Huangting Neiwai Yujing Jing Jie — Commentary by Jiang Shenxiu

This is a commentary on the Yellow Court literature — the family of meditation scriptures on the body's inner gods and organs that includes the Most High Jade Scripture on the Inner View of the Yellow Court and the Most High Jade Scripture on the Outer View of the Yellow Court. Its author gives his name as Jiang Shenxiu (蔣慎修), styled in the submission line "Grand Master for Court Discussion, granted the crimson robe and fish-pouch" — an official title, which places him as a court-ranked scholar formally presenting the work, though the precise date of composition and its exact place in the printed Daoist Canon are not established here; the surviving text is preserved in the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Canon under the title given below.

The work proceeds by chapter — here "the Chapter of the Transcendent," "the Chapter of Purple Clarity," and "the Chapter of the Hundred Grains," following the chapter-titles the base scripture itself uses (several are named for the body's organs, such as the Spleen Chapter and the Gallbladder Chapter, which this commentary cites by name). Within each chapter, a line or short passage of the base scripture's verse is quoted, then followed by prose commentary explaining its meaning; this translation keeps that alternation visible by setting the quoted verse in its own line and the commentary as prose beneath it.

A note on the source text: the Wikisource transcription that preserves this commentary shows signs of scanning or transcription error in a number of places — most conspicuously, the character 元 ("without beginning, primordial") appears repeatedly where the sense clearly requires 無 ("without, there is no"), and a handful of other characters (政 for 致, 拾 for 捨, 問 for 間, 鈴 for 必, and others) appear to be substituted for close look-alikes. This translation reads the text by its evident intended sense in those places and does not alter the Chinese source text printed below, which is given exactly as transcribed.

Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese of the Daoist Canon, which is printed in full below the translation. To our knowledge, this is the first complete published English translation of this commentary.

Translation

Chapter of the Transcendent

Grand Master for Court Discussion, granted the crimson robe and fish-pouch, your subject Jiang Shenxiu respectfully presents this.

The transcendent and the Daoist adept do not possess spirit by nature; only by accumulating essence and gathering qi does one become real.

Spirit has no fixed place; the real has substance. Having no fixed place is what the way of transcendence cannot simply possess; having substance, it can be accumulated and so brought to completion.

The Yellow Lad's inner sound is hard to hear; the jade writings and crimson tablets bear scripts of red and cinnabar.

The office of the Spleen contains within it a Bright Lad; hence it is called the Yellow Lad. In the threefold recitation of the Yellow Court, one intones and savors these words alone; the five viscera make no contact with outer things — hence it is called the "inner sound." What is called "the hidden utterances of all the heavens" has its root in this. Now, the Perfected have no need to hear it in the ordinary sense; ordinary people hear it and cannot understand it. Having no need to hear it, and hearing yet being unable to understand — both are what is meant by "hard to hear." For one who wishes to hear it and truly understand, there is no other way: one must simply trace out its meaning. The way of transcendence has many approaches, but its essential point lies in rising together with the yang. The refined essence of cultivation becomes pure yang; hence its writings are made of jade. Jade, as a substance, is the essence of pure yang. The qi of Highest Clarity descends to meet with things; hence its tablets are colored crimson. Crimson, as a color, is the descent of the Way of Heaven. What is called "pure yang" is rooted in the one yin and the one yang, brought to completion through cultivation and refinement. Because it is rooted in yin and yang, its blending produces script, and so it is called "red" and called "cinnabar." Red takes fire as yang; cinnabar takes two, the number of yin, as yin. Tracing the meaning of the Way and its Power as they appear in the colors of things — such is the case here. The writing carries the Way; the tablet carries the pattern. To carry the Way with the essence of pure yang, and to carry the pattern with the descent of the Way of Heaven — both serve to figure forth what is fitting to each thing. As for pattern: it divides into yin and divides into yang, alternating the soft and the hard, interweaving in threes and fives so as to bring coherence to completion; in the affairs of things it is flowering, in the seasons it is summer. The Way of Heaven descends to bring things to fruition, and the transformations of the ten thousand things appear and are revealed at this very time. When one analyzes the pattern to its finest subtlety and embraces the shining mystery of the Way, then the meaning of "red" and "cinnabar" becomes clear here.

Its style-name is called Realized Person; it is capped with a golden kerchief.

One who can understand this meaning has thus "accumulated essence and amassed qi so as to become real." As for its being given a style-name — this is because, the Way having been accomplished, it is honored, and so its name is elevated. Laozi's saying, "I style it the Way," carries the same sense. As for "capped with a golden kerchief" — essence and qi, in their generation, both originate in the Lungs; hence its adornment is so.

Bearing armor and holding the tally, it opens the seven gates; with fire-soldiers and chart of tallies, it guards the numinous passes.

"Bearing armor" refers to the class of the Tortoise and Serpent of the north, which turn their backs to yin in order to guard themselves. "Fire-soldiers" refers to the class of the Vermilion Bird of the south, which face the yang in order to overcome the enemy. The "seven gates" are the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth — what is called the Gate of Life. The Gate of Life opens outward, while awareness and nature are joined within. Hence Zhuangzi says: "Let hearing stop at the ear; let the mind stop at the tally." Extending this reasoning, one knows that the working of the six sense-inputs all have their tally at the space of window and chimney. Therefore, one who opens the seven gates must first hold the tally; holding the tally and then opening them, one is free of the fault of reckless action. And yet holding the tally and opening the gates must in turn come after "bearing armor" — for once the Gate of Life is opened, the six thieves enter through it, and so guarding oneself is the urgent task. When self-guarding is firm, there is no later difficulty. This is why it is "bearing armor, holding the tally, and opening the seven gates." As for the "chart of tallies": the Nine Palaces of the River Chart all correspond to my own body — three on the left, seven on the right; nine worn above, one trodden below; two and four as the shoulders; six and eight as the feet. In this way the whole body, above and below, is everywhere matched and joined — and so it can guard the numinous passes. The "numinous passes" are where the Three Barriers meet, where the Way of the Three Powers is complete, and man is matched with Heaven and Earth — hence it is called numinous. The waxing and waning of essence and spirit are the root of life; when within, one accords with number, and without, one tallies with principle, then the fault of reckless movement will not arise of itself. Those who govern a state use tallies and credentials at gates and passes; there has never been an opening or closing, an entering or leaving, that did not proceed by tally. The gate is near; the pass is distant. When the near is already opened, the distant cannot be left unguarded — this is why it is "fire-soldiers and chart of tallies guard the numinous passes."

In front raised, behind lowered — high and low are set in array.

"Raised in front" refers to the class of the Vermilion Bird, which tends upward. "Lowered behind" refers to the class of the Tortoise and Serpent, which tends downward. Having already said "raised and lowered," to then also say "high and low" is because "raised" and "lowered" are positions — one raises what is raised and makes it high, and lowers what is lowered and makes it low; this is a human act. "Arrayed" means set out and arranged — also a human act.

Wielding a sword a hundred zhang long, dancing brocade banners.

"Wielding a sword a hundred zhang long" speaks of the grandeur of martial awe. "Dancing brocade banners" is the display of patterned splendor. Both are the equipment of the fire-soldiers. The banner displays to the multitude, making people glad to follow — hence it is danced. The sword overcomes the enemy, making people awed into submission — hence it is wielded.

Ten Cut-Offs coil through the void, fanning in profusion.

The Nine Palaces have ten colors: joined together they form brocade; separated they form "Cut-Offs." "Cut-Off" takes its name from colors that are not joined to one another — in substance these are banners. What the Scripture of Salvation calls the "Ten Cut-Off Numinous Banners" is this very thing. The Gallbladder Chapter speaks of "a robe of nine-colored brocade, a skirt of green blossom" — the correct colors number five; adding to these the patterned splendor fully dispersed so as to correspond to the Nine Palaces, and since wood arises from earth, blue-green and yellow combine in one body and their transformation becomes green — this makes ten colors. What this chapter discusses of the Way of the Realized Person lies essentially in driving out the false and depraved and keeping whole one's guard over the spirit; one must make the numbers of the tally-chart match perfectly in hidden accord, so that when outer things come, there is no gap through which they may intrude. Hence these ten colors, close-woven all around, leave no interstice to be found; though the false and depraved daily roam at its borders, how could they gain entry into its union? And yet one must not forget the technique of driving them out — this is what is called "being one who cannot be overcome, so as to await the enemy's being overcome." Now, being one who cannot be overcome has no other technique to it — it rests solely on drawing on the awesome brightness of the spirit. This is why the ten colors are made complete, corresponding to the Gallbladder. And the Gallbladder belongs to the lesser yang: thunder and lightning shake the eight directions, the dragon banner stretches across the heavens, hibernating creatures are roused to life, above and below interpenetrate in harmony — hence its pattern joins together and becomes brocade. The Realized Person, outwardly one among men, inwardly perfected as Heaven, stands alone unchanging, circles about without exhaustion — in this he is remote from things, hence his pattern separates and becomes "Cut-Off." Thus, speaking above of the brocade banner and below of the Ten Cut-Offs, the text brings its meaning to a close.

The fire-bell crowns the empyrean, then falls, plunging through the mist.

The "fire-bell" is the awesome voice of the Gallbladder. To speak of it here is what is meant by "drawing on awesome brightness." Now, the false and depraved sink in darkness below; the fire-bell flies through the void above. Yet if the awesome voice of the Gallbladder only rose and never descended, then the dark and sunken kind would find their advantage. This is why, though the force of the fire-bell flies through the void and crowns the empyrean, it is put to use by falling. The Gallbladder Chapter speaks of "hurling," while this text speaks of "falling" — hurling and falling complete one another's meaning. Mist, as a thing, cannot ordinarily be made to fall; to say here that it "falls, plunging through the mist" shows how swift is the force of its downward strike. Now fire is a yang thing; the bell is of the yin kind. The "fire-bell," then, is yang containing yin within it — the image of Li, the trigram of Fire. In Li, what is above is beneficial, what is below is put to use — this is the principle of nature and destiny.

Where does it dwell? At the Yellow Portal, between the two brows — this is no branch or leaf, but truly the root.

The Celestial Court is Heaven's own position; the Yellow Court is the way of Earth. The way of Earth governs the inward and tends downward; because it is inward and downward, that by which it issues forth and communicates upward must have a portal. A "portal" is something that stands athwart the path and rises high. The space between the two brows is in truth the Celestial Court, and the portal of the Yellow Court also dwells in that same space — hence it bears the name "Yellow Portal." The Yellow Portal is the great thoroughfare by which Heaven and Earth come and go, rise and descend. Heaven and Earth joyfully unite to bring forth the ten thousand transformations, and the essential mystery of the Realized Person's Way lies here — this is why above and below are matched together to form the Two Powers. Yet the Yellow Court is positioned below while the Yellow Portal is above; hence the text says "where does it dwell." "Where does it dwell" expresses doubt as to its location. This doubt arises because the Way is without fixed location — and it is precisely this being-without-location that constitutes its dwelling. Branches and leaves issue from the root but are not the root themselves; because they are not the root, they flourish and wither, alternate and change, day by day and month by month, while the root takes no part in it. The Realized Person returns to the root and restores his allotted life, alone bringing his Heaven to completion; as for those thieving, boasting sorts, entangled in fine ornament and sharp swords, in food and drink and goods and wealth, in clinging attachment and pursuit — all of this belongs to branch and leaf. This is why the Realized Person bears armor and holds the tally, opens the gate and guards the pass, screens off and cuts away outer things, and turns his light back to illumine within — so that every movement and stillness issues from the root, and there is no fault of vain delusion; hence it is said, "truly, this is the root."

Chapter of Purple Clarity

The Purple-Clarity Supreme Sovereign, Lord of the Great Way.

This, then, is "the Sovereign of Non-Action" and "the Lord of Action" — together given the single title of Thearch. The first chapter separated these into two; this chapter joins them into one, because the preceding chapter discussed the Way of the Realized Person: screening off and cutting away outer things, turning the light back to illumine within, viewing sameness and difference without distinction, until the truth is seen and the Way is accomplished — and so it is called "Realized Person." As for "the Sovereign of Non-Action" and "the Lord of Action," together they return to the single Thearch, emerging and interchanging with one another; their Way is subtle and mysterious, not to be understood by thought or discrimination — only the Realized Person is able to know it.

Great Mystery and Great Harmony flank him in attendance at his sides; transforming and giving birth to the ten thousand things, they make me a transcendent.

"Great Mystery" is the Dark Heaven of the north, which sprouts and germinates, transforms things, and so secures the numinous root. "Great Harmony" is the Blue-Green Heaven of the east, which bestows harmony and gives birth to things, and so extends the numinous radiance. These two spirits flank him in attendance, honored and returning to the single Thearch, and the Way of transcendence is thereby realized. Now, though the Way of transcendence is broad, its essential point lies in preserving life. Hence, proceeding from north to east, this corresponds to the midst of yang, and the principle of transformation and birth is fully present in this. Yet it is the four seasons completing the year that brings the Way of Heaven to its wholeness — halting at the midst of yang is only its starting point.

Flying up through the Ten Heavens, he rides the jade wheel; day and night for seven days, he contemplates without sleep.

The number of Heavens is nine only; to speak here of "Ten Heavens" means that one of them is empty — just as in the Great Expansion numerology one number is left empty, and the subtle root lies precisely there. The Realized Persons of old, having seen the truth and accomplished the Way, subtly understood the purport of the One Thearch, and so were able to transcend beyond the Nine Heavens and wander alone in the realm of the Empty One — this is what is called "flying up through the Ten Heavens." "Flying up" means moving in the same wave as the yang, hence it says "jade wheel." Jade is pure yang; the wheel is the way of movement from below. This speaks of riding the qi of pure yang, ascending from below. Now, yang moves at the bottom at the time of Return. "Seven days, and it returns" is the number of Return; "contemplation" is that by which one reaches upward. To ride pure yang and reach upward is not a matter for one who loves sleep. The ancients, on hearing the Way, contemplated with such intensity for seven days that they were reduced to bare bone — the opposite of sleep. Yet this achievement of cultivation, with respect to the Way of the Realized Person, is spoken of here only as to its beginning.

If you can cultivate this, you may long endure; but accumulating merit and completing the refining is not a matter of spontaneity.

"Transforming and giving birth to the ten thousand things, and making me a transcendent" — this is the Thearch making one a transcendent. The Thearch's making one a transcendent is spontaneously so, of itself. Hence the "me" of "making me a transcendent" belongs to the inner Way. "If you can cultivate this, you may long endure" is what is accomplished through study. What is accomplished through study is not spontaneous. Hence the "you" of "if you can" belongs to the lower Way. Now, the Way is neither purely spontaneous nor not-spontaneous. That this text alone treats spontaneity as a fault is for the sake of establishing teaching. Once teaching is established, study and spontaneity come to the same end.

This comes from utter sincerity, and comes also from single-minded concentration.

Utter sincerity together with single-minded concentration is the very business of "accumulating merit and completing the refining." Sincerity is being without doubt; concentration is being without duplicity. Being without doubt toward things, things too respond; being without duplicity of mind, spirit too becomes concentrated. Shangqiu Kai believed a falsehood to be true, and so he swam the river and retrieved the pearl unharmed — this is being without doubt, and things responding. The hunchbacked old man would not trade the wings of a cicada for all the myriad things — hence there was nowhere he went that he did not succeed in catching them; this is being without duplicity, and spirit becoming concentrated. When a person who studies the Way holds in contemplation the Three Officials, the ten thousand spirits respond to his thought, and utter sincerity is reached. Yet if outer things sometimes interpose, few fail to lose and let fall their attainment; hence one should cut off and extinguish causes and conditions, cast aside fame and profit, and fix the mind single-mindedly on the Way — then the Way may be attained.

Guarding within, firm and solid — the truest of the true; empty within, calm and plain — spirit arrives of itself.

"Guarding within, firm and solid" is the very business of "utter sincerity and single-minded concentration." "Guarding within" means seeking nothing else. Seeking nothing else, one is concentrated. "Firm and solid" means grasping and not letting go. Grasping and not letting go, one is sincere; being concentrated and seeking nothing else, one does not lose the real. Add to this grasping and not letting go, and this is "the truest of the true." Yet being concentrated and seeking nothing else, grasping and not letting go — this may become an obstruction that does not penetrate; hence "empty within, calm and plain" serves to remedy this obstruction. "Empty within" means not being fixed solely on "guarding within"; "calm and plain" means not being fixed solely on "firm and solid." Thus "guarding within, firm and solid" belongs to the method of attachment to form, while "empty within, calm and plain" belongs to the method of departing from form. Without attachment to form, one cannot enter the Way; without departing from form, one cannot attain the Way. Once the Way is attained, then it is not a matter of seeking spirit — spirit arrives of itself.

Chapter of the Hundred Grains

The substance of the hundred grains is the essence of earth and soil; the five flavors, fair without, are the reek of demons and evil.

"The essence of earth and soil" is not sufficient to nourish the spirit, though it may nourish the physical form. "The reek of demons and evil" is not sufficient even to nourish the form, and its stench, once it spreads, only adds foulness besides. To call what adds foulness "fair" — this is the case of all who know beauty as beauty, and thereby fall into ugliness. To call what is insufficient to nourish the spirit "essence" means only that it still has something by which to assist the real; because it clings to earth and soil, it carries the principle of intimacy with the low, and cannot be spoken of in the same breath as "flying up through the Ten Heavens."

Reeking, it throws the bright spirits into disorder, and the embryonic qi scatters and is lost — how then could one turn old age back and become an infant again? The Three Hun-souls grow dim and vague, the Po-souls crumble and topple.

The proper countenance of the bright spirits takes clarity, emptiness, and unimpeded flow as good; when eating and drinking are indulged to excess, and one is sunk and drowned in turbid vapors, one loses that clarity and emptiness, and reeking disorder results. The "embryonic qi" is what is received from Heaven — an undivided, harmoniously fused thing, whose vital principle issues forth from within and is naturally firm and condensed. But once seeing, hearing, eating, and breathing all contend against it from without, each day one more aperture is bored open, and the embryonic qi scatters and is lost. The bright spirits, reeking and disordered, waste away day by day — this is not the way to turn old age back. The embryonic qi, scattered and lost — this is not the way to become an infant again. The hun-souls are what constitute numinous awareness; when the bright spirits are scattered and disordered, one is without numinous awareness for the rest of one's life — hence "the Three Hun grow dim and vague." The po-souls are bound to the physical form; when the embryonic qi is scattered and lost, the bodily form is ruined and worn out — hence "the Po crumble and topple."

Why not instead feed on qi, on the essence of Great Harmony? Then one may escape death and enter the Yellow Tranquility.

Life, in man, is the gathering of qi: when it gathers, there is life; when it disperses, there is death. Hence "feeding on qi" is the means by which one makes it gather and not disperse. "Great Harmony" is the qi of lesser yang, which, bestowing harmony, gives rise to life; the mouth is its organ — rinsing and swallowing the numinous fluid gives rise to radiant brightness. All this is the very root of the principle of life; without borrowing from outer things, it is of itself sufficient for nourishment, and so one may thereby escape death. "Yellow Tranquility" is that by which a blended wholeness becomes wellness. The office of the Spleen digests grain and disperses qi, governing and treating the hundred ailments; hence it is constantly in motion and not at rest. Now, when one nourishes oneself with the true qi alone, without borrowing outer things, there is nothing left for it to govern and treat — hence it can be at rest and well.

Our discussion: the preceding chapter said, "guarding within, firm and solid — the truest of the true; empty within, calm and plain — spirit arrives of itself" — this is "accumulating merit and completing the refining," by which one becomes a Realized Person. Hence this chapter speaks of cutting off and casting away outer things, nourishing oneself on true qi alone, by which one may escape death. But as for beginning students, whose heavenly reality is not yet complete and whose guard over the spirit is not yet firm, that by which they assist the vital principle is also, in truth, something they cannot yet dispense with — the nourishment of outer things cannot yet be entirely cut off and cast away. Hence what Heaven produces nourishes the essence, so that spirit and qi become settled and calm; what Earth produces nourishes the form, so that skin and flesh grow full — and this depends on the Spleen and Stomach joining their virtue and their governing work, so that fragrant moisture flourishes and grows: their assistance is great indeed.

This is why the Bright Lad of the Great Granary governs the regulation of the hundred grains, drawing also on the five flavors, refining and renewing, moving without fixed direction. The office where he dwells is called the Yellow Court. The "court" is the ground on which governance is spread out — this is why the Lord Lao of the Central Section has work to do there. But when one comes to "accumulating merit and completing the refining" and "guarding within, firm and solid," then the hundred grains and the five flavors are all cast off and abandoned; being "empty within, calm and plain," the office of Spleen and Stomach becomes like an empty chamber — hence what enters it is called "Yellow Tranquility." "Yellow Tranquility," though it has not yet departed from form and appearance, draws near to that which is still and unmoving. That the Realized Person of the Ten Heavens takes non-action as spontaneity — this too is rooted in this very principle.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Daoist shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The commentary's form — a line or short passage of the base scripture's verse followed by prose explication — is kept visible throughout: quoted verse is set in bold on its own line, and the commentary that follows it is set as prose beneath it, matching the alternation of the source.

Before the claim below was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed: the local bibliographies of Daoist texts in Western-language translation (Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation and the 2023 Purple Cloud survey) were searched for this commentary's title, its author's name, and the pinyin forms of both; they record numerous translations of the base Huangting scriptures themselves (Kohn, Olson, Carré, Kroll, Saso, among others) but no entry for Jiang Shenxiu's commentary specifically. Two web searches were then run, for the Chinese title with the author's name and for the pinyin title, both returning academic catalogue references to the text's existence in the Daoist Canon but no evidence of any published English translation of it. To our knowledge, this is the first complete published English translation of the Huangting Neiwai Yujing Jing Jie. We state this as the limit of our knowledge, not as a certainty; it should not be read as a claim about the base Huangting scriptures themselves, which have been repeatedly translated.

A note on the source text. The Wikisource transcription used here shows a number of evident scanning or transcription substitutions — most often 元 standing in for 無 ("without, there is no"), which occurs many times through the commentary and changes plain negation into nonsense if read literally. A handful of other characters (政 for 致, e.g. 自政神 where the parallel line earlier in the text reads 自致神; 拾 for 捨, 問 for 間, 鈴 for 必, 束 for 東, 訢 for 欣, 綠 for 緣) likewise appear to be look-alike substitutions rather than the author's intended text. This translation reads each of these passages by its evident sense; the Chinese source text below is left exactly as transcribed, unaltered, so that readers and future correctors can check the reading against it. One phrase — "文採[探]利劍" describing worldly attachments — remains uncertain in its exact wording and is rendered by its evident general sense ("fine ornament and sharp swords") rather than word for word.

Prepared for the Good Work Library by the Tianmu Anglican Church with AI-assisted translation and editorial work.

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Source Text: 黃庭內外玉景經解

Classical Chinese text of the Daoist Canon, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above. 〔 〕 marks small-type notes and commentary as formatted in the transcription.

黃庭內外玉景經解

朝散大夫賜徘魚袋臣蔣慎修上進

仙人章

仙人道士非有神，積精累氣乃成真。

〔神元方也，真有物也，元方則仙道所不能有，有物故可以積累而成焉。〕

黃童內音難可聞，玉書絳簡赤丹文。

〔脾部之官，中有明童，故日黃童也。黃庭三疊，皆以誦、味，五臟不接外物，故日內音也。所謂諸天隱齣，蓋本諸此。夫至人元所事乎聞，眾人聞而不能解，元所事乎聞與夫聞而不能解，皆所謂難可聞也。欲聞且解者，元他焉，蹟其意而已。仙道多方，然要在與陽俱升者也。修煉之精，成乎純陽。故其為書物之以玉。玉之為物，純陽之精也。上清之氣，下與物接，故其為簡色之以絳。絳之為色，天道之降也。所謂純陽者，本乎一陰一陽，修煉而成之也。以其本乎陰陽。故其雜而成文，則日赤日丹。赤以火為陽，丹以二為陰，蹟道德之意見於物色，蓋如此也。書載道者也，簡載文者也，載道以純陽之精，載文以天道之降，皆所以象其物宜也。文也者，分陰分陽，迭用柔剛，參伍錯綜，以成理致，於事為華，於時為夏，天道下濟，萬化呈露於斯時也。析理精微，擁瑩道妙，則赤丹之義於此明矣。〕

字曰真人巾金巾

〔能解其義，則所謂積精累氣，以成真也。其稱字者，以道成而尊，故褒其名也。老子云字之日道，與此同意。巾金巾者，精氣所生，皆首於肺，故其飾如此。〕

負甲持符開七門，火兵符圖備靈關

〔負甲者，北方龜蛇之屬，背陰以自衛者也。火兵者，南方朱烏之屬，向陽以制敵者也。七門者，耳目鼻口，所謂生門。生門外通，識性內合。故莊子日：聽止於耳，心止於符。推此而言，則知六入之用，皆有符於焦牖之問者也。是以開七門者，鈴先持符，持符而開，則元妄作之咎矣。然而持符開門，又鈴先於負甲者，以謂生門一開，六賊入之，所以急於自衛。自衛者固，則元有後艱。此所以為負甲持符開七門也。符圖者，河圖九官，皆我合也，左三右七，戴九履一，二四為肩，六八為足，此則一身上下，元所不契，故可以備靈關也。靈關者，三關之中，三才道備，人配天地，所以為靈也。精神盛衰，生命之本，內與數合，外與理符，則妄動之愆元自而至也。治國者，門關用符節，未有啟閉，入出而不由符者也。門近也，關遠也。近既啟矣，則遠者不可以元備，此所以為火兵符圖備靈關也。〕

前昂後卑高下陳

〔前昂者，朱烏之屬，趨上者也。後卑者，龜蛇之屬，趨下者也。既日昂卑，又日高下者，昂卑位也，因其昂而高之，因其卑而下之人也。陳謂列而布之，人所為也。〕

執劍百丈舞錦幡

〔執劍百丈，言威烈之壯也。舞錦幡者，文探之振也。此皆火兵之具也。幡以表眾，使人樂從，是以舞之劍以勝敵，使人畏服，是以執之。〕

十絕盤空扇紛紜

〔九官十色，相屬而為錦，相離而為絕。絕者，蓋以色不相屬為名，其實幡也。《度人經》 所謂十絕靈幡是矣。膽部云，九色錦衣綠華裙者，正色有五，加以文章備散以應九官，而木出於土，青黃合體，其變為綠，是十色也。此章所論真人之道，要在驅除邪偽，全其神守，鈴使符圖之數，冥契胳合，外物之來，元幟可抵。故此十色，周匝綿密，莫得其際，雖有邪偽日遊其藩，孰得入其合也？然猶未忘驅除之衍，則所謂能為不可勝，以待敵之可勝也。夫能為不可勝者，元他衍焉，資乎威明之神而已矣。此所以十色全備，與膽相應也。然而膽屬少陽，雷電八震，龍旗橫天，墊蟲昭蘇，上下交泰，故其文相屬而為錦真人者，外群乎人，內成乎天，獨立而不改，周行而不殆。此則與物遠矣，故其文相離而為絕。然則上言錦幡，下言十絕，要其終也。〕

火鈴冠霄墜落煙

〔火鈴，膽之威聲。於此言者，所謂資乎威明也。夫邪偽幽沈下道也，火鈴飛空上道也。然膽之威聲上而不下，則幽沈之類得其便矣。是以火鈴之勢雖飛空冠霄，而以墜落為用也。膽部言擲，而此言墜，蓋擲而墜之其義相成也。煙之為物，不可墜也，今言墜落煙，則其下擊之勢迅矣。蓋火，陽物也；鈴，陰類也。火鈴者，陽中有陰，離象也。離以上為利，以下為用，此性命之理也。〕

安在黃闕兩眉間，此非枝葉實是根

〔天庭，天位也。黃庭，地道也。地道主內，其勢下也，以其內且下所以出而上通者，鈴有闕焉。闕者，當途而高也。兩眉之問實為天庭，而黃庭之闕亦居其問，是以有黃闕之名也。黃闕者，天地往來升降之大途也。天地訢合，以產萬化，則真人之道要妙在此。此所以上下配合而為二才也。然黃庭位下而黃闕在上，故言安在。安在者，疑所在也。疑所在者，以道元不在故也。道元不在，則其疑之，乃所以在之也。枝葉者，由根出而非根也，以其非根是以榮枯代謝、日改月化而根不與也。真人者，歸根復命，獨成其天，則彼盜誇之徒，文探利劍、飲食貨財、責著追求，有係於此，皆屬枝葉。所以真人負甲持符，開門備關，屏絕外物，迴光反照，則云為動靜皆由根出而元虛妄之咎，故日實是根也。〕

紫清章

紫清上皇大道君

〔此則元為之皇，有作之君，總號一帝也。首章離而為二，此篇合而為一者，以上篇論真人之道、屏絕外物、迴光反照、等不等觀得元分別，見諦成道，名為真人故。夫元為之皇，有作之君，總歸一帝，更出互用，其道微妙，非思量分別之所能解，唯有真人乃能知之。〕

太玄太和俠侍端，化生萬物使我仙

〔太玄者，北方玄天，孳萌化物，以固靈根。太和者，東方蒼天，委和生物，以達靈芒。二神俠侍，尊歸一帝，而仙道達矣。蓋仙道雖廣，要在存生。故自北之束，以應陽中，化生之理於此備矣。然四時成歲，天道乃全，止乎陽中，特其端耳。〕

飛升十天駕玉輸，晝夜七日思勿眠。

〔天數唯九，今言十天，則其一虛也，亦猶大衍虛一，妙本在焉。古之真人，見諦成道，妙解一帝之旨，則可以超越九天之外，獨遊虛一之境，所謂飛升十天也。飛升者，與陽同波，故曰玉輪。玉，純陽也；輪，下道也。言乘純陽之氣，自下而升焉。夫陽動於下，復之時也。七日來復，復之數也，思所以上達也。乘純陽而上達者，非好眠之事也。古人聞道，淫思七日，至於骨立。立，反眠者也。然此修為之功，其於真人之道，蓋原始而言之。〕

子能修之可長存，積功成煉非自然。

〔化生萬物，使我仙者，帝使仙也。帝使仙者，自然而然也。是以我之我，內道也。子能修之可長存者，學所成也。學所成者，非自然也。是以子之子，下道也。夫道非自然，非不自然。此文獨以自然為非者，所以立教也。教立則學與自然同於一致。〕

是由精誠亦由專

〔精誠而專、乃積功成煉之事也。誠，元疑也；專，不貳也。元疑於物，物亦應焉；不貳於心，神亦凝焉。商丘開信妄以為實，故泳河而得珠，元疑而物應也。佝償丈人，不以萬物易蜩之翼，故元往而不得，不貳而神凝也。學道之人，存想三官，萬神應念，精誠至矣。然物或問之，鮮不失墜，故當斷滅因綠，屏棄名利，一心志道，道可得矣。〕

內守堅固真之真，虛中恬淡自致神。

〔內守堅固，乃精誠而專之事也。內守者，元他求也。元他求，則專矣。堅固者，執而不拾也。執而不拾則誠矣，專而元他求則不失真矣。加以執而不拾，則真中之真也。然專而元他，執而不拾，則或蔽而不通，故虛中恬淡，所以救其蔽也。虛中則不專於內守者也。恬淡則不專於堅固者也，然則內守堅固著法者也，虛中恬淡離相者也，非著法不足以入道，非離相不足以得道，得道則非求於神，神自致矣。〕

百穀章

百穀之實土地精，五味外美邪魔腥

〔土地精者，不足以養神而可以養形也。邪魔腥者，不足以養形而其發聞又加穢焉。加穢而云美者，皆知美之為美斯惡矣。不足以養神而云精者，言猶有以輔其真也，以其著於土地則有親下之理，其與飛升十天不可同日而語也。〕

臭亂神明胎氣零，那從反老得還嬰，三魂忽忽魄糜傾。

〔神明之容，以清虛條達為善，飲食厭飲溺於馮氣，失其清虛則臭亂矣。胎氣者，所受於天，渾淪和合，生理內發，自然堅凝，及夫視聽食息交攻於外，日鑿一竅而胎氣零矣。神明臭亂日以變滅，則非所以反老也，胎氣散亡則非所以還嬰也。魂所以為靈也，神明散亂終身不靈，故三魂忽忽也。魄係於形者也，胎氣散亡，形體毀憊，故魄糜傾也。〕

何不食氣太和精，故能不死入黃寧

〔人之生氣之聚也，聚則為生，散則為死，故食氣者所以使之聚而不散也。太和者，少陽之氣，委和而生，口為其官，漱咽靈液，以生光華。此皆生理之本，不假外物，自足為養，故能不死也。黃寧者，混康之所以為康也。脾部之官，消穀散氣，主治百病，故常運而不寧。今以真氣自養，不假外物，則元所主治，故能寧而康也。論日：前章云，內守堅固真之真，虛中恬淡自政神，則是積功成煉，以成真人，故此章絕棄外物，以真氣自養，則可以不死也。至於初學之徒，天真未完，神守未固，則所以補相生理，蓋亦元所不備，外物之養固未可以絕棄也。故天產養精而神氣泰定，地產養形而膚革充盈，則所藉脾胃合德政功，芳澤滋榮，其補大矣。是以太倉明童主調百穀，兼資五味，推煉致新，運動元方。所居之官，謂之黃庭。庭者，布治之地，中部老君所以有為也。至於積功成煉，內守堅固，則百穀五味一切棄絕，虛中恬淡則脾胃之官同於虛室，故其所入，謂之黃寧。黃寧者，雖未離乎形色，而近於寂然不動者矣。十天真人所以元為自然，蓋本於此。〕

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 黃庭內外玉景經解, revision of 1 March 2017), inspected from a witness copy captured on 8 August 2026. Chinese Wikisource transcriptions are published under CC BY-SA 4.0 and the GFDL; the text itself is ancient and in the public domain. The wiki header and license templates have been removed; the text is otherwise complete and unaltered.

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