Page 740 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

698 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

call it Six-and-One," adding that the compound has this name even if it is
obtained from a different number of ingredients (CT 885, 7.5a). Although no
waidan text gives an explanation clearer than this, at least two interpretations
of the expression "Six-and-One" are possible. First, the number I and 6 are
related to Heaven and Earth, respectively. Second, some early texts, including
the *Zhuangzi and *Huainan zi, describe or allude to the generation of the
cosmos as a process that takes place in seven stages (see Girardot 1983,150-52;
Le Blanc 1989). One passage of the Zhuangzi (chapter 7; see trans. Watson
1968,97)' in particular, represents the shift from chaos (*hundun) to cosmos as
seven holes pierced in the gourdlike body of Emperor Hundun 1I:Hi!: (Chaos)
by the Emperors of the North and South, emblems of duality. While the Em-
perors of the North and South intend to turn Hundun into a human being,
they actually cause his death, which is equivalent to the birth of the cosmos.
Transposed to the alchemical process, the seven ingredients of the Mud of
Six-and-One symbolically close those seven openings, recreating the original
inchoate state within the crucible and allowing the ingredients of the elixir to
return to their timeless condition of materia prima, and to be a representation
of the "essence" (*jing) issued from the Dao to generate the cosmos.

Fabrizio PREGADIO
m Chen Guofu 1983, 26-34; Pregadio 1991, 595-600; Pregadio 2006b, 75-78,
103-4
?::: fu [crucible]; waidan

liuzijue

"instructions on the six sounds"

This breathing technique, also known as "method of the six breaths" (liuqi fa /'\
~ ~t;), consists of inhaling through the nose and exhaling in six ways through
the mouth. The corresponding sounds are designated by six characters (hence
the name of the method, literally meaning "instructions on the six characters").
They are xu ufi, he Pii]' (or xu pt], nowadays also pronouncedgou), hu Pf, si PI!!!
(nowadays also pronounced xi), chui PX, and xi Pg.
As shown by a mention of the chui and xu breaths in Daode jing 29 and in
*Zhuangzi 15 (for the latter, see the entry *tuna), the origin of this technique
predates the Han dynasty. The chui and hu breaths are also mentioned in the
Quegu shiqi BD ~ ~ ~ (Refraining from Cereals and Ingesting Breath) manu-