User:Madalibi/History of Neidan

The origins of neidan (or "inner alchemy") are obscure, but many of its components – use of alchemical metaphors to describe meditation, cosmological speculations based on the trigrams of the Yijing (the Book of Changes), and the use of a wide array of breathing techniques –  can be traced historically.

Origins and early texts
Though "inner alchemy" appeared later than "external alchemy" (whose techniques are attested as early as the second century BCE), the origins of neidan doctrines and practices remain obscure. Its precursors include texts from the Six Dynasties (220–589) that describe inner meditation with alchemical symbolism and use notions like "Cinnabar field" (dantian 丹田), which would later become central in neidan. In the fourth century, the revealed texts of the Shangqing tradition also presented the preparation of the elixir as a form of inner meditation, another sign of the "interiorization of the alchemical process."

The rise of neidan is linked to the popularity of the Zhouyi cantong qi in Tang (618–907) and Song (960–1279) times. The Zhouyi cantong qi ["Token for the Agreement of the Three According to the Book of Changes"] is a composite text that was compiled layer by layer from the Eastern Han (25–220 CE, the date of its purported origin) to the early Tang.

The allegedly earliest occurrences of the term neidan in biographies of Deng Yuzhi (鄧郁之; fl. 483–493) and Su Yuanming (蘇元明; fl. ca. 600) and in a vow dated 559 pronounced by Tiantai Buddhist master Huisi [慧思; 515–77], are of dubious authenticity.

The Tang dynasty (618–907) was "a turning point in Chinese alchemy, witnessing both the high point of waidan and early systematic presentations of neidan teachings." A "first flourishing of neidan texts" seems to have occurred under the reign of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–756).

The mid-eighth-century Riyue xuanshu lun 日月玄樞論 ["Essay on the Mysterious Pivot, the Sun and Moon"], a short text by Liu Zhigu 劉知古 (before 663 – after 756), is the "earliest extant essay on the Zhouyi cantong qi" and the "earliest firmly datable neidan text." Despite the publication of other neidan texts by Tao Zhi 陶埴 (d. 825) and Peng Xiao 彭暁 (d. 955), the latter being the author of "the first extant neidan commentary to the Cantong qi," the term neidan was not widely used until the Song dynasty.

Early schools
"Two earliest known bodies of neidan teachings": Zhenyuan and Zhong-Lü schools. But the term neidan only became widespread in the early Song dynasty (960–1276), when inner alchemy evolved into "a highly complex system in both its theoretical and practical aspects."

Zhenyuan
The "remarkably syncretic" lineage of the "True Origin" – Zhenyuan 真元, a synonym for Dao borrowed from the Shangqing tradition –  merged neidan ideas with "Confucian ethics, Daoist philosophy, medical traditions, numerology, neiguan (inner observation) and Buddhism." The nine surviving texts from this tradition date from the Song dynasty (960–1279), but are based on mid-Tang (618–907) materials.

Zhong-Lü
The Zhong-Lü neidan corpus consists of texts attributed to the semilegendary immortals Zhongli Quan and his purported disciple Lü Dongbin, who were reputed to have lived respectively in the late Han dynasty (second or third century) and under the late Tang (618–907) or early Song (960–1279). Dating from before 1150, these texts "represent one of the highest achievements in the history of neidan." The three main texts of the Zhong-Lü tradition are the Anthology of Zhongli Quan's Transmission of the Dao to Lü Dongbin (Zhong-Lü chuandao ji 鐘呂傳道集, attributed to Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin), the Complete Methods of the Numinous Treasure (Lingbao bifa 靈寶畢法, ascribed to Zhongli Quan), and the Records of the Gathered Immortals and Assembled Perfected of the Western Hills (Xishan qunxian huizhen ji 西山群仙會真記, supposedly compiled by Tang poet Shi Jianwu [施肩吾; fl. 820–35]). All three are included in the Pivot of the Dao (Daoshu 道樞), which was compiled by Zeng Zao 曾慥 [d. 1155] in southern China around 1150.

The Anthology of Zhongli Quan's Transmission... explains the theoretical foundation of the immortality techniques described in the Complete Methods of the Numinous Treasure. The former text, which became extremely popular in the Song and Yuan periods, presents a dialogue (the most characteristic form of Zhong-Lü texts) between Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin about technical terms concerning the cosmos, alchemical practices, and the purpose of these techniques. The Complete Methods, atypically written in non-dialogue form, were a "manual of longevity techniques" divided into three stages or "vehicles" (sansheng 三乘) of increasing complexity. This division of practice into three "stages of accomplishment" was typical of the Zhong-Lü school.

These texts were well received by the Daoists of the Quanzhen School, which was established in Jin-controlled north China by a neidan practitioner in the 1170s. The Southern lineage (Nanzong 南宗), however, did not make much use of Zhong-Lü books.

Song, Jin, and Yuan periods
The neidan tradition first split into formal lineages in the late twelfth century. In the north, which was then governed by the Jurchen Jin dynasty (1115–1234), hermit and neidan practitioner Wang Zhe (1113–1170) and his disciples founded the Quanzhen School. A few decades later in the south, an ordained Daoist priest and adept of neidan named Bai Yuchan (白玉蟬; 1194?–1229) and his disciple Peng Si (彭耜), both from Fujian, formalized their teachings and traced their lineage to Zhang Boduan (張伯端; 987?–1082).

Northern Lineage
The Quanzhen School, which is also known as the "Northern Lineage" to distinguish it from another formal tradition called the "Southern Lineage," was founded in north China by a neidan practitioner called Wang Zhe, who had lived as a hermit on a mountain in Shaanxi. Allegedly guided by the immortals Zhongli Quan, Lü Dongbin, and Liu Haichan, in 1167 he moved to Shandong and found disciples, seven of whom are now described as "the first generation of Quanzhen masters."

Ming and Qing
During the Ming and Qing periods, there were five major schools of inner alchemy: the Quanzhen School or "Northern Lineage" (Beizong 北宗), founded by Wang Zhe in the twelfth century; the "Southern Lineage" (Nanzong 南宗), which followed the teachings of Zhang Boduan (張伯端; 987?–1082); the Central Branch (Zhongpai 中派) advocated by Li Daochun (李道純; fl. 1288–1292); the Western Branch (Xipai 西派) founded in the nineteenth century by Li Xiyue (1806–1856); and the Eastern Branch (Dongpai 東派) established by Lu Xixing (1520–1601 or 1606) under the Ming dynasty.