The Tang Dynasty was the heyday of the development of Waidan in Chinese history, there were a total of 21 emperors in the Tang Dynasty, it is said that there were 15 emperors who pursued immortality by refining Waidan, and among these emperors who took Waidan, 6 of them were poisoned and died, but even so, the emperors who wanted to take Waidan Changsheng in later generations were still in an endless stream, so why did they think that Waidan could live forever?
Are the emperors stupid? Even Emperor Wu of Han, Tang Taizong and others are called "emperors of the ages", you say they are stupid, how can this not be said, but these two people are also infatuated with Waidan, you say that there are no high people around them? In the early years of the Han Dynasty, the Huang Lao Doctrine ruled the country, and the Tang Dynasty posthumously honored Lao Tzu as their ancestor, and you said that there was no high-ranking hermit around them, which is not true, right?
Then, if we don't look at the matter of eternal life with colored glasses, and only regard him as the pursuit of an ordinary hobby by ordinary people, there are only two possibilities for a person to unswervingly want to pursue eternal life, one possibility is: this thing is theoretically feasible, reasonable, and logically convincing; the other may be: someone really lives on waidan and succeeds.
"The Development and Practice of Ancient Chinese Longevity Technology" is my graduation thesis of the Master of Philosophy class of Chinese Min University, which seems to be talking about the development and practice of the ancient Chinese people on the technology of longevity, and its core is to talk about the principles and logic behind the longevity, the times have been changing, the technical means are also developing, the only constant is this heaven and earth, this person, this heaven, the earth, the principle of longevity under the common interaction.
In the Tang Dynasty, there was an alchemist named Zhang Guo, one of the eight immortals in folklore, Zhang Guolao, who himself was a person who collected the great masters of inner and outer Dan, and he said in his "Taishang Nine Essentials Heart Mysterious Sutra": "The inner dan is the true one qi, and the outer dan is the five grains." "It is believed that the essence of Waidan is the qi of the five grains, that is, the essence of the water valley we mentioned earlier, and the Yellow Emperor asked Guangchengzi, who originally refined the outer dan with the essence of the water valley.
After I got some waidan (polar vinegar) refined with the essence of the water valley, I drank more than ten catties, one or two at a time, and carefully experienced it, and found that this bipolar vinegar was about equivalent to the effect of ordinary people sitting quietly for an hour.
I have consulted some practitioners, and they have told me, "Ordinary people who sit still for two hours can absorb and transport the essence of the body for a day, and if you want to concentrate or cure diseases, you should meditate for more than two hours a day." ”
A similar point of view was also put forward in the Neidanshu work "Zhong Lu's Ecclesiastes": Those who have a deficit in yuan qi in their later years, if they want to refine Dan, they must first practice ten losses and one supplement, ten years of losses, and one year to make up for it, which means that the essence consumed in this decade must be replenished after practicing for one year.
Let's probably calculate it, one year's work can make up for ten years' losses, one day's work, ten days' losses, one day is twelve hours, one hour absorbs the consumed essence of the transport, there are eleven hours left, which can make up for the loss of essence for ten days, which is basically the same as what the above practitioner told me.
As we said earlier, the principle of refining the essence of the valley of water is consistent with the principle of the spleen and stomach producing the essence of the valley of water, and we have also said that if we regard the immortal as complete, the ordinary person is mutilated, so between the ordinary person and the immortal person, from the mutilation to the complete, what is needed is to make up. Use the homologous Water Valley Essence to make up for this defect.
The ancients said that accumulating essence and full spirit, eternal life and long-term vision, and accumulating essence is a necessary condition for eternal life, and you rely on yourself to accumulate essence, time is not enough, just live alone for decades, and you have not yet cultivated it, people have already gone first.
So there is a foreign dan, first, can help us accumulate essence, second, save time, high efficiency. The Yellow Emperor of Xuanyuan originally refined Waidan with the essence of shuigu, so did Jiang Ziya, and zhang Guolao, one of the eight immortals of the Tang Dynasty, all of them believed that waidan was the essence of shuigu.
But historical records, from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the form of Waidan seems to be completely different from the Waidan we talk about, during this historical period, people are more using gold and stone minerals to refine Waidan.
According to Sima Qian's "Book of History and Feng Zen", the alchemist Li Shaojun once suggested to Emperor Wu of Han a way to serve Dan and live long, to see immortals from longevity, and to seek the "way of immortality" of immortal medicine.
"The ancestral stove is to cause things, to give things and Dansha can be turned into gold, gold into a dietary vessel is beneficial to life, longevity is beneficial to life and the Penglai immortals in the sea can be seen, see it to seal Zen is not dead, the Yellow Emperor is also." The subject tasted to swim on the sea, saw an auspicious life, ate giant dates, as big as melons. The immortals of the An period, tong peng lai zhong, the combination is to see people, and the non-union is hidden. "Therefore, the Son of Heaven began to kiss the temple stove, and sent the alchemist into the sea to ask for the genus of Penglai'an, and the dansha medicine was turned into gold.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the activities of refining Waidan were increasing day by day, and a large number of alchemy works appeared, and the book "Zhou YiShan Tongqi" written by Wei Boyang was also produced during this period, and more Taoist Zhang Daoling obtained the Jiuding Dan Method, who had been practicing Dan at Longhu Mountain, Dancheng and Dragon tiger, according to research, "Jiuding DanFa" is the oldest surviving Jindan refining method.
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Tuoba Jue, the Taizu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, once "put dr. Xian Ren and Li Xian Fang" and specialized in smelting Jindan Great Medicine. The famous alchemist Tao Hongjing, who once practiced Dan for Emperor Xiao Yan of Liangwu: "Hongjing has obtained the secret of the rune, thinking that the divine elixir can be achieved, but there is no medicine for suffering." The emperor gave Gold, Zhu Sha, Zeng Qing, Xiong Huang and so on. After the combination of Fei Dan, the color is like frost and snow, and the body of the service is light. and the emperor fei dan has tested, and it is beneficial to respect it."
The ancients used gold stone minerals to refine Dan, the purpose is to live forever, we mentioned earlier, immortality can be divided into three aspects: solid, resident, residence. What is the principle of gold stone mineral refining waidan for immortality?
The "Baopuzi Inner Chapter Jindan" says: "Fu Jindan is a thing, and the longer it burns, the better the changes." Gold into the fire, a hundred refinements, buried in the sky immortal. Taking these two things, refining the human body, can make people immortal. This cover pretends to be self-strong from external objects, like the fire of fat and cannot be extinguished, the copper green feet are coated, and the water is not rotten, which is borrowed from the strength of copper to defend its flesh. ”
It is believed that the principle of taking the outer dan refined by the golden stone can be immortal is "pretending to seek external objects to strengthen itself", and taking the outer dan to make the body strong and achieve the purpose of immortality.
It is also believed in the "Tongyou Recipe" that "medicine can be solidified, and waidan also" believes that waidan can make the body strong, so as to achieve the purpose of immortality. Even the "Zhou YiShan Tongqi" also said: "The great victory is still prolonged, and dan can be entered." The golden nature is not decayed, so it is the treasure of all things. Warlocks eat and live a long life. ”
So, is it credible for the ancients to deduce from gold and jade that they can use the outer dan to strengthen their bodies and thus achieve immortality? The outer dan refined by the golden stone can live forever, but the outer dan of the grass and trees can be? Is it okay for the Outer Dan that we mentioned earlier to be refined with the essence of the Water Valley?
To answer the above question, one has to answer the logic of the ancients' view of the world. Yes, logic!
As we mentioned earlier, the principle of refining Waidan by the essence of Mizutan is "a small world of human beings, and a large human body of heaven and earth", and the earliest source of this idea is actually from Fuxi.
The king of the ancient Bao Clan, Tianxia Ye, looked up at the heavens, looked down at the Law on the earth, watched the birds and beasts of the text and the earth, took the body near and the things from afar, so he began to make gossip, with the virtue of the gods, with the love of all things.
The grass and trees growing on the ground, why does this plant have thorns, why does that plant have thorns, why does this plant blossom, but the leaves of that plant have fallen, the paw prints of birds and beasts on the ground, there are big and small, why are they different, what is affecting them? The part of my body is not the same as the thing in the distance, why can I take everything from a distance and get everything up close? What is the essence of all things? Do they have anything in common and different?
On the Guatai Mountain, Fu Xiguan Tianwu Dao, founded Bagua, and answered the above question, but behind the Bagua, there are still two hidden thoughts, one is the "Tao", which is called the law in the current vernacular, and believes that although everything is different, the Tao hidden behind it is the same. The other idea is called "reason," which we are going to talk about today.
Fu Xi Wu Dao is the observed bird and beast footprints, patterns, in the words of the time is called "reason", and "Tao" is actually a meaning, posterity in the creation of words to follow this concept: reason, shape and sound characters. It is first seen in the "Shuowen" Small Seal, Li, the left half of the seal text (Wang, Jade) + the right half (Li, Workshop), indicating that the jade is ruled in the workshop. The original meaning of the character is to process the stone dug up from the mountain into beautiful jade in the workshop, so that it becomes a vessel, tangible and elegant. In layman's terms, the original meaning of reason is to process jade and make it into a tool. Here, more people regard the processing of jade as the original meaning of reason, thinking that it is to process jade along the grain of jade, but ignoring the phrase "making it into a tool".
Nan Shankong and the teacher talked about the difference between ordinary objects and utensils:
There is a cloud in the Tao Te Ching that "Pu San is a device." It means that the jade (thing) is polished and reconstructed, so that it can represent (sensing) the laws (rules) of heaven and earth, and it can be used as an instrument."
"The metaphysical is the Tao, the metaphysical is called the Tao, the metaphysical is called the instrument", we understand it in a narrow sense, that is, it can reflect the invisible universal laws such as the interaction of yin and yang and the two qi, we can call it "Tao", but the one that can express these yin and yang changes and interaction laws through tangible and qualitative objects can be called "instruments".
Therefore, in the narrow sense, "instrument" can react and make people interact with the "Tao".
The word "reason" has become a bridge between the Tao and the instrument, so there is a saying in the "Study Classic": "Those who are good at ruling jade will be more important than reason." Do you really think that this is talking about carving along the grain of jade, people are talking about whether the instrument is good or not, people are talking about the healing of jade into a tool, and whether it is good to become the presentation carrier of the "Tao"!
The second one who attaches importance to the concept of "reason" is the Zhou Gong, in the Zhou Li: "With jade as six instruments, with the four sides of the heavens and the earth" The Zhou Dynasty was a dynasty that had requirements for sacrificial items, and the Zhou Gong even put "Honorable Dao", "Noble Virtue" and "MingLi" in the same position, as the universal thought of the Zhou Dynasty.
In later generations, the word "reason" was slowly not understood in terms of application, and people interpreted the word "reason" more from a philosophical point of view, which is called "logic" in today's words. Under the influence of Fuxi, the "logic" of the ancient Chinese people seems to be completely different from that of modern people. In the eyes of modern people, people's logic is from A to B to C, and the ancient Chinese believe that A can go directly to C, and there is no need to go through the step of B, such as "Zhuangzi": "Heaven and earth are one finger, all things are one horse", thinking that heaven and earth are like a finger of man, everything can be embodied from a horse, and the "Tao" and "reason" behind it are consistent.
The words of Lao Tzu directly tell how he understood the world: "Look at the body with the body, look at the family with the family, look at the countryside with the countryside, look at the state with the state, and look at the world with the world." The same thing is said in the Pipe: "The one who speaks the Tao is one, and the one who uses it is different." ”
A truly wise man, even if he deals with villagers, birds and beasts in the mountains and forests all day long, and you suddenly invite him to govern the country, to go to the court to deal with officials and emperors, can he do this well? He certainly can, for him, deal with villagers, birds and beasts, and deal with officials and emperors, although the superficial form looks different, but the "Tao" and "reason" behind it are the same, and the same "Tao" and "reason" are nothing more than a change of shell. Therefore, Ku Ding was able to talk to Wen Huijun about the way of health care and governance to Wen Huijun all day long; Yi Yin was a cook, but he used the principle of cooking to govern the country and became the prime minister of the Shang Dynasty; Zhao Pu, the prime minister of the Song Dynasty, could rule the world with half of the Analects. A person who has mastered the "Tao" of the world, understood the "reason" of the world, and all things are diverse, what can he do with another form?
Therefore, when we talked about Waidan earlier, when we talked about waidan of the essence of the valley of water, when we talked about the outer dan of grass and trees, and when we talked about the outer dan refined by the golden stone minerals, what is important is not what the external form of expression is, but what is contained in this various forms of outer dan, and whether they can play a role in immortality.
So, is there any difference between the outer dan refined with gold and stone and the outer dan refined with five grains? In addition to the difference in form, in fact, what they contain behind them is the acquired essence.
The minerals used in alchemy are generally hardware and eight stones: hardware: gold, silver, copper, iron, tin; eight stones: generally refers to eight minerals such as cinnabar, male yellow, mica, empty blue, sulfur yellow, rong salt, saltpeter, female yellow and so on. The "Taiqing Stone Wall" says: "The five stones are the essence of the five stars, the essence of dansha, and the essence of the sun' confusion." Magnet, the essence of the Taiyin Star. Zeng Qing, Shaoyang taiyi's essence. Xiong Huang, Thick Earth Town Star Essence, Yu Shi, Shaoyin Taibai Essence " Believes that the minerals used in alchemy contain the essence of the stars in the sky.
Moreover, the minerals taken by the ancients to refine Waidan were not obtained at will, and since we used the essence of the minerals, then the ordinary minerals without the essence naturally could not be used.
For example, it is recorded in the "Seven Notes of Yundi": "The bright sand bearer, who is affected by the essence of the sun's clear and clear truth, descends from the knot and shines with red light, known as the bright sand; the white horse tooth sand, who is affected by the essence of the taiyin peace and the clarity and softness, descends the knot and the white light is brilliant, such as the mica color, the name is white horse tooth sand; the purple spirit sand, the middle is affected by the aura of the mountain, and the sand is formed, and the color is red and purple, known as purple spirit sand." For example, the sand of the miscellaneous types of stream soil is subject to the turbid and unreal atmosphere, and it is formed into sand, that is, chaotic and has no essence, so it is not used for medicine. ”
Minerals that do not have essence cannot be used to refine outer dan.
The ancients used to refine the dansha commonly used in the outer dan there is a mineral called cinnabar, the Qing Dynasty medical scientist Xu Lingti has studied this quite well, he said that cinnabar is "to obtain the essence of the five elements of heaven and earth to become its quality, the human body is not outside the yin and yang five elements, take its essence, to supplement the true yuan, then the spirit is clear and the form is solid!" "It is believed that cinnabar contains the essence of the five elements of heaven and earth, and people who take this mineral can absorb its essence and achieve the effect of strengthening the body."
However, these minerals for refining waidan are poisonous, one is not used properly, light is injurious, heavy is fatal, do not the ancients know these? Why did they use these highly toxic goldstone minerals instead of the safe Essence of The Valley of Water?
As we said earlier, the polar yang vinegar refined by the essence of one or two water valleys, after drinking, increases the essence qi, which is equivalent to the essence that we absorb and transport for an hour of meditation.
Therefore, one of the principles of the ancients using gold stone to refine outer dan is to save time, the grain grows a stubble or even a few stubbles a year, and the essence contained in it is not enough, and the golden stone mineral, which has been in the mountains and rivers of the earth, is nourished by the earth qi and the heaven and earth, and it stays in this place for a year, undergoing a round of nourishment of the qi of heaven and earth, the second year, the third year, every year, year after year, repeatedly, until it is dug out and refined into a foreign dan, how is the essence contained in it comparable to the essence contained in the five grains of the years and years.
The "Tongyou Recipe" discusses this in great detail: "Refined into sand, colored into the southern fire, outer yang and inner yin, the main male, the yang soul of the sun." The magnificent qi of the sun and the moon shines in the heavens and the earth, and the qi of the sun, the yin, and the qi of chonghe have been intertwined for 1,800 years, and the essence of the qi is dansha. ”
You plant a seed of wheat in the soil, it takes root and sprouts, it produces ears of wheat, and it is nourished by the qi of heaven and earth, that is, the acquired essence. In the same way, you can think of a piece of ore as a seed, and when it is in the right place and at the right time, it begins to be nourished by the qi of heaven and earth (the essence of the day after tomorrow), and when it is taken out to refine the outer dan after a hundred or a thousand years, what is the difference between the wheat you planted? Different external manifestations, the same acquired essence, but one only grows for one year, and the other grows for a hundred or a thousand years.
Therefore, in order to live forever, the accumulation of essence is the first element, the essence produced by itself is not enough, the ancients thought of the method of refining Waidan, the five grains refining of Waidan essence is too small, and began to pursue the use of gold stone mineral refining Qi to refine Waidan.
Speaking of which, aren't they all pursuing the essence of the day after tomorrow? So, we seem to have forgotten one thing, what is acquired essence, and why can people live forever?