Central Lineage of Internal Alchemy (Zhongpai)内丹中派

Also known as

Central Lineage (Zhongpai), Li Daochun School, Xiantian (Pre-Celestial) School (Huang Yuanji)

Type

School

Period

Yuan–Qing

Founded

Founded by Li Daochun of the Yuan (active from the late 13th to early 14th century); continued by Huang Yuanji of the Qing (dates unknown; the commonly cited 1271–1355 is a misattribution)

Founder

Li Daochun

Derived from

Southern Lineage of the Golden Elixir (Nanzong)

Region

Jiangnan (Yizhen, Changzhou) and other places

Status

Absorbed into Other Lineages — As a theoretical school, it was absorbed into Quanzhen Daoism and into modern and contemporary internal-alchemy studies; Huang Yuanji's writings continue to circulate widely among contemporary practitioners of internal alchemy.

Overview

The Central Lineage of Internal Alchemy (Zhongpai) is an internal-alchemy school founded by the Yuan-dynasty Daoist Li Daochun, centered on the principle of “guarding the center”; it came to be called the “Central Lineage” because its teachings favored neither the Southern nor the Northern lineage, taking the “center” (zhong) as its guiding principle. Li Daochun, style name Yuansu, sobriquet Qing'an, was a native of Duliang in Jiangsu; he studied under Wang Jinchan, a disciple of Bai Yuchan, and so belonged to the lineage of the Southern school, while also receiving the teachings of Quanzhen — so that already in the Yuan dynasty some regarded him as a bridge between the Southern and Northern lineages. He wrote the Anthology of Central Harmony, the Santian Yisui (三天易髓, Marrow of Change in the Three Heavens), and the Quanzhen Jixuan Miyao (全真集玄秘要, Secret Essentials for Gathering Mystery in Complete Perfection), among other works, holding that the essential principle of the alchemical Way is the “center” — “the center is the great root of all under Heaven” — and interpreting the “center” through the concept of the Mysterious Pass. He held that guarding the center is the key to the Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life, fusing the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean, the Buddhist Middle Way, and the Lao–Zhuang principle of “guarding the center” into a single teaching, and was praised as an exemplar of “the Three Teachings as one family.” In the Ming dynasty the Perfected Yin (whose disciples compiled the Principles of the Balanced Cultivation of Nature and Life) and in the Qing dynasty Huang Yuanji (author of the Recorded Sayings from the Hall of Joyful Cultivation and Lectures on the Daodejing) both emphasized “direct penetration through the central yellow” and “guarding the center and embracing the One”; later tradition has often grouped them together with Li Daochun under the Central Lineage. The Central Lineage had no organized religious body or lineage of transmission; it belongs among the theoretical schools of internal-alchemy studies, and its influence has been carried forward mainly through alchemical scriptures and the work of modern internal-alchemy scholars such as Chen Yingning. Contemporary practitioners of internal alchemy often take Huang Yuanji's writings as the representative texts of the Central Lineage.

Core Doctrine

The Central Lineage takes the “center” as the pivot of the alchemical Way, holding that the Mysterious Pass is precisely the “center,” and that guarding the center attains the root of nature and life. It advocates the Dual Cultivation of Nature and Life with priority given to the cultivation of nature, fusing the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean, the Buddhist Middle Way, and the Daoist practice of guarding the center. It puts forward concepts such as “the constant and true Dao” and “the single qi of vacuous nothingness,” and strongly upholds the unity of the Three Teachings. Li Daochun held that the Southern Lineage's “nature after life” and the Northern Lineage's “life after nature” were both expedient approaches, and that ultimately the “center” governs both nature and life together — making him an important representative of the reconciliation of internal-alchemical theory in the Yuan dynasty.

Practice & Ritual

Practices include Quiet Sitting to guard the center, concentrating the spirit at the Mysterious Pass, and regulating the breath so as to reach the utmost of emptiness and stillness, cultivating either nature before life or nature and life together. Huang Yuanji emphasized “direct penetration through the central yellow” and “concentrating the spirit and regulating the breath,” and did not advocate elaborate methods of Fire Phasing and the Celestial Circuit. Li Daochun's Anthology of Central Harmony expounds the alchemical method through question-and-answer and diagrams, giving particular attention to explaining Fire Phasing through the hexagram imagery of the Yijing, and stressing that seated meditation, watchfulness in solitude, and the ordinary daily cultivation of mind and nature are of equal importance.

Transmission

Bai Yuchan → Wang Jinchan → Li Daochun → disciples including Chai Yuangao and Cai Zhiyi; the Ming-dynasty lineage of the Perfected Yin produced the Principles of the Balanced Cultivation of Nature and Life; in the Qing dynasty, Huang Yuanji lectured in Sichuan and Jiangxi, and his disciples compiled the Recorded Sayings from the Hall of Joyful Cultivation. There is no continuous lineage of transmission; later generations have grouped these figures together on the basis of shared theoretical tendencies. Chen Yingning's promotion of Huang Yuanji's writings during the Republican era expanded the influence of Central Lineage thought among modern and contemporary students of internal alchemy.

Key Scriptures

Key Figures