Records of Responsive Teaching 随机应化录

Written by He Daoquan, a Quanzhen Taoist priest of the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, and compiled by his disciple Jia Daoquan.

It was completed around the Xinsi year of the Hongwu reign (1401). It consists of two volumes and is included in the Taixuan Section of The Daozang.

Records of Responsive Teaching

The first half of the book collects nearly fifty sayings and poems from He Daoquan’s casual responses during his travels. The second half contains nearly fifty poems, odes, and hymns by him. His respondents included both Buddhist monks and Taoist priests; the language is colloquial but profound in reasoning.

All teachings expound the doctrines of The Quanzhen Dao, in a style similar to Quanzhen patriarchs such as Wang Chongyang. Generally, it takes the dual cultivation of merit and practice, and the completeness of blessing and wisdom, as the core principles of the mysterious gate, and regards enlightenment of the mind and cultivation of nature as the essential purpose of practice.

His doctrines of seeing nature and penetrating mystery are quite close to Chan Buddhism. He holds that to see the original face, one must cease all conditions, purify the six senses, leave no trace, and remain unattached. One must further temper the mind in external circumstances, pass through all situations lightly without clinging to conditions: “Responding to affairs is like wind sounding ten thousand pipes; reflecting things is like the moon shining over a thousand rivers.”

Not moving in stillness, nor moving in motion—only then does one enter the samadhi of no-mind, true stillness and true concentration.

He also states that practice should integrate substance and function: “The function of the Dao is to comfort people and benefit beings; the substance of the Dao is non-action and purity.”

He also explains Taoist techniques of nourishing qi and preserving essence, as well as the life‑cultivation practices of Internal Alchemy. Beginners may practice the four methods for health and peace to eliminate illness and extend life. Internal Alchemy takes Qian and Kun as the cauldron and furnace, essence‑qi‑spirit as the medicine, stillness‑concentration and wisdom‑illumination as water and fire. By harmonizing the three treasures and practicing for a long time, the elixir is refined.

Most of his poems are dedicated to objects—such as fire tongs, bamboo staffs, lamps, fans, cakes, and grains—all embodying Quanzhen doctrines.

This book is of great importance for the study of Quanzhen Dao in the early Ming Dynasty.