Collected Secrets of the Alchemists 诸真内丹集要

Composed by Wang Zhe in the Jin Dynasty, this work consists of thirteen volumes and is included in the Taiping Section of The Daozang.

As a collection of poems and ci by Wang Chongyang, the founding patriarch of The Quanzhen Dao, it was compiled by his disciples after his ascension, containing more than a thousand poems, odes and songs in total. Besides poetic exchanges with others and propagating Taoist teachings, most of his works are self-narratives and expressions of heartfelt emotions, from which Wang Zhe’s ideological beliefs and life experiences can be discerned. He advocated the unity of the three teachings, holding that: "Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are interconnected; the three teachings have always shared the same origin and spirit." His associates and correspondents included not only Taoist practitioners, but also Confucian scholars and Buddhist monks, and he spoke in the language of Confucianism when with Confucians, and in that of Buddhism when with Buddhists.

Collected Secrets of the Alchemists

Most of his poems exhort people to see through the mortal body as an illusory combination of elements and fame as fleeting bubbles, urging them to turn their hearts to the immortal Dao as soon as possible to transcend the Three Realms. He condemned wine, sex, wealth and anger as the "Four Evils", and children, grandchildren, wives and daughters as earthly fetters, urging people to abandon their families and become Taoist monks to cultivate the Dao. He wrote many poems about skeletons, teaching people to reflect on the impermanence of the mortal body by contemplating skeletons and awaken to the suffering of the cycle of life and death. Yet he also instructed lay believers to abide by the ethical norms of loyalty and filial piety, encouraging them to "live in harmony with six kin and maintain proper relations with friends".

The way to immortality he expounded bears a close resemblance to Chan Buddhism, as he stated: "If you wish to practice true cultivation, eat when hungry, close your eyes when sleepy; do not force meditation, nor rigidly study the Dao. All you need is to cast aside trivial mortal affairs, and hold fast to the two words—pure and quiet—in your heart." He also expounded the way of Internal Alchemy in his works, holding that when the spirit is harmonized with qi, spirit and qi interweave, innate nature is stabilized and life is sustained, and one returns to their original true nature, the Golden Elixir is thus attained. Several poems about sacrificial rituals are also included in the collection, revealing that Wang Zhe also practiced Taoist talismanry.

Wang Chongyang’s poems and ci are often interspersed with colloquial language and feature a diverse range of forms. He was skilled in writing ancient poems, regulated verses, jueju poems, ci and qu songs, even one-character poems, three-character poems and acrostic poems, with a particular fondness for composing ci. Taoist monks of the Quanzhen school in the Jin and Yuan dynasties who were proficient in literary composition all preferred to expound the Dao, express their aspirations and propagate religious tenets through poems and songs—a tradition first initiated by their founding patriarch Wang Chongyang.