Xuánzhū gē 玄珠歌
Song of the Mysterious Pearl by 通玄先生 (譔)
About the work
A short single-juǎn sequence of seven-character verses on the inner-alchemical Xuánzhū 玄珠 (“Mysterious Pearl”) — the canonical Daoist symbol of the yuánshén 元神 / inner-elixir attainment — attributed to 通玄先生 (Tōngxuán xiānshēng, “Master Penetrating-the-Mystery”). In the Daozang the Xuánzhū gē is bundled together with KR5b0279 (the parallel Xuánzhū xīnjìng commentary by 衡嶽真子) under the shelfmark DZ 573 (èrpiān tóngjuǎn 二篇同卷).
Abstract
The poems open: “Jiě cǎi xuánzhū wànè chú, jìn jīn dé dào rén qīngxū, qiánfú xiǎnchū zhēnjīn xíng, bèi zài Xiāoyáo sānjuàn shū” 解採玄珠萬惡除，盡今得道人清虛，乾符顯出真金行，備在《逍遙》三卷書 (“Once you can pluck the Mysterious Pearl, the ten thousand evils are dispelled; now those who reach the Way are purified to clear vacuity; the qián talisman makes manifest the true-gold’s circulation; complete in the three juǎn of the Xiāoyáo”). Subsequent verses develop the standard themes of the nèidān tradition: the body as a palace of light; the pearl-jewel as the yuánshén’s residence in the dāntián; the warning against worldly intelligence; the path of chángshēng 長生 (long life) through inner refining.
The work is a key Five-Dynasties / Northern-Sòng witness to the integration of the xìngmìng 性命 inner-alchemical doctrine with the older xuánzhū (mysterious pearl) symbolism of the Hàn and Six-Dynasties Daoist tradition. The work circulates with two competing commentary lineages: KR5b0279 (by 衡嶽真子) and KR5b0280 (by 長孫滋 / 王損之). Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 2: 769–770, John Lagerwey) treat the Xuánzhū gē as the parent text and date it to the tenth century.
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: 769–770 (DZ 573, John Lagerwey).
- Pregadio, Fabrizio, ed. The Encyclopedia of Taoism. London: Routledge, 2008.