Zheng Yin郑隐

Style & Daoist names

Siyuan (courtesy name), Zheng Siyuan, Lord Zheng

Period

Western Jin

Dates

c. 215 — c. 302

Role

AlchemistScripture Master

Birthplace

unknown (active in the Jiangnan region)

Places of activity

Mount Luofu

Life

Zheng Yin, style name Siyuan, was a Daoist priest of the Western Jin, a disciple of Ge Xuan and the teacher of Ge Hong. According to the 'Xialan' chapter of the Baopuzi: Inner Chapters, Zheng Yin was originally a great Confucian scholar who came to love the Dao only in his later years; he received from Ge Xuan the Zhengyi Fawen (Ritual Texts of Orthodox Unity), the Sanhuang Neiwen (Inner Text of the Three Sovereigns), the Wuyue Zhenxing Tu (True Form Charts of the Five Marchmounts), the Dongxuan Wufu (Five Talismans of Dongxuan), and elixir scriptures such as the Taiqing Danjing, the Jiuding Danjing (Nine-Tripod Elixir Scripture) and the Jinye Danjing (Liquid Gold Elixir Scripture), amassing a very rich collection of Daoist texts. Ge Hong studied under him in his youth, 'perusing the various texts and treasuring the Sanhuang Neiwen and the Wuyue Zhenxing Tu above all,' and Zheng Yin held that among his disciples only Ge Hong was fit to be transmitted the way of the golden elixir. Around the first year of Yongkang (300), Zheng Yin foresaw that Jiangnan was about to fall into chaos and led his disciples eastward to Mount Huo (one account has him going to Mount Huo to practise alchemy), after which nothing further is known of him. Zheng Yin was the key intermediary figure in the transmission of the Ge family's alchemical and talismanic tradition, and the catalogue of Daoist texts listed in Ge Hong's 'Xialan' chapter was based on his collection.

Contributions & Influence

• Inherited Ge Xuan's teaching and transmitted to Ge Hong the Sanhuang Wen, the True Form Charts of the Five Marchmounts, and the three elixir scriptures
• Preserved and transmitted a great many early Daoist texts