Yùxī zǐ dānjīng zhǐyào 玉谿子丹經指要
Basic Directions on the Alchemical Classics, by Master Yùxī
by 李簡易 (撰, hào Yùxī zǐ 玉谿子, fl. 1264)
About the work
A three-juan nèidān 內丹 (“inner alchemy”) compendium by the Yíchūn 宜春 Quánzhēn 全真 master Lǐ Jiǎnyì 李簡易 (hào Yùxī zǐ 玉谿子), compiled in the 1260s, preserved in the Zhèngtǒng Dàozàng 正統道藏 (DZ 0245 / CT 245 = TC 244), 洞真部 方法類. The collection bundles six (or ten, in the Míng 1354 edition) works by Lǐ: (i) Wùzhēn piān zhǐyào 悟真篇指要, a distilled interpretation of Zhāng Bóduān’s Wùzhēn piān; (ii) Chángshēng jiùshì zhī shū 長生救世之書, Lǐ’s alchemical commentary on a Yánggǔ 楊穀 interpretation of the Yīnfú jīng 陰符經; (iii) Biànhuò lùn 辯惑論, a short treatise demonstrating that the methods of nèidān are not inferior to those of Chán Buddhism; (iv) Dānfáng fǎyǔ 丹房法語, a collection of methodical sayings on nèidān, part of which was later reprinted in [[KR5a0879|DZ 879 Yǎngshēng bǐlù]] under the heading Dānfáng yǔlù 丹房語錄; (v) Xīhuáng zuòyòng 羲皇作用, an essay on the working of the symbols of Fúxī applied to the advancing and retreating of fire-phases; (vi) Zhāng Zǐyáng zèng Bólóng dòng dàorén gē 張紫陽贈白龍洞道人歌 and various other alchemical poems. The basis of all practice, according to Lǐ, lies in mental concentration.
Prefaces
The author’s self-preface (dated the jǐngdìng 5th year, jiǎzǐ, fourth month full moon = 1264): “I am of Yíchūn 宜春, of the east district of its walled town; my ancestor Yuǎncú, at the cháoyì Daoist precinct, retired from office and studied the Way, and took for himself the name Yùxī sǒu 玉谿叟 (today, when the great clans no longer call themselves by their commandery-provenance, only ‘Yùxī’ is in use). Twice he encountered Lǚ Chúnyáng 呂純陽, but did not recognize him (once at the base of a pine on Yuèshān, once when he heard the sound of a flute at the Yuèyáng Tower on a moonlit night). Later on a second visit to Nányuè 南嶽, intending to meet Lán Yǎngsù 藍養素 on the road, he met a man bearing a pack of nails and cash, who said, ‘Are you not Mr. Lǐ? You went to Yuèshān to see Yǎngsù, did you not?’ Yuǎncú said, ‘Yes.’ ‘Then,’ said the man, ‘let me trouble you with a message for Lán: “The Liú chǔshì respectfully asks the master: after ten months’ gestation, how does one come out?”’ and with a deep bow he left. Traveling a few miles on, my ancestor became despondent and could not recover his spirits; reflecting that the man had known his surname and his inmost thoughts, and had spoken in no common manner — he turned back to seek him, but never found him again. When he reached Lán Yǎngsù, he recounted what had been said. Lán asked, ‘Was there not a white mole between his brows?’ ‘There was.’ ‘That,’ said Lán, ‘was Liú Hǎichán 劉海蟾. I have already matured the sacred embryo, but without this man I cannot verify it. Repeat his question to me.’ My ancestor did so. Lán clapped his hand and roared with laughter; thunder was heard at his head, and a figure was seen like snow and moon radiance, no different from Lán, rising directly to the clouds — and Lán was gone. My ancestor burned incense, sighed, and withdrew…” Lǐ’s preface then continues with his own learning in Buddhist classics, astrology, medicine, and divination, his concentrated interest in the jīndān 金丹 secret, his many wanderings in search of teachers, his receiving of the transmission first at the Guìxiānfāng 桂仙坊 Wángzǐ miào 王子廟 and then at Jiānglíng, his nine-year silence, and the occasion (in jǐngdìng guǐhài 景定癸亥 1263) on which — finding his village companions already dead — he resolved to put down his knowledge in the present book. Signed “Jǐngdìng fifth year jiǎzǐ [1264], fourth month, full moon, Yíchūn Yùxī zǐ Lǐ Jiǎnyì, self-prefaced.”
Abstract
Kristofer Schipper, in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004) 2:837–838 (§3.A.4, Nèidān and Yǎngshēng), identifies Lǐ Jiǎnyì as a Quánzhēn Daoist of Yíchūn, grandson of Lǐ Guān 李觀 (hào Yùxī sǒu 玉谿叟), an official with a Daoist leaning; the preface of 1264 applies to the first five of the ten titles, two additional prefaces dating 1266 and undated. Yú Yǎn 俞琰 (1258–1314) records that a collection of Lǐ’s works was published at Chángshā 長沙 around the time of Qubilai’s 1281 order to burn Daoist books, and mentions a “recent” re-edition by Péng Shí 彭時 and Pò Jiànmíng 婆劍明 in Jiāngxī; the 1354 edition by Wáng Guì 王珪 (titled Shíshū 十書) collects ten works — nine by Lǐ and one by his contemporary Péng Chóngyáng 彭重陽. Of Lǐ’s four attested alchemical works (Wùzhēn zhǐyào, Xīhuáng zuòyòng, Guīshí tú, Xīnyìn jīng jiě), the first three are preserved here. The frontmatter brackets composition 1264–1266.
Translations and research
No full translation. Standard scholarly entry: Kristofer Schipper, “Yuxi zi danjing zhiyao,” in Schipper & Verellen eds., The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.4, 837–838. On nèidān in the Quánzhēn movement: Isabelle Robinet, Introduction à l’alchimie intérieure taoïste (Paris: Cerf, 1995); Pierre Marsone, Wang Chongyang et la fondation du Quanzhen (Paris 2010).
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5a0246
- Schipper & Verellen, The Taoist Canon (2004), Vol. 2 §3.A.4, 837–838.