Page 636 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

594 T H E ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A- L

that aim to receive these pneumas again in order to untie the "knots of death"
(Robinet I993, I39-43; Kato Chie 2000, I06-I2).
Fabrizio PREGADIO

III Lagerwey I98Ib, 34-38 and passim
* sanshi'er tian; sanshiliu tian

Jiuzhen zhongjing

Central Scripture of the Nine Real Men

Canon contains two versions of this text, entitled Dijun jiuzhen zhongjing *
The Jiuzhen zhongjing is one of the *Shangqing revealed scriptures. The Taoist

tt.fL ~ r:p ~~ (Central Scripture of the Nine Real Men of the Imperial Lord;
CT I376) and Jiuzhen zhongjing jiangsheng shendan jue .fL ~ r:p ~~ r~~ j: w ft Wc
(Instructions on the Crimson Life-Giving Divine Elixir from the Central Scrip-
ture of the Nine Real Men of the Imperial Lord; CT I377). The latter takes its
name from the recipe for an elixir that is probably apocryphal but was added
to the text at an early date (Strickmann I979, I7I-72). Apparently none of the
extant versions, including the one found in the *Dunhuang ms. P. 275I, is the
same as the original text.
The scripture describes several methods. The first, which gives the text its
title, aims to generate a spiritual embryo through meditation on the Nine Real
Men (jiuzhen .fL ~), the souls of the Imperial Lord (Dijun * tt) that animate
the body. The adept meditates on the Imperial Lord, the Great One (*Taiyi),
the Original Father (Yuanfu :7t50 and the Mysterious Mother (Xuanmu K
1±):), and the Five Gods (wushen .li W) of the registers of life (shengji j: ~; see
*Taidan yinshu). These divinities merge with each other nine times, transmut-
ing themselves into a single "great spirit" (dashen :*:W) that enters various
organs of the body and then rises to the *niwan, the upper Cinnabar Field in
the brain. A similar method, called jiudan shanghua .fL ft .L fl:: (Upper Trans-
formation of the Ninefold Elixir), is described in the Taijing zhongji jing n€l m
r:p~t.~~ (Scripture of the Central Record of the Essence of the Embryo; CT
I382; Robinet I984, 2: I7I- 74).
The method of the Dijun jiuyin * tt.fL r~ (Nine Yin of the Imperial Lord)
focuses on the Nine Yin, the secret spouses of Great Yin (Taiyin "* ~). They
live in the Northern Dipper (*beidou) and in the Hall of Light (*mingtang,
within the head), and are charged with the salvation of human beings. The