袁康就太極內丹學會 The Tai-ji, Inner Alchemy and Kungfu Practice of Master YUEN Hong-chau

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1 袁康就太極內丹學會 The Tai-ji, Inner Alchemy and Kungfu Practice of Master YUEN Hong-chau 主頁簡介網主學會簡介太極拳內丹養生氣功集 論文功夫篇電台訪問道學講座電郵留言 Tai Chi Yuen.org 論文 上一篇下一篇返回 The Fifteen Discourse of Wang Chong-yang 1. INTRODUCTION This paper is about the Fifteen Discourse 重陽立教十五論 asserted by the famous Taoist Wang Chung-yang 王重陽 ( ), who established the Quan-zhen Dao 全真道 in Sung dynasty. My intention is to investigate the methodology of the discourses to see how much it is influenced by the Confucianism, and Buddhism. And, with these elementary materials, I will try to sort out what are the main differences of the practices of moral activities in Confucianism, and the similarities of achieving the purity of mind in that of Buddhism. However, I need to emphasize the contribution of his efforts to the development and inheritance of the traditional Taoism. As we know from the history he stands as a symbol denoting the great synthesis of the three teaching: Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Of course, I couldn t deny that this synthesis was not merely the merit of Wang Chung-yang, and it might be credited to the natural cultural development when the three teaching had already been proposed since Six dynasty. But on behalf of Taoism Wang Chungyang did establish a characterized system of religion as well as philosophical approach that appropriately suited to the society of his time. Among all of what he had asserted, the most important features were the methodology of the ontology as well as the cosmology in presenting the way of practice toward immortality. Anyway, this is also the traditional attitude in Taoism, while throughout the history, the ultimate concern of the religion must be in this area: the way of achieving immortality. There are quite a lot of studies and researches by scholars nowadays in the theories and the practices of Quan-zhen Dao. For

2 one thing, Quan-zhen Dao is the most important Taoist religion after Jin-yuan period ( ) and it really has a tremendous impact toward the history of Taoism. Just with this reason we couldn t take it for granted. Moreover, the studies of Quan-zhen Dao ought to be started with his earliest thoughts, especially those of the founder. Some important parts in the methodology of the earliest Quan-zhen Dao were asserted by the Seven Disciple of Wang Chung-yang, knowing that these seven disciples had their own different characteristics in giving out the system of their master. Their personalities even in some way overrode their teacher. For example, Qiu Chu-ji 丘處機 is one of the figures that dominate and attract scholars to study for the sake of his importance in the political achievements. In fact, the thoughts founded by Wang Chung-yang ought to be understood also by looking into the scriptures and the dialogues of the seven disciples. For this I will also put my attention on the relevant materials of his students, and some other texts written by him in Chung-yang Quan-zhen Ji 重陽全 真集 (The Collections of Wang Chung-yang s Quan-zhen Dao) will also be used in backing up my arguments. From the very beginning of Quan-zhen Dao, the synthesis of the three teaching has been elaborately brought forward with the slogan the Tao of Confucius and Buddha are the same, the three teaching have got the same ancestor. This philosophy has grounded the basic thoughts of the Seven Disciple and it is commonly assumed that in that period of time, the three schools of thought, Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, present three different ways of thinking but with the same ultimate reality in character. The ability of this big task of synthesis is located at the methodology of the practices of Wang Chung-yang. He and his disciples adopted the idea of shi-xin 識心 (the cognitive mind) of Buddhism and claimed the similarity of xin and Tao. This would then deduce that the physical changes of beings were actually the changes of the subjective mind, however this set up the main structure of the ontology of Quan-zhen Dao. Secondly, he and his disciples had borrowed from Zen Buddhism the thought wu-chang 無常 (without regularity) to tell people the suffering of life. From this point he successfully established a system of immortality that people could attain immortal state by just transforming their suffering into the most purity of their reality. Thus he developed a new system of immortality that was entirely different from the tradition. At least

3 his assertion of suffering is contradictory to the traditional saying of the human lives that are considered as valuable and joyful. In addition, he had also transplanted the Confucius ethics onto the foundation of the practices of immortality. Moral actions and the practices toward immortality are in some way related with each other. The practice of mind and the practice of physical body are actually two different categories and hard to link together in terms of epistemology, however, this becomes the characteristic of the methodology of Wang Chung-yang. There is confusion in the arguments when Wang Chung-yang talked about the practice of xin 心 (mind) and tried to call this practice the practice of physical xin (heart), as we know, the moral creativity of Confucianism is different from the practice of immortality. Hence, the main body of this paper consists of two sections. The first devoted to the understanding of methodology of Wang Chungyang by using the Fifteen Discourse as the focus of investigation, with other texts of Wang Chung-yang as supplementary materials. The second section consists of two parts. One is the discussion toward the problems arise in his discourses, especially on the similarities of the practice of mind of Buddhism. The other one is to examine with the differences of the practice of moral creativity of Confucianism. It is hoped that I can illustrate from examples provided in the texts of Wang Chung-yang as well as his disciples that his methodology is in some way changing the traditional discourse of inner alchemy. This is a revolution of Taoism. 2. WANG CHUNG-YANG S PHILOSOPHIC POSITION When we look through the history, the birth of Quan-zhen Dao is not surprising. There were actually four different types of Taoist religion happened in Jin-yuan period. They were Zheng-yi Jiao 正一 教, Zhen-dai Dao Jiao 真大道教, Tai-yi Jiao 太一教 and Quan-zhen Dao. They all had their own area of developing, while Quan-zhen Dao was just the one dominating the north of China when Wang Chung-yang first founded the religion. Though the endeavor of Wang Chung-yang and his religion was just within three years, the efforts of the Seven Disciple in carrying out the teacher s philosophies

4 brought forth the tremendous impact toward the history of religion as well as its culture. Wang Chung-yang tried very hard to select the seven disciples at Shan-dong Province, and at the same time, the fight between the Jin and Sung emperor had never ceased in the north. One of the biggest powers, the governor of Lou Yu 劉豫 was unfortunately over-controlled by the Jin emperor. Thereafter the Jin government became the only one governor in the north and the Jin dynasty began. The warring period was undoubtedly giving the people a tragedy, even more, disasters like droughts and floods happened very often. People were facing an extremely difficult time. A stronger faith seemed to be wished for in order to ease the uncertainty of lives. Wang Chung-yang did provide certain needs for the majority of people. I try to summarize as in the followings the main positions of the discourses of Wang Chung-yang in a philosophical sense. (1) The synthesis of the three teaching The synthesis of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism by Wang Chung-yang is one of the main devotion to the culture. Being one important task as to found the religion he urged the usage of three outstanding scriptures as the fundamental learning materials. They are Xiao Jing 孝經 (The Book of Filial Piety) as Confucianism, Heart Sutra 心經 (The Book of Mind) as Buddhism, and Tao-te Ching 道德 經 (The Book of Lao-tzu). This was recorded by the Zhong-nan Shan Chung-yang Zu-shi Xian-ji Ji 終南山重陽祖師仙跡記 (Immortal Tracks of Master Chung-yang at Zhong-nan Mountain), Chung-yang Master at Nan-shan grew up with his Confucius learning and ended with Tao. Whenever he met the learners he firstly required them the studies of Xiao Jing and Tao-te Ching. Then he had no hesitation to teach them the filial piety. The doctrines in founding his own philosophies were mainly drawn from the Liu Jing 六經. The assertion of the three teaching can also be seen with the common slang used very often as what the three teaching is just like the three legs of a ting 鼎 (the tripod). 1. The emphases in building up knowledge Wang Chung-yang had put much effort in the use of knowledge. This is generally classified into two aspects. One is the knowledge attained from yun-you 雲遊 (the travel), the other is those from the books. As in the former, Wang Chung-yang didn t recommend the

5 travel with just playing with the water and mountain, the correct attitude of travel should include the activities of enhancing one s own insight toward Tao. He said in the Fifteen Discourse, During the travel, one has to ask the origin of his life with both the answers to xing 性 and ming 命. He should not be tired of asking Tao. Once he got the enlightenment from a word he would have the sparkling of the Inner Light and totally understand the meaning of life and death; and hence, he is said to be the real man of Quanzhen. Other than the knowledge getting from travel, the importance of reading books is also a necessary condition of a Quanzhen disciple. However, the main theme of the studies from books is just like that from the travel. The purpose of reading is just on the practice of xin and xing, he said, The way of learning is not just confined into the meanings of characters for it will disturb our sights. The better way is to pick up those interesting parts and store them in the thoughts. The accumulating materials will, for the time being, deliver an Inner Light of thoughts and, at this moment our understanding becomes a state of ever knowing of everything and thus no problems cannot be dissolved. Right now, we have to restore our thoughts and make no more chasing for knowledge; or otherwise, we will lose our xing and ming. From this point of view, the cognitive mind is only the means to the achievement of the origin of xin. Both of the knowledge acquired from the travel and the books are targeting for a higher level of insights. Wang Chungyang named this the Wisdom. This is noted in the next point. 2. The importance of having companions Wang Chung-yang asserted that the practice of Quan-zhen Dao shouldn t just practice alone, no matter how endeavor the practice might be. Without communication with other people will result in maintaining a never growing level with a stubborn mind. The benefit from having companions is not merely broaden our mind but also in a way that the companions play a role to stimulate our will so as to encounter difficulties more easily. In this part Wang Chungyang emphasized on the proper selections of companions. After the right selections, we have to call upon a right attitude toward our companions, that is, the Zhong Dao 中道 (the middle way). It means an attitude with suitable distance with the companions, not too close or too far apart. And, there are also three conditions of being our companions: they must have an enlightened mind, wisdom, and strong will. For the arguments of these three conditions, Wang

6 Chung-yang insisted, Enlightenment, wisdom and will-power are the three requirements. Without consciousness of being trapped in the phenomena, without wisdom like an idiot, and, without strong will but just gossips are the three improprieties of being a companion. When we have to practice in the Taoist temple with our own endeavor, we need to rely on our will and thoughts while, on the other hand, should not behave in suiting other people s interest (as a friend), and should not just follow their face. Only to select good ones be the best method. Actually the selection of companions are not the methodology of the philosophies of Wang Chung-yang, however, the conditions of being the companions asserted explicitly reflect the main features of the discourse. (4) The united practices in xing and ming Xing and ming are both important in the Fifteen Discourse. The relationship between the two is just like the bird and the wind. In order to arouse the importance of the relationship, Wang Chungyang coded the sentence from Yin-fu Jing 陰符經 the control of a bird is the qi 氣 " where the bird refers to the human body and qi to the ming. He explained, The xing is the deity, and the ming is the qi. The meeting of the xing and ming is just like the bird got the wind and so it could fly with little energy. And the state of immortality is the state where the xin (the mind) has transcended into the saint while the ming (the body) keeps behind as the mortal. He said, The leaving from the mortal world doesn t mean the leaving of the body but the leaving of the xin. The body is the lotus root and the xin the lotus flower. The root is underneath the mud while the flower is in the emptiness. (4.1) The practice of xing In the discourses, Wang Chung-yang had much effort to emphasize the practice of xing and xin. There is little difference between these two concepts. Xin is the first object to practice before attaining a level of xing kung 性功. The method is to suppress the xin. He said, The way of suppressing the xin is to get through a state of stillness and non-action. At this state, no beings can be seen. There is no difference of in and out and hence no even a peace of thoughts. He even asserted that the practice of xin would not merely be confined into the stillness meditation but also in terms of all activities of everyday life, such as walking, working,

7 sitting and lying. The meditation, as commonly recognized, is the posture of sitting with the eyes closing, however, as in the philosophy of Wang Chung-yang this kind of meditation is not real meditation. He claimed a real meditation as the meditation with all twenty-four hours, including walking, working, sitting and lying. They are under a state of stability where the xin, located at the middle, fully controls the functions of the four doors such as the eye, ear, mouth and nose in a way stopping all outer phenomena from going in. If the practitioner meets this requirement of practice, though the body is still in the mortal reality, the transcendence of the xin has already been positioned in the immortal state. He said, This is called the Inner Saint. After the hundred years of practices this Inner Saint will free from the physical shell and transform into immortal. This is the achievement of dan 丹 (cinnabar) and free from the ba biao 八表 (the eight extremity). (4.2) The practice of ming Wang Chung-yang took the similarity of the human body as the same structure as a palace. He said, As a clever man he should seek as earliest as possible the inner palace of the body, while the outer glorious furnishing of the palace will sooner or later be worn out and the building will collapse. This argument is actually reflecting the important practice of the inner alchemy that brings forth the immortality of life. The pursuit of outer glory is not the way of Tao and hence everybody needs to have the awareness of the practice of ming. These practices, of course, as said above, not merely aim at the stillness meditation. Wang Chung-yang had employed some supplementary methods. The first one is the using of Chinese herbs that in one way the practitioner can help other people in need, on the other hand, he can also assist himself toward a better health. Secondly, Wang Chung-yang introduced the necessity of keeping the fa-shen 法身 (the transcendent body). The interpretation of fa-shen is not emptiness, not existence; without backward, without forward; not underneath, not beyond; not long and not short. When it is used it meets no difficulties. When it is concealed it has no tracks to chase. Wang Chung-yang added this to the practice in a sense that the fa-shen can grow and accumulate, so he said, Make it grow when you get it. The more it grows the more achievement you attain." The practices thus related with the achievement of the transformation of physical body. Eventually this will reach the state

8 in a physical sense that the five qi gathers together at the middle palace, the three origins coherent at the top, the Green Dragon blows out the Reddish Fog, and the White Tiger spits out the Black Smoke. At this moment Wang Chung-yang defined it as the immortal state of the practices. From this, the brightness of dansha 丹砂 (cinnabar) appears and the purity, steady and finest qian 鉛 (lead, as named in alchemy) and gong 汞 (mercury, as named in alchemy) grows. 1. PROBLEMS ARISE IN THE METHODOLOGY In Wang Chung-yang s system of thought, the Tao, the formless and undifferentiated energy, is the underlying reality of all things. To merge with the Tao is to draw energy from this source of life. Of course, this is longevity. However, the ultimate reality of the Tao can be experienced only by original mind, which is the emptiness of thoughts. This argument is the main feature of the methodology, but at the same time, is also the central area where problems might arise in accordance with the traditional Taoism he followed as well as the thoughts of Confucianism and Buddhism he borrowed from. Here I try to pick out some major problems and discuss as follows. 3.1 Wang Chung-yang s school adopted Confucianism s Xiao Jing and Buddhism s Heart Sutra into his repertoire of scriptures. Of the Taoist texts, the Tao-te Ching and the Ching-ching Ching 清靜經 (The Book of Cultivating Stillness) were especially important. Seriously speaking, the benefits of the adoption of the other philosophies will result in contradictions of different ultimate goals of different religions. The synthesis of the three teaching indeed reflects various situations beyond the story. As for Wang Chungyang, the Tao is the ultimate goal and the use of Confucianism and Buddhism is only on the ethics of the former and the practices of xin of the latter. Xiao Jing is the book of filial piety where we can learn mainly the family ethics and it is the most important part of

9 the Confucius ethics though. The famous thought of Confucianism is that moral act diverse from an own self toward the closest relatives, then the country, and the last, the people and the world. Undoubtedly, like all other predecessors, Wang Chung-yang had to establish his methodology in coherent with the Confucius ethics. For one thing, the Confucius ethics provides paradigms, principles and ideals more clearly than Taoism, and for another, Wang Chungyang did have an intention to trace out a new big school in order to continue the tradition. In this sense, the adoption of the practices of xin from Buddhism really provides him the ability to recruit more followers. While the traditional practices of inner alchemy worked on the enormous transformation of the physical body toward immortality that had always been criticized as impossible. The history tells us that he really succeeded in founding a big school and his religion did influence the culture. And the most impressive result is that the practices of xin, so-called as xing kung, has long been used after Wang Chung-yang and his Seven Disciple, and flourished by Wu-liu school 伍柳派 at Ming and Ching dynasty. Even nowadays the practitioners seem to follow the xing kung more than the ming kung. The famous book, Tai-yi Jin-hua Zhong-zhi 太乙金華 宗旨 (The Secret of the Golden Flower) also known by the foreigners, is one of the typical texts that emphasized in xing kung. The prosperity of the inner alchemy is obviously due to the easy way of the practices. However, those problems arise from the improper assertion of the inner alchemy are the most important, and this will be discussed next. 3.2 As said above, the methodology of xing kung in the practices is actually, on the other hand, an improper assertion by Wang Chungyang. I am not arguing with the improper assertion of xing kung in the practices for, xing kung and ming kung are equally important in the philosophies of Zhong-lu 鍾呂. Wang Chung-yang himself also claimed the practices as the dual cultivation of body and mind. However, the inadequacy is his confusion in bringing out the two concepts. In the methodology he argued that the practices of suppressing the xin would eventually succeed in the Inner Saint and this was what the immortal should be. The idea of suppressing the xin was actually targeting for restoring the shen 仙. And, the shen is the Inner Saint. He also argued that the immortal state was just like the lotus flower and its root: the flower was the shen, the immortal; and the root was the physical body. From this point of

10 view, the human body, even though a series of practices being done, is still an ordinary mortal body. There are no changes or any transformation at all. As we know, the transcendence of the mind or say, the xin or the xing, does not physically and directly affect the body. That is also why Wang Chung-yang s teacher, Lu Dong-bin 呂洞賓, had to emphasize the united practices of xing and ming. So he said, "Just to practice the xing without any of ming is the first illness toward the practices of Tao, just to practice the inherited xing without any practice of dan 丹 (cinnabar) will result in the difficulties of transcending the yin spirit into the Saint even though generations passed. On the other hand, achieving the end processing of the practices of body but losing the inherited xing will be as same as the moment when we wish to see our faces we have no mirrors. This is just like an idiot who has got the longevity like the heaven and earth, or the one who has got the authority of the house treasures lacks of the power of decision making. The claims of Lu Dong-bin obviously denoted the important practices of both xing and ming. The transformation during the practices of ming kung, in the inner alchemy of Zhong-lu, is not like that of Wang Chung-yang; while as in the former, the body is a real physical body that can last as long as the heaven and earth. It implies that the ming kung is the training which can change the physical human body and not just deal with the xin and shen. The suppressing of the xin and the practices of xing kung only remains on the subjective level of changing in mind. This idea can also be found in the texts Zhong-lu Chuan-dao Ji (The Book of Passing the Tao from Zhong to Lu): "The burning of the three dan-tiens 丹田 (the storing pools of cinnabar) results in acquiring the dan 丹 (cinnabar) which permanently located in the lower abdomen. Further practices of the human form will finally attain the immortal body and becomes the De-xian 地仙 (the Earth Immortal) When the entire yin transforms into the pure yang, it happens that a new body appears beyond the original body. At this moment the yang will turn the body into the immortal and thereafter, all other routines on earth will not be cared any more and then he returns to three mountains. We call it Shen-xian 神仙

11 (the Spirit Immortal) However, the Shen-xian hates to stay on earth and so, he passes the Tao to an extent that he accumulates the merits on the way with the widespread virtues. One day when he achieves the required level he will be honored with a heavenly memorial and back to the dongtien 洞天 (the palace of the heaven). Here the immortal states are actually divided into five levels, named Gui-xian 鬼仙 (the Ghost Immortal), Ren-xian 人仙 (the Human Immortal), De-xian (the Earth Immortal), Shen-xian 神仙 (the Spirit Immortal) and Tien-xian 天仙 (the Heaven Immortal). The achievement of De-xian, Shen-xian and Tien-xian is entirely based on the level of practices toward the yang. But the most important point we have to concern is that those practices will transform the body into various states of immortality. This is a factual transformation. It thus shows the distinct arguments in the methodology of Wang Chung-yang. However, as said in his discourses, he still argued that the efforts of the practices would result in the appearance of dan-sha 丹砂 (cinnabar). And the brightness of this dan-sha was interpreted as the shen 神 (the pure yang) that could finally free from the body (shell) and wander through the space. This shen, as he said, is the lotus flower and the body left behind is the lotus root. The argument here is clearly a contradiction. Dan-sha should be the origin of the energy that could transform the body into the immortal state. And this should be a real physical change. Evidences can be found in the text of Zhong Li-quan, named Po-mi Zheng-dao Ge 破迷正道歌 (The Song of Disclosing the Mystery) The blood turns into grease and the flesh becomes silver after hundred days of safety practices. And, the jade-like grease flows and soaks through the whole body then brightness appears in the next hundred days of careful practices. This shows the factual phenomena of the result of the practices of the ming kung. Wang Chung-yang had on one side used the traditional alchemical terms as well as the descriptions of the transformation, while on the other side adopted the easier way of practices as used in the ming kung. Obviously he is quite misleading as he is using the words of ming kung to talk about the xing kung. This seems to be the weakness of his methodology and the traditional meanings of xing and ming as stated in Zhong-lu s inner alchemy are greatly confused by Wang Chung-yang s interpretations.

12 3.3 The aim of the changing of Wang Chung-yang s methodology in inner alchemy is to create an easier way to practice. But the reasons why he had got the changes should also refer to the influence of Buddhism. There are similarities in the practices of xin in the two philosophies. As in the discourses, Wang Chung-yang had asserted that the xin was similar to the lotus flower. It could, in a certain extent after practices, transcend to the shen where the immortal state would happen. So, the Tao is definitely related with the transcendent xin. As stated in the discourses, Wang Chung-yang had put the transcendent xin on the same level as the origin xing, and this highest level was equivalent to the ultimate reality, the Tao. He said, When there are no thoughts the xin transcends beyond the sphere of desire; when there are no themes the xin transcends beyond the sphere of phenomena; when there is no chasing of emptiness the xin transcends beyond the sphere of nonphenomena. The place where the shen stays as the immortal level is just beyond these three spheres. And the xing stays at this purity state. However, the thoughts of the Three Spheres are extracted from Buddhism. Wang Chung-yang had used the xin practices of Buddhism to erect his thoughts toward immortality. This point is argumentative as just discussed before, the immortality here is the transcendence of the xin, or say in a simple way, a transcendence of the soul. Anyway, the adoptions of the thoughts of Buddhism finally result in the argument with the xin being the ultimate concern of reality. Once the human can control the xin he has no more disturbances from outer activities, no more desire toward the phenomena, and also, no more thoughts of the emptiness. The xin becomes the one and the only one means to reach the Tao. There are some reasons why Wang Chung-yang purposely employed the practice of the xin: he was aware of the hardship of the society and thus brought forward the concepts of wu-chang and suffering. These two also came from Buddhism. In his argument, Wang Chungyang said that the life was an illusion from which the suffering had invaded. He sighed, The word wu-chang is challenging the scholars and the saints. They all scare of old ages. They think hard and suddenly aware of the emptiness of their lives. And, The body is so weak like the grass and dew that are easily attacked by the sunlight. Then they turn into soil. Nothing will be left after one hundred year. However, people like to commit with the temporal dusty world and immerse into the hardship of suffering. Mahayana early introduced the concept of suffering, where the suffering

13 was considered as the result of the act of xin (mind). It said, The action of mind is the suffering, this is the origin of all kinds of suffering on earth. With this influence, Wang Chung-yang asserted in the discourses that the stillness of the xin is the main practice toward attaining the great Tao. This characterizes the methodology of Wang Chung-yang Fifteen Discourse and honestly speaking, is a result of synthesis of Taoism and Zen Buddhism. 3.4 The problems arise from Wang Chung-yang in employing the xin as the ontological reality are not only the impossibility of immortality. The term xin, which also appears very often in Confucianism, had been interpreted differently when he asserted in the discourses. There are two meanings of xin. One is the cognitive mind and the other is the ultimate reality as said before. Wang Chung-yang had used the cognitive mind in arguing about the benefits of learning from the books and those from the travel. But people had to gain enlightenment through all kinds of knowledge. This is the transcendence of the xin from a cognitive agent, (shi-xin 識心 ) to a substantive essence. The first part, the use of the cognitive mind, can be categorized into the Confucianism, as Confucius said that learning something and applying in a right way is pleasing. It is no need to argue with the assertion of learning in Confucianism as throughout the history, the coherent structure of the scholars and the teachings of Confucianism have never ceased. While the concept of xin, as interpreted by the Neo-Confucianism in Sung dynasty, consists of both the cognitive and substantive meanings. Just like what Cheng Hao 程顥 ( ) talked about ren (benevolence) as the chaos of beings, that is, the transcendence of a cognitive mind toward the ontological reality. In addition, Liu Xiang-shan 陸象山 ( ) also asserted the wellknown argument the cosmos is my mind and the mind is the cosmos. The traditional inner alchemy concerns about the internal flowing of qi 氣 (internal air) and xie 血 (blood), where the qi comes from the kidneys and the xie comes from the heart. As in the discourses of Wang Chung-yang, the descriptions of the qi and xie are reflected as the Green Dragon blows out the Reddish Fog and the White Tiger spits out the Black Smoke. Here the Reddish Fog is the yang qi, named zheng-yang 正陽 ; and, the Black Smoke is the yin water, named zhen-yi 真一. When the yang qi of zheng-yang meets the yin water of zhen-yi, the brightness of the dan appears. However, the theory here bases on the internal changes of the

14 functions of real organs. The five qi and the three origins mentioned in the discourses are also real movements that refer to yang qi. All these phenomena only occur after series of practices. Here I argue that, for the first point, when Wang Chung-yang asserted the practices of xin toward the immortal state he was actually using the meaning of the real organ, the heart. Only the real organ, the heart, can contribute to the transformation of the body. It implies that the xin he was using is not the one with the ontological meaning. Secondly, Wang Chung-yang was using different concept of Confucianism for the practices, which is the more we keep and make it grow, the higher level of the practice we achieve. That is obviously borrowed from the Mencian thought Practice the xin and know the xing. Know the xing and then know the heaven. Keep holding the xin and make the xing grow, that is the way to serve the heaven. But it is controversial when Wang Chung-yang was talking about the practices of xin and keeping the growth of the fa-shen. Fa-shen is a term of Buddhism, which means the transcendent body. This achievement, according to Zen Buddhism, is rather from the enlightenment, than the efforts of training, growing or any endeavor of practices. It is different from building up the knowledge. As a result, Wang Chung-yang had created a major problem in his methodology in a way that he wrongly put together the two different concepts of xin of Confucianism and Zen Buddhism. From this, he had not merely separated the usage of the cognitive mind from the ultimate concern of the transcendent xin, but also, he further destroyed the structure of immortality that was well established by his predecessors Zhong Li-quan and Lu Dong-bin. This is also why from there onward, the attacks of the immortality of the religion have never ceased. 2. CONCLUSIONS The task of founding a system of philosophies, according to the needs of the society and the natural changes of the culture, involves not merely the possibility of every detail in practices but also, the easy and comprehensive discourses that attract the majority of the people. The paradox of the whole enterprise in the methodology of Wang Chung-yang is predicated on the misuse of

15 concepts of Confucianism, Buddhism and even Taoism, though the merits of his synthesis of the three teaching cannot be denied. There is no appeal to either the ultimate reality of Confucianism or the nirvana of Buddhism but the Inner Saint he asserted in the discourses had contributed to the philosophy of Confucianism and the fa-shen to the Buddhism. The synthesis as a result provides difficulties in dissolving the inadequacy of the issue of various practices toward different ultimate concerns. Wang Chung-yang had not proposed a whole package of convincing arguments in the Fifteen Discourse. In the practices being suggested, he had finally confronted with the confusing concepts. However, these were what he intended to draw from the other two philosophies at the early stage of founding the methodology. On the way toward the immortal state, Wang Chung-yang asserted the practices of the xin in a way similar to Zen Buddhism that emphasized the enlightenment of the xin. He didn t realize the distinct structure of the practices in Zen Buddhism and Taoism, while the latter considered the xin as a real organ, the heart; and the flowing of qi inside the body was real movement that gradually and successfully transformed the body into immortal. Wang Chung-yang did have a religious concern toward the hardship of the people. He purposely employed the concepts of wu-chang and suffering to his discourses, as for the sake of the people s need as well as the bargaining power of his religion, he succeeded in establishing a big Taoist school in the religion and tremendous impact to the culture. Although Wang Chung-yang had the impropriety in adoptions of the concepts, his distinct methodology accidentally created an easier way of practice in inner alchemy that undoubtedly accepted by the majority of people. This style of practices toward mainly the xin and xing is understandable by not merely educated people but also the large majority of ordinary class. This might be considered as the revolution of the philosophy of immortality in Taoism. However, I think the more it was coherent with either the enlightenment of the xin in Zen Buddhism or the moral practices of Confucianism, the less convincing of the possibility of the immortal practices it would

16 be. This is actually a tragedy when the immortality is the ultimate concern on one hand, and the practices are impossible on the other. -- END --

17 GLOSSARY ba biao 八表 dan 丹 dan-sha 丹砂 dan-tien 丹田 De-xian 地仙 fa-shen 法身 gong 汞 ming 命 ming kung 命功 qi 氣 qian 鉛 Quan-zhen 全真 Ren 仁 ren-xian 人仙 shen 神 Shen-xian 神仙 shi-xin 識心 Tien-xian 天仙 Ting 鼎

18 wu-chang 無常 xie 血 xin 心 xing 性 xing kung 性功 Yang 陽 Yang qi 陽氣 Yin 陰 Yin qi 陰氣 Yun-you 雲遊 zhen-yi 真一 zheng-yang 正陽 Zhong Dao 中道 REFERENCES The following texts are collections of Dao Zang 道藏, the Han Fen Lou edition: 1. Fifteen Discourse 重陽立教十五論 2. Chung-yang Quan-zhen Ji 重陽全真集 3. Chung-yang Jiao-hua Ji 重陽教化集 4. Gan-shui Xian-yuan Lu 甘水仙源錄 5. Jin-guan Yu-so Jue 金關玉鎖訣 6. Twenty-four Knacks for Dan-yang 重陽授丹陽二十四訣 7. Yin-fu Jing 陰符經 8. Ching-ching Ching 清靜經 9. Zhong-lu Chuan-dao Ji 鍾呂傳道集 10. Ling-bao Bi-fa 靈寶畢法

19 11. Po-mi Zheng-dao Ge 破迷正道歌 12. Tien-xian Zheng-li 天仙正理 13. Xian-fo He-zhong 仙佛合宗 14. Hui-ming Jing 慧命經 15. Jin-xian Zheng-lun 金仙証論 16. Tao-te Ching 道德經 17. Ren, Ji-yu 任繼愈, Zhong-guo Dao-jiao Shi 中國道 教史 (Shanghai: Ren-min Publishing, 1994). 18. Qing, Xi-tai 卿希泰, Zhong-guo Dao-jiao Shi 中國 道教史 (Xichuan: Ren-min Publishing, 1992). 19. Li, Yuan-guo 李遠國, Dao-jiao Qi-gong Yangsheng Xue 道教氣功養生學 (Xichuan: Academy of Social Science, 1988). 20. Chen, Yuan 陳垣, Nan-sung-chu He-bei Xin-daojiao Kao 南宋初河北新道教考 (Taipei: Xin Wen Feng Publishing, 1977). 21. Lu-zu Quan-xue 呂祖全書 (Hong Kong: Ching-chung Kwoon, 1979). 22. Liu Xiang-shan Quan-ji 陸象山全集 (Beijing: Zhong-guo Xue-dien, 1992). 23. Huang, Zhong-xi 黃宗羲, Sung-yuan Xue An 宋元 學案 (Taipei: He Lok Publishing, 1975). 1. Chan, Wing-tsit, trans. and comp. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963). 2. Lau, D.C., trans. Mencius (London: Penguin Classics, 1970). 3. Zhang, Guang-bao 張廣保, Jin-yuan Quan-zhen Dao Nei-dan Xinxing Xue 金元全真道內丹性命學 (Beijing: San-lian Xue-dien, 1995). 袁康就太極內丹學會