Recorded Sayings of True Person Danyang: Quanzhen Core

Recorded Sayings of True Person Danyang

Compiled by Ma Yu, a patriarch of Quanzhen Dao during the Jin Dynasty, and collected and edited by his disciple Wang Yizhong.

Consisting of one scroll, it is included in the Tai Xuan Section of the The Daozang.

This book compiles more than fifty pieces of recorded sayings by Ma Yu, all propagating the doctrines of Quanzhen Dao and advocating the Internal Alchemy (Neidan) of dual cultivation of nature (xing) and life (ming). Its theory takes purity and inaction as the core, stating that "all the thousands of Taoist classics and treatises can be summed up in one phrase: purity and tranquility." Purity and tranquility mean purifying the source of one’s mind and calming the sea of Qi.

Recorded Sayings of True Person Danyang

Those who learn the Dao should remain constantly pure and tranquil throughout the twelve two-hour periods of the day, not arousing the slightest mundane thought: "Merely purify your mind and dispel desires, remain unstained by myriad karma, and let your spirit and Qi be harmonious—this is the Dao." It also claims: "Learning the Dao requires nothing else but cultivating Qi. When the fluid of the heart descends and the Qi of the kidneys ascends to the spleen, and the primal Qi lingers in misty abundance, the elixir will converge."

In short, the essence of Taoist cultivation lies in nurturing Qi and preserving spirit. One must eliminate all worldly attachments, maintain purity both internally and externally, and practice with unwavering dedication for a long time. When spirit concentrates and Qi surges, the Three Elixirs are fully formed, and spirit unites with the Dao—thus attaining immortality and verifying truth.

It also states that those who learn the Dao must abstain from wine and meat, rid themselves of carnal desires, wander to beg for food, embrace poverty and endure humiliation, act with kindness and humility, and keep their minds focused on the Dao in all activities—walking, staying, sitting, or lying down—never straying from it for a moment.

This is the tradition of Quanzhen Dao, passed down "directly from Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin". The book mostly records trivial matters of Ma Yu practicing the Dao and instructing disciples, interspersed with the words and deeds of Wang Chongyang and Qiu Chuji.