Taishang Dongfang Neijing Zhu — Spoken by the Yellow Lord Lao, with a Preface by the Perfected Zhou

This is a commentary — zhù, 注 — on a short Shangqing (Supreme Clarity) verse scripture called the Inner Scripture of the Cavern Chamber, preserved in the Daoist Canon in a single fascicle. No author is recorded; the Canon's own bibliographic note dates the text only approximately, to the Eastern Jin or Southern Dynasties period (317–589 CE), and identifies the preface's stated author, "the Perfected Zhou," as a traditional attribution to the semi-legendary Shangqing patriarch Zhou Ziyang rather than a verified one.

The text opens with a first-person preface narrating how its practice was received — first from a foreign master skilled in the Daoist arts, then, after decades of visualization, from the deity Huanglao Jun himself at a grotto on Mount Song — and closing with a catalogue of the bodily signs said to mark someone predestined for immortality. The scripture proper follows: twenty-four short couplets, spoken in the voice of the Yellow Lord Lao, each followed immediately by prose commentary that maps the geography of a single chamber inside the practitioner's own head.

That chamber, the 洞房 or "Cavern Chamber," is a technical term of Shangqing body-cosmology — one of the palace-chambers of the head, seated between the Hall of Light and the upper Elixir Field — and has nothing to do with the term's later, unrelated sense of "bridal chamber." Within it the text places three great lords: White Prime on the right, Wuying on the left, and the Yellow Lord Lao at the center — the "Three Primal Lords" whose visualization the Canon's own catalogue names as this text's whole subject. The commentary closes with instructions for a wider practice — visualizing the four directional animals and reciting a dawn and a dusk hymn — drawn, it says, from a separate ritual code.

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 the Taishang Dongfang Neijing Zhu.

Translation

Preface to the Inner Scripture of the Cavern Chamber

Composed by the Perfected Zhou

The Way can be learned — but to contemplate its subtlety is truly difficult. Immortality can be sought — but to carry one's essence to its utmost is difficult. The Perfected can be seen — but to nurture the will and the nature is difficult. Jade Maidens can be summoned — but to cultivate purity, cleanness, and stillness is difficult.

Thus the Eightfold Pure Ones hold true contemplation as foremost; the Secret Sayings hold the Nine Perfected as their Inner Canon; the Spirit Methods hold concentrated contemplation as their utmost depth; Reverting to Youth holds penetrating the Real as its numinous attainment; the Great Cavern holds the lofty and high as its Primordial Beginning; the Great Elixir holds the Female One and the Three Essences as its inner essence; Lord Lao holds naturalness as what is honored; the Most High holds Wuying as purity; the Yellow Elder holds the will and the nature as the Way; White Prime holds purity and stillness as constancy; the Perfected seek one another through oneness of will; and for the essentials of immortality, it is through essence and resonance that the Way is completed. All these are what the Way holds precious; you must contemplate them and put them into practice. If contemplation evokes no response, the Way will not come; if essence is not subtle, one remains far from the Real.

Do not let death injure life. Do not, through desire, lose your constancy. Do not, in drunkenness, turn your thoughts to the Way. Do not, through deviance, seek life. Do not advance yourself through glory and stipend. Do not mistake ghosts for numinous powers. Do not treat wealth as treasure. Do not let yourself be filled up with fine ornament. Do not take the vulgar for joy. Do not let the ear be moved by mere sound. Do not mistake filth for purity. Do not let the body go unrefined. The things a person must not do are indeed many.

In visualizing the Cavern Chamber, be heedful of these prohibitions I have spoken. Among those born into life, those who know the Way of themselves are few; one must cultivate it and practice it, study it and refine it. Laozi said: "The superior man, hearing the Way, diligently practices it." True indeed are these words. The reason the Great Cavern is rightly called a Perfect Scripture is that it is the utmost of true essence; the reason contemplating its subtlety is difficult is that visualizing the Cavern Chamber is difficult. If one can be subtle, can be mysterious, refining one's contemplation until response arrives, and visualize and behold Wuying, then the Way of the Perfected is complete.

Laozi's Scripture of External Effulgence says: "The essential mystery of long life lies within the Chamber." You, within the Cavern Chamber — if on the right you behold Lord White Prime, the way of immortality is accomplished; if in the center you behold the Yellow Lord Lao, your years shall reach ten thousand; if on the left you behold Lord Wuying, this is the utmost essence of the Real. When the Three Lords are beheld, you ascend to heaven in broad daylight, wearing the flowing bell and the tiger tally, and wander freely through the heaven of Supreme Clarity. As for a person's worldly virtue and conduct — only if it is sufficient is one's name entered in the register; without this virtue, there is no hope of immortality.

First, being born with a golden register and a jade name. Second, having an unadorned register in the Palace of Great Mystery. Third, having great characters upon the left hand. Fourth, a blue-green mark upon the back, shaped like Hekui. Fifth, the mark of the Seven Stars upon the body. Sixth, a purple light at the crown, which of itself illuminates and reveals the body. Seventh, walking like a crane and striding like a dragon, with patterned lines lacing the body. Eighth, nine apertures within the heart, and a blue-green cavity beneath the lungs. Ninth, the head generating the Five Breaths, reaching up to join the layered clouds. Tenth, a voice like jade and a resonance like metal, the mouth generating purple vapor. If one is born possessing these, one need not even study the Way — immortality is assured.

Next: being born without a place of death. Next: blue-green bones. Next: conduct surpassing the ancients. Next: virtue equal to the great worthies. Next: sincere devotion to the utmost Way, the mind fixed on the mysterious and subtle, hidden virtue flowing freely, and conduct never contrary to the Way. Next: will and conduct pure and good, nature harmonious and kind, gentle, generous, warm, and humane — whatever such a person visualizes will surely evoke response. By these, one may study the Way and attain immortality.

Next: ancestors who spread beneficence, seven generations cultivating virtue, merit with the Three Officials, never transgressing against human or spirit, and oneself diligent in the Way — this too may lead to immortality. Next: ancestors with names already among the immortals, and in seeking immortality oneself already having great merit with the Three Officials, with three hundred good deeds to one's own name — this too can bring immortality. Below this, even one whose talent and nature are deep and bright, whose brilliance surpasses the age, lacking these higher qualifications only labors bitterly in vain; there is no hope of immortality. In sum: one born with the bones marked for the register must also hold fast to the will toward immortality.

Now I transmit to you the Way I myself received; be careful not to pass it to the wrong person. Long ago, Su Ziyuan was a man from a foreign land, skilled in practicing the Three Ones, who became an immortal of the Central Marchmount. I myself, once devoted to the Way, went and met him. He bestowed on me the numinous mushroom and taught me the way of immortality, conferring on me Lord Lao's Yellow Court Outer Scripture, with its true instructions and inner script. I received it reverently and practiced it, and ascended to become one of the Perfected. Now that you study the Way, I set this down in writing to give to you; follow it, and put it into practice.

To visualize Lord White Prime of the Cavern Chamber: always at the moment of sunrise, when the dark radiance first arises, stand upright facing east, bow twice, close the eyes, and look inward. Hold the breath and swallow the saliva one hundred and twenty times; then visualize, within the Jade Chamber, the great spirit-image of the Crimson Palace, and behold Lord White Prime. Practice this morning and evening, and always take it as your rule.

Whenever the jiazi day arrives, at midnight, the hour when living breath is born, let the hair hang loose and apply powder, join the hands upon the two knees, ingest breath and swallow saliva one hundred and forty times, then call out the name of the spirit of the Jade Chamber. When you call, it will seem to the ear as though a person answers in response, or there is the sound of scripture being chanted — this is the response. Then rub the eyes with both hands fourteen times, and stop.

The essential of practicing this: one must keep one's clothing and bedding pure, carefully preventing impure influences from approaching; seek a secluded chamber and a quiet room, so that the ear hears nothing, the eye sees nothing, and the mind dwells on nothing — the body still and the spirit at peace. Only then should you practice. If you are near the human world, seen by others, or encounter grief, sorrow, alarm, or fear, then the spirits will hold it in aversion: the visualization will surely evoke no response, and the working will not succeed.

I then bowed twice, and reverently practiced it. Having visualized the Cavern Chamber for five years, I indeed beheld, on the right within the chamber, Lord White Prime, in dragon robe and tiger belt, standing exactly at the chamber's right. In my heart I smiled to myself, knowing the Way would surely be accomplished. Then I wandered through the Five Marchmounts and the famous mountains of the world, meeting immortals who orally transmitted to me the essentials of the Way — in all more than five hundred and seventy items — which I shall gradually transmit to you. Keep them secret, and cultivate them; be careful not to pass them to the wrong person.

Formerly I ascended the Central Marchmount, Mount Song the Lofty; setting out from the Grotto Court, I entered the Grotto Gate, where I met the Yellow Lord Lao. I knocked my head to the ground, bowed twice, and declared of myself: "I, a man of flesh from a defiled age, stained by turbid filth and dust — since the age of seventy I have secretly cherished a single-minded devotion, humbly admiring the Great Way, my heart set upon immortality. The true Way is mysterious and distant, its numinous subtlety deep and far. Though I have wandered the Five Marchmounts and traversed the famous mountains, and at times met immortals and received mysterious instructions, yet my stubborn defilement is hard to shift, and I have had no occasion to draw near to ascent. Now the Twofold Mystery unfurls its radiant scene; I have received the grace of light turning like the sun, and have personally beheld the true countenance, receiving in audience the numinous splendor." Thereupon I knocked my head and humbly petitioned, for the utmost wish of my remaining years, hoping to be shown compassion and granted the divine instructions.

The Yellow Lord Lao said: "Have you visualized the Cavern Chamber, and beheld Lord White Prime?" I advanced, knelt upright, and answered: "Indeed I have beheld Lord White Prime." The Yellow Lord Lao said: "You are not yet sufficient. Go once more and wander, receiving the various perfected instructions, and I shall then grant you the highest, perfected scriptures of the Way." I again knocked my head and struck myself, and once more earnestly entreated, begging to be made a wandering messenger, to attend and receive the dragon-chariot. The Yellow Lord Lao said: "You have a golden register and a jade name; you are destined to become one of the Perfected — what is there to worry about? You have beheld White Prime; the matter of immortality is already sufficient. If you wish to become one of the Perfected, you must visualize Wuying. If you behold Wuying, the true Way is accomplished. Go and visualize him at once — I am not testing you."

I again spoke of myself, begging for the scripture-instructions of the Cavern Chamber, the Great Lord's Inner Chapters. The Yellow Lord Lao said: "Within the Cavern Chamber, in the utmost essence, there is a great spirit who cannot be named. It is not that you are unfit to receive it — withdraw and fast, then come again, and I shall grant it to you." I then bowed twice, reverently receiving the instruction.

I withdrew and fasted on Mount Shaoshi for three months, then ascended Mount Taishi, and again entered the Grotto Gate, again beholding the Yellow Lord Lao. The Yellow Lord Lao said: "Now I grant you the Inner Scripture of the Cavern Chamber. You must visualize this spirit — always at midnight, closing the eyes and stilling the thoughts, contemplating and reciting this scripture. Suddenly you will behold the great spirit: it is Lord Wuying." I bowed twice, received the instruction, and reverently practiced it. Over twenty-seven years I at last beheld Lord Wuying, and again visualized and beheld the Yellow Lord Lao, who then granted me the Perfect Scripture of the Great Cavern. Thereupon I mounted the clouds, drove the dragon, and ascended to heaven in broad daylight. This scripture is exceedingly secret; now I transmit it to you. Be careful not to pass it to the wrong person.

The Inner Scripture of the Cavern Chamber, with Commentary

The Yellow Lord Lao said:

The Yellow Lord Lao is the Lord of the Way of the Center. He governs the Cloud Court Palace, at the center of the spirit-gate of the Cloud Court's Cavern Chamber; his name is Botao — this is what is called the Way of the Great Lord.

Heaven has a spirit-palace,
the cinnabar numen of Great Mystery.

The cinnabar numen of Great Mystery is the palace of the Celestial Emperor — also called the Palace of Grand Subtlety, the Purple Palace, the Cinnabar Terrace, the Numinous Palace: the dwelling of August Heaven's Supreme Emperor. In the image of a human being, this corresponds to the Cavern Chamber. Since the essentials within the Purple Chamber are about to be discussed, the cinnabar numen of the Purple Palace is spoken of first.

Heaven has the Great Chamber,
the Jade Chamber, the Cloud Court.

The Cloud Court is where the Yellow Lord Lao of the Center dwells — in a human being, at the center of the Cavern Chamber. The Jade Chamber is the Cavern Chamber, also called the Purple Chamber, the Crimson Palace, the Hall of Light; above it is the Flowery Canopy; it forms the eastern and western palaces, its passage running through to the Yellow Court on left and right alike.

Bound into a cavern at Kunlun,
high, yet never tilting.

Kunlun is the head. The Purple Chamber's cavern connects into the head, being both high and deep — corresponding to the region south of the Mysterious Garden and Yellow Chamber of Kunlun; to its south lies the Grotto Court chamber, also called the Grotto Gate. Since the Purple Chamber is about to be discussed, the head is spoken of first.

Where the spirit-immortals dwell:
the Hall of Gold, the City of Jade.

The Cavern Chamber holds a Golden City and a Jade Chamber, a numinous palace open on all four sides, its mysterious radiance shining from both flanks, its cavern-essence held within the clouds — the dwelling-place of the Three Elders, the spirit-immortals.

Square yet perfectly round,
within a space of three inches.

The Cavern Chamber is square and round, a palace-chamber of gold and jade, within a space of three inches.

Yellow Portals, a Purple Door:
the utmost of mystery and essence.

Within the Purple Chamber are the Yellow Portals, flanking and joining the Yellow Court; at the center is the Purple Door. The Purple Door is also called the Cloud Court; at its center dwells the Yellow Lord Lao himself. Within the Purple Door it is both mysterious and of the utmost essence.

On the left it joins the Azure Palace,
on the right it borders Brilliant Clarity.

On the left is the Azure Bureau, where the Azure Lad dwells. On the right is the Bureau of Brilliant Clarity, where the Jade Maiden of Unadorned White dwells. Widened out in visualization, the Azure Lad may become the Nine Elder Lords; refined and made subtle, the Jade Maiden of Unadorned White becomes the Mother of Western Clarity. These are alternate names for the spirits within the left and right eyes; visualize them day and night, and immortality may be attained.

At the center is the Great Real One,
so utmost that no name applies.

This means that within the Cavern Chamber there is a great spirit. Utterly real, and subtle: on the left is Lord Wuying, also called Lord Primal Element, also called the Divine Young Lord; on the right is Lord White Prime, also called Lord Cavern-Yang. These are the very greatest spirits within the Jade Chamber. If you can visualize them with concentrated essence, the true Way is accomplished.

Who are their father and mother?
Of themselves, born from the Void.

This August Essence, Lord of the Primal Element and the Great Way, has no father and no mother; existing alone in undifferentiated unity, born even before the Great Void. Visualize this day and night; do not grow slack.

A flowered crown, a purple canopy,
wearing bells of flowing gold.

Lord Wuying's crown is topped with the flowered cap; he rides beneath the purple spirit-canopy, wearing bells of flowing gold, roaming through Great Mystery, and setting the perfected writs in order. The method for visualizing him: always after midnight, at the hour when living breath is born, sit level, join the hands upon the two knees, hold the breath, close the eyes, and look within. Invoke:

Brilliant qi of the Three Origins, Purple Hall of Great Mystery, Golden Chamber of the Yellow Portals: within is the great spirit, in flowered crown and purple canopy, in dragon robe with tiger markings, issuing from cinnabar and entering the void, calling forth yang and summoning yin. Heaven's Way holds the Real, and his name is Wuying. Sustain me, give me life, and let me long abide with the Way.

In dragon robe and tiger belt,
reading the Perfect Scripture of the Cavern.

This is Lord White Prime. He too wears garments patterned with dragons, and bears the talisman of the divine tiger. To cultivate this visualization: always at dawn, at the moment of sunrise, face due east, bow twice, hold the breath, close the eyes, and look within. Invoke:

The Most High's divine essence, stationed exactly at the spirit-gate, in dragon robe and tiger belt, in the flowered crown of yellow dawn, holding the registers and bearing the scrolls: this is White Prime. Journey together with me, up to the Yang Pass, circling through the Nine Clarities, and returning to rest in the Yellow Chamber.

They come forth to feast in the Yellow Chamber,
and wander at play in the Elixir Field.

The Yellow Chamber is the Cavern Chamber. Wuying and White Prime come forth from the Yellow Chamber, and together with the One roam within the Elixir Field. Visualize this day and night, and you will surely become one of the Perfected.

Above, they reach through to Grand Subtlety;
from time to time they enter the Cavern of Mystery.

The Spirit Lodge is the Cavern of Mystery. Grand Subtlety is the palace of August Heaven's Supreme Emperor. If you are able to visualize and behold Wuying, you obtain the highest, perfected instructions — that is, the Perfect Scripture of the Great Cavern; this is the true Way itself. To behold Lord White Prime is for the way of immortality to be complete. Stated more broadly: Lord Wuying is the perfection of the Primal Element; Lord White Prime is the way of the higher immortals.

Together they meet within the Six Directions,
joining their radiance with Lord Tao.

Lord Tao is the Great Lord of the Way. In crimson robe and purple cap, he stands exactly at the Gate of Life. Lord Wuying and the Great Lord of the Way take form together within the Six Directions; there is a separate scripture of instructions for this.

From time to time they roam the Seven Gates,
reaching through to behold Huangning.

Huangning is the name of the spirit of the Yellow Chamber, dwelling an inch above the point between the two breasts. Always at dusk, click the teeth fourteen times, and invoke:

You within the Yellow Chamber, clothed in yellow essence: harmonize the true and circulate the qi, moving throughout my form; summon the hun-soul and govern the po-soul, and grant me long life. Drawing left, joining right, the Yellow Numen conceals its body.

Calling forth yang, summoning yin,
commanding the Six Ding.

Yang is the Most High's Three Yangs. Yin is the Three Yins within yang. The Six Ding are divine women. When the Perfected calls forth yang, the three qi arrive; when he summons yin, the Three Dragons ascend; when he commands the Six Ding, the divine women appear. The way of calling forth yang has its own separate scripture — the Scripture of Lord Lao.

In the single radiance of Chaos undifferentiated,
return to the Primal Yang.

The Three Ones are also great spirits. Primal Yang is another name for the One. Lord White Prime, together with the One, goes forth and returns, meeting and joining within the Elixir Field. As for the Three Ones, there is a separate scripture of instructions for guarding them.

The Three Subtle Ones are wondrous indeed;
the Chamber is their true capital.

The Three Subtle Ones are the Mud Pellet within the head, the Crimson Palace of the heart, and the Elixir Field beneath the navel. All three of these are truly wondrous, but of their true capital, only the center of the Jade Chamber is the most essential — utmost in subtlety, and deep indeed.

Deep, oh, and subtle:
existing before the Origin itself.

The Cavern Chamber is utterly subtle; the spirit within it is the utmost of essence and the utmost of reality, born even before the Lord of Void Origin, from the qi of the Upper Origin.

If you are able to behold it,
you ascend to the Dawn in broad daylight.

"The Dawn" is the spirit within Grand Subtlety. Grand Subtlety has Five Palaces; the Dawn is the Palace of the Great Ultimate, on whose right stands the hall of the Perfected. Within, it is named the Jade Chamber: Lord Wuying occupies its left, and Lord White Prime occupies its right.

When essence penetrates and the spirits are beheld,
the yang qi becomes cloud.

Calling forth the three qi of yang — this is the Three Essences becoming cloud. When it reaches through the Six Directions, the Three Spirits come and appear; the three qi transform into cloud — this is what is called the cloud of the Three Essences.

Reaching through the cavern by the Six Directions,
drawing forth yin, summoning the dragon.

Yin, within yang, is the Three Yins. When essence penetrates and the spirits are beheld, the Three Essences become cloud; reaching through the cavern by the Six Directions, the Three Yins summon the dragon — mounting the cloud and driving the dragon, the true Way is complete.

Purple and kingfisher-green rise up, wrought above,
and wander through the immortal palace.

"Purple and kingfisher-green" is the Flowery Canopy. The "immortal palace" is the Palace of the Great Ultimate. When essence reaches its utmost and the spirits are beheld, mounting the cloud and driving the dragon, the purple canopy covering above, the Jade Maiden radiant and lovely — one proceeds up to the Sovereign Lord and wanders through the immortal palace. Then the way of immortality is greatly accomplished, and one ascends to become one of the Perfected.

The Cavern Chamber is complete:
take care never to transmit it carelessly.

Here the Yellow Lord Lao of the Center has finished speaking the Way of the Chamber. Take care never to transmit it carelessly to the wrong person.

Always at dawn, at midday, and after sunset, visualize the cloud-qi of the Five Directions. The green qi of the east transforms into the Azure Dragon; the white qi of the west transforms into the White Tiger; the red qi of the south transforms into the Vermilion Bird; the black qi of the north transforms into the Dark Warrior; and the yellow qi of the center transforms into your own body.

The Dawn Hymn says:

Subtle and vast, oh — the essence-light of primal qi.
Grand and lovely, joyous, oh — the soul and spirit soar in flight.
Hidden within my breast, oh — inside, vast and empty, spread wide open.
The ridgepole white as the bright moon, oh — reaching through the ten thousand quarters.
The herb of immortality, how resplendent, oh — untroubled that it has no root.
Breathing, giving out the old and taking in the new, oh — thereby I reach through to the spirits.

The Evening Hymn says:

Vast beyond measure, boundless beyond bound,
with the spirits, no fixed term.
Clothed in beauty and splendor,
feasting on the mysterious mushroom.
Wielding Zhaoyao as my steed,
the Jade Culmen as my carriage.
Above and below, without limit;
going forth and returning, without fixed time.
The hundred ailments are cleared and cured;
spirit and qi held fast, sovereign and alone.
The Director of Fates enters my name in the register,
on jade tablets, in cinnabar writs,
bound about with threads of gold,
wrapped around with unadorned silk.
By the thousand, by the hundred million, by the vast myriad —
no more room for doubt remains.
Great Unity guards and blesses me;
spirits and numina uphold and sustain me.

In purity and stillness, cutting off all thought, recite it facing the royal quarter, and also recite it facing the direction of the day and the hour. The officer who bears the register makes a covenant with Heaven and Earth by this; whoever, in their own person, awakens to the Way and delights in its discipline, let them all recite it. If it is not done according to the rule, a penalty of five hundred days' reckoning is imposed, and the officiating clerk is held liable as well.

The wuchen and wuxu days are prohibited; on these, this hymn may not be recited. This hymn is drawn from the Statutes of the Mysterious Metropolis of Orthodox Unity, scroll nine.

Colophon

This Good Works Translation was prepared for the Shangqing Scriptures shelf of the Good Works Library. The English was translated independently from the classical Chinese text printed below. The text falls into three parts: a first-person preface, attributed to "the Perfected Zhou," narrating the transmission of the visualization practice from a foreign master and then from the deity Huanglao Jun himself; an annotated scripture proper, in which twenty-four four-character couplets spoken in the voice of the Yellow Lord Lao are each followed by prose commentary explaining their body-cosmology; and a closing set of ritual instructions with two hymns. The verse couplets are kept as verse, each set in bold above its own commentary, preserving the alternation of the source; the two closing hymns are kept as verse as well.

Before the claim below was written, a genuine translation-status check was performed. Komjathy's bibliography of Daoist texts in English translation and the 2023 Purple Cloud Press update to that bibliography were both searched by Chinese title, by pinyin, and for any Daozang number; neither lists an English translation of this text. Komjathy's bibliography does record, in passing and as background to a different scripture's entry, a related but distinct text — the Dongfang shangjing 洞房上經 ("Highest Scripture of the Cavern Chamber," DZ 405) — without recording any translation of that text either. General web searches under the scripture's Chinese and pinyin titles turned up secondary scholarship describing the Cavern Chamber (dongfang) as a location within Shangqing body-visualization practice, but no translation of this scripture or its commentary, and an attempt to check the Daozang concordance in Schipper and Verellen's The Taoist Canon for a Daozang number returned only front matter, not the catalogue entry itself. To our knowledge, this is the first complete published English translation of the Taishang Dongfang Neijing Zhu.

A note on terms. 洞房, literally "cavern chamber," is a technical term of Shangqing body-cosmology — one of the palaces of the head — and is kept as "the Cavern Chamber" throughout; it has no connection to the term's later, unrelated sense of "bridal chamber." Of the text's three central body-deities, White Prime (白元) and the Yellow Lord Lao (黃老, paired here with the honorific "Lord Lao," on the model of 太上老君, "the Most High Lord Lao") translate transparently; the third, Wuying (無英), does not yield a confident English gloss and is kept as a name. Two further points are flagged rather than silently smoothed over: the commentary's "Lord Tao" (桃君) appears to echo the personal name Botao (伯桃) given earlier in the commentary for the Yellow Lord Lao, but the source does not make the relationship explicit, and this translation does not resolve it; and 泥九 in the source, where the standard term for the head's elixir center, 泥丸 ("Mud Pellet"), is expected, is translated according to that standard term while the source's own characters are kept unaltered in the Chinese text below.

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

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Source Text: 太上洞房內經注

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

太上洞房內經序

周真人撰

道可學也，思微實難。仙可求也，精至為難。真人可見也，養志性為難。玉女可使也，修清潔寂為難。是以八素以真思為上首，祕言以九真為內經，神法以精思為至深，反童以徹真為靈得，大洞以高上為元始，大丹以雌一三素為內精，老君以自然為尊，太上以無英為清，黃老以志性為道，白元以潔寂為貞，真人以志合相求，仙要以精感乃道成。此皆道之貴者，子其思而行之。思不感則道不往，精不微則去真遠。勿以死傷生，勿以色不貞，忽以醉念道，忽以邪求生，勿以榮祿進，勿以鬼為靈，忽以財為寶，忽以美飾盈，勿以俗為樂，勿以耳移聲，勿以汙濁潔，勿使體不精，人之所勿為亦多矣。存洞房，慎吾所忌言。人生自然知道者寡，修而行之，學而精之。老子曰：上士聞道，勤而行之。信哉言也。大洞所以為真經者，真精之至也。所以思微為難者，謂存洞房之難也。能微能玄，精思感至，存見無英，則真人之道畢矣。老子外景曰：長生要妙，房中之要也。子在洞房，右見白元君，則仙道成；中央見黃老君，則壽萬年；左見無英君，真之至精。三君見矣，白日昇天，佩流鈴虎符，遊行上清，人之世德其行，有錄名，無此德，無冀於仙。

第一生有金格玉名，第二太玄宮有素籙，第三左手有大字，第四背青志，象如河魁，第五身有七星志，第六頂中有紫光，自照見其體，第七鶴行龍趨，身體絡文，第八心中九孔，肺下青穴，第九頭生五氣，上接重雲，第十玉聲金響，口生紫氣。若生有此者，不須學道，期必仙也。其次生無死地，其次青骨，其次行過古人，其次德齊上賢，其次篤志至道，注心玄微，陰德流行，行不違道。其次志行清淑，性質和善，柔厚溫仁，所存必感。以此學道，可致仙也。其次先人布恩，七世修德，有功三官，無違人神，己身勤道，可復仙也。其次先人有仙名，而求仙已有大功於三官，有三百善事，可致仙也。過此已下，雖才質淵朗，英奇邁世，無此上事，苦自勞爾，無仙冀也。大要生有骨錄，必有仙志。

今以吾所受道授子，慎傳非其人也。昔蘇子玄者，外國人也，善行三一，為中嶽仙人。吾昔好道，已來見諸，賜我神芝，教我仙道，以老君黃庭外經真訣內字見授。吾奉而行之，上作真人。子今學道，書以授子，按而行之。

存洞房白元君，常以日出之時，玄景初生，正立東向，再拜，冥目內視，閉氣咽液百二十過畢，乃存玉房內絳宮大神象，見白元君。朝夕行之，常以為法。每至甲子之日，夜半生氣之時，被髮傅粉，接手兩膝，服氣咽液百四十過畢，呼玉房神名，呼之耳象聞如人應聲，或有誦經音，則其應也。當以兩手摩目二七過，乃止。行此之要，務欲精衣物被服，慎使陰氣近之，欲得幽房靜室，使耳無所聞，目無所見，心無所存，體靜神和，爾乃行之。若近人間，為人所視，及見悲哀驚恐，則神忌也，存必不感，作亦不成。吾乃再拜，奉而行之，存洞房五年，果見房內右有白元君，龍衣虎帶，正處房右。吾私心獨笑，知道必成。乃以遊行天下五嶽名山，遇諸仙人口授道訣，凡五百七十餘事，當漸以授汝，秘而修之，慎傳非其人。

吾昔登中嶽嵩高山，發洞庭，入洞門，遇黃老君，乃頓首再拜自陳：兆以汙世肉人，染濁穢塵，年七十以來，私懷一心，竊慕大道，志願神仙。真道玄邈，靈妙深遠，雖周遊五嶽，超邁名山，時遇仙人禀受玄訣，然頑穢難移，未緣騰邇。今重玄舒景，蒙光迴日，親見真顏，御接靈暉。於是兆叩首啟乞，為生年至願，願見哀憐，賜其神訣。黃老君曰：子存洞房，見白元君乎。兆進，長跪答曰：實見白元君。黃老君曰：子未足，且復遊行，受諸真訣，當以上真道經授子。兆又叩頭自搏，重從請乞，乞為遊走之使，侍接龍車。黃老君曰：子有金格玉名，當為真人，何所憂哉。子見白元，仙事足矣，欲為真人，當存無英，若見無英，真道成矣，子便存之，不試子也。兆復自陳，乞洞房經訣，大君內篇。黃老君日：洞房之內至精中有大神，不可名，非子即所應受，退齋更來，當以授汝。兆乃再拜，敬受教矣。退齋少室三月，乃上登太室，復入洞門，復見黃老君。黃老君曰：今以洞房內經授子，子存此神，常以夜半，冥目靜念，思讀此經，奄見大神，則無英君也。兆再拜受教，奉而行之，積二十七年，乃見無英君，並復存見黃老君，黃老君以《大洞真經》見授。遂乘雲駕龍，白日昇天。其經甚秘，今以授子，慎傳非其人。

太上洞房內經注

黃老君曰：

黃老君，中央道君也。治雲庭宮雲庭洞房神門中央，其神名伯桃，所謂大君之道也。

天有神宮，太玄丹靈，

太玄丹靈，天帝之宮，一名太微，一名紫宮，一名丹臺，一名靈宮，皇天上帝之所居也。象人有洞房。論紫房內要，故先說紫宮丹靈。

天有太室，玉房雲庭，

雲庭，中央黃老君之所居，人在洞房中央。玉房，洞房也，一名紫房，一名絳宮，一名明堂，上有華蓋，東西宮也，洞通左右黃庭之內也。

結洞崑崙，高而不傾，

崑崙，頭也，紫房洞連於頭，既高且深也。象崑崙玄圃黃室之南，南有洞庭房室，一名洞門。方論紫房，故先言頭也。

神仙所止，金堂玉城。

洞房有金城玉房，四達靈宮，玄暉夾照，洞精雲中，神仙三老之所止也。

方而直圓，三寸之間，

洞房方圓，金玉宮室，三寸間也。

黃闕紫戶，至為玄精，

紫房內有黃闕，夾連黃庭，中央為紫戶。紫戶一名雲庭，中即黃老君所居也。紫戶之內，既玄且精至也。

左連青宮，右夾皓清，

左為青府，青童所居也。右為皓清府，白素玉女之所居也。廣而存之，則青童可為九老君，微而精之，則白素玉女為西清母。此左右目中神別名，晝夜存之，可得仙也。

中有大真，至不可名。

謂洞房內有大神也。至真微矣，左為無英君，一名元素君，一名神公子；右為白元君，一名洞陽君。此玉房內至大神也。子專精能存之，真道成也。

誰為父母，自然虛生，

此皇精元素大道君，無有父母，混然獨存，乃先太虛生也。晝夜存之，勿懈怠也

華冠紫蓋，佩流金鈴，

無英君頂扶華冠，御紫神蓋，佩流金鈴，周遊太玄，剋定真書。存之法常以夜半後生氣時，平坐，接手兩膝上，閉氣，冥目內視，祝日：三元英氣，太玄紫宸，黃闕金室，中有大神，華冠紫蓋，龍衣虎文，出丹入虛，呼陽召陰，天道有真，名曰無英，扶我生我，與道長存也。

龍衣虎帶，讀洞真經。

此白元君也，亦著龍文衣服，佩神虎之符。修存，常以平旦日出之時，正東向再拜，閉氣，冥目內視，祝曰：太上神精，正當神門，龍衣虎帶，黃晨華冠，把籍持書，是為白元，與我俱遊，上到陽關，周旋九清，還安黃房。

出宴黃房，遊戲丹田，

黃房，洞房也。無英、白元，出自黃房，與一俱遊丹田裹。晝夜存之，必作真人也。

上通太微，時入洞玄，

神廬，洞玄也。太微皇天上帝宮也。若能存見無英，則得上真訣，《大洞真經》是也。此則真道也。見白元君，仙道畢矣。廣而言之，無英君，元素真也；白元君，上仙道也。

同會六合，合景桃君，

桃君，大道君也。朱衣紫冠，正當命門。無英君、大道君，含形於六合中也。別有經訣。

時遊七門，徹見黃寧，

黃寧，黃室神名也。在兩乳中心上寸也。常以黃昏時，叩齒二七，祝曰：黃室中人，披服黃精，和真流氣，周行我形，呼魂制魄，使我長生，左引右俱，黃靈隱身也。

呼陽召陰，役使六丁，

陽，太上三陽也。陰，陽中三陰也。六丁，神女。真人呼陽則三氣來，召陰則三龍登，使六丁則神女見。呼陽之道，別自有經，老君經也。

混沌一景，反于元陽。

三一，亦大神也。元陽，一之別名也。白元君與一出入，合會丹田裏也。三一，則別守訣經也。

三微妙矣，房為真京，

三微，為頭中泥九、心有絳宮、臍下丹田也。三微皆真妙矣，其真之京，唯有玉房中最精，至微深哉 。

深乎微哉，在元之先，

洞房至微，其中神至精至真，乃先虛元君，上元之氣生也。

子能見之，白日登晨。

晨，太微中神。太微有五宮，晨為太極宮，其右真人之殿也。內名玉房，無英君處其左，白元君處其右。

精通神見，陽氣成雲，

呼陽三氣，是為三素成雲。徹洞六合，則三神來見。則三氣化而為雲，所謂三素之雲也。

徹洞六合，引陰招龍，

陰陽中，三陰也。精通神見，三素成雲，徹洞六合，則三陰招龍，乘雲駕龍，真道備矣 。

紫翠上造，遊行仙宮。

紫翠，華蓋也。仙宮，太極官也。精至神見，乘雲駕龍，紫蓋覆之，玉女鬱媛，上詣帝君，遊行仙宮，則仙道大成，上作真人也。

洞房畢矣，慎勿妄傳。

中央黃老君說房中道畢矣，慎勿妄傳非其人也。

常平旦、日中、日入後，存想五方雲氣。

東方青氣，化為青龍，西方白氣，化為白虎，南方赤氣，化為朱雀，北方黑氣，化為玄武，中央黃氣，化為己身。

平旦頌曰：

微妙而博大兮，元氣精光。巨麗而可樂兮，魂神之翱翔。藏我胸臆兮，中廓然虛如張。梁白如明月兮，通乎萬方。芝草何英英兮，不憂無根。呼吸吐故納新兮，以通神靈。

暮頌曰：

曠曠恢恢，與神無期，被服美好，飲食玄芝，招搖為馬，玉衡為輜，上下無垠，出入無時，百病除愈，神氣獨持，司命著籍，玉簡丹書，編以金縷，纏以素絲，千億巨萬，無所復疑，太一祐我，神靈扶持。

清淨絕念，向王方誦之，亦向日辰誦之，佩籙吏與天地作約，以身悟道樂法者，皆誦之，不如法，罰筭五百，主吏坐。

忌戊辰、戊戌日，不得頌此。頌出《正一玄都律》第九卷。

Source Colophon

The Chinese text follows the Chinese Wikisource transcription of the Daoist Canon edition of this text (article 太上洞房內經注, revision of 15 December 2018), 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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