Arcane Texts of Inner Alchemy 玉清金笥青华秘文金宝内炼丹诀

Referred to as Secret Text of Green Blossoms (Qinghua Miwen) for short.

Composed by Zhang Boduan during the Song Dynasty and compiled by his disciple Wang Bangshu.

Consisting of three scrolls, it is included in the Methods Category of the The Dongzhen Section within the Taoist Canon (The Daozang). A memorial to the deity is attached at the beginning, stating that the author compiled diagrams and treatises based on the internal elixir cultivation formulas taught by the True Person of Green Blossoms, directly revealing the secret essentials of the Golden Elixir.

Arcane Texts of Inner Alchemy

The entire work is divided into twenty-four sections, including diagrams, treatises, poems, and mnemonic rhymes. It elaborates on Internal Alchemy (Neidan) theories and practices, being more clear and accessible than Zhang’s Wu Zhen Pian (Awakening to Truth).

Roughly taking essence, Qi (Vital Energy), and spirit as the guiding principles, it emphasizes that primal essence, primal Qi, and primal spirit must be used as the supreme medicines for the Golden Elixir, with primal spirit as the ruler of elixir refinement. It also holds that the mind is the abode of the spirit and the hub of all transformations—both life (ming) and nature (xing) depend on it.

Thus, those who study the Dao must first enlighten the mind and perceive nature: recognize the true nature of the original mind and primal spirit, and eliminate the appetitive spirit and the nature of physical temperament. Only when the temperamental nature is completely discarded can the primal nature manifest itself. The path to enlightening the mind and perceiving nature lies solely in tranquility—withdrawing sensory perceptions, turning inward, calming the mind and stabilizing the spirit. When tranquility reaches its peak, movement arises naturally, and Qi will naturally settle in its orifice.

It further states that the initial practice of elixir refinement begins with breath retention: using the spirit to concentrate on essence and Qi, awaiting their unification to generate the primal spirit. This process starts with intentional action and progresses to non-action—first attaining nature through cultivating life, then stabilizing life through realizing nature. This is what is meant by the dual cultivation of life and nature.

Therefore, although the alchemical method in this book advocates "prioritizing life before nature", it actually places greater emphasis on nature. Some scholars suspect that this work was written by the Ming Dynasty Taoist priest Li Puye, who attributed it to Zhang Boduan.