Taiqing

«Because these scriptures explicate the arts of the Golden Elixir (jindan), and those who ingest [the Golden Elixir] rise away to the Great Clarity. This is the meaning of the term Great Clarity. (Daojiao yishu, 2.7b–8a)» — el Daojiao yishu, citado por Pregadio, explica por qué el nombre de un cielo pasa a nombrar un corpus: esas escrituras exponen las artes del Elixir de Oro y quien lo ingiere se eleva a la Gran Claridad.

«In the same work, as well as twice in his Concealed Instructions for the Ascent to Perfection (Dengzhen yinjue), moreover, Tao identifies the Great Clarity as a “lineage” (jia), acknowledging its status not only as a heaven, but also as a body of doctrines and methods that were transmitted among its adepts.» — Pregadio subraya que Tao Hongjing identifica la Gran Claridad como linaje, y no solo como cielo.

«The Scripture of Great Clarity (Taiqing jing), the Scripture of the Nine Elixirs (Jiudan jing), and the Scripture of the Golden Liquor (Jinye jing) form the nucleus of the Taiqing doctrinal and textual legacy.» — las tres escrituras que forman el núcleo doctrinal y textual del legado.

«After the fragmentary documentation surveyed in this chapter, the history of Chinese alchemy confronts us with the Taiqing scriptures. The shift is a major one, for these scriptures claim to derive their teachings and methods from divine beings, describe actual methods, give details on ritual practices, and frequently refer to each other. In other words, the proper history of Chinese alchemy begins with these texts.» — Pregadio hace empezar la historia propiamente dicha de la alquimia china en las escrituras Taiqing; es uno de los dos pasajes que sostienen la filiación de esta ficha con `waidan`.

«The Taiqing scriptures are the first ones to be based on the view of the alchemical process described above in Chapter 4. This view is the main legacy that they left to the later traditions in the history of Chinese alchemy; it survived beyond the decline of the Taiqing tradition, and even beyond the demise of waidan when neidan embraced it and renovated it.» — y dice cuál es su legado principal: la visión del proceso alquímico que sobrevivió al declive del waidan porque el neidan la hizo suya.

«The emphasis accorded to the performance of methods places the Taiqing scriptures among the waidan sources which, in the words of Nathan Sivin, “consist only of instructions for laboratory operations, with no attempt to provide a theoretical rationale.» — Pregadio cita a Nathan Sivin para colocar las escrituras Taiqing entre las fuentes waidan; es el otro pasaje que sostiene la filiación.

«The Taiqing texts present alchemy as superior to other practices such as circulating breath (xingqi), ingesting herbal drugs, and abstaining from cereals; they state that while these practices afford only the extension of one’s life span, the alchemical teachings make it possible to rise to a higher spiritual rank.» — lo que los textos Taiqing declaran de sí frente a las técnicas vecinas: solo la enseñanza alquímica permite subir de rango espiritual.

«Second, at the same time but apparently in contradiction to the previous feature, the Taiqing texts define their own doctrines and practices as superior to any other teaching or method.» — y la declaración general de superioridad, que Pregadio mismo presenta como contradictoria con lo que estos textos toman prestado.

«The Taiqing alchemical medicines were valued for two reasons. First, they granted transcendence and immortality; second, they made it possible—even with no need of ingesting them—to summon benevolent gods and expel demons and other causes of various disturbances, including illness and death.» — las dos razones por las que se apreciaban esas medicinas: trascendencia e inmortalidad, y el poder de convocar dioses y expulsar demonios sin ingerirlas.

«With few exceptions, the Taiqing texts follow a regular pattern in presenting their alchemical recipes. Using a terse language and a consistent terminology, they first give details on the technical features of each method, focusing on the preliminary treatment of the ingredients, the preparation of the crucible, the heating process, and the collection of the elixir. At the end of the method, they describe the benefits gained from its performance.» — el patrón con que estos textos presentan sus recetas, en lengua escueta y terminología constante.

«The Taiqing texts, instead, do not avail themselves of correlative cosmology either to express doctrinal points or to explicate the meaning of their techniques. Their doctrinal foundations are hinted at by the emphasis they give to certain aspects of the alchemical process, however—in particular, by the endless statements on the necessity of hermetically luting the crucible, by the painstaking instructions concerning the mud to be used for this purpose, and by the technical terminology used in these descriptions. These details show that, despite the difference in formulations, the Taiqing notion of “elixir” is the same as the one underlying the later sources.» — lo que no hacen: valerse de la cosmología correlativa para el punto doctrinal ni para explicar la técnica.

«But while the Taiqing texts are primarily concerned with operational details, one should not conclude that the absence of cosmological theories reflects a “technological” tendency. Despite their apparent silence, as we shall see, the Taiqing texts contain clear allusions to their doctrinal foundations. Correlative cosmology, moreover, entered waidan only from the early Tang period onward. Until then, ritual— an hitherto largely neglected component of Chinese alchemy, especially in its earlier stages—was the explicit counterpart of the techniques, and served the function of framing doctrines and techniques into a practice.» — y la advertencia de Pregadio contra leer ese silencio como tendencia tecnológica.

«As the patterns of emblems of correlative cosmology do in the later tradition of waidan, so does ritual in the Taiqing tradition dictate the times of the alchemical work and regulate its progression. From the transmission of the methods to the ingestion of the elixir, all the major stages of the practice are marked by the performance of rites addressed to the deities who revealed the alchemical scriptures, those who should protect and favor the compounding of the elixir, and those who are offered the elixir when it is achieved.» — dónde el waidan posterior pone los emblemas de la cosmología correlativa, este legado pone el rito.

«For virtually all ritual forms documented in its texts, the Taiqing legacy draws from the local religious traditions of Jiangnan.» — y de dónde saca ese rito: de las tradiciones religiosas locales de Jiangnan.