Discourses of Yingchanzi of Qing'an
Compiled by Li Daochun (styled Yingchanzi), a Taoist priest of the The Quanzhen Dao in the Yuan Dynasty, and collected and arranged by his disciples Chai Yuanbei, Zhao Daoke and others.
It was roughly completed in the Wuzhi year of the Zhiyuan reign period (1288).
Consisting of six scrolls, it is included in the Tai Xuan Section of The Daozang.
Discourses of Yingchanzi of Qing'an
The book contains Li Daochun’s discourses on the Dao, as well as his poems, ci-poems and alchemical mnemonics, compiled into six scrolls each by one of six disciples including Chai Yuanbei. His discourses mainly expound the cultivation of mind and nature and the way of the Golden Elixir. It states that the cultivation of mind and nature does not lie in extensive learning and knowledge, but in silent contemplation and profound understanding with careful reflection. Practitioners of moderate and inferior aptitude must first thoroughly comprehend the principles of all things, fulfill their innate nature, and thus attain the cultivation of life.
"Those of supreme wisdom are different: once they fully comprehend one fundamental principle, all other principles will be understood naturally; the fulfillment of nature and the attainment of life can be achieved all at once, just as the precept, samadhi and wisdom in Chan Buddhism are realized simultaneously." Its doctrines integrate the theories of mind and nature from Chan Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism, and return to the Taoist essence of cultivating both nature and life.
Its theories on the Golden Elixir inherit the ideas of Zhang Boduan, dividing alchemical methods into the sudden and gradual approaches. It states that at the initial stage of the gradual approach, one first refines essence into Qi, then gradually refines Qi into spirit, and finally refines spirit to return to emptiness.
"The sudden approach is different: essence, Qi and spirit are regarded as the primordial medicinal ingredients, and the cultivation is accomplished all at once from the very beginning." It also divides the essential ingredients for elixir refining into nine aspects, and explains dozens of terms related to Internal Alchemy.
The entire book clarifies the doctrine of the unity of the three teachings, stating that the Taoist Golden Elixir, the Confucian Taiji and the Buddhist Perfect Enlightenment are identical in essence yet different in name, "being nothing but the original single spirit".
Incorporating Confucian and Buddhist ideas into Taoism is a prominent feature of this book. Its ideological viewpoints correspond with Li Daochun’s The Harmony Collection, and both are important theoretical works of Taoism in the Yuan Dynasty.
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