Page 341 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

302 THE ENC YCLOPEDIA OF TAO ISM A- L

dantian

Cinnabar Field(s); Field(s) of the Elixir

The dantian are three loci in the human body that play a major role in breath-
ing, meditation, and *neidan practices. Located in the regions of the abdo-
men, heart, and brain, but devoid of material counterparts, they establish a
tripartite division of inner space that corresponds to other threefold motives
in the Taoist pantheon and cosmology
The three Fields. The lower Cinnabar Field is the dantian proper and is the seat
of essence (*jing). Different sources place it at 1.3, 2, 2-4, 3, or 3.6 inches (cun
-t) below or behind the navel, and consider it to be the same as, or closely
related to, other loci in the same region of the body: the Gate of the Vital
Force (*mingmen), the Origin of the Pass (guanyuan Im 5'C), and the Ocean of
Pneuma (qihai *t#lJ). The lower dantian lies near the huiyin ~~ ("gather-
ing of Yin"), at the meeting point of the Control Channel and the Function
Channel (*dumai and renmai; see fig. 3I). In the first stage of the neidan process
("refining essence into pneuma," lianjing huaqi i.*~1't*t), circulating the es-
sence along these two channels generates the inner elixir.
The middle Cinnabar Field is at the cent er of the chest according to some
authors, or between the heart and the navel according to others. It is the seat of
pneuma (*qi) and is also called Yellow Court (huangting ~ruD, Crimson Palace
(jianggong ~ '8), or Mysterious Female (*xuanpin). Its central position in the
body also inspired the names Central Palace (zhonggong 9=t '8) and "One Opening
at the Center of the Person" (shenzhongyiqiao 51- 9=t - il). In the second stage of
the neidan process ("refining pneuma into spirit," lianqi huashen i.**t1't:fi¥), the
elixir is moved from the lower to the middle dantian and is nourished there.
The upper Field is located in the region of the brain and is the seat of spirit
(*shen). Also known as Muddy Pellet (*niwan) or Palace of Qian = (qiangong
Jjlt '8 , with reference to the trigram representing Pure Yang), it is divided into
Nine Palaces (*jiugong) or nine chambers arranged in two rows. Niwan denotes
both the upper dantian as a whole and the innermost palace or chamber (the
third one in the lower row; see fig. 62). Moving the inner elixir to the upper
Field marks the third and last stage of the neidan process ("refining spirit and
reverting to Emptiness," lianshen huanxu i.*:fi¥mft/[).
Dantian and meditation. The neidan tradition has inherited and developed
several notions that have evolved in various contexts since Han times. The