Table Of ContentTaoism and Self Knowledge
Sinica Leidensia
Edited by
Barend J. ter Haar
Maghiel van Crevel
In co-operation with
P.K. Bol, D.R. Knechtges, E.S. Rawski,
W.L. Idema, H.T. Zurndorfer
VOLUME 142
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/sinl
Taoism and Self Knowledge
The Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection
(Xiuzhen Tu)
By
Catherine Despeux
Translated by
Jonathan Pettit
LEIDEN | BOSTON
This work originally appeared as Taoïsme et connaissance de soi in 2012. Guy Trédaniel Editeur © Paris, 2012.
Cover illustration: Manifestation of the “Supreme Emperor of the Dark Heaven” (Xuantian Shangdi
玄天上帝), i.e., Zhenwu 真武, above the Mount Wudang in 1413. Da Ming Xuantian shangdi ruiying tulu
大明玄天上帝瑞應圖錄 (DZ 959), 16a–b. BNF 9546/952.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Despeux, Catherine, author. | Pettit, J. E. E., translator.
Title: Taoism and self knowledge : the chart for the cultivation of
perfection (Xiuzhen tu) / by Catherine Despeux ; translated by
Jonathan Pettit.
Other titles: Taoisme et connaissance de soi. English
Description: Leiden ; Boston, MA : Brill, [2019] | Series: Sinica leidensia,
ISSN 0169–9563 ; volume 142 | In English translated from the original
French. | “This work originally appeared as Taoisme et connaissance de soi
in 2012. Guy Tredaniel Editeur (c) Paris, 2012”— Title verso. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018047060 (print) | LCCN 2018049610 (ebook) | ISBN
9789004383456 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004322158 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Taoism and science. | Xiuzhen tu. | Human body—Religious
aspects—Taoism. | Alchemy—Religious aspects—Taoism. | Human
anatomy—Atlases.
Classification: LCC BL1942.85.S35 (ebook) | LCC BL1942.85.S35 D4713 2018
(print) | DDC 299.5/1444—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018047060
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 0169-9563
isbn 978-90-04-32215-8 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-38345-6 (e-book)
Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense,
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Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction 1
1 Chinese Inner Alchemy and Body Maps 5
1 From Anatomy to the Taoist Construction of the Body: Diagrams of
Yanluozi (Tenth Century) 6
2 The Synthesis of the Yanluozi Diagrams in the Commentary on the
Classic of the Difficulties (Nanjing 難經) (Late Thirteenth
Century) 25
3 The Body as a Mountain (Early Thirteenth Century) 27
4 The Chart of the Inner Landscape (Neijing tu 內景圖) in the White
Cloud Temple (1886) 36
2 Different Versions of the Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection
(Xiuzhen Tu) 39
1 The Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection (Xiuzhen tu) in Guangzhou
(1812) 40
2 The Booklet Manuscript of the Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection
(Xiuzhen tu) in a Private Collection (19th Century) 44
3 Diffusion of the Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection according to the
Colophons of the Booklet and of Two Copies found by Zheng
Hong 47
4 The Engraving at the White Cloud Temple by Meng Zhicai in
1873 55
5 Copies of the Plate of Tianjin (1882, 1910, 1920) 57
6 The Complete Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection (Xiuzhen Quantu
修真全图) from Mount Wudang (1888 or 1924) 60
7 The Chart for Achieving Cinnabar by the Ninefold Revolution
(Dancheng jiuzhuan tu 丹成九轉圖) of Moli 莫厘 (1918) 64
8 The Complete Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection (Xiuzhen Quantu
修真全圖) of Chengdu (1922) 67
9 The Copy of the Hall for the Lengthy Cultivation (Xiuyuan Tang
修远堂) (1936) 69
10 The Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection, Engraved in 1984 at
Beijing’s White Cloud Temple 69
vi Contents
11 The Register and Chart on the Cultivation of the True Origin (Xiuchi
Zhenyuan Tulu 修持真元圖籙) of the Tiger and Dragon Altar (Longhu
Tang 龍虎堂) 71
3 A Description of the Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection 79
1 Pictographic Elements and Inscriptions 80
1.1 Head Crowned by a Disk 80
1.2 The Spine 84
1.3 The Region of the Kidneys and the Lower Body 86
1.4 The Centre of the Body and the Abdomen 88
1.5 Pictographic Elements Placed around the Representation 91
1.6 The Circled Characters 91
2 Pictographic Differences with Other Body Charts in the Taoist
Canon 92
3 The Main Texts 93
3.1 Two Documents on the General Description of the Essential Body
Sites (Texts 1 and 2) 93
3.2 Six Texts on Six Viscera (Texts 3–8) 94
3.3 Three Texts on the Three Passes (Texts 9–11) 94
3.4 A Text on the Throat (Text 12) 94
3.5 Five Texts on the Five Viscera (Texts 13–17) 94
3.6 Text on the Lower Cinnabar Field (Text 18) 96
3.7 Additional Texts on the Version of the Tiger and Dragon Hall 96
4 List and Localisation of the terms on the Chart for the Cultivation of
Perfection 96
4 The Main Alchemical Loci Inscribed in the Chart for the Cultivation of
Perfection 107
1 The Microcosmic Body Becomes an Athanor 108
2 The Main Body Orifices and Places of Transmutations 112
2.1 The Main Body Orifices (the Upper Left Text) 112
2.2 The Main Passage Sites and Places of Alchemical Transmutations
(Upper Right Text) 117
3 The Cinnabar Fields 120
3.1 The Lower Cinnabar Field 122
3.2 The Median Cinnabar Field 126
3.3 The Upper Cinnabar Field 127
4 The Three Passes on the Back 128
4.1 The Caudal Pass 129
Contents vii
4.2 The Spinal Handle Pass 131
4.3 The Jade Pillow Pass 134
5 Other Important Loci 134
5.1 The Obscure Female 134
5.2 The Life Gate (shengmen 生門) 137
5.3 The Throat 138
6 The Eight Marvellous Vessels (Qijing bamai 奇經八脈) 139
5 The Body, World of Deities According to the Chart for the Cultivation of
Perfection 142
1 The Hells 145
1.1 The City of Fengdu 酆都 146
1.2 The Nine or Eighteen Hells 148
2 The Paradises 151
2.1 The Nine Empyreans (Jiuxiao 九霄) 151
2.2 The Heaven of the Pervasive Net (Miluo 彌羅) or the Heaven
of the Obscure Firmament (Xuanqiong 玄瓊) and Mount Yujing
玉京山 153
3 The Celestial Palaces 154
3.1 The Fire Palace of the Vermilion Mound (Zhuling huofu
朱陵火府) 154
3.2 The Upper Palace of the South Brightness (Nanchang shanggong
南昌上宫) 156
3.3 The Cinnabar Hall of the Spirits of the Cold (Hanling dandian
寒靈丹殿) 157
3.4 The Palace of Thunder and Lightning (Leiting fu 雷霆府) 157
4 The Hun 魂 Souls and the Po 魄 Souls in Inner Alchemy 158
5 The Inner Gods in the Yellow Court Tradition 163
5.1 The Yellow Court (huangting 黃庭) 163
5.2 Importance of the Gallbladder in the Yellow Court Tradition 165
5.3 Animal Images of the Deities of the Six Viscera 166
6 The Inner Gods of the Yellow Court Tradition Integrated to the Chart
for the Cultivation of Perfection 175
6.1 The Image of the Six Viscera on the Chart 175
6.2 The Texts on the Six Viscera on the Chart 175
6.3 The Deities of the Head on the Chart 182
7 The Deities Related to the Numinous Treasure and the Thunder
Rites 185
7.1 Deities Related to the Tradition of the Numinous Treasure 185
7.2 Deities Related to the Thunder Rites 188
viii Contents
6 Alchemical Methods According to the Chart for the Cultivation of
Perfection 193
1 The Three Stages of the Process 195
1.1 The Vital Essence, the Breath and the Spirit 195
1.2 The Reversal Path 196
1.3 The Three Chariots 203
2 The Union of Opposites 207
2.1 The Fire of the Heart and the Water of the Kidneys 209
2.2 The Wood of the Liver and the Metal of the Tiger 218
2.3 The Solar Crow and the Lunar Toad 218
2.4 The Elixir Spoon (daogui 刀圭) 221
3 The Fire Phasing 225
3.1 The Forge Bellows (tuoyue 橐籥) 225
3.2 The Fire Phasing (huohou 火候) 227
7 T hunder Processes Illustrated by the Chart for the Cultivation of
Perfection 235
1 Schools Related to the Thunder Rites 235
2 The Northern Dipper and the Setting in Motion of the Inner
Heaven 238
3 Processes Associated with the Thunder 242
3.1 The Thunder 242
3.2 The Mysterious Pearl 244
3.3 The Celestial Eye and the Spirit Light 247
4 Elements of the Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection Linked to the
Correct Method of the Heart of Heaven 249
4.1 The Ancestral Breath and the Breath of the Three Lights 249
4.2 The Breaths of the Three Treasures 253
4.3 The Constellation of the Three Terraces (Santai 三台) 253
4.4 The Destruction of Hells 255
Conclusion 260
Bibliography 267
Index 287
Illustrations
Some illustrations included in texts from the Taoist Canon are taken from a
valuable woodblock printing of 1598, ink on paper, unfortunately incomplete,
which is stired in the Department of Oriental Manuscripts at the French
National Library (BNF). We indicated the odds of them. We thank Nathalie
Monnet, chief curator of this department, for facilitating us the possibility of
reproducing these illustrations. Other reproductions come from the publishing
[Chongyin Zhengtong] Daozang 重印正统道藏, a rotogravure of the Zhengtong
Daozang edition of the Taoist canon compiled in 1445, Shanghai: Shangwu
yinshuguan, 1923–1926; 1120 booklets. This edition is conserved at the Library
of the Institute of Advanced Chinese Studies / Collège de France, under the
odd IHEC D XV 4–1 (1–285). We thank Madame Delphine Spicq, lecturer and
curator of the IHEC, for having facilitated these reproductions. Other drawings
were photographed from materials of the author.
BNF: Bibliothèque Nationale de France
IHEC: Institut des hautes études chinoises
1.1 “Representation of the head according to Yanluozi” (Yanluozi shoubu tu
煙蘿子首部圖). Xiuzhen shishu (DZ 263), 18.2a. IHEC Library 8
1.2 “Representation of the Audience to Perfection according to Yanluozi”
(Yanluozi chaozhen tu 烟蘿子朝真圖). Xiuzhen Shishu 修真十書 (DZ 263),
18.2b. IHEC Library 12
1.3 “Drawing of the left side of the inner aspect of the body [by Yanluozi]”
(Neijing zuoce zhi tu 內境左側之圖). Xiuzhen shishu (DZ 263), 18.2b. IHEC
Library 14
1.4 Drawing of the right side of the inner aspect of the body [by Yanluozi]” (Neijing
youce zhi tu 内境右側之圖). Xiuzhen shishu (DZ 263), 18.3a. IHEC Library 16
1.5 “Drawing of the inner aspect of the body viewed from the front” [by Yanluozi]”
(Neijing zhengmian zhi tu 内境正面之圖). Xiuzhen shishu (DZ 263), 18.3a. IHEC
Library 18
1.6 “Representation of the inner aspect of the body seen from behind”
[by Yanluozi]” (Neijing beimian zhi tu 内境背面之圖). Xiuzhen shishu (DZ 263),
18.3b. IHEC Library 20
1.7 “Representation of the dorsal side of the trunk.” Hua Tuo xuanmen neizhao tu
華佗玄門内照圖, 1.20. The liver is drawn on the right-hand side of the
image 22
