Page 313 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

274 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A~L

laboratory and its processes and contains schematic drawings of laboratory
equipment, but was difficult for Meng to understand. Two years later, while
at the White Crane Grotto-Heaven (Baihe dongtian B ~ ~roJ -J(, in the *Wuyi
mountains of northwestern Fujian), Meng met a Lan Yuanbai fil lE: [J , who
provided him with extra elucidation of the text. Meng realized that Master Lan
was none other than Bai Yuchan himself. In 1221, Meng invited three utmost
gentlemen intent on refining elixirs to enter into retreat, using Lan Yuanbai's
interpretation as a guide. The second chapter details a nine-stage process for
creating an immortal embryo (*shengtai) using similar language to the *Zhouyi
cantong qi and its cognates.
When seen together, the texts seems to provide a *neidan interpretation
(j. 2) for what was arguably a text centered on laboratory work (i.e., *waidan,
j. I). The long opening account ties both chapters to the same source, namely
Bai Yuchan.
LowellSKAR

~ Bai Yuchan; neidan

Chongxuan

Twofold Mystery

The term chongxuan derives from a phrase in the opening section of the Daode
jing, "mystery and again mystery" (xuan zhi you xuan .~ Z Y... ~). It alludes
to two steps toward the understanding of the Ultimate Void, and suggests a
double movement of the spirit on both a conceptual and a mystical level.
During the Six Dynasties, the *Xuanxue (Arcane Learning) school of thought
speculated on Non-being (or emptiness) and Being (*wu and you). *Wang Bi
(226-49), one of the main Xuanxue thinkers, wrote that *xuan (mystery) means
silent, mysterious, and unspeakable, adding that "we cannot settle only on one
xuan, or we would lose [its sense]; therefore [the Daode jing] says 'mystery and
again mystery'" (Robinet 1977, 109). Since Wang Bi considered xuan to be a
synonym of wu, he paved the way for a reflection on emptiness. According to
the Tang commentator of the Daode jing, *Cheng Xuanying (fl. 631-50), xuan
also connotes non-attachment: "When one is not bound either by Being or
Non-being, and one is not attached to attachment or non-attachment, ... this
is called Twofold Mystery" (Robinet 1977, no). Cheng Xuanying states that the
first xuan in the Daode jing passage aims at rejecting the two bounds of Being