Page 469 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

430 T H E ENCY LOPED I A OF TAO I SM A - L

fuqi
JJIt~

ingestion of breath

Fuqi and its synonym shiqi 1,tw: designate the ingestion of outer or inner breath.
This technique is attested since the Han period, when it was closely associa ted with
abstention from cereals (*bigu). As described later in the *Yangxingyanminglu and the
*Fuqi jingyi lun, ingesting breath had prophylactic and therapeutic functions.
Typical practices based on the ingestion of outer breath include the inges-
tion of the "five sprouts" (wuya .li3¥, one for each direction; see Maspero 1981,
506- 13), the ingestion of the "yellow pneuma" (huangqi ~w: contained in the
sun rays), and the ingestion of breath in the time periods marked by the six
cyclical signs xu Bt. The ingestion of outer breath can be practiced in association
with the ingestion of talismanic water ifushui f-f 7.)(, i.e., water containing ashes
of burned talismans, *FU), and with methods for circulating breath (*xingqi) or
for retaining breath (*biqi). Breath can be guided to certain parts of the body
or to the conduits (*jingluo), or be accumulated in the lower abdomen. One
should practice between midnight and midday, the time of the "living breath"
(shengqi 1:.w:), and avoid the hours between midday and midnight, the time of
the "dead breath" (siqi ~w:). A more sophisticated method involves varying the
frequency of the ingestion according to the month and period of the day.
The fuqi technique is first described in the *Mawangdui manuscripts (Harper
1998, 129- 32) and later in the *Lingbao wufu xu (Yamada Toshiaki 1989b, I09).
The main sources in which it is described are the Yanling xiansheng ji xinjiu
fuqijing g~:%1:.~IUJTfH~W:~ (Scripture on New and Old Methods for
the Ingestion of Breath Collected by the Elder of Yanling; CT 825), the Fuqi
koujue m~ w: Q ~ (Oral Instructions on the Ingestion of Breath; CT 822; trans.
HuangJane 1987-90, I : 55- 65), the Fuqijingyi lun, and the "Zhujia qifa" ~*
#;; (Breathing Methods of Various Schools) section of the *Yunji qiqian (j.
56- 62). From the Song period onward, the fuqi technique was also used in the
Thunder Rites (*leifa). The *Daofa huiyuan (IOO.13a- b) reports that *Shenxiao
adepts should ingest the Thunder Pneuma (leiqi m-w:) when they are initiated
into the method of the Five Thunders (wulei fa .li ~#;; ; see *leifa).
Cathenne DESPEUX

m Engelhardt 1987; Harper 1998, 129-32; Hu Fuchen 1989, 283-86; Maspero
1981, 506-13

* yangsheng