Jade Scripture of the Outer Vision 太上黄庭外景玉经

Originally titled Huangting Jing (Scripture of the Yellow Court), it was presumably compiled during the Wei and Jin dynasties.

It was already recorded in Baopuzi·Xialan Pian (Baopuzi·Treatise on Wide Reading). Generally, it is believed that this scripture predates Huangting Neijing Jing (Scripture of the Internal Landscape of the Yellow Court), though some scholars have verified that Waijing Jing (Scripture of the External Landscape) was written after Neijing Jing (Scripture of the Internal Landscape).

Jade Scripture of the Outer Vision

Originally in one volume, the existing version in The Daozang is divided into three volumes, included in the Original Text Category of the The Dongxuan Section.

Like its counterpart, this scripture is composed in seven-character rhymed verses but is not divided into chapters. Its text is more concise and accessible than that of Huangting Neijing Jing, while its content and structure are roughly similar—discussing practices such as visualizing the spirits of the three cinnabar fields (upper, middle, and lower dantian), swallowing saliva, preserving essence, circulating Qi, abstaining from grains (bigu), and absorbing the energies of the sun and moon.

Most of its verses are identical or similar to those in Huangting Neijing Jing, making it essentially a different transmission version of the same scripture. Wang Xizhi, a famous calligrapher of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, once copied this scripture, which has been widely circulated since then with numerous annotations by scholars and practitioners throughout history. As a classic of early Taoism, it shares close ties with the Shangqing School and exerted a lasting influence on later Internal Alchemy practices.