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Wei Boyang - The Canton of qi
Identifier
015949
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Wei Boyang (traditional Chinese: 魏伯陽; simplified Chinese: 魏伯阳) was a noted Chinese author and Chinese alchemist of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He is the first person to have documented the chemical composition of gunpowder in 142 AD.
He is also the author The Cantong qi ione of the earliest books on alchemy in China. The title has been variously translated as Kinship of the Three, Akinness of the Three, Triplex Unity, and The Seal of the Unity of the Three. The full title of the text is Zhouyi cantong qi, which can be translated as, for example, The Kinship of the Three, in Accordance with the Book of Changes.
The book deals entirely with alchemy—in particular, with.
In agreement with its title, the Cantong qi is concerned not with one, but with three major subjects. Under ‘an allusive poetical language and thick layers of images and symbols’, The Seal of the Unity of the Three (Cantong qi), traditionally dated to about 150 CE, describes Taoism (the way of "non-doing"), Cosmology (the system of the Book of Changes), and Alchemy — and joins them to one another into a unique doctrine.
The charm of its verses, the depth of its discourse, and its enigmatic language inspired a large number of commentaries and other works, and attracted the attention not only of Taoist masters and adepts, but also of philosophers, cosmologists, and poets.
Complete translations are available.
A description of the experience
Wei Boyang’s final words
Forsaking the times, avoiding harm
I have entrusted myself to the mountains and hills.
I have wandered and roamed through the unbounded
with demons as my neighbours
Transmuting my form, transcending the world,
I have entered the depths of the Inaudible
Once in a hundred generations I descend
to roam in the human world
spreading my wings
I bend east, west and south
In times of adversity like those met by Tang
when flood is compounded by drought
when the stems and leaves shrivel and fade
Losing their lustre and glow
the good natured man braves and endures the turn of events
steady and serene, and ready to live a long life.