Religious Daoism

First published Fri Aug 19, 2016; substantive revision Mon Aug 31, 2020

It has become a sinological dogma todistinguish between the so-called Taoist school (Daojia),said to have produced the classical mystical texts …, and theso-called Taoist religion (Daojiao), often said to have begunin the Later Han period [i.e., the 1^st–2^ndcenturies CE]. The successiveDaozang [Daoist Canons] never made this distinction. When welook at the way the termsDaojia andDaojiao occurin the texts preserved in the Ming Canon [published in 1445], we seethat they are practically synonymous and interchangeable.—Kristofer Schipper (Schipper and Verellen 2004: 6)

There could be no better introduction to the present article than thepassage quoted above from one of the main Western scholarly works onDaoism (or Taoism), even though it calls into question not only therelevance of this article, but also the actual existence of its subject.Daoist texts do not speak of “philosophy” or“religion”, two words that do not even exist in thepremodern Chinese language. They speak, instead, of what they call the“house”, “family” or “lineage of theDao” (daojia; also translatable in the plural), and ofwhat they call the “teachings of the Dao” or“teachings on the Dao” (daojiao). Daoists, whoobviously have understood these terms in their literal senses, haveseen them as defining the same entity: there cannot be“teaching” without “lineage”, andviceversa.

Even if the term “religious Daoism” is accepted, it is notclear which entity it should define, and different scholars might explainits meaning in different ways. Should “religion” includeall of Daoism except for its “philosophy”? This wouldprobably exclude the views of theDaode jing (Book of the Wayand Its Virtue;§1.1 below), which Daoists have seen as an integral part—in fact, asthe source—of their tradition. Omitting these views would besomething like writing a survey of Christianity that intentionallyneglects to consider the thought and works of the theologians. Should“religion” only include communal ritual with the relatedpantheons of gods, on the one hand, and the priestly and monasticinstitutions, on the other? If so, an article on “religiousDaoism” would exclude meditation, alchemy, and other individualpractices that Daoists—including those who did not practicethem—have seen as major components of their tradition.

Daoism is a tradition as complex and heterogeneous as Buddhism, Islam,Judaism, or Christianity. The modern categories of philosophy andreligion can help to comprehend its “otherness” (Seidel1997: 39) by interpreting its different manifestations according to asupposedly familiar framework. Yet, the use of these categories canalso lead an observer to look only at the aspects of the traditionthat fit the chosen framework, and only within the terms of thatframework. This may result in creating distinctions and boundariesthat do not exist within the tradition itself. Even worse, the wholeissue might simply consist of imposing one cultural model over adifferent one.

The present article attempts to take into account the Westernscholarly views on Daoism as well as the Daoists’ views of theirown tradition. As a consequence, it is based on a broad definition ofwhat we might call Daoist religion (a term that should replace the morewidely-used “religious Daoism”), and also includes views that pertainto what we might call Daoist philosophy (or Daoist thought, a termmore appropriate than “philosophicalDaoism”).

1. Early Daoist Texts

It would hardly be possible to identify a school or a lineage in thehistory of Daoism which denies that the entire Daoist tradition, inthe forms in which it has been transmitted for about two and a halfmillennia, ultimately derives from Laozi and from the work that isascribed to him, theDaode jing orBook of the Way andIts Virtue.

As shown below, neither has Daoism evolved exclusively on the basis ofthis work, nor does evidence exist of a historical continuity betweenLaozi and theDaode jing, on the one hand, and the differentforms in which Daoism has developed, on the other. Equallysignificant, however, is the fact that, in a traditional doctrine suchas Daoism, history in the ordinary sense of the term can be altered atwill to frame a “sacred history” of the teaching. The mainpoint is establishing and exhibiting a bond between an integralexposition of the doctrine—which Daoists find in theDaodejing—and the particular teachings and practices of theindividual schools or lineages. To give a few examples, this can bedone by asserting that a particular “Way” (dao)derives from a revelation by Laozi, either in his human or in hisdivine aspect; or by placing Laozi at the origins of (or within) a“pre-historical” line of transmission; or simply by using,in textual sources, key sentences or terms from theDaodejing. In these and several other ways, Laozi and theDaodejing are, for the Daoists, one of the main vehicles used todeclare their identity as Daoists.

Among early works, the Daoist tradition usually places theZhuangzi immediately after theDaode jing. A thirdtext, theLiezi, has fallen into a sort of limbo, especiallyafter A.C. Graham demonstrated that parts of the received text are notauthentic and date from not earlier than the 2^nd century CE (instead of the4^th century BCE, as was supposed earlier; Graham 1961).Recently, however, there have been efforts to rehabilitate this work(Barrett 2011), also motivated by the fact that it appears to containlost fragments of theZhuangzi.

1.1 Laozi and theDaode jing

Current Western scholarship is virtually unanimous in asserting thatthere was no historical Laozi. The reputed author of theDaodejing, whose name means Old Master, might be best seen as a“collective entity” who embodies the namelesstradition—mainly oral, as far as we know—that is behindthe text and the ideal of sainthood that the text describes.

While the author and his work are traditionally dated to the6^th century BCE, the Mawangdui and especially the Guodian manuscripts(discovered in 1972 and 1993, respectively; Henricks 1989 and 2000)have helped to establish that early exemplars of theDaodejing—shorter than the current versions and different fromone another—circulated by the latter half of the 4^thcentury BCE. It is also usually acknowledged, though, that the textincorporates earlier oral traditions. While this makes the issue ofdating virtually impossible to solve, it also suggests that at firstthere was no “original” and “complete”exemplar of the text, which probably existed in several versions ofvarying content and length until, probably in the late 3^rdcentury BCE, it was compiled in a form close to the one we know today.(For overviews of theDaode jing and its exegeticaltradition, see Chan 2000 and Robinet 1999, respectively.)

TheDaode jing discusses three main subjects: the Dao, thesaint (or the realized person), and the ruler and his government.Several early Chinese traditions speak of a Dao, or “Way”,but theDaode jing is the earliest source that uses this wordto designate the origin and source of existence. As the absoluteprinciple, the Dao is beyond description or definition. It does noteven have a name: the worddao is used only because one“is forced” to refer to it (sec. 25). [Here and below,references are to the number of section in the 81-section editions ofthe text, a subdivision also adopted in most translations intoWestern languages.] Being formless, the Dao is “constant”(chang, 1), does not undergo change (41), and is“invisible”, “inaudible”, and“imperceptible” (14). Yet the Dao contains an“essence” (jing) that is the seed of itsself-manifestation (21), which occurs without intention and through“non-doing” (wuwei; 37). The faculty throughwhich the Dao manifests itself, and generates and nourishes allindividual entities, is itsde, or “virtue,power”, the second term in the title of theDaode jing.Under this aspect, the Dao is called the “beginning” ofthe world and its “mother” (1). The two aspects of theDao—the absolute and its manifestation as therelative—“come forth together”, and theircoexistence is “mystery and then again mystery” (1).

The highest realized person in theDaode jing is theshengren, a term that, in a Daoist context, is sometimestranslated as “saint” to distinguish it from the Confucian“sage”. While the Confucian sage embodies the highestethical standards of benevolence (ren) and righteousness(yi), the Daoist saint operates in the world by taking theoperation of the Dao as his model: according to theDaodejing, benevolence, righteousness, and the other qualities of theConfucian sage emerge only “when the Dao is abandoned”(18). The Daoist saint does not act on the basis of personal interest,advantage, or desire; he does not take initiative; and he does notintend to lead others (3, 7, 22, 37, 57, 67). Instead, he is in thefront by placing himself “behind”, and acts only byresponding to what external circumstances require. This is his“non-doing” (wuwei), the perfect action in which “there isno doing, yet nothing is not done” (48; the same is also said ofthe operation of the Dao, 37).

Although the reciprocal tasks are different, the ruler is supposed tooperate in the kingdom in the same way as the saint operates in the world. TheDaode jing expresses this view in words analogous to thosequoted above for the saint: “Do non-doing, and there is nothingthat is not governed” (3). This involves that the ruler shouldissue few laws and prohibitions (57) and instead allow the people tooperate by themselves (37). Since the Confucian virtues arise“when the Dao is abandoned” and “when the country isin confusion” (5, 18), the saintly ruler should not use them asprinciples of government.

1.2 Zhuangzi

Zhuangzi—whose name was Zhuang Zhou—probably lived between370 and 280 BCE. He wrote the “Inner Chapters” (1–7)of the eponymous work, which form the first of its three main parts.The two other parts, namely the “Outer Chapters”(8–22) and the “Miscellaneous Chapters”(23–33), contain writings by different groups of authors. (Foroverviews of theZhuangzi, its textual layers, and itscommentaries, see Graham 1989: 170–211; Mair 2000; and Roth2014.)

Zhuangzi’s view of the Dao is in agreement with Laozi’sview:

The Way has its reality and its signs but is without action or form.You can hand it down but you cannot receive it; you can get it but youcannot see it. It is its own source, its own root. Before Heaven andEarth existed it was there, firm from ancient times. (ch. 6; trans.Watson 1968: 81)

However, Zhuangzi repeatedly brings forth the issue of whether and howthe Dao can be known. As the Dao is the absolute, it cannot be made anobject; therefore its knowledge cannot be attained by the ordinarymind, which functions by establishing distinctions between “selfand other”, “this and that”, “right andwrong”, and other relative concepts (ch. 2; Watson,36–49). Zhuangzi’s analysis of the human mind is in factan epistemology: since the Dao is ultimately unknowable through theordinary mind, there is only one way to know it: through “theknowledge that does not know” (ch. 4; Watson, 58).

The human ideal of Zhuangzi reflects this view:

The True Man (or realized person,zhenren) of ancient timesdid not rebel against want, did not grow proud in plenty, and did notplan his affairs … [He] was able to climb all the way up to theWay … [He] knew nothing of loving life, knew nothing of hatingdeath. (ch. 6; Watson, 77–78)

In theZhuangzi, the theme of “inner freedom”receives more emphasis compared to theDaode jing: freedomfrom social rules, from ingrained patterns of thought, from“essentialism” (the belief that things have permanentcharacteristics that make them what they are), and from conventional“self-identity”.

In the “Inner Chapters”, the refusal to elevate ethics toa primary principle follows the views of theDaode jing:

The way I see it, the rules of benevolence and righteousness and thepaths of right and wrong are all hopelessly snarled and jumbled. (ch.2; Watson, 45–46)

In agreement with this view, Zhuangzi is disillusioned about thepossibility of using ordinary ethical virtues as a basis for politicsand government:

To try to govern the world like this is like trying to walk the ocean,to drill through a river, or to make a mosquito shoulder a mountain!(ch. 7; Watson, 93; see also 66–67)

For Zhuangzi, the enlightened ruler is the one whose achievements“appear not to be his own doing”. Thus “the peopledo not depend on him … [and] he lets everything find its ownenjoyment” (ch. 7; Watson, 94). The speaker of this passage isLaozi himself, whose views on “non-doing” in governmentare accepted by Zhuangzi.

TheZhuangzi began to have a noticeable influence on thelater Daoist tradition from the 4^th century CE, when itbecame one of the sources of inspiration for the Shangqing (HighestClarity) school of Daoism (see§3.3). Since then, this work has contributed an impressive number of ideas,concepts, and terms to later Daoist works (Robinet 1983). Theseinclude the “fasting of the mind” (xinzhai; ch.4; Watson, 54–58) and the “sitting and forgetting”(zuowang; ch. 6; Watson, 90–91), two expressions thatin later Daoism denote methods of self-cultivation, but in theZhuangzi describe the inner state of the realized person.(For the view that they refer to actual practices also in theZhuangzi, see Roth 1997.)

2. Origins of Daoist Religion

In addition to the teachings of theDaode jing and the figureof Laozi, several other major components contributed to the earlydevelopment of Daoism. Only a few of the most important ones can besurveyed here.

2.1 Exorcism and “Shamanism”

We may begin by mentioning exorcism, a set of diverse practices basedon the belief that illnesses and various other disturbances are causedby malevolent entities, including demons. The officiant who takescharge of these phenomena is thewu, a term that denotes amale or female medium or healer but is often translated as“shaman”. Thewu is capable of dealing with therealm of demonic creatures and administers proper remedies—forexample, protective talismans (fu) and herbalmedicines—to those affected by such creatures. While these andanalogous practices have continued to exist throughout the history ofDaoism, it should be noted that the typical shamanic“trance” has never been part of Daoist practices.

2.2 “Far Roaming”

Some scholars have suggested that “shamanism” is relatedto another theme developed by later Daoist traditions: the “farroaming” (yuanyou), or imaginary journeys to theextremities of the world or to the farthest regions of the cosmos(Kohn 1992: 96–104). Best known among these accounts is the“Yuanyou” (Far Roaming) poem, dating from the2^nd century BCE (Kroll 1996). Here the author describes an“ecstatic journey” during which he visits the remotestregions of the earth, encounters realized beings, ascends to celestialpalaces, and finally enters the realm of the Great Beginning(taichu). Later Daoist traditions have used the “farroaming” imagery in different contexts: breathing techniques forthe absorption of the pure energies (qi) found at theboundaries of the cosmos, meditation practices that involve walking onconstellations in the heavens, and accounts of initiatory journeys tothe four directions of the world made by saints and immortals, whofind texts and receive teachings from divine beings (see§9.3).

2.3 The Fangshi, or Masters of the Methods

Besides thewu, a quite different class of practitioners isknown under the collective name offangshi (“masters ofthe methods” or “of the recipes”). While they alsooperated within society as a whole, manyfangshi wereemployed by rulers from the 4^th century BCE onwards. Theirfields of expertise included different cosmological and esoteric arts:astronomy and astrology; divination and hemerology; medicine andhealing; alchemy; and sexual, breathing, and other longevitypractices. In Anna Seidel’s felicitous definition (1983a: 294),thefangshi were people who had the “know-how”.In a broader perspective, it is important to note that several methodsoriginally associated with thefangshi were laterincorporated into Daoist practices. With this class of practitioners,we are in fact much closer to what Daoism would become in later times:as noted by John Lagerwey (1986: 282–83), not the“shaman” (with his or her ecstasies and trances), but the“diviner” (who fashions a “rational” worldrelying on images and emblems with precise meanings and functions)is the predecessor of the Daoist master and the Daoist priest.

Unlike those of thewu, several practices associated with thefangshi—in particular, their mantic arts—werebased on the Chinese cosmological system, which took shape in the3^rd and 2^nd centuries BCE (Harper 1999;Csikszentmihalyi 2000; Kalinowski 2004). Notes on the main features ofthis system and its uses in Daoism will be found below (§4.3). Here we should briefly note two points. First, Chinese cosmology isnot tied to any particular intellectual or technical legacy. Itscreation can be seen as the result of an effort to create acomprehensive system open to application to a large variety of fields,with contributions from specialists of various traditionalsciences—especially diviners, astronomers, andphysicians—and from thinkers of different currents. Second, aswas noted by Isabelle Robinet (1997b: 260), “unlike otherreligions, we must look for the fundamental structure, the unity, andthe continuity of Taoism in its cosmological discourse and not in itspantheon”. While Daoism has had different pantheons in differenttimes and places (see§5.2), its views on the relation between Dao and cosmos have remainedsubstantially unchanged throughout its history, and these views haveusually been formulated on the basis of the standard Chinesecosmological system.

2.4 Huang-Lao Daoism

With regard to Daoismper se, Huang-Lao dao (Way ofthe Yellow Emperor and Laozi) is the name under which one part of thetradition was known in the early Han period (2^nd centuryBCE). The precise contours of this “Way” are unclear, butit may be equivalent to the early meaning of the termDaojia(“lineage(s) of the Dao”) as defined by Sima Tan (fl. ca.135 BCE) in theShiji (Records of the Historian; see Roth andQueen 2000). The Huang-Lao adepts saw Laozi as the master who setforth the principles of government in theDaode jing, andHuangdi (the Yellow Emperor) as the ruler who applied them for thefirst time in human history. Huangdi continued to play the role of theperfect “Daoist” ruler in later times: having receivedteachings in various disciplines—medicine, alchemy, sexualpractices, dietetics, etc.—from different gods, goddesses, andimmortals, he would become the patron of some of them. In later times,Laozi and Huangdi were even associated with one another as a singledeity under the name Huanglao jun, lit., Yellow Old Lord.

In addition to the central notion of government by“non-doing” (wuwei), the Huang-Lao daoappears to have promoted not only other teachings of theDaodejing, such as the requirement of self-cultivation by the ruler,but also—displaying the first hints of the integration ofDaode jing teachings and cosmological thought—theregulation of political and social life according to cosmic cycles,such as those of the seasons. The Huang-Lao ideology enjoyed somesuccess at court during the early decades of the Han dynasty, butquietly disappeared after Confucianism was adopted as official statedoctrine by Emperor Wu of the Han (r. 140–87 BCE). Nevertheless,its political views continued to form one of the bases of the Daoistteachings.

In the past few decades, scholars have described some excavatedmanuscripts as Huang-Lao sources (e.g., Yates 1997), but no firmconclusion has been reached on this point. The same is true of theHuainan zi (The Master of Huainan), a major work completed in139 BCE under the patronage of Liu An (180–122 BCE), the rulerof the southern kingdom of Huainan (in present-day Anhui). TheHuainan zi contains sections devoted to thought, government,self-cultivation, ethics, mythology, hagiography, astronomy,topography, music, military affairs, and other traditional sciences(Le Blanc and Mathieu 2003; Major et al. 2010). Its aims ofsynthesis are also shown by more than 800 quotations drawn from othertexts, including about one hundred from theDaode jing andover 250 from theZhuangzi. Yet, although theHuainanzi is included in the Daoist Canon and later Daoist hagiographyhas welcomed Liu An as an “immortal”, the text as a wholecan hardly be described as Daoist. In a historical perspective, theHuainan zi is, rather, the main source that documents theintegration of early Daoist thought with cosmology and with severalcosmological sciences. More broadly, as was noted by Nathan Sivin(1995), it is one of a series of important texts, written between the3^rd and the 1^st century BCE, that provideextensive overviews of cosmology, government, and self-cultivation inview of the creation of a comprehensive ideology that would serve asthe foundation for a newly created Chinese empire. These works alsoinclude theLüshi chunqiu (Springs and Autumns of SireLü; Knoblock and Riegel 2001), theChunqiu fanlu(Luxuriant Dew on the Spring and Autumn Annals; Queen 1996),and—with focus on medicine, but sharing the samefoundations—theHuangdi neijing (Inner Book of theYellow Emperor; Unschuld and Tessenow 2011).

2.5 The Divinization of Laozi

In addition to the components outlined above, the process that, in thesecond half of the 2^nd century CE, led to the formation ofthe first major Daoist religious movement (see§3.1) could not be understood without paying attention to the politicalideologies of ancient China. These ideologies are synthesized in theconcept of the Great Peace (taiping), which was shared bydifferent traditions including Confucianism (Seidel 1983b; Espesset2009). With regard to Daoism, the main source that documents theseviews is theTaiping jing (Book of the Great Peace),originally dating from the 1^st or the 2^ndcenturies CE (Hendrischke 2006). The central idea in theTaipingjing is the advent of an era of “peace”(ping, also meaning “equity”) in which a perfectruler would establish a perfect society. This era would followcalamities designed to eliminate the corrupted ones, but would comeonly if the ruler governs according to the principle of“returning to the Dao”.

The views of theTaiping jing are the first important example ofChinese millenarianism, which would become a further major theme inthe Daoist tradition from the 2^nd until at least the7^th centuries (Mollier 2008b). Amid the social tumults andthe natural calamities that marked the last part of the Han rule,expectations and prophecies of a forthcoming messiah—oftenpredicted to be surnamed Li—grew during the 2^ndcentury of our era (Seidel 1969–70 and 1983b).

That savior turned out to be Laozi himself—one of whose names was LiEr—who became a deity under the name of Laojun, or Lord Lao (Seidel1969). In 165 and 166, rites were celebrated in Huxian, Laozi’ssupposed birthplace; and in 166, Emperor Huan (r. 147–168)performed—for the first and only time in Chinese history—aceremony in his honor in the imperial palace. However, the deificationprocess may have begun even earlier, and the possibility that the“secular” Laozi was already the object of cults issuggested by one of the main sources on his deification, namely theLaoziming (Inscription for Laozi; Seidel 1969: 43–50 and121–28; Csikszentmihalyi 2006: 105–12). This work, written on theoccasion of Emperor Huan’s ceremony, contains a biography ofLaozi, an account of the events that led Huan to perform the rite, anda poetical eulogy of Laozi as a saint who follows the doctrines of“non-doing” and eliminating desires. Significantly, inthis source Laozi is not yet called “god” (shen)and not even “lord” (jun).

TheLaozi bianhua jing (Book of the Transformations ofLaozi), dating from the late 2^nd century and possiblyoriginating from a popular cult in Sichuan (Seidel 1969: 59–75),enjoins recitation of theDaode jing and confession of sins,and is the first of several works that mention one of the mainfeatures of Laozi as a deity: in addition to personifying the Dao andto being a model of the Daoist sage, Lord Lao periodically descends toearth in order to bestow teachings to humanity and especially torulers. This has two important consequences. First, from this timeonwards the Dao takes an active role in the human world, eitherthrough its divine emissaries or by granting revelations to certainadepts. Second, the “historical” Laozi—the author oftheDaode jing—is only one of the different forms thatLord Lao has taken in order to guide humanity.

3. Main Schools and Lineages

This section does not intend to provide a historical overview of theDaoist tradition, but only brief notes on its principal schools andlineages. (The only book-length study of the history of Daoism in aWestern language is Robinet 1997b, which however only covers the period from theorigins to the 14^th century. Shorter, reliable historical surveysinclude Schipper 2000 and Bokenkamp 2005a.)

3.1 Tianshi dao (Way of the Celestial Masters)

In one of his transformations, Laojun (Lord Lao) appeared—in 142CE, according to the traditional date—to Zhang Daoling andestablished with him the Covenant with the Powers of Orthodox Unity(zhengyi mengwei). Zhang Daoling, who may have been a healer,was named Celestial Master (tianshi), and he in turn pledgedto establish a community that would follow Daoist principles. Hisgrandson and third Celestial Master, Zhang Lu, created and presidedover a politically and economically autonomous “theocracy”in Hanzhong (in present-day Sichuan), subdivided into 24zhi(“administrations”, sometimes rendered as“parishes” by scholars who see analogies with the earlyChristian Church).

Since its origins, Tianshi dao, or the Way of the CelestialMasters, proposed to provide an exemplary and comprehensive model ofreligious and social organization (Hendrischke 2000; Schipper 2008;Kleeman 2010 and 2016). The population was organized and governed on the basisof “registers” (lu), which existed in two forms:household registers (recording births, marriages, and deaths) andindividual registers (conferring rank in the social and celestialbureaucracies, and listing the spirits under a person’s command,whose number increased according to age). Healing rites were one ofthe main practices. Importantly, illnesses were seen as owed neitherto demonic influences (as in exorcism) nor to imbalance of cosmic forces (as in classical medicine), but to moralfaults. As part of the healing ritual, an officiant submittedpetitions—reporting the petitioner’s fault, confession,repentance, and request for aid—to the Officers of Earth, Water,and Heaven, the three main original Tianshi dao deities. An analogousemphasis on ethics and morals is the main feature of the best-knownearly Tianshi dao text, a partially-preserved commentary to theDaode jing (Bokenkamp 1997: 29–148).

The diaspora of the Celestial Masters’ communities after the endof the Han (early 3^rd century) had the unintended result ofspreading the religion throughout China. Under the name Way of theCorrect Unity (Zhengyi dao), Tianshi dao is in the present day one of the twomain branches of Daoism, where it takes charge ofthe main forms of communal ritual.

3.2 The “Southern Tradition”

After the period of the Three Kingdoms (220–80), China wasreunified by the Jin dynasty. Unification, however, lasted only for afew decades. The southward migrations that followed the fall of thecapital Luoyang to the Xiongnu in 311 involved not only members of thecourt and the aristocracy, but also representatives of Tianshi dao. Asa result, the religion of the Celestial Masters reached Jiangnan, theregion south of the lower Yangzi river, and apparently for the first time came intouch with the traditions of that region. The events that followedleft a permanent mark on the history of Daoism.

The native “Southern tradition” comprised methods forsummoning benevolent deities and expelling demonic entities, varioustypes of “longevity practices”, as well as meditation andalchemy (Andersen 1994; Campany 2002: 18–97; Steavu 2015). Asurvey of these traditions is given by Ge Hong (283–343) in the“Inner Chapters” (“Neipian”) of hisBaopuzi (Book of the Master Who Embraces Spontaneous Nature, ca. 320).This work (trans. Ware 1966; part. trans. Che 1999) provides a comprehensive overview ofreligion in Jiangnan shortly before the arrival of the CelestialMasters, seen through the eyes of a member of one of the main familiesof Jiangnan aristocracy.

According to Ge Hong, three textual bodies incorporated the higherreligious traditions of Jiangnan. The first consisted of scripturesbased on talismans (fu), mainly represented by theSanhuang wen (Script of the Three Sovereigns; Steavu 2019). Owning them,or even holding them in one’s hands, granted protection againstassaults of demons, dangers brought by external forces, and evendeath. The second and third textual bodies were based on meditationand alchemy, respectively, described by Ge Hong as the highest forms ofself-cultivation. The main meditation practice is “guarding theOne” (shouyi), which consists in visualizing the godthat represents Unity in its multiple residences within the humanbeing. Alchemical elixirs, instead, were superior to herbal drugs:while the “medicines of herbs and plants” can only healillnesses and grant a long life, the elixirs grant immortality.

3.3 Shangqing (Highest Clarity) and Lingbao (Numinous Treasure)

Against this background, the representatives of the religious legaciesof Jiangnan responded to the newly-imported cults and rites of theCelestial Masters by reformulating and recodifying certain aspects oftheir own traditions in ways that also admitted elements of the newreligion. This led to the creation of two major new“schools”, which actually consist in two textual corporaand the related practices. The first one is Shangqing(Highest Clarity), based on revelations that occurred from 364 to 370near present-day Nanjing (Strickmann 1977; Robinet 2000). Its mainscripture, theDadong zhenjing (True Book of the GreatCavern), describes visualization methods of the inner gods, includingillustrations, chants, and talismans (fu). This and otherworks make clear that Shangqing incorporates earlier traditions, butreorganizes and ranks them in a different way compared to the past:meditation is now the main practice, and even alchemy is modified toinclude processes that cannot take place in the laboratory but onlywithin the adept’s own person.

While the main function of the Shangqing master is to transmit textsand oral instructions, the priest is at the center of the secondcorpus. The Lingbao (Numinous Treasure) revelations occurredin the years 397–402, when Ge Chaofu—Ge Hong’sgrand-nephew—received another set of scriptures (Bokenkamp 1983;Yamada 2000). The Lingbao synthesis of different traditions is evenmore visible compared to Shangqing: it incorporates elements ofTianshi dao ritual and pantheon, as well as certain aspects ofShangqing itself (including visualization, performed for instance by thepriest when he sends off his own inner gods to submit petitions to thehighest celestial deities). In addition, Lingbao shows the firstsubstantial signs of the integration of Buddhist elements into Daoism:in particular, its notion of “universal salvation”(including a version of the “Bodhisattva vow”) and alsoits cosmology, reflected in a system of ranked “heavens”(see§5.1). At the center of Lingbao lies communal ritual. The new codificationby Lu Xiujing (406–77), which followed the original revelationsby a few decades, served as the blueprint for several later ones, andclear traces of it are still apparent in present-day Daoistritual.

3.4 The “Three Caverns”

With the creation of the Shangqing and Lingbao corpora, Daoism for thefirst time clearly defined its two main poles, which consist of bothindividual practices (codified in the Shangqing corpus) and communalpractices (codified in the Lingbao corpus). In the 5^thcentury, the relations among these corpora and the other traditions ofJiangnan were formally defined in the system of the Three Caverns(sandong), which is traditionally attributed to Lu Xiujingbut clearly reflects the perspectives of the Daoist community as awhole (Schipper and Verellen 2004: 14–17). In this system, themain Daoist traditions and scriptural corpora of southeastern Chinaare arranged into three hierarchical groups, namely (1) Shangqing, (2)Lingbao, and (3)Sanhuang (Three Sovereigns, understood astheSanhuang wen and related textual materials). Each Caverncorresponds to a heaven and is ruled by one of the three highestDaoist gods: Yuanshi tianzun (Celestial Venerable of the OriginalCommencement), Lingbao tianzun (Celestial Venerable of the NuminousTreasure), and Daode tianzun (Celestial Venerable of the Dao and ItsVirtue, another name of the deified Laozi). The Three Caverns alsoprovided a model for other aspects of doctrine and practice, includingthe ranks of priestly ordination and the classification of scripturesin the future Daoist Canons (id., 17–37). (On the Daoist Canonsee Schipper and Verellen 2004; a shorter survey is found in Bokenkampand Boltz 1986.)

3.5 Tang and Five Dynasties

The founding of the Tang dynasty (618–907) was accompanied bymillenarian prophecies about the advent of a sage-emperor surnamed Li (Bokenkamp1994). As we saw before (§2.5), this was also the surname of the Han-dynasty messiah; four centuries later, thepowerful Li clan claimed to belong to Laozi’s lineage, and itsrise to the throne was supported by representatives of the Shangqinglineage. The Shangqing patriarch Wang Yuanzhi (528–635) predicted therise of the Tang, informed Li Yuan that he would become the nextemperor, and secretly transmitted to him the “registers”of the Celestial Mandate (tianming). Li Yuan—the future Emperor Gaozu—finally foundedthe Tang dynasty. These events marked the beginningof the ascent of Shangqing to a status similar to “statereligion”, which it maintained throughout the first half of thedynasty (Barrett 1996; Kohn and Kirkland 2000). The support of thecourt culminated in ca. 740 with the compilation of theKaiyuandaozang (Daoist Canon of the Kaiyuan Reign Period), the first ofa series of imperially-sponsored collections of Daoist texts.

While the disastrous An Lushan rebellion of 755–63 put an end tothe glory of the Tang dynasty, for Daoism as a whole the Tang was anage of consolidation, but also of major changes and innovations. Withregard to ritual, the Tang period and the successive decades of theFive Dynasties (907–60) were marked by two important newcodifications, respectively created by Zhang Wanfu (fl. 710–13;Benn 1991) and by Du Guangting (850–933), one of the foremost“court Daoists” of all times (Verellen 1989). After itsintroduction in the 1^st century and its development duringthe Six Dynasties, in the Tang period Buddhism became substantially“sinified” with the rise of new schools, the mostimportant of which are Tiantai and Chan (Jpn. Zen), and with thespread of “popular” Tantric practices. (On Daoism andBuddhism see Zürcher 1980 and Mollier 2008a; for an overview ofthe main points, see Bokenkamp 2004.) This led to two phenomena thatbecame constant in the second millennium: competition for statepatronage, on the one hand, and repeated attempts to synthesize the“Three Teachings” (Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism), onthe other. Intersections of Daoist and Buddhist thought and religionare visible in doctrines (Robinet 2004), cults (with several shareddeities, e.g., Avalokiteśvara/Guanyin; Mollier 2008a,174–208), and meditation practices (see§9.4).

Finally, this period marked not only the highest stage of developmentofWaidan (External Alchemy), but also the beginnings ofNeidan (Internal Alchemy; see§10). The first clearly identifiable Neidan lineage is the Zhong-Lü(named after the two immortals, Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin),which appears to have developed from the second half of the Tangperiod.

3.6 New Lineages in the Song Dynasty

After China was reunified by the Song dynasty (960–1279), majorchanges in society—in particular urbanization, the creation of amarket economy, and the rise to prominence of new classes, especiallyin the southeastern regions—led to major transformations inreligion. The institution of “lay associations”, whosemain function was (in addition to performing various meritoriousactions) supporting the local temple, was especially important in thedevelopment of Daoism, and at the same time in furthering theincorporation of cults to local deities and saints into the Daoistpantheon and liturgy.

The Way of the Celestial Masters (then based at Mount Longhu, inpresent-day Jiangxi) was officially assigned the task of ordainingpriests, but a series of revelations resulted in the creation oflineages that, in several cases, claimed to have beenoriginated by Zhang Daoling himself. Between the mid-10^thand the mid-13^th centuries, five main lineages wereestablished: Tianxin (Celestial Heart), Shenxiao(Divine Empyrean), Yutang dafa (Great Rites of the JadeHall), Lingbao dafa (Great Rites of the Numinous Treasure),and Qingwei (Pure Tenuity). All of them were based ondifferent codifications of ritual—including exorcistrites—but with little variation in the basic practices (Boltz 1987:26–49; Skar 2000). Local communities, in addition, had their ownritual specialists, known asfashi (“ritualmasters”), a term that designated, as it still does in thepresent day, lay officiants who specialize in exorcist practices(Davis 2001).

The Song dynasty and the successive Mongol Yuan dynasty(1271–1368) also saw important developments in the traditions ofInternal Alchemy (Neidan), especially with the creation ofNanzong, the Southern Lineage, which is ascribed with one ofthe main codifications of the alchemical practice (see§10.3).

3.7 Quanzhen (Complete Reality, or Complete Perfection)

In 1127, the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234) captured Kaifeng,and the Song dynasty was obliged to move its capital to Hangzhou,establishing the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279). It was underthe Jin rule that Quanzhen (Complete Reality, or Complete Perfection)was created (Yao 2000; Goossaert 2001; Marsone 2010). This monasticorder is, with the Way of the Celestial Masters, the main branch ofpresent-day Daoism.

Quanzhen was founded by Wang Zhe (1113–70), who was active as apreacher in Shandong in the late 1160s, and by his seven maindisciples, among whom Ma Yu, Sun Bu’er (the latter’swife), and Qiu Chuji deserve mention. Five “layassociations” were established to support the teaching, whichspread rapidly. Controversies with Buddhism led to proscriptions inthe second half of the 13^th century, which included theburning of a Daoist Canon recently compiled by Quanzhenrepresentatives. Quanzhen, however, maintained a strong localpresence, and after the reunification of China under the Yuan dynastyit obtained again the favor of the court. While the Ming dynasty(1368–1644) gave priority to the Celestial Masters, WangChangyue (1592–1680) gained the support of the newly-establishedManchu Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Since then, hisLongmen (Dragon Gate) lineage has been the main branch ofQuanzhen (Esposito 2004). In the present day, Wang Changyue’s temple, the BaiyunGuan (Abbey of the White Cloud) in Beijing, is theseat of the China Daoist Association (Zhongguo daojiao xiehui).

Unlike Tianshi dao, whose priests are married and live with theirfamilies, Quanzhen is a celibate monastic order, and under this formit has propagated mainly in northern China. In addition to certainforms of ritual, the main practices of Quanzhen monks includemeditation and Internal Alchemy (Eskildson 2004). However, the overallimage of Quanzhen (and Longmen) is complex, as it also includesnon-institutional and non-monastic forms. At their origins lies thefact that Wang Zhe and his seven disciples are also identified as theso-called Beizong, or Northern Lineage, of Neidan; and especially thefact that Longmen as a whole traces its origins to the above-mentionedQiu Chuji, who is traditionally known as a Neidan practitioner. Fromthe Yuan period onwards, therefore, several masters and adepts ofNeidan have claimed affiliation to Quanzhen and/or Longmen, and havecreated innumerable sub-lineages throughout China with little or noconnection to the central institution.

4. Dao and Cosmos

This and the following three sections are concerned with subjects thatare relevant to Daoism as a whole: cosmology, gods and rituals,soteriology, and the views of the human being and the human body. Indifferent ways and to different extents, all of them have contributedto frame doctrines and practices of several Daoist schools orlineages.

4.1 The Dao and the “Ten Thousand Things”

Whether it addresses itself to the community or the individual, Daoismpurports to provide ways and methods for “returning to theDao” (fandao,huandao). Discussing the mainpoints of doctrine before approaching their particular subjectsis—in addition to references to Laozi and theDaodejing, already noted above—the other main way used in Daoisttexts to declare their affiliation to Daoism.

In the Daoist view, the Dao is both the “ultimateless” (or“limitless”,wuji, a term akin in meaning to“absolute” or “infinite”) and the “greatultimate” (taiji). In the first sense, the Dao isdevoid of definition, determination, form, name, attributes, andqualities. Yet, it comprises all definitions,determinations, forms, etc., none of which could exist outside it.From the perspective of the “ten thousand things”(wanwu, the objects and phenomena that exist and occur in themanifested world), all that can be said is that they come about“within” the Dao, but the Dao is not the same as any ofthem, or else it would be subject to, and limited by, theirindividuality, form, change, and transitoriness. When the Dao, in thesecond sense, is understood as the “great ultimate”, it isseen as the supreme principle of Unity. This Unity, or Oneness, ismeant as the transcendent unity both beyond multiplicity (1 as theorigin of numbers, but itself not a number) and as the origin of themany (1 as the first number).

In theDaode jing, these two aspects of the Dao correspond tothe Dao as “absolute” and as “mother”. The twomain ontologic and cosmogonic stages respectively prior and posteriorto thecreatio continua of the cosmos are often referred toasxiantian (precelestial, “before Heaven”) andhoutian (postcelestial, “after Heaven”).

4.2 Essence, Breath, Spirit

With its self-manifestation, the Dao gives birth to the three maincomponents of the cosmos. Collectively called the“three treasures” (sanbao), these components arejing, or Essence,qi, or Breath, andshen,or Spirit.^[1]Each of them has two aspects, related to their unmanifested or“precelestial” natures and to their“postcelestial” forms in the manifested world. The samethree components are also seen as the primary components of the humanbeing.

In their precosmic aspects,shen,qi, andjing (in this order) represent three consecutive stages inthe process of the generation of the cosmos, from the initial state ofNon-Being and Emptiness (wu,xu) to the coagulationof the Essence that finally generates the “ten thousandthings”.Shen is the principle that presides overnon-material entities (including the celestial deities, which are alsocalledshen, “spirits” or “gods”);jing is the principle that presides over material entities;andqi is the principle that maintains the whole cosmos forits entire extent and duration and throughout its continuous changes.Under these aspects,jing,qi, andshen areusually prefixed by the wordyuan, “original”(yuanjing,yuanqi,yuanshen). In certaincases, Original Breath (yuanqi) is also seen as a principleprior to the emergence of Essence, Breath, and Spirit; when it is usedin this sense, it is also called Ancestral Breath (zuqi) andis equated to the Dao itself.

In the manifested world, the three components take on differentaspects. With regard to the human being,shen emerges as themind (the “cognitive spirit”,shishen, or“thinking spirit”,sishen);qi appearsas breath; and the main materializations ofjing are—inaddition to other liquid components of the body, such as saliva andtears—semen in men and menstrual blood in women.

4.3 Cosmogony

To explain the relation between Dao and cosmos, theDaodejing describes a sequence of states taken on by the Dao,including the Dao itself, unity, duality (Yin andYang), and finally multiplicity: “The Dao generates theOne; the One generates the Two; the Two generate the Three; the Threegenerate the Ten Thousand Things” (sec. 42). This basic sequenceis always respected even though other texts or authors may mentionadditional intermediate stages or exclude them (as does theZhuangzi: “The ten thousand things come forth fromNon-Being”; ch. 23; Watson 1968: 257). The vertical arrangementof the stages illustrates the process of descent fromthe Dao to the cosmos, but also implies—and often explicitlyoutlines—a corresponding process of ascent fromthe cosmos to the Dao, to be performed gradually and with the support of suitablepractices.

When this hierarchical arrangement is represented as a sequence ofmetaphoric time stages, the discourse shifts from ontology to cosmogony. Inaddition to the one mentioned above, Daoism has elaborated severalother accounts of cosmogony during its history (Robinet 1997a). Manyof them focus onhundun, a term usually rendered as“chaos” or “the inchoate”, in the sense ofsomething that has just begun to be and therefore is not yet fullyformed or developed, but from which the cosmos finally emerges (cf.Daode jing 25: “There is something inchoate and yetaccomplished, born before Heaven and Earth”). In a famouspassage of theZhuangzi, this state is represented by anemperor called Hundun who ruled “on the Center”. As hisbody had no openings, the Emperors of the North and of the Southdecided to make him look similar to a human, providing him with eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. “Each day theybored one opening, and on the seventh day Hundun died” (ch. 7;Watson 1968: 97). As shown by Norman Girardot (1983: 113–33),this story attributes the cause of Hundun’s death and the shiftfrom chaos to cosmos not only to the emergence of duality—theEmperors of the North and the South—but also to the creation ofsocial institutions. What brings the harmony of the “chaoticorder” to an end is the emergence of the “socialorder”.

Among later accounts (Kohn 1998: 179–97; Robinet 2002), Laojun(Lord Lao) began to be seen as the “body” of the Dao, fromwhich the cosmos is generated (Seidel 1969: 84–91). The Way ofthe Celestial Masters (Bokenkamp 1997: 188–92; Seidel 1969:79–84) and Lingbao Daoism (Lagerwey 1981: 104; Bokenkamp 1997:380–81; Robinet 2002: 148–55) also created their owncosmogonies.

4.4 Cosmology

After the cosmos is generated, it is subject to the laws of cosmology.The Chinese cosmological system—often called “correlativecosmology” by Western scholars—is a structured andcoherent corpus of knowledge that uses abstract emblems(xiang, lit. “images”) to analyze and explain thefeatures of the cosmic domain and the relations that occur among itscomponents (Schwartz 1985: 350–82; Graham 1989: 319–56;Kalinowski 1991). Among the main emblems are the following:

The Northern Dipper (beidou, Ursa Major), whichrepresents the center and the unity of the cosmos. Through itsapparent rotation around itself, the Dipper distributes its vitalenergy (or “breath”,qi) throughout the compassof space and the cycles of time.
Yin and Yang, which are the main emblems ofduality. They denote the two complementary forces—one“positive”, the other “negative”—thatperform two main functions: they generate entities and phenomenathrough their conjunction, and they regulate the functioning of thecosmos through their cyclical alternation.
The five agents (or five phases,wuxing), which serve toclassify and relate items belonging to different domains to oneanother. Their names are Wood (mu), Fire (huo), Soil(tu), Metal (jin), and Water (shui). Theagent Wood, for instance, classifies the direction east, the seasonspring, the numbers 3 and 8, the color green (or blue), the planetJupiter, the organ liver, and the acoustic phenomenonjue inthe same category. Four of the five agents also represent differentstates of Yin and Yang: “minorYang” (Wood), “great Yang” (Fire),“minor Yin” (Metal), and “greatYin” (Water). In the Daoist view, the five agentsemblematize different modes or states taken on by the Original Breath(yuanqi) or the One Breath (yiqi) of the Dao in thecosmos. The function of the fifth agent, Soil, is especiallyimportant: being placed at the center, Soil stands for the source fromwhich the other four agents derive, and guarantees the conjunction ofthe world of multiplicity to Unity.
The eight trigrams of theYijing (Book of Changes),which are formed by different combinations of three broken(Yin) or solid (Yang) lines. Their names areZhen ☳, Li ☲, Dui ☱,Qian ☰, Xun ☴, Kan ☵,Gen ☶, and Kun ☷. The trigrams arerelated to divination practices, but their primary use in Daoism ispurely emblematic; in particular, they represent different states ofYin and Yang. With regard to space, for instance,the trigrams refer to the directions; in this case, four of themrepresent the cardinal directions (just like four of the five agents),and the other four represent the intermediate directions.

In addition to those mentioned above, Daoist traditions draw severalother images, concepts, and terms from the standard Chinesecosmological system, but one point requires mention. Cosmologyprovides Daoism with tools to represent the unfolding of Unity intomultiplicity; to express the relation between Dao, cosmos, and humanbeing; and to frame practices supported by microcosmicframeworks—the ritual area, the alchemical laboratory, or thehuman body itself. These practices aim to provide means for“returning to the Dao”. This implies that, while theemblems of cosmology are suitable to represent the differentiation ofUnity into the “ten thousand things”, they also serve aspointers for reverting from the “ten thousand things” toUnity. To give one example, alchemists often represent the return toUnity as the reduction of the five agents to three and then toone.

5. Gods and Rituals

In China, the boundaries among Daoism, Buddhism, and the commonreligion are much less marked compared to those among monotheisticreligions. According to individual needs and circumstances, laypersons may perform cults and address prayers and petitionsindifferently to Daoist, Buddhist, or popular deities.

This has placed Daoism in close touch with the common religion, buthas also been the reason for a controversial relation. Daoism attemptsto undertake the dual task—by no means alwayssuccessful—of drawing people closer to the deities thatrepresent the Dao, while at the same time responding to theirimmediate religious demands. As a consequence, in the words of PeterNickerson (2008: 148),

Taoists, precisely because they relied upon traditions of practicethey claimed to have superseded, were compelled to try to distinguishthemselves from their popular predecessors and competitors.

Demonizing the gods of popular religion was one of the options(Mollier 2005): in the course of its history Daoism has prohibitedcults to minor deities and spirits, just like it has proscribedacupuncture (healing is supposed to occur by confession of sins orother ritual means overseen by a Daoist officiant) and divination(performed by lay specialists who do not belong to Daoist schools orlineages). Yet, plenty of examples show that the opposite attitude wasalso applied. To quote Nickerson again,

already in early medieval times, Taoism was including in its rites anumber of prohibited practices, and the popular cults themselves werebeginning to employ Taoist priests. (Nickerson, id.; on this subjectsee also Stein 1979; Lagerwey 1987: 241–52).

One reason at the basis of these divergent—more precisely,contradictory—attitudes may be the intent of exploiting thepopularity of certain cults and the demand for certain basic religiousservices. Another reason may be the attempt of not alienating laypersons and of paying tribute to local religious traditions. In any ofthese cases, Daoism incorporates certain practices of common religioninto its rites and includes certain gods of common religion into itspantheon. Yet, the stated purpose of Daoism remains the one of“transforming” (hua) the people, a term that inthis context means educating them to venerate the deities thatimpersonate the Dao, instead of relying on cults to minor deities andspirits and on rites performed by other officiants—inparticular, the spirit-medium. Such cults and rites are defined inDaoism as “vulgar” (or “profane”,su)and “excessive” (or “illicit”,yin),and have been condemned throughout its history (Kleeman 1994). Ashas been noted, the first competitor of the Daoist priest within localcommunities, in past and present times, is not the Buddhist monk orthe Confucian officer, but the spirit-medium (Seidel 1997: 62; seeLagerwey 1987: 216–18, for an amusing but revealingepisode).

5.1 Daoist Heavens

Daoism represents the celestial realm as different systems of“heavens”, usually arranged hierarchically. In severalcases, these domains are not only the residences of deities, but alsocorrespond to degrees of priestly ordination and to inner spiritualstates, and are associated with revelations of teachings and textualcorpora. The existence of multiple systems reflects the development ofthe religion. Different traditions created their own systems in orderto demonstrate that the respective methods derive from a superiorcelestial domain compared to those of other traditions, and thereforeare more effective or grant access to a higher spiritual state.

The thirty-two heavens of Lingbao are arranged horizontally, with eachheaven occupying one sector of an imaginary circle. At their center isthe Grand Veil (Daluo), the highest celestial domain. Thelanguage spoken in these heavens is based on sounds represented in aform of pseudo-Sanskrit called Secret Language of the GreatBrahmā (Bokenkamp 1997: 385–89). The thirty-six heavens ofShangqing, instead, are arranged vertically. This system was createdafter the Lingbao model and draws in part from it. In one of severallists, the highest heaven is again the Grand Veil. Below it are theheavens of the Three Clarities, followed by the four heavens of the“Seed People” (zhongmin, who survive beyond the endof the present cosmic cycle) and further below by the four heavens ofFormlessness, the eighteen of Form, and the six of Desire.

As mentioned above (§3.4), the Three Clarities (Sanqing) reflect the systematization ofDaoist traditions after the Shangqing and Lingbao revelations. Theterm itself defines both the three highest deities and the heavens inwhich they reside. While this became the classic Daoist model of thecelestial realms, it could be modified in several ways. Differentsystems were devised in later times; these include the Shenxiaocosmography, which places the eponymous Divine Empyrean(shenxiao) at the center of nine celestial realms (Boltz1987: 26–33; Despeux 2000: 513).

5.2 The Pantheon

The supreme Daoist deities are the Three Clarities (or Three Pures,Sanqing),each of which rules over one heaven (for their names, see§3.4). They are associated with different pre-cosmic eras and are deemed tobe at the origins of the textual corpora associated with the ThreeCaverns. Along the history of Daoism, the Three Clarities have beensupplemented, but never replaced, by other deities that effectivelymight share with them the title of “highest Daoistdeities”. Most important among them are Taiyi, or Great One, whorepresents the fundamental Unity of the cosmos in a deified form; andYuhuang, or Jade Sovereign, the highest god of popular religion beforehis incorporation in the Daoist pantheon in the Song period.

Several other gods, such as the “emperors” (or“thearchs”,di) of the five directions, representcosmological principles. In addition, a multitude of deities, most ofwhich originate from local cults and are shared with the commonreligion, contribute to form a pantheon that is impossible to describein full, as it takes different forms in different places and times(Lagerwey 2010: 19–55; iconography in Little 2000, Delacour etal. 2010, Huang 2012, and Fava 2013). To give a few examples, thesedeities include the Queen Mother of the West (Xiwang Mu, an ancientgoddess of the immortals); the Mother of the Dipper (a deity of Indianorigin, especially associated with children and childbirth); Mazu (awoman who lived in the late 10^th century and was deified asthe protector of sailors and fishermen, but also of women seekingchildren); Zhenwu (the protector of the Ming dynasty, related to theNorthern Dipper and provided with exorcist and healing powers);Marshall Wen (Wen Yuanshuai, who gave up his life to prevent“plague spirits” from poisoning local wells); and the“plague spirits” themselves, who are appeased in Daoistrituals called Plague Offerings (wenjiao).

5.3 The Function of Writing

The highest gods reveal texts, teachings, and methods either directlyor through their representatives. For instance, the Shangqing andLingbao scriptures are deemed to have taken shape from self-generatedgraphs coagulated from Original Breath (Robinet 1993: 21–24), orfrom sounds generated by its vibration (Bokenkamp 1997: 386–87),in the early stages of the formation of the cosmos. They weretransmitted in Heaven until a “divine being” or an“immortal” transcribed them into characters understandableto humans.

Just like the gods usually grant revelations in the form ofscriptures, the typically Daoist form of communicating with the godsis by writing: as Anna Seidel remarked, the Chinese deities“neither speak nor listen, but write and read” (1997: 43).In Daoist ritual, the priest delivers a “memorial” (or“statement”,shu) to the gods in order toannounce the ceremony performed in their honor, declare its purpose,specify its program, and list the names of those who sponsor it(Schipper 1974). The so-called talismans (fu, a word almostexactly corresponding to the original meaning of Greeksymbolon) are traced on paper or other supports in graphshardly comprehensible to humans but intelligible to the gods (Despeux2000; Mollier 2003). Like the revealed scriptures—some of which,in fact, are deemed to have evolved from them—talismans havecounterparts in Heaven, and thus serve to identify and authenticatetheir possessors in front of the gods. They confer the power to summoncertain deities and to control demons, but also protect space and healillnesses; they are worn on one’s body, affixed at the fourdirections, placed along the path that leads to one’s dwelling,or made into ashes and drunk with water.

5.4 Rituals

The two main Daoist ceremonies in the present day are the Offering(jiao) and the Merit (gongde) rituals. (On theirhistory and on earlier forms of ritual see Benn 2000; Andersen 2008;Lagerwey 2010: 58–93). The Offering ritual (Lagerwey 1987:51–167; Schipper 1993: 72–99; Dean 2000: 670–77) isperformed to renovate the bond between a community—from thevillage to the empire—and its gods. The Merit ritual (Lagerwey1987: 169–237) is a funerary ceremony performed to ensure thatthe deceased is not kept in the netherworld but may ascend toHeaven.

The communal ritual is requested and organized by the representativesof community via the local “lay association”, which isalso in charge of the local temple or shrine. The main officiant isthe Daoist priest, ordaoshi (lit. “Daoistmaster”), a function typically transmitted within families. Whenhe receives a request to celebrate an Offering, thedaoshiconvenes his assistants to perform the ritual. The celebrationtypically lasts one, two, three, five, or ten days, but arrangements(especially the preparation of the necessary paperwork) require a muchlonger time. While the Offering is celebrated in the temple, afestival is performed in the streets outside, withprocessions—the statue of the local tutelary god is carriedthrough the neighborhood—music, and theatrical performances. Inaddition to this dual “outer” and “inner”aspect of the celebration, another important distinction is the onebetween the portions of the ritual that are public and those that are performedbehind closed doors, in which only the priests and selected representatives of thelocal community can participate.

6. Soteriology

Terms meaning “long life” (shou,changsheng) and “immortality” (busi,etc.) are among the most recurrent ones in Daoist literature. Bothhave been understood in different ways according to the perspectivesof the respective texts and authors. In general, liberation has beenrepresented in Daoism according to two main models: “union withthe Dao” (hedao and similar terms) and incorporationinto the celestial bureaucracy (not as a deity, but as an officer ofthat bureaucracy). The highest form of liberation is often describedas “ascension to Heaven” (shengtian), attaining“celestial immortality” (tianxian), or inanalogous terms, but the general concept of immortality has beenconstrued in many ways.

6.1 The Immortals

According to hagiographic works, the Daoist immortals are historical,semi-historical, or entirely legendary persons who transcend thelimits of ordinary human existence, sometimes by birth but usually by means of their practices. Asdescribed by Benjamin Penny (2000: 125–26), their powers includethe ability to transform themselves into different creatures orobjects; the possession of extraordinary bodies, devoid of signs ofaging and capable of stunning feats; the skill of controlling people,animals, and objects by means of mastery ofqi (thelife-giving “breath”); the gift of healing; and thefaculty of predicting the future. The main power possessed by theimmortals, however, is certainly the ability to reach indefinitelylong lifespans. It is especially in hagiographic works that the ideaof human “perfectibility” is understood in a sense thatis, at the same time, most elementary and most idealistic: not only anexceptional longevity, but also the immortality of the physicalbody.

The earliest extant hagiographic collections are theLiexianzhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Immortals; Kaltenmark 1953),probably dating from the 1^st century BCE, and theShenxian zhuan (Biographies of Divine Immortals; Campany2002), traditionally attributed to Ge Hong although no conclusiveevidence is available about his authorship (Penny 1996). With theexception of works devoted to a single deity (in particular, Laozi inhis divine aspect; Kohn 1998: 7–36), hagiographies containexemplary stories about men and women who have risen to a saintlystate (but not a “godlike” state: the immortals are notgods). These stories are often related to local cults and reflect oraltraditions, but are typically composed by literati, including some whodo not have much to do with Daoism but are interested in the“extraordinary” and the unusual, or in the preservation oflocal traditions. More importantly, hagiographic works are intendedfor open circulation and are not the object of transmission amonginitiated or ordained Daoists. One may read them as“introductions to Daoism” addressed to the general public,whose knowledge of their subject matter often would not go much beyondwhat they read there.

6.2 “Feigning Death”

When we look at other sources, belonging to the various traditionsthat have evolved during the history of Daoism, a different pictureemerges. These sources show that Daoist adepts did not intend to reachimmortality in their physical body; they intended, instead, to makeuse of their physical body in order to generate a new“person” (shen) that is not subject to death. Therelated views and practices cover a wide spectrum of Daoism: from theearly Way of the Celestial Masters to late Internal Alchemy(Neidan).

Some Daoist texts describe liberation as a rebirth that takes place inlife, but only after one forsakes one’s mortal body. In theearliest account of this process, related to the Way of the CelestialMasters, the adept goes through a “feigned death”(tuosi) and moves to a region of Heaven called Palace ofTaiyin, or Great Darkness, where his physical body isrefined. This process culminates in a “rebirth”, or“second birth” (fusheng), in a body thatpreserves itself indefinitely (Bokenkamp 1997: 46–48 and102).

No details are given on how this process actually occurs.“Refining the bodily form in Great Darkness”, however, issimilar and for some aspects identical to what many later Daoist textscallshijie, “release from the mortal body” or“from the corpse” (Robinet 1979: 57–66; Seidel 1987:230–32; Cedzich 2001; Campany 2002: 52–60; Pregadio 2004:121–26). After once again going through a “feigneddeath”, the adept departs, only to return to live in the world,typically on a mountain but at times among other human beings, in aperfected body that subsists indefinitely. A rare description of arelevant practice, found in a source originally dating from the late3^rd century, suggests that “release from thecorpse” occurs in meditation. The adept is instructed to draw atalisman and to visualize himself as “being dead”. Then hetakes off his clothes—an act symbolic of his forsakenpersonality—and walks into the mountains, never to return wherehe was born or lived (Cedzich 2001: 27–28; Campany 2002:54–55). Ritual elements are also involved. The adept stages hisdeath, and his associates (family or Daoist companions) participate inthe performance: they state that his corpse has disappeared and hasbeen replaced by other objects—typically a sword (signifying ahigher form of release), a staff (signifying a lower one), or a pairof sandals (on which see Kaltenmark 1953: 40 and 52).

The adept who performs “release from the mortal body” isalso said to change his name, so that he could escape the spiritsbelonging to the bureaucracy of the underworld that manage the“registers of life and death”. For this reason, thispractice has been called “deceptive”, in contrast todirect ascension to Heaven, which would be a “nonillicit methodof transcendence” (Campany 2002: 59). Yet, Daoist texts neverdefineshijie as illicit, and state instead that this form of liberation is lower because of its temporary nature: those whoundergo “release from the mortal body” have not yetattained a state sufficiently advanced to attain complete liberationin life, and need a further period of refinement that cannot occur inthe bodily form in which they presently dwell. Significantly, theChinese term for “changing name” (gaiming) ishomophonous of the term for “changing destiny”.

6.3 Re-Generation in Life

Shangqing (Highest Clarity) scriptures are the first ones to describemeditation methods for the creation of an immortal body, or animmortal self, through the generation of a new inner embryo. Anaccount of “refining the bodily form in Great Darkness”,found in a Shangqing source, adds an important detail to what we haveseen above, saying that the adept receives his second birth by goingagain through his embryonic development (Robinet 1979: 63–66;Strickmann 1979: 182–83; Pregadio 2004: 124–25). Anotherexample is the practice of “untying the knots”(jiejie). In the Shangqing view, human gestation accounts forthe creation of “knots” and “nodes” that serveto support the five viscera, but are ultimately responsible forone’s death. To untie them, the adept is instructed to create anew embryo through a complex meditation practice (Robinet 1993:139–43; on the “change of destiny” involved in thispractice see Bokenkamp 2005b, 160–62).

Shangqing texts also describe meditation practices performed in orderto save one’s ancestors confined in the netherworld, who aretransformed into immortals by first returning to the embryonic state(Lagerwey 1981: 206–8; Robinet 1984: 1:170–73). Lingbaosources describe ritual practices performed for the same purpose(Bokenkamp 1989: 7–14). Several centuries later, these practiceswould evolve in two main ways. The first is the method of Salvationthrough Refinement (liandu), in which a priest descendsinto the hells to release the souls of the deceased and lead them tothe realm of Jade Clarity. Combining ritual and meditation, the entirepractice takes place within the officiant: the celestial and infernalregions correspond to loci found within his own person, and thedeities involved in the practice are enabled to perform their salvificwork through his own body (Lagerwey 1987: 232–35; Boltz 1983).The second development is Neidan, or Internal Alchemy, whosepractice is often described as the conception, gestation, and deliveryof an immortal embryo (see§10.3).

7. Views of the Human Body

It is virtually impossible to distinguish the Daoist understanding ofthe human body from its understanding of the human being as a whole,and this point constitutes on its own a central aspect of the Daoistway of seeing. Daoism is not interested in anatomy or physiology. Thephysical body performs a different function: it supports various setsof metaphors that express the relation of the whole person to theultimate principle, the Dao.

The emphasis given to the symbolic aspects of the body is also themain aspect under which Daoism differs from Chinese traditionalmedicine: Daoism sees the body as an instrument for “returningto the Dao”. Catherine Despeux draws attention to this point bynoting that Daoists

have considered the body in its practical ends, in its uses,developing all kinds of body techniques that intend to liberate theindividual from the constraints of the physical body, and consequentlyto entrust a major role to the symbolic body. (translated from Despeux1996: 87–88)

7.1 Terminology

The ordinary Western understanding of the body as physical frame orstructure cannot convey the complexity of the premodern Chinese view.This view revolves around three main terms. The first,ti, or“body”, refers to the corporeal frame as an ordered wholemade of interdependent parts; it denotes the physical body made ofskin, flesh, limbs, bones, muscles, tissues, vessels, and all othermaterial components. The second term,xing, or“form”, is best understood—at least in a Daoistperspective—in contrast to the idea of“formlessness” (wuxing), which pertains to theDao. In this sense, “form” refers to the embodiment as thefeature that identifies each entity in the “world ofform”, distinguishing it from—and relating it to—allother entities. Therefore the “form”, rather than the“body”, is the principle of individuality at the physicallevel. The third term,shen, is the most comprehensive: itdenotes the human being in all of its physical and non-physicalaspects.Shen often is best translated as“person” and at times can also be rendered as“oneself”. For example, an expression such asxiushen means “cultivating one’s person” or“cultivating oneself”; it refers to cultivating not onlythe body, but the entire person. (Explications of these terms, some ofwhich differ from the understanding suggested here, are found in Kohn1991: 241–47; Sivin 1995: 14; Despeux 1996: 88–89;Engelhardt 2000: 95–96.)

Each facet of the “body” mentioned above requires theother two, but the variety of concepts embraced by these terms raisesthe question of which among them is at the center of the Daoistdiscourse. It could hardly be said that Daoism focuses on the physicalbody: as shown below, several loci at the basis of Daoistpractices—for instance, the three Cinnabar Fields(dantian)—do not even exist at the purely physicallevel. In other cases, the loci at the basis of Daoist practices havecorporeal counterparts, but their emblematic functions are moresignificant than those performed by the body parts themselves. Themain example is the five viscera (wuzang). In its discourseon the viscera, Daoism shows little or no interest in the physicalorgansper se; the viscera serve, instead, as materialsupports for the network of correspondences that tie the human beingto its immediate and remote surroundings: society and cosmos.

7.2 Models of “Symbolic Body”

A merely anatomical view of the body, therefore, is the least of allconcerns in Daoism. Rather thanti (the physical body), theDaoist discourse and practices focus onxing (the“form”) andshen (the whole person). Maintainingthe physical body in good health is not an end in itself; it serves toensure that the body and its parts and organs may fulfill theiremblematic functions.

These emblematic functions pertain to what Kristofer Schipper hascalled the “symbolic vision” of the body (1993: 104 ff)and Catherine Despeux has called the “symbolic body”(1996: 98). This view is centered on several key notions andrepresentations, which receive more or less emphasis according to theindividual cases. Five different models of the body can bedistinguished within Daoism as a whole:

The cosmological model, where the human being is seen as amicrocosm that contains and reproduces all of the main features of themacrocosm.
The political model, where the human being is likened to anadministrative system, which in turn parallels the bureaucraticsystems of the state and of the heavens.
The theological model, which sees the body as the residence ofinner gods visualized and nourished in meditation (see§9.1 below).
The natural model, which pertains to representations of the bodyas a landscape—in particular, a mountain—with peaks,watercourses and other features corresponding to specific internalloci or to “flows of energy” (for graphic representations,see Huang 2012: 78–81).
The alchemical model, where the body is seen as containing theingredients of the elixir and the tools required to compound it,including furnace, tripod, and fire.

These five representations are not competing models, and in fact often overlapone another. For instance, the principles that operate in the cosmosand the inner deities that personify those principles are to a largeextent equivalent: one may understand and represent those principlesin abstract terms, in deified forms, or simultaneously in both ways.Certain aspects of the cosmological and the alchemical models areidentical. Similarly, illustrations of the body as a landscape alsoinclude the palaces that function as headquarters for theadministration of the body (Huang 2012: id.).

7.3 Main Components and Loci

In addition to the different models outlined above, the Daoist view ofthe body is grounded on several components and loci that are notphysical in the ordinary sense, or that perform functions going beyondthose of the corresponding physical organs. The three maincomponents—jing or “essence”,qior “breath”, andshen or“spirit”—have been discussed above (§4.2). Only a few of the others will be mentioned here.

The center of the human being is represented in different ways; andnot being material, it may have different symbolic locations andnames. Most important among them is the Heart (xin, a wordalso meaning “center”). Related images and terms includethe Yellow Court and the Mysterious-Female. The Yellow Court(huangting, where “yellow” is the color of thecentral agent Soil, and the “court” is the centralcourtyard in traditional Chinese houses) has differentdefinitions. When the framework of reference is the three CinnabarFields, it may denote any of them, and especially the central one,corresponding to the heart; when it is the five agents, it denotes thespleen, which is placed at the center of the five viscera andcorresponds to Soil. The Mysterious-Female (xuanpin, a termderived from theDaode jing and often translated as“mysterious female”) is the immaterial locus of theconjunction of Yin (the “female”) and Yang (the“mysterious”).

The three Cinnabar Fields (dantian) are the lower CinnabarField (thedantian proper), which is found in the region ofthe abdomen and is the seat of the Essence (jing); the middleCinnabar Field, which is found in the region of the heart and is theseat of Breath (qi); and the upper Cinnabar Field, which isfound in the region of the brain and is the seat of Spirit(shen). In meditation practices, the three Fields are theresidences of the Three Ones (Sanyi), who represent the One and itssubdivision into the Two. In Neidan (Internal Alchemy, on which see§10.3), they are the loci of the conception, nourishment, and delivery of thealchemical embryo.

Important symbolic functions are performed by the five viscera(wuzang), namely the liver, heart, spleen, lungs, andkidneys. They are related, in this order, to the agents Wood, Fire,Soil, Metal, and Water. This makes the viscera the main support forthe macrocosm-microcosm doctrine in Daoism. The three Cinnabar Fieldsand the five viscera respectively reproduce the vertical andhorizontal dimensions of the cosmos within the human being.

Many Daoist texts also refer to thehun and thepo,two untranslatable terms often rendered as “spiritual andmaterial souls”, “celestial andearthly souls”, or in similar ways. Thehun stands forthe Yang and lighter components of the humanbeing that pertain to Heaven and return there after death. Thepo stands for the Yin and grossercomponents that pertain to the Earth and return there when deathoccurs. According to different views, thehun and thepo may be single or multiple; in the latter case, thehun are three, and thepo are seven.

Finally, the human body also hosts two sets of parasites: the“three corpses” (sanshi), which reside in thehead, the chest, and the legs; and the “nine worms”(jiuchong), which live in different parts of the body. All ofthem cause weakening, diseases, and death. The “threecorpses” are also said to report periodically one’stransgressions to Heaven, which results in the shortening ofone’s life span. As these parasites feed on cereals,“abstaining from grains” (bigu) was one of theways to expel them.

8. “Nourishing Life”

Daoist self-cultivation teachings and practices can be subdivided intothree main groups:

Yangsheng (Nourishing Life), including such methods asdaoyin, breathing, sexual practices, and dietetics
Meditation, including visualization of the inner gods, meditationon Unity, “inner journeys” to constellations or to theremote corners of the cosmos, and methods focused on contemplation andinsight
Alchemy, including Waidan (External Alchemy) and Neidan (InternalAlchemy)

While Confucianism saw the cultivation of ethical and moral principlesas the highest pursuit in a person’s life, Daoism deems thoseprinciples to be the foundation of one’s self-cultivation. Inthe Daoist perspective, ethics and morals therefore are not a branchof “philosophical thought”, but also pertain to the basicfield of Nourishing Life. (On Daoist precepts see Schipper 2001, andthe translation of a representative text in Hendrischke and Penny1996.)

This and the next sections are concerned with the three main groups ofteachings and practices mentioned above.

8.1 Practices

Yangsheng or Nourishing Life is the general designation of avariety of practices designed to benefit the body (Engelhardt 2000).The term is so indefinite that no precise list can be drawn of whatpertains to “nourishing life”. Nevertheless, relevantmethods would certainly includedaoyin, breathing, and sexualpractices. Present-day practices often defined as“Daoist”, such as Qigong and Taiji quan,may also be seen as belonging to Yangsheng.

Daoyin (lit., “guiding and pulling”; Despeux1989; Kohn 2008) can be defined, in Western terms, as a sort ofgymnastics, in the sense that it grants physical agility andcoordination. In a different reference frame, its formal features andits place in Daoism bear analogies to whathatha yoga is in Hinduism.The purpose ofdaoyin postures and movements is to allow theunhindered flow ofqi within the body. The practice is knownto have existed at least by the 3^rd or 2^ndcentury BCE (trans. of a Mawangdui manuscript, Harper 1998:310–27). Only one text ondaoyin is found in the DaoistCanon (trans. Kohn 2012, in a chapter oddly entitled “InternalAlchemy”).

Breathing practices exist in many varieties. The most common generalterms arexingqi (“circulating breath”) andtuna (“exhaling [the old] and inhaling [the newbreath]”). Particular practices includebiqi(“retaining breath”),buqi (“spreadingbreath”),lianqi (“refining breath”), andtiaoqi (“harmonizing breath”). Another celebratedterm iszhongxi (“breathing through the heels”),used in theZhuangzi to designate the spontaneous breathing ofthe realized person, which does not stop at the lungs but circulatesthroughout the entire body (ch. 6; Watson 1968: 78). Two especiallyimportant practices are the ingestion of the “breaths” ofthe four directions (Raz 2013), and the so-called “embryonicbreathing” (taixi), which purports to replicate thebreathing of an embryo in its womb (Maspero 1981: 459–505).

Sexual practices are commonly defined in Chinese asfangzhongshu or “arts of the bedroom” (Maspero 1981:517–41). The large amount of literature existing on this subjectshows that these arts are, with few exceptions, primarily addressed tomales (another common term that defines them isyunü,“riding women”). Their main purpose is to avoidejaculation: semen should be prevented from being emitted and shouldinstead be “returned to the brain” (which is deemed to bethe origin of the marrow, in its turn the source of semen). Thismethod is known ashuangjing bunao, “reverting theessence to replenish the brain”.

8.2 Criticism

While in Chinese popular culture and in the Western re-invention ofDaoism the “arts of the bedroom” are often seen as Daoist,sexual practices performed in the history of Daoism are of a differentkind. They include theheqi (“joining breaths” or“pneumas”) ritual, practiced in the earlyTianshidao (Way of the Celestial Masters) between married couples inorder to generate the “seed people” (zhongmin),who would survive the impending end of world (Raz 2012: 186–202;Kleeman 2014; Mollier 2016). Certain traditions of Neidan (InternalAlchemy) also involve sexual conjunction, performed in order to enablethe male practitioner to collect the True Yang from theYin (represented in this case by the sexual essences producedby the female). In Neidan, these practice are contrasted withqingxiu, literally meaning “purecultivation”.

Several Daoist texts emphasize that the Yangsheng methods should not beperformed as the only way for “returning to the Dao”.Others—beginning with theZhuangzi (ch. 15; Watson1968: 167–68)—express criticism towards them. While somescholars have looked at these contrasts as examples of competitiontaking place in a sort of “self-cultivation market”,Daoist authors take into account the state of realization afforded by the Yangsheng methods, which in their view is lower compared to other practices.

9. Meditation

Daoist meditation practices can be divided into four main types: (1)Visualization of inner gods; (2) Meditation on Unity, or the One; (3)“Excursions” to astral bodies and constellations, or tothe remotest poles of the cosmos; (4) Inner contemplation.

9.1 Inner Gods

According to Daoist traditions documented from around 200 CE, thehuman being hosts a veritable pantheon of gods. These deities performmultiple roles related to one another: they allow the human being tocommunicate with the corresponding gods of the celestial pantheon,serve as administrators of the human body, and guard the balance ofthe body’s main functions.

Several texts describe the features of the inner gods. One of the mainsources, theHuangting jing (Book of the Yellow Court; ca.200 CE; Robinet 1993: 55–96; Despeux 2012: 128–49),mentions, for instance, a major series of gods that live within thefive viscera. Significantly, each of these organs is called a“department” (bu), the same term that denotes agovernment “ministry”, and each of these gods is said toreside in a “palace”. These and other details, such asnames, appearances, dimensions, and garments of the gods, arementioned as supports for meditation practices. In agreement with theclassical Chinese views on the fateful separation of the spirit(shen) from the body, several works warn that if the innergods (also calledshen) leave their residences, a person dies.“Maintaining one’s thoughts” (cun) on themenables one to keep them in their corporeal dwellings.

These deities are not deemed to possess physical existence in theordinary sense of the word. They pertain, instead, to a domain thatlies midway between formlessness and form; as noticed by IsabelleRobinet, they are “images” (xiang) that play anintermediary function “between the world of sensory realitiesand the world of the unknowable” (1993: 50). The person in whomthe gods reside is neither possessed by them nor is“deified” by their presence (for a different view, seePuett 2002:226–27). The practitioner, instead, becomes the focus of adivine representation, of which he is the lone creator and the lonespectator. The organs and loci in which the gods reside cease to bemere “body parts”, and become the supports that make thatrepresentation possible.

The inner gods are literally innumerable and different texts describedifferent pantheons (Pregadio 2005: 131–41), but here only themost important one can be mentioned. Known as the Red Child (Chizi),he is featured in theLaozi zhongjing (Central Book of Laozi;probably ca. 200 CE; Schipper 1993: 100–12; Schipper 1995;Lagerwey 2004a). The speaker of this text is Laozi; in fact, the RedChild is no other than Laozi himself, now playing the role of“true self” (zhenwu) of each human being. Hedefines himself as “the child of the Dao”, adding that heresides in the stomach (another symbolic center of the person) wherehe is nourished by his mother and protected by his father. Like otherinner gods, however, the Child should also be nourished by the personin whom he lives: in particular, a “yellow essence”(huangjing) and a “red breath” (chiqi),respectively associated with the Moon (Yin) and the Sun(Yang), should be delivered to him by the adept inmeditation.

As an image of the “true self”, the Red Child is the mainprecursor of the “embryo” that, several centuries later,adepts of Neidan would generate and nourish by means of their ownpractices (§10.3).

9.2 The One and the Three Ones

Meditation practices focused on the principle of Unity are known as“guarding Unity” or “guarding the One”(shouyi), an expression analogous in meaning to“embracing Unity” (baoyi) found in theDaodejing (sec. 10 and 22). In his famous speech to the YellowEmperor, recorded in theZhuangzi, Guangcheng zi says,“I guard this Unity and thus abide in this harmony” (ch.11; Watson 1968: 120).

While in these examples “guarding Unity” refers to theconstant awareness of the One as the principle of the many, in later times thesame expression designates meditation practices based on thevisualization of the One as an anthropomorphic inner deity. Aclassical description is found in theBaopu zi, where Ge Hongreckons “guarding the One” as the superior way oftranscendence together with the ingestion of elixirs. The mainpractice consists in visualizing the features that the One as a godtakes within the human being as it moves among the three CinnabarFields. Meditation on the One as an inner god is also described in theLaozi zhongjing and in theDadong zhenjing.

Later,this practice evolved into “guarding the Three Ones”(shou sanyi), which again exists in several varieties(Andersen 1979; Robinet 1993: 119–38). For instance, the ThreeOnes are represented as three children who live in theCinnabar Fields. Another practice combines external andinternal aspects: after visualizing the descent of theNorthern Dipper above his head, the adept sees the Three Ones emergingamong its stars; he breaths three times, and each time one of theThree Ones reaches its residence in the respective Cinnabar Field.

9.3 “Pacing the Celestial Net”

Shangqing Daoism also developed meditation practices that take adeptsto the extremities of the cosmos or to the Sun, the Moon, and otherastral bodies (Robinet 1993: 171–85 and 187–230). For someof their features, these practices are related to the“far roaming” described in pre-Han and Han literary works(see§2.2). The Dipper, in particular, is the heavenly residence of the Great One(Taiyi); it is made of nine stars, two of which are said to be visibleonly by advanced adepts. One of the nine stars, called Heavenly Pass(tianguan), allows the adept to exit the cosmos and accessthe domains placed above and beyond it. The meditative walk on thestars was called Pacing the Celestial Net (bugang). Itincorporated the ancient ritual practice of the Steps of Yu(yubu), which imitated the lamely way of walking of themythical Emperor Yu, but also included cosmological and numerologicalelements (Andersen 1989–90).

9.4 Contemplation

From approximately the 7^th century, the meditationpractices outlined above were largely replaced by methods ofcontemplation and introspection (Kohn 2010). While their closeness toBuddhism is manifest, their roots also lie in early teachings andpractices such as those described in theNeiye (InternalTraining), dating from the second half of the 4^thcentury BCE (Kirkland 2004: 39–52; Roth 1999; Graziani 2001),and in the above-mentioned speech of Guangchengzi to the Yellow Emperor (Zhuangzi, ch. 11; Watson 1968:118–20).

One of the main sources on contemplation (guan) methods istheNeiguan jing (Book of Inner Contemplation; Kohn 2010:179–87), another text spoken by Laozi in his deified aspect.This work emphasizes that the original state of clarity and purity islost when the mind is overcome by passions and attachments caused bysensual cravings. When the mind is stabilized, disordered thoughts donot arise; one then does not only reach the state of quiescence, butthe state in which both movement and quiescence are transcended.

TheQingjing jing (Book of Clarity and Quiescence; Kohn 1993:24–29) is another influential work, also dating from the Tangperiod and also spoken by Laozi. It states that the innate clarity andquiescence of the mind and the spirit are defiled by passion and lustowed to the separation of original Unity into the two complementaryprinciples. Only by realizing that mind, forms, and individual objectsare devoid of an underlying nature is it possible to awaken to theirfundamental emptiness. This is attained by contemplation, and leadsone to the recovery of the “clarity and quiescence”mentioned in the title (an expression derived from theDaodejing, sec. 45). Among the main uses of this work was, and stillis, its daily recitation by Quanzhen monks, nuns, and adepts.

10. The External and the Internal Elixirs

Alchemy developed in China in two main branches. Waidan, or ExternalAlchemy, is based on compounding elixirs through the manipulation ofnatural substances—primarily minerals and metals—whichrelease their essences when they are submitted to the action of fire.Neidan, or Internal Alchemy, aims to produce the elixir within thealchemist’s person according to two main models of doctrine andpractice: first, bycausing the primary components of the cosmos and the humanbeing—Essence, Breath, and Spirit—to revert to theiroriginal states; and second, by purifying one’s mind of defilements andpassions, in order to “see one’s Nature”(jianxing), which is equated to the elixir.

10.1 Waidan or External Alchemy

In the Taiqing (Great Clarity) tradition of Waidan, whichdeveloped from the 3^rd century CE, the alchemical practiceis framed as a complex ritual sequence (Pregadio 2006). The initialstage is the ceremony of transmission, followed by a period ofretirement and purifications. Then, having protected the ritual spaceby means of talismans (fu), the alchemist builds thelaboratory, or “chamber of the elixirs” (danshi).At a time deemed to be suitable according to traditional hemerology,the alchemist performs a ceremony for kindling thefire—including a request of assistance addressed to Laojun (LordLao) and other deities—and only then does he devote himself tothe compounding. The process is concluded by the consecration and theingestion of the elixir. It is this entire sequence, and not only thework at the furnace, that constitutes the alchemical practice.

The main tool, from both a ritual and a technical point of view, isthe crucible. To reproduce the state of the cosmos at its inception(hundun; see§4.3), the vesselshould be hermetically sealed so that the vital “breath”(qi) is not dispersed. Under these conditions, the elixiringredients “revert” (huan) to their originalstate. This refined matter is equated with the Essence (jing)that is hidden within the Dao and gives birth to the world(“Vague and indistinct! Within it there is something. Dim andobscure! Within it there is an essence”;Daode jing,sec. 21). The elixir therefore is a tangible sign of the seed thatgenerates the cosmos.

Ingesting an elixir is said to confer, in the first place,transcendence, immortality, and admission into the ranks of thecelestial bureaucracy. One also gains the ability of summoningbenevolent gods and obtains protection from demons, spirits, andseveral other disturbances, including weapons, wild animals, and eventhieves. Remarkably, in order to provide these benefits, the elixirdoes not need to be ingested: it may simply be kept in one’shand or carried at the belt as a powerful apotropaic talisman.

10.2 Alchemy and Cosmology

Early Waidan sources do not rely on the system of correlativecosmology. This system, instead, becomes essential in thelater Waidan traditions and in virtually the whole of Neidan. Thefoundations of this new model of doctrine and practice were providedby theCantong qi (Seal of the Unity of the Three),traditionally said to be written in the 2^nd century CE butdating from between the mid-5^th and the mid-7^thcentury (Pregadio 2011). Scores of texts both within and outside theDaoist Canon are related to this work. Although its views have beenunderstood mainly in relation to Neidan, they also apply toWaidan.

TheCantong qi and its tradition use several sets of emblemsthat represent different aspects of the relation of the cosmos to theDao. The main set is formed by four trigrams of theBook ofChanges, namely Qian ☰, Kun ☷,Kan ☵, and Li ☲, which represent themodes taken on by the Dao in its self-manifestation.Qianstands for the active (Yang) aspect of the Dao, andKun standsfor its passive (Yin) aspect. Their permanent conjunction inthe precosmic domain gives birth to the cosmos. The Yang ofQian ☰ moves intoKun ☷, which becomesKan ☵; in response, the Yin ofKun☷ moves intoQian ☰, which becomesLi☲. In the cosmos, therefore, the Yin contains TrueYang (the inner solid line ofKan ☵), and theYang contains True Yin (the inner broken line ofLi ☲).

On the basis of these principles, the only form of alchemical practicesanctioned by theCantong qi and by the works that follow itssystem is the one that enables the conjunction ofQian andKun, or True Yang and True Yin. Accordingto theCantong qi, only True Lead and True Mercury are“of the same kind” (tonglei) asQian andKun. The Yin and Yang entities thatcontain these authentic principles are “blacklead” (i.e., native lead) and cinnabar, respectively. In the strict sense ofthe term, alchemy therefore consists in extracting True Lead from“black lead” and True Mercury from cinnabar, and injoining them to one another. This is accomplished in Waidan by usingthe corresponding minerals and metals, and in Neidan by operating onvarious components of the human body—both physical andnon-physical—which are symbolically denoted by the sameterms.

10.3 Neidan or Internal Alchemy

Although theCantong qi forever changed the history of Daoistalchemy, by no means are all Waidan works written in the Tang period(7^th-9^th centuries) inspired by its doctrines(Sivin 1968; Needham 1976: 132–74). During this period, however,Waidan methods increasingly tend to mirror features of thecosmological system (Sivin 1976 and 1980).

The shift of focus from ritual to cosmology also paved the way for thedevelopment of Neidan. However, the roots of Neidan are multiple, andit would be reductive to see it as a mere transposition of Waidan toan “inner” plane: Neidan owes its origins to meditationmethods on the inner gods more than it does to Waidan (Pregadio 2005).To summarize a complex phenomenon, Waidan terminology and imagery werecombined with concepts and emblems drawn from the cosmological systemaccording to the model of theCantong qi, and with elementsinherited from the early meditation practices. This necessarily causedthe disappearance of the inner gods themselves: incorporating theminto Neidan would require an impossible “re-mapping” ofthe inner pantheon onto a different cosmological model. The only, butmajor, exception is the Red Child, the innermost deity of early Daoistmeditation (see§9.1). When he reappears in Neidan, however, the Red Child is no longer agod possessed by all human beings: he is now an image of the“embryo” generated by means of the alchemicalpractice.

Especially in its forms that integrate elements defined (orre-defined) by Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism, Neidan focuses itsdiscourse and practice onxing andming, twocardinal concepts in its view of the human being (Robinet 1995:165–95; Pregadio 2014).Xing denotes the “innernature”, which is related to Spirit (shen) and pertainsto one’s “heart” or “mind”(xin). Neidan texts often discourse onxing by usingBuddhist terms and expressions, such as “seeing one’snature” (jianxing), and even use the term “Buddha-nature” (foxing).Ming, an even more complexterm, is related to Breath (qi) and pertains to the“body” (shen). The term means in the first placethe “command” or “mandate” conferred byHeaven, but its senses also include “life”,“existence”, “lifespan”, as well as“destiny”. While one’sxing is unborn andis therefore free from death, everything in the domain ofming has a beginning and an end.

As far as we know, Neidan developed from the early 8^thcentury onwards. Two of its main branches, which emerged between the12^th and the 13^th centuries, are traditionallyascribed with the creation of models of self-cultivation based on theconcepts summarized above (Yokote 2015). The first model, associatedwith the Nanzong (Southern Lineage), gives initial priorityto the cultivation of one’sming (existence), graduallyshifting to the cultivation ofxing (inner nature) as thepractice progresses. The second model, associated with theBeizong (Northern Lineage), emphasizes instead thecultivation of one’sxing by means of “clarityand quiescence” (qingjing); this is also said toinvolve the cultivation of one’sming. Despite thedifferences between these two models, Neidan as a whole insists thatbothxing andming should be cultivated, a viewreflected in the term “conjoined cultivation of nature andexistence” (xingming shuangxiu).

In its most widespread codification, which originates in the SouthernLineage, the Neidan practice consists of three main stages (Despeux1979: 55–82; Robinet 1995: 147–64; Wang Mu 2011). Itspurpose is to lead an adept from the postcelestial to the precelestialdomains through the gradual reintegration of each of the three maincomponents of the human being—Essence, Breath, andSpirit—into the one that precedes it, culminating in thereversion to the state of Non-Being (wu), or Emptiness(xu,kong). While this is the function of alchemyper se, certain authors indicate that the process ofascent to the precelestial domain should be followed bya new descent or return to the postcelestial domain, inorder to merge them with one another.

The practice outlined above is often described as the generation of“a person outside one’s person” (or “a selfoutside oneself”,shen zhi wai shen), defined as the“true person” (zhenshen; compare§6.3). In this case, the main stages of the practice are portrayed as theconception, gestation, and birth of an embryo, which personifies thepractitioner’s realized state (Despeux 2016). In another view,the Internal Elixir is seen as already possessed by every human beingand as identical to one’s own innate realized state. Liu Yiming(1734–1821) expresses this view by saying: “All humanbeings have this Golden Elixir complete in themselves: it is entirelyrealized in everybody”. Other authors of Neidan texts state intheir works that “the Golden Elixir is in front of youreyes”.

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Acknowledgments

The author is grateful to Philipp Hünnebeck, Kelsey Seymour, SongXiaokun, and Dominic Steavu for their suggestions and corrections.Resposibility for any errors lies entirely with the author.

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