Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian)悟真篇

Also known as: Ziyang Zhenren Wuzhen Pian (Perfected Ziyang's Awakening to Reality)
Author / transmission: Zhang Boduan
Period: Northern Song · Zhang Boduan (987–1082) wrote the work in the eighth year of the Xining reign (1075), later adding to it; he composed an afterword in the first year of the Yuanfeng reign (1078).
Canon division: Dongzhen Section, Methods (Fangfa) category (Ten Books on the Cultivation of Perfection edition)
Collected in: Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen Section, Methods category, in juan 26–30 of the Xiuzhen shishu (Ten Books on the Cultivation of Perfection); the various commentaries appear in the Dongzhen Section, Jade Instructions category.
Category: Alchemical Texts
Fascicles: In one scroll (nearly one hundred poems, lyrics and hymns).

Synopsis

The Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality) is a collection of internal-alchemy poems by Zhang Boduan of the Northern Song, ranked together with the Zhouyi cantong qi as the twin masterworks of alchemical scripture, and the founding text of the Southern Lineage of internal alchemy. The work consists of sixteen heptasyllabic regulated verses (symbolizing the sixteen taels that make a catty), sixty-four quatrains (symbolizing the sixty-four hexagrams), one pentasyllabic poem, twelve lyrics to the tune Xijiang yue, and a number of eulogies, with a further group of eulogies on the Chan Buddhist teaching of nature appended at the end. Zhang Boduan advocates 'cultivating life first, nature after' and the dual cultivation of nature and life, taking the pre-celestial true lead and true mercury inherent in the human body as the medicine, filling Li with Kan, mastering qi through spirit, and circulating the fire phases of the celestial circuit to form the golden elixir; he criticizes heterodox practices such as ingestion, bedchamber arts, external compounding, and the solitary cultivation of nature alone, saying, 'the words of ten thousand scrolls of immortal scriptures all come down to the same thing — the golden elixir alone is the root and source.' His afterword states his intention to fuse the three teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism. Commentaries are extremely numerous: the Song-dynasty Wuzhen pian sanzhu, combining the commentaries of Xue Daoguang, Lu Shu and Chen Zhixu, and Weng Baoguang's commentary with Xia Yuanding's lecture notes both survive, as do the Qing-dynasty Wuzhen zhizhi by Liu Yiming and the Wuzhen pian chanyou by Zhu Yuanyu. This work has had an immense influence on Quanzhen Daoism, on Ming- and Qing-dynasty alchemical practice, and even on popular qigong.

Key Ideas

Dual cultivation of nature and life, cultivating life first
Filling Li with Kan; the pre-celestial true lead and true mercury
Compounding the golden elixir from medicines already within the body, against heterodox methods
Fire phasing and the celestial circuit; refining the self and laying the foundation
Unity of the Three Teachings; the convergence of Chan and Daoist paths

Structure

Sixteen regulated verses, sixty-four quatrains, one pentasyllabic poem, twelve Xijiang yue lyrics, with appended eulogies and an afterword.

Editions

Xiuzhen shishu edition
Wuzhen pian sanzhu edition (Zhengtong Daozang)
Weng Baoguang's Wuzhen pian zhushi edition
Wang Mu, Wuzhen pian qianjie (Zhonghua Book Company, 1990)

Commentaries

Weng Baoguang, Ziyang zhenren Wuzhen pian zhushu
Xue Daoguang, Lu Shu and Chen Zhixu, Wuzhen pian sanzhu
Xia Yuanding, Wuzhen pian jiangyi
Liu Yiming, Wuzhen zhizhi
Zhu Yuanyu, Wuzhen pian chanyou
Dong Dening, Wuzhen pian zhengyi

Translations

Thomas Cleary, Understanding Reality (1987)
Fabrizio Pregadio, Awakening to Reality (2009)
Paul Crowe's research

Full Text & Online Resources

Related scriptures

Zhouyi cantong qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three), Four Hundred Words on the Golden Elixir, Secret Text of the Azure Florescence (Qinghua miwen), Direct Pointers to Awakening to Reality, Ten Books on the Cultivation of Perfection

References

王沐《悟真篇浅解》
Fabrizio Pregadio, Awakening to Reality, 2009
任继愈主编《道藏提要》
维基百科「悟真篇」条