Língbǎo jìngmíng huángsù shū shìyì mìjué 靈寶淨明黃素書釋義祕訣
Secret Formulae for the Exegesis of the Língbǎo Jìng-míng Yellow-Silk Book by 周方文 (撰)
About the work
A single-juǎn doctrinal supplement to the Língbǎo jìngmíng huángsù shū KR5b0259 (DZ 555), compiled by the Jìngmíng disciple 周方文 (Zhōu zhēngōng 周真公). Where the parent scripture is structured as cosmogonic revelation with 傅飛卿’s exegetical commentary, this mìjué is structured as a question-and-answer between Fāngwén and his Perfected Master, in which the former lays out the technical doctrinal puzzles of the Huángsù shū and the latter resolves them.
Abstract
The text opens “Dìzǐ Fāngwén jǐn jīshǒu, zhēnshī gǎnwèn Huángsù shū shùshì, fúwàng yùzhǐ zhēnzhǐ gēnyuán fēnmíng chuíjiào…” 弟子方文謹稽首，真師敢問黃素書數事，伏望玉旨真指根源分明垂教 (“Your disciple Fāngwén respectfully prostrates; he ventures to ask the Perfected Master about several matters in the Huángsù shū, hoping that the master’s jade utterance and true designation will clearly indicate their roots and bestow instruction”). The questions then range across the Huángsù shū’s key technical formulae: wǔqì cháoyuán sānyáng jùdǐng 五炁朝元三陽聚頂 (“the five qì come to court at the Origin; the three yáng assemble at the crown”), pondered against the ZhōnglíLǚ formula sānhuā jùdǐng 三花聚頂; the formula dāng sī yīshēn hé suǒ cóng lái 當思一身何所從來 (“contemplate whence this single body has come”); and so on through the major alchemical heads. The master’s answers harmonise the Huángsù formulae with the ZhōngLǚ alchemical lore.
Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 2: 1094, John Lagerwey) treat the work as the most explicit Jìngmíng doctrinal complement to the parent scripture. The text is one of the principal sources for understanding how the SòngYuán Jìngmíng tradition absorbed and re-narrated the ZhōngLǚ (Zhōnglí Quán + Lǚ Dòngbīn) nèidān alchemy.
Translations and research
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. Vol. 2: 1094 (DZ 556, John Lagerwey).
- Akizuki, Kan’ei. Chūgoku kinsei dōkyō no keisei: Jōmyō-dō no kisoteki kenkyū. Tokyo: Sōbunsha, 1978.