Daoist Deities: Images of Transcendence, Femininity

Daoist Deities:
Images of Transcendence,
Femininity, and Transformation
1
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Visualizing Spirit
Seeing is Believing
Femininity and Transformation
Xi Wang Mu: Queen Mother of the West
Cultivating Life and Nature: Xing Ming Gui Zhi
Images of our Lady
Vision of an Inner Universe
Tai Ji Classics
Zhang Bo Duan, the Sage of Tian Tai Mountain
Yi Jin Jing, Tendon Changing Classic
Appendix: My Date With Wei Hua Cun
By a Way of an Apology
Heartfelt Thanks
2
Acknowledgments
It is customary in the beginning to acknowledge the ones that came
before, the ones that gave the author life, strength, support,
inspiration, and knowledge. In my previous booklets, I have
expressed gratitude to my wife, Jennie, my family, teachers, and
friends who have guided me on my way. In this booklet, I will be
focusing on the feminine and it would be prudent and right to give
thanks to my mother without whom I would not be here. This is
quite a simple, but binding statement. Without the feminine,
without mother, there would be no child.
I learned, viscerally, about the importance of the feminine when I
came in my late thirties with my wife and children to Little Rock,
Washington, to live on a farm. We decided to live on a farm to
learn how to live sustainable and self-sufficiently. Raising animals,
one quickly realizes the importance of the feminine. We saved our
hens, ewes, cows, sows, and milk goats and we castrated most of
their male offspring, keeping down to one rooster and occasionally
one billygoat, one boar, or one ram.
When I think about my mother, I remember her as an image in a
black and white photograph from the time she was about thirty.
She was young and beautiful. When I think about my mother, what
I remember most is her unconditional love. I feel sorry for all the
conflict, pain, and sorrow that I brought to my mother in her late
years. Our lives were moving on separate tracks. I was searching
3
for my identity and was full of myself and my own interests while
my mother was getting older and was plagued with pains and
ailments for which I, regretfully, had no time or patience. Then I
married and moved far away. When my father died, I went to see
my mother and I remember how she has insisted on coming to the
airport to see me off. I remember how small she looked through
the window of the bus that was taking me to board my plane. She
was walking away, leaning on her cane, away from the bus. The
last image I remember of my mother is how she was walking away
from the bus; a small hunched up old woman, leaning on a cane.
A few years later my mother passed away. I don’t remember why I
did not go to her funeral and I have never visited her grave. Maybe
because I am not interested in death and because I lived so far
away, my mother’s passing did not directly affect me and I
continued living as though one day I will still be able to go and see
her.
My mother, Hinda Kipnis
The other acknowledgement I would like to give is to Lady Wei
Hua Cun. In truth, I don’t know much about her. The Daoist
tradition considers Wei Hua Cun an immortal. She was born in 252
in Jining, Shandong Province. The tradition tells us that Lady Wei
Hua Cun appeared in a vision to the adept Yang Xi to whom she
4
dictated the text that become known as Huang Ting Jin – the
scripture of Yellow-Gold Pavilion. This scripture and other texts
dictated by Lady Wei Hua Cun to adept Yang Xi became the
foundation of Shang Qing, the High Clarity tradition in Daoism
that was practiced on Mao Shan for the last sixteen centuries.
What did Lady Wei Hua Cun look like? For years I tried to find an
image of Lady Wei Hua Cun. I realize how presumptuous and
unscholarly this sounds. Who can know how somebody looked
from a time before the invention of cameras or portrait painting?
Who can know what somebody looked like that lived so long ago?
For example, who knows what Christ looked like? Yet a tradition
of visual images of Christ was developed over time and now
images of Christ help us to visualize him as though we know. The
same can be said for any other visual representation of a face or a
place, or any other image from the past or from the transcended
world.
I found this image of Lady Wei Hua Cun on the Internet and, for a
long time, this was the only image of her that I knew.
Lady Wei Hua Cun
Wèi Hu! Cún F" Rén N# Xi$n
魏華存夫人女仙
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Visualizing Spirit
As a child growing up in Russia after World War II, I remember
climbing into abandoned, boarded-up churches. There, under dust
and cobwebs, I would discover images of saints.
Fragment of a Russian Orthodox Icon
Looking into the eyes of Christ or the Holy Virgin, I would feel as
though I was looking into a mirror. It was as though by looking
into the face of Christ, I saw a mirror reflection of my higher self
- as though I was looking into the eyes of my own spiritual being.
Why visualize spirit? In a way, this sounds like an oxymoron. We
visualize material things – a landscape, an apple, a thing of
beauty. Spirit does not belong to material things. Rather, it is an
idea, an abstraction, a non-material reality, an ineffable energy.
6
This summer, I had the opportunity to spend some time
researching and writing about images and spirituality. This
research was in preparation for the Daoist Gathering in Oakland,
CA, where I have been invited for the past several years to share
my passion for Chinese and Daoist studies. This year, the theme
of the gathering was “Deities in Daoism”. As a visual artist, I am
particularly interested in how transcendence can be imagined and
portrayed. Part of the work this summer was to understand what a
deity might look like.
Researching and writing about this subject I began to consider the
nature of my own thinking and I meditated on how my mind can
processes thoughts in both words and images. In thinking about
visualizing Spirit, I vacillated between the strict prohibitions in
Jewish and Muslim traditions of any images of spirit, to the
plethora of images of gods and goddesses in Hinduism, to
Thangkas of Tibetan Buddhism, and to the hundreds of images of
deities in Chinese traditions. In China there is a deity for
everything. There is a Kitchen God and there is a Goddess of the
Latrine, there is a Goddess of Sea Fearers and Goddess of the
Nuptial Bed, there is a Goddess of Smallpox and Goddess of
Eyesight, a Goddess of Children and a God for every
municipality, and so on. Each one of them is unique with a unique
biography and personal history.
Worldwide, in many indigenous mythologies and religions, it is
believed that Spirit imbues everything. My mentor and cultural
teacher, the late Native American traditional leader, Bruce Sovie
Miller, would say to me, “Hirsh, we think that Spirit is in
everything. We call it Hwei.”
I think that the experience of seeing “Spirit in everything” can
become individualized, differentiated, and concretized as different
deities. In this way, the Kitchen God can become a fellow that
watches everybody in the household: kitchen is a good place to do
this, right? The job of the Kitchen God is to bring, once a year, on
the eve of the New Year, a report on every member of the family
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to the Jade Emperor. We know a similar job description for Santa
Claus:
“He's making a list,
And checking it twice;
Gonna find out
Who's naughty or nice…”
灶君 Zào J"n,
The Kitchen God and his wife
Deities can help us understand manifestations of spiritual energy.
Specific features, such as gender and visual attributes of various
deities, can also be understood as attempts to explain the
ineffable. In my other booklets I have already spoken about Qi,
the universal energy of the universe.1 In this context, one can say
that the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Guan Yin, can help us to
understand the Qi of compassion.
China fascinates me because the beginnings of Chinese
civilizations are shrouded in the mists of time. Of course the same
can be said about all civilizations, but with the Chinese culture
there are also the written texts, signs on oracle bones, seal
1
All my booklets are available for free download at
http://blogs.evergreen.edu/diamanth/
8
characters on Shang bronzes; there is a continuity of tradition that
at least suggests that the knowledge of the past is still available in
the present and can be accessed and discovered at any time.
I am particularly interested in researching and writing about
feminine deities. Daoism upholds the Feminine as the root and
source of Heaven and Earth. In Daoism, the mystery of the
universe is compared to the mystery of the Feminine. Lao Zi says
in Dao De Jing:
xuán pìn zhì mén, shì wèi ti$n dì g%n
玄牝之門，是謂天地根
Mysterious feminine is the gate and the root of Heaven and Earth
This summer I worked with several Chinese texts including Dao
De Jing and Zhuang Zi to deepen my understanding of Daoism. I
was particularly interested in working with Huang Ting Jing, the
Yellow-Gold Pavilion Classic. Huang Ting Jing was recorded in
3rd century CE from a revelation by Lady Wei Hua Cun, an
immortal who developed practices of self-cultivation as
visualizations of Inner Deities.
In my research, I examined many existing visual representations
of Chinese deities. For example, a contemporary painting by
Ѫ宇一, Liu Yu Yi2, portrays religious, literary, and cultural
deities as they revel at the party of Xi Wang Mu, the Queen
Mother of the West, Mother Goddess of Western Paradise.
2
a website about Liu Yu Yi http://chineseposters.net/artists/liuyuyi.php
retrieved on 6.30.12
9
Immortals by Jade Pool, Painting by Liu Yu Yi (Ѫ宇一)
In this painting, the Queen Mother of the West appears as a young
woman; she is definitely in charge of the party! Later in this
booklet I will explain that she was portrayed very differently in
ancient times.
Most of all, my work this summer has brought me to a greater
understanding and appreciation of life. I have drawn vision and
inspiration from both ancient texts and images from the land. In
particular, I have enjoyed studying images on Chinese woodblock
prints where many deities are portrayed with such great
innocence, simplicity, and power.
10
Beam Immortal,
Zhong Liang Shen (中梁神)
The Beam Immortal reminds us that it is important to pay
attention to the roof over one’s head and to make sure it is safe. !
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Seeing is Believing
René Descartes separated the world of Matter and the world of
Spirit. It is hard to imagine what Western consciousness could
have been before that, but Descartes doubted that Matter and Spirit
are of the same substance and so Cartesian space became the
dominant way of how our modern minds perceive the world. But I
suspect that the Western separation of Matter and Spirit existed
long before Descartes. In Jewish tradition, god created the world
out of nothing and exists outside of the world he created. Plato also
separated the world of forms and the world of manifestations.
So while Matter and Spirit had been separated in Western tradition
for a long time, Descartes introduced into this tradition the practice
of intellectual doubt. Doubt is a part of Western spirituality. For
example, when Jesus appeared resurrected, St. Thomas had to see
the nail marks in Jesus' hands before he believed. "Unless I see the
nail marks in his hands…”3
Religious traditions tell us to believe in something that our eyes
cannot see. Visualizing spirit, or relying on visions of sages and
saints to see the spirit, helps us to envision the invisible. When we
visualize spirit through the help of images, it is as though some
higher faculties of vision open up in us. But there must be
something in our soul that can affirm somebody else’s vision as
true and so we can believe, and we can see.
Maybe, in some way, the ability to see the invisible could be
compared to seeing a living plant or a tree. We see the plant above
ground, yet below, invisible to us, are the roots of the plant that are
often even larger than the plant itself.
There is really so much that we cannot see. I often wonder how
birds see. How do they see, or know, or intuit, the topography of
3
New Testament, St. John, 20:25
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air currents as they glide silently and effortlessly, picking up this
current or that?
We cannot see currents of air as we cannot see the ley lines of the
earth, but a simple dowsing tool can help one find these lines and
visualize earth’s energetic grid. In the same way, images of the
invisible and images of deities that inhabit the invisible realm can
help us envision and understand spiritual energy. Rich traditions of
visual representation of transcendence have developed all over the
world, particularly in the East in India, China, and Tibet. These
images help us see the invisible. They help us visualize and
understand the invisible fields of energy and the importance of
direction and spatial orientation.
For example in paintings of Alex Grey we see luminous images of
transparent bodies surrounded by changing energy fields.
Alex Grey, Meditation
Change is temporal and directional. Change occurs in time
and space.
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Femininity and Transformation
Zhuang Zi wrote:
“In times of antiquity, people knew their mothers,
Did not know their fathers.”4
民知其母
不知其父
Although female fertility figurines like the ones found in early
European cultures were not yet discovered in China, we know
from ancient texts that early Chinese cultures were matriarchal.
Reading about ancient Chinese culture I’ve learned that early in
history, people prayed to Heaven, 天, Ti$n, and prayed to Earth, 地
Dì. Early references to Heaven, Ti$n, are found in the Oracle Bone
inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty (1600 –1046 BC). Heaven, Ti$n,
was traditionally called Shàng Dì, 上帝, High Sovereign. Also on
the Oracle Bones are descriptions of offerings made to the Eastern
Mother and Western Mother 東 母 D&ng M# and 西 母 X' M#.5
The early mother goddesses belonged organically and naturally to
spiritual traditions of ancient cultures, but with change to
patriarchal society, images of the goddess changed. For example,
while the Western Mother was seen and described as a “wild
woman” in early Chinese texts, her image changed to a matronly
monarch in Tang Dynasty and in frescos at Yong Le temple
painted in the Yuan Dynasty.
4
盜跖 - The Robber Zhi, ChuangZi, ch. 29
Suzanne Cahill, considered an authority on Xi Wangmu, places her as one of
several ancient “mu divinities” of the 4 directions.
Cahill, Suzanne E. Transcendence and Divine Passion: the Queen Mother of the
West in Medieval China. Stanford CA: Stanford University Press, 1993
5
14
Heaven’s Mother
In a painting on a vase from the Qing Dynasty, the Western
Mother is portrayed as a demure young woman. This is also true in
images from the Ming Dynasty.
Xi Wang Mu, Painting on porcelain, Qing Dynasty
15
These images are very different from images of the Queen Mother
of the West discovered on Han funeral tiles. In the ancient times of
the Han Dynasty, the Western Mother was portrayed as a deity on
a throne with a tiger on her right and a dragon on her left. These
early images of Xi Wang Mu are monumental in their archetypal
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simplicity and Tiger and Dragon are powerful metaphors for Yin
Yang.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas, 山海經, Sh$n H!i J'ng,
describes the Queen Mother of the West with frightening words:
“she has tiger’s teeth, disheveled hair, and she howls”
豹尾,虎齒,而善嘯,蓬髮
bào w(i, h# ch), ér shàn xiao, péng fà
Images of the goddess were transformed through time. We can see
also women themselves as agents and catalysts of transformation.
One of the unusual jobs I have had in my life involved me working
as a salesman in an Asian gift store that my wife and daughter-inlaw opened as a joint business in downtown Olympia, Washington.
Working there I was trying my best at selling Chinese clothes,
replicas of antiques, and other “beautiful and unnecessary stuff.”
From my experience of selling, I know that women are the best
buyers; they enjoy the process of shopping and enjoy the
excitement of energy exchange carried by objects and money
changing hands.
Women are also great facilitators of exchange between people.
There are many examples in history, from Pocahontas to Wang
Zhao Jun, women have helped form alliances and facilitate peace
treaties and cultural exchanges between people and nations.
17
And of course women are the agents of the greatest transformation
of all; they are givers of life. In Jewish tradition a person is
considered a Jew if his or her mother is a Jew. Rabbinic sages
explained that this is based on understanding that only the mother
of the child is certain.
Often nurturing and birthing are considered as some of the most
important characteristics of the Feminine. Both Xi Wang Mu and
Guan Yin are goddesses that help women in pregnancy and
delivery. There are many other goddesses whose task is to protect
women and newborn children. One of the most important ones is
Our Lady, Bì Xiá Yuán J"n, (碧霞元君), the goddess of the East
and of the Azure Clouds. Bi Xia Yuen Jun has one more difficult
task; that of protecting the daughters-in-law. Much can be said
about why being a daughter-in-law is a difficult, and often a
dangerous, position. Daughter-in-law brings new and sometimes
dangerous sexual energy to her husband’s family. Daughter-in-law
has the difficult task of navigating between her husband and his
mother and father; it is not a surprise that a position of daughter-inlaw is considered difficult in all cultures.
Speaking about Feminine and Masculine, I think it is important to
remember that these qualities do not necessarily equate with
Women and Men. Men and Women can and should cultivate both
Masculine and Feminine qualities.
18
Bi Xia Yuen Jun, Heavenly Immortal,
the Goddess of the East and of the Azure Clouds
Ming dynasty, c. 1600, 216 x 100 cm
Musée National des Arts Asiatiques, Guimet, Paris
19
Of all the different symbols for femininity and change, the most
enduring symbol is that of water. Water is the supreme agent of
change, transformation, and nourishment. Dao De Jing says:
上善若水
水善利萬物而不爭
Highest goodness is like water
Water benefits ten thousand things and does not contend.
Many female deities are associated with water including M$ Z#.
Ma Zu 媽祖
Sea Goddess in charge of waters, fishing, and trade
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Xi Wang Mu
The name of Queen Mother of the West, X' Wáng M#, is
composed of three characters:
x west; a place where the sun sets, a picture of a setting sun,
wáng - king, sovereign, prince; three
strokes representing
heaven, earth, and sentient beings joined together by a vertical
stroke, representing the king.
m – mother; the image for this word is inspired by women’s
breast and nurturing:
One of he earliest mention of X' Wáng M# is in the book of
Zhu$ng Z); 莊子, who lived around 4th century BCE. In Chapter 6
he says that “Xi Wang Mu understood the ways of Heaven and
people.”
知天之所為 Knows Heavens ways
知人之所為 Knows People’s ways
Zhuang Zi says that Xi Wang Mu became an immortal:
莫
莫
知其始
知其終
Nobody knows her beginnings
Nobody knows her end
The Classic of Mountains and Seas, 山海經, Sh$n H!i J'ng, also
written in 4th century BCE, describes Xi Wang Mu as living on
top of the White Jade Mountain:
21
350 Li to the West
White Jade Mountain
Place where Xi Wang Mu lives
Xi Wang Mu looks like a human being:
Leopard’s tale, tiger’s teeth, and good at
whistling;
Disheveled hair and Sheng ornaments.
蓬髮戴勝，
是司天之厲及五殘 She is in charge of Five Heaven’s
Punishments
It was believed that Xi Wang Mu controlled destiny and was in
charge of 天之厲及五殘, 五殘 w# cán, or five disasters of
Heaven.
又西三百五十里，
曰玉山，
是西王母所居也。
西王母其䕏如人，
豹尾虎齒而善嘯，
The early images of Xi Wang Mu are powerful in their simplicity.
Drawing by the author
22
Pottery tomb relief from Han Dynasty
discovered in ChengDu, (approximately 15”x18”)
23
Cultivating Life and Nature:
Xìng Mìng Gu! Zh",
(XMGZ)
I don’t know why, but Chinese culture always strived for
syncretism. By that I mean that in Chinese thinking, everything
relates to everything else in one all-encompassing philosophical
way. From as early as the Han Dynasty (2500 years ago), Yin
Yang and the Five Phases theories were already recorded as allinclusive philosophical and mystical systems. With Yin Yang and
Five Phases, all phenomena and human activity could be
understood as combinations of different Qi’s; energies of water,
wood, fire, metal and their yin yang qualities. All phenomena and
systems could be understood this way including food, medicine,
art, cosmology, and so on.
The movements to syncretise the three main Chinese
philosophical, practical, and mystical teachings of Daoism,
Confucianism, and Buddhism, were fully developed by the time of
the Song Dynasty. But this process of integration started much
earlier. The author of Xìng Mìng Gu' Zh) (XMGZ) is unknown and
there is a possibility that XMGZ was produced by spirit writing.6
The first known edition of XMGZ was published in 1614, but the
Nei Jing Inner Cultivation alchemical practices were used since
pre-historical times. XMGZ is unique because it has so many
outstanding illustrations. There were other medical and mystical
illustrated texts in China, but none of them survived.
XMGZ recognizes the importance of each of the three traditions in
cultivating Dao. The first illustrated page in XMGZ portrays a
meeting of sages, (shèng rén), from these three traditions:
三聖圖,
6
I learned about the history of XMGZ from Daniel Burton-Rose’s dissertation
“Integrating Inner Alchemy into Late Ming Cultural History…”
I am grateful to Daniel for answering several of my questions through emails.
www.charleschace.com/pdfs/Xing_Ming_Gui_Zhi-BurtonRose.pdf retrieved on
7.10. 2012
24
San Sheng Tu
The verse about Lao Zi says:
金臺玉局繞丹雲
25
上有真人稱老君
八十一化長生訣
五千餘言不朽文
On golden platform of jade pagoda surrounded by crimson clouds
Is the Realized Person, Lord Lao Zi
He wrote about transformations in 81 rhymed verses:
5,000 special words of immortal culture
81 verses are in reference to Dao De Jing, the Classic of Way and
Virtue, written by Lao Zi in 5000 words.
Speaking about Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, XMGZ
says:
"the five thousand four hundred and eight scrolls of
the Buddhist sutra speak the Way, the thirty three
chapters of the Golden Mean also speak the Way, the
five thousand sayings of Dao De Jing don't speak of
the ultimate point of the Way. What is the result?"
“...the sages of the three teachings all use life studies
as a way to teach people self-cultivation and means to
escape birth and death."
三教圣人以性命學開方便門，
教人順性命以還造化
Daoism teaches relationship with nature, Confucianism teaches
relationship with people, and Zen (Chan) Buddhism teaches
relationship with mind.
XMGZ is a manual of self-cultivation. One of the first images
in the book is called Illumination of All Things:
26
P# Zhào Tú,
普照圖 ,
Illumination of All Things
27
This image illuminates the union of Xing Ming, 性命, Life and
Nature.
A poem above the adept’s head says:
三㸁之竅
竅中有妙
妙竅其觀
是為普照
At the age of three there is an opening
In the center of the opening is a mystery
Observe the opening and mystery
To illuminate all things
“Opening,” is not the best translation for 竅 qiào. Qiao can be
compared to a spiritual aperture. “Age of three,” 三㸁, s$n suì,
literally means three year old, or three teachings. I like the
association with the age of three years old because
developmentally, in the first three years of life the fontanelle on
top of the baby’s head is not yet fully closed. Also, our connection
with the world in early childhood is more holistic.
The adept holds in his hands two circles, or apertures. In his left
hand is a raven, symbol of the sun - yang; in his left, a rabbit,
symbol of the moon - yin. The text in the aperture in the middle of
his head is a puzzle and a word game.
28
, hé, unite +
, xiao, small +
, sh%ng, birth +
, jié,
authority. Combined, , hé, + , jié, become - 命,mìng, life;
, xiao, + , sh%ng, become - 性,xìng, nature.
XMGZ emphasizes that originally, Xing and Ming
were inseparable (性命原不可分). “Is Xing and Ming really two?
Moreover there is no Xing without Ming, there is no Ming without
Xing. Heaven was called Ming, Human beings were called Xing."
XMGZ presents self-cultivation as a balancing act aimed at uniting
the two phenomena: Universe and Man. All Chinese classical texts
of self-cultivation emphasize the goal of uniting the “two things,”
essentially, uniting yin yang to the original state of non-separation,
Wu Ji.
In XMGZ the emphasis is on process. The following illustration of
inner and outer medicine shows transformation and circulation of
energy.
XMGZ explains that the objects in the carts of goat, deer, and bull
represent an alchemical refinement of gross matter.
Illustration for alchemical transformation of gross matter
29
Images of our Lady
In the year of 1890, Gao Rentong, the Abbot of the White Cloud
Monastery (Bai Yun Guan) in Beijing, commissioned a series of
paintings of Our Lady, Bi Xia.7 These 22 paintings, inspired by
images of self-cultivation in Xing Ming Gui Zhi (XMGZ), were
extraordinary! Here for example is a detail showing Our Lady in
meditation - uniting Sun and Moon. (A similar XMGZ image is on
page 27)
7
Harvard-Yenching Institute: Visualizing Perfection: Daoist Paintings of Our
Lady, by Xun Liu http://www.jstor.org/stable/25066726 retrieved on 8.8.12
30
Another detail is showing Our Lady meditating on four heraldic
deities of direction: Vermilion Bird of the South, Black Warrior of
the North, Azure Dragon of the East, and Golden Tiger of the
West.
31
Vision of an Inner Universe:
Huang Ting Jing, by Lady Wei Huacun
We see universe anthropomorphically. That is we see the world
human like. In 5th century BC, Greek philosopher Xenophanes
wrote that if horses and pigs would draw and paint the way people
do, they would paint their deities, horses as horses and pigs as
pigs.” But the poets described the world and the landscape as
images of the beloved.
Huang Ting Jing (HTJ) was transmitted from Lady Wei Hua Cun,
a famous Daoist immortal that lived in 3rd century, in central
China. Huang (煒) means yellow, or gold, Ting (庭) means
pavilion, and Jing (經 ) means classic, or scripture. So the name of
this text can be translated as Classic of Yellow-Gold Pavilion.
Lady Wei Hua Cun’s vision was that our body is a precious vessel
and inside our body is a landscape with a golden pavilion. Lady
Wei Hua Cun described with great accuracy the location of golden
pavilion but the actual place of this pavilion still remains a
mystery. In fact, inside we have several golden pavilions and each
one of the five organs has a golden pavilion and inside each
pavilion is a deity wearing crimson royal robs.
I first saw the text of HTJ on a stele in temple of Eight Immortals,
(Ba Xian An) in Xian.
32
On the stele I saw and recognized the first few words: shàng y*u
huáng tíng (上有煒庭), above is the golden pavilion. I could
understand that the text was describing a specific location in the
inner landscape.
Above is the golden pavilion, 上有煒庭, shàng y*u huáng tíng
Bellow, passage of origins, 下關元,
xià gu$n yuán
Behind lonely gate tower,
後有幽闕, hòu y*u y&u què
In front of doors of destiny, 前命門,
qián mìng mén
33
Beauty and mystery of HTJ attracted many practitioners and
scholars. The famous calligraphy immortal, Wang Xi Zi copied
HTJ in the beginning of 4th century.
A fragment of calligraphy by Wang Xi Zi
Daoist practitioners saw the human body as a reflection of cosmos
and visualized the body as an inner landscape complete with
mountains, rivers, valleys, and fields. The famous image of Nei
Jing Tu, ⏶經圖, translated as Image of Inner Cultivation Classic,
shows a child in the center of our heart, the Weaving Maid, Zh' N#
(ጯ女), in the spleen and the Ox Boy, Niu Lang (牛郎), plowing
the field as a metaphor for the process of self-cultivation.
34
Immortal Lu Dong Bin described self-cultivation as work in the
field. His poem says:
w* ji$ du$n zh*ng zì ji$ tián
我 家
加
種 自家田
I cultivate and plant my own field
35
Tai Ji Classical Texts
Tai Ji is a method and practice of self-cultivation. There are
different versions for the Song of Thirteen Movements of Tai Ji,
shí s$n shì xíng g&ng g%jué, 十三勢行功歌訣. I am bringing into
this booklet two of these versions, both attributed to the sage
ब三丰 Zhan San Feng, who lived around the 12th century. Tai Ji
songs help us to understand energies and forces of movements in
Tai Ji practice and associate them with cardinal directions.
13 Movements Song
13 Movements Song
The 13 Methods should never be treated lightly.
The source of strength of the body and spirit is in the waist.
Pay attention to the changes between empty and solid;
36
Make sure that Qi flows freely throughout the body.
Feel movement in stillness and seek stillness in movement;
Fill the opponent with wonder of your unpredictable responses.
Make a thorough study of the meaning and purpose of each
movement.
This will make it easy to achieve the goal.
Always keep the mind centered in the waist;
When the abdomen is relaxed and at ease,
The Qi can rise without hindrance.
Keep the tailbone straight to let the “spirit of vitality” rise to the
top of the head;
Then the whole body is relaxed and at ease.”
From “Taijiquan,” by Li Deyin, Foreign Language Press, Beijing,
2004
B$ mén / 八門 - eight gates
Péng / 㘳 – ward off
L+ / 捋 - rollback
J) / 擠 - press or squeeze
An / 按 - push
C!i / 採 - pluck
Liè / 㖡 - split
Zh*u / 肘 - elbow
Kào / 靠 - shoulder (lean or bump)
W# bù / 五步 - five Steps
Jìn bù / 進步 - forward step
Tùi bù / 退步 - backward step
Z#o gù / 左顧 - look left
Yòu pàn / 右盼 - gaze right
Zh&ng dìng / 中定 - central equilibrium
37
太极拳ጷ
tài jí quán j'ng
一˕ң，周身俱要ᣄ༛，尤ᮀ᠊串。
气宜鼓ᕙ，神宜Уஉ，
无使有缺陷‫ܟ‬，无使有凹凸‫ܟ‬，无使有஦ፒ‫。ܟ‬
其根在ᑢ，ԛ于腿，主宰于腰，行于手指，
由ᑢ而腿而腰，নᮀ完整一气，向前退后，
乃能得机得ҭ。
有不得机得ҭ‫ܟ‬，身便散˱，其病必于腰腿求之，上下前后左
右皆然。
凡此皆是意，不在外面，有上即有下，有前ѫ有后，有左ѫ有
右。
如意要向上，即寓下意，若ࠦ物掀起而加以挫之之力。
斯其根自஦，乃坏之速而无疑。
ᘳ߸宜分清楚，一‫ܟ‬有一‫ܟ‬ᘳ߸，‫ܟܟ‬ন此一ᘳ߸，
周身ᓠᓠ᠊串，无令ˁ毫᫂஦耳。
᪶拳者，如᪶江大海，滔滔不ፄ也。
㘳、捋、ૌ、按、采、㖡、肘、靠，此八卦也。
᣽步、退步、左ᮃ、右盼、中定，此五行也。
㘳、捋、ૌ、按，即乾、坤、坎、离、
四正方也。
采、㖡、肘、靠，即巽、震、Ї、艮、
四斜角也。
᣽、退、盼、ᮃ、定，即金木水火土也，
合之ѫ˒十三ҭ也。
原注云：此系武ऻ山ब三丰祖ࣂ᥀ᝫ。欲天下豪杰延年益ࠣ，
不徒作技ᓜ之末也。
In movement, all body is light and connected.
Qi is stirred up, Spirit (Shen) inwardly restrained,
Movements are without imperfections, without hollowing or
protruding and without starts and stops.
38
Root Qi in the feet, follow upward through the leg, govern Qi by
the waist, and manifest it through the fingers.
In this way, a unified flow of Qi spreads from the foot by the leg to
the waist.
Whether moving forward or backward, the feet, legs and waist act
in unison.
Only in this way will you be able to draw on your opponent's
momentum.
If your timing is off, you will be unable to take advantage of his
momentum and you will lose your center.
Look for the defect in the legs and the waist.
When moving forward or backward, up or down, left or right, the
principal is always the same.
All movements are directed by Qi and not by something external.
If there is an up, then there is a down,
If there is a forward, then there is a backward,
If there is a left, then there is a right,
If your plan is to move upward,
Then there is first a downward thought.
Just like lifting something up with the intention of destroying it,
Sever its root and surely you will quickly destroy it.
Clearly distinguish substantial and insubstantial.
One place has both, every place has both.
All parts of the body are strung together without the slightest
interruption.
Tai Ji Quan is like the ocean and like the Yangzi River because of
its inexhaustible, never-ending characteristics:
Peng (ward off), Lu (contract), Ji (press), An (push),
Cai (drag down), Lie (twist), Zhou (elbow), Kao (shoulder)
relate to the eight triagrams – Ba Gua.
Peng, Lu, Ji, An
Are Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li of Ba Gua
39
They represent the four cardinal directions.
Cai, Lie, Zhou, Kao
Are Xun, Zhen, Dui and Gen of Ba Gua
They represent the four diagonal directions.
Step forward, step backward, look left, look right,
Find equilibrium in the center.
Metal, wood, water, earth, and fire.
Together they make up the Thirteen Movements.
Zhang Bo Duan,
The Sage of Tian Tai Mountain
In my search for understanding the inner landscape of our
experiences and I am attracted to the work of
Zh$ng Bó Du$n 張伯端, who lived around 987-1082 of the
common era. Zhang Bo Duan was a poet, mystic, alchemist, and
perfected person (zhen ren 真人). He wrote the alchemical classic
悟真篇 Wù Zh%n Pi$n, commonly translated as Awakening to
Reality.
Zhang Bo Duan lived in Zhejiang province and cultivated
immortality in a cave on Tian Tai Mountain. Honorifically, Zhang
Bo Duan is called Zi Yang Zhen Ren 紫陽真人 – Purple Yang
Perfected Person, and is considered a patriarch of Southern
tradition of Daoism called Zheng Yi (正
, real perfection.
Following the motto that in China if you want to learn anything,
you need to go to the place of origins and to places where people
live and practice. I went to Tian Tai to visit Tong Bo Guang temple
of Zheng Yi tradition. Tian Tai Mountain has a long and revered
history in China. This is the place where two friends, Ѫ晨 Liu
Chen and 阮肇 Ruan Zhao, got lost in time and met fairies in
enchanted land. Tian Tai is also the birth place of popular Buddhist
40
monk Ji Gong
(1130~1207), known as Crazy Ji, and the place
of celebrated Guo Qing Temple ‫ڂ‬清寺.
The present day Tong Bo Guang temple is perched on top of a
mountain overlooking the sprawling metropolis of Tian Tai city.
Being on the mountain, especially in early morning, when the
mountain is shrouded in mist, is like being in fairyland.
Early morning inTong Bo Guang temple in Tian Tai
This was the second time that I had visited the temple. Tong Bo
Guang temple is headed by charismatic Abbot Zhang and attracts
many people. The original temple was submerged under the waters
of a hydro-reservoir in the 1960s and presently a new temple
complex is being built on the shores of this reservoir.
Serendipitously, I came this time during the festivities of opening
the first buildings of the new temple. The festivities lasted a week
and attracted over ten thousand people.
41
While I was at the temple I learned a little more about Zhang Bo
Duan and about practices of self-cultivation.
Deified statue of Zhang Bo Duan at Tong Bo Guan temple
Most importantly, I learned about another text of Zhang Bo Duan
associated with the practice of 易筋ጷ,Yì J'n Jìng - Tendon
Changing Classic. I heard the name Yi Jin Jing before, but knew it
in relationship to Shao Lin practices, initiated by Boddhidharma
(Da Mo). So my excitement grew as I learned about this new text
and a set of movements associated with it.
42
Zh$ng Bó Du$n 張伯端 (987-1082 CE)
易筋ጷ
Yì J'n Jìng
沐浴守中: ԙ手合十，冥心泯意，融入ᘳ空，洗清万念
ᨕ牛犁地: ԙ手握拳，拇指力挺，ᘳ᭻垂尾，拔背含胸
海底ऺ元: ԙ手推下，真意᠊充，任督中通，玄Ж神ज
˄̵融清: ԙ手平推，疏胸जᓠ，肝ᐳ利ࠢ，金木交化
神象ᮯ精: ԙ掌前推，三᫮通利，舒中श筋，返元᣻精
摘星望月: ӡ掌探月，掌઄命᪷，紫霄੾ᴑ，坎ࠁ守元
鼎立乾坤: 下ૢ海川，上推天᭻，水火即ิ，天地泯合
ऺ元丹田: ԙ手合掌，ऺ胞丹田，Ϧ立清心，复ऺ寂᭖
Tendons, 筋 (J!n) could be understood as the foundation of life
and strength. The importance of tendons is expressed in the wellknown myth of Achilles’ Tendon - the only weak spot in Achilles’
43
body. Tendons are intermediaries between muscles and bones and
are responsible for movement. In Hebrew mysticism, tendons are
called giddim and are believed to be connected to the marrow of
the bones, called mo'ach or brain.
Below is my line-by-line translation of Yì J!n Jìng.
1 mù yù sh*u zh&ng
沐 浴 守 中：
wash bathe guard center
Shu$ng sh*u
hé
shí
ԙ
合
十
手
Cleanse yourself and guard your
center:
Bring hands together devoutly,
couple hand combine ten
míng x'n m)n yì
冥 心 泯 意，
Keep heart and mind steady,
deep heart vanish idea
róng rù
x" k&ng
融 入
ᘳ
空
melt enter empty space
x) q'ng wàn niàn
洗 清
万
念
Enter the void,
Abandon all concepts and ideas.
wash clean 10,000 idea
2 Ti( niú
lí dì
ᨕ 牛 犁地
Iron Ox plows the earth:
iron ox plow earth
shu$ng sh*u wò
ԙ
quán
手 握
拳
both
m#
hands grasp fists
zh)
lì t)ng
拇
指
力 挺
Make fists with both hands,
Stick out thumbs strongly
tumb finger strong stand
x"
d)ng chuí w(i
ᘳ
᭻ 垂 尾，
empty top droop tail
bá bèi hán xi&ng
拔 背
含
胸
pull back contain chest
44
Empty head, drop down tail
Pull back, hollow chest
3 h!i
d)
gu'
yuán
海
底
ऺ
元
ocean floor returns origin
Ocean floor returns to origins:
shu$ng sh*u tu' xià
ԙ
手 推 下
both hands push down
zh%n yì
guàn ch&ng
真
意
᠊
充
Push down with both hands
True meaning revealed and
interconnected
true meaning connected full
rèn
d" zh&ng
任
督
t&ng
中
通
appoint direct center go through
xuán
gu$n
shén k$i
玄
神 ㆏
Ж
Govern yourself through the
center
Connection to spiritual vision of
mystery opens
mystery connection spirit open
4 li!ng yí
˄
róng q'ng
̵
Polarities of Yin Yang melt and
dissolve
融 清
two polarities melt clear
shu$ng sh*u ping tu'
ԙ
手 平 推
Push horizontally with both
hands
Unclog chest, open joints
both hands level push
sh" xi&ng k$i jié
疏
胸 ज ᓠ
sparse chest open joints
g$n
d!n
lì
d!o
肝
ᐳ
利
ࠢ
liver gallbladder benefit lead
j'n
mù ji$o huà
金
木
metal wood
交 化
join transform
Liver and Gallbladder lead
effectively
Metal and Wood embrace in
transformation
5 shén xiàng f%i j'ng
神
象 ᮯ 精
spirit image fly essense
Spiritual image flies refined:
shu$ng zh!ng qián tu'
ԙ
掌
both
palms front push
s$n yáng
前 推
t&ng
Two palms push forward
lì
45
三 ᫮
通
Three yang lead in triumph
利
three yang through benefit
f!n
yuán
hái
j'ng
返
元
᣻
精
Return to foundations and
original essence
return origin return essensestretch
sh"
zh&ng qiáng j'n
舒
中
श
筋
center strong tendon
6 zh$i x'ng wàng yuè
Expand center, strengthen
tendons,
Pick a star, look at the moon:
摘 星 望 月
pick star look moon
d$n zh!ng
tàn
yuè
ӡ
探
月
掌
One palm reaches for the moon
alone palm look for moon
zh!ng hù mìng mén
掌
઄
命
᪷
palm protects destiny gate
z)
xi$o
f#
lóng
紫
霄
੾
ᴑ
purple cloud nurture dragon
k!n g&ng sh*u yuán
坎 ࠁ
守 元
The other palm protects Ming
Men
Purple cloud nurtures the dragon
Water palace protects the origin
kan palace guard origin
7 D)ng
lì qián k"n
鼎
立 乾 坤
cauldron stands qian kun
xià
l$o
h!i chu$n
下
ૢ
海 川
bellow dredge sea river
shàng tu'
ti$n d)ng
上
推
天 ᭻
Cauldron stands between Heaven
and Earth:
Dredge seas and rivers bellow
Push the top of heaven above
above push heaven top
shu) hu*
水
jí
火 即
jì
ิ
water fire reach benefit
ti$n
dì m)n
hé
天
地 泯
合
heaven earth vanish harmony
46
Water and Fire benefit each other
Heaven and Earth dissolve in
8 gu'
yuán d$n tián
ऺ
元 丹 田
return origin dan tian
harmony
Return to the original Elixir Field
(Dan Tian)
shu$n sh*u hé zh!ng
ԙ
手 合 掌
both hands join palm
gu' b$o
d$n tián
ऺ
胞
丹田
With both palms joined
Return to womb of Dan Tian
return womb dan tian
ch#
lì
q'ng x'n
Ϧ
立
清 心
reserve establish clear heart
fù
gu' jì jìng
复
ऺ
寂 ᭖
Preserve clear heart
Return to tranquility
restore return quiet still
My Date with Wei Hua Cun
For the past two years I have been interested in the text of Huang
Ting Jing (HTJ), The Yellow Court Classic (᳛庭ጷ). I am
fascinated by the internal visions that HTJ describes and I keep
translating the text slowly - a line, or a verse at a time. Tradition
tells us that HTJ was revealed by Lady Wei Hua Cun to adept
Yang Xi (楊羲) in a series of nightly visits. Naturally, I wanted to
learn more about Lady Wei Hua Cun and Yang Xi, but the only
thing I could find was that the tradition of Shang Qing ( ) that
they started, was practiced in the past on Mao Shan mountain south
of Nanjing. Mao Shan mountain is very important in Daoism and
in the past has had many temples. Most of them were destroyed in
the Sino-Japanese War and Cultural Revolution. I wrote to my
friends in China asking them to visit Mao Shan for me and let me
know if they could find any references to Lady Wei Hua Cun.
Although several of my friends promised to help, none of their
trips materialized. So when I was invited this summer to come to
lecture at Zhejiang University, I thought that I would use this
opportunity to also go to Mao Shan. I was joking that I have a date
with a two thousand year old dame.
47
Coming to Mao Shan I was apprehensive, will I find Lady Wei
Hua Cun there? The very first statue that I saw in the temple was
that of Wei Hua Cun! In fact, the whole temple was dedicated to
her. Next to Wei Hua Cun, I also found both Yang Xi, who wrote
HTJ, and Tao Hong Jing (陶弘景), who edited and canonized the
text.
Lady Wei Hua Cun at Mao Shan
Larger then life, Lady Wei Hua Cun looked at me with infinite
compassion and understanding and I was smitten!
48
Yang Xi (
)
Tao Hong Jing (
)
Ge Hong (葛洪) who wrote about HTG
49
By a Way of an Apology
I want to finish this booklet with an apology to my readers for
writing about a subject that I know little about. What I know about
Chinese culture is largely self-taught. I love Chinese language and
culture and I am lucky enough to be able to teach Chinese culture
to college students in US. But I am just a step ahead of my
students. Because of that, sometimes I make statements that later, I
myself, regret. For example, in introducing my students to the Dao
De Jing (
, the Chinese classic of spirituality and selfcultivation, I often said that from the three words, Dao, De, and
J'ng, the word J'ng is the easiest to explain and that it simply
means scripture. Now, a little wiser, I understand that J'ng is
maybe the most complex word of the three. The word J'ng, 經(ጷ)
also means warp, and is composed ofጋ(糸 s') 'silk thread' and (は)
j'ng phonetic. Pictographically, j'ng, は is a picture of a loom. So
J'ng really means the warp and weft of the world, sort of the holy
writ that holds and explains the matrix of the universe.
In Chinese culture, there is an expression:
天不怕，地不怕，就怕 老外ឡ中‫ڂ‬ឋ,
ti$n bù pa, dì bù pà, jiù pà l!o wài shu& zhòng guó huà
“Don’t be afraid of heaven or earth, but be afraid of foreigners
speaking Chinese.”
So here I go, explaining Chinese culture! !
I want to apologize, in advance or in conlusion, for making
generalizations and statements that could be not true, or not
accurate.
Many people helped me in understanding Chinese texts and
practices of self-cultivation; whatever mistakes I made in this
booklet, they are my own.
50
Heartfelt Thanks
My heartfelt thanks go to Chinese students Yolanda, Amber, Coco,
and Kevin that helped me with reading and understanding Chinese
texts. To Felix, Anita and Abbot Zhang who helped me to
understand writings of Zhang Bo Duan a little better. To Joe
Williams, my former student turned colleague, thank you for all
your insights, to Daniel Burton Rose and Fabrizio Pregadio, who
responded to my email queries, and to Alex and Charlene Feng
who suggested the theme of Deities in Daoism for the 2012 Daoist
Gathering; you were the catalyst and inspiration for this research.
Thank You!
Hirsh Diamant,
Summer 2012, Tenino, WA
51
shàng y*u huáng ting, xià gu$n yuán
上有煒庭 下關元
“Above is the golden pavilion, Bellow, passage of origins”
From Yellow Gold Pavilion,
by Lady Wei Hua Cun
52