Daoist Cultivation, Book 21: Xìng Mìng Guīzhǐ Touchstone of Xìng and Mìng: A Daoist Inner Alchemy Classic - Yuán Collection - Translation an

By Vitaly Filbert

A landmark of Daoist inner alchemy, X ng M ng Guīzhǐ-full title 《性命雙修萬神圭旨》-sets out a clear, authoritative standard ("Touchstone") for the dual cultivation of X ng and M ng.

X ng M ng Guīzhǐ is arranged in four parts named after the four virtues of the Qi n hexagram (元亨利貞):
Yu n Collection (元集 Original / Prime) - Book 21
Hēng Collection (亨集 Flourishing / Pervasive) - Book 22
L Collection (利集 Beneficial / Advantageous) - Book 23
Zhēn Collection (貞集 Correct / Constant / Persevering) - Book 24

This volume presents the complete translation of the Yuan (Original/Prime) Collection, the foundation of the work's fourfold sequence (元-Yuan, 亨-Heng, 利-Li, 貞-Zhen). It includes the classic diagrams and programmatic chapters that made the text central to Daoist internal alchemy while harmonizing Confucian ethics and Buddhist mind-training.

What's insideFour historical front texts: Preface to the Essential Principles of X ng and M ng (two versions), On the Occasion of Carving the Essential Principles, Inscription for Perfected Yǐn's Complete BookThe Yuan Collection in full, featuring: Diagram of Universal Illumination, Turning the Light Around, Timed Illumination, Inner Illumination, T ij Elaboration, Center Diagram, etc-plus chapters such as Nine-Turn Refining of the Heart, Fire-Dragon & Water-Tiger, Sun-Crow & Moon-Rabbit, Five Q Paying Court to the Origin, Returning the Eight Consciousnesses to the Origin, On Ascending in Flight, and more.
How this edition reads

Technical key terms are kept in pīnyīn (e.g., X ng, M ng, Kǎn, L , dānti n, Niw n, Guānyu n) with first-mention glosses-preserving doctrinal precision without flattening meanings.

The translation highlights the text's unity of the Three Teachings: Confucian d /x ng (virtue/conduct) as the furnace, Daoist Lead-Mercury / Dragon-Tiger method and cosmology (T ij , Five Phases, Heavenly Stems), and Buddhist Eight Consciousnesses / ālaya-vij āna as a psychology of release.

Diagrams are treated as practical maps that show where to begin (front and rear Three Passes, R n and Dū vessels, timing of q ), while doctrinal chapters braid cosmology, physiology, and soteriology into one line of work ruled by the Center (Yellow Court).

Who this book is for

Practitioners of neidan/Daoist meditation, students of Chinese religion and philosophy, Chan/Zen readers curious about alchemical counterparts, and anyone seeking a rigorous, jargon-clear doorway into the classic project of reuniting X ng and M ng.
Bottom line: The Yuan Collection gives you the compass. Fewer extremes, more constancy; less chasing of phenomena, more fidelity to the Middle-the Touchstone by which all later work in the series is measured.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FRZD6NC2
• ISBN13: 9798266420670
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 344 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"