Originally written for Chinese readers, this book provides a clear description of the Taoist practice of Internal Alchemy, or Neidan. The author outlines the four stages of the alchemical practice and clarifies several relevant terms and notions, including Essence, Breath, and Spirit; the Cinnabar Fields; the "Fire Times"; and the Embryo. The book is based on the system of the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality), one of the main sources of Internal Alchemy, and contains about two hundred quotations from original Taoist texts. Table of Contents Foreword, vii INTRODUCTION, 1 The Basis: Essence and Spirit, 3 STAGES OF THE ALCHEMICAL PRACTICE IN AWAKENING TO REALITY, 11 The Four Stages, 13 "Laying the Foundations," 15 Main Points in the Practice of "Laying the Foundations," 20 The Functions of Essence, Breath, and Spirit, 36 Terms Related to the "Coagulation of the Three Treasures," 52 Conclusion of the Stage of "Laying the Foundations," 63 "Refining Essence to Transmute it into Breath," 65 "Refining Breath to Transmute it into Spirit," 99 "Refining Spirit to Return to Emptiness," 109 CONCLUSION, 119 The "Arts of the Way," 121 Tables, 123 Glossary of Chinese Characters, 133

Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian) is one of the most important and best-known Taoist alchemical texts. Written in the eleventh century, it describes in a poetical form, and in a typically cryptic and allusive language, several facets of Neidan, or internal alchemy. The present book presents the first part of the text, consisting of sixteen poems, which contain a concise but comprehensive exposition of Neidan. In addition to notes that intend to clarify the meaning of the more obscure points, the book also contains selections from a commentary dating from the late eighteenth century, which is distinguished by the use of a lucid and plain language. ⿿ Fabrizio Pregadio has taught at the University of Venice (1996-97), the Technical University of Berlin (1998-2001), and Stanford University (2001-08). He is the author of Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China (Stanford University Press, 2006) and the editor of The Encyclopedia of Taoism (Routledge, 2008).

This book contains four essays on Internal Alchemy (Neidan) by Isabelle Robinet, originally published in French and translated here for the first time into English. The essays are concerned with the alchemical principle of "inversion"; the devices used by the alchemists to "give form to the Formless by the word, and thus manifest the authentic and absolute Dao"; the symbolic function of numbers in Taoism and in Internal Alchemy; and the original meanings of the terms "External Elixir" (waidan) and "Internal Elixir" (neidan). Table of Contents Acknowledgements, vii 1. The World Upside Down in Taoist Internal Alchemy, 1 2. The Alchemical Language, or the Effort to Say the Contradictory, 17 3. Role and Meaning of Numbers in Taoist Cosmology and Alchemy, 45 4. On the Meaning of the Terms Waidan and Neidan, 75 Tables and Pictures, 103 Appendix: Works by Isabelle Robinet, 113 Glossary of Chinese Characters, 117 Works Quoted, 123

This is the first book to examine extensively the religious aspects of Chinese alchemy. Its main focus is the relation of alchemy to the Daoist traditions of the early medieval period (third to sixth centuries). It shows how alchemy contributed to and was tightly integrated into the elaborate body of doctrines and practices that Daoists built at that time, from which Daoism as we know it today evolved. The book also clarifies the origins of Chinese alchemy and the respective roles of alchemy and meditation in self-cultivation practices. It contains full translations of three important medieval texts, all of them accompanied by running commentaries, making available for the first time in English the gist of the early Chinese alchemical corpus.

In Taoism and Self Knowledge, Catherine Despeux develops a history of the "Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection" a text containing an array of meditative techniques for individual salvation and thunder rites. This chart was transmitted widely among Taoists in Quanzhen tradition.

Cultivating the Tao is a complete translation of one of the main works by the renowned Taoist master Liu Yiming (1734-1821). Divided into 26 short chapters, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the basic principles of Taoism and an introduction to Taoist Internal Alchemy, or Neidan, authored by one of the greatest representatives of this tradition. Liu Yiming was an 11th-generation master of the Longmen (Dragon Gate) lineage. Having recovered from severe illness in his youth, he undertook extended traveling that led him to meet his two main masters. In 1780, he settled in the Qiyun mountains, in the present-day Gansu province. Since then until his death he devoted himself to teaching and writing. His works mainly consist of writings on Neidan and of commentaries on major Neidan scriptures. Liu Yiming grafts Internal Alchemy onto the teachings of the Book of the Way and Its Virtue (Daode jing) and of the later Taoist tradition. Few other masters have illustrated the relation between Taoism and Internal Alchemy as clearly as he does in this book.

Presents a translation and commentary to the oldest known extant Taoist text, Inward Training (Nei-yeh), which is composed of short poetic verses devoted to the practice of breath meditation and its resultant insights about human nature and the cosmos. Roth argues that Inward Training is the basis of early Taoism, and suggests that there may be more continuity between early philosophical Taoism and later Taoist religion than scholars have thought.