Huang Ting Nei Jing Jing (黃庭內景經) · Volume 1

上清紫霞虛皇前太上大道玉晨君閒居蕊珠作七言

Before the throne of the Sovereign of Void at Purple Dawn in Highest Clarity, the Lord of Jade Dawn of the Supreme Great Dao (a word Laozi uses for the origin of the myriad things and the way they run, which itself cannot be named), dwelling at leisure in the Palace of Budding Pearls, composed these seven-character verses,

散化五形變萬神是為黃庭曰內篇琴心三疊舞胎仙

scattering and transforming the five forms and changing the myriad spirits; this is the Yellow Court, called the Inner Chapter. The heart-lute plays its triple fold, and the embryonic immortal dances.

九氣映明出霄間神蓋童子生紫煙是曰玉書可精研

The nine breaths (the flowing stuff that makes up and runs through all things) shine bright as they come out of the Milky Way, and the youths beneath the spirit canopy give rise to purple smoke. This is called the Jade Book, and it may be studied closely;

詠之萬過升三天千災以消百病痊不憚虎狼之兇殘

chant it ten thousand times and you ascend to the Three Heavens, a thousand calamities vanish and a hundred illnesses are healed, and you need not fear the savagery of tigers and wolves,

亦以卻老年永延

and you can also drive back old age and lengthen your years forever.

上有魂靈下關元左為少陽右太陰後有密戶前生門

Above is the spirit-soul, below is Guanyuan; on the left is the Lesser Yang, on the right the Great Yin; behind is the secret door, in front is the gate of life,

出日入月呼吸存元氣所合列宿分紫煙上下三素雲

the sun rises and the moon sets, visualized within the breath; here the primal breath gathers, here the constellations part; purple smoke rises and falls, the clouds of the Three Pure Ones,

灌溉五華植靈根七液洞流沖廬間回紫抱黃入丹田

irrigating the Five Flowers and planting the spirit roots; the Seven Fluids pour through openly and rush into the hut between; turning back to the purple and embracing the yellow, they enter the cinnabar field. The names used in this text, such as lead, mercury, dragon and tiger, tripod and furnace, infant and maiden, and also Dantian, Niwan and Yellow Court, are all names that inner alchemists borrowed from outer alchemy's drugs and vessels to refer to the essence, breath and spirit in the body and the places where they are cultivated; they do not mean actual minerals or drugs,

幽室內明照陽門

and within the dark chamber it is bright of itself, illuminating the Gate of Yang.

口為玉池太和官漱咽靈液災不幹體生光華氣香蘭

The mouth is the Jade Pool, the office of Great Harmony; rinse and swallow the spirit fluid and calamity will not come to invade; the body gives forth radiance and the breath is like fragrant orchid,

卻滅百邪玉煉顏審能修之登廣寒晝夜不寐乃成真

driving away the hundred evils, with a complexion refined to jade; if you can truly cultivate this, you may ascend to the Vast Cold Palace; sleep not day or night, and only then can you become a true one,

雷鳴電激神泯泯

though thunder roars and lightning strikes, the spirit stays still and settled.

黃庭內人服錦衣紫華飛裙雲氣羅丹青綠條翠靈柯

The inner persons in the Yellow Court wear brocade robes, flying skirts of purple radiance and gowns of gauze-like cloud, with green sashes of cinnabar and azure and spirit branches of emerald,

七蕤玉龠閉兩扉重扇金闕密樞機玄泉幽闕高崔巍

the Seven-Tasseled Jade Flute shuts the two leaves of the door, and layer upon layer of golden towers seal the pivot tight; the Dark Spring and the Hidden Gate rise high and lofty,

三田之中精氣微嬌女窈窕翳霄暉重堂煥煥明八威

within the Three Fields the essence and breath are fine and subtle, the lovely maidens are graceful and screen the radiance of the sky; the layered halls shine brightly and illuminate the Eight Awes,

天庭地關列釜斤靈臺盤固永不衰

the Heavenly Court and Earth Gate are lined with cauldrons and axes, and the Spirit Terrace is firmly coiled and will never decay.

中池內神服赤珠丹錦雲袍帶虎符橫津三寸靈所居

The spirit in the Middle Pool wears red pearls, in a robe of cinnabar brocade and carrying a tiger tally; the Crossing Ford of three inches is where the spirit dwells,

隱芝翳鬱自相扶

and the hidden mushrooms grow dense and luxuriant, supporting one another.

天中之嶽精謹修雲宅既清玉帝遊通利道路無終休

The Peak in the Center of Heaven must be cultivated with essence and care; once the Cloud Dwelling is clean and pure, the Jade Emperor will come to visit; the road is open and smooth, with no end or rest,

眉號華蓋覆明珠九幽日月洞空無宅中有真常衣丹

the eyebrows are named the Splendid Canopy, covering bright pearls; the sun and moon of the Nine Depths are open and empty. Within the dwelling is a true one, always wearing a cinnabar robe,

審能見之無疾患赤珠靈裙華茜粲舌下膺玄生死岸

and if you can truly see him, you will have no illness; red-pearl spirit skirts shine splendid and bright. Beneath the tongue the Dark is held, the shore of life and death,

出青入玄二氣煥子若遇之昇天漢

going out through the green and entering the dark, the two breaths shine forth; if you meet him, you ascend to the Heavenly River.

至道不煩訣存真泥丸百節皆有神發神蒼華字太元

The supreme Way is not fussy; its secret lies in keeping hold of the original truth; the Niwan and the hundred joints all have spirits. The spirit of the hair is called Cang Hua, styled Tai Yuan,

腦神精根字泥丸眼神明上字英玄鼻神玉壟字靈堅

the spirit of the brain is the root of essence, styled Niwan; the spirit of the eyes is the Bright Above, styled Ying Xuan; the spirit of the nose is the Jade Ridge, styled Ling Jian,

耳神空閒字幽田舌神通命字正倫齒神峨峰字羅千

the spirit of the ears is Kong Xian, styled You Tian; the spirit of the tongue is Tong Ming, styled Zheng Lun; the spirit of the teeth is E Feng, styled Luo Qian,

一面之神宗泥丸泥丸九真皆有房方圓一寸處此中

the spirits of the whole face all take the Niwan as their head; the Nine True Ones of the Niwan each have a chamber of their own; one inch square, they dwell within it,

內服紫衣飛羅裳但思一部壽無窮非各別住俱腦中

wearing purple robes and flying gauze skirts. Simply visualize this one region and your life will be without end; they do not live apart in separate places, but are all in the brain,

列位次坐向外方所存在心自相當

seated in order of rank, facing outward; what you visualize and where it stands will naturally accord with the heart.

心神丹元字守靈肺神皓華字虛成肝神龍煙字臺明

The spirit of the heart is Dan Yuan, styled Shou Ling; the spirit of the lungs is Hao Hua, styled Xu Cheng; the spirit of the liver is Long Yan, styled Tai Ming,

翳鬱導煙主濁清腎神玄冥字育嬰脾神常在字魂停

leading the dense smoke, in charge of the turbid and the clear; the spirit of the kidneys is Xuan Ming, styled Yu Ying; the spirit of the spleen is Chang Zai, styled Hun Ting,

膽神龍曜字威明六腑五臟神體精皆在心內運天經

the spirit of the gallbladder is Long Yao, styled Wei Ming. For the six bowels and five viscera, the spirits are the essence within the body, and all of them turn the heavenly warp within the heart,

晝夜存之自長生

visualize them day and night, and you will naturally live long.

肺部之官似華蓋下有童子坐玉闕七元之子主調氣

The office of the lungs is like a splendid canopy, and beneath it a youth sits in a jade tower; the sons of the Seven Primes are in charge of regulating the breath,

外應中嶽鼻臍位素錦衣裳黃雲帶喘息呼吸體不快

corresponding outwardly to the Central Peak, in the place between the nose and the navel; in plain silk garments and a sash of yellow cloud. When your breath is panting and your body is ill at ease,

急存白元和六氣神仙久視無災害用之不已形不滯

quickly visualize the White Prime and harmonize the six breaths; the immortals gaze long and suffer no harm. If you use it without stopping, your body will not be clogged or blocked.

心部之官蓮含華下有童子丹元家主適寒熱榮衛和

The office of the heart is like a lotus holding its blossom, and beneath it a youth is the home of Dan Yuan; it is in charge of keeping cold and heat in due measure and the nutritive and defensive energies in harmony,

丹錦飛裳披玉羅金鈴朱帶坐婆裟調血理命身不枯

in flying robes of cinnabar brocade, draped in jade gauze; with golden bells and red sashes, sitting in dance-like ease. Regulate the blood and order your life, and the body will not wither,

外應口舌吐五華臨絕呼之亦登蘇久久行之飛太霞

corresponding outwardly to the mouth and tongue, giving forth the Five Flowers; even when the breath is about to expire, call upon him and you can revive. Practice it for a long time and you will fly up to the Great Rosy Clouds.

肝部之中翠重裡下有青童神公子主諸關鏡聰明始

Within the office of the liver, deep inside the layers of emerald, below dwells the Azure Youth, the divine young lord; he is in charge of the mirror of all the passes and is the beginning of keen sight and hearing,

青錦披裳佩玉鈴和制魂魄津液平外應眼目日月清

draped in azure brocade and wearing jade bells; he harmonizes the spirit-soul and the bodily soul and keeps the bodily fluids steady; corresponding outwardly to the eyes, so that sun and moon are clear and bright,

百療所鍾存無英同用七日自充盈垂絕念神死復生

where the hundred illnesses gather; visualize Wu Ying; use it likewise for seven days and you will naturally be full; one who is dying and thinks on the spirit will die and live again,

攝魂還魄永無傾

drawing back the spirit-soul and returning the bodily soul, never to be overturned.

腎部之宮玄陰圃中有童子冥上玄主諸六府九液源

The palace of the kidneys is the garden of Dark Yin, and within it is a youth called Ming Shang Xuan; he is in charge of all the six bowels and the source of the nine fluids,

外應兩耳百液津蒼錦雲衣舞龍潘上致的霞日月煙

corresponding outwardly to the two ears, the ford of the hundred fluids; in azure brocade and cloud robes, dancing with dragon banners. The rosy clouds summoned upward, and the smoke of the sun and moon,

百病千災急當存兩部水王對生門使人長生升九天

in the hundred illnesses and thousand calamities, one must quickly visualize them; the Water Kings of the two regions face the Gate of Life and make a person live long and ascend to the Nine Heavens.

脾部之官屬戌已中有明童黃裳裡消谷散氣攝牙齒

The office of the spleen belongs to Wu and Ji (the base text has "Yi" where "Ji" is meant), and within it a bright youth sits inside a yellow skirt; it digests grain and disperses the breath, and governs the teeth,