Page 274 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

BIXIA YUANJ UN 235

and so forth. A practice attributed to *Pengzu is reported in the Ishinpo as
follows:
After midnight, when the living breath starts, one should retain one's breath
and silently count without interruptions. Those who are afraid of making errors
can count one thousand wooden cards by hand; then they will not be far from
immortality. When one breathes out, one should let out less breath than was
inhaled. Inspiration is done through the nose, expiration through the mouth."
(Ishinpo, 27.19a)
According to *Sun Simiao's (fl. 673) Qianjin fang T ~ 11 (Prescriptions Worth
a Thousand;j. 27), breath should be retained in the chest for the time equiva-
lent to 300 breaths, so that even a feather placed under one's nose would not
move.
Breath retention was also practiced in conjunction with gymnastic exercises
(*daoyin), but in this instance the number of breath retentions was generally
reduced to five, seven, or twelve. It was also often associated with circulating
the breath (*xingqi), allowing one to release breath in the body to heal diseases,
eliminate stagnation and impurities, and generate warmth until perspiration
was produced. Ritual uses of this technique have also been described, especially
in association with the practice of "pacing the void" (buxu tI7 ftliL see *bugang).
Having visualized the breath of the multicolored stars of Northern Dipper
(*beidou), an adept grinds his teeth, swallows his saliva, and retains his breath;
the number of retentions depends on the numbers related to the stars that
correspond to certain parts of the body (see Peixingjiuchen yujing m1ifL~
.=U~; CT 428).
Catherine DESPEUX

m Maspero I98I, 506-I7; Needham I983, 142-43
* yangsheng

Bixia yuanjun

Original Princess of the Jasper Mist

The name Bixia yuanjun does not appear in any text earlier than the fifteenth
century, either within or outside of the Taoist Canon. Before then, the god-
dess was known as the Jade Woman of Mount Tai (Taishan yunii '* ill .:rr.:y:),
a title conferred on her by Song Zhenzong (r. 997-I022). This canonization