Wang Jie王玠

Style & Daoist names

courtesy name Daoyuan, sobriquet Hunranzi

Period

Late Yuan–Early Ming

Dates

? — ?

School

Quanzhen (Complete Perfection) Daoism, Southern Lineage of the Golden Elixir (Nanzong)

Role

Internal Alchemy MastersScripture Commentator

Birthplace

Nanchang (present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi)

Life

Wang Jie, style name Daoyuan, sobriquet Hunranzi, was a native of Nanchang, Jiangxi, and an internal-alchemy master of the late Yuan and early Ming whose dates of birth and death are unknown. He once studied under Quanzhen Daoist masters while also taking up the Southern Lineage; his writings are noted for their clarity and simplicity, emphasizing the sequence and practice of internal-alchemical cultivation, and are close in spirit to the line of Li Daochun and Chen Zhixu. His three-chapter Huanzhen ji (Collection of Returning to Perfection) expounds the meaning of the dual cultivation of nature and life, with accompanying diagrams; he also wrote the Cuigong ruyaojing zhujie (Commentary on Master Cui's Mirror for Compounding the Medicine), the Qingtian ge zhushi (Commentary on the Song of the Blue Heaven), the Yinfujing jiasong jiezhu (Annotated Commentary with Interlinear Verses on the Scripture of the Hidden Talisman), and the Daode zhenjing jiyi (Collected Meanings of the True Scripture of the Dao and Virtue), among others, many of which are included in the Ming Zhengtong Daozang; his commentary on the Ruyao jing became the most widely circulated edition in later ages. His commentaries emphasize the combination of diagrams and oral formulas, reflecting the trend during the Yuan–Ming transition of internal-alchemy studies shifting from theoretical construction toward popular instruction, and had some influence on the format of Ming–Qing alchemical commentaries.

Contributions & Influence

• Wrote commentaries on the Ruyao jing and the Qingtian ge, popularizing alchemical classics
• Wrote the Huanzhen ji, using diagrams to explain the sequence of internal alchemy
• Wrote commentaries on the Qingjing jing and the Daodejing, extending Quanzhen scriptural studies

Works

• Anthology of Returning to Perfection (Huanzhen Ji)
• Commentary on the Mirror for Compounding the Medicine (Ruyao jing)
• Commentary on the Song of the Blue Heaven (Qingtian Ge)
• Annotated Commentary with Interspersed Verses on the Yinfu jing
• Collected Meanings of the Daodejing (Daode Zhenjing Jiyi)
• Commentary on the Scripture of Constant Clarity and Stillness Spoken by Lord Lao (Qingjing jing)