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文/ Sylvain Cauhapé 本文的研究目的是，在道教精神体验和启示方面如何可能与现代科学相匹配方面提出一些假说。本文的研究范围是以白玉蟾（1194–1229?）南宗一派的视角着重对内丹的生物学方面进行讨论。凭借这一尝试，我们试图对一些核心道教术语的现代化理解的假说进行定义。 根据陈楠及其弟子白玉蟾的《杂著指玄篇》，内丹的修炼可分为上中下三品，即天仙之道，水仙之道，地仙之道。最后一个“地仙之道”，被认为是最下品的炼丹之法，看上去似乎是一种以精血髓气液为文献，以心肾为身体器官的生理实践。  内丹（资料图） 夫地仙之道，能留形住世也，庶士可以学之，以精为铅，以血为汞，以肾为水，以心为火，在一年之间，可以融结，九年成功，此乃下品炼丹之法，既有卦爻，又有斤两，其法繁难，故以文字传之，恐难成也。(...)下品丹法，以精血髓气液为药材，以闭咽擂摩为火候，以存想升降为运用。 我们将在本文中提出一些假设，从生物学的角度来进一步考察这些文献。换句话说，如果我们假定“地仙之道”是一种基于现代生物学的生理实践，那我们就要继续追问内丹修炼的文献究竟是什么。 地仙之道 不幸的是，没有哪一种文本或者哪一个学派在提及地仙之道时，对此进行明确的定义。不论是陈楠，还是锺吕以及南宗文集的文本都潜在地提到了地仙之道。我们无论如何都要尝试从南宗一派的立场出发，尤其是以陈楠、白玉蟾及其弟子的观念出发来阅读文本。 张伯端的《悟真篇》在一篇评论中引用了魏伯阳《参同契》中的话，这句话提到了内丹修炼的过程中“髓”以外的其它所有文献。 二物会时情性合，五行全处虎龙蟠。 (...) 《参同契》曰：坎为水为月，在人为肾。肾脏生精，精中有正阳之气，炎升于上，精阴气阳，故铅柔而银刚。心脏生血中，有真一之液，流降于下，血阳液阴，故砂阳而汞阴。 《参同契》这一文本含义非常隐晦且不明确，上述的评论无疑是个人对《参同契》的诠释，但其原文确实包含了陈楠所讲地仙之道的所有文献。同时，它也非常关注心和肾的作用。 作为最早的和最有影响力的内丹文本，许多后来内丹文本也同样关注肾和心。这两个器官在内丹的文本中遵循上述《参同契》中的解释，肾与五行中的水，八卦中的坎卦相关，心与五行中的火，八卦中的离卦相关。 就《易经》所言内丹修炼过程的核心由在于对坎卦和离卦的改造，即将心脏中离卦的真阴与肾脏中坎卦的真阳交换。白玉蟾是这样解释的： 一点真阳，生坎位，点却离宫之缺。造物无声，水中起火，妙在虚危穴。 这个在肾脏与心脏之间的卦线的转化也可以理解为水与火元素之间的转化、肾脏与心脏的气之间的转化。白玉蟾对此进行了更为详尽的描述： 丹者日月之重合。人之日月系乎心肾，心肾气交，水火升降，运转无穷，始见吾身与天地等，同司造化，而不入于造化矣。 这同样可以用黄自如在其对《金丹四百字》的注释中对于体液的描述来理解： 天地交真液，日月合真精。会得坎离基，三界归一身。解曰：心液下降，肾液上升，则天地交真液矣。 在锺吕派典籍《锺吕传道集》中，指定到《参同契》中对这一过程的同样理解则是排除了的《易经》内容的： 以五行言之，人身本是精与血，先有水也。以五藏言之，精血为形像，先生肾也。肾水之中.伏藏於受胎之初，父母之真气，真气隐於人之内肾，所谓铅者，此也。肾中正气，气中真一之水，名曰真虎，所谓铅中银者，此也。肾气传肝气，肝气传心气。心气太极而生液，液中有正阳之气，所谓朱砂者，心液也。所谓汞者，心液之中正阳之气是也。以气中真一之水顾恋和合於液中正阳之气，积气液为胎胞，传送在黄庭之内，进火无差，胎仙自化，乃比铅银合汞，毁炼成宝者也。 十分有趣的是，当陈楠以心血为汞，以肾精为铅时，锺吕派以“心液之中正阳之气”为汞，以“父母之真气，真气隐於人之内肾”为铅。因此，在南宗，炉鼎（血与精）即为汞与铅，但在锺吕派中则是汞与铅为炉鼎所包含，如正阳之气与真气。另一份关键的锺吕文献《灵宝毕法》认为真虎乃肾中之水，而真龙心液中之气（元阳）。在同样也是锺吕文献的《百问篇》中，有两种液体：肾中之水即为华池，心中之血即为神水。事实上，依据白玉蟾第二代弟子萧廷芝所言，华池和神水在锺吕派和南宗中都是最基本的： 日：神水华池何也？答曰：李荃云：还丹之要，在於神水华池。紫阳日：以铅入汞名日神水，以汞投铅名日华池。海蟾日：从来神水出高源。紫清日：华池正在气海内。  真液可通乾坤（资料图） 在《参同契》中，对于陈楠的地仙之道的“升降”应用，锺吕派和南宗以不同的比喻对此进行了相类似的说明： 将下降的心气（火元素、正阳之气、锺吕派所言汞者）与体液（坎卦的阴线、神水、南宗所言真液或真汞者）封入血液（南宗所言汞者）之中； 上升的肾脏正阳之气（离卦的阳线、锺吕派所言铅者）与体液（水元素、南宗所言铅液者）包含肾精（南宗所言铅者）。 不论锺吕派还是南宗，都认为心脏产生的血液包含心液或者说是“神水”是“真液可通乾坤”。这种液体所含心脏中的阳气作为火元素。而肾脏所产生的肾液（南宗也称之为铅液）作为水元素并与正阳之气相连。这种液体是由“精”（南宗也称之为真铅或真精）所成并作为“日月之合”。两派都将修炼过程看作是血液与精、铅与汞、肾脏中的真气与血液中的正阳之气联合的问题并且二者都需移至鼎或者说是黄庭之中。白玉蟾对此解释道： 朱砂鼎、偃月炉，何难寻之有？守一坛中央釜，惟自己而求。宜识阴阳，要知玄牝，龙精满鼎，遣金童下十二层楼，凤髓盈壶，令玉女报三千世界。 从生物学角度说，这种专注于将精与血液相联合的修炼过程在一些早期内丹文集中会导致某种误解。事实上在早期中药学中，将女子的血液和男子的精（生殖所用的精）结合被认为是受精的基础。这种误解是基于对于女性经血和女性生殖卵子之间的混淆。而这种混淆被袁公辅在其对《悟真篇》的评注中进行了纠正并被陈楠拿来取笑。 怪事教人笑几回？男儿今也会怀胎，自家精血自交结，身裹夫妻是妙哉。 然而，这种混淆的观念作为一种圣胎产生的经典比喻出现在许多内丹文献中。在南宗，由于受到《黄帝内经》的影响，血液在很大程度上与骨髓相关联，以前许多对血液的表达都涉及到骨髓（如辰髓、凤髓、朱雀髓、红铅髓等）。而另一方面，锺吕派却并未专门地系统地将血液与骨髓相连。 第一个假设：天地之气是氧气 根据《修真指玄篇》，锺吕派认为心之正阳之气是为真火并且心液之中而取正阳之气。这种正阳之气接纳了另一种气——天地之气： “随吸而入，以接於心气而下降，故呼吸之问般运天地，纯粹之气入於中官。” 根据同样的文献，这意味着气中有气： “内丹既凝而生纯阳之气，是为气中有气。”  这种天地之纯气就是氧气（资料图） 第一个假设是为了理解这种天地之纯气就是氧气（纯粹的空气）。根据白玉蟾对《玄珠歌》的评注，南宗认为在人呼吸之炁和天地之炁之间有一些相似性：“天地以炁而昇降人身以炁而呼吸”，“天以炁下降,地以炁上昇。人之呼吸,同天地之昇降。”必须要注意到的是，在这里白玉蟾用了“炁”而不是“气”来表示“空气”，因为“气”同时也有“能量”的含义。但他却在其《阴阳升降论》中的一个与之相似的语句中使用了“气”： 人能效天地蠹钥之用，冲虚湛寂一气周流於百骸，开则气出，阖则气入，气出则如地气之上升，气入则如天气之下降，自可与天地齐其长久。 我们的第一个假设是把天地之间的纯气（纯粹的空气）看作是空气中的氧气。这种纯气是会由正阳之气吸纳进心脏的纯粹的空气，曾经就有将血液称为“天地融合之真液”的表述。根据这种假设，“气血”同样可以被理解为将氧气（天地之纯气）输送到各个器官的血流。 第二个假设，“精”是生物细胞 在《道德经》中，“精”是万物的本质并构成其现实。与中药学相同，在之后的道家文献中，这种观点被从生物学角度来进行理解。同样，在道教文献和中医学中，“精”也被与许多不同事物进行了关联——通常指衍生于食物中的某物或是体液和更为具体的精子、女性经血和津液。在《必竟想地歌》中，白玉蟾更为详尽地解释在内丹语境中“精”不应被理解为“男女构精”。白玉蟾在其《玉枢经》注释中将“精”描述为作为胞胎始荣的交感精，而非男性生殖精子或女性生殖卵细胞。《参同契》也将男女之精相结合看作是一切生命形形成的基本方式： 人与万物，皆天地娠精而生。仲尼於《易》，发明男女娠精、万物化生之道 ” 根据白玉蟾表述中的胚胎发育阶段，这可理解为在现代生物学中或者是现在被认为是成胚细胞并由胚胎干细胞构成的胎盘中的胎儿第一阶段，或者是处于最初阶段的第一个生物细胞或是受精卵。 根据老子所言，构成现实之人的生物细胞是我们自身和任何生物体的根本所在。内丹文献中的“精”在身体的不同部分都是作为一个重要角色存在着。在不同的部分，根据我们的第二个假设，“精”可以被解释为不同种类的生物细胞。例如，精子和卵细胞都是细胞，只有它们是男性和女性的生殖细胞。将这个假设继续推进，我们可以进一步明确特定的细胞并将其与身体不同部分“精”相匹配。 器官的“精”即为器官细胞组织 在《修真论》中，白玉蟾的弟子引用《太上玄镜》，将器官的“精”看作是保健的同义词。他们必定是“坚”、“实”或“固”的，换句话说就是身体健康避免功能紊乱。  被3D“放大”的人体细胞（资料图） 心气在肝，肝精不固，目眩无光。心气在肺，肺精不实，肌肉瘦弱。心气在肾，肾精不固，神气臧少。心气在脾，脾精不坚，齿发浮落。 这种将器官的“精”认为是器官细胞组织的解释十分符合现代生物学，因为包括癌症在内的许多疾病都是由于器官细胞组织恶化。 铅精是真铅和促红细胞生成素的激素 在《西山群仙會真記》中，锺吕派代表人物之一的施肩吾对于“精”给出了几项关键信息。根据传统中医学他认为“精”是从食物和酒水的材料在胃中与真气混合并最终在肾脏中生成： 精者，何自生乎？万物受天地纯粹之气，而人饮食乎万物充实之资，纳之於胃，与真气相合，流转於肾，其虚气盈矣。 在现代生物学中这种对于肾精产生的描述符合促红细胞生成素。这些分子由胃里的氨基酸、类固醇和类花生酸类物质在肾脏中构成。然而，促红细胞生成素的激素并不是细胞。他们的角色是促进成人骨髓干细胞制造红细胞。根据我们的假设，在下一章我们将会看到咽气之津和血精（朱雀髓）之间分别有许多相似之处。 神水和朱雀髓是真汞和血红细胞 南宗萧廷芝在其《金丹大成集》中记录了张伯端对神水（心液）的定义，即以铅入汞名曰神水，并根据陈楠的地仙之道我们也可以得出“精”即为铅而血即为汞。因此这便意味着神水由进入血液的精或者说是血精构成。根据《百问篇》，锺吕派认为神水在物种器官中进出并且“故吾身流转则体润矣，是谓神水者也”。这就是发现于心脏之中的血液（流珠），并且在像是《黄帝内经》这些文献中也被称为朱雀髓： 纯阳子曰：心有异名乎？正阳子曰：心者司南，其干丙丁，其德在火，其卦曰离，其名曰朱汞，曰赤龙之趾，曰放，曰离女，曰瑶台。心有血焉，谓之赤凤之髓，其流入於脑谓之海，其流入於）华池谓之神水。 我们的假设是为了解释血液（神水）之中的血精是红细胞。在现代生物学中红细胞的特征是红色的、可鉴别健康和输送氧气。它们由成人干细胞凭借肾脏的促红细胞生成素激素的冲击在骨髓中制造出来的。 白玉蟾在其《玄珠歌》的注释中认为血精可鉴定人的健康程度：“夺人精血补吾身”此外，根据《玄珠歌》的注释，不健康的血精会被改变颜色：“邪淫采精血”，这也是赋予血液红色的红细胞中的血红蛋白的标志。许多关于血液的比喻都涉及到红色，像是《黄帝内经》中的“朱雀髓”和陈楠的“红铅髓”。此外，根据《黄帝内经》，血液中含有被称为“咽气之津”的物质，这在我们的假设中，是获取氧气的血红细胞的标志。像我们在先前的假设中所描述的气血是作为一个单一实体（输送氧气的血流）存在，精血也同样在某些文献中作为血精或是血细胞的单一实体存在。  《黄帝内经》书影（资料图） 最后，不论在南宗还是现代生物学中，制造红细胞都需要相同的材料，即促红细胞生成素激素（如上文所言真铅或铅精）和骨髓中的成人干细胞。但是，南宗理论中骨髓的成人干细胞并非完全等价。《黄帝内经》中“咽气之津”也被称为神水，因为它可以修复血精并且是血流中精的源泉，所以被认为是与成人干细胞有最为相近的特征。 故咽气津者，此名天池之水，可久饵之，资精气血，荡涤五藏，先溉元海，一名离官之水，一名玉池，一名神水，不可唾之，但可饵之，以补精血，可益元海也。 值得注意的是，这里的“津”应作为一种比喻来理解而非单纯的生理液体。事实上根据上文所说，它并非如唾液而是作为神水存在于血流中。白玉蟾在《必竟想地歌》中用了一个相类似的比喻来定义“精”：“其精(...) 乃玉皇口中涎”。由此，很明显这是一种比喻的说法而非真实的体液。 除“咽气之津”外，还有许多关于神水或是血液的定义的比喻，南宗与“髓”相关的比喻就有髓之红风、髓之红铅、汞髓等。白玉蟾的弟子引用《太上玄镜》对“髓”也给出了明确的界定，即气、肾精（促红细胞生成素）和心液相交之处： 纯阳上升者谕之气，纯阴下降者谓之液。气液相交於骨髓之间者，谓之髓。气髓相交於膀胱之外者，谓之精。 南宗祖师薛道光、陈楠和白玉蟾也都认为“髓”与肾精有密切关系。根据陈楠所述，其关系就如阴与阳、乌鸦与兔、虎与龙、红铅与黑汞、真汞与真铅，必须混合在一起才能得到“精”：“即此可谓铅汞精，化作精髓盈关源”。 在陈楠的书中，以龙虎或是铅汞来比喻肾中的铅精和心脏的汞液的融合以两个不同的形式出现在两处。在上述引证中我们认为铅液（铅精）上升至心脏并遇心液（神水）以生金精（灵婴或是金丹），后降至黄庭（或称为鼎）中来培育。另一种形式是与现代生物学息息相关的小周天。在这种模式中铅精（促红细胞生成素）或者说是龙精进入尾閭的骨髓中并在这里与虎髓相遇后螺旋上升。这种形式在南宗并未明确表达为“小周天”，而是在许多南宗祖师文集中单纯用“周天”来表示，如白玉蟾说： 谁识周天造化功，于今蹙在片时中，只将铅汞入真土，炼出金花满鼎红。 或是用龙虎来作比： 空按周天行卦数，几曾识得真龙虎？苦识真龙真虎人，了得向上一条路。 此外，在《金丹四百字》中，神水也被指作“真汞产于离”，而在《悟真篇》注释中，真汞是由铅液（铅精）所产生：“盖铅是中官金母，繁生真汞，汞结为丹，铅则不用，如万物之种子也”。根据我们的假设这意味着当铅（促红细胞生成素激素）产生后汞（血）就不再使用。这在《金丹四百字》中被解释为“真铅制真汞”，这说明在我们的假设中铅精（促红细胞生成素激素）生成真汞或者说是神水，即血液（红细胞）。 然而，在现代生物学中，红细胞的产生过程是在骨髓中而非在心脏中完成。根据我们的假设，不论是南宗还是在《黄帝内经》中，生物学上的成人干细胞和血红细胞都是一种东西，即神水。依照陈楠的解释，可以简单理解为：“神水根基与汞连 ”。但这种认知从生物学的角度看并非完全错误，而且还解释了二者之间明确区别的原因。事实上，成人干细胞通过复制自身来制造血红细胞，因此从某些方面来说，它们是相同的，仅仅是特性发生了改变。血红细胞不制造细胞，只是在血液中运输氧气，而成人干细胞则被关在骨髓中，就像陈楠所说“精髓盈关源 ”？有趣的是，叶士表在其对《悟真篇》的注释中仍将真汞表述为“胎水复藏母胎中，为水银，真汞也”而非血液。事实上，在现代生物学中，胎盘主要用于储存非胚胎干细胞。 总结 尽管有许多相似之处，我们所做的类推并非无懈可击。正如我们的假设所说，促红细胞生成素激素并不是细胞，而是骨髓中促进血红细胞产生的激素。对于血液产生地仍有矛盾之处，即南宗认为在心脏中而现代生物学则认为在骨髓中。在南宗理论中骨髓中的成人干细胞与血液中的血红细胞并没有明确区别。同时，在文献中神水的角色和铅精（促红细胞生成素）的模式都各式各样，相差甚远，因此并不能都与现代生物学的类推相吻合。  现代生物科技（资料图） 由于在内丹学中对于“精”有许多解释，因此需要不同的现代术语与其全部相匹配。事实上，“精”不可能同时作为氨基酸、食物中的类固醇和类花生酸、肾脏中的促红细胞生成素激素、大脑中的血细胞、男性女性的生殖细胞或者是器官组织细胞存在。在本文的许多假设中，咽气之津、神水、作为血红细胞的朱雀髓、作为促红细胞生成素激素的肾脏中的铅精和作为器官组织细胞的脏精不可能与这些术语的现代含义完全匹配。但不得不说它们又十分惊人的相似之处，并由此使得将“精”理解为“生物学上的细胞”提供了真实可能性。“精”即“生物学上的细胞”这种解释并不能与道教文献中“精”的性质相符，特别是与其字面含义——“本质”，因此，这仍然只是一个大体上的假设。 根据我们的假设，南宗的内丹修炼过程充斥着现代生物学元素，如促红细胞生成素、红细胞、氧气还有成人干细胞，但其修炼核心和模式并非完全一致。在地仙之道的所有组成部分中，正阳之气被认为符合现代生物学并且是产生金丹的最为关键性的元素。同时在内丹模式中，金精或是金胎都最后归结于黄精。黄精最普遍的观点是理解为胃，但一些现代内丹文献将其解释为脾脏。这再一次证实现代内丹释义与现代生物学还有我们的假设完全有关联，因为脾脏确实是旧的血红细胞从血液中取出的地方，同时脾脏也用于储存血液。如果我们接受这些假设，那接下来需要关注是否内丹修炼对于促红细胞生成素、血红细胞和其他器官细胞的产生真的有推动作用？是否真的有生物学方法能够延长生命、抵御与血液相关的癌症或是其他细胞病变疾病从而捍卫我们的健康？（翻译：九丢） 本文原文为英文： Hypotheses for a modern understanding of some core Taoist terms by Sylvain Cauhapé The purpose of this paper is to set a number of hypotheses on how spiritual experience and revelation in Daoism could potentially match modern science. The scope of this paper will focus on the biological aspect of Neidan內丹in the eyes of the Nanzong南宗school of Bai Yuchan白玉蟾 (1194–1229?). Underlying this attempt we will try to define hypotheses for a modern understanding of some core Taoist terms. According to Chen Nan 陈楠, as related by his disciple Bai Yuchan in the Zazhu zhixuan pian, there are three main Neidan techniques, the heavenly Dao of immortality, the watery Dao of immortality and the earthly Dao of immortality. The last one, considered as the lower one, appears to be a physiological practice using Jing (精), blood (血), marrow (髓), Qi (气) and bodily fluids (液) as its ingredients and the heart (心) and kidneys (肾) as the body organs: The earthly Dao of immortality can allow you to leave the corporal form of this world. Many adept can learn it. It use Jing as Lead and blood as Mercury, the kidneys as water and heart as fire, in one year you can dissipate attachment and in nine years you can succeed. This is the lower technique of cultivation of the elixir, its (roots) lays in the trigrams lines. It is heavy, complicated and difficult, therefore, it was transmitted by writing and I am afraid it is difficult to complete. (...) The lower elixir technique use Jing, blood, marrow, Qi and bodily fluids as its medical ingredients, closing the gullet and massage as fire phasing, concentration, rising and falling as its application. 夫地仙之道，能留形住世也，庶士可以学之，以精为铅，以血为汞，以肾为水，以心为火，在一年之间，可以融结，九年成功，此乃下品炼丹之法，既有卦爻，又有斤两，其法繁难，故以文字传之，恐难成也。(...)下品丹法，以精血髓气液为药材，以闭咽擂摩为火候，以存想升降为运用。 In the present paper we will present several hypotheses to further understand these ingredients from a biological perspective. In other words, we will ask ourselves what would be these ingredients if we postulate that the earthly Dao of immortality is a physiological practice based on modern biology. The earthly Dao of immortality Unfortunately, there is not a clear definition on which texts or schools do refer to the earthly Dao of immortality. Being however transmitted in textual format according to Chen Nan, both the Zhong-Lü 种吕and the Nanzong corpus will be studied here as potentially referring to the earthly Dao of immortality. We will however try to view these texts from the Nanzong school’s point of view and in particular that of Chen Nan, Bai Yuchan and his disciples. In a commentary of Zhang Boduan’s张伯端Wuzhenpian 悟真篇 (Folios on Awakening to Reality) citing Wei Boyang’s魏伯阳Cantong qi参同契, an alchemical process mention all of Chen Nan ingredients but the marrow: When the two things unite feeling and inner nature unite, in the place where the five elements are complete, the dragon and the tiger coil. (...) (Commentary) The Cantong qi said: The Water trigram is the water element and the moon, in men it is the kidney. The kidney organ produce Jing, in the Jing there are the true Yang Qi that rise like flames, the Jing is Yin, the Qi is Yang, therefore the lead is soft and silver hard. The heart organ produce the blood, in the blood there is the true one fluid that drops down, the blood is Yang, the fluid is Yin, therefore sand is Yang and mercury Yin. 二物会时情性合，五行全处虎龙蟠。 (...) 《参同契》曰：坎为水为月，在人为肾。肾脏生精，精中有正阳之气，炎升于上，精阴气阳，故铅柔而银刚。心脏生血中，有真一之液，流降于下，血阳液阴，故砂阳而汞阴。 The Cantong qi being a very cryptic text is not that explicit. The above commentary is definitely a personal interpretation of the Cantong qi but the original text do really contains all the ingredients of Chen Nan’s earthly Dao of immortality. It also gives a strong focus on the heart and the kidneys. Being also one of the most influential and early text of Neidan, many later Neidan texts have also shown the same focus in the kidneys and the heart. Both organs are in Neidan texts and following the above interpretation of the Cantong qi, related to the fire and water elements and to the fire and water trigrams. The core alchemical process consist from its Yijing aspect in modifying the fire and water trigrams by taking the pure Yin line of the fire trigram in the heart and inversing it with the pure Yang line of the water trigram in the kidneys, which Bai explain as follow: A bit of true Yang born in the water trigram, return this bit to the fire trigram palace (to fill) its deficiency. Living things are produce in silence, the center of the water element catch the fire element, the marvelous (happen) in the empty and perilous cavity. 一点真阳，生坎位，点却离宫之缺。造物无声，水中起火，妙在虚危穴。 This inversion of the hexagram lines between the kidneys and the heart is also understood as the inversion of the fire and the water elements and the inversion of the kidneys and heart’s Qi, which Bai further describe as follow: The elixir is the union of Sun and Moon. The people’s system of sun and moon is the heart and the kidneys, the Qi of the heart and the kidneys turn over, water and fire rise and fall, endlessly operating, at the start I could see my self matching Heaven and Earth as if managing creation but without entering in it! 丹者日月之重合。人之日月系乎心肾，心肾气交，水火升降，运转无穷，始见吾身与天地等，同司造化，而不入于造化矣。 It can also be interpreted in terms of bodily fluids (液) as does Huang Ziru黄自如 (fl. 1241) in his commentary of the Jindan sibaizi: “Heaven and Earth unite in the True fluid; Sun and Moon join in the True Jing. Gather and obtain the fire and water trigrams foundation, the 3 boundaries return in one’s body. Commentary: The heart fluid falls and the kidney’s fluid rises, thus Heaven and Earth’s unite in the True fluid. 天地交真液，日月合真精。会得坎离基，三界归一身。解曰：心液下降，肾液上升，则天地交真液矣。 The same interpretation of the process assigned to the Cantong Qi is found except for its Yijing aspect in the anthology of the Zhong-Lü tradition, the Zhong-Lü chuandao ji: In terms of the five elements, the roots of people’s body are blood and Jing and the water element was first born. In terms of the five organs the form of people’s body is (made of) blood and Jing, and the kidneys were first born. In the kidney’s water that was concealed at the start of the conception, there is the true Qi of the mother and father hidden in the two kidneys; this is what is called Lead. In the kidneys there is the true Qi, in the true Qi there is the true unified water also called the true tiger, the metal in the lead. The kidney’s Qi spread to the liver’s Qi, the liver’s Qi spread to the heart’s Qi. With the heart’s Qi and the Great Ultimate (太极) is born the fluid, in this fluid there is the true Yang Qi called the cinnabar or the blood’s fluid. What is called the Mercury is the true Yang Qi inside the blood’s fluid. Use the true unified water inside the Qi to love and unite with the true Yang Qi inside the fluid, amass this Qi fluid as the fetus placenta and move it inside Huangjing, advanced fire without falling short of it, and the immortal fetus will transform by itself, that is Lead and Silver uniting with Mercury, refine and it to become a jewel. 以五行言之，人身本是精与血，先有水也。以五藏言之，精血为形像，先生肾也。肾水之中.伏藏於受胎之初，父母之真气，真气隐於人之内肾，所谓铅者，此也。肾中正气，气中真一之水，名曰真虎，所谓铅中银者，此也。肾气传肝气，肝气传心气。心气太极而生液，液中有正阳之气，所谓朱砂者，心液也。所谓汞者，心液之中正阳之气是也。以气中真一之水顾恋和合於液中正阳之气，积气液为胎胞，传送在黄庭之内，进火无差，胎仙自化，乃比铅银合汞，毁炼成宝者也。 It is interesting to notice that while Chen Nan take the heart’s blood as Mercury and the kidney’s Jing as Lead, the Zhong-Lü tradition have “the True Yang Qi inside the blood’s fluid” as Mercury and the “true Qi of the mother and father hidden in the two kidneys” as Lead. Therefore in Nanzong the container (blood and Jing) are the Mercury and Lead while in the Zhong-Lü tradition it is what they contain, i.e., True yang Qi and True Qi. Another critical Zhong-Lü text, the Lingbao bifa have the kidney’s water as the white tiger (真虎乃肾中之水也) and the Qi or primordial Yang (元阳) inside the heart’s fluid as the true dragon. (真龙心液中之气). In the Baiwen pian, also part of the Zhong-Lü corpus, these two fluids, the kidney’s water (肾中之水) and the heart’s blood (心中之血) are respectively the flowery pond (华池) and the spiritual water (神水). Indeed, according to Xiao Tingzhi 萧廷芝 (fl. 1260–64), a disciple of second generation of Bai Yuchan, these last two are essential in both Zhong-Lü and Nanzong traditions: Question : What is the spiritual water (神水) and the flowery pond (华池) ? Answer: Li Quan said: what are vital for the reverted elixir are the spiritual water and the flowery pond. Ziyang (Zhang Boduan) said: use lead to enter mercury this is what is called the spiritual water, use mercury to send lead this is called the flowery pond. Haichan (Liu Haichan) said: From the spiritual water always come out high source. The master of Purple Clarity (Bai Yu Chan) said: The flowery pond is inside the Ocean of Qi (气海). 日：神水华池何也？答曰：李荃云：还丹之要，在於神水华池。紫阳日：以铅入汞名日神水，以汞投铅名日华池。海蟾日：从来神水出高源。紫清日：华池正在气海内。 In the Cantong qi, the Zhong-Lü and the Nanzong traditions what is referred as the “rising and falling” applications of the earthly Dao of immortality of Chen Nan correspond but with different metaphor to: - falling of the heart’s Qi (the fire element, the True Yang Qi, Mercury in the Zhong-Lü tradition) and fluid (the Yin line of the fire trigram, the spiritual water, the True Fluid or True Mercury in Nanzong) encapsulate in the blood (Mercury in Nanzong); - the ascending of the kidney’s True Yang Qi (the Yang line of the water trigram, Lead in the Zhong-Lü tradition) and fluid (water element, Lead liquid in Nanzong) containing the kidney’s Jing (Lead in Nanzong). In both tradition what the heart produce is the blood containing the heart’s fluid or “spiritual water” as the “True fluid that unites Heaven and Earth”. This fluid contains the heart’s Yang Qi as the fire element. What the kidneys produce is the kidney’s fluid (also called the Lead liquid in Nanzong) as the water element and related to the true Yang Qi. This fluid is made of “Jing” (also called the True Lead or True Jing in Nanzong) as the “union of sun and moon”. In both traditions too the process is a matter of union of blood and Jing, Lead and Mercury, the True Qi of the kidneys and the “True Yang Qi inside the blood’s fluid” and both need to move to the cauldron (鼎) also called Huangjing (黄庭). Bai explains this as follow: The cauldron of cinnabar that fall down in the moon stove, what difficulty is there in searching them? The altar for guarding the One is the central cauldron that can only be search in oneself. To know the Yin and Yang, it is appropriate to be aware of Xuanpin, the dragon’s Jing fill the cauldron, dispatch the Golden Child that fall the 12 floor pagoda (the throat), the phoenix marrow (the blood) fill the pot, and make the beautiful woman announce the three thousands worlds. 朱砂鼎、偃月炉，何难寻之有？守一坛中央釜，惟自己而求。宜识阴阳，要知玄牝，龙精满鼎，遣金童下十二层楼，凤髓盈壶，令玉女报三千世界。 From a biological point of view, the alchemical process consisting in the union of Jing and blood has sometimes leaded to some misunderstanding in some early Neidan texts. Indeed in early Chinese medicine, the union of the woman’s blood and men’s Jing (as the reproductive seminal Jing) was considered as the basis of fecundation. This misconception was based on a misunderstanding between the woman’s menstrual blood and the woman’s reproductive egg cell. This misunderstanding was however corrected by Yuangongfu袁公辅in its commentary of the Wuzhenpian and taken with humor by Chen Nan: There are strange teachings that make people laugh over and over. Today a man can himself become pregnant by uniting its own blood and Jing. That one can bind husband and wife in one body that is so wonderful! 怪事教人笑几回？男儿今也会怀胎，自家精血自交结，身裹夫妻是妙哉。 It remains however in many Neidan texts a classical metaphor for the production of the spiritual fetus. However in Nanzong, following the influence of the Huangdi Neijing, the blood is highly related to the marrow, once the many expressions representing the blood’s fluid that are referring to the marrow (Mercury’s marrow, phoenix marrow, red phoenix of the marrow, marrow’s red lead, etc.). The Zhong-Lü tradition on the other hand does not link specifically and systematically the blood with the marrow. First hypothesis, the Heaven and Earth’s Qi as Oxygen In the Zhong-Lü tradition, according to the Xiuzhen zhixuan pian, the heart’s Qi is assimilated to the “true fire” (心之正阳之气是为真火) and to the “true Yang Qi” inside the heart’s fluid (心液之中而取正阳之气). This True Yang Qi receives another kind of Qi, the Heaven and Earth’s Qi: “It enters following breath and is received in the heart’s Qi therefore by breathing it is like moving Heaven and Earth and the pure Qi (pure air) enter the middle palace 随吸而入，以接於心气而下降，故呼吸之问般运天地，纯粹之气入於中官。” This means according to the same text that there is Qi inside Qi: “Neidan is to concentrate and engender the pure Yang Qi, it is like Qi inside Qi 内丹既凝而生纯阳之气，是为气中有气。” The first hypothesis is to understand this pure Qi of Heaven and Earth as oxygen (pure air). In the Nanzong tradition, following Bai Yuchan’s commentary of the Xunzhu Ge, there are several parallelism between the breathing air (炁) of men and the air (炁) of Heaven and Earth : “ Heaven and Earth use Qi (air) to rise and fall, people use Qi (air) to inhaled and exhaled. 天地以炁而昇降人身以炁而呼吸”, “Heaven use Qi (air) to fall, Earth use Qi (air) to rise. People's breath in and breath out are the same as the ascent and descent of Heaven and Earth (’s air). 天以炁下降,地以炁上昇。人之呼吸,同天地之昇降。” It has to be noticed that here Bai use the graph 炁 which clearly means “air” rather than the graph 气 which also means “energy”. He however also uses the second graph in a similar sentence in his Yin Yang Shengjiang lun: People can imitate Heaven and Earth key functionality by infusing emptiness in one deep and silent Qi (breath) that circulate in all the 100 bones, open, then the Qi (air) goes out, close, then the Qi (air) enter, when the Qi (air) goes out it is like the Earth’s Qi (air) rising, when the Qi (air) enter is it like the Heaven’s Qi (air) falling, thus you can yourself get the same longevity as Heaven and Earth. 人能效天地蠹钥之用，冲虚湛寂一气周流於百骸，开则气出，阖则气入，气出则如地气之上升，气入则如天气之下降，自可与天地齐其长久。 Our first hypothesis is to take the pure Qi (pure air) of Heaven and Earth as the oxygen of the air. This pure Qi is the pure air that would be catch in the heart by the pure Yang Qi, once the expression about the blood’s fluid as the “True fluid that unites Heaven and Earth”. Following this hypothesis what is referred as气血 could also be understood as the blood stream that diffused this oxygen (the pure air of Heaven and Earth) to the organs. Second hypothesis, Jing as biological cells. In the Dao De Jing, Jing (精) is the essence of the things and what constitute its reality. In later Daoist texts, as well as in Chinese medicine, this view as been understood from a biological perspective. Also Jing relates to a great number of different things among Daoist texts and in Chinese medicine, it generally refers to something derived from food or to bodily fluids and more specifically semen, women menstrual blood and saliva. In his Bijing xiangde ge Bai make it clear that the Jing in Neidan context should not be understood as the “ reproductive Jing of man and woman” (男女构精). Rather then the man’s spermatozoon (semen) or the woman’s egg cell (ovum), Bai describes Jing in his commentary of the Yushujing as the result of their union in sexual intercourse (交感精), that is “the starting appearance of the placenta’s fetus” (胞胎始荣). The Cantong Qi also takes the union of male and female Jing as the basis of all life form: “People and living things are all a born out of Heaven and Earth fecundation of Jing (娠精). Confucius in the Yijing exposed (the principle) of men and women fecundation of Jing and the way of creation of all living things. 人与万物，皆天地娠精而生。仲尼於《易》，发明男女娠精、万物化生之道 ” Depending on the embryonic development stage represented in Bai statement it can mean in modern biology either the first form of the fetus in the placenta, today’s known as embryo blast and made of embryonic stem cells, to the first biologic cell, the zygote, in its most early stage. Biologic cells are indeed following Laozi, what constitutes the reality of man, they are the “essence” of our body and of any living organism. Jing in Neidan context have an important role in difference places of the body. Being in different places, they could therefore following our second hypothesis be understood as different kind of biologic cells. For instance, spermatozoon (sperm) and egg cell are cells, only they refer to the reproductive cells of man and woman. Pushing forward the hypothesis we will try to further define specific cells that could match the Jing found on the different places of the body. The organ’s Jing as the organ cells tissues In the Xiuzhun Lun, citing Taishang Xunjing太上玄镜, Bai’s disciples take the organ’s Jing as synonym of health. They must be “strong” (坚), “solids” (实) or “firm” (固), in other word healthy to avoid body dysfunction: Your heart's Qi is in the liver, if the liver’s Jing are not firmed, you become dizzy and without light! Your heart's Qi is in the lungs, if the lung’s Jing are not solids, your muscles are thin and weak! Your heart's Qi is in the kidneys, if the kidney's Jing are not firm, you will not be able to collect much spiritual forces and Qi. Your heart's Qi is in the spleen, if the spleen’s Jing are not strong, your teeth will be weaken and drop. 心气在肝，肝精不固，目眩无光。心气在肺，肺精不实，肌肉瘦弱。心气在肾，肾精不固，神气臧少。心气在脾，脾精不坚，齿发浮落。 This interpretation of the organ’s Jing as organ’s cells tissues perfectly match modern biology since many diseases, including cancer, are due to organs cells tissues degeneration. The Lead Jing (铅精) as True Lead (真铅) and EPO hormones. In his Xishan qunxian huizhen ji, Shi Jianwu’s 施肩吾(fl. 820–35) who is part of the Zhong-Lü tradition, give several key information about Jing. For him following traditional Chinese medicine they are produced in the kidneys from the material of food and beverage mixed with the True Qi in the stomach: How could we produce Jing? The material word received the pure Qi (air) of Heaven and Earth so people can find their food and drink in the rich resources of the material word. They receive it in the stomach where it mix with the True Qi and move into the kidneys so your Qi from emptiness become full! 精者，何自生乎？万物受天地纯粹之气，而人饮食乎万物充实之资，纳之於胃，与真气相合，流转於肾，其虚气盈矣。 In modern biology this description of the production of the kidney’s Jing fit the Erythropoietin hormonal molecules (EPO). These molecules are made in the kidneys from the amino acids, steroids and eicosanoids of food from the stomach. However, EPO hormones are not cells. Their role is to stimulate the adult stem cells of the marrow to produce red blood cells. In the next chapter we will see, following our hypothesis, that these last two have many similarities with respectively, the saliva that swallow Qi and the blood’s Jing (red phoenix of the marrow). The spiritual water, the red phoenix of the marrow as True Mercury and blood red cells. In Nanzong, Xiao Tingzhi in his Jindan dacheng ji have Zhang Boduan defining the spiritual water (the heart’s fluid) as Lead entering Mercury (以铅入汞名日神水) and according to Chen Nan’s earthly Dao of immortality we also have Jing as Lead and blood as Mercury. Therefore this would mean that the spiritual water is made of Jing entering blood, or in other word, blood’s Jing. In the Zhong-Lu tradition, according to the Baiwen pian, this spiritual water, “enter and leave” the five organs and “circulates in us so the whole body can be lubricated. 故吾身流转则体润矣，是谓神水者也”. It is the blood found in the heart (the “Mercury pearl”) that is also called like in the Huangdi Neijing, the red phoenix of the marrow: Master Chunyang said: What are the different names of the heart? Master Zhangyang (Zhongli Quan) replied: the heart take charge of the South, its stems are the 3rd and 4th, its virtue is fire, its trigram is the fire trigram, its names are the Mercury pearl, the red dragon toe, the releaser, the female fire trigram, the precious platform. The blood found in the heart is called the red phoenix of the marrow, it flow and enter into the brain under the name of the Ocean, it flow and enter into the flowery pond under the name of spiritual water. 纯阳子曰：心有异名乎？正阳子曰：心者司南，其干丙丁，其德在火，其卦曰离，其名曰朱汞，曰赤龙之趾，曰放，曰离女，曰瑶台。心有血焉，谓之赤凤之髓，其流入於脑谓之海，其流入於）华池谓之神水。 Our hypothesis is to understand the blood’s Jing of the blood’s fluid (spiritual water) as what is called the red blood cells. The characteristic of red blood cells in modern biology are to be of red color, critical to health and to transport the oxygen. They are produced in the marrow by the adult stem cells through the impulsion of the EPO hormones of the kidneys. Bai in his commentary of the Xunzhu Ge consider the blood’s Jing as critical to one’s health: “seize one’s blood’s Jing to repair my body夺人精血补吾身”. Furthermore according to Bai in the same commentary, unhealthy blood’s Jing are said to change their color : “excess of unhealthy influences can change the color of your blood’s Jing 邪淫采精血”, which is also a characteristic of the hemoglobin of the red cells that are red pigments which give the blood its red color. Many metaphors about the blood’s fluid are related to the red color like the “red phoenix of the marrow” of the Huangdi Neijing and the “marrow’s red Lead” of Chen Nan. Furthermore, the blood contains according to the Huangdi Neijing what is called “the saliva that swallows Qi”. This, in our hypothesis, is a characteristic of blood red cells which capture the oxygen. Like for 气血 that we have describe in our previous hypothesis as one single entity (the blood stream that diffused oxygen), 精血 could also refer in some texts to one entity that is, blood’s Jing or blood cells. Finally, the production of the red blood cells includes the same ingredients in Nanzong and in modern biology. These are the EPO hormones (True Lead or Lead Jing as seen above) and the adult stem cells of the marrow. There is, however, no clear equivalent of the adult stem cells of the marrow in Nanzong. The Huangdi Neijing’s “saliva that swallows Qi (air)” also referred as the spiritual water is what has the closest characteristic with the adult stem cells since it “repair the blood’s Jing” and is “a resource for Jing (in) the blood stream”: Therefore the saliva that swallows Qi is called the water of Heavenly reservoir, you can swallow it for a long time, it is a resource for Jing (in) the blood stream, it clean up the five organs and before irrigate the primordial ocean, one named it the fire trigram palace, one name it the jade reservoir, one named it the spiritual water. It cannot be spit but it can be swallowed, use it to repair the blood’s Jing; it can benefit the primordial ocean as well. 故咽气津者，此名天池之水，可久饵之，资精气血，荡涤五藏，先溉元海，一名离官之水，一名玉池，一名神水，不可唾之，但可饵之，以补精血，可益元海也。 It must be noticed that here the word “saliva” should not be taken as the biological fluid but as a metaphor. Indeed as the text has it, it cannot be spit like saliva does and it is in the blood stream as the spiritual water. Bai use a similar metaphor when defining Jing in his Bijing xiangde ge: “your Jing are the saliva from the Jade emperor mouth 其精(...) 乃玉皇口中涎”. Again, it is clearly a metaphor and not related to the actual bodily fluid. Apart from the “saliva that swallow Qi” there are also many metaphors about the spiritual water or blood’s fluid that are, in Nanzong, related to the marrow: the red phoenix of the marrow, the marrow’s red lead, the mercury’s marrow, etc. Bai’s disciples, citing Taishang Xunjing太上玄镜, also give to the marrow a critical role as the place where Qi, the kidney’s Jing (EPO) and the heart’s fluid can be linked: The pure Yang that rises is the manifestation of Qi, the pure Yin that falls is called Fluid. Qi is linked with the fluid within the marrow bones through the marrow. Qi is also linked with the marrow outside the urinary bladder, through what is called Jing. 纯阳上升者谕之气，纯阴下降者谓之液。气液相交於骨髓之间者，谓之髓。气髓相交於膀胱之外者，谓之精。 Also for the Nanzong patriarchs Xue Daoguan薛道光 (1078?–1191), Chen Nan and Bai Yuchan, the marrow and the kidney’s Jing are highly related. They are the Yin and Yang, the crow and the rabbit, the tiger and the dragon, the red Lead and the black Mercury, the True Mercury and True Lead that must, according to Chen Nan, unite to produce Jing: “What is called Mercury and Lead Jing turn into a full and close fountain of Jing (in) the marrow. 即此可谓铅汞精，化作精髓盈关源” This union of the kidney’s Lead Jing and the heart’s Mercury fluid under the metaphor of the Tiger and the Dragon or Lead and Mercury is known in Neidan to happen in two places and to follow two different patterns. In the above quotation we have the Lead liquid (Lead Jing) rising to the heart and meeting with the heart’s fluid (spiritual water) to produce the Golden Jing (the spiritual fetus or Golden Elixir) that then fall into Huangjing 黄庭 (also referred as the cauldron鼎) to be nurture. Another pattern latter known as the xiao zhoutian 小周天 is inline with modern biology. In this pattern the Lead Jing (EPO) or Dragon Jing enter the marrow bones in Weilü 尾閭 where it meet the Tiger’s marrow and rise along the spine. This second pattern is not clearly identified in Nanzong as the Lesser Celestial Circuit but is present in many Nanzong patriarchs corpus simply as the “Celestial Circuit” 周天. Here is how Bai present it: Who knows the accomplishment produced by the Celestial circuit, even now in a short time, only need the Lead and Mercury to enter the True Earth then to refine it to extract the Golden flower to fill the cauldron of red. 谁识周天造化功，于今蹙在片时中，只将铅汞入真土，炼出金花满鼎红。 Or with the metaphor of the Dragon and Tiger: It is vainly according to the Celestial circuit movement of the trigram numbers, how many once know the True dragon and tiger? Painfully knowing the True dragon and True tiger (in) man, they then move upward into that one road. 空按周天行卦数，几曾识得真龙虎？苦识真龙真虎人，了得向上一条路。 Furthermore, the spiritual water is in the Jindan sibaizi also referred as the “True Mercury born in the fire trigram (heart) 真汞产于离 ”, and in a commentary of the Wuzhenpian, that True Mercury is engendered by the Lead liquid (Lead Jing) : “the Lead liquid is the middle palace’s golden mother that engendered the True Mercury in a complex way, when Mercury are produced then the Lead as no more use, it is like the seeds of all livings creatures. 盖铅是中官金母，繁生真汞，汞结为丹，铅则不用，如万物之种子也 ” According to our hypothesis that would mean that when Lead (EPO hormones) have created the Mercury (blood) is it of no more use. And what the Jindan sibaizi explain as “ True Lead engendering True Mercury真铅制真汞 ” would means in our hypothesis that Lead Jing (EPO hormones) engender the True Mercury or spiritual water, that is the blood’s fluid (red blood cells). In modern biology however, the production of red blood cells is not done in the heart but in the marrow. Following our hypothesis, in Nanzong as well as in the Huangdi Neijing, it would be as if the biological adult stem cells of the marrow and the blood red cells would be on and a same thing, that is, the spiritual water. Put it simply, as per Chen Nan’s explanation: “the spiritual water foundation and Mercury (blood) are connected神水根基与汞连 ” This however, is not completely false from a biological stand point and would explain why there are no clear distinction between them. Indeed, adult stem cells produce blood red cells by duplicating itself therefore in some aspect they are the same only their characteristic change. The blood red cells do not produce other cells they only carried oxygen in the blood while the adult stem cells are “closed” into the marrow. Like in Chen Nan’s “close fountain of Jing (in) the marrow精髓盈关源 ” ? Interestingly, Ye Shibiao叶士表 still in his commentary of the Wuzhen pian do not describe the True Mercury as blood but as “ the placenta water that have returned into the mother’s fetus as Quicksilver or True Mercury 胎水复藏母胎中，为水银，真汞也”. As a matter of fact, placenta is in modern biology used for its important stock of non embryonic stem cells. Conclusion Although there are many similarities, the analogy is not perfect. EPO hormones are not cells, as our hypothesis has it, they are hormones that activate the production of the blood red cells in the marrow. There is also a discrepancy as where blood is generated, that is in the heart in Nanzong and in the marrow in modern biology. There is no clear distinction between the adult stem cells of the marrow and the blood red cells of the blood in Nanzong. Also, the role of the spiritual water and the pattern of the Lead Jing (EPO) varies greatly among the texts and therefore do not always match the analogy with modern biology. Due to the many interpretation of Jing in Neidan, it would need several different modern terms to match them all. Indeed, Jing cannot be at the same time, the amino acids, steroids and eicosanoids from the food, the EPO hormones from the kidneys, the blood cells of the brain, the reproductive cells of man and woman and the organs tissue cells. The several hypothesis shown in this paper, the Heaven and Earth’s Qi as oxygen, the blood’s Jing, the saliva that swallow Qi, the spiritual water, the red phoenix of the marrow as blood red cells, the Lead Jing of the kidneys as EPO hormones and the organ’s Jing as organ tissues cells cannot completely match the modern understanding of these terms. But they are striking similarities that make the understanding of Jing as “biological cells” a true possibility. Jing as “biological cells” remains anyway a general hypothesis that matches Daoist Jing’s nature in any texts at least as much as its literal meaning, “essence”, does. According to our hypotheses the Neidan process as seen in the Nanzong school seems to be made of true modern biological elements, EPO, red blood cells, oxygen and adult stem cells but its alchemic core and pattern doesn’t always. Among all the ingredients of the earthly Dao of immortality, the true Yang Qi found to match in modern biology and is the most critical elements to form the Golden Elixir. Also in the Neidan pattern, the Golden Jing or Golden fetus end-up in Huangjing. Huangjing is most generally understood as being the stomach but some modern Neidan texts have it as the spleen. Again, the modern Neidan understanding is completely inline with modern biology and our hypothesis since the spleen is indeed the place where old blood red cells are extracted from the blood and the spleen is also used as a blood reservoir. If we are to accept these hypotheses then one could then wonder if the Neidan practice at the time did really boost the production of EPO, blood red cells and other organ cells? Were there true biologically method for prolonging life, defending one’s health against blood related cancer or any other cells degeneration disease? 作者简介：SYLVAIN CAUHAPE，中文名希望，是法国人，1976年在巴黎出生。我从少年起就对古老的中国文化感兴趣，大学开始选修中文。1997年到法国驻华大使馆经济处实习，1999年又到法国工商会驻北京办事处工作。我的工作一直和经济有关，但哲学和宗教是我的最爱，我于2000年创建www.onelittleangel.com网。我希望把全世界的哲学宗教精华放到网上，让人们免费学习，促进世界和平。中国道教尤其吸引我，我一边工作一边读研，2005年在巴黎四大索邦大学研究生毕业，论文是《庄子》，毕业成绩很好，学校希望我继续博士论文。2014年，我现在的导师向我推荐了白玉蟾课题，我一见如故，于是从2015年正式开始关于白玉蟾的博士论文。我希望为中国道教在西方的传播，尽自己绵薄的力量。 （本文为“道化天下 世界玄同”道学全球有奖征文比赛作品，未经授权不得转载，文：Sylvain Cauhapé，文章原标题为《Hypotheses for a modern understanding of some core Taoist terms》。）  (责任编辑：admin) |