Ge Hong (283–363), courtesy name Zhichuan, called himself Baopuzi, was a native of Jurong, Danyang (present-day Jiangning County, Jiangsu), a famous Taoist thinker and the founder of the theory of Waidanxue and Shenxian Taoism. He has made important contributions to Chinese medicine and chemistry, and also occupies a certain position in the history of Chinese philosophy.
Ge Hong was born in Jiangnan Mingmen, and his grandfather and father held important positions in Eastern Wu for two generations. During the Western Jin Dynasty, the family road declined, and his father died at the age of thirteen, so he worked hard to cultivate the crops, studied hard, and read the hundred schools of history. In his youth, he followed his grandfather Ge Xuanxue. Ge Xuan was a famous Taoist priest at that time, who had studied Taoism from Zuo Ci and taught Zheng Yin the alchemy secret methods collected over the years, and Zheng Yin passed them on to Ge Hong. After Ge Hong became an adult, he also taught Bao Liang, another famous Taoist priest in Jiangnan, and married Bao's daughter.
During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the popular Taoism in society can be roughly divided into two major systems, one is the "Fu Zhen Sect" that pays attention to folk mass religious activities such as the Zhai Ancestral Kitchen Society and the Fu Zhen Forbidden Spell. The first is the "Danding Sect", also known as "Immortal Taoism", which pays attention to personal cultivation and cultivation and taking alchemy. Ge Hong inherited the tradition of the latter school, specializing in the art of the Immortal Golden Dan and the long medicine.
Ge Hong was not only knowledgeable, but also proficient in martial arts. In the second year (303) of the Western Jin Dynasty Emperor Tai'an, Zhang Chang and Shi Bing rebelled in Yangzhou, and Ge Hong was made a general and a lieutenant, and because of his meritorious service in breaking shi bing, he was promoted to general Fubo. However, Ge Hong had no intention of becoming famous and famous, so he threw himself into the path of shi jia, sought a wide range of different books, and was keen on cultivating and learning immortals. In the face of the rebellion of the Eight Kings, he entered Guangzhou, and then returned to Danyang Township to concentrate on writing. According to the "Baopuzi Self-Narration", the book was written during this period.
Ge Hong
In the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the imperial court remembered his previous achievements and awarded him the title of Marquis of Guannei. When he became emperor, he summoned the main book of the prefecture, transferred to Situ Tuan, and moved to consult and join the army. In the seventh year of Emperor Xianhe's reign (332), Ge Hong heard that Jiaotong was producing Dansha, so he asked for the Title of Julu (Sentence Leak Mountain is now in Beiliu County, Guangxi) in order to obtain Dansha alchemy. On his way to Guangzhou, he was left behind by The Assassin Shi Deng Prison, so he stopped at Luofu Mountain and practiced Dan cultivation until his death at the age of 81.
Ge Hong wrote a wealth of works in his lifetime, but the most important thing is "Baopuzi", in which all his achievements and the theoretical ideas of Immortal Taoism are included. The book is divided into two parts, the inner and outer parts. The following is a brief overview of some of his major contributions and achievements to the development of Taoism.
First, he theoretically demonstrated the existence of immortals and the basic Taoist doctrines that immortals can learn, and tried to construct the Taoist genealogy of immortals on the basis of the previous belief in immortals, and wrote the "Biography of Immortals", and he also inherited and transformed the philosophical theories of predecessors such as Lao Zhuang Daoists from the standpoint of religious theology, and found a theoretical basis for the theory of immortals.
Second, Ge Hong made important contributions to the collection, collation, and transmission of the Tao Jing. Only in the "Baopuzi Reverie" section has written more than 200 kinds of Taoist classics and dozens of rune books, and he has extensively collected and recorded Daojing after the Han and Jin dynasties at that time, which is of great significance for the preservation and dissemination of Taoist thought.
"Baopuzi"
Third, Ge Hong sorted out and analyzed various Taoist cultivation immortal techniques since the Han Dynasty, and established a systematic theory of the Danding Daoist sect's cultivation methods, with the refining of Jindan as the core, supplemented by the art of prolonging health care such as serving bait, walking qi, and guiding, and also learning the spells of the Zhen evil disaster and summoning ghosts and gods.
Fourth, Ge Hong paid special attention to the elaboration of Jindanshu, and the book "Baopuzi" recorded a large number of ancient Danjing and Danfa and recorded many observations and experimental results of chemical reaction phenomena in the process of alchemy, which had the value of ancient scientific and technological historical materials; he also used the idea of changing materials to try to explain the principle of alchemy and show simple dialectical thinking; at the same time, Ge Hong changed the previous practice of using obscure hidden language in the Danjing, and used a clear and understandable language to describe the Danfa, which promoted the spread and development of alchemy. In addition, Ge Hong also practiced medicine and wrote medical works such as "Behind the Elbow", which made important contributions to ancient medicine and health care.
Fifth, Ge Hong also combined the Taoist theory of cultivating immortals with the Confucian Gang Changming Sect, and integrated the content of the famous teachings into the Taoist teachings. It was emphasized that the immortals should be based on loyalty and filial piety and Shunren Xin, and that the cultivation of the Immortal Fang Technique should also accumulate good deeds and meritorious deeds, thus laying a theoretical foundation for the officialization and orthodoxy of Taoism.
Sixth, while concentrating on the study of the art of health and longevity, Ge Hong also paid attention to personnel affairs, he examined the rise and fall of various dynasties in history, reflected on the faults of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the losses of Eastern Wu, commented on various ancient and modern figures, studied the Jundaochen Festival and advocated the theory of loyalty of kings and subjects, and formed a more systematic social and political ideological system. He ruled both himself and his country. Ge Hong's socio-political thought is mainly embodied in his "Baopuzi Outer Chapter", in which he claims that "his outer parts speak of the gains and losses of the world, and the world is not, and belongs to Confucianism".