Ten Books on the Cultivation of Perfection修真十书

Author / transmission

Anonymous (compiled by a Yuan-dynasty editor)

Period

Yuan · Compiled around the Yuan dynasty (late 13th to early 14th century); the compiler is unknown, possibly a later adherent of the Southern Lineage.

Canon division

Dongzhen Section, Fangfa Category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongzhen Section, Methods category.

Category

Alchemical Texts

Fascicles

In sixty scrolls.

Synopsis

The Xiuzhen shishu (Ten Books on the Cultivation of Perfection) is a compendium of internal-alchemy literature assembled in the Yuan dynasty, in sixty juan, gathering together important alchemical texts and poetry from the Zhong-Lü and Southern Lineage traditions since the Tang and Song: the Zazhu zhixuan pian (including the Ruyao jing and the Qinyuan chun dance, among others), the Jindan dacheng ji (Xiao Tingzhi), the Zhong-Lü chuandao ji, the Zazhu jiejing (including various commentaries on the Huangting neijing jing and Huangting waijing jing), the Wuzhen pian, the Yulong ji, the Shangqing ji and the Wuyi ji (all by Bai Yuchan), the Panshan yulu (Wang Zhijin), and the Cuixu pian, the Huanyuan pian, the Huandan fuming pian and the Dansui ge, with two editions of the Huangting jing and various masters' oral instructions appended. Because it preserves the works of the Southern Lineage's five patriarchs in their most concentrated form, and includes a great many editions found nowhere else, it is basic material for the study of the history of internal alchemy in the Song and Yuan.

Key Ideas

• A comprehensive collection of the writings of the Southern Lineage's five patriarchs
• Includes both Zhong-Lü alchemical methods and Huangting learning
• The most complete surviving collection of Bai Yuchan's three anthologies
• A gathering of alchemical oral instructions and illustrated texts

Structure

Sixty juan, divided into ten books: the Zazhu zhixuan pian, the Jindan dacheng ji, the Zhong-Lü chuandao ji, the Zazhu jiejing, the Wuzhen pian, the Yulong ji, the Shangqing ji, the Wuyi ji, the Panshan yulu, and commentaries on the inner and outer Huangting scriptures.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Zhonghua Daozang, vol. 19

Full Text & Online Resources

• Wikipedia: Xiuzhen shishu
• CTEXT search

Related scriptures

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