Zhūzhēn lùn huándān jué 諸真論還丹訣
Formulae of the Various Perfected on the Cyclically Transformed Elixir
Anonymous Northern-Sòng alchemical anthology, five folios, preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0230 / CT 230 = TC 229), 洞真部 方法類.
About the work
A short collection of alchemical poems ascribed to a series of immortal worthies and xiānzhēn 仙真 of the inner-and-outer alchemical traditions: the opening Yùhú sòng 玉壺頌 in ten quatrains; the Qīngxiá zǐ zàn jīnbì lónghǔ jīng 青霞子讚金碧龍虎經 (a praise-piece on the Jīnbì lónghǔ jīng); short poems on the True Cauldron (Zhēndǐng 真鼎), on the Cāntóng qì of Wèi Bóyáng 魏伯陽 參同契, on Water and Fire (Míng shuǐhuǒ 明水火), the Fire Phases (Míng huǒhòu 明火候), and the Ultimate Drug (Míng zhì yào 明至藥); the Róngchéng gōng nèidān gējué 容成公內丹歌訣 with interlinear gloss; and a closing Cáo Shèngtú qiānhǒng gē 曹聖圖鉛汞歌. Although the compilation is not listed in any of the bibliographic catalogues, most of the material is quoted in Sòng alchemical works.
Prefaces
No preface in the source.
Abstract
Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 2:840 (§3.A.5, Alchemy), notes that the first poem, the Yùhú sòng, is incomplete here: [[KR5c1017|DZ 1017 Dàoshū]] 12.5b describes the transmission of these poems by Tàiyǐ zhēnrén 太乙真人 to Zhōngtiáo zǐ 中條子, and the poem also appears in a Táng or Five Dynasties work as Tàiyǐ zhēnrén yùhú sòng 太乙真人玉壺頌 ([[KR5a1080|DZ 1080 Jīndān zhēnyī lùn]] 10b). Chén Guófú 陳國符, on the basis of rhyme analysis (Dàozàng yuánliú xùkǎo 道藏源流續考, 236), assigned the Qīngxiá zǐ 青霞子 poems to the Southern Dynasties (Qí, Chén, Liáng, 479–589); although that provenance is doubtful, at least one is quoted in a Five Dynasties text ([[KR5a0266|DZ 266 Jīnyè huándān bǎiwèn jué]] 18b). For the Róngchéng gōng nèidān gējué, see Bàopǔ zǐ 抱朴子 16.28b: the present text reproduces only half of the Bàopǔ zǐ poem and changes its last line; a slightly different version is quoted at [[KR5a0235|DZ 234 Xiūdān miàoyòng zhìlǐ lùn]] 6a as the Yuánhuáng shàngjīng 元皇上經. Cáo Shèngtú’s 曹聖圖 (hào Tànxuán zǐ 探玄子) closing piece is a short extract from the Qiánhǒng wǔxíng tú 鉛汞五行圖 mentioned in Chóngwén zǒngmù 9.2.3b and other Sòng catalogues (VDL 154); a slightly different version figures in Dàoshū 30.1a. All the poems are on alchemical themes; Cáo Shèngtú’s poem, however, is clearly nèidān 內丹. The frontmatter brackets the work in the Northern Sòng on the strength of these citation patterns.
Translations and research
No full translation. Standard scholarly entry: Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein, “Zhuzhen lun huandan jue,” in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.5, 840. On the alchemical poetry tradition more broadly: Chén Guófú 陳國符, Dàozàng yuánliú xùkǎo 道藏源流續考 (Beijing: Zhōnghuá shūjú, 1963/1983).
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0231
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.5, 840.