The meaning of Twofold Mystery in Taoism 什么是重玄

The meaning of Twofold Mystery in Taoism

Also known as "You Xuan" (又玄, Further Mystery).

The term first appeared in Taoist scriptures of the Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties periods. Sui and Tang Dynasty Taoist texts used it to interpret the meaning of the phrase "profound mystery upon profound mystery" (xuan zhi you xuan, 玄之又玄) from the opening chapter of the Laozi.

Chongxuan thought blends the metaphysics of the Wei-Jin period with Buddhist doctrines, expounding Laozi's philosophy and establishing a Taoist theoretical system of rich speculative character. Chongxuan thought originated during the Wei-Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, and reached maturity from the Sui dynasty through the mid-Tang Dynasty. From the Northern and Southern Dynasties onward, Taoist priests who expounded the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi largely took Chongxuan as their guiding principle.

The meaning of Twofold Mystery in Taoism

According to Du Guangting's (杜光庭) Daode Zhenjing Guangsheng Yi (道德真经广圣义), Chapter Five, the commentary on the Laozi using "Chongxuan" began with the Wei-dynasty recluse Sun Deng (孙登). Thereafter, Taoist priests Meng Zhizhou (孟智周) and Zang Xuanjing (臧玄静) of the Liang dynasty; Zhu Rou (诸柔) of the Chen dynasty; Liu Jinxi (刘进喜) of the Sui dynasty; and Cheng Xuanying (成玄英), Cai Zihuang (蔡子晃), Huang Xuanyi (黄玄颐), Li Rong (李荣), Che Xuanbi (车玄弼), Zhang Huichao (张惠超), and Li Yuanxing (黎元兴) of the Tang dynasty—all illuminated the Way of the Twofold Mystery. The most refined and comprehensive elaboration of Chongxuan thought was achieved by Cheng Xuanying.

Japanese scholars Masatoshi Sunahama (砂山稔), Kunio Mugitani (麦谷邦夫), and others have termed those within Taoism who take Chongxuan as their guiding principle the "Chongxuan School" (重玄派). This name does not appear in Taoist scriptures, and the Chongxuan masters share no formal religious sectarian lineage, yet as an intellectual school it genuinely existed in the history of Taoism.

The Chongxuan school produced a large body of writings, most appearing as commentaries on the Laozi and Zhuangzi. The Xuanmen Dayi (玄门大义, Compendium of the Mysterious Gate), completed during the Sui dynasty, took Chongxuan as the guiding principle of the Taixuan section of scriptures. Tang dynasty Chongxuan writings include Cheng Xuanying's Zhuangzi Commentary, Meng Anpai's (孟安排) Daojiao Yishu, Wang Xuanlan's (王玄览) Xuanzhulu, the anonymous Sanlun Yuanzhi (三论元旨), and Sima Chengzhen's (司马承祯) Zuowang Lun (坐忘论).

Chongxuan is a realm of experiencing the supreme Way of heaven and earth. The Daozang text Daode Jing, Chapter One, states: "Profound mystery upon profound mystery—the gate of all wonders." Later Taoists elevated "Xuan" (profound mystery) to a primordial concept akin to the Dao itself. Cheng Xuanying held that the Dao gives birth to the ten thousand things—it is neither existent nor non-existent, nor is it "neither existent nor non-existent." The Dao is inherently nameless, a wondrous principle of emptiness and pervasion.

The Daode Jing Commentary states: those with desire are mired in existence; those without desire are mired in non-existence. Being attached neither to existence nor to non-existence is called Xuan. But Xuan is not itself the Dao—one must not cling to Xuan; hence "further mystery." Using "further mystery" to negate "mystery" itself—free not only from attachment to attachment, but also from attachment to non-attachment—negating and yet again negating: this is "profound mystery upon profound mystery." Only upon reaching the realm of Chongxuan can one truly apprehend the Dao as the "wondrous principle of emptiness and pervasion."

Li Rong's commentary states: "Once the affliction of the two extremes is cured, the medicine of the One Middle is also set aside—the medicine and the affliction are both dissolved together." After using "Xuan" to break through the two extremes, one must use "further mystery" to negate the very Middle Way within Xuan—both field and wisdom extinguished, both subject and object forgotten—this is Chongxuan. The double negation of Internal Alchemy and Chongxuan thought is both the concrete method for experiencing the true Dao and the realized state of accomplished cultivation.

Cheng Xuanying's commentary holds that the Dao is inherently without birth or extinction. Cultivating the Dao yields long life. Guarding stillness and relinquishing desire, simultaneously negating existence and non-existence, negating yet again, entering the realm of Chongxuan—"outside there is no desirable sphere, within there is no desiring mind"—forgetting opposition and accordance, praise and blame, glory and lowliness, self and other, fortune and calamity—tranquil and empty, uniting with the Dao as one.