The Bellows of Inner Cultivation
The author is unknown, and the text was presumably composed between the Tang Dynasty and the Song Dynasty.
The Secret Catalogue of the Southern Song Dynasty records "A Scroll of On the Profound Pervasion of the True Ruler of Metals and Stones by the Purse and Bellows Master", which is suspected to be this very work.
The existing version is included in the Tai Qing Section within the Daoist Canon (The Daozang).
- Illuminating the True and Returning to the Origin through the Three Dao: It claims that if one can replenish the exhausted marrow with gold and jade, they can regain youth and attain longevity and prolonged vision.
- Establishing the Positions of the Five Elements in Springs and Stones: It states that the way of the Golden Elixir is inseparable from the primordial Qi and the five faculties; primordial Qi is mercury, the five faculties are the five metals, and the five metals are black lead. It also asserts that subduing various stones is the foundation of practicing the Dao and the source of the elixir.
- Indicating the Images Associated with the Eight Trigrams: It compiles a diagram by matching the time of day, lunar phases, the Eight Trigrams, the Five Elements, the five flavors, the five colors, yin and yang, and other elements to elucidate the way of the Golden Elixir.
- Forming the Year through the Hard and Soft of the Four Seasons: It uses the operation of the seasonal Qi to form a year as a metaphor for the alchemical fire timing, indicating the ascension and descent of yin and yang.
- Perfecting the Dao of the Nine and the One through Non-Action: It proclaims, "For the nine cycles of the Golden Elixir to be completed, the five constant virtues must be possessed; it is indeed born of yin and yang, and thus fully receives the nourishment of heaven and earth."
The meaning of the text as a whole is profoundly obscure, generally discussing Neidan ingredients and fire timing in the terminology of external alchemy.
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