The Golden Elixir Blog

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 ...

An abridged translation of the Cantong qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three), the main text of Taoist Internal Alchemy, is now available in PDF format. This version is based on the complete translation published in  The Seal of the Unity of the Three: A Study and Translation of th e Cantong qi, the Source of the Taoist Way of the Golden Elixir  (Golden Elixir Press, 2011), available in both a paperback and a hardcover edition. The PDF contains 32 of the 88 poems of the original text. Each poem is translated in full, and the explications and line notes are the same as those found in the complete version. The Introduction, the tables, the glossary of Chinese characters, and the list of works quoted are reproduced entirely. The textual notes, the appendixes, and the final index of subjects are omitted. ▶ See the  web page  on this PDF ▶ Download a sample (PDF, based on the unabridged version) ▶ Other  materials on the Cantong qi ...

The Golden Elixir website now contains an online slideshow presentation entitled "Who Wrote the Cantong qi ?" , on the author(s) of The Seal of the Unity of the Three . Click the picture above to visit the Golden Elixir web page where you can watch the presentation.

The Japanese alchemical chart of the body reproduced above is entitled Shūshin kyūten tandō zu 修真九轉丹道圖, or Chart of the Way of the Elixir in Nine Cycles for the Cultivation of Reality (the Chinese reading of the title is Xiuzhen jiuzhuan dandao tu ). Although no precisely corresponding picture seems to be found in Chinese texts, it is likely that this chart is either copied from, or based on, an earlier Chinese exemplar that may now be lost. The Chart , which is undated, is now kept in the library of Tenri University in Japan. It is reproduced here from the book by Katō Chie 加藤千恵, Furō fushi no shintai: Dōkyō to “tai” no shisō 不老不死の身体 — 道教と「胎」の思想 (The Ageless and Deathless Body: Taoism and the Idea of the “Embryo”; Tokyo: Taishūkan shoten, 2002), p. 121. Dr. Katō is one the main Japanese scholars of Taoist Internal Alchemy. She has published extensively in particular on the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality) and on the Taoist views of the “embryo.” From top to bottom a...

Of old, those who excelled in doing the Dao were subtle, marvelous, mysterious, and penetrating: their depth cannot be understood. It is only because it cannot be understood that, if I am forced, I would describe them as — hesitant, like one fording a stream in winter; tentative, like one concerned by the four neighborhoods; respectful, like a guest; dispersed, like melting ice; genuine, like an uncarved block; vast, like a valley; murky, like muddy water. ( Daode jing , 25) In generating and feeding things generate but do not own, do but do not be dependent, let grow but to not manage. This is called Mysterious Virtue. ( Daode jing , 10, part.) Those who intend to take over the world and do something to it— I see that they will never succeed. The world is a divine vessel: you cannot do anything to it, you cannot hold it. If you do something to it, you damage it; if you hold it, you lose it. Thus the Saint does not do, ...

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce the publication of Vol. 2 of The Seal of the Unity of the Three , subtitled  Bibliographic Studies on the  Cantong qi :  Commentaries, Essays, and Related Works,  by Fabrizio Pregadio. The Cantong qi is the main text of Taoist Internal Alchemy (Neidan). In addition to Taoist masters and adepts, it has also attracted the attention of philosophers, cosmologists, poets, literati, calligraphers, philologists, and bibliophiles. Thirty-eight traditional commentaries written through the end of the nineteenth century are extant, and dozens of texts found in the Taoist Canon and elsewhere are related to it. The present book is the most complete guide to this vast literature available in any language. The book is divided into two main parts. Part 1 contains a catalogue of extant and lost commentaries, essays, and related texts, listing altogether about 150 works with details on their authors, editions, reprints, and bibliograp...

An Introduction to the Classics of Taoist Alchemy. Available for free download from TCCII . These excerpts are reproduced from the post entiled Interview with Fabrizio Pregadio , accessible from the Silent Tao website. Shawn Cartwright, who conducted the interview, is a co-founder of the Traditional Chinese Culture Institute International (TCCII), and a teacher of several Chinese internal arts. His website contains many materials of interest on Neidan (Internal Alchemy). The full interview is available in a PDF edited by Shawn, entitled Interpreting the Ancient Codes of Taoist Alchemy . Interview with Fabrizio Pregadio By Shawn Cartwright  Fabrizio Pregadio, one of the foremost translators of Taoist Alchemy classics, answers several questions about his work translating some of the most important texts of Nei Dan. Here is a selection of questions and his answers from the interview. The full interview can be found in the paper Interpreting the Ancient Codes  availab...

This passage of the Cantong qi is reproduced from Fabrizio Pregadio,  The Seal of the Unity of the Three: A Study and Translation of the Cantong qi , the Source of the Way of the Golden Elixir (Golden Elixir Press, 2011). The Golden Elixir website contains an extended collection of of free translations, essays, and other materials on the Cantong qi reproduced from this book.   Book 2, Section 68: The Lovely Maid and the Yellow Sprout 1-4 The Lovely Maid of the River is numinous and supremely divine: when she finds Fire she flies away, leaving behind not a speck of dust.   5-8 Like a demon she hides, like a dragon she conceals: nobody knows her whereabouts. If you want to control her, the Yellow Sprout is the root.   Notes The Lovely Maid of the River ( heshang chanü ) is True Mercury; she is the Yin line within Li , referred to as the "second daughter" in the terminology of the Book of Changes . Aroused by fire, she esca...

Golden Elixir Press is pleased to announce the publication of The Seal of the Unity of the Three , by Fabrizio Pregadio. "The Cantong qi is the forefather of the scriptures on the Elixir of all times. Its words are ancient and profound, arcane and subtle. No one can fathom their meaning." Thus begins a preface found in one of the commentaries to the Cantong qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three). These words express several significant features of the work translated in the present book: the charm of its verses, the depth of its discourse, its enigmatic language, and its intimate relation to the Taoist alchemical traditions. Under an allusive poetical language and thick layers of images and symbols, the Cantong qi hides the exposition of a doctrine that inspired a large number of commentaries and other works, and attracted the attention not only of Taoist masters and adepts, but also of philosophers, cosmologists, poets, literati, calligraphers, philologists, and b...

The Autumn 2011 catalogue is now available. Click the picture or the link below to access the download page: •  Autumn 2011 catalogue The catalogue includes a code for a 10% discount on all PDF editions. This offer is valid until the end of autumn (December 21, 2011).