Xiuzhen Tu

修眞圖
Hsiu-chen T'u
Diagram of Cultivating Perfection
Contents
Contents 1
Tables of Contents 2
Translation 2
Bilingual Text 3
Visual Table of Contents 4
Diagram of Cultivating Perfection 5
Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection 7
Bibliographic Information 8
Translation 9
Notes 22
Chinese Texts 46
Text 46
Punctuated Text 54
Original Arrangement 60
Bilingual Text 82
Appendices 101
Appendix A: Selected Passages 101
Appendix B: "Charting a New Itinerary of Perfection in Medieval China" 104
Appendix C: Five Phases Correspondences 115
Appendix D: The Twenty-Eight Constellations 115
Appendix E: Weights and Measures 116
Appendix F: Poem in the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection 116
Select Bibliography 117
Table of Contents
Translation
1. Introduction 9
2. Major Body Segments

2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area
2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens) 10
2.1.2. Head
2.1.2a. Captions 11
2.1.2b. Inscription 11
2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities
2.2.1. Umbilicus 12
2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells) 12
2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 12
2.2.4. Lower Extremities 12
3. Internal Organs
3.1. Five Viscera (Wu-tsang)
3.1.1. Lungs
3.1.1a. Captions 13
3.1.2. Heart 13
3.1.3. Liver
3.1.3a. Captions 14
3.1.4. Spleen 15
3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System)
3.1.5a. Captions 15
3.1.5b. Inscription 1 15
3.1.5c. Inscription 2 16
3.1.5d. Inscription 3 16
3.2. Six Receptacles (Liu-fu)

3.2.1. Throat 16
3.2.2. Gallbladder 17
4. Elixir Fields
4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) 17
4.2. Lower Elixir Field 17
5. Three Passes
5.1. Upper Pass 18
5.2. Middle Pass 18
5.3. Lower Pass 18
6. Five Cardinal Points

6.1. North (Li) 19
6.2. South (K'an) 19
6.3. East (Chen) 19
6.4. West (Tui) 19
6.5. Center (Ch'ien) 20
7. Extraordinary Vessels 20
8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods 20
9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle 21

Table of Contents
Bilingual Text
1. Introduction 82

2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens) 84
2.1.2. Head
2.1.2a. Captions 85
2.2.1. Umbilicus 86
2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells) 86
2.2.3. Lower Abdomen 87
2.2.4. Lower Extremities 87
3. Internal Organs
3.1. Five Viscera (Wu-tsang)
3.1.1. Lungs
3.1.1a. Captions 87
3.1.2. Heart 88
3.1.3. Liver
3.1.3a. Captions 89
3.1.4. Spleen 90
3.1.5a. Captions 91
3.1.5b. Inscription 1 91
3.1.5c. Inscription 2 92
3.1.5d. Inscription 3 93
3.2. Six Receptacles (Liu-fu)

3.2.1. Throat 93
3.2.2. Gallbladder 93
4. Elixir Fields
4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace) 94
4.2. Lower Elixir Field 95
5. Three Passes
5.1. Upper Pass 95
5.2. Middle Pass 96
5.3. Lower Pass 96

6.1. North (Li) 97
6.2. South (K'an) 97
6.3. East (Chen) 97
6.4. West (Tui) 98
6.5. Center (Ch'ien) 98
9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle 100

Visual Table of Contents
First and second numbers indicate the page numbers in "Translation" and "Bilingual Text" sections
respectively.
Bibliographic Information
Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu
内經圖 or 内景圖・修真圖
Chart of the Inner Warp (or: Chart of the Inner Landscape); Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection
The Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu are two charts of the human body. They are first mentioned in the Qing
period and are probably late, but their origins are unclear. Both charts are cognate to Yanluo zi's 煙蘿子
(tenth century?) diagrams of the body found in the Xiuzhen shishu (18.2a-3a; see fig. 12), which include
anatomical details but add elements of neidan symbolism. A synthesis of Yanluo zi's charts was later
drawn on a lateral representation of the body in the Huangdi bashiyi nanjing zuantu jujie 黄帝八十一難
經纂圖句解 (Charts and Explications on the Scripture of the Eighty-One Difficult Points [in the Inner
Scripture] of the Yellow Emperor; preface dated 1269; CT 1024, preface, 4a-b) and in the 1478 edition of
the Song-dynasty Shilin guangji 事林廣記 (Extensive Records of the Forest of Affairs; see Needham
1983, 110-11). Moreover, some alchemical elements of the body are foreshadowed in two charts that
represent the body as a mountain, contained in Xiao Yingsou's Duren shangpin miaojing neiyi 度人上品
妙經内義 (Inner Meaning of the Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters on Salvation; CT 90, 8a-b;
see fig. 13) and in Chen Zhixu's Jindan dayao (Tu 圖; CT 1068, 3a-b). These alchemical elements
reappear in the Neijing tu.
(Despeux, 2008: 767)
Cultivation of Perfection. Similar in form to the Neijing tu, but representing a front view of the body, the
Xiuzhen tu is richer and includes a longer text. Several versions with different titles are known to have
existed in both northern and southern China. At present, the following five versions are known:
1. A stele in the Sanyuan gong 三元宮 (Palace of the Three Primes) in Guangzhou (Canton),
engraved in 1812 by Qiu Fengshan 邱鳳山 (also known as Xingzhou 行舟) when the temple
abbot was Ning Liyong 寧黎永.
2. A version from Mount Wudang (Wudang shan, Hubei), printed in 1924 and entitled Xiuzhen
quantu 修真全圖 (Complete Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection). An earlier version
seems to have circulated on Mount Wudang, engraved on wood in 1888 by Wu Mingxuan
吳明玄 of the Longmen school.
3. The Dancheng jiuzhuan tu 丹成九轉圖 (Chart of the Nine Cycles for Achieving the Elixir),
printed in the Neiwai gong tushuo jiyao 内外功圖説輯要 (Essentials of Illustrated
Explanations for Inner and Outer Practices) in 1920. The author of this work, Xi Yukang
席裕康, was a trader active in the Shanghai area.
4. Another Xiuzhen quantu, printed by Duan Fu 段甫 in Chengdu in 1922. A copy of this chart
was given to Joseph Needham in 1943.
5. The undated Xiuzhen tu in Beijing's Baiyun guan. Its inscription reads: "Representation
obtained from a friend in the Dao, Guo Yicheng 郭一澄, at the Erxian an 二仙庵
(Hermitage of the Two Immortals), Qingyang gong (Palace of the Black Ram), Chengdu.
Guo took it to Weiyang 維陽 (Yangzhou 揚州, Jiangsu) where I could contemplate it. I had
it engraved on wood to circulate it widely."
The various versions of the Xiuzhen tu are all associated with the Longmen tradition. The elements
that distinguish this chart from the Neijing tu are mainly related to the Thunder Rites (leifa) – in
particular, the spiral at the level of the kidneys, the nine "orifices of hell" at the base of the spine, and the
three curls at the top of the head that represent the three primordial breaths according to the Tianxin
zhengfa tradition. The chart also represents the main parts of the body, including the Cinnabar Fields
(dantian), the Three Passes (sanguan, represented by the three chariots) of the back, the throat, the
paradisiac and infernal worlds, and the body's divinities according to the Huangting jing, and also shows
the firing process (huohou). The whole is reminiscent of a talisman illustrating a divine body that
connects to the sacred world.
(Despeux, 2008: 767, 770)
1. Introduction
There are three hundred and sixty bones and joints,1 and eighty-four thousand pores in the human body.2
There are three passes3 at the back: the Gate of Tail, Spinal Handle,4 and Jade Pillow. The Gate of Tail is
at the bottom of the vertebral column, at its very end; this pass connects with the apertures of internal
kidneys.5 A thin pathway of marrow6 originates from this pass, its appellation7 is the Rivulet.8 It is also
known as Yellow River and it is the pathway through which the yang [energy] ascends. It directly goes
up to the point between the two shoulders,9 or the Spinal Handle, and then goes up to the brain where the
Jade Pillow is found. These are the three passes.
In the front there are three fields; these are the Muddy Pellet,10 Earthen Crucible,11 and Jade Pond.12
The Muddy Pellet is the upper elixir field and it is one and two-tenths of an inch 13 in diameter. This
hollow opens to a cavity, this is where the shen is stored. At the exact center of the space between the
two eyebrows there is the Heavenly Gate.14 Going one inch inward, there is the Bright Hall.15 Another
inch inward from this point is situated the Cavern Chamber.16 Still another inch inward is where the
Muddy Pellet is found.
The place below the point where the two brows meet is called the pillar of nose;17 it is also known as
the Palace of Thunderclap.18 Under the Golden Bridge,19 inside the mouth, there are two cavities
connecting with the throat; they are called the Magpie Bridge.20 Throat is situated on the neck bone, it is
where the internal and external energies go in and out [of the body]. At the back there is the soft part of
the throat, it is called the pharynx. What we drink and eat mixes up here and passes downward to the
intestines and stomach. The throat has twelve rings, its appellation is the Tiered Tower.21 Directly below
the throat there is the aperture of the lungs which leads to the heart. There is a bone above the heart, it is
called Turtledove's Tail.22 Below the heart there is a cave23 called the Crimson Palace;24 it is where the
dragon and tiger unite. Directly below, three and six-tenths of an inch away from it, is a place called the
Earthen Crucible; it is the cave of Yellow Court, that is, the middle elixir field. To its left is situated the
Bright Hall,25 to its right there is the Cavern Chamber.26 Blossomless27 dwells to its left, in the liver. White
Prime27 dwells28 to its right, in the lungs.
Furthermore, one and two-tenths of an inch inside this hollow is where the ch'i is stored; this is the
cauldron of refinement of ch'i. Directly below it, at a distance of three and six-tenths of an inch, is the
navel. Therefore it is said, "Thirty-six29 in the heaven above, thirty-six on the earth below. From heaven
to earth it is eighty-four thousand miles30 and from the heart to the kidneys it is eight and four-tenths of
an inch."31 Heavenly heart is found at a distance of three and six-tenths of an inch and earthly kidneys are
found at a distance of three and six-tenths of an inch. In the middle of them there is the elixir field which
is one and two-tenths of an inch in diameter. If it is not eight and four-tenths of an inch, then what is it?32
The appellation of the gate of navel is the Gate of Life.33 It has seven cavities; one of these connects
with the external kidneys,34 it is the cavity of spirit's leaking out; it is called the Crescent Moon Furnace,35
that is, the Conception Vessel. Below it there are nine cavities which make up the Capital of Hell.36 It is
also called the Sea of Energy.37 The place slightly below it, at a distance of one and three-tenths of an
inch, is called the Jade Pond. It is also known as the lower elixir field and this is where the ching is stored
and the medicine is collected. Its left side is the Bright Hall and its right is the Cavern Chamber.
There is another hollow cave here measuring one and three-tenths of an inch square in size. There are
two cavities in this place, which connect with the internal kidneys. Inside the kidneys there is a cavity
which connects with the Gate of Tail. From the Gate of Tail [the energy channel] goes down to the two
halls of the kidneys38 and then arrives at the Three Mile points39 below the knees. It then goes further
down [and terminates at] the Gushing Spring40 points. These are the passes and cavities of the human
body that are connected with each other.
2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)1
1. High Perfected
2. Supreme Perfected
3. Great Perfected
4. Void2 Perfected
5. Immortal Perfected
6. Unfathomable Perfected
7. Superior Perfected
8. Divine Perfected
9. Heavenly Perfected3
10. The brain has nine sections and each of these chambers are one inch in diameter.4
11. The way of no-cessation is found in visualizing, and meditating on, the Muddy Pellet.5 Garments6 of
the Nine Perfected each represent the color of their corresponding pneumas,7 this is why they can fly
as if they are weightless.
12. Palace of the Muddy Pellet

13. Original Destiny8 Perfected
14. Mysterious Vault of the Jade Emperor's Palace9
2.1.2. Head
2.1.2a. Captions
1. Rich liquid 1
2. Tower Head Drum
3. Muddy Pellet
4. Mysterious Mother2
5. Numinous spirit3
6. Heavenly Treasure
7. Shen4
8. Purple Tenuity5
9. Great One6
10. Nine Empyreans7
11. Heavenly Court8
12. Appearing Pearl
13. Divine Radiance9
14. Bright Hall

15. Heavenly Eye10
16. Thunder Palace of the Nine Empyreans11
17. The throat is Sustainer and the tongue is Straightener.12 One deity reports13 to the Seven Kings14 and
serves15 the Dipper as the Mother of the tongue.16
18. Center of Man17

19. Fluid Receptacle18
20. Governor Vessel19
2.1.2b. Inscription
There are nine palaces in heaven and nine continents on earth.1 Man's lower elixir field has nine cavities,
which are patterned after the nine continents of earth. The Muddy [Pellet] has nine caves, which accord
with the nine palaces of heaven.2 The cranium is made up of eight bones3 which correspond to the eight
directions. One of the names of the Muddy Pellet is the Jade Emperor's Palace in the All Canopy
Heaven;4 it is also known as the Heavenly Palace of Pure Yang.5 There is a hollow cave in the center,
which is called the Master of Mysterious Numinosity;6 it is also known as the Palace of the Primordial
Spirit.7
Then there is the tongue; inside the tongue there is the Golden Lock Gate,8 which is equal to the
tongue; it is also 9 known as the Magpie Bridge. Below the nose there is the Center of Man point and
facing it there is the [Golden Lock] Gate. Between them there is the Governor Vessel. Truly, these are
the roots10 of the human being; they are called the upper nine cavities.11 One of the names of the tongue is
the Jade Spring of Innate Nature Roots,12 also its appellation is the Flowery Pond.13
Below the tongue there are four cavities; two of them connect with the heart, forming a humor. The
other two cavities connect with the kidneys, forming the vapor.14 The Divine Chamber,15 Muddy Pellet
and nine cavities, these are the palaces of the Heavenly August. There is a cave in the middle which is
shaped like an egg; its form resembles16 the Mount K'un-lun.17 The Buddhists call it Mount Sumeru.18
Disciples who cultivate perfection must know these.
2.2.1. Umbilicus
The navel is the Gate of Life.1 Great One2 Divine Lord resides here. He is the host of the innate nature
and life-destiny.3 He directs the entire body's twelve thousand spirits.4
Gate of Life5
2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)1
1. Copper Pillar Hell

2. Fire Chariot Hell2
3. Diamond-like3 Hell
4. All-Plunder Hell
5. Icy-Cold Hell
6. Kill-and-Cut Hell
7. Wind and Thunder Hell
8. Cauldron of Molten [Iron] Hell4
9. Endless Hell5
2.2.3. Lower Abdomen
1. Cavity of the Pivotal Pass1 is the gate for inviting immortality.

2. Bellows2
3. Gate of Life3 that delivers immortality is where the Northern Pole4 demon-subduing sword of wisdom5
is found.
4. Fools kill themselves with it, while sages sublimate their bodies with it.6
2.2.4. Lower Extremities
1. Gushing Spring point1

2. Gushing Spring
3. Three Miles point2
4. Three Miles point
3. Internal Organs
3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang)
3.1.1. Lungs
3.1.1a. Captions
1. Astride, Mound1
2. The seven p'o2 are stored3 in the lungs.
3. Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, Carriage4
4. Heavenly Dipper5
5. Venerable White Prime dwells here.
6. Stomach, Pleiades, Net, Beak, Orion.6
3.1.1b. Inscription
The deity of the lungs has the shape of the White Tiger;1 the lungs appear like a hanging musical stone.2
They dwell on top of the five viscera3 and envelop them like a cover, therefore they are called the
Flowery Canopy.4 Their deity is called Luminous Flower,5 its given name is Attainment of Emptiness.6
They weigh three pounds7 and three ounces.8 They have six petals and two ears, thus eight petals in total.9
The lung is the child of the spleen and the mother of the kidneys. The seven p'o are stored inside the
lungs like infants. They are called Corpse Dog, Ambushing Corpse,10 Bird Darkness, Devouring
Robber,11 Flying Poison,12 Massive Pollution, and Mob's Smell;13 thus there are these seven names.14
The nose is its officer;15 the left nostril is keng 庚, while the right nostril is hsin 辛.16 Among the
pneumas the lungs correspond to coughing.17 Among the fluids18 they correspond to nasal mucus.19 In the
body they correspond to body hair. Flowing upward, the pneumas reach the brain and flowing downward,
the pneumas enter the spleen, therefore all pneumas belong to the lungs.20 The lungs are the root of the
breathing.
In the [Scripture of the] Yellow Court21 it is said, "When there is panting or the breathing is not
comfortable, immediately visualize the White Prime22 and the six energies will be harmonized." 23
3.1.2. Heart
The deity of the heart is shaped like the Vermilion Bird; the heart appears like an inverted hanging lotus
flower.1 It is capable of transforming water and turning it into blood. Deity of the heart is called Elixir
Origin,2 its given name is Guarding the Numen.3 It weighs twelve ounces. One inch below the heart is the
Turtledove's Tail.4 The heart's color is like white silk [lined with] shining crimson and inside it there are
seven openings and three orifices. In men of superior wisdom, the orifices of the heart are pervaded with
brilliance. In men of medium wisdom, there are five orifices and cave of the heart is connected with the
pneumas. In men of inferior wisdom, there are no orifices and the brilliance of the pneuma does not flow
through the heart.5
The heart is the child of the liver and the mother of the spleen. The tongue is the officer of the heart.6
An opening connects with the ears; the left ear is ping 丙, while the right ear is ting 丁.7 Heart's fluid is
sweat;8 when the malignant energy of the kidneys enter the heart, the sweat spills.9 The heart's associated
taste is sweet. Its associated receptacle10 is the small intestine and the heart is united with it.11
In the Scripture of the Yellow Court12 it is said, "The house13 of heart department14 is like a lotus bud
with closed petals;15 below it there is the house of a young boy named Elixir Origin." The young boy is
the deity of the heart. Below the heart there is the Crimson Palace.
3.1.3. Liver
3.1.3a. Captions
1. Lordling Blossomless resides here.1

2. Middle earth gallbladder2
3. Horn, Neck3
4. Base, Room, Heart, Tail, Basket4
5. The three hun5 are stored in the liver.
3.1.3b. Inscription
The deity of the liver is shaped like the Green Dragon;1 its given name is Containing Illumination.2 The
liver appears like a suspended bottle-shaped gourd. It is quite3 close to the heart; it has three petals to the
left and four petals to the right.4 The gallbladder5 attaches to underneath its shorter petal. The liver weighs
four pounds and four ounces. It is the mother of the heart and the child of the kidneys.
There are three hun6 in the liver known as the Invigorating Numinosity, Radiance of Womb,7 and
Obscure Spirit. The eyes are the officers8 of the liver.9 The left eye is chia 甲 while the right eye is i 乙.10
When a man11 reach sixty, his liver pneuma declines,12 petals of his liver become thinner, his gallbladder
gradually withers, and his eyesight is dimmed. In the body, the liver corresponds to the sinews.13 The
liver pulse is connected with Wood14 and the liver is the viscus of the hun.15
Among the bodily fluids the liver corresponds to tears, therefore, when the malignant energy of the
kidneys enter the liver, the tears are plenty.16 The gallbladder is the receptacle of the liver,17 the
gallbladder and the liver are united.
In the Scripture of the Yellow Court18 it is said, "When harmony is established between the hun and
p'o, the bodily fluids are balanced;19 on the outer part of the body, the liver corresponds to the eyes, thus
the sun and the moon are radiant.20 When all kinds of21 diseases22 accumulate, one must maintain23
Blossomless;24 since the liver operates [the energies of] all five viscera, in seven days the organs will be
filled by themselves."25
3.1.4. Spleen
The spleen belongs to the center and Earth,1 therefore it is effulgent throughout the four seasons2 and it is
the Yellow Emperor.3 Its deity is shaped like the Phoenix.4 The spleen resembles an upside-down wing.5
Its deity is called Eternal Existence,6 its given name is Court of Hun.7 In the middle, the spleen covers the
upper part of the navel, it is at the side of the stomach; it is the pneuma of the k'un and ching of the earth.
It resides three inches below the heart. It weighs one pound and two ounces, it is three inches wide and
one foot8 long. The spleen is the child of the heart and the mother of the lungs. On the outer part of the
body, it connects with the eyebrows. The mouth 9 is its officer.10 Its deity has much hatred.11 The spleen
has no fixed position,12 it governs Earth13 and it is yin, therefore the spleen is the pivot of the five
viscera.14 It opens into the orifice of the mouth.15 In the body it corresponds to the cheeks. Spleen
Meridian originates at the Hidden White16 and this is where the original intent17 of the flesh 18 is found.19
In the Scripture of the Yellow Court20 it is said, "It cures countless21 diseases of mankind and digests
foods; it has a yellow gown22 and a purple belt,23 it regulates the dragon and tiger."24
3.1.5a. Captions
1. The left is the Mystery,1 the Gate of Kidney

2. The right is the Female,1 the Gate of Life-Destiny2
3. (Three talismanic characters)3
4. Silver River4
5. Pivotal Mechanism5
6. Red Pond
7. Pond of Precious Stone
8. Way of Gushing Valley6

9. Water of Fountain Valley7
10. Jade Furnace8
The kidneys1 belong to the direction north2 and Water;3 among the trigrams they correspond to k'an 坎.4
They are shaped like the Mysterious Deer5 with two heads; their deity is called Mysterious Dark6 and its
given name is Nourishing the Infant.7 The kidneys appear like egg-shaped pebbles; they are located
opposite the navel, suspending from the lumbar spine.8 They weigh two pounds and one ounce. They
govern the distribution of the energy of water, irrigating the entire body like roots of a tree. The one on
the left is called kidney and the one on the right the [Gate of] Life-Destiny.9 They are the storehouses of
living pneuma and the gate of dead pneuma;10 if you preserve them (i.e., the vital energies) then they will
remain, but if you [over]use them then they will be drained.
The kidneys are the mother of the liver and the child of the lungs. The ears are the officers11 of the
kidneys.12 The Heaven gives life to us, when the current of energy is transmuted, it is called ching. The
ching-ch'i alternates and turns into shen. The shen; the kidneys store ching13 and the will.14 The left
kidney corresponds to jen 壬, while the right corresponds to kuei 癸.15 Among the twelve horary branches
the kidneys correspond to tzu 子 and hai 亥.16 Among the [six] breaths17 they correspond to ch'ui 吹.18
Among the bodily fluids they correspond to saliva. In the body they correspond to the bones.19 The
kidney ch'i regulates the upper section of the triple heater, nourishes the middle20 section of the triple
heater, and protects the lower section of the triple heater.21
In the Scripture of the Yellow Court22 it is said, "The palace of kidney23 department is like a dark
portal24 that is round;25 inside there is a young boy26 called Upper Darkness.27 The kidneys govern the six
pneumas28 and are the origin of the visceral fluids.29 On the outer part of the body, they correspond to the
ears;30 they govern numerous31 bodily fluids."32
3.1.5c. Inscription 2
The internal kidneys are the Two Principles.1 Between them there is a link connecting them and this is
our true essence.2 Inside, it contains two pneumas, red and white. When we were in the mother's
abdomen, before we had this body, there was this cave. Because there was this cave, life has begun in
this body. The left kidney is mysterious yang while the right is feminine yin.3 Inside the cavity, there is
the Sea of Essence4 of True Self Later Heaven; it is also known as true lead.5 Its Buddhist name is Chao-
chou's dog,6 while its Confucian name is the Great Ultimate.7 Taoists call it the Native Lead of the
Mysterious Water8 and also Right Ch'i of Chilling Life9 in the Direction North, and Purple River
Chariot.10 Following the course of nature gives birth to ordinary men; going against it one becomes an
immortal.11 One of its names is the Rivulet.12 Its another name is the Ancestral Palace. It connects with
the top and bottom of the two eyes and descends into the Flowery Pond.13 From [the cavities below] the
tongue comes out a fluid called the Jade Spring.14
3.1.5d. Inscription 3
Peach Vigor;1 his given name is the Lord of Unity and Extension,2 his another name is Top of the Lotus
Flower.3 His cap and garment are vermilion in color and his garment is like that of the perfected men. He
resides in the palace of the kidneys. It has emerald, purple, yellow, white, green, blue-green, red, and
azure pneumas; actually these are the transmutations of the Eight Heavens4 of the direction north.
3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu)
3.2.1. Throat
Two cavities under the tongue are called Mysterious Breasts.1 The one at the back is called the pharynx2
and all that we eat and drink is swallowed down through this aperture. The one in the front is known as
the trachea;3 its twelve segments make up the Twelve-Storied Tower,4 which connects with pure ch'i.5
3.2.2. Gallbladder
The gallbladder represents the ching of Metal and ch'i of Water. Its color is [dark] green and it lies
beneath the liver's shorter petal.1 The gallbladder is boldness.2 When the gallbladder is big, there cannot
be any fear. Its deity3 is called Dragon Glory,4 its given name is Majestic Illumination.5 The gallbladder is
shaped like the Turtle and Snake whose bodies are fused6 and it appears like a suspended sack.7 It weighs
three ounces and one-sixteenth of an ounce.8 It is the receptacle organ of the liver.9
If we rely on [the standard five phases theory], the gallbladder should not be among the five viscera;
it should be returned to [the category of] the six receptacles, because the gallbladder also receives
energies of the fluids and it has the same path as the k'an 坎. Furthermore, it cannot be regarded as the
same with the six receptacles, therefore it stands alone as the gallbladder viscus.10 It is connected with the
bladder; it also governs the hair.
In the Scripture of the Yellow Court11 it is said, "The gallbladder governs all physical strength
preserved12 by the tiger's army. On the outer part of the body, the gallbladder corresponds to the eyes and
pupils and the middle of the bridge of the nose.13 The brain and hair support each other; also, the hair
becomes very bright.14 The deity of the gallbladder wears a nine-colored brocade dress with a green
flower skirt."15
4. Elixir Fields
4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace)
The Crimson1 Palace; inside it there is a cave which is the innate nature of the true self. One of its names
is trigram li 離;2 its another name is Hour of Wu 午.3 Also, its appellation is Southern Palace.4 It is where
the chamber for refinement of the shen5 is found. Its another name is Young Girl.6 One of its names is
True Yin; its another name is Blue-Eyed Foreign Child.7 Among the directions, it is the south. Above this
place there is a covering bone which covers it; the physicians call it the Turtledove's Tail. Withdrawal [of
the mind] from this cavity leads to mental activity [eaten up by] thoughts and worries8 of the Nine Later
Heavens;9 this is also called the "dragon exiting from within the fire".10
4.2. Lower Elixir Field
The pneumas inside this field are blue-green on the left, yellow on the right, black on the bottom, and
white on top. The lower elixir field is also known as True Tiger,1 [Earth of]2 K'an 坎, Infant's Place,3
Mulberry Palace,4 Sea of Energy,5 Water Crystal Palace, and the Door of the Feminine.6 Inside it there is
a cave, which is real ching7 of the true self and Life Stem.8 One and one-tenth of an inch above it is the
place of true generation and transformation9 and the root of the heaven and earth. It is the place of white-
headed Lao-tzu's black mystery, and the life-destiny of the true self creating10 mountains and streams. It
is also called the Place of True One, the Gold within Water; its appellation is Metal Essence,11 it is also
called Supreme Ching of the Former Heaven of the True Self. It is also called the Tiger Facing Life
within Water,12 One Yang Returning to Beginning,13 Tzu 子 Hour,14 Moon at the Bottom of the Sea,15
Human-Light,16 and Foundation of Primordial Self.17 Thus it has these several names. Disciples who
cultivate perfection must know these.
5. Three Passes
5.1. Upper Pass
The Jade Pillow pass;1 one of the names of this place is Yang Palace on the Jade Capital Mountain,2 it is
also known as the Heavenly Pillar,3 Cave of the Great4 One, and Thunderclap Palace. It is found in front
of the big vertebral bone,5 at an inch distance from it. Truly, this is the upward pathway for advancing6
and ascending to Heaven.7 Inner Yellow Dragon8 turns upside down,9 rolls upward, surges into the waters
of Hsiang River,10 and penetrates up and down. As this pass is tight,11 the yang spirit12 must be gathered.
This needs using yang pneuma in order to force the pass open, it is then transformed into true pneuma.13
When it arrives at the Magpie Bridge,14 the Altair and Vega stars15 meet16 and nourish the infant.17
5.2. Middle Pass
The Spinal Handle Dual Pass1 is truly the footpath of ascending to and descending from divine
immortality.2 It is our bodily pulse; it is the path of Kao-huang point.3 It is called the Dual Pass; Inner
Windlass4 is found inside this point. Its left is the Great Yang, while its right is the Great Yin. It is the
path of ascension of yang energy,5 it connects with the Heavenly Pillar6 point, it is also called Inner
Double Grove,7 which connects with Outer Double Grove,8 where the vessel of yang pass is hidden.9 This
point steams [energy] into passes and cavities, and to the Gushing Spring10 below; above, it connects with
the Muddy Pellet, networks and connects with the Crimson11 Palace and the Flowery Pond.12 There it
gathers water and descends to the Flowery Canopy,13 then to the place of the five phases which is inside
the Life Stem14 in the lower elixir field.
5.3. Lower Pass
The Pass of Gate of Tail;1 one of its names is Nine Cavities;2 its another name is Nine-Headed Lion;3 it is
also called the Prince Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum.4 This yin pass5 is persistently
blocked,6 often it cannot be opened for years, therefore it is named the Nine-Layered Iron Drum. The
Prince is pure yang pneuma; he can cause a rich liquid to pour into the top of the head7 and he can pierce
through the head, therefore it is called Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum. Indeed this is
the footpath for ascending to Heaven.8 One of the names of this pass is the Gate of Earth Pivot Deity;9 its
another name is Facing Up toward a Mountain Range.10 One of its names is Cave of Dragon and Tiger;
its another name is Three-Forked [Bone].11 Inside the kidneys there is the Golden Cauldron,12 inside and
outside are connected to each another; its three paths13 connect with14 the Spinal Handle15 above, directly
penetrate the Gate of Crown16 and then the Muddy Pellet above, and connect with the bone marrows of
the entire body.
The Capital of Hell17

6.1. North (Li)
1. Upper Palace of the South Prosperity [Constellation]1

2. Crimson2 Palace
3. Exhalation is uniting with the Root of Heaven.3
4. When the mind is immovable, the pneuma consolidates by itself.4
5. Pneuma5 ☲ (trigram li)
6. Approaching chi 己6
7. Fire Palace on the Vermilion Mound7
6.2. South (K'an)
1. Dipper, Ox[-Boy], Maiden, Void1

2. Cold Numinosity Elixir Hall
3. Flowing to wu 戊2
4. When the body is immovable, the ching consolidates by itself.3
5. Ching 精 ☵ (trigram k'an)4
6. Chi 己5
7. Lower elixir6
8. Noxious pneuma7 of the Mysterious Warrior8
9. Rooftop, House, Wall9
10. Going against the course of nature is the way of sages; following it is the way of ordinary men.10
6.3. East (Chen)
☳ (trigram chen)1
One of its names is the Green Dragon of the Eastern Sea. It corresponds to the direction of chia 甲.2
Wood fluid. Among the trigrams3 it belongs to chen 震. Among the directions it belongs to the east.
Among the five phases it belongs to Wood. In the Tao it is the hun and it corresponds to the innate
nature.4 It belongs to the mother of fire shen.5 Among the five viscera it belongs to the liver. In the
heaven it is the sun. It is the location of the Chamber of the True Self's Hun.
6.4. West (Tui)
☱ (trigram tui)1
Some call it the White Tiger of the Western Mountains.2 It occupies keng 庚 position. Metal ching.3
Among the trigrams it belongs to tui 兌. Among the directions it belongs to the west. Among the five
phases it belongs to Metal. In the Tao it is the p'o and it corresponds to emotions.4 It belongs to the
mother of the water ching.5 Among the viscera and receptacles it is the lungs. In the heaven it is the
moon. It is the location of the Chamber of the True Self's P'o.
6.5. Center (Ch'ien)
1. Yellow Court1
2. Center2
3. Jade knife3
4. ☰ (trigram ch'ien)4
5. Earthen Crucible5
6. K'uei, shao, huan, hsing, pi, fu, p'iao6
7. When the intent is immovable, the shen turns into numinosity by itself.7
1. Yang Entering [Vessel]

2. Yang Heel [Vessel]2
3. Conception Vessel3
4. Yin Heel [Vessel]4
5. Yin Transport [Vessel]5
In bottom-to-top order
1. Winter Solstice
2. Slight Cold
3. Great Cold
4. Beginning of Spring
5. Rain Water
6. Excited Insects
7. Spring Equinox
8. Clear and Bright
9. Grain Rains
10. Summer Begins
11. Grain Filling
12. Grain in Ear
13. Summer Solstice
14. Slight Heat
15. Great Heat
16. Autumn Begins
17. Limit of Heat
18. White Dew
19. Autumn Equinox
20. Cold Dew
21. Hoar Frost Descends
22. Winter Begins
23. Slight Snow
24. Great Snow
9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle
1. First1
2. Second
3. Third
4. Fourth
5. Fifth
6. Sixth
7. Seventh
8. Eighth, [upper] crescent moon2
9. Ninth
10. Tenth
11. Eleventh
12. Twelfth
13. Thirteenth
14. Fourteenth
15. Fifteenth, full moon3
16. Sixteenth
17. Seventeenth
18. Eighteenth
19. Nineteenth
20. Twentieth
21. Twenty first
22. Twenty second
23. Twenty third, [lower] crescent moon4
24. Twenty fourth
25. Twenty fifth
26. Twenty sixth
27. Twenty seventh
28. Twenty eighth
29. Twenty ninth
30. Thirtieth, last day5
Stele Inscription
Printing block is preserved at Beijing's White Cloud Temple.
Notes to Page 9 (82)
Notes
1. Introduction
1. In the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic: The Numinous Pivot (Huang-ti Nei-ching Ling-shu 黄帝
内經靈樞), Ch'i Po 岐伯 describes the three hundred and sixty five places where the "joints" (chieh
節) intersect, "where the ch'i of the spirit (shen 神; or alternatively 'ch'i and shen') travel in and out."
2. This idea is based on the principles of correlative cosmology. According to Chinese theories, one
cycle of ascent and descent of energy between the heaven and earth (the macrocosm) lasts three
hundred and sixty days, which corresponds to the three hundred and sixty bones and joints in the
human body (the microcosm).
3. Three passes (san-kuan 三關) are three centers of energy transformation, they are usually obstructed
and must be opened. The first pass, or Gate of Tail (wei-lü 尾閭), is located at the level of the third
vertebra above the coccyx. The second pass, or Spinal Handle (chia-chi 夾脊), is located in the
middle of the spinal column where it joins the ribs at chest level, between the shoulder blades. The
third pass, or Jade Pillow (yü-chen 玉枕), is at the level of the occipital bone. Each pass correspond
to an elixir field (tan-t'ien). Like the three elixir fields, the three passes correspond to the three stages
of the internal alchemical process: ching is transformed into ch'i in the lower pass, ch'i into shen in
the middle pass, and shen into void (hsü 虚) in the upper pass. In the diagram, the three passes are
symbolized by the three vehicles, or mechanisms, for the raising of the energy along the backbone:
the Goat Cart (yang-ch'e 羊車), the Deer Cart (lu-ch'e 鹿車), and the Ox Cart (niu-ch'e 牛車).
4. The term translated "Spinal Handle" is chia-chi 夾脊, which might also be read "Narrow Ridge".
5. In Chinese medical literature, internal kidneys (nei-shen 内腎) designates the kidneys and external
kidneys (wai-shen 外腎) the testicles.
6. The "marrow" (sui 髓) does not correspond to bone marrow of Western medicine. In traditional
Chinese medicine, "marrow" is a substance which is the common matrix of bones, bone marrow,
brain and spinal cord.
7. Hao 號.
8. In Chinese internal alchemy (nei-tan), the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈) is also called the Rivulet
(ts'ao-hsi 漕溪).
9. Emending "kidneys" (shen 腎) to "shoulders" (chien 肩).
10. There are nine chambers in the brain, known as the Nine Palaces (chiu-kung 九宮). These are
arranged within the brain in two levels that proceed from the middle part of the head between the
eyebrows. In Taoist terminology, the Muddy Pellet (ni-wan 泥丸) designates both the top of the
head or the upper elixir field as a whole and the innermost of the Nine Palaces, the third one in the
lower row.
11. Earthen Crucible or Earthen Pot (t'u-fu 土釜), is an energy center in the region of the solar plexus,
the center of the trunk. It is often used as a synonym for the Yellow Court (huang-t'ing 黄庭).
12. The term Jade Pond (yü-ch'ih 玉池) has two meanings: the mouth (or throat) and the two kidneys.
Here it designates the kidneys which are related with the lower elixir field.
13. "[I]nch" translates ts'un 寸.
14. Heavenly Gate (t'ien-men 天門) is the center of the top of the head, or sinciput, the opening from
which the yang spirit (yang-shen 陽神) is believed to leave the body.
15. Bright Hall (ming-t'ang 明堂) is an energy center one inch behind the midpoint between the brows.
16. Cavern Chamber (tung-fang 洞房) is located behind the Bright Hall, two inches from the face.
17. Pillar of nose (pi-chu 鼻柱) is the nasal bone.
18. Palace of Thunderclap (lei-t'ing fu 雷霆府) is another name for the nasal bone.
19. Golden Bridge (chin-ch'iao 金橋) is another name for the Magpie Bridge. See note 20.
20. Magpie Bridge (ch'üeh-ch'iao 鵲橋) is the tongue which connects the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈)
and Conception Vessel (ren-mai 任脈). It is also known as Middle Magpie Bridge (chung ch'üeh-
ch'iao 中鵲橋).
21. Tiered Tower (ch'ung-lou 重樓), or Multi-Leveled Pagoda, is the trachea with its twelve segments. It
is also known as Twelve-Storied Tower (shih-erh lou-t'ai 十二樓臺).
22. Turtledove's Tail (chiu-lu 鳩尾) is the xiphoid process, the cartilaginous section at the lower end of
the breastbone (sternum).
Notes to Pages 9-10 (82-84)
23. "[C]ave" translates hsüeh 穴, which literally means "cave" or "hole" and variously translated as
"cave", "point", "hole", or "locus". It denotes an energy center or an acupuncture point. Although
"cavity" is a better term here, it is rendered as "cave" to distinguish it from ch'iao 竅, which is
usually translated as "cavity".
24. Crimson Palace (chiang-kung 絳宮) is variously desribed as the heart, solar plexus, or middle elixir
field. In this diagram, it seems to denote the middle elixir field. The term translated as "palace" is
kung 宮; Fabrizio Pregadio explains this concept in these terms: "Using a terminology that refers to
the underlying bureaucratic view of the human body, each of the six main inner organs (five viscera
and gallbladder) is called in the Yellow Court a 'department' (bu) and is managed by a deity who
resides in a 'palace' (gong) within that organ. The single deities, who are identified by their names
and the colours of their garments, rule on the organ that hosts them and supervise the corresponding
function in the body." (2006: 135)
25. Although the Bright Hall usually designates the center one inch behind the midpoint between the
brows and is related with the upper elixir field, according to certain classics, it also exists in the other
elixir fields. Here, it is described as the Bright Hall on the left of the middle elixir field.
26. The interior of the body was thought to be like a sacred mountain which contained cavern chambers,
the residing place of large numbers of divinities and the storehouses of vital energy. The Cavern
Chamber (tung-fang 洞房) is situated behind the Bright Hall, two inches from the face. It is
inhabited by a trinity of deities, or the Three Perfected (San-chen 三眞): White Prime, Blossomless,
and Lord Huang-lao (Huang-lao Chün 黄老君).
27. Blossomless (or No Blossom, Wu-ying 無英) with the byname Lordling (Kung-tzu 公子) and White
Prime (Pai-yüan 白元), with the byname Cavernous Yang (Tung-yang 洞陽), are two deities who
inhabit the Palace of the Cavern Chamber (tung-fang kung 洞房宮) in the head and also descend into
the liver and lungs respectively.
28. Besides the celestial gods and goddesses who reside in heaven, a veritable pantheon of Taoist deities
also exists within the human being. These deities fulfill various related functions: they personify
abstract notions such as the Tao, yin and yang, or the five phases (wu-hsing 五行); they allow the
human being to communicate with the major – and in several cases corresponding – deities of the
outer pantheon; they act as officers in the bureaucratic system that manages the whole body; they
perform healing tasks by supporting the balance of the body's functions; and they are objects of
meditation. The basic purpose of visualizing them is to "maintain" them (tsun 存) in their proper
locations, nourish them with one's inner pneumas and essences, and invoke them so that in turn they
provide protection and sustenance. This is said to ensure health, longevity, or immortality, and to
defend one from calamities caused by demons and other noxious entities. Systematic descriptions of
the inner deities are first found in the third-century classic Huang-t'ing Ching 黄庭經.
29. Thirty-six is a special number in Taoist cosmology.
30. "[M]ile" translates li 里, which is a traditional Chinese unit of distance equal to about a 1/3 mile or
1/2 kilometer.
31. Another idea based on correlative thinking. The distance between the heaven and earth (in the
macrocosm) is believed to be eighty-four thousand miles and it corresponds to the distance between
the heart and kidneys (in the microcosm), which is measured as 8 tsun 寸 (Chinese inches) and 4 fen
分 (1 fen being a tenth of an inch).
32. The distance between the Crimson Palace and Earthen Crucible is 3 tsun and 6 fen, the diameter of
the Earthen Crucible is 1 tsun and 2 fen, and the distance between the Earthen Crucible and navel or
Sea of Energy (ch'i-hai 氣海) point is 3 tsun and 6 fen. Thus, the distance between the heart and
kidneys is 8 tsun and 4 fen, or eight and four-tenths of an inch.
33. Note that the "Gate of Life" translates sheng-men 生門, not ming-men 命門.
34. The external kidneys (wai-shen 外腎) are the testicles.
35. In this diagram, the Crescent Moon Furnace (yen-yüeh lu 偃月爐) is another name for the lower
elixir field.
36. The Capital of Hell (Feng-tu 酆都) is the demonic netherworld. In certain texts, the lower nine
cavities (hsia chiu-ch'iao 下九竅) are associated with the Nine Dark Hells (chiu-yu ti-yü 九幽地獄).
37. In Chinese internal alchemy, the Sea of Energy (ch'i-hai 氣海) is another name for the lower elixir
field.
38. Two halls of the kidneys (shen-t'ang 腎堂) are the testicles.
39. Three Miles (san-li 三里) point of the foot is the thirty-sixth point of the Stomach Meridian (ST 36).
It is located below the knee, 3 tsun 寸 inferior to tu-pi 犢鼻 (ST 35), one finger-breadth lateral to the
anterior crest of the tibia.
40. Gushing Spring (yung-ch'üan 湧泉) is the first point of the Kidney Meridian (KI 1). It is located on
the sole of the foot, between the second and third metatarsal bones, approximately one-third of the
distance between the base of the second toe and the heel, in a depression formed when the foot is
plantar flexed.
2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)
1. One of the earliest and most common Chinese views of the cosmos is one in which there are Nine
Heavens (chiu-t'ien 九天), one in the center of the sky and one in each of the eight directions
surrounding the center. Nine is the number of yang, thus the nine heavens stand for pure yang, which
is the celestial, unconditioned, primal state. In Springs and Autumns of Gentleman Lü (Lü-shih
Ch'un-ch'iu 呂氏春秋; 239 BCE) and the [Book of] the Master of Huai-nan (Huai-nan Tzu 淮南子;
139 BCE), the Nine Heavens, or Nine Fields (chiu-yeh 九野), are nine horizontal sectors of space,
corresponding to the center and eight directions, and complementing the Nine Continents (chiu-chou
九洲) on earth.
2. Hsü 虗 is an ancient character for hsü 虚.
3. The Muddy Pellet hosts nine deities known as the Nine Perfected, or Nine Real Men (chiu-chen
九眞), in its nine rooms.
4. These chambers, known as the Nine Palaces (chiu-kung 九宮), are arranged within the brain in two
levels that proceed from the middle part of the head between the eyebrows. Measuring one square
inch in size, these cavities intercommunicate among themselves.
5. Emending wan 丸 to chiu 九.
6. These deities are identified by the colors of their garments, based on five phases (wu-hsing 五行)
associations.
7. "[P]neuma" translates ch'i 炁, while ch'i 氣 is either left untranslated or rendered as "energy" or
"vapor" according to the context. In the present text, ch'i 炁 is often used synonymously with ch'i 氣.
8. "Destiny" translates ming 命, which is translated elsewhere as "life-destiny".
9. Jade Emperor (Yü-ti 玉帝) is one of the superior divinities of the Mao-shan 茅山 lineage. The Jade
Emperor's Palace (Yü-ti Kung 玉帝宮) is one of the nine palaces (chiu-kung 九宮) or nine rooms
(chiu-fang 九房) within the brain.
2.1.2. Head
2.1.2a. Captions
1. Rich liquid (t'i-hu 醍醐) is originally a Buddhist term meaning "ghee", or the most delicate, tastiest,
richest product of milk. In Buddhism it is usually used as a metaphor for the most sublime form of
the Buddhist teachings. The term "rich liquid" frequently appears in the phrase "a rich liquid pouring
into the top of the head" (t'i-hu kuan-ting 醍醐灌頂), which is a Buddhist metaphor for pleasure of
receiving wisdom. The expression is presumably related to the experience of opening of certain
energy centers in the head and resultant flow of nectar-like energy – which sometimes have an
exquisite fragrance – into these cranial centers.
2. The Original Father on High (Yüan-fu 元父) and Mysterious Mother Below (Hsüan-mu 玄母)
symbolize Heaven (Yang) and Earth (Yin), the two original principles which are the source of all life.
3. Variously translated as "numinous spirit", "numen", "numinous", "spiritual", or "luminous", ling 靈
refers to a spirit that has a certain marvelous, sacred or miraculous qualities.
4. The shen 神 here is one of the three primary vital energies known as the ching 精, ch'i 氣, and shen.
5. Purple Tenuity (Tzu-wei 紫微) is actually a circumpolar constellation; in the present text it
designates the Palace of the Muddy Pellet (ni-wan kung 泥丸宮).
6. The Great One (T'ai-i 太一 or 太乙) is a major Taoist deity, representing in a divinized form the first
stage of the generation of the cosmos by the Tao. He is lord of the northern polar asterism and in the
human body he lives in the palace of the head known as the Muddy Pellet.
7. The Nine Empyreans (Chiu-hsiao 九霄) is a synonym for the Nine Heavens (Chiu-t'ien 九天).
8. Heavenly Court (T'ien-t'ing 天庭) designates the point between the eyebrows.
9. Divine Radiance (shen-kuang 神光) designates the spiritual light emitted from the region between
the eyebrows.
10. Heavenly Eye (t'ien-mu 天目) is located three tenths of an inch (3 fen 分) above the point between
the eyebrows.
11. The Nine Empyreans – which is synonymous with the Nine Heavens (chiu-t'ien 九天) – in the
macrocosm corresponds to the nose in the microcosm of the human body. Therefore the nose is
called the Thunder Palace of the Nine Empyreans (Chiu-hsiao lei-fu 九霄雷府).
12. Big Dipper (Ursus Major) constellation, known as the Northern Dipper (Pei-tou 北斗) in China, is
composed of nine stars. To the seven, universally known stars forming the bowl and handle of the
Dipper, two minor stars are attached: the eighth star, Sustainer (Fu-hsing 輔星), is the companion of
the sixth star; and the ninth star, Straightener (Pi-hsing 弼星), is situated in the neighborhood of the
constellation's handle. Though the latter is entirely invisible, the Sustainer is discernible at certain
times. The belief is widespread among Taoist adepts that they only appear to those who attain certain
conditions of purity and those who have the ability to see them draw from it great benefits and
supernormal powers, extraordinary longevity above all. Sometimes these stars are considered as part
of the total constellation of the Dipper; yet, at other times, they are considered to be the left- and
right-hand assistants of the Dipper. Fu 輔 literally means a side pole attached to a cart to keep it
from upsetting and denotes assistance or support, while the literal meaning of pi 弼 is a device for
straightening and keeping proper form of bows and it denotes assistance. When considered as
assistants, they play a role similar to that of the sun and moon which often stand on each side of the
Dipper. The Sustainer is related to Mars (south) and the Straightener is associated with the pole star
and yin. Compared to the seven major stars, the two ancillary stars have a less focused function; the
Sustainer safeguards human destiny, while the Straightener pertains to the exorcism of demons. In
his Tan-yang's Twenty-Four Instructions Handed Down by Perfected Man Ch'ung-yang (Ch'ung-
yang Chen-jen Shou Tan-yang Erh-shih-ssu Chüeh 重陽眞人授丹陽二十四訣), Wang Ch'ung-yang
王重陽 (1112-1170) correlates various parts of human beings to their counterparts in the universe.
He says that the nine cavities or orifices (chiu-ch'iao 九竅) of the human body (the two eyes, two
ears, two nostrils, mouth, and tongue and throat) correspond to the seven stars of the Northern
Dipper and the Sustainer and Straightener stars. According to other sources, these stars are
visualized in relation to the eyes, just like the sun and moon.
13. Chuan kao 專告 literally means "to report", but in this context it connotes staying connected
(through visualization practices), or allowing communication, with the Seven Kings.
14. The Seven Kings (Ch'i-wang 七王) is presumably a reference to the seven stars of the Northern
Dipper.
15. Feng shih 奉事 literally means "to serve", but in this context it means treating the Dipper as the
primary deity in the practice of invocation or visualization. The implication is that if the adept's
throat and tongue are in an ideal state, he can connect with the Northern Dipper.
16. The "Mother of the tongue" is a reference to the Mother of the Dipper (Tou-mu 斗母), a stellar
goddess who came to prominence from the Yüan dynasty (1271-1368) onwards.
17. Center of Man (Jen-chung 人中) is the twenty-sixth point of the Governor Vessel (GV 26). It is
located in the groove beneath the nose.
18. Fluid Receptacle, or Sauce Receptacle (Ch'eng-chiang 承漿), is the twenty-fourth point of the
Conception Vessel (CV 24). It is located on the chin, in the depression in the center of the
mentolabial groove, below the middle of the lower lip.
19. The Governor Vessel is the passage of energy running from the base of the spine to the top of the
head, and down to the mouth.
2.1.2b. Inscription
1. The nine palaces (chiu-kung 九宮) are the nine astrological divisions of sky, while the nine
continents (chiu-chou 九州) are the nine divisions of China, established under legendary Emperor
Yü the Great (Ta-Yü 大禹).
2. The Muddy Pellet has nine caves or rooms, where the nine deities known as the Nine Perfected
(chiu-chen 九眞) reside.
3. The cranium is composed of eight bones: the frontal, the two occipital, parietal, the two temporal,
the sphenoid, and ethmoid.
4. Mi-lo-t'ien Yü-ti-kung 彌羅天玉帝宮.
5. Ch'un-yang-t'ien Kung 純陽天宮.

6. Hsüan-ling Chu 玄靈主, emending ch'iung 穹 to ling 靈. Mysterious Numinosity (hsüan-ling 玄靈)
is another name for the three worms (san-ch'ung 三蟲), also frequently referred to as the three
corpses (san-shih 三尸 or 三屍). They wish for the body to die so that they can be free; thus they
cause people to act in sinful, detrimental ways and then report their wrongdoings to the heavenly
bureaucracy who will shorten the lifespan of the person. Each worm dwell in one of the three elixir
fields. The upper worm, which is black, about three inches long and dwells in the head, stimulates
love of horses, carriages and luxurious clothes. The green middle worm, situated in the back,
promotes love of food, while the third one, white and in the stomach, stimulates licentious desires.
The extermination of these worms was one of the first steps that had to be taken within the practice
of longevity and immortality.
7. Yüan-shen Kung 元神宮. The primordial spirit (yüan-shen 元神) is the principle of non-material
manifestation, including anything from human thinking to divinities.
8. Golden Lock Gate (chin-so kuan 金鎖關) is another name for the Magpie Bridge, or the tongue.
9. Reading "also" (yu 又) for "human" (jen 人).
10. The "root" (ken 根) presumably designates sensory organs, some of which are associated with the
upper nine cavities.
11. The upper nine cavities (shang chiu-ch'iao 上九竅) are divided into seven yang and two yin cavities.
The seven yang cavities are the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, and mouth, while the two yin
cavities designate the tongue and throat. They correspond to the nine luminaries (chiu-yao 九曜).
This parallelism is further explained in the Seven Slips from the Bookcase of the Clouds (Yün-chi
Ch'i-ch'ien 雲笈七籤), chapter 15: "In heaven, the nine cavities are the nine stars (chiu-hsing 九星),
on earth, they are the nine continents, and in man, they are the nine cavities."
12. Jade Spring of Innate Nature Roots (hsing-ken yü-ch'üan 性根玉泉) seems to denote the tongue as
the generator of the saliva.
13. In this context, the Flowery Pond (hua-ch'ih 華池) designates the saliva.
14. Reading ch'i 氣 for wo 我.
15. Here, the Divine Chamber (shen-shih 神室) is the upper elixir field.
16. Some contemporary authors suggest an emendation here and add the word "P'eng-t'ai" 蓬臺 ("tower
of [Mount] P'eng[-lai]") before the word "K'un-lun" (崑崙). With such an addition, the sentence
would translate as, "its form resembles the tower of [Mount] P'eng[-lai]; the [Mount] K'un-lun is
this." Mount P'eng-lai (P'eng-lai Shan 蓬萊山) is located on a divine island, a fairy isle in the
Eastern Sea or the Sea of P'o 渤. It is believed to be a paradise-like place where immortals and herbs
of deathlessness are found.
17. Mount K'un-lun (K'un-lun Shan 崑崙山) is a Central Asian mountain chain. It represents west,
Metal, true sense, the mind of Tao, as well as primordial unified energy, the source of all being. In
alchemical traditions of the "lesser vehicle" of Taoism, the K'un-lun is also used as a code word for
the head.
18. Hsü-mi Shan 須彌山, a Buddhist term for "Mount Sumeru" derived from the transliterated Sanskrit
name. In Buddhist cosmology, Mount Sumeru is a towering mountain at the center of the universe. It
is in the center of a great ocean, on a golden wheel, and it rises 80,000 yojanas above sea level
(yojana is an Indian measure of distance, understood by some scholars as equivalent to twelve or
sixteen miles). It is surrounded by nine mountains and eight seas. The sun and moon circle around it,
and the six destinies and various heavens are around and above it.
2.2.1. Umbilicus
1. Emending tso-men 左門 to sheng-men 生門. Note that the "Gate of Life" translates sheng-men 生門,
not ming-men 命門.
2. The Great One (T'ai-i 太一) is an ancient Chinese deity whose cult dates to 133 BCE. Residing in the
Pole Star (Pei-ch'en 北晨), T'ai-i presided over a triad of the Three-Ones (San-i 三一) which
included, in addition to itself, the Heavenly One (T'ien-i 天一) and the Earthly One (Ti-i 地一). The
philosophers take T'ai-i as a synonym for the Tao, the Primordial Breath, or the Original Chaos.
3. "[L]ife-destiny" translates ming 命.
4. These spirits inhabiting the body are referred to as ching 精.
5. Sheng-men 生門.
Notes to Page 12 (86-87)
2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)
1. The open fan containing the names of nine Buddhist hells is an indication of the Buddhist influence
on Taoism. The infernal realm, or the underworld, is located in the mountain-city of Feng-tu 酆都,
the Capital of Hell. The Nine Hells are a counterpart of the Big Dipper which consists of nine stars.
These hells are prisons in the bowels of the earth where the prisoners are subject to all kinds of
torture as a result of their evil deeds. The Chinese word for "hell" (ti-yü 地獄) literally means "prison
of the earth".
2. Fire Chariot Hell (Huo-ch'e Ti-yü 火車地獄) is a fire-pit with its fiery wheels; the sufferer first
freezes, then is tempted into the chariot which bursts into flames and he perishes in the fire-pit. Each
day this process is repeated many times.
3. "Diamond-like" translates chin-kang 金剛, which is a Chinese translation of Sanskrit vajra, meaning
"diamond-like" and, by extension, "adamantine", "indestructible", "extremely hard", "tough", or
"impervious". It denotes an extremely hard material, which is identified with the diamond or the
essential substance of gold; often used as a trope for something hard and indestructible.
4. Cauldron of Molten [Iron] Hell (Huo-t'ang Ti-yü 鑊湯地獄) is the purgatory where the sinners are
immersed in molten iron in the cauldrons.
5. Endless Hell (Wu-chien Ti-yü 無間地獄) is the Chinese translation of Sanskrit avīci, which means
"endless hell" or "the hell of unremitting pain". It is the eighth of the Eight Burning Hells (Pa-je Ti-
yü 八熱地獄), and those who are trapped there undergo continuous suffering without a moment's
pause.
1. Pivotal Pass (chi-kuan 機關) is the mechanism for sending the vital energy upward through the
spinal column.
2. Bellows (t'o-yo 槖籥) is the mechanism of ventilation in the body caused by inhalation and
exhalation to kindle and fan the inner fire in the lower elixir field like a bellows used for blowing
fire and producing the heat necessary for transforming ching into ch'i.
3. Gate of Life (sheng-men 生門) is the belly or navel.
4. The Northern Pole (Pei-chi 北極) is an asterism located in Ursa Minor. It is adjacent to the Mount
K'un-lun, on whose grounds the immortals reside, according to their rank.
5. The sword of wisdom (hui-chien 慧劍) is the sword that cuts through desires, illusion, delusion, and
ignorance.
6. The base of the body is represented as a sword blade and the herdboy riding his ox on it symbolize
sending the vital energy upward through the spinal column. This is suggestive of the Taoist practice
of preserving the male seminal essence (ching 精) known as "returning the ching to replenish the
brain" (huan-ching pu-nao 還精補腦). If the person does not preserve the ching, it will move
outward in the form of seminal emission for male adepts and menstrual blood for female adepts –
both primary forms of dissipation – and will be lost. This process will lead the person to old age and
eventually to death. On the other hand, if an adept preserves the ching by sealing the lower gate (the
perineum), reverses the direction of flow of ching and directs it upward through the spinal column, it
will be transformed into higher forms of energy (ch'i and shen). The adept will then attain longevity
and eventually sagehood. Joseph Needham notes that "we are told that fools ride to their deaths on
this steed while sages mount it to become immortals – this is mirrored in the famous adage, marked
just above, that proceeding accordance to Nature leads to death while following counter-Nature leads
to immortality (shun tsê ssu, ni tsê hsien)." 順則死逆則仙 (1983: 118). In the Complete Diagram of
Cultivating Perfection (Hsiu-chen Ch'üan-t'u 修眞全圖), the ox is replaced by a horse (hence the
"steed") and the two parts of the sentence are in reverse order: "Sages sublimate their bodies with it,
[while] fools kill themselves with it."
1. Gushing Spring (yung-ch'üan 湧泉) is the first point of the Kidney Meridian (KI 1). It is located on
the sole of the foot, between the second and third metatarsal bones, approximately one-third of the
distance between the base of the second toe and the heel, in a depression formed when the foot is
plantar flexed.
2. Three Miles (san-li 三里) point of the foot is the thirty-sixth point of the Stomach Meridian (ST 36).
It is located below the knee, 3 tsun 寸 inferior to tu-pi 犢鼻 (ST 35), one finger-breadth lateral to the
anterior crest of the tibia.
3. Internal Organs
3.1.1. Lungs
3.1.1a. Captions
1. Astride (Kuei 奎) and Mound (Lou 婁) are the 15th and 16th of the Twenty-Eight Constellations
(erh-shih-pa hsiu 二十八宿). The Twenty-Eight Constellations, or Twenty-Eight Lunar Lodgings,
were grouped into four clusters. The eastern Green Dragon area included the constellations chiao,
kang, ti, fang, hsin, wei, and chi. The northern Mysterious Warrior, a hybrid turtle and snake in
Chinese mythology, included tou, niu, nü, hsü, wei, shih, and pi. The western White Tiger area
included kuei, lou, wei, mao, pi, tzu, and shen. And the southern Vermilion Bird area included ching,
kuei, liu, hsing, chang, i, and chen. The ancients believed that the sun moved around the earth
visiting each of the constellations one by one. These constellations were used for determining the
positions of other celestial bodies, including the stations of the moon's sidereal orbit, and for a
variety of astrological calculations. See Appendix D.
2. Hun 魂 and p'o 魄 are variously translated as "ethereal soul" and "animal soul", "heavenly soul" and
"earthly soul", "yang soul" and "yin soul", "higher soul" and "lower soul", and "cloud soul" and
"bone soul". They are two types of vital entities, the source of life in every individual. The hun is
yang, luminous, and volatile, while the p'o is yin, sombre, and heavy. They are, moreover, to be
considered the epitome of the spiritual (shen 神) and the demonic (kuei 鬼): the hun represents spirit,
consciousness, and intelligence, whereas the p'o represents physical nature, bodily strength, and
movement. When natural death occurs, the hun disperses in heaven, and the p'o returns to earth.
There are three hun and seven p'o, which were anthropomorphized and given names, and their
individual attributes were described in detail. For the names of the seven p'o (ch'i-p'o 七魄) see page
29, note 14.
3. "[S]tored" translates tsang 藏, which can be also translated as "contained" or "concealed". It is
believed that the seven p'o are housed in the lungs, while the three hun are housed in the liver.
4. Well (Ching 井), Ghosts (Kuei 鬼), Willow (Liu 柳), Star (Hsing 星), Bow (Chang 張), Wings (I 翼),
and Carriage (Chen 軫) are the seven southern lunar lodgings, the 22nd to 28th of the Twenty-Eight
Constellations.
5. Heavenly Dipper (t'ien-kang 天罡) is the handle of the Northern Dipper. According to Taoist
cosmology, the universe is divided into three worlds: upper, middle, and lower. The middle world is
covered by the clouds (the lungs) which hide the central constellation of the Dipper. Therefore in the
diagram, the Dipper is placed in the lungs (the clouds of the microcosm).
6. Stomach (Wei 胃), Pleiades (Mao 昴), Net (Pi 畢), Beak (Tzu 觜), and Orion (Shen 參) are the 17th
to 21st of the Twenty-Eight Constellations.
3.1.1b. Inscription
1. The indwelling deity of the lungs is the White Tiger of the West who changes into a boy holding a
jade baton in his hand.
2. The hanging musical stone (hsüan-ch'ing 懸磬) is an L-shaped musical stone, suspended from above,
with a definite pitch.
3. The five viscera (wu-tsang 五臟) are five yin organs: the liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.
Their yang counterparts are known as the six receptacles (liu-fu 六腑): the gallbladder, small
intestine, stomach, large intestine, bladder, and triple heater. Some sources replace the triple heater
with the throat.
4. Flowery Canopy (hua-kai 華蓋) variously indicates the rib cage or upper chest, the heart region, the
area below the two eyebrows, or the lungs. In the present passage it is the lungs, which cover other
internal organs like a canopy.
5. While the Hsiu-chen T'u (hereafter HCT) has Luminous Flower (Hao-hua 皓華), in the Diagram of
the Inner Channels (Nei-ching T'u 内經圖) the two characters are inverted and the deity name is
Flowery Luminosity (Hua-hao 華皓). The "luminosity" is associated with the white color of the
lungs.
6. The given name is Attainment of Emptiness (Hsü-ch'eng 虚成) because the lungs are inside the
body, yet they are empty and they can absorb air.
7. "[P]ounds" translates chin 斤, equaling 220 g.
8. "[O]unces" translates liang 兩, equaling 14 g.
9. The Chinese character for "lung" (fei 肺) designates a "flesh that bifurcates". The Classic of
Medicine (Yi Ching 醫經) states that the lungs are like the eight petals of the lotus flower, with three
petals hanging in front, three in back, and two petals forming like two ears. In Buddhism, a lotus
with eight petals represents cosmic harmony.
10. Ambushing Corpse (fu-shih 伏屍) is more commonly known as the Arrow in Ambush or Hidden
Arrow (fu-shih 伏矢).
11. Emending "cheater" (chuan 賺) to "robber" (tsei 賊).
12. The "living mother" (sheng mu 生母) is a scribal error for "poison" (tu 毒). Sheng mu is written by
dividing the character tu 毒 into upper and lower halves, thus creating two characters from one. Also,
the character fei 非 – which is the upper half of the fei 蜚 (variant form of fei 飛) – has to be
emended to verb "to fly" (fei 飛).
13. Mob's Smell (ch'ün-ch'ou 羣臭) is more commonly known as Stinky Lungs (ch'ou-fei 臭肺).
14. The seven p'o – as they appear in the present text – are the Corpse Dog (Shih-kou 尸狗), Ambushing
Corpse (Fu-shih 伏屍), Bird Darkness (Ch'üeh-yin 雀陰), Devouring Robber (T'un-tsei 呑賊),
Flying Poison (Fei-tu 非毒, 飛毒), Massive Pollution (Ch'u-hui 除穢), and Mob's Smell (Ch'ün-
ch'ou 羣臭). Michel Strickmann translates the names of seven p'o (with some variation) as: "corpse-
dog, hidden dung, sparrow-sex, greedy-guts, flying venom, filth-for-removal, and rot-lung." (2002:
77)
15. Based on the tenets of the five phases theory, each "officer", "official", or "office" (kuan 官) of the
external organs is associated with one of the five viscera, with the former reflecting conditions of the
latter. In classical literature, the word kuan means "organ" as well as "officer". The human body and
the state are two microcosms related not only to the macrocosm but also to each other. The body is
often described with bureaucratic metaphors, and governing the state is often likened to self-
cultivation. At the center of the bureaucratic metaphor are the five viscera, described as "officers" in
both Taoist and medical texts including the Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Basic
Questions (Huang-ti Nei-ching Su-wen 黄帝内經素問).
16. Keng 庚 and hsin 辛 are the seventh and eighth of the Ten Celestial Stems (shih-t'ien-kan 十天干).
17. Among the five modes of action, the lungs (Metal phase) correspond to coughing. The other actions
are twitching (Wood), itching (Fire), hiccupping (Earth), and shivering (Water).
18. "[F]luids" translates yeh or i 液, which is translated elsewhere as "humor". These bodily fluids are
tears (Wood), sweat (Fire), saliva (Earth), mucus (Metal), and urine (Water).
19. According to traditional Chinese medicine, when the drops of nasal mucus (t'i 涕) run downward,
they moisten the lungs. This is one of the moistening processes known as the eight moistenings (pa-
lou 八漏).
20. The lungs govern and regulate the energies of the entire body.
21. The verses here are from chapter 9 ("Lung Department Section") of the third-century Supreme
Clarity (Shang-ch'ing 上清) classic Most High Jade Scripture on the Internal View of the Yellow
Court (T'ai-shang Huang-t'ing Nei-ching Yü-ching 太上黄庭内景玉經; abbreviated as Huang-t'ing
Nei-ching Ching 黄庭内景經; hereafter HTNC). It is one of the most popular and influential Taoist
scriptures, and probably the earliest extant work describing the human body as animated by inner
gods. It has given rise to commentaries and further elaborations. Composed in heptasyllabic meter
and divided into a variety of sections, it describes the subtle physiology of the human body,
including its internal divinities. It uses a poetic and secret language. It was to be recited to expel
calamities and ailments and to attain longevity and spiritual quietude. The scripture was considered
to be a visualization manual by Supreme Clarity adepts. It alludes to practices aiming to achieve
bodily and spiritual perfection in the nourishing life (yang-sheng 養生) tradition, which can be
traced back to the third century BCE. It probably had a mnemonic as well as technical role in helping
those who performed these practices, and is said to allow the practitioner to see the subtle forms of
his internal organs and his deities or spirits, and to maintain them in their proper bodily loci.
22. White Prime (Pai-yüan 白元) is the deity governing the lungs. Therefore it is believed that an adept
should visualize the White Prime when his respiration is not harmonious.
23. The six energies (liu-ch'i 六氣) are variously glossed as the six vapors of weather (yin and yang,
wind and rain, dark and light) or the six exhalations (hsü 噓, ho 呵 or hsü 呴, hu 呼, ssu 呬, ch'ui 吹,
and hsi 嘻). It is believed that if a practitioner quickly visualize color white – the color of the deity
of the lungs, the White Prime – when his breathing is not smooth, his six energies will be
harmonized.
3.1.2. Heart
1. The entire passage – including a part of the Scripture of the Yellow Court quotation – was adapted,
with slight modifications (or scribal errors), from the Treatise on Conserving Life by Waxing and
Waning (She-sheng Hsiao-hsi Lun 攝生消息論), chapter 5. This source has "lotus bud" (lien-jui
蓮蕊) for the "lotus flower" (lien-hua 蓮華). The similarity between the heart and lotus is another
indication of Buddhist influence on Taoism. Indian and Chinese physicians noted a morphological
resemblance between the lotus and the heart. The lotus is a very important metaphor in Buddhism;
the fact that the lotus has its roots in the mud of putrid ponds but develops into a beautiful and pure
white flower was primarily used to represent the process of enlightenment. The lotus was later
associated with the human heart (hridāya), the bodily location of the mind (citta) and the physical
site where enlightenment takes place. According to a theory that can be traced back to a commentary
to the Mahāvairocana Sūtra, the heart of sentient beings has the shape of an eight-petal lotus.
2. The heart has the shape of a lotus bud and is inhabited by a young boy, dressed in red, named Elixir
Origin (Tan-yüan 丹元), who regulates the body temperature and the harmonious flow of blood.
3. Shou-ling 守靈.
4. Turtledove's Tail (chiu-lu 鳩尾) is the xiphoid process, the cartilaginous section at the lower end of
the breastbone (sternum). It is also the name of an acupuncture point, the fifteenth point of the
Conception Vessel (CV 15). It is located on the anterior midline, 1 tsun 寸 below the xiphosternal
synchondrosis. This point is named the Turtledove's Tail because the lower end of the breastbone
resembles a turtledove with open wings.
5. According to Taoists, the degree of an individual's intelligence depends on the number of orifices in
his heart. While the heart in people of average wisdom has three orifices, it has five or seven orifices
in a person of outstanding wisdom and only one in fools. The basic point here seems to be that a man
of superior wisdom is better able to control the impulses of the body with the rational mind (heart).
Thus the most superior people have seven or nine orifices in their hearts to correspond to the seven
or nine orifices of the body, and each heart orifice provides a passageway through which the heart's
rational thinking capacity (spiritual light) can go out and control each external body orifice. (The
heart – not the brain – was thought to be the primary thinking organ.) A further detailed description
is to be found in a Taoist text dating from the T'ang (618-906 CE): "A person of outstanding wisdom
has a heart with seven orifices, one of average wisdom has five orifices, one of modest wisdom has
three orifices, one who barely reaches clarity has two. The heart of a normal person has one orifice,
whereas the heart of a completely dumb person has none." According to the Heart Scripture on
Original Life-Destiny and Extending Life of the Great Sagely Goddess Dipper Mother of the Most
High Mysterious Numinosity (T'ai-shang Hsüan-ling Tou-mu Ta-sheng Yüan-chün Pen-ming Yen-
sheng Hsin-ching 太上玄靈斗母大聖元君本命延生心經), the seven stars of the Big Dipper
correspond to the seven orifices on the surface of the heart and these orifices communicate internally
with the heart.
6. Reading kuan 官 ("officer") instead of kung chüeh 宮厥, which appears as kung ch'üeh 宮闕
("palace" or "palace portal") in the Treatise on Conserving Life by Waxing and Waning. Both kung
宮 and kung-ch'üeh 宮闕 means "palace", therefore, without the above mentioned emendation, the
sentence would translate as, "The tongue is the palace [of the heart]," or "The tongue is the palace
portal [of the heart]."
7. The opening corresponding to the heart (Fire phase) is the ear. Ping 丙 and ting 丁 are the third and
fourth of the Ten Celestial Stems.
8. Among the five fluids (or humors), sweat (han 汗) is the fluid that corresponds to the heart.
9. That is, there is excessive sweating not related to a hot environment or physical exertion.
10. The heart is a viscus and its associated receptacle is the small intestine.
11. According to five phases theory, both the heart and the small intestine correspond to the Fire phase,
therefore the text states that the heart is united with the small intestine.
12. HTNC 10, "Heart Department Section".
13. HTNC has "palace" (kung 宮) for "house" (tsai 宅). The heart is the palace of fire (huo-kung 火宮),
while the kidney is the palace of water (shui-kung 水宮).
14. Each of the five viscera and six receptacles is called a "department" or a "ministry" (pu 部) and is
managed by a deity who resides in a "palace" (kung 宮) within that organ.
15. Emending "flower" (hua 花) to "petal" (yeh 葉) in accordance with HTNC 10.
3.1.3. Liver
3.1.3a. Captions
1. Lordling (Kung-tzu 公子) is byname of the bodily deity Blossomless (Wu-ying 無英), who inhabits
the Palace of the Cavern Chamber (tung-fang kung 洞房宮) in the head and also descends into the
liver.
2. The liver is a yin organ (viscus, tsang 臟) while the gallbladder is its yang counterpart (receptacle, fu
腑).
3. Reading Kang 亢 instead of Yüan 元.
4. Horn (Chiao 角), Neck (Kang 亢), Base (Ti 氐), Room (Fang 房), Heart (Hsin 心), Tail (Wei 尾),
and Basket (Chi 箕) are the seven eastern lunar lodgings, the 1st to 7th of the Twenty-Eight
Constellations.
5. For the hun 魂, see page 28, note 2. For the three hun (san-hun 三魂), see page 31, note 6 below.
3.1.3b. Inscription
1. Green is the traditional symbol of spring and it corresponds to the liver in five phases system. The
deity of the liver has the shape of a Green Dragon, which transforms itself into a jade boy and
maiden, one of whom carries a dragon while the other holds a liqueur.
2. Han-ming 含明.
3. Emending shao 少 to hsiao 小.
4. According to the Classic of Medicine (Yi Ching 醫經), the liver has three petals (i.e., lobes) to the
left and four petals to the right.
5. The liver is a viscus (tsang 臟) and its corresponding receptacle (fu 腑) is the gallbladder.
6. During the Later Han period (25-220 CE), the number of the hun was fixed at three. Why this
number was chosen is a matter of speculation, but it may stand for the san-kang 三綱, the three
relationships between emperor and subject, father and son, and husband and wife, and the three
corresponding forms of obedience (san-shun 三順). Each of the three hun souls is related to heaven,
the five phases, and earth respectively. The first soul always strives for the purity of man, the second
always wishes him involved in manifold affairs, and the third produces his desire for comfortable
living. The three hun (san-hun 三魂) are called the Invigorating Numinosity (Shuang-ling 爽靈),
Radiance of Womb (T'ai-kuang 胎光), and Obscure Spirit (Yu-ching 幽精). They have a variety of
names: Heavenly Hun (t'ien-hun 天魂), Earthly Hun (ti-hun 地魂), Human Hun (jen-hun 人魂);
Master Hun (chu-hun 主魂), Awareness Hun (chüeh-hun 覺魂), Life Hun (sheng-hun 生魂);
Heavenly Hun (t'ien-hun 天魂), Conscious Hun (shih-hun 識魂), Human Hun (jen-hun 人魂); and
Primordial Spirit (yüan-shen 元神), Yang Spirit (yang-shen 陽神), and Yin Spirit (yin-shen 陰神). It
is believed that the three hun are housed in the liver, while the seven p'o are housed in the lungs.
7. Emending t'ai 台 to t'ai 胎.
8. Emending "palace" (kung 宮) to "officer" (kuan 官).
9. The liver has an anatomical relationship to the eyes via an internal channel, therefore the eye is the
sense organ connected to the liver. It is the nourishment and moistening of liver blood that gives the
eyes the capacity to see. If liver blood is abundant, the eyes will be normally moist and the vision
will be good. The Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Numinous Pivot (Huang-ti Nei-ching
Ling-shu 黄帝内經靈樞) 37 says: "The eye is the sense organ pertaining to the liver". The Inner
Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Basic Questions (Huang-ti Nei-ching Su-wen 黄帝内經素問)
4 says: "The liver corresponds to the direction east and the green color, and it opens into the eye".
The Basic Questions 10 says: "When the liver receives blood the eyes can see". The Numinous Pivot
17 says: "Liver ch'i extends to the eyes, when the liver is healthy the eyes can distinguish the five
colors".
10. Chia 甲 and i 乙 are the first and second of the Ten Celestial Stems.
11. The word "man" translates nan-tzu 男子 and is a specific reference to males.
12. The Basic Questions 1 says: "By seven [times] eight years, the liver ch'i weakens, causing the
sinews to stiffen."
13. The state of the sinews (including tendons) affects the capacity for movement and physical activity.
The contraction and relaxation of sinews ensures the movement of joints. The sinews' capacity for
contraction and relaxation depends on the nourishment and moistening of the blood from the liver.
The Basic Questions 21 says: "The ch'i of food enters the stomach, the refined essence extracted
from food goes to the liver and the excess ch'i from the liver overflows into the sinews". If liver
blood is abundant, the sinews will be moistened and nourished, ensuring smooth movement of joints
and good muscle action.
14. According to five phases theory, the liver corresponds to Wood.
15. The hun is the mental-spiritual aspect of the liver. The Basic Questions 9 says: "The liver is the
residence of the hun".
16. The ching of the kidneys nourishes the eyes and many chronic eye diseases are related to the decline
of kidney ching.
17. See note 5.
18. HTNC 11, "Liver Department Section".
19. Since the liver viscus houses the hun, which belongs to Wood, and the lung viscus stores the p'o,
which belongs to Metal, the hun and p'o are used here as metaphors for the Wood and Metal. When
the energies that correspond to the Wood and Metal are brought to equilibrium, the bodily fluids and
humors are balanced.
20. The eye is the sense organ connected to the liver. The sun symbolizes the left eye, while the moon
represents the right eye. When the liver is healthy the two eyes are radiant like the sun and the moon.
21. Literally, "a hundred diseases".
22. HTNC has o 痾, which is the variant of k'o 疴 used in the present text.
23. The verb translated here as "maintain" is tsun 存, often translated as "to visualize". It denotes
visualizing a bodily deity, in this case the deity of the liver.
24. The liver is where all kinds of diseases gather, therefore one must maintain (tsun 存) its deity, that is,
the Blossomless (Wu-ying 無英).
25. While the lungs govern the exterior of the entire body, the liver governs the interior of the entire
body. Together, the lungs and liver govern the movement of the ch'i of the entire body. The lungs
provide the motivating power, while the liver controls the lumena of the channels and vessels
through which the ch'i moves. Energies of all five viscera gather at the liver, therefore all diseases
can be cured by strengthening the liver. Since the deity of the liver governs the energies of all five
viscera, if the adept properly visualizes and preserves the Blossomless, within seven days the
energies of these internal organs will be restored and all kinds of diseases will be healed.
3.1.4. Spleen
1. The Scripture of the Yellow Court considers the spleen to be the central organ. While the four viscera
are associated with the four directions, the spleen is associated with the center. According to five
phases theory, the spleen also corresponds to the Earth phase.
2. According to one point of view within five phases theory, while the other four viscera should be
healthy and strong in their corresponding seasons, the spleen has no season of its own and therefore
should be effulgent or exuberant throughout the year, independent of the changes in seasons.
3. The spleen is associated with the Earth, therefore its color is yellow and its corresponding emperor is
the Yellow Emperor (Huang-ti 黄帝).
4. The deity of the spleen is a phoenix which transforms itself into a spinning jade maiden.
5. HTNC has "platter" (p'en 盆) for "wing" (i 翼): "The spleen resembles an upside-down platter."
6. According to five phases system, all of the four seasons depend on the Earth, which is effulgent
regardless of the season, therefore the deity of the spleen is called Eternal Existence (Ch'ang-tsai
常在).
7. Hun-t'ing 魂庭. In certain sources such as the Diagram of the Inner Channels, the given name of this
deity is Pavilion of Hun (Hun-t'ing 魂亭). According to Isabelle Robinet, this term is a deformation
of the term hun-ling 魂靈 seen in the Scripture of the Yellow Court (1993: 81).
8. The "foot" translates ch'ih 尺.
9. The mouth with the lips is the officer of the spleen.
11. The exact implication is not clear; hence the translation is tentative. In Buddhist scriptures there is a
hell named Much-Hate (To-chi 多嫉), however, this term does not seem to be related with the
present text.
12. "[P]osition" translates hsing 形. Being associated with the center, the spleen has no fixed position.
13. According to five phases theory, the spleen corresponds to the Earth phase.
14. The spleen rules the ch'i of the five viscera because the spleen is the later heaven (hou-t'ien 後天)
root of the engenderment and transformation of ch'i of the entire body.
15. According to five phases theory, the mouth corresponds to the spleen, and diseases of the former
may reflect disorders of the latter.
16. Hidden White (yin-pai 隱白) is the first point of the Spleen Meridian (SP 1). The point is in a hidden
region, where the skin color is white. It is located on the medial side of the big toe, about 0.1 tsun
posterior to the corner of the nail.
17. Pen-i 本意.
18. Among the five bodily tissues (wu-ch'ung 五充), the spleen corresponds to muscles and flesh.
19. Except the two sentences from the Scripture of the Yellow Court, the entire passage is taken (with
some variation) from the Eight Disquisitions on Putting Oneself in Accord with the Life[-Force]
(Tsun-sheng Pa-chien 遵生八牋). This is a large collection by distinguished scholar Kao Lien 高濂
(1573-1620), who lived in retirement and devoted himself to studying everything which could
promote the health of mind and body.
20. HTNC 15, "Length of the Spleen".
21. Literally, "a hundred diseases".
22. Emending liang 良 to "cloth" or "dress" (i 衣) in accordance with HTNC.
23. According to five phases theory, yellow is the color of the Earth and spleen. Purple is a hue
consisting of colors of Water (yin; blue) and Fire (yang; red). Fire is mother of spleen and Earth,
while Water is wife of spleen and Earth. Therefore the spleen has yellow gown and a purple belt.
24. A commentary to HTNC replaces "to regulate" (chang 章) with "to lift" (yang 揚). According to
traditional Chinese medicine, the Spleen Meridian flows upward; this ascending movement of the
spleen produces a "lifting" effect along the midline of the body. This force holds up the internal
organs and keeps them in their proper places. If spleen ch'i is deficient and its "raising ch'i" function
is weak, there may be prolapse of various organs. The dragon and tiger represent the lungs (Metal)
and liver (Wood) respectively. Therefore the "lifting" action of the spleen (Earth) is said to regulate
(or alternately, lift) the lungs and the liver.
3.1.5a. Captions
1. When combined, the two characters hsüan 玄 and p'in 牝 make up the word "Mysterious Female".
Hsüan-p'in is a well-known but enigmatic term first found in Tao-te Ching 6, and it is defined in
many different ways. Hsüan represents male (yang), while p'in literally means "female" (yin); thus
the term represents various sets of bipolar concepts such as the yang and yin, the Heaven and Earth,
and ch'ien 乾 and k'un 坤. In the context of internal alchemy, there have been several interpretations.
Some authors say that hsüan alludes to the nose (Heaven) and p'in to the mouth (Earth). Other texts
equate hsüan with the upper elixir field and p'in with the lower elixir field. Still others state that
hsüan-p'in designates the space between the two kidneys or the two openings of the heart. Here,
hsüan and p'in connote the left and right kidneys respectively.
2. In the Chinese medical literature, there are different theories regarding the kidneys and the Gate of
Life-Destiny. According to one theory, the left is the kidney (shen 腎) while the right is the Gate of
Life-Destiny (ming-men 命門). This theory specifies that the Gate of Life-Destiny is specifically the
right kidney, kidney yang or kidney fire. The first discussion of the Gate of Life-Destiny can be
found in the Classic of Difficult [Issues] (Nan-ching 難經), especially in chapters 36 and 39. Chapter
36 says: "The kidneys are not really two, as the left kidney is a kidney proper and the right kidney is
the Gate of Life-Destiny. The Gate of Life-Destiny is the residence of the mind and is related to the
original ch'i (yüan-ch'i 元氣): in men it stores ching, in women it is connected to the uterus. That is
why there is only one kidney". According to another theory, the two kidneys together are named the
Gate of Life-Destiny. In this interpretation, the Gate of Life-Destiny is the combination of kidney yin
and kidney yang. During the Ming dynasty, Chinese physicians no longer considered the Gate of
Life-Destiny as part of the right kidney, but as occupying the place between the two kidneys. Chang
Chieh-pin 張介賓 (1563-1640) said: "There are two kidneys … the Gate of Life-Destiny is in
between them."
3. The diagram contains several talismanic characters. Catherine Despeux suggests that the Hsiu-chen
T'u and similar diagrams not only served as visual supports for teaching, but also had a magical,
talismanic, or even exorcistic nature. Despeux notes that this character is shared with diagrams of
other kinds used in Taoism, and bears on the analogies that occur between diagrams and talismans
(fu 符). Thus the whole diagram is reminiscent of a talisman illustrating a divine body that connects
to the sacred world. The whole body of the adept is a talisman: it includes only one half of the
elements, its counterpart being in the heavenly world or the world of Reality (chen 眞). The
talismanic character written inside the top circle corresponds to shen, while the characters inside the
left and right circles correspond to ch'i and ching respectively. This point below the kidneys is where
the ching, ch'i and shen are gathered when refining elixirs. When the three energies are united into
one, they produce the pneuma of the true oneness (chen-i chih ch'i 眞一之炁), which emerge from
the Limitless (Wu-chi 無極). Therefore this point is called the place of true oneness (chen-i ch'u
眞一處) or One Yang Returning to Beginning (i-yang fu-ch'ui 一陽復初).
4. Silver River (Yin-ho 銀河) is Chinese name for the Milky Way.
5. In the Scripture of the Yellow Court, the Pivotal Mechanism (shu-chi 樞機) denotes the hinges of the
door-shutters that one should shut in order to protect the loci of one's inner body.
6. Way of Gushing Valley (yung-ku-tao 湧谷道) is the left testicle. In certain texts, Valley Way (ku-tao
谷道) designates the final section of the large intestine beginning at the rectum and terminating at
the anus.
7. Water of Fountain Valley (ch'üan-ku-shui 泉谷水) designates the right testicle.
8. Jade Furnace (yü-lu 玉爐) is another term for the kidneys. Its meaning here is not clear; however, its
location – between the left and right testicles – suggests that it is related with the testes, known in
Chinese medical literature as the "external kidneys" (wai-shen 外腎).
1. Although commonly translated as "kidney", the term shen 腎 actually designates the entire
urogenital system, including the kidneys and testes.
2. According to five phases theory, the kidneys correspond to the north.
3. The five phases system associates the kidneys with Water. They govern water and the transformation
and transportation of bodily fluids in many different ways.
4. In Chinese internal alchemy, the heart corresponds to trigram li 離, while the kidneys correspond to
k'an 坎.
5. The indwelling deity of the kidneys is a two-headed white deer which transforms itself into a jade
boy.
6. In five phases system, the kidneys correspond to the Mysterious Warrior of the North, therefore its
deity is called "Mysterious". The kidneys engender water and the mysterious water (hsüan-shui
玄水; presumably the urine) is dark in color, therefore the deity of the kidneys is named Mysterious
Dark (Hsüan-ming 玄冥).
7. The kidneys store ching, which is related to procreation, and govern birth and nourishment, therefore
the deity of the kidneys is called Nourishing the Infant (Yü-ying 育嬰).
8. Emending [月數]脊 to 腰脊.
9. Reading ming-men 命門 for ming 命. For various theories on the kidneys and the Gate of Life-
Destiny, see page 33, note 2.
10. Certain Taoist authors such as Ko Hung drew a distinction between the living pneuma (sheng-ch'i
生炁 or 生氣), produced from midnight till midday when the sun is in ascent, and dead pneuma (ssu-
ch'i 死炁 or 死氣), produced from noon to midnight.
12. The ears rely on the nourishment of the ching for their proper functioning, and are therefore
physiologically related to the kidneys. The Inner Scripture of the Yellow Emperor: The Numinous
Pivot 17 says: "The kidneys open into the ears, if the kidneys are healthy the ears can hear the five
sounds". If the kidneys are weak, hearing may be impaired.
13. Emending "emotion" or "feeling" (ch'ing 情) to ching 精. One of the main functions of the kidneys
is that they store both former and later heaven essences.
14. Emending che 者 to "will" (chih 志). Without these two emendations, the sentence reads, "The shen;
the kidneys' storing of its emotions (ch'ing 情) is …". The sentence appears to be garbled; the
translation is tentative.
15. Jen 壬 and kuei 癸 are the ninth and tenth of the Ten Celestial Stems.
16. Tzu 子 and hai 亥 are first and twelfth of the Twelve Horary Branches (shih-erh chih 十二支).
17. Ch'i 氣.
18. Ch'ui 吹 is one of the six exhalations (liu-ch'i 六氣).
19. The marrow is also the basis for the formation of bone marrow which nourishes the bones. Thus the
kidneys also govern the bone marrow and bones. If the kidney ching is strong, the bones will be
strong; if it is weak, the bones will be brittle.
20. Emending "upper" (shang 上) to "middle" (chung 中).
21. The kidneys belong to the lower section of the triple heater (san-chiao 三焦), which is sometimes
compared to a "drainage ditch". The organs of the lower heater (hsia-chiao 下焦) are particularly
concerned with the excretion of impure body fluids. The kidneys have the function of providing ch'i
for the bladder to store and transform urine.
22. HTNC 12, "Kidney Department Section".
23. The kidneys are the source of the nine bodily fluids and all the humors of the body's liquid element.
Therefore they are referred to as the Palace of Water (shui-kung 水宮), while the heart is called the
Palace of Fire (huo-kung 火宮).
24. Emending "pass" (kuan 関) to "portal" (ch'üeh 闕). The shape of the kidneys resemble a double
portal.
25. According to ancient Chinese thought, the bean-shaped kidneys resemble round stones or a reclining
ox.
26. The deity of the kidneys is a two-headed white deer which transforms itself into a jade boy (yü-t'ung
玉童).
27. Adding "obscurity" (ming 冥) in accordance with HTNC. (HTNC is composed in heptasyllabic lines
and the HCT sentence here has only six characters.) The "darkness" is associated with the color of
the kidneys. Upper Darkness (Shang-hsüan 上玄) actually denotes the heart and the deity of the
kidney is called Mysterious Obscurity (Hsüan-ming 玄冥).
28. HTNC has "six receptacles" (liu-fu 六腑) for the "six pneumas" (liu-ch'i 六炁).
29. HTNC has "nine fluids" (chiu-yeh 九液) for the "visceral fluids" (tsang-yeh 臟液). The nine bodily
fluids are the fluids of the nine cavities, or nine orifices (chiu-ch'iao 九竅), the seven yang cavities
(ch'i-ch'iao 七竅) of the head (the eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth) and the two yin cavities of the
abdomen.
30. See note 12.
31. Literally, "a hundred [bodily] fluids".
32. HTNC has yeh-chin 液津 for chin-yeh 津液. Since the kidneys govern water, they also govern the
transformation and transportation of all bodily fluids.
1. The Two Principles (liang-i 兩儀) are the two primary symbols representing yin and yang.
2. Chen-ching 眞精.
3. See page 33, note 1.
4. Emending hsiang 相 to ching 精.
5. True lead (chen-ch'ien 眞鉛) is the symbol of primordial energy and real knowledge.
6. "Chao-chou's Dog" (usually written as "Chao-chou Kou-tzu" 趙州狗子) is the name of a famous
Ch'an (Zen) kung-an (公案; Jap. kōan). More commonly known with its Japanese name as "Jōshū's
'Mu'", this is the first of the forty-eight "cases" of the famous 13th century kung-an anthology known
as The Gateless Barrier (Wu-men Kuan 無門關; Jap. Mumonkan): "A monk asked the master Chao-
chou [Jap. Jōshū], 'Has a dog the buddha nature or not?' [Chao-]chou answered, 'Not.'" (趙州和尚、
因僧問、｢狗子還有佛性也無｣。州云、｢無｣。)
7. T'ai-chi 太極.
8. Hsüan-shui hsiang-ch'ien 玄水郷鉛. The mysterious water, or mysterious liquid, is a synonym for
mercury. Lead (ch'ien 鉛) and mercury (hung 汞) are the two central substances, or symbols, in the
Chinese alchemy. Native lead represents yin containing true yang, and is matched by cinnabar,
which represents yang containing true yin. Native cinnabar and native lead respectively correspond
to li ☲ and k'an ☵, which represent yang and yin in their later heaven (hou-t'ien 後天) state. They
contain true mercury and true lead which respectively correspond to authentic yang (the inner yin
line of li) and authentic yin (the inner yang line of k'an).
9. The term translated "right ch'i" is cheng-ch'i 正氣. Also translated as "proper ch'i", "upright ch'i", or
"righteous ch'i", it is a collective designation for all normal functions of the human body and the
abilities to maintain health, including the abilities of self-regulation and adaptation. Both the vital
resources of the body's internal order and the agents of disorder opposed to them are made of ch'i;
they are dynamic agents of change. Right ch'i maintains and renews the orderly changes that
comprise the body's regular physiological processes. On the other hand, evil or malignant ch'i (hsieh-
ch'i 邪氣) causes transgressions that violate this normal order; it is disorderly and dysfunctional. It is
believed that when a person is righteous, he has right ch'i, or righteous ch'i, which the evil ch'i
cannot overcome. "Chilling life" translates su-sha 肅殺, which denotes chilling life or vegetation in
autumn.
10. River Chariot (ho-ch'e 河車) is another name for the Lesser Celestial Circuit (hsiao chou-t'ien
小周天) or microcosmic orbit, the circuit of energy that runs from the base of the spine up to the
head, down through the palate of the mouth, and back to the tailbone. Following the stages of Small
River Chariot (hsiao ho-ch'e 小河車) and Great River Chariot (ta ho-ch'e 大河車), the Purple River
Chariot, or Purple Waterwheel (tzu ho-ch'e 紫河車), is the third and last stage of the Three River
Chariots (san ho-ch'e 三河車) or Three Chariots (san-ch'e 三車). The Small River Chariot is used to
cultivate health, the Great River Chariot is used to cultivate longevity, and the Purple River Chariot
is used to cultivate immortality.
11. Shun 順 is variously translated as "normal flow", "going with", "going along", or "continuation";
here the term desinates a life without spiritual practice and resultant dissipation of the vital energies
which leads to sickness, old age, and eventually death. Paul U. Unschuld masterfully translates shun
as "to proceed in accordance with [the proper course]" (1986: 746). (Note that the term is used here
in the sense of "usual" rather than "proper", since this proper course is believed to lead humans to
sickness, old age, and death.) Opposite of the shun is ni 逆, which is translated as "turning back",
"turning against", "to go backward", "counter-current flow", "reversion", or "inversion". This
reversal of the so-called "normal" course leads to preservation and sublimation of the vital energies
and results in longevity and eventually immortality. The expression used in the text ("Shun tse sheng
jen, ni tse ch'eng-hsien." 順則生人逆則成仙) is reminiscent of Ch'en Chih-hsü's 陳致虚 famous
adage "Following the course of Nature leads to [the state of] ordinary men; going against it leads to
immortality." ("Shun tse fan, ni tse hsien." 順則凡逆則仙; Chin-tan Ta-yao 金丹大要, ch. 1, p.
47a).
12. In Chinese internal alchemy (nei-tan), the Governor Vessel (tu-mai 督脈) is also called the Rivulet
(ts'ao-hsi 漕溪).
13. Here, the Flowery Pond (hua-ch'ih 華池) designates the kidneys.
14. Jade Spring (yü-ch'üan 玉泉) denotes saliva.
1. Peach Vigor (T'ao-k'ang 桃康), also known as Peach Child (T'ao-hai 桃孩), is a deity who plays a
significant role in Mao-shan practices and is generally considered to be the deity of the lower elixir
field. However, according to a commentary to the Scripture of the Yellow Court, he resides in the
Gate of Life-Destiny (ming-men 命門).
2. Lord of Unity and Extension (Ho-yen Chün 合延君) is also described as the deity of the lower elixir
field.
3. Ting Lien-hua 頂蓮花.
4. According to Supreme Clarity (Shang-ch'ing 上清) cosmology, the Eight Heavens (Pa-t'ien 八天)
are one of the several sets of heavens and they are arranged horizontally.
3.2.1. Throat
1. Mysterious Breasts (hsüan-ying 玄膺) are two points in the palate, by which vital energy goes down
in the Conception Vessel in the Lesser Celestial Circuit (hsiao-chou-t'ien 小周天) practice.
2. Yen 咽.
3. Hou 喉.
4. Twelve-Storied Tower, or Twelve-Storied Pavilion (shih-erh-ch'ung lou 十二重樓), is another name
for the trachea, which is also known as the Twelve-Storied Tower (shih-erh-lou t'ai 十二樓臺) and
the Twelve Rings (shih-erh huan 十二環).
5. Emending "river ch'i" (ho-ch'i 河氣) to "pure ch'i" (ch'ing-ch'i 清氣).
3.2.2. Gallbladder
1. According to ancient Chinese medical classics, the liver has three petals (i.e., lobes) to the left and
four petals to the right. The gallbladder is located beneath the liver.
2. The gallbladder is traditionally associated with boldness, bravery and courage; it controls courage
and anger, or the violence of one's temper.
3. The deity of the gallbladder wears a robe made from ninefold colored brocade and a gown with a
green blossom pattern.
4. The gallbladder corresponds to yang and Wood. It also corresponds to the Green Dragon of the East.
Therefore it is named the Dragon Glory (Lung-yao 龍耀). Lung-yao can be also translated as
"Dragon Brightness".
5. Wei-ming 威明. This name can be also translated as "Mighty Brightness" or "Awe-Inspiring
Brightness".
6. Although the turtle-snake (kuei-she 龜蛇) is treated as a tortoise with the head and tail of a snake, it
is actually a snake coiling around a turtle. This deity is also referred to as the Mysterious Warrior
(Hsüan-wu 玄武), the guardian spirit of the north, whose element is Water and symbolic color is
black. The entwined turtle-snake transforms itself into a jade boy who holds a lance.
7. It is also said that the gallbladder takes the form of a suspended gourd. As large as an egg in size, it
is green outside and yellow inside.
8. Three ounces (san-liang 三兩) and three chu (san-chu 三銖). Chu was an ancient weight measure
equaling one-twenty-fourth of an ounce (liang), now one-forty-eighth of an ounce.
9. Liver is viscus (tsang 臓), or a yin organ, while the corresponding receptacle (fu 腑), or yang organ,
is the gallbladder.
10. The gallbladder is unique among the receptacles in that it does not receive or transport ingestate,
neither the clear nor turbid fractions. Instead it stores and excretes bile, a "pure" fluid, which has an
important role in digestion. Because of its yin function of storing a yin substance (bile), but also
having the shape of a hollow yang organ, the gallbladder is one of the six extraordinary yang organs,
and along with the womb and the brain, it is considered a curious and extraordinary receptacle (ch'i-
heng chih fu 奇恒之腑). These organs are all yang but have the additional yin attribute of storing a
yin essence. Since the gallbladder sums up and represents the six receptacles, it is often appended to
the list of the five viscera.
11. HTNC 14, "Gallbladder Department Section".
12. Emending kua 掛 to she 攝.
13. The eye is the sense organ connected to the liver and the gallbladder is the receptacle corresponding
to the liver. The Gallbladder Meridian originates at the Pupil Bone Hole point (T'ung-tzu Liao
瞳子髎; GB 1), which is located 0.5 tsun lateral to the outer corner of the eye, in the depression on
the lateral side of the orbit. This acupuncture point is located approximately at the level of middle of
the bridge of the nose, therefore it is believed that the gallbladder corresponds to the eyes and the
bridge of the nose on the outer part of the body.
14. The liver stores blood and the gallbladder stores essence. When the blood is abundant, the hair
becomes darker and shiny. When the essence is abundant, the brain is full and the head's hair –
which ancient texts often consider to be a direct outgrowth of the brain – becomes healthy and very
bright.
15. The deity of the gallbladder wears nine-colored brocade robes with a green flower skirt and a gold
belt.
4. Elixir Fields
1. Emending chiang 降 to chiang 絳.

2. Trigram li 離 is the I Ching sign that represents "fire".
3. The wu 午 is one of the twelve Chinese double-hours, it corresponds to the period between 11 AM
and 1 PM.
4. Southern Palace (nan-kung 南宮), also called the Vermilion Palace (chu-kung 朱宮), Vermilion
Mound (chu-ling 朱陵), or Fire Palace (huo-fu 火府), was the locale where the p'o of the dead were
refined for rebirth. Originally, the Southern Palace seems to have been associated with the seven
southern lunar lodgings – Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, and Carriage.
5. The chamber for refinement of the shen is the place of mutual conjunction of the hun and p'o.
6. The Young Girl (ch'a-nü 姹女) symbolizes the cavities and ch'i or fluids (yeh 液) of the heart. The
figure seated above the trigram li (☲) in the heart region is the Young Girl.
7. The expression "Blue-Eyed Foreign Child" (pi-yen hu-erh 碧眼胡兒) is reminiscent of the Chinese
Buddhist term "blue-eyed foreign monk" (pi-yen hu-seng 碧眼胡僧). The latter expression is a
standard name for Bodhidharma, the founder of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism; it appears in the Diagram of
the Inner Channels (Nei-ching T'u 内經圖).
8. When consciousness is withdrawn from the Crimson Palace, the individual's mental activity is
dominated by constant thoughts and worries. Needham writes that ssu-lü chih shen 思慮之神 means
"mental activity eaten up by anxiety and worry" (1983: 26). He also notes that "The primary ching
deteriorates into the seminal essence of sexual intercourse (chiao kan ching 交感精); the primary
chhi changes into respiratory pneuma (hu hsi chhi 呼吸氣); and the primary shen is 'sicklied o'er by
the pale cast of thought' (ssu lü shen). These three primary endowments being thus dribbled away, it
is exceedingly hard to regenerate the original innocence (thien chen 天眞)." (1983: 47, emphasis
added).
9. Hou-chiu-t'ien 後九天.
10. Among the five phases, the heart corresponds to Fire; when the heart is tranquil, the heart's deity
resides in the heart. On the contrary, when the heart/mind is full of anxiety and worries, the deity
leaves the heart. This latter state is referred to as the "dragon exiting from within the fire" (lung
ts'ung huo li ch'u 龍從火裏出).
1. True Tiger (chen-hu 眞虎) is true ch'i and true water (seminal secretion); it emerges from the palace
of k'an while the true dragon emerges from the palace of li.
2. Reading K'an-ti 坎地 instead of K'an 坎.
3. Variously translated as "infant", "child", "baby boy", "[male] baby", and "little baby", ying-erh 嬰兒
is associated with the kidneys or the kidney ching.
4. Fu-sang kung 扶桑宮. The fu-sang, or solar tree, is a mythical tree in the Eastern Sea, where the sun
was thought to rise.
5. Sea of Energy (ch'i-hai 氣海) is another name for the lower elixir field. It is also the name of the
sixth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 6). The acupuncture point is located on the midline of the
lower abdomen, 1.5 tsun inferior the umbilicus and 3.5 tsun superior to the pubic symphysis.
6. Door of the Feminine (p'in-hu 牝戸) is also a synonym for the vulva.
7. The lower, middle, and upper elixir fields are the seats of the three primary energies ching, ch'i, and
shen respectively. Therefore the lower elixir field is associated with the ching.
8. Life Stem (ming-ti 命蒂) is an alternate name for the eighth point of the Conception Vessel (CV 8),
more commonly known as Spirit Gate (shen-ch'üeh 神闕). It is located in the center of the navel and
is an important passage for the circulation of fetal ch'i and blood.
9. "[G]eneration and transformation" translates tsao-hua 造化, which is also translated as "creation" or
"creative mutation". The term is generally used as a synonym for the cosmos. Nature operates by
means of these creative mutations and the changes (pien 變) of yin and yang.
10. The word translated here as "creating" is tsao-hua 造化. See note 9 above.
11. Metal ching (chin-ching 金精), also translated as "metal essence", has various meanings. It
designates the ch'i of the essences pertaining to the Metal phase and the hexagram ch'ien 乾. In some
sources, it means the original ching (yüan-ching 元精). It is also another term for the kidneys. In
addition, in Taoist literature it is held to be a medicinal drug of the highest degree.
12. Hu hsiang shui-chung sheng 虎向水中生. The original ching (yüan-ching 元精) within the body is
called "tiger".
13. The yang inside trigram k'an stands for the firmness of the true sense of real knowledge, while the
yin inside trigram li stands for receptivity, and also for mundane conditioning. The One Yang
Returning to Beginning (i-yang fu-ch'ui 一陽復初) is the point where the extreme yin gives birth to
yang. The energy of the true yang, which is the foundation of life, emerges at this point. In the yearly
cycle, the one yang returning to beginning is the winter solstice (Tung-chih 冬至), the period when
the yang enery is engendered, while in the daily cycle it corresponds to the tzu 子 hour (11 PM - 1
AM).
14. Tzu 子 hour is the period between 11 PM and 1 AM.
15. Moon at the Bottom of the Sea (hai-te yüeh 海底月) is a metaphor for the tzu 子 hour. In the Lesser
Celestial Circuit (hsiao-chou-t'ien 小周天), the tzu hour corresponds to Gathering of Yin (hui-yin
會陰) energy center of the perineum, located at the bottom of the torso, hence the metaphor "bottom
of the sea".
16. Some sources suggest an emendation and read "Gate of Humanity" (jen-men 人門) instead of
"Human-Light" (jen-ming 人明). The men 門 and ming 明 are roughly homophonous.
17. Ch'u-sheng wo ken-chi 初生我根基. This is a tentative translation, as the ch'u-sheng wo 初生我 can
be also read as "new-born self" or "nascent self".
5. Three Passes
5.1. Upper Pass
1. Jade Pillow pass (yü-chen-kuan 玉枕關) derives its name from the ancient Chinese sleeping pillows,
which were hard. They were often made of ceramic variously shaped and decorated, while more
expensive ones were made from jade. The Jade Pillow is the area on the posterior part of the skull. It
is also the name of an associated acupuncture point located at the base of the skull, the ninth point of
the Bladder Meridian (BL 9). The point is located in the occipital region, in a depression 1.5 tsun
lateral to the superior aspect of the external occipital protruberance.
2. Yang-kung Yü-ching Shan 陽宮玉京山. In the Numinous Treasure (Ling-pao 靈寶) version of the
system of thirty-two heavens (san-shih-erh t'ien 三十二天), the Jade Capital (Yü-ching 玉京) is a
mountain towering above these heavens. It stands in the Great Canopy Heaven (Ta-lo T'ien 大羅天),
the residence of the Heavenly Worthy (T'ien-tsun 天尊) high above all other celestial realms.
Therefore the Jade Capital is a Taoist symbol for the supreme spiritual state.
3. Heavenly Pillar (t'ien-chu 天柱) is also the name of an acupunture point, the tenth point of the
Bladder Meridian (BL 10). It is located in the nuchal region, on the lateral border of the trapezius
muscle, 1.3 tsun lateral to GV 15 at the level between cervical vertebrae C1 and C2.
4. Reading t'ai 太 instead of mu 木.
5. Ta-ch'ui 大椎, the "great vertebra" (or "great hammer") is the fourteenth point of the Governor
Vessel (GV 14). It is located below the spinous process of the seventh cervical vertebra.
6. Some authors emend sui 遂 to ni 逆; with this emendation, the sentence reads, "Truly, it is the
upward pathway for moving backward and ascending to Heaven." "[M]oving backward" translates
ni-hsing 逆行; it denotes – along with other terms as "flowing backward" (ni-liu 逆流) – flow in a
direction opposite to the usual.
7. "[A]scending to Heaven" is a translation of shang t'ien 上•天, which can be also read "Ascending
Heaven" (Shang-t'ien 上天). Ascending Heaven is the highest tier of the Mount K'un-lun 崑崙, the
other two being Cool Wind (Liang-feng 涼風) and Hanging Garden (Hsüan-p'u 懸圃). It is believed
that those who ascend the three tiers attain immortality.
8. Inner Yellow Dragon (nei huang-lung 内黄龍) is deity of inner illumination (nei-chao 内照).
9. Emending li 例 to tao 倒.
10. The Hsiang River (Hsiang Chiang 湘江), more commonly known as Yangtze (Yang-tzu 揚子), is the
principal river in China. It rises in the Tibetan highlands and flows south and then east for 3,964
miles (6,380 km) through central China before it enters the East China Sea at Shang-hai. The "waters
of Hsiang River" designates the ching, which is associated with the water of k'an (k'an-shui 坎水).
This sentence indicates that the ching is redirected upward through the Governor Vessel.
11. The Jade Pillow is often regarded as the most difficult barrier to overcome, therefore it is also
referred to as Iron Wall (tieh-pi 鐵壁).
12. Emending "yin" to "yang". Yang spirit (yang-shen 陽神) is cultivated by uniting the three primordial
energies (ching, ch'i, and shen). Once the shen is sublimated with no further trace of yin, it is
thoroughly free from the workings of the discursive mind and permanently abides in absolute
tranquility.
13. True pneuma (chen-ch'i 眞炁; 眞氣) is vital energy which has been purified by the internal
alchemical process.
14. Magpie Bridge (ch'üeh-ch'iao 鵲橋), is the tongue which connects the Governor and Conception
vessels. See the explanation in note 16 below.
15. "Altair and Vega" is a translation of Niu-nü 牛女. The cowherd (niu-lang 牛郎) corresponds to the
Western star of Altair in the Aquila constellation, while the weaving girl (chih-nü 織女) corresponds
to the Western star of Vega in the Lyra constellation. According to early Chinese mythology, the
cowherd and weaving girl are lovers fated to meet only once a year. They are separated by the Sky
River (T'ien-ho 天河), which is the Chinese name for the Milky Way. (The Sky River corresponds to
the spinal column or Governor Vessel in the human body.) It is believed that a magpie bridge
(ch'üeh-ch'iao 鵲橋) is formed over the Milky Way on the annual meeting day of the cowherd and
weaving girl. This myth suggests the meeting of two things that should be united, but which
ordinarily remain separated. Meeting of the Altair and Vega stars (or the cowherd and weaving girl
by crossing a bridge built by magpies) on the seventh day of the seventh month symbolizes union of
bipolar entities such as the yin and yang, lead and mercury, or innate nature and sense/feelings (hsing
ch'ing 性情). The Magpie Bridge is a metaphor for the tongue, which connects the Governor and
Conception vessels when its tip is pressed against the upper palate.
16. Emending kuei 桂 to hsiang 相.
17. In this context, the infant (ying-erh 嬰兒) is synonymous with sacred embryo (sheng-t'ai 聖胎),
which has many names in Taoist literature, such as the immortal embryo (hsien-t'ai 仙胎), golden
embryo (chin-t'ai 金胎), and embryo of the Tao (Tao-t'ai 道胎). The infant is born of the union of
the cowherd (yang) and the weaving girl (yin), symbolized here by the Altair and Vega stars.
5.2. Middle Pass
1. Chia-chi 夾脊 ("Spinal Handle") can be also translated as "Narrow Ridge". It is the second pass,
located in the middle of the spinal column where it joins the ribs at chest level (at the shoulder
blades). The two characters chia and chi are also found in Chuang-tzu 30 "On Swords" (Shuo Chien
説劍), where they are separately employed to describe the sword of the Son of Heaven that "pierces
the floating clouds above and penetrates the weft of the earth below": "The mountains of Ch'i 齊 are
its edge. Chin and Wei are its back (chi 脊). Chou and Sung are its hilt. Han and Wei are its sheath
(chia 夾)." (齊岱爲鍔、晉衛爲脊、周宋爲鐔、韓魏爲夾。). Expanding on the image of the
celestial sword, this pass is qualified as "dual" (shuang-kuan 雙關) as it is not only physically
inserted between Earth (yin, lead) and Heaven (yang, mercury). Some texts therefore emphasize that
it is located exactly in the middle of the twenty-four vertebrae. From this center, the energy can
ascend or descend, climbing to Heaven or plunging again into the abysses.
2. "Divine immortality" translates shen-hsien 神仙, which is also translated as "spirit immortality". The
divine immortality is the highest category of immortality.
3. The Kao-huang 膏肓 is the forty-third point of the Bladder Meridian (BL 43). It is located on the
upper back, three tsun lateral to the lower border of the spinous process of the fourth thoracic
vertebra (T4), at the level of BL 14. Kao-huang also designates the region between the heart and the
diaphragm, known as the cardiodiaphragmatic interspace.
4. Windlass (lu-lu 轆轤) is another name for the Spinal Handle.
5. Omitting hsüeh 血.
6. Heavenly Pillar (t'ien-chu 天柱) is another name for the upper pass. See page 39, note 3.
7. Nei shuang-lin 内雙林.
8. Wai shuang-lin 外雙林.
9. Emending chuang 状 to fu 伏.
10. Gushing Spring (yung-ch'üan 湧泉) is the first point of the Kidney Meridian (KI 1). See page 24,
note 40.
11. Emending chiang 降 to chiang 絳.

12. Here, the Flowery Pond (hua-ch'ih 華池) designates the kidneys.
13. The Flowery Canopy (hua-kai 華蓋) designates the rib cage or upper chest, heart region, the area
below the two eyebrows, or the lungs. Its meaning in this passage is not clear.
14. Emending ti 帝 to homophonous ti 蒂. See page 38, note 8.
5.3. Lower Pass
1. The Gate of Tail (wei-lü 尾閭) is variously translated as "caudal funnel", "terminal exit", and
"maelstrom". It is the first pass, at the level of the coccyx. The term wei-lü refers to a mythical place
mentioned in Chuang-tzu 17, an orifice in the Eastern Ocean where water endlessly leaks away
without ever being exhausted. In the human body, this place is located in the "aquatic region" of the
hip basin that forms the base of the trunk. It represents the pivot of energy presided over by the
kidneys, which is the sanctuary of the ching and organs of water. According to some texts, the Gate
of Tail is located at the level of the third vertebra above the coccyx and is called by various names
such as Long and Powerful (ch'ang-ch'iang 長強), Three-Forked Road (san-ch'a lu 三岔路), or Path
of the River Chariot (ho-ch'e lu 河車路).
2. A reference to the lower nine cavities (hsia chiu-ch'iao 下九竅); the seven yang cavities, and two
yin cavities of the lower body, that is, the genitals and the anus.
3. Chiu-t'ou shih-tzu 九頭獅子. It is also name of a plant, the Japanese peristrophe (Peristrophes
Japonicae).
4. The term "Prince Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum" (t'ai-tzu she chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-ko
太子射九重鐵鼓) has its origins in an Indian legend about young prince Gautama Buddha engaging
in an archery tournament. According to this story, in a test of archery Ananda set up an iron drum,
eight miles distant, for a target; another set up one at a distance of sixteen and another at twenty-four
miles, while the father of Yasodhara set up another at a still greater distance, and by this drum stood
seven palm trees, and beyond them was a demon made of iron. After the others had tried their skill,
young Gautama adjusted his arrow and his shaft passed through all of the iron drums, tearing also
through the seven trees and the iron demon, and then buried itself in the ground. Chinese sources
refer to this incident as "one arrow shot and pierced nine-layered iron drum" ("i-chien she ch'uan
chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-ko" 一箭射穿九重鐵鼓). Commenting on this account, some Taoist authors write
that the above mentioned "arrow" denotes true ch'i (chen-ch'i 眞氣), while "shooting" designates a
method in which the shen and ch'i are circulated together. They also say that the words "nine-
layered" is a reference to the nine cavities (chiu-ch'iao 九竅) which designate, in this context, the
cavities of the three passes. Each pass has three cavities: in the middle and on the left and right sides.
The ancients called the cavities on left and right the "white vessel with double strips" (liang-t'iao
pai-mai 兩條白脈); they were also called the "two roads in red and yellow" (ch'ih-huang erh-tao
赤黄二道). These are the roads upon which the sun and the moon revolve. Thus, the three passes
have nine cavities, or rooms (fang 房), in total. When opening the three passes, the energy must flow
through the cavity in the middle; if it runs into one of the cavities at the sides, one cannot attain the
Tao. The Chart of the Inner Landscapes of the Selected Sayings on the Nine Stages (Chiu-hsü Che-
yen Nei-ching T'u 九序摘言内景圖), written by Ming philosopher Lin Chao-en 林兆恩 (1517-1598)
who expounded a system ultimately based on Neo-Confucianism but closely related to internal
alchemy, mentions the expression "she chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-ko" in a passage describing phases of
alchemical transformation: "The technique of the Three Islands of P'eng-lai is sometimes called the
cavity of the coccyx; it is also called the Palace of Yama (the Underworld). The Taoists state: the
external nine cavities are also called the Valley Way. The Buddhists state: Shoot arrows at the nine-
layered iron drum." The term in question here was also the name of a Taoist healing method. In his
Perfected Man Ch'ung-yang's Instructions on the Golden Gate and Jade Chain (Ch'ung-yang Chen-
jen Chin-kuan Yü-suo Chüeh 重陽眞人金關玉鎖訣), Wang Ch'ung-yang 王重陽 (1112-1170)
mentions the name of the "Method of Shooting the Nine-Layered Iron Drum" (she chiu-ch'ung t'ieh-
ko chih fa 射九重鐵鼓之法), in a passage where he enumerates various methods for curing diseases.
5. It is described as a yin pass because, in general, the lower part of the body is regarded as yin.
6. Reading pi 閉 instead of kuan 関.
7. See page 24, section 2.1.2a, note 1.
8. "[A]scending to Heaven" translates shang t'ien 上•天, which can be also rendered as "Highest
Heaven" or "Ascending Heaven" (Shang-t'ien 上天). Ascending Heaven is the highest tier of the
Mount K'un-lun 崑崙; its other two tiers are Cool Wind (Liang-feng 涼風) and Hanging Garden
(Hsüan-p'u 懸圃). Taoists believed that those who ascend the three tiers attain deathlessness.
9. Earth Pivot (ti-chou 地軸) is the name of a deity. The term ti-chou is also a synonym for the valley
way (ku-tao 谷道), the final section of the large intestine between the rectum and anus.
10. Chao-t'ien ling 朝天嶺.
11. San-ch'a (ku) 三叉(骨), emending yu 又 to ch'a 叉.
12. In certain internal alchemical operations, the true ch'i (chen-ch'i 眞氣) – generated by combining
lead and mercury – is sent from the lower elixir field, through the spine, into the upper elixir field.
This process is known as "ejecting the golden sparks from behind the navel" (ch'i-hou fei chin-ching
臍後飛金晶). The Golden Cauldron (chin-ting 金鼎) is a cauldron (i.e., an energy center) in the
kidneys where the refinement of these golden sparks (chin-ching 金晶) take place. Certain Taoist
texts also mention a Purple-Gold Cauldron (tzu-chin-ting 紫金鼎), which is presumably an
equivalent of the Golden Cauldron. The Purple-Gold Cauldron is located between the kidneys,
where the sacred embryo is generated. This point is also known as the "place of emergence of the
true" (chen-ch'u-ch'u 眞出處).
13. The three paths are jade furnace (yü-lu 玉爐; a reference to the kidneys, or perhaps to the external
kidneys, i.e., the testicles), internal kidneys (nei-shen 内腎; i.e., the kidneys), and the Spinal Handle.
14. Emending i 沂 to t'ung 通.
16. Gate of Crown (ting-men 頂門) denotes the aperture at the center of the top of the head by which
yang spirit (yang-shen 陽神) leaves the body. This location is the apex of consciousness, through
which one passes into enlightenment. It is also known as heavenly gate (t'ien-men 天門).
17. The Capital of Hell (Feng-tu 酆都) is the demonic netherworld.
6.1. North (Li)
1. South Prosperity (Nan-ch'ang 南昌) is the name of a constellation.

2. Emending lo 絡 to chiang 絳.
3. Root of Heaven (t'ien-ken 天根) is an alchemical term for the movement of energy emerging from
stillness. It also designates the point of shift from passivity to activity.
4. Verb "consolidate" translates ku 固, which means "to harden", "to become solid", "to solidify", or "to
consolidate". The five energies (wu-ch'i 五氣) are the true energies represented by the five phases.
When they are correctly aligned, they congeal into one. When the body (shen 身) is immovable, the
ching is stable and the Water returns to the origin (ch'ao-yüan 朝元). When the mind (hsin 心) is
immovable, the breath (ch'i 氣) is stable and the Fire returns to the origin. When the true nature
(chen-hsing 眞性) is tranquil, the hun 魂 is stored (tsang 藏) and the Wood returns to the origin.
When emotions (ch'ing 情) are forgotten, the p'o 魄 is subdued (fu 伏) and the Metal returns to the
origin. When the four greats (shih-ta 四大; i.e., the four physical elements) are in harmony, the
intent (i 意) is stable (ting 定) and the Earth returns to the origin. When these five forces are in their
proper places and at peace, they revert to their reality, which is the source of spirituality. This is
known as the five energies returning to the origin (wu-ch'i kuei-yüan 五氣歸元), a state of mental
and physical collection, used to recover the original energy. It is described as "The body unmoving,
the mind unstirring, the nature tranquil, feelings forgotten, the physical elements in harmony." It is
also said to be practiced by not using the external senses.
5. "Pneuma" translates ch'i 炁, which is often used in the HCT as a synonym of ch'i 氣. The three
primary energies ching, ch'i, and shen correspond to the lower, middle, and upper elixir fields
respectively. North (here representing the heart and the middle elixir field) is the seat of ch'i. The
figure seated above the trigram li (☲) is the Young Girl (ch'a-nü 姹女). The Young Girl in the north
is paired with the Infant (ying-erh 嬰兒) in the south. Here, the Infant represents kidney ching, not
the sacred embryo.
6. Chi 己 is the sixth of the Ten Celestial Stems. The expression "approaching chi 己" (chiu chi 就己)
found in the north (li) appears to be paired with "flowing to wu" (liu wu 流戊) in the south (k'an) to
make up the expression "flowing to wu and approaching chi 己" (liu wu chiu chi 流戊就己).
7. Fire Palace on the Vermilion Mound (chu-ling huo-fu 朱陵火府) denotes the heart. The Vermilion
Mound, also called the Vermilion Palace (chu-kung 朱宮), Southern Palace (nan-kung 南宮), and
Southern Glory (nan-ch'ang 南昌), is the locale where the p'o of the dead were refined for rebirth.
Originally, the Vermilion Mound seems to have been associated with the seven southern lunar
lodgings – Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, and Carriage.
6.2. South (K'an)
1. Dipper (Tou 斗), Ox(-Boy) (Niu 牛), Maiden (Nü 女), and Void (Hsü 虚) are the 8th to 11th of the
Twenty-Eight Constellations. They are the first four of the seven northern lunar lodgings represented
by the Mysterious Warrior (Hsüan-wu 玄武). See Appendix D, The Twenty-Eight Constellations.
2. Wu 戊 is the fifth of the Ten Celestial Stems. The expression "flowing to wu" (liu wu 流戊) found in
the south (k'an) appears to be paired with "approaching chi 己" (chiu chi 就己) in the north (li) to
make up the expression "flowing to wu and approaching chi 己" (liu wu chiu chi 流戊就己).
4. Trigram k'an 坎 (☵) corresponds to south in the later heaven (hou-t'ien 後天) arrangement of the
eight trigrams (pa-kua 八卦). The figure standing above the k'an is the Infant (ying-erh 嬰兒). The
Infant in the south is paired with the Young Girl (ch'a-nü 姹女) in the north. Here, the Infant
represents kidney ching, not the sacred embryo.
5. Chi 己 is the sixth of the Ten Celestial Stems. When paired, wu and chi (wu-chi 戊己) represent
Earth, one of the five phases.
6. "[L]ower elixir" (hsia-tan 下丹) is an abbreviation of the "lower elixir field".
7. Sha-ch'i 煞炁 (more commonly written 煞氣) means "noxious (or ferocious) energy" as well as
"ferocious mien".
8. The Mysterious Warrior (Hsüan-wu 玄武), represented as an entwined turtle-snake, is the guardian
deity of the north.
9. Rooftop (Wei 危), House (Shih 室), and Wall (Pi 壁) are the 12th to 14th of the Twenty-Eight
Constellations. They are the last three of the seven northern lunar lodgings.
10. "Ni tse sheng, shun tse fan." (逆則聖順則凡). See page 36, note 11.
6.3. East (Chen)
1. Emending trigram li 離 (☲) on the left of the figure to chen 震 (☳). The trigram chen corresponds
to the east in the later heaven arrangement of the eight trigrams.
2. According to five phases system, direction east and cyclical sign chia 甲 (the first of the Ten
Celestial Stems) correspond to Wood phase.
3. Reading kua 卦 for feng 封.
4. "[I]nnate nature" translates hsing 性, which is a term that stands in contrast to another term, ch'ing
情 ("emotion"). The former consists entirely of inborn characteristics or potentials that may be
developed but that are only slightly, if at all, subject to modification. Ch'ing, on the other hand, is
more comprehensive, includes the emotions, and generally can be said to be that nature which can be
shaped or modified by training or environment. In other words, to eat is hsing; to be a glutton is
ch'ing.
5. The direction east is associated with fire shen, while the west is associated with water ching (water
essence).
6.4. West (Tui)
1. Trigram tui 兌 (☱) corresponds to the west in the later heaven arrangement of the eight trigrams.
2. Hsi-shan pai-hu 西山白虎. The indwelling deity of the lungs is the White Tiger of the West who
changes into a boy holding a jade baton in his hand.
Notes to Pages 19-20 (98)
4. "[E]motions" translates ch'ing 情 , which denotes "emotions" and "feelings". The term also
designates desires. For the bipolar relationship between the emotions and innate nature, see page 43
section 6.3, note 4.
5. The direction west is associated with water ching (shui-ching 水精; water essence), while the east is
associated with fire shen. The following passage from the Random Notes While Reading Medicine
(Tu-i Sui-pi 讀醫隨筆, 1898) of Chou Hsüeh-hai 周學海 (1856-1906) explains the water ching:
"The meaning of 'water essence' is the essential ch'i of water, which refers to the lungs and the fluid
pathways, not to the urinary bladder. Lungs receive essence from the spleen, and distribute it; but
when that which is left over from the absorption of essence [by the spleen] returns to travel along the
triple heater (san-chiao 三焦), it is distributed along the way [rather than stored as ching] and thus it
is not, in the end, called ching (essence), but is still called 'water essence' (shui-ching). … The water
essence moves from the channels of the five viscera to circulate around the entire body".
1. The Yellow Court (huang-t'ing 黄庭) is one of the most important places in the body. Yellow is the
color of the center and a court is the central place around which buildings are arranged. It is
generally thought to be located in the center of the abdomen, where the elixir is formed or the sacred
embryo is generated. It is variously described as the middle elixir field, the solar plexus, the spleen
or a region near the spleen. However, as with the elixir fields, there is a Yellow Court for each of the
three major divisions of the body – one within the head, one within the spleen (or the heart according
to other interpretations), and another within the lower elixir field.
2. The Center (chung 中) is an energy center located in the middle of the body, in the region of the
solar plexus. The term denotes one's core, implying the "inner essence", "one's own nature", "the
inner path", or "the path of truth".
3. Tao-kuei 刀圭 is variously translated as "knife, and jade-symbol", "jade knife", "knife-point",
"speck", or "a pinch of elixir". Tao 刀 means "knife", and kuei 圭 is an elongated and pointed tablet
made from jade, used by ancient Chinese rulers on ceremonial occasions. Thus, the jade knife
originally designated a jade ritual implement. Ancient Chinese pharmacists used the pointed tip of
this tool for measuring the amount of powders, therefore tao-kuei denotes a minute quantity of
powdered medicinal substance. T'ao Hung-ching 陶弘景 (456-536) fixed its value in "one-tenth of
an inch-square spatula", which is approximately 0.27 ml. Tao-kuei also designates drugs used in
concocting elixirs. In the present context, tao-kuei symbolize the elixir of the highest category,
which is gathered and cultivated in the Yellow Court.
4. Trigram ch'ien 乾 (three solid lines) has two meanings in alchemy: it represents not only yang in the
yin-yang pair but also pure yang (ch'un-yang 純陽), the neutral state of oneness that comes before
the division into yin and yang. In the present text, ch'ien represents the elixir incorporating the
qualities of pure yang energy, which is deemed to be entirely devoid of yin and therefore is not
subject to any decay.
5. Earthen Crucible (t'u-fu 土釜) is a synonym for the Yellow Court.
6. These seven talismanic characters are found in the Perfect Scripture on Extending Life through the
Northern Dipper and Original Destiny [Star] of the Most High Mysterious Numinosity (T'ai-shang
Hsüan-ling Pei-tou Pen-ming Yen-sheng Chen-ching 太上玄靈北斗本命延生眞經 ). They
correspond to the seven stars of the Northern Dipper (Pei-tou 北斗). They are known as k'uei 魁,
shao [鬼勾], huan [鬼雚], hsing 䰢, pi 魓, fu [鬼甫], and p'iao 魒. Their names are recited at the end
of the "Incantation of the Northern Dipper" (Pei-tou chou 北斗咒) found in the above mentioned
scripture. For the relationship between the body and the talismans, see page 34, section 3.1.5a, note
3.
7. Extraordinary Vessels
1. The eight extraordinary vessels (chi-ching pa-mai 奇經八脈), are the Governor Vessel (tu-mai
督脈), Conception Vessel (ren-mai 任脈), Thoroughfare Vessel (ch'ung-mai 衝脈), Belt Vessel (tai-
mai 帶脈), Yin Heel Vessel (yin-chiao-mai 陰蹻脈), Yang Heel Vessel (yang-chiao-mai 陽蹻脈),
Yin Link Vessel (yin-wei-mai 陰維脈), and Yang Link Vessel (yang-wei-mai 陽維脈). Only five of
the eight extraordinary vessels are included in the HCT.
2. Yang Heel Vessel (yang-chiao-mai 陽蹻脈) is one of the eight extraordinary vessels which
originates from the lateral side of the heel, running upward along the outer ankle, the lateral side of
the lower limb, through the abdomen, chest, shoulder and cheek, terminating at the back of the neck.
3. The Conception Vessel (jen-mai 任脈) is a channel located in front of the body, extending from the
brain to the base of the penis.
4. Emending to 蹻. The Yin Heel Vessel (yin-chiao-mai 陰蹻脈) is one of the eight extraordinary
vessels which originates from the medial side of the heel, running upward along the medial side of
the lower limb, through the front external genitalia, the abdomen, chest, neck, either side of the nose
and terminating in the eye.
5. Yin Transport Vessel (yin-yu-mai 陰腧脈) is located in the inner sides of both arms; it links the
centers of the palms with the chest.
8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods
1. The twenty-four seasonal periods, or twenty-four solar terms (erh-shih-ssu chieh-ch'i 二十四節氣;
literally, twenty-four nodal energies), are the divisions of the Chinese agricultural year. The tropical
year was divided into twelve equal periods, ch'i 氣, defined by 30 degrees of solar motion along the
ecliptic. They were subdivided into twelve mid-point ch'i (chung-ch'i 中氣) and twelve nodal ch'i
(chieh-ch'i 節氣), making a total of twenty-four seasonal periods nominally of 15 days but on
average 15.219 days each. These periods were in effect a series of sub-seasons that defined an
agrarian solar calendar for everyday use. In practice the seasonal periods were counted in whole
days, with extra days inserted as necessary to account for accumulated fractional days. The twenty-
four effulgences (or lights; ching 景) of the body are both deities and luminescent points, and are
also arranged into three sets of eight. These twenty-four effulgences are related to the above
mentioned twenty-four energy nodes (chieh-ch'i), each of which presides on fifteen days.
1. The character ch'u 初 is added to first ten days of each month; that is, ch'u-i 初一, ch'u-erh 初二,
and ch'u-san 初三 are the first, second, and third days of lunar month respectively.
2. When the sun-earth-moon angle is 90 degrees, this is called "crescent moon" (hsien 弦). The first
quarter of the moon, or the new moon, is called "upper crescent moon" (shang-hsien 上弦), while
the last quarter of the moon, the crescent after full moon, is called "lower crescent moon" (hsia-hsien
下弦).
3. Wang 望 is the day of full moon, the fifteenth day of a Chinese lunar month.
4. This is the lower crescent moon (hsia-hsien 下弦), the crescent after full moon.
5. Hui 晦 is the end of a cycle of moon, the last day of a Chinese lunar month.
Chinese Text
As far as the existing fonts permit, the characters are shown exactly as they appear in the original diagram. Characters that
are not found in Chinese fonts are indicated by two or three characters enclosed in square brackets. (Example: [鬼斗] = 魁)
Emended characters are indicated by gray color. The line structure in the original diagram is preserved.
1. Introduction
人之一身有三百六十骨節八萬四千毛孔後有三關尾閭夾脊玉枕也
尾閭在夾脊之下盡頭處關可通内腎之竅從此關起一條髓路號曰漕
溪又名黄河乃陽升之路直至兩腎對處為夾脊又上至腦為玉枕此三
關也前有三田泥丸土釜玉池是也泥丸為上丹田方圓一寸二分虚開
一竅乃藏神之所眉心入内正中之處天門入内一寸為明堂再入一寸
為洞房再入一寸為泥丸眉心之下謂之鼻柱又名雷霆府金橋下至口
中有兩竅通喉謂之鵲橋喉是頸骨乃内外之氣所由出入者也後有軟
喉謂之咽乃接飲食通腸胃者也其喉有十二節號曰重樓直下肺竅以
至於心心上有骨名為鳩尾心下有穴名曰絳宮乃龍虎交會之處直下
三寸六分名曰土釜黄庭穴也乃中丹田左有明堂右有洞房無英居左
肝也白元居右肺也亦空一寸二分乃藏氣之所煉氣之鼎直下至臍三
寸六分故曰天上三十六地下三十六自天至地八萬四千里自心至腎
有八寸四分天心三寸六分地腎三寸六分中有丹田一寸二分非八寸
四分而何臍門號曰生門有七竅通於外腎乃精神漏洩之竅名曰偃月
爐即任脉下有九竅即地獄酆都是也又曰氣海稍下一寸三分曰玉池
又曰下丹田乃藏精之所採藥之處左明堂右洞房亦空一穴方圓一寸
三分此處有二竅通於内腎腎中有竅通於尾閭由尾閭通兩腎堂
以至膝下三里穴再下至湧泉
穴此人身相通之關竅也
高真至真太真虗真仙真玄真上真神真天真
腦有九辨
房有一寸
不滅之道
存想泥
九九真
泥丸宮
元命真人
玉帝宮玄穹
之服皆象炁色飛輕
2.1.2. Head
2.1.2a. Captions
醍醐
樓頭鼓
泥丸玄母靈天寶神紫微太乙九霄天庭現珠
神光
明堂天目九霄雷府
喉為輔舌為弼
一神專告七王
奉事斗為舌之母
人中
承漿
督脉
2.1.2b. Inscription
天有九宮地有九州人下丹田有九竅以象地之九州泥
有九穴以按天上九宮腦骨八片以應八方一名彌羅天
玉帝宮又名純陽天宮中空一穴名玄穹主又名元神宮
有舌舌内有金鎖關與舌相對人名鵲橋鼻下人中穴與
關相對其間有督脉乃是人之根本名上九竅一名性根
玉泉又號華池舌下有四竅二竅通心為液兩竅通腎為
我神室泥丸九竅乃天皇之宮中間一穴形如雞子状似
崑崙是也釋曰須彌山修真之子不可不知也
2.2.1. Umbilicus
臍為左門
太乙神君居之
主人性命
司一身一萬二
千精也
生門
銅柱地獄
火車地獄
金剛地獄
普掠地獄
溟冷地獄
屠割地獄
風雷地獄
鑊湯地獄
無間地獄
機関之竅引仙之門
槖籥
送仙生門
北極降魔慧劍所
愚人以此殺身聖人以此飛形
湧泉穴湧泉
三里穴三里穴
3. Internal Organs
3.1.1. Lungs
3.1.1a. Captions
奎婁
七魄藏肺
井鬼天罡柳星張翼軫
白元尊居之
胃昴畢觜参
3.1.1b. Inscription
肺神形如白虎象如懸磬居五臟之上對胞若覆蓋
故為華蓋神名皓華字虚成重三斤三
兩六葉兩耳總計八葉肺為脾子為腎母内藏
七魄如嬰兒名曰尸狗伏屍雀隂呑賺非生母除
穢羣臭乃七名也鼻為之官左為庚右為辛在
炁為咳在液為涕在形為皮毛也上通炁至腦
下通炁至脾中是以諸炁属肺肺為呼吸之根黄
庭云喘息呼吸依不快急存白元和六氣
3.1.2. Heart
心神形如朱雀象如倒懸蓮
華能變水為血也神名丹元
字守靈重十二兩對鳩尾下
一寸色如縞映絳中有七孔
三毛上智之人心孔通明中智
之人五孔心穴通炁下智無孔
炁明不通心為肝子為脾母舌為
之宮厥竅通耳左耳為丙右耳為丁
液為汗腎邪入心則汗溢其味甘小
腸為之腑與心合黄庭経曰心部之
宅蓮含花下有童子丹元家童子即
心神也心下為絳宮
3.1.3. Liver
3.1.3a. Captions
無英公子居之
中地胆
角元
氐房心尾箕
三魂藏肝
3.1.3b. Inscription
肝神形如青龍象字含明象如懸匏少近心左三葉右四葉胆附短
葉下重四斤四兩為心母為腎子肝中有三魂名曰爽靈台光幽精
目為之宮左目為甲右目為乙男子至六十肝炁衰肝
葉薄膽漸減目即昏在形為筋肝脉合於木魂
之臟也於液為淚腎邪入肝故多淚膽為肝
之腑膽與肝合也黄庭経云和制魂魄津
液平外應眼目日月精百疴所鍾存無英
用同七日自充盈
3.1.4. Spleen
脾属中央土旺於四季
為黄帝神形如鳳象
如覆翼名常在字魂庭正掩臍上横於胃坤之炁
土之精也居心下三寸重一斤二兩濶三寸長一尺
脾為心子為肺母外通眉口為之宮其神多嫉脾
無定形主土隂也故脾為五臟之樞開竅於口在
形為頰脾脉出於隠白乃肉之本意處也黄庭経云治
人百病消谷糧黄良紫帯龍虎章
3.1.5a. Captions
左玄腎門
右牝命門
銀河
樞機
瓊池
琉池
湧谷道
泉谷水
玉爐
腎屬北方水於卦屬坎形似玄鹿兩頭名玄冥字育嬰象如卵
石子生對臍墜[月數]脊重二斤一兩主分水氣灌注一身如樹之
有根左曰腎右曰命生炁之府死炁之門如守之則存用之則
竭為肝母為肺子耳為之宮天之生我流氣而變謂之精精氣
往來為之神神者腎藏其情者左属壬右属癸在辰為子亥在
氣為吹在液為唾在形為骨経於上焦榮於上焦衛於下焦黄
庭云腎部之宮玄関圓中有童子上玄主諸六炁臟液源外
應兩耳百津液
内腎者兩儀也中間有連環是
我真精内藏赤白二炁在母腹中未有此身
先有此穴因有此穴始生此身左為玄陽
右為牝隂中穴實我後天之相海又為真鉛佛
名趙州狗儒名太極道云玄水郷鉛乃北方肅殺
正氣紫河車順則生人逆則成仙一名漕溪一名祖
宮通上下二眼降華池在舌
内出名玉泉
桃康
合延君頂蓮花
冠衣朱衣如真人状住
腎宮有碧紫黄白綠青
赤蒼之炁乃北方八天
所化也
3.2.1. Throat
舌下二
竅名玄
膺後名咽
吞下一切飲
食前名喉
十二節為十二
重樓通連河
氣者也
3.2.2. Gallbladder
膽者金之精水之氣其色青在肝短葉下膽者敢也膽大者
必不驚神名龍耀字威明形如龜蛇混形其象如懸袋重三
兩三銖為肝之腑若㨿膽當不在五臟之内應歸於六腑因
膽亦受水氣與坎同道又不可同於六腑故別立膽臟合
於膀胱亦主毛髮黄庭経曰主諸氣力掛虎兵外
應眼瞳鼻柱間脳髮相扶亦倶鮮九色錦衣綠華裙
4. Elixir Fields
降宮中一穴實我性也一名離卦一名午
時又號南宮受煉神室之所又名姹女一
名真隂又名碧眼胡兒在方為南上所有
掩骨覆之醫家名為鳩尾退此後九天思
慮之神又云龍從火裏出是也
此田中炁左青右黄下
黒上白下丹田真虎坎嬰兒
處扶桑宮氣海水晶宮牝戸中間
一穴實我真精命蒂在上一寸三分
實造化之所天地之根白頭老子
青玄之處實我命造化山川也
真一處水中金號金精實我
先天之至精又云虎向水中
生一陽復初子時海底月人
明初生我根基此數名
修真之子不可不知也
5. Three Passes
5.1. Upper Pass
玉枕関
此處一名陽宮玉京山
天柱木乙穴雷霆宮
大椎骨前寸較處來
也寔上天遂行之徑路也
内黄龍例以捲上冲湘江水
上下通徹此緊隂神守閉
関至必用陽炁度方能冲通化
應真炁至鵲橋而牛女桂
會育争
嬰兒
5.2. Middle Pass
夾脊雙関實
神仙升降之徑路是我身脉即
膏肓穴道曰雙関内轆轤在中左為
太陽右為太隂陽升
路血通天柱穴又名内
雙林
通外雙林陽関脉状此穴薰蒸
関竅湧泉上通泥丸絡接降宮
華池取水降于華盖五行
之所下丹田命帝之内
5.3. Lower Pass
尾閭関一名
九竅又名九頭獅子又名太
子射九重鉄鼓隂関固関常
年不能開名九重鉄鼓太子純陽炁
也能醍醐灌頂方能穿通故曰射九
重鉄鼓乃上天之徑路也一名地軸神門
又名朝天嶺一名龍虎穴一名三又腎
内有金鼎内外相通其三路上
沂夾脊直透頂門而上泥丸
通一身之骨髓也
酆都
6.1. North (Li)
南昌上宮
絡宮
呼接天根
心不動
炁☲
就己
朱陵火府
炁自固
6.2. South (K'an)
斗牛女虚
寒靈丹殿
流
戊
身不動
精☵
己
下丹
精自固
玄武煞炁
危室壁
逆則聖順則凡
6.3. East (Chen)
☲
一名東海青龍
甲方木液在封属震在方
属東在五行属木在道為魂性
也属火神之母在五臟属肝在
天為日實我魂室之所也
6.4. West (Tui)
☱
一曰西山白虎庚位金精
在卦屬兌在方屬西在五行
屬金在道為魄情也屬水精
之母在臓腑為肺在天為
月實我魄室之所也
黄庭
中
刀圭
☰
土釜
魁 [鬼勾] [鬼雚] 䰢魓 [鬼甫] 魒
意不動神自靈
陽踰陽蹻
任脉
隂隂腧

1 冬至 2 小寒 3 大寒 4 立春
5 雨水 6 驚蟄 7 春分 8 清明
9 穀雨 10 立夏 11 小滿 12 芒種
13 夏至 14 小暑 15 大暑 16 立秋
17 處暑 18 白露 19 秋分 20 寒露
21 霜降 22 立冬 23 小雪 24 大雪
初一初二初三初四初五
初六初七初八弦初九初十
十一十二十三十四十五望
十六十七十八十九二十
廿一廿二廿三弦廿四廿五
廿六廿七廿八廿九三十晦
Punctuated Text
Emended characters are indicated by gray color; the correct characters are given in parantheses.
1. Introduction
人之一身、有三百六十骨節、八萬四千毛孔。後有三關、尾閭、夾脊、玉枕也。尾閭在夾脊
之下盡頭處、關可通内腎之竅。從此關起一條髓路、號曰漕溪。又名黄河、乃陽升之路。直
至兩腎(肩)對處為夾脊、又上至腦、為玉枕。此三關也。前有三田、泥丸、土釜、玉池是也。
泥丸為上丹田、方圓一寸二分。虚開一竅、乃藏神之所。眉心入内正中之處天門。入内一寸
為明堂。再入一寸為洞房。再入一寸為泥丸。眉心之下謂之鼻柱、又名雷霆府。金橋下至口
中有兩竅通喉、謂之鵲橋。喉是頸骨、乃内外之氣所由出入者也。後有軟喉謂之咽。乃接飲
食、通腸胃者也。其喉有十二節、號曰重樓。直下肺竅、以至於心。心上有骨、名為鳩尾。
心下有穴、名曰絳宮、乃龍虎交會之處。直下三寸六分、名曰土釜、黄庭穴也、乃中丹田。
左有明堂、右有洞房。無英居左、肝也。白元居右、肺也。亦空一寸二分、乃藏氣之所、煉
氣之鼎。直下至臍、三寸六分。故曰｢天上三十六、地下三十六。自天至地八萬四千里、自心
至腎有八寸四分。｣天心三寸六分、地腎三寸六分。中有丹田一寸二分。非八寸四分而何。臍
門號曰生門。有七竅、通於外腎、乃精神漏洩之竅、名曰偃月爐、即任脉。下有九竅、即地
獄酆都是也。又曰氣海。稍下一寸三分、曰玉池。又曰下丹田、乃藏精之所、採藥之處。左
明堂、右洞房。亦空一穴、方圓一寸三分。此處有二竅、通於内腎。腎中有竅、通於尾閭。
由尾閭通兩腎堂、以至膝下三里穴。再下至湧泉穴。此人身相通之關竅也。
高真至真太真虗真仙真玄真上真神真天真
腦有九辨、房有一寸。
不滅之道、存想泥九(丸)。九真之服、皆象炁色、飛輕。
泥丸宮
元命真人
玉帝宮玄穹(靈)
2.1.2. Head
2.1.2a. Captions
醍醐
樓頭鼓
泥丸玄母靈天寶神紫微太乙九霄天庭現珠
神光
明堂天目九霄雷府
喉為輔舌為弼。一神專告七王、奉事斗為舌之母。
人中
承漿
督脉
2.1.2b. Inscription
天有九宮、地有九州。人下丹田有九竅、以象地之九州。泥有九穴、以按天上九宮。腦骨八
片、以應八方。一名彌羅天玉帝宮、又名純陽天宮。中空一穴、名玄穹(靈)主、又名元神宮。
有舌、舌内有金鎖關、與舌相對、人(又)名鵲橋。鼻下人中穴、與關相對。其間有督脉。乃
是人之根本、名上九竅。一名性根玉泉、又號華池。舌下有四竅、二竅通心、為液。兩竅通
腎、為我(氣)。神室泥丸九竅、乃天皇之宮。中間一穴、形如雞子、状似崑崙是也。釋曰須
彌山。修真之子、不可不知也。
2.2.1. Umbilicus
臍為左(生)門。太乙神君居之。主人性命。司一身一萬二千精也。
生門
銅柱地獄
火車地獄
金剛地獄
普掠地獄
溟冷地獄
屠割地獄
風雷地獄
鑊湯地獄
無間地獄
機関之竅、引仙之門。
槖籥
送仙生門、北極降魔慧劍所。
愚人以此殺身、聖人以此飛形。
湧泉穴湧泉
三里穴三里穴
3. Internal Organs
3.1.1. Lungs
3.1.1a. Captions
奎婁
七魄藏肺。
井鬼天罡柳星張翼軫
白元尊居之。
胃昴畢觜参
3.1.1b. Inscription
肺神形如白虎、象如懸磬。居五臟之上、對胞若覆蓋、故為華蓋。神名皓華、字虚成。重三
斤三兩。六葉兩耳、總計八葉。肺為脾子、為腎母。内藏七魄、如嬰兒。名曰尸狗、伏屍、
雀隂、呑賺(賊)、非(飛)生母(毒)、除穢、羣臭、乃七名也。鼻為之官、左為庚、右為辛。在
炁為咳。在液為涕。在形為皮毛也。上通炁至腦、下通炁至脾中、是以諸炁属肺。肺為呼吸
之根。黄庭云｢喘息、呼吸依不快、急存白元、和六氣。｣
3.1.2. Heart
心神形如朱雀、象如倒懸蓮華。能變水為血也。神名丹元、字守靈。重十二兩。對鳩尾下一
寸。色如縞映絳、中有七孔三毛。上智之人、心孔通明。中智之人、五孔心穴通炁。下智無
孔、炁明不通。心為肝子、為脾母。舌為之宮厥(官)。竅通耳、左耳為丙、右耳為丁。液為
汗、腎邪入心則汗溢。其味甘。小腸為之腑、與心合。黄庭経曰｢心部之宅蓮含花(葉)、下有
童子丹元家。｣童子即心神也。心下為絳宮。
3.1.3. Liver
3.1.3a. Captions
無英公子居之。
中地胆
角元(亢)
氐房心尾箕
三魂藏肝。
3.1.3b. Inscription
肝神形如青龍象、字含明。象如懸匏。少(小)近心、左三葉、右四葉。胆附短葉下。重四斤
四兩。為心母、為腎子。肝中有三魂、名曰爽靈、台(胎)光、幽精。目為之宮(官)。左目為甲、
右目為乙。男子至六十、肝炁衰、肝葉薄、膽漸減、目即昏。在形為筋。肝脉合於木、魂之
臟也。於液為淚、腎邪入肝、故多淚。膽為肝之腑、膽與肝合也。黄庭経云｢和制魂魄、津液
平、外應眼、目日月精、百疴(痾)所鍾、存無英、用同、七日自充盈。｣
3.1.4. Spleen
脾属中央土、旺於四季、為黄帝。神形如鳳。象如覆翼。名常在、字魂庭。正掩臍上、横於
胃、坤之炁、土之精也。居心下三寸。重一斤二兩、濶三寸、長一尺。脾為心子、為肺母。
外通眉。口為之宮。其神多嫉。脾無定形、主土、隂也、故脾為五臟之樞。開竅於口。在形
為頰。脾脉出於隠白、乃肉之本意處也。黄庭経云｢治人百病、消谷糧、黄良(衣)紫帯、龍虎
章。｣
3.1.5a. Captions
左玄腎門
右牝命門
銀河樞機瓊池琉池
湧谷道泉谷水玉爐
腎屬北方水、於卦屬坎。形似玄鹿兩頭、名玄冥、字育嬰。象如卵石子、生對臍墜[月數](腰)
脊。重二斤一兩。主分水氣、灌注一身、如樹之有根。左曰腎、右曰命。生炁之府、死炁之
門、如守之則存、用之則竭。為肝母、為肺子。耳為之宮(官)。天之生我、流氣而變、謂之
精。精氣往來、為之神。神者腎藏其情(精)者(志)。左属壬、右属癸。在辰為子亥。在氣為吹。
在液為唾。在形為骨。経於上焦、榮於上(中)焦、衛於下焦。黄庭云｢腎部之宮玄関(闕)圓、
中有童子 | 冥 | 上玄、主諸六炁、臟液源、外應兩耳、百津液。｣
内腎者兩儀也。中間有連環、是我真精。内藏赤白二炁。在母腹中、未有此身、先有此穴。
因有此穴、始生此身。左為玄陽、右為牝隂。中穴實我後天之相(精)海、又為真鉛。佛名趙
州狗、儒名太極。道云玄水郷鉛、乃北方肅殺正氣、紫河車。順則生人、逆則成仙。一名漕
溪。一名祖宮。通上下二眼、降華池。在舌内出、名玉泉。
桃康、合延君、頂蓮花。冠衣朱衣、如真人状。住腎宮。有碧紫黄白綠青赤蒼之炁、乃北方
八天所化也。
3.2.1. Throat
舌下二竅、名玄膺。後名咽、吞下一切飲食。前名喉、十二節、為十二重樓、通連河(精)氣
者也。
3.2.2. Gallbladder
膽者金之精、水之氣。其色青、在肝短葉下。膽者敢也。膽大者必不驚。神名龍耀、字威明。
形如龜蛇混形、其象如懸袋。重三兩三銖。為肝之腑。若㨿膽當不在五臟之内、應歸於六腑、
因膽亦受水氣、與坎同道。又不可同於六腑、故別立膽臟。合於膀胱、亦主毛髮。黄庭経曰｢
主諸氣力掛(攝)虎兵、外應眼瞳鼻柱間、脳髮相扶、亦倶鮮、九色錦衣綠華裙。｣
4. Elixir Fields
降(絳)宮、中一穴、實我性也。一名離卦、一名午時。又號南宮。受煉神室之所。又名姹
女。一名真隂、又名碧眼胡兒。在方為南。上所有掩骨覆之、醫家名為鳩尾。退此後九天思
慮之神、又云龍從火裏出是也。
此田中炁、左青、右黄、下黒、上白。下丹田、真虎、坎、嬰兒處、扶桑宮、氣海、水晶宮、
牝戸。中間一穴、實我真精命蒂。在上一寸三分、實造化之所、天地之根。白頭老子青玄之
處、實我命造化山川也。真一處、水中金、號金精、實我先天之至精。又云虎向水中生、一
陽復初、子時、海底月、人明、初生我根基。此數名。修真之子、不可不知也。
5. Three Passes
5.1. Upper Pass
玉枕関、此處一名陽宮玉京山、天柱、木(太)乙穴、雷霆宮。大椎骨前寸較處來也。寔上天
遂行之徑路也。内黄龍例(倒)以捲上、冲(沖)湘江水、上下通徹。此緊、隂(陽)神守。閉関至
必用陽炁、度方能冲(沖)通、化應真炁。至鵲橋而牛女桂(相)會、育争(胎)嬰兒。
5.2. Middle Pass
夾脊雙関、實神仙升降之徑路。是我身脉、即膏肓穴道。曰雙関、内轆轤在中。左為太陽、
右為太隂。陽升路血、通天柱穴、又名内雙林、通外雙林、陽関脉状(伏)。此穴薰蒸関竅、
湧泉、上通泥丸、絡接降(絳)宮、華池。取水降于華盖、五行之所、下丹田命帝(蒂)之内。
5.3. Lower Pass
尾閭関、一名九竅、又名九頭獅子、又名太子射九重鉄鼓。隂関固関(閉)、常年不能開、名
九重鉄鼓。太子純陽炁也、能醍醐灌頂、方能穿通、故曰射九重鉄鼓。乃上天之徑路也。一
名地軸神門、又名朝天嶺。一名龍虎穴、一名三又(叉)。腎内有金鼎、内外相通、其三路上
沂(通)夾脊、直透頂門而上泥丸、通一身之骨髓也。
酆都
6.1. North (Li)
南昌上宮
絡(絳)宮
呼接天根。
心不動、炁自固。
炁☲
就己
朱陵火府
6.2. South (K'an)
斗牛女虚
寒靈丹殿
流戊
身不動、精自固。
精☵
己
下丹
玄武煞炁
危室壁
逆則聖、順則凡。
6.3. East (Chen)
☲(☳)
一名東海青龍。甲方。木液。在封(卦)属震。在方属東。在五行属木。在道為魂、性也。属
火神之母。在五臟属肝。在天為日。實我魂室之所也。
6.4. West (Tui)
☱
一曰西山白虎。庚位。金精。在卦屬兌。在方屬西。在五行屬金。在道為魄、情也。屬水精
之母。在臓腑為肺。在天為月。實我魄室之所也。
黄庭
中
刀圭
☰
土釜
魁 [鬼勾] [鬼雚] 䰢魓 [鬼甫] 魒
意不動、神自靈。
陽踰陽蹻
任脉
隂隂腧

1 冬至 2 小寒 3 大寒 4 立春
5 雨水 6 驚蟄 7 春分 8 清明
9 穀雨 10 立夏 11 小滿 12 芒種
13 夏至 14 小暑 15 大暑 16 立秋
17 處暑 18 白露 19 秋分 20 寒露
21 霜降 22 立冬 23 小雪 24 大雪
初一初二初三初四初五
初六初七初八弦初九初十
十一十二十三十四十五望
十六十七十八十九二十
廿一廿二廿三弦廿四廿五
廿六廿七廿八廿九三十晦
Chinese Text
Original Arrangement
1. Introduction
穴以三又爐四有寸肝三至喉中為一關溪尾人
此至分曰即分八六也寸於謂有洞竅也又閭之
人膝此下任而寸分白六心之兩房乃前名在一
身下處丹脉何四故元分心咽竅再藏有黄夾身
相三有田下臍分曰居名上乃通入神三河脊有
通里二乃有門天天右曰有接喉一之田乃之三
之穴竅藏九號心上肺土骨飲謂寸所泥陽下百
關再通精竅曰三三也釜名食之為眉丸升盡六
竅下於之即生寸十亦黄為通鵲泥心土之頭十
也至内所地門六六空庭鳩腸橋丸入釜路處骨
湧腎採獄有分地一穴尾胃喉眉内玉直關節
泉腎藥酆七地下寸也心者是心正池至可八
中之都竅腎三二乃下也頸之中是兩通萬
有處是通三十分中有其骨下之也腎内四
竅左也於寸六乃丹穴喉乃謂處泥對腎千
通明又外六自藏田名有内之天丸處之毛
於堂曰腎分天氣左曰十外鼻門為為竅孔
尾右氣乃中至之有絳二之柱入上夾從後
閭洞海精有地所明宮節氣又内丹脊此有
由房稍神丹八煉堂乃號所名一田又關三
尾亦下漏田萬氣右龍曰由雷寸方上起關
閭空一洩一四之有虎重出霆為圓至一尾
通一寸之寸千鼎洞交樓入府明一腦條閭
兩穴三竅二里直房會直者金堂寸為髓夾
腎方分名分自下無之下也橋再二玉路脊
堂圓曰曰非心至英處肺後下入分枕號玉
一玉偃八至臍居直竅有至一虚此曰枕
寸池月寸腎三左下以軟口寸開三漕也
一房高九腦
之寸有真辨有
服天至存不
皆真真九想滅
象九玉元九泥之
炁真帝命泥真道
色宮真丸
飛神真玄人宮真太
輕穹
真真
上虗
真真
玄神仙
☰
2.1.2. Head
2.1.2a. Captions
神
光
九神天靈醐醍
天霄太寶泥
現庭乙紫丸樓
珠明微頭
堂玄鼓
天母
目
九
霄奉一喉
雷事神為
府斗專輔
為告舌
督中人舌七為
脉漿承之王弼
母
☴
2.1.2b. Inscription
崑我玉關有玉有天
崙神泉相舌帝九有
是室又對舌宮穴九
也泥號其内又以宮
釋丸華間有名按地
曰九池有金純天有
須竅舌督鎖陽上九
彌乃下脉關天九州
山天有乃與宮宮人
修皇四是舌中腦下
真之竅人相空骨丹
之宮二之對一八田
子中竅根人穴片有
不間通本名名以九
可一心名鵲玄應竅
不穴為上橋穹八以
知形液九鼻主方象
也如兩竅下又一地
雞竅一人名名之
子通名中元彌九
状腎性穴神羅州
似為根與宮天泥
2.2.1. Umbilicus
千主臍
精人為
也性左
命門
司太
一乙
身神
一君
萬居
二之
生
門
無鑊風屠溟普金火銅
間湯雷割冷掠剛車柱
地地地地地地地地地
獄獄獄獄獄獄獄獄獄
引機
仙関
之之
門竅
送
聖愚仙
人人北生槖
以以極門籥
此此降
飛殺
形身魔
慧
劍
所
湧泉穴泉湧
三里穴穴里三
3. Internal Organs
3.1.1. Lungs
3.1.1a. Captions
胃白七
昴元魄
畢尊井藏奎
觜居鬼肺婁
参之
罡天
星翼柳
張軫
3.1.1b. Inscription
庭下炁穢七兩
云通為羣魄六肺
喘炁咳臭如葉故神
息至在乃嬰兩為形
呼脾液七兒耳華如
吸中為名名總蓋白
依是涕也曰計神虎
不以在鼻尸八名象
快諸形為狗葉皓如
急炁為之伏肺華懸
存属皮宮屍為字磬
白肺毛左雀脾虚居
元肺也為隂子成五
和為上庚呑為重臟
六呼通右賺腎三之
氣吸炁為非母斤上
之至辛生内三對
根腦在母藏胞
黄除若
覆
蓋
3.1.2. Heart
心宅腸液之炁
神蓮為為宮明
也含之汗厥不
心花腑腎竅通
下下與邪通心之
為有心入耳為人三一字華心
絳童合心左肝五毛寸守能神
宮子黄則耳子孔上色靈變形
丹庭汗為為心智如重水如
元経溢丙脾穴之縞十為朱
家曰其右母通人映二血雀
童心味耳舌炁心絳兩也象
子部甘為為下孔中對神如
即之小丁智通有鳩名倒
無明七尾丹懸
孔中孔下元蓮
智
3.1.3. Liver
3.1.3a. Captions
三無
魂心中英
藏尾氐角地公
肝箕房元胆子
居
之
3.1.3b. Inscription
用液之之葉目葉肝
同平腑臟薄為下神
七外膽也膽之重形
日應與於漸宮四如
自眼肝液減左斤青
充目合為目目四龍
盈日也淚即為兩象
月黄腎昏甲為字
精庭邪在右心含
百経入形目母明
疴云肝為為為象
所和故筋乙腎如
鍾制多肝男子懸
存魂淚脉子肝匏
無魄膽合至中少
英津為於六有近
肝木十三心
魂肝魂左
炁名三
衰曰葉
肝爽右
靈四
台葉
光胆
幽附
精短
3.1.4. Spleen
人形無脾土如
百為定為之覆
病頰形心精翼
消脾主子也名為
谷脉土為居常黄脾
糧出隂肺心在帝属
黄於也母下字神中
良隠故外三魂形央
紫白脾通寸庭如土
帯乃為眉重正鳳旺
龍肉五口一掩象於
虎之臟為斤臍四
章本之之二上季
意樞宮兩横
處開其濶於
也竅神三胃
黄於多寸坤
庭口嫉長之
経在脾一炁
云尺
治
3.1.5a. Captions
右河銀左
牝玄
命腎
門機樞門
瓊
池
池流
泉湧
谷爐玉谷
水道
庭氣往竭有石腎
云為來為根子屬
腎吹為肝左生北
應部在之母曰對方
兩之液神為腎臍水
耳宮為神肺右墜於
百玄唾者子曰卦
津関在腎耳命脊屬
液圓形藏為生重坎
中為其之炁二形
有骨情宮之斤似
童経者天府一玄
子於左之死兩鹿
上上属生炁主兩
玄焦壬我之分頭
主榮右流門水名
諸於属氣如氣玄
六上癸而守灌冥
炁焦在變之注字
臟衛辰謂則一育
液於為之存身嬰
源下子精用如象
外焦亥精之樹如
黄在氣則之卵
正名右
氣趙為
紫州牝先我内
河狗隂有真腎
車儒中此精者
順名穴穴内兩
則太實因藏儀
宮生極我有赤也
内通人道後此白中
出上逆云天穴二間
名下則玄之始炁有
玉二成水相生在連
泉眼仙郷海此母環
降一鉛又身腹是
華名乃為左中
池漕北真為未
在溪方鉛玄有
舌一肅佛陽此
名殺身
祖
所赤腎冠
化蒼宮衣
也之有朱合
炁碧衣延
乃紫如君桃
北黄真頂康
方白人蓮
八綠状花
天青住
3.2.1. Throat
氣重十食吞膺竅舌
者樓二前下後名下
也通節名一名玄二
連為喉切咽
河十飲
二
3.2.2. Gallbladder
應於膽兩必膽
眼膀亦三不者
瞳胱受銖驚金
鼻亦水為神之
柱主氣肝名精
間毛與之龍水
脳髮坎腑耀之
髮黄同若字氣
相庭道㨿威其
扶経又膽明色
亦曰不當形青
倶主可不如在
鮮諸同在龜肝
九氣於五蛇短
色力六臟混葉
錦掛腑之形下
衣虎故内其膽
綠兵別應象者
華外立歸如敢
裙膽於懸也
臟六袋膽
合腑重大
因三者
4. Elixir Fields
慮掩名時降
之骨真又宮
神覆隂號中
又之又南一
云醫名宮穴
龍家碧受實
從名眼煉我
火為胡神性
裏鳩兒室也
出尾在之一
是退方所名
也此為又離
後南名卦
九上姹一
天所女名
思有一午
處
一扶黒
修明生先真青實穴桑上此
真初一天一玄造實宮白田
之生陽之處之化我氣下中
子我復至水處之真海丹炁
不根初精中實所精水田左
可基子又金我天命晶真青
不此時云號命地蒂宮虎右
知數海虎金造之在牝坎黄
也名底向精化根上戸嬰下
月水實山白一中兒
人中我川頭寸間
也老三
子分
5. Three Passes
5.1. Upper Pass
應関上内
真至下黄也大
炁必通龍寔椎天此
至用徹例上骨柱處
鵲陽北以天前木一
橋炁逆乙名玉
度穴陽枕
嬰宮関
兒會而方
育牛能緊捲
争女冲隂上行
桂通神冲之寸雷玉
化守湘徑較霆京
閉江路處宮山
水也來
☶
5.2. Middle Pass
雙路太
関通林血陽膏
華竅外通右肓神
之池湧雙天為穴仙
所取泉林柱太道升
下水上陽穴隂曰降夾
丹降通関又陽雙之脊
田于泥脉名升関徑雙
命華丸状内内路関
帝盖絡此轆是實
之五接穴轤我
内行降薰在身
宮蒸中脉
左即
為
5.3. Lower Pass
又
内名重
沂有朝鉄也年子
通夾金天鼓能不射九
一脊鼎嶺乃酆醍能九竅
身直内一上都醐開重又尾
之透外名天灌名鉄名閭
骨頂相龍之頂九鼓九関
髓門通虎徑方重隂頭一
也而其穴路能鉄関獅名
上三一也穿鼓固子
泥路名一通太関又
丸上三名故子常名
又地曰純太
腎軸射陽
神九炁
門
6.1. North (Li)
朱絡南
陵宮昌
火上
炁府宮
自呼
固就炁心接
己 ☲ 不天
動根
6.2. South (K'an)
危
室斗
壁精牛
玄流寒女
武已
☵ 戊靈虚
煞精丹
炁自下身殿
固丹不
順勤逆
則則
凡聖
6.3. East (Chen)
天也属
為属東甲
☲
日火在方一
實神五木名
我之行液東
魂母属在海
室在木封青
之五在属龍
所臟道震
也属為在
肝魂方
在性
6.4. West (Tui)
之屬在
月母金卦
實在在屬一
我臓道兌曰
魄腑為在西
☱ 室為魄方山
之肺情屬白
所在也西虎
也天屬在庚
為水五位
精行金
精
䰢
魓中黄魁
庭
魒
圭刀
神意
自 ☰ 不
靈動
釜土
陽陽
踰蹻
脉任
隂隂
腧
雪大
雪小
冬立
降霜
露寒
分秋
露白
暑處
秋立
暑大
暑小
至夏
種芒
滿小
夏立
雨穀
明清
分春
蟄驚
水雨
春立
寒大
寒小
至冬
1. Introduction
人之一身有三百六十骨節八萬四千毛孔

There are three hundred [and] sixty bones [and] joints,1 [and] eighty-four thousand pores [in] the human
body.2
後有三關尾閭夾脊玉枕也
There are three passes3 at the back: the Gate of Tail, Spinal Handle,4 [and] Jade Pillow.
尾閭在夾脊之下盡頭處關可通内腎之竅
The Gate of Tail is at the bottom of the vertebral column, at its very end; [this] pass connects with the
apertures of internal kidneys.5
從此關起一條髓路號曰漕溪
A thin pathway of marrow6 originates from this pass, [its] appellation7 is the Rivulet.8
又名黄河乃陽升之路
[It is] also known as Yellow River [and it is] the pathway [through which] the yang [energy] ascends.
直至兩腎(肩)對處為夾脊又上至腦為玉枕

[It] directly goes [up] to the point between the two shoulders,9 [or] the Spinal Handle, [and] then goes
[up] to the brain [where] the Jade Pillow is [found].
此三關也
These are the three passes.
前有三田泥丸土釜玉池是也
In the front there are three fields; [these are] the Muddy Pellet,10 Earthen Crucible,11 [and] Jade Pond.12
泥丸為上丹田方圓一寸二分
The Muddy Pellet is the upper elixir field [and it] is one and two-tenths [of an] inch13 in diameter.
虚開一竅乃藏神之所
[This] hollow opens to a cavity, this is where the shen is stored.
眉心入内正中之處天門
At the exact center of the space between the [two] eyebrows [there is] the Heavenly Gate.14
入内一寸為明堂
Going one inch inward, [there] is the Bright Hall.15
再入一寸為洞房
Another inch inward [from this point] is [situated] the Cavern Chamber.16
再入一寸為泥丸
[Still] another inch inward is [where] the Muddy Pellet [is found].
眉心之下謂之鼻柱又名雷霆府
[The place] below the [point] where the two brows meet is called the pillar of nose;17 [it is] also
known as the Palace of Thunderclap.18
金橋下至口中有兩竅通喉謂之鵲橋
Under the Golden Bridge,19 inside the mouth, there are two cavities connecting with the throat; [they are]
called the Magpie Bridge.20
喉是頸骨乃内外之氣所由出入者也
Throat is [situated on] the neck bone, [it] is where the internal [and] external energies go in and out [of
the body].
後有軟喉謂之咽
At the back there is the soft [part of the] throat, it is called the pharynx.
乃接飲食通腸胃者也
What [we] drink [and] eat mixes up [here and] passes [downward] to the intestines [and] stomach.
其喉有十二節號曰重樓
The throat has twelve rings, [its] appellation is the Tiered Tower.21
直下肺竅以至於心
Directly below [the throat there is] the aperture of the lungs which leads to the heart.
心上有骨名為鳩尾
There is a bone above the heart, [it is] called Turtledove's Tail.22
心下有穴名曰絳宮乃龍虎交會之處

Below the heart there is a cave23 called the Crimson Palace;24 it is where the dragon [and] tiger unite.
直下三寸六分名曰土釜黄庭穴也乃中丹田

Directly below, three [and] six-tenths [of an inch away from it, is a place] called the Earthen Crucible; it
is the cave of Yellow Court, that is, the middle elixir field.
左有明堂右有洞房
[To its] left is situated the Bright Hall,25 [to its] right there is the Cavern Chamber.26
無英居左肝也
Blossomless27 dwells [to its] left, [in] the liver.
白元居右肺也
White Prime dwells28 [to its] right, [in] the lungs.
27
亦空一寸二分乃藏氣之所煉氣之鼎

Furthermore, one [and] two-tenths [of an inch inside this] hollow is where the ch'i is stored; [this is]
the cauldron of refinement of ch'i.
直下至臍三寸六分
Directly below it, [at a distance of] three [and] six-tenths of an inch, is the navel.
故曰｢天上三十六地下三十六
Therefore [it is] said, "Thirty-six29 [in] the heaven above, thirty-six [on] the earth below.
自天至地八萬四千里自心至腎有八寸四分｣
From heaven to earth [it is] eighty-four thousand miles30 and from the heart to the kidneys [it is] eight
[and] four-tenths [of an inch]."31
天心三寸六分地腎三寸六分
Heavenly heart is [found at a distance of] three [and] six-tenths [of an inch and] earthly kidneys are
[found at a distance of] three [and] six-tenths [of an inch].
中有丹田一寸二分
[In] the middle [of them] there is the elixir field [which] is one [and] two-tenths [of an inch in diameter].
非八寸四分而何
[If it is] not eight [and] four-tenths [of an inch], then what [is it]?32
臍門號曰生門
The appellation of the gate of navel is the Gate of Life.33
有七竅通於外腎乃精神漏洩之竅名曰偃月爐即任脉

[It] has seven cavities; [one of these] connects with the external kidneys,34 [it] is the cavity of spirit's
leaking out; [it is] called the Crescent Moon Furnace,35 that is, the Conception Vessel.
下有九竅即地獄酆都是也
Below [it] there are nine cavities [which] make up the Capital of Hell.36
又曰氣海
[It is] also called the Sea of Energy.37
稍下一寸三分曰玉池
[The place] slightly below it, [at a distance of] one [and] three-tenths [of an inch], is called the Jade
Pond.
又曰下丹田乃藏精之所採藥之處
[It is] also known as the lower elixir field and [this is] where the ching is stored [and] the medicine [is]
collected.
左明堂右洞房
[Its] left [side is] the Bright Hall [and its] right [is] the Cavern Chamber.
亦空一穴方圓一寸三分
[There is] another hollow cave here [measuring] one [and] three-tenths [of an inch] square [in size].
此處有二竅通於内腎
There are two cavities in this place, [which] connect with the internal kidneys.
腎中有竅通於尾閭
Inside the kidneys there is a cavity [which] connects with the Gate of Tail.
由尾閭通兩腎堂以至膝下三里穴
From the Gate of Tail [the energy channel] goes [down] to the two halls of the kidneys38 [and then]
arrives at the Three Mile points39 below the knees.
再下至湧泉穴
It then goes further down [and terminates at] the Gushing Spring40 points.
此人身相通之關竅也
These are the passes [and] cavities of the human body [that are] connected with each other.

2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)1
1. 高真 High Perfected
2. 至真 Supreme Perfected
3. 太真 Great Perfected
4. 虗真 Void2 Perfected
5. 仙真 Immortal Perfected
6. 玄真 Unfathomable Perfected
7. 上真 Superior Perfected
8. 神真 Divine Perfected
9. 天真 Heavenly Perfected3
腦有九辨房有一寸
10. The brain has nine sections [and each of these] chambers are one inch [in diameter].4
不滅之道存想泥九(丸)
11. The way of no-cessation is [found] in visualizing, [and] meditating on, the Muddy Pellet.5
九真之服皆象炁色飛輕
Garments of the Nine Perfected each represent the color [of their corresponding] pneumas,7 [this is
6
why they can] fly [as if they are] weightless.
泥丸宮
12. Palace of the Muddy Pellet
元命真人
13. Original Destiny8 Perfected
玉帝宮玄穹(靈)
14. Mysterious Vault of the Jade Emperor's Palace9
2.1.2. Head
2.1.2a. Captions
1. 醍醐 Rich liquid 1
2. 樓頭鼓 Tower Head Drum
3. 泥丸 Muddy Pellet
4. 玄母 Mysterious Mother2
5. 靈 Numinous spirit3
6. 天寶 Heavenly Treasure
7. 神 Shen4
8. 紫微 Purple Tenuity5
9. 太乙 Great One6
10. 九霄 Nine Empyreans7
11. 天庭 Heavenly Court8
12. 現珠 Appearing Pearl
13. 神光 Divine Radiance9
14. 明堂 Bright Hall

15. 天目 Heavenly Eye10
16. 九霄雷府 Thunder Palace of the Nine Empyreans11
喉為輔舌為弼
17. The throat is Sustainer [and] the tongue is Straightener.12
一神專告七王奉事斗為舌之母
One deity reports13 to the Seven Kings14 [and] serves15 the Dipper [as] the Mother of the tongue.16
18. 人中 Center of Man17

19. 承漿 Fluid Receptacle18
20. 督脉 Governor Vessel19
2.1.2b. Inscription
天有九宮地有九州
There are nine palaces in heaven [and] nine continents on earth.1
人下丹田有九竅以象地之九州
Man's lower elixir field has nine cavities, [which] are patterned after the nine continents of earth.
泥有九穴以按天上九宮
The Muddy [Pellet] has nine caves, [which] accord with the nine palaces of heaven.2
腦骨八片以應八方
The cranium is [made up of] eight bones3 [which] correspond to the eight directions.
一名彌羅天玉帝宮又名純陽天宮
One of the names of the Muddy Pellet is the Jade Emperor's Palace in the All Canopy Heaven;4 [it is]
also known as the Heavenly Palace of Pure Yang.5
中空一穴名玄穹(靈)主又名元神宮

[There is] a hollow cave in the center, [which is] called the Master of Mysterious Numinosity;6 [it is] also
known as the Palace of the Primordial Spirit.7
有舌舌内有金鎖關與舌相對人(又)名鵲橋

[Then] there is the tongue; inside the tongue there is the Golden Lock Gate,8 which is equal to the
tongue; [it is] also9 known as the Magpie Bridge.
鼻下人中穴與關相對
Below the nose [there is] the Center of Man point and facing it [there is] the [Golden Lock] Gate.
其間有督脉
Between them there is the Governor Vessel.
乃是人之根本名上九竅
Truly, these are the roots10 of the human being; [they are] called the upper nine cavities.11
一名性根玉泉又號華池
One of the names [of the tongue] is the Jade Spring of Innate Nature Roots,12 also [its] appellation is the
Flowery Pond.13
舌下有四竅二竅通心為液
Below the tongue there are four cavities; two of them connect with the heart, forming a humor.
兩竅通腎為我(氣)
The [other] two cavities connect with the kidneys, forming the vapor.14
神室泥丸九竅乃天皇之宮
The Divine Chamber,15 Muddy Pellet [and] nine cavities, these are the palaces of the Heavenly August.
中間一穴形如雞子状似崑崙是也

There is a cave in the middle [which is] shaped like an egg; [its] form resembles16 the Mount K'un-lun.17
釋曰須彌山
The Buddhists call it Mount Sumeru.18
Disciples who cultivate perfection must know these.
2.2.1. Umbilicus
臍為左(生)門
The navel is the Gate of Life.1
太乙神君居之
Great One2 Divine Lord resides here.
主人性命
[He is] the host of the innate nature [and] life-destiny.3
司一身一萬二千精也
[He] directs the entire body's twelve thousand spirits.4
生門
Gate of Life5
2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)1
1. 銅柱地獄 Copper Pillar Hell

2. 火車地獄 Fire Chariot Hell2
3. 金剛地獄 Diamond[-like] 3 Hell
4. 普掠地獄 All-Plunder Hell
5. 溟冷地獄 Icy-Cold Hell
6. 屠割地獄 Kill[-and-]Cut Hell
7. 風雷地獄 Wind [and] Thunder Hell
8. 鑊湯地獄 Cauldron of Molten [Iron] Hell4
9. 無間地獄 Endless Hell5
機関之竅引仙之門
1. Cavity of the Pivotal Pass1 is the gate for inviting immortality.
槖籥
2. Bellows2
送仙生門北極降魔慧劍所
3. Gate of Life3 [that] delivers immortality is where the Northern Pole4 demon-subduing sword of
wisdom5 [is found].
愚人以此殺身聖人以此飛形
4. Fools kill themselves with it, [while] sages sublimate [their] bodies with it.6
1. 湧泉穴 Gushing Spring point1

2. 湧泉 Gushing Spring
3. 三里穴 Three Miles point2
4. 三里穴 Three Miles point
3. Internal Organs
3.1.1. Lungs
3.1.1a. Captions
1. 奎婁 Astride, Mound1
2. 七魄藏肺 The seven p'o2 are stored3 in the lungs.
3. 井鬼柳星張翼軫 Well, Ghosts, Willow, Star, Bow, Wings, Carriage4
4. 天罡 Heavenly Dipper5
5. 白元尊居之 Venerable White Prime dwells here.
6. 胃昴畢觜参 Stomach, Pleiades, Net, Beak, Orion.6
3.1.1b. Inscription
肺神形如白虎象如懸磬
The deity of the lungs has the shape of the White Tiger;1 [the lungs] appear like a hanging musical stone.2
居五臟之上對胞若覆蓋故為華蓋

[They] dwell on top of the five viscera3 [and] envelop them like a cover, therefore [they] are [called] the
Flowery Canopy.4
神名皓華字虚成
[Their] deity is called Luminous Flower,5 [its] given name is Attainment of Emptiness.6
重三斤三兩
[They] weigh three pounds7 [and] three ounces.8
六葉兩耳總計八葉
[They have] six petals [and] two ears, [thus] eight petals in total.9
肺為脾子為腎母
The lung is the child of the spleen [and] the mother of the kidneys.
内藏七魄如嬰兒
The seven p'o are stored inside the lungs like infants.
名曰尸狗伏屍雀隂呑賺(賊) 非(飛)生母(毒) 除穢羣臭乃七名也
[They are] called Corpse Dog, Ambushing Corpse,10 Bird Darkness, Devouring Robber,11 Flying Poison,12
Massive Pollution, [and] Mob's Smell;13 thus [there are these] seven names.14
鼻為之官左為庚右為辛

The nose is its officer; the left [nostril] is keng 庚, [while] the right [nostril] is hsin 辛.16
15
在炁為咳
Among the pneumas the lungs correspond to coughing.17
在液為涕
Among the fluids18 [they] correspond to nasal mucus.19
在形為皮毛也
In the body [they] correspond to body hair.
上通炁至腦下通炁至脾中是以諸炁属肺

Flowing upward, the pneumas reach the brain and flowing downward, the pneumas enter the spleen,
therefore all pneumas belong to the lungs.20
肺為呼吸之根
The lungs are the root of the breathing.
黄庭云｢喘息呼吸依不快急存白元和六氣｣

[In] the [Scripture of the] Yellow Court21 [it is] said, "[When there is] panting [or] the breathing is not
comfortable, immediately visualize the White Prime22 [and] the six energies [will be] harmonized."23
3.1.2. Heart
心神形如朱雀象如倒懸蓮華
The deity of the heart is shaped like the Vermilion Bird; [the heart] appears like an inverted hanging lotus
flower.1
能變水為血也
[It is] capable of transforming water [and] turning [it] into blood.
神名丹元字守靈
Deity of the heart is called Elixir Origin,2 [its] given name is Guarding the Numen.3
重十二兩
[It] weighs twelve ounces.
對鳩尾下一寸
One inch below [the heart] is the Turtledove's Tail.4
色如縞映絳中有七孔三毛
[The heart's] color is like white silk [lined with] shining crimson [and] inside [it] there are seven
openings [and] three orifices.
上智之人心孔通明
[In] men of superior wisdom, the orifices [of the heart] are pervaded with brilliance.
中智之人五孔心穴通炁
[In] men of medium wisdom, [there are] five orifices [and] cave of the heart is connected with the
pneumas.
下智無孔炁明不通
[In] men of inferior wisdom, [there are] no orifices [and] the brilliance of the pneuma does not flow
[through the heart].5
心為肝子為脾母
The heart is the child of the liver [and] the mother of the spleen.
舌為之宮厥(官)
The tongue is the officer of the heart.6
竅通耳左耳為丙右耳為丁
[An] opening connects with the ears; the left ear is ping 丙, [while] the right ear is ting 丁.7
液為汗腎邪入心則汗溢
[Heart's] fluid is sweat;8 [when] the malignant [energy] of the kidneys enter the heart, the sweat spills.9
其味甘
The [heart's associated] taste is sweet.
小腸為之腑與心合
[Its associated] receptacle10 is the small intestine and the heart is united [with it].11
黄庭経曰｢心部之宅蓮含花(葉) 下有童子丹元家｣
[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court12 [it is] said, "The house13 of heart department14 is [like] a lotus
bud [with] closed petals;15 [below it] there is the house of a young boy [named] Elixir Origin."
童子即心神也
The young boy is the deity of the heart.
心下為絳宮
Below the heart [there] is the Crimson Palace.
3.1.3. Liver
3.1.3a. Captions
1. 無英公子居之 Lordling Blossomless resides here.1

2. 中地胆 Middle earth gallbladder2
3. 角元(亢) Horn, Neck3
4. 氐房心尾箕 Base, Room, Heart, Tail, Basket4
5. 三魂藏肝 The three hun5 are stored in the liver.
3.1.3b. Inscription
肝神形如青龍象字含明
The deity of the liver is shaped like the Green Dragon;1 [its] given name is Containing Illumination.2
象如懸匏
[The liver] appears like a suspended bottle[-shaped] gourd.
少(小)近心左三葉右四葉

[It is] quite3 close [to] the heart; [it has] three petals [to] the left [and] four petals [to] the right.4
胆附短葉下
The gallbladder5 attaches to underneath [its] shorter petal.
重四斤四兩
[The liver] weighs four pounds [and] four ounces.
為心母為腎子
[It is] the mother of the heart [and] the child of the kidneys.
肝中有三魂名曰爽靈台(胎)光幽精

There are three hun6 in the liver known as the Invigorating Numinosity, Radiance of Womb,7 [and]
Obscure Spirit.
目為之宮(官)
The eyes are the officers8 [of the liver].9
左目為甲右目為乙
The left eye is chia 甲 [while] the right eye is i 乙.10
男子至六十肝炁衰肝葉薄膽漸減目即昏
[When] a man11 reach sixty, [his] liver pneuma declines,12 petals of [his] liver [become] thinner, [his]
gallbladder gradually withers, [and] his eyesight is dimmed.
在形為筋
In the body, [the liver] corresponds to the sinews.13
肝脉合於木魂之臟也
The liver pulse is connected with Wood14 [and the liver is] the viscus of the hun.15
於液為淚腎邪入肝故多淚

Among the bodily fluids [the liver] corresponds to tears, [therefore, when] the malignant [energy] of
the kidneys enter the liver, the tears are plenty.16
膽為肝之腑膽與肝合也
The gallbladder is the receptacle of the liver,17 the gallbladder and the liver are united.
黄庭経云｢和制魂魄津液平外應眼目日月精

[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court18 [it is] said, "[When] harmony is established [between] the hun
[and] p'o, the bodily fluids are balanced;19 [on] the outer [part of the body, the liver] corresponds to the
eyes, [thus] the sun [and] the moon are radiant.20
百疴(痾)所鍾存無英用同七日自充盈｣

[When] all kinds of 21 diseases22 accumulate, [one must] maintain23 Blossomless;24 [since the liver]
operates [the energies of] all [five viscera, in] seven days [the organs will be] filled by themselves."25
3.1.4. Spleen
脾属中央土旺於四季為黄帝

The spleen belongs to the center and Earth,1 [therefore] it is effulgent [throughout] the four seasons2 [and
it is] the Yellow Emperor.3
神形如鳳
[Its] deity is shaped like the Phoenix.4
象如覆翼
[The spleen] resembles an upside-down wing.5
名常在字魂庭
[Its deity is] called Eternal Existence,6 [its] given name is Court of Hun.7
正掩臍上横於胃坤之炁土之精也

In the middle, the spleen covers the upper [part of the] navel, [it is] at the side of the stomach; [it is] the
pneuma of the k'un [and] ching of the earth.
居心下三寸
[It] resides three inches below the heart.
重一斤二兩濶三寸長一尺

[It] weighs one pound [and] two ounces, [it is] three inches wide [and] one foot8 long.
脾為心子為肺母
The spleen is the child of the heart [and] the mother of the lungs.
外通眉
On the outer [part of the body, it] connects with the eyebrows.
口為之宮
The mouth9 is its officer.10
其神多嫉
Its deity has much hatred.11
脾無定形主土隂也故脾為五臟之樞
The spleen has no fixed position,12 [it] governs Earth13 [and] it is yin, therefore the spleen is the pivot of
the five viscera.14
開竅於口
[It] opens into the orifice of the mouth.15
在形為頰
In the body [it] corresponds to the cheeks.
脾脉出於隠白乃肉之本意處也
Spleen Meridian originates at the Hidden White16 [and] this is where the original intent17 of the flesh18 [is
found].19
黄庭経云｢治人百病消谷糧黄良(衣)紫帯龍虎章｣

[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court [it is] said, "It cures countless21 diseases of mankind [and]
20
digests foods; [it has a] yellow gown22 [and a] purple belt,23 [it] regulates the dragon and tiger."24
3.1.5a. Captions
1. 左玄腎門 The left is the Mystery,1 the Gate of Kidney

2. 右牝命門 The right is the Female,1 the Gate of Life-Destiny2
3. (Three talismanic characters)3
4. 銀河 Silver River4
5. 樞機 Pivotal Mechanism5
6. 瓊池 Red Pond
7. 琉池 Pond of Precious Stone
8. 湧谷道 Way of Gushing Valley6

9. 泉谷水 Water of Fountain Valley7
10. 玉爐 Jade Furnace8
腎屬北方水於卦屬坎
The kidneys1 belong to the direction north2 [and] Water;3 among the trigrams they correspond to k'an 坎.4
形似玄鹿兩頭名玄冥字育嬰

[They are] shaped like the Mysterious Deer5 [with] two heads; [their deity is] called Mysterious Dark6
[and its] given name is Nourishing the Infant.7
象如卵石子生對臍墜[月數](腰)脊
[The kidneys] appear like egg-shaped pebbles; [they are located] opposite the navel, suspending from the
lumbar spine.8
重二斤一兩
[They] weigh two pounds [and] one ounce.
主分水氣灌注一身如樹之有根

[They] govern the distribution of the energy of water, irrigating the entire body like roots of a tree.
左曰腎右曰命
The [one on the] left is called kidney [and] the [one on the] right the [Gate of] Life-Destiny.9
生炁之府死炁之門如守之則存用之則竭

[They are] the storehouses of living pneuma [and] the gate of dead pneuma;10 if [you] preserve them (i.e.,
the vital energies) [then they will] remain, [but if you over]use them [then they will] be drained.
為肝母為肺子
The kidneys are the mother of the liver [and] the child of the lungs.
耳為之宮(官)
The ears are the officers11 [of the kidneys].12
天之生我流氣而變謂之精

The Heaven gives life to us, [when] the current of energy is transmuted, it is called ching.
精氣往來為之神
The ching-ch'i alternates [and] turns into shen.
神者腎藏其情(精)者(志)
The shen; the kidneys store ching13 [and] the will.14
左属壬右属癸
The left [kidney] corresponds to jen 壬, [while] the right corresponds to kuei 癸.15
在辰為子亥
Among the [twelve horary] branches [the kidneys] correspond to tzu 子 [and] hai 亥.16
在氣為吹
Among the [six] breaths17 [they] correspond to ch'ui 吹.18
在液為唾
Among the bodily fluids [they] correspond to saliva.
在形為骨
In the body [they] correspond to the bones.19
経於上焦榮於上(中)焦衛於下焦

The kidney ch'i regulates the upper section of the triple heater, nourishes the middle20 section of the triple
heater, and protects the lower section of the triple heater.21
黄庭云｢腎部之宮玄関(闕)圓中有童子 | 冥 | 上玄
[In] the [Scripture of the] Yellow Court22 [it is] said, "The palace of kidney23 department is [like] a
dark portal24 [that is] round;25 inside there is a young boy26 [called] Upper Darkness.27
主諸六炁臟液源
[The kidneys] govern the six pneumas28 [and] are the origin of the visceral fluids.29
外應兩耳百津液｣
On the outer [part of the body, they] correspond to the ears;30 [they govern] numerous31 bodily fluids."32
内腎者兩儀也
The internal kidneys are the Two Principles.1
中間有連環是我真精
Between them there is a link connecting them [and] this is our true essence.2
内藏赤白二炁
Inside, [it] contains two pneumas, red [and] white.
在母腹中未有此身先有此穴

[When we were] in the mother's abdomen, before [we] had this body, there was this cave.
因有此穴始生此身
Because there was this cave, life has begun in this body.
左為玄陽右為牝隂
The left [kidney] is mysterious yang [while] the right is feminine yin.3
中穴實我後天之相(精)海又為真鉛
Inside the cavity, there is the Sea of Essence4 of True Self Later Heaven; [it is] also known as true lead.5
佛名趙州狗儒名太極
[Its] Buddhist name is Chao-chou's dog,6 [while its] Confucian name is the Great Ultimate.7
道云玄水郷鉛乃北方肅殺正氣紫河車

Taoists call [it] the Native Lead of the Mysterious Water8 [and] also Right Ch'i of Chilling Life9 in the
Direction North, [and] Purple River Chariot.10
順則生人逆則成仙
Following [the course of nature] gives birth to [ordinary] men; going against [it one] becomes an
immortal.11
一名漕溪
One of [its] names is the Rivulet.12
一名祖宮
[Its] another name is the Ancestral Palace.
通上下二眼降華池
[It] connects with the top and bottom of the two eyes [and] descends into the Flowery Pond.13
在舌内出名玉泉
From [the cavities below] the tongue comes out [a fluid] called the Jade Spring.14
桃康合延君頂蓮花
Peach Vigor;1 [his given name is] the Lord of Unity and Extension,2 [his another name is] Top of the
Lotus Flower.3
冠衣朱衣如真人状
[His] cap [and] garment are vermilion [in color and his] garment is like that of the perfected men.
住腎宮
[He] resides in the palace of the kidneys.
有碧紫黄白綠青赤蒼之炁乃北方八天所化也
[It] has emerald, purple, yellow, white, green, blue-green, red, [and] azure pneumas; actually these are
the transmutations of the Eight Heavens4 of the direction north.
3.2.1. Throat
舌下二竅名玄膺
Two cavities under the tongue are called Mysterious Breasts.1
後名咽吞下一切飲食
[The one at the] back is called the pharynx2 [and] all that we eat [and] drink is swallowed down [through
this aperture].
前名喉十二節為十二重樓通連河(清)氣者也

[The one in the] front is known as the trachea;3 [its] twelve segments make up the Twelve-Storied
Tower,4 [which] connects with pure ch'i.5
3.2.2. Gallbladder
膽者金之精水之氣
The gallbladder [represents] the ching of Metal [and] ch'i of Water.
其色青在肝短葉下
Its color is [dark] green [and it] lies beneath the liver's shorter petal.1
膽者敢也
The gallbladder is boldness.2
膽大者必不驚
When the gallbladder is big, [there] cannot be [any] fear.
神名龍耀字威明
[Its] deity 3 is called Dragon Glory,4 [its] given name is Majestic Illumination.5
形如龜蛇混形其象如懸袋
[The gallbladder is] shaped like the Turtle [and] Snake [whose] bodies are fused6 [and] it appears like a
suspended sack.7
重三兩三銖
[It] weighs three ounces [and] one-sixteenth [of an ounce].8
為肝之腑
[It is] the receptacle [organ] of the liver.9
若㨿膽當不在五臟之内應歸於六腑因膽亦受水氣與坎同道

If [we] rely on [the standard five phases theory, the gallbladder] should not be among the five viscera;
[it] should be returned to [the category of] the six receptacles, because the gallbladder also receives
energies of the fluids and [it has] the same path [as] k'an 坎.
又不可同於六腑故別立膽臟
Furthermore, [it] cannot be [regarded as] the same with the six receptacles, therefore [it] stands alone [as]
the gallbladder viscus.10
合於膀胱亦主毛髮
[It is] connected with the bladder; [it] also governs the hair.
黄庭経曰｢主諸氣力掛(攝)虎兵
[In] the Scripture of the Yellow Court11 [it is] said, "[The gallbladder] governs all physical strength
preserved12 by the tiger's army.
外應眼瞳鼻柱間
On the outer [part of the body, the gallbladder] corresponds to the eyes [and] pupils [and] the middle of
the bridge of the nose.13
脳髮相扶亦倶鮮
The brain [and] hair support each other; also, [the hair] becomes very bright.14
九色錦衣綠華裙｣
[The deity of the gallbladder wears] a nine-colored brocade dress [with] a green flower skirt."15
4. Elixir Fields
降(絳)宮中一穴實我性也

The Crimson1 Palace; inside [it there is] a cave [which is] the innate nature of the true self.
一名離卦一名午時
One of [its] names is [trigram] li 離;2 [its] another name is Hour of Wu 午.3
又號南宮
Also, [its] appellation is Southern Palace.4
受煉神室之所
[It is] where the chamber for refinement of the shen5 is [found].
又名姹女
[Its] another name is Young Girl.6
一名真隂又名碧眼胡兒
One of [its] names is True Yin; [its] another name is Blue-Eyed Foreign Child.7
在方為南
Among the directions, [it] is the south.
上所有掩骨覆之醫家名為鳩尾
Above [this] place there is a covering bone [which] covers [it]; the physicians call [it] the Turtledove's
Tail.
退此後九天思慮之神又云龍從火裏出是也
Withdrawal [of the mind from] this [cavity leads to] mental activity [eaten up by] thoughts [and] worries8
of the Nine Later Heavens;9 [this is] also called the "dragon exiting from within the fire".10
此田中炁左青右黄下黒上白
The pneumas inside this field are blue-green on the left, yellow on the right, black on the bottom, [and]
white on top.
下丹田真虎坎嬰兒處扶桑宮氣海水晶宮牝戸

The lower elixir field is [also known as] True Tiger, [Earth of]2 K'an 坎, Infant's Place,3 Mulberry
1
Palace,4 Sea of Energy,5 Water Crystal Palace, [and] the Door of the Feminine.6
中間一穴實我真精命蒂
Inside [it] there is a cave, [which is] real ching7 of the true self [and] Life Stem.8
在上一寸三分實造化之所天地之根

One [and] one-tenth of an inch above [it] is the place of true generation [and] transformation9 [and] the
root of the heaven and earth.
白頭老子青玄之處實我命造化山川也
[It is] the place of white-headed Lao-tzu's black mystery, [and] the life-destiny of the true self creating10
mountains [and] streams.
真一處水中金號金精實我先天之至精

[It is also called] the Place of True One, the Gold within Water; [its] appellation is Metal Essence,11 [it is
also called] Supreme Ching of the Former Heaven of the True Self.
又云虎向水中生一陽復初子時海底月人明初生我根基

[It is] also called the Tiger Facing Life within Water,12 One Yang Returning to Beginning,13 Tzu 子
Hour,14 Moon at the Bottom of the Sea,15 Human-Light,16 [and] Foundation of Primordial Self.17
此數名
[Thus it has] these several names.
Disciples [who] cultivate perfection must know these.
5. Three Passes
5.1. Upper Pass
玉枕関此處一名陽宮玉京山天柱木(太)乙穴雷霆宮

The Jade Pillow pass;1 one of the names of this place is Yang Palace on the Jade Capital Mountain,2 [it is
also known as] the Heavenly Pillar,3 Cave of the Great4 One, [and] Thunderclap Palace.
大椎骨前寸較處來也
[It is found in] front of the big vertebral bone,5 [at an] inch distance [from it].
寔上天遂行之徑路也
Truly, [this is] the upward pathway [for] advancing 6 [and] ascending to Heaven.7
内黄龍例(倒)以捲上冲(沖)湘江水上下通徹

Inner Yellow Dragon8 turns upside down,9 rolls upward, surges into the waters of Hsiang River,10 [and]
penetrates up and down.
此緊隂(陽)神守
[As] this [pass] is tight,11 the yang spirit12 [must be] gathered.
閉関至必用陽炁度方能冲(沖)通化應真炁
[This] needs using yang pneuma [in order to] force [the pass] open, it is [then] transformed into true
pneuma.13
至鵲橋而牛女桂(相)會育争(胎)嬰兒
[When it] arrives at the Magpie Bridge,14 the Altair and Vega [stars]15 meet16 [and] nourish the infant.17
5.2. Middle Pass
夾脊雙関實神仙升降之徑路
The Spinal Handle Dual Pass1 is truly the footpath of ascending to [and] descending from divine
immortality.2
是我身脉即膏肓穴道
It is our bodily pulse; [it] is the path of Kao-huang point.3
曰雙関内轆轤在中
[It is] called the Dual Pass; Inner Windlass4 is found inside [this point].
左為太陽右為太隂
[Its] left is the Great Yang, [while its] right is the Great Yin.
陽升路 | 血 | 通天柱穴又名内雙林通外雙林陽関脉状(伏)

[It is] the path of ascension of yang [energy], it connects with the Heavenly Pillar6 point, [it is] also
5
called Inner Double Grove,7 [which] connects with Outer Double Grove,8 [where] the vessel of yang pass
is hidden.9
此穴薰蒸関竅湧泉上通泥丸絡接降(絳)宮華池

This point steams [energy] into passes [and] cavities, [and to] the Gushing Spring10 [below]; above, [it]
connects with the Muddy Pellet, networks [and] connects with the Crimson11 Palace [and] the Flowery
Pond.12
取水降于華盖五行之所下丹田命帝(蒂)之内

[There it] gathers water [and] descends to the Flowery Canopy,13 [then to] the place of the five phases
[which is] inside the Life Stem14 [in] the lower elixir field.
5.3. Lower Pass
尾閭関一名九竅又名九頭獅子又名太子射九重鉄鼓

The Pass of Gate of Tail;1 one of [its] names is Nine Cavities;2 [its] another name is Nine-Headed Lion;3
[it is] also called the Prince Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum.4
隂関固関(閉) 常年不能開名九重鉄鼓

[This] yin pass is persistently blocked,6 often [it] cannot be opened [for] years, [therefore it is] named the
5
Nine-Layered Iron Drum.
太子純陽炁也能醍醐灌頂方能穿通故曰射九重鉄鼓

The Prince is pure yang pneuma; [he] can cause a rich liquid to pour into the top of the head7 [and] he can
pierce through [the head], therefore [it is] called Shooting Arrows at the Nine-Layered Iron Drum.
乃上天之徑路也
Indeed [this is] the footpath [for] ascending to Heaven.8
一名地軸神門又名朝天嶺
One of the names [of this pass] is the Gate of Earth Pivot Deity;9 [its] another name is Facing Up toward
a Mountain Range.10
一名龍虎穴一名三又(叉)
One of [its] names is Cave of Dragon and Tiger; [its] another name is Three-Forked [Bone].11
腎内有金鼎内外相通其三路上沂(通)夾脊直透頂門而上泥丸通一身之骨髓也

Inside the kidneys there is the Golden Cauldron,12 inside [and] outside are connected to each another; its
three paths13 connect with14 the Spinal Handle15 [above], directly penetrate the Gate of Crown16 and then
the Muddy Pellet above, [and] connect with the bone marrows of the entire body.
酆都
The Capital of Hell17
6.1. North (Li)
1. 南昌上宮 Upper Palace of the South Prosperity [Constellation]1

2. 絡(絳)宮 Crimson2 Palace
3. 呼接天根 Exhalation is uniting with the Root of Heaven.3
4. 心不動炁自固 When the mind is immovable, the pneuma consolidates by itself.4
5. 炁 ☲ Pneuma5 (Trigram li)
6. 就己 Approaching chi6
7. 朱陵火府 Fire Palace on the Vermilion Mound7
6.2. South (K'an)
1. 斗牛女虚 Dipper, Ox[-Boy], Maiden, Void1

2. 寒靈丹殿 Cold Numinosity Elixir Hall
3. 流戊 Flowing to wu2
4. 身不動精自固 When the body is immovable, the ching consolidates by itself.3
5. 精 ☵ Ching (Trigram k'an)4
6. 己 Chi5
7. 下丹 Lower elixir6
8. 玄武煞炁 Noxious pneuma7 of the Mysterious Warrior8
9. 危室壁 Rooftop, House, Wall9
10. 逆則聖順則凡 Going against [the course of nature] is [the way of] sages;
following [it] is [the way of] ordinary men.10
6.3. East (Chen)
☲(☳) (Trigram chen)1
一名東海青龍
One of [its] names is the Green Dragon of the Eastern Sea.
甲方
[It corresponds to] the direction of chia 甲.2
木液
Wood fluid.
在封(卦)属震
Among the trigrams3 [it] belongs to chen 震.
在方属東
Among the directions [it] belongs to the east.
在五行属木
Among the five phases [it] belongs to Wood.
在道為魂性也
In the Tao [it] is the hun [and it corresponds to] the innate nature.4
属火神之母
[It] belongs to the mother of fire shen.5
在五臟属肝
Among the five viscera [it] belongs to the liver.
在天為日
In the heaven [it] is the sun.
實我魂室之所也
[It is] the location of the Chamber of the True Self's Hun.
6.4. West (Tui)
☱ (Trigram tui)1
一曰西山白虎
Some call [it] the White Tiger of the Western Mountains.2
庚位
[It occupies] keng 庚 position.
金精
Metal ching.3
在卦屬兌
Among the trigrams [it] belongs to tui 兌.
在方屬西
Among the directions [it] belongs to the west.
在五行屬金
Among the five phases [it] belongs to Metal.
在道為魄情也
In the Tao [it] is the p'o [and it corresponds to] emotions.4
屬水精之母
[It] belongs to the mother of the water ching.5
在臓腑為肺
Among the viscera [and] receptacles [it] is the lungs.
在天為月
In the heaven [it] is the moon.
實我魄室之所也
[It is] the location of the Chamber of the True Self's P'o.
1. 黄庭 Yellow Court1
2. 中 Center2
3. 刀圭 Jade knife3
4. ☰ (Trigram ch'ien)4
5. 土釜 Earthen Crucible5
6. 魁[鬼勾][鬼雚]䰢魓[鬼甫]魒 K'uei, shao, huan, hsing, pi, fu, p'iao6
7. 意不動神自靈 [When] the intent is immovable, the shen [turns into]
numinosity by itself.7
1. 陽踰 Yang Entering [Vessel]

2. 陽蹻 Yang Heel [Vessel]2
3. 任脉 Conception Vessel3
4. 隂 Yin Heel [Vessel]4
5. 隂腧 Yin Transport [Vessel]5
1. 冬至 Winter Solstice Tung-chih

2. 小寒 Slight Cold Hsiao-han
3. 大寒 Great Cold Ta-han
4. 立春 Beginning of Spring Li-ch'un
5. 雨水 Rain Water Yü-shui
6. 驚蟄 Excited Insects Ching-che
7. 春分 Spring Equinox Ch'un-fen
8. 清明 Clear [and] Bright Ch'ing-ming
9. 穀雨 Grain Rains Ku-yü
10. 立夏 Summer Begins Li-hsia
11. 小滿 Grain Filling Hsiao-man
12. 芒種 Grain [in] Ear Mang-chung
13. 夏至 Summer Solstice Hsia-chih
14. 小暑 Slight Heat Hsiao-shu
15. 大暑 Great Heat Ta-shu
16. 立秋 Autumn Begins Li-ch'iu
17. 處暑 Limit of Heat Ch'u-shu
18. 白露 White Dew Pai-lu
19. 秋分 Autumn Equinox Ch'iu-fen
20. 寒露 Cold Dew Han-lu
21. 霜降 Hoar Frost Descends Shuang-chiang
22. 立冬 Winter Begins Li-tung
23. 小雪 Slight Snow Hsiao-hsüeh
24. 大雪 Great Snow Ta-hsüeh
1. 初一 First1
2. 初二 Second
3. 初三 Third
4. 初四 Fourth
5. 初五 Fifth
6. 初六 Sixth
7. 初七 Seventh
8. 初八弦 Eighth, [upper] crescent moon2
9. 初九 Ninth
10. 初十 Tenth
11. 十一 Eleventh
12. 十二 Twelfth
13. 十三 Thirteenth
14. 十四 Fourteenth
15. 十五望 Fifteenth, full moon3
16. 十六 Sixteenth
17. 十七 Seventeenth
18. 十八 Eighteenth
19. 十九 Nineteenth
20. 二十 Twentieth
21. 廿一 Twenty first
22. 廿二 Twenty second
23. 廿三弦 Twenty third, [lower] crescent moon4
24. 廿四 Twenty fourth
25. 廿五 Twenty fifth
26. 廿六 Twenty sixth
27. 廿七 Twenty seventh
28. 廿八 Twenty eighth
29. 廿九 Twenty ninth
30. 三十晦 Thirtieth, last day5
Stele Inscription
北京白雲觀藏板
Printing block is preserved at Beijing's White Cloud Temple.
Appendices
Appendix A:
Selected Passages
The Hsiu-chen T'u

Xiuzhen tu 修真圖: Diagram of Cultivating Perfection.
Probably dating from the early 19th century, this is a diagram (tu 圖) depicting the Daoist body in terms
of alchemical and cosmological principles. Versions of this diagram have been found in Guangdong, on
Wudang shan 武當山 (Hubei), on Qingcheng shan 青城山 (Sichuan), and in Daoist monasteries in
Beijing and Shanghai. It contains inscriptions in textual form, symbols of paradises, alchemical
symbolism and practice descriptions, lunar phases, names of the twenty-eight constellations, and
elements relating to thunder rites (leifa 雷法).
(Komjathy, 2004)
Complete Chart of the Regeneration of the Primary Vitalities

To conclude this subject we present a wood-block broadsheet printed at Chhêngtu in Szechuan by one
Tuan Fu 端甫 in 1922. Again we see the bodily microcosm, but not exactly sagittal of frontal, rather in
the sitting lotus position yet what might be called passant regardant. The title of the chart (Fig. 1588) is
especially significant in the present context – Hsiu Chen Chhüan Thu 修眞全圖 (Complete Chart of the
Regeneration of the Primary Vitalities). The general idea of the diagram is much the same as that of the
Nei Ching Thu 内經圖, but cruder and even more influenced by Buddhism. One notes immediately the
tracheal rings, the pulmonary lobes Buddhicised into a lotus flower surmounting the heart, and on the
right at the bottom the two kidneys. The great interest of the chart, however, is that it combines the Nei
Ching Thu system with macrocosmic elements as in the Ming Ching Thu 明鏡圖 (Fig. 1551), especially
the succession of lunar phases representing the constant cyclical changes of Yang and Yin chhi and i in
the body, so much so indeed that the spinal column is marked with all the twenty-four fortnightly periods
(chieh chhi 節氣) of the year. A very old feature is the appearance of the ching-chhi raising mechanisms
(cf. p. 108), the lu chhê 鹿車, yang chhê 羊車 and niu chhê 牛車 being situated approximately at the
places of the 'three gates' (san kuan 三關). The symbolical animals of the four directions of space (ssu
hsiang 四象) are prominent on each side at the top, in accordance with Taoist physiological alchemy. But
elsewhere there is much imagery of Buddhist character. The base of the body, for example, is represented
as a sharp blade, near which is a horse and rider; we are told that fools ride to their deaths on this steed
while sages mount it to become immortals – this is mirrored in the famous adage, marked just above, that
proceeding accordance to Nature leads to death while following counter-Nature leads to immortality
(shun tsê ssu, ni tsê hsien 順則死逆則仙).1 Just beside this is an open fan containing the names of nine
Buddhist hells. Upwards again the reins and the heart are represented by two boys each marked with a
suitable kua 卦, as one would expect, with Chhien kua in the Yellow Court; but on each side (and
elsewhere in the diagram) we find complicated and unusual characters, the printed forms of the exorcistic
talismans (fu 符). Lastly, a feature differing from the Nei Ching Thu is the greater use of medical
terminology, a number of acupuncture points being indicated as well as the tu mo and jen mo tracts.
Moreover in the panels of print at the sides there are relics of the older anatomical descriptions in which
even standard weights of organs can be found mentioned. And although the nei tan microcosmos has
been so much Buddhicised these panels still contain and expound several texts from the Huang Thing
Ching.
1. This is a perspicuous reminiscence of the ancient practice of 'sending the semen upwards to nourish the brain' (cf. pp. 30, 197
ff.); or at least a meditational recall of it, conceived entirely in terms of chhi, and taking its place within a context of Buddhist
vinaya celibacy.
(Needham 1983: 116, 118)
The Hsiu-chen Ch'üan T'u

The Hsiu Chen Chhüan Thu 修眞全圖 (Complete Chart of the Regeneration of the Primary Vitalities), a
Chhêngtu wood-block broadsheet of the twenties. It combines the macrocosmic elements of the + 10th-
century Ming Ching Thu 明鏡圖 (Fig. 1551) with the Taoist physiology of the Nei Ching Thu 内經圖
(Fig. 1587).
(Needham 1983: 117)
The Hsiu-chen T'u and Nei-ching T'u
Building on earlier traditions, especially those of the Huangting jing, the neidan view of the human
beings has often been represented in diagrams and illustrations. The most famous are the Neijing tu 内經
圖 (Chart of the Inner Warp), whose main version dates from 1886 and is found in Beijing's Baiyun guan
白雲觀 (White Cloud Temple), and the more detailed Xiuzhen tu 修真圖 (Chart of the Cultivation of
Perfection), transmitted in several versions
(Pregadio and Skar: 2000)
Inner Deities in the Hsiu-chen T'u

Neidan has preserved visible traces of earlier practices in both of its best-known charts of the inner body,
the Neijing tu and Xiuzhen tu. The Neijing tu includes several divine beings in its representation of the
"inner landscape," and the Xiuzhen tu explicates its visual map of the inner alchemical process with
passages related to the Huangting jing
(Pregadio, 2008)
China and the Alternative Anatomy

Although ancient civilizations such as Egypt, China, Babylonia, and India were producing some of
history's first medical illustrations before 1500 B.C. (Netter, 1957) (Figure 16), many disregard these as
contributions to the development of anatomy (MacKinney, 1965). "It is evident that the Chinese have not
pursued in medicine a program calculated to lead them to any great success. They have undoubtedly been
held back in this as in other spheres of knowledge by their extreme reverence for ancestral beliefs and
customs," (Waye, 1973). Thus, the foundations of anatomical inquiry are traditionally attributed to the
Ancient Greeks (Allbutt, 1921).
From the Han dynasty (221 B.C. - 220 A.D.) to the 19th century, the West underwent revolutions in
printing technology, art, anatomy, and medicine. Disproved theories were continually being replaced
with new ones, a revered practice in the West. But, in China, little changed. Rather, history accumulated
in layers; new thoughts co-existed with old ones. Chinese history's quintessential medical text, The
Huang Di Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Canon of Internal Medicine), had amassed new theories since
before 200 B.C. (Alphen and Aris, 1995) such that the most current medical knowledge always had roots
centuries old.
Similarly, illustrations remained so unchanged from their earliest symbolic representations that we
wonder whether this reflects a lack of the observational skill the Greeks took centuries to perfect. More
likely, it shows their concern was not, as it was for the Greeks, over the exact locations and appearances
of particular structures; rather, it was on the ideas and deductions to be drawn from them. Ultimately, a
chart of acupunctural points and the courses of qi within the body is just as successful in communicating
the thought behind it as an illustration from Vesalius' Fabrica is in elucidating tissues such as muscles.
Without the means for making concrete observations, the Chinese based their knowledge of anatomy on
metaphor. They compared the body to their perceived universe, where health was a balance of Yin
(negative, female energy), Yang (positive, male energy), and the Five Phases (earth, water, metal, fire,
wood) (Alphen and Aris, 1995). Physicians of China, a country rooted in agriculture, likened the body to
a plant. They described a flowering of the face, a body being nurtured by the zang (organs) and illness as
a wilting, fading, limpness, shriveling, or desiccation (Kuriyama, 1999).
The Chinese drew mystical numerical associations, called the Da shu, or "great numbers." It was no
coincidence to the ancient Chinese, for example, that our four limbs matched the number of seasons and
directions, and that in the one record of a human dissection on the body of the rebel Wangsun Qing, the
hired butchers of his captor, Wang Mang, reported finding five zang (liver, gall bladder, heart, spleen,
kidneys) corresponding to the five planets; 12 vessels circulating blood and air corresponding to the 12
rivers flowing toward the Central Kindgom; and 365 parts of the body, one for each day of the year
(Lingshu 13/311).
Internal organs were not regarded as distinct entities describable by shape, color or form; or as having
distinct functions the way we consider legs suitable for walking and eyes useful for sight. Such things as
thought and blood flow were not assigned origins in the brain and in the heart as they had been for the
Ancient Greeks (Gordon, 1949). Neither were direct causes and effects acknowledged as when a nerve is
cut, the arm falls limp, or when an artery is blocked, the pulse disappears. Rather, Chinese physicians
saw unbiased power shifting among the body's parts; they drew indirect causes and effects for affected
organs with larger spans of time between events. Thus, a weak spleen could lead to emaciation and a
lung injury to a coarsening of the skin (Suwen 8/28 - a manuscript preserving the text of the Nanjing, first
compiled during the Han Dynasty 221 B.C. - 220 A.D.). They conceived an imaginary organ system called
"the three burning spaces," one of the six fu, distributed over upper, middle, and lower parts of the body,
and representing heaven, earth, and man (Veith, 1973).
They had mastered the art of pulse diagnosis, well recorded in the Nanjing, (The Classic of Difficult
Issues). Pressing the wrist lightly a physician could assess the state of the skin and pores and of the lungs
that governed them. Pressing harder, he could determine the state of blood vessels. Still pressing harder,
he gleaned information on the tendons and liver, and at the deepest level, he could know the condition of
the kidneys and of the bones over which they presided (Figure 17). Illustrations of the pulse, or mo, place
it within the theory of the Five Phases; they show links between the hollow pulse of fire, the floating
pulse of metal, the slow beat of earth, the deep rhythms of water (Figure 18) (Kuriyama, 1999).
What a Greek physician would have manually had to investigate in order to locate the source of
illness, the Chinese physician would deduce by a mere look from the five characteristic colours, or wuse,
on the body's surface. From these, he could tell whether a patient suffered pain (green or black), cold
(white) or fever (red or yellow) (Kuriyama, 1999) (Figure 19).
When the Chinese empire became unified and isolated states formed economic ties, the body became
a metaphor for the state as well as a microcosm of the universe (Figure 4). It was seen as composed of
depots and palaces connected by conduits. Invisible vapors called qi flowed through these conduits and
maintained health, while obstruction caused illness (Alphen and Aris, 1995). Acupuncture was a way of
influencing the bodily functions by redirecting the flow of qi within the conduits by various techniques of
needle insertion. Developed in the 2nd century, it eventually replaced older procedures of bleeding, still a
popular practice in the West at the time. Charts of the various directions and locations of qi traditionally
show four views: front, back, side, and a view with organs (Alphen and Aris, 1995). These charts, created
during the seven centuries between the Song period and the 19th century, demonstrate the ancient
Chinese disregard for specific organ morphology (Figure 20).
(Matuk, 2006)
Taoist View of the Human Body as the Natural World

An expanded vision of the body as the natural world appears in the medieval Daoist school of Highest
Clarity (Shangqing 上清). According to this, the human body is not only a combination of natural
patterns and energies but also an inner sphere containing supernatural landscapes and divine beings. The
body is a complete world with mountains and rivers, a divine and cosmic realm, a paradise and residence
of the gods.
This understanding appears first in the Huangting jing 黄庭經 (Yellow Court Scripture), a
visualization manual from the fourth century C.E. In a more recent visual depiction, it is found in the
Neijing tu 内經圖 (Chart of Interior Passages). Here the celestial headquarters within is located in the
head and matches the immortals' paradise of Mount Kunlun. It is depicted as a large, luscious mountain
surrounded by a wide lake and covered with splendid palaces and wondrous orchards (see Fig. 2: Neijing
tu).
Between the eyes, which are the sun and the moon, one can move inside to the Hall of Light, one of
nine palaces in the head. Best reached by passing through the deep, dark valley of the nose, it is guarded
by the two high towers of the ears. To attain entry one has to perform the physical/ritual exercise of
"beating the heavenly drum": with both palms covering the ears, snap the index and middle fingers to
drum against the back of the skull. Underneath the valley of the nose is a small lake, i.e., the mouth. This
regulates the water level of the upper lake in the head and raises or lowers it as necessary. Crossing the
mouth-lake over its bridge (tongue) and moving further down, one reaches the twelve-storied tower of
the throat, then comes to the Scarlet Palace (heart), the Yellow Court (spleen), the Imperial Granary
(stomach), the Purple Chamber (gall), and various other starry palaces transposed into the body's depth.
Going ever deeper, another cosmic region is reached, with another sun and moon (kidneys). Beneath
them, the Ocean of Qi extends with another Mount Kunlun in its midst. Various divine beings, moreover,
reside in the body, creating vitality and providing spiritual resources.
The Daoist vision of the body as a network of celestial passageways and starry palaces closely
overlaps with the medical understanding of the body as consisting of various aspects of qi and the phase-
energetics of the five organs and six viscera. Many acupuncture points have Daoist connotations, and
Chinese healing practices and physical longevity exercises are at the root of Daoist practice. Without
losing any aspect of the medical dynamics, the Daoist vision provides a more cosmic and spiritual
dimension of the same basic understanding, allowing adepts to move beyond mundane existence toward
a greater, more spiritual realm, reaching out for the gods in the stars and thereby for the Dao at the center.
(Kohn, 2006: 8-10)
Taoist View of the Human Body as the Natural World

Reorienting the body to be the container of heavenly palaces and deities, to be in fact a cosmos in itself,
adepts attain oneness in body and spirit with the cosmic dimensions of the universe. As all parts of the
body are transformed into divine entities and firmly guarded by their responsible gods, the very
physicality of the adept turns into a cosmic network and becomes the celestial realm in which the gods
reside. Visualizing and feeling the gods within the bodily self, the Daoist becomes a more cosmic being,
transforming but not relinquishing his physical, embodied nature.
(Kohn, 2006: 11)
Appendix B:
Charting a New Itinerary of Perfection in Medieval China:
The Formation and Uses of the Diagram on Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu)
Lowell Skar
There was no such thing as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu), and this paper is about it.
That statement, true enough until the eighteenth century, some two hundred years after the period I
consider here, admits the existence, from the fourth century, of a rich and expanding set of ideas,
practices, and writings under the rubric Cultivating Perfection (xiuzhen) (see diagrams 1-3). In its earliest
incarnation among fourth-century literati around modern Nanking, this perfection complex centered on
sensuously identifying gods of the body with cosmic deities through imagining and absorbing their astral
embodiments. Moreover, while we know of no illustration that mapped the inner potential of a human
being to attain perfection called Xiuzhen tu until several centuries later, there were, from the thirteenth
century, diagrams that articulated human perfectibility from the inside out called the Diagram of the
Inner Realm (Neijing tu 内境圖). These illustrations emerged from the same literati milieu in Fujian and
Jiangxi that had reinterpreted Cultivating Perfection as an essentially alchemical process centered on the
inner refinement of a human being's endowed primary vitalities. Variants of the diagram bearing this
name became known, apparently from the eighteenth century, as Diagrams of Cultivating Perfection to
distinguish them from the simpler illustration of the inner perfectibility that assumed the label Diagram
of the Inner Channels (Neijing tu 内經圖) and, later, the Diagram of the Inner Effulgences or Landscape
(Neijing tu 内景圖) (see diagram 4).
Because it did not yet exist under its now common designation, this paper deals with what could be
termed either a pre-history of the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu). Alternatively, it can be
seen as a history of the early Diagram of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu 内境圖). However envisioned, the
paper seeks to provide a perspective on the changing historical background and spiritual priorities of
Chinese literati between the fourth and fifteenth centuries by exploring the formation, elaboration, and
transformation of the ideas, practices, writings, and diagrams of what have come to be called Cultivating
Perfection. The tentative suggestions presented here await further cycles of scholarly enrichment and
refinement through such venues as the AAS.
Unlike the anatomical drawings dominant in pre-modern Western medical literature, which focus on
accurately depicting the human flesh and organs that mark man as a mortal, the Chinese diagrams
explored here depict a schematized human being as an integral part of the cosmos and who contains the
potential to achieve a distinctively Chinese form of perfection and immortality. Despite their common
designations today as the Xiuzhen tu (Diagram of Cultivating Perfection) and Neijing tu (Diagram of the
Inner Effulgences 内景圖) and the many structural parallels in their organization, appearance and aims,
the two diagrams are distinct, and bore various names in earlier centuries. Their development reflects a
complex evolution in a complex cultural environment whose contours I will explore is this paper. Both
diagrams present a schematic view of a human being seated upright and cross-legged in meditation,
viewed from one side, sometimes from the left and sometimes from the right. In their full forms, both
charts emphasize three parts of the body – the head, chest, and lower belly – which they portray as
connected by way of the spine. Adepts used these visual aids within larger programs of self-cultivation
that sought to assert themselves as living images of the Way by learning to retrace the path of their lives
and of cosmic process to the ultimate sources that make all things possible. Achieving this end demanded
that adepts accumulated merit, gained the trust and instruction of a worthy teacher and practiced his
teachings and faithfully diligently. If successful, their efforts could help adepts to fortify their individual
health, nurture their ancestors, restore their native culture against foreign threats, and ritually save all
living beings.
Before the eighteenth century, there was no Xiuzhen tu. From its first appearance in the thirteenth
century, the chart later called Xiuzhen tu and its cognates were known as Diagrams of the Inner Realm
(Neijing tu). This shift in designation was due, it is suggested here, to a change in spiritual allegiance by
the imperial court in the transition between the Ming and Qing dynasty. Beginning in the late Ming
dynasty, the Longmen branch of the Complete Perfection (Quanzhen 全眞) tradition gained imperial
support. They promoted a new diagram of the human body's cosmic dimensions in their main temple in
Beijing under the name Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Channels 内經圖). This led to a renaming of the
earlier diagram as the Xiuzhen tu, most likely because of its close ties to the Cultivating Perfection
literature that had existed since the twelfth century. It was only been since the nineteenth century,
apparently, that this latter chart has been called the Diagram of Inner Effulgences (Neijing tu 内景圖).
I relate the diagrams to textual material on Cultivating Perfection. This will help to illuminate its
historical development and range of uses by adepts. It is significant that the earliest known examples of
what we now call the Xiuzhen tu appeared almost simultaneously in a medical book and, in piecemeal
form, a book of religious self-cultivation (see attached diagrams). Both of them arose from the same
literati circles in northern Jiangxi and Fujian. They were the visual crystallizations of larger
reassessments of medicine and Cultivating Perfection practices that coalesced during Southern Song
times as part of the emerged of a new Golden Elixir tradition of alchemy rooted in the teachings of
Zhang Boduan and his successors, but also had clear ties to earlier traditions.
Of these traditions, the most important was the Supreme Purity (Shangqing 上清). This tradition
arose in Jiangsu during the Six Dynasties era as revelations from Lady Wei Huacun and other divine
figures to literati families from 364 to 370. At the turn of the sixth century, Tao Hongjing (536-356)
reassembled, collated, and annotated manuscript copies of these revelations into a system of teachings
and a spiritual hierarchy that made Cultivating Perfection into a refined and hierarchical mode of literati
self-cultivation into the divine realm. During the Tang reconsolidation of China and its culture, literati
incorporated these teachings and ideas into the broader spiritual culture based in the central court and
important sacred mountains of Tang and Northern Song times. This broader view of Cultivating
Perfection was associated with such figures as Sima Chengzhen, Celestial Master Wu, Lou Jing, and
Yanluozi, and included practices of self-cultivation, medicine, and fundamental Daoist ritual.
As literati reassessed and enriched Chinese culture amid the rapid changes in society between the
mid-Tang and mid-Song dynasty (i.e. from the mid-eighth to the mid-twelfth centuries), they "turned
inward," in the manifold senses of this phrase proposed by the late James T.C. Liu. Part of this turn
inward expressed itself in the rise of alchemical traditions focused less and less regularly on the
manipulations of minerals and metals and more on imagining internal refinement with alchemical
language and imagery. What we now know as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection and its
corresponding literature took shape in illustrative and written materials in the literati culture of the
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries associated with traditions of medicine and inner alchemy in Fujian
and Jiangxi.
Before its cultural recycling in Southern Song and Yuan times, Cultivating Perfection had
consolidated itself in the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) tradition of aristocratic self-cultivation in modern
Jiangsu during the Six Dynasties, and expanded to include ritual activity in the Heavenly Masters
(Tianshi 天師) or Rectifying Unity (Zhengyi 正一) tradition in Tang times, especially as elaborated in
the Three Profundities (Sandong 三洞) systematization. By the thirteenth century it had become part of
the Rectifying Rites of the Heart of the Heaven (Tianxin zhengfa 天心正法) tradition and was central to
a new mode of inner cultivation codified by the circle of Bai Yuchan in northern Fujian and Jiangxi in
relation to new traditions of medicine in those areas. These developments will be explored below.
Cultivating Perfection before the Tang

The terms Cultivation (xiu) and Perfection (zhen) have been long used in China, but xiuzhen first became
a prominent compound in the revelations of the Supreme Purity movement from 364-370 and their
codification by Tao Hongjing around the turn of the sixth century.
The verb xiu 修 has a range of meanings that encompasses its original significance as "decorate,"
"ornament," or "trim" to include the meanings of "repair," "mend," "improve," "prepare," "put in order,"
and "practice," "train" and, of course, "cultivate," although it lacks the agricultural background central to
the latter English term. It is also related to the homophonic stative verb xiu that signifies "be long." The
nominal zhen 眞 generally points toward the senses of "genuine," "authentic," "true," "real," and "actual"
and is related to the terms zhen "test," "try out," "correct," "upright," and "chaste" and zheng "upright,"
"correct," "right," "proper," or "rectify." Perfection becomes an ideal for human beings in the writings of
Zhuangzi and is also a central part of the classical medical traditions.
The two terms only appear as a consistent compound in the Six Dynasties era, primarily in the
revelations to southern aristocrats from the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) celestial realm in the late fourth
century. (There are no occurrences of the compound, for instance, in Ge Hong's writings.) The words xiu
and zhen appear side by side a scant four times in the Declarations of the Perfected (Zhen'gao 眞誥, CT
1016), which is the fundamental scholarly analysis of the main teachings and practices of the Shangqing
tradition completed by Tao Hongjing in 499. All four of these instances relate to Xu Mi and none of
them suggest that xiuzhen was a highly developed set of ideas or practices in the earliest phase of the
movement. After presenting his terms of office, Xu's biography states, for example, "While outwardly
blending in with worldly affairs, he inwardly cultivated the learning of the perfected" (CT 1016, 20.8b).
Two other examples include one from the first chapter "How to seek the Way? Climb up and respond
with a diligent mind for cultivating perfection" (CT 1016, 1.4b) and one from the fifth chapter that treats
the Nine Troubles (jiuhuan 九患) in Learning the Way advises the adept to "cultivate perfection and
embrace simplicity (xiuzhen baosu 修眞抱素)" (5.12b). A final passage asks one to "understand the
basics of Cultivating Perfection [through] nourishing divinities and vital nature (yingshen yangxing 營神
養性), and the methods of securing and protecting (zhenshou zhi fa 鎭守之法)" (8.12b-13a). These four
instances do not suggest a well-developed set of ideas and practices centered on cultivating perfection.
The makings of this more elaborate scheme perhaps came from a cognate phrase such as xiuxing
shangzhen zhi dao 修行上眞之道 or "practice the Way of Supreme Perfection," of which xiuzhen may
be considered an abbreviation. In its abbreviated form, xiuzhen later came to designate the whole system
of religious practice advocated by the Shangqing tradition. After this system was integrated into the other
systems of Daoist practice among literati and kings between late sixth and early eighth centuries, it
expanded to become more encompassing, elaborate, and more integrated into the aspirations of in fifth
and sixth century China. The specific meaning of this practice was at first contrasted with practicing the
Ways of Intermediate Perfection (zhongzhen 中眞) and Inferior Perfection (xiazhen 下眞). While early
materials suggests one vision of what this form of practice meant, later Shangqing materials give this
hierarchy of perfection fuller elaboration.
The early meaning of this form of practice seem to refer to the three levels of teachings seem to refer
to the Way taught by the key patriarchs of the movement, the three Mao brothers, Mao Ying, and his two
younger siblings, Mao Gu and Mao Zhong. While Mao's preferred teachings were part of the teachings
transmitted by Wei Huacun to the world of literati, she later passed on a more refined and complex body
of teachings and cosmological scheme to late fourth century literati that Tao Hongjing codified a century
later. As the main purveyor of Shangqing teachings to the world, Wei Huacun, has the term Supreme
Perfection (shangzhen 上眞) as part of her title. A key passage in the Zhen'gao (CT 1016 2.4b) has Lady
Wei say on behalf of the Elder Mao: "To inwardly illuminate the Perfectly Upright (zhengzhen 正眞) and
to outwardly blend into the worldly duties (shiye 事業) is [the mark of someone of] excellent talent. This
is cultivating the Way of Highest Perfection." Such an expression is a close counterpart to the phrase Tao
later uses to describe Xu Mi (CT 1016 20.8b). Elsewhere we read (9.18a-b) what Yang Xi had heard
about the Way of Supreme Perfection. It began with practicing the method of the Brilliant Hall and
Mysterious Perfection (Mingtang xuanzhen 明堂玄眞) and culminated in receiving the Way of the Jade
Pendant and Golden Ring (yupei jindang zhi dao 玉佩金鐺之道 ). This passage suggests that
understanding and practicing the latter granted one access to the highest realms in the Shangqing
tradition. Mao Ying's hagiography states that the Nine-times Cycled Divine Elixir (jiuzhuan shendan 九
轉神丹), see Strickmann 1979: 146-151) constituted the level of practice just below the two mentioned
above. These three levels made up the heart of what three Mao brothers practiced. It also suggests that
the early phase of Shangqing revelations included a three-tiered hierarchy likely constituting the three
levels of Perfection corresponding to the three levels of teachings (Nine-times Cycled Divine Elixir,
Brilliant Hall and Mysterious Perfection, and the Jade Pendant and Golden Ring) stressed by Mao Ying.
As the Shangqing revelations continued to enter the world, a more elaborate scheme of perfection
seems to have emerged. Extant versions of the Perfect Scripture of the Eight [Carriages or Divine Ladies
of] Simplicity (Basu zhenjing 八素眞經), for example, explicitly give a four-tiered vision of revealed
scriptures, with three titles constituting the Way of the Most High [Lord Lao] (Taishang 太上), and
seven, six, and eight titles, respectively, constituting the Ways of Supreme, Intermediate and Lower
Perfection (shangzhen 上眞, zhongzhen 中眞, xiazhen 下眞). While practicing the Way of the Most High
grants one access to the Jade Purity (Yuqing 玉清) realm, practicing the three Ways of Perfection grants
one access to the upper, middle, and lower ranks of the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) realm. Listed among
the texts of the Way of Supreme Perfection are those central scriptures such as those of the Great
Profundity (Dadong), Nine Perfected (Jiuzhen 九眞), Purple Texts Written by the Spirits (Lingshu ziwen
靈書紫文) and the Eight [Carriages or Divine Ladies of] Simplicity (Basu 八素).
Isabelle Robinet has shown that while the practices and methods included in these latter highly
literate texts show considerable variety, they generally represent an interiorization and refinement of
earlier religious practices known in the south by ancestors of those who received the Shangqing
revelations such as Ge Hong, as well as some of the Celestial Masters practices. In particular, they
concentrate on summoning, visualizing, and uniting various deities that dwell in adepts' own bodies at
the same time as they seek to project perfected replicas of themselves outward to meet the deities in the
astral realms where they dwell. Thus, their core practices consisted of a simultaneous actualization of the
gods in the body and an imaginary projection of a spiritualized self to the same gods in the heavens.
Especially noteworthy among these practices are those which deal with absorbing and uniting the sacred
masculine effulgences (jing 景) of the sun and moon with corresponding energies in the human body that
are central to the above texts and learning to do the same with their obscure counterparts, the divine
feminine simplicities (su 素). This preliminary work gave adepts access to higher practices involving the
deities in the planets, and finally to contemplative practices centered on the central, pivotal source-point
of the cosmos centered on constellation of the Big Dipper and its various deities.
While Cultivating Perfection was thus a rare compound in early Shangqing texts, as an abbreviation
of the main contemplative innovations of this tradition, it originally referred to a specific set of practices.
When Tao Hongjing (456-536) systematized the Shangqing tradition, he provided it a broader foundation
that made it possible for it to be used as a general term for pursuing Daoist religious practice by Tang
times. Part of what made this generalization possible was the systematic linking of certain forms of
spiritual practice to patterns of advancement into specific celestial realms by Tao Hongjing. He
reassembled and codified manuscript versions of the Shangqing revelations and created a movement of
self-cultivation for his literati fellows based on Maoshan in Jiangsu at the end of the fifth century. Part of
his efforts included his systematic organization of the structure of spiritual beings and spiritual
advancement for Shangqing adepts. He inherited the three-tiered spiritual hierarchy articulated by his
distant relatives. Ge Hong (383-343), who wrote of the high Heavenly Transcendents (tianxian 天仙)
who could travel through the heavens, the middling Earthly Transcendents (dixian 地仙) who could
traverse the holy mountains, and the lower Transcendents by Release from the Corpse (shijiexian 尸解仙)
who only apparently died, as well as stressing the Great Purity (Taiqing 太清) as the first stop in the
celestial realm. After his successors had received revelations from the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) realm
they realized that Ge's scheme included only the lower rungs of what was possible in becoming holy. In
order to give greater coherence to this scheme, Tao devised a full divine hierarchy in his Chart of the
Positions and Duties of the Perfected and Numina, in the Cavern-Mystery tradition (CT 167, Dongxuan
lingbao Zhenling weiye tu 洞玄靈寶眞靈位業圖). This work provides us with Tao's spiritual hierarchy,
and survives with an undated preface signed by Tao was corrected by the late Tang Daoist Lüqiu
Fangyuan (d. 902). Tao's preface says that the text seeks to put some order to the jumble of the Daoist
spiritual hierarchies that existed in south China at the time. The text presents more than 500 deities in a
seven-tiered pantheon that is topped by the super-celestial Jade Purity (Yuqing) realm, followed by the
Supreme Purity (Shangqing), Great Ultimate (Taiji), and Great Purity (Taiqing) celestial realms, leading
to the transitional Nine Palaces (Jiugong 九宮) and the worldly Earthly Transcendents (dixian) realms,
and finally to the demonic Fengdu 酆都 netherworld.
The basic spiritual hierarchy articulated by Tao in the south was also central to vision of divine order
articulated by Daoists in the court of the northern Zhou at the end of the sixth century. Two extant
chapters (83-84) of the Secret Essentials of the Unsurpassed (CT 1138, Wushang miyao 無上秘要)
include more than 500 deities ranked into six classes that parallel the first five levels of the spiritual
hierarchy presented by Tao. (The only difference is that the rank of the Earthly Perfected [dizhen 地眞]
is inserted just above that of Earthly Transcendents, just before the rank of the Nine Palaces). The last
sentence in chapter 84 suggests that chapters 85 and 86 (now missing) most likely included the deities of
the realms of Supreme Purity and Jade Purity. This ranking is confirmed in chapter 78 that deals with the
medicinal recipes that will lead to various advances, with the minor exception that the rank of the Earthly
Perfected is called the that of the Heavenly Transcendents (Tianxian). The chapters of this compendium
of earlier texts for the court that deal with practices of "releasing from the corpse" (shijie 尸解) (chapters
87-100, missing 88-90) likewise link them to various ranks of spiritual development, but not in the order
we have encountered previously. Instead, their top four levels are ranked from Ultimate to Supreme
Purity to Jade Purity and Great Purity. These seven ranks are largely identical to the broader
understanding of Daoism that that sought to provide some order to the Daoist traditions that had emerged
in the previous three centuries.
The above considerations give a glimpse of some of the efforts to articulate the common foundations
of various Daoist traditions that energized Tang dynasty priests. They also begin to show the way that
some of the ideas and visions of spiritual practice developed by the Supreme Purity movement could
become central to this process of consolidation, and how the narrow understanding of Cultivating
Perfection could come to have greater significance within these foundations.
Cultivating Perfection in Tang and Northern Song Times

During the Tang dynasty, the earlier ideas of cultivating perfection rooted in the sensuous forms of
imaginary visualization of deities central to the Supreme Purity movement as codified by Tao Hongjing
became key parts of more comprehensive structures of Daoist traditions sponsored by the central court
and state-sponsored mountain religious centers. In spite of the emergence of new Daoist revelatory
traditions and practices during the intervening three centuries, especially in the south, early Song rulers
and priests generally sought to reassemble and promote the forms of Daoism that their Tang predecessors
had codified. By the end of the Northern Song in the first quarter of the twelfth century, the failure of
classical Daoist traditions to repel encroachments by both invading Jurchen troops and new revelatory
traditions and deity cults led to a military and spiritual breaching of the walls of the imperial central
court.
One fine example of this broader synthesis of Daoist religion from Tang times appears in the Genuine
Ranks of Cultivating Perfection in the Seven Realms (CT 433, Qiyu xiuzhen chengpin 七域修眞證品圖),
which dates from Tang times. The preface to this work states that the Yellow Emperor articulated the
"Way of Nonintervention and the essentials of Eternal Life and Cultivating Perfection" (wuwei zhi dao
changsheng xiuzhen zhi yao 無爲之道長生修眞之要, CT 433.3a). It then articulates what it means by
each these three things. By the Way of Nonintervention, the author discusses the emergence and normal
working of the cosmos which leaves nothing in nature undone. The author uses Eternal Life to remind
readers of the results of preserving and nurturing the three fundamental endowments of human life: the
vitalities of qi (corresponding to the Way), spirit (shen, corresponding to heaven) and essence (jing,
corresponding to the earth). Finally, Cultivating Perfection refers to the 98,000 "methods of Cultivating
the Way for following the ordinary up to the sacred, rising and falling through the Seven Realms.... The
gateways for Cultivating the Way and the paths for Climbing to Perfection are all able to result in
ascending to the heavens for those who are able to diligently work at them for a long time." (CT 433.2a).
It then quotes a passage that articulates the Nine Troubles in a simpler, but fuller way than presented in
the above passage from the Zhen'gao (CT 1016, 5.12b).
Besides dealing with a nearly identical set of seven realms found in Tao Hongjing's work (CT 167),
the author also relates them to seven groups of scriptures and seven repertoires of practice that will
permit the adept to attain a give spiritual realm. The bottom-up ranking (which contrasts with Tao's top-
down ranking) suggests that it was meant for religious practitioners on their way up rather than meant as
a synoptic overview of an orthodox hierarchy, as Tao's text was. Similar to other texts, this one uses the
term Realm (jing 境) as a synonym for the word Realm (yu 域) in its title. From the bottom up, the seven
ranks include the seventeen minor Cavern-Heavens (Dongtian 洞天) and the Ten Great Cavern-Heavens,
leading up to the transitional Nine Palaces realm, followed by the three lower celestial realms of various
perfected beings (Great Purity, Great Ultimate, Supreme Purity), and culminating in the super-celestial
Jade Purity realm which hold the highest hypostases of the Way.
In relating these realms to sets of scriptures and their associated practices, it is important to note that
the first scripture mentioned in this text as embodying the "Way of Transcendence" (xiandao 仙道) was
the Genuine Scripture of the Eight [Carriages or Divine Ladies] of Simplicity (Basu zhenjing 八素眞經).
As mentioned above, this scripture presented four levels of practice and attainment for the fully
developed Supreme Purity movement. Underlying and fundamental to these four levels in this text are
the so-called "practices of the nine cycle" (jiuzhuan zhi xing 九轉之行) of the Cavern-Heavens, directed
in the first level toward transcendence (xian) and in the second level toward perfection (zhen). The third
through seventh levels of practice all begin with these practices directed toward the dead in various parts
of the realm. The third, transitional, level centers on cultivating the Scriptures of the Numinous Treasure
(Lingbao 靈寶) and the Nine Palaces. Levels four through six deal respectively with cultivating the
Perfect Way of Intermediate Rank (Zhongpin zhendao 中品眞道), the Perfect Way of Supreme Rank
(Shangpin zhendao 上品眞道), and the Perfect Way of the Three Ranks (Sanpin zhendao 三品眞道),
while the final, uppermost seventh rank centers on cultivating the Way of the Most High (Taishang zhi
dao 太上之道). These last four correspond to those found in the Basu zhenjing.
In this elaborate scheme of Daoist traditions devised in the Tang, Cultivating Perfection is no longer
related simply to a set of practices within the Supreme Purity movement. Rather, because this movement
was given highest ranking in the Daoist syntheses that began in the mid-sixth century but culminated in
the mid-eighth century, Cultivating Perfection was also accorded a broader and more important place. In
this text, for instance, it is an abbreviation of "gateways for Cultivating the Way and the paths for
Climbing to Perfection" (xiudao zhi menhu dengzhen zhi jinglu 修道之門戸登眞之徑路) found in the
preface, an abbreviation of the phrase xiudao dengzhen 修道登眞 (Cultivate the Way and Climb up to
Perfection).
Classical Daoism along the lines presented in the above text found its fullest articulation in the ritual
writings of such figures as Zhang Wanfu (fl. 700-742), and the spiritual writings of Sima Chengzhen
(646-735), 12th Patriarch of the Shangqing lineage. Together they helped to reinforce the mutual
dependence of self-cultivation and ritual practice, and to relate them to a system of ordination grades that
integrated texts, practices, and spiritual cosmology. Self-cultivation texts associated with such figures as
Sun Simiao (fl. 652-682) and the author of the Tianyinzi 天隱子 likewise give a clear view of the
centrality of self-cultivation based on circulating the energies in the human body and grounded it in
forms of cosmogonic process than had not been included as part of the Tang cultural synthesis.
We read in Sima Chengzhen's biography that in addition to annotating the Canon of the Way and its
Power (Daode jing), he "also composed the Secret Instructions on Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen
zhiyao 修眞旨要) so that those who perused it could obtain his approach [to the Way]" (Yunji qiqian 雲
笈七籤, CT 1032, 5.15b). This work was still extant in libraries of Song times, but the work no longer
seems to be available. Chapter 57 in this Northern Song compilation of mainly Five Dynasties and earlier
texts, was also by Sima Chengzhen. The Essays on the Essential Meaning of Ingesting Qi (Fuqi jingyi
lun 服氣精義論), divided here into 9 essays, was also divided into two parts and published as two
separate titles in the Ming Daoist Canon. The first sections of this edition were put under a separate title
(CT 830), the Fuqi jingyi lun. Most of the latter parts of this text are reprinted in (CT 267) as the Xiuzhen
fuqi zalun 修眞服氣雜論, with the added title "Cultivating Perfection" and comprising seven essays.
They deal with the lower and more fundamental stages of cultivation centered on absorbing the essentials
in the body, adding to them with breathing exercises, and using gymnastics, talisman-water, drug-taking,
precautions, the inner organs, and the recognition and treatment of diseases to deal with unforeseen
problems. The sources regularly cited are from the Shangqing and classical medical traditions, and they
all seek to help the adept isolate and refine the cosmic sources of qi in the body.
By the early Northern Song period, many of these fundamental, though, general writings were
included in the Yunji qiqian (CT 1032), a compendium of writings collected for the Emperor Zhenzong
(r. 997-1022) as part of the compilation of the Daoist Canon he ordered, but completed in the early years
of Emperor Renzong's (r. 1022-1063) reign. This conservative compendium for imperial perusal contains
many of the texts important to the scriptural rubrics, self-cultivation, and hagiography of various Daoist
traditions, but nearly no ritual texts. It also makes scarce mention of the new movements that had
emerged in local areas of the south during the previous century and had begun to make themselves felt in
the central court.
Two chapters (45 and 46) in the Yunji qiqian are of particular interest here. Bearing the title Secret
Essentials for Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen zhiyao 修眞旨要), these pages give a synoptic overview
of the main functions and duties of a high-level Daoist priest. Rather than stress the priests links to the
divine hierarchy as did the which we considered above, these chapters focus on the range of practices
expected of the adept. The first chapter is divided into 30 short essays, while the second chapter falls into
25 short essays. The introduction to the whole stresses that the "Way is the Most Perfect of the tenuous
void and the arts are the mysterious crafts of transformation. Since the Way is without form, it depends
on the arts to save humans. Since humans are numinous, they can cultivate themselves and merge with
the Way. When humans are able to learn the Way, they transform the essentials of the spontaneous Way.
All of this is profoundly simple and easy to understand. The secrets of the arts lay only in talismans, qi
and medicines." While the first relates to practicing the ritual traditions revealed by the gods, the second
relates to cultivating what was endowed to each individual by cosmic process, and the last relates to
making use of the essential aspects of cosmic process crystallized in aspects of the natural world. The
author concludes that if one "excels in one thing, then nothing with fail to respond." There follow 54
sections dealing with all aspects of ritual, contemplative, and medical practice that are expected of a
priest and which constitute his "cultivating perfection." This broad view of religious practice
incorporated important aspects of the Shangqing legacy, but also included the other major Daoist
traditions of the time.
While the above trends were indicative of standard forms of spiritual learning promoted by the state,
important changes were afoot outside of this restricted purview. Beginning in the eighth century, a range
of writers on medicine, alchemy, Buddhism, Daoism, and literati self-cultivation helped to articulate
more fully than before a new approach to understanding the subtle inner workings of self-cultivation on
the basis of unconventional forms of learning that had been neglected by many scholars in the previous
several centuries. While working along the lines of Sun Simo, Tianyinzi, and others, these figures began
stressing texts and traditions that the scholarly consensus of the early Tang had excluded from its
political and spiritual concerns. Among them were the medical doctor Wang Bing (fl. 762), the recluse-
companions Tan Qiao (fl. 900-930) and Chen Tuan (d. 989), the alchemists Peng Xiao (d. 989) and Cui
Xifan (fl. 940), and the ritual master Tan Zixiao (fl. 900-930), all of whom helped to revive and enrich
literati interest in neglected cosmological aspects of the human being in ways that literati would work out
during the next three or four centuries.
Some of the scholarly interest focused around and annotated and illustrated editions of the Scripture
of the Yellow Court (Huangting jing 黄庭經) that emerged in the latter part of the Tang dynasty, a
longer version that focused on the Inner Phosphors (or radiant gods) (neijing 内景) and a shorter one that
focused on the Outer Phosphors (waijing 外景). These works, central to the early stages of the
Shangqing traditions, but reflecting earlier practices centered on the gods in the body, received renewed
scholarly interested from the mid-eighth century. Two major commentaries, one by Lü Zhongbai (or
Liangqiuzi, fl. 729) and the other by Hu Yin (fl. 848) are evidence of the importance of both this text on
the inner and spiritual aspects of the human being and of illustrating them in diagrams. Versions of
Liangqiuzi's texts are found in (CT 402, Huangting neijing yujing zhu 黄庭内景玉經註) and in the Yunji
qiqian (CT 1032, 11.1a-12.27b, Shangqing Huangting neijing zhu), while Hu Yin's work is found as (CT
432, Huangting neijing wuzang liufu buxie tu 黄庭内景五臟六腑補瀉圖). Their centrality for later
traditions of Cultivating Perfection are suggested by the fact that these two works fill the final seven
chapters of the late thirteenth-century work known as the Ten Writings on Cultivating Perfection (CT
263, Xiuzhen shishu 修眞十書), which will be discussed below (Hu's work fills chapter 54 and Lü's work
fills chapters 55-60). Their illustrations focused on the outward appearances of the creatures dwelling in
the adept's body.
Another important form of unconventional learning expressed itself in Northern Song period through
several works based on "realistic" diagrams of the inner workings of the human being created by doctors
and artisans at the dissections of executed criminals. Here the operative words in these works are being
"inner" (as in the human body's innards) and "genuine" (as in caught live and not simply imagined) for
the purposes of medical understanding. During Southern Song and Yuan times, these too were refined
and made centerpieces to both medical and self-cultivation traditions. What is important to note is that
they are said to center on the trunk of the body, i.e. the body without the head, arms and legs. The
centrality of this part of the body is that it contains the viscera that both the medical and self-cultivation
literature describe as receiving, storing, refining, and losing the body's vitalities, and therefore key to
understanding both illness and perfection.
Let's look first to the medical literature (see Okanishi Tameto, Sō izen iseki kō [Taiwan reprint, 1969],
pp. 299-303). During the Song dynasty several works were published that sought to depict the "genuine"
insides of a human being, based on the results of inspections after the execution of criminals. These
diagrams reputedly portrayed the inner organs and vessels of the recently deceased from the next down.
First of these was the work called the Diagram of Ou Xifan's Five Viscera (Ou Xifan wuzang tu 歐希範
五臟圖) by a Ling (Wu?) Jian. Song bibliographers state that the work originated in the 1041-1048 era at
the dissection of the rebel Ou Xifan and his faction in Guangxi after their executions, with the judge of
Yizhou, Ling Jian, observing it all closely and making diagrams to pass down to the world. About a half
century later, in the 1102-1106 era, the scholar Yang Jie (fl. 1102-1113) was an official in Sizhou
(Anhui), where he observed the execution of a criminal. The local prefect, Li Yixing invited the doctors
to come draw what they saw. Yang to annotated their illustrations with passages from ancient writings
and gave it the title Diagrams that Capture the Genuine Within (Cunzhen huanzhong 存眞環中).
Thirteenth-century bibliographers uniformly regarded Yang's work as far superior to that by Wu Jian. In
1113, the Luoyang official, Jia Weijie (fl. 1113), wrote a preface to this work by saying that Yang latter
"used the genuine [aspects] of what he had seen of the Five Viscera and drew them into diagrams. He
analyzed and corrected what had been drawn by [an otherwise unidentified] Yanluozi, and also added the
twelve channels, naming them the Diagrams that Capture the Genuine Within." A late Song work (dated
1273) called the Diagrams on the Inner Illuminations of the Gate of Mystery (Xuanmen Neizhao tu 玄門
内照圖) also reputedly contains some diagrams bearing Yang Jie's name. Some versions of the diagrams
in these works based on executed criminals may well have been preserved in a text date from the end of
the thirteenth century that we will consider below, albeit from a very different angle.
Cultivating Perfection in Southern Song and Yuan Times

During the Southern Song and Yuan era, the vision of Cultivating Perfection became integral to a vision
of literati self-cultivation associated with the Golden Elixir tradition of internal alchemy in south China.
It also came to be seen as a counterpart of the meditation practices and traditions promoted by Chan
Buddhism and a means of maintaining continuity and stability in a fragmenting Chinese culture. At its
core, proponents of these traditions sought to return to what they thought was most genuine in
themselves, their traditions, and their culture, where they worked to fortify and restore it for use in the
real conditions in which they lived. In short, they sought to restore perfection to themselves and to the
world.
In northern Fujian and Jiangxi one important group that took it upon themselves to do this work
coalesced around the circle of Bai Yuchan (1194-1227?). Unlike the earlier visions of Cultivating
Perfection articulated in Shangqing traditions that centered on the sensuous visualization of corporeal
deities or traveling to their counterparts in the heavens, this new form of alchemical Cultivating
Perfection focused on calling forth, refining and combining the adept's innate energies that derived from
the productive cosmic processes recapitulated in his parents' procreative powers. They found their
sensuous human-like qualities in the chance encounters with remarkable figures appearing to be men but
upon reflection were actually immortals who had been banished from the celestial realm for committing
some celestial bureaucratic error rather than deriving from night-time visions of resplendent deities that
visited the early Shangqing recipients. While drawing some of its vitality from this earlier Shangqing
tradition, this new mode of spiritual self-cultivation also drew from Buddhist and medical efforts at
reassessing and revitalizing their traditions that had begun in the middle of the Tang dynasty.
What became known as the tradition of Cultivating Perfection in Southern Song times began as a
form of spiritual self-cultivation rooted in teachings that combined the Tally of Triple Unity based on the
Canon of Changes [Zhouyi Can tong qi 周易參同契] reinterpreted by Peng Xiao (d. 955) and the written
legacy of the immortals Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin and grounded itself in cults to literati-immortals
that the practice of its teachings had produced. These teachings helped some adepts to gain position in
the mundane political order (through patronage) at the same time as they promised them advancement
into the spiritual order and an amelioration of the aches and pains of old age (through practice). By the
end of the twelfth century, the value of this body of teachings and lineage of masters had become
obvious to practitioners of some of the revelatory movements that had developed in Song times,
Buddhist and Daoist priests, and some of those promoting the Learning of the Way (Daoxue 道學).
When adepts first regularly call their teachings "cultivating perfection" in the twelfth century, they had
become an integral part of southern literati culture, attracting members of important families from Fujian
and Jiangxi. This culture loved printed books and illustrations for them. Part of this love was rooted in
the desire to gain more merit by distributing more widely traditions that had earlier been kept secret as
family or closed traditions.
One measure of the importance of this new mode of alchemical self-cultivation is its place in Zeng
Zao's compilation of writings on self-cultivation from the mid-twelfth century. This Fujian scholar's
Pivot of the Way (CT 1017, Daoshu 道樞, 42 juan) includes writings from a wide range of earlier and
contemporary sources. In general terms, the compilation (most likely completed by 1150) can be
understood as an part of the general attempt by scholars of the early Southern Song to establish
themselves as the genuine heirs of Chinese culture even though they had lost what had been their main
cultural centers with the loss of the Northern Song to the Jurchens in 1126. That is why the work not
only contains many passages from the early Chinese classics that are pertinent to self-cultivation, but
also many extracts from writers on self-cultivation from Tang and Northern Song times. While arguably
according highest values to the legacy of Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin (their main writings fill the last
five chapters), Zeng stresses its presence in the south by likewise giving pride of place to their sometime
companion, Shi Jianwu who was based in the mountains of northern Jiangxi. Writings from this ground
base that we first read of Cultivating Perfection in the new alchemized sense. These writings also were
the first to articulate the nuanced significance of the Inner Realm (neijing), which would come to have
greater significance in the thirteenth century.
Several central chapters to Zeng's compilation (chapters 18-21) contain what may be called the
"chapters on perfection" since they hold many of the important writings dealing with zhen ("perfection"),
most of which date from the Northern Song. Three of these extracts are explicitly called "Cultivating
Perfection." One (CT 1017, 18.7b-9b), by Zeng Zao himself, is called the "Chapter on Cultivating
Perfection" (Xiuzhen pian 修眞篇). This brief work first discusses the correspondences between the
human being and the cosmos, goes on to treat various sorts of breathing exercises aimed at circulating
refined vitalities within the various organs of the body. After next dealing with contemplating the gods in
the body and dietary practices, he states that "these have not yet sufficiently attained the utmost of what
is spoken of as Cultivating Perfection." By this he means the making of inner elixirs from one's inner
vitalities and outer elixirs from the vitalities embedded in various parts of the world outside, both of
which are in strict correspondence with the energies circulating in the cosmos. He also notes that outer
elixirs would be ineffective to project one into a transcendence post without having first completed an
elixir in the human body.
Another (CT 1017, 19.9a-22a), is said to come from Shi Jianwu, who received the teachings from his
two divine colleagues Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin. It is called "Chapter on Indicating the Mysteries in
Cultivating Perfection" (Xiuzhen zhixuan pian 修眞指玄篇). It clearly reflects the legacy of the two great
masters of inner alchemy in both terminology and process. One passage quotes Lü Dongbin as saying
"the essentials of the Golden Elixir consist in rising up through the openings and closings, patiently
going through the passes and scrupulously following the Fire Phases to generate the Golden Fluid."
Finally, there is the "Chapter of the Essential Instructions on Cultivating Perfection" (Xiuzhen yaojue
pian 修眞要訣篇, CT 1017, 21.10a-12a), credited to the patriarch Liu Haichan (fl. 1031) as mediated by
his disciple, the Northern Song official Wang Tingyang (fl. 1041-1048). After Wang's preface relating
Liu's instruction, Zeng includes 20 of the 100 poems Wang wrote to commemorate his teachings. After
arguing that the various earlier corporeal practices he had tried "were not what could be deemed essential
to the Way", Wang met someone who informed him of these essentials, stating that he should "cultivate
the [qi] of perfect unity, assemble the Five Phases, array the eight trigrams, harmonize the Four Images,
combine the Three Potentialities. The Qian and Kun [trigrams] are one's furnace and crucibles, and the
Kan and Li [trigrams] are one's medicine." After practicing them for 1000 days the work was complete
and he responded by composing 100 poems.
Just before the last section discussed was an important essay entitled the "Chapter on the Golden
Writings and the Jade Mirror" (Jinshu yujian pian 金書玉鑑篇, CT 1017, 21.2a-10a). In focusing on
"cultivating the inner elixir" (xiu neidan 修内丹), this work also spends a good deal of space on the
significance of the term Inner Realm (neijing). This discussion begins by reminding readers that "my
body is the alchemical furnace... whose spirit, energies, essence, and fluids (shen, qi, jing, and ye 液)
contain the medicine of Eternal Life." After building up the correspondences suggested here in greater
detail, he compares the Flowery Canopy (huagai 華蓋) that is the cover of the crucibles to both its
celestial counterpart, the □, and to "its Inner Realm, the palace of the Lung [system of function]." Later
on, the text gives a fuller accounting of the Inner Realm in two passages. The first passage begins "By
speaking of it in terms of one's Inner Realm, the body is a state. Its head is the city; its eyes, ears, mouth,
and nose are the Four Gates; its hands, feet and four limbs are the troops of Four Regions who protect
with no fear. The heart-mind is the lord of the state and qi are its ministers. Therefore, the heart-mind is
the ruler of the qi and qi are the envoys of the heart-mind. When the divinity of the heart-mind is pure
and calm, then the Primordial qi is harmonious and at peace. When the Divine qi is blended there is
Eternal Life. This is like the Lord-Sage and the ministers. When loyal to the lord, the ministers are
enlightened and the whole world is ordered in one. On observing the Inner Realm of the lord, one sees
that the qi of the purely primordial perfect unity is in the scarlet palace [of the heart] and in that of the
minister, there is the fluid of the Great Yin's mysterious darkness in the palace of the Kan. Heaven sends
down the perfect qi to transform and produce the Myriad Phenomena, just like the wisdom of the lord to
his ministers..."
A second, more detailed discussion of this term a bit later in the text complements this one. "This is
the Way of Eternal Life and Everlasting Vision and it has not altered from antiquity to the present.
Thereby one correctly understands the Genuine Image of the Inner Realm (neijing zhenxiang 内境眞相).
What is the Inner Realm? It is the realm of the self. The Genuine Image is of my self is as an alchemical
furnace. Within it are Heaven and Earth, the sun, moon, planets and constellations, winds and clouds, the
Milky Way, the mountains and Marchmounts, all the rivers, and the vegetation." The text then goes on to
specify the cosmic dimensions of the Inner Realms in relation to the five viscera before asking "Now if
one wanted to understand the Way of the eternity of Heaven and Earth, it consists in obtaining the
Rectifying Unity and Perfective Unity (zhengyi zhenyi 正一眞一). What is this? It is that in the furnace
and crucibles of Heaven and Earth, yin and yang intermingle and combine within and do not lose the
Primordial qi. Now a human being is endowed with Heaven and Earth and born by combining with the
essence of Heaven and Earth to make a son. Therefore one's Inner Realm possesses the Way of the
eternity of Heaven and Earth." The author then goes on to discuss the practices – all of them alchemical
– that permit the human potential for eternal divinity to manifest itself. A final passage states that if this
"divinity obtains the Way one becomes a transcendent, while if it loses the Way it becomes a ghost. In
Cultivating Perfection one ought to push away the diverse distractions, remove oneself from desires, and
cut off the eating of meat and purify oneself. Roam away to lodge in the cliffs, and do pure fasts while
ascending altars and entering into the chamber...." All of this has many parallels to the comprehensive
program of Cultivating Perfection articulated by priests of the classical Daoist traditions in Tang and
Northern Song times. Upon completing the sequence of practices nine times, one will have "made
sufficient merit to ascend to the ranks of the Transcendents" and further practice will permit one to
"ascend up to pay court to the Thearch Lord" in the highest celestial realms.
All of this is, of course, quite old, reaching back to the unity of the "cosmos, body and state" in the
final two and a half centuries B.C.E. and expressed once again by Ge Hong in his writings (Sivin 1995,
Schipper 1978). Here we see, however, an alchemized version of these cosmic correspondences and
processes leading toward perfection, one that is centered on the inner workings of the human being. This
was the new vision of self-cultivation that had taken the place of the more sensuous and concrete forms
of contemplation that distinguished that of the Supreme Purity (Shangqing) movement. Because of the
growing awareness of the adept's cosmic dimensions that alchemical practice makes possible, the last
passage makes plain that internal practices are also embedded in a complex edifice of ritual practices
similar to those found in Daoist texts of the Tang and Northern Song.
To judge from the extant texts with Cultivating Perfection in their titles, we would have to consider it
a Southern Song phenomena, and specifically one that was grounded in the inner alchemical and ritual
traditions contained most fully in the writings of Bai Yuchan and his followers. Of the 14 independent
titles contained in the Ming Daoist Canon, printed in 1445 with the term Cultivation Perfection in their
titles, many reflect the above Shi Jianwu legacy, but often filtered through the codifications of Bai
Yuchan and his followers. The most obvious and substantial example of this is the 60-juan Ten Writings
on Cultivating Perfection (CT 263, Xiuzhen shishu, completed by 1300), which constitute a veritable
compendium of Bai Yuchan's legacy. Some of these texts include diagrams. Some other titles in this
grouping were likely augmented by adding the term Cultivating Perfection to them.
For instance, the Diagrams on the Great Paradigm and the Primordial Chaos for Cultivating
Perfection (CT 149, Xiuzhen Taiji hunyuan tu 修眞太極混元圖), by a man named Xiao Daocun (most
likely compiled in the thirteenth century) contains many interesting diagrams that purportedly came from
Shi Jianwu. The text calls the diagrams which Shi passed on as those which deal with "Cultivating and
Refining" (xiulian 修煉) rather than Cultivating Perfection, suggesting an alteration by later editors of
the text.
Likewise, a fuller version of the Marvelous Diagrams Successively Verified for Cultivating Perfection
(CT 152, Xiuzhen liyan miaotu 修眞歴驗妙圖) is found in the Yunji qiqian (CT 1032, 72.17a-38b),
where it is entitled the Manuscript Copy of the Successively Verified Cultivating the Elixir in the
Marvelous Way of Perfect Primordial [Tradition] (Zhenyuan miaodao xiudan liyan chao 眞元妙道修丹
歴驗鈔) and said to be by a Dongzhenzi in a grass robe (Caoyi Dongzhenzi 草衣洞眞子, i.e. Lou Jing).
Both versions of these works contain an interesting sequence of twelve diagrams. The final diagram in
this sequence, said to "assess the work of the Cyclically-Transformed Elixir and the Five Phases"
(Huandan wuxing gong lun tu 還丹五行功論圖), depicts the cosmic dimensions of the human being
who has undertaken the Great Work of alchemy (see diagram 5). It has been retained for the letterhead of
a professor who has a certain interest in alchemy and other aspects of Chinese science and culture. This
diagram is of interest for purposes of comparisons with what we will consider immediately below. It
stresses man's place in the universe, but not the internal structures and features that identify him with the
macrocosm. As we will see below, the first pictorial evidence we have of this internal dimension of
cultivating perfection along alchemical lines seems to appear in the thirteenth century.
One of the first of what we now call the Diagrams of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen tu) that we
know of appeared in three works compiled around the end of the Southern Song dynasty. All of those
printed versions bore the names Diagrams of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu), but most likely derive from
the above "genuine" drawings of the inner workings of the human being stemming from criminal
executions. At some time in the late thirteenth century, the followers of Bai Yuchan in Fujian and Jiangxi
compiled a large compendium known as the Ten Writings on Cultivating Perfection (CT 263, Xiuzhen
shishu). As part of this collection, there is a set of six depictions of different parts of the human body
(CT 263, j. 18.2a-3b) diagrams. This chapter is the second in the fourth of the ten component writings
known as "Shortcut by Miscellaneous Authors" [zazhu jiejing 雜著捷徑]. The diagrams are woven into a
larger set of teachings in the same chapter, most of which bear the name of Yanluozi, an obscure figure
who reputedly lived in the region of modern day Beijing in the tenth or eleventh century. He left behind
several titles that were known to librarians of the Song dynasty (including the Instructions and Song on
Comprehending the Mysteries of Inner Perfection [Neizhen tongxuan jue and ge 内眞通玄訣/歌] and a
Diagram on the Secret Instructions on Barrier Lock of Nurturing the Spirits [Yangshen guanchao mijue
tu 養神關鎖秘訣圖]).
Chapter 18 begins with his song on the Corporeal Husk (tigu 體殼) and a poem on controlling the
"Mind Monkey" by Honorable Lü Dongbin, and is followed by an unattributed poem on "Nourishing
Vitalities and Augmenting Destiny" (yangsheng ximing 養生息命). Next come the first two diagrams
(both attributed to Yanluozi), each of which presents the head of a literatus. The first, called the Diagram
of the Head (Shoubu tu 首部圖), depicts the inner spaces of the adept's head, while the second, labeled
the Diagram for Paying Respects to the Perfected (Chaozhen tu 朝眞圖), focuses on the imaginary flight
that the adept makes to pay court in the supernal realm (see diagram 6). Both bear the name of Yanluozi
and clearly reflect earlier Shangqing traditions that articulate an elaborate set of chambers in the head
and an imaginary journey to the heavenly hierarchies of divine beings. They typically present the human
head from the outside, even as they attempt to relate it to an ascent to the heavens. These two diagrams
are immediately followed by four diagrams called Diagrams of the Inner Realm (Neijing tu) that present
different aspects – left, right, front, and back – of the main internal structures of the trunk of the human
body (see diagram 7-8). This series of diagrams, reflecting both the internal part of the human being and
a much fuller awareness of its appearances, seem to derive from the knowledge of the human within that
stemmed from doctors drawing the insides of criminals executed in the Northern Song. This improved
awareness of things internal is turned in this text toward helping the adept who has received proper
instruction to generate within himself an immortal embryo that will enable him to assume a post in the
celestial realms.
The six diagrams are followed by an essay on the Inner Realm ascribed to a [Temple] Superintendent
Zhu – could it be Zhu Xi? – (CT 263, j. 18.3b-5b) that praises Yanluozi's diagrams for their accuracy to
contemporary (twelfth-century) discussions of the inner aspects of the human body during self-
cultivation. The chapter concludes with Yanluozi's Canon on Inner Observation (Neiguan jing 内觀經)
and various discussions of the internal divisions of the body and visceral systems, including how to
contemplate them.
The above text holds the main structures of what we now call the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection.
Its diagrams appear around the same time as an integral picture of the inner parts of the human being as
part of the Prefatory Discussions on the Diagrams and Commentaries to the Canon of the Eighty-One
Difficulties of the Yellow Lord (Huangdi ba shi yi nanjing zhuyi tu 黄帝八十一難經注義圖) (17 pp.).
This long, illustrated essays introduces the Linchuan (modern Jiangxi) scholar Li Jiong's Illustrated and
Annotated Canon of the the Eighty-One Difficulties of the Yellow Lord (CT 1024, Huangdi ba shi yi nan
jing zuantu jujie 黄帝八十一難經纂圖句解), dated to 1269. The diagram printed there is said to depict
the "regular View of the Inner Realm" (Neijing ze mian 内境側面) (CT 1024, pref., 4a-4b, see diagram
9). While in one sense this diagram seems to be the piecing together of the diagrams discussed above,
they are able to achieve this integration by prominently using the spine as a means to connect the three
main parts of the body. On the next page of the preface (CT 1024, pref. 5a-5b), are depicted two
diagrams of the front-view and back-view of the Inner Realm that are identical to the depictions with the
same names as those given above. Since Li wrote his commentary in large part as a negative reaction to
the commentary from the Tang dynasty by Yang Xuancao, it is not surprising that he claims that his
diagrams seek to rectify the lost or mistaken understandings of the Methods of the Vessels (mai fa 脈法)
perpetuated by Yang's commentary (CT 1024, pref. 5a). He fails to say where these diagrams come from,
however.
These are the two earliest depictions of what has come to be known as the Diagram of Cultivating
Perfection. As was typical until the eighteenth century, the diagram was said to illustrate the Inner
Realm. Its full presentation in Li Jiong's text seems to have been a combination of depictions of the head
that reflected knowledge gained by refined meditations of Supreme Purity patriarchs and of the bottom
part of the body that reflected the knowledge gained from criminal executions. Joined by the spine, and
including a bigger role for the lower part of the body, the complete chart presented by Li Jiong found
uses by doctors as well as by those interested in coming to a fuller understanding of the alchemized
itinerary they were now expecting to take toward the goal of perfection.
Cultivating Perfection in the Ming-Qing Era
Both of the texts that contained the above illustrations circulated among literati during Yuan times. They
were included in the Ming Daoist Canon that was published in 1445. This compendium also contained a
large number of Southern Song and Yuan texts that centered on the mode of Cultivating Perfection
codified by Bai Yuchan and his followers in Fujian and Jiangxi. It is likely that the conjunction of this
diagram and this textual corpus eventually led to its redesignation as the Diagram of Cultivating
Perfection in the eighteenth century. Aiding this renaming was the resurgence, in Qing times, of the
Longmen branch of the Complete Perfection (Quanzhen) tradition centered in the Baiyun Abbey in
Beijing. Although the earliest diagram – now called the diagram of Cultivating Perfection – was included
in one of the side temples of this monastic complex, the Baiyun guan abbots of the late eighteenth
century gave the name Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Channels) to a new diagram of the inner
potentialities of the human being to restore his perfection.
Before the eighteenth century, Neijing tu (Diagram of the Inner Realm) seems to have been the most
common name of the diagrams we have explored in the previous section. A final widely distributed
depiction of what has become known as the Diagram of Cultivating Perfection appears in an expanded
edition of an encyclopedia compiled by the late Southern Song scholar Chen Yuanjing with the hopes of
rectifying the mores of the common people. Although no longer extant in it original form, there exists at
least two expanded and illustrated editions of this work printed in the first part of the Ming dynasty. The
earlier of these editions (dated to 1478) was the Newly Illustrated and Amplified Encyclopedia of the
Hordes of Writings [known as] the Comprehensive Records of the Forest of Affairs (Xinbian Zuantu
zengxin qunshu leiyao Shilin guangji 新編纂圖増新群書類要事林廣記), while the later edition (dated
to 1496) bears the title Newly Compiled Comprehensive Record of the Forest of Affairs, an Illustrated
and Amplified Encyclopedia of the Hordes of Writings (Zuantu zengxin qunshu leiyao Shilin guangji
xinji 纂圖増新群書類要事林廣記). Both of the illustrations in these editions were apparently drawn
straight from Li Jiong's text (diagram 10). Although unnamed, each of the diagrams appear at the head of
the "Section on Medical Learning" (Yixue lei 醫學類), and both show a schematic view of a male adept
seated in meditation as viewed from his right hand side. This diagram apparently remained well liked
throughout the Ming dynasty.
Conclusions
The illustration known today as Diagram of Cultivating Perfection was part of a long and evolving
legacy of literati self-cultivation in China. This paper has explored some aspects of how the vision of
Cultivating Perfection changed from the fourth to the fifteenth centuries and how the formation of this
diagram came to be part of this changing perfection complex. In particular, I have suggested that the rich
sensual forms of contemplating deities central to the Shangqing tradition in its earlier period gradually
became embedded a broader conception of practice that wed meditative and ritual practice into a
hierarchy of texts and deities and attempted to unify Daoism's diverse local traditions for the Tang and
Northern Song dynasties. Even as the limits of these conservative systematizing efforts finally became
clear in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, new visions of corporeal self-cultivation grounded in
drawings of the inner human drawn during executions and alchemical language and imagery had begun
to emerge. At the same time, new local revelatory traditions and deity cults challenged attempts by
conventional priests to assert a Daoist unity. These new traditions and movements were already rooted in
southern literati culture, and began to coalesce in various configurations of spiritual advancement in the
Southern Song. One of them, centered around the teachings and traditions of Bai Yuchan, whose
affiliates lived and worked mainly in Fujian and Jiangxi in the first quarter of the thirteenth century,
came to see itself as the main promoter of this new alchemical mode of Cultivating Perfection and began
writing texts that focused on various aspects of this process. Proponents of other Fujian and Jiangxi
traditions, like the Rectifying Rituals of the Heart of Heaven (Tianxin zhengfa), likewise took it upon
themselves to incorporate some aspects of this new alchemized form of inner self-cultivation for their
basically exorcistic ritual. Scholars added the new knowledge of the insides of the person gained by
carefully observed executions to the older knowledge gained by ecstatic forms of flight to the celestial
deities stressed by the Shangqing tradition and combined them together into diagrams of the Inner Realm
that could help them make things a bit more perfect. These diagrams sought to remind observers of the
cosmic dimensions of themselves that could aid them in creating personal well-being, healing the sick,
and saving the world.
Appendix C:
Five Phases Correspondences
Wood Fire Earth Metal Water

Viscus Liver Heart Spleen Lungs Kidneys
Receptacle Gallbladder Small intestine Stomach Large intestine Bladder
Direction East South Center West North
Season Spring Summer Mid-summer Autumn Winter
Climatic Condition Wind Heat Humidity Dryness Cold
Color Green Red Yellow White Black
Tissue Sinews Arteries Fat and flesh Hair and skin Bones
Expands into the Nails Complexion Lips Body hair Hair on head
Bodily Fluid Tears Sweat Saliva Mucus Urine
Opening Eyes Tongue Mouth Nose Ears
Sense Sight Hearing Taste Smell Touch
Emotion Anger Elation Pensiveness Grief Fear
Animal Dragon Phoenix Ox Tiger Snake, tortoise

Emperor Fu Hsi Shen Nung Huang-ti Shao-hao Chüan-hsü
Number 8 and 3 2 and 7 10 and 5 4 and 9 6 and 1
Celestial Stem (yin) I乙 Ting 丁 Chi 己 Hsin 辛 Kuei 癸
Celestial Stem (yang) Chia 甲 Ping 丙 Wu 戊 Keng 庚 Jen 壬
Terrestial branch Yin 寅, mao 卯 Ssu 巳, wu 午 Ch'ou 丑, wei 末, Shen 申, yu 酉 Tzu 子, hai 亥
ch'en 辰, hsü 戌
Appendix D:
The Twenty-Eight Constellations
Constellation Name
1. 角 Chiao The Horn
2. 亢 Kang The Neck
3. 氐 Ti Base
4. 房 Fang Room
5. 心 Hsin Heart
6. 尾 Wei Tail
7. 箕 Chi Basket
8. 斗 Tou Ladle
9. 牛 Niu Ox-boy
10. 女 Nü Maiden
11. 虚 Hsü Void
12. 危 Wei Rooftop
13. 室 Shih House
14. 壁 Pi Wall
15. 奎 Kuei Astride
16. 婁 Lou Mound
17. 胃 Wei Stomach
18. 昴 Mao Pleiades
19. 畢 Pi Net
20. 觜 Tzu Beak
21. 參 Shen Orion
22. 井 Ching Well
23. 鬼 Kuei Ghosts
24. 柳 Liu Willow
25. 星 Hsing Star
26. 張 Chang Bow
27. 翼I Wings
28. 軫 Chen Carriage
Appendix E:
Weights and Measures
Units of weight, volume, and length are rendered with conventional English terms as shown in the table
below. The table also shows the average and rounded-off equivalences in the Western metric system.
Unit Conventional Average

Translation Equivalent
Length
Fen 分 tenth of inch ca. 0.24 cm
Tsun 寸 = 10 fen 分 inch ca. 2.4 cm
Ch'ih 尺 = 10 tsun 寸 foot ca. 24 cm
Weight
Chu 銖 scruple ca. 0.6 g
Liang 兩 = 24 chu 銖 ounce ca. 14 g
Chin 斤 = 16 liang 兩 pound ca. 220 g
Appendix F:
Poem in the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection
At the upper part of the Complete Diagram of Cultivating Perfection (Hsiu-chen Ch'üan-t'u 修眞全圖),
there is a poem between the diagram's title and circle of paradisiac realm (nine heavens). This is a
slightly different version of the first of the seven Poems of the Way of Elixir (Tan-tao Ko 丹道歌)
attributed to the great T'ang-Five Dynasties (8th-9th century CE) master Lü Tung-pin 呂洞賓. He is
traditionally considered an ancestor of the Complete Perfection (Ch'üan-chen 全眞) schools. Many
writings and sayings were attributed to him.
萬若搬運地天陰道
載人精寶魄魂陽徳詩
貌明入泥産生造乾曰
如此上丸青白化坤
童理宮住龍虎功祖
道徳乾坤祖 Tao and [its] Virtue is the ancestor of ch'ien and k'un
陰陽造化功 Yin and yang are the accomplishment of generation and transformation [of things]
天魂生白虎 Heavenly hun gives birth to the White Tiger
地魄産青龍 Earthly p'o produces the Green Dragon
運寶泥丸住 Circulate the treasure into the dwelling of Muddy Pellet
搬精入上宮 Move the ching [so that it] enters the upper palace
若人明此理 If a person understands this principle
萬載貌如童 Ten thousand writings appear like [writings of] a child
The Original Poem Attributed to Lü Tung-pin

Variant words are indicated by gray color
道徳乾坤祖 Tao and [its] Virtue is the ancestor of ch'ien and k'un
陰陽造化宗 Yin and yang are the origin of generation and transformation [of things]
天魂生白虎 Heavenly hun gives birth to the White Tiger
地魄産青龍 Earthly p'o produces the Green Dragon
運室泥丸住 Carry the room into the Muddy Pellet dwelling
搬精秘院封 Move the ching into the secret court and seal it
有人明此法 To a person who understands this method
萬載少年容 Ten thousand writings [are like] a young man's appearance
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University of Hawaii Press, 2006: 8-10, 11.
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Illustration". The Journal of Biocommunication (JBC), vol. 32, no. 1, September 2006: 5-7.
Needham, Joseph, et al. Science and Civilisation in China. Volume V, Part 5: Spagyrical Discovery and
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Xiuzhen Tu

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修眞圖

Diagram of Cultivating Perfection

2. Major Body Segments

3.2. Six Receptacles (Liu-fu)

6. Five Cardinal Points

8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods 20

9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle 21

2. Major Body Segments

3.2. Six Receptacles (Liu-fu)

6. Five Cardinal Points

8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods 99

9. Thirty-Day Lunar Cycle 100

2. Major Body Segments

2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area

2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)1

12. Palace of the Muddy Pellet

2. Tower Head Drum

13. Divine Radiance9

14. Bright Hall

18. Center of Man17

2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities

2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)1

1. Copper Pillar Hell

2.2.3. Lower Abdomen

1. Cavity of the Pivotal Pass1 is the gate for inviting immortality.

2.2.4. Lower Extremities

1. Gushing Spring point1

3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang)

1. Lordling Blossomless resides here.1

3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System)

1. The left is the Mystery,1 the Gate of Kidney

3. (Three talismanic characters)3

8. Way of Gushing Valley6

3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu)

4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace)

4.2. Lower Elixir Field

5.1. Upper Pass

5.2. Middle Pass

5.3. Lower Pass

The Capital of Hell17

6.1. North (Li)

1. Upper Palace of the South Prosperity [Constellation]1

6.2. South (K'an)

1. Dipper, Ox[-Boy], Maiden, Void1

6.3. East (Chen)

6.4. West (Tui)

1. Yang Entering [Vessel]

8. Twenty-Four Seasonal Periods 1

2. Major Body Segments

2.1. Upper Body: Head and Facial Area

2.1.1 Paradisiac Realm (Nine Heavens)

5. Ch'un-yang-t'ien Kung 純陽天宮.

2.2. Lower Body: Abdominal and Pelvic Regions, Lower Extremities

2.2.2. Infernal Realm (Nine Hells)

2.2.3. Lower Abdomen

2.2.4. Lower Extremities

3.1. The Five Viscera (Wu-tsang)

3.1.5. Kidneys (Urogenital System)

3.2. The Six Receptacles (Liu-fu)

4.1. Middle Elixir Field (Crimson Palace)

1. Emending chiang 降 to chiang 絳.

4.2. Lower Elixir Field

5.1. Upper Pass

5.2. Middle Pass

魁 [鬼勾] [鬼雚] 䰢魓 [鬼甫] 魒

魁 [鬼勾] [鬼雚] 䰢魓 [鬼甫] 魒

人之一身有三百六十骨節八萬四千毛孔

直至兩腎(肩)對處為夾脊又上至腦為玉枕

心下有穴名曰絳宮乃龍虎交會之處