Xuanfeng Qinghui Lu — Qiu Chuji's Teaching to Genghis Khan

This is the Xuanfeng Qinghui Lu*, "the Fortunate Meeting of the Mysterious Wind" — a Yuan-dynasty record of one of the most celebrated encounters in the history of Chinese religion: the winter audience of 1222 in which the Quanzhen Daoist patriarch Qiu Chuji, known by his sobriquet Changchun ("Perpetual Spring") and honored throughout this text as "the Perfected," taught the Way of long life to Genghis Khan in the Khan's own encampment beyond the Hindu Kush. The teaching was recorded by imperial command and kept from wider circulation for more than a decade; the statesman Yelü Chucai, who compiled the record and wrote its preface, released it to the world in 1232, as the preface below explains. It is catalogued in the Zhengtong Daozang (1445) as DZ 176.*

The text is a companion to Li Zhichang's better-known travel diary of the same journey (長春真人西遊記, DZ 1429; translated by Arthur Waley as The Travels of an Alchemist*). The preface below draws the line between the two works itself: that other record covers the journey "there and back," while this one preserves what passed between master and sovereign "in mysterious words and profound principles." Where the travel diary is itinerary, this is teaching — a discourse record (語錄) almost entirely in Changchun's own first-person voice, moving from cosmology to the physiology of desire to statecraft as a form of religious service, and closing with a brief exchange in the Emperor's own words.*

Two terms recur enough to flag for the reader. 天人, literally "a person of Heaven," names a being — the text applies it to the Khan himself, and to a Song emperor in a cautionary aside — who is only temporarily lodged in human rank, though properly of celestial standing; it is rendered "a being of Heaven" throughout. And the teaching turns again and again on the difference between the body (身), called "a borrowed thing" received from one's parents, and the spirit (神), "the true self" drawn from the Way itself.

Translated for the Good Works Library directly from the classical Chinese of the Daoist Canon, which is printed in full below the translation. A scholarly English translation of this text was published in 2023, as an appendix to a complete translation of its companion travel diary; this Good Works Translation was made independently from the Chinese and did not consult it.

Translation

Preface

The State Preceptor, Changchun the Perfected, once received the summons of the court, and, unable to decline, at last rose and set out. He left the central lands, crossed the flowing sands, set forth the Way and its Virtue that he might bring the sovereign to it, and stayed the spears and shields that he might save the living. His work accomplished, he withdrew; wearied of the world, he ascended to Heaven. Since the Most High, Mysterious Origin, journeyed west, a thousand years and more had passed in emptiness — until the Perfected, and the Perfected alone. The particulars of his journey there and back are told in full in the Journey to the West. What remains untold is only this: his transmission of the Way to the sovereign, mysterious words and profound principles, which the sovereign ordered his attendants to record and keep secret. Now the years have passed more than a decade, and it has been carried beyond the palace and is about to be carved and circulated in the world, that all under Heaven may share the knowledge of this wondrous episode, the Fortunate Meeting of the Mysterious Wind. Prefaced on the day of the winter solstice, in the year renchen [1232].

The Record

In reverent accord with the Emperor's sacred decision, the court proclaimed and summoned the eminent man of the Way, Changchun the Perfected, in the year jimao [1219], the day after the turn of the year. The Emperor decreed that the court official Liu Zhonglu bear the edict in search of him, going all the way to Donglai. This accorded with the sacred will; he respectfully welcomed the Perfected's carriage, and the Perfected, not refusing the great distance, came. By the winter of the year renwu [1222], after the full moon of the tenth month, the Emperor was hunting on the sunlit slopes of the Snow Mountains of the Western Regions. That evening, at his travelling residence, he had torches set up in the courtyard and moved his seat forward, and summoned Changchun the Perfected, that he might ask him of the Way of long life.

The Perfected said: The Way gives birth to Heaven and nurtures Earth; the sun, moon, and stars, spirits, ghosts, and men and creatures — all are born from the Way. People know only that Heaven is great; they do not know that the Way is greater still. Throughout my life I have left my kin and my home, and have studied only this. The Way gave birth to Heaven and Earth, and when they had opened and divided, gave birth to man. When man was first born, spirit-light shone from him of itself, and he walked as though flying. The earth put forth mushrooms with flavor of their own, needing no cooking over fire, and all men ate them. In that age there was not yet cooking by fire; the mushrooms were all fragrant and sweet — the nose smelled their fragrance, the mouth savored their taste, and by degrees this brought heaviness to the body, and the spirit-light gradually went out, all because of the deepening of love and desire.

Therefore those who study the Way do not love what worldly people love, and do not dwell where worldly people dwell. They put away sounds and sights, taking clarity and stillness for their joy; they shut out rich flavors, taking blandness and plainness for their beauty. But wherever there is clinging, that is not what is called the Way and its Virtue.

When the eyes look upon sights, the ears listen to sounds, the mouth savors flavors, and one's nature runs after passion, then the qi disperses. It is like a ball inflated with breath: when the breath is full, it is firm; when the breath disperses, it is not. Man takes qi as his master; when he chases desire and stirs his thoughts, his primordial qi disperses, just as the breath of the ball disperses.

Heaven gives birth to two kinds of things: the moving and the planted. Things of the grass-and-tree kind are the planted; being planted, they have no awareness, and moistened by rain and dew, they thrive and flourish of themselves. Things of the human and animal kind are the moving; being moving, they have feeling. Without clothes, without food, how could they complete their years? They must labor and provide. Morning and night they must toil, for body and mouth are a constant burden.

Now, the male is yang, and belongs to fire; the female is yin, and belongs to water. Only yin can dissolve yang, as water can overcome fire. Therefore those who study the Way hold guarding against desire for sex foremost. Laboring to provide clothing and food wearies one's thought and deliberation; though this too disperses the qi, it disperses little. But greed for desire and love of sex wastes one's essence and spirit; this too disperses the qi, but disperses it greatly.

The Way produced the Two Modes: the light and clear became Heaven — Heaven is yang, and belongs to fire; the heavy and turbid became Earth — Earth is yin, and belongs to water. Man dwells between the two, bearing yin on his back and embracing yang. Therefore those who study the Way and know the arts of cultivation and refinement put away extravagance and screen out desire; they make firm their essence and guard their spirit, refining yang alone. This brings it about that yin is dissolved and yang made whole, so that they ascend to Heaven and become immortals, as fire blazes upward. But the foolish and deluded take wine for their drink and take recklessness for their constant way; they indulge their passions and chase their desires, wasting their essence and harming their spirit. This brings it about that yang fails and yin flourishes, so that they sink into the earth and become ghosts, as water flows downward.

Now, one who studies to cultivate the real is like one rolling a stone up a high mountain: the higher he climbs, the harder it becomes — a single misstep, and all his former effort is wasted. Because it is so hard to do, the whole world does not do it. One who turns from the Way to chase desire is like one throwing a stone down a steep slope: the lower it falls, the easier it becomes — in a moment it plunges down, and once gone, does not return. Because it is so easy to do, the whole world follows it, and hardly anyone awakens to the truth.

What I have said above concerning the way of cultivation and refinement is all a matter for ordinary people. What must be said to the Son of Heaven is different from this. Your Majesty is by nature a being of Heaven: august Heaven, mindful of its mandate, has lent its hand through our own house, to remove the cruel and put away the violent, to become father and mother to the common people, and reverently to carry out Heaven's punishment — as one who, in the great carpenter's place, takes up the axe, mastering hardship upon hardship. When your work is accomplished and your allotted span complete, you will ascend to Heaven and return to your former rank. While you remain in the world, you should above all reduce sound and sight, and lessen your cravings and desires, so that your sacred body may be at peace and in health, and your sagely-reckoned years may stretch far.

A commoner with a single wife may still injure his body; how much more the Son of Heaven, who keeps many consorts and attendants — how could this not injure him deeply? Your Majesty's palace is filled with consorts, and I have heard that Liu Zhonglu and others, at Zhongdu, have of late been selecting virgin girls to fill the rear palace. I have humbly heard it said in the Scripture of the Way: "Do not look upon what may be desired, and the mind will not be disturbed." Once a thing is seen, it is hard to guard against it; I hope Your Majesty will give this thought.

People take the body to be the self, but this is a borrowed thing, received from one's father and mother. The spirit is the true self, received from within the Way — it is that which is able to think, deliberate, wake, and sleep.

Doing good and advancing in the Way, one ascends to Heaven and becomes an immortal; doing evil and turning from the Way, one enters the earth and becomes a ghost. The Way gives birth to the multitude of beings as gold is made into a multitude of vessels: melt down their forms, and they return to being gold again; let a man practice goodness, and he returns to the Way. The sounds and sights, clothes and food of the human world — people see these and take them for pleasure, but this is not true pleasure; it is, at root, suffering. The people of the world take the illusory for the real, and take suffering for pleasure — is this not sorrowful? Little do they know that the utmost joy of Heaven is the true joy.

Because of our study of the Way, my companions and I left our parents and dwelt in caves among the cliffs. Four of us studied the Way together at that time: Qiu, Liu, Tan, and Ma. Those other three have completed their merit and perfected the Way, and have now ascended in transformation. My own term of toil and hardship is not yet finished; each day I take one meal, one dish, one bowlful, at ease and content, awaiting my time.

For the rich and the noble, to aid the people and rescue the age, and so pile up good deeds and accumulate merit, is all the easier. If only they can accumulate goodness and walk the Way, why should they fear being unable to become immortals?

China has long enjoyed peace, and Heaven above has repeatedly sent down scriptures and teachings to exhort men to do good. North of the great river, in the western river-lands, and east of the river — everywhere these are found. In the Eastern Han, Gan Ji received the Scripture of Great Peace in one hundred and fifty scrolls, all methods for cultivating the real and governing the state; the Daoists of China recite it and practice it, and can thereby obtain blessings and complete the Way. Again, on the seventh day of the first month of the first year of the Yongshou era of Emperor Huan [155 CE], the Most High descended at Linqiong in Shu, and bestowed on the Celestial Master Zhang Daoling the Scripture of the Northern and Southern Dippers and the Ritual Registers of the Twenty-Four Ranks, more than a thousand scrolls of scripture and canon in all. In the Jin, Wang Zuan encountered the sacred procession of the Most High Lord of the Dao, who, riding through the void, bestowed on him several dozen scrolls of scripture. In the time of the Yuan Wei, the Celestial Master Kou Qianzhi dwelt at Mount Song, and from the Most High and other sources received more than sixty scrolls of scripture of the Way — all arts for governing the mind and cultivating the Way, praying for blessing and averting calamity, sweeping away demons and goblins, and rescuing from plague and pestilence. The rest of these scriptures and teachings cannot all be told. The intent behind the sending-down of these scriptures is that emperors, kings, ministers, and subjects, past and present alike, should all be made to do good.

The purport of these scriptures is too vast to tell in full; I will raise only their essentials. Of all that Heaven and Earth bring forth, the human is the most precious; therefore a human body is hard to obtain, rare as a unicorn's horn, while the myriad other things are as numerous and tangled as the hairs on an ox. Having obtained this hard-to-obtain body, one should hasten to the road of cultivating the real. Doing good and cultivating merit, one gradually draws near to the wondrous Way.

From emperors and kings above, down to the common people below, though high and low differ, their nature and life-endowment are each the same. All emperors and kings are beings of Heaven banished down into the human world; if they do good and cultivate merit, then, when they ascend to Heaven, their rank will surpass their former office; if they do not, the opposite follows. Those beings of Heaven whose merit is slight and conduct thin are made to descend into the world again, to cultivate merit and aid the people, only then attaining a high rank.

Long ago the Yellow Emperor, by the mandate of Heaven, descended into the world: in one life he was a commoner, in a second life a minister, and in a third life a sovereign. Aiding the age and settling the people, he piled up merit and accumulated virtue, until his allotted term was complete and he ascended to Heaven, his rank made more honored than before.

Your Majesty's method of practice is no other than this: outwardly to cultivate hidden virtue, and inwardly to make firm your essence and spirit. To have compassion on the people and preserve the multitude, so that all under Heaven cherish peace — this is the outward practice; to lessen desire and preserve the spirit — this is the inward practice.

Man takes food and drink as his root: what is clear in them becomes essence and qi; what is turbid becomes urine and waste. Greed for desire and fondness for sex cause one to lose essence and waste qi, bringing about decline and exhaustion. Your Majesty should treasure and be sparing of this. Even a single night, a single occasion, already causes deep harm — how much more one who indulges desire without restraint? Though you may not be able to renounce it entirely, if you can only moderate desire, you will draw near to the Way.

Now spirit is the child, and qi the mother. Passing through the eyes, qi becomes tears; through the nose, it becomes […]; through the tongue, saliva; through the outside of the body, sweat; through the inside, blood; through the bones, marrow; through the kidneys, essence. When qi is whole, there is life; when qi is gone, there is death. When qi is abundant, there is vigor; when qi declines, there is old age. If one can always keep qi from dispersing, it is as a child having its father and mother; when qi disperses, it is as a child who has lost father and mother — on what, then, is there to rely, on what is there to rely? Spirit and qi share a single body; essence and marrow share a single source. If Your Majesty were to try sleeping in stillness for one month, you would surely feel your spirit grow clear and your vigor bright, and your sinews and strength grow firm. The ancients said: "Taking medicine for a thousand mornings is not as good as sleeping alone for a single night." Medicine is made from plants; essence is one with marrow. To take away marrow and add plants in its place — what benefit is there in that? It is like a bag that stores gold: if one keeps taking out the gold and putting in iron instead, in time the gold will be gone, and though the bag remains full, what is left inside is empty iron. What benefit, then, is there in the principle of taking medicine?

The ancients, for the sake of continuing the family line, took wives and established households. The former sages the Duke of Zhou, Confucius, and Mencius each had sons; Confucius at forty was no longer perplexed, and Mencius at forty no longer moved his mind. Once a person's life passes forty, the qi and blood have already declined, and so one must still be on guard concerning desire. Your Majesty's sacred sons and divine grandsons already spread wide as branches and vines; you should preserve and nourish yourself and guard against desire, for your own sake.

Long ago, the Retired Emperor of Song was, by nature, a being of Heaven. There was an immortal named Lin Lingsu, who took him on a spirit-journey up to Heaven. He entered the palace where the immortal dwelt, and inscribed its tablet with the words "Divine Empyrean." There was no hunger, no thirst; no cold, no heat; all was free and easy, without care, joyful and at ease of itself — and he wished to dwell there long, with no further thought of returning to the human world. Lin Lingsu urged him, saying: "Your Majesty was mandated by Heaven to the human world, and as Son of Heaven your allotted work is not yet complete — how can you dwell here?" So he descended back to the human world. Afterward, the Jurchen state arose, and Emperor Taizu's general, Loushi, captured the Retired Emperor and carried him back to the north, where, after long years, he grew old and died at Shangjing, the Upper Capital. From this one may know that the joy of Heaven above exceeds that of the human world not merely ten-thousandfold. And one may also know: while his karma was not yet exhausted, how could he hope to return there all at once?

In years past, when I left my home, I had three companions of the Way; those three have already ascended in transformation, like a cicada shedding its shell — laying aside this mortal frame, they departed, able to divide their bodies into a thousand, a hundred forms, with nothing left unfulfilled. My own hardships are manifold, and I have not yet been able to leave the world — this too is because of karma.

Now, before a person is born, he dwells within the Way: no cold, no heat; no hunger, no thirst; the mind has nothing to dwell on — this is truly happiness. Once born and having taken on form, the eyes look upon sights, the ears listen to sounds, the tongue discerns flavors, the intention deliberates over affairs, and the ten thousand matters are born. The ancients, knowing that the mind and its intentions cannot be restrained, therefore likened the mind to a monkey and the intention to a horse — from which one may know how hard they are to govern. The ancients had a saying: "It is easy to subdue a fierce tiger; it is hard to bring down the inch-square mind." This is the shortcut to completing the Way and ascending to Heaven.

One who cultivates the real and refines the mind thinks upon no single thing — like water in the Great Void when it is still: when the wind on the water has died, it is calm and clear, and the ten thousand things are reflected in it, all radiantly seen. When the wind stirs the water, it moves and grows murky — how then could it mirror the ten thousand things? One's original, true nature is, in stillness, like water at rest — but the eyes look upon sights, the ears delight in sounds, the tongue savors flavors, and the intention fastens upon affairs; these several things arise one after another, overlapping, like a whirling wind stirring up waves. For one who cultivates the Way, the beginning of governing the mind is very hard; only with years and long, deep effort — lessening it, and lessening it again — does one arrive at non-action. For a man of the Way, who has but a single body, governing the mind is already hard; how much more for the Son of Heaven, who possesses all within the four seas, and each day attends to the ten thousand affairs of government — how could governing the mind be easy for him? Yet if he can only moderate desire for sex and lessen his deliberations, he too will obtain the protection of Heaven — how much more one who renounces it altogether?

Long ago, the Yellow Emperor made the bow and arrow, and created weapons and armor, to overawe all under Heaven. When his work was accomplished, he sought instruction from the immortal Guangchengzi, asking him about the way of governing the body. Guangchengzi said: "Do not let your thoughts and deliberations toil and scheme without rest — one saying is enough." I would say that the way of cultivating the body prizes the mean and the harmonious above all. Excessive anger injures the body; excessive joy injures the spirit; excessive brooding injures the qi. These three are, for the Way, greatly harmful, and one should guard against them.

Since Your Majesty already knows that the spirit is the true self, and the body an illusory frame, then whenever the sight of something stirs the mind, you need only reflect that the body is borrowed and the spirit real, and you will naturally be able to still the thought.

A long human lifespan is hard to obtain. Consider the birds and beasts: year after year they bear young, and in the turn of a heel these die young; few reach maturity and old age, and it is the same even for infants and children. Therefore twenty or thirty years is called the lower span of life; forty or fifty, the middle span; sixty or seventy, the upper span. Your Majesty's years have already entered the period of the upper span; you should cultivate virtue and preserve your body, that your long life may be increased further.

Those who leave their households to study the Way wear rough clothes and eat plain food, and do not accumulate wealth and goods, fearing that these would harm the body and diminish blessing. Those who cultivate the Way while remaining in their households — in food and drink, dwelling, precious ornaments and wealth — should likewise act according to their proper measure, and should not go to excess.

Beyond the four seas, under the whole of Heaven, all the lands and states are not merely tens of millions in number, and rare treasures and strange wonders come forth from them everywhere. Yet none of them equal the Central Plains, where Heaven has let down its scriptures and teachings, and the arts of governing the state and governing the body have been made abundantly complete — so that time and again there have appeared extraordinary men who have completed the Way and ascended to Heaven.

Shandong and Hebei are the fairest lands under Heaven, producing abundant fine grain and good vegetables, fish and salt, silk and cocoons, to supply the use of the four quarters. Since ancient times, whoever has held them has become a great state, and so, through all the ages, those who have held the realm have contended for this land alone. Now the common people there, worn by successive war and fire, are scattered and not yet gathered back; it would be well to appoint able and capable officials who know the fine particulars of affairs there, to plan and manage matters, and to remit the land-tax for three years, so that the army and the state have sufficient use of silk, and the common people gain the peace of rest and recovery — one act accomplishing two goods at once. This too is a part of pacifying the people and praying for blessing. From Heaven, blessing will come upon it — good fortune, and advantage in everything.

From ten thousand miles away, at a single summons I did not think the distance too far to come. Since I have already spoken first of the methods for cultivating the body and nourishing life, why should I now spare my words on the arts of governing the state and preserving the people? As for what I said before, of pacifying and gathering the people of Shandong and Hebei — if you send able and upright officials there, to act according to the plan laid out above, this will surely accord with the mind of Heaven. But if the charge is given to men of no true talent, it will not merely be without benefit — it will, on the contrary, do harm. At the beginning, when the Jin state gained the realm and first raised itself in the eastern lands, the sentiments of the people of the Central Plains were not yet well understood; they enfeoffed Liu Yu at Dongping, and administered the region for eight years before taking it fully in hand — this too was a sound policy for founding a new rule. I hope you will give this your attention.

The essential and wondrous Way of cultivating the body and nourishing life I have now transmitted in full; as for the arts of governing the state and preserving the people, I have set forth only a rough outline. Whether to use it or set it aside rests with Your Majesty's own sagely judgment to decide. Long ago, in the tenth year of his reign, the Emperor Shizong of Jin indulged in desire to excess, and could no longer bear the decline and weariness that followed; at every court audience, two men had to support him as he walked. From that time he sought out eminent men of the Way far and wide, seeking a method of preservation and nourishment, and he too once summoned me and asked about the way of cultivating the real; I answered him as I have said above. After that, his body grew sound and strong again, and he walked as he had before; in all, he reigned for thirty years, and then ascended on high.

Throughout my life I have studied the Way with a mind free of thought and deliberation. In a dream, Heaven's intent seemed to say to me: "Your merit and practice are not yet complete; you must wait for the appointed time to ascend in transformation." This illusory body, this borrowed thing, is merely a wayside inn, a shell to be shed — what is there in it to cling to? The true body flies up and ascends; it can divide itself into a thousand, a hundred forms, and nothing it wills is impossible. Whether it dwells in Heaven for a thousand years, or ten thousand times ten thousand, whenever there is need, it receives the mandate of Heaven and descends into the world, entering a womb and taking up a dwelling — that is all.

The transmission of the Way was complete. The Emperor then proclaimed to him: "Earnestly and repeatedly you have instructed me in the Way; I have respectfully heard and received your command. These are all things hard to carry out, yet how would I dare not to obey the immortal's command, and strive to put them into practice? I have already ordered my attendant ministers to record the words of this transmission of the Way on tablets and scrolls. I myself will read them in person, and where there remain mysterious principles not yet clear to me, I shall in time ask further instruction."

Here ends the Record of the Fortunate Meeting of the Mysterious Wind.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Immortals, Quanzhen, and Travel shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The whole work is prose: a frame narrative in the third person opens and closes it, enclosing a long discourse almost entirely in Changchun's own first-person voice. This structure, and the source's own paragraph divisions, are kept throughout. One explicit scriptural quotation (from the Daodejing, cited in the source by name) is set off with quotation marks; several further classical allusions embedded in the discourse — to the Daodejing, the Analects, the Book of Songs, the Yijing, and the Zhuangzi's account of the Yellow Emperor and Guangchengzi — are not marked as quotations in the source and so are translated in place, unmarked, as the source has them.

Before the claim below was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed. The two standard bibliographies of Daoist texts in Western-language translation on file (Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation and the 2023 Purple Cloud Press survey) were searched by Chinese title, pinyin, and the names of the historical figures involved; both record no translation of this specific text, though both record Arthur Waley's 1931 translation of its companion piece, Li Zhichang's travel diary (長春真人西遊記, DZ 1429), and Igor de Rachewiltz's 1962 translation of Yelü Chucai's own separate travel record (西遊錄), a different text again. Web search then found that a complete English translation of this text does exist: it appears as an appendix to Daoist Master Changchun's Journey to the West: To the Court of Chinggis Qan and Back (Oxford University Press, 2023, in the Hsu-Tang Library of Classical Chinese Literature), translated by Ruth W. Dunnell, Stephen H. West, and Shao-yun Yang. This Good Works Translation was made independently from the Chinese text printed below; the 2023 translation was not consulted or read in the course of this work — only its existence, title, translators, and publisher were confirmed by web search. To our knowledge, no other complete English translation of the Xuanfeng Qinghui Lu exists.

A note on one textual gap and two points of uncertainty. At the point corresponding to "through the nose it becomes …" in the list of what qi becomes as it passes through the body, the clean transcription used as the source for this translation has no character at all; the raw Wikisource witness marks the same point with an editorial template describing an unencodable variant graph (a 血-radical form related to 膿 or 涕, both words for bodily discharge), which has not been silently supplied in either the source text below or the translation above — it is rendered "[…]" in the translation, matching the source's gap. Separately: the general's name transcribed 婁失, said to have taken the retired Song emperor captive, is very likely the historical Jin general more commonly recorded as Lou Shi (婁室); and the rare graph 𡣕 in "多畜𡣕御" is translated here, from context and parallel usage elsewhere, as "consorts and attendants."

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

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Source Text: 玄風慶會錄

Classical Chinese text of the Zhengtong Daozang, in the Chinese Wikisource transcription. Presented complete for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

玄風慶會錄序

國師長春眞人，昔承宣召，不得已而後起，遂別中土，過流沙，陳道德以致君，止干戈而救物，功成身退，厭世登天。自太上玄元西去之後，寥寥千百載，唯眞人一人而已，其徃回事跡載於《西遊記》中詳矣。唯餘對上傳道，玄言奧旨，上令近侍録而秘之，𡻕乃踰旬，傳之及外，將以刋行於世，願與天下共知玄風慶會一段竒事云。壬辰長至日序。

玄風慶會錄

欽奉皇帝聖議，宣請高道長春眞人，𡻕在己卯，正元後一日。敕朝官劉仲禄齎詔尋訪，直至東萊。適符聖意，禮迎仙馭，不辭遠遠而來，逮乎壬午之冬，十月既望，皇帝畋于西域雪山之陽。是夕，御行在，設庭燎，虛前席，延長春眞人以問長生之道。

眞人曰：夫道生天育地，日月星辰、鬼神人物，皆從道生。人止知天大，不知道之大也。余生平棄親出家，唯學此耳。道生天地，開闢而生人焉。人之始生也，神光自照，行步如飛。地生菌，自有滋味，不假炊爨，人皆食之。此時尚未火食，其菌皆香且甘，鼻嗅其香，口嗜其味，漸致身重，神光尋滅，以愛欲之深故也。

學道之人，以此之故，世人愛處不愛，世人住處不住。去聲色，以清静爲娛；屏滋味，以恬淡爲美。但有執著，不名道德也。

眼見乎色，耳聽乎聲，口嗜乎味，性逐乎情，則散其氣。譬如氣鞠，氣實則徤，氣散則否。人以氣爲主，逐欲動念，則元氣散，若氣鞠之氣散耳。

天生二物，曰動，曰植。草本之類爲植，植而無識，雨露霑濡，自得生榮。人物之屬爲動，動而有情，無衣無食，何以卒𡻕？必當經營耳。旦夕云爲，身口爲累故也。

夫男，陽也，屬火；女，隂也，屬水。唯隂能消陽，水能剋火。故學道之人，首戒乎色。夫經營衣食，則勞乎思慮，雖散其氣，而散少；貪婪色欲，則耗乎精神，亦散其氣，而散之多。

道産二儀，輕清者爲天，天，陽也，屬火。重濁者爲地，地，隂也，屬水。人居其中，負隂而抱陽。故學道之人，知修鍊之術，去奢屏欲，固精守神，唯鍊乎陽。是致隂消而陽全，則昇乎天而爲仙，如火之炎上也。其愚迷之徒，以酒爲漿，以妄爲常。恣其情，逐其欲，耗其精，損其神。是致陽衰而隂盛，則沉於地爲鬼，如水之流下也。

夫學修眞者，如轉石上乎高山，愈高愈難，跬步顚沛，前功俱廢。以其難爲也，舉世莫之爲也。背道逐欲者，如擲石下乎峻坡，愈卑而愈易，斯須隕墜，一去無廻。以其易爲也，故舉世從之，莫或悟也。

余前所謂修鍊之道，皆常人之事耳。天子之說，又異於是。陛下本天人耳，皇天眷命，假手我家，除殘去暴，爲元元父母，恭行天罰，如代大匠斵，克艱克難，功成限畢，即昇天復位。在世之間，切宜減聲色，省嗜慾，得聖體康寧，睿筭遐遠耳。

庶人一妻，尚且損身，況乎天子，多畜𡣕御，寧不深損？陛下宮姬滿座，前聞劉仲禄中都等揀選處女以備後宫。竊聞《道經》云：「不見可欲，使心不亂。」既見之，戒之則難，願留意焉。

人認身爲己，此乃假物，從父母而得之者。神爲眞己，從道中而得之者，能思慮寤寐者是也。

行善進道，則昇天爲之仙；作惡背道，則入地爲之鬼。夫道生衆生，如金爲衆器，銷其像則返成乎金，人行乎善則返乎道。人間聲色衣食，人見以爲娛樂，此非眞樂，本爲苦耳。世人以妄爲眞，以苦爲樂，不亦悲哉？殊不知天上至樂，乃眞樂耳。

余儕以學道之故，棄父母而棲巖穴，同時學道四人，曰丘、曰劉、曰譚、曰馬。彼三人功滿道成，今已昇化。余辛苦之限未終，日一食一味一盂，恬然自適，以待乎時。

其富者貴者，濟民拯世，積行累功，更爲易耳。但能積善行道，胡患不能爲仙乎？

中國承平日久，上天屢降經教，勸人爲善。大河之北，西川江左，悉有之。東漢時，干吉受《太平經》一百五十卷，皆修眞治國之方。中國道人誦之行之，可獲福成道。又桓帝永壽元年正月七日，太上降蜀臨卭，授天師張道陵《南北斗經》及《二十四階法籙》，諸經籍千餘卷。晉王纂遇太上道君法駕，乗空賜經數十卷。元魏時，天師㓂謙之居嵩山，於太上等處受道經六十餘卷。皆治心修道、祈福禳災、掃除魑魅、拯疾疫之術。其餘經教，不可盡言。降經之意，欲使古今帝王臣民皆令行善。

經旨太多，謹舉其要。天地之生人爲貴，是故人身難得，如麟之角；萬物紛然，如牛之毛。既獲難得之身，宜趨修眞之路。作善修福，漸臻妙道。

上至帝王，降及民庶，尊卑雖異，性命各同耳。帝王悉天人謫降人間，若行善修福，則昇天之時，位踰前職；不行善修福，則反是。天人有功微行薄者，再令下世，修福濟民，方得高位。

昔軒轅氏，天命降世，一世爲民，再世爲臣，三世爲君。濟世安民，累功積德，數盡昇天，而位尊於昔。

陛下修行之法無他，當外修隂德，內固精神耳。恤民保衆，使天下懷安，則爲外行；省欲保神，則爲乎內行。

人以飲食爲本，其清者爲之精氣，濁者爲之便溺，貪慾好色，則䘮精耗氣，乃成衰憊。陛下冝加珍嗇。一宵一度，已爲深損，而況恣慾者乎？雖不能全戒，但能節慾，則幾於道矣。

夫神爲子，氣爲母。氣經目爲泪，經鼻爲，經舌爲津，經外爲汗，經內爲血，經骨爲髓，經腎爲精。氣全則生，氣亡則死。氣盛則壯，氣衰則老。常使氣不散，則如子之有父母；氣散，則如子之䘮父母，何怙何怙？夫神氣同體，精髓一源。陛下試一月静寢，必覺精神情爽，筋力強徤。古人云：「服藥千朝，不如獨卧一宵。」藥爲草，精爲髓。去髓添草，有何益哉？譬如囊中貯之金，旋去金而添鐵，乆之金盡，囊雖滿，空遺鐵耳。服藥之理，夫何益乎？

古人以繼嗣之故，娶婦而立家。先聖周公、孔子、孟子各有子，孔子四十而不惑，孟子四十而不動心。人生四十已上，氣血已衰，故戒之在色也。陛下聖子神孫，枝蔓多廣，宜保養戒欲，爲自計耳。

昔宋上皇，本天人也。有神仙林靈素者，挈之神游上天。入所居宮，題其額曰「神霄」。不飢不渴，不寒不暑，逍遙無事，快樂自在，欲乆居之，無復徃人間意。林靈素勸之曰：「陛下天命人世，有天子功限未畢，豈得居此？」遂下人間。自後女眞國興，太祖皇帝將婁失，虜上皇北歸，乆而老死于上京。由是知上天之樂何啻萬倍人間？又知因縁未終，豈能遽然而歸也？

余昔年出家，同道四人，彼三子先已昇化，如蟬蛻然。委此凡骨而去，能化身千百，無不如意。余辛苦萬端，未能去世，亦因縁之故也。

夫人之未生，在乎道中，不寒不暑，不飢不渴，心無所思，眞爲快樂，既生而受形，眼觀乎色，耳聽乎聲，舌了乎味，意慮乎事，萬事生矣。古人以心意莫能禦也，故喻心爲猿，意爲馬，其難制可知也。古人有言曰：「易伏猛虎，難降寸心。」乃成道昇天之捷逕耳。

道人修眞鍊心，一物不思量，如太虛止水，水之風息也，静而清，萬物照之，燦然悉見。水之風來也，動而濁，何能鑑萬物哉？本來眞性，静如止水，眼見乎色，耳悅乎聲，舌嗜乎味，意著乎事，此數者續續而疊舉，若飄風之鼓浪也。道人治心之初甚難，𡻕乆功深，損之又損，以至於無爲。道人一身耳，治心猶難，矧夫天子富有四海，日攬萬機，治心豈易哉？但能節色欲，減思慮，亦獲天祐，況全戒者邪？

昔軒轅皇帝，造弧矢，創兵革，以威天下。功成之際，請教于仙人廣成子，以問治身之道。廣成子曰：「汝無使思慮營營，一言足矣。」余謂修身之道貴乎中和。太怒則傷乎身，太喜則傷乎神，太思則傷乎氣。此三者，於道甚損，宜戒之也。

陛下既知神爲眞己，身是幻軀，凡見色起心，當自思身假神眞，自能止念也。

人生壽命難得，且如鳥獸，𡻕𡻕産子，旋踵夭亡，壯老者鮮，嬰童亦如之。是故二十、三十爲之下壽，四十、五十爲之中壽，六十、七十爲之上壽。陛下春秋已入上壽之期，宜修德保身，以介眉壽。

出家學道之人，惡衣惡食，不積貨財，恐害身損福故也。在家修道之人，飲食居處，珍玩貨財，亦當依分，不宜過差也。

四海之外，普天之下，所有國土，不啻億兆，竒珍異寶，比比出之。皆不如中原，天垂經教，治國治身之術，爲之大備。屢有竒人，成道昇天耳。

山東、河北，天下美地，多出良禾美蔬，魚鹽絲蠒，以給四方之用。自古得之者爲大國。所以歷代有國家者，唯争此地耳。今民有兵火相繼，流散未集，宜差知彼中子細事務者能幹官，䂓措勾當，與免三年稅賦，使軍國足絲帛之用，黔黎獲蘇息之安，一舉而兩得之。茲亦安民祈福之一端耳。自天祐之，吉無不利也。

余萬里之外，一召不逺而來，修身養命之方，既已先言，治國保民之術，何爲惜口？余前所謂安集山東、河北之事，如差清幹官前去，依上措畫，必當天心，茍授以非才，不徒無益，反爲害也。初，金國得天下，以創起東土，中原人情尚未諳悉，封劉豫於東平，經畧八年，然後取之，此亦開創良策也。願加意焉。

修身養命要妙之道，傳之盡矣，其治國保民之術，微陳梗槩，用之舍之，在宸衷之自斷耳。昔金世宗皇帝，即位之十年，色欲過度，不勝衰憊，每朝會，二人掖行之。自是博訪高道，求保養之方，亦嘗請余，問修眞之道，余如前說。自後身體康強，行步如故，凡在位三十年，昇遐。

余生平學道，心以無思無慮，夢中天意若曰：「功行未滿，當待時昇化耳。」幻身假物，若逆旅蛻居耳，何足戀也？眞身飛昇，可化千百，無施不可，上天或千𡻕，或萬萬，遇有事，奉天命降世，投胎就舍而已。

傳道畢。上諭之曰：「諄諄道誨，敬聞命矣。斯皆難行之事，然則敢不遵依仙命，勤而行之。傳道之語，已命近臣録之簡冊。朕將親覽，其有玄旨未明者，續當請益焉。」

《玄風慶會録》終

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Zhengtong Daozang edition of this text (article 玄風慶會錄, revision of 21 April 2024), 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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