komjathy - mapping the daoist body

67

Mapping the Daoist Body

Part One

The Neijing tu in History *

LOUIS KOMJATHY

Abstract

ThisarticleexaminesthehistoryandcontentoftheNeijingtu (Diagram of Internal Pathways), a late nineteenthcentury stele currentlyhousedinBaiyunguan (WhiteCloudMonastery;Beijing).ThediagramisoneofthemostwellknownillustrationsoftheDaoistbody,thoughitshistoricalprovenancehasnotbeensufficientlydocumentedtodate.

Thepresent article providesamorecomplete account of its context ofproductionanddissemination,namely,withinthecontextofBaiyunguan,thelateimperialLongmen(DragonGate)lineageoftheQuanzhen (CompletePerfection)monasticorder,andeliteimperialcourtculture.IthenturntoasystematicstudyofitscontentsandtheDaoistmethodsexpressedinitscontours.Withinitstopographicallandscape,onefindsaspecificvisionoftheDaoistbody,abodyactualizedthroughDaoistalchemical

* ThepresentarticleispartofmyongoingresearchprojectonDaoistbodymapsandDaoistviewsofself.IamgratefultoLiviaKohn,LiuXun,JiangSheng,andtheanonymousreadersoftheJournalofDaoistStudiesfortheirhelpfulcomments. I alsowish to thankKate Townsend for hermany insights into DaoistcultivationandChinesemedicine.

68/JournalofDaoistStudies1(2008)

praxis. As such, the Neijing tu and its various rubbings were more thanlikelyintendedasvisualaidsforDaoistreligioustraining.

Forreadability,thearticlehasbeendividedintotwoparts.Thecurrentsection discusses the diagrams historical and terminological dimensions.Thesecondpart,scheduledtobepublishedinthenextissueoftheJournalofDaoistStudies,focusesoncontentandincludesacompletebilingualtranslationwithillustrations.

ThroughoutthehistoryoftheDaoisttradition,Daoistshavebeenexpertand extraordinary cartographers.Whether through textual descriptionsorvisual representations,Daoistshavesought tomap thepatterns andconstituentsofbothinternalandexternalworlds.Theyhavechartedthecosmos through star diagrams, including the forms of the five planetsand the twentyeight lunarmansions. They havemapped the layersoftheheavens,thesubtlerealmsoftheuniverse,andthestellarabodesinhabitedbythePerfected(zhenren).Theyhavediagramedthemountain peaks of this terrestrial landscape and the hidden grottoheavens(dongtian) branching out like veins through the earth. They havecharted the geomantic contours and qualities of place. They havemapped the internal spirits associated with the various orbs1and theprocessbywhichonerealizesthegivennessofcosmologicalsituatedness.Theyhavediagramedthealchemicalprocessofselftransformationandthe subtle physiology of human aliveness.2 In short, Daoists havemappedtheuniverseinitsvariouslayersandmutualinfluencesauniverse which is simultaneously cosmos, world, landscape, community,andself.

1Onthetranslationofzang/asorbseePorkert1974.Althoughzanghasbeentranslatedinnumerousways(organ,viscera,depot,etc.),orbseemsthebestchoiceasitincludesthelargerprocessoriented qi theory.

2Examples of these variousmapsmay be found throughout thepages ofNeedhametal.1983;Despeux1994;2000;Little2000.OntheimportanceofspecificgeographicallocationsintheDaoisttraditionsee,e.g.,NaquinandYu1992;Verellen1995;Hahn1988;2000;Qiao2000.

Komjathy,MappingtheDaoistBody/69


TheNeijingtu(Diagramof InternalPathways;seeFigure1)isonesuchdiagram.3TheNeijingtuisamapoftheDaoistinternallandscapeandastorehouseofDaoistcultivationpractices,specificallyvisualizationandalchemical techniques.Thediagramdepicts theheadandtorsooftheDaoistbodyasseenfromthesideandinseatedmeditationposture.Itillustratesmorecommonlyrecognizableaspectsofthehumanbody in combination with Daoist subtle anatomy and physiology. Thespinalcolumn,framedontherightandconnectingthelowertorsowiththe cranial cavity, draws ones immediate attention. The conventionalrepresentationofthespinalcolumnissupplementedbyspecificallyDaoist realities: oncloser examinationonenotices three templeswithin the

3The rubbing in my personal collection was acquired at Baiyun guan in2002.Likeothermodernrubbingsfromtheextantstonestele,itlackstheguangxu inscription in the upper righthand corner (see Eichman 2000a), which isdiscussedbelowasakeytothehistoryofthediagram.Oflate,theNeijingtuhasbecomeasortoflogoforDaoistStudiesintheWest.Ithasappearedin numerouspublications,withvaryingdegreesofreflectiveconsideration.Forexample,ithasappearedonthecoverofThomasClearysTheInnerTeachingsofTaoism, inLiviaKohnsTheTaoistExperience (Kohn1993,177),inJohnLagerweysTaoistRitualinChineseSocietyandHistory (Lagerwey1987,289),andinSchippersLecorpstaoste(Schipper1982,143)withoutanyexplanation.ThemostdetailedstudiestodateareRousselle1933;Sakade1991;Wang1991/92;andEichman2000a.AdditionalcommentsmaybefoundinChia1995;Cohen1997,15255;Despeux1994,4448;2000;Li2003;Liun.d.;Needhametal.1983,11416;Schipper1978,356;Skar2003.Rousselle andWangprovide fairly systematic accounts,withWang translatingmuch of thediagram, but froman art historicalperspective. Both alsoprovidesomeinformationontherelationshipbetweenarubbingoftheNeijingtu andanunidentified painting. Eichmans comments are included in the art catalogueTaoismandtheArtsofChina,and,likeNeedhamandDespeux,arefairlygeneral.Needham,DespeuxandSkaralsoprovidesome insights into thehistoricalanddoctrinalrelationshipbetweenvariousDaoistbodymaps, including theNeijingtu.Here it perhapsdeservesmentioning thatmost of thediscussions ofDaoistbodymapsrelyonandoftencloselyfollowNeedhametal.1983.NotealsothattheNeijingtu(andmanyoftheoriginalimages)wasnotreproducedintheEnglish translation of Schippers Lacorpstaoste,wherewe find the followingnote:Seethe imageofthe InnerLandscapeonpage000,wherethe lowerCinnabarField (hsia tantien) is represented by an irrigated rice field being tilled by ayoungbody(Schipper1993,235,n.24).


spine,corresponding to theThreePasses (sanguan) throughwhichDaoistadepts engaging in theprocessof alchemical transformation endeavortocirculateqi.Inaddition,thethreeelixirfields(sandantian )4withtheloweronecorrespondingtotheox(abdominalregion),themiddle to the Cowherd (heart region), and the upper to the old man(headregion)areclearlydiscernable.Onealsonotes theheadasaseriesofmountainpeaksandthepresenceofbridgesandpagodas insidethe body. In addition, streams are flowing throughout the map (andthroughout thebody).Thesevariousdetails, aswell as the textual andvisualcontoursyet tobementioned,reveal theNeijing tu as adetailedmappingoftheDaoistbody.ItrevealstheinternallandscapediscoveredandactualizedthroughDaoistcultivation,specificallywithincertaincircles of late imperial Daoism and branches of Daoist internal alchemy(neidan ),5 notably the Longmen (Dragon Gate) branch ofQuanzhen (Complete Perfection) at Baiyun guan (WhiteCloudMonastery;Beijing)inthelatenineteenthcentury.Althoughsuchhistorical qualificationsmust, perhaps, bemade, in its textual content,visual representations, and praxisbased concerns, the Neijing tu findsclear precedents in both SongJin (tenththirteenth century) lineages ofinternal alchemy and late imperial internal alchemy.6 In addition, thediagramhasretainedacentralplaceof importancewithinDaoistcom

4Elixir fields (dantian), discussed inmore detail below, are subtle,oftenmystical,energeticlocationsinthebody,whichfrequentlyincludeanonspatialdimension(e.g.,mysticalcraniallocations).Theyareplacesinwhichthebodysphysicalandenergeticaspects,theingredientsforthealchemicalmedicineandthefoundationforimmortality,arestoredandtransformed.Theessentialmaterials for elixirformation are vital essence (jing) associatedwith thekidneys, qi associatedwiththelowerabdomen,spirit(shen)associatedwiththeheartandbrain,andbodilyfluids(jinye),whichhaveavarietyofassociations. Some internal alchemy systemsalso place emphasis on the etherealsoul(hun)andthecorporealsoul(po ).ForanattempttomapDaoistelixirformationintermsofChinesemedicaltheoryseeKomjathy2007,ch.6.

5For some insights into the history and practice of internal alchemy seeBaldrianHussein1983;Needham et al. 1983;Robinet 1989b; 1995; PregadioandSkar2000;Skar2003;Komjathy2007.

6TheexactlineageofinternalalchemydocumentedintheNeijingtuawaitsfutureresearch.WhileImakesomesuggestions,acompletestudyoflateimperialneidan andLongmenmayclarifytheseandrelatedhistoricalissues.


munitiesintothetwentyfirstcentury,atestamenttotheenduringpowerofitsmappingoftheDaoistbodyandDaoistreligiouspraxis.7

Inpartoneofthisarticle,IdiscussthehistoricalbackgroundoftheNeijingtuaswellasthelayersofmeaningembeddedinitstitle.Inparttwo,whichwillappearinthenextissueoftheJournalofDaoistStudies,adetailedstudyof thegraphicandtextualcomponentsof thediagramispresented. I also draw attention to three specific Daoist cultivationmethods illustrated in the Neijing tu, namely, praxisoriented applicationsofclassicalChinesemedicalviewsofthebody;visualizationmethodswhichdrawtheir inspirationfromtheHuangtingjing(Scriptureon theYellowCourt;DZ331;332)8andwhich findclearhistoricalprecedents in early Shangqing (Highest Clarity) Daoism; and thealchemical technique known as the Waterwheel (heche) or MicrocosmicOrbit(xiaozhoutian ).

Theprimaryfocusofthepresentstudyisthetextualandvisualcontentof thediagram itself, especially as onedepictionof theDaoist alchemical or mystical body (see Komjathy 2007) and as onemap ofDaoist religious praxis as undertaken in the late imperial period. Themajorcontributionofthispaperis,inturn,threefold.Itprovidesthefirstcomplete translationof theNeijingtu, includingbilingual renderingsofthe diagram as divided into three sections. Second, it supplies greaterspecificitythananypreviousstudyconcerningtheactualhistoricalcontext in which the original stele was commissioned and in which theoriginal versionmay have been produced. Finally, I argue for readingtheNeijingtu as amapofDaoistcultivationasunderstoodandundertakeninthecontextoflateimperialDaoismandintheLongmenbranchofQuanzhen,specifically atBaiyunguanduring the lateQingdynasty(16441911).Onthemostbasiclevel,thediagramisanaestheticallypow

7Some claims have also been made concerning the Neijing tu as part ofChinesemedicalhistory.SeeFuetal.1999;Li2003.Whilepurelymedicalexplanationsproveunsatisfactory in terms of thediagramscontent, the overlappingcontoursofBuddhism,Daoism,andChinesemedicinemaygiveonepauseatthereifiednatureofthosecategories.TheNeijingtu,likecontemporaneous sources, reveals a complexpattern of interaction, adaptation, and transformationoftraditionsinthelateimperialperiod.

8Daoist texts are cited according toKomjathy2002,with numbers for theMingdynastyDaoistCanonparallelingSchipperssystem.


erful depiction of the human body, and thus of the aspiring Daoistadeptsownpsychosomaticpossibility.9Onanother level, it is thebodyas actualized through meditative praxis, and thus points towards twoadditional dimensions: seated meditation becomes represented as thenormative andnormalizingposture forhumanbeings; and, like earliermappingsofDaoistcultivation,theNeijingtuwasmorethanlikelyused(andcontinuestobeused) asavisualaidformeditation.

Historical Contours

ThereceivedNeijingtuisastonestelehousedatBaiyunguaninBeijing.Baiyunguan is theseatofcontemporaryQuanzhenDaoism,theofficialstatesponsored Daoist monastic tradition in mainland China, and theheadquartersof theChineseDaoistAssociation (Zhongguodaojiaoxiehui).10 ItisalsothechiefmonasteryoftheLongmenbranchofQuanzhen,traditionallysaidtohavebeenestablishedbyQiuChuji (Changchun [Perpetual Spring]; 11481227), but historicallytraced to Wang Changyue (Kunyang [Paradisiacal Yang];16221680)(Esposito2000,628;seealsoEsposito1993;2001).

The receivedNeijingtu stele is a reproductionof a latenineteenthcenturyengraving.Accordingtotheinscriptionintheupperrighthandcornerofatleastsomerubbingsofthe Neijingtu(seeEichman2000a),theengravingoftheoriginalsteleoccurredinthefirstthirdofthesixthlunarmonth in 1886 (guangxubingwunianheyueshanghuan ),thatis,towardstheendofthelateimperialperiodandoftheManchuQingdynasty(16441911).Theguangxuinscriptiononlyoccursinsomeextantrubbings,andthishistoricaldetail,frommyperspective,providesan importantclue into thehistoryof thediagramnowknownas theNeijingtu. Incontrast, the extantNeijingtu stonesteleofBaiyunguan,similar reproductionsdistributed tovariousDaoist temples (e.g.,

9 In this respect, theNeijingtu is not simplyan artifact, a trace of somelost historicalmoment or amonument to disappearing tradition. It remainsanenduring presence in various Daoist communities and in the lives of specificDaoists.Cf.Eichman2000b:231.

10ForinformationonQuanzhenDaoismseeYao 1980;Tsui1991;Qingetal.1996,vol.3;JournalofChineseReligions29(2001);Eskildsen2004;Komjathy2007.ForastudyofthehistoryofBaiyunguanseeMarsone1999.


Baxiangong,Chongyanggong,Qingyanggong), andmodernrubbingslackthisinscription.This,inturn,pointstoanearlierengraving,regardingwhichitscurrentstatus(extantornot),possiblelocation,andoriginalmaterial(wood,stoneorbronze)remainamystery.

TheoriginalengravingwascommissionedbyaLongmenmonkandcourteunuch(taijian)namedLiuChengyin (d.1894),whoseDaoistnamewasSuyun(PureCloud).11LiuChengyinwasborninDongguang county, Zhili province (presentday Hebei), anareaknown for itspoverty andhence its steady supplyof youngboyswho were often sold by their parents to be castrated and trained aseunuchs for the imperial household. Little else is known about Liusearlylifeandhiscareer.AsLiuXunpointsout,

11The most readily available biographical information appears in a steleinscriptionwrittenbyXiyou,aManchubannerman,andentitledLiuSuyundaoxingbei(SteleontheDaoistActivitiesofLiuSuyun;dat.1886). It seems that this stelewas originally located in thewestern front of theNanjidian(ShrineoftheSouthernPolestar),whichisnownamedLeizudian (Shrine of the Patriarch of Thunder).Wang Chiping (pers.comm..);authorsfieldobservations(cf.Goossaert2007,224).ForreproductionsseeKoyanagi1934,15859;Li2003,714.Other important, relatedsteles includetheSuyunzhenrendaoxingbeiji (dat.1895),SuyunzhenrenLiuxianshibeiji(dat.1895),LiuSuyuntaming (dat.ca.1900),andBaiyunguanChangchungonghuibeiji (dat. 1886).OntheseandcontemporaneousstelesseeGoossaert2007.Most of thepresent biographical information onLiuChengyin comes from thefirstinscriptionandfromLiuXunsstudy(2004a)ofaseriesofpaintingshonoringBixiayuanjun (PrimordialGoddessofCeruleanMists),whichhadbeen commissioned by Gao Rentong (18411907), twentiethgenerationabbot of Baiyun guan (see also Liu 2004b). The relevant information on LiuChengyin appears on pages 8494. Lius article also provides the interestedreaderwithafullerappreciationofthecomplexinteractionamongtheQingimperialelite,powerfulLongmenclerics,andcourteunuchsduringtheendoftheQingdynasty,withspecialattentiontothelatenineteenthcenturyBaiyunguanenvirons. See also Vincent Goossaerts The Taoists of Peking (2007), which providesamorecompletepictureofthereligioculturalcontextofBeijingduringthelate imperial and earlymodern periods.OnGao Rentong see especially pages17275;informationofLiuChengyinappearsonpages21823.


OfficialQingsourcesgenerallyneglectthehistoryofeunuchslikeLiuwhoseprofessionandsocialclasswerewidelystigmatized. Nonetheless, circumstantial evidence found in nonofficialsourcesatteststoLiuspowerfulinfluenceandconnections at Qing court, and to the immense personal wealth hegarneredfromtheseconnections.(Liu2004a,85)

LiuChengyinwasapowerfulcourteunuchtoEmpressDowagerCixi (18351908)andagenerouspatronofBaiyunguan.12HebecameoneCixismosttrustedchiefeunuchsfollowingtheexecutionofAnDehai (d. 1869). More germane to the present study, Liu Chengyin received formal Longmen ordination under Zhang Yuanxuan (Gengyun [Tilling Clouds]; 18281887), one of the most famousQuanzhen monastic leaders of his era. This ordination ceremony occurred in 1871 and included several hundred ordainees, one of whomwas Gao Rentong (Shoushan [LongevityMountain]; 18411907),13 who would become the twentiethgeneration abbot of Baiyunguan after the death of Abbot Meng Yongcai (d. 1881). As aLongmenmonkatBaiyunguan,LiuChengyinservedasanaltarattendant (hutanhuazhu) (MinandLi1994,482);asapatronofBaiyunguanandcourtconfidante,hewasagenerousdonor toandadvocateforthemonastery.

12 Itseemsthatamajormotivationforcourteunuchinterestinandsupportof Quanzhen Daoism centered on a popular imagining of Qiu Changchun. Incirculationsinceatleastthesixteenthcentury,thoughwithouthistoricalsupportin terms ofQius actual life, this legend claimed thatQiu castrated himself inordertoresistsexualfavorsbestowedonhimbyChinggisQan(GenghisKhan;ca.11621227;r.12061227),theMongolruler.RemembranceofQiuslegendaryselfcastrationbecamecentralduringfestivitiessurroundinghisbirthday.Occurring from the firstdayof the firstmoon through thenineteenthdayof the firstmoon, these festivities culminated in the celebration of Qius birthday on thenineteenthday,whichwaspopularlyknownasYanjiu . SeeLiu2004a,8891.OnQiuChangchunseeYao1980;1986;Zheng1995;Zhao1999.

13GaoRentong,aswastraditionallythecaseforDaoistclerics,hadanumber of names, includingYuntong, Tongyuan, Yunxi, andMingdong[tong][].Liu2004a;MinandLi1994,825.The lattersourcealso includesbriefentriesonLiuChengyin(482)andZhangYuanxuan(586).


Between 1871 and 1890, he helped the monastery raise a total ofsome44,000taelsofsilver,morethanhalfofwhichcamefromLiuhimself.Mostofthefundswenttopayforordinationceremonies,includingthe one that occurred in 1871, and the renovation and construction ofmonasticbuildings.LiuChengyinwasalso instrumental infundingthecarvinganderectingofseveralmajorsteleinscriptions.Amongthese,hecommissionedtheengravingoftheNeijingtu,whichwaserectedatBaiyunguanin1886.LaterthisstelewasinlaidtogetherwiththeXiuzhentu (Diagram for Cultivating Perfection) (see Despeux 1994; Skar2000),another,morecomplexdiagramoninternalalchemy,onawallinthereargardenof themonastery compound in1890.The engravingoftheXiuzhentu stele,likethatoftheNeijingtu,wascommissionedbyLiu.As is evidenced from such patronage, LiuChengyinwas interested inthepracticeanddisseminationofinternalalchemypractice,atleastpartiallythroughthecirculationofrubbingsoftheNeijingtuandXiuzhentu(seealsoGoossaert2007,28593).Inadditiontostudyingandpracticingunder Zhang Yuanxuan, Liu allegedly built a small selfcultivation retreatcalledZizhudaoyuan(DaoistCloisterofPurpleBamboo),located in themodernparkofthesamenamein thewesternsuburbofBeijing, where he engaged in neidan training after his retirement fromcourt.

Outside of the internal textual dimensions, the only known available historical information on this diagram comes from inscriptions intheNeijingtuitself.AccordingtoLiuChengyinscolophoninthelowerleftcorner(seeFigure1):

This diagram has never been transmitted before. The fundamental reason for this isbecausetheWayoftheElixirisvastandsubtle, and thereareobtusepeoplewhodonothave theabilitytograspit.Consequently,itrarelyhasbeentransmittedintheworld.

Ihappenedtoobservethediagramamongthebooksandpaintings in the study (zhai) of Gao Songshan. Bychance,itwashangingonawall.Theskillusedinitspaintingtechniqueisfinelyexecuted.Theannotationsofthejointsandarticulations (jinjie),meridians and vessels (mailuo)areclearlydistinguished,andeachonecontainsspecific cavities(qiao ).


Iexamined[thediagram]foralongtimeandrealizedthatmycomprehensionwasgrowing.Ibegantorealizethatexhalation and inhalation (huxi) aswell as expelling and ingesting (tuna ) of the human body are the waxing andwaningaswellastheebbandflowofthecosmos.

Ifyoucandivineandgaininsightintothis,youwillhaveprogressedmorethanhalfwayonyour inquiry into thegreatWayoftheGoldenElixir(jindandadao ).

In truth, I did not dare to keep this for myself alone.Therefore, I had it engraved on a printing block [so that itmightbe]widelydisseminated.

Engravedwithdeep reverence as an inscribed recordbyLiuChengyin,theDaoistSuyun

PrintingblockpreservedatBaiyun guaninBeijing

WithregardtotheGaoSongshanmentionedintheabovepassage,ithasmost often been taken as a geographical name (Needham et al. 1983;Despeux1994;2000;Eichman2000a;Wang199192),butmorethanlikelyreferstoapersonalname.Withregardtotheformer,GaoSongshanhasbeen translated conventionally as tall Pine Mountain or as loftyMount Song. If these characters refer to a geographical location, themountain mentioned here remains unidentified. There are numerousmountains called Songshan (Pine Mountain) and presumablyseveralofthemorthepinesonthemwerehigh.14DespeuxsuggeststhatitreferstoSongshan inHenan(1994,44;2000,521),butthecharacter song(lofty) in thefamedSongshan isdifferent fromthat in theNeijingtu.15LiuXunhasrecentlysuggestedthatGaoSongshanisaper

14See,e.g.,therelevantentryintheZhongwendacidian .15ThefamedSongshandoes,ofcourse,receivethedesignationSong

gao inapoembythatnameintheShijing (ClassicofPoetry)(see Legge189395, vol. 4, 535).However, the context of the originalNeijingtu engraving,that is, amongQingdynasty court elite and by a court eunuch and Longmenmonk,wasmost likely theurban environment of Beijing. There is no evidencethat Liu Chengyin went mountainhopping or cloudwandering duringwhich hehappenedupon thediagram,orthathe receivedsomeesoterictransmissioninasecretmountaincave,asmuchassuchdetailswouldprovesatisfyingtoWesternromanticizedideasaboutDaoism.Herewearedealingwithasocioeconomic and religiohistorical context of imperial patronage andDaoistparticipation,which is substantiated by the fact that the original paintingwas


sonal name and most likely refers to Gao Rentong. This conjecture isbasedonthefactthatLiuChengyinhadacloserelationshipwithAbbotGaoandthatGaoRentongsDaoistnamewasShoushan(2004a,94,n. 51). Moreover, historical contextualization, the fact that Liu was aLongmenmonkatBaiyunguan,anassociateandfellowordinandofGao,andachiefeunuchinBeijing,supportssuchareading.However,ifthisis thecase, thenwhydoes song replace thecharacter shou inGaoRentongsDaoistnameasengravedintheNeijingtustele?OnepossibilityisthatSongshanwasanicknameusedbysomeoftheLongmenDaoists atBaiyunguan, although Ihave foundno evidence tosupport thisconjecture.Another,complementarypossibilityisthatthetwocharacters,thoughvisuallyunrelated,wereseenassynonymousinaDaoistcultivationalcontext.Howwouldthisbethecase?Becausepinetrees(song),asevergreens,areatraditionalsymboloflongevity(shou).

Based on Liu Chengyins testimony, the Neijing tu stele was produced from a painting or hanging scroll: I happened to observe thisdiagramamongthebooksandpaintingsinthestudioofGaoSongshan.Bychance,itwashangingonawall.Thisscantpieceofinformationisintriguingintermsofthephysicallocationofthepaintingandthepossiblecontextofitsuse.Liuscomments,implyinghappenstanceandfortunateness,perhapssuggestthatthepaintingwasoutofplaceorobscuredbyotheraspectsofDaoistandelitematerialculture.Wasitjustoneitemamongother literatiparaphernaliaandthussimplypartof theenvironment of late imperial court culture, an aesthetic representation of thehumanbody?Ifso,howcanoneexplaintheclearembodimentofDaoistcultivationalcultureinthediagram?

Thecontent,specificallytheChinesemedicalandDaoistalchemicaldimensions,pointinadifferentdirection:asavisualaidforDaoistreligiouspraxis,bothasanoverallexistentialapproachandasadistinctivesetofmeditativetechniquesbasedonalchemicaltransformation.Underthisreading,thepaintingmayhaveonlybeentakenoutandhungduringspecificpractice timesithappenedtobeoutbecauseGaoSongshan eitherhadbeen studying the diagram,was about tobegin seatedmeditation, had just completed a training session, or had not put thepaintingawayaftermeditation.Thispossibility,incombinationwiththe

most likely executed by a highlevel artist in the service of theQing imperialhousehold(below).


specificallyDaoistcontentofthediagram,give furtherpauseforreflection:WastheoriginalNeijingtupaintingspecificallymadeforGaoRentong, perhaps under his personal direction regarding content andgraphic depiction? Or, was it perhaps a gift from the Qing imperialhousehold upon his ascent to the position of abbot of Baiyun guan in1881(fiveyearsbeforetheengravingoftheNeijingtu)?Ifso,thefactthatGaoRentongpossessed such apainting tells us something noteworthyabouttherelationshipamongtheQingrulingelite,Baiyunguan,andtheLongmenlineageinthelatenineteenthcentury:BaiyunguananditsabbotwererecognizedasanintegralandnecessarydimensionofQingimperialpower(seeEsposito2000;2001;Liu2004a;2004b;Goossaert2007).

Beyond such conjectures, Liusbrief remarkspoint us towards anearlierpaintingthatwastheoriginalversionoftheNeijingtuandservedasthebasisforthecommissionedandreceivedNeijingtustele.OnesuchpaintingiscurrentlyhousedintheZhongguoyishibowuguan (MuseumofChineseMedicalHistory)inBeijing,andthispaintingappearstobetheoriginalQingdynastyone(seeFuetal.1999,200;also Rousselle 1933;Wang 199192, 143; Li 1992, 85;Despeux 1994, 44;Liu2004a,94,n.51).Itisgenerallyheldthatthispaintingwasaproductof the Ruyi guan (Ruyi Studio), theQing imperial art academyandpartoftheQingImperialHouseholdDepartment(neiwubu).IttoothusdatestotheQingdynasty,thoughtheexactdateandarchitectofproductionarecurrentlyunknown. In textualandvisualcontent,theextantpaintingdirectlyparallelstheNeijingtusteleofBaiyunguanwithsomeminordiscrepancies.16

16AsbothJosephNeedhametal.(1983)andCatherineDespeux(1994)havepointedout,atleastsomeoftheinspirationfortheNeijingtu derivesfromearlierDaoistdrawingsandillustrationsofthehumanbodyfoundintheMingdynastyDaoistCanon.ItisbeyondthescopeofthepresentstudytodocumentalloftheearlierprecedentsfortheNeijingtu,bothintermsoftextualandvisualcontent.Frommyperspective, themost significant earlier diagrams are as follows: thelateTang(618907)Shangqingdongzhenjiugongzifangtu(DZ156),whichincludesparalleldiagramsofthebodyandpavilions,withthelatterresemblingthedepictionofthefirstpassinthelowersectionofthe Neijingtu;thethirteenthcentury Huangdi bashiyinanjingzuantujujie (DZ1024),whichcontainsdiagramsentitledneijingtu(4a5b),thefirstofwhichcloselyresemblesthereceivedXiuzhentu;theZazhujiejing ,ascontainedintheearlyfourteenthcenturyXiuzhenshishu(DZ263),


Certainfeaturesalsostandout.First,thecolorsusedinthepaintingincreasetheaestheticpowerandenergeticquality.Thegreenandbrownsections of thepainting create a heightened contrast andvisual impactwiththewhite,red,andbluesections,withthelatterbeingsomeofthemost important locations for alchemical transformation. The paintingalsosubstantiatesthefactthatthetwocirclesintheheadregionaretheeyes:theleftoneisred,representingthesun,andtherightoneiswhite,representingthemoon.Inaddition,theenergeticmovementdepictedinthepainting, andperhapsbeingactivated in theviewers ownbody, iseven stronger than in the extant stele and related rubbings.Themovement clearly begins at the base of the torso,moves up the spine, andaroundthehead.TheconnectionbetweentheRen(Conception)andDu(Governing)vessels(below)receivesgreateremphasisthroughthetwo sets of fivebandsbeingmulticolored in thepainting. Finally, thepaintingcontainsanadditionalvisualdimension:twocompletecirclesofwhite light. The first surrounds the torso and represents the joiningoftheRenandDuvessels,with thepeakof theheadclearly emphasized.Thesecondsurroundsthehead.Bothsuggesttheformationoractivationof the Daoist subtle body, including the emergence of pure white orgoldenlightasasignofalchemicaltransformation.

which has not onlydiagrams and an essay entitledneijingtu (18.2b3b)butalsoessaysoninnerobservation(neiguan), theNinePalaces(jiugong ),threefields(santian ),fiveyinorbs(wuzang ),andsoforth(18.5b9b);and the Jindandayaotu, DZ 1068,which contains a diagram of thehumanbodyasamountainthatincludessomeparallelcontentwiththeNeijingtu.Intermsofextracanonicaltexts,thereareimportantdiagramsintheearlyseventeenthcenturyXingmingguizhi(ZW314), lateeighteenthcenturyHuimingjing(ZW131),earlytwentiethcenturyXingmingfajuemingzhi (ZW872),andofcoursethereceivedXiuzhentu.Mostofthesewereincirculationand/oraccessibleintheBaiyunguanenvironsofthelatenineteenthcentury. However,onecleardifferencestandsout:theNeijingtuissolelyamappingoftheDaoistsubtleoralchemicalbody,lackingfleshandabodyasconventionally understood. It is the body within the body actualized through alchemicalpraxis.Foranattempttotracethehistoryofdiagramsrelatedtocultivatingperfection(xiuzhen )seeSkar2000.ForachronologicalchartofsuchmapsintermsofChinesesciencesee Zhu 1995,343.


Terminological Contours

ThetitleoftheNeijingtuhasbeenrenderedintoWesternlanguagesinavarietyofways.17 Mostcommentatorsagreeon thestandardrenderingof nei as inner, interior,or internal, though neimayalsohavetheconnotationofesoteric.Similarly, tu posesrelatively littledifficulty, and is commonly translated as illustration, chart, map, ordiagram(seeReiter1990;Despeux2000;Strassberg2002).Thecruxofthetranslationenterpriserestsonjing ,mostfrequentlyencounteredinthesenseofscripture,classic,ortext.Thecharacteriscomposedofthesilk(si )radicalandthephoneticjing .Takeninthisway,variousmeaningsbranchout:text/classic,topassthrough,toregulate,to arrange, the warp (of a fabric), and meridians or arteries.Equallyplausible,andimpliedbysomeoftheseconnotations,isthatthejing phoneticelementisalsoameaningcarrier.Etymologicallyspeaking,it refers to streams running underground or flowing water. Thus, onecouldtranslatethejing oftheNeijingtuaswatercourse;theNeijingtu mightthenbeunderstoodastheDiagramofInternalWatercourses.

Whilemyownpreferred translation is Diagramof InternalPathways,avarietyofmeaningsareintended.Ononelevel,itisadiagramof the inner currents or innermeridians.Here onemay recall thefollowingpassagefromchapteroneoftheHuangdineijinglingshu (YellowThearchsInnerClassic:NuminousPivot;DZ1020):

Generallyspeaking,thetwentyseven[locationsthroughwhich]qiascends and descends are as follows: where it [qi] emerges iscalled wells (jing); where it flows is called brooks (ying );whereitrushesforthiscalledrapids(shu );whereitproceedsiscalledstreams(jing);where itdisappears is calledconfluences(he ).(DZ1020,1.3b;seealso Nanjing ch.68;Unschuld1986,577)

17The title of the Neijing tu has received the following translations: DieTafeldesInnerenGewebes(Rousselle1933,207);DiagramoftheInternalTextureofMan(Needhametal.1983,114);DiagramoftheInternalCirculationofMan (Wang 1991/92, 141); Carte de la vision intrieure du corps (Despeux1994,47);andIllustrationofInnerCirculation(Eichman2000a,350).


Theprecisemedicalmeaningofthispassageremainsopentoavarietyofinterpretations, but jing is clearly present in the sense of stream andforms part of the technical description of the width and depth of thebodys qiflow. In contemporary Chinese medical usage, these jingstreamareasaretheplaceswheretheqiofthemeridiansisbigger,wider,anddeeper.Intheseplaces,theflowofqiresemblesalargecurrent.Theyarecommonlyusedincontemporaryacupunctureastreatmentpoints.18

Whilethe Neijingtuobviouslyisnotamapofthejingstreamlocations,itnonethelesscarriesthesenseofsuchtechnicalmedicalterminology.Itisadiagramofthemeridians,theenergeticpathways,ofthehumanbody.These views are confirmed by Liu Chengyins own comments in thecolophon:Theskillusedinitspaintingtechniqueisfinelyexecuted.Theannotations of the joints and articulations, meridians and vessels areclearly distinguished, and each one contains specific cavities. In additiontoDiagramofInternalWatercourses,onecouldthustranslatethetitleastheDiagramofInternalMeridians.

TheabovecommentssuggestthatmultiplelayersofmeaninghavebeeninscribedandencryptedintheNeijingtu.Inadditiontothevariousconnotationsof jing as streamor meridian, Ialsowouldarguethattwoadditionalcharactersareimpliedbyandembeddedinthetitle.ThisargumentisbasedontheactualcontentsoftheNeijingtu,theintertextuality implied in its images and passages, and earlier historicalprecedents found in related Daoist body maps. The two characters towhich I am referringarehomonyms/cognatesof jingpathway.Theyarejinglandscapeandjingluminosities.Withthisimplication,theNeijing tu is an illustration not only of the meridians of qi runningthroughthebody,butalsooftheDaoistbodyasterrestrialandcosmo

18For a discussion of these points in the context of Traditional ChineseMedicine(TCM)see,e.g.,Maciocia1989,33553;Ellisetal.1989;Deadmanetal.2001. In thepresent article, I use thephraseTraditionalChineseMedicine torefer to themedical systemdeveloped inCommunistChinaduring thesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury,specificallyundertheinfluenceofallopathicmedicine and a Western scientific and materialistic paradigm. Classical Chinesemedicinereferstotheworldviewandpracticesdocumentedintheearlyclassics.ForthemostcomprehensiveEnglishlanguagesourcesonthehistoryofChinesemedicineseeLu1980;Unschuld1985;Eck1996,37195;Needhametal.2000;alsoSivin1987.AcademicstudiesofChinesemedicineduring theQingdynastyareonlybeginningtobeundertaken.SeeUnschuld1998.


logical landscapeandas thedwellingplaceof inner luminositiesor effulgences. From aDaoistperspective, thehumanbody corresponds to,embodies,variousexternalpresencesmountains,altars,colors,rivers,constellations,temples,spirits,forests,andsoforth.TheNeijingtumapsthe landscapewhich is thehumanself; in this sense, jingpathwayalsoalludes to the character jing meaning region or landscape.TheNeijingtumaybeunderstoodastheInternalLandscapeMap.Thisargument is supportedby the fact that the titles of earlierdiagrams thatalsoillustratetheinternalregionsofthebodycontainthephraseneijingtu (see Zazhu jiejing, DZ 263, 18.2b3b; Nanjing zuantujujie ,DZ1024,5a6b;Needhametal.1983,10910;Despeux1994;Skar2003).

Alongwithmappingthewatercoursesormeridiansof thehumanbody(jingstreams),andthelandscapewhichisthehumanbody(jing landscape), the Neijing tu also alludes to the jing luminositieswhich reside invarious areasof thebody.TheNeijingtumapsvariousdimensionsoftheHuangtingjing(ScriptureontheYellowCourt),whichsurvives in a neijing (DZ331) andwaijing version (DZ332) (see Schipper 1975; Robinet 1984; Huang 1990; Kroll 1996).19 AlthoughinthetitlesoftheHuangtingjing thesedesignationscanandperhaps should be read as esoteric or inner view and exoteric orouterviewrespectively,inShangqingDaoismandasaDaoisttechni

19The technical terminology of the Huangting jing, especially its variousesotericnamesfortheDaoistsubtlebody(e.g., mingmen ,yuchi ,sanguan,santian,jianggong,etc.)wasutilizedbyinternalalchemylineagesfrom the lateTangonwards (seeRobinet1989b;PregadioandSkar2000;Komjathy 2007). The Yellow Court (huangting ) of the title and mentionedthroughoutthescriptureismostoftenreadasreferringtothespleenregion.See,e.g.,theeighthcenturyHuangtingwaijing jingzhu ,DZ263,58.1b2a.However, itmayalsorefertothelowerelixirfield,associatedwiththeabdominalregion.Inthisrespect,itcorrespondstothelocationoftheOceanofQi(qihai)insomeneidanlineages.See,e.g.,thetenthcenturyChuandaoji,DZ263, 15.14b; and the seventeenthcentury Xingming guizhi , ZW 314,9.518.Variousattemptswerealsomade intheTangdynasty(618907)tocreatevisual representations based on the Huangting jing. See, e.g.,Huangting neijingjing zhu , DZ 402; also DZ 1032, 11.1a12.27b; DZ 263, 5560; andHuangtingneijingtu ,DZ432;alsoDZ263,54.


caltermjing alsoalludestotheluminositiesoreffulgencesinthebody(seeHomann1971;Robinet1989a;1993).Thesearetheinnerbodygodsorradiantspiritswhichresideindifferentcorporeallocations,specifically in the five yinorbs, and which have associations in the FivePhase(wuxing )systemofcorrelativecosmology,specificallyanimal,directionandcolorassociations (seebelow). InthecentralregionoftheNeijingtu,thesebodygodsareidentifiedaccordingtotheesotericnamesoftheorbspiritsasfoundintheHuangtingjing.Inthissense,theNeijingtumaybeunderstoodas theDiagramof InnerLuminosities, addingyetanotherpossiblelayertoalready multiplemeanings.

Topographical Reflections

The history of the received Neijing tu, a stone stele housed in theQuanzhenmonastery of Baiyun guan, is as complex as itsmapping ofthe Daoist body.Historical evidence, both internal and external to thediagramitself,suggeststhatthereceivedstele(anditsvariousrubbings)wasbasedonanearlierstele,whichwas in turnproducedfromastillearliercolorpainting.ThatpaintingmaybeconsideredthesourcetextandispossiblystillextantintheMuseumofChineseMedicalHistoryofBeijing.TheoriginalpaintingoftheNeijingtuwasmostlikelyproducedwithintheRuyiStudio,theQingimperialartacademy.ItmayhavebeenmadefororgiventoGaoRentong(18411907),thetwentiethgenerationabbot of Baiyun guan, upon his ascension to abbotship in 1881. Thispaintingwassubsequently seenbyLiuChengyin (d.1894),aLongmenmonkandchiefeunuchtoEmpressDowagerCixi.AsamajorsupporterofLongmenandBaiyunguan,andasafellowordinandandclosefriendofAbbot Gao, Liu Chengyin was instrumental inmaintaining connections among theLongmen lineage,BaiyunguanandtheQing imperialhouse.HealsocommissionedtheengravingtheNeijingtustele.Thisoccurredin1886,andthestelewaslaterinlaidinthemonasticcompoundofBaiyunguanwithanotherLiucommissionedsteledepictingtheDaoistbody,namely,the Xiuzhentu (DiagramonCultivatingPerfection).

ThesevariousdetailsnotonlyprovideawindowintolateimperialChinesereligionandsociety;theyalsosuggestaDaoistcultivationalcontextinwhichseatedmeditationandalchemicalpraxisoccupiedacentralposition.ThereceivedNeijingtuisamapoftheDaoistbody,theDaoist


internallandscapeutilizedandactualizedinDaoistpractice.Assuch,itistheMapofInternalPathways,charting thecontoursoftheDaoistbodyas envisioned within the context of late imperial Daoism, especiallywithintheLongmenandWuLiuneidanlineagesandwithintheBaiyunguanenvirons.Theterminological layersof its title,considered inconcertwith its contents, aremultifaceted: itmaps thebody as alchemicalcrucible, as landscape, as cosmos, as soteriological locus. 20 Itmaps themany dimensions of Daoist conceptions of self, including, naturalistic,cosmological, theistic and alchemical visions. These incorporate earlierDaoist views, practicemodalities, and parallel diagrams as well as dimensionsofChinesemedicine andBuddhism.Within itscontours, onefindsmountainpathstobetraversed,summitstobeascended,fieldstobe tilled, numinous presences to be awakened, andmystical corporealspaces tobeentered. In thisway, theNeijingtuisonerepresentationoftheDaoistbody,abodyactualizedthroughDaoistalchemicalpraxis.

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64

MAPPING THE DAOIST BODY

PART TWO

THE TEXT OF THE NEIJING TU

LOUIS KOMJATHY

Abstract

PartOneofthepresentarticle,publishedinJDS1(2008),presented thehistoricaland terminological contours of theNeijingtu (Diagramof InternalPathways).Asa latenineteenthcenturystelecommissionedby theLongmenmonkandcourteunuchLiuChengyin (Suyun,PureCloud;d.1894), it iscurrentlyhoused intheBaiyun guan (WhiteCloudMonastery; Beijing).ThisinstallmentfocusesonthecontentofthediagramaswellastheDaoistcultivationmethodsembeddedinitscontours.

I firstprovideathoroughanalysisofthetextualandvisualdimensionsofthe Neijing tu, including a complete translationwith the diagram divided intothreesections.ThearticlealsoclarifiessomeinfluencesonthisDaoistbodymapanditscorrespondinginternalalchemysystem,specificallyindicatingapossibleconnectionwiththeemergingWuLiu sublineageofLongmen.

Thisanalysis is followedbya reconstructionofDaoistalchemicalpracticeasexpressedintheNeijingtu.Iemphasizethreemethods:praxisorientedapplicationsofclassicalChinesemedicalviewsofthebody;visualizationswhichdrawtheir inspiration from theHuangtingjingand find clear historical precedents inShangqingDaoism; and thealchemical techniqueknown as theWaterwheel orMicrocosmicOrbit.Thethreetechniquesformaninterconnectedsystem,whereinthe adepts overall psychosomatic health is maintained and strengthened, hisbody is osmicized, and he awakens the mystical body, the bodybeyondthebody or yangspirit, i.e., the culmination of alchemical transformation and thepreconditionforpostmortemtranscendence.


Textual and Visual ContoursThemajortextualcomponentsoftheNeijingtuaretwopoemswritteninregulatedverse (lshi),or eight sevencharacter lines.Theyare located above andbelow the strand of trees on the lefthand side of thediagram.Sincevarious lines fromthesepoemsaredistributedthroughout thediagram,attentiontothem isaprerequisite for furtherexploration.Themost significant convergencebetween the linesof thepoemswiththevisualcontentoccursinthefollowinglocations:theabdominalregion, where the ox is plowing the lower elixir field (poem 2, line 1,abbr. 2.1); the heart region, where the Cowherd is stringing togethercoins to form the Northern Dipper (2.2); and the head region, whereLaozisitsinmeditationabovetheBuddhistmonkwithupstretchedandsupportingarms(2.56).

Other more general descriptions are also found, including referencestothebodyasfields(tian)intheabdominal,heartandheadregions(1.1,2.1);thewhitepearlabovetheheadasthegrainofmilletthatcontainstheworld(2.3);andtheheadregionortheRenandDuvesselsasthelocationwherethemysterybeyondmysteryisrealized(2.78).Finally,thereareanumberofstreamsflowingintoandthroughthehead,whichparallelthereferencetothespringintheUpperValley(1.6).Certain sections ofNeijing tu thus seem to have been executed as specificillustrationsoftheselines.

ThepoemsthemselvesarefoundinthefifteenthcenturyLzuzhi (Records of Patriarch L; DZ 1484). 1 They are attributed to LDongbin (Chunyang[PurifiedYang];b.798C.E.?),thesemilegendary patriarch of various internal alchemy (neidan) lineages.NumerousneidantextshavebeenattributedtoLDongbinandhissupposedteacherZhongliQuan,whichformthesocalledZhongLtextualtradition(seeBaldrianHussein1984,especially2331;Boltz1987, 13943). L Dongbin is also recognized as a patriarch of bothQuanzhenandthesocalledNanzong(SouthernSchool).Theinclusionof thesepoems intheNeijingtupointsto its internalalchemycon

1Numbers forworks appearing inDaoist textual collections followKomjathy 2002, with those for the Mingdynasty Daoist Canon (DZ) parallelingSchipper andVerellen 2004.Other abbreviations include JH (Daozang jinghua),JHL(Daozangjinghualu),JY(Daozangjiyao),andZW(Zangwaidaoshu).

66/JournalofDaoistStudies 2(2009)

text,thoughtheexactlineageoflateimperialneidaniscurrentlyunclearand awaits further research. Does the Neijing tu embody a distinctivesynthesis,whichinsomerespectrepresentsanewneidanlineage?Ordiditemergeasoneexpressionofaspecificlineageofinternalalchemy?Asdiscussed in theprevious installmentof thepresent article andbelow,therearesomeclearandintriguingparallelswiththeemergingWuLiu sublineageofLongmenandwith thesubsectof theWuLiu lineage called the Qianfeng lineage, 2which was established in earlytwentiethcenturybyZhaoBichen(Shunyi[AttunedUnity];18601942)andwhichcametooccupyacentralplaceinmodernDaoism.In terms of the Neijing tu, the former, as an identifiable lineage, isroughlycontemporaneous,whilethelatterisslightlylater.

Theupperpoemreads:

IamproperlyandattentivelycultivatingmyownfieldInsidetherearenuminoussproutsthatlivefortenthousandyears.Theflowersresembleyellowgold,theircolornotuncommon;Theseedsarelikejadegrain,theirfruitsperfectlyround.CultivationcompletelydependsontheearthoftheCentral Palace;IrrigationnecessarilyreliesonthespringintheUpperValley.ThepracticeiscompletedsuddenlyandIattainthegreatDaoIwandercarefreeoverlandandwaterasanimmortalofPenglai.(Seealso DZ1484,4.16a)

Theemphasishereisonselfcultivationandalchemicaltransformation. The central metaphor is agriculturaljust as the horticulturalistmustattentively tendhisorhergarden,sotheDaoistadeptmust focusonspecificelixirfields(dantian )throughoutthebody.IntheNeijingtu,thesefieldsareidentifiedbyname:themiddleelixirfieldjustbelowthe heart is Genmountain earth (gentu),3while the lower elixir

2ThissublineagederivesitsnamefromtheMountQianfeng(Hebei),andZhao Bichen was directed to found it by his teacher Liaokong (RealizedEmptiness;fl.1895),whowasaChanmonk. Interestingly,Liaokongclaimed tohavereceiveddirect instructionunderLiuHuayang in1799.SeeXingmingfajuemingzhi,ZW872; Weishengsanzifajuejing;ZW873;Lu1970;Despeux1979.

3Thephrase Genmountain appears in theNeijingtunear theCowherdandreferstothetrigram designatingmountainaswellastohexagram52,


fieldnear the level of the navel is called the correct [standard] elixirfield(zhengdantian ).4Liketilling,planting,andharvestingcrops,the process of internal alchemy involves a cultivation cycle; one mustpreparethegroundanddeveloptheappropriatephysiologicalandcosmologicalaspects,forwhichtheNeijingtuservesasamapoftheDaoistinternal landscapeandasavisualaid foralchemicaltransformation. Intheabovepoem,thefruitsofDaoistcultivationareflowersthecolorofyellowgoldandseedslikejadegrain,bothpoeticdescriptionsofspecific alchemical experiences. Planted as a seed in the lower elixir field,and nourished through consistent attentiveness (yi) and dedication(zhi ),qiaccumulatesandexpands.Withyellowbeingassociatedwiththe Earth phase in Chinese correlative cosmology (see, e.g., Unschuld1985;Major 1993), and as one of the esotericnamesof the lower elixirfield is theYellow Court (huangting), the poem suggests that theperfect qi (zhenqi), the qi activated and circulated in internal alchemypractice,becomesastrongerpresence in thebody.Thebodybecomesrarified.

Genmountain .InDaoist internalalchemy,thetrigramsrepresentvariouspsychophysiological aspects of the human being and stages in selftransformation. The Genmountain trigrammay, in turn, express thestate ofstillness aswell aspractices that helpnourish such a condition. In thepresentcase,thereferencetotheheartregionasthefieldofGenmountainearthsuggeststhatexcessemotionalandintellectualactivityhasbecomestilled.Anexample of this type of Daoist exegesis on the Yijing maybe found in Liu Yimings (Wuyuan [Awakening to the Origin]; 17341821) Zhouyichanzhen (TrueExplanation of the Yijing), collected in hisDaoshushierzhong (TwelveDaoistBooks).TheZhouyichanzhenappearsinZW245andhas been translated inCleary 1986. In terms of thepresent discussion, seeespeciallyCleary1986,1035,19497,and2079.

4 Itshouldbenotedthatthelocationsoftheupper,middle,andlowerelixirfields change depending on the system of alchemy being employed.As in theNeijingtu,themostfrequentlocationsareinthehead,solarplexus/heartregion,andthelowerabdomen.See,forexample,theeleventhcenturyYunjiqiqian,DZ1032,59.2a;alsoLi1991,70,80,139;MinandLi1994,70,110,125,272;Hu1995,482,745,1141,1449,1675,1681.Insomecontemporaryformsofneidan,thethreeelixirfieldsarethehead,lowerabdomenandperineum,withthelatterreferredtoasHuiyin andassociatedwithvitalessence.Authorsfieldobservations.


This is one manifestation of the golden elixir (jindan ) mentioned in thepoemand inLiuChengyinscolophon.The earthof theCentralPalacemost likely refers to theScarletPalace (jianggong),theareajustbelowtheheart.This interpretationreceivessubstantiationbytheplacementofthepoemintheNeijingtuinlinewiththeCowherd(the heart region). Following the mapping of Daoist cultivation in theNeijing tu, the Daoist practitioner must still the emotions and nourishspirit, both associated with the Fire phase and thuswith the heart. Inaddition,thepoememphasizesthepracticeofswallowingtheJadeDew(yuye;saliva),acentralcomponentofformingtheelixirofimmortality (seeKomjathy2007,ch. 6).At the endof thepoem,wealso findanallusiontochapteroneoftheZhuangzi (BookofMasterZhuang;DZ670), entitled Xiaoyao you (Carefree Wandering); the Daoistadept,likethegreatPengbird,wanderseffortlesslythroughthetroublesof the world and maintains a more allencompassing perspective. According to the authorof thepoem,dedication to such cultivation techniqueswill lead to attunementwith theDao and immortality, symbolizedasentranceintotheeasternparadiseofPenglaiIsland.

Thesecondpoemagainorientsonetowardstheimportanceofcultivation.Throughalchemical transformation,theDaoistadeptcomes toencompass and be encompassed by the entire universe. The mutualresonance between the human body and the cosmos, and the embodiment of the cosmos within and as the human body, becomes realized(seeSchipper1978;1993;Kohn1991a).

Theironoxplowsthefieldwheregolden coinsaresown;Engravingthestone,theyoungladholdsastringofcash.Asinglegrainofmilletcontainstheentireworld;Mountainsandstreamsaredecoctedinahalfsheng cauldron.TheeyebrowsofwhiteheadedLaozihangdowntotheearth,Andtheblueeyedforeignmonkholdsuptheheavens.OrientyourselftowardsthemysteriousanditisrealizedOutsideofthismysterythereisnoothermystery.(seealsoDZ1484,5.11a)

The first line emphasizes the practice of tending to the bodys fields.Whilethisinvolveseffortandprolongedpractice,symbolizedbytheox(cf.Needhamet al. 1983, 100;Wang199192, 151;Eichman2000a, 351),


theoutcomewillbegoldencoins.Basedontheillustrationsofthe Neijingtuandtheplacementofthepoem,theprimarybodylocationbeingemphasized is that of the lower elixir field.Again taking into account theabovementionedassociationsofyellowandgoldwith theEarthphaseand with the lower elixir field, the sowing and gathering of goldencoinsindicatesanincreasedlevelofenergeticpresenceinthelowerabdominalregion,theprimarystorehouseofqiinthebody.Liketheprevious encounterwith flowersof yellowgold, and like thediscoveryofgoldingeneral,thisfruitisarareandpreciousoccurrenceintheworld.

AgrainofmilletcontainstheworldalludestothefamousYellowMilletDream (huangliangmeng) ofLDongbin.Accordingto one hagiography, found in the Yuandynasty (12601368) Zengxiangliexianzhuan (IllustratedBiographies ofArrayed Immortals;seeKohn1993,12632;cf.Chunyangshenhuaji,DZ305,1.3a5a),untiltheageofsixtyfourLDongbin,althoughpracticingDaoistcultivation,stillharboredpoliticalaspirations.Havingfailedtopasstheimperialexamination twice, one day L encounters Zhongli Quan, an accomplishedDaoistadept.ZhongliQuaninturninvitesLtoaninnforameal,duringthepreparationofwhichLfallsasleep.Hethendreamsofanentireofficialcareer,beginningwithsuccessandfameandendingwithfailure,humiliation, anddespondency.Whenhe awakens fromthisdream, themilletisstillbeingcooked.Inevenlesstimethanittakestocookmillet,Lexperiencesonepossiblelifeandthedissipationinvolvedinseekingfameandreputation.He in turnbecomes thediscipleofZhongliQuan(who knew of the dreambefore L toldhim), and eventually commitshimselfsolely toDaoistcultivation, thuscomingtorepresent theaspiringDaoistpractitioneringeneral.

Throughsuchdedication,mountainsandstreamsaredecoctedinahalfsheng cauldron.Oneengagesintheactualizationandrefinementofinternalpresences andcomes toreside in a largermatrixofbeing.Theentire universe is the context for ones cultivation and ones very existencebecomescosmicized.Asillustratedinthecontoursofthe Neijingtu,theadeptengaginginalchemicalpraxisdiscoversthatthebodycontainsstreams, mountains, fields, forests, temples and constellations. Onesbody is thecosmos, andthecosmos is onesbody.Although suchconventionaldistinctionslikecosmosandself,orinternalandexternal,arepotentiallynecessaryatthebeginningofalchemicalpraxis,the


finaloutcomeofalchemicaltransformation,rarificationandperhapsselfdivinization, results in the activation of the Daoist mystical body (seeKomjathy 2007), a body which is transpersonal and infused with theDaosnuminosity.This involvesorientingyourself towardsthemysterious.Thefinallinesofthepoem,withthefrequentrepetitionofmysterious(xuan ),invokechapteroneoftheDaodejing (ScriptureontheDaoandInnerPower):Mysteriousandagainmoremysteriousthegatewaytoallwonders.TheDaoistadeptmergeswiththetwofoldmysterywhichistheDao.Heorsheliterallyshiftsontologicalconditions,abiding in a stateofmysticalpervasionwith theDaoas amysterybeyond mystery, as a mystery simultaneously present and absent in itsown mysteriousness. It is this presenceabsence that also circulatesthroughtheadeptsownbodyasnuminouscurrents.Hereoneencounters perhaps one of the most significant Daoist challenges to conventional understandings ofhumanbeing: onesphysiology literally is sacred. One embodies the Dao, and one may experience the Daothrough/in/asonesownpsychosomaticandenergeticbeing.Thebifurcation of transcendent divine and mundane material processesbreaksdowninthisDaoistvisionofself.

Beyondthetwopoemswhichprovideageneraldescriptionofthealchemical endeavor, thediagramas awholecanbeseen todepict theDaoist alchemical practice of reversal in combination with the MicrocosmicOrbitmethod. Here I concentrate on the textual and visual aspectsoftheNeijingtu,whileinthesubsequentsectionIprovideamoresystematic explanationof thepractices in thecontextofDaoist internalalchemypraxis.Theaspiringadeptmustsealhimselforherselfofffromvarioussourcesofdissipation,includingsensoryandemotionaldistractions.Heorshemustturninwardthroughmeditativepraxistorealizeareturn topsychosomatic andcosmological integration. Formaleadeptsin particular, they must prevent dissipation of their core vitality, vitalessence (jing ), which occurs through sexual activity and resultingseminalemission.Oneofthefoundationsofthealchemicalprocessistheretention, circulation and transformation of the body fluids (see Komjathy 2007). In the Neijing tu, this isdepicted asmovement of vital essence, the water of the body, being reversed and transferred upward.


Beginningatthefirstpass,onenoticesaboyandagirlworkingatreadmill,representingyangandyinrespectively(see Fig. 2).

Thecaptionnexttothemreadsthemysteriousyinyangtreadmill.The longertextualcomponentexplains,


Repeatedly,constantly,[thetreadmill]ispeddledincycles;Whenthemechanismrevolves,thewaterflowseastward.Thewater,tenthousandfathomsdeep,isseenstraighttoitsbottom;Asweetspringbubblesup,risingtothesummitofSouthern

Mountain.

By using the intent and sealing the lower gate, theperineum, theadeptreverses the flowofvital essence. Insteadofmovingoutward inthe form of seminal emission formale adepts andmenstrualblood forfemale adepts, bothprimary forms ofdissipation, the vital essencebecomes conserved, stored, circulated and transformed. Reference to theeastwardflowof thevitalessence (jing)alsomakessensewhenreadin relation toWeil (TailboneGate; the coccyx) as the firstpass.5Accordingtothe Zhuangzi,

Considering thewatersoftheworld,none isgreaterthan theocean. Ten thousand streams flow into itthere has neverbeenatimewhentheyceased,buttheoceanisneverfull.ThewaterleaksoutatWeiltherehasneverbeenatimewhenitstopped, but the ocean is never empty. (17/42/68; cf.Watson1968,176).

The occurrence of Weil in the Neijing tu also adds an additionalmythological component to itsmapping of the Daoist body and theDaoistinternallandscape.JustasthewatersoftheoceanareturnedintovaporattheWeilrock,sotoothebodyhasacorrespondingplaceinthecoccyx, identified as the first point on theGoverning vessel (GV1) incontemporary Chinese medicine (see Ellis et al. 1989; Deadman et al.2001). The lower section of the Neijing tu informs the viewer that theKanwaterflowsinreverse,thatis,thevitalessence,associatedwiththe

5The Three Passes (sanguan) are usually identified as TailboneGate(weil; the coccyx),Narrow Ridge (jiaji; midspine), and Jade Pillow(yuzhen; occiput). See, for example, the thirteenthcentury Jindandachengji,Xiuzhenshishu,DZ263,10.6b;thethirteenthcenturyDadanzhizhi , DZ 244, 1.4a, 1.5a, 1.12a; and the seventeenthcentury Xingmingguizhi,ZW314,9.518.


trigram Kanwater and the kidneys,6 is redirected upwards. In contrasttothenormalflowofessenceoutwardasasourceofdissipation,the Daoist adept, using his or her intent, guides vital essence and qithroughWeiland initiates thereversion (fan;huan)ofvitalessencetorepairthemarrowandbrain(seebelow).

WithregardtotheascentofthebubblingspringtoSouthernMountain,Wang suggests that SouthernMountain should be themountainrangeofthesamenameinthesouthofXinjiang,whichisregardedasamajorbranchofMountKunlun(Wang199192,150).Astheheadisfrequentlyreferred toasMountKunlun inDaoistcultivation,7SouthernMountainsuggeststhemovementofthevitalessenceandqifromthelowerregionsofthebody(north)intotheupperregions(south),specificallyintotheheadarea.MountKunluninthewest,inadditiontoPenglaiIslandintheeast,isaterrestrialparadiseandhometovariousimmortals (xian ). In chapter eleven of the Shanhai jing (Classic ofMountainsandSeas),amajorsourceofChinesemythologywhichcontainsmaterial from the thirdcenturyB.C.E. to thesecondcenturyC.E.,MountKunlun is described as an epicenter of the universe,where theheavensandtheearthareperfectlyharmonized(seeBirrell1999a,13941;1999b,18385).ThisaspectofthemaphintsattheDaoistgoalofattaining immortality, realizing complete cosmological alignment, mystical

6 InDaoistneidanpraxis,theeighttrigrams(bagua),commonlyassociatedwiththeYijing (ClassicofChange),havevariouscorrespondences.Thetrigramsareasfollows:(1)Qianheaven(qian ) ,(2)Kunearth(kun ) ,(3) Lifire (li) , (4) Kanwater (kan) , (5) Duilake (dui) , (6)Zhenthunder(zhen ) ,(7)Sunwind(sun ) ,andGenmountain(gen )

. See the tenthcentury Chuandao ji, DZ 263, 14.11b; and thirteenthcenturyJindandachengji ,DZ263,10.12b.

7OneoftheearliestusagesofKunlunasareferencetothehead,andthustothe interiorization of paradise and immortality, appears in the thirdcenturyHuangtingwaijing jing , DZ 332, 1.1b, also 2.1b. See also the eighthcenturyHuangtingwaijingjingzhu,DZ 263, 58.7a; Jindandayaotu,DZ 1068, 3a; Xingming guizhi, ZW 314, 9.318. For some classical references toKunlun inDaoismseeLi1991,339;MinandLi1994,637;Hu1995,1164,1176,1381,1644.


pervasion and/or selfdivinization.8 In addition, the reference to thespringbubblingup(quanyong )maybeaninversionofYongquan(BubblingSpring),locatedinthecenterofthesoleoffootandidentifiedasthefirstpointonthekidneymeridianincontemporaryChinesemedicine.9This reading adds additional support for the connection ofKanwater withvitalessence,asthekidneyshousevitalessence.

Abovethemysteriousyinyangtreadmill,therearetwofurnaceswithflamesflaringup,fourTaijidiagrams,andaploughboytendinghisox(seeFig.2).Basedontheirlocationinthediagram,thefurnacessymbolizetheelixirfieldswherevitalessenceandqiarestored,transformedandcirculated.10AccordingtothecontoursoftheNeijingtu,theaspiringDaoist adept must focus his or her intent on various locations in thebody,especiallyonWeil(TailboneGate;thecoccyx),Qihai(OceanofQi;theabdomen),andMingmen(GateofLife;betweenthekidneys) to increase the fire and circulate qi.Asnoted, agriculturalmetaphors abound, and theploughboyandoxsuggest focusedattentionontheprocessofalchemicaltransformation,especiallyontheconservation,transformationandcirculationofvitalessenceandqi.

8Themeaning of xian (immortal or transcendent) varies accordingtothespecificDaoistsubtraditionandhistoricalmoment.IntheNeijingtu, immortalitywouldseemtorefertolonglifeandalchemicaltransformation.Italsoseems tobetakenasparalleltoenlightenmentorrealization inChanBuddhism.InthecaseoftheDaoisttradition,whetherornotbecomingaxianren orzhenren meanspersonalcontinuationafterdeathisanopenquestion,andonethatrequirescriticalreflectionandmoreindepthhistoricalresearch.

9WithinDaoism,acleardepictionofYongquanaslocatedinthecenterofthesolesofthefeetappearsintheXiuzhentu. SeeDespeux1994;2000.

10 In neidanlineages,adistinctionisoftenmadebetweenthestoveorfurnace (lu) and cauldron or tripod (ding). E.g., the fourteenthcenturyYuqingdanjue ,DZ240,2.16a;cf. Xiuzhen shishu,DZ263,10.2b.


The fourTaijidiagramsmaybe interpreted in avarietyofways.11

Underonereading,andtheonethatIwouldsuggestisprimary,thediagrams symbolize the harmonization of the Five Phases through attentivenesson lower elixir field, thecentral storage location forqi. In thiscase, the fourdiagramswouldrepresent allof thephases (Wood [east,azure, liver, ethereal soul], Fire [south, red, heart, spirit], Metal [west,white,lungs,corporealsoul],andWater[north,black,kidneys,vitalessenceorwill])exceptthatoftheEarth,whichoftenoccupiesthecenter,orstillness, inDaoistcultivation.Stillness,sometimesspokenofasPerfect Earth (zhentu), unites all of the other phases.12An alternativereading,proposedbySchipper,suggeststhattheseTaijidiagramsrepresent the qiphases of the elixir field (Schipper 1978, 356).13There is noreasontobelievethatsuch interpretationsaremutuallyexclusive;theselayersofmeaning,alongwithothersunmentionedhere,mayallbeembeddedinthissectionoftheNeijingtu.Themostimportantthingtonoteisthecentralityofthelowerelixirfieldinthe Neijingtu,initsmappingoftheDaoistbody,andinitssystemofalchemicaltransformation.

Movingupthespinestillfurther,onearrivesattheflamesbetweenthevertebraebelowof the secondpass.This isMingmen (GateofLife),whichisagainconnectedwithvitalessenceanditstransformationintoqi.14Chartedaccording to function incontemporaryChinesemedi

11Thehistoryofthestandard,modernTaijisymbol,andtheonesdepictedintheNeijingtu(i.e.,acircledividedintointerconnectedwhite[yang]andblack[yin]aspectsthatcontainadot[seed]ofthealternatecolors[yinyangaspects]),is currently unclear. For some insights see the relevant entry on the CriticalTermspageoftheCenterforDaoistStudieswebsite(www.daoistcenter.org).ItshistoricalusageinChinesecultureandamongDaoistsiscomplex.

12ThereareavarietyofextantdiagramscalledZhentutu(DiagramofPerfectEarth),whereinperfectearthisassociatedwiththeYellowCourtandintent,orthinking(yi).See,e.g.,Zazhuzhixuanpian,DZ263,1.5a;Xingmingguizhi,ZW314,9.523.Thelatterdiagramemphasizesstillingtheheartcenter.

13Unfortunately,Schipperdoesnotprovideadetailedexplanationoftheseqiphasesofthedantian.SuchtechnicalinformationmightaddadeeperunderstandingofDaoistcultivation.

14ThetermappearsasearlyasthethirdcenturyHuangtingjing.SeeDZ331,11b; DZ 332, 1.1a. According to the eighthcentury Huangting neijing jing zhu,TheGate of Life is the lower elixir field (DZ 402, 3.19b).However, both the


cine,where it is identifiedas the fourthpointon theGoverningVessel(seeEllisetal.1989;Deadmanetal.2001),MingmenasanenergeticlocationinthebodyhastheabilitytoregulatetheGoverningvessel,to tonifythekidneys,tpnourishthespineandmarrow,andtostrengthenthefiveyinorbs (wuzang). Ascending still higher, there are two captions:cavityofthetwokidneystorehousesandmountainsandstreamsaredecoctedinahalfsheng cauldron(seeFigs.3, 4).

ComparingtheNeijingtustelewiththeQingdynastycoloredpainting(seeFuetal.1999,200),thefirstcaption,whichreadscavityoftheleftandrightkidneystorehousesinthepainting,shouldhavebeenengravedatthe levelof theWeavingMaiden(thekidneyregion).Itobviouslyreferstothekidneysandtheircorrespondinglocationinthelowersectionofthemap.HereisonedirectconvergencebetweenthismappingofDaoistalchemicaltransformationandclassicalChinesemedicalviews:thekidneysarethestorehouseofvitalessenceandthus the foundationofonescorevitality(seeHuangdineijingsuwen,chs.3,8,9,10, 23; Ross 1985; Maciocia 1989, 67110; Unschuld 2003, 12444; alsoNeedhametal.1983,22;Wang199192,150;below).ThusonecanmaketheargumentthatthecentralityofMingmenandthekidneysinthissectionoftheNeijingtuand in itscorrespondingsystemofselfcultivationstrengthens the adeptsphysical constitutionandprepares theway formore advanced training, specifically rarification through alchemicaltransformation.

Ascendingthemountainpathstillfurther,therearetwoadditionalphrasesinlinewiththethirdtempleorhutinthespine:upperpassofjadeperfectionandcavityofthenuminouspeak.Theselinesrefertothe upper pass known as Yuzhen (Jade Pillow). Passing throughthesevariouslocations,thevitalessenceandqieventuallyenterthehead.AttentionisdrawntotheThreePassesastheyareareasthroughwhichitisdifficultfortheqitopassandthustheintentisoftenusedtohelpopenthem.

Xiuzhen tu and Xingming guizhi (ZW 314, 9.518) clearly placeMingmen in thekidneyregionalongthespine.


Passing throughthefinalpass,onearrivesat themountainpeaks that,fromaDaoistperspective,arethevariousenergeticlocationsinthehead(see Fig. 4).While the upper section ofNeijing tu contains avariety oftextualcomponentsthatcaneasilyleadtoconfusion,anattempttonegotiatethemofferssignificantcontributions.Firstandforemost,onenoticesthegraphiccomponentdepicting theNinePeaks (jiufeng), someofwhich are in the center of the head. Sometimes synonymous with theNine Palaces (jiugong), thesepeaks are associatedwith traditionalDaoistsubtleanatomyandphysiologyandareutilizedinDaoistmeditationmethods.15

The second most elevated peak, corresponding to Baihui (HundredMeetings;GV20), the crownpoint in contemporaryChinesemedicine, is identified as the Niwan Palace (niwan gong),16atermthattransliteratesnirvanaandliterallymeansmudball.Thepointis also known as prefecture of rising yang (shengyang fu ),showninthediagramasapearlorballoflightandrelatedtothelineagrain ofmillet contains theworld from the LDongbinpoem.All ofthis, incombinationwith thephrasetoprolong longevity and [attain]immortalityandBuddhahood,suggeststhefinalgoalofDaoistinternalalchemythecreationofanimmortalembryo(taixian ),alsoknownastheyangspirit(yangshen )orbodybeyondthebody(shenwaishen)(seeKomjathy2007). Itmayalsobeunderstoodasnothingmorethanrecoveringtheseedoforiginalyang(yuanyang) thatwaswithin thepractitioner all along.The fact that thediagramequates immortality and Buddhahoodmay add support for thesuggestion that it

15SeetheYuandanshangjing ,DZ1345,2b8a;also Zazhujiejing,DZ263,18.6ab.ThefourteenthcenturyJindandayaotu containsanearlierDaoistmapofthebodyasamountainthatincludessomeofthenamesoftheNinePalaces.SeeDZ1068,3a;alsoNeedhametal.1983,105;Despeux1994,41;Komjathy2007,chs.4and6.

16 IntheNeijingtu,niwanislocatedabovethehead,andseeminglyreferstoBaihui as the location where the yangspirit exits the adepts body.However,Niwanisoftenassociatedwiththeupperelixirfield.See,forexample,theJindandachengji,DZ263,10.3b.ForsomedepictionsoftheexitoftheyangspiritfromthecrownpointseeXingmingguizhi,ZW314,9.585,9.590;Huimingjing, ZW131,5.881; Xingmingfajuemingzhi,ZW872,26.114,26.119,26.120.


derives fromtheWuLiu sublineageofLongmen (below), as thatcommunityhasatexttitledXianfohezong(CommonLineageofImmortalsandBuddhas;ZW843).


Hereonealsonoticesthenuminousplatformofthicklymeshednet,aphrasewhichalsooccursinthefourteenthcenturyJindaodayaotu(DiagramofGreatEssentialsoftheGoldenElixir;DZ1068),adiagramdepictingtheDaoistbodyasamountainandaclearprecursortothereceivedNeijingtu.Eichmansuggeststhatthisphrase(anditscorrespondinggraphicdepiction)impliestheultimategoalofalchemy,anaudience with representatives of the celestial hierarchy (2000a, 350).Likehisorherterrestrialbureaucraticcounterpartinrelationtotheterrestrialemperor,theDaoistpractitionerseeksanaudiencewiththehighest realms of spirit beings, the gods and Perfected (zhenren). Thissectionofthediagram,then, invokeshigher levelsofalchemicalrefinement, ending (orbeginning) in an energeticmergingwith theDao. Ifyouorientyourselftowardsthemysterious,themysteriousmayberealized(seealsoWang199192,14546).

In the upper section of the diagram there is an oldman sitting inmeditation (seeFig.4).Hewears a robewith the stylizedcharacter forlongevity (shou ), and above him there is the following inscription:The eyebrowsofwhiteheadedLaozihangdown to the earth.Belowhim is a figurewithupraisedarmsandthecorresponding inscription:Theblueeyedforeignmonkholdsuptheheavens.BothoftheselinescomefromtheLDongbinpoems.Themoststraightforwardinterpretation of the two figures identifies them as Laozi and Bodhidharma, respectively (see Rousselle 1933; Needham et al. 1983, 116). However,Wang, in a fairly convincing art historical discussion, argues that theiconographyoftheoldmanfiguresuggeststheImmortalOldManof theSouthern Polestar, the eighth spirit of the brain (Wang 199192, 146).This interpretationmay partially derive from the figuresplacement atthe energetic location corresponding to higher levels of consciousness,eitherMingtang(HallofLight)and/orZuqiao(AncestralCavity).17Wangalsochallenges the identificationof theblueeyedmonkasBodhidharma,arguinginsteadthatheshouldbeunderstoodasacombi

17 As mentioned, in certain forms of Daoist meditation, Mingtang is included as one of theNinePalaces and identified as amystical cranial location.ReferencestoZuqiaoasanothermysticalcraniallocationatthecenteroftheheadappearsintheXingmingguizhi(ZW314)andthroughoutthepagesoftheXingmingfajuemingzhi (ZW872).


nationoftheLaughingBuddhaandtheelementmercuryand/orasMaitreya,thefutureBuddha(Wang199192,149).

Whileconvincingfromanarthistoricalperspectiveandaccountingfor certain iconographic features, this reading fails to provide an adequateexplanationof the twofigures intermsof the largerDaoist traditioningeneralandneidanlineagesassociatedwithLDongbinandlateimperial Daoism in particular. Why would the person or communitywhooriginallyenvisioned,commissionedandproducedsuchamappingoftheDaoistbodyincludetheLaughingBuddhaand/orMaitreya?

If one follows a relatively straightforward reading that recognizesthepotentialconnectionbetween the textualandvisualcontoursof theNeijingtu,then these figuresareLaoziandBodhidharma. In thepoemsattributed to LDongbin, Laozi ismentionedbynameand theblueeyed foreignmonk (biyanhuseng ) is a standardname forBodhidharma (a.k.a.Damo; seeXingyun1989,5848; alsoDing1939).Inaddition,withregardtolatemedievalneidan lineages,onefindsthesetwofiguresassymbolicreferentsforalchemicalingredients:theoldmansymbolizes lead(qian),while themonkrepresentsmercury (hong)(seealsoWang199192,147;Eichman2000a,351).TheyarereferredtoassuchintheDanfangbaojianzhitu(DiagramofthePreciousMirroroftheElixirChamber),whichiscontainedinXiuzhenshishu (Ten Works on Cultivating Perfection; DZ 263, 26.5b6a), ananthologyoftheearlyfourteenthcentury.Heremercury(Bodhidharma)issaidtocorrespondtothejadeyefluids(yuye),spiritwater(shenshui), theMaiden (chan),white snow (baixue), and theazuredragon(qinglong),amongotherthings;lead(Laozi)issaidtocorrespondtothegoldyefluids (jinye), JadePond(yuchi),theChild (yinger), yellow sprouts (huangya), and thewhite tiger(baihu),amongotherthings.Inotherneidandiscussionsofthesealchemicalsymbols/ingredients,leadmayrefertovitalessence(jing)ororiginalspirit(yuanshen ),whilemercurymayrefertospirit(shen)ororiginalqi(yuanqi ).18

Basedonthesecorrespondences,anumberofreadingsarepossible.First, andmostbasic, theadept accumulates andgatherssaliva, theye

18Cf.Ershisijue,DZ1158,1bandDanyangyulu ,DZ1057,15b.Seealso Chuandaoji,DZ263,15.11a15a.


fluidsassociatedwithBodhidharma,inthemouth,theJadePondassociated with Laozi. These fluids are then swallowed down to purify theheartandeventuallycomminglewithoriginalqiinthelowerelixirfield.Inthisrespect,onemayagainreflectuponthesymbolicmeaningofBodhidharmaandLaozi asonesownphysiology.Anotherpossiblereadingisthatoriginalqi,associatedwithmercuryandthefigureofBodhidharma,andoriginalspirit,associatedwith leadandthefigureofLaozi,becomecommingledintheadeptsupperelixirfield.

ReadingtheupperfigureintheNeijingtuasLaozialsomakessensebecause Laozi is frequently recognized as the founder of the Daoisttradition and as the high god Laojun (Lord Lao).19 In the lives ofspecificDaoistsandDaoistcommunities,healsocametosymbolizetheculminationofDaoistcultivation.Hehimself,afterall,transformedintotheuniverse:

Laozi transformedhis form.Hisleft eyebecamethesun,andhis right eye became the moon. His head became MountKunlun.Hisbeardbecame theplanetsandconstellations.Hisbones becamedragons; his flesh,wildanimals; andhis intestines,snakes.Hisbellybecame theocean;hisfingers,the fivesacredmountains;andhishair,grassesandtrees.Hisheartbecame the Flowery Canopy. Finally, his two kidneys wereunitedandbecamethetruefatherandmother.(Xiaodaolun ,T.3102,52.144b1315;cf.Yunjiqiqian,DZ1032,10.7b8a;seeMaspero1981,340;Schipper1993,114;alsoKohn1995,5455) 20

Laoziisthesupremelylonglived,forheisthecosmosandthecosmos is he. The Neijing tu suggests that Laozi represents the Daoistadepts ownpossibilityeach persons eyes, the two circles in thediagram, are thesunandthemoon, andeachpractitionersconsciousnesscontains thenuminouspresencewhichLaoziembodied,at least from

19ForarevisionisthistoricalanalysisoftheconstructionofLaoziasahistoricalpersonageseeGraham1998(1986).ForstudiesofthesomeofthewaysinwhichhehasbeenrepresentedintheDaoisttraditionseeSeidel1969;Kohn1999.

20HereLaozitakestheplaceoftheprimordialbeingPanGu (seeBirrell1999;Kohn1993,16869;1995).


certainemicperspectives.Accordingtothediagram,theessenceoftheDao and the Daoist tradition is literally contained in ones own brain.Thehumanbeing,fromthisDaoistperspective,isacosmologicalbeing:onesveryownbodycontainsmountains,temples,constellationsand thelocus for immortality andperfection. Insome formsofDaoist religiouspraxis, specifically visualization (cunxiang) and inner observation(neiguan) forms ofmeditation during the early and latemedievalperiods,theDaoistadeptturnsthelightofthesunandmoon(theeyes)inward,thusilluminatingtheinternallandscapewhichishisorherownbody(seeKohn1989;Robinet1989a;alsobelow).Onecanalsoarguethat,iftheNeijingtu originatesinaLongmencontext,thesignificanceofLaozifindssubstantiationinthefactthatheisidentifiedasoneofthesocalledFivePatriarchs (wuzu) of earlyQuanzhenandasoneof theThreePurities (sanqing) in later Quanzhen. This, at the very least, mayhelp to explain the enduring power of the Neijing tu as amapping ofDaoistexistentialandontologicalpossibility.

ThesignificanceofBodhidharmaisabitmoredifficulttodetermine.One interpretation is that Bodhidharma, paralleling Laozis place inmanysectorsoftheDaoisttradition,representstheoriginandessenceofChan(Zen)Buddhism.Thatis,theChantradition,consideredasawhole,identifieshimas thefounder (Dumoulin1988,8594).21 Inaddition tothe abovementioned alchemical symbolism, the inclusion of Bodhidharmamayhavebeenawayofgainingculturalcapital,suggestingthatneidan practiceandChanmeditationledtothesamegoal.Ifthisreadingis convincing, the Neijing tumay also be suggesting the importance ofcrosstradition cultivation practice. Here one thinks of Bodhidharmasmythic nine years of meditation, or wallgazing (biguan ), as asymbolofintensiveanddedicatedreligiouspraxis.22Chaninspiredemp

21Critical and revisionist historiography on the Chan tradition in generalandBodhidharmainparticular,parallelingsuchresearchonDaoismandLaozi,questionsthehistoricityofBodhidharma.SeeBroughton1999;alsoFaure1993.

22 In this respect, ones interest ispeaked by thepresence of the fourdiagrams onChanpractice (walking, standing, sitting, and lyingdown) thatareincludedintheXingmingguizhi,DZ314,9.554555.Inthechartonmeditationpractice, one is urged to engage in prolongedperiods of seatedmeditation. Inaddition,Liaokong(fl.1895),oneoftheteachersofZhaoBichen(founderoftheQianfenglineage), wasaChanmonkwhopracticedneidan.ZhaoBichenis,in


tinessmeditationbecomesrepresentedasthe foundationforalchemicaltransformation,whichalsotakesplaceinaseatedmeditationpostureasrepresentedintheNeijingtu.Atthesametime,theremaybeapolemicaldimensiontheBuddhistisplacedbeneathandinsupportoftheDaoist.It isalsoplausible to interprettheblueeyed foreignmonkholdinguptheheavensasan

komjathy - mapping the daoist body

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