Prologue

Song:

Sleep, Immortal—sleep, Immortal—on a rocky root you lie in lofty slumber, age forgotten. The three lights sink and swirl, yet your nature remains whole. Every breath returns to the mysterious aperture, each inhalation and exhalation left to the natural flow.

Do not scatter or be chaotic—remain calm and serene. Warm and nurture the elixir at the cinnabar field until it grows mellow, awaiting the blossoming of the lotus. Let nothing stray; guard against distractions. True fire’s timing, subtle movements at the mysterious wellspring—practice the Seven Reversions without hardship, refine the Nine Returns without lament.

Serenely observe the battlefield where dragon and tiger contest, secretly overturning the balance of yin and yang. People say I am a blind dragon of chaos, but I slumber, yet am not wholly asleep. Master the art, and you gain true repose in meditation; nurture it, and the true embryo takes form. When the sleeping dragon rises, it ascends to the heavens.

When the practice is perfected, the eighty thousand attainments are yours; five dragons leap from the depths, joy concealed from all. Ride the white crane, mount the rainbow-plumed phoenix; tether the heart-monkey so its call echoes with the dragon’s song among the clouds; rein in the mind-steed so its roar resounds through the sky. Polish the mirror of the soul until the bright moon shines; conceal one grain of millet, yet contain a thousand worlds.

Wait for the plum blossom to burst forth, for the first yang to return, and a myriad lotuses will bloom to illuminate the world—carefree and unbound, immortal in spirit.

Main Text:

The greatest virtue of Heaven and Earth is life, and those who love life cherish all things. Thus, when the primordial chaos first cleared and the Five Ancients ruled the world, nothing in Daoist tradition was more secret or revered than the art of immortality.

The Elder Lord said: “Sudden, vague, within it there is a form; vague, sudden, within it there is substance. That is the One.” Thus the Immortal Canon says: “If you wish for long life, you must preserve the One and understand it. The One can generate yin and give rise to yang, and so govern the cycles of cold and heat. In spring, the One brings forth; in summer, it lengthens; in autumn, it gathers in; in winter, it stores away.”

When chaos split open, the Yellow Emperor journeyed east to Green Hill, passed through Wind Mountain, met Master Purple Mansion, and received the Inner Text of the Three Sovereigns to command the myriad spirits. He travelled south to Round Mound and built the Tree of Shadow, observed where the spirits ascended, plucked the blossoms of Dryness, and drank water from the Cinnabar Peaks. In the west, he met Master Center Yellow, received the Ninefold Formula, passed through Kongtong, and learned the Natural Scripture from Broad Accomplishment. Heading north to Flood Embankment, he climbed Mount Juci, met the venerable Lord Great Wei and the youth Yellow Canopy, and received the Chart of Divine Mushrooms. He returned via Mount Wangwu, obtaining the Golden Formula of the Divine Elixir. At Mount Emei, he met the Celestial Emperor in the Jade Hall, asked about the True One, and thus gained the power to ride the dragon and ascend to the heavens.

Thus, the ancient master said: “Having ruled the world, the Emperor sought immortality; for immortality, only the Golden Elixir suffices. To preserve the form and ward off evil, only the True One can do so.”

At the end of the Zhou dynasty, the Supreme Elder Lord reincarnated to guide the age, transforming Confucianism and Buddhism, and transmitted the Way to Yin Xi, thus becoming the patriarch of the Three Teachings and the master of the ten thousand truths. In the Eastern Han, Fuxi developed the Supreme Ultimate and Eight Trigrams, while the Golden Mother restored the essential teachings of fate and the Great Elixir, bestowing the title of Emperor of Eastern Glory and secretly instructing Wang Xuanfu of Qingzhou. The Emperor’s vow was profound, opening the gates of the Dharma, and ensuring the Dao’s lineage would endure. In the Yongshou reign, year of the Rooster, the Way was passed to the Patriarch of True Yang, Zhongli Quan.

In the second year of Wu Zetian’s reign, the Patriarch of True Yang transmitted the Way to the Patriarch of Pure Yang, Lü Dongbin, who served his master for three hundred and seventy years before attaining enlightenment in the thirteenth year of Xiantong. Afterwards, in the Five Dynasties, during the Xinwei year of the Qianhua reign under Emperor Taizu of Liang, the Patriarch of True Yang guided the Prime Minister of Yan, Liu Cao—called Child of the Sea Toad—who followed him at Green City and later styled himself Elder of Green City. He then guided Zhang Boduan, who was seven hundred eighty-three years old, known as Purple Sun, and founded the Southern Sect, hence the title “Five Patriarchs of the South”—the most renowned being Shi Xinglin, Xue Zixian, Chen Niwan, Zi Yuchan, and Peng Helin.

In the reign of Emperor Taizong of Song, Patriarch Lü, together with Sea Toad and Hemp-Robe, wandered Mount Hua, met Chen Tuan, learned the Art of the Hibernating Dragon, and then sat upright and ascended in feathered form.

As for the Seven True Ones of the North, the Patriarchs Zhongli and Lü, in the thirty-third year of Emperor Gaozong of Southern Song, year of the Rabbit, arrived together at Ganhe Town on Mount Zhongnan, opened wide the gates of salvation, and bestowed the Primordial Dao. Later, they guided countless disciples to the Great Way, and the emperor conferred the title “Heavenly Immortal Champion.”

In the Gengwu year of Emperor Guangzong’s Shaoxi reign, the Way was transmitted to Song Piyun, Li Dacheng, Zhao Penglai, and Han Qingpu. After these four attained the Dao, Ning Piyun styled himself Lord of the Yellow Chamber. In Emperor Chengzong's time, he journeyed west to Shu and passed the Dao to Li Taixu.

Taixu transmitted the Dao to Zhang Ziqiong, who passed it to Zhao Yuandu. In the Jisi year of the Tianli era under Yuan rule, Yuandu guided Chen Zhixu of Luling, styled Guanwu, known as Master of Upper Yang.

In the first year of Yanyou, a ragged Daoist journeyed west to Qinlong, drew in the essence of Mount Hua, absorbed the wonders of Mount Taibai, passed through Baoxie, and crossed Chencang. He saw that the hills and streams of Baoji were secluded and beautiful, so he settled at the Golden Terrace Temple.

When he had reached the age of six hundred and seventeen, one day the ragged Daoist was seated upright before a stone platform, gazing down at the mountains when suddenly, from the blue sky above, came a faint, ethereal song. Luminous light and radiant clouds shone in five colors, dazzling the heavens. Startled, for he had never seen such a marvel, he watched as the miraculous event continued for seven days and nights. On the eighth night, under a bright full moon, countless celestial beings, high sages, and perfected immortals arrived, riding the clouds and skies in jade chariots and feathered canopies. The sun, moon, stars, and jade constellations paused their courses; divine winds stilled, clouds gathered in the mountains and seas, the sky was clear and pure, and all the true ones attended. A Daoist lord, clad in feathered robes, sat suspended above a five-colored lion.

All bowed and proclaimed, “We respectfully welcome the Primeval Lord of the Beginning!” The ragged Daoist, seeing such a spectacle, was astounded and delighted, realizing his fortune.

The lord seated upon the five-colored lion smiled, saying, “All present must cultivate diligently for this discourse!” Then, in a clear voice, he intoned: “Dao speaks of what cannot be spoken; that which cannot be spoken is the Dao. Dao thinks of what cannot be thought; that which cannot be thought is the Dao. The things of heaven flow in anger, the affairs of men are in confusion. If one returns, it is as striking a bell; if one stops, it is as though it never was. Words are but shadows blown by the wind, thoughts are as dust engraved. Sages and wise men create delusion, ghosts and spirits cannot fathom it. It cannot be done, reached, measured, or divided, thus it is called Heaven, Fate, Spirit, Origin—all united as Dao.”

He continued: “The mysterious is the ancestor of all nature, the great origin of all differences. Its depth is subtle, hence called profound; its reach is vast, hence called wondrous. Lofty, it crowns the nine heavens; broad, it envelopes the eight directions. It shines like the sun and moon, swift as lightning’s flash; fleeting as shadows, drifting as shooting stars; shimmering in the clear abyss, floating like clouds. The Mysterious Lady expounds its order; earth and heaven are governed by its talismans. The cinnabar flows with mercury as its father, earth and heaven as its golden mother. If fire and water return without earth and heaven, though they contain the four elements, no elixir forms…”

The Primeval Lord spoke for a full day and night. The ragged Daoist listened with closed eyes, then suddenly rose with a great laugh, paid no further heed to the lord, and departed in joy. Thereafter, he concealed his light, wandered among mortals, diligently refined the elixir, studied the mysteries of nature, sipped blades and seized the purple pill, harmonized talismans under the waxing and waning moon, and gathered the five elements. This lasted three hundred sixty-five years and a month, and when the work was done, he faced the wall for nineteen more years until, at last, he shed his form, transcended the Three Realms, and the wings of his spirit grew.

From then on he roamed the divine lands of China, until he came to Heavenly Pillar Peak of Mount Wudang. Observing its seventy-two peaks, thirty-six cliffs, twenty-four streams, eleven caves, and three pools, he was enlightened and built the Grand Harmony Temple, gathered disciples, called himself Zhang Sanfeng, also known as the True Martial Great Emperor, and founded the Wudang tradition.

Another one hundred thirty-six years passed, and the True Martial Great Emperor ascended to the heavens. Forty-two years later, the second-generation disciple, Master Zhang Jingxu, returned to the world as a layman. For over a century he aided the Sacred Mandate Emperor in unifying China. This dynasty saw five emperors in succession: the Wise Mandate Emperor, the Virtuous Emperor, the Primal Emperor, and finally the Glorious Emperor.

In the thirty-sixth year of Qiande, on the second month, day of Wu Chen, at noon, a red and white halo appeared beside the sun, and then white rays and black vapor, neither smoke nor mist, enveloped the sun, swirling like a canopy, then swallowing it whole. The sky turned blood-red, and such a portent shook the world.

The Glorious Sacred Emperor urgently ordered the Imperial Academy to draft an edict. The emperor personally wrote and bestowed an imperial incense stick, appointing the Grand Marshal Jing Qing as Imperial Envoy, to travel to Wudang Mountain in Yunyang, Hubei, and summon the Celestial Master Li Xuan’an to court at once.

In the Golden Hall, the imperial incense was burned, and the imperial edict was handed to Jing Qing, who set out immediately. This Celestial Master of Wudang was extraordinary, famed for his virtue and miracles, revered as the Patriarch Xuanji—titled Pure and Subtle Master of Quiet Cultivation, Keeper of the True Essence, and Upholder of the Mysterious Pattern—overseeing the three temples of Heavenward, Manifest Spirit, and Spirit Relief, and leading the Daoist faith. The late emperor had bestowed upon him golden, jade, silver, and ivory seals—the pillar of the realm.

A day later, Master Xuanji arrived at court. The Glorious Sacred Emperor asked, “Master, what is the meaning of the white rays and black vapor eclipsing the sun, and the sky turning blood-red? What omen does this portend?”

Master Xuanji replied, “Your Majesty, this is a portent of calamity—a great tribulation is at hand. Calamities come in small, medium, and great. The so-called small calamity: if we liken it to human lifespan, the longest is eighty-four thousand years, the shortest only ten. From eighty-four thousand, every hundred years subtract one, until only ten remain; then from ten, every hundred years add one, until back to eighty-four thousand. This cycle of subtraction and addition forms a small calamity; twenty small calamities make a medium calamity. The world passes through the cycles of formation, existence, destruction, and emptiness—each a medium calamity; four medium calamities make one great calamity.

“The white rays, black vapor, and blood-red sky signify the approach of a great calamity. Alas! In all under heaven, the Way gives rise to, and extinguishes, calamity. From heavenly immortals above to earthly immortals below, all are subject to the tribulation. Life and death are decreed by Heaven. May Your Majesty grant pardon and leniency, reduce punishments and taxes, pray for relief from disasters, and succor the people.”

The emperor was greatly alarmed and immediately ordered the Imperial Academy to draft a proclamation, and commanded Master Xuanji to conduct the grand ritual of Three Thousand Six Hundred Divisions of the Heavenly Altar, dividing it among the famous temples and monasteries, and inviting the gods and buddhas of the Three Thousand Six Hundred Heavens to avert the calamity.

Master Xuanji sighed inwardly, “It is likely futile; the Way of Heaven and Earth is unfathomable, beyond the reach of gods and spirits.” For seven days and nights he performed rituals, distributed talismans, then took his leave, rode the crane, and returned to Wudang—this is set aside for now.

In the summer of the thirty-sixth year of Qiande, July, north of the Yellow River, there was drought and locusts, famine and plague. The late Glorious Sacred Emperor, while traveling, shot an arrow of blood toward the sky and composed:

“Raise the sword, lay aside the spear, to pacify the four directions; the male principle of water and metal, the female principle of fire’s light; metal and fire contend, water and earth resist; earth rules, metal perishes, all three are lost. The four seas converge, peace is established. All is due to the virtue of the central earth, the merit of the Yellow Emperor.”

He did not return, dying suddenly; the new emperor was still a youth, yet succeeded to the throne.