Cúnshén gùqì lùn 存神固氣論
Treatise on Preserving the Spirit and Stabilising the Qì
About the work
An anonymous short single-juǎn nèidān 內丹 treatise on the foundational discipline of cúnshén 存神 (preserving the spirit) and gùqì 固氣 (stabilising the qì) — the two pre-conditions of inner-alchemical realisation.
Abstract
The text is organised under thematic headings. Lúdǐng dìwèi 罏鼎地位 (“Positions of the furnace and tripod”): the four-symbols cosmology turns on the wùjǐ 戊己 stems (Earth, the centre); the Zhìrén 至人 (Realised Person) takes the jīnmù xiāngxíng 金木相刑 (metal-and-wood mutual injury) as the locus of qì-reception, and the shuǐhuǒ shēngjiàng jìjì 水火升降既濟 (water-and-fire ascent-descent crossing-over) as the alchemical operation that sustains “the unceasing principle of generation”.
Yīnyáng diāndǎo 陰陽顛倒 (“Inversion of yin and yang”): yin and yang are mutually seeking objects. Lí 離 is fire — if it loses water, it parches; in extremis, only kǎn 坎 (water) can rescue. Conversely kǎn is water — if it loses fire, it freezes; in extremis, only lí can rescue. Hence the lí-palace receives blood and stores qiān 鉛 (lead) — yáng with yin in it; the kǎn-palace receives qì and stores gǒng 汞 (mercury) — yin with yang in it. Therefore the unenlightened student misidentifies the elements; the realised practitioner sees the inner reversal. Inner-alchemy is the Kǎn-Lí diāndǎo (inversion of kǎn and lí) by which lead and mercury chase one another in spontaneous ascent and descent.
The work is one of the more cleanly philosophical short Sòng-Yuán nèidān treatises. Schipper & Verellen (Taoist Canon 3: 1187, John Lagerwey) place it as a late-Sòng to Yuán anonymous nèidān manual.
Translations and research
Reminder: AI generated list - beware of hallucinations. Corrections and additions welcome
- Schipper, Kristofer, and Franciscus Verellen, eds. The Taoist Canon: A Historical Companion to the Daozang. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. Vol. 3: 1187 (DZ 577, John Lagerwey).
- Pregadio, Fabrizio, ed. The Encyclopedia of Taoism. London: Routledge, 2008.