Zhou Yi Can Tong Qi (周易參同契)

○乾坤者易之門戶。眾卦之父母。坎離匡郭。運轂正軸。

Qian and Kun are the gateway of the Changes and the parents of all the hexagrams. Kan and Li are like the rim of a wheel, turning the hub and keeping the axle true.

○牝牡四卦。以為橐鑰。覆冒陰陽之道。猶工御者。準繩墨。執銜轡。正規矩。隨軌轍。處中以制外。數在律曆紀。月節有五六。經緯奉日使。兼併為六十。剛柔有表裡。

The four hexagrams of female and male serve as the bellows and flute, covering the way of yin and yang (the Dao, a word Laozi uses for the origin of the myriad things and the way they run, which itself cannot be named). Like a skilled charioteer, who aligns the ink-line, grips the bit and reins, keeps to the rules and follows the ruts; standing in the center to govern the outer. The numbers all lie within the cycles of the pitch-pipes and calendar: a month's solar terms are five times six, thirty; warp and weft serve the sun's driving and combine to sixty, with firm and yielding each having an outside and an inside.

○朔旦屯直事。至暮蒙當受。晝夜各一卦。用之依次序。

At dawn of the new moon the hexagram Zhun is on duty, and by evening Meng takes over. Day and night each govern one hexagram, and they are to be used in proper order.

○既未至晦爽。終則復更始。日辰為期度。動靜有早晚。

From Jiji and Weiji on to the last day of the month and daybreak, when it ends it begins again. Take the days and hours as the limit; movement and rest each have their early and late.

○春夏據內體。從子到辰巳。秋冬當外用。自午訖戌亥。

In spring and summer rely on the body of the inner trigram, moving from the Zi position to Chen and Si; in autumn and winter use the outer trigram, from the Wu position to Xu and Hai.

○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。

Reward and punishment answer to spring and autumn, dusk and dawn follow cold and heat. In the line texts there is benevolence and righteousness, and joy and anger issue according to the season. Thus one accords with the four seasons, and the five phases each find their proper order.

○天地設位。而易行乎其中矣。天地者乾坤之象也。設位者列陰陽配合之位也。易謂坎離。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。變化於中。包囊萬物。為道紀綱。

Heaven and earth set their positions, and the Changes run within them. Heaven and earth are the images of Qian and Kun; setting positions means laying out the places where yin and yang are matched. What is called the Changes refers to Kan and Li. Kan and Li are the two functions of Qian and Kun; these two functions have no fixed line positions, and circulate through the six empty places, coming and going without being fixed and up and down without regularity. It is dark, hidden and concealed, changing within, enfolding the myriad things, and serving as the guiding thread of the Dao.

○以無制有。器用者空。故推消息。坎離沒亡。

Use nothing to govern something; a vessel is useful because of the hollow in the middle. So when you push to find ebb and flow, waxing and waning, Kan and Li are hidden away.

○言不苟造。論不虛生。引驗見效。校度神明。推類結字。原理為證。坎戊月精。離己日光。日月為易。剛柔相當。土王四季。羅絡始終。青赤白黑。各居一方。皆稟中宮。戊己之功。

Words are not made up at random, nor are arguments born from nothing. Cite proofs to check them against the divine light, infer categories from the form of characters, and draw evidence from principle. Kan is matched with Wu and is the essence of the moon; Li is matched with Ji and is the light of the sun. Sun and moon combine to make the Changes, and the firm and the yielding balance each other. Earth flourishes in all four seasons and holds together ending and beginning; green, red, white and black each dwell in one direction, and all receive the merit of the central palace, Wu and Ji.

○易者象也。懸象著明。莫大乎日月。窮神以知化。陽往則陰來。輻湊而輪轉。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。日月相撢持。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。

The Changes are images. Hanging in the sky and most brilliant and bright, nothing compares with the sun and moon. Exhaust the divine subtlety and you can know the changes: when yang goes, yin comes, like spokes converging on a hub as the wheel turns, going out and coming in, unrolling and rolling up in turn. The Changes have three hundred eighty-four lines, and from the lines one takes the tallies; the tallies are the sixty-four hexagrams. From the last day of the month to dawn of the new moon, the hexagram Zhen comes forth to receive the tally. At just this time heaven and earth join their essences, and sun and moon grasp each other. Male yang sows its deep gift, female yin forms the yellow wrapping; chaos meets in turn, and from this a foundation is set up, tending and nurturing the outline, and condensing the spirit into a body. All people come out by this road, and even the wriggling little insects are none without it.

○於是仲尼贊鴻蒙。乾坤德洞虛。稽古當元皇。關雎建始初。昏冠氣相紐。元年乃牙滋。

Thereupon Confucius praised the primal vastness: the De of Qian and Kun (the capacity that the Dao shows in concrete things, not virtue in the ethical sense) reaches through the void. Examine the remote past, just at the primal sovereign; the Guanju set up the beginning. Marriage and capping rites are where qi (the flowing stuff that makes up and runs through all things) knots together, and the first year sprouts and grows.

○聖人不虛生。上觀顯天符。天符有進退。詘伸以應時。故易統天心。

The sages were not born from nothing. Looking up, they observed and the signs of heaven appeared; the heavenly signs advance and retreat, and bending and stretching answer to the seasons. So the Changes encompass the heart of heaven.

○復卦建始萌。長子繼父體。因母立兆基。消息應鍾律。升降據鬥樞。三日出為爽。震庚受西方。八日兌受丁。上弦平如繩。十五幹體就。盛滿甲東方。蟾蜍與兔魄。日月氣雙明。蟾蜍視卦節。兔者吐生光。七八道已訖。屈折低下降。

The hexagram Fu set up the sprout of the beginning. The eldest son inherits the father's body and relies on the mother to fix the foundation. Waxing and waning answer to the bells and pitch-pipes, and rising and falling follow the Dipper's pivot. On the third day the moon appears, called the bright, and Zhen receives the west at the Geng position; on the eighth day Dui receives it at Ding, the first quarter flat as a cord; on the fifteenth day the body of Qian is complete, full at the Jia position in the east. The toad and the hare's soul, the breath of sun and moon shine together; the toad watches the season of the hexagram, and the hare spits forth fresh light. The way of the numbers seven and eight has run its course, and it bends low and descends.

○十六轉受統。巽辛見平明。艮直於丙南。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。

On the sixteenth day it turns to receive the succession, and Xun appears at the Xin position at daybreak; Gen takes duty at Bing in the south, and the last quarter falls on the twenty-third; Kun is matched with Yi on the thirtieth, and the northeast loses its companions. When the season is exhausted, they yield to one another, and the succeeding body gives birth to the dragon again.

○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。陽氣索滅藏。八卦佈列曜。運移不失中。

Ren and Gui are matched with Jia and Yi, and Qian and Kun together contain ending and beginning. Seven and eight make fifteen, and nine and six answer to it as well; the four together make thirty, and yang breath then dwindles and is hidden. The eight trigrams are laid out like luminaries, turning and shifting without leaving the middle way.

○元精眇難睹。推度效符證。居則觀其象。準擬其形容。立表以為範。占候定吉凶。發號順時令。勿失爻動時。上察河圖文。下序地形流。中稽於人心。參合考三才。動則循卦節。靜則因彖辭。乾坤用施行。天地然後治。可得不慎乎。

The primal essence is dim and subtle and hard to see, so one must infer proofs and take tallies as evidence. At leisure, observe its image and compare its appearance; set up a gnomon as a standard, and divine to determine good and bad fortune. Issue commands in accord with the season, and do not miss the moment when a line moves. Above examine the patterns of the River Chart, below put in order the flow of the waters of the earth, and in the middle examine the human heart, bringing the Three Powers together. In motion follow the season of the hexagram, in stillness rely on the judgments. When the function of Qian and Kun is carried out, heaven and earth are then in order; can one be anything but careful?

○御政之首。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。

The clue to governing lies in encompassing the minute and subtle, opening out and spreading the treasures. The essential way lies in the Handle of the Dipper, the guiding knot of all transformation. The images of the lines stir within, and good and ill fortune arise outside. The Five Planets now cross and now follow, responding to the season and moved; when the twenty-eight lodges go astray, there are shifts up and down.

○文昌統錄。詰責臺輔。百官有司。各典所部。

The Wenchang stars lead the records and rebuke the chief ministers; the hundred officials and bureaus each take charge of their own departments.

○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。或君驕溢。亢滿違道。或臣邪佞。行不順軌。弦望盈縮。乖變兇咎。執法刺譏。詰過貽主。

The sun meets the essence of the five phases, and the moon receives the regulation of the six pitch-pipes. Five times six is thirty degrees, and when the degrees are used up they begin again. Trace the beginning and sum up the end, and these are the clues to survival and ruin. Perhaps the ruler is arrogant and overflowing, proud and full, and goes against the Dao; perhaps the minister is crooked and fawning, and his conduct does not follow the ruts. Once the first quarter, the full moon, its waxing and waning go awry, there will be misfortune; the star of the law enforcers adds its reproach and puts the blame on the sovereign.

○辰極受正。優遊任下。明堂布政。國無害道。內以養己。安靜虛無。原本隱明。內照形軀。閉塞其兌。築固靈株。三光陸沈。溫養子珠。視之不見。近而易求。

The Pole Star takes its proper seat, and calmly employs its subordinates; the Bright Hall issues its decrees, and the state has nothing that harms the Dao. Within, use this to nourish oneself, resting quietly in emptiness; draw the brightness back to its source and look inward on the body. Block the openings of desire and strengthen the spirit root; let the Three Lights sink down and warm the seed pearl. Look for it and you cannot see it, yet it is right at hand and easy to find.

○黃中漸通理。潤澤達肌膚。初正則終修。幹立末可持。一者以掩蔽。世人莫知之。

In the yellow center it gradually opens up in order and its moisture reaches the skin. When the beginning is straight, the end can be well tended; when the trunk is set up, the tips can be held. That One is covered and hidden, and no one in the world knows it.

○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。金氣亦相須。

The highest De acts through wuwei (not forcing things by one's own will, letting things run according to their nature; not doing nothing) and does not seek by strict scrutiny; the lower De acts, and its use has no rest. Closed above it is called having, closed below it is called nothing; the use of nothing is to serve what is above, and above dwells the divine De. This is the gate of the two orifices, and the metal breath also needs the other.

○知白守黑。神明自來。白者金精。黑者水基。水者道樞。其數名一。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。

Know the white and keep to the black, and the spirit-light will come of itself. White is the essence of metal, black is the base of water; water is the pivot of the Dao, and its number is called one. The beginning of yin and yang, within the dark holds the yellow sprout; the master of the five metals is the River Cart of the north. So lead is black outside and holds golden blossom within (the names used in this text, such as lead, mercury, dragon and tiger, tripod and furnace, infant and maiden, are all names that inner alchemists borrowed from outer alchemy's drugs and vessels to refer to the essence, breath and spirit in the body and the places where they are cultivated, and do not mean actual minerals or drugs; one view holds that this book also speaks of furnace-fire outer alchemy, but the main text is chiefly about refining within the body). It wears coarse brown cloth yet holds jade in its bosom, and outwardly looks like a madman.

○金為水母。母隱子胎。水者金子。子藏母胞。真人至妙。若有若無。彷彿大淵。乍沈乍浮。退而分佈。各守境隅。

Metal is the mother of water, and the mother is hidden in the womb of her child; water is the child of metal, and the child is stored in the mother's womb. The true person is utterly subtle, as if there and not there, as if in a great abyss, now sinking and now floating; withdraw and spread out, each keeping to his own corner.

○採之類白。造之則朱。煉之表衛。白裡貞居。方圓徑寸。混而相拘。先天地生。巍巍尊高。

When gathered it resembles white, and when completed it is vermilion; refine its outer layer and guard, and within the white it dwells firm and settled. One inch round, it is blended and holds together. It was born before heaven and earth, towering and exalted.

○旁有垣闕。狀似蓬壺。環匝關閉。四通踟躕。守禦密固。閼絕奸邪。曲閣相通。以戒不虞。可以無思。難以愁勞。神氣滿室。莫之能留。守之者昌。失之者亡。動靜休息。常與人俱。

At its side are walls and palace gates, shaped like Penglai and Fangzhang; enclosed and shut in a ring, open on all four sides yet hesitant to enter. The guard is close and firm and shuts out the wicked; winding pavilions connect with one another to guard against the unexpected. One may be without thought, and it is hard to seek it by sorrow and toil. When spirit and breath fill the room, no one can keep it there; those who keep it flourish and those who lose it perish. In movement and rest, it is always with people.

○是非歷藏法。內視有所思。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。朝暮敬祭祠。鬼物見形象。夢寐感慨之。心歡意悅喜。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。諸述甚眾多。千條有萬餘。前卻違黃老。曲折戾九都。

None of these are the method of Li Zang: looking inward with thought, walking on the Dipper's stars, matching the Six Jia to the days and hours; sating oneself in the yin way with the nine-and-one, stirring the primal womb in confusion; eating breath until the bowels rumble, breathing out the proper breath and drawing in the wicked; not sleeping day or night, and not resting at the new moon or the dark of the moon, the body growing tired day by day, in a daze like a fool, the hundred vessels boiling and galloping, unable to be clear and settled. Or heaping up earth to build an altar, offering sacrifice morning and evening with reverence, until ghosts and spirits show their forms and one is moved by them in dreams, glad at heart, and thinks oneself surely able to extend life and gain years, but suddenly dies young and the body rots and is left exposed. Every move is often contrary, perverse and losing the pivot. Theories of this sort are very many, a thousand strands and ten thousand threads. Each step forward and each step back goes against the Yellow Emperor and Laozi, crookedly going against the Nine Capitals.

○明者省厥旨。曠然知所由。勤而行之。夙夜不休。服食三載。輕舉遠遊。跨火不焦。入水不濡。能存能亡。長樂無憂。道成德就。潛伏俟時。太一乃召。移居中洲。功滿上升。膺籙受圖。

The clear-minded examine its purport, and openly know where it comes from. Practice diligently, without rest day or night. Take it for three years, and you can lighten the body and roam afar: tread fire without being scorched and enter water without being wet, live or vanish as you will, in lasting joy and without care. When the Dao is complete and De is accomplished, lie hidden to await the season; the Great One will come to summon you, and you will move to the Central Isle, and when your merit is full ascend and receive the register and charts.

○火記不虛作。演易以明之。偃月法鼎爐。白虎為熬樞。汞日為流珠。青龍與之俱。舉東以合西。魂魄自相狗。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。銖有三百八十四。亦應卦爻之數。

The Fire Record was not made up from nothing, and the Changes are expounded to make it clear. The Crescent Moon takes its pattern from the tripod and furnace, and the White Tiger is the pivot of the boiling; mercury is the sun and the flowing pearl, and the Azure Dragon is with it. Raise the east to meet the west, and the spirit-soul and bodily soul naturally follow one another (the base text has a wrong character for "follow"). The first quarter, Dui, has the number eight, and the last quarter, Gen, also has eight; the two quarters meet in their essence, and then the body of Qian and Kun is complete. Two eights correspond to one catty, and the way of the Changes is upright and not tilted. The zhu number is three hundred eighty-four, which also corresponds to the number of the hexagram lines.

○金入於猛火。色不奪精光。自開闢以來。日月不虧明。金不失其重。日月形如常。金本從月生。朔旦受日符。金返歸其母。月晦日相包。隱藏其匡郭。沈淪於洞虛。金復其故性。威光鼎乃熹。

When metal enters fierce fire, its color cannot rob it of its essence and light. Since the opening of heaven and earth, the sun and moon have not lost their brightness; when metal does not lose its weight, the shape of the sun and moon stays as it was. Metal in fact was born from the moon, and at dawn of the new moon it receives the sun's tally; metal returns toward its mother, and the moon on the dark day is wrapped in the sun, hiding its rim and sinking into the cave of emptiness. When metal has recovered its former nature, its awesome light bursts forth and the tripod brightens.

○子午數合三。戊己號稱五。三五既和諧。八石正綱紀。呼吸相貪慾。佇思為夫婦。黃土金之父。流珠水之母。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。三性既合會。本性共宗祖。

The numbers of Zi and Wu together make three, and Wu and Ji are called five; once three and five are in harmony, the eight stones set their guiding thread in order. Breathing in and out they covet each other, and standing and thinking they become husband and wife. Yellow earth is the father of metal, and the flowing pearl is the mother of water; water takes earth as its ghost, and earth presses water down so that it cannot rise. The Vermilion Bird is the essence of fire, holding the balance to harmonize victory and defeat. When water flourishes, fire is extinguished, and together they die and return to thick earth. Once the three natures have come together, the original nature has a single ancestor.

○巨勝尚延年。還丹可入口。金性不敗朽。故為萬物寶。術士服食之。壽命得長久。土遊於四季。守界定規矩。金砂入五內。霧散若風雨。燻蒸達四肢。顏色悅澤好。發白皆變黑。齒落生舊所。老翁復丁壯。耆嫗成奼女。改形免世厄。號之曰真人。

Sesame can still lengthen life, and the returned cinnabar can all the more be taken by mouth. Metal's nature does not decay, and so it is a treasure among all things; when adepts take it, their lifespan is long. Earth travels through the four seasons, keeping the boundaries to set the rules. Gold sand enters the five viscera, spreading like mist and wind and rain, steaming through to the four limbs, with the complexion glowing and fair; white hair all turns black, and fallen teeth grow back in their places. An old man becomes young again, an old woman becomes a maiden, they change their form and are freed from the world's troubles, and he is called a true person.

○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。稟和於水銀。變化由其真。終始自相因。欲作服食仙。宜以同類者。植禾當以黍。覆雞用其子。以類輔自然。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。是以燕雀不生鳳。狐兔不乳馬。水流不炎上。火動不潤下。

When white lead powder is thrown into fire, its color is spoiled yet it turns back into lead; ice and snow meeting warm water dissolve and become the Great Dark. Metal takes cinnabar as its master and receives the harmony of mercury; the changes come from its truth, and ending and beginning rely on each other. If you would take it as food and become an immortal, you should use things of the same kind. To plant grain use millet, to hatch chicks use hen's eggs; use things of the same kind to assist what is natural (zi ran: so of oneself, so by nature, not "the natural world"), and then things are easily shaped and brought to completion. How could a fish's eye pass for a pearl, or can mugwort grow into a catalpa tree? Things of a kind follow one another, and when matters part from one another they cannot make a treasure. So swallows and sparrows do not bear phoenixes, and foxes and hares cannot suckle colts; water flows but does not burn upward, and fire moves but does not moisten downward.

○世間多學士。高妙負良才。邂逅不遭遇。耗火亡貨財。據案依文說。妄以意為之。端緒無因緣。度量失操持。搗治羌石膽。雲母及礜磁。硫黃燒豫章。泥澒相煉飛。鼓下五石銅。以之為輔樞。雜性不同類。安有合體居。千舉必萬敗。欲黠反成痴。僥倖訖不遇。聖人獨知之。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。

Among the scholars of the world there are many who think themselves lofty and wondrous and carry fine talent, yet chance does not bring them a true transmission, and they waste the furnace fire and lose their goods and wealth. Pressing on their desks and going by the text in their talk, they act on their own private ideas; their clues have no cause, and their measures lose their hold. They pound and refine Qiang stone gall, mica, arsenolite and lodestone, burn the wood of Yuzhang with sulfur, refine earth and mercury to make them fly, and cast the five-stone bronze, taking these as auxiliary pivots. Mixed natures are not of the same kind, so how could they join in one body and dwell together? A thousand moves are sure to be ten thousand failures, and wanting to be clever they become fools; by luck they never meet the truth, which only the sage alone knows. From youth to white hair, halfway they fall into doubt; leaving the right way they keep to a lost road, going out of the proper path and stepping into a crooked track. Peeping at a leopard through a tube gives no broad view, and it is hard to gauge what is to come.

○若夫至聖。不過伏犧。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。三君天所挺。迭興更御時。優劣有步驟。功德不相殊。製作有所踵。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。因師各悟之。皓若褰帷帳。瞋目登高臺。

As for the utmost sage, there is only Fuxi: he began by drawing the eight trigrams, modeling them on heaven and earth. King Wen was the head of the emperors, forming the bodies of the hexagrams and expounding the line texts. The Master was the hero among the many sages, and used the Ten Wings to assist it. These three were raised up by heaven, rising in turn and driving the seasons in rotation; their merits differ in steps, but their virtue is not far apart. What they made followed upon what came before, and their reckoning and inspection went down to the smallest weights. What has form is easy to estimate, and what has no sign is hard to plan for. They acted so that people could take them as models, and set in order the Odes and Documents for the world. In ordinary times they had no gift of foresight, and all depended on teachers, each entering through their own insight. Bright as if a curtain were drawn back, and with eyes wide open climbing a high terrace.

○火記六百篇。所趣等不殊。文字鄭重說。世人不熟思。尋度其源流。幽明本共居。竊為賢者談。曷敢輕為書。若遂結舌喑。絕道獲罪誅。寫情著竹帛。又符洩天符。猶豫增嘆息。俛仰綴斯愚。陶冶有法度。未忍悉陳敷。略述其綱紀。枝條見扶疏。

The Fire Record in six hundred pieces has a purport that is no different from piece to piece. The texts have said it with earnestness, yet the people of the world do not think deeply on it. Seek its source and its stream, and the dark and the bright have always dwelt together. I speak of these things privately for the worthy; how would I dare to write them into a book lightly? If I held my tongue and said nothing, I would cut off the Dao and be guilty and deserve death; if I wrote the facts on bamboo and silk, it would be as though I leaked the heavenly tally. Hesitating I add to my sighs, and in a moment I have strung together this foolish view. There are rules for refining; I could not bear to set it all out in full; I only sketch its guiding threads, and let the branches stand out sparse and spreading.

○以金為堤防。水入乃優遊。金計有十五。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。其三遂不入。火二與之俱。三物相合受。變化壯若神。下有太陽氣。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。

Use metal as the embankment, and then the water coming in can move freely. The number of metal is fifteen, and the number of water is the same. At the furnace, fix the weights exactly: five parts, and the water is in excess; take these two as the true, and the weight of the metal is as at the start. The third is not added, and fire uses two parts to be with them. The three things receive from one another, and their change is vigorous like a spirit. Below is the breath of the great yang, and the hidden steaming lasts only a moment: first it turns to liquid, then it congeals, and it is called the Yellow Carriage. When the year is about to end, it ruins its nature and harms its years, and the body turns to ash and earth, shaped like dust in a bright window.

○搗治併合之。持入赤色門。固塞其際會。務令致完堅。炎火張於下。晝夜聲正勤。始文使可修。終竟武乃陳。候視加謹慎。審察調寒溫。周旋十二節。節盡更須親。氣索命將絕。休死亡魄魂。色轉更為紫。赫然成還丹。粉提以一丸。刀圭最為神。

Pound and refine it and join it together, and take it into the red gate; seal the joints firmly and make sure it is whole and strong. A blazing fire opens below, and day and night its sound is diligent. At the start use mild fire, so that it can be refined; at the end use martial fire, and then it is laid out. Watch it with still greater care, examining and adjusting the cold and warm. Going round the twelve nodes, when the nodes are done one must draw still nearer. The breath dwindles, life is about to end, and the spirit-soul and bodily soul rest and die; the color turns purple and gloriously the returned cinnabar is complete. The powder is drawn out into one pill, and a knife-point measure is most efficacious.

○推演五行數。較約而不繁。舉水以激火。奄然滅光明。日月相激薄。常在晦朔間。水盛坎侵陽。火衰離晝昏。陰陽相飲食。交感道自然。

Work out the numbers of the five phases, comparing them in essentials and not in trifling detail. Raise water to strike fire, and the brightness suddenly goes out. Sun and moon press against each other, always between the last day and the first. When water flourishes, Kan encroaches on yang; when fire wanes, Li's daylight goes dim. Yin and yang drink and eat one another, and the way of mutual influence is by nature so.

○名者以定情。字者緣性言。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。王陽加黃芽。賢者能持行。不肖母與俱。古今道猶一。對談吐所謀。學者加勉力。留連深思惟。至要言甚露。昭昭不我欺。

The name is for fixing the sentiment, and the style is spoken according to the nature. When metal returns to the beginning of its nature, then it can be called the returned cinnabar. I dare not speak in empty talk, but imitate the writings of the sages. The ancient record is titled Dragon and Tiger, the Yellow Emperor valued the golden blossom, Huainan refined autumn mineral, and Wang Yang added the yellow sprout. The worthy can hold to it and practice it, but the unworthy should not be associated with. The Dao of past and present is still one, and I speak face to face of what I plan. Students, strive still more and linger on it, thinking deeply. The most essential words are already quite plain, clear and not deceiving me.

○乾坤剛柔。配合相包。陽稟陰受。雄雌相須。須以造化。精氣乃舒。坎離冠首。光耀垂敷。玄冥難測。不可畫圖。聖人揆度。參序無基。四者混沌。逕入虛無。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。

Qian and Kun, firm and yielding, are matched and contain each other. Yang receives and yin accepts, male and female need each other; relying on creation and transformation, the essential breath unfolds. Kan and Li hold the first place, and their brightness hangs down and spreads. The dark is hard to fathom and cannot be drawn in a diagram. The sage measures it, taking part in the order without any fixed base; the four are in chaos, and go straight into the void. After one cycle of sixty hexagrams, they open and spread out as a carriage; the dragon-horse comes to be yoked, and the wise ruler drives the seasons. In harmony one follows, and the road is level and not crooked; a crooked road is steep and blocked, and will imperil the state.

○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。發號施令。順陰陽節。藏器待時。勿違卦月。屯以子申。蒙用寅戌。餘六十卦。各自有日。

A gentleman dwells in his own house, and if what he says is good, it is answered a thousand li away. This speaks of the lord of ten thousand chariots, in a chamber of nine layers, issuing orders in accord with the seasons of yin and yang; hide your tools and wait for the season, and do not go against the month of the hexagram. Zhun uses Zi and Shen, Meng uses Yin and Xu, and the remaining sixty hexagrams each have their days.

○聊陳兩象。未能究悉。立義設刑。當仁施德。逆之者兇。順之者吉。按曆法令。至誠專密。謹候日辰。審察消息。纖芥不正。悔吝為賊。

Let me set out two images for now, though they are not yet exhausted. Set up righteousness and establish punishment, and where appropriate apply benevolence and De; go against it and it is ill-omened, follow it and it is fortunate. Follow the calendar's decrees with utmost sincerity and secrecy; be careful and wait for the day and hour, and examine ebb and flow. If it is off by a hair, regret and shame become a thief.

○二至改度。乖錯委曲。隆冬大暑。盛夏霜雪。二分縱橫。不應漏刻。風雨不節。水旱相伐。蝗蟲湧沸。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。或以招禍。或以致福。或興太平。或造兵革。四者之來。由乎胸臆。

If the two solstices change their rules, there is confusion and distortion: great heat appears in deep winter, and frost and snow fall in high summer. The two equinoxes run crossed and in disorder, not matching the water-clock. Wind and rain have no measure, flood and drought attack each other, locusts surge and boil, and many strange things come from the sides. Heaven shows its portents, mountains collapse and the earth splits. When a filial son's heart is moved, he can stir the Supreme Pole. What comes out of one's own mouth nearby flows to distant lands. It may be used to bring disaster or to bring blessing, it may raise up great peace or bring about war. The coming of these four all arises from the heart.

○動靜有常。奉其繩墨。四時順宜。與氣相得。剛柔斷矣。不相涉入。五行守界。不妄盈縮。易行周流。屈伸反覆。

Movement and rest have their regular rule, and they hold to the ink-line. The four seasons are in due order and match with the breath. Firm and yielding are already distinct and do not draw upon each other. The five phases keep to their boundaries and do not wax or wane at random. The Changes run in circulation, bending and stretching, going and returning.

○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。始於東北。箕斗之鄉。旋而右轉。嘔輪吐萌。潛潭見象。發散精光。

Between the dark of the moon and the new moon, the tallies join and move together in the center. In the primal chaos, female and male follow one another; the moist fluid soaks and nourishes, and transformation flows and circulates. The spirit and brightness of heaven and earth cannot be measured. Use them to settle the body; hide the form and keep it concealed. Beginning from the northeast, in the region of the Winnowing Basket and the Dipper, it turns to the right and puts forth its sprouting wheel. Hidden in the pool, it shows an image and scatters its refined light.

○昴畢之上。震出為徵。陽氣造端。初九潛龍。陽以三立。陰以八通。故三日震動。八日兌行。九二見龍。和平有明。三五德就。幹體乃成。九三夕惕。虧折神符。盛衰漸革。終還其初。巽繼其統。固濟操持。九四或躍。進退道危。艮主止進。不得踰時。二十三日。典守弦期。九五飛龍。天位加喜。六五坤承。結括終始。韞養眾子。世為類母。上九亢龍。戰德於野。用九翩翩。為道規矩。陽數已訖。訖則復起。推情合性。轉而相與。

Above the Pleiades and the Hyades, the Zhen trigram emerges as the sign. The yang breath makes its beginning: the first yang line, the hidden dragon. Yang is established by three and yin penetrates by eight. So on the third day Zhen stirs, and on the eighth day Dui moves; at the second yang line, the dragon appears in the field, peaceful and bright. When the virtue of three times five is complete, the body of Qian is finished. At the third yang line, vigilant at evening, the divine tally is diminished; flourishing and decline gradually shift, and in the end return to the beginning. Xun succeeds to its line of succession and holds it firmly. At the fourth yang line, the dragon may leap, and advancing or withdrawing along its way is perilous. Gen governs stopping and advancing and may not overstep the time limit; on the twenty-third day it keeps watch over the last-quarter moon. At the fifth yang line, the flying dragon, the heavenly seat receives joy. The sixth yin line, Kun, comes to take over, binding together the end and the beginning, nurturing the many children, and being mother to this kind through the generations. At the top yang line, the overreaching dragon fights in virtue out in the wilds. Using nines, it flutters about as the rule of the Way. The yang numbers are finished, and having finished they rise anew. Drawing on feeling to join with nature, they turn and grow close to one another.

○循據璇璣。升降上下。周流六爻。難可察睹。故無常位。為易宗祖。

Following the Jade Armillary, rising and falling, up and down, it circulates through the six lines, hard to perceive. So it has no fixed place, yet it is the ancestor of the Changes.

○朔旦為復。陽氣始通。出入無疾。立表微剛。黃鍾建子。兆乃茲彰。播施柔暖。黎烝得常。

At dawn on the first day of the month is the Fu hexagram, and yang begins to flow. Going out and coming in bring no harm; a gnomon is set up and shows a faint hardness. The Yellow Bell is established at the Zi position, and from here the omen becomes clear. Spreading gentle warmth, the common people at last gain a steady measure.

○臨爐施條。開路正光。光耀漸進。日以益長。醜之大呂。結正低昂。

Approaching the furnace, it carries out its ordering, opens the road, upright and bright. The brilliance grows step by step, and the days lengthen day by day. The Chou position is the Great Regulator pitch, which fixes the low and the high.

○仰以成泰。剛柔並隆。陰陽交接。小往大來。輻輳於寅。運而趨時。

Raised up, it completes the Tai hexagram, in which firm and yielding flourish together. Yin and yang meet; the small goes and the great comes. The spokes gather toward the Yin position, turning and hastening to the season.

○漸歷大壯。俠列卯門。榆莢墮落。還歸本根。刑德相負。晝夜始分。

Gradually it passes through Da Zhuang, flanking the Mao gate. The elm pods fall and return to their roots. Punishment and virtue fall short toward each other, and day and night begin to be equal.

○夬陰以退。陽升而前。洗濯羽翮。振索宿塵。

The Guai hexagram makes yin withdraw, and yang rises and moves forward. It washes the wing feathers and shakes off the old dust.

○幹健盛明。廣被四鄰。陽終於巳。中而相干。

Qian is strong and brightly flourishing, covering the four neighbors. Yang ends at the Si position, and on reaching the midpoint the two begin to encroach on each other.

○姤始紀序。履霜最先。井底寒泉。午為蕤賓。賓服於陰。陰為主人。

The Gou hexagram begins the sequence, and treading on frost appears first. At the bottom of the well is a cold spring, and the Wu position is the Luxuriant Guest pitch. The guest submits to yin, and yin becomes the host.

○遁去世位。收斂其精。懷德俟時。棲遲昧冥。

The Dun hexagram leaves its worldly position and gathers in its essence. Holding virtue and waiting for its season, it lingers in the dim darkness.

○否塞不通。萌者不生。陰伸陽屈。沒陽姓名。

The Pi hexagram is blocked and impassable; what sprouts cannot grow. Yin extends and yang bends, and the name of yang is buried.

○觀其權量。察仲秋情。任畜微稚。老枯復榮。薺麥芽櫱。因冒以生。

The Guan hexagram weighs and measures, observing the real state of mid-autumn. It lets the weak and young be nurtured, and the old and withered bloom again. Shepherd's purse and wheat sprout and put out shoots, growing under cover.

○剝爛肢體。消滅其形。化氣既竭。亡失至神。

The Bo hexagram rots the limbs and destroys their form. The transforming breath is already exhausted, and the utmost spirit is lost.

○道窮則反。歸乎坤元。恆順地理。承天布宣。

When the Way is exhausted it returns, going back to the origin of Kun. Forever following the pattern of earth, it receives from heaven and spreads it abroad.

○玄幽遠渺。隔閡相連。應度育種。陰陽之元。寥廓恍惚。莫知其端。先迷失軌。後為主君。無平不陂。道之自然。變易更盛。消息相因。終坤始復。始循連環。帝王承御。千載常存。

Dark, deep and remote, separated yet still connected. Answering to the numbers to breed the seed, it is the origin of yin and yang. Vast and indistinct, no one knows its beginning or its thread. First it loses the track, and later becomes the ruler. There is nothing level that does not slope; this is the natural course of the Way. Change alternates between flourishing and decline, and growth and ebb depend on each other. It ends in Kun and begins in Fu, starting to follow a linked cycle. Emperors and kings receive and drive it, and it endures for a thousand years.

○將欲養性。延命卻期。審思後末。當慮其先。人所稟軀。體本一無。元精雲布。因氣托初。

If you want to nourish your nature, prolong your life and put off death, think carefully about the end that follows, and you should first consider its root. The body a person is endowed with is in its original substance a nothing. The primal essence spreads like cloud, relying on qi to lodge in the beginning.

○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。築垣城郭。城郭完全。人物乃安。爰斯之時。情合乾坤。幹動而直。氣布精流。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。變而分佈。各自獨居。

Yin and yang are the standard, and are where the hun and po souls dwell. The yang spirit is the sun-hun, and the yin spirit is the moon-po; hun and po serve as each other's dwelling. Nature governs the inside and sets up the outline; feeling governs the outside and builds the walls and ramparts. When the ramparts are complete, people and things find peace. At just this time, feeling joins with Qian and Kun: Qian moves and is straight, its qi spreads and its essence flows; Kun is still and closed, and serves as the house of the Way. The firm gives and then withdraws, and the yielding transforms and breeds. Nine returns and seven turns back; eight goes home and six dwells. The man is white and the woman is red; metal and fire hold each other in check, and then water comes to settle the fire, which is the beginning of the five phases. The highest good is like water, clear and without flaw. As for the Way's form, the true One is hard to draw; it transforms and spreads out, each dwelling alone.

○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。

Its shape is like an egg, with white and black in accord. An inch in length and breadth, it is the beginning. The four limbs, the five organs, the sinews and bones are only then complete. After ten full months, it breaks out of its birth sac; the bones are so soft they can be rolled up, and the flesh is smooth as lead.

○陽燧以取火。非日不生光。方諸非星月。安能得水漿。二氣玄且遠。感化尚相通。何況近存身。切在於心胸。陰陽配日月。水火為效徵。

The burning mirror is used to take fire, but without the sun it cannot produce light; the moon-mirror, if not turned toward the stars and moon, how could it get water? Two breaths, dark and distant, still communicate through influence; how much more so what is near in one's own body and close to the heart. Yin and yang are matched with sun and moon, and water and fire serve as the sign of efficacy.

○耳目口三寶。固塞勿發揚。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。離氣內營衛。坎乃不用聰。兌合不以談。希言順鴻蒙。三者既關楗。緩體處空房。委志歸虛無。無念以為常。證難以推移。心專不縱橫。寢寐神相抱。覺悟候存亡。顏容浸以潤。骨節益堅強。排卻眾陰邪。然後立正陽。修之不輟休。庶氣雲雨行。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。弱者德之柄。耘鋤宿汙穢。細微得調暢。濁者清之路。昏久則昭明。

Ears, eyes and mouth are the three treasures; seal them firmly and do not let them spread out. The True Man lies hidden in the deep pool, floating and wandering while keeping to the center of the compass. Turning, he sees and hears; opening and closing, he is in accord. He is the pivot and axle of himself, and movement and stillness never run dry. With the Li breath tending and guarding within, Kan has no need for sharp hearing; Dui is closed and not used for talk, speaking little and following the primal chaos. Once these three are bolted shut, relax the body and dwell in an empty room, entrust the will to emptiness, and take no-thought as the constant. The proofs are hard to push forward; keep the mind single and do not let it range crosswise. In sleep the spirit holds itself together, and in wakefulness it watches over life and death. The complexion gradually grows moist and glowing, and the joints grow still stronger. Drive out the many yin evils, and then set up the true yang. Practice without stopping, and the breath may flow like clouds and rain: seeping like the moisture of spring days, trickling like ice melting. It flows from head to foot, and having reached the bottom rises again, going back and forth through and through without end, spreading richly over the face. Reversal is the proof of the Way; weakness is the handle of virtue. Hoe away the old filth, and the subtle places gain free flow. The turbid is the road to the clear, and what has long been dark becomes bright.

○世人好小術。不審道淺深。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。欲知服食法。事約而不繁。

People of the world are fond of petty arts and do not examine how shallow or deep the Way is. Abandoning the right road and following crooked paths, they want quick success and instead end up blocked. It is like a blind man refusing to use a cane, or a deaf man trying to listen to the notes of gong and shang; like going into water to catch pheasants and hares, or climbing a mountain to look for fish and dragons; like sowing wheat and hoping to harvest millet, or turning a compass and demanding a square. They strain themselves and wear out their spirit, and all year long see no effect. If you want to know the method of taking the elixir, the matter should be concise and not tedious.

○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。有頃之間。解化為水。馬齒闌干。陽乃往和。情性自然。迫促時陰。拘畜禁門。慈母育養。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。

The sun's flowing pearl always wants to leave a person; only when it meets the Golden Flower do they come to rely on each other, change into white fluid, and congeal into the utterly hard. The Golden Flower sings first, and in an instant it dissolves and becomes water, crisscrossed like horse teeth. Yang then goes forward in response, and its nature arises of itself. It presses the yin of the season, confining and keeping it at the forbidden gate. A kind mother rears, a filial son repays; a stern father gives commands and instructs his children and grandchildren. The five phases take turns as king, relying on each other to come into being. The nature of fire melts metal, and metal cuts and so lets wood flourish. The three-fives and the one are the utmost essence of heaven and earth. They can be passed on by oral instruction but are hard to hand down in writing.

○子當右轉。午乃東旋。卯酉界隔。主定二名。龍呼於虎。虎吸龍精。兩相飲食。俱相貪便。遂相銜咽。咀嚼相吞。熒惑守西。太平經天。殺氣所臨。何有不傾。狸犬守鼠。鳥雀畏鸇。各得其功。何敢有聲。

Zi should turn to the right, and Wu then revolves to the east. Mao and You serve as the boundaries, governing and fixing the two names. The dragon calls to the tiger, and the tiger draws in the dragon's essence; the two eat and drink of each other, each greedy for the other's benefit, so they swallow each other, chewing as they devour. Mars keeps to the west, and Venus crosses the sky; where the killing breath arrives, what does it not overturn? The fox and the dog guard against the rat, and sparrows fear the hawk; each gets its own use, and how would any dare make a sound?

○不得其理。難以妄言。竭殫家產。妻子飢貧。自古及今。好者億人。訖不諧遇。希有能成。廣求名藥。與道乖殊。如審遭逢。睹其端緒。以類相況。揆物終始。

Without grasping the principle within, it is hard to speak at random. One exhausts the family's wealth, and wife and children go hungry and poor. From ancient times to now, hundreds of millions have loved it, yet never met the true accord, and few have succeeded. They seek famous medicines everywhere, and drift away from the Way. If one truly meets it and sees the thread, one may compare it with things of the same kind and gauge the beginning and end of affairs.

○五行相剋。更為父母。母含滋液。父主稟與。凝精流形。金石不朽。審專不洩。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。入喉輒僵。不得俛仰。當此之時。雖周文揲蓍。孔子占象。扁鵲操針。巫咸扣鼓。安能令蘇。復起馳走。

The five phases overcome one another and alternately serve as each other's parents. The mother holds the nourishing fluid and the father governs the bestowing. When the essence congeals and flows into form, metal and stone become imperishable. Be careful, single-minded, and do not leak, and only then can the Way be achieved. Set up a pole and the shadow appears; call into a valley and the echo returns. Is that not efficacy? This is the utmost image of heaven and earth. Suppose one takes one inch of wild kudzu and one liang of croton: once swallowed, the body goes stiff and cannot bend or look up. At just that moment, even if King Wen cast the milfoil stalks, Confucius read the images, Bian Que wielded his needle and Wu Xian beat his drum, how could they bring him back to life and have him rise and run again?

○河上奼女。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。

The Maiden by the River is spiritual and the most divine. As soon as it meets fire it flies away, leaving no trace of dust; hidden like a ghost and concealed like a dragon, no one knows where it is. To subdue it, the Yellow Sprout is the root.

○物無陰陽。違天背無。牝雞自卵。其雛不全。夫何故乎。配合未運。三五不交。剛柔離分。施化之精。天地自然。猶火動而炎上。水流而潤下。非有師道。使其然也。資始統政。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。若男生而伏。女偃其軀。稟乎胞胎。受氣元初。非徒生時。著而見之。及其死也。亦復效之。此非父母。教令其然。本在交媾。定置始先。

If a thing has no yin and yang, it goes against heaven and turns its back on nothingness. A hen's eggs, laid by herself, will not produce complete chicks. Why? Because the pairing has not yet turned, the three-fives do not meet, and firm and yielding are separated. The essence that bestows transformation is the natural course of heaven and earth. It is like fire moving and burning upward, and water flowing and moistening downward; it is not that a teacher taught them to do so. What is drawn on at the beginning governs the whole and cannot be altered again. Look at the time of union of male and female: the firm and yielding bind together and cannot be undone; they obtain the tally of the season, and no craft can control them. It is like men being born lying face down and women lying face up; this is received in the womb, and the breath was taken in at the very first. It is plainly visible not only while they live, but after they die it is the same. This is not because parents command it so; the root lies in the union, fixed in place at the very start.

○坎男為月。離女為日。日以施德。月以舒光。月受日化。體不虧傷。陽失其契。陰侵其明。晦朔薄蝕。掩冒相傾。陽消其形。陰凌災生。男女相須。含吐以滋。雌雄錯雜。以類相求。

Kan, the man, is the moon; Li, the woman, is the sun. The sun is used to bestow virtue, and the moon to spread light. The moon receives the sun's transformation, and its substance does not wane. When yang loses its covenant, yin encroaches on its brightness; at the dark of the moon and new moon an eclipse occurs, covering and crushing one another. When yang's form is diminished, yin presses on it and disaster arises. Man and woman need each other, holding and giving forth to produce life; female and male are intermingled and seek one another according to kind.

○金化為水。水性周章。火化為土。水不得行。故男動外施。女靜內藏。溢度過節。為女所拘。魄以鈐魂。不得淫奢。不寒不暑。進退合時。各得其和。俱吐證符。

Metal turns to water, and the nature of water is to flow without fixed course; fire turns to earth, and water then cannot pass. So the male moves and gives outward, and the female is still and holds inward. If one overflows the measure, one is held in check by the female. The po is used to restrain the hun and keeps it from excess. Neither cold nor hot, advancing and retreating in accord with the season, each obtains the mean and harmony, and together they bring forth the tally of proof.

○丹砂木精。得金乃並。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。脾黃為祖。子五行始。三物一家。都歸戊己。

Cinnabar is the essence of wood, and only when it meets metal do they join. Where metal and water meet, wood and fire are companions. The four are in chaos together and are arranged as dragon and tiger. The dragon belongs to yang, with an odd number; the tiger belongs to yin, with an even number. The green liver is the father, the white lung is the mother, the black kidney is the child, and the yellow spleen is the ancestor. The child is the beginning of the five phases, and the three things become one family, all returning to Wu and Ji.

○剛柔迭興。更歷分部。龍西虎東。建緯卯酉。刑德並會。相見歡喜。刑主伏殺。德主生起。二月榆落。魁臨於卯。八月麥生。天綱據酉。子南午北。互為綱紀。一九之數。終而復始。含元虛危。播精於子。

The firm and the yielding rise alternately, passing in turn through their divisions. The dragon is in the west and the tiger in the east, with the warp line laid at Mao and You. Punishment and virtue meet together, and when they see each other they rejoice. Punishment governs hidden killing and virtue governs rising life. In the second month the elm leaves fall and the Dipper's head points to Mao; in the eighth month the wheat is born and the Heavenly Net holds You. Zi is in the south and Wu in the north, serving as each other's guiding thread. The numbers one and nine, when finished, begin again. Holding the primal in Xu and Wei, it scatters its essence in Zi.

○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。蟠蚪相扶。以明牝牡。竟當相須。假使二女共室。顏色甚姝。令蘇秦通言。張儀結媒。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。失其紀綱。雖黃帝臨爐。太一執火。八公搗煉。淮南調合。立宇崇壇。玉為階陛。麟脯鳳臘。把籍長跪。禱祝神祇。請哀諸鬼。沐浴齋戒。冀有所望。亦猶和膠補釜。以*塗瘡。去冷加冰。除熱用湯。飛龜舞蛇。愈見乖張。

"Guan guan" cry the ospreys on the islet in the river; the modest and lovely maiden is a fitting mate for the gentleman. The male does not dwell alone, and the female does not live in solitude. The dark warrior's tortoise and snake coil and twine, supporting one another, to show that female and male must in the end need each other. Suppose two women shared a room, with lovely complexions, and one let Su Qin carry messages and Zhang Yi act as matchmaker, using their sharp tongues and spreading fine words, opening their hearts and harmonizing them, joining them as husband and wife, until their hair is worn out and their teeth rotten, they would still never know each other. If the medicines are not of one kind, their names and categories differ, the measures are uneven, and the guiding thread is lost, then even if the Yellow Emperor came to the furnace, Taiyi held the fire, the Eight Elders pounded and refined, and the Prince of Huainan blended the compounds; even if houses were built, high altars piled up, steps made of jade, unicorn meat and phoenix preserves offered, and registers held up as one knelt long, praying to the spirits and pleading with the ghosts, bathing and fasting in hope of gain, it would still be like using glue to mend a cauldron, or smearing a sore with (a character is missing in the base text); wanting to cool it and adding ice, wanting to remove heat and applying hot water; flying turtles and dancing snakes only make it more perverse.

○惟昔聖賢。懷玄抱真。服煉九鼎。化跡隱淪。含精養神。通德三光。津液腠理。筋骨致堅。眾邪辟除。正氣常存。累積長久。變形而仙。憂憫後生。好道之倫。隨傍風采。指畫古文。著為圖籍。開示後昆。露見枝條。隱藏本根。托號諸石。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。遂使宦者不仕。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。

The sages and worthies of old embraced the profound and held the true, took and refined the Nine Cauldrons, and transformed their traces to dwell in hiding. Holding their essence and nourishing their spirit, they were joined in virtue with the three lights; when the fluids reached the skin's pores, their sinews and bones became firm. Many evils were driven out and the upright qi remained constant; accumulated over a long time, they changed form and became immortals. Pitying those who would come after, who love the Way, they relied on the manner of the age and drew on ancient texts to make diagrams and books, to instruct later generations. They showed the branches and hid the root; they borrowed the names of various minerals and covered errors among the many texts. Scholars who got hold of them kept them in their cases all their lives; sons took up their fathers' work and grandsons followed their ancestors, passing them down through generations in confusion, never having seen or heard the truth. As a result officials did not go to office, farmers neglected their fields, merchants lost their goods, and men of purpose were left poor at home. I grieve deeply over this, and so have set down this text: the words are concise and easy to think over, the matters are few and not tedious, and its items are set out in rows that can be verified and read; the weights and measures have fixed numbers and so cycle back on each other. So I have made a concluding verse to open a small aperture in its gate; let the wise think it over carefully and weigh it with their intent.

○法象莫大乎天地兮。玄溝數萬裡。河鼓臨星紀兮。人民皆驚駭。晷影妄前卻兮。九年被兇咎。皇上覽視之兮。王者退自改。關楗有低昂兮。害氣遂奔走。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。循鬥而招搖兮。執衡定元紀。

For models and images, none is greater than heaven and earth, with the Dark Channel stretching tens of thousands of li. The River Drum comes close to the Star Record, and the people are all startled. The gnomon's shadow advances and retreats wrongly, and nine years suffer misfortune. When the sovereign looks upon it, the king withdraws and corrects himself. The bolt rises and falls, and the harmful breath runs away. The Jiang and Huai rivers run dry, and their waters flow into the sea. The female and male of heaven and earth pace back and forth between Zi and Wu. Yin and Shen are the ancestors of yin and yang, going out and coming in, ending and beginning again. Following the Big Dipper and the Waving Star, holding the scale to fix the primal reckoning.

○升熬於甑山兮。炎火張設下。白虎唱導前兮。蒼液和於後。朱雀翱翔虧兮。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。暴勇不休止。接連重迭累兮。犬牙相錯距。形如仲冬冰兮。闌干吐鍾乳。崔巍而雜廁兮。交積相支柱。

It rises and is boiled at Mount Zeng, with blazing fire laid out below. The White Tiger leads the song in front, and the Azure Fluid answers behind. The Vermilion Bird soars with a gap in its wings, spreading its five colors. Meeting the net spread over it, it is pressed down and cannot rise. Its crying is shrill and sad, like an infant longing for its mother. Upside down it is thrown into the boiling cauldron, and its feathers are broken and damaged. Before the water clock has run half its time, the fish-scale and mane-like bristles stand up. The images of the five colors dazzle, changing with no fixed master. Surging and boiling it races about, fierce and bold and not stopping. Connected and piled up in layers, like dog teeth interlocking. Its form is like midwinter ice, crisscrossed and spitting out stalactites. Towering and mixed, piled up and propping one another.

○陰陽得其配兮。淡泊而相守。青龍處房六兮。春華震東卯。白虎在昴七兮。秋芒兌西酉。朱雀在張二兮。正陽離南午。三者俱來朝兮。家屬為親侶。本之但二物兮。末而為三五。三五並與一兮。都集歸二所。治之如上科兮。日數亦取甫。

Yin and yang find their match and, plain and mild, keep to one another. The Azure Dragon lies at the sixth degree of the Room constellation, the spring bloom belonging to Zhen in the eastern Mao. The White Tiger is at the seventh degree of the Pleiades, the autumn awn belonging to Dui in the western You. The Vermilion Bird is at the second degree of the Extended Net, the true yang belonging to Li in the southern Wu. All three come to court, and their households become close companions. At root there are only two things, but at the tip they become three-fives. The three-fives join into one, and all gather and return to two places. Treat it as the earlier section says, and take the number of days as the settled number.

○先白而後黃兮。食黑達表裡。名曰第一鼎兮。食如大黍米。自然之所為兮。非有邪偽道。若山澤氣相蒸兮。興雲而為雨。泥竭遂成塵兮。火滅化為土。若櫱染為黃兮。似藍成綠組。皮革煮成膠兮。麴櫱化為酒。同類易施功兮。非種難為巧。惟斯之妙術兮。審諦不誑語。傳於億世後兮。昭然自可考。煥若星經漢兮。炳如水宗海。思之務令熟兮。反覆視上下。千周燦彬彬兮。萬遍將可睹。神明或告人兮。心靈乍自悟。探端索其緒兮。必得其門戶。天道無適莫兮。常傳與賢者。

First white and then yellow; eating the black, it passes through inside and out. It is called the First Cauldron, and when eaten it is like a large grain of millet. This is made by nature, and there is no crooked or false way in it. It is like the breath of mountains and marshes steaming each other, raising clouds and making rain; mud dries up and becomes dust, and fire dies out and turns to earth. It is like phellodendron dyeing yellow, like indigo weaving green cords; hide boiled into glue, yeast transformed into wine. Things of the same kind are easy to work on, but what is not of the same kind is hard to make skillful. Only this wondrous art, examined truly, contains no false words. Passed on across a hundred million generations, it will plainly be verifiable for oneself; brilliant as a star crossing the Milky Way, shining as water returning to its source in the sea. Ponder it until it is thoroughly ripe, looking again and again above and below. After a thousand rounds it will be bright and rich, and after ten thousand times it will begin to be seen. The spirits may tell a person, or the mind may suddenly awaken by itself. Probe its beginning and seek its thread, and you will surely find its gate. The Way of heaven has no favorites, and always passes to the worthy.

○參同契者。敷陳梗概。不能純一。氾濫而說。纖微未備。闊略彷彿。今更撰錄。補塞遺脫。潤色幽深。鉤援相逮。旨意等齊。所趣不悖。故復作此。命五相類。則大易之情性盡矣。

What is called the Cantong qi lays out the outline but cannot be wholly unified; it speaks broadly, and the fine points are not all supplied, so it is sketchy and approximate. Now I compile it again to fill in what was left out, polish its depths, hook up passages so that they reach one another, make the aims equal and the purposes consistent. So I have also made this section, named the Five Kinds in Correspondence, and then the nature of the Great Changes is exhausted.

○大易情性。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。

The nature of the Great Changes follows its own measure. The Yellow Emperor and Laozi used it to probe to the end, and after comparison it can be mastered. As for the matter of furnace and fire, it truly has a basis (one reading holds that this line also acknowledges external alchemy with furnace fire, while the main text still takes inner cultivation within the body as the primary meaning). The three ways come from one, and all go out along this one path.

○枝莖華葉。果實垂布。正在根株。不失其素。誠心所言。審而不誤。

Branches, stems, flowers and leaves, and fruit hanging in rows: the key lies in the root and trunk, not losing their plain simplicity. What is said in sincerity is careful and without error.

○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。天道甚浩廣。太玄無形容。虛寂不可睹。匡郭以消亡。謬誤失事緒。言還自敗傷。別序斯四象。以曉後生盲。

Take the image of that midwinter season, when bamboo and trees are all broken and hurt. Assisting yang and rebuking merchants and travelers, the ruler deeply hides himself. Taking the image of the season and following its rhythm, he keeps his mouth shut and does not speak. The Way of heaven is vast and wide, and the Great Mystery has no description; it is empty, still and invisible, and the outline of it therefore vanishes. Error loses the thread of affairs, and words once spoken only injure oneself. I describe these four images separately to instruct the blind and ignorant among later students.

○會稽鄙夫。幽谷朽生。挾懷樸素。不樂歡榮。棲遲僻陋。忽略利名。執守恬淡。希時安平。宴然閒居。乃撰斯文。歌敘大易。三聖遺言。察其旨趣。一統共倫。

A rustic of Kuaiji, withering in a hidden valley. Holding to the uncarved block (raw, unworked wood, a figure for the original state untouched by human carving) and simplicity, he does not care for glory or joy. Lingering in a remote and humble place, he neglects profit and fame, keeps to quiet calm, and hopes for a peaceful age. Living at ease in leisure, he only then composed this text, singing and narrating the surviving words of the Great Changes and the three sages, examining their purport and gathering them under one common order.

○務在順理。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。配以服食。雄雌設陳。挺除武都。八石棄捐。

One must follow the principle and make the spirit shine. When divine transformation flows and circulates, the four seas are at peace. Set out as a calendar, it can be followed for ten thousand generations; ordered for governing, it can be carried out without tedium. Turned inward to nourish one's nature, it is the naturalness of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi. Holding deep virtue, one returns to the root and goes back to the origin. It is near, in my own heart, never leaving my own body; embracing the One and not letting go, one can last forever. Paired with taking the elixir, set out female and male; pull out the realgar of Wudu and cast aside all the eight minerals.

○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。後嗣宜遵。委時去害。依託丘山。循遊寥廓。與鬼為鄰。化形而仙。淪寂無聲。百世一下。遨遊人間。陳敷羽翮。東西南傾。湯遭厄際。水旱隔並。柯葉萎黃。失其華榮。吉人相乘負。安穩可長生。

Using it carefully to bring things to completion is what the world prizes. Three items are set out in a row, their branches and stems connected; they come from one source under different names, all through one gate. It is not merely a piling up of lines to make this text rhyme and pair; perhaps it truly has its truth, rugged and worth beholding. If I were made to spread out falsehood, I would instead be charged with the fault of excess. It is named the Cantong qi, giving a slight glimpse of its beginning. The words are few and the meaning great, and later generations should follow it. Abandon the age and remove harm, rely on hills and mountains, wander through the vast void, take ghosts as neighbors, change form and become an immortal, sinking into stillness and silence. Once in a hundred ages one comes by, to roam in the human world. Spreading wings, east, west and south all tilt; in the time when Tang suffered hardship, flood and drought ran together but apart, branches and leaves withered yellow, and glory was lost. Fortunate people ride on and bear one another, and in security they may live long.

【鼎器歌】圓三五。寸一分。口四八。兩寸唇。長尺二。厚薄勻。腹齊三。坐垂溫。陰在上。陽下奔。首尾武。中間文。始七十。終三旬。二百六。善調勻。陰火白。黃芽鉛。兩七聚。輔翼人。贍理腦。定升玄。子處中。得安存。來去遊。不出門。漸成大。情性純。卻歸一。還本原。善愛敬。如君臣。至一週。甚辛勤。密防護。莫迷昏。途路遠。復幽玄。若達此。會乾坤。刀圭沾。靜魄魂。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。御白鶴兮。駕龍鱗。遊太虛兮。謁仙君。錄天圖兮。號真人。

[Song of the Cauldron] The diameter is three-five, and the thickness one inch and one fen; the mouth is four-eight, and the lip two inches. The length is one foot two, evenly thick and thin. The belly matches three, and sitting, it hangs down warmth. Yin is at the top, and yang runs below. Use the martial fire at the head and tail, and the civil fire in the middle. Seventy at the start and thirty at the end, two hundred and six in all; be good at blending them evenly. The yin fire is white, and the yellow sprout is lead; two sevens come together to support a person. Nourish and tend the brain, settle it, and rise to the profound. The child is in the middle and so finds safe keeping; coming and going and wandering, it does not leave the gate. Gradually growing up, its nature is pure and single, yet it returns to the One and goes back to the origin. Be good at loving and respecting, like ruler and minister. When one cycle is complete, it is very laborious; guard it closely and do not be lost in confusion. The road is distant and again dark. If one can reach this, one will penetrate Qian and Kun. One touch of the knife-spoon dose, and the po and hun grow still; one gains long life and dwells in the village of immortals. Those who delight in the Way, seek its root; examine the five phases and fix the zhu and fen exactly. Think carefully and do not talk emptily; keep it deeply hidden and do not write it out for transmission beyond the text. Ride the white crane, drive the dragon's scales; roam the Great Void and call upon the Lord of Immortals; record the celestial chart and be named a True Person.

【贊序】參同契者。辭隱而道大。言微而旨深。列五帝以建業。配三皇而立政。若君臣差殊。上下無準。序以為政。不至太平。服食奇法。未能長生。學以養性。又不延年。至於剖析陰陽。合其銖兩。日月弦望。八卦成象。男女施化。剛柔動靜。米鹽分判。以經為證。用意健矣。故為立法。以傳後賢。推曉大象。必得長生。為吾道者。重加意焉。

[Preface to the Eulogy] What is called the Cantong qi has hidden words but a great Way, subtle sayings but a profound purport. It sets out the Five Emperors to establish achievements, and matches the Three Sovereigns to settle governance. If ruler and ministers differ and there is no standard between high and low, then using it to order government will not bring great peace; taking it as a marvelous method of taking the elixir will not give long life; studying it to nourish one's nature will not extend one's years. As for analyzing yin and yang, matching zhu and liang weights exactly, the waxing and waning phases of sun and moon, the images formed by the eight trigrams, the transformations of male and female, the movement and stillness of firm and yielding, distinguishing them like rice and salt, and taking the classics as proof, the intention is firm and strong. So I have set down rules for it, to hand down to later worthy people. Knowing the great models and images, one will surely gain long life. Those who practice this Way of mine should take double care.