Declarations of the Perfected (Part One: Setting Scripts and Images into Motion) 1931483817, 9781931483810

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THOMAS E. SMITH

Declarations of the Perfected Part One: Setting Scripts and Images into Motion

THREE PINES PRESS St. Petersburg, Florida

Three Pines Press P. O. Box 530415 St. Petersburg, FL 33747 www.threepinespress.com © 2013 by Thomas E. Smith All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 9

8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

First Three Pines Press Edition, 2013 Printed in the United States of America  This edition is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standard Institute Z39.48 Standard. Distributed in the United States by Three Pines Press. Cover art: seal carving by Huang Ching Hsuan 黃靖軒; layout by Lin Hong Xu 林泓旭. ___________________________________________________________

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Tao, Hongjing, 456-536. [Zhen gao. Selections. English] Declarations of the Perfected. Part One, Setting scripts and images into motion / Thomas E. Smith. -- First edition. pages cm. -- (Declarations of the Perfected) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-931483-81-0 (alk. paper) 1. Taoism. I. Smith, Thomas E., 1959- II. Title. III. Title: Setting scripts and images into motion. BL1900.T354E5 2013 299.5'14--dc23 2012048342

CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS INTRODUCTION

VII VIII

1

TRANSLATION PREFACE by Gao Sisun

21

FASCICLE ONE

23

Prelude: Yang Quan’s Courtship and Marriage with an Immortal A List of Perfected Persons at a Gathering (undated) July 25 and 26, 365: Mao Gu on Perseverance, Zhou Yishan on Self-control July 27, 365: Part of The Scripture on Treasuring the Spirits Revealed, One Day After the Lady of Purple Tenuity Is Introduced July 28, 365: How the Perfected Convey Their Teachings to the World July 29 and 30, 365: Yang Xi’s Betrothal and Marriage with the Perfected

24 29

FASCICLE TWO

78

July 29 and 30, 365: Yang Xi’s Betrothal and Marriage with the Perfected (continued) July 30, 365: Excerpts from an Alternate Version for Xu Mi (plus an undated poem) July 31, 365: Brief Comments on Inner Observation August 2, 3, and 4, 365: Scriptures Revealed, and Yang Xi’s Destiny Foretold August 7 and 6, 365: Mao Ying and Lady Right Blossom’s First Appearances August 7 and 9, 365: Mao Ying’s Comments on Retreating from the World August 18, 365: Practical Advice and Predictions for the Xus Xu Mi Begs for Leniency in Testing, and Mao Ying is Unimpressed (undated) August 19, 365: Persistence and Impatience

39 45 49 58

78 81 88 89 106 108 113 121 125

August 21, 365: Lady Right Blossom’s First Love Song for Xu Mi August 29, 365: Forgetting the World, Leaving Tracks on High, and Being Discreet August 31, 365: Spiritual Union, Not Sexual Intercourse September 8, 365: Linked Pears and Fiery Jujubes September 17, 365: Encouragement to Take the Wondrous Medicines September 18 and 19, 365: Guarding the Male and Female Ones, Slowing One’s Pace Xu Mi’s Elegant Yet Weaseling Response to Right Blossom (undated)

129

FASCICLE THREE

153

September 23, 365: Yang Xi’s Mother-in-law Gives Him a Piece of Her Mind Background on Wangzi Qiao’s Family (undated) The Perfected Hold a Poetic Debate on Dependency and Non-dependency (undated) October 4, 365: Lady Right Blossom Tempts Xu Mi with the Allure of Upward Travel Lady Right Blossom Expresses Longing for a Youthful Mate (undated) Revelries of the Daughters of the Queen Mother of the West, Reverting to Infancy Through Spiritual Union (undated) October 7, 365: Restoring Youth, Finding a Mate in the Clouds October 10, 365: Fixing the Gaze on Enduring Things, Planting Oneself in Proper Soil October 18, 365: Absence from Perfected Revelries Due to Retention of Mundane Form October 26, 365: Superior Pleasures Under Celestial Light (plus an undated couplet) December 31, 365: Sowing Seeds of Blessing (with Xu Mi’s undated response) November 14, 365: Vacillation in the Heart, Rotation on the Wheel of Life and Death November 16 and 17, 365: Not Hearing Right Blossom’s Calls, Xu Mi May Miss His Opportunity November 19, 365: Abandoning Earthly Allegiances for the Freedoms of Perfection December 18, 365: Xu Mi Writes on Vigilance in Small Matters Xu Mi Expresses Appreciation for the Poetry of the Perfected (undated)

131 137 139 143 145 150

153 157 159 174 176 176 180 185 190 192 195 197 202 205 207 209

December 29, 365: Ascent into Purity, Escape from a Stinking World From Prayer to Ascent (undated) January 11, 366: From Chanting to Stillness January 13, 366: Lady Right Blossom Reveals Xu Mi’s Previous Life January 14, 366: Immortality Surpasses Transience, Perfection Surpasses Immortality Two Fantastic Glosses to The Hidden Script of the Divine Tiger (undated) Xu Mi Responds to the Revelation of His Previous Life (probably mid- to late January, 366)

FASCICLE FOUR December 28, 365 to January, 366: Smoothing Over a Conflict Between Worldly and Religious Life December 29, 365 and February 10, 366: The Perfected Relent and Let Xu Mi Go to the Capital March 6, 366: Lady Right Blossom Wants to Start a Family, Perfected Style March 13, 366: Perfected Freedoms Versus Worldly Bounds (plus an undated poem) Purple Tenuity Shames the Father by Praising the Son (undated) March 27, 366: Persistence Cannot Be Balanced with Laxness Purple Tenuity Goes East and Meets the Lord of Fusang, Right Blossom Goes West and Meets No One (undated) Purple Tenuity and Right Blossom Sing of Ascent at Dawn (undated) Purple Tenuity Sings of Consummating a Union with Xu Hui (undated) May 9, 366: Xu Mi Urged to Leave the World Immediately May 18, 366: Thriving in Winter, Viewing the Universe with Eyes Closed May 22, 366: Using the Eight Purities as Vehicles for Joining One’s Kind May 28, 366: Lady Right Blossom Envisions a Spiritual Union with Xu Mi Lady Right Blossom Offers Xu Mi Her Medicinal Herbs (undated) Ascent on a Trackless Road, Making One’s Home on the Way (undated) August 15, 366: A Song Pair Hinting at Other Possible Intimacies June 25, 367: Xu Mi’s Missing Brother Shown to Know the Family’s Fate

210 213 214 215 220 228 232

236 236 241 244 246 247 250 251 252 255 258 261 263 264 266 268 271 275

January 2, 368: The Xus’ Outstanding Allotment The Xus’ Future Escape (undated) Examination of the Corpse (undated) Excerpts from an Appendix to the Scripture of the Nine Perfected (undated) Excerpt from an Appendix to the Sword Scripture (undated)

286 293 300

BIBLIOGRAPHY

307

INDEX

319

302 304

ABBREVIATIONS DZ ET HDC SK TC WSMY WYT

YJQQ ZG ZW

Daozang 道藏, the Daoist canon, as numbered in Komjathy 2002. The Encyclopedia of Taoism, ed. Fabrizio Pregadio, 2 vols. Contains hundreds of relevant short articles. Hanyu da cidian 漢語大詞典, ed. Luo Zhufeng 羅竹風, 12 volumes. An essential reference tool. Shinkō kenkyū: yakuchu hen 真誥研究: 譯注篇, eds. Yoshikawa Tadao 吉川忠夫 and Mugitani Kuniō 麥谷邦夫. The Japanese translation of ZG. The Taoist Canon, eds. Kristofer Schipper and Franciscus Verellen, 3 vols. Has short articles on each of the nearly 1,500 titles in DZ. Wushang miyao 無上祕要 (Secret Essentials Beyond Compare; DZ 1138), a sixth-century Daoist encyclopedia. Dongxuan lingbao zhenling weiye tu 洞玄靈寶真靈位業圖 (Chart of the Positions of Perfected Numina; DZ 167). Based on a chart that Tao Hongjing had compiled; essential for grasping where the various Perfected, immortal, or otherworldly figures fit into the vast Higher Clarity pantheon. Yunji qiqian 雲笈七籤 (Seven Slips from the Bookbag of the Clouds; DZ 1032). Song dynasty compendium that functions like a miniature Daoist canon. Zhen’gao 真誥 (Declarations of the Perfected; DZ 1016). Zangwai daoshu 藏外道書 (Daoist Texts Outside the Canon). A modern compendium that gathers Daoist texts written after the DZ’s publication, as well as a few older texts not included in the DZ; as numbered in Komjathy 2002.

vii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS People who write scholarly books like this one customarily identify all the organizations that provided them with fellowship funding. However, no one funded me. This was purely a labor of love. From the start there would not have been many funding application options available to me, since I am an American resident in Taiwan and unaffiliated with any academic institution. Those options would have been even further restricted because what I would propose to do was (merely) a translation, and to be honest, in the beginning I would not have even known what to propose, since I developed my most important ideas only after working on this project for many years. I was like someone holding a “mystic fish-trap” on a mountain peak—doing something non-utilitarian, at least according to the world’s usual standards, trying to transcribe the words of the Perfected into something that Western mortals can understand. However, certain individuals have lent me a hand. First and foremost is my wife Fang-mei Chou. Besides having to live so long with a husband whose mind is often coursing about on cloud-carriages, she has had to endure many questions that distract her from her own work, though I try to pester her as rarely as possible. As the “one in charge of food” (zhongkui 中饋), she has also kept me well-fed with her excellent cooking—a matter of vital importance for a hungry scholar. Many years ago Livia Kohn read through an early draft of Fascicle One that, now that I think of it, must have been truly awful. I am very grateful for the comments and encouragement she still gave me. After that experience, though, I thought it prudent to let this project gestate for a suitably long period of time before bringing it to light again. I should also thank William Baxter, who provided me an extremely useful file listing the medieval pronunciations of Chinese characters. Besides enabling me to find the rhymes that are sometimes embedded in prose sections, it helped me hear the faint, distant music of the Perfected voices. John Walker of Fourmilab, Switzerland helped by sending me a long and extremely detailed answer to my simple question on dating the winter solstice of 1223. Thanks also go to my son Ian, because his arrival eleven years ago forced me to concentrate on a single project when I was still woolgathering on several. My parents, too, helped support me through my prolonged education many years ago, even though they did not always quite understand what I was doing, and for that I shall always remain in their debt. Since my father, Thomas Smith, Jr.—variously a businessman, production engineer, all-around mechanical genius, and fifth-generation woodworker—will now have to see the fruit of my labor from the other shore, I am dedicating this to him. viii

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION Background in Brief Through the prime years of his life, Tao Hongjing 陶弘景 (456-536) collected manuscripts of three men who had lived in the century before him: (1) Yang Xi 楊羲 (330-386), a shaman-like figure who was also a gifted writer and calligrapher, (2) Xu Mi 許謐 (303-376), Yang’s aristocratic patron and benefactor, and (3) Xu Hui 許翽 (341-370), Xu Mi’s youngest son. At the behest of the Xus, Yang Xi had established contact with a group of divine, immortal beings known as the “Perfected” (zhenren 真人 ), who would come down to him at night in a kind of vivid dream. His records of these visits, together with the scriptures they revealed to him and a handful of other materials that the Xus already had in their possession, formed the foundation of the Higher Clarity (Shangqing 上清) movement in Daoism and eventually had a pervasive, lasting influence on the Daoist religion as a whole.1 Although early Chinese history is replete with shamans and spiritmediums, none approached Yang Xi for scope of vision or quality of literary output. On a nightly basis he produced poetry, scriptures, talismans, letters, various instructions, all supposedly dictated to him by the Perfected. He wrote them down in exquisitely beautiful calligraphy that Tao Hongjing later would judge the equal of work by China’s “sage of calligraphy” Wang Xizhi 王羲之 (303-361). These writings, moreover, reflected an encyclopedic, synthesizing mind with deep knowledge not only of earlier Daoist traditions but of Chinese literature in general, astronomy, dietetic practices, alchemy, and so on. Nearly every sentence contains some kind of allusion—the numerous footnotes in the present translation only scratch the surface. The poetry was largely in the “roaming immortal” (youxian 遊仙) mode then popular, but one of its original features was that Yang used it to express the multiple, distinctive voices of his nightly visitors, as if they were characters in a drama, all while remaining within a consistent Higher Clarity vision. Needless to say, these manuscripts were cherished by almost all who had the good fortune to see them. By Tao Hongjing’s time, these writings had already been scattered, copied, altered, or plagiarized. Some were lost. Only thirty years after the Higher Clarity revelations there arose another Daoist movement, Numinous Treasure or Lingbao 靈寶, which combined the Higher Clarity source-materials with Buddhist ideas and practices to weave an even vaster, more complex web of belief. The Higher Clarity materials were already being mixed in so thoroughly with 1 This background is based mostly on Strickmann 1977 and short introductory materials on Tao Hongjing, ZG, and related texts, such as Verellen 1998, Robinet in TC 198-200, and other articles in references such as Kohn 2000, TC, and ET. 1

2 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

those from other lineages that they were at risk of being lost entirely. A scholar who preceded Tao Hongjing, Gu Huan 顧歡 (420/428-483/491), had collected the original manuscripts into an anthology titled Zhenji jing 真迹經 (Scripture of the Traces of the Perfected), but he missed many items and included some extraneous materials. However, Tao Hongjing was able to conduct a more thorough search over several decades, and he determined authenticity by examining the calligraphy. He compiled the writings that he had authenticated into two works: (1) Zhen’gao 真誥 (Declarations of the Perfected; ZG for short), which soon passed into general circulation, and (2) Dengzhen yinjue 登真隱訣 (Secret Instructions for Ascent to Perfection), which focused on the more technical details of how to attain the status of a Perfected being and was divulged only to Daoist practitioners. The ZG has survived to the present, though not without a few missing phrases, miswritten characters, later insertions, and errors of format. In its original form, it had seven chapters; these have since been split among twenty fascicles or scrolls.2 As for Dengzhen yinjue, only three of its original 24 or 25 fascicles, plus various citations of the text in other works, have survived. Significant parts of the ZG’s content appear also in the Dengzhen yinjue, but with Tao’s meticulous, nearly phrase-by-phrase commentary added. The ZG enjoyed wide circulation after Tao completed his work around 499, due to the strength of his reputation, the strong interest in spiritual matters throughout the educated classes during that period, and the exquisite quality of its writing. Gu Huan’s earlier anthology eventually disappeared. Apart from its religious importance, the ZG also had an immense influence on Chinese literature, especially poetry. Many poets through the following centuries emulated the poetry it contains or used it as source-material whenever they contemplated the other world—the far-flung paradise-isles in the sea east of China, the distant holy mountains of the west and north, the starry realms and their undying inhabitants. Accordingly, it was widely cited in various encyclopedias and learning guides during the later period of division and the Tang and Song dynasties. The version of the ZG that now appears in the Daoist canon or Daozang 道藏 (DZ), first printed in 1447, comes with a preface dated 1223 by the eminent Song dynasty bibliographer Gao Sisun 高似孫 (1158-1231). Based on the evidence contained in Gao’s preface (also translated in this volume), this canonical version was based originally on an edition kept during the Southern Song era (1127-1279) either at Maoshan, the center of Higher Clarity Daoism located a little to the southeast of Nanjing, or at Shangqing gong 上清宮 (Higher Clarity Temple) near what is now Yingtan, Jiangxi province. The head of the latter temple, Yi Rugang 易如剛 (fl. 1200-1225), was having the ZG printed at 2 Parts One to Five are devoted to instructions from the Perfected, Part Six (fasc. 17-18) to writings by Yang Xi and the Xus, and Part Seven (fasc. 19-20) to Tao Hongjing’s introduction to the book, to Yang and the Xus, the dispersal of their manuscripts, and textual glosses. Much of Part Seven (ZG 19.9b5-20.4b4) is translated in Strickmann 1977.

INTRODUCTION /3

Maoshan, and he asked Gao, then serving as an Assistant in the Palace Library, to contribute a preface. Gao Sisun correctly observes that the main title and seven chapter titles of the ZG were designed by Tao to indicate its “weft” or apocryphal status in support of the “warp” or canonical texts (Daoist scriptures, Confucian classics). The main title recalls that of documents in the Shangshu 尚書 (The Book of History), while the chapter titles resemble weft titles. Gao does not say how they resemble weft titles—he assumes his readers will spot their similarity with the three-character titles of Zhuangzi’s seven “inner chapters.” However, it seems that for Gao the “warp” or canonical titles were limited to Laozi, Zhuangzi, and the Confucian classics. His teacher’s remark, “Reading the Changes [i.e., the Yi jing] is enough!” runs completely counter to Higher Clarity teaching, which places primacy on the Dadong zhenjing 大洞真經 (True Scripture of the Great Cavern). Gao belongs to a different era, with a different set of beliefs. In any case, the edition in the DZ remains the standard text, even though other versions continued to circulate outside of the canon. During the late Ming, a Nanjing-based poet and bibliophile named Yu Anqi 俞安期 (1551-1627) managed to gain access to the DZ, which was usually kept off-limits in select temples, and he reprinted the ZG in 1600 and 1604, the second time with annotations at the end of each fascicle that discussed pronunciations and variant readings. The Yu Anqi redaction in turn was reprinted in many other collectanea during the Qing dynasty (see Feng 2006). It became the de facto tongxingben 通行本 or “commonly circulating edition.” Motivation and Method The main thing that motivated me to set about working on this annotated English translation of Part One of the ZG (the first of the original seven chapters) was the desire, “Make it accessible!” Despite the great amount of scholarship that has been done on the ZG and the frequency with which scholars of Daoism cite it, most of it has remained accessible only to those with a strong command of literary Chinese—or Japanese, the only other language for which a complete translation exists. This is a shame. I have long felt that a translation of at least part of it would let more people hear more directly the voices of Yang Xi, the Perfected who speak through him, the Xus, and Tao Hongjing, so that they would no longer have to content themselves with fragmented reports and discussions. Furthermore, in translation as opposed to ordinary reading one must wrestle word by word, phrase by phrase with the meaning, and convert this meaning into one’s own language, and in the process a far deeper understanding of the text is obtained. In fact, I am convinced that the translation process generates, for the translator at least, the closest possible reading of a text. My reading or translation is bound to err in places, but it will inform and facilitate others who read the ZG, and even if they disagree with my wordchoices, they will nonetheless benefit.

4 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

I chose to translate Part One of the text because it is first, an indication of its importance, and because so much of it is extremely beautiful. It has a strong narrative component not found in the other parts. Its sections follow a mostly chronological order, though the editor Tao Hongjing deliberately places some sections out of sequence in order to bring together materials treating a particular topic or theme that would otherwise be widely separated. Part One occupies a position analogous to the first of Zhuangzi’s seven inner chapters, and like its Zhuangzi counterpart, it does not start out with systematic statements on beliefs and practices but rather draws the reader into its world gradually—mostly through the colorful language of poetry and narrative. Tao Hongjing clearly intended to dazzle and intrigue the reader first and let full understanding come later, after further reading, meditation, and guidance. To some extent, this arrangement reflects the common practice among Chinese anthologists to put poetry first and discursive prose second,3 but it also lets Tao present the most attractive aspects of Higher Clarity first. For these reasons, Part One contains a large share of the most beautiful writing in the ZG, which also makes it very attractive for the translator (we shall eventually see that Part One also presents key aspects of Higher Clarity belief that are not revealed elsewhere). There are several subtle signs that Tao did intend for this part to be read first, and in sequence,4 but to me the clearest indication comes through the handling of its general theme: cycling back, returning to the origin (the Way), and reverting to youth and childhood, which is contrasted by descriptions of movement away from the origin, as seen through aging, the devolution of calligraphic script, etc. The image of the adept stepping into a cave in order to be reborn most vividly expresses this turning back. But for any grand statement of its theme, one must wait for the opening of Part Two: “…the Way has a Great Return, which is [the process of] pure Perfection. Therefore, without the Way it is impossible to complete Perfection, and without Perfection it is impossible to complete the Way” (ZG 5.1a9-10). The statement may begin Part Two, but it sums up what precedes it in Part One. The one leads into the next. Some may object that presenting Part One in isolation is not the most “useful” for non-specialists wanting to gain an understanding of what the ZG is all about, and that almost any other part would be more instructive. I would argue that would reflect a modern emphasis on efficiency that is absent from 3 One thinks especially of Xiao Tong’s 蕭統 (501-531) placement of poetic genres first in Wen xuan 文選 (Selections of Refined Literature; trl. Knechtges 1982, 1987, 1996). 4 After the list of Perfected persons in Fascicle One, Tao notes that even though the text is undated, he decided to place it there, before the other materials, because it lists names and titles (ZG 1.4b6-7). He could easily have tucked this rather tedious list into a more unobtrusive spot, but he did not: this introduces the Perfected players of the drama (he relegates introductions to the human players, by contrast, to last place, in Part Seven). A similar approach appears with Fascicle Three’s undated poetic debate on “dependency and nondependency” and the passages preceding it.

INTRODUCTION /5

the ZG. While translating I developed a healthy respect for Tao’s editorial work, and it would be extremely presumptuous for me to try to rearrange things. Ideally, I should present the entire ZG in one volume, but if the size of the present book is any indication, the total would reach around 1,500 pages. This project was also motivated by simple curiosity. In the 1980s, while writing my dissertation, I had cited and translated a few passages from ZG, but there the matter rested until around 2000, when I began looking at it again. The demands of earning an income kept it a very low-level project. I would do one phrase or sentence per day and not proceed to the next until I was satisfied I had a good grasp of it. I had no pet theory to prove. Of course, from the work of many other scholars, I knew that the famous story of Yang Xi’s marriage to Consort An would appear at the end of the first fascicle, that much of Fascicles Two to Four would be devoted to songs and poetry, and that the end of Fascicle Four would discuss curious matters concerning “escape by means of a simulated corpse” (shijie 尸解), but many other episodes still came to me as surprises. While translating, my main questions were always, “What does it really mean?” and, “What’s the story?” Only a few years ago, I would not have attempted this, despite the significant advances in Western scholarship on the Higher Clarity movement since the 1970s. What has made all the difference is that Internet-based search tools finally—I would put the date at around 2004—crossed a kind of threshold. Before this, a simple on-line search on a term or phrase from the ZG would rarely generate any interesting result, but after this, the chance of finding something useful greatly increased. Although web-based search results must be used with caution, they will at least often steer one in the right direction. Similar thresholds were crossed not only with searchable electronic editions of major Chinese collections but also with traditional publications on paper. It is now possible, without too great expense, to search electronically through all the major works and collections of traditional Chinese literature and to do one’s own textual research without extreme difficulty. As for paper-based publications, many passages in the ZG have now been discussed, if not translated, by one or another researcher, and this body of scholarship has greatly reduced the guesswork that would have otherwise marred this translation. Furthermore, as the quantity of Western scholarship on Higher Clarity Daoism grows, three indispensable reference tools in English (these have scarcely left my desk) have been published (Kohn 2000; Schipper and Verellen 2004, or TC for short; Pregadio 2008, or EC). At all times I made use of the complete Japanese translation, which, despite a number of shortcomings, is an essential and extremely useful work (Yoshikawa and Mugitani 2000; SK for short).5 5 The first major shortcoming to this translation, as I see it, is an overly mechanical approach to citing the works to which the ZG refers. That is, the works are cited in the original Chinese without further comment, and quite often not the best work or reference is selected. Although the ZG belongs to the Higher Clarity branch of Daoism, sometimes the translators gloss a term using something from another branch. The second major shortcoming stems

6 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

The usual practice when translating a text of this nature is to precede it with a scholarly introduction of a hundred-plus pages discussing the author or compiler’s life and work, his or her social milieu, the historical background, the textual history, and so on. However, in the case of the ZG, so much scholarship has been devoted to those issues that perhaps nine-tenths of what I would write by way of a conventional introduction would already be somehow redundant. Extensively delving into the content here would also, I believe, dampen the experience of encountering the ZG as a kind of adventure, especially for those new to Higher Clarity Daoism. For Part One at least, it would provide too many “plot spoilers.” We must also keep in mind Tao Hongjing’s design encouraging readers first to form their own inferences about the material. From a modern Western perspective, then, it would seem that there is a kind of “perverse” element to Tao’s overall design of the ZG plus Dengzhen yinjue. His placement of most of ZG’s colorful poetic and narrative materials first, saving the more didactic material for later, is part of a broader pattern. The clearest, most explicit, most advanced presentation of Higher Clarity techniques, found in the Dengzhen yinjue as well as the main Higher Clarity scriptures, was restricted, to be passed down only from master to disciple. By contrast, the ZG, containing more generalized instruction and advice, alludes to the advanced techniques by name, or mentions them in passing, or encourages people to follow them, or lavishes high praise on them—but never divulges them in complete, precise detail. Yet this was the text that passed into general circulation. It thus tantalizes its readers with wonderful things that are kept just beyond their reach, the better to motivate them to seek a suitable teacher. Another aspect of this seemingly perverse design may be glimpsed through Tao’s commentary. I have already mentioned how Tao places what we would consider to be introductory at the end. For example, he places a large number of glosses relating to members of the Xu family at the end (ZG 20.12a9-13a8), not in the main text where the Xus first appear, and not in any introduction. Another, more subtle, example: Yang Xi was in the habit of using the word fei 扉 (which usually refers to a door leaf) for pai 排 (to push open or apart), but Tao provides a gloss to that effect (ZG 2.20a3) only after the word’s sixth appearance. Sometimes the prime consideration for arranging the material in Part One seems to have been chronological order; sometimes it seems to have been thematic. Isabelle Robinet has thus described the ZG’s compilation as having “a certain disorder” (2004f, 199; 1984, 2:317-18). Certainly this is due from the fact that it was done by many hands, which in the case of Part One means that the individual translators did not have the chance to identify or explore in full its broader underlying motifs. Later on, a Chinese version of this work was published: Yoshikawa and Mugitani 2006. Its main virtue is that it makes the Japanese scholars’ annotations more accessible to people in China. Unfortunately it does not translate the ZG into modern Chinese. Another annotated Chinese edition, Zhao 2011, which reached my desk too late to be used here, limits itself to textual notes.

INTRODUCTION /7

partly to the vagaries of transmission, partly to the mixed, fragmentary nature of the source material, but I also think that part of this is deliberate—to ensure that the text yields its secrets only to those who put the greatest effort into it. Part One reveals a number of astonishing secrets, but I am sure that Tao Hongjing wanted them to remain all but closed to casual readers. If I were genuinely to be true to Tao Hongjing’s intentions, therefore, I would have readers plunge directly into the text without any guiding hand, and they would reemerge dazzled—but very confused. That would not be an acceptable option. Some background is necessary, if only to make up for all the missing background knowledge that Chinese readers of long ago, Tao Hongjing’s intended audience, would have had as they approached the text. Surely few of those readers approached the ZG “cold.” That is, when Chinese readers long ago received their copies of the text or copied it out for themselves, they would almost certainly have known something about its content in advance, whether from other textual sources, friends, teachers, or persons with their own copies. Furthermore, many of the allusions, at least those to classical sources, would have been immediately transparent to them, whereas today’s readers usually need footnotes. Finally, Chinese readers during the early stages of the ZG’s transmission would have benefited from a better text. For example, Tao had used different colors of ink to help keep the various human and divine voices separate (ZG 19.9a9-9b4), but these colors disappeared long ago. Thus, as I worked on the translation and pondered the best strategy for presenting the text, the idea of alternating the translation and commentary in the form of a guided reading took shape in my mind. Just as the ZG gathers together many brief pieces, likewise my commentary would parallel the text in the form of brief essays. Such a format would bring the reader into the ZG and its secrets gradually. It would become more like a voyage of discovery—just as it was for me. As for my working method, I carefully followed the text as it appears in the DZ, translating both the main text and Tao’s commentary. First I photocopied pages from the DZ, expanding each to fill an entire A4 page. This revealed certain things that most modern printed or electronic editions of ZG often do away with: nonstandard characters, the use of biao 摽 for its homonyms 標 or 鏢, the character yi 已 frequently printed as si 巳, and so on. I then prepared my own working Chinese files on that basis.6 Later as I translated I could have the Chinese and English conveniently above and below each other in the same file. Most of Tao’s comments appear in the form of interlinear comments—I transformed these into lettered endnotes, placed after the translation of the 6 For the photocopies, I used the 61-volume (including index volume) edition published in 1957 by Xinwenfeng chuban gongsi in Taipei, because of its larger format. For general research purposes, however, I used the 36 volume edition published in 1986 by Wenwu chubanshe of Beijing. The content and page/column divisions are the same.

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main text in each section, to distinguish them from my own copious numbered footnotes. Comments that appear as indented lines in the Chinese text are also indented in translation, italicized, and kept in the main text. Some of the indented comments are actually written by Yang Xi or Xu Mi, not Tao Hongjing, but the reader will have no difficulty figuring out who is commenting. To enhance clarity, I divided the text further into separate sections, to which I added subheadings, with Western dates for the sections that are precisely dated. In translating each passage, I consulted the complete Japanese translation and, where possible, earlier Western translations,7 as well as alternate versions appearing in other early Chinese citations. On first approach, I used only the original Chinese, then Japanese sources (mainly SK), and finally other English translations. Of course, I often had to revise my initial tries based on the work of other scholars. With Stephen Bokenkamp and Paul Kroll especially, sometimes I felt, like Xu Mi, “that my fitfully flickering, proximate radiance is unable to form a triad with the distant splendors of the Two Lights” (ZG 3.17a3-4). My translation thus inevitably contains echoes of their and other scholars’ work; I expect that any future translation will in turn contain echoes of mine. Even so, for many years I had no idea how all the individual passages fit together. Apart from the forward march of their dates, they did seem rather chaotically organized, as Isabelle Robinet had observed. The overarching “story” or organizing principle of Part One did not begin to emerge for me until I had reached the end of Fascicle Three. At this point, as I became more aware of how everything fit together, I began writing the comments for each section. The final pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place when I was about onethird of the way through Fascicle Four. Afterward, the work of translation went much more smoothly—but my new realization also forced me to rework nearly everything I had done earlier. The first round of revision began in 2009. Revising Fascicles One and Two each took one year, Fascicles Three and Four each only half a year. As I wound through the text a second time, I wrote more extensive comments after each section. During the second round of revision, in 2012, I focused mostly on the footnotes, making sure that the various terms and titles were more con7 Elizabeth W. Hyland (1984) includes a translation of Fascicle One, and though many passages are still beyond her reach, it is a valiant effort. Michel Strickmann (1979) has a number of passages from the end of Fascicle Four with detailed analysis and commentary. Stephen R. Bokenkamp (1996) has most of Yang Xi’s betrothal and marriage with the Perfected Consort An (ZG 1.11b4-2.2b6); I differ with him on only a few points, all but one of them minor. Paul W. Kroll (1996) has fine translations of many of Lady Right Blossom’s songs. The previous two items appear together in a widely-used anthology (Lopez 1996) that has benefited many students. Elsewhere Kroll has translated and analyzed most of the Lady of Purple Tenuity’s poems (2003), and through the years (2007, 2010) he has done much work on the poem series on dependency and non-dependency (ZG 3.2b8-5a5). I have also made much use of Kroll’s article on light terminology (1999).

INTRODUCTION /9

sistently rendered. I also deleted approximately 20 footnotes in each fascicle that I thought were unnecessary. I may have started the work with only general goals in mind, but once I realized how ZG’s first part was put together, I felt that I should share my discoveries as soon as possible. I cannot claim to have read everything about the ZG, but I am certain that crucial aspects of Yang Xi and the Xus’ story have never been set out clearly before. Dozens of scholars have read and researched this material in the past, and Part One has long been known to concern courtship, marriage, death, and the search for immortality, but many of the connections among these elements have been overlooked. Perhaps too many people have been approaching it as a source for information on one or another doctrine, one or another meditation practice, or one or another socio-historical phenomenon, and so they have failed to integrate the material sufficiently. There are, in my opinion, at least five aspects of ZG’s first part that have been mostly overlooked. First is the keenness of its (mostly male-centered) perspectives on sexuality. This may seem surprising, considering its numerous admonitions to avoid sex entirely, but once one gets past all the courtly, flowery language, the euphemisms and circumlocutions, and the otherworldly nature of so much of the subject-matter, the book reflects a profound awareness of the human sexual experience, from masturbation to intense newlywed passion to erectile dysfunction among elderly men. Second, closely related to the first, is the sex-replacement regimen that it sets out for the human players, and how the “mechanics” of spiritual union with Perfected partners are visualized in meditation.8 These are spelled out indirectly, in terms that would not offend the refined sensibilities of either the Perfected or aristocratic human participants, but once pieced together they become transparent analogues to what occurs in ordinary sex—with certain unusual role reversals. The role reversals between bride and groom in Yang Xi’s famous account of his own betrothal and marriage with the Perfected Consort An extend both to the way they consummate their union and to its outcome. Third is the entanglement of destinies among the protagonists of this drama, on both the human and Perfected sides. The shocking secret that underlies the intertwining fates of Xu Mi and Xu Hui has scarcely been mentioned. Meanwhile, frequent misinterpretations of Perfected ranks and titles, particularly their abbreviated forms, and failures to investigate names, titles, and connections deeply enough, have caused some of the familial ties among the Perfected to “disappear.” Fourth is the manipulative nature of Yang Xi. Although Stephen Bokenkamp, writing in his Ancestors and Anxiety, has already hinted at certain unsavory aspects of Yang’s character (2007, 156), I would go further and call Yang a master of psychological manipulation, one who applies all kinds of subtle strategies that play on his patron’s anxieties to convince him to follow the path of Perfection. Fifth is the relationship between the entire courtship-related part of the story and the part 8

Eskildsen (1998, 75-79) comes closest on this “mysticism of sublimated sexuality” (79).

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at the end dealing with death and the examination of corpses. There are many other things that I will set out here that may surprise the reader. As for the rest of the ZG, I do hope to continue the work of translating it in the future, but I may be much older than Xu Mi by the time I finish! Passages and Pieces One of the greatest difficulties in presenting the ZG in an organized fashion centers on a seemingly innocuous word that appears frequently among Tao Hongjing’s comments: tiao 條 , which I render as “passage” (occasionally the word pian 篇 or “piece” is used instead). Tiao refers to a block of text in calligraphy, and pian, usually, to a poem. The word tiao appears in the comments that Tao inserts periodically to identify the calligraphers of the original documents before him, and they usually take the form, “For the previous three passages, there is calligraphy by so-and-so.” This would seem easy enough, but sometimes one has difficulty determining where the breaks are, because so many have disappeared from current versions of the ZG—a situation at least partly due, once again, to the vagaries of transmission. In the poetic passages, the original breaks may be recovered by finding changes in the rhyme scheme. For instance, the poems appearing in ZG 3.5a63.8b3 are followed with the comment, “For the preceding, from the words ‘With vaulting leaps,’ thirteen pieces in all, there is calligraphy by Yang…” but if we count the number of blocks of text as they appear in the current DZ beginning from the phrase specified, there appear to be only eleven pieces. Where have the other two gone? On closer examination, the poems in the third and fifth blocks show a change in rhyme scheme, signaling that each should in fact be counted as two. Some passage divisions have disappeared simply because the last character of a passage happens to complete one of the DZ’s standard 17-character columns of text. Others can be recovered only by very careful reading and the piecing together of clues. In general, all of the “missing” divisions can be recovered, but sometimes they are hard to find. In fact, I believe that the greatest number of textual transmission errors in ZG, at least in Part One, may be found among Tao Hongjing’s comments on his manuscript sources, in the formatting, and in the way the blocks of text are divided, not in the content of the declarations themselves. Copyists through the ages probably exercised greater care with the words of the Perfected persons’ speeches than with the format and Tao’s comments on manuscript sources. There appear to be some inconsistencies in the way Tao Hongjing counts the tiao. At one point, a single sentence containing a list of names is divided among seven passages (ZG 2.7b4-10) that Tao Hongjing later includes in his count of tiao; at another point, a similar list of names is subsumed under a single tiao, and Tao does not count the names separately (ZG 2.2b7-3a4). However, this may easily be the outcome of errors in transmission. The names in the

INTRODUCTION /11

latter list were not necessarily written in separate columns in the original manuscript. There are also inconsistencies in the way that comments in the form of postscripts are counted, particularly in Fascicle One. For example, the declarations of July 28, 365 consist of three tiao, followed by four miscellaneous comments not included in any count of tiao, even though Tao, in one of his notes to the latter comments, does speak of it as a tiao (ZG 1.11a7). The declarations of July 25 and 26, 365 (ZG 1.4b9-6a1), consisting of speeches by Mao Gu and Zhou Yishan, had two tiao, and the division between them had to have been at the end of Mao Gu’s speech—otherwise there would have been nothing to signal where Mao’s speech ended and Zhou’s speech began. However, in the current DZ text they are printed in a single block of text, so that Yang Xi’s concluding remark becomes the second tiao—even though such comments are not elsewhere included in the count. The long list of Perfected (ZG 1.2a10-4b8) preceding that section lacks Tao’s concluding statement to identify the calligrapher, and it cannot be somehow squeezed into the tiao count that concludes the section that follows it. Moreover, we can gather that it was not from the same manuscript that contained the following section. Considering the care with which Tao Hongjing approached the original materials, it seems very unlikely that he would have forgotten to identify the calligrapher and number of tiao for the manuscript source. I would rather put the blame for these problems on errors in transmission. Finally, a block of text in calligraphy loosely resembles a paragraph in a modern text, but we must always remember that the breaks among these “passages” rarely fall in places where modern Western writers would separate paragraphs. Chinese calligraphers had (and still have) much greater freedom than their Western counterparts in choosing where to divide their texts. They may lump together very different subjects, or even break apart a sentence. The ZG usually separates each poem into its “passage” or “piece,” but sometimes two or three poems are lumped together. The original materials that Tao Hongjing had to deal with were themselves a very mixed bag—some came from long scrolls, some from stray pieces of paper. Sometimes a manuscript contained information from one night’s declarations; sometimes it contained records of several nights’ declarations. From Tao’s comment on the manuscript sources for the account of Yang Xi’s betrothal and marriage (ZG 2.4b7), which mentions 24 passages, the continuity of the narrative indicates that two manuscripts served as the source: one was Yang Xi’s personal record of his betrothal and marriage, and the other was a slightly different version that he provided to Xu Mi. I believe that the scroll with Yang Xi’s personal record resumes with the section in which Consort An reveals a number of scriptures to Yang Xi and divulges his future (ZG 2.5b8-2.10b5), but there is no solid evidence for this apart from Tao Hongjing’s rather cryptic comment at the end of the latter section, “…there is also Lord Yang’s personal record.” Thus, in many cases we can catch a glimpse of what the original documents looked like or contained, but in other cases there is no indication of

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whether a group of passages was taken from one or several documents, or whether passages from a particular source were omitted and placed elsewhere. In the present translation, therefore, I insert a bracketed number at the beginning of each new passage or tiao. This way, if one of Tao Hongjing’s notes mentions “the previous five passages,” then the reader can easily find where they begin and how they are divided. Stylistic Matters I generally follow scholarly convention when translating Daoist terms, but there are two exceptions, mainly for stylistic reasons. The first is the name of the branch of Daoism in which ZG is so important: Shangqing 上清. Usually it is rendered “Highest Clarity,” but I call it “Higher Clarity.” Why? I do not see any indication of the superlative in the term. If this is “Highest,” then what would taishang 太上 , wushang 無上 , shangshang 上上 , or zuishang 最上 be? Furthermore, if we take a look at the Dongxuan lingbao zhenling weiye tu 洞玄靈寶真靈 位業圖 (Chart of the Positions of Perfected Numina; DZ 167; abbr. WYT), which maps out the “pantheon” of deities, Perfected beings, immortals, and underworld figures, we see that the first-tier divinities are situated in the heaven of Jade Clarity (Yuqing 玉清) while the second-tier divinities are situated in the heaven of Higher Clarity. In the matter of style, I am also wary of freely dishing out superlatives. Somehow it seems safer and more sensible to me to render Shangqing as Higher Clarity than Highest Clarity. Second, the word jing 景 is a common term in Daoism that refers to bright heavenly bodies or their bright counterparts in the body—the body’s own gods, often described in terms of bright dragons, horses, chariots and so on, eight or twenty-four in number. It has become almost standard among researchers specializing in Daoism to render jing as “Effulgences” or “Luminants.” By themselves, these are perfectly fine translations, but something dreadful happens if they are used while translating Daoist poetry at length. Given the frequency of references to jing, the poetry begins to sag under the weight of all those “Effulgences.” By analogy, we may appreciate Robert Harrick’s “liquefaction of her clothes,” but if he had spilled “liquefaction” on every page, it would only become annoying. Thus, after some experimentation, I settled on rendering jing with the capitalized “Lights.” Think of it: we are accustomed to translating ying 影 as “shadow,” so why must its opposite be “effulgence” instead of “light”? I capitalize it to distinguish the term from ordinary lights and to indicate that this is, in fact, a special term that refers to a set of deities. The ZG often uses the word qi, written 棲 or 栖, to describe how the adept settles into position, whether physically or spiritually, in the mountains or otherworldly locales. In translation I usually retain its root meaning of “perch” or “roost” to ensure that the deep association between immortals and birds is

INTRODUCTION /13

not lost. Also, where jade (yu 玉) denotes brightness, I use “jade-bright,” and where kong 空 refers to the heavens or space, I use “the vault of space.” Deciding whether to translate or romanize names was always very difficult. I always romanize place names for sites in China and the surnames and names of both worldly and Perfected persons. Otherworldly place names are usually translated, with certain exceptions. In some cases, such as Mount Kunlun and the paradise isles Penglai, Fusang, and so on, these are already well-known among Western readers of Chinese literature, so I leave them as they are. Others, if translated, would become awkward. For example, I only romanize Mount Tongbo because it is much easier than “Paulownia and Cypress Mountain” and because it has a corresponding earthly site in China. If I were to use the translated term, its connection with the earthly site would be broken. I faced similar difficult decisions every time I encountered immortals known only by their sobriquets: should I say Chisongzi or Master Redpine? Guxizi or Master ValleyRarified? Master Changli Xue or Master Longvillage Xue? In such cases, the final decision depended purely on what sounded right to my ears. Except when discussing rhyme schemes, I use the contemporary pronunciations of Chinese words when romanizing, hence Wushang miyao instead of Wushang biyao, Li Bai instead of Li Bo, and so on. The medieval Chinese pronunciations that appear in comments concerning rhyme are based on the work on historical pronunciations by Prof. William Baxter, who was kind enough to send me a file listing them. In many instances Yang Xi’s rhymes seem very loose. However, Tao Hongjing notes that Yang “seems to have come originally from Wu” (ZG 20.11a10-11b1), and it is likely that Tao had noticed this from Yang’s choice of rhyme words and other forms of wordplay (ZG 4.7b10-8a1). Yang Xi and the Perfected who spoke through him were thus speaking with an eastern accent that in Tao’s view varied a bit from the standard. The reader will notice that several different line and margin formats are used in the translation: (1) standard prose—no comment needed; (2) rhymed poetry—sharp indentation, unjustified right margins; (3) unrhymed parallel prose—slight indentation, both margins justified, with each matching pair of phrases placed in a single line; (4) lists—slightly indented left margins only; (4) interlinear comments—moved to the end of each section and placed before the “Comments,” printed in slightly reduced font. As mentioned earlier, separate lines of commentary that are indented in the DZ text are italicized in translation. I should add that Chinese prose from this period relies heavily on parallel phrasing. Thus in my first rough translations I carefully graphed out all the parallel constructions by insertions of format (3) in every instance. The words seemed to dance all over every page, but this helped me to grasp the sentence structures. In later drafts, I kept format (3) only where the parallelism was most extensive and consistent. I am not afraid of footnotes, and in fact I delight in them. The ZG will never be an easy book, so I footnote generously and keep abbreviations to a minimum for clarity. When new figures are introduced, I will usually mention

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his or her position in the “pantheon” described in the WYT, which is based on a chart that Tao Hongjing had compiled.9 When I refer to any other DZ text in a footnote, I provide its full romanized title and the DZ number (based on Komjathy 2002). On first mention I provide its Chinese characters and the translated title. If the scripture is also discussed in the second volume of Isabelle Robinet’s La Révélation du Shangqing, I provide a “Robinet number” as well. There are nearly 1,500 scriptures in the DZ, but only a handful have direct bearing on the content of the ZG, so referring to these Robinet numbers makes it possible for the reader to zero in on the Higher Clarity scriptural legacy quickly. Robinet’s work takes the form of an outline: scriptures A.1 to A.34 are on a list of Higher Clarity scriptures in Fengdao kejie yingshi 奉道科戒營始 (Initial Rules and Precepts for Worshiping the Dao; DZ 1125; trl. Kohn 2004b), 5.1a3-2a9, and these may be considered “core” to the movement. Scriptures on the B list are also essential to the movement, though they were somehow not included in the first list, and scriptures on the C list include works like ZG, the biographies of Higher Clarity saints, and so on—works that were part of the early Higher Clarity literary corpus but did not quite have the status of scriptures whose transmission was strictly limited (I do not include these notes for the later scriptures on Robinet’s D and E lists). In the footnotes there is a great deal of cross-referencing, given the extensive specialized vocabulary used in Higher Clarity Daoism. In general, I try to gloss a term or identify a name upon first mention, and then refer back to it on the second or even third appearance. After that, it passes without further comment. I also vary from usual academic practice by referring often to dictionaries (Hanyu da cidian or HDC and Morohashi 1984), but I do think they should be so credited—too often translators err by not using them assiduously even where they may think they already understand the terms. The first footnote for Fascicle One, which concerns the title, is the longest. In retrospect, this did not occur by chance. The three characters of the title represent Tao Hongjing’s distillation of everything contained here, and I am sure that he had pondered their selection a long time. Unfortunately, at one point during the centuries of the ZG’s transmission it must have baffled someone who then went on to change it. Even worse, the one passage in ZG that would have best explained the title seems to have gone missing. What, after all, does yun tixiang 運題象 mean? I eventually settled on “Setting Scripts and Images into Motion,” which happens to sound cinematic, but I think this also helps convey to Western readers the idea that this part of ZG may be read as a story. Possible alternates would be “Activating / Moving / Animating / Cycling the Scripts and Images.” Even so, I am certain that the reader will not fully grasp what it means until he or she has finished studying the entire content of this 9 My footnotes will speak often of the pantheon in WYT, but one should keep in mind that Daoist pantheons have always been quite fluid, as pointed out in Bokenkamp 2010.

INTRODUCTION /15

book. This is part of the “perverse design” again: the very first item to appear is by far the hardest thing to understand. The Cast of Characters Before plunging into the text, the reader will need to know a bit more about the figures who will be appearing—the “characters” in the ZG drama, so to speak. In the ZG’s first part, there are only three main human figures: Yang Xi the spirit-medium, his patron Xu Mi, and Xu Hui, his patron’s third and youngest son. As for Yang Xi, he is a man in his thirties, handsome, affable, and remarkably for a person of his times, he seems not to have married. He is obviously quite intelligent and well-educated but comes from a relatively humble background. Tao notes that he had a mother and younger brother during the time he had his visions (ZG 20.11b1), and that the visions would come to him whether he was in the capital, at home, or in the mountains (ZG 20.12a4-5). In other words, he himself is not a recluse in the mountains but probably follows the movements of his patron. Xu Mi, meanwhile, is an aristocrat in his sixties, the head of a large household, and a busy official. He is keenly interested in the religious life but loath to part with the salary, prestige, and perks of officialdom. Shortly before the main story begins, Xu Mi’s wife dies, so he is already thinking of remarrying or taking a concubine. Besides feeling lonely, he frets about his age, his grey, thinning hair, fading eyesight, and so on. At one point in Fascicle Three he introduces one of his fellow aristocrats, Chi Yin 郗愔 (313-384), to the Higher Clarity teachings, so Chi becomes the recipient of a few of the poems as well. Among Xu Mi’s sons, only Xu Hui is really intent on his Daoist pursuits. As a young man in his twenties, he feels fewer connections with the world and is genuinely eager to pursue the Way. He is a diligent student. One gets the impression that his brothers, meanwhile, are only going along with the rudiments of practice. Only one earns a brief mention in these pages: Xu Lian 許聯 (328-404). Three other human figures are mentioned here, but all precede the main story. Before Yang Xi came along, the Xu family had employed other mediums who proved dissatisfactory. One was Hua Qiao 華僑, who was dismissed for revealing too many secrets, and another was Yang Quan 羊權, who was let go for other indiscretions. ZG’s first section is based on Yang Xi’s copy of a Yang Quan manuscript, and it relates events that took place in 359, around six years before ZG’s main story begins. Besides revealing why Yang Quan was unsuitable, it serves as a kind of prelude to the main story, since several things it hints at are developed into major themes later on. Finally there is Xu Mi’s older brother Xu Mai 許邁 (b. 301), a dedicated Daoist practitioner and teacher who freely circulated in the highest strata of Chinese society. Around 17 years before ZG’s main story begins, in 348, he disappeared at a place called Mount Chi 赤山 or Chi Hill 赤丘 (remember this

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place!), so his fate continues to weigh heavily on Xu Mi’s mind. Xu Mi by this time assumes his brother is dead, but he is certainly wondering about his spiritual status. In Fascicle Four Xu Mi finally learns what has happened to him. In contrast to the human figures, there is an entire pantheon of Perfected beings, but again, only a handful may be considered main characters. These fall into three groups. First there are the past saints of the Higher Clarity movement—the three brothers Mao Ying 茅盈, Mao Gu 茅固, and Mao Zhong 茅衷, sometimes called the “three Lords Mao”; the Lady of the Southern Marchmount Wei Huacun 魏華存; Zhou Yishan 周義山, the Perfected Man of Purple Yang; Wang Bao 王褒; and Lord Pei 裴君. Wei Huacun serves as Yang Xi’s teacher, but all of these figures can offer instruction and guidance; all but Wang Bao appear frequently. The second, smaller group includes Yang Xi’s bride, the Perfected Consort An 安妃, and her parents. Consort An’s father is usually called by different versions of his title, the Higher Perfected Primal Lord of Grand Vacuity, sometimes only by “Grand Vacuity,” but he is none other than Master Redpine, the famous immortal of antiquity. Her mother, the Displayer of Numina on Fangzhang Terrace, Lady Li 李夫人, comes from a Perfected noble family. We shall see that Yang Xi will encounter “mother-in-law problems,” because Lady Li is not at all pleased that her daughter has married a mere fleshly human. Third are the “daughters of the Queen Mother of the West.” These unmarried Perfected women with ambiguously human-Perfected origins often visit the mundane world to search for human partners. They include the Lady of Purple Tenuity 紫微夫人 (affiliated with the north), Lady Right Blossom 右 英夫人 (east), the Lady in Attendance Within 中候夫人 (east and north), and Lady Purple Prime of the Southern Pole 紫元夫人 (south). The Lady of Purple Tenuity first serves as a matchmaker between Yang Xi and Consort An, but later on, in Fascicle Two, she assumes the role of teacher to Xu Mi and Xu Hui, just as Wei Huacun serves as teacher to Yang Xi. Lady Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove in the Sea of Blue-grey Billows, who first appears in Fascicle Two, begins to woo Xu Mi since he is a widower and eligible bachelor—but she must struggle mightily to bend him to her will. Purple Tenuity and Right Blossom are the most frequent visitors, and they produce through Yang Xi the greatest number of poems, often in pairs. The Lady in Attendance Within and Lady Purple Prime, on the other hand, play subtle but ultimately surprising roles, the nature of which becomes apparent only near the end of the story. The only Perfected person who visits Yang Xi in these pages but does not fit into any of the above groups is Wangzi Qiao 王子喬, the Perfected Man of Mount Tongbo. Like Master Redpine, he is one of the famous immortals of Chinese antiquity, but he is also the half-brother of the Lady in Attendance Within. Apart from attending Yang Xi’s wedding and then giving a single belated bit of wedding advice to Yang a few days later, he seems to appear only when a number of other Perfected are also present.

INTRODUCTION /17

Of course, the ZG’s first part mentions many other “Higher Perfected” deities like Lord Blue Lad 青童君, the Queen Mother of the West 西王母, the various thearchic lords, Lord Lao 老君 , and so on, but they remain distant presences only. Yang Xi does not directly interact with such elevated figures. The Storyline The reader may get a sense of the story timeline by examining the section titles in the Table of Contents. The first section, a kind of prelude, takes place in 359, six years before the main story begins; the second section is a rather tedious list of Perfected persons that functions a little like the dramatis personae for a play. Fascicles One to Three concentrate on events taking place from late July 365 to January 366, though the sequence gets jumbled a bit at the end of Fascicle Three and beginning of Fascicle Four—there were inconsistencies in the manuscripts before Tao Hongjing that even he could not fully explain. In Fascicle Four, the materials suddenly spread further in date, skipping whole months, then whole years. The last dated transmission, January 2, 368, when the Perfected describe the Xus’ “outstanding allotments” or future destinies in the otherworld, marks the climax of the story. The two sections that follow it serve as a swift denouement, and the final two sections, which are excerpts from scripture that discuss posthumous matters, serve as epilogues. Part One of the ZG, therefore, has a kind of symmetrical arrangement, with two lead-in sections and two epilogues framing an accelerating story. I will not divulge here all the plot details, but I will provide an overview so the reader knows in general what to expect. There are many side-steps and detours, and some of the material will not seem at first to relate to the story, but in the end everything does. In Fascicle One, after the two prefatory sections, Yang establishes contact with the Perfected and announces to them his patron’s desire to study the Way. Before he can help Xu Mi further, however, Yang must form a marriage tie with a Perfected woman who can teach him the deeper mysteries. Much of Fascicle One and the beginning of Fascicle Two provide Yang Xi’s detailed first-person account of his betrothal and wedding. In Fascicle Two, however, attention gradually shifts away from Yang to Xu Mi and Xu Hui. Yang does receive more scriptures from his new wife, and at one point he commits a blunder that earns him a mild rebuke from Consort An, but in general his path is smooth. The last section that directly relates to Yang Xi opens Fascicle Three, when his mother-in-law shows up to upbraid him for lingering in the mundane world. After this he seems to drop out of the story except to serve as intermediary between the Perfected and the Xus. His future destiny is set: he will eventually ascend into Perfected immortality in broad daylight. Xu Mi’s progress is hindered by numerous personal faults—lust, covetousness, stinginess, doubt. He does not really want to leave his life as an official and take the decisive steps of renouncing the world and retreating to the moun-

18 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

tains. The Lady of Purple Tenuity offers him instruction, Lady Right Blossom woos him through her poetry, but both soon grow impatient and frustrated with him. Although they teach him about guarding the Female Ones and describe spiritual union’s superiority over sexual intercourse, using the most beautiful and evocative language, nothing seems to work. This continues through much of Fascicle Three. Matters come to a head at the end of Fascicle Three and beginning of Fascicle Four, when the Xus are supposed to visit Maoshan, call on the Perfected, and receive from them precious herbs and polypores or fungi (zhi 芝) that will prolong their lives, but at the last moment Xu Mi is summoned to the capital. While Xu Mi wavers, the Perfected and (we learn later) his son urge him to ignore the summons and go to Maoshan, but he goes to the capital anyway. This earns him a great tongue-lashing from the Perfected—but then they seem to relent, or accept that he has no choice in the matter. Even Tao Hongjing cannot explain the sudden shift in attitude, but it seems that Xu Mi had received a reassurance from Lady Right Blossom that the polypores are not absolutely essential, and that she will eventually provide them to him (ZG 4.7b9-10). This lets him off the hook, so he dashes off to the capital with a clear conscience. The other Perfected can only acquiesce. Meanwhile, Purple Tenuity focuses her amorous attention on Xu Hui and makes swift progress with him. Lady Right Blossom, perhaps envious of her sister’s success, takes the radical step of revealing to Xu Mi his previous life as a man named Xue Lü. The tangled relationships between Xu Mi, his son, and Purple Tenuity are shown to be a kind of inverted re-enactment of events in Xue Lü’s life. By Fascicle Four, Purple Tenuity is poking fun of the old man and shaming him by comparing him unfavorably with his son. This finally seems to spur his progress, and by the last of the dated sections in Fascicle Four both of the Xus have achieved spiritual union with Perfected partners. Mao Gu, one of the three Lords Mao, finally divulges what happened to Xu Mai, Xu Mi’s missing brother. Xu Mai had likewise paired with a Perfected partner, retreated into the mountains, and escaped from the world by means of a “simulated corpse.” Mao Gu’s description of what happens to Xu Mai anticipates what will happen to Xu Mi and Xu Hui in the end. The story ends when a group of higher-ranking Perfected appear and announce the Xus’ future destinies. They also offer some instructions on how properly to approach and confront the end-stages of their earthly existence, and on what to expect in the other world.

TRANSLATION ________________________________________

PREFACE BY GAO SISUN

_____________________________________________________________ To declare is to announce.1 The [Classic of] History has several chapters such as “The Declaration of Tang” and “The Declaration on Luo,” concerning which Kong Anguo’s comment—that to “declare” is to “announce something of grand significance to all under heaven” 2 —is correct. For the canonical or “warp” texts there are “weft” apocrypha, the “weft” being that which corresponds to “warp.” All of their materials provide adequate flanking support to the canonical works, and that is why they are called “weft.” Does not the composition of Declarations of the Perfected make it weft to canonical works? Its chapter headings, from “Moving Images” to “Flanking the Perfected Arcana,” numbering seven in all, are surely in semblance to the weft. One who can penetrate the weft will certainly understand the Declarations. Lord Tao also means to say that the 64 hexagrams [of the Zhou Book of Changes] are the mystery of the Way and the five thousand words of [Laozi’s] The Way and its Virtue are the Way of the mysterious. As for the others that explore the secrets of the mysterious, examine the subtleties of the mysterious, and can link with the Book of Changes and Laozi’s [The Way and its Virtue], each takes its form in words, and each becomes manifest in [various] matters, even though the matters and the words are simply not the mysterious. What these books record always go beyond what the weft texts use to support canonical works. When I was young, I was steeped in the sayings of the Yellow Thearch and Laozi, and I gathered [the works of] several thousand writers of the Daoist stream. I exhausted my spirit for days and for months, unable to bore deeply into their locked-in [secrets]. Once I met with Wu Jing,3 the Daoist adept from Jiangxi, and had extensive words with him on mysterious matters. He said, “They’re all wrong!” Alarmed, I made obeisance and said, “I intend to study the Way.” Jing responded, “Have you read the Changes? Reading the Changes is enough!” It was only later, when I was enlightened through the Changes, that what I found came easily.4 Lord Tao assuredly knew the Way very well. Among 1 This statement is derived from the early lexicon Erya 爾雅 (Approaching What is Elegant), 1.2b1 (Sibu congkan). The first few sections of Erya, of which this statement is part, date from the 3rd century BCE (Coblin 1993). 2 Gao Sisun’s source is the Kong Anguo 孔安國 (d. c. 100 BCE) commentary to Shangshu 尚書 or Shu jing 書經 (Classic of Documents); see Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (574-648), ed., Shangshu zhushu 尚書注疏 (The Book of History, Annotated), 7.14b3 (Wenyuange siku quanshu). 3 I can find no other reference to Wu Jing 吳靜. 4 Gao Sisun puns on the word yi 易, so besides the wording provided above, the phrase may also be read: (1) “What I found was change” or possibly “transformation”; (2) “What I found were the Changes”; (3) “What I found was Yi [Rugang].” There is a great deal of wordplay in this passage also on “words” (yan 言), “matters” (shi 事), and “mysterious” (xuan 玄). 21

22 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

all those who have had something to disclose to later learners, who else might have started from this? Yi Rugang, the recluse of Grand Unity Temple5 and outer servitor of the Jade Capital, informed me that he was printing Declarations of the Perfected at Maoshan and wanted me to describe it in brief. Long ago, Shen Yue,6 in a letter to Lord Tao [Hongjing], spoke with deep feeling, “My teacher, you consider passing fashions as chaff. Aloof and alone, you survey renowned writings and crimson-written slips. Ultimate truth is refined and subtle. I wish only, from my downwind position, to inquire after the Way, for I know not the route.” 7 It seems as if [Lord Tao then] had something on the order of the Declarations. However, in his “Inscription for Crooked Grove Hall, Maoshan,” Lord Tao wrote, “In praying for life and supplementing destiny, all claim to know the Way. Uneven, unsteady are their scriptures and techniques; bold, bombastic is their diction.”8 These few lines were written entirely for the purpose of setting up the Declarations. If a single inscription by this old gentleman may still be likened to the inexhaustible, pure wind in the mountains, then how much more so would his book? Prefaced by Grand Master for Closing Court and Assistant in the Palace Library Gao Sisun on the winter solstice, in the eleventh month of the sixteenth year of Auspicious Certainty [December 15, 1223].9

5 Yi Rugang 易如剛 (fl. 1200-1225) was the head of Higher Clarity Orthodox Unity Temple (Shangqing zhengyi gong 上清正一宮), more commonly known as Higher Clarity Temple or Grand Unity Temple (Taiyi gong 太一宮, here 太乙宮), on Mount Longhu (Longhu shan 龍虎山) in Yingtan 鷹潭, Jiangxi (Daojiao xuehui 1993, 640). Yi’s biography is also reported to be in Longhu shan zhi 龍虎山志 (Record of Mount Longhu; ZW 721), but I have not found it there. 6 The life and work of Shen Yue 沈約 (441-513), the compiler of the dynastic history Song shu 宋書 (Book on the Liu-Song Dynasty), are fully explored in Mather 1988. 7 Shen Yue’s letter is preserved in Ouyang Xun 歐陽詢 (557-641), Yiwen leiju 藝文類聚 (A Categorized Chrestomathy of Literary Extracts; Shanghai: Guji chubanshe, 1985), 78.1344; trl. Mather 1988, 116. Gao Sisun changes two characters and eliminates several intervening phrases, altering the meaning somewhat. Mather comments that this is the only preserved letter of what must have been several from Shen unsuccessfully inviting Tao for a meeting. 8 Gao Sisun cites lines 6 and 10-12 of Tao’s Maoshan Qulin guan ming 茅山曲林館銘 (Inscription at Crooked Grove Hall, Maoshan). His source was again probably Ouyang Xun, Yiwen leiju, 78.1343, since the two citations are almost next to each other. The omission of the surrounding lines affects the meaning. 9 For calculating the date I consulted Meeus 1995, 131, but complex calculations involving the tidal drag effect and so on were performed by John Walker, co-author of AutoCAD and manager of the Fourmilab Switzerland website (fourmilab.ch), to whom I am grateful.

FASCICLE ONE /23

FASCICLE ONE

_____________________________________________________________ Composed by Tao Hongjing, Right Minister and Director of Destinies at the Golden Portal, Director of Waterways of Penglai, Preceptor of the State of Liang, Pure and Upright Perfected Man, and Recluse of Flourishing Yang Setting Scripts and Images into Motion,10 First Part

10 The title of this part as provided at the heads of Fascicles One through Four in the DZ text (Yun xiang pian 運象篇, Images of Destiny or Moving Images) is incorrect; the title as given by Tao Hongjing in ZG 19.1a5 (Yun ti xiang 運題象) should be followed. The meaning is not immediately apparent; Tao’s note on the content (ZG 19.1a5-6) refers only to speeches and songs and the spontaneous couplings between those whose numbers of destiny match. I take ti to refer to the “marks” or “signs” of ordinary calligraphic script, while xiang corresponds to the living script of the Perfected, or “the calligraphy of the Three Primes and the Eightfold Ensemble that flies through the heavens of all regions” (ZG 1.8b2-3)—of which the Images embodied in the 64 hexagrams of the Zhou yi are but shadows. The ordinary and Perfected scripts, moreover, correspond to yin and yang respectively. A passage that has probably gone missing from the present text of the ZG but is preserved in a relatively late source is most illustrative: “Why do the books of today commonly use ink? Certainly it is because their written compositions are subordinate to yin, and ink is the image of yin. Surely yin is more visible than yang” 今書通用墨者何？蓋文章屬陰，墨，陰象也。自陰 顯于陽也。 See Su Yijian 蘇易簡 (958-996), Wenfang sipu 文房四譜 (Four Compendia on the Tools of the Study), 5.1a7-8 (Wenyuange siku quanshu). In Wenfang sipu, 1.14a6-7, Su Yijian places a shorter version of the same after a passage from ZG 1.8b8-9, though how exactly it would fit in with the present text is unclear. The passage appears also in Wu Shu 吳淑 (9471002), Shilei fu zhu 事類賦注 (Annotated Rhapsody on the Categories of Things; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1989), 15.321. The title therefore describes yin-yang interplay on at least two levels: between ordinary and Perfected calligraphy, and between the earthly male and heavenly female figures of our text. It may also be understood as a general instruction for adepts during meditation: set yin and yang into motion. SK 3n1, points out that yun xiang appears in a passage in Guanyinzi 關尹子 (also known as Wenshi zhenjing 文始真經 or The True Scripture of the [Master of] the Beginning of Scripture; DZ 667), 1.7a1-3: “If by mystic observation one joins their pattern, then the Images are actualized. The Images at a single move make a circuit of the grand vault of space. That which rises from its midst becomes heaven, and that which descends from its midst becomes earth.” 冥觀之以合彼之理，則象存 矣。一運之象周乎太空，自中而升為天，自中而降為地。 However, the present Guanyinzi, a text filled with alchemical imagery, dates to the Song-Yuan era, and the passage does not quite explain our title or the meaning of ti. Hyland 1984, 88, 170n74 has “Images of Cosmic Destiny” for Yun xiang pian and “Images of the Directions of the (Celestial) Revolutions” for Yun ti xiang.

24 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Prelude: Yang Quan’s Courtship and Marriage with an Immortal [1] [2]

1.1a4-1.2a9

Poems by E Lühua Inspirited hills put forth lines of mist, rising; Flying peaks loom over a thousand spans. Deep baskets—the numinous vales are empty As snow-gemmed groves11 luxuriate into dense forests. Scholar □A/12 is marked by beauty and grace— His youth’s cap emitted tinkling sounds.13 He finds solace at the ford of Zhuang[zi]’s wisdom, Transcends form in the forest of “image towers.”14 As he displays his colors amid vermilion gates,15 Inside he has the heart of one who oversteps the profane. I am of the same clan as you, my husband, Trace my lineage to the same deep source. The majestic Progenitor assigns us to a higher calling,16 But now each of us is on a different branch.

11 “Snow-gemmed groves” (qionglin 瓊林) are made up of “snow-gemmed trees” (qiongshu 瓊樹), a colorful term that poets often use to describe trees covered in snow (HDC 4:653). 12 The lacuna is indicated in the DZ text. Beyond what Tao notes about Yang Quan and his family, they are mentioned in Shen Yue, Song shu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974), 62.1661: “Yang Xin, styled Jingyuan, was a native of Nancheng in Taishan [Commandery]. His great-grandfather [Yang] Chen was the Regional Inspector of Xuzhou [Region], his grandfather [Yang] Quan was Gentleman of the Palace Gate, and his father [Yang] Buyi was the Governor of Guiyang [Commandery].” 羊欣，字敬元，泰山南城人也。曾祖忱，晉徐州 刺史，祖權，黃門郎，父不疑，桂陽太守。 The Yang family also appears in Liu Yiqing’s 劉 義慶 (403-444), Shishuo xinyu 世說新語; see Mather 2002, 392-93, 630-32; SK 4n7. 13 This seems to indicate that Yang Quan had just undergone the capping ceremony, which usually took place at the age of twenty, but Yang Quan’s father had died in 311, so Quan in 359 would be at least 48 sui. The line should be taken to indicate that as a youth Yang Quan had already enjoyed an excellent reputation. As Hyland points out (1984, 174n78), the plain youth’s cap would not tinkle—only a high official’s cap, laden with pendants, would make sounds, so this line, in effect, describes future promise (already fulfilled). The line may even be read as a kind of joke, as if one were to say of a promising young man today, “His blue jeans are pin-striped.” SK 4n9, interprets this line to refer to the youth’s voice. 14 Image towers (xiangwei 象魏) are towers on which edicts and decrees were posted, according to Zhou li 周禮 (Rites of Zhou), 1.16b2 (Sibu congkan); the term is more broadly used to refer to the court or officialdom. 15 That is, the mansions of the aristocracy. 16 The Progenitor (zong 宗) is a byword for the Way. Laozi 老子, ch. 4 states: “An abyss! Like the progenitor of the myriad things.” 淵兮，似萬物之宗。 Laozi, 1.2b10 (Sibu beiyao).

FASCICLE ONE /25

Because orchid and gold make a good fit,17 To a triply beneficial friendship we awaken complete.18

[3]

In tranquility, seek and enjoy this union; Our elegant meetings will fill the ages. Who says [using the] secret mirror is difficult? Find it within [the heart’s] square inch.19 Lift your thoughts beyond the cage: Together we shall be adepts of the mountain caves. Do not command wings for leaping into the void— From the center, we shall rise upon a strong wind. Although transformation is effected by humans,20 [You, my] hedged-in “Goat,” have not changed your reckoning.21 How could your expected time be that of morning flowers? The twilight of years is up to you, my dear!

E Lühua herself says she is a native of “South Mountain,” but [I] do not know which mountain this is. The woman is around twenty years old, dresses entirely in blue, and has a facial expression of absolute composure. At night on the tenth day of the eleventh month of the third year of Ascendant Peace [Shengping; December 15, 359], she descended □□.B In her subsequent comings and goings, she has arrived no more than six times per month. Saying her 17 This line alludes to a passage in Xici zhuan 繫辭傳 (Commentary on the Appended Judgments) in Zhou yi 周易, 7.6a3-4 (Sibu congkan). In Wilhelm’s (1969, 306) translation: “But when two people are at one in their inmost hearts, / They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze. / And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts, / Their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids.” 二人同心，其利斷金。同心之 言，其臭如蘭。 Since the orchid’s color is probably white, the “orchid and gold” is likely also represented by the pair of jade (white) and gold bracelets E Lühua gives to Yang Quan. Gold and orchid/white would also represent sun and moon, yang and yin. Although she claims a “good fit,” Yang Quan below says they are “still oversized”—a difference in perception between the spiritual and human partners of this union. 18 The term “triply beneficial friendship” (sanyi 三益) is derived from Lunyu 論語 (Analects of Confucius), 3.4; trl. Legge 1994, 1:311; SK 4n18. 19 Using the “secret mirror” (youjian 幽鋻 ) refers to the practice of insight meditation; “square inch” (fangcun 方寸) is a common reference to the heart. 20 “Transformation” (qianhua 遷化) can refer either to becoming an immortal or to dying. In either case, the point is that people control their own destiny. 21 This line puns on the “goat” meaning of Yang Quan’s surname but also contains a pointed allusion to the 34th hexagram “The Power of the Great” (dazhuang 大壯), Zhou yi, 4.4b4-5 (Sibu congkan); trl. Wilhelm 1969, 558: “The inferior man works through power. / The superior man does not act thus. / To continue is dangerous. / A goat butts against a hedge [羝羊觸藩] / And gets its horns entangled.” This also continues the thought of the earlier line, “Lift your thoughts beyond the cage.” Furthermore, “reckoning” (ni 擬) carries its Xici zhuan sense: “They reckoned before they spoke” (擬之而後言); cf. Wilhelm 1969, 304, who uses “observed” instead.

26 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

original surname □,C she presented [this]D poem, together with one handkerchief of fire-washed linen22 and [a pair of] spiral bracelets, one of gold and one of jade. The spiral bracelets are still oversized and of unusually fine workmanship. The divine woman spoke, [revealing],E “Sir, be careful not to leak out [word of my existence], for if you do, then both of us will have committed a crime.” When [I] made inquiry of this person, it was said she is Luo Yu, a woman who found the Way in Mount Jiuyi.23 During her former lifetime24 she had used poison to kill a pregnant woman for her female teacher. Because her prior sin has not been expiated, the Mystic Region25 has therefore exiled her down to the stinking mire to atone for her transgression. She gave me, Quan,F medicines for escape by means of the corpse, and today she is at Mount Xiangdong.G/26 This woman is already nine hundred years old.H The preceding three passages are written in Lord Yang’s [Yang Xi’s] cursive script on paper. A This character is heavily inked over and no longer legible. The base of a vertical stroke in the exact center sticks out, and the bottom seems to be that of the character “Yang” 羊. His personal name was Quan 權. B Cut out are these two characters, which should be the characters “[for] Yang Quan” 羊權. C This character is also cut out—it should be the character “[is] Yang” 楊. D This character should read “Quan” 權 (i.e., “me”). A later person overwrote it with the character for “this” 此. E This was originally written with the cursive form of the character “Quan” 權, but a later person overwrote it with the character jian 見 (“revealing”) and wrote a hook above it [to mark a break].

That is, asbestos. Mount Jiuyi (often written 九疑山, “Nine Doubts Mountain”) is located in southern Ningyuan 寧遠 district, Hunan, and the reputed burial place of the thearch Shun 舜. WYT 1.19b1 repeats information from this line and places Luo Yu on the left of the sixth tier. 24 The term “former lifetime” (suming 宿命; or “fated destiny”) is Buddhist in origin. 25 The Mystic Region (Xuanzhou 玄州) is more properly written “Mystic Continent” 玄洲 (Xuanzhou); the name is written both ways in ZG. Shizhouji 十洲記 (Record of the Ten Continents; DZ 598), 1.2b8-3a2 (trl. Smith 1992, 2:540-41) makes it an important administrative center in the other world and the location of the Mystic Metropolis (Xuandu 玄都); it is in the far northwest of the Northern Sea. Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421, Robinet, C.2), 2.20a10, 3.11b4, gives the Mystic Metropolis two different celestial locations—the “Divine Region” 神州 and Grand Clarity (Taiqing 太清), respectively. 26 Mount Xiangdong’s 湘東山 location may be either the “eastern peak of Mount Xiang,” in which case it would be part of the famed Mount Dongting, located in Lake Dongting (in the southwest of Yueyang 岳陽 district, Hunan), or “the mountains of Xiangdong [Commandery],” located in the east part of Hengyang 衡陽 district, Hunan. 22 23

FASCICLE ONE /27 F This “Quan” 權 is also written in cursive form, so that it resembles the style of the one before, but it is not overwritten. G The original here suspends a space of one inch. 27 H On investigation, this must have been a visitation upon Yang Quan. Yang, who was styled Daoyu 道與, was the youngest son of [Yang] Chen [羊]忱 [c. 255-311]. Later he became Gentleman of the Palace Gate under the Jin Emperor Jianwen [r. 371-373], and he is the ancestor of Yang Xin 羊欣 [370-442]. Therefore Yang Xin also practiced the Way and dietary regimen. This is still calligraphed by Lord Yang [Yang Xi], whom [Yang Quan] must have thought had the same surname. It may also be that when [Lord] Yang and [Yang] Quan questioned each other, [Yang Quan] merely spoke [of E Lühua] by mistake. Note that in the third year of Ascendant Peace [359] the Year-Star was in jiwei.28 During the six years before yichou [365], the numerous Perfected did not descend at all.

Comments ZG opens anomalously with text from a Yang Xi manuscript that does not discuss the higher-ranking Perfected. It is rather his copy of something written by Yang Quan, a member of a prominent family. Both men have a keen interest in spiritual matters, but Yang Xi is younger and from a much humbler background. The original manuscript consisted of only a heading, three poems, and a short narrative—three tiao or passages—but it was so marked over with alterations that Tao Hongjing, the collector and editor, had to take great pains to “reconstruct” it. Tao’s notes enable readers to read the material in both its unaltered and altered versions. Tao also notes an inch-wide gap before the last sentence, but the verb he uses, “suspends” (xuan 懸), suggests a vertical gap within a column of text, not one that would create another tiao. Yang Quan is visited by E Lühua, a woman who, in the Higher Clarity perspective, must have somehow performed a lower-grade escape from her previous life using an apparent corpse (her own). The subject of escaping from life by using apparent corpses is explained in greater detail at the end of Fascicle Four, but I will not be revealing too much by saying that there are many ways of doing it, some better than others. Most involve the use of a prop of some kind, like a staff, that others see as a corpse. Since E Lühua during her previous life had murdered a pregnant woman (or woman in labor) for her teacher, another woman, it seems likely to me that she had performed her “escape” by using the sword at the moment of her execution: “There are those who get beheaded, only to emerge [again] from one side” (ZG 4.17a2-3). Much fear and secrecy linger around her union with Yang Quan, because having made a lower-grade escape, a procedure that would depend on hiding her iden-

The last line may be an afterthought, or added on the basis of later information. The character si 巳 (the 6th of the 12 Earthly Branches) here is a clear error for ji 己 (the 6th of the 10 Heavenly Stems). The DZ text frequently has si for both ji and yi 已 (“already”). 27 28

28 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

tity, she cannot return to her home or reveal her original name, lest she be recognized and hauled off by spiritual authorities—but she does anyway. She tells Yang Quan that in her former life she was originally surnamed Yang 楊 but also called Luo Yu—a name she perhaps received from her teacher. When she claims she and Yang are descended from the same “majestic Progenitor” (the Way), which is assigning them a “higher calling” (promotion to Perfection), and that they occupy a “different branch,” she not only describes their destinies but also attempts to cast the similarity of their surnames in a positive light (楊 is a homonym for Yang Quan’s surname 羊). However, if they were truly descended from the same ancestor, their union would be regarded as incestuous. At the least they would come uncomfortably close to violating the taboo against persons of the same surname marrying each other, and their relationship would be thought unseemly. Kominami Ichirō (1981, 428) thus suggests it was only a “close friendship”—unconvincingly, I believe. After E Lühua begins to appear to Yang Quan and treat him as her husband, Yang Quan not only discusses her with Yang Xi but also lets him copy his record of the relationship, even though discretion must always be maintained in such relationships (ZG 2.18a3-4). Yang Quan may have assumed that Yang Xi could be trusted, as a fellow clan-member, to keep his secret, but Yang Xi, like the woman, is a 楊, not a 羊, so now he knows of his distant relative’s past and present misdeeds. With the secret out, the marriage is doomed, and both E Lühua and Yang Quan will undoubtedly suffer the consequences (often, assignment to menial positions in the underworld). We do not know what motivates Yang Xi to copy Yang Quan’s manuscript, but the very act would be equivalent to announcing the affair with bells and trumpets, and it would compromise Yang Quan’s spiritual reputation in the present world. What shall we make of all the emendations covering the text? If we carefully examine Tao Hongjing’s notes, it becomes apparent that the unknown editor who preceded Tao took great pains to hide Yang Quan’s central role by overwriting or altering the characters Yang and Quan in all but one instance. With the emendations in place, the E Lühua poems and story are more easily read in the third person, not the first person. Besides masking the unsavory similar-surname marriage, they effectively “depersonalize” the text, so the reader can no longer determine the real identities of the persons involved. Tao Hongjing, fortunately, could still bypass the attempt at censorship. Who made these changes? There are several possibilities. Yang Xi may have had second thoughts about copying Yang Quan’s manuscript. After all, if Yang Quan could not reveal the marriage, would it not be forbidden for Yang Xi as well? Or perhaps Yang Xi felt bad about exposing a relative’s sins. A second possibility is that someone who kept the manuscript later, either a Xu family member or someone else, felt that certain details of the story were unsavory. Perhaps Xu Mi or Xu Hui wished to hide the existence of their earlier, failed spirit-medium. Perhaps they felt that members of the prominent Yang 羊

FASCICLE ONE /29

family would be offended if one of their members were cast in a somewhat unflattering light. It is simply impossible to know for sure. In any case, what we have here is very much a multi-layered, multi-voiced text: first there is Yang Quan, through whose voice we hear E Lühua. These voices are in turn copied and framed by Yang Xi, and Yang Xi’s copy is then edited and framed by the unknown editor (perhaps himself a few years later). This material then passes before Tao Hongjing, who adds his many scholarly notes. To this may be added the changes (both seen and unseen) through the text’s subsequent transmission, as well as the present translation. There are at least seven layers of voices here. As for the poems, note how the first one telescopes in from E Lühua’s domain in the mountains to the capital, where Yang Quan lives. It effectively allows us to see through the eyes of this spirit as she wanders and then gradually focuses upon a handsome, talented man. He is no longer young, but by mentioning how he showed promise even as a youth E Lühua indicates that she has been watching him for decades. In the first poem her voice is somewhat detached and descriptive, but in the second and third her tone shifts to intimacy: she already calls Yang Quan her husband. (The poems also follow separate rhyme schemes: the first on Middle Chinese -im, the second on -ye, -je, or -jie, and the third on -iX). They were surely presented during separate visitations. The gold and jade bracelets, besides linking the poems and the narrative section, are core symbols of the union, suggesting through their colors the sun and moon, yang and yin. E Lühua claims a good fit between orchid (white?) and gold, but Yang Quan observes how the bracelets are oversized. The fearfulness and secrecy surrounding this marriage form a stark contrast with the joy and openness of the later marriage between Yang Xi and his Perfected consort.

A List of Perfected Persons at a Gathering (undated) [1]

1.2a10-1.4b8

The Lady of the Southern Marchmount [Wei Huacun]29 spoke to [me,] her disciple, and had me write down the following:A 29 Wei Huacun 魏華存 (251-334), one of the “saints” of Higher Clarity and Yang Xi’s main teacher, appears frequently in ZG. Of her original esoteric biography, Nanyue Wei furen zhuan 南嶽魏夫人傳 (Biography of Lady Wei of the Southern Marchmount; Robinet, C.11), only fragments remain; significant parts are found in the 58th fascicle of Li Fang 李昉 (925926), ed., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Records from the Era of Grand Tranquility). WYT 1.5b6 lists her among the female Perfected to the right of the second tier of the pantheon. The Southern Marchmount is one of five “sacred peaks” or “marchmounts,” one for each of the four points of the compass and the center. Usually the Southern Marchmount is said to be Mount Heng 衡山, in the northwest of present-day Hengshan district, Hunan, but when our text was composed it was Mount Dahuo 大霍山 in Zhejiang (Robson 2009).

30 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

The Perfected Minister of the Eastern Marchmount, the Lord Director of Destinies [=Mao Ying];30 The Perfected Man of Ninefold Tenuity in the East Palace and Supreme Minister of the Golden Portal, the Grand Lord Blue Lad;31 The Right Immortal Duke of Penglai, Jia Bao’an;B/32 The King of Pure Vacuous Xiaoyou Heaven, Wang Zideng [=Wang Bao];C/33 The Perfected Man of [Mount] Tongbo, Supporter on the Right of the King and Concurrent Controller of the Directorate of the Five Marchmounts in Attendance upon the Thearch of Dawn, Wangzi Qiao;34 30 Mao Ying 茅盈 (1st cent. BCE), the first and most important of the Shangqing “saints” and eldest of the three Perfected Mao brothers, became Wei Huacun’s divine spouse. Parts of his biography Taiyuan zhenren Mao jun neizhuan 太元真人茅君內傳 (Esoteric Biography of Lord Mao, the Perfected Man of the Grand Prime; Robinet, C.10) are found chiefly in YJQQ 104.10b1-20a5 and Maoshan zhi 茅山志 (History of Maoshan; DZ 304), 5.1a3-18b6. Ge Hong’s 葛洪 (283-343) Shenxian zhuan 神仙傳 (Biographies of Divine Immortals; trl. Campany 2002, 326-328) has another account. The Eastern Marchmount is Mount Tai 泰山, in Shandong province. WYT 1.3b10 puts him on the left of the second tier. 31 The Blue Lad (Qingtong 青童 ) is a divinity, one of the most important scripturerevealers in Higher Clarity. He is on the left of the second tier of Perfected (WYT 1.3b5-6). Ninefold Tenuity (jiuwei 九微) describes otherworldly locations lit by the tenuous light of the nine suns perched on the tree of sunrise (the tenth shines on the mundane world; Smith 1992, 1:78-80). Both the East Palace (Donggong 東宮) and Golden Portal (Jinque 金闕) are otherworldly or celestial locations. For instance, the East Palace is located on Fangzhang 方 丈, one of the three immortal isles believed to be somewhere in the seas east of China. 32 Jia Bao’an’s 賈寶安 style is written Bao’an 保安 in WYT 1.13a9, which puts him on the left of the fourth tier. His identity is uncertain; like most of the others on this list, he also appears in WSMY 83-84. Penglai 蓬萊 is another of the three immortal isles east of China. 33 Wang Bao 王褒 (b. 36 BCE), another Higher Clarity saint, is Wei Huacun’s teacher. His biography, Qingxu zhenren Wang jun neizhuan 清虛真人王君內傳 (Esoteric Biography of Lord Wang, the Perfected Man of the Pure Vacuous [Heaven]; Robinet, C.7) is partially preserved, with many later additions and changes, in YJQQ 106.1a4-8a7. WYT 1.5a6-7 puts him on the right of the second tier. Pure Vacuous Xiaoyou 清虛小有 Heaven, the first of the ten greater cave-heavens, is located in Mount Wangwu 王屋山, in Henan province. 34 Wangzi Qiao 王子喬 (“Prince Qiao”; his name has also been romanized “Wang Ziqiao”), also known as Wangzi Jin 晉, was the son of King Ling of Zhou 周靈王 (r. 572 or 571545 BCE). He is one of the most famous immortals (Bujard 2000). His biography is found in Liexian zhuan 列仙傳 (Biographies of Famous Immortals; DZ 294), 1.13b10-14a6; trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 109-14. Additional information on his family appears in ZG 3.2a8-2b7. He is on the right of the second tier of Perfected (WYT 1.5a5-6). Mount Tongbo 桐柏山 (“Paulownia and Cypress Mountain”) is located in the Eastern Sea, like Penglai, and is described in ZG 14.19a8-b7. On this mountain is Gold Court Palace (Jinting gong 金庭宮), so the mountain is sometimes called Mount Gold Court. It has two earthly counterparts: one in the southwest of Tongbo district, Henan, and one in Tiantai 天臺 district, Zhejiang. The latter mountain is the site of an important temple dedicated to Wangzi Qiao.

FASCICLE ONE /31

The Perfected Man of the Blue Canopy in Attendance to the Thearch of Dawn, Guo Shigan;D/35 The Perfected Man of Mount Rong and Honorable Right Immortal of the Grand Ultimate, Fan Bohua;E/36 The Perfected Man of [Mount] Shaoshi and Gentleman-Attendant of the Northern Terrace, Liu Qianshou;F/37 The Perfected Man of [Mount] Bozhong and Left Imperial GentlemanAttendant, Wang Daoning;G/38 The Perfected Man of Daliang, Wei Xianren;H/39 The Perfected Man of Mount Min, Yin Youzong;40 The Perfected Man of [Mount] Luhun and Grand Ultimate Supervisor, Xiguo Youdu;41 The Marquis of Mount Jiuyi, Zhang Shanggui;I/42 The Divine Marquis of [Mount] Daizong and Right Imperial Director of [Mount] Luofeng, Bao Yuanjie;J/43 35 I can find no other references to Guo Shigan 郭世幹, except for his listing on the left of the second tier in the pantheon (WYT 1.4a3). A blue canopy (qinggai 青蓋) was one of the marks of a kingly carriage; Morohashi 1984, 12: 101 (42564:76). 36 Fan Bohua 范伯華 is unknown save for his placement on the right of third tier of the pantheon; WYT 1.11a4 writes his style Bohua 泊華. Mount Rong 戎山 is located in Changxing 長興 district, Zhejiang. The Grand Ultimate (taiji 太極) is associated (in the celestial realm) with the Polestar and (in the body) with the heart (Robinet in ET 1057-59). 37 Liu Qianshou 劉千壽 is known only by his position on the left of the fourth tier of the pantheon (WYT 1.13a2). Mount Shaoshi 少室山 is one of the peaks of Mount Song 嵩山, the Central Marchmount, located in the north of Dengfeng 登封 district, Henan. The Northern Terrace (Beitai 北臺) is an alternate name for Merak (β Ursae Majoris), one of the stars of the Big Dipper. For astronomical names here and below, I consulted Internet-based resources, especially the research section of the website of the Hong Kong Space Museum (http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/Space/) and various Wikipedia articles. 38 Wang Daoning 王道寧 is on the left of the fourth tier of the pantheon (WYT 1.13a7). Mount Bozhong 嶓冢山 is on the border of Tianshui 天水 and Li 禮 districts, Gansu. 39 Wei Xianren 魏顯仁 is on the left of the fourth tier (WYT 1.13a3). He is also mentioned in YJQQ 27.11a9-10 as the Perfected person in charge of the sixteenth “blessed land” (fudi 福地) Laocen 姥岑 (“Lao Peak”), which it states is in the south of Shan District 剡 縣 . This ancient district now corresponds to the southwest of Jiangsheng 江嵊 district, Zhejiang. Daliang 大梁 may refer either to the ancient capital of the pre-Qin kingdom of Wei 魏 (present-day Kaifeng) or to Electra (17 Tauri), one of the stars of the Pleiades. 40 Yin Youzong 陰友宗 is set on the fourth tier, right (WYT 1.14a8). Mount Min 岷山 is mentioned in “Yu gong” 禹貢 (Tribute of Yu), in Shangshu; Morohashi 1984, 4:242 (8007:21) lists five locations in Sichuan and Gansu that claim association with the place. 41 Xiguo Youdu 西郭幼度 is on the right of the third tier (WYT 1.3a6). WSMY 84.12b8 gives the surname Guo 郭. Mount Luhun 陸渾山 is in present-day Song 嵩 district, Henan. 42 Zhang Shanggui 張上貴 is on the left of the fourth tier (WYT 1.13a10). On Mount Jiuyi, see n. 23 above. 43 Bao Yuanjie 鮑元節 is on the left of the sixth tier (WYT 1.19a5). Mount Daizong 岱宗 山, more commonly known as Mount Tai 泰山, is the Eastern Marchmount, in Shandong. Mount Luofeng 羅酆山, also known as Fengdu 酆都, is at the Northern Pole and the site of

32 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

The Immortal Earl of Mount Hua, Qin Shuyin;K/44 The Perfected Man of [Mount] Geyan, Zhou Jitong [=Zhou Yishan];45 The Perfected Man of [Mount] Yangluo and Concurrent Controller of the Western Allied Carriers, Chunyu Taixuan;L/46 The Perfected Earl of Mount Qian, Zhao Zuyang;M/47 The Perfected Man of [Mount] Juqu, Certifier of Registers and Right Palace Gentleman-Attendant, Mao Jiwei [=Mao Gu];48 the Six Heavens (liutian 六天). Much of ZG 15 is devoted to its description; the souls of the dead are believed to go to both places (Mollier in ET 421-23; Miller in ET 69-71). 44 Qin Shuyin 秦叔隱 is on the left of the fourth tier (WYT 1.13a4). Mount Hua 華山, the Western Marchmount, is located in Shaanxi. 45 Zhou Yishan 周義山 (b. 80 BCE) is one of the saints of the Shangqing movement. His biography, Ziyang zhenren neizhuan 紫陽真人內傳 (Esoteric Biography of the Perfected of Purple Yang; DZ 303; Robinet, C.9; also YJQQ 106.8a8-15b3) has been translated into French and English respectively in Porkert 1979; Miller 2008, 107-60. He is on the left of the second tier (WYT 1.4a4). Mount Geyan 葛衍 (“Kudzu Basket”), an otherworldly locale, is mentioned at the end of the biography, where Zhou Yishan is said to “govern Mount Geyan’s golden courts and bronze walls, that is to say the Palace of Purple Yang” (YJQQ 106.15a9-10). Lord Pei’s biography (YJQQ 105.10a5-10b1; Robinet, C.8) states: “West Mystery [Xixuan] is an alternate name for Mount Geyan. Mount Geyan comprises three interconnected peaks. The one in the west is West Mystery; the one in the east is Mount Yujuegen [lit., “mountain cut off at the base by densecloud”], and the one in the center is Mount Geyan. On the three mountains are three mansions called the ‘Three Palaces’—Pure Numinosity [Qingling] Palace on Mount Xixuan, Purple Yang [Ziyang] Palace on Mount Geyan, and Polar Perfected [Jizhen] Palace on Mount Yujuegen. . . The mountain is 2,700 li high, and below it are cavernous courts, through which one can walk concealed in the earth and reach the Mystic Continent and the mansions of Kunlun.” 西玄者，葛衍山之別名。葛 衍山有三山相連。西為西玄，東為鬱絕根山，中央名葛衍山。三山有三府，名曰三宮。西玄 山為清靈宮，葛衍山為紫陽宮，鬱絕根山為極真宮。 . . . 高二千七百里，下有洞庭，潛行地 中，通玄崑崙府也。 Zhou Yishan is usually known as “the Perfected Man of Purple Yang.” 46 Chunyu Taixuan 淳于太玄 is on the right of the third tier (WYT 1.11a3). His title sug-

gests a person in charge of those who carry documents between China and its allies on the western frontier—or the celestial equivalents. SK 11n21, matches him with Lord Youyang 幼 陽君 appearing in Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.10a1, but that is an entirely different figure. Mount Yangluo 陽洛, often mentioned in Higher Clarity esoteric biographies, is where Wei Huacun cultivated the Way; it is located 50 li northwest of present-day Qinyang 沁陽, Henan (Zhang and Qin 2001, 41-45). 47 Zhao Zuyang 趙祖陽 is on the left of the fourth tier (WYT 1.13a9). Mount Qian 潛山, in present-day Xianning 咸寧 district, Hubei, is where Ge Hong practiced alchemy. 48 Mao Gu 茅固 (b. 1st cent. BCE), the older of Mao Ying’s two younger brothers, figures prominently in Mao Ying’s biography, Taiyuan zhenren Mao jun neizhuan (Robinet, C.10). In the pantheon he is placed both on the left of the fourth tier and in the center of the sixth tier (not the only person to have multiple listings; WYT 1.13a6, 1.18b6). Mount Juqu 句曲山, (“Mount Buckle-bent”), also known as Mount Mao or Maoshan 茅山 (after the Mao brothers) is sacred to the Higher Clarity movement, for which reason it is also called the Maoshan movement. In later years it became known as the eighth of the ten greater cave-heavens (YJQQ 27.3a6). It is located in present-day Jurong 句容 district, Jiangsu.

FASCICLE ONE /33

The Perfected Man of [Mount] Yujue, Pei Xuanren [=Lord Pei];49 Zhu Jiaofu of the Immortal Metropolis on Whitewater;50 The Director Protecting Life of the Three Offices, Mao Sihe [=Mao Zhong];51 The Perfected Man of [Mount] Taihe, Shan Shiyuan.52 The twenty-three Perfected men above were seated [in order] starting from the west, facing south, progressing east.N The Numinous Concubine of Grand Harmony and Superior Perfected Lady of the Left;53 49 Lord Pei 裴君 (whose personal name is uncertain; b. circa 180-157 BCE or 57-75 CE) is one of the leading Higher Clarity saints. His biography, Qingling zhenren Pei jun zhuan 清靈真人 裴君傳 (Biography of Lord Pei, the Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity; Robinet, C.8), fills YJQQ 105, though it is only partly preserved and has later interpolations. Lord Pei is positioned both on the left of the second tier and right of the third tier (WYT 1.4a5, 1.10b4). Mount Yujue 鬱絕山 is Mount Yujuegen, Geyan’s eastern peak (n. 45 above). 50 Zhu Jiaofu 朱交甫, on the left of the sixth tier of the pantheon (WYT 1.18b10), is briefly mentioned in Zhoushi mingtong ji 周氏冥通記 (Record of Mr. Zhou’s Communications with the Unseen World; DZ 302), 4.15a8. Whitewater (Baishui 白水), according to other Higher Clarity texts, is a river that flows through the “flowing sands” in the distant west, near the mystical mountain Kunlun 崑崙. Hollow Mountain (Kongshan 空山), an island in the stream, is the scene of an important episode in Lord Pei’s life; see Qingling zhenren Pei jun zhuan (Robinet, C.8), YJQQ 105.9a5-9b5. Kunlun and its environs are often described as heavily populated with immortals and Perfected beings, hence the “Metropolis on Whitewater.” The names of Whitewater and Hollow Mountain are often combined or mixed, hence “White Mountain Palace” (Baishan gong 白山宫) in WSMY 22.13a4-5 and “White Hollow Mountain” (Baikong shan 白空山) in Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.9a9. 51 Mao Zhong 茅衷, the youngest of the Mao brothers, is described in Taiyuan zhenren Mao jun neizhuan (Robinet, C.10). He is placed on the left of the sixth tier (WYT 1.18b8). The Three Offices (sanguan 三官) of Heaven, Earth and Water first appeared in the earlier Way of the Celestial Master (tianshi dao 天師道) scriptures: sinners would write petitions and confessions of sins and burn them (sending them to Heaven), bury them (to Earth), and throw them into a river or lake (to Water). But the Three Offices are also fearsome places, where the souls of the dead are tortured and interrogated (Kleeman in ET 833-34). 52 Shan Shiyuan 山世遠 is on the left of the fourth tier (WYT 1.13a5). ZG 9.23b4, 12.13b2, and other passages mention him; Tao Hongjing notes (ZG 12.13b3-4) that Shan’s biography has not yet emerged in the world, but some details of his life are told in prognostication books (chenshu 讖書 ). The disciple of Yin Gui 尹軌 (an immortal in Ge Hong’s Shenxian zhuan), he withdrew to Mount Taihe 太和山, which is an alternate name for Mount Wudang 武當山, located in Jun 均 district, Hubei. He is also mentioned as Yin Gui’s disciple in Han Wudi waizhuan 漢武帝外傳 (Exoteric Biography of the Han Emperor Wu; DZ 293), 1.13b5; a corresponding passage in the Yuan text Wudang fudi zongzhen ji 武當福地總真集 (Comprehensive Collection of Truthful Facts of the Blessed Realm Wudang; DZ 962), 3.20a10-b1, makes “Shanshiyuan” a sobriquet for Yin Gui 尹軌 himself (Campany 2002, 530-31). 53 The Numinous Concubine of Grand Harmony and Superior Perfected Lady of the Left (Taihe lingbin shangzhen zuo furen 太和靈嬪上眞左夫人) is known only by her title, not her

34 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Lady Dark Clarity of the Sixfold Tenuity of the Northern Sea;54 The Lady of the Right of Seven Numina [Palace] in the Northern Han;55 The Lady of the Right of the Central Florescence of the Grand Ultimate;56 Lady Wang of the Left Palace of Purple Tenuity;57 name. She, like all the Perfected women in the present list, is positioned among the female Perfected on the second tier (WYT 1.7a2). Although Grand Harmony (Taihe 太和) has several different meanings, here it refers at once to the Lord of Grand Harmony (Taihe jun 君) and to his palace (WSMY 22.21b1-2). Grand Harmony Palace (gong 宮) is said to be situated in the heaven of Grand Clarity (Taiqing 太清) in Daomen jingfa xiangcheng cixu 道門經法相承次 序 (The Order of Succession of the Daoist Scriptural Legacy; DZ 1128), 2.6b6-7b2. 54 Lady Dark Clarity of the Sixfold Tenuity of the Northern Sea (Beihai liuwei xuanqing furen 北海六微玄清夫人), on the second tier (WYT 1.5b9), is not to be confused with Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity, Grand Tenuity (Taiwei xuanqing Zuo furen 太微玄清左夫人; WYT 1.6b5), who appears in ZG 3.15b6. Lady Dark Clarity may be the consort of the Primal Lord of Sixfold Tenuity in Dark Clarity (Xuanqing liuwei yuanjun 玄清六微元君) mentioned in Qingxu zhenren Wang jun neizhuan (Robinet, C.7), YJQQ 106.7a4. The Northern Sea is the “northern darkness” (beiming 北冥) of Zhuangzi’s 莊子 opening passage. Xuanqing in other contexts refers to black sesame oil (YJQQ 74.9a7-8) and here seems to refer to the night sky, so I translate it “Dark Clarity” rather than “Mystic Clarity.” 55 The Lady of the Right of Seven Numina [Palace] in the Northern Han (Beihan Qiling you furen 北漢七靈右夫人) is on the second tier (WYT 1.6a1). Northern Han (beihan 北漢) may refer either to the northern reach of the Milky Way (usually called tianhan 天漢) or to the Northern Sea itself, reduced to a “river” in the Perfected view. Seven Numina (Qiling 七靈) is the name of a palace or terrace (WSMY 22.4a2, 22.10a3). It is probably the abode of the spirits of the seven stars of the Dipper (ZG. 3.8a5). 56 The Lady of the Right of the Central Florescence of the Grand Ultimate (Taiji zhonghua you furen 太極中華右夫人 ) is on the second tier (WYT 1.6a4). The Grand Ultimate (Taiji 太極) in this context would most directly refer to the Polestar (Robinet in ET 1057). Central Florescence (Zhonghua 中華) is an area around it: among the four stars forming the Eastern Hedge (Dongfan 東蕃) of Grand Tenuity (Taiwei 太微), the second is known as Secondary Minister (Cixiang 次相), and the area to the north of it is “the eastern gate of Central Florescence” (Zhonghua Dongmen 中華東門). Fang Xuanling 房玄齡 (578-648) ed., Jin shu 晉書 (The History of the Jin Dynasty; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974), 11A.292. 57 Lady Wang of the Left Palace of Purple Tenuity (Ziwei zuo gong Wang furen 紫微左宫 王夫人) is discussed in ZG 1.7a10-7b1: her personal name is Qing’e 清娥, and she is the Queen Mother of the West’s 20th daughter; WYT 1.6b3 (second tier) says she is the 26th daughter; elsewhere she called the 24th daughter; Dongzhen taiyi dijun taidan yinshu dongzhen xuanjing 洞真太一帝君太丹隱書洞真玄經 (Dongzhen Mysterious Scripture from the Thearchic Lord of Grand Unity’s Hidden Book of Grand Cinnabar [Palace]; DZ 1330, Robinet, A.18), 1.1b7-9. Purple Tenuity (Ziwei 紫微) is one of the three palatial “Enclosures” (yuan 垣) of the heavens around the north celestial pole; the “left” palace should indicate a star-palace or star somewhere in the eastern part. Jin shu’s astronomical treatise describes the Purple Palace (Zigong 紫宮), as it is often called for short, like an earthly palace, with walls, gates, officials, and so on made of stars (Fang Xuanling, Jin shu, 11A.290; Schafer 2005, 47). The stars of Purple Tenuity include α, ι, θ, η, ζ, ν, 73, λ, and κ Draconis. Lady Wang also presides over a terrestrial Purple Tenuity Palace in the far north, as we shall see below.

FASCICLE ONE /35

Lady Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove in the [Sea of] Blue-grey Billows;O/58 The Higher Perfected Director of Destinies, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount [=Wei Huacun];P/59 The Matron of the Ways of the Eight Numina, Lady Jiang of the Western Marchmount;Q/60 Lady Wey of the East Palace of the Higher Perfected;61 The Displayer of Numina on Fangzhang Terrace, Lady Li;62 The Ninefold Florescent Consort An of the Upper Palace of Purple Clarity;63 58 Lady Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove in the [Sea of] Blue-grey Billows (Canglang yunlin youying furen 滄浪雲林右英夫人), an important figure in ZG, is on the second tier (WYT 1.6a6). She is named Wang Meilan 王媚蘭 and is the Queen Mother of the West’s 13th daughter (ZG 2.11a1-2). The Sea of Blue-grey Billows (Canglang hai 滄浪海) surrounds a paradise in the distant north known simply as the “Isle in the Sea of Blue-grey Billows” (Canglang haidao 海島 ); Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.9a5-10; trl. Smith 1992, 2:552-53. Cloudy Grove (Yunlin 雲林) is the name of a palace on that island (WSMY 22.13a10). 59 On Wei Huacun and the Southern Marchmount, see n. 29 above. 60 The Matron of the Ways of the Eight Numina, Lady Jiang of the Western Marchmount (Baling daomu xiyue Jiang furen 八靈道母西嶽蔣夫人) is on the second tier (WYT 1.5b8). As Tao Hongjing notes, when she is associated with a claim (frequently reproduced in the DZ) on the effectiveness of reading the Huangting neijing yujing 黃庭內景玉經 (The Jade Scripture of the Yellow Court and Inner Lights, corresponding with DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), she is connected with the Northern, not Western, Marchmount. The Eight Numina (baling 八靈) are gods of the eight directions, orthogonal and diagonal. The term first appears in “Yuan shi” 遠逝 (Going Far Away), part of the Jiu tan 九歎 (Nine Laments) series in Chu ci 楚辭; Chu ci buzhu 楚 辭補註 (Songs of Chu, with Supplemental Commentary), 16.4a4-5 (Sibu congkan); trl. Hawkes 1985, 289. In Higher Clarity, the Eight Numina are envisioned as ferocious creatures that ward off evil; Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 3.19a14. The Western Marchmount is Mount Hua 華山, in present-day Shaanxi province. 61 Lady Wey of the East Palace of the Higher Perfected (Shangzhen donggong Wei furen 上眞東宫衞夫人) is on the second tier (WYT 1.5b10). I use a variant spelling, “Wey,” to distinguish her from Lady Wei Huacun. The East Palace (Donggong 東宮) is a reference to the Blue Lad’s palace on Fangzhu or Fangzhang (n. 31 above). 62 The Displayer of Numina on Fangzhang Terrace, Lady Li (Fangzhang tai zhaoling Li furen 方丈臺昭靈李夫人) is on the second tier (WYT 1.6a8). Her particulars are given in ZG 3.1a4-8. Lady Li is the mother of the next Perfected woman on the list, Consort An, and Yang Xi’s future mother-in-law. While her sobriquet is here written “Displayer of Numina” (Zhaoling 昭靈), elsewhere (ZG 3.1a5) it is written “Numinous Displayer” (Lingzhao 靈照). According to Tao Hongjing (ZG 3.2a1-2), Yang Xi most frequently wrote the former, with the fire radical in the first character; Xu Mi was not as consistent. 63 The Ninefold Florescent Consort An of the Upper Palace of Purple Clarity (Ziqing shanggong jiuhua An fei 紫清上宫九華安妃), Yang Xi’s divine spouse, is on the second tier (WYT 1.6a2). Her particulars are given in ZG 1.12b7-9. Purple Clarity (Ziqing 紫清) is described either as a celestial palace (WSMY 22.14a2-5) or a heaven—probably an alternate name for Higher Clarity; see Dongxuan lingbao sandong fengdao kejie yingshi (DZ 1125; trl. Kohn 2004), 5.2a4; Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 3.10b1-2. The location is also sometimes associated with Grand Simplicity (Taisu 太素), usually described as a cosmo-

36 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Consort Guan, Superior Concubine of the North-Severed Terrace on Vermilion Ridge;64 The Higher Perfected Lady Shan of the Northern Marchmount;65 The Lady of Western Han;66 Lady Du of Long Mound.67 The fifteen female Perfected above were seated facing east, [in order] starting from the north and progressing south.R “Disciple” is Lord Yang’s self-reference. This [occasion] seems to have taken place when the numerous Perfected assembled in the cave-temple. Therefore the Director of Destinies, by his placement at the very beginning, must have been the host. The Lady [of the Southern Marchmount] spoke thus to Yang of their ranks and titles; it was not during a descent [of all] before Yang. B A native of Zheng.68 From this point on, all the Perfected ones are called by their styles, not their personal names. Their clan lineages also appear in the Daoist texts and biographies [circulating in] the world. C Note that in the case of the Blue Lad, [the Lady of the Southern Marchmount] still does not presume to call him by style. This “Pure Vacuous” is [the Lady of] the Southern Marchmount’s teacher, but she still calls him by style. Only the style of A

gonic era, sometimes as a place. “Ninefold Florescent” (jiuhua 九華) denotes a concentration of otherworldly brilliance, as with the mythical tree of sunrise, upon which nine of the ten suns (one for each day of the Chinese week) perched birdlike as the remaining sun made its transit across the sky of the mundane world (Smith 1992, 1:78-80). 64 Consort Guan, Superior Concubine of the North-Severed Terrace on Vermilion Ridge (Zhuling Beijue tai shangbin Guan fei 朱陵北絶臺上嬪管妃 ) is on the second tier (WYT 1.6a7). Vermilion Ridge (Zhuling 朱陵) is a celestial palace in the distant fiery south; see WSMY 15.1a7, especially 95.2b8-9, which cites Dongzhen shenzhou qibian wutian jing 洞真神州 七變儛天經 (Dongzhen Scripture of the Divine Realm with Seven Transformations for Dancing in Heaven; Robinet, A.17, corresponding to DZ 1331). Its earthly counterpart is the third lesser cave-heaven (YJQQ 27.4a5) in the Southern Marchmount. The name NorthSevered Terrace (Beijue tai 北絕臺) suggests a place utterly cut off from the north. 65 The Higher Perfected Lady Shan of the Northern Marchmount (Beiyue shangzhen Shan furen 北嶽上眞山夫人) is on the second tier (WYT 1.6a9). The Northern Marchmount is Mount Heng 恆山, near the seat of present-day Hunyuan 渾源 district, Shaanxi. 66 The Lady of Western Han (Xi Han furen 西漢夫人) is on the second tier (WYT 1.7a3). She appears in a passage cited from Gu Huan’s lost anthology of Higher Clarity writings, the Daoji jing (WSMY 7.10b8): when the immortal Master An Qi (An Qi xiansheng 安期先生) meets her traveling with the Lord Director of Yang (Siyang jun 司陽君), he is tested on his knowledge of yang cycles. The story is greatly expanded in Du Guangting 杜光庭 (850-933), Yongcheng jixian lu 墉城集仙錄 (Record of the Assembled Immortals of the Walled City; DZ 783), 4.4a8-5b7. Western Han (Xi Han 西漢) is the dynastic era (206 BCE-9 CE). 67 Lady Du of Long Mound (Changling Du furen 長陵杜夫人) is on the second tier (WYT 1.6b4). Long Mound is Han Emperor Gaozu’s (Han Gaozu 漢高祖; r. 202-195 BCE) tomb. 68 Zheng 鄭, a kingdom in the Spring and Autumn era, was in the Shaanxi-Henan area.

FASCICLE ONE /37

the Director of Destinies Mao [Ying] is not revealed, for reasons that are indeed difficult to understand precisely. D A native of Wey.69 E A native of You.70 F A native of Pei.71 G A native of Changshan.72 H A native of Changle. 73 I A native of Chu.74 J A native of the east coast. K A native of Fengyi.75 L A native of the Western Regions. M A native of Zhuo Commandery.76 N In the [Book of] Rites, this is still “according honor to the seat on the west” for a south-facing row, but the female Perfected below are facing east, so they should start [descending in order] from the south. 77 Now by [descending in order from] the north instead, it must be for the purpose of placing the highest Perfected next to each other. O Note that [Lady] Right Blossom is the older sister of [Lady Wang of the Left Palace of] Purple Tenuity. It must be that in regard to position there are promotions and demotions, that is all. P This is Lady Wei. She herself is speaking, so she does not say her surname. Q Note that for all those whose titles have numbers, the higher number is the loftier. If the Queen Mother of the West78 is called “of the Nine Numina,” then the 69 Wey 衛 was another ancient kingdom corresponding roughly with the area of Henan province; again I use a variant spelling to distinguish this from Wei 魏. 70 You 幽 was one of the ancient Nine Regions (jiuzhou 九州) and corresponded with the ancient kingdom of Yan 燕, in present-day Hebei and Liaoning provinces. 71 Pei 沛 may refer to either a Han commandery with its seat in the northwest of Su 宿 district, Jiangsu or a Qin district with its seat located in the east of Pei district, Jiangsu. 72 Changshan 常山 may be an alternate name of Mount Heng 恆山, but here likely refers to a Han commandery whose seat was located in present-day Zhengding 正定 district, Hebei. 73 Changle 長樂 may be the name of a mountain in Minhou 閩侯 district, Fujian, but here it is more likely: (1) a Northern Wei commandery whose seat was in present-day Ji 冀 district, Hebei; (2) a Jin district whose seat was in the east of present-day Anyang 安陽 district, Henan; or (3) an Eastern Jin district whose seat was in Shiquan 石泉 district, Shaanxi. 74 Chu 楚 was another of the ancient kingdoms during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States eras; it was spread across much of Hunan and Hubei. 75 Fengyi 馮翊 was a commandery in what is present-day Daxie 大荔 district, Shaanxi. 76 Zhuo 涿 Commandery corresponds to Zhuo district, Hebei. 77 Tao Hongjing refers to a passage in Liji 禮記 (The Book of Rites), 1.7a5 (Sibu congkan); in Legge’s translation (1967, 74); “If a mat face the south or the north, the seat on the west is accounted that of honor; if it face the east or the west, the seat on the south.” 席南鄉北鄉，

以西方為上，東鄉西鄉，以南方為上。 78 The Queen Mother of the West (Xiwangmu 西王母) is a very important, powerful deity, more properly understood as a kind of “spirit-mother” (Goldin 2002, 83-85). Within Higher Clarity, she often figures as a revealer of scriptures. She is ranked at the top of the female Perfected on the second tier of the pantheon, under the title “The Prime Numina of Purple

38 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

“Eight Numina” should be placed before the “Seven Numina.” Now, however, [the one with a higher number] is placed afterward, for reasons not clear. Moreover, in the instructions on reading the [Scripture of] the Yellow Court, she is called Lady Jiang of the Northern Marchmount,79 which is different from the present case. R Although the month and day on which [the Lady of the Southern Marchmount, Wei Huacun] spoke of this matter was not recorded, and I do not know which year this occurred, [this passage] consists of the names and positions of the numerous Perfected, so I position it before the rest. Note that for the titles of the numerous Perfected, prior mention is used for those in high position, as with the honorific titles of today’s world.

Comments Tao Hongjing’s note on who wrote this undated document is unfortunately missing, but it is likely based on a Yang Xi manuscript, since the sixth-to-last Perfected woman’s title is written Zhaoling 照靈, not Lingzhao 靈照, as was Xu Mi’s usual practice (ZG 3.2a1-2). The Perfected persons on the list are not making a visit en masse to this world, because such large gatherings of Perfected can take place only in the other world (ZG 6.10b6-7). This is why the Lady of the Southern Marchmount is reporting the meeting to Yang Xi—Yang does not see it himself. Whatever else they may have said or done during their assembly is not preserved. Tao does not even determine which year Yang Xi recorded this information. Although Tao may have placed it here to function like the dramatis personae for the ZG’s Perfected, most of the persons listed here do not show up elsewhere. Furthermore, the list is far from exhaustive—in Fascicles One to Four we shall encounter several Perfected persons not listed in it. The present list is much simpler than the elaborate one that Tao Hongjing developed later on, preserved with later modifications in WYT. Tao’s list has seven tiers, each with one figure in the center and the rest split between left and right. On comparison, the present list shows that at the time of Yang Xi’s visions the Higher Clarity pantheon of deities, Perfected, and underworld figures had not been carefully systematized. WYT’s rankings for the 23 male Perfected on the present list, in order, may be tabulated as follows (some appear twice in the later list): 1. 2 left 2. 2 left 3. 4 left 4. 2 right

5. 2 right 6. 2 left 7. 3 right 8. 4 left

9. 4 left 10. 4 left 11. 4 right 12. 3 right

Tenuity and Grand Perfected Primal Lord of the White Jade Tortoise Terrace and Nine Numina [Palace] (Ziwei yuanling baiyu guitai jiuling taizhen yuanjun 紫微元靈白玉龜臺九靈 太真元君; WYT 1.5b5). See also Yoshikawa in ET, 1119-21; Cahill 1993. 79 The passages in question may be found in ZG 9.23b7, 15.10a6. See n. 60 above.

FASCICLE ONE /39

13. 6 left 14. 6 left 15. 4 left 16. 2 left

17. 3 right 18. 4 left 19. 4 left and 6 center 20. 2 left and 3 right

21. 6 left 22. 6 left 23. 4 left

By contrast, all of the female Perfected show up on the second tier. Tao scrupulously notes all the inconsistencies in the women’s sequence: somehow the woman with “eight” in her title precedes the woman with “nine” in her title, a younger sister appears before an older sister, etc. Although he attempts to explain away some of them as the result of “promotions and demotions,” there is much here that still puzzles him. For Tao Hongjing, the Perfected are distinguished by where they stand in the chain of command and where their seats of power are located, but for Yang Xi they are divided primarily by gender. The men’s surnames and styles (their personal names, unfortunately, are not provided) evidently came from immortals’ biographies, most of which are now lost. Among the women, only seven surnames are provided; the rest are listed only by their titles. However, except for the last three, all the women come from star-palaces—which leads me to wonder whether some of these women are the celestial consorts of the men on the list.

July 25 and 26, 365: Mao Gu on Perseverance, Zhou Yishan on Selfcontrol [1]

1.4b9-1.6a1

At night on the twenty-first day of the sixth month, the Certifier of Registers [Mao Gu] asked, “Does Senior Aide Xu [Mi] want me to speak on how to seek the Way?” I presented a reply80 [concerning his] sincere intention to cultivate Perfection assiduously. The Certifier of Registers also said, “In former days there were Zhao Shutai and Wang Shiqing,81 who were also said to have studied diligently, but in the end they didn’t follow82 people’s intentions. Consequently they were drawn into the Ducal Establishment of the Northern Luminosity.”A 80 “Presented a reply” (dengda 登答) usually denotes a reply from a lower-ranking official to a high-ranking official’s question (HDC 8:535). Yang Xi uses it again in ZG 1.13a7. 81 Zhao Shutai 趙叔臺 and Wang Shiqing 王世卿 are unknown, but Zhao’s father appears in ZG 17.11a8. In his note to that passage, Tao Hongjing writes that he does not know their era. WYT 1.25a8 lists Zhao and Wang together on the left of the seventh tier of the pantheon and notes, “Not yet emerged” (wei xian 未顯), i.e., not yet emerged from post-mortem transformation. The “people” (ren 人) here are presumably their teachers or the Perfected. 82 In ZG 17.11a9-10, Tao Hongjing cites this phrase but replaces “follow” (ru 如) with “understand” (zhi 知), which slightly alters the meaning of the phrase: “. . .but in the end they did not understand people’s intentions.”

40 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

[2]

[Zhou Yishan said,] “Some time ago I: Pushed the Heavenly Ford wide open83 To pluck the blossoms on Chi Hill.84

At this time: The preeminence of my reputation, and my numinous sleeves, Were covered with dust from Hua [Qiao],B/85 [So I] cast my brilliance on the verdant mountains86 And my noble discourse87 in the high empyrean. The perturbations from the mysterious echoes of what I told him went unimpeded in all directions. Having bathed in the numinous waves,88 he truly looked 83 The Heavenly Ford (Tianjin 天津) may be either the Milky Way or a constellation by a fork in the Milky Way consisting of nine stars in Cygnus: γ Cygni (Sadr), δ Cygni, 30 Cygni, α Cygni (Deneb), ν Cygni, τ Cygni, υ Cygni, ζ Cygni, ε Cygni (Gienah); HDC 2:1426; Fang Xuanling, ed., Jin shu, 11.296. In this line the character fei 扉 should be read as a verb, not a noun, following Tao Hongjing’s note in ZG 2.20a3. 84 Chi Hill (Chiqiu 赤丘, “Red Hill”) is Mount Chi (Chishan 赤山), where Xu Mi’s older brother Xu Mai 許邁 (b. 301) had retreated with several others and disappeared (ZG 4.9b34). It is more commonly called Mount Chishui 赤水山 (“Mount Redwater,” as it is called in ZG 14.10a3-10); other names are Daruo Crag 大若巖 and even Zhen’gao Crag (Zhen’gao yan 真 誥岩), since Tao Hongjing, according to one late source, is said to have compiled our text there. It is located in present-day Yongjia 永嘉 district, Zhejiang, and is listed as the twelfth of the 72 “blessed lands” (fudi) in YJQQ 27.10b10-11a2. Zhou Yishan’s Perfected perspective reduces this earthly mountain to a “hill.” Note also how his sleeves are dusted—as they should be if he were reaching down to earth. “Blossoms” (hua 華) may pun on the surname of Hua Qiao below, but it more likely refers to the adepts tested on Mount Chi, elevated if successful. This begins the extended adept-as-flower conceit in this speech. 85 Hua Qiao 華僑 was a medium employed by Xu Mi before Yang Xi. His family had come from Jinling 金陵 (“Gold Tumulus,” part of Maoshan), and he had married a woman from the Xu family. Although he had been communing originally with “spirits and ghosts,” he was later visited by the Perfected and acted in particular as an intermediary between Xu Mi and the Perfected Lord Pei and Zhou Yishan. He also wrote Zhou Yishan’s esoteric biography. See the preface to Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9); trl. Porkert 1979, 10-13; Miller 2008, 107-09. He was dismissed from his duties as spirit-medium for the Xu clan for revealing the immortals’ speeches to other persons (ZG 19.3b7). 86 The “verdant mountains” (xiushan 秀山), like “three verdant [peaks]” (sanxiu 三秀), is a common term for Maoshan, as Tao Hongjing explains in ZG 2.16a2-3 (SK 15n11). 87 The term “noble discourse” (gao shuo 高說) appears in connection with examinations in a memorial by Xu Fang 徐防 (fl. late 1st cent. CE), preserved in Fan Ye 范曄 (398-445) and Sima Biao 司馬彪 (d. c. 306), Hou Han shu 後漢書 (The Book of the Later Han; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1973), liezhuan 34.1501 (HDC 12:956; SK 15n12).

FASCICLE ONE /41

forward to thriving and luxuriating with [the myriad] things. Still unable to attain full mastery and join our ranks, he roamed the peaks and sought reclusion. Later during our conversation I realized that his responses to the mysterious were minimal, whereupon I reversedC my carriage and circled back to rest in tranquility at Ge[yan] Terrace.89 “Now the mystic blade-edge is impartial, the drifting mirror hidden and true.90 If you were to make a move to the cloudy cliffs, striding forth alone while longing for your equal, and submit to being ‘sprinkled’ by my instruction, [so that] your acts befit one immersed in seclusion, only then will all those of my kind begin to feel joy and excitement. We’ll go to examine your circumstances, consider your appearance—and know your sincerity.” At the end was written: “I intently read the records of the sages, 91 the traces of whose deeds are deep and marvelous. On the golden slips, my unsullied [name] was written, and the blue registers fixed my mysterious [destiny]. 92 Then I stepped over the dusty common [world] and wandered free and easy at Purple Yang.93 How does one go in soughing solitude into the pure distance

88 Numinous waves (lingpo 靈波 ) are usually synecdochal for a beautiful body of water (HDC 12:755); here they seem to refer metaphorically to “waves” of instruction. SK 15n4 points out a close parallel between the present phrase and a song from Zu Taizhi’s 阻台之 (fl. 376-410) Zhiguai 志怪 (Accounts of the Strange), preserved in Li Fang 李昉, ed., Taiping yulan 太平御 覽 (Imperial Readings from the Era of Grand Tranquility; rpt. Taipei: Shangwu yinshuguan, 1992), 573.4a9-13: a spirit maiden plays on a qin and sings, “….I summon my fair one to bathe in the numinous waves; / Delighted with our good luck, we take our ease by cloud[-topped] branches….” 招若人兮濯靈波，欣良運兮暢雲柯。 89 Ge Terrace (Ge tai 葛臺), a shortened form of Geyan Terrace (Geyan tai 葛衍臺), is presumably one of the speaker Zhou Yishan’s structures on Mount Geyan (n. 45 above). 90 The “mystic blade-edge” (xuanren 玄刃) describes the examiner’s true discernment, like the edge of Butcher Ding’s blade in Zhuangzi’s third chapter (Guo Qingfan 1983, 2A.117-24; trl. Watson 1968, 50-51). The term “impartial” (wuqin 無親) appears in Laozi, ch. 79: “The Way of heaven is impartial—always with the good person.” 天道無親，常與善人。 Laozi, 2.23b2 (Sibu beiyao). I understand the second part of the sentence to refer again to the examiner’s superior discernment. The mirror is “drifting” (liu 流) or unfixed as the Perfected look everywhere for suitable persons to elevate. 91 The “records of the sages” (shengji 聖記) in Higher Clarity refers to either or both of two scriptures: (1) “Robinet, A.28”—now divided into Shangqing yudi qisheng xuanji huitian jiuxiao jing 上清玉帝七聖玄紀迴天九霄經 (The Scripture of the Return to the Nine Empyrean Heavens, the Mystical Records of the Seven Sages of the Jade Emperor of Higher Clarity; DZ 1379) and Shangqing qisheng xuanji jing 玄紀經 (Scripture of the Mysterious Records of the Seven Sages of Higher Clarity; DZ 1361); (2) Housheng daojun lieji 後聖道君列記 (Biography of the Latter-day Sage, the Lord of the Way; DZ 198, Robinet, A.10). Here Zhou Yishan likely refers to (1), because it describes how adepts inscribe their names in heavenly registers. 92 This paraphrases statements in Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.5b9-10, 1.6b1; trl. Miller 2008, 126-27. The “golden slips” (jince 金策) is a golden book in Fangzhu Palace; the blue register (qinglu 青錄) lists the names of those destined for immortality. 93 Purple Yang is the name of the speaker’s own palace (n. 45 above).

42 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

and go floating far off to Perfected nobility?94 You are a capable person! Please avail yourself of my instruction.” He also said: “The steps for finding the Way— Hone your essence and spirits, Keep your body still through the night,95 And with renewed devotion, search assiduously. Follow this and I’d say that the Way is already near. Thus in the depths of night you should earnestly regulate [yourself]. Only then can your: Hands gather the mainstays of heaven, Feet float upon the numinous net, Mind roam through the grand vault of space, Eyes perceive the Grotto Chamber.96 It won’t take long. If the five feelings [stir] waves of error,97 the three cloudsouls [show] increasing stinginess,98 whereupon the Three Perfected 99 simply 94 “Soughing solitude” (xiaoxiao 蕭蕭) and “floating far off” or “far off floating” (miaomiao 眇眇) are likewise paired in ZG 3.12a10, 3.12a4-5, where they describe movements through

air. The former term is also linked with solitude in ZG 2.20b6-7. However, each has a wide range of meaning, not fully captured in translation (HDC 9:583, 7:1167). 95 The term “through the night” (xinsu 信宿 ) is usually defined “to stay two or three nights” or “two or three days,” based on ancient usages (HDC 1:1421; Morohashi 1984, 1:801 (707:172)), but by the Six Dynasties it is often used more loosely to refer to a short, unspecified span of time (Huang Linggeng 1997, 95). SK 14 translates it to mean “always” or “at all times” (shirokujichū 四六時中); context suggests the nocturnal meaning is retained. 96 The Grotto Chamber (dongfang 洞房) is one of the Nine Palaces within the head and is presided over by the three Perfected officials mentioned below. The nine palaces and their officials are described in Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2), 1.4a4-5b5. 97 The “five feelings” (wuqing 五情) here would probably be pleasure (xi 喜), anger (nu 怒), sorrow (ai 哀), joy (le 樂), and resentment (yuan 怨)—as Liu Liang 劉良 (7th-8th cent.) describes them in his commentary to the Wen xuan 文選; Liuchen zhu wen xuan (Selections of Refined Literature, with Commentary by Six Officials), 20.1b5-7 (Sibu congkan); HDC 1:377. From an echo of this sentence appearing in ZG 3.14a2-3, it is clear that the present terse phrase (literally “five feelings error waves”) should be understood as referring to waves of error caused by the five feelings, rather than five feelings surging in error (SK 16n37). 98 There are three evanescent cloud-souls (hun 魂) and seven earth-souls (po 魄); the cloudsouls are in communion with heaven and wander around during sleep (Baldrian-Hussein in ET 521-23). Essentially, Zhou Yishan is saying that if Xu Mi fails to control himself during the night and while sleeping, his wandering cloud-souls will reveal his faults to the otherworldly authorities. The ZG frequently mentions stinginess (lin 吝, or more broadly, greed and covetousness) and lust or lasciviousness (yin 淫) together in reference to Xu Mi’s difficulty in curbing his desires.

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brandish their swords and the Yellow Portal100 quickly shuts. Can’t you work hard at it? Can’t you work hard at it?” At night on the twenty-second day of the sixth month, at cockcrow, [I] was instructed to write this, the directive of Purple Yang [Zhou Yishan]. For the preceding two passages101 there are copies by the Senior Aide [Xu Mi]. This was the sixth month of the yichou year [365]. Before this there was only an instruction on the fifteenth of the sixth month by the Certifier of Registers [Mao Gu] in reply to a letter by the Senior Aide [Xu Mi], and it discussed matters internal to Maoshan. Before this there was also an instruction for which no date was recorded. These are placed together in the fourth fascicle. 102 None of the others precedes these. The Ducal Establishment of the Northern Luminosity is a subordinate office inside the palace of Fengdu.103 B This ought to refer to his initial descent upon Hua Qiao. The character lacks the “leaning person” [component]. C Pronounced fu.104 A

99 The Three Perfected (sanzhen 三真 ) here refer to the Three Perfected of the Grotto Chamber. Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2), 1.11a9-11b1, states: “In the Grotto Chamber are the Three Perfected. The left one is the Noble Scion Without Radiance, the right one is the Lord of the White Prime, and the middle one is the Yellow Old Lord. The three men together rule the Grotto Chamber.” 洞房中有三真，左為無英公子，右為白元君，中為黃老 君。三人共治洞房中。 Visualizing them is a primary concern in Zhou Yishan’s own biography; one who manages to do so obtains Perfection; Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.6a8-b5, 1.8b8-9a8, 1.10b8-12b8; trl. Miller 2008, 127-28, 136-37, 146-53. 100 There are several Yellow Portals (huangque 黃闕), none of which should be confused with the “Golden Portal” of the Thearchic Lord of the Golden Portal (Jinque dijun 金闕帝 君 ), one of Laozi’s divinized forms (n. 31 above). Moreover, each should be considered alternate manifestations of the others. The first Yellow Portal is a place inside the head, below the space between the eyebrows, and part of an assembly of structures that includes the Purple Door (Zihu 紫戶), Crimson Terrace (Jiangtai 絳臺), and Blue Chamber (Qingfang 青 房). The deities of the Nine Palaces inside pass in and out through it; Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2), 1.6a10-6b8. But within the Grotto Chamber Palace, there is another Yellow Portal, actually a chamber where the Three Ones or Three Perfected may be found, as well as another Purple Door and so on; Dengzhen yinjue, 1.10b10-11a2. The Yellow Portal is mentioned in Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 3.10a5-7, and, predictably enough, in Zhou Yishan’s own biography: Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.11a8-b1; trl. Miller 2008, 147. The celestial counterpart is a place through which the Heavenly Thearch of Kunlun (Kunlun tiandi 崑崙天帝) passes (WSMY 22.11b6-7). 101 The first “passage” (tiao 條) points to the dialogue with Mao Gu, the second to Zhou Yishan’s speech. Not separating them makes it impossible to tell where Mao Gu’s speech ends and Zhou Yishan’s begins. The concluding comment is not included in Tao’s count. 102 The original ZG had seven fascicles, so “the fourth fascicle” is the present Part Four, comprising Fascicles 11 to 14. Mao Gu’s speech on Maoshan is in ZG 11.1a4-16b10, and as Tao’s note in ZG 11.17a1-3 points out, Xu Mi’s first letter asking for instruction had been lost. The other undated passage seems to be the one now in ZG 12.1a4-2a4. 103 On Fengdu, see n. 43 above. 104 That is, the character written fo 佛 (Buddha) should be pronounced fu, which in standard Chinese would be fu 拂 (reverse). The choice of verb suggests an abrupt reversal.

44 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Comments Yang Xi had recorded his encounters with the Perfected in detail, but here the initial records were lost. All that was left from these two nights was Xu Mi’s copy of what Yang had written, and just the parts that held relevance for him. In the manuscript before Tao Hongjing, there were two blocks of text or tiao. The first contained the dialogue with Mao Gu, the second Zhou Yishan’s speech. Yang Xi’s concluding comment is not to be counted separately, even though the present DZ text presents the tiao division as falling between the speeches and the concluding comment. But this is impossible: without the tiao division between the speeches (try to imagine how the manuscript would appear without Tao’s interlinear notes), there would be nothing to indicate where Mao Gu’s speech ends and where Zhou Yishan’s begins. I understand the phrase, “At the end was written” (mo shu yue 末書曰), which appears between the two parts of Zhou Yishan’s speech, to have been written by Xu while omitting a middle passage in the Yang manuscript that he was copying. The short dialogue between Yang Xi and Mao Gu would have been of interest to Xu because it would indicate to him that diligence and persistence alone were insufficient for finding the Way. Mao Gu raises the example of two persons who were diligent but “didn’t follow people’s intentions,” meaning that they failed somehow to understand or put into practice what had been taught to them. Zhou Yishan’s words continue on this general theme of diligently and earnestly practicing what one’s teacher reveals. Zhou Yishan’s speech is difficult to understand because it is a snippet from a much larger conversation, alluding to many other things that only “insiders” like Yang and Xu would know of—and doing so in dense, image-laden language. First he discusses Hua Qiao, the Xus’ former medium, whom he encounters, seemingly by chance, while examining the various adepts at Mount Chi. Now this is a place name that would certainly catch Xu Mi’s attention, since his older brother Xu Mai had gone there on his own quest and disappeared. Zhou Yishan says that Hua Qiao, like the other adepts that Mao Gu mentioned on the previous night, had failed because he responded minimally to what he was taught. The imagery used by Zhou Yishan suggests that teaching and examining are like gardening: words of instruction go out like waves and sprinkle the recipients; adepts who are ready may be plucked up like flowers. After talking about the process of his own elevation (the information mirrors what is found in the esoteric biography that Zhou had revealed to Hua Qiao), he invites Xu Mi to follow his example and accept his instruction. Zhou provides three general steps for finding the Way and emphasizes to Xu that regulating the self must be done even during the night. Apparently, he already knows that Xu’s main obstruction is his desires, which manifest themselves in two ways: lust and stinginess or greed. If Xu succeeds, then he will be able, like Zhou, to perceive the Three Perfected spirits within his Grotto Chamber and

FASCICLE ONE /45

thus attain Perfection. If he fails to control his emotions, then the “waves of error” (an interesting contrast to Zhou’s own “numinous waves” of instruction) show up through his wandering cloud-souls, whereupon access to the Grotto Chamber is immediately cut off.

July 27, 365: Part of The Scripture on Treasuring the Spirits Revealed One Day After the Lady of Purple Tenuity Is Introduced

1.6a2-1.7b6

[1]

The Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity [Lord Pei] explained The Scripture on Treasuring the Spirits,105 saying . . .A [2] The Lady of Purple Tenuity instructed [me] to write as follows and said . . .B [3] In the third year of Prevailing Tranquility, with the Year-Star in yichou, at night on the twenty-third day of the sixth month, I am instructed to write this. 106 Prior to this evening, various fellow-travelers on the Way, of whom there are many whose hearing and eyesight are failing, wanted [me] to inform [the Perfected] and beg for this method [of treatment]. This very night some descended, and immediately it was revealed in instruction.C [4] He also declared, “A Daoist adept who is hard of hearing . . .”D In the previous passage, the Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity [Lord Pei] speaks. [5] A Perfected person declared, “When arranging hair with a comb, one will want to make many strokes.”E In the previous passage, the Lady of Purple Tenuity speaks. [6] When those who descended this night first came inside and had not yet taken their seats, one muttered to herself, “Tonight the waves sounded like thunder.” This disciple asked about the circumstances. She replied, “Just now I saw the big waves in the Eastern Sea, that’s all.”F In the previous passage, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount [Wei Huacun] speaks.

105 Only one excerpt of Baoshen jing 寶神經 (Scripture on Treasuring the Spirits), discussed in ZG 9.6a1-8a3, is revealed; the rest of it, according to Tao’s note (ZG 9.6a2-3), is not. Dongzhen Xiwangmu baoshen qiju jing 洞 真 西 王母 寶 神起 居 經 (Dongzhen Scripture of the Queen Mother of the West on Conduct for Treasuring the Spirits; DZ 1319, Robinet, C.4) is not the text referred to here (Robinet 1984, 2:321, 359-62; Robinet in TC 589-90). 106 “This” refers to the statements of Lord Pei and and the Lady of Purple Tenuity. Yang Xi wrote these words as a conclusion to those statements, as can be seen in ZG 9.9a2-6.

46 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

[7]

In a further declaration [she asked], “Do you abhor blood?” I replied, “I really do.” She said, “[Suppose] there is blood on the road. If you abhor it, then where should you go?” I replied again, “I should just avoid it.” She said in response, “Avoiding it is good, so not seeing it is even better.”107 In the previous passage, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount speaks. [8] After this, the various Perfected spoke only among themselves. [9] She also said, “The Scripture on Treasuring the Spirits is a book in [Lord] Pei of Pure Numinosity’s brocade satchel—what his attendants are always carrying. Long ago Pei received this book from the Lady of Purple Tenuity. I also have one. All such are copied from the authorized edition in West Palace.” [10] I asked about the location of “West Palace.” She replied, “It’s the upper terrace of West Turquoise, on the platform north of the Mystic Orchard.108 All the precious texts of the heavenly Perfected are stored inside it.” In the previous passages, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount speaks. [11] The Perfected [Lord] Pei also said, “This book is of the same class as the ‘hidden books.’109 The matters [it describes] are essential and may be put into 107 One scripture directs that an adept who sees a corpse, blood, or filth should pulverize a pearl in water and use it to cleanse the eyes, rinse the mouth, and wash the hands and feet, while softly intoning the proper incantation: Shangqing taishang huangsu sishisi fang jing 上清太上 黃素四十四方經 (Scripture of the Forty-four Methods on Yellow Silk of the Most High of Higher Clarity; DZ 1380, Robinet A.29), 1.9b4-9; cited with the incantation in Sandong zhunang 三棟珠囊 (Pearly Satchels of the Three Caverns; DZ 1139), 6.5b1-7; SK 20n7. 108 The Mystic Orchard (Xuanpu 玄圃, also “Suspended Orchard” 懸圃), is a key part of Mount Kunlun. Descriptions of the arrangement of Kunlun’s palaces, terraces, cities, and surrounding peaks vary widely (Smith in ET 602-04). West Turquoise (Xiyao 西瑤) seems to refer to Turquoise Pond (Yaochi 瑤池), where King Mu of Zhou 周穆王 (r. 10th cent. BCE) met the Queen Mother of the West in Mu tianzi zhuan 穆天子傳 (Biography of Mu, Son of Heaven), 3.15a-b (Sibu congkan); trl. Cheng 1933, 139-40. WSMY 22.12a7, 78.5a9 also mention it as an abode of the Queen Mother. “West Palace” (Xi gong 西宮) abbreviates Palace of West Florescence (Xihua gong 西華宮), said to be the Queen Mother’s abode. 109 Several Higher Clarity scriptures have “hidden book” or “writings” (yinshu 隱書) as part of their titles (Robinet A.3, A.18. A.31). It does not refer to a specific title but to a class of scripture that must be kept especially well hidden. See, for example, the discussion of hidden writings in Shangqing taishang basu zhenjing 上清太上八素真經 (The True Scripture of the Eight Purities of the Most High of Higher Clarity; DZ 426; Robinet, A.3), 1.15b7-16a5.

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practice immediately. One of its titles is The Hidden Book of the Seven Mysteries.”G/110 [12] The Lady of the Southern Marchmount appeared and announced, “The Lady of the Left of Purple Tenuity Wang, who has the taboo-name Qing’e and is styled Yuyi, is our mother’s [=the Queen Mother of the West’s] twentieth daughter. She governs the Darkmound Mountains in the Plume Wilds,111 and she is in charge of teaching those who are about to become Perfected.” The previous passage was transmitted one evening earlier.H For the preceding passages, twelve in all, from the arrival of [the Perfected Man of] Pure Numinosity [Lord Pei], there are copies by the Senior Aide [Xu Mi]. A The excerpt on this refinement practice appears in the third fascicle; 112 I shall not record it twice. B This matter is also in the third fascicle.113 C This was Lord Yang’s own record. The Senior Aide [Xu Mi] was more than sixty years old, and his ears and eyes were failing, so he made this petition. Yang did not wish to specify him directly, so he imputed it to various others. D This matter is also in the third fascicle.114 E This matter is also in the third fascicle. 115 F “Disciple” is Lord Yang’s self-reference. G The instructions of the twenty-third day given above end here. H This passage precisely takes place in the night of the twenty-second and belongs to the same evening as the instructions from Purple Yang [=Zhou Yishan]. There must have been many other matters [discussed then], for later mention is

110 The seven mysteries (qixuan 七玄) here refer to the seven apertures (qiqiao 七竅) of the face (ears, eyes, nostrils, and mouth): Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 3.15b6-7 (also YJQQ 12.18a3-4); ZG 9.6a1-9b2. 111 The Darkmound Mountains (Xuanlong shan 玄壟山 , sometimes written 玄隴山 or “Darkslope Mountains”) and Plume Wilds (Yu ye 羽野, sometimes written Yuming ye 羽明野 or “Plume-bright Wilds”) are in the distant north; Dongzhen taiyi dijun taidan yinshu dongzhen xuanjing (DZ 1330; Robinet, A.18), 1.1b6-2a6. The citation of that text in YJQQ 23.2b2 specifies also that they are to the northeast of Mount Kunlun, beyond the northern sea of darkness (beiming 北溟), the body of water in Zhuangzi’s opening lines. When Zhou Yishan visited these places, he obtained, among other things, a purple canopy with white plumes for his carriage; Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.10b3-5 (cited also in YJQQ 106.13b7-8); trl. Miller 2008, 144. Purple Tenuity Palace is in the Darkmound Mountains but also has its stellar counterpart (n. 57 above). See also Kroll 2003, 158. 112 That is, what has since become Part Three, Fascicle Nine (ZG 9.6a1-8a3), as indicated in n. 105. That passage, like the commentary by the Lady of Purple Tenuity that follows, is based on Yang Xi’s manuscript, which takes precedence over Xu Mi’s copy. However, Tao must signal here also that Xu had received the excerpt from the scripture and that its revelation took place at this date; he must also show the differences between the manuscripts. 113 Specifically, ZG 9.8a4-9a2. 114 Specifically, ZG 9.9a7-9. 115 Specifically, ZG 9.9a10-b2.

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made of the hushed voices,116 also in reference to this evening. When [Lord] Yang later recalls this matter, he once again places it explicitly on the twenty-second. Hence I say [this passage] “was transmitted one evening earlier.”

Comments Tao Hongjing collected two Xu Mi manuscripts recording the visitations of this night. The content of the longer record is preserved in ZG 9.3a1-10a10 (Yang Xi’s appended notes to that manuscript, which record later “follow-up” instructions, continue to ZG 9.11a5). The content of the shorter manuscript presented here, however, includes certain items not found in the other. Xu Mi, who worried about the signs of aging, had petitioned for instruction on how to stop them. Yang passed the message to the Perfected, and that very night they responded with instructions on how to preserve one’s hearing and vision, keep one’s hair from turning grey, and so on. The content of these instructions is not of interest here. Tao only wants the content that differs from the longer record, specifically, the conversation about avoiding blood, the Perfected conversing among themselves for a time, the exchange about the big waves in the Eastern Sea, and the background to Baoshen jing (Scripture on Treasuring the Spirits). Tao informs us in ZG 9.6a1-3 that what Lord Pei divulges is the only portion of that scripture that is revealed in the world. The shorter Xu Mi manuscript ends with the introduction of someone who becomes very important in the ZG story—Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity. Lady Wang begins to take on the role of Xu Mi’s teacher as well as matchmaker for Yang Xi and his future bride. On the basis of another manuscript, Tao Hongjing determines that the introduction could not have taken place on July 27 (the “twenty-third of the sixth month”) but instead occurred on July 26. Purple Tenuity is called one of the Queen Mother of the West’s daughters, so her status is that of a being with an ambiguously human-otherworldly origin. Kominami Ichirō, who has compared tales of descending goddesses with the tales of resurrection found in Chinese zhiguai 志怪 (“records of the strange”) literature, writes: A woman who dies while still unmarried, unlike a full adult, is brought into a world where there are only other women present. There the Queen Mother of the West, as the great Earth-Mother goddess, becomes her adoptive mother and raises her. Eventually under the Queen Mother of the West’s orders she is matched with a man in this world. If they can maintain married life for a certain period of time … the woman can then be reborn into this world.117 116 117

Specifically, ZG 1.11a4, during the visitation of July 28, 365. Kominami 1975, 211. The translation is mine.

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In the early Higher Clarity context, however, the young woman could not have died an ordinary death—it would be necessary for her to have escaped the world using an apparent corpse, like E Lühua above. Furthermore, the desired outcome is not the woman’s rebirth in this world but the man’s rebirth in the Perfected world—and we shall see later how this plays out.

July 28, 365: How the Perfected Convey Their Teachings to the World [1]

1.7b7-1.11b3

At night on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity approached and descended. Then I dropped to the floor and asked, “The Perfected numina have personally come down to the people of the dust and mire but seem never to have written anything by their own hands or feet.118 So is this because the traces of the noble are so far from the base that they are invisible? I presume to inquire of this here, wishing for instruction to cover up my ignorance.” Lady [Wang] then ordered me back to my seat and immediately revealed her teaching. She commanded that I write this, and in her reply she said,A “Now we plunge our Lights119 into the dark of the void, where there is no road by which they can be followed, and our words spring forth into the vault of space, where no creature can trace them. Drifting about and riding on gusts, they slip away changing and never stagnate. Both of these lines [of words and Lights] undulate into the gloom and subside, [or] speedily rise, sparkling and silent. For this reason, we scatter them freely into the fordless [expanse], then let the gusting wind steer them. We place them in empty boats, and they just go. Hence they are emptiness within substance, Being within emptiness, ‘Imagelessness’ within Being.120 118 Writings by the Perfected, like genuine calligraphy from a master, would be called “true traces” or “true tracks” (zhenji 真迹). Yang Xi wonders why the Perfected never leave any physical trace that would somehow reveal cosmic pattern and be thought a kind of writing. 119 “Lights” (jing 景), a special term in Higher Clarity Daoism with multiple meanings, may refer to the sun, moon, planets, and stars, but may also refer to 24 gods that inhabit the body and correspond to the 24 seasonal energies. These were divided into three groups of eight, in the upper body (head), middle (chest), and lower body (below the navel). Extensive meditation was required to make them luminous; the method is described in ZG 9.2a10-9.2b9. The bodily and celestial Lights are sometimes distinguished by the adjectives “internal” (nei 內) and “external” (wai 外; Robinet in ET 210-11). Here Lady Wang describes the descent of the Lights of the Perfected into the world as a “plunging” or “sinking” (shenjing 沈景), suggesting the setting sun or moon. They become present only in a latent sense. The term shenjing is rare but appears in Baopuzi waipian 抱朴子外篇 (Outer Chapters of the Master Embracing the Unhewn; in Yang 1991, 1:11): “… as sinking Lights respond to a bright water-mirror, and squares and circles rush to compass and rule.” 若沈景之應朗鑒，方圓之赴規矩。 120 The “‘Image-lessness’ within Being” (you zhong zhi wuxiang 有中之無象) recalls Laozi, ch. 14, though with overtones of the meaning of “Image” as found in Zhou yi: “Its top part is

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“As for the revelation of our written traces, when we wave forms onto paper and wooden tablets, the grain of their patterns is brightly concentrated, the [degree of] coarseness and fineness outwardly apparent, the mystic brushwork quite iridescent. But it is the modeled substance that is shown, the darkened words that are expressed, as the forms are conveyed to the [world of] dust and mire. If [the original forms] were to be carelessly revealed to creatures with skeletons and made to join with the world’s thrust and pull, that would besmirch the hymns of the superior Perfected above and fail the prohibitions on keeping separate below. Truly this is what my kind does not do, and what the numinous laws do not permit. “Today I am asked to set out the root-origin of writing, the very beginning of the creation of patterns. This occurred when the five colors first sprouted and patterned emblems were marked out and fixed. Interactions among people blossomed forth as the division of yin and yang was distinguished. Then there appeared the calligraphy of the Three Primes and the Eightfold Ensemble, 121 which flies in the heavens of all regions. There also appeared the Eight Dragons’ cloud-seals, which are brightly rayed emblems.122 “After that came the era of the Two Sovereigns, who elaborated the patterns of the Eightfold Ensemble into the dragon-and-phoenix emblems123 and not bright, and its bottom part is not dark. Expansive, it cannot be named and reverts once more to nothing. This is called the shape of the shapeless, the Image of nothing; this is called ‘fleeting and vague.’” 其上不曒，其下不昧，繩繩不可名，復歸於無物。是謂無狀之狀，無物 之象，是謂惚恍。 Laozi, 1.7b5-8 (Sibu beiyao). 121 There are many definitions of the Three Primes (sanyuan 三元) and Eightfold Ensemble (bahui 八會; the term may also be understood as “Eight Assemblies”). Many DZ texts also expand upon the present ZG passage, e.g., YJQQ 6.20b1-10, 7.1a6-2b4. On the basis of these we can say that the Three Primes here refer to heaven, earth, and water; the Eightfold Ensemble would include these with the Five Phases (wood, fire, metal, water, earth). An alternate understanding of the Three Primes, entirely in keeping with Higher Clarity teaching, would take them to refer to the sun, moon, and stars, as in Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 2.8a8-10, which better explains why the calligraphy “flies in the heavens of all regions.” In general, therefore, the “calligraphy of the Three Primes and the Eightfold Ensemble” corresponds to the original script of the heavens, star-patterns hidden to mortals. For other perspectives, see Hsieh 2005, 251-57; Hsieh 2007, 185-233; Wang 2010, 786-89. 122 As the Lady of Purple Tenuity explains below, this refers to talismanic writing. The Eight Dragons (balong 八龍) are usually the steeds that pull the Perfected persons’ carriages (as in ZG 3.4b10), i.e., the Eight Purities (basu 八素) or Eight Lights (bajing 八景). Dragons are also closely associated with clouds, hence the radiant “cloud-seals.” The Eight Dragons here form a counterpart for the Eightfold Ensemble. The cloud-seals thus correspond to the “inner Lights” (neijing 內景) while the script of the Three Primes and Eightfold Ensemble corresponds to the “outer Lights” (waijing 外景). 123 The Two Sovereigns (erhuang 二皇) are the mythic sage-emperors Fuxi 伏羲 and Shennong 神農 (“Divine Husbandman”) who ruled China in the distant past. Fuxi is the inventor of the Eight Trigrams (bagua 八卦) of the Zhou yi, so the “dragon-and-phoenix emblems” (longfeng zhi zhang 龍鳳之章) might refer to those. Shennong is the inventor of agriculture,

FASCICLE ONE /51

compressed and contracted the traces of the cloud-seals to make them follow the forms of Brahmanic script,124 [thus] splitting apart [the original scripts] into two ways. 125 They spoiled 126 the Perfected [forms] for the sake of ease and paired off or separated the roots and branches, thus making sixty-four kinds of script. Then they spread these throughout the thirty-six heavens and the ten directions—above and below.127 Each of these adopted its own compositional form, differentiated it, and put it to use. Although the rules on pronunciation remained the same, the proliferating [written] traces separated and became different. “I shall compare and discuss these [forms of writing]. The script of the Eightfold Ensemble is the most perfect of scripts, the ancestor that establishes patterns and emblems. The bright rays of the cloud-seals spring from their root and progenitor128; they are from the beginning of the scripts. Today the script of the Three Primes and Eightfold Ensemble is used by their majesties the high Perfected and pure immortals of the Grand Ultimate. As for the brightly rayed emblems of the cloud-seals, they are the characters you see now in the divine numinas’ talismanic script. “You see, then, that this superficial, decadent age spawns fabrications and disorders the truth, and that all join together in creating clever trifles, taking shortcut paths to inferior scripts that are all in the muddy writing of errant death-bringers,129 in characters of license and perversion. They put aside the root to imitate the false. These are the dead traces of tumult and filth, nothing more. “Now why would Perfected, immortal people cast aside their own patterned traces and write with their hands the inferior characters of license and disorder? Indeed, those who are able to become Perfected attain Perfection in medicine, and the sixty-four hexagrams—which would correspond to the “sixty-four kinds of script” mentioned below. These correspondences, however, are very loose—the elaborated or reduced forms discussed here are still varieties of calligraphic script. 124 In Indian religion, Brahmanic script (fanshu 梵書) is a celestial script from which earthly Sanskrit was derived. The growing influence of Buddhism on Daoism is apparent here. 125 The term “two ways” (erdao 二道) has many Buddhist overtones, but here it means the splitting of the Eightfold Ensemble script and cloudy seals, which entails a splitting of the outer and inner Lights, the life of the inner spirit versus the movements of the heavens, the ways of Buddhists and Daoists, etc. An anti-Buddhist tone is also struck here: even the Brahmanic script becomes a “contracted” form of the cloud-seals. 126 In the DZ text, the word for “spoiled” (huai 壞) is miswritten “soil” (rang 壤). 127 The “thirty-six heavens” (sanshiliu tian 三十六天) of Higher Clarity belief are arranged in a vertical or pyramidal arrangement, contrasting to the horizontally arranged “thirty-two heavens” (sanshi’er tian 三十二天) of Numinous Treasure (Miller in ET 847-51). The ten directions (shifang 十方), originally a Buddhist term, are the eight orthogonal and diagonal directions plus zenith and nadir (HDC 1:817). 128 Both “root” and “progenitor” (gen zong 根宗) in Laozi frequently refer to the Way. 129 The “death-bringers” (shi 尸, often translated “corpses”), three in number (sanshi 三尸), are malevolent spirits that reside in the body where they always wreak havoc, since the death of the host frees them to move around like ghosts (Cook in ET 844-46).

52 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

everything. Why should they alone take mediocre, decadent, coarse techniques and licentious, superficial, corrupt works and preserve them without change, dabble in them without alteration? “Now if a person of the world who first has skill in calligraphy conducts his affairs well, then on the day he attains Perfected immortality the change in his exoteric calligraphy will suddenly follow that of his body, and it will revert [to the primal forms] spontaneously. One for whom all the Perfected affairs are close by does not yet abandon the muddy script he has already learned, for only then does he also receive instruction in the superior writings, but later he will gain duplicate knowledge of the Perfected script versions. In the demonic way130 it is also like this, but with only minor differences in the script and characters. “Moreover, with our numinous brushes and Perfected hands, we have not dared from the beginning to go down and traffic with fleshly humans. Although at times there are people who are about to attain the Way but have not yet bodily transcended the world, we still don’t dare to lower our hands, spread the ink of our calligraphy [before them], and be revealed through our characters’ traces. As for the divine compositions in talismanic script, which [those persons] seek and wear at the hip, they were created only by return to the beginning. That is why, for such things, worldly people are stubbornly unable to understand their source—which also enables my kind not to place any taboo of concealment on them. In mystic darkness one freely takes part in their interpretation! The esoteric and exoteric are naturally connected! “Furthermore, in the Sworn Code of the Four Poles 131 the lofty and higher prohibitions are onerous, and naturally they don’t let my kind do the common calligraphy of the world again. Even if I were to lower my hand [to write something], you still wouldn’t understand, and what indeed would be the point of creating a surfeit of trouble for both of us? This would also obscure what’s permissible or not—it’s hardly worth complaining about. The thoughts in your

130 The “demonic way” (guidao 鬼道) refers to the way of the Celestial Masters, who were very concerned about demons and how to prevent their attacks. Purple Tenuity is basically saying that the transformation of script that occurs when a Higher Clarity adept attains Perfection is far greater than that which occurs when a Celestial Master believer, known as a “demon trooper” (guizu 鬼卒), achieves immortality. The “demonic way” is discussed in the official biography of Zhang Lu 張魯 (d. 216), one of the founders of the Celestial Masters, in Chen Shou 陳壽 (233-297), Sanguo zhi 三國志 (Record of the Three Kingdoms; Beijing: Zhonghua shuhu, 1960), 8.263-65; also Miura in ET 459; Cedzich 1993, 23-35. SK 25n30 cites a Lingbao text and commentary, thus implying that the term refers to demons. 131 This is the shortened title for an early Higher Clarity scripture now preserved, perhaps with some later alterations, as Taizhen yudi siji mingke jing 太真玉帝四極明科經 (The Grand Perfected Jade Emperor’s Sworn Code of the Four Poles; DZ 184). I follow Robinet in TC 192-93 in reading the character ming 明 (bright) as meng 盟 (sworn); see also Kohn in ET 90708. The third fascicle concerns rules on scriptural transmission.

FASCICLE ONE /53

heart lack fluidity and openness. All these are the reasons why we don’t circulate what we ourselves write.” [2] The Higher Perfected Director of Destinies, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount [Wei Huacun] ordered me to write out her teachings as follows. [3] “Now if I catapult upward on cloud-wheels, Gather reins round the grand vault of space, Hold in hand the empyrean mainstays, Proceed by foot up to the Jade Court,132 Ascend bodily to the thearchic portals,133 And spread open treasures in the gathering blue134 To discuss on high the surpassing dimensions of the Nine Mysteries135 And chronicle grand lives in myriads of toon-springs below,136 Then my vaulting Lights arc quietly, A thousand dawn-clouds iridesce brightly, And my Perfected words [go out] in dark waves137 In the lofty converse of Jade Clarity.138 I bestir the silken cords of my vermilion lips139

132 The Jade Court (yuting 玉庭) in early Higher Clarity refers generally to the palaces of the highest Perfected deities (WSMY 22.1a3-6). 133 “Thearchic portals” (dique 帝闕) likewise refer generally to the highest palaces. 134 The treasures (bao 寶) of this line would refer to sacred objects normally kept hidden, such as scriptures; the “gathering blue” (xiqing 歙青) is tentative. Hyland (1984, 255n164) understands it to refer to the frequent Daoist practice of absorbing blue-green pneuma emanating from the east. SK 27 renders this as “the pure blue world” (青一色の世界). 135 The Nine Mysteries (jiuxuan 九玄) here is an alternate term for the Nine Heavens (jiutian 九天), for which there are several different configurations; it may also refer to nine dieties. See Morohashi 1984, 1:366 (167:219), 1:377 (167:472); Pregadio in EC 593-94. 136 The toon (chun 椿 ), specifically Cedrela or Toona sinensis A. Juss. (common English names: Chinese toon, Chinese mahogany, Chinese cedar, shaggy-bark tree) is a byword for extreme longevity, based on a passage in the first chapter of Zhuangzi, where it is said to count eight thousand years as a single spring and eight thousand years as a single autumn (Guo Qingfan 1983, 1A.11; trl. Watson 1968, 30). The word is a homonym for “spring” (chun 春). This marks the first appearance in ZG of an interesting feature of the Perfected world: the Perfected record time not by years (nian 年) or “harvests,” an overly brief unit of time that calls undue attention to things’ senescence, but by “toon-springs.” 137 The “dark waves” (xuanlang 玄浪) recall Zhou Yishan’s “numinous waves” of instruction (n. 88 above) and the Lady of Purple Tenuity’s statement, “Both of these lines [words and Lights] undulate into the gloom and subside, [or] speedily rise, sparkling and serene.” 138 Jade Clarity (Yuqing 玉清), a heaven, is the “dwelling-place of eternal spirits who have never manifested themselves on earth” (Penny 2000, 114; see also Kohn in ET 840-44). 139 “Silken cords” (liuhui 流徽) is a metonym for the qin 琴, that most elegant of musical instruments. Traditionally, silken cords were attached to the tuning pegs and usually tasseled.

54 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

And circulate the misty spray of the sun’s pneuma,140 Whereupon I spit bonfires, expel smoke, Strike golden [bells], and play on rose-gem [chimes],141 As simurgh tones scintillate and sparkle And phoenixes sing propitious tones. “If I only [let my] responsive Lights circle down below, Return my numinous presence to the [realm of] dust and ash, Ride a three-horse carriage in the corrupt world, Saunter casually past the court and marketplace, Coming to finish those of Perfectible talent And to train my disciples, Then my jade [chimes’] vibrations lose resonance,142 My bells of green jade are muffled from within. Around me, I eye the Five Impurities143 As I toil in the ‘chamber of error.’144 My spirits labor in the rotten stench; I plug my nose and hold my breath. “While advancing, I just seal off my orchidaceous tones in the prime of Central Florescence. While retreating, I simply dampen the feeblest of the golden sounds and release.145 “Now it is spirit that speaks [to you] faintly from nearby; across ten thousand li it inevitably makes contact.146 Although the wondrous resonances are Here Wei Huacun asserts in effect that the speech flowing through her lips is as elegant as a performance on the qin. The deep shade of her lips befits her divine status. 140 While the previous line concerns speech exhalations, this line concerns the practice of absorbing solar pneuma through the mouth and circulating it through the body. 141 While ordinary mortals play on instruments of bronze and stone, such as bells and stone chimes, Wei Huacun and her cohorts play on instruments made of rarer materials. 142 The term “jade vibrations” (yuzhen 玉振) alludes to the sound of stone chimes (HDC 4:491); here Wei Huacun describes the muted resonance of her teaching in the world. 143 The Five Impurities (wuzhuo 五濁) is a Buddhist term for five periods of decay: (1) the kalpa in decay; (2) deterioration of view; (3) passions and delusions of desire, anger, etc.; (4) increase of human miseries; (5) diminished human lifetime (Soothill and Hodous 1937, 122). The Five Impurities in the Daoist context are described in the early Tang encyclopedia Daodian lun 道典論 (Discussions on Standard Works of Daoism; DZ 1130), 3.8b10-10a6. 144 “Toil” (qiekuo 契闊; suffer, interact with) appears in Shi jing 詩經 (Poetry Classic); trl. Legge 1994, 4:49; HDC 2:1535. “Chamber of error” (qianshi 愆室) is the corrupt world. 145 The “prime of Central Florescence” (n. 56 above) likely refers to Polaris. The “orchidaceous tones” (lanyin 蘭音) and “golden sounds” of the bells, by allusion to Xici zhuan, refer again to the elegant, refined music of Wei Huacun’s speech, discernible only to one whose heart is in concord with hers (n. 17 above). I read an 案 as a substitute for an 按—pressing the bells with the fingers to still them, hence “dampen.” I read sui 遂 not in its usual adverbial or linking sense but as “advancing”—it forms th parallel contrast to tui 退 (retreating).

FASCICLE ONE /55

muted,147 the mirror [of your heart] is unobstructed, so that the Perfected patterns are fully distinguished. If you listen into the distance, then the Way—a lofty, remote, uncut jade that does not wantonly gleam—still draws your keen ear for the subdued and tenuous.148 “Today the utmost acuity of mind that you possess is still bringing you suspicious thoughts. If you look outside at ordinary profane couples, will you [ever] realize your hesitations and doubts on the inside? By not making good use of our arrangement, it’s already passing you by. I hope only that what you cultivate is the Way, and what you studiously chant is the wondrous.149 Since you’ve found the Way and the wondrous, their high and low tones must be quite apparent to you. This isn’t something one schemes after. My disciple, give this your full thought, and sweep away these [other] longings. You had better take care of it!” For the preceding three passages, there is calligraphy by [Lord] Yang. [1] At night on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount [Wei Huacun] revealed her teachings and commanded me to write this. Earlier, on the evening of the twenty-second day, [some Perfected] had discussed the Way together in a separate room, and [the Ladies of] Purple Tenuity and the Southern Marchmount had spoken in unusually hushed tones, so that I did not understand their meaning. Today, therefore, [the Lady of the Southern Marchmount] instructed me to write this in order to answer suspicions in my mind on what they had discussed together. At first, when she came to reveal her teachings, her expression remained uneasy; when her instructions were finished, it was all right. [I, her] disciple, perceived only that her expression looked somewhat uneasy; there is nothing else to report.B

146 This echoes Xici zhuan in Zhou yi: “The gentleman abides in his house and sends forth his words. If they are good, then [people] more than a thousand li away will respond to them. How much more so for the ones nearby!” 君子居其室，出其言，善則千里之外應之，況其 邇者乎。 Zhou yi, 7.5b6-7 (Sibu congkan); cf. Wilhelm 1969, 305. 147 I read chu 觸 here as an alternate form of zhuo 濁 (usually “muddied” or “turbid”); see chu’s 10th definition in HDC 10:1386. In music, however, zhuo also describes low, sustained, or soft tones—so I render it here as “muted,” based on context. The word appears, for instance, in a passage in the “Yue ji” 樂記 (Record on Music), in Liji, 11.13a11 (Sibu congkan); Legge (1967, 2:111) translates it as “bass.” Synaesthesia features in this and the next sentence. 148 “Perfected patterns” (zhenli 真理; it may also be translated as “true pattern”) and “uncut jade” (pu 璞) are metaphors for the Way. 149 The terms “studiously chanted” (yanyong 研詠) and “wondrous” (miao 妙) are echoed by Tao Hongjing in Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2), 3.5b6, when explaining why Wei Huacun had also received some instruction from one of the Celestial Masters: “Note that at the time Lady [Wei] had studiously chanted the Dong jing [Cavern Scripture] and had put its manifold wonders fully into practice.” 夫人于時已就研詠洞經，備行衆妙。Wei may well be advising Yang Xi to chant more assiduously the foundational scripture of Higher Clarity, the Dadong zhenjing 大洞真經 (preserved with later materials in DZ 6; Robinet, A.1).

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[2]

That evening, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount spoke to [me, her] disciple, saying, “Tomorrow I shall visit the Pure Vacuous Palace on Mount Wangwu.150 I direct you to inform him [=Xu Mi] where I am going.” [3] That evening, she also said, “Just now, the western side of Mount Tongbo in the Eastern Sea avalanched more than two hundred zhang.”151 [4] Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity said, “The thoughts and concerns of a worldly person—why must each and every one be truly examined? You have no business answering what’s on his mind.” The Lady of the Southern Marchmount said, “I was just teasing him. [But] I wish to build him up, polish his substance.”152 A This B This

is Lord Yang’s own narration of events. There are many such examples. passage, too, is Lord Yang’s own record and discussion.

Comments The document before Tao Hongjing appears to have had a main body of three tiao or passages and a postscript adding background information as well as a few more miscellaneous remarks from the Perfected. The first tiao of the main body consists of a question by Yang Xi, followed by a long speech by the Lady of Purple Tenuity (prev. trl. Hsieh 2005, 252-70; Wang 2010, 787). The second is a brief transition, and the third a long speech by the Lady of the Southern Marchmount, Wei Huacun. Although the postscript itself is divided into four tiao, these are not included in any of Tao Hongjing’s tiao counts. The initial question, which may be paraphrased “Why don’t the Perfected write anything themselves?” is the kind of question that would be raised by a skeptic. Even though Purple Tenuity directs her reply to Yang, it seems unlikely that Yang, as the medium, would raise the question on his own initiative; he

This is the abode of Wang Bao (n. 33 above). Mount Tongbo is the abode of Wangzi Qiao (n. 34 above). One zhang, under the Eastern Jin dynasty, was equivalent to 245 cm, so the dimensions of the avalanche are not exaggerated: approximately 490 meters. Avalanches were considered inauspicious. 152 The absence of pronouns in this enigmatic passage makes interpretation difficult, but I prefer to read this as an example of an argument among Perfected—something that is imitated later on in Han Wudi neizhuan 漢武帝內傳 (Esoteric Biography of the Han Emperor Wu; DZ 292; trl. Schipper 1965, Smith 1992), in which the Queen Mother of the West and Lady Shangyuan (Shangyuan furen 上元夫人) argue over whether the Han Emperor Wu (r. 141-87 BCE) should be given scriptures. Here Wei Huacun plays the more sympathetic role, while the Lady of Purple Tenuity prefers greater caution. 150 151

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could easily raise it on behalf of Xu Mi, who may well have some lingering doubts about the authenticity of the messages he receives. However, Purple Tenuity’s answer may also be read as a kind of apologia for the entire shamanic enterprise. From a skeptical perspective, one could say Yang Xi is working out his own precarious, liminal position as a transmitter of messages between the ordinary and hidden worlds. The essay he produces turns out to be one of the most profound statements of Daoist belief concerning the origins of writing, the effectiveness of talismans, and the superiority of mystic insight to other possible ways of contacting the Perfected world. The Lady of Purple Tenuity begins by describing how the Perfected convey their messages to the human world—by their spoken words, and by their Lights (jing 景), the radiances of their own internal spirits. She describes their propagation in terms that recall what Zhou Yishan had said about his teachings rippling out “unimpeded in all directions.” She then describes (not reveals) the primordial forms of writing that the Perfected use. There is not one such form, as one might expect, but two. They correspond to the outer Lights (analogous to astronomical patterns, but invisible to humans) and inner Lights (again, the radiances of the Perfected ones’ inner spirits). These scripts were later debased or tainted in the human world, starting with the ancient sage-emperors Fuxi and Shennong, who either elaborated or simplified the originals. Purple Tenuity points out, in the most forceful language, that the Perfected would have no interest in writing in debased worldly scripts, that they are in fact forbidden to do so, and that even if they were to reveal their original writing, no mortal would be able to understand it. However, there is a channel of sorts between the esoteric and exoteric forms. The “dragon seals,” which correspond to the inner Lights of the Perfected, may be retrieved by adepts by a “return to the beginning” (presumably in meditation), a process that remains an utter mystery to ordinary people. Because of the complete inexplicability of this process to the non-initiated, the Perfected simply do not need to keep these primordial forms secret. In the Perfected world, the forms appear as “brightly-rayed emblems,” but in the mortal world, they are manifested as talismans (written in dark ink). The practicing adept, moreover, may freely join in their interpretation while meditating. In light of Purple Tenuity’s speech, we may understand why Tao Hongjing later on was so dissatisfied with Gu Huan’s 顧歡 (420/428-483/491) earlier anthology of these writings, Zhenji jing 真迹經 (Scripture of the Traces of the Perfected). The title itself was faulty, for based on Purple Tenuity’s remarks, there can be no “traces of the Perfected” in the world (Tao Hongjing writes to this effect in ZG 19.2a5-10). The background to Wei Huacun’s speech is explained in the postscript: two nights earlier (on July 26) Yang Xi had heard her and some of the other Perfected discuss the Way in hushed voices in another room, without saying why they did so, and this had aroused Yang Xi’s suspicions. Wei Huacun is not pleased by Yang’s lingering doubts, so she addresses the issue. The first part of

58 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Wei Huacun’s speech comes in the form of four-word-per-line poetry with occasional extrametrical particles thrown in. The first “verse” (with rhymes on Middle Chinese -eng and -uwng) describes the clarion brilliance of her teaching within the Perfected realm, while the second contrasting “verse” (appropriately with very broken rhymes, often on entering tones: -oj, -iX, -ik, -it, -+jH) describes how the music of her teaching is muffled within the mundane world. In the second part of her speech, she points out that only an adept with the greatest mental perceptiveness can hear her voice, and she suggests that the nearinaudibility of its tones is precisely what makes it attractive to such a person. However, the very same keenness of perception also makes this adept especially susceptible to doubt and to adverse outside influences. In Yang Xi’s case, it is looking at “ordinary profane couples” that causes him to have certain longings. She advises him to make good use of the Perfected persons’ arrangements for him (she hints at his upcoming marriage), for the chance is already slipping away. To eliminate unwanted desires, she recommends chanting, probably the verses of the Dadong zhenjing 大洞真經 (True Scripture of the Great Cavern). Even though Yang Xi writes, “There is nothing else to report,” at the end of the first part of the postscript, he goes ahead and does just that—probably after further reflection on what appeared to him that night. When Wei Huacun directs Yang to tell Xu Mi of her visit to Wang Bao’s Pure Vacuous Palace, this marks the beginning of an underlying story thread that extends into Fascicle Two. We learn later that she goes there with Mao Ying to review promotions and demotions (ZG 2.3b1-2) and to meet with Yang’s future mother-in-law (ZG 1.18a4). Thus parts of their conversations will be reported later on (ZG 1.18a4-5, 2.4b2-6, and 2.12a4-10).

July 29 and 30, 365: Yang Xi’s Betrothal and Marriage with the Perfected [1]

1.11b4-1.18b3

The night of the twenty-fifth day, sixth month in the third year of Prevailing Tranquility, the Year-Star in yichou.A [2] Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity appeared and descended. She also came together with a divine woman. The divine woman wore a one-piece dress of cloud brocade, cinnabar red on top and cyan blue below, the patterns and colors glittering brightly. At her waist there was a green embroidered belt from which dangled ten or more little bells, their colors alternating blue and yellow. A jade pendant hung from her belt on the left; it was like the jade pendants of this world but a bit smaller. The sudden light from her raiment illumined the whole interior of the room—it was as if the noonday sun were being reflected on pieces of mica. Her cloudlike tresses and lustrousB sidelocks were arranged with incomparable neatness, with a bun tied right at the top of her head and the

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rest of her hair trailing past her waist. She wore gold rings on her fingers and white pearl bracelets on her arms. She appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. To her left and right stood two maids. One of them wore a vermilion blouse and had a sachet with blue insignia at her belt. In her hand she also held an embroidered satchel that was around eleven or twelve inches long 153 and filled with books. There had to be somewhat more than ten scrolls. The mouth of the satchel was sealed with a white jade tag, and I saw inscribed on the tag the words, “The Inner Perfected Purple Script and Cinnabar Emblems 154 of the Divine Tiger of Jade Clarity.”155 The second maid wore a blue blouse and held a white box bound with a crimson ribbon. The white box seemed to be made of ivory. The two maids, who appeared to be around seventeen or eighteen years old, were exquisitely adorned. The complexions of the divine woman and her two maids were as lustrous and attractively translucent as jade. Five aromas filled the air, as if “incense-infant” were being burnt.C/156 As they first entered the room, they walked behind the Lady of Purple Tenuity. Just after entering the doorway, she announced, “Today a noble guest has come to visit and form a friendship with you.” At this I stood up immediately. Lady [Wang] said, “There’s no need to stand, but you ought to sit together, face each other, and exchange courtesies.” Lady [Wang] sat facing south.157 That evening I first sat below the raised bed, facing west. The divine woman then appeared to take her seat facing east on the same bed. We exchanged our courtesies of greeting with our left hands. Literally, “one foot and one to two inches long,” i.e., approximately 26.0 to 29.4 cm. On the basis of WSMY 47.9b8, I read the character 元 (prime) as an error for 文 (script). This part of the title, Neizhen ziwen danzhang 內真紫文丹章, would describe talismanic writing. The “Purple Prime” (Ziyuan 紫元) reading of the DZ text would refer to a place at the Southern Pole: Lady Purple Prime of the Southern Pole (Nanji ziyuan furen 南極紫元夫 人) appears in ZG 3.5a3, 6.8a7 (Hyland 1984, 264-65n180). 155 This part of the title, Yuqing shenhu 玉清神虎, refers to either or (probably) both of two Higher Clarity scriptures: (1) Dongzhen taishang shenhu yufu 洞真太上神虎玉符 (Dongzhen Jade Talisman of the Divine Tiger of the Most High, corresponding to the current DZ 1333; Robinet, A.33); (2) Shenhu shangfu xiaomo zhihui jing 神虎上符消魔智慧經 (Superior Talisman of the Divine Tiger and Scripture on Devil-Dispelling and Wisdom, corresponding to DZ 1344 and DZ 1334; Robinet, A.22). Comments to the latter appear in ZG 3.16a10-16b10 (see also Despeux 2000, 509). The “inner Perfected purple script” and “cinnabar emblems” correspond again to the two primordial forms of writing described the previous night. 156 A calligraphic work in Taipei’s National Palace Museum by the renowned Song artist Huang Tingjian 黃庭堅 (1045-1105) preserves a recipe for compounding “infant incense” (yingxiang 嬰香) out of (significantly) five exotic aromatic ingredients: aloeswood (jiaochen 角 沉), clove (dingxiang 丁香), Borneo camphor (longnao 龍腦), musk (shexiang 麝香), and onychia (jiaxiang 甲香). Although the completed incense yields a bolus that is to be consumed, not burnt, the recipe was probably somehow inspired by the present ZG passage. 157 That is, she assumes the position of master of ceremonies. 153 154

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When we had finished, the Lady of Purple Tenuity said, “This is the young daughter of the Higher Perfected Primal Lord of Grand Vacuity158 and Lady Li of the Golden Terrace.159 Long ago the Primal Lord of Grand Vacuity sent her to Tortoise Mountain160 to study the Way of Higher Clarity. When [her attainment of the] Way was complete, she received the writ of the Most High investing her161 as Ninefold Florescent Perfected Consort in the Upper Palace of Purple Clarity. Thereupon she was granted the surname An, the name Yupin, and the style Lingxiao.”

158 The Higher Perfected Primal Lord of Grand Vacuity (Taixu shangzhen yuanjun 太虛上 真元君) is often called “Primal Lord of Grand Vacuity” (Taixu yuanjun) for short; there are many variants. However, he is none other than Master Redpine (Chisongzi 赤松子), one of

the most famous immortals in Chinese legend and song, which often mention him together with Wangzi Qiao. The earliest literary reference to him in Zhanguo ce 戰國策 (Intrigues of the Warring States) already conforms to that pattern; see Zhanguo ce, 3.74b3 (Sibu congkan); trl. Crump 1996, 150. His biography appears in Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.1a3-7; trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 35-42. In that account, he rises to the heavens with “the Fiery Emperor’s young daughter” (Yandi shaonü 炎帝少女), not Lady Li. Confusingly, he occupies three seats in the pantheon—in his basic Master Redpine form, on the left of the fourth tier; in his elevated form, twice on the left side of the second tier: “The Left Sage Perfected Man of the Southern Pole and Southern Marchmount and Left Immortal Perfected Man of Grand Vacuity, Master Redpine” 左聖南極南嶽真人左仙公太虚真人赤松子 and “The Lord of the Way of the Center Who Flies at Dawn Above the Empyrean in Grand Vacuity” 太虚上霄飛晨中央道君. A note identifies the latter as Redpine (WYT 1.3a5-6, 1.3a10, 1.13a3). Redpine is also one of Lord Pei’s teachers (YJQQ 105.7b1-6). Grand Vacuity meanwhile refers to the realm of space and mystery—the term first appears in Zhuangzi: “This is why they don’t pass beyond Kunlun or wander through Grand Vacuity.” 是以不過乎崐崙，不遊乎太虛。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 7B.758 (ch. 22); cf. Watson 1968, 244. Later, mostly Numinous Treasure-influenced, commentaries make it out to be an otherworldly mountain. 159 For Lady Li, see n. 62 above. The Golden Terrace (Jintai 金臺) refers to a place on Fangzhang: alternate versions of her title call it Fangzhang Terrace (Fangzhang tai 方丈臺). 160 Tortoise Mountain (Guishan 龜山), like Mount Kunlun, is a kind of axis mundi and one of the Queen Mother of the West’s abodes. The prologue to Guishan xuanlu 龜山玄籙 (Mysterious Register of Tortoise Mountain; Robinet, A.27) provides a long description that in many details is based on earlier accounts of Mount Kunlun. Tortoise Mountain is visualized as being somewhere in the western quadrant of the heavens. In today’s canon, the relevant passage may be found in Shangqing yuanshi bianhua baozhen shangjing jiuling taimiao guishan xuanlu 上清元始變化寶真上經九靈太妙龜山玄籙 (Most Wondrous Mysterious Register in Ninefold Numina [Palace], Tortoise Mountain, in the Superior Higher Clarity Scripture Preserving Perfection on the Transformation of the Primordial Beginning; DZ 1393), 1.1b3-4a7. 161 The Most High (Taishang 太上 ), according to a comment by Tao Hongjing in ZG 5.1b5-6, refers more precisely to the Most High and Eminently Sage Great Lord of the Way in the Jade Dawn (Taishang gaosheng yuchen dadao jun 太上高聖玉晨大道君). WYT 1.3a2 puts him at the center of the second tier. To “receive the writ of investiture” (shou shu shu 受 書署) is the essential procedure in the otherworldly bureaucracy by which an adept joins the Perfected ranks. Mao Ying, for example, is said to have “received a writ of investiture” with his Perfected title; see Maoshan zhi (DZ 304; Robinet, C.10), 5.11a7-9.

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The Lady of Purple Tenuity also asked me, “In your world, has a person like this ever been seen?” I replied, “For the elevated refinements of her numinous worthiness, there is no comparison.” Then Lady [Wang] laughed out loud. “What do you think about her?” I did not respond at all. The Perfected Consort of Purple Clarity sat a long while without saying a thing. Earlier in [the palm of] her hand she had been holding three jujubes. They had the color of dried jujubes but were larger, had no pits, and did not taste like jujubes but had a pear-like flavor instead. First she showed one and gave it to me, then she gave one to the Lady of Purple Tenuity, and she kept one for herself. She said we should eat them, and a short while after we had finished, the Perfected Consort asked me about the year and month of my birth. I presented a reply saying that I was thirty-six, and that I had been born in the ninth month of the gengyin year [October, 330]. Then the Perfected Consort said, “My lord’s teacher, the Perfected Lady of the South[ern Marchmount], wields a Director of Destinies’ authority. Her lofty attainments in the Way are wondrously complete, and she is truly an exemplar of excellent Virtue. I have heard of my lord’s reputation for Virtue for a very long time. I hadn’t anticipated that I would have the pleasure of discussing our predestined affinity today. My desire is that the confluence of our hidden destinies may yet contain a bond [like that between] the pine and its gauze!”162 I addressed her by name and responded: “Immersed in filth, fallen into vulgar ways, my substance is marked by dust. The noble are cloud-distant from the lowly—for no reason you grant me respect. Having wantonly troubled the spirits to come down, I leap with infinite joy. May I receive your instruction to clear away my ignorance. That you save me, a mere commoner, shall be my desire night after night.” “My lord’s speech today mustn’t be so deferential and ornate,” said the Perfected Consort. “Deferential, ornate diction is particularly unsuitable for the occasion!”

“Pine and its gauze” (songluo 松蘿) is a stock metaphor for a harmonious husband-wife relationship (see songluo gongyi 松蘿共倚 in HDC 4:377). The pine gauze is the lichen known in the West as “Methuselah’s beard” (Usnea longissima); Bokenkamp (1996, 172) has “kudzu.” 162

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More time passed before the Perfected Consort announced, “I would like to compose a page of writing to give you, so I shall depend on my lord’s brush to convey my humble thoughts. Would that be all right?” Replying that I would heed her command, I immediately spread paper and dipped my brush to record her spoken instruction. She composed the following poem: [3] Cloudy gate-towers stand erect in the void above, Rose-gem terraces stretch into the densecloud net.163 [The Lady of] Purple Palace rides [her carriage of] green Light164 As numinous observatories dim on peaks and pinnacles, And from inside the malachite verandas and vermilion chambers A superior Virtue emblazons the rose-gold aurorae. Bending down, I rinse [my mouth] with fluid from a vase of clouds, Looking up, I pluck the blossoms of green crabapple. I wash my feet in the jade-bright Heavenly Pool,165 Beat oars across the Oxherd’s river,166 [Then] urge ahead my chariot of luminous clouds, Rein in my plummeting dragons by the dark riverbanks.167 I ruffle my blouse at the edge of [the world of] dust and dregs, 163 “Densecloud net” (yuluo 鬱羅) describes the dense, high-level mists in the Perfected world; for it and “malachite” (lang 琅) below I follow Bokenkamp 1996, 173. This may be the net’s earliest appearance. In Numinous Treasure texts, it becomes the name for part of the heaven of Jade Clarity densely filled with palaces, as in Yuanshi wuliang duren shangpin miaojing sizhu 元始無量度人上品妙經四住 (Four Commentaries to the Wondrous Scripture of the Upper Chapters on Limitless Salvation of Numinous Treasure; DZ 87), 2.10a6-10b9. 164 “Purple Palace” refers to its occupant, the Lady of Purple Tenuity (n. 57 above). Green Light (lüjing 綠景) is an otherworldly jade used in carriage construction. In Taiyuan zhenren Mao jun neizhuan (Robinet, C.10), cited in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 677.7a7, the Queen Mother of the West rides such a carriage; comparison with the jade carriages of other Perfected mentioned in Taiping yulan 677 is illustrative. Another synecdochal usage of green Light for a carriage is in Han Wudi neizhuan (DZ 292), 1.25b7 (where, however, lü 綠 is written lu 淥; early citations have lü). Jade of green Light is described as a product of alchemical process in YJQQ 68.7b2-6. The Light carriage matches Consort An’s cloud carriage below. 165 The Heavenly Pool (Tianchi 天池) is an asterism corresponding with the stars Arkab Posterior, Arkab Prior, and Rukbat (β2, β1, and α Sagittarii). 166 The “river” is the Milky Way. The Oxherd (Qianniu 牽牛) is the star Altair; its counterpart is the Weaving Girl (Zhinü 織女) or Vega. According to an ancient Chinese legend, the two could meet only once per year on the Double Seventh festival. 167 The dark riverbanks (xuan’e 玄阿 ) appear in Shangqing dadong zhenjing 上清大洞真經 (True Scripture of the Great Cavern of Higher Clarity; DZ 6; Robinet, A.1), 2.7b4 and Shangqing huangqi yangjing sandao shunxing jing 上清黃氣陽精三道順行經 (The Higher Clarity Scripture on Following the Three Trajectories and [Absorbing] the Yellow Pneuma and Yang Essence; DZ 33; Robinet, A.8), cited in WSMY 93.4b10, in contrast to the rising sun.

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Pick up my skirt while stepping through muddy waves. I wish to make a tie [like that between] mountain and lake— Hard and soft yielding [to each other] in harmony.168 Hand in hand, we shall be paired in purity, For the Way of the Higher Perfected is incorrupt. In Purple Tenuity we have met a good matchmaker, So I sing that we shall enjoy many blessings. When I finished writing, she took [the paper], examined it, and said, “Today I present this to announce the cinnabar[-like sincerity] of my heart. Don’t talk about it. If there are things the meaning of which you don’t understand, of course you may ask.” [4] The Lady of Purple Tenuity said, “I shall also compose through you a page of verse in order to impart understanding and to describe the auspicious occasion.” Once again I spread paper and dipped my brush, and the Lady [of Purple Tenuity] bestowed upon me her poem, saying169: [5] When the Two Images, inside and outside, melt together, The mystic pneuma surely divides in their midst.170 Otherworldly unions do not await the [bridal] sedan: What they anticipate171 is elevation to Perfection. [The Lady of the] Southern Marchmount casts shining gold— From afar you watch her pour out her book-satchel. 168 The imagery in this couplet derives from the Tuan zhuan 彖傳 (The Tuan Commentary) to the 31st hexagram xian 咸 or “Wooing” in Zhou yi. The hexagram itself is made up of the trigrams dui 兌 , associated with lakes and water, over the trigram gen 艮 , associated with mountains. Thus Tuan zhuan reads: “The pliant is above and the firm below. The two pneumas influence and respond to each other so that they unite. They are still and happy. The male is below the female, hence it is said: ‘…to take a woman to wife is auspicious.’” 柔上而 剛下，二氣咸應以相與，止而說，男下女。是以…取女吉也。 From Zhou yi, 4.1a3-5; cf. Wilhelm 1969, 541. 169 The break here is hidden in the DZ because the number of characters in this short passage (tiao) is a multiple of 17, the number of characters in an ordinary column of text. Without this break, it is impossible to match Tao Hongjing’s count of passages in ZG 2.4b7. 170 The Two Images (erxiang 二象) may be understood as heaven and earth, or qian 乾 and kun 坤 among the Eight Trigrams, or yang and yin. The mystic pneuma (xuanqi 玄氣) is a kind of primordial energy also found in the body, and its division leads eventually to renewal; see Dongzhen taidan yinshu jing 洞真太丹隱書經 (Dongzhen Scripture of Hidden Writings at Grand Cinnabar [Palace]; Robinet, A.18) as cited in WSMY 91.4b1-6. The Lady of Purple Tenuity describes Yang Xi and Consort An’s upcoming marriage in cosmic terms. 171 The character qi 其 here in the DZ text should be qi 期, based on the tongxingben and Shi dichen donghua shangzuo siming Yang jun zhuanji 侍帝晨東華上佐司命楊君傳記 (Biographical Record of Lord Yang, Principle Territorial Aide in Attendance to the Thearch of Dawn on East Florescence, and Director of Destinies; DZ 1428), 1.4a8.

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Your fine Virtue is reflected into the flying aurorae, Then it touches someone in the numinous empyrean. Riding the gale, you will be companions in quilted slumber And both safely carried into rose-gold clouds. Awakening, you will sigh at the convergence of heaven and humankind; The numbers themselves have predestined your relationship. The superior Way is truly incorrupt, [But in the world of] dust and dregs it goes unheard. Together you eye the hexagrams “Wooing” and “Duration,”172 So loudly I sing for your marriage!173 When I finished the calligraphy, the Lady of Purple Tenuity took and examined it. After looking at it, she said, “I am presenting this to you. Today it has been up to me to be the mistress of the fated engagement, the go-between who conveys your intentions.” The Lady of Purple Tenuity also said, “Tomorrow the Lady of the Southern Marchmount should be returning [from Mt. Wangwu]. Consort [An] and I will have to welcome her together between the clouds and two-tiered peaks.174 In case we do not return tomorrow, it will be a few days hence.” After another long pause, the Lady of Purple Tenuity said, “I’m going! Tomorrow I shall be coming to visit you again with Perfected Consort [An].” I sensed her getting off the bed but lost sight of her. The Perfected Consort lingered momentarily behind her and told me, “You have neither expressed your hidden feelings nor forgotten your ambitions. I hope my lord will give voice to all these things! I should be coming back tomorrow.” Then she took my hand and held it, but she got off the bed on her own. Just before going out the door, she suddenly disappeared. [6] At night on the twenty-sixth day of the sixth month, a group of Perfected arrived. To be precise, they were: Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity; The Ninefold Florescent Consort [An] of the Upper Palace of Purple Clarity; The Higher Perfected Director of Destinies, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount, my teacher [=Wei Huacun];D “Wooing” and “Duration” (heng 恆), the 31st and 32nd hexagrams of the Zhou yi, are associated respectively with courtship and marriage; Wilhelm 1969, 122-29. 173 Yin 因 here is an alternate form for yin 姻 (marriage); HDC 3:603 (definition no. 14). 174 Reading tao 陶 in its old “two-tiered peak” meaning; HDC 11:1039 (definition no. 1). 172

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[7]

The Perfected Man of Purple Yang [=Zhou Yishan]; The Middle Lord Mao [=Mao Gu]; The Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity [=Lord Pei]; The Younger Lord Mao [= Mao Zhong].

There was another person, quite young in age and with an unusually refined bearing. He wore a lotus cap and a vermilion robe with white pearls sewn in at the seams, and he carried a sword on his belt. I had never seen this man come before. He talked mostly about affairs in Mount Gold Court.175 He spoke together with the gathered Perfected, and again there were things I could not understand. He respectfully bowed, hands clasped, to the three female Perfected—[Lady Wang of] Purple Tenuity, [Consort An of] Purple Clarity, and [Lady Wei] of the Southern Marchmount—but he spoke with the others as an equal. He was said to be the Perfected Man of Mount Tongbo, Wangzi Qiao,176 but he never spoke to me. Once again, before and after this [visitation] there were Perfected persons who came and appeared to descend, but none at the time drew near to talk with me. [8] Each had been seated for some time when the Perfected Consort of Purple Clarity said, “I wish once more to trouble my discerning lord’s hand and brush to write something, so I can express my thoughts and forget speech. Would that be all right?” I spread paper again and waited for her instruction. Then the Perfected Consort, speaking slowly and in a low voice, instructed me saying, “I am the youngest daughter of the Primal Lord, the beloved child of Lady Li of Grand Vacuity.177 Long ago I began studying Perfection at Tortoise Terrace; I received jade insignia from His Eminent Highness,178 accepted the tiger register from the Purple Sovereign, and was granted a rose-gem battle-axe from the Heavenly Thearch. 179 I received documents as a Higher 175 Mount Gold Court (Jinting shan 金庭山 ) is an alternate name for Mount Tongbo, Wangzi Qiao’s abode (n. 34 above). 176 Wangzi Qiao’s earlier appearance in the undated “A List of Perfected Persons at a Gathering” is due purely to Tao Hongjing’s arrangement of the source materials. 177 Consort An uses abbreviated, familiar forms of her parents’ titles (n. 158, 159 above). 178 Tortoise Terrace (Gui tai 龜臺 ), on Tortoise Mountain, is the abode of the Queen Mother of the West (n. 160 above). Who precisely is meant by “His Eminent Highness” (gaoshang 高上) is uncertain, since the term appears in many deities’ titles (nine in WYT, including the five mentioned in n. 131 above), most in the Heaven of Jade Clarity. The jade insignia (yuzhang 玉章) are probably the jade pendants on her belt. 179 The Purple Sovereign’s (Zihuang 紫皇 ) full title is “Lofty and Vacuous Most High Purple Sovereign Lord of the Dao in Grand Simplicity, [Heaven of] Jade Clarity” (Yuqing taisu gaoxu shangji zihuang daojun 玉清太素高虛上極紫皇道真); WYT 1.1b10 places him on the right side of the first tier. The Heavenly Thearch (Tiandi 天帝) is the powerful deity frequently mentioned in Chinese texts beginning from the Warring States era, associated with the star Polaris (Schafer 2005, 45-47). It is not entirely clear what the tiger register (hulu 虎錄)

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Perfected Consort, so I freely travel in [the Heaven of] Jade Clarity. At regular intervals, I push apart the Nine Nets with my own hands, and my feet step lightly to the dark chambers.180 I dissolve my form in the numinous void, look up to quaff sun-root,181 go in to banquet at the Seven Watchtowers, and go out holding the reins to my cloud-wheels.182 I hold the Three Chronograms and rise together with them, scattering the luminous aurorae with my flying carriage.183 [So] it’s not that I can’t pick and choose from superior houses, inquire about purple-robed youths, seek a good companion from a kingly palace, mate and form a pair with an eminent spirit, meet with the mysterious, attract the wondrous, and befriend a gentleman in a thearch’s court.184 It’s just that, having calculated the moment to yield to a union,185 I responded to my measure of numerological destiny by lowering my Lights to the [world of] dust and froth; I harnessed three dragons abreast and plummeted down in order to summon the

is, since the two component characters of the term are not used together this way in other Higher Clarity texts, but it likely refers to the Shenhu talisman (n. 155 above). Meanwhile, battle-axes (yue 鉞) of jade or other stone were commonly used for ritual purposes. 180 The Nine Nets (jiuluo 九羅) are basically the Nine Heavens. Although there are many kinds of “dark chamber” (xuanfang 玄房), Consort An here refers to rooms in heavenly palaces where scriptures are stored, as in Taizhen yudi siji mingke jing (DZ 184), 3.11b2. 181 Sun-root (rigen 日根) is a purple solar efflorescence that one absorbs at sunrise. The practice is thoroughly described in Huangtian shangqing jinque dijun lingshu ziwen shangjing 皇天上 清金闕帝君靈書紫文上經 (Upper Scripture of Purple Texts Inscribed by the Spirits of the August Heavenly Thearchic Lord of the Golden Portal in Higher Clarity; DZ 639, Robinet, A.10), 1.4a8-6b2; trl. Bokenkamp 1997, 314-18. Ingesting emanations from the sun was a standard practice in early Daoism. An interesting description of a female adept ingesting the solar essence may be found in Yu Shinan 虞世南 (558-638), Beitang shuchao 北堂書鈔 (Excerpts from Books in the North Hall), 133.13a2-3; trl. Smith 1992, 2:678. 182 The Seven Watchtowers (qique 七闕) are the seven stars of the Big Dipper; when the term appears again in ZG 18.10b6, Tao Hongjing provides a gloss. “Cloud-wheels” (yunlun 雲輪) would refer to Consort An’s own cloud carriage, which she mentioned in her poem. 183 The Three Chronograms (sanchen 三辰) are the sun, moon, and planets, according to a gloss by Tao Hongjing in ZG 18.10b7. Consort An’s account in this and the previous line parallels in many ways the practices described in the ZG 18 passage. 184 Gentleman (lang 郎) here should be understood as a minor official (Hucker 1985, 301, no. 3563). Many deities are known as “thearchs” (di 帝) in the Higher Clarity pantheon. 185 Unfortunately, this phrase (tui ji ren hui 推機任會), which is so important for understanding Consort An’s motivation for marrying below her station, can accommodate many different interpretations. Hyland (1984, 118) writes, “I pushed the Trigger, gave free rein to opportunity…” Bokenkamp (1996, 175) has, “I grasp the crux of things and so seized this rare opportunity…” I take tui to refer to a process of calculation or inference, and ren to refer to the process of assuming, entering into, or going into the union, as if it were an assigned duty. In other words, Consort An becomes more of a passive figure than implied in Hyland and Bokenkamp’s translations.

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male of my mystic search and to pursue association with a suitable mate, that’s all. Because our fated destinies unite us,186 we have: The ink that fixes our names together, Our pure tallies joined in the precincts of jade, The neat arrangement of our dual felicities, The procession that brings the wild goose.187 When we share a taste from the gourd-goblet, Toast the quilt, and knot our clothes together, Regard your mate, who is in charge of your food: Within me are stored the Perfected recipes.188 “From this you may reckon that we have already fixed our lots on the otherworldly slips, and [that our names are] written in blue in the Upper Prime.189 Therefore our hearts, goodly and base, have been brought together, and the beauty of our counterpoised Lights is already delineated. As we fulfill our desires and roam freely, our joy will overwhelm earlier pleasures—isn’t this ‘oblivion in spontaneity’?190 This is also [the role of] the ‘Great Progenitor’ of the Two Images, for whom the pairing of inner and outer is a duty, nothing more.191 Indeed, don’t you change to Non-being and return to insipidity192 by 186 The term “unite” (xiangyu 相與) appears in Tuan zhuan for hexagram no. 31, “Wooing” (xian 咸) in Zhou yi—one of the hexagrams that we encountered earlier (nn168, 172). It may also be understood as “yielding to each other.” The idea that the “pliant is above, the firm below”—indeed, much of the content of Tuan zhuan for this hexagram—fits Yang Xi and Consort An’s relationship. Xiangyu is a key term in Part One of ZG. 187 The procession that “brings the wild goose” (xi yan 攜鴈) refers to the first step that a man’s family would take to put forward a proposal of marriage to the family of a prospective bride, as described in Yili 儀禮 (Etiquette and Rites), 2.1a (Sibu congkan); trl. Steele 1917, 18. 188 The “recipes” (fang 方 ) are formulas for various drugs and methods for consuming emanations from heavenly bodies. The phrase “in charge of your food” (zhong kui 中饋) appears in the section on hexagram no. 37, “The Family” (jiaren 家人) in Zhou yi, 4.7b10 (Sibu congkan), which describes the wife’s role in the kitchen (trl. Wilhelm 1969, 145). 189 The Upper Prime (shangyuan 上元), the highest of the Three Primes (sanyuan), is variously defined. In this context, it refers generally to the celestial realm. Consort An speaks of the process of having her and her husband’s names signed on the heavenly registers of the living, which are written on slips of material superior to common bamboo. 190 Consort An echoes a phrase from the Guo Xiang 郭象 (c. 250-312) commentary to the line in Zhuangzi that asserts, “The person who has forgotten self is said to have entered heaven.” 忘己之人，是之謂入於天。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 5A.428 (ch. 12); cf. Watson 1968, 133. Guo Xiang’s comment reads, “That which man cannot forget is the self, and the self seeming to have forgotten it is once again cognitive of it! This [i.e., what Zhuangzi speaks of] is precisely being not cognitive of not knowing, and oblivion in spontaneity [nature].” 人之所 不能忘者，己也。己猶忘之，又系識栽。斯乃不識不知而冥於自然。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 5A.429n8. 191 The Great Progenitor (Dazong 大宗) is another term from Zhuangzi. Besides being the subject of the sixth of the “Inner Chapters,” it is given a more concise definition in one of

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concentrating your feelings on the vacuous blade-edge and taking the numinous sword to the seven entanglements193—what we call losing yourself upon entering Grand Simplicity,194 preserving Perfection when opening the jade,195 and [launching] single Lights into the Eight Voids?196 Blossoming silently into purity on high, Our densecloud sedan on the streaming empyrean Will make phoenixes sing on the cloud-roads, Dragons croon, and tigers roar. Dual Lights of the Sovereign of Heaven, the “Outer Chapters”: “One who understands clearly the Virtue of heaven and earth is called the Great Root, the Great Progenitor.” 夫明白於天地之德者，此之謂大本大宗。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 5B.458 (ch. 13); cf. Watson 1968, 143. In other words, once Yang Xi attains “oblivion in spontaneity,” he also becomes a “Great Progenitor.” To some extent the term is like “root and progenitor” (gen zong) above (see n. 128): the primordial Way, but as embodied in the adept who fully realizes it. For the Two Images, see n. 170. 192 Non-being (wu 無) and insipidity (dan 淡) are qualities associated with the primal Way in Laozi. On Non-being, ch. 40: “The myriad things under heaven spring from Being, and Being springs from Non-being.” 天下萬物生於有，有生於無。 Laozi, 2.4a8 (Sibu beiyao); see also Robinet in ET 1042-45. As for insipidity, Laozi, ch. 35 (1.20a4-5) states: “As the Way emerges from the mouth, / How insipid it is! It is flavorless.” 道之出口，淡乎其無味。 193 Interpretation of this and the next sentence is extremely challenging. The phrase about the “numinous sword to the seven entanglements” (lingdao qilei 靈刀七累) parallels “single Lights into the Eight Voids” (danjing bakong 單景八空) in the next. “Vacuous blade-edge” (xuren 虛刃 ), like the “mystic blade-edge” (xuanren 玄刃 ) of ZG 1.5a9, suggests Butcher Ding’s knife in Zhuangzi (n. 90 above). However, I believe that Consort An is giving Yang Xi instruction about the spiritual union (not sexual intercourse) that takes place in a marriage of this kind, much as the groom in an earthly marriage might have been expected to guide the bride on the wedding night. The “vacuous blade” may thus be considered a kind of “spiritual penis.” ZG 4.6a3 applies “vacuous knife” (xudao 虛刀) in a similar fashion. I have not been able to identify the seven entanglements (qilei 七累); lei has a strongly negative connotation. 194 Grand Simplicity (taisu 太素) is primordial substance, a state of simplicity (n. 63 above). 195 “Opening the jade” (qi yu 啟玉) seems to be a deliberately ambiguous or suggestive phrase that leaves unsaid the noun that would follow. Shi dichen donghua shangzuo siming Yang jun zhuanji (DZ 1428), 1.6b5 here inserts the character qing 清, making the phrase “…opening Jade Clarity,” but that destroys the neat parallelism of the passage. The two characters qi yu are frequently used together with various terms for books, so that they may refer to opening scriptures, or at least their jade boxes, as in YJQQ 93.7a4-6: “This Way is declared on golden slips. How can one lightly proclaim their secret mysteries? Adepts fond of learning had better open their jade boxes to explore their secrets.” 此道布在金簡。安可輕宣其密奧哉。好學 之士宜啟玉檢，以探其祕焉。 A third interpretation, the one I favor, is that it somehow relates to the female part of the union and corresponds to terms like “jade gate” (yumen 玉門) and “jade pass” (yuguan 玉關) found in sex manuals (Wile 1992, 109, 133). 196 The Eight Voids (bakong 八空) are the eight orthogonal and diagonal directions. ZG 2.20b5-6 further explores the single Lights (danjing 單景), said to “go forth alone” (duwang 獨 往) to protect the Female Ones (ciyi 雌一)—hence my insertion here of “launching.”

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We shall climb afar the Chronograms’ towers197 As shooting stars cast rays And sun and moon illumine our bodies. Our mouths will spew dark vapors, Our eyes will trigger lightning. Above we shall sleep in rose-gem chambers And roam freely through Jade Clarity. Our hands will draw in luminous clouds As our feet take us up [Mount] Gold Court.198 “From this moment you will be but a little while from attaining the Way. It’s proper that you get completely hard inside and outside—in principle like metal and stone—and that your feelings are entwined in our paired affection, so that our hearts become as one in the bed curtains! It’s necessary that we ‘hold the quilt’199 with equal firmness, for any frivolous contact would begrime our seven spirits, aggrieve our cloud-souls, and give free rein to our earthsouls,200 wouldn’t it? Surely because it is I who seeks family ties with you, discerning lord, that there is nothing evil here. 197 The Sovereign of Heaven (Tianhuang 天皇), with the Sovereigns of Earth (Dihuang 地 皇) and of Humanity (Renhuang 人皇), comprise the Three Sovereigns (Sanhuang 三皇) who

ruled the earth in high antiquity. Pre-Qin and later texts give them several different identities (Yamada in ET 836-37). According to one tradition, there are actually twelve Sovereigns of Heaven, making a kind of dynasty; Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 78.1a6-1b5. The number twelve puts them in correspondence with the Twelve Chronograms (shi’er chen 十二辰 ), which may be understood as the Twelve Stems (shi’er zhi 十二支) or, in Schafer’s (2005, 5) words, “…the asterisms recognized by the Chinese along the paths of the planets and the moon across the sky, that is, the “Twelve Stations” [ci 次] of Jupiter on the ecliptic, analogous to the twelve signs of our zodiac…” By “dual Lights” (shuangjing 雙景) Consort An thus draws a poetic parallel between the pure pneumas of the sun and moon and the union of her own Lights with those of Yang Xi, indicating that as spirits they will visit each magnificent, otherworldly tower around the circuit, just as the sun and moon do. Meanwhile, the actual sun and moon will continue to shine on their corporeal bodies. The Three Sovereigns are not really part of the Higher Clarity lineage but are affiliated with the tradition of the Sanhuang jing 三皇經 (Scripture of the Three Sovereigns), of which only fragments remain. 198 For Mount Gold Court, see n. 34, 175. 199 The phrase “hold the quilt” (bao qin 抱衾) alludes to a line in “Xiao xing” 小星 (Little Stars) in Shi jing (Legge 1994, 4:31-32), which the Mao commentary describes as being in the collective voice of a ruler’s concubines. 200 Consort An’s comment assumes familiarity with the relationship among the various souls and bodily spirits. In the present context, the “seven spirits” (qishen 七神) are the spirits of the Three Prime Palaces (Sanyuan gong shen 三元宮神) or three Cinnabar Fields (dantian 丹田), the Grand Lord of the Mysterious Pass (Xuanguan dajun 玄關大君) at the Vital Gate (mingmen 命門, the navel), and the spirits of the three cloud-souls (n. 98 above), as described in Huangtian shangqing jinque dijun lingshu ziwen shangjing (DZ 639; Robinet, A.10), 1.8b9-12a5; trl. Bokenkamp 1997, 322-27. These seven spirits help to control the seven earth-souls (po), which tend to wander. To give free rein to one’s earth-souls would be to invite death. In

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“Today we can be said to have fulfilled our desire to embrace Perfection. Our feelings are already as one, so we shall straightway unite201: Yoke a four-horse carriage in the jade-bright void, Go as a pair into the northern darkness,202 Together pluck the crimson fruits of Jade Orchard, Side-by-side gather cinnabar blossoms in Wild[wind] Garden,203 Share drinks from the waters of Purple Stream, Bathe together on the banks of Cyan River.204 In purple blossoms, feathered capes, Solar cap, and lotus crown, [We shall] roam freely in Higher Clarity Higher Clarity, the “seven spirits” may also refer to the following sets: (1) the spirits of the stars of the Dipper; (2) the seven spirits of the face—hair, brain, eyes, nose, ears, tongue, and teeth—as described in Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2), 3.2b6-3.4a4. Another much older tradition in medicine speaks of seven spirits housed in the body’s five viscera (wuzang 五藏): heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, and spleen. The early medical text, Huangdi bashiyi nan jing 黃帝八十一難經 (Yellow Thearch’s Classic on Difficult Issues; DZ 1024), 4.30a7-31a4, states that the liver stores the cloud-souls, the lungs the earth-souls, the heart the spirit (shen 神), the spleen consciousness and knowledge (yi 意, zhi 智), and the kidneys seminal essence and will (jing 精, zhi 志); trl. Unschuld 1986, 367. After death the three evanescent cloud-souls disperse toward heaven, while the seven earth-souls linger around the body in the earth. 201 On “unite” (xiangyu 相與), see n. 186 above. The first three of the four characters in this phrase rhyme, marking a kind of emphasis; the rhyme differs from the poem below. 202 I follow the tongxingben and Shi dichen donghua shangzuo siming Yang jun zhuanji (DZ 1428), 1.7a4 for “northern darkness” (beixuan 北玄); the DZ text has “this darkness” (ci xuan 此玄). 203 Although WSMY 23.2b10 mentions another Jade Orchard (Yupu 玉圃 ), this one is more likely either an alternate name for Mystic Orchard (n. 108 above), a part of Mount Kunlun like Wildwind Garden, or perhaps a bright counterpart. Wildwind Garden (Lang yuan 閬園, an abbreviation of Langfeng yuan 閬風園), would be on Wildwind, variously a peak, foothill, or tier of Kunlun. Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.11a2-3; trl. Smith 1992, 2:556: “As for [Kunlun’s] three corners, one corner lies due north and [shines with] the brilliance of the zodiacal asterisms; it is called Wildwind Peak.” 其一角正北，干辰之輝，名曰閬風巔。 204 Although there are later references to Purple Stream (Zichuan 紫川 ), its location is unspecified. A Purple Stream is said to flow into the north, in contrast to the south-flowing Red River (Chishui 赤水) in a poem dating to the Northern Qi; see Ouyang Xun, ed., Yiwen leiju, 98.1698. Cyan River (Bihe 碧河) is actually the freshwater Cyan Sea (Bihai 碧海), reduced to “river” in the Perfected perspective. Cyan Sea surrounds Fusang in Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.9b9-10; trl. Smith 1992, 2:554. Cyan River appears with Fusang 扶桑 and places east in a brief citation from Wei Huacun’s biography in Shangqing dao baojing 上清道寶經 (Higher Clarity Scripture of Treasures of the Way; DZ 1353), 4.7b9-10 and in the version preserved in Yan Zhenqing 顏真卿 (709-785), Jin Zixu yuanjun ling shangzhen siming nanyue furen Wei furen xiantan beiming 晉紫虛元君領上真司命南嶽夫人魏夫人仙壇碑銘 (Stele Inscription for the Altar of the Immortal Consort Wei of the Jin Dynasty, Lady of the Southern Marchmount, Primal Worthy of the Purple Void, Concurrently Higher Perfected Director of Destiny), in Yan Lugong ji 顏魯公集 (Collected Works of Yan Zhenqing), 9.1b6 (Sibu congkan).

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And have joint audience with the Three Primes.205 [When our carriage of] Eight Lights emerges and descends, Phoenixes will push open the cloudy passes.206 [We shall] look up and rinse our mouths with Golden Marrow,207 Chant the songs of Jade Mystery,208 Float through the air while sleeping and feasting To lofty gatherings at the Grand Dawn,209 With four ensembles sonorously singing210 And incense-mothers presenting smoke.211 205 Here “Three Primes” (sanyuan 三元) refers to the deities known as the Lords of the Way of the Three Primes (Sanyuan daojun 三元道君). The poem to this point roughly parallels Huangting neijing’s 14th stanza, which culminates with an audience with the “Three Primes.” The Liangqiuzi 梁丘子 commentary to that line reads, “The Lords of the Way of the Three Primes each dwell above the Three Clarity [heavens]….” 三元道君各處三清之上. See Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet A.34), 2.3b10-4a2; YJQQ 11.34b2-4. 206 The Eight Lights (bajing 八景) in this couplet refers to the eight chariots of Light on which the Perfected travel. They are associated with the Eight Purities (basu 八素), described as eight white cloud-chariots or eight female gods, and they are analogous with dragons (Robinet 2000, 203; also n. 112 above), so they are paralleled by the phoenixes in the next line. Fei 扉 here is a verb, not a noun, per Tao Hongjing’s note on this character in ZG 2.20a3. My translation of this and the previous lines is somewhat closer to that of SK 39; Bokenkamp 1996, 176, places greater emphasis on the visualization in meditation aspect. 207 Golden Marrow (jinsui 金髓) appears in Dongzhen taishang shuo zhihui xiaomo zhenjing (DZ 1344, Robinet, A.22), 1.11b8. Most references to Golden Marrow are to alchemical recipes, but the context here and in DZ 1344 suggests a stellar efflorescence absorbed through the mouth as a form of pure nourishment. 208 Jade Mystery (yuxuan 玉玄) is part of Jade Clarity heaven. WYT 1.2a2 lists a deity on the right of the first tier titled the Grand August Lord of Jade Mystery (Yuxuan taihuang jun 玉玄太上君), whose role in scriptural transmission is explained in Shangqing taishang basu zhenjing (DZ 426; Robinet A.3), 1.7a1-2, 1.8b4-6. SK 42n36, citing YJQQ 21.19a6-8, makes the term a contraction of “Jade Capital and Mystic Metropolis” (Yujing Xuandu 玉京玄都), in the Heaven of Higher Clarity—but that is influenced by Numinous Treasure cosmology. 209 Grand Dawn (taichen 太晨) or Great Dawn (dachen 大晨) is the place of sunrise. A “Talisman of Concealment of the Ninefold Brilliant Grand Dawn” (jiuhui taichen yin fu 九暉太晨 隱符) appears in Dongzhen bajing yulu chentu yin fu 洞真八景玉籙晨圖隱符 (Talismans of Concealment of the Eight Lights, Jade Registers, and Asterism Charts; DZ 1359), 1.1a10. A Quanzhen scripture puts the Thearchic Lord of East Florescence (Donghua dijun 東華帝君) there; Jinlian zhengzong xianyuan xiangzhuan 金蓮正宗仙源像傳 (Illustrated Biographies of the Orthodox Immortal Stream of the Golden Lotus; DZ 174), 1.14b5. 210 The “four ensembles” (si jun 四鈞) are large groups of musicians (ZG 18.13b8-10), but the symbolism of four suggest the four seasons and four quadrants of the heavens—an allencompassing sound. See Huainanzi in Lau and Chen 1992c, 3/26/21-22; Ban Gu 班固 (3292), Han shu 漢書 (History of the Han; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975), 21A.969-70. 211 The image of “incense-mothers” (xiangmu 香母) offering incense smoke comes through Buddhism. As far as I can determine, an incense-mother is a kind of devi (tianmu 天母), which is a class of enlightened protector deity (not to be confused with the Hindu goddess in this case), or possibly an apsara. Besides ZG 3.7b7, the term appears rarely. In Yiqie rulai

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Drawing our heads together to mate our vision, Tugging each other’s sashes, crossing our skirts— ‘Will this not be a joy indeed?’212 Will this not be the fulfillment of our wishes, too? If you, discerning lord, follow destiny and go along with this union, I shall certainly not deny you anything. At any rate, you must not turn your back on the truth, rebel against the unseen, and carelessly give free rein to the feelings in your breast!” Her instruction complete, once again she took and examined [the paper], and she said, “Today I’m presenting you this calligraphy with the hope that it will clear away your hesitations and doubts.” When she finished speaking, she smiled. After a long while, the Lady of Purple Tenuity said, “The Perfected Consort’s statement is complete. The predestined tie of friendship that we discussed is quite plain. You may never countenance another [spouse]: your hidden share of mysterious destiny makes it so.” [Then] the Lady of the Southern Marchmount revealed her instruction, [and I] wrote: “Having repeatedly sensed your otherworldly allotments, the convergence of your mysterious destinies, I responded to my share [of fate] and came to marry you off, establish in person your tie of marriage.213 This is the joyous event by which you take Perfection by the hand. Surely it is to show your possession of the title of a ‘matched couple’ and to set forth your duties— inner and outer—and nothing more. There is no need to follow recklessly the baseness and filth of the world and practice low deeds of license and corruption. You are mated with a numinous consort in order to connect with her Lights; you are receiving the young daughter of Perfected nobility. Her intimate communion with you will also be of great benefit to the advancement of your rank, and you will have no worry at all about harmfully depleting yourself. The thousand spirits will thus be at your command, and tests of your insight will no da mimi wang weicengyou zuishang weimiao damannuluo jing 一切如來大祕密王未曾有最上微妙大曼 拏羅經 (Sūtra of the Unprecedented, Highest, Wondrous, Great Mandala of all the Buddhas and the Great Vajrasattva; in Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 大正新脩大藏經, vol. 18 [no. 889]), p. 544c20, it becomes part of the longer name of a certain incense to be offered to the highest mandala. The Qing-era Baizhang qinggui zhengyi ji 百丈清規證義記 (Verified Meaning Commentary on Baizhang’s Pure Rules; in Shinsan zokuzōkyō 新纂續藏經, vol. 63, [no. 1244]), p. 417c9-18, describes the arrangement of six devi images around an altar to Buddha; besides the “incense-mother,” there are “mothers” offering flowers, a lamp, water, fruit, and music. In a poem by the Tang poet Pi Rixiu 皮日休 (c. 833-883), “incense-mother” is a type of incense; his friend Lu Guimeng 陸龜蒙 (d. c. 881) writes: “Incense-mothers are never trailed by infants” 香母未垂嬰; in Cao Yin 曹寅 (1659-1712) and Peng Dingqiu 彭定求 (1645-1719), ed., Quan Tang shi 全唐詩 (Complete Tang Poems), 614.14b2, 618.6a7 (Siku quanshu huiyao). 212 Consort An quotes the question in Lunyu’s opening lines; cf. Legge 1994, 1:137. 213 I read xin 新 (newly) in this phrase as an alternate form for qin 親 (in person), and yinyuan 因緣 (predestined affinity) here as yinyuan 姻緣 (tie of marriage).

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longer need to be laid out.214 The banners of the Perfected can surely overcome all before you, as [the two of] you can always drive your curtained cloud-chariot together. “Some time ago, at a suggestion from the Lady of Purple Tenuity, I framed this idea for your sake. Now everything has gone as we wished, so we’re all the more pleased. Just take care lest doubts reemerge in your heart! Yesterday I saw Lady Li of the Golden Terrace215 at Pure Vacuous [Palace], and she said that you still have a heart that doubts what’s correct, and that your expression shows a little regret.E/216 If you go contrary to this elevation [of your status], you’ll do us great wrong. The Divine Tiger [Talisman] in Inner Perfected Jade Writing in Cinnabar and Blue, which the Perfected Consort has, is not something that you have. If you, with such a fine talent, were to ask to copy it, of course she wouldn’t hide it from you. But how can the joining of hands today be no more than a matter of texts? You’ll definitely be riding your Lights into the jade-bright empyrean! If there is anything you still don’t understand, you should discreetly ask whether it’s permissible or not.” The Perfected Consort looked at the Lady [of the Southern Marchmount’s] written words, and then smiled and said, “The dual eminences217 who have joined our hands together are delighted with our good union. The curtained chariot of Light, our shared device, is hereby complete!” A This is the beginning of Consort An’s descents. The record was made into a separate scroll, so it starts again with the year and name of reign era. B This character [zong 鬃 (horse mane or pig bristles)] should be written zhen 鬒. Zhen is descriptive of the appearance of black hair. C “Incense-infant” (xiangying 香嬰) is “infant incense” (yingxiang). It comes from abroad. D In all instances here, above, and below of the word mou (“I, me, my”), Lord Yang conceals his own name. E The expression [yan yan 眼眼 (lit. “eye-eye”)] should be written with the characters hen hen 恨恨(“regret”).

Comments Source materials: Tao Hongjing was able to collect two relatively long Yang Xi manuscripts on separate scrolls in which the events of these two nights were 214 Tests of insight (shiguan 試觀 ) are situations that the Perfected set up to determine whether an adept is ready for advancement. They are discussed at length from ZG 5.5a9. 215 That is, Yang Xi’s future mother-in-law (n. 62, 159). Hyland 1984, 296n221, aptly comments: “Lady Li’s criticism of Yang Xi is reminiscent of a mother’s reaction to a future son-in-law. Apparently some things never change, even in the empyrean realms.” 216 Because of the lack of subject in this phrase, it is not certain who is showing regret here. It could also be translated, “Her expression showed a little regret.” 217 I understand shuangtai 雙臺 to be a term of respect for the Ladies of Purple Tenuity and the Southern Marchmount: “dual eminences.”

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recorded. The first scroll, the beginning of which is presented here, is unusual in that Yang wrote it not for Xu Mi but for himself, as a private record of his own betrothal, marriage, and other interactions with the Perfected. The excerpt extends into Fascicle Two, with the Perfected guests giving Yang Xi their advice and instruction after the wedding ceremony. The second, presented in Fascicle Two, was written for Xu Mi, so Yang included a few additional statements from the Perfected that concerned Xu directly. Modern editions of the ZG split Yang Xi’s personal account of his marriage between the first and second fascicles, but these were originally parts of an unbroken unit. This section has been widely studied and translated in the past. Hyland (1984, 108-24) has a complete English version, but with many errors. I closely followed SK 36-43, which presents the complete, well-annotated version in Japanese, and the excellent English version in Bokenkamp (1996, 171-9), which, however, inexplicably omits Consort An’s instructions on spiritual union (the very heart of her declaration) as well as the section on Wangzi Qiao. I also consulted another complete Japanese translation in Ishii (1991, 67-79) and partial translations in French by Schipper (1965, 55-7), in Japanese by Kominami (1981, 442-4 and 448), and my own earlier work (1992, 1:232-3, 242). Kroll (2003, 160) has a fine translation of Purple Tenuity’s poem for the betrothal. The betrothal: The more youthful appearance of the “divine maiden” Consort An, compared with her maids, owes to her higher level of attainment. A more ideal appearance would be that of an infant, but to produce or become an infant, one needs first to be married. Among the Perfected, the biological clock actually runs backward, though they must continuously work at it, so when they leave adulthood, enter puberty, and stand at the cusp of childhood, that is when they get married. We may also note that she is titled a “Consort” not after she is married to Yang Xi, but at some earlier time, when she receives her writ of investiture from the Most High. The writ of investiture functions as a kind of sealing of one’s destiny, and once received it cannot be altered. Consort An therefore knew long in advance that she would be betrothed and married, and for her what transpires here is only a working-out of the details. Consort An comes from a distinguished family. Her father is identified only by his title, the Higher Perfected Primal Lord of Grand Vacuity, and later he is called by variant forms of this title, but basically he is Master Redpine. We learn later (ZG 3.1a4-5) that her mother, called Lady Li of the Golden Terrace, Displayer of Numina on Fangzhang Terrace, or Lady Li of Grand Vacuity for short, is the daughter of Li Qingbin 李慶賔 and youngest sister of Li Lingfei 李 靈飛. Now as far as I can tell, ZG is the earliest text to mention these two men, but later, during the Tang dynasty especially, they often appear in Laozi’s hagiographies, which describe them respectively as Lord Lao’s grandfather and father. It is by no means certain that they held these identities for Yang Xi himself (perhaps the later writers merely borrowed their names from the ZG for

FASCICLE ONE /75

their own ends), but their titles and surnames do suggest such a connection. In other words, Consort An may well be one of Lord Lao’s cousins. In passing I should note also that the Japanese translators in SK combine the titles of Consort An’s parents, so that her father effectively disappears—she becomes only the daughter of Lady Li—and other translators more or less do the same.218 The reason for this, I suspect, lies with the way Master Redpine’s title is written: here he is called a “Primal Lord” (yuanjun 元君), a title that in later writings is usually associated with women, so that it becomes easy to read his title as a part of Lady Li’s. In Wei Huacun’s esoteric biography, we are in fact told that an immortal male is called “Perfected Man” (zhenren 真人) and an immortal female is called “Primal Lord.”219 However, this rule does not always apply. In Baopuzi neipian, for example, we read, “The Primal Lord was Laozi’s teacher” (元君者，老子之師也),220 and he is definitely a male figure. Catherine Despeux and Livia Kohn (2003, 58) comment that the title “was a common appellation for female deities by the late middle ages, but in earlier texts refers to a male instructor.” Once one realizes that Consort An is Master Redpine’s daughter, several other passages in ZG suddenly become clearer. To a large extent, the roles of bride and groom are reversed in these betrothal and marriage ceremonies. After all, the Perfected are pure yang to Yang Xi’s yin, so that Yang Xi becomes the bashful bride and Consort An the person who goes on and on about her glorious background and connections. The matchmaker, Purple Tenuity, teases Yang Xi a bit, asking what he thinks of the awesomely beautiful Perfected maiden who will become his wife—she does not tease the bride. The matchmaker and bride-to-be exchange poems; the future groom is content just to copy them down. During the betrothal Yang Xi suddenly breaks into a short, highly formal speech, with each sentence containing eight words, divided into two balancing phrases. Such speeches often appear in Higher Clarity writings, especially the hagiographies, and they are delivered whenever an adept meets a Perfected person, usually a teacher, from whom he or she hopes to obtain scriptures and 218 SK 4n9, SK 31, 34n6. Hyland (1984, 110, 116) provides Consort An with a father when he is mentioned the second time, during the marriage, but calls him only “Origin Sovereign” and does not identify him; in the betrothal passage, the title “Origin-Lady of Superior Truth of the Grand Void” is misassigned to Consort An herself. Kominami (1981, 443), writing in Japanese, has for the betrothal the more ambiguous “This is the young daughter of Lady Li from the Golden Terrace of the Higher Perfected Primal Lord of Grand Vacuity.” Wiles (1986, 225) and Ishii (1991, 73n) mention only Lady Li for both passages. Bokenkamp (1996, 172, 175) conflates the titles of Consort An’s parents into that of Lady Li in the betrothal: “This is the youngest daughter of the Upper-Perfected Primal Sovereign of the Grand Void, Lady Li of Golden Terrace.” In the marriage passage, he preserves shortened versions of the same titles, implying the existence of only Lady Li. 219 Li Fang et al., ed., Taiping guangji, 58.358, line 8; the editors of that encyclopedia cite both Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783) and Wei furen neizhuan (Robinet, C.11) as their sources. 220 Ge Hong, Baopuzi neipian 抱朴子內篇 (Inner Chapters of the Master Who Embraces the Unhewn) in Wang 1985, 4.76; cf. translation in Ware 1966, 79.

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thus be saved. The adept is said to “give account of himself” (zichen 自陳; Li Fengmao 1986, 35; Smith 1992, 1:241-4). These speeches always contain floridly self-deprecatory language and end with a plea for salvation. Consort An rebukes Yang Xi for his self-account, because a betrothal is not the right occasion for such formal speechifying. Ironically, though, both she and Yang Xi continue to use very polite language with each other, in contrast to Purple Tenuity, who speaks with greater informality. No betrothal would be complete without an exchange of matching poems. Consort An’s poem (rhyming on -a, -ae, and -aeH) concerns mostly herself and her descent to the mundane world to find her mate, but it opens with a couplet describing the Perfected realm as well as a brief mention of Purple Tenuity emerging from it. Purple Tenuity’s poem (rhyming on -jun, -yin, -wen, and -jin) concerns mostly Yang Xi and his eventual ascent to the heavens with his bride, but it opens with a bit of instruction and a brief allusion to the Lady of the Southern Marchmount’s revelation of scriptures to Yang Xi. Consort An speaks of a “superior Virtue” (probably her own), while Purple Tenuity sings of Yang Xi’s “fine Virtue.” Both poems end with ringing praise for the coming union. The two poems thus concentrate respectively on Consort An and Yang Xi, but they do not neglect to mention the other concerned parties, Purple Tenuity and Southern Marchmount. The wedding: For the marriage ceremony the next night, Yang Xi is interested only in recording who shows up and who says what. He does not describe the actual steps of the ceremony, though Consort An alludes to them at one point. He does note carefully the first appearance of Wangzi Qiao, the Perfected Man of Mount Tongbo, who does not deign to say anything to him. Once the guests take their seats, he begins taking dictation again. Through the entire evening, even after the guests leave and Consort An lingers a while on his bed (in Fascicle Two), he does not say a word. He reduces the night’s events to a series of speeches. First, Consort An. She describes her background and training once again and lists her numerous otherworldly accomplishments, all to emphasize that she could have had her pick from any number of high-ranking Perfected suitors. However, accepting her fate, she descends to the mundane world to choose a suitable partner and enter into marriage with him. The steps of the ceremony that she describes in rhyme (-ang or -aeng(H), four words per line) are fairly conventional: the partners sign a register, the groom brings a goose, the couple drink a toast to their quilt, they knot together their garments, and so on. What is most unusual is Consort An’s advice on how Yang should perform his duties in the bedroom. Assuming a role like that of the goddesses in traditional manuals who teach the proper way of sex, she teaches instead the union of Lights, a spiritual union, in highly suggestive terms that could apply almost as well to sexual intercourse. This union is described in terms of emulating the Great Progenitor (Dazong 大宗), for which the act of pairing is merely

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a duty. Yang Xi has to concentrate his feelings on his “vacuous blade-edge” (the spiritual equivalent of a penis), lose himself while entering Grand Simplicity and “opening the jade,” and send his Lights into the void (ejaculation). In other words, he must concentrate his heart, the seat of mystical discernment, so that he can send his internal Lights alone into the void, where they will join with Consort An’s counterpoised Lights in perfect harmony. Consort An breaks into poetry to describe the ecstatic spiritual journeys that occur during the union, even as the couple’s “mouths spew vapors” and “eyes trigger lightning” in the throes of passion. Appropriately, I believe, the rhymes fall on -ew, -aw, -uw and -ang or -eng. Consort An wants Yang to “get completely hard inside and outside,” but both of them must “hold the quilt with equal firmness” lest any physical contact occur. Consort An finishes her speech with a final poem (rhyming mostly on -en, -on, -in) extolling the pleasures that she and her new husband will enjoy. She promises that she will not deny him anything, provided that he does not turn from truth, rebel against the unseen, or give free rein to his passions (i.e., attempt physical union). The Ladies of Purple Tenuity and the Southern Marchmount then speak in turn. Purple Tenuity, the “go-between,” keeps her comments short, telling Yang that he is never to take another partner. Southern Marchmount, Yang’s teacher, explains that in marrying the two, she herself was following destiny. She reminds Yang that he is not to emulate the corrupt ways of the world in his marriage to the Perfected, and that the marriage, being in fact equivalent to a promotion, will grant him access to scriptures in Consort An’s possession. He is also not to harbor any doubts—she hints that Yang Xi’s new mother-in-law is still dissatisfied with him on this score. Consort An scans through Yang Xi’s record of their speeches and pronounces their shared chariot of Light ready— the wedding ceremony is complete.

FASCICLE TWO

_____________________________________________________________ Setting Scripts and Images into Motion, Second Part

July 29 and 30, 365: Yang Xi’s Betrothal and Marriage with the Perfected (continued)

2.1a4-2.2b6

[9]

The Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity [Lord Pei]1 instructed me to write and said, “The way of yellow and red, with its method of mixing pneumas, was received, taught, and spread by Zhang Ling.2 It’s just a technique for sowing children—it has nothing to do with the Perfected. I often see [people] practice this and exhaust their seed—never see those who cultivate this and get life! In one million, there isn’t a single one who isn’t put on trial and punished! In ten million, there may perchance be one person who masters it, but having mastered it, he only gets as far as non-death.3 Zhang Ling received this [method] merely to teach the people of the world; his own transformation and ascent were due to his not practicing it! Take care lest you speak of the inferior way of the muddied life, for it would spoil the proper pneuma4 of the Perfected empyrean. If you meditate on some lecherous desire, keep to heart a superficial vision, and practice the superior Way at the same time, you’ll be fit only to understand the Three Offices’ trials and punishments! This is what we call ‘carrying jade while rushing into a fire’ and ‘burying a dog in a golden coffin.’ By ‘superficial vision,’ I mean the yellow and red; by ‘the superior Way,’ I mean the 1 The DZ text writes “Perfected Man of the Pure Vacuous [Heaven]” (Qingxu zhenren 清 虚真人 ), or Wang Bao—certainly an error for the “Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity” (Qingling zhenren 清靈真人), or Lord Pei. WSMY 42.9b9, citing this passage, preserves the

correct name. Besides, Wang Bao is not listed among the Perfected who descended this night, and Wang Bao rarely speaks with Yang Xi, but Lord Pei often does. 2 The “way of yellow and red” (huang chi zhi dao 黃赤之道) refers to sexual practices expounded in the many versions of the Huangshu chijie 黃書赤界 (Yellow Script with Red Borders), of which a primary concern is the ritual of the “harmonization of pneumas” or “breaths” (heqi 合氣), a form of ritualized intercourse, often among unmarried people; our text refers to this practice disparagingly as “mixing pneumas” (hunqi 混氣). The practice was part of the earlier Way of the Celestial Master taught by Zhang Ling 張陵 (fl. 2nd century; also called Zhang Daoling 道陵), said to receive his teachings in 142. For an annotated translation of Zhang’s biography in Shenxian zhuan, see Campany 2002, 349-56. The relevant scriptures have survived under the titles Dongzhen huangshu 洞真黃書 (Yellow Script of the Dongzhen [Canon]; DZ 1343) and Shangqing huangshu guodu yi 上清黃書過度儀 (Ritual of Passage of the Yellow Script; DZ 1294); see Wile 1992, 25-26; Schipper in TC 129-31; Kalinowski 1985. 3 That is, he achieves deathlessness or earthbound immortality, not Perfection. 4 Proper pneuma (zhengqi 正氣) is the primordial pneuma that one is born with and (ideally) replenishes throughout life by correct practice (Kohn 2005, 11-14). 78

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hidden books5—such is the difficulty people still have in understanding [these things].” [10] The Lady of Purple Tenuity instructed me to write and said, “Now, although the Yellow Script with Red Borders contains secret essentials for prolonging life, it in fact [describes] inferior techniques for getting life, which are not what the celestial Perfected in their lofty palaces, the men who course on curtained chariots and pellucid Lights, may speak of. This way is for cultivating longevity and generating offspring, and nothing more—it isn’t the superior Way. If you harbor any lecherous pneuma in your heart while practicing the [teachings of the] hidden books, you’d be fit only to hold brushes in the Water Office and sound drums for the Three Officials!6 You would not be able to rely on your mystical prominence, nor would you be able to depend on [rites of] expiation.7 Put succinctly, if you are chaste, the spirits will descend; if you are focused, the gods will be at your service! [11] “Now for those whose Lights are mated with Perfected persons, what they treasure is preserved in their partners; their mutual love is present in their two Lights.8 Although they are named ‘husband and wife,’ they don’t practice a husband and wife’s deeds. The empty name is only used for show before the sight and hearing [of others]. If you were to preserve the yellow and red within your breast, you would not be able to see the Perfected, nor would you be able to meet with numinous people. You would only toil and labor9 while carrying on with the affair—and there would be labor for the Three Officials!” At cockcrow, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount instructed me to write and said, “The cock has crowed! The predestined tie of friendship that we discussed grows deep.” On “hidden books” (yinshu 隱書), see Fascicle One, n. 109. That is, at best he will perform lowly tasks in an undesirable place in the other world. On the Three Offices or Officials of Heaven, Earth, and Water, see above, Fascicle One, n51. 7 “Mystical prominence” (xuanting 玄挺) is the condition of having been selected for salvation. This term (also in ZG 10.18b10, 11.20a1, 19.3b8), abbreviates “rising prominence of mysterious Virtue” (xuande shangting 玄德上挺), which appears in ZG 2.9a4. The “rites of expiation” (jiexie 解謝) are posthumous in nature. Eskildsen (1998, 78), paraphrases this line: “Posthumous rites of expiation then become the only hope for salvation, but such rites do not confer the higher forms of salvation.” Jiexie appears in Wang Chong’s 王充 (27-92) Lunheng 論衡 (The Balance for Argument) in connection with expiatory rites to appease the Earth God after construction and earthmoving projects; in Huang 1983, 25.1039 (ch. 72). 8 “Two Lights” (erjing 二景) normally refers to the sun and moon, but here it also refers to the yang and yin of the blessed union, the paired “chariots” of the partners. 9 The word used here for “toil and labor” (qulao 劬勞) is pointedly chosen for its association with parenting and the memory of deceased parents. It appears in two odes in the Shi jing: (1) “Kaifeng” 凱風 (Pleasant Wind): “What toil and pain did our mother endure!” 母氏 劬勞, and (2) “Lu’e” 蓼莪 (The Tall Cowherb): “Alas! alas! my parents, / With what toil ye gave me birth!” 哀哀父母，生我劬勞. Trl. Legge 1994, 4:50, 350, respectively. 5 6

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[12]

The Perfected Man of Purple Yang [Zhou Yishan] instructed me to write and said, “Grand Vacuity,10 remote and elusive, accepts the exalted and lowly alike. The significance of your embodiment of Virtue will be manifest only in your hidden destiny. Take care lest your heart be bound up with misgivings on the yellow and red.” [13] The Middle Lord Mao [=Mao Gu] instructed me to write and said: “One whose dark aims violate the Lights Is gathered and blended into the dusty gloom.11 One whose jade[-like resonances] shake the ‘chamber of error’12 A pure wind wafts far away. “You had better work hard at it!” [14] When they had finished speaking, the various Perfected persons left. The Perfected Consort lingered behind for a moment and said, “I wish to trouble you once again, discerning lord, with a comment.” And she instructed me to write as follows: [15] “Forget your longings in my fragrant purity, brighten your heart at the joining of our tallies. Only then shall we repeat our intimacies in a house of pious clarity, our Virtue joined with the streaming Lights, and unite properly in joyful congress, our hair arranged into ridges and peaks. In my humble opinion, discerning lord, you set high store on your numinous radiance. Just let go of your impediments and forget base things!” When she had finished speaking, she held my hand and got off the bed. Just before going out the door, she suddenly vanished.

“Grand Vacuity” refers to Yang Xi’s father-in-law; see Fascicle One, n. 158. The key for understanding this difficult poem is to realize that it is an acrostic, and that the character fu 俯 (come down) in the present DZ text is an error for fu 府 (gathered), as given in Shi dichen donghua shangzuo siming Yang jun zhuanji (DZ 1428), 1.8b7-8. The word 府 may be an alternate for 俯 (HDC 3:1214, 10th definition). A later copyist, not noticing the acrostic, must have made the “correction,” only to obscure the original meaning. The first characters of each line form the words “Dark Establishment [i.e., the underworld], Jade Clarity” (Xuanfu, Yuqing 玄府玉清). The phrase “violate the Lights” (chu jing 觸景) may also be understood as “besmirch the Lights” (zhuo jing 濁景), as in YJQQ 88.8b6. 12 The terms used in this line are similar to those found in ZG 1.10a10-10b1. The “chamber of error” (qianfang 愆房) refers to the corrupt world; see Fascicle One, n. 144. 10 11

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Comments The wedding guests’ statements are among the most frequently cited and discussed passages in the entire ZG (Despeux and Kohn 2003, 15-6; Eskildsen 1998, 77-8; Hyland 1984, 50-1; Strickmann 1981, 183-9; Kobayashi 1992, 31; Kroll 2003, 163-4). Basically they describe in detail the dangers of sexual practices that were a part of the Celestial Masters movement of the time. A dire outcome would await Yang Xi if he were to mix Celestial Masters with Higher Clarity practices, or retain any trace of sexual desire while practicing techniques from the Higher Clarity hidden books—he would be demoted to a menial position in the underworld. The techniques taught in the multiple versions of the Huangshu chijie (Yellow Script with Red Borders) may prolong life, and they may get life (in the old-fashioned sense of “getting” children), but they are inferior, almost always lead to failure, and are intended only for the ever-procreating mass of humanity. They have nothing to do with the search for Perfection. The Perfected Man of Purple Yang reassures Yang Xi that Consort An’s father, who is absent from the ceremony, “accepts the exalted and lowly alike.” Yang Xi may therefore expect fewer problems from his father-in-law than from his mother-in-law. By way of summary, Mao Gu offers a short acrostic quatrain (rhyming on -ajH and -aejH) contrasting the fates of those who besmirch or violate their Lights with those who preserve their purity in the world. The acrostic makes it clear that the former are gathered into the “Dark Establishment” (the underworld), while the latter are wafted into Jade Clarity. After the guests leave, Consort An lingers a moment and gives a few parting words of advice and encouragement. Her statement, “…unite properly in joyful congress, our hair arranged into ridges and peaks,” implies that even the most elaborate hairstyles would not be messed up during their bedroom activities.

July 30, 365: Excerpts from an Alternate Version for Xu Mi (plus an undated poem) 2.2b7-2.5a4

[16]

At night on the twenty-sixth day of the sixth month, eight Perfected persons descended: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

The Left Lady [Wang] of Purple Tenuity; The Ninefold Florescent Consort [An] of the Upper Palace of Purple Clarity; The Higher Perfected Director of Destinies, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount [=Wei Huacun]; The Perfected Man of Purple Yang [=Zhou Yishan]; The Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity [=Lord Pei];

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[17]

6. 7.

The Middle Lord Mao [=Mao Gu]; The Younger Lord Mao [=Mao Zhong].

There was another person, quite young and with a refined bearing. He wore a lotus cap and vermilion robe and carried a sword at his belt. I had never seen him before. I suspect he was the Perfected Man of Mount Tongbo, Wangzi Qiao. He talked mostly about affairs in Mount Gold Court, and much of what he said I could not understand. He showed deferential respect to [Lady Wang of] Purple Tenuity, the Higher Perfected [Director of Destinies Wei Huacun], and the Ninefold Florescent Consort [An]. [18] To them he bowed courteously, with hands clasped, calling himself a subordinate official.A [19] The Higher Perfected [Director of Destinies, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount Wei Huacun] said, “Yesterday, with Shushen [=Mao Ying], I visited the Pure Vacuous Palace just to look into matters pertaining to those who are obtaining and losing immortality and Perfection. Recently [the names of] forty-seven persons were removed all at once, and only three persons in total were restored. I also reexamined the name-slips for you and your cohorts. For now they look fine! Xu so-and-so’s is still found among the tablets of those destined for earldom.B [20] “At first I hadn’t realized that he has been improving so much. In cleansing his heart and advancing by diligence, he has thoroughly watered his root with the truth. With a heart cinnabar[-like in its sincerity], he is utterly devoted in purpose, as if he were treading on ice and fire. If he goes on like this for long, then the Perfected may no longer flee him, and the Way to immortality may no longer be hidden [from him]. If he were only to put a complete end to his lustful thoughts, then he could indeed meet with our kind at once. You had better record this and show it to him!” These were the words of the Lady of the Southern Marchmount.C [21] The Middle Lord [Mao Gu] said, “His elevation to earldom rests with this subordinate official [=me]. That venerable old gentleman 13 —I may soon be remembering him again.” 13 A variant in Shangqing zhongzhen jiaojie dexing jing 上清眾真教戒德行經 (Scripture of Teachings and Admonitions of the Multitudinous Perfected of Higher Clarity on Moral Behavior; DZ 458), 2.3a1, replacing “venerable old gentleman” (dalaozi 大老子) with “the Most High and Laozi” (Taishang Laozi 太上老子), reads, “The Most High and Laozi may soon be remembering him again.” The same text makes the first part of the following speech by Wei Huacun, up to “forget the Way,” a part of Mao Gu’s speech, then inserts the words, “It was also said…” (you yue 又曰) to mark the beginning of Wei’s speech. Robinet (1984,

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[22]

“In the eastern Yangzi region, I have not seen anyone so diligent about the Way. But don’t presume upon an earldom and forget the Way. Pretentiousness is an affliction on Virtue, extravagance a disaster to the self, obstinacy the beginning of failure, and shamefulness a blow-tube in the body.14 Only after getting rid of these four obstacles can one begin to inquire about the Way, whereupon the singing shafts of numinous carriages will each day seem to appear. “If you have a heart filled with lust and error, don’t practice the Way of the Higher Perfected. Yesterday, I saw the Pure Vacuous Palace removing the names of people of this sort, and just then they were being tortured and disciplined [in preparation to be] transferred to the Three Officials. By reason of this, can you not be careful?” In the previous passage, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount speaks. [23] “Senior Aide Xu should be careful about approaching corpses and paying visits of condolence15 within the year. Inform Immortal Marquis Xu16 thusly.” (Spoken by the Younger Lord Mao [=Mao Zhong]. When he finished speaking, he roared with laughter.17) 2:332) calls the DZ 458 citation a better version, but I disagree: such an arrangement would imply that Mao Gu accompanied Wei Huacun and Mao Ying on their visit to Wang Bao’s Pure Vacuous Palace, but there is no indication elsewhere of that happening. Furthermore, Mao Gu’s contrasting designations of Xu Mi as an earl versus an old gentleman is later picked up by Mao Zhong, who jokes about Xu’s earthly versus heavenly titles. 14 The blow-tube (yue 籥) image derives from Laozi, ch. 5: “Is not the space between heaven and earth like that of the bellows and blow-tube?” 天地之間，其猶橐籥乎？ Laozi, 1.3b7 (Sibu beiyao). Usually the words tuo 橐 and yue are read as a compound for bellows, while yue by itself is a kind of flute, but in the Guodian manuscript yue is replaced by the word “tube” (guan 管). Both the bellows and blow-tube are used to fire pottery (Ryder 2008, 170n5). The blow-tube as a conduit for pneuma reappears in ZG 4.15a4, also in a pottery conceit. Here the “blow-tube in the body” vividly suggests the sudden and ultimately fatal loss of seminal essence (jing 精) during an act of shamefulness (probably sexual). 15 Daoists are often told to avoid corpses, funerals, and so on, except when absolutely necessary (as in the funerals of one’s parents). ZG 10.24b8-25a3 gives a similar instruction. 16 The Immortal Marquis Xu (Xu xianhou 許仙侯) is Xu Mi, whom the Perfected often call by one or another of his otherworldly titles. A note by Tao Hongjing in ZG 12.5a1-2 identifies “Senior Aide Xu” (Xu zhangshi 許長史) with “Chamberlain Xu” (Xu qing 許卿), which is short for “Left Chamberlain of Higher Clarity” (Shangqing zuoqing 上清左卿); another note by Tao Hongjing in ZG 20.12b1-2 describes both “Immortal Marquis Xu” and “Chamberlain Xu” as Xu Mi’s position after attaining Perfection. 17 In the DZ, this line appears as an interlinear comment in small characters, in a manner identical to those of Tao Hongjing’s other comments, but it was undoubtedly Yang Xi’s own interlinear comment instead, so I include it here with the main text in parentheses. As pointed out in SK 50n11, which cites ZG 19.9a9-9b3, Tao’s original version of ZG distinguished the various textual layers not only by different sizes of characters but also by different colors of ink. The present DZ text of ZG uses only black ink, so there may well have been some

84 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

“Once the heart of stinginess is forgotten, one’s gain is quite different. If baseness and shamefulness are not eliminated, [one’s name] is not written in the registers of life. Although Senior Aide Xu has already eliminated [baseness and shamefulness] for a short time, he will have to re-eliminate what he has once eliminated.” (This was spoken by [the Perfected Man of] Pure Numinosity.) “The Eastern Minister and Director of Destinies [Mao Ying] is well aware of Senior Aide Xu’s charitableness and reverence. Yesterday, when the King of Xiaoyou Heaven [Wang Bao] asked, ‘Where is this man now? Which Way does he cultivate?’ the Eastern Minister replied, ‘He is a scholar-official from my home village.D [24] “‘On the inside, he discerns Perfected rectitude, while on the outside he mixes up with worldly affairs; he is still a man of fine mettle. Today he cultivates the Way of Higher Perfection.’ This statement matches with my own opinion that [Senior Aide Xu] has something of an earl’s likeness.” (This was spoken by the Lady of the Southern Marchmount.) For the preceding passages, twenty-four in all, following the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, there is also calligraphy by [Lord] Yang.18 [1] “Of breezy, distant, Perfected mettle, inwardly mirrorlike and outwardly harmonious— ‘Zeng Shen19 offers a field; The heart of cinnabar shares his boat.20 White strands three are removed, confusion in formatting the textual layers of ZG 2.3b10-4b7. The Younger Lord Mao laughs probably at the dissonance between Xu Mi’s earthly and celestial titles. 18 The DZ text indents this line and writes the first part of the sentence in large characters, and the second part in small characters. This is clearly an error: consistency would require an indented line entirely in large characters. In this regard I follow SK 47n1. The phrase, “following the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month,” indicates all the passages after the twentyfourth, i.e., counting from the twenty-fifth, the day of Yang Xi’s betrothal. 19 Zeng Shen 曾參 (505-436 BCE), commonly called Zengzi 曾子 or Master Zeng, was one of Confucius’ main disciples. Besides the dozen or so statements attributed to him in Lunyu, he and his disciples were also credited with compiling Lunyu, Xiao jing 孝經 (Classic of Filial Piety), the commentary to Daxue 大學 (The Great Learning), and an 18-chapter Zengzi (now fragmentary). This and the next three lines are a rebus on Xu Mi’s style Sixuan 思玄 (“Contemplates the Mysterious”), as Tao Hongjing notes below (note E) and in ZG 20.12a10, with riddling instructions on how to construct the characters for Sixuan. 20 The DZ text here writes “cinnabar” (dan 丹 ) instead of “boat” (zhou 舟 )—clearly an error, since it violates the poem’s rhyme scheme. It may be amended on the basis of ZG’s tongxingben. Apart from the couplet’s meaning as a rebus on Xu Mi’s style, it implies that Xu Mi is exceptionally filial, like Zeng Shen, and has a heart of cinnabar-like sincerity.

FASCICLE TWO / 85

And covered up by square’s head’—E Your name is recorded in the Grand Ultimate, Written on gold in the eastern districts.21 Hitch up your robe at the Seven Crossings,22 And steep in concentration in the Grotto Tower.23 Once your internal encumbrances are eliminated Your cloud- and earth-souls are made compliant. Guard them without tiring! Store them up—don’t cease! Having got rid of the five obstacles,24 You will be enfeoffed as earl, become a marquis.”F The preceding was [written] at the instruction of Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity, who directed that it be shown to Senior Aide Xu. For the preceding passage there is a copy by the Senior Aide [Xu Mi]. A This passage repeats the above but with minor differences. What was written previously was Lord Yang’s own record of Ninefold Florescent’s descent. He kept

The eastern districts (dongzhou 東州) are the eastern island paradises (dongzhou 東洲). The Seven Crossings (qidu 七度) are the seven visible stars of the Dipper, envisioned as fords for entry to the other world. According to Robinet (1984, 2:163), the term may also refer to “seven rotations” of the stars; the relevant scriptures speak of the adept shifting or moving to the seven stars and crossing beyond them. Furthermore, as Tao Hongjing explains below in note F, this line refers to the “practice of the flying steps.” Scriptures describing such practices would include at least Dongzhen shangqing kaitian santu qixing yidu jing 洞 真上清開天三圖七星移度經 (The Dongzhen Higher Clarity Scripture of Opening the Three Celestial Charts and Transfer via the Seven Stars; DZ 1317, Robinet, A.19), Dongzhen shangqing taiwei dijun bu tiangang fei diji jinjian yuzi shangjing 洞真上清太微帝君步天鋼飛地紀金簡 玉字上經 (Superior Dongzhen Higher Clarity Scripture in Jade Characters on Golden Slips by the Thearchic Lord of Grand Tenuity for Pacing the Celestial Mainstay and Flying on the Terrestrial Filaments; DZ 1316, Robinet, A.4), and Taishang feixing jiushen yujing 太上飛行九神 玉經 (The Jade Scripture of the Most High on Flighted Travel to the Nine Spirits; Robinet, A.24, corresponding to DZ 428), cited in YJQQ 20; instructions on preparation in YJQQ 20.4a6-5b1 are especially relevant. 23 As Tao Hongjing points out in note F, “Grotto Tower” (donglou 洞樓) is equivalent to “Grotto Chamber” (dongfang), at the center of the head (Fascicle One, n. 96). This line probably relates to practices described in the Dongfang jing 洞房經 (The Scripture of the Grotto Chamber), which predated Yang Xi and the Xus; it now forms part of Dongzhen gaoshang yudi dadong ciyi yujian wulao baojing 洞真高上玉帝洞雌一玉檢五老寶經 (Dongzhen Precious Scripture of the Five Elders, Enveloped in Jade of the Female One, in the Grand Cavern of His Eminent Highness the Jade Thearch; DZ 1313, Robinet, B.1). See also Robinet 2000, 202-03. 24 The “five obstacles” or “difficulties” (wunan 五難) are likely the four obstacles listed above, plus lust. SK 52n8, cites Han Wudi neizhuan (DZ 292), 1.10b8-11a7 (trl. Smith 1992, 2:502-03) for a different but related set of five obstacles. Another set of five is defined in ZG 6.8a7-9: (1) practicing charity while poor; (2) studying the Way while rich; (3) controlling destiny to achieve no-death; (4) obtaining the chance to see the Dadong zhenjing; and (5) being born in a latter age. However, those are external conditions, not internal obstacles. 21 22

86 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

it secret and did not show it [to Senior Aide Xu Mi]. From this point onward, this [version] explicates matters of concern to the Senior Aide, for the purpose of showing to the Senior Aide. Hence there are two versions of this episode. B “Xu so-and-so” is used in place of the Senior Aide’s name. Lord Yang presents this as a memorial [to Xu], so he does not write Xu’s personal name. C This alludes to the affair that she spoke of earlier on the twenty-fourth day— that tomorrow she would visit Mount Wangwu. D By “home village” he means that Jurong and Maoshan belong to the same realm, not that he is originally a native of Xianyang. 25 E These four lines are a rebus on the characters si xuan 思玄 [“contemplating the mysterious”], which comprise the Senior Aide’s [Xu Mi’s] style.26 F “Seven Crossings” refers to the matter of the flying steps; “Grotto Tower” refers to the matter of the Grotto Chamber.

Comments All but the last part of this section consists of excerpts from the second scroll on this night’s events, the one that Yang Xi prepared for his patron Xu Mi. Tao Hongjing notes that much in the second was identical to the first, so here he preserves only the passages that differ, and most of these directly or indirectly concern Xu Mi. In this second version, Yang Xi sometimes identifies the speaker by placing an interlinear comment after the speech, instead of identifying him or her in the main text at the lead-in to the speech. It is difficult to say for sure what the original document looked like, since the calligraphy breaks may have become confused in transmission. In the present DZ text, they are quite freely placed, so that some speeches are combined in individual passages or tiao, while others stretch across separate passages. Furthermore, because Tao removed these passages from their original contexts, we cannot determine how they mesh with the post-wedding ceremony discussions in the first version. The remarks about Xu Mi indicate that, for the time being at least, he is in good standing. His name is on the registers of those destined for elevation to the status of earl in the Perfected hierarchy, but it is by no means fixed there forever. His name may still be removed or re-added to the register at any time, and judging from the 47:3 ratio of demotions and promotions mentioned by 25 Mao Ying’s biography (YJQQ 104.10b2) states that he was a native of Nanguan 南關 in Xianyang 咸陽 Commandery. On Jurong and Maoshan, see Fascicle One, n. 48. 26 The poem opens with a rebus, a word-game in which the instructions for writing words are given in the form of riddles, but with the clues forming their own poem. The first couplet constructs the character si 思 from “field” (tian 田 ) and “heart” (xin 心); when they “share a boat,” they occupy the same space to form si. The second constructs xuan 玄 by removing the three strokes at the bottom of “strand” (mi 糸) and then covering it with the top or the “head” (tou 頭) from the character for “square” (fang 方). Essentially, Wei Huacun advises Xu Mi to live up to his style: he should “contemplate the mysterious,” i.e., the Way. Additional meanings are discussed in the “Comments” section.

FASCICLE TWO / 87

Wei Huacun, it is far easier to lose status than it is to win it. He is to advised to “put an end to his lustful thoughts,” which would enable him to meet in person with the Perfected, to forget the “heart of stinginess,” and to avoid corpses and paying visits of condolence. He has temporarily succeeded in eliminating “baseness and shamefulness,” but before long he will have to do it again. Mao Gu’s ambiguous comment, “I may soon be remembering him again,” seems to suggest the fall from grace will come soon. Wei Huacun lists “four obstacles” to his elevation. Her comments may also apply to Yang Xi, since Yang must also continue working hard to eliminate his own obstructions, particularly lust (passages prev. trl. Strickmann 1981, 92, 126, 196; Smith 1992, 1:245). Tao Hongjing here places a poem (rhyme -uw; partly trl. Kroll 2003, 1656 and Strickmann 1981, 126-7) addressed to Xu Mi. It is undated and taken from another manuscript, but it must have been presented around this time, since it echoes ideas in the first one. After a short, unrhymed statement on the attributes of one suited for Perfection, the poem opens with a four-line rebus on Xu Mi’s style, Sixuan 思玄 or “Contemplates the Mysterious.” The rebus is incredibly rich: by cleverly exploiting the polysemous quality of classical Chinese it manages to contain riddled instructions on how to construct the characters for si and xuan even as it passes comment on Xu Mi himself. Beyond the rebus and its literal meaning (explained in n. 26), the four lines may also be read as follows: “Zeng Shen emerges from his field; / The cinnabar-hearted one shares his boat / White strands three are shifted, / To cover up a square-head.” In connection with the first two lines, we may note that Zeng Shen is said to have come from a poor farming background (hence he “emerges from his field”), that he was renowned for filial piety, that his own name means “three,” and that several of his statements in Lunyu also feature “three”: he states that he “daily examines himself on three points” and discusses “three principles of conduct which the man of high rank should consider specially important” (Legge 1994, 1:139 and 209). “Sharing the boat” (tong zhou 同舟) suggests united effort or friendship. Therefore, the first couplet suggests by association that Xu Mi is as filial as Zeng Shen. Mention of the “cinnabar heart” also recalls what the Lady of the Southern Marchmount had said about Xu Mi earlier. In the second part of the rebus, “square-head” (fangtou 方頭) can refer to an obstinate person (HDC 6:1571). We are thus treated to the image of a stubborn man who tries to hide age by combing his few remaining hairs over the bald spot— which tallies with what we know of Xu Mi’s desperation to overcome old age. The remainder of the poem provides general advice on what Xu should do before he becomes a Perfected earl. To eliminate internal encumbrances, he is to take the flying steps to the Big Dipper and visualize his Grotto Tower in meditation. He must guard his cloud- and earth-souls so they do not wander off, and he must eliminate the “five obstacles” (probably lust plus the four obstacles listed earlier).

88 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

July 31, 365: Brief Comments on Inner Observation [1]

2.5a5-2.5b7

The Lady of Purple Tenuity instructed me, saying, “If you open the side of the Flowery Canopy27 . . .”A At night on the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month, I was instructed to write this. For the previous passage, there is calligraphy by Yang. [1] “The accumulation of [seminal] essence exerts an influence to which all the myriad creatures respond, [but] if your devotion to the wondrous is still incomplete, then the superficiality of your form isn’t terminated. If the superficiality of your form isn’t terminated, then in the midst of your Grotto Chamber the difficulty is clearly distinguished at once. Long ago I received this method, and I often face the northwest in order to actualize it [Mt. Kunlun].28 If you actualize the northwest in miniature, it becomes easy to see. It can be shown clearly—like this.”B On the twenty-seventh day of the sixth month, instructed by [the Perfected Man of] Purple Yang [Zhou Yishan].C For the previous passage, there is a copy by the Senior Aide. [2] The two lords each had six pages. The ones following Lord Pei held bamboo staffs with blue yaktail streamers, and one page carried an embroidered satchel at his belt.29 The ones following Lord Zhou held bamboo staffs with yellow yaktail streamers (there was no satchel).30 The previous two passages are written in the hand of Person A. 31 A This

matter is brought out in the third fascicle.32

27 The Flowery Canopy (huagai 華蓋 ) is both an asterism (Cassiopeia) and a space just below the eyebrows. In ZG 9.10a4, Tao Hongjing notes the alternate name “Flowery Courtyard” (huating 華庭 ), which in ZG 9.10a6-7 is described as a space just below the eyebrows. Other texts link the Flowery Canopy with eyebrows and lungs (Kohn 2001, 91). 28 The northwestern image being visualized is probably Mt. Kunlun. ZG 5.6b9-10 describes Zhuang Bowei 莊伯微 visualizing Mt. Kunlun while facing the northwest at sunset (SK 52n11); the same appears in YJQQ 110.7a9-b2, citing Dongxian zhuan 洞仙傳 (Biographies of Cave-dwelling Immortals; Bumbacher 2000, 394-99). Visualizing Kunlun exclusively may have been an older practice. In Higher Clarity visualizing the northwest and Kunlun or ingesting emanations from that direction is usually done as part of a broader cycle. 29 Staffs ornamented with yaktails were carried by official emissaries (definitions for maojie 髦節 and maojie 旄節 in HDC 12:731, 6:1584). The satchels likely carry scriptures. 30 “There was no satchel” (wu nang 無囊) is clearly an interlinear comment by Yang Xi, so I place it in parentheses in the main text, not with Tao Hongjing’s comments below. 31 Tao Hongjing explains his inclusion of materials from unknown hands in ZG 19.5b106a4. These he distinguishes with the celestial stem series jia 甲, yi 乙, bing 丙, ding 丁, etc. 32 Specifically, this passage appears in ZG 9.10a2-11a5.

FASCICLE TWO / 89 B In the northwest is the spirit-radiance of heaven and earth, the Mysterious Gate in inward illumination.33 C On this, the twenty-seventh day, the numerous Perfected descended again, and the matters [that they discussed] must have been very many, [but] none of them have emerged.

Comments Tao notes that a large number of Perfected must have visited during this night, but only fragmentary records were preserved in manuscripts by Yang Xi, Xu Mi, and an unknown third person. Southern Marchmount’s teachings on inner observation are only noted here; Tao places them in what is now the ninth fascicle. Lord Pei and Zhou Yishan also arrived bearing further advice for Xu Mi. Lord Pei’s advice seems to have been lost; Zhou Yishan’s speech is rather cryptic because it alludes to something else that had been said but since lost. He says, “Long ago I received this method…” but which method is not entirely clear. Most likely he refers to actualizing Kunlun in meditation (a practice also mentioned in ZG 5.6b9-10), which he graphically demonstrates before Yang Xi. Once Kunlun is actualized, Xu Mi can go on to accumulate seminal essence and bring to an end the superficiality of his physical form. The description of Lord Pei and Zhou Yishan’s retinues and accoutrements would be of vital interest for both Xu Mi and Yang Xi, since gaining the ability to recognize these things is an essential part of preparing for promotion into the Perfected bureaucracy.

August 2, 3, and 4, 365: Scriptures Revealed, and Yang Xi’s Destiny Foretold [1]

2.5b8-2.10b5

On the twenty-ninth day of the sixth month, the Ninefold Florescent Perfected Consort instructed me to write as follows:

33 “Inward illumination” (neizhao 內照) is synonymous with “inner observation” (neiguan 內 觀), a standard meditation practice in Daoism (Kohn 1989b, esp. p. 196). “Mysterious Gate” (xuanmen 玄門) derives from the closing couplet of Laozi, ch. 1: “The mysterious beyond the mysterious, / The gate of a multitude of wonders.” 玄之又玄，眾妙之門。 Laozi, 1.1b2-3 (Sibu beiyao, emending 元 to 玄). As for the “spirit-radiance of heaven and earth” (tiandi zhi shuang 天地之爽), this seems to refer again to Mt. Kunlun, of which it is said, “This mountain is the root and axle of heaven and earth” (此乃天地之根紐), and, “Hence [it is here that] heaven and earth establish the fit between things and [their heavenly] counterparts” (爾乃天 地設位物象之宜) in Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.11b1, 1.11b5; trl. Smith 1992, 2:557-58. On shuang 爽 as “spirit-radiance,” see HDC 2:1549, sixth definition.

90 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

[2]

“Our [carriage of] Light responds to the ‘dual glitters’34 As clouds gather at Mystic Descent.35 When our dragons rise above the Five Voids,36 We gather rose-gems on Wildwind Terrace.37 Long we sing behind numinous curtains As the sparkling opens our doors of jade.38 How slight, the things we leave behind! We bid the world a lasting farewell! The auroral carriage on rose-gold waves39 Lightning-speeds to our purple abode. Leading each other by the hand, beyond pure sound, Together roaming cloudy peaks and broad cliffs— Isn’t it wonderful? Isn’t it bliss?

“The sun is auroral fruit, the aurorae the sun’s seminal essence.40 You, my lord, have heard only of the method of ingesting the solar fruit, but you’re still unaware of dining upon the seminal essence of the aurorae. Now the scripture on dining on the aurorae is very secret, but the way to draw in the aurorae is 34 The “dual glitters” (shuangcan 雙粲) are the sun and moon, their luminescence diminished with distance. For light terminology as used here I consult Kroll 1999. 35 Mystic Descent (Xuanluo 玄落 ) probably is where the sun sets. Elsewhere the term appears only in writings that derive from this passage. It appears in a poem on the eight western heavens in the Numinous Treasure scripture Lingbao wuliang duren shangpin miaojing 靈 寶無量度人上品妙經 (Superior and Wondrous Numinous Treasure Scripture of Limitless Salvation; DZ 1), 14.19b1. Han Emperor Wu is also said to roll out a mat called “Mystic Descent in the Sea of Darkness” (anhai xuanluo 暗海玄落) while burning incense named “Sun Revealed in the Bright Sky” (mingtian fari 明天發日) in the late Six Dynasties text Han Wudi bieguo dongming ji 漢武帝別國洞冥記 (Record of the Han Emperor Wu’s Penetration into the Mysteries of Separate Realms), in Wang Guoliang 1989, 91; trl. Smith 1992, 2:638. 36 The Five Voids (wukong 五空) probably refers to the sky in the four cardinal directions plus center. Later usages, as in Zeng Zao’s 曾慥 (fl. 1131-55) Dao shu 道樞 (Pivotal Essentials of the Way; DZ 1017), 10.10a2-10b9, are often heavily influenced by Buddhism. 37 Wildwind Terrace (Langtai 閬臺) is a palace on Wildwind (Fascicle One, n. 203). 38 The “doors of jade” (yufei 玉扉) are the eyes, while the iridescences are likely those of the Dipper (ZG 4.7a1). The “numinous curtains” (lingmu 靈幙) of the previous line, by extension, would refer to the eyelids. Closed eyes in meditation are open to the other world. 39 Rose-gold waves (jiangpo 絳波) are wavelike formations in the clouds at dawn. 40 These comparisons may also be found in Taishang yupei jindang taiji jinshu shangjing 太上玉 珮金璫太極金書上經 (Superior Scripture of the Jade Pendant and Golden Bauble of the Most High, in the Golden Script of the Grand Ultimate; DZ 56; Robinet, A.26), 1.4b2-3, also cited in YJQQ 51.11b7-8. The passage in YJQQ reads, “If you wish to seek prolonged life, it is proper first to absorb into your body the moon’s efflorescence, the lunar essence, and the sun’s aurorae, the solar essence.” 欲求長生，宜先取諸身，月華月精，日霞日精。

FASCICLE TWO / 91

very easy. We call this the method [that causes] the body to generate the radiance of jade and the aurorae to reflect Higher Clarity.41 [3] “The eyes are the body’s mirrors, the ears the windows into its frame.42 If you see much, then the mirrors darken; if you hear plenty, then the windows shut. I have a stone to polish the mirrors and a technique for opening the windows, [so you] can see at once all the myriad numina and minutely detect the remotest sound. Would these be acceptable? “The face is the courtyard of the spirits, the hair the flowers of the brain.43 If your heart is sad, then your face turns haggard; if your brain is diminished, then your hair whitens. As a result, you are internally bereft of seminal essence at its Prime, and your cinnabar fluid is harmfully depleted.44 I have a 41 The method about to be revealed to Yang Xi is described in Dongzhen shangqing qingyao zishu jin’gen zhongjing 洞真上清青腰紫書金根眾經 (Combined Dongzhen Higher Clarity Scriptures on Gathering the Golden Root, in the Purple Script of Qingyao; DZ 1315; Robinet, A.12), 1.4a2-9b6, also YJQQ 53.14b2-15b4. See Robinet 1993, 191. Adepts first purify themselves by envisioning a purple pneuma that proceeds from the forehead and both envelops and pervades the body. After reciting an invocation, they rinse eyes and mouth with water that has been exposed to the rays of sun and moon, chanting invocations, etc. 42 The first comparison derives from the 11th stanza of Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 1.19b4-6 (also found at YJQQ 11.28a5-7). The second comparison is elaborated in the comment to the 2nd stanza of the same scripture, after the line, “Bring out the sun, take in the moon, visualize them with each inhalation and exhalation.” 出日入月呼吸存. It reads: “This means that if you constantly visualize the sun and moon in the two eyes and cause their rays to combine with the body, then you will be in communion with the Perfected. The Jiuzhen zhongjing [Central Scripture of the Nine Perfected] states: ‘At the nascence of pneumas at midnight or at the time of cockcrow, sit upright, hold the breath, and visualize the sun emerging from the left eye and moon emerging from the right eye. Above the two ears is the high window to the six coordinates. Direct it to cause the sun and moon to shine on the entire body. Inside, they shine through the Mud Pill; below, they shine on the five viscera, and what is in the intestines and stomach becomes visible through and through. Transparent inside and closed outside, the body is united with the light of sun and moon. After a long time, clack your teeth together nine times and swallow saliva nine times. Recite in prayer: …’” 謂常存日月於兩目，使光與身合，則通真矣。九真中經曰，夜半生氣或雞鳴

時，正坐閉氣，存左目出日，右目出月。兩耳之上爲六合高窗，令日月使照一身。內徹泥 丸，下照五藏，腸胃之中，了了洞見。內徹外合，身與日月光合。良久，叩齒九通，咽液九 過。祝曰… The passage cited by the commentary comes from Dongzhen taiyi dijun taidan yinshu dongzhen xuanjing (DZ 1330; Robinet A.18), 1.11b8-12a3, not Jiuzhen zhongjing 九真中經

(Robinet, A.5, corresponding with DZ 1376 and DZ 1377). 43 The first comparison is echoed by the prayer that follows the passage cited in n. 42 above: “May the descending rays of sun and moon / Penetrate the spirits’ courtyard below.” 日月垂光，下徹神庭。 Dongzhen taiyi dijun taidan yinshu dongzhen xuanjing (DZ 1330; Robinet, A.18), 1.12a4-5; YJQQ 11.13a8. The second comparison derives from the 14th stanza of Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 2.3b2; YJQQ 11.34a4. 44 The phrase “seminal essence at its Prime” (jingyuan 精元 ), literally “essence Prime,” refers to the lower of the body’s Three Primes or lower Cinnabar Field, the source of one’s seminal essence (jing). This essence is a somewhat grosser form of the pneuma or qi, so one must keep trying to cycle it back to pneuma (Kohn 2001, 145-49). Cinnabar fluid (danyi 丹液)

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scripture on rejuvenating the face and a method for turning back the white. Would these be acceptable? “The seminal essence is the frame’s spirit, brightness the body’s jewel. 45 If you labor to excess, then your essence is scattered; if you busy yourself completely, then your brightness fades. As a result, age attends the decline of the pneuma, and senility finally comes upon you.46 I have a way to increase the essence47 and a scripture on retaining brightness. Would these be acceptable? “These four ways are [set in] the esoteric writing of Higher Clarity and in the immediately ascertained emblems of the Perfected. Now I wish to show them to you in order to add to your luminous wisdom.” Her instruction complete, she took and examined [what I had written, then] gave it to me. I uttered in reply, “Yes, yes,” and begged her [for the scriptures]. [4] At night on the twenty-ninth day of the sixth month, the Perfected Man of [Mount] Tongbo [Wangzi Qiao] likewise came and descended. He further instructed me and directed that I write as follows: [5] “Now in the Eightfold Radiant [Establishments] at the four poles,48 on numinous peaks in the vast distance, one whose wondrous words sprout ears may be identified with saliva. In Dongzhen taishang shuo zhihui xiaomo zhenjing (DZ 1344; Robinet A.22), 13b3-4, there is a “jade sap of cinnabar fluid” (danyi yuzi 丹液玉滋), a medicine of the Grand Ultimate, and in a passage from Dengzhen yinjue (Robinet, C.2) preserved in Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 3.14a5, it is an elixir ingredient with a cleansing function. 45 These comparisons relate to Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 2.19b48 (also YJQQ 11.50a1-5): “The long-lived are most wary of the exigencies of the bedchamber. / Why do what incurs death and make the spirits weep?” 長生至慎房中急，何爲死作令 神泣。 The two lines’ comments read, respectively, “Pneuma is lost, fluids leak, and the [physical] frame and brain wither, exhausted…” 氣亡液露，體腦枯竭 and, “Incaution in the bedchamber injures the seminal essence and causes loss of brightness, hence the spirits weep.” 房中不慎，傷精失明，顧神泣也。 The “spirit” (shen 神) here mentioned in ZG clearly refers to that which animates or governs the frame, and “brightness” (ming 明) to wisdom. Furthermore, “labor” (lao 勞) suggests intercourse and parenting, as in ZG 2.2a4 (n. 9 above). SK 54n10 cites the later Yangxing yanming lu 養性延命錄 (Record on Nurturing Inner Nature and Extending Life; DZ 838), 2.2a9-b2 (also in YJQQ 32.18a3-6). 46 This line alludes to a passage in Zuo zhuan 左傳 (Zuo’s Commentary); trl. Legge (1994, 4:578): “The common saying, ‘An old man is just becoming wise, when senility comes upon him,’ might be spoken of Zhaomeng.” 諺所謂老將知而耄及之者，其趙孟之謂乎？ 47 As pointed out in SK 54n13, increasing the seminal essence (yi jing 益精) is mentioned in Han Wudi neizhuan (DZ 292), 1.8a10-8b2; trl. Smith 1992, 2:497. 48 The “Eightfold Radiant Establishments” (balang fu 八朗府), with the “Four Bright Palaces” (siming gong 四明宮), belong to the Four Perfected Primal Lords of the Grand Ultimate (Taiji si zhenren yuanjun 太極四真人元君): WSMY 22.3b8-9; Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303), 1.17b6; Huangtian shangqing jinque dijun lingshu ziwen shangjing (DZ 639, Robinet, A.10), 1.1b1, the latter trl. Bokenkamp 1997, 308 (“all directions”).

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of grain, whose rose-gem tones are heard resonating,49 whose dawn-flyer skims the clear skies, 50 whose mystic pneuma speeds into the empyrean, 51 whose frame advances into the jade-bright void, whose heart withdraws from the swordtips of suffering, who settles in stillness beyond the distant net [of heaven] and condenses harmoniously on the surface of placid waves [of cloud]—a man like this must surely be able to leap round the Mystic Han and drop in at all the courtyards of the Perfected!52 He may obtain audience with the Three Primes;53 he may have his name set in crimson.54 “If he is one whose heart joins with billows of error, whose eyes alight on colorful sleeves, whose actions unfold together with the nets [of sin], and whose stillnesses give rise to wrangling division, then the road to immortality

49 The word can 餐 (usually, “to dine”) here means “to hear” (HDC 12:540, 4th definition). The parallelism between “ears of grain” (ying 穎) sprouting at wondrous words and the hearing of resonances is especially rich. The wave-speech imagery recalls ZG 1.5a6 and 1.8a2-3. 50 “Dawn-flyer” (chenfei 晨飛) is short for the “dawn-enfolding flying canopy” (quchen feigai 曲晨飛蓋), a carriage accoutrement permitted only to higher Perfected, as in Mao Ying and Wang Bao’s biographies (YJQQ 104.18b1 and 106.2b7). There is also a noteworthy alchemical elixir, the Volatized Essence of the Dawn-enfolding [Canopy] (quchen feijing 飛精), described in Shijing jinguang cangjing liuxing jing 石精金光藏景錄形經 (Scripture on Concealing One’s Lights and Purifying One’s Form with Mineral Essence and Golden Radiance; Robinet, A.15) or Baojian jing 寶劍經 (Scripture of the Precious Sword). The Four Perfected Primal Lords of the Grand Ultimate (n. 48 above) are also connected with Baojian jing in YJQQ 84.6a1-2. The elixir enables escape by means of the corpse (Strickmann 1979, 134; Bokenkamp 1997, 342; Robinet 1984, 2:137-40; Cedzich 2001, 45n169). I understand the component words of quchen to connote “compression, folding, concealment” versus “daybreak, extension, opening.” 51 This technique is described in Dongzhen taishang suling dongyuan dayou miaojing 洞真太上素 靈洞元大有妙經 (Wondrous Dongzhen Scripture of the Suling and Dayou Heavens of the Most High; DZ 1314; Robinet, B.2), 1.28a10-b6; WSMY 91.4b1-6, also cites it but attributes it to another scripture. The adept uses his mystic pneuma (xuanqi), comprised of twenty-four Perfected spirits in the body, to form a harmonious union with their macrocosmic counterparts in Grand Tenuity during meditation (Robinet 2000, 202; Fascicle One, n. 170). 52 The Mystic Han (Xuanhan 玄漢) is the Milky Way. The second part of this sentence literally reads, “Circulate [and] sprinkle Perfected courtyards” (zhou sa zhen ting 周灑真庭). However, “sprinkle” (sa) is the counterweight to “leap” (teng 騰) in the first part of the sentence, and it suggests the motion of light descent—to “drop in casually,” so to speak. 53 The Three Primes here (contrast Fascicle One, n. 121, 189) are a set of deities in Jade Clarity that correspond to deities resident in the three Cinnabar Fields of the body—upper, middle, and lower. These are the Four Lords of the Way in the Upper Prime Palace in Jade Clarity (Yuqing shangyuan gong si dao jun 玉清上元宮四道君), the Six Lords of the Way in Purple Clarity, Middle Prime Palace in Jade Clarity (Yuqing zhongyuan gong ziqing liu dao jun 玉清中 元宮紫清六道君), and the Four Primal Lords of Lofty Clarity in the Lower Prime Palace in Jade Clarity (Yuqing xiayuan gong gaoqing si yuan jun 玉清下元宮高清四元君), as they are called in WYT 1.1b3-5. They are on the left of the first tier of Perfected. 54 The adept always aspires to have his or her “crimson name” (jiangming 絳名) entered on the “jade registers” (yuji 玉籍) of Perfected officials (WSMY 27.16a1-3 and 31.10b10).

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grows distant, and the days spent searching for life are prolonged. You had better be careful about this!” When I finished writing, he took and examined [what I had written], then showed it to me.A [6] At night on the thirtieth day of the sixth month, the Ninefold Florescent Perfected Consort descended together with Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity and Lady [Wei] of the Southern Marchmount. The Perfected Consort sat for a long time, and then ordered her maid to open the sealed satchel and bring out two scrolls of writings, to reveal them to me. She directed that I copy them. The titles are as follows: Hidden Book of Higher Clarity on the Inner Observation of the Purple Projections of Jade-Bright Aurorae;55 Scripture of Higher Clarity on the Return to Dawn and the Restoration of Youth by Penetrating Darkness with Sunlight.56 The preceding [lines] are the titles of the two scrolls.B/57 [7] At night on the first day of the seventh month, Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity, [8] Lady [Wei] of the Southern Marchmount, [9] The Ninefold Florescent Perfected Consort, [10] the three Perfected men of Purple Yang [Zhou Yishan], [11] Tongbo [Wangzi Qiao], [12] and the Pure Vacuous [Wang Bao], [13] and the two Lords Mao [Mao Gu and Mao Zhong] descended together. After a long time, I gave an account of myself58 before the numerous spirits. I asked for techniques to pacify the body; I wanted to know my share of nobility or lowliness, the possible duration of my destined years, and how many of the limits had been set. Thereupon the Perfected Consort smiled. After a long pause, she revealed her instruction, and I wrote as follows: [14] “Discerning lord, your subdued substance is calm as the void, and your hidden structure bright as jade. Your orchidaceous spring runs high, resounding clearly amid the golden palaces. One can say that you can: Cherish the treasure, store the wondrous, This corresponds to the first of the methods described the previous night (n. 41 above). This corresponds with part of Dongzhen shangqing qingyao zishu jin’gen zhongjing (DZ 1315; Robinet, A.12), specifically, 1.13b3-16b4. Called the “Way of Penetrating Darkness with Sunlight” (rihui zhong xuan zhi dao 日暉中玄之道), it utilizes a mirror or basin with well water, a talisman, and invocations; one of its outcomes is the restoration of youth. 57 Tao Hongjing here indicates that the two titles, each of which is given its own line, are not to be included in the count of passages noted below in ZG 2.10b4-5. 58 Recall that Yang Xi has already “given an account of himself” (zichen) in ZG 1.13b1-3: “Immersed in filth, fallen into vulgar ways, my substance is marked by dust….” 55 56

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Conceal the Perfection iridescing within, Masterfully handle numinous texts, Calculate the numbers that ease life,59 [Make known your] unsullied Virtue in the spirits’ gardens, [Have your name] recorded in cinnabar in Jade Clarity, Vaunt your Lights on rising mists, Beat the unseen drum of your distant reputation. You will definitely, as a Grand Master [in charge of] the threefold business of government, bend your body in attendance to the Thearch of Dawn,60 assist on high the Four Supports, receive edicts from the Sage Lord,61 adjudicate matters of life and death, reward and punish demons and spirits, act in command of a thousand numinous beings, pile up mountains and summon clouds, 62 be in charge of examining the harmonized pneumas of yin and yang, and additionally become lord of the demons and spirits in Wu and Yue.63 “On my part, I: “Masterfully handle” (biaofu 摽拂, literally “pulling and releasing”) appears in Huainanzi (Lau and Chen 1992c, 19/206/16; trl. Major et al. 2010, 778-79), where it describes the confident hand movements and fingering technique of a blind musician playing the qin. “Calculating the numbers” (cheng shu 乘數) may refer to consulting the numbers and hexagrams of the Zhou yi as a guide for living, but the precise meaning is uncertain. Hyland (1984, 155n51) has “Mount on Number and follow Life,” and comments, “Number … refers to the allimportant calculations necessary to determine the proper moments to perform rituals.” 60 This line echoes a passage in Shangshu; trl. Legge 1994, 3:534: “Oh! Ye charged with the threefold business of government, and ye great officers, reverently attend to your departments, and conduct well your affairs of government, so as to assist your sovereign…” 嗚呼！三事暨 大夫，敬爾有官，亂爾有政，以佑乃辟… The “threefold business of government” (sanshi 三 事) was taken up by the Three Dukes (sangong 三公), or the three highest officials, since Zhou times (Hucker 1985, 399, no. 4871). Part of Wangzi Qiao’s title is “in Attendance to the Thearch of Dawn” (ZG 1.2b9), and ZG 15.11b8-9 lists eight such persons in attendance. 61 The Four Supports (sifu 四輔), like the Three Dukes, refers to another set of highest officials (Hucker 1985, 446, no. 5623). In the celestial bureaucracy, they were under Lord Li, Sage of the Latter Age, of the Golden Portal of Higher Clarity (Shangqing jinque housheng Li jun 上清金闕後生李君); the four are listed in Shangqing housheng daojun lieji 上清後聖道君列 紀 (Annals of the Lord of the Dao, Sage of the Latter [Heaven of] Higher Clarity; DZ 442; Robinet, A.10), 1.9a4-7; trl. Bokenkamp 1997, 354-55. 62 These phrases echo a passage in Taiyuan zhenren Mao jun neizhuan (Robinet, C.10): “…summon and drive a thousand numinous beings, pile up mountains and summon clouds…” 招驅萬靈，封山召雲。 In Maoshan zhi (DZ 304), 1.1b8 (also YJQQ 104.18a4, with slight change). The second phrase appears frequently in Higher Clarity literature. 63 Wu 吳 and Yue 越, originally the names of ancient kingdoms, were located in China’s east and south. However, in this context (see especially ZG 2.8b6 and n. 78 below), Yang Xi is almost certainly referring to their astronomical counterpart, too: Wu-Yue is also the name of an asterism corresponding to stars in Aquila: Deneb al Okab Australis (ζ Aquilae) and Deneb al Okab Borealis (ε Aquilae). It is part of the series of asterisms known either as the “Left Wall of the Heavenly Market Enclosure” (Tianshi zuoyuan 天市左垣) or the “Eastern Hedge of the Heavenly Market Enclosure” (Tianshi dongfan 天市東蕃). 59

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Made firm my destiny, concentrated my insight, And was born through a flower,64 Flew as a spirit through the Nine Heavens, Hushed my voice in the Gale Chamber,65 Followed the movement of the Four Rousers,66 [Formed] a like image of the Mystic Ladder,67 Had my name [inscribed] in purple by the Most High, Wrote clearly to the Eight Lights,68 My spirits projecting the western twilight, My Virtue bright with inner excellence69— 64 The phrase here is identical to one concerning another Perfected woman, the Primal Lord of Grand Simplicity (Taisu yuanjun 太素元君 ), who “knit from nothing an empty womb and was born through a flower” 虛結空胎，憑華而生。 In Shangqing sanyuan yujian sanyuan bujing 上清三元玉檢三元布經 (The Jade Rule of the Three Primes of Higher Clarity and the Scripture Issued from the Three Primes; DZ 354; Robinet, A.14), 1.40b8. 65 Gale Chamber (Biaofang 飇房, usually written Biaoshi 飈室), is a palace on Fangzhu, presumably surrounded by powerful numinous winds (ZG 14.8b8). 66 The only other appearance of the term “Four Rousers” (sijiao 四覺) seems to be in ZG 8.6a8, where it is associated with the technique of the “flying steps” (n. 22 above). It probably refers to the asterism “Celestial Flail” (Tianbang 天棓), an alternate name for which is “Rouser Stars” (jiaoxing 覺星). Usually it is said there are five, but the astronomical treatise in Ban Gu, Han shu, 26.1274 mentions four. They correspond with the stars known in the West as Aldhibah, Alrakis, Alwaid, and Eltanin (ζ, μ, β, γ Draconis). 67 The Mystic Ladder (xuanti 玄梯), more commonly “Mystic Stair” (xuanjie 玄階), allows the adept in meditation to ascend through the heavens. The Ladder and Stair appear respectively in the first stanzas of six yin songs and nine yang songs (WSMY 20.7a1, 20.4b5) once attached to the Basu jing (Robinet, A.3, probably to what is now DZ 426) and now excerpted in Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.17a2-18a5; see Robinet 1984, 2:52. A later source states that the Mystic Stair rises from Whirlwind Terrace (Fuyao tai 扶搖臺) in the northwest; see Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 7.32b9-10. 68 On the Most High, see Fascicle One, n. 161. The Eight Lights (bajing) here are female divinities. Consort An alludes to the “ritual of the Mysterious Mother’s eight gates” (or “tablets”; Xuanmu bamen 玄母八門), described in Dongzhen taishang basu zhenjing fushi riyue huanghua jue 洞真太上八素真經服食日月皇華訣 (Instructions on the Absorption of the Sovereign Efflorescences of the Sun and Moon, of the True Scripture of the Eight Purities of the Most High; DZ 1323; Robinet, A.3), 1.17a2-26a3. Robinet (1984, 2:55) briefly describes it as follows (my translation): “The exercise consists of writing tablets addressed to the divinities driving the Lights (jing 景) and clouds (su 素; counterparts of the jing). It is practiced on a fixed date once per month; the tablets are spread in the eight directions (the name of the exercise derives from the eight tablets, or eight ‘gates’), beginning from the northwest and turning leftward. It is accompanied by an offering of incense and jujubes. On these tablets the adept writes a formula imploring the divinities driving the [eight white chariots] to take the offering to their place and make it rise on their chariots of jing and su…” 69 The DZ text here writes “interior officials” (neili 內隸), clearly an error; li should be ying 穎 (generally meaning “excellence,” “outstanding quality,” etc.), following the parallel version of this speech in Shi dichen donghua shangzuo siming Yang jun zhuanji (DZ 1428), 1.12b1.

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Then received documents [authorizing me] to ride the pneumas, and I obtained the post of Perfected Consort. I must also assist you, my lord, as you: Comprehensively survey [Mount] Sanhuo,70 Bind and control the myriad spirits, Answer the Northern Thearch’s commands,71 And draft proclamations for Mount [Luo]feng.72 “Furthermore, we should unite: Lead each other by the sleeve through numinous chambers,73 Ride mists to the Seven Primes,74 Meet happily at Rarified Grove,75 And express internally [the joy of our] marital tie. This is why: My lord, your surname derives from the ‘poplar,’ And I obtain it for my ‘peace’.76 I emerged and descended from the mystical [realm], while you received documents [of investiture] from West Palace:77 As we urge on our Light[-dragons] from the north, Ride our curtained carriage on an eastern campaign, 70 WSMY 4.10a10, citing Zhenji jing, writes that Mount Sanhuo (Sanhuo shan 三霍山) is one of the eastern peaks of the Maoshan range. 71 The Northern Thearch (Beidi 北帝), one of the thearchs of the five directions, is in charge of demonic officials (ZG 13.3b7-9) and closely associated with Mount Luofeng. He is placed at the center of the seventh tier of the pantheon in WYT 1.24b3-5. 72 On Mount Luofeng, see Fascicle One, n. 43. Judging from the descriptions provided in Hucker 1985, 156-57 (nos. 958-60), officials involved with “proclamations” (zhichi 制敕 ) were concerned primarily with the work of drafting them. 73 Numinous chambers (lingfang 靈房) refers to rooms in the mansions of the Perfected, especially where scriptures are stored, as in Taizhen yudi siji mingke jing (DZ 184), 3.3a5-7. The term is comparable with “dark chambers” (xuanfang, Fascicle One, n. 180). The previous line features the reappearance of the key word “to unite” (xiangyu; Fascicle One, n. 186). 74 The Seven Primes (qiyuan 七元) are the seven Dipper stars and their resident deities. 75 Rarified Grove (Xilin 希林), following Kroll (1996, 182), is the name of the terrace or palace of the deity known as the Eastern Thearch (Dongdi 東帝), Blue Thearch of the East (Dongfang qingdi 東方青帝 ), or Grand Thearch of Fusang (Fusang taidi 扶桑太帝 ). See WSMY 97.10a6; Wang Xuanhe 王懸河 (fl. 672-683), ed., Shangqing dao leishi xiang 上清道類事 相 (The Appearances of Categories in the Way of Higher Clarity; DZ 1132), 3.6a7-8. 76 Consort An suggestively puns on their respective surnames. Although the root meaning of Yang is “poplar,” it is also a homonym for yang, the counterpart of yin. 77 On West Palace, see Fascicle One, n. 108.

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Hold a yaktail banner, wield a battle-axe,78 And completely subjugate the eastern region,79 The [heads of the] Three Offices will hold audience tablets, Rivers and mountains will open their springs, Heavenly warriors will contribute their martial prowess, And four shields will guard our wheels. This will in fact be the time of my discerning lord’s ultimate ennoblement, a full display of our Perfected immortality. Frequently in the Three Offices There has been a rumor saying, ‘The great lords Yang and An Will supervise the Perfected and command the spirits.’ That’s precisely what my kind have been saying! Surely the carriages of the sagely and majestic, driven side-by-side, will come twenty-eight years from now.80 Furthermore, in twenty-two years, my discerning lord will ride a dragon-

78 This alludes to “Changfa” 長發 (The Great Sacrifice) in Shi jing, trl. Legge 1994, 4:642: “The martial king [Xie 契, the ancestor of the Shang dynasty] displayed his banner, / And with reverence grasped his axe.” 武王載旆，有虔秉鉞。 In later literature, the battle-axe and banner are often used to indicate official military authority. The tongxingben here writes mao 旄 instead of the DZ text’s mao 髦. The two are similar, but the latter carries an astronomical meaning (n. 79 below) that the other, which is more similar to the word in Shi jing, does not. 79 This and the previous four lines almost defy translation, since several terms carry parallel astronomical meanings. “Yaktail banner” (mao 髦) is an alternate name for the stellar mansion (su 宿) named Mane (Mao 昴); Sima Qian 司馬遷 (c. 145-c. 86 BCE), Shi ji 史記 (Records of the Grand Historian; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974), 27.1305. This corresponds roughly to the stars in Taurus in Western astronomy. “Battle-axe” (yue 鉞) may refer to the Battle-axe asterism (Yuexing 鉞星 ), also known as the “three stars of the Celestial Spear” (tianqiang sanxing 天槍三星); these correspond to the stars Asellus Primus, Asellus Secundus, and Asellus Tertius (θ, ι, κ Boötis). The “eastern regions” (Dongfan 東蕃) are simultaneously the Eastern Hedge already mentioned in n. 63 above. Perhaps “eastern campaign” (dongyuan 東轅) may also be understood as the eastern part of the Xuanyuan 軒轅 asterism, which corresponds to Leo. Basically, Consort An is telling Yang Xi that he will (on the heavenly level) “hold stars in Taurus, wield a Celestial Spear (in Boötes), and dominate an entire swath of the eastern sky.” SK 59 overlooks the astronomical level of meaning. 80 This statement reflects a belief described in Shangqing housheng daojun lieji (DZ 442; Robinet, A.10), 1.4a2-3; trl. Bokenkamp 1997, 346: “Coming to the sixth day of the third month in the renchen year, the Sage Lord will descend and appear to mortals in all his glory.” 到壬辰 之年三月六日，聖君來下光臨於兆民。 The next renchen year after the year of this visitation (an yichou year) is 392, which is 28 years after 365, counting inclusively. The term for driving carriages abreast (fangjia 方駕) implies two or more carriages driven side-by-side—increasing the awe of the Sage Lord’s approach, as it would include his entourage.

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carriage to the clouds and ascend to heaven in broad daylight.81 You will first visit West Palace in Higher Clarity; in the north you will have audience with the Jade Sovereign and Three Primes, and only then will you be able to chariot east to carry out your duties. Of course, this is due to [the projection of] your jadebright brilliance to Purple Tenuity and the golden sound [of your reputation] through the peaks of the void.82 Being granted the banner of the Grand Ultimate was due to the rising prominence of your mysterious Virtue. It’s no longer necessary to study diligently, work to exhaustion, and lift your feet through mountains and streams! If you had worked so diligently, the outcome would have been just a slightly purified spirit, a lustrous freshness, and by no means would it have compared with your effortless elevation today. “The profane people of the world are wrapped in the nets between nobility and lowliness, involved in the business of dust and dirt, ensconced at the ford of profit and loss—assuredly not in what we Perfected may be engaged! We remain self-possessed whether our employment is difficult or easy, and unconstrained during the moments deciding whether we meet [with appointment].83 When I see my discerning lord’s escape [from worldly bonds], I am sincerely pleased; when I perceive my discerning lord’s obstruction,84 I show a sincerely sorrowful expression. These two emotions are shown by the color on my face, and yet they are simply not enough to cause me eventual grief and enduring sorrow. As for mating our Lights in the inner darkness and drawing our heads together in mystic friendship, when I wheel lightly through the dust and haze and array my form in your earthly chamber, how am I diminished or insulted by your Perfection-destined substance on account of the momentary impediments of your accumulated error and seeming lowliness? Indeed: In yin and yang there is symmetry, “Obstruction” and “Penetration” have opposite functions.85 81 Twenty-two years from the date of this speech, inclusive, is 386, a bingxu 丙戌 year, as Tao Hongjing notes in ZG 19.3b2-4. To “ascend to heaven in broad daylight” (bairi shengtian 白日昇天) is a stock expression for attaining immortality in the most desirable fashion. 82 The term “peaks of the void” (xuling 虚嶺, here written 虚領) refers to the Nine Heavens, envisioned as peaks. The relevant passage may be found in the seventh of the nine yang songs, in WSMY 20.6a2-3, also cited in Shangqing dao leishi xiang (DZ 1132), 1.8b2. 83 The verb “to meet” (yu 遇) refers here to a fortunate encounter leading to official appointment. “Meeting with appointment” preoccupied thinkers in the Later Han dynasty, like Wang Chong, who devotes the first and several other chapters of his Lunheng to this issue. 84 “Obstruction” (pi 否) is also the name of the 12th hexagram in Zhou yi, which Consort An mentions again below, so it is to be understood in that sense. Significantly, the hexagram consists of the three unbroken lines of the qian 乾 trigram (pure yang, heaven) above the three broken lines of the kun 坤 trigram (pure yin, earth). The Tuan and Xiang commentaries are highly illustrative in the present context. Wilhelm calls the hexagram “Standstill.” Zhou yi, 2.1a3-3a6 (Sibu congkan); trl. Wilhelm 1969, 52-55, 446-50. 85 “Obstruction” (pi 否) and “Penetration” (tai 泰), the 12th and 11th hexagrams, are opposites, since “Penetration” consists of the trigrams kun (pure yin, earth) above and qian (pure

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The Two Images86 are already spread out, Gain and loss complexly combined. All these are just the patterned pathways of our interaction. “The people of today who prosper and thrive while dwelling in the windblown dust are but lowly ghosts guilty of multiple sins, detainees under torture speeding to their deaths. Indeed, abiding in uselessness away from the noisy road makes one salient material for obtaining Perfection;87 taking up a mediocre occupation for the sake of inner observation is the root-beginning of numinous immortality. No doubt wealth, nobility, and extravagance are bonebreaking axes and saws. They’re like boats and carts laden with sin! Flaunting one’s prestige and splendor to the world and disturbing the times through contentious wrangling are suitable only for teaching error and inviting disgrace. Making the weapons that hack away at your destined lifespan isn’t a good thing! “This is why the lofty recluses of old knew in advance the calamities of sin and blame as well as the impermissibility of enjoying wealth and nobility, so they: Cheerfully retreated into mature woods,88 Perched their Lights on famous mountains, Savored harmonious pneumas, Rinsed [their mouths] and bathed in clear streams. They were people who wanted to distance themselves from these traces of evil in order to seek abundant blessings on their own, and they would leap over chasms to defer [official] appointments and to preserve intact their complete purity. Why would you, my lord, of all people, be anxious enough about ‘nobility and lowliness’ in the human world to throw yourself into its wanton displays of honor and disgrace?89

yang, heaven) below. “Penetration” also corresponds with the “Peace” (an 安) of the Perfected Consort’s surname. Again, the Tuan and Xiang commentaries to the “Penetration” hexagram are very illustrative; Zhou yi, 2.1a3-2a7 (Sibu congkan); trl. Wilhelm 1969, 48-51, 44650. Consort An describes spiritual union in terms derived from intercourse. 86 On the Two Images, see Fascicle One, n. 170. 87 The use of uselessness (wuyong 無用) is often discussed in Zhuangzi; e.g., Guo Qingfan 1983, 1A.36-42 (ch. 1); trl. Watson 1968, 34-35. In Zhoushi mingtong ji (DZ 302), 4.15b2, “noisy road” (xiaotu 囂塗) is similarly used in the context of avoiding worldly employment. 88 A “cheerful retreat” (feidun 肥遯) is the most desirable kind; see the 33rd hexagram, “Retreat” (dun 遯). Zhou yi, 4.4a4-5 (Sibu congkan); trl. Wilhelm 1969, 132. 89 “Honor and disgrace” (rongru 榮辱) appears also in Zhuangzi: “Once honor and disgrace are defined, then one sees the suffering that is caused.” 榮辱立然後覩所病。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 8C.901 (ch. 25); cf. Watson 1968, 287.

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“Moreover, soon: Weapons will be crossed in daily engagements, The Three Disasters90 will arrive more frequently, Spirited forces will drive away [all before them], And the [resulting] putrid vapors will permeate the heavens. Weeds will sprout from bright gold in muddy ditches; Precious jades will be tossed into manure and defiled. Lifting your robes [to wade past] would roil your blood, Befoul your essence, and diminish your Perfection. To come to a penetrating understanding of the mysteries and retreat far away, this would be the time. My lord, if you can’t abide the smoke from windblown flames and wish to embrace Perfected form in a secluded wood, then could you just seek the Way of escape by means of the sword91 and perform the technique of announcing [your own] end? If you finish yourself off, doing it openly or in secret and leaving your trace concealed or in plain view92 are matters to be separately arranged at the last moment. It’s all up to you, discerning lord! “As the hidden numbers [of our fate] are felt on high, our interaction is mandated; among numinous texts in [heavenly] jade terraces, there are Perfected tallies by which we harmonize our Lights. This is why I am using up93 my words in speech and exhausting my heart through your brush. Why would I sigh over these things alone, to myself? Isn’t it better to show you the precedents concerning your title and share [of destiny]?” When I finished the calligraphy, she took it, then gave it back to me. She also commented, “If you contemplate this, you’d certainly improve a little, wouldn’t you?” For the preceding passages, fourteen in all, from the twenty-ninth day of the sixth month, there is also Lord Yang’s own written record. The foregoing are the words of [the Perfected Man of Mount] Tongbo, [Wangzi Qiao.] In the same evening, the Perfected Consort has already finished her instruction; Tongbo gives the next instruction. Hence it is written, “Further inA

90 The Three Disasters (sanzai 三災; a Buddhist term) appear as a kalpa ends. The major and minor sets are (1) fire, wind, and flood, and (2) war, epidemics, and famine (HDC 1:204). 91 Escape by means of the sword (here written jiejian 解劔) is a subcategory of escape by means of a simulated corpse (shijie), a way of obtaining immortality inferior to “ascending to heaven in broad daylight” or consuming an elixir. Other props often used to replace the corpse via this method were bamboo staffs, shoes, articles of clothing, and talismans. For more on such escapes, see Robinet 1979, 57-66; Cedzich 2001; Campany 2002, 52-60. 92 Literally, “…the combination of openness and silence, the concealed and plain trace…” 出嘿之會，隱顯之迹。 The “trace” is the simulacrum of the corpse left behind. 93 The character dan 單 here should be read as an alternate form for dan 殫, meaning “to exhaust” or “use up”; see the 12th definition of dan (單) in HDC 3:418.

102 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

structed” [fu shou 復授]. At the end, it appears as if it is still the Perfected Consort [who is speaking], so I make plain note of this.94 B These titles must have been written originally in the calligraphy of the Three Primes and Eightfold Ensemble. Since Lord Yang is already thoroughly knowledgeable about Perfected characters, he merely writes them out now in clerical characters in order to reveal them.

Comments August 2: We now return to Yang Xi’s private record and the story of his interactions with Consort An. Only three days after the marriage, Consort An displays all the joy that one might expect from a newlywed. She opens her speech by describing the flight of their shared carriage of Light through the heavens, leaving the mundane world far behind. Her reference to “doors of jade” (eyes) and “numinous curtains” (eyelids?) indicate that their meetings and travel still take place during meditation. Although she speaks in a kind of half-poetry, with neatly parallel phrases that rhyme but once and only across a distance (on -oj, in the fourth and fourteenth lines), it is an expression of such pure, transcendent delight that I choose to present it as poetry. Then Consort An describes various methods and scriptures that she can offer Yang Xi. This is the follow-up to her wedding night assertion, “I shall certainly not deny you anything!” and her word choices here reflect her openness. First she points out that Yang knows about absorbing solar efflorescences but does not know the method of absorbing aurorae, and implies that she will teach it to him. Then she introduces a series of methods that would preserve Yang’s seminal essence and prevent the ravages of age. The metaphors that she uses to describe various parts of the body derive from Huangting neijing yujing 黃 庭內景玉經 (Jade Scripture on the Inner Lights of the Yellow Court), and her words hint vaguely about the scriptures she is preparing to reveal. She frequently pauses to ask politely, “Would this be acceptable?” Of course Yang Xi begs her for the scriptures. Consort An’s statement, “These four ways are [set in] the esoteric writing of Higher Clarity and in the immediately ascertained emblems of the Perfected,” also deserves attention, since it touches once more on what the Lady of Purple Tenuity said earlier about the two forms of Perfected writing. The “esoteric writing of Higher Clarity” is the first form, corresponding to the outer Lights (hence inaccessible), and the “emblems of the Perfected” are the second The ambiguity stems in part from the highly condensed nature of Wangzi Qiao’s speech, and from the similarity in the way in which Wangzi Qiao and Consort An both examine what Yang Xi writes. A much later text, Shangqing shidi chen Tongbo zhenren zhentu zan 上清侍帝 晨桐柏真人真圖讚 (Encomia, with True Illustrations, of the Perfected Man of Tongbo in Attendance to the Thearch of Dawn in Higher Clarity; DZ 612), 1.17b1-8 also attributes the speech to Wangzi Qiao; 1.18a-19a has a lavish illustration of this episode. 94

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form, corresponding to the inner Lights of the Perfected. Consort An is thus implying that the new scriptures will be made accessible to Yang Xi through the channel of meditation, which is why she describes the emblems as “immediately ascertained” (li yan 立驗). Wangzi Qiao also pays Yang a visit. His speech is essentially the one that he would have given on the night of the wedding, had he chosen to speak then, and it touches on the appropriate topics. He observes that Yang already has many attainments. He implies that although Yang is fully qualified, he still lacks the ability to course freely about the Milky Way and visit all the courtyards of the Perfected. He must, moreover, avoid worldly entanglements and enticements, or he will make no progress on his quest for life. August 3: During the following night, Consort An reveals two scriptures to Yang. She commands one of her maids (clearly the first of the two described during the night of the betrothal) to bring out two scrolls from her sealed bag. Both of the scrolls correspond to sections in the first part of the scripture now entitled Dongzhen shangqing qingyao zishu jin’gen zhongjing (Combined Dongzhen Higher Clarity Scriptures on Gathering the Golden Root, in the Purple Script of Qingyao 洞真上清青腰紫書金根眾經; DZ 1315; Robinet, A.12), and both concern the absorption of solar and lunar efflorescences. Tao Hongjing, anticipating the question on how Yang Xi is suddenly able to read Perfected script that cannot be revealed to mortals, adds a note stating that Yang was “already thoroughly knowledgeable about Perfected characters,” but this is not a fully adequate explanation—the Perfected characters in question would have to be the “bright emblems” or “Perfected emblems” that Purple Tenuity and Consort An respectively had earlier described. August 4: Yang Xi begins his narrative of the third night (parts prev. trl. Strickmann 1981, 84-5) with a listing of the many Perfected persons who appear together with Consort An. Yang Xi lists their names in separate lines of text on his scroll—and Tao Hongjing counts them as separate tiao, even though he does not count a similar listing of names at the beginning of Yang’s marriage narrative as such. Thus the first sentence of the text actually stretches across several tiao, which may seem “messy” from our perspective, but we cannot hold Yang or Tao to modern editorial conventions. Yang delivers another “account of himself” (zichen) and properly asks for “techniques to pacify the body”—but then he also asks for information on his future status, the number of years he has left on earth, and whether the numbers or limits had been set. In doing so, he commits a serious blunder, because the adept should not be at all concerned or worried about such things. Consort An, however, retains her Perfected composure (she smiles and remains silent a while before answering). She cannot allow herself to feel or show anger, or allow the exchange to devolve into an ordinary spat between newlyweds. After noting how he has qualified himself and made himself known to the Perfected, she describes what his official duties will be after his future ascent. It is important to keep in mind that when Consort An says that Yang will, among

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other things, be “lord of the demons and spirits of Wu and Yue,” she is speaking not only of the two regions in China’s east but also their stellar counterparts. She balances the description of Yang’s duties with an account of herself: she was born into the other world through a flower after a process of concentrating her insight (i.e., she started as a human being), then went on to refine herself and engage in various Higher Clarity practices until she received her writ of investiture as a Perfected Consort. After this she describes their future shared duties, public and private. Publicly, she is to assist Yang as he wields his executive powers, while privately she will be his spouse and constant travel companion. After Yang finally does obtain his official title somewhere in the celestial north or west, the two of them will cross the heavens to the east where Yang will take up his duties. When she says, “As we urge on our Light[-dragons] from the north, / Ride our curtained carriage on an eastern campaign, / Hold a yaktail banner, wield a battle-axe, / And completely subjugate the eastern regions…” she is in fact describing their progress across the heavens, since many of the key terms here are also the names of traditional Chinese constellations or asterisms. Their course will probably be marked by all kinds of auspicious signs in the night sky, or even a spectacular light show. As for when all this will happen—probably Yang’s greatest concern— Consort An observes that Yang’s assumption of his Perfected post would coincide with the arrival of the “carriages of the sagely and majestic,” i.e., the arrival of the Sage Lord, destined to occur twenty-eight years hence (392), and that Yang’s ascent into the heavens “in broad daylight” would occur in twenty-two years (386). Such an ascent is the most desirable, since it bypasses the necessity of death. He will spend the few years between his ascent and departure for the east having audience with various Perfected deities. Occasionally Consort An hints at the nature of her spiritual union with Yang. When she says, “This is why: / My lord, your surname derives from the ‘poplar,’ / And I obtain it for my ‘peace,’” she is punning rather suggestively on their respective surnames. Yang means “poplar” and is a homonym for the yang of the yin-yang pair. Did she not earlier say, “It is proper that you get completely hard inside and outside—in principle like metal and stone”? Furthermore, a common synonym for an 安 is tai 泰 , but the latter is also the “Penetrating” or “Pervading” hexagram of the Zhou yi. Later in her speech, she describes their pairing in terms of the hexagrams of the Zhou yi: “In yin and yang there is symmetry, / “Obstruction” and “Penetration” have opposite functions…” We might perhaps expect that Yang Xi represents the “Penetration” half of the pair, but he does not—he is “Obstruction” (represented in the Zhou yi by three unbroken lines over three broken lines) and she is “Penetrating” or “Pervading” (three broken lines over three unbroken lines). This is another manifestation of the gender role-reversal in this marriage, and it is all part of the grand mystery of the act of spiritual union that takes place between human and Perfected partners.

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The fact that Yang simultaneously has an obstruction and embodies “Obstruction” also explains why the Perfected Consort An can tolerate the mere mortal Yang Xi’s remaining shortcomings: the extent of his failures is balanced out by the degree of her Perfection. In fact, understanding this point goes a long way toward answering the question, “What’s in this marriage for her?” Forming a harmonious union with Yang is good for her own ongoing selfrefinement as a Perfected person. By asking about his remaining years, Yang has shown himself to be obstructed, but this is to be expected, and by no means does it detract from Consort An’s own Perfection. In any case, she explains, such imperfection should be temporary, and it will disappear once he ascends. Even so, he is under constant threat of being led completely astray by the vulgar masses of humanity. His initial question had reflected the pernicious effects of living in the midst of society, and when Consort An uses words from Yang’s initial question to ask in return, “Why would you, my lord, of all people, be anxious enough about ‘nobility and lowliness’ in the human world to throw yourself into its wanton displays of honor and disgrace?” it is, perhaps, as strong a retort as she can make. Consort An predicts that Yang will need to overcome another threat before his ascent: the warfare that will erupt before the Sage Lord’s coming. If he is not cautious, he will encounter corpses, putrid vapors, and so on, which will diminish his incipient Perfection. If these baleful influences prove too much to bear, she suggests resorting to the alternate method of “escape by means of the sword”—an inferior method but one that will still get him into the Perfected world. She straightforwardly describes it in terms of suicide (“…to finish yourself off…” or zijin 自盡), and there are many rules to follow when doing it, but Yang is free to work out many of the variables, such as the degree of openness or secrecy, or whether to leave one’s “traces” or corpse open to view or hidden. The ending of Consort An’s speech relates once more to the channels by which the Perfected convey messages to the human world. The pairings between Consort An and Yang Xi follow destined courses prescribed in heavenly, numinous texts—but Consort An cannot reveal these directly. When she says, “This is why I am using up my words in speech and exhausting my heart through your brush,” she alludes to the only two channels available to her: her spoken words and the emblems formed by her inner Lights, which are manifested in this world as talismans or interpreted in meditation. Rhyme: Consort An often breaks into rhyme as she speaks. Her rhymed descriptions of Yang Xi’s attainments and her own, though separated, follow the same rhyme (variously -eng, -angH, -angX, -aeng, -aengX, -engX). Her rhymed descriptions of their future union and shared destiny, though frequently interrupted by non-rhyming passages and connecting words, are somewhat looser in rhyme but invariably ending with -n (-in, -on, -ean, -un). The four lines linking Consort An’s union with Yang and the hexagrams rhyme on owngH, and the remaining rhymed passages, in which the joys of retreat are contrasted with the repulsiveness of war, both rhyme once more on -ean, -in,

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or -en. Basically, by joining contrasting passages under the same rhyme scheme, even at a distance, the underlying structure of the discourse is reinforced.

August 7 and 6, 365: Mao Ying and Lady Right Blossom’s First Appearances [1]

2.10b6-2.11a5

Last night [August 7], at the fourth watch, when the Grand Lord Minister of the East [=Mao Ying] first arrived, he appeared and descended with seven attendants, and all entered through the door. One of the men held a bamboo staff with purple yaktail streamer, one held a splendidly colored flag, one a numinous ten-stripe flag,95 one carried a satchel with green patterns, three men (each using both hands) carried ivory boxes, and one grasped a small fluid gold bell. 96 [The Minister of the East] still appeared more youthful than his two younger brothers [Gu and Zhong].97 Last night the two younger brothers were standing close by [him] and sat down only after the Minister of the East commanded them to do so. After a long time…[speech omitted].98 [2] On the day before yesterday [August 6], a divine woman came and descended. At first I suspected that she was a daughter of the Queen Mother [of the West]. When she came again yesterday, I confirmed this, for the Perfected [Lady of the] Southern [Marchmount] explained it to me, saying, “She is our mother’s thirteenth daughter Wang Meilan, styled Shenlin.99 She governs the Detailed commentary on flags may be found in Yuanshi wuliang duren shangpin miaojing sizhu (DZ 87), 2.23a8-24a5. The ten-stripe flag is more precisely a “numinous ten-strip flag” (shijue lingfan 十絕靈幡). Ten strips (jue 絕) of plain silk in different colors are cut lengthwise, sewn together, and tied to the top of a bamboo pole (2.23b7-10). 96 The small fluid gold bell (liujin ling 流金鈴), elsewhere written “small fluid gold fire-bell” (liujin huoling 流金火鈴) or “small fire-bell” (huoling), appears often in Higher Clarity texts. Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421, Robinet, C.2), 1.7a5-7 writes that it is called huoling because of its fiery form—it is insubstantial (wuzhi 無質) and glows red. Each deity described in the passage holds only one, grasped in both hands. In Dongzhen taishang zidu yanguang shenyuan bianjing 洞真 太上紫度炎光神元變經 (Dongzhen Scripture of the Most High on the Blazing Radiance That Emerged from Purple and Transformed from the Divine Mystery; DZ 1332; Robinet A.11), 1.7a7-9a2, the fire-bell is presented as a talisman formed of the essence of the Nine Heavens (Robinet 1984, 2:113). The present list of bearers has a total of eight men, not seven, so Mao Ying himself may be carrying this special item. 97 This alludes to Mao Ying’s attainment of immortality before his younger brothers, as described in the excerpts from Mao Ying’s esoteric biography (YJQQ 104.16a5-10). 98 The DZ text has no break; I insert one based on Tao’s notes below, one of which refers to “two passages” (er tiao 二條), the other to “two matters” (er shi 二事). Tao’s “speech omitted” note is now printed in the main text; the omitted speech appears in the next section. 99 On her pantheon position and her domain, see Fascicle One, n. 58. 95

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Mountain of Blue-Grey Billows and received documents granting her the title Lady of Cloudy Grove.”A For the preceding two passages, there is Yang’s personal record. Both of these matters were recorded together in brief during the night of the fifth day of the seventh month [August 8, 365]. Later I restore the omission; it is retold below. This being the case, then Lady Right Blossom began her nightly descents on the third and fourth days of the seventh month [August 6 and 7]. A

Comments The two passages or tiao of this selection are taken from another Yang Xi manuscript. The DZ text unfortunately lumps them together in a single passage, but it is not difficult to tell where the original break was located. The record here seems to have been written hastily; it is not quite as polished as most of the other Yang Xi manuscripts. Yang states that Mao Ying descended for the first time with seven attendants in tow, but later it becomes evident that Mao’s younger brothers had also come. Would not Mao Gu and Mao Zhong at least merit a mention ahead of the description of Mao Ying’s attendants? Also, once Yang begins to describe what the attendants are carrying, they inexplicably become eight, unless Mao Ying carries the fluid gold bell. But if that is the case, then why would Yang situate him last, after his attendants? The presence of Mao’s younger brothers also appears to be added as an afterthought, to make possible a comment on how they appear older than Mao Ying. The copy of the story that Yang provides to Xu Mi (preserved in the next section) adds more detail, but these basic contradictions remain. Lady Right Blossom, who will begin to woo Xu Mi, makes her first appearance here, but she is not recorded as saying anything—she is only introduced by the Lady of the Southern Marchmount Wei Huacun. Like Purple Tenuity, she is called one of the Queen Mother of the West’s daughters, which means that she is seeking a mate to bring into the Perfected world. In this connection we should recall that Xu Mi has become an “eligible bachelor” once again following the recent death of his wife—a fact not mentioned here, but later on (ZG 4.3a1, 7.6a9-6b10, 20.9a1). The sketchiness of the information presented here is explained by Tao’s note: it is Yang’s “personal record” (ziji 自記), intended for his own use. Dating it is possible only because the first passage reappears in slightly expanded form, with date, in the manuscript presented in the next section. One of Tao’s interlinear comments marking his omission of Mao Ying’s speeches is now printed as part of the main text. The omitted speech, dated August 9, not 8, is given below. We never do learn what the brothers may have said on August 8.

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August 7 and 9, 365: Mao Ying’s Comments on Retreating from the World

2.11a6-2.12b9

[1]

At night on the fourth day, seventh month of the third year of Prevailing Tranquility in Jin, the Year-Star in yichou, the Director of Destinies and Lord Minister of the East [Mao Ying] came and descended. There were seven attendants; [all] entered through the door. One of the men held a bamboo staff with purple yaktail streamer, one held a splendidly colored flag, one a numinous ten-stripe flag, one carried a satchel with green patterns, three men (each using both hands) carried white ivory boxes (there seemed to be books inside), and one grasped a small fluid gold bell. All the attendants wore vermilion robes. The Lord Director of Destinies appeared to be much more youthful than his two younger brothers. He wore a blue brocade skirt, a purple feather cape, and a lotus cap. His two younger brothers came together with him and stood close by his side, and they sat down only after he commanded them to do so. They spoke for a long time. At night on the sixth day of the seventh month, the Lord Director of Destinies descended again. After a long time, he instructed me to write as follows: [2] “If, as required, you: Take the mysterious as your pattern, grasp the Images,100 Purify and cleanse yourself, attenuate time,101 [and] then: Rise above the crowd, conceal your refinements, Fold your wings on a lofty perch, Gratefully savor your tally on high,102 100 That is, emulate the Way and grasp the patterns of yin and yang. SK 64n1 points out similarity here with ZG 8.10b8: “The mysterious pattern comes from heaven.” 玄範自天。 101 My translation of han shi 罕時 as “attenuate time” is tentative; the phrase appears to be unique to this passage and the texts that quote it. 102 Concerning the “tally on high” (shangqi 上契), SK 64n3, cites a passage from the biography of the Heavenly Thearchic Lord of Grand Tenuity (Taiwei tiandijun 太微天帝君) in YJQQ 102.6b3, which states that before the deity formed as an embryo, he had “gathered and absorbed a tally on high” (caina shangqi 採納上契). The same passage appears in Dongzhen taishang zidu yanguang shenyuan bianjing (DZ 1332; Robinet A.11), 1.1b4-5. Strictly speaking, what is being absorbed and gratefully savored is not the tally on high itself but rather the elixirs and efflorescences that enable the adept to form it. A passage filled with elixir references from what appears to be a commentary to the Dadong zhenjing, cited in Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 3.20a3-4, ends with the statement, “Having put together a tally on high, how can

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Be abyssally limpid and marchmount-erect, [And in] sighing solitude among jade slips103 Delight in and cherish the godly life, Abandon love for vulgar [things], Perform [music] in Pure Numinosity,104 Purify your Lights in the void So that they radiate in five directions, Cut off visual form in a wave-transformation,105 Join your desires with the insipid,106 And in the hidden byways of undifferentiated space ‘See nothing and hear nothing’107— [if you do these things], then you will have: Distantly formed a match with the wondrous Perfected And repeatedly aroused your mystic awareness. Your bright Virtue within will have achieved fullness, And your numinous signs without will be sufficient! In the end, you will be able to: Urge on your curtained cloud-chariot to speed into the empyrean one’s destined lifespan be exhausted?” 有齊上契，命胡可傾？ Thus what is being savored are the superior elixirs whose names are chanted in meditation. 103 The “jade slips” (yupian 玉篇 ) are scriptures stored in heavenly palaces. The term xiaoliao 蕭寥 is descriptive of either the sound of wind and rain or of solitude (HDC 9:583). 104 The Palace of Pure Numinosity is Lord Pei’s palace. See Fascicle One, n. 45. 105 A “wave-transformation” (here written hualang 化浪 , usually langhua 浪化) is a quick transformation from mortal to immortal. In his Tang Handong ziyang zhenren beiming 唐漢東紫 陽真人碑銘 (Tang-era Stele Inscription for the Perfected of Purple Yang of Handong), Li Bai 李白 (701-762), writes, “His death was a wave-transformation and a cicada’s metamorphosis” 歿也浪化而蟬蛻。 Collected in Dong Gao 董誥 (1740-1818) et al., Qinding Quan Tang wen 欽定全唐文 (Complete Writings of the Tang, Imperially Edited), 350.18a3 (1814 ed.). 106 On insipidity (dan 淡), see Fascicle One, n. 192. This line also seems to echo a passage in Zhuangzi: “Were you to let your mind roam in the insipid and your pneuma blend with the indifferent, go along with the nature of things, and make no room for personal desires, then all under heaven would be governed.” 汝遊心於淡，合氣於漠，順物自然而無容私焉，而天 下治矣。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 3B.294 (ch. 7); cf. Watson 1968, 94. 107 This couplet alludes to the dialogue between the Yellow Thearch and Master Broad Attainment (Guangchengzi 廣成子) in Zhuangzi. “Undifferentiated space” (kongtong 空同), as it originally appears in Zhuangzi, is a mountain where Master Broad Attainment resides; Guo Qingfan 1983, 4C.379 (ch. 11). Watson 1968, 118, calls it “the Mountain of Emptiness and Identity,” and it is often identified with a mountain in Gansu. However, in most Higher Clarity texts, it refers generally to the heavenly realm, the undifferentiated void of space, and is sometimes used as a byword for the Way. The phrase, “See nothing and hear nothing” (wu shi wu ting 無視無聽) appears in the Yellow Thearch and Master Broad Attainment’s dialogue.

110 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

And be written into the Director of Destinies’ [=my] cinnabar registers. “If your seminal essence is dispersed through innumerable longings, your life will become impermanent, and [if your] pneuma follows waves in the dust, your heart will not conform with Perfection—you’ll be fit only for toiling in body and spirit amid the forests and peaks,A which would really hinder your future study. Is the Way subtle and easily followed, or is it arduous and hard to find?” [The Lord Director of Destinies] also directed me to show this to Senior Aide Xu.B [3] “Senior Aide Xu wants to live in the mountains.” [4] “Those who exalt the Way treasure being without iniquity;108 those who roost in Perfection take solace in contentment and joy.”109 [5] “Absolute stillness is not a lord that magnifies obedience; tranquility is not an artisan that teaches. Therefore one must experience trouble in order to comprehend Non-being. You remember what I said, don’t you, on why the four seasons are necessary for replacement [leading to renewal]?110 If there are both the exhalation and inhalation of pneuma, a thousand years becomes like a sojourn. “That Master Zhao111 is really pathetic, isn’t he? His belief became doubt in the end, and his heart’s already turned to vinegar!” Spoken by the Lord Director of Destinies to the Lady of the Southern Marchmount. [6] “Those who practice the Way: 108 “Without iniquity” (wuxie 無邪) alludes to Confucius’ famous summary of the Shi jing: “Having no iniquitous thoughts.” 思無邪。Lunyu, 2.2; cf. Legge 1994, 1:146. 109 This echoes a phrase in Zhuangzi: “the solace of contentment and joy” 恬愉之安。 Trl. Watson 1968, 335; Guo Qingfan 1983, 9B.1009 (ch. 29). 110 SK 65n10 points out how the question recalls a statement in Huainanzi: “Ordinary things have their vanquishers, and only the Way has none. The reason why it has no vanquisher is that it has no constant shape or disposition—it turns like a wheel and endlessly, like the movements of sun and moon. Like spring and autumn that replace each other, like the sun and moon with their days and nights, it reaches an end and begins again, and it brightens and dims again, [but] no one can grasp its periods.” 凡物有朕，唯道無朕。所以無

朕者，以其無常形勢也。輪轉而無窮，象日月之運行，若春秋有代謝，若日月有晝夜，終而 復始，明而復晦，莫能得其紀。 Lau and Chen 1992c, 15/144/5-7; cf. Major et al. 2010, 584. It is useful to recall that daixie 代謝 (here, replacement) in modern Chinese usage may be

translated “alternation” and commonly means “metabolize” (Wu Guanghua 1993, 1:454). 111 The identity of this Master Zhao (Zhaozi 趙子) is uncertain, though Mao Ying may be alluding to the Zhao Shutai of ZG 1.4b10-5a1; see Fascicle One, n. 81.

FASCICLE TWO / 111

[7]

Regularly concentrate on the insipid in order to live alone, Always let their spirits roost in order to roam in idleness,112 Safely drink and peck in self-contentment Without prayingC and hoping for a cage.113 From sorrow and joy, therefore, they are long departed. Whence comes anything to stop and block them?”114

“Everyone has a dwelling-place for his endowed purpose, and the inborn natures of all persons have their resonances. How is it that you can tread in things’ errant footsteps and turn against your own proper calling?” [8] “Why not display the ultimate freedom with which heaven has marked you,115 be at ease with the inner pleasures of the quest for Perfection, dedicate yourself to seclusion and purity to delight your heart, find solace in the place of escape to give rest to your thoughts, retreat to the eastern mountains116 to hide your traces, grasp the mystic fish-trap on a wondrous peak,117 protect your Sui

112 These two lines initiate a series of bird-related images. “Insipid” in the first line alludes at once to the Way and to the fresh water where birds like to concentrate. The second line suggests going on ecstatic journeys while remaining still inside one’s meditation chamber. Both recall Zhuangzi: “Now one who raises birds as birds raise themselves has them roost in deep forests, roam on sandy shores, float on rivers and lakes, feed on mudfish and fingerlings, follow their formations and come to rest, and freely make their ways to their dwellings.” 夫以鳥養養鳥者，以栖之深林，遊之壇陸，浮之江湖，食之鰌䱔，隨行列而止，委虵 而處。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 6B.621 (ch. 18); cf. Watson 1968, 195. 113 This couplet alludes to another Zhuangzi passage: “The swamp pheasant takes a peck every ten paces and a drink every hundred paces, but it does not ask to be raised in a cage.” 澤雉十步一啄，百步一飲，不蘄畜乎樊中。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 2A.126 (ch. 3); cf. Watson 1968, 52. Recall E Lühua’s line, “Lift your thoughts beyond the cage” (ZG 1.1b1). 114 Bird allusions continue: “stop and block” (yao’e 夭閼) comes from Zhuangzi’s account of the peng: “It carries the blue sky on its back, and there is nothing that stops and blocks it.” 背負青天而莫之夭閼者。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 1A.7 (ch. 1); cf. Watson 1968, 30. 115 The character zong 縱 is written zong 蹤 in WSMY 42.12a5. 116 “Eastern mountains” (dongshan 東山) is a common reference to Maoshan. 117 The character ling 領 (often “comprehension”) here is an alternate form of ling 嶺 (“peak” or “ridge”), as written in a citation in WSMY 42.12a7. The mystic fish-trap (xuanquan 玄筌) comes from Zhuangzi: “The fish-trap exists because of fish: once the fish are caught, the trap’s forgotten.” 荃者所以在魚，得魚而忘荃。 See Guo Qingfan 1983, 9A.943 (ch. 26); cf. Watson 1968, 302. The modifier “mystic” was likely added to distinguish it from ordinary fish-traps, since many Daoist codes of behavior—though postdating ZG—forbade the setting of such traps. See, for example, Taishang dongxuan lingbao sanyuan pinjie gongde qingzhong jing 太上洞玄靈寶三元品戒功德輕重經 (Dongxuan Numinous Treasure Scripture of the Most High on the Classified Precepts of the Three Primes and on Great and Minor Merits; DZ 456), 1.25a8; trl. Kohn 2004a, 190. The image of grasping a fish-trap on a mountain peak is one of complete non-utility.

112 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

pearl118 in order to contain its radiance, and dispel the five obstacles within your breast?”D/119 A This

is to say it [cu 殂, literally “death”] should be written with the character qu

岨 (“peak”).

For the previous two passages, there are also copies by the Senior Aide. is to say it [qi 旂, literally “flag”] should be written with the character qi 祈 (“praying”). D These three passages also seem to have been spoken by the Minister of the East. B

C This

Comments The statements in this and the next section appeared in a manuscript that Yang Xi prepared for Xu Mi. In his retelling of Mao Ying’s initial descent, Yang adds a few details on clothing as well as a statement of the full date, including era name and year, which indicates that this is the beginning of the manuscript. Mao Ying’s first speech consists basically of two extended conditionals: if you retreat from the world, you achieve Perfection; if you do not, you will only hinder your study or end up “toiling … amidst the forests and peaks,” i.e., acquire a lesser immortality the hard way. The advice, though presented elegantly, is very broad—no specific technique is described. The rhymes are very loose at first (-yi, -ej, -iX), then become more regular (-eng, -engX and -jowk, -aewk). The next three passages, spoken by Mao Ying to Southern Marchmount (Wei Huacun), may seem at first to be rather isolated, but they are not. Recall that on the day before Yang Xi’s wedding (July 30), Southern Marchmount and Mao Ying go to visit Wang Bao to discuss promotions and demotions. She also says, “The Eastern Minister and Director of Destinies [=Mao Ying] is deeply aware of Senior Aide Xu’s charitableness and reverence…” (ZG 2.4b2). We can thus reconstruct the context of the three passages. After Yang Xi makes his earlier report(s) to Xu Mi, Xu wants Yang to inquire further what Mao had said about him to Southern Marchmount. On August 9, he does so, and Mao obligingly reveals what he had said. 118 A Sui pearl (Sui zhu 隨珠) is a stock metaphor for something very precious. After the Marquis of the ancient state of Sui found an injured snake and cured its wound with some medicine, it repaid him with a luminous pearl. Gao You 高誘 (fl. 160-220) commentary to Huainanzi, 6.3b7-9 (Sibu beiyao); Wang Liqi 1980, 630; Knechtges 1982, 122 (note to L. 192). 119 The five obstacles (wunan 五難) here are probably the same ones mentioned above (n. 24). As before, although one definition for wunan is given in ZG 6.8a7-9, those describe external difficulties, not internal ones. The term used here for “within your breast” (xiongci 胸 次) also appears in Zhuangzi: “Happiness, anger, sadness, and joy do not enter their breasts.” 喜怒哀樂不入於胷次。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 7B.714 (ch. 21); cf. Watson 1968, 226. Although that lists four emotional obstacles, not five, all exist internally, in the heart.

FASCICLE TWO / 113

I should mention that the Japanese translation of these passages presents them as a dialogue between Mao Ying and Southern Marchmount, but I do not think that Yang’s concluding comment (司命君與南嶽夫人言) should be interpreted as saying so; the passages record only Mao Ying’s half of the conversation. If it is a dialogue, then we are still left unable to determine who said what, and it seems to me that Tao Hongjing would have then added a further note to identify the speakers, as he does after the next three passages. Considering that Tao always takes great pains to identify who says what, or whether a passage is written by Yang or copied by Xu, or whether words are uttered by a Perfected person or simply based on Yang’s own observations, it seems strange that Tao would not address the “ambiguity of speaker” problem if this were a dialogue. The last of these three passages should be considered two different statements placed together under a single tiao (again, Yang Xi does not follow modern paragraph convention). The first of these statements is remarkable for its assertion that one must first experience trouble (fan 煩) before being capable of understanding Non-being. Mao Ying considers the movement from trouble to absolute tranquility as part of the broader cycle of replacement or supersession in time that leads to renewal (e.g., through the seasonal cycle or the breath cycle). The second statement regards a certain unworthy Master Zhao. He is obviously one of the 47 persons who were recently demoted, as Southern Marchmount had mentioned earlier, but it seems likely that he is also the Zhao Shutai mentioned in passing by Mao Gu on July 25. For the next three passages, the final ones recorded on August 9, the original manuscript left the speaker(s) unidentified. However, they develop Mao Ying’s earlier statements and easily lend themselves to a continuous reading, so that Tao’s comment, “These three passages also seem to have been spoken by the Minister of the East,” is quite reasonable. Each centers on the theme of retreating from the world and escaping its restraints. The first is rhymed (-ean, on, -in) and contains a bird conceit based on passages relating to birds in Zhuangzi. The second, by contrast, asks Xu Mi why he “treads” in things’ errant ways—unlike the birds epitomizing freedom and escape, Xu Mi is still earthbound. The third, consisting of a series of perfectly parallel phrases, asks him in effect why he does not retreat into the mountains, where he can enjoy freedom, remove his obstacles, and recover his inborn nature.

August 18, 365: Practical Advice and Predictions for the Xus [9]

2.12b10-2.14b6

At night on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity instructed me to write as follows: “Diligent self-refinement is a numinous sign of one’s taste for the mysterious, [but] settled peacefulness is the quilted sleeping gown by which Perfection is grasped. You, sir, diligently cleanse your cinnabar[-like] heart and race

114 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

eagerly to the lofty peaks, and one could say that in working the handle of the Way you’re industrious to the highest degree. But the Way is soft,120 Perfection a void. Guard the insipid while interacting with things, remain tranquil as you go into seclusion, and only then will your spirits begin to iridesce. To put it succinctly, rushing impatiently just won’t bring you all the way to the truth! Those who violate this [principle] certainly make work for themselves!” To be given to Jade Axe Xu [=Xu Hui]. [10] On the night of the fifteenth day of the seventh month, the Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity [Lord Pei] instructed me [to write out the following] poem: The man gazing out on tiptoe flies away, As if on impulse or on completion. Pomp is not accepted within; The pampered woman is banished far away.121 Three and four’s vertical and horizontal [alliance] Gains you entry into the imperial court, [Where you] establish the titles of successive eras And attain a grand age. You must also shine radiance on The Chief Ministers of the Four Directorates.122 As if unfolding, stretch out wings, 120 This phrase recalls a passage in Liezi 列子: “The way by which one always triumphs is called ‘soft’; the way by which one never triumphs is called ‘firm.’” 常勝之道曰柔，常不勝之 道曰彊。 Liezi, 2.21a3-4 (Wenyuange siku quanshu); cf. Graham 1960, 52. 121 The “pampered woman” (jiaonü 驕女), besides its rebus meaning, refers to Xu Hui’s wife Huang Jingyi 黃敬儀, daughter of Huang Yan 演, the Governor of Jiankang 建康 District. Xu sent her back to her family and cut off contact with them (ZG 20.10b2-4). Bokenkamp (2007, 148) comments we have no idea when the expulsion occurred; this poem hints it occurred before August, 365. 122 The Chief Ministers of the Four Directorates (sisi yuanqing 四司元卿) are officials in the court of the Heavenly Thearch. A note in Shangqing dadong zhenjing (DZ 6; Robinet, A.1), 4.17a4, glosses the Four Directorates as “the four Directors of Destinies” (si siming 四司命). Yuanqing is then a part of their titles; Mao Ying’s title is typical of a person in this position. SK 69n2, cites passages from two scriptures: (1) Taishang xuanling beidou benming yansheng zhenjing zhu 太上玄靈北斗本命延生真經注 (Mysterious and Numinous True Scripture of the Most High on Extending Life with the Help of the Birth Star and the Northern Dipper, Annotated; DZ 750), 1.23a7-10 and 1.24a1-4, which states in effect that there are Four Directorates in both the Heavenly Section (tian cao 天曹) and Earthly Establishment (di fu 地府) of the otherworldly bureaucracy. However, this scripture is of late date. (2) Shi sanshijiu zhang jing 釋三十九章經 (Explanations of the Scripture in Thirty-nine Stanzas) as cited in YJQQ 8.9a10: “The Four Directorates refer to the forbidden palace of the Heavenly Thearch.” 四 司者，天帝之禁宮也。 This scripture is more applicable since it is part of the “revealed commentary” to the Shangqing dadong zhenjing (Robinet 2000, 201).

FASCICLE TWO / 115

Then ascend to Higher Clarity.A/123 [11]

To be given to Jade Axe Xu.B The phoenix nests in a tall tree; The undyed silk robe is like a sleeveless gown.C/124 Take orderly steps while contemplating Perfection, And concentrate your mind on the void and mysterious.D The oil of the Five Lords’ stones125 Would be good for that body of yours. You urgently need to consume it, For it can rejuvenate your face. Make the three-times-eight [Lights] bright.126 Next, practice [the method of] mystic Perfection.127

123 As Tao Hongjing notes, this is a rebus poem providing instructions on how to write the elements of the character Hui 翽 in sequence. The first line provides the first element “on tiptoe” (qi 企). “The man … flies away”: an instruction to remove the “man” (ren 人) element from the top, leaving zhi 止. “As if on impulse or on completion” (ruo gan ruo cheng 若感若成) may also be understood as “like ‘feeling’ or ‘completion’”: the next element will resemble the characters gan or cheng. “Pomp is not accepted within; / The pampered woman is banished far away”: the next element will not be the character for “pomp” (wei 威), with its female radical on the inside—which rules out a likely guess. “Three and four’s vertical and horizontal [alliance] / Gains you entry into the imperial court”: the interior of the next element will appear roughly like a combination of the vertical and horizontal strokes of the characters for “three and four” (san si 三四). “[Where you] establish the titles of successive eras / And obtain a grand age”: this gives the word “age” (ling 齡), a synonym for the full left side of Hui’s name: “age” (sui 歲). The last four lines are an instruction to spread out from sui by adding the element for “wings” (yu 羽) on the right, as if it were the character for “unfolding” (fan 翻). 124 The first line describes the left element of Xu Mi’s childhood name Mu 穆, with the “phoenix nest” serving as the stroke at the top of the “tree” (mu 木); the second line describes the right element, with “undyed silk” (su 素) synonymous with “white” (bai 白) and the three right-hand strokes of “sleeveless gown” (shan 衫) completing the character. The informal “sleeveless gown” was favored by the upper class in the Jin dynasty (HDC 9:26-7). 125 The oil of the Five Lords’ stones (wugong shiyu 五公石腴) is more commonly known in Higher Clarity texts as “cloudy oil of the five stones” (wushi yunyu 五石雲腴) or “cloudy oil” (yunyu). Detailed instructions on preparing and consuming this elixir, which combines black sesame with several other herbal and mineral ingredients, are preserved in YJQQ 86.1a4-5a2, where it is listed as a method for escaping by means of a corpse. The Five Lords are the Yellow, White, Red, Black, and Blue Thearchs—one for each of the five mineral ingredients. A slightly different version appears in YJQQ 74.7b3-13a6. Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 3.11a2-13a10 cites several passages from Dengzhen yinjue on this and other medicines. Ingestion of the five stones to perform an escape by corpse is the subject of ZG 4.16a5-b10. 126 On the 24 internal Lights in the body, see Fascicle One, n. 119. 127 This method of absorbing solar and lunar efflorescences is briefly described in ZG 9.18a2-18b9 and elaborated in Dengzhen yinjue, 3.2b6-3a4. Shangqing mingtang yuanzhen jing jue 上清明堂元真經訣 (Higher Clarity Scripture on the Methods of the Bright Hall and Mystic

116 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

When you rest and lie down peacefully,128 You may chant the Cavern stanzas.129 “Rose-gem blade,” respond to the numbers [of destiny],E And concentrate your mind, set high your perch. Hide in silence, sink into seclusion, And your proper pneuma will not diminish.130 Atractylodes powder dispels disease131: This would be appropriate for you. Next, eat rice cooked in bilberry132— Don’t violate any rule concerning cereals. Augment your marrow, eliminate your ailments, Perfection; DZ 424; Robinet, C.5) and other scriptures also describe it, though with many differences (Robinet 1984, 2:396-97; Schafer 1978). 128 Literally, “let go your carriage and peacefully lie down [on your back]” (jiejia yanxi 解駕 偃息). Jiejia may simply mean “to rest,” but in eulogistic writings it often means “to expire” (HDC 10:1378). In fact, in a stele inscription for the altar at Xu Mi’s old residence, Tao Hongjing uses this term to describe Xu Mi’s death; Huayang Tao Yinju ji 華陽陶隱居集 (Anthology of Recluse Tao of Flourishing Yang; DZ 1050), 2.2b9. 129 That is, the 39 stanzas of the Dadong zhenjing, the primary scripture of the Higher Clarity movement. 130 On proper pneuma, see n. 4 above. 131 In Daoism are many recipes using atractylodes, of which there are many species. According to Li Shizhen 李時珍 (1518-1593), Tao Hongjing was the first to distinguish the “white” and “green” varieties (baizhu 白朮 and cangzhu 蒼朮), and for him the “green” variety was most efficacious; see Li, Bencao gangmu 本草綱目 (Beijing: Renmin weisheng chubanshe, 1982), 12.737-43. The variety in question here is most precisely known today as nancangzhu 南蒼朮 (Atractylodes lancea); see Jiangsu Xinyixueyuan 1985, 1066-69 (no. 2174); Hu 1980, 137 (no. 1680). Today many herbal medicine providers sell it under the name “Atractylodes rhizome.” Several atractylodes recipes, including especially one that uses atractylodes powder and has effects similar to the ones mentioned here, are discussed in ZG 10.4a3-4b8. 132 Rice cooked in bilberry (xunfan □飯) is more precisely rice cooked in water in which the leaves of sea bilberry (Vaccinium bracteatum Thunb.), a close relative of the blueberry, have been boiled; the leaves, which give off a blue-black color, are still used to produce food coloring. The character xun is not in the standard Microsoft Word character set—it is written with the “food” radical (shi 食) on the left and the phonetic xun 迅 on the right. HDC 12:539 fortunately defines xun with reference to Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2); see also Jiangsu Xinyixueyuan 1985, 1562-63 (nos. 3261-62). Sea bilberry is known today under several different names, including wufanshu 烏飯樹, nanzhu 南燭, and mifanshu 米飯樹, but for Tao Hongjing it was “blue essence” (qingjing 青精). The recipe used within Higher Clarity was originally attached to Wang Bao’s esoteric biography (Robinet, C.7); it is now found in YJQQ 74.1a4-7b2 and widely cited elsewhere. Another xun recipe using sorghum is preserved in YJQQ 74.19a2-8. Schafer (1989, 48-49) writes that the plant in question should be Xolisma ovalifolia (also known as Pieris elliptica), an assertion based on Sawada 1977. However, Sawada simply does not consider sea bilberry, nor does he cite any source concerning his identification of nanzhu as Xolisma ovalifolia (more properly known as Lyonia ovalifolia).

FASCICLE TWO / 117

[12]

[13]

And your flesh and skin will fill to plumpness. After that, ascend into the mountains, Intone the Cavern [scripture], and explicate its subtleties. “‘Yin beast baring teeth,’F/ 133 you too will be able to perceive traps,134 Go on to attain deathlessness, and survive the renchen year,135 While ‘you who lies down to rest in a verdant wood, studying and clinging to the book of Zhou’G/136 Have your register-slips deposited in Grand Ultimate, your name written in gold in [the Palace of] West Florescence.137 Learn what may or may not be consumed, in free correspondence with your numinous talismans. Differing in constitution but in harmonious agreement, you will seek one another in the spirits’ caverns.” Announced by the Certifier of Registers, the Middle Marquis [Mao Gu].H/I We must be able to use imputed words.138 Not to use them would be unkind: How would you find the trail of a vaulting chariot Or follow this numen through the void? Subtle tones contain much meaning139: We must use them with care, not lightly. If in all things you respond to our divine stratagems,

The yin beast (yinshou 寅獸) is the symbolic animal for yin, the third of the twelve earthly branches that mark off the years of the Chinese calendar: the tiger. 134 “Trap” (ji 機) recalls the usage of jiqi 機啟 in Zhuangzi’s descriptions of animals that are caught in traps because of their fur. See Guo Qingfan 1983, 1A.40 (ch. 1), 7A.671 (ch. 20); trl. Watson 1968, 35, 210-11. SK 68 translates it as “subtle omens” (bimyō na kizashi 微妙なき ざし), but that misses the metaphor. 135 On renchen (392), see n. 80 above. 136 The “book of Zhou” refers to Zhou yi (Book of Changes). As Tao’s note explains, the eight characters of this sentence create the Yang 楊 of Yang Xi’s name. “Yang” is created by putting “wood” (mu 木) from the first phrase with the implied Changes (yi 易) of the second. 137 The Palace of West Florescence (Xihua gong) is the same as West Palace (Fascicle One, n. 108). It is also a place where the names of those who are to receive the scriptures of the Perfected are written—already before they are born. See WSMY 22.6a8-10, citing Dongzhen jing 洞真經 and Daoji zhenji jing 道迹真迹經 (the latter compiled by Gu Huan). 138 “Imputed words” (yuyan 寓言) in Zhuangzi refer to words placed in the mouths of others for making a point stronger. In Guo Qingfan 1983, 9A.947-48 (ch. 27); trl. Watson 1968, 303. The term’s modern meaning is “fable” or “parable.” Right Blossom echoes Purple Tenuity and Wei Huacun’s July 28 remarks on how Perfected speech reaches the world. 139 “Subtle tones” (weiyin 微音) is a term that usually appears in the context of descriptions of qin performance, as in Ji Kang’s 嵇康 (223-263) famous Qin fu 琴賦 (Rhapsody on the Zither), collected in Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 18.25b10 (Sibu congkan); trl. Knechtges 1996 295, L. 233. Here, they become a metaphor for words of instruction from the Perfected. 133

118 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

I assure you that you will see Grand Peace.140 [14]

As for the preceding, [Lady] Right Blossom chanted this.

“Certifier of Registers Mao [Gu’s] words are well-placed acupuncture needles. You had better remember them. If those of immortal mettle don’t trouble their minds with misguided precedents,141 [such remedies] can be obtained.” (Spoken by [the Director] Protecting Life, [Mao Zhong].142) [15] “In the middle of the eighth month, that man [=Xu Mi] will certainly be paying me a visit on the eastern peaks. The burning of incense will be necessary.”143 (Spoken by [the Director] Protecting Life just before leaving.) For the preceding passages, fifteen in all, from [the words,] “the Year-Star in yichou,” there is also calligraphy by Yang. A This is a rebus on Administrator [Xu’s] adult name, 144 which is Hui 翽 [“the sound of beating wings”]. B On this night, there was also the Middle Lord [Mao Gu’s] written instruction to Chamberlain Xu [Mi]145 in reply to the latter’s desire to know about things in the cave-heavens. Now I record it in the fourth fascicle.146 C These eight characters are to create Senior Aide [Xu Mi’s] childhood name Mu 穆 [“peaceful”].

Grand Peace (taiping 太平) describes a state of social and political harmony. The term appears in several pre-Qin writings, most notably Zhuangzi; Guo Qingfan 1983, 5B.471 (ch. 13); trl. Watson 1968, 147. Later it becomes one of the main ideals of the Celestial Masters movement and is greatly elaborated upon in Taiping jing 太平經 (The Scripture of Grand Peace), of which only fragments survive (in Wang Ming 1960; trl. Hendrischke 2006). 141 “Misguided precedents” (qugu 曲 故 ) appears in Huainanzi (Lau and Chen 1992c, 19/203/13-15). In the recent translation by John Major et al. (2010, 770): “What I call nonaction [means] … according with the natural endowments of things when establishing accomplishments, and advancing the natural propensities of things so that misguided precedents are not able to dominate.” 若吾所謂無為者…循理而舉事，因資而立功，推自然之勢， 而曲故不得容者。 In the present context, “misguided precedents” would probably refer to earlier established Daoist practices (e.g., the Way of the Celestial Masters). 142 This is another instance (as with n. 17 above) of a comment by Yang Xi being presented in the format of a comment by Tao Hongjing. I choose to present it in parentheses. 143 This statement alludes to an event discussed in ZG 11.16a9-16b10: the Perfected will be upset with Xu Mi for leaving a scripture in the meditation chamber in his home, thus putting it in danger of falling into the wrong hands. Only Yang Xi, not Tao, could have identified the speaker, so I choose to present the following comment in parentheses. 144 “Name” (ming 名) inexplicably appears twice; the second is redundant. 145 Both “Chamberlain Xu” (Xu qing 許卿) and “Senior Aide Xu” (Xu zhangshi 許長史) are Xu Mi: see n. 16 above. 146 To be precise, it is now found in ZG 12.5a1-5b5. 140

FASCICLE TWO / 119 D Again one derives from this the character si 思 [“contemplate”] and the character xuan 玄 [“the mysterious”] to complete the Senior Aide’s style. E The “rose-gem blade” here is precisely Administrator [Xu Hui’s] childhood name “Jade Axe.” It means the same as “blue register” (qinglu 青錄) in exoteric transmissions, so [Lord Pei] says, “respond to the numbers [of destiny].” F These four characters are precisely to express “Tiger Fang” [Huya 虎牙].147 G These eight characters are precisely to create the character for Yang [Yang 楊 = mu 木 + yi 易]. H Daoist medicinal affairs are discussed by the Certifier of Registers. I Together these [passages] are rebuses and metaphorically allude to the names of the four men. Each explicates the dietary practices they should cultivate. Trace the meanings of these expressions, and they are all consistent and orderly. I do not know why two men [Xu Lian and Yang Xi] are described together.

Comments The manuscript goes on to record the speeches on the night of August 18, 365, when the Lady of Purple Tenuity, Lord Pei, Mao Gu, Lady Right Blossom, and Mao Zhong appear. Recall that Purple Tenuity plays the role of Xu Mi’s teacher, but as a daughter of the Queen Mother of the West she would certainly also be interested in finding a young man with a strong interest in spiritual matters. Xu Mi’s son Hui makes an ideal candidate. She tells Yang to write down her advice to Xu Hui: he is diligent enough, but that will not bring him all the way to the truth. To grasp Perfection, what he really needs is a kind of settled peacefulness. Her comparison between the desired peacefulness and a quilted sleeping gown functions on several levels at once. Most importantly, it expresses the effortless ease and comfort of attaining Perfection, in contrast to the difficulty of attaining lesser immortality: one can do it in bed. But as we have seen elsewhere—in Zhou Yishan’s advice to Xu Mi to regulate himself even in the depths of night, and in Yang Xi’s marriage, for example—one can do other things in bed, too, so her statement may be read as being rather suggestive, even a bit teasing. Once we read it that way, other things begin to fall into place. What is to be made of her statement, “In working the handle of the Way you’re industrious to the highest degree. But the Way is soft, Perfection a void”? Is she not implicitly describing the “industrious” or diligent approach toward immortality as an exercise in futility, like masturbation? In other words, what would really be effective is the kind of nightly self-regulation that leads to the attainment of spiritual union, not intercourse; it would consist not of working the Way’s handle, but returning to the Way itself; not making it hard, but keeping it soft (at least for the time being); not rushing to finish, but keeping it slow. Violators of this principle certainly do make a lot of work for themselves! 147 “Tiger Fang” or Huya 虎牙 is the childhood name of Xu Mi’s middle son, Xu Lian 許 聯 (328-404). There is a brief biography of him in ZG 20.9a10-9b7. WYT 1.19a7 places him among “sundry earthbound immortals” (dixian sanwei 地仙散位) on the sixth tier.

120 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

The next few passages consist of poems and pronouncements in carefully parallel phrases that play on the names or styles of Yang Xi and the members of the Xu family with rebuses and riddles, like the poem presented to Xu Mi earlier. The first, for Xu Hui by Lord Pei, is the most elaborate—the rebus for Hui (whose name is descriptive of the sound of beating wings) fills the entire poem, even as the same words describe Xu Hui’s progress. The general thrust is that he will live up to his name, and that the sound of beating wings will be heard as he ascends to Higher Clarity. Lord Pei appreciates Xu Hui’s dismissal of his wife and cleverly works this into the rebus. If translated more loosely for the “larger” meaning, the first lines would read: “You stand on tiptoe, hoping to fly, / Either on impulse or as the result of completing your refinement. / Pomp holds no meaning for you. / You’ve banished your highborn wife…” The dismissed wife is described as a “pampered woman” (jiaonü 驕女), as one might expect, since she is the daughter of a high official and his own cousin as well (Bokenkamp 2007, 148), but by sending her away Xu Hui has become an eligible bachelor again, which is why he has drawn the attention of Purple Tenuity in the first place. As for the rhyme scheme, it is consistent (-eng) and includes some of the odd-numbered lines as well. Mao Gu presents two poems, one for Xu Mi and one for Xu Hui. The first, addressed to Xu Mi, opens with a couplet containing a rebus on Xu Mi’s childhood name, Mu 穆, meaning “peaceful,” with the implicit message that he should live up to his name; the second couplet embeds the two components of his style, Sixuan 思玄 (“contemplates the mysterious”). The poem essentially provides Xu Mi with general advice on turning back the effects of age, brightening his Lights, and practicing the method of “mystic Perfection” (ingesting solar and lunar efflorescences); it leads up to the time he is to “rest and lie down peacefully” (i.e., expire) while chanting the Dadong zhenjing. The second poem, addressed to Xu Hui, roughly follows the same pattern. Its first line addresses Xu Hui with a riddle on his child-name, Yufu 玉斧 (“Jade Axe”). The poem goes on to mention a recipe for dispelling disease and ends by advising retreat into the mountains, where he will chant and explicate the Dadong zhenjing. The first poem rhymes on -yen, -yin, -ienH, -aen, and -jaen (with an extra rhyme in the third line), and the second rhymes on -ej, -jwe, -je, and -j+j. Now speaking in unrhymed lines, Mao Gu addresses Xu Lian, Xu Mi’s older, less religious son, and comments only that he will survive the renchen year (392). Turning to Yang Xi, he says that his slips are all in order. Mao Gu concludes by observing that even though the four men’s constitutions all differ, requiring different diets, they are all in agreement. We have learned earlier (August 2-4) that Yang Xi is still learning the method of absorbing pneumas. Xu Mi meanwhile will consume the “oil of the Five Lords’ stones” and solar and lunar efflorescences; Xu Hui will eat atractylodes powder and rice cooked in sea bilberry. No specific diet is prescribed for Xu Lian—perhaps he is not ready for it yet. Even so, Mao Gu ends on a hopeful note, implying that all

FASCICLE TWO / 121

four men will eventually look for one another after they enter the “spirits’ caverns.” Tao Hongjing finds it strange that Mao Gu would juxtapose Xu Lian and Yang Xi, two men of very different levels of attainment, but in the larger context of Mao Gu’s speech, it is not strange at all. Lady Right Blossom’s first poem is somewhat uncharacteristic of her, since she does not seem to allude directly to Xu Mi, the object of her affections. One would rather expect that the thoughts she expresses here, on the propagation of the Perfected teachings through the world, would be voiced by the Lady of Purple Tenuity, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount, or one of the male Perfected. Nevertheless, the poem is most certainly addressed to Xu Mi. The key phrase here is “imputed words” (yuyan 寓言), a term from Zhuangzi that describes words placed in the mouths of others—in this case, Yang Xi, who serves as the Perfected persons’ voice in the world. Xu Mi is probably wondering why Lady Right Blossom will not communicate directly with him, so this poem would serve as explanation: basically, the Perfected are not insensitive to his need for instruction, but they must be chary about who actually hears their “subtle tones.” Rhyme: -jeng, -eng, -jiengH, -ienH. Mao Zhong, speaking apparently as the other Perfected visitors were leaving, compares his brother Mao Gu’s comments as precisely placed acupuncture needles, available only to persons who do not bother with the practices of other Daoist lineages, which are misguided or distorted. But he also anticipates that Xu Mi will commit an error for which he will need to beg forgiveness a month hence, with the burning of incense.

Xu Mi Begs for Leniency in Testing, and Mao Ying is Unimpressed (undated) [1]

2.14b7-2.15b5

Respectfully admiring those of breezy sophistication, I meditate upon the beauteous Lights. I am ashamed of the ignorance of my errors; my baseness and stinginess have been long conspicuous. I yearn to goad myself on and be cleansed, molded, and refined. At a rise where it is determined whether or not I am saved, how fortunate I am that your concern reaches down to me! [I], Xu Xuan [=Xu Mi], in trepidation and fear do obeisance once again.A To Master Jia.B/148 The previous passage is based on the Senior Aide’s own calligraphy. 148 This is Jia Xuandao 賈玄道, one of Mao Ying’s four subordinates in charge of testing adepts. His identity had been explained to Yang Xi several weeks earlier (ZG 12.4a7-4b9). WYT 1.20a8-10 puts Jia with the sundry earthbound immortals on the left of the sixth tier.

122 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

[1]

The Perfected Man of Grand Primordiality [Mao Ying] was presented this letter and consequently directed me to write as follows: [2] “Regarding those who can recede far away from the present world, the only thing they consider important is the body. Only the ones who reduce the external obstacles around them have no place for death.149 For this reason, the learners of old grasped the mystic fish-trap to hide among the peaks,150 hid their bright mirrors from miscellaneous affairs, concentrated their spirits in the courts of mountain caverns, and nurtured Perfection next to streams in secluded valleys. Then they: Let loose their hair on high peaks, Put to order their own lives, Basked and glowed in the [sun’s] coruscating Light, Gathered and absorbed [the efflorescences of] the five planets,151 Wandered, stepping lightly, along the [Dipper’s] nine ways, Ascended to the origin to purify their forms,152 149 “Have no place for death” (wu sidi 無死地) alludes to Laozi, ch. 50: “Surely you have heard of those who are good at nurturing life:/ Traveling on land, they do not encounter wild buffalo and tigers;/ Entering battle, they do not put on shields and weapons./ The wild buffalo find no place to thrust their horns,/ The tigers no place to set their claws,/ The weapons no place to accommodate their blades./ Now why is this?/ Because they have no place for death.” 蓋聞善攝生者，陸行不遇兕虎，入軍不被甲兵。兕無所投其角，虎無所措 其爪，兵無所容其刃。夫何故。以其無死地。 Laozi, 2.9a4-7 (Sibu beiyao). 150 On the mystic fish-trap, see n. 117 above. 151 These two lines allude to a practice described in Shangqing taishang basu zhenjing (DZ 426; Robinet, A.3), 1.9b10-24b6. According to Robinet (1984, 2:53; 2000, 203), the adept greets each of the five planets with one hand over the heart and the other over the eyes, visualizes the gods that dwell in them, calls them by name, and recites an invocation, then absorbs their light. On five days each year (wutong 五通), when the planetary gods go to the Higher Clarity and Jade Clarity heavens in order to update various registers depending on people’s shortcomings and merits, the adept calls on them to erase his or her name from the black register. The practice also complements the one alluded to in the next few lines of our text. 152 SK 72n3 cites a passage of commentary on a Higher Clarity scripture entitled Huiyuan jiudao feixing yujing 迴元九道飛行羽經 (Feathered Scripture on Return to the Origin, the Nine Ways, and Flighted Travel; Robinet, A.24) contained in YJQQ 8.19b8-20a5. According to this commentary, the “nine ways” (jiudao 九道) are the nine stars (seven visible, two normally invisible) of the Dipper. Robinet (1984, 2:192), citing the YJQQ passage, has an enlightening discussion on the “return to the origin” (huiyuan 迴元, what she calls “the Original”)]. However, there is another set of practices that were supposed to take place on the days of “return to the origin” (huiyuan 迴元), and they were closely related to the method of absorbing the planetary pneumas described in the previous note. This method is described in Shangqing zijing jun huangchu ziling daojun dongfang shangjing 上清紫精君皇初紫靈道君洞房上經 (Superior Scripture of the Grotto Chamber from the Lord of Purple Essence of Higher Clarity and the

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Projected their thoughts into the absolute void, Disengaged from human affairs, Closed [themselves] to preserve the three pneumas,153 And refined their wondrous essences. As a result they could recover: Their years of tender youth And revert to mere children and babes!154 “If affairs had burdened them [like] gathering sandgrains, [like] crossing carriages that block a thoroughfare, then they would have been unable to apply themselves on the very thing to be preserved [i.e., their bodies]. So how can the testing and evaluation be stopped? When one thing after another makes its demands, inference-based judgments give rise to calamity155—and when does the gaze of the people of heaven ever miss things? Our function is to grant rewards for accomplishment; our tests are for determining whether there is daily improvement. “Master Jia recently brought me this letter that makes a pretext of past earnest activity. One could say it’s full of feeling. Even so, in its ‘don’t approach my dam’ [sentiment], 156 there seems to be the ‘anticipation of being deceived’!”157 Lord of the Way of Purple Numina of Sovereign Beginning; DZ 405; Robinet, A.5), 1.13b119b3, discussed in Robinet 1984, 2:81; 2000, 203-04. 153 This alludes to a method described in ZG 10.1a8-1b3. The adept visualizes pneumas of three colors—blue, white, and red—streaming from the rising sun and continues taking them into the mouth until full. Immortality is attained after doing this for ten years. 154 WSMY 65.10a5-10b2, also records Mao Ying’s speech to this point, with several variant characters, but cites as its source Gu Huan’s Zhenji jing. Here it omits the final er 耳 and inserts a few phrases not in ZG: “…then enter the Way. Entering the Way, they found immortality; finding the Way, they became Perfected.” 則入道。入道得仙，得道成真。 155 “Inference-based judgments” (chu lei 觸類), literally “convergence of categories,” is an expression from the Zhou yi commentaries describing the process of drawing inferences across separate categories to which things with similar characteristics (such as firmness) belong. The Xici zhuan in Zhou yi, 7.7b4-7 (Sibu congkan) states: “The Eight Trigrams constitute a small completion. Stretch and extend them, converge by categories and prolong them, and all possible things under heaven are encompassed. [This] reveals the Way and divinizes one’s virtuous action.” 八卦而小成。引而伸之，觸類而長之，天下之能事畢矣。顯道，神德 行。Cf. Wilhelm 1969, 313. Xu Mi’s inference-based judgements now cause calamity, but later (ZG 3.7a3 and 3.8b8) he is urged to “converge categories.” Basically, by failing to remove himself from things first, Xu Mi’s inferences and judgements concerning them, i.e., his convergence of their categories, are always faulty. 156 Mao Ying steeps his comments with phrases from Shi jing. “Earnest activity” (weiwei 亹 亹) appears in the poems “Wen wang” 文王 (King Wen) and “Songgao” 崧高 (Grandly Lofty) to describe the sagely founders of the Zhou dynasty. “Full of feeling” (you qing 有情) appears in “Wan qiu” 宛丘 (Wan Hill) to describe someone who is affectionate but lacking in admi-

124 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED A The Senior Aide’s distinguished name was Mi, and his style was Sixuan. Now, in this place, it is unacceptable to say “Xuan” directly.158 B The Senior Aide, having heard Yang’s announcement of [the Perfected Man of Purple Yang] Zhou [Yishan’s] explanation that Jia Xuandao and so on were in charge of testing and evaluating, subsequently wrote this letter. 159 Jia immediately presented it to the Director of Destinies. This explains the phrase, “Master Jia recently brought me this letter…” in the Director of Destinies’ later reply. Lord Zhou’s speech on these matters is in the fourth fascicle.

Comments Tao Hongjing here places an undated exchange of sorts between Xu Mi and Mao Ying. It takes the form of a written prayer to one of Mao Ying’s subordinate officials, Jia Xuandao 賈玄道, and Mao Ying’s reply, spoken to Yang Xi. Xu Mi had actually heard of Jia from Yang’s report of a speech by Zhou Yishan a few weeks earlier (July 24, 365), and we may assume that Xu Mi’s prayer was written soon thereafter. But Mao Ying does not make his initial appearance until August 9, and clearly his response to Xu’s prayer takes place soon after that. Behind all this we can discern the care with which Tao Hongjing arranged this material. First, for the sake of continuity, he placed the prayer and response together, though they may have been separated by several weeks. Second, he places the exchange after Mao Ying’s first recorded appearance. Third, he does not place it where one might expect it, right after August 9, but rather after August 18—when Mao Zhong remarks that Xu Mi will make an error in the eighth month (of the lunar calendar). And Xu Mi does err in writing his prayer, but it is not the error to which Mao Zhong alludes, because it is still the seventh month. Finally, if the source document for the reply (i.e., the second and third tiaos here) was attached to the tiaos on which the next section (dated August 19) is based, then this can be the only location for the exchange. Tao used two separate manuscripts as his sources for this section, one by Xu Mi and one by Yang Xi, but it is now impossible to tell whether they had rable quality (Legge 1994, 4:428, 536, and 205 respectively). The line, “Don’t approach my dam,” appears in both “Gu feng” 谷風 (East Wind) and “Xiao bian” 小弁 (Little Crest), where it is uttered by a rejected wife and a rejected courtier, both complaining their virtues are unrecognized (Legge 1994, 4:56-57, 340). Thus to paraphrase the ZG line: “Even so, while complaining of unrecognized virtue, he seems to anticipate being deceived.” 157 “Anticipation of being deceived” (nizha 逆詐) appears in Lunyu, 14.33, which states that not anticipating deception is a quality of a virtuous person (Legge 1994, 1:287). In other words, Mao Ying is unimpressed with the tone of Xu Mi’s letter, because he considers it selfpitying (implying that any test given him would be unfair) and overly calculating. 158 That is, Xu Mi’s use of a shortened, familiar form of his own style is presumptuous. 159 Zhou Yishan’s speech to Yang Xi was actually delivered several weeks earlier. Tao Hongjing’s decision to place this exchange here, between passages dated August 18 and 19, 365, was motivated perhaps by Mao Zhong’s parting comments of August 18.

FASCICLE TWO / 125

been parts of longer manuscripts. They may well have been separate, isolated pieces of paper or silk, i.e., not parts of scrolls or longer records. It also appears that Yang had copied out or summarized Xu Mi’s prayer in his manuscript, because the first item from the Yang source refers to “this letter” (ci shu 此書), which Yang would not have written without a referent. In presenting this material, however, Tao Hongjing chooses to follow the Xu Mi manuscript for the prayer, and the Yang manuscript for the Perfected response—a logical choice. Xu Mi wrote his prayer with appropriately elegant turns of phrase and strict parallelism, but the glossy surface masks a very slippery character. After all, he is begging the Perfected to grant him leniency on their tests, or even a complete exemption, though he never says so explicitly. He is attempting to butter up Mao Ying’s factotum Jia Xuandao with right-sounding expressions. He claims to have meditated on the “beauteous Lights of the Perfected” for a long time, but he does not say, “I shall goad myself on and be cleansed, molded, and refined.” Instead, he says that he yearns to (or longs to, or simply thinks to) do so. Finally, in closing he signs his name Xu Xuan, using an overfamiliar, abbreviated form of his style—a mark of presumption or carelessness. Mao Ying will have none of that, of course. He points out that if Xu Mi were to retreat now to the mountains, he would show he is truly focused on preserving his body. Mao launches into a rhyming list of the practices that ancient adepts followed, which culminated in their reverting to childhood and infancy (rhyme: -eng). By not retreating, Xu Mi is still obstructed, which necessitates the testing. In other words, instead of worrying about tests, Xu Mi would be better off cutting his worldly ties immediately. Mao closes with a critique of the letter itself, using expressions from Shi jing and Lunyu. Mao is unimpressed with the letter’s tone because it presumes upon past accomplishment, implies that any test given would be unfair and result in failure or rejection (self-pitying), and seems to “anticipate being deceived” (too calculating).

August 19, 365: Persistence and Impatience [3]

2.15b6-2.16b1

The sixteenth day of the seventh monthA: “I’ve looked into what you asked. ‘O how your heart is set!’ 160 You direct your gaze to the mountain peaks, increasingly harbor distant thoughts, gladly report on your inclinations, and always show this intent. For those who practice 160 This expression is taken from Lunyu, 14.42; trl. Legge 1994, 1:290-91. Having the right intentions, a “heart in the right place,” or a mind set on its goal (you xin 有心) is a quality also mentioned in Han Wudi neizhuan, and in fact the Queen Mother of the West in that text uses the same exclamation. See Han Wudi neizhuan (DZ 298), 1.10b6 and 1.15a6; trl. Smith 1992, 2:502 (where I unfortunately translated the exclamation as a question) and 509. As for the statement, “I’ve looked into what you asked,” it relates to Xu Mi’s desire to see cave-heavens, alluded to in ZG 12.5b2. For a fuller discussion, see my “Comments.”

126 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

the Way, only complete refinement will do! If you’re willing but not diligent, then you won’t be able to do anything. If you’re diligent but unfocused, again you’ll be unable to accomplish anything. It is essential that you immediately make the heart of stinginess clear out and vileB ailments scatter!”C/161 “Why don’t you look frequently at the eastern mountains, gaze intently upon the three verdant peaks, stroll back and forth among bamboo roofs, and fix your eyes on the woods and streams?162 “If that man were to go it might not be of any further benefit!”D/163 In the previous [passage], the Lady of the Southern Marchmount speaks to [me,] her disciple. [4] “Now a word [may cause] the complete failure of one’s inborn destiny; keeping one’s word is the key that decides gain or loss. Zhang Liang, in keeping three appointments,164 can be said to have illumined his heart as a result of his persistence in the Way.” In the previous [passage], the Lady of the Southern Marchmount speaks to [me,] her disciple. [5] “By nature he’s very tolerant and humane, but he’s impatient to hear things—and responding to things too quickly violates our teachings even more. It’s still inappropriate to ask about the matter of the fiery jujubes.”E/165 In the previous [passage], the Ninefold Florescent Perfected Consort speaks. The previous passages, five in all, from [the words,] “Grand Primordiality,” are in Yang’s calligraphy. A For

this passage, there is also calligraphy by the Administrator [=Xu Hui].

Tao’s note is crucial for understanding the passage; see my “Comments.” The DZ text here has “level” (ping 平), clearly an error for the question particle hu 乎. 163 Wei Huacun refers to Xu Mi; the phrasing is similar to that use in ZG 2.14b5 above (“That man will certainly be paying me a visit…”). 164 Zhang Liang 張良 (d. 189 BCE) was the chief strategist who assisted Liu Bang 劉邦 (r. 202-195 BCE) establish the Han dynasty. The Shi ji tells of his meeting an old man who promised to teach him if he would meet him at a certain place at dawn. At the appointed time, the old man arrived first and upbraided Zhang for being late, so they made a second appointment, but the same thing happened again. On the third appointment, Zhang showed up at midnight—just before the old man appeared. The old man then gave him Taigong bingfa 太公兵法 (The Grand Duke’s Art of War) and later transformed himself into a yellow stone, which Zhang worshipped (Sima Qian, Shi ji, 55.2034-35; trl. Watson 1993, 1:100). In Higher Clarity, Zhang Liang is usually known by his surname and style, Zhang Zifang 子房. He transmits the basic alchemical text Taiqing zhenjing 太清真經 (True Scripture of Grand Clarity) to Zhou Yishan in Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.9b4-5; trl. Miller 2008, 139. WYT 1.12b9 sets him on the left of the fourth tier. See also Penny in ET 1230-31. 165 The fiery jujubes (huozao 火棗) are discussed below in ZG 2.19a4-2.20a8. 161 162

FASCICLE TWO / 127 B This was inked over with the character hui 穢 [“vile”] by a later person. The [original character] is no longer legible. C This also seems to be the Eastern Minister [Mao Ying]’s announcement to the Senior Aide [Xu Mi]. D Whenever mention is made of the “three verdant peaks” [san xiu 三秀], it is to refer to the three summits of Maoshan. The mountaintops are verdant, so they are called the “three verdant peaks.” E The discussion of matters pertaining to the fiery jujubes appears later on.

Comments The first passage or tiao recording this night’s speeches is split into two parts. After the first, Tao Hongjing comments, “This also seems to be the Eastern Minister [Mao Ying]’s announcement to the Senior Aide [Xu Mi].” The second part is unambiguously spoken by Southern Marchmount to Yang Xi: “In the previous [passage], the Lady of the Southern Marchmount speaks to [me,] her disciple” (右南嶽夫人與弟子言). Tao’s comment, dividing the tiao, is quite reasonable, for there are in fact similarities between the advice given in the first part with the earlier advice that Mao Ying gave for Xu Mi: it emphasizes diligence (befitting Xu but not Yang, as Yang’s elevation is now “effortless”), retreat into the mountains, and the elimination of the “heart of stinginess” and “vile ailments.” The term “heart of stinginess” was used earlier in connection with Xu Mi, though it was spoken by Lord Pei (ZG 2.4a10). There is also a change in pronoun between the two parts, from the ambiguous zi 子 (usually “you,” but sometimes “he”) to an unambiguous er 爾 (“you”). Moreover, Tao had two manuscripts to work with, as Xu Hui had copied the entire passage— the speech had to have been of concern to him or to his father. It would be very easy to read this tiao as a single unbroken message from Southern Marchmount to Yang Xi, and in fact, while translating it, I could not at first figure out why Tao Hongjing would insert his comment here. After all, Yang Xi himself is not completely free of obstructions: he is still subject to doubt or feelings of desire, like Xu Mi. And if he is contacting the Perfected for the Xu family every night, he cannot be living in the mountains. He has not yet acted decisively or cut all his ties with society. If the passage were read as a single instruction for Yang Xi, it would seem that the subject of the “inquiry” mentioned at the beginning would be the “fiery jujubes” (huozao 火棗), a fabled medicine that confers immortality and a topic of the third tiao written on this night. Yang Xi would have asked how he might obtain more. Recall that during his first meeting with Perfected Consort An, she had given him an otherworldly jujube, and that could well have piqued his interest in this medicine. Southern Marchmount, his teacher, would be delighted at his question, but she would say that he raises it prematurely, since he has not completely rid himself of his shortcomings. That must come first. He would not need to retreat into the mountains yet: for now it suffices to gaze at

128 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

them or “stroll back and forth among bamboo roofs.” She closes her speech with a rather harsh comment about “that man”—Xu Mi. Given his present level of attainment, she doubts whether a retreat would even do him any good. Xu Hui’s copy of the passage would imply that Xu Mi may well have had one, too: a harsh evaluation like that would give him ample cause for reflection. But that interpretation, especially the first part, would be wrong. With Tao Hongjing’s comment in place, we get a glimpse of his editorial prowess. Let us now read the passage as he would have us read it, as two separate statements. To do so, we must first determine the subject of Xu Mi’s inquiry. There seem to be no other writings by Xu Mi that are dated before this night, but in ZG 12.5a1-5b5, after an instruction from Mao Gu to Xu Mi on cave-palaces dated “the fifteenth day of the seventh month” (August 18, 365), Tao Hongjing adds a note stating that the instruction there was received more than one month after the previous one, and was still in reply to Xu Mi’s wish to see caveheavens. In fact, we have already encountered a note to that effect (ZG 2.13b23; August 18, 365, note B), though its import will probably have slipped past most readers. Therefore, we must conclude that the missing “inquiry” to which Mao Ying is responding concerns Xu Mi’s wish to see cave-heavens. It cannot be about the fiery jujubes; that is a separate question. Furthermore, if we move ahead and examine the third tiao from this night and the speeches of September 8, 365 (ZG 2.18b7-2.20a9) below, it is clear that the person who asks about the cave-heavens is not Yang Xi, but again Xu Mi. Why would Tao Hongjing say that the speaker seems to be Mao Ying and not, say, Lord Pei or any of the other Perfected? Because the speech is a follow-up to what Mao Gu said on the previous night (in the ZG 12.5a1-5b5 passage), and his older brother would be the logical choice: he would have the final say on the matter. Of course, Mao Ying would be pleased by Xu Mi’s interest in and desire to see the cave-heavens. But now, rather than telling him to retreat to the mountains right away, he counsels diligence and concentration, and he ends by urging Xu Mi to dispel his “vile ailments” and his “heart of stinginess” first, before anything else. In the second part of the first tiao, Southern Marchmount picks up on these remarks to direct a pointed question to Yang Xi: why don’t you gaze at the mountains more often? Yang, her disciple, has not cut off his worldly ties as he assists the Xus, and perhaps he has let his self-discipline flag. Her parting barb at Xu Mi, though, illustrates by contrast how much more advanced Yang is. The second tiao is quite ambiguous for its lack of context. Southern Marchmount counsels Yang to keep his word, but we never learn what that word was. Perhaps, in reply to her previous statement, Yang had promised to follow her advice, and this is Southern Marchmount’s response. The third tiao, spoken by Consort An, concerns Xu Mi. She acknowledges his tolerance and humaneness but also observes that he is too hasty and impa-

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tient to hear things. Hasty action violates the Perfected teachings, so his question about the fiery jujubes is premature. From the passages above, we can assemble an image of Xu Mi firing off one question or petition after another, to the point that the Perfected tell him to slow down. He must learn to meditate on their teachings, put them into diligent practice, and thoroughly absorb them before moving on to the next step.

August 21, 365: Lady Right Blossom’s First Love Song for Xu Mi [1]

2.16b2-2.16b8

Reining in my Lights, I drop to the Blue-grey Billows, Then take a vaulting leap across the shores of the pellucid sea.166 As rose-gold vapors obscure the sun, My feathered canopy upturns the Nine Heavens. My cloud-carriage floats above undifferentiated space; It flashes and dashes through wind and wave. I come to seek a friend for the hidden realm: Hand-in-hand we shall serve the Thearch of Dawn. Master Jade will be joined with our bright Virtue;167 Drawing our heads together, we’ll summon the jade worthies.168 Below, we’ll glance at the Palaces of the Eight Hillocks;169

Higher Clarity’s geography has no “Pellucid Sea” (qinghai 清海); it is probably a general term. “Blue Sea” (qinghai 青海) in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.12b1 perhaps better matches the Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.9a6 description of the blue-grey (cang 蒼) sea around the Isle in the Sea of Blue-grey Billows. The Perfected perspective again shrinks the sea into a river that one ferries across (suggested by jin 津). “Take a vaulting leap” (tengyao 騰躍) in Zhuangzi refers to the quail’s “great leap” in contrast to the giant peng’s; Guo Qingfan 1983, 1A.14 (ch. 1); trl. Watson 1968, 31. Here it describes an effortless hop over a seemingly short distance that is, in fact, a vast one. 167 For this line I follow YJQQ 98.14b7, which writes Yuzi 玉子 (Master Jade) instead of wangzi 王子 (prince). This is the reference to Xu Hui, the “Jade Axe,” mentioned in Tao Hongjing’s note below; he is called this also in ZG 4.4b2 and 4.14a2. Tao’s note is necessary, otherwise yuzi could also refer to “jade lads,” the ever-youthful attendants of the Perfected, or at least two other immortals called Master Jade: (1) Zhang Zhen 張震 or Wei Zhen 韋震, who appears in Shenxian zhuan and Baopuzi neipian (Wang Ming 1985, 15.271; Campany 2002, 370-71, 546); and (2) Diku 帝嚳, the father of the thearch Yao 堯 (ZG 14.18a4-9 has a brief hagiography). SK 75 retains the wangzi reading and interprets it as referring to Wangzi Qiao. Paul W. Kroll (1996, 182) also retains the wangzi reading and translates the line, “A regal scion [i.e., Xu Mi himself] who will concord with my luminous virtue.” 168 The “jade worthies” (yuxian 玉賢) are likely the ones who sparkle in Jade Mystery, mentioned below in ZG 2.17a8-9. SK 76n7 makes them a single worthy, Xu Hui, based on his “Jade Axe” child-name, though he is not called “jade worthy” elsewhere. 169 The Palaces of the Eight Hillocks (Ba’e gong 八阿宮) are probably the palaces situated at the ends of the eight directions—implying Right Blossom’s ability to encompass the world at a glance. Huainanzi describes eight mountains and gateways at those points (Lau and Chen 166

130 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Above, we’ll sleep at the top of Rarefied Grove.170 Rinse [your mouth] with this oil from Purple Rose-gem 171— Soon you’ll know the bitterness of [the world’s] filth and dirt. My fair one,172 in which place will you be? If you devote yourself to it, then we shall find intimacy! In the evening of the eighteenth day of the seventh month, Lady Wang, the Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove, instructed [me to write] this poem.A A This

poem is for the Senior Aide [Xu Mi], and it also mentions the Administrator [Xu Hui].

Comments This might not be Lady Right Blossom’s first love song, but at least it is the earliest preserved one. Unfortunately, we do not have the fuller narrative context relating how these poems were originally presented. Perhaps Yang Xi by this time had given Xu Mi an extremely detailed and beautiful description of Lady Right Blossom, and perhaps Xu Mi had written many fine poems to respond in kind to the poems that she sent him, but all these are missing. As is typical with poems of this kind, Right Blossom begins with a description of her absolute freedom of movement as she travels in her carriage of Light and cloud. In the first couplet, she descends to her home on Blue-grey Billows, then makes a giant leap across the sea, which to her seems “pellucid” (qing 清). The second line, in its five-word span, captures several aspects of the Perfected perspective at once. First, it reduces vast distances into short ones, seas into rivers, and mountains into hills. Her choice of the word jin 津 (normally, a ford) for seashores suggests that they are like the banks of a small stream. Her “vaulting leap” is really a hop. Second, it penetrates through obsta1992c, 4/34/6-10; Major et al. 2010, 158-59), so “hillocks” is another instance of reducing perspective. The version in YJQQ 98.14b5-9 has Palaces of the Eight Rivers (Bahe gong 八 河宮). Kroll (1996, 182) writes “Palace of the Eight Buttresses” and calls it a paradise. 170 Concerning Rarified Grove on Fusang, see n. 75 above. 171 The oil of Purple Rose-gem (ziqiong yu 紫瓊腴), judging from the frequency with which “purple rose-gem” is used in connection with the rosy clouds of dawn, is likely a kind of auroral condensation or otherworldly wine-like beverage. But Purple Rose-gem itself is the name of a palace in Higher Clarity at the site of dawn, according to the commentary in Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 1.1b1-6. SK 76n8 cites a passage from Mao Ying’s esoteric biography in YJQQ 104.19a1-2 on a similar substance, “oil of purple exquisite jade” (zi lin zhi yu 紫琳之腴). ZG 3.6a8-9 mentions a “rose-gem soup” (qiongjiang 瓊 漿) for drinking and “fatty meat of exquisite jade” (linyu 琳腴) for eating; the latter also appears in ZG 3.15a10. But those are different substances. 172 “Fair one” (jiaren 佳人), like many other terms appearing in this poem, comes from the tradition of the Chu ci and refers to the object of the poet’s desire, whether male or female.

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cles. Whereas texts like Shizhouji 十洲記 (DZ 598; Records of the Ten Continents) describe the seas around the eastern paradise-isles as being various colors, including even an inky black, she sees through them. Her carriage, meanwhile, performs impossible acrobatics, upturning the heavens with its canopy. Her purpose on this journey is to find her “fair one,” old Xu Mi, so he can join her on her future travels in the east, in service to the Thearch of Dawn. Even his son, Master Jade, can join them as they summon the services of other jade worthies. If he joins her, he will also be able to look down and see the eight palaces at the eight ends of the earth in a single glance and sleep at the top of Rarefied Grove (at Fusang). If he were only to rinse his mouth with the stuff of the highest heavens, he would realize how bitter the filth of the world is. Right Blossom closes with a promise: if you concentrate on such places, they will be yours—and we become intimates (poem prev. trl. Kroll 1996, 182). The frequent naming of Perfected locales in this poem is not unusual, but coming as it does so soon after the Perfected have given Xu Mi detailed descriptions of cave-heavens, one cannot help but wonder whether Right Blossom is also tempting Xu Mi with the airier sublimities of the celestial realms. Rhyme: -in, -en, -ean; additional rhyme -ang, -angH in lines one and three.

August 29, 365: Forgetting the World, Leaving Tracks on High, and Being Discreet [2]

2.16b9-2.18a8

I rise high to the void of Rarified Grove; Far off, I roam where there is neither round nor square, In the still solitude beyond the Images and numbers, Where Being and Non-being freely form a mystic union.173 Flowing, flowing—the reverberant harmonies of my Virtue; Drifting, drifting—I pace the grand vault of space. Lolling and rolling about, I go with the waves;

173 Each pairing in these lines has a literary antecedent (SK 76n11 and 12). Round and square appear in Zhang Heng’s 張衡 (78-139) Sixuan fu 思玄賦 (Rhapsody on Contemplating the Mystery) where the poet speaks of the shifting world, in David R. Knechtges’ (1996, 109) translation, “Destroying the round of the compass, the straightness of the square” 泯規矩之 員方. Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 15.4a4 (Sibu congkan). Images and numbers appear in Zuo zhuan (Duke Xi, 15th year): “Han Jian, who was in attendance, said, ‘[Divination by] tortoiseshell uses the Images [of the Zhou yi, while divination by] milfoil uses numbers. After creatures are born, they assume images, and after that they flourish. Once they flourish they appear in numbers.” 韓簡侍，曰，龜，象也；筮，數也。物生而後有象，象而後有滋，滋而後有數。 Cf. Legge 1994, 5:165 and 169 and Watson 1989, 36. Being and Non-being are paired in Laozi, ch. 2: “Therefore Being and Non-being generate each other…” 故有無相生…。 Laozi, 1.1b10 (Sibu beiyao). The latter are further discussed in Zhuangzi, especially its second chapter: Guo Qingfan 1983, 1B.79; trl. Watson 1968, 43.

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Trembling, my little bells scatter [their notes] in the breeze. Reflect within yourself the vision of the Seven Ways,174 And you can attain complete forgetfulness.175 Why must you be off hobnobbing time and again As you wait for written communications from this world? Take the mysteries to heart: you should naturally awaken. Give ear to silence: you will definitely leave tracks on high. In the evening of the twenty-sixth day of the seventh month, the Lady of Purple Tenuity instructed me to compose this and directed that it be given to Senior Aide Xu.176 [3] The scarlet gates push open to the wide empyrean. Splitting cinnabar [mists], I ascend to the chambers of the [heavenly] Lights. My purple banners stir clouds and aurorae As my feathered dawn[-canopy] strokes the eight winds.177 Stopping my carriage, I bathe in Cyan Stream178 And pluck flowers on the peaks of Yuezhi;179 I chew upon the blossoms of the Three Numina,180 The “Seven Ways” (qidao 七道) are equivalent to the “Seven Crossings” (qidu; n. 22). “Complete forgetfulness” (jianwang 兼 忘 ) appears in Zhuangzi. Guo Qingfan 1983, 5C.498-99 (ch. 14); trl. Watson 1968, 155. 176 The DZ text puts no line break between this sentence and the next poem—a formatting error. The next poem is already “covered” with its own endnote. I thus shift the break and place this comment together with the poem preceding it. The preceding poem has also been translated by Paul Kroll (2003, 169; 2010, 967-68) and Kristofer Schipper (1999, 404). 177 “Feathered dawn-canopy” (yu chen’gai 羽晨蓋 , here contracted to yu chen) is a special carriage accoutrement that had also been given to Mao Ying; see n. 50 above, as well as the citation of Mao Ying’s esoteric biography (Robinet, C.10) in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 678.6a3. The eight winds (bafeng 八風) are the winds of the eight directions (Lau and Chen 1992c, 4/32/25-26; trl. Major et al. 2010, 155). 178 Cyan Stream (bixi 碧谿) is the eastern Cyan Sea, reduced (Fascicle One, n. 204). 179 Yuezhi 月支 (also written 月氏) was a small kingdom west of China in the early part of the Han dynasty. One scripture writes that the people of Yuezhi live for 600 years; see Shangqing waiguo fangpin Qingtong neiwen 上清外國放品青童內文 (Higher Clarity Esoteric Text of the Blue Lad on the Distribution of Foreign Lands; DZ 1373; Robinet, A.9), 2.32b8. In Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.5b9-9a4 (trl. Smith 1992, 2:547-52), Yuezhi is associated with the continent Jukuzhou 聚窟洲, also far west of China. On this continent are the Man-Bird Mountains (Renniaoshan 人鳥山), and on these mountains grow the Soul-Recalling Trees (fanhun shu 反魂樹). The fragrance of their flowers and leaves can be smelled hundreds of li away. Right Blossom thus alludes to the flowers of the Soul-Recalling Tree on the Man-Bird Mountains near Yuezhi. This line contrasts with the previous not only in terms of landscape (mountain versus stream) but also direction: Cyan Stream in the east, Yuezhi in the west. 180 The Three Numina (sanling 三靈) are the sun, moon, and stars (HDC 1:256-57). 174 175

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Exhale and inhale the rays of the Nine Spirits.181 Toon-springs count my years without end,182 And in concord with the sun, I accumulate the naivety of youth.183 I shall lead you by the sleeve to the Hall of Bright Perfection184 And hope that you meet the Highest Sovereign. In the northern hub [of heaven] sing the feathery folk;185 In Jade Mystery glitter a multitude of worthies.186 What can be said of dwelling amid [the world’s] heaves and swells?187 Gains and losses are gathered to yourself: You stretch your neck [to gaze] within the clamorous courtyard, 181 Higher Clarity has many different sets of “Nine Spirits” (jiushen 九神). Most frequently the term refers to the spirits dwelling within the nine chambers of the head or Nine Palaces (jiugong 九宮), as in the commentary to Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 1.2b6-8. Here it also refers to their macrocosmic counterparts, the spirits of the nine stars of the Dipper. A passage from Basu benchen jue 八素奔辰訣 (Instructions on the Eight Purities and Speeding Chronograms), cited in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 667.3a7-12, describes a process roughly similar to the one to which this line alludes. 182 On “toon-springs,” see Fascicle One, n. 136. 183 The naivety of youth (tongmeng 童蒙) is discussed at length in the commentaries to the 4th hexagram, “Youthful Folly” (meng 蒙); Zhou yi, 1.9a3-10a9 (Sibu congkan); trl. Wilhelm 1969, 20-24, 405-10. The Zhou yi commentaries are particularly concerned with the instruction of the young, but the ZG obliquely subverts them by emphasizing how one accumulates the naivety of youth instead of the wisdom of old age. 184 The Hall of Bright Perfection (Mingzhen guan 明真館) is probably Bright Perfection Palace (Mingzhen gong 宮), which WSMY 22.3a8-9 states is the abode of the Primal Lord of the Ninefold Pure Golden Florescent Light of Grand Incipience (Taichu jiusu jinhua jingyuan jun 太初九素金華景元君), a title suggesting connections with the east. There is another Belvedere of Bright Perfection (Mingzhen dian 殿) located on Eight Clearwaters Mountain (Bating shan 八渟山), also in the east (WSMY 22.12b8, ZG 14.19b10-20a4). 185 The “northern hub” (beijun 北鈞) is both a place in the heavens and a musical mode. Gao You, in a comment to a phrase in Lüshi chunqiu 呂氏春秋 (The Annals of Lü Buwei) that reads, “The center is called the hub of heaven, comprising the zodiacal signs Horn, Neck, and Root” (中央曰鈞天，其星角、亢、氐), explains: “Jun means ‘to level.’ It is chief over the four quarters, therefore it is called jun tian” (鈞，平也。為四方主，故曰鈞天); see Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 279. Its association with music derives from a story about Viscount Jian of Zhao 趙簡子 (Ying Yang 嬴鞅; 517-458 BCE). Awaking after five days of unconsciousness, he said, “I went to the place where the Thearch takes his great pleasure and roamed with the hundred spirits at the hub of heaven, where a vast orchestra performed a [full] nine movements, with ten thousand dancers. It was unlike the music of the Three Dynasties [Xia, Shang, and Zhou], and its sounds stirred the human heart.” 我之帝所甚樂，與百神游於鈞 天，廣樂九奏萬舞，不類三代之樂，其聲動人心。 Sima Qian, Shi ji, 43.1787. 186 Concerning Jade Mystery, see Fascicle One, n. 208. 187 For the second character of this line, the DZ text has “river” (he 河); however, the tongxingben has the interrogative “what?” (he 何), as do all other citations of the line: Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.13a1; YJQQ 98.15a5; Zhongxian zansong lingzhang 眾仙讚頌靈章 (Encomia, Hymns, and Wondrous Petitions of the Multitudinous Immortals; DZ 613), 1.7b3.

134 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Yet open your heart toward the filthy street. You frequent the realm of honor and disgrace188 And seldom step up to Rarified Grove Palace. Once you achieve tranquility and ease the pain in your feet,189 You might go look at the Blue-grey Billows!

[1]

The previous passage was [written] at the instruction of Lady Right Blossom. For all three pieces following “Reining in my Lights,” there are copies by the Senior Aide [Xu Mi].

“Having lost your home in childhood, you are aimlessly adrift, and your devotion to the numinous is still incomplete.190 For various dependent or hidden reasons, you have not yet raised the cloud-ladder.191 Although you aspire to make speedy progress, you are still not immersed in the perfect truth! “My lord, truly heaven has crafted your talents into clear ripples, and formed them into waves through its lofty resonances. You intend to perch your spirits in Grand Mystery,192 rendezvous at Purple Court,193 and pace the vault On honor and disgrace, see n. 89 above. Right Blossom may be referring to gout, thus contrasting Xu Mi’s decrepitude with the image in the previous line of stepping up [lightly] (nie 躡) to Rarified Grove Palace. The line may also be phrased as a question: “Once you achieve tranquility, where would be the pain in your feet?” Alternatively, Right Blossom may be indicating that the kind of wandering made possible in tranquility (meditation) does not require the hardship of travel by foot. 190 The first phrase of this sentence alludes to a passage in Zhuangzi: “How do I know that in hating death I am not someone who has lost his home as a child and does not know the way back?” 予惡乎知惡死之非弱喪而不知歸者耶？ Guo Qingfan 1983, 1B.103 (ch. 2); cf. Watson 1968, 47. The home lost in childhood may be understood metaphorically as the Way. The usual meaning for “aimlessly adrift” (mangyang 漭瀁) is vast and horizonless, especially in relation to floods or the sea (HDC 6:4 and 5:1382). The Japanese translation in SK 78, means roughly, “Lost in tender years, aimless, with no goal in view, you have not yet completely fulfilled cordial relations with the spirits….” 191 “Dependent or hidden” (yifu 倚伏) alludes to a passage in Laozi, ch. 58: “Disaster is what good fortune depends on, / Good fortune is what hides disaster.” 禍兮福之所倚，福兮 禍之所伏。 Laozi, 2.13b6-7 (Sibu beiyao). The “cloud-ladder” (yunti 雲梯), originally a mobile siege tower used to scale walls in warfare, came to refer later to a device for ascending to heaven, as in one of Guo Pu’s 郭璞 (276-324) “Youxian shi” 游仙詩 (Poems on Wandering in Immortality) collected in Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 21.28b3-5 (Sibu congkan); HDC 11:647. 192 Grand Mystery (Taixuan 太玄) is an alternate name for the Mystic Metropolis (Xuandu 玄都); see Fascicle One, n. 25 and Bokenkamp 1997, 215n and 420n. 193 Purple Court (Ziting 紫庭) is another celestial locale, associated either with the Dipper, as in the title of the Tang Celestial Master scripture Beidi qiyuan ziting yansheng mijue 北帝七元 紫庭延生秘訣 (Secret Formulas for Prolonging Life from the Purple Court of the Seven Primes of the Northern Thearch; DZ 1265), or with the “walls” of Purple Tenuity (ziwei yuan 紫微垣), the abode of the Heavenly Thearch (Tiandi) or the Grand One (Taiyi 太一); see Fascicle One, n. 57 and definitions for Ziting and Zigong (Purple Palace, 紫宮), HDC 9:817. 188 189

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of space! You’re of a mind to be emptied of fleeting impediments and to have your nimble brush ornament an otherworldly covenant. Your movements bring together the compass and square as you await convergence with the exotic realm;194 in stillness, while you harmoniously blend the flavors of Perfection, your exhalations and inhalations generate [musical] tones.195 One can say that [even] as you indulge in absurd behavior your Virtue stands out,196 which is also quite admirable. “But [if your] filthy thoughts are not purged and baseness and stinginess stay firm within you, [if your] lustful yearnings do not subside and your numinous pond197 is still uncalm, then we will be unable to unite, discuss the meeting of the internal and external, and freely engage in the intercourse of our two Lights.198 In case we lose the chance, what’s important is the ability to adjust. There is nothing now to hinder us from expressing our feelings to each other. We only stop up the hearing of the crowd for the time being, and then harmony is won:199 The path ahead goes □A into the distance— There is nothing like this. [But] revealing clues, there are many; We must always keep our battle secrets. If [word of]: Our feelings is spread by mistake, Our subsequent affairs will surely fail. We talk of delicate matters. How shall we suppress them? How shall we convey them?”

194 The elaborate, logic-defying wordplay in this sentence defies close translation. The last phrase, literally, reads, “congruent circles, different squares” (deng yuan shu fang 等圓殊方). However, each word has multiple meanings, so that the phrase can also be interpreted to mean “await being reunited with the exotic [i.e., immortal] realm.” The line implicitly suggests that this exotic realm is the real “home” that Xu Mi lost in childhood. 195 That is, while absorbing the efflorescences of the sun, moon and stars and blending them as he circulates them through his body, Xu Mi’s exhalations and inhalations naturally form musical tones. Another paradox: he generates tones when he is quiet. 196 “Indulging in absurd behavior” (zongdan 縱誕) puts Xu Mi in league with other recluses, such as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, whose apparent lack of restraint served to highlight their virtue against the corruption of their times. 197 The numinous pond (lingchi 靈池) probably refers to the heart. 198 The verb “unite” (xiangyu 相與 ) reappears (Fascicle One, n. 186). “The meeting of internal and external” (neiwai zhi qi 内外之期) probably refers to rendezvous between the Perfected (internal) and human (external) partners. On the “two Lights,” see n. 8 above. 199 Reading the initial particle sui 雖 as wei 唯 (only); see HDC 11:849 (sui, third definition).

136 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

The preceding was written at night on the twenty-sixth day of the seventh month at the instruction of Lady Wang, the Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove, to be shown to [Xu Mi]. There was no reply. For the previous passage, there is a copy by the Senior Aide [Xu Mi]. A This

is to say that [in the lacuna] should be written the character you 攸 [“far”].

Comments Purple Tenuity’s poem begins much like Right Blossom’s of the previous night, with a description of her own free travels, not to specific eastern locales but to places so far away that the rules of logic and number no longer apply. While Right Blossom ended hers by giving Xu Mi a promise, Purple Tenuity gives him advice: meditate on the Dipper, attain complete forgetfulness, and reduce social and official contacts during the times when the Perfected (through Yang Xi) are not giving him their written communications. If he were to internalize the Perfected persons’ instructions and “give ear to silence,” he would be able to awaken and “leave tracks on high”—like herself (rhyme: -ang, -uwng). Right Blossom’s poem begins with a typical account of her distant travels. The otherworldly place names are each used to precise effect. For example, in the third couplet, when she says that she bathes in Cyan Stream and plucks the flowers on the peaks of Yuezhi, she is actually standing in the distant east while reaching across to the far western end of the world. There is no Cyan “Stream”—she only calls the Cyan Sea that, much as people nowadays speak of “crossing the pond” when they mean the Atlantic Ocean. Right Blossom’s foreshortening perspective alters not only geography but also time, which she measures not in years (nian 年 , “harvests,” suggestive of autumn and senescence) but in “toon-springs” (chun 椿, the toon tree, a homonym for spring), each equivalent to 8,000 ordinary years. Instead of accumulating the wisdom of age, she accumulates the naivety of youth. She promises Xu Mi that she will take him to see the Hall of Bright Perfection, yet another eastern landmark, and she hopes for a meeting with the Highest Sovereign at the north celestial pole, where feathered folk sing before a multitude of glittering Perfected officials. She then asks Xu Mi what is so attractive about the mundane world—a place of such upheaval, noise, and filth that it distracts and taints anyone in it. She complains that he seldom steps up to Rarified Grove (that is, in meditation). All he needs to do is find a moment’s tranquility in which he can try making the trip. The journey will not be hard on the old man’s feet—in fact, he will be able to “step lightly” (nie 躡), free from the hardships of ordinary travel or, perhaps, the ravages of gout—and he can try seeing her home at Blue-grey Billows (rhyme: -ang, -owng, -uwng). Lady Right Blossom’s prose instruction from the same evening is structured around an extended conceit: Xu Mi is like someone who has lost his

FASCICLE TWO / 137

home in childhood, and he must make a very long journey back to a home that has since become like a foreign country. To prepare himself for the return, he follows certain rules of conduct (“the compass and square”) to bring on a “convergence” or “congruence” with the distant realm, or sits in meditation, cultivating harmony, though such behavior may seem absurd to everyone around him. Right Blossom can be his intimate companion on the long march home, which will be fraught with struggle, only if he will put an end to his desires (manifested as lust and stinginess or greed). Even if Xu Mi fails to do so, and intimacy becomes impossible (see Eskildsen 1998, 78-9 for a fine analysis of this passage), they can adjust: they can still talk with each other of their feelings, but discreetly. After all, they are only courting, not married, and when they speak of delicate matters, they must make sure no one else hears what they say (the rhyme used here appropriately uses the abrupt, cut-off sound of -it). Right Blossom’s message here echoes some of the ideas of her poem of August 18: they must speak carefully. They must always strike a fine balance between expressing their thoughts and keeping them hidden. If they succeed in the end, then harmony will be “won”—as if at the end of a long campaign. Lady Right Blossom’s opening allusion to Zhuangzi (see n. 190) hints at the direction of Xu Mi’s long road ahead, and though she never has to say so, it would be understood. The relevant passage reads, “How do I know that in hating death I am not someone who has lost his home as a child and does not know the way back?”

August 31, 365: Spiritual Union, Not Sexual Intercourse [1]

2.18a9-2.18b6

The world prizes sweetly scented intercourse; The Way prescribes union in the mystic empyrean. I ruffle my blouse as I search for a companion for the hidden realm And return my carriage to the verge of the windblown dust. Your fine Virtue projects a spiritual radiance, And your excellent root shimmers with flowery opulence.200 Privately you speak much of unexpected blessings And wash yourself clean to honor the Perfected nobility. “Wooing” and “Duration” must be the hexagrams we follow201

200 “Root” (gen 根) in this line, which features inverted plant imagery, may be understood as Xu Mi’s basic substance, his allotment of life. The word for “excellent” (ying 穎) also refers to the tip of something or the awn of a grain, so the line may also mean, “Tip and root shimmer with the opulence of flowers.” Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.13a6, YJQQ 98.15a10, and Zhongxian zansong lingzhang (DZ 613), 1.7b7 replace “root” with “outstanding” (ba 拔) to form the compound yingba (“outstanding” or “uncommonly intelligent”). 201 On these hexagrams, see Fascicle One, n. 172.

138 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

As we hold hands and share the quilt and sash. What are you doing in the realm of human affairs, Wherein each day spawns disaster and distress? In the evening of the twenty-eighth day of the seventh month, Lady Wang, the Right Blossom, instructed me to write this poem to be presented to Senior Aide Xu.A For the previous piece, there is a copy by the Senior Aide. A Later

on, in the twelfth month, when the Senior Aide writes a reply and makes allusion to “Wooing” and “Duration,”202 it is precisely in response to this poem. “Wooing” and “Duration” come from the Zhou Book of Changes.

Comments Lady Right Blossom’s poem (prev. trl. Kroll 1996, 183; Strickmann 1981, 18990) begins with a statement contrasting human sexual intercourse with otherworldly mystic union; clearly the latter is preferred. She journeys to the verge of the mundane world, looking for the man who will be companion in the other world. She spots one, Xu Mi, because of the radiance of his Virtue and the shimmering flowery opulence of his “excellent root” (yinggen 穎根)—which may be understood generally to refer to his life-force, basic substance, or mystical discernment, but perhaps also as a kind of spiritual counterpart of the penis. Here a digression is in order. While translating I noticed repeatedly that if a passage has any “suggestiveness” about it, then Du Guangting’s (850-933) Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783; Record of the Assembled Immortals of the Heavenly Walled City), which cites ZG extensively, almost always changes it into something innocuous. In fact, whenever one suspects salacious wordplay in a difficult passage, finding its bowdlerized version in Yongcheng jixian lu is almost enough to confirm the suspicion. Such is the case here: “Your excellent root shimmers with flowery opulence” (穎根粲華蔚) becomes, “Your outstanding excellence [or intelligence] shimmers with flowery opulence” (穎拔粲華蔚). The “root” disappears. Du’s version is distinctly inferior—the modification destroys both the parallelism with the previous line and the intriguing inverted plant imagery (root-as-flower). Du Guangting is indeed an excellent guide, but in a way he must never have intended! Right Blossom is attracted to Xu Mi’s Virtue and spiritual quality to the same extent that a mortal woman is attracted to her man’s physical attributes. She appreciates his appreciation of her, and the way he washes and fixes himself up to get ready for her arrival (a role-reversal). She envisions their friendship in the broader context of the hexagram “Wooing” followed by the hexagram “Duration” (relating to marriage). She may also envision the emergence 202

The relevant passage appears in ZG 3.17a2.

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of Xu Mi’s eternal body in the other world—but for now she must instead ask him why he is still in the mundane world, spawning disaster and distress. Rhyme: -ajH, -ejH, -+jH, and -+j.

September 8, 365: Linked Pears and Fiery Jujubes [1]

2.18b7-2.20a9

“A reputation for purity sown across the vault of space, A spiritual wind that sprays over the woods, A body crossing over via otherworldly byways, A will to chant in numinous tones— You, benevolent sir, are the man. 203 Your desire to show Chi [Yin]204 the Perfected [Lord] Pei’s story from start to finish205 is quite permissible. It’s certain that he can achieve harmony, isn’t it? Your heartfelt intention to guide him well is also manifest within. What kind of person is [Lord] Pei, after all?”A In the evening of the seventh day of the eighth month, Lady Wang, the Right Blossom, instructed me to write this and directed me to give it to Senior Aide Xu. For the previous passage, there is calligraphy by Yang and a copy by the Senior Aide. [2] “A man who devotedly ‘guards the True Ones’206 will in one year prevent his hair from turning white, and hair lost to baldness will sprout anew. Now, [if he] has contact with children and grandchildren while at home, thereby constraining himself with familial occupations, and manages the king’s business or 203 YJQQ 98.6a4-6 cites this sentence but places it after the words, “How shall we suppress them? How shall we convey them?” of August 29, removing it from its proper context. 204 The DZ text here mistakenly writes the surname Xi 郄 instead of Chi 郗. According to Chi Yin’s 郗愔 (313-384) official biography in Fang Xuanling, Jin shu, 67.1801-02, his career had a more than ten year hiatus during his middle years, i.e., around 365, when he lost interest in officialdom. He shared with his brother-in-law, the noted calligrapher Wang Xizhi 王 羲之 (303-361), a transcendent air. Several anecdotes about him are found in Shishuo xinyu; see Mather 2002, 545, which also provides a synopsis of the Jin shu biography. 205 Lady Right Blossom alludes to Lord Pei’s esoteric biography (Fascicle One, n. 49). 206 “Guarding the True Ones” (shou zhenyi 守真一 ) is extensively described in the first fascicle of Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2) and scriptures like Dongzhen taishang suling dongyuan dayou miaojing (DZ 1314; Robinet, B.2) and Dongzhen gaoshang yudi dadong ciyi yujian wulao baojing (DZ 1313; Robinet, B.1); see also Robinet 1993, 119-38. It consists of preserving the “Three Ones” (sanyi 三一), which are in fact numerous gods in each of the three Cinnabar Fields in the head, heart, and abdomen, and preventing these gods from wandering away. This is greatly expanded from the kind of meditation practice described by Ge Hong in Baopuzi neipian. For him, the True One is singular: only one who guards the True One can prevent disasters and the depredations of demons, mountain sprites, and so on (Wang Ming 1995, 18.327; trl. Ware 1966, 308). Elsewhere, Ge Hong identifies the “Three Ones” as heaven, earth, and humankind (Wang, 18.323; Ware, p. 301).

140 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

interacts with friends when he is out, [then he is] making broad use of his ears and eyes and employing his voice and breath for miscellaneous purposes. This, too, is not being concentrated on the Way, and the [immortality-seeking] practices that he engages in will not hold any benefit. Truly, most of the exemplary Perfected talents [of the past] were recluses who found roosts for their bodies amid the forests and peaks. If you were to distance yourself from the human world and embrace insipidity, then your complexion would surely become that of an infant, and the hair at your temples would turn black.” [3] “Jade liquor, gold soup,207 linked pears, and fiery jujubes208 are medicines that bestow flight and are not to be compared with gold and cinnabar. Benevolent sir, because your body still lacks Perfected rectitude and polluted thoughts fill your breast, this variety of medicine will probably not come to you. If you are still not completely dedicated to Perfection, the Way for its part will be impartial.209 Indeed, you shouldn’t even try asking for them.”

207 Jade liquor and gold soup (yuli jinjiang 玉醴金漿 ) are described by Ge Hong: “The Vermilion Herb looks like a small jujube [tree] and grows to a height of three to four feet. Its stems and leaves are red, its stalk is like coral, and it prefers growing below the cliffs and rocks of famous mountains. Cut it, and the sap flows like blood. Toss jade, the eight minerals, gold, and silver into [the sap], and immediately it can be rolled into pellets, like mud. Eventually, it turns into water. If gold is tossed into it, it is called ‘gold soup,’ and if jade is tossed into it, it is called ‘jade liquor.’ Consuming either of them confers long life.” 朱草狀似

小棗，栽長三四尺，技葉皆赤，莖如珊瑚，喜生名山巖石之下。刻之汁流如血，以玉及八石 金銀投其中，立便可丸如泥。久則成水。以金投之，名爲金漿。以玉投之，名爲玉醴。服之 皆長生。 (Wang Ming 1995, 4.79; cf. Ware 1966, 85). A much later text describes these sub-

stances as saliva and other bodily fluids that one refines and circulates through the body (YJQQ 56.16b7-17a10). Another type of “jade liquor” is said to be spring water gushing from a huge jade rock on the continent Yingzhou 瀛洲 far to the east; it tastes like wine, and drinking it confers long life. Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.2b3-7 (trl. Smith 1992, 2:540). 208 The full names of the linked pears (jiaoli 交梨) and fiery jujubes (huozao 火棗) appear a few lines further below (ZG 2.20a6): divine linked pears (jiaosheng shenli 交生神梨) and fiery jujubes of Fangzhang (Fangzhang huozao 方丈火棗). We may have already encountered them: recall the extra-large jujubes that Consort An shares with Yang Xi. As for the paradisiacal isle Fangzhang (Fascicle One, n. 31), Shizhouji describes its inhabitants as immortals who do not wish to ascend to heaven (i.e., earthbound immortals). Moreover, in some versions of the text, they are engaged in cultivating polypores (zhi 芝); Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.9b1-7; trl. Smith 1992, 2:379, 553. If the jujubes grow from a kind of red wood polypore, it makes sense that the ZG here describes them as medicines of secondary rank, after gold and cinnabar. 209 Also, the Way will not show Xu Mi special favor even if he is perfectly dedicated to it. The phrase alludes to a passage in Zhuangzi: “The myriad things are differently patterned, [but] the Way is impartial, so it does not have their names. It does not have their names, so it does no purposive action, and doing no purposive action, there is nothing it does not do.” 萬物殊理，道不私，故無名。無名故無為，無為而無不為。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 8C.909 (ch. 25); cf. Watson 1968, 290.

FASCICLE TWO / 141

[4]

“The trees that produce fiery jujubes and linked pears already grow in your heart. But in your heart they are still interspersed with thorns, which is why these two trees are invisible, undetected. You must cut away the thorns to reveal them. These trees grow singly, and their fruits are almost ripe.” [5] “Although I have spoken on asking [for the linked pears and fiery jujubes], it is your hope to obtain them soon. On your behalf I shall ask their authorities about them every three years, beginning this day.” In the [yi]chou year,B at night on the seventh day of the eighth month, Lady Wang, the Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove, [provided] oral instructions in reply to Senior Aide Xu. [6] “If a man concentrates his mind, vacates his form, inwardly observes the Grotto Chamber,210 embraces the mysterious, meditates on the spirits, and exclusively guards the True Ones, then his hair does not turn white; a baldpate gets replenished.C/211 Not infrequently do we hear of men:212 Whose hearts are bound up by a hundred thoughts And whose spirits are broken by cold and heat, Who manage these official duties And face this windblown dust—

210 This line echoes ZG 2.4b10 (“…steep in concentration in the Grotto Tower”; n. 23 above). “Inwardly observes” (neiguan 內觀) refers to “inner observation” (n. 33 above). 211 SK 81n3, here follows the tongxingben and modifies the word commonly used for the tasseled “tuning pegs” of a qin (zhen 軫) to “black hair” (zhen 鬒). The tongxingben editor Yu Anqi in turn must have based his comments on Tao Hongjing’s similar note to that effect in ZG 3.6a5. However, the other passage describes not a baldpate regrowing hair but a man with mixed white and black hair reverting to infancy. Zhen 軫 does make sense here, since the tuning pegs of a qin have tassels that are occasionally replaced in maintenance. Hence I believe the line should read, “…a baldpate gets replenished” (literally, “re-tasseled”). Tao Hongjing’s original comment would then be explanatory in nature: the zhen “should also [refer to that which belongs to] a qin,” not “should also be qin.” Perhaps an additional zhen 軫 character at the end of his comment has gone missing. 212 YJQQ 89.7b8 and 92.11a3 cite this passage and modify the negative particle for “not” or “not yet” (wei 未) at the beginning of this long sentence to the initial particle fu 夫. SK 81n4, mentions the latter citation, which the Japanese translators follow; they also inexplicably split the entire passage, so that the two halves of the extended sentence even go into separate paragraphs. I believe that wei is correct: it is part of a grammatical construction that extends all the way to “infrequently” (xi 希) near the end of the sentence. In short, Purple Tenuity is saying the Perfected not infrequently hear about men who are fully engaged in the world but who still hope that their hair does not turn white. In translating this long sentence, I have shifted its last clause to the beginning and made various other adjustments that I hope do not violate the spirit of the original.

142 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

who mouth words about auspicious and baleful convergences yet push open D the gates of gain and loss with their bodies, who are thus [beset by] a multitude of worries and so [afflicted by] a myriad concerns, who have a mind for Perfection yet remain stubbornly unfaithful, who embrace the Way yet do not practice it, and who grasp the treasure yet do not use it—but who hope naturally that their hair does not turn white. The jade liquor, the gold soup, the divine linked pears, the fiery jujubes of Fangzhang, and the numinous polypores of mystical radiance,213 I shall give to Daoist master Xu in the mountains, not to Senior Aide Xu in the human world.” At night on the seventh day of the eighth month, Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity’s instructed [this] in reply to Senior Aide Xu. For the previous six passages, there are copies by Administrator Xu [Hui]. A “Chi” is precisely [Chi] Yin. His childhood name was Fanghui. 214 “The Perfected [Lord] Pei’s story from start to finish” is precisely the Biography of [the Perfected Man of] Pure Numinosity. It contains [methods for] repenting one’s sins and [an account of] an adept who undergoes seven [trials], 215 and this is why [Xu Mi] is directed to reveal it to him. B These two characters were added later by the Senior Aide. C The character zhen 軫 [normally the “shaft” of a carriage] should also refer to [the tasseled tuning pegs of] the qin 琴. D Whenever the character fei 扉 [the “leaf” of a door] is written, it is always with the pronunciation of pai 排 [“push open”]. It is not the leaf of “door leaf.”

Comments Most of the six passages in this section were based on manuscript copies written by Xu Hui, but for the first passage there was also a copy by Xu Mi as well as the “original” by Yang Xi. This one concerns not only Xu Mi but also his friend, fellow disciple, and more powerful colleague Chi Yin 郗愔 (313-384), who has a biography in the official history of the Jin dynasty and appears in 213 Daoist literature teems with descriptions of various numinous polypores (lingzhi 靈芝), but “Mystical radiance” (xuanguang 玄光) suggests one of the night-glowing kinds, such as the seven- and nine-light varieties of rock polypore described by Ge Hong (Wang Ming 1985, 11.198; trl. Ware 1966, 180). Purple Tenuity likely alludes to the night-glowing polypore specific to Maoshan, which is more explicitly mentioned in ZG 4.1a6. 214 This differs from Chi Yin’s official biography, which states that Fanghui 方回 was his style; see Fang Xuanling, Jin shu, 67.1801. Fang Hui is also the name of an immortal of ancient times; Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.4a5-4b3; trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 58-60. 215 Lord Pei’s biography, which is partly preserved, has two passages devoted to methods for repenting one’s sins (YJQQ 105.5a6-6b10, 12a5-15a4), but no passage on “an adept who undergoes seven [trials]” (qi jing zhi shi 七經之士), and it may well be lost (SK 82n3). SK refers also to ZG 3.13b4, which mentions another adept who undergoes seven trials but fails. On the suitability of Lord Pei’s biography for Chi Yin, see Bokenkamp 2007, 116.

FASCICLE TWO / 143

several of the anecdotes in Shishuo xinyu 世說新語 (New Accounts of Tales of the World). Xu Mi must have asked earlier whether he could give Chi a copy of Lord Pei’s “esoteric biography” (neizhuan 內傳). A number of these biographies, which present the lives of important figures who achieved Perfection, circulated rather freely among Higher Clarity adherents and interested persons because they were less restricted than the core scriptures of the movement, even though they included descriptions of various practices, recipes, incantations, and so on. They were important repositories of lore and were intended to spark readers’ interest in pursuing Perfection. Here Lady Right Blossom grants Xu permission to give one to his friend. Tao Hongjing comments that it would have been an appropriate text to share with Chi Yin, because it describes methods for repenting one’s sins and an account of an adept who undergoes seven trials— apparently, Chi was still at the beginning stage of his study. The other passages center on the technique of “guarding the True Ones” (shou zhenyi 守真一) and its effectiveness in turning back the signs of age, especially grey hair and baldness, which seem especially to have worried Xu Mi. As we have seen earlier, Xu Mi had prematurely raised the question of how he could obtain otherworldly medicines like fiery jujubes and linked pears that would confer immortality. In reply, Right Blossom must explain for him a chain of conditions: finding these medicines depends first on guarding the True Ones, which in turn depends on being concentrated and free of “polluted thoughts,” which in turn depends on avoiding distractions at home and work. Right Blossom and the other Perfected do not here discuss the actual secret process of guarding the True Ones (it involves visualizing the body’s gods through meditation). Right Blossom does describe the fiery jujubes and linked pears: they grow on trees in the adept’s own heart, but the trees are unseen and undetected because of sin. They confer flight—that is, they are a variety of elixir, but they do not rank with the “gold and cinnabar,” a superior kind. Right Blossom indicates, however, that the fruits on the trees in Xu Mi’s heart are almost ripe, and she promises to ask about them on Xu Mi’s behalf once every three years (passages prev. trl. Kominami 1981, 438; Schipper 1965, 25-6). Purple Tenuity’s concluding speech basically restates these ideas. She observes that the Perfected often hear of men who wish to preserve the signs of their youth, but they are so caught up in their domestic and official affairs that they never achieve the required level of concentration. The medicines would go to Xu Mi only if he renounces officialdom and stays in the mountains. Rhymes: in the first passage: -im; in the last passage: -in.

September 17, 365: Encouragement to Take the Wondrous Medicines [1]

2.20a10-2.20b4

I prepare to visit the men of the eastern crags, To halt my Lights, and summon the reclusive and tranquil.

144 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

The humane and virtuous come riding on waves, And all gather on the three verdant peaks. The numinous polypore may in truth be eaten: It will grant you endless eternity. Slurp up the gold soup the Perfected offer!216 It doesn’t wait by the Hundred Zhang Well!217 During the evening of the sixteenth day of the eighth month, the Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity [Lord Pei] instructed [this poem]. For the previous piece, there is a copy by the Senior Aide. Comments More than one week after Right Blossom and Purple Tenuity’s instructions on the fiery jujubes and other medicines, Lord Pei presents this poem, which continues in the same vein. He describes himself preparing to visit recluses and summon worthies at Maoshan, and they in turn come streaming in—they “meet him halfway,” so to speak. This is the liminal space where the Perfected bestow their efficacious medicines. The last two couplets focus respectively on Perfected food and drink: the numinous polypore (probably the night-glowing variety specific to Maoshan) and the gold soup. Xu Mi is encouraged to slurp up the latter—it need not wait there right below his nose (the “Hundred Zhang Well” is likely a coded term for the philtrum). Perhaps Lord Pei is also happy that Xu has just shared his biography with Chi Yin. This poem also looks forward to an episode that will occur later in the year (the beginning of Fascicle Four). When Lord Pei says that he is preparing to visit the men of the eastern crags, he is probably alluding to the second day of the twelfth month, when the Perfected hold a meeting on Maoshan and 216 This line refers to drinking otherwordly beverages (to complement the food of the previous couplet) or to swishing saliva through the mouth. The word weng 嗡 (usually, “buzz”) is precisely described in Han Wudi waizhuan (DZ 293), 1.17a6 (trl. Smith 1992, 2:584): to explain the phrase “Slurp up the mystic spring” 嗡玄泉 in a puzzling incantation, the teacher of the immortal Wang Zhen 王真 says, “To ‘slurp up the mystic spring’ means that you swish saliva through your mouth and swallow it.” 嗡玄泉者漱其口液而服之。 217 The Hundred Zhang Well (Baizhang jing 百丈井 ) is described in Shenyi jing 神異經 (Classic of Divine Marvels), an early Six Dynasties “record of the strange” (zhiguai 志怪) attributed to Dongfang Shuo 東方朔 (c. 154-93 BCE): “In the southeast, there is a square stone well one hundred zhang on each side. Above it, on the south and east sides, are two stone portals upon which there are squatting bears and wooden plaques inscribed with the words, ‘Earth’s Door.’” 東南有石井焉，其方百丈，上有二石闕俠東南面，上有蹲熊，有榜 著闕題曰地戶。 (Wang Guoliang 1985, 62). In Daoism generally, however, “Earth’s Door” refers to the nose, as explained in the commentary to the 19th stanza of the Huangting jing; see Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 2.16b8-17a2 (also YJQQ 11.47a5-9). The Hundred Zhang Well may thus be a coded term for the philtrum.

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adepts can approach the three Lords Mao to ask for immortality-bestowing polypores (ZG 11.13a1-13b7). In this light, the poem also serves to remind Xu Mi to reserve the date on his calendar and to be prepared for the meeting. Rhyme: -engX.

September 18 and 19, 365: Guarding the Male and Female Ones, Slowing One’s Pace [1]

2.20b5-2.21b8

“The vacant and harmonious can guard the Male [Ones]; soughing solitude can guard the Female [Ones].218 Now, ‘soughing solitude’ refers to single Lights that go forth alone.219 My lord, inside your Crimson Palace,220 are you or are you notA capable of flying upward into the [sky’s] undifferentiated vault, and rising to the shores of mystery beyond the clouds? “The Way is easily heard, but you worry that it is not the Perfected [Way]; scriptures are easily obtained, but you worry about not putting them into practice. If you were only so devoted, then in the greatness of the heavens you’d be fully shoulder-to-shoulder with the Perfected immortals! I bear no blame at all for the incapable.” [2] “If you’re unsure at heart but want scriptures, will you not want to sell them? If you’re thinking not to reciprocate but seek Perfection, it would seem that you want [only] to flaunt them. Declare your intentions!” At night on the seventeenth day of the eighth month, Lady Wang, the Right Blossom, instructed me to write this and give it to Senior Aide Xu.B [3] “The flowers and branches of the Virtue planted by your ancestor Zhao hang down luxuriantly,C [but] the time to rest your feet and put aside your [official] carriage221 will come sooner or later. If you would only fix your mind 218 This line again relates to guarding the True Ones (n. 206 above). The True Ones— body gods in the three Cinnabar Fields—include both male and female deities, as explained in Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421, Robinet, C.2), 1.4b8-5b5. The line also alludes to Laozi, ch. 28: “One who knows the Male and guards the Female becomes the world’s vale.” 知其雄，守其 雌，為天下谿。 Laozi, 1.16a5 (Sibu beiyao). Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.5b10, which cites this speech, here inserts another sentence based on Laozi, ch. 28 (1.16a8): “Knowing the white, one can guard the black.” 知白可守黑。 This seems to be a later insertion. 219 Single Lights (danjing 單景) describe the male adept’s still-unpaired Lights as they proceed to those of his female partner; compare Consort An’s wedding night instructions to Yang Xi in ZG 1.16b6 (Fascicle One, n. 196). 220 Crimson Palace (jianggong 絳宮) corresponds to the heart; see Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet A.34), 1.9a5-7 and 2.14b4-6, also cited in YJQQ 11.17b7-9 and 11.45a3-5. 221 To “put aside the carriage” (xuanche 懸車) is to retire, traditionally at the age of seventy (HDC 7:774). In 365, when this instruction was given, Xu Mi was already in his sixties. Xu Mi’s longevity is attributed here to the lasting influence of his virtuous ancestor.

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firmly on the Perfected and close off its nimble contrivances, then that would do nicely. As for lofty escape on a long ridge, hidden retirement in grove and marsh, letting go the vexing coarseness of present affairs, and leaving behind your nine relations222 to savor the spirits, these would be excellent moves. If your heart is unconcentrated, then stray longings will fill your chest, and though you were to step up to Mount Wild[wind]223 to take a stroll and go to Round Barrow224 to have audience with the otherworldly, you would still assuredly fail. If you attain the requisite complete emptiness,225 then of course I will tell you when you may take action. [But] for now, isn’t it impossible to discuss this?” At night on the seventeenth day of the eighth month, the Immortal Lord Protecting Life, the younger Mao [=Mao Zhong], orally instructed [this], to be given to Senior Aide Xu. [4] “Holding to benevolence, preserving kindness, rooting out hidden anxieties, single-mindedly devoted to our merciful guidance, perching his spirits on the Numinous Mirrors226—you, Senior Aide Xu, are the man. What we detest lies only in the speed of your responses to things, the haste with which you call upon the Perfected. Now, only by overwhelmingly jutting into vacuity’s projections 227 can one guard the Female [Ones]. You have already asked [for this The nine relations (jiuqin 九親) refer to the relationships between an individual and the eight branches of his or her family and relatives, which are variously defined (HDC 1:755). 223 For Mount Wildwind (Langshan 閬山), see Fascicle One, n. 203. 224 Round Barrow (Yuanlong 圓壟), usually known as Round Ridge (Yuanjiao 圓嶠) or Round Hill (Yuanqiu 圓丘; there are many graphic variants, is one of the immortal isles in the Eastern Sea, so it makes a suitable counterpart for Mount Wildwind in the west. Liezi, 5.4a2-5a5 (Siku quanshu; trl. Graham 1960, 97-98) describes it as having sunk; other sources usually describe it as a source of many immortal medicines (Smith 1992, 2:635n14). 225 “Complete emptiness” (kongkong 空空 ) is used also in the context of instruction in Lunyu 9.7; trl. Legge 1994, 1:219: “But if a mean person, who appears quite empty-like, ask anything of me, I set it forth from one end to the other, and exhaust it.” 有鄙夫問於我，空 空如也，我叩其兩端而竭焉。 Xu Mi must likewise empty his heart of distractions. 226 The Numinous Mirror Mountains (Lingjing shan 靈鏡山) are otherworldly or celestial mountains mentioned by the Queen Mother of the West in Dongzhen taishang basu zhenjing fushi riyue huanghua jue (DZ 1323; Robinet, A.3), 1.1a8, also cited in WSMY 33.1a9. They appear in connection with the Queen Mother in Mao Ying’s esoteric biography (Robinet, C.10) as cited in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 678.5b2. Elsewhere, in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 1.1a9, they become the birthplace of an early incarnation of Lord Lao the Most High (Taishang laojun 太上老君); trl. Kohn 1989a, 66. They also appear in a Song era hagiography of Laozi, Hunyuan shengji 混元聖紀 (Sage Record of Chaos Prime; DZ 770), 2.8b1-2. The name of these mountains recalls the mirror that Daoist adepts take for protection into the mountains, as described by Ge Hong (Wang Ming 1985, 17.300-01; trl. Ware 1966, 281-82). 227 “Vacuity’s projections” (xuying 虚映) recalls the “vacant and harmonious” (xuhe) of the Female Ones discussed the previous night. The image, again, derives from sexual intercourse. In other contexts, xuying refers to projections of vacuous, otherworldly lights, a kind of halo or glow. A similar phrase, written 皓然虚映, appears in ZG 5.14b2-4: “The ‘transmission 222

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method], so you must be able to guard them. Guarding them will surely be easy, [but] I fear also that there is probably nothing of which you are incapable!” At night on the eighteenth day of the eighth month, Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity instructed that this be shown to Senior Aide Xu. For the previous four passages, there is calligraphy by Yang. This is to say this [qu 渠 (“channel”)] should be written ju 詎 [an interrogative particle]. B This seems to be in reply to a request in [Xu Mi’s] heart for [the method of] guarding the Female True Ones. C This refers to Xu Zhao, [Xu Mi’s] seventh generation ancestor. The character dui 隊 [“group”] should be written zhui 墜 [“hang down”]. A

Comments Lady Right Blossom begins to show some impatience with Xu Mi. Tao Hongjing guesses that Xu may have been mentally asking for instruction on protecting the Female True Ones, and that may well be the case. The request could have carried a residuum of curiosity on just what the partners in a spiritual union like Yang Xi’s would be up to. In any case, Right Blossom thinks it necessary to explain a few more things to him, much as Consort An had to explain a few things to her naïve groom Yang Xi on their wedding night. These instructions, however, do not pertain to spiritual union itself, because Xu Mi is far from ready for it. He must first show that he is ready by mastering the technique of guarding the Female Ones, a kind of preliminary exercise. On the surface, the opening statement, “The vacant and harmonious can guard the Male [Ones]; soughing solitude can guard the Female [Ones],” is unremarkable. In Daoism, terms like “vacuous” or “vacant” (xu 虛) and “harmonious” (he 和) appear so frequently that chances are most readers would not really stop to ponder why they appear here. The statement loosely recalls a passage in Laozi, ch. 38: “One who knows the Male and guards the Female becomes the world’s vale…” However, here both the Male and Female are “guarded”—it is not “knowing” the one and “guarding” the other. Moreover, if we consider the broader context, then the terms begin to take on an entirely new hue. In the act of spiritual union, what would surround the male but the vacuity and harmoniousness of the female? And what but “soughing solitude” would surround the male who sends his single Lights into the void?

from Grand Simplicity’ is a book of the Way…This Way of the pure-white projections of vacuity among the Lights is not revered by immortals. It is the ‘Spirit of the Valley’ mentioned by Laozi.” 太素傳者道書也…此皓然虚映景中之道，非仙之尊也。老子所謂谷神是 也。 In turn, Laozi, ch. 6, states: “The Spirit of the Valley that never dies / Is called the Mysterious Female; / The gate of the Mysterious Female / Is called the root of heaven and earth.” 谷神不死，是謂玄牝。玄牝之門，是謂天地根。 Laozi, 1.4a4-5 (Sibu beiyao).

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Now all of this takes place on a very elevated, abstract, spiritual level; Right Blossom can only ask Xu if he is capable of accomplishing it entirely in his heart. She realizes that doubt about the scriptures he receives and difficulty practicing what they teach are not his only problems—if they were, he would probably have already joined all the other heavenly Perfected immortals, who once had their own misgivings and difficulties while they were still in the human world. Is he devoted enough? Will he be able to practice her teachings and achieve union with her? At this point, it is very unlikely. When she tells him, “I bear no blame at all for the incapable,” she could just as well be saying, “Don’t blame me if you can’t get it up, old man!” We can test this interpretation by checking how Du Guangting handles this passage. As we might expect, Right Blossom’s opening statement seems to have been problematic for him. Immediately after the sentence, we find another statement, one that is more closely based on Laozi, ch. 38: “Knowing the white, one can guard the black.” Could this be a phrase that somehow dropped out of our text? That is unlikely, since the phrase is isolated, not set in parallel with another. Could it have been inserted by a later commentator? Almost certainly it was. It not only throws off the parallelisms but also forces a return to Laozi’s pattern of knowing the one to guard the other; it diverts the reader’s attention by returning him or her to the discourse of Laozi, away from the ZG’s more suggestive language. There is no way to prove that Du Guangting made the insertion, of course, but the evidence points in that direction. In the second passage, Right Blossom demands that Xu Mi be frank with her about what he really desires. If he wants scriptures but is not ready to reciprocate by dedicating himself fully to them, she asserts, then it would seem that he wants only to sell the scriptures or show them off. We see here a kind of mutual distrust: while Xu Mi doubts whether the scriptures teach the Perfected Way, Right Blossom wonders about Xu Mi’s motives for acquiring them. Why would Xu Mi want to sell scriptures? According to the standard practices of scriptural transmission at the time, scriptures and their techniques were secret: adepts had to swear numerous oaths that they would not divulge them, flaunt them, reveal them to the wrong people, or conversely hide them from the deserving few. They also had to pay their teachers large quantities of gold, silk, or other valuables for them. As a result, selling scriptures, whether genuine or false, could be a very lucrative business, as is clear from Tao Hongjing’s description of one unscrupulous scripture-forger (ZG 19.11b6-12b5; trl. Strickmann 1977, 45-6). No wonder Xu Mi still harbors doubts as to whether his scriptures really describe the Perfected Way! The livelihood of religious teachers like Yang Xi depends on the revelation of scriptures, and no doubt Yang Xi’s ability to “package” his scriptures with outstanding calligraphy is all part of their appeal. Meanwhile, the Perfected are described as harboring their own doubts about believers’ motives, and so they demand constant assurances of devotion and proofs of correct understanding. Right Blossom, for

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example, demands that Xu declare what his intentions really are. (Might Yang also be wondering what Xu plans to do with his writings?) Mao Zhong’s advice in the third passage essentially repeats the ideas expressed by Purple Tenuity on September 8: Xu should eliminate distractions, seek the solitude of the mountains, and so on. The main difference is the reminder that Xu Mi is already nearing retirement age, and it will become necessary for him to set aside his office in any case. The fact that Xu has been able to live this long owes to merit established by his virtuous seventh-generation ancestor (in Fascicle Four, we learn that this included saving the lives of 408 people during a year of famine and plague). The next night, Purple Tenuity offers a critique of her disciple Xu Mi. She addresses Xu by speaking in a rhythmic pattern that clearly echoes the beginning of Right Blossom’s September 8 speech. This time, however, there is no rhyme, and the content of her speech reflects the topics discussed the previous night: the necessity of slowing one’s pace—not responding to things so quickly, not summoning the Perfected in excessive haste—as well as the male’s role in guarding the Female Ones, which anticipates the act of spiritual union. Purple Tenuity more explicitly describes what Xu must do: it is by “overwhelmingly jutting into vacuity’s projections” (hao ting xuying 浩挺虚映). Note that the word ting covers a wide range of meanings that include rigid, stiff, erect, jutting, erect, bulging, outstanding, thrust out, and standing upright. The referent should be obvious. Her remark also lets slip another aspect of both guarding the Female Ones and spiritual union: to rise or protrude in such a manner, the male must assume a supine position below the female. Since Xu Mi has asked (if only in his heart) about guarding the Ones, that means he knows about them, and that means in turn that he must put them into practice. This chain of reasoning may seem strange to us, but this is a world where such teachings and scriptures are kept very secret. If a student catches a glimpse of something, he must then learn it in full. The pattern is like that found in Han Wudi neizhuan (DZ 292): when the Han Emperor Wu catches a glimpse of books in the Queen Mother of the West’s satchel, he insistently asks about them until the Queen Mother reveals the Wuyue zhenxing tu 五嶽真形 圖 (Maps of the Five Marchmounts’ True Forms) to him, despite her misgivings that he is not yet ready for them. Lady Shangyuan remarks that the maps would be useless without her “twelve documents”—but in saying so, she reveals their existence. The Queen Mother must then prevail upon her to reveal those scriptures to Emperor Wu. In that tale, Emperor Wu does not practice their teachings in full and suffers the consequences. In ZG, once Xu Mi knows of guarding the Female Ones, even if by hearsay, then he is required to do it. It should be easy for him, but Purple Tenuity worries that he might not be ready for it. There is probably nothing of which he is incapable—meaning that he could violate the rules in any number of ways.

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Xu Mi’s Elegant Yet Weaseling Response to Right Blossom (undated) [1]

2.21b9-2.22b6

“I, Mu, 228 obediently accept your melodious instructions, frequent and complete; I reverently savor your kind blessings—flowers of light growing in brilliance—and unroll and peruse [your messages] with glad rejoicing and boundless gratitude. “I, Mu, am sunk into stagnancy and drift with the vulgar—how can I neglect to elevate my traces? Forthwith have I vowed deep inside my heart, having contemplated by gradual steps, to finish my house in the eastern mountains and to perch my Lights in a wooded vale. This intention is clear, this act will be decisive. At that time I shall depend on the protection of the numinous cohort and ask to receive divine precepts, such that my heart is measured and scrutinized. “As for the Females of the True Ones, their Way is dark and distant and its wonder revealed in secret records. I, Mu—the filth of my errors still unwashed, the burden of my vulgarity still not lifted, my heart stained and corrupted, my devotion thin and shallow—still dare not hear it in advance. “In the spring of last year, the Perfected of the South[ern Marchmount], in compassion and pity, caused a teacher of scripture to instruct me on Fangzhu’s Way of the Grotto Chamber and pacing the mainstays;229 [the methods of] the Eight Purities and Nine Perfected230 I gradually put into practice. I dare not be lazyA and slack. For the Nine Perfected to arrive, seclusion and tranquility Xu Mi refers to himself using his childhood name Mu to express humility. Fangzhu 方諸 is another name for Fangzhang (Fascicle One, n. 31), the island abode of the Blue Lad; a place described in detail in ZG 9.20b2-21b9 (trl. Kroll 1985, 80-81). Hence the Lord of Fangzhu is Blue Lad: he is the revealer of the relevant scripture. For the Grotto Chamber, see Fascicle One, n. 96 and n. 23 above; the method of pacing the mainstays (bugang 步鋼) of heaven is related to the flying steps, see n. 22 above. The scripture may now be found (probably with later modifications) under the title Shangqing jinshu yuzi shangjing 上清金 書玉字上經 (Golden Book with Jade Characters: A Superior Scripture of Higher Clarity; DZ 879; Robinet, B.3). Robinet writes that this scripture is not listed in the Shangqing catalogs but is mentioned and quoted in both the ZG and Dengzhen yinjue; she also writes that it describes “a variant method of pacing the stars of the Dipper. This practice consists in ‘lying down’ in the constellation and absorbing its effulgences, which penetrate into the CavernRoom Palace [Grotto Chamber] situated in the brain.” (Robinet in TC 191). 230 The method of the Eight Purities (basu), described in Dongzhen taishang basu zhenjing fushi riyue huanghua jue; DZ 1323; Robinet, A.3), 1.3b6-17a1 involves the use of water and talismans to absorb the essences of yin, yang, sun, moon, and the Eight Purities. The Nine Perfected (jiuzhen 九真) refer not only to the nine gods of the head’s Nine Palaces (n. 181 above) but also, and more precisely, to the nine gods that occupy nine bodily organs—the nine spirits of the Most High Thearchic Lord (Taishang dijun 帝君). The adept calls each spirit to occupy the right organ to regenerate the body; in Shangqing taishang dijun jiuzhen zhong jing 上清 太上帝君九真中經 (Central Scripture of the Nine Perfected of the Most High Thearchic Lord of Higher Clarity; DZ 1376; Robinet, A.5), 1.2a3-11b9; trl. Miller 2008, 173-93. 228 229

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are required, [but] human affairs confusedly intrude. My troubles stem from being not yet concentrated. Long ago, people who studied the Way searched for teachers, sought out friends, filled and accumulated the years traversing mountains and peaks—there was no place they did not go. [They] toiled and suffered through dangerous trials, tasted labor’s bitterness in full, and only then were taught the essential formulas. “I, Mu, thin in Virtue and thick in sin, sitting upright in the ‘chamber of error,’ am by accident accepted and engaged by the numerous Perfected, whose instructive warnings, which continue to arrive, have aroused and enlightened me not only once. The people of antiquity had a saying: ‘It isn’t knowledge that is difficult—putting it into practice is difficult.’231 [The teachings that] my Lady bestows in pity may of course come slowly, slowly.232 [Wait until]B/233 I move to the eastern mountains, and afterward I shall receive your instruction in person. In the Way’s approach, slowness and haste are of no account, and how would the magnanimity of your kindness be limited by ‘early’ and ‘late’? Your command compels me to declare my intentions. How dare I not present a response? “Respectfully submitted.”C A This is to say that this [ke 恪 (“scrupulously”)] should be written dai 怠 [“slack”]. B This character, xu 須 [here, “wait until”] was side-inserted by the Senior Aide himself. C This is the Senior Aide’s reply to the above discussion on the Female Ones by [Lady] Right Blossom. The Administrator [Xu Hui] wrote it out, and because of the correction it was copied again. That is why this text could be preserved.

Comments Lady Right Blossom demanded of Xu Mi, “Declare your intentions!” on September 18, and now we are treated to Xu’s response. As Tao Hongjing’s comments indicate, it happened to be preserved because Xu had decided to insert a single character in his son’s draft copy—after which, we may assume, he prepared a clean copy for the Perfected. 231 The earliest version of this saying appears in “Shuo ming zhong” 說命中 (The Charge to Yue II), Shangshu, 5.11a3 (Sibu congkan), trl. Legge 1994, 3, 258: “It is not the knowing that is difficult, but the doing.” 非知之艱，行之惟艱。 232 The duplicative term “slowly, slowly” (xuxu 徐徐) appears first in the Zhou yi, in connection with the 47th hexagram “Oppression (Exhaustion)” (kun 困 ): “He comes slowly, slowly, oppressed in a golden carriage” 來徐徐，困于金車 . From Zhou yi, 5.6b8-9 (Sibu congkan); cf. Wilhelm 1969, 184. 233 The insertion of the word xu 須 (here meaning “wait for,” or perhaps “slowly,” “unhurried) gives the sentence a more measured but less decisive tone. Without xu, the sentence is more direct: “I shall move to the eastern mountains …”

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Xu seems to use highly ornate literary style to mask what is really running through his mind. He wants to present a positive impression by promising that he will not be lazy and asserting that he will definitely move to the mountains—but he is really in no hurry to do so. Note the frequency with which words and phrases denoting slowness appear: “gradual” (jian 漸), “still dare not hear it in advance” (wei gan yu wen 未敢預聞), “slowly, slowly” (xuxu 徐徐), and so on. To some extent, he is turning the tables on the Perfected. Have they not complained that he is sometimes too hasty about seeking out the Perfected, that he is raising too many questions, making it impossible for him fully to digest what they teach him? He points out that he is now gradually putting various methods into practice, just as they had wanted. Now that Right Blossom is urging him to guard the Female True Ones, he argues he is not ready to be taught the method, because he still lacks the necessary purity. He implies that Right Blossom can likewise wait before revealing the method to him, and that once she does reveal it, he will take his time putting it into practice. The Way does not distinguish between early and late, so it does not matter how long it takes. Xu Mi’s insertion of the character xu 須 in a sentence where the word takes on the meaning of “wait until…” or “slowly, unhurried,” reveals a bit of his state of mind. He is wary, even afraid, of bringing his relationship with Right Blossom to the next level, even though he wants to present himself as an eager student.

FASCICLE THREE

_____________________________________________________________ Setting Scripts and Images into Motion, Three

September 23, 365: Yang Xi’s Mother-in-law Gives Him a Piece of Her Mind

3.1a4-3.2a7

[1]

The Lord of the Mysterious Way in the Northern Prime Li Qingbin’s daughter, who is [also] the youngest sister of Li Lingfei, the Jade Gentlemanattendant to the Grand Guardian,1 received documents granting her the title of Lady Numinous Displayer of the Eastern Palace; she governs from within the thirteenth vermilion hall on Fangzhang Terrace.2 Lady [Li] wore a purple brocade blouse, hung the Divine Tiger Talisman [at her belt],3 held a small bell of fluid gold, and had two maids. The two maids appeared to be around twenty years old; the Lady appeared to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. [2] I heard her call one of her maids by the name Yinhui. Both maids were clothed in blue damask and held (each using both hands) two jade boxes bound with blue ribbons. One white jade tag was inscribed, Seals of the Most High, and one was inscribed, Writings of the Most High.A/4

1 Li Qingbin 李慶賔 and Li Lingfei 李靈飛 are frequently presented in Tang era hagiographies of Laozi as Laozi’s grandfather and father respectively (Kohn 1998, 244-45); as far as I can tell, this ZG passage marks their earliest appearance. It is by no means certain that this represented their identities for Yang Xi, but the “Mysterious Way” (xuandao 玄道) in Li Qingbin’s title does suggest the “mysterious beyond the mysterious” (xuan zhi you xuan 玄之 又玄) line in Laozi, ch. 1. WYT 1.5a10 has Li Lingfei on the right of the second tier of the pantheon, but neither Li Qingbin nor his title as given here appears there; closest would be Superior Sovereign of Vacuity and Lord of the Way in the Northern Darkness (Beixuan gaoshang xuhuang daojun 北玄高上虛皇道君) on the left of the first tier (WYT 1.1b1). Neither appears in the Higher Clarity hagiography of Lord Lao, Shangqing housheng daojun lieji (DZ 442; Robinet, A.10). If we accept the later identities, however, Lady Li becomes Lord Lao’s aunt. Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 2.13b8-9 here inserts the phrase, “For having found the Way during the reign of Tang and ascending to heaven in broad daylight, she …”以湯時得道 白日昇天. This is based on Tang sources and not found in corresponding ZG citations in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 674.3b8 and 675.9a3. 2 For other particulars on Lady Li, see Fascicle One, n. 62. 3 The same was carried by Consort An’s maids (Fascicle One, n. 155). 4 That is, Taishang zhang 太上章 and Taishang wen 太上文, which Consort An’s maids also carried (ZG 1.12a2-8), as Tao’s note points out. Yinhui’s name does not appear in WYT. 153

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[3]

The Lady wore a braided cord the color of green jade and, like the people of the world, [used it to] carry a bag for seals. The hidden seals must have been around five zhang long and three to four feet wide. [4] As she was about to leave, she instructed me to write a poem on paper. When I finished, she chanted: [5] Walls of cloud gird heavenly structures; The seven pneumas sparkle on the spirits’ ascent.5 Rose-gem doors open to dawn birdsong As the nine-notes turn crimson in the Pivot.6 Purple aurorae rise from the vermilion gates; Incense smoke issues from green windows.7 My four steeds make the tiger-flags8 dance When my blue-curtained chariot thrusts into the dark vault of space. My flowery canopy, trailing cloud, flips over; A plummeting phoenix, I steer my six dragons.9 5 This couplet describes the western heavens. “Seven pneumas” (qiqi 七氣) in Higher Clarity and Numinous Treasure texts refer frequently to emanations from the west. For example, a passage from Dongzhen qionggong lingfei liujia jing 洞真瓊宮靈飛六甲經 (Dongzhen Scripture of the Numinous Flighted Six Jia of the Rose-gem Palace; Robinet, A.25) cited in WSMY 17.4a3-8, associates seven pneumas with the White Thearch (Baidi 白帝) in the west, five with the Mystic Thearch (Xuandi 玄帝) in the north, five with the Blue Thearch (Qingdi 青 帝) in the east, three with the Red Thearch (Chidi 赤帝) in the south, and one with the Yellow Thearch in the center. In Shangqing taishang basu zhenjing (DZ 426; Robinet, A.3), 1.13b716a5, the adept is told to absorb seven rays shining from the seven doors of Venus (also associated with the color white and the west). The heavenly walled constructions in the first line may thus also refer to Kunlun and the abode of the Queen Mother of the West. 6 The nine-notes (jiuyin 九音) is probably an early version of cloud gongs (yunluo 雲鑼), a type of gong tree also known as the “cloudy ao” (yun’ao 雲璈); Jian Qihua 1998, 753-54. It reappears with other musical instruments in ZG 3.10a4 below. The Pivot is the Heavenly Pivot (Tianshu 天樞) or the Dipper. The couplet as a whole describes throwing open palace doors at dawn, to the sound of bird songs. The red rays of the morning sun stream inside and color the copper gongs inside the celestial palace at the far western end of the heavens. 7 The term “green window” (lüchuang 綠窗), i.e., a window made with green gauze, connotes a woman’s abode in later poetry (HDC 9:921). 8 Striped tiger-flags (huqi 虎旗 or 旂) suggest military might (HDC 8:808). 9 The six dragons (liulong 六龍) recall the six unbroken yang lines of hexagram no. 1, “The Creative” (qian 乾). The Tuan zhuan (Tuan Commentary) to Zhou yi, 1.1b7-8, states: “One mounts on the six dragons and drives them to heaven.” 乘六龍以御天。 Cf. Wilhelm 1969, 371. Hence this line, like the previous, presents an image of inversion. The phoenix, meanwhile, has been associated mostly with hexagram no. 30, called “Radiance” or “The Clinging” (li 離). The two couplets describing Lady Li’s journey symbolically touch on the direc-

FASCICLE THREE / 155

I urge on my Lights by the slopes of the Five Marchmounts; From the Three Purities10 I stare at your house— Only to smell putrid, filthy11 vapors. Myriad impurities rattle my chest. Noisome things becloud the essence and spirits; The clamor and dust12 wage combined assaults. All the bright jades13 are shattered— Why do you alone flourish in Virtue? Not to depart [the world] early is misery:14 Stay put on earth and freely spawn maggots!

[6]

On the night of the twenty-second day of the eighth month, Lady Numinous Displayer instructed me to write this poem.B Just before leaving, she chanted: Don’t let your heart be confused by desire, Don’t let your spirits be enslaved by lust. The Way that is easy is not followed; The disaster that is severe is unforeseen.

tions: tiger = west; blue, dragon = east; dark = north; phoenix = south, and there is an ascent (thrusts [upward]) and descent (plummeting). 10 The Three Purities (sansu 三素), much like the Eight Purities, may be considered a variety of cloud, usually described as being in three different colors. In ZG 9.11b3, they are purple, blue, and scarlet; other texts list other colors. For instance, WSMY 93.7a2, citing Dongzhen qishisi bianhua shangjing 洞真七十四變化上經 (Dongzhen Superior Scripture of Seventy-four Transformations; Robinet, A.6), has cinnabar, green, and blue. Higher Clarity scriptures frequently describe Perfected officials riding chariots of these pure celestial vapors. ZG 9.11a6-12a1 describes a method of cleansing the pupils of one’s eyes with these clouds. 11 The words for “putrid, filthy” (sao hui 臊穢) also appear in Ruan Ji 阮籍 (210-263), “Da Fu Yi shu” 答伏義書 (Letter in Reply to Fu Yi); in Donald Holzman’s translation (1976, 86): “You belabor your precious body to put other creatures at your command, and then keep the putrid filth to end your days.” 勞玉躬以役物，守臊穢以自畢。 Preserved in Yan Kejun 嚴可均 (1762-1843), ed., Quan shanggu sandai Qin Han sanguo liuchao wen 全上古三代秦漢三國 六朝文 (Complete Writings of the Three Ages, Qin, Han, Three Kingdoms, and Six Dynasties; rpt. Taipei: Hongye shuju, 1975), Quan sanguo wen 全三國文, 45.3b2-3. 12 “Clamor and dust” (xiao chen 囂塵) connote the marketplace. In Zuo zhuan, Yanzi 晏子 (d. 500 BCE) refuses a duke’s offer to move him away from a house that “is near the market, low, small, noisy, and dusty.” 近市、湫隘、囂塵。 Legge 1994, 5:589. 13 The DZ text here reads “bright kings” (ming wang 明王), which is clearly an error for “bright jades” (ming yu 明玉), a reading preserved in the tongxingben and various other citations of this passage, such as YJQQ 97.10a2 and Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 2.14b3. 14 A literal but awkward translation of this line would read, “[One] raises a farewell salute, miserably not done early.” The farewell gesture (gaoyi 高揖) consisted of raising the hands together over the head, making a fist with one and cupping over it with the other, and bowing. The term gaoyi is more broadly used for taking one’s leave (HDC 12:950).

156 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

[7] [8]

Forever, you lose that Perfection And finally depart from my favor. “Will he be reborn into the Xu family?” “I shall soon come again. You are to encourage him, that’s all.” For the previous eight passages starting from “Northern Prime” there are copies by the Senior Aide [Xu Mi].

This is to record15 the tag inscriptions, which are the same as Ninefold Florescent’s earlier. B Here in the Senior Aide’s calligraphy, [her title] is written “Numinous Displayer” [Lingzhao 靈照], but in Lord Yang’s calligraphy it is usually written 16 “Displayer of Numina” [Zhaoling 照靈]. A

Comments The story returns to Yang Xi, only this time his personal record of his motherin-law’s first appearance was not preserved. Tao Hongjing could only view Xu Mi’s copy of it. Xu copied it because some parts also concerned him—as in the account of Yang’s betrothal and marriage. It is not immediately clear which parts concern Yang, or Xu, or both. However, if we consider the overall arrangement of the eight tiao relating this night’s events, the natural ending actually takes place in the sixth: Lady Li recites the poem just before she leaves. The last two tiao, the first of which mentions the Xu family, seem to be tacked on in a way resembling Xu Mi’s copy of the account of Yang’s marriage. This leads me to believe that the last two tiao were the ones of greatest interest to Xu. Parts of the narrative recall that of Yang’s betrothal: a Perfected woman, who appears to be around 13 or 14 years old, and her two maids, each around 20 years old, visit him. The maids hold the same scriptures as they did before. There is the added detail that the seals hidden in a bag tied to Lady Li’s belt “must have been around five zhang long and three to four feet wide.” The giant seals recall the oversized spiral bracelets that E Lühua had given to Yang Quan: objects in the Perfected world are much larger than their earthly counterparts. As for Lady Li’s identity, she may well be Laozi’s aunt, as discussed earlier. The poem that Lady Li gives to Yang Xi divides easily into three parts: a description of her heavenly abode, her journey, and her observations on Yang Xi’s situation. The first two parts of the poem are quite difficult to understand, 15 I follow the tongxingben of ZG here, which emends the words “record of the knitwork” (ji zhi 記織) to the compound “record” (jishi 記識). 16 The tongxingben replaces the possessive particle qi 其 that appears in the DZ text with the word for “said” or “written” (yun 云); this provides a better reading.

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but they seem to place her residence in the distant west, by Kunlun. At dawn, as the first rays of dawn illumine her palace, she sets out on a journey to the human world. The terms she uses suggest that she touches the ends of the four directions, zenith, and nadir before reaching the Five Marchmounts on earth. To understand the sudden shift in tone at this point, recall that Lady Li was dissatisfied with her daughter’s marriage to Yang Xi. In contrast to the Perfected world, Yang Xi’s home is unbearable—the very air is full of vile odors, noise, and impurities. Sure enough, she tells him in no uncertain terms that he is only wasting his time on earth, and the longer he remains there, the more likely he will only manage to “spawn maggots.” As she departs, she tosses out another short poem warning him against lust and desire. If he does not follow the Way, he can fall to unforeseen disaster, in which case she (and perhaps all the other Perfected) can no longer favor him with their visits. The first of the two short concluding tiao asks if someone—it does not say whom—will be reborn into the Xu family. Will it be Xu Mi or Xu Hui? It cannot be Yang Xi: we know his fate already. The answer is probably Xu Mi: he was born once into the Xu clan, but he will not be born into it a second time, and later on, in ZG 3.13a5-14b5, we will learn about Xu Mi’s previous life, and why he was born into the Xu family in the first place. The concluding passage, despite its brevity, is quite important for what it says about the relationship between Yang Xi and Xu Mi. Lady Li wants Yang only to “encourage” (li 勵) Xu and nothing more. The implication is that Yang has been doing much more than this, and perhaps Lady Li worries for her daughter’s sake that serving Xu Mi is hindering Yang’s own progress. Lady Li also announces that she will come again soon. Now the ZG does describe several of her later appearances, but only two of these are dated— December 29, 365 (ZG 3.12b2) and January 14, 366 (ZG 3.15a3-5)—about four months in the future. That can hardly be considered “soon.” One of her undated appearances, however, is only two sections below (she participates in the undated poetic debate on dependency and non-dependency), and in the next section we are introduced to yet another Perfected woman who also contributes to the debate. Hence, in terms of the broader arrangement of ZG’s story, this and the next section serve to prepare the reader for the two women’s appearance in the poetic debate. Rhymes: (1) -uwng, -owng, -aewng, -ang; (2) rhyme: -ek, -aek.

Background on Wangzi Qiao’s Family (undated) [1]

3.2a8-3.2b7

Wangzi Jin’s father, King Ling of Zhou,17 had 38 children. [Wang]zi Jin, who was heir-apparent, is [known as] Wangzi Qiao. King Ling’s third daughter, 17

On King Ling of Zhou, see Fascicle One, n. 34.

158 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

named Guanxiang and styled18 Zhong’ai, is the child of Concubine Song; she is a younger half-sister to [Wang]zi Qiao. She received [Wang]zi Qiao’s Way of escaping the net by flight,19 which enabled her to leave and enter Mount Goushi.A/20 Later on, she and [Wang]zi Qiao entered [Mount] Luhun21 together for a total of 39 years. When Guanxiang’s Way was complete, she received documents [designating her] Consort [in Charge of] Internal Transmission in Purple Clarity Palace22 and Concurrent Lady in Attendance to the Perfected Within the Eastern Palace.B [2] Seven of [Wang]zi Qiao’s siblings found the Way.C Meishou, Guanxiang’s full elder brother, is also one of those who found the Way.D For the previous two passages, there is calligraphy by Yang. An outside[-circulating] book writes this with the character wei 維. This is precisely the Lady Wang in Attendance Within. C Five sons, two daughters. D There seems to have been additional matters concerning Meishou that are not preserved today. However, among the Administrator [Xu Hui’s] writings there is his dream of a person who says, “I am Wang Meishou’s little sister.”23 I suspect this passage was probably written as a reply [to a question on her identity]. A B

Comments Like their aristocratic counterparts on earth, the Perfected head a large bureaucracy and maintain intricate family networks. We have seen that Consort An is the daughter of the Master Redpine and Lady Li, the Displayer of Numina, who may be Laozi’s aunt. Wangzi Qiao, another famous immortal from the Liexian zhuan who has been visiting Yang Xi, is now shown to be the halfbrother of a Perfected woman named Guanxiang as well as the sibling of six other Perfected persons. Tao Hongjing notes that Yang Xi wrote these com18 The DZ text here mistakenly replaces the word for “styled” (zi 字) with a meaningless homophone (zi 自); the correct form appears in the tongxingben and in YJQQ 97.7a10. 19 The “Way of escaping the net by flight” (feijie tuowang zhi dao 飛解脫網之道), also mentioned in ZG 6.4b8, may be Wangzi Qiao’s kind of ascent, by crane, or some other creature. 20 Mount Goushi 緱氏山 , located in Yanshi 偃師 district, Henan, was associated with Wangzi Qiao since his biography in Liexian zhuan (Fascicle One, n. 34; Bujard 2000, 119-21). According to that text, he followed Fuqiu Gong 浮丘公 there and stayed more than 30 years. He then told his family to gather there on a certain day to bid him farewell. From afar they saw him ride a crane and land on the summit. He left a few days later. 21 On Mount Luhun, see Fascicle One, n. 41. 22 See Fascicle One, n. 63 on the Upper Palace of Purple Clarity, which is associated with Consort An. WYT 1.7a1 puts Guanxiang with the female Perfected of the second tier. 23 Xu Hui’s account of his dream is found in ZG 18.12b1-8. It is dated May 30, 368 (much later than the material presented in Fascicle Three).

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ments probably in reply to a question from Xu Hui about Guanxiang’s identity. Elsewhere (in ZG 18.12b1-8) we learn that Xu Hui dreams of her in May, 368. The dream occurs much later than the timeline of our story here, after Xu Hui has advanced considerably in his self-cultivation, and it seems that Tao Hongjing placed this undated but certainly later fragment here to prepare the reader for both Guanxiang’s and Wangzi Qiao’s appearance in the next section. What exactly is Guanxiang’s status? Her full title, “Consort [in Charge of] Internal Transmission in Purple Clarity Palace and Concurrent Lady in Attendance to the Perfected Within the Eastern Palace” (Ziqing gong neichuan fei ling Donggong zhong houzhen furen 紫清宫内傳妃領東宫中候眞夫人), means that she is in both the Eastern and Purple Clarity Palaces and in attendance to the Perfected. Her usual abbreviated title Zhonghou furen 中候夫人 should be then understood as meaning “Lady in Attendance Within.” When she appears in dream to Xu Hui, her poem is rather suggestive: “I wish to roam with one of flourishing Virtue; / My horse team speeds me to a marriage tie.” 願與盛德 遊，驂駟騁因緣 (ZG 18.12b7). There is much to suggest here that the Lady in Attendance Within, like Purple Tenuity and Right Blossom, is another daughter of the Queen Mother of the West, searching for a suitable adept on earth.

The Perfected Hold a Poetic Debate on Dependency and Nondependency (undated) [1]

3.2b8-3.5a5

I harness a gust to frolic in the Eight Voids,24 [Then] return to rest in the chambers of East Florescence.25 Our mother, stretching from her carriage, looks on; Resonantly whistling, she rolls upon the numinous wind.26 I am one whose coming depends on something,27 Which is exactly why I skip over the Blue-grey Billows. The preceding was sung by Lady [Right] Blossom.

24 The Eight Voids (baxu 八虚, an alternate form of bakong 八空) are the ends of the eight orthogonal and diagonal directions; see Fascicle One, n. 196. 25 East Florescence (Donghua 東華) is a part of Fangzhu (Fangzhang) Palace, Lord Blue Lad’s abode (ZG 3.15a6, 9.15b3-5, 9.20b3-9). 26 The Queen Mother of the West (Lady Right Blossom’s spiritual mother) was renowned for her whistling from early mythological accounts. See Shanhai jing 山海經, 1.24b8 (ch. 2; Sibu congkan); trl. Birrell 1999, 24. Her whistling is also mentioned in Han Wudi neizhuan (DZ 292), 1.9a3; trl. Smith 1992, 2:499. 27 As SK 96n4 and Kroll (2007, 407-08; 2010, 970) point out, the debate on dependency and non-dependency in this series takes as its background the dialogue between Penumbra and Shadow in the second chapter of Zhuangzi—please refer to my comments below. Lady Li’s poem below alludes to this passage most extensively.

160 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

[2]

[3]

[4]

I ride the gale to spin around the Nine Heavens, [Then] rest my horses on the three verdant peaks. The dependent, going back and forth, are looked upon; The non-dependent must therefore be pure. Your Blue-grey Billows—why are they considered troublesome? What can compare with skipping over my Dark Well?28 The preceding was sung by the Lady of Purple Tenuity in response to [Lady Right] Blossom. I quit my Gold Court Hall, And free my horses in the precinct of the three verdant [peaks]. The night[-glowing] polypores that cover Flourishing [Yang’s] summitA/29 They chew to sate hunger forever. In loud singing, there is no free and easy wandering: Each of us30 breaks into a dependent song. To undifferentiated space we respond with numinous tones. What would the non-dependent be like? The preceding was sung by the Perfected Man of Mount Tongbo [Wangzi Qiao]. Mornings, I roam Mount Yujue; Evenings, I rest at High Radiance Hall.31 With a shake of the reins, [my horses] step on numinous summitsB

28 What the Lady of Purple Tenuity (and later, the other Perfected) means by Dark Well (Xuanjing 玄井) is not clear, but in light of her association with the circumpolar constellation, I suspect it refers to a region in her part of the sky that is relatively void of stars, or perhaps a feature of her Purple Tenuity Palace that would provide a suitable counterpart to the Bluegrey Billows. Kroll (2003, 174) says it is on Maoshan but does not provide his source. 29 Flourishing Yang (Huayang 華陽) is the cave-heaven of Maoshan, with its “three verdant peaks” (Tao Hongjing spent long years of retreat near its entrance). It is extensively described in ZG 11.1b4-7 and 11.5b9-7b8, and is listed as the 8th major cave-heaven in Dongtian fudi yuedu mingshan ji 洞天福地嶽瀆名山記 (Record of Cave-heavens, Blessed Lands, Marchmounts, Marshes, and Famous Mountains; DZ 599), 1.4b7-9; YJQQ 27.3a6-8 (see also Schafer 1989, 5). The night-glowing polypores of Flourishing Yang are mentioned again in ZG 13.8a5, but there they are described as growing inside the cave, not on the summit. 30 The DZ text writes “winter” (dong 冬) for “each” (ge 各), found in ZG’s tongxingben. 31 High Radiance Hall (Gaohui tang 高暉堂) would be on Mount High Radiance (Gaohui shan 山), mentioned in Lord Pei’s esoteric biography as lying between Lord Pei’s Mount Geyan home and Mount Kunlun. From the top a penetrating light illumines the three peaks, including Yujue, that make up Mount Geyan (YJQQ 105.10b4-5; also Fascicle One, n. 45).

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Without nearing the Blue-grey Billows. The Dark Well—three spans32 across! For my horses, there are no fords and bridges! At a swift streak, ninety thousand [li] are reduced: The Eight Mainstays33 are already visible at once. The dependent are not completely non-existent, And in our numinous tones, something is lost. [5]

[6]

The preceding was sung by the Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity [Lord Pei]. My dragon-flags34 dance in Grand Vacuity As my wheels fly over the steeps of the Five Marchmounts. All the places I go, I wander free and easy; On impulse, I break into otherworldly song. Non-dependency is superior to dependency: As we chance on one another we thus achieve harmony. The Blue-grey Billows—why are they considered distant? The Dark Well is nothing much, [And Mount] Yujue between a span and a pace. They are all gathered in the nets of the four seas. How do they compare with what lies beyond the far-off light, Where three kalpas pass as one? The preceding was sung by the Lady in Attendance Within. Drinking with abandon, I look on the gathered wise, And at a swift streak, the [world’s] four corners are rounded. I do not sense why I am this way— Truly it is not dependent wandering. If we chance on one another, we are always delighted, And if not, we do not worry at all.

32 The measuring unit here is ren 仞, which was equal to eight Chinese feet. Both this unit and xun 尋, which appears in the next poem, refer approximately to what was called a “span” in English. See the discussion of ren and xun in the first definition of xun in HDC 2:1288. 33 The Eight Mainstays (bawei 八維), one at each end of the eight directions, secure the heavens. The term first appears in the poem “Zibei” 自悲 (Grieving for Myself), one of the “Qi jian” 七諫 (Seven Remonstrances) attributed to Dongfang Shuo in Chu ci: “I pulled on the Eight Mainstays to guide myself.” 引八維以道兮。 The commentator Wang Yi 王逸 (fl. 114-19) writes, “Heaven has Eight Mainstays by which it is secured.” 天有八維以為綱紀也。 See Chu ci, 13.17b5 (Sibu congkan); cf. Hawkes 1985, 254. Lord Pei’s biography (Qingling zhenren Pei jun zhuan; Robinet, C.8; YJQQ 105.23b4) describes him receiving a “Talisman of the Jade Gates of the Central Prime and Eight Mainstays” 中元八維玉門之符. 34 Dragon-flags (longqi 龍旂), i.e., flags bearing dragon images, are mentioned in the poem “Zai jian” 載見 (First Courtly Appearance) in Shi jing; trl. Legge 1994, 4:591; SK 97n3.

162 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Let shadow move freely through the dark vault of space: Penumbra will spontaneously respond in kind. [7]

[8]

The preceding was sung by the Displayer of Numina, Lady Li. When I harness a gust to set out from West Florescence,35 I am between dependency and non-dependency. Now I gaze at the Five Marchmounts’ summits; Now I bathe at the ford of the heavenly river. I put wheels aside when searching for an empty boat,36 And all the places I go are twined round together. A mustard seed suddenly measures ten thousand acres And holds Mount Sumeru within.37 Surely there is no difference between small and large; Distant and near share a single causal link.38 She makes a dependent approach, And I make a non-dependent marriage! The preceding was sung by the Ninefold Florescent Consort An. The non-dependent are in the midst of Grand Non-being; The dependent are flanked by Grand Being.39 Large and small share the same wave; Distant and near come together at one gathering. I make my strings sing at the very top of the dark empyrean, My hums and whistles40 circulate the eight pneumas.41

On West Florescence, see Fascicle One, n. 108; Fascicle Two, n. 137. This line recalls the statement, “We place them [words and Lights] in empty boats, and they just go” (ZG 1.8a4). 37 This couplet derives from the Buddhist Vimalakīrti nirdeśa sūtra (Weimojie suoshuo jing 維 摩詰所說經; Taishō Tripitaka 14, no. 475, p. 546b24-27), translated into Chinese before Yang Xi’s time. The relevant passage, in Robert A. F. Thurman’s translation (1987, 52), reads: “The bodhisattva who lives in the inconceivable liberation can put the king of mountains, Sumeru, which is so high, so great, so noble, and so vast, into a mustard seed. He can perform this feat without enlarging the mustard seed and without shrinking Mount Sumeru…’” 若菩薩住是解脫者以須彌之高廣內芥子中，無所增減，須彌山王本相如故。 SK 97n22. 38 This couplet also seems to have been inspired from a Buddhist source. SK 97n23, cites Mahāvaipulya-mahāsamnipata-sūtra (Dafangdeng daji jing 大方等大集經), which expresses a roughly similar idea, but its translator Dharmakshema (385-433) lived after Yang Xi’s time. 39 Grand Non-being (taiwu 太無) and Grand Being (taiyou 太有) are used here as abstract categories. ZG 13.11b3-12a1 discusses “Being” and “Non-being” in cosmogonic terms. 40 A citation of this poem in WSMY 20.10b5 has “golden flute” (jinxiao 金簫), not “hums and whistles” (yinxiao 吟嘯). Both terms fit the context. Whistling appears in the first song this suite, the golden flute in ZG 4.5b5. Definitions for yinxiao in both HDC 3:222 and Mo35 36

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Why not indulge on a numinous liquid, And fix the eyes with delight on the nine frontiers?42 Being and Non-being obtain their mysterious cycles; The dependent and non-dependent likewise cover each other. The preceding was sung by the Perfected Man of Grand Vacuity and the Southern Marchmount [Master Redpine]. [9]

I lie to rest in the tranquility of East Florescence, [Then] rise on a curtained carriage and move round the Eight Regions. Bending to look down amongst hills and dirt mounds, I do not sense the Five Marchmounts’ preeminence.43 The numinous hills are level with abyssal springs. Large and small submit to each other. In long and short, there is neither less nor more. The great toon dies in a moment. Why not yield to the heavenly course44

rohashi 1983, 3:861 (3330:55) as merely calling, loud singing, or sad sighing are inadequate. Whistling is best understood as a kind of breathing exercise that has everything to do with “circulating the pneumas” (Li Fengmao 1986, 225-79), hence “hums and whistles.” 41 The eight pneumas (baqi 八氣) may be understood in several ways. First, they may be the pneumas of the Eight Trigrams, which wax and wane as the year progresses. This sense is discussed in Lunheng: Huang Hui 1983, 24.1020 (ch. 73); trl. Forke 1962, 2:407. More likely in the context of this poem, however, they may refer to the “proper pneumas of the Eight Regions [i.e., the eight directions]” 八方正氣, as explained in the commentary in the Tang era scripture, Taiqing zhonghuang zhenjing 太清中黃真經 (Purest True Scripture of the Yellow Center; DZ 817), 2.10a5, cited also in YJQQ 13.30b5. This sense corresponds to a passage from the Han era apocryphon Hetu kuodi xiang 河圖括地象 (Earth-encompassing Images of the Yellow River Diagrams) preserved in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 36.5a5: “Heaven has eight pneumas, earth has eight winds.” 天有八氣，地有八風。 They may also refer to the pneumas associated with the Eight Lights; see the citation from the now-lost Higher Clarity scripture Dongzhen qishisi bianhua shangjing (Robinet, A.6) in WSMY 91.5b5-9. 42 The nine frontiers (jiuyi 九裔) are the lands around China. The term also appears in Baopuzi waipian, where, however, it is synonymous with the “nine barbarians” (jiuyi 九夷) of the east (Yang Mingzhao 1991, 1:55-56n.5). This couplet alludes to elements from Master Redpine’s biography: he drinks jade powder in water—certainly the numinous liquid alluded to in this poem—rides wind and rain up and down, and visits the Queen Mother of the West at Mount Kunlun (presumably, the place from which he looks down with delight at the nine frontiers). See Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.1a3-7; trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 35-42. 43 This couplet alludes to a passage in Mengzi 孟子, 3.114-16 (Sibu congkan): “The unicorn relates to other walking animals, the phoenix to birds that fly, Mount Tai [the Eastern Marchmount] to hills and dirt mounds …in that they are of the same categories.” 麒麟之於 走獸，鳳凰之於飛鳥，泰山之於丘垤…類也。 Cf. Lau 1970, 80. SK 97-98n31. 44 This line loosely derives from a Zhuangzi passage: “It [the body] is a form lent by heaven and earth. Life is not your possession—it is a harmony assigned to you by heaven and earth. Your nature and destiny are not your possessions—they are the course assigned to you by

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And let spirit roam free in undifferentiated space? [10]

[11]

The preceding was sung by Lord Blue Lad of Fangzhu. Steering the gale, I flap to Grand Vacuity; My eight Lights fly through the purity on high. Upward, I float beyond the purple dawn; Downward, I see far-off the descending gloom. The mystic mind, inside undifferentiated space, Rises and falls, no halt to its drifting. The non-dependent lie between two bounds, While the dependent are surrounded by Non-being. If they embody Non-being, they can perish; If they embody Being, they nurture life.45 When host and guests46 assemble and sing loudly, Why are dependency and non-dependency worth an argument? I command a ride on wheels of jeweled brocade,47 [Then] play with the reins, look up, and travel back and forth: Mornings, I roam to the Palace of Vermilion Fire;48 Evenings, I rest at Noctilucent Pond.49

heaven and earth.” 是天地之委形也。生非汝有，是天地之委和也。性命非汝有，是天地之委 順也。 In Guo Qingfan 1983, 7B.739 (ch. 22); cf. Watson 1968, 238 and Graham 1981, 161. SK 98n34. 45 The term “nurture life” (shesheng 攝生) appears in Laozi, ch. 50 (see Fascicle Two, n. 149). This line is also echoed in ZG 4.8a10-8b1 (“If you venerate Being, then you nurture life.” 崇有則攝生) and alludes to debates on Being and Non-being (see “Comments”). 46 A gloss appearing in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 2.16b9 and YJQQ 97.11a8 states that “host and guests” (dongbin 東賔) should be “the Minister of the Eastern Marchmount, the Elder Lord Mao” 東嶽上卿大茅君 or Mao Ying. That simply does not fit the larger context of the suite. Dong should be “host”; Morohashi 1984, 6:172 (no. 14499), third definition. 47 “Jeweled brocade” (yujin 玉錦 ) appears in Yili, 8.15b4 (Sibu congkan); trl. Steele 1917, 1:207. The commentator Zheng Xuan 鄭玄 (127-200) writes that it refers not to the presence of jewels but to the elaborateness of the pattern and adds, “Etiquette takes that which is sparing of pattern as distinguished.” 禮有以少文者為貴者。 Thus Lady Purple Prime asserts her privilege of riding a highly ornamented carriage that violates rules of earthly decorum. “Command a ride on” (mingjia 命駕) usually indicates a quick departure; HDC 3:286. 48 The Palace of Vermilion Fire (Zhuhuo gong 朱火宮 ) is a place in the distant south where people who have escaped using an apparent corpse may go to have their bodies further smelted and refined (Tao Hongjing in ZG 16.1b6; Strickmann 1979, 181; SK 98n45). 49 Noctilucent Pond (Yeguang chi 夜光池 ) is likely in the north, though I can find no other mention of it. WYT 1.17a4 lists a “Lady Noctilucent” (Yeguang furen 夫人). In Lingbao texts, a “Noctilucent Jade Maiden” (Yeguang yunü 玉女) is often mentioned with other northern deities in invocations used while ingesting the Five Shoots (shi wuya 食五芽), for example, in Taishang dongxuan lingbao chishu yujue miao jing 太上洞玄靈寶赤書玉訣妙經 (Won-

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My buoyant Lights are at the tips of pure aurorae: Eight dragons evenly spaced apart. When I do non-dependent wandering, The dependent immediately shows up and follows. On high, when I meet the fair one sleeping, Both dependent and non-dependent mingle what is and is not.50 Being and Non-being are not fixed; Dependent and non-dependent make their separate ways home. The preceding was sung by Lady Purple Prime of the Southern Pole.C/51 A This

is to say that it [feng 鋒 (“point”)] should be written with the character feng

峰 (“summit”). B This

is to say that it [feng 鋒 (“points”)] should be written with the character feng

峰 (“summits”). C Note that these song lyrics together seem to be language from the first part of a descent, but much of the loud singing by the numerous Perfected is suspect. The Lad of Higher Clarity [i.e., the Lord Blue Lad of Fangzhu], [Lady] Purple Prime, and [the Perfected Man of] Grand Vacuity never appear for miscellaneous occasions, and I fear that perhaps something is missing. The arguments on dependency also refer to the matter of Lady Right Blossom, not Consort An.

drous Lingbao Scripture of the Jade Instructions on the Red Writing; DZ 352), 2.22a1, 2.24a4, and 2.31a3, and Taishang lingbao wufu xu 太上靈寶五符序 (Array of the Five Numinous Treasure Talismans of the Most High; DZ 388), 3.6b1. On the latter text, see Raz 2004. 50 To “mingle what is and is not” (hu shifei 互是非) alludes to Zhuangzi’s discussion on shifei; Guo Qingfan 1983, 1B.63-66 (ch. 2); trl. Watson 1968, 39-40; Graham 1981, 52-53. In contrast to Watson’s “right and wrong” and Graham’s “That’s it, that’s not,” I render it in a way to recall the distinction between Shadow and Penumbra or shadow and shadow-caster. However, the line does carry the meaning, “Both dependent and non-dependent mingle right and wrong,” giving the interplay of shadow, shadow-caster, and penumbra an erotic tinge. The phrase, “…fair one sleeping” (jiaren qin 佳人寢) reappears in ZG 4.6a1 in a clearly erotic context. Lady Purple Prime’s “fair one” is not identified here. 51 This woman’s full title is “Superior Guardian to the Latter Sage and Primal Lord of the Southern Pole, Lady Purple Prime” (Housheng shangbao nanji yuanjun ziyuan furen 後聖上 保南極元君紫元夫人); she is placed among the female Perfected of the second tier in WYT 1.6b8. Equal in rank with Lord Blue Lad, she is one of the four top officials assisting Lord Li. She appears in Wang Bao’s biography as one of his teachers (YJQQ 106.3a7-9; 6b2-4). She often appears elsewhere among Perfected who have received or transmitted various Higher Clarity scriptures. Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 2.16a5-18a9, provides a biography of her that combines material from a number of earlier sources, including ZG. Du Guangting makes her the Queen Mother of the West’s fourth daughter; she is named Wang Lin 王林 and styled Rongzhen 容真. However, his account eliminates a great deal of other information about her; the name and style that Du provides seem cobbled together from elements of the “missing” remainder of her story (showing Numinous Treasure influence) in WSMY 15.5a97a8. Paul Kroll (2010, 971) has translated her second poem.

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Comments Introduction: The previous two sections have introduced Lady Li and the Lady in Attendance Within and provided more information on Wangzi Qiao’s background. Now we are prepared for the grand occasion when ten of the Perfected hold a debate in verse. The contributors (in order) are the Ladies Right Blossom and Purple Tenuity, Wangzi Qiao, Lord Pei, the Lady in Attendance Within, Lady Li, Consort An, Master Redpine, Lord Blue Lad, and Lady Purple Prime of the Southern Pole. Each contributes one verse, but Purple Prime, concluding the debate, contributes two. The only members of the ensemble who have not appeared in ZG thus far are the last three, who are also the highest-ranking Perfected present. They rarely appear, and for Higher Clarity adherents they would not have needed any introduction. From the editorial perspective, however, this would probably be the best place to insert the debate in the text, since the next few sections after this consist of poems and declarations by Right Blossom and Purple Tenuity only. The present arrangement ensures that the relationships among the Perfected, their status, and their appearances are fresher in the reader’s mind. The singers’ sequence is partly determined by family affiliation: Right Blossom and Purple Tenuity (nos. 1-2) are daughters of the Queen Mother of the West; Wangzi Qiao and the Lady in Attendance Within (nos. 3, 5) are half-siblings (can Lord Pei also be related somehow?); Lady Li, Consort An, and Master Redpine (nos. 7-9) are mother, daughter, and father. Lady Purple Prime (no. 10) is Master Redpine’s colleague, but she also plays her role as a daughter of the Queen Mother of the West. The debate is unusual because it is connected only tangentially—or so it seems at first—with Part One’s larger “story.” It is unusual also for not being directed at a human audience. Instead, we are simply granted the privilege of overhearing it. Consort An and Lady Right Blossom refer to their current marital or courtship status, and except for scattered hints that they are all visiting Maoshan, that is the extent of the sequence’s connection with the rest of the story. This sense of disconnectedness and the tone of internal debate among the Perfected (besides the unusually high ranks of some of the poems’ contributors) are probably what lead Tao to express misgivings about these poems in his concluding note. When he writes, “The Lad of Higher Clarity [i.e., the Lord Blue Lad of Fangzhu], [Lady] Purple Prime, and [the Perfected Man of] Grand Vacuity never appear for miscellaneous occasions, and I fear that perhaps something is missing,” that “something” may be the introductory material setting the scene. It is also highly unlikely that so many Perfected appeared at once before Yang Xi. Instead, one of the Perfected probably reported the debate to him after it took place. Tao Hongjing has comments to this effect for other grand gatherings (ZG 1.2b1-2 and 6.10b6-7). Another missing bit of information concerns the source: we are not told whether the manuscript that Tao saw was written by Yang Xi, Xu Mi, or some-

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one else. Tao’s note on this has disappeared. However, Lady Li’s title is written “Displayer of Numina” (Zhaoling 照靈), not “Numinous Displayer (Lingzhao 靈照), which indicates that the source was probably in Yang Xi’s hand. The cohesiveness of these poems as a unit is readily apparent because of the number of recurrent terms and phrases among them. Chief among the terms that the Perfected toss back and forth in debate, as Tao observes, are you dai 有待, which may be translated as “dependence,” “the dependent,” or “dependency,” and its opposite, wu dai 無待. Educated Chinese readers would immediately know of the allusion to two famous passages in Zhuangzi: Penumbra said to Shadow, “A while ago you were moving, now you’re still; a while ago you were sitting, now you’re standing. Why don’t you have any independence of action?” Shadow replied, “Am I this way because I’m dependent on something? Am I this way because what I depend on depends on something else? Do I depend on a snake’s scales, a cicada’s wings? How do I know why I am this way? How do I know why I’m not this way?”52 Now Liezi travelled by riding the wind, so cool and accomplished was he, and he’d come back after fifteen days. In seeking good fortune, he was never flustered and fidgety. Although this spared him from walking, he was still dependent on something. As for a person who rides on the rightness of heaven and earth and drives the changes of the Six Pneumas in order to roam the boundless, how would he be dependent?53 The entire debate among the Perfected accordingly revolves around the images of carriage-riders, shadows, and shadow-casters. The first nine poems: Lady Right Blossom triggers the debate by observing that when she travels from the ends of the earth to her eastern home and then across the sea to the human world (to see Xu Mi), her coming still depends on something. She must “harness a gust.” She states that her own movements are dependent (perhaps shadow-like) compared with those of the Queen Mother of the West, who leans out of her carriage rolling on “numinous wind” and looks down at her traveling (poem prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 172). The other Perfected seize on Lady Right Blossom’s admission that she is “dependent.” Of course, their lofty, refined state is such that they cannot diGuo Qingfan 1983, 1B.110-11 (ch. 2): 罔兩問景曰，曩子行，今子止，曩子坐，今子 起。何其无特操與？景曰，吾有待而然者邪，吾所待又有待而然者邪？吾待蛇蚹蜩翼邪？惡 識所以然，惡識所以不然？ Translation based on Watson 1968, 49; Graham 1981, 60-61. 53 Guo Qingfan 1983, 1B.17 (ch. 1): 夫列子御風而行，泠然善也，旬有五日而後反。彼於 致福者，未數數然也。此雖免乎行，猶有所待者也。若夫乘天地之正，而御六氣之辯，以遊 无窮者，彼且惡乎待哉！ Translation based on Watson 1968, 32. 52

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rectly accuse her of being wrong, since that would imply dissension in their ranks, but they do imply it indirectly, and they are quite willing to upstage one another by asserting ever-increasing levels of mastery of otherworldly travel. There is a great deal of subtlety here that is easily missed if the poems are read too quickly, so I shall take care to discuss them in greater detail. The second poem, by Purple Tenuity, parallels Right Blossom’s quite closely. The first couplet obliquely discloses the setting of the Perfected persons’ gathering: the “three verdant peaks” of Maoshan. The middle couplet again suggests the relationship between the shadow and the shadow-caster: Purple Tenuity is looking down on “the dependent,” and she claims that the non-dependent (including herself) are thus purer. In other words, she qualifies or ascribes value to that which occupies the higher or “superior” position far more than Lady Right Blossom does. In the final couplet, Purple Tenuity virtually taunts Right Blossom by implying that crossing her “Dark Well”— probably a celestial location—requires greater refinement than crossing Right Blossom’s earthly Blue-grey Billows (poem prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 173). Next comes a poem by Wangzi Qiao, the Perfected Man of Mount Tongbo. As we might expect of someone known from his Liexian zhuan biography to mimic phoenix songs on his mouth-organ (sheng 笙), he also considers the sonic or musical equivalents of shadows and shadow-casters. Wangzi Qiao first hints at superiority over Right Blossom and Purple Tenuity by describing how he lets his horses go free to nibble on the polypores of the “three verdant peaks” of Maoshan—a gesture showing that he has even become lackadaisical about such things. (I believe the subject of the second couplet is the horses, not Wangzi Qiao himself, because the corresponding lines of the next poem describe action by horses.) He then turns attention to the music: he argues that as soon as one sings (or whistles), one is put into a dependent position, because the music itself is dependent, a response to something. Even the numinous tones of the Perfected are a response to undifferentiated space, so he ends on a rhetorical question: what would non-dependent music be like? His position is thus somewhere between that of the previous two singers: he himself is nondependent, but the act of singing puts him in a dependent position. Lord Pei first mentions his home on Mount Yujue (Yujueshan 鬱絕山 or “mountain cut off at the base by densecloud”) and High Radiance Hall (Gaohui tang 高暉堂), the place that illumines it, and then he moves on to describe his travels while at the same time managing to diminish the abodes of Lady Right Blossom and Lady Purple Tenuity. The debating position that he voices in the final couplet places him in agreement with Wangzi Qiao: the dependent (shadow, music) is not completely nonexistent (i.e., it has existence or being), but it also loses something. Despite his agreement with Wangzi Qiao, Lord Pei’s poem marks a transition point in the series. Thus far the poems have been busily drawing distinctions and contrasts; here they begin to diminish the distinctions. From Lord

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Pei’s elevated perspective, Right Blossom’s Blue-grey Billows are not worth bothering with, and Purple Tenuity’s Dark Well seems only three spans across. As the poem series progresses, the handling of such distinctions also evolves. In the fifth poem, the Lady in Attendance Within views the world from an even higher perspective. The distinction between near and far has begun to disappear, Purple Tenuity’s Dark Well is “nothing much,” and even Lord Pei’s Mount Yujue merely “between a span and a pace.” Unlike Wangzi Qiao, who cannot sing and wander at the same time, the Lady in Attendance Within can. For her, music comes on impulse—it is not as dependent as Wangzi Qiao thinks it is. However, she preserves the value-laden distinction between dependency and non-dependency, for in her opinion non-dependency generates the spontaneous harmony among the Perfected (the same couplet may, once again, be read as a description of the shadow and shadow-caster: the nondependent shadow-caster is superior to or transcends the shadow, but when the two draw together and meet, they attain “harmony”). As for the last couplet, the phrase, “what lies beyond the far-off light” (jue ming wai 絕明外), is probably an abbreviated back-reference to Lord Pei’s Mount Yujue and High Radiance Hall. The Lady in Attendance Within thus brings us even further, to a place where time measurements no longer have any real meaning. The next poem, by the Displayer of Numina, Lady Li, highlights spontaneity and chance while alluding more directly to the Zhuangzi passage on Shadow and Penumbra. In a drunken glance at the gathered Perfected, she circles the world, but cannot even sense why she is so capable, and she implies that all the Perfected are similarly non-dependent. While the Lady in Attendance Within thinks that non-dependency creates the harmony among the Perfected during their chance encounters, Lady Li takes the idea a step further: they are nondependent even when they do not meet. The harmony emerges spontaneously from their non-dependent state as shadow-casters, in the way that penumbras spontaneously follow shadows (compare Kroll 2010, 970-1). Consort An accentuates her connection with Lady Right Blossom by echoing the first and penultimate lines of Right Blossom’s poem in the corresponding lines of her own poem, the seventh of the series. She sets out from a place associated with the Queen Mother of the West, while Right Blossom comes from the east. Both women have relationships with lowly humans, even though Consort An has already married Yang Xi while Lady Right Blossom is still courting Xu Mi. The “contrast” between the two in terms of dependency is only superficial. Yes, Right Blossom’s “coming is dependent on something,” and Consort An is “between dependency and non-dependency,” but recall the ambiguity in Right Blossom’s position, somewhere between the Queen Mother of the West and Xu Mi: she, too, is “between dependency and nondependency.” It would be all too easy to translate the last couplet of this poem, “She makes a dependent approach, / But I make a non-dependent marriage!” but that would make too strong a contrast. The actual contrast is subtler, one

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of perception—Right Blossom perceives distinctions, while Consort An reduces them by blending them together (poem prev. trl. Schipper 1999, 403). The Perfected Man of Grand Vacuity and the Southern Marchmount, usually known as Master Redpine, takes the reductions a step further in the eighth poem. The opening couplet may be interpreted several ways at once. In one possible reading, Master Redpine is positioning the Perfected who claim non-dependence and those who claim dependence respectively within the abstract categories Grand Non-being (taiwu 太无) and Grand Being (taiyou 太有). One might also read the opening couplet as a description of the respective domains of shadow-casters and shadows, since shadow-casters are surrounded by airy space (non-being), while shadows are cast on something tangible (being). A third interpretation of the opening couplet would insert an “I” subject: “Nondependent, I am in the midst of Grand Non-being; / Dependent, I am flanked by Grand Being.” Following this interpretation, Master Redpine is not, like Consort An, “between dependency and non-dependency,” but alternates between the two. However, whether the shadows and shadow-casters are large or small, distant or near, they all “come together” in Master Redpine’s perspective. Like Wangzi Qiao, Master Redpine mentions music, but instead of music of a dependent variety, his is the kind that puts into circulation the “eight pneumas” (baqi 八氣), which may be understood in several ways. In all cases they are heavenly or cosmic in nature. Hence Master Redpine is answering Wangzi Qiao’s question, “What would the non-dependent be like?” It is the kind of music that comes not in response to something but causes everything else to respond to it. “Indulge on a numinous liquid” in the fourth couplet echoes Lady Li’s “drinking with abandon,” but it also alludes to Master Redpine’s Liexian zhuan biography. There he is said to drink powdered jade in water and (among other things) visit the Queen Mother of the West on the summit of Mount Kunlun, which would certainly provide a good vantage point for viewing the “nine frontiers.” We may safely assume that Master Redpine and the Queen Mother’s whistling belong to the same class. Such masterful music and such masterful blending of dependence and non-dependence make it possible to say that they “cover each other,” or that they give rise to the pattern of cyclic alternation between Being and Non-being (poem prev. trl. Kroll 2007, 408). The Lord Blue Lad of Fangzhu adopts the perspective of someone who is so distant from the world that all spatial and temporal distinctions are nulled. His poem is fairly straightforward. The second couplet alludes to Mengzi in a way that follows the mound-hill-mountain “category” mentioned there even as it flattens out the terms through its higher perspective. The fourth couplet does much the same with Zhuangzi’s toon tree—the tree that counts 8,000 years as a single spring. Lord Blue Lad is thus free to eliminate distinctions by juxtaposing opposites in logic-defying ways, which in turn makes it possible to “yield to the

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heavenly course” and “let spirit roam.” His ideas would not seem out of place in Zhuangzi (compare Kroll 1985, 77-8). The concluding poems: In the last two poems (the second prev. trl. Kroll 2007, 408-9), Lady Purple Prime of the Southern Pole describes her mastery of travel in terms that leave no question that she is the highest-ranking figure present. The first couplets of both poems modify phrases heard earlier, but with stronger assertion of mastery: besides riding the gale, Purple Prime steers it; instead of harnessing a gust, she commands a ride on an ostentatiously ornamented carriage. Her way of eliminating distinctions, moreover, differs substantially from the others. Thus far the Perfected have drawn distinctions and eliminated them by various strategies: gradual minimization, denial, alternation between opposites, blending, juxtaposition, and so on. 54 Readers of Zhuangzi would find none of those strategies surprising. However, Purple Prime goes even further, equalizing all things by skewing and twisting them in novel ways that violate expectation. Thus in the second couplet of the first poem, she faces up and floats (or floats upward)—but instead of going up (basically, she is already there) she goes eastward to the dawn; she bends down to look (or looks downward) but does not see the earth—instead she sees from afar the gathering dusk (probably in the west). In the corresponding couplet of the second poem, she takes a morning trip not to the east, as we might expect if she were following the correspondences of Five Phases cosmology, but to a place in the distant south—the Palace of Vermilion Fire. She rests in the evening, not in a suitably crepuscular realm in the west but by a pond in the north that glows. The third couplets of both poems hint at how she achieves her mastery: the cultivation of a “mystic mind” (xuanxin 玄心 ) that is always adrift and Lights that can space themselves evenly at the tips of the aurorae or dawnclouds. As often occurs, translation fails to capture the range of suggested meanings in the “mystic mind” line: Purple Prime might also be referring to the “dark cores” of shadows, which would form an appropriate contrast to the cloud-tip Lights. The couplets imply that the mystic mind’s movements are shadow-like and take place on a vertical axis, while the Lights float upward and array themselves on a horizontal axis. In the first poem, the fourth and fifth couplets violate expectation by saying the exact opposite of what is “right” in a mundane sense. “The nondependent lie between two bounds”? By our earthly logic, the Perfected, the ones casting the shadows as they soar freely through the universe, should be bound by nothing—but we can no longer be so sure. “The dependent are surrounded by Non-being”? That would seem to imply that the shadows are cast and take form on Non-being, i.e., nothing; alternatively, one could interpret the 54 These patterns parallel the “common themes and structures” that Isabelle Robinet (1989, 185-91) has identified in Higher Clarity ecstatic visualization practices: “Folds and Involutions,” “Folds and Repetitions,” “Inversion,” “Patternings and Imbrications,” “Opening and Closing,” “Coming and Going,” and “Resolution and Fusion.”

172 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

statement as implying that we (dependent) humans are surrounded by Nonbeing. Basically, the fourth couplet completely reverses what Master Redpine says about the non-dependent being in the midst of Grand Non-being and the dependent being flanked by Grand Being. “If they embody Non-being, they can perish; / If they embody Being, they nurture life,” is another reversal, for in Daoist thinking Non-being or nothingness (wu 無) is usually associated with the Way, and embodying the Way leads to life. Here, however, it has the opposite effect. Purple Prime thus goes so far in eliminating distinctions that she can get away with saying what seems “wrong.” No wonder she concludes the verse by asking why dependency and non-dependency are worth an argument! Lady Purple Prime is not speaking in a vacuum, intellectual or otherwise. The second line of the fifth couplet is closely echoed later in a poem by the Lady in Attendance Within, who says: “If you venerate Being, then you nurture life” 崇有則攝生 (ZG 4.8a10-8b1). This rephrasing alludes more explicitly to a debate on Being and Non-being that was taking place among Wei-Jin era thinkers and to Pei Wei’s 裴頠 (267-300) essay “Chongyou lun” 崇有論 or “Discourse on Venerating Being.” While He Yan 何晏 (c. 193-249) and Wang Bi 王 弼 (226-249) had attached primacy to Non-being, Guo Xiang 郭象 (c. 252-312) and Pei Wei had urged a return to Being. The two sides in this debate are sometimes called the “group valuing Non-being” (guiwu pai 貴無派 ) and the “group venerating Being” (chongyou pai 崇有派; see Lin 2004, 141). The Perfected seem to favor a median position, that of “Being within Non-being” and “Nonbeing within Being.” Later on, in ZG 3.12b6, Right Blossom complains to Xu Mi, “You, sir, find ease between Being and Being; / I prefer the Non-being within Being.” Elsewhere, in Wang Bao’s esoteric biography, we read: Although the Way is without form, it does exist in reality; although the wondrous is obscure, its reality is plain. You, sir, must assiduously search for its Non-being, and afterward you will see its absolute Being. You [ought to] stretch wide out to the wondrous, and afterward delve into its plainness and greatness. If you find Being, then you will have life; if you find the wondrous, then you will attain fullness of years.55 The second half of the last poem brings the entire poem sequence to a climax. It begins “reasonably” enough with the statement that when Lady Purple Prime does her non-dependent traveling, the dependent immediately shows up and follows. This unremarkable observation, however, preludes the consummation of a spiritual union: “On high, when I meet the fair one sleeping, / 55 Qingxu zhenren Wang jun neizhuan (Robinet, C.7), in YJQQ 106.3b2-5: 夫道雖無形，其實 有焉；妙雖昧昧，其實坦然。子當勤求其無，然後見其至有。子廣延諸妙，然後究其坦大。 得有則有生，得妙則年全也。

FASCICLE THREE / 173

Both dependent and non-dependent mingle what is and is not.” At a single stroke, Purple Prime goes much further than Right Blossom and Consort An in giving the shadow and shadow-caster game an erotic tinge. Her choice of the term “fair one” (jiaren) recalls the object of amorous desire in the poetic tradition of the Chu ci (Songs of Chu). The phrase, “mingle what is and is not” (hu shifei 互是非 ), which alludes to the discussion on shifei in Zhuangzi’s second chapter, “Qiwu lun” 齊物論 (Discourse on Equalizing Things), bears not only the meaning, “That’s it, that’s not,” but also “right and wrong” (as rendered respectively in the Graham and Watson translations). In other words, the line may be read, “Both dependent and non-dependent mingle right and wrong,” so that even ethical categories are mixed. She also transforms the idea of the previous couplet, and indeed of all the previous descriptions of the relationship between the shadow-caster and the shadow by having them join together on high—not down below. Instead of chasing her shadow down, her shadow chases her up. Does this not suggest the way in which the male adept, in spirit, visits his Perfected lover during sleep? Finally, she trumps all the other Perfected participating in this debate by implicitly suggesting a very simple idea that the others seem to have forgotten: shadows and shadow-casters merge once they go to “sleep” with all the lights out. (Who is her “fair one,” by the way? Xu Mi? Xu Hui? A third person? We shall find out in Fascicle Four.) She draws the series to a quick close with a comment on the unfixed state of things and the line, “Dependent and non-dependent make their separate ways home.” It doubles as a description of what the lovers do after their rendezvous and as an abrupt send-off to all the Perfected: the party’s over! As often occurs when reading poems such as these, the precision and fine detail of the composition is not always immediately apparent, and one must put considerable effort into uncovering not only their meaning but also what it is that distinguishes them as literature of a very high order. In the penultimate poem, for example, it is all too easy to regard the line, “Upward, I float beyond the purple dawn,” as just another fanciful description of ecstatic wandering in the tradition of Higher Clarity Daoism or, more broadly, the southern poetic tradition of Chu ci. Only after it is placed in its proper context, near the culmination of the sequence, does its distinctiveness emerge. The same may be said of almost all the lines of these poems: their cogency or forcefulness heavily depends on relative position. The poems suffer greatly when removed from context or arranged out of sequence—as usually occurs when they are cited in other sources. Rhymes: (1) -ang, -uwng; (2) -engX, -engH; (3) -+j, -ij, -a; (4) -ang, -angH; (5) -a, -aH; (6) -uw, -uwX; (7) -ean, -in, -ien, -en; (8) -ejH, -ajH, -+jH; (9) -ang, uwng, -owng; (10) -eng, -aeng, -eang; (11) -oj, -e, -ea, -+j.

174 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

October 4, 365: Lady Right Blossom Tempts Xu Mi with the Allure of Upward Travel [1]

3.5a6-3.5b3

With vaulting leaps on shafts of cloud and Light,56 I float and survey space above the aurorae. My cirrus-draped carriage dances vertically, horizontally; My purple canopy lodges in numinous quarters. Vermilion smoke twists around my flags and streamers; My feathered cape fans the scented wind. Lightning howls—I catch the Fierce Beast; Its thunderous call excites my mystic dragons.57 Tuning pipes resound in the Kun[lun] court; Golden mouth-organs58 sing on divine [Mount] Zhong.59 Gathering polypores on the steeps of Blue-grey Billows, Plucking the blooms on Eight Clearwaters’ summit,60 My vermilion face is daily freshened. When a kalpa passes I shall resemble an infant child. Nourish your form in tranquility on the eastern crags, And the seven spirits61 will freely be in communion. In the windblown dust are anxieties and woes

56 This is probably a reference to the chariots of Light (jing) and cloud (su), described above in Fascicle Two, n. 68. On vaulting leaps, see Fascicle Two, n. 166. 57 The Fierce Beast (mengshou 猛獸) is a small dog-like creature described extensively in Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.6b2-9a4; trl. Smith 1992, 2:548-52. It was presented to the Han Emperor Wu by an envoy from the kingdom of Yuezhi (concerning which, see Fascicle Two, n. 179). When the emperor asked the envoy to make it produce a sound, it “suddenly let out a roar as loud as a clap of thunder, and a light from its eyes, as bright as the commingled brilliance of lightning bolts, shot through the heavens a long time before fading away.” 忽呌如 天大雷霹靂，又兩目如□*磹之交光，光朗衝天良久乃上 (止 ) (1.8a6-8; the rare character is written with the radical 石 and the right side of 纖). It is described as the master of all other animals, which would certainly include mystic dragons (xuanlong 玄龍 ), the multicolored creatures often described pulling the carriages of the Perfected in, for example, WSMY 19.1a10, 19.4a4, and 19.7b10 (citing various Shangqing and Lingbao scriptures). In WYT 1.16a4, the Fierce Beast is placed on the right of the fourth tier of the pantheon. 58 In place of “mouth-organs” (sheng 笙 ), YJQQ 98.9b1 and Zhongxian zansong lingzhang (DZ 613), 1.3a1 here write “zithers” (zhu 筑). 59 Mount Zhong (Zhongshan 鍾山), a far northern counterpart to Mount Kunlun, is also described in Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.12a6-13a2; trl. Smith 1992, 2:559-61. This line may also be interpreted to read, “Golden mouth-organs harmonize with divine bells,” since the word for “bell” (zhong 鐘) is often written 鍾, but the preponderance of place names in the surrounding lines indicate the distant mountain is intended. 60 Eight Clearwaters Mountain (Bating shan 八渟山) is adjacent to the Mountain of Bluegrey Billows (ZG 14.19b10-20a4). It is another name for the isle Fusang. SK 105n8. 61 The seven spirits are probably those of the body (Fascicle One, n. 200).

FASCICLE THREE / 175

That reduce my white-templed old man. In the enduring hidden realm I leave distant sighs, Regretting that you do not sooner flee upward.62 On the evening of the third day of the ninth month, Lady Wang, [the Right Blossom] of Cloudy Grove, instructed me to write this and directed that it be shown to Senior Aide Xu. Comments This marks the beginning of a string of thirteen poems by the Ladies Right Blossom and Purple Tenuity. It is almost impossible to determine what their original contexts were—whether they appeared on single sheets of paper or on one manuscript, for example, or whether they were excerpted from longer accounts, and so on. Tao Hongjing’s note after the thirteen poems indicates that he had Yang Xi’s manuscript(s) for each, and that some of the poems had also been copied out by Xu Hui, but he does not say which ones. On the basis of what is revealed near the end of Fascicle Three, I believe that Xu Hui had copied out the poems by Purple Tenuity. This poem (prev. trl. Kroll 1996, 183-4) is rather typical in that it has two parts, with the first fourteen lines describing Lady Right Blossom’s vaulting leap into the heavens and her journey to far-off places, and the concluding six lines giving advice to Xu Mi. While her carriage dances wildly around the heavens, Right Blossom manages to catch the Fierce Beast, a small creature with awesome powers, which excites her dragon-steeds even more. To the strains of music emanating from Mounts Kunlun and Zhong in the far west and north, she gathers polypores in the far east, by her home on Blue-grey Billows, which she hopes will eventually, after the passage of a kalpa, revert her to the potent state of infancy. Of course, her progress sharply contrasts with that of Xu Mi, still in the windblown dust of the human world, which is steadily reducing him to decrepit old age. She advises him to nurture his form on Maoshan, away from worldly sorrows and disruptions. She sighs that he cannot flee upward any sooner—he is unable to make the same kind of vaulting ascent as she can. Rhyme: -uwng, -ang, -owng, -uwngH, -owngH.

62 YJQQ 98.9b4, Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.7a1, and Zhongxian zansong lingzhang (DZ 613), 1.3a4 here write the far more common term “escape your tracks” (yizong 逸蹤) instead of “escape with a leap” (yizong 逸縱)—or as I choose to render it, “flee upward.” Although the characters 縱 and 蹤 are often interchangeable, I find that the more obviously vertical motion of the present version aligns better with the poem’s general theme of ascent.

176 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Lady Right Blossom Expresses Longing for a Youthful Mate (undated) [2]

3.5b4-3.5b6

I halt my chariot. Wangshu63 moves on. Turning back my wheels, I return to Blue-grey Billows. I have not seen that man [of mine] roaming: How can my thoughts of a mate find relief? A good tie64 awaits the green springtime. With this I disclose my inmost yearning, and loss.65 [Lady] Right Blossom recited this, the preceding, two or three times.

Comments In this brief, poignant poem Lady Right Blossom comes to a complete halt. She is, to the extent possible for a Perfected woman, feeling depressed. She still does not see her man Xu Mi roaming about in her world (Xu Mi is still not accomplishing the feat of journeying upward and joining her during sleep). She can only mark time as she watches Wangshu chariot the moon on its usual westward course across the night sky, so she returns home to Blue-grey Billows in the east. She muses that a good marital tie awaits the green springtime— which may seem a rather commonplace sentiment, until we realize that she is actually indicating her desire that Xu Mi reverse the effects of time and marry her at some time in the future, in the spring of his youth. Rhyme: -ang.

Revelries of the Daughters of the Queen Mother of the West, Reverting to Infancy Through Spiritual Union (undated) [3]

3.5b7-3.6a7

Tortoise [Mountain’s] portal looms—majestic, magnificent!66 The terraces of the Walled [City] are webbed with moon-pearls.67 63 Wangshu 望舒 is the woman who chariots the moon across the sky, mentioned in “Li sao” 離騷 (On Encountering Sorrow) in Chu ci, 1.29a7 (Sibu congkan); trl. Hawkes 1985, 73. 64 I read yin 因 (“tie”) as yin 姻 (“marriage”), as in ZG 1.14b2 (Fascicle One, n. 173). 65 I read the character wang 忘 (“forget”) in the sense of wang 亡 (“loss”). 66 Tortoise Mountain is the Queen Mother of the West’s abode (Fascicle One, n. 160). Lunyu has “majestic, magnificent” (weiwei 巍巍) to describe the sage Yao (Legge 1994, 1:214). 67 The Walled City (Yongcheng 墉城) is another primary feature of the Queen Mother of the West’s home, whether situated on Tortoise Mountain or Kunlun. “Moon-pearls” (yuezhu 月珠, often mingyuezhu 明月珠) are brightly luminescent pearls, the kind sewn into the seams of Wangzi Qiao’s robe (ZG 1.15b1).

FASCICLE THREE / 177

[4]

Seated in rows in Nine Numina’s chamber,68 We strike the ao69 and intone [songs of] Grand Non-being. Jade flutes70 harmonize our spirits; Gold liquor71 frees us of anxiety.72 We feast and carouse in East Florescence, Perform a piece with sounds by the thousands and hundreds.73 The Blue Lord commands us to rise; We bend waists [dancing] in his court at Rarified Grove.74 Our feathered capes fan the halcyon shine; Our jade pendants—how they chinkle and chime! Together pointing at Lofty Dawn in repose,75

68 Nine Numina (Jiuling 九靈) is the Queen Mother of the West; see Tao Hongjing’s note in ZG 1.4a7 (“A List of Perfected Persons at a Gathering,” n. Q). WSMY 22.12b2-4 lists Nine Numina Palace (guan 館) as one of the Queen Mother’s Kunlun palaces. 69 The ao is a kind of gong tree; see n. 6 above. 70 Although jade flutes (yuxiao 玉簫) appear frequently in immortal orchestras (and sometimes in their earthly counterparts), Purple Tenuity may have in mind the kind of flute played by Longyu 弄玉 (“Plays the Jade”), the mate of the immortal Xiao Shi 蕭史, whose biography may be found in Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.17a4-10; trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 125-27. 71 Gold liquor (jinli 金醴), to be distinguished from the jade liquor and gold soup of Fascicle Two (n. 207) is probably the drinkers’ own saliva mixed with solar efflorescences. In Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402), 2.7a2-7 (also in YJQQ 11.37b5), the commentator identifies gold liquor, together with jade blossoms (yuying 玉英), as the substance swished through the mouth while practicing the “method of ingesting the Mysterious Root” (fu xuangen zhi fa 服玄根之法), concerning which, see Robinet 1984, 2:41. SK 106n26, cites a passage from the Shenxian zhuan’s Laozi biography to imply an alchemical substance (Campany 2002, 199n 237, 37-36). But that relates more to the Grand Clarity tradition; when the term appears in Higher Clarity texts, it is usually in connection with saliva. 72 The DZ text does not indicate any break here, but the rhyme changes, and the note below speaks of two verses, not one. Moreover, the note in ZG 3.8b5 speaks of a total of 13 verses in Yang’s hand—a number that cannot be met unless a break is inserted. Clearly, at some point in transmission, the break was lost, so I insert it here. 73 This alludes to a celestial orchestra (Fascicle Two, n. 185). 74 The Japanese translation of this couplet in SK 101 changes Blue Lord (Qingjun 青君) to Lord Blue Lad (Qingtong jun 青童君); in the corresponding footnote (p. 107n29), the translators cite ZG 9.21b8 to point out that the palace on Fangzhu/Fangzhang is the Blue Lord’s seat of government. Earlier we have seen that the Lord Blue Lad has his domain on Fangzhang, while Rarified Grove Palace belongs to the Blue Thearch of the East (Fascicle Two, n. 75). There is some ambiguity and inconsistency in Higher Clarity literature concerning these deities and their palaces, so I think it is best to preserve the ambiguity of “Blue Lord” in this line. My addition of the bracketed word “dancing” is suggested by the reappearance of the bending waists in ZG 3.7b7 below, as pointed out in SK 107n30. 75 Lofty Dawn (Gaochen 高晨) refers to Lord Blue Lad, who is also known by the title “Preceptor of Lofty Dawn” (Gaochen shi 師); WYT 1.3b5. We may note also that the line as cited in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.7a7-8, YJQQ 97.12b7 and elsewhere replaces “repose” (qin 寢) with “grand hall” (dian 殿), which transforms the line’s meaning: “Together pointing to Lofty Dawn’s grand hall.” But that effectively eliminates the couplet’s playful suggestion

178 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

We make rendezvous in the dark, amid the [heavenly] Images. [5]

Purple Tenuity sang these, the preceding two verses. Exuberantly lifted, I pace the crimson empyrean,76 Then fly the gale to my court in the northern mounds,77 Where divine blossoms shine on the immortals’ terraces And the round dazzler tilts in the wind.78 Uncovering its radiance, I draw from Cinnabar Prime;79 Pushing open its light, I sup on the moon’s essence.80 When sleeves are crossed in the house at Cloudy Grove,

that the Queen Mother’s daughters meet human partners when their “King Father” (Kingly Sire of the East) is asleep. The term in the next line that I render “make rendezvous” (xiangqi 相期) is used elsewhere to describe amorous meetings (ZG 3.6a9 and especially ZG 4.7b3). 76 The “crimson empyrean” (jiangxiao 絳霄) refers to the upper reaches of the heavens, often colored red, vermilion, or crimson—associated with the south—since the entire sky is south relative to the north celestial pole (HDC 9:830). Paul W. Kroll (2003, 174-75) comments that this term refers to the firmament divided by the Milky Way (jianghe 絳河). The key idea is that the Lady of Purple Tenuity is making a south-north procession. 77 The “northern mounds” (beilong 北壟) is the Lady of Purple Tenuity’s offhand reference to her far-north terrestrial abode—the Purple Tenuity Palace (the counterpart to the constellation) in the Darkmound Mountains (Xuanlong shan); see Fascicle One, n. 111. In the Numinous Treasure scriptures, “Northern Mounds” becomes a specific place name and is often embedded in the phrase, “Dark Hill in the Northern Mounds, in the state of Yudan” (Yudan guo Beilong Xuanqiu 鬱單國北壟玄丘). It is said that a certain virtuous adept underwent post-mortem transformation and refinement there and was reborn as the Mystic Lord Lao of the Five Numina (Wuling Xuan Laojun 五靈玄老君); see the citation in WSMY 15.7a9-8a7, especially 15.8a2-4. The same passage, when cited in YJQQ 86.5b6-6b6 and elsewhere, is identified as Dongxuan benxing jing 洞玄本行經 (Dongxuan Scripture on Original Deeds). 78 “Round dazzler” (yuanyao 圓曜) as a term for the sun appears several times in ZG. We may note also this couplet’s playful reversal of logical expectation in order to describe what kind of places these are: the sun does not shine on the terraces—the flowers do; the flowers do not tilt in the wind—the sun does. Kroll (2003, 175) comments, “Divine flowers glint there as the sun…sheds its light,” switching it back to the logic of our world. 79 Cinnabar Prime (Danyuan 丹元) is an alternate name for Jade Transverse (Yuheng 玉橫), one of the stars of the Dipper, known in the West as Alioth or ε Ursae Majoris—the star on the handle closest to the bowl of the Dipper. More precisely, it is the name of the power hidden “behind” the star. According to one Higher Clarity scripture cited in WSMY 3.8b7-9, Dongzhen feixing jiuchen yujing 洞 眞 飛 行 九 晨 玉 經 (The Jade Scripture on Flighted Travel Amongst the Nine Chronograms; Robinet A.24, corresponding to DZ 428), “The fifth star, Jade Transverse, is the cloud-soul of the star Cinnabar Prime… It is opposite the northwest gate of Cinnabar Prime.” 第五玉衡星則丹元星之魂靈也…對丹元星東北門。 On the relationship between the Dipper stars and their hidden powers, see Schafer 2005, 50-51. 80 This line refers to a practice described in Basu jing (Robinet, A.3); in the present DZ, this is in Dongzhen taishang basu zhenjing fushi riyue huanghua jue (DZ 1323), 1.6a10-7a6.

FASCICLE THREE / 179

The hoar- and black-haired oneA will revert to boyhood, to infancy. In soughing solitude, lodged in no dwelling,81 How could he be bound by what is and is not? In battle array, surely roused for strife,82 How can he speak of nourishing life? The preceding was composed by Purple Tenuity of the Darkmound [Mountains]. This is to say that they [hao 浩 (“expansive”) and zhen 軫 (“carriage crossboard”)] should be written hao 皓 (“hoar-”) and zhen 鬒 (“black hair”). A

Comments The first two of these three poems comprise a pair, and although they are set together in a single tiao in the DZ text, they are distinguished by rhyme change (from –u, -uw to -eng) and a comment describing them as two verses. In the first, Purple Tenuity describes how she and her sisters perform music for their mother, the Queen Mother of the West, in the Walled City on Tortoise Mountain; in the second, she describes a similar concert, perhaps grander in scale, with dancing and costumes, for the Blue Lord in the east, who is in effect their “King Father.” They consume a great deal of otherworldly food and drink, and as one might expect with a group of partying teenage girls, once they know Dad’s not watching, they get up to mischief. They point to their father sleeping in peaceful repose and make their assignations in the dark, in the spaces between the heavenly Images—the sun, moon, and stars. We may assume they meet with the sleep-wandering spirits of their human lovers. As we might expect by now, such mischief would run counter to Du Guangting’s more strait-laced vision concerning the Queen Mother’s daughters, so he changes the word qin 寢 (variously “repose,” “sleep,” “bedchamber,” etc.) to dian 殿 (“grand hall”; see n. 75). Now the eternally young Perfected women are only pointing to their father’s palace and agreeing to meet in the dark—but with whom? No longer is it possible to say for sure; it becomes much easier to decide that they are meeting with one another, to engage in the more usual

81 This couplet, continuing the thought of the previous, describes what will happen when Xu Mi achieves union with Lady Right Blossom in the other world. It alludes to ZG 2.20b56: “Soughing solitude can guard the Female [Ones]. Now, ‘soughing solitude’ refers to single Lights that go forth alone.” It is also useful to recall that in Zhuangzi, the word “dwelling” (zhai 宅) also refers to the body that houses the souls; Guo Qingfan 1983, 3A.275 (ch. 6); trl. Watson 1968, 88. Xu’s mystical discernment will be lodged in vacuity. 82 This line uses battle imagery to describe ordinary sexual intercourse, in contrast to the spiritual union described in the previous couplet. The term “roused for strife” (raojing 擾競) reappears below in a similar context.

180 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

immortal pastimes—games of bo 博, dances, more feasting, free and easy wandering, etc. (see Kroll 2003, 177-80 and 2010, 972 for a contrasting analysis). In the third poem (prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 174), Purple Tenuity shifts from the Queen Mother’s daughters to herself. Tao Hongjing’s placement of the poem here may be due to its description of a similar sequence of events (the rhyme also continues to be -eng). This time, instead of passing from west to east, she passes from the south to her home in the north, where she feasts on stellar efflorescences. She describes her home in terms that defy reason: it is not a place where the sun shines on the terraces and flowers tilt in the wind, but where flowers shine on the terraces and the sun tilts in the wind. After her repast, she turns her thoughts to Lady Right Blossom, in her home at Cloudy Grove, and wonders whether her sister has had any success meeting Xu Mi there. Once again, we encounter terminology from the discussion on the Male and Female True Ones on September 18, 365: will Xu put himself in “soughing solitude” and “lodge in no dwelling” (prepare himself for spiritual union with Right Blossom) or will he put himself in battle formation and get roused for action (choose sex with an ordinary woman)? Of course, if he chooses the latter, any talk of “nourishing life” would be beside the point!

October 7, 365: Restoring Youth, Finding a Mate in the Clouds [6]

3.6a8-3.6b9

Controlling [the reins of] dawn,83 I float on a purple mist; [From the carriage of my] eight Lights, I observe its branching streams. Feathered lads (using both hands) offer rose-gem soup;84 Jade blossoms serve the fatty meat of exquisite jade.85 83 To “control dawn” (kongchen 控晨) is actually to control and steer the carriage of one’s Lights at dawn; the term reappears in ZG 3.15a10 and more unambiguously in ZG 6.2b2. 84 Rose-gem soup (qiongjiang 瓊漿) is first mentioned in Chu ci, “Zhao hun” 招魂 (Summoning the Soul), 9.13b1-3 (Sibu congkan): “A colorful ladle is set out— / There is rose-gem soup [for you]!” 華酌既陳，有瓊漿些。Cf. Hawkes 1985, 228. Later it refers to saliva, a wondrous heavenly substance, or an alchemical elixir; either of the latter two meanings is acceptable here. A Tang dynasty text, citing Taiqing jing 太清經 (Scripture of Grand Clarity), explains that in the making of the 36 aqueous solutions, gold soup (Fascicle Two, n. 207) is a liquid using gold, rose-gem soup a liquid using red jade, and jade soup or fluid a liquid using white jade; see Yaoxiu keyi jielü chao 要修科儀戒律鈔 (Summary of Essential Ceremonies, Rules, and Codices to be Practiced; DZ 463), 14.2a9-2b2. Several DZ citations of ZG 4.15a9 change its “rose-gem essence” (qiongjing 瓊精) into “rose-gem soup,” in which case our substance may be Essence of the Dawn-enfolding Canopy (Fascicle Two, n. 50), but that may be too potent an elixir for this poem, which is more concerned with restoring youth. 85 The nature of this dish (linyu 琳腴) is unknown, but name and context suggest it is made from a beautiful white jade that looks like a piece of fat—preferred by many to lean meat. In

FASCICLE THREE / 181

[7]

When you and I rendezvous on the banks of Whitewater,86 You will praise our polygonatum pearls.87 My blue-grey house is emblazoned by the aurorae in the east; Its purple stove floats above the crimson chronogram.88 In pairing our Virtue, we shall uphold what the Way prescribes;89 Serving as stabilizer, [you,] my Perfected earl, will flourish.90 [All] eight terraces may be eyed at a glance—91 Look north, then fly into primordiality.92

ZG 3.15a10 it becomes something that staves off hunger for eternity (see also Fascicle Two, n. 171). The “jade blossoms” (yuhua 玉華) are probably jade maidens, but they may also be floral dishes on which the fatty meat is served, an elixir in itself (see ZG 4.15a10), or the Blue Palace of Jade Blossoms (Yuhua qinggong 玉華青宮), in Lord Blue Lad’s compound in East Florescence (WSMY 22.8b1; Kroll 2003, 181n80). If the palace reading is followed, the line becomes “Jade Blossoms [Palace] serves the fatty meat of exquisite jade.” 86 For Whitewater, see Fascicle One, n. 50. Lady Right Blossom addresses Xu Mi. 87 Polygonatum (weirui 萎蕤) is more commonly known in English as Solomon’s seal, of which there are many species; Polygonatum odoratum is the main variety used in Chinese medicine (Jiangsu Xinyixueyuan 1985, 551-53, no. 1156; Hu 1980, 159, no. 1926). Since ancient times, in both Chinese and Western herbalism (on the latter, Grieve 1931, 2:749-50), one of the main uses of Solomon’s seal has been the removal of age-spots—which is much in keeping with Right Blossom’s desire to restore Xu Mi’s childhood face. The “pearls” of our line might refer to the plant’s blossoms, which are tubular and white (Right Blossom’s pearls may be “baroque”). In Higher Clarity literature, polygonatum is ranked among the medicines of lower rank (herbs) that extend life so that one becomes an earthbound immortal; they can also “cause the body to generate a glowing sheen, bring back the white face of childhood…” 亦能身生光澤，還白童顏… See Dongzhen taishang zhihui jing 洞真太上智慧經 (Robinet A.22, corresponding to DZ 1344) as cited in WSMY 78.1a10-1b1. In a somewhat later description of exotic plants used for incense, an alchemical scripture, Taiqing jinyi shendan jing 太清金液神 丹經 (Grand Clarity Scripture of Golden Liquids and Divine Elixir; DZ 880), 3.17b10, lists polygonatum from another far western location, the land of Yuezhi. We may conclude that Yang Xi’s seemingly light-hearted, fanciful line is actually highly informed and precise. 88 The crimson chronogram (jiangchen 絳辰) is the sun at dawn; citations of this line in YJQQ 96.9a9, 98.10a2, and elsewhere do in fact replace “chronogram” with “dawn” (chen 晨). The character zao 造 (usually “approach” or “fabricate”) here should be read as zao 竈 (“stove”; HDC 10:900). This forms a suitable parallel to “house” (fang 房) above, with the suggestion of alchemical processes. SK 108n49, implies that zao is an error for nian 輦 (“carriage”) on the basis of a later poem—essentially a heavily edited version of this one—in YJQQ 96.9a9. However, all other citations of the poem that I can find in the DZ retain zao. 89 “What the Way prescribes” (daozong 道宗) echoes Lady Right Blossom’s earlier statement, “The world prizes sweetly scented intercourse; / The Way prescribes union in the mystic empyrean” (ZG 2.18a9). 90 “Perfected earl” (zhenbo 真伯) is Xu Mi’s future title (ZG 2.3b3-4 and 2.3b10). 91 “Eight terraces” (batai 八臺) is likely an offhand reference to the Palaces of the Eight Hillocks (ZG 2.16b5; Fascicle Two, n. 169). The verb used here also echoes that passage. 92 This line may allude to the kind of ascetic practices described in Baopuzi neipian (in Wang Ming 1995, 5.111): “They draw the three Lights [sun, moon, and stars] to their Halls of Light [lungs] and fly to the primordial beginning to refine their forms.” 引三景於明堂，飛

182 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Purified and cleansed, see through the clouds. Floating far off, step nimbly with the Lights’ ascent. Exhale [the old], inhale [the new] while encaved in ridges and peaks; Conceal your brightness while secluded in the eastern mountains. Long have you been content with human affairs, And your days have lacked empty idleness. How will you replace an old man’s substance And return to this, the face of childhood?

[8]

Composed at the instruction of Cloudy Grove [Lady Right Blossom] on the evening of the sixth day of the ninth month, to be given to Marquis Xu. Unhitch your wheels over Grand Aurora,93 Draw in the reins on approach to Purple Hill.94 Hands grasping the pneumas of the Eight Voids, Release your body, float amidst the clouds. One glance—the Fashioner of Mutation firms.95

元始以鍊行。(Ware 1966, 100 has errors). Many practices in the present poem are also men-

tioned in this Baopuzi passage. SK 108n51, cites a Numinous Treasure scripture to suggest that feiyuan (飛元) names a northern metropolis, but that does not seem appropriate here. 93 Grand Aurora (Taixia 太霞) names a distant eastern palace or set of palaces that in early Higher Clarity writings is still not described in detail, though it is frequently mentioned in ZG and other texts. In the Numinous Treasure tradition, it becomes a set of nine palaces in the east; see Yuanshi wuliang duren shangpin miaojing sizhu (DZ 87), 4.28a8-28b4, which describes some of its features. Perhaps the latter derives from Shizhouji’s descriptions of the Isle of Blue-grey Billows, Penglai, and Fangzhangzhou (Fangzhang): each isle has its own set of nine palaces. See Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.9a10, 1.9b6, 1.10b3; trl. Smith 1992, 2:553-55; Schafer 1993, 21-32, especially p. 31, where a translation of this couplet appears. 94 I find no other clear reference to Purple Hill (Ziqiu 紫丘). It may refer to Purple Tenuity’s own northern abode. Kroll (1993, 177) writes that it is “the crest of the deep heavens.” 95 The Fashioner of Mutation (zaohua 造化), a kind of abstract change-generating force first mentioned in Zhuangzi’s inner chapters, is further elaborated in the commentary tradition of the Zhou yi, where it is frequently described as manifesting itself in the alternation of yang and yin, male and female, firm and yielding, light and dark. Hence this line alludes to a kind of arousal preceding union with the spiritual other and the subsequent return to the emptiness of the Way. In the citations of this line that appear in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.7b5 and YJQQ 97.13a7, the word “firms” (gang 剛) is replaced with “mainstays” (gang 綱), of which twelve were believed to hold the heavens in place longitudinally, with each corresponding to a Jovian station, and they were bound together at the north celestial pole (Schafer 2005, 241-42). That reading has a certain appeal: by implying that one can see all the mainstays in a single glance, it seems to continue the thought of the previous lines. However, the Fashioner of Mutation is nowhere else associated with the mainstays, while it is very strongly associated in the Zhou yi tradition with the alternation of “firm” and “yielding.” The substitution must be considered as yet another example of Du Guangting’s bowdlerizing— removing all hint of sexuality from the goddesses he describes.

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Look twice—search for a companion on high. The Way’s essentials, being already sufficient, May be used to dissolve a thousand cares. Seek Perfection, find a Perfected friend.96 If you don’t go, why search any more? Composed at the Lady of Purple Tenuity’s instruction in the evening of the sixth day of the ninth month, to be shown to Senior Aide Xu together with his fellow student. A A “Fellow

student” refers to Chi [Fang]hui [= Chi Yin].

Comments On this night Right Blossom addresses a pair of poems to Xu Mi, and Purple Tenuity addresses one poem of general instruction to Xu Mi and his friend Chi Yin. The structure of Right Blossom’s poems is quite similar to those of Purple Tenuity in the previous section and may explain why Tao Hongjing decided to place those poems where he did. The first of Right Blossom’s poems mentions a location in the west (Whitewater), and the second mentions points in the east, like Purple Tenuity’s poems. However, the four poems cannot be considered part of the same set: Purple Tenuity’s poems in the previous section are descriptive of her world, but Right Blossom’s here are clearly addressed to Xu Mi; they end with instruction and a challenge of sorts. In the first poem, Right Blossom makes swift passage from her home in the east to Whitewater in the west, where she hopes to meet up with Xu Mi. Along the way she is supplied with rejuvenating food and drink by the usual array of eternally youthful, feathered, jadelike attendants, and she asserts that when Xu does meet her he will praise her “polygonatum pearls.” Although it is impossible to be entirely sure what these are, one of the uses of polygonatum (Solomon’s Seal) in traditional medicine in both China and the West was to remove age spots—which fits perfectly with Right Blossom’s desire in these poems to convince Xu Mi to get serious about rejuvenating himself. In the second poem, Right Blossom opens by describing her eastern home and its stove—a touch that makes her otherworldly palace a more inviting, homey place for the intimacies she imagines taking place in the near future. The stove’s unnatural purple color, though, indicates that it is probably used for cooking alchemical substances, with the “crimson chronogram” (the sun) providing just the right heat. Xu Mi will flourish as a Perfected earl only if he practices austerities on Maoshan and successfully ascends to Right Blossom’s world in meditation. She complains that for too long he has contented himself 96 This line echoes a statement in Lunyu: when asked about the worthies Boyi 伯夷 and Shuqi 叔齊, Confucius replied, “They sought humaneness and found humaneness.” 求仁而 得仁。 Cf. Legge 1992, 1:199. SK 108n61.

184 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

with human affairs, so that he lacks the necessary level of concentration. When she asks him, “How will you replace an old man’s substance / And return to this, the face of childhood?” one can easily imagine her pointing to her face as she recites her poem before Yang Xi. Purple Tenuity’s poem to her disciples Xu Mi and Chi Yin (prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 176-7) has a clearly didactic intent. She urges them to free themselves of their bodies through the visualization of ecstatic flight in meditation, envisioning themselves stopping at various points in the otherworld. A single glance at these would suffice to make the Fashioner of Mutation (zaohua 造化, literally, “what informs and transforms [the world]”) begin to grow firm, and with a second look they would want to find a Perfected partner. Now what exactly does she mean by this? It is useful to keep in mind that the concept of zaohua usually has a binary quality to it: zao and hua, movement and quiescence, firmness and softness, spontaneous emergence into form and fading into nothingness. When the Fashioner of Mutation becomes firm, it moves toward the zao aspect, after which return to the hua aspect is inevitable. In the present context, Purple Tenuity is describing an alchemy-like process that takes place within the bodies of her students. The Fashioner of Mutation becomes firm within them. With a single glance at the Perfected world, their “spiritual members,” so to speak, would spontaneously harden with the desire to enter vacuity. They would become ready to search for a Perfected partner. In connection with zaohua and the alchemists, Isabelle Robinet has written (ET 1214): The borderline that simultaneously joins and separates [zao and hua] is the “secret of creation,” the infinitesimal first movement of the beginning of life (ji) and of the mind (xin), which alchemists wish to “steal” (dao 盜) to go beyond zaohua. Xu Mi and Chi Yin’s quest for Perfection would, in fact, be impossible if they were not to establish a partnership with one of the Perfected, since spiritual union allows the mutual exploration of the beginnings of life. The Way of Higher Clarity is not a lonely process. The Way’s essentials truly “dissolve a thousand cares,” but they must first go—go visit the otherworld in meditation—or they will find nothing. As expected, Du Guangting bowdlerizes the piece at the most critical point. He cleverly replaces the word “firm” (gang 剛) with “mainstay” (gang 綱), so that the Fashioner of Mutation becomes a synonym for creation, and the mainstays its furthest reaches. It is a plausible reading, but not quite as effective or meaningful in context—and where else is the Fashioner of Mutation linked with the mainstays? Rhymes: (1) -uw, -yu; (2) -in, -on, -en, -aen, -ean; (3) -juw.

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October 10, 365: Fixing the Gaze on Enduring Things, Planting Oneself in Proper Soil [9]

3.6b10-3.7b2

The portals of dawn are built at Grand Aurora; Jade chambers rise in the empyrean, clear. Having mastered visualizing the Three Wonders,97 Waft your Lights and soar [above] the utmost gloom.98 Within the cinnabar void, there are the True Ones: Their golden projections nurture your jutting essence.99 As the eight winds puff out my brocade robe, The tree of green jade shines on the Four Numina.100 The flowery canopy shelters me in orchidaceous splendor; The purple reins urge on my green-curtained carriage. Make a binding pledge to fulfill the intercourse of our spirits; Converge categories to gather heavenly truths.101 Why be moved by superficial images? Gaze for a moment on turquoise, jade, and rose-gem.102

97 The “Three Wonders” (sanqi 三奇) may refer to either of two sets: (1) Three scriptures (WSMY 95.8a2-4)—Dadong zhenjing (Robinet, A.1), Wulao ciyi baojing 五老雌一寶經 (Precious Scripture of the Five Elders and Female One; Robinet, B.1), and Suling dayou miaojing 素靈大 有妙經 (Wondrous Scripture of the Suling Heaven of Great Being; Robinet, B.2). (2) The Three Primes (sanyuan), i.e., the spirits resident in the three Cinnabar Fields (Fascicle Two, n. 53), mentioned in the 21st stanza of Taishang huangting neijing jing 太上黃庭內景玉經 (Jade Scripture of the Yellow Court and Inner Lights of the Most High; DZ 331; Robinet, A.34), 1.7b7 and identified as the Three Primes in its commentaries. Lady Right Blossom here alludes to the second set. 98 “Utmost gloom” (jueming 絕冥) elsewhere refers to varieties of benthic or chasmal darkness, as in an invocation in YJQQ 31.13a2 or in Sun Chuo’s 孫綽 (c. 314-c. 371) You Tiantai shan fu 遊天台山賦 (Rhapsody on Roaming the Tiantai Mountains), in Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 11.8a7 (Sibu congkan); trl. Knechtges 1987, 247 (“absolute darkness”); SK 109n65. 99 Compare this with ZG 2.21b5: “Now, only by overwhelmingly jutting into vacuity’s projections can one guard the Female [Ones]” (Fascicle Two, n. 227). This couplet is bowdlerized in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.8a5 and YJQQ 98.10a9. 100 The Four Numina (siling 四靈 ) are protective spirit-creatures representing the four directions: the blue dragon (east), vermilion bird (south), the white tiger (west), and the tortoise-and-snake or dark warrior or tortoise for north (Csikszentmihalyi in ET 908-11). Trees of green jade (bishu 碧樹) often appear in poetic descriptions of trees that grow in the imperial palace, to suggest those growing on the north slope of that other axis mundi, Mount Kunlun (Huainanzi in Lau and Chen 1992c, 4/33/6; trl. Major et al. 2010, 156; SK 109n69). 101 On “converging categories” see Fascicle Two, n. 155. 102 Precious stones are standard building materials in Perfected palaces. SK 109n73, cites a passage on Greater Fangzhu in Shangqing dao leishi xiang (DZ 1132), 4.10a1-2, but similar descriptions exist for other places, e.g., on Kunlun in Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.11a4-8; trl. Smith 1992, 2:556-57. The stones here bring us back to the structures of the first couplet.

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[10]

Composed at the instruction of Lady Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove on the ninth day of the ninth month. The purple vault of space shines with bright Lights;103 Mystic Palace is girt by the Crimson River.104 Numerous, numerous—the houses of Higher Clarity; Cloud-terraces—iridescent, peaked and pinnacled. When my carriage-and-eight arrives at Vermilion Pond,105 Its plumed canopy tilts on an empyrean bough. When thundrous winds spin round the Three Chronograms, My little golden bells sow jade blossoms.106 When my seven reins entwine [the skies’] nine tiers,107 I calmly stare at the home of non-necessity.108 Let me ask you, my Way-seeking disciple, Why are you sitting in billows of dust?

103 This line describes both the heavens and what exists in the body. The Lights are both internal and external; the “purple vault of space” (zikong 紫空) may be interpreted literally and also as the name of a palace inside the body, mentioned in the 20th stanza of Shangqing dadong zhenjing (DZ 6; Robinet A.1), 4.9b1. In a passage of commentary to Dadong zhenjing that appears in YJQQ 8.8a5-9; WSMY 4.7a3-4, 19.3a3-4, Purple Vault is described as the name of a mountain in the Heaven of Inner Lights (Neijing tian 內景天). 104 There are several Mystic Palaces (Xuangong 玄宮). One, on Eight Clearwaters Mountain, is the abode of the Kingly Sire of the East (Dongwanggong 東王公; ZG 14.19b10-20a2). There are also palaces in the Mystic Metropolis (Fascicle One, n. 25). The present one is more likely the speaker’s own Mystic Palace of Purple Tenuity (Ziwei Xuangong), mentioned in WSMY 22.2b7, 31.11a2, and 32.11a9—the celestial counterpart of Purple Tenuity Palace in the Darkmound Mountains. There is also a microcosmic equivalent mentioned in the 19th stanza of Huangting neijing yujing, which deals with the visualization of the Perfected beings inside one’s body; see Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 2.14b9-10, as well as its context. Crimson River (Jianghe 絳河), meanwhile, is the Milky Way (HDC 9:829). 105 The color of Vermilion Pond (Zhuchi 朱池) suggests a southern location. 106 “Thundrous wind” (zhenfeng 震風) recalls the use of zhen in Zhou yi—for the trigram and the 51st hexagram—and contrasts with the sounds of the little bells. The couplet’s second line is rich in wordplay, since it envisions the bells scattering or sowing their notes like seeds of jade blossoms, an elixir. If Jade Blossoms is also the name of a palace (see n. 85 above), the line may be interpreted as describing sounds drifting to that location. On the Three Chronograms, see Fascicle One, n. 183. SK 109n81, implies fluid gold bells (Fascicle Two, n. 96), but it seems more likely, given the context, that these are carriage bells. 107 The “nine tiers” (jiugai 九垓) often refers to China’s Nine Regions (center and eight peripheries), but the context here suggests heavenly tiers. The term is first used in this sense in Sima Xiangru 司馬相如 (179-117 BCE), “Fengshan wen” 封禪文 (Letter on the feng and shan Sacrifices); Sima Qian, Shi ji, 117.3065; trl. Watson, 1993, 2:301. SK 110n82. 108 The “home of non-necessity” (bu bi jia 不必家) may allude to a passage in Zhuangzi: “The sage considers the ‘necessary’ unnecessary, so he has no recourse to weapons.” 聖人以 必不必，故无兵。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 10A.1046 (ch. 32); cf. Watson 1968, 356. If so, then the “home of non-necessity” is her disciple’s worldly home, a place of strife.

FASCICLE THREE / 187

How can you perch on the eastern verdant peaks, Cultivate Perfection, and reap Grand Harmony?109 Composed at the instruction of the Lady of Purple Tenuity on the ninth day of the ninth month, to be shown to Chi through Xu [Mi].A A

“Chi” still refers to Fanghui [Chi Yin].

Comments The two poems presented on this date may seem like a pair, but strictly speaking, they are not. The first, by Right Blossom for Xu Mi, includes instructions on guarding the Female True Ones, while the second, by Purple Tenuity for Chi Yin, offers more straightforward encouragement to leave the world behind. They only happen to be delivered on the same day. However, the first poem is perhaps one of the most difficult poems in ZG, and I am still not quite sure that I have fully grasped its meaning. As usual, the frequent omission of the grammatical subject in each line makes it difficult to determine exactly who is doing the action. The first couplet is descriptive. The next two pertain to visualizing the Female True Ones in meditation and then guarding them, so that the grammatical subject here would be Xu Mi, not Right Blossom. However, the fourth and fifth include a description of a robe and carriage; the latter article clearly belongs to Right Blossom, so those couplets pertain to her. The concluding couplets are more plainly didactic. How do the parts relate to one another and form something coherent? The poem begins with a beautiful but ambiguous couplet describing the palatial constructions in the dawn sky, Right Blossom’s abode: what, exactly, are “clear” (qing 清) or (if we read it as a verb) “clearing”? The jade chambers or the empyrean mists? In any case, Right Blossom is directing Xu Mi to envision the scene and guiding him on how to get there. Once he visualizes the Three Wonders (Three Primes, Three Cinnabar Fields) in his own body, he will be able to transport himself over the gloom that separates his world from hers, or perhaps out from the gloom of his own world. At this point, Xu Mi will be 109 In this context, Grand Harmony (taihe 太和) refers to primordial pneumas streaming from various sources that the adept must regularly absorb. It relates most directly to the method of “nibbling on the Mysterious Root” (er xuangen 餌玄根 ) described in Shangqing jiutian shangdi zhu baishen neiming jing 上清九天上帝祝百神內名經 (Higher Clarity Scripture of the Superior Thearch of the Nine Heavens on Invoking the Esoteric Names of the Hundred Spirits; DZ 1360; Robinet, A.1), 1.8a2, also cited in YJQQ 23.10b1-2 and WSMY 76.11b1-2. The Grand Harmony of the Eight Radiances (baguang taihe 八光太和) is also listed as one of the medicines of Higher Clarity in Xiaomo jing 消魔經 (Robinet, A.22, corresponding to DZ 1344), as cited in WSMY 78.4a8. The medicine is subsequently mentioned in Han Wudi neizhuan (DZ 292), 1.6b9; trl. Smith 1992, 2:494, 692 and Schipper 1965, 85n6. For only a few of Grand Harmony’s numerous other meanings, see Fascicle One, n. 52, 53.

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ready to “guard the Female True Ones”: there are golden, vacuous projections or radiances in the Perfected realm that can nurture his jutting (erect) essence. Why did Right Blossom mention the Three Wonders or Three Primes earlier? Because that is precisely where the Female Ones reside (Fascicle Two, n. 206). At this point, the poem cuts to Right Blossom: the winds from the eight directions puff out her robe, and a tree of green jade shines on the Four Numina. Now what might this mean? The exceptionally rich imagery of this couplet can accommodate several levels of interpretation, so we should pause to examine it more closely. I prefer to read this, on one level, as a description of brocaded images on her robe: the wind blows out her robe, and all the emblems become visible. The Four Numina are four spirit-creatures representing the four cardinal directions, so that Right Blossom’s robe comes to encompass the world symbolically. The jade tree is more problematic. Trees of green jade are said by Huainanzi to grow on the north slope of Mount Kunlun (a suitable axis mundi), and there are numerous other descriptions of such trees in one or another imperial palace (another suitable axis mundi). A precise description of one, almost certainly built in imitation of the trees at Kunlun, may be found in Han Wudi gushi 漢武帝故事 (Tales of the Han Emperor Wu), which probably dates to the third century: “In the front courtyard stood a jade tree, created by fashioning branches from coral and leaves from green jade. Its flowers and fruits, some green and others red, were made of pearls and jade; the fruits were all hollowed like little bells to make tinkling sounds.”110 Whatever its precise literary antecedent might be, we can be fairly certain that the tree of green jade described by Right Blossom shines on the Four Numina from the center. Even with this understanding of the individual images, Right Blossom’s shift from guarding the True Ones to the wind and the Four Numina is still dizzyingly abrupt, which suggests that there is another layer of meaning. I am inclined to say that the puffed-out robe is also a representation of vacuity, while the jade tree corresponds to the “erect essence” at the center—the basic idea recalling Consort An’s salacious double-entendre on the surnames An and Yang (poplar) that we have already encountered (ZG 2.8b4-5). Now guarding the Female True Ones should not be confused with spiritual union. They are not the same act. But they are roughly similar, one taking place inside the body, one taking place across the separation of this and the other world. The one prepares the adept for the other. Thus, when Xu Mi manages to guard the Female Ones, he will signal readiness to Right Blossom, who waits in her carriage. Would this not also explain why Right Blossom wants Xu Mi to “converge categories to gather heavenly truths” below? She wants him to draw inferences and parallels on how to proceed. Is this too far-fetched a reading? Again, Du Guangting provides a good guide. In his version, the first of the four crucial lines is changed from “Within 110

Translated from a large number of early citations in Smith 1992, 2:412.

FASCICLE THREE / 189

the cinnabar void there are the True Ones” 丹空中有眞 to “Cinnabar blossoms are there within the void” 丹華空中有(n. 99). This masks the link with the Female True Ones and changes the object of Xu Mi’s search from his Perfected partner to “cinnabar blossoms,” a kind of otherworldly herb from Wildwind, one of Kunlun’s foothills (ZG 1.17a5). What is more, Wildwind is on the north side of Kunlun (Fascicle One, n. 203), exactly where the trees of green jade grow according to Huainanzi. Du makes sure it all fits very neatly. The reader’s attention is thus diverted from guarding the Female True Ones to gathering cinnabar blossoms, and that becomes the extent of the “intercourse of spirits.” Right Blossom concludes by asking Xu Mi to make a binding pledge with her, so they can eventually achieve spiritual union. She asks him to think carefully about it (“converge categories”—make inferences, draw parallels, draw conclusions). He should gaze for a moment on the turquoise, jade, and rosegem used to build her eternal home on the clouds of dawn. Why only a moment? As Purple Tenuity had indicated only three days earlier, a single look would be enough to make the Fashioner of Mutation within him go firm! The second poem by Purple Tenuity (prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 180-1), is unusual since it is addressed to her other disciple, Chi Yin. Xu Mi is only directed to pass it along to him—implying that Chi Yin is away, perhaps socializing or attending to family matters. Purple Tenuity cannot be very pleased about Chi Yin’s absence. Her poem has a three-part structure: a brief description of her world, her far-flung travels, and a direct address to Chi. The first part in particular is a superb example of speaking on several layers at once. Each of the places mentioned exist in the heavens, on earth’s distant reaches, and in the body, and by putting them together in this way, Purple Tenuity is emphasizing to her disciple their accessibility through meditation. Unlike Chi, she can move freely through the complexities of this universe. She sets out from her northern abode (Mystic Palace), heads to Vermilion Pond (probably in the distant south), and is spun around the sun, moon, and planets (the Three Chronograms) by a “thundrous wind,” her carriage-bells scattering their delicate notes (elixirs? subtle words?) far and wide. When she holds the seven reins to her carriage, they entwine the nine tiers of the heavens. When she looks at her disciple, however, he remains stuck in waves of dust. He needs to betake himself to Maoshan, where he can cultivate Perfection and absorb the “Grand Harmony” of the pneumas of the Mysterious Root. Note how a kind of agricultural motif runs through the poem: the sowing of jade blossoms, the cultivation of Perfection, the reaping of Grand Harmony. The “Way-seeking disciple” (qiu dao zi 求道子) may also be interpreted as a “wayward seed” that lands on a road—it does not grow, it chokes in the dust. It is unlike the recluse (the “seed person” or zhongren 種人 in other contexts) who lodges on the verdant peaks—also useless to the world, but the plant or tree that sprouts from it will enjoy everlasting growth. Perhaps it will eventually put out “empyrean boughs” that tip the canopies of passing carriages of Light. Rhymes: (1) -eng; (2) -a, -ae.

190 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

October 18, 365: Absence from Perfected Revelries Due to Retention of Mundane Form [11]

3.7b3-3.8a3

The Two Lights shine through densecloud darkness;111 Empyrean flares irradiate the Eight Regions. As cinnabar clouds buoy Lofty Dawn,112 I roam and ramble, following numinous winds. I beat the feather-shafts, ride the blanching gale, Stand on tiptoe to gaze down amongst rose-gem terraces: Green canopies enter Luminary-embracing [Palace];113 Blue-curtained carriages thrust into undifferentiated space. On the right—bows to the Thearch of East Grove;114 Above—audience with the Sovereign of Grand Vacuity.115 Jade-bright guests cleave phoenix brains116 And shout, drunk on flight-bestowing stamen nectar.117

111 The Two Lights, sun and moon, are elsewhere the dual Lights of the hieratic marriage (many words in this couplet appear also in ZG 1.16b6-9). Does Right Blossom suggest the lights of her desired union? Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.8a10 and YJQQ 98.10b4 replace two with three—a subtle neutralizing change. “Densecloud darkness” (yuxuan 鬱玄) appears in other Higher Clarity writings but is never quite defined: in Dongzhen bianhua qishisi fang jing (Robinet, A.6), cited in WSMY 20.2b10, it is likewise applied to the heavens; in Dongzhen waiguo fangpin jing (Robinet, A.9), cited in WSMY 98.8a2, it carries the sense of “denseclouddarkened.” A Song scripture, Lingbao wuliang duren shangqing dafa 靈寶無量上清大法 (Great Rites of the Book of Universal Salvation; DZ 219), 40.20b10-21a1, links it with the north. 112 Lofty Dawn (Gaochen) is Lord Blue Lad or dawn itself (see n. 75 above). 113 Luminary-embracing Palace (Xiechen gong 協晨宮 ) is one of the residences of the Lord of the Way of the Jade Luminaries (Yuchen daojun 玉晨道君), according to part of Dengzhen yinjue (Robinet, C.2) preserved in Daomen jingfa xiangcheng cixu (DZ 1128), 2.1a2-8. It is also mentioned in Mao Ying’s biography (Robinet, C.10), in Maoshan zhi (DZ 304), 5.10a3; its Perfected lord is further described in Maoshan zhi, 10.1b7-2a5. The Jade Luminaries (sun, moon, and five visible planets) are further discussed in n. 266 below. 114 East Grove (Donglin 東林) is another name for Rarified Grove; its Thearch is the Blue Thearch of the East (Fascicle Two, n. 75). 115 The Sovereign of Grand Vacuity (Taixu huang 太虛皇) is the Primal Lord of Grand Vacuity—Master Redpine, or Consort An’s father (Fascicle One, n. 158). 116 Phoenix brain (fengnao 鳳腦) is the five-colored peach-like fruit of a polypore that grows during one step of the alchemical process after production of the Langgan 琅玕 elixir, described in Taiwei lingshu ziwen langgan huadan shenzhen shangjing 太微靈書紫文琅玕華丹神真上經 (Higher Scripture on the Elixir of Langgan Efflorescence, from the Purple Texts Inscribed by the Spirits of Grand Tenuity; DZ 255; Robinet, A.10), 1.6a7-9; trl. Bokenkamp 1997:33738. Those who eat it are transported to the Grand Ultimate; if they spit on the ground, their saliva turns into phoenixes. Phoenix brain (in nine colors) is listed as a medicine of Jade Clarity in Dongzhen taishang shuo zhihui xiaomo zhenjing (DZ 1344; Robinet, A.22), 1.12a4. 117 Stamen nectar (ruijiang 蕊漿) probably corresponds to another top elixir, “jade stamens of the Glorious Walled City” (Changcheng yurui 昌城玉蘂), in Dongzhen taishang shuo zhihui

FASCICLE THREE / 191

The cloud-level [ao] echoes round the winding chambers;118 Its thousand tones—how they cling and clang! Brocade banners summon the Fierce Beast; Splendidly colored flags right the lowly and exalted.119 Incense-mothers bend waists [in dance] and sing;120 Purple smoke lines from the pillars and beams. I gather reins by the portals of purity on high And free my steeds at your house, fair one. Your predestined elevation is yet to be augured;121 Numinously transformed, you will soar with the pneumas. Your heart, dimly perceiving the mystic shores, stirs; Your years, accruing toon-springs, attain fullness.122 Your form is sweet—yet sullied, malodorous, In motion and stillness losing the Blue-grey Billows. My friend, in truth you are not like this, For honor and disgrace you forgot already some time ago.123 Composed by Lady Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove on the night of the eighteenth day of the ninth month, with the instruction, “My song ends here.”

xiaomo zhenjing (DZ 1344), 1.11b6. “Stamens” in many elixir descriptions are crushed minerals. Zhang Heng’s Xidu fu 西都賦 (Rhapsody on the Western Capital) writes of the Han Emperor Wu’s drinking of jade mixed in dew water, in Knechtges’ translation (1982, 304): “He pulverized carnelian stamens for his morning repast, / Certain that life could be prolonged.” 屑瓊蘂以朝飧，必性命之可度。 Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 2.15b3-4 (Sibu congkan). Mineral-inwater elixirs were thought to bestow flight, as in Master Redpine’s biography in Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.1a3-7. Hence the nectar is “flight-bestowing,” not made of “flying stamens.” 118 “Cloud-level” (yunjun 雲鈞 ) is an uncommon modifier for a gong tree or ao; for an unambiguous example, see Dongzhen siji mingke jing 洞真四極明科經 (Dongzhen Scripture on the Luminous Code of the Four Poles) in WSMY 20.3a9. The problematic “winding chambers” (quqin 曲寢) seems to refer to part of a palace complex, perhaps the maze of lower buildings on the periphery, hence “winding chambers.” 119 Lady Right Blossom again alludes to Shizhouji’s (DZ 598) story of the Fierce Beast, whose roar topples everyone, from ordinary soldiers to the emperor (see n. 57 above). But as Wei Huacun pointed out to Yang Xi, “The banners of the Perfected can surely overcome all before you” (ZG 1.18a1), and we may assume that they can bring the fallen back to their feet as well. The “splendidly colored flags” (huafan 華幡) appeared also in ZG 2.10b7. 120 On “incense-mothers,” see Fascicle One, n. 211. 121 This line recalls the discussion on July 30, 365: some uncertainty remains with Xu Mi’s destined elevation, for he must still remove the five obstacles, among other things. 122 “Accruing toon-springs” (ji chun 積椿) appears also in Shangqing jiutian shangdi zhu baishen neiming jing (DZ 1360; Robinet, A.1), 1.9b7, in a poem by Lady Wang of Purple Tenuity: “Rinsing [the mouth], one draws in the round radiance of dawn; with accrued toon-springs [emerge] the square teeth of infancy.” 漱挹圎晨暉，積椿方嬰牙。 That couplet (indeed, the entire poem) is a variant of ZG 3.10b8-9 below. 123 On “honor and disgrace,” see Fascicle Two, n. 89.

192 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Comments This poem, one of Lady Right Blossom’s longest, has a three-part structure that varies somewhat from the usual pattern. The first part, only three couplets, describes her journeying through otherworldly locales to the east (near her home) where she comes to a stop to watch the goings-on in the palaces of dawn. The next six couplets are given to a description of what she sees: Perfected officials paying court to their sovereigns, followed by a wild, boisterous banquet with performances of music, dancing, and feats of power with the Fierce Beast—the equivalent of what we might call a “circus act” on earth. A transitional couplet describes Lady Right Blossom leaving that scene to come to Xu Mi’s earthly abode and watch him instead. When she mentions freeing her steeds at the house of her fair one, those steeds are her Lights: her image appears there, before Yang Xi. In the concluding four couplets, as she gives voice to her thoughts on Xu Mi’s status, she clearly wavers between hope and despair. From her earlier poems, we know that Right Blossom cannot see her man yet amid the clouds, so she must descend to earth to find him. He should eventually be able to join her, but for as long as his faults remain and he keeps his earthly form, she must show up at the heavenly parties unaccompanied. Rhyme: -ang, -uwng, -ung.

October 26, 365: Superior Pleasures Under Celestial Light (plus an undated couplet) [12]

3.8a4-3.8b5

The crimson Lights float on darkled dawn; The purple carriage journeys, borne on mists. Facing upward, I leap through green portals, Bend down and gaze on Vermilion Fire’s walls.124 While eastern dawn-clouds part—vast radiance— Divine lights iridesce upon the Seven Numina.125 With shaded gleam, they float—three candles—126 On the Palace of Vermilion Fire, see n. 48 above. On the Seven Numina, see Fascicle One, n. 55. 126 The “three candles” (sanzhu 三燭) are the sun, moon, and stars, the “divine lights” (shenguang 神光) of the previous line. The term appears in other Higher Clarity writings, such as Taishang yupei jindang taiji jinshu shangjing (DZ 56; Robinet, A.26), 1.2a7 and Shangqing housheng daojun lieji (DZ 442; Robinet, A.10), 1.3a5; the latter trl. Bokenkamp 1997, 344. However, when the term first appears in Ban Gu, Han shu, 6.195 and 6.198, each time in the context of the Han Emperor Wu’s announcements of three auspicious lights (“divine lights” or shenguang in the second instance) that appear in response to his sacrifices, they are not the sun, moon, and stars but a kind of numinous, otherworldly light. 124 125

FASCICLE THREE / 193

Course about, and merge freely into the unseen. As wind twists round the eaves of [heaven’s] vacant vault And fragrant notes spring to rhythm’s touch,127 I take the hand of the FlaringA Girl in dance, Line up by lapel in the Gourd-stars’ court.128 Leftward turn my blue-feathered banners, And my flowery canopy, trailing cloud, tilts. In peaceful repose atop [heaven’s] nine intervals,129 I am unsurrounded by what is and is not. Embracing Perfection, I perch in Grand Stillness,130 My golden figure131 more babylike by the day. Is this like being amid error and filth— An anguished, anxious life with no relief?

[13]

Composed at the instruction of Lady Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove on the night of the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month. With three reins I raise the purple carriage And slant clouds on East Grove [Palace’s] eaves.132 Right Blossom intoned this couplet. For the preceding pieces, thirteen in all, from the words, “With vaulting leaps,” there is calligraphy by Yang. Also, for some there are copies by the Administrator [Xu Hui]. 127

Shangqing dao leishi xiang (DZ 1132), 4.7b3, citing this passage, replaces “fragrant” (xiang

香 ) with “numinous” (ling 靈 )—an acceptable reading, but lacking the synaesthesia. The “wind” (feng 風) is also musical, for its journey round the “eaves” of space matches contem-

poraneous descriptions of music circumnavigating (frequently three times) beams and other structures, as in the idiom, “Lingering tones rounding the beams” (yuyin rao liang 餘音饒梁). 128 The Weaving (here, Flaring) Girl is famous for her mostly solitary fate; the Gourd-stars (five stars in Delphinus) have only the Rotten Gourd (Baigua 敗瓜) for a partner, as suggested in Cao Zhi’s 曹植 (192-232) Luoshen fu 洛神賦 (Rhapsody on the Luo River Goddess): “She sighs at the Gourd-stars’ lack of a mate,/ Laments at the Oxherd’s solitariness.” 歎匏瓜 之無匹兮，詠牽牛之獨處。 Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 19.18b5-6 (Sibu congkan); trl. Knechtges 1996, 362-63 (I pluralize Knechtges’s single star). The Gourd-stars are α Delphini (Sualocin), β Delphini (Rotanev), γ Delphini, δ Delphini, and ζ Delphini; their “court” would be the rhomboid space marked by the four brighter stars, known as “Job’s Coffin” in the West. 129 Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.9a4, YJQQ 98.11a8, and others write “feast” (yan 宴), not “peaceful” (yan 晏): “I feast and rest on the nine intervals.” The nine intervals (jiudu 九度) are the nine tiers (jiugai) of heaven (n. 107 above). YJQQ 21.7b9-10 has an analogous usage. 130 Grand Stillness (taiji 太寂) is the primordial undifferentiated state of things before their emergence; the term is used less ambiguously in ZG 14.12b9. SK 111n110. 131 The DZ text here writes “indulge” (zi 恣), clearly an error; I follow Yongcheng jixian lu, 5.9a5 (DZ 783), YJQQ 98.11a8, and others, which write “figure” (zi 姿). 132 Kroll (1996, 185), without comment, combines this couplet with the poem in ZG 3.10b5-9, but that ignores the notes describing it as a separate item and alters the other poem’s structure so that the latter no longer closely matches its pair.

194 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED A

This is to say that it [chi 熾 (“Flaring”)] should be written with the character zhi

織 (“Weaving”).133

Comments Lady Right Blossom presents an extended meditation on the refined delights of the Perfected world, but ends suddenly with a pointed rhetorical question designed to convince Xu Mi to leave his world without the slightest regret. Right Blossom’s description of her activities and observations may be loosely divided into groups of four lines each. In lines one to four, she journeys to various celestial locales, needing only to look up or down to reach a destination. In lines five to eight, she watches the Three Candles (sun, moon, and stars) emerging in the east and making their circuits until they “merge freely into the unseen.” Her comment that these “candles” have a “shaded gleam” is rather puzzling— would she not see these orbs more clearly than we do? It seems likely that as she views them from above, she sees only their reverse sides, or perhaps they circle too closely to the earth and its obscuring dust. Lines nine to twelve beautifully describe Right Blossom’s dance with the Weaving Girl (Vega, here called the Flaring Girl—I regard this as poetic license, not an error) and lining up with her to dance in the court of the Gourd-stars (in Delphinus), all to music spontaneously generated by wind whistling through the eaves of space. We encounter a bit of synaesthesia with the term “fragrant notes” (xiang yin 香音). The selection of star names is not random: the Weaving Girl and Gourd-stars are near each other in the night sky, both miss constant partners (the Gourd-stars’ partner is the Rotten Gourd), and the seemingly casual reference to the “court” of the Gourd-stars could be made only by someone who knows star-patterns well: that would be the small space marked off by the four medium bright stars of that asterism. When Right Blossom joins them, she signals her loneliness. Surely these women can “relate” to each other! In lines thirteen to sixteen she briefly resumes her journey, then finds a place to sleep at the highest point of the nine tiers of heaven, where she is unsurrounded by what is and is not—or in the language of the poetic debate earlier, she has gone beyond dependency and non-dependency. Her position is like that of Lady Purple Prime when she goes to join her “fair one,” but for Right Blossom, her fair one is nowhere to be found. In the penultimate couplet, Right Blossom asserts her condition—having embraced Perfection, she returns to the primordial beginning, so her golden form becomes more babylike by the day. Then she asks how life on earth, characterized by filth, error, anxiety, and grief, could ever compare. Coming as it

133 Tao Hongjing seems not to recognize Yang Xi’s poetic license to call the Weaving Girl (the star Vega) by a perfectly appropriate alternate name.

FASCICLE THREE / 195

does after such a magnificent description of her life in Perfection, the question acquires much greater rhetorical force (poem also trl. Kroll 1996, 184-5). Rhyme of poem: -eng.

December 31, 365: Sowing Seeds of Blessing (with Xu Mi’s undated response) 3.8b6-3.9a6

[1]

“To dispel stubborn greed and make do in poverty while practicing Virtue—aren’t they very good after all? Do not worry about Virtue unrewarded— worry about the meagerness of [your] seeds of blessing! This single path then seems [an entire] field of blessing. The myriad matters teem and swell. Do your utmost to converge them by category!”134 Declared by Lady Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove on the third day of the twelfth month. For the previous passage, there is calligraphy by Yang. There is another exemplar with minor variants. [1] “I, Mu, speak in trepidation and fear. By the ultimate of benevolence and love, [I am] unworthily favored with new poems Of cloudy grace, gauzy intricacy, golden timbre, and jadelike sparkle. Truly they are: The marvelous blooms of Quill Grove, 135 an ample display of flowery brocades. Their meaning is of the category ‘profound and subtle’;136 I reverently peruse them without wearying.137

134 SK 112n4 here cites Laozi, ch. 16: “Now the [myriad] things teem and swell; / Each returns again to its root.” 夫物芸芸，各復歸其根。 Laozi, 1.8b8-9 (Sibu beiyao). I think it better recalls Xici zhuan on converging categories of the myriad things (Fascicle Two, n. 155). 135 Quill Grove (Hanlin 翰林), referring generally to the literary world, derives from Yang Xiong’s 揚雄 (53 BCE-18 CE) Changyang fu 長楊賦 (Rhapsody on the Tall Poplars Palace), which takes the form of a dialogue between “Quill Grove” and “Sir Ink” (Zimo 子墨). 136 “Profound and subtle” (yuanwei 淵微), as far as I can determine, first appears in Baopuzi waipian (in Yang Mingzhao 1991, 1:3.119): “If you wish to plumb the profound and subtle but do not have the spirits at your service, you must learn from a discerning teacher.” 欲測淵 微而不役神，必得知乎明師。 Xu Mi’s “category” (lei 類) echoes Right Blossom’s advice. 137 “Without wearying” (wuyi 無射, 斁) is in Shi jing; Legge 1994, 4:7, 448, 585, 613, 619.

196 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

I shall retain them in my heart of cinnabar and ‘uphold them in the full ambit [of my affairs].’138 My meritorious Virtue is superficial and narrow, [but] my otherworldly rewards have already multiplied. As for your instruction on the field of blessing, dare I not exert myself? I rely on the excellent methods139 with a passion [vast] as mountains and seas. On ‘motion and stillness,’ open my understanding! I anticipate the [further] bestowal of compassionate transcripts.140 “I, Xu Mu, speak in trepidation and fear.” To be placed before the altar of Lady Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove.A A This is a letter in response to [the advice], “Dispel stubborn greed.” A draft in [Xu Mi’s] own cursive is preserved.

Comments We now jump a few months forward in time for a brief prose message from Lady Right Blossom, and Xu Mi’s undated letter of reply. Tao Hongjing inserts these two passages here, out of sequence, because the reply refers not only to Right Blossom’s instruction but also to “motion and stillness” (dongjing 動靜), mentioned in the poem of October 18. Tao, ever the conscientious editor, shifts the message and reply out of chronological lockstep to help readers draw the connections more easily. If he had adhered to chronological order, Right Blossom’s message would fall in the midst of a flurry of exchanges on a different topic (as we shall see below), and it would only create greater confusion. For Right Blossom’s message, Tao Hongjing had a copy in Yang Xi’s hand as well as another version with slight variants, and for the response he had Xu Mi’s draft version. The final version, as specified by the instruction at the end, would have been “placed before the altar of Lady Right Blossom of The phrase “uphold them in the full ambit [of my affairs]” (feng yi zhouxuan 奉以周旋) appears in Zuo zhuan (Duke Wen, 18th year). Legge’s translation (1994, 5:279-80, 282) of the relevant passage reads, “A deceased great officer of our State, [Zang Wenzhong,] taught [Hangfu] rules to guide him in serving his ruler, and [Hangfu] gives them the widest application, not daring to let them slip from his mind.” 先大夫臧文仲，教行父事君之禮，行父奉以 周旋，弗敢失隊。Xu Mi quotes the same passage more extensively in ZG 3.17b4. 139 “Excellent methods” (huiyou 徽猷 ) may also be understood as “excellent plans” or “ways.” It appears in Shi jing, “Jiaogong” 角弓 (Bow Adorned with Horn); Legge 1994, 4:406. 140 By “motion and stillness” (dongjing 動靜), Xu Mi refers to his own conduct and to Right Blossom’s earlier statement, on October 18, 365 (ZG 3.7b10), that he may “lose the Bluegrey Billows” because of it. Tao Hongjing paraphrases this passage in ZG 13.20a1-2. 138

FASCICLE THREE / 197

Cloudy Grove” (Xu Mi still can only worship her as a god instead of joining her in marriage). In both compositions, almost every phrase contains a literary allusion. Xu Mi’s letter in particular is typical of the flowery style favored during his time, but it is also an “account of himself” (zichen), like the one spoken by Yang Xi during his betrothal. Once we get past all the allusions and flourishes, the exchange is quite simple: Right Blossom urges Xu Mi to follow the single path of relinquishing worldly possessions (“dispel stubborn greed”) and practicing Virtue in poverty, which would allow him to sow more “seeds of blessing” in the other world. He must simplify his life. In reply, Xu Mi says that he is unworthy of the beautiful poems she has given him, but he reads them without wearying. He keeps her instructions firmly in his heart and tries to follow their teachings in all aspects of life. He ends by professing his ardor for embracing the content of her messages, which he receives through Yang Xi. He asks for and anticipates more instruction on proper conduct.

November 14, 365: Vacillation in the Heart, Rotation on the Wheel of Life and Death

3.9a7-3.10a2

[1] “The Grand Lord Blue Lad often intones:

[2]

Those who desire to plant nirvana’s roots141 Must pull out the sprouts of life and death. Those who waver fall into the Nine Springs—142 Guilty but for cherishing form and frame.143 “The Perfected Man of Grand Vacuity [Master Redpine] often intones: Observe that spirit, when conveyed by form, Is also like a cart behind a horse: The cart collapses, the horse bolts away, Their tethered link a moment’s falsehood.144

141 The Chinese term used here for nirvana means, literally, “the transmigration to extinction” (miedu 滅度)—the cessation of the cycle of reincarnation. 142 The Nine Springs (Jiuquan 九泉), like the Yellow Springs (Huangquan 黃泉) of ancient belief, is a gloomy place of the dead, the counterpart of the Nine Heavens. Li Shan 李善 (c. 620-689) in a note in Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 12.8b10 (Sibu congkan), says they are also tiered. 143 “Form and frame” (xinghai 形骸) appears in Zhuangzi; Guo Qingfan 1983, 2C.199 (ch. 5); trl. Watson 1968, 71 and Graham 1981, 78; SK 114n4. 144 “Falsehood” (jia 假) is used in its Buddhist sense, denoting a phenomenal, dependent, or “borrowed” reality. This verse and the beginning of the next derive from a set of gāthā in a Buddhist scripture—please refer to the “Comments” below.

198 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

[3]

[4]

Alas that no one in the world knows this But only cherishes a flame in the wind. They sow their sins on heaven’s net145 above And reap poison in earth-prisons below. “Lord Wang, the Perfected Man of [Mount] Westwall,146 often intones: The spirit is a boat that ferries form; Approaching the shore, it must take its leave. The form is not the spirit’s constant house, And spirit not the form’s constant load— Its tos and fros on the wheel of life and death Are but the woes of a heart hesitating. “Lord Wang, the Perfected Man of Xiaoyou,147 often intones: Those who lose the Way pass the ford of death; Their three cloud-souls stray from the Way of life. Living, their birthdates already recede; Dying, their death dates already advance. How sad their faces, embittered and pained— Roots, flowers already turned upside-down!148 They rise straightway to a life that fades and falls.149

145 “Heaven’s net” (tianwang 天網) appears in Laozi, ch. 73: “Heaven’s net is spacious and vast, / Of loose weave but never losing anything.” 天網恢恢，疏而不失。 146 Lord Wang, the Perfected Man of [Mount] Westwall (Xicheng zhenren Wang jun 西城 真人王君) is Wang Yuan 王遠, an immortal from Shenxian zhuan (trl. Campany 2002, 259-70, 456-63). Wang differs so sharply from his later Higher Clarity role as teacher and scripturerevealer that Campany suspects two figures rather than one (p. 270), despite Robinet (1984, 1:19, 47, 49, 2:392) having earlier made the identification. Both WYT 1.3a7-8 and WSMY 22.13a6-7 identify “the Perfected Man of Westwall” as Wang Yuan (though WYT writes “the Western Regions” or xiyu 西域). Westwall is located at the Western Pole (Xiji 西極); its earthly counterpart is in Shaanxi Province. On the mountain is All-Perfected Palace (Zongzhen gong 總真宮 ), and at an unknown place in the mountain is Westwall Caveheaven, third of the ten greater cave-heavens. Wang Yuan is on the left of the second tier; his full title is “Bulwark on the Left to the Latter-day Sage, Superior Minister, Perfected Man of Westwall and the Western Pole, and Lord of All-Perfected [Palace]” 左輔後聖上宰西城西 極真人總真君. He is Zhou Yishan’s disciple and Mao Ying’s teacher. 147 This is Wang Bao (Fascicle One, n. 33). 148 “Upside-down” (diandao 顛倒) also suggests haste (due to a court summons), as it appears in Shi jing, “Dongfang weiming” 東方未明 (The East Had Not Yet Brightened): “The east had not yet brightened, / And I donned the lower and upper garments upside-down.” 東方未明，顛倒衣裳。 Cf. Legge 1994, 4:154. 149 “Fades and falls” (lingluo 零落; the DZ text uses an obscure alternate form of ling comprised of the phonetic 令 on bottom and the character jie 劫 on top) appears in “Li sao,” Chu

FASCICLE THREE / 199

[5]

When will they know of reversing sere age?

“Last month, on the day of the autumn equinox, each of the four lords chanted these words at a grand gathering on Turquoise Terrace,150 to harmonize with the stringed [instruments] of the expansive Shao of the Dark Hub.”A/151 On the fifteenth day of the tenth month, Lady Right Blossom spoke this and directed me to record it. For the previous five passages, there is calligraphy by the Administrator [Xu Hui]. In [this] declaration of the tenth month mention is made of “last month,” which would seem to refer to a time during 152 the ninth month. [However,] the autumn equinox must be in the eighth month, so “last month” is surely a general expression, nothing more. A

Comments The reader will certainly have noticed that this poem series is written in a style quite different from the other poems encountered so far. This is because a significant part of it derives from a set of gāthā appearing in an old Buddhist tale, of which at least two different versions exist. One appears in Fo shuo qi nü jing 佛說七女經 (Sūtra of the Buddha Teaching the Seven Daughters), first translated into Chinese by Zhi Qian 支謙 (fl. 222-253) and the other in the 34th fascicle of Jinglü yixiang 經律異相 (Miraculous Signs from the Sūtras and Vinayas), a chrestomathy (leishu 類書) compiled on imperial order around 516-520 by the

ci, 1.7a3 (Sibu congkan); trl. Hawkes 1985, 68. According to the commentator Wang Yi, ling is applied to flowers and luo to trees. 150 Turquoise Terrace (Yaotai 瑤臺), at the Queen Mother of the West’s abode at Mount Kunlun (Fascicle One, n. 108) is an appropriate location considering the association between the west, white, autumn, the decline of life, and ascendant yin in correlative cosmology. 151 Shao 韶 is the name of an ancient musical piece in “Yi ji” 益稷 (“Yi and Ji”), Shangshu; trl. Legge 1994, 3:88. In Lunyu, Confucius is said not to have known the taste of meat for three months after hearing the Shao; Legge 1994, 1:199. I have not found any description of the “Dark Hub” (xuanjun 玄鈞), but it is often associated with the “phoenix songs” (fengge 鳳 歌) that accompany a Perfected entourage. It also seems to be an alternate term for the northern hub—simultaneously a celestial location and a musical mode (Fascicle Two, n. 185). Besides ZG 4.18a6 and 18.13b8, see also Taishang feixing jiuchen yujing 太上飛行九晨玉經 (Jade Scripture of the Most High on Flighted Travel to the Nine Stars; DZ 428, Robinet A.24), 1.3a1; Shangqing taishang basu zhenjing (DZ 426; Robinet A.3), 1.4b1-2; WSMY 20.8a10; Shangqing qionggong lingfei liujia zuoyou shang fu 上清瓊宮靈飛六甲左右上符 (Superior Talismans of the Left and Right of the Numinous Flighted Six Jia of the Rose-gem Palace of Higher Clarity; DZ 84; Robinet A.25), 1.2a3. I have chosen to render it here as the celestial location. 152 The DZ text here erroneously replaces the word for “during” (jian 間) with “south” (nan 南); the emendation follows the ZG’s tongxingben.

200 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

monk Baochang 寶唱 (fl. 495-529) and others.153 Yang Xi clearly follows the version that was later collected into Jinglü yixiang. Entitled Polonai guowang qi nü yu Dishi gongyu 波羅奈國王七女與帝釋共語 (The Seven Daughters of the King of Varanasi Speak Together with Śakra-devānām [Indra]), the tale relates how the seven beautiful, virtuous, and unmarried women ask their father the king for permission to go out from the palace to do some sightseeing. The king warns them against it, saying that they might encounter the sight of corpses and other disturbing things, but his daughters argue that seeing nothing but beautiful things in the palace holds no benefit. The king grants his permission, and sure enough, the women smell terrible odors, hear the sounds of mourning, see corpses in all states of decay and dismemberment, and so on. Each then sings a gāthā on the transcience of human life (the Zhi Qian version, by contrast, renders these in the form of prose statements): 世人重其身 好衣加寶香 綺視雅容步 姿則欲人觀 死皆棄於土 何用是飾嚴

People of the world prize their bodies. To fine clothes they add jewels and perfume. With splendid looks and stylish mien, they strut And pose, desiring that others notice. Once dead, they all get tossed into the ground. What use are adornments and dignity?

譬如一身居 人去舍毀傾 神遊而身棄 莫能制其形 癡貪謂可保 安知後當亡

Compare the body to a residence: The people leave, the house falls into ruin. The spirit roams, and the body’s tossed out. There is no one who can subdue his form. Fools and misers claim it can be preserved. How would they know that later they must die?

觀神載形時 猶馬駕車行 車敗而馬去 可知此非常

Observe that spirit, when conveyed by form, Goes like a horse that’s harnessed to a cart. When the cart collapses, the horse runs off, And we can tell this is impermanent.

本見城完好 中人樂安居 所求未央足 何便忽空虛

At first the city seemed complete and fair, The people inside dwelt in joy and peace. Before their wants were fully satisfied, What changed it suddenly to empty waste?

若乘船度水

If we ride a boat across a river,

153 The two sūtras are respectively in Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 14 (no. 556) and 53 (no. 2121). The earlier version by Zhi Qian is translated in Paul 1985, 15-25, especially p. 20.

FASCICLE THREE / 201

至當捨船去 形非神常宅 焉得久長居

Finally we must leave the boat and go. The form is not the spirit’s constant house: How can it dwell there for eternity?

人死依塼臥 形具尚鮮好 挺然不動搖 厥神安所在

When the deceased is laid to rest on brick, The form is a vessel still fresh and fair. But stiff it is—it does not move about. So where is its spirit now to be found?

如雀在瓶中 羅縠覆其口 縠穿雀飛去 神自隨行走

It was like a sparrow inside a vase Whose mouth was covered by a net of gauze. The gauze punctured, the sparrow flew away: The spirit, of its own accord, escaped.154

On closer examination, Yang Xi uses the third and fifth gāthās for the beginnings of the second and third poems of the present series. Only two lines are left unchanged from the source material: “Observe that spirit, when conveyed by form…” and “The form is not the spirit’s constant house.” Although Yang Xi’s modifications of these stanzas are mostly minor, a significant change occurs in the line “And we can tell this [i.e., the body] is impermanent.” Yang changes it to, “Their tethered link a moment’s falsehood.” For Buddhists, the body is impermanent. For Yang, physical immortality is possible, so the linkage between body and spirit(s) becomes temporary or “false” only in case of death. As for the remainder of the sequence, Yang Xi uses several terms from basic Buddhist teachings, particularly nirvana (miedu 滅度, “the transmigration to extinction”) and the wheel of life and death (shengsi lun 生死輪), but he adds allusions to Chinese literary sources like Shi jing and Chu ci. He puts the primary emphasis on the difficulties caused by hesitation or wavering—the message is clearly directed to Xu Mi. Finally, to give the entire series a kind of thematic unity, he weaves in a great deal of horticultural imagery. Thus nirvana must be “planted” and the roots of life and death uprooted, those who “sow” sin on heaven’s net “reap” poison in earth-prisons, those who lose the Way become like dead plants, with roots and flowers flipped upside-down, and so on. The inverted plant imagery is entirely in line with that appearing elsewhere in ZG. Does Yang Xi take a risk in presenting the Xus with poems, supposedly by the Perfected, that are so transparently modified from a Buddhist source? Would they regard it as deceptive? Not at all. Elsewhere (ZG 9.19b7-20a7, 6.6a1-10a4) Yang takes one of the most famous Buddhist texts of his time, the Sishi’er zhang jing 四 十 二 章 經 (Forty-two Sections of Buddhist Sūtras), and transforms it in similar painstaking fashion into a Daoist text. Stephan P. Bumbacher has described how Yang separates the narrative preface from the main body of that text, removes “unequivocal Buddhist aspects that had no Daoist 154

Jinglü yixiang 經律異相 (no. 2121), in Taishō shinshū daizōkyō 53:185c18-186a04.

202 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

correspondence or could not be utilized to his ends,” and describes the Daoist deities revealing the correct versions directly to himself. The Buddhist materials are then subsumed into Yang’s own revelation and given secondary status (Bumbacher 2006, 827-8). The old is superseded by the new. This was a typical ploy in the competition between Daoism and Buddhism at the time; Buddhists were doing the same with Daoist texts like Liexian zhuan (DZ 293; Smith 1998). As with the poem series on dependency, the singers are not actually arrayed before Yang Xi. Instead, Right Blossom describes the cycle to him two months after it was sung. As befits a song cycle concerned with death, it is sung on the autumn equinox (ascending yin) in the far west (associated with death, autumn). The singers—Blue Lad, Grand Vacuity (Master Redpine), Wang Yuan, and Wang Bao—appear in descending, not ascending, hierarchical order. The series as a whole contrasts sharply with Right Blossom’s east-leaning poems celebrating sunrise and renewal. The rhymes of the series: (1) -oj, -eaj; (2) -aeX, -aX; (3) -oX, -ojX, -oH; and (4) –awX.

November 16 and 17, 365: Not Hearing Right Blossom’s Calls, Xu Mi May Miss His Opportunity [1]

3.10a3-3.10b4

With four banners scintillating in the bright vault of space, My vermilion carriage flies over numinous hills.155 Its jade canopy shades me from the Seven Lights156 As I beat the feather-shafts, float on the empyrean. When the nine-notes157 resonates through the purple vault, And the jade ao penetrates Grand Non-being, I rest, reciting [verse] in the palaces of the Three Chronograms; 155 “Numinous hills” (lingqiu 靈丘) is either a general term or a specific place. A citation of Dengzhen yinjue (Robinet, C.2) appearing in Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 3.20b9, refers to “numinous hills” generally, but elsewhere in Higher Clarity scriptures, the term appears in the list of medicines in Xiaomo zhihui jing (Robinet, A.22), in a context implying a specific location. There is some variation among versions and citations of that passage. In WSMY 78.4b2-3 (citing Daoji jing), correcting a line-break, and in Dongzhen taishang shuo zhihui xiaomo zhenjing (DZ 1344), 1.12b7-8, the passage reads, “The golden blood of the azure simurgh of Numinous Hill” 靈丘蒼鸞金血 . Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 3.9b6-7, changes “blood” to “saliva” (jin 津 ). The name of this medicine may derive from the “Mount Numinous” (Lingshan 靈山) of Shanhai jing, 2.74a9-b2 (ch. 16; Sibu congkan): it is rich in medicines, near the Queen Mother of the West’s mountain, and next to a place where simurghs live. 156 The Seven Lights (qijing 七景) or Seven Dazzlers (qiyao 七曜) are the sun, moon, and five visible planets. 157 On the “nine-notes” see n. 6 above.

FASCICLE THREE / 203

Singing and whistling, I call for you, my partner: Not sensing the toon-springs already come, What would you know of the Two Lights’ circulation?158 Fair one, you have only to forget everything,159 But you have not let go of the hundred cares.160 In mature woods you may truly be at peace; Amid the cliffs would be more to please you.

[2]

Composed by the Lady of Cloudy Grove on the seventeenth day of the tenth month, for Marquis Xu [Mi]. To the left, I grasp the Flowery Canopy of jade,161 And my volant Lights step up to the Seven Primes.162 As the Three Chronograms sparkle with purple radiance, I gaze out on tiptoe and touch Bright Perfection.163 Modifying one’s steps takes but a moment, And on four sides all is already divine. Nimbly one emerges into the boundless To contemplate with zeal the writings in Higher Clarity.164 To what end do you live165 on contrary paths That make your senses unfocused? In muffledA mutenessB/166 you [swiftly] lose your chance,167

158 The Two Lights (erjing) are the sun and moon but also hint at the yang and yin of the desired pairing (Fascicle Two, n. 8, 198). The couplet is a complaint: Xu Mi is stubbornly unaware of time’s swift passage. It is echoed at the end of the next poem. 159 “Forget everything” (jianwang 兼忘) is a term from Zhuangzi (Fascicle Two, n. 175). 160 The “hundred cares” (baiyou 百憂) appear in Shi jing: “Tu yuan” 兔爰 (Hare is Cautious) and “Wu jiang da che” 無將大車 (Don’t Push a Wagon); trl. Legge 1994, 4:118, 362-63. 161 I understand “Flowery Canopy” to refer to the constellation, in parallel with the Seven Primes (Fascicle Two, n. 27). Paul W. Kroll (2003, 182; 2010, 969) understands the line to refer to a canopy from Jade Blossom (or “Jade Flower”) Palace. 162 On the Seven Primes, see Fascicle Two, n. 74. 163 Concerning Bright Perfection, a palace or hall, see Fascicle Two, n. 184. 164 These couplets may be read either as descriptive of Purple Tenuity’s actions or as instructive advice for Xu Mi. I thus translate it in a way that I hope preserves the ambiguity. 165 In the citations of this poem that appear in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.8a6 and YJQQ 97.13b10, instead of “live” (sheng 生), we read “sit” (zuo 坐). 166 In the ZG text, the second character of this line is obscure. It is written with the yan 广 radical and a 阿 phonetic. The term, as explained in Tao’s note, means something like “muffled muteness” with a suggestion of speed, so I insert the adverb “swiftly.” 167 Significant variation in this line among the various texts that cite this poem affects the reading of the entire couplet. Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.8a7, writes: 隂阿失玄機. YJQQ 97.13b10-14a1 writes: 隂痾失玄機. Both omit Tao’s comments. If the Du Guangting-derived version is followed, the couplet may be translated, “With muted swiftness, you lose the mystic contrivance.” My translation follows SK 116. Kroll (2003, 182) has “discard and lose contrivances,” which looks like a suitable compromise version. However, the line echoes one

204 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Not sensing the parting of the years. Composed by the Lady of Purple Tenuity on the eighteenth day of the tenth month. For the previous two pieces, there is calligraphy by Yang. A Wu

and jin reverse[-cut pronunciation].168 Wu and he reverse[-cut pronunciation]. These should be written yinya 喑啞 (“muffled muteness”)—bespeaking its speed. B

Comments These poems, which had been preserved on a Yang Xi manuscript, form a clear pair. Besides having equal lengths, they each have a line beginning, “Not sensing…” (bu jue 不覺 ) that, through their balanced contrast, captures the core theme: by not withdrawing from the world, Xu Mi is so distracted, his senses so unfocused, that he cannot hear Right Blossom’s songs. He senses neither the vast “toon-springs” before him nor the years as they part from him (nian 年 retains its archaic “harvest” meaning and its associations with autumn and senescence). He lives in “muffled muteness” (yinya 喑啞). The internal structures of the two poems are also similar, with the first eight lines describing the women’s activities and the last four lines addressing Xu Mi’s condition. (The second poem is translated and discussed in Kroll 2003, 182-3; 2010, 969-70.) Lady Right Blossom’s poem also touches subtly on the mingling of Lights. Keep in mind that the “Two Lights” (erjing 二景) that she mentions may be either the sun and moon or the Lights of the partners in spiritual union. In this poem, it is both at once. If we understand it as “sun and moon,” then the relevant couplet becomes, “Not sensing the toon-springs already come, / What would you know of the sun and moon’s movements?” If we understand it as “Lights of our union,” then the second line becomes, “What would you know of the circulation of our Lights?” Both readings suggest the alternation of yang and yin. Indeed, would not the movements of the sun and moon mirror the interplay of yang and yin in the desired union? Rhymes: (1) -juw, -ju; (2) -jwon, -yin, -jun, -ywen.

in Lady Right Blossom’s poem from the night before: it should indicate Xu Mi’s lack of awareness of time’s passage. Purple Tenuity also seems to be echoing Right Blossom’s comment in ZG 2.18a1, when she speaks on what should be done if they “lose the chance” (shiji 失機). In all fairness, however, the other reading in the Yongcheng jixian lu version does have much to recommend it: ZG 8.13a6-b4 discusses a “Way of mystic contrivance” (xuanji zhi dao 玄機之道), and we may assume there are dire consequences for losing it. 168 “Reverse-cutting” (fanqie 反切) is a traditional method used to describe the pronunciation of a character using two other characters. The initial sound of the first is spliced with the final sound of the second.

FASCICLE THREE / 205

November 19, 365: Abandoning Earthly Allegiances for the Freedoms of Perfection [1]

3.10b5-3.11a6

North, we rise to the portal of the Mystic Perfected;169 Holding hands, we tie a lofty net [of clouds].170 Aromatic smoke disperses the Eight Lights As a mystic wind swells rose-gold waves.171 Upward, we cross malachite gardens and fords; Downward, we gaze on empyrean mounds and crannies.172 Flutes of jade173 sing above the clouds; Phoenix songs penetrate the Nine Distances.174 Riding mists, we float in the grand vault of space— Why would we tread over mountains and rivers? With golden staffs, we command the feathered numina, Call them to arms, and break the myriad devils. As we together tap the glory of the Two Chronograms, A thousand toon-springs are like baby teeth. Lose Perfection, and you submit to the house of struggle. Fail to resolve [this]—and what can be done?

169 This line may relate to an insight meditation practice described in the 7th stanza of Huangting neijing yujing (Robinet, A.34) as elucidated by one of its commentators, Bai Lüzhong 白履忠 (fl. 722-729), whose sobriquet was Liangqiuzi 梁丘子. The adept visualizes the various deities seated around the Cinnabar Fields, each in his or her proper position and facing outward. Bai then cites Basu jing (Robinet, A.3) on the nine grades of Perfected: each grade faces a certain direction. Those of fifth rank, the Mystic Perfected (xuanzhen 玄真 ) face northward. See Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402), 1.14a6-15a2; also YJQQ 11.22b7-23a3. 170 The kenning “lofty net” (gaoluo 高羅) for clouds seems to have originated with Ji Kang. The first of his “Xiong xiucai Gongmu rujun zeng shi shijiu shou” 兄秀才公穆入軍贈詩十九 首 (Poems Presented to My Elder Brother Gongmu [Ji Xi 嵇喜] as He Enters the Army), which criticizes the webs and nets woven by law, reads, “The cloudy web blocks the four regions; / The lofty net evens the jagged and jutting.” 雲網塞四區，高羅正參差。 Ji Kang, Ji Zhongsan ji 嵇中散集, 1.1b9 (Sibu congkan); SK 119n1. Note also the deliberate paradox in Yang Xi’s line: to tie or knot a net while holding hands would normally be impossible. 171 On “rose-gold waves,” Fascicle Two, n. 39. 172 The term “mounds and crannies” (ling’e 陵阿 ) is used in Cai Yong 蔡邕 (132-192), Shuxing fu 述行賦 (Rhapsody on a Journey): “Following mounds and crannies to rise and descend, / I hasten to Yanshi, and am released from my labors.” 率陵阿以登降兮，赴偃師而 釋勤。 Cai Yong, Cai Zhonglang ji 蔡中郎集, waichuan, p. 5b4 (Sibu congkan); HDC 11:1000. 173 On jade flutes (yuxiao), see n. 70 above. The “phoenix songs” (fengming 鳳鳴) of the next line may also refer to the flutes’ melody, because of the strong linkage established between flutes and phoenix songs in the Liexian zhuan biography of Xiao Shi, but they are even more strongly suggestive of the presence of a large entourage (n. 151 above). 174 The Nine Distances (jiuxia 九遐) are essentially the Nine Heavens or Nine Nets (Fascicle One, n. 135, 180).

206 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

[2]

I gaze upward to Grand Aurora Palace—175 Golden pavilions dazzling in Purple Clarity, Flowery chambers176 glinting in Grand Simplicity, And balustrades on four [sides] all of vermilion rose-gem. I thrust my wheels [across] the ford of undifferentiated space, Collect the reins to make my curtained green carriage dance. Jade blossoms177 fly about the cloud canopy As western consorts178 shift brocade banners. In flutter unfolding—a turbid, dusty shore; At a swift streak—the courtyard of my fair one. Sensing my destiny, I respond in time and descend; What summons me is already [determined] in the otherworld. Ride the wind, hasten into the empyrean dawn,179 And together we shall take swigs from jugs of cinnabar and exquisite jade. Your dukes, marquises, and the like are trifling, trifling— How would they know the numinosity of the Perfected? The previous two pieces were instructed [to me] on the twentieth day of the tenth month.A For the previous two pieces, there is calligraphy by Yang.

A

These too must be Right Blossom’s teachings to the Senior Aide [Xu Mi].

175 On Grand Aurora, see n. 93 above. Recall that Purple Clarity in the next line is Consort An’s abode: the two locations are comparatively near each other in the east. 176 “Flowery chambers” (huafang 華房) may be either the luxurious homes of the Perfected or an abbreviated reference to the “chambers of East Florescence” (Donghua fang 東華房); see n. 25 above. SK 119n10, cites the Yan Dong 嚴東 (fl. late 5th cent.) commentary to the Numinous Treasure scripture Yuanshi wuliang duren shangpin miaojing sizhu (DZ 87), 3.19a4-5, implying a very different specific location: “It is the Purple Tenuity Palace in Higher Clarity. Purple Tenuity is above Jade Clarity, and the Flowery Chamber is the Palace of the Grand Ultimate. The Palace has a Blue Floriate Gate, and inside there are winding chambers.” 上清

紫微宮也。紫微在玉清之上，華房者太極宮。宮有青華門，裏有曲房也。

“Jade blossoms” here refer to jade maidens (n. 85 above). “Western consorts” (xifei 西妃) are jade maidens from a western court (Kunlun?) and presumably as beautiful as Xi Shi 西施 (b. c. 506 BCE), who was sent by the ancient state of Yue to the rival state of Wu in order to distract its king from ruling his country. Western consorts appear elsewhere in Higher Clarity literature: see, for example, a passage from Lingyue dongzhen qisheng yuanji jing 靈樂洞眞七聖元紀經 (Dongzhen Scripture of the Primal Registers of the Seven Sages; Robinet, A.28) as cited in WSMY 20.14a10, and a passage from the esoteric biography of Wang Bao (Robinet, C.7) as cited in YJQQ 106.5a2. 179 I read the word zou 奏 (usually “play” or “perform” [music]) in this line as an alternate form for zou 走 (“hasten”); HDC 2:1535. 177 178

FASCICLE THREE / 207

Comments These poems may be considered a matching pair: both have 16 lines and follow a similar structure, describing mostly the pleasures of the Perfected world and ending with couplets that turn suddenly from the Perfected realm to the earthly one and ask pointed rhetorical questions. The Yang Xi manuscript that preserved them did not record who addresses them to whom, but from their content it is clear that Lady Right Blossom is directing them to Xu Mi, as Tao Hongjing’s note indicates. The questions at the end, with their allusions to the “house of struggle” and “dukes and marquises,” are designed to convince Xu to renounce his earthly allegiances. The first poem (prev. trl. Kroll 1996, 185) stands out from most of Lady Right Blossom’s poems in that it is a piece of wish-fulfillment fantasy: she imagines Xu Mi accompanying her on her journey through space, though he is obviously incapable of doing so at present. There is a hint, in the first couplet, that all this should be taking place in meditation. In this fantasy-journey, besides reaching the ends of the universe, they command a host of spirits to “break the myriad devils,” which is similar to what Consort An envisions herself doing with Yang Xi (ZG 2.8a7). The vision culminates with the pair absorbing the efflorescences of the sun and moon, so that a thousand toonsprings become like the baby teeth whose growth they nurture in their mouths. The second poem is more typical: Right Blossom begins with a description of various eastern locales near her home, and then she sets out to visit her “fair one.” To some extent the journey is simply part of her duty as a Perfected person, since she is destined to come down to fulfill her match with Xu Mi. She advises him to “ride the wind” and “hasten into the dawn,” where they will drink elixirs together (presumably the same efflorescences of the previous poem). The earthly nobles who still weigh heavily on Xu Mi’s mind are mere trifles in comparison with the Perfected. Rhymes: (1) -a, -ae; (2) -eng, -eang.

December 18, 365: Xu Mi Writes on Vigilance in Small Matters [1]

3.11a7-3.11b3

“Although the carriage and horses were heavy, they were looted by highwaymen. Content with my lot, I yielded to destiny, for I had the means to call for [replacements] and didn’t need to be stingy. The cup was small indeed, yet it was stolen by a page, so I was distressed and regretted [its loss]. Now the otherworldly mirror180 has swiftly caught me—surely by causing the dread of evil, “Otherworldly mirror” (mingjian 冥鑒) refers to the vision by which the spirits discern good and evil. HDC 2:457 defines it as spiritual warnings or object lessons (jianjie 鑒戒) and cites a passage from a memorial to the throne written by Zhang Heng and preserved in Fan 180

208 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

the good are distinguished! Today, though I kept silent and did not speak [of the matter], my humble self knows enough of its numinous efficacy. There’s a lesson in this not of insignificant value. It’s in trivial matters like this that one can’t be complacent. Respectfully submitted.” To be presented to Lady Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove. On the nineteenth day of the eleventh month.A This is in reply to a matter instructed by Right Blossom. The [record of] the matter is not preserved today. A

Comments This is a rare example in ZG of an informal letter to the spirits. Tao Hongjing comments that it was written in response to something Lady Right Blossom had said, but the manuscript had since been lost. Its stylistic informality and general lack of context thus makes understanding and translating this letter extremely difficult. This much is clear: highwaymen once robbed Xu of his carriage and horses, but he accepted his lot and simply hired a replacement, paying generously for it. By contrast, when his page pilfered a small cup from him, he was very upset about it. We may surmise that in Lady Right Blossom’s missing message, she had complained to him that this was an example of his stinginess. On several occasions in the past, the Perfected have told Xu Mi that he had to eliminate his stinginess (ZG 1.5b8-9, 2.4a10-4b2, 2.15b9), and Xu Mi himself had admitted having this fault (ZG 2.14b7). Thus it seems that during an unguarded moment, Xu Mi thought his response to a trivial matter like the theft of a cup would be beneath the Perfected persons’ notice—just as, perhaps, the page had thought Xu Mi would not notice the theft of a little cup. We do not know exactly how the “otherworldly mirror” caught Xu Mi’s distress. But Xu Mi is now keenly aware that the mirror is continuously trained on himself, just as he had been secretly focusing attention on his page and possessions. At this point the letter becomes very difficult to understand, and any number of translations becomes possible. Who “keeps silent and does not speak”? Is it Xu Mi, keeping the matter under wraps, or the page, afraid to admit his crime? And who is meant by xiaoren 小人? In epistolary writing like this, xiaoren is often used in modest self-reference (“my humble self,” which is also how the Japanese translators present it), but xiaoren could apply equally well to a light-fingered page (tongshi 童使). Furthermore, as the person caught stealing, Ye and Sima Biao, Hou Han shu, liezhuan, 49.1910: “Yin and yang are disharmonious, and calamities frequently appear. The spirits’ discernment is secretive and distant, [but] their otherworldly mirrors are present here.” 陰 陽 未和 ，災眚 屢見。神 明幽遠 ，冥鑒在 茲。 Whether one calls it an “otherworldly mirror” or “spiritual warnings” or “precepts,” what is important here is that Xu Mi realizes that the spirits are always watching.

FASCICLE THREE / 209

he, too, could have had direct experience of the otherworldly mirror’s efficacy. Which of these would be correct? In the end, I decided that xiaoren is Xu Mi’s self-reference. The inverted image in the otherworldly mirror (the same unfailing, hidden “drifting mirror” that Zhou Yishan had spoken of on July 26, 365) illustrates for Xu Mi that he stands in relation to the Perfected as his page stands in relation to him. He catches the page by some hidden means (intuition?), but the hidden mirror catches him. Such a lesson would help Xu Mi root out his material desires.

Xu Mi Expresses Appreciation for the Poetry of the Perfected (undated) [2]

3.11b4-3.11b10

“I, Mu, speak in trepidation and fear: Immersed in and stained by base vulgarity, I drift about aimlessly in dusty darkness, My sins growing with the years, my errors accumulating each day. By fortune I encounter a mysterious destiny, and the numina disclose their society. They clear away miasmic vapors so that in brightness I attain vision. The Perfected numina, pure and excellent, together bestow their enlightening admonitions. I am unworthy of the honor of receiving literary compositions the floriate luxuriance of which comprises [whole] forests. Their golden timbres and jadelike reverberations possess an order [that conforms to] compass and square. We, father and sons, mediocre and lowly, have nothing with which to convey gratitude. Early we rise,181 goading ourselves to effort; we dare not be lazy or indolent. Our solemn adoration pours out in torrents, [though our] words do not flow unhindered. “I, Mu, speak in trepidation and fear.”A For the previous two passages are exemplars in the Senior Aide’s own calligraphy. A This is also in response to a poem by Right Blossom, but it is not known which poem. [That] too seems not to be preserved.

181 The term used here for rising early (suxing 夙興) appears frequently in Confucian texts like the Shi jing and Yili, usually in the context of describing diligent effort.

210 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Comments Xu Mi now shifts from informality to extreme formality. This letter, written in appreciation for the poetry he has been receiving, follows the “self-account” mode we have earlier encountered, with unrhymed, parallel phrases of four characters each throughout. Although Tao Hongjing places it together with the previous letter, it is undated, and there is no sign that it replies to any specific poem. I question Tao’s assertion that Xu wrote this in response to a poem (or poems) by Lady Right Blossom, since Xu refers also to his sons and mentions the Perfected and their declarations collectively—not Right Blossom specifically. He is probably addressing this to Right Blossom, but with the knowledge that he speaks not only to her but to all of the Perfected.

December 29, 365: Ascent into Purity, Escape from a Stinking World [1]

3.12a1-3.12b3

When numinous vales182 blossom in waves of splendor, Conceal your body and perch on the cliff-heights, Where a homespun cloak is equal to a dragon robe And a string belt the same as tinkling jades.183 With form curled184 into a secluded, distant [place], Project your spirits to the courtyard of Grand Aurora: 182 “Numinous vales” (linggu 靈谷) are probably places in nature, as in ZG 1.1a5, though in later texts the Numinous Vale is part of the human body, the storehouse of seminal essence, associated with the lower Cinnabar Field. See, for example, Xiuzhen shi shu 修真十書 (Ten Texts on Cultivating Perfection; DZ 263), 4.6a3-7, which cites as its source Lingshu neijing 靈 書內經 (Esoteric Scripture in Numinous Script). 183 The complex web of allusion in this couplet necessitated paraphrasing. A literal translation would read, “[Where] ‘cloaked in homespun’ is equal to the ‘dragon [design] on vestments [of emperors and high officials],’ / [And] ‘girt with string’ is the same as ‘jadetinkling.’” Both “cloaked in homespun” (beihe 被褐) and “girt with string” (daisuo 帶索) describe poverty. The former appears in isolation in Laozi, ch. 70: “Hence the sage is cloaked in homespun [but] holds jade.” 是以聖人被褐懷玉。 Laozi, 2.20a9 (Sibu beiyao). However, the terms are used together in other sources such as Mozi 墨 子 , 2.8a5 (Siku quanshu) and Huainanzi (in Lau and Chen 1992c, 11/104/7). Also, “cloaked in homespun” is contrasted with the “dragon robe” (gunlong 袞龍) in Xu Gan 徐幹 (170-217), Zhonglun 中論 (Balanced Discourses), 1.1b5-6 (Siku quanshu): “One views the patterns on a dragon robe, and only then knows how coarse a homespun cloak is.” 視袞龍之文，然後知被褐之陋。 Cf. Makeham 2003, 7. The tinkling jades are the jade belt-pendants worn by the wealthy. 184 Intead of pan 盤 (“curled,” “twisted,” “entwined”) the DZ text uses a rare alternate form pan 磐 (usually, “boulder” or “firm”); HDC 7:1090. For a similar usage, see Dongzhen shenzhou qibian wutian jing (Robinet, A.17), cited in WSMY 95.2a8. The tongxingben and other citations of this line (e.g., YJQQ 99.9a8) use the more standard form.

FASCICLE THREE / 211

Above the empyrean are worthies on palatial steps; In the vault of space are Perfected voices. Look up185 at my dawn-enfolding flying [canopy];186 Examine this green-fronted curtained carriage. Below, view the interior of the eight intervals;187 Bend and sigh over the windblown dust coiling about. Escaping, leave the heaves and swells [of the world behind], Ascend to this far-off floating purity. If roused for strife,188 the Three Fords189 dry up; Galloping about hacks away at your longevity.

[2]

Composed by the Lady of the Southern Marchmount [Wei Huacun] in the night of the first day of the eleventh month, for Senior Aide Xu [Mi]. I fly my wheels to Lofty Dawn’s terrace,190 Hold reins to the corners of the Darkmound [Mountains]. My hand tugs the Purple Sovereign’s191 sleeve As swiftly I streak, driven on the eight winds. Jade blossoms part my green curtains, [Lads in] blue breeches fan my halcyon train.192 My cap and carriage, iridescent, tower high. My belt-pendants, chiming, are tied with moon-pearls.193

185 The DZ text here reads “restrain” (yi 抑), which does not make sense in its context; I follow YJQQ 99.9a9 for “look up” (yang 仰), which might also be translated as “admire.” 186 On the “dawn-enfolding flying canopy,” see Fascicle Two, n. 50. Wei Huacun is said to receive one during her investiture, in Nanyue Wei furen neizhuan (Robinet, C.11) as cited in Li Fang et al., ed., Taiping yulan, 678.8a4. 187 The term “eight intervals” (badu 八度) is rare, but the context indicates it is one of the variants for “eight directions.” Its counterpart in the next poem is the eight winds. 188 On “roused for strife” (raojing), see n. 82 above. 189 The Three Fords (sanjin 三津) probably refer to the three Cinnabar Fields, which must be continuously “irrigated” in meditation with the proper pneuma. A different set of three fords (for crossing to the Mystic Continent) is described in the 37th stanza of Shangqing dadong zhenjing (DZ 6; Robinet, A.1), 6.8b2 and its revealed commentary in YJQQ 8.13a9-10. 190 On Lofty Dawn, see n. 75 above. 191 On the Purple Sovereign, see Fascicle One, n. 179. 192 The jade blossoms (n. 85, 177 above) and blue breeches (qingqun 青帬) are jade maidens and golden lads. The green curtains (lüwei 綠幃) may belong to Lady Li’s carriage and the halcyon train (cuiju 翠裾) to her dress, but not necessarily, given the multiple meanings of many of the words. For instance, the first line of the couplet may also be read literally to mean, “Jade blossoms cover my green veil”—a veil that hangs from the brim of a hat. 193 On moon-pearls (yuezhu), see n. 67 above. Many words in this couplet appear in “Shejiang” 涉江 (Crossing the River), one of Jiu zhang 九章 (Nine Poems) in Chu ci, which begins: “On my belt, a long sword of crystal; / On my head a ‘cloud-cutter,’ towering high; / Round my neck, bright moons [i.e., pearls], and fine, precious jades at my girdle. / [But] the

212 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Just slightly, I enter into the windblown dust— [Then] plug my nose and flee the obstructing mud.194 The rotten stench weakens your pneuma, The hundred diseases cause the heart to perish. Why not rise with the swiftness of the gale And in soughing solitude pace Grand Vacuity? Composed by Lady Li, the Displayer of Numina of the Left Terrace on Fangzhang, in the night of the first day of the twelfth month, for “Jade Axe” Xu [Hui]. Comments On this night the Lady of the Southern Marchmount Wei Huacun and Lady Li, the Displayer of Numina each give a poem (preserved in Yang Xi’s calligraphy) to Xu Mi and Xu Hui respectively. This makes the poems an unusual pair: there is nothing here suggesting courtship, as one might expect if the writers were Right Blossom and Purple Tenuity. The fact that a Perfected woman of very high status like Lady Li is writing to Xu Hui may perhaps be taken as a sign that he is making rapid progress in his studies. Southern Marchmount’s poem is quite straightforward, almost a step-bystep summary of what she envisions for Xu Mi’s progress toward Perfection: renunciation of the luxurious life and retreat into the mountains (lines 1-4), meditation and ecstatic visualization (lines 5-8), and comparison of Southern Marchmount’s flight on her fabulous carriage above with the dusty world below (lines 9-12), whereupon the inevitable conclusion is a decision to escape from the world and ascend into purity (lines 13-14). She ends by advising Xu Mi not to let his Three Fords (probably Cinnabar Fields) dry up. The phrase “roused for strife” appeared earlier in a context describing the effects of sexual intercourse, and the same may apply here: if Xu Mi rouses himself for the sexual battlefield, he will only deplete himself. However, “galloping about” (benchi 奔馳) refers more directly to busy engagement with the world, which Xu Mi has not yet abandoned. At the beginning of Fascicle Four, which contains declarations from the night before this one, we learn that Xu Mi is about to miss an important religious observation on Maoshan because of a brief trip to the capital—and the Perfected are quite unhappy about it. Hence Southern Marchmount’s warning on “galloping about” is very much to the point. world is muddled, and none understand me.” 帶長鋏之陸離兮，冠切雲之崔嵬。被明月兮珮 寶璐，世溷濁而莫余知兮。 Cf. with Hawkes 1985, 159-60. 194 “Obstructing mud” (dangtu 當塗) refers to officialdom. As used here, it is a shortened, literalized form of dangtugao 當塗高 , a deliberately ambiguous term that appeared in Han prophetic literature. Under the Wei it was taken as a gloss on the character Wei—but that was only one of many possible interpretations (Liu Wenzhong 1984; Smith 1994, 8-10).

FASCICLE THREE / 213

Lady Li’s poem is remarkably similar to the one she earlier presented to Yang Xi—she stays firmly in character. She begins with her movements through the Perfected realm, but her tone shifts suddenly when she touches on the mundane world. The stench alone repulses her. She simply cannot understand why Xu Hui lingers in the world, and she urges him to make his ascent as quickly as possible. Rhymes: (1) -eng, including the first line; (2) -ju, -juH, -jo, -u.

From Prayer to Ascent (undated) [3]

[4]

3.12b4-3.12b9

In the limpid dawn, I collect rose-gold aurorae, Gather mists, and roam above the empyrean. Rounding, my curtained carriage rolls upon the undulating waves; Advancing,195 I see the woes of the world’s people. When your prayers196 rise in luxuriant abundance, I stray not from the corners of the three verdant peaks, [But] what would compare with circling the mystic districts, Where I would stroke the ao for your pleasure? You, sir, find ease between Being and Being; I prefer the Non-being within Being.197 Right Blossom composed this. Harness your Lights to roam with the virtuous; Shake reins beneath the gardens of the east. Right Blossom recited this couplet.

Comments Lady Right Blossom begins this relatively short poem, as usual, with a description of her movements. Her carefree tone ends when she sees the troubles of the world’s people. As long as Xu Mi keeps offering her a steady stream of prayers, she says, she will not stray from the vicinity of Maoshan—but he is still stuck in the troubled human world. He is between Being and Being, while Right Blossom prefers the Non-being within Being. In the context of the ZG’s For a similar use of “advancing” (sui 遂), see Fascicle One, n. 145. The term “prayers” (cizhi 辭旨) is here used in the same sense as in ZG 7.12a10, as indicated by SK 124n15. 197 This couplet alludes to abstruse ideas discussed in ZG 13.11b3-12a1 and to the debate on Non-being and Being. 195 196

214 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

overall “story,” this poem voices the complaint, “Stop talking, start doing.” Xu Mi needs to take the next concrete steps to find the Non-being within Being. The undated couplet that Tao Hongjing places after this (one can easily imagine it as a calligraphic couplet) expresses a similar idea, as it exhorts Xu Mi to harness his carriage of Lights and roam with the virtuous. The ascent in this couplet and the rising prayers in the poem above are paralleled in the one below, which describes the resonant sounds of chanting scripture. Rhyme: -uw, -ju.

January 11, 366: From Chanting to Stillness [5]

3.12b10-3.13a4

When savoring the mystic lines,198 Their gentle notes flow luxuriantly. Their lilt and measure make them fit for declamation,199 Their words and allusions are signally clear. Our ringing, resonant song200 Has that which makes it so. When the Mystic Progenitor stills us thereby,201 We are united with him! Composed by the Lady of Cloudy Grove on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month for the Senior Aide.A For the previous five pieces, there is calligraphy by Yang. A This

is in reply to a poem by the Senior Aide; the poem is not preserved today.

Comments Tao Hongjing comments that this is in reply to a poem that Xu Mi had written, which had since been lost. Interpreting this poem of response thus becomes The “mystic lines” (xuanju 玄句) are probably Dadong zhenjing (Robinet, A.1). The words qu jia 曲夾 (“lilt and measure”) are not used together elsewhere except in ZG 14.13a10-13b1, where they refer to the contours and dimensions of the natural stone furnishings in a cave. Jia may alternate for “narrow” (xia 狹); HDC 5:568. Here the words refer to what makes poetry “fit for declamation,” hence “lilt and measure.” 200 “Ringing, resonant” (qinqin 欽欽) also refers to the sound of tuned bells; see the poem “Gu zhong” 鼓鍾 (Drums and Bells) in Shi jing; trl. Legge 1994, 4:367. The term may also be rendered “pulsing, pealing” or “full-throated” and “open-mouthed” (HDC 6:1456). 201 Mystic Progenitor (Xuanzong 玄宗) is one of Lord Lao’s names; Daomen jingfa xiangcheng cixu (DZ 1128), 2.8b3-4. I read an 安 here as “still” or “dampen” (an 按), as with a bell. 198 199

FASCICLE THREE / 215

more difficult, and in preparing this translation I came up with several wildly different alternative drafts. However, based on my developing understanding of Tao’s thematic grouping of material and certain patterns in the poem itself, I eventually decided that the poetry described by Lady Right Blossom belongs to a Higher Clarity scripture revealed by the Mystic Progenitor (Xuanzong 玄宗, the Way as embodied in Lord Lao)—probably Shangqing dadong zhenjing (i.e., the True Scripture of the Great Cavern of Higher Clarity, corresponding to DZ 6; Robinet, A.1). Right Blossom is still complaining. Although chanting the stanzas of the scripture is fine, she would greatly prefer the stillness of full attainment. Paradoxically, although the Shangqing dadong zhenjing is crafted in a way that makes it easily chanted, chanting it will eventually cause Xu Mi to achieve the desired stillness. SK inexplicably presents this as prose, but the two stanzas here are loosely rhymed (-jangH, -angX in the first stanza, -aeX, -iX in the second).

January 13, 366: Lady Right Blossom Reveals Xu Mi’s Previous Life [1]

3.13a5-3.14b5

“Thoroughly clearing the obstructions on the Way and penetrating the secrets [thus] wondrously attained—you, Marquis Xu, are the man. Soon you will scintillate in power on the square hill,202 make a vaulting leap into the radiant aurorae, and fly bodily through the Nine Heavens; you will act as paragon of the multitudinous Perfected, as preceptor and mentor at the Golden Portal, and as comfort and aid203 to the seed people.204 As your Virtue is blended with humaneness and your teachings are harmonized through their entirety, one may say that you are marked with the aura of heavenly excellence [and so] will become a perfect teacher for latter-day folk. “Your son the ‘Axe’ still subdues his brilliance and hides his sheen [but] is revealed in space above the firmament. When he commits his heart to the mystic dwelling, his spirits perch among the peaks;205 when his heart floats to the

“Square hill” (fangqiu 方丘) is an informal way of referring to Fangzhu or Fangzhang. The DZ text of ZG here writes “extreme” (ji 極), which makes little sense in this context. Following the recommendation of SK 125n1, I read it as an error for “aid” (zheng 拯). 204 “Seed people” (zhongren 種人) are the core of Daoist believers who survive the world’s upheavals at the end of a great cycle—an idea retained from the Celestial Master movement (Mollier in ET 1285-86). The link between the Golden Portal (short for the Thearchic Lord of the Golden Portal) and seed people is described in Shangqing housheng daojun lieji (DZ 442; Robinet, A.10), 1.3b4-4b2; trl. Bokenkamp 1997, 345-47; SK 127n3. 205 The mystic dwelling (xuanzhai 玄宅) is where one’s bodily spirits reside. The term appears also in ZG 7.1a9 and in Shangqing taishang huangsu sishisi fang jing (DZ 1380; Robinet, A.29), cited in Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 6.10a8, YJQQ 40.13b6, 46.18b2. The ZG here makes a series of puns suggesting blades and knives, in keeping with Xu Hui’s “Axe” name. 202 203

216 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

quiet ridges,206 he returns [physical] form to Grand Incipience.207 He has willingly separated his wife from his family, the external from the internal, and has committed himself to secret rendezvous, hidden from view. Although he privately longs to enter the shelter of layered peaks and sheathe his talents in the radiance of clouds, that would be in purposeful rebellion against [you,] his father.208 If his father were a fool, it would be permissible. [However, he and you] ought to be recorded together on the cloud-tablets and have your names listed on the numinous slips. Your destinies meet and coincide—how shall I explain it? “Long ago, Xue Lü, who was styled Jihe,209 went to study the Way of Perfection on the northern slope of Mount Zhong.210 He underwent seven tests but did not pass. 211 He was in fact the younger brother of Master Changli Xue.212 He did not pass because he had debauched his niece and lost his place; Thus “heart” (心 xin) suggests the point of a sword; committing it to the mystic dwelling suggests sheathing it. The word for “peaks” (ling 嶺) is here written ling 領. 206 I read piao 摽 (“to wave off”) as a substitute for piao 漂 (“to float”) and ren 刃 (“blade”) as a substitute for ren 屻 (“ridge”), the latter usually defined as “the lofty form of a mountain” 山高形 but in this context perhaps better understood as a blade-like peak: a ridge (Morohashi 1984, 4:223, no. 7894). Piao in ZG usually replaces biao 標 but is here used as in a letter by Tao Hongjing: “Formerly I was entangled in silken seal-cords [of officialdom] at the imperial palace and held the ceremonial tablet in my position in the Liang [court]. Although this muddled the way I was taught, my heart floated to the realm of reclusion.” 昔我與紆紱 帝闈，侍笏梁席。雖混教途而心摽逸境。 Huayang Tao Yinju ji (DZ 1050), 1.7b10-8a1. In the continuing wordplay on “Axe,” piao may also substitute for “spearhead” or “swordtip” (biao 鏢), so the phrase may also be read, “The tip and the lonely blade return form to . . . ” 207 Grand Incipience (taichu 太初) is one of the early stages through which the universe emerged from the undifferentiated Way. Several early scriptures set out different versions of the process (Bokenkamp 1997, 191-93, 199-200n13). Grand Incipience is called the “beginning of the pneumas” 氣之始也 in Liezi, 1.3a7 (Siku quanshu); cf. Graham 1960, 19. 208 The wordplay continues. First, the verb “separated” (ge 割) continues the axe imagery. Second, there is a rebus of sorts on the word “axe” (fu 斧): if the “Jade Axe” surpasses his father by “entering” (ru 入) the mountains first, “axe” (jin 斤) would be above “father” (fu 父). 209 Xue Lü 薛旅 is Xu Mi in his previous life, as we shall soon learn. The following passage is paraphrased and discussed in Bokenkamp 2007, 167. 210 The northern slope of Mount Zhong (Zhongshan bei e 鍾山北阿) is mentioned in Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.12b4-6; trl. Smith 1992, 2:560. To reach Mount Zhong, immortals pass through a cave in one of its four surrounding mountains and come to the gate of the Heavenly Thearchic Lord (Tiandi jun 天帝君) on Mount Zhong’s northern slope. 211 Zhang Ling in Shenxian zhuan also gives a disciple seven tests (Campany 2002, 352-53). 212 WYT 1.3b7 places Master Changli Xue (usually written Changli Xue gong 長里薛公 or Changli xiansheng 先生, or other variant) on the left of the second tier and calls him “Concurrent Controller of the Nine Palaces and Supreme Councilor Lord Xue, Master Changli” 領九 宮上相長里先生薛君; a note adds: “Attained the Way during the Zhou; the elder brother of Senior Aide Xu in his previous life.” 周時得道，許長史前緣兄也。 Thus the word di 弟 appearing here indicates both “younger brother” and “disciple,” though it seems as if Tao Hongjing deliberately downplays Xue’s “younger brother” status in note F below, perhaps to

FASCICLE THREE / 217

he was stingy, internally impeded, and had left unturned an obdurate nature, which caused him to fail the tests. However, he was disposed to be kind, friendly, and sincere. Also, in his heart he loved the sound of whistling, the songs of phoenixes, and the plucking of dark strings. Therefore the ‘void singing’ concentrated his spirits, and the sounds of strings stirred his cloud-souls.213 His spirits did not fade then—simply as a result of his fondness for whistling and singing and his admiration for phoenix calls! “Master Changli was native to the Yan-Dai [region], a man from the time of King Wu of Zhou.214 The Master repeatedly pleaded with the Most High [concerning his younger brother]. The Most High thus caused [Xue Lü] to be [re]born and to inheritA Zhao’e’s215 hidden destiny, which would cause in him the desire to embrace the subtle and to let go of impediments, so that he would be216 dyed and softened with a new radiance. [Hence your] transcendence via a swift ascent into the void is the desire of Lord Changli. If you are stillB unperturbed by waves of error and your lust and stinginess are increasingly C manifest though I test you a hundred times, then aren’t you the former Xue Lü after all? Your teacher and ancestor expect you to brush away pretense and fulfill your inborn nature. If you can accomplish these things, then I too shall be spared labor.217 [2] “Your elevation as a worthy should here be further explained. In secret I have told of your beginnings, the former life from whence you came, thinking that it will serve toD enlighten you. The pneuma of the Yan [region] is firm on the inside and pliant on the outside, concealing Virtue and taking pleasure in light. Therefore if the men [of Yan] hear the north wind, they become sad at heart;218 if they see daybreak, they feel at peace. They contemplate fine horses—as a way of yearning for appointment; they laud pliant obedience—for the divert attention away from Xue Lü’s unsavory deed and toward his rough origin on the northern frontier. Master Changli is associated with the transmission of the Elixir in Nine Cycles (jiuzhuan dan 九轉丹) and Shijing jinguang cangjing liuxing jing (Robinet, A.15). 213 The “void singing” (xuchang 虚唱) refers back to the whistling; the “sound of strings” (huisheng 徽聲), literally “tasseled sounds,” refers to the qin. 214 Yan 燕 and Dai 代, kingdoms of the Warring States period, were located around the northern part of present-day Hebei province. King Wu of Zhou reigned around 1045-3 BCE. 215 Zhao’e 肇阿 conflates the name of Xu Mi’s virtuous seventh-generation ancestor, Xu Zhao, with his style, Zi’e 子阿. Xu Zhao was mentioned earlier, on September 18, 365, by Mao Zhong. WYT 1.18b4 places him among the sundry figures on the right of the fifth tier. 216 I follow the tongxingben here, which uses the particle ling 令 (indicating passive) instead of the particle yu 於 (indicating position). 217 The division between the two parts of this day’s declaration has disappeared. I insert the division here because Xu Mi quotes the sentence, “Your elevation as a worthy…” when responding (ZG 4.2a9-2b1) to the second part, in order to identify the declaration. 218 The sadness is due to longing for their northern home. A variant of the phrase appears in the first of the Gushi shijiu shou 古詩十九首 (Nineteen Old Poems): “The northerner’s horse leans into the north wind” 胡馬依北風. Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 29.1b1-2 (Sibu congkan).

218 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

purpose of changing to [a leopard’s] resplendence.219 When have the hearts of those men ever not been this way? This is due to the prevailing pneuma of their native place and an inner sympathy with their place of origin. 220 If you can believe this, then you, my lord, will be attuned to it! “If you are blocked byE stinginess and cling to desire and the cinnabar and crimson [of your heart] do not flow freely, [then] the numinous ones will link hands and return to the vault of space, your friends on high will gather in their sleeves and circle back to the clear sky, your spirits and pneuma will not glimpse their [own] dwelling, 221 and [the realm of] tranquility and pervasive understanding222 will not widen your eyes. “Ah, destiny! Isn’t it lamentable indeed?”F Declared by Right Blossom in the night of the sixteenth day of the twelfth month. For the previous two pieces, there is calligraphy by Yang. A

This is to indicate that it [ji 繋 (“bind”)] should be written with the character ji

繼 (“inherit”). B This is to indicate that it [you 由 (“due to”)] should be written with the character you 猶 (“still”). C This is to indicate that it [you 由 (“due to”)] should be written with the character yu 愈 (“increasingly”). D This [yi 已 (“already”)] should be written with the character yi 以 (“serve to”). E This is to indicate that it [yong 雍 (“harmonious”)] should be written with the character yong 壅 (“blocked”). F Changli’s disciple was originally a native of the Yan-Dai [region]. Hence the reference here to his vulgar pneuma is for the purpose of illumining the Senior Aide’s heart.223

219 This alludes to a passage in the Zhou yi’s Xiang zhuan, under the 49th hexagram, “Alteration” (ge 革): “‘The gentleman changes like a leopard.’ / His patterns are resplendent. / ‘The petty man alters his face.’ / He obeys in order to follow the gentleman.” 君子豹變， 其文蔚 也。小人革面，順以從君也。 Zhou yi, 5.10a2-3 (Sibu congkan); cf. Wilhelm 1969, 640. Right Blossom implies the men of Yan may seem to act like petty men, but for the purpose of achieving the “leopard-like” transformations of gentlemen. 220 The expression used here, literally “inner sympathy between head and hill” (shou qiu zhi nei gan 首丘之內感), tersely alludes to another hoary image for homesickness: the fox before death turning its head toward the earth-mound where it was born. The image first appears in Liji, 2.7a8-9 (Sibu congkan); SK 128n24. The images of the Dai horse and the fox turning its head are also used together in a memorial to the throne by Ban Chao 班超 (32-102), preserved in Fan Ye and Sima Biao, Hou Han shu, liezhuan 37.1583. 221 “Dwelling” (zhai 宅) probably refers to the body, as in ZG 3.9b3 (see n. 81 above). 222 That “tranquility and pervasive understanding” (jitong 寂通 ) may refer to the other world is apparent from ZG 16.8a2; SK 128n26. 223 The DZ text of ZG misprints su 俗 (“vulgar”) and shi 史 (“Aide”) as gu 谷 (“valley”) and pi 皮 (“skin”). The errors are corrected in the tongxingben.

FASCICLE THREE / 219

Comments The break between the original two tiao comprising this key declaration has disappeared in the preserved versions of ZG, but determining the break’s location is quite easy. It can only be before the sentence, “Your elevation as a worthy should here be further explained.” The first tiao contains the core of the declaration, while the second is a kind of afterthought. Moreover, when Xu Mi responds to the matter contained in the second tiao (ZG 4.2a9-2b1), he identifies it by quoting its leading sentence. Lady Right Blossom is becoming so frustrated with Xu Mi’s lack of progress compared with his son that she now takes the bold step of revealing his previous life in the hope that it will enlighten him. In doing so she presents much of the background information that is essential for an understanding of how the broader “story” of ZG hangs together, for she explains how the fate of Xu Mi is entangled with that of his son. She begins by setting forth Xu Mi’s glorious future as a Perfected official. He is destined to fly bodily through the Nine Heavens and to fulfill the roles of teacher, counselor, and mentor. However, his son Xu Hui is already surpassing him. Hui has already acted decisively by “separating” his worldly wife from his family, and he is already committed to secret rendezvous with his spiritual partner (still unnamed, but the careful reader will already know who this is). This presents difficulty. While Right Blossom couches her language in all manner of colorful terms that play on Xu Hui’s “Jade Axe” child-name, she suggests that Xu Hui is deliberately holding himself back in deference to his father. After all, if an “axe” (jin 斤) were to “enter” (ru 入) the mountains before the “father” (fu 父 ), it would invert the proper order of things; it would be like writing the components of the word “axe” (fu 斧) itself in reverse order. That would be permissible only if his father were a complete fool, but he is not. The two men should be listed together on the registers of immortality. To explain why, Right Blossom explains that long ago, in the early years of the Zhou dynasty, he had been Xue Lü 薛旅, a man from the northern YanDai region. He studied the Way under his older brother, Master Changli 長里先 生, but failed because he had debauched his teacher’s daughter, his own niece. He not only committed the usual sin of having illicit sex but also violated the uncle-niece incest taboo and all the rules of decorum existing between student and teacher. Added to that, he was unable to reform himself. Master Changli, however, in what must be considered a tremendous display of forgiveness, continued to petition the Most High for leniency for his brother and student. Xue Lü, meanwhile, still had a strong affinity for the refined sounds of the qin, for whistling, and other marks of spiritual attainment (like Xu Mi), so the Most High was moved to grant him rebirth as the seventh-generation descendent of Xu Zhao, a virtuous man. Thus Xu Mi, by destiny, has been allotted a character that combines saintliness and evil. His old teacher, now in the Perfected world, still hopes that he can eliminate his lust and stinginess.

220 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Now, this background story serves very well to explain why Xu Mi is being pulled in opposite directions—toward a worldly life filled with the pleasures of the flesh, and toward the spiritual life—but it does not really explain how Xu Hui’s fate is entangled with his father’s. Right Blossom leaves much unsaid, because she assumes that Xu Mi can fill in the blanks. The reader must do likewise, but by this time the “entanglement” between the two should be clear: Xu Mi certainly knows that his son has been having secret rendezvous with his own teacher, Purple Tenuity. His teacher has in a sense “debauched” his son. Just as Xue Lü had sex with his older brother’s daughter (his xiongnü 兄女), now Purple Tenuity is spiritually uniting with her student’s son (her dizi 弟子). Both Purple Tenuity and Right Blossom, moreover, are daughters of the Queen Mother of the West: they are sisters, just as Xue Lü and Master Changli were once brothers. Is this not a kind of karmic retribution for what Xue Lü did to his teacher’s daughter, or at least the administration of poetic justice, with sexual roles reversed, as if in an otherworldly mirror? Would not this knowledge cause Xu Mi to reflect on how he might root out his deep-seated lustfulness? In the second tiao, Lady Right Blossom discusses how Xu Mi’s character is also affected by Xue Lü’s origins in the Yan-Dai region (many Chinese people throughout history have believed in the existence of regional character traits). Basically, Xu Mi keeps his Virtue hidden and expresses his intentions indirectly. If Xu Mi can believe what Right Blossom has told him, then he will attune himself to it and adjust accordingly. With these insights into his personal makeup, he will be able to improve himself. If he fails to do so, then the Perfected will simply stop visiting him, and he will be truly lost.

January 14, 366: Immortality Surpasses Transience, Perfection Surpasses Immortality [1]

3.14b6-3.16a9

The Perfected Man of Grand Primordiality [Mao Ying] Lady Wang, the Right Blossom of Cloudy Grove The Primal Lord of Purple Vacuity and the Southern Marchmount [Wei Huacun] The Ninefold Florescent Perfected Consort The Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity [Lord Pei] The Perfected Man of Purple Yang [Zhou Yishan] The Perfected Man of Tongbo [Wangzi Qiao] Lady Li, the Displayer of Numina In the preceding, eight persons. The night of the seventeenth day of the twelfth month.

FASCICLE THREE / 221

[2] Song lyric of the Numinous Consort in the Upper Chamber of East Florescence, Fangzhu Palace224: At Purple Cassia225 is planted a garden of turquoise Where vermilion blooms sound “chee …chee …”226 From the Moon Palace emerge flowerbud springs, And inside the sun there is a rose-gem pool. On the left, I pluck up the round numinous dazzler;227 On the right, I tug at the brilliance of cinnabar aurorae. When my fluid gold [bells] sparkle in the crimson court,228 My eight Lights vanish into whorls of mist, And my green canopy floats in the clearbright [air] As I tap my staff to command [voyage to] Grand Tenuity,229 Where essence of phoenix230 rejuvenates my beauteous complexion, And the fatty meat of exquisite jade sates hunger forever.231

224 This woman, usually called the Jade Consort of East Florescence Chun Wenqi (Donghua yufei Chun Wenqi 東華玉妃淳文期), is Lord Blue Lad’s younger sister (ZG 13.5a4). She is among the female Perfected of the second tier (WYT 1.6b10). The variant form of her title here makes identification difficult, and in fact Du Guangting, in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.5b8-6b3, where her entire poem is cited, lists her separately from other likely candidates and incorrectly comments that her name, practices, and deeds are not elsewhere revealed. However, ZG 10.1b6-2a7 and 13.5a9-5b9 describe her absorption of pneumas and mists, which is also the concern of much of the present poem. Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2), 2.19b3-20b4 repeats her basic teaching, with additional commentary. 225 Purple Cassia (Zigui 紫桂) is a palace on the Mystic Continent. WYT 1.5a9 states that it is the seat of the Highest Venerable of the Immortal Metropolis of the Mystic Continent (Xuanzhou xiandu taishang zhangren 玄洲仙都太上丈人). It figures prominently in Wang Bao’s biography (YJQQ 106.4a9-6a8). The garden of turquoise is not mentioned elsewhere. 226 Vermilion blooms (zhuhua 朱華) are likely a kind of polypore—its counterpart is the blooming Hidden Polypore (yinzhi 隱芝) in the poem below. It becomes a place name only in later writings, e.g., commentary to Taiqing zhonghuang zhenjing (DZ 817), 2.10a7-10 (also YJQQ 13.30b7-9). The Mystic Continent also has an abundance of polypores; Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.2b8-3a2; trl. Smith 1992, 2:540-41. The onomatopoetic term qiqi 悽悽 signifies pure, natural harmony. In Lüshi chunqiu, the sound qiqi 淒淒 is produced by winds true to the eight directions (Lau and Chen 1992d, 5.5/26/20-21; trl. Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 148). 227 The round dazzler is the sun; see n. 78 above. 228 The crimson court (jiangting 絳庭), like Crimson Palace (Jianggong 絳宮), is the heart (Fascicle Two, n. 220). 229 Grand Tenuity (Taiwei) is one of the three large Enclosures (yuan) or sections in the night sky; the others are Purple Tenuity and the Heavenly Market (Tianshi 天市). 230 “Essence of phoenix” (fengjing 鳳精) is not mentioned elsewhere. Perhaps it is related to phoenix brain (see n. 116 above). 231 The DZ text writes “flesh” (ji 肌 ), but texts citing this line write “hunger” (ji 飢 ): YJQQ 96.4b4; Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.6a5; Taishang dongxuan lingbao zhenwen yaojie

222 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Controlling [the reins of] dawn, I bow to Grand Simplicity And ride a gust to soar over steps of jade. As I exhale and inhale pneumas of the six numina,232 Jade ladies follow, cloths in hand. With a tap on the ao, clouds are fanned south, And a fragrant wind puffs out my brocade robe. As the note shang is struck, the hundred beasts dance,233 And the Six Heavens234 check the spirits’ might. At a swift streak—the innumerable toon-springs, For eons of age looming majestically, magnificently! [But] the little fish not yet cooked in the cauldron235 Bespeak the sorrows below my cliff.A

[3] Song lyric from inside the Palace of North Clearwaters236 by the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity, Grand Tenuity237: shangjing (DZ 330), 1.15a1. The phrase also partly echoes ZG 3.3a5. On the “fatty meat of exquisite jade,” see n. 85 above. 232 The “pneumas of the six numina” (liulingqi 六靈氣), i.e., the Six Pneumas (liuqi 六氣), relate to the spirits governing the body’s organs. Other definitions for the Six Pneumas (HDC 2:39-40) relate to atmospheric phenomena. The DZ preserves many methods for exhaling and inhaling the Six Pneumas, variously defined. SK 131n11 cites a passage from a later scripture, Zhongshan yugui fuqi jing 中山玉櫃服氣經 (Scripture in the Jade Cabinet of Zhongshan on Ingesting the Pneumas), preserved in YJQQ 60.2a4-2b3, 3b8-9 and YJQQ 83.2a2-2b1, 3b6-7, which reads, “The hundred spirits guard and protect [the form]; the six numina protect it below.” 百神守衛，六靈潛護。 Its commentary links the hundred spirits to the five viscera (wuzang) and the six numina to the “six discerners” (liushi 六識; eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and consciousness), and by extension, the six receptacles (liufu 六府). 233 A performance on stone chimes is suggested. “Shun dian” 舜典 (The Canon of Shun), Shangshu: “Kui said, ‘Oh! I strike the stones and pat the stones, and the hundred beasts all dance.’” 夔曰，於，予擊石拊石，百獸率舞. Cf. Legge 1994, 3:47-49. 234 The Six Heavens (Liutian), also known as Fengdu 酆都, Mount Luofeng (Luofeng shan 羅酆山), Grand Yin (Taiyin 太陰 ), and the Citadel of Night (Yecheng 夜城 ), is a distant northern isle. It has six palaces where the dead are interrogated and judged, and it is governed by the spirits of fearsome dead generals (Strickmann 1979, 180; Robinet 2000, 215-16). 235 An allusion to Laozi, ch. 60: “Governing a large country is like cooking a small fish.” 治 大國若烹小鮮。 Laozi, 2.14b8 (Sibu beiyao); SK 131-32n15. 236 The Palace of North Clearwaters (Beiting gong 北渟宫) is probably a northern counterpart to Eight Clearwaters (n. 60 above) or East Clearwaters (Dongting 東渟) in ZG 4.4a7. 237 The Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity, Grand Tenuity speaks twice to Yang Xi (ZG 6.8b8-9a10, 9.23a3-6). She appears in the 12th stanza (pertaining to the gall bladder) and commentary of the Shangqing dadong zhenjing (DZ 6; Robinet, A.1), 3.10b1. There she is named Qizhu 啟珠 (“Revealer of Pearls”), and a comment (3.9a1) states the Perfected presiding over that organ is the Lord of the Combined Lights of the Eight Perfected (Bazhen hejing jun 八真合景君 ); his style, significantly, is Dark Essence of the Northern Terrace (Beitai xuanjing 北臺玄精). WYT 1.6b5 puts her with the female Perfected of the second tier.

FASCICLE THREE / 223

The densecloud cover is not the Perfected void: Grand Non-being is our dwelling. Surely the mystic dukes have no [worldly] longings! Only the bound and benighted are subject to reproach.238 A plummeting phoenix, I steer through purple aurorae; I lift the reins and climb the shores of dawn. Still, silent—the boundless expanse; Radiant, brilliant—the view from the vault of space. When Hidden Polypore239 blooms on Phoenix Hill,240 I hang back, hesitating, at the verge of the turquoise grove.241 Dragon Foetus242 changes this form [of mine] to a baby; The Eight Gems243 return it to my day of birth. 238 The “mystic dukes” (xuangong 玄公) may be those who govern the Mystic Metropolis, which is governed by “immortal earls and Perfected dukes” (xianbo zhengong 仙伯真公) in Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.2b9-10; trl. Smith 1992, 2:540. This couplet is later echoed in the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity’s statement against emotional attachments in ZG 6.8b9-9a10. 239 Most important among the many kinds of Hidden Polypore (yinzhi 隱芝) is Hidden Polypore of the Grand Ultimate, partly described in ZG 5.15a5-15b2 and listed among the medicines of Jade Clarity in what was a portion of Xiaomo jing (Robinet, A.22) in Daoji jing, as cited in WSMY 78.5b7. ZG 13.8a4 mentions a “five-colored Hidden Polypore.” In his esoteric biography (Robinet, C.10), Mao Ying receives one with four segments; Maoshan zhi (DZ 304), 5.10b10-11a1; also Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 1.19a2-3, YJQQ 114.14b1; trl. Cahill 2006, 67. The commentary to the 5th stanza of Huangting neijing yujing (Robinet, A.34) makes it the fluid of the five viscera (YJQQ 11.18b10-19a3). It becomes an alternate name for the Tree of Ringed Adamant (huan’gang shu 鐶剛樹) in Taiwei lingshu ziwen langgan huadan shenzhen shangjing (DZ 255; Robinet, A.10), 1.6a4-5. 240 Phoenix Hill (Fengqiu 鳳丘), probably Phoenix Mountain (Fengshan 鳳山) in reducing perspective, would be located in the distant south, the direction of the “vermilion bird.” 241 The turquoise grove (yaolin 瑤林) refers back to the northern “turquoise garden” of the previous poem; the couplet features a south-north contrast. Such groves are a stock feature of paradisal realms. 242 Dragon Foetus (longtai 隆胎 ) is one of the potent elixirs described in the now-lost Baojian jing (Robinet, A.15), but relevant excerpts are preserved in ZG 14.16b7-8 and Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 665.1a7 (discussed in Strickmann 1979, 131-34). In part of Xiaomo zhihui jing (Robinet, A.22) cited in WSMY 78.4a8, the elixir is listed under the name “Black Foetus of the Barred Dragon” (banlong heitai 班龍黑胎) among other medicines of Higher Clarity. In Baopuzi neipian’s list of Daoist books and talismans is one Dragon Foetus talisman title (Wang Ming 1995, 19.335). The immortal Master Horseneigh (Maming sheng 馬鳴生) is also said in later versions of his biography to hear of Dragon Foetus from a Perfected woman (YJQQ 98.3b5-7; Campany 2002, 325-26). A partial discussion of Dragon Foetus’ formation through solar efflorescences is found in a Song era Inner Alchemy scripture, Jiuhuan qifan longhu jindan xili zhenjue 九還七返龍虎金丹析理真訣 (True Method Explaining the Theory of the Nine-Tmes Transformed and Seven-Times-Transformed Dragon-and-Tiger Elixir; DZ 229), 1.2b10-3a4, though to what extent this reflects early Higher Clarity belief is uncertain. 243 The Eight Gems (baqiong 八瓊) are elixir ingredients. A commentary to the 33rd stanza of the Huangting neijing yujing (Robinet, A.34) lists them: cinnabar, realgar, orpiment, nodular malachite, sulfur, mica, Turkestan salt, and saltpeter (YJQQ 12.18b6-8). Together, they go into an elixir called the Volatized Essence of the Eight Gems (baqiong feijing 八瓊飛精), Eight

224 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Malachite blossoms thrive in palaces of jade; Delicate flowers glitter on soaring cliffs. [Like] the peng244 that fans [its wings] to pass over countless peaks, I beat the feather-shafts, lift empyrean quills,245 [For] the west court246 commands [from me] a long song: I tap the cloudy ao while riding the void, [Whereupon] the eight winds twist around green eaves, Thickets of mist suddenly disperse, Numinous lads throw [bells of] fluid gold,247 Grand Tenuity reveals the records in its wall,248 [Lady] Three Primes249 rises and bends her waist [in dance], And the Purple Sovereign waves a sleeve in praise.250 Gems Elixir (baqiong dan 八瓊丹), or more ambiguously, Gem Essence (qiongjing 瓊精). The immortal Juanzi 涓子 states that one who wishes to become Perfected must first consume pills of Eight Gems Elixir; Xuanzhou shangqing Su jun zhuan 玄洲上卿蘇君傳 (Biography of Lord Su, Senior Minister of the Mystic Continent; Robinet, C.6) in YJQQ 104.2a10-2b2. Other Higher Clarity texts speak of drinking it. 244 The peng 鵬, the bird of Zhuangzi’s opening pages, transforms from a fish in the “northern darkness” and flies south; Guo Qingfan 1983, 1A.2-7 (ch. 1); trl. Watson 1968, 29-30. 245 I read the first character of this line in the DZ text, fu 撫 (“stroke”), as an alternate form of fu 拊 (“beat”). The close resemblance between this phrase and others describing celestial travels (e.g., ZG 3.7b4 and 3.10a3-4 above) suggests that the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity is using the peng metaphorically to describe her own flight from the north. The empyrean quill (xiaohan 霄翰) also appears in a poem by Zong Qin 宗欽 (d. 450), where it describes the display of outstanding literary talent in the court: “…hand waving an empyrean quill” 手揮霄翰. See Wei Shou 魏收 (506-572), Wei shu 魏書 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1974), 52.1155. In other words, the Lady of the Left is getting ready to compose the lyric for the song in the next line—the couplet is not only a description of the peng’s flight. 246 “West court” (xiting 西庭) informally refers to the Queen Mother at Mount Kunlun. 247 The “numinous lads” (lingtong 靈童) are jade lads. The act of throwing bells recalls a tale in Shishuo xinyu concerning the reception of Sun Chuo’s You Tiantai shan fu. Sun’s contemporary exclaimed that if someone were to throw (zhi 擲) the text down to the ground, it would produce the sound of metal (jin 金) and stone—that is, bells and stone chimes (in Yu Jiaxi 1993, 4.267; trl. Richard Mather 2002, 137). Keeping in mind that fluid gold bells are themselves talismans, they are a suitable parallel for the “records” mentioned in the next line. 248 This alludes to a tale of how musical sounds signaled the presence of books hidden in a wall. Liu Yu 劉餘 (d. 128 BCE) was having part of Confucius’ old home demolished when the sound of bells, stone chimes, and zithers was heard. Ancient texts were then found in the wall (Ban Gu, Han shu, 53.2414). Grand Tenuity is a kind of “enclosure” (n. 229 above). 249 Here “Three Primes” refers to a Perfected woman named Feng Shuangli 馮雙禮. In Nanyue Wei furen neizhuan (Robinet C.11), as cited from Daoji jing in WSMY 20.11a10-14a6, she appears in the climax of the performance to celebrate Wei Huacun’s elevation (20.13a3b2; also YJQQ 96.8a1-11b1). Her biography in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 2.15a5-16a4 is based on that passage. WYT 1.6b1 lists her among the female Perfected on the second tier. 250 Recall “My hand tugs the Purple Sovereign’s sleeve” (ZG 3.12a8) above. “Waves a sleeve” (hui mei 揮袂) is used in Cao Zhi’s “Qi qi” 七啟 (Seven Communications): “If he

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Brightly, brilliantly—the Lights are fanned to coruscating; Candently, lucently, the Evenstar sparkles. As my curtained carriage rises, a trembling bright blade, A downward glance causes me regret. I look back in sorrow at the ranks of earthbound immortals251: Why are they perched in woods and gullies? In the night of the seventeenth day of the twelfth month, the Perfected Man of Grand Primordiality and Director of Destinies [Mao Ying] wrote out these poems, saying that they are songs from the inner chambers of Blue Lad’s palace, and that they are always to be intoned in praise to harmonize one’s spirits.B For the previous three passages, there is calligraphy by Yang. A Among Lord Yang’s notes is written, “Amidst the red pneumas of the east is one who says, ‘The little fish not yet cooked in the cauldron / Bespeak 252 the sorrows below my cliffs.’”253 Surely he consulted with the Director of Destinies about this matter. Therefore in reply [the Director] recited this poem and went on to the following piece. B Of this night’s descent and gathering of a multitude of Perfected, only this calligraphy is preserved, and nothing of the remainder has appeared. Later on, the discourse on “outstanding allotment” from the dingmao year is also dated the seventeenth day of the twelfth month [January 22, 368].254 This is probably only a coincidence. The particular event above must not have occurred in the [ding]mao year.

Comments On this night, as many as eight Perfected persons appear before Yang Xi, but as Tao Hongjing’s notes make clear, these poems are the only things preserved from this night’s discussions. In an earlier note dated the “twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month” or December 23, 365 (found in ZG 17.5a3-6), Yang had recorded snatches of songs heard in a dream. Tao conjectures that Yang had then asked the Perfected for more detail, and that as a consequence, during tonight’s visit, Mao Ying reveals to him the full poem and its companion piece. The singers themselves are not present.

waves his sleeve, wind is generated in the nine wildernesses.” 揮袂則九野生風。 Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 34.30b6 (Sibu congkan); SK 132n26. Hence the fanning action in the next line. 251 In Baopuzi neipian (Wang Ming 1995, 2.20; trl. Ware 1966, 47), earthbound immortals (dixian 地仙) are middle-ranking immortals, below heavenly immortals (tianxian 天仙) who can ascend bodily and above “immortals who escape by means of an apparent corpse” (shijiexian 尸解仙); SK 132n28. Immortal ranks are discussed in detail in Li Fengmao 1996. 252 The DZ text of ZG here repeats “bespeaks” (yan 言)—an obvious scribal error. 253 This appears in ZG 17.5a3-4. 254 This refers to ZG 4.12b8-13b3. SK 131 incorrectly gives the Western date 367.

226 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

We have not yet encountered either singer—the Numinous Consort in the Upper Chamber of East Florescence, Fangzhu Palace (also known as Chun Wenqi, the younger sister of Lord Blue Lad) and the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity, Grand Tenuity. There is no indication that the Numinous Consort ever deigns to array her image before Yang Xi, even though her teachings circulate in the world, but the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity appears to Yang on at least two occasions (ZG 6.8b8-9a10 and 9.23a3-6). Both women are concerned with the absorption of pneumas and mists. The Numinous Consort’s instruction on a basic technique of pneuma absorption appears three times in ZG and Dengzhen yinjue, but the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity has the distinction of being mentioned also in the Dadong zhenjing, the core scripture of Higher Clarity—in which visualization of the Perfected spirits in the body is followed by the absorption of pneumas, which are then guided to various organs and throughout the body. Both of her other statements in the ZG also emphasize freeing oneself from sentimental attachments, which she likens to fetters. Consequently, what the two women say in these poems is entirely in character with what else is known about them. Pneumas, mists, and visualizations dominate both poems. In the second couplet of the second poem, the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity echoes her other statements on sentimental attachments when she says, “Surely the mystic dukes have no [worldly] longings! / Only the bound and benighted are subject to reproach.” In the end, the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity more or less “trumps” the Numinous Consort, much as Lady Purple Prime trumps the other Perfected in the sequence on dependency and non-dependency. The Numinous Consort ends her poem by considering the sorrowful condition of the ordinary people below her cliff (“little fish not yet cooked in the cauldron”), but the Lady of the Left ends by sorrowing over earthbound immortals who continue living in the woods and gullies. It is her oblique way of indicating that the Numinous Consort’s technique will lead to immortality, but not necessarily to Perfection. The general thrust of the poems, therefore, is quite clear: immortality surpasses transience, Perfection surpasses immortality. Even so, there are a number of passages in each poem that nearly defy understanding, or demand mind-bending explanations. Consider the opening couplet of the first: “At Purple Cassia is planted a turquoise garden / Where vermilion blooms sound ‘chee…chee…’” The only certainties here are that there is a turquoise garden in Purple Cassia Palace, located on the Mystic Continent in the distant north, and that there is a pleasantly harmonious sound coming from vermilion flowers. The ordinary, straightforward interpretation would be that the couplet describes an otherworldly blue garden with deep red flowers that rustle in the breeze. But what about those “vermilion blooms”? If we read “Vermilion Bloom” as the name of another palace (which is entirely possible), then the couplet should read, “At Purple Cassia is planted a turquoise garden, / And Vermilion Bloom sounds ‘chee… chee…’” That is not very sat-

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isfying, but consider now the beginnings of the next few lines: “From the Moon Palace…” (yue gong 月宫), “Inside the sun…” (ri zhong 日中), “On the left…” (zuo 左), “On the right…” (you 右). All of these point to various places or directions, thus making it more likely that “vermilion blooms” are another directional indicator—to the south, associated with red, fire, and the vermilion bird (zhuque 朱雀). Therefore, the extraordinary interpretation, and the one I favor, is that when the Numinous Consort stands in Purple Cassia’s turquoise garden, she hears the wind blow through the flowers on the other side of the world. She gathers to herself all of the wonderful emanations, efflorescences, and excrescences from the sun, moon, and four directions. In the next few lines, she no sooner makes an appearance in the crimson court (the heart—the term serves as a reminder that everything is also taking place on the physiological plane) than she vanishes again to more rarified domains, where she absorbs more airy fare and passes more otherworldly courts. Before long she becomes part of a musical performance in which even single notes have distant repercussions. She may be performing in a celestial court, but the notes reach as far as the underworld (the Six Heavens). Thus she busily fills her days. When she says, “At a swift streak—the innumerable toonsprings,/ For eons of age looming majestically, magnificently!” there is no way really to determine whether she is referring to the majestic toon trees that she races past on her carriage or to the awesome “toon-springs” of age that she so swiftly accumulates. She may mean both at once. The two prefatory couplets of the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity’s poem recall the earlier debate on dependency, which touched on how the Perfected live as Being within Non-being, as well as her statements elsewhere on the necessity of cutting off sentimental attachments. The main body of her poem begins with the third and fourth couplets, in which she masterfully drives her chariot through a plunging descent, then a steady climb into the clouds of dawn, then upward to space, where she surveys the world in its brilliance. She goes on to ingest rare emanations from the world’s far quarters, much like the Numinous Consort had done, only this time they have a more alchemical flavor: Hidden Polypore, Dragon Foetus, the Eight Gems, and so on. The effect of Dragon Foetus, predictably enough, is that it causes one’s form to revert to a baby (by contrast, the Numinous Consort’s phoenix essence only causes her complexion to turn childlike). This is where we encounter the counterpart of the Numinous Consort’s first couplet: “When Hidden Polypore blooms on Phoenix Hill, / I hang back, hesitating, at the verge of the turquoise grove.” Once again, the place names are rather ambiguous, but the “extraordinary” interpretation would place Phoenix Hill in the south (the vermilion bird again) and the turquoise grove in the north: the Lady of the Left is somehow aware of the blossoming on the other side of the world, even though the polypore is hidden. The Numinous Consort hears, the Lady of the Left simply knows. The next few couplets describe a kind of musical performance in motion. The west court (i.e., the Queen Mother of the West at Kunlun) commands a

228 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

long song, so while the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity rides the void, she taps the cloudy ao (a gong tree). Perhaps her “long song” consists of a single tap. In any case, its repercussions extend through the Perfected realm, which culminates with the Purple Sovereign waving his sleeve and fanning the heavenly lights to coruscating brilliance. The Numinous Consort’s performance may reach to the underworld, but the Lady of the Left’s touches the stars. The conclusions of the poems also contrast. The Numinous Consort ends at her cliff, but the Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity continues on her sharp vertical ascent. The first sorrows over mere mortals, the second over earthbound immortals. With their alternating views of different levels of the other world, the two poems provide a broader look into that world. Within the context of ZG’s main story, they help prepare Yang and the Xus for the kind of world they will soon enter. Rhymes: (1) -ej, -je, -+j, -oj, -ij, -aj, -jwe, -jeH; (2) -anH, -an, -inH.

Two Fantastic Glosses to The Hidden Script of the Divine Tiger (undated)

3.16a10-3.16b10

[1]

“The mystery of mysteries is at once spread forth.”255 The commentary to this states: “Therefore the mystery of mysteries takes the eight winds as bellows and blow-tube,256 heaven and earth as dikes, the four seas as pots, and the Nine Regions as chaff. 257 It augments [these things] with the myriad different

255 This quotes from the first of the two songs comprising Shenhu yinwen (Robinet, A.22), the existence of which was revealed to Yang Xi during his betrothal. The preserved version of the text, Dongzhen taishang shenhu yinwen 洞真太上神虎隱文 (Dongzhen Hidden Writ of the Divine Tiger of the Most High; DZ 1334, Robinet, A.22), 1.2b9, replaces “at once” (ji 即) with the particle nuo 那, turning the line into a question: “How is the mystery of mysteries spread forth?” However, in ZG 17.1a10 and Dongzhen taishang shuo zhihui xiaomo zhenjing (DZ 1344, Robinet, A.22), 2b3, the wording matches the present version. The “mystery of mysteries” (xuanxuan 玄玄) derives from Laozi, ch. 1 (see n. 1 above). 256 The word guan 關 here should be the tuo 槖 of “bellows and blow-tube” (tuoyue 槖籥), on the basis of ZG 17.1a10 and Laozi, ch. 5 (Fascicle Two, n. 14). 257 The combination of “chaff” (bikang 粃糠 ) with “shaping and casting” (taozhu 陶鑄 ) below recalls a passage in Zhuangzi’s first chapter: “He is a man whose dust and chaff can still be shaped and cast into a Yao or Shun.” 是其塵垢粃糠，將猶陶鑄堯舜者也。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 1A.31; cf. Watson 1968, 34. The juxtaposition of the four seas with the Nine Regions also appears in Zhuangzi (Guo, 6B.563-4 [ch. 17]; Watson, p. 176), but the phrasing most closely resembles a memorial to the throne by Liu An 劉安 (179-122 BCE): “Your Majesty takes the four seas as borders, the Nine Regions as home, the Eight Wildernesses as game pens, and the Yangzi and Han Rivers as ponds.” 陛下以四海爲境，九州爲家，八藪爲

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things258 and kindles them with yin and yang—such are its shaping and casting. It fills and swells the dust-whirl 259 with steady, wavering, clear, and murky [sounds];260 different images and categories [of things] are exhaled and inhaled, spat out and combined.”261 “The rutilant cypress blossom.”262 The commentary to this states: [2] “The nine-striped beast is a divine bird. It stays put in the midst of flocks of ferocious creatures while it cunningly slips among swift, wondrous ones.263 A thousand years do not suffice to exhaust its transformations, the myriad different things do not suffice to fit its innards, the sun and moon do not suffice to shine upon its eyebrows,264 and the Eight Marshes265 do not suffice to accommodate its feet. [For it, distant] bluish clouds are low, [heaven’s] nine tiers are shallow, the Eight Cords266 little, and the four poles near. It is inconstant in its transformations and movements [but] is forever going into a mustard seed.

囿，江漢爲池。 Ban Gu, Han shu, 64A.2784. The eight winds, Nine Regions, and many

other things mentioned here are discussed in Huainanzi’s fourth chapter, on geography. 258 This phrase recalls the opening statement of Baopuzi neipian: “The mysterious is the originating ancestor of nature and the Great Progenitor of the myriad different things.” 玄 者，自然之始祖，而萬殊之大宗也。 Wang Ming 1995, 1.1; cf. Ware 1966, 28. 259 The dust-whirl (chuilei 炊累 ) is in Zhuangzi: “[The gentleman] is carefree and casual, nonpurposive in action, and the myriad things become as a dust-whirl.” 從容无爲而萬物炊累 焉。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 4C.369 (ch. 11); cf. Watson 1968, p. 116; SK 134n4. 260 The adjectives may refer to “firm, pliant, clear, and turbid [things],” but I believe they best describe sounds. Guanren jie 官人解 (Explanations on Officials) in Yi Zhou shu 逸周書 (Lost Documents of the Zhou) reads: “The pneumas initially engender beings, and once beings are engendered they have voices—voices that are steady, wavering, clear, and murky.” 氣初生物，物生有聲，聲有剛柔清濁。Lau and Chen 1992e, 58/32/20-21. The sounds also form a suitable parallel to the “images” of the next phrase. 261 In the ZG 17.1b3 version: “…exhaled and inhaled, held in and spat out.” 呼吸含吐。 262 The ZG writes, “The revered white blossom” (gong borong 恭伯榮) but in both Dongzhen taishang shenhu yinwen (DZ 1334; Robinet, A.22), 1.2b3 and Dongzhen taishang shuo zhihui xiaomo zhenjing (DZ 1344, Robinet, A.22), 2.2a10, the couplet of which this phrase is part reads, “The Way conceals the golden Polestar’s color; / The pellet fells the rutilant cypress blossom.” 道藏金極章，彈調赫栢榮。 The general context is a description of a nonesuch paradisal realm with backward-flowing rivers and so on, so the paradoxical reading in these scriptures is preferable by far (since when does a conifer blossom?). 263 ZG 17.1b4-5: “When the net goes up, this [animal] stays in flocks and pairs; grab for it and it emerges between the swift and the wondrous.” 罔起，此在乎群麗，擥搰乎激竒之際。 264 This contrasts with a line in Huainanzi: “Shining on it [i.e., the earth] are the sun and moon.” 昭之以日月。 Lau and Chen 1992c, 4/32/8; cf. Major et al. 2010, 154. 265 The Eight Marshes (baze 八澤 ), according to Huainanzi, are located around China’s Nine Regions (jiuzhou), with one for each of the eight directions (Lau and Chen 1992c, 4/33/21-5; trl. Major et al. 2010, 157-58; SK 134n7). 266 The Eight Cords (bahong 八紘) lie beyond the Eight Marshes; Lau and Chen 1992c, 4/34/1-4; trl. Major et al. 2010, 158 (which calls them the “eight outlying regions”).

230 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

It is the jade treasure of the Jade Luminaries, 267 the mighty spirit of Grand Tenuity.”A/268 These two passages are explanations of phrases in The Hidden Script of the Divine Tiger. It is not known which Perfected disclosed them. They are also undated. They are written together in two [different] hands. A

Comments Recall that during Yang Xi’s betrothal, he catches sight of the title Yuqing shenhu neizhen ziwen danzhang (The Inner Perfected Purple Script and Cinnabar Emblems of the Divine Tiger of Jade Clarity) on the tag sealing the embroidered book-satchel carried by one of the Perfected Consort An’s maids. Later on, during his marriage, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount mentions the scripture again and says, “If you, with such a fine talent, were to ask to copy it, of course she [Consort An] wouldn’t hide it from you.” Again, once an adept knows of the existence of a scripture, the Perfected are obligated to reveal it, so it is probable that Yang receives the Shenhu (Divine Tiger) right after his marriage. By the time his mother-in-law appears, Yang can recognize the relevant talismans on her belt ornaments (ZG 3.1a6). We learn elsewhere that Xu Mi copies out the talismans (ZG 8.13b6) and that Yang Xi writes a letter to Xu Mi describing the revelation of the Shenhu commentary, which had not existed in the world, taking place “last month” (quyue 去月; ZG 14.14a10-14b1) in an unspecified year. It is likely that Xu Mi had found the scripture baffling and asked for some explanations. Both of the short scriptural passages shown here are paradoxical. Since when is the “mystery of mysteries” set forth in clarity? Since when do conifers such as cypress trees produce brilliant flowers? These references to the Shenhu in ZG are a bit confusing, because there are two Higher Clarity scriptures that go by that title. Do these ZG passages refer to the one with the two hymns, Dongzhen taishang shenhu yinwen (DZ 1334; Robinet, A.22), or to the one with the talismans, Dongzhen taishang shenhu yujing? 267 The Jade Luminaries (yuchen 玉晨) are the Seven Dazzlers (qiyao): sun, moon, and five visible planets. An incantation in Taishang feixing jiuchen yujing (DZ 428; Robinet, A.24), 1.5b10 and YJQQ 20.6a3 (cited in SK 134n9) reads: “The nine stars of the heavenly consorts [the Dipper’s nine stars] / Concentrate pneuma and are joined in Perfection. / The Seven Dazzlers winding around / Are called the Jade Luminaries.” 天妃九星，凝氣結真，七曜纏 絡，號曰玉晨。 The term may refer also to their deities and palaces, e.g., in Shangqing dadong zhenjing (DZ 6; Robinet, A.1), 3.15a6, WYT 1.3a2, WSMY 22.10a3-5. 268 For Grand Tenuity, see n. 229 above. The phrase, “mighty spirit of Grand Tenuity” (Taiwei zhi wei shen 太微之威神), echoes a line in Yang Xiong’s Ganquan fu 甘泉賦 (Rhapsody on Sweet Springs Palace): “… befits the Hanging Gardens of the Thearch’s abode, / And images the mighty spirit of Grand Unity.” 配帝居之懸圃兮，象泰壹之威神。 From Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 7.7a1-2 (Sibu congkan); cf. Knechtges 1987, 25; SK 134n10.

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(DZ 1333; Robinet, A.33). In my opinion, it seems that the explanation is right before us in the title as Yang had originally seen it: “The Inner Perfected Purple Script and Cinnabar Emblems.” One part consists of script (revealed through recitation), the other of emblems (talismans). Therefore, whenever the Shenhu is mentioned, it can mean either, or both. Yang Xi received both parts, but the commentary in the present section goes with the two hymns. These two glosses are the only part of the commentary that reached Tao Hongjing’s hands, and perhaps no more had been revealed. He was able to find two exemplars, each written in “two different hands” (he does not say whose; the other appears in ZG 17.1a10-1b10). In this one, the division between the two tiao passages inexplicably separates the second passage from its commentary; in the other, there is no division. There are, moreover, a number of minor variants between the two versions, which probably led Tao to preserve both. In his commentary to the other version, Tao adds that some of it is derived, with minor modification, from what he calls Yang Xiong’s “discourse on the operations of the mystery” 玄為論 (ZG 17.1b10). However, only the commentary to the first passage may be said to relate generally to Yang Xiong’s Taixuan jing 太玄經 (Classic on the Grand Mystery) and what it says about the “mysterious” (xuan 玄). I believe that Tao refers to the opening of one of Yang Xiong’s autocommentaries to Taixuan jing, called “Xuanli” 玄攡 (“Evolution of the Mystery”).269 The ZG passage does not cite it directly, but the underlying concepts are similar. The mystery of mysteries is, in essence, the Way. The commentary to the second passage is a dazzling display of inspired nonsense. A certain “blossom” (the DZ text of the ZG calls it the “revered white blossom,” but I believe the “rutilant cypress blossom” that appears elsewhere in the DZ is greatly to be preferred, since it would more likely provoke a question) is called a beast, but it is also a bird. It is vast and inconstant in its transformations, but it is always squeezing into a mustard seed. Each phrase is balanced with another that deliberately confounds it. Both glosses draw widely from other sources: Zhuangzi, Laozi, Huainanzi, a memorial to the throne by the historical Liu An, Yi Zhou shu, Yang Xiong’s Ganquan fu (Rhapsody on the Sweet Springs Palace), and so on. The glossed lines from Dongzhen taishang shenhu yinwen (DZ 1334; Robinet, A.22) are taken from the first of the two hymns but appear in reverse order: the second actually should come first.

269 The relevant passage may be found in Yang Xiong, Taixuan jing 太玄經, 7.5a3-5b7 (Sibu congkan); trl. Nylan 1993, 429.

232 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Xu Mi Responds to the Revelation of His Previous Life (probably midto late January, 366) [1]

3.17a1-3.18a1

“Milord speaks in trepidation and fear: “‘Your benevolence and Virtue spread their refulgence; your protection from on high is all-encompassing. Each time I send my feeble notes on the wing,270 your grace catches me in intricate, inextricable bonds. Your instructions include the sequence of “Wooing” and “Duration”; 271 our prescribed rendezvous will be a union in the mystic empyrean. Although I cautiously aspire to flourish on high as I contemplate your numinous declarations with gladness, privately I fear that my fitfully flickering,272 proximate radiance is unable to form a triad with the distant splendors of the Two Lights, that that tiny, tenebrous constellation of mine can scarcely mingle with the Seven Primes and their numinous aspect. The venerated and humble belong to different quarters, the high and low to contrasting positions. Whether looking up or down, I am lost, not knowing how to decide. “‘In general, persons of excellence are diligent about refining and polishing themselves,273 while devoted, loving persons worry about being lazy or indolent. This is why the great Changes [speaks of the gentleman being] “active and vigilant,”274 and why Confucius speaks with feeling of never tiring.275 Since accepting your teachings, I have purified my heart and exerted myself; I have been cleansed by contemplating the new. To encourage me with rewards, you have clearly shown me the wondrous sublimity of finding the Way; to restrain and admonish me, you have set out the basic acts of my previous life. It is lust and stinginess that have bereft me of a foundation, base impediments that have 270 “Notes on the wing” (hanyin 翰音) appears in Zhou yi and its commentaries to denote a rooster’s crowing: it rises to heaven but in vain—the rooster itself cannot fly to heaven. Xu Mi uses the term here in humility, to imply the feebleness of his own voice or words. Zhou yi, 6.8b3-5 (Sibu congkan); trl. Wilhelm 1969, 239 and 703; SK 136n1. 271 On these hexagrams, see Fascicle One, n. 172. The “mystic empyrean” of the next phrase also echoes ZG 2.18a9: “The Way prescribes union in the mystic empyrean.” 272 “Fitfully flickering” (yiyao 熠燿) elsewhere describes the light of fireflies, as in “Dong shan” 東山 (Eastern Hills) in Shi jing; trl. Legge 1994, 4:237; SK 136n4. 273 The term used for self-refinement is more literally “cutting and filing” (qiecuo 切磋); it derives from the poem “Qi ao” 淇奧 (The Banks of the River Qi) in Shi jing: “There is our accomplished prince— / Like [a treasure] cut and filed, / Like one sanded and polished.” 有 匪君子，如切如磋，如琢如磨。 Cf. Legge 1994, 4:91; SK 136n6. 274 This alludes to a passage on qian 乾 (hexagram no. 1) in Zhou yi. In Wilhelm’s translation: “All day long the superior man is creatively active. / At nightfall his mind is still beset with cares.” 君子終日乾乾，夕惕若厲。 Zhou yi, 1.1a5-6 (Sibu congkan); trl. Wilhelm 1969, 8; see also Legge 1964, 58, whence my “active and vigilant.” SK 136n7. 275 This refers to Lunyu 7.2: “I learn without wearying and teach others without tiring.” 學 而不厭，誨人不倦。 Cf. Legge, 1994, 1:195 and Waley 1938, 123; SK 136n8.

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chopped away at my Virtue.276 Even needles, moxa, medicinal herbs, and minerals offered by Bian Que, the physician of Lu,277 would not heal278 me. “‘Zizhang preserved the Sage’s teachings on the end of his sash,279 and Xi[men Bao] and Dong [Anyu] rectified themselves by wearing hide-strips and bow-strings,280 surely because they [thought to] use external devices to admonish their inner minds and to use righteousness to regulate their hearts. [But I] depend upon your pure instructions; I respectfully write them on my heart of cinnabar and store them in my six receptacles. 281 I “uphold them in the full ambit [of my affairs], never daring to let them slip from me.” 282 Would that my five obstacles283 melt away [as ice before] an oven door, and that during my seventh [and final] test the gale is stilled in the abyssal vale!284 “‘Soon I shall wander freely on the eastern mountains and finish my house in Dragon Grove 285 —a spiritual building, 286 secluded and solitary, set most deeply amid hills and gardens. Wondrous, cloud-harnessing friends will be invited into its courtyard; the Higher Perfected, dressed in plumes, will take

“Chopped away at my Virtue” (fa de 伐德) derives from “Bin zhi chu yan” 賓之出筵 (When the Guests First Approach the Mats) in Shi jing; trl. Legge 1994, 4:397; SK 136n9. 277 A more literal translation: “Even needles and moxa presented by the physician of Lu and medicinal herbs and minerals offered by Bian Que…” However, the “physician of Lu” (Lu yi 盧醫) and Bian Que 扁鵲 are the same person. Bian Que (fl. c. 500 BCE), a renowned physician from Lu (present-day Shandong) has a biography in Sima Qian, Shi ji, 105.2785-94. Xu Mi’s word choice in the second half of the sentence, however, indicates that he had in mind the story of Bian Que in Liezi, 5.13b5-14a8 (Siku quanshu); trl. Graham 1960, 106-07. 278 The word “heal” (yu 愈) is written in an alternate form (yu 喻 or “to please”). 279 Xu Mi alludes to Lunyu 15.5; trl. Legge 1994, 1:296 (SK 136n11). The “Sage” is Confucius, Zizhang 子張 one of his disciples. 280 Ximen Bao 西門豹, an official under Marquis Wen of Wei 魏文侯 (r. 424-387 BCE), is most famous for his creation of a large canal irrigation system and for stopping human sacrifices to a river deity. His biography is found in Sima Qian, Shi ji, 126.3211-14. Dong Anyu 董安于 (d. 496 BCE) was an official in Jin 晉; see Zuo zhuan (Duke Ding, year 13-14); trl. Legge 1994, 5:787-88; Sima Qian, Shi ji, 43.1786. Xu Mi’s statement is based on a passage in Han Feizi 韓非子; in Liao’s translation: “…Hsi-mên Pao, being quick-tempered, purposely wore hide on his feet to make himself slow; Tung An-yü, being slow-minded, wore bowstrings on his feet to make himself quick.” 西門豹之性急，故佩韋以緩之；董安于之心 緩，故佩弦以自急。Lau and Chen 1992a, 24/55/28-29; trl. Liao 1959, 2:259; SK 136n12. 281 The six receptacles (liufu 六腑) are the stomach, small and large intestines, gall bladder, bladder, and “triple burner” (sanjiao 三焦)—the hollow yang organs. They are often paired with the five viscera (wuzang): heart, lungs, spleen, liver, and kidneys—the solid yin organs. 282 Xu Mi quotes from Zuo zhuan (n. 138 above). 283 On the five obstacles, see Fascicle Two, n. 24. 284 On the seven tests, see n. 211 above. Xu Mi alludes to the last test that Zhang Ling gives his disciple: to jump from a cliff to pick peaches from a tree growing off the rock face. 285 Dragon Grove’s (Longlin 龍林) location is uncertain, but it would be one of the many wooded areas of Maoshan, the “eastern mountains.” Xu repeats his promise of ZG 2.22a1. 286 The meaning of “spiritual building” (linggou 靈搆) is explained in ZG 13.18b5-6: it is made by “vacating the physical form” (SK 136n13). 276

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their places in the hall. The golden [altar of] Ju[qu]287 will bestow the treasure of the five polypores;288 Blue-grey Billows will share delicacies that prolong my years.289 I expect290 to fulfill my morning and night’s desire. Pledging my vow, I dare not cast blame upon those of spiritual discernment. May you but briefly peruse this!’ “Milord speaks in trepidation and fear.”A For the previous piece, the Senior Aide directed Person B to copy it. This is the Senior Aide’s reply to Right Blossom’s poem, instructed on the twenty-eighth day of the seventh month prior [August 31, 365], “The world prizes sweetly scented intercourse,” and it responds appreciatively to the text above that discusses the matter of Xue Lü [January 13, 366]. It was still probably [written] during the twelfth month. A

Comments This section and the first few parts of Fascicle Four (i.e., ZG 3.17a1-4.3b6; I would also add the poems in ZG 4.7b7-8a3) make up a cluster of documents relating to a particular episode. Their separation into Fascicles Three and Four in the present text is unfortunate. Because the documentary record was incomplete, and what few documents had survived were somewhat disorderly, Tao Hongjing’s notes in these sections include many cautious qualifiers. It is plain, though, that Xu Mi is called away to the capital on official business, which causes him to miss an important date on the religious calendar, the second day of the twelfth month, or December 30, 365. That date marks a good time to Xu Mi uses an alternate name for Mount Juqu: Jujin 句金, which is an abbreviation explained in ZG 11.2b9-10. The golden altar is located inside the mountain’s cave-heaven. 288 Xu Mi refers not to the five polypores (wuzhi 五芝) of five different colors described in Shennong bencao jing 神農本草經 (Shennong’s Classic on Herbal Medicine), 1.24 (Congshu jicheng xinbian), but to the wondrous varieties specifically from Mount Juqu or Maoshan as described in Taiyuan zhenren Mao jun neizhuan (Robinet, C.10). Although they are mentioned in the biography itself (Maoshan zhi [DZ 304], 5.10b6-11a6), their detailed description is found among the materials appended to it. Variant forms of that passage are preserved in the following: Maoshan zhi, 19.1a5-1b10; Taiji zhenren jiuzhuan huandan jing yaojue 太極真人九轉還丹經 要訣 (Essential Instructions of the Scripture of the Reverted Elixir in Nine Cycles of the Perfected Man of the Grand Ultimate; DZ 889), 1.6b6-8a1; Li Fang et al., Taiping yulan, 718.7b7-9, 922.4a11-13, 986.3b1-8; the commentary by Li Xian 李賢 (651-684) and his contemporaries to Fan Ye, Hou Han shu, liezhuan 18B.1000 (n. 4); and elsewhere. 289 Xu Mi’s choice of “prolong years” (chang nian 長年) indicates he may have been thinking of the description of Blue-grey Billows and its life-prolonging minerals in Shizhouji, 1.9a8; trl. Smith 1992, 2:552-53. “Blue-grey Billows” refers to Lady Right Blossom. This phrase seems to respond to the poems of ZG 4.7b7-8a3, which are placed out of sequence. 290 The tongxingben replaces the verb “expect” (qi 期) with the particle “this” (si 斯), so that the sentence would mean, “This, then, is truly my desire both morning and night.” However, the verb better preserves the parallelism with the next phrase. 287

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enter Maoshan, for the Perfected hold a meeting there, and adepts can approach the three Lords Mao to ask them for immortality-bestowing polypores (ZG 11.13a1-13b7). If Xu Mi manages to get there in time and stay there, he may even expect to have audience with a special “guest from Tortoise Mountain,” that is, the Queen Mother of the West, who is planning a visit on the 23rd day of the first month (February 19, 366; ZG 4.2a5-6, 12.12b1-4). Therefore the Perfected are not at all pleased about Xu Mi’s absence. He cannot be away for very long, since the Perfected continue to give him poems and other instructions through the twelfth month (our January). The fact that the present letter is delivered through an aide does not mean that Xu Mi must still be absent at the time of its writing, but it does raise the question of why he could not present it himself. In the next section, which jumps back to December 28, 365, Mao Gu and Mao Zhong give him a tongue-lashing before his departure. However, the present letter deals mostly with things that the Perfected had told him earlier, and this is probably what leads Tao to place it before the other materials. Although Xu Mi sounds worried, he does not say a word here of missing important dates. Using his accustomed lofty style, he begins by sounding the usual notes on his own insignificance compared with the grandeur of the Perfected. A few sentences appear in the four-character unrhymed balanced phrases of the standard “self-account” or zichen speech form, as might be expected. He observes that Lady Right Blossom has sought to encourage him through wonderful descriptions of the Way while admonishing him by the revelation of his previous life. He argues that he has been diligent in trying to rectify himself. He recalls past figures who sought to rectify themselves using external devices or aids as constant reminders. Unlike them, he says, he has tried to inscribe the Perfected persons’ words on his heart, i.e., to internalize their teachings and always practice them. Once again, he promises that he will build his retreat in the mountains, in Maoshan. This time, however, judging from the term “spiritual building” (linggou 靈搆) that he uses, it becomes apparent that he does not necessarily mean the physical structure he will eventually build there (ZG 19.10a2-3) but his own body. The physical building is only a kind of analog for what he will be nurturing within himself. When he writes that “the golden [altar] of Ju[qu] will bestow the treasure of the five polypores,” he is responding to Mao Gu’s statement in the next section on the possibility that his absence will cause him to miss the opportunity to consume the five polypores. Xu Mi still wants to present himself in the best light possible; he still wishes to sound optimistic.

FASCICLE FOUR

_____________________________________________________________ Setting Scripts and Images into Motion, Fourth Part

December 28, 365 to January, 366: Smoothing Over a Conflict Between Worldly and Religious Life

4.1a4-4.2b5

[1]

“The immortals’ Way is solitary and silent—seeking it also makes people discouraged. How much more so when they continue searching for it in the boundless! [But] suppose that I were to direct the eastern mountains suddenly to have: Rock-marrow1 knotted firmly together, Purple polypore2 illumining the woods, The night-glower3 sparkling and candescent, Swallow-foetus4 coruscating on the summits, 1 Rock-marrow (shisui 石髓) or stalactite, also called “teats of stone bells” (shizhongru 石鐘 乳) or “earth-marrow” (disui 地髓), is a standard elixir consumed, for instance, by the immortals Lü Shang 呂尚 and Qiong Shu 邛疏 in Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.6a10, 1.9a6; trl. Kal-

tenmark 1953, 71-74, 84-85. 2 “Purple polypore” (zizhi 紫芝 ) describes a broad category of immortality-bestowing polypore. Wang Chong in Lunheng already refers to it as something eaten to attain immortality (Huang Hui 1983, 7.316 [ch. 24]; trl. Forke 1962, 1:339). Its luminescence and ability to stave off hunger is mentioned in the “Sihao zhi ge” 四皓之歌 (Song of the Four Whitehaired Men), preserved in Huangfu Mi’s 皇甫謐 (215-283) Gaoshi zhuan 高士傳 (Biographies of Lofty Recluses), 1.11a4 (Siku quanshu). It is classed as a life-prolonging “wood polypore” (muzhi 木芝) in Shennong bencao jing, 1.24 (Congshu jicheng xinbian). There are many other such references, making purple polypore a kind of stock elixir. 3 The “night-glower” is short for “night-glowing polypore” (yeguang zhi 夜光芝), one of the five Maoshan polypores (Fascicle Three, n. 288). Maoshan zhi (DZ 304), 19.1b5-9: “The fourth is the herb of night-glowing penetration. It is green in color, and its leaves resemble those of the cypress. The fruit, which is pure white, resembles the plum. It grows three to four feet tall. If you see its fruit at night, it is like moonlight that penetrates the entire room. There are nine fruits on each stalk. When one falls, in a moment it expands and becomes like a mirror-disk seven inches in diameter, and as it touches the earth it is somewhat more than one or two inches thick. Look at it in the night, and it turns like an ox-eye to stare at the viewer.” 第四夜光洞草，其色青，其葉似栢，實正白似李，高三四尺。夜視其實，如月光洞 照一室，一株九實，墮地，須臾轉大，如徑七寸鏡盤，著地厚一二寸許，夜視，如牛目動盻 以視人也。 Another phrase preserved in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 986.3b7, adds, “Eat one stalk to become an immortal official in Grand Clarity.” 服一株爲太清仙官。 4 “Swallow-foetus polypore” (yantai zhi 燕胎芝) is the third of the five Maoshan polypores.

Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 986.3b4-5, which preserves the description a bit better than Maoshan zhi (DZ 304), 19.1b4-5, states: “The third is swallow-foetus polypore. It is purple 236

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The ford of the numina5 completely manifest, [And] the Perfected throng chanting in neat array. Everyone going there would be able to pluck the mystic blossoms and gather the fatty meat of jade; they would pair up with heavenly immortals to dispel their cares. Before long they’d surely be uniting, going arm-in-arm in Grand Vacuity, and putting harnesses and traces on iridescent clouds! “Don’t you know that you must make an effort6 to proceed here on the second day [next month]7 and roam briefly among the mountains and lakes? If you were purposively to cut yourself off from your official and private affairs, wouldn’t you obtain [just] one fruit? “Now the reason you are hindered by laxness is certainly that you are inwardly conjecturing about [our existence] between Being and Non-being. If you treat me thinking that I don’t exist, then I don’t exist after all. If there are Perfected beings in the void and you don’t perceive them, you can’t say they are seemingly rare! That for which you gaze exists only when you don’t ‘hitch up your robe’ [to rush about on official business].8 If you can deny my fruits on the second day, then when can you condescend to take a look at Gold Tumulus?”9 At night on the twenty-ninth day of the eleventh month, declared by the Lord Certifier of Registers [Mao Gu] for Marquis Xu. [2] “How can you cut away at the impediments right before your eyes and yearn for distant merit that is hard to achieve?10 If you remain as before a perand shaped like a mallow leaf, [upon which there is] an image of a swallow that seems ready to fly. Its radiance is pervasive. Eat one stalk to become an immortal lord of dragons and tigers in Grand Clarity.” 第三燕胎芝，其色紫，形如葵葉，燕象如欲飛狀，光明洞徹。服一 株拜爲太清龍虎仙君。 5 The “ford of the numina” (lingjin 靈津), in this context, refers to the Milky Way, specifically the part separating the Oxherd (Altair) and the Weaving Girl (Vega); HDC 11:759. In the body, the same term refers to the point at which the nose and philtrum intersect, a place where various spirits and pneumas (both good and bad) are believed to pass during respiration; see Miyao juefa 祕要訣法 (Secret, Essential Formulae and Methods) in YJQQ, 46.7a4. 6 Here the DZ text here writes the word “knife” (dao 刀) instead of “effort” (li 力), as found in the tongxingben—clearly an error. 7 Mao Gu alludes to a practice described in ZG 11.13a1-b7. According to that passage, the second day of the twelfth month and the eighteenth day of the third month are good dates to enter Maoshan, since several Perfected officials meet there. The devout may expect to meet with the three Lords Mao and request elixirs of immortality (SK 138n7). The Western date corresponds to December 30, 365—only two days after this declaration. 8 The term “hitch up robe / skirts” (qianchang 褰裳 ) has appeared earlier (ZG 1.14a1, 2.4b10); here it is used figuratively for rushing to fulfill an official duty (HDC 9:123). 9 Gold Tumulus (Jinling 金陵) is one of many alternate names for Maoshan or, more precisely, a part of Maoshan; it is described in detail in ZG 11.1a4-6b3 (SK 138n9). 10 The question echoes Baopuzi neipian: “How can he abandon society to cultivate what is far off, subdue his preferences, cut away at the desires that press close before his eyes, and

238 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

son who is sentimentally perched in the hills and groves while depending on the capital precincts [for livelihood], you’ll be looking toward Gold Tumulus in longing for your mate. It’s entirely up to you, sir. Don’t say that I have no means of proceeding from Non-being to examine you! If your mind is exhausted, then you will not notice my tests, and if your spirits are labored, then my teachings will not emerge. “Can I not look into your elevation as a worthy?”11 Declared by the Lord Protecting Life [Mao Zhong]. For the previous two passages there is calligraphy by Yang. These declarations truly consist of “perfect words.”12 [1] “I hold in both hands the declarations of the twenty-ninth day of the eleventh month, [which state in part]: ‘Those who find the Way do so because they can eliminate a multitude of burdens, face straight ahead, and go forward, whereupon all their crossings are spontaneously cleared and their numerous obligations dispersed like clouds. Those who have enhanced their excellent qualities do not consider it toilsome, [while] those who are draped with hardship may express their minds. In the first month, a guest from Tortoise Mountain13 will definitely be coming to the eastern mountains. When the time comes, howA could you possibly not make an effort?’ “As I reverently peruse your lofty commands, I am delighted beyond measure. As this month begins, it is hard for me to pick among my official and private affairs. I am still unable to follow my heart, for I am sent on commandB to the capital. I shall come back in a matter of days, bathe immediately on my return, and go in person to call on you in the morning14—I shall not miss [our

cultivate distant merit that is hard to achieve?” 豈能棄交修賒，抑遺嗜好，割目下之近欲，修 難成之遠功哉。 Wang Ming 1995, 5.110; cf. Ware 1966, 98 (SK 139n10). 11 Xu Mi’s “elevation as a worthy” is also mentioned in ZG 3.14a4-5 (January 13, 366). 12 Tao Hongjing uses “perfect words” (zhiyan 至言) to mean a plain statement of truth. In a noted Zhuangzi passage, the term refers to words by which a sage cultivates his mind; see Guo Qingfan 1983, 7B.716 (ch. 21) trl. Watson 1968, 226. Lüshi chunqiu also has a passage on “perfect words” relating to worthies: “If the jade disk of the He family and the perfect words of the Way and Virtue were to be shown to a worthy person, the worthy person would certainly choose the perfect words.” 以龢氏之璧，道德之至言以示賢者，賢者必取至言矣。 Lau and Chen 1992d, 10.4/51/16-17; cf. Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 236. Elsewhere in Zhuangzi, “perfect words” refers to the kind of speech that dispenses with words (thus preserving perfection); Guo Qingfan 1983, 7B.765 (ch. 22); trl. Watson 1968, 247. 13 The guest would be the Queen Mother of the West (ZG 12.12b1-4; SK 140n1). 14 “Call on in the morning,” (chaobai 朝拜) also expresses the idea of morning worship, as in ZG 5.7b10 (SK 140n2).

FASCICLE FOUR / 239

meeting] this month. If I do not miss the auspicious day, I wish that you graciously send down your orders.”15 [2] “You have also declared: ‘As for your elevation as a worthy, I should further explain it.’16 In the past, before I accepted the higher Way, I had the desire of gauging others’ intentions; I had boasted of being fit for instruction and reward. After receiving the hidden books, this [sort of] calculation was completely forgotten.”C For the previous two pieces there are exemplars in the Senior Aide [Xu Mi’s] own calligraphy. A This

[qu 渠 (“ditch”)] should be written with the character ju 詎 (“how”). [ming shi 命使 (“sent on command”)] was originally written with the characters jin zhan 今蹔 (“now temporarily”). A later person revised it to “sent on command.” C Below this, there are two blotted-out characters, and the columns parallel [to this] are excised. It seems that [Xu Mi] had more to say. These comments on his elevation as a worthy still seem to have been written on the lead portion of the paper of the previous letter17 but in response to a declaration of the twenty-ninth day of the eleventh month. This declaration is no longer preserved today. The declarations of the twenty-ninth day of the eleventh month [as presented] above differ [from what Xu Mi quotes]. Also, there is mention of the coming of the guest from Tortoise Mountain. If so, [Xu Mi] would be responding to a declaration by the [Lord] Certifier of Registers [Mao Gu] below. 18 It may also be that the writings from Right Blossom likewise contained these statements. The record is incomplete, so it is difficult to apply clear proofs. B This

Comments The four passages that make up this section were taken from two manuscripts. For the first two passages, in which Mao Gu and Mao Zhong scold Xu Mi just before he heads to the capital, Tao Hongjing was able to find a Yang Xi manu15 The DZ text does not preserve the division between the two tiao passages mentioned by Tao Hongjing in his note below, but the correct location of that division is obvious, so I insert the division here. 16 Although there is a slight discrepancy between this and Lady Right Blossom’s original statement, “Your elevation as a worthy should here be further explained” 賢者之舉，此復宜 詳 (ZG 3.14a4-5), the content of Xu Mi’s broken-off letter here does correspond with Lady Right Blossom’s comments on the calculating nature of the men of Yan. 17 That is, the paper on which “Person B” had written Xu Mi’s previous letter, on Xu Mi’s instruction (ZG 3.17a1-18a1); SK 140n3. “Previous” here thus means only “previously presented in our text,” and the second of Xu Mi’s letters here should actually date later, to the time of the letter written in Person B’s hand—mid- to late January, 366, during the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. 18 Specifically, ZG 12.12b1-4.

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script, but that was clearly not the full record of that night’s declarations, because he also had a Xu Mi manuscript that quoted from another declaration (either by Mao Gu or Right Blossom) made during the same night. The Xu Mi manuscript, moreover, appeared to have been cut from the leading portion of the paper on which the letter of the previous section (at the end of Fascicle Three) had been written. Two characters at the end were blotted out, and whatever columns may have followed had disappeared. In other words, this response by Xu Mi precedes the previous letter. However, Tao places it here— and in doing so we can gain another insight into Tao’s editorial approach. This arrangement not only keeps the declarations of December 28 together but also creates a sense of greater continuity for the reader, since the two pieces by Xu Mi in this section respond more directly to the declarations of December 28. Mao Gu’s speech is filled with irony, exaggeration, even sarcasm. He acknowledges that people who follow the Way can easily become discouraged, but he argues that they should not be deterred on their quest, since the Perfected could just as easily make themselves and their wonderful fruits and polypores manifest all at once on Maoshan on the auspicious day (the second and fifth of the four-character phrases rhyme: -im). Mao Gu’s exaggerated description of what might happen if they did—a whole orgy of spiritual unions—is solid enough indication that they never will. Even so, if Xu Mi were to make an effort to appear on Maoshan on the auspicious day, he could at least expect to get a single fruit. Mao Gu attributes Xu Mi’s laxness regarding religious observances to persistent inner conjecturing about the Perfected beings’ existence: “If you treat me thinking that I don’t exist, then I don’t exist after all.” Their existence would become apparent to him only if he were to stop rushing about on official business. Mao Zhong describes for Xu Mi what will happen if he returns to official life: he will always be looking to the mountains in vain longing for his mate (Lady Right Blossom). He warns Xu Mi about becoming blind to the possibility that he might be tested—and fail even to notice the tests. Mao Gu and Mao Zhong’s final rhetorical questions form a neat pair: Mao Gu asks when Xu Mi will condescend to take a look at (qu jia kan 屈駕看) the Golden Tumulus or Maoshan, while Mao Zhong asks how he can not look into (bu cha 不察) Xu Mi’s elevation. The implied “descent” and “looking at” in the first contrast with the “ascent” and “looking into” in the second. The first of the two pieces by Xu Mi quotes a declaration from an unspecified Perfected person—probably either Mao Gu or Right Blossom, according to Tao Hongjing. I personally favor Right Blossom, since the second of the two pieces, which leads with “You have also declared…” (you gao 又告) more obviously quotes from and responds to Right Blossom’s speech of January 13, 366. Also, considering that Mao Gu’s earlier statement pairs with Mao Zhong’s, it seems that any additional statement would have to originate from a third party. Even so, the third speaker’s identity remains uncertain. Speaking more reassur-

FASCICLE FOUR / 241

ingly, he or she puts forward the possibility of a visit by the Queen Mother of the West in order to entice Xu Mi to apply himself more vigorously. But Xu Mi seizes upon the phrase, “Those who are draped with hardship may speak their minds…” as an opportunity to plead his case: “I am sent now temporarily to the capital…” Or, as emended for greater emphasis, “I am sent on command to the capital…” He promises to purify himself and visit the speaker in worship as soon as he returns. In the second piece, Xu Mi responds to Right Blossom’s remarks dated January 13, 366, on the tendency of people from the Yan-Dai region to have calculating natures. He argues, as we might expect, that he no longer habitually tries to gauge others’ intentions and boast of his worthiness. That may well be true, but in saying so, does he not in effect continue to do the same?

December 29, 365, and February 10, 366: The Perfected Relent and Let Xu Mi Go to the Capital [1]

4.2b6-4.3b6

“What makes a diligent person diligent in his affairs is simply that he immerses himself in their mysterious subtleties. A cautious person also converges things by categories before doing something. The difficulties of studying the Way can’t be written out [in full].”19 [2] “Wouldn’t a person with shame and baseness in his heart grow distant from the Way, too? Only after he irrigates the handle20 can he be ennobled! Your elevation as a worthy begins only by changing yourself. Now, for the time being, you must forget about wives.”21 The Lady of Purple Tenuity spoke these words of the previous [passages].A [3] “How natural and graceful your writing style is! With the allusion to the physician of Lu, there is also [reference to] the efficacy of hide-strips and bowstrings. The gist of ‘melt away [as ice before] an oven door’ is also superb. It must really be that your heart gains relief in this!” 19 The DZ text does not mark a division here, but the change of topic suggests one. Tao Hongjing notes below that there are five passages written in Yang Xi’s hand, but the current DZ text shows only four. The only likely “missing” division making five would fall here. 20 I read the character bing 秉 (usually “grasp”) as an alternate form for bing 柄 (“handle” or “root”); see the 7th definition of the former in HDC 8:29. Concerning “handle,” see the “Comments.” If understood as “root” it would refer to the heart, but for a more suggestive meaning, see Fascicle Two, n. 200. 21 SK 141 translates this phrase as an instruction to “empty the heart completely,” i.e., practice “internal forgetting” (neiwang 內忘), but that clearly is not how Tao Hongjing understands it. Based on Tao’s note, we should understand nei as referring to Xu Mi’s deceased wife and any future wife or concubine. Purple Tenuity is making a double entendre of sorts.

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[4]

Declared by the [Lord] Certifier of Registers [Mao Gu].B

“In your heart, you have already arrived—you need not visit the mountains again. Whenever people void their desires in order to steer toward Perfection and, with single-minded earnestness, drift about on the Way, must we not teach them despite our unwillingness? Gazing upon and traveling to mountains and lakes then become entirely superfluous things. Demanding an absence of desire in all cases would really make people unhappy. For today, you may stop.” Declared for Marquis Xu by the [Lord] Certifier of Registers [Mao Gu] in the night of the first day of the twelfth month.C [5] “On the twenty-seventh day of the first month, won’t he be able to pay a brief visit to the place where he wishes to build his house? It seems that the Perfected person from Tortoise Mountain will be coming that day. As for fasting before the Perfected [guest] arrives, of course there may be no uncertainty. I just might direct him22 to see me!” Declared by [the Lord] Protecting Life [Mao Zhong] on the fourteenth day of the first month.D For the previous five passages, there is calligraphy by Yang. A These are the words of Purple Tenuity’s response after she reads the Senior Aide [Xu Mi’s] reply to Right Blossom’s statement on his elevation as a worthy.23 After the Senior Aide’s wife died, he wished to take a concubine, but while practicing the matter of the family of Seven Primes, which is utterly forbidden.24 Therefore the matter is often raised. B This is the Middle Lord [Mao], who reads the Senior Aide’s letter of reply to Right Blossom, then compliments him.25 C In tracing these words, again it seems they respond to the matter of [Xu Mi’s] inability to come from the capital. It is impossible to delineate the connections among events. D Note that this declaration very much seems to refer to the prior matter under question;26 it is therefore difficult to understand the flip-flops [in attitude]. Starting

22 The referent of the pronoun here (the only pronoun in the entire declaration) is not very clear, but it cannot refer to the “guest”—the Queen Mother of the West—because of her higher position relative to the speaker. Neither Xu Mi nor Mao Zhong could “direct” the Queen Mother to do something. I can conclude only that it refers to Xu Mi—which would imply also that Mao Zhong is speaking about him in the third person. 23 Thus Purple Tenuity’s declaration would also date to mid- to late January 366, or the twelfth month of the lunar calendar. 24 Xu Mi in his letter mentioned the Seven Primes (ZG 3.17a4-5), on which, see Fascicle Two, n. 22, 74 and 229. Xu Mi’s wife Tao Kedou 陶科斗 had died c. 363-365 (ZG 20.9a1). 25 Mao Gu’s declaration must therefore also date from mid- to late January 366. 26 That is, the matter of Xu Mi being in the capital and missing certain dates on the religious calendar.

FASCICLE FOUR / 243

from this [declaration of the] first month and onward, all the events fall during the bingyin year [366-7].

Comments At the close of this section, Tao Hongjing notes five tiao passages from a manuscript in Yang Xi’s hand. Current editions of the ZG show only four, but I believe that the “missing” division should be placed roughly halfway through the first one, where there is a distinct change of subject-matter. Again, the sequence may be jumbled somewhat. The first two passages, words of instruction from Purple Tenuity, contain the phrase, “elevation as a worthy” (xianzhe zhi ju 賢者之舉), which would seem to suggest that they postdate January 13, 366, when Right Blossom uttered the same phrase. Tao seems not to allow for the possibility that when Right Blossom talks about Xu’s “elevation as a worthy,” she is instead echoing what Purple Tenuity says here. In that case, Purple Tenuity’s instructions (which, by the way, do not touch on missing an important date) would date to some time late in 365. In sum, the date for the first two passages is still uncertain. What about the third passage? It responds to Xu Mi’s undated letter at the close of Fascicle Three, which Tao Hongjing tentatively dates to the twelfth month, or January, 366, since that in turn was a response to Right Blossom’s declaration on the sixteenth day of the twelfth month (January 13, 366). It must have been spoken at some time after that. But the fourth and fifth passages are dated to December 29, 365 and February 10, 366, which means that the manuscript before Tao was inexplicably out of sequence. Hence his comment to the fourth passage: “It is impossible to delineate the connections among events.” The present arrangement implies that Mao Gu is moved by Xu Mi’s letter and then allows him to go to the capital, but in fact that would be impossible. That is why Tao comments, “It is therefore difficult to understand the flip-flops [in attitude.]” Yes, it is difficult, if not impossible, to resolve this problem—unless we consider the undated poem of ZG 4.7b7-8a3 below, in which Lady Right Blossom says the polypores are unnecessary. If she had told Xu Mi this earlier, he could well have gone to the capital with a clear conscience; the other Perfected would then have to accept it. Whatever may have happened, the record remains frustratingly incomplete. In the last passage, Mao Gu uses the third-person pronoun to refer to Xu Mi, which may indicate that Xu has still not returned home, but this is only conjecture. The date of the Queen Mother of the West’s arrival (February 19) is swiftly approaching. We never learn whether Xu Mi succeeds in meeting her, but it seems very unlikely. Purple Tenuity’s first instruction, on the difficulty of studying the Way, is rather commonplace, but the second deserves closer scrutiny since it addresses the core issue of spiritual union. Tao Hongjing notes that it deals with Xu Mi’s wanting to take in a concubine following the death of his wife. At first glance,

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the note seems incongruous: wives or concubines are not explicitly mentioned here—unless one reads neiwang 內忘 (usually, “internal forgetting,” or emptying one’s heart in meditation) as a kind of double entendre. Surely Xu Mi must empty his heart of all stray thoughts and desires, but he must also forget his nei—his deceased wife or any future possible human spouse or concubine. If he does that, he will successfully eliminate the “shame and baseness in his heart” (bywords for sexual desire) that would eventually cause him to go astray. I believe the phrase “irrigates the handle” (guan bing 灌秉; it may also be translated “irrigates the root”) expresses a key concept. We have encountered similar words such as “root” (gen 根) or “handle” (bing 柄) before, most notably in the lines, “Your fine Virtue projects a spiritual radiance, / And your excellent root shimmers with flowery opulence” (ZG 2.18a10; August 31, 365) and in Purple Tenuity’s flirtatious instruction to Xu Hui, “One could say that in working the handle of the Way you’re industrious to the highest degree. But the Way is soft, Perfection a void” (ZG 2.13a2-3; August 18, 365). The penis may be a root or handle in intercourse, but the heart is the root or handle in spiritual union. The word “irrigates” (guan), meanwhile, suggests a cleansing, purification, a washing-out, or pouring in. Xu Mi’s “handle” would certainly be cleansed if he eliminates his lustful desires and stops having sex! However, if we place this instruction in the context of the ZG’s broader story, we find that as much as it advises avoidance of sexual intercourse, it recommends engaging in spiritual union. That is how the handle or root is to be irrigated. In Du Guangting’s retelling, both guan bing and neiwang are retained, but Tao Hongjing’s crucial note is removed. The statement, “Your elevation as a worthy begins only by changing yourself,” is changed to “Your elevation as a worthy begins only through enlightenment” (wu 悟), and Purple Tenuity goes on to chant a poem that more likely belongs to Right Blossom.27 The changes are minor but enough to obscure the other layer of meaning.

March 6, 366: Lady Right Blossom Wants to Start a Family, Perfected Style [1]

4.3b7-4.4a2

Rein on your Lights, ascend to the empyrean dawn, Roam and banquet at my Palace of Blue-grey Billows, Where multicolored clouds wrap cinnabar aurorae, Numinous haze disperses to the Eight Voids, The Higher Perfected chant in rose-gem chambers, Eminent immortals sing in houses of exquisite jade, 27 Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.8a9-8b1; YJQQ 97.14a4-7. The poem is the one that appears in ZG 4.4a7-8 below.

FASCICLE FOUR / 245

Nine phoenixes harmonize over vermilion pipes, And hollow clappers alternate with the yu bell.28 Entwine your neck [with mine]29 in Gold Court [Palace]; Join with me, your companion in the hidden realm. Together we shall draw from a river of jade liquor,30 And in a flash and flurry—already infant children! Why squat in the middle of the [officials’] road,31 Where error and disease mount higher by the day? Composed by [Lady Right Blossom of] Cloudy Grove in the night of the ninth day of the second month. Comments While Lady Right Blossom wants to achieve spiritual union with Xu Mi, she is also very much like her mortal counterparts in wanting children. This poem (prev. trl. Kroll 1996, 186) is, perhaps, unique in that it reveals how the common desire for children in the human realm is transformed in the Perfected world into the desire for making oneself revert into a child. It is a kind of fantasy-piece, like her poem of November 19, 365, because she is urging Xu Mi to accomplish what is still impossible for him. She invites Xu into her world, which she lovingly describes as a place of colorful mists, jade buildings, lavish feasts, musical performances, and so on. There they will be free to have their romantic rendezvous and “entwine necks” (jiaojing 交頸)— an expression used in Zhuangzi to describe amorous horses. (Du Guangting will not have any horseplay in paradise, so he changes the line to “Exchange your roost with mine inside Gold Court [Palace].”) They will also consume elixirs and instantly experience their transformative effect: they will have/become children. Strictly speaking, the verb is best left unsaid, since we cannot really understand the miraculous process; the line in Chinese omits it. Reduced to its essentials, the line only reads, “Flash-and-flurry, already infant children.” That is, the bell tuned to the yu 羽 note on the Chinese scale. “Entwine necks” (jiaojing 交頸), which has a long-established erotic meaning, first appears in Zhuangzi: “Now when horses live on open land, they eat grass and drink water. When happy, they entwine their necks and rub against each other; when angry, they go backto-back and kick each other.” 夫馬陸居，則食草飲水。喜，則交頸相靡；怒，則分背相踶。 Guo Qingfan 1983, 4B.339 (ch. 9); cf. Watson 1968, 106. The Sunü jing 素女經 (The Classic of the Fair Woman), a Sui-Tang sex manual, describes a posture of lovemaking called “cranes with necks entwined” (he jiaojing 鶴交頸); Sunü jing, 1.6b5-7 (Shuangmei jing’an congshu); trl. Wile 1992, 89. Du Guangting sanitizes the ZG line to “exchange your roost [with mine]” (jiao qi 交栖); see Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.10b1 and YJQQ 98.12b5. 30 On jade liquor, see Fascicle Two, n. 207. 31 Right Blossom plays on multiple meanings of dang lu 當路, which may mean “block the road,” “in the middle of the road,” “wield authority,” or “officialdom” (HDC 7:1399). Dang lu perhaps may be considered an antithesis of xing dao 行道(“practice the Way”). 28 29

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Right Blossom is no dreamer, though, and she brings her pleasant fantasy to an abrupt close by asking Xu Mi why he continues to squat (a pointedly undignified position) in the officials’ road, accumulating error and disease. She describes him as being in the middle of that road, blocking it (dang lu 當路), which implies that he is not practicing the Way (xing dao 行道). Rhyme: -uwng, -owng, -ang, -ong.

March 13, 366: Perfected Freedoms Versus Worldly Bounds (plus an undated poem) [2]

4.4a3-4.4a9

At dawn, I roam about the Palace of Grand Simplicity, [Then] drive my curtained carriage to view the jade river.32 In the evening, I rest at the house on [Mount] Yujue, And in the morning, I pick blossoms of round Light. As I tap the ao on the Terrace of Northern Chill,33 Seven Numina [Palace]34 is irradiated by purple aurorae. Courtly, orderly35—the elevation of eminent immortals; Tangled, twisted36—the nets amid the [world of] dust. While you pace and ponder37 in the noise and haze, You should not accumulate more error.

The jade river (yuhe 玉河) would be the Milky Way. The Terrace of Northern Chill (Beihan tai 北寒臺), sometimes called Golden Terrace of Northern Chill (Beihan jintai 北寒金臺), is a celestial repository of scripture. This line derives again from the description of the musical performance in Nanyue Wei furen zhuan (Robinet, C.11; Fascicle Three, n. 249): “The Perfected Man of the Grand Ultimate first commanded the jade maiden of [the Terrace of] Northern Chill Song Lianxiao to tap the ao of nine pneumas.” 太極真人先命北寒玉女宋聯消彈九氣之璈。 YJQQ 96.9b6-7; WSMY 20.16a1. Elsewhere the Terrace is mentioned in connection with jade maidens; see, for example, YJQQ 8.14b3 and Taishang yupei jindang taiji jinshu shangjing (DZ 56; Robinet, A.26), 1.2b3-4. 34 On Seven Numina Palace, see Fascicle One, n. 55. 35 “Courtly, orderly” (qiqi 濟濟) appears in the poem “Gong Liu” 公劉 (Duke Liu) in Shi jing; trl. Legge 1994, 4:487 (SK 144n12). 36 “Tangled, twisted” (fenfen 紛紛) appears in Mengzi, 5.10b3 (Sibu congkan); trl. Lau 1970, 101 (“multifarious”). 37 I use “pace and ponder” to suggest the broader meaning suggested by panhuan 盤桓 (“linger and loiter” or “pace to and fro in difficulty”), a form of which is used under hexagram no. 3, “Sprouting” (tun 屯) in Zhou yi, 1.8a2 (Sibu congkan): “Nine in the first place: / Pacing and pondering. / Advantageous to abide in correctness, / Advantageous to install a marquis.” 初九，磐桓，利居貞，利建侯。 Cf. Wilhelm 1969, 17. The allusion is precisely appropriate to Xu Mi, who may become a Perfected marquis if he does no accumulate more error. SK 144n14 overlooks the crucial final phrase. 32 33

FASCICLE FOUR / 247

[3]

Composed by [Lady] Right Blossom on the sixteenth day of the second month. From Dark Clarity, far, far away I view The falling Light emerge at East Clearwaters.38 Would that I find my friend, cut off from dust, In soughing solitude, attenuating his worldly bounds! [Lady Right Blossom] chanted this two or three times. For the previous three pieces, there is calligraphy by Yang.

Comments One week later Lady Right Blossom offers another poem. The first few couplets feature (in order) time markers of dawn, evening (viewing the jade river or Milky Way), evening, and morning. Grand Simplicity and the jade river are heavenly, Yujue is in the far west, the “blossoms of round Light” (suns in the tree of sunrise?) suggest the far east, Northern Chill and Seven Numina the far north. Her point, of course, is that she enjoys complete freedom of movement, passing from one end of the world to the other in a day. Right Blossom contrasts the orderliness of the immortals’ ascent with the tangled nets of the mundane world. Her warning to Xu Mi not to accumulate error, however, contains an allusion to Zhou yi that actually sounds an optimistic note, for his “pacing and pondering” will be advantageous for a man who wishes to remain righteous and become a marquis. A short, undated poem by Right Blossom follows. The second line contains a remarkable, logic-defying conflation of sunset and sunrise as seen through her distant perspective. The term “soughing solitude” (xiaoxiao 蕭蕭) suggests that Right Blossom wishes that Xu Mi would successfully guard the Female True Ones in meditation. Rhymes: (1) -a, -ae; (2) -eng.

Purple Tenuity Shames the Father by Praising the Son (undated) [1]

4.4a10-4.4b5

A numinous man hides on a dark summit, Perfected spirits are sheathed in cloud-colors. His mystic singing does not lack set times, So a wondrous response is surely expected. How can one say that empty space is still, When perfect harmonies are always there?

38 The falling Light is the setting sun. East Clearwaters (Dongting) is an alternate name for Eight Clearwaters (Fascicle Three, n. 60, 236).

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He tugs my robe to climb to my Plume Palace,39 And we share our repast in Vast Coldness.40 You may ask who my companion is. The one that stays is only Master Jade41— who rises aloft on steeds from the cloudy void 42 and lifts his feather-shafts above undifferentiated space. Isn’t this the man who has bowed deeply to his south-facing [lord] and parted from his [mediocre kingdom of a] thousand chariots43 forever?! Purple Tenuity’s poem. She also chanted this. Comments For this and the next eleven poems Tao Hongjing used one or possibly more manuscripts by Yang Xi, and for some of the poems he had copies written by

39 Plume Palace (Yu gong 羽宮) is an abbreviated reference to the singer’s own home, not a general reference to the feathered folk’s mansions, as suggested by the translations of SK 146 and Kroll 2003, 184. The full name would be something like “Palace in the Plume-bright Wilds of Darkmound [Mountains]” 玄隴羽明野之宮 (Fascicle One, n. 111). Its identity becomes clear on comparison with variant references to the Lady of Purple Tenuity’s abode, such as Xuanlongyu gong 玄龍羽宮 in Dongzhen Xiwangmu baoshen qiju jing (DZ 1319; Robinet, C.4), 1.16a10. Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.6b9-10 describes her as governing from “a mountaintop palace in the Darkmound [Mountains] of the Plume Wilds” 羽野玄隴之山上宮. 40 The Palace of Vast Coldness (Guanghan gong 廣寒宮 ) is Moon Palace according to Shangqing huangqi yangjing sandao shunxing jing (DZ 33; Robinet, A.8), 1.15a3-8, also cited in WSMY 3.5a6-5b4. Vast Coldness appears also in the 3rd stanza of Huangting neijing yujing (Robinet, A.34): “One who can in fact practice it ascends to Vast Coldness.” 審能修之登廣 寒。 The Liangqiuzi commentary, however, shifts it elsewhere: “Vast Coldness is the name of an immortals’ palace in the north; it is also said to be the name of a mountain and is also called Vast Aurora.” 廣寒，北方仙宫之名，又云山名，亦曰廣霞。 The commentary then cites a greatly abbreviated passage from Shangqing huangqi yangjing sandao shunxing jing, removing Vast Coldness’ lunar location. See Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402), 1.6b10-7a4; YJQQ 11.15b2-5. The Liu Changsheng 劉長生 commentary to the same scripture moves the palace to the top of Kunlun; see Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 401), 1.4b10-5a2. 41 That is, Xu Hui, the “Jade Axe.” “Master” (zi 子) is son, disciple, and boy at once. Kroll (2003, 184-85) inexplicably ends the translation here and does not mention what follows. 42 The “cloudy void” (yunxu 雲虛) is a stratum lower than the stars, according to a note in Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2), 2.9a9 (SK 150-51n10). 43 The “thousand chariots” (qiansheng 千乘) disparagingly refers to the shrunken state that Xu Mi serves, compared with the ten thousand chariots of a large one. Mengzi’s opening passage states: “A regicide in a kingdom of ten thousand chariots must be from a family with a thousand chariots; a regicide in a kingdom of one thousand chariots must be from a family with a hundred chariots.” 萬乘之國弒其君者，必千乘之家；千乘之國弒其君者，必百乘之 家。 Mengzi, 1.1b6-2a1 (Sibu congkan); cf. Lau 1970, 49; Legge 1994, 2:126.

FASCICLE FOUR / 249

Xu Hui. The latter, as before, were probably the ones that concerned the younger man, like the present poem. This poem must be understood in the context of guarding the Female Ones, leading to spiritual union. It is the first poem in which Purple Tenuity clearly describes her romantic dalliance with the younger Xu, and it pointedly serves the purpose of shaming the old man. Having failed by other means to convince Xu Mi to abandon officialdom and get serious about his relationship with Right Blossom, she now pursues what must be considered a psychologically powerful strategy: she works on a father’s secret anxiety over being surpassed by his son, and an old man’s jealousy of a younger man’s sexual vigor. The “numinous man” (lingren 靈人) of the first line probably refers to Xu Hui specifically, but it could also refer to all such spiritually powerful, potent (virile) persons. He hides on a dark peak, while the Perfected spirits, like Purple Tenuity herself, are “sheathed” in cloud-colors. These vaguely suggestive images, with their dualities of hard and soft, darkness and color, hint that the two parties must still contact each other across the obscuring divide between their respective worlds. Surely it is the numinous man who does the singing here. Unlike Xu Mi, who has such difficulty adhering to the demands of the religious calendar, this one meditates regularly, confident in the expectation that the Perfected will respond like an echo or a string resonating in sympathy to the notes of his song. He does not doubt the Being-in-Nothingness of the Perfected, so he accomplishes his purpose. Soon he tugs on Purple Tenuity’s robe, and she brings him to her palace, where they enjoy a very pleasant time together (for a different analysis, see the translation and discussion in Kroll 2003, 184-5). Purple Tenuity cuts abruptly, practically in mid-sentence, from poetry to prose when she addresses her older student. This is the man, she tells him, who has parted forever from his earthly ruler, with his mediocre kingdom and his piddling one thousand chariots. The forcefulness of her expression is astonishing. If the record of her words had fallen into the wrong hands, it would have been considered subversive and gravely insulting to the Jin ruling house. How does Du Guangting handle the poem? The textual record is mixed. The version that appears in Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783) shows no significant difference with the ZG version, but the YJQQ version, which is probably more closely based on Du’s text, changes Master Jade (Yuzi 玉子) to “jade maidens” (yunnü 玉女).44 Perhaps the editor of the DZ 783 version “corrected” Du with the ZG source. In any case, the change forces one to pluralize the companion of the previous line, so that the couplet becomes, “You may ask who my companions are. / The ones that stay are only jade maidens.” Needless to say, that alters the meaning of the entire poem, and all hint of romantic liaison vanishes. Rhyme: -ojX, -iX.

44 Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.8b6; YJQQ 97.14b2. On the relationship between DZ 783 and its citations in YJQQ, see Cahill 2006, 15.

250 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

March 27, 366: Persistence Cannot Be Balanced with Laxness [2]

4.4b6-4.4b9

I harness wind, speed my cloud-draped carriage, And climb at dawn to Grand Clearwaters’ hill,45 Where Crimson Ford,46 joined to the summit, quakes, And transparent waves swell benthic currents. Pacing the vault of space, I view the Nine Cross-routes.47 The Eight Mainstays48—I already toured them all! Briefly, I rest on the three gold verdant peaks: I’ve come to see my mate firm of purpose. Persistence, laxness—neither whelms the other, So that he accumulates a hundred cares. Composed by Right Blossom in the night of the thirtieth day of the second month.

Comments Right Blossom opens this rather typical poem with the usual description of farflung travel, but the imagery of the “Crimson Ford” (the Crimson River or Milky Way, reduced to a narrow ford) touching the summit of the paradisal mountain in the east and quaking, so that waves are generated and deep currents swell, does stretch the mind. After making a quick circuit of the world, she pauses to rest on the three peaks of Maoshan, where she checks on Xu Mi 45 Grand Clearwaters (Taiting 太渟) is probably another name for Eight Clearwaters or East Clearwaters Mountain, in the east, here reduced to a hill in Perfected perspective. 46 Crimson Ford (Jiangjin 絳津) is probably the Crimson River (Jianghe 絳河), the Milky Way (Fascicle Three, n. 104). The Xiaomo zhihui jing (Robinet, A.22) lists “Golden Marrow of Crimson Ford” (Jiangjin jinsui 金髓) among the medicines of Jade Clarity (Fascicle One, n. 207). In the corresponding list of medicines that appears in Han Wudi neizhuan (DZ 292), 1.6b1-2 (trl. Smith 1992, 2:493), Golden Marrow of Crimson Ford is changed to “Golden Ambrosia of Jade Ford” (Yujin jinjiang 玉津金漿), which is somewhat clearer since Jade Ford is a more common reference to the Milky Way. 47 “Nine Cross-routes” (jiuwei 九緯) refers both to the nine stars of the Dipper (including the two invisible ones) and to their paths across the sky. In Zhou li, 12b5 (Sibu congkan), the term refers to the nine main east-west roads in the king’s walled capital, as opposed to the Nine Avenues (jiujing 九經) running north-south. However, Higher Clarity belief definitely associates them with the Dipper, as seen in invocations on ascending to the Dipper in YJQQ 25.15b5 (SK 151n12) and Shangqing wuchang biantong wanhua yuming jing 上清五常變通萬化鬱冥 經 (Scripture of Densecloud Dimness on the Universal Metamorphosis and Ten Thousand Transformations of the Five Permanent Ones; Robinet, A.24; DZ 324), 1.41a2-41b8. 48 On the Eight Mainstays (bawei), see Fascicle Three, n. 33. The term is here written bagang 八剛; other texts citing this correct it to bagang 八綱: YJQQ 98.13a4; Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.10b10; Zhongxian zansong lingzhang (DZ 613), 1.6a1.

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to see how “firm of purpose” he is. She is disappointed. His persistence and laxness more or less cancel each other out (if he were in the Christian tradition, he would be called “lukewarm”). Thus he is not making any visible progress, and his cares are only accumulating. Rhyme: -juw.

Purple Tenuity Goes East and Meets the Lord of Fusang, Right Blossom Goes West and Meets No One (undated) [3]

[4]

4.4b10-4.5a5

I pick up my skirt, wade the green river,49 And thence go visit the Lord of Fusang—50 A meeting high in the hills of his grand wood, Sleep and ease in Mystic Blossom Palace.51 If your trust in the Way is pure and sincere, Then why not roost upon the eastern peaks? The Lady of Purple Tenuity sang this. I skim waves, skip across Blue-grey Billows, And suddenly reach the golden mountains.52 I look all round and travel the whole day, [But still] I miss my man amidst the clouds. Right Blossom intoned this.

Comments These undated poems make a distinct pair, marked by the singers’ contrasting east and west movements and their success or failure with meeting other fig49 “Green river” (lühe 綠河) is the sea, in reduced perspective, of jade-green water around Fusang, mentioned in ZG 14.20a1 and Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.9b9-10; trl. Smith 1992, 2:55354. Kroll (2003, 185-86) says it is the Milky Way at its eastern limit. This poem describes eastward movement to Fusang; the next moves back west across the sea to Maoshan. 50 The Lord of Fusang (Fusang gong 扶桑公) is the Grand Thearch of Fusang (Fusang taidi). His full title is Lord of the Superior Way and Great Thearch of Cinnabar Grove, Fusang, in the Eastern Aurora of Grand Tenuity (Taiwei dongxia Fusang danlin dadi shangdao jun 太微東霞扶桑丹林大帝上道君); WYT 1.3b1 places him on the left of the second tier of Perfected. See also Fascicle Two, n. 75, 226. 51 Mystic Blossom Palace (Xuanhua gong 玄華宮) seems unmentioned elsewhere in Higher Clarity texts. Xuanhua has appeared (ZG 4.1a7) in reference to polypores, which are plentiful on Fusang. The “grand wood” (tailin 太林) is at once the giant mulberry trees that cover Fusang and the Grand Thearch’s private grove—the “Cinnabar Grove” of his full title. 52 The first line echoes ZG 3.2b9. “The golden mountains” (jinshan 金山) are Maoshan.

252 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

ures. Purple Tenuity heads east to have an audience with the Lord of Fusang, while Right Blossom heads west to meet with Xu Mi. Xu Mi is clearly the intended recipient of both of these poems (the first prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 185-6). Purple Tenuity attends a meeting or reception, probably a grand, formal occasion, in the Lord of Fusang’s mulberry grove, and later she enjoys some sleep and rest in one of his palaces. There is a very faint suggestion of romance in her choice of words in the fourth line for “sleep and ease” (qin yan 寢宴), an ambiguous term that could also rendered “sleep in ease” or “sleep and relax,” but there is really no indication that Purple Tenuity does anything more than just that. Even this is still too much for Du Guangting. He alters it to “enjoy a repast” (chang yan 賞宴), leaving the rest of the poem unchanged, and adds a confusing note: “This also describes the scenery of East Florescence on Fangzhu” ( 此亦敘方諸東華之勝也 ). 53 The poem, meanwhile, becomes separated from Right Blossom’s response, so that the contrast between the two is lost. Lady Right Blossom’s poem expresses her continuing disappointment in not finding Xu Mi in the clouds. She leaves her home, heads west to Maoshan—and fails to see him. Rhymes: (1) -uwng, -owng in the first; (2) -ean, -yin.

Purple Tenuity and Right Blossom Sing of Ascent at Dawn (undated)

4.5a6-4.5b8

[5]

I direct my Lights from the ford of Nascent Radiance,54 And fly on the gale to climb to Higher Clarity,55 Where cloud-terraces loom tall and stately, And heaven-gates56 tower over walls of jade. As the dawn breeze swells cinnabar aurorae, And vermilion mist sprinkles [Mount] Gold Court, Green buds glitter on the dark summit, Purple sprays grow below the cliffs.

Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.8b9-9a1; YJQQ 97.14b6-8. Nascent Radiance (shihui 始暉), a special term for the rising sun, is clearly associated with Fusang: ZG 9.24b9, Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421, Robinet, C.2), 3.1b1-2, and a commentary to the Dadong zhenjing (Robinet, A.1) cited in WSMY 3.3a10. For the translation of “Nascent Radiance” I follow Kroll 2003, 186. 55 As pointed out in Kroll 2003, 187, the opening couplet loosely echoes the 34th stanza of Shangqing dadong zhenjing (DZ 6; Robinet, A.1), 5.24a10: “From East Florescence, Nascent Radiance emerges, / As Lofty Dawn glints on Higher Clarity.” 東華發始暉，高晨映上清。 56 Since the poem describes a heaven full of terraces and palaces, I pluralize “heavengates” (changhe 閶闔), which can refer to palaces in general (HDC 12:124). It is not the single “Heaven’s Gate” of “Li sao” in Chu ci, 1.30b4-5 (Sibu congkan) and the Wang Yi commentary (trl. Hawkes 1985, 74). 53 54

FASCICLE FOUR / 253

Iridescent clouds wrap the cinnabar ovens That refine jade and give flight to the Eight Gems.57 Content, I gaze on the Palace of Vast Coldness58: At ten thousand toon-springs, I am more a child, a baby. My dragon-flags launch numinous thunderbolts, My tiger-pennons call up vermilion[-clad] soldiers.59 As the Perfected on high turn round the Ninefold Dazzler,60 Those of profound insight take measure of the latent light. Who can pace out the tenebrous Way And follow me through endless years of age? [6]

Composed by the Lady of Purple Tenuity. The Purple Portal61 is built above the void; The Mystic Hall62 is buffeted by a ripping gale.63 Exquisite jade and malachite are scattered through numinous gardens; Flowers grow, ripen into rose-gem and turquoise. As I speed my curtained carriage [across] the ford of Blue-grey Billows, The eight winds arouse the Cloud-Shao [music]:64 I spread my plumage, and the [Flowery] Canopy of the north is fanned;

57 On the Eight Gems and Volatized Essence of the Eight Gems, see Fascicle Three, n. 243. This line speaks of two separate processes: jade is neither one of the Eight Gems nor a product of their refinement but is used for several other elixirs. Purple Tenuity plays on the name of the Eight Gems elixir to describe the process of its refinement, which involves volatizing (fei 飛, “flying”) the ingredients, a process of sublimation or “vaporization with condensation above in solid form” (Needham 1980, 9). 58 On Vast Coldness, see n. 40 above. 59 On tiger-flags, see Fascicle Three, n. 8. A similar line appears in a poem that was once probably part of Wei Huacun’s esoteric biography; see WSMY 20.3b4, YJQQ 114.15b3-4. The dragon represents the east, the tiger west, as pointed out by Kroll 2003, 189. 60 The Ninefold Dazzler (jiuyao 九曜) is another name for the sun, as mentioned in one of the sources just cited in n. 54 above on Nascent Radiance—the Dadong zhenjing commentary in WSMY 3.3a5. The name relates to the association between yang and the number nine. 61 The Purple Portal (Zique 紫闕) is at the north celestial pole, the Lady of Purple Tenuity’s home. In the body, it corresponds to a spot one inch below a spot just above the eyebrows, according to Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402, Robinet, A.34), 2.12a8-12b2. 62 Mystic Hall (Xuanguan 玄館) is another reference to Purple Tenuity’s home, the Mystic Palace (Xuangong; Fascicle Three, n. 104). Again according to the Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402), 2.12a8-12b2 commentary, it is at Polaris (beichen xing 北辰星). In the body, this corresponds to a spot one inch under the forehead, at a point 1/2 inch below the hairline. 63 SK 151-52n29 points out that several words in this line reappear in ZG 7.1a6-9. 64 “Cloud-Shao” (yunshao 雲韶) is shorthand for the Cloud-gate (yunmen 雲門) and Grand Shao (dashao 大韶) music of the Yellow Thearch and Shun 舜 respectively (HDC 12:657).

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I grasp my yaktail streamer, and golden flutes are played. Phoenix pipes harmonize with a thousand bells,65 And [jade] lads in the west sing to dawn and morning. The expanse of my heart is void, unbounded, The embrace of my spirit—how gloriously empty! While I spin and dance on the crest of the grand vault of space, The Six Pneumas circulate through the doubly tenebrous [heavens].66 How can you follow my path, Which would keep you from withering in the end? Composed by Lady Right Blossom. Comments In this pair of undated poems (prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 186-7; 1996, 186), Purple Tenuity and Right Blossom invite Xu Mi (perhaps Xu Hui as well) into the other world. Both contain references to dawn and ascent, and both end with rhetorical questions. Rich images tumble out one after the other, making it rather difficult to get a grasp of what is going on. But the pursuit of romance is not at issue here—the focus is on acquiring power and everlasting life. Purple Tenuity oddly focuses not on areas north but on areas east, in Right Blossom’s usual territory. She rises from the place of sunrise and reaches the heaven of Higher Clarity, from where she looks down at Mount Gold Court (also in the east) far below. Self-satisfied and content, she turns and gazes at Vast Coldness (probably the moon) and thinks of how she is, ever gradually, becoming an infant yet waxing in power (sending armies here and there) as the eons pass. While various other Perfected beings busy themselves and mark time by pushing the sun around the heavens, she muses to herself that those of profound insight think not of ordinary light but the latent light of the spirit. She ends by asking who can follow her. Right Blossom, contrastingly, starts from the Purple Portal and Mystic Hall, which are in Purple Tenuity’s home territory. At one point she crosses the Blue-grey Billows in the east and refers to jade lads off to her west (boy counterparts to the western consorts of ZG 3.11a2; Fascicle Three, n. 178), but ul65 The “thousand bells” (qianzhong 千鍾) recall an immense bell set described in Lüshi chunqiu. Lau and Chen 1992d, 5.3/24/10-15; trl. Knoblock and Riegel 2000, 141. 66 The Six Pneumas (liuqi 六氣) have several definitions (Fascicle Three, n. 232). Here the oldest makes the most sense: yin, yang, wind, rain, darkness, and light, from Zuo zhuan (Duke Zhao, 1st year); trl. Legge 1994, 5:573, 580-81. The term also appears in Zhuangzi, in Guo Qingfan 1983, 1A.17 (ch. 1) and 4C.386 (ch. 11); trl. Watson 1968, 32 and 121. The “doubly tenebrous” (chongyou 重幽) may be synonymous for “doubly mysterious” (chongxuan 重玄), broadly meaning heaven (HDC 10.375). The term reappears in ZG 18.10b5.

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timately she rises to heavenly realms, like Purple Tenuity. Many of the places she mentions have corresponding positions in the body, suggesting that her journey can take place internally, in meditation. Her every gesture along the journey generates a musical response, or in one case, fans the stars of the Flowery Canopy (Cassiopeia). She winds up dancing at the top of space, embracing everything and nothing at once, while the Six Pneumas (yin, yang, wind, rain, darkness, light) play over the world below. She wonders, surely in connection with Xu Mi: How can you follow me and keep yourself from withering? Rhymes: (1) -eng; (2) -ew, -iw.

Purple Tenuity Sings of Consummating a Union with Xu Hui (undated) [7]

4.5b9-4.6a5

Shaded by haze—my halls at Purple Tenuity. The looming terraces scatter Lights on the gale. Simurghs sing amongst the flowery canopies; Warblings of phoenixes guide dragon cabriolets.67 The eight wolves68 carry crimson banners, The white tigers69 blow horns and panpipes. [Like] clouds bursting forth, we quit the numinous palace70 And draw nigh to the clamor in the dust. I let go the reins. My fair one sleeps— Our uniting pneumas freely beckon to each other.71 To find the Progenitor in a moment’s span, Ten thousand years were but a single morning, [And if] perchance even the toon’s seasons seem feeble, The passage of kalpas would surely fail to seem vast!

For “cabriolet” (yao 軺), a light carriage, I follow the translation by Kroll (2003, 189). The “eight wolves” (balang 八狼) seem to appear nowhere else, but like “white tigers” (suhu 素虎) in the next line, it is a synecdoche for carriages. The wolves themselves do not carry the banners—the Perfected riding the carriages do. Purple Tenuity is basically surveying the various segments of her vast procession before she sets out from her palace. 69 The “white tigers” (suhu) are also carriage-pullers, as mentioned in Mao Ying’s biography, Taiyuan zhenren Mao jun neizhuan (Robinet, C.10), in YJQQ 104.18a8 (SK 152n35). 70 The word that I render “quit” (xie 冩, usually written 寫) suggests a kind of escape or release and derives from usages relating to horses and carriages (3rd definition of xie in HDC 3:1623-24). It has already been used in this sense in ZG 3.3a4. In the present context, however, it has another meaning: xie, written 寫 or 瀉, is a standard term for ejaculation. 71 Uniting pneumas (tongqi 同炁) contrasts with the impure “harmonization” or “mixing” of pneumas of the Celestial Masters (Fascicle Two, n. 2). The commentary to the 26th stanza of the Huangting neijing yujing (Robinet, A.34) describes the sun and moon uniting their pneumas when the adept visualizes an ecstatic excursion to those orbs; he then gains their protection. See YJQQ 12.7a7-8a5; Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402), 3.5a3-5b6. One Numinous Treasure scripture advises the adept to unite pneumas with his teacher (WSMY 42.2a7). 67 68

256 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Perfected-to-Perfected, we would then see each other [through open eyes] And not let our hearts be foiled and frustrated.A/72 A vacuous knife waves to the highest vault of space;73 “Base impediments” distress the Five Spirits.74 The preceding was composed by [the Lady of] Purple Tenuity. A

Ce and jiao reverse[-cut pronunciation].

Comments This is one of the most important poems in ZG, since it contains the most transparent description of spiritual union. It was only after I had worked on its translation for the first time that I suddenly realized how the larger “story” of

72 The last character of this line, perhaps a hapax legomenon, is comprised of the chuang 疒 radical and the phonetic chao 抄. Tao’s note provides only the pronunciation, not the meaning. YJQQ 97.15b1 and Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 3.9b5, citing this poem, write only the phonetic and omit Tao’s note. The first character of the alliterative compound of which it is part, cu 徂, is often used as an alternate form for, among others, zu 阻 (thwart, block, obstruct, etc.) and ju 沮 (spoil, marshy, downcast, dejected, etc.). The compound’s basic meaning thus seems to be “dejected,” “spoiled,” or “obstructed.” Kroll (2003, 180) offers the ingenious “molder and waste” without comment. I favor the “obstructed” line of meaning: a key idea here is that before the “fair one” attains Perfection, the two parties can only see each other indirectly, as the fair one sleeps; afterward, there is no barrier, and they can directly eye (mu 目) each other and enjoy the communion of their hearts and minds. 73 The “vacuous knife” (xudao 虚刀) immediately recalls the “mystic blade-edge” (玄刃) of ZG 1.5a9 (Fascicle One, n. 90) and the “vacuous blade” (xuren 虚刃) of ZG 1.16b5 (Fascicle One, n. 193)—relating to mystical discernment. The line also suggests the image of a man whose erect penis points upward as he sleeps, but Purple Tenuity is emphasizing that in spiritual union the male adept uses a nonphysical sword. 74 The Five Spirits (wushen 五神) are variously defined. Since the present context sets them in parallel with the “highest vault,” they may be understood appropriately as referring to the Five Spirits of the five directions—Goumang 勾芒 (east), Zhurong 祝融 (south), Houtu 后土 (center), Rushou 蓐收 (west), and Xuanming 玄冥 (north). Zuo zhuan (Duke Zhao, 29th year), in Legge 1994, 5:729. They are equally the Five Spirits of the five viscera (wuzang)—heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, and spleen—the five planets, Five Marchmounts, and so on. The Sunü jing states that refraining from ejaculation over four acts of intercourse puts the Five Spirits at peace: 四動不寫，五神咸安。 Sunü jing, 1.9a10 (Shuangmei jing an congshu); trl. Wile 1992, 92. Other passages in Chinese sexual texts frequently mention that overly deep or rapid penetration also harms the five viscera (Wile 1992, 101, 115, and 126). This helps to explain why the Five Spirits specifically are mentioned here: if seminal essence (jing 精) were to be released during this erotic dream, they would certainly be distressed! As for “base impediments” (bizhi 鄙滯), Xu Mi has used this term to describe the faults inherited from his former life (ZG 3.17a10). As Purple Tenuity uses it, it becomes a subtle dig at the old man.

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these fascicles fit together, and this necessitated going back and redoing much of what I had done earlier (poem prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 189-91; analysis differs). The language of spiritual union shares much with that of its physical counterpart, but with certain inversions and role-reversals. Let us focus first on the terms with the clearest meaning. In the next-to-last line we reencounter the “vacuous knife” (xudao 虚刀), which is essentially the same as the “vacuous blade-edge” from Consort An’s instructions to Yang Xi on their wedding night. It is mystical discernment, the spiritual counterpart of the penis, not the fleshly sword of the sex manuals. It is like a sword, but void or hollow. It rises to the heavens as the male sleeps (i.e., his spirit rises in dream). The man, once more, must be in a supine position in order for his vacuous knife to rise, but he must never allow his physical self to ejaculate. As Zhou Ziyang once reminded Xu Mi, “Keep your body still through the night” (July 26, 365). Ejaculation would only distress the Five Spirits, i.e., the spirits of the five viscera, as stated in the noted sex manual Sunü jing. The seventh line reads, “[Like] clouds bursting forth, we quit the numinous palace” (雲勃冩靈宫). The “numinous palace” (linggong 靈宫) refers to the singer’s Purple Tenuity Palace, which is sometimes abbreviated as Purple Palace (Zigong 紫宮), but here it also functions as a kind of spiritual counterpart of the womb (zigong 子宮), nurturing a host of numina—the eight wolves, white tigers, dragons, phoenixes, and simurghs. Purple Tenuity has been massing her forces behind the walls of her palace, and they all xie at once. Xie, appropriately enough, refers to a movement of horses and carriages, but it is also the standard word for ejaculation. Is it too far-fetched to suggest that in spiritual union, the reversal of gender-roles extends to the “mechanics” of the act itself? It is not the male that ejaculates after all—it is the female. She is on top. She marshals her forces before striking deep. Her partner lies below as his “vacuous” or empty member points upward and waves (or “freely beckons”), ready to serve as a receptacle. His root gets irrigated.75 Once we have grasped the basics, certain other details in the poem fall into place. What are we to make of Purple Tenuity’s palace in the first line being “shaded by haze” (yi ai 翳藹)? It could just as well be “covered under foliage”—and the dim outline of an anatomical landscape appears. The scattering of Lights on the gale relates to the long voyage Purple Tenuity must make to cross from the Perfected to the human world. She draws near to the “clamor in the dust” of the human world, but her partner is sound asleep amid all the noise: he is already dead to it. The sixth and seventh couplets express very well the sense of timelessness experienced during the brief moment of climax. If Douglas Wile (1992, 7), writing of Chinese experience-based beliefs concerning sex, lists as one “…the belief that sexual energy is capable of transfer from one organism to another. … It thus was believed that the sexual energy released during the fission reaction of female orgasm could be ‘drunk’ (he 喝), ‘consumed’ (shi 食), or ‘inhaled’ (xi 吸) through the penis of the passive male partner who had learned the proper techniques of absorption.” 75

258 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Purple Tenuity’s partner were truly to attain Perfection, then they would no longer need to meet each other through meditation and dream—they would see each other through open eyes, not through eyes closed in sleep or meditation, and their hearts would never feel frustration over the layer of separation. Purple Tenuity directs her message to her “fair one” Xu Hui’s father as part of her administration of poetic justice for the sin Xu Mi committed in his previous life, of seducing a woman who was both his niece and his teacher’s daughter. Now that his teacher is seducing his son, she delivers the final couplet as a kind of parting dig at the old man. She praises the young man for being able to wave his blade to the skies, while the old man is being hindered by his “base impediments”—a term that Xu Mi himself had used to describe his own failings (in particular, lust). It is much as one would expect in a situation when a woman is rejecting an old suitor in favor of a younger one. Oddly, for this most suggestive of poems, Du Guangting’s Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783) and the version in YJQQ 97 are little changed from the ZG. The only significant change appears in the ninth line, where “sleeping” (qin 寢; it could also be “bedchamber”) is replaced by “place” (suo 所): “I let go the reins at my fair one’s place.” The setting is thus made a bit vague—it could be anywhere in the fair one’s house or, more likely, a mountain retreat. Spiritual union, like sexual intercourse, has consequences, and these will emerge in due course. Rhyme: -ew, -uw.

May 9, 366: Xu Mi Urged to Leave the World Immediately [8]

4.6a6-4.6b6

When morning opens the eastern radiance of dawn, I fly my draped carriage across Blue-grey mere. Mountainous waves shake the green shore As the eight winds fan dark mists. I turn to gaze at the house of Change and Movement,76

76 The “house of Change and Movement” (Yiqian fang 易遷房), usually a “Hall” (guan 館), is, according to ZG 12.14a9-10, a cave-heaven where female adepts (there are 83) after death undergo further training and refinement before attaining Perfection; there are similar places for male adepts. Its name is likely derived with irony from a statement attributed to Confucius in Han shi waizhuan: “‘Only when the coffin is closed does he stop sowing; / He knows not the change and movement of the seasons.’ This is a statement on where the gentleman rests. Therefore, he studies unceasingly and stops only after his coffin is closed.” 闔棺兮乃止 播耳，不知其時之易遷兮，此之謂君子所休也。故學而不已，闔棺乃止。 Lau and Chen 1992b, 8.23/62/6-7; cf. Hightower 1952, 278. Xu Mi’s deceased wife Tao Kedou is one of the residents and is sometimes referred to simply by her title: “Change and Movement” (ZG

FASCICLE FOUR / 259

Remembering a person there of true feeling. The three gold [peaks] may be roamed all round;77 The eastern crags are suitable for perpetual [self-]shaping. In complexity and confusion, from the midst of obstructing mud,78 Who is able to step across the ford of life?79 I drift and float [above] the ridges of the Eight Aurorae;80 To and fro flies my dawn-canopy.81 When my purple-draped carriage leaps into the grand vault of space, I gaze searchingly82 beyond the Nine Voids.83 Jade panpipes roil lucent clouds; Numinous mists vanish into tenebrous haze. When lofty immortals banquet with the Grand Perfected,84 Their clear singing nulls the horizon’s verge. Depart, and come to the courts of peak and marchmount! What reason is there for “dependent”85 advancement? Composed by the Lady of Purple Tenuity on the fourteenth day of the fourth month. 8.2a6). WYT 1.20b10 places the women there among the sundry earthbound immortals on the left of the sixth tier. 77 “Roam all round” (youpan 遊盤), which appears in Pan Yue’s 潘岳 (247-300) Xizheng fu 西征賦 (Rhapsody on a Westward Journey), in Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 10.14b1 (Sibu congkan), is usually understood to refer to roaming for fun or pleasure (SK 152n44). Knechtges (1987, 201) translates it “roaming revels.” However, since the word corresponding to pan in the next line, “shaping” (zhen 甄), conveys the image of being shaped on the potter’s wheel, and the next couplet has the image of extricating oneself from mud, I choose “roamed all round” to suggest “rounding,” though the underlying pottery conceit is still masked in translation. 78 On “obstructing mud” (dangtu), see Fascicle Three, n. 194. 79 The next poem is not counted a separate pian or “piece,” but there is a change of rhyme. 80 On the “ridges of the Eight Aurorae” (baxia ling 八霞嶺), I can find no further description, but the Eight Aurorae are mentioned in Zhoushi mingtong ji (DZ 302), 4.18a7, and in ZG 9.7a4, the Eight Aurorae are made to cast an all-encompassing light—suggesting they lie at the ends of the eight directions (bafang). 81 About the dawn-canopy (chen’gai), see Fascicle Two, n. 177. 82 I read li 麗 as an alternate form of li (meaning to search, examine, or inspect), a rare character not in the MS Word character set that consists of the radical jian 見 on the right and phonetic li 麗 on the left, following HDC 12:1294. 83 The Nine Voids (jiuxu 九虛) are the Nine Heavens; see Fascicle One, n. 135. 84 Grand Perfected (taizhen 太真) refers to higher-ranking Perfected; the term appears in the titles of several, including the Queen Mother of the West. The term “lofty immortals” (gaoxian 高仙) also refers to immortals of high rank (YJQQ 3.6b7-9, which, however, comes from a later scripture). 85 On “dependent” (you dai), see Fascicle Three, n. 27. The Lady of Purple Tenuity alludes to the “dependence / non-dependence” discussion.

260 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

[9]

As dark waves shake my Blue-grey Breakers,86 The flooded ford swells with myriad currents. Harnessing my Lights, I gaze at the Six Voids,87 Longing to roam with my fair one. If he does not respond to my wondrous singing, To whom shall I project my clear tones? In the clouds, I race on wheels of rose-gem— Why does he run about in the dust? In the same evening Lady Right Blossom chanted and sang this, the preceding song.

Comments The three poems here form a set: two by Purple Tenuity (grouped together as one “piece” but clearly two separate poems, with different rhymes), and one by Right Blossom (respectively prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 191-3 and 1996, 187). Each ends with a question: “Who is able to step across the ford of life?” “What reason is there for ‘dependent’ advancement?” “Why does he run about in the dust?” The poem by Right Blossom that follows after this in the next section ends with a similar question, “Why is it impossible to break away?” but the rest differs sharply from the poems here. It rather pairs with the one following it, so I place those together in the next section. The three poems here are fairly typical in extolling distant travel in the Perfected realm. Their general aim is to urge Xu Mi to leave the world immediately. Other indications that these poems form a set: the line, “Mountainous waves shake the green shore” in the first is answered by “As dark waves shake my Blue-green Breakers” in the third; “I gaze searchingly beyond the Nine Voids” in the second is answered by “Harnessing my Lights, I gaze at the Six Voids” in the third (nine is yang, six is yin); “turn to gaze” in the first is answered by “gaze searchingly” in the third. They are quite transparent in meaning and need little further comment. Purple Tenuity’s first poem, however, contains a reference to Xu Mi’s dead wife Tao Kedou, a “person of true feeling” now resident in the Hall of Change and Movement, a cave-heaven. There she continues the process of 86 Blue-grey Breakers (Cangtao 滄濤) is an alternate form of Blue-grey Billows, Lady Right Blossom’s island home. The “dark waves” (xuanpo 玄波 ) may refer to the reverberations from Purple Tenuity’s instructions or songs (Fascicle One, n. 137). The “flooded ford” (hongjin 洪津) of the next line is the seaway to China, in reducing Perfected perspective. 87 The term “Six Voids” (liuxu 六虚) usually refers to up, down, and the four directions. It first appears in the Xici zhuan commentary to Zhou yi, where it is linked with the six lines of each hexagram; Zhou yi, 8.7b5-6 (Sibu congkan); trl. Wilhelm 1969, 348. Six is also a yin number, while the nine of the Nine Heavens above is yang. “Six Voids” may also be the light of heaven, as in Dongzhen taidan yinshu jing (Robinet, A.18), cited in WSMY 5.4a2.

FASCICLE FOUR / 261

post-mortem training and refinement that will eventually bring her to Perfection, too. The last few lines feature imagery derived from pottery: an adept who refines himself or herself becomes like a piece of clay that pulls itself out of the mud and shapes itself. It is an apt description of the process that Tao Kedou is now undergoing, and what is also in store for Xu Mi and Xu Hui. Purple Tenuity is thus employing another psychologically powerful strategy to convince Xu Mi to abandon the world: she holds out the implicit promise that he may see his wife again in the Perfected realm. Rhymes: (1) -en, -yin, -in; (2) -ajH, -ejH; (3) -uw, -juw, -ju.

May 18, 366: Thriving in Winter, Viewing the Universe with Eyes Closed [10]

[11]

4.6b7-4.7a4

The pine and cypress that grow on Dark Peak88 Flourish and become the giants of wintry groves. Profuse flowers that thrive in harsh ice Never acquiesce to the fear of white snow. In a chaotic world they hide in layers of peaks, And make the round of life on a Way constant and pure. Fly on these reins-and-wheels of freedom! Escape by the tracks of those people in the distance! From dukes, marquises you should depart, and come: Why is it impossible to break away? The preceding was composed by Right Blossom. When the spirit’s jade scintillates by the ford of the numina89 And Seven Primes iridesce in the spirits’ doors,90

88 Dark Peak (Xuanling 玄嶺) is the second of the three peaks of Maoshan (ZG 11.1b10), the peak associated with the Middle Lord Mao, Mao Gu. 89 The ford of the numina (lingjin, the Milky Way) is associated with the nose and philtrum (n. 5 above). The “spirit’s jade” (shenyu 神玉) is Vega, the Weaving Girl. Many Six Dynasties tales tell how the Han envoy Zhang Qian 張騫 (fl. 2nd cent. BCE) rode a raft to the Yellow River’s source (or out to sea) and brought back a stone (or jade) that had supported the Weaving Girl’s loom: Zhang Hua 張華 (232-300), Bowu zhi (Treatise on Diverse Things) as cited in Lu Yin 魯訔 (13th cent.), ed., Caotang shijian 草堂詩箋 (Poems of Thatch Hall, Annotated; rpt. Taipei: Guangwen shuju, 1971), 30.777, 32.820 and Fan Ning 1980, 10.111, 113; Zong Lin 宗懍 (fl. 6th cent.), Jing Chu suishi ji 荊楚歲時記 (Annual Customs and Festivals in Jing and Chu), as cited in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 51.6a4-5; and a Tang Dunhuang text, Qian Han Liu jia taizi zhuan 前漢劉家太子傳 (A Record of the Prince of the Liu Family of the Former Han), reprinted in Yang Jialuo 1961, 1:161-62; trl. Smith 1992, 2:657, 681. 90 The term “spirits’ doors” (shenfei 神扉) appears in the introduction to Huangtian shangqing jinque dijun lingshu ziwen shangjing (DZ 639; Robinet, A.10), 1.1b10-2a1: Lord Blue Lad, asking the Sage Lord of the Latter Ages for the scripture, asserts, “[I] opened the spirits’ doors and

262 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

The numina rise within the [heart’s] square inch And in a single bound ascend to Grand Tenuity. Wondrous tones mount upward in harmonious song: For meeting on high, there is indeed a contrivance.91 Level with this perspective of the people of heaven! Join with that flight of the Light of dawn! If you gather the reins beyond the six coordinates,92 How could there [ever] be collapses and crises?93 Composed by the Lady of Purple Tenuity in the night of the twenty-third day of the fourth month. Comments Like the poems in the preceding section, these form an obvious pair. Both have ten lines similarly arranged, with the most urgent demands placed in the nextto-last couplets, and questions at the end (“Why are you unable to break away?” and “How could there [ever] be collapses and crises?”). The first poem, strictly speaking, is not dated, but since it clearly matches the next poem, which is, we may reasonably assume that it too belongs to this night’s declarations. Both poems open with colorful imagery. In the first, by Right Blossom, the plants that thrive in winter suggest recluses in the mountains who cultivate eternal life despite their physical hardships. The beginning lines of the second poem, by Purple Tenuity (prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 194), may be interpreted on several levels. If one reads the “spirit’s jade,” the “ford of the numina,” and Seven Primes simply as names for features in the night sky, then the lines become a broad description of that sky: Vega sparkles next to the Milky Way, and so on. As the stars come out, the adept meditates and visualizes a spiritual ascent. If, however, one also recognizes the anatomical counterparts of the terms yielded to transformation” 啟神扉而委化 . Bokenkamp 1997, 309 has “spirit-gates of my consciousness.” However, the 4th stanza of Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 1.8a1-4 (YJQQ 11.3-6) and Liangqiuzi commentary describe how the “two doors” (liangfei 兩扉) of the eyes must be closed in order to visualize the spirits. Recall also Consort An’s “Long we sing behind numinous curtains / As iridescences open our doors of jade,” 長 歌靈幙，煥啟玉扉 in ZG 2.5b9-10. Kroll (2003, 194-95) has “door to divinity” for shenfei and writes that it “refers to one’s mouth, the more normal term ‘gateway’ (men) here being replaced for the sake of rhyme by a synonym (fei).” I disagree. “Spirit Gate” (shenmen 神門) usually refers to another thing entirely—an acupuncture point on the wrist. 91 The contrivance (ji 機) here probably refers to the “mystic contrivance” (xuanji) of meditation, alluded to through the poem’s ascension imagery; see also Fascicle Three, n. 167. 92 The six coordinates (liuhe 六合) are the four directions, plus the zenith and nadir—here taken to refer to the reaches of the known world (Major et al. 2010, 175-76, 881). 93 Collapses (qing 傾) are often associated with the ends of kalpas, crises (wei 危) with more frequent cycles, especially in Han prognostication and apocryphal (chenwei 讖緯) texts.

FASCICLE FOUR / 263

“ford of the numina” and “spirits’ doors” (nose/philtrum, eyes), then what is being “seen” here may appear entirely during the course of meditation: the adept begins by visualizing the stars scintillating inside the eyelids and below the nose and then mounts a spiritual ascent to the heavens that takes place entirely within the heart. Placed together, the two poems propose a simple course of action: withdraw to the mountains and meditate. Rhymes: (1) -et, -jet; (2) -j+j, -jwe.

May 22, 366: Using the Eight Purities as Vehicles for Joining One’s Kind

4.7a5-4.7a10

[12] Mystic sensibility [extends] beyond the wondrous Images; Harmonious voices freely attract one another. As numinous clouds thicken in the purple dawn, An orchidaceous wind fans green cabriolets.94 While the Higher Perfected rest in rose-gem terraces, Far away, they are standards for earthbound immortals. What [the latter] expect is ennobling, distant advancement— Hence they can rise by their exceptional acuity. Enjoy studying that scripture of the Eight Purities95 And the Way’s culmination begins to be no longer distant. Human affairs—how might you prepare for them? They cause your form and pneuma to melt away! Composed by the Lady of the Southern Marchmount [Wei Huacun] in the night of the twenty-seventh day of the fourth month. For the preceding twelve pieces, there is calligraphy by Yang, and for some there are copies by the Administrator [Xu Hui].

94 These couplets echo ideas in the Wenyan 文言 commentary to the 1st hexagram qian 乾 (“The Creative”), Zhou yi, 3a10-3b1 (Sibu congkan); in Wilhelm’s translation (1969, 382): “Things that accord in tone vibrate together. Things that have affinity in their inmost natures seek one another. Water flows to what is wet, fire turns to what is dry. Clouds follow the dragon, wind follows the tiger. Thus the sage rises, and all creatures follow him with their eyes.” 同聲相應，同氣相求。水流濕，火就燥。雲從龍，風從虎。聖人作而萬物覩. 95 On the Eight Purities (basu), see Fascicle One, n. 206. SK 153n64, cites a passage from Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2) preserved in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 672.2b8: “The scripture of the Eight Purities was personally written by the Sage Lord with eight-colored brushstrokes on white undyed silk.” 八素之經是聖君以白素之繒八色之彩筆自書也。 The word “quill” or brush (han 翰) in the present line thus refers to the scripture itself, so SK 150 translates the line in the poem to mean, “If you fondly intone that scripture of the Eight Purities…” However, the verb wan 翫 carries a range of meanings such as study, accustom, practice, appreciate, enjoy, play with, and so on (HDC 9:667)—hence my “enjoy studying.”

264 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Comments This poem by Wei Huacun, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount, is rather hard to understand because of its difficult subject-matter: the way things mysteriously resonate with one another, and how adepts may, with effort, refine their acuity so that they can perceive these subtle resonances and be elevated by degrees into the Perfected realm. The core concept of resonance derives from the passage in the Wenyan commentary to Zhou yi that describes sympathetic vibrations on musical instruments, clouds following the dragon, wind following the tiger, and so on. Thus the poem leads with the assertion, “Mystic sensibility [extends] beyond the wondrous Images; / Harmonious voices freely attract one another.” That is, someone who is very perceptive or has attuned his or her sensibility to the mysterious will be able to reach beyond the external forms of the hexagrams to achieve deeper insights. People who have developed the ability to chant well in meditation will inevitably find that the chants generate harmonious responses from their Perfected counterparts. The poem then shows the resonances passing in various ways from the Perfected realm down to the human world. In the second couplet, we see “numinous clouds” thickening in the purple dawn and an “orchidaceous wind” fanning green cabriolets—images that, to those steeped in the Chinese classics, would evoke the dragons and tigers of the Zhou yi. The dragons, by extension, are the “Eight Lights” or “Eight Purities” that draw the carriages on the wind. The Perfected, at ease in their lofty terraces, become the standards for the (earthbound) immortals far below. Because the latter expect elevation and have refined their acuity, they will be able eventually to rise. Wei Huacun then turns to address her disciples (Yang Xi and probably both Xus as well), advising them, “Enjoy studying that scripture of the Eight Purities / And the Way’s culmination begins to be no longer distant.” Xu Mi especially still needs a lot of meditation practice before he can soar with his Lights to the ends of the earth, but if he attunes himself to the Perfected, his chanting voice will find a sympathetic response, and he will be that much closer to his destination. Finally, far down at the bottom, there is the treacherous world of human affairs, for which there can be no preparation. Paradoxically, even though the poem discusses ascent, the focus of its attention shifts steadily downward. Rhyme: -ew.

May 28, 366: Lady Right Blossom Envisions a Spiritual Union with Xu Mi [1]

4.7b1-4.7b6

Purified and cleansed, contemplate the eastern mountains; Shaded from the Lights, roost in numinous caves.

FASCICLE FOUR / 265

Placid and peaceful, the fenced courtyard is empty While the concealing cover of the green woods grows dense. The round dazzler shines on the south studio; A vermilion phoenix fans the secluded room. 96 We [casually] cup hands in greeting97 inside the enclosed chamber, And during our rendezvous begin the wondrous techniques. With vacant acuity, your far-ranging thoughts turn to the mysterious; In still solitude, your spiritual heart finds escape.98 Composed by Right Blossom in the night of the third day of the intercalary month, to be shown to Senior Aide Xu [Mi].A For the preceding, there is calligraphy by Yang and a copy by the Administrator [Xu Hui]. A Note that in the Jin calendar, it is the intercalary fourth month of the year bingyin [366].

Comments Lady Right Blossom fantasizes once more about spiritual union with her fair one. This time, the imagined setting is the mountain retreat that Xu Mi plans to build, and there are homey touches: a courtyard, the sun shining on it from the south, the easy casualness of greeting, the shared intimacies. But most of this takes place in the mind. The poem begins by telling Xu to gaze on the eastern mountains (Maoshan) after purifying and cleansing himself, and to find a shaded roost in the caves. It ends with advice on meditation. The dwelling Right Blossom describes is not necessarily the actual, physical retreat that Xu Mi is building; of greater importance is its spiritual counterpart inside his heart. The line, “And during our rendezvous commence the wondrous techniques” (xiangqi qi miao shu 相期啟妙術) may also be translated, “And during our time together are revealed the wondrous techniques,” or, supplying more pronouns, “And during our time together I reveal to you the wondrous techniques.” We have encountered xiangqi or rendezvous earlier (ZG 3.5b10 and 96 The vermilion phoenix (zhufeng 朱鳳) is the emblematic bird (zhuque 朱雀) of the south. In other contexts vermilion phoenixes are described pulling the chariots of the Perfected. 97 Literally, “cupping sleeves” (gongmei 拱袂), like “cupping hands,” (gongshou 拱手): to cup one hand in the other and raise both before the chest, but done very casually (HDC 6:554). 98 An echo to this couplet appears in a letter by an obscure figure, Yu Xi 俞希, describing the betel-nut palm for Han Kangbo 韓康伯 (c. 322-c. 380): “If you were to pace through its grove, you would achieve a vacant acuity, and if you were sheltered in its shade, you would feel a still solitude. Surely it is conducive for long incantations and far-ranging thoughts!” 步 其林則寥朗，庇其蔭則蕭條。信可以長吟，可以遠想矣。 In Jia Sixie 賈思勰 (fl. 6th cent.), Qimin yaoshu 齊民要術 (Essential Arts for All People), 10.16a4-5 (Sibu congkan).

266 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

3.6a9; see Fascicle Three, n. 75). The “wondrous techniques” are not precisely identified, but given the broader context, we have a rather good idea of what they are. The variants appearing in Du Guangting’s Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783) are minor; one version changes qi 啟 (“commence” or “reveal”) to tan 探 (“explore” or “investigate”).99 Rhyme: -et, -it.

Lady Right Blossom Offers Xu Mi Her Medicinal Herbs (undated) [1]

4.7b7-4.8a3

Unleash your mind at the ford of undifferentiated space, Gather reins, and urge on the vermilion-draped carriage. Why does my fair one come so late? When will you be complete in the Way and Virtue? [Lady Right Blossom] intoned these couplets.100

[2]

Mindful Master Xu “The Axe” Says you should pick the five polypores.101 [But] polypores and herbs need not be obtained, And you, after all, cannot come. If you do come, certainly you can receive them: I would give you them to eat!A [Lady] Right Blossom intoned this. For the preceding two pieces, there is calligraphy by Yang.

The two de 得 (“find”) and the lai 來 (“come”) here both play on Wu [dialect] pronunciations.102 A

Comments These poems are undated, but the content of the second indicates they were revealed shortly before Xu Mi’s departure for the capital, just when he was supposed to travel to Maoshan instead. They are, moreover, a pair: the unYongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), 5.11b10-12a2 makes the change; YJQQ 98.14a4-6 retains qi. The DZ text incorrectly presents this statement as one of Tao Hongjing’s interlinear comments, but it has to be Yang Xi’s. I thus present it in the main text, in italics. 101 On the five polypores, see Fascicle Three, n. 288, as well as n. 3 and 4 above. 102 Unfortunately, it is unclear what the Wu dialect pronunciations were in the 4 th century, or how these affected the meaning of the poem. 99

100

FASCICLE FOUR / 267

leashed mind (zongxin 縱心) that leads the first contrasts with the retained mind or “mindfulness” (youxin 有心) that leads the second, both touch on Xu Mi’s failure to “come” (lai 來), both are “intoned” (yin 吟), and both were likely on the same Yang Xi manuscript. Why would Tao Hongjing place them here, out of sequence? My guess is that he considered their general “failure to rendezvous” theme and placed them with other poems that sound the same complaint. Another possibility is that he may have wanted to mask how the Perfected had changed their minds about the necessity of Xu Mi going to Maoshan. The first of these poems (prev. trl. Kroll 1996, 187) is quite typical: Lady Right Blossom still cannot find her “fair one” where he should be, at the “ford of undifferentiated space,” a suitably liminal place between this world and the other. Because of the omission of the subject in the first couplet, it is not quite clear whether Right Blossom is describing her own actions (in which case the translation would read, “I unleash my heart/mind at the ford of undifferentiated space, / Gather reins, and urge on my vermilion-draped carriage”) or advising Xu Mi what he should do. In the end I chose the latter option, because the corresponding couplet in the second poem also dispenses advice. In the second poem, we learn that Xu Mi’s conscientious son is also urging him to go to Maoshan for the polypores. However, Right Blossom says that the polypores are not really necessary, and she concedes that Xu Mi cannot go. (Does she accept his excuse that he is sent on command, or is she observing that he is just not ready for them? This, too, is not clear). Polypores and herbal medicines are not really necessary because they pertain more to the Way of immortality. For a man preparing himself for elevation as a Perfected official, the polypores would be a great boon, but they are not quite as essential as guarding the Female Ones, visualizing ascents to the heavens in meditation, achieving spiritual union with a Perfected woman, and so on. In any case, whether Xu Mi receives polypores and herbs or not depends more on Right Blossom herself, since she is one of the persons in control of this matter. The content of the second poem is echoed in Xu Mi’s assertion above, “The golden [altar of] Ju[qu] will bestow the treasure of the five polypores; Blue-grey Billows will share delicacies that prolong my years” (ZG 3.17b7). For the moment, Right Blossom is keeping those delicacies to herself but still holding out the promise to share them if Xu Mi changes his mind at the last minute about going to the capital. Her position is like that of Consort An when she explained to Yang Xi, “Regard your mate, who is in charge of your food: / Within me are stored the Perfected recipes” (ZG 1.16a10-16b1). Rhymes: (1) -eng; (2) -yi, -oj, -ik (irregular).

268 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Ascent on a Trackless Road, Making One’s Home on the Way (undated) [1]

4.8a4-8b6

The eight paths converge on what has no progenitor;103 Ride upon its [cyclic] movement, view the [world’s] clamorous net. Transforming, float through the dusty interstices And loosen your lapel, at home on the Way.104 Gallop on the mists—and suddenly, in an instant, You are hand-in-hand with the Perfected, visiting numinous slopes: Vacuous Lights coil about rose-gem balustrades, And in the Dark Hub phoenix songs are performed.105 The road of approach has no tracks or obstructions— The divine music makes the cloud-waves dance. Equal in Virtue [to the Perfected], you blossom over the Jade Capital106: Of what use are the many things in the world? When she finished instructing me to write [this poem], she intoned it once more. After a long time she again directed me to write this poem, as if it were unconnected with what had been written.107

103 The eight paths (batu 八塗) stretch to the eight directions; the term is comparable in meaning to the “eight thoroughfares” (batong 八通 ), “Eight Cords” (bahong—see Fascicle Three, n. 266) and “eight ways” (badao 八道). The latter is a focus of Shangqing taishang dijun jiuzhen zhongjing (DZ 1376; Robinet, A.5), 1.10b10-15b7, which describes a series of visualizations of deities traveling in their chariots on certain days of the year. “What has no progenitor” (wuzong 無宗) is the Way. 104 I follow SK 156. This line does not describe “the specialists of the Way” (daojia 道家), which in the ZG and other early Higher Clarity writings often refers to the Celestial Masters—sometimes disparagingly (ZG 7.7a8, 13.4a4, 20.3b3-4). Rather, it describes “having a Way-home,” or being at home on the Way: to “loosen your lapel” (jieqin 解衿) is a common expression for relaxing; Morohashi 1984, 10:363 (35067:53). 105 On the Dark Hub (xuanjun, both a celestial location and a musical mode—here probably the celestial location, the Northern Hub), see Fascicle Three, n. 151. 106 This line echoes the 5th stanza of Dadong zhenjing: “In Grand Tenuity is the Heavenly Thearchic Lord, / The eight buoying [winds] enter its cloudy enceinte. / The divine Progenitor arranges its numinous crossings; / Dragon Mountain [Terrace] blossoms over the Jade Capital.” 太微天帝君，八浮入雲營。神宗理靈襟，龍山（臺名）秀玉京。 Shangqing dadong zhenjing (Robinet, A.1; DZ 6), 2.12a8-9. The commentary (also in YJQQ 8.3b2-5) makes the Jade Capital (Yujing 玉京) the seat of the Heavenly Thearchic Lord of Grand Tenuity. 107 The ZG text does not identify this poem’s Perfected composer, but the Lady in Attendance Within is most likely. It appears with the next in her biography in YJQQ 97.8b1-4. However, Dongxuan lingbao ziran jiutian shengshen yu zhangjing jue (DZ 397), 3.27b6-7 attributes it to Lady Right Blossom.

FASCICLE FOUR / 269

[2]

[3]

Calm and at ease, view the heavenly Perfected. Leave your burdens—let go your thronging passions. Embody stillness—retire your carriage-and-four.108 If you venerate Being, then you nurture life.109 When shall I find the “master who equalizes things”110 Yielding to their movements and letting them go where they may? The preceding was composed by the Lady in Attendance Within. Rest briefly on a peak in the dusty gale;111 On the alternating sequence [of seasons] trace a cycle of return.112 How would you know of the numinas’ kalpic durations, When glancing backward113 causes a man grief?

108 As SK 157n6, points out, the carriage-and-four is an old metaphor for speech. Xici zhuan in Zhou yi states: “Words and deeds are the gentleman’s pivot and bowspring. As the pivot and bowspring move, they govern honor and disgrace. Words and deeds are what the gentleman uses to move heaven and earth. Must he not, then, be cautious?” 言行，君子之樞 機。樞機之發，榮辱之主也。言行，君子之所以動天地也。可不慎乎。 Zhou yi, 7.5b9-6a1 (Sibu congkan); translation based on Wilhelm 1969, 305. Lunyu also states, “Zigong said, ‘Alas! Sir, in your statement on the gentleman, a team of four could not have caught up with your tongue.” 子貢曰，惜乎，夫子之說君子也，駟不及舌。 Cf. Legge 1994, 1:255. SK 156 thus translates the phrase in ZG to mean, “Give up speech.” However, I would argue that the line works simultaneously on a more literal level (which is part of its ingenious quality): retiring one’s carriage-and-four would also mean retiring from office. 109 See Fascicle Three, n. 45. “Venerate Being” (chongyou 崇有) relates to Wei-Jin debates between the “group valuing Non-being” and the “group venerating Being” (Lin 2004, 141). 110 The “master who equalizes things” alludes to Zhuangzi’s second chapter, Qiwu lun 論 (Discourse on Equalizing Things); SK 157n7. 111 The “peak in the dusty gale” (chenbiao ling 塵飈領) may refer to Maoshan. “Peak” is more properly written ling 嶺 in the version of this poem appearing in YJQQ 97.16a6. 112 The term “alternating sequence” (daixie 代謝) is used in Huainanzi to describe the seasons: “[The Way] turns around, but endlessly, imaging the progress of sun and moon. As spring and autumn have an alternating sequence, and as the sun and moon have day and night, it ends and begins again, brightens and dims again, and no one can find its ending.” 輪

轉而無窮，象日月之行，若春秋有代謝，若日月有晝夜，終而復始，明而復晦，莫能得其 紀。 Lau and Chen 1992c, 15/144/5-7; cf. Major et al. 2010, 584. 113 The term “glancing backward” (gumian 顧眄) refers to looking back at things tainted by

death instead of concentrating on Perfection. The term appears in the 27th stanza of Huangting neijing yujing: “One must obtain complete Perfection before glancing backward;/ The greatest prohibitions concern the filthy, base things of the pneumas of death.” 須得至真始顧 眄，至忌死氣諸穢賤。 The Liangqiuzi commentary to the first line states: “Guarding your Perfection with complete single-mindedness, you will freely return to yourself.” 守真志滿一 自歸己。 The commentary to the second line states: “Ordinarily in all practices such as volatizing cinnabar, refining medicines, ingesting pneumas, swallowing aurorae, and so on, one is prohibited from seeing things pertaining to dead bodies and filth. This is a common prohibition among masters who protect life. However, the perfect Way is insipid and void,

270 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

The preceding was composed by the Lady of Purple Tenuity. For the previous three pieces, there is calligraphy by the Administrator [Xu Hui]. Comments The Lady in Attendance Within sings the second of these three undated poems; the singer of the first is unidentified. The first two make a distinct pair, evident through various repeating words and contrasting phrases. For instance, one starts with “view the [world’s] clamorous net,” while the other has “view the heavenly Perfected.” One ends by questioning the adept, who is now “equal in Virtue” with the Perfected, and the other ends by asking, “Where shall I find the ‘master who equalizes things’…?” Carriage motifs also link them together. Each poem consists of a set of instructions and concludes with a question. Unusual imagery fills the first poem. The first line, “The eight paths converge on what has no progenitor,” suggests the spokes of a wheel converging on the empty hub, and the adept (either Xu Mi or Xu Hui is possible), since he is told to ride it and look at the world’s “clamorous net.” He is then to transform himself, float upward through the interstices of that net, and relax—since he has made the Way his home, and he is joining his Perfected family. Galloping onward on his carriage (drawn by his Lights), he is instantly brought to the Perfected realm. The “vacuous Lights” of the seventh line are dragons, which is why they are said to “coil” about the balustrades. They also make a suitable counterpart to the phoenix-melodies being performed. No tracks are left on the route upward, since the “divine music makes the cloud-waves dance”—it is an intangible road. By this point, the adept is equal in Virtue with the Perfected, so he can “blossom” over the Jade Capital—and everything he has left behind in the world is no longer of any account. The Lady in Attendance Within seems to direct the second poem more specifically at Xu Mi, since she advises him to “retire your carriage-and-four”— advice that may be interpreted either as “hold your tongue” or “retire from office” (or perhaps both)—and “let go your thronging passions.” Xu Mi’s greatest obstructions are precisely his reluctance to give up his official position and to eliminate his passions. The line about venerating Being alludes once more to the philosophical debate between the “group venerating Being” and and at the root there is neither purity nor filth. Before one obtains the rectitude of Perfection, then there is a difference between purity and filth, and if there is a difference not equalized, then right and wrong rise from within and life and death become apparent without. Then those who are clean and pure are the disciples of life, and those who are turbid and filthy are the disciples of death. That is why [these things] are prohibited in the cultivation of life.” 凡 飛丹鍊藥，服氣吞霞等事，皆忌見死屍殗穢之事。此衛生家之共忌也。然至道冲虚，本無淨 穢。未獲真正，則淨穢有殊。殊而不齊，則是非起於內，生死見於外；則清淨者生之徒，濁 穢者死之徒。故為養生之所忌也。 Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402; Robinet, A.34), 3.7a1-

9; YJQQ 12.9a7-9b5.

FASCICLE FOUR / 271

the “group valuing Non-being”: here the Perfected come out in favor of Being. The overall thrust of her instructions here is: just let go! The Lady of Purple Tenuity’s poem (prev. trl. Kroll 2003, 195) adds a note of warning as an afterthought. Xu Mi has just received guidance on making an ascent in meditation, but she reminds him of something mentioned in the Huangting neijing yujing: he cannot look back. The Tang-era Liangqiuzi commentary elaborates on this, using many of the words appearing here in the ZG: only after adepts have attained full Perfection and overcome or “equalized” all distinctions can they glance backward at what they left behind. If would-be Perfected persons who have not yet equalized these distinctions glance back, their progress is instantly thwarted by the mere sight and thought of things tainted by the pneumas of death, and they themselves are tainted as a result. The word “equalized” in the Liangqiuzi commentary is the same as that used in the phrases “equal in Virtue” and “master who equalizes things” in the previous two poems. The poem’s two couplets are respectively echoed by the comments to the third and fourth lines of the 27th stanza of Huangting neijing yujing. When Purple Tenuity says, “…trace a cycle of return,” she means “return to your (true) self.” Hence the three poems of this group form a definite set: a set of instructions on meditation, followed by a veiled warning. Rhymes: (1) -a, -ae; (2) -eng; (3) -w+j, -ij.

August 15, 366: A Song Pair Hinting at Other Possible Intimacies

4.8b7-4.9a7

[1]

A rustling in the woods needs a stimulus in kind; A covering of cloud depends on a dragon’s song.114 The mystically numbered freely seek each other;115 At the touch of the clappers, there is always a sound. Flying my draped carriage, I emerge from West Florescence;116 I gather my reins and at once come searching. The Eight Horizons117 are not without pleasure:

114 This couplet alludes again to the idea, “Clouds follow the dragon and wind follows the tiger” (n. 94 above). Huainanzi states: “Things within their categories move one another; root and twig respond to each other. Therefore…the tiger roars and the wind in the vale rushes, the dragon rises and luminous clouds gather.” 物類相動，本標相應，故…虎嘯而谷風至，龍 舉而景雲屬。Lau and Chen 1992c, 3/19/9-10; cf. Major et al. 2010, 116. Zhang Heng’s Gui tian fu 歸田賦 (Rhapsody on Returning to the Fields) in Knechtges’ (1996, 141) translation: “And now, I am a dragon singing in the great marsh, / A tiger howling in the mountains and hills.” 爾乃龍吟方澤，虎嘯山丘。Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 15.26b1-2 (Sibu congkan). 115 This echoes the Wenyan commentary to the 1st hexagram (n. 94 above), replacing “things of the same pneuma” (tongqi 同氣) with “the mystically numbered” (xuan shu 玄數). 116 On West Florescence, see Fascicle One, n. 108.

272 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Our unison song is patterned on our own chanting.118 Mourn here within the [world’s] four nets,119 The hundred cares120 ever present in your heart. Together let us roam the Terrace of Northern Chill,121 And the spiritual wind will spread out your lapels!

[2]

Composed by Lady [Purple Prime] of the Southern Pole in the night of the twenty-third day of the sixth month. Ascending on my draped carriage, I set out from East Florescence; Fanned on a gust, it dances over Grand Mystery.122 Reins flying, it leaps ninety thousand [li];123 The Eight Hedges,124 too, already seem flattened. Briefly, I glance between the mountains and rivers For the modest, retiring [one]125 among numinous alps. Sharing a breeze, surely we equalize our pneumas; When joining our Ways, we also pattern intimacy. The dragon polypore126 forever extends your years;

117 The Eight Horizons (baxia 八遐) may be an alternate form of Eight Aurorae (baxia 八 霞; n. 80 above); it is like the other octets we have encountered. 118 I understand the word qin 欽 (usually “respect”) here as an alternate form for yin 吟

(“chanting”); HDC 6:1453. The Japanese translation in SK 158, reads in effect, “For it is singing in union that naturally buoys up the heart.” 119 The “four nets” (siluo 四羅) are best understood as nets on all sides. 120 On the “hundred cares” (baiyou), see Fascicle Three, n. 160. 121 On the Terrace of Northern Chill, see n. 33 above. 122 On Grand Mystery, see Fascicle Two, n. 192. 123 The line alludes to the flight of Zhuangzi’s giant peng, said to rise ninety thousand li in its flight to the southern darkness, in Guo Qingfan 1983, 1A.4; trl. Watson 1968, 29. This couplet also echoes ZG 3.3a9-10. 124 The Eight Hedges (baluo 八落) again refer to the ends of the eight directions; see n. 117 above. This time, the earth is visualized as a small hedged-in enclosure or settlement. 125 The compound for “modest, retiring” (yaotiao 窈窕) immediately brings to mind a couplet in the first poem of the Shi jing, which in Legge’s translation (1994, 4:1) reads, “The modest, retiring, virtuous, young lady:— / For our prince a good mate she.” 窈窕淑女，君子 好逑 (SK 159n5). However, already by the Han poets were also using yaotiao as a term for a beautiful young woman (HDC 8:442, third definition). In the world of ZG, gender roles are often reversed—so in this case the “modest, retiring [one]” is certainly male. 126 The “dragon polypore” (longzhi 龍芝 ), a shortened form of “dragon immortal polypore” (longxianzhi 龍仙芝), is the first of the five Maoshan polypores (Fascicle Three, n. 288). WSMY 78.4a1-2: “Dragon immortal polypore resembles intertwining [variants read “horned” or jiao 蛟] dragons back-to-back, with leaves for scales; its roots are coiled dragons. If you obtain and eat it, you are promoted to immortal minister in the Grand Ultimate.” 龍 仙芝，似交龍之相負也。以葉爲鱗，其根蟠龍，得而食之，拜爲太極仙卿也。 Variants may

FASCICLE FOUR / 273

[Through] inner observation127 you absorb heavenly Perfection. On the eastern crags,A you may be lastingly purified: Why be bound up by things? Composed by the Lady in Attendance Within in the night of the twenty-third day of the sixth month. For the preceding two pieces there is calligraphy by Yang and a copy by the Administrator [Xu Hui]. This is to say that it [qin 芩 (“skullcap”)] should be written with the character cen 岑 (“crags”). A

Comments The two love poems on this night form another clear pair: the first singer sets out from West Florescence while the second sets out from East Florescence, the Eight Horizons in the first matches the Eight Hedges in the second, the first ends with the wind opening the adept’s robe and the second ends with him being bound up by things, both describe intimate encounters. The first leads with a series of couplets describing mystic resonance, the hidden affinities by which the things within particular categories can affect or be attracted to one another, with the implication that the partners of a spiritual union are likewise attracted. It closes with the playful image of the spiritual wind at the Terrace of Northern Chill blowing open the lapels of the fair one’s robe. If he were there in mortal flesh, he would simply freeze, but since he is there in spirit, he is completely oblivious to the cold. The second poem, in comparison, is more straightforward. It is useful to keep in mind that when the singer says she sets out from East Florescence, she is actually setting out from her own palace. These are the last two love poems in ZG’s first four fascicles, but oddly enough, they are not sung by Purple Tenuity or Right Blossom but by Purple Prime (a woman of very high rank) and the Lady in Attendance Within. This raises the question, “To whom are they speaking?” or “Who are their ‘fair ones’?” We have seen that when the Lady in Attendance Within eventually appears in dream to Xu Hui (ZG 18.12b1-8), in May, 368, she must introduce herself, and Yang Xi must explain what her connections are, meaning that Xu Hui could not recognize her despite all the earlier poems and declarations he and his father had received from her through Yang. If he had been having nightly meetings with her, he would have immediately recognized her in his dream, and she would not need to identify herself. Thus the dream passage points toward the establishment of some kind of connection between her and be found in Maoshan zhi (DZ 304), 19.1a10-1b1, Taiji zhenren jiuzhuan huandan jing yaojue (DZ 889), 1.6b1-2, Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 986.3b1-2, and elsewhere. 127 On “inner observation,” see Fascicle Two, n. 33.

274 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Xu Hui, one not necessarily achieved in full. As for Purple Prime, we have seen that she concluded the sequence on dependency and non-dependency with the couplet, “On high, when I meet the fair one sleeping, / Both dependent and non-dependent mingle what is and is not” (or, “what is right and wrong”—the line retains a hint of guilty pleasures). There she does not say who her fair one is, but in the present poem, like Right Blossom had on two earlier occasions (ZG 3.10a6, 4.4b8), she observes that the “hundred cares” are always present in his heart. If that is the case, the man is not really in any condition to be waving his vacuous knife to the skies—he must be Xu Mi. In sum, I would argue on the basis of these clues that Purple Prime is addressing her poem to Xu Mi and the Lady in Attendance Within to Xu Hui. Also, the two women are not describing past encounters but rather imagined encounters in the present—they are fantasizing again. There is no indication anywhere that the Xus ever actually manage to achieve spiritual union with either woman, but clearly they would be permitted to do so, if they were able and willing in the future. For now the women only tempt the Xus upward with their suggestive language. They are said to “compose” (zuo 作) the poems on this night. Yang Xi writes the verses out, and at least one of the recipients copies them. There is no indication that the poems are reported from a Perfected gathering that took place elsewhere, at some time in the past, and nothing in the poems themselves suggests this. Instead, like the other poems, they offer advice for male disciples who are still reluctant to leave the world. Thus, for the time being, while Xu Hui has his rendezvous with Purple Tenuity and Xu Mi is pursued by Right Blossom, each still attracts the notice of other women. Consider the implications of this. These Perfected consorts and ladies in attendance are in a situation much like that of the maids in a large mansion who compete for the attention of the unattached master—one thinks of the cohort of maids surrounding Jia Baoyu in the seventeenth-century novel Shitou ji (The Story of the Stone). The unattached master has his pick. Some of the maids are more persistent in their pursuit than the others. Some are quite forward. One might get lucky: she can become the man’s concubine, even his primary wife. The two parties must be discreet, of course, and the rendezvous kept under wraps. Would this not also reflect the world in which the Xus themselves grew up? However, since there is no iniquity about spiritual union, as Consort An and the others have repeatedly emphasized, there is no real competition among them. How could a Perfected woman object to the unattached master meeting with other Perfected women? They work in concert with one another, trying to pull the man into the Perfected world. Just as we should abandon any notion that Right Blossom somehow belongs to Xu Mi or that Purple Tenuity belongs to Xu Hui, we should also recognize that Xu Mi and Xu Hui do not belong to the two women: they are not married, not yet anyway. Yang Xi is married, though. His relationship with Consort An is exclusive. The other Perfected women do not try to woo him or tempt him with sugges-

FASCICLE FOUR / 275

tive language—he is no longer an eligible bachelor. This difference in marital status will be key to the different fates awaiting the men. Yang Xi will eventually rise to heaven in broad daylight, unless he decides to take the quick option. A different outcome awaits the Xus. Finally, we should note that the second poem does not appear in the incomplete Yongcheng jixian lu (DZ 783), but it does appear in YJQQ (97.9a1) which is almost certainly based on Du Guangting’s revision. In this version, the eighth line of the second poem is changed from, “When joining our Ways, we also pattern intimacy,” to, “When joining our Ways, the principle is the same” 道合理亦然 . That is, it becomes the same principle as sharing a breeze and equalizing the pneumas. The meaning remains roughly the same, but the suggested parallel to intimacy and marriage is entirely lost. Rhymes: (1) -im; (2) -en, -ean, -in.

June 25, 367: Xu Mi’s Missing Brother Shown to Know the Family’s Fate [1]

4.9a8-4.12b7

Written at the instruction of the Middle Lord [Mao Gu] on the twelfth day of the fifth month.A [2] Aying [Xu Mai]128 in the end was able to renounce his ambitions129 in the mountain groves, diligently focus his mind on the flavors of the Way,130 purify 128 Aying 阿映 is a familiar variant of the juvenile name (Ying 映) of Xu Mi’s older brother Xu Mai 許邁 (b. 301). Besides his official biography in Fang Xuanling, ed., Jin shu, 80.210607, other biographies are preserved in ZG 20.7b8-8a7, YJQQ 106.25b10-30a7, Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian 歷世真仙體道通鏗 (Comprehensive Mirror on Perfected Immortals and Those Who Embodied the Way Through the Ages; DZ 296), 21.12b3-14b3, and many other texts citing the titles Xu Mai biezhuan 別傳 (Unofficial Biography of Xu Mai), Daoxue zhuan 道學傳 (Biographies of Students of the Dao), and Xu Mai zhenren zhuan 真人傳 (Biography of the Perfected Man Xu Mai), for which translations may be found in Bumbacher 2000, 130-43 and Cleary 2009, 78-83. Bumbacher (2000, 39-40) argues that Wang Xizhi may well have composed the biezhuan, on which the official biography, Daoxue zhuan fragments, and others were based; I would add that the biezhuan in turn was based in part on Mao Gu’s speech. The biezhuan changes the first-person narration to third-person, omits the familiar variant of Xu Mai’s juvenile name, and rearranges the story in stricter chronological order. Later texts that purport to cite the present passage but begin with the conventional introduction of Xu Mai’s name and style, such as Xianyuan bianzhu 仙苑編珠 (Strung Pearls from the Garden of Immortals; DZ 596), 2.3b4, only misattribute the biezhuan and other sources to ZG. WYT 1.19b4 puts Xu Mai among the sundry earthbound immortals of the sixth tier. 129 To “renounce ambitions” (juezhi 絕志) recalls Wang Bi’s comment under the 33rd hexagram dun 遯 (“Retreat”) in Zhou yi: “Detached, he renounces ambitions. His heart, free of doubt and concern, cannot be burdened by adversity.” 超然絕志，心無疑顧，憂患不能累。 Zhou yi, 4.4a3 (Sibu congkan). 130 That is, absorb efflorescences or pneumas and refrain from eating grains. A similar passage appears in the Tang text Daomen jingfa xiangcheng cixu (DZ 1128), 1.12a8-12b2.

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his spirits and concentrate his seminal essence, and polish and cleanse his vacuous mirror. In dark stillness he slept alone; roosting in isolation, he paired with the Perfected. He then became the companion of Weng Daoyuan131 and the disciple of Jiang Bozhen.132 To consume pneumas, absorb fluids,133 and at last reap their benefits is indeed a matter of vital importance. Formerly he had also entered Mount Chi in Linhai [Commandery] (Mount Chi is also called Mount Shao),134 and there met with his good friends Wang Shilong, Zhao Daoxuan, and Fu Taichu.135 These masters had initially crossed the [Yangzi] River and entered the eastern mountains to study the Way in the first year of Establishing Prosperity during the Jin [313]. [Ying (Xu Mai)] joined them and made their acquaintance. All of these men were far more accomplished than Ying. Ying consequently made [Wang] Shilong his teacher. He received the Way of loosening constraints,136 practiced the method of walking backward,137 consumed jade fluid,138 and had audience at Brain-Essence [Pal131 Weng Daoyuan is otherwise unknown. WYT 1.19b5 puts him (with Xu Mai and Jiang Bozhen) on the left of the sixth tier of the pantheon, among sundry earthbound immortals. 132 Jiang Bozhen’s 姜伯真 story appears in ZG 5.11a1-4, but Tao Hongjing adds a note questioning whether that Jiang Bozhen is the same person here. Jiang is also mentioned in ZG 13.7b5. There may well be two Jiang Bozhens. The note to him in WYT 1.19b6 reads, “Studied the Way and picked medicinal herbs at Mount Meng; a second person is Ying’s [i.e., Xu Mai’s] companion.” 猛山學道采藥，二人映之儔侶 (SK 163n4). Elements from these separate passages, however, are combined in Jiang’s biography in the now fragmentary Six Dynasties collection Dongxian zhuan 洞仙傳 (Biographies of Cave-dwelling Immortals); it is preserved in YJQQ 111.10b8-11a4; trl. Bumbacher 2000, 364-67. 133 The DZ text here writes ye 夜 (“night”) instead of yi 液 (“fluid”); the word is corrected in the ZG’s commonly circulating editions or tongxingben. 134 On Mount Chi (“Red Mountain”), see Fascicle One, n. 84. Linhai 臨海 Commandery covered the area around the present-day cities of Wenzhou 溫州, Taizhou 台州, and Lishui 麗水 in Zhejiang. This may have been an interlinear comment by Tao Hongjing. 135 Little is known of Wang Shilong 王世龍, Zhao Daoxuan 趙道玄, and Fu Taichu 傅太初 beyond what is written here. WYT 1.23a3-4 lists the three together under the sundry earthbound immortals on the left of the sixth tier and notes that Wang is Xu Mai’s teacher, while the others are Xu’s associates. In ZG 18.10a9-10, Tao Hongjing mentions Wang in connection with methods of consuming jade fluid (yuyi 玉液). SK 163n6-7. 136 The “Way of loosening constraints” (jieshu zhi dao 解束之道) may refer to one means of escape by means of a corpse: leaving one’s waistband behind (jiedai 解帶), as in ZG 10.5a3-6. 137 The “method of walking backward” (fanxing zhi fa 反行之法) is one means of “pacing the Dipper.” It is described in Dongzhen shangqing taiwei dijun bu tiangang fei diji jinjian yuzi shangjing (DZ 1316; Robinet, A.4), 1.11b8-18b7, of which most reappears in Taishang feixing jiuchen yujing (DZ 428; Robinet, A.24), 1.28b9-34a7; this in turn is also cited in YJQQ 20.29a3-34a10. However, all these passages are probably of later date (Robinet 1984, 2:63, 65, 197; Robinet in TC 143-44, 170). 138 Jade fluid (yuyi) has been variously defined. It may be jade powder suspended in water, the substance consumed by Master Redpine and other immortals (Fascicle Three, n. 42). There are also different alchemical meanings. Here (and within the Higher Clarity context in general) it refers to saliva purified by absorbing clouds and heavenly efflorescences through

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ace].139 After two to three years, his face had a glorious radiance; he had restored his countenance and returned to youth. He had attained the [immortals’] Way to the highest degree. But regrettably his natural endowment was not bountiful, so that he was simply unable to communicate with those of higher grade. Thereupon the Director of Destinies [Mao Ying] ordered me to elevate him and to have [the matter] reported to the palaces on high. I transferred his name [in the registry] at Fangzhu in the east, putting him down as an earthbound immortal. At that time the Left Gentleman-attendant for the Metropolitan Prison of the Three Offices [Jiang Xiaobai]140 dispatched the Marquis for Compiling Evidence Zhou Fang141 and Agent for Controlling Wrongdoers Yan Baihu142 to come into Mount Chi. They wanted to arrest [Ying] and take him away, and they were about to interrogate him on the charges of an indictment. At the time I was Prison Escort,B so I also informed the Director of Destinies posthaste. The Director of Destinies at once dispatched [Zhongfu] (Li Zun),143 who came the mouth, as in the Liangqiuzi commentary to the 3rd and 4th stanzas in Huangting neijing yujing zhu, (DZ 402), 1.6a5 and 1.8a9-10; YJQQ 11.14b7 and 11.17a1-2. Further discussion of the method taught by Wang Shilong to Xu Mai may be found in ZG 18.10a1-10. 139 Brain-Essence Palace (Naojing gong 腦精宮), as pointed out in SK 163n9, is one name for Mystic Cinnabar Palace (Xuandan gong 玄丹宮) described in Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2), 1.4a3-4. It is one of the Nine Palaces in the head, one inch over the upper Cinnabar Field. The note states, “One name for it is the Dark Palace of the Mystic Cinnabar, Brain-Essence, and Mud Pill; the Perfected Lord of the Central Yellow Grand Unity resides there.” 一名玄丹腦精泥丸玄宫，有中黃太一真君居之。 I may add that the practice associated with audience at Brain-Essence Palace is called “guarding the Mud Pill” (shou niwan 守泥 丸) or “guarding the Mystic Cinnabar” (shou xuandan 守玄丹), associated with the immortal Juanzi; Xuanzhou shangqing Su jun zhuan (Robinet, C.6) in YJQQ 104.3a5. 140 The “Left Gentleman-attendant of the Metropolitan Prison of the Three Offices” (Sanguan dujin zuolang 三官都禁左郎) is Duke Huan of Qi 齊桓公 (r. 685-643 BCE), first of the Five Hegemons of the Spring and Autumn era; his personal name was Jiang Xiaobai 姜 小白. In Higher Clarity belief, the rulers and generals of old often became fearsome underworld officials. WYT 1.25b2 lists him among the officials on the left of the seventh tier. ZG 16.13a10 states that he is in charge of bamboo records of the living and the dead. 141 Zhou Fang 周魴 (early 3rd cent. CE), styled Ziyu 子魚, was a general of the state of Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. Chen Shou, Sanguo zhi, 60.1387-92 has his biography. WYT 1.27b2 lists both him and Fan Ming 范明 under the title Marquis for Compiling Evidence (Dianbing hou 典柄侯) on the right of the seventh tier and adds that Zhou is in charge of investigations and inquiries. Zhou and Fan are further discussed in ZG 15.8a3-7. 142 Yan Baihu 嚴白虎 (2nd cent. CE) was originally a bandit leader in what later became the state of Wu (Chen Shou, Sanguo zhi, 46.1104). WYT 1.27b7 puts him on the right of the seventh tier; a note adds, “A man of Wu times, slain by Sun Ce.” 吳時人，爲孫策所殺。 143 Li Zun 李遵, more commonly known as Li Zhongfu 李仲甫, wrote Mao sanjun neizhuan (Robinet, C.10) according to a note in ZG 8.2a9. ZG miswrites his style both here and in ZG 8.2a9 as Zhonghou 中侯 (“Attendant at the Center”). Because Li’s style is written before the characters for “Li Zun,” the latter appear to have been inserted originally as an interlinear comment. Li Zun / Zhongfu has a biography in Shenxian zhuan; see Campany 2002, 23032, 439-40. WYT 1.10b9, puts him on the right of the third tier of the pantheon, calls him

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holding a small fire-bell and shouting reprimands to intimidate them. Then [Zhou] Fang and [Yan] Baihu simply ran away. Before Li Zun arrived, Ying was terrified to the point of losing courage, even despairing. He also depended on Gong Youjie and Li Kailin144 to assist him in replying [to the interrogators], but even so he nearly failed. Were it not for these two men and his teacher Wang Shilong, things would have soon gone badly. [Zhou] Fang, in interrogatingC him, was also in possession of facts, and Ying responded in the affirmative. The [interrogators from] the Three Offices showed the list of crimes, [which was written on] cinnabar bamboo slips. 145 Each held a bundle and questioned Ying, saying: “Now for those who wish to study the Way, venerate life, serve the Perfected above, dim their hearts [to the world], roost in the far distance, and be reverently devoted to the numina on high, it is required that the merit of successive generations extends to them, that they do not encounter calamity and evil, that a hidden Virtue irrigates their roots, and that their benevolent hearts [enable them to] reach the heights.146 Only then can they follow in the footsteps of the Perfected, search for immortality, and have their names transferred in the blue mansions. “Why did your father slay Xie Gong147 by his own hand and rebel against the Three Radiances?148 Furthermore, [your uncle] Xu Chao149 beheaded Li Qi instead of decapitating Cai Fu. He also expelled, beheaded, or shot Pan Qi and his men, dismembered the guard Cao Biao and his men, sank Tang Yun’s corpse in a river, burned the bones of Xu Ang, strangled Huan Zheng, and disemboweled Zhen Kuai. He indiscriminately [meted]D forty-three punishments of cruelty and violence. The wrongs caused by his exaggerated charges Minister of the Western Marchmount and Vice-director of Destiny (Xiyue qing fu siming 西嶽 卿副司命), but garbles his name: 季翼仲甫; it notes that he is the teacher of Zuo Ci 左慈 (2nd-3rd centuries CE), who was believed to have transmitted many Higher Clarity scriptures. 144 Gong Youjie 龔幼節 and Li Kailin 李開林 are listed together among the sundry earthbound immortals on the right of the sixth tier in WYT 1.23a5, which notes their role as “Yuanyou’s [Xu Mai’s] advocates” 遠遊代對者. They appear only in Xu Mai’s story. 145 As explained in YJQQ 7.10a5-8, “cinnabar slips” (danjian 丹簡) are slips of bamboo painted vermilion and written with black ink, signifying fire (yang) and water (yin). 146 “Reach the heights” (shang dai 上逮) derives from the Xiang commentary to the 56th hexagram “Travel” (lü 旅): “In the end he reaches the heights through praise and office.” 終 以譽命上逮也。 Zhou yi, 6.3b1-2 (Sibu congkan); cf. Wilhelm 1969, 678. 147 Xie Gong 謝弓 is not mentioned elsewhere except for accounts deriving from this one. 148 The Three Radiances (sanguang 三光 ) are the sun, moon, and stars; see Liangqiuzi’s commentary to the 4th stanza in Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402), 1.8b9-10. 149 Xu Chao 許朝 (fl. early 4th century CE), more precisely, was the younger brother of Xu Fu 許副, who was Xu Mai and Xu Mi’s father, as explained in ZG 20.7b4-7. He had been the Governor of four different commanderies. None of Xu Chao’s victims’ names are recorded elsewhere. Xu Chao’s violent deeds as Governor become a matter of grave concern for the Xus in the second part of ZG (e.g., ZG 7.6a9-7a5), discussed in Bokenkamp 2007, 131-34.

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are matters before the Heavenly Thearch. His malignant perversities are piled mountain-high. He did not accomplish a single good deed. “Furthermore, you originally subscribed to the way of the Bo school,150 making blood sacrifices to spawn progeny. 151 Your forgotten errors and old debts152 are listed in the Three Offices, yet you have been exceptionally fortunate to escape the net [of the law] as you obediently serve the pneumas of Perfection. “Each member of your family, father and sons, serves his own master [and] likewise spawns disagreeable perversities as he disrespects the libationer.153 The magnitude of [these] offenses will only add to your trials in the underworld. No immortal has ever had such an accumulation of sin! Would you be able to deceive the staff of the Most High and get your name inscribed on the purple register of the undying? If you have no reply, the officers must arrest you!” Ying [Xu Mai] steeled himself, let out a long whistle, ruffled his homespun robe, and patted down his hair. Then steadying his breath, he opened his mouth and replied with a shout: “The great Way is impartial: it sides only with goodness! Heaven and earth are heartless: they show pity only according to Virtue!154 This is why the bloodThe “way of the Bo school” (Bo jia zhi dao 帛家之道) refers to teachings believed to have been transmitted by Bo He 帛和 (dates uncertain), who has a biography in Shenxian zhuan; trl. Campany 2002, 133-37, 301-02. Although Ge Hong associated Bo with the transmission of some of the most important scriptures, like Wuyue zhenxing tu 五嶽真形圖 (Maps of the Five Marchmounts’ True Forms), Higher Clarity writers considered the Bo school to be heterodox, tainted with folk practices like blood sacrifices and the use of female mediums. On Higher Clarity attitudes toward the Bo school and others, see Stein 1979, 54-56. 151 Stein (1979, 55n8) says this phrase may be corrupt. The difficulty lies with the term shengmin 生民, which has many meanings, including “the people,” “to nurture the people,” “to procreate,” and “the birth of humankind” (HDC 7:1492). In literature, however, the term recalls the poem “Sheng min” in Shi jing, which begins, in Legge’s translation (1994, 4:465, converting to pinyin): “The first birth of [our] people / Was from Jiang Yuan. / How did she give birth to [our] people? / She had presented a pure offering and sacrificed, / That her childlessness might be taken away.” 厥初生民，時維姜嫄。生民如何，克禋克祀，以弗無 子。 The connection between sacrifices and prayers for children is quite explicit. Considering the pejorative sense of the phrase, the way it is echoed later by the phrase “likewise spawns disagreeable perversities” (tong sheng guai li 同生乖戾), and the distaste among early Higher Clarity adherents for procreation, I choose to render the term “to spawn progeny.” 152 I read ze 責 in this phrase as an alternate form for zhai 債 (“debts”); HDC 3:1524. 153 I read gong 共 in this phrase as an alternate form for gong 恭 (“respects”); HDC 2:83. This reading also parallels the use of shi 事 (“serves”) earlier in the sentence. The libationer (jijiu 祭酒) in Celestial Masters Daoism refers to the head of the local parish (Kleeman in ET 550-51; Hendrischke 2000, 156-57). 154 These two statements rework Laozi, ch. 79 and 5: “The Way of heaven is impartial— always with the good person.” 天道無親，常與善人。 “Heaven and earth are not benevolent—treating the myriad things like straw dogs.” 天地不仁，以萬物爲芻狗。 Laozi, 2.23b2 and 1.3b2 (Sibu beiyao). Xu Mai’s second statement also echoes the second of Liu Kun’s 劉琨 150

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shed at Banquan did not forestall the ascent on dragon-whiskers.155 Surely the cinnabar-stained fields of Sanmiao 156 and the crimson-dyed grass at [Zhuo]Elu 157 did not hinder the great sages’ numinous transformation, their lofty penetration, their superior attainment? “Xu Zi’a [Xu Zhao],158 my seventh-generation ancestor, accumulated benevolence, practiced virtue, and was secretly in harmony with the birds and beasts. He encountered a year of severe famine when the people were left starving, in addition to a plague that spared but one of a hundred. [Zi]’a then dispersed his family’s wealth to relieve the common folk, personally compounded prescriptions and medicaments, and toiled earnestly while lodging abroad. Coming upon someone’s funeral, [he felt] as if he had lost a parent; saving someone from an affliction, [he felt] as if it were his own disease. Lives already doomed to perish relied on [Zi]’a’s hand; bodies spent and failing, he soothed as if they were his own children. Those who survived the famine year whole because of [Zi]’a numbered 408. His benevolence and Virtue did not fail,F and later on they must have concentrated in us [descendents]. Therefore his merit was reported to the Highest Thearch and his Virtue recorded in the numinous pavilions, which enabled my ancestral roots to spread, my clan to flourish, and rays of blessing [to shine on] posterity. For this reason, he caused [us] to branch out and flower and to be born with a penchant for immortality. There ought to be five persons who escape the world and three persons who ascend [to the heavens].159 Our names are registered with the Most High and (270-317), “Da Lu Zhan shi” 答盧諶詩 (Poems in Reply to Lu Chen [284-350]): “Heaven and earth are heartless, / [so] the myriad things are equally tainted.” 天地無心，萬物同塗。 Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 25.10a2-3 (Sibu congkan); SK 164n28. 155 The sentence alludes to two episodes in the life of the Yellow Thearch. The first, his battle with the Red Thearch or Shennong at Banquan 坂泉 (written 阪泉 in Shi ji) , just before he ascends the throne, is mentioned in Sima Qian, Shi ji, 1.3; trl. Nienhauser 2994, 2. Banquan’s location, according to Nienhauser (n. 22), is uncertain; one possibility is near Xie 解 district, Shanxi. The story of the Yellow Thearch’s ascent on a long-whiskered dragon was first told to the Han Emperor Wu by Gongsun Qing 公孫卿 (fl. 113-109 BCE) and preserved in Shi ji, 12.476-77, 28.1393 (trl. Watson 1993, 2:35-37) and Ban Gu, Han shu, 25A.1228. It is also part of his biography in Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.2b6-3a5, especially 1.3a1-2; trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 50-51. 156 Sanmiao 三苗, according to the Shi ji commentators, was the name of an ancient state (or its ruler). It rebelled against the sage-emperor Yao, and Shun 舜 recommended that it be punished with removal. Sima Qian, Shi ji, 1.28; trl. Nienhauser 1994, 10; SK 164n30. 157 Zhuolu 涿鹿 was the site where the Yellow Thearch defeated Chiyou 蚩尤. The location of Zhuolu is uncertain. Sima Qian, Shi ji, 1.3; trl. Nienhauser 1994, 3; SK 164n31. 158 Xu Mai’s virtuous seventh-generation ancestor Xu Zhao, styled Zi’a, has been mentioned by Mao Zhong on September 18, 365 (ZG 2.21a4; see also note B in the translation) and by Lady Right Blossom on January 13, 366 (ZG 3.13b10). Fascicle Three, n. 215. 159 In ZG 20.13a9-b4, Tao Hongjing identifies the three to ascend as Perfected as Xu Mai, Xu Mi, and Xu Hui. As for the five who will escape the world, Xu Lian, the “Tiger Fang” mentioned in Fascicle Two (ZG 2.14a2-3), is definitely among them. Tao tentatively identi-

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inscribed on the slips in the Blue Palace. Surely this is not what the likes of you can anticipate!” When he finished speaking, [Zhou] Fang and the others burst into laughter, and they departed after [Li] Zun arrived. Although the ideas once again had come through [Wang] Shilong’s assistance, I do think his speech was magnificent. Therefore, since he already had his name transferred in the East Palace, he should become an immortal of medium [rank], but in his body there’s still a place where the hidden sin of former lives has not been eliminated. Already he attends each day to mending it and seeking expiation160 from the Most High. Soon he should be receiving his writ of investiture.161 In short, he won’t be interrogated by the Three Offices again—his name’s already fixed on the register of the undying! Now he has already moved into Mount Zhuye, a mountain that some name Mount Gaizhu. 162 On the mountain’s east side, go west up the two [foot]hills. Between them is Stone Well Bridge. Enter directly via the little path north of the bridge. There are six clusters of fir trees in the vicinity, and 300 paces from the trees’ area is a small, deep rock chamber. Before the chamber flows a spring-fed stream. Ying and three others are staying together inside [the chamber]. In the coming chen year [368],163 he ought to be going out briefly on his own and returning to the human [world] to eat food offerings.164 He will also want to return briefly to a place near the mountains of his hometown and have his older and younger brothers165 visit him. When the time comes of course he’ll let [you,] his younger brother, know where he is.166 Then once more he’ll convey instructions and have his nephews practice them diligently. If you want to go to Mount Zhuye to search for Ying, you’ll be able to meet with him immediately. Go up the stone bridge on the east side of Mount Zhuye, for the little path north of the bridge is very straight and easy. Don’t go up the mountain on the south side, for the south path is broken and treacherous.

fies the others, who belong to later generations, as Xu Huangmin 許黃民 (361-429; Xu Hui’s son), Xu Rongdi 許榮弟 (d. 435; Xu Huangmin’s eldest son), Xu Daoyu 許道育 (397-454; Xu Rongdi’s eldest daughter), and Xu Shen’er 許神兒 (429-486; Xu Rongdi’s granddaughter). 160 On the rite of expiation (jiexie), see Fascicle Two, n. 7. 161 On “receiving the writ of investiture,” see Fascicle One, n. 161. 162 Mount Zhuye 竹葉山 is most commonly known as Mount Gaizhu 蓋竹山. It is located south of the city of Linhai 臨海 in present-day Zhejiang. Later it is listed as the 19th of the 36 lesser cave-heavens and the second of the 72 blessed lands (YJQQ 27.6b2-4, 9b3-4). 163 As indicated in SK 162, the next chen year on the sixty-year cycle is wuchen 戊辰, or 368. Presumably this enabled Tao Hongjing to date this revelation to 367 (see note A). 164 In ZG the word gui 詭 (usually “crafty” or “falsely”) is sometimes used to refer to offerings of various kinds, as in ZG 18.8b3-9 and 18.11b1-5. 165 According to ZG 20.6b3-7b1, Xu Mai had three older brothers and four younger brothers (Xu Mi was the next youngest). 166 Xu Mai will send Xu Mi a letter through a dream in ZG 18.10a1-11b5.

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The immortals in Mount Zhuye are Chen Zhonglin, Xu Daoju, Yin Linzi, and Zhao Shudao.167 These four men entered this mountain together at the end of the Han [dynasty]. [Zhao] Shudao has already managed to become a lowerranking Perfected man. [Chen] Zhonglin has just passed a great test and will soon depart again. These are the old immortals in Mount Zhuye. As for Wang Shilong, Zhao Daoxuan, Fu Taichu, and Xu Ying, alternately named Yuanyou, they arrived just four years ago. For all of the preceding, from “the twelfth day of the fifth month” to here, there is an exemplar by Yang written on instruction. These nine characters were written on the outside of the scroll. From this onward, everything seems to have been written on instruction during the year dingmao [367]. All these matters discuss the outstanding allotment of the three Xus. B This is to say that it [ya 牙 (“fang”)] should be written with the character ya 訝 (“Escort”). C This is to say that it [gao 誥 (“declaring”)] should be written with the character jie 詰 (“interrogating”). D This is to say that it [lan 攬 (“grasp”)] should be written with the character lan 濫 (“indiscriminately [meted]”). E This is to say that it [zhu 逐 (“pursue”)] should be written with the character zhuo 涿 “Zhuo” [place name]. F This is to say that it [dui 隊 (“group”)] should be written with the character zhui 墜 (“fail”). A

Comments Background: The present account was preserved on a separate handscroll, with the date and speaker noted on a label on the outside of the scroll, in a format quite similar to that of the handscrolls of later dynasties. Note also the date:

167 WYT 1.23a2-3 list Chen Zhonglin 陳仲林, Xu Daoju 許道居, and Zhao Shudao 趙叔道 together among the sundry earthbound immortals on the right of the 6th tier of the pantheon; it omits Yin Linzi 尹林子, but all four are listed together in WSMY 83.12a1. Xu’s name is written Daojun 道君 in WYT, Xu Dao 許道 in WSMY; Yin’s name is written Julinzi 居林子 (“Master Forest-dweller”) in WSMY. Nothing more is known about Chen, Xu, and Zhao. WYT adds a comment to the effect that three Perfected entered Mount Gaizhu; WSMY comments that four immortals entered the mountain. A biography of Yin Linzi excerpted from Dantai xinlu 丹臺新錄 (New Records from the Cinnabar Terrace), probably a later text, is preserved in Sandong qunxian lu 三洞群仙錄 (Records of Immortals Gathered in the Three Caverns; DZ 1248), 3.9b1-8. According to that account, he was originally named Yin Cheng 澄 and changed his name to Linzi because he was so fond of dwelling in his forest retreat. He once treated a deer with a wounded leg, and later on, whenever he encountered hardship, herds of deer would save him. He eventually received a secret formula from a divine person and ascended to heaven in broad daylight.

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almost a year has elapsed since the poems of the previous section. During this time, we may assume that the Xus have been making further progress. The Perfected Mao Gu almost certainly gives this speech in reply to a question that would have been weighing heavily on Xu Mi’s mind: “What has happened to my brother?” His older brother Xu Mai, who has not been a part of the story so far, had been dedicated to the pursuit of immortality throughout his adult years. For a time Xu Mai circulated in society’s highest circles as a master of Daoist arts. He had probably strongly influenced Xu Mi.168 Significantly, soon after both of his parents passed away, he sent his wife back to her parents’ home,169 much as his nephew Xu Hui would do more than ten years later. According to Tao Hongjing’s account (ZG 20.7b8-8a7), Xu Mai eventually disappeared in the autumn of 348 at Xishan (“West Mountain”) in Lin’an—a location different from the one given here—at the age of 49 sui. Mao Gu, as the Certifier of Registers, would be one of the Perfected persons best placed to provide Xu Mi an authoritative answer to his question. Mao Gu’s answer presupposes Xu Mi’s understanding that Xu Mai is already “dead” in the ordinary sense but not with respect to the pursuit of immortality. Perhaps we may rephrase Xu Mi’s implied question: “What is the present spiritual status of my brother?” Trial: Mao Gu discloses that Xu Mai has attained the status of an earthbound immortal, but only after having to defend himself at a last-minute trial. Underworld officials want to deny Xu Mai immortality because of the sins of recent generations, and because of his own earlier involvement in heterodox religious practices. Xu Mai, with some assistance, defends himself first by citing the examples of the sage-emperors of antiquity, who had attained immortality despite the bloodshed of battle, and then by arguing that the entire Xu clan still has a considerable store of merit from their seventh-generation ancestor Xu Zhao, who had saved the lives of 408 people. Xu Mai accordingly calculates that three members of the family will “ascend” (achieve Perfection) and five will “escape the world” (immortality). He does not specify the formula that he uses to arrive at this conclusion. However, his argument demonstrates that Xu Mai knows the family’s fate; positive outcomes in the Xu family’s religious pursuits may be anticipated. Of course, this is good news for the Xus. The underworld officials’ accusations include the charge that each member of the Xu family “disrespects the libationer” (of the Celestial Masters) and instead serves his own master. Xu Mai simply ignores the charge in his response: he merely claims superior Virtue and ancestral merit, and that is enough to have the charges dropped. Thus on one level, Xu Mai’s defense reflects the sense among early Higher Clarity adherents that their Way has supplanted the Celestial Masters, the Bo school, and other lineages. 168 A summary of Xu Mai’s life is found in Kamitsuka 1999, 21-23. She also observes (p. 30) that Mao Gu was probably responding to Xu Mi’s questions about his missing brother. 169 Fang Xuanling et al., Jin shu, 80.2107.

284 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Xu Mai’s steps: However, if we ask how all this fits in with the larger story of Xu Mi and Xu Hui, the trial becomes only a diversion. We should rather focus on the implicit program or agenda that it sets, because what Xu Mai does sets a pattern for his brother and nephew. The first steps are described at the beginning: renouncing ambitions, retreating to the mountains, finding a suitable teacher and companions, meditating (this includes a number of different visualization practices), purifying one’s spirits, absorbing pneumas, and so on. Then, “In dark stillness he slept alone; roosting in isolation, he paired with the Perfected.” Does this not relate directly to the primary subject-matter of these fascicles? Is not the import of this sentence perfectly clear? After parting with his earthly wife, Xu Mai has achieved spiritual union with a Perfected woman, just as Xu Hui has (Xu Mi by now has either achieved it or is very near his goal). Xu Mai also receives the way of loosening constraints—that is, he learns how to achieve immortality by means of a simulated or apparent corpse, usually with the ingestion of a powerful and very poisonous elixir. The body would seem to die, but the adept would make a spiritual escape from death. As it turns out, spiritual union and escape by simulated corpse go hand-in-hand. Xu Mai’s trial takes place in his first retreat at Mount Chi, but for the next step of his process he and his three friends choose a nearby mountain, Mount Zhuye. We learn at the end of Mao Gu’s speech that they have been in the cave for four years. This means that Xu Mai and his friends decided to perform their final act together around the year 363, fifteen years after Xu’s disappearance. Now look carefully at the description of Xu Mai’s current abode, where we would expect to find Xu Mai’s body in a state of repose. It contains much imagery suggestive of a tomb, but also of a womb: he and his companions dwell in a “small, deep rock chamber” with a spring-fed stream (representing yin) flowing before it. The cave is clearly the “stone well” alluded to in the name of Stone Well Bridge nearby. It lies between two of the mountain’s foothills (thighs?). There are clusters of fir trees nearby (pubic hair?), six of them (for yin?). The rock chamber is accessed by a path that runs “straight and easy” (the vagina?). There is even another path that is “broken and treacherous” (don’t go up that way!). The cave is situated on the mountain’s east side, so that it is directed toward the ascendant yang of sunrise. It is just the kind of anatomical landscape that would provide an ideal setting for prolonged gestation. When Xu Mai and his three friends enter the rock cavern, they join four others who have been lying there since the Han dynasty. One gets promoted to the rank of a Perfected official, and one will re-emerge soon. Thus three of the older four are still there, earthbound immortals who refine themselves posthumously, like Xu Mai and his three companions, meaning that there are a total of seven persons currently in the cave. All of these men are apparent corpses, but having entered the cave while impregnated with the seed of Perfection, they are simultaneously embryos. The weak, fleshly substance of their bodies is being replaced over time with the more enduring substance of immortality. We shall

FASCICLE FOUR / 285

learn below that they are not absorbing anything from the cave around them but are completely sealed, self-sustaining embryos. Meanwhile, their still-active spirits seek expiation for any vestiges of sin that may remain in them. Another essential step is reception of the writ of investiture, which more or less fixes the adept’s future fate and assigns him a place in the otherworldly hierarchy (Perfected persons may still be further promoted or demoted later). There seems to be some flexibility on when this may be received, but in general it takes place after death, or as we learn in the next section, when the adept is first elevated. In Xu Mai’s case, it will soon take place during his posthumous gestation. As for Yang Xi, although Consort An has spelled out his future in detail, the prediction is by no means equivalent to the actual investiture. The same holds true for Xu Mi and Xu Hui. Finally, there will be re-emergence as an earthbound immortal. The next few sections will explain variations in the process in greater detail, but in Xu Mai’s case, he will emerge during the next year to receive food offerings and to meet with his brothers and nephews. He will visit the mountains near his home—but he will not go all the way home (he will be subject to a restriction that keeps him from returning there). His brothers and nephews will instead have to go to visit him and receive his further instructions. His regeneration by that time will be nearly complete. As it happens, the ZG does preserve Xu Mai’s future message, which takes the form of a dream-letter (ZG 18.10a111b5; see also Tao’s comments in ZG 19.8b8-9). Besides touching on many of the matters described here by Mao Gu and giving the promised advice, Xu Mai’s letter expresses regret that he had encountered his teacher so late in life. He observes that the techniques Xu Mi and Xu Hui are studying are far superior to the ones he had studied, and that he even envies Xu Hui for his accomplishments. The letter is much as one might expect it to be. Looking forward and back: Xu Mi is also encouraged to take the “straight and easy” path up Mount Zhuye and visit Xu Mai at his cave. We can only guess why, but considering Xu Mi’s reluctance to take the final step, I would argue that visiting the site and directly contemplating his brother’s condition would help to put him in the right frame of mind. The prohibition on approaching corpses would not apply—the bodies there are not real corpses. Let us now pause here, turn back to Fascicle One, and reexamine the story of Yang Quan and E Lühua. It is important to keep in mind that Yang Quan is at least 48 sui in age when E Lühua begins to appear to him (Yang Quan’s father died in 311), and that the fifth and sixth lines of the first poem describe how handsome, talented, and promising he was as a youth, not as he is in 359. Tao Hongjing notes that Yang Quan has a son, Yang Buyi, and a grandson, Yang Xin.170 What this means is that E Lühua has been keeping her eyes on 170 In fact, Yang Xin became quite famous, and he is still remembered among calligraphers as one of the persons who introduced the idea that calligraphy may be used to express personality (Tseng 1998, 326).

286 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Yang Quan for decades. However, she begins to pursue Yang Quan only after he had already been married, raised children (sons—he still had the duty to produce an heir), and pursued his official career behind the “vermilion gates,” like Xu Mi and Xu Hui. Does this not also indicate that Yang Quan’s wife has died, or that he has sent his wife away? He has become an eligible bachelor again, and this time, E Lühua will not miss her chance. They establish a relationship, albeit a furtive one. She gives him medicines for escape by corpse. We may safely assume that when or if Yang Quan takes these medicines, he will already bear within himself the seed of immortality as he enters the tomb.

January 22, 368: The Xus’ Outstanding Allotment [1]

4.12b8-4.14b2

Worn, weary171 elder, How fecund and flourishing your inner radiance! You have removed your past encumbrances But not recovered your former form. To be transformed completely, cleansed, and refined Are the conditions of having found the Way. Blend and draw [pneumas] from the spirits’ hearts, Rise and flourish above the cloudy numina.172 Devotedly observe the Light of dawn And the repute of your Virtue [will be like] the fragrance of orchids. In just ten years Jiwei [Mao Gu]A will elevate your name. In everything, work hard at it— Don’t lose focus again! Declared by the Perfected Man of Grand Primordiality and Lord Director of Destinies [Mao Ying] for me, Mu, in the night of the seventeenth day of the twelfth month of the second year of Grand Harmony, the Year-star in dingmao. Up to the year bingzi

171 The term “worn, weary” (nana 納納), usually defined “drooping, dragging,” appears in “Fengfen” 逢紛 (Encountering Troubles), part of Liu Xiang’s 劉向 (79-8 BCE) suite Jiu tan 九歎 (Nine Laments) collected in Chu ci: “My tunic, drooping and dragging, was covered with dew.” 衣納納而掩露。 Wang Yi glosses it as meaning “the appearance of wetness”: 納 納，濡濕皃也。 Chu ci, 16.3b9 (Sibu congkan); cf. Hawkes 1985, 284 (“dragging heavily”). The image is that of a man who has been exposed too long to the elements. 172 This couplet probably refers to absorbing stellar efflorescences (Fascicle Three, n. 79, 80). “Cloudy numina” (yunling 雲靈) may also be “numina gathered like the clouds.”

FASCICLE FOUR / 287

[2]

[376] there will be ten years. At that time I will be seventy-two.173 In the hai and zi years [375 and 376] my spirits will be transformed and refined; barely ten years remain before the zi year. Quiet, tranquil Master Axe, Your harmonious heart is set in stillness! The pneuma of the Way only is wondrous, And ascent on it all the more proper. Purify your form in the cinnabar vault of space, Raise your tip above the empyrean peaks. When you make your spirits shine, Their glow will be conspicuous.

Verily: With your elevation on high as Attendant to the [Thearch of] Dawn,B/174 You shall rank in eminenceC with Master Valley[-Rarified].175 I can say that your brilliance will fall upon the gazes of the multitude,176 that you have the mettle of an immortal of the winding Clearwaters.177 Once 173 In ZG 20.8b5-10, Tao Hongjing discusses variance among his sources on Xu Mi’s precise dates of birth and death. He decides that the age in sui given here should be accepted. 174 Xu Hui’s official title in WYT 1.5a8 is “Lord Xu, the Immortal Sire on the Right in Attendance to the Thearch of Dawn” (Shi dichen you xiangong Xu jun 侍帝晨右仙公許君). He is on the right of the 2nd tier—a very high position. 175 Master Valley-Rarified (Guxizi 谷希子) is on the left of the 2nd tier and listed as “Lord Gu, Immortal Count of Eightfold Mystery and Immortal Sire on the Right” (Baxuan xianbo you xiangong Gu jun 八玄仙伯右仙公谷君); WYT 1.4b2. His appellation derives from Laozi, ch. 41: “Superior Virtue is like a valley… The Great Tone is a rarified sound.” 上德若谷…大 音希聲。 Laozi, 2.4b5-10 (Sibu beiyao). Also ch. 14 (1.7b2): “We listen for it but do not hear it, so name it ‘rarified.’” 聽之不聞名之希。 Cf. Henricks 1989, 9 and 66. Zhou Yishan and Lord Pei’s esoteric biographies report Master Valley-Rarified revealing various techniques to the two men (YJQQ 106.13b1-2, 105.9a2-4). The methods revealed to Zhou are essentially the content of the scripture Shangqing huangqi yangjing sandao shunxing jing (DZ 33; Robinet, A.8); see James Miller 2008, 143n151. 176 The axe-blade conceit used for Xu Hui continues. Cf. the lines, “You must also shine radiance on…” (ZG 2.13a9-10) and, “… subdues his brilliance and hides his sheen [but] is revealed in space above the firmament” (ZG 3.13a8-9; Fascicle Three, n. 205, 206). 177 The “winding Clearwaters” (ying Ting 縈 渟 ) probably refers to Eight Clearwaters Mountain (see Fascicle Three, n. 60) or Fusang in the east. The name “Eight Clearwaters” itself suggests rivers flowing from or even around the mountain, by analogy with the multicolored rivers of Kunlun, one of which returns to its own source, according to Huainanzi (Lau and Chen 1992c, 4/33/8-14; trl. Major et al. 2010, 156-57. SK 167-68n8 incorrectly presents ying ting as an abbreviated reference to two places: Eight Clearwaters and the “winding River” (ying He 縈河) of Zhang Heng’s Sixuan fu 思玄賦 (Rhapsody on Contemplating

288 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

again, you should pay attention to “advancing Virtue and cultivating your occupation”178 and be insipid, empty of desire. Declared to Jade Axe [Xu Hui] by the Perfected Man of Grand Primordiality and Lord Director of Destinies [Mao Ying] in the night of the seventeenth day of the twelfth month.D [3] Pool what is wondrous to embody the Way;179 Untangle what is secret to attain refinement. [It is] the center of a void that receives things, And pliant Virtue that bends to purity. Broad of compassion, you extensively gather [wisdom],180 And hearing the Way, you invariably practice it.181 When you take the flying steps, free and easy, The start is truly smooth and level. Spurring your dragons upward, You will float on mists to the three Clarity [heavens],182 Fill [the post of] marshal of Perfected immortals, And befriend Master Changli. Certainly you shall soon be: A governor invested with a cultivated estate, An earl in charge of an immortal metropolis. the Mystery), preserved in Fan Ye, Hou Han shu, liezhuan 49.1932 and Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 15.18a2-3 (Sibu congkan), trl. Knechtges 1996, 129. The latter is usually considered the Yellow River. 178 Mao Ying quotes from the Wenyan commentary to the 1st hexagram qian 乾 in Zhou yi: “The superior man advances in Virtue and cultivates his occupation. Loyalty and trustworthiness are how he advances in Virtue, and cultivating his speech in order to establish his sincerity are how he abides in his occupation.” 君子進德脩業。忠信所以進德也，脩辭立其誠 所以居業也。 Cf. Wilhelm 1969, 380 and Legge 1882, 310. 179 This and the next three lines recall Laozi, ch. 4: “The Way is empty, / Yet when you use it, you never need fill it again. / An abyss! Like the progenitor of the myriad things.” 道 沖，而用之或不盈，淵兮似萬物之宗。 Laozi, 1.2b10 (Sibu beiyao). Here yuan 淵 (often, “abyss”) is used in its verbal sense, of pooling or gathering things together. Regarding line three, it is also useful to recall that the word chong 沖 (“empty”) in the Laozi passage is cognate with zhong 盅, which refers more specifically to the empty space inside a vessel. 180 “Extensively gather [wisdom]” (bo cai 博采, here written 採) often describes the process by which a ruler gathers advice or a historian gathers source material (HDC 1:910). 181 The line echoes Laozi, ch. 41: “When a superior man hears the Way, he works diligently and practices it.” 上士聞道，勤而行之。 Laozi, 2.4b1 (Sibu beiyao). Here the Way is also envisioned as a path one walks on, leading naturally to the “flying steps” of the next line. 182 The “three Clarity [heavens]” (sanqing 三清) are Jade Clarity, Higher Clarity, and Grand Clarity—three of seven levels of the otherworld. Daojiao yishu 道教義樞 (Pivotal Meaning of the Daoist Teaching; DZ 1129), 2.2b1-3; Strickmann 1979, 180.

FASCICLE FOUR / 289

As mentor and assistant to [a lord of] superior Virtue,183 Your name will be registered in crimson.184 [4]

The preceding comments speak of the restricted allotment received by Senior Aide Xu.E Gemmy, scorching, clear radiance185— The latent light that screens the Perfected. Where the Two Lights let fall their rays And volant aurorae stream and twist around, There you are, Master Jade, Gathering [the efflorescence] of these paired chronograms. At last the superior Way will be opened, And you will truly find the gate of wonders,186 Where Regalia and Spangles pervasively shine187— The jade-bright marker, the mystic gold— To register your name in the Five Palaces,188

183 The words “superior Virtue” (shang de 上德) recall Laozi, ch. 38: “[A lord of] superior Virtue denies his Virtue, / Which is why he has Virtue… [A lord of] superior Virtue does not act purposively, / And so has nothing to act upon.” 上德不德，是以有德…上德無爲， 而無以爲。 Laozi, 2.1a4-5 (Sibu beiyao). In the ZG text, a ruler or lord is clearly implied. 184 On having one’s name set in crimson, see Fascicle Two, n. 54. 185 These terms are descriptive of the sun; cf. ZG 4.5a9-10 above: “As the Perfected on high turn round the Ninefold Dazzler, / Those of profound insight take measure of the latent light.” In translating this poem I consulted and benefited from Paul W. Kroll’s partial translation (1999, 6-7) and his discussion of terms used to describe heavenly light, though I disagree with him on the translation of wei 瑋 as “bright-beaded,” since there is nothing that I can find in ancient or contemporaneous usage to suggest a relationship with beads—only gems (undefined), jade (of some beautiful variety), rareness, and brightness. One late source suggests jade of a reddish hue. 186 This couplet alludes to Laozi, ch. 1, especially its closing: “The mysterious beyond the mysterious, / The gate of a multitude of wonders.” Reference to the “superior Way” (shang dao 上道) echoes “superior Virtue” in the previous poem. 187 “Regalia” and “Spangles” abbreviate “Dense Regalia” (yuyi 鬱儀) and “Knotted Spangles” (jielin 結璘), i.e., the sun and moon, generally speaking. Sometimes Dense Regalia and Knotted Spangles are said to be the names of immortals responsible for moving the sun and moon across the sky, but more precisely, they are collective names for the five Thearchs of the Sun (rizhong wudi 日中五帝) and five Ladies of the Moon (yuezhong wu furen 月中五夫人). Relevant practices leading to ascension are described in Shangqing taishang dijun jiuzhen zhongjing (DZ 1376; Robinet, A.5), 2.1a2-8b9. It is entirely “in character” for Lord Pei, the speaker of these lines, to mention them, since his biography connects him with these techniques; Qingling zhenren Pei jun zhuan (Robinet, C.8), in YJQQ 105.15a5-22b10. See also Kroll 1999, 7 and Bokenkamp 1997, 370n35 (both call the solar figure “Shadowed Regalia”). 188 The “Five Palaces” (wugong 五宮) in this context seems to refer to the five solar abodes of the Thearchs of the Sun; the relevant scripture mentions palaces only in connection with the sun, not the moon. Each Thearch and Lady has a color, blue, red, white, black, or yellow, thus corresponding also to the five directions, the five viscera, etc. When invoking them, the adept asks to be taken to the palaces of the sun. See Shangqing taishangdijun jiuzhen zhongjing

290 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED

Have the announcement posted189 at the Seven Primes. Verily, arrayed as an equal of Dieyu,190 You shall be a ministerial lord of Higher Clarity. This will come to pass because you attune your inner [heart] to be in sympathy with the void, and you are willingly devoted in your commitment to Perfection. Also, you will surely drive the Lady of the Southern [Marchmount’s] cloud-carriage and travel together with the Three Primes’ chariots of Light.F The preceding comments speak of the allotment received by Jade Axe Xu. G [5] These are the titles of fixed rank that you will first [receive upon] elevation, when, having completed the Way and ended your labors, you receive your documents. Moreover, the allotments for those who find the Way and are delivered are very restricted. If you were to presume upon191 [them] and use substitutes, then there would certainly be no way of coming here! Both of you must keep this in mind. For the preceding five passages, there is calligraphy by Yang and a copy by the Senior Aide—two exemplars. A B

This is to say it (wei 瑋) should be written with the character wei 偉. This is to say it (chen 辰) should be written with the character chen 晨 [“Dawn”].

(DZ 1376, Robinet, A.5), 2.6a8-9, 2.6b9. SK 169n15, mentions another set of Five Palaces and cite Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2), 1.3a4-5b5, which describes the Nine Palaces in the head; Tao’s notes discuss the scriptures associated with them. Five palaces are said to be the Male Ones, four the Female Ones (see Fascicle Two, n. 218). The scriptures and methods associated with the Five Palaces are said to circulate in the world, and persons who are destined for immortality will receive them. For the Daoist faithful, however, the various sets of Five Palaces would be subtly connected through their Five Phases associations. 189 A literal translation of the term would be “hang documents” (xuan shu 懸書 ). This refers to the time-honored practice of posting the text of laws and other announcements at the palace gate (HDC 7:778). 190 Dieyu 迭域 is the style of Master Valley-Rarified, as noted by Tao Hongjing below. The style, like the name “Master Valley-Rarified” itself, appears to derive from Laozi, in this case ch. 25, and would mean something like “Recursive Universe”: “In the universe there are four ‘greats’… Humankind emulates the earth, the earth emulates heaven, heaven emulates the Way, and the Way emulates what is so of itself.” 域中有四大…人法地，地法天，天法道，道 法自然。 Laozi, 1.14b2-6 (Sibu beiyao). The style Dieyu appears also in poems (probably of later date) attached to Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.17b4. 191 The DZ text here uses a very rare character combining the radical huo 火 (“fire”) with the phonetic element si 寺. The commonly circulating editions write shi 恃 (“presume upon”), so I follow these. SK 168 differs significantly from my translation. It says, in effect, “Persons who presume upon the fixed allotment and become remiss in self-cultivation will have no means at all of coming to the immortal world.”

FASCICLE FOUR / 291

This is an archaic [form of the] character ding 鼎 [“eminence”].192 “When Grandfather was summoned as Administrator by the Office of the Minister of Education, he did not go but retreated for five years in Maoshan in this district.” — The sixteen characters of this statement were added later as commentary by [Xu] Rongdi.193 The [part about Xu Mi’s] being summoned by a Ducal Establishment194 seems preposterous. E “At that time he was Senior Aide to the Capital Protector.” — These six characters were also added as commentary by [Xu] Rongdi. F The Dieyu mentioned here is, in fact, Master Valley-Rarified. This is in agreement with the Director of Destinies’ earlier statement, “…rank in eminence with Master Valley[-Rarified].” G The two characters you 右 [“preceding”] that appear separately here are each followed by the character shuo 說 [“comments”]. Appearing in the Senior Aide’s manuscript are the statements, “In the preceding, the Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity comments…” but Lord Yang’s manuscript omits these four characters [i.e., Qingling zhenren 清靈真人, “the Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity” or Lord Pei]. It must be Yang at the time orally reported to the Senior Aide it was Lord Pei. C

D

Comments For this section, Tao Hongjing had two manuscripts to work with, one by Yang Xi and one by Xu Mi. As usual in such cases, the Yang Xi manuscript takes precedence, so Tao provides that version. However, as Tao points out, only Xu Mi’s manuscript identifies the second speaker, Lord Pei, which means that Yang had orally reported Lord Pei’s identity to him. Tao also preserves Xu Mi’s comments after the first and second passages. He removes comments that Xu Hui’s grandson Xu Rongdi had added to Xu Mi’s manuscript but preserves them in his notes. The first and third passages concern Xu Mi, the second and fourth Xu Hui, and the fifth both Xus. The poems are formal pieces, four words per line, with occasional extrametrical words and phrases. Mao Ying, one of the highest-ranking Perfected men to appear in these sessions, makes a rare appearance. He and Lord Pei together announce what Xu Mi’s and Xu Hui’s future “allotments” (fen 分) will be, and they give the two men further advice. An “allotment” is essentially the official Perfected title that each will receive once he is “elevated” (ju 舉). Xu Mi will achieve his transformation in less than ten years and become “A governor invested with a cultivat192 The archaic form, which is not in the MS Word character set, is similar to the modern form 鼎, but with the 目 element tilted horizontally: 罒. The word is used here not in its usual sense of “cauldron” but in its more extended sense of the eminence or importance associated with high rank (definition no. 7 of ding in HDC 12:1314-5). 193 Xu Rongdi was the son of Xu Huangmin and grandson of Xu Hui (n. 159 above). His role in scripture forgery are described in ZG 19.13a10-13b7; trl. Strickmann 1977, 49. 194 The Minister of Education (situ 司徒) was one of the Three Dukes (sangong); the Ducal Establishment (gongfu 公府) would be “the household establishment of a dignitary ennobled as a Duke.” Hucker 1985, 458, 399, 292 (nos. 5801, 4871, 3426).

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ed estate, / An earl in charge of an immortal metropolis,” and “mentor and assistant to [a lord of] superior Virtue.” Xu Hui will receive the title “Attendant to the Thearch of Dawn.” Again, these pronouncements are not equivalent to the actual formal investiture, which takes place after apparent death and at the time of initial elevation, but they are a solid indication of what is in store—as solid an indication as mere mortals can ever expect to receive before they take the final step. The most significant bit of information in the first poem is that Xu Mi has just ten years to live—a very “safe” prediction, considering that Xu is already sixty-two sui and complaining about the symptoms of old age. However, it is Xu’s response to the poem that deserves closer scrutiny. The current visitation takes place almost at the end of the year, so that when Mao Ying mentions “just ten years” before Xu Mi’s elevation, the few days left in the current year must be included in the count. Xu Mi therefore calculates that his last possible year would be bingzi (corresponding to 376), at which time he will be seventytwo sui (seventy-three years old in the Western count). When he repeats the “ten years” information to himself he phrases it, “Barely ten years remain before the [bing]zi year.” It is difficult to gauge what his mental state is here, but I suspect that he is fearful rather than delighted. Mao Ying’s poem and remarks for Xu Hui feature the same extended axe/sword conceit that Lady Right Blossom used on January 13, 366 (ZG 3.13a8-13b1), using many of the same words applicable to blades, so that parts of the poem carry dual meanings that are very difficult to convey in translation. The general sense is that Xu Hui has refined and purified himself, so that his heart (the “tip” or biao 標, here written, as usual in ZG, 摽) is above the empyrean. Once elevated and installed in his future office on the Eight Clearwaters (Fusang, the place of sunrise), he will shine so brightly, like the rising sun, that the rays will fall on the upturned gazes of the multitude. Some of the imagery seems to derive also from the Shizhouji’s description of Fusang, its jade, its giant trees, and what happens to an immortal who eats their fruit: “His entire body shines with a golden color, and he soars away into the empyrean.”195 Lord Pei’s poem for Xu Mi is tightly organized, with each phrase leading quite logically to the next. It begins with instruction on the necessity of emptying oneself in order to become receptive to the wondrous knowledge of the Way. Once one hears the Way, practicing it (i.e., walking it) becomes both inevitable and easy. In this case Lord Pei means “take the flying steps,” a method already revealed to Xu in the spring of 364 (see Fascicle Two, n. 229). By this means he will ascend to the heavens, where he will fill a post and befriend his teacher from his previous life, Master Changli. The poem’s conclusion, neatly set off by the extrametrical words bi dang (“Certainly you shall soon be…”), lists his future roles. 195

Shizhouji (DZ 598), 1.10a4-5; trl. Smith 1992, 2:554.

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Lord Pei’s poem for Xu Hui (part prev. trl. Kroll 1999, 6-7) resumes the sun and blade imagery while matching elements of the previous poem. However, this time the moon is added to the mix, since Xu Hui has been regularly absorbing the efflorescences of both orbs, using a method long associated with Lord Pei himself. The “rays” of the third line are “points” (feng 鋒) of a blade. Like the previous poem, this one describes an upward path, and Xu Hui’s “superior Way” (shang dao 上道) balances Xu Mi’s “superior Virtue” (shang de 上德). The ringing conclusion is marked by extended hexameter lines: “Verily, arrayed as an equal of Dieyu, / You shall be a ministerial lord of Higher Clarity.” The unidentified speaker of the final passage (probably Lord Pei) seems to have sensed the Xus’ fear about their allotments. The Xus know that in order to be elevated, they will need to perform an escape by means of a simulated corpse, which in the worldly perspective means to die an apparent death. The speaker thus reminds them that no substitutes would be accepted (this would also prevent charlatanry). The allotments are “restricted” in the sense that they may be received only by the persons for whom they are destined. Any attempt to rely on a substitute would effectively cancel the allotment. Rhymes: (1) -eng; (2) -engX; (3) -eng; (4) -in, -en, -un, -on, -im (irregular).

The Xus’ Future Escape (undated) [1]

4.14b3-4.15b9

[The Lord] Protecting Life [Mao Zhong] declared, “Master Xu [Hui] in the end will be able to submit his form to transformation in the underworld by following the ‘nocturnal escape’ of Zhang [Lu, the General] Pacifying the South.196 He will thus nurture his cloud-souls at Grand Yin 197 and store his earth-souls in the earth. The Four Numina198 will protect his seminal essence, and the Five Elders199 will preserve his viscera. In another sixteen years, he’ll definitely see me at East Florescence, for all those who are fit for covert extension awaken as Perfected.”A 196 Zhang Lu 張魯 (d. 216), the third Celestial Master after his grandfather and father Zhang Daoling and Zhang Heng 張衡 (d. 179), was the chief organizer of the nascent Celestial Masters movement. He submitted to Cao Cao 曹操 (155-220) in 215, from whom he received his title “General Pacifying the South” (Zhennan jiangjun 鎮南將軍). His biography is in Chen Shou, Sanguo zhi, 8.263-65; see also Hendrischke 2000, 139-41; Kleeman in ET 1232-33. Zhang Lu’s nocturnal escape (yejie 夜解) is discussed in Tao’s note below. 197 On the Grand Yin, see Fascicle Three, n. 234. 198 On the Four Numina, see Fascicle Three, n. 100. 199 The Five Elders (wulao 五老) are also known as the Five Spirits (wushen) of the Male Ones (n. 188 above), who reside in the head and are in charge of the registers of life. They and their associated methods are discussed in Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2) and Dongzhen gaoshang yudi dadong ciyi yujian wulao baojing (DZ 1313; Robinet, B.1). The present ZG passage implicitly assigns one Elder for each of the five viscera.

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[2]

Right Blossom declared, “From antiquity to the present, a ford has existed between death and life. If the visible and invisible [realms] are differentiated in one’s understanding, then the viscera perish, obliterating one’s knowledge, [but] all those who equate [the other realm] with the world are in line to find the Way. As for those who: Consume [Eight] Gems Elixir once,200 Thrice volatize the Ninefold Florescent [Elixir],201 Get drunk at dawn on cloud-fluid,202 Do the sulfur to-and-fro,203 Gulp the gold soup,204 And chew on jade sprigs205— they immediately: Direct their Lights on an ascent into the vault of space And darkly rise into Grand Tenuity. Concerning the Eight Gems Elixir, see Fascicle Three, n. 243. The Ninefold Florescent Elixir (jiuhua dan 九華丹) is most closely associated with the immortal Zuo Ci, who has biographies in Fan Ye, Hou Han shu, 82B.2747-48 (trl. DeWoskin 1983, 83-86) and in Ge Hong’s Shenxian zhuan as cited in Li Fang, ed., Taiping guangji, 11.7678 (trl. Campany 2002, 279-82). Its composition is unknown. Zuo Ci and his elixir are discussed in ZG 11.10a6, 12.3b5-8, 14.9b2-8; not in WYT. On volatization, see n. 57 above. 202 Cloud-fluid (yunyi 雲液) is an elixir whose main ingredient is a mostly white form of mica also known as “cloud-fluid.” Baopuzi neipian identifies five varieties of mica: “The kind that has all five colors at once but is mostly white is named ‘cloud-fluid’ and should be consumed in autumn.” 五色並具而多白者名曰雲液，宜以秋服之。 Wang Ming 1995, 11.202. It then summarizes various recipes and results that include but do not name the cloud-fluid recipe (Ware 1966, 186-87). Most mica recipes there and elsewhere (such as YJQQ 75) describe ways of putting it into liquid suspension. YJQQ 75.13a8-b4 describes a cloud-fluid recipe; whether it is the same alluded to here is unclear. Schafer 1955, 269 writes that the mineral is question “would ordinarily correspond to clear varieties of muscovite [mica].” 203 Sulfur (liuhuang 硫磺, here written 流黃) was a common elixir ingredient. It was rarely eaten by itself, though the immortal Liu Ping 劉憑 is said to have ingested it (Campany 2002, 320). The idea of pacing back and forth, however, is strongly associated with a popular elixir known as Five-Mineral Powder (wushisan 五石散) or Cold Food Powder (hanshisan 寒食散), of which sulfur is sometimes listed as an ingredient. After consuming it with cold food and warm wine, one had to “walk off the powder” (xingsan 行散) or suffer fatal consequences. According to later sources the other minerals were stalactite, milky quartz, amethyst, and red siliceous clay, but according to Ge Hong, the five minerals were cinnabar, realgar, alum, verditer, and magnetite; Wang Ming 1995, 4.78; trl. Ware 1966, 82. Presumably many recipes were in circulation. See also Wagner 1973 and Sato 2005. 204 On gold soup, see Fascicle Two, n. 207. 205 Jade sprigs (yurui 玉蕤) is probably pulverized white jade of high quality, similar to jade stamens (yurui, variously written 玉蕊, 玉蘂, 玉蕋, etc.; Fascicle Three, n. 117). 200 201

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“Since your worldly affairs run counter to the mystical, these practices remain unfinished, so you must briefly tread through Grand Yin and live covertly in the land of gloom; [you must] consider your body as extraneous,206 discard its substance, and nurture your embryo in the vacated house;207 [you must] refine your pneumas without a blow-tube208 and receive seminal essence in the dark desert.209 Therefore, once you change your countenance in the mansions of triple yin 210 and rejuvenate your face in the houses of nine-times refinement,211 only then will you know that the spirit immortals are wondrous, dying but not perishing, [and that] the principles in the matter of departure and return are profound.” [3] The Southerner212 said, “Finding the Way and leaving the world is done either visibly or in secret. Using the body to leave a trace behind is the secret [approach to] the Way. Some have taken two swigs of rose-gem essence213 and 206 To “consider the body as extraneous” (wai shen 外身) derives from Laozi, ch. 7: “Therefore the sage puts himself behind but emerges ahead, considers himself extraneous but is preserved.” 是以聖人後其身而身先，外其身而身存。 Laozi, 1.4b2-3 (Sibu beiyao). The ZG passage emphasizes the corporeality of shen. 207 The “vacated house” (xuzhai 虚宅) is the corpse (ZG 3.9b3: “The form is not the spirit’s constant house”). 208 Concerning the blow-tube (yue 籥), see Fascicle Two, n. 14. Pottery-firing or alchemical imagery here describes the refinement process. In the underworld the adept must forego the use of any “blow-tube” to stoke the flames of refinement, because he or she is cut off from heaven and earth and so cannot breathe the pneumas that circulate there. We may paraphrase: “…refine your pneumas while cut off from heaven and earth.” 209 The dark desert (xuanmo 玄漠), like the land of gloom (mingxiang 冥鄉) above, refers in general to the distant north, where Grand Yin is located. The term appears also in Baopuzi neipian, where its northern association is unambiguous (Wang Ming 1995, 5.110 and 10.187). 210 The mansions of triple yin (sanyin zhi guan 三陰之館) again refers to the palaces of the north. Triple yin describes the three broken lines of the trigram kun 坤, which corresponds to the north in the prior-heaven (xiantian 先天) system. 211 The houses of nine-times refinement (jiulian zhi hu 九錬之戶) are more or less the same as the mansions of triple yin—the phrase simply borrows alchemical terminology and the number nine, the number of yang, to form a suitable yang counterpart, required for the balanced development of the Perfected embryo. 212 That is, the Lady of the Southern Marchmount, Wei Huacun; see n. B below. 213 The specific nature of the rose-gem essence (qiongjing) here is uncertain (Fascicle Three, n. 84 and 243). However, in ZG 14.16b7-10, which contains a similar passage, Tao Hongjing notes that rose-gem essence is probably Volatized Essence of the Dawn-enfolding Canopy (Fascicle Two, n. 50). A passage from Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet, C.2) preserved in Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 3.11a6 also lists rose-gem essence among alchemical elixirs. Elsewhere, in Dongzhen taishang shuo zhihui xiaomo zhenjing (DZ 1344, Robinet, A.22), 1.13b2-3, it is listed as one of the medicines of Higher Clarity. This list is cited elsewhere, with many variants; perhaps the best version of the relevant line reads, “Bending, I scoop out the rosegem essence of Orchid Garden.” 俯掘蘭園之瓊精。 WSMY 78.4b9; cf. with Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 3.9b10-10a1 and Shangqing dao baojing (DZ 1353), 4.7a5.

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knocked on their coffins, or consumed a speck 214 of it once and had their corpses rot. Sire Deerskin 215 swallowed jade blossoms 216 and the maggots streamed out his door;217 Youngest Son Qiu218 gulped the gold fluid219 and the stench was smelled a hundred li away.220 The Yellow Thearch, who fired the nine cauldrons [elixir] on Mount Jing, still has a tomb at Qiao Peak;221 [Sima]

214 On the translation of “speck” (daogui 刀圭 ), a medicinal measure, I follow Fabrizio Pregadio (2008, 174). In one of his medical texts, Tao Hongjing defines it: “Whenever daogui is mentioned with powders, it is one-tenth of a square-inch spatula…One pinch (cuo) is four specks.” 凡散云刀圭者，十分方寸匕之一。 … 一撮者四刀圭也。 (in HDC 2:548). 215 Sire Deerskin (Lupi Gong 鹿皮公) is an immortal of the Former Han era. His biography in Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 2.4b7-5a6 (trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 150-52) describes him consuming spring water and polypores but does not mention elixirs. WYT 1.16a8 lists him on the right of the fourth tier of the pantheon. 216 “Jade blossoms” (yuhua 玉華 ) here refers not to a palace or jade maidens (Fascicle Three, n. 85) but to an elixir made with powdered white jade and (very likely) other substances that brought on a hasty demise. However, I have not been able to find a recipe. 217 The vivid image of maggots streaming out the door derives from Han Feizi’s story of the death of Duke Huan of Qi, which was repeated in many other texts. Lau and Chen 1992a, 7/10/13-4, 10/18/14-15; trl. Watson 1964, 34, 68; Sima Qian, Shi ji, 32.1494. 218 Youngest Son Qiu (Qiu Jizi 仇季子 ) is more commonly called Young Qiu or Qiu Sheng 仇生; the name is probably changed here to preserve the parallelism with the previous phrase. He ate only pine sap—not any alchemical elixir—and kept getting younger in appearance. Young Qiu, like Sire Deerskin, worked with wood. Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.8a8b2; trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 81. WYT 1.16a9 assigns him the same pantheon position. 219 “Gold fluid” (jinyi 金液), often translated “golden liquor,” is not the gold soup (jinjiang) above. Although it is used in both neidan and waidan, the present context indicates a waidan recipe; the best candidate is described briefly in Baopuzi neipian (Wang Ming 1995, 4.82-3; trl. Ware 1966, 89-91) and more extensively in Baopuzi shenxian jinzhuo jing 抱朴子神仙金汋經 (Scripture of the Gold Liquid of the Spirit Immortals, by the Master Embracing the Unhewn; DZ 917), fasc. 1 (trl. Pregadio 1998, 188-92). The ingredients include gold, mercury, saltpeter, and realgar. For general introductions, see Kim in ET 586-87, Pregadio in ET 597-98. 220 Ban Gu, Han shu, 97B.4004 reports that when Wang Mang 王莽 (43 BCE-23 CE) had the corpse of the Grand Empress Dowager Fu 傅太后 (d. 3 BCE) disinterred and stripped of its jade and pearl clothing, the “stench was smelled many li away” 臭聞數里. 221 The Yellow Thearch (Huangdi 黃帝) in early sources is variously described as a ruler of high antiquity or as a kind of thunder god. Shi ji begins with his story but also provides an alternate version told by Gongsun Qing (Sima Qian, Shi ji, 1.1-10 and 28.1393; trl. Nienhauser 1994, 1-5; Watson 1993, 3:35-37, respectively). His biography as an immortal in Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.2b6-3a5 (trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 50-51) combines the conflicting accounts and forms the basis of this ZG phrase. WYT 1.9b1 puts him on the left of the third tier. Mount Jing 荊山 is south of Wenxiang 閿鄉, Henan; Qiao Peak 橋領, usually written Mount Qiao 橋山, is located near Anding 安定 in northern Shaanxi. As for the cauldrons, the early sources do not specify the number. Nine and the transformation of “nine cauldrons” into the name of an elixir came later, through the alchemical tradition, for which the elixirs of the nine cauldrons (jiuding dan 九鼎丹), also called simply the Nine Elixirs (jiudan) were central. For a detailed description, see Pregadio 2006, 110-14. Elsewhere in Higher

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Jizhu,222 who consumed mica powder223 to make a covert ascent, still [left his] head and feet in different places.224 Mo Di225 gulped rainbow elixir226 to throw himself into a river; Young Ning227 consumed stone brains228 and rushed into a Clarity belief, the Yellow Thearch’s nine cauldron elixirs are associated with Zhou Yishan; Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.9b7-8; trl. Miller 2008, 140. 222 Sima Jizhu 司馬季主 was a diviner during the reign of Han Emperor Wen (r. 180-157 BCE); his biography in Shi ji 127 is mostly in the form of a debate with Jia Yi 賈誼 (201-169 BCE) and a palace official; trl. Watson 1993, 3:425-31. Within the Higher Clarity context, apart from the account given in ZG 14.12b2-14b4, Sima Jizhu gives Zhou Yishan on Mount Weiyu 委羽山 a scripture on forging a sword for escaping by means of a simulated corpse in Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet C.9), 1.10a5-6; trl. James Miller 2008, 142. Sima governs the cave-heaven in Mount Weiyu, according to Qingxu zhenren Wang jun neizhuan (Robinet, C.7), cited in Li Fang, ed., Taiping yulan, 674.5b7-8. Sima figures in the transmission of Shangqing housheng daojun lieji (DZ 442, Robinet, A.10), 1.7b6-7; trl. Bokenkamp 1997, 351. WYT 1.10b6 places him on the right of the third tier and notes that he “received the way of escape by the sword from Xiling Zidu” 受西靈子都劍解之道. 223 Mica powder (yunsan 雲散) is a common elixir ingredient. However, yunsan also means to disappear, vanish, evaporate, scatter, etc., so the phrase may be understood to mean “Sima Jizhu, who consumed vanishing powder to make a covert ascent…” Furthermore, san is both “powder” and “scatter”—explaining his dismemberment. 224 “Head and feet in different places” (tou zu yi chu 頭足異處) is a stock phrase for beheaded persons (HDC 12:300), as in, for example, Sima Qian, Shi ji, 92.2624 and 118.3089. 225 Mo Di 墨狄 is more commonly written 墨翟; the DZ text here mistakenly writes his name Mo Qiu 秋, corrected in ZG’s tongxingben. He is Mozi 墨子 (c. 470 BCE-c. 391 BCE), the founder of the Mohist school of thought. Shenxian zhuan describes him achieving immortality by alchemical elixirs and composing a text on transformation entitled Wuxing ji 五行記 (Treatise on the Five Phases); trl. Campany 2002, 329-30, 508-10. WYT 1.13b6 puts him in the left of the fourth tier and adds, “Grand [Master] of Song, escaped by water” 宋大水解 (perhaps on the basis of the present passage). Mo Di reveals Zidu yanguang (corresponding to DZ 1332; Robinet, A.11) to Zhou Yishan in Ziyang zhenren neizhuan (DZ 303; Robinet, C.9), 1.10a3; trl. James Miller 2008, 142. 226 The name “rainbow elixir” (hongdan 虹丹) suggests connections with water, two-headed dragons, clouds, yin, etc. (Schafer 1980, 15-25). Mo Di’s choice of this elixir to escape by a simulated drowning (shuijie 水解) is thus appropriate. I know of no recipe. Wang Zhongdu 王 仲都 , noted for imperviousness to heat and cold, consumes it in Sandong qunxian lu (DZ 1248), 16.17a3-8, citing Wangshi Shenxian zhuan 王氏神仙傳; Campany 2002, 271, 463-64. 227 Young Ning 寗生, i.e., Master Feng of Ning (Ning Fengzi 寗封子), a potter, learned how to control the fires of his kiln, let himself be consumed by the flames, and ascend and descend on the smoke. His bones were found in the ashes. Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.1b1-6; trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 43 (his diet is not mentioned). This is a classic escape by means of fire (huojie 火解). WYT 1.13b9 puts him on the left of the fourth tier. 228 Stone brains (shinao 石腦) are not simply “geodes” but any soft or liquid substance found inside a geode when it is first cracked open. Baopuzi neipian’s description of two rock polypores (shizhi 石芝), “yolk-in-rock” (shizhong huangzi 石中黃子) and “stone brain polypore” (shinao zhi 石腦芝), match what today would be called either enhydros (geodes containing water) or geodes containing bitumin, but it is the soft or liquid content, drunk on first opening, that is believed to confer extreme longevity (Wang Ming 1995, 11.199; trl. Ware 1966, 181); compare also with Agricola’s description of geodes, enhydros, and bitumen (trl. Bandy and Bandy 1955, 61-62, 104). ZG is likely referring to the bituminous fluid or gelatinous matter

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fire. Wu Guang cut leeks229 to enter Qingling Pool;230 Bocheng [Zigao231] absorbed pneumas, and his guts rotted three times. People like these are beyond count. Isn’t the Way subtle? In finding it, the traces of one’s inclinations and aversions are never constant.”B/232 [4] [Mao Zhong, the Lord] Protecting Life repeated, “All those who are fit for covert extension awaken as Perfected. Those who follow these directions are not real corpses.” For the previous four passages, there is calligraphy by the Senior Aide. “Master Xu” is the Administrator [Xu Hui]. Note that Succeeding [Celestial] Master Zhang [Lu] was the General Pacifying the South; he died in the twenty-first year of Establishing Peace [216] and was buried east of Ye. 233 Forty-four years later, coming to the fourth year of Sweet Dew [259] during the Wei, a flood occurred and his coffin was opened. His corpse appeared as if alive. He was laid out on a dais, A

found in some geodes, especially the whitish naphtha-rich substances, which are both highly flammable and poisonous. Geodes are further discussed in ZG 13.7b9-10. 229 Wu Guang 務光 is a leek-eating immortal described in Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.7b28a4 (trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 78-81), which in turn is based on a Zhuangzi passage; Guo Qingfan 1983, 9B.984-86 (ch. 28; trl. Watson 1968, 320-21). After the Shang dynastic founder asked him to fill a ministerial post, Wu was so offended that he tied a stone to his back and threw himself into the Liao River 蓼水, only to reappear four hundred years later. WYT 1.24b2 places him among the sundry earthbound immortals on the right of the sixth tier. 230 Qingling Pool (Qingling zhi yuan 清泠之淵 ; the DZ text replaces ling 泠 with leng 冷 ) appears in Zhuangzi: Beiren Wuze 北人无擇 throws himself into the pool when Emperor Shun offers him the empire. Guo Qingfan 1983, 9B.984 (ch. 28); trl. Watson 1968, 320. The pool was located near the center of the present-day city of Nanyang, Henan. 231 Bocheng Zigao 伯成子高 (the DZ text replaces 伯 with 柏; other texts write 栢) appears in Zhuangzi. Bocheng resigns his position and takes up farming after the sage-ruler Shun replaces Yao. When Shun asks him why, Bocheng tells him that Shun’s handing out rewards and punishments will cause virtue to decay. Guo Qingfan 1983, 5A.423 (ch. 12); trl. Watson 1968, 131. He is thus often listed among famous recluses. WYT 1.9b5 places him on the left of the third tier and adds: “Withdrew to farm in the Tang era, cultivated the Way of pacing the [celestial] mainstays.” 湯時退耕，修步綱之道。 Shangqing dao leishi xiang (DZ 1132), 1.5b8-9, citing a passage from Dengzhen yinjue (DZ 421; Robinet. C.2), states that Bocheng and three other Perfected persons roamed the heavens on eight-wheeled carriages of the Three Purities (sansu). He is one of the Eight Perfected (bazhen 八真) listed in Shangqing qisheng xuanji jing (DZ 1361, Robinet, A.28), 1.2b3. 232 This sentence echoes a statement by the Confucian thinker Xunzi 荀子 (c. 340-c. 245 BCE). In John Knoblock’s translation (1988, 153): “One whose inclinations and aversions are unsettled is called ‘inconstant.’” 趣舍無定謂之無常。 Xunzi, 1.18a5-6 (ch. 2; Sibu congkan). In the DZ text, no line break separates this “passage” (tiao) and the next, though Tao’s note below specifies four passages in this section. I insert the “missing” division here. 233 Ye 鄴 or Yecheng 鄴城 was the capital of Wei, in present-day Linzhang 臨漳 district, Henan. Zhang Lu had moved there after submitting to the Wei ruler Cao Cao in 215.

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whereupon he picked up a sambar-tail chowry234 to cover his face as he burst into loud laughter, and he perished once more. He was then reinterred. The events concerning him as recorded in exoteric books go roughly like this. I do not know which methods are supposed to be used in a nocturnal escape. Based on the example of Administrator Xu, it seems to dispense with the sword and staff. B The Southerner is the Perfected Lady235 of the South [Wei Huacun]. All these immortals appear in various biographical records, but as for the traces of their deeds, there are variants and differences.

Comments The four declarations of this section may also have come from the visitation on January 22, 368, but Tao Hongjing found them on an undated Xu Mi manuscript separate from the one he used for the previous section. The first statement, from Mao Zhong, is addressed to Xu Hui and concerns his future escape, while Right Blossom’s statement is addressed to Xu Mi. The other two seem to be intended for both men. Xu Hui is to perform a “nocturnal escape,” which apparently means staging death under cover of night, without using a standard prop like a sword or staff, but even Tao Hongjing is unsure of this, judging from his comment. Xu Mi, meanwhile, is still too tied up with worldly affairs to perform his escape immediately. Thus both men must “escape,” but the specific technique each uses will be different. Escaping by means of a simulated corpse is not accomplished all at once but goes through several stages, usually over a span of many years. These passages enable us to develop a general outline of the process. First, one must become suitably detached from worldly affairs. Second, one must be in the right frame of mind, one that does not differentiate the visible and hidden worlds and that views life and death as opposite banks of the same river—both are equal and essential. In the words of Huangting neijing yujing, one cannot “glance backward” (gumian 顧眄 ; n. 113 above). Third, once one escapes, the cloudsouls go to Grand Yin, the earth-souls enter the earth, and the Four Numina and Five Male Ones preserve the body’s seminal essence and five viscera, respectively. If the practitioner attempts an escape in the wrong frame of mind, he or she fails to preserve the viscera, and all memory and knowledge is erased. Fourth, once the cloud-souls arrive at Grand Yin (a place far in the north), they undergo further refinement, in a process like that which takes place in the al234 Sambar-tail chowries (zhuwei 麈尾) or whisks were customarily held by Daoist teachers while lecturing and by those engaging in “pure conversation” (qingtan 清談); Qian 2001, 4951. Use of the chowry to cover up a laugh is also mentioned by the poet Tao Yuanming 陶淵 明 (365-427) in his biography of his father-in-law, “Jin gu zhengxi dajiangjun changshi Meng fu jun zhuan” 晉故征西大將軍長史孟府君傳 (Biography of the Late Meng [Jia], Formerly General-in-chief Campaigning West and Senior Aide of Jin), in Jianzhu Tao Yuanming ji 箋註 陶淵明集 (Annotated Anthology of Tao Yuanming), 5.11b8-9 (Sibu congkan). 235 The DZ text mistakenly switches the characters for “Lady” (furen 夫人).

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chemist’s sealed crucible. Just as the corpse does not breathe, the refinement takes place without any “blow-tube” by which one would normally receive the pneumas of heaven and earth. Finally, all those who are fit for the process inevitably wake up as Perfected. Only then can the practitioner truly understand the wondrousness of the spirit immortals’ “dying but not perishing” and the profundity of the principles governing life and death. Behind Wei Huacun’s declaration lies the assumption that the Xus are entirely aware of the fatal effects of taking the elixirs, as pointed out by Strickmann (1979, 136-8; trl. 132, n. 19) and Eskildsen (1998, 92-3). To my knowledge, however, no one seems to have noticed that much of what Wei Huacun says about the various immortals of the past sounds notes of graveyard humor. The humor is at its clearest in her line about Sima Jizhu: “Jizhu, who consumed mica powder to make a covert ascent, still [left his] head and feet in different places.” The line actually has a pun that works three ways: mica powder or yunsan 雲散 may also mean “disperse” or “vanish,” as in the idiomatic phrase, “to scatter like clouds and mists” (yunsan wuxiao 雲散霧消), and san by itself may mean either “powder” or “scatter.” In other words, if Sima Jizhu wants to make a covert ascent, of course he would take “vanishing powder.” It is also no wonder that his head and feet wind up in different places: mica powder is a vanishing powder and a disintegrator all at once. We need not conclude that the medicine works through the power of awful puns. Instead, its name suggests its effect, just as with many modern drugs. A contemporary equivalent to the line would run, “He took Viagra to get up in life and was pushed over a big waterfall.” The lines about Mo Di’s rainbow elixir and Young Ning’s stone brains (the soft or liquid naphtha-rich substances found inside certain geodes) work the same way. What better way of putting Xu Mi in the right frame of mind and diminishing the sting of death would there be than joking about it and describing putrescence in grossly exaggerated terms? Mao Zhong’s concluding statement also features some wordplay that would translate better into English if instead of using “Perfected person” for zhenren 真人 I had used “Realized” or “True person”: “All those who are fit for covert extension awaken as Realized/True [persons]. Those who follow these directions are not real/true corpses.” His point is that people who are ready for the process and follow directions properly will eventually reawaken, and though their forms may appear corpse-like for now, they are not real corpses.

Examination of the Corpse (undated) [1]

4.15b10-4.16a4

When a person dies, you must look at the body. If it is like that of a living person, it is in all instances a case of escape by corpse. If you see that the feet are not blue and the skin is not wrinkled, it is also a case of escape by corpse. If

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the light of the eyes is undimmed and no different from that of a living person, it is also a case of escape by corpse. If all the head hair has fallen out but the body and bones are missing, it is in all instances a case of escape by corpse. If an [apparent] escape by corpse occurs in broad daylight, then even though [the person] is an immortal it is not an instance of escape by corpse. For the previous passage, there is a copy written in the hand of Person A. Comments The ZG provides no clue about who gave these instructions. They could not have been intended for either Xu Mi or Xu Hui, since the Xus would not be the ones performing the examinations. These instructions were more likely intended for Xu Mi and Xu Hui’s survivors and trusted assistants, especially considering that Tao Hongjing’s source was “written in the hand of Person A,” not Xu Mi or Xu Hui. Remarkably, Tao thought this passage to be genuine and worthy of inclusion, even though he knew neither the speaker nor the copyist (prev. trl. Cedzich 2001, 11, n. 34 and Bumbacher 2000, 159, n. 189). The criteria for verifying an escape by an apparent corpse are very broad, probably by design. On the one hand, the broadness of the criteria reflects the great variety of escape techniques and contingent factors (such as the decision to perform an escape openly or secretly, the location of the final act, the season, etc.), each of which would tend to leave different signs on the corpse. On the other hand, it would make it easier for the assistants to announce, after their master’s apparent demise, that the master had succeeded in his quest. A positive announcement would also spare the assistants from the taint of getting close to and examining a real corpse. The recently deceased do often look like the living; not all corpses have blue feet and wrinkled skin. The only criterion here that would generate an announcement of “not an escape by corpse” actually goes the other way: it determines an ascent to immortality in broad daylight—a superior kind of transformation. In other words, none of the criteria are negative indicators of a failed quest. This section may be viewed as the natural conclusion of the ZG’s main story, and the excerpts from scripture that follow may be viewed as epilogues. In the Higher Clarity mindset, what the Perfected have declared will happen is destined to happen, so any narration of the Xus’ later history becomes, strictly speaking, unnecessary. However, Tao Hongjing does provide brief accounts of their ends. Although he is still sketchy about Xu Mi, he provides a bit more detail on what happens to the talented, promising Xu Hui: in 370, he goes to a cave and announces his end.236 He was just under 30 years old. 236 ZG 20.9b10-10a10. Part is translated in Strickmann 1979, 129-30. Xu Mi’s end is discussed in ZG 20.8b4-10. Cedzich (2001, 33) still allows the possibility that Xu Hui may have feigned death to escape official service.

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Excerpts from an Appendix to the Scripture of the Nine Perfected (undated)

4.16a5-4.16b10

[1]

If the person dies temporarily and reaches Grand Yin, he briefly passes before the Three Offices. His flesh rots to dust, his blood sinks [into the earth], his veins are scattered, and yet the five viscera are themselves alive, and his white bones are like jade. The seven earth-souls surround and attend to them; the three cloud-souls guard their house. The Three Primes237 rest for the time being, and the Grand Spirit238 is shut inside. Whether in thirty or twenty years, or in ten or three years, he emerges [again] at will. When he is about to come to life, he reabsorbs his blood and nurtures his flesh. His saliva turns liquid, and his restored substance takes on a form superior in appearance to what he had before death. This is what is meant when it is said that a Perfected person refines his form in Grand Yin and changes his appearance at the Three Offices. The Heavenly Thearch has said:

[2]

Refining one’s bodily form at Grand Yin Is better than taking the Elixir in Nine Cycles239: The form assumes an upright and dignified appearance, And the face is colored like a numinous cloud. One ascends to the portal of the Grand Ultimate And receives documents as a Perfected person.240 Five to six years after Zhao Chengzi241 died, a man travelling through the mountains one evening spotted this corpse inside a rock chamber. The flesh That is, the gods in the body’s three Cinnabar Fields (Fascicle Two, n. 53). The Grand Spirit (Taishen 太神) is mentioned elsewhere in the scripture exerpted here, Shangqing taishang dijun jiuzhen zhongjing (DZ 1376; Robinet, A.5), 1.2b8; also WSMY 5.3a103b2. The Grand Spirit is the combined Nine Perfected of the body (Fascicle Two, n. 230) as they integrate and animate the fetus at birth. The adept in meditation may also “recover the mechanism of these transformations” (Robinet 1979, 43). 239 The Elixir in Nine Cycles (jiuzhuan dan 九轉丹), also known as Divine Elixir in Nine Cycles (jiuzhuan shendan 神丹) or Reverted Elixir in Nine Cycles (jiuzhuan huandan 還丹), is one of the most important elixirs in the Grand Clarity or Taiqing tradition. The recipe, which includes alum, nodular malachite, quartz, cinnabar, realgar, orpiment, and mercury, is given in Taiji zhenren jiuzhuan huandan jing yaojue (DZ 889), 1.1a2-5b3. See Pregadio 2006, 11819, 193-200 (the latter translates the recipe). 240 The present DZ text does not mark the tiao division here. I place it here on the basis of the fuller version in WSMY 87.10b5-11b4. Based on that source, the “Heavenly Thearch” is more specifically the Heavenly Thearch of Grand Tenuity (Taiwei tiandijun). 241 Zhao Chengzi 趙成子 is better known as Zhao Cui 衰 or Ying 贏 Cui (d. 622 BCE); Chengzi derives from his posthumous name Chengji 成季. Zhao Cui is one of the five virtuous Jin officials who accompanied Ji Chong’er 姬重耳 during his nineteen-year exile before 237 238

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had rotted, but the bones remained. He also saw that the five viscera in the abdomen were still alive as before. The [bodily] fluids and blood were wrapped in bundles therein; a purple placenta242 was woven on the outside. [3] Whenever an adept who finds the Way briefly travels to Grand Yin, the Grand Unity243 protects the corpse, the three cloud-souls surround the bones, the seven earth-souls guard the flesh, and the embryonic numina retain244 the pneuma. The previous three passages were copied by the Senior Aide from the matter following the Scripture of the Nine Perfected on consuming the oil of the five stones.245 Comments The appendix with this content (prev. trl. Strickmann 1979, 182-3) is not found in any of the scriptures in the DZ corresponding to the Jiuzhen zhongjing (Cenhe became Duke Wen of Jin 晉文公 (r. 636-628 BCE; Sima Qian, Shi ji, 43.1781-82). In Daoist lore he is first mentioned as one of the immortal Jiezi Tui’s 介子推 companions; Liexian zhuan (DZ 294), 1.9b3-4; trl. Kaltenmark 1953, 86-87; see also Robinet 1979, 63-64; Cedzich 2001, 18-23. Also, the second hou 後 here in the DZ text of ZG is redundant. 242 The character bao 包 (“parcel”) here should be read as an alternate form of bao 胞 (“placenta”), which appears in the parallel passages. Birth with a purple placenta was a very auspicious sign, as in Li Yanshou 李延壽 (fl. 7th cent.), Nan shi 南史 (A History of the Southern Dynasties; Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1975), 8.234 and 22.600. In Higher Clarity, a purple placenta is a sign of one destined for Perfection; see Shangqing yudi qisheng xuanji huitian jiuxiao jing (DZ 1379; Robinet, A.29), 1.32a2-3, also cited in WSMY 31.8b8. 243 The Grand Unity (Taiyi 太乙, also written 太一, 泰一) is a deity whose worship dates back to the pre-Qin era. He is considered a supreme god of heaven, dwells in the star Kochab (β Ursae Minoris), and (within the body) represents the true, immortal self. Many excavated tomb inscriptions from the Han and Six Dynasties mention him in connection with guarding the tomb (Anderson in ET 956-59). WYT 1.2b1, 1.2b5 lists him twice on the right of the first tier under alternate titles: “Lord Grand Unity of Jade Clarity” (Yutian taiyi jun 玉天太一君) and the “Jade Lord of Grand Unity” (Taiyi Yujun 玉君). Huainanzi, like the present ZG passage, relates the Grand Unity to the cloud- and earth-souls: “The heavenly pneumas are the cloud-souls, the earthly pneumas the earth-souls. Return to the ‘dark chamber,’ and each abides in its house. Guard them and do not lose them, and they will be in communion with the Grand One above.” 天氣爲魂，地氣爲魄。反之玄房，各處其宅。守而 勿失，上通太一。 In Lau and Chen 1992c, 9.67/13-14; cf. Major et al. 2010, 296. 244 The DZ text here writes the character yuan 掾 (“aide”) for lu 錄 (“retain”). The correct character is preserved in ZG’s tongxingben and in WSMY 87.12b5. 245 Jiuzhen jing 九真經 (The Scripture of the Nine Perfected; Robinet, A.5), corresponds to (1) Shangqing taishang dijun jiuzhen zhongjing (DZ 1376), (2) Shangqing taishang jiuzhen zhongjing jiangsheng shendan jue 上清太上九真中經絳生神丹訣 (Instructions on the Divine Elixir of Life and the Central Scripture of the Nine Perfected; DZ 1377), and (3) Shangqing zijing jun huangchu ziling daojun dongfang shangjing (DZ 405). Some Dunhuang manuscripts also preserve passages under the title Ziwen xingshi jue 紫文行事訣 (Instructions on Practices in the Purple Writ; DH 50): S.2728, S.6193, P.2751. The three passages cited here in ZG are not found in the DZ texts. On “oil of the five stones” (wushi yu 五石腴), see Fascicle Two, n. 125.

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tral Scripture of the Nine Perfected), but it is preserved more fully in the form of citations, especially WSMY 87. It concerns the ingestion of the “five stones,” not explicitly mentioned here but noted by Tao Hongjing. Recall that Lord Pei had recommended them to Xu Mi on August 18, 365 (ZG 2.13b6-7). The story of Zhao Chengzi is too long to cite in full here. Basically, Zhao consumes the five stones, one for each of the five viscera, and these seal and protect the viscera during the escape process. The imagery used in describing the latency period vividly suggests pregnancy. Zhao reposes in a “rock chamber,” a durable version of a womb—the “tomb-womb” again. The five viscera inside the corpse’s abdomen are kept alive by the stones inside each organ; the blood and saliva are preserved in bundles; and a purplish placenta woven from the arteries is just outside of the abdomen. The purplish color of the placenta is a highly auspicious sign. Another parallel to pregnancy appears in the first excerpt’s reference to the Grand Spirit (Taishen 太神), which is a kind of amalgam of the Nine Perfected as they integrate and animate a fetus before birth. If “the Grand Spirit is shut inside,” he is doing his work again, reknitting the fetus. In the story, a man chances upon Zhao Chengzi’s corpse and reasons to himself that if he were to take the stones, he would likewise be preserved. He opens Zhao’s viscera, removes the stones, and swallows them. More than ten years later, when Zhao Chengzi is reborn, the stones shoot out of the thief’s mouth and fly back to their proper places. The thief rushes back to the cave and finds Zhao Chengzi restored to rosy good health. When Zhao asks who he is, the Five Lords of the stones appear and tell Zhao that “this scab-faced person” had stolen the stones. The thief suddenly loses the ability to speak. In humiliation he heads home, but before reaching his destination he and all the members of his clan die of leprosy or perhaps crusted scabies (laichuang 癩瘡). The tale may be read as an illustration of what happens to those who violate the terms of a “restricted allotment,” since the thief is precisely an example of a man who attempts to perform an escape by means of someone else’s corpse (see also Cedzich 2001, 18-23; Robinet 1979, 63-4).

Excerpt from an Appendix to the Sword Scripture (undated) [1]

4.17a1-4.17a8

Those who manage to escape by means of the corpse through the use of other medicines and are not transformed by means of the Numinous Bolus246 246 The full name of the “Numinous Bolus” (lingwan 靈丸) is “The Grand Ultimate’s Numinous Bolus for Concealing the Lights and Purifying the Form” (Taiji zangjing luxing lingwan 藏景錄形靈丸), which in turn is an alternate name for “The Grand Ultimate’s Volatized Essence of the Dawn-enfolding [Canopy] and Eight Lights [Carriage]” (Taiji quchen bajing feijing 太極曲晨八景飛精)—the elixir mentioned earlier in Fascicle Two, n. 50; the explicit identifi-

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may not, in any case, return to their hometowns, for the Three Offices would detain them. There are those who die and revive. There are those who get beheaded, only to emerge [again] from one side. There are those whose corpses disappear before encoffinment. There are those whose human forms remain but whose bones are not recovered, those whose clothes remain but whose forms disappear, and those whose hair falls out but whose forms are lost. Departing in broad daylight is called a superior escape by corpse, and departing at midnight is called an inferior escape by corpse. As for those who [depart] around the time of dawn or dusk, they are called “underground chiefs.”247 The previous passage was copied by the Administrator [Xu Hui] from the matter following the Sword Scripture248 that discusses escape by means of the corpse. Comments Like the previous passage, this is copied from matter appended to one of the core Higher Clarity scriptures. Xu Hui is clearly giving this topic careful thought (this section prev. trl. Strickmann 1979, 184; also partly in Cedzich 2001, 45). One might wonder how the oil of the five stones corresponds with the Volatized Essence of the Dawn-enfolding Canopy or the “Numinous Bolus.” It does not. The Higher Clarity scriptures repeatedly point out that the Canopy elixir is superior to all others and permits the adept to return home without changing his or her name. Even so, we may assume that at the time he copies this passage Xu Hui (and likely Xu Mi as well) is still weighing which elixir to use. Although the Lady of the Southern Marchmount has encouraged Xu Mi to take the Dawn-enfolding Canopy elixir (ZG 2.12a3), he and his son may feel that it is still beyond their reach, so they consider the other options. We have come full circle. In the Introduction, I remarked that perhaps the hardest thing to understand in the ZG is the very first thing that appears, the title that Tao Hongjing gave to its first chapter: “Setting Scripts and Images into Motion.” I suggested a number of alternate versions: “Activating / Moving / Animating / Cycling the Scripts and Images.” The title really covers a wide range of meanings at once, all revolving around yin and yang, female and male, cation appears in a passage from the now-lost Jian jing (Sword Scripture) preserved in Sandong zhunang (DZ 1139), 3.16b5-7. The process of transformation is described in other preserved passages of the Jian jing, particularly WSMY 87.1a3-5b3 and YJQQ 84.6b6-8b9. 247 Underground chiefs (dixiazhu 地下主) maintain order in the world of the dead like local officials in the world of the living. They are discussed in detail in ZG 13.1a4-4b4. The term dates back to the Han dynasty; there are “above-ground chiefs” (dishangzhu 地上主) as well— people not destined for immortality but who are bestowed with long life and certain powers (Campany 2002, 78-80). 248 Jian jing 劎經 (Sword Scripture) is a common short name for Shijing jinguang cangjing liuxing jing (Robinet, A.15; Fascicle Two, n. 50). The present excerpt from the appended matter appears also in WSMY 87.4b2-9 and YJQQ 84.8a9-8b6.

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human and Perfected, the inner Lights and outer Lights, worldly scripts and Perfected calligraphy. The title is both descriptive and prescriptive, as it describes both the content of Fascicles One to Four—ZG’s original first chapter—and prescribes for the adept a course of action. That course of action may be further summed up in a single word: return! Consider how often our text has sounded that theme: restoring the face of childhood, reverting to infancy, the spontaneous reversion of the adept’s calligraphy to primal forms upon the attainment of Perfected immortality, returning to Non-being and insipidity, and so on. All the actions that the Perfected prescribe for the adept are designed to bring about this return to the origin along the path called “the Way.” What can surpass in power the image of Xu Hui entering a womb-like cave and finally taking the irreversible step of swallowing an elixir to transform himself into an enduring embryo? These fascicles have also described contrasting movements away from the origin. The original calligraphic scripts devolve. When the Perfected speak, their words go out “unimpeded in all directions” (ZG 1.5a6). The Perfected frequently venture forth into the world, despite their unwillingness to deal with its stench, noise, and filth. The aging process takes people steadily further from the origin. Fortunately for the Daoist, it is not non-reversible. The return begins in earnest once the adept joins in bliss with his or her Perfected partner. When we turn the page and peek at the opening of ZG’s next part, “Instructions on Shaping Destiny” (Zhen ming shou 甄命授)—a title that recalls the pottery motif of the line, “The eastern crags are suitable for perpetual [self-] shaping” (ZG 4.6a8)—we finally encounter the statement that ties all these thematic elements together. I shall close with it: The Way was mixed all together; from this was engendered the primal pneuma. After the primal pneuma became complete, then there was the Grand Ultimate. As for the Grand Ultimate, it is father and mother to heaven and earth and the deep origin of the Way. Hence the Way has a Great Return, which is [the process of] pure Perfection. Therefore, without the Way it is impossible to complete Perfection, and without Perfection it is impossible to complete the Way. If the Way were incomplete, how could its purity become manifest? For this reason it is a Great Return. When manifest, it is called wondrous; when complete, it is called the Way; when used, it is called inborn nature. One’s inborn nature is the body that is conjoined with the Way. The body delights in the perfect Way, for the Way causes it so. (ZG 5.1a7-1b2)

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INDEX above-ground chiefs, 305 absorption: of aurorae, clouds, pneumas, dawn radiance, etc., 53, 90, 100, 102, 120, 187, 191, 221, 226, 269, 275, 276, 284, 298; of heavenly efflorescences, solar, lunar, stellar and planetary emanations, etc., 54, 67, 90, 102-03, 115, 120, 122-23, 135, 150, 154, 177, 180, 207, 273, 276, 286, 294; other, 108-09, 189, 227, 257, 276 acrostic poem, 80 acupuncture, 118, 121, 233, 262 age and aging, 4, 92, 102, 120, 133, 136, 175, 199, 292, 306; age spots, 181, 183 alchemy, 1, 32, 62, 181, 183-84, 190, 227, 276, 295 allotment, 72, 225, 282, 286, 289-91, 293, 304 All-Perfected Palace, 198 altar, 72, 196 anatomical landscape, 257, 284 ancestor, 145, 217, 280, 283; originating, 229 anxiety, 174, 177, 193-94, 249 ao (gong tree), 177, 202, 213, 222, 228, 246; as “cloud-level,” 191; cloudy, 154, 224; as “nine-notes,” 154, 202 apsara, 71 argument, 164-65, 172 asbestos (“fire-washed linen”), 26 ascent, 78, 175, 212-14, 217, 228, 247, 26264, 271, 280, 283, 287, 289, 292; in broad daylight, 17, 99, 101, 104, 153, 275, 282, 301; covert, 297 asterisms, 69, 88, 95-96, 104; zodiacal, 70 atractylodes, 116, 120 aurorae (also “dawn-clouds”), 53, 62, 64, 66, 91, 132, 154, 165, 171, 174, 181, 213, 215, 221, 223, 244, 246, 252, 289 autumn equinox, 199, 202 axis mundi, 60, 185, 188 bachelor, 120, 275, 286 baby, 223, 227, 253; see also infant Bai Lüzhong, 205 Baizhang qinggui zhengyi ji, 72 baldness, 87, 139, 141, 143 Ban Chao, 218

Ban Gu, 71, 96, 192, 192, 229, 280, 296 banners, 73, 98-99, 104, 132, 191, 193, 202, 206, 255; see also flags Banquan, 280 Bao Yuanjie, 31 Baochang, 200 Baojian jing, 93, 223; see also Jian jing and Shijing jinguang cangjing liuxing jing Baopuzi neipian, 75, 129, 139, 181-82, 223, 225, 229, 237-38, 294-97 Baopuzi shenxian jinzhuo jing, 296 Baopuzi waipian, 49, 163, 195 Baoshen jing, 45, 48 base impediments, 232, 256, 258 baseness, 72, 84, 87, 121, 135, 241, 244 Basu benchen jue, 133 Basu jing, 96, 178, 205; see also Shangqing taishang basu zhenjing and Dongzhen taishang basu zhenjing fushi riyue huanghua jue bathing, 40-41, 70, 100, 132, 136, 162, 238 Battle-axe (asterism), 98 Baxter, William, 13 bed, 59, 64, 69, 76, 80, 119 bedchamber, 92, 179, 258 beheading, 27, 278, 297, 305 Beidi qiyuan ziting yansheng mijue, 134 Being, 49, 270-71; venerating, 269 Being and Non-being, 131, 163-65, 170-72, 213-14, 227, 237; debate on, 164, 213; groups valuing or venerating, 172, 26971 Beitang shuchao, 66 bellows, 83, 228 bells, 54, 58, 132, 186, 188, 214, 224, 245, 254 Bencao gangmu, 116 betrothal, 8, 9, 11, 17, 58, 74-76, 78, 84, 103, 156, 228, 230 Bian Que, 233 Big Dipper, 31, 34, 66, 70, 85, 87, 90, 97, 133-34, 136, 154, 178, 250 bilberry, 116, 120 Biography of the Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity, see Qingling zhenren Pei jun zhuan birds, 12, 111, 113, 224, 229, 231, 280 Birrell, Anne, 159 319

320 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED birth, 79, 223, 279, 302-04 Black Foetus of the Barred Dragon, 223 black sesame, 115; oil of, 34 Black Thearch, 115 blade-edge, mystic, 68; see also vacuous blade-edge blood, 202, 303-04; avoidance of, 46, 48 blood sacrifices, 279 blooms, 174, 195; vermilion, 221, 226-27 blossoms, 178, 181, 229, 246-47; mystic, 237 blow-tube, 83, 228, 295, 300 Blue Chamber, 43 blue essence, 116 Blue Floriate Gate, 206 Blue Lord (Lord Blue Lad or Blue Thearch), 177, 179 Blue Palace, 281; Blue Palace of Jade Blossoms, 181 Blue Sea, 129 Blue Thearch, 97, 115, 154, 177, 190 Blue-grey Billows, 129-30, 134, 136, 159-61, 168, 174-76, 191, 196, 234, 251, 253-54, 260, 267; Isle in the Sea of, 35, 129; Isle of, 182; Mountain of, 107; Palace of, 244; Sea of, 35 Blue-grey Breakers, 260 Bo He, 279; Bo school, 279, 283 boats, 49, 100, 162, 198, 200-01 Bocheng Zigao, 298 body, 49, 83, 91-92, 94, 103, passim; abdomen, 139, 303-04; arteries, 304; bladder, 233; brain, 70, 91-92, 150; flesh, 117, 220, 273, 302-03; frame, 91-93, 197; gall bladder, 233; intestines, 91, 233; liver, 70, 233, 256; lungs, 70, 88, 233, 256; neck, 133, 245; spleen, 70, 233, 256; triple burner, 233; see also form (physical) Bokenkamp, Stephen R., 8-9, 14, 61-62, 66, 69, 71, 74-75, 92, 95, 98, 114, 134, 142, 190, 192, 215-16, 262, 278, 289, 297; Ancestors and Anxiety, 9 bones, 278, 297, 301, 302, 303, 305 Book of Changes, see Zhou yi Book of Rites, see Liji book-satchel, 63, 230 books, 46, 59, 68, 108, 150, 158, 224, 299; hidden, 46-47, 79, 81, 94, 239 bowdlerization, 138, 179, 182, 184-85

Bowu zhi, 261 Brahmanic script, 51 Brain-Essence Palace, 276-77 breath, 54, 91, 113, 140, 279 breeze, 132, 226, 252-53, 272, 275; see also wind Bright Perfection, 203; Palace, 133; Belvedere of, 133; Hall of, 133, 136 brushes, 52, 62, 63, 65, 79, 101, 105, 135, 263 Buddha, 72 Buddhism, 1, 26, 51, 54, 71, 90, 162, 197, 201 Buddhist tale, 199 Buddhist-Daoist competition, 201-02 Bumbacher, Stephan Peter, 201-02, 275-76, 301 Butcher Ding, 41, 68 cabriolets, 255, 263-64 Cahill, Suzanne E., 37, 223, 249 Cai Yong, 205 Cai Zhonglang ji, 205 calamities, 100, 123, 208, 278 calligraphy, 2, 10-11, 23, 51-52, 55, 59, 64, 72, 86, passim; of Three Primes and Eightfold Ensemble, 50-51, 102; Perfected, 49; script, 231 Campany, Robert F., 78, 101, 198, 277, 279, 297 canon, 2-3, 60; canonical texts, 3, 21 canopies, 31, 47, 129, 131, 154, 174, 185-86, 190, 193, 202-03, 206, 221; see also Flowery Canopy (asterism) Cao Cao, 293, 298 Cao Yin, 72 Cao Zhi, 193, 224-25 Caotang shijian, 261 caps, 24, 65, 70, 82, 108, 211 capes, feathered, 70, 108, 174, 177 capital, 29, 212, 238, 238, 241, 243, 266 cares, 183-84, 237, 251; hundred, 203, 250, 272, 274 carriages, 41, 50, 54, 66, passim; accoutrements, 93, 132, 186, 189; carriage-andeight, 186; carriage-and-four, 269-70; eight-wheeled, 298; see also cloudcarriages and cabriolets categories, 163, 170, 229, 273; convergence of, 123, 185, 188-189, 195, 241 cauldrons, 222, 225-26, 296

INDEX / 321 cave-heavens, 118, 125, 128, 131, 160, 234, 258, 260, 297; greater, 30, 32, 160, 198; lesser, 36, 281 caves and caverns, 4, 25, 36, 117, 122, 128, 160, 214, 216, 264-65, 284-85, 301, 304, 306 Cedzich, Ursula-Angelika, 52, 101, 301, 303-05 Celestial Flail, 96 Celestial Masters, 33, 52, 55, 78, 118, 134, 215, 255, 268, 279, 283, 293, 298; sexual practices, 78-79, 81 Celestial Spear, 98 Central Florescence, 34; prime of, 54 Central Marchmount, 31 Certifier of Registers, 32, 39, 43, 117-19, 237, 239, 242, 283 chamber of error, 54, 80, 151 chambers, 159, 177, 185, 187, 191, 206, 244, 265, 284, 304; dark, 66, 97, 303 Change and Movement, Hall of, 258-59 Changli Xue, 13 Changyang fu, 195 chants and chanting, 58, 71, 91, 109, 116, 120, 139, 154-55, 199, 214-215, 248, 260, 264, 272 chariots, 12, 62, 71, 77, 79, 96, 117, 154-55, 176, 227, 265, 268, 290; thousand versus ten thousand, 248-49 Chen Shou, 52, 277, 293 Chen Zhonglin, 282 Cheng, Te-k’un, 46 Chi Yin, 15, 139, 142-44, 183-84, 187, 189 Chief Ministers of the Four Directorates, 114 childhood, 4, 74, 125, 134, 135, 137, 182, 184, 306 children, 78, 123, 139, 157, 245, 280, 286 chimes, of jade or stone, 54, 222, 224 Chisongzi, see Master Redpine Chiyou, 280 “Chongyou lun,” 172 chronograms, 181, 289; crimson, 181, 183; Three Chronograms, 66, 186, 202-03; Twelve, 69; Two, 205 Chu ci (buzhu), 35, 130, 161, 176, 180, 198199, 201, 211, 252, 286; tradition of, 173 Chun Wenqi, see Numinous Consort Chunyu Taixuan, 32

cinnabar, 140, 143, 206, 223, 294, 302; bamboo slips, 278; blossoms, 189; emblems, 59 Cinnabar Fields, 69, 93, 139, 145, 185, 205, 211, 212, 302; lower, 91, 210; upper, 277 cinnabar fluid, 91-92; jade sap of, 92 Cinnabar Grove, 251 Cinnabar Prime, 178 Citadel of Night, 222 clappers, 245, 271 Classic of History (Shu jing), see Shangshu Clearwaters, the winding, 287; see also East Clearwaters Cleary, Thomas, 275 cliffs, 41, 90, 203, 210, 222, 224-26, 228, 252 cloud-carriages, 66, 129, 290 cloud-chariots, 73, 109 cloud-fluid, 294 Cloud-gate music, 253; see also CloudShao music cloud-ladder, 134 Cloud-Shao music, 253; see also Cloudgate music cloud-souls, 42, 45, 69, 85, 87, 178, 198, 217, 293, 299, 302-03 clouds, 50, 62, 64, 95-96, passim; iridescent or luminous, 69, 237, 253; multicolored, 244; numinous, 263, 302 Cloudy Grove, 16, 35, 107, 178, 180, passim coffins, 78, 258, 296, 298 Cold Food Powder, 294 collapses and crises, 262 commentary, 2, 6-7, 13, 21, 42, 47, 52, 67, 69, 71, 84, 91, 106, passim companions, 64, 66, 104, 137-38, 183, 245, 248-49, 276, 284 complete emptiness, 146 complete forgetfulness, 132, 136; see also forgetting everything Concubine Song, 158 concubines, 69, 241-42, 244 Confucian classics, 3 Confucius, 84, 110, 183, 199, 224, 232-33, 258 Consort An, 5, 8-9, 11, 16-17, 35, passim; benefit of marriage, 105; family background, 16, 74-75; first appearance, 5859; poems by, 62-63, 162; prose declarations by, 61-62, 65-72, 73, 80, 90-92,

322 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED 94-101, 126; revelation of scriptures, 94 Consort Guan, Superior Concubine of the North-Severed Terrace on Vermilion Ridge, 36 Consort, title of, 74 contrivance, mystic, 262 copies and copying, 1, 10, 44, 47, 85, 107, 112, 142, 151, 156, 230, 234, 248, 263, 265, 273, 290, 301, 303, 305 corpses, 10, 27, 83, 87, 105, 200-01, 278, 284-85, 295-96, 298, 300-05; avoidance of, 46, 301; simulacrum of, 101; see also escape by means of simulated corpse courtship, 9, 24, 166, 169, 212; communication during, 137 courtyard, 91, 93, 103, 133, 188, 206, 210, 233, 265 covert ascent, 300 covert extension, 293, 298 crane, 158 crime, 26, 208, 278 crimson court, 221, 227 crimson empyrean, 178 Crimson Ford, 250 Crimson Palace, 145, 221 Crimson River, 186, 250 Crimson Terrace, 43 Crooked Grove Hall, Maoshan, 22 Crump, James I., 60 crusted scabies, 304 Cyan River, 70 Cyan Sea, 70, 132, 136 Cyan Stream, 132, 136 cypress, 236, 261; cypress blossom, 229-31 “Da Fu Yi shu,” 155 Dadong zhenjing (Cavern scripture), 3, 55, 58, 85, 108, 116-17, 120, 185-86, 214, 226, 252-53, 268; see also Shangqing dadong zhenjing Dai (ancient state), 217-20, 241 Daliang, 31 dance and dancers, 133, 177, 179-80, 19194, 222, 224, 254-55, 268 Dantai xinlu, 282 Dao shu, 90 Daodian lun, 54 Daoji jing, 36, 223-24 Daoji zhenji jing, 117

Daojiao yishu, 288 Daomen jingfa xiangcheng cixu, 34, 190, 214, 275 Daoxue zhuan, 275 Daozang, see DZ Dark Clarity, 34, 247 Dark Establishment, 80-81 Dark Hill, 178 Dark Hub, 199, 268 Dark Palace of the Mystic Cinnabar, BrainEssence, and Mud Pill, 277 Dark Peak, 261 Dark Well, 160-61, 168-69 Darkmound Mountains, 47, 178-79, 186, 211, 248 Daruo Crag, see Mount Chi dawn, 130, 154, 157, 164, passim dawn-canopy, 132, 259 dawn-clouds, see aurorae Dawn-enfolding Canopy, Essence of the, 180; Volatized Essence of the, 93, 295, 305; see also Grand Ultimate, elixirs dawn-enfolding flying canopy (accoutrement), 93, 211 Daxue, 84 dead, the, 197, 200, 222, 269, 277, 305 death, 9-10, 51, 134, 137, 198, 201-02, 26971, 284-85, 292-94, 296, 299-300, 302, 305; feigned, 301; having no place for, 122; temporary, 302; of unmarried women, 48 death-bringers, 51 deathlessness, 78, 117 declarations, 10-11, 21, 46, 74, 166, 199, 210, 212, 219, 232, 238-40, 243, 262, 273, 299, 300 deities, 37, 65, 71, 97, 106, 108, 233, 303; see also gods demon trooper, 52 demonic way, 52 demons, 52, 95, 104, 139 Dengzhen yinjue, 2, 6, 26, 42-43, 55, 70, 92, 106, 115-16, 139, 145, 150, 190, 202, 221, 226, 248, 252, 263, 277, 290, 293, 295, 298 Dense Regalia, 289 densecloud, 62, 68, 190, 223 dependency and non-dependency, 4, 8, 167, 259-60; debate on, 157, 159-73, 194, 202, 226-27, 274

INDEX / 323 desires, 42, 44, 54, 78, 81, 109, 127, 130, 137, 155, 157, 174, 209, 218, 237, 242, 244, 288 Despeux, Catherine, 75 destiny, 9, 17, 18, 22-23, 25, 66-67, 72, 74, 77, 80, 89, 94, 96, 101, 105, 109, 116, 119, 163, 206-07, 209, 216-19; confluence of, 61; inborn, 126; see also fate devi, 71 devils, 205, 207 dew, 191, 286 Dharmakshema, 162 dictionaries, 14 diets and dietary practices, 1, 27, 119-20 Diku, 129 diligence, 44, 82-83, 99, 113, 119, 126-29, 232, 235, 241 directions, 155, 157, 227; five, 97, 109, 289; four, 185, 188, 227, 260, 262; ten, 51; see also eight directions Director of Destinies, 23, 30, 35-36, 53, 61, 81-82, 84, 108, 110, 112, 114, 124, 277, 286, 288, 291 disaster, 134, 138-39, 155, 157 disciples, 29, 33, 36, 47, 54, 55, 56, 126, 127, 128, 186, 186, 189, 198, 216, 218, 233, 264, 270, 274, 276 disease, 116, 120, 212, 245, 280 Displayer of Numina on Fangzhang Terrace, see Lady Li Displayer of Numina, see Lady Li distractions, 136, 146, 149, 204 Divine Elixir in Nine Cycles, 302 Divine Region, 26 Divine Tiger [Talisman] in Inner Perfected Jade Writing in Cinnabar and Blue, see Neizhen ziwen danzhang yuqing shenhu Divine Tiger Talisman, see Shenhu tu Dong Anyu, 233 Dong Gao, 109 Dongfang jing, 85 Dongfang Shuo, 144, 161 Dongtian fudi yuedu mingshan ji, 160 Dongxian zhuan, 88, 276 Dongxuan benxing jing, 178 Dongxuan lingbao sandong fengdao kejie yingshi, 35 Dongxuan lingbao zhenling weiye tu, see WYT Dongxuan lingbao ziran jiutian shengshen yu zhangjing jue, 268 Dongzhen bajing yulu chentu yin fu, 71 Dongzhen bianhua qishisi fang jing, 190

Dongzhen feixing jiuchen yujing, 178; see also Taishang feixing jiuchen yujing Dongzhen gaoshang yudi dadong ciyi yujian wulao baojing, 85, 139, 293 Dongzhen huangshu, 78 Dongzhen jing, 117 Dongzhen qionggong lingfei liujia jing, 154; see also Shangqing qionggong lingfei liujia zuoyou shang fu Dongzhen qishisi bianhua shangjing, 155 Dongzhen shangqing kaitian santu qixing yidu jing, 85 Dongzhen shangqing qingyao zishu jin’gen zhongjing, 91, 94, 103 Dongzhen shangqing taiwei dijun bu tiangang fei diji jinjian yuzi shangjing, 85, 276 Dongzhen shenzhou qibian wutian jing, 36, 210 Dongzhen siji mingke jing, 191 Dongzhen taidan yinshu jing, 63, 260; see also Dongzhen taiyi dijun taidan yinshu dongzhen xuanjing Dongzhen taishang basu zhenjing fushi riyue huanghua jue, 96, 146, 150, 178; see also Shangqing taishang basu zhenjing and Basu jing Dongzhen taishang shenhu yinwen, 228-231 Dongzhen taishang shenhu yufu, 59 Dongzhen taishang shenhu yujing, 230 Dongzhen taishang shuo zhihui xiaomo zhenjing, 71, 92, 190-91, 202, 228-29, 295 Dongzhen taishang suling dongyuan dayou miaojing, 93, 139 Dongzhen taishang zhihui jing, 181 Dongzhen taishang zidu yanguang shenyuan bianjing, 106, 108 Dongzhen taiyi dijun taidan yinshu dongzhen xuanjing, 34, 47, 91; see also Dongzhen taidan yinshu jing Dongzhen waiguo fangpin jing, 190 Dongzhen Xiwangmu baoshen qiju jing, 45, 248 doors, 6, 64, 80, 106, 108, 142, 154, 233, 241, 262, 296; of jade, 90, 102, 262; spirits’ doors, 261, 263 double entendre, 241, 244 doubt, 17, 55, 57, 72, 73, 77, 110, 127, 148, 275 Draco, 34, 96 dragon, 12, 50, 62, 66, 68, 71, 90, 154, 165, 237, 253, 257, 263-64, 270-72, 280, 288; blue, 185; mystic, 174; six, 154; twoheaded, 297 Dragon Foetus, 223, 227

324 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED Dragon Grove, 233 Dragon Mountain Terrace, 268 dragon-and-phoenix emblems, 50 dream, 1, 158, 159, 225, 256-58, 273, 281 drums, 95, 79 Du Guangting, 36, 138, 148, 165, 179, 182, 184, 188, 203, 221, 244-45, 249, 252, 258, 266, 275 Ducal Establishment, 291 Ducal Establishment of the Northern Luminosity, 39, 43 Duke Huan of Qi, 277, 296 Duke Wen of Jin, 303 Dunhuang, 261; manuscripts from, 303 dust, passim dust-whirl, 229 dwelling (body), 179-80, 218, 223; mystic, 215-16 DZ, 2-3, 14; modern editions of, 7 DZ text (of ZG), 2-3, 23-24, 27, 51, 59, 63, 78, 80, 83-84, 86, 96, 98, 106-07, 126, 132-33, 139, 155, 160, 177, 179, 193, 199, 210-11, 215, 218, 221, 224-25, 237, 239, 241, 266, 276, 290, 297-99, 302-03 E Lühua, 24-29, 49, 111, 156, 285, 286; poems by, 24-25 early citations, 8, 83, 133, 155, 180, 181, 188, 193, 203, 210, 221, 304 ears, 47, 70, 91, 132, 136, 140 earth, 50, 63, 89, 155, 157, 159, 167, 192, 229, 290, 299 Earth God, 79 Earth’s Door, 144 Earthly Establishment, 114 earth-marrow, 236 earth-prisons, 198, 201 earth-souls, 42, 69, 85, 87, 293, 299, 302-03 East Clearwaters, 222, 247 East Florescence, 159, 163, 177, 221, 226, 252, 272-73, 293; chambers of, 206 East Grove Palace, 193 East Palace, 30, 35, 153, 158, 281 Eastern Hedge, 34, 98 Eastern Marchmount, 30-31 eastern region, 98, 104 Eastern Sea, 30, 45, 48, 56, 146 Eastern Thearch, 97 ecstatic journeying, visualization, or flight, 77, 111, 171, 173, 184, 207, 212, 255

efflorescences, 108, 227; solar, 66, 102, 223; stellar, 71 Eight Aurorae, 259 Eight Buttresses, Palace of the, 130 Eight Clearwaters, 174, 222, 247, 250, 292 Eight Clearwaters Mountain, 133, 174, 186, 287 Eight Cords, 229, 268 eight directions, 35, 51, 68, 96, 129, 132, 159, 161, 211, 221, 229, 259, 268, 272; see also directions Eight Dragons (of the Perfected), 50, 165 Eight Gems, 223, 227, 253; Eight Gems Elixir, 223-24, 294; Volatized Essence of the, 223, 253 Eight Hedges, 272-73 Eight Hillocks, Palaces of the, 129, 181 Eight Horizons, 271, 273 eight intervals, 211 Eight Mainstays, 161, 250; see also mainstays Eight Marshes, 229 eight minerals, 140 Eight Numina, 35, 38 eight paths, 268, 270 Eight Perfected, 298 Eight Purities, 50, 71, 155, 263-64; methods of, 150 Eight Regions, 163, 190 Eight Rivers, Palaces of the, 130 eight terraces, 181 eight thoroughfares, 268 Eight Trigrams, 50, 63, 123; see also trigrams Eight Voids, 68, 159, 182, 244 eight ways, 268 Eight Wildernesses, 228 eight winds, 132, 185, 188, 211, 224, 22829, 253, 258 Eightfold Ensemble, 23, 50 Eightfold Radiant Establishments, 92 ejaculation, 77, 255-57 elevation (to Perfection), 44, 63, 73, 82, 8687, 99, 127, 191, 217, 238-44, 246, 264, 267, 277, 285, 291-93 elixirs, 92-93, 101, 108-09, 115, 143, 180, 186, 190-91, 207, 223, 236-37, 245, 253, 284, 294-95, 297, 300, 304-06 Elixir in Nine Cycles, 217, 302 emblems, 50-51, 57, 92, 102-03, 105, 231

INDEX / 325 embryo, 108, 284-85, 295, 306; see also fetus embryonic numina, 303 emptiness, 49, 146, 182; emptying oneself, 292 empyrean, 40, 64, 68, 73, 78, 93, 109, 132, 162, 178, 185, 202, 211, 213, 292; mystic, 137, 181, 232 Enclosures (astronomical), 34, 95, 221, 224 enlightenment, 244 error, 42, 83, 93, 100, 121, 150, 193-94, 209, 217, 245-47, 279 Erya, 21 escape, 283, 299; nocturnal, 293, 299 escape by means of a simulated corpse, 5, 18, 26-27, 49, 93, 101, 115, 164, 225, 276, 284, 286, 293, 297, 299-301, 30405; superior and inferior types, 305; verification criteria, 300-01 escape by means of fire, 297 escape by means of the sword, 101, 105, 297 escape by water or simulated drowning, 297 escaping the net by flight, 158 Eskildsen, Stephen, 9, 79, 300 esoteric biographies, 29-30, 32, 40, 44, 56, 75, 106, 116, 130, 132, 139, 143, 160, 172, 206, 223, 253, 287 essence, 42, 123, 155, 178, 185, 188; see also seminal essence Evenstar, 225 evil, 207, 219, 278 excisions, 239 exemplar (textual), 195, 209, 231, 239, 282, 290 existence, of Perfected, 237-38, 240 expiation, 285; rite of, 79, 281 exquisite jade, 206, 244, 253; see also fatty meat of exquisite jade extinction of transmigration, 197 face, 47, 70, 91-92, 99, 115, 174, 181-82, 184, 198, 299, 302; complexion, 59, 140, 221, 227; eyebrows, 43, 88, 229, 253; eyelids, 90, 102, 263; eyes, 42, 4647, 69-70, 77, 90-91, 93, 102, 122, 140, 163, 218, 237, 256, 258, 262-63, 301; forehead, 253; mouth, 46-47, 62, 69, 71, 77, 100, 130-31, 144, 180, 207, 262, 277, 304; nose, 54, 70, 144, 212, 237, 261, 263; nostrils, 47; pupils, 155

“fair one,” 130-31, 165, 172-73, 191-92, 194, 203, 206-07, 255-56, 258, 260, 265-67, 273-74 falsehood, 197, 201 familial relationships among Perfected, 9, 16, 74-75, 158, 166 Fan Bohua, 31 Fan Ming, 277 Fan Ning, 261 Fan Ye, 40, 207-08, 218, 234, 288, 294 Fang Hui, 142 Fang Xuanling, 34, 40, 139, 142, 275, 283 Fangzhang, 30, 35, 60, 140, 142, 150, 177, 182, 212, 215; see also Fangzhu Fangzhang Terrace, 60, 74, 153 Fangzhu, 35, 96, 150, 164, 170, 177, 215, 277; Greater, 185; Palace, 41, 159, 221, 226; see also Fangzhang fascicles, arrangement, 2-3, 43, 47 Fashioner of Mutation, 182, 184, 189 fasting, 242 fate, 9, 72, 76, 81, 101, 157, 219, 275, 283, 285; see also destiny fatty meat of exquisite jade, 130, 180, 22122; of jade, 237 feather-shafts, 202, 224, 248 feelings, 64, 68-70, 72, 77, 123, 135, 137; five, 42 feet, 42, 46, 53, 62, 66, 69, 99, 134, 136, 145, 229, 297, 300 Female Ones, 68, 146, 151, 290; guarding the, 18, 145-47, 149, 179, 185, 249, 267 Female True Ones, 150, 180; guarding the, 147, 152, 187-89, 247 Feng Shuangli, 224 Fengdao kejie yingshi, 14 Fengdu, 31, 43, 222 fetus, 302, 304; see also embryo Fierce Beast, 174-75, 191-92 fiery jujubes, 140-44 filth, 61, 72, 130-31, 136, 150, 155, 193-94, 269-70, 306; avoidance of, 46 firmament, 178, 215, 287 first- and third-person narration, 28, 275 fish, 222, 224-26 Five Elders, 293 Five Hegemons, 277 Five Impurities, 54 Five Lords, 115, 304 Five Male Ones, 299; see also Five Spirits of the Male Ones Five Marchmounts, 155, 157, 161-63, 256

326 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED five minerals, 294 five obstacles, 191, 233 Five Palaces, 289-90 Five Phases, 50, 290; cosmology, 171 Five Spirits, 256-57 Five Spirits of the Male Ones, 293 five stones, 115; oil of the, 303, 305; cloudy oil of the, 115; ingestion of, 304; see also oil of the Five Lords’ stones five viscera, 70, 91, 222-23, 233, 256-57, 289, 293, 299, 302-04; see also viscera Five Voids, 90 Five-Mineral Powder, 294 flags, 106, 108, 154, 161, 174, 191, 253; see also banners Flourishing Yang, 23, 160 flowers, 44, 132, 136, 145, 180, 188, 198-99, 224, 226-27, 253, 261 Flowery Canopy (asterism and place in body), 88, 203, 253, 255 Flowery Chamber, 206 Flowery Courtyard, 88 fluid gold bell or fire-bell, 106-08, 153, 186, 221, 224, 278 flutes, 162, 177, 254; jade, 177, 205 flying into primordiality, 181 flying steps, 85-87, 96, 150, 288, 292 Fo shuo qi nü jing, 199 food, 67, 267; food and drink, 144, 179, 183; food offerings, 281, 285 ford of the numina, 237, 261-63 fords, 24, 130, 161-62, 205, 250, 252-53, 259-60, 266-67, 294 forgery, of scripture, 148, 291 forgetting: everything, 203; internal, 241, 244; see also complete forgetfulness form (physical), 24, 66, 88-89, 109, 141, 174-75, 181, 184, 191-92, 194, 197-98, 200-01, 210, 216, 223, 227, 233, 263, 286-87, 293, 302, 305; see also body format, of ZG, 2, 10, 84, 118, 132; of manuscript, 282 formulas, 151, 282-83 Four Bright Palaces, 92 Four Numina, 185, 188, 293, 299 four poles, 92, 229 Four Rousers, 96 four seas, 161, 228 Four Supports, 95 free and easy wandering, 160-61, 180

freedom, 111, 113, 130, 205, 246-47, 261 friends and friendship, 7, 25, 28, 59, 72, 79, 87, 99, 129, 138, 140, 142-43, 151, 183, 191, 218, 233, 247, 276, 284 Fu Taichu, 276, 282 funerals, 83, 280 Fuqiu Gong, 158 Fusang, 13, 70, 130, 174, 251-52, 287, 292; Lord of, 251-52 Fuxi, 50, 57 gale, 64, 160, 164, 171, 178, 190, 212, 233, 252-53, 255, 257, 269 Gale Chamber, 96 Ganquan fu, 230-31 Gao Sisun, 2-3; ZG preface, 21-22 Gao You, commentary, 112, 133 Gaoshi zhuan, 236 garden, 95, 205, 213, 221, 226-27, 233, 253 gate of wonders, 289 gāthā, 197, 199-201 gatherings, of immortals or Perfected, 25, 29, 38, 71, 162, 166, 168, 199, 225, 235, 274 Ge Hong, 30, 32, 75, 139, 140, 142, 146, 279, 294 Gem Essence, 224 gender role reversal, 9, 75, 104, 138, 220, 272, 257 General Pacifying the South, 293, 298 gestation, 284-85 Geyan Terrace, 41 ghosts, 40, 51, 100 giving account of oneself (zichen), 76, 94, 103, 197, 210, 235 glancing backward, 269, 271, 299 gloom, 49, 80, 164, 185, 187; land of, 295 goddesses, 48, 71, 76, 182 gods, 35, 71, 79, 197; of body, 12, 49, 139, 143, 145, 150, 302; of heavens, 122, 296, 303; see also deities gold, 25-26, 29, 63, 85, 101, 140, 143, 148, 180, 289, 296 Gold Court Hall, 160 Gold Court Palace, 30, 245 gold fluid, 296 gold liquor, 177 gold soup, 140, 142, 144, 177, 180, 294, 296 Gold Tumulus, 237-38 Golden Ambrosia, 250

INDEX / 327 Golden Marrow, 71, 250 Golden Portal, 23, 30, 43, 215 Golden Terrace, 60, 73-74 Golden Tumulus, 240 Gong Youjie, 278 gongs, see ao (gong tree) Gongsun Qing, 280, 296 Gourd-stars, 193-94 gout, 134, 136 Graham, A. C., 114, 164-65, 167, 173, 197, 216, 233 grain avoidance, 275 Grand August Lord of Jade Mystery, 71 Grand Aurora (Palace), 182, 185, 206, 210 Grand Being and Grand Non-being, 162, 170, 172; see also Being and Nonbeing, and Grand Non-being Grand Clarity, 26, 34, 177, 236-37, 288, 302 Grand Clearwaters, 250 Grand Dawn, 71 Grand Empress Dowager Fu, 296 grand hall, 177, 179 Grand Harmony Palace, 33-34; Lord of, 34 Grand Harmony of the Eight Radiances, 187 Grand Incipience, 216 Grand Lord of the Mysterious Pass at the Vital Gate, 69 Grand Mystery, 134, 272 Grand Non-being, 177, 202, 223 Grand Peace, 118 Grand Perfected, 259 Grand Primordiality, 286, 288 Grand Shao music, 253 Grand Simplicity, 35-36, 68, 77, 147, 206, 222, 247; Palace of, 246 Grand Spirit, 302, 304 Grand Stillness, 193 Grand Tenuity, 34, 93, 108, 221, 224, 226, 230, 251, 262, 268, 294 Grand Thearch of Fusang, 97, 251 Grand Ultimate, 31, 34, 51, 85, 92, 99, 117, 190, 272, 302, 306; elixirs, 304; Four Perfected Primal Lords of the, 92-93; Palace of the, 206; Perfected Man of the, 246 Grand Unity, 134, 230, 303; Jade Lord of, 303; Temple, 22; Grand Vacuity, 60, 65, 74, 80, 161, 164, 212, 237 Grand Yin, 222, 293, 295, 299, 302-03

great cycle, 215 Great Dawn, see Grand Dawn Great Progenitor, 67-68, 76, 229; see also Progenitor greed, 42, 44, 137, 195-97 green Light (jade), 62 grief, 99, 193-94, 269 Grotto Chamber (Palace), 42-45, 85-86, 88, 141, 150 Grotto Tower, 85-87 Gu Huan, 2, 36, 57, 117, 123 Guanyinzi, 23 guarding the Mystic Cinnabar, 277 Gui tian fu, 271 Guishan xuanlu, prologue, 60 Guo Pu, 134 Guo Qingfan, passim; see Zhuangzi Guo Shigan, 31 Guo Xiang, 67, 172 Gushi shijiu shou, 217 gusts, 49, 159, 162, 167, 171, 222, 272 Guxizi, see Master Valley-Rarified hagiographies, 74-75, 129, 146, 153 hair, 15, 48, 58-59, 70, 73, 80-81, 91, 122, 139-42, 279, 301, 305; combing, 45 Hall of Change and Movement, 260 Halls of Light (lungs), 181 Han Emperor Gaozu, 36 Han Emperor Wen, 297 Han Emperor Wu, 56, 90, 149, 174, 191-92, 280 Han Feizi, 233, 296 Han Kangbo, 265 Han River, 228 Han shi waizhuan, 258 Han shu, 71, 96, 192, 229, 280, 296 Han Wudi bieguo dongming ji, 90 Han Wudi gushi, 188 Han Wudi neizhuan, 56, 62, 85, 92, 125, 149, 159, 187, 250 Han Wudi waizhuan, 33, 144 handle, 241; of the Way, 114, 119, 244; irrigation of the, 241, 244 hands, 42, 46, 52-53, 59, 66, 69, 122, 182, 211, 265; hand-holding, 63-64, 73, 80, 90, 129, 138, 205, 218, 268 Hanging Gardens, 230 hapax legomenon, 256 harmony, 63, 77, 131, 135, 137, 139, 161, 169, 247, 280 Harrick, Robert, 12 haste, 129, 146, 149, 151-52, 198

328 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED Hawkes, David, 35, 161, 176, 180, 199, 212, 286 HDC, 54-55, 64, 89, 101, passim head, 42-43, 85, 133, 139, 277, 290, 293, 297, 300 hearing, 45, 48, 93, 288 heart, 24, 25, 31, passim; square inch of, 25, 262; see also mind heaven, 12, 21, 50, passim heaven and earth, 63, 68, 83, 89, 147, 16364, 167, 228, 269, 279, 295, 300, 306 Heaven of Inner Lights, 186 Heavenly Ford, 40 Heavenly Market, 221 Heavenly Market Enclosure, Eastern Hedge and Left Wall of, 95 Heavenly Pivot, 154 Heavenly Pool, 62 heavenly river (Milky Way), 162 Heavenly Section, 114 Heavenly Thearch, 65, 114, 133-34, 279, 302; Heavenly Thearchic Lord, 216 Heavenly Thearch of Grand Tenuity, 302; Heavenly Thearchic Lord of Grand Tenuity, 108, 268 Heavenly Thearch of Kunlun, 43 Hendrischke, Barbara, 293 Henricks, Robert G., 287 herbs and herbal medicines, 18, 115-16, 181, 189, 233, 266-67, 276; see also medicines hesitation, 55, 72, 198, 201 hexagrams: in general, 21, 23, 95, 264; no. 1, 154, 232, 263, 271, 288; no. 3, 246; no. 4, 133; no. 11, 99-100, 104; no. 12, 99, 104-05; no. 30, 154; no. 31, 63-64, 67, 137-38, 232; no. 32, 64, 137-38, 232; no. 33, 100, 275; no. 34, 25; no. 37, 67; no. 47, 151; no. 49, 218; no. 51, 186; sixty-four, 51 Hidden Book of Higher Clarity on the Inner Observation of the Purple Projections of JadeBright Aurorae, 94 Hidden Book of the Seven Mysteries, see Baoshen jing Hidden Script of the Divine Tiger, see Shenhu yinwen High Radiance Hall, 160, 168-69 Higher Clarity: beliefs, perspectives, practices, and teachings, 4, 15, 35, 37, 41,

49-51, 70, 88, 104, 116, 126, 129, 133, 171, 184, 223, 250, 277, 279, 296-97, 301, 303; as branch of Daoism, 1-2, 46, 14, 16, 27, 29-30, 32-33, 49, 52-53, 60, 69, 115, 143, 166, 173, 198, 226; foundation of, 1; as a heaven, 35, 70-71, 83, 91-92, 94, 99, 102, 115, 120, 122, 130, 165-66, 186-87, 203, 206, 215, 223, 252, 254, 288, 290, 293, 295; in relation to other branches, 1-2, 81, 279, 283; scriptures, writings, and texts, 14, 3233, 36, 46, 52, 55, 59, 66, 75, 81, 95, 106, 109, 115, 122, 153-55, 163, 165, 177-78, 181-82, 190, 192, 202, 206, 215, 224, 230, 251, 268, 278-79, 305; translation of term, 12 Higher Clarity Orthodox Unity Temple (Shangqing zhengyi gong), 22 Higher Clarity Temple (Shangqing gong), 22 Higher Perfected, 16-17, 35-36, 53, 60, 6364, 66, 74, 81-83, 235, 244, 263 Higher Perfected Lady Shan of the Northern Marchmount, 36 Higher Perfected Primal Lord of Grand Vacuity, see Master Redpine Highest Sovereign, 133, 136 Highest Thearch, 280 Highest Venerable of the Immortal Metropolis of the Mystic Continent, 221 Hightower, James R., 258 highwaymen, 207-08 hills, 24, 40, 130, 163, 170, 202, 215, 218, 233, 238, 250, 271 Hollow Mountain, 33 Holzman, Donald, 155 homonyms, 7, 53, 105, 137 honor and disgrace, 100, 105, 134, 191, 269 horizon, 259; see also Eight Horizons horses and steeds, 12, 54, 70, 154, 159-61, 168, 175, 191-92, 197, 200, 207-08, 248, 255, 217-18 horticultural or gardening imagery, 44, 201 Hou Han shu, 40, 208, 218, 234, 288, 294 house, 55, 80, 150, 155, 178, 181, 186, 19192, 201, 205, 233, 242, 244, 246, 258, 303; representing the body, 198, 20001, 295, 302 Housheng daojun lieji, 41; see also Shangqing housheng daojun lieji

INDEX / 329 Hsieh, Shuwei, 50 Hu, Siu-ying, 116 Hua Qiao, 15, 40, 43-44 Huainanzi, 71, 95, 110, 118, 129, 188-89, 210, 229, 231, 269, 271, 287, 303 Huang Hui, 79, 163 Huang Jingyi, 114 Huang Tingjian, 59 Huang Yan, 114 Huangdi bashiyi nan jing, 70 Huangfu Mi, 236 Huangshu chijie, 78, 81 Huangtian shangqing jinque dijun lingshu ziwen shangjing, 66, 69, 92, 261 Huangting neijing yujing, 35, 71, 102, 186, 205, 223, 248, 255, 269, 271, 299 Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 401), 248 Huangting neijing yujing zhu (DZ 402), 35, 43, 47, 50, 71, 91-92, 130, 133, 144-45, 177, 186, 205, 248, 253, 255, 262, 270, 27778 Huayang Tao Yinju ji, 116, 216 Hucker, Charles O., 97, 291 Huiyuan jiudao feixing yujing, 122 humor, 83-84, 300 Hundred Zhang Well, 144 Hunyuan shengji, 146 Hyland, Elizabeth W., 8, 23-24, 66, 73-75, 95 hymns, 50, 230-31 Images (xiang), 14, 21, 23, 49-50, 108, 131, 178-79, 263-64; Image-lessness, 49; Two Images, 63, 67-68, 100 immortal metropolis (general), 288, 292 Immortal Metropolis on Whitewater, 33 immortality, 52, 78, 82, 93, 99, 100-01, 106, 119, 123, 127, 143, 145, 201, 226, 23637, 267, 280, 284, 290, 297, 305-06; in contrast to Perfection, 112, 119, 220228; Perfected, 17, 52, 98, 306; pursuit of, 9, 140, 278, 283; registers of, 41, 219 immortals, 12, 25, 142, 144, passim; earthbound, 119, 121, 140, 181, 225-26, 228, 259, 263, 275-78, 282-85, 298; elevation of, 246, 264, 282; heavenly, 225, 237; Perfected, 288; ranks, 225, 259; spirit, 295, 300 impartiality, 41, 140, 279 impatience, 114, 125-26, 128-29, 147 impediments, 80, 99, 135, 237; see also base impediments

imputed words, 117, 121 incantations, 46, 143-44, 230, 265 incense, 90, 96, 118, 121, 154, 181; infant incense, 59, 73 incense-mothers, 71, 191 incest, 28, 216, 219-20 industriousness, 114, 119, 244 infancy, 125, 175-76, 179, 191 infant, 74, 140, 254; see also baby ingesting the Five Shoots, 164 inhalation and exhalation, 91, 110, 133, 135, 182, 229; of pneumas, 110; of Six Pneumas, 222 ink, 23, 52, 57, 67, 278; colored in ZG, 7, 83-84 Inner Alchemy, 223 inner observation, 88-89, 100, 141, 273 Inner Perfected Purple Script and Cinnabar Emblems of the Divine Tiger of Jade Clarity, see Neizhen ziwen danzhang yuqing shenhu inner Perfected purple script, 59, 231 insight meditation, 25, 205 insipidity, 67, 109, 111, 114, 140, 269, 288, 306 interlinear comments, 7, 13, 44, 83, 86, 88, 107, 266, 276-77 interrogation, 33, 222; of Xu Mai, 278-81 intimacy, 29, 80, 130-31, 137, 183, 265, 272, 275 inverted plant imagery, 137-38, 198, 201 investiture, 211, 292; see also writ of investiture invocations, 91, 94, 122, 164, 185, 250 Ishii Masako, 74-75 islands and isles, 2, 13, 30, 33, 85, 131, 140, 150, 174, 182, 222 ivory, 59, 106, 108 jade, 25-26, 29, 54-55, 58, passim; denoting brightness (“jade-bright”), 13, 62, 70, 73, 93, 99, 190, 289; of green Light, 63; green, 54, 154, 185, 188-89; powdered, 163, 170, 276, 296; red, 180; white, 59, 153, 180 Jade Blossoms Palace, 186, 203; see also Blue Palace jade blossoms, 177, 180, 186, 206, 211, 296 Jade Capital, 22, 71, 268, 270 Jade Clarity, 12, 53, 62, 65-66, 68-69, 71, 80-81, 93, 95, 122, 190, 206, 223, 288 Jade Consort of East Florescence, see Numinous Consort Jade Court, 53

330 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED jade fluid, 180, 276 Jade Ford, 250 Jade Gentleman-attendant to the Grand Guardian, see Li Lingfei jade ladies, 222 jade liquor, 140, 142, 177, 245 Jade Luminaries, 190, 230 jade maidens, 206, 211, 246, 249 Jade Mystery, 71, 129, 133 Jade Orchard, 70 jade river, 246-47 jade slips, 109 jade soup, 180 Jade Sovereign, 99 jade sprigs, 294 jade stamens, 294; of the Glorious Walled City, 190-91 Jade Transverse, 178 James Miller, 297 Ji Chong’er, 302 Ji Kang, 117, 205 Ji Zhongsan ji, 205 Jia Bao’an, 30 Jia Baoyu, 274 Jia Sixie, 265 Jia Xuandao, 121, 123-25 Jia Yi, 297 Jian jing, 304-05; see also Baojian jing and Shijing jinguang cangjing liuxing jing Jian Qihua, 154 Jiang Bozhen, 276 Jiang Xiaobai, 277 Jiangsu Xinyixueyuan, 116 Jianzhu Tao Yuanming ji, 299 Jin Emperor Jianwen, 27 Jin shu, 34, 40, 139, 142, 275, 283 Jin Zixu yuanjun ling shangzhen siming nanyue furen Wei furen xiantan beiming, 70 Jing Chu suishi ji, 261 Jinglü yixiang, 199-201 Jinlian zhengzong xianyuan xiangzhuan, 71 Jinling (part of Maoshan), 40 Jiu tan, 35, 286 Jiuhuan qifan longhu jindan xili zhenjue, 223 Jiuzhen zhongjing, 91, 302-03 Jovian stations, 69, 182 Juanzi, 224, 277 Jujin (an abbreviation), 234 jujube, 61, 96, 140; fiery, 126-29 Jukuzhou, 132

Juqu, golden altar of, 234-35, 267 Jurong, 32, 86 Kalinowski, Marc, 78 kalpas, 54, 101, 174-75, 161, 255, 262, 269 Kaltenmark, Max, 30, 60, 142, 163, 177, 236, 280, 297, 303 Kamitsuka Yoshiko, 283 karmic retribution, 220 kidneys, 70, 233, 256 Kim Daeyeol, 296 King Ling of Zhou, 30, 157 King Mu of Zhou, 46 King Wu of Zhou, 217 Kingly Sire of the East, 178, 186 Kleeman, Terry F., 293 Knechtges, David R., 112, 117, 131, 185, 191, 193, 230, 259, 271, 288 Knoblock, John, 298 Knoblock, John and Riegel, Jeffrey, 133, 238, 254 Knotted Spangles, 289 knowledge, 52, 70, 153, 292, 294, 299 Kohn, Livia, 1, 52, 75, 111, 146 Kominami Ichirō, 28, 48, 74-75 Kong Anguo, 21 Kroll, Paul W., 8, 47, 74, 90, 97, 129-30, 132, 159-60, 165, 178, 182, 193, 203, 248, 251-53, 255-56, 262, 289 labor, 27, 54, 79, 92, 151, 217, 290; see also toil and labor lacunae, 24, 26, 136 Ladies of the Moon, 289 lads, feathered, 180; golden, 211; jade, 129, 224, 254; numinous, 224 Lady Dark Clarity of the Sixfold Tenuity of the Northern Sea, 34 Lady Du of Long Mound, 36 Lady in Attendance Within, 16, 158, 166, 169, 172, 270, 272; meaning of title, 159; poems by, 161, 268-69, 272-73 Lady Jiang of the Northern Marchmount, 38; of the Western Marchmount, 35 Lady Li, 16, 35, 60, 65, 73-75, 153, 157-59, 162, 166, 169-70, 220; discrepancies of title, 35, 156, 167; poems by, 154-55, 161-62, 211-12; prose declarations by, 155 Lady Numinous Displayer of the Eastern Palace, see Lady Li

INDEX / 331 Lady of Purple Tenuity, 8, 16, 18, passim; first appearance, 47-48; poems by, 6364, 84-85, 88, 131-32, 160, 176-79, 182-83, 186-87, 203-04, 247-48, 251-52, 255-56, 258-59, 261-62, 269; prose declarations by, 45, 49-53, 56, 59-61, 63-64, 72, 79, 113-14, 141-42, 146-47, 241 Lady of the Left of Dark Clarity, Grand Tenuity, 34, 226-28; poem by, 222-25 Lady of the Right of Seven Numina [Palace] in the Northern Han, 34 Lady of the Right of the Central Florescence of the Grand Ultimate, 34 Lady of the Southern Marchmount, Wei Huacun, 16, 29, 30, 35, passim; poems by, 210-11, 263; prose declarations by, 29-36, 45-47, 53-56, 72-73, 79, 82-84, 106-07, 125-26, 295-98 Lady of Western Han, 36 Lady Purple Prime of the Southern Pole, 16, 59, 166, 171-73, 194, 226, 272-74; poems by, 164-65, 271-72 Lady Right Blossom, 8, 16, 18, 35, 37, passim; first appearance, 106-07; poems by, 117-18, 129-30, 132-34, 137-38, 159, 174-76, 180-82, 185-86, 190-93, 202-03, 205-06, 213-14, 244-47, 250-51, 253-54, 260-61, 264-66; prose declarations by, 134-35, 139-41, 195, 199, 215-18, 294-95 Lady Shan, 36 Lady Shangyuan, 56, 149 Lady Three Primes, 224 Lady Wang of the Left Palace of Purple Tenuity, see Lady of Purple Tenuity Lady Wey of the East Palace of the Higher Perfected, 35 Lake Dongting, 26 lakes, 33, 63, 111, 237, 242 Langgan elixir, 190 Laocen (peak), 31 Laozi, 3, 21, 24, 41, 49-51, 83, 89, 122, 131, 134, 145, 147, 153, 164, 195, 198, 210, 222, 228, 231, 279, 287-90, 295 Laozi, 21, 75, 82, 146-47, 153, 156, 158, 177; divinized forms, 43; Tang hagiographies, 74; see also Lord Lao and Lord Li Lau, D. C., 163, 246, 248

Lau, D. C. and Chen, Fong Ching, 71, 110, 229, 233, 238, 254, 258, 269, 271, 296, 303 law, 205, 279; numinous, 50 leeks, 298 Legge, James, 25, 37, 54-55, 72, passim leprosy, 304 letters, 1, 122-25, 197, 210, 235, 239-40, 242-43, 265, 281; in dream, 285; informal, 208 Li Bai, 13, 109 Li Fang, 29, 62, 69, 75, 132-33, 146, 153, 211, 223, 234, 236, 261, 263, 273, 294, 297 Li Fengmao, 225 Li Kailin, 278 Li Lingfei, 74, 153 Li Qingbin, 74, 153 Li Shan, 197 Li Shizhen, 116 Li Xian, 234 Li Yanshou, 303 Li Zhongfu, 277 Li Zun, 277-78, 281 Liangqiuzi, 71, 205, 248, 262, 269, 271, 277-78 Liao, W. K., 233 libationer, 279, 283 Liexian zhuan, 30, 60, 142, 158, 163, 168, 170, 177, 191, 202, 205, 236, 280, 29698, 303 Liezi, 114, 146, 216, 233; Liezi, 167 life and death, 95, 197, 201, 270, 294, 299300; wheel of, 198, 201 life, 22, 27, 78, 94-95, passim; cultivating or nurturing, 122, 164, 172, 179-80, 262, 269-70; former or previous, 18, 26-27, 157, 215, 217, 219, 232, 235, 258, 292; prolonging, 79, 81 light (ordinary), 12, 58, 161, 178, 182, 217, 254-55, 259, 301; latent, 253, 289; terminology of, 8, 90 lightning, 69, 77, 174; thunderbolts, 253 Lights (jing), 53-54, 66-67, passim; crimson, 192; Eight, 71-72, 96, 165, 180, 221, 304; three, 181; translation of, 12; two, Two, counterpoised, or dual, 8, 68, 79, 135, 190, 203-04, 232, 289; inner/internal, 103, 105; inner/internal and outer/external, 49-51, 186, 204, 306; intercourse of Two, 135; outer,

332 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED 102; Seven, 202; single, 68, 145, 147, 179; twenty-four, 115 Liji, 37, 55, 218 Lingbao wuliang duren shangpin miaojing, 90 Lingbao wuliang duren shangqing dafa, 190 Lingbao, see Numinous Treasure Lingshu neijing, 210 Lingyue dongzhen qisheng yuanji jing, 206; see also Shangqing yudi qisheng xuanji huitian jiuxiao jing and Shangqing qisheng xuanji jing linked pears, 140-43 Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian, 275 Liu An, 228, 231 Liu Bang, 126 Liu Changsheng, 248 Liu Kun, 279 Liu Liang, 42 Liu Ping, 294 Liu Qianshou, 31 Liu Xiang, 286 Liu Yiqing, 24 Liu Yu, 224 Liuchen zhu wen xuan, 42, 117, 131, 134, 185, 191, 193, 197, 217, 225, 230, 259, 271, 280, 288 Lofty Dawn, 177, 190, 211, 252; Preceptor of, 177 logic, defiance or reversal of, 136, 170-75, 178, 247 Long Mound, 36 longevity, 53, 79, 211, 297 Longhu shan zhi, 22 Longyu, 177 loosening constraints, 276, 284 Lord Blue Lad, 17, 30, 36, 150, 159, 165-66, 170, 177, 190, 202, 221, 225-26, 261; poems by, 163-64, 197 Lord Director of Yang, 36 Lord Grand Unity of Jade Clarity, 303 Lord Lao, 17, 153, 214-15; Lord Lao the Most High, 146 Lord Li, the Sage Lord, 95, 98, 104, 165, 261, 263 Lord of the Combined Lights of the Eight Perfected, 222 Lord of the Mysterious Way in the Northern Prime, see Li Qingbin Lord of the Way of the Jade Luminaries, 190

Lord Pei (Perfected Man of Pure Numinosity), 16, 32-33, 40, 48, 60, 65, 81, 88-89, 109, 119-20, 127-28, 139, 142, 144, 166, 168-69, 220, 287, 291-93; poems by, 114-15, 143-44, 160-61, 289-90; prose declarations by, 45-47, 78-79, 84 Lord Youyang, 32 Lords of the Way in Jade Clarity, 93 love, 79, 130, 195 Lu Guimeng, 72 Lü Shang, 236 Lu Yin, 261 Luminary-embracing Palace, 190 Lunheng, 79, 99, 236 Lunyu, 25, 72, 84, 87, 110, 125, 146, 176, 183, 199, 232-33, 269 “Luo gao” (“The Declaration on Luo”), 21 Luo Yu, see E Lühua Luoshen fu, 193 Lüshi chunqiu, 133, 221, 238, 254 lust, 17, 42, 44, 82-83, 85, 87, 155, 157, 217, 219-20, 232, 258 maggots, 155, 296 magnetite, 294 Mahāvaipulya-mahāsamnipata-sūtra, 162 maids, 59, 74, 94, 103, 153, 156, 230, 274 mainstays, 42, 53, 182, 184; see also pacing the mainstays Major, John S., 110, 118, 229, 269, 271, 303 Makeham, John, 210 malachite, 62, 205, 224, 253; nodular, 223, 302 Male Ones, 290; guarding the, 145, 147 Male True Ones, 180 Man-Bird Mountains, 132 mandala, 72 Mane (stellar mansion), 98 manuscripts, 1-2, 10-11, 15, 27-28, 38, 44, 47-48, 89, 107, 112-13, 124-125, 127, 142, 175, 207, 239-40, 243, 267, 291, 299; from unknown hands, 88, 234-35, 301 Mao Gu, 11, 16, 18, 32, 43-44, 65, 81-83, 87, 94, 106-07, 113, 118-21, 128, 235, 239-40, 243, 261, 284-86; poems by, 115-117; prose declarations by, 39, 80, 82, 117, 236-37, 241-42, 275-283 Mao sanjun neizhuan, 277

INDEX / 333 Mao Ying, 16, 30, 37, 58, 60, 82-84, 86, 93, 107, 113, 121, 124-25, 127-28, 130, 132, 164, 190, 198, 220, 223, 225, 255, 277, 286, 288, 291-92; first appearance, 106; poems by, 286-88; prose declarations by, 108-12, 122-23; title, 114 Mao Zhong, 16, 33, 65, 82, 84, 94, 106-07, 119, 121, 149, 217, 235, 240, 280, 299300; prose declarations by, 83, 118, 145-46, 237-38, 242, 293, 298 Maoshan, 2-3, 18, 22, 32, 43, passim; as eastern crags, 143-44, 174, 259, 273, 306; eastern mountains, 126, 150-51, 182, 233, 236, 238, 264-65, 276; eastern peaks, 118, 187, 251; golden mountains, 251, 259; verdant mountains or peaks, 40, passim; three verdant peaks, 126-27, 144, 160, 168, 213, 250 Maoshan Qulin guan ming, 22 Maoshan zhi, 30, 60, 95, 190, 223, 234, 236, 273 marchmounts, 29, 259 Marquis for Compiling Evidence, 277 Marquis Wen of Wei, 233 marriage, 9, 11, 28-29, 63-64, 68, 138, 159, 162, 169, 176, 190, 197, 275, 286; ceremony, 67; see also wedding marrow, 116 marsh, 146, 271 Master An Qi, 36 Master Broad Attainment, 109 Master Changli Xue or Master Changli, 216-19, 288, 292 Master Feng of Ning, 297 Master Horseneigh, 223 Master Jade, see Xu Hui Master Redpine, 13, 16, 60, 74, 158, 163, 166, 170, 172, 190-91, 197, 202, 276; poems by, 162-63, 197-98; as Primal Lord, 65; title, 75 Master Valley-Rarified, 13, 287, 290, 293; as Dieyu, 290-91 Master Zhao, 110, 113 masturbation, 9, 119 Mather, Richard, 22, 24, 139 medicines, 51, 70, 112, 115, 202, 269, 280; for escape by corpse, 26, 286, 300, 304; to confer immortality, 127, 144, 146; to bestow flight, 140, 143; of Grand Ultimate, 92; of Higher Clarity, 187, 295; of Jade Clarity, 190, 223, 250; see also herbs and herbal medicines

meditation, 9, 49, 57, 87, 90, 93, 96, 102-03, 105, 109, 121, 129, 136-37, 139, 143, 183-84, 187, 189, 212, 244, 247, 249, 255, 258, 262-65, 267, 271, 284, 302; see also ecstatic journeying, visualization, or flight meditation chamber, 111, 118 Meeus, Jean, 22 Mengzi, 163, 170, 246, 248 mentor, 215, 219, 289, 292 mercury, 296, 302 merit, 149, 237-38, 278, 280, 283 method of walking backward, 276 mica, 58, 223, 294; powder, 297, 300 Milky Way, 34, 40, 62, 93, 103, 178, 186, 237, 246-47, 250-51, 262 Miller, James, 32, 40, 47, 126, 150, 287, 297 mind, 42, 55-56, 115, 135, 141, 145, 184, 238, 265, 266-67, 299; mystic, 164, 171; see also heart Minister of the Western Marchmount and Vice-director of Destiny, 278 mirrors, 55, 91, 94, 122, 146, 236; drifting, 41, 209; otherworldly, 207-09, 220; secret, 25; vacuous, 276 mists, 24, 95, 97, 132, 180, 187, 192, 205, 213, 221, 224, 226, 245, 252, 258-59, 268 Miura, Kunio, 52 Miyao juefa, 237 Mo Di, 297, 300; Mohist school, 297 moon, 25, 29, 49-50, 66, 69, 79, 90-91, 110, 132, 176, 178-79, 189-90, 192, 194, 202, 204, 227, 229-30, 254-55, 269, 278, 289, 293; Moon Palace, 221, 227, 248 moon-pearls, 176, 211 Morohashi Tetsuji, 31, 53, 162-64, 268 Most High, 60, 74, 82, 96, 217, 219, 279, 281 Most High and Eminently Sage Great Lord of the Way in the Jade Dawn, 60 Most High Thearchic Lord, nine spirits of the, 150 mother, 15-16, 47-48, 74, 159, 166, 179, 306 motion and stillness, 191, 196 mounds, 163, 170, 178, 205 Mount Bozhong, 31 Mount Chi, 15, 40, 44, 276-77, 284 Mount Chishui, see Mount Chi Mount Dahuo, 29 Mount Daizong, 31; see Mount Tai

334 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED Mount Dongting, 26 Mount Gaizhu, 281-82 Mount Geyan, 32-33, 41, 160 Mount Gold Court, 65, 69, 82, 252, 254; see also Mount Tongbo Mount Goushi, 158 Mount Heng (恆山), 36-37 Mount Heng (衡山), 29 Mount High Radiance, 160 Mount Hua, 32, 35 Mount Jing, 296 Mount Jiuyi, 26, 31 Mount Juqu, 32, 234 Mount Kunlun, 13, 32-33, 46-47, 60, 70, 154, 157, 160, 163, 170, 174-77, 185, 188-89, 199, 224, 227-48, 287; visualization of, 88-89 Mount Longhu, 22 Mount Luhun, 31, 158 Mount Luofeng, 31, 97, 222 Mount Mao, see Maoshan Mount Meng, 276 Mount Min, 31 Mount Numinous, 202 Mount Qian, 32 Mount Qiao, 296 Mount Rong, 31 Mount Sanhuo, 97 Mount Shao, 276 Mount Shaoshi, 31 Mount Song, 31 Mount Sumeru, 162 Mount Tai, 30, 163 Mount Taihe, see Mount Wudang Mount Tongbo, 13, 16, 30, 56, 65, 76, 82, 92, 94, 101, 168; see also Mount Gold Court Mount Wangwu, 30, 56, 64, 86 Mount Weiyu, 297 Mount Westwall, 198 Mount Wildwind, 146 Mount Wudang, 33 Mount Xiang or Xiangdong, 26 Mount Yangluo, 32 Mount Yujue or Yujuegen, 32-33, 160-61, 168-69, 246-47 Mount Zhong, 174-75; northern slope of, 216 Mount Zhuye, 281-82, 284-85

mountains, 95, 98-100, 109-10, 113, 117, 120, 125, 127-29, 143, 146, 205, 237, 240, 242, 248, 250, 262, 271-72, 302 mouth-organ (sheng), 168, 174 moxa, 233 Mozi, 210 Mu tianzi zhuan, 46 mud, 140, 259, 261; see also obstructing mud Mud Pill, 91; guarding the, 277 music, 54-55, 133, 168-69, 170, 175, 179, 192, 194, 268, 270; instruments (general), 154, 264; musicians, 71, 95; performances, 109, 177, 227, 245-46, 268 mustard seed, 162, 229, 231 muting or damping (of sound), 54-55, 58, 203-04, 214 Mysterious Female, 147 Mysterious Gate, 89 Mysterious Root, 189; method of ingesting, 177; nibbling on, 187 mystery or the mysterious, 21, 41, 60, 8687, 101, 108, 113, 115, 118, 132, 141, 145, 153, 229, 231, 264-65, 289; mystery of mysteries, 228, 230-31 mystic blade-edge, 41, 68, 256 Mystic Blossom Palace, 251 Mystic Cinnabar Palace, 277 Mystic Continent, 26, 32, 221, 226 mystic contrivance, 203, 262; Way of, 204 Mystic Descent, 90 mystic fish-trap, 111, 122 Mystic Hall, 253-54 Mystic Han, 93 Mystic Ladder, 96 Mystic Lord Lao of the Five Numina, 178 Mystic Metropolis, 26, 71, 134, 186, 223 Mystic Orchard, 46, 70 Mystic Palace, 186, 253 Mystic Perfected, 205 mystic Perfection, method of, 115, 120 Mystic Region, 26 Mystic Stair, 96 Mystic Thearch, 154 mystical discernment, 77, 138, 179, 256-57 mystical prominence, 79 Nan shi, 303 Nanyue Wei furen neizhuan or zhuan, 29, 211, 224, 246

INDEX / 335 naphtha, 298, 300 narrative, 4, 6, 11, 27, 29, 103, 130, 156, 201 Nascent Radiance, 252-53 nature (inborn), 111, 113, 126, 217, 239, 241, 263, 306 neidan and waidan, 296 Neizhen ziwen danzhang yuqing shenhu, 59 nets, 93, 99, 161, 205, 229, 246-47, 268, 270, 272, 279; numinous, 42 Nienhauser, William H., Jr., 280 Nine Avenues, 250 nine cauldrons elixir, 296-97 Nine Cross-routes, 250 Nine Distances, 205 Nine Elixirs, 296 nine frontiers, 163, 170 Nine Heavens, 53, 66, 96, 99, 106, 129, 160, 197, 205, 215, 219, 259 Nine Mysteries, 53 Nine Nets, 66, 205 Nine Numina (Palace), 37, 177 Nine Palaces (of head), 42-43, 133, 150, 277, 290 Nine Perfected, 302, 304; methods of, 150 Nine Regions, 37, 186, 228-29 Nine Spirits, 133 Nine Springs, 197 nine tiers (of heaven), 186, 193-94, 229 Nine Voids, 259-60 nine ways, 122 nine wildernesses, 225 nine yang songs, 96, 99 Ninefold Dazzler, 253, 289 Ninefold Florescent Consort An of the Upper Palace of Purple Clarity, see Consort An Ninefold Florescent Elixir, 294 Ninefold Florescent Perfected Consort, see Consort An Ninefold Florescent, meaning, 36 Ninefold Tenuity, 30 nirvana, 197, 201 nobility, 94; earthly, 99-100, 105, 206-07; Perfected, 42, 72, 137 Noctilucent Jade Maiden and Noctilucent Pond, 164 noise, 136, 157, 246, 306 Non-being, 67, 110, 113, 238, 306; see also Being and Non-being non-death, 78; see also deathlessness north celestial pole, 34, 136, 178, 182, 253

North Clearwaters, Palace of, 222 Northern Chill, 247; Terrace of, 246, 27273 northern darkness, 34, 70; northern sea of darkness, 47 Northern Han, 34 northern hub, 133 Northern Marchmount, 35-36 Northern Mounds, 178 Northern Pole, 31 Northern Sea, 26, 34, 47 Northern Terrace, 31 Northern Thearch, 97 North-Severed Terrace, 36 notes (musical), 132, 189, 193-94, 214, 222, 227, 249 number(s), pertaining to destiny, 23, 64, 95, 101, 116, 119, 131, 136, 271; significance in titles, 37-38 numina, 91, 205, 257, 262, 269, 278, 286; divine, 51; embryonic, 303; Perfected, 49, 209 Numinous Bolus, 304-05 Numinous Concubine of Grand Harmony and Superior Perfected Lady of the Left, 33 Numinous Consort, 226-28; poem by, 22122 numinous curtains, 102, 262 Numinous Displayer, see Lady Li Numinous Hill, 202 Numinous Mirror Mountains, 146 numinous pond, 135 Numinous Treasure (Lingbao), 1, 51-52, 60, 62, 71, 90, 154, 178, 182, 190, 206, 255 Numinous Vale or numinous vales, 210 Nylan, Michael, 231 obedience, 110, 217 oblivion in spontaneity, 67-68 obstacles: five, 85, 87, 112-13; four, 83, 87; external, 122 obstructing mud, 212, 259 obstruction(s), 44, 87, 99, 105, 127, 215, 268 offerings, 279, 281 officialdom, 15, 143, 212, 245-46, 249 oil from/of Purple Rose-gem, 130 oil of purple exquisite jade, 130 oil of the Five Lords’ stones, 115, 120; see also five stones, Five Lords onomatopoeia, 221 orchestras, 133, 177

336 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED orchids, 25, 29, 286 orgasm, 257 origin (the Way), 4, 122, 306 Ouyang Xun, 22, 70 ovens, 241, 253 Oxherd, 62, 193, 237; Oxherd’s river, 62 pacing: the Dipper, 122, 150, 276; Grand Vacuity, 212; mainstays, 150, 298; vault of space, 131, 134-35, 250 palaces, otherworldly, 66, 79, 94, 96, 157, 179, 183, 192, 202-03, 224-26, 248-49, 252, 255, 257, 277; earthly, 185, 188, 200 Pan Yue, 259 panpipes, 255, 259 pantheon, 12, 14, 16, 29, 31, 33, 37-39, 60, 66, 97, 106, 153, 174, 276-77, 282, 296 paper, 11, 26, 50, 62-63, 65, 72, 125, 154, 175, 239-40 paradox, 135, 171-72, 180, 205, 215, 22930, 264 parallelism, 13, 68, 93, 102, 113, 120, 125, 138, 148, 210, 234, 296 parents, 16, 75, 79, 83, 283 partners, 9, 16, 18, 76-77, 79, 104, 147, 184, 189, 194, 203-04, 219, 257-58, 273, 306 passages (tiao), pieces (pian), and divisions, 10-12, passim passions, 54, 77, 269-70 patterns, 49-51, 55, 58, 108, 164, 218; astronomical, 57 Paul, Diane Y., 200 peaks, 24, 41, 62, 80, passim; two-tiered, 64 pearls, 65, 176, 188; for cleansing, 46; of Sui, 111-12 Pei Qingling, see Lord Pei Pei Wei, 172 pendants, 24, 211; of jade, 58, 65, 177, 210 peng (bird), 111, 129, 224, 272 Peng Dingqiu, 72 Penglai, 13, 23, 30, 182 penis, 68, 138, 244, 256-57 Penny, Benjamin, 126 penumbra, 162; Penumbra and Shadow, 159, 165, 167, 169 Perfected, passim; ranks and titles, 9, 29-39, 65, 75, 205, 259, 287, 290

Perfected Consort of Purple Clarity, see Consort An Perfected Lord of the Central Yellow Grand Unity, 277 Perfected Man (as title), 75 Perfected Man of Purple Yang, see Zhou Yishan Perfected Man of Westwall, see Wang Yuan persistence, 44, 125-26, 250-51 petition, 47; writing of, 33 philtrum, 144, 237, 261, 263 phoenix brain, 190, 221 Phoenix Hill, 223, 227 Phoenix Mountain, 223 phoenixes, 54, 68, 71, 115, 154, 163, 168, 190, 223, 255, 257, 268; essence of, 221, 227; nine, 245; songs of, 199, 205, 217, 268 Pi Rixiu, 72 pinch (dosage), 296 pine, 61, 261; pine sap, 296 pipes, 245, 254 place names, otherworldly, 13, 136, 227 placenta, purple, 303-04 plague, 150, 280 planets, 49, 66, 69, 122, 189-90, 202, 230, 256; gods of, 122 pledge, 185, 189 plum, 236 Plume Palace, 248 Plume Wilds, 47 Plume-bright Wilds, 248 plumes, 233, 258; for carriage canopy, 47 pneumas, 54, 83, 92, passim; circulation of, 163, 170; eight, 162; harmonization of, 78; heavenly and earthly, 303; mixing of, 78, 255; mystic, 63, 93; primal, 306; primordial, 78, 187; proper, 78, 116, 211; seven, 154; of the six numina, 222; three, 123; uniting of, 255 poems, passim; pairs of, 16, 179, 183, 187, 204, 207, 212, 225-26, 251, 254, 260, 262, 266, 270, 273; sets of three, 260, 271; Xu Mi’s assessment of Right Blossom’s, 195

INDEX / 337 poetry, 1-2, 4-5, 18, passim; ZG’s later importance, 2; roaming immortal, 1 poison, 26, 198, 201 Polar Perfected Palace, 32 Polestar, 31, 34, 229 Polonai guowang qi nü yu Dishi gongyu, 200 polygonatum, 181, 183 polypores (zhi), 18, 140, 142, 144-45, 168, 174-75, 190, 221, 235, 240, 243, 251, 267, 296; dragon immortal, 272; five, 266-67; five Maoshan, 234, 235-36, 272; five ordinary colored, 234; Hidden, 221, 223, 227; night-glowing, 142, 144, 160, 236; purple, 236; rock, 142, 297; stone brain, 297; swallow-foetus, 236-37; wood, 140, 236 poplar, 97, 104 Porkert, Manfred, 32, 40 potter, 297; potter’s wheel, 259 pottery, 83, 261, 306; firing of, 295 poverty, 195, 197, 210 prayer, 91, 124-25, 213-14, 279 Preceptor of Lofty Dawn, 177 Pregadio, Fabrizio, 1, 53, 296, 302 Primal Lords, of Grand Simplicity, 96; of Grand Vacuity, see Master Redpine; of Sixfold Tenuity in Dark Clarity, 34; of the Ninefold Pure Golden Florescent Light of Grand Incipience, 133; as title, 75 procreation, 78-79, 81, 279 Progenitor, 24, 28, 255, 268; Great, 67, 68, 229; Mystic, 214-15 progenitor (zong, in Laozi), 51, 288; what has no (wuzong), 268 prognostication and apocryphal (chenwei) texts, 33, 262 prohibitions, 50, 52, 269; on approaching corpses, 285 projections, 99, 146-47, 149, 185, 188 promotions and demotions, of Perfected, 37, 39, 58, 86, 112, 285 pronunciations, medieval Chinese, 13 punishments, 78, 278, 298 puns and punning, 97, 104, 300 pure conversation, 299 Pure Numinosity, 291; Palace of, 32, 109 Pure Vacuous (Heaven), 36, 78; Palace, 56, 58, 73, 82-83; Xiaoyou Heaven, 30

purification, 244, 292; of spirits, 275, 284 purity, 63, 68, 80-81, 100, 111, 139, 152, 164, 191, 212, 270, 288 Purple Cassia (Palace), 221, 226-27 Purple Clarity (Palace), 35, 159, 206; Upper Palace of, 158 Purple Court, 134 Purple Door, 43 Purple Hill, 182 Purple Palace, 62, 257; see also Purple Tenuity Palace Purple Portal, 253-54 Purple Prime, 59 Purple Rose-gem Palace, 130 Purple Sovereign, 65, 211, 224, 228 Purple Stream, 70 Purple Tenuity, 34, 99, 134, 221, 255; Palace, 47, 160, 178, 186, 206, 257 Purple Vault, 186 Purple Yang, 32, 41 Qian Han Liu jia taizi zhuan, 261 Qian, Nanxiu, 299 Qiao Peak, 296 Qimin yaoshu, 265 qin (instrument), 53-54, 95, 117, 141-42, 217, 219 Qin fu, 117 Qin Shuyin, 32 Qinding Quan Tang wen, 109 Qingling Pool, 298 Qingling zhenren Pei jun zhuan, 33, 142, 289 Qingxu zhenren Wang jun neizhuan, 30, 34, 172, 297 Qiong Shu, 236 Qiu Sheng, 296 Quan shanggu sandai Qin Han sanguo liuchao wen, 155 Quan Tang shi, 72 Quanzhen, scripture, 71 Queen Mother of the West, 17, 35, 37, 4648, 56, 60, 62, 65, 125, 146, 149, 154, 159, 163, 167, 169-70, 176-77, 179, 202, 220, 224, 227, 235, 238, 241-43, 259; daughters of, 16, 34-35, 48, 106-07, 119, 159, 165-66, 176, 178-80; title, 3738 Queen, Sarah A., 118 Quill Grove, 195 quills, 224, 263 Rarefied Grove (Palace), 97, 130-31, 134, 136, 177, 190 Raz, Gil, 165

338 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED rebirth, 48-049, 156, 178, 217, 219; through flower, 96, 104 rebus, 86-87, 117-20, 216, 219; rebus poems, 84-86, 114-15 receive documents, as Perfected, 290, 302 recipes, 67, 71, 116, 120, 143, 267, 294, 296-97, 302 recluses and reclusion, 15, 22, 23, 41, 100, 135, 140, 143-44, 189, 262, 298 records of the sages, 41 Red River, 70 Red Thearch, 115, 154, 280 reducing perspective, 34, 40, 70, 129-30, 132, 136, 163, 169-71, 223, 247, 250-51, 260 refinement, 47, 105, 126, 168, 181, 288, 295; post-mortem, 178, 258, 261, 284, 299-300, 302; see also self-refinement registers, 41, 86; black, 122; blue, 41, 119; cinnabar, 110; jade, 93; purple, of the undying, 279, 281; of life or the living, 67, 84, 293; tiger, 65 reincarnation, 197 reins, 53, 66, 129, 160, passim rejuvenation, 94, 183; of complexion, face, or hair, 92, 115, 140-41, 143, 181, 221, 227, 277, 295, 306 renchen year (392), 98, 104, 117, 120 rendezvous (xiangqi), 178, 181, 216, 219-20, 232, 245, 265, 267, 274 renunciation of ambitions, 275, 284 repentance, 142-43 reputation, 1, 40, 61, 95, 99, 139 resonance, 54, 80, 93, 111, 134, 249, 26364, 273 retirement, 145-46, 149, 269-70 retreat, 101, 105, 108, 112-13; into mountains, 17-18, 111, 113, 120, 127-28, 212, 284; into woods or forest, 100, 282; to Maoshan, 291 return, 269, 271, 295, 306; to beginning, 52, 57; to Grand Incipience, 216; to insipidity, 67; to origin, 4, 122; to primordial beginning, 194 reverse-cut pronunciation, 204, 256 reversion, to childhood or infancy, 123, 125, 141, 174, 176, 179, 182, 184, 193, 223, 227, 245, 253-54, 306; to youth, 133, 136, 176, 277, 296

Reverted Elixir in Nine Cycles, 302 rhetorical questions, 168, 194, 207, 240, 254 rhyme, 10, 13, 29, passim; as structuring technique, 105-06 rice, 120; cooked in bilberry, 116 ridges, 80-81, 146, 182, 216, 259 right and wrong, 165, 173, 270, 273 Right Blossom, see Lady Right Blossom ritual of the Mysterious Mother’s eight gates, 96 rivers, 98, 130, 200, 205, 229, 245, 251, 272, 278, 297, 299 roads, 46, 49, 68, 93, 100, 137, 189, 245-46, 268, 270 robe, 66, 85, 101, 115, 176, 185, 187-88, 222, 237, 248-49, 273; dragon, 210; homespun, 279; vermilion, 65, 82, 108 Robinet, Isabelle, 1, 6, 8, 52, 82-83, 85, 91, 96, 101, 122-23, 139, 150, 171, 177, 184, 198, 303-04; La Révélation du Shangqing, 14 rock chamber, 281, 302, 304 rock-marrow, 236 root, 51, 82, 89, 137-38, 147, 195, 198, 241, 270-71; irrigation of, 244, 257, 278; roots of life and death, 201 Root, Great, 68 rose-gem, 54, 90, 185, 189-90, 206, 253, 260; essence, 180, 295; soup, 130, 180 Rotten Gourd, 193-94 Round Barrow, 146 round dazzler, 178, 221, 265 Round Hill, 146 Round Ridge, 146 “roused for strife,” 179-80, 211-12 Ruan Ji, 155 rulers, 277, 289, 296 sacrifices, 279 Sage Lord, see Lord Li, the Sage Lord sage-emperors, 50, 57, 283 sages, 238, 263, 280, 295 saliva, 92, 140, 144, 177, 180, 190, 276, 302, 304 sambar-tail chowry, 299 Sandong qunxian lu, 282, 297 Sandong zhunang, 46, 92, 96, 108, 115, 202, 215, 295, 305

INDEX / 339 Sanguo zhi, 52, 277, 293 Sanhuang jing, 69 Sanmiao (ancient state), 280 satchel, 106, 108; embroidered, 88; for books, 46, 59, 63, 94, 149 Sato Toshiyuki, 294 Sawada Mizuho, 116 Schafer, Edward H., 69, 116, 178, 182, 294 Schipper, Kristofer, 74, 78, 132, 170, 187; and Verellen, Franciscus, 1 script, 57, 305; calligraphic, 14; earthly versus Perfected, 51-52; sixty-four kinds of, 51 scripture, 1, 11, 22, 46, passim; excerpts from, 302-05; heavenly repositories, 97, 109, 246; revelation and transmission, 76, 148, 165, 198; sale, 148 Scripture of Higher Clarity on the Return to Dawn and the Restoration of Youth by Penetrating Darkness with Sunlight, 94 Scripture of the Nine Perfected, see Jiuzhen jing Scripture of the Yellow Court, see Huangting jing Scripture on Treasuring the Spirits, see Baoshen jing scrolls, 2, 11, 59, 73-74, 86, 94, 103-04, 125, 282 sea, 2, 129, 130, 131, 134, 161, 167, 251 seals, 154, 156; cloud-, 50-51; dragon, 57 Seals of the Most High, see Taishang zhang seasons, 71, 110-11, 255, 258, 269 seclusion, 41, 111, 114, 116, 150 Secondary Minister (star), 34 seed, 78, 189, 195, 197, 284, 286; see also mustard seed seed people or person, 189, 215 self-cultivation, 290 self-purification, 91, 241, 265 self-rectification, 235 self-refinement, 47, 104-05, 113, 232, 292; see also refinement self-regulation, 44, 119 seminal essence, 70, 83, 88-92, 102, 110, 210, 256, 276, 293, 295, 299; see also essence senility, 92 seven apertures, 47 Seven Crossings, 85-86, 132 Seven Dazzlers, 202, 230 seven entanglements, 68 seven mysteries, 47 Seven Numina (Palace), 34, 38, 192, 246-47

Seven Primes, 97, 203, 232, 261-62, 290; family of, 242 Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, 135 seven spirits, 69-70, 174 Seven Watchtowers, 66 Seven Ways, 132 sex and sexuality, 9, 182 sex manuals, 68, 76, 245, 257 sexual intercourse, 18, 68, 76, 92, 100, 119, 137-38, 146, 179-81, 212, 219-20, 244, 256-58; in ritual, 78 sexual vigor, 249 shadows, 12, 162; shadows and shadowcasters, 165, 167-171, 173 shame or shamefulness, 83-84, 87, 241, 244 Shan Shiyuan, 33 Shangqing dadong zhenjing, 62, 114, 186, 211, 215, 222, 230, 252, 268; see also Dadong zhenjing Shangqing dao baojing, 70, 295 Shangqing dao leishi xiang, 97, 99, 185, 193, 298 Shangqing gong, 2 Shangqing housheng daojun lieji, 95, 98, 153, 192, 215, 297 Shangqing huangqi yangjing sandao shunxing jing, 62, 248, 287 Shangqing huangshu guodu yi, 78 Shangqing jinshu yuzi shangjing, 150 Shangqing jiutian shangdi zhu baishen neiming jing, 187, 191 Shangqing mingtang yuanzhen jing jue, 115-16 Shangqing qionggong lingfei liujia zuoyou shang fu, 199; see also Dongzhen qionggong lingfei liujia jing Shangqing qisheng xuanji jing, 41, 298; see also Lingyue dongzhen qisheng yuanji jing and Shangqing yudi qisheng xuanji huitian jiuxiao jing Shangqing sanyuan yujian sanyuan bujing, 96 Shangqing shidi chen Tongbo zhenren zhentu zan, 102 Shangqing taishang basu zhenjing, 46, 71, 122, 154, 199; see also Basu jing and Dongzhen taishang basu zhenjing fushi riyue huanghua jue Shangqing taishang dijun jiuzhen zhongjing, 150, 268, 289, 302-03 Shangqing taishang huangsu sishisi fang jing, 46, 215

340 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED Shangqing taishang jiuzhen zhongjing jiangsheng shendan jue, 303 Shangqing waiguo fangpin Qingtong neiwen, 132 Shangqing wuchang biantong wanhua yuming jing, 250 Shangqing yuanshi bianhua baozhen shangjing jiuling taimiao guishan xuanlu, 60 Shangqing yudi qisheng xuanji huitian jiuxiao jing, 41, 303; see also Lingyue dongzhen qisheng yuanji jing and Shangqing qisheng xuanji huitian jiuxiao jing Shangqing zhongzhen jiaojie dexing jing, 82-83 Shangqing zijing jun huangchu ziling daojun dongfang shangjing, 122-23, 303 Shangqing, see Higher Clarity Shangshu, 3, 21, 31, 95, 151, 199, 222 Shangshu zhushu, 21 Shanhai jing, 159, 202 Shao (music), 199 Shen Yue, 22, 24 Shenhu shangfu xiaomo zhihui jing, 59; see also Xiaomo jing Shenhu talisman, 66 Shenhu yinwen, 228, 230-31 Shennong bencao jing, 234, 236 Shennong, 50, 57, 280 Shenxian zhuan, 30, 78, 129, 177, 198, 216, 277, 279, 294, 297 Shenyi jing, 144 Shi dichen donghua shangzuo siming Yang jun zhuanji, 63, 68, 70, 80, 96 Shi ji, 98, 126, 133, 186, 233, 280, 296-97 Shi jing, 54, 69, 79, 98, 110, 123-25, 161, 195-96, 198, 201, 203, 209, 214, 232-33, 246, 272, 279 Shi sanshijiu zhang jing (YJQQ 8), 114 Shijing jinguang cangjing liuxing jing, 93, 217, 305; see also Baojian jing and Jian jing Shilei fu zhu, 23 Shishuo xinyu, 24, 139, 143, 224 Shitou ji, 274 Shizhouji, 26, 35, 70, 89, 129, 131-32, 140, 174, 182, 185, 191, 216, 221, 223, 234, 251, 292 shooting stars, 69 shores, 129-30, 145, 191, 198, 206, 223, 258, 260 Shu jing, see Shangshu Shun (legendary ruler), 26, 253, 280, 298 Shuxing fu, 205

sighs and sighing, 64, 101, 163, 175, 211; sighing solitude, 109 silk, 53, 115, 125, 148, 263 Sima Biao, 40, 208, 218 Sima Jizhu, 296-297, 300 Sima Qian, 98, 133, 186, 233, 280, 296-97 Sima Xiangru, 186 simurghs, 54, 202, 255, 257 sin, 100, 142-43, 151, 198, 209, 258, 279, 281, 283, 285 singing, 160, 163-64, 168-69, 177, 191, 20203, 247, 249, 259-60, 272 Sire Deerskin, 296 Sishi’er zhang jing, 201 six coordinates, 262 six discerners, 222 Six Heavens, 32, 222 six numina, 222 Six Pneumas, 167, 222, 254-55 six receptacles, 222, 233 Six Voids, 260 six yin songs, 96 Sixuan fu, 131, 287 SK, 5, 23-25, 32, 42, passim skeletons, 50 skin, 117, 300 sleep, 42, 69, 71, 130-31, 165, 172-73, 176, 179, 194, 251-52, 255-58, 274, 276 sleeves, 40, 93, 97, 133, 178, 211, 218, 224-25, 228 slips, 22, 41, 67-68, 82, 109, 117, 120, 216, 281; cinnabar bamboo, 278 slopes, 155, 185, 188, 216, 268 Smith, Thomas E., 35, 66, 70, 89-90, 92, 125, 159, 174, 182, 185, 187-88, 216, 221, 223, 234, 251, 261, 292 smoke, 54, 71, 101, 154, 174, 191, 205, 297 snow, 24, 261 solitude, 131, 149, 265; see also soughing solitude and sighing solitude Solomon’s seal, 181, 183 Song Lianxiao, 246 Song shu, 22, 24 song, 5, 71, 129-30, 160-61, 165, 204, 214, 221-22, 224-25, 228, 262, 268, 272 soughing solitude, 41, 145, 147, 179-80, 212, 247

INDEX / 341 Soul-Recalling Trees, 132 souls, 179; of the dead, 32; see also cloudsouls and earth-souls sounds, 24, 54, 90-91, 99, 118, 120, 177, 188, 200, 214, 217, 219, 221, 226, 229, 271 Southern Marchmount, 29, 35-36 Southern Pole, 59, 165 Sovereign of Grand Vacuity, 190 Sovereigns of Earth, Heaven, and Humanity, 68-69 sowing, 78, 139, 186, 189, 195, 19798, 201, 258 space, 13, 60, 174, 194, 215, 227, 247, 255, 287; grand vault of, 42, 53, 131, 205, 254, 259; undifferentiated, 109, 129, 160, 164, 168, 190, 206, 248, 266-67; vault of, 13, 49, 53, 139, 154, 162, 186, 202, 205, 211, 218, 223, 256, 287, 294 sparrow, 201 spatula, 296 specialists of the Way (daojia), 268 speck (dosage), 296 Spirit Gate, 262 spirit-mediums, 1, 15, 28, 40, 44, 56; female, 279 Spirit of the Valley, 147 spirit(s), passim; of body, 54, 69, 91, 93, 114, 155, 215, 226; of body organs, 222; hundred, 133, 222; malevolent, 51 spirit’s jade, 261-62 spirit-radiance, 89 spiritual building, 233, 235 spiritual union, 9, 18, 68, 74, 76, 100, 104, 119, 137-38, 147, 149, 172, 176, 179-81, 184, 188-89, 204, 220, 240, 243-45, 249, 255-58, 264-65, 267, 273-74, 284; arousal before, 182; see also unite springs (of water), 94, 98, 140, 163, 221, 281, 284 staffs, 27, 221, 299; of bamboo, 88, 101, 106, 108; golden, 205 stalactite, 236, 294 stamen nectar, 190 stars, 31, 34, 40, 49-50, 85, 132, 160, 179, 192, 194, 228, 230, 248, 250, 262-63, 278 star-palaces, 34, 39 star-patterns, 50, 194

Steele, John, 67, 164 Stein, Rolf A., 279 stellar mansion, 98 stench, 54, 212-13, 296, 306 stillness, 93, 110, 135, 214-15, 269, 276, 284, 287; see also motion and stillness and Grand Stillness stimulus, 271 stinginess, 17, 42, 44, 84, 87, 121, 126-28, 135, 207-08, 217-19, 232 stomach, 91, 233 stone, 54, 66, 69, 91, 104, 126, 145, 185, 214, 261, 298 stone brains, 297, 300; see also polypore, stone brain Stone Well Bridge, 281, 284 stove, 181, 183 straw dogs, 279 streamers, 88, 106, 108, 174, 254 streams, 99-100, 122, 126, 130, 180, 281, 284 Strickmann, Michel, 1-2, 8, 288, 291, 30001, 304-05 style (writing), 12, 152, 197, 199, 235, 241; formality, informality, 208, 210 Su Yijian, 23 substance (bodily), 49-50, 94, 137-38, 182, 184, 284, 295, 302 substitutes, use of, 290, 293 suggestive language, 76, 104, 119, 138, 148, 159, 249, 258, 274-75 suicide, 101, 105 sulfur, 223, 294 Suling dayou miaojing, 185 Sun Ce, 277 Sun Chuo, 185, 224 sun(s), 25, 29, 49-50, 54, 58, passim; nine, 30; sunrise, 62, 66, 71, 202, 247, 254, 284, 292; sunset, 88, 247; ten, 36 sun-root, 66 Sunü jing, 245, 256-57 Superior Guardian to the Latter Sage and Primal Lord of the Southern Pole, Lady Purple Prime, see Lady Purple Prime Superior Sovereign of Vacuity and Lord of the Way in the Northern Darkness, 153 sūtras, 200 Sword Scripture, see Jian jing sword, 27, 43, 65, 82, 216, 257, 299; forging, 297; numinous, 68

342 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED Sworn Code of the Four Poles, see Taizhen yudi siji mingke jing synaesthesia, 55, 193-94 tags (of book satchels), 59, 153, 156, 230 Taigong bingfa, 126 Taiji zhenren jiuzhuan huandan jing yaojue, 234, 273, 302 Taiping guangji, 29, 75, 294 Taiping jing, 118 Taiping yulan, 62, 132-33, 146, 153, 211, 223, 234, 236, 261, 263, 273, 297 Taiqing jing, 180 Taiqing jinyi shendan jing, 181 Taiqing zhenjing, 126 Taiqing zhonghuang zhenjing, 221 Taishang dongxuan lingbao chishu yujue miao jing, 164-65 Taishang dongxuan lingbao sanyuan pinjie gongde qingzhong jing, 111 Taishang dongxuan lingbao zhenwen yaojie shangjing, 221-22 Taishang feixing jiuchen yujing, 199, 230, 276; see also Dongzhen feixing jiuchen yujing Taishang feixing jiushen yujing (YJQQ 20), 85 Taishang huangting neijing jing, 185 Taishang lingbao wufu xu, 165 Taishang xuanling beidou benming yansheng zhenjing zhu, 114 Taishang yupei jindang taiji jinshu shangjing, 90, 192, 246 Taishō shinshū daizōkyō, 200-01 Taiwei lingshu ziwen langgan huadan shenzhen shangjing, 190, 223 Taixuan jing, 231 Taiyuan zhenren Mao jun neizhuan, 30, 32-33, 62, 95, 234, 255 Taizhen yudi siji mingke jing, 52, 66, 97 talents, 54, 73, 134, 140, 216, 230 Talisman of the Jade Gates of the Central Prime and Eight Mainstays, 161 talismans, 1, 57, 94, 71, 101, 105-06, 117, 150, 223-24, 230-31; script, 50-52, 59 tally, 67, 88, 101; on high, 108 “Tang gao” (“Declaration of Tang”), 21 Tang Handong ziyang zhenren beiming, 109 Tao Hongjing, passim; arrangement of Part One material, 17, 47, 73-74, 124-25, 158-59, 166, 180, 196, 210, 214-15, 231, 234, 239-40, 242-43, 248-49, 267, 299; on atractylodes, 116; collection of

manuscripts, 1-2, 11, 73; dating of material, 281; design of ZG, 2, 4-7, 43; inscriptions by, 22, 116; interlinear notes inserted in main text, 106, 276; letter by, 216; missing notes, 38, 167; Part Seven notes and commentary, 2, 4, 6-7, 10-11, 13, 15, 23, 40, 57, passim; passage division, 10-11; retreat at Maoshan, 160; selection of material, 2, 86, 291, 301; title of Part One, 14-15, 23, 305-06 Tao Kedou, 242, 258-61 Tao Yuanming, 299 tassels, 53-54, 141 teachers, 3, 6-7, 15-16, 22, 26-28, 36, 44, 48, 61, 64, 75, 77, 119, 127, 148, 150-51, 165, 195, 198, 215, 217, 219-20, 255, 276, 278, 284-85, 292, 299 teasing, 56, 75, 119 teeth, 70, 91, 117, 191, 205, 207 terraces, 46, 101, 176, 178, 180, 181, 211, 255, 264; cloud-, 186, 252; rose-gem, 62, 190, 263; see also eight terraces tests or trials, 40, 44, 121, 123-25, 142-43, 151, 216-17, 233, 238, 240, 282; tests of insight, 72-73 Thearch, 133, 230 Thearch, of Dawn, 30-31, 95, 129, 131, 287, 292, of East Grove, 190 Thearchic Lord, of East Florescence, 71; of the Golden Portal, 43 thearchic portals, 53 Thearchs of the Sun, 289 thearchs and thearchic lords, 17, 66, 97, 129 thirty-six aqueous solutions, 180 thirty-six and thirty-two heavens, 51 Three Candles, 194 Three Clarity heavens, 71, 288 Three Disasters, 101 Three Dukes, 95, 291 Three Dynasties (Xia, Shang, Zhou), 133 Three Fords, 211-12 three Lords Mao, 16, 18, 145, 235, 237 Three Numina, 132 Three Offices, 33, 78-79, 98, 278-79, 281, 302, 305; Metropolitan Prison of the, 277 Three Officials, 79, 83

INDEX / 343 Three Ones, 43, 139 Three Palaces, 32 Three Perfected, 42-44 Three Prime Palaces, 69 Three Primes, 23, 50, 67, 71, 91, 93, 99, 185, 188, 290, 302; Lords of the Way of the, 71 Three Purities, 155, 298 Three Radiances, 278 Three Sovereigns, 69 Three Wonders, 185, 188 thunder, 45, 174; thunder god, 296 thundrous wind, 186, 189 Thurman, Robert A. F., 162 ti (script, mark, sign), 23 tigers, 68, 117, 122, 237, 253, 263-64, 271; white, 255, 257 toil (qiekuo), 54, 151 toil and labor (qulao), 79 tomb, 284, 286, 296, 303-04; inscriptions, 303 tongue, 70, 269-70 tongxingben, 3, 63, 70, 84, 98, 133, 141, 15556, 160, 199, 210, 217-18, 234, 237, 276, 290, 303 toon and toon-springs, 53, 133, 136, 163, 170, 191, 203-05, 207, 222, 227, 253, 255 Tortoise Mountain, 60, 65, 176, 179, 235, 238-39, 242 Tortoise Terrace, 38, 65 tortoise-and-snake, 185 torture, 33, 83, 100 traces: equestrian, 237; in escape by corpse, 101, 105, 295, 298-99 tranquility, 25, 41, 110, 113-14, 134, 136, 150, 163, 174, 218 transformation, 25, 52, 78, 191, 229, 231, 262, 268, 280, 286-87, 291, 293, 297, 301-02, 304-06; post-mortem, 39, 178; of script, 52; wave-transformation, 109 translation, 3-8, 13-15, 29, 42, 71, 108, 138, 141, 171, 182, 191, 199, 203, 208, 215, 256, 259, 275, 289, 292, 300; Japanese, 3, 113, 117, 134, 141, 177, 263, 269, 272, 290 transmission: of scripture, 14, 52, 71, 148, 279, 297; of ZG, 7, 10-11, 14, 29, 86, 176 travel, 66, 102, 104, 130-31, 136, 164, 16768, 171-72, 174, 189, 224, 250-51, 260, 290

treasure, 53, 94, 142, 230, 234-35 tree: of green jade, 185, 188-89; of Ringed Adamant, 223; of sunrise, 30, 36, 247 trial, 78; of Xu Mai, 277-81, 283-84 trigrams: dui, 63; gen, 63; kun, 63, 99, 295; qian, 63, 99-100; zhen, 186; see also Eight Trigrams triple yin, 295 trouble, 52, 151, 213; necessity of, 110, 113 True Ones, 185, 189; guarding the, 139, 141, 143, 145 Tuan zhuan, 63, 67, 99-100, 154 turquoise, 185, 189, 221, 23, 226-27, 253; turquoise grove, 227 Turquoise Pond, 46 Turquoise Terrace, 199 Twelve Stems, 69 Two Sovereigns, 50 underground chiefs, 305 underworld, 81, 227-28, 279, 293, 295; officials or figures in the, 12, 38, 277, 283 unite (in spiritual union; xiangyu), 63, 67, 70, 97, 135, 237 Unschuld, Paul, 70 upheavals, 136, 215 Upper Palace of Purple Clarity, 60 Upper Prime, 67 uselessness, 100, 111, 189 utmost gloom, 185 vacuity, 146-47, 149, 179, 184, 188 vacuous blade, blade-edge, or knife, 68, 77, 256-57, 274; see also blade-edge, mystic Vast Aurora, 248 Vast Coldness, 248, 254; Palace of, 248, 253 vaulting leap, 129-30, 174-75, 215 veins, 302 vermilion bird, 185, 223, 227 vermilion blooms, 221, 226 Vermilion Fire, 192; Palace of, 164, 171, 192 vermilion gates, 286 Vermilion Herb, 140 vermilion phoenix, 265 Vermilion Pond, 186, 189 Vermilion Ridge, 36 Vimalakīrti nirdeśa sūtra, 162 Virtue (de), 61-62, 64, 68, passim; mysterious, 79, 99; superior, 62, 76, 283, 289, 292-93

344 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED viscera, 293-94; see also five viscera Viscount Jian of Zhao, 133 vision or eyesight, 45, 48, 72, 78, 209 visions, 15, 38 visitations, 27, 29, 48, 65, 292, 299 visualization (in meditation), 9, 71, 87, 91, 122, 143, 184-87, 226, 262-63, 267-68, 284 void, 49, 66, 70, 77, passim; center of, 288 volatization, 253, 269, 294 Wagner, Rudolph, 294 Waley, Arthur, 232 Walker, John, 22 Walled City, 176, 179 Wang Bao, 16, 30, 56, 58, 78, 83-84, 93-94, 112, 116, 165, 172, 202, 206, 221; poem by, 198-99 Wang Bi, 172, 275 Wang, Chengwen, 50 Wang Chong, 79, 99, 236 Wang Daoning, 31 Wang Guangxiang, see Consort in Attendance Within Wang Guoliang, 90 Wang Lin, see Lady Purple Prime Wang Liqi, 112 Wang Meilan, see Lady Right Blossom Wang Meishou, 158 Wang Ming, 75, 229, 238, 294 Wang Shilong, 276-78, 281-82 Wang Shiqing, 39 Wang Xizhi, 1, 139, 275 Wang Xuanhe, 97 Wang Yi, 161, 199, 252, 286 Wang Yuan, 198, 202; poem by, 198 Wang Zhen, 144 Wang Zhongdu, 297 Wangshi Shenxian zhuan, 297 Wangshu, 176 Wangzi Jin, 157; see Wangzi Qiao Wangzi Qiao, 16, 30, 56, 60, 65, 74, 76, 82, 92, 95, 101-03, 129, 157-60, 166, 16869, 176, 220; poem by, 160; prose declaration by, 92-94 Ware, James R., 75, 229, 238, 294 water, 50, 71, 140, 150, 170, 263, 276, 278, 296 Water Office, 33, 79

Watson, Burton, 60, 67-68, 100, 109-12, 117-18, 129, 131-32, 134, 140, 164-65, 167, 173, 179, 186, 197, 224, 228-29, 238, 245, 254, 272, 296-98 wavering, 18, 197, 201 waves, 40, 45, 48, 53, 63, 93, 110, 129, 131, 134, 144, 162, 189, 210, 213, 217, 250-51, 258, 260; of cloud (“cloud-waves”), 268, 270; rose-gold, 90, 205 Way (dao), passim Way and its Virtue (Daode jing), see Laozi Way of penetrating darkness with sunlight, 94 wealth, 100, 280 weapons, 100-01, 122, 186 Weaving Girl, 62, 237, 261; as “Flaring Girl,” 193-94 wedding, 74, 77, 81, 86, 102-03, 112, 147, 257; ceremony, 76; see also marriage weft (apocrypha), 3, 21 Wei furen neizhuan, see Nanyue Wei furen neizhuan Wei Huacun, see Lady of the Southern Marchmount, Wei Huacun Wei Shou, 224 Wei shu, 224 Wei Xianren, 31 Wei Zhen, 129 Wen xuan, 4; see also Liuchen zhu wen xuan Wenfang sipu, 23 Weng Daoyuan, 276 Wenyan commentary, 263-64, 271, 288 west court, 224 West Florescence, 162, 271, 273; Palace of, 46, 117; see also West Palace West Mystery, 32 West Palace, 46, 97, 99, 117; West Turquoise, 46; see also West Florescence Western Allied Carriers, 32 western consorts, 206, 254 Western Han, 36 Western Marchmount, 32, 35 Western Pole, 198 Western Regions (China), 37 Westwall Cave-heaven, 198 what is and is not (shifei), 165, 173, 179, 193-94, 274

INDEX / 345 wheels, 98, 110, 161-62, 164, 176, 182, 206, 211, 260-61; cloud-wheels, 53, 66; hub and spokes, 270 Whirlwind Terrace, 96 whistles and whistling, 159, 162-63, 168, 170, 203, 217, 219, 279 White Hollow Mountain, 33 White Mountain Palace, 33 White Thearch, 115, 154 Whitewater, 33, 181, 183 wife or wives, 15, 17, 76, 79, 107, 120, 216, 219, 241-44, 260-61, 274, 283-84, 286 Wildwind, 90, 189; Garden, 70; Terrace, 90 Wile, Douglas, 78, 256-57 Wiles, Susan M. M., 75 Wilhelm, Richard, 25, 63-64, 99-100, 123, 133, 151, 154, 218, 232, 246, 260, 263, 269, 278, 288 wind, 22, 25, 49, 80, passim; numinous, 96, 159, 167, 190, see also breeze, thundrous wind, and Eight Winds wings, 25, 108, 114, 120, 167, 224, 232 winter solstice, 22 wisdom, 24, 92, 136, 288 wish-fulfillment fantasy, 207, 245-46, 265, 274 withdrawal, 204, 237, 263 wolves, 255, 257 womb, 96, 257, 284, 304 wondrous, the, 55, 66, 88, 94, 172, 288, 306 woods, 100, 126, 139, 203, 225-26, 236, 251, 265, 271 wordplay, 135, 138, 216, 266, 300; see also Xu Hui, wordplay on Jade Axe childname words, propagation of Perfected spoken, 44, 49-50, 53, 57, 105 worry, 72, 145, 161, 195, 232 worship, 238, 241 worthies, 129, 131, 133, 144, 211, 238 writ of investiture, 74, 281; receiving, 60, 97, 104, 107, 281, 285; see also investiture writing, origins, 49-51, 57 Writings of the Most High, see Taishang wen WSMY, 13, 30-31, 33, 36, passim Wu, ancient state, 206; one of the Three Kingdoms, 277; region, 13, 95, 104, 266 Wu Guang, 298 Wu Jing, 21

Wu Shu, 23 Wudang fudi zongzhen ji, 33 Wulao ciyi baojing, 185 Wushang miyao, see WSMY Wuxing ji, 297 Wuyue zhenxing tu, 149, 279 WYT, 12, 14, 26, 29-30, 34, 38-39, passim Xiang zhuan, 99-100, 218, 278 Xianyang, 86 Xianyuan bianzhu, 275 Xiao jing, 84 Xiao Shi, 177, 205 Xiao Tong, 4 Xiaomo jing or Xiaomo zhihui jing, 187, 202, 223, 250; see also Shenhu shangfu xiaomo zhihui jing xiaoren (“humble self”), 208-209 Xiaoyou (Heaven), 84, 198 Xici zhuan, 25, 54, 123, 195, 260, 269 Xidu fu, 191 Xie Gong, 278 Xiguo Youdu, 31 Xiling Zidu, 297 Ximen Bao, 233 Xiuzhen shi shu, 210 Xiwangmu, see Queen Mother of the West Xizheng fu, 259 Xu Chao, 278 Xu clan, 1, 40, 157, 280, 283 Xu Daoju, 282 Xu Daoyu, 281 Xu Fang, 40 Xu Fu (father of Xu Mi), 278 Xu Gan, 210 Xu Huangmin, 281, 291 Xu Hui, 1, 9, 15-18, passim; allotment, 290; death, 301; dismissal of wife, 114, 120, 216, 219, 283; future elevation, 216, 280, 287, 289, 292; as Jade Axe, 116, 119, 129, 215-16, 219, 248, 266, 287; as Master Jade, 129, 131, 248-49, 289; wordplay on Jade Axe child-name, 116, 119-20, 287, 292 Xu Lian, 15, 119-21; future escape, 280 Xu Mai, 15, 18, 40, 44, 275-285; dismissal of wife, 283-84 Xu Mai biezhuan, 275 Xu Mai zhenren zhuan, 275 Xu Mi, 1, 8-9, 11, 15-18, passim; birth and death dates, 287; child-name Mu, 118, 120, 150-51, 195-96, 209, 286; construction of retreat, 150, 242, 265; en-

346 / DECLARATIONS OF THE PERFECTED tanglement of destiny with son, 216, 220; future elevation, 191, 216-17, 219, 238-44, 280, 286, 289, 292; letters by, 121, 150-151, 195-196, 207-209, 232234, 238-239; missing religious date, 212, 234-43, 149, 266-67; previous life, 18, 157, 215-20, 232-35, 256, 258; as Perfected earl or marquis, 82-86, 181, 183, 215, 237, 242, 246-47, 288, 292; as widower, 15, 107, 242-43, 261 Xu Rongdi, 281; comments on manuscripts, 291 Xu Shen’er, 281 Xu Ying, see Xu Mai Xu Zhao, 145, 147, 217, 219, 280, 283 Xuanyuan (asterism), 98 Xuanzhou shangqing Su jun zhuan, 224, 277 Xue Lü, 18, 216-17, 219-20, 234 Xunzi, 298 Yan (ancient state), 37, 217-20, 239, 241 Yan Baihu, 277-78 Yan Dong, 206 Yan Kejun, 155 Yan Lugong ji, 70 Yan Zhenqing, 70 Yang Buyi, 24, 285 Yang Chen, 24, 27 yang cycles, 36 Yang Jialuo, 261 Yang Quan, 15, 24-29, 156, 285-86 Yang Xi, 1, 3, 5-6, 8-9, 11, 13, 15-17, passim; betrothal, 58-64, 73-76, 228, 230; future destiny, 94-105; marriage, 64-73, 76-77, 119, 230, 257; personal or private records, 74, 107, 156; reading of Perfected script, 102-03; relationship with Xu Mi, 157; time of birth, 61 Yang Xin, 24, 27, 285 Yang Xiong, 195, 230-31 Yangxing yanming lu, 92 Yangzi River, 83, 228, 276 Yanzi, 155 Yao (sage-ruler), 129, 176, 280, 298 Yaoxiu keyi jielü chao, 180 Ye (capital of Wei), 298 Year-Star, 27, 45, 58, 118 yellow and red, 79-80; way of, 78 Yellow Portal, 43 Yellow River, 261, 287-88

Yellow Script with Red Borders, see Huangshu chijie Yellow Springs, 197 Yellow Thearch, 21, 109, 115, 154, 253, 280, 296-97 Yi jing, see Zhou yi Yi Rugang, 2, 22 Yi Zhou shu, 229, 231 Yili, 67, 164, 209 yin and yang, 23, 25, 29, 50, 63, 75, 79, 95, 97, 99, 104, 108, 182, 203-04, 208, 229, 254, 260, 278, 284, 295, 305; body organs, 233 Yin Cheng, 282 Yin Gui, 33 Yin Linzi, 282 Yin Youzong, 31 Yingzhou, 140 Yiqie rulai da mimi wang weicengyou zuishang weimiao damannuluo jing, 71-72 Yiwen leiju, 22, 70 YJQQ, 30, 31, 33-34, 40, passim Yongcheng jixian lu, 36, 75, 129, 133, 137-38, 145-46, 153, 155, 164-65, 175, 177, 182, 185, 190, 193, 203-04, 221, 223-24, 244-45, 248-50, 252, 256, 258, 266, 275 Yoshikawa Tadao, 37 Yoshikawa Tadao and Mugitani Kuniō, 5-6 You Tiantai shan fu, 185, 224 Young Ning, 297, 300 Youngest Son Qiu, 296 “Youxian shi,” 134 Yu Anqi, 3, 141 “Yu gong,” 31 Yu Shinan, 66 Yu Xi, 265 Yuanshi wuliang duren shangpin miaojing sizhu, 62, 106, 182, 206 Yudan (state), 178 Yue, ancient state, 206; region, 95, 104 Yuezhi, 132, 136, 174, 181 Yunti xiang (title), 14, 23, 305-06 Yuqing shenhu neizhen ziwen danzhang, 230 Zeng Shen, 84, 87 Zeng Zao, 90 Zengzi, 84 ZG, passim; circulation and transmission, 2003, 7; format, 2, 10, 13, 83-84, 118, 132; Japanese translation, 5-6, 8; over-

INDEX / 347 all structure, 2-3, 6-7; Part One synopsis, 17-18; partial Western translations, 8; “perverse” aspects, 6-7, 14-15; relationship with Dengzhen yinjue, 2; transmission errors, 2, 10-11, 14; Yu Anqi annotations, 3 Zhang Daoling, 293 Zhang Heng (Celestial Master), 293 Zhang Heng (literatus), 131, 191, 207, 271, 287 Zhang Hua, 261 Zhang Liang, 126 Zhang Ling, 78, 216, 233 Zhang Lu, 52, 293, 298 Zhang Qian, 261 Zhang Shanggui, 31 Zhang Zhen, 129 Zhanguo ce, 60 Zhao Chengzi, 302, 304 Zhao Cui, 302 Zhao Daoxuan, 276, 282 Zhao Shudao, 282 Zhao Shutai, 39, 110, 113 Zhao Yi, 6 Zhao Zuyang, 32 Zhen’gao Crag, see Mount Chi Zhen’gao, see ZG Zheng Xuan, 164 Zhenji jing, 2, 57, 97, 123 Zhi Qian, 199-200 zhiguai literature, 48, 144 Zhonglun, 210 Zhongshan yugui fuqi jing, 222 Zhongxian zansong lingzhang, 133, 137, 174-75, 250 Zhou Book of Changes, see Zhou yi Zhou Fang, 277-78, 281

Zhou li, 24, 250 Zhou yi, 3, 21, 23, 25, 49-50, 63-64, 67, 95, 99-100, 117, 123, 133, 138, 151, 154, 186, 218, 232, 246-47, 260, 263-64, 269, 275, 278, 288; commentary tradition, 182 Zhou Yishan (Perfected Man of Purple Yang), 11, 16, 32, 39-40, 42-44, 47, 53, 57, 65, 80-81, 88-89, 94, 119, 124, 126, 198, 209, 220, 257, 287, 297; prose declarations by, 40-43, 80, 88 Zhoushi mingtong ji, 33, 100, 259 Zhu Jiaofu, 33 Zhuang Bowei, 88 Zhuangzi, 24 Zhuangzi, 3, 34, 41, 47, 53, 60, 67-68, 100, 109-13, 117-18, 121, 129, 131-32, 134, 137, 140, 159, 163, 165, 167, 169-71, 173, 179, 186, 197, 203, 224, 228-29, 231, 238, 245, 254, 269, 272, 298; inner chapters, 3-4, 67, 182; outer chapters, 68 Zhuolu, 280 Zidu yanguang, 297; see also Dongzhen taishang zidu yanguang shenyuan bianjing Zigong, 269 zithers (zhu), 174, 224 Ziwen xingshi jue, 303 Ziyang zhenren neizhuan, 32-33, 40, 43, 47, 92, 96, 126, 290, 297 Zizhang, 233 zodiac, 69, 133 Zong Lin, 261 Zong Qin, 224 Zuo Ci, 278, 294 Zuo zhuan, 92, 131, 155, 196, 233, 254, 256