Ancient-Text Triple Concordance 古文周易参同契

Also titled The Ancient Text Version of the Zhouyi Cantong Qi, this is a revised edition of the Zhouyi Cantong Qi compiled by Du Yicheng, which emerged during the Zhengde reign period of the Ming Dynasty.

Its distinctive feature is that it regards the Zhouyi Cantong Qi as a work co-authored by Wei Boyang, Xu Jingxiu and Chunyu Shutong. It divides the text according to literary styles: the tetrasyllabic verses are identified as the classic written by Wei; the pentasyllabic verses are regarded as the annotations by Xu; and the rhapsodies and eulogies are separated as Three Categories of Correspondence, which are considered as supplements by Chunyu Shutong.

Ancient-Text Triple Concordance

According to records, the attribution of the Zhouyi Cantong Qi to Wei Boyang first appeared in Ge Hong’s Shenxian Zhuan (Biographies of Immortals). However, the preface to the annotated version attributed to Yin Changsheng, included in The Daozang, states: "It is said that the Zhouyi Cantong Qi was originally the ancient Dragon-Tiger Scripture of the Upper Clarity, composed by True Person Xu... Later, Wei Boyang, a native of Shangyu in Yue, compiled Five Categories of Correspondence to annotate the preceding text, thus renaming it the Zhouyi Cantong Qi. Subsequently, Chunyu Shutong supplemented and expanded its categories by drawing on symbolic imagery, and the work was eventually compiled into three volumes." Thus, the authorship of the Zhouyi Cantong Qi came to be attributed to three individuals, with True Person Xu being recognized as the earliest contributor. The preface to the anonymous annotated version in the Rong series of The Daozang further claims that the scripture was passed down by Lingyangzi to Xu Congshi, then from Xu Congshi to Lord Chunyu, and finally acquired by Wei Boyang. The annotated version by Peng Xiao, which prevailed in the Song Dynasty, identifies the Zhouyi Cantong Qi as a sole work of Wei Boyang. Du Yicheng’s revised edition of the Zhouyi Cantong Qi, handed down in the Ming Dynasty, was known as the Stone Casket Ancient Text. After Yang Shen of the Ming Dynasty obtained this version in Sichuan, he affirmed it as the ancient text edition. Since then, the "ancient text" version has been circulated among the public and gained recognition from a number of scholars and practitioners of inner alchemy. Scholars including Jiang Yibiao, Li Guangdi, Yuan Renlin, Liu Yiming and Qiu Zhao’ao successively wrote annotations or prefaces for it. From the Wanli reign period of the Ming Dynasty onward to the Qing Dynasty, the Ancient Text of the Zhouyi Cantong Qi became a major school of commentaries on the Zhouyi Cantong Qi, exerting considerable influence in the fields of Taoism studies and alchemical practices, with its content deeply rooted in the theories of the five elements.