What is Inner Nature and Vital Force in Taoism? 什么是性命

A pair of categorical concepts in traditional Chinese philosophy.

The Doctrine of the Mean interprets the Mandate of Heaven as nature. Mencius developed this idea, advocating the thorough cultivation of the mind and understanding of one’s nature, thereby attaining the knowledge of Heaven and the Mandate of Heaven. Confucian scholars of later generations all juxtaposed nature and fate: nature refers to human nature, and fate to the Mandate of Heaven. They urged starting with personal self-cultivation, and through nurturing one’s moral character, aligning one’s thoughts and actions with the ultimate The Dao, thus comprehending Heaven and the Mandate of Heaven.

What is Inner Nature and Vital Force in Taoism?

Taoist philosophers and Taoism both attached great importance to nature and fate, with each school expounding on them in distinct ways. Laozi did not distinguish between nature and fate, regarding fate alone as the foundation of all things. Chapter 16 of the Dao De Jing holds that despite the complexity and diversity of heaven, earth and all things, their cyclic movement always returns to the original starting point—namely, tranquility, also referred to as "the return to fate" and "the eternal norm". This is the inherent nature of the Dao. Only by achieving a state of tranquility through cultivation, and attaining the utmost purity and emptiness of the heart, can one understand fate and the eternal norm, that is, comprehend the Dao.

Zhuangzi discussed nature and fate yet did not juxtapose the two concepts. Zhuangzi·Gengsang Chu states: "Nature is the substance of life." Cheng Xuanying interpreted this as: nature is the innate life essence bestowed on humans, and fate is the inherent law of nature. Zhuangzi·The Great Master refers to life and death as fate, much like the alternation of day and night—humans can only conform to it, not interfere with it. Fate is the ruler of life; life and death, existence and annihilation, adversity and prosperity, poverty and wealth, are all ordained by fate, and humans are powerless to change them. Therefore, one must "accept fate peacefully" to "preserve one’s life", and the greatest virtue in the world lies in understanding fate and bearing it with equanimity.

The Taoist thoughts on nature and fate became the foundation of the Taoist theory of nature and fate. Taoism requires practitioners to adopt a detached attitude toward the world and comprehend the great Dao (understand fate) in their way of life; in cultivation theories, they must follow nature and prolong life and promote longevity through practice. In terms of the relationship between nature and fate, early Taoism focused more on fate. The Supreme Lord Laozi's Inner Vision Scripture states: "To receive life from the Dao is called fate; to be endowed with form from the One is called nature." It regards nature and fate as essence bestowed by the Dao, and in cultivation methods, it emphasizes material means—namely, prolonging life and attaining immortality and enlightenment through taking elixirs, refining cinnabar, nurturing Qi and conserving the spirit.

With the rise of Internal Alchemy, the relationship between nature and fate became an important content of Taoist theory. In internal alchemy, nature refers to the spirit, and fate to Qi and essence. Lu Qianxu stated in Treatise on the Mysterious Skin: "Nature is the spirit; fate is essence and Qi." Essence, spirit and Qi are the fundamentals of life activities. Internal alchemy cultivation emphasizes both the refinement of nature and the refinement of fate: the practice of refining nature is called nature cultivation, and the practice of refining fate is called fate cultivation. In specific cultivation methods, nature and fate are also associated with specific parts of the human body: nature resides in the head, namely the Upper Elixir Field; fate is linked to the navel, namely the Lower Elixir Field. Qiu Chuji wrote in Direct Pointing to the Great Elixir: "The crown of the head is the root of nature; the navel is the stem of fate."

The fundamental tenet of Taoism is the pursuit of immortality and the perfect fusion of spirit and form. For physical cultivation, one must refine both the body and the spirit to achieve the unity of spirit and form. Internal alchemy focuses on cultivating the heart and refining nature, nurturing Qi and cultivating fate, bringing about fundamental changes in one’s spirit and body, achieving a thorough transformation, rejuvenation and eternal youth. In practice, one must integrate nature cultivation (refining the spirit) with fate cultivation (nurturing Qi and essence)—this is what is known as the dual cultivation of nature and fate.

In this regard, there is no difference between the Southern and Northern Schools of Taoist Golden Elixir, though their methods and steps vary. Represented by Zhang Boduan, the Southern School prioritizes fate and advocates cultivating fate before nature: without fate, nature cannot exist. It holds that one should start with fate cultivation, with nature cultivation as the perfection of practice. Liu Yiming elaborated on this in his annotations to Awakening to the True Scripture, stating: Nature and fate must be cultivated in tandem, and the practice is divided into two stages. The way of the Golden Elixir is the way of cultivating nature and fate. Cultivating fate requires intentional action, while cultivating nature is non-action. The way of intentional action is to prolong life through alchemical techniques, and the way of non-action is to perfect the form through the Dao. The way of the Golden Elixir necessitates intentional action to return to the innate from the acquired and recover one’s original precious fate; once the precious fate is attained, one will not be swayed by the laws of creation, and thus one can embrace the primordial and uphold the One, practice the way of non-action, realize the empty nature of reality, and ascend directly to the supreme subtle Dao.

Represented by Wang Chongyang, the Northern School prioritizes nature and advocates cultivating nature before fate: starting with nature cultivation, then proceeding to fate cultivation. Wang Chongyang’s Twenty-Four Elixir Formulas Imparted to Ma Danyang regards nature as the master and fate as the guest. Qiu Chuji emphasized that the essence of Taoist practice lies in realizing one’s nature, illuminating the heart and recognizing nature, with the coordination of water and fire (i.e., the practice of cultivating fate) as secondary. The difference between the Southern and Northern Schools only pertains to the order of cultivation methods, not to neglecting one practice for the other. In a sense, internal alchemy can also be called the study of nature and fate.