The Eastern School 东派

The Eastern School is an important school of internal alchemy cultivation in Taoism, founded during the Jiajing and Longqing periods of the Ming Dynasty.

Its founder was Lu Xixing, styled Changgeng, also known as Qianxu and Fanghu Waishi. A native of Yangzhou, he studied Confucianism in his youth but failed the provincial examination nine times. Thus, he abandoned Confucian attire, put on Taoist robes, and lived a life aloof from the mundane world. He claimed that Ancestor Lü Chunyang (Lü Dongbin) descended at his residence "Beihai Thatched Cottage" and personally imparted the essential secrets of alchemical methods. He then wrote books and established a new school of alchemy. Since he was active in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, it was called the Eastern School. Sun Ruzhong in the late Ming Dynasty and Fu Jinquan in the Qing Dynasty were among its branch figures.

Although the school claimed to inherit the lineage of Lü Chunyang, it did not establish a strict religious order. Its alchemical methods actually inherited the tradition of the Southern Sect, developed new ideas from Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Truth), and strongly advocated Yin-Yang dual cultivation between individuals of the same kind.

Lu Xixing believed that "Yin and Yang" mentioned in traditional alchemical classics referred to men and women. He stated: "The way of the golden elixir must rely on the combination of similar entities to succeed. Yin and Yang mean a man and a woman, Li (☲) and Kan (☵), lead and mercury—these are the medicines of the great elixir. The true Qi of Kan is called lead; the true essence of Li is called mercury. Innate essence accumulates in me; innate Qi is taken from the other. Why? The other is Kan, with Yin externally and Yang internally, symbolized by water and the moon, and corresponding to a woman in humans. I am Li, with Yang externally and Yin internally, symbolized by fire and the sun, and corresponding to a man in humans. Therefore, the way of Yin and Yang between men and women, when followed naturally, gives birth to humans; when reversed, forms the elixir. The principle is one and the same" (Jindan Jiuzheng Pian [On Rectifying the Golden Elixir]).

In his view, the great medicine of the immortal embryo requires the union and harmony of innate essence and innate Qi, which was already expounded in the I Ching: "Essence and Qi form things; wandering souls interact." However, the innate Qi (Yang within Yin) comes from women, and the innate essence (Yin within Yang) comes from men. Men and women each lack either lead or mercury, so it is necessary to take the Yang from the Kan woman to supplement the Yin of the Li man. "The essences of Yin and Yang are hidden in each other’s abodes; they cannot be cultivated alone" (Xuanfu Lun [On the Mysterious Skin]).

Yet, Lu emphasized that the main function of this "taking from Kan to fill Li" is "to supplement the already broken Li, fill the already empty lines, and restore the pure Yang body" (Jindan Jiuzheng Pian).

Therefore, this Yin-Yang dual cultivation method is particularly suitable for middle-aged or elderly people with damaged bodies—just as a broken bamboo is repaired with bamboo, a damaged person is repaired with a person; emptiness is supplemented to become full, weakness to strength, and deficiency to abundance. As for "children in their prime, all are in an embryonic state," they do not need to practice this dual cultivation method.

Although the school advocates Yin-Yang dual cultivation between men and women, it differs from the single-supplementation method of sexual indulgence. It advocates using the "cauldron" without indulgence, forging the "sword" without entering the "furnace," supplementing lead without harming the other, and benefiting oneself without damaging others. Its actual cultivation process focuses on the method of "concentrating the spirit and gathering Qi," promoting the communion of spirit and Qi for mutual cultivation and supplementation.

In the late Ming Dynasty, Taoist Puzhen highly praised the alchemical methods of this school in his Xuanliaozi, considering them "more superior and concise than those used in Indian yoga and Tantric dual cultivation methods."

The main works of this school include: Lu Xixing’s Jindan Jiuzheng Pian, Fanghu Waishi Congbian (Collected Works of Fanghu Waishi), Annotations on Wuzhen Pian, Cèshu on Zhouyi Cantongqi (Inferences on the Unity of the Three According to the Book of Changes), Cèshu on Ziyang Jindan Sibaizi (Inferences on Ziyang’s Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir), Xuanfu Lun, and Qipo Lun (On Seven Failings); Sun Ruzhong’s Jindan Zhenchuan (True Transmission of the Golden Elixir); and Fu Jinquan’s Zhengdao Mishu Shiqi Zhong (Seventeen Secret Books on Proving the Dao), etc.