Yǎng zhēn jí 養真集
Collected Writings on Nourishing the Real
assembled from wall-postings (字帖) collected by an anonymous “Yǎngzhēn” (Nourisher-of-the-Real) friend of the prefacer; preserved in the Hǎidiàn Huìfúsì through Chén títái (Provincial Commander-in-Chief); preface dated 癸卯孟春 = early spring 1763 (Qiánlóng 28); second preface 丙午夏 = summer 1786 (Qiánlóng 51) by the colleague Zhào Gōng
A two-juàn anthology assembled from wall-postings (字帖) at an anonymous yǎngzhēn (anonymously surnamed) friend’s study, gathered into a compendium and printed in the mid-Qián-lóng era. The contents cover the tiāndì rìyuè zhī dào (Way of Heaven-Earth-Sun-Moon), the guǐ shén rén wù zhī lǐ (Principles of Spirits-and-Humans-and-Things), the chāo shēng cháng shēng zhī shù (techniques of transcending-life and lasting-life), and the chū shì rù shì zhī fǎ (methods of leaving-and-entering the world). The work’s distinctive feature is its three-teachings synthesis under a Daoist roof, with explicit Sòng-school yìlǐ citations alongside Chán meditation-instructions and jīndān alchemical formulas.
Prefaces
Preface (anonymous, dated 癸卯孟春 = early spring 1763). “In the spring-month of guǐmǎo, I came from the capital and passed the prefecture-of-my-friend, sojourned at the study-room, saw on the four walls written-tablets clustered like fish-scales — going up I read; they were the Way of Heaven-Earth-Sun-Moon, the principle of ghost-spirit-man-thing, the technique of beyond-life-long-life, the method of leaving-the-world-and-entering-the-world — all comprehensively recorded, all detailed-in-precision; truly the world-awakening words and the body-cultivation essentials. I asked my friend to write them all out, sort them by class, and assemble them — the book completed, divided into upper and lower volumes — directly displaying the Three Teachings true-and-false and his own self-attained heart-formula, with no concealment whatever, presenting them to the world. — Whoever sees this collection, if able to quietly play with them, will spontaneously have the heart-of-good arise and penetrate the precision-and-subtlety; thereby the deluded awaken, the wicked are righted, no longer entering the side-doors; the foolish are illuminated, the weak made strong, no half-way wasting of merit. — My friend’s collection benefits the world’s heart greatly. My friend’s dào hào is Yǎngzhēn; I, in my old-and-clumsiness, cannot add a word in praise; but I will inscribe directly: Yǎng zhēn jí — and place it at the head.”
Second preface (Zhào Gōng, dated 丙午 summer = summer 1786). “One who has penetrated the mystery-principle but not Chán necessarily suffers from the disease of fixity; one who has penetrated Chán-principle but not Confucianism mostly becomes wild-wisdom. To find one who has penetrated Chán-and-Confucianism both, and further can thread them through with the Way — not only is such a man rare today, even of old, the purple-robed yellow-cap was not often seen. — On a bǐng-wǔ summer day, I called by chance at my friend Zhào Gōng’s study-head and saw on the table a copy of the Yǎng zhēn jí; tracing the book’s source-fountain — got from the Hǎi-diàn Huì-fú-sì, the temple having gotten it from Chén tí-tái (Provincial Commander-in-Chief), and the tí-tái having gotten it from his family’s xī-xí (private-study tutor) — borrowed it home and read; it was annotated by the recluse Yǎng-zhēn-zǐ, regrettably without name-and-surname appended; this is one of the Chì sōng and Huáng shí gōng class. The book’s progression: from Confucian into Chán, by emptiness-numinosity nourishes the shè-lì (śarīra); from Chán into the Way, by prajñā refines the jīn-dān. Speaking of kōng (emptiness), every line is niān-huā miàn-bì (flower-holding face-the-wall) genuine-transmission. Speaking of the Way, no lead-tiger-mercury-dragon false-borrowings. Confucian-and-Yán’s-pleasure is at-hand picked-up; the Lián-Luò spark-of-transmission is at-the-stroke-of-the-brush-issued; converging the Three Teachings to one return; combining the hundred schools to a single track; not making a sky-castle in the air…”
Abstract
A mid-Qián-lóng Yǎngshēng / Three-Teachings anthology preserving the wall-postings of an anonymous Yǎngzhēnzǐ (presumably an early-Qīng recluse), with two extended prefaces dated 1763 and 1786. The text is doctrinally syncretist Confucian-Buddhist-Daoist, with no clearly-attributed authorial layer; it is preserved in the Hǎidiàn Huìfúsì (the Buddhist temple in the western suburbs of Beijing), passed through the named individuals Chén títái → his family tutor → friend Zhào Gōng → the prefacer. Composition of the underlying yǎngzhēnzǐ layer is c. 1700 (the language and conceptual framework predate 1763 by some decades). The DZJY recension preserves both prefaces.
Translations and research
No substantial secondary literature located.