Yixing and Buddhism in Manuals of Internal Alchemy

William T. Sanders

Journal of Daoist Studies, Volume 12, 2019, pp. 65-95 (Article)

Published by University of Hawai'i Press

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/dao.2019.0003

For additional information about this article

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/717076

Access provided at 25 Jan 2020 06:57 GMT from Syracuse University

 Yixing and Buddhism in
Manuals of Internal Alchemy1

WILLIAM T. SANDERS

Abstract
This essay examines two redactions of a commentary on internal alchemy, no
longer extant, preserved in the Daoist Canon, the Zhen longhu jiuxian jing and the
Jiuxian pian. The second contains a commentary attributed to the eminent scien-
tist-monk Yixing (673-727), one of the key architects of East Asian esoteric Bud-
dhism. I analyze various materials to clarify the image of Yixing as an alchemist
and argue that an anonymous 9th century author probably used Yixing as a
mouthpiece for certain Buddho-Daoist elements in the texts. Specifically, I try to
show that the esoteric Buddhist rite called Inner Homa, a topic on which Yixing
wrote at length, probably served as one of several antecedents for methods of
meditative incineration documented in these two sources as well as texts of the
Zhong-Lü tradition. I situate this appropriation an act of “translation,” meaning
a creative transposition of Buddhist metaphors into a Daoist framework.

For the past millennium, internal alchemy (neidan 內丹) has been the
main form of Daoist meditation. It emerged on the religious scene at the
end of the Tang dynasty (618-907), carried by two key concerns identified

1 At various stages in its composition, this essay has benefited tremendously

from comments from Clarke Hudson, Paul Groner, and the three anonymous
reviewers of the Journal of Daoist Studies. The reviewers offered a wealth of inci-
sive comments that drastically improved the quality of my analysis. Chen
Qiuyan and Daniel Murray both helped me with several citations and Lance
Pursey provided helpful comments on an earlier draft. Thanks are also due to
Livia Kohn for her kind editorial assistance and encouragement. Any errors or
omissions that remain are mine alone.
65
66 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

by Isabelle Robinet: first, to carve out a niche in the religious market by

developing a form of speculative cultivation based in part on the cosmo-
logical emblems of the Book of Changes (Yijing 易經); and second, to syn-
thesize Daoist, Buddhist, and Confucian teachings (1997, 217). Notwith-
standing the methodological problems of viewing Chinese religions
through the lens of three “great teachings” (Copp 2014, 41), I seek to con-
textualize the background and content of the Daoist appropriation of the
esoteric Buddhist Inner Homa (nei huma 內護摩) rite reflected in manuals
of internal alchemy from the late Tang and Song dynasties (960-1279). 2
Indications of this appropriation are found in the Jiuxian pian 九仙篇
(Chapter on the Nine Transcendents; DZ 1017, 31.5a2-13b3), a manual of
internal alchemy preserved in the Ming Daoist canon featuring commen-
taries attributed to the eminent Buddhist scientist-monk Yixing 一行
(673-727), 3 Luo Gongyuan 羅公遠 (fl. 712-713), and Ye Fashan 葉法善
(631-720). Whereas Luo Gongyuan and Ye Fashan were both famous
thaumaturges at the court of Xuanzong 玄宗 (r. 712-756) associated with
Daoism (Verellen 1987; Kirkland 1992), Yixing was known for his disci-
pleship under the Chan master Puji 普寂 (651-739), his study of Vinaya
under Wuzhen 悟真 (673-751), his prodigious contributions to the proto-
sciences (Chen 2012; Kotyk 2018), and his engagement with the Indian
masters at the Tang court, namely Vajrabodhi (671-741) and Śub-
hakarasiṃha (637-735). His work with the latter on a translation and
commentary to the Mahāvairocana sutra (Dari jing 大日經, T. 848) in 724-
725 was decisive for subsequent developments in esoteric Buddhism in
East Asia (Chen 2000; Keyworth 2011; Kotyk 2018). As one of the most
significant Buddhist monks of the Tang, Yixing’s alleged involvement in
internal alchemy cries out for clarification.
I argue that Yixing was deployed as a symbolic mouthpiece for
teachings of internal alchemy during the late Tang in part due to a per-
ceived similarity between select techniques of Daoist meditation and the
Inner Homa rite, the latter of which Yixing was a prominent exponent.
As a contemplative counterpart to the Buddhist version of the Vedic fire
ritual, the rire involves a metaphorical “offering” of the adept’s afflictive

2 I follow the Paul Copp’s definition of esoteric Buddhism (2014, xiv).

3 More likely born in 673 than in the traditional date of 683 (Chen 2000, 26-31).
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 67

obstructions (fannaozhang 煩惱障) through a meditative fire oblation in

order to elicit beneficent responses from the god of the hearth. As I try to
show below, this rite resembled Daoist methods for repelling demons via
a meditative incineration, thus lending credence to the portrayal of Yix-
ing as an internal alchemist.
Many scholars have already noted that parallels between Buddhism
and Daoism frequently cohere around the efficacy ascribed to fire. For
example, in her study of the 12th century Daoist ritual of salvation
through refinement (liandu 鍊度), a rite concerned with liberating souls
from purgatory through an interiorized form of alchemy, Judith Boltz
cited esoteric Buddhism as key antecedent (1983, 508). Speaking to the
possibility of a Buddhist background to this Song Daoist ritual, Michel
Strickmann has argued that the furnace of the Daoist priest and the
Homa hearth were not only mutually evocative, but also invited investi-
gation into possible genetic linkages between the two.
Although he concluded that the Homa rite was never integrated in-
to Daoist ritual, he nevertheless averred that the Homa seems to find its
“echo” in medieval Chinese rituals predicated on the efficacy of the fur-
nace (1996, 361-63). Citing the research of Tony Stewart, Charles Orzech
has situated the Song liandu rite as a case of “metaphorical equivalence”
with the esoteric Buddhist ritual for “liberating the flaming mouths”
(fang yankou 放焰口), i.e. hungry ghosts (2002). This perspective frames
the Daoist liandu rite as a “translation” of the Buddhist rite, meaning
that the authors of the former integrated elements of the latter with met-
aphors culled from the Daoist repertoire in order to construct a new, au-
thentically Daoist paradigm. This nevertheless allowed for the possibility
of valences from the source paradigm to be activated in accordance with
situational needs (2002, 217).
These studies highlight the role of internal alchemy as a vector for
Buddho-Daoist exchanges. It is thus useful to here clarify the rationales
informing this tradition. Internal alchemists seek to recover harmony
with the Dao by creating a metaphorical elixir within the body, what is
often termed the yang spirit (yangshen 陽神), the infant (ying’er 嬰兒), or
the golden elixir (jindan 金丹). This involves complex protocols of medi-
tation, visualization, breath work, and macrobiotic hygiene, the specifics
of which are often restricted to an oral transmission between master and
68 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

disciple. Once created, the yang spirit is to be brought to a point of suffi-

cient refinement, conceptualized as a state of pure yang, thereby ena-
bling the adept to adopt the spirit as a new, incorruptible body. This new
mode of existence as a transcendent (xian 仙) represents an ascension to
a higher grade of being, affording the individual a supernatural degree
of longevity, magical powers, and membership in the divine elect. This
state is synonymous with returning to the Dao.
This study attempts to elucidate some salient aspects of internal al-
chemy’s development by focusing on the Jiuxian pian and the Zhen longhu
jiuxian jing 真龍虎九仙經 (Scripture of the Nine Transcendents and the
Perfected Dragon and Tiger, DZ 227; hereafter, Jiuxian jing), two redac-
tions of an original, now lost, commentary. 4 In bringing these two works
into conversation with a variety of other sources, my analysis emphasiz-
es three key points: first, Yixing’s reputation as a Buddho-Daoist thauma-
turge among the literati and his exposition of the Inner Homa fore-
grounded him as a viable mouthpiece for teachings of internal alchemy;
second, this appropriation reflects a “metaphorical equivalence” with the
Inner Homa and related techniques; and third, compared with the vague
and problematic categories of “synthesis” and “echo,” this perspective
can provide us with a more nuanced view of the contingencies involved
within the development of internal alchemy.

Situating the Texts

The research of Piet van der Loon (1984, 84) has shown the Jiuxian jing to
be a redaction of the now lost Tianzhen huangren jiuxian jing 天真皇人九
仙經 (Scripture of the Nine Transcendents of the Heavenly Perfected
Sovereign), first mentioned in the Chongwen zongmu 崇文總目 (General
Catalog of the Academy for the Veneration of Literature), a catalog com-
piled between 1034 and 1038 by Wang Yaochen 王堯臣 (1003-1058).5

4 A related source is the Taibai huandan pian 太白還丹篇 (Chapter on the Reverted
Elixir [of the Man of] Mount Taibai), attributed to Wang Yuanzheng 王元正 (fl.
785-805), preserved in DZ 1017, 27.4a7-13a8. On this work, see Eskildsen 2006.
5 A Jiuxian jing 九仙經 (Scripture of the Nine Transcendents) is also mentioned in

the Baopuzi neipian 抱普子內篇 (Inner Chapters of the Master Who Embraces
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 69

The Junzhai dushu zhi 郡齋讀書志 (Record of Books Read in my

Study in the Province), a catalogue compiled by Chao Gongwu 晁公武 in
1151, lists Yixing, Luo Gongyuan, and Ye Fajing 葉法靜 as the authors of
the commentaries. He notes that “Ye Fajing” probably ought to be Ye
Fashan. Chao reports that the work was originally inscribed on a cliff
face on Mount Emei by the Yellow Emperor and discovered in the reign
of Han Wudi (r. 141-87 BCE). Further, it was proscribed in the Dazhong
era (846-859), perhaps because of its rather radical contents.6 He cites the
Jiuxian jing as a legitimate redaction of this lost work. The Tongzhi 通志
(Comprehensive Records), an encyclopedia compiled in 1161 by Zheng
Qiao 鄭樵 (1104-1162), lists Ye Jingneng 葉靜能 as the principal author
and Yixing and Luo Gongyuan as the commentators. The Songshi 宋史
(History of the Song), compiled in 1345 under Mongol auspices, attrib-
utes authorship to Yixing.
By juxtaposing the two texts’ corresponding passages, Miyazawa
Masayori has shown that the Jiuxian jing and Jiuxian pian can be read to-
gether as an approximation of the original Jiuxian jing (2002, 174-99). The
Jiuxian jing contains a base text, consisting of the Heavenly Sovereign’s
oral instructions to the Yellow Emperor on the subject of cultivation. The
former is a cultural luminary associated with esoteric arts, while the lat-
ter is a divine being often associated with the Numinous Treasure (ling-
bao 靈寶) revelations. This source also contains interlinear commentaries
attributed to Luo Gongyuan and Ye Fashan.
The Jiuxian pian, in contrast, lacks a base text, featuring only com-
mentaries attributed to Luo Gongyuan, Ye Fashan, and Yixing. This
work is preserved in the Daoshu 道樞 (Pivot of the Dao; DZ 1017), an an-
thology of Daoist sources compiled by the literatus Zeng Zao 曾慥 (d.
1155). While some 400 years separates the Junzhai dushu zhi from these
three figures, it nevertheless seems that the Jiuxian pian resembles the

Simplicity, DZ 1185, 19.3b-4a) of Ge Hong 葛洪 (283-343). The relationship be-

tween this lost text and the original Jiuxian jing, if any, is not clear.
6 The Jiuxian jing elaborates at some length methods for avoiding death before

the adept has been able to complete the inner elixir. One of these techniques,
“changing the dwelling” (yishe 移舍), apparently involved taking over the body
of another person. See Eskildsen 2006, 380n16, referencing the work of Ren Jiyu
任继愈, and 395-97.
70 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

original Jiuxian jing most closely in terms of authorship. Thus the tradi-
tion split into two lines: one that saw Yixing as a promulgator of internal
alchemy, and one that sough to erase this portrayal. Miyazawa Masayori
has suggested that Ye Fashan or a Daoist immersed in his lore may have
excised Yixing’s commentary, implying that there was an effort to con-
solidate the text’s Daoist pedigree (2002, 196). Adherence to Tang charac-
ter taboos in the Jiuxian jing suggests that the divide happened around
mid to late Tang.7 The Jiuxian jing read by Chao Gongwu, therefore, was
likely identical with or very similar to the extant version. The following
discussion tries to show that the original Jiuxian jing was probably com-
posed around 9th century.

Yixing’s Role
Is there any credible evidence that Yixing was involved in alchemy or
Daoism? Jeffrey Kotyk has recently undertaken an exposition of the
“pseudo-Yixing,” referring to the image of Yixing as a thaumaturge
steeped in Daoist magic put forward in literary anthologies and select
ritual manuals of the Tang dynasty, in order to better distinguish the
scientist-monk’s authentic works.8 While some scholars have tried to link
the historical Yixing with a current of “Daoist influence” informing cer-
tain Buddho-Daoist manuals in the Taishō canon bearing his name, Ko-
ytk makes the cogent case that Yixing was strategically deployed by the

7 In contrast to the Jiuxian pian, the Jiuxian jing contains several instances of Tang
taboo avoidance. Rather than zhi 治, a character that figured in Gaozong’s per-
sonal name, it uses li 理.
8 Works associated with the historical Yixing in the Taishō canon include

the Dari jing, the Dari jing shu, the Jin’gangding jing Piluzhe’na yibaibazun fashen
qiyin 金剛頂經毘廬遮那一百八尊法身契印 (One Hundred and Eight Dharmakāya
Mudrās of Vairocana According to the Vajraśekhara sutra, T. 877), the Yaoshi
liuliguang rulai xiaozai chunan niansong yigui 藥師琉璃光如來消災除難念誦儀軌
(Manual of the Spell to Remove Obstacles and Prevent Calamity through Medi-
cine Buddha, T. 922), the Dapiluzhe’na foyan xiuxing yigui 大毘盧遮那佛眼修行儀
軌 (Manual on the cultivation of the Buddha Eye of Mahāvairocana, T. 981), and
the Manshushili yanmandejia wan’ai mishu ruyifa 曼殊室利焰曼德迦萬愛祕術如意法
(Methods for Acquiring Wishes from the Secret Techniques of the Innumerably
Compassionate Mañjuśrī-Yamāntaka, T. 1219).
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 71

authors of these sources to legitimize their Buddho-Daoist contents.

These sources include Fantian huoluo jiuyao 梵天火羅九曜 (Indian Astrol-
ogy of the Nine Luminaries, T. 1311), the Xiuyao yigui 宿曜儀軌 (Manual
on the Constellations and Celestial Bodies, T. 1304), and the Beidou qixing
humofa 北斗七星護摩法 (Methods for the Fire Offering to the Seven Stars
of the Pole Star, T. 1310) (Kotyk 2018, 16-23, 27-30).
The image of Yixing as a Buddho-Daoist wizard put forward in 9th
century anthologies—such as the Youyang zazu 酉陽雜俎 (Assorted Notes
of Youyang) by Duan Chengshi 段成式 (800-863) and the Minghuang zalu
明 皇 雜 錄 (Assorted Records of the Lustrous Sovereign) by Zheng
Chuhui 鄭處誨 (fl. 834)—does not conform to the main features of his
biography as set forth in official histories and Japanese Buddhist sources.
Compared to these latter sources, the stories of the Tang anthologies lack
much in the way of credible evidence and tend to emphasize fantastic
elements (2018, 13-16).
For example, one story from the Minghuang zalu alleges that Yixing
studied the Taixuan jing 太玄經 (Canon of Great Mystery) under the Dao-
ist priest Yin Chong 尹崇 (d. ca. 741). No pertinent details are provided
that would allow us to verify this claim. The same anthology, as well as
the Youyang zazu, also relates a story in which Yixing magically presages
the precise moment when Puji is about to die. When Yixing knocks on
the door of Puji’s temple to seek audience with him, he is addressed as a
“celestial master” (tianshi 天師), a term typically reserved for Daoist
priests (Wang and Liu 1994, 44; Zheng 2017, 123). Whatever one makes
of these stories, they offer no conclusive evidence of Daoist practice on
Yixing’s part.
Another story from the Minghuang zalu paints a vivid picture of Yi-
xing’s private pursuits as imagined by the literati class:

Yixing planned [the activities] of several hundred laborers at the Huntian

Temple. He ordered one of his chambers to be emptied and to have a large
vat moved to the middle. He secretly selected two permanent-property
slaves.
He gave them a cloth satchel, saying, “There is a dilapidated garden at
a particular lane and corner. In that area, undertake secret surveillance.
From noon to dusk, there should be animals entering [the vicinity]. They
72 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

will number seven. You can completely block them off [and seize them]. If
you lose one, I will flog you.”
The serfs did as they were instructed and left. After the you hour (5-7
pm), a herd of swine arrived. The serfs captured each one and returned.
Yixing was overjoyed. He placed [the swine] in the vat and covered it with
a wooden lid sealed with Six-One Mud. He then [wrote] dozens of Sanskrit
letters in vermilion [on the vessel?]. His disciples could not fathom [the im-
port of this rite]. (Wang and Liu 1994, 44; see also Zheng 2017, 22)

Here Yixing is depicted as a magus who practiced fantastic rites

behind closed doors. According to the story, the ritual was intended to
cause the Pole Star to disappear, an inauspicious omen, which Yixing
leverages in order to convince Xuanzong to pardon a friend’s murderous
son. “Six-One-Mud” refers to a substance used to lute alchemical vessels
(Pregadio 2006, 9-10). While offerings of pork were made in some labora-
tory alchemy traditions (2006, 98), the placement of pigs in a vessel in
conjunction with a spell in Sanskrit is probably meant to emphasize the
perception of Yixing as a hybrid figure disposed to mingle elements of
Buddhist and Chinese ritual magic. This rite appears to have been based
on the logic of sympathetic magic; by sealing away the seven pigs in the
ritual vessel, Yixing aims to make the seven stars of the Pole Star vanish.
In fact, there is credible evidence that Yixing was conversant with
alchemy. Yixing’s Dari jing shu 大日經疏 (Commentary to the Mahāvai-
rocana sutra, T. 1796) contains some interesting comments on this sub-
ject.9 These remarks nest within a larger discussion of the “three myster-
ies” (sanmi 三密), i.e., mantra, mudra, and maṇḍala contemplation. These
are the hallmarks of esoteric Buddhist ritual, through which adepts emu-
late, respectively, the voice, body, and mind of Vairocana and constitute
themselves as living buddhas. Insisting on the salvific efficacy of various
skillful means, Yixing rebuffs those adepts who insist on the primacy of
one basic practice. He uses the metaphor of realizing the “the golden na-

9 Yixing composed this commentary on the basis of Śubhakarasiṃha’s oral ex-

planations, meaning that its authorship can be ascribed to both. However, as
Chen Jinhua notes, the latter, who arrived in China in 716 at the age of eighty,
probably did not know much Chinese when it was written even after the Chinese
translation of the Mahāvairocana sutra in 724. Accordingly, much of the text’s con-
tents can be attributed to Yixing. See Chen 2012, 116n.6.
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 73

ture within the ore,” an image commonly seen in Buddhist texts from the
Six Dynasties onward, such as the Baoxing lun 寶性論 (Treatise on the
Jewel Nature; T. 1611, 31.822a23), to advocate employing the three eso-
teric practices to awaken to one’s inherent Buddha-nature (T. 1796,
39.592b14-20). The following discussion expands on this metaphor:

Further, it is like worldly people who see pure gold and refine it a hundred
times without any change [to its constitution]. They take this as the utmost
limit of [gold’s] marvelous nature. As for the wizards endowed with the
five pervasions (wutong xian 五通仙), they submit various medicines to
many modalities of refining and smelting. They can transform all varieties
of soil and minerals completely into precious gold. There are some who in-
gest it. They enjoy great longevity and [attain the power] of divine trans-
formation without limit. [Worldly people] should know the innermost real
gold nature. Naturally there is this ability, but because people of the world
lack the secret method, they can’t attain it. (T. 1796, 39.592b22-27)

Yixing invokes “worldly people” who only apply a single practice to

gold as an analogue for those Buddhist adepts who myopically cleave to
one practice. This group is contrasted with the “wizards of the five per-
vasions,” a title used to translate the Sanksrit term Pañcâbhijña-ṛṣi, refer-
ring to adepts who have attained magical powers available to all unen-
lightened persons (Xingyun 1989, 1153). This suggests that here Yixing
may be discussing Indian alchemy, a tradition involving the manipula-
tion of mercury and gold (White 1996, 5-6). According to Yixing, just as
these wizards attain their alchemical goals through varied means, so too
can adepts realize Buddhahood through the three mysteries.
Yixing’s alleged engagement with Chinese internal alchemy must
be situated against the backdrop of this tradition’s social matrices in the
late medieval era. The Jiuxian jing uses the figure of the knight-errant (xia
俠) in a framework of nine descending grades of attainment to criticize
those adepts who failed to adequately refine their yang spirit before at-
tempting apotheosis (Eskildsen 2008, 51-61, citing DZ 227, 11b5-12b3).
Seen in this light, the alleged authorship of the commentaries of the orig-
inal Jiuxian jing probably reflects an effort to enhance the text’s legitima-
cy in circles where different practice networks jockeyed for resources.
Indeed, we can be reasonably confident that Yixing did not com-
pose any of the contents of the Jiuxian pian or Jiuxian jing. Both the of
74 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

these sources gloss the adept’s eyes as the “five wheels” (wulun 五輪),
referring to a common practice in Chinese medicine of correlating the
five sections of the eyes (the canthus, the whites, the eyelid, the iris, and
the pupil) with a particular viscus. In this way, traditional Chinese doc-
tors seek to assess the health and operations of the five viscera by observ-
ing the eyes (Xiao 1996). In the context of Yixing’s Dari jing shu, however,
the term “five wheels” refers to three different concepts: first, the five
fingers of the adept (T. 1796, 612b23-24); second, the five Buddhist ele-
ments (T. 1796, 727c20-23); and third, the five chakras aligned along the
spine (T. 1796, 661b03). Given the symbolic weight these concepts carry
in the Dari jing,10 it is unlikely that Yixing would have extended the term
“five wheels” to the eyes. The portrayal of Yixing as an internal alche-
mist most likely reflects a perceived equivalence between Daoist tech-
niques of meditative incineration and the inner Homa as described in
Yixing’s Dari jing shu. Furthermore, this portrayal highlights the roots of
internal alchemy in gentry culture during the late Tang, a milieu wherein
scholars who could not attain official positions turned to private cultural
pursuits for both solace and distinction (Skar 2003, 14). The production
and consumption of literary miscellanea similar to the Minghuang zalu
and Youyang zazu numbered among such pursuits, as did alchemy.
The equivalence between the inner Homa and Daoist methods with-
in the Jiuxian jing and Jiuxian pian suggests a terminus post quem of 724
for the original Jiuxian jing, since this was the year Yixing began his
translation of the Dari jing. This means that Ye Fashan, who died in 720,
also could not have composed any of the original Jiuxian jing. Eskildsen
has noted the existence of certain “archaic” features in the Jiuxian jing,
indicating that it was probably composed prior to the Song. 11 In light of
this observation and the difficulty in finding 8 th century sources compa-
rable to the Jiuxian jing, a 9th century provenance seems most likely.

10 Chen Jinhua notes that the practice of contemplating one’s body as being com-
posed of five chakras correlated with five seed syllables served as a preparatory
practice for the construction of the womb realm maṇḍala in Yixing’s Dari jing shu
(2009, 204-05). I discuss this practice further below.
11 Eskildsen notes that the Jiuxian jing and the Taibai huandan pian both seem to

emphasize the joint apotheosis of the adept’s spirit and body, a goal that is out of
step with the mainstream of internal alchemy in the Song (2006, 380n.16).
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 75

Daoist Meditative Incineration

This section examines some of the concrete practices attributed to Yixing
in the Jiuxian pian. Besides describing several auxiliary techniques, the
Jiuxian jing and Jiuxian pian both outline the following stages of practice:
establishing the foundation, gathering the ingredients, mixing them to
fashion the elixir, and maturing the elixir to realize apotheosis.12 During
the first stage, the adept cultivates meditative concentration (ding 定) and
consolidates the body’s components to heal diseases. These methods
provide a foundation for the alchemical work to follow.
The directive to fortify the body underlines a key point in Daoist
thought. Internal alchemy teachings generally hold that the project of
attaining transcendence through the creation of an inner elixir finds its
rationale in the fallen condition of man. The Heavenly Sovereign explic-
itly identifies the loss of “perfect qi” (zhenqi 真氣) as the source of illness
(DZ 227 2b9-10). Perfect qi refers to pure yang qi within the body left
over from the time before cosmogenesis. The water qi of the kidneys is
usually identified as the seat of this vital energy and is also called es-
sence (jing 精). A homology is thus established between the human loss
of perfection, often conceptualized as a loss of seminal essence, and de-
volution of Dao from the One (pure yang) to the manifold, heterogene-
ous cosmos.13 The soteriological goal is to fashion and mature an inner
elixir of pure yang constitution, a process mirroring the reversal of the
Dao’s movement from unity to the differentiated macrocosm.
How does one lose one’s store of essence? In addition to the delete-
rious effects of old age, the decisive factors are identified as sexual activi-
ty, anger, and an improper orientation toward phenomenal reality. As
explained by the Heavenly Sovereign, the adept is to cultivate “without
distraction, without succumbing to vexed anger, without giving rise to

12 Jiuxian jing—auxiliary, 5a3-6b10; foundation, 1a-5a2; gathering, 6b10-8a5; join-

ing, 8a6-9b3; maturing, 9b4-14a3. Jiuxian pian—auxiliary, 7a2-7b10; foundation,
31.5a3-7a2; gathering, 31.7b10-9b1; joining, 31.9b1-11a3; maturing, 31.11a3-13b3.
13 This evolutionary framework of cosmogony is drawn from the opening lines of

Daode jing 42: “Dao generates the one; the one generates the two; the two gener-
ate the three; the three generate the ten thousand things.” My discussion here
owes much to Hudson 2007, 435-39; Pregadio 2011, 56-63.
76 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

attachment, without entertaining deluded thoughts, without craving,

without indulging in perverse licentiousness, and without lapsing into
idleness” (DZ 227, 1b2). Autochthonous accounts of unwholesome states
vitiating the adept’s progress in cultivation go as far back as the Neiye 內
業 (The Inner Training), a work that was assembled from about 350 to
150 BCE. For example, the Neiye claims that the passions lead the adept
to lose the body’s store of essence, including anger, desire, vexation, and
distraction (Roth 1999, 50-51). Similarly, the Inner Chapters of the
Zhuangzi 莊子 of the 3rd century BCE discuss the “fasting of the mind”
(xinzhai 心齋). This was a state in which the individual was to “listen” by
means of his qi 氣 as opposed to the ears or the mind. This entailed mak-
ing the mind “vacuous” (xu 虛), thereby approximating air’s ability to
accommodate objects and creating a cognitive space for the Dao to mani-
fest (Eskildsen 2015, 9).
The injunctions of the Jiuxian jing, however, also evoke Buddhist ac-
counts of afflictions (fannao 煩惱) that impede the individual’s progress
toward enlightenment. For example, “distraction” (sanluan 散亂), “crav-
ing” (tan 貪), “idleness” (fangyi 放逸), and “perverse desire” (xieyu 邪欲)
are just some states that figure in Yogâcāra accounts of afflictions (Cf.
Yujia shidi lun 瑜伽師地輪 [Discourse on the Stages of Concentration
Practice], T. 1579, 280b15-18).14 Such afflictions promote dissipation and
exacerbate the body’s tendency toward dissolution.
In order to guard against these afflictions, the first stage prescribes
meditation techniques for becoming “oblivious to mentation” (wangyi 忘
意) in the style of the Zuowang lun 坐忘論 (Treatise on Sitting in Oblivion,
DZ 1036; Kohn 2010), traditionally attributed to Sima Chengzhen 司馬承
禎 (647-735). This provides the means of cultivating a deep state of medi-
tative concentration. The adept’s concentration corresponds to phase
earth (tu 土), the catalyst that allows him or her to join the water qi of the

14 Canonical Buddhist sources features many typologies of afflictions. The most

influential account is found in the Yogâcāra tradition where six primary afflic-
tions (genben fannao 根本煩惱) are identified: Lust, anger, ignorance, pride, false
views, and doubt. See T. 1585, 31.31b17. The same source categorizes distraction
and idleness as a secondary affliction (sui fannao 隨煩惱), along with eighteen
other negative dispositions. See T. 1585, 31.22c21. For a general account of afflic-
tions, see Xingyun 1989, 5515-16.
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 77

kidneys with the fire qi of the heart to fashion an incipient elixir (Hudson
2007, 333-34). Visualization and incantations similar to those seen in
Highest Clarity (Shangqing 上清) texts are also prescribed to curb the
centrifugal disposition of the body’s cloud-souls (hun 魂 ), guarding
against untimely death.
Owing to the ruination of the adept’s store of essence, he or she may
be suffering from illness that disrupts the cultivation of oblivion. The
Jiuxian jing and Jiuxian pian accordingly elaborate techniques for circulat-
ing the fire qi of the heart and the water qi of the kidneys to effect healing.
This is a notion that goes back to Chinese cosmology, where fire is em-
blematic of yang and water of yin. The adept, however, perceives the
heterogeneous aspect of the cosmos and can penetrate water and fire’s
true nature. In the cosmic domain, fire is not pure yang, but rather yang-
harboring-yin. Likewise, water is not pure yin, but yin-harboring-yang.
The trigrams of the Yijing represent this traditional reality. The fire qi of
the heart, also called “dragon,” corresponds to the Li 離 trigram ☲ and
the water qi of the kidneys, or “tiger,” to Kan 坎 ☵ (DZ 227, 3a6). Each
of these is mediated by their antithesis, symbolizing the ontological dis-
tinction between the heterogeneous cosmos and the pure, unified Dao
(Robinet 2011; Pregadio 2011, 56-57).
In circulating the qi of the heart and kidneys according to the logic
of the trigrams, the adept’s gnosis enables him or her to extract the con-
trary principles within yin and yang. Thus water is circulated upward, in
opposition to its natural downward tendency, and fire is contrarily circu-
lated downward (Robinet 2011, 5-9). Yixing’s commentary to the Jiuxian
pian elaborates the modalities of applying this to healing:

In cases of applying water for minor illnesses, you do not want to encroach
on the urogenital system. You should exercise caution by guarding unity. If
you do this for seven days, the various illnesses will be eliminated.
In cases of applying fire for severe illnesses, set forth the fire from the
heart, sending it down to the left and right feet, then raising it to the left
and right arms, finally bringing it to the head and eyes. Set forth the fire
78 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

eighty-one times. In one breath, [circulate along] the whole Celestial Cir-
cuit.15 This is what is called “celestial circuit fire.”
Now, there are several kinds of fire. There is what’s called “immolate
the body” fire. Visualize (xiang 想) fire moving downward from the heart.
Bring it to the pass and secure its bright flames. Completing this sequence
eighty-one times, you can expel the Three Worms. There is what is called
“Enemy Yin Fire.” Visualize it rising from beneath the yin [portion of the
body], consuming your entire person. Complete this sequence nine times.
There is also what is called “numinous turtle fire.” Guide the third fire
down to the kanhu 坎戸, probably the lower qi node. It divides into two
paths, flowing to the interiors of the left and right feet. Once it reaches the
five toes, the five paths are exhausted. Merge [the qi] and cycle it to the left.
After three revolutions, it gradually grows larger. Once it reaches to the ar-
ea beneath the waist, you then use the Enemy Yin Fire to guide the numi-
nous turtle fire. Merge [the qi] and cycle it to the right. After three revolu-
tions, it gradually grows larger. When you bring it to the crown, tap the
cranial vault nine times, as with the previous method.
There is also what is called “subduing demons fire” (xiangmo huo 降魔
火). In instances where you are soon to succumb from a severe illness, fix
the breath and meditate. Proceed according to the method of the numinous
turtle, but cycling [the qi] to the left. You thereby immolate the various de-
mons. (DZ 1017, 31.5b5-6a8)

Just as laboratory alchemists apply fire to the crucible, the internal al-
chemist applies the metaphorical “fire” of his or her controlled breaths,
meditative concentration, and intention (yi 意) to the components within
the body (Hudson 2007, 292-93). The directive to visualize fire circulating
throughout the inner channels of the body underscores the continuity
between internal alchemy and the method of “retentive contemplation”
(cunxiang 存想) characteristic of early medieval Daoism. “Retentive con-
templation” is a term borrowed from Stephen Bokenkamp, who defines

15“Celestial circuit” translates zhoutian 周天. Internal alchemists conceive of the

body as a microcosmic corollary of the cosmos. Accordingly, the body’s energies
circulate along orbits similar to celestial bodies, what are termed “celestial cir-
cuits.” Internal alchemists often speak of a “lesser celestial circuit” and a “greater
celestial circuit.” Here the Jiuxian pian is referring to the latter, which typically
consists of the body’s lower and central qi nodes. Here, however, it refers to cir-
culation throughout the whole body. See Hudson 2007, 297 n.306.
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 79

this mode of contemplative seeing as “the creation and manipulation of

images” within the adept’s perceptual field “to achieve desired goals”
(1997, 288). As the Jiuxian pian explains, in the context of circulating qi
within the body to effect healing, this is accomplished by harnessing the
faculty of the adept’s intention (DZ 1017, 31.6b3).
Mark Meulenbeld has situated the meditative incineration of the
Jiuxian jing on a continuum of practice spanning more than two millen-
nia. Beginning with the Zhuangzi and continuing on to the Highest Clari-
ty teachings and the rituals of Daoist priests in present-day Hunan, Meu-
lenbeld convincingly describes a consistent practice of visualizing the
body engulfed in flames in order to instantiate an apotheosis that trans-
lated into tangible benefits for the adept’s community (2010). The tech-
niques of meditative incineration in the Highest Clarity tradition are of
particular interest for our purposes, as they are prescribed together with
methods of meditative ablution and thus directly prefigure the teachings
of the Jiuxian jing (Robinet 1979, 66-68). On Meulenbeld’s reading, the
root metaphor of the meditative incineration technique can be traced
back to the Shang ritual practice of human sacrifice via a fire offering to
generate rain and the subsequent practice of sacrificing a substitute ob-
ject (2010, 234-42). To effect spiritual transformation, the adept must
metaphorically offer up the body in a contemplative fire oblation.
Meulenbeld goes on to cite the Jiuxian jing as a text in which such
methods were extended in the direction of purifying the body by way of
eliminating the “Three Corpses” (sanshi 三尸), parasitic demons residing
within the adept that seek to expiate his or her demise so that they may
return to the telluric realm (2010, 256-57). The Luo commentary of the
Jiuxian jing, however, makes it clear that the nine worms (jiuchong 九蟲)
and seven whitesouls (qipo 七魄), all entities working toward the adept’s
death, were also potential targets for incineration (DZ 227, 14a8-14b1).
Thus the Jiuxian jing imbricates the metaphor of sacrifice with a resonant
discourse of subjugation. This practice finds an early antecedent from the
4th century in the Upper Scripture of Purple Texts Inscribed by the Spirits
(Lingshu ziwen shangjing 靈書紫文上經; DZ 639), a Highest Clarity text
revealed to Yang Xi 楊羲 (330-86) in Jiangnan. This source directs the
adept to control (zhi 制) the body’s whitesouls in part by visualizing Jade
80 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

Maidens in the ear canals holding torches. The following excerpt from an
incantation appended to this method describes the ideal scenario:

With elemental pneumas nine times wound,

I control the perverse ferocity of the whitesouls.
Celestial beasts guard the gates.
Enchanting maidens hold the passes.
They refine the whitesouls to passive compliance,
Granting me peace and calm. (DZ 639, 10b-11a; Bokenkamp 1997, 325)

It is this apotropaic function that leads Eskildsen to contextualize

the meditative incineration of the Jiuxian jing within a larger repertoire of
“emergency death meditations,” a term he uses to describe methods that
adepts can draw on in the event that they might die before the elixir has
been adequately refined (2006, 393-95, 397-99, 403-05). While he finds
substantial Buddho-Daoist interaction informing one of these methods in
particular, “entering a womb” (toutai 投胎), meditative incineration is not
examined from this perspective (2006, 405-09). Importantly, he does
point out that the demons that the adept is to subdue through meditative
incineration are not strictly entities within the adept’s body; they can also
be comprised of the adept’s “psychic forces” (2006, 404). Baldrian-
Hussein has made a similar point with regards to the role of meditative
incineration in the Jiuxian jing (1984, 160).
Eskildsen and Baldrian-Hussein’s observation point to the Buddhist
motifs underlying the paradigm of meditative incineration in the Jiuxian
jing. As seen above, the Yixing commentary of the Jiuxian pian employs
the term “mo” 魔 to convey “demon.” In the context of Buddhism, mo
refers to Māra, the personification of evil, as well as his horde of demonic
brethren. According to myth, Māra tried to prevent the Buddha from
achieving enlightenment under the Bodhi tree through various modes of
sensuous distraction (See T. 192, 4.25a15-26c20). Māra is not only under-
stood as the demon par excellence among Buddhists, but the etymology
of the term itself also connotes afflictive states that impede enlighten-
ment and potentially threaten death. Calling upon the earth spirit to bear
witness to his merit, the Buddha was able to vanquish Māra (Olson 2005,
28-29). Thus it is plausible to read the demon-subduing fire of the Jiuxian
pian as involving not only the subjugation demons residing in the body,
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 81

such as the Three Corpses, but also the overcoming of unwholesome

mental states and their concomitant maladies. While Daoist texts have
utilized the figure of Māra as early as the 4 th century (Strickmann 2002,
63), the Buddhist valences attached to mo were always relevant.
The Buddhist valences of the demon-subduing fire of the Jiuxian
pian persisted within the larger Zhong-Lü tradition, a highly influential
teaching of internal alchemy associated with the transcendents Lü
Dongbin 呂洞賓 and Zhongli Quan 鍾離權 that emerged around the 11th
century (Baldrian-Hussein 1984). The Xishan qunxian zhenhui ji 西山群仙
真會記 (Record of the Gathered Transcendents and Assembled Perfected
of the Western Hills; abbreviated Zhenhui ji; tr;Bertschinger 2018), a sem-
inal Zhong-Lü text, cites a certain version of the Jiuxian jing twice with
reference to meditative incineration:

The Jiuxian jing says: “In cases of severe illness, use fire. In cases of minor
illness, use water.” When using fire, you take in qi and cause it to revert
and rise up the body. Perfected qi pervades the four great elements. Seeing
this from afar, yin ghosts and heterodox demons don’t dare approach. (DZ
246, 1.3b9-4a1)

Here the Zhenhui ji describes the process of absorbing astral pneumas

and circulating them along the body’s inner channels in order to trans-
form it from essence to qi.16 As the essence and qi becomes more refined
through this circulation, it “reverts” (fu 復), meaning that the residual
pure-yang qualities left over from the time prior to cosmogenesis become
more expressed. This is the “perfected qi” that pervades the body as fire
and fulfills the apotropaic function of repelling demons. Another pas-
sage in the Xishan qunxian zhenhui ji builds on the theme of meditative
incineration by glossing the same method of the Jiuxian jing:

16This corresponds to the second stage of the familiar “four stage” sequence of
internal alchemy: Stage one, tamping the base; stage two, refining essence into qi;
stage three, refining qi into spirit; stage four, returning spirit to the void. Though
emblematic of the “Southern Lineage” of internal alchemy, some scholars hold
that this four-stage sequence finds its earliest antecedents in late-Tang sources
and Zhong-Lü texts. See the discussion in Hudson 2007, 300.
82 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

The Jiuxian jing says: “In cases of minor illness, use water. In cases of severe
illness, use fire.” As for severe illnesses, this is the limit of impermanence.
Suppose a person mistakenly transgresses [the dictates] of the celestial spir-
its. Perhaps their body is not at peace. They [should] quickly enter into an
oratory, let their hair loose and part their clothes, close their eyes and dim
their mind, sit upright in meditation with clenched fists, clack their teeth
and assemble [the body’s] spirits. They [should] cause fire to ascend the
body, [while] slightly holding their breath, inhaling little and slowly exhal-
ing.
One silently imagines that there is a wheel of fire beneath the navel. It is
large like a bushel. One must drag the flames up through the body. It can
be compared to a wheel that protects and covers you. Having settled the
body, yin ghosts and heterodox demons won’t dare approach. [Whether] it
is the Buddhists’ “demon-subduing fire” or the Daoists’ “body-immolating
fire,” whenever using these fires, they will surely cut off lust and desire for
a long duration. The elixir prime [must be] firm and stable. If it is not, one
should use water and fire to copulate dragon and tiger and form an elixir.
The elixir forms and the spirits of death disperse and do not dare approach,
while the yang spirit is naturally not willing to depart. (DZ 246, 4.3a7-3b5)

This passage states that if an adept compromises the integrity of the

body by succumbing to dissolution, he or she can visualize a wheel of
fire incinerating the body in order to consolidate the adept’s psycho-
physical components and repel demonic influences. Further, the adept
can create an inner elixir to achieve a similar effect, what for Zhong-Lü
adepts represents an initial achievement rather than the culmination of
the alchemical work (Hudson 2007, 313). Significantly, the demons are
clearly identified as the afflictions of lust and desire and both Buddhist
and Daoist modalities of meditative incineration are identified as effica-
cious.
Zhong-Lü texts at times gloss afflictive states as “the armies of
māras” (mojun 魔軍), echoing the Buddha’s awakening narrative. The
following passage from the Lingbao bifa 靈寶畢法 (Complete Methods of
the Numinous Treasure), another representative Zhong-Lü text, speaks
to the range of potential distractions the adept may face in meditation:

You might hear sounds in the course of meditation. In no case should you
hear or see phenomenal objects. By not recognizing phenomenal objects,
they disperse of their own accord. If the discernment of mental objects in-
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 83

creases and the armies of Māra aren’t retreating, quickly! Quickly! First,
subtly collect [the components] of the body. Collect [the body’s compo-
nents] and extend the waist. Then gently lie down on your back. Lie down
without extending your waist. After a momentary pause, cause fire to as-
cend the anterior and posterior channels. Don’t move your body. This is
called “immolating the body.”
As the fire ascends, the armies of māras naturally disperse your body.
External yin perversions cannot penetrate your outer shell. Having done
this two to three times, you should visualize heaven and earth engulfed in
a massive conflagration. Once everything has cooled down, not a single
thing remains. You only see the chariots, singers and dancers, canopied
wagons, and people attired in silk dress who enjoy wealth, status, and all
forms of luxury, enjoying themselves. Arranged into groups and rows, it is
as if they ride a five-colored cloud to heaven and arrive there.

Presumably, the ascent of the māras to heaven signals the initial percep-
tion that the conflagration effected by the adept has succeeded. But the
battle is not yet over. At this juncture, we are told, the adept sees a lofty
tower hovering in the distance across from a pavilioned lake whose
shores are scattered with pearls, gold, and jade. The smell of rare per-
fume arises from every direction and the adept hears the sounds of
women commiserating by the lake. Though the adept will probably be
inclined to take this as a real palace, due to the erroneous projections of
the yang spirit ensconced in the “palaces” of the adept’s cranium, the
vision is actually another manifestation of Māra (DZ 1191, 3.7b1-8a10’
Baldrian-Hussein 1984, 160-63). 17
The persistence of Māra’s intrusions highlights the difficulty in
overcoming afflictions. Daoist texts have deployed the Buddhist motif of
Māra as the Great Tempter as early as the Numinous Treasure liturgies
of the 4th and 5th centuries (Bokenkamp 1997, 383-84). Thus, between the
meditative incineration paradigm of the Highest Clarity tradition and

17Daoists view the body as a microcosmic corollary of the macrocosm. Thus the
metaphor of a kingdom is often invoked to conceptualize the body. Just as a ter-
restrial kingdom is populated by mountains, rivers, and palaces, so too is the
adept’s inner microcosm. Accordingly, most Daoist texts posit the existence of
“nine palaces” (jiugong 九宮) inside the cranium populated by spirits. See Robi-
net 1979, 43. I discuss this view of the body further below.
84 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

the appropriation of Māra in Daoist ritual manuals, it may seem that

most of the key elements of the demon-subduing fire of internal alchemy
could theoretically be traced to Daoist sources alone. Yet the Zhenhui ji
explicitly identified the demon-subduing fire as a Buddhist technique,
suggesting a metaphorical equivalence between Buddhist and Daoist
methods of overcoming unwholesome states in the service of alchemical
practice. This is the key to understanding why Yixing was deployed as
the symbolic mouthpiece for the demon-subduing fire of the Jiuxian pian.
To clarify the cogency of this point, it is necessary to consider Yixing’s
exposition of the inner Homa in his Dari jing shu.

The Inner Homa

As a rite explicitly concerned with the metaphorical incineration of the
individual’s afflictive obstructions, often conceptualized as demonic in-
cursions, the inner Homa suggests itself as a possible antecedent for the
meditative incineration techniques elaborated in the Jiuxian jing and
Jiuxian pian. The following discussion examines an exposition of the in-
ner Homa rite from Yixing’s commentary to the Dari jing. Though the
goals of the Homa rite vary, I here want to focus on the inner Homa con-
cerned explicitly with the mundane goal of subjugation. As will become
clear, this rite exhibits morphological similarities with the demon-
subduing fire of the Jiuxian jing and Jiuxian pian.
Before we can proceed, however, it is first necessary to briefly clari-
fy an important point. The Luo commentary of the Jiuxian jing discusses
the “fire knight-errant” (huoxia 火俠), an adept who has mastered the
fire-radiance samādhi (huoguang sanmei 火 光 三 昧 ) and refined a
“sword” through the sublimation of his or her psycho-physical compo-
nents (DZ 227, 12a). The Ye commentary also glosses meditative incin-
eration in terms of the fire samādhi (DZ 227, 14b). Given that the Jiuxian
jing clearly identifies the technique meditative incineration with an exo-
teric technique, why insist on the resemblance with Yixing’s inner Homa?
This is simply because Yixing was primarily famous as an exponent of
esoteric ritual and not exoteric methods. Further, Michel Strickmann has
already pointed out that the inner Homa finds its origins in the exoteric
method of cultivating the fire-radiance samādhi, referring to a highly ad-
vanced meditative state wherein the adept’s body manifests fire (Strick-
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 85

mann 1996, 363-64). This technique, cited widely in Chinese sources from
the early medieval period onward (See Best 1991, 186-89), seems to have
derived from the ancient Indian practice of meditating on the fire ele-
ment (huo bianchu 火遍處; Skt. tejaskṛtsnāyatana). This meditation was
said to allow the adept to progress through four stages of meditative ab-
sorption, the fourth of which enabled adepts to manifest magical powers
(Best 1991, 186-87).18 In the context of the Jiuxian jing, it appears that the
distinct contexts of the inner Homa and fire-samādhi have been blurred,
no doubt in large part due to the genetic link between the two.
We already find in earlier Chinese accounts of the fire samādhi ele-
ments of this subjugation motif. One source from the Eastern Jin (317-420)
relates how the Buddha entered into the fire samādhi in order to subdue
a demon king dwelling in a marsh. In the end, it is a vajra spirit that im-
molates the demon, presumably through the powers of his fire samādhi,
compelling it to convert to Buddhism (T. 643, 15.678-679a9). Another sto-
ry from the Sui dynasty (581-618) relates how the buddha subdued a na-
ga king by immolating the serpent through the fire generated by his fire-
radiance samādhi (Best 1991, 188, citing T. 190, 40.841a-42a). From these
examples, we see that the exoteric fire samādhi was widely perceived to
be a utile means of subjugating opponents from early on.
To a degree, the fire-radiance samādhi itself served as an interiorized
critique of the Vedic fire sacrifice (Strickmann 1996, 363-64). This polemi-
cal logic was to find a more robust expression in the inner Homa as ex-
pounded by Yixing and Śubhakarasiṃha, an event prefigured by several
important developments. Chinese Homa manuals indicate that a Bud-
dhist version of the Homa explicitly concerned with the evocation of
specific deities first appeared in the 6 th century (Orzech 2016, 268-73;
Strickmann 1996, 337-68). References to the Homa in Chinese sources
prior to this time were mostly concerned with the analogic incineration
of demons by way of burning mustard seeds (1996, 339). While the ty-
pologies of Homa vary, the Dari jing inherited the ternary framework set

18Indian Buddhism posits four graded levels of meditative concentration (chan-

ding 禪定; Skt. dhyāna) proper to the realm of subtle materiality (sejie 色界; Skt.
rūpadhātu). To master these stages of meditative concentration resulted in a better
rebirth in the realm of subtle materiality, above the realm of desire (yujie 欲界;
Skt. kāmadhātu). For an exposition, see Xingyun 1989, 1843-45.
86 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

forth in the translations of Bodhiruci (d. 727): the Homa for pacification
(xizai 息災; Skt. sāntika), the Homa for increase (zengyi 增益; Skt. pauṣṭika),
and the Homa for subjugation (xiangfu 降伏; Skt. abhicāra).
In order to frame the following analysis, it will be useful here to
briefly summarize the textual history of the Dari jing and its teachings
(see Abé 1999, 131-41; Hodge 2003 3-40; Shinohara 2014, 147-67). The
Mahāvairocana Sūtra seems to have been compiled in India around the
mid-7th century. The Sanskrit version used by Yixing and Śub-
hakarasiṃha was housed in the Huayan Temple (Huayan si 華嚴寺) in
Chang’an. This was mostly likely the version brought from India by the
Chinese monk Wuxing 無行 (d. 674) (Hodge 2003, 14-15).
At the core of the Dari jing was the Womb Maṇḍala, a visual repre-
sentation of Mahāvairocana’s exalted realm. The deities populating this
maṇḍala were delineated along the lines of three buddha families: the
tathagata clan, the lotus clan, and the vajra clan. To receive initiation into
the maṇḍala was to be inscribed in this sacred genealogy and attain bud-
dhahood. The maṇḍala and its ritual program are presented as the skill-
ful means by which Vairocana, conceived as the personification of per-
fect enlightenment, equips sentient beings with the tools necessary to
attain budhahood in a single lifetime. Thus the three mysteries manifest
in the world as Vairocana’s self-revelation, enabling one to identify with
the deities residing in the maṇḍala while undergoing initiation (Hodge
2003, 29-40). The ritual for receiving initiation into the maṇḍala was
modeled on the coronation ceremonies of feudal India (Davidson 2002,
123-31), hence their designation as “consecration rituals” (guanding 灌頂;
Skt. abhiṣeka). Just as feudal kings established themselves as lords of
their domain, so too is the ritual priest (Skt. ācārya) to become a king
within the metaphorical domain of the maṇḍala and express kingly pre-
rogatives through ritual action. Abhiṣeka was a necessary antecedent to
progressing through five graded levels of initiation. Yixing’s Dari jing shu
radically reconfigured the way abhiṣeka was to be performed through its
emphasis on visualization (Shinohara 2014, 157-67).
As formulated in the Dari jing shu, the abhiṣeka rite was to last sev-
en days (Shinohara 2014, 154-57). After a protracted series of preparatory
procedures, the maṇḍala is created on the seventh night. Deities are
summoned to the ritual space, offerings are made to the divinities, the
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 87

initiates enter the ritual site and throw a flower onto the maṇḍala to es-
tablish a bond with a deity and to gauge their relative degree of spiritual
ability, a Homa is performed as a feast to the invited deities, and the ini-
tiates receive consecration. This sequence is punctuated at scripted inter-
vals by specific hymns, mantras, mudras, and contemplations.
What was the nature of this Homa rite? In distinction from the sim-
plistic analogical rationales of the earlier Chinese sources mentioning
Homa, the logic of the Dari jing valorizes the inner Homa over against
the external Homa. Unlike those adepts who only make votive offerings
to the deity of the hearth, the proponents of the inner Homa rite conjoin
the external Homa with a corresponding contemplation. Through prac-
ticing mantra, mudra, and visualization, the ācārya is to identify himself
or herself with a deity summoned via the Homa. These three mysteries
allow the adept to realize a contemplative union of three distinct ele-
ments: the fire, the divinity, and the adept (Strickmann 1996, 358). In eso-
teric Buddhism, the hierarchical rhetoric underpinning the inner Homa
rite translated into a polemical logic of “orthodox” versus “heterodox”
and “refined” versus “crude” (1996, 357-58). To merely perform the outer
Homa without the corresponding inner Homa was to neglect the more
efficacious rite and even risk transgression.
While a variety of deities may be evoked through the inner Homa,
here I limit myself to the wrathful esoteric deity Acala (Budong
mingwang 不動明王). Owing to his status as the central figure of the five
wisdom kings, entities charged with the conversion of heterodox spirits,
Acala can be invoked for any of the three Homa rites, though he is most
often associated with the abhicāra. The close linkage between Yixing and
Acala is illustrated by the leading role the Dari jing shu seems to have
played in establishing Acala as the premier demon queller within the
esoteric Buddhist pantheon (Faure 2016, 123-25).
While the murderous aspect of the abhicāra is ever alluring, a variety
of intentions were ascribed to this rite in medieval India. Citing the Ag-
nipurāna of Maharṣi Vedavyāsa, an encyclopedia containing a wealth of
medieval Sanskrit texts, Hans-Georg Türstig has identified six goals as-
sociated with abhicāra: subjugation (vaśya), restraining (stambhana), excit-
ing hatred (vidveṣa), exorcism (uccāṭana), murder (māraṇa), and pacifica-
tion (sānti). The latter rite “includes removal of illness… and demoniac
88 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

forces” (Türstig 1985, 107). Thus, there was significant overlap between
demon quelling and healing, a conceptual link that is also widely attest-
ed in Chinese religions (Strickmann 2002).
By invoking Acala through the abhicāra, the ācārya merges with the
deity and assimilates his countenance. As a being of Yakṣa descent, Aca-
la’s fierce visage is distinguished by two opposing, jutting teeth. Imbued
with the soteriological effects of the samaya precepts, he manifests him-
self in the world as the personification of bodhicitta (puti xin 菩提心), or
the mind’s initial aspiration to enlightenment. In his charge as Vairoca-
na’s emissary (shizhe 使者), Acala wrathfully engages demons and cuts
off defilements. Thus he is often represented with a sword of wisdom
and a noose for subduing baleful entities (T. 1796, 39.633b6-15). In addi-
tion to these implements, Acala’s aureole of fire, a manifestation of his
“fire-generating samādhi” (huosheng sanmei 火生三昧), is also said to be
capable of incinerating various hindrances. The following passage from
the Dari jing shu describes the invocation of Acala in great detail:

Know that there are two types of Homa. One is inner and one is outer.
They are distinct. “Homa” means “to burn.” Through Homa, you can in-
cinerate and remove the various karmic [hindrances]. All sentient beings
are born in accordance with their karma through the cycles of karma and
birth. This is reincarnation without end. It is because karma is removed that
[the cycle] of birth is removed. This is attaining liberation.
If you are able to incinerate the karma, this is called Inner Homa. From
whence is this liberation attained? This means that you attain liberation
from the afflictions and karmic sufferings [themselves]. Having completely
transcended the world, you generate seeds. This is the so-called white, pure
mind of bodhicitta.
Comparing it with worldly fire, if you burn something it just becomes
ash. This burning is different. You wholly burn away the afflictions. Like
the kalpas’ burning fire, there is nothing left over. From this you grow teeth.
These are called “bodhicitta teeth.” Here, the ability to burn [afflictions] is
precisely an expression of wisdom. It is like the aureole of flame [generated
by] contemplating the ra syllable, as described above.
You visualize the whole body wreathed in this [fire]. One’s body is both
holding a sword and a noose. By means of this ra syllable teaching, you ex-
haust all karma and remove all obstructions. (T. 1796, 39.734c26-735a9)
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 89

Here the ācārya merges with the hearth and Acala, assimilating the
deity’s fire of wisdom to incinerate his karmic hindrances like so much
kindling. The “ra syllable teaching” refers to the practice of visualizing
seed syllables (Skt. bijā) adorning the body. This method generates the
flame of wisdom, causing both the ground of the ritual space and the
“ground” of the adept’s mind to be purified. This is glossed explicitly in
terms of mobilizing the earth spirit to subdue the hordes of Māra, just as
seen in the Buddha’s enlightenment narrative (T. 1796, 39.619c18-c29). In
its most paradigmatic formulation, the contemplation of the ra syllable is
but one aspect of a much more complicated technique. Prior to the con-
struction of the womb realm maṇḍala, the ācārya is to visualize his body
as being composed of the five chakras mentioned above, each of which is
correlated with a section of the body, an element, a seed syllable, a shape,
and a ritual (Chen 2009, 203-12). In this way, the macrocosm, represented
by the womb realm maṇḍala, is perceived to be coextensive with the
body (see Orzech 2016). The ra syllable is correlated with the region
spanning the heart and the throat, the fire element, the color red, the tri-
angle, the abhicāra and, by extension, Acala. There is thus an analogy be-
tween the inner Homa and the contemplation of seed syllables adorning
the body.
The capacity of the ra syllable contemplation to purify the ground of
the mind together with the use of Acala’s mantra to empower (jiachi 加持)
the ground of the ritual space (T. 1796, 39.623b12-13) reflect Acala’s close
ties to the earth spirit, an association that persists in Japanese esoteric
Buddhism (Faure 2016, 133; 354-55n.47). It seems plausible that the origi-
nal author of the Jiuxian jing and the adepts of Zhong-Lü alchemy may
have been aware of these aspects of Acala and took them into account in
articulating the modalities of meditative incineration. Not only was the
Dari jing shu a highly influential work read by many religionists, but the
narrative of the Buddha’s awakening was a also a key trope for the
Zhong-Lü corpus. Adepts with Daoist leanings could understand the
technique as being consistent with references to Māra in earlier Daoist
texts, whereas the subtext of the Buddha’s awakening was always avail-
able for adepts who were sympathetic to Buddhism.
90 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

Concluding Remarks
In this essay I have argued that there existed a metaphorical equivalence
between the inner Homa as expounded by Yixing and the techniques of
meditative incineration documented in the Jiuxian jing, a work of internal
alchemy dated to around the 9th century and connected to the Zhong-Lü
texts. This equivalence was predicated in part upon Yixing’s reputation
as a magus who mixed Chinese and Buddhist ritual magic. Yet it also
appears that the author of the original Jiuxian jing perceived the inner
Homa to be akin to Daoist techniques of meditative incineration and
wanted to evoke these similarities in a Daoist paradigm of practice.
Whereas the inner Homa is concerned with incinerating the individual’s
karmic hindrances, Daoist meditative incineration is concerned with pu-
rifying and rectifying the adept’s psycho-physical components, whether
conceived as unruly demons in the body, sensory distractions, or insuffi-
ciently refined qi.
Though the original Jiuxian jing seems to have emerged in a context
characterized by competition for scarce resources, we need not reduce
the text’s appropriation of Yixing to a mere “ad hoc throwing together of
elements properly a part of two separate systems” (Orzech 2002, 228).
The portrayal of Yixing’s demon-subduing fire as a technique of internal
alchemy seems to reflect a coherent integration of an array of Vedic,
Buddhist, Chinese, and Daoist metaphors, which are in turn employed to
frame the project of overcoming afflictions. Given the esoteric nature of
internal alchemy, it is difficult to say just how sophisticated this transla-
tion was. It certainly doesn’t seem to match the complexity of the Song
liandu rite. After all, nowhere did we see the ritual syntax of the Homa
adapted to a Daoist paradigm. In the absence of this ritual context, the
demon-subduing fire of internal alchemy is virtually indistinguishable
from the exoteric fire samādhi. Perhaps the author of the original Jiuxian
jing only possessed a relatively superficial knowledge of the inner Homa.
Nevertheless, there are still some interesting convergences. Setting
aside the shared emphasis on interiority in the Dari jing and internal al-
chemy, I will here limit myself to a consideration of several other points.
As we saw above, the ritual scaffolding surrounding the inner Homa
was modeled on the prerogatives of the king in the context of feudal In-
dia; thus the ritual priests of esoteric Buddhism attempted to establish
 Sanders, “Yixing and Buddhism” / 91

themselves as metaphorical sovereigns within a spiritual state represent-

ed by the maṇḍala. This language of kingship is conveyed clearly
through Acala’s role as the emissary of the ācārya, ritually identified as
Vairocana.
Through his appropriation of Yixing, the author of the original
Jiuxian jing appears to have extended this metaphorical complex of sa-
cred kingship in the direction of the ancient Chinese metaphor of the
body as a microcosm of the state. Citing the research of George Lakoff
and Mark Johnson, Bokenkamp has argued that Chinese authors employ
the metaphor of the body as a fractured polity when the individual is
faced with the threat of dissolution. Just as a king governs the unruly
elements within the kingdom, so to does the adept govern and rectify the
“competing foci of authority” within the body (2007, 141). Daoist cultiva-
tion is thus modeled on bureaucratic procedures of governance.
The ritual subject undergoing the Homa rite is similarly fragmented,
in the sense that afflictions disrupt one’s progress toward enlightenment.
In the context of the Jiuxian jing, however, the demon-subduing fire is
employed as a means of overcoming afflictive states so that the adept can
continue to cultivate an inner elixir. Instead of an internalized Homa fire
modeled on a feast, the Jiuxian jing relies on the metaphorical fire of the
adept’s body qua alchemical chamber. This conjunction of a bureaucratic
and alchemical metaphor in the service of attaining transcendence indi-
cates that the Daoist character of the Jiuxian jing remains thoroughly in-
tact, though as the Zhenhui ji makes clear, the Buddhist connotations as-
sociated with Yixing’s demon-subduing fire could be activated at any
time.
Though terms such as “synthesis” and “echo” have heuristic value,
they tend to obscure the agency of religious actors. A synthesis presumes
the confluence of two self-contained, homogenous paradigms, effectively
reifying the complex processes of creative borrowing, contestation, and
accommodation that have constituted Buddhism and Daoism through-
out history. Similarly, the notion of the Homa finding its “echo” in Chi-
nese ritual traditions can’t help but frame the latter as a passive recepta-
cle, effacing the agency of adepts in their efforts to appropriate the Homa
in accordance to their own situational needs. Studying the combinatory
dynamism of internal alchemy can help us reflect on the realities of Chi-
nese religions as they developed on the ground.
92 / Journal of Daoist Studies 12 (2019)

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