Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng
Also known as Complete Works of Sanfeng.
Zhang Sanfeng was a famous Taoist priest between the Yuan and Ming dynasties, and the patriarch of the Sanfeng Sect of The Quanzhen Dao.
According to the Records of Literature and Calligraphy in History of the Ming Dynasty, his works include Straight Teachings of the Golden Elixir and Secret Formula of the Golden Elixir, one volume each.
Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng
However, these works were not included in the Supplement to the Daozang printed in the Ming Dynasty.
In the first year of the Yongzheng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1723), Wang Xiling, Judicial Commissioner of Jiannan, compiled two volumes of alchemical scriptures, several poems and essays, and more than thirty legends of Zhang Sanfeng’s “miraculous manifestations” then in circulation into Complete Works of Patriarch Sanfeng.
During the Daoguang reign, Li Xiyue, a Taoist priest from Jiazhou, Sichuan, supplemented and rearranged Wang’s edition into an eight-volume Complete Works of Master Zhang Sanfeng, which was printed and circulated.
This book is included in both Essential Collections of the Daozang and the Doctrines and Teachings category of Extra-Canonical Taoist Texts.
Although titled “Complete Works of Sanfeng”, the collected poems and essays are a mixture of genuine and forged works, including pseudo-epigraphs by Wang Xiling, Li Xiyue, and others, as well as texts produced through planchette writing by Ming and Qing Taoists.
The first two volumes contain invocations, biographies, sect lineages, rectification of errors, miraculous manifestations, ancient texts, and hidden reflections, mainly recording Zhang Sanfeng’s life, sect transmission, and the stories of his divine manifestations.
Volumes Three and Four include Discourse on the Great Dao, Direct Exposition of the Mysterious Mechanism, Simple Explanations of Taoist Sayings, Essays on the Essentials of the Mystery (two parts) and supplements. These are said to be Zhang Sanfeng’s authentic works recorded in the History of the Ming Dynasty and are relatively reliable. Their content mainly focuses on Internal Alchemy practices.
It holds that the essentials of elixir cultivation lie in following heavenly nature to restore life. One must use internal medicine to nourish nature and external medicine to nourish life, practicing the dual cultivation of nature and life.
The practice begins with foundation building and self-refinement, cultivating the mind and nature. Next, one stabilizes the spirit and regulates breath; when the mind is calm and breath harmonized, one proceeds to practices such as small heavenly cycle circulation, qi refining, and gathering the great medicine.
His teachings generally integrate the Northern and Southern lineages of Quanzhen Dao.
Volume Five contains Former Collection of Clouds and Waters, Later Collection of Clouds and Waters, and Third Collection of Clouds and Waters, said to be collections of Zhang Sanfeng’s poems and essays, but many are accounts of divine travels and not entirely reliable.
Volumes Six and Seven include Articles from Heavenly Mouth, Writings Admonishing the World, as well as scriptures such as Scripture of the Nine Emperors and Scripture of the Three Teachings, all being morality books and “immortal scriptures” falsely attributed to Zhang Sanfeng.
Volume Eight contains Chats by Water and Stone, a collection of short notes in the style of recorded sayings, attributed to “Master Zhang said”. There is also Ancient and Modern Tributes, collecting letters from the Yongle Emperor to Zhang Sanfeng and poems about him by Ming and Qing figures.
Chronicle of the Hidden Mirror is a chronicle of Zhang Sanfeng compiled by Wang Xiling. Finally, Collected Records gathers biographies of Zhang Sanfeng written by Ming and Qing scholars.
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