by Left Palm Master (左掌子)
The Way resides within the human body—there is no need to seek it outside.
Preface
Those who seek immortality—to ascend on clouds, to shed the body and take flight—must first understand the True One. The True One is the Dao. The Dao is the Primordial. The Primordial is the primordial qi of human beings. Qi gives birth to the ten thousand forms; humans receive the primordial qi and are born from it.
The Daoist classic says: The Dao is hollow, yet in use inexhaustible. The Book of the Jade Capital Mountain says: The empty-hollow supreme-harmony qi—inhale and exhale the fluid of flowing rosy clouds; the fetal breathing quiets the Way of the hundred passes. The Yellow Court Classic says: Breathe the primordial qi to seek immortality—as an infant in the mother's womb.
Primordial qi takes many forms and cannot be known all at once. This is why the supreme sages compiled the scriptures and formulas—the Dragon-Tiger Canon, the Cantong Qi, the Five Thousand Words of the Dao De Jing, the Songs of the Immortals, the Yinfu jing, the Xuanji Yufang, and other chapters—some as hymns, some as odes, some as talismans, some as records. All these methods speak of the intent within the fetal state, teaching later learners to return together to the profound mystery of the Great Way. How could one speak of it directly? This is why the sages concealed their formulas in reversed texts, speaking of gold and stone, lead and mercury—or of vermilion sand and quicksilver.
Today's people do not understand the origin of these things; they do not fathom the sages' intentions, but rashly act as if they were literal—burning elixirs, refining drugs, ingesting them in hopes of long life. To seek the immortal Way through such means is far indeed.
As for the ignorant who cannot read the teaching of the fetal state—how could they know the depth and shallowness of the sages' formulas? An ancient song says: To refine the elixir, you must transmit the formula; the Mysterious Pass is the secret of the ancient scriptures. When the work of the returning elixir is complete, the heavenly carriage of five clouds comes to welcome you. Master Guigu said: Though the sage learns sagehood, it is by learning that he becomes a sage—it is not natural of itself. Confucius said: I am not natural—I learned and obtained this. The Lotus Sutra says: One who builds a palace in empty space—this is not necessarily difficult. The Three Primes Perfected One said: There has never been one who, without studying this Way, could ride clouds and shed the form. The Lotus Sutra says: It is like one who digs a well—first removing the yellow earth above, then gradually seeing black mud, and knowing water is near. Wei Boyang said: The formula is not made in vain; the Way is not walked in vain—just as successful scholars who pass the examinations have all spent long years in deep mountains and remote valleys, cultivating their work; only when the work is complete do they pass the examination and have their names on the golden register.
To seek immortality: seek the original source, and you will certainly obtain its essential taste.
It is like someone holding a jade object and asking: What does this formula have the closest relationship with? The answer: The Dao is closest to qi—that is what this is—gauge it with wisdom; hence the question of holding the talisman. And further: What does searching for the Dao have the closest relationship with? The answer: The Dao is closest to qi. Consider: the fish has water as its life—take the fish from water and it dies; the human has qi as its life—when qi is exhausted, the human perishes. Qi is the mother of human beings; human beings are children of the Dao.
The Westward Ascending Classic says: The Dao nourishes the mother; nourishing the mother is called the filial Way. The mother of the Dao is the qi itself—the mother of all immortals, the mother of the human body; it is fully present within the human body.
In the Jin dynasty, in the western hills of Yuzhang, Wu, Xu, and ten others together paid filial reverence to their Dao-mother. Afterward, those twelve people all accomplished the cultivation of the Way in the Yuan Kang years of the Jin, and their altar traces still remain to this day. How could these be empty words?
For the noble student of the Way who seeks long life: the Way does not depart from the primordial qi within the body. An ancient song says: Do not act rashly and bring misfortune. And further: Ten thousand separate methods are nothing but toil and hardship. The Daoist classic says: Cultivate it in the body and its virtue is truly real. And further: Retain it in the body and the spirits arise; bestow it on others and others are born. Beyond this, there is nothing else to do.
As for external lead, external mercury, external minerals, external gold, the four yellows, eight minerals, grasses and wood—none of these are the medicine of immortals.
I have composed these fifteen Songs of Attaining the Way to show those who come after: practice and act on them, and may you achieve the wish of returning together to the effortless Great Way.
I. Attesting to the Way
Circulate the golden essence; nourish the ten thousand spirits—
Naturally, without dying, you attain long life.
Do not follow worldly people in their greedy pleasures:
Toiling endlessly, they end as nothing but a heap of dust.
II. Attesting to the Spiritual Elixir
Nameless, formless—yet forcibly named:
In the body, essence, qi, and spirit are most numinous.
The spiritual elixir involves no other external things—
When yin and yang hold each other in check, it is surely accomplished.
III. Attesting to the Nine Revolutions of the Returning Elixir
Heaven and earth are the furnace; the medicine dwells within the body.
The inscrutable workings of yin and yang—this is called the numinous.
Primordial qi, soaring like hoarfrost, accomplishes the Nine Revolutions:
The Returning Elixir is, at its root, the fluid of Supreme Harmony.
IV. Attesting to Civil and Martial Fire Timing
Through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the days shift one by one—
The Dragon-Tiger Canon at work: turning Kan and Li.
Qian and Kun, through day and night, enact the Great Exchange:
Midnight and noon divide the center of the twelve watches.
V. Attesting to the Spirit-Driven Fire
To refine the elixir, you must know the spirit-driven fire—
Do not use worldly firewood and coal to burn.
The three flowers and their fierce flames are within your own body:
To rush about in vain is only to waste your days and months.
VI. Attesting to the Golden Flower and Yellow Sprout
The yellow sprout, the yellow sprout—responds to the bell's tuning—
Heaven and earth conceal it; it is named the True One.
Only at the Flowery Pool, when spring is mastered,
Do the ten thousand things hold their embryos and begin to flower and fruit.
VII. Attesting to Black Lead and White Mercury
On the third day, geng-metal stirs: the Lake Gate opens—
From the black gold, flames burst; the white-silver embryo forms.
Nine and Six in spring and summer work with Three and Five;
Seven and Nine in autumn and winter come and go in turn.
VIII. Attesting to the Red Dragon and Golden Tiger
In wood, urgent fire: jia-stem—the Azure Dragon;
Beneath the waters, gold lies hidden: geng-stem—the White Tiger.
The creative transformations of heaven and earth rest in the three spirits:
Only when you gauge yin and yang aright can you perceive them.
IX. Attesting to the Dark Luminary and Golden Cauldron
Three-legged in form, measured by a single cun—
Yin and yang emerge from it in the pattern of Qian and Kun.
The cauldron within is not cast from gold or silver:
Initial Nine—the Hidden Dragon—is the gate of all transformation.
X. Attesting to the True Intent of the Dao's Use
The Dao says: it is the having that gives advantage;
And: it is the not-having that gives use.
The formless form dwells within the single qi—
Only return to your original birth, and go back to the original seed.
XI. Attesting to the Solar Flowing Pearl
Supreme Harmony fills the body—named the Flowing;
Primordial yang qi, round as a pearl in its aspect.
The three fields hold above and below the stations of Qian and Kun:
The bellows stir the wind, turning the hinge of the gate.
XII. Attesting to the Mother-Child Spirit Remaining in the World
The child who seeks long life—qi is the mother.
Let it circulate through the three primes, cleansing the organs.
Worldly gold and minerals are all of yin substance;
The decaying flesh must be refined and nourished with the yang elixir.
XIII. Attesting to Cultivating Primordial Qi to Become a Realized Person
Cultivate the body with primordial qi; it transforms into the ten thousand spirits.
You already have it within—do not ask your neighbors.
Breathe at the Flowery Pool; the upper radiance flows—
The way of Heaven opens, becoming the undying body.
XIV. Attesting to Binding the Essence and Transforming into the Heavenly Way as Immortal
The precious elixir, nine revolutions complete, fortifies the essence field;
Ascending directly to the Mud Pellet, the mission is fulfilled.
The immortal in void and stillness transcends the three realms—
Shedding the body, dissolving and transforming, like snake or cicada.
XV. Attesting to the River Cart
Kun takes the form of a cart, dwelling in the earthly realm;
Kan water is the river—this is the land of the Dark Warrior.
Those who attain the Way rise to become rulers;
Those who lose the Way descend and scatter into light.
In the study of the Way, the eight primal true qi ascend to court at the Mud Pellet; the eight primal true qi congeal within the Jade Palace, and transform into unsurpassed immortals. The Way resides within the human body—there is no need to seek it outside.
Colophon
Good Works Translation. Translated from Classical Chinese (文言文) by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, April 2026, with AI assistance (Claude, Anthropic).
Source: Zhengtong Daozang (正統道藏), fascicle 24, p. 224, Taiyuan Division (太玄部). DZ 1095 / KR5d0118. Reproduced in the Mandoku Digital Daozang (HFL witness). Staged source file: Tulku/Tools/daoist/DZ1095_zhengdao_song_attaining_way.txt.
Attribution: The text is attributed to 左掌子 (Zuǒ Zhǎng Zǐ, "Master Left Palm"), an unidentified Daoist practitioner. No biographical information is preserved in the Daozang entry.
On the title: 證道 can be rendered "Attesting to the Way" (bearing testimony to verified stages of practice) or "Attaining the Way" (achieving realization). The title "Song of Attaining the Way" is used here following the queued target name, though the fifteen subsections employ "Attesting to" to preserve the testimony register of 證 — each poem is an act of witness, not merely a description of accomplishment.
On Poem XV, final line: 失其道者下爲光 ("Those who lose the Way descend and become light") is somewhat ambiguous. 光 here appears to contrast with 皇 (sovereign, enduring) — suggesting that those without cultivation dissipate into transient radiance rather than achieving lasting realization. "Scatter into light" renders this interpretation.
Blood Rule: This translation is independently derived from the Classical Chinese source text. No existing English translation was consulted (none is known to exist). All quoted classical texts within the preface (Dao De Jing, Yellow Court Classic, Lotus Sutra, Cantong Qi, Westward Ascending Classic) were translated from the Chinese as they appear in the preface; English renderings of these texts are for this translation only, not drawn from standard editions.
First English translation of DZ 1095.
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Source Text
證道歌并序（左掌子撰）
夫求仙飛升雲騰羽化者先須明眞一眞一者道也道者元也元者人之元炁也氣生萬象人禀元氣而生道經云道沖而用之玉京山經云沖虚太和氣吐納流霞津胎息靜百關之道黄庭經云呼吸元氣以求仙象嬰兒在母胞中之用也元氣多狀卒不可知所以上聖修經訣龍虎參同契道德經五千言衆仙歌及隂符璇璣玉房等篇或爲頌或爲詠或爲符或爲記如此之法皆說胎中之㫖教後學同歸大道玄妙豈可直言所以聖人留訣意㫖多作迴文託金石而言爲鉛爲汞或云朱砂水銀而說今之人未曉其由不測聖意而妄作有爲燒丹鍊藥服之而望長生通仙道遠矣又愚人不能覽胎教豈能知聖訣仙經淺深古歌曰鍊藥須通訣玄關祕古經還丹功若畢天駕五雲迎鬼谷先生言聖人雖學聖假學而成聖非自然也夫子言吾非自然學而得之法華經云有人於虚空中造宫殿未必爲難三元眞人曰未有不學此道而能雲飛羽化者法華經云如人掘井者先去上黄土漸見黑泥即知水近魏伯陽曰訣不虚造道不虚行只如進士登科皆久處深山幽谷之中修習其業業成方登科第名列金榜求仙尋其本源必得其趣如人揣著問曰此訣與何物是親答曰夫道與氣親某物是以智慧測之即揣著問也夫尋道復與何物是親答曰道與氣親且魚以水爲命魚出水而死人以氣爲命氣竭人亡氣是人之母人是道之子西昇經云道養母養母之道名曰孝道道母者則其炁是也衆仙之母人身之母人身之中備有之昔晋朝豫章西山吴許等一十二人同孝養其道母後一十二人於晋元康年中皆養道成至今壇跡尚存豈虚言哉夫學道君子欲求長生道不離身中元氣古歌曰勿妄作凶又云萬般别理徒爲苦辛道經云修之於身其德乃眞又云留之於身即生神施之於人即生人除此外别無所爲又外鉛外汞外石外金四黄八石草木等並非神仙藥物余修證道一十五首以示後來推而行之得願同歸無爲大道
證道第一
流轉金精養萬神
自然不死得長生
莫學世人貪慾樂
役役終成一聚塵
證靈藥第二
無名無狀强而名
一身精氣神最靈
靈藥不干他外物
隂陽相制必當成
證九轉還丹第三
天地爲爐藥在身
隂陽不測謂之神
元氣飛霜成九轉
還丹本是太和津
證火候文武第四
春夏秋冬日一移
龍虎參同運坎离
乾坤晝夜施交泰
子午中分十二時
證神運火第五
鍊藥須知神運火
莫把世間薪炭燒
三花猛焰君身有
徒自驅馳日月消
證金花黄芽第六
黄芽黄芽應鐘律
天地藏之號眞一
但向華池御得春
萬物含胎始花實
證黑鉛白汞第七
三日庚生兌户開
黑金𤇨出白銀胎
九六春夏施三五
七九秋冬往復來
證赤龍金虎第八
木中急火甲青龍
水底藏金庚白虎
天地造化在三神
測得隂陽方可覩
證玄曜金鼎第九
三足圖形一寸分
隂陽脫出象乾坤
鼎中不用金銀鑄
初九潜龍變化門
證道用眞㫖第十
道言有之以爲利
又說無之以爲用
無形之形一氣中
但還本生歸本種
證太陽流珠第十一
太和周身名曰流
元陽氣圓象之珠
三田上下乾坤位
橐籥興風轉户樞
證母子留神住世第十二
子欲長生氣爲母
流轉三元清臟腑
世間金石皆隂質
朽骸須鍊陽丹補
證元氣修之成眞人第十三
元氣修身化萬神
子自有之莫問鄰
呼吸華池流上景
天道開爲不死身
證纏精化天道爲神仙第十四
寳丹九轉固精田
俓上泥丸使命全
神仙空寂超三界
蛻身解化似蛇蟬
證河車第十五
坤象車兮寄地方
坎水爲河玄武鄉
得其道者上爲皇
失其道者下爲光
夫道之學八素眞氣上朝泥丸八素眞氣凝乎瓊宫化成無上神仙道在人身之中不用外求之矣
Source Colophon
Classical Chinese source text from the Zhengtong Daozang (正統道藏, 1445 CE), Taiyuan Division (太玄部). DZ 1095, KR5d0118. Accessed via the Mandoku Digital Daozang (HFL witness), staged in Tulku/Tools/daoist/DZ1095_zhengdao_song_attaining_way.txt. The Zhengtong Daozang is in the public domain.
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