Bao Pu Zi Nei Pian (抱朴子內篇) · Volume 8

治雄黃內生竹筒中一斤，輒加消石二兩，覆薦上下，封以漆骨丸，內醇大醋中，埋之深三尺，二十日即化為水也。作曾青水方，及礬石水同法，但各異筒中耳。

Treat realgar, put one jin of it into a tube of fresh bamboo, add two liang of saltpeter bedded and covered above and below, seal with a lacquer-bone pellet, put it in mature strong vinegar, and bury it three chi deep — in twenty days it turns to water. The methods for making malachite water and alum-stone water are the same, only each is in a different tube.

△小兒作黃金法

The Child's method for making yellow gold.

作大鐵筒成，中一尺二寸，高一尺二寸。作小鐵筒成，中六寸，瑩磨之。赤石脂一斤，消石一斤，雲母一斤，代赭一斤，流黃半斤，空青四兩，凝水石一斤，皆合搗細篩，以酰和，塗之小筒中，厚二分。汞一斤，丹砂半斤，良非半斤。取良非法用鉛十斤內鐵釜中，居爐上露灼之，鉛銷，內汞三兩，早出者以鐵匙抄取之，名曰良非也。攪令相得，以汞不見為候，置小筒中，雲母覆其上，鐵蓋鎮之。取大筒居爐上，銷鉛注大筒中，沒小筒中，去上半寸，取銷鉛為候，猛火炊之，三日三夜成，名曰紫粉。取鉛十斤於鐵器中銷之，二十日上下，更內銅器中，須鉛銷，內紫粉七方寸匕，攪之，即成黃金也。欲作白銀者，取汞置鐵器中，內紫粉三寸已上，火令相得，注水中，即成銀也。

Make a large iron tube with an inner diameter of 1.2 chi and a height of 1.2 chi. Make a small iron tube with an inner diameter of six cun, polished bright. One jin of red stone tallow, one jin of saltpeter, one jin of mica, one jin of ochre, half a jin of sulfur, four liang of hollow-azure, one jin of congealed-water stone — pound all together, sift fine, blend with vinegar, and coat the inside of the small tube two-tenths cun thick. One jin of mercury, half a jin of cinnabar, half a jin of liangfei. The way to get liangfei: put ten jin of lead into an iron pot, set it open on the furnace and burn it; when the lead has melted, add three liang of mercury; skim off with an iron spoon what rises first — that is called liangfei. Stir to blend until the mercury is no longer visible, put it in the small tube, cover the top with mica, and weight it down with an iron lid. Set the large tube on the furnace; melt lead and pour it into the large tube so that it submerges the small tube, stopping half a cun from its top; keep the lead molten over fierce fire for three days and nights, and it is done — it is called purple powder. Melt ten jin of lead in an iron vessel for some twenty days, then put it into a copper vessel; when the lead has melted, put in seven square-cun spoonfuls of purple powder, stir it, and it becomes yellow gold. To make white silver: put mercury in an iron vessel, put in three cun or more of purple powder, fire to blend, pour it into water, and it becomes silver.

△務成子法

The method of Wuchengzi.

作鐵筒長九寸，徑五寸，搗雄黃三斤，蚓螻壤等分，作合以為泥，塗裹使徑三寸，匱口四寸，加丹砂水二合，覆馬通火上，令極乾，內銅筒中，塞以銅合蓋堅，以黃沙築上，覆以蚓壤重泥，上無令洩，置爐炭中，令有三寸炭，筒口赤，可寒發之，雄黃皆入著銅筒，復出入如前法。三斤雄黃精，皆下入著筒中，下提取與黃沙等分，合作以為爐，爐大小自在也。欲用之，置爐於炭火中，爐赤，內水銀，銀動則內鉛其中，黃從傍起交中央，注之於地，即成金。凡作一千五百斤，爐力即盡矣。此金取牡荊赤黍酒漬之，百日，即柔可和也。如小豆，服一丸，日三服，盡一斤，三蟲伏屍，百病皆去，盲者視，聾者聞，老者即還年如三十時，入火不灼，百邪眾毒、冷風暑溼、不能侵入；盡三斤，則步行水上，山川百神，皆來侍衛，壽與天地相畢。以杼血朱草煮一丸，以拭目眥，即見鬼及地中物，能夜書；以白羊血塗一丸，投水中，魚龍立出，可以取也；以青羊血丹雞血塗一丸，懸都門上，一里不疫；以塗牛羊六畜額上，皆不疫病，虎豹不犯也；以虎膽蛇肪塗一丸，從月建上以擲敵人之軍，軍即便無故自亂，相傷殺而走矣；以牛血塗一丸以投井中，井中即沸，以投流水，流水則逆流百步；以白犬血塗一丸，投社廟舍中，其鬼神即見，可以役使；以兔血塗一丸，置六陰之地，行廚玉女立至，可俟六七十人也；以鯉魚膽塗一丸，持入水，水為之開一丈，可得氣息水中以行，冒雨衣不沾也；以紫莧煮一丸，含咽其汁，可百日不飢；以慈石煮一丸，內髻中，以擊賊，白刃流矢不中之，有射之者，矢皆自向也；以六丁六壬上土並一丸，以蔽人中則隱形，含一丸，北向以噴火，火則滅；以庚辛日申酉時，向西地以一丸擲樹，樹木即日便枯；又以一丸，禹步擲虎狼蛇蝮，皆即死；

Make an iron tube nine cun long and five cun across; pound three jin of realgar with an equal measure of worm-and-ant soil into a clay, smear it on to make a coat three cun thick, the mouth four cun; add two ge of cinnabar water; set it over a horse-dung fire until thoroughly dry; put it into a copper tube, cap it firmly with a copper lid, ram yellow sand over it, and cover it with a heavy clay of worm soil so that nothing leaks above. Set it in furnace charcoal three cun deep; when the mouth of the tube glows red, let it cool and open it — the realgar has all entered and adhered to the copper tube; pass it in and out again by the former method. The essence of the three jin of realgar all goes down and adheres to the tube; take what descends with an equal part of yellow sand and compound it into a crucible — its size as you please. To use it, set the crucible in charcoal fire; when the crucible glows red, put in quicksilver; when the silver moves, put lead into it; the yellow rises from the sides and joins in the middle; pour it on the ground and it becomes gold. After making 1,500 jin in all, the crucible's strength is spent. Steep this gold in a wine of vitex and red millet for a hundred days, and it becomes soft and workable. Made into pills like small beans, take one pill three times a day; finishing one jin, the three worms and lurking corpses are subdued, every sickness departs, the blind can see, the deaf can hear, the old return in years as at thirty, fire cannot burn them, and the hundred evils and many poisons, cold wind and summer damp, cannot invade them. Finishing three jin, they walk upon water, the hundred spirits of mountains and rivers all come to guard them, and their span equals that of heaven and earth. Boil one pill with zhu-wood blood and vermilion herb and wipe it on the corner of the eye — you see ghosts and what lies within the earth, and can write at night; smear one pill with white goat's blood and cast it into water — fish and dragons come out at once and can be caught; smear one pill with dark goat's blood and red rooster's blood and hang it on the capital gate — for a li around there is no plague; smear it on the foreheads of oxen, sheep and the six beasts — none falls sick, and tigers and leopards do not touch them; smear one pill with tiger's gall and snake's fat and cast it from the month-establishment position at an enemy army — the army falls into disorder for no reason, men wound and kill one another and flee; smear one pill with ox's blood and cast it into a well — the well boils; cast it into a flowing stream — the stream runs back a hundred paces; smear one pill with white dog's blood and cast it into the shrine-house of the altar — its ghosts and spirits appear and can be commanded; smear one pill with hare's blood and set it in a place of the six yins — the jade maidens of the traveling kitchen arrive at once and can serve sixty or seventy men; smear one pill with carp's gall and carry it into water — the water opens ten chi, and you can get breath within the water and walk, wearing rain gear without getting wet; boil one pill with purple amaranth, hold the juice in your mouth and swallow it — you can go a hundred days unfed; boil one pill with lodestone, put it in your topknot, and go strike bandits — white blades and stray arrows cannot hit you, and any arrow shot at you turns aside of itself; take soil from the six ding and six ren positions together with one pill to cover the groove of your nose — you become invisible; hold one pill in your mouth and breathe flame toward the north — the fire is extinguished; on a geng or xin day at the shen or you hour, face the western ground, take one pill and throw it at a tree — the tree withers that very day; take one pill again and, pacing the Pace of Yu, throw it at tigers, wolves, snakes and vipers — they die at once;

研一丸以書石即入石，書金即入金，書木入木，所書皆徹其肌理，削治不可去也。卒死未經宿，以月建上水下一丸，令入咽喉，並含水噴死人面，即活。以狐血鶴血塗一丸，內爪中，以指萬物，隨口變化，即山行木徙，人皆見之，然而實不動也。凡作黃白，皆立太乙、玄女、老子坐醮祭，如作九丹法，常燒五香，香不絕。又金成，先以三斤投深水中，一斤投市中，然後方得恣其意用之耳。

(Continuing from above:) Grind one pill to write on stone — it enters the stone; write on metal — it enters the metal; write on wood — it enters the wood; whatever is written penetrates to the grain and cannot be scraped away. For a man who has died suddenly, not yet through the night, send down one pill with water from the month-establishment, letting it enter his throat, and take water in your mouth and spray the dead man's face — he lives. Smear one pill with fox's blood and crane's blood, hold it in your fingertips, and point at the myriad things — they change at your word: mountains walk, trees move, everyone sees it, yet in truth nothing moves. In all work of the yellow and white, set up seats for Taiyi, Xuannü and Laozi and make offering sacrifice, as in the method of making the nine elixirs, always burning the five aromatics so the incense never ceases. Also, once the gold is made, first cast three jin into deep water and one jin into the market, and only then use it as you please.

或問登山之道。抱朴子曰：“凡為道合藥，及避亂隱居者，莫不入山。然不知入山法者，多遇禍害。故諺有之曰，太華之下，白骨狼藉。皆謂偏知一事，不能博備，雖有求生之志，而反強死也。山無大小，皆有神靈，山大則神大，山小即神小也。入山而無術，必有患害。或被疾病及傷刺，及驚怖不安；或見光影，或聞異聲；或令大木不風而自摧折，岩石無故而自墮落，打擊煞人；或令人迷惑狂走，墮落坑谷；或令人遭虎狼毒蟲犯人，不可輕入山也。當以三月九月，此是山開月，又當擇其月中吉日佳時。若事久不得徐徐須此月者，但可選日時耳。凡人入山，皆當先齋潔七日，不經汙穢，帶升山符出門，作周身三五法。又五嶽有受殃之歲，如九州之地，更有衰盛，受飛符煞炁，則其地君長不可作也。按周公城名錄，天下分野，災之所及，可避不可禳，居宅亦然，山嶽皆爾也。又大忌不可以甲乙寅卯之歲，正月二月入東嶽；不以丙丁巳午之歲，四月五月入南嶽；不以庚辛申酉之歲，七月八月入西嶽；不以戊巳之歲，四季之月入中嶽；不以壬癸亥子之歲，十月十一月入北嶽。不須入太華霍山恆山太山嵩高山，乃忌此歲，其嶽之方面，皆同禁也。又萬物之老者，其精悉能假託人形，以眩惑人目而常試人，唯不能於鏡中易其真形耳。是以古之入山道士，皆以明鏡徑九寸已上，懸於背後，則老魅不敢近人。或有來試人者，則當顧視鏡中，其是仙人及山中好神者，顧鏡中故如人形。若是鳥獸邪魅，則其形貌皆見鏡中矣。又老魅若來，其去必卻行，行可轉鏡對之，其後而視之，若是老魅者，必無踵也，其有踵者，則山神也。昔張蓋蹋及偶高成二人，並精思於蜀雲臺山石室中，忽有一人著黃練單衣葛巾，往到其前曰，勞乎道士，乃辛苦幽隱！於是二人顧視鏡中，乃是鹿也。因問之曰：汝是山中老鹿，何敢詐為人形。

Someone asked about the way of climbing mountains. Baopuzi said: "All who compound medicines for the Way, and all who flee disorder to live in hiding, enter the mountains without exception. But those who do not know the method of entering the mountains mostly meet calamity. Thus the proverb has it: beneath Taihua, white bones lie scattered — all saying that a man who partially knows a single thing but cannot be broadly prepared, though he has the will to seek life, instead meets a violent death. Mountains great or small all have spirits; a great mountain has a great god, a small mountain a small god. To enter a mountain without the art is sure to bring harm: one may suffer illness and injury by thorns, and alarm and unrest; or see shadows and lights, or hear strange sounds; or have great trees snap with no wind, or rocks fall without cause to strike and kill; or be made confused, running wild, tumbling into pits and valleys; or be set upon by tigers, wolves and venomous creatures — one must not enter the mountains lightly. It should be in the third or ninth month — these are the months when the mountains open — and one should choose an auspicious day and good hour within those months. If affairs press and one cannot slowly wait for those months, one can only choose the day and hour. In all cases a man entering the mountains should first fast in purity for seven days without passing through defilement, carry the mountain-ascending talisman out the door, and perform the three-five method over his whole body. Also, the Five Peaks have years in which they suffer calamity, just as the lands of the nine provinces each have decline and flourishing; when they receive the destructive qi of the flying talismans, the lords of that region cannot work. According to the Zhougong Register of City Names, under the allotted fields of heaven, where disaster reaches it can be avoided but not expiated; dwellings are thus, and the peaks are thus too. Again, it is greatly taboo to enter the Eastern Peak in a jia, yi, yin or mao year, in the first or second month; to enter the Southern Peak in a bing, ding, si or wu year, in the fourth or fifth month; to enter the Western Peak in a geng, xin, shen or you year, in the seventh or eighth month; to enter the Central Peak in a wu or ji year, in the four seasonal months; and to enter the Northern Peak in a ren, gui, hai or zi year, in the tenth or eleventh month. It is not only when entering Taihua, Huoshan, Hengshan, Taishan or Songgao that one avoids these years — the whole direction of each peak shares the same prohibition. Also, when things grow old, their essences can borrow human shape to dazzle men's eyes and often test them — only they cannot change their true form in a mirror. Thus the Daoists who entered mountains in olden times all carried a bright mirror nine cun or more across hung behind their backs, so that old specters dared not approach. If one comes to test you, you should turn to look at it in the mirror: if it is an immortal or a good spirit of the mountain, seen in the mirror it still appears as a man; if it is a bird-beast specter, its true form shows in the mirror. Also, if an old specter comes, when it leaves it always walks backward; while it walks you can turn the mirror to face it and look from behind — if it is an old specter it surely has no heels; if it has heels, it is a mountain god. Formerly Zhang Gaita and Ou Gaocheng, two men, were together in pure contemplation in a stone chamber on Yuntai Mountain in Shu, when suddenly a man wearing a yellow silk unlined robe and a ramie kerchief came before them and said: 'Toilsome, O Daoists — how bitterly you labor in hidden retreat!' The two men looked back at him in the mirror — it was a deer. So they asked it: 'You are an old deer of the mountain — how dare you falsely take human shape?"

言未絕，而來人即成鹿而走去。林慮山下有一亭，其中有鬼，每有宿者，或死或病，常夜有數十人，衣色或黃或白或黑，或男或女。後郅伯夷者過之宿，明燈燭而坐誦經，夜半有十餘人來，與伯夷對坐，自共樗蒲博戲，伯夷密以鏡照之，乃是群犬也。伯夷乃執燭起，佯誤以燭燼爇其衣，乃作燋毛氣。伯夷懷小刀，因捉一人而刺之，初作人叫，死而成犬，餘犬悉走，於是遂絕，乃鏡之力也。上士入山，持三皇內文及五嶽真形圖，所在召山神，及按鬼錄，召州社及山卿宅尉問之，則木石之怪，山川之精，不敢來試人。其次即立七十二精鎮符，以制百邪之章，及朱官印包元十二印，封所住之四方，亦百邪不敢近之也。其次執八威之節，佩老子玉策，則山神可使，豈敢為害乎？餘聞鄭君之言如此，實復不能具知其事也。餘師常告門人曰：“夫人求道，如憂家之貧，如愁位之卑者，豈有不得耶？但患志之不篤，務近忘遠，聞之則悅，倔倔前席，未久，則忽然若遺，毫釐之益未固，而丘山之損不已，亦安得窮至言之微妙，成罔極之峻崇乎？”

(Baopuzi went on:) Before the words were out, the visitor turned into a deer and fled. Below Mount Linlü there is a lodge in which there are ghosts; whoever lodged there either died or sickened; often at night there were scores of them, in clothes of yellow, white or black, men and women. Later Zhi Boyi passed and lodged there, lit lamps and candles, and sat chanting the scriptures; at midnight a dozen or so of them came and sat facing Boyi, amusing themselves together at the game of chupu. Boyi secretly took the mirror and shone it on them — they were a pack of dogs. Boyi rose with a candle and, pretending to slip, touched their clothes with the candle's ember, and there was a smell of singed fur. Boyi kept a little knife hidden in his bosom; with it he caught one and stabbed it — it first cried out like a man, and dead it became a dog. The other dogs all fled, and thereafter the haunting ceased — it was the power of the mirror. The highest officer entering the mountains carries the Inner Text of the Three Sovereigns and the Chart of the True Forms of the Five Peaks; wherever he is he summons the mountain spirits, and by the register of ghosts summons the altars of the province and the mountain stewards and house wardens to be questioned — then the goblins of wood and stone and the essences of mountains and rivers dare not come to test a man. Next best is to set up the suppressing talismans of the seventy-two essences, use the writ that masters the hundred evils, and seal the four quarters of one's lodging with the vermilion seals of the twelve enclosing-the-origin seals — the hundred evils again dare not approach. Next is to hold the Staff of the Eight Majesties and wear Laozi's jade tablets — then the mountain gods can be commanded; how would they dare do harm? This is what I heard from Lord Zheng; I cannot truly know the matter in detail. My teacher always told his disciples: 'When a man seeks the Way with the anxiety of one grieved by household poverty or fretting over low rank, what is there he cannot obtain? One only fears his resolve is not sincere — he pursues the near and forgets the far, hears and delights, bends eagerly forward on the mat, and soon it is as though all were lost; a hair's breadth of gain is not yet firm while a mountain of loss never stops — how can he plumb the subtlety of the utmost word and achieve the towering height that has no limit?'"

抱朴子曰：“入山之大忌，正月午，二月亥，三月申，四月戌，五月未，六月卯，七月甲子，八月申子，九月寅，十月辰未，十一月己丑，十二月寅。入山良日：甲子、甲寅、乙亥、乙巳、乙卯、丙戌、丙午、丙辰，已上日大吉。”抱朴子曰：“按九天秘記及太乙遁甲云，入山大月忌：三日、十一日、十五日、十八日、二十四日、二十六日、三十日；小月忌：一日、五日、十三日、十六日、二十六日、二十八日。以此日入山，必為山神所試。又所求不得，所作不成。不但道士，凡人以此日入山，皆兇害，與虎狼毒蟲相遇也。”

Baopuzi said: "The great taboo days for entering the mountains: in the first month, wu days; second month, hai days; third month, shen days; fourth month, xu days; fifth month, wei days; sixth month, mao days; seventh month, jiazi days; eighth month, shen and zi days; ninth month, yin days; tenth month, chen and wei days; eleventh month, jichou days; twelfth month, yin days. Good days for entering the mountains: jiazi, jiayin, yihai, yisi, yimao, bingxu, bingwu, bingchen — the days above are all greatly auspicious." Baopuzi said: "According to the Secret Record of the Nine Heavens and the Taiyi Dunjia, the taboo days for entering the mountains in a long month are the third, eleventh, fifteenth, eighteenth, twenty-fourth, twenty-sixth and thirtieth; in a short month: the first, fifth, thirteenth, sixteenth, twenty-sixth and twenty-eighth. If you enter the mountains on these days you are sure to be tested by the mountain spirits; moreover what you seek will not be got and what you do will not be accomplished. Not only Daoists — any man who enters the mountains on these days meets evil harm, encountering tigers, wolves and venomous creatures."

抱朴子曰：“天地之情狀，陰陽之吉凶，茫茫乎其亦難詳也，吾亦不必謂之有，又亦不敢保其無也。然黃帝太公皆所信仗，近代達者嚴君平司馬遷皆所據用，而經傳有治歷明時剛柔之日。古言曰，吉日惟戊。有自來矣。王者立太史之官，封拜置立，有事宗廟，郊祀天地，皆擇良辰；而近才庸夫，自許脫俗，舉動所為，恥揀善日，不亦戇愚哉？每伺今入山，不得其良時日交，下有其驗，不可輕入也。按玉鈐經云，欲入名山，不可不知遁甲之秘術，而不為人委曲說其事也。而靈寶經云，入山當以保日及義日，若專日者大吉，以制日伐日必死，又不一一道之也。餘少有入山之志，由此乃行學遁甲書，乃有六十餘卷，事不可卒精，故鈔集其要，以為囊中立成，然不中以筆傳。今論其較略，想好事者欲入山行，當訪索知之者，亦終不乏於世也。遁甲中經曰，欲求道，以天內日天內時，劾鬼魅，施符書；以天禽日天禽時入名山，欲令百邪虎狼毒蟲盜賊，不敢近人者。出天藏，入地戶。凡六癸為天藏，六己為地戶也。又曰，避亂世，絕跡於名山，令無憂患者，以上元丁卯日，名曰陰德之時，一名天心，可以隱淪，所謂白日陸沈，日月無光，人鬼不能見也。又曰，求仙道入名山者，以六癸之日六癸之時，一名天公日，必得度世也。又曰，往山林中，當以左手取青龍上草，折半置逢星下，歷明堂入太陰中，禹步而行，三祝曰，諾皋大陰，將軍獨聞，曾孫王甲，勿開外人；使人見甲者，以為束薪；不見甲者，以為非人。則折所持之草置地上，左手取土以傅鼻人中，右手持草自蔽，左手著前，禹步而行，到六癸下，閉氣而住，人鬼不能見也。凡六甲為青龍，六乙為逢星，六丙為明堂，六丁為陰中也。ⅴⅵ比成既濟卦，初一初二跡不任九跡數，然相因仍一步七尺。又云，一尺合二丈一尺，顧視九跡。

Baopuzi said: "The condition of heaven and earth, the auspice and bane of yin and yang, are vast and hard to know in detail; I need not assert that they exist, nor dare I vouch that they do not. Yet the Yellow Emperor and the Grand Duke both believed and relied on them; the enlightened men of recent times, Yan Junping and Sima Qian, both took them as ground and use; and the classics and commentaries set the calendar in order and mark the days of hard and soft. The old saying goes: for an auspicious day, only wu. It has its grounds. Kings established the office of Grand Historian; in enfeoffment and investiture, in services at the ancestral temple and the suburban sacrifices to heaven and earth, they always chose a good day. Yet men of slight talent and common clay, fancying themselves above the vulgar, are ashamed to pick a good day in all they do — is that not foolish? Whenever I observe men entering the mountains today, they never obtain the crossing of a good day and hour; there is proof of this below — one must not enter lightly. The Jade Seal Classic says that one who wishes to enter famous mountains must know the secret arts of Dunjia — but it does not explain the matter to men in detail. And the Numinous Treasure Classic says that in entering the mountains one should do so on a bao day or a yi day; on a zhuan day it is greatly auspicious, while on a zhi day or a fa day one is sure to die — again without explaining them one by one. In my youth I had the will to enter the mountains, and so went and studied the books of Dunjia — there were over sixty juan; the matter cannot be mastered in haste, so I gathered and copied their essentials to make a ready manual in the bag, though it is not fit to transmit by the brush. I will now discuss its rough outline: one fond of the affair who wishes to go into the mountains should seek out one who knows — such men are never lacking in the world. The Middle Classic of Dunjia says: one who wishes to seek the Way should, on a heaven-within day at a heaven-within hour, impeach ghosts and specters and issue talisman-writs; and on a heaven-bird day at a heaven-bird hour enter the famous mountains, so that the hundred evils, tigers, wolves, venomous creatures and robbers dare not approach a man. Go out by the heaven-store; enter by the earth-door. In all, the six gui are the heaven-store, and the six ji are the earth-door. It also says: to flee a disordered age and leave no tracks in famous mountains, so as to be free of care, go on a dingmao day of the upper epoch — named the hour of hidden virtue, also called heaven's heart — when one can sink away and hide, in what is called the sun sinking in broad daylight, sun and moon without light, so that men and ghosts cannot see you. It also says: one who seeks the Way of immortality and enters famous mountains should go on a six-gui day at a six-gui hour — also named the heaven-sire day — and is sure to win deliverance from the world. It also says: going into the mountain forests, take with the left hand a grass from above the green dragon, break off half of it and lay it beneath the meeting-star; pass through the bright hall and enter into the great yin, walking the Pace of Yu, thrice invoking: 'Nuogao, great yin! Let the general alone hear; let your distant descendant at the royal jia not be opened to outsiders.' Then those who see jia take him for a bundle of firewood, and those who do not see jia take him for something not human. Break the grass you hold and lay it on the ground; with the left hand take soil to spread on the groove beneath your nose; with the right hand hold the grass to screen yourself, the left hand in front; walk the Pace of Yu, arrive beneath the six gui, hold your breath and stay — men and ghosts cannot see you. In all, the six jia are the green dragon, the six yi the meeting-star, the six bing the bright hall, and the six ding the midst of yin. (The base text bears the marks 'v-vi'; reading the Pace of Yu as forming the jiji hexagram, the tracks of the first and second steps do not fill the count of nine tracks, yet running together they still make one pace of seven chi. It is also said that one chi amounts to two zhang and one chi; looking back, there are nine tracks.)"

又禹步法：正立，右足在前，左足在後，次復前右足，以左足從右足並，是一步也。次復前右足，次前左足，以右足從左足並，是二步也。次復前右足，以左足從右足並，是三步也。如此，禹步之道畢矣。凡作天下百術，皆宜知禹步，不獨此事也。”

(Baopuzi went on:) Again, the method of the Pace of Yu: stand upright with the right foot in front and the left foot behind; next advance the right foot again, and bring the left foot up beside the right — that is one step. Next advance the right foot again, then advance the left foot, and bring the right foot up beside the left — that is two steps. Next advance the right foot again, and bring the left foot up beside the right — that is three steps. In this way the way of the Pace of Yu is complete. In all the hundred arts under Heaven one should know the Pace of Yu — not only for this matter."

抱朴子曰：“靈寶經曰，所謂寶日者，謂支幹上生下之日也，若用甲午乙巳之日是也。甲者，木也。午者，火也。乙亦木也，巳亦火也，火生於木故也。又謂義日者，支幹下生上之日也，若壬申癸酉之日是也。壬者，水也。申者，金也。癸者，水也。酉者，金也，水生於金故也。所謂制日者，支幹上克下之日也。若戊子己亥之日是也。戊者，土也。子者，水也。己亦土也，亥亦水也，五行之義，土克水也。所謂伐日者，支幹下克上之日，若甲申乙酉之日是也。甲者，木也。申者，金也。乙亦木也，酉亦金也，金克木故也。他皆仿此，引而長之，皆可知之也。”

Baopuzi said: "The Numinous Treasure Classic says: what is called a bao day is a day on which the stem above generates the branch below — as on jiawu or yisi days: jia is wood, wu is fire; yi is likewise wood, si likewise fire — because fire is born of wood. What is called a yi day is a day on which the branch below generates the stem above — as on renshen or guiyou days: ren is water, shen is metal; gui is water, you is metal — because water is born of metal. What is called a zhi day is a day on which the stem above overcomes the branch below — as on wuzi or jihai days: wu is earth, zi is water; ji is likewise earth, hai likewise water — by the rule of the five phases, earth overcomes water. What is called a fa day is a day on which the branch below overcomes the stem above — as on jiashen or yiyou days: jia is wood, shen is metal; yi is likewise wood, you likewise metal — because metal overcomes wood. All the rest follow this pattern; extend the analogy and all can be known."

抱朴子曰：“入名山，以甲子開除日，以五色繒各五寸，懸大石上，所求必得。又曰，入山宜知六甲秘祝。祝曰，臨兵鬥者，皆陣列前行。凡九字，常當密祝之，無所不闢。要道不煩，此之謂也。”

Baopuzi said: "Enter famous mountains on a jiazi kaichu day; take five-colored silks five cun each and hang them on a great rock — what you seek you are sure to get. It is also said that in entering the mountains one should know the secret invocation of the six jia. The invocation says: 'Those who come to fight — array them all in ranks and march them on.' Nine words in all; it should always be invoked in secret — there is nothing it does not ward off. That the essential Way is not troublesome — this is what it means."

抱朴子曰：“山中山精之形，如小兒而獨足，走向後，喜來犯人。人入山，若夜聞人音聲大語，其名曰蚑，知而呼之，即不敢犯人也。一名熱內，亦可兼呼之。又有山精，如鼓赤色，亦一足，其名曰暉。又或如人，長九尺，衣裘戴笠，名曰金累。或如龍而五色赤角，名曰飛飛，見之皆以名呼之，即不敢為害也。”

Baopuzi said: "The mountain sprites within the mountains have a shape like a child with a single foot, walking backwards, fond of attacking men. When a man enters the mountains, if at night he hears a human voice loudly talking, its name is qi; knowing it and calling it by name, it dares not attack men. It is also named renei — one may call both names together. There is another mountain sprite like a red drum, also with one foot, named hui. Another is like a man nine chi tall, wearing furs and a rain-hat, named jinlei. Another is like a dragon, five-colored with red horns, named feifei. On seeing any of them, call it by its name and it dares not work harm."

抱朴子曰：“山中有大樹，有能語者，非樹能語也，其精名曰云陽，呼之則吉。山中夜見火光者，皆久枯木所作，勿怪也。山中夜見胡人者，銅鐵之精。見秦者，百歲木之精。勿怪之，並不能為害。山水之閒見吏人者，名曰四徼，呼之名即吉。山中見大蛇著冠幘者，名曰升卿，呼之即吉。山中見吏，若但聞聲不見形，呼人不止，以白石擲之則息矣；一法以葦為矛以刺之即吉。山中見鬼來喚人，求食不止者，以白茅投之即死也。山中鬼常迷惑使失道徑者，以葦杖投之既死也。山中寅日，有自稱虞吏者，虎也。稱當路君者，狼也。稱令長者，老狸也。卯日稱丈人者，兔也。稱東王父者，麋也。稱西王母者，鹿也。辰日稱雨師者，龍也。稱河伯者，魚也。稱無腸公子者，蟹也。巳日稱寡人者，社中蛇也。稱時君者，龜也。午日稱三公者，馬也。稱仙人者，老樹也。未日稱主人者，羊也。稱吏者，獐也。申日稱人君者，猴也。稱九卿者，猿也。酉日稱將軍者，老雞也。稱捕賊者，雉也。戌日稱人姓字者，犬也。稱成陽公者，狐也。亥日稱神君者，豬也。稱婦人者，金玉也。子日稱社君者，鼠也。稱神人者，伏翼也。丑日稱書生者，牛也。但知其物名，則不能為害也。”

Baopuzi said: "In the mountains there are great trees that can speak — it is not the tree that speaks; its sprite is named yunyang — call it and there is good fortune. When you see a fire's light in the mountains at night, it is made by wood long dried up — do not marvel. When you see a Hu man in the mountains at night, it is the sprite of copper and iron; when you see a man of Qin, it is the sprite of hundred-year wood — do not marvel at them, they can do no harm. If between mountain and water you see an official, it is named sijiao — call its name and there is good fortune. If in the mountains you see a great snake wearing a cap and headwrap, it is named shengqing — call it and there is good fortune. If in the mountains you see an official — or only hear a voice without seeing a shape — calling men without cease, cast a white stone at it and it stops; another method is to make a spear of reed and stab it, which is auspicious. If in the mountains a ghost comes calling men, begging food without cease, throw white rushes at it and it dies. If in the mountains a ghost confuses you so that you lose the path, throw a reed staff at it and it dies. On yin days in the mountains, whatever calls itself the warden Yu is a tiger; whatever calls itself the lord of the road is a wolf; whatever calls itself the prefect is an old wildcat. On mao days, whatever calls itself the old man is a hare; whatever calls itself the Royal Father of the East is an elk; whatever calls itself the Queen Mother of the West is a deer. On chen days, whatever calls itself the master of rain is a dragon; whatever calls itself the earl of the river is a fish; whatever calls itself the gutless master is a crab. On si days, whatever calls itself the solitary one is a snake of the altar; whatever calls itself the lord of the season is a tortoise. On wu days, whatever calls itself the three dukes is a horse; whatever calls itself the immortal is an old tree. On wei days, whatever calls itself the host is a goat; whatever calls itself the official is a river-deer. On shen days, whatever calls itself the lord of men is a monkey; whatever calls itself the nine ministers is a gibbon. On you days, whatever calls itself the general is an old rooster; whatever calls itself the thief-catcher is a pheasant. On xu days, whatever calls itself by a man's surname and name is a dog; whatever calls itself the duke of Chengyang is a fox. On hai days, whatever calls itself the divine lord is a pig; whatever calls itself the woman is gold or jade. On zi days, whatever calls itself the lord of the altar is a rat; whatever calls itself the divine man is a bat. On chou days, whatever calls itself the scholar is an ox. If you only know the thing's name, it can do you no harm."

或問隱居山澤闢蛇蝮之道。抱朴子曰：“昔圓丘多大蛇，又生好藥，黃帝將登焉，廣成子教之佩雄黃，而眾蛇皆去。今帶武都雄黃，色如雞冠者五兩以上，以入山林草木，則不畏蛇。蛇若中人，以少許雄黃末內瘡中，亦登時愈也。蛇種雖多，唯有蝮蛇及青金蛇中人為至急，不治之，一日則煞人。人不曉治之方術者，而為此二蛇所中，即以刀割所傷瘡肉以投地，其肉沸如火炙，須臾焦盡，而人得活。此蛇七八月毒盛之時，不得咬人，而其毒不洩，乃以牙咬大竹及小木，皆即燋枯。今為道士人入山，徒知大方，而不曉闢之之道，亦非小事也。未入山，當預止於家，先學作禁法，思日月及朱雀玄武青龍白虎，以衛其身，乃行到山林草木中，左取三口炁閉之，以吹山草中，意思令此炁赤色如雲霧，彌滿數十里中。若有從人，無多少皆令羅列，以炁吹之，雖踐蛇，蛇不敢動，亦略不逢見蛇也。若或見蛇，因向日左取三炁閉之，以舌柱天，以手捻都關，又閉天門，塞地戶，因以物抑蛇頭而手縈之，畫地作獄以盛之，亦可捉弄也。雖繞頭頸，不敢咬人也。自不解禁，吐炁以吹之，亦終不得復出獄去也。若他人為蛇所中，左取三口炁以吹之，即愈不復痛。若相去十數里者，亦可遙為作炁，呼彼姓字，男祝我左手，女祝我右手，彼亦愈也。介先生法，到山中住，思作五色蛇各一頭，乃閉炁以青竹及小木板屈刺之，左徊禹步，思作吳蚣數千板，以衣其身，乃去，終亦不逢蛇也。或以乾姜附子帶之肘後，或燒牛羊鹿角燻身，或帶王方平雄黃丸，或以豬耳中垢及麝香丸著足爪甲中，皆有效也。又麝及野豬皆啖蛇，故以厭之也。又云日鳥及蠳龜，亦皆啖蛇。故南人入山，皆帶蠳龜之尾，雲日之喙以闢蛇。蛇中人，刮此二物以塗其瘡，亦登時愈也。雲日，鴆鳥之別名也。

Someone asked about the way to ward off vipers while dwelling hidden in mountain and marsh. Baopuzi said: "Formerly the Round Hill had many great snakes and also grew fine herbs; when the Yellow Emperor was about to ascend it, Guangchengzi taught him to wear realgar, and the many snakes all went away. Now if you carry five liang or more of Wudu realgar, colored like a cock's comb, into mountain forests and undergrowth, you need not fear snakes. If a snake strikes a man, put a little powdered realgar into the wound and it heals at once. Though the kinds of snakes are many, only the viper and the green-metal snake strike men with the greatest urgency; untreated, they kill a man within a day. If a man does not know the healing art and is struck by these two snakes, let him cut away the flesh of the wound with a knife and cast it on the ground; the flesh boils as if roasted by fire and in a moment is scorched away, while the man lives. When these snakes' venom is at its height in the seventh and eighth months and they cannot bite a man to discharge it, they bite great bamboos and small trees with their fangs, which wither at once. Nowadays those who become Daoists and enter the mountains know only the great methods but not the way to ward them off — and this too is no small matter. Before entering the mountains one should first remain at home and first learn to make the interdictions, imagining the sun and moon and the Vermilion Bird, the Dark Warrior, the Green Dragon and the White Tiger to guard one's person; then go to the mountain forests and undergrowth, draw in three mouthfuls of qi from the left and hold them, and blow them into the mountain grass, intending this qi to be red like cloud-mist, spreading over scores of li. If there are followers, whatever their number, have them arrayed and blow qi upon them; though you tread on snakes, the snakes dare not move, and you will hardly meet snakes at all. If you happen to see a snake, then facing the sun draw three mouthfuls of qi from the left and hold them, press your tongue to the pillar of heaven, pinch the passes of the capital with your fingers, close heaven's gate and stop earth's door, then use an object to press down the snake's head while your hand winds round it, drawing a prison on the ground to hold it — you may even toy with it. Though it coils about your head and neck, it dares not bite. If you yourself do not release the interdiction by breathing qi upon it, it can never again leave the prison and depart. If another man is struck by a snake, draw three mouthfuls of qi from the left and blow — he heals and hurts no more. If he is a dozen-odd li away, you can still work the qi at a distance, calling that person's surname and name — for a man, invoke my left hand; for a woman, invoke my right hand — and that person also heals. The method of Master Jie: when going to lodge in the mountains, imagine making five-colored snakes, one of each; then hold the breath, pierce with bent slips of green bamboo and little wooden boards, pace the Pace of Yu turning left, imagine several thousand centipedes clothing your body, and then leave — in the end you will not meet a snake. Or carry dried ginger and aconite behind the elbow; or burn the horns of oxen, sheep and deer to fumigate the body; or carry Wang Fangping's realgar pills; or put wax from pigs' ears and musk pills inside the toenails — all are effective. Also musk-deer and wild boar both eat snakes, so they are used to overawe them. And the yunri bird and the ying turtle likewise both eat snakes. Thus when southerners enter the mountains they all carry the tail of the ying turtle and the beak of the yunri to ward off snakes. If a snake strikes a man, scrape these two things and smear them on the wound — it also heals at once. Yunri is another name for the zhen bird."

又南人入山，皆以竹管盛活蜈蚣，蜈蚣知有蛇之地，便動作於管中，如此則詳視草中，必見蛇也。大蛇丈餘，身出一圍者，蜈蚣見之，而能以炁禁之，蛇即死矣。蛇見蜈蚣在涯岸間，大蛇走入川穀深水底逃，其蜈蚣但浮水上禁，人見有物正青，大如綖者，直下入水至蛇處，須臾蛇浮出而死。故南人因此末蜈蚣治蛇瘡，皆登愈也。”

(Baopuzi went on:) 'Also, when southerners enter the mountains they all carry live centipedes in bamboo tubes. The centipede knows where there is a snake and stirs inside the tube; then, looking carefully through the grass, one is sure to see the snake. For a great snake over a zhang long with a body a full span thick, the centipede, upon seeing it, can hex it with qi and the snake dies. If the snake sees the centipede on the bank, a great snake flees down into the deep bottom of the ravine, while the centipede simply floats on the water and works the hex; one sees a thing pure blue, thick as a silk cord, go straight down through the water to where the snake is, and in a moment the snake floats up dead. For this reason southerners grind centipedes to powder to treat snake-bites, and all are cured at once.'

或問曰：“江南山谷之閒，多諸毒惡，闢之有道乎？”抱朴子答曰：“中州高原，土氣清和，上國名山，了無此輩。今吳楚之野，暑溼鬱蒸，雖衡霍正嶽，猶多毒蠚也。又有短狐，一名蜮，一名射工，一名射影，其實水蟲也，狀如鳴蜩，狀似三合杯，有翼能飛，無目而利耳，口中有橫物角弩，如聞人聲，緣口中物如角弩，以氣為矢，則因水而射人，中人身者即發瘡，中影者亦病，而不即發瘡，不曉治之者煞人。其病似大傷寒，不十日皆死。又有沙蝨，水陸皆有，其新雨後及晨暮前，跋涉必著人，唯烈日草燥時，差稀耳。其大如毛髮之端，初著人，便入其皮裡，其所在如芒刺之狀，小犯大痛，可以針挑取之，正赤如丹，著爪上行動也。若不挑之，蟲鑽至骨，便周行走入身，其與射工相似，皆煞人。人行有此蟲之地，每還所住，輒當以火炙燎令遍身，則此蟲墮地也。若帶八物麝香丸、及度世丸、及護命丸、及玉壺丸、犀角丸、及七星丸、及薺苨，皆闢沙蝨短狐也。若卒不能得此諸藥者，但可帶好生麝香亦佳。以雄黃大蒜等分合搗，帶一丸如雞子大者亦善。若已為所中者，可以此藥塗瘡亦愈。父咀赤莧汁，飲之塗之亦愈。五茄根及懸鉤草葍藤，此三物皆可各單行，可以搗服其汁一二升。又射工蟲冬天蟄於山谷間，大雪時索之，此蟲所在，其雪不積留，氣起如灼蒸，當掘之，不過入地一尺則得也，陰乾末帶之，夏天自闢射工也。若道士知一禁方，及洞百禁，常存禁及守真一者，則百毒不敢近之，不假用諸藥也。”

Someone asked: 'In the mountains and valleys south of the Yangzi there are many sorts of venom and evil. Is there a way to repel them?' Baopuzi answered: 'The high plateaus of the central lands have clear and temperate soil-qi, and in the famous mountains of the upper realm these things are wholly absent. But in the wilds of Wu and Chu the heat and damp steam and ferment, so that even on the proper peaks of Heng and Huo there is much venomous stinging. There is also the duanhu, also called the yu, also called the shooting-worker, also called the shadow-shooter. It is really a water insect, shaped like a singing cicada, shaped like a three-lobed cup; it has wings and can fly, has no eyes but sharp ears, and in its mouth a crosswise horn-bow. When it hears a human voice it lets fly along that mouth-piece as if with the horn-bow, taking qi for its arrow, and by way of the water shoots the man. One it strikes in the body at once breaks out in sores; one it strikes in the shadow also falls ill, though without sores appearing at once, and one who does not know the cure it kills. That sickness is like a great cold-damage; before ten days are out all die of it. There is also the sand-louse, found on water and land alike; after fresh rain, and before dawn and at dusk, it is sure to fasten on anyone wading about; only under blazing sun on dry grass is it somewhat scarce. It is no bigger than the tip of a hair; when it first fastens on a man it enters the skin, and where it is there is a sting like a beard-prickle—touch it lightly and the pain is great. It can be picked out with a needle—pure red like cinnabar—and set on the nail it walks about. If it is not picked out, the insect bores to the bone and runs all through the body, like the shooting-worker—both kill. When a man passes where this insect is, each time he returns to his lodging he should scorch himself all over with fire; then the insects fall to the ground. Wearing the Eight-Substance Musk pills, the World-Crossing pills, the Life-Guarding pills, the Jade-Flask pills, the rhinoceros-horn pills, the Seven-Star pills, or jini—all repel the sand-louse and the duanhu. If none of these drugs can be got in haste, merely carrying good fresh musk does well. Realgar and garlic pounded together in equal parts and worn as a pill the size of an egg is also good. If one has already been struck, smearing this medicine on the sore also cures. Chewing red amaranth for its juice, drinking it and smearing it on, also cures. Wujia root, the xuangou herb, and the fu vine—these three can each be used alone: pound them and drink a sheng or two of the juice. Also, the shooting-worker winters dormant in the mountains and valleys; seek it in the season of great snow: where this insect lies the snow does not settle, and vapor rises as if steaming. Dig there, and within a foot of ground you get it; dry it in the shade, grind it, and wear it—in summer it repels the shooting-worker of itself. If a Daoist knows the single prohibition-formula and thoroughly knows the hundred prohibitions, ever keeping the prohibitions and guarding the True One, then the hundred poisons dare not approach and he need not borrow any of these drugs.'

或問：“道士山居，棲巖庇岫，不必有絪縟之溫，直使我不畏風溼，敢問其術也？”抱朴子曰：“金餅散、三陽液、昌辛丸、葷草耐冬煎、獨搖膏、茵芋玄華散、秋地黃血丸，皆不過五十日服之而止，可以十年不畏風溼。若服金丹大藥，雖未升虛輕舉，然體不受疾，雖當風臥溼。不能傷也。服此七藥，皆謂始學道者耳。姚先生但服三陽液，便袒臥冰上，了不寒振。此皆介先生及梁有道臥石上，及秋冬當風寒，已試有驗，秘法也。”

Someone asked: 'A Daoist dwelling in the mountains, lodged on cliffs and sheltered by peaks, need not have the warmth of bedding; only let me not fear wind and damp—may I ask the method?' Baopuzi said: 'The Golden-Cake powder, the Three-Yang liquid, the Changxin pills, the huncao winter-enduring decoction, the Duyao salve, the Yinyu dark-flower powder, and the autumn Dihuang blood pills—take any of them for no more than fifty days and stop, and you can go ten years without fearing wind and damp. If you take the great medicine of the golden elixir, though you have not yet ascended the void and risen light, the body can receive no illness: though you lie in the wind upon damp, it cannot hurt you. Taking these seven medicines is spoken of only for beginners in the Way. Master Yao took nothing but the Three-Yang liquid and lay bare upon the ice, wholly without a shiver of cold. All these were tried and proven by Master Jie and Liang Youdao lying upon stone in autumn and winter amid wind and cold—it is a secret method.'

或問涉江渡海闢蛇龍之道。抱朴子曰：“道士不得已而當遊涉大川者，皆先當於水次，破雞子一枚，以少許粉雜香末，合攪器水中，以自洗濯，則不畏風波蛟龍也。又佩東海小童符、及制水符、蓬萊札，皆卻水中之百害也。又有六甲三金符、五木禁。又法，臨川先祝曰：卷蓬卷蓬，河伯導前闢蛟龍，萬災消滅天清明。又金簡記云，以五月丙午日日中，搗五石，下其銅。五石者，雄黃、丹砂、雌黃、礬石、曾青也。皆粉之，以金華池浴之，內六一神爐中鼓下之，以桂木燒為之，銅成以剛炭煉之，令童男童女進火，取牡銅以為雄劍，取牝銅以為雌劍，各長五寸五分，取土之數，以厭水精也。帶之以水行，則蛟龍巨魚水神不敢近人也。欲知銅之牝牡，當令童男童女俱以水灌銅，灌銅當以在火中向赤時也，則銅自分為兩段，有凸起者牡銅也，有凹陷者牝銅也，各刻名識之。欲入水，以雄者帶左，以雌者帶右。但乘船不身涉水者，其陽日帶雄，陰日帶雌。又天文大字，有北帝書，寫帛而帶之，亦闢風波蛟龍水蟲也。”或問曰：闢山川廟堂百鬼之法。抱朴子曰：“道士常帶天水符、及上皇竹使符、老子左契、及守真一思三部將軍者，鬼不敢近人也。其次則論百鬼錄，知天下鬼之名字，及白澤圖九鼎記，則眾鬼自卻。其次服鶉子赤石丸、及曾青夜光散、及蔥實烏眼丸、及吞白石英祇母散，皆令人見鬼，即鬼畏之矣。”抱朴子曰：“有老君黃庭中胎四十九真秘符，入山林，以甲寅日丹書白素，夜置案中，向北鬥祭之，以酒脯各少少，自說姓名，再拜受取，內衣領中，闢山川百鬼萬精虎狼蟲毒也。何必道士，亂世避難入山林，亦宜知此法也。”

Someone asked about the way to ward off snakes and dragons in crossing rivers and seas. Baopuzi said: 'A Daoist who has no choice but to journey over great waters should first, at the water's edge, break an egg, take a little powder mixed with incense-dust, stir it together in a vessel of water, and wash himself with it—then he need not fear waves or jiaolong. Also, wearing the Little Lad of the Eastern Sea talisman, the Water-Ruling talisman, and the Penglai slip drives back the hundred harms of the water. There is also the Three-Gold talisman of the Six Jia, and the Five-Wood prohibition. There is another method: at the stream first chant—"Swirl, weed, swirl, weed; the Earl of the River leads ahead and wards off the jiaolong; the ten thousand calamities perish, heaven clear and bright." And the Record of the Golden Slips says: at noon on the bingwu day of the fifth month, pound the five stones and cast the copper in. The five stones are realgar, cinnabar, orpiment, alum-stone, and azurite; all are ground to powder, bathed in the Pool of Golden Flower, put into the Six-One divine furnace and smelted; cassia wood is burned to work it. When the copper is done, refine it with hard charcoal and have a virgin boy and a virgin girl feed the fire; take the male copper and make a male sword, take the female copper and make a female sword, each five cun and five fen long—the number of earth—to subdue the essences of water. Carrying them while going in water, jiaolong, giant fish, and water-spirits dare not approach the man. To tell male from female copper, let the boy and girl both pour water over the copper while it glows red in the fire; the copper then splits of itself into two pieces—the one with a boss is male copper, the one with a hollow is female copper—and each is engraved with its name. To enter water, wear the male at the left and the female at the right; for those who ride a boat and do not wade, wear the male on yang days and the female on yin days. Also, the great characters of the celestial script—the writing of the Northern Emperor—written on silk and worn likewise ward off wind, waves, jiaolong, and water insects.' Someone asked about the method of warding off the hundred ghosts of mountains, rivers, and shrine-halls. Baopuzi said: 'Daoists who always wear the Heaven-Water talisman, the Bamboo-Messenger talisman of the High August, Laozi's left tally, and who keep the True One and meditate on the generals of the three divisions—ghosts dare not approach such a man. Next is the Register of the Hundred Ghosts: knowing the names of all ghosts under heaven, together with the Baize Charts and the Records of the Nine Tripods, the many ghosts withdraw of themselves. Next, taking the quail-egg and red-stone pills, the azurite night-gleam powder, the scallion-seed crow-eye pills, or swallowing the white-quartz qimu powder—all make a man see ghosts, and the ghosts fear him.' Baopuzi said: 'There are Laojun's forty-nine true secret talismans of the inner womb of the Yellow Court: entering the mountains, on a jiayin day write them in cinnabar on white silk; at night set them on the altar, sacrifice toward the Northern Dipper with a little wine and dried meat each, speak your own name, bow twice and receive them, and put them inside your collar—they ward off mountains' and rivers' hundred ghosts, ten thousand sprites, tigers, wolves, insects, and poisons. And not only Daoists—anyone fleeing the troubles of a disordered age into the mountains should know this method.'

△入山符

The talisman for entering the mountains.

抱朴子曰：“上五符，皆老君入山符也。以丹書桃板上，大書其文字，令彌滿板上，以著門戶上，及四方四隅，及所道側要處，去所住處，五十步內，闢山精鬼魅。戶內梁柱，皆可施安。凡人居山林及暫入山，皆可用，即眾物不敢害也。三符以相連著一板上。意謂爾非葛氏。”

Baopuzi said: 'The five talismans above are all Laojun's talismans for entering the mountains. Write them in cinnabar on peach boards, write the characters large so that they fill the board, and set them on doors and gates, on the four sides and four corners, and at the key places along the ways that are passed, at a distance from the dwelling—within fifty paces they ward off mountain sprites and goblins. On the beams and pillars inside the house they may all be set. Any man dwelling among mountains and forests, or entering the mountains for a time, may use them, and the creatures will not dare do harm. Three talismans joined together on one board.' (The base text has a line reading "meaning to say you are not of the Ge family," which looks like a later interlinear note; it is nonetheless translated: it means that you are not of the Ge lineage.)

抱朴子曰：“此符亦是老君入山符，戶內梁柱皆可施。凡人居山林及暫入山，皆宜用之也。”

Baopuzi said: 'This talisman is also Laojun's talisman for entering the mountains; it may be set on the beams and pillars inside the house. Any man dwelling among mountains and forests, or entering the mountains for a time, should use it.'

抱朴子曰：“此是仙人陳安世所授入山闢虎狼符，以丹書絹二符，各異之。常帶著所住之處，各四枚。移涉當拔收之以去，大神秘也。開山符以千歲虆名山之門，開寶書古文金玉，皆見秘之。右一法如此，大同小異。”

Baopuzi said: 'This is the talisman for entering the mountains and warding off tigers and wolves, transmitted by the immortal Chen Anshi: write two talismans in cinnabar on silk, each different. Keep them constantly set at the place where you dwell, four of each; when you move on they should be pulled up and carried away—greatly secret. For opening mountains, use the thousand-year lei to open the gates of a famous mountain; opening treasure texts, ancient scripts, gold, and jade—see them all and keep them secret. The method on the right is thus; the large is the same, the small differs.'

抱朴子曰：“此符是老君所戴，百鬼及蛇蝮虎狼神印也。以棗心木方二寸刻之，再拜而帶之，甚有神效。仙人陳安世符矣。”

Baopuzi said: 'This talisman was worn by Laojun; it is the divine seal against the hundred ghosts, vipers, tigers, and wolves. Carve it in a two-cun square of jujube heartwood, bow twice, and wear it—it is of very divine effect. It is the talisman of the immortal Chen Anshi.'

△入山佩帶符

Talisman worn when entering the mountains.

此三符，兼同著牛馬屋左右前後及豬欄上，闢虎狼也。或問曰：“昔聞談昌，或步行水上，或久居水中，以何法乎？”抱朴子曰：“以蔥涕和桂，服如梧桐子大七丸，日三服，至三年，則能行水上也。鄭君言但習閉氣至千息，久久則能居水中一日許。得真通天犀角三寸以上，刻以為魚，而銜之以入水，水常為人開，方三尺，可得炁息水中。又通天犀角有一赤理如綖，有自本徹末，以角盛米置群雞中，雞欲啄之，未至數寸，即驚卻退。故南人或名通天犀為駭雞犀。以此犀角著谷積上，百鳥不敢集。大霧重露之夜，以置中庭，終不沾濡也。此犀獸在深山中，晦冥之夕，其光正赫然如炬火也。以其角為叉導，毒藥為湯，以此叉導攪之，皆生白沫湧起，則了無復毒勢也。以攪無毒物，則無沫起也。故以是知之者也。若行異域有蠱毒之鄉，每於他家飲食，則常先以犀攪之也。人有為毒箭所中欲死，以此犀叉刺瘡中，其瘡即沫出而愈也。通天犀所以能煞毒者，其為獸專食百草之有毒者，及眾木有刺棘者，不妄食柔滑之草木也。歲一解角於山中石閒，人或得之，則須刻木色理形狀，令如其角以代之，犀不能覺，後年輒更解角著其處也。他犀亦辟惡解毒耳，然不能如通天者之妙也。或食六戊符千日，或以赤班蜘蛛及七重水馬，以合馮夷水仙丸服之，則亦可以居水中，只以塗蹠下，則可以步行水上也。頭垢猶足以使金鐵浮水，況妙於茲乎？”

These three talismans are likewise set at left and right, front and back, of the ox and horse stalls and upon the pig-pens—they ward off tigers and wolves. Someone asked: 'I have heard of Tan Chang—some walked upon the water, some dwelt long within the water—by what method?' Baopuzi said: 'Take scallion juice and cinnamon, seven pills the size of wutong seeds, three times a day; after three years you can walk on water. Lord Zheng said one need only practice closing the breath up to a thousand breaths, and after long practice one can stay in water for a day or so. Obtain a true heaven-piercing rhinoceros horn of three cun or more, carve it into a fish, hold it in the mouth and enter the water—the water opens for a man over a space of three chi, and one can breathe beneath the water. Also, the heaven-piercing rhinoceros has a single red vein like a thread running from the root to the tip of the horn; fill the horn with rice and set it among the chickens—they want to peck it, but inches short of it they startle and shrink back. So southerners sometimes call the heaven-piercing rhinoceros the chicken-frightening rhinoceros. Set this horn upon a heap of grain and the hundred birds dare not alight. On a night of heavy fog and deep dew, set it in the middle courtyard and it is never wetted. This rhinoceros beast in the deep mountains on a dark night—its light blazes forth like a torch. Make a hairpin of its horn; when a poisoned broth is prepared and stirred with this pin, white foam wells up and the power of the poison is wholly gone; stirred into something without poison, no foam rises—by this it is known. If you travel to a foreign region where gu-poison is used, whenever you take food and drink in a house, first stir it with the rhinoceros. A man struck by a poisoned arrow on the point of death: prick the wound with this rhinoceros pin and the wound foams and heals. The heaven-piercing rhinoceros can kill poison because as a beast it eats only the poisonous among the hundred herbs and the thorned among the trees, never recklessly eating soft and smooth plants. Each year in the mountains among the rocks it sheds one horn; whoever gets it must carve wood to match that horn's color, grain, and shape and set it in the place as a substitute—the rhinoceros does not notice, and the next year it sheds its horn there again. Other rhinoceroses also ward off evil and resolve poison, but none is as wondrous as the heaven-piercing. Or eat the liuwu talisman for a thousand days; or take the red-spotted spider and the seven-layer water-horse and compound them into the Pingyi water-immortal pills to swallow—then too one can dwell in the water; merely smeared beneath the sole, one can walk upon the water. Even the grease of the head can make iron float on water—how much more what is subtler than this!'

或問：“為道者多在山林，山林多虎狼之害也，何以闢之？”抱朴子曰：“古之人入山者，皆佩黃神越章之印，其廣四寸，其字一百二十，以封泥著所住之四方各百步，則虎狼不敢近其內也。行見新虎跡，以印順印之，虎即去；以印逆印之，虎即還；帶此印以行山林，亦不畏虎狼也。不但只闢虎狼，若有山川社廟血食惡神能作福禍者，以印封泥，斷其道路，則不復能神矣。昔石頭水有大黿，常在一深潭中，人因名此潭為黿潭。此物能作鬼魅，行病於人。吳有道士戴炳者，偶視之，以越章封泥作數百封，乘舟以此封泥遍擲潭中，良久，有大黿徑長丈餘，浮出不敢動，乃格煞之，而病者並愈也。又有小黿出，羅列死於渚上甚多。山中卒逢虎，便作三五禁，虎亦即卻去。三五禁法，當須口傳，筆不能委曲矣。一法，直思吾身為朱鳥，令長三丈，而立來虎頭上，因即閉氣，虎即去。若暮宿山中者，密取頭上釵，閉炁以刺白虎上，則亦無所畏。又法，以左手持刀閉炁，畫地作方，祝曰，恆山之陰，太山之陽，盜賊不起，虎狼不行，城郭不完，閉以金關，因以刀橫旬日中白虎上，亦無所畏也。或用大禁，吞三百六十氣，左取右以叱虎，虎亦不敢起。以此法入山，亦不畏虎。或用七星虎步，及玉神符、八威五勝符、李耳太平符、中黃華蓋印文、及石流黃散，燒牛羊角，或立西嶽公禁山符，皆有驗也。闕此四符也。”

Someone asked: 'Those who practice the Way mostly dwell in mountains and forests, and the mountains and forests harbor the harm of tigers and wolves—what repels them?' Baopuzi said: 'The men of old who entered the mountains all wore the seal of Huangshen Yuezhang, four cun wide with a hundred twenty characters; pressed in sealing-clay and set a hundred paces on each of the four sides of the dwelling, tigers and wolves dare not come within that range. If on the path you see fresh tiger tracks, stamp the seal along their grain and the tiger departs; stamp it against their grain and the tiger comes back. Carrying this seal through the mountains, one fears no tigers or wolves. Nor does it only ward off tigers and wolves: if there are mountain-and-river or shrine evil spirits that feed on blood-offerings and can work fortune and calamity, press the seal in clay and cut off their paths, and they can be gods no more. In former times in the waters of Shitou there was a great yuan turtle, always in a deep pool, and men for that reason called the pool Yuan Pool. This creature could do goblin-work and send illness upon people. There was a Daoist of Wu, Dai Bing, who chanced to see it; he used the Yuezhang seal to make several hundred clay sealings, took a boat, and scattered the clay all over the pool. Long after, a great yuan more than a zhang across floated up not daring to move; it was speared and killed, and all the sick recovered. Small yuan also came out, lying dead in rows upon the islet in great numbers. Meeting a tiger suddenly in the mountains, make the three-five prohibition and the tiger withdraws. The three-five prohibition method must be gotten by word of mouth; the brush cannot render it in full. One method: simply imagine your body as a vermilion bird, three zhang tall, standing upon the tiger's head; then hold your breath and the tiger departs. If you lodge at night in the mountains, secretly take the pin from your hair, hold your qi, and prick the White Tiger—then too there is nothing to fear. There is another method: holding a knife in the left hand and holding the qi, draw a square on the ground and chant—"Yin of Mount Heng, yang of Mount Tai; robbers do not rise, tigers and wolves do not move; walls and ramparts incomplete, shut fast with the golden pass"—then lay the knife across upon the White Tiger in the ten-day cycle, and there is nothing to fear. Or use the great prohibition: swallow three hundred sixty breaths, left hand taking and right hand coming to rebuke the tiger, and the tiger dares not rise. Using this method to enter the mountains, one fears no tigers. Or use the seven-star tiger-step, the Jade-Spirit talisman, the Eight-Powers Five-Conquests talisman, the Li'er Great-Peace talisman, the seal-script of the Central Yellow Canopy, the flowing-yellow mineral powder, burning the horns of ox and sheep, or setting up the Western Peak Lord's mountain-prohibition talisman—all have been proven. These four talismans are missing.'

此符是老君入山符，下說如文。又可戶內梁柱皆施之。凡人居山林及暫入，皆可用之。

This talisman is Laojun's talisman for entering the mountains; what is said below is according to the text. It may also be set on all the beams and pillars inside the house. Any man dwelling among mountains and forests, or entering for a time, may use it.

抱朴子曰：“餘聞之師云，人能知一，萬事畢。知一者，無一之不知也。不知一者，無一之能知也。道起於一，其貴無偶，各居一處，以象天地人，故曰三一也。天得一以清，地得一以寧，人得一以生，神得一以靈。金沈羽浮，山峙川流，視之不見，聽之不聞，存之則在，忽之則亡，向之則吉，背之則兇，保之則遐祚罔極，失之則命雕氣窮。老君曰：忽兮恍兮，其中有象；恍兮忽兮，其中有物。一之謂也。故仙經曰：子欲長生，守一當明；思一至飢，一與之糧；思一至渴，一與之漿。一有姓字服色，男長九分，女長六分，或在臍下二寸四分下丹田中，或在心下絳宮金闕中丹田也，或在人兩眉閒，卻行一寸為明堂，二寸為洞房，三寸為上丹田也。此乃是道家所重，世世歃血口傳其姓名耳。一能成陰生陽，推步寒暑。春得一以發，夏得一以長，秋得一以收，冬得一以藏。其大不可以六合階，其小不可以毫芒比也。昔黃帝東到青丘，過風山，見紫府先生，受三皇內文，以劾召萬神，南到圓隴陰建木，觀百靈之所登，採若乾之華，飲丹巒之水；西見中黃子，受九加之方，過崆峒，從廣成子受自然之經；北到洪堤，上具茨，見大隗君黃蓋童子，受神芝圖，還陟王屋，得神丹金訣記。到峨眉山，見天真皇人於玉堂，請問真一之道。皇人曰：子既君四海，欲復求長生，不亦貪乎？其相覆不可具說，粗舉一隅耳。夫長生仙方，則唯有金丹；守形卻惡，則獨有真一，故古人尤重也。仙經曰：九轉丹，金液經，守一訣，皆在崑崙五城之內，藏以玉函，刻以金札，封以紫泥，印以中章焉。吾聞之於先師曰：一在北極大淵之中，前有明堂，後有絳宮；巍巍華蓋，金樓穹隆；左罡右魁，激波揚空；玄芝被崖，朱草蒙瓏；白玉嵯峨，日月垂光；歷火過水，經玄涉黃；城闕交錯，帷帳琳琅；龍虎列衛，神人在傍；不施不與，一安其所；

Baopuzi said: 'I heard from my teacher: if a man can know the One, the ten thousand things are done. One who knows the One—there is not one thing he cannot know; one who does not know the One—there is not one thing he can know. The Way arises from the One; it is honored as having no mate; each dwells in a single place to image heaven, earth, and man—hence they are called the Three Ones. Heaven gets the One and is clear; earth gets the One and is still; man gets the One and lives; spirit gets the One and is numinous. Metal sinks and feathers float; mountains stand and rivers flow; looked at, it cannot be seen; listened for, it cannot be heard; keep it and it is there, slight it and it is gone; face it and there is fortune, turn from it and there is ill; preserve it and far-reaching blessing has no limit; lose it and life withers and qi comes to an end. Laojun said: Dim! Vague! Within it there is an image; vague! dim! within it there is a thing—this speaks of the One. So the immortal scripture says: you who want long life should be clear on keeping the One; when thinking on the One brings you to hunger, the One gives you grain; when thinking on the One brings you to thirst, the One gives you broth. The One has surname, name, and dress-colors: the male is nine fen tall, the female six fen. It is either in the lower cinnabar field two cun and four fen below the navel, or in the middle cinnabar field of the Scarlet Palace and Golden Towers beneath the heart, or between a man's two brows—one cun inward is the Hall of Light, two cun the Bridal Chamber, three cun the upper cinnabar field. This is what the Daoists hold weighty; generation upon generation they smear blood and pass down that surname and name by word of mouth. The One can perfect yin and bear yang, and pace the steps of cold and heat. Spring gets it and buds; summer gets it and grows; autumn gets it and gathers; winter gets it and stores. Its greatness cannot be stairwayed by the six directions; its smallness cannot be measured against a hair's tip. In old times the Yellow Emperor went east to Qingqiu, crossed Fengshan, saw the Master of the Purple Palace, and received the Inner Text of the Three August Ones to call up the ten thousand spirits; south he went to the shade of the Jianmu on Yuanyou, beheld where the hundred numina ascend, plucked the Ruogan flowers, and drank the waters of the cinnabar ridges; west he saw the Master of Central Yellow and received the ninefold formula, crossed Kongtong, and followed Guangchengzi to receive the Scripture of the Natural; north he reached Hongdi, climbed Juci, saw Lord Dawei and the Lad of the Yellow Canopy, and received the Chart of the Divine Zhi; returning he climbed Wangwu and obtained the record of the golden formula of the divine elixir. At Mount Emei, in the Jade Hall, he saw the August Man of Heaven's Truth and asked about the way of the True One. The August Man said: you already rule over the four seas, and you want to seek long life besides—is that not greedy? What mutually covers one another cannot be told in full; I shall raise but one corner. For the immortal recipe of long life there is only the golden elixir; for guarding the form and fending off evil there is only the True One—so the men of old prized them above all. The immortal scripture says: the Nine-Cycled Elixir, the Scripture of the Golden Liquor, and the Formula of Keeping the One all lie within the five cities of Kunlun, stored in jade cases, inscribed on slips of gold, sealed with purple clay, stamped with the central seal. I heard from my late teacher: the One is in the great deep of the northern pole; before it the Hall of Light, behind it the Scarlet Palace; towering the floriate canopy, the golden towers vaulting; the gang on the left, the kui on the right, beating waves that lift the sky; dark zhi draping the cliffs, vermilion herbs entwining; white jade soaring, sun and moon shedding their light; passing through fire, crossing water, treading the dark, pacing the yellow; walls and towers crossing, curtains of jade and gem; dragon and tiger ranged in guard, the divine man beside; it bestows not, it gives not—the One rests in its place;

不遲不疾，一安其室；能暇能豫，一乃不去；守一存真，乃能通神；少欲約食，一乃留息；白刃臨頸，思一得生；知一不難，難在於終；守之不失，可以無窮；陸辟惡獸，水卻蛟龍；不畏魍魎，挾毒之蟲；鬼不敢近，刃不敢中。此真一之大略也。”

(Baopuzi went on:) 'not slow, not fast—the One rests at ease in its chamber; able to idle, able to take leisure—the One does not depart; keep the One and preserve the true—then you can commune with spirits; few desires and sparing food—the One stays its breath; a white blade at your neck—think on the One and live; knowing the One is not hard—the hard is carrying through to the end; keep it unfailing—you may go on without limit; on land it wards off evil beasts, in water it drives back the jiaolong; fear not the wangliang or the poison-bearing insects; ghosts dare not draw near, blades dare not strike. This is the outline of the True One.'

抱朴子曰：“吾聞之於師云，道術諸經，所思存念作，可以卻惡防身者，乃有數千法。如含影藏形，及守形無生，九變十二化二十四生等，思見身中諸神，而內視令見之法，不可勝計，亦各有效也。然或乃思作數千物以自衛，率多煩難，足以大勞人意。若知守一之道，則一切除棄此輩，故曰能知一則萬事畢者也。受真一口訣，皆有明文，歃白牲之血，以王相之日受之，以白絹白銀為約，克金契而分之，輕說妄傳，其神不行也。人能守一，一亦守人。所以白刃無所措其銳，百害無所容其兇，居敗能成，在危獨安也。若在鬼廟之中，山林之下，大疫之地，冢墓之閒，虎狼之藪，蛇蝮之處，守一不怠，眾惡遠迸。若忽偶忘守一，而為百鬼所害。或臥而魘者，即出中庭視輔星，握固守一，鬼即去矣。若夫陰雨者，但止室中，向北思見輔星而已。若為兵寇所圍，無復生地，急入六甲陰中，伏而守一，則五兵不能犯之也。能守一者，行萬里，入軍旅，涉大川，不須卜日擇時，起工移徙，入新屋舍，皆不復按堪輿星曆，而不避太歲太陰將軍、月建煞耗之神，年命之忌，終不復值殃咎也。先賢歷試有驗之道也。”

Baopuzi said: 'I heard from my teacher: among the scriptures of the Way's arts, the meditations, visualizations, and workings that can repel evil and guard the body run to thousands of methods—such as containing the shadow and hiding the form, guarding the form without begetting, the nine transformations, the twelve changes, the twenty-four begettings, and the methods of visualizing the spirits within the body and seeing them with inward sight—beyond counting, and each has its effect. But then to visualize thousands of things for one's own defense is mostly troublesome and hard, enough to weary a man's mind greatly. If one knows the way of keeping the One, all such are cast aside; so it is said: knowing the One, the ten thousand things are done. Receiving the oral formula of the True One has clear written rules: smear the blood of a white beast, receive it on a kingly day, take white silk and white silver as the pledge, carve a golden tally and split it; speak of it lightly or transmit it wrongly, and the spirits will not act. If a man can keep the One, the One also keeps him. So a white blade has nowhere to set its edge, a hundred harms no room to work their evil; in defeat he can succeed, in danger he alone is safe. In the temples of ghosts, beneath the mountains and forests, on lands of great plague, among graves and mounds, in the thickets of tigers and wolves, in the haunts of vipers—keep the One unflagging and the many evils burst far away. If suddenly one forgets to keep the One, the hundred ghosts may hurt him. If a nightmare oppresses him in sleep, let him go out to the middle court, look upon the star Fuxing, grip firmly and keep the One—the ghost departs. In dark rain he may simply stay within the room, face north, and think on Fuxing. If beset by soldiers with no ground of life left, let him quickly enter the shade of the Six Jia, crouch, and keep the One—the five weapons cannot touch him. One who can keep the One may walk ten thousand li, enter the ranks of armies, and cross great waters without need to divine days or choose times; beginning works, changing dwelling, entering a new house—he no longer consults geomancy or the star-calendars and does not shun Taisui, Taiyin, the generals, the baleful star of the month-establishment, or the taboos of his year-fate, and he never meets calamity. This is the way the former worthies proved by repeated trial.'

抱朴子曰：“玄一之道，亦要法也。無所不闢，與真一同功。吾內篇第一名之為暢玄者，正以此也。守玄一復易於守真一。真一有姓字長短服色目，玄一但此見之。初求之於日中，所謂知白守黑，欲死不得者也。然先當百日潔齋，乃可候求得之耳，亦不過三四日得之，得之守之，則不復去矣。守玄一，並思其身，分為三人，三人已見，又轉益之，可至數十人，皆如己身，隱之顯之，皆自有口訣，此所謂分形之道。左君及薊子訓葛仙公所以能一日至數十處，及有客座上，有一主人與客語，門中又有一主人迎客，而水側又有一主人投釣，賓不能別何者為真主人也。師言守一兼修明鏡，其鏡道成則能分形為數十人，衣服面貌，皆如一也。”

Baopuzi said: 'The way of the Dark One is also an essential method. It wards off everything, equal in work to the True One. That my first inner chapter calls it "Unfolding the Dark" is for this reason. Keeping the Dark One is easier than keeping the True One. The True One has surname and name, stature, dress-colors, and eyes; the Dark One is simply seen as it is. At first you seek it within the sun—what is called knowing the white and keeping the black, where wanting to die you cannot. But first you must fast in purity a hundred days before you may await and seek it, and it is obtained in no more than three or four days; once obtained, keep it, and it does not leave again. Keeping the Dark One, you also think of your own body divided into three men; once the three men are seen, you increase them again and again, up to dozens, all like your own body; hiding them and showing them each has its oral formula—this is called the way of dividing the form. That Lord Zuo, Ji Zixun, and the immortal Lord Ge could be in dozens of places in one day: a guest seated, one host talking with the guest, another host in the doorway greeting guests, and yet another host by the water casting a line—the guest cannot tell which is the true host. My teacher said: keep the One and cultivate the bright mirror besides; when the way of the mirror is done you can divide the form into dozens of persons, dress and features all like one.'

抱朴子曰：“師言欲長生，當勤服大藥，欲得通神，當金水分形。形分則自見其身中之三魂七魄，而天靈地祇，皆可接見，山川之神，皆可使役也。”

Baopuzi said: 'My teacher said: to want long life, take the great medicine diligently; to want communion with spirits, use gold and water to divide the form. Once the form is divided you see for yourself the three hun and seven po within your body, and the celestial numina and earthly spirits can all be received in audience, and the spirits of mountains and rivers can all be put to work.'