Commentaries to the Zhouyi cantong qi in the Taoist Canon
Fabrizio Pregadio
Stanford University, Department of Religious Studies
Adapted from Zhouyi cantong qi: Dal Libro dei Mutamenti all'Elisir d'Oro (Venezia: Cafoscarina, 1996), pp. 21-33.
1. The Anonymous Waidan Commentary
While Peng Xiao's commentary of 947 CE is often indicated as the earliest extant exegesis of the Cantong qi, Chen Guofu was the first scholar to suggest that the anonymous waidan commentary In the Daozang (Taoist Canon; CT 1004) dates from between the end of the seventh and the middle of the eighth century (Chen Guofu 1983: 377-78). Its two juan correspond to the first juan of Peng Xiao's redaction, but the preface describes the text as divided into three parts; the last is the "Five Categories" ("Wu xianglei"), which is said to consist of explications on the first two parts. This shows that the commentary originally included the entire text of the Cantong qi.
Zhouyi cantong qi zhu (CT 1004), 1.2a. That this work once contained the whole Cantong qi is also shown by a note in 1.20a, where a sentence found in the third and last juan, or pian, of the present version (in Peng Xiao's zh. 89) is quoted as coming from the "last pian."
In addition to citations of place names officially adopted between 686 and 760, on which Chen Guofu has based his dating, other details support his suggestion. No text or author quoted in the commentary can be assigned a date as late as the Tang period. The evidence of tabooed characters is not unequivocal, but words that formed the personal names of Taizong (r. 626-49) and Gaozong (r. 649-83) are often found to be avoided or replaced. Meng Naichang (1993: 28-29) has provided another substantial indication, pointing out that a sentence in the preface is quoted in two Tang texts.
Two out of five occurrences of shi (part of the personal name of Taizong) are replaced with su in the main text (1.42a and 2.31a; they are not replaced in 2.21a, 2.26a and 2.30a). Both characters, however, appear in the commentary (1.42b, 2.6a-8a passim, 16b, 2.22b, 2.26a, 2.29a, 2.30a, 2.31a). One of three occurrences of zhi (part of the personal name of Gaozong) is replaced with li in the main text (1.34b). In the two other cases (2.26b and 2.36a), zhi appears in the compound daozhi, a frequent mistake for daoye "to pound (a mineral substance)" in the received versions of alchemical and pharmacological texts. The same is true for its synonym yanzhi in the commentary (1.35a), a variant for yanye. This would leave only one occurrence of zhi in the whole commentary (also in 1.35a). In contradiction with any clear pattern, however, this redaction of the Cantong qi has zhi (2.26b) in a sentence where other redactions read either fei or zhi.
Taken together, the available evidence suggests that the anonymous two-juan commentary dates from around 700 CE. The contents of the commentary support this dating. The work interprets several passages of the Cantong qi as dealing with a lead-mercury compound called Elixir of Correct Yang (zhengyang dan ). It also describes methods of other elixirs, and provides instructions on the furnace and other instruments. The anonymous author summarizes one of the lead-mercury recipes and the method of the luting mud for the crucible from the Scripture of the Nine Elixirs . Acquaintance with the corpus of writings attributed to Hugang zi, dating to the Six Dynasties, is reflected in a quotation of the Wujin fen tujue (Illustrated Instructions on the Powders of the Five Metals) and a mention of the Nine-cycled Essence of Lead, the method of which was found in another work of that corpus. These references, selected out of several others, suggest that the anonymous commentary may be a late product of the southern waidan traditions centered around the Cantong qi in the Six Dynasties.
One of the clearest statements on the Elixir of Correct Yang is in 1.16b-17a; see also 1.13a ("Gold is the Elixir of Correct Yang"), 2.6a, and 2.34b-35b. For other elixir recipes see, for example, 2.24b-25a, and on the furnace 2.2b. For the lead-mercury recipe see the passage in 2.12b-13a, which concerns the Liquid Pearl (liuzhu) or Talisman of Heaven and Earth (tiandi zhi fu). The method of this elixir is in Huangdi jiuding shendan jingjue (CT 885) 1.6a. On the luting mud see 2.3a, and Huangdi jiuding shendan jingjue 1.3b-4a. The Scripture of the Nine Elixirs is also mentioned in 2.45a. The Wujin fen tujue is quoted as Wujin jue in 2.24a, and the Essence of Lead is mentioned in 2.12b.
2. The Yin Changsheng Commentary
Not long before or after 700 CE, another anonymous author wrote the second Tang exegesis of the Cantong qi preserved in the Taoist Canon. Attributed to the immortal Yin Changsheng, this work (CT 999) is distinguished by a close cosmological interpretation, but incidental references to actual practices show that it originated in a waidan context. It quotes several times the Yisi zhan (Divinations of the yisi Year) by the early Tang cosmologist, Li Chunfeng (fl. 633-65). As no source later than this is mentioned in the whole text, Chen Guofu (1983: 377) suggested that the commentary must date from the seventh century. The only feature in disagreement with this dating is the presence of the "Song of the Tripod" in a separate section at the end of the text, for according to a statement by Peng Xiao, this was an innovation resulting from his own editorial work.
References to waidan practices include, for instance, drawing images of the deities of the four directions on the four sides of the furnace (1.10a, and 1.35b for the image of the vermilion bird); ingesting a small quantity of the elixir (1.32b); and refining lead into "white lead" (fen, for hufen; 1.37a). For quotations of the Yisi zhan see 1.22b, 1.23a, 1.24a, 1.25b, and 2.2b. Peng Xiao's statement on the "Song of the Tripod" is in his Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu (CT 1003), 1a.
Nonetheless, other definite evidence points to a Tang date. In particular, the text follows the pattern of the anonymous waidan commentary in either replacing or leaving unaltered characters forming the personal names of Taizong and Gaozong. These correspondences are part of the textual kinship of the two works. Taking as a unit the smallest sections in which the text of the Cantong qi can be divided -- its individual sentences -- the Yin Changsheng and the anonymous waidan redaction differ altogether about two hundred times from the text established by Peng Xiao. Of these variants, slightly more than one third are shared by both works. In a significant portion of the other instances the Yin Changsheng and the anonymous redaction vary from each other in minor details. As shown by Meng Naichang (1993: 5-30), moreover, quotations from the Cantong qi in Tang works correspond to the readings of the two Tang redactions.
As shown below, the received editions of Peng Xiao's redaction include readings drawn from Zhu Xi's redaction. This, however, does not conflict with the present argument, since the two Tang redactions agree with each other whether or not Peng Xiao's readings are derived from Zhu Xi.
3. The Commentary by Peng Xiao and the Anonymous Neidan Commentary
A native of Yongkang in present-day Sichuan, Peng Xiao (zi Xiuchuan, hao Zhenyi zi, ?-955) changed his original surname, Cheng, into Peng out of reverence for the immortal Pengzu. His identification with this paragon of antiquity, who practiced self-cultivation without disregard for official duties, is not due to chance, for Peng Xiao served the Shu dynasty as Magistrate of the Jintang district, and was later appointed Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites and Military Supervisor of the Shu Prefecture. In addition to the Zhouyi cantong qi fenzhang tong zhenyi (Real Meaning of the Zhouyi cantong qi, with an Arrangement into Paragraphs; CT 1002), his works include the extant Huandan neixiang jin yaoshi (Golden Key to the Inner Images of the Reverted Elixir) and a lost commentary to the Yinfu jing (Scripture of the Hidden Accordance). His exegesis of the Cantong qi was held in high esteem within the Southern lineage (Nanzong) of Song Taoism, as shown, for instance, by frequent quotations in commentaries to the Wuzhen pian associated with that lineage. Its circulation was also aided by an edition printed by Wang Gang around 1250.
The above information on Peng Xiao is collected from his biographies in the Sandong qunxian lu (CT 1248), 12.21b-22a, and the Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian (CT 296), 43.7b-8a (under "Cheng Xiao"). No details about Peng Xiao's lineage are available. The Golden Key is preserved in the Yunji qiqian, 70.1a-14a. On Wang Gang see Song shi (History of the Song Dynasty), 408.12304-09; his edition is mentioned in Zhizhai shulu jieti (Catalogue of Books at the Zhizhai Studio, with Explanatory Notes), 12.345-346.
Peng Xiao submitted the text of the Cantong qi to a substantial rearrangement. According to his preface, he divided it into ninety zhang, corresponding to the number 9 emblematic of Great Yang, and placed the "Song of the Tripod" in a separate pian, matching the number emblematic 1 of Water (the Agent related to lead and to original Oneness). To the third and final juan of his commentary he appended the "Chart of the Bright Mirror" ("Mingjing tu"), a chart complete with explanatory notes that illustrates several cosmological devices used in the Cantong qi. In the Daozang edition, a postface indicating that the commentary was completed in 947 CE is printed with the "Song of the Tripod," the "Eulogium," and the "Chart of the Bright Mirror" as a separate work entitled Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu (CT 1003). Both Peng Xiao's preface and the other extant editions of the Fenzhang tong zhenyi show that the two Daozang texts formed originally a single work.
On the "Chart of the Bright Mirror" see Needham and Lu 1983: 55-59. See also the illustration and description of a similar chart drawn by Yu Yan in 1248 CE.
Peng Xiao does not mention the version of the Cantong qi at the basis of his redaction, but the text in the Yin Changsheng commentary must have been among those that served to the purpose. In his postface, he quotes a sentence from the preface to that commentary, which he must, therefore, have been acquainted with.
Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu (CT 1003), 12b, quoting from Zhouyi cantong qi (CT 999), preface, 3b.
Comparison of Peng Xiao's text with the two Tang redactions shows that the variants he introduced consist, along with the division into zhang, of inversions and relocations of lines, and of a large number of substitutions of single words. The exact extent of these variations, however, is difficult to ascertain. This is implied in a postface written in 1208 by the astronomer Bao Huanzhi (fl. 1207-1210), which is preserved only in the Daozang edition.
Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu, 6b-8a. The postface is found at the end of Peng Xiao's commentary to the Cantong qi, immediately before the "Chart of the Bright Mirror."
In this valuable document, which has not yet received the attention it deserves, Bao praised the redaction by Peng Xiao as the best available at his time, but noted that it was not exempt from errors, and that its divisions into zhang were not always accurate. Due to later alterations, moreover, the copy preserved in the Imperial Library -- which Bao must have had access to when he worked at court -- differed from the other versions circulating by his time. Bao then goes on to remark that before him the text was revised by Zheng Huan, but his edition included many errors. Later Zhu Xi established a better text, but his divisions into zhang, as well as his commentaries, were occasionally faulty. This prompted Bao to collate as many editions as possible of the Fenzhang tong zhenyi, and produce what he believed would be a critical edition.
As long as Bao Huanzhi consistently followed the criteria he himself laid down, the result was a complete blunder. For the main text of the Cantong qi he based himself on Zhu Xi's redaction, while for Peng Xiao's own notes he relied on Zheng Huan's edition. He followed, however, other editions when they agreed with each other against Zhu Xi and Zheng Huan. Another rule that informed his work was to leave the main text unaltered when a passage differed from the quotation of the same passage within the commentary. Based on two examples that Bao provides of his alterations, Peng Xiao's original text was closer to the Yin Changsheng redaction -- i.e., to the Tang text of the Cantong qi -- than it is now.
Bao gives two examples, relating to a line of zh. 2, and a line of zh. 63. In both cases, the sentences quoted in the commentary are virtually identical to those found in the Yin Changsheng redaction, while in the main text they are the same as those found in Zhu Xi's redaction.
Being substantially the same as the one in the Daozang, all other editions of the Fenzhang tong zhenyi are based on Bao Huanzhi's revision, and none preserves the original text established by Peng Xiao. Further evidence of alterations is provided by a quotation from the lost commentary by Zhang Sui, who lived one century after Peng Xiao.
Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu, 1a. Zhang Sui's commentary is listed for the first time in the Junzhai dushi zhi (Reading notes from the Junzhai Studio), 16.754, which places his floruit in the Huangyou period (1049-1054) of the Song dynasty. Other passages are quoted in Ziyang zhenren wuzhen pian zhushu (CT 141), 3.10a and 7.10b. See also the Xiuzhen shishu commentary to the Wuzhen pian (CT 263), 26.6a and 26.7a.
The anonymous neidan commentary
The Fenzhang tong zhenyi, nonetheless, maintains its standing as a watershed between the earlier and the later redactions, for most of which it served as textual basis. The most closely related text is the one found in an anonymous neidan commentary, the Zhouyi cantong qi zhu (Commentary of the Zhouyi cantong qi; CT 1000). This work, preserved only in the Daozang and obviously written after Bao Huanzhi's alterations, follows the Fenzhang tong zhenyi so faithfully that it may serve to verify the accuracy of the Daozang edition of Peng Xiao's work.
4. The Commentary by Zhu Xi and the Commentary by Chu Yong
The most famous commentary of the Cantong qi outside the Taoist tradition is that by Zhu Xi (1130-1200). His Zhouyi cantong qi kaoyi (A Critical Investigation of the Zhouyi cantong qi; CT 1001) is the first of several works, written through the Qing period, testifying to the attention paid to this text by Neo-Confucians. Quotations in the Yixue qimeng (Instructing the Young in the Studies on the Changes), which bears a preface dated 1186, show that Zhu Xi's active interest in the Cantong qi arose in the last decades of his life. As he had done for the Yixue qimeng, for his composition of the Kaoyi he benefited from the advice of his friend and disciple Cai Yuanding (1135-98), an Yijing expert with whom he corresponded regularly on details of interpretation. The final version of the commentary certainly owes much to Cai, who closely examined the text with Zhu Xi in early 1197. The work was completed shortly thereafter, between the end of 1197 and the beginning of 1198.
Zhuzi yulei (Classified Sayings of Zhu Xi), 107.2670; also quoted in Zhouyi cantong qi [kaoyi] (CT 1001), 3.8a-b. For more details on the genesis of Zhu Xi's commentary see Azuma 1984, especially pp. 176-78. See also the bibliographic note in Wong Shiu Hon 1978.
The Kaoyi is also -- at least in principle, as we will see shortly -- the earliest extant exegesis based on a critical examination of different editions of the text. As Zhu Xi states in a postface, his redaction was inspired by the disappointing state of the text, due to alterations introduced throughout its history. Upon completing his work, Zhu Xi acknowledges that in the Cantong qi "there are still many dubious and obscure points." His appraisal of the high literary quality and difficulty of the text is recurrently quoted in later works: "The text of the Cantong qi is exquisite. It must have been written by a capable author of the Later Han. Its lexicon is grounded on ancient works, but being beyond the understanding of modern men, it has been interpreted in senseless ways."
Zhuzi yulei, 125.3002; also in Zhouyi cantong qi [kaoyi], preface, 2b-3a.
The interpretation offered in the Kaoyi is primarily cosmological. The most detailed remarks are those on passages related to the system of the Book of Changes, often to the neglect of the alchemical import of the text. On the other hand, the junctures at which Zhu Xi inserted his comments are often more accurate than the divisions into zhang made by Peng Xiao.
Zhu Xi does not state which editions of the Cantong qi provided the basis of his work. Textual comparison suggests that he relied on Peng Xiao, but accepted many readings of the Yin Changsheng redaction. He apparently introduced variants of his own, while others are shared with the Tang anonymous commentary in two-juan. The contours of this picture, however, are blurred both by Bao Huanzhi's remaniement of Peng Xiao's work, and by the presence of variants presumably derived from editions no longer extant. Among the sources that Zhu Xi may have used are the lost commentary by Yuan Shu (1131-1205), to which he wrote a colophon in 1197, and two other editions, which he refers to as the "Ji edition" and the "Qiu edition" with no other details.
The colophon to the commentary by Yuan Shu -- the author of the Tongjian jishi benmo (Events in the Comprehensive Mirror Arranged in Chronological Order) -- is in Zhu Wengong wenji (Collected Writings of Zhu Xi), 84.31a-b. The "Ji" and the "Qiu" editions are mentioned in a letter to Cai Yuanding found in the "Xuji" section of the same work, 3.8a-b. Zhu Xi also quotes an anonymous commentary on 1.13b of his Kaoyi.
The re-edition by Huang Ruijie
The Kaoyi was edited in the first half of the fourteenth century by Huang Ruijie (zi Guangle, fl. 1335), who included it in his Zhuzi chengshu, an early collection of Zhu Xi's works. Huang himself provided an undated preface, and notes consisting of his own comments and of relevant quotations from other works of Zhu Xi. In addition to the Kaoyi, Huang knew Peng Xiao's commentary through the re-edition by Bao Huanzhi, whom he quotes in his preface and in a note attached to Zhu Xi's commentary. Apparently all editions of the Kaoyi include Huang Ruijie's additions, and therefore ultimately derive from his Zhuzi chengshu.
Zhouyi cantong qi [kaoyi ], preface, 1b, and 1.5a, respectively.
In clear contrast with its title, and with Zhu Xi's own statements in the postface, the commentary contains only a handful of critical notes. In other works, moreover, Zhu Xi points out variants and suggests emendations that are ignored in the Kaoyi. The case is strong enough to assume that an indefinite number of critical notes were expunged either by Huang Ruijie, or by someone before him. A confirmation in this regard is provided by Yu Yan, who, writing fifty years before Huang, states that he found it superfluous to duplicate variants already pointed out by Zhu Xi in his commentary -- hardly a necessary remark if the critical apparatus in the Kaoyi had been as exiguous as it is in the received version.
On the emendations not found in the Kaoyi see the examples collected in Azuma 1984: 178-79 and note 10 (p. 189). Azuma, who does not mention Huang Ruijie and his editorial work, suggest that the postface may not be authentic. The small number of critical notes in the Kaoyi was also noticed by the editors of the Siku quanshu zongmu (General Catalogue of the Complete Works of the Four Repositories), 146.1294. Yu Yan's remark is in his Zhouyi cantong qi shiyi (CT 1006), preface, 3b.
The Zhouyi cantong qi kaoyi did not enjoy any particular prestige within the Taoist tradition, but its text served as basis for the Zhouyi cantong qi zhu (Commentary of the Zhouyi cantong qi; CT 1008) by Chu Yong (zi Wenqing, hao Huagu; early thirteenth century), whose work is preserved only in the Daozang. This neidan work, which bears no preface or postface, and includes an "Eulogium" ("Zan"), is distinguished by short, straightforward annotations, and by a sentence placed at the end of almost every zhang to summarize its central meaning. The text of the Cantong qi is clearly based on the Kaoyi. Chu Yong introduced some variants of his own, while most of the others are shared with Yin Changsheng edition, which Chu may have consulted independently from Zhu Xi's work.
Chu Yong's is also known for his poetry and for a work entitled the Quyi shuo (Elucidations for Dispersing Doubts). See Siku quanshu zongmu, 121.1046.
5. The Commentary by Chen Xianwei
The Song edition of the Cantong qi most difficult to locate in the genealogy is the one established by Chen Xianwei (zi Zongdao, hao Baoyi zi, ?-after 1254). The author was a native of Yangzhou (Jiangsu) and a daoshi of the Yousheng guan (Abbey of the Helping Saint) in Lin'an (Zhejiang). His Zhouyi cantong qi jie (Explication of the Zhouyi cantong qi; CT 1007) is one of three works preserved from a larger production, along with a commentary on the Guanyin zi (Book of Master Yin, the Guardian of the Pass; CT 728), completed and printed in 1254, and an undated edition of the Shenxian yangsheng bishu (Secret Arts of the Divine Immortals for Nourishing Life; CT 948), a heterogeneous collection of waidan methods and herbal recipes that includes early materials.
The Cantong qi jie bears an author's preface dated 1234. All we know about its background is found in a preface by Zheng Boqian (zi Jieqing), who was a lay disciple of Chen Xianwei and a teacher at the Prefectural School in Quzhou (mod. Zhejiang). According to this note, also dated 1234, Chen Xianwei first received alchemical teachings in 1223. Shortly thereafter he obtained the transmission of the Cantong qi, and retired for several years to study it. Zheng Boqian mentions three other works by his master, all of which are lost.
Their titles are Lisheng pian (Essay on Establishing Sainthood), Xianwei zhiyan (Words Streaming from the Heart of Chen Xianwei) and Baoyi zi shu (Writings of the Master Who Embraces The One). Chen Xianwei refers once to the Lisheng pian in his Cantong qi commentary, 3.5a. Zheng Boqian is also known for an extant exegesis of the Zhouli entitled Taiping jingguo zhishu; see Siku quanshu zongmu (General Catalogue of the Complete Works of the Four Repositories), 19.151-152.
The commentary was printed in 1234 by Wang Yi, another lay disciple who also subsidized the publication of the Guanyin zi commentary. In all the received editions, Wang Yi's postface comes before a second colophon, dated 1245, written by a follower from Tiantai who had received the Cantong qi jie from Chen Xianwei. It is unlikely that either this follower or Wang Yi is the author of the section entitled "Cantong qi zhaiwei" ("Pointing out the Subtleties of the Cantong qi"), which follows the "Song of the Tripod" in the Daozang edition of the Cantong qi jie. This section, made of comments on the portion of text corresponding to part of zh. 36 and the whole zh. 37 in Peng Xiao's redaction, criticizes not only the interpretations given by Peng Xiao and Chu Yong, but also the interpretation given by Chen Xianwei himself.
The Cantong qi jie is based on the text established by Peng Xiao, but no clear pattern emerges from its variants. This text includes several unique readings, while some of the variants suggest that Chen Xianwei may also have used the text found in the Yin Changsheng commentary, as well as Zhu Xi's Kaoyi. Titles of texts and personal names mentioned in the commentary do not offer any clues as to its sources.
6. The Commentary and the Textual Notes by Yu Yan
Although Yu Yan (zi Yuwu; hao Quanyang zi, Linwu shanren, and Shijian daoren; 1258-1314), a native of present-day Suzhou, is sometimes said to have developed his interest in inner alchemy late in life, he wrote his Zhouyi cantong qi fahui (Clarification of the Zhouyi cantong qi; CT 1005) when he was in his middle twenties. By that time, according to his own statement, the commentary had already gone through three or four drafts.
Zhouyi cantong qi shiyi (CT 1006), preface, 3b.
In addition to the exegesis of the Cantong qi, Yu Yan's works in the Taoist Canon include undated commentaries to the Yinfu jing (CT 125) and the Qinyuan chun (Spring at the Qin Garden; CT 136); the Xuanpin zhi men fu (Rhapsody on the Gate of the Mysterious Female; CT 1010); and a work on the system of the Book of Changes entitled Yiwai biezhuan (The Separate Transmission of the Changes; CT 1009; preface dated 1284).
The Yinfu jing commentary was written after the Fahui, as Yu Yan omits interpretation of a point saying (7b) that it is already discussed in his work on the Cantong qi. The commentary to the Spring at the Qin Garden (an alchemical poem attributed to Lü Dongbin) also dates from after 1284, as shown by Yu Yan's own postface, 3b-4a. After this postface is a note by Yu Zhongwen, who edited a lost collection of his father's works entitled Xuanxue zhengzong (Correct Principles of the Study of the Mysteries).
A full commentary on the Changes entitled Zhouyi jishuo (Collected Elucidations on the Book of Changes ) is among his other extant works. While the Jishuo gives an interpretation of the Book of Changes based on Zhu Xi's exegesis, Yu Yan points out in his preface to the Yiwai biezhuan that this work deals with the application of the system of the Changes to alchemy. In the Biezhuan, in fact, a series of charts illustrating the relation between the xiantian and the houtian is followed by passages of the Book of Changes, commented by way of quotations from the Cantong qi and other alchemical texts.
On the Jishuo and the Biezhuan see Zhan Shichuang 1989: 83-96.
The Zhouyi cantong qi fahui was completed in 1284, the same year Yu Yan in which signed the preface of his Biezhuan. The first printed edition was honored by a preface by the thirty-eighth Celestial Master, Zhang Yucai (?-1316), written in 1310. Several editions that are readily available, or on which bibliographic information can be obtained by catalogues of Qing libraries, also include undated prefaces by Ruan Dengbing and by the eminent commentator of the Laozi, Du Daojian (1237-1318). The textual notes to the commentary were collected by Yu Yan in a final section of his work, separately printed in the Taoist Canon as Zhouyi cantong qi shiyi (Explication of Doubtful Points in the Zhouyi cantong qi; CT 1006).
The Shiyi provides important details on the way Yu Yan established his redaction. Having remarked about the mistakes found in the redactions by Peng Xiao, Chen Xianwei, and other authors, Yu Yan goes on to say that he based his text on a "Shu edition," a "Yue edition," a "Ji edition" and on more than one unnamed Tang editions.
Zhouyi cantong qi shiyi, preface, 3b.
Although these indications are vague, the mention of Tang editions among Yu Yan's sources is worthy of note. Most variants pointed out in the Shiyi as coming from the "old text" of the Cantong qi correspond to the readings of one or both the Tang redactions preserved in the Taoist Canon. Yu Yan's references to them as found in the "old text" is a further proof of the early date of the two Tang redactions. The other variants reported in the Shiyi are usually not attributed to specific authors or editions. Comparison of these notes and of Yu Yan's text to the other Daozang editions shows, nonetheless, that the Fahui is largely based on Zhu Xi's redaction.
The Zhouyi cantong qi fahui is firmly rooted in the textual legacy of the Southern and Northern lineages of Song Taoism. The works quoted most often in the commentary are those of the Southern lineage, including the Wuzhen pian, the Huandan fuming pian (Essay on Returning to One's Destiny by the Reverted Elixir; CT 1088) by Xue Daoguang (?-1191), the Cuixu pian (Essay by the Master of Emerald Emptiness; CT 1090) by Chen Niwan (?-1213), and the Jindan dacheng ji (Collection on the Great Achievement of the Golden Elixir) by Xiao Tingzhi (fl. 1260; now found in the Xiuzhen shishu or Ten Books on the Cultivation of Reality, CT 263). The Northern lineage is represented by works of its founder, Wang Chunyang (1112-1170), and its patriarchs, including Ma Danyang (1123-1183) and Qiu Changchun (1143-1227). In addition to these, Yu Yan draws from such works as the Yinfu jing, the Huangting jing (Scripture of the Yellow Court), the Ruyao jing (Mirror for Compounding the Medicine), and altogether no less than one hundred or so other texts.
Works Quoted
Sources
Junzhai dushi zhi [Reading Notes from the Junzhai Studio]. Chao Gongwu, 1151. Shanghai guji chubanshe ed., Junzhai dushu zhi jiaozheng (Shanghai, 1990).
Siku quanshu zongmu [General Catalogue of the Complete Works of the Four Repositories]. Zhejiang edition, 1795. Repr. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983.
Song shi [History of the Song Dynasty]. Zhonghua shuju ed. (Beijing, 1977).
Zhizhai shulu jieti [Catalogue of Books at the Zhizhai Studio, with Explanatory Notes]. Chen Zhensun, ca. 1240. Ed. by Wang Xianqian (1842-1918). Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1987.
Zhu Wengong wenji [Collected Writings of Zhu Xi]. Sibu congkan ed.
Zhuzi yulei [Classified Sayings of Zhu Xi]. Zhonghua shuju ed. (Beijing, 1986).
Studies
Azuma Jûji. 1984. "Shu Ki Shûeki sandôkei kôi ni tsuite" [On Zhu Xi's Zhouyi cantong qi kaoyi ]. Nippon Chûgoku Gakkai-hô 36: 175-90.
Chen Guofu. 1983. Daozang yuanliu xukao [Further studies on the origins and development of the Taoist Canon]. Taipei: Mingwen shuju.
Meng Naichang. 1993. Zhouyi cantong qi kaobian [An inquiry into the Zhouyi cantong qi]. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe.
Needham, Joseph, and Lu Gwei-Djen. 1983. Science and Civilisation in China, vol. V: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part 5: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Physiological Alchemy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wong Shiu Hon. 1978. "Chou-i ts'an-t'ung ch'i chu." In Etienne Balasz and Yves Hervouet, eds., A Sung Bibliography (Bibliographie des Sung), 369-70. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
Zhan Shichuang. 1989. Nansong Jin Yuan de daojiao [Taoism in the Southern Song, Jin and Yuan periods]. Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe.