Secret Text of the Azure Florescence (Qinghua miwen)玉清金笥青华秘文金宝内炼丹诀

Also known as

Qinghua Miwen (Secret Text of the Azure Florescence), Ziyang Zhenren Qinghua Miwen (Perfected Ziyang's Secret Text of the Azure Florescence)

Author / transmission

Zhang Boduan

Period

Northern Song (according to one account, a Southern Song work under a borrowed name) · Attributed to Zhang Boduan, but possibly composed under a borrowed name by later adherents of the Southern Lineage in the Southern Song, around the 12th–13th century.

Canon division

Dongzhen Section, Fangfa Category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen Section, Methods category.

Category

Alchemical Texts

Fascicles

3 juan

Synopsis

The Qinghua miwen (Secret Text of the Azure Florescence), attributed to Zhang Boduan, explains in detail the mind-nature and the practical work of internal-alchemical cultivation in the form of questions and answers and discursive essays, and is a key text in the Southern Lineage's development from 'cultivating life first' toward equal emphasis on the dual cultivation of nature and life. The text proposes that 'the heart-mind is sovereign, spirit is master, qi is function, and essence is foundation,' emphasizing that one should 'first master qi through spirit, and afterward settle spirit through qi,' and discusses the relations among spirit, qi, essence, intention and heart-mind, giving particular weight to intention as the medium and stillness as the root, holding that 'the way of the golden elixir is, from beginning to end, governed by spirit,' and offering concrete experiential markers such as 'toad light,' 'yang arising,' and 'gathering and taking.' It is widely cited by the Quanzhen school and the Wu-Liu School, and is regarded as an essential text on the mental methods of alchemical practice. Scholars have questioned whether it is truly from Zhang Boduan's own hand, but its thought is continuous with the afterword to the Wuzhen pian.

Key Ideas

• The heart-mind is sovereign, spirit is master, qi is function, essence is foundation
• Mastering qi through spirit, with intention as the medium
• Cultivating life first, then giving equal weight to nature and life together
• Experiential markers such as yang arising, gathering and taking, and toad light

Structure

Three juan, divided into a number of thematic chapters.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Daozang jiyao edition

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Zhang Boduan
• CTEXT search

Related scriptures

Related figures