Page 555 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

HUANZHEN XIANSHENG 5 1 5

analogous notion). In this form, huanjing bunao is related to sexual techniques
(*fangzhong shu) and longevity practices (*yangsheng).
*Rong Cheng's biography in the *Liexian zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary
Immortals; trans. Kaltenmark I953, 55-60) describes the art of "riding women"
(yunii 1iP:9:') as follows: "One should firmly hold [the penis] with the hand,
not ejaculate, and let the essence revert to replenish the brain." This was the
main sexual technique. A more detailed description is found in an anonymous
"scripture of the immortals" (xianjing {w ~~), which states that before semen
flows out, one should hold the penis with the two middle fingers of the left
hand behind the scrotum and in front of the anus, and simultaneously breath
out slowly through the mouth and repeatedly grind one's teeth. In this way,
sta tes the text, essence "rises from the Jade Stem (yujing .3I. M, the penis) up
to the brain" (see Maspero I98I, 522).
"Returning the essence to replenish the brain" is also mentioned in *neidan
texts, where it takes on a different meaning and refers to the repeated cycling
of the essence in the first stage of the practice (see the entry *zhoutian).
Catherine DESPEUX

III Baldrian-Hussein I984, I09-36; Maspero I98I, 522- 29; Needham I983,
I97-20I; Wile I992, 46-50

* zhoutian;Jangzhong shu; yangsheng

Huanzhen xiansheng

Elder of Illusory Perfection; also known as Youzhen xiansheng
~J ~7t:1: (Elder Youzhen)

The only available information about Huanzhen xiansheng comes from the
preface to the Huanzhen xiansheng fu nei yuanqi jue zG ~:% ~ BIi i*J 5(; ~ Wc
(Instructions on the Ingestion of the Inner Original Breath According to the
Elder of Illusory Perfection; CT 828; trans. Oespeux I988, 65- 84, from the ver-
sion in the *Chifeng sui). According to this document, he received breathing
techniques during the Tianbao reign period (742- 56) from Wanggong .:E i; ,
a Perfected of the Luofu Mountains (*Luofu shan, Guangdong).
Two texts in the Taoist Canon are attributed to Huanzhen xiansheng: the
Taixi jing zhu B€l )~,~~ 11 (Commentary to the Scripture of Embryonic Breath-
ing; CT I30; see *Taixi jing) and the above-mentioned Funei yuanqi jue (also
found in YJQQ 60.I4a- 25b). The Xin Tangshu (New History of the Tang; 59.I542)