Jīn dān yào jué 金丹要訣
Essential Formulas of the Golden Elixir
planchette-dictated by Wǔ Chōngxū dà zhēn rén (伍守陽 in his apotheosis) — i.e., a posthumous fújī communication; recorded (筆受) by 澹修弟子 = 趙執信 (Zhào Zhíxìn, 1662–1744)
A short Qīng fújī compendium presented as the post-ascension teachings of Wǔ Chōngxū dà zhēn rén (the apotheosised Wǔ Shǒuyáng) to a planchette circle within which Zhào Zhíxìn — the dismissed Hanlin academician and famous Qīng poetic theorist — served as brush-receiver under the disciple-name Dànxiū dìzǐ. The opening zìtí (self-inscription) by the immortal Wǔ reads: “A planchette-transmitted thousand-words: men have entered the cavern-heaven; the wild-foxes in their competing-after-it have got the lightning-fire and turned to smoke.”
Prefaces
Self-inscription (Wǔ Chōngxū, planchette). “Planchette-transmitted thousand-words; men have entered the cavern-heaven; wild-foxes competing-to-get-it; the thunder-fire turned to smoke.” [Followed by the Jīn dān dà zhǐ opening.]
Abstract
A late-Kāng-xī or early-Yōng-zhèng fújī compendium re-presenting the WǔLiǔ pài inner-alchemy doctrine in the planchette voice of the apotheosised Wǔ Shǒuyáng — i.e., a posthumous exposition by the master who had died in 1644. The bǐshòu (brush-receiver), Dànxiū dìzǐ = Zhào Zhíxìn (cf. 趙執信), brings to the work a documented Hanlin connection and dates the planchette session within Zhào’s lifetime (1662–1744) — most plausibly in the early Qiánlóng era (Zhào lived to 1744). The doctrinal content is a continuation of the WǔLiǔ pài curriculum and includes the standard jīndān cosmology mapped to the Yì jīng (the qián / kūn / kǎn / lí hexagram-correspondence to jīng / qì / shén applied to physiological alchemy).
The text is a useful witness to mid-Qīng fújī Daoism’s continued claim on already-dead masters: the planchette circle at which Zhào served as brush-receiver could communicate with Wǔ Shǒuyáng decades after his death, with the resulting transmission being printed as the Jīn dān yào jué.
Translations and research
- For Zhào Zhí-xìn’s biography see Hummel, Eminent Chinese, s.v.
- No critical edition or full translation of this text located.
Links
- Kanseki Repository KR5i0069
- Brush-receiver: 趙執信; planchette-speaker: 伍守陽 (託名).