Abstract
Debates about xuan, its meaning and significance, dominated much of Chinese philosophy between the Han and Tang dynasties. While the term seems especially associated with the philosophical trend named Xuanxue, it was in fact significant to a far wider philosophical and religious audience. This chapter focuses on the analysis of xuan in the work of Ge Hong, also known as Master Embracing the Unhewn. Ge Hong’s major works, the eponymous Inner and Outer Chapters of Baopuzi and the Traditions of Divine Transcendents, have all been studied extensively and translated into English, thus making him among the best known of medieval Chinese authors. Ge Hong discusses xuan in “Penetrating the Dark,” the opening chapter of the Inner Chapters, that constitutes the philosophical basis for the following chapters and their numerous methods for seeking immortality.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Daodejing chapter 19: “絕聖棄智, 民利百倍; 絕民棄義, 民復孝慈; 絕巧棄利, 盜賊无有。此三者, 為文不足, 故令有所屬:見素抱朴, 少私寡欲.”
- 3.
For a full list of works attributed to Ge Hong, most of which are not extant, see Wang 1996: 390–395.
- 4.
See Yang 1997.
- 5.
A full English translation of the Inner Chapters was produced by James Ware in 1966 but this translation is outdated and often misleading. For a translation of the Outer Chapters, see Sailey 1978. For a careful analysis and translation of Traditions of Divine Transcendents, see Campany 2002. Ge Hong’s importance in the history of Daoism is discussed in Robinet 1997. On Ge Hong’s importance in the history of Chinese science, especially alchemy, see Needham et al. 1976; Pregadio 2006. On the ambiguous relationship between alchemy and Daoism, and Ge Hong’s location in the interstices of these categories, see Sivin 1978.
- 6.
- 7.
See Yin and Zhou Shan 2006, volume 3.
- 8.
Wang 1996.
- 9.
- 10.
See Campany 2005.
- 11.
Campany 2005: 183.
- 12.
Zhang 2012.
- 13.
- 14.
- 15.
The third-century scripture Commands and Admonitions for the Families of the Great Dao describes “Dao bestows itself by means of subtle pneumas. They are of three colors, associated with the Dark, Primordial, and Inaugural pneumas (xuan yuan shiqi玄元始氣). The dark is azure and formed heaven, the inaugural is yellow and formed earth, the primordial is white and formed Dao. Within the three pneumas, Dao controls all above and below and is the father and mother of the myriad things.” Dadao Jia Lingjie 大道家令戒 in Zhengyi Fawen Tianshijiao Jieke Jing 正一法文天師教戒科經正 (Daozang 789: 12a6–10), translated in Bokenkamp 1999: 165–166. For a discussion of the development of this concept, see Bokenkamp 1999: 188–194.
- 16.
This division was probably introduced by Wang Yan 王延 in the 570’s under the auspices of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou. In the Song Baowen tonglu 寶文統錄 Daoist canon, presented in 1017, this section had grown to the largest in the canon. Schipper and Verellen 2006: 19, 27, 55; The texts of the Taixuan Division in the Zhengtong Daoist Canon are listed and analyzed on pages 495–501. For a detailed study, see Zheng 2009, especially 285–304.
- 17.
Zheng 2009, especially 451–462.
- 18.
Campany 2005: 185, et passim.
- 19.
- 20.
- 21.
- 22.
Daodejing, chapter 14: “Look at it, it cannot be seen; hence it is named subtle 視之不見, 名曰微.”
- 23.
Liu 2006: 196–197.
- 24.
- 25.
“What we call the ‘formless’ is a designation for the One. What we call ‘the One’ is that which has no counterpart in the whole world. Majestically independent, immensely solitary; above it permeates the Nine Heavens, below it threads through the Nine Regions 所謂無形者一之謂也; 所謂一者, 無匹合於天下者也, 卓然獨立, 塊然獨處, 上通九天, 下貫九野.” Major et al. 2010: 64.
- 26.
Zhang 2012: 6.
- 27.
Often in combination with yun 雲 “cloudy sky” or with chi 赤 “ruddy sky” as on the Wangziqiao Stele 王子喬碑 (full text in Cai Zhonglang Ji 蔡中郎集 in Hanwei Liuchao Yibaisan Jia Ji 漢魏六朝一百三家集, Zhang Pu 張溥 (Ming dynasty) in Congshu Jicheng; Raz 2012: 80–85); Huainanzi, “yuandao 原道” chapter; and in the poem “Far Roaming” (yuanyou 遠遊) by Qu Yuan (340–278 BCE).
- 28.
Found in received literature only in the Shanhaijing 山海經, “hainei xijing 海內西經” chapter. Wang 1996: 4n3.
- 29.
For more on how Ge Hong employed these terms, see the chapter by Thomas Michael in this Companion.
- 30.
Wang 1996: 4n5 explicates it as “the ultimate Yin land in the north 北方極陰之地.”
- 31.
In the “Astronomical Offices” (tian guan 天官) chapter of the Shiji 史記 (chapter 27.1289), Sima Qian described this location as: “In the Central Palace are the stars of Grand Culmen, the stars are most bright; it is the regular residence of Taiyi 中宮天極星, 其一明者, 太一常居也.” See Pankenier 2013: 88–97, et passim.
- 32.
Zhang 2012: 18–19, for a similar argument.
- 33.
- 34.
“且夫待鉤繩規矩而正者, 是削其性 ⋯⋯ 天下有常然, 常然者, 曲者不以鉤, 直者不以繩, 圓者不以規, 方者不以矩.” Watson 2013: 61–62.
- 35.
- 36.
He Yan “Dao lun”: “玄以之黑, 素以之白, 矩以之方, 规以之圆; 圓方得形, 而此無形; 白黑得名, 而此無名.” Compare the translation in Chan and Lo 2010: 24.
- 37.
“Mountains are high because of it, abysses are deep because of it, beasts can run because of it, birds can fly because of it, the sun and moon are bright because of it, the stars and timekeepers move because of it, the qilin roams because of it, and the phoenix soars because of it 山以之高, 淵以之深, 獸以之走, 鳥以之飛, 日月以之明, 星曆以之行, 麟以之遊, 鳳以之翔.” Liu 1989: 1; Major et al. 2010: 48.
- 38.
The term chenwei literally means “prognostications and weft-texts.” For brevity, I use only the latter term. These texts were purportedly exegetical works on the Confucian Classics, literally the warp, or the guiding threads of a piece of weaving. This weaving metaphor carries a cosmological import: one, especially the ruler, should follow the cosmic lines described in the warp, i. e., the Classics, and do so by adhering to the commentaries, the weft. Only then would the cosmic pattern and social fabric reach perfection. Some scholars translate this term as “Apocrypha.” I find this not only obscures the underlying metaphor which relates these texts to the Classics, but, moreover, carries the connotation of “non-canonical” due to its use in Biblical exegesis. For a discussion of these terms see Lü1995, 2003. Lü translates chenwei as “prophetic-apocryphal texts.”
- 39.
- 40.
- 41.
“太易者未見氣, 太初者氣之始, 太始者形之始也, 太素者質之始也.” Yiwei Qianzuodu 易緯乾鑿度 (Boring into the Qian trigram, Yi weft text), in Shohachi and Kozan 1986: 39.
- 42.
Chapter 10 (mingben 明本); Wang 1996: 185.
- 43.
“Initial creation” (caomei 草昧), a term originating in the Yiijng line commentary on the hexagram zhun 屯: “The movement of thunder and rain causes fullness, but heaven’s creation was still obscure; it may be apt to establish a ruler, but he will not be stable 雷雨之動滿盈, 天造草昧, 宜建侯而不寧.” Wang Bi’s comment explicates caomei as: “When the creation of things began, it begun in obscurity, hence it is called caomei 造物之始, 始於冥昧, 故曰草昧也.” “This may be compared to Wang Bi’s argument that the Confucian moral order emerges “from those who do not speak.” D’Ambrosio 2016: 626.
- 44.
Compare Baopuzi waipian, chapter 19 “Renming 任命”: 蓋聞靈機冥緬, 混茫眇昧.
- 45.
The metaphor of an axe chopping at one’s life appears in early Celestial Master texts: (1) in the Xiang’er Commentary on the Laozi 老子想爾注 S. 6825 commenting on Daodejing, chapter 22: “evil is the axe that hacks away at my body 惡者, 伐我身之斧也.” Bokenkamp 1999: 116; (2) in Commands and Admonitions to the Families of the Great Dao (Dadao Jia lingjie 大道家令戒) in Zhengyi Fawen Tianshi Jiaojieke Jing 正一法文天師教戒科經, Daozang 789.19a: “Dao hides in the nameless, name is an axe that hacks away at the body 道隱無名, 名者伐身之斧.” Bokenkamp 1999: 182.
- 46.
Wang Ming has 守之者外; on page 6n35 he explains that the Ming edition by Lu Wuzhi 盧舞治 has 失之者外. This makes more sense in context. This is also the choice made by James Ware in his translation.
- 47.
The term xuanji 旋璣 refers specifically to two stars of the Dipper, and by metonymy to the Dipper as a whole. Pankenier 2013: 460.
- 48.
This sentence combines an allusion to “yuanyou” with a term commonly used to describe the unseen: “The strains of music spread everywhere, boundless, endless—upon which I then rushed away, in aimless meander 音樂博衍無終極兮, 焉乃逝以俳佪”; translation from Kroll 1996: 663.
- 49.
Six pneumas 六氣 are distinct types of qi that are to be ingested or avoided at specific moments of the day and according to season. Some of these terms are mentioned in “yuanyou”: “Sip on the six qi and imbibe the Drifting Flow, ah! Rinse the mouth with True Yang and ingest Dawn Aurora 粲六氣而飲沆瀣兮, 漱正陽而含朝霞.” Wang Yi’s 王逸 commentary cites Lingyang Ziming Jing (no longer extant): (1) in Spring, ingest Dawn Aurora 朝霞, the red and yellow pneuma of the sun just prior to dawn; (2) in autumn, ingest Sunken Yin 淪陰, the red and yellow pneuma of the sun just after sunset; (3) in Winter, imbibe Drifting Flow hangxie 沆瀣, midnight pneuma of the north; (4) in summer, ingest True Yang 正陽, midday pneuma of the south; (5) together with the Dark and Yellow pneumas of heaven and earth, these are the Six pneumas. Fuller details of the system are found among the Mawangdui manuscripts: “Ten Questions” (Shiwen 十問) and “Cutting off Grains and ingesting qi” (Quegu shiqi 卻榖食氣), which provides a set of seasonal rules for imbibing or avoiding particular diurnal qi:
Season
Avoid
Ingest
Spring
Turbid Yang 濁陽
金恍, 月光, 朝霞
Summer
Scalding wind 湯風
朝霞, 沆瀣
Autumn
Frost Mist 霜霧 / 清風 (Harper, 308n3)
月光, 輸陽
Winter
Frozen Yin 凌陰
端陽, 月光, 輸陽, 輸陰
For translations of the Mawangdui texts, see Harper 1998: 395, 307, respectively; Li 2000: 324–330.
- 50.
Wang 1996: 7n39, quoting Yunji Qiqian, Daozang 1032.8. “The Perfected of Supreme Clarity label the sun and moon ‘Great treasure of nine efflorescence’ 上清真人呼日月為太寳九華.”
- 51.
There are far too many examples to list, with over a dozen recorded in juan 23 of the Song Daoist encyclopedia Yunji Qiqian that is devoted to these practices. Several more are listed in other chapters. Examples that are contemporary to Ge Hong may include the “Way of Ingesting Lunar and Solar Essences” (Shi Riyuejing Zhidao食日月精之道) preserved in Lingbao Wufuxu, Daozang 318.1.18b8-26a8; A text by the title “Ingesting Lunar and Solar Essence Scripture 食日月精經” is listed in Ge Hong’s bibliographic chapter. Wang 1996: 333. Other possibly related titles listed by Ge Hong are “Lunar and Solar Kitchen Scripture 日月廚食經” and “Solar Essence Scripture 日精經.”
- 52.
- 53.
Ge Hong’s bibliographic chapter includes the title “Scripture of Pacing the Three Guidelines and Six Sequences 步三罡六紀經.” Wang 1996: 334.
- 54.
Perhaps Ge Hong is alluding to a line in Xu Gan’s 徐干 Balanced Discourses (Zhonglun 中論): “In acting virtuously, can one be likened to an empty vessel? If a vessel is empty then things will flow into it, ceasing when full 人之為德, 其猶虛器歟! 器虛則物注, 滿則止焉.” Makeham 2002: 51.
- 55.
Immensity translates huihui 恢恢, a term used in Daodejing chapter 73 to describe the heaven’s net (tianwang huihui 天網恢恢).
- 56.
Alluding to chapter 25 of the Daodejing: “There is a thing chaotically formed, generated prior to heaven and earth 有物混成, 先天地生.”
- 57.
“Fashion and transform” appears in the conclusion of the tale of the four masters who reputedly refer to the ‘fashioner of things’ in Zhuangzi chapter 6 (dazongshi 大宗師). Watson 2013: 47.
- 58.
The last two sentences allude to another passage from Huainanzi “yuandao”: “What we call ‘heaven’ is pure and untainted, unadorned and simple, and has never begun to be tainted with impurities 所謂天者, 純粹樸素, 質直皓白, 未始有與雜糅者也.” Major et al. 2010: 57.
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Raz, G. (2020). Ge Hong and the Darkness. In: Chai, D. (eds) Dao Companion to Xuanxue 玄學 (Neo-Daoism). Dao Companions to Chinese Philosophy, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49228-1_21
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