2.2. Refining Essence to Transmute it into Breath
In the Taoist alchemical practices of Nourishing Life, the stage of “refining Essence to transmute it into Breath” has a crucial importance, as it represents the first level after “laying the foundations.” Building on the basis established in the previous stage, one advances in the work of refining Essence, Breath, and Spirit.
At this stage, Essence, Breath, and Spirit—the Three Treasures—are said to be the ingredients. The practice of “laying the foundations” is intended to replenish their supply. This initial, preparatory practice is called the stage of the “arts of the Way” (daoshu ). Only after the Three Treasures have been replenished can one enter the stages of refining the Internal Elixir. These stages are called “arts of Immortality” (xianshu ).
One of the representative sayings concerning “laying the foundations” is: “When Essence is full, one does not think of desires; when Breath is full, one does not think of food; when Spirit is full, one does not think of sleep.” This, however, is only an abstraction. The alchemical masters give directions to their disciples by examining their eyes, their teeth, and their voice in order to establish the most fruitful procedure. Another saying refers to this by these words: “When Spirit is abundant, it is shown by the light of the eyes; when Breath is abundant, it is shown by the voice; when Essence is abundant, it is shown by the teeth.”
It is said, moreover, that when the Cinnabar Field is as firm as a stone; when one’s pace is as light as flying; and when, each time one begins to practice, the “source of the Medicine” is lively and brisk, the “celestial mechanism” is unobstructed and flourishing, and the “substance of Water” is clear and true—when all this happens, one has begun the work of “refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath.”
“Refining Essence to transmute it into Breath” is also called the Barrier of the Hundred Days (bairi guan ). This is only a conventional term, and does not mean that this stage necessarily requires one hundred days.
Since this is a higher stage compared to “laying the foundations,” we must explicate several new technical terms in addition to those mentioned in the previous chapter. These explications are meant to provide a general outline of this stage of the practice.
* * *
The Medicine (yao 藥 )
What the alchemical texts call the Medicine is made of the Essence, the Breath, and the Spirit that have been replenished at the stage of “laying the foundations.” As we have seen, the three ingredients are also called “the three wholes” (sanquan ). An alchemical text refers to them when it says: “In order for the Great Elixir not to vanish, you need the three wholes. If it requires arduous practice and is hard to achieve, you should blame the evil causes.” 1
According to the different stages of the alchemical practice, the Medicine is divided into three types: the External Medicine (waiyao ), the Internal Medicine (neiyao ), and the Great Medicine (dayao ). This distinction is based on the process of coagulating Essence, Breath, and Spirit with one another. The cyclical refining at the stage of “refining Essence to transmute it into Breath” leads to the formation of the External Medicine. The cyclical refining that follows the completion of the first stage of the practice results in the formation of the Internal Medicine. After the External and the Internal Medicines coagulate with one another, one enters the stage of “refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit,” which is called the Great Medicine. After the Great Medicine goes through the barrier of “entering the enclosure” (ruhuan , also known as the “barrier of sitting,” zuoguan ), it is called the Embryo of the Dao (daotai ), or the Infant (ying’er ).
The “arts of the Way and the “arts of Immortality” differ according to whether, during the circulation along the Celestial Circuit of the Function and Control vessels, the Medicine has not yet been formed or has already been formed. “Laying the foundations” is the stage in which there is no Medicine, and it only consists in refining Breath. “Refining Essence to transmute it into Breath,” instead, is the state in which the formation of the Medicine occurs.
External Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Great Medicine . The process of attaining the Medicine involves two “births” and two “collections.” The two births are those of the External Medicine and the Internal Medicine. The two collections are those of the External Medicine and the Internal Medicine. The difference between them lies in the fact that for the External Medicine there is a “birth” followed by a “collection,” while for the Internal Medicine there is a “collection” followed by a “birth.”
This point requires a detailed explanation. When the External Medicine is born—i.e., from the “living Zi hour” (huo zishi ) onward—Essence, Breath, and Spirit begin to move. The source is clear, and the Original Essence is full. At that time, by means of the Fire Times of the Lesser Celestial Circuit, the Medicine rises to the Muddy Pellet, descends through the trachea, passes through the Yellow Court, enters the lower Cinnabar Field, and is stored there. This counts as one cycle of refining the Medicine. Since it comes from outside and enters within, it is called External Medicine. According to the rule, the External Medicine must be submitted to three hundred full cycles in order to be in accord with the “mysterious and wondrous mechanism” (xuanmiao ji ). Only then is it possible to begin the alchemical practice to generate the Internal Medicine.
After the preliminary coagulation of the External Medicine has been completed, it rapidly gives birth to the Internal Medicine. One first circulates the Original Spirit, and joins it in the lower Cinnabar Field with the Original Breath already accumulated there by means of the three hundred cycles of refining. This generates the Internal Medicine, which is finer and purer than the External Medicine. However, as we have said, for the Internal Medicine there is a “collection” followed by a “birth.” Unlike the External Medicine, the Internal Medicine is not formed by a process of coagulation: this is an immediate method (dunfa ) belonging to the “arts of Immortality.” After the Internal Medicine is born in the lower Cinnabar Field, it is joined to the External Medicine already produced, and they gradually coalesce with one another. This is why it is said that there is a “collection” followed by a “birth.” The Internal Medicine, therefore, does not use the circulation along the Celestial Circuit; after it is born it meets the External Medicine and they coalesce into the “mother of the Elixir” (danmu ).
An alchemical text says:
外藥所以了命，內藥所以了性。外藥者外奪造化，以復先天；內藥者內保本真，以化後天。. . . 先天真陽，從虛無中來，乃屬於彼，故謂外藥。先天既來，歸根復命，即屬於我，故謂內藥。
The External Medicine fulfills Life (liaoming ); the Internal Medicine fulfills Nature (liaoxing ). The External Medicine “steals creation and transformation” outside, in order to return to the precelestial; the Internal Medicine protects the fundamental reality within, in order to transform the postcelestial. . . .
The precelestial True Yang comes from Emptiness and Non-Being. As this pertains to the “other” (bi ), it is called External Medicine. After the precelestial has come, one “reverts to the root and returns to life.” As this pertains to the “self” (wo ), it is called Internal Medicine. 2
The External Medicine pertains to “doing” (youzuo ) and is refined by means of the Lesser Celestial Circuit. The Internal Medicine, instead, pertains to “non-doing” (wuwei ): after one extinguishes the Fire, Spirit enters the Cinnabar Field, joins the External Medicine stored there, and the Internal Medicine is achieved. The entrance of Spirit in the Cinnabar Field is the so-called “collecting” (cai ), and is also referred to as “coagulating Spirit and letting it enter the Cavity of Breath (qixue ).” As we have said, one does not use the Celestial Circuit.
The Great Medicine, instead, is refined by means of the Greater Celestial Circuit, i.e., by means of the Original Spirit, which is silent and luminous; but here, in fact, there is no actual “circulation.” Since this concerns the stage of “refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit,” it will not be described in detail in the present chapter.
Awakening to Reality says:
內藥還同外藥，內通外亦須通，丹頭和合類相同，溫養兩般作用。
The Internal Medicine is after all the same as the External Medicine;
when the Internal is mastered, the External is mastered too.
In compounding the matrix of the Elixir, the kinds should be the same;
“nourishing warmly” requires two kinds of operation. 3
This poem refers to the process of coagulation and coalescence of the External and the Internal Medicines.
After the Internal and the External Medicines coagulate with one another, there is the sign of the “three appearances of the Yang radiance” (yangguang sanxian ). Then one can extinguish the Fire and prepare oneself for the seven days of “entering the enclosure” (ruhuan ). 4 The “mother of the Elixir,” obtained by the coagulation of the Internal and the External Medicines, is refined in order to form the Great Medicine, and one enters the next stage, “refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit.”
The coagulation of the Internal and the External Medicines with one another is equivalent to the Medicine formed by the coalescence of Essence, Breath, and Spirit. The technical term for this is “Breath” (qi 炁 ). As we have seen, the alchemical texts use the word qi 炁 as a code name to mean that the coagulation has been achieved. The “Breath” obtained by “refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath” is the goal of this stage of the practice.
* * *
Transmutation (hua 化 )
After Essence, Breath, and Spirit coagulate with one another and form the Medicine, the practice of harmonization allows the Essence to collect itself and rapidly produce the “mother of the Elixir” (danmu ). The process of further sublimation through which the “mother of the Elixir” becomes the material foundation of one’s inner refinement is called “transmutation.”
Since “refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath” is a stage of replenishment, preliminary to compounding the Medicine, it consists in a process of restoration of the bodily functions. The stage subsequent to the formation of the Medicine, instead, is one of application and operation, and consists in the development of health and vigor. “Transmutation” is the Taoist idea of “the Three returning to the Two, the Two returning to the One, and the One returning to Non-Being.”
According to the principles of Taoist alchemy, the alchemical Medicine is made of the Three Treasures, i.e., Essence, Breath, and Spirit. Essence is the foundation of the Three Treasures. Although Original Essence (yuanjing ) pertains to the precelestial state, it takes on various impurities and becomes a material entity, and cannot ascend to the Muddy Pellet following the spinal column, i.e., the route of the River Chariot. Therefore it must be refined with Breath, and transformed into a “Breath” made by joining Essence and Breath to one another. Being light and pure, and devoid of matter, the Essence can finally circulate following the route of the River Chariot. This is the process of “joining the Three into the Two,” also called “refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath.” Then the two other components, Spirit and Breath, form the Great Medicine.
At the next stage, “refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit,” the word “transmutation” has the same meaning. When Breath is transmuted and returns to being comprised within Spirit, and thus to being one with Spirit, it forms the Embryo of Sainthood (shengtai ), which is the Elixir. This is the process of entering from Being into Non-Being (you you ru wu ).
The third and last stage of refining is “refining Spirit to return to Emptiness.” Here the word “transmutation” is not used anymore; it is replaced by “return” (huan ), which means reverting to the Ultimateless.
In his commentary to the Cantong qi , Zhu Yuanyu (fl. 1657–69) writes:
凡陰陽對待，一往一來，俱謂之化。神則渾然在中，寂然不動也。
Yin and Yang always attend upon one another. Their coming and going is called “transmutation.” The inchoate Spirit is at their center, silent and unmoving. 5
* * *
The River Chariot (heche 河車 )
As we have seen in the previous chapter, Zhang Boduan’s Book of the Eight Vessels describes in detail the Function and Control vessels. When the Control vessel—which runs from the Caudal Funnel to the Muddy Pellet—is used to circulate the Medicine, the alchemical texts refer to it as the route of the River Chariot. The Caudal Funnel, the Spinal Handle, and the Jade Pillow are the “three Barriers” that mark its ascending route. The Muddy Pellet, the Yellow Court, and the lower Cinnabar Field are the three Cinnabar Fields that mark its descending route. The ascent is called “advancing the Fire” (jinhuo ); the descent is called “withdrawing in response” (tuifu ). Since the two paths form a circle, the alchemical texts use the term Lesser Celestial Circuit.
Awakening to Reality refers to this stage of the practice by saying:
河車不敢暫留停，運入崑崙峰頂。
The River Chariot dares not stop for one moment,
as it enters the summit of Mount Kunlun. 6
Concerning the purpose of the circulation of the River Chariot, Zhang Boduan says in one of the heptasyllabic poems appended to his Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir :
鵲橋有路透玄關，立鼎安爐自不難，四象合和憑藉土，三花會聚返還山。子初運入崑崙去，午後周流滄海間，更待玉壺點化後，頂門進出換仙顏。
The Magpie Bridge in its route passes through the Mysterious Barrier;
establishing the tripod and setting up the stove is not hard.
The conjunction of the four images relies on Soil,
the three flowers gather together and return to the mountain.
At Zi (子 ) they first enter Mount Kunlun, and then leave;
at Wu (午 ) afterward they flow into the Azure Sea.
Wait for the transmutation in the Jade Pot:
it will exit the gate of the sinciput and take the semblance of an Immortal. 7
This poem describes in detail the path of the circulation of the River Chariot, as well as its results. The term Magpie Bridge (queqiao ) derives from Cui Xifan’s Ruyao jing :
上鵲橋，下鵲橋，天應星，地應潮。
The upper Magpie Bridge,
the lower Magpie Bridge.
In Heaven they respond to the stars,
on Earth they respond to the tides. 8
According to Xiao Tingzhi, a second-generation disciple of Bai Yuchan, the upper Magpie Bridge is the tongue, and the lower Magpie Bridge is in the Yin Heel cavity (yin qiaoxue ). These two “bridges” connect the paths of the Function and Control vessels to one another. The time of Zi 子 is a metaphor for the time of the initial movement, the kindling of the Fire from the Yin Heel cavity. The time of Wu 午 is a metaphor for the time in which the Medicine reaches the top of the head. 9 After this, the Medicine is delivered to the lower Cinnabar Field. Mount Kunlun is a metaphor for the Muddy Pellet, and the Azure Sea (canghai ) is a metaphor for the lower Cinnabar Field. The Jade Pot (yuhu ) is where the transmutation occurs.
Lü Dongbin’s Baizi bei (Hundred-Character Tablet) says:
氣回丹自結，壺中配坎離。
When Breath returns, the Elixir spontaneously coalesces:
within the pot, Kan and Li conjoin.
“Within the pot” refers to the place where the Elixir coalesces; in other words, it means the Tripod and the Stove. “Conjoin” means “transmute.”
But although the alchemical texts employ a large number of images and metaphors, Zhang Boduan himself, in explaining the River Chariot, says that these principles of the practice should be applied with flexibility. In his Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir , he says:
震兌非東西，坎離不南北，斗柄運周天，要人會攢簇。
Zhen ☳ and Dui ☱ are not East and West,
Kan ☵ and Li ☲ are not South and North;
as the Dipper’s handle revolves along the Celestial Circuit,
all people should gather together. 10
In the postcelestial (houtian ) arrangement of the eight trigrams, Zhen ☳ is at East, Dui ☱ at West, Li ☲ at South, and Kan ☵ at North. In the precelestial (xiantian ) arrangement, instead, Qian ☰ is at South, Kun ☷ at North, Li ☲ at East, and Kan ☵ at West. Therefore the fire should be kindled at Kun to reach Qian; one should circulate the Fire of Li in the East in order to fill the Water of Kan in the West. The “handle” of the Northern Dipper represents the circulation along the Celestial Circuit. However, the third verse of the poem has an additional meaning: even though one knows the method of circulating of the River Chariot, during the refining one should apply flexibility, and should not adhere too rigidly to the literal meaning of the words. 11
The verse, “all people should gather together” alludes to the “gathering together” of the five agents, which return to being “one family.” In other words, during the circulation of the River Chariot, the Wood of Zhen ☳ and Xun ☴ joins the Fire of Li ☲ (the Original Spirit); the Metal of Qian ☰ and Dui ☱ joins the Water of Kan ☵ (the Original Essence); and Wood and Metal coalesce with the Soil of Kun ☷ and Gen ☶ (the True Intention, zhenyi ). Then they are delivered to the Cinnabar Field, and they coagulate to form the Elixir.
Liu Qiaoqiao (1839–1933) wrote:
下竅陰中有陽氣升，攝歸得中土即止。上竅陽中有陰氣降，得中土即止。艮止之極，陽氣上蒸，木液下變，是為真汞；陰氣下注，金精上升，變為真鉛。此乃真土之功。
In the lower Opening, the Yang Breath within the Yin rises; when it moves upwards and finds again the Central Soil, it pauses. In the upper Opening, the Yin Breath within the Yang descends; when it finds the Central Soil, it stops. After their pause culminates, the Yang Breath steams upward: the Liquor of Wood transforms itself below, and becomes True Mercury. The Yin Breath flows downward: the Essence of Metal rises above, and transforms itself into True Lead. This is the function of True Soil. 12
The circulation of the Yin and Yang Breaths refers to the practice of the River Chariot. With regard to the circulation of the River Chariot, therefore, Zhang Boduan considers that since each person’s circumstances are different, it should be applied with flexibility, and not by rigidly adhering to a model.
* * *
The Fire Times (huohou 火候 )
In the alchemical texts, Fire is a metaphor of Original Spirit. When Original Spirit coalesces with Essence and Breath, they circulate along the path of the Function and Control vessels. The operation of heating them as they begin to circulate is called Fire Times (huohou ). The word “times” (hou , lit. “periods, spans of time”) means “stages,” and refers to the stages of advancement and withdrawal, slow and fast pace, and ascent and descent in the circulation of the External Medicine.
An alchemical text says:
進升主於採取，退降主於烹煉。其六陽時（子、醜、寅、卯、辰、巳）火專於進升，六陰時（午、未、申、酉、戌、亥）火專於下降。
Advancement and ascent rule on the collection [of the Medicine]; withdrawal and descent rule on the heating [of the Medicine]. In the six Yang times (those marked by Zi 子 , Chou 丑 , Yin 寅 , Mao 卯 , Chen 辰 , and Si 巳 ), the Fire should advance and ascend. In the six Yin times (those marked by Wu 午 , Wei 未 , Shen 申 , You 酉 , Xu 戌 , and Hai 亥 ), it should decrease and descend. 13
The fast movement is called “fierce fire” (or “martial fire,” wuhuo ), and the slow one is called “gentle fire” (or “civil fire,” wenhuo ). To collect the Medicine, one always uses the “fierce fire.” To heat and refine it, instead, one always uses the “gentle fire.” An anonymous master said:
武火者，火逼金行也。文火者，舒徐而不迫促也。
“Fierce fire” means that the Fire presses Metal into movement. “Gentle fire” means that it is calm and unhurried.
The Zhenquan (The Ultimate Truth) says:
火候本只寓一氣進退之節，非有他也。火候之妙在人，用意緊則火燥，用意緩則火寒。
Fundamentally, the Fire Times consist only in the phases of advancement and withdrawal of the One Breath. The wonder of the Fire Times lies in oneself: if one’s Intention is used too strongly, the Fire would scorch; if it is used too weakly, the Fire would chill. 14
Therefore the term “fire times” in fact means nothing but the practice of cyclical refining.
In Taoism there is a saying: “The saints transmit the Medicine, but do not transmit the Fire; those who have known the Fire Times have always been few.” The transmission of the Fire Times from master to disciple occurs only by means of oral instructions. Even Awakening to Reality is extremely cautious in its discussion of the Fire Times:
契論經歌講至真，不將火候著於文，要知口訣通玄處，須共神仙仔細論。
The Token and the treatises, the scriptures and the songs expound ultimate Reality,
but do not commit the Fire Times to writing.
If you want to know the oral instructions and comprehend the mysterious points,
you must discuss them in detail with a divine immortal. 15
This means that the Fire Times cannot be put into writing, but at the same time, they cannot be ignored. Another poem says:
縱識朱砂與黑鉛，不知火候也如閑，大都全借修持力，毫髮差殊不結丹。
Even if you discern the Vermilion Cinnabar and the Black Lead,
it will be useless if you do not know the fire times.
On the whole, it all depends on the force of practice:
with the slightest error, the Elixir would not coalesce. 16
In his commentary, Liu Yiming explains this poem as follows:
金丹全賴火候修持而成。火者修持之功力，候者修持之次序，採藥須知遲早，煉藥須知時節。有文烹之火候，有武煉之火候，有下手之火候，有止歇之火候，有進陽之火候，有退陰之火候，有還丹之火候，有大丹之火候，有增減之火候，有溫養之火候，火候居多，須要大澈大悟，知始知終，方能成功。
The formation of the Golden Elixir entirely depends on the practice of the Fire Times. “Fire” means the force of the practice; “times” means the sequence of the practice. When you collect the Medicine, you must know what comes first and what comes after; when you refine the Medicine, you must know the time segments. There are the Fire Times of gentle (“civil”) heating, and those of fierce (“martial”) refining; those of the beginning, and those of the conclusion; those of advancing the Yang, and those of withdrawing the Yin; those of the Reverted Elixir (huandan ), and those of the Great Elixir (dadan ); those of “augmenting and decreasing” (zengjian ), and those of “nourishing warmly” (wenyang ). There are different types of Fire Times. You should comprehend them thoroughly, and know them from beginning to end. Only then can there be achievement. 17
In his commentary to same poem of Awakening to Reality , Zhu Yuanyu writes:
真火者我之神，真候者我之息，以火煉藥而成丹，即是以神馭炁而證道也。
The true Fire is one’s own Spirit; the true Times are one’s own breathing. Refining the Medicine by means of Fire in order to form the Elixir is like Spirit driving Breath in order to attest to the Dao. 18
Then Zhu Yuanyu breaks out of these conventional definitions, and adds, more comprehensively:
火候之秘，只在真意，大約念不可起，念起則火燥；意不可散，意散則火冷。只要一念不起，一意不散，時其動靜，察其寒溫，此修持行火之候也。
The secret of the Fire Times uniquely consists in the True Intention (zhenyi ). Essentially, thoughts should not arise; if they arise, the Fire would scorch. The Intention should not disperse; if it disperses, the Fire would chill. No single thought should arise, and the single Intention should not disperse. One should time their movement and their quiescence, and control their cold and their heat. This is how one should practice the Fire Times. 19
This passage provides a clear explanation of the principle of “advancing and withdrawing” in the Fire Times.
The Cantong qi on the Fire Times . Zhang Boduan’s Awakening to Reality inherits and transmits the principles of the Cantong qi . The Cantong qi uses the hexagrams of the Book of Changes to explain the fire times of the Celestial Circuit:
朔旦為復，陽氣始通； … 臨爐施條，開路正光； … 仰以成泰，剛柔並隆； … 漸歷大壯，俠列卯門； … 夬陰以退，陽昇而前； … 乾健盛明，廣被四鄰，陽終於巳，中而相干； … 姤始紀序，履霜最先，井底寒泉，午為蕤賓； … 遯去世位，收斂其精； … 否塞不通，萌者不生； … 觀其權量，察仲秋情； … 剝爛肢體，消滅其形，化氣既竭，亡失至神，道窮則返，歸乎坤元。
The dawn of the first day of the month is Fu ䷗ (Return):
the Yang Breath begins to spread all through. . . .
At Lin ䷒ (Approach), the furnace issues strips of light,
opening the way for proper radiance. . . .
Looking upward, it forms Tai ䷊ (Peace):
the firm and the yielding both come to hold sway. . . .
Gradually comes the turn of Dazhuang ䷡ (Great Strength),
when the knights array themselves at the gates of Mao (卯 ). . . .
At Guai ䷪ (Parting) the time has come for Yin to move into retreat,
for Yang has risen and has come to the fore. . . .
Qian ䷀ (The Creative) is strong, flourishing, and bright,
and lays itself over the four neighborhoods.
Yang terminates at Si (巳 );
residing in the Center, it has a share in everything. . . .
At Gou ䷫ (Encounter) a new epoch comes to pass:
for the first time there is hoarfrost underfoot.
In the well there is a clear, cold spring,
and at Luxuriant there is Wu (午 ). . . .
At Dun ䷠ (Withdrawal) it leaves its worldly place,
gathering its Essence to store it up. . . .
At Pi ䷋ (Obstruction) there are stagnation and blockade,
and no new buds are generated. . . .
Guan ䷓ (Contemplation), with its equity and its balance,
examines the temper of autumn’s middle month. . . .
Bo ䷖ (Splitting Apart) tears its limbs and trunk,
extinguishing its form.
The vital Breath is drained,
the supreme Spirit is forgotten and is lost. . . .
The course comes to its end and turns around,
returning to its origin in Kun ䷁ (The Receptive). . . . 20
This poem describes transmutation in six Yang and six Yin stages, called “ebb and flow”. The Yang is firm and the Yin is yielding; when the firm culminates, it transforms itself into the yielding.
According to the alchemical texts, the main requirement at the stage of “refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath” is that the Yang Essence be refined and transmuted. The hexagram Fu ䷗ , formed by Earth ☷ and Thunder ☳ , is called “the birth of initial Yang” (yiyang sheng ). This Yang should be collected and refined by going through the six Yang stages until it reaches the pure Qian ䷀ . The firm Yang grows until it culminates, and when something culminates, it is followed by an inversion. This is a metaphor to indicate that although the Yang Essence is already abundant, it is still a material entity and thus cannot form the Medicine; it should first be turned from firm to yielding, and then be transmuted. Therefore, as the Essence goes through the six Yin stages, it is progressively transmuted until it exhausts its firm, material Breath, and forms a “Breath” [炁 ] made of the union of Essence and Breath. In this way, one reaches the goal of “joining the Three into the Two.”
The Daode jing says:
載營魄抱一，能無離乎？專氣致柔，能嬰兒乎？
In carrying and maintaining your po -soul and in embracing Unity,
can you not separate from them?
In concentrating your breath until it is at its softest,
can you be like an infant? 21
“Advancing the Yang Fire” in order to exhaust the firm breath (gangqi ), and “withdrawing by the Yin response” in order to attain the soft breath (rouqi ), are the practice of “concentrating breath until it is at its softest.” When one performs the Lesser Celestial Circuit, the upward stage is called “advancing the Yang Fire” (jin yanghuo ), and “Fire pressing Metal into movement” (huo bi jinxing ). After Breath reaches the Muddy Pellet, one “withdraws by the Yin response” (tui yinfu ), and the firm breath is transmuted by means of the True Yang Breath. In his commentary to the Cantong qi , Liu Yiming says: “‘Withdrawing by the Yin response’ means that Yin and Yang tally with one another. In other words, when Yang culminates, it should be nourished by means of the Yin.” 22
Zhang Boduan on the Fire Times . In his Awakening to Reality , Zhang Boduan elaborates on the discourse of the Cantong qi . One of its poems says:
虎躍龍騰風浪麤，中央正位產玄珠，果生枝上終期熟，子在胞中豈有殊。南北宗源翻卦象，晨昏火候合天樞，須知大隱居廛市，何必深山守靜孤。
The Tiger leaps, the Dragon soars,
wind and waves are rough;
in the correct position of the center
the Mysterious Pearl is born.
A fruit grows on the branches
and ripens at the end of season:
could the Child in the womb
be different from this?
Between South and North, the ancestral source
causes the hexagrams to revolve;
from daybreak to dusk, the fire times
accord with the Celestial Axis.
You should know the great concealment
while you dwell in the market place:
what need is there of entering the mountains’ depths
and keeping yourself in stillness and solitude? 23
“Wind and waves” refers to the circulation of Essence and Breath. “The correct position of the center” refers to the Cinnabar Field (or, according to another interpretation, to the Yellow Court), and “Mysterious Pearl” is another name of the Internal Elixir. “The ancestral source between South and North” corresponds to the verses quoted below from the Cantong qi , “Zi at South, Wu at North, are each other’s guiding thread”. Zi 子 means the Meeting of Yin cavity, from which the six Yang stages begin their ascent, and Wu 午 means the Palace of the Muddy Pellet (niwan gong ), from which the six Yin stages begin their descent. Both are positions within the human body. The Cantong qi also says:
天符有進退 … 昇降據斗樞。
The signs of Heaven advance and recede . . .
rise and fall accord with the axis of the Dipper. 24
Zhang Boduan similarly writes that “the fire times accord with the Celestial Axis.” In this verse, Celestial Axis (tianshu ) is the name of the first star of the Northern Dipper: the circulation of the River Chariot is modeled on the rotation of the Dipper in heaven. “The hexagrams revolve” refers to the turning upside down of the six Yin and the six Yang hexagrams, which in turn represent the twelve stages of the Fire Times. Since the hexagrams follow a cyclical sequence, they are said to “revolve.” Zi 子 and Wu 午 are together the “ancestral source,” i.e., the central point; they allow the ascent and the descent, the opening and the closing in the practice of the Celestial Circuit.
When Zhang Boduan’s poem quoted above says that the Fire Times revolve “from daybreak to dusk,” this is a metaphor alluding to the increase and decrease of Fire. In another poem, Zhang Boduan explains the meaning of “daybreak and dusk” as follows:
天地才交否泰，朝昏好識屯蒙，輻來輳轂水朝宗，妙在抽添運用。
Heaven and Earth at last conjoin through Pi ䷋ and Tai ䷊ ,
morning and dusk know one another through Zhun ䷂ and Meng ䷃ .
The spokes converge onto the hub, Water returns to the source:
the wonder lies in the operation of lessening and augmenting. 25
The Zhun ䷂ hexagram is made of the trigrams for Water ☵ and Thunder ☳ , and represents the ascending Sun in the morning: the initial Yang, carrying Water, ascends from the Caudal Funnel (Water is an emblem of the ingredient of the Elixir). The Meng ䷃ hexagram is made of the trigrams for Mountain ☶ and Water ☵ , and represents the Sun after noon: the initial Yang, following Water, descends from the Muddy Pellet. According to another explanation, the first line of the Zhun hexagram is the “initial Yang,” and is an image of the rising Yang; the first line of the Meng hexagram is a Yin line, and is an image of the declining Yin. An alchemical text says:
水雷屯系震卦為主，地下雷轟火逼金之象也。山水蒙系艮卦為主，陽剛已止轉為陰柔，專氣致柔，精化為炁之象也。
Zhun ䷂ , which is made of Water ☵ and Thunder ☳ , is ruled by the trigram Zhen ☳ . Under the earth there is a crack of thunder: this is an image of Fire pressing onto Metal.
Meng ䷃ , which is made of Mountain ☶ and Water ☵ , is ruled by the trigram Gen ☶ . The firmness of Yang has ceased, and has changed into the yieldingness of Yin: this is an image of Breath becoming extremely soft, and of Essence transmuting itself into Breath. 26
This is equivalent to saying that the alchemical practice should correspond to the hexagrams of the “twelve-stage ebb and flow” (shi’er xiaoxi ), i.e., to the cyclical path of the River Chariot. Therefore the poem of Awakening to Reality quoted above says that Heaven and Earth “at last conjoin.” This is also what Shao Yong mentions in his “Chant of the Vague and Indistinct”:
恍惚陰陽初變化，氤氳天地乍回旋。
Vague and indistinct, Yin and Yang begin to transform;
misty and murky, Heaven and Earth for the first time revolve. 27
Let us return to the poem of Awakening to Reality quoted above. In the hexagrams Pi ䷋ and Tai ䷊ , the positions of the Yin (☷ ) and Yang (☰ ) halves are respectively inverted; and as for the transformation from Zhun ䷂ to Meng ䷃ , both hexagrams are based on Water, 28 and therefore indicate the transmutation of the Medicine. Thus the poem of Awakening to Reality says that morning and dusk “know one another.” Zhang Boduan tells his readers that they should know these principles when they refine the Medicine by means of the Lesser Celestial Circuit, so that they can refine Essence into Breath and complete the “initial barrier” of the refining of the Elixir. That the images of the hexagrams Zhun and Meng are reciprocally inverted is also alluded to by the metaphor that “the hexagrams revolve,” found in another poem of Awakening to Reality quoted above.
As we have seen, a poem by Shao Yong says:
乾遇巽時觀月窟，地逢雷處見天根，天根月窟閑來往，三十六宮皆是春。
When Qian (Heaven ☰ ) meets Xun (Wind ☴ ), contemplate the Moon’s Lair,
when the Earth (Kun ☷ ) comes across the Thunder (Zhen ☳ ), observe the Heaven’s Root.
Leisurely go back and forth between the Moon’s Lair and the Heaven’s Root:
in all the thirty-six palaces it is spring. 29
The Cavity of the Moon’s Lair (yueku xue ) is in the Muddy Pellet (or according to some, in the point between the two eyebrows), and the Heaven’s Root (tiangen ) is the Meeting of Yin cavity. They respectively correspond to the hexagrams Zhun ䷂ (the place where the fire is kindled) and Meng ䷃ (the place where the decrease of Fire begins). Water is a code name of Original Essence.
The Three Chariots . When the alchemical practice reaches the time of collecting the Medicine, the Fire Times go through three stages, called the “sheep chariot” (yangche ), the “deer chariot” (luche ), and the “ox chariot” (niuche ). From the Barrier of the Caudal Funnel to the Barrier of the Spinal Handle, one should proceed carefully and with a short pace, similar to the lightness of a chariot drawn by a sheep. From the Barrier of the Spinal Handle to the Barrier of the Jade Pillow, one should proceed quickly and in large steps, similar to the nimbleness of a chariot drawn by a deer. From the Barrier of the Jade Pillow to the Muddy Pellet, since the Barrier of the Jade Pillow is extremely fine and subtle, one should charge forward with much power, similar to the strength of a chariot drawn by an ox. These similitudes apply to the stage in which the Medicine has been formed. They are referred to in the saying, “Loading gold on three chariots, you ascend to Mount Kunlun,” and they are also the meaning of the verse, “The spokes converge onto the hub, Water returns to the source” quoted above from a poem of Awakening to Reality . 30
Images and metaphors . The expression “bathing at Mao (卯 ) and You (酉 )” (maoyou muyu ), used in the Fire Times, is borrowed from the divinatory arts. In Neidan, it means that when the circulation of Breath reaches those points, it should briefly pause. Although this corresponds to the positions of Mao and You, i.e., the navel in the front and the kidneys in the back, the expression “bathing at Mao and You” actually refers to the shift that occurs when, during the circulation of the River Chariot, the ascending stage turns into the descending stage, and the descending stage turns into the ascending stage. This is why Zhang Boduan says in his Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir :
火候不用時，冬至不在子，及其沐浴法，卯酉時虛比。
The Fire Times have no times,
the winter solstice is not at Zi (子 );
and as for the method of bathing,
the times of Mao and You are empty similitudes. 31
These words tell us that trigrams and hexagrams are only metaphors; they should not be seen with a rigid attitude, and everyone should awaken to them by oneself.
This is not only true of “bathing”: with regard to the “twelve-stage ebb and flow” (shi’er xiaoxi ), and to the ascent and descent according to Zhun ䷂ and Meng ䷃ , Zhang Boduan again tells us that they all require flexibility. Moreover, as we have already seen, another poem in the Four Hundred Words says:
震兌非東西，坎離不南北，斗柄運周天，要人會攢簇。
Zhen ☳ and Dui ☱ are not East and West,
Kan ☵ and Li ☲ are not South and North;
as the Dipper’s handle revolves along the Celestial Circuit,
all people should gather together. 32
Here Zhang Boduan points out that the alchemical practice should be flexible and not rigid, and that the lines of the trigrams and the hexagrams do not have an absolute value. Awakening to Reality also says:
卦中設象本儀形，得象忘言意自明，舉世迷徒惟執象，卻行卦氣望飛昇。
The images of the hexagrams are established on the basis of their meanings:
understand the images and forget the words — the idea is clear of itself.
The whole world delusively clings to the images:
they practice the “breaths of the hexagrams” and hope thereby to rise in flight. 33
Liu Yiming’s commentary to this poem says that trigrams and hexagrams are nothing more than forms and images used to clarify the principles of Yin and Yang; however, the deluded disciples of our time do not understand their meaning. For example, he continues, the sixty-four hexagrams begin with Zhun ䷂ and Meng ䷃ , and end with Jiji ䷾ and Weiji ䷿ . 34 Therefore those disciples practice in conformity to Zhun in the morning, and in conformity to Meng in the evening. This is a great error. They do not know, says Liu Yiming, that “the birth of Yang is Zhun, and the fall of Yang is Meng. The birth of Yang is like the morning at daytime, and the fall of Yang is like the evening at nighttime. When Yang is born, advancing the Yang Fire (jin yanghuo ) in order to collect the Yang is called ‘Zhun in the morning.’ When Yang falls, cycling the Yin response in order to nourish the Yang is called ‘Meng in the evening.’” As for Jiji and Weiji, they only mean the coagulation of Yin and Yang with one another. 35
To conclude, one should not become mired in the alchemical images. Fire should be applied in a natural way; 36 only then is it possible to respond to the requirements of the alchemical practice.
* * *
Tripod and Stove (dinglu 鼎爐 )
The terms “tripod” and “stove” derive from External Alchemy. They represent the places in which the Golden Elixir is refined. The tripod is in the Palace of the Muddy Pellet (i.e., the upper Cinnabar Field), and the stove is in the lower Cinnabar Field. In the circulation of the River Chariot, the External Medicine rises to the Muddy Pellet, then descends and coagulates in the “earthenware crucible” (tufu ); in other words, it rises along the Control vessel and reaches the top of the head, then descends from the top of the head along the Function vessel and enters the lower Cinnabar Field. This stage of the alchemical practice is called the “Great Tripod and Stove” (da dinglu ).
Awakening to Reality says:
先把乾坤為鼎器，次搏烏兔藥來烹，既驅二物歸黃道，爭得金丹不解生。
First take Qian and Kun as the tripod and the stove,
then catch the crow and the hare and boil the Medicine.
Once you have chased the two things and they have returned to the Yellow Path,
how could the Golden Elixir not be born? 37
This poem enunciates the positions of the tripod and the stove. Qian ☰ is Heaven and is above, Kun ☷ is the Earth and is below. The crow in the Sun and the hare in the Moon are Kan ☵ and Li ☲ , respectively. The Sun represents Original Spirit, and the Moon represents Original Essence. When they are collected, they are led onto the Yellow Path (huangdao ), which is another name of the River Chariot. Making them pause when they reach the top of the head is called “eliminating the ore in order to keep the gold” (qukuang liujin ); making them descend from the top of the head is called “delivering the Medicine to the stove” (suanyao guilu ). These are the functions of the Tripod and Stove with regard to the refining of Essence, Breath, and Spirit. In practice, they represent the cyclical process required for compounding the Medicine.
The Dinglu shi (Poem on the Tripod and the Stove) by Qingxia zi says:
鼎鼎非金鼎，爐爐非玉爐，火從臍下發，水向頂中符。三姓自會合，二物自相拘，固濟胎不泄，變化在須臾。
The tripod, the tripod — is not the golden tripod,
the stove, the stove — is not the jade stove.
Fire issues from the navel and goes downward,
Water from the summit responds to it.
The three families meet and join,
the two things seize one another.
Firmly seal the embryo, so that there are no leaks,
and the transformation will happen in one instant. 38
By means of Fire, the Original Spirit moves upward, and with the aid of Water, the Original Essence enters the tripod. The “three families” are also mentioned in Awakening to Reality :
自稱木液與金精，遇土卻成三姓。
They call themselves Liquor of Wood and Essence of Metal,
and when they meet Soil, they form the three families. 39
This means that Original Essence and Original Spirit, the “two families,” coagulate by means of the Intention-Soil (yitu ). When the “two fives” wondrously join with one another, they are called the “three families.” In fact, this refers to the “gathering together” (cuancu ) of the five agents. 40 Awakening to Reality says:
二物會時情性合，五行全處龍虎蟠。
When the two things meet,
emotions and nature join one another;
where the five agents are whole,
Dragon and Tiger coil. 41
The “two things” are Yin and Yang; when they are conjoined, they form the Numinous Medicine (lingyao ). “Sealing firmly” means that after Water and Fire have been equalized, one should tightly close the “chamber of the seed” (zhongshi ) without allowing any leaks. All this reflects the verses of the Cantong qi that say:
先液而後凝，號曰黃輿焉。
First it liquefies, then coagulates;
it is given the name Yellow Carriage. 42
This is the function of the Great Tripod and Stove.
At the stage of “refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit,” the Great Tripod and Stove are not used, and one uses instead the Small Tripod and Stove (xiao dinglu ). Above, the Yellow Court is the tripod, and below, the Cinnabar Field is the stove. The space of murky and misty Breath within the two cavities is guarded in quiescence by means of Spirit, and no cycling occurs along the Function and Control vessels. Therefore the Great Tripod and Stove pertain to the initial stage, and the Small Tripod and Stove pertain to the intermediate stage of the practice.
* * *
“Collecting,” “Sealing,” “Refining,” and “Extinguishing” (cai 採 , feng 封 , lian 煉 , zhi 止 )
The terms “collecting,” “sealing,” “refining,” and “extinguishing” describe the completion of the process of “refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath.” Together, they are called “the four oral instructions” (si koujue ).
Awakening to Reality says about the collection of the Medicine:
要知產藥川源處，只在西南是本 鄉，鉛遇癸生須急採，金逢望遠不堪嘗。
You should know that the source of the stream,
the place where the Medicine is born,
is just at the southwest —
that is its native village.
When Lead meets the birth of gui ,
quickly you should collect it:
if Metal goes past the full moon,
it is not fit to be savored. 43
This poem says that the “mother of the Elixir” (danmu ), made of Essence, Breath, and Spirit, is born in the “southwest,” i.e., the abdomen. After the Medicine is born, it should be collected and moved to the “stove.” Since the birth of the Medicine occurs at a definite time—the so-called “living Zi hour” (huo zishi )—there should not be errors.
The same poem continues by saying:
送歸土釜牢封閉，次入流珠廝配當，藥重一斤須二八，調停火候託陰陽。
Send it back to the earthenware crucible,
seal it tightly,
then add the Flowing Pearl,
so that they are match for one another.
For the Medicine to weigh one pound
the Two Eights are needed;
regulate the fire times
relying on Yin and Yang. 44
The second half of the poem mentions “sealing tightly” (lao fengbi ), a synonym of “sealing firmly” seen in the previous section. The “earthenware crucible” is the Cinnabar Field (whose location is not the same as the one mentioned in the medical texts). “Then add the Flowing Pearl, so that they are match for one another” means that Original Spirit and Original Essence join one another. Concerning the verse “For the Medicine to weigh one pound the Two Eights are needed,” it should be remembered that in the ancient Chinese weight system, one pound (jin ) is equivalent to sixteen ounces (liang ). Therefore “two eights” means half a pound of Metal and half a pound of Water: the metaphor is both material and immaterial. The final verse, “Regulate the fire times relying on Yin and Yang,” concerns the refining of the Medicine. By means of the circulation of the River Chariot, one first “advances the Fire” and then “responds by withdrawing”; thus the firm Yang is changed into the yielding Yin. It is sent again to the stove in the Cinnabar Field, where “the ore is eliminated and gold is pure.” This generates an immaterial Breath, which is the “mother of the Elixir” (danmu ).
The so-called “collection,” “sealing,” and “refining” constitute a series of methods of “doing” (youwei ), and this is a point of crucial importance in “refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath.” After the “sealing,” the newly-obtained Medicine is again refined, and at the end of three hundred cycles of refining it forms the Great Medicine (dayao ). Awakening to Reality refers to this when it says:
真精既返黃金室，一顆靈光永不離。
Once True Essence has returned to the chamber of Yellow Gold,
The one pearl of Numinous Radiance will never part. 45
This is what the Daode jing calls “returning to the root and reverting to life” (fangen fuming ). 46 Another poem in Awakening to Reality says:
萬物芸芸各返根，返根復命即常存。
The ten thousand things, in all their multiplicity, return to the root;
as they return to the root and revert to life, they are constantly preserved. 47
This poem provides further details on this subject.
After “collection,” “sealing,” and “refining” have gone through the three hundred cycles of refining, a Yang radiance (yangguang ) appears before one’s eyes. When it appears twice, the Fire must be extinguished. Another poem says:
未煉還丹須急煉，煉了還須知止足，若還持盈未已心，不免一朝遭殆辱。
If you have not yet refined the Reverted Elixir, then quickly refine it;
having refined it, you should know how to stop when it is enough.
If you still hold it and fill your mind with it, instead of halting it,
you will not avoid danger, and before long will suffer humiliation. 48
This poem refers to the point in which the efficacy of one’s practice has reached achievement, and the breath (qi ) of the Medicine is abundant. “Doing” has bloomed, and “non-doing” becomes manifest. Liu Yiming’s commentary on this poem says:
還者，還其所本有，如物已失而復得，已去而仍還也。若丹已還， 當速住火停輪，用溫養之功。
“Reverting” means returning to what is fundamentally already there. It is as though something has been lost and is recovered, or someone has left and returns. When the Elixir has reverted, immediately extinguish the Fire and halt its revolving. [Then] use the operation of “nourishing warmly” (wenyang ). 49
At that time, one can enter the stage of “refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit.” Since Essence and Breath have coalesced with one another, “the Three have returned to the Two.” Essence has been transmuted and is exhausted, and has become True Breath (zhenqi ). The next step consists in refining this Breath and transmuting it into Spirit: this is the process by which “the Two return to the One.”
* * *
Conclusion
What we have described in this chapter is the first step of the practice according to the alchemical texts. After the Southern and the Northern Lineages of Neidan were merged by Chen Zhixu (1290–ca. 1368) in the late Yuan period, the respective alchemical practices gradually converged. Instead of the division into Northern and Southern lineages, the emphasis shifted to the methods of self-cultivation themselves. With the exception of the Yin-Yang branch (Yinyang pai), which maintained its own line of transmission, the Pure Cultivation branch (Qingxiu pai) was not divided into Northern and Southern branches. During the Ming dynasty, not only it integrated and blended the Northern and Southern practices, but it also absorbed certain principles of Chan Buddhism, and partly assimilated the Confucian methods of self-cultivation. This convergence resulted into the alchemical practices of “the Three Teachings joined into one.”
In this and the previous chapters, we have described the processes for “laying the foundations” and for “refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath.” These processes constitute together the first part of the alchemical practice. They consist of practical methods, which Taoism deems to be the gateways to self-cultivation. Even though they are not entirely devoid of idealistic components, there is evidence that they can cure illnesses and preserve health.
In the two early alchemical scriptures, the Cantong qi and the Ruyao jing , the four stages of the alchemical practice are not yet clearly set forth. In the Zhong-Lü chuandao ji (Records of the Transmission of the Dao from Zhongli Quan to Lü Dongbin) and the Xishan qunxian huizhen ji (Records of the Immortals and the True Men of the Western Mountain), both written by Shi Jianwu (Tang dynasty), the three main stages are called “refining the form to transmute it into Breath” (lianxing huaqi ), “refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit” (lianqi huashen ), and “refining Spirit to join with the Dao” (lianshen hedao ). A gloss states that “refining the form” (lianxing ) is equivalent to “refining the Essence” (lianjing ). The Xishan qunxian huizhen ji also refers to a fourth stage, “refining the Dao to achieve sainthood” (liandao chengsheng ), which is not mentioned in other texts. It should be noted that there were two persons named Shi Jianwu; one was a poet who lived during the Tang dynasty (618–907), the other was a Taoist master who lived during the Song dynasty (960–1279). However, since all Taoist texts state that Shi Jianwu lived during the Tang dynasty, I deem his works to be representative of the Tang period.
During the Five Dynasties (907–60), Chen Tuan (ca. 920–89) engraved the Wuji tu (Chart of the Ultimateless) on the walls of a cavern on Mount Hua (Huashan, in present-day Shaanxi). Zhu Yizun’s (1629–1709) Taiji tu shoushou kao (Study of the Transmission of the Chart of the Ultimate ) says:
圖形自下而上：初一曰玄牝之門（丹經解為指示丹法始基的玄關一竅）；次二曰煉精化炁，煉氣化神；次三曰五行定位，五氣朝元（丹經解為鉛汞的運用）；再次曰陰陽配合，取坎填離；最上曰煉神還虛，復歸無極。
From bottom to top, the Chart depicts:
1 The Gate of the Mysterious-Female (xuanpin zhi men , explained by the alchemical texts to be the One Opening of the Mysterious Barrier at the beginning of the practice)
2 “Refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath”
3 The positions of the five agents, and the “return of the five agents to the source” (wuqi chaoyuan , explained by the alchemical texts to be the operation of Lead and Mercury)
4 The conjunction of Yin and Yang, or “taking from Kan ☵ in order to fill Li ☲ ”
5 On top, “refining Spirit to return to Emptiness,” or “returning to the Ultimateless”
Although the Chart is made of five sections, they correspond to the three main stages of the alchemical practice. Zhang Boduan and Chen Tuan were contemporaries, and both adhered to the alchemical methods of Lü Dongbin; therefore there are no discrepancies in the respective alchemical teachings. Although Zhang Boduan does not clearly describe the stages of the practice in his Awakening to Reality , in the preface to his Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir he explicitly states that one transforms Essence into Breath, Breath into Spirit, and Spirit into Emptiness. He calls this process “the three flowers gather at the sinciput” (sanhua juding ). Essentially, in his view, the two homophone words hua 花 (“flower”) and hua 化 (“transformation”) both refer to “refining.” 50
The Pure Cultivation branch (Qingxiu pai) of the Southern Lineage inherited and continued to transmit these methods of self-cultivation. Chen Niwan (?–1213) transmitted them to Bai Yuchan (1194–1229?), who elaborated them further. In his Kuaihuo ge (Song of Joyful Life), Bai Yuchan says:
忘形養氣乃金液，對景無心是大還，忘形化氣氣化神，斯乃大道透三關。
Forget the forms and nourish Breath — this is the Golden Liquor;
look onto the scene in front of you with no-mind — this is the Great Return.
Forget the forms and transmute Breath, then transmute Breath into Spirit —
this is the Great Dao passing through the three barriers. 51
During the Yuan dynasty, Li Daochun (fl. ca. 1290), a second-generation disciple of Bai Yuchan and a direct disciple of Wang Jinchan, wrote his Zhonghe ji (Collection of Central Harmony). Li Daochun was well-versed in the principles of the Three Teachings—Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism—and integrated the Pure Cultivation alchemical methods of the Southern and the Northern lineages of Quanzhen with one another. In the Zhonghe ji , he clearly refers to the three stages, saying:
煉精化氣，煉氣化神，煉神還虛，謂之三花聚鼎，又謂之三關。
Refining Essence to transmute it into Breath, refining Breath to transmute it into Spirit, refining Spirit to return to Emptiness: this is called “the three flowers gather in the tripod.” (The “tripod” is equivalent to the sinciput.) It is also called the “three barriers.” 52
In one of the poems found in the same work, Li Daochun says:
三元大藥意心身，著意心身便系塵，調息要調真息息，煉神須煉不神神。頓忘物我三花聚，猛棄機緣五氣臻，八達四通無窒礙，隨時隨處闡全真。
The Great Medicines of the Three Origins are intention, mind, and body,
but if you are attached to intention, mind, and body, they are like the dust of this world.
To harmonize breathing, you should harmonize the breathing of true breathing;
to refine Spirit, you must refine the Spirit that is not Spirit.
As you immediately forget self and other, the Three Flowers gather together;
as you powerfully discard motives and conditions, the Five Breaths arrive.
On the eight roads and the four thoroughfares there are no obstructions:
at all times and in all places, you disclose the Complete Reality. 53
This poem contains the essence of the three stages of alchemical cultivation.
The authors and texts cited above are associated with the transmission of the Pure Cultivation branch (Qingxiu pai) of Neidan. The views of the Yin-Yang branch (Yinyang pai) are different. Chen Zhixu, who merged the Southern and Northern lineages of Quanzhen, was an exponent of the Yin-Yang branch, but also gave importance to the Pure Cultivation branch. In his Jindan dayao (Great Essentials of the Golden Elixir), he often explains the Pure Cultivation. As we saw at the beginning of this book, he accounts for the reason of the subdivision into stages saying:
萬物含三，三歸二，二歸一。知此道者，怡神守形，養形鍊精，積精化氣，鍊氣合神，鍊神還虛，金丹乃成。
The ten thousand things hold the Three, the Three return to the Two, the Two return to the One. Those who know this Way look after their Spirit and guard their corporeal form. They nourish the corporeal form to refine the Essence, accumulate the Essence to transmute it into Breath, refine the Breath to merge it with Spirit, and refine the Spirit to revert to Emptiness. Then the Golden Elixir is achieved. 54
Chen Zhixu’s discourse was made possible by the fact that, after the merging of the Southern and Northern lineages of Quanzhen in the late Yuan period, the Pure Cultivation branch was free of the boundaries of “southern” and “northern,” and only stood in opposition to the Yin-Yang branch.
In the late Ming period, the eighth-generation master of Quanzhen, Wu Shouyang (1574–1644), assembled the achievements of the earlier masters of the Pure Cultivation branch. His works include the Tianxian zhengli zhilun (Straightforward Discourses on the Correct Principles of Celestial Immortality), the Dandao jiupian (Nine Essays on the Way of the Elixir), and the Xian Fo hezong yulu (Recorded Sayings on the Common Origin of the Immortals and the Buddhas). In these works, Wu Shouyang provides a complete and detailed exposition of the three stages of the alchemical practice and the respective methods. In the Dandao jiupian , he calls “laying the foundations” the “earliest return to Emptiness” (zuichu huanxu ) and the “earliest practice of self-refining” (zuichu lianji gongfu ). By his time, the systematization of the alchemical practice into four stages had already been accomplished.
In the present book, emphasis has been given to explicating the terminology pertaining to the first two steps of the practice. This is because, after the bodily functions have been restored through the practices of “laying the foundations,” the goal of “refining Essence and transmuting it into Breath” is the further extension of bodily strength, and the further flourishing of the life force (shengming li ). Decay turns into vigor, and what was not there becomes apparent. This is the function of “transmutation” (hua ).
“The three transmutations are the three transformations of the three stages of refining.” This saying might appear to possess a mystical nature, but actually only means harmonizing blood and breath, cultivating one’s mind, balancing one’s nervous system, actualizing one’s youthful vigor, controlling the body by means of the mind, and using an inner method that allows the bodily functions to receive what is proper to them, in order to reach the goal of healing illnesses and extending the length of life. It is not an otherworldly saying.
The alchemical masters of the past had to observe interdictions, and concealed what is easy under difficult and profound words. They employed many metaphoric terms, using lines, tigrams, and hexagrams of the Yijing (Book of Changes); the celestial stems (tiangan ) and the earthly branches (dizhi ), for example in the system of Matching the Stems (najia ); Water, Fire, and the other agents; and alchemical emblems such as gold, lead, cinnabar, and mercury. 55 These masters hided the head and displayed the tail, discussed the mystery but spoke of the wondrous. For this reason, researchers have troubles in finding clues, and practitioners boast their supernatural powers. However, this stage of the practice is nothing but a particular type of Taoist Qigong. It is plain and easy, and does not claim transmission from gods or immortals, or any “numinous mechanism” or “wondrous art.” It just tells practitioners to arduously practice in order to reinforce their convictions.
During the Yuan dynasty, Li Daochun wrote in his Zhonghe ji :
予前所言，金丹之大概，若向這裡具只眼，方信大事不在紙上。其或未然，須知下手處，既知下手處，便從下手處做將去。自煉精始，精住則然後煉氣，氣定則然後煉神，神凝則然後還虛，虛之又虛，道德乃俱。
What I said above is only a general approximation of the Golden Elixir. Just by looking at this, you will trust that the great undertaking is not on paper. If this is not so, then you must know where to set to practice. Once you know where to set to practice, start from there and go ahead. Begin from refining Essence; when the Essence is stabilized, refine the Breath; when the Breath is settled, refine the Spirit; when the Spirit has coagulated, return to Emptiness. By being empty and then again empty, Dao and virtue will be together. 56
This chapter has explained some terms pertaining to what Li Daochun calls “setting down to practice.” A scale here, a claw there, and one will be able to see the true principle.