{"schema_version":1,"access":"public","rights":"Public-domain or compatibly licensed source editions; provenance is retained per record.","work":{"slug":"cantong-qi","title":"The Kinship of the Three (Zhouyi Cantong Qi)","author":"Wei Boyang (attributed)","tradition":"alchemy","language":"lzh","genre":"alchemical treatise","period":"Eastern Han, 2nd c. CE","source_url":"https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/周易參同契","original":{"text":"### Qian and Kun, Sun and Moon, and the Governance of the Sage (chapters 1-6)\n\n1.乾坤者，易之門戶，眾卦之父母。坎離匡廓，運轂正軸，牝牡四卦，以為橐籥。覆冒陰陽之道，尤工御者准繩墨，執銜轡，正規距，隨軌轍，處中以制外，數在律歷紀。月節有五六，經緯奉日使，兼并為六十，剛柔有表里。朔旦屯直事，至暮蒙當受，晝夜各一卦，用之依次序。即未至晦爽，終則復更始，日月為期度，動靜有早晚。春夏據內體，從子到辰巳，秋冬當外用，自午訖戌亥。賞罰應春秋，昏明順寒暑，爻辭有仁義，隨時發喜怒，如是應四時，五行得其理。\n\n2.天地設位，而易行乎其中。天地者，乾坤之象也﹔設位者，列陰陽配合之位也﹔易謂坎離者，乾坤二用。二用無爻位，周流行六虛，往來既不定，上下亦無常，幽潛淪匿，變化于中，包囊萬物，為道紀綱，以無制有，器用者空，故推消息，坎離沒亡。言不苟造，論不虛生，引驗見效，校度神明，推論結字，原理為証。\n坎戊月精，離己日光，日月為易，剛柔相當，土旺四季，羅絡始終，青赤黑白，各居一方，皆秉中宮，戊己之功。\n\n3.易者，象也。懸象著明，莫大忽日月，窮神以知化，陽往則陰來，輻輳而輪轉，出入更卷舒。易有三百八十四爻，據爻摘符，符謂六十四卦。晦至朔旦，震來受符。當斯之際，天地媾其精，日月相擔持。雄陽播玄施，雌陰化黃包。混沌相交接，權輿樹根基。經營養鄞鄂，凝神以成軀。眾夫蹈以出，蠕動莫不由。\n\n4.於是仲尼贊鴻蒙，乾坤德洞虛，稽古當元皇，關睢建始初，冠婚氣相紐，元年乃芽滋。聖人不虛生，上觀顯天符。天符有進退，屈伸以應時。故易統天心，復卦建始萌，長子繼父體，因母立兆基。消息應中律，升降據斗樞。三日出為爽，震庚受西方。八日兌受丁，上弦平如繩。十五乾體就，盛滿甲東方。蟾蜍與兔魄，日月炁雙明，蟾蜍視卦節，兔者吐生光。七八道已訖曲折低下降，十六轉受統，巽辛見平明，艮直于丙南，下弦二十三，坤乙三十日，東北喪其朋。節盡相禪與，繼體復生龍，壬癸配甲乙，乾坤括始終。七八數十五，九六亦相應，四者合三十，陽炁索滅藏。八卦布列曜，運移不失中，元精眇難睹，推度效符証。居則觀其象，准擬其形容，立表以為范，占候定吉凶，發號順時令，勿失爻動時。上察河文，下序地形流，中稽于人心，參合考三才。動則循卦節，靜則因彖辭乾坤用施行，天下然后治。\n\n5.御政之首，鼎新革故。管括微密，開舒布寶。要道魁柄，統化綱紐。爻象內動，吉凶外起，五緯錯順，應時感動。四七乖戾，誃離俯仰。文昌統錄，詰責台輔百官有司，各典所部。日合五行精，月受六律紀。五六三十度，度竟復更始。原始要終，存亡之緒，或君驕佚，亢滿違道﹔或臣邪佞，行不順軌。\n弦望盈縮，乖變凶咎。執法刺譏，詰過貽主。辰極受正，優游任下。明堂布政，國無害道。\n\n6.內以養己，安靜虛無。原本隱明，內照形軀。閉塞其兌，筑固靈株。三光陸沉，溫養子珠，視之不見，近而易求。黃中漸通理，潤澤達肌膚。初正則終修，干立未可持。一者以掩蔽，世人莫知之。\n\n### The Two Apertures, Dragon and Tiger, and Like Joining Like (chapters 7-12)\n\n7.上德無為，不以察求。下德為之，其用不休。上閉則稱有，下閉則稱無。無者以奉上，上有神德居。此兩孔穴法，金氣亦相胥。知白守黑，神明自來，白者金精，黑者水基。水者道樞，去數名一。陰陽之始，玄含黃芽。五金之主，北方河車。故鉛外黑，內懷金華，被褐懷玉，外為狂夫。金為水母，母隱子胎。\n水為金子，子藏母胞。真人至妙，若有若無。仿佛大淵，乍沉乍浮。退爾分布，各守境隅。采之類白，造之則朱。煉為表衛，白里真居。方圓徑寸，混而相拘。先天地生，巍巍尊高。旁有垣闕，狀似蓬壺。環匝關閉，四通踟躕。守御密固，閼絕奸邪。曲闔相通，以戒不虞。可以無思，難以愁勞。神炁滿室，莫之能留。守之者昌，失之者亡。動靜休息，常與人俱。\n\n8.是非歷臟法，內觀有所思，履行步斗宿，六甲以日辰。陰道厭九一，濁亂弄元胞。食氣鳴腸胃，吐正吸外邪。晝夜不臥寐，晦朔未嘗休。身體日疲倦，恍惚狀若痴。百脈鼎沸馳，不得清澄居。累土立壇宇，朝暮敬祭祀。鬼神見形象，夢寐感慨之。心歡意喜悅，自謂必延期，遽以夭命死，腐露其形骸。舉措輒有違，悖逆失樞機。諸朮甚眾多，千條有萬余，前卻違黃老，曲折戾九都。明者省厥旨，曠然知所由。勤而行之，夙夜不休。伏食三載，輕舉遠游，跨火不焦，入水不濡，能存能亡，長樂無憂。道成德就，潛伏俟時。太乙乃召，移居中洲，功滿上升，膺蒿受圖。\n\n9.火計不虛作，演易以明之。偃月法爐鼎，白虎為熬樞﹔汞日為流珠，青龍與之俱。舉東以合西，魂魄自相拘。上弦兌數八，下弦艮亦八，兩弦合其精，乾坤體乃成。二八應一斤，易道正不傾。\n\n10.金入于猛火，色不奪精光。自開辟以來，日月不虧明。金不失其重，日月形如常。金本從月生，朔旦日受符。金返歸其母，月晦日相包。隱藏其匡廓，沉浮于洞虛。金復其故性，威光鼎乃熺。\n\n11.子午數合三，戊己號稱五。三五既和諧，八石正綱紀。呼吸相含育，佇思為夫婦。黃土金之父，流珠水之子。水以土為鬼，土鎮水不起。朱雀為火精，執平調勝負。水盛火消滅，俱死歸厚土。三性即合會，本性共祖宗。巨勝尚延年，還丹可入口。金性不敗朽，故為萬物寶。朮士伏食之，壽命得長久。土游于四季，守界定規矩。金砂入五內，霧散若風雨。熏蒸達四肢，顏色悅澤好。髪白皆變黑，齒落生舊所。老翁復丁壯，耆嫗成吒女。改形免世厄，號之曰真人。\n\n12.胡粉投火中，色壞還為鉛。冰雪得溫湯，解釋成太玄。金以砂為主，秉和于水銀。變化由其真，終始自相因。欲作伏食仙，宜以同類者，植禾當以谷，覆雞用其卵。以類補自然，物成易陶冶。魚目豈為珠？蓬蒿不成檟。類同者相從，事乖不成寶。燕雀不生鳳，狐兔不乳馬。水流不炎上，火動不潤下。時間多學士，高妙負良材。邂逅不遭遇，耗火亡資財。據按依文說，妄以言為之。端緒無因緣，度量失操持。擣治羌石膽，雲母及礬磁。硫磺燒豫章，泥汞相煉治。鼓下五石銅，以之為輔樞。雜性不同類，安肯同體居。千舉必萬敗，欲黠反成痴。稚年至白首，中道生狐疑。背道守迷路，出正入邪蹊。管窺不廣見，難以揆方來。\n\n### The Three Sages, the Knife-Measure Elixir, Fire and Water, and the New-Moon Tally (chapters 13-18)\n\n13.若夫至聖，不過伏羲，始畫八卦，效法天地。文王帝之宗，結體演爻辭。夫子庶聖雄，十翼以輔之。三君君天所挺，迭興更御時。優劣有步驟，功德不相殊。制作有所踵，推度審分銖。有形易忖量，無兆難慮謀。作事令可法，為世定詩書。素無前識資，因師覺悟之。皓若寒帷帳，瞋目登高台。\n火記六百篇，所趣等不殊。文字鄭重說，世人不孰思。尋度其源流，幽明本共居。竊為賢者談，曷敢輕為書？若遂結舌瘖，絕道獲罪誅。寫情著竹帛，又恐泄天符。猶豫增嘆息，俯仰綴斯愚。陶冶有法度，未可悉陳敷。略述其綱紀，枝條見扶疏。\n\n14.以金為隄防，水入乃優遊。金數十有五，水數亦如之。臨爐定銖兩，五分水有餘。二者以為真，金重如本初。其土遂不離，二者與之具。三物相含受，變化狀若神。下有太陽炁，伏蒸須臾間。先液而後凝，號曰黃輿焉。歲月將欲訖，毀性傷壽年。形體為灰土，狀若明窗塵。擣治並合之，持入赤色門。固塞其際會，務令致完堅。炎火張於下，龍虎聲正勤。始文使可休，終竟武乃成。候視加謹密，審察調寒溫。周旋十二節，節盡更須親。氣索命將絕，體死亡魄魂。色轉更為紫，赫然還成丹。粉提以一丸，刀圭最為神。\n\n15.推演五行數，較約而不繁。舉水以激火，奄然滅光明。日月相薄蝕，常在朔望間。水盛坎侵陽，火衰離晝昏。陰陽相飲食，交感道自然。名者以定情，字者以性言。金來歸性初，乃得稱還丹。吾不敢虛說，仿效聖人文。古記題龍虎，黃帝美金華。淮南煉秋石，玉陽加黃芽。賢者能持行，不肖毋與俱。古今道由一，對談吐所謀。學者加勉力，留念深思惟。至要言甚露，昭昭不我欺。\n\n16.乾坤剛柔，配合相包。陽秉陰受，雌雄相須。須以造化，精氣乃舒。坎離冠首，先映垂敷。玄冥難測，不可畫圖。聖人揆度，參序元基。四者混沌，徑入虛無。六十卦周，張布為輿。龍馬就駕，明君御時。和則隨從，路平不邪。邪道險阻，傾危國家。\n\n17.君子居其室，出其言善，則千里之外應之。謂萬乘之主，處九重之室，發號出令，順陰陽節。藏器俟時，勿違卦月。屯以子申，蒙用寅戍。餘六十卦，各自有日。聊陳兩象，未能究悉。立意設刑，當仁施德，逆之者凶，順之者吉。按歷法令，至誠專密。謹候日辰，審查消息。纖芥不正，悔吝為賊。二至改度，乖錯委曲。\n隆冬大暑，盛夏霜雪。二分縱橫，不應漏刻。水旱相伐，風雨不節，蝗虫涌沸，群異旁出。天見其怪，山崩地裂。孝子用心，感動皇極。近出己口，遠流殊域。或以召禍，或以至福，或造太平，或造兵革。四者之來，由乎胸臆。動靜有常，奉其繩墨。四時順宜，與炁相得。剛柔斷矣，不相涉入。五行守界，不妄盈縮。易行周流，屈伸反覆。\n\n18.晦朔之間，合符行中。混沌鴻蒙，牝牡相從。滋液潤澤，施化流通。天地神明，不可度量。利用安身，隱形而藏。始于東北，箕斗之鄉。旋而右轉，嘔輪吐萌。潛潭見象，發散精光。昂畢之上，震為出徵。陽炁造端，初九潛龍。陽以三立，陰以八通。三日震動，八日兌行。九二見龍，和平有明。三五德就，乾體乃成。九三夕惕，虧折神符。盛衰漸革，終還其初。巽繼其統，固際操持。九四或躍，進退道危。艮主進止，不得逾時。二十三日，典守弦期。九五飛龍，天位加嘉。六五坤承，結括終始。醞養眾子，世為類母。上九亢龍，戰德于野，用九翩翩，為道規矩。陽數已訖，訖則復起。推情合性，轉而相與。循環璇璣，升降上下。周流六爻，難可察睹。故無常位，為易宗祖。\n\n### Line-Changes, Nurturing Nature and Destiny, the Three Treasures, and Flowing Pearl (chapters 19-24)\n\n19.朔旦為復，陽炁始通。出入無疾，立表微剛。黃鐘建子，兆乃滋彰。播施柔暖，黎蒸得常。臨爐施條，開路正光。光耀漸進，日以益長。丑之大侶，結正低昂。仰以成泰，剛柔并隆。遠游交接，小往大來。輻輳于銀，運而趨時。漸歷大壯，俠列卯門。榆莢墮落，還歸本根。刑德相負，晝夜始分。夬陰以退，陽升而前。洗滌羽翮，振索宿塵。乾健盛明，廣被四鄰。陽終于己，中而相干。媾始紀序，履霜最先。井底寒泉，午為蕤賓。賓伏于陰，陰為主人。遁世去位，收斂其精。懷德俟時，棲遲昧冥。否塞不通，萌芽不生。陰申陽屈，沒陽姓名。觀其權量，察眾秋情。任畜微稚，老枯復榮。薺麥牙孽，因冒以生。剝爛肢體，消減其形。化炁既竭，亡失至神。道窮則返，歸乎坤元。恆順地理，承天布宣。玄幽遠眇，隔閡相連。應度育種，陰陽之元。廖廓恍惚，莫知其端。先迷失軌，后為主君。無平不陂，道之自然。變易更盛，消息相因。終坤復始，如復連環。帝王承御，千載常存。\n\n20.將欲養性，延命卻期。審思后末，當慮其先。人所秉軀，體本一無。元精云布，因炁托初。陰陽為度，魂魄所居。陽神日魂，陰神月魄。魂之與魄，互為室宅。性主處內，立置鄞鄂。情主營外，筑垣城郭。城郭完全，人物乃安。爰斯之時，情和乾坤。乾動而直，炁布精流﹔坤靜而翕，為道舍廬。剛施而退，柔化以滋。九還七返，八歸六居。男白女赤，金火相拘。則水定火，五行之初。上善若水，清而無瑕。道之形象，真一難圖。變而分布，各自獨居。類如雞子，白黑相符，縱廣一寸，以為始初。四肢五臟，筋骨乃俱。彌歷十月，脫出其胞。骨弱可卷，肉滑若鉛。\n\n21.陽燧以取火，非日不生光。方諸非星月，安能得水漿？二炁玄且遠，感化尚相通，何況近存身？切在于心胸。陰陽配日月，水火為效徵。\n\n22.耳目口三寶，閉門無發通。真人潛深淵，浮游守規中，旋曲以視聽，開闔皆合同，為己之樞轄，動靜不竭窮。離炁內營衛，坎乃不用聰，兌合不以談，希言順鴻蒙，三者既關鍵，緩體處空房。委志歸虛無，無念以為常。証難以推移，心專不縱橫，寢寐神相抱，覺悟候存亡。顏色浸以潤，骨節益堅強。排卻眾陰邪，然后立正陽。修之不輟體，庶炁云雨行。淫淫若春澤，液液象解冰，從頭流達足，究竟復上升，往來洞無極，怫怫被容中。反者道之驗，弱者德之枘。耕耘宿穢污，細微得調暢。濁者清之路，昏久則昭明。\n\n23.世人好小術，不審道深淺。棄正從邪徑，欲速閼不通。猶盲不任杖，聾者聽宮商，沒水捕雉兔，登山索魚龍，植麥欲獲黍，運規以求方。竭力勞精神，終年無見功。欲知伏食法，事約而不繁。\n\n24.太陽流珠，常欲去人。卒得金華，轉而相因，化為白液，凝而至堅。金華先唱，有傾之間，解化為水，馬齒瓓玕，陽乃往和，情性自然。迫促時陰，拘蓄禁門，慈母養育，孝子報恩，嚴父施令，教敕子孫。五行錯王，相據以生，火性銷金，金伐木榮。三五與一，天地至精，可以口訣，難以書傳。\n子當右轉，午乃車旋，卯酉界隔，主客二名。龍呼于虎，虎吸于精，兩相飲食，具相貪便，遂相銜咽，咀嚼相吞。熒惑守西，太白經天，殺氣所臨，何有不傾。狸犬守鼠，鳥雀畏鸇，各有其功，何敢有聲。不得其理，難以妄言。竭殫家產，妻子飢貧，自古及今，好者億人，汽不諧遇，希有能成。廣求名藥，與道乖殊。\n\n### The Maiden and the Yellow Sprout, Male and Female, Punishment and Virtue, the Sages' Refining (chapters 25-31)\n\n25.如審遭逢，睹其端緒。以類相況，揆物終始。五行相克，更為父母。母含滋液，父主秉與，凝精流形，金石不朽。審專不泄，得為成道。立竿見影，呼谷傳響。豈不靈哉！天地至象。若以野葛一寸，巴豆一兩，如喉輒僵，不得俯仰。當此之時，周文揲蓍，孔子占象，扁鵲操針，巫咸扣鼓，安能令蘇，復起馳走？\n\n26.河上姹女，靈而最神，得火則飛，不見埃塵，鬼隱龍匿，莫知所存。將欲制之，黃芽為根。物為陰陽，違天背元，牝雞自卵，其雛不全。夫何故乎？配合未連，三五不交，剛柔離分。施化之精，天地自然，火動炎上，水流潤下，非有師導，使其然也。資使統正，不可復改。觀夫雌雄交媾之時，剛柔相結而不可解，得其節符，非有工巧以制御之。男生而伏，女偃其軀，秉乎胞胎，受炁之初，非徒生時，著而見之，及其死也，亦復效之，此非父母教令使然。本在交媾，定置始先。\n\n27.坎男為月，離女為日，日以施德，月以舒光，月受日化，體不污傷。日失其契，陰侵其明，晦朔薄蝕，掩冒相傾，日消其形，陰凌災生。男女相胥，含土以滋，雌雄錯雜，以類相求。金化為水，水性周章，火化為土，水不得行。男動外施，女靜內藏，溢度過節，為女所拘。魄以鈐魂，不得淫奢。不寒不暑，進退和時，各得其和，俱吐政符。\n\n28.丹砂木精，得金乃并，金水合處，木火為侶。四者混沌，列為龍虎，龍陽數奇，虎陰數偶。肝青為父，肺白為母，腎黑為子，離赤為女，脾黃為祖，子午為始。三物一家，都歸戊己。\n\n29.剛柔迭興，更歷分布。龍西虎東，建緯卯酉，刑德并會，相見歡喜，刑主伏殺，德主生起。二月榆落，魁臨于卯，八月麥生，天罡據酉。子南午北，互為綱紀。一九之數，終而復始。含元虛危，播精于子。\n\n30.關關雎鳩，在河之洲，窈窕淑女，君子好逑。雄不獨處，雌不孤居。玄武龜蛇，蟠虯相扶，以明牝牡，意當相須。假使二女共室，顏色甚姝，蘇秦通言，張儀合媒，發辯利舌，奮舒美辭，推心調諧，合為夫妻，弊發腐齒，終不相知。若藥物非種，名類不同，分刻參差，失其綱紀，雖黃帝臨爐，太公執火，八公擣煉，淮南調合，立宇崇壇，玉為階陛，麟脯鳳脂，把籍長跪，禱祝神祗，請哀諸鬼，沐浴齋戒，冀有所望，亦猶和膠補釜，以硇涂瘡，去冷加冰，除熱用湯，飛龜舞蛇，愈見乖張。\n\n31.惟昔聖賢，懷玄抱真，伏煉九鼎，化跡隱淪，含精養神，通德三光，津液腠理，筋骨致堅，眾邪辟除，正氣長存，積累長久，變形而仙。憂憫后生，好道之倫，隨傍風采，指畫古文，著為圖集，開示后昆，露見枝條，隱藏本根，托號諸名，覆謬眾文，學者得之，韞櫝終身。子繼父業，孫踵祖先，傳世迷惑，竟無見聞，隨使宦者不仕，農夫失耘，商人棄貨，志士家貧。吾甚傷之，定錄此文，字約易思，事省不繁，披列其條，核實可觀，分兩有數，因而相循，故為亂辭，孔竅其門，智者審思，用意參焉。\n\n### Song of the Cauldron, the Vessel's Wonders, Supplement, and the Author's Afterword (chapters 32-35)\n\n32.法象莫大乎天地兮，玄溝數萬里。河鼓臨星紀兮，人民皆驚駭。晷影妄前卻兮，九年被凶咎。皇上覽視之兮，王者退自改。關鍵有低昂兮，害炁遂奔走。江淮之枯竭兮，水流注於海。天地之雌雄兮，徘徊子與午。寅申陰陽祖兮，出入復終始。循斗而招搖兮，執衡定元紀。升熬于甑山兮，炎火張設下。白虎導唱前兮，蒼液和于后。朱雀翱翔戲兮，飛揚色五彩﹔遭遇羅網施兮，壓之不得舉﹔嗷嗷聲甚悲兮，嬰兒之慕母﹔顛倒就湯鑊兮摧折傷毛羽。漏刻未過半兮，魚鱗狎鬣起。五色象炫耀兮，變化無常主。潏潏鼎沸馳兮，暴涌不休止。接連重疊累兮，犬牙相錯距。形似仲冬冰兮，瓓玕吐鐘乳。崔嵬而雜廁兮，交積相支柱。陰陽得其配兮，淡薄而相守。青龍處房六兮，春花震東卯。白虎在昂七兮，秋芒兌西酉。朱雀在張二兮，正陽雜南午。三者具來朝兮，家屬為親侶。本之但二物兮，末而為三五。三五并與一兮，都集歸二所。治之如上科兮，日數亦取甫。先白而后黃兮，赤黑達表里。名曰第一鼎兮，食如大黍米。自然之所為兮，非有邪偽道。山澤炁相蒸兮，興雲而為雨，泥竭遂成塵兮，火滅化為土。若檗染為黃兮，似藍成綠組。皮革煮成膠兮，麴蘗化為酒。同類易施工兮，非種難為巧。惟斯之妙朮兮，審諦不誑語。傳于億世后兮，昭然自可考。煥若星經漢兮，禺如水宗海。思之務令熟兮，反覆視上下。千周粲彬彬兮，萬遍將可睹。神明或告人兮，心靈乍自吾。探端索其緒兮，必得其門戶，入道無適莫兮，常傳于賢者。\n\n33.圓三五，寸一分，口四八，兩寸唇，長尺二，厚薄均。腹齊三，坐垂溫。陰在上，陽下奔。首尾武，中間文。始七十，終三旬，三百六，善調均。陰火白，黃芽鉛。兩七聚，輔翼人。贍理腦，定玄升。子處中，得安存？來去游，不出門。漸成大，性情純。卻歸一，還本原。善愛敬，如君臣。至一周，甚辛勤。密防護，莫迷昏。途路遠，復幽玄。若達此，會乾坤。乃圭沾，淨魄魂。得長生，居仙村。樂道者，尋其根。審五行，定銖分。諦思之，不須論。深藏守，莫傳文。御白鶴，駕龍鱗，游太虛，謁仙君，錄天圖，號真人。\n\n34.參同契者，敷陳梗概，不能純一，泛濫而說，纖微未備，闕略仿佛。今更撰錄，補塞遺脫，潤色幽深，鉤援相逮，旨意等齊，所趨不悖，故復作此，命三相類，則大易之情性盡矣。\n大易性情，各如其度。黃老用究，較而可御。爐火之事，真有所據。三道由一，俱出徑路。枝莖華葉，果實垂布，正在根株，不失其素。誠心所言，審而不誤。象彼仲冬節，竹木皆摧傷。佐陽詰賈旅，人君深自藏。象時順節令，閉口不用談。天道其浩廣，太玄無形容，虛寂不可睹，匡廓以消亡。謬誤失事緒，言還自敗傷。別序斯四象，以曉后生盲。\n\n35.會稽鄙夫，幽谷朽生，挾懷朴素，不樂權榮，棲遲僻陋，忽略利名，執守恬淡，希時安寧，晏然閑居，乃撰斯文。歌敘大易，三聖遺言，察其旨趣，一統共論。勿在順理，宣耀精神。神化流通，四海和平。表以為歷，萬世可循。序以御政，行之不繁，引內養性，黃老自然，含德之厚，歸根返元。近在我心，不離己身，抱一毋舍，可以長存。配以伏食，雄雌設陳。挺除武都，八石棄捐。審用成物，世俗所珍。羅列三條，枝莖相連。同出異名，皆由一門。非徒累句，諧偶斯文，殆有其真，礫硌可觀。使予敷偽，卻被贅愆。命參同契，微覽其端，辭寡意大，后嗣宜尊。委時去害，依托丘山。循游寥廓，與鬼為鄰。化形而仙，淪寂無聲。百世而下，遨游人間。敷陳羽翮，東西南傾。湯遭厄際，水旱隔并。柯葉萎黃，失其華榮。吉人相乘負，安穩可長生。","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/cantong-qi/original.txt"},"translations":[{"id":"trn_cantong_qi_mouseia","translator":"Mouseia","kind":"curated","note":"Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the 35-chapter arrangement (index revision 6720775, retrieved 2026-09-29; chapter titles omitted), covering all 35 chapters, 6,076 characters, for fidelity, clarity, imagery and cadence.","text":"### Qian and Kun, Sun and Moon, and the Governance of the Sage (chapters 1-6)\n\n1. Qian and Kun are the gates of the Changes, the parents of all the hexagrams. Kan and Li form the frame; they turn the hub around its true axle. The four female and male hexagrams make the bellows. They encompass the way of yin and yang, like a skilled charioteer who follows the marking line, holds the reins, sets square and compass true, and follows the wheel tracks: stationed at the center, he governs what lies outside. Their numbers are recorded in pitch pipes and calendars. A lunar interval has five and six; warp and weft obey the sun's command, joining to make sixty; firm and yielding have inner and outer faces. At dawn on the new moon, Zhun takes its charge; by nightfall Meng receives it. Each day and each night has one hexagram, used in due sequence. Before the dark moon has yielded to dawn, the end begins anew: sun and moon set the measure, motion and stillness have their morning and evening. Spring and summer occupy the inner body, from zi through chen and si; autumn and winter work outwardly, from wu through xu and hai. Reward and punishment answer spring and autumn; dusk and light follow cold and heat. The line texts hold benevolence and justice, showing joy and anger as the season demands. Thus they answer the four seasons, and the five phases take their proper course.\n\n2. Heaven and earth establish their stations, and the Changes move between them. Heaven and earth are the images of Qian and Kun; establishing stations means arranging the places where yin and yang pair. By the Changes is meant Kan and Li, the two workings of Qian and Kun. These two workings have no fixed line-positions: they circulate through the six empty places, coming and going without fixed course, rising and falling without constant rule. Hidden and submerged, they transform within; they contain the myriad things and provide the order of the Way. The nonexistent governs the existent: what serves the vessel is its emptiness. Thus, if one pursues waxing and waning, Kan and Li disappear. These words are not carelessly made, these arguments not born of emptiness: observed results are brought as proof; the divine workings are compared and measured. The argument is traced and its words composed with the original principle as evidence.\nKan bears wu, the moon's essence; Li bears ji, the sun's light. Sun and moon make the Changes, firm and yielding matching one another. Earth flourishes in all four seasons and binds beginning to end; blue, red, black, and white each inhabit a quarter, yet all depend upon the center and the work of wu and ji.\n\n3. The Changes are images. Among the images suspended aloft and made manifest, none is greater than sun and moon. Probe the spirit to know transformation: when yang departs yin comes; spokes converge and the wheel turns; entry and exit alternate, now folding, now unfolding. The Changes have three hundred eighty-four lines: from the lines one selects the tallies, which are the sixty-four hexagrams. From the dark moon to new-moon dawn, Zhen arrives to receive its tally. Then heaven and earth join their essences, and sun and moon bear each other up. Male yang spreads its dark seed; female yin transforms the yellow envelope. Chaos joins with chaos, establishing the first foundation. They tend and nurture the boundaries, concentrating spirit to form a body. The multitude walk forth from it; no creeping thing is otherwise born.\n\n4. Then Confucius praised the primal mist: the powers of Qian and Kun penetrate the void. Looking back to the first sovereign, the ospreys' call establishes the first beginning; at the crowning and wedding, breaths intertwine, and in the first year shoots arise and grow. The sage is not born in vain: he looks upward and discerns heaven's manifest tallies. Heaven's tallies advance and withdraw, bending and extending in season. Thus the Changes govern heaven's heart: the hexagram Fu establishes the budding beginning; the eldest son inherits his father's body and through his mother plants the germ of its foundation. Waxing and waning accord with the central pitch pipe, ascent and descent follow the Dipper's pivot. On the third day, the moon emerges in brightness: Zhen, with geng, receives the west. On the eighth, Dui receives ding, the first-quarter moon level as a cord. On the fifteenth Qian's body is complete, full in the east with jia. The toad and the hare's moon-soul: the breaths of sun and moon shine together. The toad marks the hexagram intervals; the hare gives forth living light. After the seventh and eighth the course is complete; it bends and descends. On the sixteenth the rule changes hands: Xun with xin appears at dawn; Gen is stationed with bing in the south, the last quarter on the twenty-third. Kun with yi, on the thirtieth day, loses its companion in the northeast. When an interval ends, they yield to one another; inheriting the body, the dragon is born again. Ren and gui pair with jia and yi; Qian and Kun encompass end and beginning. Seven and eight make fifteen; nine and six correspond as well; the four together make thirty, and yang breath is sought out, extinguished, and hidden. The eight hexagrams display the luminaries, moving in their courses without losing the center. The primal essence is too subtle to see; measure its effects by the confirming tallies. At rest observe its images and take their forms as your model; set up a gnomon for a standard, and by watching signs determine fortune and misfortune. Issue commands in accord with the seasons; do not miss the moment when a line moves. Above, examine the River's patterns; below, set the earth's shapes and streams in order; at the center, investigate the human heart, bringing the three powers together for examination. In motion follow the hexagrams' intervals; in stillness rely on the judgments. When Qian and Kun put their workings into effect, the world is governed.\n\n5. At the beginning of government, renew the cauldron and transform the old. Gather and enclose the subtle and secret; open and spread the treasures. The pivotal handle of the essential Way governs the bonds of transformation. Line-images move within; fortune and misfortune arise without. The five planets cross or proceed in order, stirred in answer to their season. The four and seven fall out of alignment, scattering and tilting. Wenchang keeps the records and calls the high ministers to account; the hundred officers each govern their proper departments. The sun unites the essence of the five phases; the moon receives the order of the six pitch pipes. Five times six makes thirty degrees; when the degrees are finished, the cycle begins again. Seek the beginning and grasp the end, the thread of survival and ruin: a ruler may be arrogant and idle, overfull and contrary to the Way, or a minister may be false and flattering, his conduct straying from the track.\nAt quarter and full moons, fullness and contraction bring errant changes and ill fortune. The officers of law censure faults and present the ruler with his errors. The celestial pole receives its true position and calmly lets those below perform their tasks. Government issues from the Hall of Light, and the realm's Way comes to no harm.\n\n6. Within, nourish yourself in quietude and emptiness. Seek the root, conceal your brightness, shine inward upon your body. Close its openings and build firm the spirit's root. The three lights sink from sight; warm and nurture the child-pearl. It cannot be seen, yet is near and easy to seek. Yellow at the center gradually opens its channels, and moist radiance reaches the skin. When the beginning is set right, the end is perfected; when the stem is established, it cannot yet be grasped. The One conceals it: the people of the world know nothing of it.\n\n### The Two Apertures, Dragon and Tiger, and Like Joining Like (chapters 7-12)\n\n7. The highest virtue acts without contrivance; it does not seek by scrutiny. Lesser virtue acts, and its activity never ends. When the upper opening closes, it is called being; when the lower closes, it is called nonbeing. Nonbeing ministers to what is above, where divine virtue dwells in being. Such is the method of the two apertures; the breath of metal also awaits its partner. Know the white and guard the black, and divine illumination comes of itself: white is the essence of metal, black the foundation of water. Water is the pivot of the Way; stripped of number, it is called One. At the beginning of yin and yang, darkness holds the yellow sprout. Master of the five metals is the northern River Chariot. Thus lead is black without but holds metal's radiance within: clothed in coarse cloth with jade in its breast, outwardly it seems a madman. Metal is the mother of water, and the mother hides in her child's womb.\nWater is the child of metal, and the child hides in the mother's womb. The perfected person is most wondrous, seeming at once to be and not to be, like a vast abyss, now sinking, now floating. When they withdraw and separate, each keeps to its own bounds. Gathered, it resembles white; fashioned, it becomes vermilion. Refined, the outer guard is formed, while the true dwells inside the white. Square and round, an inch across, they mingle and bind each other. Born before heaven and earth, august and exalted, it has walls and gate-towers beside it, shaped like the Isles of Peng. Closed all around, it has passages in four directions where movement pauses. Guard it tightly and firmly, barring treacherous intrusion; its winding doors communicate, ready against the unexpected. It can be attained without thought, but not through anxious labor. When spirit and breath fill the chamber, none can keep them there. Whoever guards it prospers; whoever loses it dies. In movement, stillness, and repose, it is always with us.\n\n8. This is not the method of traversing the organs and thinking of visions within, pacing the lodges of the Dipper and marking days and hours by the Six Jia. The yin practice suppresses the nine and the one, muddying and troubling the primal womb. Swallowing breath sets the guts rumbling; exhaling the true draws in evil from without. By day and night they never sleep, nor pause at dark or new moon. Their bodies grow weary daily; they wander as if senseless. The hundred channels boil and race, unable to settle clear and calm. They mound earth to raise altars and worship reverently morning and evening. Spirits and ghosts appear in form, moving them in dreams; hearts joyful and minds delighted, they believe their years will surely be prolonged, only to die suddenly before their time, their corpses left to rot in the open. Every action strays, perversely losing the vital pivot. Their techniques are exceedingly many, more than ten thousand among their thousand rules: ahead or behind, they violate the Yellow Emperor and Laozi; their crooked turnings defy the nine capitals. Those who see clearly examine the meaning and freely discern the cause. Practice diligently, never ceasing by night or day. After ingesting the subdued substance for three years, you rise lightly and travel afar; cross fire without burning, enter water without becoming wet; appear or disappear at will, rejoicing always without care. When the Way is accomplished and virtue complete, lie hidden and await your time. Then Taiyi summons you to dwell in the Central Isle; your work fulfilled, you ascend and receive the chart.\n\n9. The reckoning of the fire is not devised in vain; unfold the Changes to make it clear. Shape the furnace and cauldron like the crescent moon; the White Tiger serves as the pivot of heating. Mercury is the sun's flowing pearl, and the Green Dragon accompanies it. Bring east to meet west, and soul and moon-soul bind themselves together. The upper quarter, Dui, counts eight; the lower quarter, Gen, also eight. The two quarters join their essences, and the body of Qian and Kun is complete. Twice eight makes a pound; the Way of the Changes holds true and does not tilt.\n\n10. When metal enters a raging fire, it does not lose its color or its brilliance. Since the opening of heaven and earth, sun and moon have never lost their light. Metal has not lost its weight; sun and moon keep their accustomed forms. Metal was originally born from the moon; at new-moon dawn it receives the sun's tally. Metal returns to its mother; at the dark moon, moon and sun enfold each other. Their outlines disappear, sinking and rising in the hollow void. Metal recovers its original nature, and the cauldron blazes with majestic light.\n\n11. The numbers of zi and wu together are three; wu and ji are called five. Once three and five are joined in harmony, the eight stones fall into right order. Breathing together, they nurture one another and wait in contemplation as husband and wife. Yellow earth is metal's father; the flowing pearl is water's child. Water takes earth for its adversary; earth subdues water so it cannot rise. The Vermilion Bird is the essence of fire, holding the balance and adjusting victory and defeat. When water prevails, fire is extinguished; both die and return to the deep earth. The three natures then come together, sharing their original nature and common ancestry. Sesame can prolong life; the reverted elixir can be taken by mouth. Metal's nature does not decay, so it is the treasure of all things. Adepts ingest it after subduing it, and their lives are prolonged. Earth moves through the four seasons, guarding the boundaries and setting the rules. Gold sand enters the five inner organs, scattering like mist in wind and rain. Its vapor reaches all four limbs; the face becomes fresh and luminous. White hair turns black; fallen teeth grow again in their places. An old man regains youthful vigor; an old woman becomes a young girl. Their forms transformed, they escape the world's calamities and are called perfected persons.\n\n12. When white lead is cast into fire, its color is destroyed and it becomes lead again. Ice and snow, meeting warm water, dissolve into profound darkness. Metal takes cinnabar as its master, finding harmony with mercury. Transformation springs from their true nature; end and beginning depend upon each other. Whoever would become an immortal by ingesting the subdued substance should use things of the same kind: to plant grain, use its seed; to hatch a hen, use her egg. Like restores what is natural; then the substance is readily formed and tempered. Can a fish's eye be a pearl? Can mugwort grow into a catalpa tree? Things of like kind follow one another; where kinds clash, no treasure is made. Sparrows do not beget phoenixes; foxes and rabbits do not suckle horses. Flowing water cannot blaze upward; moving fire cannot moisten downward. In our age many learned men possess lofty gifts and fine talents, but, never meeting the right opportunity, waste fire and lose their wealth. They follow written prescriptions and recklessly put their words into practice; without a trace of a proper beginning, they lose hold of weights and measures. They pound and treat stone gall from Qiang, mica, alum, and magnetite; burn sulfur with camphorwood; plaster mercury and refine it together; blow the bellows beneath five-stone copper, using it as a supporting pivot. Substances of different natures and kinds will not dwell together in one body. For a thousand attempts there will surely be ten thousand failures; aspiring to cleverness, they become fools. From childhood to white hair they grow doubtful halfway through. Turning their backs on the Way, they keep to the path of confusion; leaving the straight path, they take a crooked track. Looking through a tube gives no broad vision; it is hard for them to judge what lies ahead.\n\n### The Three Sages, the Knife-Measure Elixir, Fire and Water, and the New-Moon Tally (chapters 13-18)\n\n13. As for the supreme sages, none surpasses Fuxi, who first drew the eight trigrams in imitation of heaven and earth. King Wen, forebear of kings, joined their forms and developed the line texts. The Master, a hero among later sages, supported them with the Ten Wings. These three lords were raised up by heaven, arising in succession to govern their ages. Their accomplishments came in stages, yet their works and virtues do not differ. In making their works each had a predecessor; in calculating and measuring they examined every fraction of a grain. What has form is easy to assess; what shows no sign is hard to plan for. They made their deeds worthy of imitation and established the classics for the world. Without innate foreknowledge, I learned through a teacher and awoke to understanding: bright as when a cold curtain is drawn aside, and with eyes wide open I climbed a high terrace.\nThe Record of Fire has six hundred chapters, all pursuing the same end. Its writings speak earnestly, but the people of the world do not think them through. Trace their sources and course: darkness and light originally dwell together. I speak quietly to the worthy; how would I dare write carelessly? If I remained tongue-tied and silent, I would sever the Way and incur punishment. But if I set my thoughts down on bamboo and silk, I fear revealing heaven's tallies. Hesitating, I sigh ever more, and in deference set down these imperfect words. The work of refining has its rules; I cannot lay them all out. I briefly describe its main principles, leaving the branches to show themselves in their spread.\n\n14. Make metal the embankment, and water enters and moves at ease. Metal's number is fifteen, and water's number is the same. At the furnace, determine the precise weights: there is an excess of water by five parts. Take these two as true, and the metal weighs what it did at first. Its earth does not leave it; both are joined by it. The three substances embrace and receive each other; their transformations seem divine. Below them is the breath of the great yang, which steams them in an instant. First they liquefy, then congeal; this is called the yellow carriage. When the months and years are nearly spent, their nature is destroyed and their allotted years wounded. The body becomes ash and earth, like dust in a sunlit window. Pound and treat it, unite it, and carry it into the red gate. Seal its joints securely and make them perfectly firm. Set a blazing fire beneath; dragon and tiger cry out urgently. At first the gentle fire may rest; at the end the fierce fire completes the work. Watch and wait with the greatest care; inspect and regulate heat and cold. Pass through the twelve intervals, and at each interval's end renew your close attention. When breath is spent and life nearly extinct, its body dies and its souls depart. Its color then turns purple, and in a blaze it becomes the elixir again. Lift a single pill of powder: the knife-measure is most wondrous.\n\n15. Work out the numbers of the five phases, concise and not elaborate. Raise water to strike fire, and at once its light goes out. Sun and moon eclipse each other, always between new moon and full. When water prevails, Kan encroaches upon yang; when fire weakens, Li's daylight darkens. Yin and yang feed upon each other; their joining and response are the natural Way. A name determines the condition; a style name speaks of the nature. When metal returns to its original nature, it can be called the reverted elixir. I do not dare speak without foundation: I follow the writings of the sages. An ancient record is entitled Dragon and Tiger; the Yellow Emperor praised the Golden Flower. Huainan refined autumn stone; Yuyang added the yellow sprout. Let the worthy practice it; let the unworthy take no part. Ancient and modern follow one Way: face to face, they speak their designs. Students, redouble your effort; hold it in mind and reflect deeply. The most essential words are laid bare; their clarity does not deceive me.\n\n16. Qian and Kun, firm and yielding, pair and enclose each other. Yang bestows, yin receives; male and female need one another. Only through their joining in creation can essence and breath unfold. Kan and Li stand foremost, first shining forth and spreading their light. Deep and dark, beyond fathoming, they cannot be drawn in a picture. The sages measured them, comparing and ordering the primal foundation. The four mingle in chaos and enter directly into emptiness. Sixty hexagrams complete the cycle, spread out to make a carriage. The dragon-horses are harnessed, and an enlightened ruler governs his age. In harmony they follow; the road is level and not crooked. Crooked paths are steep and perilous, bringing danger to a state.\n\n17. When a noble person remains in his room and speaks well, a response comes from a thousand miles away. This speaks of the lord of ten thousand chariots: dwelling behind ninefold walls, he issues commands in accord with the intervals of yin and yang. He keeps his instruments hidden and awaits the time; he does not defy the months of the hexagrams. Zhun uses zi and shen; Meng uses yin and xu. Each of the remaining sixty hexagrams has its own day. I set forth these two images, unable to exhaust them all. Form intentions and establish penalties; when benevolence is fitting, bestow virtue. Defy this and misfortune follows; obey it and fortune comes. Follow calendar and ordinance with sincere and undivided care. Watch the days and hours closely, examining waxing and waning. The slightest error invites regret and trouble as enemies. At the two solstices the measure changes; errors throw everything askew.\nBitter winter brings great heat; high summer brings frost and snow. At the two equinoxes things run awry, failing to answer the water clock. Flood and drought assail each other; winds and rains lose their seasons; locusts swarm and seethe, and all manner of portents appear. Heaven shows its prodigies; mountains fall and earth splits. A devoted son's intent can move the imperial pole: what issues nearby from his own mouth flows far into distant lands. It may summon disaster or bring blessing; it may make great peace or kindle war. These four outcomes arise from the heart. Movement and stillness have fixed rules; keep to their marking line. Let the four seasons follow their proper course and accord with the breath. Firm and yielding stand distinct, without trespassing upon each other. The five phases guard their bounds, without undue increase or decrease. The Changes move in their circuit, bending and extending, turning back and returning.\n\n18. Between dark moon and new, the tallies join and move at the center. In primal chaos, female and male follow one another. Nourishing moisture flows and spreads transformation. The divinity of heaven and earth cannot be measured. Put it to use and rest securely, hidden from sight and stored away. It begins in the northeast, the land of the Winnowing Basket and Dipper. Turning to the right, it breathes out the wheel and sends forth sprouts. Its image appears in the deep pool, radiating its essence. Above the lodges Mao and Bi, Zhen comes forth on its course. Yang breath begins: the first nine is the hidden dragon. Yang is established by three, yin passes through by eight. On the third day Zhen stirs; on the eighth Dui takes its course. The second nine is the dragon appearing, bright and at peace. At three times five its virtue is complete, and Qian's body takes shape. The third nine keeps watch at evening; the divine tally begins to wane. Fullness and decline gradually exchange places, returning at last to their beginning. Xun succeeds to its rule, firmly holding the boundaries. The fourth nine may leap; advance and retreat are dangerous. Gen governs advance and rest; neither may overstep its time. On the twenty-third day, it keeps watch over the quarter-moon interval. The fifth nine is the flying dragon, blessed in heaven's place. The fifth six is Kun receiving, binding beginning to end; she nurtures her many children, mother of their kind for generations. The upper nine is the overreaching dragon, its virtue battling in the field; using all the nines, it glides, the pattern of the Way. Yang's numbers are exhausted; at their end they rise again. Seek out feeling and join it to nature; turning, they yield to one another. The celestial armillary sphere revolves, ascending and descending. Circling through the six lines, they are hard to discern. Because they have no constant station, they are the ancestral source of the Changes.\n\n### Line-Changes, Nurturing Nature and Destiny, the Three Treasures, and Flowing Pearl (chapters 19-24)\n\n19. New-moon dawn is Fu: yang breath first flows through. Coming and going without haste, it raises a marker of nascent strength. The Yellow Bell establishes zi; signs begin to grow manifest. It spreads a yielding warmth and the multitudes receive their due. At the furnace, set out the rules and open the way for true light. Its radiance advances by degrees, lengthening day by day. At chou, its great companion joins it, setting right the rise and fall. Rising to form Tai, firm and yielding both flourish. Traveling far, they meet: the small departs and the great comes. They gather like spokes at silver, turning with the season. Passing on to Da Zhuang, they flank the gate of mao. Elm seeds fall, returning to the root. Punishment and virtue oppose each other; day and night first divide. In Guai, yin withdraws, and yang rises forward. Wings are washed, old dust shaken away. Qian is vigorous and radiant, casting its light on all four neighbors. Yang ends at si, meeting and touching at the center. Joining begins in due sequence: treading frost comes first. A cold spring wells from the bottom of the well; wu is marked by the pitch pipe Ruibin. The guest submits to yin, and yin becomes host. Dun leaves the world and relinquishes its place, gathering in its essence; holding virtue and waiting for its time, it lingers in the dimness. Pi is obstructed: shoots do not grow. Yin extends and yang bends, hiding yang's very name. Observe its weights and measures; study the manifold signs of autumn. Entrust it with tender young life, so the old and withered flourish again. Shepherd's purse and wheat sprout, breaking through their covering to grow. Bo strips and destroys the limbs, diminishing their form. The transforming breath spent, the highest spirit is lost. When the Way reaches its limit, it turns back to Kun, its source. Always following the patterns of earth, it receives and spreads heaven's commands. Deep and distant, it links what lies apart. At the appointed measure it nurtures seeds, the source of yin and yang. Vast and indistinct, its origin cannot be known. First it loses the path; afterward it becomes master. No level ground remains without a slope: such is the Way's nature. Changes return to fullness; waning and waxing succeed each other. Kun ends and Fu begins, joined like an endless ring. Emperors take up its governance, enduring for a thousand years.\n\n20. If you would nurture your nature and prolong your destined years, consider the end and think first of the beginning. The body a person receives was originally nothing. Primal essence spread like clouds and took its first support in breath. Yin and yang gave it measure, a dwelling for the sun-soul and moon-soul. The yang spirit is the sun-soul, the yin spirit the moon-soul; each becomes the other's lodging. Nature reigns within, setting its boundaries; feeling rules outward work, raising ramparts and walls. When walls and ramparts are whole, those within are safe. At this time, feeling is in harmony with Qian and Kun. Qian moves straight, its breath spreading and essence flowing; Kun is still and receptive, a dwelling for the Way. The firm bestows and withdraws, the yielding transforms and nourishes. Nine returns and seven turns back; eight goes home and six remains. The man is white, the woman red; metal and fire bind each other. Thus water restrains fire at the beginning of the five phases. Supreme goodness is like water, pure and without blemish. The Way's image, the true One, is hard to depict. Changed and dispersed, they each dwell alone. Like a hen's egg, white and black match, an inch in width and length at the beginning. Four limbs, five inner organs, sinews and bones then all come together. After ten months it emerges from the womb, with bones soft enough to bend and flesh as smooth as lead.\n\n21. The burning mirror draws down fire: without the sun it gives no light. Without the stars and moon, how could the moon mirror gather water? These two breaths are mysterious and far away, yet their response and transformation still reach each other. How much more so what dwells close in the body, held within the heart and breast! Yin and yang pair with sun and moon; water and fire provide the proof.\n\n22. Ears, eyes, and mouth are the three treasures: close their gates and let nothing pass. The perfected person hides in the deep abyss, afloat but keeping within the circle, turning and bending to see and hear; opening and closing both accord with the union. These are the pivots of oneself, inexhaustible in motion and stillness. Li's breath serves as inner guard; Kan no longer uses its sharp hearing. Dui's mouth closes, no longer speaking; sparing of words, one follows the primal mist. Once the three are fastened shut, relax the body in an empty room. Give up your will to emptiness and make freedom from thought your constant state. The proof cannot be shifted by argument; fix the mind and do not let it wander. In sleep, the spirits embrace one another; awake, watch for their presence or absence. The complexion grows moist, and the joints grow stronger. Drive away the multitude of dark malign influences; then establish the true yang. Cultivate it unceasingly in the body, until gathered breath travels like cloud and rain, soaking like spring showers, flowing like thawing ice. From the head it runs down to the feet, then rises back up again; coming and going, it penetrates without limit, filling the body with warmth. Return is the evidence of the Way; weakness is virtue's key. Plow away old filth, bringing even the smallest things into harmony. What is turbid leads toward clarity; after long darkness comes bright light.\n\n23. People of the world delight in petty arts, never probing how deep the Way runs. They abandon the true for crooked paths, craving speed yet finding their way blocked. They are like the blind refusing a staff, or the deaf trying to hear the notes gong and shang; they dive beneath water to catch pheasants and rabbits, climb mountains seeking fish and dragons, plant wheat hoping to reap millet, or wield a compass to draw a square. They exhaust their strength and spirit; a whole year yields no result. If you would know the method of ingesting the subdued substance, it is simple, not elaborate.\n\n24. The sun's flowing pearl forever seeks to leave us. But when it meets the Golden Flower, the two turn and follow one another; it becomes a white liquid, then congeals to utter hardness. The Golden Flower calls first, and in a moment it dissolves into water, like horse teeth and gleaming stone. Yang then comes to join it, as feeling and nature naturally do. With time pressing and yin advancing, keep it confined behind the closed gate. A loving mother nurtures; a devoted son repays her care. A stern father issues commands and instructs his descendants. The five phases alternately reign, generating one another in turn: fire's nature melts metal; metal fells wood so it may flourish. Three and five joined with one are heaven and earth's highest essence. It may be imparted by spoken instructions but is hard to transmit in writing.\nAt zi turn to the right; at wu the chariot wheels round. Mao and you mark the boundary, and host and guest are two names. The dragon calls to the tiger, the tiger draws in the essence. Each drinks and feeds on the other, each greedily takes its share; they seize one another in their jaws, chew, and swallow. Mars guards the west; Venus crosses the sky. Where deadly breath descends, what does not fall? The wildcat and dog watch the mouse; small birds fear the hawk. Each has its work: who dares make a sound? Without the principle one cannot speak recklessly. They use up the household estate, leaving wife and children hungry and poor. From antiquity until now, millions have loved the art, but scarcely any have met the right conjunction and succeeded. Seeking rare medicines far and wide, they stray from the Way.\n\n### The Maiden and the Yellow Sprout, Male and Female, Punishment and Virtue, the Sages' Refining (chapters 25-31)\n\n25. If you truly meet with it, behold its first signs. Compare like with like and consider a substance from beginning to end. The five phases overcome one another and become parents in turn. The mother holds nourishing fluid; the father bestows what he carries. Essence condenses and form flows forth; metal and stone do not decay. Guard it intently without leakage, and you can attain the Way. Set up a pole and its shadow appears; call into a valley and its echo returns. Is this not wondrous? Such are the supreme images of heaven and earth. But take an inch of wild kudzu or an ounce of croton: as soon as it reaches the throat, the body stiffens, unable to bend or lift its head. At such a moment, could King Wen of Zhou cast the yarrow stalks, Confucius divine by the images, Bian Que wield his needle, or the shaman Xian beat his drum and bring the dead back to life, to rise and run again?\n\n26. The lovely maiden beside the river is most marvelously numinous. Given fire she flies away, leaving not a trace of dust: hidden like a ghost, concealed like a dragon, no one knows where she is. If you would restrain her, let the yellow sprout be your root. Where things are made of yin alone or yang alone, they defy heaven and turn against their source. A hen laying her own eggs produces no complete chicks. Why is that? The pair has not joined; three and five do not meet, firm and yielding are parted. The essence that gives and transforms belongs to heaven and earth by nature: fire moves and blazes upward, water flows and moistens downward. No master teaches them to do so. The forces that govern them were fixed at the beginning and cannot be altered. See how, when female and male mate, firm and yielding bind inextricably. They find their proper measure and tally; no craftsman contrives to govern them. At birth the boy lies face down, the girl lies on her back. So it is when they first receive breath in the womb; these signs appear not only at birth but again at death. No parental command taught them this: the pattern was established first, at their conception.\n\n27. Kan, the male, is the moon; Li, the female, is the sun. The sun bestows its virtue; the moon spreads its light. The moon receives the sun's transforming power, its body unstained. If the sun loses its counterpart, yin invades its radiance. At dark moon and new moon they draw close in eclipse, covering and eclipsing one another; the sun's form dwindles and disaster comes as yin prevails. Man and woman wait for one another, sustained by the earth they hold. Male and female intermingle, seeking their own kind. Metal becomes water, whose nature spreads in every direction; fire becomes earth, and water cannot flow. The man moves and bestows outwardly; the woman is still and stores within. If he exceeds the measure, she holds him fast; the moon-soul seals the sun-soul against excess and indulgence. Neither cold nor hot, they advance and withdraw with the season, each attaining harmony, both uttering the tally of right rule.\n\n28. Cinnabar is the essence of wood; meeting metal, it joins with it. Metal and water unite; wood and fire are companions. These four mingle in chaos and arrange themselves as dragon and tiger. The yang dragon's number is odd; the yin tiger's number is even. The blue liver is father, the white lungs mother, the black kidneys son, the red Li daughter, the yellow spleen ancestor; zi and wu mark the beginning. Three substances form one family, returning together to wu and ji.\n\n29. Firm and yielding rise in turn and spread through successive stages. Dragon in the west and tiger in the east set the transverse line at mao and you. Punishment and virtue meet together and rejoice at seeing each other; punishment governs suppression and killing, virtue the stirring of life. In the second month elm seeds fall and the Dipper's bowl reaches mao; in the eighth month wheat grows and the Dipper's handle occupies you. Zi is south, wu north; each provides the other's guiding order. The numbers one and nine end and begin anew. Holding the primal breath at Xu and Wei, it sows its essence at zi.\n\n30. “Calling, calling, the ospreys on the river island; a graceful, gentle maiden is the noble man's good mate.” The male does not dwell alone, nor the female live in solitude. The Dark Warrior's tortoise and snake coil around and support each other, showing that female and male must need one another. Suppose two women share a room, both exceedingly lovely. Let Su Qin speak between them and Zhang Yi broker their match; let them unfold eloquent arguments and beautiful phrases, lay bare their hearts, and bring them together as spouses. Their hair would wear thin and their teeth rot before they could ever know each other. If the medicines are not of one kind, their names and classes differ, their divisions and measures are at odds, and their governing order is lost. Even if the Yellow Emperor stood at the furnace, the Grand Duke tended the fire, the Eight Lords pounded and refined, and the lord of Huainan mixed the substances; even if they built a high altar-house with jade steps, offered unicorn meat and phoenix fat, held scriptures and knelt long in prayer to the gods, implored the ghosts for mercy, bathed and fasted in hope of fulfillment, it would be like mending a cauldron with glue, dressing a wound with sal ammoniac, adding ice to dispel cold, or using hot water to relieve heat: a flying tortoise or dancing snake would only make the absurdity plainer.\n\n31. The sages and wise people of old embraced mystery and held fast to truth, subduing and refining in nine cauldrons. They changed their tracks and went into hiding, preserved essence and nourished spirit, and brought their virtue into communion with the three lights. Vital fluids entered the tissues; sinews and bones grew firm. All malignant influences were driven away and true breath endured. Through long accumulation their forms changed and they became immortals. Moved by pity for later generations of seekers of the Way, they traced its outward signs and pointed to ancient writings, making collections of diagrams to reveal it to their descendants. They showed the branches while hiding the root, using various names and disguising it in confused writings. Students who received these kept them in caskets their whole lives. Sons continued their fathers' work; grandsons followed their ancestors. Handed down through generations, their confusion brought no understanding. Thus officials did not take office, farmers neglected their fields, merchants abandoned their wares, and aspiring scholars impoverished their households. Deeply distressed, I have put this writing in order: its words are few and easy to ponder, its procedure brief and not complex. I unfold its stages so the reality can be examined; each portion has its measure, and the steps follow one another. Thus I have written these closing verses to open its gateway. Let the wise examine them closely and bring all their attention to bear.\n\n### Song of the Cauldron, the Vessel's Wonders, Supplement, and the Author's Afterword (chapters 32-35)\n\n32. No images and models are greater than heaven and earth; the dark channel stretches tens of thousands of miles. When Hegu faces the lodge Xingji, all the people are struck with fear. The gnomon's shadow advances and retreats out of order, and for nine years disaster reigns. The exalted ruler observes it and withdraws to correct his ways. The pivots rise and fall, and harmful breath flees. The Yangtze and Huai rivers dry up, their waters flowing into the sea. Heaven and earth's female and male move back and forth between zi and wu. Yin and shen are ancestors of yin and yang; they come and go, ending and beginning again. Following the Dipper and its swinging handle, they grasp the balance and fix the primal order. The substance rises and heats on the steaming mountain, with a blazing fire set below. The White Tiger leads the song before; the azure liquid responds behind. The Vermilion Bird soars at play, its flying colors fivefold bright; caught in a spreading net, it is pressed down and cannot rise. Its wails are grievous, like an infant longing for its mother. Upside down it goes to the boiling cauldron, its feathers battered and broken. Before half a water-clock period has passed, fish scales and bristling fins arise. The five-colored images blaze, transforming without fixed master. Seething, the cauldron boils and races, surging violently without rest. Layer upon layer they gather, interlocking like dogs' teeth. Their shapes resemble midwinter ice, while shining stone puts forth stalactites. Towering, mingled, and crowded, they heap against and prop each other up. Yin and yang find their match and abide together in quiet simplicity. The Green Dragon occupies the sixth lodge of Fang; spring flowers shake the east at mao. The White Tiger is in the seventh lodge of Mao; autumn ears of grain answer Dui in the west at you. The Vermilion Bird dwells in the second lodge of Zhang, mixed with full yang in the south at wu. All three come to court, their families joining as kin and companions. At the root there are only two substances; in the end they become three and five. Three and five together with one gather back in the two places. Treat them by the rules above, and take the full count of days. First white, then yellow, red and black reach inside and out. This is named the First Cauldron; eat an amount the size of a large millet grain. Nature itself works this, not a false or crooked way. Breath from mountain and marsh steams together, raising clouds that become rain; dried mud turns to dust, and extinguished fire becomes earth. Like cork-tree bark dyeing things yellow or indigo making green thread, hides boiled into glue or ferment turning into wine: kindred things are easily made to work, while alien kinds resist even skill. Consider this marvelous art closely: these are no deceptive words. Passed down a hundred million generations, it can still be clearly tested. It shines like stars across the River of Heaven and gathers as waters return to the sea. Ponder until you know it well; turn again and again to what lies above and below. After a thousand readings its brilliance will gleam; after ten thousand you may see it. Perhaps divine powers will tell you, or insight will suddenly arise in your own heart. Probe its beginnings and seek its threads, and you will surely find its gateway. There are no fixed favorites or foes in entering the Way: it is always passed to the worthy.\n\n33. Round: three and five; in an inch, one tenth; the mouth: four and eight; the lip: two inches; its length is a foot and two inches, its thickness uniform. The belly is level with three, and beneath it rests the warmth. Yin is above; yang races below. Fierce fire at beginning and end, gentle fire between. Begin with seventy and end with thirty; three hundred and six, properly regulated and balanced. Yin fire and white, yellow sprout and lead. Two sevens gather to aid and support the person. They nourish and order the brain, steadying the ascent of the mysterious. The child dwells within: can it remain secure? It wanders back and forth but does not leave the gate. Gradually it grows great, its nature and feeling pure. It returns to the One, going back to its first source. Love and respect well, as ruler and minister do. Reaching one complete circuit demands great labor. Guard it closely; do not lose your way in darkness. The road is long, deep, and mysterious. If you attain this, you will unite Qian and Kun. With a knife-measure moistened, cleanse sun-soul and moon-soul. You will gain long life and dwell among immortals. Lovers of the Way, seek its root. Examine the five phases, establish the weights down to the grain. Think it through truly; there is no need to debate. Keep it deep within and guard it; do not pass it on in writing. Ride a white crane, drive a scaled dragon, roam the great void and visit the lords of immortals. Entered on heaven's chart, you are called a perfected person.\n\n34. The Kinship of the Three sets forth the broad outlines, but cannot be perfectly complete: it ranges widely in its account, leaving subtle details unfinished, omissions and hazy passages. Now I compile it again to fill what was left out, polish the deep and hidden, and draw related matters together. The meanings agree and their aims do not conflict. Thus I make this further work and name it Three Kinds Alike: with it the nature and feeling of the Great Changes are fully revealed.\nThe nature and feeling of the Great Changes each keep their measure. Apply the teachings of Huang and Lao thoroughly, and through comparison they can be mastered. The furnace-fire practice truly has its foundation. The three Ways arise from one and issue along a common path. Branches, stems, flowers, and leaves spread forth with their fruit, but all lie in the root and do not lose their original substance. I speak in sincerity: examine this and you will not go astray. Consider the midwinter season, when bamboo and trees alike are wounded. Assist yang and call merchants to account; the ruler hides deep within. Model yourself on the time and follow its ordinances: close your mouth and do not speak. Heaven's Way is boundlessly vast; the Great Mystery has no form. Empty and silent, it cannot be seen; even its outline vanishes. Mistakes lose the thread of the work; words of return bring harm upon the speaker. I set out these four images separately, to enlighten the blind among later generations.\n\n35. I am a humble man of Kuaiji, a decaying life in a secluded valley. I keep simplicity in my breast, caring nothing for power and glory. I linger in remote and humble places, disregarding profit and fame, holding fast to quiet ease and hoping for times of peace. Living in tranquil leisure, I composed this work. It sings of the Great Changes and relates the words left by the three sages; I examined their aims and brought them together in one account. In following their principle, let your spirit shine forth. Divine transformation flows freely, bringing peace to the four seas. Set out as a calendar, it can guide ten thousand generations; arranged for government, it is not difficult to practice. Turn it inward to nourish your nature, according to the natural Way of Huang and Lao. Hold virtue deep and return to the root, to the primal source. It lies close by, within my heart, never separate from my own body. Embrace the One and do not let go, and you may endure. Join this with ingesting the subdued substance, setting male and female in place. Cast out Wudu; discard the eight stones. Examine and use the perfected substance, prized by the world. I have arranged three strands, their branches and stems entwined. They come from the same source though they bear different names, all proceeding through one gate. These are not merely piled-up phrases or cleverly paired lines; they surely hold truth, visible even among the rough stones. If I were spreading falsehood, I would be guilty of needless error. I named this the Kinship of the Three; glimpse its subtle beginning. Its words are few, its meaning vast: may those who come after honor it. Leave behind the harm of your time and take refuge in hills and mountains. Wander through the immense emptiness, dwelling beside the spirits. Transform your form and become immortal, sinking silently from sight. A hundred generations later, wander again among humankind. Spread your wings and tilt east, west, and south. Tang met with a time of hardship, when flood and drought came together. Branches and leaves yellowed and withered, losing their flowering glory. When good people bear one another up, they may live long in peace.","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/cantong-qi/translations/trn_cantong_qi_mouseia.txt"},{"id":"trn_cantong_qi_plain","translator":"Mouseia","kind":"plain","note":"Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from the same original, covering all 35 chapters, 6,076 characters.","text":"### Qian and Kun, Sun and Moon, and the Governance of the Sage (chapters 1-6)\n\n1. Qian and Kun are the gates of the Changes and the parents of all the hexagrams. Kan and Li form the frame; the wheel turns around its true axle. These four hexagrams, female and male, serve as the bellows. They cover the workings of yin and yang. A skilled driver follows a measuring line, holds the reins, keeps to rule and square, and follows the tracks. He stays at the center to control what is outside; the numbers are recorded in musical measures and the calendar. Each month has five groups of six days. Its crossing lines obey the sun's direction; together they make sixty, with firmness and softness both inside and outside. At the new moon's dawn, Zhun takes charge; by evening Meng takes over. Each day and night has its own hexagram, applied in order. Even before the dark end of the month and the next dawn, an ending becomes a new beginning. Sun and moon set the measure of time; activity and rest have their early and late hours. Spring and summer occupy the inner body, from zi through chen and si; autumn and winter work on the outside, from wu through xu and hai. Rewards and punishments answer to spring and autumn, darkness and light follow cold and heat, and the words for the lines speak of kindness and justice. Joy and anger arise as the time requires. When these answer to the four seasons, the five phases keep their proper order.\n\n2. Heaven and earth take their places, and the Changes move between them. Heaven and earth are images of Qian and Kun. Taking their places means setting out the paired places of yin and yang. The Changes here means Kan and Li, the two functions of Qian and Kun. These two have no fixed line-places. They circulate through the six empty places, going and coming without fixed course, above and below without settled position. Hidden deep, they change within, contain all things, and form the framework of the Way. What has no substance controls what has substance; the usefulness of a vessel lies in its empty space. So when you trace waxing and waning, Kan and Li disappear. These words are not made up lightly, nor are these arguments invented without grounds. Observed results serve as tests; measures are checked against the divine order. Reasoning is set down in words, and the underlying principle supplies the proof.\nKan has wu and the essence of the moon; Li has ji and the sun's light. Sun and moon make up the Changes, with hard and soft matched. Earth is strong in all four seasons, weaving through beginning and end. Blue-green, red, black, and white each occupy a direction; all depend on the center, the work of wu and ji.\n\n3. The Changes are images. Of the bright signs hung in the sky, none is greater than the sun and moon. Probe the mysterious to understand change: when yang goes, yin comes. They gather at the hub and the wheel turns, entering and leaving, folding and unfolding in turn. The Changes has 384 lines; from the lines one selects the tallies, that is, the sixty-four hexagrams. Between the month's last dark day and the new moon's dawn, Zhen comes to receive the tally. At this point heaven and earth join their essences, and sun and moon support each other. Male yang spreads its dark seed; female yin changes it into a yellow covering. They meet in a confused mass and lay the first foundation. They tend and nourish its boundaries, gather its spirit, and form its body. Everyone is born by this path; everything that crawls comes from it.\n\n4. Thus Confucius praised the original undivided state. The power of Qian and Kun reaches through empty space. Studying antiquity leads back to the first ruler; the mating ospreys mark the beginning. The coming together at marriage binds their energies, and in the first year the sprout grows. The sage does not arise for nothing: he looks up to see the signs of heaven. Heaven's signs advance and withdraw, bending and stretching with the time. Thus the Changes express heaven's purpose. Fu begins the first sprout; the eldest son takes over his father's body and receives the first foundation through his mother. Waxing and waning follow the central measure; rising and falling follow the pivot of the Dipper. On the third day the light emerges: Zhen with geng receives the west. On the eighth day Dui receives ding; the first-quarter moon is level as a line. On the fifteenth Qian's body is complete, full in the east with jia. The toad and the rabbit's moon-spirit accompany the light of sun and moon. The toad marks the stages of the hexagrams; the rabbit sends forth growing light. After seven and eight the course is finished and bends downward. On the sixteenth the succession turns: Xun with xin appears at dawn. Gen stands with bing in the south; the last quarter falls on the twenty-third. Kun with yi comes on the thirtieth day; in the northeast it loses its companion. As one stage ends it hands over to the next; the dragon is born again in its successor. Ren and gui pair with jia and yi; Qian and Kun enclose beginning and end. Seven and eight make fifteen; nine and six correspond too. The four together make thirty, when yang energy is sought but lies hidden and extinguished. The eight hexagrams set out their lights, moving without losing the center. The original essence is too slight to see, but calculation and the tallies give evidence. At rest, observe its images and use its shapes as a model. Set up a measuring post to serve as a standard; watch signs to determine good and bad fortune. Give orders according to the season, without missing the time when a line changes. Above, inspect the patterns of the River; below, set out the forms and currents of earth; between them, examine the human heart. Compare these three powers together. In action follow the hexagrams' stages; in rest follow the judgments. When Qian and Kun carry out their work, the world is governed.\n\n5. The first step in government is to replace the old with the new. Control what is small and hidden, and open up and spread the treasures. Hold the chief handle of the essential Way, the central bond that governs change. When the images of the lines move within, good and bad fortune arise outside. The five planets move with and against one another, responding to the time. The four and seven go out of order, separating and dipping or rising. Wenchang oversees the records, questions the chief ministers and their aides; the officials each manage their assigned departments. The sun joins the essences of the five phases; the moon follows the six musical measures. Five times six makes thirty degrees; once these are complete they begin again. Trace the beginning and attend to the end, the course of survival and destruction: a ruler may be proud and idle, overfull and contrary to the Way, or a minister may be corrupt and flattering, acting outside the proper track.\nAt the quarter and full moons, waxing and waning may go astray and cause harm. The officials charged with enforcing the law criticize faults and report them to their ruler. The pole of heaven receives the correct alignment and freely delegates matters below. Government is proclaimed in the Bright Hall, and the state has no path to harm.\n\n6. Within, nourish yourself in quiet and emptiness. Seek the root hidden in the light and shine inward on the body. Close your openings and firmly secure the living root. The three lights sink from view; gently nurture the child, the pearl. It cannot be seen, though it is close and easy to seek. Yellow at the center gradually opens its channels, and moisture reaches the skin. Set the beginning right, and the end will be sound; once the stem stands, it cannot yet be held. The One conceals it, and ordinary people do not know it.\n\n### The Two Apertures, Dragon and Tiger, and Like Joining Like (chapters 7-12)\n\n7. The highest virtue does nothing; it does not seek by investigation. Lesser virtue acts, and never stops applying itself. When the upper opening closes, it is called presence; when the lower closes, it is called absence. Absence serves what is above, where presence holds the spirit's power. This is the method of the two openings; the energy of metal also waits for its counterpart. Know white but keep to black, and the spirit's light will come by itself. White is metal's essence, black is water's foundation. Water is the pivot of the Way: remove the numbers and call it One. At the beginning of yin and yang, the dark contains the yellow sprout. The chief of the five metals is the northern river cart. Thus lead is black outside but holds golden brilliance within. It wears coarse clothes but carries jade inside; outwardly it looks like a madman. Metal is water's mother, and the mother hides in her child's womb. Water is metal's child, and the child hides in its mother's belly. The realized person is wonderfully subtle, as if present and absent at once, like a great deep, now sinking, now floating. When they withdraw and spread apart, each stays in its own region. Gather it and it looks white; prepare it and it turns red. Refined, it becomes a protective outer layer, with the real white inside. It is square and round, an inch across, mixed and held together. Born before heaven and earth, it stands high and honored. Beside it are walls and gates, shaped like the isle of Penghu. Closed all around, it nevertheless has passages in four directions. Guard it closely and securely; bar anything harmful. Its winding doors connect, ready for the unexpected. You may approach it without thought, but not through anxiety or toil. Spirit and energy fill the room; no one can hold them there. Keep it and you thrive; lose it and you die. In movement, stillness, and rest it is always with a person.\n\n8. This is not the method of touring the inner organs and thinking about what you see within, walking in the steps of the Dipper's stars, or tracking the six jia by days and hours. Secret yin practices that suppress nine and one only stir up disorder and cloud the original womb. Eating breath makes the bowels rumble; breathing out the right energy draws in harmful energy from outside. You stay awake day and night and never rest, even on the last and first days of the month. Each day the body grows tired, dazed and seemingly foolish. All the blood vessels surge, with no chance to settle and clear. You pile up earth to make an altar and perform reverent rites morning and evening. Ghosts and spirits show their forms and trouble your dreams. Delighted, you think your life will surely be prolonged, but suddenly you die before your time, your body exposed to rot. Everything you do goes wrong; you go against the essential principle. There are very many such techniques, thousands upon thousands. They depart from the teaching of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi and twist away from the nine regions. A clear-minded person considers their meaning and plainly sees why. Practice the right way diligently, day and night without stopping. After three years of taking the prepared medicine, you rise lightly and travel far: fire does not burn you, water does not wet you; you can appear and disappear and live happily without worry. Once the Way is achieved and virtue complete, you stay hidden and wait for the time. The Great One summons you to live in the central land. With your work complete you rise above, receive the imperial command and the heavenly chart.\n\n9. The schedule for fire is not made up: it is explained through the Changes. The crescent moon gives the model for furnace and cauldron; the white tiger is the pivot of heating. Mercury, the sun, is the flowing pearl, accompanied by the blue-green dragon. Bring east together with west, and the soul and bodily spirit hold each other. At the first quarter Dui's number is eight; at the last quarter Gen's is also eight. Join the essences of the two quarters and the body of Qian and Kun is formed. Twice eight corresponds to one jin in weight; the Way of the Changes then stands straight and does not tip.\n\n10. When gold enters fierce fire, its color does not lose its brightness. Since the first opening of the world, sun and moon have not lost their light. Gold does not lose its weight, and sun and moon retain their forms. Gold originally grows from the moon; at the new moon's dawn it receives the tally from the sun. Gold returns to its mother; at the dark of the moon, sun and moon enclose each other. It hides its outlines and sinks and floats in deep emptiness. Gold recovers its former nature, and the cauldron glows with brilliant light.\n\n11. The numbers of zi and wu add up to three; wu and ji are called five. When three and five are in harmony, the eight stones are properly ordered. Breathing in and out nurture one another; settled thought makes them husband and wife. Yellow earth is the father of metal; the flowing pearl is the child of water. Earth is water's enemy; earth holds water down so it cannot rise. The red bird is the essence of fire, keeping the balance between what wins and what loses. When water grows strong, fire goes out; both die and return to thick earth. The three natures then come together and share the same original ancestry. Sesame seed can prolong life, but the returned elixir can be taken by mouth. Metal does not decay, so it is valued among all things. An adept prepares and eats it, and gains a long life. Earth travels through the four seasons, keeps the boundaries, and sets the rules. When the golden cinnabar enters the five inner organs, mist spreads like wind and rain. Its warmth and vapor reach the limbs, and the complexion becomes fresh and healthy. White hair turns black, and teeth grow again where they fell out. An old man grows strong and young again; an elderly woman becomes a young girl. Their forms change and they escape the hardships of the world: they are called realized people.\n\n12. Put white lead powder into fire, and its color is ruined as it turns back to lead. Bring snow and ice to warm water and they melt into dark water. Metal takes cinnabar as its master and comes into balance with mercury. The change follows their true nature; end and beginning depend on each other. If you want to become an immortal by taking a prepared medicine, use things of the same kind. Plant grain to grow grain, and set a hen on her own eggs. Things of a kind make up what is natural, and can readily be transformed. Can a fish's eye be a pearl? Mugwort cannot become a catalpa tree. Like things go together; things at odds cannot make a treasure. Swallows and sparrows do not give birth to phoenixes, and foxes and rabbits do not nurse horses. Flowing water does not blaze upward, and moving fire does not moisten what is below. Many scholars today have talent and fine abilities. But when they do not find the right encounter, they waste fuel and lose their money. They follow written instructions and recklessly act on words. They have no grasp of the starting principles and lose control of their measurements. They pound and prepare mineral gall, mica, alum, and magnetic stone; burn sulfur with camphor wood; and refine mercury sealed in clay. They blow the bellows beneath the five-stone bronze, treating it as an aid and pivot. These mixed natures belong to different kinds: how could they live in one body? Try a thousand times and fail ten thousand; trying to be clever, you become foolish. From youth to white-haired age, you begin to doubt halfway through. Turning your back on the Way, you remain on the wrong road, leaving the right path for a crooked one. Looking through a tube, your view is too narrow to judge what is coming.\n\n### The Three Sages, the Knife-Measure Elixir, Fire and Water, and the New-Moon Tally (chapters 13-18)\n\n13. The greatest sage is Fuxi: he first drew the eight trigrams, modeling them on heaven and earth. King Wen, ancestor of kings, arranged their bodies and developed the words for the lines. Confucius, a sage among men, gave them support with the Ten Wings. These three leaders arose in succession, each ruling his time by heaven's gift. Their work came in stages, but their merits are not different. Each made his work by following what came before and calculated and checked even the smallest measures. What has form is easy to estimate; what gives no sign is hard to plan for. They made practices others could follow and set down the writings for the world. Without prior knowledge, I learned from a teacher and understood. It became bright as if a cold curtain opened and I climbed a high platform with eyes wide open.\nThe Record of Fire has six hundred chapters, all directed toward the same end. Its words say important things, but people do not think them through. Trace the source and course of the teaching: what is hidden and what is visible have always lived together. I speak privately for wise people; how would I dare write lightly? But if I kept my tongue tied and silent, I would cut off the Way and deserve punishment. If I wrote down my thoughts, I would fear revealing heaven's signs. Hesitating, I sigh again and again, then put together these simple words. Refining has its rules, but I cannot lay them all out. I give a brief account of the main principles, so their branches can be seen spreading out.\n\n14. Make metal the embankment so water can enter and move freely. Metal's number is fifteen, and water's number is the same. At the furnace, determine their weights in zhu and liang; water has five parts more. Take the two as the true ingredients; the metal remains as heavy as before. Its earth does not leave; it accompanies both of them. The three substances receive one another, changing almost miraculously. Beneath them is the sun's energy, steaming them for a short while. They first turn liquid, then set; this is called the yellow carriage. When the full cycle is nearly finished, their nature is destroyed and their life worn away. Their body turns to ash and earth, like dust on a bright window. Pound and prepare it, combine it, and place it in the red gate. Seal its joints and make sure they are strong and secure. Light a hot fire underneath: dragon and tiger sound vigorously. At first use gentle fire and let it rest; at the end, strong fire completes it. Watch the process closely and adjust the cold and heat carefully. Go around the twelve stages, and when the stages are complete give it even closer care. Its energy runs out and its life comes to an end; body and spirits die away. Its color turns purple and then it becomes a bright red elixir. Take a pill's worth of the powder, a tiny knife-tip measure: it is especially powerful.\n\n15. Work out the numbers of the five phases: this can be kept simple. Bring water against fire and suddenly the light goes out. Eclipses occur when sun and moon press against each other, around new and full moon. When water is strong, Kan invades yang; when fire is weak, Li's daytime grows dark. Yin and yang consume and nourish each other; their interaction follows nature. Names identify their state; written characters describe their nature. When metal returns to its original nature it can be called the returned elixir. I do not dare make empty claims; I follow the writings of sages. An old record is titled Dragon and Tiger; the Yellow Emperor praised golden brilliance. Huainan refined autumn stone, and Yuyang added the yellow sprout. A worthy person can put this into practice; do not share it with someone unworthy. The Way was one in ancient times and is one now; in conversation we state our plan openly. Students should make a greater effort and think about it deeply. The key words are very plain and clear; they do not deceive us.\n\n16. Qian and Kun, firmness and softness, are matched and enclose each other. Yang gives, yin receives; male and female need each other. Through their union they produce change and their essential energy spreads. Kan and Li come first and shine out before the rest. Their hidden depths are hard to measure and cannot be drawn. The sages estimated them and arranged the original foundation in sequence. These four mingle in a formless mass and enter emptiness directly. Sixty hexagrams complete the cycle, spread out like a carriage. Dragon and horse are harnessed and a wise ruler directs the time. In harmony, they follow; the road is level and straight. The crooked way is dangerous and puts the state at risk.\n\n17. When a good person speaks well from his room, a response comes even from a thousand miles away. This refers to a ruler of ten thousand chariots, living within nine courts. He issues commands in step with the stages of yin and yang. He keeps his tools stored until their time and does not go against the hexagrams and the months. Zhun uses zi and shen; Meng uses yin and xu. Each of the other sixty hexagrams has its own day. I offer just these two images; I cannot explain everything. Set intentions and establish punishments; show kindness and give benefits at the right time. Going against this brings harm; following it brings good fortune. Observe the calendar and its rules with complete sincerity and close attention. Watch the day and hour, and carefully study waxing and waning. If even the smallest detail is wrong, regret and trouble do harm. At the two solstices the measure changes and becomes twisted and wrong.\nThere is great heat in midwinter and frost and snow in midsummer. At the two equinoxes things go awry and do not match the water clock. Flood and drought attack each other; wind and rain are out of season. Locusts swarm, and strange events appear everywhere. Heaven displays its omens; mountains fall and earth splits. A devoted child's thoughts can move even the highest power. A word leaves one's own mouth nearby and travels to distant lands. It may bring disaster or blessing, create peace or produce war. These four outcomes arise in the mind. Let movement and rest follow steady rules and fixed measures. The four seasons then keep their proper order and agree with the energy. Firm and soft remain distinct and do not intrude on each other. The five phases keep their boundaries and do not swell or shrink without reason. The Changes continue their course, bending, stretching, and turning back.\n\n18. Between the month's end and its new beginning, the matching tallies come together and move through the center. In the formless beginning, female and male follow each other. Moisture nourishes them and transformation flows. The powers of heaven and earth are beyond measurement. Use them to make yourself secure; conceal your form and remain hidden. It begins in the northeast, the region of the Winnowing Basket and Dipper stars. Turning right, the wheel brings forth a sprout. An image appears in the deep pool and spreads its bright essence. Above the Mao and Bi stars, Zhen comes out as the sign. Yang energy begins: the first nine is the hidden dragon. Yang is established by three, yin passes through eight. On the third day Zhen stirs; on the eighth Dui moves. The second nine is the dragon appearing; peace brings light. At three times five the power is complete and Qian's body forms. The third nine is watchful at night: the divine tally begins to wane. Growth and decline gradually change, then return to their beginning. Xun takes over and holds the boundary securely. The fourth nine may leap: advance and retreat are dangerous. Gen controls advancing and stopping; one must not go beyond the proper time. The twenty-third day governs the time of the moon's quarter. The fifth nine is the flying dragon, honored in heaven's place. Kun's fifth six receives it and binds end to beginning. She nurtures her many children, mother of their kind for generations. The top nine is the dragon too high, battling in the field over its power; using the nines in their flight gives a rule for the Way. Once yang's number ends, it begins again. Their states and natures fit and pass back and forth. The turning celestial mechanism rises and falls, above and below. It moves through all six lines and is hard to see. Because it has no fixed position, it is the source of the Changes.\n\n### Line-Changes, Nurturing Nature and Destiny, the Three Treasures, and Flowing Pearl (chapters 19-24)\n\n19. At the new moon's dawn comes Fu, Return: yang energy begins to flow. It goes in and out without trouble, showing the faint first sign of firmness. The Yellow Bell's note establishes zi, and the first signs grow clear. It spreads mild warmth, and the people find their normal life. At the furnace, apply the rules and open a path for proper light. The brightness gradually grows and the days get longer. At chou comes Da Lü, the Great Companion, setting rise and fall in order. Rising, it makes Tai, Peace, where firm and soft both flourish. They meet after traveling far: what is small goes and what is great comes. They gather at the hub of yin, moving with the season. It gradually reaches Da Zhuang, Great Strength, arrayed at the gate of mao. Elm seeds fall and return to their roots. Punishment and virtue confront each other, and day and night first divide. In Guai, Breakthrough, yin withdraws and yang moves forward and upward. Wash the feathers and shake away old dust. Qian is strong and bright, reaching widely in all four directions. Yang ends at si; in the middle they meet. Their union begins the sequence, with walking on frost as its first sign. At the bottom of the well is a cold spring; wu brings the note Rui Bin. The guest hides in yin, and yin is the host. Dun, Withdrawal, leaves the world and its position, gathering its essence. Keeping its virtue, it waits in the dark. Pi, Obstruction, closes the passage, and no shoots grow. Yin extends and yang contracts, hiding even yang's name. Observe their measure and the conditions of autumn. Nurture what is young and small, and what is old and dry grows green again. Shepherd's purse and wheat put out shoots beneath the covering. Bo, Stripping, destroys the limbs and reduces the body. When the transforming energy runs out, the highest spirit is lost. At the end of the path it turns back to Kun, the original earth. Constantly follow earth's pattern and receive and spread heaven's will. What is dark and distant is joined across the divide. In season it raises seed, the origin of yin and yang. It is vast and dim; no one knows where it begins. At first it loses its way; afterward it takes charge. No level ground stays without a slope: that is the Way's natural course. Change grows strong again, waxing and waning in succession. Kun ends and Fu begins, like links in an endless ring. Rulers follow this course and endure for a thousand years.\n\n20. If you want to nourish your nature and prolong your life, consider the end carefully by thinking first about the beginning. The body we receive begins in nothing. Original essence spreads like a cloud and finds its beginning in energy. Yin and yang provide its measure and a dwelling for the soul and bodily spirit. Yang's spirit is the sun-soul; yin's spirit is the moon's bodily spirit. Each of these makes a home for the other. Inner nature stays inside, marking out its boundaries. Outer feelings work outside, building walls around it. Once the walls are whole, those inside are safe. Then feelings are in harmony with Qian and Kun. Qian moves straight, spreading energy and making essence flow. Kun is still and receptive, a home for the Way. The firm gives and withdraws; the soft transforms and nourishes. Nine returns and seven comes back; eight goes home and six remains. The male is white and the female red; metal and fire hold one another. Then water steadies fire, at the beginning of the five phases. The highest good is like water, clean and without a blemish. The Way's form, the true One, is hard to depict. It changes and spreads, each part dwelling apart. It resembles an egg, with white and black fitting together, an inch across at its beginning. Its four limbs, five organs, sinews, and bones take shape. After a full ten months, it leaves the womb. Its bones are soft enough to bend, its flesh smooth as lead.\n\n21. A burning mirror draws fire, but without the sun it gives no light. How could a water-drawing mirror gather water without the stars and moon? The two energies are mysterious and far away, yet they respond to one another in change. How much more can what lies close within the body respond? The key is in the heart. Yin and yang correspond to sun and moon; water and fire show the effects.\n\n22. Ears, eyes, and mouth are three treasures: close their gates and do not let anything out. The realized person hides deep in the water and moves while staying within the circle. Turning to see and hear, opening and closing, all follow the same pattern. They become your central controls, never exhausted by movement or stillness. Li's energy guards and nourishes within; Kan does not use sharp hearing. Dui closes instead of talking; speaking little follows the first undivided state. Once all three are shut, relax the body and remain in an empty room. Let your will return to emptiness and make freedom from thought your normal state. The proof cannot be shifted about; keep the mind fixed rather than moving from one thing to another. In sleep the spirits embrace; awake, watch whether they remain or depart. The complexion slowly grows moist and the joints grow stronger. Drive out all harmful yin, then establish proper yang. Practice this without stopping, and many energies travel like clouds and rain. They flow like spring rain and melt like thawing ice, passing from head to foot, then rising again. They come and go through boundless space, gently filling the body. Returning is the sign of the Way; softness is virtue's key. Cultivate away old impurities, and the smallest parts will work smoothly. What is cloudy can become clear; after long darkness comes light.\n\n23. People like minor techniques and do not judge how deep the Way goes. They abandon the right path for a crooked shortcut; in their hurry, they block the passage. They are like blind people refusing a staff, deaf people trying to hear musical notes, people diving into water to catch pheasants and rabbits, climbing a mountain to seek fish and dragons, planting wheat and expecting millet, or using a compass to draw a square. They wear out body and mind and see no results for a whole year. If you want to know the method of preparing and taking the medicine, it is simple, not complicated.\n\n24. The sun's flowing pearl always tries to escape. When it finds golden brilliance, they turn together and depend on each other, changing into a white liquid that sets hard. Golden brilliance calls first; in a moment it dissolves into water, like toothed crystals of beautiful stone. Yang then joins it, following their natural inclinations. Pressed by the passing hours of yin, they are held inside the barred gate. A loving mother nourishes her child; a devoted child repays his mother. A strict father gives orders and instructs his children and grandchildren. The five phases take turns in power and generate one another. Fire melts metal, while metal cuts back the flourishing wood. Three, five, and one are the finest essence of heaven and earth. This can be taught by word of mouth but is hard to pass on in writing.\nAt zi turn right; at wu the wheel turns. Mao and you are the dividing line between the two named host and guest. Dragon calls to tiger and tiger draws in essence. The two feed upon each other, each eager for the other. They seize, swallow, chew, and consume one another. Mars guards the west; Venus crosses the heavens. Where killing energy reaches, nothing can remain standing. A cat and dog watch a mouse; small birds fear a hawk. Each has its own power; how dare it make a sound? Without understanding the principle, it is hard to speak about it carelessly. People exhaust the family wealth, leaving wife and children hungry and poor. From ancient times to now, hundreds of millions have sought it, but hardly any meet with success; few complete it. They search widely for famous drugs, which are far from the Way.\n\n### The Maiden and the Yellow Sprout, Male and Female, Punishment and Virtue, the Sages' Refining (chapters 25-31)\n\n25. If you carefully meet the right conditions, you will see how it begins. Compare things by their kinds and study their beginnings and ends. The five phases overcome one another and become parents in turn. The mother holds nourishing fluid; the father provides and gives. Their essence takes shape, and metal and stone do not decay. Keep careful focus without letting it escape, and you can complete the Way. Set up a pole and see its shadow; call into a valley and hear the echo. Isn't this marvelous? These are great signs from heaven and earth. But if you swallow an inch of wild kudzu or one liang of croton seeds, your body stiffens as soon as they enter your throat and you cannot bend or straighten up. At that point, could King Wen cast yarrow stalks, Confucius read the images, Bian Que wield his needle, or Wu Xian beat his drum and bring you back to life, running about again?\n\n26. The young woman by the river is wonderfully powerful. Given fire, she flies away without leaving a trace of dust. Hidden like a ghost or dragon, no one knows where she is. If you want to control her, the yellow sprout must be the root. Things consist of yin and yang; to violate heaven is to turn against the origin. If a hen lays eggs by herself, her chicks will not develop fully. Why? The mating has not taken place; three and five have not joined, and hard and soft are separated. The essence that brings about change comes naturally from heaven and earth. Fire rises as it burns, water flows down and moistens. No teacher has to tell them to do it: the forces governing their proper courses cannot be changed. Look at male and female as they mate: hard and soft bind inseparably. They have the right timing, not a craftsman's clever way of directing them. A boy is born face down, a girl face up. This happens at the first breath received in the womb; it is visible not just at birth but even at death. Their parents did not teach them to do this. It was established at their conception from the start.\n\n27. Kan is the male moon, Li the female sun. The sun gives its power and the moon sends forth light; the moon receives change from the sun without injury to its body. When the sun loses its match, yin encroaches on its brightness. At new moon and month's end an eclipse covers them; they overwhelm each other. The sun's form diminishes and harm arises from yin's dominance. Male and female need each other, nourished by earth inside them. The sexes mix and seek others of their kind. Metal changes into water and water wanders widely. Fire changes into earth, preventing water from moving. The male moves and gives outwardly; the female rests and holds within. When he exceeds the limit, she holds him back. The moon's bodily spirit restrains the sun-soul so that it cannot run wild. Neither cold nor hot, their movements accord with the time. Each finds harmony, and together they issue the signs that govern them.\n\n28. Cinnabar is the essence of wood and joins with metal when it finds it. Metal and water meet together; wood and fire become companions. These four are mixed in the formless beginning and arranged as dragon and tiger. The dragon is yang, with odd numbers; the tiger is yin, with even numbers. The blue-green liver is the father, the white lungs the mother, the black kidneys the son, red Li the daughter, and the yellow spleen the ancestor. Zi and wu are the beginning. The three substances are one family and all return to wu and ji.\n\n29. Hard and soft rise in turn and each takes its place. Dragon is in the west and tiger in the east, setting the crosswise line through mao and you. Punishment and virtue meet and are happy to see each other. Punishment governs suppression and death; virtue governs birth and growth. In the second month elm seeds fall as the Dipper's bowl points at mao. In the eighth month wheat grows as its handle rests at you. Zi lies to the south and wu to the north; they give each other their guiding measures. The numbers one and nine end and begin again. The original energy is contained in the Xu and Wei stars and spreads its essence at zi.\n\n30. “Ospreys call to one another on the island in the river. A graceful, good young woman is a fitting partner for a good man.” The male does not live alone and the female does not dwell by herself. In the Dark Warrior, tortoise and snake coil together and support one another. This shows that female and male need each other. Suppose two beautiful women live together. Let Su Qin speak for them and Zhang Yi arrange the match. Let them argue skillfully, use fine words, speak from the heart, and try to make them husband and wife. Even when their hair is worn out and their teeth rotten, they will never come together as a couple. If the medicinal ingredients are not of the same stock, if their names and kinds differ and their measured portions do not match, their proper order is lost. Even if the Yellow Emperor attended the furnace, the Grand Duke tended the fire, the Eight Lords pounded and refined the ingredients, and Huainan mixed them; even if they built a lofty altar with jade steps, offered unicorn meat and phoenix fat, knelt holding ritual tablets, prayed to the gods, pleaded with ghosts, bathed and fasted in hope of success, it would be like mending a pot with glue, treating a wound with sal ammoniac, adding ice to take away cold, or using hot water to remove heat. A flying tortoise and a dancing snake only make the error more obvious.\n\n31. The sages of old kept the hidden truth close. They prepared medicines in the nine cauldrons, concealed their traces, and lived unseen. They held their essence and nourished their spirits, shared the power of the three lights, brought nourishing fluid into the pores, and strengthened sinews and bones. They drove out all harmful forces and kept the right energy alive. Over a long time they changed form and became immortals. They cared for later students who loved the Way. They followed old patterns and pointed to ancient writings, producing illustrated collections to show future generations. They revealed the branches but hid the root; they gave things many names and obscured them in confusing texts. Students got these writings and kept them boxed up all their lives. Sons took over their fathers' work and grandsons followed their grandfathers. This legacy of confusion gave no real understanding. Officials left office, farmers neglected their fields, merchants gave up their goods, and ambitious men impoverished their households. This pains me deeply, so I have recorded this text carefully. Its words are brief and easy to think through; its procedure is simple. I list its steps and show the facts clearly. The portions have fixed measures and follow one another. So I have made these final verses to open a door into it. Wise people should think carefully and compare their meanings.\n\n### Song of the Cauldron, the Vessel's Wonders, Supplement, and the Author's Afterword (chapters 32-35)\n\n32. No model is greater than heaven and earth; the dark channel runs for tens of thousands of miles. When the River Drum star comes near the Star Marker, everyone is alarmed. The sundial's shadow moves wrongly forward and back, and nine years suffer disaster. The emperor sees it and changes his ways. The pivot rises and falls, and harmful energy runs off. The Yangtze and Huai rivers dry up, while their waters flow into the sea. Heaven and earth's female and male move back and forth between zi and wu. Yin and shen are the ancestors of yin and yang: they enter and leave and begin again. Following the Dipper, the turning handle holds the balance and sets the first calendar. The substance rises and cooks in the mountain-shaped steamer, with a fierce fire lit below. White Tiger leads and calls from the front; blue-green liquid joins from behind. Red Bird flies about at play, showing five colors. Caught in a net, it is pressed down and cannot rise. It cries pitifully like a baby longing for its mother. Turned upside down into the boiling pot, its feathers are broken and torn. Before half a water-clock measure passes, fishlike scales and bristling fins appear. Five brilliant colors dazzle the eye and keep changing. The liquid boils and bubbles in the cauldron, surging without rest. Layers heap on layers, interlocking like a dog's teeth. They look like midwinter ice, with clusters of crystalline stone sending out stalactites. They stand high in a tangled heap, propped up against each other. Yin and yang find their partners and hold together gently. Blue-green Dragon occupies the sixth station of the Chamber, like spring flowers in Zhen's eastern mao. White Tiger occupies the seventh station of Mao, like autumn awns in Dui's western you. Red Bird occupies the second station of Zhang, the full yang mingled with southern wu. The three come to court together, close as members of a family. At the root there are only two things; at the end there are three and five. Three and five combine with one and all gather in two places. Treat them according to the rules above, taking the number of days from the beginning too. White comes first, then yellow, while red and black reach inside and outside. This is called the first cauldron; take a portion the size of a large millet grain. It is nature's own work, not a false or crooked method. Energy rises between mountain and marsh, making clouds and rain. Mud dries and becomes dust; fire dies and turns to earth. Amur cork tree dyes yellow, and indigo makes a green cord. Boiled hide becomes glue; fermented grain and starter turn to wine. Working with things of the same kind is easy; no skill can force different kinds. This marvelous technique is true when examined closely; its words are no lie. Passed down for hundreds of millions of generations, it will remain clear enough to test. It shines like stars across the Milky Way and gathers like rivers in the sea. Study it until you know it well, looking over it from beginning to end again and again. After a thousand readings it will shine clearly; after ten thousand, you may see it. Perhaps a spirit will tell you, or understanding will suddenly come from your own mind. Search out its beginning and trace its threads, and you will find the entrance. There is no favoritism on the path into the Way; it is always passed to worthy people.\n\n33. Round, three and five; an inch and one part. Its mouth, four and eight; its lip, two inches. Its length is one foot and two inches, its thickness even. Its belly matches three, and it sits hanging over warmth. Yin is above, while yang rushes below. Use strong fire at beginning and end, gentle fire in the middle. Begin with seventy, finish with thirty; make three hundred and six, adjusting them evenly. Yin's fire is white, and the yellow sprout is lead. Two sevens gather and give support. Nourish and tend the brain, settling the rise of the dark principle. The child remains in the center and rests safely. It moves back and forth without leaving the gate. Slowly it grows large, its nature and feelings pure. It returns to the One, to its original source. Treat it with loving respect, like ruler and minister. A full cycle takes great care. Protect it closely; do not become confused or careless. The road is long and hidden deep. If you get through it, Qian and Kun will meet. Then a small dose touches you and cleanses the bodily spirit and soul. You gain long life and dwell among immortals. Whoever loves the Way should seek its root. Study the five phases and fix the weights in zhu. Think it through carefully; there is no need to argue. Hide it well and guard it; do not pass it on in writing. Ride a white crane, drive a scaled dragon, roam the vast emptiness, visit the lord of immortals, be entered on the heavenly chart, and be called a realized person.\n\n34. The Cantong qi sets out a general account. It cannot be entirely consistent, and speaks broadly; the finest details are not complete, and some parts are left vague. Now I have written more, filling in omissions, clarifying what was obscure, and linking the parts. The meanings are consistent and directed to the same end. So I have written this supplement, called Three Things of the Same Kind. Then the nature of the great Changes is fully explained.\nThe great Changes have their own nature and proper measures. The teachings of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi can be studied, compared, and applied. The work of furnace and fire has a real basis. The three paths follow one principle and emerge from a single road. Branches, stems, flowers, leaves, and hanging fruit all come from the root and do not depart from their original nature. I speak sincerely; examine this and you will find no error. Think of midwinter, when bamboo and trees are damaged. Support yang, question the traveling merchants, and let the ruler hide deep within. Follow the season and keep your mouth closed rather than talking. Heaven's Way is vast, and the deepest mystery has no visible form. Empty and still, it cannot be seen; its outlines disappear. Mistakes lose the thread of the work, and one's own words then bring harm. I have set these four images out separately to bring light to blind students of the future.\n\n35. I am a humble man from Kuaiji, an old and worn-out man in a secluded valley. I keep a simple heart and do not love power or fame. Living quietly in an out-of-the-way place, I ignore profit and reputation. I hold to a peaceful, modest life and hope for calm times. At ease in my free time, I wrote this work. It tells of the great Changes and the words left by three sages. I study their meaning and explain them together as one. Do not depart from the proper principle; let the spirit shine. Divine change moves freely, and peace spreads across the four seas. Set it out as a calendar for people to follow for all time. Arrange it for governing: it is not hard to put into practice. Draw on it inwardly to nourish your nature, following the natural Way of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. Keep virtue in full measure and return to your root and origin. It is close, in my own heart, never apart from my body. Hold fast to the One and do not let go, and you may live long. Combine this with the medicine to be prepared and eaten, setting out male and female. Remove Wudu and throw out the eight stones. Use the things that really work, which the world values. I have set out three strands with branches and stems joined. They have different names but come from the same source and one gate. I have not simply piled up lines or made rhyming pairs: the truth in them is substantial and plain to see. If I spread falsehoods, I would instead incur blame. I call it the Cantong qi: look briefly at its beginning. Its words are few but its meaning large; later generations should respect it. Leave the harmful times behind and find refuge in the hills. Travel through the vast emptiness, dwelling near spirits. Change your form and become immortal, silent and unseen. After a hundred generations, wander among people again, spread your wings and lean to east and west and south. Tang met with disaster: flood and drought struck together. Branches and leaves turned yellow, losing their blossoms and beauty. Good people support one another, and in safety may live long.","download_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/cantong-qi/translations/trn_cantong_qi_plain.txt"}],"retex_markdown_url":"https://mouseia.org/api/works/cantong-qi/retex.md"}}