Baopuzi
Encyclopedia
Ge Hong
Ge Hong , courtesy name Zhichuan , was a minor southern official during the Jìn Dynasty of China, best known for his interest in Daoism, alchemy, and techniques of longevity...
葛洪 (283-343), is divided into esoteric Neipian 內篇 "Inner Chapters" and exoteric Waipian 外篇 "Outer Chapters". The Daoist Inner Chapters discuss topics such as techniques for xian
Xian (Taoism)
Xian is a Chinese word for an enlightened person, translatable in English as:*"spiritually immortal; transcendent; super-human; celestial being"...
仙 "immortality; transcendence", Chinese alchemy
Chinese alchemy
Chinese alchemy, a part of the larger tradition of Taoism, centers on the tradition of body-spirit cultivation that developed through the Chinese understandings of medicine and the body. These Chinese traditions were developed into a system of energy practices...
, elixirs, and demonology. The Confucianist Outer Chapters discuss Chinese literature
Chinese literature
Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...
, Legalism
Legalism (Chinese philosophy)
In Chinese history, Legalism was one of the main philosophic currents during the Warring States Period, although the term itself was invented in the Han Dynasty and thus does not refer to an organized 'school' of thought....
, politics, and society.
Title
The eponymous title Baopuzi derives from Ge Hong's hao 號 "sobriquet; pseudonym" Baopuzi (lit. "embrace simplicity master"), which compounds bao 抱 "embrace; hug; hold in both arms; cherish", pu 樸 or 朴 "uncarved wood, [a Daoist metaphor for a] person's original nature; simple; plain", and zi 子 "child; offspring; master [title of respect]". Baopu is a classical allusion to the Daodejing (19, tr. Mair 1990:181), "Evince the plainness of undyed silk, embrace the simplicity of the unhewn log; lessen selfishness, diminish desires; abolish learning and you will be without worries."Ge Hong's autobiography explains choosing his pen name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Baopuzi.
It has been my plan to preserve regularity and not to follow the whims of the world. My speech is frank and sincere; I engage in no banter. If I do not come upon the right person, I can spend the day in silence. This is the reason my neighbors call me Simplex (Pao-p'u), which name I have used as a sobriquet in my writings. (tr. Ware 1966:10)
Compare these autobiography translations: (Davis and Ch'en 1941:301) "people all call me a pao-p'u scholar (i.e., one who keeps his basic nature, one who is unperturbed by the desires of the world)"; (Sailey 1978:251) "among the people of his district there were those who called him "The Scholar Who Embraces Simplicity"." Wu and Davis (1935:224) noted, "This name has been translated Old Sober-Sides, but Dr. Wu considers that it has no satirical intent and would better be translated Solemn-Seeming Philosopher." Fabrizio Pregadio (2006:2) translates "Master Who Embraces Spontaneous Nature".
History
Compared with many other Daoist texts, the origins of the Baopuzi are well documented. Ge completed the book during the Jianwu 建武 era (317–318), when Emperor Yuan of JinEmperor Yuan of Jin
Emperor Yuan of Jin , personal name Sima Rui , courtesy name Jingwen , was an emperor of the Jin Dynasty and the first of the Eastern Jin Dynasty...
founded the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and revised it during the Xianhe 咸和 era (326-334).
Ge Hong's autobiography (Outer Chapter 50) records writing the Baopuzi.
In my twenties I planned to compose some little things in order not to waste my time, for it seemed best to create something that would constitute the sayings of one sole thinker. This is when I outlined my philosophical writing, but it was also the moment when I became involved in armed rebellion and found myself wandering and scattered even farther afield, some of my things getting lost. Although constantly on the move, I did not abandon my brush again for a dozen or so years, so that at the age of 37 or 38 [A.D. 317-18] I found my work completed. In all, I have composed Nei p'ien in 20 scrolls, Wai p'ien in 50; … [list of other writings, totaling 310 scrolls] My Nei p'ien, telling of gods and genii, prescriptions and medicines, ghosts and marvels, transformations, maintenance of life, extension of years, exorcising evils, and banishing misfortune, belongs to the Taoist school. My Wai p'ien, giving an account of success and failure in human affairs and of good and evil in public affairs, belongs to the Confucian school. (tr. Ware 1966:17, cf. Sailey 1978:264)
Compare the more literal translation of Davis and Ch'en (1941:301), "I left off writing for ten and odd years, for I was constantly on the road, until the era Chien-wu 建武 (317-317 A.D.) when I got it ready."
Ge's autobiography mentions his military service fighting rebels against the Jin Dynasty, and successfully defending his hometown of Jurong 句容 (in modern Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Jiangsu province in the eastern People's Republic of China . Sitting on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Changzhou to the east, and Yangzhou across the river to the north.Once...
, Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
). In 330 (tr. Ware 1966:20), Emperor Cheng of Jin
Emperor Cheng of Jin
Emperor Cheng of Jin , personal name Sima Yan , courtesy name Shigen , was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty . He was the eldest son of Emperor Ming and became the crown prince on April 1, 325...
granted Ge the fief of "Marquis of Guanzhong
Guanzhong
Guanzhong , or Guanzhong Plain, is a historical region of China corresponding to the lower valley of the Wei River. It is called Guanzhong or 'within the passes' to distinguish it from 'Guandong' or 'east of the pass', that is, the North China Plain. The North China Plain is bordered on the west by...
" with income from 200 Jurong households. Scholars believe Ge revised the Baopuzi during this period, sometime around 330 (Komjathy 2004:22) or 332 (Wu and Davis 1935:224).
The Baopuzi consists of 70 pian 篇 "chapters; books" divided between the 20 "Inner Chapters" and 50 "Outer Chapters" (cf. the Zhuangzi
Zhuangzi (book)
The Taoist book Zhuangzi was named after its purported author Zhuangzi, the philosopher. Since 742 CE, when Emperor Xuanzong of Tang mandated honorific titles for Taoist texts, it has also been known as the Nánhuá Zhēnjīng , literally meaning "True Classic of Southern Florescence," alluding to...
textual division). Nathan Sivin
Nathan Sivin
Nathan Sivin , also known as Xiwen is an American author, scholar, sinologist, historian, essayist, and currently professor emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania...
(1969:389) described it as "not one book but two, considerably different in theme". The Neipian and Waipian "led entirely separate physical existences; they were not combined under a single title until a millennium after Ko's time".
The (1444–1445) Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
Daozang
Daozang
Daozang , meaning "Treasury of Dao" or "Daoist Canon", consists of around 1400 texts that were collected circa C.E. 400...
"Daoist canon" first printed the two Baopuzi parts together. This Zhengtong Daozang 正統道藏 "Daoist Canon of the Zhengtong
Zhengtong Emperor
Zhu Qizhen was an emperor of the Ming Dynasty. He ruled as the Zhengtong Emperor from 1435 to 1449, and as the Tianshun Emperor from 1457 to 1464....
Era (1436-1450)" bibliographically categorized the Baopuzi under the Taiqing 太清 "Supreme Clarity" section for alchemical texts. Daozang editions encompass six juan (卷 "scrolls; fascicles; volumes"), three each for the Inner and Outer Chapters. Most received versions of Baopuzi descend from this Ming Daozang text.
Content
The Baopuzi Inner and Outer Chapters discuss miscellaneous topics ranging from esotericismEsotericism
Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs, that is, ideas preserved or understood by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or unusual interest. The term derives from the Greek , a compound of : "within", thus "pertaining to the more inward",...
to social philosophy
Social philosophy
Social philosophy is the philosophical study of questions about social behavior . Social philosophy addresses a wide range of subjects, from individual meanings to legitimacy of laws, from the social contract to criteria for revolution, from the functions of everyday actions to the effects of...
. The Inner Chapters discuss techniques of xian
Xian (Taoism)
Xian is a Chinese word for an enlightened person, translatable in English as:*"spiritually immortal; transcendent; super-human; celestial being"...
仙 "immortality; transcendence", Chinese alchemy
Chinese alchemy
Chinese alchemy, a part of the larger tradition of Taoism, centers on the tradition of body-spirit cultivation that developed through the Chinese understandings of medicine and the body. These Chinese traditions were developed into a system of energy practices...
, meditation, Daoist yoga, Daoyin, sexual techniques
Taoist sexual practices
Taoist sexual practices , literally "the bedroom arts", are the way some Taoists practiced sex. These practices were also known as "Joining Energy" or "The Joining of the Essences"...
, Chinese herbology
Chinese herbology
Chinese Herbology is the theory of Traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in Traditional Chinese medicine ....
, demons, and fu
Fulu
Fulu is a term for Daoist practitioners in the past who could draw and write supernatural talismans, Fu , Shenfu which they believed functioned as summons or instructions to deities, spirits, or as tools of exorcism, as medicinal potions for ailments...
符 "magic talismans". The Outer Chapters discuss Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy is philosophy written in the Chinese tradition of thought. The majority of traditional Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States era, during a period known as the "Hundred Schools of Thought", which was characterized by significant intellectual and...
, Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
, Legalism
Legalism (Chinese philosophy)
In Chinese history, Legalism was one of the main philosophic currents during the Warring States Period, although the term itself was invented in the Han Dynasty and thus does not refer to an organized 'school' of thought....
, government, politics, literature, scholarship, and include Ge's autobiography, which Waley (1930:10) called "the fullest document of this kind that early China produced".
According to Ge Hong's autobiography, he divided the Inner and Outer Chapters on the distinction between Daoism and Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
. Ge philosophically described Daoism as the ben 本 "root; trunk; origin" and Confucianism as the mo 末 "tip; branch; end" (Inner Chapter 10, tr. Ware 1966:165). When asked, "Which has the priority, Confucianism or Taoism?" – Baopuzi replies, "Taoism is the very trunk of Confucianism, but Confucianism is only a branch of Taoism."
While the Baopuzi Inner and Outer Chapters differ in content, they share a general format with an unnamed interlocutor posing questions and Ge Hong providing answers. The conventional syntax is Huowen yue 或問曰 "Someone asked, saying" and Baopuzi da yue 抱樸子答曰 "Baopuzi answered, saying".
Inner Chapters
The twenty Neipian "Inner Chapters" record arcane techniques for achieving xian "transcendence; immortality". These techniques span two types of Chinese alchemy that Tang DynastyTang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
scholars later differentiated into neidan 內丹 "internal elixir; internal alchemy" and waidan 外丹 "external elixir; external alchemy". The word dan 丹 "cinnabar
Cinnabar
Cinnabar or cinnabarite , is the common ore of mercury.-Word origin:The name comes from κινναβαρι , a Greek word most likely applied by Theophrastus to several distinct substances...
; red; pellet; [Chinese medicine] pill" means "pill of immortality, elixir of life
Elixir of life
The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality and sometimes equated with the philosopher's stone, is a legendary potion, or drink, that grants the drinker eternal life and or eternal youth. Many practitioners of alchemy pursued it. The elixir of life was also said to be able to create...
, Philosopher's stone
Philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone is a legendary alchemical substance said to be capable of turning base metals into gold or silver. It was also sometimes believed to be an elixir of life, useful for rejuvenation and possibly for achieving immortality. For many centuries, it was the most sought-after goal...
" in alchemy. Ge Hong details his researches into the arts of transcendence and immortality. "Internal alchemy" concerns creating an "immortal body" within the corporeal body through both physiological methods (dietary, respiratory, sexual, etc.) and mental practices (meditation, visualizaiton, etc.). "External" or "laboratory alchemy" concerns compounding elixirs (esp. from minerals and metals), writing fu talismans or amulets, herbalism, and exorcism.
Lai outlines the Inner Chapters subjects:
(1) proofs of the per se existence of immortals and transcendent states of immortality of the body; (2) stipulation of the accessibility to the perfect state of long life to everyone, irrespective of one's social status but dependent on whether one could study deeply and strenuously cultivate the necessary esoteric methods; (3) elaboration of diverse esoteric techniques leading one to become a hsien-immortal; and (4) descriptions and criticism of the diverse contemporary Taoist discourses and sects. (1998:191-2)
Several chapters have specific themes. Chapters 4, 8, 11, and 16 describe waidan "external alchemy". OInner Chapter 18 details meditation practices. In Chapter 19, Ge Hong praises his master Zheng Yin 鄭隱 (ca. 215-ca. 302), catalogues Daoist books, and lists talismans (see Ware 1966:379-385).
| Number | Pinyin | Characters | Translation (adapted from Ware 1966) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Changxuan | 暢玄 | Defining the Mysterious |
| 2 | Lunxian | 論仙 | About Immortals |
| 3 | Duisu | 對俗 | Rejoinders to Popular Conceptions |
| 4 | Jindan | 金丹 | Gold and Cinnabar [pill of immortality] |
| 5 | Zhili | 至理 | The Ultimate Order |
| 6 | Weizhi | 微旨 | The Meaning of "Subtle" |
| 7 | Sainan | 塞難 | Countering Objections |
| 8 | Shizhi | 釋滯 | Resolving Obstructions |
| 9 | Daoyi | 道意 | The Meaning of "the Way" |
| 10 | Mingben | 明本 | Clarifying the Basic [Confucian and Daoist differences] |
| 11 | Xianyao | 仙藥 | The Medicine of Immortality |
| 12 | Bianwen | 辨問 | Discerning Questions |
| 13 | Jiyan | 極言 | The Ultimate Words [about immortality] |
| 14 | Qinqiu | 勤求 | Diligently Seeking [for a teacher] |
| 15 | Zaying | 雜應 | Miscellaneous Answers |
| 16 | Huangbai | 黃白 | Yellow and White [gold and silver] |
| 17 | Dengshe | 登涉 | Climbing [Mountains] and Crossing [Rivers] |
| 18 | Dizhen | 地真 | The Terrestrial Truth |
| 19 | Xialan | 遐覽 | Broad Overview [of Daoist literature] |
| 20 | Quhuo | 袪惑 | Allaying Doubts |
Many scholars have praised the Inner Chapters. Joseph Needham
Joseph Needham
Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham, CH, FRS, FBA , also known as Li Yuese , was a British scientist, historian and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 1941, and as a fellow of the British...
(1954:437), who called Ge Hong "the greatest alchemist in Chinese history", quoted the following passage about medicines from different biological categories.
Interlocutor: Life and death are predetermined by fate and their duration is normally fixed. Life is not something any medicine can shorten or lengthen. A finger that has been cut off cannot be joined on again and expected to continue growing. Blood from a wound, though swallowed, is of no benefit. Therefore, it is most inappropriate to approve of taking such nonhuman substances as pine or thuya [cypress] to protract the brief span of life.
Ko: According to your argument, a thing is beneficial only if it belongs to the same category as that which is treated. … If we followed your suggestion and mistrusted things of a different type, we would be obliged to crush flesh and smelt bone to prepare a medicine for wounds, or to fry skin and roast hair to treat baldness. Water and soil are not of the same substance as the various plants; yet the latter rely upon them for growth. The grains are not of the same species as living men; yet living men need them in order to stay alive. Fat is not to be classed with fire, nor water with fish, yet when there is no more fat the fires dies, and when there is no more water, fish perish. (3, tr. Ware 1966:61-62)
Needham (1954:439) evaluated this passage, "Admittedly there is much in the Pao Phu Tzu which is wild, fanciful and superstitious, but here we have a discussion scientifically as sound as anything in Aristotle, and very much superior to anything which the contemporary occident could produce."
In addition to quoting early alchemical texts, the Inner Chapters describe Ge Hong's laboratory experiments. Wu and Davis mention the Baopuzi formula for making mosaic gold
Mosaic gold
Mosaic gold, or stannic sulfide, SnS2, is obtained as a yellow scaly crystalline powder, and used as a pigment in bronzing and gilding wood and metal work. It was called by the alchemists aurum musivum, or aurum mosaicum...
"a golden crystalline powder used as a pigment" from chiyan 赤塩 "red crystal salt" (produced from amethyst
Amethyst
Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz often used in jewelry. The name comes from the Ancient Greek ἀ a- and μέθυστος methustos , a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness; the ancient Greeks and Romans wore amethyst and made drinking vessels of it in the belief...
, calcite
Calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...
crystal
Crystal
A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are arranged in an orderly repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. The scientific study of crystals and crystal formation is known as crystallography...
, and alum
Alum
Alum is both a specific chemical compound and a class of chemical compounds. The specific compound is the hydrated potassium aluminium sulfate with the formula KAl2.12H2O. The wider class of compounds known as alums have the related empirical formula, AB2.12H2O.-Chemical properties:Alums are...
; Ware 1966:273) and huizhi 灰汁 "lime water
Lime water
Limewater is the common name for saturated calcium hydroxide solution. It is sparsely soluble. Its chemical formula is Ca2. Since calcium hydroxide is only sparsely soluble, i.e. ca. 1.5 g per liter at 25 °C, there is no visible distinction to clear water. Attentive observers will notice a slightly...
".
The description of one process deserves special discussion, for it evidently concerns the preparation of stannic sulfide or "mosaic gold" and is perhaps the earliest known description of the preparation of this interesting substance. Mosaic gold exists in flakes or leaflets which have the color and the luster of gold, it does not tarnish, and is used at present for bronzing radiators, gilding picture frames and similar purposes. As Ko Hung describes the process, "tin sheets, each measuring six inches square by one and two-tenths inches thick, are covered with a one-tenth inch layer of a mud-like mixture of Ch'ih Yen (Red Salt) and Huei Chih (potash-water, lime water), ten pounds of tin to every four of Ch'ih Yen." They are then heated in a sealed earthenware pot for thirty days with horse manure (probably with a smouldering fire of dried manure). "All the tin becomes ash like and interspersed with bean-like pieces which are the yellow gold." The large portion of the metallic tin is converted into some ash-like compound or possibly into the ash-like allotropic modification, gray tin. A small portion of the tin is converted into bean-sized aggregates of flaky stannic sulfide. The yield is poor, for the author says that "twenty ounces of gold are obtained from every twenty pounds of tin used." (1935:232)
The authors add, "It seems likely that Ko Hung was personally experienced in the chemistry of tin, for the Chinese say that he was the first to make tin foil
Tin foil
Tin foil, also spelled tinfoil, is a thin foil made of tin. Actual tin foil was superseded by cheaper and more durable aluminium foil after World War II, and aluminium foil is sometimes confused with "tin foil" because of its similarity to the former material.-History:Foil made from a thin leaf of...
and that he made magic or spirit money out of it."
Outer Chapters
The fifty Waipian "Outer Chapters" are more diffuse than the Inner ones. Ge Hong diversely wrote essays on Jin Dynasty issues in philosophy, morality, politics, and society. This Baopuzi portion details everyday problems among Han Dynasty northerners who fled into south China after the fall of LuoyangLuoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
.
Some of the Outer Chapters are thematically organized. Ge Hong wrote chapters 46, 47, and 48 to dispute three adversaries. Guo Tai 郭太 (128-169) founded of the Qingtan
Qingtan
Qingtan , translated as "pure conversation," was a movement related to Taoism that developed during the Wei-Jin period and continued on through the Southern and Northern dynasties. Qingtan involved witty conversation or debates about metaphysics and philosophy...
"pure conversation" school; Ni Heng 禰衡 (173-198) was an infamously arrogant official of Cao Cao
Cao Cao
Cao Cao was a warlord and the penultimate chancellor of the Eastern Han Dynasty who rose to great power during the dynasty's final years. As one of the central figures of the Three Kingdoms period, he laid the foundations for what was to become the state of Cao Wei and was posthumously titled...
; and Bao Jingyan 鮑敬言 (ca. 405-ca. 466) was an early anarchist philosopher.
| Number | Pinyin | Characters | Translation (adapted from Sailey 1978) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jiadun | 嘉遯 | Praising Eremitism |
| 2 | Yimin | 逸民 | Rusticating People |
| 3 | Xuxue | 勖學 | Encouraging Study |
| 4 | Chongjiao | 崇教 | Respecting Education |
| 5 | Jundao | 君道 | The Way of the Ruler |
| 6 | Chenjie | 臣節 | The Integrity of the Ministers |
| 7 | Lianggui | 良規 | Good Regulations |
| 8 | Shinan | 時難 | Averting Difficulties at the Right Time |
| 9 | Guanli | 官理 | The Right Order among the Officials |
| 10 | Wuzheng | 務正 | The Correct Use of Instruments |
| 11 | Guixian | 貴賢 | Esteeming Wise People |
| 12 | Renneng | 任能 | Employing the Able |
| 13 | Qinshi | 欽士 | Respecting Well-Minded Subjects |
| 14 | Yongxing | 用刑 | Employing Punishments |
| 15 | Shenju | 審舉 | Examining Promotions |
| 16 | Jiaoji | 交際 | Keeping Company |
| 17 | Beique | 備闕 | Encountering Deficiencies |
| 18 | Zhuocai | 擢才 | Promoting Talents |
| 19 | Renming | 任命 | Employing Orders |
| 20 | Mingshi | 名實 | Name and Reality |
| 21 | Qingjian | 清鑒 | The Pure Mirror |
| 22 | Xingpin | 行品 | Using Official Ranks |
| 23 | Misong | 弭訟 | Ending Disputes |
| 24 | Jiujie | 酒誡 | Admonitions on Alcohol |
| 25 | Jimiu | 疾謬 | Pointing out Faults |
| 26 | Jihuo | 譏惑 | Censuring Muddleheadedness |
| 27 | Cijiao | 刺驕 | Criticizing Arrogance |
| 28 | Baili | 百里 | Hundred Miles |
| 29 | Jieshu | 接疏 | Meeting Visitors |
| 30 | Junshi | 鈞世 | Equalizing Generations |
| 31 | Shengfan | 省煩 | Decreasing Vexations |
| 32 | Shangbo | 尚博 | Valuing Breadth of Learning |
| 33 | Hanguo | 漢過 | The Faults of Han |
| 34 | Wushi | 吳失 | The Failings of Wu |
| 35 | Shouji | 守塉 | Guarding Barren Land |
| 36 | Anpin | 安貧 | Content with Poverty |
| 37 | Renming | 仁明 | Benevolence and Brilliance |
| 38 | Boyu | 博喻 | Extensive Analogies |
| 39 | Guangpi | 廣譬 | Vast Examples |
| 40 | Ciyi | 辭義 | Writings and Ideas |
| 41 | Xunben | 循本 | Abiding by Basics |
| 42 | Yingchao | 應嘲 | Responding to Ridicule |
| 43 | Yupi | 喻蔽 | Clarifying Obscurities |
| 44 | Baijia | 百家 | The Hundred Schools |
| 45 | Wenxing | 文行 | Cultivated Behavior |
| 46 | Zheng Guo | 正郭 | Correcting Guo [Tai] |
| 47 | Tan Ni | 彈禰 | Accusing Ni [Heng] |
| 48 | Jie Bao | 詰鮑 | Bao [Jingyan] |
| 49 | Zhizhi, Qiongda, Chongyan | 知止, 窮達, 重言 | Knowing When to Stop, Obscurity and Eminence, Reduplicated Words |
| 50 | Zixu | 自敘 | Autobiography |
Translations
The Chinese Baopuzi has been translated into English, Italian, German, and Japanese. There are more English translations of the twenty Inner Chapters than the fifty Outer Chapters.The Inner Chapters have several partial translations. Tenney L. Davis, professor of organic chemistry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, collaborated on first translations of the Inner Chapters relevant to the history of alchemy. Wu and Davis (1935) translated chapters 4 "On the Gold Medicine" and 16 "On the Yellow and White" (i.e., gold and silver). Davis and Ch'en (1941) translated chapters 8 "Overcoming Obstructions" and 11 "On hsien Medicines", and provided paraphrases or summaries of the remaining Inner Chapters. The French sinologist Eugene Feifel made English translations of chapters 1-3 (1941), 4 (1944), and 11 (1946). More recently, excerpts from the Inner Chapters are quoted by Verellen (1999) and Pregadio (2006).
The Inner Chapters have one complete translation by James R. Ware (1966), which also includes Ge Hong's autobiography from Outer Chapter 50 (1966:6-21). Several reviewers censured the quality of Ware's translation, for instance, Kroll (1982:139) called it "at times misguided". Huard's and Wong's (1968) critical assessment of Ware was criticized in turn by Sivin (1969:388). "Their review, nonetheless, can only be described as perfunctory. Only the forematter and endmatter of Ware's book are evaluated, and that in a curiously cursory fashion."
Translating the fundamental Daoist word Dao
DAO
DAO may refer to:* D-amino acid oxidase, a peroxisomal enzyme.* Data access object, a design pattern used in object-oriented software engineering* De-asphalted oil, a crude oil refinery process stream...
or Tao "way; path; principle" as English God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
is a conspicuous peculiarity of Ware's Baopuzi version. The Introduction gives a convoluted Christian justification, first quoting J.J.L. Duyvendak's translation of Daodejing 25, "Its rightful name I do not know, but I give It the sobriquet Tao (= God). If a rightful name is insisted upon, I would call It Maximal."
Then, upon noticing that Tao Te Ching, verse 34, is willing to call the Something "Minimal," every schoolman would have understood that the Chinese author was talking about God, for only in God do contraries become identical! Accordingly, the present translator will always render this use of the term Tao by God. In doing so, he keeps always in mind as the one and only definition the equation establishable from Exod. 3:13-15 and Mark 12:26-27, to mention only two very clear statements. It will be recalled that in the first God says, "My name is I am, I live, I exist," while the second reads, "God is not of the dead but of the living." Therefore, God = Life or Being. (1966:1-2)
Ware admitted his God for Dao translation cannot be applied consistently.
It is clear that the word tao appears frequently in this text not as a designation of God but of the process by which God is to be approximated or attained. In such cases I shall translate it as "the divine process." In instances where either this or "God" would be appropriate, a translator is obliged to be arbitrary. The term tao shih is rendered "processor"; hsien is translated "genie" rather than "immortal". (1966:3)
These Chinese words are daoshi 道士 "Daoist priest; Daoist practitioner" and xian
Xian (Taoism)
Xian is a Chinese word for an enlightened person, translatable in English as:*"spiritually immortal; transcendent; super-human; celestial being"...
仙 "immortal; transcendent". Ho Peng-Yoke, an authority in the History of science and technology in China
History of science and technology in China
The history of science and technology in China is both long and rich with many contributions to science and technology. In antiquity, independently of other civilizations, ancient Chinese philosophers made significant advances in science, technology, mathematics, and astronomy...
, criticized Ware's mistranslations.
It may be true that in certain areas the concept of Tao overlaps with the definition and attributes of God, or for that matter with those of Allah, for example oneness and eternity. However, there is the danger of the analogy being pushed too far. Similarly, the reader might be warned that "Genii," as used for rendering the word hsien, does not convey the concept of some supernatural slaves as found in the lamp and the ring of the Thousand-and-One Nights. The reviewer prefers the terminology used by Tenny L. Davis, i.e. Tao left untranslated and "immortal" for hsien. (1967:145)
Nevertheless, Ho's review concluded with praise. "Professor Ware is to be congratulated for bringing out the translation of a most difficult Chinese Taoist text in a very readable form. One cannot find another text that gives so much useful and authoritative information on alchemy and Taoism in fourth-century China."
Ge Hong wrote the Baopuzi in elegant Classical Chinese grammar
Classical Chinese grammar
Classical Chinese grammar is systematically complex, and greatly differs from the grammar of modern vernacular Chinese.- Function words :...
and terminology, but some Inner Chapter contexts are difficult to translate. Comparing three versions of this passage listing xian medicines illustrates the translational choices.
The best hsien medicine is cinnabar. Others in the order of decreasing excellence are gold, silver, chih, the five jades, mica, pearl, realgar, t'ai i yü yü liang, shih chung huang tzu 石中黄子 (literally yellow nucleus in stone), shih kuei 石桂 (stony cinnamon), quartz, shih nao 石腦, shih liu huang 石硫黄 (a kind of raw sulfur), wild honey and tseng ch'ing. (11, tr. Davis and Ch'en 1941:311)
Medicines of superior quality for immortality are: cinnabar; next comes gold, then follows silver, then the many chih, then the five kinds of jade, then mica, then ming-chu, then realgar, then brown hematite, then conglomerate masses of brown hematite, then stone cassia (?), then quartz, then paraffin, then sulphur, then wild honey, then malachite (stratified variety) (tr. Feifel 1946:2)
At the top of the genie's pharmacopoeia stands cinnabar. Second comes gold; third, silver, fourth, excresences; fifth, the jades; sixth, mica; seventh, pearls; eighth, realgar; ninth, brown hematite; tenth, conglomerated brown hematite; eleventh, quartz; twelfth, rock crystal; thirteenth, geodes; fourteenth, sulphur; fifteenth, wild honey; and sixteenth, laminar malachite. (tr. Ware 1966:178)
The Baoppuzi Outer Chapters have one partial translation into English. Jay Sailey (1978) translated 21 of the 50 chapters: 1, 3, 5, 14-15, 20, 24-26, 30-34, 37, 40, 43-44, 46-47, and 50. In addition, Sailey (1978:509-545) included appendices on "Buddhism and the Pao-p'u-tzu", "Biography of Ko Hung" from the Jin Shu, and "Recensions" of lost Baopuzi fragments quoted in later texts. Kroll (1982:139) gave a mixed review, "Although Sailey's renderings frequently obscure Ko Hung's carefully polished diction and nuance, they reliably convey the sense of the original and should be a substantial boon to Western students of medieval Chinese thought and culture."
Significance
For centuries, traditional scholars have revered the Baopuzi as a canonical Daoist scripture – but in recent years, modern scholars have reevaluated the text.Traditional scholarship viewed the Baopuzi, especially the Inner Chapters, as a primary textual source for early Chinese waidan "external alchemy". Wu and Davis described it as,
probably the widest known and highest regarded of the ancient Chinese treatises on alchemy. It has been preserved for us as part of the Taoist canon. It shows us the art matured by five or six centuries of practice, having its traditional heroes and an extensive literature, its technique and philosophy now clearly fixed, its objectives and pretentions established. This art the author examines in a hardheaded manner and expounds in language which is remarkably free from subterfuge. (1935:221)
Arthur Waley
Arthur Waley
Arthur David Waley CH, CBE was an English orientalist and sinologist.-Life:Waley was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, as Arthur David Schloss, son of the economist David Frederick Schloss...
praised Ge Hong's rational attitude toward alchemy.
Nowhere in Pao P'u Tzu's book do we find the hierophantic tone that pervades most writings on alchemy both in the East and in the West. He uses a certain number of secret terms, such as 金公 "metal-lord" and 河車 "river chariot", both of which mean lead; and 河上她女 "the virgin on the river", which means mercury … But his attitude is always that of a solidly educated layman examining claims which a narrow-minded orthodoxy had dismissed with contempt. (1930:13)
In the estimation of Ho (1967:145), the Baopuzi is a "more important" alchemical text than Wei Boyang
Wei Boyang
Wei Boyang was a noted Chinese author and Taoist alchemist of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He is the author of The Kinship of the Three, and is noted as the first person to have documented the chemical composition of gunpowder in 142 AD.-References:...
's (ca. 142) Cantong qi 參同契 "The Kinship of the Three". The Baopuzi mentions a Neijing 內經 "Inner Classic" by Wei Boyang, but curiously does not mention Wei's Cantong ji.
Modern scholarship has taken another look at the Baopuzi. Sivin demeans the text's significance.
The Inner Chapters are anything but the writings of a Taoist man of wisdom or organizer for his disciples or for other initiates. This book is a vast trove of commonplaces and hearsay about popular beliefs in which Ko's few incontestably Taoist texts play an essential but small part. It goal is not to catalogue, synthesize, or provide a handbook of techniques. It is rather a dialogue in which Ko hurls scattershot against a skeptical anonymous interlocutor. The Inner Chapters are a one-issue book. Ko seeks to convince his questioner, and thereby his readers, that immortality is a proper object of study and is attainable – not only by the ancients but in his own time, not only by a destined few but by anyone with enough faith to undertake arduous and dangerous disciplines. The devotion that Ko calls for implies wholesale acceptance of legends, myths, tales of prodigies, magical beliefs, religious faiths – practically every belief current in the popular imagination of Ko's time and the inverse in almost every sense of what "fundamentalist Confucian" humanists considered worthy of thought (but then they were no longer setting the intellectual style). (1978:345)
Sivin sarcastically compares Ge Hong, "an obsessed bookman and indiscriminate lore-collector", with Alan Watts
Alan Watts
Alan Wilson Watts was a British philosopher, writer, and speaker, best known as an interpreter and popularizer of Eastern philosophy for a Western audience. Born in Chislehurst, he moved to the United States in 1938 and began Zen training in New York...
. "Ko's style was rather than of a pedantic purveyor of occultism to the upper class. I can only think of him as the Alan Watts of his time." However, James Benn (2003:139) observes, "This judgement is perhaps not as damning as Professor Sivin intended. Certainly, one would not now go to Watts in the hope of learning much about Taoism, but a close study of his work would tell us a great deal about perceptions and presuppositions concerning Asian religions in mid-twentieth century America. Like Watts and others of his generation it is true that Ge Hong did see religion as a personal matter, and he seems to have approached it from the point of view of a fan or enthusiast more than as an initiate."
Chi-Tim Lai (1998:199) interprets the Inner Chapters as a "new discourse" on xian-immortality through personal salvation and perfection, contrasting with the traditional "imperial discourse" that only the rich could afford xian-hood. For example, histories record that both Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 246 BC to 221 BC during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BC...
and Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han , , personal name Liu Che , was the seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty of China, ruling from 141 BC to 87 BC. Emperor Wu is best remembered for the vast territorial expansion that occurred under his reign, as well as the strong and centralized Confucian state he organized...
dispatched imperial naval expeditions to obtain the "elixir of immortality" from mythical Mount Penglai. "That is, an individual's self-perfection is only dependent upon ascetic, mystic, and ethical behavior. Since it is a new religious discourse supposedly open to all people, the quest for a prolonged life is no longer the preserve of the wealthy and powerful."
According to Ko Hung, the hsien-immortals who can achieve the complete avoidance of death rarely come from the social groups of worthies, emperors, or sages. Hence, he implies that hsien-immortality are distinctive "human" ideal values to be pursued and potentially achieved by anyone. In the first, in order to differentiate the ideal values of hsien-immortal from this worldly worthies and powers, Ko Hung says, "Those who attained immortal were almost all poor and lowly. They were not men of position and power."' Second, in placing the ideal of hsien-immortality out of the reach of imperial figures, Ko Hung rebukes emperors such as the First Emperor of the Ch'in and Emperor Han-wu-ti, who were "models" of seeking for immortality in ancient Chinese history and literature, by saying, "These two emperors had a hollow reputation for wanting immortality, but they never experienced the reality of cultivating the Tao." (Lai 1998:210)
Ge Hong quotes his teacher Zheng Yin explaining that poverty forces daoshi "Daoist practitioners" seeking xian techniques to engage in the difficulties and dangers of alchemy.
Then I asked further, "Why should we not eat the gold and silver which are already in existence instead of taking the trouble to make them? What are made will not be real gold and silver but just make-believes."
Said Cheng Chun in reply, "The gold and silver which are found in the world are suitable for the purpose. But Tao-shih are all poor; witness the adage that Hsien are never stout and Tao-shih never rich. Tao-shih usually go in groups of five or ten, counting the teacher and his disciples. Poor as they are, how can they be expected to get the necessary gold and silver? Furthermore they cannot cover the great distances to gather the gold and silver which occur in nature. The only thing left for them to do is to make the metals themselves". (16, tr. Wu and Davis 1935:260-1)
Ware (1966:268) translates this adage, "There are no fat genii and no rich processors".
For a wealthy person seeking xian-transcendence, Ge Hong recommends compounding jinye 金液 (lit. "gold liquid/fluid") "golden liquor" in a huachi 花池 (lit. "flower pond") "a vinegar solvent" (fortified with saltpeter
Saltpeter
Saltpeter or saltpetre often refers to:*Potassium nitrate, or the mineral niter, the critical oxidizing component of gunpowder, and a food preservative.It may also refer to:...
; Ware 1966:347). This is simpler to produce than traditional jiuding 九鼎 "nine tripods" elixirs (attributed to the Yellow Emperor
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor or Huangdi1 is a legendary Chinese sovereign and culture hero, included among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Tradition holds that he reigned from 2697–2597 or 2696–2598 BC...
), but expensive – eight doses cost 400,000 cash
Cash (Chinese coin)
A cash was a type of coin of China and East Asia from the 2nd century BC until the AD 20th century. The photograph to the right shows replicas of various ancient to 19th century cast coins in various metals found in China and Japan.-Terminology:...
.
True it is that the nine medicines are the best of Hsien medicines. Yet the materials for their compounding are quite numerous. They are easily procurable only in large cities which have good facilities for communication, but are not to be obtained at other places. Furthermore, in the compounding of the medicines, the fires should be tended for tens of days and nights with industrious application and close adjustment, which is a great difficulty. The compounding of the Gold Fluid is much easier. There the only thing which is difficult is to get the gold. One pound in the old measure is equivalent to two in our contemporary measure. Such a quantity of gold would cost only some three hundred thousand cash. The other auxiliary materials are easy to procure. In the compounding, no fire is required. All that needs to be done is to have the mixture in a Hua Ch'ih (Flower Pond) for the necessary number of days. A total expenditure of four hundred thousand cash will make an amount large enough to transform eight persons into Hsien. Just as no wine is formed by the fermentation of small quantities of rice, so small quantities of materials will not be able to interact to give the medicine. (4, tr. Wu and Davis 1935:251)
Pregadio (2006:215) says recent studies show Ge's intent was "glorifying the religious and ritual legacy of Jiangnan
Jiangnan
Jiangnan or Jiang Nan is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including the southern part of the Yangtze Delta...
江南 (the region south of the lower Yangzi River), emphasizing the superiority of certain traditions over others, and enhancing their prestige among the social elite to which Ge Hong belonged." Nonetheless, Pregadio concludes,
Ge Hong's testimony deserves attention as a valuable overview of the religious traditions of Jiangnan just before the Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi daoTianshi DaoTianshi Dao or Way of the Celestial Masters is a Chinese Daoist movement that was founded by Zhang Daoling in 142 CE. At its height, the movement controlled a theocratic state in what is now Sichuan.-Way of the Five Pecks of Rice:...
) spread to that area, soon followed by the ShangqingShangqing SchoolThe Shangqing School or Supreme Clarity is a Daoist movement that began during the aristocracy of the Western Jin dynasty. Shangqing can be translated as either 'Supreme Clarity' or 'Highest Clarity.' The first leader of the school was Wei Huacun , but Tao Hongjing, who structured the theory and...
and Lingbao revelations. From this point of view, the Baopu zi documents important links between the earlier and later history of Taoism, as it also does for medicine and other fields. (2006:217)
External links
- 抱朴子 - Chinese Text ProjectChinese Text ProjectThe Chinese Text Project is a digital library project that assembles collections of early Chinese texts. The name of the project in Chinese literally means "The Digitization Project of Chinese Philosophy Books", showing its focus on books related to Chinese philosophy...
- The Master Who Embraces Simplicity, FYSK Daoist Culture Centre Database
- Science and magic in Ge Hong's Baopu-zi nei pian, Evgueni A. Tortchinov
- Baopuzi 抱朴子 "The Master Embracing Simplicity", ChinaKnowledge
- Ge Hong (Baopu zi), Fabrizio Pregadio
- Baopuzi, ChinaCulture
- 抱朴子, Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
Baopuzi ebook