On the Cantong Qi (15): Gold Is Born from the Moon; at the New Moon It Receives the Sun's Talisman

Gold enters the fierce fire, yet its color never loses its refined brilliance. Since creation, sun and moon have never dimmed their light. Gold does not lose its weight; sun and moon keep their form as always. Gold is born from the moon; at the new moon's dawn it receives the sun's talisman. Gold returns to its mother; at month's end sun and moon enclose each other. It hides its framework and sinks into the great void. Gold restores its former nature, and the cauldron of awe-inspiring light blazes bright. The previous chapter spoke of how to gather enough medicine; this chapter covers the steps that should follow once the medicine is fully gathered. Forge gold into foil, cut it into pieces, and temper it with fire—no matter how it is fired, gold keeps its original color, and through burning away some impurities becomes even brighter. This is a metaphor from the external alchemy perspective. Thus it is said, "Gold enters the fierce fire, yet its color never loses its refined brilliance." And since heaven and earth came into being, sun and moon have always maintained this kind of change. After vast ages, gold has not become lighter, and sun and moon still revolve in the same way; thus both are very enduring things: "Gold does not lose its weight; sun and moon keep their form as always." "Gold is born from the moon; at the new moon's dawn it receives the sun's talisman." This means that gold is born from the moon, and on the new moon day (the first of the lunar month) it meets with the sun's light. However, "Gold returns to its mother; at month's end sun and moon enclose each other." Ordinary records say that "month's end" (yue hui) refers to the thirtieth of the lunar month. Those with a little familiarity with astronomy will notice a problem here: solar eclipses only occur on new-moon days—that is, the first of the lunar month. If it were month's end, it would hardly be a solar eclipse. Yet in the opening of the Cantong Qi it is said that "comings and goings are not fixed; above and below are also without constancy." By the Han dynasty, lunar eclipse calculation was already essentially mature, so this passage still mainly describes a solar eclipse. The reason for this contradiction is that before the Tang dynasty the "flat conjunction" method was used, so sometimes the meeting of sun and moon appeared at the end of the month on the thirtieth. If one speaks loosely, both the thirtieth and the first could be called month's end. This is also why a solar eclipse can occur at month's end. Precisely because it is then month's end, "it hides its framework and sinks into the great void." After the solar eclipse, the sun's light gradually recovers, hence "Gold restores its former nature, and the cauldron of awe-inspiring light blazes bright." The process of a total solar eclipse includes first contact, second contact (totality begins), greatest eclipse, third contact (light reappears), and fourth contact. It looks quite simple, but here lies a secret of reversal upon reversal: when a solar eclipse occurs, it completes in a very short time the process of lunar-phase change that normally takes a full month. In other words, through the evolution of the sun's yao-lines, the entire hexagram-line evolution can be completed rapidly in an extremely short time. The waxing and waning of the moon—the method is to change the lunar phase changes caused by the earth blocking the sun into solar phase changes produced by the moon blocking the sun. The saying "One yin and one yang is called the Dao" and "Sun and moon form Yi (change)" express this principle. The duration of a solar eclipse varies. If the moon is closer to the earth, from an earthbound view the lunar disk is larger, and the time of blocking the sun during motion is longer than when the moon is farther away. Besides the moon–earth distance determining the length of the eclipse, the position where the moon's shadow falls on the earth also matters: the closer to the equator, the longer the duration. When these durations are projected onto the human body, there is likewise a rhythm of longer or shorter durations in cultivation practice. Let us look again at the principle diagram of a solar eclipse: sunlight passes the moon and shines onto the earth. Note the difference among total, partial, and annular eclipses. Because the scripture describes "Gold returns to its mother; at month's end sun and moon enclose each other," this refers to an annular eclipse—that is, formed because the sun's light is inverted up and down, and the shadow shrinks and then expands. This requires a certain proportional distance among sun, moon, and earth. Therefore, when first taking up cultivation, although the spleen is taken as the center, in practice one does not rely on the spleen alone, but goes lower, still lower, to between the kidneys; from there the entire cultivation unfolds. In cultivation, "gold" refers to golden light. Anyone who has studied modern physics knows that sunlight is originally white; yet after filtering and refraction by the atmosphere, we see golden light. The idea that it is hidden within the original white light is consistent. Thus, after white light is seen to fill the field in cultivation, golden light will appear—this is consistent as well. Although this can be explained in physical terms, one must note carefully that it is only an analogical explanation. Modern scientific concepts and understanding of the world are not yet fully capable of explaining all Daoist methods, including the established methods and experiences handed down through the alchemical lineage. Borrowing real-world deductions and metaphors is only to find a more modern, reasonable description and to make a certain degree of reasonable inference within it. In alchemical scriptures, in order to describe principles, a deep symbolism is usually emphasized. This symbolism must be profound: one thing must be a relatively deep analogy to another. For example, one might describe a cold winter in which ice freezes as hard as stone; but ultimately ice melts while stone does not, so this metaphor lacks "inferential continuity" and is a shallow analogy—it cannot serve as a true symbol. However, saying that human life is like an oil lamp can become a proper analogy. When the oil is used up the lamp dies out—this is dying of old age; too little lamp oil means a short innate lifespan; being accidentally knocked over means injury and disaster; the lamp shining brightly means fame spreading in all directions; the lamp dim and faint means humble anonymity. This kind of metaphor is applied in cultivation. Thus there is a method called "adding oil to prolong life" (tian you jie ming shu), which treats human life as an oil lamp: by reducing consumption of the oil and drawing external qi as raw material to add oil and prolong life, one can become healthy. Just as this does not mean that human life literally is only a lamp—it merely sets up an image to speak of the matter for easier understanding—so too with the external alchemy terminology used in inner cultivation. One must note the limits of their applicability. They all follow the same rules; it is only that the rules have been abstracted, and then the abstracted concepts are reified into something speakable for description. Let us further understand the concept of "talisman" (fu) in the text. When ancient books introduce the heavenly stem Jia, they usually say: "Jia means that all things break through the shell/talisman and emerge." So "fu" means "to correspond/conform." In what was said earlier about "taking up the lines and plucking the talisman," the same principle applies. When the model corresponds to heaven, it is called "heavenly talisman" (tian fu). As in the Qimen Dunjia art of divination, the Chief Talisman is always placed over the Jia palace. Dunjia divides into yin and dun: from winter solstice to summer solstice is yang dun, from summer solstice to winter solstice is yin dun. This is the same as Zi through Si being yang and Wu through Hai being yin; the only difference is whether one uses the solar-term nodes or the qi. The metal essence within Kan in essence comes from Qian, and is produced from Kun; so Qian is the father and Kun is the mother. When the month ends, sun and moon meet; this is considered the time of copulation, because yin is within yang and has become pure black—the image of metal-in-water returning into Kun. In the Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality) there is a line: "The sun dwelling in the Li position becomes female; Kan matched to the Toad Palace is male. If you do not understand the inversion herein, cease raising shallow views to high discourse." Although it is one setup—Yi as yin and female in the Li position, while the Kan palace holds Jia-Zi-Wu with Jia as yang—Jia and Yi are divided as male and female; this is the inversion within. Here we begin from winter solstice Jia-Zi; so Jia is dun under Wu, and the heavenly talisman is dun within the true earth. To advance or retreat the heavenly talisman is in fact to advance or retreat Wu-earth. The concept of true earth is very important. The Wuzhen Pian says clearly: "If Li and Kan lack Wu and Ji, though they contain the four images they cannot form the elixir. Only because each holds true earth does the golden elixir return." The Ji-earth mentioned here: actually once Wu is set in motion, Ji naturally follows. In the Dunjia scheme, for the winter solstice first configuration paired with yang dun first configuration: Wu is in the Kan palace; Kan receives Wu; Zhen receives Geng; Dui receives Ding; Gen receives Bing. The difference is that Qian does not receive Ren; Kun does not receive Yi and Gui; Li does not receive Ji—that is, Qian, Kun, and Li differ from the celestial image. When these three combine, naturally person and heaven become one. Xin Yi Ji Geng Ren Ding Bing Wu Gui True earth is Wu. When one moves it to the Kan palace, the Geng image can be configured in the Zhen palace; this serves as the earth plate. Later, when the talisman is moved again to the Zhen palace, Geng arises in the center palace; then when flipped into the Gen palace, Geng reaches the Kan palace, and metal-in-water appears once more. The Wuzhen Pian says: "When the red sun at the bottom of the pool annihilates the yin demons, the white moon on the mountain top is the new medicine sprout." The bottom of the pool is the Kan palace. When Li-light enters Kan, it is the pool bottom meeting red—actually Wu entering the Kun palace; true intent entering the Kun belly, then true intent also reaches the Li palace. And Zhen and Gen are a prior-heaven/after-heaven relationship; in the nine palaces they just match the Hetu numbers as three and eight combining into wood. When the talisman-jia is in the Gen palace, Gen is the mountain, becoming the mountain top; the wood qi thus combined becomes the foundation, called the medicine sprout. If we shift this to cultivation, it describes what happens after obtaining the metal essence: sinking to the North Pole Great Abyss as returning to the center. When sun and moon meet, activation occurs; spirit returns to the qi cavity—and thus the medicine can successfully enter the furnace. In other words, this borrows the concept of month's end and solar eclipse as an image to show how true gold within Kan can return to its root and source. It is equivalent to the specific operation of "send it back to the earth crucible and seal it firm" among the lines: "When lead meets Gui arising, gather it urgently; gold, when past the full moon, is no longer fit to taste. Send it back to the earth crucible and seal it firm; next enter the flowing pearl as its proper match." Gui is water, indicating that kidney qi is abundant—because only when kidney qi is sufficient is water sufficient, and only when water is sufficient are there enough resources within to seek the true lead. The innate empty center must serve as furnace and cauldron; the method is to accord with the season and the moment when yin fully forms by entering within yang, and only then send it in, so that the metal essence can be entrusted into the innate realm.