as "proper ch'i", "upright ch'i", or "righteous ch'i", it is a collective designation for all normal functions of the human body and the abilities to maintain health, including the abilities of self-regulation and adaptation. Both the vital resources of the body's internal order and the agents of disorder opposed to them are made of ch'i; they are dynamic agents of change. Right ch'i maintains and renews the orderly changes that comprise the body's regular physiological processes. On the other hand, evil or malignant ch'i (hsiehch'i 邪氣) causes transgressions that violate this normal order; it is disorderly and dysfunctional. It is believed that when a person is righteous, he has right ch'i, or righteous ch'i, which the evil ch'i cannot overcome. "Chilling life" translates su-sha 肅殺, which denotes chilling life or vegetation in autumn. River Chariot (ho-ch'e 河車) is another name for the Lesser Celestial Circuit (hsiao chou-t'ien 小周天) or microcosmic orbit, the circuit of energy that runs from the base of the spine up to the head, down through the palate of the mouth, and back to the tailbone. Following the stages of Small River Chariot (hsiao ho-ch'e 小河車) and Great River Chariot (ta ho-ch'e 大河車), the Purple River Chariot, or Purple Waterwheel (tzu ho-ch'e 紫河車), is the third and last stage of the Three River Chariots (san ho-ch'e 三河車) or Three Chariots (san-ch'e 三車). The Small River Chariot is used to cultivate health, the Great River Chariot is used to cultivate longevity, and the Purple River Chariot is used to cultivate immortality. Shun 順 is variously translated as "normal flow", "going with", "going along", or "continuation"; here the term desinates a life without spiritual practice and resultant dissipation of the vital energies which leads to sickness, old age, and eventually death. Paul U. Unschuld masterfully translates shun as "to proceed in accordance with [the proper course]" (1986: 746). (Note that the term is used here in the sense of "usual" rather than "proper", since this proper course is believed to lead humans to sickness, old age, and death.) Opposite of the shun is ni 逆, which is translated as "turning back", "turning against", "to go backward", "counter-current flow", "reversion", or "inversion". This reversal of the so-called "normal" course leads to preservation and sublimation of the vital energies and results in longevity and eventually immortality. The expression used in the text ("Shun tse sheng jen, ni tse ch'eng-hsien." 順則生人逆則成仙) is reminiscent of Ch'en Chih-hsü's 陳致虚 famous adage "Following the course of Nature leads to [the state of] ordinary men; going against it leads to immortality." ("Shun tse fan, ni tse hsien." 順則凡逆則仙; Chin-tan Ta-yao 金丹大要, ch. 1, p. 47a). In Chinese internal alchemy (nei-tan), the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈) is also called the Rivulet (ts'ao-hsi 漕溪). Here, the Flowery Pond (hua-ch'ih 華池) designates the kidneys. Jade Spring (yü-ch'üan 玉泉) denotes saliva.

3.1.5d. Inscription 3 1.

2. 3. 4.

Peach Vigor (T'ao-k'ang 桃康), also known as Peach Child (T'ao-hai 桃孩), is a deity who plays a significant role in Mao-shan practices and is generally considered to be the deity of the lower elixir field. However, according to a commentary to the Scripture of the Yellow Court, he resides in the Gate of Life-Destiny (ming-men 命門). Lord of Unity and Extension (Ho-yen Chün 合延君) is also described as the deity of the lower elixir field. Ting Lien-hua 頂蓮花. According to Supreme Clarity (Shang-ch'ing 上清) cosmology, the Eight Heavens (Pa-t'ien 八天) are one of the several sets of heavens and they are arranged horizontally.

3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat 1. 2.

Mysterious Breasts (hsüan-ying 玄膺) are two points in the palate, by which vital energy goes down in the Conception Vessel in the Lesser Celestial Circuit (hsiao-chou-t'ien 小周天) practice. Yen 咽.


3. 4.

5.

Hou 喉. Twelve-Storied Tower, or Twelve-Storied Pavilion (shih-erh-ch'ung lou 十二重樓), is another name for the trachea, which is also known as the Twelve-Storied Tower (shih-erh-lou t'ai 十二樓臺) and the Twelve Rings (shih-erh huan 十二環). Emending "river ch'i" (ho-ch'i 河氣) to "pure ch'i" (ch'ing-ch'i 清氣).

3.2.2. Gallbladder 1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6.

7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12. 13.

14.

15.

According to ancient Chinese medical classics, the liver has three petals (i.e., lobes) to the left and four petals to the right. The gallbladder is located beneath the liver. The gallbladder is traditionally associated with boldness, bravery and courage; it controls courage and anger, or the violence of one's temper. The deity of the gallbladder wears a robe made from ninefold colored brocade and a gown with a green blossom pattern. The gallbladder corresponds to yang and Wood. It also corresponds to the Green Dragon of the East. Therefore it is named the Dragon Glory (Lung-yao 龍耀). Lung-yao can be also translated as "Dragon Brightness". Wei-ming 威明. This name can be also translated as "Mighty Brightness" or "Awe-Inspiring Brightness". Although the turtle-snake (kuei-she 龜蛇) is treated as a tortoise with the head and tail of a snake, it is actually a snake coiling around a turtle. This deity is also referred to as the Mysterious Warrior (Hsüan-wu 玄武), the guardian spirit of the north, whose element is Water and symbolic color is black. The entwined turtle-snake transforms itself into a jade boy who holds a lance. It is also said that the gallbladder takes the form of a suspended gourd. As large as an egg in size, it is green outside and yellow inside. Three ounces (san-liang 三兩) and three chu (san-chu 三銖). Chu was an ancient weight measure equaling one-twenty-fourth of an ounce (liang), now one-forty-eighth of an ounce. Liver is viscus (tsang 臓), or a yin organ, while the corresponding receptacle (fu 腑), or yang organ, is the gallbladder. The gallbladder is unique among the receptacles in that it does not receive or transport ingestate, neither the clear nor turbid fractions. Instead it stores and excretes bile, a "pure" fluid, which has an important role in digestion. Because of its yin function of storing a yin substance (bile), but also having the shape of a hollow yang organ, the gallbladder is one of the six extraordinary yang organs, and along with the womb and the brain, it is considered a curious and extraordinary receptacle (ch'iheng chih fu 奇恒之腑). These organs are all yang but have the additional yin attribute of storing a yin essence. Since the gallbladder sums up and represents the six receptacles, it is often appended to the list of the five viscera. HTNC 14, "Gallbladder Department Section". Emending kua 掛 to she 攝. The eye is the sense organ connected to the liver and the gallbladder is the receptacle corresponding to the liver. The Gallbladder Meridian originates at the Pupil Bone Hole point (T'ung-tzu Liao 瞳子髎; GB 1), which is located 0.5 tsun lateral to the outer corner of the eye, in the depression on the lateral side of the orbit. This acupuncture point is located approximately at the level of middle of the bridge of the nose, therefore it is believed that the gallbladder corresponds to the eyes and the bridge of the nose on the outer part of the body. The liver stores blood and the gallbladder stores essence. When the blood is abundant, the hair becomes darker and shiny. When the essence is abundant, the brain is full and the head's hair – which ancient texts often consider to be a direct outgrowth of the brain – becomes healthy and very bright. The deity of the gallbladder wears nine-colored brocade robes with a green flower skirt and a gold belt. 4. Elixir Fields

4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) 1. 2.

Emending chiang 降 to chiang 絳. Trigram li 離 is the I Ching sign that represents "fire".


3.

The wu 午 is one of the twelve Chinese double-hours, it corresponds to the period between 11 AM and 1 PM. 4. Southern Palace (nan-kung 南宮), also called the Vermilion Palace (chu-kung 朱宮), Vermilion Mound (chu-ling 朱陵), or Fire Palace (huo-fu 火府), was the locale where the p'o of the dead were refined for rebirth. Originally, the Southern Palace seems to have been associated with the seven southern lunar lodgings – Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, and Carriage. 5. The chamber for refinement of the shen is the place of mutual conjunction of the hun and p'o. 6. The Young Girl (ch'a-nü 姹女) symbolizes the cavities and ch'i or fluids (yeh 液) of the heart. The figure seated above the trigram li (☲) in the heart region is the Young Girl. 7. The expression "Blue-Eyed Foreign Child" (pi-yen hu-erh 碧眼胡兒) is reminiscent of the Chinese Buddhist term "blue-eyed foreign monk" (pi-yen hu-seng 碧眼胡僧). The latter expression is a standard name for Bodhidharma, the founder of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism; it appears in the Diagram of the Inner Channels (Nei-ching T'u 内經圖). 8. When consciousness is withdrawn from the Crimson Palace, the individual's mental activity is dominated by constant thoughts and worries. Needham writes that ssu-lü chih shen 思慮之神 means "mental activity eaten up by anxiety and worry" (1983: 26). He also notes that "The primary ching deteriorates into the seminal essence of sexual intercourse (chiao kan ching 交感精); the primary chhi changes into respiratory pneuma (hu hsi chhi 呼吸氣); and the primary shen is 'sicklied o'er by the pale cast of thought' (ssu lü shen). These three primary endowments being thus dribbled away, it is exceedingly hard to regenerate the original innocence (thien chen 天眞)." (1983: 47, emphasis added). 9. Hou-chiu-t'ien 後九天. 10. Among the five phases, the heart corresponds to Fire; when the heart is tranquil, the heart's deity resides in the heart. On the contrary, when the heart/mind is full of anxiety and worries, the deity leaves the heart. This latter state is referred to as the "dragon exiting from within the fire" (lung ts'ung huo li ch'u 龍從火裏出). 4.2. Lower Elixir Field 1.

True Tiger (chen-hu 眞虎) is true ch'i and true water (seminal secretion); it emerges from the palace of k'an while the true dragon emerges from the palace of li. 2. Reading K'an-ti 坎地 instead of K'an 坎. 3. Variously translated as "infant", "child", "baby boy", "[male] baby", and "little baby", ying-erh 嬰兒 is associated with the kidneys or the kidney ching. 4. Fu-sang kung 扶桑宮. The fu-sang, or solar tree, is a mythical tree in the Eastern Sea, where the sun was thought to rise. 5. Sea of Energy (ch'i-hai 氣海) is another name for the lower elixir field. It is also the name of the sixth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 6). The acupuncture point is located on the midline of the lower abdomen, 1.5 tsun inferior the umbilicus and 3.5 tsun superior to the pubic symphysis. 6. Door of the Feminine (p'in-hu 牝戸) is also a synonym for the vulva. 7. The lower, middle, and upper elixir fields are the seats of the three primary energies ching, ch'i, and shen respectively. Therefore the lower elixir field is associated with the ching. 8. Life Stem (ming-ti 命蒂) is an alternate name for the eighth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 8), more commonly known as Spirit Gate (shen-ch'üeh 神闕). It is located in the center of the navel and is an important passage for the circulation of fetal ch'i and blood. 9. "[G]eneration and transformation" translates tsao-hua 造化, which is also translated as "creation" or "creative mutation". The term is generally used as a synonym for the cosmos. Nature operates by means of these creative mutations and the changes (pien 變) of yin and yang. 10. The word translated here as "creating" is tsao-hua 造化. See note 9 above. 11. Metal ching (chin-ching 金精), also translated as "metal essence", has various meanings. It designates the ch'i of the essences pertaining to the Metal phase and the hexagram ch'ien 乾. In some sources, it means the original ching (yüan-ching 元精). It is also another term for the kidneys. In addition, in Taoist literature it is held to be a medicinal drug of the highest degree. 12. Hu hsiang shui-chung sheng 虎向水中生. The original ching (yüan-ching 元精) within the body is called "tiger".


13. The yang inside trigram k'an stands for the firmness of the true sense of real knowledge, while the yin inside trigram li stands for receptivity, and also for mundane conditioning. The One Yang Returning to Beginning (i-yang fu-ch'ui 一陽復初) is the point where the extreme yin gives birth to yang. The energy of the true yang, which is the foundation of life, emerges at this point. In the yearly cycle, the one yang returning to beginning is the winter solstice (Tung-chih 冬至), the period when the yang enery is engendered, while in the daily cycle it corresponds to the tzu 子 hour (11 PM - 1 AM). 14. Tzu 子 hour is the period between 11 PM and 1 AM. 15. Moon at the Bottom of the Sea (hai-te yüeh 海底月) is a metaphor for the tzu 子 hour. In the Lesser Celestial Circuit (hsiao-chou-t'ien 小周天), the tzu hour corresponds to Gathering of Yin (hui-yin 會陰) energy center of the perineum, located at the bottom of the torso, hence the metaphor "bottom of the sea". 16. Some sources suggest an emendation and read "Gate of Humanity" (jen-men 人門) instead of "Human-Light" (jen-ming 人明). The men 門 and ming 明 are roughly homophonous. 17. Ch'u-sheng wo ken-chi 初生我根基. This is a tentative translation, as the ch'u-sheng wo 初生我 can be also read as "new-born self" or "nascent self". 5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass 1.

Jade Pillow pass (yü-chen-kuan 玉枕關) derives its name from the ancient Chinese sleeping pillows, which were hard. They were often made of ceramic variously shaped and decorated, while more expensive ones were made from jade. The Jade Pillow is the area on the posterior part of the skull. It is also the name of an associated acupuncture point located at the base of the skull, the ninth point of the Bladder Meridian (BL 9). The point is located in the occipital region, in a depression 1.5 tsun lateral to the superior aspect of the external occipital protruberance. 2. Yang-kung Yü-ching Shan 陽宮玉京山. In the Numinous Treasure (Ling-pao 靈寶) version of the system of thirty-two heavens (san-shih-erh t'ien 三十二天), the Jade Capital (Yü-ching 玉京) is a mountain towering above these heavens. It stands in the Great Canopy Heaven (Ta-lo T'ien 大羅天), the residence of the Heavenly Worthy (T'ien-tsun 天尊) high above all other celestial realms. Therefore the Jade Capital is a Taoist symbol for the supreme spiritual state. 3. Heavenly Pillar (t'ien-chu 天柱) is also the name of an acupunture point, the tenth point of the Bladder Meridian (BL 10). It is located in the nuchal region, on the lateral border of the trapezius muscle, 1.3 tsun lateral to GV 15 at the level between cervical vertebrae C1 and C2. 4. Reading t'ai 太 instead of mu 木. 5. Ta-ch'ui 大椎, the "great vertebra" (or "great hammer") is the fourteenth point of the Governor Vessel (GV 14). It is located below the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra. 6. Some authors emend sui 遂 to ni 逆; with this emendation, the sentence reads, "Truly, it is the upward pathway for moving backward and ascending to Heaven." "[M]oving backward" translates ni-hsing 逆行; it denotes – along with other terms as "flowing backward" (ni-liu 逆流) – flow in a direction opposite to the usual. 7. "[A]scending to Heaven" is a translation of shang t'ien 上•天, which can be also read "Ascending Heaven" (Shang-t'ien 上天). Ascending Heaven is the highest tier of the Mount K'un-lun 崑崙, the other two being Cool Wind (Liang-feng 涼風) and Hanging Garden (Hsüan-p'u 懸圃). It is believed that those who ascend the three tiers attain immortality. 8. Inner Yellow Dragon (nei huang-lung 内黄龍) is deity of inner illumination (nei-chao 内照). 9. Emending li 例 to tao 倒. 10. The Hsiang River (Hsiang Chiang 湘江), more commonly known as Yangtze (Yang-tzu 揚子), is the principal river in China. It rises in the Tibetan highlands and flows south and then east for 3,964 miles (6,380 km) through central China before it enters the East China Sea at Shang-hai. The "waters of Hsiang River" designates the ching, which is associated with the water of k'an (k'an-shui 坎水). This sentence indicates that the ching is redirected upward through the Governor Vessel.


11. The Jade Pillow is often regarded as the most difficult barrier to overcome, therefore it is also referred to as Iron Wall (tieh-pi 鐵壁). 12. Emending "yin" to "yang". Yang spirit (yang-shen 陽神) is cultivated by uniting the three primordial energies (ching, ch'i, and shen). Once the shen is sublimated with no further trace of yin, it is thoroughly free from the workings of the discursive mind and permanently abides in absolute tranquility. 13. True pneuma (chen-ch'i 眞炁; 眞氣) is vital energy which has been purified by the internal alchemical process. 14. Magpie Bridge (ch'üeh-ch'iao 鵲橋), is the tongue which connects the Governor and Conception vessels. See the explanation in note 16 below. 15. "Altair and Vega" is a translation of Niu-nü 牛女. The cowherd (niu-lang 牛郎) corresponds to the Western star of Altair in the Aquila constellation, while the weaving girl (chih-nü 織女) corresponds to the Western star of Vega in the Lyra constellation. According to early Chinese mythology, the cowherd and weaving girl are lovers fated to meet only once a year. They are separated by the Sky River (T'ien-ho 天河), which is the Chinese name for the Milky Way. (The Sky River corresponds to the spinal column or Governor Vessel in the human body.) It is believed that a magpie bridge (ch'üeh-ch'iao 鵲橋) is formed over the Milky Way on the annual meeting day of the cowherd and weaving girl. This myth suggests the meeting of two things that should be united, but which ordinarily remain separated. Meeting of the Altair and Vega stars (or the cowherd and weaving girl by crossing a bridge built by magpies) on the seventh day of the seventh month symbolizes union of bipolar entities such as the yin and yang, lead and mercury, or innate nature and sense/feelings (hsing ch'ing 性情). The Magpie Bridge is a metaphor for the tongue, which connects the Governor and Conception vessels when its tip is pressed against the upper palate. 16. Emending kuei 桂 to hsiang 相. 17. In this context, the infant (ying-erh 嬰兒) is synonymous with sacred embryo (sheng-t'ai 聖胎), which has many names in Taoist literature, such as the immortal embryo (hsien-t'ai 仙胎), golden embryo (chin-t'ai 金胎), and embryo of the Tao (Tao-t'ai 道胎). The infant is born of the union of the cowherd (yang) and the weaving girl (yin), symbolized here by the Altair and Vega stars. 5.2. Middle Pass 1.

Chia-chi 夾脊 ("Spinal Handle") can be also translated as "Narrow Ridge". It is the second pass, located in the middle of the spinal column where it joins the ribs at chest level (at the shoulder blades). The two characters chia and chi are also found in Chuang-tzu 30 "On Swords" (Shuo Chien 説劍), where they are separately employed to describe the sword of the Son of Heaven that "pierces the floating clouds above and penetrates the weft of the earth below": "The mountains of Ch'i 齊 are its edge. Chin and Wei are its back (chi 脊). Chou and Sung are its hilt. Han and Wei are its sheath (chia 夾)." (齊岱爲鍔、晉衛爲脊、周宋爲鐔、韓魏爲夾。). Expanding on the image of the celestial sword, this pass is qualified as "dual" (shuang-kuan 雙關) as it is not only physically inserted between Earth (yin, lead) and Heaven (yang, mercury). Some texts therefore emphasize that it is located exactly in the middle of the twenty-four vertebrae. From this center, the energy can ascend or descend, climbing to Heaven or plunging again into the abysses. 2. "Divine immortality" translates shen-hsien 神仙, which is also translated as "spirit immortality". The divine immortality is the highest category of immortality. 3. The Kao-huang 膏肓 is the forty-third point of the Bladder Meridian (BL 43). It is located on the upper back, three tsun lateral to the lower border of the spinous process of the fourth thoracic vertebra (T4), at the level of BL 14. Kao-huang also designates the region between the heart and the diaphragm, known as the cardiodiaphragmatic interspace. 4. Windlass (lu-lu 轆轤) is another name for the Spinal Handle. 5. Omitting hsüeh 血. 6. Heavenly Pillar (t'ien-chu 天柱) is another name for the upper pass. See page 39, note 3. 7. Nei shuang-lin 内雙林. 8. Wai shuang-lin 外雙林. 9. Emending chuang 状 to fu 伏. 10. Gushing Spring (yung-ch'üan 湧泉) is the first point of the Kidney Meridian (KI 1). See page 24, note 40.


11. Emending chiang 降 to chiang 絳. 12. Here, the Flowery Pond (hua-ch'ih 華池) designates the kidneys. 13. The Flowery Canopy (hua-kai 華蓋) designates the rib cage or upper chest, heart region, the area below the two eyebrows, or the lungs. Its meaning in this passage is not clear. 14. Emending ti 帝 to homophonous ti 蒂. See page 38, note 8. 5.3. Lower Pass 1.

2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7.

The Gate of Tail (wei-lü 尾閭) is variously translated as "caudal funnel", "terminal exit", and "maelstrom". It is the first pass, at the level of the coccyx. The term wei-lü refers to a mythical place mentioned in Chuang-tzu 17, an orifice in the Eastern Ocean where water endlessly leaks away without ever being exhausted. In the human body, this place is located in the "aquatic region" of the hip basin that forms the base of the trunk. It represents the pivot of energy presided over by the kidneys, which is the sanctuary of the ching and organs of water. According to some texts, the Gate of Tail is located at the level of the third vertebra above the coccyx and is called by various names such as Long and Powerful (ch'ang-ch'iang 長強), Three-Forked Road (san-ch'a lu 三岔路), or Path of the River Chariot (ho-ch'e lu 河車路). A reference to the lower nine cavities (hsia chiu-ch'iao 下九竅); the seven yang cavities, and two yin cavities of the lower body, that is, the genitals and the anus. Chiu-t'ou shih-tzu 九頭獅子. It is also name of a plant, the Japanese peristrophe (Peristrophes Japonicae). The term "Prince Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum" (t'ai-tzu she chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-ko 太子射九重鐵鼓) has its origins in an Indian legend about young prince Gautama Buddha engaging in an archery tournament. According to this story, in a test of archery Ananda set up an iron drum, eight miles distant, for a target; another set up one at a distance of sixteen and another at twenty-four miles, while the father of Yasodhara set up another at a still greater distance, and by this drum stood seven palm trees, and beyond them was a demon made of iron. After the others had tried their skill, young Gautama adjusted his arrow and his shaft passed through all of the iron drums, tearing also through the seven trees and the iron demon, and then buried itself in the ground. Chinese sources refer to this incident as "one arrow shot and pierced nine-layered iron drum" ("i-chien she ch'uan chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-ko" 一箭射穿九重鐵鼓). Commenting on this account, some Taoist authors write that the above mentioned "arrow" denotes true ch'i (chen-ch'i 眞氣), while "shooting" designates a method in which the shen and ch'i are circulated together. They also say that the words "ninelayered" is a reference to the nine cavities (chiu-ch'iao 九竅) which designate, in this context, the cavities of the three passes. Each pass has three cavities: in the middle and on the left and right sides. The ancients called the cavities on left and right the "white vessel with double strips" (liang-t'iao pai-mai 兩條白脈); they were also called the "two roads in red and yellow" (ch'ih-huang erh-tao 赤黄二道). These are the roads upon which the sun and the moon revolve. Thus, the three passes have nine cavities, or rooms (fang 房), in total. When opening the three passes, the energy must flow through the cavity in the middle; if it runs into one of the cavities at the sides, one cannot attain the Tao. The Chart of the Inner Landscapes of the Selected Sayings on the Nine Stages (Chiu-hsü Cheyen Nei-ching T'u 九序摘言内景圖), written by Ming philosopher Lin Chao-en 林兆恩 (1517-1598) who expounded a system ultimately based on Neo-Confucianism but closely related to internal alchemy, mentions the expression "she chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-ko" in a passage describing phases of alchemical transformation: "The technique of the Three Islands of P'eng-lai is sometimes called the cavity of the coccyx; it is also called the Palace of Yama (the Underworld). The Taoists state: the external nine cavities are also called the Valley Way. The Buddhists state: Shoot arrows at the ninelayered iron drum." The term in question here was also the name of a Taoist healing method. In his Perfected Man Ch'ung-yang's Instructions on the Golden Gate and Jade Chain (Ch'ung-yang Chenjen Chin-kuan Yü-suo Chüeh 重陽眞人金關玉鎖訣), Wang Ch'ung-yang 王重陽 (1112-1170) mentions the name of the "Method of Shooting the Nine-Layered Iron Drum" (she chiu-ch'ung t'iehko chih fa 射九重鐵鼓之法), in a passage where he enumerates various methods for curing diseases. It is described as a yin pass because, in general, the lower part of the body is regarded as yin. Reading pi 閉 instead of kuan 関. See page 24, section 2.1.2a, note 1.


8.

9. 10. 11. 12.

13. 14. 15. 16.

17.

"[A]scending to Heaven" translates shang t'ien 上•天, which can be also rendered as "Highest Heaven" or "Ascending Heaven" (Shang-t'ien 上天). Ascending Heaven is the highest tier of the Mount K'un-lun 崑崙; its other two tiers are Cool Wind (Liang-feng 涼風) and Hanging Garden (Hsüan-p'u 懸圃). Taoists believed that those who ascend the three tiers attain deathlessness. Earth Pivot (ti-chou 地軸) is the name of a deity. The term ti-chou is also a synonym for the valley way (ku-tao 谷道), the final section of the large intestine between the rectum and anus. Chao-t'ien ling 朝天嶺. San-ch'a (ku) 三叉(骨), emending yu 又 to ch'a 叉. In certain internal alchemical operations, the true ch'i (chen-ch'i 眞氣) – generated by combining lead and mercury – is sent from the lower elixir field, through the spine, into the upper elixir field. This process is known as "ejecting the golden sparks from behind the navel" (ch'i-hou fei chin-ching 臍後飛金晶). The Golden Cauldron (chin-ting 金鼎) is a cauldron (i.e., an energy center) in the kidneys where the refinement of these golden sparks (chin-ching 金晶) take place. Certain Taoist texts also mention a Purple-Gold Cauldron (tzu-chin-ting 紫金鼎), which is presumably an equivalent of the Golden Cauldron. The Purple-Gold Cauldron is located between the kidneys, where the sacred embryo is generated. This point is also known as the "place of emergence of the true" (chen-ch'u-ch'u 眞出處). The three paths are jade furnace (yü-lu 玉爐; a reference to the kidneys, or perhaps to the external kidneys, i.e., the testicles), internal kidneys (nei-shen 内腎; i.e., the kidneys), and the Spinal Handle. Emending i 沂 to t'ung 通. See page 40, note 1. Gate of Crown (ting-men 頂門) denotes the aperture at the center of the top of the head by which yang spirit (yang-shen 陽神) leaves the body. This location is the apex of consciousness, through which one passes into enlightenment. It is also known as heavenly gate (t'ien-men 天門). The Capital of Hell (Feng-tu 酆都) is the demonic netherworld. 6. Five Cardinal Points

6.1. North (Li) 1. 2. 3. 4.

5.

South Prosperity (Nan-ch'ang 南昌) is the name of a constellation. Emending lo 絡 to chiang 絳. Root of Heaven (t'ien-ken 天根) is an alchemical term for the movement of energy emerging from stillness. It also designates the point of shift from passivity to activity. Verb "consolidate" translates ku 固, which means "to harden", "to become solid", "to solidify", or "to consolidate". The five energies (wu-ch'i 五氣) are the true energies represented by the five phases. When they are correctly aligned, they congeal into one. When the body (shen 身) is immovable, the ching is stable and the Water returns to the origin (ch'ao-yüan 朝元). When the mind (hsin 心) is immovable, the breath (ch'i 氣) is stable and the Fire returns to the origin. When the true nature (chen-hsing 眞性) is tranquil, the hun 魂 is stored (tsang 藏) and the Wood returns to the origin. When emotions (ch'ing 情) are forgotten, the p'o 魄 is subdued (fu 伏) and the Metal returns to the origin. When the four greats (shih-ta 四大; i.e., the four physical elements) are in harmony, the intent (i 意) is stable (ting 定) and the Earth returns to the origin. When these five forces are in their proper places and at peace, they revert to their reality, which is the source of spirituality. This is known as the five energies returning to the origin (wu-ch'i kuei-yüan 五氣歸元), a state of mental and physical collection, used to recover the original energy. It is described as "The body unmoving, the mind unstirring, the nature tranquil, feelings forgotten, the physical elements in harmony." It is also said to be practiced by not using the external senses. "Pneuma" translates ch'i 炁, which is often used in the HCT as a synonym of ch'i 氣. The three primary energies ching, ch'i, and shen correspond to the lower, middle, and upper elixir fields respectively. North (here representing the heart and the middle elixir field) is the seat of ch'i. The figure seated above the trigram li (☲) is the Young Girl (ch'a-nü 姹女). The Young Girl in the north is paired with the Infant (ying-erh 嬰兒) in the south. Here, the Infant represents kidney ching, not the sacred embryo.


6.

7.

Chi 己 is the sixth of the Ten Celestial Stems. The expression "approaching chi 己" (chiu chi 就己) found in the north (li) appears to be paired with "flowing to wu" (liu wu 流戊) in the south (k'an) to make up the expression "flowing to wu and approaching chi 己" (liu wu chiu chi 流戊就己). Fire Palace on the Vermilion Mound (chu-ling huo-fu 朱陵火府) denotes the heart. The Vermilion Mound, also called the Vermilion Palace (chu-kung 朱宮), Southern Palace (nan-kung 南宮), and Southern Glory (nan-ch'ang 南昌), is the locale where the p'o of the dead were refined for rebirth. Originally, the Vermilion Mound seems to have been associated with the seven southern lunar lodgings – Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, and Carriage.

6.2. South (K'an) 1.

Dipper (Tou 斗), Ox(-Boy) (Niu 牛), Maiden (Nü 女), and Void (Hsü 虚) are the 8th to 11th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. They are the first four of the seven northern lunar lodgings represented by the Mysterious Warrior (Hsüan-wu 玄武). See Appendix D, The Twenty-Eight Constellations. 2. Wu 戊 is the fifth of the Ten Celestial Stems. The expression "flowing to wu" (liu wu 流戊) found in the south (k'an) appears to be paired with "approaching chi 己" (chiu chi 就己) in the north (li) to make up the expression "flowing to wu and approaching chi 己" (liu wu chiu chi 流戊就己). 3. See page 42, note 4. 4. Trigram k'an 坎 (☵) corresponds to south in the later heaven (hou-t'ien 後天) arrangement of the eight trigrams (pa-kua 八卦). The figure standing above the k'an is the Infant (ying-erh 嬰兒). The Infant in the south is paired with the Young Girl (ch'a-nü 姹女) in the north. Here, the Infant represents kidney ching, not the sacred embryo. 5. Chi 己 is the sixth of the Ten Celestial Stems. When paired, wu and chi (wu-chi 戊己) represent Earth, one of the five phases. 6. "[L]ower elixir" (hsia-tan 下丹) is an abbreviation of the "lower elixir field". 7. Sha-ch'i 煞炁 (more commonly written 煞氣) means "noxious (or ferocious) energy" as well as "ferocious mien". 8. The Mysterious Warrior (Hsüan-wu 玄武), represented as an entwined turtle-snake, is the guardian deity of the north. 9. Rooftop (Wei 危), House (Shih 室), and Wall (Pi 壁) are the 12th to 14th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations. They are the last three of the seven northern lunar lodgings. 10. "Ni tse sheng, shun tse fan." (逆則聖順則凡). See page 36, note 11. 6.3. East (Chen) 1. 2. 3. 4.

5.

Emending trigram li 離 (☲) on the left of the figure to chen 震 (☳). The trigram chen corresponds to the east in the later heaven arrangement of the eight trigrams. According to five phases system, direction east and cyclical sign chia 甲 (the first of the Ten Celestial Stems) correspond to Wood phase. Reading kua 卦 for feng 封. "[I]nnate nature" translates hsing 性, which is a term that stands in contrast to another term, ch'ing 情 ("emotion"). The former consists entirely of inborn characteristics or potentials that may be developed but that are only slightly, if at all, subject to modification. Ch'ing, on the other hand, is more comprehensive, includes the emotions, and generally can be said to be that nature which can be shaped or modified by training or environment. In other words, to eat is hsing; to be a glutton is ch'ing. The direction east is associated with fire shen, while the west is associated with water ching (water essence).

6.4. West (Tui) 1. 2. 3.

Trigram tui 兌 (☱) corresponds to the west in the later heaven arrangement of the eight trigrams. Hsi-shan pai-hu 西山白虎. The indwelling deity of the lungs is the White Tiger of the West who changes into a boy holding a jade baton in his hand. See page 38, note 11.

Notes to Pages 19-20 (98)

4.

5.

"[E]motions" translates ch'ing 情 , which denotes "emotions" and "feelings". The term also designates desires. For the bipolar relationship between the emotions and innate nature, see page 43 section 6.3, note 4. The direction west is associated with water ching (shui-ching 水精; water essence), while the east is associated with fire shen. The following passage from the Random Notes While Reading Medicine (Tu-i Sui-pi 讀醫隨筆, 1898) of Chou Hsüeh-hai 周學海 (1856-1906) explains the water ching: "The meaning of 'water essence' is the essential ch'i of water, which refers to the lungs and the fluid pathways, not to the urinary bladder. Lungs receive essence from the spleen, and distribute it; but when that which is left over from the absorption of essence [by the spleen] returns to travel along the triple heater (san-chiao 三焦), it is distributed along the way [rather than stored as ching] and thus it is not, in the end, called ching (essence), but is still called 'water essence' (shui-ching). … The water essence moves from the channels of the five viscera to circulate around the entire body".

6.5. Center (Ch'ien) 1.

2.

3.

4.

5. 6.

7.

The Yellow Court (huang-t'ing 黄庭) is one of the most important places in the body. Yellow is the color of the center and a court is the central place around which buildings are arranged. It is generally thought to be located in the center of the abdomen, where the elixir is formed or the sacred embryo is generated. It is variously described as the middle elixir field, the solar plexus, the spleen or a region near the spleen. However, as with the elixir fields, there is a Yellow Court for each of the three major divisions of the body – one within the head, one within the spleen (or the heart according to other interpretations), and another within the lower elixir field. The Center (chung 中) is an energy center located in the middle of the body, in the region of the solar plexus. The term denotes one's core, implying the "inner essence", "one's own nature", "the inner path", or "the path of truth". Tao-kuei 刀圭 is variously translated as "knife, and jade-symbol", "jade knife", "knife-point", "speck", or "a pinch of elixir". Tao 刀 means "knife", and kuei 圭 is an elongated and pointed tablet made from jade, used by ancient Chinese rulers on ceremonial occasions. Thus, the jade knife originally designated a jade ritual implement. Ancient Chinese pharmacists used the pointed tip of this tool for measuring the amount of powders, therefore tao-kuei denotes a minute quantity of powdered medicinal substance. T'ao Hung-ching 陶弘景 (456-536) fixed its value in "one-tenth of an inch-square spatula", which is approximately 0.27 ml. Tao-kuei also designates drugs used in concocting elixirs. In the present context, tao-kuei symbolize the elixir of the highest category, which is gathered and cultivated in the Yellow Court. Trigram ch'ien 乾 (three solid lines) has two meanings in alchemy: it represents not only yang in the yin-yang pair but also pure yang (ch'un-yang 純陽), the neutral state of oneness that comes before the division into yin and yang. In the present text, ch'ien represents the elixir incorporating the qualities of pure yang energy, which is deemed to be entirely devoid of yin and therefore is not subject to any decay. Earthen Crucible (t'u-fu 土釜) is a synonym for the Yellow Court. These seven talismanic characters are found in the Perfect Scripture on Extending Life through the Northern Dipper and Original Destiny [Star] of the Most High Mysterious Numinosity (T'ai-shang Hsüan-ling Pei-tou Pen-ming Yen-sheng Chen-ching 太上玄靈北斗本命延生眞經 ). They correspond to the seven stars of the Northern Dipper (Pei-tou 北斗). They are known as k'uei 魁, shao [鬼勾], huan [鬼雚], hsing 䰢, pi 魓, fu [鬼甫], and p'iao 魒. Their names are recited at the end of the "Incantation of the Northern Dipper" (Pei-tou chou 北斗咒) found in the above mentioned scripture. For the relationship between the body and the talismans, see page 34, section 3.1.5a, note 3. See page 42, note 4. 7. Extraordinary Vessels

1.

The eight extraordinary vessels (chi-ching pa-mai 奇經八脈), are the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈), Conception Vessel (ren-mai 任脈), Thoroughfare Vessel (ch'ung-mai 衝脈), Belt Vessel (taimai 帶脈), Yin Heel Vessel (yin-chiao-mai 陰蹻脈), Yang Heel Vessel (yang-chiao-mai 陽蹻脈), Yin Link Vessel (yin-wei-mai 陰維脈), and Yang Link Vessel (yang-wei-mai 陽維脈). Only five of the eight extraordinary vessels are included in the HCT.


2.

3. 4.

5.

Yang Heel Vessel (yang-chiao-mai 陽蹻脈) is one of the eight extraordinary vessels which originates from the lateral side of the heel, running upward along the outer ankle, the lateral side of the lower limb, through the abdomen, chest, shoulder and cheek, terminating at the back of the neck. The Conception Vessel (jen-mai 任脈) is a channel located in front of the body, extending from the brain to the base of the penis. Emending to 蹻. The Yin Heel Vessel (yin-chiao-mai 陰蹻脈) is one of the eight extraordinary vessels which originates from the medial side of the heel, running upward along the medial side of the lower limb, through the front external genitalia, the abdomen, chest, neck, either side of the nose and terminating in the eye. Yin Transport Vessel (yin-yu-mai 陰腧脈) is located in the inner sides of both arms; it links the centers of the palms with the chest. 8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods

1.

The twenty-four seasonal periods, or twenty-four solar terms (erh-shih-ssu chieh-ch'i 二十四節氣; literally, twenty-four nodal energies), are the divisions of the Chinese agricultural year. The tropical year was divided into twelve equal periods, ch'i 氣, defined by 30 degrees of solar motion along the ecliptic. They were subdivided into twelve mid-point ch'i (chung-ch'i 中氣) and twelve nodal ch'i (chieh-ch'i 節氣), making a total of twenty-four seasonal periods nominally of 15 days but on average 15.219 days each. These periods were in effect a series of sub-seasons that defined an agrarian solar calendar for everyday use. In practice the seasonal periods were counted in whole days, with extra days inserted as necessary to account for accumulated fractional days. The twentyfour effulgences (or lights; ching 景) of the body are both deities and luminescent points, and are also arranged into three sets of eight. These twenty-four effulgences are related to the above mentioned twenty-four energy nodes (chieh-ch'i), each of which presides on fifteen days. 9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle

1. 2.

3. 4. 5.

The character ch'u 初 is added to first ten days of each month; that is, ch'u-i 初一, ch'u-erh 初二, and ch'u-san 初三 are the first, second, and third days of lunar month respectively. When the sun-earth-moon angle is 90 degrees, this is called "crescent moon" (hsien 弦). The first quarter of the moon, or the new moon, is called "upper crescent moon" (shang-hsien 上弦), while the last quarter of the moon, the crescent after full moon, is called "lower crescent moon" (hsia-hsien 下弦). Wang 望 is the day of full moon, the fifteenth day of a Chinese lunar month. This is the lower crescent moon (hsia-hsien 下弦), the crescent after full moon. Hui 晦 is the end of a cycle of moon, the last day of a Chinese lunar month.

Chinese Text As far as the existing fonts permit, the characters are shown exactly as they appear in the original diagram. Characters that are not found in Chinese fonts are indicated by two or three characters enclosed in square brackets. (Example: [鬼斗] = 魁) Emended characters are indicated by gray color. The line structure in the original diagram is preserved.

1. Introduction

人之一身有三百六十骨節八萬四千毛孔後有三關尾閭夾脊玉枕也尾閭在夾脊之下盡頭處關可通内腎之竅從此關起一條髓路號曰漕溪又名黄河乃陽升之路直至兩腎對處為夾脊又上至腦為玉枕此三關也前有三田泥丸土釜玉池是也泥丸為上丹田方圓一寸二分虚開一竅乃藏神之所眉心入内正中之處天門入内一寸為明堂再入一寸為洞房再入一寸為泥丸眉心之下謂之鼻柱又名雷霆府金橋下至口中有兩竅通喉謂之鵲橋喉是頸骨乃内外之氣所由出入者也後有軟喉謂之咽乃接飲食通腸胃者也其喉有十二節號曰重樓直下肺竅以至於心心上有骨名為鳩尾心下有穴名曰絳宮乃龍虎交會之處直下三寸六分名曰土釜黄庭穴也乃中丹田左有明堂右有洞房無英居左肝也白元居右肺也亦空一寸二分乃藏氣之所煉氣之鼎直下至臍三寸六分故曰天上三十六地下三十六自天至地八萬四千里自心至腎有八寸四分天心三寸六分地腎三寸六分中有丹田一寸二分非八寸四分而何臍門號曰生門有七竅通於外腎乃精神漏洩之竅名曰偃月爐即任脉下有九竅即地獄酆都是也又曰氣海稍下一寸三分曰玉池又曰下丹田乃藏精之所採藥之處左明堂右洞房亦空一穴方圓一寸三分此處有二竅通於内腎腎中有竅通於尾閭由尾閭通兩腎堂以至膝下三里穴再下至湧泉穴此人身相通之關竅也 2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)

高真至真太真虗真仙真玄真上真神真天真腦有九辨房有一寸不滅之道存想泥九九真泥丸宮元命真人玉帝宮玄穹之服皆象炁色飛輕

2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions

醍醐樓頭鼓泥丸玄母靈天寶神光明堂天目九霄雷府喉為輔舌為弼一神專告七王奉事斗為舌之母人中承漿督脉

神

紫微

太乙

九霄

天庭

現珠

2.1.2b. Inscription

天有九宮地有九州人下丹田有九竅以象地之九州泥有九穴以按天上九宮腦骨八片以應八方一名彌羅天玉帝宮又名純陽天宮中空一穴名玄穹主又名元神宮有舌舌内有金鎖關與舌相對人名鵲橋鼻下人中穴與關相對其間有督脉乃是人之根本名上九竅一名性根玉泉又號華池舌下有四竅二竅通心為液兩竅通腎為我神室泥丸九竅乃天皇之宮中間一穴形如雞子状似崑崙是也釋曰須彌山修真之子不可不知也 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus

臍為左門太乙神君居之主人性命司一身一萬二千精也生門 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)

銅柱地獄火車地獄金剛地獄普掠地獄溟冷地獄屠割地獄風雷地獄鑊湯地獄無間地獄

2.2.3. Lower Abdomen

機関之竅槖籥

引仙之門

送仙生門北極降魔慧劍所愚人以此殺身聖人以此飛形 2.2.4. Lower Extremities

湧泉穴三里穴

湧泉三里穴 3. Internal Organs

3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions

奎婁七魄藏肺井鬼天罡柳白元尊居之胃昴畢觜参

星張

翼軫

3.1.1b. Inscription

肺神形如白虎象如懸磬居五臟之上對胞若覆蓋故為華蓋神名皓華字虚成重三斤三兩六葉兩耳總計八葉肺為脾子為腎母内藏七魄如嬰兒名曰尸狗伏屍雀隂呑賺非生母除穢羣臭乃七名也鼻為之官左為庚右為辛在炁為咳在液為涕在形為皮毛也上通炁至腦下通炁至脾中是以諸炁属肺肺為呼吸之根黄庭云喘息呼吸依不快急存白元和六氣 3.1.2. Heart

心神形如朱雀象如倒懸蓮華能變水為血也神名丹元字守靈重十二兩對鳩尾下一寸色如縞映絳中有七孔三毛上智之人心孔通明中智之人五孔心穴通炁下智無孔炁明不通心為肝子為脾母舌為之宮厥竅通耳左耳為丙右耳為丁液為汗腎邪入心則汗溢其味甘小腸為之腑與心合黄庭経曰心部之宅蓮含花下有童子丹元家童子即心神也心下為絳宮

3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions

無英公子居之中地胆角元氐房心尾箕三魂藏肝 3.1.3b. Inscription

肝神形如青龍象字含明象如懸匏少近心左三葉右四葉胆附短葉下重四斤四兩為心母為腎子肝中有三魂名曰爽靈台光幽精目為之宮左目為甲右目為乙男子至六十肝炁衰肝葉薄膽漸減目即昏在形為筋肝脉合於木魂之臟也於液為淚腎邪入肝故多淚膽為肝之腑膽與肝合也黄庭経云和制魂魄津液平外應眼目日月精百疴所鍾存無英用同七日自充盈 3.1.4. Spleen

脾属中央土旺於四季為黄帝神形如鳳象如覆翼名常在字魂庭正掩臍上横於胃坤之炁土之精也居心下三寸重一斤二兩濶三寸長一尺脾為心子為肺母外通眉口為之宮其神多嫉脾無定形主土隂也故脾為五臟之樞開竅於口在形為頰脾脉出於隠白乃肉之本意處也黄庭経云治人百病消谷糧黄良紫帯龍虎章 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions

左玄腎門右牝命門

銀河樞機瓊池琉池湧谷道泉谷水玉爐

3.1.5b. Inscription 1

腎屬北方水於卦屬坎形似玄鹿兩頭名玄冥字育嬰象如卵石子生對臍墜[月數]脊重二斤一兩主分水氣灌注一身如樹之有根左曰腎右曰命生炁之府死炁之門如守之則存用之則竭為肝母為肺子耳為之宮天之生我流氣而變謂之精精氣往來為之神神者腎藏其情者左属壬右属癸在辰為子亥在氣為吹在液為唾在形為骨経於上焦榮於上焦衛於下焦黄庭云腎部之宮玄関圓中有童子上玄主諸六炁臟液源外應兩耳百津液 3.1.5c. Inscription 2

内腎者兩儀也中間有連環是我真精内藏赤白二炁在母腹中未有此身先有此穴因有此穴始生此身左為玄陽右為牝隂中穴實我後天之相海又為真鉛佛名趙州狗儒名太極道云玄水郷鉛乃北方肅殺正氣紫河車順則生人逆則成仙一名漕溪一名祖宮通上下二眼降華池在舌内出名玉泉 3.1.5d. Inscription 3

桃康合延君頂蓮花冠衣朱衣如真人状住腎宮有碧紫黄白綠青赤蒼之炁乃北方八天所化也 3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat

舌下二竅名玄膺後名咽吞下一切飲食前名喉十二節為十二重樓通連河氣者也 3.2.2. Gallbladder

膽者金之精水之氣其色青在肝短葉下膽者敢也膽大者必不驚神名龍耀字威明形如龜蛇混形其象如懸袋重三兩三銖為肝之腑若㨿膽當不在五臟之内應歸於六腑因膽亦受水氣與坎同道又不可同於六腑故別立膽臟合於膀胱亦主毛髮黄庭経曰主諸氣力掛虎兵外應眼瞳鼻柱間脳髮相扶亦倶鮮九色錦衣綠華裙

4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace)

降宮中一穴實我性也一名離卦一名午時又號南宮受煉神室之所又名姹女一名真隂又名碧眼胡兒在方為南上所有掩骨覆之醫家名為鳩尾退此後九天思慮之神又云龍從火裏出是也 4.2. Lower Elixir Field

此田中炁左青右黄下黒上白下丹田真虎坎嬰兒處扶桑宮氣海水晶宮牝戸中間一穴實我真精命蒂在上一寸三分實造化之所天地之根白頭老子青玄之處實我命造化山川也真一處水中金號金精實我先天之至精又云虎向水中生一陽復初子時海底月人明初生我根基此數名修真之子不可不知也 5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass

玉枕関此處一名陽宮玉京山天柱木乙穴雷霆宮大椎骨前寸較處來也寔上天遂行之徑路也内黄龍例以捲上冲湘江水上下通徹此緊隂神守閉関至必用陽炁度方能冲通化應真炁至鵲橋而牛女桂會育争嬰兒 5.2. Middle Pass

夾脊雙関實神仙升降之徑路是我身脉即膏肓穴道曰雙関内轆轤在中左為太陽右為太隂陽升路血通天柱穴又名内雙林通外雙林陽関脉状此穴薰蒸関竅湧泉上通泥丸絡接降宮華池取水降于華盖五行之所下丹田命帝之内

5.3. Lower Pass

尾閭関一名九竅又名九頭獅子又名太子射九重鉄鼓隂関固関常年不能開名九重鉄鼓太子純陽炁也能醍醐灌頂方能穿通故曰射九重鉄鼓乃上天之徑路也一名地軸神門又名朝天嶺一名龍虎穴一名三又腎内有金鼎内外相通其三路上沂夾脊直透頂門而上泥丸通一身之骨髓也酆都 6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li)

南昌上宮絡宮呼接天根心不動炁☲ 就己朱陵火府炁自固 6.2. South (K'an)

斗牛女虚寒靈丹殿流戊身不動精☵ 己下丹精自固玄武煞炁危室壁逆則聖

順則凡

6.3. East (Chen)

☲ 一名東海青龍甲方木液在封属震在方属東在五行属木在道為魂性也属火神之母在五臟属肝在天為日實我魂室之所也

6.4. West (Tui)

☱ 一曰西山白虎庚位金精在卦屬兌在方屬西在五行屬金在道為魄情也屬水精之母在臓腑為肺在天為月實我魄室之所也 6.5. Center (Ch'ien)

黄庭中刀圭 ☰ 土釜魁

[鬼勾]

意不動

[鬼雚]

䰢

[鬼甫]

魓

魒

神自靈 7. Extraordinary Vessels

陽踰任脉隂

陽蹻隂腧 8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods In bottom-to-top order

1 冬至 5 雨水 9 穀雨 13 夏至 17 處暑 21 霜降

2 小寒 6 驚蟄 10 立夏 14 小暑 18 白露 22 立冬

3 大寒 7 春分 11 小滿 15 大暑 19 秋分 23 小雪

4 立春 8 清明 12 芒種 16 立秋 20 寒露 24 大雪


初一初六十一十六廿一廿六

初二初七十二十七廿二廿七

初三初八弦十三十八廿三弦廿八

初四初九十四十九廿四廿九

初五初十十五望二十廿五三十晦

Punctuated Text Emended characters are indicated by gray color; the correct characters are given in parantheses.

1. Introduction

人之一身、有三百六十骨節、八萬四千毛孔。後有三關、尾閭、夾脊、玉枕也。尾閭在夾脊之下盡頭處、關可通内腎之竅。從此關起一條髓路、號曰漕溪。又名黄河、乃陽升之路。直至兩腎(肩)對處為夾脊、又上至腦、為玉枕。此三關也。前有三田、泥丸、土釜、玉池是也。泥丸為上丹田、方圓一寸二分。虚開一竅、乃藏神之所。眉心入内正中之處天門。入内一寸為明堂。再入一寸為洞房。再入一寸為泥丸。眉心之下謂之鼻柱、又名雷霆府。金橋下至口中有兩竅通喉、謂之鵲橋。喉是頸骨、乃内外之氣所由出入者也。後有軟喉謂之咽。乃接飲食、通腸胃者也。其喉有十二節、號曰重樓。直下肺竅、以至於心。心上有骨、名為鳩尾。心下有穴、名曰絳宮、乃龍虎交會之處。直下三寸六分、名曰土釜、黄庭穴也、乃中丹田。左有明堂、右有洞房。無英居左、肝也。白元居右、肺也。亦空一寸二分、乃藏氣之所、煉氣之鼎。直下至臍、三寸六分。故曰｢天上三十六、地下三十六。自天至地八萬四千里、自心至腎有八寸四分。｣天心三寸六分、地腎三寸六分。中有丹田一寸二分。非八寸四分而何。臍門號曰生門。有七竅、通於外腎、乃精神漏洩之竅、名曰偃月爐、即任脉。下有九竅、即地獄酆都是也。又曰氣海。稍下一寸三分、曰玉池。又曰下丹田、乃藏精之所、採藥之處。左明堂、右洞房。亦空一穴、方圓一寸三分。此處有二竅、通於内腎。腎中有竅、通於尾閭。由尾閭通兩腎堂、以至膝下三里穴。再下至湧泉穴。此人身相通之關竅也。 2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)

高真至真太真虗真仙真玄真上真神真天真腦有九辨、房有一寸。不滅之道、存想泥九(丸)。九真之服、皆象炁色、飛輕。泥丸宮元命真人玉帝宮玄穹(靈) 2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions

醍醐樓頭鼓泥丸玄母靈天寶神紫微太乙九霄天庭神光明堂天目九霄雷府喉為輔舌為弼。一神專告七王、奉事斗為舌之母。人中承漿督脉

現珠

2.1.2b. Inscription

天有九宮、地有九州。人下丹田有九竅、以象地之九州。泥有九穴、以按天上九宮。腦骨八片、以應八方。一名彌羅天玉帝宮、又名純陽天宮。中空一穴、名玄穹(靈)主、又名元神宮。有舌、舌内有金鎖關、與舌相對、人(又)名鵲橋。鼻下人中穴、與關相對。其間有督脉。乃是人之根本、名上九竅。一名性根玉泉、又號華池。舌下有四竅、二竅通心、為液。兩竅通腎、為我(氣)。神室泥丸九竅、乃天皇之宮。中間一穴、形如雞子、状似崑崙是也。釋曰須彌山。修真之子、不可不知也。 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus

臍為左(生)門。太乙神君居之。主人性命。司一身一萬二千精也。生門 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)

銅柱地獄火車地獄金剛地獄普掠地獄溟冷地獄屠割地獄風雷地獄鑊湯地獄無間地獄 2.2.3. Lower Abdomen

機関之竅、引仙之門。槖籥送仙生門、北極降魔慧劍所。愚人以此殺身、聖人以此飛形。 2.2.4. Lower Extremities

湧泉穴三里穴

湧泉三里穴 3. Internal Organs

3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions

奎婁七魄藏肺。井鬼天罡柳星張翼軫白元尊居之。胃昴畢觜参

3.1.1b. Inscription

肺神形如白虎、象如懸磬。居五臟之上、對胞若覆蓋、故為華蓋。神名皓華、字虚成。重三斤三兩。六葉兩耳、總計八葉。肺為脾子、為腎母。内藏七魄、如嬰兒。名曰尸狗、伏屍、雀隂、呑賺(賊)、非(飛)生母(毒)、除穢、羣臭、乃七名也。鼻為之官、左為庚、右為辛。在炁為咳。在液為涕。在形為皮毛也。上通炁至腦、下通炁至脾中、是以諸炁属肺。肺為呼吸之根。黄庭云｢喘息、呼吸依不快、急存白元、和六氣。｣ 3.1.2. Heart

心神形如朱雀、象如倒懸蓮華。能變水為血也。神名丹元、字守靈。重十二兩。對鳩尾下一寸。色如縞映絳、中有七孔三毛。上智之人、心孔通明。中智之人、五孔心穴通炁。下智無孔、炁明不通。心為肝子、為脾母。舌為之宮厥(官)。竅通耳、左耳為丙、右耳為丁。液為汗、腎邪入心則汗溢。其味甘。小腸為之腑、與心合。黄庭経曰｢心部之宅蓮含花(葉)、下有童子丹元家。｣童子即心神也。心下為絳宮。 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions

無英公子居之。中地胆角元(亢) 氐房心尾箕三魂藏肝。 3.1.3b. Inscription

肝神形如青龍象、字含明。象如懸匏。少(小)近心、左三葉、右四葉。胆附短葉下。重四斤四兩。為心母、為腎子。肝中有三魂、名曰爽靈、台(胎)光、幽精。目為之宮(官)。左目為甲、右目為乙。男子至六十、肝炁衰、肝葉薄、膽漸減、目即昏。在形為筋。肝脉合於木、魂之臟也。於液為淚、腎邪入肝、故多淚。膽為肝之腑、膽與肝合也。黄庭経云｢和制魂魄、津液平、外應眼、目日月精、百疴(痾)所鍾、存無英、用同、七日自充盈。｣ 3.1.4. Spleen

脾属中央土、旺於四季、為黄帝。神形如鳳。象如覆翼。名常在、字魂庭。正掩臍上、横於胃、坤之炁、土之精也。居心下三寸。重一斤二兩、濶三寸、長一尺。脾為心子、為肺母。外通眉。口為之宮。其神多嫉。脾無定形、主土、隂也、故脾為五臟之樞。開竅於口。在形為頰。脾脉出於隠白、乃肉之本意處也。黄庭経云｢治人百病、消谷糧、黄良(衣)紫帯、龍虎章。｣ 3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions

左玄腎門右牝命門

銀河湧谷道

樞機

瓊池

泉谷水

琉池玉爐


腎屬北方水、於卦屬坎。形似玄鹿兩頭、名玄冥、字育嬰。象如卵石子、生對臍墜[月數](腰) 脊。重二斤一兩。主分水氣、灌注一身、如樹之有根。左曰腎、右曰命。生炁之府、死炁之門、如守之則存、用之則竭。為肝母、為肺子。耳為之宮(官)。天之生我、流氣而變、謂之精。精氣往來、為之神。神者腎藏其情(精)者(志)。左属壬、右属癸。在辰為子亥。在氣為吹。在液為唾。在形為骨。経於上焦、榮於上(中)焦、衛於下焦。黄庭云｢腎部之宮玄関(闕)圓、中有童子 | 冥 | 上玄、主諸六炁、臟液源、外應兩耳、百津液。｣ 3.1.5c. Inscription 2

内腎者兩儀也。中間有連環、是我真精。内藏赤白二炁。在母腹中、未有此身、先有此穴。因有此穴、始生此身。左為玄陽、右為牝隂。中穴實我後天之相(精)海、又為真鉛。佛名趙州狗、儒名太極。道云玄水郷鉛、乃北方肅殺正氣、紫河車。順則生人、逆則成仙。一名漕溪。一名祖宮。通上下二眼、降華池。在舌内出、名玉泉。 3.1.5d. Inscription 3

桃康、合延君、頂蓮花。冠衣朱衣、如真人状。住腎宮。有碧紫黄白綠青赤蒼之炁、乃北方八天所化也。 3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat

舌下二竅、名玄膺。後名咽、吞下一切飲食。前名喉、十二節、為十二重樓、通連河(精)氣者也。 3.2.2. Gallbladder

膽者金之精、水之氣。其色青、在肝短葉下。膽者敢也。膽大者必不驚。神名龍耀、字威明。形如龜蛇混形、其象如懸袋。重三兩三銖。為肝之腑。若㨿膽當不在五臟之内、應歸於六腑、因膽亦受水氣、與坎同道。又不可同於六腑、故別立膽臟。合於膀胱、亦主毛髮。黄庭経曰｢主諸氣力掛(攝)虎兵、外應眼瞳鼻柱間、脳髮相扶、亦倶鮮、九色錦衣綠華裙。｣ 4. Elixir Fields 4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace)

降(絳)宮、中一穴、實我性也。一名離卦、一名午時。又號南宮。受煉神室之所。又名姹女。一名真隂、又名碧眼胡兒。在方為南。上所有掩骨覆之、醫家名為鳩尾。退此後九天思慮之神、又云龍從火裏出是也。 4.2. Lower Elixir Field

此田中炁、左青、右黄、下黒、上白。下丹田、真虎、坎、嬰兒處、扶桑宮、氣海、水晶宮、牝戸。中間一穴、實我真精命蒂。在上一寸三分、實造化之所、天地之根。白頭老子青玄之處、實我命造化山川也。真一處、水中金、號金精、實我先天之至精。又云虎向水中生、一陽復初、子時、海底月、人明、初生我根基。此數名。修真之子、不可不知也。

5. Three Passes 5.1. Upper Pass

玉枕関、此處一名陽宮玉京山、天柱、木(太)乙穴、雷霆宮。大椎骨前寸較處來也。寔上天遂行之徑路也。内黄龍例(倒)以捲上、冲(沖)湘江水、上下通徹。此緊、隂(陽)神守。閉関至必用陽炁、度方能冲(沖)通、化應真炁。至鵲橋而牛女桂(相)會、育争(胎)嬰兒。 5.2. Middle Pass

夾脊雙関、實神仙升降之徑路。是我身脉、即膏肓穴道。曰雙関、内轆轤在中。左為太陽、右為太隂。陽升路血、通天柱穴、又名内雙林、通外雙林、陽関脉状(伏)。此穴薰蒸関竅、湧泉、上通泥丸、絡接降(絳)宮、華池。取水降于華盖、五行之所、下丹田命帝(蒂)之内。 5.3. Lower Pass

尾閭関、一名九竅、又名九頭獅子、又名太子射九重鉄鼓。隂関固関(閉)、常年不能開、名九重鉄鼓。太子純陽炁也、能醍醐灌頂、方能穿通、故曰射九重鉄鼓。乃上天之徑路也。一名地軸神門、又名朝天嶺。一名龍虎穴、一名三又(叉)。腎内有金鼎、内外相通、其三路上沂(通)夾脊、直透頂門而上泥丸、通一身之骨髓也。酆都 6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li)

南昌上宮絡(絳)宮呼接天根。心不動、炁自固。炁☲ 就己朱陵火府 6.2. South (K'an)

斗牛女虚寒靈丹殿流戊身不動、精自固。精☵ 己下丹玄武煞炁危室壁逆則聖、順則凡。 6.3. East (Chen)

☲(☳) 一名東海青龍。甲方。木液。在封(卦)属震。在方属東。在五行属木。在道為魂、性也。属火神之母。在五臟属肝。在天為日。實我魂室之所也。

6.4. West (Tui)

☱ 一曰西山白虎。庚位。金精。在卦屬兌。在方屬西。在五行屬金。在道為魄、情也。屬水精之母。在臓腑為肺。在天為月。實我魄室之所也。 6.5. Center (Ch'ien)

黄庭中刀圭 ☰ 土釜魁

[鬼勾]

[鬼雚]

䰢

魓

[鬼甫]

魒

意不動、神自靈。 7. Extraordinary Vessels

陽踰任脉隂

陽蹻隂腧 8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods In bottom-to-top order

1 冬至 5 雨水 9 穀雨 13 夏至 17 處暑 21 霜降

2 小寒 6 驚蟄 10 立夏 14 小暑 18 白露 22 立冬

3 大寒 7 春分 11 小滿 15 大暑 19 秋分 23 小雪

4 立春 8 清明 12 芒種 16 立秋 20 寒露 24 大雪 9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle

初一初六十一十六廿一廿六

初二初七十二十七廿二廿七

初三初四初八弦初九十三十四十八十九廿三弦廿四廿八廿九

初五初十十五望二十廿五三十晦

Chinese Text Original Arrangement 1. Introduction

穴以三又爐四有寸肝三至喉中為一關溪尾人此至分曰即分八六也寸於謂有洞竅也又閭之人膝此下任而寸分白六心之兩房乃前名在一身下處丹脉何四故元分心咽竅再藏有黄夾身相三有田下臍分曰居名上乃通入神三河脊有通里二乃有門天天右曰有接喉一之田乃之三之穴竅藏九號心上肺土骨飲謂寸所泥陽下百關再通精竅曰三三也釜名食之為眉丸升盡六竅下於之即生寸十亦黄為通鵲泥心土之頭十也至内所地門六六空庭鳩腸橋丸入釜路處骨湧腎採獄有分地一穴尾胃喉眉内玉直關節泉腎藥酆七地下寸也心者是心正池至可八中之都竅腎三二乃下也頸之中是兩通萬有處是通三十分中有其骨下之也腎内四竅左也於寸六乃丹穴喉乃謂處泥對腎千通明又外六自藏田名有内之天丸處之毛於堂曰腎分天氣左曰十外鼻門為為竅孔尾右氣乃中至之有絳二之柱入上夾從後閭洞海精有地所明宮節氣又内丹脊此有由房稍神丹八煉堂乃號所名一田又關三尾亦下漏田萬氣右龍曰由雷寸方上起關閭空一洩一四之有虎重出霆為圓至一尾通一寸之寸千鼎洞交樓入府明一腦條閭兩穴三竅二里直房會直者金堂寸為髓夾腎方分名分自下無之下也橋再二玉路脊堂圓曰曰非心至英處肺後下入分枕號玉一玉偃八至臍居直竅有至一虚此曰枕寸池月寸腎三左下以軟口寸開三漕也

2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)

一寸

之服

高真

九辨

腦有

天

至

皆象炁色飛輕

房有

真九真

真玉帝宮玄穹

神真

存不九想滅九泥之真道

元命真人

真

泥丸宮

真太真虗

上真玄

神

真仙

☰

2.1.2. Head 2.1.2a. Captions

神光

現珠

督脉

☴

九霄

天庭

神太乙

明堂天目九霄雷府中漿

天寶

靈

醐醍泥丸

紫微

玄母

人承

奉事斗為舌之母

一神專告七王

喉為輔舌為弼

樓頭鼓

2.1.2b. Inscription

崑崙是也釋曰須彌山修真之子不可不知也

我神室泥丸九竅乃天皇之宮中間一穴形如雞子状似

2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus

千主臍精人為也性左命門司太一乙身神一君萬居二之生門

玉泉又號華池舌下有四竅二竅通心為液兩竅通腎為

關相對其間有督脉乃是人之根本名上九竅一名性根

有舌舌内有金鎖關與舌相對人名鵲橋鼻下人中穴與

玉帝宮又名純陽天宮中空一穴名玄穹主又名元神宮

有九穴以按天上九宮腦骨八片以應八方一名彌羅天

天有九宮地有九州人下丹田有九竅以象地之九州泥

2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)

無間地獄

鑊湯地獄

風雷地獄

屠割地獄

溟冷地獄

普掠地獄

金剛地獄

火車地獄

銅柱地獄


引仙之門

機関之竅

送聖人以此飛形

愚人以此殺身

仙北

槖

生極

門

籥

降魔慧劍所

2.2.4. Lower Extremities

湧泉穴

泉湧

三里穴

穴里三

3. Internal Organs 3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions

胃昴畢觜参

白元尊居之

七魄藏奎肺婁

井鬼罡天星張

翼

柳軫

3.1.1b. Inscription

庭云喘息呼吸依不快急存白元和六氣

下通炁至脾中是以諸炁属肺肺為呼吸之根黄

炁為咳在液為涕在形為皮毛也上通炁至腦

穢羣臭乃七名也鼻為之宮左為庚右為辛在

七魄如嬰兒名曰尸狗伏屍雀隂呑賺非生母除

兩六葉兩耳總計八葉肺為脾子為腎母内藏

故為華蓋神名皓華字虚成重三斤三

肺神形如白虎象如懸磬居五臟之上對胞若覆蓋

3.1.2. Heart

心神也心下為絳宮

宅蓮含花下有童子丹元家童子即

腸為之腑與心合黄庭経曰心部之

液為汗腎邪入心則汗溢其味甘小

之宮厥竅通耳左耳為丙右耳為丁

炁明不通心為肝子為脾母舌為

之人五孔心穴通炁下智無孔

三毛上智之人心孔通明中智

一寸色如縞映絳中有七孔

字守靈重十二兩對鳩尾下

華能變水為血也神名丹元

心神形如朱雀象如倒懸蓮

3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions

三魂藏肝

心尾箕

氐房

角元

中地胆

無英公子居之

3.1.3b. Inscription

用同七日自充盈

液平外應眼目日月精百疴所鍾存無英

之腑膽與肝合也黄庭経云和制魂魄津

之臟也於液為淚腎邪入肝故多淚膽為肝

葉薄膽漸減目即昏在形為筋肝脉合於木魂

目為之宮左目為甲右目為乙男子至六十肝炁衰肝

葉下重四斤四兩為心母為腎子肝中有三魂名曰爽靈台光幽精

肝神形如青龍象字含明象如懸匏少近心左三葉右四葉胆附短

3.1.4. Spleen

人百病消谷糧黄良紫帯龍虎章

形為頰脾脉出於隠白乃肉之本意處也黄庭経云治

無定形主土隂也故脾為五臟之樞開竅於口在

脾為心子為肺母外通眉口為之宮其神多嫉脾

土之精也居心下三寸重一斤二兩濶三寸長一尺

如覆翼名常在字魂庭正掩臍上横於胃坤之炁

為黄帝神形如鳳象

脾属中央土旺於四季

3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions

右河銀牝命門機樞

瓊池

池

泉谷水

湧爐玉谷道

流

左玄腎門


應兩耳百津液

庭云腎部之宮玄関圓中有童子上玄主諸六炁臟液源外

氣為吹在液為唾在形為骨経於上焦榮於上焦衛於下焦黄

往來為之神神者腎藏其情者左属壬右属癸在辰為子亥在

竭為肝母為肺子耳為之宮天之生我流氣而變謂之精精氣

有根左曰腎右曰命生炁之府死炁之門如守之則存用之則

石子生對臍墜脊重二斤一兩主分水氣灌注一身如樹之

腎屬北方水於卦屬坎形似玄鹿兩頭名玄冥字育嬰象如卵

3.1.5c. Inscription 2

正名右氣趙為紫州牝先我内河狗隂有真腎車儒中此精者順名穴穴内兩則太實因藏儀宮生極我有赤也内通人道後此白中出上逆云天穴二間名下則玄之始炁有玉二成水相生在連泉眼仙郷海此母環降一鉛又身腹是華名乃為左中池漕北真為未在溪方鉛玄有舌一肅佛陽此名殺身祖

3.1.5d. Inscription 3

所赤腎冠化蒼宮衣也之有朱炁碧衣乃紫如北黄真方白人八綠状天青住

合延君桃頂康蓮花

3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat

氣重十食者樓二前也通節名連為喉河十二

吞下一切飲

膺竅舌後名下名玄二咽

3.2.2. Gallbladder

應於膽兩必膽眼膀亦三不者瞳胱受銖驚金鼻亦水為神之柱主氣肝名精間毛與之龍水脳髮坎腑耀之髮黄同若字氣相庭道㨿威其扶経又膽明色亦曰不當形青倶主可不如在鮮諸同在龜肝九氣於五蛇短色力六臟混葉錦掛腑之形下衣虎故内其膽綠兵別應象者華外立歸如敢裙膽於懸也臟六袋膽合腑重大因三者


慮之神又云龍從火裏出是也

掩骨覆之醫家名為鳩尾退此後九天思

名真隂又名碧眼胡兒在方為南上所有

時又號南宮受煉神室之所又名姹女一

降宮中一穴實我性也一名離卦一名午

4.2. Lower Elixir Field

修真之子不可不知也

明初生我根基此數名

生一陽復初子時海底月人

先天之至精又云虎向水中

真一處水中金號金精實我

青玄之處實我命造化山川也

實造化之所天地之根白頭老子

一穴實我真精命蒂在上一寸三分

處扶桑宮氣海水晶宮牝戸中間

黒上白下丹田真虎坎嬰兒

此田中炁左青右黄下


應真炁至鵲橋

関至必用陽炁度

上下通徹北

嬰兒會而方育牛能緊争女冲隂桂通神化守閉

内黄龍例以

捲上冲湘江水

也寔上天逆

行之徑路也

大椎天此骨柱處前木一乙名玉穴陽枕宮関

寸雷玉較霆京處宮山來

☶

5.2. Middle Pass

関通華竅外之池湧雙所取泉林下水上陽丹降通関田于泥脉命華丸状帝盖絡此之五接穴内行降薰宮蒸

雙路太林血陽膏通右肓神天為穴仙柱太道升穴隂曰降夾又陽雙之脊名升関徑雙内内路関轆是實轤我在身中脉左即為

5.3. Lower Pass

又内名重沂有朝鉄也年子通夾金天鼓能不射九一脊鼎嶺乃酆醍能九竅身直内一上都醐開重又尾之透外名天灌名鉄名閭骨頂相龍之頂九鼓九関髓門通虎徑方重隂頭一也而其穴路能鉄関獅名上三一也穿鼓固子泥路名一通太関又丸上三名故子常名又地曰純太腎軸射陽神九炁門

6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li)

朱陵火府

炁

絡宮

自固

就己

炁 ☲

心不動

南昌上宮呼接天根

6.2. South (K'an)

危室壁

精玄武煞炁

順則凡

已精自固

下丹

☵

流戊身不勤

寒靈丹殿

斗牛女虚

逆則聖

6.3. East (Chen)

天為日實我魂室之所也

也属火神之母在五臟属肝在

属東在五行属木在道為魂性

甲方木液在封属震在方

☲ 一名東海青龍

6.4. West (Tui)

☱

月實我魄室之所也

之母在臓腑為肺在天為

屬金在道為魄情也屬水精

在卦屬兌在方屬西在五行

一曰西山白虎庚位金精

6.5. Center (Ch'ien)

䰢魓

中

黄庭

魁

魒圭刀神自靈

意不動

☰ 釜土


陽踰

陽蹻

脉任

隂

隂腧


雪大雪小冬立降霜露寒分秋露白

暑處

秋立

暑大

暑小

至夏

種芒滿小夏立雨穀

明清分春蟄驚水雨春立寒大寒小至冬


Diagram of Cultivating Perfection 1. Introduction 人之一身

有三百六十骨節

八萬四千毛孔

There are three hundred [and] sixty bones [and] joints,1 [and] eighty-four thousand pores [in] the human body.2

後有三關

尾閭

夾脊

玉枕也

There are three passes3 at the back: the Gate of Tail, Spinal Handle,4 [and] Jade Pillow.

尾閭在夾脊之下盡頭處

關可通内腎之竅

The Gate of Tail is at the bottom of the vertebral column, at its very end; [this] pass connects with the apertures of internal kidneys.5

從此關起一條髓路

號曰漕溪

A thin pathway of marrow6 originates from this pass, [its] appellation7 is the Rivulet.8

又名黄河

乃陽升之路

[It is] also known as Yellow River [and it is] the pathway [through which] the yang [energy] ascends.

直至兩腎(肩)對處為夾脊

又上至腦

為玉枕

[It] directly goes [up] to the point between the two shoulders,9 [or] the Spinal Handle, [and] then goes [up] to the brain [where] the Jade Pillow is [found].

此三關也 These are the three passes.

前有三田

泥丸

土釜

玉池是也

In the front there are three fields; [these are] the Muddy Pellet,10 Earthen Crucible,11 [and] Jade Pond.12

泥丸為上丹田

方圓一寸二分

The Muddy Pellet is the upper elixir field [and it] is one and two-tenths [of an] inch13 in diameter.

虚開一竅

乃藏神之所

[This] hollow opens to a cavity, this is where the shen is stored.

眉心入内正中之處天門 At the exact center of the space between the [two] eyebrows [there is] the Heavenly Gate.14

入内一寸為明堂 Going one inch inward, [there] is the Bright Hall.15

再入一寸為洞房 Another inch inward [from this point] is [situated] the Cavern Chamber.16

再入一寸為泥丸 [Still] another inch inward is [where] the Muddy Pellet [is found].

眉心之下謂之鼻柱

又名雷霆府

[The place] below the [point] where the two brows meet is called the pillar of nose;17 [it is] also known as the Palace of Thunderclap.18

金橋下至口中有兩竅通喉

謂之鵲橋

Under the Golden Bridge,19 inside the mouth, there are two cavities connecting with the throat; [they are] called the Magpie Bridge.20

喉是頸骨

乃内外之氣所由出入者也

Throat is [situated on] the neck bone, [it] is where the internal [and] external energies go in and out [of the body].

後有軟喉謂之咽 At the back there is the soft [part of the] throat, it is called the pharynx.

乃接飲食

通腸胃者也

What [we] drink [and] eat mixes up [here and] passes [downward] to the intestines [and] stomach.

其喉有十二節

號曰重樓

The throat has twelve rings, [its] appellation is the Tiered Tower.21

直下肺竅

以至於心

Directly below [the throat there is] the aperture of the lungs which leads to the heart.

心上有骨

名為鳩尾

There is a bone above the heart, [it is] called Turtledove's Tail.22

心下有穴

名曰絳宮

乃龍虎交會之處

Below the heart there is a cave23 called the Crimson Palace;24 it is where the dragon [and] tiger unite.

直下三寸六分

名曰土釜

黄庭穴也

乃中丹田

Directly below, three [and] six-tenths [of an inch away from it, is a place] called the Earthen Crucible; it is the cave of Yellow Court, that is, the middle elixir field.

左有明堂

右有洞房

[To its] left is situated the Bright Hall,25 [to its] right there is the Cavern Chamber.26

無英居左

肝也

Blossomless27 dwells [to its] left, [in] the liver.

白元居右

肺也

White Prime dwells28 [to its] right, [in] the lungs. 27

亦空一寸二分

乃藏氣之所

煉氣之鼎

Furthermore, one [and] two-tenths [of an inch inside this] hollow is where the ch'i is stored; [this is] the cauldron of refinement of ch'i.

直下至臍

三寸六分

Directly below it, [at a distance of] three [and] six-tenths of an inch, is the navel.

故曰｢天上三十六

地下三十六

Therefore [it is] said, "Thirty-six29 [in] the heaven above, thirty-six [on] the earth below.

自天至地八萬四千里

自心至腎有八寸四分｣

From heaven to earth [it is] eighty-four thousand miles30 and from the heart to the kidneys [it is] eight [and] four-tenths [of an inch]."31

天心三寸六分

地腎三寸六分

Heavenly heart is [found at a distance of] three [and] six-tenths [of an inch and] earthly kidneys are [found at a distance of] three [and] six-tenths [of an inch].

中有丹田一寸二分 [In] the middle [of them] there is the elixir field [which] is one [and] two-tenths [of an inch in diameter].

非八寸四分而何 [If it is] not eight [and] four-tenths [of an inch], then what [is it]?32

臍門號曰生門 The appellation of the gate of navel is the Gate of Life.33

有七竅

通於外腎

乃精神漏洩之竅

名曰偃月爐

即任脉

[It] has seven cavities; [one of these] connects with the external kidneys,34 [it] is the cavity of spirit's leaking out; [it is] called the Crescent Moon Furnace,35 that is, the Conception Vessel.

下有九竅

即地獄酆都是也

Below [it] there are nine cavities [which] make up the Capital of Hell.36

又曰氣海 [It is] also called the Sea of Energy.37

稍下一寸三分

曰玉池

[The place] slightly below it, [at a distance of] one [and] three-tenths [of an inch], is called the Jade Pond.

又曰下丹田

乃藏精之所

採藥之處

[It is] also known as the lower elixir field and [this is] where the ching is stored [and] the medicine [is] collected.

左明堂

右洞房

[Its] left [side is] the Bright Hall [and its] right [is] the Cavern Chamber.

亦空一穴

方圓一寸三分

[There is] another hollow cave here [measuring] one [and] three-tenths [of an inch] square [in size].

此處有二竅

通於内腎

There are two cavities in this place, [which] connect with the internal kidneys.

腎中有竅

通於尾閭

Inside the kidneys there is a cavity [which] connects with the Gate of Tail.

由尾閭通兩腎堂

以至膝下三里穴

From the Gate of Tail [the energy channel] goes [down] to the two halls of the kidneys38 [and then] arrives at the Three Mile points39 below the knees.

再下至湧泉穴 It then goes further down [and terminates at] the Gushing Spring40 points.

此人身相通之關竅也 These are the passes [and] cavities of the human body [that are] connected with each other.

2. Major Body Segments 2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area 2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

高真至真太真虗真仙真玄真上真神真天真

High Perfected Supreme Perfected Great Perfected Void2 Perfected Immortal Perfected Unfathomable Perfected Superior Perfected Divine Perfected Heavenly Perfected3

腦有九辨

房有一寸

10. The brain has nine sections [and each of these] chambers are one inch [in diameter].4

不滅之道

存想泥九(丸)

11. The way of no-cessation is [found] in visualizing, [and] meditating on, the Muddy Pellet.5

九真之服

皆象炁色

飛輕

Garments of the Nine Perfected each represent the color [of their corresponding] pneumas,7 [this is why they can] fly [as if they are] weightless. 6

泥丸宮 12. Palace of the Muddy Pellet

元命真人 13. Original Destiny8 Perfected

玉帝宮玄穹(靈) 14. Mysterious Vault of the Jade Emperor's Palace9


醍醐

Rich liquid 1

2.

樓頭鼓

Tower Head Drum

3.

泥丸玄母靈天寶神紫微太乙九霄天庭現珠

Muddy Pellet

4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.

Mysterious Mother2 Numinous spirit3 Heavenly Treasure Shen4 Purple Tenuity5 Great One6 Nine Empyreans7 Heavenly Court8 Appearing Pearl

13. 神光

Divine Radiance9

14. 明堂

Bright Hall

15. 天目

Heavenly Eye10

16. 九霄雷府 Thunder Palace of the Nine Empyreans11

喉為輔舌為弼 17. The throat is Sustainer [and] the tongue is Straightener.12

一神專告七王

奉事斗為舌之母

One deity reports13 to the Seven Kings14 [and] serves15 the Dipper [as] the Mother of the tongue.16 18. 人中

Center of Man17

19. 承漿

Fluid Receptacle18

20. 督脉

Governor Vessel19

2.1.2b. Inscription

天有九宮

地有九州

There are nine palaces in heaven [and] nine continents on earth.1

人下丹田有九竅

以象地之九州

Man's lower elixir field has nine cavities, [which] are patterned after the nine continents of earth.

泥有九穴

以按天上九宮

The Muddy [Pellet] has nine caves, [which] accord with the nine palaces of heaven.2

腦骨八片

以應八方

The cranium is [made up of] eight bones3 [which] correspond to the eight directions.

一名彌羅天玉帝宮

又名純陽天宮

One of the names of the Muddy Pellet is the Jade Emperor's Palace in the All Canopy Heaven;4 [it is] also known as the Heavenly Palace of Pure Yang.5

中空一穴

名玄穹(靈)主

又名元神宮

[There is] a hollow cave in the center, [which is] called the Master of Mysterious Numinosity;6 [it is] also known as the Palace of the Primordial Spirit.7

有舌

舌内有金鎖關

與舌相對

人(又)名鵲橋

[Then] there is the tongue; inside the tongue there is the Golden Lock Gate,8 which is equal to the tongue; [it is] also9 known as the Magpie Bridge.

鼻下人中穴

與關相對

Below the nose [there is] the Center of Man point and facing it [there is] the [Golden Lock] Gate.

其間有督脉 Between them there is the Governor Vessel.

乃是人之根本

名上九竅

Truly, these are the roots10 of the human being; [they are] called the upper nine cavities.11

一名性根玉泉

又號華池

One of the names [of the tongue] is the Jade Spring of Innate Nature Roots,12 also [its] appellation is the Flowery Pond.13

舌下有四竅

二竅通心

為液

Below the tongue there are four cavities; two of them connect with the heart, forming a humor.

兩竅通腎

為我(氣)

The [other] two cavities connect with the kidneys, forming the vapor.14

神室泥丸九竅

乃天皇之宮

The Divine Chamber,15 Muddy Pellet [and] nine cavities, these are the palaces of the Heavenly August.

中間一穴

形如雞子

状似崑崙是也

There is a cave in the middle [which is] shaped like an egg; [its] form resembles16 the Mount K'un-lun.17

釋曰須彌山 The Buddhists call it Mount Sumeru.18

修真之子

不可不知也

Disciples who cultivate perfection must know these. 2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities 2.2.1. Umbilicus

臍為左(生)門 The navel is the Gate of Life.1

太乙神君居之 Great One2 Divine Lord resides here.

主人性命 [He is] the host of the innate nature [and] life-destiny.3

司一身一萬二千精也 [He] directs the entire body's twelve thousand spirits.4

生門 Gate of Life5 2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

銅柱地獄火車地獄金剛地獄普掠地獄溟冷地獄屠割地獄風雷地獄鑊湯地獄無間地獄

Copper Pillar Hell Fire Chariot Hell2 Diamond[-like] 3 Hell All-Plunder Hell Icy-Cold Hell Kill[-and-]Cut Hell Wind [and] Thunder Hell Cauldron of Molten [Iron] Hell4 Endless Hell5


機関之竅

引仙之門

1. Cavity of the Pivotal Pass1 is the gate for inviting immortality.

槖籥 2. Bellows2

送仙生門

北極降魔慧劍所

3. Gate of Life3 [that] delivers immortality is where the Northern Pole4 demon-subduing sword of wisdom5 [is found].

愚人以此殺身

聖人以此飛形

4. Fools kill themselves with it, [while] sages sublimate [their] bodies with it.6 2.2.4. Lower Extremities 1. 湧泉穴

Gushing Spring point1

2. 湧泉

Gushing Spring

3. 三里穴

Three Miles point2

4. 三里穴

Three Miles point

3. Internal Organs 3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang) 3.1.1. Lungs 3.1.1a. Captions 1. 奎婁

Astride, Mound1

2. 七魄藏肺

The seven p'o2 are stored3 in the lungs.

3. 井鬼柳星張翼軫

Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, Carriage4

4. 天罡

Heavenly Dipper5

5. 白元尊居之

Venerable White Prime dwells here.

6. 胃昴畢觜参

Stomach, Pleiades, Net, Beak, Orion.6

3.1.1b. Inscription

肺神形如白虎

象如懸磬

The deity of the lungs has the shape of the White Tiger;1 [the lungs] appear like a hanging musical stone.2

居五臟之上

對胞若覆蓋

故為華蓋

[They] dwell on top of the five viscera3 [and] envelop them like a cover, therefore [they] are [called] the Flowery Canopy.4

神名皓華

字虚成

[Their] deity is called Luminous Flower,5 [its] given name is Attainment of Emptiness.6

重三斤三兩 [They] weigh three pounds7 [and] three ounces.8

六葉兩耳

總計八葉

[They have] six petals [and] two ears, [thus] eight petals in total.9

肺為脾子

為腎母

The lung is the child of the spleen [and] the mother of the kidneys.

内藏七魄

如嬰兒

The seven p'o are stored inside the lungs like infants.

名曰尸狗

伏屍

雀隂

呑賺(賊)

非(飛)生母(毒)

除穢

羣臭

乃七名也

[They are] called Corpse Dog, Ambushing Corpse,10 Bird Darkness, Devouring Robber,11 Flying Poison,12 Massive Pollution, [and] Mob's Smell;13 thus [there are these] seven names.14

鼻為之官

左為庚

右為辛

The nose is its officer; the left [nostril] is keng 庚, [while] the right [nostril] is hsin 辛.16 15

在炁為咳 Among the pneumas the lungs correspond to coughing.17

在液為涕 Among the fluids18 [they] correspond to nasal mucus.19

在形為皮毛也 In the body [they] correspond to body hair.

上通炁至腦

下通炁至脾中

是以諸炁属肺

Flowing upward, the pneumas reach the brain and flowing downward, the pneumas enter the spleen, therefore all pneumas belong to the lungs.20

肺為呼吸之根 The lungs are the root of the breathing.

黄庭云｢喘息

呼吸依不快

急存白元

和六氣｣

[In] the [Scripture of the] Yellow Court21 [it is] said, "[When there is] panting [or] the breathing is not comfortable, immediately visualize the White Prime22 [and] the six energies [will be] harmonized."23 3.1.2. Heart

心神形如朱雀

象如倒懸蓮華

The deity of the heart is shaped like the Vermilion Bird; [the heart] appears like an inverted hanging lotus flower.1

能變水為血也 [It is] capable of transforming water [and] turning [it] into blood.

神名丹元

字守靈

Deity of the heart is called Elixir Origin,2 [its] given name is Guarding the Numen.3

重十二兩 [It] weighs twelve ounces.

對鳩尾下一寸 One inch below [the heart] is the Turtledove's Tail.4

色如縞映絳

中有七孔三毛

[The heart's] color is like white silk [lined with] shining crimson [and] inside [it] there are seven openings [and] three orifices.

上智之人

心孔通明

[In] men of superior wisdom, the orifices [of the heart] are pervaded with brilliance.

中智之人

五孔心穴通炁

[In] men of medium wisdom, [there are] five orifices [and] cave of the heart is connected with the pneumas.

下智無孔

炁明不通

[In] men of inferior wisdom, [there are] no orifices [and] the brilliance of the pneuma does not flow [through the heart].5

心為肝子

為脾母

The heart is the child of the liver [and] the mother of the spleen.

舌為之宮厥(官) The tongue is the officer of the heart.6

竅通耳

左耳為丙

右耳為丁

[An] opening connects with the ears; the left ear is ping 丙, [while] the right ear is ting 丁.7

液為汗

腎邪入心則汗溢

[Heart's] fluid is sweat;8 [when] the malignant [energy] of the kidneys enter the heart, the sweat spills.9

其味甘 The [heart's associated] taste is sweet.

小腸為之腑

與心合

[Its associated] receptacle10 is the small intestine and the heart is united [with it].11

黄庭経曰｢心部之宅蓮含花(葉)

下有童子丹元家｣

[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court12 [it is] said, "The house13 of heart department14 is [like] a lotus bud [with] closed petals;15 [below it] there is the house of a young boy [named] Elixir Origin."

童子即心神也 The young boy is the deity of the heart.

心下為絳宮 Below the heart [there] is the Crimson Palace. 3.1.3. Liver 3.1.3a. Captions 1. 無英公子居之

Lordling Blossomless resides here.1

2. 中地胆

Middle earth gallbladder2

3. 角元(亢)

Horn, Neck3

4. 氐房心尾箕

Base, Room, Heart, Tail, Basket4

5. 三魂藏肝

The three hun5 are stored in the liver.

3.1.3b. Inscription

肝神形如青龍象

字含明

The deity of the liver is shaped like the Green Dragon;1 [its] given name is Containing Illumination.2

象如懸匏 [The liver] appears like a suspended bottle[-shaped] gourd.

少(小)近心

左三葉

右四葉

[It is] quite3 close [to] the heart; [it has] three petals [to] the left [and] four petals [to] the right.4

胆附短葉下 The gallbladder5 attaches to underneath [its] shorter petal.

重四斤四兩 [The liver] weighs four pounds [and] four ounces.

為心母

為腎子

[It is] the mother of the heart [and] the child of the kidneys.

肝中有三魂

名曰爽靈

台(胎)光

幽精

There are three hun6 in the liver known as the Invigorating Numinosity, Radiance of Womb,7 [and] Obscure Spirit.

目為之宮(官) The eyes are the officers8 [of the liver].9

左目為甲

右目為乙

The left eye is chia 甲 [while] the right eye is i 乙.10

男子至六十

肝炁衰

肝葉薄

膽漸減

目即昏

[When] a man11 reach sixty, [his] liver pneuma declines,12 petals of [his] liver [become] thinner, [his] gallbladder gradually withers, [and] his eyesight is dimmed.

在形為筋 In the body, [the liver] corresponds to the sinews.13

肝脉合於木

魂之臟也

The liver pulse is connected with Wood14 [and the liver is] the viscus of the hun.15

於液為淚

腎邪入肝

故多淚

Among the bodily fluids [the liver] corresponds to tears, [therefore, when] the malignant [energy] of the kidneys enter the liver, the tears are plenty.16

膽為肝之腑

膽與肝合也

The gallbladder is the receptacle of the liver,17 the gallbladder and the liver are united.

黄庭経云｢和制魂魄

津液平

外應眼

目日月精

[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court18 [it is] said, "[When] harmony is established [between] the hun [and] p'o, the bodily fluids are balanced;19 [on] the outer [part of the body, the liver] corresponds to the eyes, [thus] the sun [and] the moon are radiant.20

百疴(痾)所鍾

存無英

用同

七日自充盈｣

[When] all kinds of 21 diseases22 accumulate, [one must] maintain23 Blossomless;24 [since the liver] operates [the energies of] all [five viscera, in] seven days [the organs will be] filled by themselves."25 3.1.4. Spleen

脾属中央土

旺於四季

為黄帝

The spleen belongs to the center and Earth,1 [therefore] it is effulgent [throughout] the four seasons2 [and it is] the Yellow Emperor.3

神形如鳳 [Its] deity is shaped like the Phoenix.4

象如覆翼 [The spleen] resembles an upside-down wing.5

名常在

字魂庭

[Its deity is] called Eternal Existence,6 [its] given name is Court of Hun.7

正掩臍上

横於胃

坤之炁

土之精也

In the middle, the spleen covers the upper [part of the] navel, [it is] at the side of the stomach; [it is] the pneuma of the k'un [and] ching of the earth.

居心下三寸 [It] resides three inches below the heart.

重一斤二兩

濶三寸

長一尺

[It] weighs one pound [and] two ounces, [it is] three inches wide [and] one foot8 long.

脾為心子

為肺母

The spleen is the child of the heart [and] the mother of the lungs.

外通眉 On the outer [part of the body, it] connects with the eyebrows.

口為之宮 The mouth9 is its officer.10

其神多嫉 Its deity has much hatred.11

脾無定形

隂也

主土

故脾為五臟之樞

The spleen has no fixed position,12 [it] governs Earth13 [and] it is yin, therefore the spleen is the pivot of the five viscera.14

開竅於口 [It] opens into the orifice of the mouth.15

在形為頰 In the body [it] corresponds to the cheeks.

脾脉出於隠白

乃肉之本意處也

Spleen Meridian originates at the Hidden White16 [and] this is where the original intent17 of the flesh18 [is found].19

黄庭経云｢治人百病

消谷糧

黄良(衣)紫帯

龍虎章｣

[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court [it is] said, "It cures countless21 diseases of mankind [and] digests foods; [it has a] yellow gown22 [and a] purple belt,23 [it] regulates the dragon and tiger."24 20

3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System) 3.1.5a. Captions 1. 左玄腎門

The left is the Mystery,1 the Gate of Kidney

2. 右牝命門

The right is the Female,1 the Gate of Life-Destiny2

3.

(Three talismanic characters)3

4. 銀河

Silver River4

5. 樞機

Pivotal Mechanism5

6. 瓊池

Red Pond

7. 琉池

Pond of Precious Stone

8. 湧谷道

Way of Gushing Valley6

9. 泉谷水

Water of Fountain Valley7

10. 玉爐

Jade Furnace8


腎屬北方水

於卦屬坎

The kidneys1 belong to the direction north2 [and] Water;3 among the trigrams they correspond to k'an 坎.4

形似玄鹿兩頭

名玄冥

字育嬰

[They are] shaped like the Mysterious Deer5 [with] two heads; [their deity is] called Mysterious Dark6 [and its] given name is Nourishing the Infant.7

象如卵石子

生對臍墜[月數](腰)脊

[The kidneys] appear like egg-shaped pebbles; [they are located] opposite the navel, suspending from the lumbar spine.8

重二斤一兩 [They] weigh two pounds [and] one ounce.

主分水氣

灌注一身

如樹之有根

[They] govern the distribution of the energy of water, irrigating the entire body like roots of a tree.

左曰腎

右曰命

The [one on the] left is called kidney [and] the [one on the] right the [Gate of] Life-Destiny.9

生炁之府

死炁之門

如守之則存

用之則竭

[They are] the storehouses of living pneuma [and] the gate of dead pneuma;10 if [you] preserve them (i.e., the vital energies) [then they will] remain, [but if you over]use them [then they will] be drained.

為肝母

為肺子

The kidneys are the mother of the liver [and] the child of the lungs.

耳為之宮(官) The ears are the officers11 [of the kidneys].12

天之生我

流氣而變

謂之精

The Heaven gives life to us, [when] the current of energy is transmuted, it is called ching.

精氣往來

為之神

The ching-ch'i alternates [and] turns into shen.

神者腎藏其情(精)者(志) The shen; the kidneys store ching13 [and] the will.14

左属壬

右属癸

The left [kidney] corresponds to jen 壬, [while] the right corresponds to kuei 癸.15

在辰為子亥 Among the [twelve horary] branches [the kidneys] correspond to tzu 子 [and] hai 亥.16

在氣為吹 Among the [six] breaths17 [they] correspond to ch'ui 吹.18

在液為唾 Among the bodily fluids [they] correspond to saliva.

在形為骨 In the body [they] correspond to the bones.19

経於上焦

榮於上(中)焦

衛於下焦

The kidney ch'i regulates the upper section of the triple heater, nourishes the middle20 section of the triple heater, and protects the lower section of the triple heater.21

黄庭云｢腎部之宮玄関(闕)圓

中有童子 | 冥 | 上玄

[In] the [Scripture of the] Yellow Court22 [it is] said, "The palace of kidney23 department is [like] a dark portal24 [that is] round;25 inside there is a young boy26 [called] Upper Darkness.27

主諸六炁

臟液源

[The kidneys] govern the six pneumas28 [and] are the origin of the visceral fluids.29

外應兩耳

百津液｣

On the outer [part of the body, they] correspond to the ears;30 [they govern] numerous31 bodily fluids."32 3.1.5c. Inscription 2

内腎者兩儀也 The internal kidneys are the Two Principles.1

中間有連環

是我真精

Between them there is a link connecting them [and] this is our true essence.2

内藏赤白二炁 Inside, [it] contains two pneumas, red [and] white.

在母腹中

未有此身

先有此穴

[When we were] in the mother's abdomen, before [we] had this body, there was this cave.

因有此穴

始生此身

Because there was this cave, life has begun in this body.

左為玄陽

右為牝隂

The left [kidney] is mysterious yang [while] the right is feminine yin.3

中穴實我後天之相(精)海

又為真鉛

Inside the cavity, there is the Sea of Essence4 of True Self Later Heaven; [it is] also known as true lead.5

佛名趙州狗

儒名太極

[Its] Buddhist name is Chao-chou's dog,6 [while its] Confucian name is the Great Ultimate.7

道云玄水郷鉛

乃北方肅殺正氣

紫河車

Taoists call [it] the Native Lead of the Mysterious Water8 [and] also Right Ch'i of Chilling Life9 in the Direction North, [and] Purple River Chariot.10

順則生人

逆則成仙

Following [the course of nature] gives birth to [ordinary] men; going against [it one] becomes an immortal.11

一名漕溪 One of [its] names is the Rivulet.12

一名祖宮 [Its] another name is the Ancestral Palace.

通上下二眼

降華池

[It] connects with the top and bottom of the two eyes [and] descends into the Flowery Pond.13

在舌内出

名玉泉

From [the cavities below] the tongue comes out [a fluid] called the Jade Spring.14 3.1.5d. Inscription 3

桃康

合延君

頂蓮花

Peach Vigor;1 [his given name is] the Lord of Unity and Extension,2 [his another name is] Top of the Lotus Flower.3

冠衣朱衣

如真人状

[His] cap [and] garment are vermilion [in color and his] garment is like that of the perfected men.

住腎宮 [He] resides in the palace of the kidneys.

有碧紫黄白綠青赤蒼之炁

乃北方八天所化也

[It] has emerald, purple, yellow, white, green, blue-green, red, [and] azure pneumas; actually these are the transmutations of the Eight Heavens4 of the direction north. 3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu) 3.2.1. Throat

舌下二竅

名玄膺

Two cavities under the tongue are called Mysterious Breasts.1

後名咽

吞下一切飲食

[The one at the] back is called the pharynx2 [and] all that we eat [and] drink is swallowed down [through this aperture].

前名喉

十二節

為十二重樓

通連河(清)氣者也

[The one in the] front is known as the trachea;3 [its] twelve segments make up the Twelve-Storied Tower,4 [which] connects with pure ch'i.5 3.2.2. Gallbladder

膽者金之精

水之氣

The gallbladder [represents] the ching of Metal [and] ch'i of Water.

其色青

在肝短葉下

Its color is [dark] green [and it] lies beneath the liver's shorter petal.1

膽者敢也 The gallbladder is boldness.2

膽大者必不驚 When the gallbladder is big, [there] cannot be [any] fear.

神名龍耀

字威明

[Its] deity 3 is called Dragon Glory,4 [its] given name is Majestic Illumination.5

形如龜蛇混形

其象如懸袋

[The gallbladder is] shaped like the Turtle [and] Snake [whose] bodies are fused6 [and] it appears like a suspended sack.7

重三兩三銖 [It] weighs three ounces [and] one-sixteenth [of an ounce].8

為肝之腑 [It is] the receptacle [organ] of the liver.9

若㨿膽當不在五臟之内

應歸於六腑

因膽亦受水氣

與坎同道

If [we] rely on [the standard five phases theory, the gallbladder] should not be among the five viscera; [it] should be returned to [the category of] the six receptacles, because the gallbladder also receives energies of the fluids and [it has] the same path [as] k'an 坎.

又不可同於六腑

故別立膽臟

Furthermore, [it] cannot be [regarded as] the same with the six receptacles, therefore [it] stands alone [as] the gallbladder viscus.10

合於膀胱

亦主毛髮

[It is] connected with the bladder; [it] also governs the hair.

黄庭経曰｢主諸氣力掛(攝)虎兵 [In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court11 [it is] said, "[The gallbladder] governs all physical strength preserved12 by the tiger's army.

外應眼瞳鼻柱間 On the outer [part of the body, the gallbladder] corresponds to the eyes [and] pupils [and] the middle of the bridge of the nose.13

脳髮相扶

亦倶鮮

The brain [and] hair support each other; also, [the hair] becomes very bright.14

九色錦衣綠華裙｣ [The deity of the gallbladder wears] a nine-colored brocade dress [with] a green flower skirt."15


降(絳)宮

中一穴

實我性也

The Crimson1 Palace; inside [it there is] a cave [which is] the innate nature of the true self.

一名離卦

一名午時

One of [its] names is [trigram] li 離;2 [its] another name is Hour of Wu 午.3

又號南宮 Also, [its] appellation is Southern Palace.4

受煉神室之所 [It is] where the chamber for refinement of the shen5 is [found].

又名姹女 [Its] another name is Young Girl.6

一名真隂

又名碧眼胡兒

One of [its] names is True Yin; [its] another name is Blue-Eyed Foreign Child.7

在方為南 Among the directions, [it] is the south.

上所有掩骨覆之

醫家名為鳩尾

Above [this] place there is a covering bone [which] covers [it]; the physicians call [it] the Turtledove's Tail.

退此後九天思慮之神

又云龍從火裏出是也

Withdrawal [of the mind from] this [cavity leads to] mental activity [eaten up by] thoughts [and] worries8 of the Nine Later Heavens;9 [this is] also called the "dragon exiting from within the fire".10 4.2. Lower Elixir Field

此田中炁

左青

右黄

下黒

上白

The pneumas inside this field are blue-green on the left, yellow on the right, black on the bottom, [and] white on top.

下丹田

真虎

坎

嬰兒處

扶桑宮

氣海

水晶宮

牝戸

The lower elixir field is [also known as] True Tiger, [Earth of]2 K'an 坎, Infant's Place,3 Mulberry Palace,4 Sea of Energy,5 Water Crystal Palace, [and] the Door of the Feminine.6 1

中間一穴

實我真精命蒂

Inside [it] there is a cave, [which is] real ching7 of the true self [and] Life Stem.8

在上一寸三分

實造化之所

天地之根

One [and] one-tenth of an inch above [it] is the place of true generation [and] transformation9 [and] the root of the heaven and earth.

白頭老子青玄之處

實我命造化山川也

[It is] the place of white-headed Lao-tzu's black mystery, [and] the life-destiny of the true self creating10 mountains [and] streams.

真一處

水中金

號金精

實我先天之至精

[It is also called] the Place of True One, the Gold within Water; [its] appellation is Metal Essence,11 [it is also called] Supreme Ching of the Former Heaven of the True Self.

又云虎向水中生

一陽復初

子時

海底月

人明

初生我根基

[It is] also called the Tiger Facing Life within Water,12 One Yang Returning to Beginning,13 Tzu 子 Hour,14 Moon at the Bottom of the Sea,15 Human-Light,16 [and] Foundation of Primordial Self.17

此數名 [Thus it has] these several names.

修真之子

不可不知也

Disciples [who] cultivate perfection must know these.


玉枕関

此處一名陽宮玉京山

天柱

木(太)乙穴

雷霆宮

The Jade Pillow pass;1 one of the names of this place is Yang Palace on the Jade Capital Mountain,2 [it is also known as] the Heavenly Pillar,3 Cave of the Great4 One, [and] Thunderclap Palace.

大椎骨前寸較處來也 [It is found in] front of the big vertebral bone,5 [at an] inch distance [from it].

寔上天遂行之徑路也 Truly, [this is] the upward pathway [for] advancing 6 [and] ascending to Heaven.7

内黄龍例(倒)以捲上

冲(沖)湘江水

上下通徹

Inner Yellow Dragon8 turns upside down,9 rolls upward, surges into the waters of Hsiang River,10 [and] penetrates up and down.

此緊

隂(陽)神守

[As] this [pass] is tight,11 the yang spirit12 [must be] gathered.

閉関至必用陽炁

度方能冲(沖)通

化應真炁

[This] needs using yang pneuma [in order to] force [the pass] open, it is [then] transformed into true pneuma.13

至鵲橋而牛女桂(相)會

育争(胎)嬰兒

[When it] arrives at the Magpie Bridge,14 the Altair and Vega [stars]15 meet16 [and] nourish the infant.17 5.2. Middle Pass

夾脊雙関

實神仙升降之徑路

The Spinal Handle Dual Pass1 is truly the footpath of ascending to [and] descending from divine immortality.2

是我身脉

即膏肓穴道

It is our bodily pulse; [it] is the path of Kao-huang point.3

曰雙関

内轆轤在中

[It is] called the Dual Pass; Inner Windlass4 is found inside [this point].

左為太陽

右為太隂

[Its] left is the Great Yang, [while its] right is the Great Yin.

陽升路 | 血 |

通天柱穴

又名内雙林

通外雙林

陽関脉状(伏)

[It is] the path of ascension of yang [energy], it connects with the Heavenly Pillar6 point, [it is] also called Inner Double Grove,7 [which] connects with Outer Double Grove,8 [where] the vessel of yang pass is hidden.9 5

此穴薰蒸関竅

湧泉

上通泥丸

絡接降(絳)宮

華池

This point steams [energy] into passes [and] cavities, [and to] the Gushing Spring10 [below]; above, [it] connects with the Muddy Pellet, networks [and] connects with the Crimson11 Palace [and] the Flowery Pond.12

取水降于華盖

五行之所

下丹田命帝(蒂)之内

[There it] gathers water [and] descends to the Flowery Canopy,13 [then to] the place of the five phases [which is] inside the Life Stem14 [in] the lower elixir field. 5.3. Lower Pass

尾閭関

一名九竅

又名九頭獅子

又名太子射九重鉄鼓

The Pass of Gate of Tail;1 one of [its] names is Nine Cavities;2 [its] another name is Nine-Headed Lion;3 [it is] also called the Prince Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum.4

隂関固関(閉)

常年不能開

名九重鉄鼓

[This] yin pass is persistently blocked,6 often [it] cannot be opened [for] years, [therefore it is] named the Nine-Layered Iron Drum. 5

太子純陽炁也

能醍醐灌頂

方能穿通

故曰射九重鉄鼓

The Prince is pure yang pneuma; [he] can cause a rich liquid to pour into the top of the head7 [and] he can pierce through [the head], therefore [it is] called Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum.

乃上天之徑路也 Indeed [this is] the footpath [for] ascending to Heaven.8

一名地軸神門

又名朝天嶺

One of the names [of this pass] is the Gate of Earth Pivot Deity;9 [its] another name is Facing Up toward a Mountain Range.10

一名龍虎穴

一名三又(叉)

One of [its] names is Cave of Dragon and Tiger; [its] another name is Three-Forked [Bone].11

腎内有金鼎

内外相通

其三路上沂(通)夾脊

直透頂門而上泥丸

通一身之骨髓也

Inside the kidneys there is the Golden Cauldron,12 inside [and] outside are connected to each another; its three paths13 connect with14 the Spinal Handle15 [above], directly penetrate the Gate of Crown16 and then the Muddy Pellet above, [and] connect with the bone marrows of the entire body.

酆都 The Capital of Hell17

6. Five Cardinal Points 6.1. North (Li) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

南昌上宮絡(絳)宮呼接天根心不動炁自固炁 ☲ 就己朱陵火府

Upper Palace of the South Prosperity [Constellation]1 Crimson2 Palace Exhalation is uniting with the Root of Heaven.3 When the mind is immovable, the pneuma consolidates by itself.4 Pneuma5 (Trigram li) Approaching chi6 Fire Palace on the Vermilion Mound7

6.2. South (K'an) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

斗牛女虚寒靈丹殿流戊身不動精自固精 ☵ 己下丹玄武煞炁危室壁逆則聖順則凡

Dipper, Ox[-Boy], Maiden, Void1 Cold Numinosity Elixir Hall Flowing to wu2 When the body is immovable, the ching consolidates by itself.3 Ching

(Trigram k'an)4

Chi5 Lower elixir6 Noxious pneuma7 of the Mysterious Warrior8 Rooftop, House, Wall9 Going against [the course of nature] is [the way of] sages; following [it] is [the way of] ordinary men.10

6.3. East (Chen)

☲(☳)

(Trigram chen)1

一名東海青龍 One of [its] names is the Green Dragon of the Eastern Sea.

甲方 [It corresponds to] the direction of chia 甲.2

木液 Wood fluid.

在封(卦)属震 Among the trigrams3 [it] belongs to chen 震.

在方属東 Among the directions [it] belongs to the east.

在五行属木 Among the five phases [it] belongs to Wood.

在道為魂

性也

In the Tao [it] is the hun [and it corresponds to] the innate nature.4

属火神之母 [It] belongs to the mother of fire shen.5

在五臟属肝 Among the five viscera [it] belongs to the liver.

在天為日 In the heaven [it] is the sun.

實我魂室之所也 [It is] the location of the Chamber of the True Self's Hun.

6.4. West (Tui)

☱

(Trigram tui)1

一曰西山白虎 Some call [it] the White Tiger of the Western Mountains.2

庚位 [It occupies] keng 庚 position.

金精 Metal ching.3

在卦屬兌 Among the trigrams [it] belongs to tui 兌.

在方屬西 Among the directions [it] belongs to the west.

在五行屬金 Among the five phases [it] belongs to Metal.

在道為魄

情也

In the Tao [it] is the p'o [and it corresponds to] emotions.4

屬水精之母 [It] belongs to the mother of the water ching.5

在臓腑為肺 Among the viscera [and] receptacles [it] is the lungs.

在天為月 In the heaven [it] is the moon.

實我魄室之所也 [It is] the location of the Chamber of the True Self's P'o. 6.5. Center (Ch'ien) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

黄庭中刀圭 ☰ 土釜魁[鬼勾][鬼雚]䰢魓[鬼甫]魒意不動神自靈

Yellow Court1 Center2 Jade knife3 (Trigram ch'ien)4 Earthen Crucible5 K'uei, shao, huan, hsing, pi, fu, p'iao6 [When] the intent is immovable, the shen [turns into] numinosity by itself.7

7. Extraordinary Vessels 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

陽踰陽蹻任脉隂隂腧

Yang Entering [Vessel] Yang Heel [Vessel]2 Conception Vessel3 Yin Heel [Vessel]4 Yin Transport [Vessel]5

1


1

In bottom-to-top order

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24.

冬至小寒大寒立春雨水驚蟄春分清明穀雨立夏小滿芒種夏至小暑大暑立秋處暑白露秋分寒露霜降立冬小雪大雪

Winter Solstice

Tung-chih

Slight Cold

Hsiao-han

Great Cold

Ta-han

Beginning of Spring

Li-ch'un

Rain Water

Yü-shui

Excited Insects

Ching-che

Spring Equinox

Ch'un-fen

Clear [and] Bright

Ch'ing-ming

Grain Rains

Ku-yü

Summer Begins

Li-hsia

Grain Filling

Hsiao-man

Grain [in] Ear

Mang-chung

Summer Solstice

Hsia-chih

Slight Heat

Hsiao-shu

Great Heat

Ta-shu

Autumn Begins

Li-ch'iu

Limit of Heat

Ch'u-shu

White Dew

Pai-lu

Autumn Equinox

Ch'iu-fen

Cold Dew

Han-lu

Hoar Frost Descends

Shuang-chiang

Winter Begins

Li-tung

Slight Snow

Hsiao-hsüeh

Great Snow

Ta-hsüeh

9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30.

初一初二初三初四初五初六初七初八弦初九初十十一十二十三十四十五望十六十七十八十九二十廿一廿二廿三弦廿四廿五廿六廿七廿八廿九三十晦

First1 Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth, [upper] crescent moon2 Ninth Tenth Eleventh Twelfth Thirteenth Fourteenth Fifteenth, full moon3 Sixteenth Seventeenth Eighteenth Nineteenth Twentieth Twenty first Twenty second Twenty third, [lower] crescent moon4 Twenty fourth Twenty fifth Twenty sixth Twenty seventh Twenty eighth Twenty ninth Thirtieth, last day5

Stele Inscription

北京白雲觀藏板 Printing block is preserved at Beijing's White Cloud Temple.

Appendices Appendix A: Selected Passages The Hsiu-chen T'u Xiuzhen tu 修真圖: Diagram of Cultivating Perfection. Probably dating from the early 19th century, this is a diagram (tu 圖) depicting the Daoist body in terms of alchemical and cosmological principles. Versions of this diagram have been found in Guangdong, on Wudang shan 武當山 (Hubei), on Qingcheng shan 青城山 (Sichuan), and in Daoist monasteries in Beijing and Shanghai. It contains inscriptions in textual form, symbols of paradises, alchemical symbolism and practice descriptions, lunar phases, names of the twenty-eight constellations, and elements relating to thunder rites (leifa 雷法). (Komjathy, 2004) Complete Chart of the Regeneration of the Primary Vitalities To conclude this subject we present a wood-block broadsheet printed at Chhêngtu in Szechuan by one Tuan Fu 端甫 in 1922. Again we see the bodily microcosm, but not exactly sagittal of frontal, rather in the sitting lotus position yet what might be called passant regardant. The title of the chart (Fig. 1588) is especially significant in the present context – Hsiu Chen Chhüan Thu 修眞全圖 (Complete Chart of the Regeneration of the Primary Vitalities). The general idea of the diagram is much the same as that of the Nei Ching Thu 内經圖, but cruder and even more influenced by Buddhism. One notes immediately the tracheal rings, the pulmonary lobes Buddhicised into a lotus flower surmounting the heart, and on the right at the bottom the two kidneys. The great interest of the chart, however, is that it combines the Nei Ching Thu system with macrocosmic elements as in the Ming Ching Thu 明鏡圖 (Fig. 1551), especially the succession of lunar phases representing the constant cyclical changes of Yang and Yin chhi and i in the body, so much so indeed that the spinal column is marked with all the twenty-four fortnightly periods (chieh chhi 節氣) of the year. A very old feature is the appearance of the ching-chhi raising mechanisms (cf. p. 108), the lu chhê 鹿車, yang chhê 羊車 and niu chhê 牛車 being situated approximately at the places of the 'three gates' (san kuan 三關). The symbolical animals of the four directions of space (ssu hsiang 四象) are prominent on each side at the top, in accordance with Taoist physiological alchemy. But elsewhere there is much imagery of Buddhist character. The base of the body, for example, is represented as a sharp blade, near which is a horse and rider; we are told that fools ride to their deaths on this steed while sages mount it to become immortals – this is mirrored in the famous adage, marked just above, that proceeding accordance to Nature leads to death while following counter-Nature leads to immortality (shun tsê ssu, ni tsê hsien 順則死逆則仙).1 Just beside this is an open fan containing the names of nine Buddhist hells. Upwards again the reins and the heart are represented by two boys each marked with a suitable kua 卦, as one would expect, with Chhien kua in the Yellow Court; but on each side (and elsewhere in the diagram) we find complicated and unusual characters, the printed forms of the exorcistic talismans (fu 符). Lastly, a feature differing from the Nei Ching Thu is the greater use of medical terminology, a number of acupuncture points being indicated as well as the tu mo and jen mo tracts. Moreover in the panels of print at the sides there are relics of the older anatomical descriptions in which even standard weights of organs can be found mentioned. And although the nei tan microcosmos has been so much Buddhicised these panels still contain and expound several texts from the Huang Thing Ching. 1. This is a perspicuous reminiscence of the ancient practice of 'sending the semen upwards to nourish the brain' (cf. pp. 30, 197 ff.); or at least a meditational recall of it, conceived entirely in terms of chhi, and taking its place within a context of Buddhist vinaya celibacy.

(Needham 1983: 116, 118) The Hsiu-chen Ch'üan T'u The Hsiu Chen Chhüan Thu 修眞全圖 (Complete Chart of the Regeneration of the Primary Vitalities), a Chhêngtu wood-block broadsheet of the twenties. It combines the macrocosmic elements of the + 10thcentury Ming Ching Thu 明鏡圖 (Fig. 1551) with the Taoist physiology of the Nei Ching Thu 内經圖 (Fig. 1587). (Needham 1983: 117)

The Hsiu-chen T'u and Nei-ching T'u Building on earlier traditions, especially those of the Huangting jing, the neidan view of the human beings has often been represented in diagrams and illustrations. The most famous are the Neijing tu 内經圖 (Chart of the Inner Warp), whose main version dates from 1886 and is found in Beijing's Baiyun guan 白雲觀 (White Cloud Temple), and the more detailed Xiuzhen tu 修真圖 (Chart of the Cultivation of Perfection), transmitted in several versions (Pregadio and Skar: 2000) Inner Deities in the Hsiu-chen T'u Neidan has preserved visible traces of earlier practices in both of its best-known charts of the inner body, the Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu. The Neijing tu includes several divine beings in its representation of the "inner landscape," and the Xiuzhen tu explicates its visual map of the inner alchemical process with passages related to the Huangting jing (Pregadio, 2008) China and the Alternative Anatomy Although ancient civilizations such as Egypt, China, Babylonia, and India were producing some of history's first medical illustrations before 1500 B.C. (Netter, 1957) (Figure 16), many disregard these as contributions to the development of anatomy (MacKinney, 1965). "It is evident that the Chinese have not pursued in medicine a program calculated to lead them to any great success. They have undoubtedly been held back in this as in other spheres of knowledge by their extreme reverence for ancestral beliefs and customs," (Waye, 1973). Thus, the foundations of anatomical inquiry are traditionally attributed to the Ancient Greeks (Allbutt, 1921). From the Han dynasty (221 B.C. - 220 A.D.) to the 19th century, the West underwent revolutions in printing technology, art, anatomy, and medicine. Disproved theories were continually being replaced with new ones, a revered practice in the West. But, in China, little changed. Rather, history accumulated in layers; new thoughts co-existed with old ones. Chinese history's quintessential medical text, The Huang Di Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine), had amassed new theories since before 200 B.C. (Alphen and Aris, 1995) such that the most current medical knowledge always had roots centuries old. Similarly, illustrations remained so unchanged from their earliest symbolic representations that we wonder whether this reflects a lack of the observational skill the Greeks took centuries to perfect. More likely, it shows their concern was not, as it was for the Greeks, over the exact locations and appearances of particular structures; rather, it was on the ideas and deductions to be drawn from them. Ultimately, a chart of acupunctural points and the courses of qi within the body is just as successful in communicating the thought behind it as an illustration from Vesalius' Fabrica is in elucidating tissues such as muscles. Without the means for making concrete observations, the Chinese based their knowledge of anatomy on metaphor. They compared the body to their perceived universe, where health was a balance of Yin (negative, female energy), Yang (positive, male energy), and the Five Phases (earth, water, metal, fire, wood) (Alphen and Aris, 1995). Physicians of China, a country rooted in agriculture, likened the body to a plant. They described a flowering of the face, a body being nurtured by the zang (organs) and illness as a wilting, fading, limpness, shriveling, or desiccation (Kuriyama, 1999). The Chinese drew mystical numerical associations, called the Da shu, or "great numbers." It was no coincidence to the ancient Chinese, for example, that our four limbs matched the number of seasons and directions, and that in the one record of a human dissection on the body of the rebel Wangsun Qing, the hired butchers of his captor, Wang Mang, reported finding five zang (liver, gall bladder, heart, spleen, kidneys) corresponding to the five planets; 12 vessels circulating blood and air corresponding to the 12 rivers flowing toward the Central Kindgom; and 365 parts of the body, one for each day of the year (Lingshu 13/311). Internal organs were not regarded as distinct entities describable by shape, color or form; or as having distinct functions the way we consider legs suitable for walking and eyes useful for sight. Such things as thought and blood flow were not assigned origins in the brain and in the heart as they had been for the Ancient Greeks (Gordon, 1949). Neither were direct causes and effects acknowledged as when a nerve is cut, the arm falls limp, or when an artery is blocked, the pulse disappears. Rather, Chinese physicians saw unbiased power shifting among the body's parts; they drew indirect causes and effects for affected organs with larger spans of time between events. Thus, a weak spleen could lead to emaciation and a lung injury to a coarsening of the skin (Suwen 8/28 - a manuscript preserving the text of the Nanjing, first compiled during the Han Dynasty 221 B.C. - 220 A.D.). They conceived an imaginary organ system called "the three burning spaces," one of the six fu, distributed over upper, middle, and lower parts of the body, and representing heaven, earth, and man (Veith, 1973).

They had mastered the art of pulse diagnosis, well recorded in the Nanjing, (The Classic of Difficult Issues). Pressing the wrist lightly a physician could assess the state of the skin and pores and of the lungs that governed them. Pressing harder, he could determine the state of blood vessels. Still pressing harder, he gleaned information on the tendons and liver, and at the deepest level, he could know the condition of the kidneys and of the bones over which they presided (Figure 17). Illustrations of the pulse, or mo, place it within the theory of the Five Phases; they show links between the hollow pulse of fire, the floating pulse of metal, the slow beat of earth, the deep rhythms of water (Figure 18) (Kuriyama, 1999). What a Greek physician would have manually had to investigate in order to locate the source of illness, the Chinese physician would deduce by a mere look from the five characteristic colours, or wuse, on the body's surface. From these, he could tell whether a patient suffered pain (green or black), cold (white) or fever (red or yellow) (Kuriyama, 1999) (Figure 19). When the Chinese empire became unified and isolated states formed economic ties, the body became a metaphor for the state as well as a microcosm of the universe (Figure 4). It was seen as composed of depots and palaces connected by conduits. Invisible vapors called qi flowed through these conduits and maintained health, while obstruction caused illness (Alphen and Aris, 1995). Acupuncture was a way of influencing the bodily functions by redirecting the flow of qi within the conduits by various techniques of needle insertion. Developed in the 2nd century, it eventually replaced older procedures of bleeding, still a popular practice in the West at the time. Charts of the various directions and locations of qi traditionally show four views: front, back, side, and a view with organs (Alphen and Aris, 1995). These charts, created during the seven centuries between the Song period and the 19th century, demonstrate the ancient Chinese disregard for specific organ morphology (Figure 20). (Matuk, 2006) Taoist View of the Human Body as the Natural World An expanded vision of the body as the natural world appears in the medieval Daoist school of Highest Clarity (Shangqing 上清). According to this, the human body is not only a combination of natural patterns and energies but also an inner sphere containing supernatural landscapes and divine beings. The body is a complete world with mountains and rivers, a divine and cosmic realm, a paradise and residence of the gods. This understanding appears first in the Huangting jing 黄庭經 (Yellow Court Scripture), a visualization manual from the fourth century C.E. In a more recent visual depiction, it is found in the Neijing tu 内經圖 (Chart of Interior Passages). Here the celestial headquarters within is located in the head and matches the immortals' paradise of Mount Kunlun. It is depicted as a large, luscious mountain surrounded by a wide lake and covered with splendid palaces and wondrous orchards (see Fig. 2: Neijing tu). Between the eyes, which are the sun and the moon, one can move inside to the Hall of Light, one of nine palaces in the head. Best reached by passing through the deep, dark valley of the nose, it is guarded by the two high towers of the ears. To attain entry one has to perform the physical/ritual exercise of "beating the heavenly drum": with both palms covering the ears, snap the index and middle fingers to drum against the back of the skull. Underneath the valley of the nose is a small lake, i.e., the mouth. This regulates the water level of the upper lake in the head and raises or lowers it as necessary. Crossing the mouth-lake over its bridge (tongue) and moving further down, one reaches the twelve-storied tower of the throat, then comes to the Scarlet Palace (heart), the Yellow Court (spleen), the Imperial Granary (stomach), the Purple Chamber (gall), and various other starry palaces transposed into the body's depth. Going ever deeper, another cosmic region is reached, with another sun and moon (kidneys). Beneath them, the Ocean of Qi extends with another Mount Kunlun in its midst. Various divine beings, moreover, reside in the body, creating vitality and providing spiritual resources. The Daoist vision of the body as a network of celestial passageways and starry palaces closely overlaps with the medical understanding of the body as consisting of various aspects of qi and the phaseenergetics of the five organs and six viscera. Many acupuncture points have Daoist connotations, and Chinese healing practices and physical longevity exercises are at the root of Daoist practice. Without losing any aspect of the medical dynamics, the Daoist vision provides a more cosmic and spiritual dimension of the same basic understanding, allowing adepts to move beyond mundane existence toward a greater, more spiritual realm, reaching out for the gods in the stars and thereby for the Dao at the center. (Kohn, 2006: 8-10) Taoist View of the Human Body as the Natural World Reorienting the body to be the container of heavenly palaces and deities, to be in fact a cosmos in itself, adepts attain oneness in body and spirit with the cosmic dimensions of the universe. As all parts of the body are transformed into divine entities and firmly guarded by their responsible gods, the very physicality of the adept turns into a cosmic network and becomes the celestial realm in which the gods reside. Visualizing and feeling the gods within the bodily self, the Daoist becomes a more cosmic being, transforming but not relinquishing his physical, embodied nature. (Kohn, 2006: 11)

Appendix B: Charting a New Itinerary of Perfection in Medieval China: The Formation and Uses of the Diagram on Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu) Lowell Skar There was no such thing as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu), and this paper is about it. That statement, true enough until the eighteenth century, some two hundred years after the period I consider here, admits the existence, from the fourth century, of a rich and expanding set of ideas, practices, and writings under the rubric Cultivating Perfection (xiuzhen) (see diagrams 1-3). In its earliest incarnation among fourth-century literati around modern Nanking, this perfection complex centered on sensuously identifying gods of the body with cosmic deities through imagining and absorbing their astral embodiments. Moreover, while we know of no illustration that mapped the inner potential of a human being to attain perfection called Xiuzhen tu until several centuries later, there were, from the thirteenth century, diagrams that articulated human perfectibility from the inside out called the Diagram of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu 内境圖). These illustrations emerged from the same literati milieu in Fujian and Jiangxi that had reinterpreted Cultivating Perfection as an essentially alchemical process centered on the inner refinement of a human being's endowed primary vitalities. Variants of the diagram bearing this name became known, apparently from the eighteenth century, as Diagrams of Cultivating Perfection to distinguish them from the simpler illustration of the inner perfectibility that assumed the label Diagram of the Inner Channels (Neijing tu 内經圖) and, later, the Diagram of the Inner Effulgences or Landscape (Neijing tu 内景圖) (see diagram 4). Because it did not yet exist under its now common designation, this paper deals with what could be termed either a pre-history of the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu). Alternatively, it can be seen as a history of the early Diagram of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu 内境圖). However envisioned, the paper seeks to provide a perspective on the changing historical background and spiritual priorities of Chinese literati between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by exploring the formation, elaboration, and transformation of the ideas, practices, writings, and diagrams of what have come to be called Cultivating Perfection. The tentative suggestions presented here await further cycles of scholarly enrichment and refinement through such venues as the AAS. Unlike the anatomical drawings dominant in pre-modern Western medical literature, which focus on accurately depicting the human flesh and organs that mark man as a mortal, the Chinese diagrams explored here depict a schematized human being as an integral part of the cosmos and who contains the potential to achieve a distinctively Chinese form of perfection and immortality. Despite their common designations today as the Xiuzhen tu (Diagram of Cultivating Perfection) and Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Effulgences 内景圖) and the many structural parallels in their organization, appearance and aims, the two diagrams are distinct, and bore various names in earlier centuries. Their development reflects a complex evolution in a complex cultural environment whose contours I will explore is this paper. Both diagrams present a schematic view of a human being seated upright and cross-legged in meditation, viewed from one side, sometimes from the left and sometimes from the right. In their full forms, both charts emphasize three parts of the body – the head, chest, and lower belly – which they portray as connected by way of the spine. Adepts used these visual aids within larger programs of self-cultivation that sought to assert themselves as living images of the Way by learning to retrace the path of their lives and of cosmic process to the ultimate sources that make all things possible. Achieving this end demanded that adepts accumulated merit, gained the trust and instruction of a worthy teacher and practiced his teachings and faithfully diligently. If successful, their efforts could help adepts to fortify their individual health, nurture their ancestors, restore their native culture against foreign threats, and ritually save all living beings. Before the eighteenth century, there was no Xiuzhen tu. From its first appearance in the thirteenth century, the chart later called Xiuzhen tu and its cognates were known as Diagrams of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu). This shift in designation was due, it is suggested here, to a change in spiritual allegiance by the imperial court in the transition between the Ming and Qing dynasty. Beginning in the late Ming dynasty, the Longmen branch of the Complete Perfection (Quanzhen 全眞) tradition gained imperial support. They promoted a new diagram of the human body's cosmic dimensions in their main temple in Beijing under the name Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Channels 内經圖). This led to a renaming of the earlier diagram as the Xiuzhen tu, most likely because of its close ties to the Cultivating Perfection literature that had existed since the twelfth century. It was only been since the nineteenth century, apparently, that this latter chart has been called the Diagram of Inner Effulgences (Neijing tu 内景圖). I relate the diagrams to textual material on Cultivating Perfection. This will help to illuminate its historical development and range of uses by adepts. It is significant that the earliest known examples of what we now call the Xiuzhen tu appeared almost simultaneously in a medical book and, in piecemeal form, a book of religious self-cultivation (see attached diagrams). Both of them arose from the same literati circles in northern Jiangxi and Fujian. They were the visual crystallizations of larger

reassessments of medicine and Cultivating Perfection practices that coalesced during Southern Song times as part of the emerged of a new Golden Elixir tradition of alchemy rooted in the teachings of Zhang Boduan and his successors, but also had clear ties to earlier traditions. Of these traditions, the most important was the Supreme Purity (Shangqing 上清). This tradition arose in Jiangsu during the Six Dynasties era as revelations from Lady Wei Huacun and other divine figures to literati families from 364 to 370. At the turn of the sixth century, Tao Hongjing (536-356) reassembled, collated, and annotated manuscript copies of these revelations into a system of teachings and a spiritual hierarchy that made Cultivating Perfection into a refined and hierarchical mode of literati self-cultivation into the divine realm. During the Tang reconsolidation of China and its culture, literati incorporated these teachings and ideas into the broader spiritual culture based in the central court and important sacred mountains of Tang and Northern Song times. This broader view of Cultivating Perfection was associated with such figures as Sima Chengzhen, Celestial Master Wu, Lou Jing, and Yanluozi, and included practices of self-cultivation, medicine, and fundamental Daoist ritual. As literati reassessed and enriched Chinese culture amid the rapid changes in society between the mid-Tang and mid-Song dynasty (i.e. from the mid-eighth to the mid-twelfth centuries), they "turned inward," in the manifold senses of this phrase proposed by the late James T.C. Liu. Part of this turn inward expressed itself in the rise of alchemical traditions focused less and less regularly on the manipulations of minerals and metals and more on imagining internal refinement with alchemical language and imagery. What we now know as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection and its corresponding literature took shape in illustrative and written materials in the literati culture of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries associated with traditions of medicine and inner alchemy in Fujian and Jiangxi. Before its cultural recycling in Southern Song and Yuan times, Cultivating Perfection had consolidated itself in the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) tradition of aristocratic self-cultivation in modern Jiangsu during the Six Dynasties, and expanded to include ritual activity in the Heavenly Masters (Tianshi 天師) or Rectifying Unity (Zhengyi 正一) tradition in Tang times, especially as elaborated in the Three Profundities (Sandong 三洞) systematization. By the thirteenth century it had become part of the Rectifying Rites of the Heart of the Heaven (Tianxin zhengfa 天心正法) tradition and was central to a new mode of inner cultivation codified by the circle of Bai Yuchan in northern Fujian and Jiangxi in relation to new traditions of medicine in those areas. These developments will be explored below. Cultivating Perfection before the Tang The terms Cultivation (xiu) and Perfection (zhen) have been long used in China, but xiuzhen first became a prominent compound in the revelations of the Supreme Purity movement from 364-370 and their codification by Tao Hongjing around the turn of the sixth century. The verb xiu 修 has a range of meanings that encompasses its original significance as "decorate," "ornament," or "trim" to include the meanings of "repair," "mend," "improve," "prepare," "put in order," and "practice," "train" and, of course, "cultivate," although it lacks the agricultural background central to the latter English term. It is also related to the homophonic stative verb xiu that signifies "be long." The nominal zhen 眞 generally points toward the senses of "genuine," "authentic," "true," "real," and "actual" and is related to the terms zhen "test," "try out," "correct," "upright," and "chaste" and zheng "upright," "correct," "right," "proper," or "rectify." Perfection becomes an ideal for human beings in the writings of Zhuangzi and is also a central part of the classical medical traditions. The two terms only appear as a consistent compound in the Six Dynasties era, primarily in the revelations to southern aristocrats from the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) celestial realm in the late fourth century. (There are no occurrences of the compound, for instance, in Ge Hong's writings.) The words xiu and zhen appear side by side a scant four times in the Declarations of the Perfected (Zhen'gao 眞誥, CT 1016), which is the fundamental scholarly analysis of the main teachings and practices of the Shangqing tradition completed by Tao Hongjing in 499. All four of these instances relate to Xu Mi and none of them suggest that xiuzhen was a highly developed set of ideas or practices in the earliest phase of the movement. After presenting his terms of office, Xu's biography states, for example, "While outwardly blending in with worldly affairs, he inwardly cultivated the learning of the perfected" (CT 1016, 20.8b). Two other examples include one from the first chapter "How to seek the Way? Climb up and respond with a diligent mind for cultivating perfection" (CT 1016, 1.4b) and one from the fifth chapter that treats the Nine Troubles (jiuhuan 九患) in Learning the Way advises the adept to "cultivate perfection and embrace simplicity (xiuzhen baosu 修眞抱素)" (5.12b). A final passage asks one to "understand the basics of Cultivating Perfection [through] nourishing divinities and vital nature (yingshen yangxing 營神養性), and the methods of securing and protecting (zhenshou zhi fa 鎭守之法)" (8.12b-13a). These four instances do not suggest a well-developed set of ideas and practices centered on cultivating perfection. The makings of this more elaborate scheme perhaps came from a cognate phrase such as xiuxing shangzhen zhi dao 修行上眞之道 or "practice the Way of Supreme Perfection," of which xiuzhen may be considered an abbreviation. In its abbreviated form, xiuzhen later came to designate the whole system

of religious practice advocated by the Shangqing tradition. After this system was integrated into the other systems of Daoist practice among literati and kings between late sixth and early eighth centuries, it expanded to become more encompassing, elaborate, and more integrated into the aspirations of in fifth and sixth century China. The specific meaning of this practice was at first contrasted with practicing the Ways of Intermediate Perfection (zhongzhen 中眞) and Inferior Perfection (xiazhen 下眞). While early materials suggests one vision of what this form of practice meant, later Shangqing materials give this hierarchy of perfection fuller elaboration. The early meaning of this form of practice seem to refer to the three levels of teachings seem to refer to the Way taught by the key patriarchs of the movement, the three Mao brothers, Mao Ying, and his two younger siblings, Mao Gu and Mao Zhong. While Mao's preferred teachings were part of the teachings transmitted by Wei Huacun to the world of literati, she later passed on a more refined and complex body of teachings and cosmological scheme to late fourth century literati that Tao Hongjing codified a century later. As the main purveyor of Shangqing teachings to the world, Wei Huacun, has the term Supreme Perfection (shangzhen 上眞) as part of her title. A key passage in the Zhen'gao (CT 1016 2.4b) has Lady Wei say on behalf of the Elder Mao: "To inwardly illuminate the Perfectly Upright (zhengzhen 正眞) and to outwardly blend into the worldly duties (shiye 事業) is [the mark of someone of] excellent talent. This is cultivating the Way of Highest Perfection." Such an expression is a close counterpart to the phrase Tao later uses to describe Xu Mi (CT 1016 20.8b). Elsewhere we read (9.18a-b) what Yang Xi had heard about the Way of Supreme Perfection. It began with practicing the method of the Brilliant Hall and Mysterious Perfection (Mingtang xuanzhen 明堂玄眞) and culminated in receiving the Way of the Jade Pendant and Golden Ring (yupei jindang zhi dao 玉佩金鐺之道 ). This passage suggests that understanding and practicing the latter granted one access to the highest realms in the Shangqing tradition. Mao Ying's hagiography states that the Nine-times Cycled Divine Elixir (jiuzhuan shendan 九轉神丹), see Strickmann 1979: 146-151) constituted the level of practice just below the two mentioned above. These three levels made up the heart of what three Mao brothers practiced. It also suggests that the early phase of Shangqing revelations included a three-tiered hierarchy likely constituting the three levels of Perfection corresponding to the three levels of teachings (Nine-times Cycled Divine Elixir, Brilliant Hall and Mysterious Perfection, and the Jade Pendant and Golden Ring) stressed by Mao Ying. As the Shangqing revelations continued to enter the world, a more elaborate scheme of perfection seems to have emerged. Extant versions of the Perfect Scripture of the Eight [Carriages or Divine Ladies of] Simplicity (Basu zhenjing 八素眞經), for example, explicitly give a four-tiered vision of revealed scriptures, with three titles constituting the Way of the Most High [Lord Lao] (Taishang 太上), and seven, six, and eight titles, respectively, constituting the Ways of Supreme, Intermediate and Lower Perfection (shangzhen 上眞, zhongzhen 中眞, xiazhen 下眞). While practicing the Way of the Most High grants one access to the Jade Purity (Yuqing 玉清) realm, practicing the three Ways of Perfection grants one access to the upper, middle, and lower ranks of the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) realm. Listed among the texts of the Way of Supreme Perfection are those central scriptures such as those of the Great Profundity (Dadong), Nine Perfected (Jiuzhen 九眞), Purple Texts Written by the Spirits (Lingshu ziwen 靈書紫文) and the Eight [Carriages or Divine Ladies of] Simplicity (Basu 八素). Isabelle Robinet has shown that while the practices and methods included in these latter highly literate texts show considerable variety, they generally represent an interiorization and refinement of earlier religious practices known in the south by ancestors of those who received the Shangqing revelations such as Ge Hong, as well as some of the Celestial Masters practices. In particular, they concentrate on summoning, visualizing, and uniting various deities that dwell in adepts' own bodies at the same time as they seek to project perfected replicas of themselves outward to meet the deities in the astral realms where they dwell. Thus, their core practices consisted of a simultaneous actualization of the gods in the body and an imaginary projection of a spiritualized self to the same gods in the heavens. Especially noteworthy among these practices are those which deal with absorbing and uniting the sacred masculine effulgences (jing 景) of the sun and moon with corresponding energies in the human body that are central to the above texts and learning to do the same with their obscure counterparts, the divine feminine simplicities (su 素). This preliminary work gave adepts access to higher practices involving the deities in the planets, and finally to contemplative practices centered on the central, pivotal source-point of the cosmos centered on constellation of the Big Dipper and its various deities. While Cultivating Perfection was thus a rare compound in early Shangqing texts, as an abbreviation of the main contemplative innovations of this tradition, it originally referred to a specific set of practices. When Tao Hongjing (456-536) systematized the Shangqing tradition, he provided it a broader foundation that made it possible for it to be used as a general term for pursuing Daoist religious practice by Tang times. Part of what made this generalization possible was the systematic linking of certain forms of spiritual practice to patterns of advancement into specific celestial realms by Tao Hongjing. He reassembled and codified manuscript versions of the Shangqing revelations and created a movement of self-cultivation for his literati fellows based on Maoshan in Jiangsu at the end of the fifth century. Part of

his efforts included his systematic organization of the structure of spiritual beings and spiritual advancement for Shangqing adepts. He inherited the three-tiered spiritual hierarchy articulated by his distant relatives. Ge Hong (383-343), who wrote of the high Heavenly Transcendents (tianxian 天仙) who could travel through the heavens, the middling Earthly Transcendents (dixian 地仙) who could traverse the holy mountains, and the lower Transcendents by Release from the Corpse (shijiexian 尸解仙) who only apparently died, as well as stressing the Great Purity (Taiqing 太清) as the first stop in the celestial realm. After his successors had received revelations from the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) realm they realized that Ge's scheme included only the lower rungs of what was possible in becoming holy. In order to give greater coherence to this scheme, Tao devised a full divine hierarchy in his Chart of the Positions and Duties of the Perfected and Numina, in the Cavern-Mystery tradition (CT 167, Dongxuan lingbao Zhenling weiye tu 洞玄靈寶眞靈位業圖). This work provides us with Tao's spiritual hierarchy, and survives with an undated preface signed by Tao was corrected by the late Tang Daoist Lüqiu Fangyuan (d. 902). Tao's preface says that the text seeks to put some order to the jumble of the Daoist spiritual hierarchies that existed in south China at the time. The text presents more than 500 deities in a seven-tiered pantheon that is topped by the super-celestial Jade Purity (Yuqing) realm, followed by the Supreme Purity (Shangqing), Great Ultimate (Taiji), and Great Purity (Taiqing) celestial realms, leading to the transitional Nine Palaces (Jiugong 九宮) and the worldly Earthly Transcendents (dixian) realms, and finally to the demonic Fengdu 酆都 netherworld. The basic spiritual hierarchy articulated by Tao in the south was also central to vision of divine order articulated by Daoists in the court of the northern Zhou at the end of the sixth century. Two extant chapters (83-84) of the Secret Essentials of the Unsurpassed (CT 1138, Wushang miyao 無上秘要) include more than 500 deities ranked into six classes that parallel the first five levels of the spiritual hierarchy presented by Tao. (The only difference is that the rank of the Earthly Perfected [dizhen 地眞] is inserted just above that of Earthly Transcendents, just before the rank of the Nine Palaces). The last sentence in chapter 84 suggests that chapters 85 and 86 (now missing) most likely included the deities of the realms of Supreme Purity and Jade Purity. This ranking is confirmed in chapter 78 that deals with the medicinal recipes that will lead to various advances, with the minor exception that the rank of the Earthly Perfected is called the that of the Heavenly Transcendents (Tianxian). The chapters of this compendium of earlier texts for the court that deal with practices of "releasing from the corpse" (shijie 尸解) (chapters 87-100, missing 88-90) likewise link them to various ranks of spiritual development, but not in the order we have encountered previously. Instead, their top four levels are ranked from Ultimate to Supreme Purity to Jade Purity and Great Purity. These seven ranks are largely identical to the broader understanding of Daoism that that sought to provide some order to the Daoist traditions that had emerged in the previous three centuries. The above considerations give a glimpse of some of the efforts to articulate the common foundations of various Daoist traditions that energized Tang dynasty priests. They also begin to show the way that some of the ideas and visions of spiritual practice developed by the Supreme Purity movement could become central to this process of consolidation, and how the narrow understanding of Cultivating Perfection could come to have greater significance within these foundations. Cultivating Perfection in Tang and Northern Song Times During the Tang dynasty, the earlier ideas of cultivating perfection rooted in the sensuous forms of imaginary visualization of deities central to the Supreme Purity movement as codified by Tao Hongjing became key parts of more comprehensive structures of Daoist traditions sponsored by the central court and state-sponsored mountain religious centers. In spite of the emergence of new Daoist revelatory traditions and practices during the intervening three centuries, especially in the south, early Song rulers and priests generally sought to reassemble and promote the forms of Daoism that their Tang predecessors had codified. By the end of the Northern Song in the first quarter of the twelfth century, the failure of classical Daoist traditions to repel encroachments by both invading Jurchen troops and new revelatory traditions and deity cults led to a military and spiritual breaching of the walls of the imperial central court. One fine example of this broader synthesis of Daoist religion from Tang times appears in the Genuine Ranks of Cultivating Perfection in the Seven Realms (CT 433, Qiyu xiuzhen chengpin 七域修眞證品圖), which dates from Tang times. The preface to this work states that the Yellow Emperor articulated the "Way of Nonintervention and the essentials of Eternal Life and Cultivating Perfection" (wuwei zhi dao changsheng xiuzhen zhi yao 無爲之道長生修眞之要, CT 433.3a). It then articulates what it means by each these three things. By the Way of Nonintervention, the author discusses the emergence and normal working of the cosmos which leaves nothing in nature undone. The author uses Eternal Life to remind readers of the results of preserving and nurturing the three fundamental endowments of human life: the vitalities of qi (corresponding to the Way), spirit (shen, corresponding to heaven) and essence (jing, corresponding to the earth). Finally, Cultivating Perfection refers to the 98,000 "methods of Cultivating the Way for following the ordinary up to the sacred, rising and falling through the Seven Realms.... The

gateways for Cultivating the Way and the paths for Climbing to Perfection are all able to result in ascending to the heavens for those who are able to diligently work at them for a long time." (CT 433.2a). It then quotes a passage that articulates the Nine Troubles in a simpler, but fuller way than presented in the above passage from the Zhen'gao (CT 1016, 5.12b). Besides dealing with a nearly identical set of seven realms found in Tao Hongjing's work (CT 167), the author also relates them to seven groups of scriptures and seven repertoires of practice that will permit the adept to attain a give spiritual realm. The bottom-up ranking (which contrasts with Tao's topdown ranking) suggests that it was meant for religious practitioners on their way up rather than meant as a synoptic overview of an orthodox hierarchy, as Tao's text was. Similar to other texts, this one uses the term Realm (jing 境) as a synonym for the word Realm (yu 域) in its title. From the bottom up, the seven ranks include the seventeen minor Cavern-Heavens (Dongtian 洞天) and the Ten Great Cavern-Heavens, leading up to the transitional Nine Palaces realm, followed by the three lower celestial realms of various perfected beings (Great Purity, Great Ultimate, Supreme Purity), and culminating in the super-celestial Jade Purity realm which hold the highest hypostases of the Way. In relating these realms to sets of scriptures and their associated practices, it is important to note that the first scripture mentioned in this text as embodying the "Way of Transcendence" (xiandao 仙道) was the Genuine Scripture of the Eight [Carriages or Divine Ladies] of Simplicity (Basu zhenjing 八素眞經). As mentioned above, this scripture presented four levels of practice and attainment for the fully developed Supreme Purity movement. Underlying and fundamental to these four levels in this text are the so-called "practices of the nine cycle" (jiuzhuan zhi xing 九轉之行) of the Cavern-Heavens, directed in the first level toward transcendence (xian) and in the second level toward perfection (zhen). The third through seventh levels of practice all begin with these practices directed toward the dead in various parts of the realm. The third, transitional, level centers on cultivating the Scriptures of the Numinous Treasure (Lingbao 靈寶) and the Nine Palaces. Levels four through six deal respectively with cultivating the Perfect Way of Intermediate Rank (Zhongpin zhendao 中品眞道), the Perfect Way of Supreme Rank (Shangpin zhendao 上品眞道), and the Perfect Way of the Three Ranks (Sanpin zhendao 三品眞道), while the final, uppermost seventh rank centers on cultivating the Way of the Most High (Taishang zhi dao 太上之道). These last four correspond to those found in the Basu zhenjing. In this elaborate scheme of Daoist traditions devised in the Tang, Cultivating Perfection is no longer related simply to a set of practices within the Supreme Purity movement. Rather, because this movement was given highest ranking in the Daoist syntheses that began in the mid-sixth century but culminated in the mid-eighth century, Cultivating Perfection was also accorded a broader and more important place. In this text, for instance, it is an abbreviation of "gateways for Cultivating the Way and the paths for Climbing to Perfection" (xiudao zhi menhu dengzhen zhi jinglu 修道之門戸登眞之徑路) found in the preface, an abbreviation of the phrase xiudao dengzhen 修道登眞 (Cultivate the Way and Climb up to Perfection). Classical Daoism along the lines presented in the above text found its fullest articulation in the ritual writings of such figures as Zhang Wanfu (fl. 700-742), and the spiritual writings of Sima Chengzhen (646-735), 12th Patriarch of the Shangqing lineage. Together they helped to reinforce the mutual dependence of self-cultivation and ritual practice, and to relate them to a system of ordination grades that integrated texts, practices, and spiritual cosmology. Self-cultivation texts associated with such figures as Sun Simiao (fl. 652-682) and the author of the Tianyinzi 天隱子 likewise give a clear view of the centrality of self-cultivation based on circulating the energies in the human body and grounded it in forms of cosmogonic process than had not been included as part of the Tang cultural synthesis. We read in Sima Chengzhen's biography that in addition to annotating the Canon of the Way and its Power (Daode jing), he "also composed the Secret Instructions on Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen zhiyao 修眞旨要) so that those who perused it could obtain his approach [to the Way]" (Yunji qiqian 雲笈七籤, CT 1032, 5.15b). This work was still extant in libraries of Song times, but the work no longer seems to be available. Chapter 57 in this Northern Song compilation of mainly Five Dynasties and earlier texts, was also by Sima Chengzhen. The Essays on the Essential Meaning of Ingesting Qi (Fuqi jingyi lun 服氣精義論), divided here into 9 essays, was also divided into two parts and published as two separate titles in the Ming Daoist Canon. The first sections of this edition were put under a separate title (CT 830), the Fuqi jingyi lun. Most of the latter parts of this text are reprinted in (CT 267) as the Xiuzhen fuqi zalun 修眞服氣雜論, with the added title "Cultivating Perfection" and comprising seven essays. They deal with the lower and more fundamental stages of cultivation centered on absorbing the essentials in the body, adding to them with breathing exercises, and using gymnastics, talisman-water, drug-taking, precautions, the inner organs, and the recognition and treatment of diseases to deal with unforeseen problems. The sources regularly cited are from the Shangqing and classical medical traditions, and they all seek to help the adept isolate and refine the cosmic sources of qi in the body. By the early Northern Song period, many of these fundamental, though, general writings were included in the Yunji qiqian (CT 1032), a compendium of writings collected for the Emperor Zhenzong

(r. 997-1022) as part of the compilation of the Daoist Canon he ordered, but completed in the early years of Emperor Renzong's (r. 1022-1063) reign. This conservative compendium for imperial perusal contains many of the texts important to the scriptural rubrics, self-cultivation, and hagiography of various Daoist traditions, but nearly no ritual texts. It also makes scarce mention of the new movements that had emerged in local areas of the south during the previous century and had begun to make themselves felt in the central court. Two chapters (45 and 46) in the Yunji qiqian are of particular interest here. Bearing the title Secret Essentials for Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen zhiyao 修眞旨要), these pages give a synoptic overview of the main functions and duties of a high-level Daoist priest. Rather than stress the priests links to the divine hierarchy as did the which we considered above, these chapters focus on the range of practices expected of the adept. The first chapter is divided into 30 short essays, while the second chapter falls into 25 short essays. The introduction to the whole stresses that the "Way is the Most Perfect of the tenuous void and the arts are the mysterious crafts of transformation. Since the Way is without form, it depends on the arts to save humans. Since humans are numinous, they can cultivate themselves and merge with the Way. When humans are able to learn the Way, they transform the essentials of the spontaneous Way. All of this is profoundly simple and easy to understand. The secrets of the arts lay only in talismans, qi and medicines." While the first relates to practicing the ritual traditions revealed by the gods, the second relates to cultivating what was endowed to each individual by cosmic process, and the last relates to making use of the essential aspects of cosmic process crystallized in aspects of the natural world. The author concludes that if one "excels in one thing, then nothing with fail to respond." There follow 54 sections dealing with all aspects of ritual, contemplative, and medical practice that are expected of a priest and which constitute his "cultivating perfection." This broad view of religious practice incorporated important aspects of the Shangqing legacy, but also included the other major Daoist traditions of the time. While the above trends were indicative of standard forms of spiritual learning promoted by the state, important changes were afoot outside of this restricted purview. Beginning in the eighth century, a range of writers on medicine, alchemy, Buddhism, Daoism, and literati self-cultivation helped to articulate more fully than before a new approach to understanding the subtle inner workings of self-cultivation on the basis of unconventional forms of learning that had been neglected by many scholars in the previous several centuries. While working along the lines of Sun Simo, Tianyinzi, and others, these figures began stressing texts and traditions that the scholarly consensus of the early Tang had excluded from its political and spiritual concerns. Among them were the medical doctor Wang Bing (fl. 762), the reclusecompanions Tan Qiao (fl. 900-930) and Chen Tuan (d. 989), the alchemists Peng Xiao (d. 989) and Cui Xifan (fl. 940), and the ritual master Tan Zixiao (fl. 900-930), all of whom helped to revive and enrich literati interest in neglected cosmological aspects of the human being in ways that literati would work out during the next three or four centuries. Some of the scholarly interest focused around and annotated and illustrated editions of the Scripture of the Yellow Court (Huangting jing 黄庭經) that emerged in the latter part of the Tang dynasty, a longer version that focused on the Inner Phosphors (or radiant gods) (neijing 内景) and a shorter one that focused on the Outer Phosphors (waijing 外景). These works, central to the early stages of the Shangqing traditions, but reflecting earlier practices centered on the gods in the body, received renewed scholarly interested from the mid-eighth century. Two major commentaries, one by Lü Zhongbai (or Liangqiuzi, fl. 729) and the other by Hu Yin (fl. 848) are evidence of the importance of both this text on the inner and spiritual aspects of the human being and of illustrating them in diagrams. Versions of Liangqiuzi's texts are found in (CT 402, Huangting neijing yujing zhu 黄庭内景玉經註) and in the Yunji qiqian (CT 1032, 11.1a-12.27b, Shangqing Huangting neijing zhu), while Hu Yin's work is found as (CT 432, Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黄庭内景五臟六腑補瀉圖). Their centrality for later traditions of Cultivating Perfection are suggested by the fact that these two works fill the final seven chapters of the late thirteenth-century work known as the Ten Writings on Cultivating Perfection (CT 263, Xiuzhen shishu 修眞十書), which will be discussed below (Hu's work fills chapter 54 and Lü's work fills chapters 55-60). Their illustrations focused on the outward appearances of the creatures dwelling in the adept's body. Another important form of unconventional learning expressed itself in Northern Song period through several works based on "realistic" diagrams of the inner workings of the human being created by doctors and artisans at the dissections of executed criminals. Here the operative words in these works are being "inner" (as in the human body's innards) and "genuine" (as in caught live and not simply imagined) for the purposes of medical understanding. During Southern Song and Yuan times, these too were refined and made centerpieces to both medical and self-cultivation traditions. What is important to note is that they are said to center on the trunk of the body, i.e. the body without the head, arms and legs. The centrality of this part of the body is that it contains the viscera that both the medical and self-cultivation literature describe as receiving, storing, refining, and losing the body's vitalities, and therefore key to understanding both illness and perfection.

Let's look first to the medical literature (see Okanishi Tameto, Sō izen iseki kō [Taiwan reprint, 1969], pp. 299-303). During the Song dynasty several works were published that sought to depict the "genuine" insides of a human being, based on the results of inspections after the execution of criminals. These diagrams reputedly portrayed the inner organs and vessels of the recently deceased from the next down. First of these was the work called the Diagram of Ou Xifan's Five Viscera (Ou Xifan wuzang tu 歐希範五臟圖) by a Ling (Wu?) Jian. Song bibliographers state that the work originated in the 1041-1048 era at the dissection of the rebel Ou Xifan and his faction in Guangxi after their executions, with the judge of Yizhou, Ling Jian, observing it all closely and making diagrams to pass down to the world. About a half century later, in the 1102-1106 era, the scholar Yang Jie (fl. 1102-1113) was an official in Sizhou (Anhui), where he observed the execution of a criminal. The local prefect, Li Yixing invited the doctors to come draw what they saw. Yang to annotated their illustrations with passages from ancient writings and gave it the title Diagrams that Capture the Genuine Within (Cunzhen huanzhong 存眞環中). Thirteenth-century bibliographers uniformly regarded Yang's work as far superior to that by Wu Jian. In 1113, the Luoyang official, Jia Weijie (fl. 1113), wrote a preface to this work by saying that Yang latter "used the genuine [aspects] of what he had seen of the Five Viscera and drew them into diagrams. He analyzed and corrected what had been drawn by [an otherwise unidentified] Yanluozi, and also added the twelve channels, naming them the Diagrams that Capture the Genuine Within." A late Song work (dated 1273) called the Diagrams on the Inner Illuminations of the Gate of Mystery (Xuanmen Neizhao tu 玄門内照圖) also reputedly contains some diagrams bearing Yang Jie's name. Some versions of the diagrams in these works based on executed criminals may well have been preserved in a text date from the end of the thirteenth century that we will consider below, albeit from a very different angle. Cultivating Perfection in Southern Song and Yuan Times During the Southern Song and Yuan era, the vision of Cultivating Perfection became integral to a vision of literati self-cultivation associated with the Golden Elixir tradition of internal alchemy in south China. It also came to be seen as a counterpart of the meditation practices and traditions promoted by Chan Buddhism and a means of maintaining continuity and stability in a fragmenting Chinese culture. At its core, proponents of these traditions sought to return to what they thought was most genuine in themselves, their traditions, and their culture, where they worked to fortify and restore it for use in the real conditions in which they lived. In short, they sought to restore perfection to themselves and to the world. In northern Fujian and Jiangxi one important group that took it upon themselves to do this work coalesced around the circle of Bai Yuchan (1194-1227?). Unlike the earlier visions of Cultivating Perfection articulated in Shangqing traditions that centered on the sensuous visualization of corporeal deities or traveling to their counterparts in the heavens, this new form of alchemical Cultivating Perfection focused on calling forth, refining and combining the adept's innate energies that derived from the productive cosmic processes recapitulated in his parents' procreative powers. They found their sensuous human-like qualities in the chance encounters with remarkable figures appearing to be men but upon reflection were actually immortals who had been banished from the celestial realm for committing some celestial bureaucratic error rather than deriving from night-time visions of resplendent deities that visited the early Shangqing recipients. While drawing some of its vitality from this earlier Shangqing tradition, this new mode of spiritual self-cultivation also drew from Buddhist and medical efforts at reassessing and revitalizing their traditions that had begun in the middle of the Tang dynasty. What became known as the tradition of Cultivating Perfection in Southern Song times began as a form of spiritual self-cultivation rooted in teachings that combined the Tally of Triple Unity based on the Canon of Changes [Zhouyi Can tong qi 周易參同契] reinterpreted by Peng Xiao (d. 955) and the written legacy of the immortals Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin and grounded itself in cults to literati-immortals that the practice of its teachings had produced. These teachings helped some adepts to gain position in the mundane political order (through patronage) at the same time as they promised them advancement into the spiritual order and an amelioration of the aches and pains of old age (through practice). By the end of the twelfth century, the value of this body of teachings and lineage of masters had become obvious to practitioners of some of the revelatory movements that had developed in Song times, Buddhist and Daoist priests, and some of those promoting the Learning of the Way (Daoxue 道學). When adepts first regularly call their teachings "cultivating perfection" in the twelfth century, they had become an integral part of southern literati culture, attracting members of important families from Fujian and Jiangxi. This culture loved printed books and illustrations for them. Part of this love was rooted in the desire to gain more merit by distributing more widely traditions that had earlier been kept secret as family or closed traditions. One measure of the importance of this new mode of alchemical self-cultivation is its place in Zeng Zao's compilation of writings on self-cultivation from the mid-twelfth century. This Fujian scholar's Pivot of the Way (CT 1017, Daoshu 道樞, 42 juan) includes writings from a wide range of earlier and contemporary sources. In general terms, the compilation (most likely completed by 1150) can be understood as an part of the general attempt by scholars of the early Southern Song to establish

themselves as the genuine heirs of Chinese culture even though they had lost what had been their main cultural centers with the loss of the Northern Song to the Jurchens in 1126. That is why the work not only contains many passages from the early Chinese classics that are pertinent to self-cultivation, but also many extracts from writers on self-cultivation from Tang and Northern Song times. While arguably according highest values to the legacy of Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin (their main writings fill the last five chapters), Zeng stresses its presence in the south by likewise giving pride of place to their sometime companion, Shi Jianwu who was based in the mountains of northern Jiangxi. Writings from this ground base that we first read of Cultivating Perfection in the new alchemized sense. These writings also were the first to articulate the nuanced significance of the Inner Realm (neijing), which would come to have greater significance in the thirteenth century. Several central chapters to Zeng's compilation (chapters 18-21) contain what may be called the "chapters on perfection" since they hold many of the important writings dealing with zhen ("perfection"), most of which date from the Northern Song. Three of these extracts are explicitly called "Cultivating Perfection." One (CT 1017, 18.7b-9b), by Zeng Zao himself, is called the "Chapter on Cultivating Perfection" (Xiuzhen pian 修眞篇). This brief work first discusses the correspondences between the human being and the cosmos, goes on to treat various sorts of breathing exercises aimed at circulating refined vitalities within the various organs of the body. After next dealing with contemplating the gods in the body and dietary practices, he states that "these have not yet sufficiently attained the utmost of what is spoken of as Cultivating Perfection." By this he means the making of inner elixirs from one's inner vitalities and outer elixirs from the vitalities embedded in various parts of the world outside, both of which are in strict correspondence with the energies circulating in the cosmos. He also notes that outer elixirs would be ineffective to project one into a transcendence post without having first completed an elixir in the human body. Another (CT 1017, 19.9a-22a), is said to come from Shi Jianwu, who received the teachings from his two divine colleagues Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin. It is called "Chapter on Indicating the Mysteries in Cultivating Perfection" (Xiuzhen zhixuan pian 修眞指玄篇). It clearly reflects the legacy of the two great masters of inner alchemy in both terminology and process. One passage quotes Lü Dongbin as saying "the essentials of the Golden Elixir consist in rising up through the openings and closings, patiently going through the passes and scrupulously following the Fire Phases to generate the Golden Fluid." Finally, there is the "Chapter of the Essential Instructions on Cultivating Perfection" (Xiuzhen yaojue pian 修眞要訣篇, CT 1017, 21.10a-12a), credited to the patriarch Liu Haichan (fl. 1031) as mediated by his disciple, the Northern Song official Wang Tingyang (fl. 1041-1048). After Wang's preface relating Liu's instruction, Zeng includes 20 of the 100 poems Wang wrote to commemorate his teachings. After arguing that the various earlier corporeal practices he had tried "were not what could be deemed essential to the Way", Wang met someone who informed him of these essentials, stating that he should "cultivate the [qi] of perfect unity, assemble the Five Phases, array the eight trigrams, harmonize the Four Images, combine the Three Potentialities. The Qian and Kun [trigrams] are one's furnace and crucibles, and the Kan and Li [trigrams] are one's medicine." After practicing them for 1000 days the work was complete and he responded by composing 100 poems. Just before the last section discussed was an important essay entitled the "Chapter on the Golden Writings and the Jade Mirror" (Jinshu yujian pian 金書玉鑑篇, CT 1017, 21.2a-10a). In focusing on "cultivating the inner elixir" (xiu neidan 修内丹), this work also spends a good deal of space on the significance of the term Inner Realm (neijing). This discussion begins by reminding readers that "my body is the alchemical furnace... whose spirit, energies, essence, and fluids (shen, qi, jing, and ye 液) contain the medicine of Eternal Life." After building up the correspondences suggested here in greater detail, he compares the Flowery Canopy (huagai 華蓋) that is the cover of the crucibles to both its celestial counterpart, the □, and to "its Inner Realm, the palace of the Lung [system of function]." Later on, the text gives a fuller accounting of the Inner Realm in two passages. The first passage begins "By speaking of it in terms of one's Inner Realm, the body is a state. Its head is the city; its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose are the Four Gates; its hands, feet and four limbs are the troops of Four Regions who protect with no fear. The heart-mind is the lord of the state and qi are its ministers. Therefore, the heart-mind is the ruler of the qi and qi are the envoys of the heart-mind. When the divinity of the heart-mind is pure and calm, then the Primordial qi is harmonious and at peace. When the Divine qi is blended there is Eternal Life. This is like the Lord-Sage and the ministers. When loyal to the lord, the ministers are enlightened and the whole world is ordered in one. On observing the Inner Realm of the lord, one sees that the qi of the purely primordial perfect unity is in the scarlet palace [of the heart] and in that of the minister, there is the fluid of the Great Yin's mysterious darkness in the palace of the Kan. Heaven sends down the perfect qi to transform and produce the Myriad Phenomena, just like the wisdom of the lord to his ministers..." A second, more detailed discussion of this term a bit later in the text complements this one. "This is the Way of Eternal Life and Everlasting Vision and it has not altered from antiquity to the present. Thereby one correctly understands the Genuine Image of the Inner Realm (neijing zhenxiang 内境眞相).

What is the Inner Realm? It is the realm of the self. The Genuine Image is of my self is as an alchemical furnace. Within it are Heaven and Earth, the sun, moon, planets and constellations, winds and clouds, the Milky Way, the mountains and Marchmounts, all the rivers, and the vegetation." The text then goes on to specify the cosmic dimensions of the Inner Realms in relation to the five viscera before asking "Now if one wanted to understand the Way of the eternity of Heaven and Earth, it consists in obtaining the Rectifying Unity and Perfective Unity (zhengyi zhenyi 正一眞一). What is this? It is that in the furnace and crucibles of Heaven and Earth, yin and yang intermingle and combine within and do not lose the Primordial qi. Now a human being is endowed with Heaven and Earth and born by combining with the essence of Heaven and Earth to make a son. Therefore one's Inner Realm possesses the Way of the eternity of Heaven and Earth." The author then goes on to discuss the practices – all of them alchemical – that permit the human potential for eternal divinity to manifest itself. A final passage states that if this "divinity obtains the Way one becomes a transcendent, while if it loses the Way it becomes a ghost. In Cultivating Perfection one ought to push away the diverse distractions, remove oneself from desires, and cut off the eating of meat and purify oneself. Roam away to lodge in the cliffs, and do pure fasts while ascending altars and entering into the chamber...." All of this has many parallels to the comprehensive program of Cultivating Perfection articulated by priests of the classical Daoist traditions in Tang and Northern Song times. Upon completing the sequence of practices nine times, one will have "made sufficient merit to ascend to the ranks of the Transcendents" and further practice will permit one to "ascend up to pay court to the Thearch Lord" in the highest celestial realms. All of this is, of course, quite old, reaching back to the unity of the "cosmos, body and state" in the final two and a half centuries B.C.E. and expressed once again by Ge Hong in his writings (Sivin 1995, Schipper 1978). Here we see, however, an alchemized version of these cosmic correspondences and processes leading toward perfection, one that is centered on the inner workings of the human being. This was the new vision of self-cultivation that had taken the place of the more sensuous and concrete forms of contemplation that distinguished that of the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) movement. Because of the growing awareness of the adept's cosmic dimensions that alchemical practice makes possible, the last passage makes plain that internal practices are also embedded in a complex edifice of ritual practices similar to those found in Daoist texts of the Tang and Northern Song. To judge from the extant texts with Cultivating Perfection in their titles, we would have to consider it a Southern Song phenomena, and specifically one that was grounded in the inner alchemical and ritual traditions contained most fully in the writings of Bai Yuchan and his followers. Of the 14 independent titles contained in the Ming Daoist Canon, printed in 1445 with the term Cultivation Perfection in their titles, many reflect the above Shi Jianwu legacy, but often filtered through the codifications of Bai Yuchan and his followers. The most obvious and substantial example of this is the 60-juan Ten Writings on Cultivating Perfection (CT 263, Xiuzhen shishu, completed by 1300), which constitute a veritable compendium of Bai Yuchan's legacy. Some of these texts include diagrams. Some other titles in this grouping were likely augmented by adding the term Cultivating Perfection to them. For instance, the Diagrams on the Great Paradigm and the Primordial Chaos for Cultivating Perfection (CT 149, Xiuzhen Taiji hunyuan tu 修眞太極混元圖), by a man named Xiao Daocun (most likely compiled in the thirteenth century) contains many interesting diagrams that purportedly came from Shi Jianwu. The text calls the diagrams which Shi passed on as those which deal with "Cultivating and Refining" (xiulian 修煉) rather than Cultivating Perfection, suggesting an alteration by later editors of the text. Likewise, a fuller version of the Marvelous Diagrams Successively Verified for Cultivating Perfection (CT 152, Xiuzhen liyan miaotu 修眞歴驗妙圖) is found in the Yunji qiqian (CT 1032, 72.17a-38b), where it is entitled the Manuscript Copy of the Successively Verified Cultivating the Elixir in the Marvelous Way of Perfect Primordial [Tradition] (Zhenyuan miaodao xiudan liyan chao 眞元妙道修丹歴驗鈔) and said to be by a Dongzhenzi in a grass robe (Caoyi Dongzhenzi 草衣洞眞子, i.e. Lou Jing). Both versions of these works contain an interesting sequence of twelve diagrams. The final diagram in this sequence, said to "assess the work of the Cyclically-Transformed Elixir and the Five Phases" (Huandan wuxing gong lun tu 還丹五行功論圖), depicts the cosmic dimensions of the human being who has undertaken the Great Work of alchemy (see diagram 5). It has been retained for the letterhead of a professor who has a certain interest in alchemy and other aspects of Chinese science and culture. This diagram is of interest for purposes of comparisons with what we will consider immediately below. It stresses man's place in the universe, but not the internal structures and features that identify him with the macrocosm. As we will see below, the first pictorial evidence we have of this internal dimension of cultivating perfection along alchemical lines seems to appear in the thirteenth century. One of the first of what we now call the Diagrams of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu) that we know of appeared in three works compiled around the end of the Southern Song dynasty. All of those printed versions bore the names Diagrams of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu), but most likely derive from the above "genuine" drawings of the inner workings of the human being stemming from criminal executions. At some time in the late thirteenth century, the followers of Bai Yuchan in Fujian and Jiangxi

compiled a large compendium known as the Ten Writings on Cultivating Perfection (CT 263, Xiuzhen shishu). As part of this collection, there is a set of six depictions of different parts of the human body (CT 263, j. 18.2a-3b) diagrams. This chapter is the second in the fourth of the ten component writings known as "Shortcut by Miscellaneous Authors" [zazhu jiejing 雜著捷徑]. The diagrams are woven into a larger set of teachings in the same chapter, most of which bear the name of Yanluozi, an obscure figure who reputedly lived in the region of modern day Beijing in the tenth or eleventh century. He left behind several titles that were known to librarians of the Song dynasty (including the Instructions and Song on Comprehending the Mysteries of Inner Perfection [Neizhen tongxuan jue and ge 内眞通玄訣/歌] and a Diagram on the Secret Instructions on Barrier Lock of Nurturing the Spirits [Yangshen guanchao mijue tu 養神關鎖秘訣圖]). Chapter 18 begins with his song on the Corporeal Husk (tigu 體殼) and a poem on controlling the "Mind Monkey" by Honorable Lü Dongbin, and is followed by an unattributed poem on "Nourishing Vitalities and Augmenting Destiny" (yangsheng ximing 養生息命). Next come the first two diagrams (both attributed to Yanluozi), each of which presents the head of a literatus. The first, called the Diagram of the Head (Shoubu tu 首部圖), depicts the inner spaces of the adept's head, while the second, labeled the Diagram for Paying Respects to the Perfected (Chaozhen tu 朝眞圖), focuses on the imaginary flight that the adept makes to pay court in the supernal realm (see diagram 6). Both bear the name of Yanluozi and clearly reflect earlier Shangqing traditions that articulate an elaborate set of chambers in the head and an imaginary journey to the heavenly hierarchies of divine beings. They typically present the human head from the outside, even as they attempt to relate it to an ascent to the heavens. These two diagrams are immediately followed by four diagrams called Diagrams of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu) that present different aspects – left, right, front, and back – of the main internal structures of the trunk of the human body (see diagram 7-8). This series of diagrams, reflecting both the internal part of the human being and a much fuller awareness of its appearances, seem to derive from the knowledge of the human within that stemmed from doctors drawing the insides of criminals executed in the Northern Song. This improved awareness of things internal is turned in this text toward helping the adept who has received proper instruction to generate within himself an immortal embryo that will enable him to assume a post in the celestial realms. The six diagrams are followed by an essay on the Inner Realm ascribed to a [Temple] Superintendent Zhu – could it be Zhu Xi? – (CT 263, j. 18.3b-5b) that praises Yanluozi's diagrams for their accuracy to contemporary (twelfth-century) discussions of the inner aspects of the human body during selfcultivation. The chapter concludes with Yanluozi's Canon on Inner Observation (Neiguan jing 内觀經) and various discussions of the internal divisions of the body and visceral systems, including how to contemplate them. The above text holds the main structures of what we now call the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection. Its diagrams appear around the same time as an integral picture of the inner parts of the human being as part of the Prefatory Discussions on the Diagrams and Commentaries to the Canon of the Eighty-One Difficulties of the Yellow Lord (Huangdi ba shi yi nanjing zhuyi tu 黄帝八十一難經注義圖) (17 pp.). This long, illustrated essays introduces the Linchuan (modern Jiangxi) scholar Li Jiong's Illustrated and Annotated Canon of the the Eighty-One Difficulties of the Yellow Lord (CT 1024, Huangdi ba shi yi nan jing zuantu jujie 黄帝八十一難經纂圖句解), dated to 1269. The diagram printed there is said to depict the "regular View of the Inner Realm" (Neijing ze mian 内境側面) (CT 1024, pref., 4a-4b, see diagram 9). While in one sense this diagram seems to be the piecing together of the diagrams discussed above, they are able to achieve this integration by prominently using the spine as a means to connect the three main parts of the body. On the next page of the preface (CT 1024, pref. 5a-5b), are depicted two diagrams of the front-view and back-view of the Inner Realm that are identical to the depictions with the same names as those given above. Since Li wrote his commentary in large part as a negative reaction to the commentary from the Tang dynasty by Yang Xuancao, it is not surprising that he claims that his diagrams seek to rectify the lost or mistaken understandings of the Methods of the Vessels (mai fa 脈法) perpetuated by Yang's commentary (CT 1024, pref. 5a). He fails to say where these diagrams come from, however. These are the two earliest depictions of what has come to be known as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection. As was typical until the eighteenth century, the diagram was said to illustrate the Inner Realm. Its full presentation in Li Jiong's text seems to have been a combination of depictions of the head that reflected knowledge gained by refined meditations of Supreme Purity patriarchs and of the bottom part of the body that reflected the knowledge gained from criminal executions. Joined by the spine, and including a bigger role for the lower part of the body, the complete chart presented by Li Jiong found uses by doctors as well as by those interested in coming to a fuller understanding of the alchemized itinerary they were now expecting to take toward the goal of perfection.

Cultivating Perfection in the Ming-Qing Era Both of the texts that contained the above illustrations circulated among literati during Yuan times. They were included in the Ming Daoist Canon that was published in 1445. This compendium also contained a large number of Southern Song and Yuan texts that centered on the mode of Cultivating Perfection codified by Bai Yuchan and his followers in Fujian and Jiangxi. It is likely that the conjunction of this diagram and this textual corpus eventually led to its redesignation as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection in the eighteenth century. Aiding this renaming was the resurgence, in Qing times, of the Longmen branch of the Complete Perfection (Quanzhen) tradition centered in the Baiyun Abbey in Beijing. Although the earliest diagram – now called the diagram of Cultivating Perfection – was included in one of the side temples of this monastic complex, the Baiyun guan abbots of the late eighteenth century gave the name Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Channels) to a new diagram of the inner potentialities of the human being to restore his perfection. Before the eighteenth century, Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Realm) seems to have been the most common name of the diagrams we have explored in the previous section. A final widely distributed depiction of what has become known as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection appears in an expanded edition of an encyclopedia compiled by the late Southern Song scholar Chen Yuanjing with the hopes of rectifying the mores of the common people. Although no longer extant in it original form, there exists at least two expanded and illustrated editions of this work printed in the first part of the Ming dynasty. The earlier of these editions (dated to 1478) was the Newly Illustrated and Amplified Encyclopedia of the Hordes of Writings [known as] the Comprehensive Records of the Forest of Affairs (Xinbian Zuantu zengxin qunshu leiyao Shilin guangji 新編纂圖増新群書類要事林廣記), while the later edition (dated to 1496) bears the title Newly Compiled Comprehensive Record of the Forest of Affairs, an Illustrated and Amplified Encyclopedia of the Hordes of Writings (Zuantu zengxin qunshu leiyao Shilin guangji xinji 纂圖増新群書類要事林廣記). Both of the illustrations in these editions were apparently drawn straight from Li Jiong's text (diagram 10). Although unnamed, each of the diagrams appear at the head of the "Section on Medical Learning" (Yixue lei 醫學類), and both show a schematic view of a male adept seated in meditation as viewed from his right hand side. This diagram apparently remained well liked throughout the Ming dynasty. Conclusions The illustration known today as Diagram of Cultivating Perfection was part of a long and evolving legacy of literati self-cultivation in China. This paper has explored some aspects of how the vision of Cultivating Perfection changed from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries and how the formation of this diagram came to be part of this changing perfection complex. In particular, I have suggested that the rich sensual forms of contemplating deities central to the Shangqing tradition in its earlier period gradually became embedded a broader conception of practice that wed meditative and ritual practice into a hierarchy of texts and deities and attempted to unify Daoism's diverse local traditions for the Tang and Northern Song dynasties. Even as the limits of these conservative systematizing efforts finally became clear in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, new visions of corporeal self-cultivation grounded in drawings of the inner human drawn during executions and alchemical language and imagery had begun to emerge. At the same time, new local revelatory traditions and deity cults challenged attempts by conventional priests to assert a Daoist unity. These new traditions and movements were already rooted in southern literati culture, and began to coalesce in various configurations of spiritual advancement in the Southern Song. One of them, centered around the teachings and traditions of Bai Yuchan, whose affiliates lived and worked mainly in Fujian and Jiangxi in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, came to see itself as the main promoter of this new alchemical mode of Cultivating Perfection and began writing texts that focused on various aspects of this process. Proponents of other Fujian and Jiangxi traditions, like the Rectifying Rituals of the Heart of Heaven (Tianxin zhengfa), likewise took it upon themselves to incorporate some aspects of this new alchemized form of inner self-cultivation for their basically exorcistic ritual. Scholars added the new knowledge of the insides of the person gained by carefully observed executions to the older knowledge gained by ecstatic forms of flight to the celestial deities stressed by the Shangqing tradition and combined them together into diagrams of the Inner Realm that could help them make things a bit more perfect. These diagrams sought to remind observers of the cosmic dimensions of themselves that could aid them in creating personal well-being, healing the sick, and saving the world.

Appendix C: Five Phases Correspondences Viscus Receptacle Direction Season Climatic Condition Color

Wood Liver Gallbladder East Spring Wind Green

Fire Heart Small intestine South Summer Heat Red

Earth Spleen Stomach Center Mid-summer Humidity Yellow

Metal Lungs Large intestine West Autumn Dryness White

Water Kidneys Bladder North Winter Cold Black

Tissue Expands into the Bodily Fluid Opening Sense Emotion

Sinews Nails Tears Eyes Sight Anger

Arteries Complexion Sweat Tongue Hearing Elation

Fat and flesh Lips Saliva Mouth Taste Pensiveness

Hair and skin Body hair Mucus Nose Smell Grief

Bones Hair on head Urine Ears Touch Fear

Animal Emperor Number Celestial Stem (yin) Celestial Stem (yang) Terrestial branch

Dragon Fu Hsi 8 and 3 I乙 Chia 甲 Yin 寅, mao 卯

Phoenix Shen Nung 2 and 7 Ting 丁 Ping 丙 Ssu 巳, wu 午

Ox Huang-ti 10 and 5 Chi 己 Wu 戊 Ch'ou 丑, wei 末, ch'en 辰, hsü 戌

Tiger Shao-hao 4 and 9 Hsin 辛 Keng 庚 Shen 申, yu 酉

Snake, tortoise Chüan-hsü 6 and 1 Kuei 癸 Jen 壬 Tzu 子, hai 亥

Appendix D: The Twenty-Eight Constellations

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28.

Constellation 角 Chiao 亢 Kang 氐 Ti 房 Fang 心 Hsin 尾 Wei 箕 Chi 斗 Tou 牛 Niu 女 Nü 虚 Hsü 危 Wei 室 Shih 壁 Pi 奎 Kuei 婁 Lou 胃 Wei 昴 Mao 畢 Pi 觜 Tzu 參 Shen 井 Ching 鬼 Kuei 柳 Liu 星 Hsing 張 Chang 翼I 軫 Chen

Name The Horn The Neck Base Room Heart Tail Basket Ladle Ox-boy Maiden Void Rooftop House Wall Astride Mound Stomach Pleiades Net Beak Orion Well Ghosts Willow Star Bow Wings Carriage

Appendix E: Weights and Measures Units of weight, volume, and length are rendered with conventional English terms as shown in the table below. The table also shows the average and rounded-off equivalences in the Western metric system. Unit

Conventional Translation

Average Equivalent

Length Fen 分 Tsun 寸 Ch'ih 尺

= 10 fen 分 = 10 tsun 寸

tenth of inch inch foot

ca. 0.24 cm ca. 2.4 cm ca. 24 cm

Weight Chu 銖 Liang 兩 Chin 斤

= 24 chu 銖 = 16 liang 兩

scruple ounce pound

ca. 0.6 g ca. 14 g ca. 220 g

Appendix F: Poem in the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection At the upper part of the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Hsiu-chen Ch'üan-t'u 修眞全圖), there is a poem between the diagram's title and circle of paradisiac realm (nine heavens). This is a slightly different version of the first of the seven Poems of the Way of Elixir (Tan-tao Ko 丹道歌) attributed to the great T'ang-Five Dynasties (8th-9th century CE) master Lü Tung-pin 呂洞賓. He is traditionally considered an ancestor of the Complete Perfection (Ch'üan-chen 全眞) schools. Many writings and sayings were attributed to him. 萬載貌如童道徳乾坤祖陰陽造化功天魂生白虎地魄産青龍運寶泥丸住搬精入上宮若人明此理萬載貌如童

若人明此理

搬精入上宮

運寶泥丸住

地魄産青龍

天魂生白虎

陰陽造化功

道徳詩乾曰坤祖

Tao and [its] Virtue is the ancestor of ch'ien and k'un Yin and yang are the accomplishment of generation and transformation [of things] Heavenly hun gives birth to the White Tiger Earthly p'o produces the Green Dragon Circulate the treasure into the dwelling of Muddy Pellet Move the ching [so that it] enters the upper palace If a person understands this principle Ten thousand writings appear like [writings of] a child

The Original Poem Attributed to Lü Tung-pin Variant words are indicated by gray color 道徳乾坤祖陰陽造化宗天魂生白虎地魄産青龍運室泥丸住搬精秘院封有人明此法萬載少年容

Tao and [its] Virtue is the ancestor of ch'ien and k'un Yin and yang are the origin of generation and transformation [of things] Heavenly hun gives birth to the White Tiger Earthly p'o produces the Green Dragon Carry the room into the Muddy Pellet dwelling Move the ching into the secret court and seal it To a person who understands this method Ten thousand writings [are like] a young man's appearance

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