Supreme Clarity Wind-Dew Scripture 太清风露经

Attributed to True Person Wuzhu (the Unfixed), this text consists of one volume. Recorded in the Catalogue of Lost Daoist Scriptures (Daozang Quejing Mulu), it was generally believed to be lost until a surviving copy was discovered in the National Library of China. Research confirms it is a printed edition from the Yuan Dynasty’s Xuandu Treasure Scripture (Xuandu Baocang).

It has now been included in the category of Ancient Lost Daoist Texts in the Supplementary Daoist Canon (Zangwai Daoshu).

Supreme Clarity Wind-Dew Scripture

The scripture comprises fifteen chapters, with titles as follows: Preface, Names and Positions, Great Penetration, Gradual Fulfillment, White Stone, Profound Gate, Jade Chamber, Great Forbearance, Empty Valley, Sincerity, Purification, Emptiness, Dispelling Doubts, and Healing Diseases. The work discusses the path of absorbing wind and drinking dew for cultivation.

Its Preface states: "The methods for longevity are not singular. Practices such as refining gold, stones, herbs, and plants require strenuous effort, exhausting both spirit and body, and are not valued. The path of absorbing wind and drinking dew requires neither leaving one’s chamber nor exceeding a single day—from start to finish, it can be summed up in a few words."

Subsequent chapters elaborate on the method, though the language is quite obscure. Broadly, it involves inhaling wind and dew through the nose and mouth, holding one’s breath to count breaths, and practicing "a rinsing that is not quite rinsing, a bathing that is not quite bathing—wind guides the spirit, and dew nourishes the body. Aspire to calm the spirit while nurturing the body, practice absorbing wind and dew, and abstain from grain." By doing so, one can attain a state where "the spiritual source remains undispersed, and the body endures endlessly."

The final chapter records techniques for curing diseases using the six qi—hē (exhaling to clear heat), chuī (blowing to dispel cold), sī (hissing to relieve stagnation), xū (sighing to moisten dryness), hū (breathing to regulate dampness), and xī (inhaling to replenish vitality)—a practice seemingly originating from the The Tang Dynasty.