Page 723 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

L1NGSHU ZIWEN 681

The first text (CT 639; trans. Bokenkamp 1997,307-31) opens with the story
of the composition of the Lingshu ziwen by the Azure Lad (*Qingtong), who
in Shangqing scriptures plays the role of mediator between divine and human
beings. It continues with three methods dealing with subtle physiology and
involving visualizations, incantations, and the absorption of talismans (*FU).
The first method teaches how to ingest the pneumas (*qi) of the sun and the
moon; the adept invokes the secret names of the Emperors of the Sun and
the Moon, envisioning their pneumas and absorbing them with a talisman.
The second method aims at "securing the three hun" (ju sanhun 1fT] -A.tlJ and
"controlling the seven po" (zhi qipo mU -t nW,; see *hun and po). Since the hun are
fond of freely flying away, the adept should control them by encircling his body
with a red pneuma summoned from his heart. The po, however, are malevolent;
one should avert their threats by imprisoning them through the visualization
of the Jade Women (*yunii) and the four directional animals (*siling), which
in Shangqing texts often form a sacred guard around the practitioner. These
techniques are complemented by a third practice, consisting of invocations to
the Three Primes (*sanyuan) or Three Ones (*sanyi) who reside in the three
Cinnabar Fields (*dantian), and in animating the god of the Mysterious Pass
(*xuanguan). This method is designed to replace the sexual practices of the
Celestial Masters (*Tianshi dao) and is related to embryonic breathing (*taixi),
as the Mysterious Pass is "the passageway that joined the placenta to your
viscera when you were first born" (trans. Bokenkamp 1997,327).
The second text (CT 255; trans. Bokenkamp 1997, 331-39) gives the recipe
for the Elixir of Langgan, named after a mythical tree that grows on Mount
*Kunlun. This method, lying between operative alchemy and "astro-alchemy,"
joins the compounding of an elixir with the absorption of astral efflorescences;
the product likely was not meant for actual ingestion. (For more details on
this method see under *langgan.)
The third text (CT 442; trans. Bokenkamp 1997, 339-62; part. trans. Strick-
manu 1981, 209-24) is devoted to a description of the apocalypse. It deals with
*Li Hong, the Sage Lord of the Latter Age (the present cosmos), who comes
at the end of the world to save the "seed-people" (*zhongmin), i.e., the adepts
who have gained access to the Lingshu ziwen, respect moral rules, and bear the
physical marks of transcendence enumerated in the text. (For more details on
this text, see under *Housheng daojun lieji.)
The fourth and last text (CT 179; trans. Bokenkamp 1997, 362-66) is one of
the few Shangqing sources that list ethical and ritual prohibitions.
Isabelle ROBINET

III Bokenkamp 1997, 275-372; Kamitsuka Yoshiko 1999,171-210; Robinet 1984,
2: 101-10

* Shangqing