What Are the Taoist “Ten Books on Cultivating Perfection”?

Chiyang Daoren, Eastern Taoism

The Ten Books on Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen Shishu) is a collection of works on inner alchemy in sixty scrolls. Its compiler is not recorded. The Zhengtong Taoist Canon places it in the category of methods in the Perfection Grotto (Dongzhen) section. The collection contains a great many works on inner alchemy; apart from those of Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin, the great majority are by the Five Southern Patriarchs and their disciples, with Bai Yuchan the most represented. From the Northern School it includes only the Recorded Sayings from Panshan by Wang Zhijin (styled Qiyunzi), a disciple of Hao Datong. The latest work in date is the Collection on the Great Completion of the Golden Elixir by Xiao Tingzhi, a disciple of Peng Si.

The Ten Books on Cultivating Perfection brings together extremely important works from the various Taoist schools on refining the elixir and attaining perfection, and serves as a guide to the direction of Taoist practice.

Why is it called the Ten Books on Cultivating Perfection? “Cultivating perfection” refers to refining the inner elixir to become a Perfected and a sage; “ten books” probably refers to the number of parts in the whole collection: Miscellaneous Writings Pointing to the Mystery (Zazhu Zhixuan Pian), Collection on the Great Completion of the Golden Elixir (Jindan Dacheng Ji), Collected Transmission of the Tao from Zhongli to Lü (Zhong Lü Chuandao Ji), Miscellaneous Writings on the Shortcut (Zazhu Jiejing), Awakening to Perfection (Wuzhen Pian), Yulong Collection (Yulong Ji), Shangqing Collection (Shangqing Ji), Wuyi Collection (Wuyi Ji), Recorded Sayings from Panshan (Panshan Yulu), Charts of the Five Zang and Six Fu Organs of the Inner Radiance of the Yellow Court (Huangting Neijing Wuzang Liufu Tu), Commentary on the Jade Scripture of the Inner Radiance of the Yellow Court (Huangting Neijing Yujing Zhu), and Commentary on the Jade Scripture of the Outer Radiance of the Yellow Court (Huangting Waijing Yujing Zhu). There are in fact twelve parts. If Bai Yuchan's Yulong Collection, Shangqing Collection, and Wuyi Collection are counted as one, there are exactly ten; or if the last three works on the Yellow Court are counted as one, there are also ten.

Although the compiler divided the collection into ten parts, the number of separate works it actually contains is large. Most parts are therefore further divided into several scrolls. For example, the Miscellaneous Writings Pointing to the Mystery and the Miscellaneous Writings on the Shortcut each have eight scrolls, and the other parts have varying numbers of scrolls; only the Recorded Sayings from Panshan and the Charts of the Five Zang and Six Fu Organs of the Inner Radiance of the Yellow Court have one scroll each. The basic contents of each part are as follows:

1. Miscellaneous Writings Pointing to the Mystery

This part mainly collects the inner alchemy works of the Five Southern Patriarchs, including Zhang Boduan's Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir, Shi Tai's Returning to the Source, Xue Daoguang's Song of the Elixir Marrow, Chen Nan's Scripture of the Purple Court, and Bai Yuchan's Charts of the Fire Timing of the Golden Elixir and Treatise on Resolving Doubts in Cultivating Immortality. The Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir sets out the essentials of inner alchemy in twenty five-character poems, Returning to the Source in eighty-one five-character poems, and the Song of the Elixir Marrow in thirty-four seven-character poems; the Scripture of the Purple Court celebrates inner alchemy in the form of a long song; the Charts of the Fire Timing of the Golden Elixir uses many diagrams, “setting up images to illuminate the mysteries of the Great Tao”; and the Treatise on Resolving Doubts in Cultivating Immortality discusses the alchemical path through questions and answers between Bai Yuchan and his master Chen Nan. There is also Bai Yuchan's “Thanks to My Immortal Master for Sending a Letter,” his reply after receiving a letter from his master Chen Nan; and Bai Yuchan's “Letter of Thanks to Zhang Ziyang,” generally suspected to be a later forgery.

2. Collection on the Great Completion of the Golden Elixir

Written by Xiao Tingzhi, a Yuan-dynasty Taoist priest and disciple of Peng Si. It contains several types of work. First, ten charts, such as the “Chart of the Ultimate of Nothingness,” “Chart of the Heart of Heaven,” “Chart of the Mysterious Female,” and “Chart of the Cauldron of Completion,” explaining the cultivation of the Golden Elixir. Second, poems, songs, and rhapsodies discussing inner alchemy, such as the “Song of the Bellows,” “Song of Delighting in the Tao,” “Rhapsody on the Reverted Elixir of Golden Liquid,” “Treatise on the Reverted Elixir of Golden Liquid,” and eighty-one seven-character quatrains. Third, explanations in question-and-answer form of eighty-nine terms of inner alchemy, such as “reverted elixir of golden liquid,” “lead and mercury,” “fire timing,” “true unity,” and “movement and stillness.” Fourth, commentaries on Master Cui's Mirror for Compounding the Medicine and Master Lü's “Spring in the Qin Garden.”

3. Collected Transmission of the Tao from Zhongli to Lü

Attributed to Zhongli Quan as speaker, compiled by Lü Dongbin, and transmitted by Shi Jianwu, the Perfected of Huayang. It records the dialogues between Zhongli and Lü on the alchemical path, under eighteen topics such as “On True Immortals,” “On the Great Tao,” “On Heaven and Earth,” “On the Sun and Moon,” “On the Four Seasons,” “On the Five Phases,” “On Water and Fire,” “On the Dragon and Tiger,” “On the Elixir,” “On Lead and Mercury,” “On Extraction and Addition,” “On the River Chariot,” and “On the Reverted Elixir.” It is an important classic of inner alchemy.

4. Miscellaneous Writings on the Shortcut

It contains inner alchemy works such as Chen Nan's Emerald Void (the book is attributed to Master Niwan, Chen Pu; “Pu” is an error for “Nan”), Yanluozi's “Song of the Bodily Shell” and Scripture of Inner Observation, Cui Xifan's Mirror for Compounding the Medicine of the Heavenly Origin, Zeng Zao's “Song Exhorting to the Tao” and “Immortal by the River,” as well as Zhongli's Eight Pieces of Brocade, “Master Lü's Poem on Binding the Monkey Mind,” and Perfected Lü's Daoyin Method of Minor Accomplishment.

5. Awakening to Perfection

Written by Zhang Boduan of the Northern Song. It consists of eighty-one poems, twelve lyrics to the tune “West River Moon,” and thirty-two Chan hymns, and is an important work of inner alchemy. This version mainly includes the commentary of Ye Shibiao.

6. Yulong Collection

Written by Bai Yuchan of the Southern Song. First, it contains stele inscriptions composed for Taoist temples and monasteries in the Western Hills of Nanchang and on Mount Gezao in Linjiang, such as the “Record of the Haotian Hall of Chongzhen Palace on Mount Gezao,” “Record of the Huixian Pavilion of Yulong Palace,” “Record of the Yongcui Pavilion,” “Record of the Xinyuan Hall,” and “Record of the Mu Studio.” Second, it contains biographies of the patriarchs of the Jingming school (the school of Pure Brightness) and the immortals they revere: the “Biography of True Lord Xu of Jingyang” and the “Continued Biography of the True Lord” record Xu Xun; the “Biographies of the Immortals of Mount Xiaoyao” record the twelve True Lords, such as Wu Meng, Chen Xulie, Zhou Guang, and Shi He; and the “Biographies of Various Immortals” record Lan Gong, Mother Chen, Hu Huichao, and others. There is also the “Imperial Decrees Conferring Titles on the True Lord,” recording several edicts by which the Song court conferred titles on Xu Xun. In addition, there are a few poems presented to friends.

7. Shangqing Collection

Written by Bai Yuchan. First, travel records and inscriptions, such as the “Record of a Visit to Immortal Cliff,” “Record of the Cloud Nest,” “Record of the Zhuyun Hall,” “Inscribed on the Back Wall of the Hall of the Three Pure Ones,” and “Inscribed at Master Danshu's Thatched Hermitage.” Second, poems, songs, lyrics, and rhapsodies, such as “Miscellaneous Chants on the Nine Bends,” “Boat Songs of the Nine Bends,” “Song of Wandering Like the Clouds,” “Song of Happiness,” “Song of ‘After All, It Is Just So’,” “The River All Red: On Wuyi,” “Charms of Niannu: On Snow,” “Prelude to Water Melody: On Cultivation,” and “Rhapsody on the Studio of the Lazy Old Man.” Third, eulogies, appeals, and offering petitions, such as the “Appeal on the Portrait of Lord Zhu Wen,” “Eulogy on the Portrait of Lord Wen,” “Self-Eulogy,” “Appeal for Funds to Build a Retreat,” and “Offering Petition of Thanks for the Registration of Names and Transmission of the Teaching to the Taoist Community of Wuyi.” These are purely miscellaneous writings.

8. Wuyi Collection

Also miscellaneous writings of Bai Yuchan, including poems, songs, inscriptions, and assorted records, such as the “Record of the Rebuilding of Zhizhi Hermitage,” “Eulogies on the Celestial Masters of Successive Generations,” “The Master's Poem of the Bent Arm,” “Chant Longing for the Immortals,” and “Chant on Seeing a Crane.” There are also several memorials addressed to the heavenly deities, written by Bai Yuchan when he also practiced the Five Thunders rites.

9. Recorded Sayings from Panshan

Recorded sayings of Wang Zhijin, a disciple of Hao Datong of the Quanzhen school (the school of Complete Perfection), discussing the Tao with his students. They cover many aspects of moral cultivation and inner alchemy practice.

10. Charts of the Five Zang and Six Fu Organs of the Inner Radiance of the Yellow Court

The Charts of the Five Zang and Six Fu Organs of the Inner Radiance of the Yellow Court bears the attribution “written by Hu Yin, the Woman Who Sees Simplicity, of Mount Taibai.” The Zhengtong Taoist Canon also includes this book in the category of numinous charts in the Mystery Grotto (Dongxuan) section, attributed to “Hu Yin, Master Who Sees Simplicity, of Mount Taibai,” with slight textual differences; it is a variant edition of the same book. It opens with a preface dated the second year of the Dazhong era, a wuchen year (848). It is an early work on refining and nurturing. It describes, organ by organ, the methods of nurturing, treating illness, daoyin (guiding and pulling exercises), and breathing exercises (tuna) for the five zang organs—the lungs, heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, and gallbladder. Its accounts of the physiology and pathology of the five zang organs largely agree with medical theory.

11. Commentary on the Jade Scripture of the Inner Radiance of the Yellow Court

The Commentary on the Jade Scripture of the Inner Radiance of the Yellow Court was written by Liangqiuzi (Bai Lüzhong, who lived in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang). The Inner Radiance Scripture of the Yellow Court was probably written in the Wei-Jin period and mainly describes methods of visualization; Liangqiuzi divided it into thirty-six chapters in his commentary.

12. Commentary on the Jade Scripture of the Outer Radiance of the Yellow Court

The Commentary on the Jade Scripture of the Outer Radiance of the Yellow Court was also written by Liangqiuzi. The Outer Radiance Scripture probably took shape in the Wei-Jin period and likewise mainly describes the visualization of the deities; Liangqiuzi's commentary does not divide it into chapters.

From all the above, it can be seen that the Ten Books on Cultivating Perfection contains a great many Taoist works; apart from the Yulong Collection, Shangqing Collection, Wuyi Collection, and a few others, most are works on inner alchemy. Among these many works on inner alchemy, all but two or three belong to the Zhongli–Lü lineage, chiefly works of the Southern School of Taoism, so the collection is basic material for studying that school's theory and methods of inner alchemy.

Although most of the works it contains can be found in other collections, some are found only here, such as Cui Xifan's Mirror for Compounding the Medicine of the Heavenly Origin, Ye Shibiao's Commentary on Awakening to Perfection, and Xiao Tingzhi's Collection on the Great Completion of the Golden Elixir, which makes them all the more precious.