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(B) The growth and maturity of Teachings of Alchemy
The greatest contributors to the development of Internal-Alchemy Teaching were Chen Tuan 陈抟 in the early Song and Zhang Boduan张伯端, who was slightly later a very active Daoist and the founding patriarch of southern branch of Way of Complete Perfection. The two Daoist patriarchs’ Internal-Alchemy teachings and Daoist philosophies were all inspired by the Daoist thinking in Zhong Liquan’s and Lü Dongbin’s work. In Chen and Zhang’s intellectual edifice the Internal Alchemy and Zen were combined together, life and nature practiced simultaneously; Daoist thoughts discoursed by Laozi and Zhuang and the traditional Confucianism integrated seamlessly to guide man’s everyday life. In sharp contrast to the snobbishness that was embodied in Lin Lingsu, the two patriarchs tried their best to be independent of political power and to purify the general mood of Song society by means of lofty moralities. As a result, they were very much admired by the people.
According to the “Biography of Chen Tuan” in Songshi, Chen Tuan, whose courtesy name was Tunan, was born in 871 A.D. in Zhenyuan of Bozhou. He died at the age of 118. Chen Tuan had a very good knowledge of Confucian classics, archaic histories and various intellectual schools. In spite of being amazingly erudite, Chen chose to live in seclusion in Mount Hua, where he practiced the arts of circulating vital breath and abstaining from (excessive) foods. He himself very much disliked the External-Alchemy teaching and the practice of praying for blessings in a specially-built altar. Emperor Shi of Later Zhou very much loved the arts of making elixirs. He requested Chen Tuan’s presence in the Royal Palace and consulted the renowned Daoist priest about the making of magical elixir. Chen replied, “Your Majesty, humbly I hold that a sovereign devotes himself to the perfection of governance and pay no attention to the art of making elixir.”73 Chen finally declined Emperor Shi’s invitation to be an Imperial official. In the reign of Taiping Xingguo he visited the Imperial Court at the invitation of Emperor Tai. Song Qi, the Prime Minister, asked him about the way of sitting meditatively and nourishing the life. His answer is as follows:
I do not think I am a well-educated and knowledgeable man who is of value to the country. Nor do I have a good knowledge of making elixir, circulating vital breath and nourishing the life. Nor do I have any magic art to be disseminated. In this sense, even if there is the burning sun shining on all under heaven, what will it benefit the country? At present His Majesty has an outstanding looking, assumes the nature of celestial being, enlightens past and present, and explores deeply the good- and bad-governance [in the history]. He is really a beneficent and sagacious sovereign in possession of Great Way. In such an era, the [Daoist] practice lies exactly in nothing but the concerted effort of the righteous Emperor and ministers who enjoy a great solidarity to perfect moralization and governance.74
Emperor Tai was very pleased with his words. A prestigious title—Master of Xiyi (“Invisibility and Inaudibility,” a Laozian description of the deepest profundity)—was conferred upon Chen. It was evident that Chen Tuan did not believe that the ruler and Imperial officials in power could really sit meditatively and nourish the life on the grounds that they needed to focus exclusively on the realistic administration of the country. Therefore, he tried his best to avoid discussing the learning of Internal Alchemy or seducing them by means of mysterious symbols and immortality. Chen chose instead to encourage the Emperor and his ministers to do their own jobs well. In later generations the Daoist priests who resolved to be independent of secular affairs modelled themselves after Chen Tuan.
Chen Tuan called himself Fuyaozi, or the Master of Mounting on Wind. He devoted himself to I-Ching, or the Book of Changes. He was the author of Zhixuan pian指玄篇 (Treatise on the profundity), by which he analyzed the making of internal elixir. Among his writings, Wuji tu无极图 (Diagram of void polarity) and Xiantian tu先天图 (Diagram of the more primordial universe) were the most influential ones. The early dissemination of the twin diagrams is another mystery. In terms of the origin and dissemination of the two diagrams, the “Biography of Zhu Zhen” in Songshi and Songyuan xue’an differ from each other. Overall, the production and reproduction of the wuji and xiantian diagrams in the eras prior to Chen Tuan is almost impossible to investigate, while the decisive role that Chen played in the dissemination of the two diagrams in his and later times is indisputable. The Diagram of Void Polarity had been inscribed on Mount Hua and exerted very significant influence on Daoism and the Learning of Principle. It created a new intellectual trend, in which the archaic Book of Changes was diagrammatically interpreted.
According to Taiji tushuo bian太极图说辨 (Analyses of Diagrammatic explanations of Supreme Ultimate) authored by Huang Zongyan黄宗炎, a scholar living in the Ming-Qing transition, the lowest part of Wuji tu was the “gate of mysterious valley [of the life],” which refers to the empty place between the two kidneys. It is in such an empty place that the vital breath is produced. The produced vital breath is the most primordial breath of life. The course of inhaling upwards the primordial breath is an act of refining the essence and transforming the breath. If the course is furthered, it is an effort to refine the vital breath and transform the spirit. In Huang’s words, “the shaped essence would transform into very thin vital breath and the hardly discernable breath be refined and changed into the spirit that originates from existence and settles in nonexistence.” If the refined vital breath penetrates all internal organs, it is called the five vital breath’s aggregation in the origin. And moreover, the interaction of elements of water and fire is furthered to the relocation of kan (the symbol of water in the Eight Diagrams, which is raised higher) and li (the symbol of fire, which is lowered down), thereby creating a “holy fetus.” The practice does not stop here. The refined vital breath finally is returned to the most primordial—or the highest—point. “[The entire course is] called the refinement of spirit and return to the emptiness, or the reversion to the void polarity, embodying the ultimate role that the [Daoist] practice can play.” Huang concludes,
The secret art of prolonging the life and pursuing the immortality lies first and foremost in the discovery of the gate [of circulating the breath], then in the practice of one’s own body, then in the [internal] harmony and coordination, then in the acquirement of medicine [i.e. elements benefiting the life], and finally in the rebirth.75
There are two ways of interpreting Chen Tuan’s Diagram of Void Polarity. First, from top to bottom, the diagram reveals the course of creation and evolution of the universe. In his own words, in conformity [with the course of universe] there is man. Second, from bottom to top, the process of making and nourishing the internal elixir is diagrammatically displayed, just as he says “in opposition [to the course of universe] there is the elixir.” The making of internal elixir was divided into five: into “deqiao 得窍” (discovery of the gate [of circulating the breath]), “lianji 炼己” (the practice of one’s own body), “hehe 和合” (the [internal] harmony and coordination), “deyao 得药” (the acquirement of medicine [i.e. elements benefiting the life]) and “tuotai脱胎” (the rebirth). Such a division establishes almost all the fundamentals of teaching of Internal Alchemy. Textually and intellectually, Diagram of Void Polarity originates in Zhouyi cantongqi周易参同契 (Triplex unity in Book of Changes) and blends with principles of Book of Changes and thoughts of Tao de jing. As a result, the Diagram is highly philosophical. Where the methodology of making elixir is concerned, Chen Tuan gives priority to the nature rather than to the life.
Additionally, Chen incorporates some Zen methods into his Daoist practice. For example, he taught devotees the method of observing one’s own mind and five types of emptiness. The meaning of “true emptiness” was as follows:
Form is, however, not form; nor is emptiness really emptiness. Thus, the true emptiness suddenly changes and produces the true Way; the true Way suddenly changes and produces the true supernatural being; and the true supernatural being changes and creates well the myriad things. Such a being is the immortal.
What Chen Tuan discusses here is, however, an internal-elixir philosophy uniting Buddhism and Daoism. People at that time hallowed Chen Tuan, and Daoist devotees reverently called him the “Elderly Patriarch.” Chen was venerated generation after generation. His eminence made Mount Hua, where he lived for decades, much more brilliant. His well-known disciples included Zhang Wumeng, Liu Haichan and Zhong Fang.
Zhan Boduan was born in Tiantai in 987 A.D. and died in 1082. According to the “Biography of Zhang Yongcheng [i.e. Boduan]” in Lidai zhenxian tidao tongjian历代真仙体道通鉴 (Completed annals of true immortals’ perception of the Way in all ages), in the second year of Emperor Shen’s Xi’ning reign (1069) Zhang met Liu Haichan and was taught the formula of temperature applicable to the circulation of elixir in golden liquid. After the meeting, Zhang changed his name to Yongcheng and adopted the courtesy name of Pingshu. He also had such a title—“Ziyanng” (Purple Sun). His representative work was Wuzhen pian悟真篇 (Treatise on the perception of truth), which was read nationwide. Zhang was actually one of the second-generation disciples of Chen Tuan. His Wuzhen pian was the classic of Internal-Alchemy Teaching and on par with Zhouyi cantongqi. On the basis of Yinfu jing阴符经 (Scripture on shaded symbols) and Dao de jing, Zhang penned Wuzhen pian and incorporated the ideas such as “mutual intercourse of three talents [i.e. heaven, earth and man]” and “keeping the mind from disorder by duly satiating corporal desires.” It was, however, a combination of Confucianism and Zen Buddhism. Theoretically, Zhang Boduan created a unique Daoist rearrangement of nature and life, in which the life preceded the nature.
First, in his Wuzhen treatise Zhang approves of the fusion of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism and holds firmly that the three great teachings will finally settle in the learning of nature and life. Zhang attempted to prove the syncretism of three teachings in the Preface. Buddhists take emptiness as the prime principle, while Daoists strive to find the truth by means of practicing and nourishing [life and nature]. Both achieve something; nevertheless, both lose something. Confucians, meanwhile, intellectually exhaust the connotations of Principle and Nature with the help of Book of Changes and free themselves from foregone conclusions, arbitrary predeterminations, stubborn adherence and self-centeredness thanks to their exposure to the Master’s Analects. However, the Confucian teaching is much less detailed. Overall, although the intellectual world was divided into three, the basic Way in regard to the three teachings is entirely the same. No matter how fundamentally the teachings differ from each other, ultimately, they will aggregate and settle in the learning of practicing the nature and nourishing the life. In this regard, Zhang Boduan’s Treatise on the Perception of Truth intellectually penetrates Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism from the perspective of the teaching of Internal Alchemy.
Second, centering on the principle of uniting heaven and man, Zhang formulated a reverse method of practicing the body/spirit and returning to the origin. To put it concretely, according to Zhang’s reverse formula, the true “lead” and “mercury”—i.e. the genuine Yin (shaded) and Yang (bright) forces—in the human body can finally be transformed into the perfected golden elixir by means of acquiring medicine, sealing [spirit], adjusting temperature and taking a shower; then man should be able to be fully united with the Way and transcend life and death. In one piece of his poem, Zhang complacently declares,
When a grain of miraculous elixir is eaten,
My life is entirely independent of the Heaven!
Third, Zhang Boduan emphasizes the practice of both the life and nature. Life is attached greater importance. He writes, “How can nature exist without the life?” “First and foremost, desires should be duly satiated by the art of nourishing the life and then [the satiated life] is channeled by degrees to the [proper] Way.” The key of nourishing life lies in the making of the golden elixir and the acquiring of medicine made of essence and vital breath of the more primordial universe. In the fire produced by the true mind of primordial spirit, the essence and vital breath are refined to such an extent that man can attain a rebirth. Then, man enters the realm of nature via the refined life and tranquilizes the nature by the life. Inspired by Zen Buddhism and Zhuangzi’s intellectual legacy, man obtains the most primordial and truly enlightened nature and reaches the eternal, void and marvelous realm. It was in such a realm that man transforms into an immortal who enjoys the perfected life and nature, the true unity with the Way and unpredictable changeability. In his Wuzhen treatise, Zhang concludes:
[Man should] do more than eight hundred virtuous deeds, secretly act virtuously in three thousand occasions, adjust the difference exiting between the myriad things, and treat equally kinsfolks, friends and even enemies. In doing so, man will meet the original requirement of being immortal.
In his time Zhang Boduan did not create a sectarian organization by gathering together his followers. Zhang’s mantle fell on Shi Tai石泰, who was born in 1022 and died at the age of 136. Shi was the author of Huanyuan pian还源篇 (Treatise in search of the origin), which was a further interpretation of the main points of Zhang’s Wuzhen pian. After Shi Tai, Xue Daoguang薛道光 (1078–1191) played a leading role in the Daoist group in the veneration of Zhang Boduan. Xue penned Huandan fuming pian还丹复命篇 (Treatise on reversion to the elixir and restoration of the life), discussing intensively the practice of concentrating the mind and circulating the vital breath. The successor of Xue was Chen Nan陈楠. Chen’s leading disciple was Bai Yuchan白玉蟾. Bai was born in 1194 in Prefecture Qiong and passed away in 1229. Bai had paid a formal visit to Emperor Ning of Southern Song and was given the title of “Master of Nourishing Purity.” It was in Bai’s time that the group developed into a sectarian organization and built the related Daoist temple. Additionally, the making of internal elixirs and magic were methodologically adopted by the new sect. Bai paid much attention to Zen methods in his elaboration of Internal Alchemy. In his discourses, the golden elixir refers to the aspirations for inconformity to the Way, just as he said, “The mind is precisely the Way.”76 “The elixir,” as he furthers, “is the mind and the mind is the spirit.” Consequently, “the spirit is the host and the essence and vital breath are the guests.”77 Bai formulates three “gates”—refinements of shape (i.e. body), breath and spirit—applying to the Daoist practice. In fact, the refinement of spirit penetrates the entire course of practice. In primary stage the devotee refines his shape (body). The key of such a refinement lies in the abandonment of shape and nourishment of vital breath. Proceeding to the intermediate stage, the devotee commits himself to refining the vital breath. The goal of intermediate practice is to abandon the vital breath and nourish the spirit. At the highest level the practice is centered on the refinement of spirit. For the devotee, even the spirit will be discarded and the complete emptiness is the highest aspiration instead. In the Bai-styled practice the refinement of nature is attached particular importance and fuses with the work of nourishing the life. Bai Yuchan, together with Zhang Boduan, Shi Tai, Xue Daoguang and Chen Nan, were venerated as the Great Five Southern Patriarchs of School of Completeness and Truth. Thus, the Southern Daoism of Golden Elixir was created.
(C) Transmutations of the Daoist sects devoted to mysterious symbols and drawings
The Daoist Sect of Fulu (mysterious symbols and drawings) devoted itself to the work of blessing, warding off disasters and healing by magic water. The Fulu Sect emerged in the late Eastern Han dynasty and stayed steady for hundreds of years. In spite of being ridiculous and extravagant from time to time, the Sect enjoyed great popularity among the ruling hierarchies and lower echelons of society. Among Song Fulu sects, there were traditional sects such as Zhengyi (Way of Orthodox Unity), Shangqing (Supreme Purity) and Lingbao (Numinous Treasure), as well as newly-founded ones such as Shenxiao (Highest Heaven), Qingwei (Pristine Profundity) and Jingming (Pure Brightness). The new characteristics of Song sects lay in the fusion with Buddhism and Confucianism, absorption of teachings of Internal Alchemy and the performance of varying Thunder Magic.
Since the reign of Emperor Zhen the Zhengyi Sect received much greater attention from the Imperial Court. Zheng Zhengsui, the 24th-generation patriarch, was given the prestigious title—Master of True Tranquility—and appointed as the Superintendent of Imperial registrar’s office in charge of Daoist priesthood. The Imperial practice of conferring the prestigious title—“Mister”—upon leading Daoist patriarchs did not stop until Zhang Keda, who was the 35th-generation Celestial Master supervising the conferment of priesthood among three major Daoist sects. Zhang was the de facto leader of Southern Daoism.
Zhang Jixian, the 30th-generation Celestial Master, is worthy of mention. Emperor Hui of Northern Song dynasty requested Jixian’s presence in the Imperial Palace and rewarded him many times. Jixian was a Daoist erudite. He promoted the ideas of achieving immortality by means of the “inherently true nature” and deliverance through abandoning all mental activities. In doing so, he created the philosophy of the Fulu Sect. In addition, Jixian grasped the Thunder Magic of Highest Heaven. According to Daoist interpretations, “thunder” was made in the most primordial Heaven and could be employed to communicate with Heaven and celestial gods and put supernatural beings to work. As soon as there was lighting, thunder would work. The reason why the Thunder Magic could bring rain and fine weather was that thunder was able to well control its own yin and yang forces and freely interact with other forces. When it reciprocally acted on the natural yin and yang forces, the supernatural beings would be enacted to produce wind, rain, lighting and so on. After Zhang Jixian, Liu Yongguang, a Daoist priest from Zhengyi Sect, was also renowned for its good performance in praying for rain by means of Five Thunders.
The Shangqing Sect had its headquarters in Mount Mao. The sect’s patriarchs were often rewarded by the Imperial Court. For example, Zhu Ziying, the 23rd patriarch, had prayed for a son for Emperor Zhen, and consequently was conferred upon the title of “State Preceptor”; and Liu Hunkang, the 25th-generation leader, was the favorite Daoist priest of the Emperors Zhe and Wei. Unlike the Zhengyi and Shangqing sects, the Lingbao Sect was more popular among the lower echelons of society due to its high proficiency in Daoist sacrificial ceremonies. In the later years of Northern Song, the Sect of Donghua (Eastern Prosperity) grew from the Lingbao Sect. Ning Quanzhen, who was the leading priest of Donghua, often presided over Daoist sacrificial ceremonies in the Imperial Court of Southern Song and was consequently given the title of “Master of Aiding Moralization.”
New Daoism consisted mainly of Shenxiao and Qingwei sects. The founder of Shenxiao Sect was Wang Wenqing王文卿, a Daoist priest who was active in late Northern Song. Wang claimed that his teaching was from the True King of Jade Purity in Highest Heaven. Therefore, the sect was named after Shenxiao, or the Highest Heaven. Wang won Emperor Hui’s favor, so that he was entitled the “Immortal Guest of Golden Gate” and given the title of “Master of Ascending into Heaven and Perceiving Profundity.” Thanks to Emperor Hui’s promotion, the Thunder Magic of Highest Heaven was so popular that it even influenced the Southern School of Internal Alchemy. In fact, Wang borrowed some ideas from the Southern Internal Alchemy and then laid the theoretical foundation for the Thunder Magic. Wang said that the Way was the foundation and the Magic the function, and asserted that the thunder and rain gods that were summoned were actually the externalized vital breath and essence of one’s own body and internal organs. The sect’s assertion—that the work of praying for rain, healing and warding off disasters could be successfully done, so long as one made internal elixir, mastered the internal transmutation of yin and yang forces and interaction of Five Breath, and communicated with the external yin and yang forces and Five Breath—is, however, an exaggeration of the role that the human body can play. Differing from the Shenxiao Sect, the Qingwei sect claimed that its teaching was given by the Primordial Celestial Venerable of Heaven of Pristine Profundity. Where the sect’s Thunder Magic was concerned, it varied greatly. The leading figure of Qingwei Sect was Huang Shunshen, who epitomized the teachings of Qingwei. Overall, the purport of Qingwei was similar to that of Shenxiao, though the two sects’ mysterious symbols and drawings differ from each other.
