Chapter 13 Chapter 4 Taoism in the Sui and Tang Dynasties

The rulers of the Sui Dynasty did not support Taoism more than Buddhism. Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty Yang Jian was born in a Buddhist temple and was raised by nuns when he was young, so he has always had a good impression of Buddhism.However, Taoist priests used the set of "God-given talisman" to create public opinion for him to come to power.Yang Jian assisted the young Emperor Zhou Jing to be in power, and he was in power. He planned to force Emperor Jing to abdicate and he replaced him.A Taoist priest named Zhang Bin figured out Yang Jian's thoughts, and claimed to know how to calculate the fate of the dynasty. He preached everywhere that the Northern Zhou Dynasty was exhausted and the new emperor should take the throne.He also said that Yang Jian is a dragon species, as can be seen from his appearance, God asked him to change dynasties and so on.Yang Jian was very satisfied with the Taoist priest Zhang Bin and asked him to follow the left and right as a staff officer.After becoming emperor, Zhang Bin was immediately named the governor of Huazhou (see "Lv Li Zhi" in Volume 17 of "Sui Shu").The founding year of the Sui Dynasty was "Kaihuang", which is said to be related to Taoist beliefs.

In the second year of Emperor Kaihuang (582 A.D.), Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty moved the Taoist Temple built in the Northern Zhou Dynasty to Chang'an and renamed it Xuandu Temple. Emperor Sui Yang favored Taoist priests mainly because he wanted to live forever.Pan Dan, a Taoist priest, claimed to be 300 years old. Emperor Yangdi built Songyang Temple for him. Juwan" ("Zizhi Tongjian Sui Jiwu"), in order to let him burn the golden elixir.Pan Dan said that stone gall and stone pulp should be used as raw materials. Emperor Yangdi sent stone workers to excavate the huge stone on Songshan Mountain. It took six years to dig dozens of large holes more than 100 feet deep.When Emperor Yangdi asked anxiously, Pan Dan said that he had not found stone gallbladder and stone marrow, and that it would be possible to use the gallbladder marrow of boys and girls each for three bushels and six buckets, but the emperor had to nod.When Emperor Yangdi heard that he had been cheated, he asked someone to cut off Pan Dan's head.

Taoist priests Xu Ze, Song Yuquan, Kong Daomao and others were said to know the technique of bigu, and they did not eat, but only sucked the dew from the trees. Emperor Yang respected them very much.During the reign of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, not only a large number of Taoist priests were favored because of alchemy, the emperor also supported Taoist priests to teach scriptures in national Taoist temples.According to the "Sui Shu·Jing Ji Zhi", Taoist priests at that time mainly talked about "Lao Tzu" and "Ling Bao Jing" and so on. Taoism in the Sui Dynasty basically inherited the content of the previous era, and there were no new creations in terms of the main god of belief and rituals of fasting and offering sacrifices.Yuanshi Tianzun has the highest status in Tao Hongjing's fairy world, and is also the supreme god of Taoism in the Sui Dynasty.Lu Xiujing built a dojo for Emperor Ming of the Song Dynasty and built the "Tu Charcoal House". He smeared mud on his forehead, tied his hands behind his back, held a piece of jade in his mouth, fell face down on the ground, and kowtowed to God to apologize.When encountering rain, snow, wind and frost, the whole body is covered in mud, it is very hard work, and the Sui Dynasty also inherited it. However, in the aspect of practicing alchemy, the Sui Dynasty had some noteworthy developments.

According to the records of "Luofu Mountain Chronicles", there was a Taoist priest named Su Yuanlang who went to Qingxia Valley of Luofu Mountain to practice great elixir during the Kaihuang period.His disciples heard that a Taoist priest surnamed Zhu became a god after taking ganoderma, and they were very envious. They discussed that ganoderma is blue in spring, red in summer, white in autumn, and black in winter. Only yellow ganoderma is the most difficult to get.It grows alone in Songshan Mountain, but unfortunately the road is too far to get it for a while.Su Yuanlang told them that the ganoderma lucidum is in everyone's body, and there is no need to look for it elsewhere.What he meant was to teach his disciples to use the spirit, energy and spirit in their bodies to "refine alchemy" as raw materials for medicinal materials.From then on, the apprentices began to learn to practice inner alchemy.

Taoist alchemy generally refers to outer alchemy, but in fact it includes two parts: outer alchemy and inner alchemy.Waidan is the one that Ge Hong admires the most. It uses natural minerals, plants, and animal medicinal materials as raw materials and burns them in a furnace (alchemy utensil). The product is called Jindan or Huandan.Inner alchemy refers to using the essence, energy and spirit in the human body as the "raw material", using the human body itself as a furnace, and the final refining is also called Jindan or Huandan.Part of Neidanshu comes from TCM health preservation and Qigong.Taoism believes that inner alchemy is superior to qigong. The name "Nei Dan" first appeared in the "Vows" written by Huisi in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties.Huisi died in 577 AD, and four years later, Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty established the title of Emperor Kaihuang.Su Yuanlang may not be the first person to create the theory of inner alchemy, but he has the credit for summarizing the theory and advocating it, and has contributed to the development history of Taoist inner alchemy.

Su Yuanlang's Taoist name Qingxiazi probably has something to do with his cultivation in Qingxia Valley.His writings are numerous, most of which have not survived.Many of the Tang and Song works on alchemy quoted his views.Su Yuanlang attached great importance to the theory of alchemy in Wei Boyang's "Zhouyi Cantongqi", and advocated using it to guide the alchemy of outer alchemy and inner alchemy.This book was not paid much attention during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Now, with Su Yuanlang's advocacy, many Taoists began to actively study it and explore the theory of alchemy, which directly promoted the prosperity of Taoist Wai Dan in the Tang Dynasty.