Direct Pointers to the Great Elixir大丹直指

Also known as

Qiuzu Dadan Zhizhi (Patriarch Qiu's Direct Pointers to the Great Elixir), Changchun Zhenren Dadan Zhizhi (Perfected Changchun's [Qiu Chuji's] Direct Pointers to the Great Elixir)

Author / transmission

Qiu Chuji

Period

Jin–Yuan (according to one account, a Ming–Qing work under a borrowed name) · Attributed to Qiu Chuji (1148–1227); the Zhengtong Daozang edition is in two juan, though some scholars suspect it to be a later work composed under his name or compiled by someone of the Yuan.

Canon division

Dongzhen Section, Fangfa Category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen Section, Methods category.

Category

Alchemical Texts

Fascicles

2 juan

Synopsis

The Dadan zhizhi (Direct Pointers to the Great Elixir), attributed to Qiu Chuji, patriarch of the Quanzhen Longmen lineage, is an important text on the practical cultivation of internal alchemy in the Northern Lineage of Quanzhen. Using both diagrams and text, the work explains the method of nine cyclical transformations in internal alchemy: the intercourse of Dragon and Tiger as the initial pass; the fire phases of the celestial circuit, the flying of golden essence behind the elbow, the return of the jade-fluid elixir, and the return of the gold-fluid elixir as the middle pass; and the return of the Five Qi to the Origin, the gathering of the Three Flowers at the crown, the interchange of inner vision, and transcendence and division of form as the upper pass, with the refining of the form with the gold fluid and the chart of the return of the Three Fields appended, and discusses the Three Passes, the Three Fields, and the Three Chariots, along with the experiential signs of the yin spirit leaving the shell and the yang spirit appearing, clearly setting out the sequence of refining essence into qi, refining qi into spirit, and refining spirit to return to emptiness. The language is plain and direct and highly practical, hence the title 'Direct Pointers.' Scholars dispute whether it is truly Qiu Chuji's own work, but its place in Ming- and Qing-dynasty Longmen alchemical practice is beyond question.

Key Ideas

• The sequence of nine transformations: intercourse of Dragon and Tiger, the celestial circuit, the returned elixir, the return to the Origin, transcendence
• The Three Passes and Three Fields, and the River Chariot
• Refining essence into qi, qi into spirit, spirit into emptiness
• A practical manual combining diagrams and oral instructions

Structure

Two juan, nine sections, with diagrams.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Daozang jiyao edition

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Qiu Chuji
• CTEXT search

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