Yīnfú jīng sānhuáng yùjué 陰符經三皇玉訣
Jade Instructions on the “Yīnfú jīng” by the Three August Ones
anonymous Sòng commentary on the Yīnfú jīng pseudepigraphically attributed to Sānhuáng 三皇 revelation, three juan; preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0120 / CT 120 = TC 119), 洞真部 本文類
About the work
A three-juan commentary on the [[KR5a0031|Yīnfú jīng]] not mentioned in the Sòng catalogues and not in Gāo Sìsūn’s 高似孫 (jìnshì 1181) Zǐlüè 子略 list of Yīnfú jīng versions (1.1b–2a), but cited with some textual variants in the late twelfth century by Hóu Shànyuán 侯善淵 ([[KR5a1061|DZ 1061 Shàngqīng tàixuán jí 4.11a]]).
In the preface, the Yellow Emperor himself gives an account of discovering the text and seeking a capable exegete, which led him to Guǎngchéngzǐ 廣成子 on Mount Kōngtóng 崆峒山 and to Tiānzhēn huángrén 天真皇人 on Mount Éméi 峨眉山 (cf. [[KR5a0388|DZ 388 Tàishàng língbǎo wǔfú xù]] 3.17a–18a). The work now contains the explanations Huángdì received from these two figures. The Yīnfú jīng, in its short 324-character version, is expounded sentence by sentence, and the question of its practical applicability is discussed. The interpretations depict the human body as a reflection of the macrocosm (e.g., 1.5b) and point to the relation of the Yīnfú jīng with physiological alchemy aimed at regaining the pure yáng (chúnyáng 純陽; 1.1b–2b). The Three August Ones (Sānhuáng 三皇) signify the three cinnabar fields within the human body.
A much-abridged version of the present text is found with textual variants in [[KR5a0263|DZ 263 Xiūzhēn shíshū]] 3.4b–10a under the title “Essentials of the Yīnfú jīng” (Yīnfú jīng yàojué 陰符經要訣).
Prefaces
Preface by “the Yellow Emperor” (fictional) recounting his discovery of the scripture and search for an exegete.
Abstract
Hans-Hermann Schmidt, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 2:696 (§3.A.1), dates the commentary to the eleventh or twelfth century on the strength of the Hóu Shànyuán citation. The frontmatter brackets composition notBefore 1000 / notAfter 1200, with dynasty 宋. No author is attributed (the Sānhuáng revelation-frame is a fiction).
Translations and research
No translation. Standard scholarly entry: Hans-Hermann Schmidt, “Yinfu jing sanhuang yujue,” in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.1, 696.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0120
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.1, 696 — DZ 119 (TC) / KR5a0120 (Kanripo) entry (H.-H. Schmidt).