Commentary on the Mirror for Compounding the Elixir

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce the publication of

Commentary on the Mirror for Compounding the Elixir:

A Fourteenth-Century Work on Taoist Internal Alchemy

The Ruyao jing (Mirror for Compounding the Medicine) is one of the most famous texts of Taoist Internal Alchemy, or Neidan. Written in the 10th century, it describes the foundations of Internal Alchemy in twenty short poems of four verses. Because of its symbolic and cryptic language, it has been subjected to different and sometimes conflicting interpretations.

This book contains the first complete translation of the Ruyao jing and of the commentary by Wang Jie, who lived in the 14th century. Wang Jie was a second-generation disciple of the great Neidan master, Li Daochun. His commentary is characterized by a strong connection between the doctrinal and the practical aspects of Neidan.

The translator's notes provide details on the main technical terms and on the relation of this work to other important texts of Internal Alchemy, in particular the Cantong qi (Seal of the Unity of the Three) and the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality).

The book is offered with a 15% New Publication Discount until March 15, 2013. See below for this offer.

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Publication Data:

Wang Jie
Commentary on the Mirror for Compounding the Medicine:
A Fourteenth-Century Work on Taoist Internal Alchemy
Translated by Fabrizio Pregadio

Golden Elixir Press, 2013
ISBN 978-0-9855475-0-9
104 pp., Paperback
US$ 14.95 • € 10.95 (list price)


New Publication Discount: US$ 12.70, or equivalent in Euros (15% discount)
Buy from CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/4150984
Enter discount code H7QDR322 at checkout
This offer is valid until March 15, 2013

Golden Elixir Quote of the Week

Golden Elixir Press is starting a new series entitled Golden Elixir Quote of the Week. Each quote consists of a short passage on Neidan (Internal Alchemy) selected from one of the books published by the Press. To view a sample, click the link below.

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The Original Stele of the "Neijing tu", a Taoist Chart of the Human Body

Fig. 1. Entrance to the Baiyun guan
(Click to enlarge this and the other pictures)

The Baiyun guan (Abbey of the White Clouds, fig. 1) in Beijing is one of the most important Taoist monasteries in China. A Taoist temple already existed here in the mid-8th century, but the present site originally dates from around 1200. From the 17th century, the abbey has been the seat of Quanzhen (Complete Reality), the main Taoist lineage in northern China.

Fig. 2. The Neijing tu stele

While Quanzhen allows for different forms of individual practice — especially meditation — and also includes forms of Taoist communal ritual, its methods incorporate a brand of Neidan (Internal Alchemy) that emphasizes the cultivation of one’s inner nature.

The Neidan view of the human body has often been represented in charts and other illustrations. The Neijing tu, or Chart of the Inner Warp, is the most famous of these charts. It depicts the body as a landscape and shows its main loci according to Neidan, but also draws on the earlier Taoist traditions based on meditation on the inner gods. [See a small or a large reproduction of the Neijing tu].

The Baiyun guan preserves the original stele of the Neijing tu (fig. 2). The stele, dating from 1886, is encased in the outer walls of one of the buildings of the abbey. It measures about 120cm in height and 50cm in width.

Fig. 3. Lower Cinnabar Field

The chart highlights the three Cinnabar Fields (dantian), which distinguish the Neidan view of the body. Each of them is inhabited by a pair of human figures. At the bottom of the picture (fig. 3) is shown a couple formed by a boy and a girl. Working on a treadmill, they invert the course of the essence (jing) to avoid that it flows downwards and becomes lost. A fiery furnace to their right heats the lower Cinnabar Field, located in the region of the abdomen and here placed near four Yin-Yang symbols. Next to it, on the left, is the "iron buffalo ploughing the earth and planting the golden coin".

Fig. 4. Middle Cinnabar Field

At the center of the picture (fig. 4) is the middle Cinnabar Field, located in the region of the heart and shaped as a spiral. Above it is the Herd Boy; he holds the constellation of the Northern Dipper, a symbol of the Center of the cosmos. According to a famous Chinese story, the Herd Boy can meet only once a year the Weaving Girl, pictured below him near the kidneys. The Herd Boy and the Weaving Girls are symbols of the alchemical conjunction of Yin and Yang.

Fig. 5. Upper Cinnabar Field

At the top (fig. 5), the picture shows the upper Cinnabar Field, located among the mountains above the head. To the left of the mountains starts the Control vessel (dumai), which runs along the back of the body. Below the Control Vessel begins the Function Vessel (renmai), which runs along the front of the body. (Both vessels are represented by five parallel lines.) During the first stage of the Neidan practice, the essence is circulated along the circuit formed by the two vessels by means of breathing. Next to the Function Vessel sits an old man, who is Laozi. Next to Control Vessel stands a monk with raised arms, who is Bodhidharma. The two dots represent the Sun and Moon.

The three main sections of the Neijing tu represent the three main stages of the Neidan practice. The Internal Elixir is generated in the lower Cinnabar Field, is nourished in the middle Cinnabar Field, and is achieved in the upper Cinnabar Field.

Pictures taken at the Baiyun guan in Beijing on September 22, 2012.

Taoist Alchemy: A Historical Overview (Free PDF)

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce the publication of The Way of the Golden Elixir: A Historical Overview of Taoist Alchemy by Fabrizio Pregadio (PDF, 60 pp., free download).

Chinese alchemy has a history of more than two thousand years, recorded from the 2nd century BCE to the present day. Its two main branches, known as Waidan (External Alchemy) and Neidan (Internal Alchemy), share in part their doctrinal foundations but differ from one another in the respective practices.

This essay outlines the main stages of development of the Chinese alchemical tradition, and the continuities and analogies that occur among the doctrines and practices of its main branches and lineages.

Download page (free download)

Contents

Introduction 

1. Origins of Waidan 

2. The Taiqing (Great Clarity) Tradition 

3. Taoist Meditation and the Origins of Neidan 

4. The Cantong qi (Seal of the Unity of the Three) 

5. Waidan After the Cantong qi 

6. Main Neidan Lineages and Masters 

7. Neidan: General Perspectives 

8. The Internal Elixir and the View of the Human Being 

9. The Practice of the Internal Elixir

"Being by Oneself": A Visit to the Residence of Neidan Master Liu Yiming (1734-1821)

Fig. 1. Entrance
to Mount Qiyun

Liu Yiming 劉一明 (1734-1821) was one of the greatest masters of Neidan (Internal Alchemy). Born in Quwo (present-day Shanxi province), he spent the first half of his life traveling extensively to various towns and mountains in northwestern China and to Beijing, in order to search for teachings. His main teachers were a master whom he calls Kangu laoren (Old Man of the Kan Valley, first met around 1755), who gave him teachings on the Book of Changes, cosmology, and Neidan; and another master whom he calls Xianliu zhangren (Great Man Resting in Immortality, first met in 1768), who gave him further teachings on Neidan.

Fig. 2. First level
of the Zizai wo

In 1779, Liu Yiming visited Qiyun shan (Mount Resting on the Clouds). He decided to settle there and built his residence, called Zizai wo (meaning Nest of Being by Oneself, but also Nest of Freedom, as well as Comfortable Nest...). Since then, his main activities were teaching, writing, and building or restoring a large number of temples and shrines on the mountain. Liu Yiming's best-known works consist of commentaries on major Neidan texts, such as the Cantong qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three) and the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality); independent works on Neidan, both in prose and poetry; and commentaries on the Book of Changes. In addition, he wrote works still virtually unknown to Western readers, including a commentary to the Daode jing (Book of the Way and Its Virtue) and one to the Buddhist Heart Sutra.

Fig. 3. Liu Yiming's
own room

Mount Qiyun is located near Yuzhong (present-day Gansu province). After one crosses the gate that formally marks the entrance to the mountain (fig. 1), it takes almost one hour to climb the steps that lead to Liu Yiming's residence. A recently-built shrine devoted to Liu Yiming is found near the foot of the mountain. Continuing the climb, one at last reaches the Zizai wo. Arranged into three levels, the residence is built around a natural cave and for this reason it is still remarkably well preserved. Most other temples and shrines on the mountain, instead, have been destroyed during the past century due to political turmoils, although a few new sites have been built in the meantime.

Fig. 4. The ceiling

The lower and main level of the Zizai wo is a shrine (fig. 2). The front wall is now covered by several wallboards containing Liu Yiming's life chronology, photographs of earlier Taoist masters, and other materials. On the left side is found Liu Yiming's own room, which is built directly inside the cave (fig. 3). The ceiling of the room, instead, is covered by tiles that form a octagonal shape, to represent the eight trigrams of the Book of Changes and their center (fig. 4). The terrace facing the shrine offers a spectacular view of the mountain.

Fig. 5. Second level
of the Zizai wo

The second, intermediate level of the Zizai wo is where Liu Yiming wrote his books and prepared medicines. Although he was a Neidan master, he was often visited by people who knew him for his medical skills. In the first part of his life, his peregrinations led him to study medicine in Henan from around 1762 to 1765, and later he wrote four little-known works on ophthalmology. Healing was only one of Liu Yiming's charitable activities. His biographies mention that he bought farming land on the mountain, which he then leased in order to fund restoration or construction of temples and shrines. He also bought land to be used as burial ground by those who could not afford buying a tomb. Part of the terrace at the second level of the Zizai wo is now occupied by a simple but effective solar-energy device used for boiling water (fig. 5).

Fig. 6. Third level
of the Zizai wo

The upper level of Liu Yiming's residence is the Cangjing dong (Cave for Storing the Scriptures, fig. 6); here Liu Yiming kept his books. None of them is found in this room: the former "library" now contains an altar devoted to Liu Yiming. Considering the breadth of subjects covered in his works, nevertheless, it is easy to imagine that the Cangjing dong hosted texts on Taoism, Neidan, Confucianism, Buddhism, as well as medical books.

Fig. 7. Master Zhang Xincheng

Master Zhang Xincheng 張信誠 (fig. 7) takes care of Liu Yiming's residence. He is a 25th-generation master of Longmen (Dragon's Gate), the lineage to which Liu Yiming also belonged. This lineage claims direct descent from Qiu Chuji (1148-1227), one of the disciples of Wang Chongyang, the founder of Quanzhen Taoism. Longmen became formally acknowledged in the 17th century, and since then has been the main Taoist lineage in northern China.

We are grateful to Master Zhang for allowing us to visit the Zizai wo, for answering our questions on Liu Yiming and Neidan, and for offering us a delicious tea.

Text and pictures by Fabrizio Pregadio and Song Xiaokun 宋晓堃. — See also a Facebook album on the Zizai wo.