Daoist Cultivation, Book 21: Xìng Mìng Guīzhǐ: Touchstone of Xìng and Mìng: A Daoist Inner Alchemy Classic — Yuán Collection • Translation and Commentary

A landmark of Daoist inner alchemy, Xìng Mìng Guīzhǐ—full title 《性命雙修萬神圭旨》—sets out a clear, authoritative standard (“Touchstone”) for the dual cultivation of Xìng and Mìng.Xìng Mìng Guīzhǐ is arranged in four parts named after the four virtues of the Qián hexagram (元亨利貞):Yuán Collection (元集: Original / Prime) - Book 21Hēng Collection (亨集: Flourishing / Pervasive) - Book 22Lì Collection (利集: Beneficial / Advantageous) - Book 23Zhēn Collection (貞集: Correct / Constant / Persevering) - Book 24 This volume presents the complete translation of the Yuan (Original/Prime) Collection, the foundation of the work’s fourfold sequence (元-Yuan, 亨-Heng, 利-Li, 貞-Zhen). It includes the classic diagrams and programmatic chapters that made the text central to Daoist internal alchemy while harmonizing Confucian ethics and Buddhist mind-training.What’s insideFour historical front texts: Preface to the Essential Principles of Xìng and Mìng (two versions), On the Occasion of Carving the Essential Principles, Inscription for Perfected Yǐn’s Complete BookThe Yuan Collection in full, featuring: Diagram of Universal Illumination, Turning the Light Around, Timed Illumination, Inner Illumination, Tàijí Elaboration, Center Diagram, etc—plus chapters such as Nine-Turn Refining of the Heart, Fire-Dragon & Water-Tiger, Sun-Crow & Moon-Rabbit, Five Qì Paying Court to the Origin, Returning the Eight Consciousnesses to the Origin, On Ascending in Flight, and more.How this edition readsTechnical key terms are kept in pīnyīn (e.g., Xìng, Mìng, Kǎn, Lí, dāntián, Niwán, Guānyuán) with first-mention glosses—preserving doctrinal precision without flattening meanings.The translation highlights the text’s unity of the Three Teachings: Confucian dé/xíng (virtue/conduct) as the furnace, Daoist Lead–Mercury / Dragon–Tiger method and cosmology (Tàijí, Five Phases, Heavenly Stems), and Buddhist Eight Consciousnesses / ālaya-vijñāna as a psychology of release.Diagrams are treated as practical maps that show where to begin (front and rear Three Passes, Rèn and Dū vessels, timing of qì), while doctrinal chapters braid cosmology, physiology, and soteriology into one line of work ruled by the Center (Yellow Court).Who this book is forPractitioners of neidan/Daoist meditation, students of Chinese religion and philosophy, Chan/Zen readers curious about alchemical counterparts, and anyone seeking a rigorous, jargon-clear doorway into the classic project of reuniting Xìng and Mìng.Bottom line: The Yuan Collection gives you the compass. Fewer extremes, more constancy; less chasing of phenomena, more fidelity to the Middle—the Touchstone by which all later work in the series is measured. Read more