In this section, which is quite a bit shorter than the previous section, Peng Zu continues to tell this super-old-but-weirdly-young-looking courtesan all about the Human Way, the Dao, idiots who will never succeed, and his apparently prolific former master. Let us once again revel in his wisdom and sass.
Note: All of the text up to (2) is Peng Zu speaking.
彭祖 （Peng Zu）
凡遠思強記傷人，憂恚悲哀傷人，情樂過差傷人，忿怒不解傷人，汲汲所願傷人，戚戚所患傷人，寒暖失節傷人，陰陽不交傷人，所傷人者甚眾，而獨責於房室，不亦惑哉？男女相成，尤天地相生也，所以導養神氣，使人不失其和，天地得交接之道，故無終盡之限。
To
tie [one's] thoughts to [someone who is] far away is harmful; to give
preference to sorrow is harmful; to feel happy at mistakes is
harmful; to be angry [and] not understand [the reason] is harmful; to
be impatient [to obtain] that which is desired is harmful; to be
distressed by that which is concerning is harmful; to be cold or warm
[but] lose [one's] morality/chastity is harmful; to
have Yin and Yang without
intercourse is harmful. That which are harmful are very many, but to
only regulate the bedroom, is that not absurd? Men and women are made
for each other, just as heaven and earth are born together; the
reason why [one should] guide and nourish the vital spirit, is to
cause people [men and women] to not lose their harmony; If [people
of] heaven [and] earth obtain the way of intercourse, for this reason
they will not be subject to the limits of death and deterioration.
人失交接之道，故有殘折之期，能避眾傷之事，得陰陽之術，則不死之道也。天地晝離而夜合，一歲三百六十交，而精氣和合者有四，故能生育萬物，不知窮極。人能則之，可以長存。
People
lost the way of intercourse; for this reason there comes a time to
die. [If one is] able to avoid the many injurious matters and obtain
the method of Yin and Yang, then
[this is] the way to avoid death. Heaven and earth part in daytime
and join at night; in one year there are 360 of these intercourses,
and of those who join the harmony of vital energy, there are four
[seasons], for this reason they are able to give birth to 10,000
things, unaware of exhausting [limits and] extremes. If [one] is able
to follow it [the way of intercourse], then one can by these means
live forever.
次有服氣得其道，則邪氣不得入，治身之本要也。其余吐納導引之術，及念體中萬神，有含影守形之事，一千七百余條，及四時首向。責己謝過、臥起早晏之法，皆非真道，可以教初學者，以正其心耳。愛精養體，服氣錬形，萬神自守，其不然者，則榮衛枯瘁，萬神自逝，非思念所留者也。
Next
there is to imbibe vital breath to obtain its Dao, then
evil energy will not obtain entry [into the body]; to govern the
body's source is essential. In excess of [all things previously
mentioned], there is the method of accepting Daoist exercises
[breathing, stretching, massage], imagining 10,000 spirits within the
body, and holding this image [within the body but not incorporated
into the body] to protect the body's affairs. There are over 1,700
conditions [to achieve the Dao], and the four seasons
[are] the initial step [towards achieving the Dao].
Taking responsibility for oneself and apologizing for excess; the
method of laying and rising daily; this is all not the true Dao,
[but] it can be used to teach beginning students, to correct their
heart-minds. If one loves energy and nourishes the body, imbibes
vital energy to refine appearance, the 10,000 spirits will protect
oneself; if one is not thus, then this flourishing [vital energy]
will dry up and wear out, the 10,000 spirits within oneself will die,
and one will not be one who stays (on Earth) forever.
愚人為道，不務其本，而逐其末，告以至言，又不能信。見約要之書，謂之輕淺，而晝夕伏誦。觀夫太清北神中經之屬，以此疲勞，至死無益也，不亦悲哉？
When
foolish people practice the Dao, they do not concern
themselves with its elementals, but pursue its inessential details;
when they are told the final words, again they cannot believe in it.
When they see books of the important covenants, they call it light
and shallow, and day and evening they avoid recitation [of it].
However, [when they] observe such types as the Scriptures of
Central Taiqing, through this they become weary and reach death
without any benefit; is that not sad?
又人苦多事，又少能棄世獨住山居穴處者，以順道教之，終不能行，是非仁人之意也。但知房中之道、閉氣之術，節思慮，適飲食，則得道矣。吾先師初著九都節解韜形隱遁無為開明四極九室諸經，萬三千首，為以示始涉門庭者耳。
Again,
people suffer many matters; again, a few [people] are able to reject
the world [and] live alone as mountain-dwellers and cave-dwellers; if
you use the Dao to teach them, [still] in the end
they cannot do it [achieve the Dao]; right and wrong
[are] the ideas of Benevolent Ones. But [if one] knows the Dao within
the bedroom, the method of holding vital breath, to part from
concerns, to properly drink and eat, then [one can] obtain the Dao.
When my first master was beginning, [he] wrote Nine
Metropolises, Releasing the Nodes, Pointers and Instructions,
Sheathing the Body, Concealing and Guarding [Oneself], Taking No
Action, Opening and Clarifying, Clear Regulations from the Four
Bournes, and Nine Chambers, these various
classics, [in total] 13,000 articles; [I would] use [these] to show
those starting to cross the threshold [to achieving the Dao]”
2.
采女具受諸要以教王，王試為之，有驗，欲秘之，乃令國中有傳彭祖道者，誅之，又欲害彭祖以絕之。彭祖知之，乃去，不知所在。其後七十余年，聞人於流沙之西見之。王能常行彭祖之道，得壽三百歲。力轉丁壯，如五十時。鄭女妖淫，王失其道耳殂。俗間相傳，言彭祖之道殺人者，由於王禁之故也。彭祖去殷時，年七百八十歲，非壽終也。
The
woman took down the various essentials in order to teach the King,
[and] the King tried to practice it; [he] had tests [to verify its
success]. [The King] desired to make it [the knowledge of longevity]
secret; therefore [he] commanded that if there was anyone in the
country who spread the Dao of Peng Zu, [he would] kill them. [The
King] also desired to harm Peng Zu in order to remove him [so he
could not share his ways of longevity]. Peng Zu knew it, thereupon
[he] left to a place unknown. 70 years after that, a famous person
West of the Flowing Sands saw him [there]. The King was able to often
follow Peng Zu's Dao [and] obtained longevity of 300 years. [He had
the] power to transform [himself to have] robust appearance, as if 50
years old. The vulgar woman [used her] feminine witchery [to trick
the King]; the King lost his Dao and died; among common sayings, it
is said that the Dao of Peng Zu [was] a killer [and] thus the King
forbade its occurrence. When Peng Zu left the Yin era at 780 years
old; [it was] not the end [of his] longevity.
Bibliography
- Ge Hong. "神仙傳." Chinese Text Project. N.p., n.d. Accessed Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
- Campany, Robert Ford, and Ge Hong. To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth: A Translation and Study of Ge Hong's Traditions of Divine Transcendents. Berkeley: University of California, 2002. Print.http://books.google.com/books?id=U1oLPR5VzIYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
- Pregadio, Fabrizio. The Encyclopedia of Taoism. London: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Next time: some quirky parables of ancient China.
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