Chapter 8 Section 2 Ge Hong and the establishment of the theoretical system of Taoist immortals

Ge Hong, courtesy name Zhichuan, self-named Baopuzi, was born in Jurong, Danyang (in today's Jiangsu Province).Born in the fourth year of Taikang, Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty (283 AD), and died in the first year of Xingning, Emperor Ai of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (363 AD), he lived to be 80 years old, and it is said that he only lived more than 60 years old. He was born in a bureaucratic and aristocratic family. He was determined to learn Taoism since he was a child, but he couldn't completely abandon the ideal of intellectuals in feudal society, so he read a lot of Confucian books.Ge Hong started writing when he was fifteen or sixteen, mainly poetry and essays.Later, I wanted to write a decent book to leave a name for future generations, so I started writing "Baopuzi".This book is divided into "Inner Chapter" and "Outer Chapter". "Nei Pian" has 20 volumes, and it focuses on Taoist content such as immortal prescriptions, changes in ghosts, longevity, and evil spirits. "Outer Chapter" talks about Confucianism's idea of ​​governing the country and the world.

Ge Hong said in "Baopu Zi Nei Pian" that his master was Zheng Yin, Zheng Yin's master was Ge Xuan (Ge Hong's great-grandfather), and Ge Xuan learned from Zuo Ci.Zuo Ci practiced diligently in Tianzhu Mountain and got several "immortal scriptures" on alchemy, including "Taiqing Danjing", "Jiuding Danjing" and "Jinye Danjing".Because of the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, it was too late to follow the practice, so he came to Jiangdong, and later taught these kinds of alchemy scriptures to Ge Xuan, and finally into the hands of Ge Hong.This Zuo Ci is the immortal alchemist who had dealt with Cao Cao.

Seeing that many people used folk religion to organize peasant uprisings, Ge Hong hated it.He collectively called these folk Taoist organizations "monster ways", saying that they "do not advance to prolong life, and do not retreat to eliminate disasters and cure diseases, so they recruit traitors and call them rebels" ("Baopuzi Inner Chapter Daoyi), advocating severe suppression of them.He disliked the strong political overtones of early Taoism, and was even more opposed to rebellion.What he advocated is a theory of immortality and Taoism that does not violate the Confucian ethics of monarch and minister, father and son, and does not hinder the feudal rule of the emperor.

"Baopuzi Inner Chapter" focuses on the following issues: Are there any gods in the world? Can ordinary people become gods through cultivation? What is the most important way to learn immortality and practice Taoism? Since the Han and Wei dynasties, many people have hoped to achieve longevity by taking medicine, qigong exercises and other health-preserving and fitness methods.But many people only believe that people's life span can be extended, and they don't believe that people can become immortals without dying.Others simply deny that there are gods in the world.A man named Xiang Xiu said that gods do not exist because no one has seen them.Some people brought up Confucius, saying that the Master never talked about such things as gods and ghosts, and the Confucian classics did not record them, so it can be seen that there are indeed no gods.

If everyone thinks this way, who will believe in Taoism and learn from immortals to practice Taoism?Ge Hong felt that this problem must be solved, so he spent a lot of effort to prove that there are immortals in the world, and ordinary people can become immortals as long as they practice hard. He said that no one has ever seen a god, but it does not mean that there are no gods.A person has limited salt to eat in his life, countless bridges to cross, and how many things can he see and hear?The world is big!Can you say that what you haven't seen or heard of doesn't exist?As for why the sages like Confucius didn’t talk about immortals, it’s because they didn’t like to talk about them, and they cared about other things.How can it be said that gods must not exist based on this!

So, what is the evidence for the existence of gods?Ge Hong said that his master Zheng Yin and others are very honest and completely trustworthy. If they all say yes, they must be right.In addition, there are also many books that record immortals. For example, Liu Xiang of the Han Dynasty wrote a "Biography of the Immortals", which recorded more than 70 immortals, all with names and surnames, and how they became immortals.If he said no, would he make it up? It seems that these words of Ge Hong's proof of the existence of gods are based on assumptions, which are not logically tenable and cannot be convincing.Honest people like Zheng Yin cannot guarantee that their cognition is correct, and not everything they believe is true.

Many people think that even if there are gods, they are born and cannot be learned.Ji Kang said that gods are "specially affected by strange energy, endowed with nature, which cannot be caused by accumulated learning" (Ji Kang's "Health Preservation Theory" in Volume 53 of "Selected Works" edited by Liang Xiaotong).Ge Hong firmly disagrees.He said that the pine and cypress trees will not fall in winter, and the lifespan of tortoises and cranes is longer than that of ordinary animals.They do have a tree species and animal species issue.But immortals like Peng Zu (an immortal in ancient legends) and Lao Tzu were all human beings, no different from ordinary people.Their attainment of Taoism and immortality is the result of cultivation, not innate.As long as a person perseveres in cultivating the Tao, he can "know that longevity is possible, and immortals have no seeds" ("Baopuzi Nei Chapter Zhi Li").

So, ordinary people are mortals, how can they become immortals?Ge Hong said that immortals mainly rely on medicines and various methods to maintain their bodies and prolong their lives, so that internal diseases do not occur in the body, and external disasters cannot be invaded, so as to achieve physical immortality and immortality.As long as a cultivator masters these immortal spells, he will definitely become a god. Among the immortal alchemy methods of "repairing the body and improving life, the life will be cured", the most important one is the method of "returning pills and golden liquid".Ge Hong said that he has studied so many Taoist scriptures, and there is no one who does not say so.Therefore, Huan Dan and Jin Ye "cover the extremes of the immortal way. If you take this and you are not immortal, there will be no immortals in ancient times" ("Baopu Zi Nei Pian·Golden Elixir").Dan first refers to cinnabar, which is a dark red mineral composed of sulfur and mercury.Fire alchemy sand, you can get white mercury (that is, mercury, chemical formula Hg), continue to smelt, the mercury becomes mercuric oxide.The appearance of this substance is similar to cinnabar, and it is also red.Alchemists find this change incredible: from red to white, and finally red again, back to the "elixir".Therefore, alchemists call it "returning alchemy".Gold liquid is a liquid made by trying to dissolve gold.Gold is a precious metal with very stable chemical properties and resistance to oxidation and corrosion.It was not until modern times that an efficient gold dissolver - aqua regia - was invented.The ancients did not have this thing, so they thought of many ways, such as first making gold into gold powder, and then soaking it with some plant juice and liquid made of dissolved minerals, sometimes they can only get something like batter, in which the gold is dissolved The amount is extremely small.Therefore, some alchemists experimented with other methods, using a variety of minerals to refine some alloys similar in appearance to gold, which are easier to dissolve.They believe, "Pills are things, and the longer they are burned, the more wonderful their changes will be; gold is put into fire and cannot be destroyed, and it will be buried forever. Taking these two things can refine people's bodies, so they can make people immortal" ("Bao Bao") Pu Zi Nei Pian Jin Dan").The change of cinnabar is very miraculous, and the gold does not change color when burned, and it does not rot when retting, which is also very miraculous.If these properties of them are transferred to the human body, people can become immortals and never grow old.

There are also many ways to "resist the evil from outside and stop the evil", the most important one is the way of "keeping the oneness".The Taoist Shouyi Art is a mysterious spell, which basically guards the gods inside the body, such as the ear gods who listen, the eyes gods who watch, and the gods of the five internal organs, etc., and do not let these gods leave the body. It can protect the human body from external evil spirits.In addition, there are other theories, most of which are religious myths. Ge Hong's idea of ​​immortality is the product of the further fusion of early Taoist beliefs and alchemy beliefs of immortals. "Baopu Zi Nei Pian" also discusses the two important concepts of "Xuan" and "Tao". Ge Hong has been working hard to establish the philosophical theoretical basis of Taoist belief in immortals.On the whole, Ge Hong systematically summarized the early Taoist theories and the idea of ​​immortal alchemy since the Han and Wei dynasties, enriched and developed the theory of immortal Taoism, and prompted Taoism to turn to the pursuit of immortality as the highest goal. important position.

Ge Hong admired Huandan and Jinye, advocated alchemy, and practiced alchemy by himself until his later years.Although Taoist priests would never be able to refine the elixir that would make people immortal after eating, they worked hard to study various minerals, plants, and animal medicines, and accumulated a lot of relevant knowledge, especially the knowledge of chemical changes.Therefore, those who study the history of scientific development believe that the science of chemistry developed slowly from alchemy. Ge Hong is erudite and talented, and has researched and written on many subjects in medicine, astronomy, and military affairs. Many historical materials of early Taoism are preserved in "Baopuzi Nei Pian", among which the titles of Daoist scriptures recorded in "Ya Lan" are actually the earliest catalog of teaching classics in the history of Taoism.Many Taoist priests in later generations forged Taoist scriptures and put them under Ge Hong's name to raise their value. It can be seen that Ge Hong's status in the minds of Taoist priests is very high.

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