Lingbao Pure Brightness Yellow Plain Book 灵宝净明黄素书

Full title: The High Lunar Palace Taiyin Yuanjun Filial Piety Immortal King Lingbao Pure Brightness Yellow Silk Scripture.

Author unknown.

It is presumably a Taoist text of the Pure Brightness Sect from the Song Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty.

Lingbao Pure Brightness Yellow Plain Book

Comprising ten volumes, it is included in the Methods category of the Dongxuan Section of the Daozang.

The opening part contains the Prefatory Notes and The Yellow Silk Scripture’s Entry into the Dao Section. It asserts that the Supreme Deity entrusted the Pure Brightness Dharma to the Sun God of the Sun Palace, the Filial Piety Bright King, and the Lingbao Pure Brightness Heavenly Lord, and entrusted the Yellow Silk Dharma to the Taiyin Yuanjun of the Lunar Palace, the Filial Piety Immortal King, and the Lingbao Pure Brightness Yellow Silk Heavenly Lord, stating that “these two texts are subtle and profound beyond comprehension.” All those who enter the Dao to study the Yellow Silk Dharma must abide by seventeen guidelines, taking filial piety, loyalty, integrity, and prudence as the foundation, and cultivating the mind and nature and practicing Internal Alchemy as the methods.

The main text is structured as follows: Volume One elaborates on the methods of harmonizing the qi of the five zang-organs in the human body. Volume Two discusses the methods of nourishing the body, spirit, essence, and qi, and records the Yellow Silk True Script (in seal script) and the Yellow Silk Qi Harmonizing Talisman. Volume Three contains seven talismans such as the “Yellow Silk Qi Intercourse Talisman,” claiming that wearing these talismans can enable the qi of the five zang-organs to intermingle and form the Yellow Silk Qi. Volume Four includes the twelve chapters of The Yellow Silk Treatise and the twelve Yellow Silk Talismans, expounding the method of forming the True Elixir through the intercourse of Yellow Silk Qi. Volume Five interprets the methods of practicing The Yellow Silk Treatise and records the method of using talisman scripts to visualize the qi of the five zang-organs. Volume Six records nine Taoist practices such as the morning hair-combing method and the clothing-wearing method, mostly describing the ways to preserve and guard the spirit, qi, soul, and hun during daily life. Volume Seven comprehensively discusses the methods of nourishing the essence and qi of the five zang-organs and refining the yin and yang spirits. Volume Eight contains The Yellow Silk Internal Classic, The Yellow Silk External Classic, and a miscellaneous treatise, focusing on the methods of nourishing essence, qi, and spirit. Volume Nine teaches people to restrain inner delusions and carnal desires, asserting that this is the essence of Pure Brightness. Volume Ten comprehensively expounds the doctrines of filial piety, loyalty, and Pure Brightness, stating that the Yellow Silk is the guiding principle of Pure Brightness.

The entire text focuses on preserving and harmonizing essence, qi, and spirit, and cultivating the mind and nature, while also covering talismanic arts and moral cultivation. Its theories were significantly influenced by the Southern School of the Golden Elixir tradition.