Scripture of the Yellow Court: Inner Effulgences黄庭内景经

Also known as

Taishang huangting neijing yujing (Jade Scripture of the Yellow Court: Inner Effulgences), Shangqing Scripture of the Yellow Court: Inner Effulgences, Scripture of the Yellow Court

Author / transmission

Author unknown (traditionally transmitted through Wei Huacun)

Period

Eastern Jin · Traditionally transmitted by Wei Huacun at the end of the Western Jin, composed around the beginning of the Eastern Jin (4th century), later than the Outer Effulgences and more elaborate.

Canon division

Dongzhen Section, Original Texts (Benwen) category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongxuan Section, Original Texts Category (as the Commentary on the Jade Scripture of the Yellow Court's Inner Effulgences); also included in scrolls 11–12 of the Yunji Qiqian

Category

Early Daoist Scriptures

Fascicles

One scroll, thirty-six chapters

Synopsis

The Scripture of the Yellow Court: Inner Effulgences (Huangting neijing jing) is the most important scripture of visualization practice in the Shangqing School, composed entirely in thirty-six chapters of seven-syllable rhymed verse, centered on the "Yellow Court" (the spleen, or central palace); it describes in detail the Three Regions, Eight Effulgences, and Twenty-four Perfected of the human body, and the names, robe colors, and dwelling-places of the spirits of the five viscera and six bowels, teaching the practitioner to visualize the body gods, treasure the essence and consolidate the qi, swallow saliva, and breathe in and out so as to attain longevity. Lines from the scripture such as "Above is the Yellow Court, below the Pass Head" and "The lute-heart, thrice folded, the immortal embryo dances" are widely recited. Tradition holds that it was received and transmitted by Lady Wei Huacun of Nanyue, and, together with the slightly earlier Outer Effulgences, it is known jointly as the Huangting Jing; Wang Xizhi is said to have copied out the Huangting Jing in exchange for geese, an anecdote that became famous in the history of calligraphy. This scripture's system of body gods and its methods of inward vision and visualization form the foundation of Shangqing ritual method, and are also an important source for the theories of the "Three Cinnabar Fields" and "Three Passes" in internal alchemy from the Tang and Song onward. The commentaries of Liangqiuzi (Bai Lüzhong) and Wuchengzi are the principal ones.

Key Ideas

• The Yellow Court as the central hub, source of the Three Cinnabar Fields theory
• Visualizing the body's spirits (the Eight Effulgences and Twenty-four Perfected)
• Accumulating essence and qi, swallowing saliva
• Inward vision and reversed hearing, tranquil and desireless
• Breathing through the chamber into the cinnabar field

Structure

Thirty-six chapters, each in seven-syllable verse, with the opening line usually serving as the chapter title.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition (with Liangqiuzi's commentary)
• Yunji Qiqian edition
• Xiuzhen Shishu edition

Commentaries

• Liangqiuzi (Bai Lüzhong), Commentary on the Jade Scripture of the Yellow Court's Inner Effulgences
• Wuchengzi's commentary
• Liu Changsheng, Commentary on the Jade Scripture of the Yellow Court's Inner Effulgences
• Jiang Shenxiu, Explanation of the Huangting Jing

Translations

• Partial English translation by Paul Kroll (Religions of China in Practice, 1996)
• German translation study by Rolf Homann (1971)

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT: Huangting Neijing Jing
• Wikipedia: Huangting Jing

Related scriptures

Related figures