True Words Singing the Dao唱道真言

Also known as

Old Man of Qinghua's True Words Singing the Dao

Author / transmission

Attributed to the Old Man of Qinghua (via a spirit-writing altar)

Period

Qing · Said to have been revealed through the 'Old Man of the Azure Florescence,' compiled by Hequzi (possibly Fu Jinquan, though some hold it to be another person); written between the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns of the Qing and published in the Jiaqing reign.

Canon division

Outside the Canon

Collected in

Outside the canon (included in Daoist Texts outside the Canon and Essence of the Daoist Canon)

Category

Alchemical Texts

Fascicles

5 juan

Synopsis

True Words Singing the Dao (Changdao zhenyan) is a work on internal alchemy produced at Qing-dynasty spirit-writing altars, said to have been transmitted through the brush of the 'Old Man of the Azure Florescence,' in five scrolls, using question-and-answer and discursive prose to expound 'refining the mind' as the foundation of the alchemical path: it holds that 'the alchemical path begins with refining the mind and ends with refining the mind,' and that 'when not a single thought arises, this is called stillness.' It advocates first refining the mind through quiet practice, discarding delusion and preserving sincerity, so that true yang arises naturally and the embryo forms and is released of itself, and it opposes fixation on the forceful circulation of the celestial orbit. Written in plain, fluent language with thorough reasoning, it has been regarded by alchemists since the Qing as a representative work of the 'nature-cultivation of the highest vehicle'; Xiao Tianshi ranked it as 'the finest of all alchemical scriptures,' and along with the Recorded Sayings from the Hall of Joyful Cultivation and the Song of the Great Dao from the Numinous Source it belongs to the tradition of quiet cultivation centered on nature and mind.

Key Ideas

• The alchemical path begins and ends with refining the mind
• When not a single thought arises, this is called stillness
• True yang arises of itself at the height of stillness, without recourse to forceful methods
• A spirit-writing alchemical scripture of the nature-cultivation, highest-vehicle tradition

Structure

Five scrolls, in question-and-answer and discursive form.

Editions

• Jiaqing-era block-print edition
• Daoist Texts outside the Canon edition
• Essence of the Daoist Canon edition

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT Search
• Wikipedia: Neidan

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