Soul Shock
三魂七魄
The Shangqing School (Chinese:上清), also known as Supreme Clarity or Highest Clarity is a Daoist movement that began during the aristocracy of the Western Jin dynasty. Shangqing can be translated as either 'Supreme Clarity' or 'Highest Clarity.' The first leader of the school was a woman, 魏華存 Wei Huacun (251-334). According to her Shangqing hagiographers, her devotion to Daoist cultivation so impressed a number of immortals that she received revelations from them 31 volumes of Daoist scriptures which would become the foundation of Shangqing Daoism. Among these was the Yellow Court Classic (黃庭經), which detailed a form of Daoist meditation involving the visualizations of deities within the adept's body, a practice that would become a defining feature of Shangqing. Shangqing has sometimes been described as a "mystical" form of Daoism, emphasising the notion of the human body as a microcosm containing universal energies, which could be actualised by ecstatic union with deities. With the emphasis on meditation, there would be much less attention paid to physiological cultivation by ingesting herbs and drugs, which had been important in earlier forms of Daoism.
When Wei's disciple Yang Xi (楊羲) formally founded the Shangqing school, 30 years after her death, 魏 Wei was acknowledged as the first "patriarch" of Shangqing Daoism and, as an immortal, would be a source of continuing revelations. 楊羲 supposedly had revelations "aided almost certainly by cannabis" (Joseph Needham 1980:213) and transcribed texts from a group of immortals and spirits that appeared to him. These texts eventually formed the basis of the school’s beliefs. The revelation began to spread in aristocratic circles of South China, and eventually, 陶弘景 Tao Hongjing, advisor to the princes of Qi, joined the group. He commented upon, and compiled the Shangqing texts, and developed a well-structured system consisting of a pantheon and new ways to reach immortality that depended upon meditation. More interested in Daoism and Buddhism than in public administration, in 492 he received authorization to leave the court. He moved to Maoshan, which had by now become the centre of the school. There, with the help of the Emperor Wudi of the Liang dynasty, he built the temple of Huayang, the first Shangqing temple. Later, 陶弘景 (Tao Hongjing, 456－536) structured the theory and practice and compiled the canon. He greatly contributed to the development of the school that took place near the end of the 5th century. The mountain near Nanjing where 陶弘景 had his retreat, Maoshan (茅山 – fr), today remains the principal seat of the school thus that it would be also known as the Maoshan sect. From the 6th to the 10th century, Shangqing would be the most prominent Daoist sect and would gain favour among aristocrats of the Tang dynasty. The Shangqing scriptures were regarded as possessing a high literary quality that previous Daoist scriptures did not, and their vivid esoteric imagery was an inspiration to artists and poets.
Shangqing practice values meditation techniques of visualization and breathing, as well as physical exercises, as opposed to the use of alchemy and talismans. Shangqing Daoism has borrowed many concepts and beliefs from both the Celestial Masters* as well as from 葛洪 Ge Hong’s alchemical tradition. However, the absorption of elixirs and other potions aimed to attain immortality was largely replaced in the Song period by internal alchemy that was more linked to meditation techniques (cf. 坐忘論 Zuowanglun a Daoist meditation² text that was written by the Shangqing School patriarch 司馬承禎 Sima Chengzhen(647–735), also known as Daoyin 道隐 "Recluse of the Dao" and Baiyunzi 白雲子 "Master of the White Cloud" (647–735). Daoism incorporated many Buddhist practices during the Tang Dynasty (618–907), and 坐忘論 the Zuowanglun combined meditation techniques from Daoism (e.g., 坐忘 zuòwàng "sitting forgetting", and 觀 guān "observation") and Buddhism ( शमथ: 止 zhǐ śamatha "calm abiding", and विपश्यना vipaśyanā "insight").
An emphasis was placed on personal meditation in the Shangqing school, unlike the ritualized system of the Celestial Masters. Shangqing meditation was largely a solitary affair and focused on the mental visualization of spirits and gods. There was also no requirement to meditate at a temple; one’s own home was fine. Deities lived inside the body and could provide good health if meditated upon. Each deity inhabited a different part of the body. Through studying the descriptions of deities in the canon, adepts would contemplate the inside of their body and maintain the deities in their proper place. This would ensure the body’s durability. While it began as a school centred on the individual, the school changed progressively until talismans and rituals became a more important aspect.
The word tongji 童乩 (lit. "youth diviner") "shaman; spirit-medium" is a near-synonym of 巫 wu. Modern Chinese distinguishes native巫wu from "Siberian shaman": saman 薩滿or saman 薩蠻; and from Indian Shramana "wandering monk; ascetic": shamen 沙門, sangmen 桑門, or sangmen 喪門.
The German anthropologist and geographer Berthold Laufer (1917:370) proposed an etymological relation between Mongolian bügä "shaman", Turkish bögü "shaman", Chinese bu, wu (shaman), buk, puk (to divine), and Tibetan aba (pronounced ba, sorcerer). Coblin (1986:107) puts forward a Sino-Tibetan root *mjaɣ "magician; sorcerer" for Chinese wu < mju < *mjag 巫 "magician; shaman" and Written Tibetan 'ba'-po "sorcerer" and 'ba'-mo "sorceress" (of the Bön religion). Further connections are to the bu-mo priests of Zhuang Shigongism and the bi-mo priests of Bimoism, the Yi indigenous faith. Also, Korean mu 무 (of Muism) is cognate to Chinese wu 巫.
The Chinese characters 魂 and 魄 for hún & pò typify the most common character classification of "radical-phonetic" or "phono-semantic" graphs, which combine a "radical" or "signific" (recurring graphic elements that roughly provide semantic information) with a "phonetic" (suggesting ancient pronunciation). Hún 魂 (or 䰟) and 魄 pò have the "ghost radical" gui 鬼 "ghost; devil" and phonetics of yun 云 "cloud; cloudy" and bai 白 "white; clear; pure".
Besides the common meaning of "a soul", 魄 pò was a variant Chinese character for pò 霸 "a lunar phase" and pò 粕 "dregs". The Book of Documents used 魄 pò as a graphic variant for pò 霸 "dark aspect of the moon" – this character usually means ba 霸 "overlord; hegemon". For example, "On the third month, when (the growth phase, 生魄) of the moon began to wane, the duke of Chow [i.e., Duke of Zhou] commenced the foundations, and proceeded to build the new great city of Lǒ" (tr. Legge 1865:434). The Zhuangzi "[Writings of] Master Zhuang" wrote zaopò 糟粕 (lit. "rotten dregs") "worthless; unwanted; waste matter" with a 魄 pò variant. A wheelwright sees Duke Huan of Qi with books by dead sages and says, "what you are reading there is nothing but the [糟魄] chaff and dregs of the men of old!" (tr. Watson 1968:152).
In the history of Chinese writing, characters for pò 魄/霸 "lunar brightness" appeared before those for hun 魂 "soul; spirit". The spiritual hun 魂 and pò 魄 "dual souls" are first recorded in the Warring States period (475–221 BCE) seal script characters. The lunar pò 魄 or 霸 "moon's brightness" appears in both Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BCE) Bronzeware script and oracle bone script, but not in Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1046 BCE) oracle inscriptions. The earliest form of this "lunar brightness" character was found on a (ca. 11th century BCE) Zhou oracle bone inscription (Yü 1987:370).
Etymologies
The魄pò soul's etymology is better understood than the hun soul's. Schuessler (2007:290, 417) reconstructs hun 魂 "'spiritual soul' which makes a human personality" and 魄 pò "vegetative or animal soul ... which accounts for growth and physiological functions" as Middle Chinese γuən and pʰak from Old Chinese *wûn and *phrâk.
The (c. 80 CE) Baihu Tang 白虎堂 gave pseudo-etymologies for hun and pò through Chinese character puns. It explains hun 魂 with zhuan 傳 "deliver; pass on; impart; spread" and yun 芸 "rue (used to keep insects out of books); to weed", and 魄 pò with 迫 pò " compel; force; coerce; urgent" and bai 白 "white; bright".
Etymologically, Schuessler says pò 魄 "animal soul" "is the same word as" pò 霸 "a lunar phase". He cites the Zuozhuan (534 BCE, see below) using the lunar jishengpò 既生魄 to mean "With the first development of a fetus grows the vegetative soul".
Lunar associations of pò are evident in the Classical Chinese terms chanpò 蟾魄 "the moon" (with "toad; toad in the moon; moon") and haopò 皓魄 "moon; moonlight" (with "white; bright; luminous").
The semantics of 魄 pò "white soul" probably originated with 霸 "lunar whiteness". Zhou bronze inscriptions commonly recorded lunar phases with the terms jishengpò 既生魄 "after the brightness has grown" and jisipò 既死魄 "after the brightness has died", which Schuessler explains as "second quarter of the lunar month" and "last quarter of the lunar month". Chinese scholars have variously interpreted these two terms as lunar quarters or fixed days, and (Shaughnessy 1992:136–145) Wang Guowei's lunar-quarter analysis the most likely. Thus, jishengpò is from the 7th/8th to the 14th/15th days of the lunar month and jisipò is from the 23rd/24th to the end of the month. Yü (1987:370) translates them as "after the birth of the crescent" and "after the death of the crescent". Etymologically, lunar and spiritual pò < pʰak < *phrâk 魄 are cognate with bai < bɐk < *brâk 白 "white" (Matisoff 1980, Yü 1981, Carr 1985). According to Hu Shih (1946:30), pò etymologically means "white, whiteness, and bright light"; "The primitive Chinese seem to have regarded the changing phases of the moon as periodic birth and death of its [pò], its 'white light' or soul." Yü (1981:83) says this ancient association between the pò soul and the "growing light of the new moon is of tremendous importance to our understanding of certain myths related to the seventh day of the months." Two celebrated examples in Chinese mythology are Xi Wangmu and Emperor Wu meeting on the seventh day of the first lunar month and The Princess and the Cowherd or Qixi Festival held on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
The etymology of hún < γuən < *wûn 魂 is comparatively less certain. Hu (1946:31) said, "The word hún is etymologically the same as the word yun, meaning "clouds." The clouds float about and seem freer and more active than the cold, white-lighted portion of the growing and waning moon." Schuessler cites two possibilities.
The correlative "soul" words hún 魂 and 魄 pò have several meanings in Chinese plus many translations and explanations in English. The table below shows translation equivalents from some major Chinese-English dictionaries.
| Dictionary | Hún 魂 | Pò 魄 |
|---|---|---|
| Giles (1912) | The soul, that part of the soul (as opp. to 魄) which goes to heaven and is able to leave the body, carrying with it an appearance of physical form; the subliminal self, expl. as 人陽神. The mind; wits; faculties. | The soul; that part of the soul (as opposed to 魂) which is indissolubly attached to the body, and goes down to earth with it at death; the supraliminal self, expl. as 人陰神. Form; shape. The disc or substance of the moon from the time it begins to wane to new moon. |
| Mathews (1931) | The soul, the spiritual part of man that ascends to heaven, as contrasted with 魄. The wits; the spiritual faculties. | The animal or inferior soul; the animal or sentient life which inheres in the body – the body in this sense; the animals' spirits; this soul goes to the earth with the body. |
| Chao and Yang (1947) | the soul (of a living person or of the dead) | the physical side of the soul |
| Karlgren (1957) | spiritual soul (as opp. to 魄) | the animal soul of man (as opp. to 魂) |
| Lin (1972) | Soul; the finer spirits of man as dist. 魄, the baser spirits or animal forces | (Daoism) the baser animal spirits of man, contrasted with finer elements 魂 (三魂七魄 three finer spirits and seven animal spirits), the two together conceived as animating the human body |
| Liang (1992) | a soul; a spirit. | 1. (Daoism) vigour; animation; life. 2. form; shape; body. 3. the dark part of the moon. |
| Wu (1993) | ① soul ② mood; spirit ③ the lofty spirit of a nation | ① soul ② vigour; spirit |
| Ling et al. (2002) | ① same as 靈魂 ... soul; believed by the superstitious to be an immaterial spiritual entity distinguished from but coexistent with the physical body of a person and a dominant spiritual force, and which leaves upon the person's death. ② spirit; mood. ③ lofty spirit. | ① soul; spiritual matter believed by religious people as dependent on a human's body. ② vigour; spirit. |
| DeFrancis (2003) | soul, spirit; mood | ① soul; ② vigour; spirit |
Both Chinese hún and pò are translatable as English "soul" or "spirit", and both are basic components in "soul" compounds. In the following examples, all Chinese-English translation equivalents are from DeFrancis (2003).
- húnpò 魂魄 "soul; psyche"
- linghún 靈魂 "soul; spirit"
- húnling 魂靈 "(colloquial) soul; ghost"
- yinhún 陰魂 "soul; spirit; apparition"
- sanhúnqipò 三魂七魄 "soul; three finer spirits and several baser instincts that motivate a human being"
- xinpò 心魄 "soul"
Húnpò and linghún are the most frequently used among these "soul" words.
Joseph Needham and Lu Gwei-djen, eminent historians of science and technology in China (1974:88), define hún and pò in modern terms. "Peering as far as one can into these ancient psycho-physiological ideas, one gains the impression that the distinction was something like that between what we would call motor and sensory activity on the one hand, and also voluntary as against vegetative processes on the other."
Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein (2008:521) cautions about hún and pò translations: "Although the term "souls" is often used to refer to them, they are better seen as two types of vital entities, the source of life in every individual. The hún is Yang, luminous, and volatile, while the pò is Yin, sombre, and heavy."
Based on Zuozhuan usages of hun and pò in four historical contexts, Yü (1987:370) extrapolates that pò was the original name for a human soul, and the dualistic conception of hun and pò "began to gain currency in the middle of the sixth century" BCE.
Two earlier 6th century contexts used the pò soul alone. Both describe Tian 天 "heaven; god" duo 奪 "seizing; taking away" a person's pò, which resulted in a loss of mental faculties. In 593 BCE (Duke Xuan 15th year, tr. Legge 1872:329), after Zhao Tong 趙同 behaved inappropriately at the Zhou court, an observer predicted: "In less than ten years [Zhao Tong] will be sure to meet with a great calamity. Heaven has taken his [魄] wits away from him." In 543 BCE (Duke Xiang 29th year, tr. Legge 1872:551), Boyou 伯有 from the state of Zheng acted irrationally, which an official interpreted as: "Heaven is destroying [Boyou], and has taken away his [魄] reason." Boyou's political enemies subsequently arranged to take away his hereditary position and assassinate him.
Two later sixth-century Zuozhuan contexts used pò together with the hun soul. In 534 BCE, the ghost of Boyou 伯有 (above) was seeking revenge on his murderers and terrifying the people of Zheng (Duke Zhao, Year &, tr. Legge 1872:618). The philosopher and statesman Zi Chan, realizing that Boyou's loss of hereditary office had caused his spirit to be deprived of sacrifices, reinstated his son to the family position, and the ghost disappeared. When a friend asked Zi Chan to explain ghosts, he gave what Yu calls "the locus classicus on the subject of the human soul in the Chinese tradition" (Yu 1972:372).
Compare the translation of Needham and Lu, who interpret this as an early Chinese discourse on embryology.
In 516 BCE (Duke Zhao, Year 20), the Duke of Song and a guest named Shusun 叔孫 were both seen weeping during a supposedly joyful gathering. Yue Qi 樂祁, a Song court official, said:
Hun and pò souls, explains Yu (1987:371), "are regarded as the very essence of the mind, the source of knowledge and intelligence. Death is thought to follow inevitably when the hun and the pò leave the body. We have reason to believe that around this time the idea of hun was still relatively new."
Soon after death, it was believed that a person's hun and pò could be temporarily reunited through a ritual called the fu 復 "recall; return", zhaohun 招魂 "summon the hun soul", or zhaohun fupò 招魂復魄 "to summon the hun-soul to reunite with the pò-soul". The earliest known account of this ritual is found in the (3rd century BCE) Chuci poems Zhao Hun 招魂 "Summons of the Soul" and Dazhao 大招 "The Great Summons"(Csíkszentmihályi 2006:140–141). For example, the wu Yang (巫陽) summons a man's soul in the "Zhao Hun".
Hu (1946:31–32) proposed, "The idea of a hun may have been a contribution from the southern peoples" (who originated Zhao Hun rituals) and then spread to the north sometime during the sixth century BCE. Calling this southern hypothesis "quite possible", Yu (1987:373) cites the Chuci, associated with the southern state of Chu, demonstrating "there can be little doubt that in the southern tradition the hun was regarded as a more active and vital soul than the pò. The Chuci uses hun 65 times and pò 5 times (4 in hunpò, which the Chuci uses interchangeably with hun, Brashier 1996:131).
The identification of the yin-yang principle with the hun and pò souls evidently occurred in the late fourth and early third centuries BCE (Yü 1987:374), and by "the second century at the latest, the Chinese dualistic conception of soul had reached its definitive formulation." The Liji (11, tr. Legge 1885:444) compounds hun and pò with qi "breath; life force" and xing "form; shape; body" in hunqi 魂氣 and xingpò 形魄. "The [魂氣] intelligent spirit returns to heaven the [形魄] body and the animal soul return to the earth, and hence arose the idea of seeking (for the deceased) in sacrifice in the unseen darkness and in the bright region above." Compare this modern translation (Yü 1987:374), "The breath-soul (hun-ch'I 魂氣) returns to heaven; the bodily soul (hsing-pò 形魄) returns to earth. Therefore, in sacrificial-offering, one should seek the meaning in the yin-yang 陰陽 principle." Yü summarizes hun/pò dualism.
Loewe (1979:9) explains with a candle metaphor; the physical xing is the "wick and substance of a candle", the spiritual pò and hun are the "force that keeps the candle alight" and "light that emanates from the candle".
The Yin pò and Yang hun were correlated with Chinese spiritual and medical beliefs. Hun 魂 is associated with shen 神 "spirit; god" and pò 魄 with gui 鬼 "ghost; demon; devil" (Carr 1985:62). The (ca. 1st century BCE) Lingshu Jing medical text spiritually applies Wu Xing "Five Phase" theory to the Zang-fu "organs", associating the hun soul with liver (Chinese medicine) and blood, and the pò soul with lung (Chinese medicine) and breath.
The Lingshu Jing (Brashier 1996:142) also records that the hun and pò souls taking flight can cause restless dreaming, and eye disorders can scatter the souls causing mental confusion. Han medical texts reveal that hun and pò departing from the body does not necessarily cause death but rather distress and sickness. Brashier (1996:145–6) parallels the translation of hun and pò, "If one were to put an English word to them, they are our 'wits', our ability to demarcate clearly, and like the English concept of "wits," they can be scared out of us or can dissipate in old age."
During the Han Dynasty, the belief in hun and pò remained prominent, although there was a great diversity of different, sometimes contradictory, beliefs about the afterlife (Hansen 2000:119; Csikszentmihalyi 2006:116–117, 140–142). Han burial customs provided nourishment and comfort for the pò with the placement of grave goods, including food, commodities, and even money within the tomb of the deceased (Hansen 2000:119). Chinese jade was believed to delay the decomposition of a body. Pieces of jade were commonly placed in bodily orifices, or rarely crafted into jade burial suits.
Generations of sinologists have repeatedly asserted that Han-era people commonly believed the heavenly hun and earthly pò souls separated at death, but recent scholarship and archaeology suggest that hunpò dualism was more an academic theory than a popular faith. Anna Seidel analyzed funerary texts discovered in Han tombs, which mention not only pò souls but also hun remaining with entombed corpses, and wrote (1982:107), "Indeed, a clear separation of a pò, appeased with the wealth included in the tomb, from a hun departed to heavenly realms is not possible." Seidel later (1987:227) called for reappraising Han abstract notions of hun and pò, which "do not seem to have had as wide a currency as we assumed up to now." Pu Muzhou surveyed usages of the words hun and pò on Han Dynasty bei 碑 "stele" erected at graves and shrines, and concluded (1993:216, tr. Brashier 1996126), "The thinking of ordinary people seems to have been quite hazy on the matter of what distinguished the hun from the pò." These stele texts contrasted souls between a corporeal hun or hunpò at the cemetery and a spiritual shen at the family shrine. Kenneth Brashier (1996:158) reexamined the evidence for hunpò dualism and relegated it "to the realm of scholasticism rather than general beliefs on death." Brashier (1996:136–137) cited several Han sources (grave deeds, Book of the Later Han, and Jiaoshi Yilin) attesting beliefs that "the hun remains in the grave instead of flying up to heaven", and suggested it "was sealed into the grave to prevent its escape." Another Han text, the Fengsu Tongyi says, "The vital energy of the hun of a dead person floats away; therefore a mask is made in order to retain it.
Daoism
Hun 魂 and 魄 pò spiritual concepts were important in several Daoist traditions. For instance (Baldrian-Hussein 2008:522), "Since the volatile hun is fond of wandering and leaving the body during sleep, techniques were devised to restrain it, one of which entailed a method of staying constantly awake."
The sanhunqipò 三魂七魄 "three hun and seven pò" were anthropomorphized and visualized. Ge Hong's (ca. 320 CE) Baopuzi frequently mentions the hun and pò "ethereal and gross souls". The "Genii" Chapter argues that the departing of these dual souls causes illness and death.
This "magicians" translates fangshi 方士 "doctor; diviner' magician". Both fangshi and daoshi 道士 "Daoist priests" developed methods and rituals to summon hun and pò back into a person's body. The "Gold and Cinnabar" chapter records a Daoist alchemical reanimation pill that can return the hun and pò souls to a recent corpse: Taiyi zhaohunpò dan fa 太乙招魂魄丹法 "The Great One's Elixir Method for Summoning Souls".
For visualizing the ten souls, the Baopuzi "Truth on Earth" chapter recommends taking dayao 大藥 "great medicines" and practising a fenxing "divide/multiply the body" multilocation technique.
The 道教 Daoist 上清 Shangqing (Supreme Clarity or Highest Clarity) School has several meditation techniques for visualizing the hun and pò. In 上清內丹 Shangqing Neidan "Internal Alchemy", Baldrian-Hussein says,
The number of human "souls" has been a long-standing source of controversy among Chinese religious traditions. Stevan Harrell (1979:521) concludes, "Almost every number from one to a dozen has at one time or another been proposed as the correct one." The most commonly believed numbers of "souls" in a person are one, two, three, and ten.
One "soul" or linghun 靈魂 is the simplest idea. Harrell gives a fieldwork example.
Two "souls" is a common folk belief and reinforced by yin-yang theory. These paired souls can be called hun and pò, hunpò and shen, or linghun and shen.
Three "souls" comes from widespread beliefs that the soul of a dead person can exist in multiple locations. The missionary Justus Doolittle recorded that Chinese people in Fuzhou
Ten "souls" of sanhunqipò 三魂七魄 "three hun and seven pò" is not only Daoist; "Some authorities would maintain that the three-seven "soul" is basic to all Chinese religion" (Harrell 1979:522). During the Later Han period, Daoists fixed the number of hun souls at three and the number of pò souls at seven. A newly deceased person may return (回魂) to his home at some nights, sometimes one week (頭七) after his death and the seven pò would disappear one by one every 7 days after death. According to Needham and Lu (1974:88), "It is a little difficult to ascertain the reason for this since fives and sixes (if they corresponded to the viscera) would have rather been expected." Three hun may stand for the sangang 三綱 "three principles of social order: relationships between ruler-subject, father-child, and husband-wife" (Needham 1974:89). Seven pò may stand for the qiqiao 七竅 "seven apertures (in the head, eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth)" or the qiqing 七情 "seven emotions (joy, anger, sorrow, fear, worry, grief, fright)" in traditional Chinese medicine (Baldrian-Hussein 2008:522). Sanhunqipò also stands for other names.
道教文献
《老子河上公章句》、《黄庭经》提及安魂魄以养生的观念，上清所出内景经则开始提及人有三魂。2
三魂七魄并称之语，最早载于《抱朴子》。谓守一存真，即可金水分形，自见人身中有三魂七魄。34
上清道书《灵书紫文上经》始有详细解说，谓三魂七魄于特定时日，飘荡不定，道士须拘制之，以安神定形，并说七魄名号为尸狗、伏矢、雀阴、吞贼、非毒、除秽、臭肺，乃身中浊鬼，当制止其伐身，三魂名号为爽灵、胎光、幽精，乃长生之神，当拘留于身内。5太平经钞甲部三魂七魄之语，当从灵书紫文所增补。6
陶弘景所编《真诰》载有种种法术摄受三魂七魄，能出恶梦，守魂魄，炼身形。7
唐朝道书《太上除三尸九虫保生经》叙述“炼阳魂而制阴魄”之法，并说学道者，当须顺魂灵制尸魄，以阳消阴，令魂炼魄，阴秽渐减，乃长生之道。8
务成子注《黄庭经》，谓诵读黄庭，能调和三魂，制炼七魄；除去三尸，安和六腑；五脏生华，色返孩童，百病不能伤，灾祸不得干。9
《云笈七签》引正一真人语，对三魂又增以新说，谓胎光，属之于天，常欲得人清净，久居人身，则能长生；爽灵，属之于五行，常欲人机谋万物，令人心劳气散，多生祸福灾衰刑害之事；幽精，属之于地，常欲人好色嗜欲，令人秽乱昏暗、耽著睡眠，精华枯竭而名生黑簿鬼录。并说有三魂会日，于此本会之日，诵人善恶。又说三魂，一主命，一主财禄，一主灾衰；一常居本属宫宿，一居地府五岳，一居水府。人身唯七魄常居不散，至本命日，一魂归降与魄相合。若三魂循环不绝，则百神交会，人安稳无病，若三魂不归，则魄与五鬼为徒，令人行事昏乱，耽睡好眠，灾患折磨。道教有种种法术，能拘魂制魄，使人渐至长生。10
朱熹以及宋末道教学者俞琰认为三魂七魄非真指实数，以医家谓肝属东方木而藏魂，肺属西方金而藏魄，九宫数以三居左，七居右，主张三七为九宫数，虚指五行。1112隋代萧吉《五行大义》则提有多种异解，认为魂魄之数，乃配合种种阴阳五行八卦天地人之数，而为魂三魄七。13
三魂
道教的三魂
道教古称“胎光、奭（shì，ㄕˋ）灵、幽精”，丹鼎派称之为“元神、阳神、阴神”等。三魂生存于精神中，所以人身去世，三魂归三线路。
- 天魂归天路，到达空间天路。因天魂只是良知亦是不生不灭的“无极”，因有肉体的因果牵连，所以不能归宗源地，只好被带走上空间天路的寄托处，暂为其主神收押，这是所谓的“天牢”。
- 地魂归地府，到达地狱，因地魂可知主魂的一切之因果报应，也可指使在世肉身之善恶，所以肉身死亡后，地魂再进因果是非之地。
- 人魂则徘徊于墓地之间，因人魂本来是“祖德”历代姓氏流传接代之肉身。以七魄在身其性行之魄力，死亡后再墓地对神主，来来往往之走上人路之寄托处。
直到再度轮回，三魂才会重聚。而“三魂”的根本是“真如”（生命实相），“三魂”是由于“真如动念”所产生的一种能量形态并吸附了灵质而具形体，属于“灵界”。
民间信仰的三魂
- 生魂（象魂）：主宰生息，代表生命能源，能对环境产生反应，植物只有生魂。
- 觉魂（识魂）：主宰意识，代表自我，能够思考、感受与记忆，动物拥有生觉二魂。
- 灵魂（主魂）：主宰人的灵性，代表智慧，能分别善恶、通晓万物之情，只有人三魂齐备。（来源亚里士多德的《灵魂论》？）
另有说法认为人的意识是由灵魂主宰，而不是觉魂。
灵魂若有毛病，人就会痴呆。觉魂若有毛病，人就会发疯，神经就会散乱，不知道羞耻，容易有乱伦之行。生魂若有毛病，人就容易生病。
人若死后生魂会消灭，灵魂就依因果循环六道之中轮回。如果善业大于恶业便投胎至天界或人界，至天界灵魂和觉魂便会合一，至人间则旧觉魂消灭，再新生一觉魂一生魂投胎。如果恶业大于善业就至地狱道，灵魂会在地狱受刑受苦。只有农历七月十五日才能至人间，觉魂则留在世间排徊，直到灵魂受苦完投胎至人界（人道和畜生道）觉魂便消灭，留在人间的觉魂有时可以受神主牌位让人拜，有时在墓园流浪，有拜公妈的人比较不容易受觉魂作弄，没拜公妈的人较容易受外来孤魂作弄。
七魄
七魄名尸狗、伏矢、雀阴、吞贼、非毒、除秽、臭肺，指喜、怒、哀、惧、爱、恶、欲，生存于物质中，所以人身去世，七魄也消失。之后再随新的肉身产生“肉体及魄”则属于“阳世的物质世界”。
七魄为人身的血，第一就是眼睛的血，眼睛的血是涩的，第二就是耳朵的血，耳朵的血是冷的且不容易凝固，第三就是鼻子的血，鼻子的血是咸的，第四就是舌头的血，舌头的血是甜的，第五就是身体的血，身体的血是热的比较容易凝固，前五项为五根的血，分别是眼、耳、鼻、舌、身等五根，五根以外就是脏腑内脏之血，我们的脏腑分成红内脏和白内脏，红内脏就是心脏、肺和肝等，白内脏就是胃、大肠和小肠等，红内脏的血是腥的，白内脏的血是臭的。
参考资料
- 《先道静坐丛书之开天眼神通研究》
- ^ 汉典. 三魂七魄.
- ^ 《老子河上公章句·成象章》：“神，謂五臟之神也。肝藏魂，肺藏魄，心藏神，腎藏精，脾藏志，五藏盡傷，則五神去矣。……天食人以五氣，……其鬼曰魂，魂者雄也，主出入於人鼻，與天通，故鼻為玄也。地食人以五味，……其鬼曰魄，魄者雌也，主出入於人口，與地通，故口為牝也。”《黄庭经》：“外本三阳物自来 内养三神可长生 魂欲上天魄入渊 还魂反魄道自然”《黄庭内景经·肝部章》：“和制魂魄津液平 外应眼目日月清 百痾所钟存无英 同用七日自充盈 垂绝念神死复生 摄魂还魄永无倾”《黄庭内景经·上睹章》：“三神还精老方壮 魂魄内守不争竞 神生腹中衔玉珰，灵注幽阙那得丧 琳条万寻可荫仗 三魂自宁帝书命”《黄庭内景经·治生章》：“但修洞玄与玉篇 兼行形中八景神 二十四真出自然 高拱无为魂魄安”《黄庭内景经·玄元章》：“玄元上一魂魄炼 一之为物颇卒见 须得至真乃顾盼 至忌死气诸秽贱”《黄庭内景经·百谷章》：“百谷之实土地精 五味外美邪魔腥 臭乱神明胎气零 那从返老得还婴 三魂忽忽魄糜倾 何不食气太和精 故能不死入黄宁”
- ^ 《抱朴子》：“守一存真，乃能通神……師言欲長生，當勤服大藥，欲得通神，當金水分形。形分則自見其身中之三魂七魄，而天靈地祇，皆可接見，山川之神，皆可使役也。””
- ^ 《道枢》：“真一炼质分形。古先至人有分形散影之道，何以致之乎？此金水分形者也。夫日之中、水之中、镜之中皆能分形者欤。分形之日，元神六甲一日而出，当斯之时，其勿怖焉。夫识玄珠则知法矣，如冬至之闻雷法，当烹之则功成，行满达上清矣。《太上明鉴真经》：“金水内景，以阴发阳，能为此道，分身散形，以一为万，立成六军，千亿里外，呼吸往还，乘云履水，出入无间，天神地祇，邪鬼老鬽，隐蔽之类，皆可见也。审其精思，逆见方来，子能守之，为仙王也”。《墨子闲诂》：“大戴礼记·曾子天圆篇云故火日外景，而金水内景。盖凡发光含明及光所照物，蔽而成阴，三者通谓之景。古无玻璃，凡鉴皆以金为之，此所论即内景也”。《抱朴子》：“玄一之道，亦要法也。无所不辟，与真一同功。吾内篇第一名之为畅玄者，正以此也。守玄一复易于守真一。真一有姓字长短服色目，玄一但此见之。初求之于日中，所谓知白守黑，欲死不得者也。然先当百日洁斋，乃可候求得之耳，亦不过三四日得之，得之守之，则不复去矣。守玄一，并思其身，分为三人，三人已见，又转益之，可至数十人，皆如己身，隐之显之，皆自有口诀，此所谓分形之道。左君及蓟子训葛仙公所以能一日至数十处，及有客座上，有一主人与客语，门中又有一主人迎客，而水侧又有一主人投钓，宾不能别何者为真主人也。师言守一兼修明镜，其镜道成则能分形为数十人，衣服面貌，皆如一也。”
- ^ 《皇天上清金阙帝君灵书紫文上经》：月三日、月十三日、月二十三日夕，是此时也，一二魂不定，爽灵浮游，胎光放形，幽精扰唤。其爽灵、胎光、幽精，三君是三魂之神名也。……月朔、月望、月晦夕，是此时也，七魄流荡，游走秽浊……其第一魄名尸狗，第二魄名伏矢，第三魄名雀阴，第四魄名吞贼，第五魄名非毒，第六魄名除秽，第七魄名臭肺，此皆七魄之阴名也，身中之浊鬼也。……人一身有三元宫神，命门有玄关大君，及三魂之神，合七神，皆在形中，欲令人长生，仁慈大吉之君也。其七魄亦受生于一身，而与身为攻伐之贼，故当制之。道士徒知求仙之方，而不知制魄之道，亦不免于徒劳。
- ^ 王明《太平经合校前言》：道藏中太平经钞分甲乙丙丁戊己庚辛壬癸十部，每部一卷，系节录太平经文而成。太平经甲部已经亡失了。现存的太平经钞，以甲部的字数为最少，疑钞甲部是后人所伪补。钞甲部的文字来源，以灵书紫文为主，上清后圣道君列纪并为其采取的材料。案太平经援引古经旧义，都不着明出处。只有钞甲部乃说：“青童匍匐而前，请受灵书紫文口口传诀在经者二十有四。”现存灵书紫文上经卷首所说，与太平经钞甲部所载，其文字也是大同小异。从此可以证明太平经钞甲部是从灵书紫文来的。再者，太平经里并无外丹的说法，钞甲部“服华丹”、“食镮刚”云云，跟全书的内容不相协调，也是从灵书紫文抄来的。此外，钞甲部所用道教、佛教的术语，也与太平经其它各部不相类似。道教的名辞如“种民”，佛教的名辞如“本起”、“三界”、“受记”等，都是仅见于钞甲部；就时代说，这些名辞也是比较太平经为晚出的。
- ^ 《真诰》：“若其人暂死适太阴，权过三官者，肉既灰烂，血沉脉散者，而犹五藏自生，白骨如玉，七魄营侍，三魂守宅，三元权息，太神内闭。或三十年，二十年，或十年三年，随意而出。当生之时，即更收血育肉，生津成液，复质成形，乃胜于昔未死之容也。真人炼形于太阴，易貌于三官者，此之谓也。天帝曰：太阴炼身形，胜服九转丹。形容端且严，面色似灵云。上登太极阙，受书为真人。……夫得道之士，暂游于太阴者，太乙守尸，三魂营骨，七魄卫肉，胎灵掾气。”《真诰》：“数遇恶梦者，一曰魄妖，二曰心试，三曰尸贼，厌消之方也。若梦觉，以左手蹑人中二七过，琢齿二七遍，微祝曰：大洞真玄，张炼三魂，第一魂速守七魄，第二魂速守泥丸，第三魂受心节度，速启太上三元君”《真诰》：“太一镇生，三炁合真，室胎上景，母玄父元，生我五藏，摄我精神，下灌玉液，上朝泥丸，夕炼七魄，朝和三魂，右命玉华，左啸金晨。命我神仙，役灵使神，常保利津，飞行十天。祝毕，又心拜四方，叩齿三通，咽液三过。此名为太上祝生隐朝胎元之道。常能行之，令魂魄保守，长生神仙。”
- ^ 《太上除三尸九虫保生经》：老君曰：阴魄浊尸之气，在于形魂，神常保守。故学道者，顺魂灵制尸魄，为炼形之术也。若随阴尸之魄，耗动阳灵之精，损失正气，易致于死也。
- ^ 《云笈七签》第11卷三洞经教部
- ^ 《云笈七签》第54卷魂神
- ^ 《席上腐谈》卷上：“医家谓肝属东方木而藏魂，肺属西方金而藏魄，道家乃有三魂七魄之说。魂果有三，魄果有七乎?非也，盖九宫数以三居左；七居右也”
- ^ 《朱子语类》：“魂属木，魄属金。所以说“三魂七魄”，是金木之数也。”
- ^ 《五行大义·论杂配》：“又云魂有三、魄有七者、陽數奇、陰數偶。奇數始於一、一則元氣。魂雖是陽、非曰元始、一後次三、故魂數三。又云、因天地二氣合、而生人、人又一氣、三材各一氣、故魂有三。陰數二、二亦陰之始、魄雖是陰、又非元始、次二後四。陰不孤立、必資於陽、就魂之三、合而成七。又一解云、魂在東方、取震數三。魄居西方、取兌數七。三魂、七魄、合而爲十、是應天五行、地五行、兩五合爲十、共成人也。五是天五氣、地五味也。春秋緯云、人感十而生、故十月方生也。”
The three men are dipping their fingers in a vat of vinegar and tasting it; one man reacts with a sour expression, one reacts with a bitter expression, and one reacts with a sweet expression. The three men are Confucius, Buddha, and Laozi, respectively. Each man's expression represents the predominant attitude of his philosophy: Confucianism saw life as sour, in need of rules to correct the degeneration of people; Buddhism saw life as bitter, dominated by pain and suffering due to desires; and Taoism saw life as fundamentally perfect in its natural state. Another interpretation of the painting is that, since the three men are gathered around one vat of vinegar, the "three teachings" are one.
The Celestial Masters believed that 氣qi pervaded everything, and in order to achieve immortality, the correct balance of qi had to be present within the body. Having a poor quantity of 氣 in the body, would result in illness, and eventually death. Meditation could be used to restore qi to the body, but sex was to be avoided, as it could result in the loss of qi. If there was the correct balance of 氣 within the body upon death, an adherent could 'feign death' and be reborn. If not, an adherent would be transported to an earthly prison where he would face eternal torment.
The Hanzhong state was divided into 24 regions which were led by an official. Each district had a civil register which recorded people's names and ranks. Three times a year, the registers were updated at the same time as an important feast. While a child's rank rose automatically, adults had to raise their own rank through religious achievement or marriage. Higher ranked people had more divine generals at their command, which could be used to fight demons that caused bad luck or disease. The state had a system of law that encouraged confession and benevolence rather than strict punishment. Criminals were asked to confess their crimes and meditate, and were given public work to do as a sentence. Few texts written by the Hanzhong Celestial Masters survive, with the most important being the Xiang'er commentary to the Dao De Jing. While the Hanzhong state lasted for only twenty-five years, their beliefs influenced all subsequent Daoist movements.
² 道家冥想 refers to the traditional meditative practices associated with the Chinese philosophy and religion of Daoism, including concentration, mindfulness, contemplation, and visualization. The earliest Chinese references to meditation date from the Warring States period (475–221 BCE). Techniques of Daoist meditation are historically interrelated with Buddhist meditation, for instance, 6th-century Daoists developed guan 觀 "observation" insight meditation from 天台 Tiāntāi, Buddhist आनापानस्मृति ānāpānasmṛti "mindfulness of breath" (recollection of breathing” (inhalation and exhalation) practices.
中醫 Traditional Chinese medicine and 武術 wǔshù Chinese martial arts have adapted certain Daoist meditative techniques. Some examples are 導引Dao yin "guide and pull" breathing exercises, 內丹術 nèidān shù "internal alchemy" techniques, 內功 Neigong "internal skill" practices, 氣功Qigōng breathing exercises,站樁Zhan zhuang "standing like a post" techniques. The opposite direction of adoption has also taken place, when the martial art of 太極拳 Tàijí quán, "great ultimate fist", become one of the practices of modern Daoist monks, while historically it was not among traditional techniques.
Types of meditation
Livia Kohn (2008a:118) distinguishes three basic types of Daoist meditation: "concentrative", "insight", and "visualization".
定 Ding literally means "decide; settle; stabilize; definite; firm; solid" and early scholars such as Xuanzang used it to translate Sanskrit samadhi "deep meditative contemplation" in Chinese Buddhist texts. In this sense, Kohn (2008c:358) renders ding as "intent contemplation" or "perfect absorption." The Zuowanglun has a section called Taiding 泰定 "intense concentration"
觀 Guan basically means "look at (carefully); watch; observe; view; scrutinize" (and names the Yijing Hexagram 20 Guan "Viewing"). Guan became the Daoist technical term for "monastery; abbey", exemplified by Louguan 樓觀 "Tiered Abbey" temple, designating "Observation Tower", which was a major Daoist centre from the 5th through 7th centuries (see Louguantai). Kohn (2008d:452) says the word guan, "intimates the role of Daoist sacred sites as places of contact with celestial beings and observation of the stars." Tang Dynasty (618–907) Daoist masters developed guan "observation" meditation from Tiantai Buddhist zhiguan 止觀 "cessation and insight" meditation, corresponding to śamatha-vipaśyanā – the two basic types of Buddhist meditation are samatha "calm abiding; stabilizing meditation" and vipassanā "clear observation; analysis". Kohn (2008d:453) explains, "The two words indicate the two basic forms of Buddhist meditation: zhi is a concentrative exercise that achieves one-pointedness of mind or "cessation" of all thoughts and mental activities, while guan is a practice of open acceptance of sensory data, interpreted according to Buddhist doctrine as a form of "insight" or "wisdom." Guan meditators would seek to merge individual consciousness into emptiness and attain unity with the Dao.
存 Cun usually means "exist; be present; live; survive; remain", but has a sense of "to cause to exist; to make present" in the Daoist meditation technique, which both the Shangqing School and Lingbao Schools popularized.
Other keywords
Within the above three types of Daoist meditation, some important practices are:
- 坐忘 Zuowang "sitting forgetting" was first recorded in the (c. 3rd century BCE) Zhuangzi.
- 守一 Shouyi "guarding the one; maintaining oneness" involves ding "concentrative meditation" on a single point or god within the body, and is associated with Daoist alchemical and longevity techniques (Kohn 1989b). The author, Dr. and Master Zhi Gang Sha (2010: 135, 257) says shouyi means a meditational focus on the jindan 金丹 a "golden light ball" in his own words.
- 內觀 Neiguan "inner observation; inner vision" is visualizing inside one's body and mind, including zangfu organs, inner deities, 氣 qi movements, and thought processes.
- 遠遊 Yuǎnyóu "far-off journey; ecstatic excursion", best known as the 楚辭 Chuci poem title 遠遊 Yuan You, was meditative travel to distant countries, sacred mountains, the sun and moon, and encounters with gods and 仙/仚/僊 xiān transcendents.
- 坐缽 Zuobo "sitting around the bowl (water clock)" was a Quanzhen School communal meditation that was linked to Buddhist 坐禪 zuochan (Japanese zazen) "sitting meditation"
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