Dragon-Tiger Scripture of the Nine Immortals 真龙虎九仙经

Originally attributed with the note "Annotated by the Two True Persons Luo and Ye", it is falsely ascribed to transmission by the Celestial True August Personage.

It was presumably compiled in the late Tang Dynasty.

Tong zhi·Yi wen lüe (General Records·Bibliographic Outline) records: "The Scripture of the Nine Immortals by the Celestial True August Personage, one scroll, compiled by Ye Jingneng of the Tang Dynasty, annotated by Luo Gongyuan and Yi Xing"—this refers to this very work. The existing version is included in the Methods Category of the Dongzhen Section within the Daoist Canon (The Daozang).

Dragon-Tiger Scripture of the Nine Immortals

This text expounds the secret formulas of Neidan (Internal Alchemy) cultivation, taking water and fire as the supreme medicines. It states: "The heart is fire, corresponding to the Li trigram; the kidney is water, corresponding to the Kan trigram. All who cultivate the Dao and refine the Golden Elixir must rely on the dragon and tiger, water and fire."

It also extensively employs the methods of visualization and concentration, asserting that practitioners must first close their eyes and gaze for a thread of light above the nose, not following all external realms; next, direct the mind into the glabella, visualizing the white downy radiance manifesting; when the focus above the glabella reaches its utmost, shift it into the crown of the head. Only when these three steps are firmly established will one’s cultivation attain elevation.

The text also elaborates on the essential techniques of opening the crown to send forth the spirit, as well as reincarnating into a new body, seizing a vessel, usurping a position and manifesting multiple bodies after the spirit is sent forth. Unlike ordinary Neidan cultivation methods, it appears to derive from the esoteric methods of Buddhist Tantra.

The title references the "Nine Immortals" because it holds that according to the depth of one’s alchemical cultivation, one can attain nine ranks of immortality, namely: Celestial Knight, Transcendent Knight, Spiritual Knight, Wind Knight, Water Knight, Fire Knight, Qi Knight, Ghost Knight, and Sword Knight.

Volume 225 of Wen xian tong kao (Comprehensive Examination of Literature) quotes Chao Gongwu’s statement: This text was once prohibited during the Dazhong reign period of the Tang Dynasty (847–859 CE).