Longevity Technique and Medicine Theory

Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies, 63.
1, 1–31, June 2015
LONGEVITY TECHNIQUE
AND MEDICAL THEORY
THE LEGACY OF THE TANG DAOIST PRIESTESS-
PHYSICIAN HU YIN
JIA JINHUA 賈晉華
Hu Yin 胡愔 (fl. 848), a Daoist priestess, physician, and medical theorist active in the
first half of the ninth century China, composed one work on Daoist longevity technique
and medical theory titled Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭內景五臟六腑
補瀉圖 (Chart of the Tonification and Purgation of the Five Viscera and Six Receptacles
according to the Inner Landscape of Yellow Court Scripture). By elaborating the Daoist
classic Huangting neijing jing, Hu Yin’s work describes the spirits, physiological func-
tion, pathological mechanism, and therapeutic methods of six viscera, namely heart,
lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, and gallbladder, and offers detailed instructions on long-
evity techniques and medical treatments for nurturing the viscera, such as breathing
exercise, gymnastics, and dietetics. These descriptions and instructions had exerted pro-
found influence on the later development of Daoist inner-cultivation and inner-alchemy
theories, as well as traditional Chinese medical and nurturing-life theories.
KEYWORDS: Hu Yin, Daoism, Longevity technique, Medical theory, Huangting
neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu
ABBREVIATIONS
DZ Daozang 道藏. Beijing – Shanghai – Tianjin: Wenwu chubanshe – Shanghai
shudian – Tianjin guji chubanshe, 1988.
HTJ Taishang huangting neijing yujing 太上黃庭內景玉經, in: DZ, no. 331, 5:
908c-912c.
HTNJT Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭內景五臟六腑補瀉圖, in
DZ, no. 432, 6: 686c-93b.1
HTNJTX Huangting neijing wuzang liufu tu 黃庭內景五臟六腑圖, in Xiuzhen
shishu 修真十書, DZ, no. 263, 4: 835c-843c.
Yuzhou jing Shangqing huangting wuzang liufu zhenren yuzhou jing, DZ, no.
1402, 34: 289-292.
INTRODUCTION
Hu Yin 胡愔 (fl. 848), sobriquet Jiansunü 見素女 (Woman of Knowing the Plain),
was an outstanding Daoist priestess, physician, and medicine theorist who was
1
Serial numbers of DZ according to Kristofer Schipper – Franciscus Verellen (eds.), The Taoist
Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004).
© Monumenta Serica Institute 2015 DOI 10.1179/0254994815Z.0000000001

2 JIA JINHUA
active in the first half of ninth century China. She composed one work on Daoist
longevity technique and medicine theory titled Huangting neijing wuzang liufu
buxie tu 黃庭內景五臟六腑補瀉圖 (Chart of the Tonification and Purgation of
the Five Viscera and Six Receptacles according to the Inner Landscape of Yellow
Court Scripture; hereafter: HTNJT). This work is an illustrated treatise, which, by
elaborating the Daoist classic Huangting neijing jing 黃庭內景經 (Inner Landscape
of Yellow Court Scripture; hereafter: HTJ),2 describes the spirits, physiological func-
tion, pathological mechanism, and therapeutic methods of the five viscera and one of
the six receptables, namely the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, and gallbladder,3
and offers detailed instructions on longevity techniques and medical treatments for
nurturing the viscera, such as breathing exercises, gymnastics, and dietetics. These
descriptions and instructions had exerted profound influence on the later develop-
ment of Daoist inner-cultivation and inner-alchemy theories, as well as traditional
Chinese medical and nurturing-life (yangsheng 養生) theories.
However, Hu Yin has seldom been noticed, if not completely ignored, by modern
scholars. More than half a century ago, Wang Ming 王明 (1911–1992) was the first
to note Hu Yin’s work and offered high evaluation on it:
The Tang woman Hu Yin was a great scholar in the learning of the HTJ. … Her work
analyzes the physiological function and pathological mechanism of the five viscera and
six receptacles. It uses medicine to cure the symptoms and breathing practice and gym-
nastic exercise to strengthen the root. It talks little about the mysterious aspect of reli-
gion and is a practical medicine classic of nurturing life. The HTJ mixes medicine
theory with religious ideas. Now this work discards the religious color and returns
to medicine. It greatly develops the implications of the HTJ. Therefore, the HTNJT
represents a great change in the learning of this scripture.4
Wang Ming, himself an excellent scholar of the HTJ and Daoism, acknowledged
Hu Yin’s great achievement on the study and development of this significant Daoist
classic and appreciated her contribution to traditional Chinese medicine. Later, Yan
Yiping 嚴一萍 (1912–1987) studied Hu Yin’s identity as a Daoist priestess and the
cataloging and preservation of her work.5 Joseph Needham, Isabelle Robinet, Wang
Jiayou 王家祐 and Hao Qin 郝勤, Ge Jianmin 蓋建民, and Jean Lévi each offered a
2
The complete title in DZ is Taishang huangting neijing yujing 太上黃庭內景玉經.
3
The five viscera refer to the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, and kidneys. There have been different
sets of the six receptacles, one including gallbladder, stomach, large intestine, small intestine,
urinary bladder, triple burner (sanjiao 三焦), and another replaces the triple burner with the
navel (mingmen 命門). Together the five viscera and six receptables are called zangfu 臟腑,
which can be translated as viscera as well. Since Hu Yin’s work only discusses the five viscera
and one of the six receptacles, for the convenience of narration this article will also call the six
organs as “viscera” or the “six viscera.”
4
唐女子胡愔, 為黃庭學者之巨擘。… 是論析五臟六腑之生理及病態, 以藥物治其標, 行氣導
引固其本, 所言絕少神秘之宗教性質, 庶為實際攝生之醫經。黃庭經原理醫學與宗教思想糅合而
為一, 今乃蠲滌宗教色彩而複歸於醫術。對黃庭經義, 發明實多, 是黃庭內景五臟六腑補瀉圖可
謂黃庭學之一大衍變也. Wang Ming, “Huangtingjing kao” 黄庭经考, in Daojia he Daojiao
sixiang yanjiu 道家和道教思想研究 (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1984), p. 351.
5
Yan Yiping, Daojiao yanjiu ziliao diyiji 道教研究資料第一輯 (Taibei: Yiwen chubanshe,
1974), “Dongxian zhuan” 洞仙傳, pp. 1-2.
LONGEVITY TECHNIQUE AND MEDICAL THEORY 3
brief analysis on the content of the HTNJT.6 Some recent works concerning the
history of Daoist medicine or Chinese medicine also give certain descriptions of
Hu Yin’s work. Generally speaking, however, studies on Hu Yin and her work
have not been sufficient or in depth, and many issues still wait for a more sophisti-
cated investigation. Based on previous scholarship, this article is intended to work
on a comprehensive and in-depth study of Hu Yin and her work in order to
reveal her contribution to the development of both Daoist and Chinese medical
theories.
HU YIN’S LIFE AND THE COMPOSITION OF THE HUANGTING NEIJING

WUZANG LIUFU BUXIE TU
The Chongwen zongmu 崇文總目 (Catalog of the Collections in the Chongwen

Academy, 1041) records in the category of medical books a Huangting neijing
wuzang liufu tu 黃庭內景五臟六腑圖 (Chart of the Five Viscera and Six Receptacles
according to the Inner Landscape of Yellow Court Scripture) in one juan by “the
woman Hu Yin” (nüzi Hu Yin 女子胡愔) and in the category of Daoist books a
Huangting neijing tu 黃庭內景圖 (Chart of the Inner Landscape of the Yellow
Court Scripture) in one juan and a Huangting waijing tu 黃庭外景圖 (Chart of
the Outer Landscape of the Yellow Court Scripture) in one juan, which were “anno-
tated by the woman Hu Yin” (nüzi Hu Yin zhuan 女子胡愔傳).7 The bibliography of
the Xin Tangshu 新唐書 (New Tang History) records Huangting neijing tu in one
juan by “the woman Hu Yin.”8 The bibliography of the Tongzhi 通志 (General
Annals) records a Huangting wuzang neijing tu 黃庭五藏內景圖 (Chart of the
Five Viscera according to the Inner Landscape of the Yellow Court Scripture) in
one juan by “the Tang woman Hu Yin” and a Hu Yin fang 胡愔方 (Prescriptions
by Hu Yin) in two juan.9 The bibliography of the Songshi 宋史 (Song History)
records the three titles recorded in the Chongwen zongmu and adds one more
text Buxie neijing fang 補㵼內景方 (Prescriptions of the Tonification and Purgation
according to the Inner Landscape Scripture), and attributed to “Hu Yin the Woman
of Knowing the Plain on Mount Taibai” (Taibaishan Jiansunüzi Hu Yin 太白山見素
6
Joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China, vol. 5, Chemistry and Chemical Tech-
nology, pt. 5, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Physiological Alchemy (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1983), p. 82; Isabelle Robinet, Taoist Meditation: The Mao-shan Tradition of
Great Purity, trans. Julian F. Pas and Norman J. Girardot (Albany: State University of
New York, 1993), pp. 67-73, 94-96; Wang Jiayou – Hao Qin, “Huangting bijian, langhuan
qishu: Hu Yin jiqi Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu” 黄庭碧简, 琅嬛奇书—胡愔及其
《黄庭内景五脏六腑补泻图》, Zhongguo Daojiao 中国道教 1993/1, pp. 28-34; Ge Jianmin,
“Tangdai nüdaoyi Hu Yin jiqi Daojiao yixue sixiang” 唐代女道医胡愔及其道教医学思想, Zhong-
guo Daojiao 1999/1, pp. 22-24; see also his Daojiao yixue 道教医学 (Beijing: Zongjiao wenhua
chubanshe, 2001), pp. 124-130; Jean Lévi, “Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu,” in: Schipper
– Verellen, The Taoist Canon, pp. 348-349.
7
Wang Yaochen 王堯臣 (1003–1058) et al., Chongwen zongmu 崇文總目 (Yueya tang
congshu 粵雅堂叢書 ed.), 3.89a, 4.46b.
8
Ouyang Xiu 歐陽修 (1007–1072) et al., Xin Tangshu 新唐書 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju,
2011), 59.1522.
9
Zheng Qiao 鄭樵 (1104–1162), Tongzhi ershi lüe 通志二十略 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju,
1995), 67.1611, 69.1722.
4 JIA JINHUA
女子胡愔).10 The Daozang includes the HTNJT in one juan with a preface signed
“Hu Yin the Master of Knowing the Plain on Mount Taibai” (Taibaishan Jiansuzi
Hu Yin 太白山見素子胡愔) and dated the second year of the Dazhong 大中 reign-
period of Emperor Xuanzong 宣宗 (848).11 In addition, the Xiuzhen shishu 修真
十書 (Ten Books on the Cultivation of Perfection) included in the Daozang also con-
tains a Huangting neijing wuzang liufu tu in one juan attributed to “Hu Yin the
Women of Knowing the Plain in Mount Taibai” (Taibaishan Jiansunü Hu Yin
zhuan 太白山见素女胡愔撰). The contents of both texts are about the same with
some variants, but the former includes images of the spirits of the six viscera
which are omitted in the latter. These two texts should be different editions of the
same text, which is an elaboration of the HTJ.12
Contrasting these two editions with the records of Song-Yuan catalogs, we can
assume that Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu is the complete title, and
Huangting neijing wuzang liufu tu and Huangting neijing tu are likely abridged
titles, while Buxie neijing fang and Hu Yin fang are possibly prescriptions extracted
from the complete text for circulating individually. The Huangting waijing tu is not
seen in transmitted texts. It may have been lost, or simply a wrong title for Huang-
ting neijing tu, as “Huangting waijing” should refer to the Huangting waijing jing
黃庭外景經 (Outer Landscape of the Yellow Court Scripture), which is quite
similar to the inner scripture, and scholars have assumed the outer scripture to be a
brief summary of the inner scripture or the latter to be an elaboration of the former.13
Hu Yin’s life is not seen in any other records, so we have to rely on her own preface
to the HTNJT and the Song-Yuan catalogs. Of the two editions of her work pre-
served in the DZ, the independent edition names her as “Master of Knowing the
Plain (Jiansuzi),” while the Xiuzhen shishu edition names the author as “Woman
of Knowing the Plain (Jiansunü).” All Song catalogs name her “the woman Hu
Yin,” and the Songshi names her “the Woman of Knowing the Plain.” Since no
other source mentions her, the fact that the Song-Yuan people knew she was a
woman should have come from her own text. Therefore, the Songshi and
10
Tuotuo 脫脫 (1314–1355) et al., Songshi 宋史 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1977), 205.5179,
205.5193, 207.5316.
11
This preface is also included in Dong Gao 董誥 (1740–818) et al. (eds.), Quan Tangwen 全
唐文 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2009), 945.9817a-9818a.
12
For a detailed comparison of the two editions, see Jean Lévi, “Huangting neijing wuzang
liufu buxie tu,” pp. 348-349.
13
The complete title of the outer scripture is Taishang huangting waijing yujing 太上黃庭外景
玉經 (DZ, no. 332, 5: 913a-914c). Wang Ming asserted that the inner scripture appeared first, and
there was likely a secret draft version during the Wei-Jin period; then Wei Huacun 魏華存 (251–
334) obtained it in the Taikang 太康 reign-period of the Western Jin (280–289), and after her
death, the outer scripture came out as a summary of the inner scripture; see his “Huangtingjing
kao,” pp. 324-371. Isabelle Robinet basically agreed that the outer scripture came out later; see
her Taoist Meditation, p. 56. Kristofer Schipper believed the opposite, that the outer scripture
came out first, and the inner scripture was an elaboration of the outer one; see his Concordance
du Houang-t’ing ching (Paris: École Française d’Extrême-Orient, 1975), Preface. The same
opinion is also seen in Michel Strickmann, Le taoïsme du Mao Chan: Chronique d’une révélation
(Paris: Collège de France, 1981), p. 68. Later, this point of view was elaborated upon by Yu Wanli
虞萬里, “Huangtingjing xinzheng” 《黄庭经》新证, Wenshi 文史 29 (1988), pp. 385-408, Yang
Fucheng 楊富程, “Huangting neiwai erijing kao” 《黄庭》内外二景考, Shijie zongjiao yanjiu 世
界宗教研究 3 (1995), pp. 68-76 and Gong Pengcheng 龔鵬程, “Huangtingjing lunyao (yi)” 《黃
庭經論要》 (一), Zhongguo shumu jikan 中國書目季刊 31 (1997) 1, pp. 66-81.
Xiuzhen shishu seem to keep the correct record, and Hu Yin’s Daoist sobriquet
should be “Woman of Knowing the Plain.”
The term “Knowing the Plain” may have been taken from the Huangdi neijing
suwen 黃帝內經素問 (Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor, Plain Questions). Both
the HTJ and HTNJT are greatly influenced by the Suwen 素問.14 The HTNJT fre-
quently cites from the Suwen. The central themes of the HTNJT are the tonification
and purgation of the viscera and breathing exercises in harmony with the four
seasons. These themes developed from the Suwen, which is based on the concept
of qi and emphasizes “tonification and purgation without failing, becoming
oneness with Heaven and Earth” (buxie wushi, yu tiandi ruyi 補寫勿失, 與天地如一).
Wang Bing 王冰 (710–805) annotated: “To purge those with more than enough
and to tonify those who are insufficient, this is in harmony with the constant Dao
of Heaven and Earth. The propriety of purgation and tonification should be
exactly examined, so is breathing therapy.”15 Tonification is mainly used to cure
asthenic patients, while purgation is mainly used to cure strong patients; both are
also applied in breathing therapy, with inhaling as tonification and exhaling as pur-
gation. The naming of Suwen possibly came from the Han-dynasty cosmology of the
grand plain (taisu 太素) as the beginning of substance (taisuzhe zhi zhi shi ye 太素者
質之始也), as Wang Bing cited a Han apocrypha to explain: “When qi, form, and
substance come into being, diseases are sprouting. Therefore the Yellow Emperor
inquired about the grand plain of the beginning of substance.”16 This may have
been the reason why Hu Yin named herself “Woman of Knowing the Plain.”
Concerning Mount Taibai where Hu Yin lived, Ge Jianmin believed that it was
located in Wuzhou 婺州 (present-day Jinhua 金華 city in Zhejiang), according to
Ge Hong’s 葛洪 (283–343) record of ideal places for alchemy in his Baopuzi 抱樸
子 (Book of the Master Who Keeps to Simplicity).17 However, Ge Hong actually
first mentioned Mount Taibai in Qizhou 岐州 (present-day Mei 眉 county in
Shaanxi) as one of the national famous mountains, and then said that if these
were unavailable one could replace them with the famous mountains east of the
Yangzi river, including Mount Taibai in Zhejiang.18 Therefore, when a Daoist text
only mentions Mount Taibai, it usually refers to the famous one in Shaanxi. More-
over, the HTNJT was greatly influenced by Sun Simiao’s 孫思邈 (ca. 581–682)
14
The Huangdi neijing includes both Suwen and Lingshu 靈樞 and was roughly formed
during the period from the Warring States to the Han dynasty. For discussions and translations
of this medical classic, see mainly Ren Yingqiu 任應秋, Huangdi neijing yanjiu shijiang 黄帝内经
研究十讲 (Wuhan: Hubei renmin chubanshe, 1980); Cheng Shide 程士德 (ed.), Neijing 内经
(Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 1985); Paul U. Unschuld, Huang di nei jing su wen:
Nature, Knowledge, Imagery in an Ancient Chinese Medical Text (Berkeley: University of Califor-
nia Press, 2003); Zhang Canjia 張燦玾, Huangdi neijing wenxian yanjiu 黄帝内经文献研究
(Shanghai: Shanghai Zhongyiyao daxue chubanshe, 2005); Y.C. Kong, Huangdi neijing: A Synop-
sis with Commentaries (Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 2010).
15
有餘者寫之, 不足者補之, 是應天地之常道也。寫補之宜工切審之, 其治氣亦然. Wang Bing
王冰 and Lin Yi 林億 (eds.), Huangdi neijing suwen buzhu shiwen 黃帝內經素問補注釋文,
“Maiyao jingweilun pian” 脈要精微論篇, DZ, no. 1018, 21: 13.71c.
16
氣形質具而苛瘵由是萌生, 故黃帝問此太素質之始也. Qianzaodu 乾鑿度, cited in Wang
and Lin, Huangdi neijing suwen buzhu shiwen, 1.3b.
17
Ge Jianmin, “Tangdai nüdaoyi Hu Yin,” p. 22.
18
Wang Ming (ed.), Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi 抱樸子內篇校釋 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju,
2010), p. 85.
6 JIA JINHUA
works (see discussions in section 5), and Sun secluded himself on Mount Taibai of
Shaanxi for many years.19 Thus, it is highly likely that the Mount Taibai where
Hu Yin lived was the one located in Shaanxi.
In her preface, Hu Yin talks about herself: “I, Hu Yin, am not quick by nature, and
loved the mysterious gate at a young age. I have cultivated my mind in non-
intervention and settled my heart in simplicity.”20 From “non-intervention,” “simpli-
city,” and “mysterious gate,” we may assume Hu was referring to Daoism. Therefore,
she likely entered a Daoist convent at a young age and then was ordained as a priest-
ess.21 In addition, according to her profound knowledge in medical theory and prac-
tice, we may assume that she was likely an experienced physician.22 The preface is
signed with the year 848, and before that year Hu had already “passed many, many
years” (lügeng suiyue 屢更歲月) in her life. Therefore, she should have been at least
middle-aged when she finished the book, so her active period was about the first half
of the ninth century.
In her preface, Hu Yin indicates her purpose for composing such an illustrated
treatise:
I have read the marvelous theory of the HTJ and investigated the extant writings on
cyan bamboo slips. I have studied the subtleties diligently over many, many years. I
humbly found that the old charts are profound and secret, and the paths are dark
and deep. The words and theories are mysterious, so that few people could delve
into them. They pointed to the forms and images, or merely summarized the names
of the spirits. Many authors composed works and different arguments emerged.
This situation caused later learners to be unable to find the gate. When a slight
error occurred, the mistake could become a huge one. Now with my narrow knowl-
edge I dare to search through all opinions and discourses, and draw different images
based on all the scriptures. I first illumine the viscera, and then discuss cultivation
and practice. I trace the origin of diseases and apply breathing exercises to eliminate
them. I also list medicinal principles, gymnastic exercises, the observation of symp-
toms, and seasonal food taboos. I hope later learners will be able to see the six circum-
stances when they look at the images and know clearly the myriad things when they
read the scripture.23
19
Sun Simiao’s biography in Liu Xu 劉昫 (888–947) et al., Jiu Tangshu 舊唐書 (Beijing:
Zhonghua shuju, 1975), 191.5094-5097; and Ouyang Xiu, Xin Tangshu, 196.5596-5598.
20
愔夙性不敏, 幼慕玄門, 煉志無為, 棲心澹泊. HTNJT, DZ, 6:687a.
21
See Yan Yiping, Daojiao yanjiu ziliao, pp. 1-2.
22
In the early Tang, the government forbade Buddhist monks and Daoist priests to practice
medicine. For example, the Tang Huiyao 唐會要 records: “Imperial order issued in the fourth
month of the fourth year of Yonghui reign-period: Daoist priests and priestesses and Buddhist
monks and nuns are forbidden to heal illness and make divination for others” 永徽四年四月
敕：道士女冠僧尼等, 不得為人療疾及卜相; see Wang Pu 王溥 (922–982), Tang Huiyao
(Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1955), 50.876. However, according to many records of Daoist phy-
sicians in Tang histories, inscriptions, and other texts, this ban was probably discarded soon. See
Jiang Sheng 姜生 – Tang Weixia湯偉俠 (eds.), Zhongguo Daojiao kexue jishu shi: Nan-Bei
Chao Sui Tang Wu Dai juan 中国道教科学技术史—南北朝隋唐五代卷 (Beijing: Kexue chu-
banshe, 2010), pp. 443-446.
23
覽黃庭之妙理, 窮碧簡之遺文, 焦心研精, 屢更歲月。伏見舊圖奧密, 津路幽深, 詞理既玄,
賾之者鮮。指以色象, 或略記神名, 諸氏纂修, 異端斯起。遂使後學之輩, 罕得其門, 差之毫釐, 謬
Hu Yin was determined to elaborate the theory concerning the viscera in the HTJ.
This scripture is comprised of heptasyllabic verses and is one of the representative
scriptures of early Daoism. By absorbing traditional Chinese medical knowledge
from the classics such as Suwen, discussions on the five viscera and the wuxing 五
行 (Five-Phase) scheme of the Warring States period to the Han dynasty, and the
theory and visualization of visceral spirits in the Taiping jing 太平經 (Scripture of
the Great Peace) and Laozi Heshanggong zhu 老子河上公注 (Heshanggong’s Com-
mentary to the Laozi), the HTJ describes major body organs and their spirits and
discusses how to attain immortality by visualizing those spirits, as well as by
other longevity techniques such as breathing exercises. It especially emphasizes the
five viscera and six receptacles. The five viscera refer to the lungs, heart, liver,
spleen, and kidneys. As for the six receptacles, the text only lists the gallbladder
as a representative. Regarding the date of the HTJ, there have been different
views among scholars, but in general it is set in the Jin dynasty. From Jin to Tang,
Daoist scholars had annotated and interpreted this scripture,24 but in the view of
Hu Yin many of them presented minor or serious mistakes.
In order to provide a good text for beginners, Hu Yin summarized all previous
works and elaborated her own opinions, developing a new scheme of narration
on both the religious and medical dimensions of the viscera. Applying the correlative
relation between the five viscera and the Five-Phase system as a narrative structure,
she discussed the six viscera one by one, each including a chart (tu 圖) of the visceral
spirit, a section “Tushuo” 圖說 (“Explanation of the Chart”), a section “Xiuyang fa”
修養法 (“Method for Caring and Nurturing”), a section “Xiangbing fa” 相病法
(“Method for Observing Illnesses”), a section “Liuqi fa” 六氣法 (“Method of the
Six Breaths”), a section “Yuejin shiji fa” 月禁食忌法 (“Method of Monthly Food
Taboos”), and a section “Daoyin fa” 導引法 (“Method for Guiding and Pulling”).
CORRELATIVE STRUCTURE BETWEEN THE FIVE VISCERA AND THE

FIVE-PHASE SCHEME
One of the most important features of Hu Yin’s HTNJT is that its structure and nar-
ration are built on the basis of the correlative relation between the five viscera and
the Five-Phase scheme. In the cosmology of Yin-Yang and Five-Phase scheme devel-
oped from the late Warring-States to the Han dynasty, the five viscera were signifi-
cant constructive elements. In the Guanzi 管子, Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋, Huainanzi
淮南子, and Taixuan 太玄, the five viscera were already connected to the Five-Phase
逾千里。今敢搜羅管見, 罄竭謏聞, 按據諸經, 別為圖式。先明臟腑, 次說修行, 並引病源, 吐納除

疾, 旁羅藥理, 導引屈伸, 察色尋證, 月禁食忌。庶使後來學者, 披圖而六情可見, 開經而萬品昭
然. HTNJT, DZ, 6:687a.
24
Song-dynasty catalogs record many texts related to the HTJ. Those extant today include Bai
Lüzhong 白履忠 (sobriquet Liangqiuzi 梁丘子, fl. 722–729), Huangting neijing yujing zhu 黃庭內
景玉經注, DZ, no. 402, 6: 516-540; Huangting waijing yujing zhu 黃庭外景玉經注, in: Xiuzhen
shishu 修真十書, DZ, no. 263, 4: 58-60.869b-878c; Wuchengzi 務成子, Taishang huangting wai-
jingjing zhu 太上黃庭外景經注, in: Zhang Junfang 張君房 (fl. 1006) (ed.), Yunji qiqian 雲笈七籤
(Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2003), 12.282-317; Jiang Shenxiu 蔣慎修 (Tang dynasty), Huangting
neiwai yujingjing jie 黃庭內外玉景經解, DZ, no. 403, 6: 541a-544b; Shangqing huangting yang-
shen jing 上清黃庭養神經, DZ, no. 1400, 34: 281b-284b. See Schipper – Verellen, The Taoist
Canon, pp. 347-350, 360-361.
8 JIA JINHUA
scheme.25 The Suwen discusses in great detail the relationship of mutual destruction
and generation between the external five series (five agents, five directions, five
seasons, five qi, five colors, five sounds, five flavors, etc.) and the internal
five series (five viscera, five/six receptacles, five sensory organs, five senses, five
emotions, five body parts, five body fluids, etc.).26 Other Han-dynasty works
further developed the concept of the five viscera’s spirits. The Taiping jing reads:
“The essence and spirits of the four seasons and five phases enter a man to
become the spirits of the five viscera.”27 The Laozi Heshanggong zhu states: “If
one can nurture the spirits he will not die. The spirits refer to the spirits of the
five viscera. The liver contains the hun (yang 陽) soul, the lungs contain the po
(yin 陰) soul, the heart contains the spirit, the spleen contains the consciousness,
and the kidneys contain the essence and will. If all the viscera are injured, then
the spirits leave.”28
The HTJ follows these concepts and further deifies and personalizes the five
viscera, describing each of the viscera in terms of name, color, and clothing, and cor-
relating them with the wuxing scheme more closely. For example, the heart spirit’s
name is Danyuan 丹元 (Cinnabar Prime) and its zi is Shouling 守靈 (Guarding the
Numina), symbolizing red, fire, and the south; the lung spirit’s name is Haohua
皓華 (White Flower) and its zi is Xucheng 虛成 (Void and Completion), symbolizing
white, metal, and the west; the liver spirit’s name is Longyan 龍煙 (Dragon Mist) and
its zi is Hanming 含明 (Embodying Light), symbolizing green, wood, and the east;
the kidney spirit’s name is Xuanming 玄冥 (Black and Gloom) and its zi is Yuying
育嬰 (Nursing Infant), symbolizing black, water, and the north; the spleen spirit’s
name is Changzai 常在 (Constant Existence) and its zi is Hunting 魂停 (Soul
Residence), symbolizing yellow, earth, and the central.29 Liangqiuzi commented:
“Each of the five viscera and six receptacles has its office, and all have their laws
and images, which resemble Heaven and Earth and harmonize with yin and yang.
This is the Dao of natural resonance and response.”30 Through visualizing the
viscera spirits, one resonates and correlates with Heaven, Earth, yin, and yang to
25
Li Xiangfeng 黎祥鳳 – Liang Yunhua 梁運華 (eds.), Guanzi jiaozhu 管子校注 (Beijing:
Zhonghua shuju, 2004), 14.815-816; Xu Weiyu 許維遹 – Liang Yunhua 梁運華 (eds.), Lüshi
chunqiu jishi 呂氏春秋集釋 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2009), juan 1-12, 5-275; He Ning 何寧
(ed.), Huainanzi jishi 淮南子集釋 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1998), 4.311-378, 5.379-442; Sima
Guang 司馬光 (1019–1086) (ed.), Taixuan jizhu 太玄集注 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1998),
8.195-201. See Jiang Sheng – Tang Weixia (eds.), Zhongguo Daojiao kexue jishu shi: Han Wei
liang Jin juan 中国道教科学技术史—汉魏两晋卷 (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 2002), pp. 507-508.
26
Cheng Shide, Neijing, pp. 14-18, 35-84. See Paul U. Unschuld, Medicine in China: A History
of Ideas (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), pp. 51-91; Y.C. Kong, The Cultural Fabric
of Chinese Medicine (Hong Kong: The Commercial Press, 2005), pp. 24-32; Li Jingwei 李經緯 –
Zhang Zhibin 張志斌 (eds.), Zhongyixue sixiang shi 中醫學思想史 (Changsha: Hunan jiaoyu chu-
banshe, 2006), pp. 78-83.
27
此四時五行精神, 入為人五臟神. Wang Ming 王明 (ed.), Taiping jing hejiao 太平經合校
(Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1960), 72.292. See Robinet, Taoist Meditation, pp. 61-66.
28
人能養神則不死, 神謂五藏神也。肝藏魂, 肺藏魄。心藏神, 脾藏意, 腎藏精與志。五臟盡
傷, 則五神去. Wang Ka 王卡 (ed.), Laozi Daodejing Heshanggong zhangju 老子道德經河上公章
句 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1997), chaps. 6 and 21. See Robinet, Taoist Meditation, pp. 61-75.
29
HTJ, 909b-10a.
30
五臟六腑各有所司, 皆有法象, 同天地, 順陰陽, 自然感攝之道. Liangqiuzi, Huangting
neijing yujing zhu, 1.521a.
attain longevity and immortality.31 The Wuzang lun 五臟論 (Treatise on the Five
Viscera) composed in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties also connects the
five viscera with the five phases, five stars, five sacred peaks, and so forth.32
Hu Yin elaborates the correlation between the five viscera and the Five-Phase
scheme at the very beginning of her preface:
Heaven presides over yang and nurtures humans with five qi; Earth presides over yin
and nurtures humans with five flavors. The interaction of qi and flavors condenses to
the five viscera. By spreading, the qi of the five viscera forms the four members, the
sixteen sections, and the three hundred and sixty articulations; by stretching, it
makes the tendons, veins, humors, blood, and marrow; by condensing, it forms the
six receptacles, triple burner, and twelve meridians; by circulating, it makes the nine
orifices. This is why the five viscera are the governors of the body. If one of the
viscera weakens, an illness appears; when the five viscera weaken, the spirits disappear.
This is why the five viscera are the dwelling places of the luminous spirits, the hun
[yang] and po [yin] souls, the will, and the essence. Each of the viscera has its respon-
sibility. The heart is in charge of the spirit, the lungs the po soul, the liver the hun soul,
the spleen the consciousness, and the kidneys the will. Externally extended, they cor-
respond to the five stars above and to the five sacred peaks below, all of which are
modeled on Heaven and Earth and imaged on the sun and moon.33
The five qi and five flavors of Heaven and Earth enter the human body and form
the five viscera. The qi of the viscera spreads internally to form all the organs and
externally to correspond to the stars and mountains, and together all of these are
modeled on the movement of Heaven, Earth, the sun, and the moon. Hu Yin
absorbed all previous discussions about the five viscera’s important status in the cos-
mological scheme of the Five Phases, and further developed them. She indicated
31
About the studies of the contents of the HTJ, see, for example, Wang Ming, “Huangtingjing
kao,” pp. 338-351; Chen Yingning 陳攖寧 (1880–1969), “Huangtingjing jiangyi” 黃庭經講義,
Daoxie huikan 道協會刊 1 (1980), pp. 24-38; Qing Xitai 卿希泰 (ed.), Zhongguo Daojiao shi
中國道教史 (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe, 1988), pp. 351-377; Robinet, Taoist Medita-
tion, pp. 55-96; Livia Kohn, The Taoist Experience: An Anthology (Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1993), pp. 181-188; Paul W. Kroll, “Body Gods and Inner Vision: The Scripture
of the Yellow Court,” in: Donald S. Lopez Jr. (ed.), Religions of China in Practice (Princeton: Prince-
ton University Press, 1996), pp. 149-155; Gong Pengcheng, “Huangtingjing lunyao,” pp. 66-81;
Xiao Dengfu 蕭登福, “Shilun Daojiao nei shen minghui yuanqi, jianlun Dongjin Shangqing
jingpai cunsi xiulian famen” 試論道教內神名諱源起—兼論東晉上清經派存思修煉法門, Zong-
jiaoxue yanjiu 宗教學研究 3 (2004), pp. 1-9, 82.
32
Song-dynasty catalogs record under Zhang Zhongjing’s 張仲景 (150–219) name a Wuzang
lun, but it was lost. Four fragmental manuscripts of the same title have been discovered from Dun-
huang (P. 2115v, S. 5614, P. 2755, P. 2378v), which cite texts of Han to Southern and Northern
Dynasties. Therefore, it possibly came out by the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties.
See Ma Jixing 馬繼興 et al. (eds.), Dunhuang yiyao wenxian jijiao 敦煌醫藥文獻輯校 (Nanjing:
Jiangsu guji chubanshe, 1998), pp. 54-150.
33
夫天主陽, 食人以五氣；地主陰, 食人以五味。氣味相感, 結為五臟。五臟之氣, 散為四
肢, 十六部, 三百六十關節, 引為筋脈, 津液, 血髓, 蘊成六腑, 三焦, 十二經, 通為九竅。故五臟
者, 為人形之主。一臟損則病生, 五臟損則神滅。故五臟者, 神明魂魄志精之所居也。每臟各有
所主。是以心主神 , 肺主魄 , 肝主魂 , 脾主意 , 腎主志。發於外則上應五星, 下應五嶽, 皆
模範天地, 稟象日月. HTNJT, DZ, 6:686c. Translation adapted from Robinet, Taoist Meditation,
p. 63.
10 JIA JINHUA
more clearly the two-directional function of the five viscera between the microcosm
of the human body and the macrocosm of the universe. Internally, they are the spiri-
tual core and constitutive force of the body, which integrate all other bodily parts
together as an organic totality and a micro universe. Externally, they are the sym-
bolic channels through which the natural power and structure are absorbed into
and modeled by the body.
By elaborating and developing the correlative relations between the five viscera
and the Five-Phase scheme, Hu Yin provided a theoretical framework for her depic-
tion of the visceral spirits and her scheme of seasonal life nurturing, which are her
most influential contributions to Daoist theory and Chinese medicine and will be
discussed in the following two sections respectively.
HU YIN’S DEPICTION OF THE IMAGES OF THE SIX VISCERAL SPIRITS AND

HER INFLUENCE ON DAOIST INNER CULTIVATION AND INNER ALCHEMY
THEORIES
In her HTNJT, Hu Yin provides an image for each indwelling spirit of the six viscera.
These images are zoomorphic in appearance: the lung spirit resembles a white tiger,
the heart spirit a vermilion bird / red sparrow, the liver spirit a green dragon, the
spleen spirit a jade phoenix, the kidney spirit a two-headed deer, and the gallbladder
spirit a turtle-snake couple (see fig. 1: Images of the Six Visceral Spirits).
These zoomorphic images are based on the traditional spirits of the four cardinal
directions. They symbolize the correspondences between the five viscera and the
Five-Phase scheme: white tiger correlates with the west and metal, green dragon
with the east and wood, red sparrow with the south and fire, turtle/snake with
the north and water, and phoenix/deer with the central and earth.
Among all extant texts, it should be noted that these images of visceral spirits are
first seen in Hu Yin’s work, and this is in accordance with her preface that she “drew
different images based on all the scriptures.” In the HTJ, the visceral spirits are all
described in the form of a young boy. In the Huangting zhongjing jing 黃庭中景經
(Central Landscape of Yellow Court Scripture), which came out later, the lung
spirit is described as riding a white tiger, the liver spirit riding a green dragon, and
the kidney spirit riding a turtle, but all the spirits are still in the form of a young
boy.34 In his commentary to the Huangting waijing jing, Wuchengzi 務成子 men-
tions that “liver is green dragon and lung is white tiger.”35 Based on these previous
texts, Hu Yin transformed the traditional spirits of the four cardinal directions into
the six visceral spirits and drew these spirits’ images. This innovation presented sig-
nificant symbolic meanings for the cosmic human body. Because of the identification
of visceral spirits with directional spirits, the human microcosm becomes more
seamlessly identical with the macrocosm of the universe. Just as the spirits of the
four cardinal directions guard the central kingdom, the visceral spirits guard the
major organs of the human body and operate in the microcosm with their natural
power, guaranteeing the harmony and health of the body. The visceral spirits also
further symbolize the holiness of the human body, which provides a rational for
34
Li Qiansheng 李千乘 (fl. late Tang; ed.), Taishang huangting zhongjing jing 太上黃庭中景
經, DZ, no. 1401, 34: 285c-287b.
35
Wuchengzi, Taishang huangting waijing jing zhu, in Yunji qiqian, 12.305, 309.
the Daoist goal of longevity and immortality and the eventual emergence and matur-
ity of Daoist inner alchemy in the Song dynasty.
The two editions of Hu Yin’s HTNJT are somewhat different in the images and the
explanations of the images. The DZ edition preserves the six images but, except for
mentioning “visualization of the spirits and nurturing [the viscera]” (cunshen
xiuyang 存神修養), the explanatory sections do not mention the spirits again.
They focus on descriptions of the physiological structure and function of each of
the viscera and their relationship with the Five-Phase scheme. In the Xiuzhen
shishu edition (HTNJTX), the six images are missing, but the explanatory sections
seem to be more complete. These sections describe the six spirits’ names, appear-
ances, incarnations, personalities, attendants, and so forth. These descriptions are
based on the HTJ and other Daoist and medical texts.36 For example, the expla-
nation for the liver spirit is as follows:
The liver spirit’s name is Longyan (Dragon Mist) and its zi is Hanming (Embodying
Light). The liver is the qi of zhen (thunder) and the essence of wood. Its color is
green, its shape is like a hanging gourd, and its spirit looks like a green dragon. The
liver is in charge of the hun soul. It transforms into two jade boys, one in green
clothes, and another in yellow clothes. Each is nine cun tall and holds jade liquids
from the liver. There is another saying that the liver is guarded by three boys and
six jade maids. Its spirit loves humaneness, so humaneness and kindness generate
from the liver.37
Since Hu Yin depicted the six images of visceral spirits, she should have matched
the images with the explanations in her sections on “Explanation of the Chart.” Both
editions seem to have lost something: one without the images and another without
some parts of the explanations to them. Reading them together, we have a more
complete picture of the original text. Some scholars did not collate the two editions,
and therefore drew the incomplete conclusion that Hu Yin’s work thoroughly dis-
cards the mysterious and religious elements of the HTJ.38
The HTJ emphasizes the visualization of body spirits. This theory was further
developed by the Shangqing 上清 (Highest Clarity) Daoism and was also venerated
as the origin of inner alchemy by Daoist traditions from the Song dynasty onward.
During the late Tang period in which Hu Yin lived, outer/laboratory alchemy had
begun to be questioned. In her HTNJT, she not only developed the inner cultivation
theory of the HTJ, but also openly criticized outer alchemy:
36
Those Daoist and medicine texts include Taishang lingbao wufu xu 太上靈寶五符序 (DZ,
no. 388, 6: 315a-343a), Yuanshi wulao chishu yupian zhenwen tianshujing 元始五老赤書玉篇真文
天書經 (DZ, no. 22, 1: 774b-799b), Sun Simiao’s Beiji qianjin yaofang 備急千金要方, annotated
by Gao Wenzhu 高文柱 – Shen Shunong 沈澍農 (Beijing: Huaxia chubanshe, 2008), and other
works.
37
肝神龍煙字含明。夫肝者, 震之氣, 木之精, 其色青, 其象如懸匏, 其神形如青龍。肝主魂,
化為二玉童, 一青衣, 一黃衣, 各長九寸, 持玉漿出於肝藏。一云肝有三童子, 六玉女守之。其神
好仁, 仁惠蓋發于肝藏. HTNJTX, Xiuzhen shishu, 54:838c-839a.
38
For example, see Wang Ming, “Huangtingjing kao,” p. 351; Wang Jiayou – Hao Qin, “Hu
Yin jiqi Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu,” p. 33.
12 JIA JINHUA
If I am able to visualize the spirits, care and nurture [the viscera], restrain myself, and
make vigorous efforts, I will complete the Dao. Then, the viscera become strong. All
poisons cannot encroach even though rotten materials enter my body; all qi cannot
be weakened even though my body catches diseases externally. I become bright and
pure, preventing old age and prolonging life. My determination is high on immortality,
and my appearance shows no fatigue. The essences and lights of the sun and moon
come to attach to my body-self, and the four seasons and six qi come to integrate
with my body-structure. I enter the Dao of changes, understand the principle of divi-
nity, take control of yin and yang, and breathe the subtle spirit. Then the Creator in
turn is controlled by me. When reaching this stage, I do not need golden elixirs, jade
liquids, and the elixirs of Langya and Dahuan, but naturally transform my spirit
and rush to the void. My qi integrates with the Grand Harmony and ascends to the
clouds. The qi of the five viscera twists itself into five clouds to ascend to Heaven.39
Hu Yin proudly announced that, through visualization of the spirits and nurturing
the viscera, the viscera become strong enough to prevent old age and prolong life;
then, without relying on golden elixirs, one can ascend to become immortal in
daytime, and control his/her own destiny of life and death. Hu Yin compared
inner cultivation with outer alchemy and clearly privileged the former over the latter.
Hu Yin’s work is an important development of the inner cultivation theory of the
HTJ, and it is also one of the pioneers in the formation of inner alchemy theory and
practice during the late Tang and Five Dynasties. Her viscera images and expla-
nations of them exerted a significant influence on these theories. The Daozang
includes a text titled Shangqing huangting wuzang liufu zhenren yuzhou jing 上清
黃庭五臟六府真人玉軸經 (Precious Scroll of the Perfected Man on the Five
Viscera and Six Receptacles of the Yellow Court of Highest Clarity; hereafter
Yuzhou jing) in one juan with no author attribution.40 The beginning and ending
parts of the text are fictitious conversations between the Celestial Venerable of Pri-
mordial Commencement (Yuanshi tianzun 元始天尊) and the Yellow Emperor, but
the middle part is an “Illustrated Essay on the Five Viscera and Six Receptacles”
(Wuzang liufu tuwen 五藏六府圖文). The images and explanations are roughly
the same as Hu Yin’s, with the exception that each chart has an additional image
of the correspondent organ. Wang Ming asserted that this text is likely an abridged
version of Hu Yin’s book with some alterations.41 This assertion is quite reasonable
as the anonymous work bears an obvious appearance of alteration and hotchpotch.
In addition, an abridged version of the Yuzhou jing is contained in the Huangting
dunjia yuanshen jing 黃庭遁甲緣身經 (Book of the Hidden Period and the Causal
Body of the Yellow Court) included in the Yunji qiqian, and also contains similar
images of the six visceral spirits.42 The Siqi shesheng tu 四氣攝生圖 (Illustrated
39
若能存神修養, 克己勵志, 其道成矣。然後五臟堅強, 則內受腥腐, 諸毒不能侵, 外遭疾病,
諸氣不能損。聰明純粹, 卻老延年, 志高神仙, 形無困疲。日月精光來附我身, 四時六氣來合我
體。入變化之道, 通神明之理, 把握陰陽, 呼吸精神, 造物者翻為我所制。至此之時, 不假金丹玉
液, 琅牙大還, 自然神化沖虛, 氣合太和, 而升雲漢。五臟之氣, 結五雲而入天中. HTNJT, DZ,
6.686c.
40
Shangqing huangting wuzang liufu zhenren yuzhou jing, DZ, no. 1402, 34: 289-292.
41
Wang Ming, “Huangtingjing kao,” p. 351, note 1.
42
Yunji qiqian, 14.363-371; but not seen in DZ edition Huangting dunjia yuanshen jing (DZ,
no. 873, 18: 707-709). See Schipper – Verellen, The Taoist Canon, pp. 350-351, 360-361.
[Method] of the Four Seasonal Qi for Conserving One’s Health) attributed to Liu
Ding 劉鼎 (Late Tang) contains similar images of the six visceral spirits, but those
are placed inside the correspondent images of the viscera; the images are also fol-
lowed by seasonal nurturing methods of the viscera,43 which are very close to
those discussed in Hu Yin’s work. The Chongwen zongmu and other Song-
dynasty catalogs record this text, so it likely appeared during the period from
the late Tang to the Five Dynasties.44 The “Baiwen” 百問 (One Hundred Ques-
tions) chapter in the Daoshu 道樞 (Pivot of the Dao) records a fictitious conver-
sation between the legendary Lü Dongbin 呂洞賓 and Zhongli Quan 鍾離權
concerning the inner alchemy theory. The conversation cites Hu Yin’s transform-
ation of the four directional spirits into the five visceral spirits, and lists the liver
as green dragon, the lungs as white tiger, the heart as vermilion bird, the kidney as
turtle, and the spleen as qilin 麒麟.45 The “Zhongmiao” 眾妙 (All Subtleties)
chapter in the same book records another theory of inner alchemy in the Song,
which assumes the liver as green dragon and mercury, and the lungs as white
tiger and lead; when the dragon and tiger interact, the inner elixir is complete.46
The “Taiqing” 太清 (Grand Clarity) chapter in the same book again records one
more theory of inner alchemy, which assumes the qi of the liver as green dragon,
the qi of the lungs as white tiger, the qi of the heart as vermilion bird, the qi of the
kidneys as turtle, and the qi of the spleen as snake; the five qi of viscera fuse in the
furnace of the human body and then condense into the inner elixir.47
In addition, the various versions of Xiuzhen tu 修真圖 (Chart for the Cultiva-
tion of Perfection) popular since the Qing dynasty, such as the Xiuzhen tu
preserved in the Sanyuan gong 三元宮 of Guangzhou (in present day Guang-
dong), the Lianxing xiuzhen quantu 煉性修真全圖 (Complete Chart for the Cul-
tivation of Nature and Perfection) preserved on Mount Wudang 武當山, the
Xiuzhen tu preserved in the Baiyun guan 白雲觀 of Beijing, and the Xiuchi
zhenyuan tulu 修持真元圖籙 (Chart and Register for the Cultivation of
Perfect Primordiality) preserved in Longhu tang 龍虎堂 and reproduced by Li
Zhaosheng 李兆生, are charts for cultivation of the human body created by the
Longmen branch of Quanzhen 全真 Daoism, which summarize the theories and
practices of inner alchemy. All of these charts contain images of the six visceral
spirits and explanations of them, both of which are basically the same as those
in Hu Yin’s work (see fig. 2: Xiuzhen tu).48 All of these demonstrate Hu Yin’s
profound influence on the formation and evolution of Daoist inner alchemy
theory.
43
Liu Ding, Siqi shesheng tu, DZ, no. 766, 17: 224c-233c. See Schipper – Verellen, The Taoist
Canon, pp. 352-353.
44
See Piet van der Loon, Taoist Books in the Libraries of the Sung Period: A Critical Study and
Index (London: Ithaca Press, 1984), p. 96.
45
Zeng Zao 曾慥 (d. 1155 or 1164), Daoshu, DZ, no. 1017, 20: 5.633c-634a.
46
Daoshu, 35.792c; also in the “Jiuxian pian” 九仙篇 of the same book, 31.767b.
47
Daoshu, 10.662b.
48
For a detailed study of the various versions of Xiuzhen tu, see Catherine Despeux, Taoïsme
et corps humain: Le Xiuzhentu (Paris: Guy Trédaniel Editeur, 1994).
14 JIA JINHUA
HU YIN’S SCHEME OF SEASONAL NURTURING VISCERA AND HER

CONTRIBUTION TO THE CHINESE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF NURTURING LIFE
Although Hu Yin’s HTNJT does not discard the mysterious, religious aspects of the
HTJ, this work actually goes beyond the scripture’s central theme of describing body
spirits and emphasizing the visualization of those spirits, and transfers its focus to
medicine, nurturing life, and longevity techniques. In her sections of “Tushuo,” in
addition to describing each spirit of the six viscera, Hu Yin discusses in detail
each organ’s color, weight, shape, position, and function, as well as its traditional
relations with the Five-Phase scheme, which are treated as the theoretical foundation
of healing disease and nurturing life. In the sections of “Xiangbing fa,” she lists a
series of symptoms that reveal the weaknesses of each organ, offers methods to
tone up or purge the organ, and provides an empirical prescription of combined
herbs to cure its most serious illness. These sections demonstrate profound
medical knowledge in anatomy, physiology, pathology, and therapeutics, most of
which have been summarized from traditional medical works such as the Suwen;
Tao Hongjing’s 陶弘景 (456–536) Yangxing yanming lu 養性延命錄 (Records
Concerning Cultivating Nature and Prolonging Life);49 the Fuxingjue zangfu
yongyao fayao 輔行訣臟腑用藥法要 (Supplementary Formulas for Essential Medi-
cation of the Viscera), which is attributed to Tao Hongjing and possibly compiled by
his descendants;50 the Wuzang lun, possibly compiled during the late Southern and
Northern Dynasties;51 Chao Yuanfang’s 巢元方 (fl. 610) Zhubing yuanhou lun 諸病
源候論 (Treatise on the Origins and Symptoms of All Diseases); Sun Simiao’s Beiji
qianjin yaofang 備急千金要方 (Essential Priceless Prescriptions for All Urgent Ills;
hereafter: Qianjin yaofang); and so forth. However, some of Hu Yin’s discussions
are untraceable to earlier sources and therefore possibly came from her own
medical experience as a physician.
The most important contribution of Hu Yin’s book, however, is not in therapeutic
theory but in methods of nurturing life and longevity techniques. The sections
“Xiuyang fa,” “Liuqi fa,” “Yuejin shiji fa,” and “Daoyin fa” not only discuss
various techniques for nurturing the viscera, but also incorporate the correlations
between the five viscera and the Five-Phase scheme into the practice of seasonal
caring and cultivation. Hu Yin combined the traditional Five Phase scheme
techniques with methods of medicinal caring and Daoist cultivation, including med-
itation, breathing exercise, clapping the teeth, swallowing saliva, gymnastic exercise,
49
Tao Hongjing, Yangxing yanming lu, DZ, no. 838, 18: 474c-485b. This book is also attrib-
uted to Sun Simiao. Tang Yongtong 湯用彤 and Zhu Yueli 朱越利 analyzed the texts cited and
terms used in this book and concluded that the authorship should be attributed to Tao Hongjing;
see Tang Yongtong, “Du Daozang zhaji” 读道藏札记, in: Tang Yongtong xueshu lunwenji 汤用彤
学术论文集, ed. Zhonghua shuju (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983), pp. 404-406; Zhu Yueli,
“Yangxing yanming lu kao” 养性延命录考, Shijie zongjiao yanjiu 世界宗教研究 1986/1,
pp. 101-115.
50
This book was not recorded in any catalogs or cited in any texts. One roughly complete
manuscript has been discovered in Dunhuang. It is attributed to Tao Hongjing, but many citations
are noted with “Tao said” (Tao yun 陶云) or “Hermit Tao said” (Tao yinju yun 陶隱居云). There-
fore, it was more likely compiled by his descendants. See Ma Jixing et al., Dunhuang yiyao wenxian
jijiao, pp. 170-206.
51
Ma Jixing et al., Dunhuang yiyao wenxian jijiao, pp. 54-150.
massage, medicated diet, and food taboos. Together all of these formed an innova-
tive scheme for seasonal viscera nurturing.
Method for Caring and Nurturing the Viscera

Hu Yin’s “Xiuyang fa” combines various Daoist techniques for nurturing and
prolonging life, including swallowing saliva, clapping the teeth, absorbing qi,
holding the breath, and meditation/visualization (see Table 1). While emphasizing
the visualization of body spirits, the HTJ also advocates swallowing saliva, absorb-
ing qi, and so forth. The inner scripture reads
Closing my mouth and rolling my tongue to swallow the embryonic fluid,

It nurtures me and makes me ascend to immortality.52
The outer scripture reads:
The pure water of the jade lake irrigates the spiritual root,
If one knows and cultures this, he will lead a long life.53
Both “embryonic fluid” (taijin 胎津) and “pure water of the jade lake” (yuchi qing-
shui 玉池清水) refer to saliva, which is called the water of life and is supposed to
prolong life. The Han people already practiced the method of swallowing saliva
to improve the physique and nurture life. The Hou Hanshu 後漢書 (Later Han
History) records that Wang Zhen 王真 practiced saliva swallowing and looked
under fifty when he was about a hundred years old.54 The Suwen also mentions
the method of swallowing saliva to heal kidney disease.55 The method of clapping
the teeth to care for them and nurture life also likely started in the Han dynasty.
In his Qianjin yaofang, Sun Simiao records that in Huangfu Long’s 皇甫隆 (fl.
249–254) petition to Cao Cao 曹操 (155–220), the method of swallowing saliva
and clapping the teeth practiced by the Daoist Kuai Jing 蒯京 is mentioned.56 Ge
Hong’s 葛洪 Shenxian zhuan 神仙傳 (Biographies of Immortals) also has a similar
record.57 Since the Wei-Jin period, swallowing saliva and clapping the teeth were
generally practiced by Daoists, as seen in many Daoist and medical texts.58
The HTJ also reads: “Accumulate your essence and collect your qi to become
a realized man”; “Inhaling and exhaling the primordial qi to attain immor-
52
閉口屈舌食胎津, 使我遂煉獲飛仙. HTJ, 911b.
53
玉池清水灌靈根, 審能修之可長存. Taishang Huangting waijing yujing, 1.913a.
54
Fan Ye 范曄 (398–445), Hou Hanshu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1973), 82.2750-2751. Tao
Hongjing’s Yangxing yanming lu (1.476a-b) cites the Han-dynasty apocrypha Luoshu baoyuming
洛書寶予命, and also mentions the technique of swallowing saliva.
55
Guo Aichun 郭靄春 (ed.), Huangdi neijing suwen jiaozhu 黃帝內經素問校注 (Beijing:
Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 1992), p. 1200.
56
Qianjin yaofang, 27.480.
57
Hu Shouwei 胡守為 (ed.), Shenxian zhuan jiaoshi 神仙傳校釋 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju,
2011), 7.245.
58
For example, see Wang Ming, Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi, pp. 111, 274; Shangqing dadong
zhenjing 上清大洞真經 (True Scripture of the Great Cavern of Highest Clarity), DZ, no. 6, 1:
1.515b; Lingbao wuliang duren shangpin miaojing 靈寶無量度人上品妙經 (Most Excellent and
Mysterious Book of Marvelous Jewel That Saves Innumerable Human Beings), DZ, no. 1, 1:
1.3a; Tao Hongjing, Yangxing yanming lu, DZ, no. 838, 18: 475a-485b; Qianjin yaofang, 27.480.
16
JIA JINHUA
TABLE 1
HU YIN’S SCHEME OF SEASONAL NURTURING THE VISCERA AS THE METHOD FOR CARING AND NURTURING THE VISCERA
Viscera Liver Heart Spleen Lung Kidney Gallbladder
Five Phases Wood Fire Earth Metal Water Earth

Seasons Spring (1st, 2nd, Summer (4th and 5th Late Summer (6th Autumn (7th, 8th, and 9th Winter (10th, 11th, Late Summer (6th
and 3rd months) months) month) months) and 12th months) month)
Method for On the 1st day of In early morning of the In early morning of the In the early morning of the During the 3 months During the 3 months of
Caring and each month, clap 1st, 7th, 8th, 22nd, and 1st day of the month 1st and 15th days of each often sit smoothly winter, live regularly,
Nurturing the teeth 3 times, 23rd days of each and the last 18 days of month, sit smoothly facing facing the north, clap practice meditation/
hold breath 9 month, sit straight each season, sit straight, the west, clap the teeth 7 the teeth 7 times, visualization, and
times, and inhale facing the south, clap hold breath 5 times, times, swallow saliva 3 swallow saliva 3 inhale 3 breaths from
9 breaths from the teeth 9 times, clap the teeth 12 times, times, practice meditation / times, and inhale 5 the north.
the east. swallow saliva 3 times, and inhale 12 breaths visualization, inhale 7 breaths from the
inhale 3 breaths from from the earth. breaths from the west, and north.
the south, and hold hold breath 70 times.
breath 30 times.
(a) This and the following three tables are based on the HTNJT edition included in DZ as an individual text and they have been collated and complemented with the HTNJTX edition included in
Xiuzhen shishu. In the text, Hu Yin also lists the five viscera’s correlation with the five cardinal directions, five sacred peaks, five stars, five colors, five flavors, five sounds, five sensory organs, five
emotions, etc. Since those are about the same as the traditional Five Phase scheme, I have omitted them from the tables.
tality.”59 The pre-Qin philosophers already regarded qi as the root of the human
body and life, assuming that “when there is qi one lives; when there is no qi one
dies”;60 “Human life is the coalescence of qi. When it coalesces there is life; when
it dissipates there is death”;61 therefore, “those who absorb qi become spiritual
and immortal.”62 Before the HTJ, the method of absorbing the qi of Heaven and
Earth to cultivate one’s mind and body was already seen in many transmitted and
unearthed texts, such as the Guanzi, Zhuangzi 莊子, Xingqi ming 行氣銘 (Inscrip-
tion of Breathing Exercise), the Mawangdui manuscripts Quegu shiqi 卻穀食氣
(Abstention from Grain and Absorbing Qi) and Shiwen 十問 (Ten Questions), the
Shuanggudui 雙谷堆 bamboo manuscript Xingqi 行氣 (Breathing Exercise), Huai-
nanzi, Taiping jing, and Suwen.63 Since the Wei-Jin period, breathing exercise was
generally applied as a Daoist longevity technique. For example, Tao Hongjing’s
Yangxing yanming lu cites the Yuanyang jing 元陽經 (Scripture of Primordial
Yang) and Fuqi jing 服氣經 (Scripture on Absorbing Qi),64 the Shenxian shiqi
jingui miaolu 神仙食氣金櫃妙錄 (Wondrous Record of the Golden Casket on the
Spirit Immortals’ Practice of Absorbing Qi) attributed to Master Jingli 京里,65
and the Fuqi jingyi lun 服氣精義論 (Treatise on the Quintessence Absorbing Qi)
attributed to Sima Chengzhen 司馬承楨 (647–735),66 all of which discuss the
method of absorbing qi, holding qi, and visualizing the circulation of qi in the
human body.67
Hu Yin integrated all of these traditional methods and techniques – inhaling qi,
holding qi, meditation and visualization, clapping the teeth, and swallowing
saliva – into a program of six sets for nurturing the viscera. She designed specific
times of exercise for each set, and matched them with the six viscera, four
seasons, and twelve months. As a result, she provided a unique, pragmatic
program for nurturing the viscera, which was simple and feasible for common
people to practice.
59
積精累氣以為真；呼吸元氣以求仙. HTJ, 911b, 910c.
60
有氣則生, 無氣則死. Guanzi jiaozhu, 4.241.
61
人之生, 气之聚也. 聚則為生, 散則為死. Wang Xianqian 王先謙 (1842–1917) (ed.),
Zhuangzi jijie 莊子集解 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1987), 6.186.
62
食氣者神明不死. Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi, “Zaying” 雜應, 15.266. Numerous works have
discussed qi and its nature. For a detailed outline of the Chinese energy and body scheme, see
Livia Kohn – Stephen Jackowicz, Health and Long Life: The Chinese Way (Cambridge, MA:
Three Pines Press, 2005).
63
See Donald Harper, Early Chinese Medical Manuscripts: The Mawangdui Medical Manu-
scripts (London: Kegan Paul International, 1998); Li Ling 李零, Zhongguo fangshu zhengkao 中
國方術正考 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2006), pp. 269-281.
64
Tao Hongjing, Yangxing yanming lu, DZ, no. 838, 18: 2.481b-482b.
65
Jingli (also written as Jinghei 京黑) xiansheng, Shenxian shiqi jinkui miaolu, DZ, no. 836,
18: 459c-465b.
66
Sima Chengzhen, Fuqi jingyi lun, in Yunji qiqian, 57.1243–1278.
67
For discussions and translations of these texts, see for example, Ute Engelhardt, Die klas-
sische Tradition der Qi-Übungen. Eine Darstellung anhand des Tang-zeitlichen Textes Fuqi
jingyi lun von Sima Chengzhen (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1987); id., “Qi for Life: Longevity in
the Tang,” in: Livia Kohn (ed.), Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques (Ann Arbor:
Center for Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 1989), pp. 263-296; Livia Kohn, Chinese
Healing Exercises: The Tradition of Daoyin (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2008),
pp. 84-90, 150-158.
18 JIA JINHUA
Method of Six Breaths for Healing the Viscera

The “Method of the Six Breaths” is a method for healing diseases, not just for caring
and nurturing. This method evolves out of breathing exercise. In the Zhuangzi, we
already see “to pant, to puff, to exhale, to inhale, to spit out the old breath and draw
in the new” (chui xu hu xi, tugu naxin 吹呴呼吸, 吐故納新).68 The Mawangdui
manuscript Quegu shiqi mentions two exhaling methods, chui 吹 and xu 呴.69
The Zhangjiashan manuscript Yinshu 引书 (Stretch Book) mentions three exhaling
methods, xu 呴, hu 呼, and chui 吹 that were used for healing diseases.70 The
Shangqing dadong zhenjing discusses the exhaling methods, xi 嘻 and hu 呼.71
The Fuqi jing lists six exhaling methods, chui 吹, hu 呼, xi 唏, he 呵, xu 噓, and
xi 呬, for healing chills and fever.72 The Mingyi lun 明醫論 (Treatise on Illumining
Medicine) talks about using six breaths to heal diseases of the five viscera: hu 呼 and
chui 吹 for heart disease, xu 噓 for lung disease, xi 唏 for spleen disease, and he 呵
for liver disease. The method uses the nose for inhaling and the mouth for exhaling;
when exhaling, the patient reads the characters soundlessly and slowly exhales
according to the pronunciation of the six characters.73
Thus, the method of six breaths gradually formed and transformed from a method
of breathing exercise to a method of disease healing during the Six Dynasties. From
the Sui to the early Tang, several medical, Buddhist, and Daoist texts, such as
Zhubing yuanhou lun, Mohe zhiguan 摩呵止觀 (Grand Cessation and Obser-
vation), and Qianjin yaofang, followed Mingyi lun’s discussion and added a sixth
breath xi 呬 for healing kidney disease.74
Hu Yin followed this tradition but changed the way of matching the six breaths
with the five viscera and added the gallbladder, as seen in Table 2.75 More impor-
tantly, she further introduced the principle of tonification and purgation in
Chinese medicine theory, and defined the six exhaling breaths for purgation and
inhaling breaths for tonification as a major principle of healing visceral diseases.
These might have been based on her own medical experience. Her method of six
68
Wang Xianqian, Zhuangzi jijie, 4.132.
69
Wei Qipeng 魏啟鵬 – Hu Xianghua 胡翔驊, Mawangdui Hanmu yishu jiaoshi 馬王堆漢墓
醫書校釋 (Chengdu: Chengdu chubanshe, 1992), 2: 1-9.
70
Li Ling, Zhongguo fangshu zhengkao, pp. 283-290.
71
Shangqing dadong zhenjing, DZ, no. 6, 1: 1.518c-519a.
72
Cited by Tao Hongjing, Yangxing yanming lu, DZ, no. 88, 18: 481c-482b.
73
Ibid., 481c-482b.
74
Ding Guangdi 丁光迪 (ed.), Zhubing yuanhou lun jiaozhu 諸病源候論校注 (Beijing:
Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 1991), 15.459-497; Zhiyi 智顗 (531–597) – Guanding 灌頂 (561–
632), Mohe zhiguan (Xuxiu Siku quanshu 續修四庫全書 ed.), pp. 565-566; Sun Simiao, Qianjin
yaofang, 27.486. Taishang laojun yangsheng jue 太上老君養生訣 also records a similar method
of six breaths for healing the viscera, see DZ, no. 821, 18: 412a.
75
The “Yanqi jue” 咽氣訣 in the Taiqing daoyin yangsheng jing 太清導引養生經 mentions a
method of six breaths for healing the viscera, about the same as Hu Yin’s; see Taiqing daoyin yang-
sheng jing, DZ, no. 818, 18: 399a-400a. This text discusses techniques of nurturing life such as
gymnastic and breathing exercises and cites from various sources. It was first recorded in the Song-
dynasty catalogs, so it is possible that it came out after Hu Yin’s book. See Wu Zhichao 吳志超,
Daoyin yangsheng shi lungao 導引養生史論稿 (Beijing: Beijing tiyu daxue chubanshe, 1996),
p. 292; Catherine Despeux, “Gymnastics: The Ancient Tradition,” in: Kohn (ed.), Taoist Meditation
and Longevity Techniques, pp. 230-231; Schipper – Verellen, The Taoist Canon, pp. 95-96.
TABLE 2
HU YIN’S SCHEME FOR SEASONAL NURTURING THE VISCERA AS THE METHOD OF SIX BREATHS FOR HEALING THE VISCERA
LONGEVITY TECHNIQUE AND MEDICAL THEORY

Five Phases Wood Fire Earth Metal Water Earth
Seasons Spring (1st, 2nd, and 3rd Summer (4th and 5th Late Summer (6th Autumn (7th, 8th, and Winter (10th, 11th, and Late Summer (6th
months) months) month) 9th months) 12th months) month)
Method of Inhale faintly and slowly Inhale faintly and slowly Inhale faintly and slowly Inhale faintly and slowly Inhale faintly and slowly Inhale faintly and
Six Breaths with the nose for with the nose for with the nose for with the nose for with the nose for slowly with the nose
for Healing tonification, and exhale tonification, and exhale tonification, and exhale tonification, and exhale tonification, and exhale for tonification, and
the Viscera with the mouth on the with the mouth on the with the mouth on the with the mouth on the with the mouth on the exhale with the
sound for xu 噓 sound for he 呵 sound for hu 呼 sound for xi 呬 sound for chui 吹 mouth on the sound
purgation, with strong purgation, with strong purgation, with strong purgation, with strong purgation, with strong for xi 嘻 purgation.
30 times xu, and weak 30 times he, and weak 30 hu times, and weak 30 times xi, and weak xi 30 times chui, and weak
10 times xu. 10 times he. 10 hu times. times 30. chui 10 times.
19
20 JIA JINHUA
breaths soon became a standard and was cited numerous times by later books of
medicine and nurturing life (see discussions later in this section).
Method of Guiding and Pulling Exercises for the Viscera

Daoyin 導引 (literally “guiding and pulling”) or gymnastic exercise is an integration
of body and breath. It was already popular during the Warring States to the
Qin-Han period. The Zhuangzi records an exercise of “bear-hanging and bird-
stretching” (xiongjing niaoshen 熊經鳥伸).76 The Han-dynasty Mawangdui manu-
script Daoyin tu 導引圖 (Chart for Guiding and Pulling) and the Zhangjiashan
manuscript Yinshu vividly depict or narrate many movements.77 By the end of the
Han, Hua Tuo 華佗 (ca. 145–208) is said to have invented the Wuqin xi 五禽戲
(Five Animals Pattern),78 and many others.79 Daoist longevity techniques had
always been integrated with gymnastic exercise, as seen in Tao Hongjing’s
“Daoyin anmo” 導引按摩 (Guiding-Pulling and Massage) chapter in the Yangxing
yanming lu,80 Taiqing daoyin yangsheng jing 太清導引養生經 (Great Clarity Scrip-
ture of Guiding-Pulling and Nurturing Life),81 Sima Chengzhen’s “Daoyin lun” 導引
論 (Treatise on Guiding and Pulling) section in Fuqi jingyi lun,82 and others.83
Sun Simiao records two sets of exercises in his Qianjin yaofang. One is named
“Tianzhuguo anmo fa” 天竺國按摩法 (Method of Indian Massage), with a note
saying “this is the Brāhman method” (Poluomen fa 婆羅門法), and another is
76
Wang Xianqian, Zhuangzi jijie, 4.132.
77
Mawangdui Hanmu boshu Daoyin tu 馬王堆漢墓帛書導引圖 (Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe,
1979); “Jiangling Zhangjiashan Hanjian gaishu” 江陵張家山漢簡概述, Wenwu 文物 1985/1,
pp. 9-15.
78
Fan Ye, Hou Hanshu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1965), 82.2739; Tao Hongjing, Yangxing
yanming lu, p. 483.
79
See Li Ling, Zhongguo fangshu zhengkao, pp. 281-299; Gao Dalun 高大倫, Zhangjiashan
Hanjian Yinshu yanjiu 張家山漢簡引書研究 (Chengdu: Bashu shushe, 1995); Harper, Early
Chinese Medical Manuscripts, pp. 310-327; Ute Engelhardt, “Daoyin tu und Yinshu: Neue
Erkenntnisse über die Übungen zur Lebenspflege in der frühen Han-Zeit,” Monumenta Serica 49
(2001), pp. 213-226; Ikai Yoshio 豬飼祥夫, “Chō kasan kanbo kanken Insho ni miru dō to in ni
tsuite” 張家山漢墓漢簡引書に見る導と引について, Itan 醫譚 79 (2003), pp. 33-35; Kohn,
Chinese Healing Exercises, pp. 36-61.
80
Tao Hongjing, Yangxing yanming lu, 482b-483c.
81
Taiqing daoyin yangsheng jing, DZ, no. 818, 18: 394c-400c. Abridged versions are
included in the Yunji qiqian, 34.752-273; and Zeng Zao, Daoshu, 28.745a-752c. Ding Guangdi
丁光迪 collated the various editions in the Taiqing daoyin yangshengjing. Yangxing yanming lu
太清導引養生經—养性延命录 (Beijing: Zhongguo Zhongyiyao chubanshe, 1993).
82
Sima Chengzhen, Fuqi jingyi lun, in Yunji qiqian, 57.1257-1259.
83
Those texts, as well as the Qianjin yaofang, cite the Yangsheng yaoji 養生要集 compiled in
the fourth century, which was possibly lost after the An Lushan 安祿山 (703–757) rebellion. See T.
H. Barrett, “On the Transmission of the Shen tzu and of the Yang-sheng yao-chi,” JRAS 2 (1980),
pp. 168-176, especially 172; Sakade Yoshinobu 阪出祥伸, “Chō Chin no Yojo yō shū itsubun to
sono shisō ” 張湛の養生要集佚文とその思想, Tō hō shū kyō 東方宗教 68 (1986), pp. 1-24;
Despeux, “Gymnastics: The Ancient Tradition,” pp. 228-237; Stephan Stein, Zwischen Heil und
Heilung: Zur frühen Tradition des Yangsheng in China (Uelzen: Medizinisch-Literarische Verlags-
gesellschaft, 1999). About the gymnastic exercises recorded in these texts, see Kohn, Chinese
Healing Exercises, pp. 62-161; Jiang Sheng – Tang Weixia, Zhongguo Daojiao kexue jishu shi:
Nan-Bei Chao Sui Tang Wu Dai juan, pp. 687-720.
named “Laozi anmo fa” 老子按摩法 (Laozi’s Method of Massage).84 In the Sui-Tang
period, the term anmo meant both daoyin and anmo.85 The “Brāhman method”
likely refers to the Hindu yoga technique that was transmitted to China. In his
work, Sun Simiao lists eighteen movements of this method, among which the move-
ments of “contract the body and bend the spine” (suoshen quji 縮身曲脊), “stand
upright and bend the body back” (lidi fan’ao 立地反拗), and “use the hand on the
same side to hook the extended foot and put it on the opposite knee” (shou gou
suo shen jiao zhuo xizhong 手勾所伸腳著膝中) are typical yoga movements,
which are still practiced today.86
Hu Yin’s “Daoyin fa” (see Table 3) is obviously based on the Indian method rec-
ommended by Sun Simiao. The movements she adopted from Sun’s sets include the
second movement of “interlace the fingers, reverse the palms, place them over the
chest,” the sixth movement of “curl the hands into fists and punch both sides,” the
seventh movement of “lift up a hand as if lifting a boulder,” the eleventh movement
of “place both hands firmly on the ground and contract the body and bend the spine,
and lift up the body,” the twelfth movement of “reverse the fists, pound the back on
both sides,” and the fourteenth movement of “interlace the fingers tightly and step
one foot on the joined palms.”
However, Hu Yin did not just copy the Indian method but also made considerable
amendments. She offered more specific descriptions for each movement, designed
more details, set up repeating times for each motion, and added relaxing formulas
such as holding breath, swallowing saliva, and clapping the teeth to end the exercise.
She also matched her movement sets with the seasons, months, and the viscera,
and indicated each set’s healing function for each visceral organ. Hu Yin’s “Daoyin
fa” was an integration of Indian Yoga technique and traditional Chinese gymnastic
exercise, medicine theory, and Daoist longevity technique. She refined the imported
and traditional movements to formulate a new scheme of healing exercise, which
involved all body parts: hands, arms, feet, knees, head, chest, belly, and back.
Through various kinds of gymnastic movement and massage, including turning,
bending, stretching, lifting, punching, shaking, and twisting, the scheme warmed up
the body, released tension, and moved the muscles. It was an especially suitable exer-
cise for old people. As a result, the scheme soon became a standard and was cited and
copied repeatedly in later books about medicine and nurturing life.
In addition, as indicated by Wang Jiayou and Hao Qin, early gymnastic exercises
such as the Mawangdui Daoyin tu and Hua Tuo’s Wuqin xi basically applied the
standing position, while the descriptions in Tao Hongjing’s Yangxing yanming lu
and Sun Simiao’s Qianjin yaofang applied mixed positions of sitting, kneeling,
84
Sun Simiao, Qianjin yaofang, 27.484-485; see also Taiqing daolin shesheng lun 太清道林攝
生論, DZ, no. 1427, 34: 471c-472b; Zhengyi fawen xiuzhen zhiyao 正一法文修真旨要, DZ, no.
1270, 32: 572-579.
85
For example, the Imperial Medical Office (Taiyi shu 太醫署) in the Tang included Erudites
for Massage (Anmo boshi 按摩博士) and Massage Master (Anmo shi 按摩師) who were respon-
sible for “teaching the techniques of guiding and pulling for removing disease” (zhangjiao daoyin
zhi fa yi chuji 掌教導引之法以除疾). See Xin Tangshu, 48.1245.
86
See Swami Vishnudevananda, Yujia daquan 瑜伽大全, trans. Li Xiaoqing 李小青 (Shang-
hai: Shanghai Zhongyi xueyuan chubanshe, 1990), pp. 92-93; Kohn, Chinese Healing Exercises,
pp. 136-39; Ma Boying 馬伯英, Zhongguo yixue wenhua shi 中国医学文化史 (Shanghai: Shanghai
renmin chubanshe, 2012), 2: 183-186.
22
JIA JINHUA
TABLE 3
HU YIN’S SCHEME OF SEASONAL NURTURING THE VISCERA AS THE METHOD OF GUIDING AND PULLING EXERCISES FOR THE VISCERA
Five Wood Fire Earth Metal Water Earth

Phases
Seasons Spring (1st, 2nd, and Summer (4th and 5th Late Summer (6th Autumn (7th, 8th, Winter (10th, 11th, and Late Summer (6th
3rd months) months) month) and 9th months) 12th months) month)
Method Sit straight, cross and Sit straight, curl the Sit straight with the legs Sit straight, place Sit straight, lift up both Sit straight, join both
of place the hands on the hands into fists, punch crossed, extend one leg both hands firmly hands as if lifting a rock, feet, lift head, use both
Guiding arms, turn the body both sides alternatively, and bend the other, on the ground, and stretch the waist 3 hands to pull and shake
and slowly to both sides, and and repeat 5 to 6 times reverse the hands, and contract the body to 5 times; or place the the feet, repeat 3 to 5
Pulling repeat 3 to 5 times respectively; or sit punch backward 3 to 5 and bend the spine, hands on the knees, pull times; or sit straight
respectively; or sit straight, and lift up a times respectively; or and lift up the body elbows on both sides, with the legs crossed,
straight, interlace the hand as if lifting a kneel and place both 3 times; or reverse and turn the body 3 to 5 place both hands on
fingers, reverse the boulder; or interlace the hands firmly on the the fists, pound your times respectively; or the ground, lift the
palms, place them over fingers tightly, step one ground, turn the head to back on both sides, step each foot forward body and stretch the
the chest, and repeat 3 foot on the joined palms, look back like a tiger and repeat 3 to 5 and backward, and waist, and repeat 3 to 5
to 5 times. and repeat 5 to 6 times. from both sides, and times. repeat tens of times. times.
repeat 3 to 5 times
respectively.
standing, and reclining. Hu Yin’s scheme was basically practiced in the sitting po-
sition, which was possibly influenced by Buddhist sitting meditation and Daoist
sitting in oblivion (zuowang 坐忘), which was popular in the Tang dynasty and
was a forerunner of later sitting exercises such as the “Zuoshi baduanjin” 坐式八
段錦 (Eight Brocades in Sitting Pattern) and “Ershisi zuogong daoyin zhibing tu”
二十四坐功導引治病圖 (Chart of Twenty-Four Seated Exercises for Healing Dis-
eases).87
Method of Monthly Food Taboos

The catalog of the Hanshu records a text titled Shennong Huangdi shijin 神農黃帝
食禁 (Dietary Prohibitions of Shennong and Huangdi), which was long lost. The
unearthed Shuanggudui manuscript Wanwu 萬物 (Myriad Things) describes the
practice of taking drugs to become immortal.88 In his Lunheng 論衡 (Balanced
Inquiries), Wang Chong 王充 (27 – ca. 97) criticizes contemporary people for
their intention of taking drugs to prolong life.89 About half of the immortals
recorded in the Liexian zhuan took natural herbs.90 The Shennong bencao jing 神
農本草經 (Pharmaceutical Canon of Shennong), which possibly appeared in the
Han, lists many herbs and drugs for nurturing life.91
In Daoist dietary therapy, in addition to some metal and mineral drugs, most of
the drugs are herbs, such as those recorded in Ge Hong’s “Xianyao” 仙藥 (Elixirs)
chapter in the Baopuzi and in the Taishang lingbao wufu xu.92 Sun Simiao also
has a “Shizhi” 食治 (Dietary Therapy) chapter in his Qianjin yaofang, in which
for the first time he lists a lot of everyday foods such as fruits, vegetables, cereals,
and meats.93 His disciple Meng Shen 孟詵 (621–713) composed a Buyang fang 補
養方 (Prescriptions of Tonification and Nurturing Life), which later was sup-
plemented by Zhang Ding 張鼎 (jinshi 893) in the Shiliao bencao 食療本草
(Materia Dietetica),94 in which most of the formulas are everyday foods. Possibly
87
Wang Jiayou – Hao Qin, “Hu Yin jiqi Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu,” p. 32. For
discussions on the “Eight Brocades” and “Twenty-Four Illustrated Seated Exercises for Healing Dis-
eases,” see Kohn, Chinese Healing Exercises, pp. 169-183.
88
“Fuyang Hanjian Wanwu” 阜陽漢簡萬物, Wenwu 1988/4, pp. 36-47, 54, 99. See Li Ling,
Zhongguo fangshu zhengkao, pp. 255-260.
89
Huang Hui 黃暉 (ed.), Lunheng jiaoshi 論衡校釋 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1990),
7.317-318.
90
Wang Shumin 王叔瑉 (ed.), Liexian zhuan jiaojian 列仙傳校箋 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju,
2007).
91
Shang Zhijun 尚志均 (ed.), Shennong bencao jing jiaozhu 神農本草經校注 (Beijing:
Xueyuan chubanshe, 2008).
92
Wang Ming, Baopuzi neipian jiaoshi, 11.196-223; Taishang lingbao wufu xu, 2.322c-335b.
See Akira Akahori, “Drug Taking and Immortality,” in: Kohn, Taoist Meditation and Longevity
Techniques, pp. 73-95, especially pp. 75-83; Li Ling, Zhongguo fangshu zhengkao,
pp. 238-242; Jiang Sheng – Tang Weixia, Zhongguo daojiao kexue jishu shi: Han Wei Liang Jin
juan, pp. 528-533.
93
Qianjin yaofang, 26.463-476.
94
The Shiliao bencao was long lost, but fragments of it can be seen in Tanba Yasuyori’s 丹波康
賴 (912–995) Ishinpō 醫心方 and Tang Shenwei’s 唐慎微 (1056–1136) Zhenglei bencao 證類本草,
and other works. A fragment of that text was rediscovered among the Dunhuang manuscripts (S.
0076); see Ma Jixing, Dunhuang yiyao wenxian jijiao, pp. 673-686; and Xie Haizhou 謝海洲 et al.
(eds.), Shiliao bencao 食疗本草 (Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 1984).
24 JIA JINHUA
influenced by Sun Simiao and his followers, Hu Yin also included everyday food in
her dietary therapy scheme, including flaxseed, beans, plums, barley, wheat, apri-
cots, leaves of pulse plants, rice, dates, sunflower seeds, millet, peaches, soybean,
and yellow leaves. This scheme shows the tendency of Daoist dietary therapy
toward general medicine and daily life (Table 4).
Influenced by the Five-Phase scheme, the Han-dynasty Yinshu already discusses
proper daily activities in accordance with the four seasons,95 and the Suwen also
offers methods for nurturing the viscera according to the seasonal changes,96 but
those are all brief descriptions.
Hu Yin integrated medical therapy and Daoist cultivation into the Five Phase
scheme and used the viscera as a framework to accommodate all the methods of
meditation and visualization, breathing exercise, clapping the teeth, swallowing
saliva, gymnastic exercise, massage, dietary therapy, and food taboos, in order to
establish a unique scheme for seasonal nurturing life. This scheme operates along
with the seasonal movement of the universe, and as a result changes the human
body from an object limited to life and death to a subject within the natural
process of ceaseless life. Following the rhythm of this natural process one cultivates
himself/herself to establish a harmonious relation with the cosmic forces, so that “the
essences and lights of the sun and moon come to attach to my body, and the four
seasons and six qi come to integrate with my body.”97 Then he/she can realize the
goal of longevity and immortality and “the Creator in turn is controlled by me,”98
eventually mastering his/her destiny of life and death.
More importantly, in its earlier stage, Daoist soteriology was not universal but
basically targeted elite Daoists. Hu Yin transformed Daoist longevity techniques
into a therapeutic, simple, and secular scheme, and as a result opened the gate of self-
cultivation to ordinary people. Indeed, she was among the first to push forward the
popular trend of seasonal nurturing life.99 From the Song dynasty onward, numer-
ous books on seasonal nurturing life appeared, such as Yao Cheng’s 姚稱 (fl. 10th c.)
Shesheng yueling 攝生月令 (Monthly Commands for Conserving Life), Zhou
Shouzhong’s 周守忠 (fl. 1208–1220) Yangsheng yuelan 養生月覽 (Monthly Hand-
book for Nurturing Life), Jiang Tui’s 姜蛻 (fl. 1276) Yangsheng yuelu 養生月錄
(Monthly Records for Nurturing Life), Wu Qiu’s 吳球 (fl. 15th–16th c.) Sishi
tiaoshe lun 四時調攝論 (Treatise on Harmonization and Conserving Health in the
Four Seasons), and Gao Lian’s 高濂 (1573–1620) Zunsheng bajiao 尊生八箋
(Eight Folios on Honoring Life).
Moreover, many books on medicine and health care cited and copied Hu Yin’s
work. For example, in the Shouqin yanglao xinshu 壽親養老新書 (New Book on
95
Zhangjiashan Hanjian zhengli zu 張家山漢簡整理組, “Zhangjiashan Hanjian Yinshu
shiwen” 張家山漢簡引書釋文, Wenwu 1990/10, pp. 82-86. See Li Xueqin 李學勤, “Yinshu yu
Daoyin tu” 《引書》與《導引圖》, Wenwu tiandi 文物天地 1991/2, pp. 7-9; Li Ling, Zhongguo
fangshu zhengkao, pp. 283-284.
96
Huangdi neijing suwen buzhushiwen, “Siqi tiaoshen dalun” 四氣調神大論, 1.8c-12c. See
also Zhubing yuanhou lun, “Wuzang liufu bing” 五臟六腑病, 15.459-497; and Qianjin yaofang,
“Yangxing” 養性, 27.478-479.
97
日月精光來附我身, 四時六氣來合我體. HTNJT, DZ, 6.686c.
98
造物者翻為我所制. HTNJT, DZ, 6.686c.
99
Wang Jiayou and Hao Qin have already indicated this point; see id., “Hu Yin jiqi Huangting
neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu,” pp. 30-31.
TABLE 4
HU YIN’S SCHEME OF SEASONAL NURTURING VISCERA AS THE METHOD OF MONTHLY FOOD TABOOS
Five Wood Fire Earth Metal Water Earth
LONGEVITY TECHNIQUE AND MEDICAL THEORY

Phases
Seasons Spring (1st, 2nd, and Summer (4th and 5th Late Summer (6th month) Autumn (7th, 8th, and Winter (10th, 11th, and Late
3rd months) months) 9th months) 12th months) Summer (6th
month)
Method of Appropriation: Appropriation: barley, Appropriation: rice, date, Appropriation: millet, Appropriation: soybean,
Monthly flaxseed, bean, plum; wheat, apricot, leaves of sunflower seeds; peach; prohibition: bitter yellow leaves, leaves of
Food prohibition: hot flavor; pulse plants; prohibition: prohibition: sour flavor; flavor; abstention: cornel pulse plants; prohibition:
Taboos abstention: onion in the salty flavor; abstention: abstention: cornel in the in the 7th month, ginger, sweet flavor; abstention:
1st month, knotweed, large garlic in the 4th 6th month, animal spleen, animal liver, heart, and pepper in the 10th month,
small garlic, central part month, chives and animal liver, and sheep blood in lung in the 8th and 9th fish, animals with scales
of all herbs, and animal heart and kidney in the all the four seasons. months. and shells, animal kidney
liver and lung in the 2nd 5th month. and spleen in 11th and
and 3rd months. 12th months.
25
26 JIA JINHUA
Prolonging Parents’ Life and Caring for the Aged), which was composed by Chen Zhi
陳直 (fl. 1078–1085) and supplemented by Zou Xuan 鄒鉉 (fl. 1307), the part on
“Sishi yanglao” 四時養老 (Caring for the Aged in the Four Seasons) cites Hu Yin’s
“Liuqi fa.”100 The “Dongzhen” 洞真 (Cavern of Perfection) chapter in the Daoshu
also copies Hu’s “Liuqi fa.”101 The Xiuzhen shishu includes a text titled Qubing
yanshou liuzifa 去病延壽六字法 (Method of Six Characters for Dispelling Disease
and Prolonging Life), which is about the same as Hu’s “Liuqi fa.”102 In his Quxian
huoren fang 臞仙活人方 (Prescriptions for Saving the Living by Quxian), Zhu Quan
朱權 (1378–1448) cites both “Liuqi fa” and “Daoyin fa” from Hu Yin’s book.103
Zhou Lüjing’s 周履靖 (fl. 1597) Chifeng sui 赤鳳髓 (Red Phoenix Marrow) contains
the “Taishang yuzhou liuzi qijue” 太上玉軸六字氣訣 (Jade Scroll of Breathing
Method of Six Characters by the Most High), “Taixi biyao gejue” 胎息秘要歌訣 (For-
mulas and Songs on the Secret Essentials of Embryonic Breathing), “Qubing yannian
liuzi fa” 去病延年六字法 (Method of Six Characters for Dispelling Disease and
Prolonging Life), all of which include Hu’s “Liuqi fa,” indicating the fact that this
method was transformed to songs and formulas and was widely circulated.104
In the famous Zunsheng bajian by Gao Lian, there are two parts titled “Sishi
tiaoshe jian” 四時調攝箋 (Folios on Harmonization and Conserving Health in the
Four Seasons) and “Yannian quebing jian” 延年卻病箋 (Folios on Prolonging Life
and Dispelling Disease), in which he copied almost every part of Hu Yin’s work
respectively, including the images of the six viscera spirits, explanations for those
images, methods for caring and nurturing the viscera, the six breaths, and gymnastic
exercise.105 Shen Jin’ao 沈金鰲 (1717–1776) also cites Hu Yin’s gymnastic scheme
in his Shenshi zunsheng shu 沈氏尊生書 (Book on Honoring Life by Shen).106 All of
these works demonstrate Hu Yin’s profound influence on later physicians, experts of
nurturing life, scholar-officials, and ordinary people.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
The Daoist life philosophy is “valuing humanity and cherishing life” (guiren zhong-
sheng 貴人重生), so both nurturing life and cultivating Dao are the same, as Tao
Hongjing indicate: “Those who are nurturing life must be cautious in not losing
Dao, and those who are practicing Dao must be cautious in not losing life.”107 As
a result, both Chinese Daoism and medicine have shared a common preoccupation
100
Chen Zhi – Zou Xuan, Shouqin yanglao xinshu (Siku quanshu ed.), 1.18a, 22a, 27b, 32b.
101
Zeng Zao, Daoshu, DZ, nos. 1017-1040, 20: 19.700b.
102
Xiuzhen shishu, DZ, nos. 263-265, 4: 19.694c-695a.
103
Zhu Quan (signed as Hanxu zi 涵虛子), Quxian huoren fang (preserved in Beijing Univer-
sity Library), 1.15a-18a.
104
Zhou Lüjing, Chifeng sui (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1989), 1.23-27, 41-42,
60-62.
105
Gao Lian, Zunsheng baqian (Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 2007), pp. 26-243,
394-398. For a study and translation of this text, see John H. Dudgeon, “Diet, Dress and Dwellings
of the Chinese in Relation to Health,” in: Health Exhibition Literature, vol. 19, Miscellaneous
including Papers on China (London: William Clowes and Sons, 1884), pp. 253-486.
106
Shen Jin’ao, Shenshi zunsheng shu, in: Xiao Tianshi 蕭天石 (ed.), Daozang jinghua 道藏精
華 (Taibei: Ziyou chubanshe, 1980), 6th collection, vol. 6.
107
養生者慎勿失道, 為道者慎勿失生. Tao Hongjing, Yangxing yanming lu, p. 475.
with the prolongation of life and the maintenance of good physical health and have
presented many common characteristics in theories and practices.
Since the HTJ emerged, there had been many texts of commentaries and elabor-
ations on this scripture, which can be roughly divided into two trends. The first
focused on Daoist theory and the practice of visualization of the body spirits,
such as the commentaries by Wuchengzi and Liangqiuzi. This trend gradually devel-
oped into later inner alchemy theory and practice, and as a result the HTJ has been
regarded as the origin of inner-alchemy. The second trend is an integration of Daoist
inner cultivation with traditional Chinese medicine, which gradually developed into
secular, popular theory and practice of health care and nurturing life.108
Hu Yin’s HTNJT exerted significant influence on both trends. On the one hand,
her innovative images and descriptions of the visceral spirits further symbolized the
cosmic, sacred dimensions of the human body. The visceral spirits guard the major
organs of the human body and guarantee the harmony and health of the body.
Because of the identification of visceral spirits with directional spirits, the human
microcosm becomes more seamlessly identical to the natural macrocosm. The visc-
eral spirits symbolize the holiness of the human body, which provides a rational for
the Daoist goal of longevity and immortality and the eventual emergence and matur-
ity of inner alchemy.
On the other hand, more importantly, Hu Yin integrated Daoist body theory and
longevity techniques with medical theory. She applied theories of Five Phases, the
viscera, diagnosis, treatment, and health care to analyze the physiological function,
pathological mechanism, and therapeutic methods of the viscera. She used medical
techniques and herbs to cure the symptoms and breathing exercises, gymnastics, and
dietary therapy to cultivate the body-mind, establishing a comprehensive scheme of
seasonal nurturing life, which contributed considerably to the Chinese cultural tra-
dition of nurturing life.
CHINESE ABSTRACT
長生技術和醫學理論─唐代女道醫胡愔的遺產
活動于九世紀前半葉的女道士、醫生、醫學理論家胡愔 (fl. 848) 撰有《黃庭內景五臟六
腑補瀉圖》。書中借闡發道教經典《黃庭經》、描述了心、肺、肝、脾、腎、膽六種臟腑
的神靈、生理功能、病理機制及治療方法、并對臟腑的養生術提出詳細的指示、包括服
氣、導引、食療等。這些論述對后代道教的內修和內丹理論及傳統養生文化產生過深遠的
影響。
關鍵詞：胡愔、道教、長生技術、醫學理論、《黃庭內景五臟六腑補瀉圖》
108
Wang Ming, Isabelle Robinet, Wang Jiayou, and Hao Qin have already noted this point;
see Wang, “Huangtingjing kao,” p. 351; Robinet, Taoist Meditation, pp. 67, 95; Wang – Hao,
“Hu Yin,” pp. 33-34.
28 JIA JINHUA
FIGURE 1 Spirit of Lungs, from: Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭內景五臟六腑
補瀉圖, in DZ, no. 432, 6: 686c-93b
FIGURE 2 Spirit of Heart, from: Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭內景五臟六腑
補瀉圖, in DZ, no. 432, 6: 686c-93b
FIGURE 3 Spirit of Liver, from: Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭內景五臟六腑
補瀉圖, in DZ, no. 432, 6: 686c-93b
FIGURE 4 Spirit of Spleen, from: Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭內景五臟六腑
補瀉圖, in DZ, no. 432, 6: 686c-93b
30 JIA JINHUA
FIGURE 5 Spirit of Kidneys, from: Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭內景五臟六
腑補瀉圖, in DZ, no. 432, 6: 686c-93b
FIGURE 6 Spirit of Gallbladder, from: Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黃庭內景五
臟六腑補瀉圖, in DZ, no. 432, 6: 686c-93b
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTOR
Jia Jinhua is Professor of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of
Macau. She works in Chinese philosophy and religion, Buddhist studies, women
and gender studies, and traditional Chinese literature. Her recent publications
include Gendering Chinese Religion (SUNY 2014), and Study of Classical Chan
Buddhism (Oxford 2010).
Correspondence to: Flat 5C Staff Quarters S30, University of Macau S30,
Avenida da Universidade, Taipa, Macau, China. Email: jhjia@umac.mo

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Monumenta Serica: Journal of Oriental Studies, 63.

1, 1–31, June 2015

JIA JINHUA 賈晉華

© Monumenta Serica Institute 2015 DOI 10.1179/0254994815Z.0000000001

HU YIN’S LIFE AND THE COMPOSITION OF THE HUANGTING NEIJING

The Chongwen zongmu 崇文總目 (Catalog of the Collections in the Chongwen

CORRELATIVE STRUCTURE BETWEEN THE FIVE VISCERA AND THE

逾千里。今敢搜羅管見, 罄竭謏聞, 按據諸經, 別為圖式。先明臟腑, 次說修行, 並引病源, 吐納除

HU YIN’S DEPICTION OF THE IMAGES OF THE SIX VISCERAL SPIRITS AND

HU YIN’S SCHEME OF SEASONAL NURTURING VISCERA AND HER

Method for Caring and Nurturing the Viscera

Closing my mouth and rolling my tongue to swallow the embryonic fluid,

The outer scripture reads:

Viscera Liver Heart Spleen Lung Kidney Gallbladder

Five Phases Wood Fire Earth Metal Water Earth

Method of Six Breaths for Healing the Viscera

Viscera Liver Heart Spleen Lung Kidney Gallbladder

LONGEVITY TECHNIQUE AND MEDICAL THEORY

Method of Guiding and Pulling Exercises for the Viscera

Viscera Liver Heart Spleen Lung Kidney Gallbladder

Five Wood Fire Earth Metal Water Earth

Method of Monthly Food Taboos

Viscera Liver Heart Spleen Lung Kidney Gallbladder

Five Wood Fire Earth Metal Water Earth

LONGEVITY TECHNIQUE AND MEDICAL THEORY

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