Changchun Zushi Yulu — Teachings of Qiu Chuji, with the Record of His Audience Before Genghis Khan

This text preserves the teaching voice of Qiu Chuji 丘處機 (1148–1227), known by his Daoist name Changchun ("Perpetual Spring"), the most influential of Wang Chongyang's Seven Perfected and the founder of the Longmen ("Dragon Gate") branch of Quanzhen Daoism that became China's largest surviving Daoist monastic order. It falls into two parts. The first is a set of discourse-record (yǔlù 語錄) exchanges — the master preaching to his assembly and answering his disciples' questions on mind, nature, and the light of awareness — in the terse, oral register typical of the genre. The second, headed in the source itself as the Xuanfeng Qinghui Lu 玄風慶會錄 ("Record of a Fortunate Meeting of the Mysterious Wind"), is the official account of Qiu Chuji's famous 1222 audience before Genghis Khan in the Hindu Kush, where the emperor, deep in his western campaign, summoned the aged monk across ten thousand li to ask him for the secret of long life — and received instead a teaching on stilling desire, guarding the spirit, and governing with mercy.

The two parts differ sharply in register: the discourse record is compressed, allusive, and steeped in the Quanzhen synthesis of Buddhist and Daoist vocabulary (mind, nature, the "primordial spirit," the light turned inward); the imperial audience is measured court prose, addressed to a ruler and building its argument in patient, cumulative steps. One translation note: the discourse record repeatedly plays 性 (xìng, "nature") and 命 (mìng, "fate" or "vital force," here rendered "fate") against each other as the two poles of Quanzhen practice — "nature-study" (性學) is the cultivation of awareness and mind, "fate-labor" (命功) the cultivation of the body's vital energies; Changchun tells his disciples to weight the first far more heavily than the second, a hallmark of his branch of the school.

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

Translation

When the Master was at the Tianchang Monastery in Yanjing, he preached to the assembly, saying:

"The Way contains heaven and earth; spirit governs the hundred forms. That which is born and perishes is form; that which knows no birth or perishing is nature, is spirit. Whatever has form must decay — heaven and earth themselves belong to the illusory body, and when their great cosmic cycle is exhausted, they too show an end. Only the single point of yang light transcends the reckoning of kalpas. Within the human body it is the sea of nature — that is, the primordial spirit. This is why the World-Honored One cultivated the study of nature alone, refining and nurturing the primordial spirit. He could vanish, and so he vanished: he preached the Dharma for forty-nine years and dwelt in the world barely seventy-odd years, yet no one takes this to mean he lacked long life. His back pained him and he showed sickness — that was the decay of form, the flesh-and-blood body. He could be born, and so he was born, through a hundred thousand myriad kalpas, saving living beings without limit. When has he ever truly perished? One may as well say the Buddha's flesh-body still exists today. As for his nature, it does not decay — even hungry ghosts and beasts may become Buddhas, wherever there is a place of numinous clarity. Mind can create form; mind can preserve form. Among practitioners of the Dharma there are those who cherish dwelling in the world and pass through a thousand hundred kalpas in motion — this is the doing of mind. But if the root of the mind is injured and broken, in the turning of an eye one falls into the paths of darkness. So it is that form may remain while the mind has already died — this is the six paths of rebirth. And form may perish while the mind remains — this is the sages and worthies of the Three Teachings since antiquity. Those who in this age pray for long life, without turning to their own root-destiny to raise the supreme vow, but instead beg for numinous power from immortals and buddhas — this is to abandon the root and seek the branch. In the end, what has it to do with oneself? The reason our lineage does not speak of long life is not that we lack it, but that we have transcended it. This is the supreme and peerless Way, not some petty technique for extending the years."

Someone asked: "The Way of the Northern Lineage came to great flourishing with our Master; the prosperity of Complete Perfection has been unmatched since antiquity. Does it also esteem spirit-penetration and transformation?"

The Master said: "To esteem spirit-penetration is already to depart from the great Way. The great Way is utterly ordinary; it entertains no thought of the marvelous. Only let the mind be true, and what task cannot be accomplished? I attended Master Chongyang for three years and received not one word of instruction. Had I raised a mind of resentment, I would have proved myself of the lowest sort. It was only because his discipline was so severe that his love for me was so keen. So it was that at his transformation-departure he spoke the words: 'This disciple can be taught; my lineage will depend on him for its great flourishing.' Afterward I was received and guided by my elder brother in the Way, Master Danyang, and only then returned to the mountains to refine the mind and nurture the nature. Three times I met with demonic trials and was not moved; I was submerged in a great flood and did not know it; a tiger lay beside me and I felt no fear. At first the mind was made true; in time the mind became empty; when the mind is empty, nature is seen — and the great task is done. Then I left the mountains to deliver the world and transform its people. Emperors and rulers bowed in ceremony; the three palaces served and attended me; they gazed toward me from afar to ask the Way — the utmost of ceremony. I told them of clarity, stillness, and non-action, and that the Lord on High loves life; the benevolent and generous manner of that whole age arose from these two phrases alone. The sovereign wrote with his own hand upon my robe's collar and ordered it kept in the palace treasury, to be handed down to his descendants for generations. He decreed me Great Patriarch-Master, yet my mind was never once moved by it. All my life I have not lightly accepted another's bow — where a bow was given, I always returned it. I never once mounted a master's seat of my own accord. Yellow-haired children and white-haired elders, women and eunuchs, ministers and officials, lords and emperors — to me all are equal. In the lands of the Western Regions they call me the Living Buddha of China. Wherever my teaching reached, from the near to the far frontier, no distinction was made. Never since antiquity has the flourishing of Complete Perfection reached such a height — yet how could this be anything I contrived? It is no more than a single bubble floating on the sea of nature. Heaven and humankind respond to each other naturally; I do not esteem spirit-penetration. Once there was a demon-thing in the palace that a hundred methods could not quell; the Celestial Master himself was at a loss and came to ask me about it. I was in the mountains at the time; in stillness I formed a faint thought, and the thing was already drawn into the mirror of the Way's light — I never made use of thunder-spirits, generals, talismans, diagrams, or seals. That the crooked cannot overcome the upright is simply principle. I only hold to that principle, nothing more."

The Master instructed the assembly, saying: "In our lineage the first three stages are all work of doing — the labor of fate. The latter six stages are the wondrous Way of non-doing — the study of nature. Three parts fate-labor, seven parts nature-study. From this point on we speak only of the study of nature, not the labor of fate. What may still be called labor of fate belongs to the realm of doing — labor means work: it has steps and stages. But what labor could there be to nature? Even the Buddha only completed the study of nature and nothing more. People in this age crave life to excess, hoping and longing for long life, and in the end none attain it — because the mind is not made true. Though they wear themselves out utterly nourishing the form, arising from concern for the form, this all belongs to private-mindedness and does not accord with Heaven's mind — how then could they attain high age? Students should embody and test my meaning: vow to raise the supreme mind, and this itself becomes the supreme body."

Someone asked: "This disciple's root-nature is base and inferior — is he fit to study the Way?"

The Master said: "At the very start of my Record of Travels to the West I said: whoever has the seven apertures may become a Perfected one. Does my son have only six?"

The Master instructed the assembly, saying: "Worldly methods make use of the substantial; the great Way makes use of the empty. Only through emptiness comes clarity, and clarity is wisdom. Wisdom is not born from the root-nature as such; it comes when the mind settles and congeals — when mind congeals, spirit appears. When nature is seen, the person is completed. A person is not a mere clod: the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning and the Buddha Bhīṣmagarjitasvararāja — to treat these two venerable ones as mere mystery-and-emptiness is itself to be a lesser gentleman sunk in delusion. One must know: where there is this mind, there is this nature; the two venerable ones add nothing to it, and ordinary people do not lack it either. The two venerable ones became teachers who left the world; students become ghosts turning in the wheel. Is this not painful! Between the two there is nothing but the difference of delusion and awakening. To use a hundred stratagems to nourish the body is to use a hundred stratagems to darken the mind; when the mind is darkened, nature is deluded; when nature is deluded, the spirit is enslaved in the nine shades. Consider: the body lasts no more than a few decades, yet the delusion and darkness of the spirit may run on through a thousand kalpas. One breath's delusion already makes a year; a single day's delusion already makes thirty-six thousand mornings. The rest may be reckoned by the same measure. But if one can truly see nature, then even on the point of death a single instant can break through the darkness of a hundred thousand myriad kalpas — how much more so when the five senses are clear and the four limbs are strong? Students must urgently stop their thoughts: when thought stops, the mind settles; when the mind settles, the light of wisdom arises of itself. Once wisdom has arisen, one must still nourish it within what is unseen and unheard, without sound or scent, and only after long practice does one return to the true realm of empty nothingness. Students today all have understanding, not mind-realization; they all have the light of consciousness, not the light of wisdom. This is why they turn in the wheel among gods and men, drifting through the six paths. As for those who do evil, they have no radiance at all, only the vapor of evil and the vapor of transgression; once the light of their eyes falls, the whole body turns to shadow, and they fall into Fengdu. When a thousand Buddhas appear in the world, those who cannot bring themselves to repentance have no light of their own — how could they receive the Buddha-light and be led onward? Students at present have only outward light, whose workings lie in the eyes. The pearl that streams from the sun constantly wishes to leave a person — that is its natural course. Turn it back and draw it inward, and the golden flower will hold and enfold it. When the inward light is lost to delusion, it is the six desires pulling at it; wild imaginings startle the spirit. That one cannot be clear and still even for a moment is because being and non-being are turned upside down. Awaken and transcend this: break through the habituated energies without beginning, and seek out the light of the original seed, glittering and round. Alas — those who know are few, and those who awaken are fewer still! I do not dare hope for the awakened; to meet even one who knows would already be enough."

Someone asked: "Are knowing and awakening different?"

The Master said: "Where knowing reaches its full ten parts, that is the state of awakening. Knowing is where one puts the hand to work; awakening is the final attainment."

The questioner said: "Suppose one lays down the ten thousand conditions and lets not a single thought move — is that it?"

The Master said: "That is the substance. There remains still the function."

The Master instructed the assembly, saying: "In the human body, one thought stirring is one kalpa — this is the joining of inner and outer. One inner kalpa answers to one outer kalpa. In delusion, an instant is ten thousand kalpas; in awakening, ten thousand kalpas are an instant. On the mind itself there are, in truth, no years or months at all."

The Master instructed the assembly, saying: "If a student can only turn the light back, this alone completes the matter of life and death. This light surpasses sun and moon and penetrates the three realms; without it, heaven and earth themselves would be dark, dull, and without numinous power. Where else could the ten thousand things arise? This light is none other than the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning and Bhīṣmagarjitasvararāja themselves. Living beings turn in the wheel of rebirth because this light flows outward and gives rise to every kind of wild imagining; hence the illusory husk-body is conjured up, bones piled like mountains, blood pooled like seas. Let it be said plainly, in a single phrase: in the human body, everything outside the two eyes is a dead thing; within the eye alone, the primordial essence and primordial spirit both reside — how could this not be weighty? Once the eye's light falls to the ground, it is a long night of ten thousand ages. When a person is in the womb, the two eyes are formed first; at death, they are the first to change. Long ago the Great Being Guanyin manifested eighty-one transformations, appearing and changing to the utmost degree, yet the eyes never moved — the Buddha's numinous majesty could not change them. Here, among living beings, it is the reverse: they can change. Before they have even died, their eyes have already changed in every way. How sorrowful!"

Someone asked: "Are turning the light back and the work of the golden elixir one thing or two?"

The Master said: "Turning the light back is more than the golden elixir alone — it is the true instruction of our lineage's very gate. This is what is meant by 'anointing the crown'; this is what is meant by 'receiving the prediction.' Among the twenty-four modes of Perfect Penetration in the Śūraṅgama, there is originally this truth: contemplating the tip of the nose, the mind empty and its outflows exhausted, the in- and out-breath transformed into light — this attests to the fruit of a bodhisattva. Our lineage's method is entirely this."

The questioner said: "Is it enough to turn the light back for one two-hour period each day?"

The Master said: "The very least is three periods."

The questioner said: "Suppose one is burdened with worldly affairs and can manage only one period — what then?"

The Master said: "One period, truly done, is itself wondrous — a single period already seizes the reckoning of heaven and earth across ten thousand years. But let one day pass in restless running about, with the light scattered, and one has already built oneself a thousand-kalpa dark prison in Fengdu. In the nether world there is no calendar of years; its reckoning runs by the thousands and myriads of kalpas, beyond the reach of ordinary counting."

Someone asked: "The Buddha spoke of rebirth in the Western Paradise — are there names recorded in the lotus pond?"

The Master said: "Never mind names. The flower-pond is simply the square inch of the heart-mind; the lotus bud is simply the light of nature. Within the body there already is a buddha-land manifest."

The questioner said: "If so, then the Pure Land is nothing at all."

The Master said: "And yet it is also truly real — it cannot do without being made by mind and answered by mind."

Someone asked: "This disciple wishes to recite the Diamond Sutra five hundred times, to deliver a departed spirit — is that right?"

The Master said: "The Diamond Sutra too is only one approach to stopping thought, and one great gateway for delivering the departed. Only truly stop thought, and reciting the four-line verse is already complete."

The questioner said: "May I ask, which is the four-line verse?"

The Master said: "It is: 'like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow.'"

The questioner said: "Or would the four lines be: 'no mark of self, no mark of person, no mark of living beings, no mark of a life span'?"

The Master said: "That will also do."

The questioner said: "Or the four lines: 'the line that is, the line that is not; the line neither is nor is not; the very line that is and is not'?"

The Master said: "That will also do. Only, it cannot be pinned down — and that is precisely why it is wondrous. If one fixes upon some particular line as the four-line verse, one has already become attached to marks."

Someone asked: "'Able-and-Benevolent' is what Śākyamuni means — what is the substance of this benevolence?"

The Master said: "Benevolence is life itself. A single point of living force — birds calling, flowers opening, the colors of the mountains, the light on the waves — all are held within creation and transformation, and all are the true ground. Spread out, it is entirely the warmth of spring. When not a single thought is born, that is the substance of benevolence; when the ten thousand thoughts are all perfectly rounded, that is the function of benevolence. Emptied, it transforms; rounded, it penetrates; penetrating, then above and below and the four directions, the empty sky, past and present, all lie within my own breast, nothing outside it. It is not only the hells, hungry ghosts, and beasts that deserve pity — looking straight at other people too moves one to tears. Turning to regard the kinsmen of many lifetimes, the enmities of many lifetimes — all lie sheltered beneath the covering light of compassion. Only when one reaches this point is it truly 'Able-and-Benevolent'; only then does one attest the fruit of the Thus-Come One. To raise the matter now from this branch or that twig is never the great Way."

The questioner said: "This disciple, in stillness, feels the great chiliocosm to be like a single room, and the ten thousand kalpas to be like the scene of a single moment — may this be called benevolence?"

The Master said: "It is never something to be reached by speculation and discussion. Only truly carry it out upon the mind, and that will do. Today the weather is clear and mild, the sunlight fine — each of you may go and take your ease; do not waste the fine season. And with an enlightened teacher and fine companions, there is no joy greater than this. To send forth one's spirit so that a hundred ailments do not arise — this too is the function of benevolence."

The Master instructed the assembly, saying: "In our lineage the only thing prized is seeing one's nature; the pairing of water and fire is secondary. The great essential is: to still the mind and congeal the spirit as the first working; to make nature bright and see emptiness as the true ground; to forget consciousness and dissolve obstruction as the function. Looking back, dragon and tiger, mercury and lead, are all Dharma-images and must not be clung to and fixed upon. To go against this is to become an outside path — not a disciple of mine."

The Master instructed the assembly, saying: "Once a student has found the way in, he should withdraw and store himself in secrecy, working directly from the very origin of thought to wash and strip it away. The finer Heaven's principle becomes, the more one sees how hard the human mind is to overcome. As human desire nears its cleansing, one sees all the more how distant and faint Heaven's mind is. This is worth pondering — worth pondering deeply."

Someone asked: "This disciple wishes to leave home and study the Way, but his worldly ties are not yet ended and his merit and reputation not yet made — might he wait a few more years?"

The Master said: "If you truly wish to inherit my lineage, the two words 'fame' and 'profit' must first be made light. When my own mind was set on seeking the Way, I could decline even the seat of a prime minister. My seeking after people is far greater than any person's seeking after me — let each of you strive at this, or else on some later day there will be no way for us to meet again, our true selves and our ghost-selves gone separate ways. Time passes like lightning; in the snap of a finger the hair turns white and scattered. Add one more year, and you draw one day nearer to being a ghost; the fleshly body decays easily, and the true nature remains uncultivated. What then, what then?"

A Fortunate Meeting of the Mysterious Wind

Reverently receiving the sagely deliberation of the Emperor, the court proclaimed and summoned the eminent adept, the Perfected Changchun. It was the year jimao [1219], the day after the New Year. The court official Liu Zhonglu was charged to carry the imperial edict and seek him out; he went as far as Qixia, and this matched the sage intention exactly — the Perfected was welcomed with ceremony to his carriage of transcendence, and did not decline to come from so great a distance. By the winter of the year renwu [1222], on the day after the full moon of the tenth month, the Emperor was hunting on the sunny slope of the Snow Mountains in the Western Regions. That evening, at the traveling palace, torches were set in the courtyard and the foremost seat left empty; the Perfected Changchun was invited forward, to be asked about the Way of long life.

The Perfected said: "The Way gives birth to Heaven and nurtures Earth; sun, moon, and stars, spirits, ghosts, and all beings, are all born from the Way. People know only that Heaven is great; they do not know that the Way is greater still. All my life I have left kin and home for this study alone. The Way gave birth to Heaven and Earth; Heaven and Earth opened wide, and human beings were born within them. When human beings first came to life, a spiritual light shone of itself from them, and they walked as if flying. The earth produced mushrooms of their own savor, needing no cooking, and people all ate them — in that age fire had not yet been used for food, and these mushrooms were all fragrant and sweet, the nose smelling their fragrance, the mouth relishing their taste. Gradually the body grew heavy, and the spirit-light was extinguished in time — because of the depth of love and desire. This is why the person who studies the Way does not love what worldly people love, and does not dwell where worldly people dwell: putting away sound and sight, taking clarity and stillness as delight; setting aside savor and taste, taking plainness and blandness as beauty. But wherever there is attachment, that is not to be called Way and Virtue. When the eye sees form, the ear hears sound, the mouth relishes flavor, and the nature runs after passion, the qi is loosened and dispersed — like a ball of qi: when the qi is full, it is sound; when the qi disperses, it is not. Human beings take qi as their master; when desire is pursued and thought stirs, the primal qi disperses — just as the qi of a ball, once let out, is gone.

"Heaven produces two kinds of things: the moving and the planted. Grasses and trees belong to the planted; planted things have no awareness, and moistened by rain and dew they flourish of themselves. Human beings and animals belong to the moving; moving things have feeling, and without clothing or food how could they pass out the year? They must labor and provide. Morning and night given over to activity — this is because body and mouth are a burden. Now the male is yang and belongs to fire; the female is yin and belongs to water. Only yin can dissolve yang, and water can overcome fire. This is why the person who studies the Way guards first of all against sensual desire. Laboring to provide clothing and food wearies the thoughts and considerations; though it too disperses the qi, it disperses little. But greed for sensual desire wastes the essence and spirit, and this too disperses the qi — and 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. Human beings dwell between the two, carrying yin on their backs and embracing yang. So the person who studies the Way, knowing the art of cultivation and refinement, casts away craving and puts by desire, secures the essence and guards the spirit, and refines only the yang. Thus when yin is dissolved and yang made whole, one ascends to Heaven and becomes an immortal — as fire blazes upward. But the foolish and deluded take wine for their drink and treat wantonness as their constant way; they indulge their passions, pursue their desires, waste their essence, and injure their spirit. Thus yang declines and yin flourishes, and they sink into the Earth and become ghosts — as water flows downward. Now the one who studies the Way and cultivates the real is like one rolling a stone up a high mountain: the higher, the harder; a single misstep undoes all the labor before — because it is difficult to do, and the whole world fails to do it. The one who turns from the Way to chase desire is like one flinging a stone down a steep slope: the lower, the easier; in an instant it plunges and is gone, never to return — because it is easy to do, and so the whole world follows it, hardly any awakening. What I have said above of the way of cultivation and refinement concerns ordinary people's affairs. What I say to the Son of Heaven is a different matter.

"Your Majesty is by nature a being of Heaven. August Heaven, in its mandate and regard, has lent its hand through our house to remove the cruel and drive out the violent, and to be father and mother to the common people. In reverently carrying out Heaven's punishment, it is as one who cuts wood in place of the great carpenter — mastering hardship and mastering difficulty. When the task is complete and the appointed span finished, Your Majesty will ascend to Heaven and return to your rightful place. In the meantime, while in the world, you should above all reduce sound and sight, and curb craving and desire, so that your sacred body may be kept sound and well, and your wise reckoning of years extended far. Even a commoner with a single wife may injure his body — how much more the Son of Heaven, who keeps so many consorts and concubines? Would this not be a deep injury? Your Majesty's palace is filled with women; I have heard that Liu Zhonglu and others at Zhongdu were selecting virgin girls to fill the rear palace. I have humbly heard it said in the scriptures of the Way: 'Not to see what may be desired keeps the mind from disorder.' Once a thing is seen, to guard against it becomes difficult — I hope Your Majesty will give this his attention.

"Now people take the body to be the self, but this is a borrowed thing, received from one's parents — the physical frame, the ears and eyes, that is what it is. The spirit is the true self, received from the Way itself — that which is able to think, consider, wake, and sleep, that is what it is.

"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. Now the Way gives birth to all living beings as gold is made into many vessels: melt down the vessel's form and it returns to being gold; let a person practice goodness, and he returns to being the Way.

"The sounds, sights, clothing, and food of the human world are seen by people as pleasure, but this is not true joy — it is at root suffering. Worldly people take the false for the true and take suffering for joy — is this not sorrowful? Little do they know that the utmost joy of Heaven above is the true joy. For the sake of studying the Way, my companions and I abandoned our parents and dwelt in mountain caves — four of us studied the Way together: Qiu, Liu, Tan, and Ma. Those three completed their labor and perfected the Way, and have already ascended in transformation. My own term of hardship is not yet ended; each day I take one meal, one flavor, one bowl, at peace and content, awaiting my time.

"For those who are rich and honored, to aid the people and rescue the world, accumulating good conduct and piling up merit, is in fact the easier path. If only one can accumulate goodness and practice the Way, what cause is there to fear one cannot become an immortal?

"China has long enjoyed an age of peace, and Heaven above has repeatedly sent down scriptural teachings urging people toward goodness — north of the great river, west of the Sichuan gorges, east of the Yangzi, all have them. In the Eastern Han, Yu Ji received the Scripture of Great Peace in one hundred fifty scrolls, all methods for cultivating and governing the state; the Daoists of China who recited and practiced it might gain blessing and complete the Way. Again, in the first year of the Yongshou reign of Emperor Huan, on the seventh day of the first month, the Most High descended at Linqiong in Shu and bestowed on the Celestial Master Zhang Daoling the scriptures of the Southern and Northern Dippers and the registers of the twenty-four ranks — scriptures and texts numbering over a thousand scrolls in all. In the Jin dynasty, Wang Zuan encountered the carriage of the Most High Lord of the Dao, who, riding upon the empty sky, bestowed several dozen scrolls of scripture, all arts for governing the mind and cultivating the Way, praying for blessing and dispelling calamity, sweeping away goblins and demons, and saving from pestilence. The rest of these scriptural teachings cannot all be told. The intent in sending down these scriptures was to make emperors, ministers, and subjects of every age practice goodness. The purport of the scriptures is very great in number; let me raise their essentials. Heaven and Earth in giving birth to people prize the human form as rare — as rare as a horn upon an ox, while the ten thousand other things are as common as the hairs upon its hide. Having obtained this rarely-attained form, one should hasten to the path of cultivating the real, do good and cultivate blessing, and gradually draw near the wondrous Way. From emperors above down to the common people below, though noble and humble differ, their nature and their allotted life are the same. Emperors are all beings of Heaven exiled and sent down into the human world; if they do good and cultivate blessing, then at the time of their ascent to Heaven their rank will exceed their former office; if they fail to do good and cultivate blessing, the opposite follows. Beings of Heaven whose merit is slight and whose conduct is thin are sent down into the world once more, to cultivate blessing and aid the people, and only then attain a high rank. Long ago the Yellow Emperor, mandated by Heaven, descended into the world: in one life a commoner, in a second life a minister, in a third life a ruler. By aiding the world and giving peace to the people, accumulating merit and piling up virtue, when his allotted span was exhausted he ascended to Heaven, his rank made more honored than before.

"Your Majesty's method of cultivation is no other than this: outwardly to cultivate hidden virtue, inwardly to secure the essence and spirit. To have compassion for the people and preserve the multitude, so that all under Heaven cherishes peace — this is the outward practice; to curb desire and preserve the spirit — this is the inward practice.

"Human beings take food and drink as their root; what is clear in it becomes essence and qi, what is turbid becomes waste. Craving desire and loving sensual pleasure loses the essence and wastes the qi, and so brings about decline and exhaustion. Your Majesty should treasure and be sparing: even once in ten nights is already a deep loss — how much more so for one who indulges without restraint? Though one cannot forswear it entirely, if one can only moderate desire, one draws near to the Way.

"Now spirit is the child, and qi is the mother. The heart is the pathway of qi; the eyes are the pathway of tears; the nose is the pathway of mucus; the tongue is the pathway of saliva; the outer body is the pathway of sweat; the inner body is the pathway of blood; the bones are the pathway of marrow; the kidneys are the pathway of essence. When qi is whole, there is life; when qi is gone, there is death; when qi is abundant, one is strong; when qi declines, one grows old. To keep the qi always from dispersing is like a child having his father and mother; when the qi disperses, it is like a child losing father and mother — on what, then, can he rely? Now spirit and qi share one body; essence and marrow share one source. Let Your Majesty try a single month of quiet sleep alone, and you will surely feel your spirit clear and refreshed, your sinews and strength renewed. The ancients said: 'To take medicine for a thousand mornings is not as good as sleeping alone a single night.' Medicine is grass; essence is marrow. What benefit is there in taking away marrow and adding grass? It is like gold stored in a sack: gradually take out the gold and put in iron instead, and in time the gold is gone — the sack may look full, but only iron is left within. What benefit, by this reasoning, is there in a great abundance of medicine? The ancients, for the sake of continuing the family line, took wives and established households. Even the former sages the Duke of Zhou, Confucius, and Mencius each had sons; yet Confucius at forty was free of confusion, and Mencius at forty had a mind no longer moved. Once a person passes forty, the blood and qi have already declined, and roughly three parts in ten of illness lie in matters of sensual desire. Your Majesty's sacred sons and divine grandsons already flourish in branch and leaf; you should preserve yourself and guard against desire for your own sake alone.

"Long ago the Retired Emperor of the 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, into the palace where he dwelt, whose lintel bore the title 'Divine Empyrean.' There, there was no hunger, no thirst, no cold, no heat — free and at ease, without care, joyful and unconstrained. He wished to dwell there long, with no thought left of returning to the human world. Lin Lingsu counseled him, saying: 'Your Majesty was mandated by Heaven into the human world; the Son of Heaven's appointed task is not yet finished — how can you dwell here?' And so he descended back into the human world. After this, the Jurchen state arose; and when the founding emperor of the Jin was about to leave the world, he took the Retired Emperor captive and carried him north, where in time he grew old and died at the Upper Capital. From this one may know: how could the joy of Heaven above be less than ten thousand times that of the human world? And one may also know: while causes and conditions are not yet exhausted, how can one return all at once? In years past, when I left home, four of us studied the Way together; those three companions have already ascended in transformation, as a cicada sheds its shell, casting off this common bone and departing. They can divide their bodies into the hundreds and thousands, and in nothing are they not at ease. My own hardship runs on in every way, and I have not yet been able to leave the world — this too is a matter of causes and conditions.

"Now before a person is born, he abides within the Way — no cold, no heat, no hunger, no thirst; the mind has nothing to think upon, and this is truly joy. Once born and given form, the eyes look upon sights, the ears listen to sounds, the tongue tastes flavors, and the intent turns over affairs — and the ten thousand matters are born. The ancients, finding mind and intent impossible to govern, likened the mind to a monkey and the intent to a horse; how hard they are to master may be known from this. The ancients had a saying: 'It is easier to subdue a fierce tiger than to bring down the inch-square heart.' This is the shortcut to completing the Way and ascending to Heaven. The person of the Way, cultivating the real and refining the mind, thinks upon not a single thing, like still water in the great void: when the wind of the water is stilled, it is quiet and clear, and the ten thousand things are reflected in it, all seen brilliantly. When the wind stirs the water, it moves and turns turbid — how then could it mirror the ten thousand things? The true nature, in its origin, is like still water; but the eye looking upon sights, the ear delighting in sounds, the tongue relishing flavors, the intent fixed on affairs — these several things arise one after another in succession, like a whirling wind churning up waves.

"At the beginning, for the person of the Way to govern the mind is extremely difficult; but with the years the labor deepens — lessening it, and lessening it again — until one reaches non-doing.

"For the person of the Way, it is only a single body, and yet to govern the mind is still difficult — how much more for the Son of Heaven, who holds all within the four seas and daily reviews the ten thousand affairs of state? How could governing the mind be easy for him? Yet if he can only moderate sensual desire and extinguish over-thinking, he too will gain Heaven's protection — how much more so one who forswears it entirely?

"Long ago the Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan fashioned the bow and arrow and created armor and weapons, to awe the world. When his task 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 considerations run busily about — this single word is enough.'

"I would say: the way of cultivating the body prizes centrality and harmony. Excessive anger injures the body; excessive joy injures the spirit; excessive thinking and considering injures the qi. These three do great damage to the Way, and should be guarded against. Since Your Majesty already knows that the spirit is the true self and the body an illusory husk, then whenever the sight of beauty stirs the mind, you need only reflect that the body is false and the spirit true, and thought will stop of itself. Human life and its allotted span are hard to attain: consider birds and beasts, which bear young year after year, and yet in a turn of the heel they perish young; few reach maturity and old age, and infants and children fare the same. This is why 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, to extend your long-browed old age. Those who leave their homes to study the Way wear poor clothing and eat poor food and do not accumulate goods and wealth, fearing to harm the body and diminish their store of blessing thereby.

"For those who cultivate the Way while remaining in their households, their food and drink, dwelling, precious things, and wealth should also accord with their proper measure, and should not exceed it.

"Beyond the four seas, under the whole of Heaven, the lands and territories that exist number more than a hundred million, and their rare treasures and marvelous jewels, set beside those of the Central Plain, are none of them its equal — for Heaven let down its scriptural teachings there, and the arts of governing the state and governing the body were made fully complete in it, so that time and again extraordinary men appeared there and completed the Way to ascend to Heaven. Shandong and Hebei are the finest lands under Heaven, producing fine grain and good vegetables in abundance, fish, salt, silk, and cocoons, sufficient to supply every quarter. Since ancient times, whoever holds them has become a great state; this is why, dynasty after dynasty, those who have held the realm have held only this land. At present the common people there have suffered war and fire one after another, scattered and not yet gathered back together. It would be well to dispatch officials who know the fine details of affairs there, capable and able men, to make arrangements and manage matters, and to remit taxes and levies for three years, so that the army and the state have sufficient use of silk and cloth, and the common black-haired people gain the peace of rest and recovery. This is one act that would achieve two ends at once — this too is one part of giving the people peace and praying for their blessing. From this, Heaven's protection and good fortune could not fail to bring benefit.

"From ten thousand li away, at a single summons I did not shrink from the distance to come. The methods of cultivating the body and nourishing life I have already set forth first — why then should I spare my words on the arts of governing the state and preserving the people? What I said before, of settling and gathering together the people of Shandong and Hebei — if capable and upright officials are dispatched there to carry out the arrangements set forth above, this will surely accord with Heaven's mind. But if the task is entrusted to unworthy men, it will not merely be without benefit — it will become harmful instead. At the beginning, when the Jin state won the realm and rose up to found itself in the eastern lands, the sentiments of the people of the Central Plain were not yet well understood, so they enfeoffed Liu Yu at Dongping and managed the region for eight years before taking it over fully — this too was a sound policy of founding a state. I hope Your Majesty will give this his 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 brief outline of their substance. Whether to use it or set it aside rests with Your Majesty's own sovereign judgment alone.

"Long ago, in the tenth year of his reign, the Jin Emperor Shizong suffered from excessive sensual indulgence and could not bear his own decline and exhaustion; at every court audience two men had to support him as he walked. From that time he sought widely for eminent adepts, seeking a method of preservation and nourishment, and once summoned me as well to ask about the way of cultivating the real. I told him as I have told Your Majesty above, and from then his body grew sound and healthy, and he walked as before. He remained on the throne some thirty years before ascending on high. My companions who studied the Way with me in life, their minds free of thought and consideration — in a dream, Heaven's intent seemed to say to me: 'Your merit and practice are not yet complete; you must wait for your time to ascend in transformation.' The illusory body, the borrowed thing, is no more than a traveler's lodging shed like a cicada's shell — what is there in it to cling to? When the true body flies up and ascends, it can divide itself into the hundreds and thousands, and there is nothing it cannot do. Above in Heaven, whether for a thousand years or ten thousand, whenever some matter arises, one receives Heaven's mandate and descends into the world — casting off one lodging and taking up another, nothing more."

When the transmission of the Way was finished, the Sovereign addressed him, saying: "Your earnest and repeated instruction in the Way I have reverently received. These are all matters difficult to carry out — yet how would I dare fail to obey the immortal's command and practice them with diligence? The words spoken in transmitting the Way I have already ordered my attendant ministers to record on tablets and scrolls, and I shall study them myself. Where any mysterious meaning remains unclear to me, I shall continue to seek further instruction."

Auspicious day, fourth month of summer, in the year renwu [1222].

Interpreting official: Yelü Chucai
Interpreting Grand Preceptor and Director of the Department of State Affairs, Duke of Heng: Ahai
Special Commissioner with Plenary Powers: Liu Zhonglu

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 text falls into two parts of different register and was handled accordingly: the discourse-record sayings are rendered as prose dialogue, keeping the terse question-and-answer form and the alternation of "the Master instructed the assembly" and "someone asked"; the Xuanfeng Qinghui Lu is rendered as continuous prose, following its own paragraph divisions, with Qiu Chuji's long address to Genghis Khan kept as a single extended speech broken only where the source itself breaks it.

Before the claim below was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed. Komjathy's Daoist Texts in Translation was checked and lists no translation of either the 長春祖師語錄 or the 玄風慶會錄 by name (it does record Arthur Waley's 1931 translation of a related but distinct text, the Changchun zhenren xiyou ji, Qiu Chuji's disciple Li Zhichang's travel account of the same journey west, which is not this text). The Purple Cloud survey of Daoist texts in Western-language translation was also checked and records nothing under this title. Two bounded web searches were run — for the Chinese title and for the Xuanfeng Qinghui Lu by its romanized name — and turned up a public forum thread in which a researcher specifically asking after an English translation of the Xuanfeng Qinghui Lu reported finding none. No confirmed complete English translation of this text was located by any of these checks. To our knowledge, this is the first complete published English translation of the Changchun Zushi Yulu, including its Xuanfeng Qinghui Lu section. We state this as the limit of our knowledge, not as a certainty, and note for the record that a related but different text — the travel diary of Qiu Chuji's journey, not his own discourse record and audience speech — has been in English translation since 1931.

A note on two matters. First, "性" (nature) and "命" (fate, here also "vital force") are Quanzhen's paired technical terms for mind-cultivation and body-cultivation respectively; both are kept in English rather than left as pinyin, since the text itself glosses their relative weight. Second, the closing list of officials gives the name of the great Khitan statesman and scholar who served as Genghis Khan's interpreter as "移刺走楚材" in this transcription; his name is more commonly recorded as Yelü Chucai (耶律楚材), "Yelü" and "Yila" being alternate renderings of the same Khitan clan name, and the character 走 appears to be a transcription artifact of the source rather than part of the name — the translation follows the standard historical form, Yelü Chucai. Third, one clause in the passage on resettling Shandong and Hebei reads "一舉而兩面三刀得之" in this transcription; "兩面三刀" ("two-faced, three-bladed") is a much later colloquial idiom for duplicity and does not fit the sense of the sentence, which is plainly the classical phrase 一舉兩得, "to achieve two things with one action." This appears to be a transcription artifact rather than the original wording; the source text above preserves the transcription as found, and the translation renders the intended sense, "one act that would achieve two ends at once."

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

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Source Text: 長春祖師語錄

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

師在燕京天長觀時，普說曰："道涵天地，神統百形，生滅者形也，無生滅者，性也，神也。有形者皆壞，天地亦屬幻軀，元會盡而示終。只有一點陽光，超乎劫數之外。在人身中為性海，即元神也。故世尊獨修性學，煉育元神。可以滅而滅。說法四十九年，住世亦止七十余載，人不以為無壽。背痛而示疾，形壞也。血肉之軀也。可以生而生，百千萬億劫，度生無量。又何嘗滅哉？謂佛肉身至今存可也。若論性不壞，即餓鬼畜牲，皆堪成佛，有靈明處是也。心能造形，心能留形。法中有愛住世者，動經千百劫，心為之也。若心根傷壞，轉眼便為冥途矣。故有形存而心先死者，六道是也。有形亡而心存者，古來三教聖賢是也。今世祈長生者，不向本命元辰自發大願，乃從仙佛乞靈，是舍本而求末矣。究竟于我何與哉？吾宗所以不言長生者，非不長生，超之也。此無上大道，非區區延年小術也。"

或問曰："北宗道法，至吾師而大行，全真之盛振古未有，亦尚神通變化否？"師曰："若好尚神通便是非大道，大道極平常，不作奇特想，只要心真，何事不辦？吾侍重陽師三載，未沐一言之誨，若起嗔心，只為下類矣。惟鞭策之甚，真為愛我之切。故歸化時，方有'此子可教，吾宗賴以大行'之語，後復得道兄丹陽馬大師接引，然後還山，煉心育性，三遭魔難而不為動，沒于洪水而不知，虎臥于旁而不畏，初心真，久之心空，心空性見。而大事畢矣。遂出山度世化人。帝主禮拜，三宮奉侍，燎望問道，至禮也。吾告以清凈無為，上帝好生，一代仁厚之風，皆從此二句起。上親書袍領，命藏諸內府。世授子孫。敕吾為大宗師，然吾心未嘗動也。生平不輕受人一拜，拜必答之。未嘗自登師席。黃童白叟，婦寺宰官，侯王帝主，一切平等。西域諸方稱吾為震旦活佛。聲教所及，要荒無間。自古全真之盛，未有及此，此豈有所作為乎？不過性海中一點浮漚耳。天人自然感應，不尚神通，宮中有妖物，百法不靈，天師束手，請問于吾，吾時在山中，靜中微作念，彼物已攝道光法鏡中，初不用雷神將帥符圖印訣也，邪不勝正，理也。吾存其理而已。"

師示眾曰："吾宗前三節，皆有為工夫，命功也；後六節乃無為妙道，性學也。三分命功，七分性學。以後只稱性學，不稱命功。方稱命功，有為之事也。功者工也。有階有級，性何功哉？佛祖也只完得性學而已。今世人貪生之甚，希慕長生，究無長生者。心不真也。雖極勞生以養形，為形起見，總屬私心，不合天心，何能上壽？學人宜體驗吾旨，誓發無上之心，即為無上之身。"

或問曰："弟子根性下劣，堪學道否？"師曰："吾《西遊記》首言：凡有七竅者，皆可成真。吾子只六竅耶？"

師示眾曰："世法用實，大道用虛，惟虛故明，明即慧也。慧非根生，心定而凝，心凝神現。性見人成，人非塊然者，元始與威音，若將二老作玄虛，是亦沉淪之下士也。要知有此心即有此性，二老不加，人亦不滅。二老為出世師，學者為輪轉鬼。可不痛哉！要其間不過迷悟之殊耳。百計以養身，即百計以昧心，心昧則性迷，性迷則神役九幽矣。究之身不過數十年，而神之迷晦動經千劫。一息之迷，即為一年，若迷一日，已為三萬六千朝矣。其他可類推也。若真能見性即垂死，一刻亦能破百千萬劫之幽暗。況五官清明，四肢強健時乎？學者急須止念，念止則心定，心定則慧光自生，慧既生矣，還須自涵于不睹不聞，無聲無臭之中，久之方返于虛無真境。今學人皆理解非心解也；皆識光，非智光也。此所以輪轉人天，漂流六道，若造惡之人，並無光彩，止有惡氣歷氣。眼光一落，全體皆陰，墮酆都矣。千佛出世，不通懺悔者，彼自無光，何能承佛光接引哉？學者現有外光，機在目也。太陽流珠，常欲去人，順也。逆而內之，金華涵苞矣。有內光迷而失之，六欲牽也。妄想驚其神也。不能片時清凈，為有無顛倒耳。悟而超之，破除無始習氣，尋取最初種子光爍圓陀也。哀哉，知者鮮矣，悟者尤鮮矣！吾不敢望悟者，得見知者斯可矣。"

或問曰："知與悟有不同乎？"師曰："十分知及處即是悟境，知為下手，悟為究竟。"曰："假如放下萬緣，一念不動，可是否？"師曰："是體也，還有用在。"

　師示眾曰："人身一念一動為一劫，此內外合也。內一劫，外一劫，應之。迷則剎那萬劫。悟則萬劫剎那。心上本無歲月也。"

師示眾曰："學人但能回光，即了生死，此光超日月，透三界，若無此光，天地亦冥頑不靈矣。萬物何處發生？此光即元始威音也。眾生輪迴者，因此光順出，作種種妄想，故幻出皮囊，積骸如山，積血如海。今一句說破，人身兩目外皆死物也，一目中，元精元神皆在，可不重歟。眼光落地，萬古長夜，人在胎中，先生兩目，其死也，先化兩目。昔觀音大士八十一化，極其變現，而目不動，佛之神威不能變。在此處，眾生倒能變。未死而目已變種種矣。哀哉！"

或問曰："回光與金丹工夫是一是二？"師曰："回光不止金丹，即宗門真訣也。摩頂者此也。受記者，此也。楞嚴二十四位圓通，原有諦，觀鼻端，心空漏盡，出入息化為光明。證菩薩果。吾宗皆是此法。"曰："每日　將一時回光，可乎？"師曰："極少三時。"曰："假如有俗冗，止能一時回光，何如？"師曰："真正一時也妙，一時已奪天地萬年之數，一日奔馳光散，即造羅酆千劫幽暗之獄。故冥界無甲子，動以千萬劫計，算數不能及。"

或問曰："佛說往生西方，蓮池中有姓名耶？"師曰："不論姓名，華池即方寸也。蓮苞即性光也。身中現有佛國。"曰："若是則凈土為烏有矣。"師曰："又是實有的，少不得以心造，以心應。"或問曰："弟子欲誦《金剛經》五百卷，以超度亡靈，何如？"師曰："《金剛經》亦止念之一端，亦超度亡靈之一大法門與，只要真能止念，誦四句偈已完。"曰："請問四句偈？"師曰："是如夢幻泡影。"曰："或以無我相，無人相，無眾生相，無壽者相，作四句何如？"師曰："亦可。"曰："或以有句無句，非有非無句即有即無句作四句何如？"師曰："亦可。惟拘不得，所以為妙。若拘定某句是四句，即著諸相矣。"

或問曰："能仁謂之釋迦，如何是仁體？"師曰："仁者生也。一點生機鳥啼花放，山色波光，俱為造化含之，皆為真地。舒之盡是陽春。一念不生為仁體，萬念皆圓為仁用。空則化，圓則通，通則四維上下虛空，往古來今，不外吾腔子矣。不特地獄餓鬼畜牲可憫，直視夫人亦為雪涕。回視多生眷屬，多生冤仇，俱在慈光覆蔭之中，到此方是能仁，方證如來果位。今從一枝一節起見，皆非大道。"曰："弟子于靜中覺得大千如一室，萬劫如一時光景，可以謂之仁乎？"師曰："總不在擬議得之。心上實實行去，可也。今日天氣清和，晴光正好可各行樂，無負良辰。況明師勝友，樂莫大焉。發揮精神，百病不生，即此也，是仁用。"師示眾曰："吾宗惟貴見性，而水火配合其次也，大要以息心凝神為初機，以性明見空為實地，以忘識化障為作用，回視龍虎汞鉛，皆法相而不可拘執，反此便為外道，非吾徒也。"

師示眾曰："學人既有入路，即宜退藏于密，直從念頭上洗剝，天理愈微，益見人心之難克。人欲將凈，反見天心之杳渺。可參之，可參之。"

或問曰："弟子欲辭家學道，奈何世緣未了，功名未成，再遲數年何如？"師曰："子既欲嗣吾宗，名利二字須要先淡，吾意欲問道，宰相之位可辭，吾之求人，甚於人之求我，各人勉諸，不然他日無由見我真鬼殊途。光陰如電，一彈指而白髮星星矣。增一年，去鬼日近，色身易壞，真性未修。如何如何。"

長春祖師語錄
玄風慶會錄

欽奉皇帝聖議，宣請高道長春真人，歲在己卯，正元後一日。敕朝官劉仲祿，賚詔尋訪，直至棲霞，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，禦行在設庭燎，虛前席，延長春真人，以問長生之道。

真人曰："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，惟學此耳。道生天地，天地開闊，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。去聲色以清靜為娛。屏滋味以恬淡為美。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，慢散其氣，譬如氣鞠，氣實則健，氣散則否。人以氣為主，逐欲動念，則元氣散。若氣鞠之氣散耳。

天生二物，曰：動、曰：植。草本之類為植，植而無識，雨露沾濡，自得生榮。人物之屬為動，動而有情，無衣無食何以卒歲？必當經營耳。旦夕雲為身口為累故也。夫男陽也，屬火，女陰也，屬水，惟陰能消陽，水能克火。故學道之人首戒乎色。夫經營衣食，則勞乎思慮，雖散其氣，而散之少，貪婪色慾，則耗乎精神，亦散其氣，而散之多。

道產二儀，輕清者為天，天陽也，屬火，重濁者為地，地陰也，屬水。人居其中，負陰而抱陽，故學道之人，知修煉之術，去嗜屏欲，固精守神，惟煉乎陽。是故陰消而陽全，則升乎天而為仙，如火之炎上也。其愚迷之徒，以酒為漿，以妄為常。恣其情，逐其欲，耗其精，損其神，是以致陽衰而陰盛，則沉于地而為鬼。如水之流下也。夫學道修真者，如轉石上乎高山，愈高愈難，跬步顛沛，前功俱廢，以其難為也。舉世莫之為也。背道逐欲者，如擲石下乎峻坡，愈卑而愈易，斯須隕墜，一去無回。以其易為也。故舉世從之莫或悟也。余前所謂修煉之道，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，為元元父母。恭行天罰，如代大匠斫，克艱克難，功成限畢，即升天復位，在世之間，切宜減聲色，省嗜欲，得聖體康寧，睿算遐遠耳。庶人一妻，尚且損身，況乎天子，多畜嬪禦，寧不深損乎？陛下宮姬滿座，前聞劉仲祿中都等，揀選處女，以充後宮。竊聞道經雲：'不見可欲使心不亂。'既見之戒之則難，願留意焉。

夫人認身為己，此乃假物，從父母而得之者，形骸耳目是也；神為真己，從道中而得之者。能思慮寤寐是也。

行善進道則昇天為之仙，作惡背道則入地為之鬼。夫道生眾生，如金為眾器。銷其像則返成乎金，人行乎善，則返成乎道。

人間聲色衣食，人見以為娛樂，此非真樂，本為苦耳。世人以妄為真以苦為樂，不亦悲哉？殊不知天上至樂，乃真樂耳。余儕以學道之故，棄父母而棲岩穴，同時學道四人，曰：邱，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，更為易耳。但能積善行道，胡患不能為仙乎？

中國承平日久，上天屢降經教，勸人為善，大河之北，西川江左，悉有之，東漢時，于吉受《太平經》，一百五十卷，皆修治國之方。中國道人，誦之行之，可獲福成道。又桓帝永壽元年，正月七日，太上降蜀臨邛，授天師張道陵《南斗》、《北斗》經，及二十四階法籙。諸經籍千余卷，晉王纂遇太上道君法駕，乘空賜經數十卷，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，請舉其要，天地之生人為貴是故人身難得，如牛之角，萬物紛然，如牛之毛，既獲難得之身，宜趨修真之路，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，一世為民，再世為臣，三世為君。濟世安民，累功積德，數盡昇天，而位尊于昔。

陛下修行之法無他，當外修陰德，內固精神耳。恤民保眾，使天下懷安，則為外行，省欲保神，則為內行。

人以飲食為本，其清者為之精氣，濁者為之便溺。貪欲好色則喪精耗氣，乃成衰憊。陛下宜加珍嗇，十宵一度已為深損，而況恣欲者乎？雖不能全戒，但能節欲則幾於道矣。

夫神為子，氣為母。心為氣經，目為淚經，鼻為膿經，舌為津經；外為汗經，內為血經；骨為髓經，腎為精經。氣全則生，氣亡則死；氣盛則壯，氣衰則老。常使氣不散，則於子之有父母，氣散則如子之喪父母，何恃何怙？夫神氣同體，精髓一源，陛下試一月靜寢，必覺精神清爽，筋力強健。古人云：'服藥千朝，不如獨臥一宵。'藥為草，精為髓。去髓添草有何益哉？譬如囊中貯之金，旋去金而添鐵，久之金盡，囊雖滿，空遺鐵耳。服藥之蕃，理何益乎？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。人生四十以上，氣血已衰，三季度或之在色也。陛下聖子神孫，枝葉蕃盛，宜保養戒欲，為自計耳。

昔宋上皇，本天人也，有神仙林靈素者，攜之神遊上天，入所居宮，題其額曰：'神霄'。不饑，不渴，不寒，不暑。逍遙無事，快樂自在，欲久居之，無復往人間意。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。自後女真國興，太祖皇帝將厭世，天虜上皇北歸，久而老死於上京。由是知上天之樂，何啻萬倍人間？又知因緣未終，豈能遽然而歸也？余昔年，出家，同道四人，彼三子先已升化，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。亦因緣之故也。

夫人之未生，在乎道中，不寒不暑，不饑不渴。心無所思，真為快樂。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，故喻心為猿，意為馬。其難制可知也。古人有言曰：'易伏猛虎，難降寸心。'乃成道升天之捷徑耳。道人修真煉心，一物不思，如太虛止水，水之風息也，靜而清，萬物照之，燦然悉見。水之風來也，動而濁，何能鑒萬物哉？本來真性靜止水，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。

道人治心之初甚至難，歲久功深，損之又損，以至於無為。

道人一身耳，治心猶難，矧夫天子，富有四海，日覽萬機，治心豈易哉？但能節色慾，滅思慮，亦獲天佑，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，太思慮則傷乎氣。此三者于道甚損，宜戒之也。陛下既知神為真己，身是幻軀，凡見色起心，當自思身假神真，自能止念也。人生壽命難得，且如鳥獸，歲歲產子，旋踵夭亡。壯老者鮮，嬰童亦如之，是故二十三十，為之下壽；四十五十，為之中壽；六十七十，為之上壽。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，亦當依份，不宜過差也。

四海之外，普天之下，所有國土，不啻億兆，奇珍異寶，比出之，皆不如中原，天垂經教，治國治身之術，為之大備，屢有奇人，成道升天耳。山東河北，天下美地，多出嘉禾美蔬，魚鹽絲繭，以給四方之用。自古得之者為大國，所以歷代有國家者，惟此地耳。今民有兵火相繼，流散未集，宜差知彼中仔細事務者，能幹官，規措勾當，與免三年稅賦，使軍國足絲帛之用，黔黎獲蘇息之安。一舉而兩面三刀得之，茲亦安民祈福之一端耳。自天佑之吉無不利也。

余萬里之外，一召不遠而來，修身養命之方，既已先言，治國保民之術，何為惜口？余前所謂安集山東、河北之事，如差清幹官前去，依上措劃，必當天心，茍授以匪材，不徒無益，反為害也。初，金國得天下，以創起東土，中原人情尚未諳悉，封劉豫于東平，經略八年，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，微陳梗概。用之舍之，在宸衷之自斷耳。

昔金世宗皇帝即位之十年，色慾過度，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，問修真之道。余如前說，自後身體康健，行步如故。凡在位三十年昇遐。余生平學道友，心以無思無慮，夢中天意若曰：'功行未滿，當待時升化耳。'幻身假物，若逆旅蛻居耳，何足戀也？真身飛升，可化千百，無施不可。上天或千歲萬歲，遇有事，奉天命降世。投脫就舍而已。"

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？傳達室道之語，已命近臣錄之簡策，朕將親覽。其有玄旨未明者，續當請益焉。"

歲在壬午夏四月吉日

譯語臣 移刺走楚材

譯語太師尚書令 恒國公阿海

宣差便宜使 劉仲祿

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 長春祖師語錄, revision of 2 February 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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