The ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' (), or ''Yinfujing'', is a circa 8th century CE

Daoist Taoism or Daoism (, ) is a diverse philosophical and religious tradition indigenous to China, emphasizing harmony with the Tao ( zh, p=dào, w=tao4). With a range of meaning in Chinese philosophy, translations of Tao include 'way', 'road', ' ...

scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They often feature a compilation or discussion of beliefs, ritual practices, moral commandments and ...

associated with

Chinese astrology Chinese astrology is based on traditional Chinese astronomy and the Chinese calendar. Chinese astrology flourished during the Han dynasty (2nd century BC to 2nd century AD). Chinese astrology has a close relation with Chinese philosophy (theor ...

and ''

Neidan Neidan, or internal alchemy (), is an array of esoteric doctrines and physical, mental, and spiritual practices that Taoist initiates use to prolong life and create an immortal spiritual body that would survive after death. Also known as Jindan ...

''-style Internal alchemy. In addition, ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' is also the name of a Chinese Fengshui text on

military strategy Military strategy is a set of ideas implemented by military organizations to pursue desired Strategic goal (military), strategic goals. Derived from the Greek language, Greek word ''strategos'', the term strategy, when first used during the 18th ...

Texts

There are two received versions of the Daoist ''Huangdi Yinfujing'', a shorter text of 332

Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...

in one section and a longer one of 445 in three sections. Both versions of this classic explain cosmological correspondences, the Dao of Heaven,

Yin and Yang Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...

, the Wu Xing, and biospiritual techniques. In the description of Alexander Wylie, "This short Treatise, which is not entirely free from the obscurity of Tâoist mysticism, professes to reconcile the decrees of Heaven with the current of mundane affairs." In the explanation of the modern Daoists Zhang Jiyu and Li Yuanguo,

The ''Huangdi yinfu jing'' (The Yellow Emperor's Scripture on "Unconscious Unification") reflects this later stage of Daoist thought and attempts to "expose heaven's mysteries and reveal divinity's workings." It became one of the most important classics of Daoism, second only in significance to the ''Daode jing''. Zhang Boduan (987–1082), in his ''Wuzhen pian'' (An Essay on Realizing Perfection), said: "The treasured ''Yinfu jing'' consists of more than three hundred words whereas the inspired ''Daodejing'' has five thousand characters. All those who attained immortality in the past and attain it in the present have comprehended the true meaning of these scriptures."

The ''Huangdi Yinfujings date of composition is uncertain. Some scholars believed it existed prior to the

Zhou dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ) was a royal dynasty of China that existed for 789 years from until 256 BC, the longest span of any dynasty in Chinese history. During the Western Zhou period (771 BC), the royal house, surnamed Ji, had military ...

(1122–256 BCE), while others believe it is a forgery from the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

(618–907 CE). The traditional Chinese belief, as well as the eponymous title, ascribed this classic to the legendary

Chinese sovereign The Chinese sovereign was the ruler of a particular monarchical regime in the historical periods of ancient China and imperial China. Sovereigns ruling the same regime, and descended from the same paternal line, constituted a dynasty. Several ...

Huangdi "

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch, or Huangdi ( zh, t=黃帝, s=黄帝, first=t) in Chinese, is a mythical Chinese sovereign and culture hero included among the legendary Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. He is revered as ...

". According to literary legend, in 441 CE the Daoist reformer Kou Qianzhi hid the ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' in a cave near Mount Song, where it was discovered by the Tang military official Li Quan (fl. ca. 743 CE). Li transcribed the text and published it with his commentary (''Yinfujing Jie'' ). There is consensus among contemporary scholars that Li probably forged the text, which is confirmed by the absence of references in pre-Tang sources. Despite this comparatively late date, the ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' is considered a Chinese classic, and collections like the Daozang and Siku Quanshu include various editions and commentaries. During the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

, the ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' was canonized by the Quanzhen "Complete Perfection" school of Neidan internal alchemy. Liu Chuxuan (1147–1203), founder of the Suishan ( "Mount Sui") lineage, wrote a commentary, and Qiu Chuji (1148–1227), founder of the Longmen ( "Dragon Gate") lineage, wrote another. Xia Yuanding (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1201) wrote a textual exegesis. The analytical commentary (''Yinfujing Kaoyi'' ) dubiously attributed to the leading

Neo-Confucian Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a Morality, moral, Ethics, ethical, and metaphysics, metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, which originated with Han Yu (768� ...

scholar

Zhu Xi Zhu Xi ( zh, c=朱熹; ; October 18, 1130April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese philosopher, historian, politician, poet, and calligrapher of the Southern Song dynasty. As a leading figure in the development of Neo-Confuci ...

first suggested that Li forged the text.

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

scholars used philological methods to analyze classical texts. Liu Yiming (1734–1821), the 11th Longmen Daoist patriarch, wrote an erudite commentary. Acker published an annotated translation of Liu. Li Xiyue (1806–1856), leader in the "Western School" () of Neidan, also wrote a commentary.

Military text

Besides the above Daoist ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' , there is another military text by the same name. It contains 602 characters in 86 rhymed lines, and is a type of strategy manual based on the ''Qimen Dunjia'' ( "Strange Gates Escaping Techniques") method of Fengshui. Ho Peng Yoke explains the title.

''Yinfu'' (secret tally), according to a military text entitled '' Liutao'' (Six Strategies) and attributed to Jiang Shang 姜尚 in the eleventh century BC, refers to the tallies of various specified lengths used between the emperor and his generals for confidential communication. For example, the tally used to report a conquest in war had a length of one Chinese foot, that to report a victory in battle had a length of nine Chinese inches, that for reporting the occupation of an enemy city was eight Chinese inches long, and so on.

Translations

The ''Huangdi yinfujing'' classic has been translated into English, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Russian, and Japanese. The first English versions were published during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...

. Frederic H. Balfour initially translated the ''Yinfujing'' within his ''Taoist Texts''.

James Legge James Legge (; 20 December 181529 November 1897) was a Scottish linguist, missionary, sinologist, and translator who was best known as an early translator of Classical Chinese texts into English. Legge served as a representative of the Lond ...

translated the text and Li Xiyue's commentary as an appendix to ''The Texts of Taoism''. More recent English translations and studies reflect insights from modern

Sinology Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilization p ...

, as surveyed by Reiter. Christopher Rand's article on Li Quan translates and interprets the ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' as a treatise on Chinese military strategy. Thomas Cleary published a popular translation with Liu Yiming's commentary. Another English translation was published by

Fabrizio Pregadio Fabrizio Pregadio (born January 14, 1957) is a Sinologist and a translator of Chinese language texts into English related to Taoism and Neidan (Internal Alchemy). He is currently affiliated with the International Consortium for Research in the Human ...

. It includes the commentary by Yu Yan (1258–1314), a learned author of works on Neidan and Chinese cosmology.

Title

The title ''Huangdi Yinfujing'' combines three Chinese words. The first ''Huangdi'' "Yellow Emperor" and last ''jing'' "classic; scripture; book" are common in titles of other

Chinese classic texts The Chinese classics or canonical texts are the works of Chinese literature authored prior to the establishment of the imperial Qin dynasty in 221 BC. Prominent examples include the Four Books and Five Classics in the Neo-Confucian tradi ...

. For example, the ''

Huangdi Neijing ' (), literally the ''Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor'' or ''Esoteric Scripture of the Yellow Emperor'', is an ancient Chinese medical text or group of texts that has been treated as a fundamental doctrinal source for Chinese medicine for mo ...

'' "Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic" and '' Huangdi Sijing'' "Yellow Emperor's Four Classics". The second word ''yinfu'' "hidden/secret talisman/correspondence" is an uncommon compound of ''yin'' (of ''

yin and yang Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...

'') "shady place; passive; negative; secret; hidden" and ''fu'' " tally (with two halves); talisman; symbol; charm; amulet".

''Fu'' means a seal, divided into two parts. On one half of this seal we have the visible phenomena of the world around us; this we can all see, but, the diagram being incomplete, we require the other half of the seal, that bearing the 'daoli'' "principle, truth; reason"of Heaven or the Unseen World, before we can understand the why and the wherefore of the existing order of things.

'' Fulu'' "Daoist secret talismanic writing; Daoist magic formulas" refers to charms written in peculiar characters, often on yellow paper (for instance, see jiangshi). English translations of ''Yinfujing'' illustrate semantic problems with the title: *Clue to the Unseen *Classic of the Harmony of the Seen and the Unseen *Scripture for Joining with Obscurity *Scripture of the Hidden Contracts *Classic on Yin Convergence *Scripture on "Unconscious Unification" *Secret Military Warrant Manual *Scripture on the Hidden Talisman *Scripture on the Hidden FitnessTsun 2006. *Scripture of Hidden Contracts *Book of the Hidden Agreement Note the omission of ''Huangdi'' above, which all the translators render as "Yellow Emperor", excepting Komjathy's "Yellow Thearch".

References

* Published also in . * * * * * * Footnotes

External links

黃帝陰符經
– Chinese Text Project Chinese text with James Legge's translation.
Yellow Emperor's Scripture on the Hidden Talisman
– An English translation of 黃帝陰符經. *{{in lang, zh}

calligraphic copy by Chu Suiliang 褚遂良 Chinese classic texts Taoist philosophy Philosophy books Taoist texts 8th-century Taoism