Fifteen Discourses of Wang Chongyang on Establishing the Teaching重阳立教十五论

Also known as

Lijiao Shiwu Lun (Fifteen Discourses on Establishing the Teaching)

Author / transmission

Wang Chongyang

Period

Jin · Composed by Wang Chongyang (1113–1170) during the Dading era of the Jin (around 1167–1170), or compiled by his disciples from his sayings.

Canon division

Zhengyi Section

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Zhengyi Section.

Category

Alchemical Texts

Fascicles

In one scroll, fifteen discourses.

Synopsis

The Chongyang lijiao shiwu lun (Fifteen Discourses of Wang Chongyang on Establishing the Teaching) is a summary of practice set out by the founder of Quanzhen Daoism, Wang Chongyang, for his disciples, comprising fifteen articles: Dwelling in a Hermitage, Wandering as a Cloud, Studying Books, Compounding Medicines, Building and Construction, Companions in the Dao, Sitting in Meditation, Subduing the Heart-Mind, Refining Nature, Pairing the Five Qi, Merging Nature and Life, the Sagely Way, Transcending the Three Realms, Methods of Nourishing the Body, and Departing from the Mundane World. Its contents set out the basic standards for Quanzhen priests to leave the household and dwell in hermitages, wander as clouds on pilgrimage, read scriptures and compound medicines, sit in meditation and subdue the heart-mind, and cultivate nature and life together; it advocates the dual cultivation of nature and life with priority given to illuminating the heart-mind and seeing one's nature, and opposes the greedy pursuit of temple-building and entanglement in worldly affairs — its discourse on Departing from the Mundane World holds that 'the body dwells in the mundane while the heart-mind dwells in the sacred realm.' Though brief, this discourse is a foundational text for Quanzhen monastic regulations and cultivation thought, and together with Qiu Chuji's Pure Rules and Wang Changyue's precepts stands at the source of Quanzhen institutional life.

Key Ideas

• Leaving the household to dwell in a hermitage and wander on pilgrimage
• Sitting in meditation and subduing the heart-mind; refining one's nature
• Dual cultivation of nature and life, nature before life
• The body in the mundane world, the heart-mind transcending the Three Realms

Structure

Fifteen discourses, each a short section.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Daozang jiyao edition
• Appended to the Chongyang Quanzhen ji

Translations

• English translation by Livia Kohn (The Taoist Experience)
• English translation by Louis Komjathy (The Way of Complete Perfection, 2013)

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Wang Chongyang
• CTEXT search

Related scriptures

Related figures