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The primordial spirit (Yuan Shen) of the human body enters and exits through the eyes, and the essence of the five zang organs also gathers in the eyes. Therefore, the *Yinfu Jing* (Classic of the Hidden Talisman) states: "The mechanism lies in the eyes." The *Daodejing* (Classic of the Way and Its Virtue) states: "Do not look at what can arouse desire, and the heart will not be disturbed." Thus, the method of internal cultivation requires keeping the eyelids slightly lowered like a curtain, turning the gaze inward to illuminate the interior, descending the fire of the heart into the dantian, so that spirit and qi embrace each other. Hence, the *Tai Xuan* (Profound Mystery), "Nourishing the First Day," states: "Hide the heart in the abyss, beautify your spiritual root." The commentary says: "Hide the heart in the abyss, and the spirit will not leak outward."

When the mind is entangled by affairs, fire moves within. When there is movement within, it inevitably shakes the essence.

When the mind is harmonized, respiration naturally harmonizes; when stillness is maintained for a long time, respiration naturally stabilizes.

Cease mental activity to let the mind die; let the mind die to nourish qi.

Essence (Jing), qi, and spirit are the three internal treasures; ears, eyes, and mouth are the three external treasures. Constantly ensure that the internal treasures do not flow away with external objects, and the external treasures do not lure and disturb the interior.

Respiration should be continuous and deep, reaching the dantian.

Constantly make respiration like husband and wife, and spirit and qi like husband and wife. By "husband and wife," it is meant that they should combine and not separate.

Do not labor your form, do not shake your essence, do not let your thoughts wander, do not worry about busy pursuits. Reduce thinking to nourish spirit, reduce desires to nourish essence, reduce speech to nourish qi.

Prolonged viewing damages the heart and blood; prolonged sitting damages the spleen and flesh; prolonged standing damages the kidneys and bones; prolonged lying down damages the lungs and qi; prolonged walking damages the liver and sinews.

The place where one sits should not be too bright, as excessive brightness damages the hun soul; nor too dark, as excessive darkness damages the po soul. One should especially avoid dampness. If the heart has affection, do not love deeply; if the heart has aversion, do not hate deeply.

Combing hair frequently helps clarify vision and dispel wind; bathing the body frequently may damage qi and cause fatigue.

In spring and summer, it is suitable to rise early; in autumn and winter, it is suitable to sleep late. Sleeping late should not be after sunrise, and rising early should not be before the rooster crows.

Whenever urinating or defecating, one should tightly close the teeth and look upward, so that qi does not leak.

When encountering minor illnesses, one may practice Baduanjin (Eight Sections of Brocade) or use the Six Healing Sounds method.

Every night, rub the Yongquan acupoint (Kidney 1, Bubbling Spring) with the hands, three hundred times on each side, which is very beneficial for the lower yuan (kidneys and mingmen).

Dietary flavors should be light and bland, making one feel refreshed and clear, leading to fewer illnesses. Excessive sourness damages the spleen; excessive saltiness damages the heart; excessive bitterness damages the kidneys; excessive pungency damages the liver. One should especially avoid raw, cold, and hard foods.

Food intake should not be excessive, nor should it be too rapid. One must strictly avoid drinking tea on an empty stomach, drinking wine at Mao hour (5-7 AM), and eating dinner at dusk.

At night, one should not get drunk, not eat until full, and not travel far.

One should not eat immediately after anger, nor become angry immediately after eating.

Soft steamed rice, well-cooked meat, little wine, and sleeping alone are wonderful methods of health preservation.

After meals, walk slowly for dozens of steps, massage the face, flanks, and abdomen with the hands, and exhale loudly four or five times while looking up, which can eliminate toxins from food and drink.

Before going out in the morning, drink a cup of wine to ward off the toxicity of fog and dew. If no wine is available, chewing a slice of ginger works as well.

For food stagnation causing bloating, tightly close the teeth, shrug the shoulders, look up, raise qi to the throat, and after a moment, descend it into the dantian. Repeating this ascent and descent four or five times aids digestion.

Before sleeping, brush teeth with powder made of Gypsum Fibrosum (Shigao), Zanthoxylum Pericarpium (Huajiao), and Green Rock Salt (Qingyan), then rinse with good tea. Clench teeth several times; this ensures that toxins from daily food and drink do not remain between the teeth, preventing dental diseases throughout life.

Seek to avoid disaster by self-admonition. Caution avoids insult, modesty avoids jealousy, silence avoids evil words, endurance avoids disaster, and diligence avoids mistakes. If any one of these five is abandoned, avoiding disaster becomes impossible.

The Four Seals of Health Preservation: Endurance, Silence, Straightness, and Levelness. It is said that winning a hundred battles is not as good as one act of endurance; speaking ten thousand correct words is not as good as one act of silence. With nothing to pick and choose, the horizon is level; hiding nothing, the heart is straight.

Diligence has three benefits. Generally, people's livelihood depends on diligence; diligence means scarcity is avoided. If one man does not plow, he suffers hunger; if one woman does not rear silkworms, she suffers cold. Thus, diligence can prevent hunger and cold. Farmers work hard during the day and sleep soundly at night, so illicit lustful thoughts cannot arise; thus, diligence can keep one away from licentiousness and perversity. A door hinge does not rot because it moves; running water does not stink. Duke Zhou attributed longevity to figures like the Three Ancestors and King Wen to their lack of idleness. Lu Chenggong explained this: Emphasizing stillness preserves vastness and depth; self-strengthening makes one solid and clear; maintaining possession keeps blood and qi orderly; convergence keeps spirit and energy internal and unfloating. Thus, diligence can lead to longevity.

There are many warnings regarding sexual intercourse, but those concerning heavenly changes are particularly important. In the *Yueling* (Monthly Ordinances), three days before thunder sounds, a wooden clapper is shaken to command the people, saying: "Thunder is about to sound. Those who do not guard their demeanor and conduct will have children with defects and suffer disasters." This is because it profanes the majesty of Heaven. For children born today with unusual forms or missing limbs, how do we know they did not violate this prohibition?

Whenever strange phenomena occur in daily life, one should not be startled. One should only calm oneself with stillness. For example, Duke Huan of Qi saw a deity in purple robes; Zhou Nan spoke of seeing a strange rat; Li Shujian did not kill a dog wearing a hat; Gong Liang wrote largely about a hand entering the window. All these cases demonstrate overcoming with qi. Can strange things harm people? The danger lies in the inability to maintain composure, which leads to self-harm.

Peng Zu said: Men cannot live without women, and women cannot live without men. If one's thoughts are truly pure and free from distraction, it greatly extends lifespan. He also said: If a person releases semen twice a month, totaling twenty-four times a year, they can live to be one hundred years old.

Superior scholars sleep in separate beds; average scholars sleep under separate quilts. Taking medicine for a thousand days is not as good as sleeping alone.

Overeating and sexual exhaustion cause blood and qi to overflow and seep into the large intestine, resulting in bloody stools and abdominal pain; this disease is named Changjia (Intestinal Mass).

Engaging in intercourse with extreme effort while angry leads to deficiency of essence and exhaustion of qi, manifesting as carbuncles and sores. Engaging in intercourse while fearful leads to yin-yang imbalance and deficiency, manifesting as syncope, spontaneous sweating, and night sweats, eventually accumulating into consumptive disease.

Engaging in intercourse while exhausted from long travel results in the Five Wasting Diseases and deficiency injuries.

Guangchengzi said: Do not labor your form, do not shake your essence, and you can achieve immortality.

Courageous boldness leads to death; courageous caution leads to life. Being bold in action kills the body; being cautious in action preserves the body.

Irregular living habits and overexertion damage the meridians and collaterals. Damaging yang causes epistaxis; damaging yin causes lower bleeding.

Walking should not be excessively far; standing should not lead to fatigue; sitting should not involve facing away from the sun.

Walking at night while grinding teeth can repel ghosts and evil influences. Combing hair with hands prevents evil spirits from approaching.

Sleeping with lamps or candles disturbs the hun and po souls. Having intercourse with lights on shortens lifespan.

Do not place a charcoal stove near the head while sleeping; over time, it draws fire qi, causing heavy head, red eyes, dry nose, and brain abscesses or sores. After traveling in heat, do not wash your face in rivers, as this causes spots on the face.

Storing loose hair in bedroom walls attracts bad luck.

Do not lightly enter temples.

When taking a flute or pipe off the wall, do not blow into it casually, lest a centipede be inside.

Placing Cassiae Semen (Juemingzi) in the pillow best clarifies vision. Chrysanthemum flowers should not be placed in the pillow in large quantities, as this causes coldness in the brain over time. Before sleeping at dusk, read the *Huangting Neijing Yujing* (Yellow Court Inner Landscape Jade Classic) once to naturally refine the hun and po souls. Practicing this method consistently leads to immortality in twenty-eight years.

Zhuangzi said: Those with deep desires have shallow heavenly mechanisms. During the Spring and Autumn period, Yi He, the physician of Qin, examined the illness of the Marquis of Jin and said: "This is called 'approaching the women's quarters.' It is neither ghosts nor food, but confusion that loses the will." The Marquis asked: "Should women not be approached?" Yi He replied: "Regulate them."

Immortal texts say: Human lifespan depends on moderation. If cared for properly, one achieves immortality. Indulging in desires makes life as fleeting as morning dew.

To seek peace and joy, "neither undressing nor dressing" is the Northern dialect; "frequently undressing and dressing" is the Southern dialect.

The Yellow Emperor said: Externally, do not labor the form with affairs; internally, have no worries of thought. Make tranquility and joy your task, and self-satisfaction your achievement. If the form is not worn out and spirit is not damaged, one can live hundreds of years.

Peng Zu said: Ordinary people cannot be without thought, but it should be gradually eliminated. The human body is void, possessing only wandering qi. If respiration follows reason, a hundred diseases do not arise. He also said: The Dao is not complicated; one need only not think of clothes, not think of food, not think of sights and sounds, not think of victory and defeat, not think of gain and loss, not think of honor and disgrace. If the heart is not labored and spirit is not exhausted, one can live a thousand years.

Once, a scholar was reading and forgot to eat. One day, a man in purple stood before him and said: "If you do not eat again, I will die." Asked who he was, the man replied: "I am the Spirit of the Grain Valley." Thereupon, the scholar ceased his obsessive thinking and ate as usual. Thinking causes qi to knot, latent heat does not dissipate, and over time both qi and blood become deficient, leading to disease and premature death.

Drinking "Jade Spring" extends life and eliminates a hundred diseases. Jade Spring refers to the fluid between the kidneys. At Ji Ming (3-5 AM), Ping Dan (5-7 AM), Bu Shi (3-5 PM), Huang Hun (5-7 PM), Ban Ye (11 PM-1 AM), Yi Dan (morning), and Yi Xi (evening)—seven times in total—rinse the mouth with Jade Spring and swallow it. Each time fill the mouth fully and swallow to extend life.

Spitting far away damages qi; spitting too much damages spirit. It is also said: Spitting far is not as good as spitting near; spitting near is not as good as not spitting at all.

When sweat comes out, pores open; do not let others fan you coolly, as you will be invaded by external pathogens.

After eating, pinch paper with fingers and sneeze several times; when qi flows freely, vision clears and diseases transform.

[Setting the Mat to Avoid Flies] Hang a bundle of bamboo leaves on the wall and sprinkle wine on them. Flies will fly to the bamboo leaves and will not come to the mat.

[Digging a Cellar in the House] In shady places in the house, dig a deep cellar shaped like a room with skylights for brightness. It is warm in winter and cool in summer. When fresh fruits and vegetables are harvested in autumn, store them according to this method for winter use. In summer, storing wine and food here protects against insects and heat; storing water here is especially excellent. Brewing wine inside during extreme hot or cold seasons is also possible.

[Preventing Water from Freezing in Winter] To prevent water from freezing in winter, add good distilled liquor to it, and it will not freeze.

[Forming Ice in Morning Moonlight] Grind Cold Water Stone (Han Shui Shi) into powder, boil it in water, seal it in a jar, and sink it to the bottom of a well. It will turn to ice. Take it out, break the jar, and use it.

[Clarifying Pond Water] Put feces in a bottle, tie the mouth with bamboo leaves, and throw it into the pond. The water will clear.

[Method to Clarify Turbid Water] Whenever encountering plum rains or heavy floods, stream and well water become turbid. Pound ten or more soybeans or almonds and put them in the water vat. Stir for a while, and the water will settle and clear itself.

[Pond Leak Prevention] Mix horse manure with calcined stone mud. This promotes moss growth in the pond, prevents leaks, and does not kill fish.

[Nutrient Injection for Pond Water using Cow Bones] During the Chongning era, pond water in the western inner garden dried up easily. Some said placing cow bones in the pond would prevent drying. This proved true, and people use it today with verified results.

[Fish Pond] Large ponds are nine or seven mu, about one zhang deep. Stack bricks and stones to create islands. Fish swim in the five directions day and night, growing naturally. In the morning, they swim east to the Ten Continents; stack rocks underwater, not protruding, preferably deep and concave. At noon, they swim south to the Three Islands; dig three caves like wells. In the afternoon, they swim west where the water is only three chi deep; plant reeds and willows so fish can gallop in their shadows. At dusk, they swim north where the water is five or six chi deep; leave duckweed and algae for them to stop. At midnight, they stay in the center, three or four chi deep, in clear water, facing the stars. Build a platform in the pond, about one zhang square, with a chimney-like structure containing dog bones and straw piled alternately. If there is a storm, burn the grass and bones. The foul smoke prevents dragons from playing, otherwise carp will fly away. If there is a turtle in the pond, called the Divine Guardian, the fish will not leave.