Compass Pointing to the Center规中指南

Also known as

Chen Xubai's Compass Pointing to the Center

Period

Yuan · Written by Chen Chongsu (sobriquet Xubaizi), around the mid-Yuan period (early fourteenth century).

Canon division

Dongzhen Section, Fangfa Category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen section, Methods category

Category

Alchemical Texts

Fascicles

2 juan

Synopsis

The Compass Pointing to the Center (Guizhong zhinan) is a set of essential formulas for internal alchemy by the Yuan-dynasty alchemist Chen Chongsu, in two scrolls. The upper scroll, in nine chapters — stilling thought, gathering the medicine, recognizing the furnace and cauldron, igniting the fire upon taking the medicine, the union of Kan and Li, the union of Qian and Kun, concentrating the fire phasing, the yang spirit releasing the embryo, and forgetting spirit to merge with emptiness — concisely explains the whole process from stilling thought and entering stillness to refining the spirit and returning to emptiness. The lower scroll discusses the 'Three Passes,' the 'Three Fields,' and the single aperture of the mysterious pass, drawing on the teachings of the Zhouyi cantong qi, the Awakening to Reality, and the Mirror for Compounding the Medicine, with particular emphasis on the meaning of 'guizhong' (centering, or guarding the center), holding that the mysterious pass lies in an empty position within the body, 'below Qian and above Kun, west of Zhen and east of Dui.' Clearly organized and plainly written, it is one of the most concise guides to internal alchemy from the Yuan dynasty, frequently cited by alchemists of the Ming and Qing, and it is also included in the Essentials of the Daoist Canon.

Key Ideas

• Nine chapters progressing from stilling thought to forgetting spirit and merging with emptiness
• Guizhong as guarding the center, and the mysterious pass as an empty position within the body
• The Three Passes and Three Fields
• A concise and practical guide to internal alchemy

Structure

Two scrolls: the upper in nine chapters, the lower discursive.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Essentials of the Daoist Canon edition

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT Search
• Wikipedia: Neidan

Related scriptures