Direct Discourse on the True Principles of Celestial Immortality天仙正理直论

Also known as

True Principles of Celestial Immortality, Direct Discourse on the True Principles of Celestial Immortality, with Expanded Commentary

Author / transmission

Wu Shouyang

Period

Late Ming · Written by Wu Shouyang (1574–1644), composed in the second year of the Tianqi reign (1622), later expanded with his own commentary.

Canon division

Outside the Canon

Collected in

Outside the Canon (included in the Wuliu xianzong and the Daozang Jiyao)

Category

Alchemical Texts

Fascicles

1 scroll, 9 chapters

Synopsis

Direct Discourse on the True Principles of Celestial Immortality (Tianxian zhengli zhilun) is the principal work in which Wu Shouyang (sobriquet Chongxuzi), of the Longmen Lineage of Quanzhen in the late Ming, expounds the theory of Internal Alchemy, and is the foundational text of the alchemical method of the Wu-Liu School. The work comprises nine chapters: A Simple Explanation of the Origin of the Dao, Direct Discourse on the Two Pre-celestial and Post-celestial Qi, Direct Discourse on the Medicine, Direct Discourse on the Cauldron and Vessel, the Scripture of Fire Phasing, Direct Discourse on Refining the Self, Direct Discourse on Laying the Foundation, Direct Discourse on Refining the Medicine, and Direct Discourse on Subduing the Qi, taking the 'Pre-celestial One Qi' as the medicine and setting out the sequence from refining the self, laying the foundation, gathering the medicine, and the Celestial Circuit, through subduing the qi, to refining the spirit and returning to emptiness, with especially detailed explanations of the 'civil' and 'martial' modes of fire phasing, its 'advance' and 'retreat,' its 'bathing,' and the 'Major and Minor Celestial Circuits,' striving for 'direct discourse' free of veiled language, and opposing the heterodox practices of sexual techniques and external alchemy furnaces. Wu Shouyang added his own detailed commentary, and his disciples and their successor Liu Huayang carried the work forward and developed it, forming the most influential system of celibate alchemical practice of the Ming and Qing.

Key Ideas

• The Pre-celestial One Qi is the medicine; post-celestial qi cannot be used
• Refining the self and laying the foundation; the Major and Minor Celestial Circuits
• Detailed explanation of the civil and martial modes, advance and retreat, of fire phasing
• Orthodox celibate practice, rejecting heterodox methods

Structure

Nine chapters of direct discourse, with the author's own commentary appended.

Editions

• The Wuliu xianzong edition
• The Daozang Jiyao edition
• The Daozang Jinghua Lu edition

Commentaries

• Wu Shouyang's own commentary

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Wu Shouyang
• CTEXT (Chinese Text Project) search

Related scriptures

Related figures