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TAOISM
Formative Concepts of Taoism (Philosophical
and Religious)
It has become customary to distinguish the
Taoism of the philosophers of the fourth
and third centuries BCE from the religious
Taoism that presumably appeared in the second
and third centuries of our era. In Chinese
the former is call Tao-chia (Doka in Japanese)
and the latter, Tao-chiao (Dokyo). This distinction
was often accompanied by a value judgment
wherein much profundity was attributed to
the philosophical authors, while religious
Taoism was perceived as a mixture of superstition
and magic. Recent studies have attempted
to rectify this relatively simplistic view.
The complex development of religious Taoism
gave birth to numerous "schools"
or currents, which were in general rather
open, despite the esoteric character of their
teachings. Some of these currents were very
scholarly and erudite; others came closer
to the popular milieus from which the "superstitious".
aspects of their practices were derived.
But all, in different ways. claimed the patronage
of the ancient philosophers.
In its development, religious Taoism did
not break with the fundamental conceptions
of the philosophers. Although it remains
true that these concepts were much transformed.
The various Taoist currents shared the quest
for longevity, even immortality; it was only
their methods that distinguished them. While
the ancient philosophers were not unaware
of the physiological methods of "cultivating
the vital principle," they had recourse
mainly to mysticism and ecstasy for escape
from this base world. The different schools
of later Taoism taught a wide variety of
medical, hygienic, alchemical, or magical
recipes that, in the end, aimed at attaining
the same result.
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Conception of the World: Macrocosm and Microcosm. To understand Taoist theories and practices,
one must first understand what the Taoists
regarded as the general principles governing
the world and man. One should also note that
the ancient Chinese did not have the same
conception as we do of the body and soul-or,
more accurately, of souls-and of their relationship
to each other.
According to ancient Chinese cosmology, the
world was governed by a set of fundamental
notions related to unity and multiplicity,
space and time, and microcosm and macrocosm.
The concepts of tao and te were not specific
to Taoism but belonged to all currents of
Chinese thought. Literally, tao means "road,"
or "way." There are many derivative
meanings: "way to follow, method, utterance,
doctrine," and "rule of conduct."
Tao was also the efficacious power of kings
and magicians who knew how to make the three
spheres of the world-Heaven, Earth, and Man-communicate
with one another. In cosmology the t'ien-tao
("way of Heaven") was the natural
order as it manifests itself through the
circulation of the sun and, more generally,
through the movement of the celestial vault.
The royal tao (wang-tao) existed solely for
the sovereign in order that he might ritually
restore the natural order of heavenly tao,
which was constantly threatened by disorder.
In case of catastrophe such as drought or
flood, the sovereign was held responsible
and had to expiate either his own sins or
those of the world. In this way his virtue
(te or tao-te) was manifested.
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Yin-Yang and Five Elements. The original meanings of yin and yang seem
to refer to the shaded and sunny slopes of
mountains, respectively. Eventually, the
two terms came to describe the two antithetical
and complementary aspects of the Tao as natural
order: a shady aspect and a luminous aspect;
a cold, passive aspect and a warm, active
aspect; and finally, the feminine aspect
and the masculine aspect. The terms are therefore
relative classificatory headings only; anyone
thing can be either yin or yang in relation
to another. These two notions played a fundamental
role in all philosophical, scientific, and
religious thought. The same applies to the
"five elements," or "five
phases"(wu-hsing) theory as it appeared
in the Hung-fan (Great Norm), a treatise
inserted in the Shu ching (Classic of History).
Here the elements were presented as related
to numbers: (1) water, (2) fire, (3) wood,
(4) metal, and (5) earth. These were not
merely substances or chemical phenomena but
represented instead the principal cosmic
forces or influences and classificatory headings.
All phenomena-seasons, directions, flavors,
foodstuffs, the viscera of the body, human
activities, and so forth-could be classified
under one or another of the Five Phases.
Earth was central and neutral; the four other
elements corresponded to the four directions
and to the four seasons and were further
classified as either yin or yang. Thus, spring
and summer were both yang and corresponded,
respectively, to wood and east, fire and
south; fall and winter were yin and corresponded
to metal and west, water and north. In addition,
the elements were symbolized by the five
fundamental colors: water is equated with
black, fire with red, wood with green, metal
with white, and earth with yellow. Added
to this symbolism were four animals, which
often appeared in representations of sacred
space: the dragon to the east, the red bird
to the south, the white tiger to the west,
and the tortoise, enlaced by a snake, to
the north.
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Symbols of I ching. The I ching, originally a manual of divination,
became a philosophical treatise included
in the Confucian classics as a result of
the appendices that were added to it. Abundantly
commented upon throughout history, it was
much used by the Taoists, especially for
the symbolic interpretation it received at
the hands of Han commentators. The divinization
of the I ching is founded on a series of
symbols or diagrams formed by the combination
of unbroken lines (representing yang) and
broken lines (representing yin). When these
lines are tiered three at a time, we obtain
eight trigrams. The combination of any two
of the trigrams yields one of the sixty-four
possible hexagrams. Trigrams and hexagrams
symbolized the totality of realities, the
former in a more synthetic fashion and the
latter in a more analytical fashion. By arranging
them in a circle representing space and time,
we readily see how yin and yang alternate,
how one passes from a purely yang reality
(Heaven, represented by the trigram or hexagram
ch'ien) to a purely yin reality (earth, represented
by the trigram or hexagram k'un). The other
trigrams or hexagrams, composed of varying
combinations of yin and yang, symbolized
phenomena, situations, or intermediate times
Although the ancient Chinese availed themselves
of many systems of correspondence and symbols
to describe the universe, in general they
conceived of the universe as a great hierarchical
whole whose parts, spaces, and times corresponded
to one another. However, nothing in this
whole was static: all entities-man included-were
subject to changes and transformations. Man
was a little universe, a microcosm, a little
"Heaven-earth." The system of classification
based on the Yin- yang Five Elements theory
made it possible to describe the microcosm
and its harmony or disharmony by means of
the rhythms of the outside world. A correct
hygiene and a proper cultivation of the vital
principle naturally required a perfect adaptation
of the vital rhythms to those of the universe.
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Mysticism. The two main works of Taoism during the
Warring States period, called the "period
of the philosophers," were the Lao-tzu
(Tao Te Ching) and the Chuang-tzu (I Ching).
The authors are known to us only through
legends. Lao-tzu (Lao Tan or Li Erh) was
presumably an elder contemporary of Confucius.
The two philosophers were said to have had
a conversation in which Confucius assumed
the part of the disciple. Toward the end
of his life Lao Tan, who held the position
of archivist at the Chou court, realized
that the dynasty was sinking into decadence.
Traveling west, he arrived at the pass of
Hsien-ku, where he transmitted a "book
of tao and te" to the guardian of the
pass, Yin Hsi. Thereafter, he continued his
travels and was never heard of again. The
historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien (145?-90? BCE), attempting
to explain the mysterious character of Lao-tzu,
referred to him as a "hidden sage"
who had fled the corrupt world to maintain
his inner purity. Of the author of the Chuang-
tzu, Chuang Chou, we know nothing, except
that he lived in the fourth century BCE.
It is stated that he re- fused the official
posts offered him, preferring freedom to
honors.
Both works are characterized by their emphasis
on quietism and mysticism and by the metaphysical
dimension they attribute to the Tao. As a
primordial and eternal entity, the Tao exists
before all visible things, including ti,
the superior divinities of the official religion,
such as Shang-ti ("lord on high")
and T'ien-ti ("lord of heaven").
The Tao is beyond the grasp of the senses
and is imperceptible. But from "nothingness"
(wu) the visible world (yu) is born and particularized
phenomena are produced. Tao is formless,
limitless, and nameless: the term tao is
not a name but a practical referent.
In the last chapter of the Chuang-tzu, which
summarizes the doctrines of the foremost
philosophers of antiquity, it is said that
Lao-tzu belonged to the mystical current
of thought and that his system of philosophy
was founded on two concepts: that of an eternal
principle devoid of all attributes and that
of a supreme unity (t'ai-i). The Tao of the
Taoist philosophers actually assumes many
aspects. On the one hand, it is transcendent
with respect to the world of phenomena, where
diversity and change prevail; on the other
hand, it becomes immanent as it manifests
itself, penetrating the beings that it animates
and orders. In the Tao-te ching, the Tao
is a feminine principle, the mother of the
world. It gives birth to all beings, and
its te, or nourishing virtue, preserves them
and brings them to maturity. In a famous
passage, the Tao is called the "spirit
of the valley" and the "mysterious
female." The idea of femininity is linked
to that of vacuity, symbolizing both the
absence of perceptible qualities of the Tao
and the mental emptiness of the sage.
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Wu-wei & Vital Principle. The Taoists in fact condemn all discursive
knowledge, for, they maintain, it introduces
multiplicity into the soul, which should,
rather, "embrace Unity," that is,
be unified in the Tao. This unity is preserved
through the mastery of the senses and passions.
The sense organs are conceived as apertures
through which the vital principles escape
if they are not controlled. The passions
and emotions are a cause of depletion of
vital and spiritual power. A certain amount
of self-denial is advocated, but such aims
at the harmonious use of the sense faculties,
not as their suppression. The Taoist should
be especially careful not to intervene in
the course of things. This non-intervention
is called wu-wei (nonaction), a term that
suggests not absolute nonaction but an attitude
of prudence and respect for the autonomy
of other things. Through nonaction the Taoist
does nothing other than conform to the Tao,
which itself is "always without action
but nevertheless brings about everything."
The result is a universalistic ethic. The
Taoist saint is not only a "good savior
of men"; he rejects no entity and by
his virtue alone attracts beings and converts
them without their being aware of it. He
simply lets them follow their natural spontaneity
(tzu-jan).
Lao-tzu compares the power issuing from wu-wei
to that of water; in the same way, he says,
femininity far surpasses the manly virtues.
Furthermore, he proposes that all aggressive
action elicits a contrary balancing reaction,
and that all energy that has developed to
the point of exhaustion reverts to its initial
tranquil state. Lao-tzu calls this the "return,"
which is the movement of Tao itself, the
regulator of the rhythms and balances of
nature. The knowledge of this law-the only
knowledge deemed worthwhile-insures a serene
illumination and spiritually places the sage
outside the interplay of contradictions.
Mystical ecstasy is neither accessible to
all Taoists nor permanent. A Taoist saint
did not necessarily withdraw from the world,
but he could at the same time be "outside
the world" and live as an ordinary man
among others. He could also be "internally
a saint and externally a king"-the ideal
of the ruler not only for the Taoists but
for all Chinese thinkers. For Lao-tzu, the
power of the king is exerted without his
subjects being in the slightest aware of
it.
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The Immortals. Chuang-tzu describes in poetic terms the
immortals, whom he calls shen-jen ("divine
men"). These immortals dwell on a certain
mythical mountain. They abstain from eating
cereals, feed on the wind and dew, and can
operate in the air borne by the clouds or
flying dragons. The early mythology of the
immortals (hsien, hsien-jen, shen-hsien)
developed independently of Taoism. The Shan-hai
ching mentions, among the legendary peoples
of the east, birdmen whose bodies were covered
with feathers, and the commentary to the
text states that they resembled the immortals.
These are often called "feathered men"
(yu-jen) because they were capable of flying
like birds.
There are many Taoist hagiographic collections
that describe hsien-jen as beings so fully
identified with the universal life, with
its diversity and fantastic character, that
they could transform themselves at will and
appear, disappear, and multiply themselves.
It is said that, at the opportune moment,
the immortal would announce his imminent
disappearance and give himself the appearance
of death. Although the immortal seemed dead
and, indeed, was buried, upon opening his
casket one found a stick, a sword, or a sandal.
This "deliverance from the perishable
corpse" (shih-chieh) was a technique
of immortality through which the body was
transmuted into an imperishable one. The
Taoists came to distinguish many degrees
of shih-chieh, more or less exalted, which
led to different destinies. Thus the Taoist
who succeeded in the "great accomplishment,"
which involved either the smelting of a sacred
caldron as performed by Huang-ti (the Yellow
Emperor) or the transmutation of alchemical
cinnabar, would rise to the heavens in full
light at midday. At this degree, the Taoist
immortal transmutes himself into a being
of light, as brilliant as the sun.
In ancient mythology, the immortals went
to reside in paradisiacal countries. Later,
theologians invented a series of heavens
arranged hierarchically and administered
by celestial servants of different ranks
paralleling those of the imperial court.
The destiny of the hsien-jen was to occupy
a position in this transcendental bureaucracy,
from which they would be exiled to this lowly
world if they committed a fault. Nonetheless,
the ancient legends concerning the countries
of the blessed were not forgotten.
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Path to Heaven. For the Taoists, K'un-lun was a path leading
to Heaven. It was made up of several stories
representing the stages one had to ascend
in order to be admitted into the spiritual
hierarchy. One acquired, in succession, physical
immortality-owing to the plants of immortality
and the water of the River of Cinnabar that
one crossed on the way-spiritual power, and
finally the divine condition, as soon as
one reached the abode of the Supreme Emperor,
no doubt the Yellow Emperor. However, K'un-lun
was primarily known as the abode of Hsi Wang
Mu, Queen Mother of the West. She became
the queen of the immortals, who, it was believed,
frolicked in this mountain, riding dragons
and geese.
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The Books of Edification: Shan-shu and Pao-chiian. While morality was never the most distinctive
aspect of religious Taoism, it always played
an important role in doctrine, especially
in the circle of the Heavenly Masters. In
the sect of Five Pecks of Rice of the Han
dynasty, for instance, illness was considered
a direct result of sin. Consequently many
of the commentaries on the Tao-te ching were
used as handbooks of morality, from which
lists of precepts and interdictions supposed
to have been enacted by Lao-tzu were drawn.
Some, such as the Hsiang-erh chieh (Precepts
Drawn from the Hsiang-erh Commentary), are
still extant in the Taoist canon. The Precepts
classified nine principles of conduct under
three categories: (1) to practice wu-wei
("nonaction"), "weakness and
suppleness," and the "conservation
of one's feminine nature"; (2) to practice
humility, benevolence, and quietude; and
(3) to practice "nondesire," "contentment,"
and the "art of yielding." More
specific were the Twelve Precepts of Lao-chon,
taken from the Hua-hu ching. These prohibited
meat, insults and curses, infidelity to one's
word, theft, fornication, greed, hard heartedness,
curiosity, idle talk, anger, and blood sacrifices.
The Taoists believed that at birth man was
allotted a definite number of years and that
the divinities responsible for human destinies
kept a record of the actions of each individual.
For each evil deed a specified number of
years was subtracted from the original life
span. The three principles of death, called
the san-shih ("three worms"), were
spies who dwelt in the Three Cinnabar Fields
(three sectors of the body) and who at given
times in the year reported to Heaven the
sins of their host.
Under the influence of Buddhism, Taoism developed
the notion of the afterlife whereby sinners
must either undergo rebirth in nonhuman form
or be condemned to suffer in the hells located
under T'ai Shan or Feng-t'u. These hells
were composed of series of tribunals similar
to those of the imperial bureaucracy. In
the temples, symbolic representations depicted
the horrible punishments incurred by sinners.
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The Search for Longevity. Rather than being the exclusive prerogative
of the Taoists, the ideal of longevity was
deeply rooted in the Chinese tradition. Longevity,
or at least living out one's allotted life
span, was considered proof of sainthood.
For the most part, the methods used to attain
longevity centered on avoiding the depletion
of vital spirits.
While the Taoists accepted the anatomy described
by traditional Chinese medicine, they nonetheless
held peculiar notions about physiology. They
conceived of the body as a microcosm that
incorporated the totality of the universe,
that is, Heaven, earth, and the celestial
bodies. In accordance with ancient symbolism,
the head was round like Heaven, the feet
were square like the earth, and the 360 joints
represented the 360 days of the Chinese year,
the eyes were the sun and moon, and the "five
viscera" (lungs, heart, spleen, liver,
and kidneys) represented the Five Elements
and the Five Sacred Mountains. Universe within
the universe, the body was often depicted
as a mountain or a gourd, the Taoist symbol
of the cosmos. Taoist cosmology holds that
be- fore the beginning there existed a kind
of cosmic energy, referred to as the yuan-ch'i
("primordial breath") and synonymous
with the invisible and with the void. This
primordial breath split into yin and yang,
the gross and pure elements that, respectively,
formed Heaven and earth. Each being hides
within itself this primordial breath. Since
its presence is needed to maintain life,
and since its exhaustion brings about death,
the goal of many Taoist practices was the
preservation of the yuan-ch'i.
The most important elements in the body were
considered the ch'i (breath, ether), ching
(essence), and shen (spirit). Ch'i originally
referred to the vapor emitted in the process
of cooking rice but came to mean breath,
the air that is inhaled, vital energy, or
emanations. Ching signifies sifted, unadulterated
rice, and by extension, the pure, subtle
essence, concentration of the mind, and spermatic
essence. Shen, which referred to sacred power,
came to denote spirits, divinities, temples,
and talismans. The Taoists believed that
ch'i, ching, and shen were present throughout
the body but were especially concentrated
in the tan-t'ien (three "cinnabar fields"),
the psychic centers in the head, heart, and
just below the navel.
Although the Three Cinnabar Fields were centers
of life, they were also inhabited by malevolent
spirits called the "three corpses"
or "three worms" (san-shih), whose
main goal was to bring about death. Popular
belief held that the san-shih left the body
on specified days of the year in order to
denounce their hosts to Ssu-ming (the god
of destiny), who punished the transgressor
by shortening his life span. Most Taoist
practices and precepts aimed at both neutralizing
the ruinous power of the "three worms"
and preventing the three hun "souls"
and the seven p'o "souls" from
leaving the body. The hun, yang in nature,
had a tendency to return to Heaven, whereas
the p'o, which were yin, tried to return
to earth. The departure of the souls from
the body meant death. Thus, the Huai-nan-tzu
describes the Taoist saint as one who preserves
the hun and p'o souls through ataraxy and
who avoids all agitation of the vital spirits.
Ataraxy was attained by means of concentration
and interior contemplation; vital spirits
were pre- served with disciplines such as
respiratory and gymnastic techniques, dietary
practices, sexual hygiene and the absorption
of mineral, vegetal, or alchemical drugs.
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Methods of Inner Contemplation. Perhaps the most important of the Taoist
contemplative practices was that of shou-i
("preserving the One" or "meditating
on the One"). Derived from the phrase
pao-i ("to embrace the One") in
Lao-tzu's Tao-te ching, shou-i came to represent
many different methods of spiritual concentration.
Although the One is identified with the Tao,
hsu ("emptiness") and wu ("nonbeing"),
it is at the same time understood as the
cosmos, the mother, the matrix, the primordial
breath, and the origin of all beings. Thus
we read in the Lao-tzu: "The Tao gave
birth to the One ...the One to the Three,
and the Three to the Ten Thou- sand Things".
According to a late Taoist definition, "to
preserve the One" is to return to the
origin, the root, and to unite with the Tao.
This formula served to explain the oneness
and multiplicity of the Tao.
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Visualization of the gods of the body. Each point and organ of the body possesses
a subtle energy that the Taoists represented
with a divinity. These divinities were arranged
hierarchically into a celestial bureaucracy
whose ranks, posts, and functions were as
complex as those of the imperial bureaucracy
on which it was modeled. The recitation of
certain sacred texts and the simultaneous
practice of visualization exercises served
to actualize these divinities in the body.
Famous works such as the Huang-t'ing ching
(Book of the Yellow Court) and the Ta-tung
chen-ching (Book of Great profundity) provide
detailed information about the divinities,
their personal names, their dress, their
size, and so on. Besides the Three Ones,
the most important divinities were those
of the five viscera, who, according to the
T'ai-p'ing ching, keep the registers of life
and death. Through visualization the adept
strives to have his name removed from the
register of death and inscribed in that of
life. The ritual recitation is often preceded
by the exercises for "preserving the
One."
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Visualization of the heavenly bodies and
the planets. Another of the Taoist contemplative techniques
is the visualization of the heavenly bodies
and planets. The adept visualizes either
the light of the heavenly bodies as they
descend into his body or the inner light
that he "preserves" in, or directs
to, a particular point in his body (lien-hsing).
These exercises make the adept's body progressively
luminous like the heavenly bodies. The Pao-p'u-tzu
describes the technique whereby the chen-jen
("perfect man") preserves and purifies
his body. The sun and moon rise up to the
head where they unite; the elixir, sweet
as honey, then descends into the mouth; the
adept swallows the elixir and sends it to
the ming-men ("door of destiny")
located in the navel, where he preserves
it.
Visualization of circulation of the sun and
moon within the adept's body corresponds
exactly to their actual spatio-temporal course
(daily, monthly, and annual). The sun and
moon are often visualized according to the
color of their radiance or in the guise of
colored breaths, generally red or crimson
for the sun and yellow for the moon. The
visualization is also accomplished by the
absorption of the rays of the heavenly bodies.
Predominant among the exercises for the visualization
of stars and constellations were those involving
the Pei-tou. For the Taoists, the Pei-tou
is made up of seven visible and two invisible
stars. Owing to its circumpolar position
as the central axis of Heaven it was always
visible. Its handle indicated the progress
of the year and determined the four seasons
and the degrees of Heaven. Visualization
of the Pei-tou was practiced in different
ways, either in communal rituals or in individual
exercises. The adept marked the place of
the stars of the constellation in the holy
enclosure and then proceeded to "pace
the stars." Each time he stepped on
one of them he visualized its divinity with
all its attributes. The devotee accompanied
this practice by holding his breath. swallowing,
and reciting various invocations. The walk
was performed according to the "steps
of Yu," a cosmogonic dance performed
by the legendary hero Yu the Great of the
Hsia dynasty. Yu was supposed to have limped
and jumped as he walked, dragging one foot
after the other, in the manner of a sorcerer
in a trance. The Pao-p'u-tzu describes the
"steps of Yu" as a process to be
used before entering the mountains.
The Pei-tou visualizations were believed
to help the adept to ascend to paradise.
In the course of the visualizations he crossed
the gates of the three celestial passes to
enter the Yu-ching Heaven, where he undertook
an excursion through paradise. Other exercises
required the practitioner to visualize himself
lying in the light of the Pei-tou or to visualize
the divinities of each star nourishing him
by the radiance of their light. The adept
could also see himself ascending to paradise
in the company of the Three Ones (i.e., the
three divinities residing in the Cinnabar
Fields).
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Breathing Techniques and Gymnastics. In conjunction with contemplation and meditation,
breathing exercises, gymnastics, and dietetics
were important techniques for the attainment
of longevity. The efficacy of such practices
was believed to lie in their clearing the
channels of circulation, freeing the body
of impurities, and nourishing the primordial
breaths.
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Embryonic breathing (t'ai-hsi). Among breathing exercises, the process known
as t'ai-hsi ("embryonic breathing")
occupied a central place. The interpretation
of this ancient expression differed according
to the school and the period. Embryonic breathing
is often described as "the art of breathing
through the umbilical cord like the fetus
in its mother's womb." Following one
definition, it consisted primarily of retaining
the breath (pi-ch'i), a technique that resembles
the pranayama of the Indian yogins. In his
Pao-p'u-tzu, Ko Hung advocated that beginners
retain their breath for a period of 120 ordinary
respirations, and that advanced adepts try
to reach as many as 1 ,000 respirations.
Having attained this stage, one became an
immortal. According to other texts, embryonic
breathing involved the retention and absorption
of the breath (fu-ch 'i, "feeding upon
breath"), a process also used in dietetics.
The absorbed breath may be either the external
or internal breath. Since the retention of
breath was often ruinous to the health, some
masters replaced it with "tenuous breathing."
This process, attributed to the Indian monk
and legendary first patriarch of the Ch'an
school, Bodhidharma, advocated concentration
on breathing followed by the practice of
nei-kuan ("inner vision"). Through
"tenuous breathing" (mien-mien
jo ts'un) the adept achieved the return to
the Origin, for, says one text, "the
common man breathes by the throat, the sage
inhales the breath and preserves it in the
ocean of breath." The adept practices
long, slow breathing until the day when his
breathing becomes so imperceptible that a
feather placed on his nose remains unmoved.
At this point it is said that breathing has
"ceased." Some interpret this statement
to mean that the adept then breathes through
the navel, whereas others believe that he
breathes through the heels, like the sage
referred to in the Chuang-tzu.
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Guiding the breath (tao-yin). The ancient technique of guiding and directing
the breath is a combination of meditation
practices, breathing techniques, and gymnastic
exercises that make the body supple. The
most ancient of these methods seems to have
been the "dance of the five animals"
mentioned to the Chuang-tzu. It involved
imitating certain movements attributed to
the tiger, bear, monkey, deer, and owl. The
gestures were accompanied by mental concentration,
which directed the breath to the different
parts of the body so as to insure a better
circulation of the blood and breaths. In
the course of centuries, other gestures were
added and the techniques of tao-yin became
more and more refined.
To be most effective, tao-yin had to be accompanied
by a diet that prohibited cereal-based foodstuffs,
for such vulgar foods were thought to strengthen
the "three corpses," or principles
of death within the body of man.
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Sexual Practices (Fang-chung). Among the recipes for longevity, those related
to the fang-chung shu ("art of the bedroom")
were particularly important. The Han shu
(I-wen chih) lists eight works on the subject.
This art, attributed to ancient sovereigns,
was supposed to enable one to reduce one's
desires in order to enable the adept to attain
longevity. Like the gymnastic and breathing
practices, the art of fang-chung first developed
independently of Taoism.
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Alchemy. Among the Taoist techniques of immortality,
alchemy is perhaps the most significant.
Two types of alchemy may be distinguished:
wai-tan ("external alchemy," also
called laboratory alchemy) and nei-tan ("inner
alchemy"), the concoction, in meditation,
of internal elixirs of immortality. The former
was an ancient technique developed by the
fang-shih ("prescription-masters"),
the heirs of the ancient smelters, metallurgists,
and magicians. Nei-tan gained popularity
during the Middle Ages, when Taoist adepts
began to apply alchemical theories to the
body, using other techniques of longevity,
such as meditation, breathing, dietetics,
and gymnastics. The alchemy practiced by
the fang-shih was closely related to the
Yin-yang Five Elements theories expounded
by Tsou Yen.
Physical immortality was the first goal of
Chinese alchemy, although later its techniques
were used to produce artificial gold and
silver for profit. Ancient terminology, however,
established a clear distinction between these
two kinds of alchemy. The word tan (cinnabar,
pill, elixir, and the color red) came to
mean alchemy in general. It is used in very
important alchemical expressions like chin-tan
(gold cinnabar, gold elixir, alchemy), lien-tan
(smelting or purification of cinnabar or
elixir), and later wai-tan and nei-tan. Cinnabar,
as well as some other natural stones and
drugs, had been associated with the notion
of longevity since antiquity.
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Alchemical theory. The theory of alchemy encompasses the whole
range of naturalistic thought and Chinese
conceptions of the universe, including the
permutation laws of the I ching, the notions
of yin and yang, the Five Elements, the climatic
changes, and the divisions of time. Although
alchemical experiments gave rise to numerous
important, but incidental, discoveries (such
as gunpowder), the main goal remained the
discovery of an elixir that would make the
body imperishable. It was believed that,
given sufficient time (some texts speak of
4320 years), stones and metals would be transmuted
into cinnabar or gold. The alchemist obtained
the same result with his equipment by accelerating
the process of transformation. The ingredients
of alchemy were presumed to possess magical
affinities. They were classified as either
yin or yang, and a "theory of categories"
gradually developed according to which an
amalgam would be composed by mixing only
those ingredients belonging to the same group.
The "marriage" of ingredients was
shrouded in mystery. The rituals associated
with alchemy included selection of an auspicious
location, demarcation of the holy precinct,
installation of the laboratory , and consecration
of the utensils. The alchemical process itself
was accompanied by imprecations, invocations,
talismans, prayers, and fasts. The alchemist
performed both internal and external purification.
Through his work he became the master of
time and space, for in addition to choosing
and blending the ingredients, he supervised
the process of transmutation in the microcosm-symbolized
by the oven and the caldron. By increasing
and reducing the intensity of fire (called
huo-hou, "fire phasing") the alchemist
imitated the cosmic rhythms. In accordance
with the symbolic system, he could also accelerate
the process to suit his own purposes. Thus,
the transformation of metal, which would
take thou- sands of years in the natural
world, could be accomplished by the alchemist
in a year, a month, a day, or even an instant.
The sublimation of the ingredients was also
connected with the notions of cyclical renewal
and the return of all things to their most
perfect state or origin. This is implicit
in the names of some elixirs listed in the
Pao-p'u-tzu, such as huan-tan ("returned
cinnabar") or chiu-chuan huan-tan ("cinnabar
returned nine times").
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Development of modem techniques: Internal
alchemy (nei-tan). It was primarily under the T'ang and Sung
dynasties that the technique of nei-tan spread.
During the Sung dynasty, nei-tan represented
a syncretistic system whereby the ancient
techniques of longevity were practiced under
the guise of alchemical theories and language.
But it is difficult to speak of only one
technique of nei-tan because each master
and each Taoist group devised its own system.
The development of nei-tan in the Sung dynasty
was marked by the appearance of a series
of prose texts attributed to the semi legendary
immortals Chung-li Ch'uan and Lu Tung-pin
(thus, the abbreviated expression Chung-Lu),
which clearly describe a system of nei-tan,
and by the emergence of a poetic alchemical
tradition distinctly influenced by Ch'an
Buddhism. Both of these nei-tan traditions
relied on two works, still influential today:
the Pi ch'uan cheng-yang chen-jen ling-pao
pi-fa (Secret Transmission of the Ultimate
Methods of the Ling-pao of the Perfect Man
of the True Yang; eleventh century) and the
Wu-chen p'ien (Book of the Realization of
Perfection) by Chang Po-tuan (d. 1082). The
commentator of the Wu-chen p'ien, Weng Pao-kuang,
was himself influenced by the Chung-Lu texts,
using the terminology and notions found there
to explain the Wu-chen p'ien. In his preface,
dated 1173, he claims to divulge the secret
teachings of Chang Po-tuan concerning the
great medicine of the gold elixir. To refine
the elixir one must first take the primordial
breath as the basis, then establish the yin
cauldron and yang store, and finally, gather
into the cauldron the Primordial Breath,
which will thereupon form a parcel the size
of a grain of millet. It is this grain that
is called chin-tan ("gold elixir").
One then swallows the chin-tan and guides
it into the five viscera, where it will attract
the breath (ch'i) and essence (ching) of
the body and immobilize them, thereby preventing
their escape. Afterward one induces the chin-tan
to circulate, thereby nourishing the breath
and essence, which then transform into a
gold liqueur.
One day this liqueur will rise from the coccyx
and reach the ni-wan (probably from an early
transcription of the Sanskirt word nirvana)
in the brain: this is the chin-i huan-tan
("gold liqueur returned cinnabar").
When the chin-i huan-tan, shaped like the
egg of a sparrow, descends into the mouth,
it is then swallowed and guided to the Lower
Cinnabar Field where it coalesces to become
the "holy embryo." After a ten-month
gestation period, the Holy Embryo will be
born in the form of an earthly immortal (a
rank inferior to that of the celestial immortals).
Having reached this stage, the adept must
withdraw from the world and practice pao-i
("embrace unity") for nine years,
at the end of which time body and spirit
will both be perfect.
Adapted from the Encyclopedia of Religion.
1987. Eliade, M., Ed. MacMillan Publishing
Co., Inc., NY.
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Related Links
Abode of the Eternal Tao
Taosim Super Site
Taoism and the Philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan
The Temple of the Immortal Spirit -- The Western Taoist
Center for Traditional Taoist Studies
Daoist Studies
Taoism from EasternReligions.com
A Philosophical Web Site
The Taoist Restoration Society
The True Tao Home Page
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