Taiji Salvation Ritual Inner Methods 太极祭炼内法

Originally attributed to "Zheng Suonan, the Old Man of San Wai". Zheng Suonan refers to Zheng Sixiao, a scholar during the transition from the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty.

The book was compiled around 1270, the 7th year of the Zhiyuan reign in the Yuan Dynasty, reprinted by Wang Daogui in 1347 (the 7th year of the Zhizheng reign), and reprinted again by Yuan Jinghe in 1406 (the 4th year of the Yongle reign in the Ming Dynasty). The existing version in the The Daozang consists of three volumes, included in the Method Category of the Dongxuan Section.

Taiji Salvation Ritual Inner Methods

The "Internal Methods of Sacrifice and Refinement" elaborated in this book is one of the The Lingbao Sect's fast rituals in Taoism, used to hold sacrifices and refinement ceremonies for the salvation of the ghosts of the deceased, redeeming their body and soul with food and talismanic incantations. Volume One, Internal Methods of Taiji Sacrifice and Refinement, records the rituals and talismanic incantations for sacrificing and refining ghosts. Volumes Two and Three are A Brief Discussion on the Cultivation Methods of Taiji Sacrifice and Refinement, mainly expounding the author's insights into the sacrifice and refinement rituals. It holds that the fundamental of refining and redeeming ghosts and gods does not lie in fast rituals or talismanic incantations, but in the inner cultivation of the practitioners who perform the rituals. Its theories integrate Taoist, Neo-Confucian and Zen thoughts, emphasizing the cultivation of inner mind and nature, which conforms to the social ideological trend of the integration of the three teachings at that time.