Page 401 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

work. As the Center, tripod and furnace are also called Mercurial Tripod (hong-
ding 7R: frl), Lead Tripod (qianding ~ Ml), Golden Tripod (jinding ~ *iD, and
Spiritual Furnace (shenlu ;j:$ 'nili).
As a representation of space, tripod and furnace are also dual and frame the
alchemical work: they are qian fi (pure Yang) or Heaven above and kun:l!f!
== (pure Yin) or Earth below. They contain the ingredients of the elixir, and
trigrams and hexagrams circulate between them as Yin and Yang do between
Heaven and Earth. Each is indicated by Yin or Yang symbols: for instance, the
qian-furnace is paired with the kun-tripod, or the Jade Tripod with the Golden
Furnace, or the Yang Furnace with the Yin Tripod. The Furnace as a "supine
moon" (yanyue lu f~ ~ ;/j) symbolizes the waxing moon, which is the ascend-
ing Yang; it stands for the hexagram fu 1~ "'''' (Return, no. 24), or the Heart of
Heaven (*tianxin), while the Cinnabar Tripod (zhusha ding 7\( 1)' Ml ) stands for
Fire or the Original Spirit (yuanshen Jl::f$).
The "Two-Eight Furnace" (erba lu =A~!) alludes to the "two measures" of
eight ounces each, which together form the pound of elixir, i.e., the two halves
of the alchemical work. "External and internal Tripod" (wainei ding 11, 1*1 WIl)
designates the outer and inner Medicine, or in other words the transcendent
precosmic *xiantian parcel that must be interiorized. At the final stage of the
process, Furnace and Tripod respectively represent non-action (*wuwei) and
Emptiness (xu r~).
Being dual, ding and lu indicate different things according to the level at
which the alchemical work is situated. At the lower level, they can be body
and spirit, or body and viscera; at the median level they can be qian and kun,
or ding can stand for qian and kun and lu for Yin and Yang; at the higher level,
they can be Heaven and Earth, or the Great Void and the Real Void, or the
Great Void and the Great Ultimate (*taiji). Some texts state that lu is the body
and ding is the Dao. Or both can represent the body while the spirit (*xin) is
the Divine Chamber (shenshi :f$ '''fJ. Sometimes, finally, ding is meant to be
the Yellow Court (huangting ~ Jig) in the navel, and lu the Cavity of Pneuma
(qixue *t 1\) between the kidneys.
Isabelle ROBINET

m Robinet 1995a, 92-95 and 152-53

* neidan