Bao Pu Zi Nei Pian (抱朴子內篇) · Volume 6

九言角。戊辰戊戌，己巳己亥，庚寅庚申，辛卯辛酉，壬午壬子，癸丑癸未。

The nine-word note is jue: wuchen and wuxu, jisi and jihai, gengyin and gengshen, xinmao and xinyou, renwu and renzi, guichou and guiwei.

禹步法：前舉左，右過左，左就右。次舉右，左過右，右就左。次舉右，右過左，左就右。

The method of the Pace of Yu: first lift the left foot, pass the right foot over the left, and bring the left foot up beside the right. Next lift the right foot, pass the left foot over the right, and bring the right foot up beside the left. Next lift the right foot again, pass the right foot over the left, and bring the left foot up beside the right.

如此三步，當滿二丈一尺，後有九跡。

These three steps should cover two zhang and one chi, leaving nine footprints behind.

小神方，用真丹三斤，白蜜一斤，合和日曝煎之，令可丸。旦服如麻子十丸，未一年，發白更黑，齒墮更生，身體潤澤，長服之，老翁還成少年，常服長生不死也。

The Minor Spirit Formula: take three jin of genuine cinnabar and one jin of white honey, blend them and dry-fry them in the sun until they can be rolled into pills. In the morning take ten pills the size of hemp seeds; before a year is out, whitening hair turns black again and fallen teeth regrow, and the body is sleek and moist. Taken long, an old man returns to youth; taken always, one lives forever without dying.

小餌黃金方，火銷金納清酒中，二百出，二百入，即沸矣。握之出指間，令如泥，若不沸及握之不出指間，即復銷之內酒中無數也。成服如彈丸一枚，亦可汁一丸分為小丸，服三十日，無寒溫，神人玉女下之。又銀亦可餌，與金同法。服此二物，可居名山石室中，一年即輕舉矣。人間服之，名地仙，勿妄傳也。

The Minor Formula for Ingesting Gold: melt gold over the fire and plunge it into clear wine, drawing it out two hundred times and plunging it in two hundred times, until it boils. Grip it and squeeze it out between the fingers so that it is like mud; if it does not boil or, gripped, cannot be squeezed out between the fingers, then melt it again and plunge it into the wine times without number. When done, take one piece the size of a pellet; or the juice of one piece can be divided into small pills. Take it for thirty days and there is no cold or heat; spirits and Jade Maidens descend. Silver can also be ingested by the same method as gold. Taking these two things, one should dwell in a stone chamber on a famous mountain, and in a year one rises lightly. Taking them among men is called being an earthly immortal; do not transmit it recklessly.

兩儀子餌銷黃金法，豬負革肪三斤，醇苦酒一斗，取黃金五兩，置器中煎之，出爐，以金置肪中，百入百出，苦酒亦爾，餐一斤金，壽弊天地，食半斤金，壽二千歲；五兩，千二百歲，無多少，便可餌之。當以王相之日，作之神良，勿傳人，傳人，藥不成不神也。欲食去屍藥，當服丹砂。

Liangyizi's method for ingesting molten gold: three jin of pig suet and a dou of strong bitter wine; take five liang of gold, set it in a vessel and fry it, take it from the furnace, and put the gold into the fat, plunging in a hundred times and drawing out a hundred times, doing the same with the bitter wine. Eating one jin of gold, one's span decays only when heaven and earth do; eating half a jin of gold, the span is two thousand years; five liang, twelve hundred years. Whatever the amount, it may be ingested. It should be done on a propitious day; divinely efficacious—do not transmit it to others; if transmitted to others, the medicine will not form and loses its spirit. If you want to eat medicine that drives off the corpse-worms, you should take cinnabar.

餌丹砂法，丹砂一斤，搗篩，下醇苦酒三升，淳漆二升，凡三物合，令相得，微火上煎之，令可丸，服如麻子三丸，日再。四十日，腹中百病癒，三尸去；服之百日，肌骨堅強；服之千日，司命削死籍，與天地相保，日月相望，改形易容，變化無常，日中無影，乃別有光矣。

The method of ingesting cinnabar: one jin of cinnabar, pounded and sifted, three sheng of strong bitter wine, and two sheng of pure lacquer—combine these three substances so they suit one another, fry over a gentle fire until they can be rolled into pills, and take three pills the size of hemp seeds twice a day. After forty days the hundred illnesses of the belly heal and the three corpse-worms depart; after a hundred days the flesh and bones grow firm and strong; after a thousand days the Director of Destinies strikes one's name from the registers of the dead; kept safe with heaven and earth and gazed upon with sun and moon, one's shape changes and countenance alters without constancy, casting no shadow at midday and having instead a light of one's own.

或問曰：“若仙必可得，聖人已修之矣，而周孔不為之者，是無此道可知也。”抱朴子答曰：“夫聖人不必仙，仙人不必聖。聖人受命，不值長生之道，但自欲除殘去賊，夷險平暴，制禮作樂，著法垂教，移不正之風，易流遁之俗，匡將危之主，扶亡徵之國，刊詩書，撰河洛，著經誥，和雅頌，訓童蒙，應聘諸國，突無凝煙，席不暇暖。其事則鞅掌罔極，窮年無已，亦焉能閉聰掩明，內視反聽，呼吸導引，長齋久潔，入室煉形，登山採藥，數息思神，斷谷清哉？至於仙者，唯須篤志至信，勤而不怠，能恬能靜，便可得之，不待多才也。有入俗之高真，乃為道者之重累也。得合一大藥，知守一養神之要，則長生久視，豈若聖人所修為者云云之無限乎？且夫俗所謂聖人者，皆治世之聖人，非得道之聖人，得道之聖人，則黃老是也。治世之聖人，則周孔是也。黃帝先治世而後登仙，此是偶有能兼之才者也。古之帝王，刻於泰山，可省讀者七十二家，其餘磨滅者，不可勝數，而獨記黃帝仙者，其審然可知也。

Someone asked: "If immortality can certainly be obtained, and the sages had already cultivated it, then for the Duke of Zhou and Confucius not to have done it proves there is no such way to be known." Baopuzi answered: "A sage need not be an immortal, and an immortal need not be a sage. The sage receives his mandate; if he does not meet with the way of long life, he can only set himself to remove the cruel and cut away the harmful, level the dangerous and violent, institute rites and make music, set forth laws and hand down teachings, change the winds that are not upright and alter the drifting, fugitive customs, rescue the ruler about to fall and support the state showing signs of ruin, edit and fix the Odes and Documents, compile the River Chart and Luo Writing, write the canons and pronouncements, harmonize the hymns, teach young minds, and answer summonses from state to state—the chimney never gathered smoke, the mat never grew warm. Affairs are thus tangled without limit, the year spent without pause; how then could he shut his ears and veil his sight, look within and listen back, breathe and guide, keep long fasts and lasting purity, enter the chamber to refine the form, climb mountains to gather herbs, count the breaths and contemplate the spirits, and cut off grain in stillness? As for the immortal, he need only hold his purpose firm and his faith utmost, be diligent and not slack, able to be tranquil and able to be still, and he can obtain it—without waiting for many talents. Some high true ones who entered the world found it instead a heavy burden on the Way. To compound one great medicine and know the essentials of guarding the One and nourishing the spirit is long life and long sight—what is it like the tangled infinity of the sage's work? Moreover, what the vulgar world calls sages are all sages of governing the age, not sages who have obtained the Way. The sages who obtained the Way are Huang-Lao; the sages who govern the age are the Duke of Zhou and Confucius. The Yellow Emperor first governed the age and afterwards ascended as an immortal—this is the rare case of talent able to combine both. Of the ancient thearchs who carved on Mount Tai, seventy-two houses can still be read, the rest worn away beyond number, yet it records only that the Yellow Emperor became an immortal—from which it is clearly known."

世人以人所尤長，眾所不及者，便謂之聖。故善圍棋之無比者，則謂之棋聖，故嚴子卿馬綏明於今有棋聖之名焉。善史書之絕時者，則謂之書聖，故皇象胡昭於今有書聖之名焉。善圖畫之過人者，則謂之畫聖，故衛協張墨於今有畫聖之名焉。善刻削之尤巧者，則謂之木聖，故張衡馬鈞於今有木聖之名焉。故孟子謂伯夷，清之聖者也；柳下惠，和之聖者也；伊尹，任之聖者也。吾試演而論之，則聖非一事。夫班輸倕狄，機械之聖也；附扁和緩，治疾之聖也；子韋甘均，占候之聖也；史蘇辛廖，卜筮之聖也；夏育杜回，筋力之聖也；荊軻聶政，勇敢之聖也，飛廉夸父，輕速之聖也；子野延州，知音之聖也；孫吳韓白，用兵之聖也。聖者，人事之極號也，不獨於文學而已矣。莊周云：盜有聖人之道五焉。妄意而知人之藏者，明也；先入而不疑者，勇也；後出而不懼者，義也；知可否之宜者，知也；分財均同者，仁也。不得此道而成天下大盜者，未之有也。”

(Baopuzi continued:) The world calls whatever a man is especially good at, beyond the reach of others, sagehood. So the player of weiqi without peer is called a sage of weiqi: thus Yan Ziqing and Ma Suiming bear the name sage of weiqi to this day. The master of calligraphy unequaled in his time is called a sage of calligraphy: thus Huang Xiang and Hu Zhao bear the name sage of calligraphy to this day. The painter surpassing other men is called a sage of painting: thus Wei Xie and Zhang Mo bear the name sage of painting to this day. The carver surpassingly skillful is called a sage of woodwork: thus Zhang Heng and Ma Jun bear the name sage of woodwork to this day. So Mencius said of Bo Yi that he was the sage of purity; of Liuxia Hui, the sage of harmony; of Yi Yin, the sage of responsibility. Let me try amplifying this argument: sagehood is then not one thing. Lu Ban, Chui, and Di were sages of mechanisms; Yu Fu, Bian Que, Physician He, and Physician Huan were sages of healing; Ziwei and Gan Jun were sages of watching the heavens; Shi Su and Xin Liao were sages of divination; Xia Yu and Du Hui were sages of sinewy strength; Jing Ke and Nie Zheng were sages of daring; Feilian and Kuafu were sages of fleetness; Master Ziye and Jizha of Yanzhou were sages of knowing tones; Sun, Wu, Han, and Bai were sages of war. Sagehood is the utmost title for human affairs; it does not lie in letters alone. Zhuang Zhou said that even in thievery there are five ways of the sage: to guess by empty fancy and know where a man's goods are hidden is cleverness; to go in first unflinching is courage; to come out last unafraid is rightness; to know whether a thing may suitably be done is wisdom; to divide the spoils evenly is benevolence. No one has ever become a great robber under heaven without this way."

或曰：“聖人之道，不得枝分葉散，必總而兼之，然後為聖。”

Someone said: "The way of the sage cannot branch off and scatter into leaves; it must be taken all together and embraced whole, and only then is there sagehood."

餘答之曰：“孔子門徒，達者七十二，而各得聖人之一體，是聖事有剖判也。又云：顏淵具體而微，是聖事有厚薄也。又易曰：有聖人之道四焉，以言者尚其辭，以動者尚其變，以制器者尚其象，以卜筮者尚其占。此則聖道可分之明證也。何為善於道德以致神仙者，獨不可謂之為得道之聖？苟不有得道之聖，則周孔不得為治世之聖乎？既非一矣，何以當責使相兼乎？按仙經以為諸得仙者，皆其受命偶值神仙之氣，自然所稟。故胞胎之中，已含信道之性，及其有識，則心好其事，必遭明師而得其法，不然，則不信不求，求亦不得也。玉鈐經主命原曰：人之吉凶，制在結胎受氣之日，皆上得列宿之精。其值聖宿則聖，值賢宿則賢，值文宿則文，值武宿則武，值貴宿則貴，值富宿則富，值賤宿則賤，值貧宿則貧，值壽宿則壽，值仙宿則仙。又有神仙聖人之宿，有治世聖人之宿，有兼二聖之宿，有貴而不富之宿，有富而不貴之宿，有兼富貴之宿，有先富後貧之宿，有先貴後賤之宿，有兼貧賤之宿，有富貴不終之宿，有忠孝之宿，有兇惡之宿。如此不可具載，其較略如此。為人生本有定命，張車子之說是也。苟不受神仙之命，則必無好仙之心，未有心不好之而求其事者也，未有不求而得之者也。自古至今，有高才明達，而不信有仙者，有平平許人學而得仙者，甲雖多所鑑識而或蔽於仙，乙則多所不通而偏達其理，此豈非天命之所使然乎？

I answered him: "Of Confucius's disciples, seventy-two attained, and each obtained one limb of the sage—this shows the sage's work can be split apart. It is also said that Yan Yuan possessed the whole but in miniature—this shows the sage's work can be thick or thin. And the Book of Changes says: the way of the sage has four uses—those who speak esteem its words; those who act esteem its changes; those who make vessels esteem its images; those who divine esteem its prognostications. This is clear proof that the sage's way can be divided. Why then should he who is good in the Way and its power so as to become a spirit-immortal alone not be called a sage who obtained the Way? If there were no sages who obtained the Way, then could the Duke of Zhou and Confucius be sages of governing the age? Since they are not one, why should we demand that the two combine? The scriptures of immortals hold that all who obtain immortality receive a mandate and happen on the qi of spirit-immortals, endowed by nature. So within the womb they already contain a nature that trusts the Way; coming to awareness, the heart loves that work; they unfailingly meet enlightened teachers and obtain the method—otherwise they neither believe nor seek, and seeking they do not obtain. The Yuqian Scripture, in 'The Origin of the Ruling Destiny', says: a man's fortune and misfortune are fixed on the day his embryo is knit and he receives qi; he always obtains the essence of one of the ranked constellations. Meeting a sage star he becomes a sage; a worthy star, a worthy; a civil star, a civil man; a martial star, a martial man; a noble star, a noble; a rich star, a rich man; a low star, a low man; a poor star, a poor man; a long-life star, long-lived; an immortal star, an immortal. There are also stars of spirit-immortal sages, stars of world-governing sages, stars combining the two sagehoods, stars noble but not rich, stars rich but not noble, stars of wealth and honor together, stars first rich then poor, stars first noble then low, stars of poverty and baseness together, stars of wealth and honor that do not last, stars of loyalty and filial piety, and stars of cruelty and evil. These cannot all be recorded; the main outline is thus. That a man's life is fixed at birth is what the saying of Zhang Chezi means. Whoever has not received the mandate of a spirit-immortal is sure to lack the heart that loves immortality; there is none who, lacking the heart and not loving the work, yet obtains it. From ancient times to now there have been men of high talent and clear penetration who did not believe there are immortals, and ordinary middling men who studied and obtained immortality. Though A be widely discerning, he may be blind about immortality; though B be largely obtuse, he alone may penetrate that principle. Is this not made so by heaven's mandate?"

夫道家寶秘仙術，弟子之中，尤尚簡擇，至精彌久，然後告之以要訣，況於世人，幸自不信不求，何為當強以語之邪？既不能化令信之，又將招嗤速謗。故得道之士，所以與世人異路而行，異處而止，言不欲與之交，身不欲與之雜。隔千里，猶恐不足以遠煩勞之攻；絕軌跡，猶恐不足以免毀辱之醜。貴不足以誘之，富不足以移之，何肯當自衒於俗士，言我有仙法乎？此蓋周孔所以無緣而知仙道也。且夫周孔，蓋是高才大學之深遠者耳，小小之伎，猶多不閒。使之跳丸弄劍，逾鋒投狹，履登幢，擿盤緣案，跟掛萬仞之峻峭，游泳呂梁之不測，手扛千鈞，足躡驚飆，暴虎檻豹，攬飛捷矢，凡人為之，而周孔不能，況過於此者乎？他人之所念慮，蚤蝨之所首向，隔牆之朱紫，林下之草芥，匣匱之書籍，地中之寶藏，豐林邃藪之鳥獸，重淵洪潭之魚鱉，令周孔委曲其采色，分別其物名，經列其多少，審實其有無，未必能盡知，況於遠此者乎？聖人不食則飢，不飲則渴，灼之則熱，凍之則寒，撻之則痛，刃之則傷，歲久則老矣，損傷則病矣，氣絕則死矣。此是其所與凡人無異者甚多，而其所以不同者至少矣。所以過絕人者，唯在於才長思遠，口給筆高，德全行潔，強訓博聞之事耳，亦安能無事不兼邪？既已著作典謨，安上治民，復欲使之兩知仙道，長生不死，以此責聖人，何其多乎？吾聞至言逆俗耳，真語必違眾，儒士卒覽吾此書者，必謂吾非毀聖人。吾豈然哉？但欲盡物理耳，理盡事窮，則似於謗訕周孔矣。世人謂聖人從天而墜，神靈之物，無所不知，無所不能。甚於服畏其名，不敢復料之以事，謂為聖人所不為，則人無復能之者也；聖人所不知，則人無復知之者也，不可笑哉？今具以近事校之，想可以悟也。完山之鳥，賣生送死之聲，孔子不知之，便可復謂顏回只可偏解之乎？

(I continued:) The school of the Way treasures and keeps secret the arts of immortality; among disciples it especially honors selection, and only after long proof of utmost devotion are the essential secrets told. How much less to the men of the world, who are lucky enough not to believe and not to seek—why should words be forced upon them? Since they cannot be transformed into believers, it only invites mockery and hastens slander. Thus those who have obtained the Way travel a different road from the world's men and lodge in different places; they do not wish to exchange words with them nor mix their persons with them. A thousand li apart, they still fear it is not enough to flee the attack of trouble; their tracks cut off, they still fear it is not enough to escape the shame of insult. Rank cannot tempt them, wealth cannot move them—how should they be willing to show off to vulgar gentlemen, saying I possess the arts of immortality? This is presumably why the Duke of Zhou and Confucius had no chance to know the way of immortality. Moreover, the Duke of Zhou and Confucius were presumably deep in high talent and great learning; of the small arts and skills, much still eluded their mastery. Set them to juggling balls and swords, vaulting over blades and diving through narrow slots, climbing masts, tossing plates while mounting tables, hanging by their heels off ten-thousand-ren precipices, swimming the unfathomable Lüliang, bearing a thousand jun on the hands, treading the startled gale with their feet, fighting tigers barehanded, caging leopards, catching flying arrows—ordinary men have done these things, yet the Duke of Zhou and Confucius could not, much less what surpasses these. What other men think in their hearts, which way the fleas and lice turn their heads, the red and purple behind a wall, the grass beneath the trees, books shut in cases, treasure buried in the ground, the birds and beasts of dense forests and deep marshes, the fish and turtles of double deeps and great pools—set the Duke of Zhou and Confucius to tell in detail their colors, distinguish their names, enumerate their numbers, and verify their presence or absence, and they might not fully know, much less what far surpasses these. The sages, if they do not eat, grow hungry; if they do not drink, grow thirsty; scorch them and they are hot; freeze them and they are cold; beat them and they hurt; cut them with a blade and they are wounded; as the years lengthen they grow old; injured they sicken; breath cut off they die. In these they do not differ from ordinary men—in many things they do not differ; wherein they differ is very little. So what surpasses other men lies only in talent grown far-reaching, ready speech and a lofty pen, virtue complete and conduct pure, forceful teaching and broad learning—how could they embrace everything? Having already written canons and statutes, given the ruler peace and the people order, to want them also to know the way of immortality and live forever without dying—to charge sages with this, is that not much indeed? I have heard that the truest words offend vulgar ears and true speech always runs against the crowd; the Confucian who glances hastily at this book of mine will surely say I slander the sages. How am I so? I only wish to carry the pattern of things to its end; when the pattern is carried to its end and the matter exhausted, it looks like maligning the Duke of Zhou and Confucius. The world says the sages fell from heaven, are things of spirit, knowing everything and able to do anything; that one stands in excess of awe before their name, not daring to measure them by deeds, saying what the sages do not do no man can do, and what the sages do not know no man can know—is that not laughable? Now let me test it by recent events, that one may awake. Of the bird of Mount Wan and the cry 'sell the living, see the dead off', Confucius did not know—then may one say further that Yan Hui could only understand things partially?

聞太山婦人之哭，問之，乃知虎食其家三人，又不知此婦人何以不徙去之意，須答乃悟。見羅雀者純得黃口，不辨其意，問之乃覺。及欲葬母，不知父墓所在，須人語之，既定墓崩，又不知之，弟子誥之，乃泫然流涕。又疑顏淵之盜食，乃假言欲祭先人，卜掇塵之虛偽。廄焚，又不知傷人馬否。顏淵後，便謂之已死。又周流七十餘國，而不能逆知人之必不用之也，而棲棲遑遑，席不暇溫。又不知匡人當圍之，而由其途。問老子以古禮，禮有所不解也。問郯子以鳥官，官有所不識也。行不知津，而使人問之，又不知所問之人，必譏之而不告其路，若爾可知不問也。下車逐歌鳳者，而不知彼之不住也。見南子而不知其無益也。諸若此類，不可具舉，但不知仙法，何足怪哉？又俗儒云：聖人所不能，則餘人皆不能。則宕人水居，梁母火化，伯子耐至熱，仲都堪酷寒，左慈兵解而不死，甘始休糧以經歲，範軼見斫而不入，鱉令流屍而更生，少千執百鬼，長房縮地脈，仲甫假形於晨鳧，張楷吹噓起雲霧，未聞周孔能為斯事也。”

(I continued:) Hearing the weeping of the woman at Mount Tai, Confucius asked, and only then knew a tiger had eaten three of her family; nor did he understand why the woman had not moved away, and needed her answer before he grasped it. Seeing that the bird-netter caught only yellow fledglings, he could not make out the reason and asked before he understood. When he wished to bury his mother, he did not know where his father's grave was and needed to be told; when the grave mound he had made collapsed, again he did not know until a disciple told him, whereupon he shed tears. Again he suspected Yan Yuan of stealing food, and only by pretending to wish to offer to his forebears divined the falsity of that dust-scooping. When the stable burned, again he did not know whether men and horses had been hurt. When Yan Yuan fell behind, he straightway said he had died. He wandered through seventy-some states yet could not know beforehand that men were certain not to employ him, and went about restless and hurried, the mat never warm. Nor did he know the men of Kuang would besiege him, yet took that road. He asked Laozi about ancient rites, and there were rites he did not comprehend. He asked the Viscount of Tan about the bird offices, and there were offices he did not recognize. Traveling, he did not know the ford and sent someone to ask—nor did he know that the one asked would mock him and not tell the road; if that could have been known, there was no need to ask. He descended from his carriage to chase the man who sang of the phoenix, not knowing the man would not stay. He saw Nanzi, not knowing it would profit nothing. Such cases cannot all be listed; that he merely did not know the arts of immortality—where is the wonder in that? The vulgar Confucians also say: what the sage could not do, no other man can do either. Yet the people of Dang dwell in the water, Mother Liang was transformed by fire, Bozi withstood the fiercest heat, Zhongdu endured the bitterest cold, Zuo Ci was cut to pieces yet did not die, Gan Shi left off grain for a whole year, Fan Yi was hacked yet the blade could not enter, Bieling drifted as a corpse yet lived again, Shaoqian seized the hundred ghosts, Changfang shrank the veins of the earth, Zhongfu lent his form to a morning duck, and Zhang Kai puffed up clouds and mists—yet I have never heard that the Duke of Zhou and Confucius could do these things."

俗人或曰：“周孔皆能為此，但不為耳。”

The vulgar may say: "The Duke of Zhou and Confucius could do all these things; they merely did not do them."

吾答之曰：“必不求之於明文，而指之以空言者，吾便可謂周孔能振翮翻飛，翱翔八極，興雲致雨，移山拔井，但不為耳。一不以記籍見事為據者，復何限哉？必若所云者，吾亦可以言周孔皆已昇仙，但以此法不可以訓世，恐人皆知不死之可得，皆必悉委供養，廢進宦而登危浮深，以修斯道，是為家無復子孫，國無復臣吏，忠孝並喪，大倫必亂，故周孔密自為之，而秘不告人，外託終亡之形，內有上仙之實。如此，則子亦將何以難吾乎？亦又未必不然也。靈寶經有正機平衡飛龜授袟凡三篇，皆仙術也。吳王伐石以治宮室，而於合石之中，得紫文金簡之書，不能讀之，使使者持以問仲尼，而欺仲尼曰：‘吳王閒居，有赤雀銜書以置殿上，不知其義，故遠諮呈。’仲尼以視之，曰：‘此乃靈寶之方，長生之法，禹之所服，隱在水邦，年齊天地，朝於紫庭者也。禹將仙化，封之名山石函之中，乃今赤雀銜之，殆天授也。’以此論之是夏禹不死也，而仲尼又知之；安知仲尼不皆密修其道乎？正復使聖人不為此事，未可謂無其效也。人所好惡，各各不同，諭之以面，豈不信哉？誠合其意，雖小必為也；不合其神，雖大不學也。好苦憎甘，既皆有矣，嗜利棄義，亦無數焉。‘聖人之大寶曰位，何以聚人曰財。’又曰：‘富與貴，是人之所欲’，而昔已有禪之以帝王之位而不用，委之以四海之富而不願，蔑三九之官，背玉帛之聘，遂山林之高潔，甘魚釣之陋業者，蓋不可勝數耳。又曰：‘男女飲食，人之大欲存焉。’是以好色不可諫，甘旨可忘憂。昔有絕谷棄美，不畜妻妾，超然獨往，浩然得意，顧影含歡，漱流忘味者，又難勝記也。人情莫不愛紅顏豔姿，輕體柔身，而黃帝逑篤醜之嫫母，陳侯憐可憎之敦洽。

I answered him: "If one need not seek evidence in clear records but may point things out with empty words, then I too can say the Duke of Zhou and Confucius could beat their pinions and wheel in flight, soar to the eight extremities, raise clouds and bring down rain, shift mountains and uproot wells—they merely did not. Once one takes no stand on things seen in the records, where is the limit? By your argument I could even say the Duke of Zhou and Confucius had already ascended as immortals, but because this teaching cannot be used to instruct the world, fearing that all men would know deathlessness could be obtained and all would surely abandon support of their parents, leave their offices, climb the precipitous and float the deep to cultivate this way—so that families would no more have descendants, states no more have ministers and officers, loyalty and filial piety would perish together, and the great bonds would fall into disorder—the Duke of Zhou and Confucius secretly practiced it themselves and kept it secret, telling no one; outwardly they put on the shape of one who dies, inwardly they held the substance of the highest immortals. In that case, what would you use to refute me? Nor is it necessarily not so. The Lingbao Scripture has three sections—Zhengji, Pingheng, and the Flying Tortoise's Bestowal of the Rank—all arts of immortality. The King of Wu cut stone to build palaces, and within a joined stone found a book in purple characters on metal slips which none could read. He sent a messenger to ask Confucius, deceiving him thus: 'While the King of Wu was at leisure, a red sparrow came bearing a document and set it on the hall; not knowing its meaning, I have come far to consult you.' Confucius looked and said: 'This is the method of Lingbao, the way of long life, which Yu took; it was hidden in the watery realm, whose years equal heaven and earth, paying court at the Purple Court. When Yu was about to transform into an immortal he sealed it in a stone case on a famous mountain; that the red sparrow has brought it now is presumably heaven's bestowal.' Judged by this, Yu of Xia did not die, and Confucius moreover knew it—then how do we know Confucius did not secretly cultivate that way in its entirety? Even granted the sage did not do these things, one cannot say they have no effect. Men's likings and hatreds each differ; instruct them with a face and will they not surely agree? Truly if a thing suits his intent, however small he will do it; if it does not suit his spirit, however great he will not learn it. There are those who love the bitter and hate the sweet, and there is no counting those who lust for profit and abandon rightness. 'The sage's great treasure is called position; that whereby he gathers men is called wealth.' It is also said: 'Wealth and honor are what men desire'—yet in ancient times there were already those who, offered abdication of a thearch's throne, would not use it; entrusted with the riches of the four seas, were unwilling; who scorned the offices of the three excellencies and nine ministers, turned their backs on summonses of jade and silk, followed the high purity of mountain forests, and were content with the humble calling of fishing—too many, probably, to count. It is also said: 'Man and woman, drink and food—therein man's great desires dwell.' So love of beauty cannot be gainsaid, and sweet viands can make one forget care. Of old there were those who cut off grain and abandoned fine things, kept no wife or concubines, went loftily alone, grandly content, glancing at their shadow with inward joy, rinsing in the stream and forgetting taste—again hardly to be numbered. There is none among human feelings that does not love rosy faces, fair looks, light bodies, and supple frames; yet the Yellow Emperor chose for wife the thoroughly ugly Momu, and the Marquis of Chen doted on the detestable Dunqia."

人鼻無不樂香，故流黃鬱金、芝蘭蘇合、玄膽素膠、江離揭車、春蕙秋蘭，價同瓊瑤，而海上之女，逐酷臭之夫，隨之不止。周文嗜不美之菹，不以易太牢之滋味。魏明好椎鑿之聲，不以易絲竹之和音。人各有意，安可求此以同彼乎？周孔自偶，不信仙道，日月有所不照，聖人有所不知，豈可以聖人所不為，便雲天下無仙！是責三光不照覆盆之內也。”

(I continued:) There is no man's nose that does not delight in fragrance; therefore liuhuang, turmeric, angelica and orchid, storax, dark gall, white gum, river-sedge and cart-fragrance, spring basil and autumn orchid are priced like precious jade—yet the woman by the sea followed a man of rank stench and would not stop. King Wen relished an unappetizing pickle and would not have traded it for the flavor of the great sacrifice. The lord of Wei loved the sound of mallet and chisel and would not have traded it for the harmony of strings and pipes. Men each have their own bent; how can one demand this to match that? The Duke of Zhou and Confucius themselves chanced to agree; they did not believe the way of immortality. Sun and moon have places they do not shine; the sage has things he does not know. How can one say there are no immortals under heaven because the sage did not do it? That is like blaming the three luminaries for not shining inside an overturned basin."

或問曰：“古之仙人者，皆由學以得之，將特稟異氣耶？”抱朴子答曰：“是何言歟？彼莫不負笈隨師，積其功勤，蒙霜冒險，櫛風沐雨，而躬親灑掃，契闊勞藝，始見之以信行，終被試以危困，性篤行貞，心無怨貳，乃得升堂以入於室。或有怠厭而中止，或有怨恚而造退，或有誘於榮利，而還修流俗之事，或有敗於邪說，而失其淡泊之志，或朝為而夕欲其成，或坐修而立望其效。若夫睹財色而心不戰，聞俗言而志不沮者，萬夫之中，有一人為多矣。故為者如牛毛，獲者如麟角也。夫彀勁弩者，效力於發箭；涉大川者，保全於既濟；井不達泉，則猶不掘也；一步未至，則猶不往也。修塗之累，非移晷所臻；凌霄之高，非一簣之積。然升峻者患於垂上而力不足，為道者病於方成而志不遂。千倉萬箱，非一耕所得；幹天之木，非旬日所長；不測之淵，起於汀瀅；陶朱之資，必積百千。若乃人退己進，陰子所以窮至道也。敬卒若始，羨門所以致雲龍也。我志誠堅，彼何人哉？”

Someone asked: "The immortals of antiquity—did they all obtain it through study, or were they specially endowed with an extraordinary qi?" Baopuzi answered: "What kind of question is that? There was none who did not shoulder his book-box and follow a teacher, accumulating merit and toil, braving frost and risking danger, combed by the wind and washed by the rain, himself doing the sweeping, bound to labor at the art—first proving himself by faithful conduct, finally being tested by peril and hardship, firm in nature and upright in action, heart without complaint or second thought—before gaining entry to hall and inner chamber. Some grew weary and stopped midway; some resented and withdrew at the start; some were lured by glory and profit and returned to worldly pursuits; some were defeated by perverse teachings and lost their purpose of calm detachment; some worked at dawn and expected success by dusk; some sat cultivating and immediately looked for results. As for those who see wealth and beauty without their hearts racing, and hear vulgar talk without their purpose flagging—in ten thousand men, one is already many. So those who do it are like ox hairs, those who obtain it like unicorn horns. He who bends a strong crossbow to the full puts his force into releasing the arrow; he who fords a great river is made safe only at the far bank; a well that has not reached the spring is as good as undug; one step untaken is as good as not having gone. The accumulation of a long road cannot be reached in a sundial's span; a height towering to the sky is not one basketful's piling. Yet he who climbs the steep suffers that his strength fails just as the top is near, and he who works at the Way is ailed that his will fails just as it is about to be achieved. A thousand granaries and ten thousand bins are not the yield of a single plowing; a wood that pierces the clouds is not the growth of ten days; the unfathomable deep rises from a shallow shoal; the fortune of Tao Zhu was surely piled up by hundreds and thousands. As for men falling back while I advance—that is how Yinzi plumbed the utmost Way. Reverencing the end like the beginning—that is how Xianmen summoned the cloud-dragons. If my resolve is truly firm, what manner of man is he?"

抱朴子曰：“俗民既不能生生，而務所以煞生。夫有盡之物，不能給無已之耗；江河之流，不能盈無底之器也。凡人利入少而費用多者，猶不供也，況無錙銖之來，而有千百之往乎？人無少長，莫不有疾，但輕重言之耳。而受氣各有多少，多者其盡遲，少者其竭速。其知道者補而救之，必先復故，然後方求量表之益。若令服食終日，則肉飛骨騰，導引改朔，則羽翮參差，則世閒無不信道之民也。患乎升勺之利未堅，而鍾石之費相尋，根柢之據未極，而冰霜之毒交攻。不知過之在己，而反雲道之無益，故捐丸散而罷吐納矣。故曰非長生難也，聞道難也；非聞道難也，行之難也；非行之難也，終之難也。良匠能與人規矩，不能使人必巧也。明師能授人方書，不能使人必為也。夫修道猶如播谷也，成之猶收積也。厥田雖沃，水澤雖美，而為之失天時，耕鋤又不至，登稼被壟，不獲不刈，頃畝雖多，猶無獲也。凡夫不徒不知益之為益也，又不知損之為損也，夫損易知而速焉，益難知而遲焉，人尚不悟其易，安能識其難哉？夫損之者如燈火之消脂，莫之見也，而忽盡矣。益之者如苗禾之播殖，莫之覺也，而忽茂矣。故治身養性，務謹其細，不可以小益為不平而不修，不可以小損為無傷而不防。凡聚小所以就大，積一所以至億也。若能愛之於微，成之於著，則幾乎知道矣。”

Baopuzi said: "The common people can neither make their lives grow, yet devote themselves solely to the means of killing life. A finite thing cannot supply an endless consumption; the flow of the Yangzi and the Yellow River cannot fill a bottomless vessel. In general, a man whose income is small and expenses great is still not supplied—how much more one with not a penny coming in and hundreds going out? Men young and old all without exception have illness, differing only in degree; but the qi each receives is more or less: he who has much exhausts it late, he who has little dries up fast. The knowing mend and rescue it: they must first restore the former state, and only then seek the increase marked on the measure. If taking medicines all day made flesh fly and bones soar, and a month's guiding-stretching grew one a full set of plumes, then there would be no man in the world who did not believe the Way. The fear is that while the benefit of thimblefuls is not yet firm, expenses of a hundredweight come in succession; the root's hold is not yet deep when the poison of frost and ice attacks from all sides. Not knowing the fault lies in themselves, they instead say the road profits nothing, and so cast away pill and powder and quit exhaling and inhaling. Thus it is said: it is not long life that is hard, it is hearing the Way that is hard; it is not hearing the Way that is hard, it is practicing it that is hard; it is not practicing it that is hard, it is finishing it that is hard. A good artisan can give men compass and square but cannot make them surely skillful; an enlightened teacher can hand men the formula-books but cannot make them surely do it. Cultivating the Way is like sowing grain; completing it is like the harvest. Though the field be fertile and the waters fine, if the work misses heaven's season and the plowing and hoeing fall short, the weeds cover the ridges and none reaps or cuts; however many the acres, there is still no yield. The ordinary man not only fails to know benefit for benefit, he also fails to know harm for harm. Harm is easy to know and quick; benefit is hard to know and slow. If a man cannot even grasp the easy, how can he discern the hard? Harm is like a lamp melting its fat: unseen, and suddenly gone. Benefit is like seedling grain sown and planted: unfelt, and suddenly flourishing. So in ordering the body and nourishing the nature, one must be careful of the small places: one must not think a small benefit trivial and leave it uncultivated, nor think a small harm harmless and leave it unguarded. All that is great is made by gathering the small; a hundred million is reached by piling up ones. If one can cherish it in the minute and complete it in the manifest, one is nearly a knower."

或問曰：“古者豈有無所施行，而偶自長生者乎？”抱朴子答曰：“無也。或隨明師，積功累勤，便得賜以合成之藥。或受秘方，自行治作，事不接於世，言不累於俗，而記著者止存其姓名，而不能具知其所以得仙者，故闕如也。昔黃帝生而能言，役使百靈，可謂天授自然之體者也，猶復不能端坐而得道。故陟王屋而受丹經，到鼎湖而飛流珠，登崆峒而問廣成，之具茨而事大隗，適東岱而奉中黃，入金谷而諮涓子，道養則資玄素二女，精推步則訪山稽力牧，講占候則詢風后，著體診則受雷岐，審攻戰則納五音之策，窮神奸則記白澤之辭，相地理則書青烏之說，救傷殘則綴金冶之術。故能畢該秘要，窮道盡真，遂升龍以高躋，與天地乎罔極也。然按神仙經，皆雲黃帝及老子奉事太乙元君以受要訣，況乎不逮彼二君者，安有自得仙度世者乎？未之聞也。”

Someone asked: "In ancient times were there those who did nothing at all and yet by chance lived long of themselves?" Baopuzi answered: "No. Some followed enlightened teachers, piled up merit and toil, and were granted compounded medicines. Some received secret formulas and made them themselves; their affairs not touching the world, their words not tangling with the vulgar; and the records keep only their names, unable to tell in detail how they obtained immortality—and so the gap. In antiquity the Yellow Emperor could speak at birth and command the hundred spirits; he may be called a heaven-endowed natural body, yet even he could not sit square and obtain the Way. Thus he climbed Mount Wangwu to receive the Elixir Classic, went to Dinghu to fly-refine the flowing pearl, ascended Kongtong to question Guangcheng, went to Juci to serve Dawei, traveled to the Eastern Peak to honor Zhonghuang, entered Jin'gu to consult Juanzi; for the nurture of the Way he drew on the two women Xuan and Su; for the subtlety of the calendar's reckoning he sought out Shanji and Limu; for the teaching of watching the heavens he consulted Fenghou; for the writing of pulses and diagnosis he received from Leigong and Qibo; for examining attack and war he took in the counsel of the five tones; for plumbing spirits and monsters he recorded the words of Baize; for reading the lay of the land he wrote the doctrine of the Blue Bird; for rescuing the wounded and maimed he pieced together the arts of the metal-workers. Thus he could embrace all the secret essentials, plumb the Way and exhaust the true, and then mount a dragon and rise on high, boundless with heaven and earth. Yet according to the scriptures of the immortals, the Yellow Emperor and Laozi both served Taiyi Yuanjun to receive the essential secrets. How much less those who could not match those two lords—where has there ever been one who obtained immortality and crossed the world by himself? It has never been heard of."

或曰：“黃帝審仙者，橋山之冢，又何為乎？”抱朴子答曰：“按荊山經及龍首記，皆雲黃帝服神丹之後，龍來迎之，群臣追慕，靡所措思，或取其几杖，立廟而祭之；或取其衣冠，葬而守之。列仙傳云：黃帝自擇亡日，七十日去，七十日還，葬於橋山，山陵忽崩，墓空無屍，但劍舄在焉。此諸說雖異，要於為仙也。言黃帝仙者，見於道書及百家之說者甚多，而儒家不肯長奇怪，開異塗，務於禮教，而神仙之事，不可以訓俗，故云其死，以杜民心耳。朱邑欒巴於公，有功惠於民，百姓皆生為之立廟祠。又古者盛德之人，身沒之後，臣子刊其勳績於不朽之器。而今世君長遷轉，吏民思戀，而樹德頌之碑者，往往有焉，此亦黃帝有廟墓之類也，豈足以證其必死哉？”

Someone said: "If the Yellow Emperor really became an immortal, then what is the tomb at Mount Qiao for?" Baopuzi answered: "According to the Jingshan Classic and the Longshou Record, both say that after the Yellow Emperor took the divine elixir, a dragon came to receive him; his ministers, grieving after him with nowhere to fix their thoughts, some took his stool and staff and raised a temple to sacrifice to him, some took his robe and cap and buried them and kept watch. The Biographies of the Immortals says: the Yellow Emperor himself chose the day of his vanishing; seventy days he was gone, seventy days he returned; he was buried at Mount Qiao, where the ridge suddenly collapsed, the grave was found empty without a corpse, and only his sword and shoes remained. Though these accounts differ, their gist is that he became an immortal. That the Yellow Emperor became an immortal is seen in many places in the Daoist books and the sayings of the hundred schools; but the Confucians, unwilling to abet the strange and open heterodox paths, devoted to ritual teaching—and since the matter of the immortals cannot serve to instruct the vulgar—said that he died, simply to cut off the people's hopes. Zhu Yi, Luan Ba, and Lord Yu did good and kindness for the people, and the hundred surnames raised shrines to them while they still lived. In ancient times too, for men of full virtue who had died, subjects carved their merits on imperishable vessels. And nowadays, when rulers and chiefs are transferred and the officers and people yearn after them, they raise steles extolling their virtue—such things are common. This is of the same kind as the Yellow Emperor's temple and tomb; how can it suffice to prove he must have died?"

或人問曰：“彭祖八百，安期三千，斯壽之過人矣。若果有不死之道，被何不遂仙乎？豈非稟命受氣，自有修短，而彼偶得其多，理不可延，故不免於雕隕哉？”抱朴子答曰：“按彭祖經云，其自帝嚳佐堯，歷夏至殷為大夫，殷王遣采女從受房中之術，行之有效，欲殺彭祖，以絕其道，彭祖覺焉而逃去。去時年七八百餘，非為死也。黃石公記云：彭祖去後七十餘年，門人於流沙之西見之，非死明矣。又彭祖之弟子，青衣烏公、黑穴公、秀眉公、白兔公子、離婁公、太足君、高丘子、不肯來七八人，皆歷數百歲，在殷而各仙去，況彭祖何肯死哉？又劉向所記列仙傳亦言彭祖是仙人也。又安期先生者，賣藥於海邊，琅琊人傳世見之，計已千年。秦始皇請與語，三日三夜。其言高，其旨遠，博而有證，始皇異之，乃賜之金璧，可直數千萬，安期受而置之於阜鄉亭，以赤玉舄一量為報，留書曰，複數千載，求我於蓬萊山。如此，是為見始皇時已千歲矣，非為死也。又始皇剛暴而驁很，最是天下之不應信神仙者。又不中以不然之言答對之者也。至於問安期以長生之事，安期答之允當，始皇惺悟，信世閒之必有仙道，既厚惠遺，又甘心欲學不死之事，但自無明師也，而為盧敖徐福輩所欺弄，故不能得耳。向使安期先生言無符據，三日三夜之中，足以窮屈，則始皇必將烹煮屠戮，不免鼎俎之禍，其厚惠安可得乎？”

Someone asked: "Pengzu lived eight hundred years, Anqi three thousand—spans already surpassing other men. If the way of deathlessness truly exists, why did they not simply become immortals? Is it not that the mandate one receives and the qi one is endowed with have their own lengths, that they chanced to receive more, that in principle it cannot be stretched, and so they could not escape withering and falling?" Baopuzi answered: "According to the Classic of Pengzu, he aided Yao from the time of Emperor Ku, passed through Xia into Yin as a grandee; the King of Yin sent Cainü to follow him and receive the arts of the bedchamber, and when they proved effective, wished to kill Pengzu to cut off that way. Pengzu perceived it and fled. When he left he was seven or eight hundred-some years old—he did not die. The Record of Huang Shigong says: more than seventy years after Pengzu left, his disciples saw him west of the Flowing Sands—that he did not die is clear. Moreover Pengzu's disciples—Qingyi Wugong, Heixuegong, Xiumeigong, Baitu Gongzi, Lilougong, Taizujun, Gaoqiuzi, Bukenlai, seven or eight men—all lived several hundred years and each departed as an immortal in the time of Yin; how much less would Pengzu consent to die! And the Biographies of the Immortals compiled by Liu Xiang also says Pengzu was an immortal. As for Master Anqi, he sold herbs by the seashore, and the men of Langya handed down accounts of seeing him—reckoning it, already a thousand years. The First Emperor of Qin invited him to converse, three days and three nights. His words were lofty, his purport far-reaching, broad yet attested; the First Emperor marveled and bestowed gold and jade worth many tens of millions. Anqi accepted them and left them at the Fuxiang pavilion, giving a pair of red-jade shoes in return, and left a letter saying: after several thousand more years, seek me at Mount Penglai. So at his audience with the First Emperor he was already a thousand years old—he did not die. Moreover the First Emperor was hard, violent, arrogant, and fierce—the man under heaven least fit to believe in spirits and immortals, and not one to be answered with anything but the truth. When he asked Anqi about long life, Anqi answered fittingly; the First Emperor awoke, believed the way of immortals must exist in the world, not only gave rich gifts but earnestly wished to learn the deathless work—only he lacked an enlightened teacher and was played false by the likes of Lu Ao and Xu Fu, and so could not obtain it. If Master Anqi's words had had no corroboration, three days and nights would have sufficed to drive him to exhaustion; the First Emperor would surely have boiled and butchered him, and he could not have escaped the calamity of tripod and platter—how then could he have obtained that rich largess?"

或問曰：“世有服食藥物，行氣導引，不免死者，何也？”

Someone asked: "In the world there are those who take medicinal substances and practice moving qi and guiding-stretching, and still do not escape death—why is that?"

抱朴子答曰：“不得金丹，但服草木之藥及修小術者，可以延年遲死耳，不得仙也。或但知服草藥，而不知還年之要術，則終無久生之理也。或不曉帶神符，行禁戒，思身神，守真一，則止可令內疾不起，風溼不犯耳。若卒有惡鬼強邪，山精水毒害之，則便死也。或不得入山之法，令山神為之作禍，則妖鬼試之，猛獸傷之，溪毒擊之，蛇蝮螫之，致多死事，非一條也。或修道晚暮，而先自損傷已深，難可補復。補復之益，未得根據，而疾隨復作，所以克伐之事，亦何緣得長生哉？或年老為道而得仙者，或年少為道而不成者，何哉？彼雖年老而受氣本多，受氣本多則傷損薄，傷損薄則易養，易養故得仙也。此雖年少而受氣本少，受氣本少則傷深，傷深則難救，難救故不成仙也。夫木槿楊柳，斷殖之更生，倒之亦生，橫之亦生。生之易者，莫過斯木也。然埋之既淺，又未得久，乍刻乍剝，或搖或拔，雖壅以膏壤，浸以春澤，猶不脫於枯瘁者，以其根荄不固，不暇吐其萌芽，津液不得遂結其生氣也。人生之為體，易傷難養，方之二木，不及遠矣。而所以攻毀之者，過於刻剝，劇乎搖拔也。濟之者鮮，壞之者眾，死其宜也。夫吐故納新者，因氣以長氣，而氣大衰者則難長也。服食藥物者，因血以益血，而血垂竭者則難益也。夫奔馳而喘逆，或欬或滿，用力役體，汲汲短乏者，氣損之候也。面無光色，皮膚枯臘，唇焦脈白，腠理萎瘁者，血減之證也。二證既衰於外，則靈根亦凋於中矣。如此，則不得上藥，不能救也。凡為道而不成，營生而得死者，其人非不有氣血也。然身中之所以為氣為血者，根源已喪，但餘其枝流也。譬猶入水之燼，火滅而煙不即息；既斷之木，柯葉猶生。二者非不有煙，非不有葉，而其所以為煙為葉者，已先亡矣。世人以覺病之日，始作為疾，猶以氣絕之日，為身喪之候也。

Baopuzi answered: "Those who cannot obtain the golden elixir and merely take medicines of herb and tree and cultivate the lesser arts can lengthen their years and delay death, but cannot become immortals. Some know only to take herbal drugs and do not know the essential arts of returning the years, so in the end there is no principle of lasting life for them. Some do not understand wearing the spirit talismans, keeping the prohibitions, contemplating the body's spirits, and guarding the True One; they can only keep inner sickness from arising and wind-dampness from trespassing. If suddenly evil ghosts and strong perversities, mountain sprites and water poisons assail them, they die on the spot. Some do not obtain the methods for entering mountains, causing the mountain spirits to make calamity on that account: monstrous ghosts test them, fierce beasts wound them, stream-poison strikes them, vipers sting them—so that deaths are many and of more than one kind. Some cultivate the Way too late, having already damaged themselves deeply beforehand, hard to repair. Before the benefit of repairing can gain a foothold, sickness follows and flares again, so that the work of attack and cutting proceeds—whence can long life come? There are those who take up the Way in old age and obtain immortality, and those who take up the Way young and do not succeed—why? Though a man be old, if the qi he received was originally ample, his injuries are thin; injuries thin, he is easy to nourish; easy to nourish, he obtains immortality. Though a man be young, if the qi he received was originally scant, his injuries are deep; injuries deep, he is hard to rescue; hard to rescue, he does not become an immortal. Hibiscus and willow, cut and planted, live again; planted upside down they live, laid sideways they live—nothing grows more readily than these two trees. Yet if planted shallow, before they have long taken hold, now carved now peeled, now shaken now pulled, though you heap them with fat soil and soak them with spring moisture, they still do not escape withering—for the root is not firm, and they have no time to put forth sprout and bud, so the sap cannot knit that living qi. Man's life as a body is easy to injure and hard to nourish; compared to these two trees it falls far short, while the things that attack and destroy him surpass carving and peeling and are fiercer than shaking and pulling. Rescue is little, ruin is much—death is fitting. Exhaling the old and inhaling the new grows qi by means of qi, but where qi has greatly declined it is hard to grow. Taking medicinal substances increases blood by means of blood, but where blood is nearly dry it is hard to increase. Panting and gasping when running, now coughing now tight in the chest, toiling the body with effort, ever short and deficient—these are the signs of damaged qi. A face without luster, skin parched and sallow, lips scorched and vessels pale, the interstices withered and spent—these are the proofs of diminished blood. When the two proofs show failing without, the spirit root withers within. In such a case, without obtaining the upper medicines there is no saving him. All who practice the Way without success, or husband life yet come to death, are not men lacking qi and blood; but that within the body which makes the qi and blood has lost its source, and only the branch-streams remain. It is like an ember cast into water: the fire is quenched yet the smoke does not at once cease; like a severed tree: the boughs and leaves still live. The two are not without smoke, not without leaves—but that which makes the smoke and the leaves has already died. The world's men take the day they feel ill as the beginning of sickness, just as they take the day breath ceases as the sign the body is lost."

唯怨風冷與暑溼，不知風冷暑溼，不能傷壯實之人也，徒患體虛氣少者，不能堪之，故為所中耳。何以較之，設有數人，年紀老壯既同，服食厚薄又等，俱造沙漠之地，並冒嚴寒之夜，素雪墮於上，玄冰結於下，寒風摧條而宵駭，欬唾凝冱於唇吻，則其中將有獨中冷者，而不必盡病也。非冷氣之有偏，蓋人體有不耐者耳。故俱食一物，或獨以結病者，非此物之有偏毒也。鈞器齊飲，而或醒或醉者，非酒勢之有彼此也。同冒炎暑，而或獨以暍死者，非天熱之有公私也。齊服一藥，而或昏瞑煩悶者，非毒烈之有愛憎也。是以沖風赴林，而枯柯先摧；洪濤凌崖，而拆隙首頹；烈火燎原，而燥卉前焚；龍碗墜地，而脆者獨破。由茲以觀，則人之無道，體已素病，因風寒暑溼者以發之耳。苟能令正氣不衰，形神相衛，莫能傷也。凡為道者，常患於晚，不患於早也。恃年紀之少壯，體力之方剛者，自役過差，百病兼結，命危朝露，不得大藥，但服草木，可以差於常人，不能延其大限也。故仙經曰：養生以不傷為本。此要言也。神農曰：百病不愈，安得長生？信哉斯言也。”

(Baopuzi continued:) They blame only wind-cold and heat-damp, not knowing that wind-cold and heat-damp cannot injure the hale and solid; it is only those whose bodies are empty and qi scant who cannot bear it and are struck. Take a comparison: suppose there are several men, alike in age, old and young, and alike in richness of food and medicine, who all go into the desert and together brave a night of bitter cold, white snow falling from above and dark ice freezing below, cold wind breaking the branches and startling the night, spittle freezing on the lips—then among them there will be some struck by the cold alone, not necessarily all falling ill. It is not that the cold air has favorites; it is that men's bodies differ in endurance. So of those who all eat one thing, if one alone is thereby bound in sickness, it is not that the thing held a particular poison. Of those who drink together from the same vessel, that some wake and some are drunk is not that the wine's strength differs here and there. Of those who brave the same blazing heat, that one alone dies of heatstroke is not that heaven's heat has public and private. Of those who take one medicine together, that some faint and grow distressed is not that the drug's virulence has loves and hates. So when a blast strikes the forest, the dead boughs break first; when great billows mount the cliff, the cracked parts collapse first; when fierce fire spreads over the plain, the dry plants burn first; when a dragon bowl drops to the ground, the brittle one alone shatters. Seen thus, a man without the Way has a body already long sick; wind, cold, heat, and damp merely come to set it off. If one can keep the right qi undiminished, form and spirit guarding one another, nothing can injure him. In cultivating the Way, the trouble is always that it is late, never that it is early. Those who rely on being young and strong, whose bodily strength is at its hard edge, drive themselves past measure; the hundred illnesses knot together, life hangs like morning dew; failing to obtain the great medicine, they take only herbs and trees, which can make them somewhat better than ordinary men but cannot stretch the great limit. So the Classic of Immortals says: in nourishing life, not being injured is the root. These are words of moment. Shennong said: if the hundred illnesses are not cured, how can one obtain long life? These words are trustworthy."

或問曰：“所謂傷之者，豈非淫慾之閒乎？”抱朴子曰：“亦何獨斯哉？然長生之要，在乎還年之道。上士知之，可以延年除病；其次不以自伐者也。若年尚少壯而知還年，服陰丹以補腦，採玉液於長谷者，不服藥物，亦不失三百歲也，但不得仙耳。不得其術者，古人方之於冰杯之盛湯，羽苞之蓄火也。且又才所不逮，而困思之，傷也；力所不勝，而強舉之，傷也；悲哀憔悴，傷也；喜樂過差，傷也；汲汲所欲，傷也；久談言笑，傷也；寢息失時，傷也；挽弓引弩，傷也；沈醉嘔吐，傷也；飽食即臥，傷也；跳走喘乏，傷也；歡呼哭泣，傷也；陰陽不交，傷也；積傷至盡則早亡，早亡非道也。是以養生之方，唾不及遠，行不疾步，耳不極聽，目不久視，坐不至久，臥不及疲，先寒而衣，先熱而解，不欲極飢而食，食不過飽，不欲極渴而飲，飲不過多。凡食過則結積聚，飲過則成痰癖。不欲甚勞甚逸，不欲起晚，不欲汗流，不欲多睡，不欲奔車走馬，不欲極目遠望，不欲多啖生冷，不欲飲酒當風，不欲數數沐浴，不欲廣志遠願，不欲規造異巧。冬不欲極溫，夏不欲窮涼，不露臥星下，不眠中見肩，大寒大熱，大風大霧，皆不欲冒之。五味入口，不欲偏多，故酸多傷脾，苦多傷肺，辛多傷肝，鹹多則傷心，甘多則傷腎，此五行自然之理也。凡言傷者，亦不便覺也，謂久則壽損耳。是以善攝生者，臥起有四時之早晚，興居有至和之常制；調利筋骨，有偃仰之方；杜疾閒邪，有吞吐之術；流行榮衛，有補瀉之法；節宣勞逸，有與奪之要。忍怒以全陰氣，抑喜以養陽氣。然後先將服草木以救虧缺，後服金丹以定無窮，長生之理，盡於此矣。若有欲決意任懷，自謂達識知命，不泥異端，極情肆力，不營久生者，聞此言也，雖風之過耳，電之經目，不足諭也。

Someone asked: "By injuries, do you not mean the business of lust?" Baopuzi said: "And is it only that? The essential of long life lies in the way of returning the years. The highest men who know it can lengthen their years and expel sickness; the next best are those who do not use it to cut themselves down. If while still young and strong one knows how to return the years, takes the yin elixir to replenish the brain, and gathers the jade fluid in the Long Valley—this is the bedchamber return of the years, the Long Valley meaning within the body, not a valley in the mountains—then even without taking medicines one will not fall short of three hundred years, only failing to become an immortal. For those who do not obtain that art, the ancients compared it to a cup of ice holding hot water, a bundle of feathers holding fire. Moreover: to strain thought over what one's talent cannot reach is injury; to force a lift one's strength cannot bear is injury; grief and wasting are injury; excessive joy is injury; fretting after one's desires is injury; long talking and laughing is injury; sleeping and waking out of season is injury; drawing bows and crossbows is injury; dead-drunkenness and vomiting is injury; lying down straight after eating one's fill is injury; leaping and running till gasping and spent is injury; shouting and weeping is injury; yin and yang not joining is injury. Injuries accumulated to the full bring early death, and early death is not the Way. So the method of nourishing life: do not spit far, do not walk fast, do not strain the ear to the utmost, do not gaze long with the eyes, do not sit over-long, do not lie till worn out; dress before you are cold, loosen before you are hot; do not wait to be famished before eating, and never eat past fullness; do not wait to be parched before drinking, and never drink too much. To eat too much makes knotted accumulations; to drink too much makes phlegm and blockage. Do not labor or idle to excess, do not rise late, do not sweat heavily, do not sleep overmuch, do not gallop carriages and horses, do not strain your gaze to the far distance, do not eat much of the raw and cold, do not drink wine facing the wind, do not bathe too often, do not harbor ambitions broad and wishes far, do not scheme to fashion clever contrivances. In winter do not seek the utmost warmth; in summer do not go after utter cool; do not sleep exposed beneath the stars, nor bare your shoulders in sleep; great cold and great heat, great wind and great fog—do not brave them all. Of the five flavors entering the mouth let none be overmuch: much sour injures the spleen, much bitter injures the lungs, much acrid injures the liver, much salt injures the heart, much sweet injures the kidneys—this is the natural order of the five phases. All injuries, moreover, are not felt at once; it is only over time that they shorten the span. Therefore those skilled at husbanding life keep lying and rising to the season's early and late, activity and rest to a constant rule of utmost harmony; for tuning and easing sinew and bone there are the methods of bending and stretching; for barring sickness and warding off evil there are the arts of swallowing and spitting; for moving the nutritive and defensive qi there are the techniques of toning and draining; for regulating exertion and ease there are the keys of giving and taking. Bear anger to keep the yin qi whole; curb delight to nourish the yang qi. Then first take herbs and trees to repair the deficits, and afterward take the golden elixir to fix the endless—the whole principle of long life is herein. If there is a man set on following his own bent, thinking himself of perceptive wisdom and knowing his fate, not bound by heterodoxies, giving his feelings and strength free rein and not minding lasting life—then these words to his ear are less than wind passing the ear or lightning crossing the eye."

雖身枯於流連之中，氣絕於紈綺之閒，而甘心焉，亦安可告之以養生之事哉？不惟不納，乃謂妖訛也。而望彼信之，所謂以明鑑給蒙瞽，以絲竹娛聾夫也。”

(Baopuzi continued:) Though such a man's body withers amid his pleasures and his breath gives out among silks and satins, and he is content to have it so—how can one tell him of nourishing life? Not only does he not accept it, he calls it devil's nonsense. To hope for his belief is what is meant by giving a bright mirror to the blind and delighting deaf men with strings and pipes."

抱朴子曰：“天地之大德曰生，生好物者也。是以道家之所至秘而重者，莫過乎長生之方也。故血盟乃傳，傳非其人，戒在天罰。先師不敢以輕行授人，須人求之至勤者，猶當揀選至精者乃教之，況乎不好不求，求之不篤者，安可衒其沽以告之哉？其受命不應仙者，雖日見仙人成群在世，猶必謂彼自異種人，天下別有此物，或呼為鬼魅之變化，或雲偶值於自然，豈有肯謂修為之所得哉？苟心所不信，雖令赤松王喬言提其耳，亦當同以為妖訛。然時頗有識信者，復患於不能勤求明師。夫曉至要得真道者，誠自甚稀，非倉卒可值也。然知之者，但當少耳，亦未嘗絕於世也。由求之者不廣不篤，有仙命者，要自當與之相值也。然求而不得者有矣，未有不求而得者也。世閒自有奸偽圖錢之子，而竊道士之號者，不可勝數也。然此等復不謂挺無所知也，皆復粗開頭角，或妄沽名，加之以伏邪飾偽，而好事之徒，不識其真偽者，徒多之進問，自取誑惑，而拘制之，不令得行，廣尋奇士異人，而告之曰，道盡於此矣。以誤於有志者之不少，可嘆可恚也。或聞有曉消五雲、飛八石、轉九丹、冶黃白、水瓊瑤、化朱碧、凝霜雪於神爐、採靈芝於嵩嶽者，則多而毀之曰，此法獨有赤松王喬知之，今世之人而云知之者，皆虛妄耳。則淺見之家，不覺此言有詐偽而作，便息遠求之意。悲夫，可為慨嘆者也！凌晷飆飛，暫少忽老，迅速之甚，諭之無物，百年之壽，三萬餘日耳。幼弱則未有所知，衰邁則歡樂並廢，童蒙昏耄，除數十年，而險隘憂病，相尋代有，居世之年，略消其半，計定得百年者，喜笑平和，則不過五六十年，咄嗟滅盡，哀憂昏耄，六七千日耳，顧眄已盡矣，況於全百年者，萬未有一乎？諦而念之，亦無以笑彼夏蟲朝菌也。蓋不知道者之所至悲矣。

Baopuzi said: "The great virtue of heaven and earth is called life, and life loves things. Therefore what the school of the Way keeps most secret and prizes most is none other than the formulas of long life. Thus they are transmitted only after smearing blood in covenant, and transmission to the wrong person is forbidden under heaven's punishment. The former teachers dared not give them lightly; a man had to seek with utmost diligence, and even then they would select the most devoted before teaching—how much less for those who do not love it and do not seek it, or seek it without earnestness! To those whose received mandate is not to become immortals, even seeing crowds of immortals daily in the world, they will surely say: these are a different kind of being, there is this other thing in the world; or call them the transformations of goblins, or say they happened on it by nature—who would consent to say it was obtained by cultivation? If the heart does not believe, even should Master Redpine and Wangzi Qiao take him by the ear and tell him, he would likewise take it for devil's nonsense. Yet sometimes there are men who know and believe, and they suffer from being unable to seek an enlightened teacher diligently. Those who understand the utmost essentials and have obtained the true Way are indeed few and are not met with in haste; but those who know should be few—it has never died out of the world. Because seekers are neither broad nor earnest enough, those who hold the mandate of immortality keep missing one another. But those who seek and do not obtain exist; there are none who obtain without seeking. In the world there are swindlers out for money who steal the name of Daoist, too many to count. Yet such men are not utterly ignorant; they have roughly opened the first corner, some falsely trading on fame, and besides harbor evil and dress up falsehoods; and the men eager for novelty who cannot tell true from false go in droves to ask them, bringing deception on themselves, and are held in restraint and not allowed to proceed, to seek widely for rare scholars and strange men—only to be told: the Way is all here. By this not a few men of resolve have been wasted—worthy of sighs and of anger. Others, hearing that there are those who know how to dissolve the five micas, volatilize the eight minerals, cycle the nine elixirs, smelt yellow-and-white, turn fine jade into water, transform vermilion and jade-green, congeal frost and snow upon the spirit furnace, and gather the numinous mushrooms on Mount Song—then heap slander on them, saying: this art only Master Redpine and Wangzi Qiao knew; that men of today claim to know it is all empty falsehood. Then the shallow-sighted, not perceiving that this talk was fraudulently made, lay aside all thought of seeking afar. Sorrow—it deserves a sigh! Light and shade fly like a whirlwind; brief youth suddenly turns old. Swift indeed, beyond anything to compare it: a span of a hundred years is thirty thousand and some days. In helpless infancy nothing is yet known; in decrepit age all joy is done with. Between the dimness of childhood and the dullness of dotage several decades are cut away, while straits, dangers, griefs, and sicknesses come in unbroken succession. Of the years spent in the world roughly half are consumed; reckon it that a man truly gets a hundred years, and the days of glad laughter and calm are no more than fifty or sixty—gone in a sigh—and of the six or seven thousand days of sorrow, care, and dim old age, a glance and they are spent. How much more those who complete the hundred years, not one in ten thousand! Think carefully on this, and there is no laughing at the summer insect and the morning mushroom. This is probably the deepest sorrow of those who do not know."

里語有之：人在世閒，日失一日，如牽牛羊以詣屠所，每進一步，而去死轉近。此譬雖醜，而實理也。達人所以不愁死者，非不欲求，亦固不知所以免死之術，而空自焦愁，無益於事。故云樂天知命，故不憂耳，非不欲久生也。姬公請代武王，仲尼曳杖悲懷，是知聖人亦不樂速死矣。俗人見莊周有大夢之喻，因復競共張齊死生之論。蓋詭道強達，陽作違抑之言，皆仲尼所為破律應煞者也。今察諸有此談者，被疾病則遽針灸，冒危險則甚畏死。然末俗通弊，不崇真信，背典誥而治子書，若不吐反理之巧辨者，則謂之樸野，非老莊之學。故無骨殖而取偶俗之徒，遂流漂於不然之說，而不能自返也。老子以長生久視為業，而莊周貴於搖尾塗中，不為被網之龜，被繡之牛，餓而求粟於河侯，以此知其不能齊死生也。晚學不能考校虛實，偏據一句，不亦謬乎？且夫深入九泉之下，長夜罔極，始為螻蟻之糧，終與塵壤合體，令人怛然心熱，不覺咄嗟。若心有求生之志，何可不棄置不急之事，以修玄妙之業哉？其不信則已矣。其信之者，復患於俗情之不蕩盡，而不能專以養生為意，而營世務之餘暇而為之，所以或有為之者，恆病晚而多不成也。凡人之所汲汲者，勢利嗜慾也。苟我身之不全，雖高官重權，金玉成山，妍豔萬計，非我有也。是以上士先營長生之事，長生定可以任意。若未升玄去世，可且地仙人閒。若彭祖老子，止人中數百歲，不失人理之歡，然後徐徐登遐，亦盛事也。然決須好師，師不足奉，亦無由成也。昔漢太后從夏侯勝受尚書，賜勝黃金百斤，他物不可勝數。及勝死，又賜勝家錢二百萬，為勝素服一百日。成帝在東宮時，從張禹受論語。及即尊位，賜禹爵關內侯，食邑千戶，拜光祿大夫，賜黃金百斤。又遷丞相，進爵安昌侯。年老乞骸骨，賜安車駟馬，黃金百斤，錢數萬。

(Baopuzi continued:) A village saying has it: man in the world loses a day each day, like a sheep or ox led to the slaughterhouse—each step forward brings death a step nearer. The image is ugly, but it is truly the principle. The reason a knowing man does not grieve at death is not that he does not wish to seek, but that he simply does not know the art of escaping death, and frets himself for nothing, profiting nothing. So it is said: delight in heaven and know the mandate, therefore do not grieve—not that he does not wish to live long. The Duke of Zhou begged to die in King Wu's stead; Confucius dragged his staff and grieved—by this we know even the sages did not rejoice in a speedy death. The vulgar, seeing Zhuang Zhou's parable of the great dream, thereupon vie to propound the doctrine that life and death are equal. Presumably this is perverse doctrine forcing a bravado, words of denial made for show—all of the kind Confucius said broke the law and deserved killing. Now observe those who hold this talk: seized by sickness they hasten to needles and moxa; facing danger they are mightily afraid of death. But the common vice of a decayed age is to honor no real faith, to turn the back on the canons and cultivate the masters' books; if one does not spit out clever arguments that reverse the truth, one is called a rustic, not a student of Lao-Zhuang. So men without bone who court the common herd drift away on sayings that are not so and cannot find their way back. Laozi made long life and long sight his work; Zhuang Zhou prized wagging his tail in the mud rather than being a netted tortoise or an embroidered ox, and when hungry begged grain of the Marquis of the River—from this we know he could not make life and death one. Later scholars who cannot weigh true and false, leaning one-sidedly on a single saying—are they not in error? Moreover, deep beneath the nine springs the long night has no bound; at first one is the provender of ants, at last one joins substance with the dust—enough to make a man wretched at heart and sigh unawares. If the heart holds a will to seek life, how can it not lay aside unpressing affairs to cultivate the mysterious work? For those who do not believe, let it be. For those who believe, the trouble is that worldly feelings are not swept clean, so they cannot make nourishing life their single thought but do it only in the leisure left from worldly business—and so, if there are doers, they commonly suffer from lateness and mostly fail. What men fret after are power, profit, cravings, and desires. If my body is not kept whole, though there be high office and weighty authority, gold and jade heaped in mountains, beauties beyond counting—they are not mine. So the best men first attend to the work of long life; once long life is fixed they may follow their wishes. If they cannot yet ascend the mysteries and leave the world, they may for a while be earthly immortals among men. Like Pengzu and Laozi, dwelling among men for several hundred years without losing the joys of human order, then slowly mounting afar—that too is a grand affair. But one must without fail have a good teacher; if the teacher is not worth serving, there is no way to succeed. In days past the Empress Dowager of Han received the Book of Documents from Xiahou Sheng, granting Sheng a hundred jin of gold and other things beyond number; when Sheng died, she again granted his family two million in coin and wore plain mourning for Sheng for a hundred days. When Emperor Cheng was in the Eastern Palace he received the Analects from Zhang Yu; when he ascended the throne he granted Yu the rank of Marquis within the Pass with a fief of a thousand households, made him Grandee of the Imperial Household and granted a hundred jin of gold, then promoted him to Chancellor and advanced his rank to Marquis of Anchang; when he grew old and begged his bones, he was granted an easy carriage with four horses, a hundred jin of gold, and tens of thousands in coin."

及禹疾，天子自臨省之，親拜禹床下。章帝在東宮時，從桓榮以受孝經。及帝即位，以榮為太常上卿。天子幸榮第，令榮東面坐，設几杖。會百官及榮門生生徒數百人，帝親自持業講說。賜榮爵關內侯，食邑五千戶。及榮病，天子幸其家，入巷下車，抱卷而趨，如弟子之禮。及榮薨，天子為榮素服。凡此諸君，非能攻城野戰，折沖拓境，懸旌效節，祈連方，轉元功，騁銳絕域也。徒以一經之業，宣傳章句，而見尊重，巍巍如此，此但能說死人之餘言耳。帝王之貴，猶自卑降以敬事之。世閒或有欲試修長生之道者，而不肯謙下於堪師者，直爾蹴迮，從求至要，寧可得乎？夫學者之恭遜驅走，何益於師之分寸乎？然不爾，則是彼心不盡；彼心不盡，則令人告之不力；告之不力，則秘訣何可悉得邪？不得已當以浮淺示之，豈足以成不死之功哉？亦有人皮膚好喜，而信道之誠，不根心神，有所索欲，陽為曲恭，累日之閒，怠慢已出。若值明智之師，且欲詳觀來者變態，試以淹久，故不告之，以測其志。則若此之人，情偽行露，亦終不得而教之，教之亦不得盡言吐實，言不了則為之無益也。陳安世者，年十三歲，蓋灌叔本之客子耳，先得仙道。叔本年七十皓首，朝夕拜安世曰，道尊德貴，先得道者則為師矣，吾不敢倦執弟子之禮也。由是安世告之要方，遂復仙去矣。夫人生先受精神於天地，後稟氣血於父母，然不得明師，告之以度世之道，則無由免死，鑿石有餘焰，年命已凋頹矣。由此論之，明師之恩，誠為過於天地，重於父母多矣，可不崇之乎？可不求之乎？”

(Baopuzi continued:) When Yu fell ill, the Son of Heaven came in person to see him and bowed at the foot of his bed. When Emperor Zhang was in the Eastern Palace, he received the Classic of Filial Piety from Huan Rong. When the emperor took the throne, he made Rong Grand Master of Ceremonies, chief among the ministers. When the Son of Heaven visited Rong's residence, he had Rong sit facing east and set out armrest and staff for him. Gathering the hundred officials and several hundred of Rong's disciples and students, the emperor held the text and discoursed on it himself. He bestowed on Rong the rank of Marquis within the Passes, with a fief of five thousand households. When Rong fell ill, the Son of Heaven visited his house; entering the lane he descended from his carriage and hurried forward hugging his scrolls, in the manner of a disciple. When Rong died, the Son of Heaven wore plain mourning for him. Yet none of these lords could storm cities or fight pitched battles, break charges or extend borders, raise banners and prove their mettle, gather allied peoples to prayer, or turn grand merit, wielding their keenness in the uttermost regions. Solely on the strength of their work on one classic, expounding its chapters and verses, they were honored and revered, towering thus—and all they could do was recite the leftover words of dead men. Even the august station of an emperor still lowered itself to serve them reverently. If someone in the world wishes to try cultivating the way of long life, yet refuses to humble himself before one fit to be his teacher, but merely barges in brusquely to seek the utmost essentials—how could he obtain them? What inch of benefit does a student's humble deference cost his teacher? Yet without it his heart is not fully in it; if his heart is not fully in it, others will not exert themselves to instruct him; if they do not exert themselves, how could the secret formulas be had in full? At best he is shown the shallow surface—how could that suffice to accomplish undying? There are also those whose gladness is only skin-deep, whose sincere faith in the Way never takes root in their hearts; wanting something, they are all crooked courtesy on the surface, but within days their indolence shows. If they meet a clear-sighted teacher who wishes to observe the would-be disciple's changing moods and tests him by making him wait, deliberately withholding instruction to gauge his resolve—then a man like this soon shows the falseness of his feeling, and in the end the teacher will not teach him; and even if he does teach, he cannot empty all his words and tell the truth, and with the words left incomplete, the practice yields nothing. Chen Anshi, thirteen years of age, was merely a lodger in Guan Shuben's household, yet he had attained the way of the immortals first. Shuben, seventy years old with a hoary head, bowed to Anshi morning and evening, saying: the Way is honored and its virtue prized; whoever attains the Way first is the teacher—I dare not tire of performing a disciple's rites. Thereupon Anshi gave him the essential formula, and in the end he too departed as an immortal. A man first receives spirit from heaven and earth, then receives blood and breath from his father and mother; but without an enlightened teacher to impart the way of transcending the world, there is no escape from death—like sparks struck from stone, the last flicker fades and one's allotted years are already withered. Judged by this, the enlightened teacher's grace truly exceeds heaven and earth and weighs far more than father and mother—can he fail to be revered? Can he fail to be sought?

抱朴子曰：“古人質正，貴行賤言，故為政者不尚文辨，修道者不崇辭說。風俗衰薄，外飾彌繁，方策既山積於儒門，而內書亦鞅掌於術家。初學之徒，即未便可授以大要。又亦人情以本末殷富者為快。故後之知道者，幹吉容嵩桂帛諸家，各著千所篇，然率多教誡之言，不肯善為人開顯大向之指歸也。其至真之訣，或但口傳，或不過尋尺之素，在領帶之中，非隨師經久，累勤歷試者，不能得也。雜猥弟子，皆各隨其用心之疏密，履苦之久遠，察其聰明之所逮，及志力之所能辨，各有所授，千百歲中，時有盡其囊枕之中，肘腋之下，秘要之旨耳。或但將之合藥，藥成分之，足以使之不死而已，而終年不以其方文傳之。故世閒道士，知金丹之事者，萬無一也。而管見之屬，謂仙法當具在於紛若之書，及於祭祀拜伏之閒而已矣。夫長生制在大藥耳，非祠醮之所得也。昔秦漢二代，大興祈禱，所祭太乙五神，陳寶八神之屬，動用牛羊谷帛，錢費億萬，了無所益。況於匹夫，德之不備，體之不養，而欲以三牲酒餚，祝願鬼神，以索延年，惑亦甚矣。或頗有好事者，誠欲為道，而不能勤求明師，合作異藥，而但晝夜誦講不要之書，數千百卷，詣老無益，便謂天下果無仙法。或舉門扣頭，以向空坐，烹宰犧牲，燒香請福，而病者不愈，死喪相襲，破產竭財，一無奇異，終不悔悟，自謂未篤。若以此之勤，求知方之師，以此之費，給買藥之直者，亦必得神仙長生度世也。何異詣老空耕石田，而望千倉之收，用力雖盡，不得其所也。所謂適楚而道燕，馬雖良而不到，非行之不疾，然失其道也。或有性信而喜信人，其聰明不足以校練真偽，揣測深淺；所博涉素狹，不能賞物。後世頑淺，趣得一人，自譽之子，雲我有秘書，便守事之。

Baopuzi said: 'The ancients were plain and upright; they prized conduct and slighted words. Therefore those who governed did not esteem literary disputation, and those who cultivated the Way did not esteem eloquent speech. As customs declined and thinned, outer ornament grew ever more luxuriant; books on bamboo and silk piled mountain-high in the Ru school, while the inner texts likewise multiplied in confusion among the practitioners of the arts. For beginners it is not yet fitting to hand over the great essentials; besides, it is human feeling to delight in abundance of root and branch alike. So the knowers of later times—the houses of Gan Ji, Rong Song, Gui, and Bo—each wrote a thousand-odd sections, but these are mostly words of admonition, and they were unwilling to properly open up for people the great direction and its goal. The formulas of utmost truth are sometimes transmitted only by mouth, or amount to no more than a foot or so of plain silk carried inside the collar and belt; without following a teacher long and long, piling up toil and enduring trials, they cannot be had. The motley crowd of disciples are each given according to the closeness of their hearts, the length of their endurance of hardship, what their intelligence can reach, and what their will and strength can accomplish—each receives something different, and only once in a thousand years does anyone exhaust the secret gist kept in the bag by the pillow or hidden under the elbow. Some are only brought along to compound the drug; when the drug is done it is shared with them, enough to keep them from dying—and the recipe text is never handed to them in all their years. So among the world's Taoists, not one in ten thousand knows the matter of the golden elixir. Yet the peephole-view crowd says the arts of the immortals must all be in the jumbled books, or in the bowing and prostrating of sacrifice. The making of long life lies in the great drug; it cannot be obtained by offerings and jiao rites. In the past the Qin and Han greatly multiplied prayers and supplications, sacrificing to such as Taiyi and the Five Spirits and the Eight Spirits of Chenbao, expending oxen, sheep, grain, and silk at a cost of hundreds of millions—all without the slightest benefit. How much more a commoner, whose virtue is incomplete and whose body is not nourished, who hopes to take the three sacrificial animals and wine and viands to petition ghosts and spirits for longer years—his delusion is great indeed. There are also those who love the matter and sincerely wish to practice the Way, yet cannot diligently seek an enlightened teacher to compound the wondrous drug, but only day and night recite and discourse on useless books, thousands of scrolls—growing old without profit, they then declare that the world truly has no arts of immortality. Others bring their whole household to kowtow, facing empty seats, slaughtering victims, burning incense to beg for blessing—and their illnesses do not heal, deaths come one after another, the family fortune is drained, not a single marvel occurs, and to the end they never repent, but suppose they were not earnest enough. If such diligence were spent seeking a teacher who knows the formulas, and such expense spent on the money for drugs, they would surely obtain the life of gods and immortals and transcend the world. How does that differ from plowing a stony field until old age while expecting a harvest of a thousand granaries? Though the effort is spent, it does not fall where it should. As the saying goes: heading for Chu by way of Yan—the horse is good but never arrives, not for want of speed but because the road was lost. There are also men credulous by nature, fond of trusting others, whose intelligence is not enough to assay true from false or fathom deep from shallow; what they have broadly surveyed is too narrow for them to appreciate things. In this later, obstinate, shallow age, as soon as such a man meets one self-praising fellow who says "I have secret books," he stays to serve him.

而庸人小兒，多有外託有道之名，名過其實，由於誇誑，內抱貪濁，惟利是圖，有所請為，輒強喑嗚，俛仰抑揚。若所知寶秘乃深而不可得之狀。其有所請，從其所求，俛仰含笑，或許以頃後，故使不覺者，欲罷而不能，自謂事之未勤，而禮幣之尚輕也。於是篤信之心，尤加恭肅，賂以殊玩，為之執奴僕之役，不辭負重涉遠，不避經險履危，欲以積勞自效，服苦求哀，庶有異聞。而虛引歲月，空委二親之供養，捐妻子而不恤，戴霜蹈冰，連年隨之，而妨資棄力，卒無所成。彼初誠欺之，末或慚之，懵然體中，實自空罄短乏，無能法以相教，將何法以成人乎？餘目見此輩不少，可以有十餘人。或自號高名，久居於世，世或謂之已三四百歲，但易名字，詐稱聖人，託於人閒，而多有承事之者，餘但不喜書其人之姓名耳。頗遊俗閒，凡夫不識妍蚩，為共吹揚，增長妖妄，為彼巧偽之人，虛生華譽，歙習遂廣，莫能甄別。故或令高人偶不留意澄察，而但任兩耳者，誤於學者，常由此輩，莫不使人嘆息也。每見此曹，欺誑天下，以規勢利者，遲速皆受殃罰，天網雖疏，終不漏也。但誤有志者可念耳。世人多逐空聲，鮮能校實。聞甲乙多弟子，至以百許，必當有異，便載馳競逐，赴為相聚守之徒，妨工夫以崇重彼愚陋之人也。而不復尋精，彼得門人之力。或以致富，辨逐之雖久，猶無成人之道，愚夫故不知此人不足可事，何能都不與悟，自可悲哉！夫搜尋仞之壟，求幹天之木；漉牛跡之中，索吞舟之鱗，用日雖久，安能得乎？嗟乎！將來之學者，雖當以求師為務，亦不可以不詳擇為急也。陋狹之夫，行淺德薄，功微緣少，不足成人之道，亦無功課以塞人重恩也。深思其趣，勿令徒勞也。”

(Baopuzi continued:) Now many petty men and paltry fellows outwardly borrow the name of possessing the Way—their fame exceeding their substance through bragging lies—while inwardly harboring greed and foulness, scheming only for profit. When something is asked of them, they put on a great show of grunts and murmurs, nodding and intoning up and down, as though the treasured secrets they knew were too deep to be obtained. When a disciple begs for something, they go along with the plea, smiling knowingly up and down, or promise it a little later—so that the undiscerning, wanting to quit, cannot, and suppose their service is not yet diligent enough and their gifts still too light. Thereupon the devoted heart grows yet more reverent, bribing with rare curios, performing servants' tasks for him, not shirking heavy loads on far roads, not avoiding peril and danger, hoping by accumulated toil to prove themselves, submitting to hardship to beg for pity, hoping for some extraordinary teaching. Meanwhile the months and years are emptied away in vain; they leave the support of their two parents abandoned, cast off wife and children uncared-for, wearing frost and treading ice, following him for years on end, wasting substance and strength, and in the end accomplish nothing. The fellow was truly deceiving them from the start; at the end he may even feel ashamed, muddled within, for in fact his own store is emptied and wanting—he has no doctrine he could teach; by what method could he perfect a man? I have seen not a few of this kind with my own eyes—perhaps a dozen or more. Some give themselves grand titles and have long dwelt in the world; the world has even claimed them to be three or four hundred years old; they merely change their names, falsely claim to be sages, lodge among men—and many come to serve them. I simply dislike writing out that man's name. They roam widely among the vulgar; ordinary folk cannot tell fair from foul and blow the same trumpet for them, swelling monstrous falsehoods, so that for these artful counterfeits a florid reputation grows up out of nothing, their deceit spreads, and none can sift it out. Thus it happens that even lofty men, through one careless failure to examine and clarify, relying only on their two ears, let learners be misled—again and again because of this kind; it never fails to make one sigh. Whenever I see these fellows deceiving all under heaven to scheme for power and profit—sooner or later they meet calamity; heaven's net is wide-meshed but in the end loses nothing. It is only the aspiring men they mislead who are to be pitied. Most of the world chases empty noise; few can weigh the substance. Hearing that so-and-so has many disciples, up to a hundred or more, they decide he must be extraordinary, then gallop and race after him, rushing to become a crowd of attendants, wasting their effort to exalt those foolish, boorish men, and never seek the refined again. He gains strength from his disciples, some even growing rich thereby; though the sorting and chasing have gone on long, they still do not see that this is not a man worth serving—how can they all fail to wake? Pitiable indeed! To search a mere furlong-long ridge for a tree that pierces the clouds; to strain an ox's hoof-print puddle for a fish that could swallow a boat—however long the days spent, how could it be got? Alas! Students of times to come, though you should make seeking a teacher your task, you must also make careful choosing your urgency. Narrow and petty men, shallow in conduct, thin in virtue, slight in merit and few in affinity, are not up to perfecting a man's way, nor have they any merit to repay such heavy kindness. Ponder well whither you turn—do not let men toil in vain.

抱朴子曰：“諸虛名之道士，既善為誑詐，以欺學者；又多護短匿愚，恥於不知，陽若以博涉已足，終不肯行求請問於勝己者，蠢爾守窮，面牆而立；又不但拱默而已，乃復憎忌於實有道者而謗毀之，恐彼聲名之過己也。此等豈有意於長生之法哉？為欲以合致弟子，圖其財力，以快其情慾而已耳。而不知天高聽卑，其後必受斯殃也。夫貧者不可妄雲我富也，賤者不可虛雲我貴也，況道德之事實無，而空養門生弟子乎？凡俗之人，猶不宜懷妒善之心，況於道士，尤應以忠信快意為生者也，云何當以此之亻敝然函胸臆閒乎？人自不能聞見神明，而神明之聞見己之甚易也。此何異乎在紗幌之外，不能察軒房之內，而肆其倨慢，謂人之不見己。此亦如竊鍾棖物，鏗然有聲，惡他人聞之，因自掩其耳者之類也。而聾瞽之存乎精神者，唯欲專擅華名，獨聚徒眾，外求聲價，內規財力，患疾勝己，乃劇於俗人之爭權勢也。遂以唇吻為刃鋒，以譭譽為朋黨，口親心疏，貌合行離，陽敦同志之言，陰挾蜂蠆之毒，此乃天人所共惡，招禍之符檄也。夫讀五經，猶宜不恥下問，以進德修業，日有緝熙。至於射御之粗伎，書數之淺功，農桑之露事，規矩之小術，尚須師授以盡其理，況營長生之法，欲以延年度世，斯與救恤死事無異也。何可務惜請受之名，而永守無知之困，至老不改，臨死不悔，此亦天民之篤暗者也。令人代之慚悚，為之者獨不顧形影也。為儒生尚當兀然守樸，外託質素，知而如否，有而如無，令庸兒不得盡其稱，稱而不問不對，對必辭讓而後言。何其道士之人，強以不知為知，以無有為有，虛自衒耀，以圖奸利者乎？迷而不知返者，愈以遂往，若有以行此者，想不恥改也。吾非苟為此言，誠有為而興，所謂疾之而不能默然也。徒愍念愚人，不忍見嬰兒之投井耳。若覽之而悟者，亦仙藥之一草也，吾何為哉！

Baopuzi said: 'Those Taoists of empty fame are skilled at lies and fraud to deceive learners, and moreover cover their faults and hide their ignorance, ashamed of not knowing; on the surface they seem broadly versed and sufficient, but to the end they will not go ask those who surpass them—muddled, they hold fast in their poverty, standing facing a wall. Nor is it only folded hands and silence: they even resent and slander those who truly possess the Way, fearing their fame will exceed their own. What interest does such a kind have in the method of long life? They only want to gather disciples, eye their wealth and strength, and gratify their own passions—never knowing that heaven is high but hears what is below; afterward they must suffer this calamity. The poor cannot falsely claim to be rich; the base cannot falsely claim to be noble—how much less when there is in fact no virtue of the Way, and they vainly keep disciples and pupils? Even ordinary men should not harbor an envious heart—how much more a Taoist, who above all should make loyalty, trustworthiness, and contentment his living; how could it be right to enfold such a choking thought in his breast? A man cannot himself hear or see the gods and spirits, but the gods and spirits hear and see him easily enough. How does that differ from standing outside a gauze screen, unable to see into the chamber, while indulging one's arrogance, saying "they cannot see me"? It is also like the bell-thief who, when the thing clangs, fears others will hear and so stops his own ears. Such spiritual deafness and blindness wants only to monopolize a florid name, to gather followers alone, seeking reputation abroad while scheming for wealth within, hating those who surpass them more bitterly than worldly men fight for power. So they make blades of their lips and factions of slander and praise; mouths intimate, hearts estranged; faces joined, deeds apart; on the surface earnest words of fellowship, in secret the venom of wasp and scorpion—this is what heaven and man alike abhor, a writ that summons calamity. In reading the Five Classics one should still not be ashamed to ask those below, so as to advance in virtue and cultivate the work, growing brighter day by day. Even the coarse arts of archery and charioteering, the shallow skills of writing and reckoning, the exposed business of farming and sericulture, the petty arts of compass and square—all still require a teacher's transmission to exhaust their principles. How much more the work of managing long life, meant to extend one's years and transcend the world, which differs not at all from rescuing a man from death! How could one begrudge the name of having asked and received, and forever keep to the straits of ignorance, unchanging to old age, unrepentant at death? Such is the most thoroughly benighted among heaven's people—it makes others feel shame on his behalf while the doer alone never looks to his own shadow. Even a Ru scholar should sit steadfast in plainness, outwardly unadorned, knowing as though not knowing, having as though not having, so that ordinary boys cannot fully praise him; praised, he does not reply unbidden, and replying, must defer before he speaks. Why then should Taoist men insist on taking not-knowing for knowing, nothing for something, vainly glorifying themselves to scheme for base gain? The deluded who do not turn back only run further on; if any act on this account, let them not be ashamed to change. I do not speak these words idly; truly I have cause—what is called hating a thing so that one cannot stay silent. I only pity the foolish, unable to bear the sight of an infant being thrown into a well. If anyone reads this and wakes, that too is one herb among the medicines of the immortals—what have I to gain?'

不御苦口，其危至矣，不俟脈診而可知者也。”

(Baopuzi continued:) 'If the bitter dose does not go in, the peril is at hand—one can know it without waiting to feel the pulse.'