Xiuzhen tu 修真圖

Author

Anonymous.

Date

Several exemplars dating from the late eighteenth century onwards.

Description

[Excepted from F. Pregadio, The Taoist Tradition (Golden Elixir Press, 2025), 209-11]

This chart has been transmitted in about twenty-five different exemplars. The one reproduced here is found at the Baiyun guan (Abbey of the White Cloud) in Beijing, on a stele placed next to the Neijing tu. The chart underscores cosmological elements and presents the body as a microcosm. The human figure, shown in a front view, is surrounded by thirty black and white circles that represent the lunar cycle during the month, and by the animal spirits of six internal organs: dragon (liver), turtle and snake (gallbladder), two-headed deer (kidneys), red sparrow (heart), white tiger (lungs), and phoenix (spleen). The trigrams arranged around the figure (Zhen ☳, Dui ☱, Qian ☰, Xun ☴, Gen ☶, and Kun ☷, the last of which is not shown in this exemplar) represent the six five-day stages of the lunar cycle, which correspond to the six internal organs just mentioned.

Bottom

In the lower part of the picture, on the right, the circle containing two small dots represents the kidneys. Below the kidneys is another circle containing eight spirals, called Pond of Lapis Lazuli (liuchi 琉池). The trapezium-shaped figure containing nine dots represents the nine hells. The lowest small circle, partially visible and bearing the words Jade Furnace (yulu 玉爐), is the lower Cinnabar Field (dantian 丹田).

Middle

In the middle of the picture, four of the leaf-like figures below the trachea represent the heart, the lungs, the liver, and the gallbladder. Each of them bears the names of seven of the twenty-eight “lodges” (xiu 宿, constellations that the Sun goes through during its apparent course around the earth). The heart, shown by the central petal, also bears the seven stars of the Northern Dipper (the “heart” of the cosmos). Below the petals are four large semicircles arranged like a cross. The upper one contains an infant sitting above the graph qi (炁, Original Breath) and the trigram Li ☲ (Fire, Yang holding True Yin). Outside the semicircle, at the level of the infant, are a monkey and a horse, which respectively represent the mind and the Intention (yi 意, which guides the entire alchemical process). The lower semicircle shows a standing infant, above whose head are the graph jing (精, Essence) and the trigram Kan ☵ (Water, Yin holding True Yang). At the center of the cross formed by the four semicircles is the Qian ☰ trigram, representing the Elixir; this is the position of the middle Cinnabar Field.

Top

At the top, the forehead and the nose bear names of deities and celestial locations, as well as names of other loci of the inner body; these include the Muddy Pellet (niwan 泥丸, the upper Cinnabar Field) and the Celestial Eye (tianmu 天目, placed between the eyes). The rings just below—which are twelve in other versions of this chart—represent the Twelve-storied Pavilion (shi'er lou 十二樓, a name of the trachea). An arc representing the spine begins behind the head; the twenty-four circles along this arc bear the names of the twenty-four periods of the year, each lasting fifteen days. In the upper, central, and lower parts of the spine are three larger circles, corresponding to the Three Barriers (sanguan 三關) that the Essence must overcome along its upward circuit. The three figures inside or besides those circles show the “chariots” (sanche 三車) that allow the Essence to go past them, led by a sheep, a deer, and an ox, respectively. Finally, the circle above the head represents the Palace of the Muddy Pellet, i.e., the upper Cinnabar Field. At its center stands the Realized Man of Original Destiny (Yuanming zhenren 元命真人), who represents one’s embodiment in the precelestial state (xiantian 先天).

Bibliography

Despeux, Catherine. Taoism and Self Knowledge: The Chart for the Cultivation of Perfection (Xiuzhen tu). Leiden: Brill, 2019.