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Wuzhen Pian
The ''Wuzhen pian'' () is a 1075 Taoist classic on Neidan-style internal alchemy. Its author Zhang Boduan (張伯端; 987?–1082) was a Song dynasty scholar of the Three teachings (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism). Author Zhang Boduan, or Zhang Ziyang 張紫陽, was a native of Tiantai 天臺 in present-day Zhejiang. After passing the Imperial examination, he began a career as a civil servant, but was banished to the frontier in Lingnan, where he served as a military commissioner. Zhang was later transferred to Guilin and Chengdu, where in 1069 he allegedly experienced sudden realization from a Taoist master who instructed him in ''Neidan'' internal alchemy. Zhang wrote the ''Wuzhen pian'', its appendices, and a few other texts, including the ''Jindan sibai zi'' 金丹四百字 "Four hundred words on the Golden Elixir". He was additionally an authority on Chan Buddhism. Biographical sources agree that Zhang Boduan died in 1082 CE during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of Song, b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' (, 'Thoroughfare'); the ''Tao'' is generally defined as the source of everything and the ultimate principle underlying reality. The ''Tao Te Ching'', a book containing teachings attributed to Laozi (), together with the later writings of Zhuangzi, are both widely considered the keystone works of Taoism. Taoism teaches about the various disciplines for achieving perfection through self-cultivation. This can be done through the use of Taoist techniques and by becoming one with the unplanned rhythms of the all, called "the way" or "Tao". Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasize ''wu wei'' (action without intention), naturalness, simplicity, spontaneity and the Three Treasures: , compassion, , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Xian (Taoism)
''Xian'' () refers to a person or similar entity having a long life or being immortal. The concept of ''xian'' has different implications dependent upon the specific context: philosophical, religious, mythological, or other symbolic or cultural occurrence. The Chinese word ''xian'' is translatable into English as: * (''in Daoist philosophy and cosmology'') spiritually immortal; transcendent human; celestial being * (''in Daoist religion and pantheon'') physically immortal; immortal person; an immortal; saint * (''in Chinese alchemy'') alchemist; one who seeks the elixir of life; one who practices longevity techniques ** (''or by extension'') alchemical, dietary, or qigong methods for attaining immortality * (''in Chinese mythology'') wizard; magician; shaman; sorcerer * (''in popular Chinese literature'') genie; elf, fairy; nymph; (''xian jing'' is fairyland, faery) * (''based on the folk etymology for the character , a compound of the characters for ''person'' and ''mountain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Waidan
, translated as 'external alchemy' or 'external elixir', is the early branch of Chinese alchemy that focuses upon compounding elixirs of immortality by heating minerals, metals, and other natural substances in a luted crucible. The later branch of esoteric ''neidan'' 'inner alchemy', which borrowed doctrines and vocabulary from exoteric , is based on allegorically producing elixirs within the practitioner's body, through Daoist meditation, diet, and physiological practices. The practice of external alchemy originated in the early Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), grew in popularity until the Tang (618–907) when began and several emperors died from alchemical elixir poisoning, and gradually declined until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). Terminology The Chinese compound combines the common word 'outside; exterior; external' with 'cinnabar; vermillion; elixir; alchemy'. The antonym of is meaning 'inside; inner; internal', and the term 'external elixir/alchemy' was co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wuxing (Chinese Philosophy)
(; Japanese: (); Korean: (); Vietnamese: ''ngũ hành'' (五行)), usually translated as Five Phases or Five Agents, is a fivefold conceptual scheme that many traditional Chinese fields used to explain a wide array of phenomena, from cosmic cycles to the interaction between internal organs, and from the succession of political regimes to the properties of medicinal drugs. The "Five Phases" are Fire ( zh, c=, p=huǒ, labels=no), Water ( zh, c=, p=shuǐ, labels=no), Wood ( zh, c=, p=mù, labels=no), Metal or Gold ( zh, c=, p=jīn, labels=no), and Earth or Soil ( zh, c=, p=tǔ, labels=no). This order of presentation is known as the " Days of the Week" sequence. In the order of "mutual generation" ( zh, c=相生, p=xiāngshēng, labels=no), they are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. In the order of "mutual overcoming" ( zh, c=相克, p=xiāngkè, labels=no), they are Wood, Earth, Water, Fire, and Metal. The system of five phases was used for describing interactions and rel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ci (poetry)
CI or Ci may refer to: Business terminology * Customer intelligence, a discipline in marketing * Competitive intelligence * Corporate identity * Continual improvement * Confidential information Businesses and organisations Academia and education * California State University, Channel Islands * Channel Islands High School * Collegium Invisibile * Confucius Institute Religion * Josephites of Belgium, a Catholic congregation * Christian Identity * Christian Institute, a British charity which promotes Christian values Other businesses and organizations * Charity Intelligence Canada * China Airlines (IATA code) * Cigna health services (NYSE symbol) * Consumers International * Cycling Ireland * CI Records, a music record label * Cambria and Indiana Railroad * CANZUK International, organisation which promotes cooperation between Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom * Conservation International, an international environmental non-governmental organization * Communicat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hexagram (I Ching)
The ''I Ching'' book consists of 64 hexagrams. A hexagram in this context is a figure composed of six stacked horizontal lines ( 爻 yáo), where each line is either Yang (an unbroken, or solid line), or Yin (broken, an open line with a gap in the center). The hexagram lines are traditionally counted from the bottom up, so the lowest line is considered line one while the top line is line six. Hexagrams are formed by combining the original eight trigrams in different combinations. Each hexagram is accompanied with a description, often cryptic, akin to parables. Each line in every hexagram is also given a similar description. The Chinese word for a hexagram is 卦 "guà", although that also means trigram. Types Classic and modern ''I Ching'' commentaries mention a number of different hexagram types: * Eight Trigrams * Original Hexagram * Future Hexagram * Contrasting (Reverse) Hexagram (is found by turning a hexagram upside down) * Complementary Hexagram (is found by changing a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catty
The catty, kati or , pronounced as jin in Mandarin and gan in Cantonese, is a traditional Chinese unit of mass used across East and Southeast Asia, notably for weighing food and other groceries in some wet markets, street markets, and shops. Related units include the picul, equal to 100 catties, and the tael (also spelled ''tahil'', in Malay/Indonesian), which is of a catty. A stone is a former unit used in Hong Kong equal to 120 catties and a ''gwan'' (鈞) is 30 catties. Catty or ''kati'' is still used in Southeast Asia as a unit of measurement in some contexts especially by the significant Overseas Chinese populations across the region, particularly in Malaysia and Singapore. The catty is traditionally equivalent to around pound avoirdupois, formalised as 604.78982 grams in Hong Kong, 604.79 grams in Malaysia and 604.8 grams in Singapore. In some countries, the weight has been rounded to 600 grams (Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Thailand). In mainland China, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yin And Yang
Yin and yang ( and ) is a Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosophical concept that describes opposite but interconnected forces. In Chinese cosmology, the universe creates itself out of a primary chaos of material energy, organized into the cycles of yin and yang and formed into objects and lives. Yin is the receptive and yang the active principle, seen in all forms of change and difference such as the annual cycle (winter and summer), the landscape (north-facing shade and south-facing brightness), sexual coupling (female and male), the formation of both men and women as characters and sociopolitical history (disorder and order). Taiji (philosophy), Taiji or Tai chi () is a Chinese cosmological term for the "Supreme Ultimate" state of undifferentiated absolute and infinite potential, the oneness before duality, from which yin and yang originate. It can be compared with the old ''Wuji (philosophy), wuji'' (, "without pole"). In the cosmology pertaining to yin and yang, the mate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jueju
''Jueju'' (), or Chinese quatrain, is a type of '' jintishi'' ("modern form poetry") that grew popular among Chinese poets in the Tang Dynasty (618–907), although traceable to earlier origins. ''Jueju'' poems are always quatrains; or, more specifically, a matched pair of couplets, with each line consisting of five or seven syllables. The five-syllable form is called ''wujue'' () and the seven-syllable form ''qijue'' (). History The origins of the ''jueju'' style are uncertain. Fränkel states that it arose from the ''yuefu'' form in the fifth or sixth century. This pentasyllabic song form, dominant in the Six Dynasties period, may have carried over into ''shi'' composition and thus created a hybrid of the ''yuefu'' quatrain and ''shi'' quatrain. Indeed, many Tang dynasty ''wujue'' poems were inspired by these ''yuefu'' songs. In the seventh century the jueju developed into its modern form, as one of the three "modern" verse forms, or ''jintishi'', the other two types o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Daozang
Daozang (), meaning 'Taoist Canon', consists of around 1,400 texts that were collected (after the ''Daodejing'' and ''Zhuangzi'' and Liezi which are the core Taoist texts). They were collected by Taoist monks of the period in an attempt to bring together all of the teachings of Taoism, including all the commentaries and expositions of the various masters from the original teachings found in the ''Daodejing'' and ''Zhuangzi''. These three divisions were based on the main focus of Taoism in Southern China during the time it was made, namely; meditation, ritual, and exorcism. These Three Grottoes were used as levels for the initiation of Taoist masters, from lowest (exorcism) to highest (meditation). As well as the Three Grottoes there were Four Supplements that were added to the canon c. 500. These were mainly taken from older core Taoist texts (e.g. ''Daodejing'') apart from one which was taken from an already established and separate philosophy known as Tianshi Dao (Way of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south, the South China Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor to the north. The country's territory is composed of one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet; the combined area of these has increased by 25% since the country's independence as a result of extensive land reclamation projects. It has the third highest population density in the world. With a multicultural population and recognising the need to respect cultural identities of the major ethnic groups within the nation, Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. English is the lingua franca and numerous public services are available only in Eng ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta in South China. With 7.5 million residents of various nationalities in a territory, Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated places in the world. Hong Kong is also a major global financial centre and one of the most developed cities in the world. Hong Kong was established as a colony of the British Empire after the Qing Empire ceded Hong Kong Island from Xin'an County at the end of the First Opium War in 1841 then again in 1842.. The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 after the Second Opium War and was further extended when Britain obtained a 99-year lease of the New Territories in 1898... British Hong Kong was occupied by Imperial Japan from 1941 to 1945 during World War II; British administration resume ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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