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The days of youth have passed, and years do not wait for us. Confucius said: "When one grows old, the vital energy (Xueqi) has declined; one must guard against greed." It is perhaps because a horse misses its cart, and because of the cart, it misses its canopy. When one has not obtained something, one worries; when one has obtained it, one still worries. When one loses it, one hesitates, stammers without making a decision, and suffers from palpitations and restlessness in both sleep and waking. The essence of Yin and Yang (the two fundamental substances constituting life) combines miraculously and condenses. Between the two kidneys, within the white membrane, a point of Yuan Qi (Original Qi) moves, as large as the head of a chopstick. It inspires and transforms, opening and closing throughout the body, steaming the San Jiao (Triple Burner, collectively referring to the upper, middle, and lower burners responsible for digestion and excretion), digesting food and fluids, defending against the Six Excesses (Wind, Cold, Summerheat, Dampness, Dryness, Fire) externally, and withstanding ten thousand thoughts internally. This continues day and night without pause, attacked from all sides. Consequently, the Shen (Spirit) transforms with external objects, and Qi dissipates with the Shen. Ying Qi (Nutritive Qi) and Wei Qi (Defensive Qi) decline, and the seven orifices function abnormally. Crying produces no tears; laughing causes tears to flow like rain. The nose runs snot without sneezing; the ears hear no sound but perceive cicada-like buzzing. Eating causes dry mouth; sleeping leads to drooling. Urination is difficult yet involuntary leakage occurs; defecation is obstructed or leads to diarrhea. Thus, True Yin flows recklessly, and meridians become sparse and obstructed. One nods off in front of others during the day and lies awake alone at night. Therefore, one should use Daoyin (guiding and pulling exercises) and rubbing/massage to clear stagnation and solidity; cough up saliva and swallow liquids to irrigate dryness and withering. If one clicks teeth and gathers the spirit but cannot concentrate the mind, practicing intermittently ("exposing for one day, freezing for ten"), one merely prolongs life in vain. Although it is said that the elderly require meat to be full, obesity generates Wind pathogen; although they require silk and cotton for warmth, warmth induces excessive sexual desire. Those who rely on lucky fortune to take tonifying herbs are like adding oil to a lamp that is already out of oil; the flame burns high but extinguishes quickly. Laozi said: "Because it lives by being rich/thick, it harms life." Moreover, some people cultivate courtesy openly but harbor treachery secretly, corroding their intestines and stomachs, while cosmetics bewitch their pure nature. Solitary Yang flourishes alone, making food and fluids easy to digest. Relying on eating more than others, they recklessly commit sins against heaven. Once past karma is exhausted, retribution arrives. Or, one may be disgusted by indulgence, live frugally in body, yet become increasingly greedy in will. Having gathered illusions (like turtle hair, which does not exist), one suddenly dreams of women. Song Qiqiu's *Huashu* says: "The stingy transform into dogs; the violent transform into tigers." Although the body has not changed, the karmic deeds are already formed. An ancient sage wrote: "If one is unwilling to add to the effort of restraining oneself, stinginess and pride close up like a snail. Try to reflect deeply in the quiet night; breaking through the fence makes one a great person." An ancient sage warned: "Accumulating gold for descendants, descendants may not keep it; accumulating books for descendants, descendants may not read them. It is better to accumulate hidden virtue in the unseen world as a long-term plan for descendants." Master Pang wrote: "North and south mansions are not worth boasting about; good sons and daughters are flowers before one's eyes. Suddenly, when death comes, one body lies in a mound of earth, belonging to Zhang San or Li Si." Zhang Ziyang wrote: "Although human life has a hundred-year span, longevity or shortness, poverty or prosperity cannot be predicted. Yesterday one rode a horse on the street; today one sleeps in a coffin. Wife and wealth left behind do not belong to you; karmic retribution is about to occur, hard to deceive oneself. The Great Medicine is rarely met even if sought; if met but not refined, one becomes more confused." Generally, the way of health preservation in old age does not value seeking the extraordinary. First, one should wash away the knots of worry in the chest with poems of ancient sages dispelling illusions. Do not seek fame and profit rashly; do not emit anger and joy arbitrarily; do not follow sensual pleasures; do not indulge in flavors; do not entertain evil thoughts; do not read useless books; do not labor over urgent matters. The Three Bonds and Five Constants are established patterns; wealth and poverty, safety and danger, depend on current circumstances. Shao Kangjie said: "Drink fine wine until slightly drunk; look at good flowers when half open." He also said: "Too many refreshing foods eventually cause illness; too much satisfaction in happy events inevitably brings disaster. Rather than seeking good medicine after illness, is it not better to prevent oneself before illness?" Another poem says: "Fewer worries lead to fewer dreams; fewer words lead to fewer faults. Lowering the curtain reveals the lengthening day; still willows make one feel the slight wind. Just watch flowers bloom and fade; do not speak of others' right and wrong. Why seek grotto-heavens? Even if living in the world, one ages slowly." Master Pang said: "May you empty all that exists, and carefully avoid filling what does not exist." I have a poem saying: "People exhaust all schemes only because they fear death and cling to life. I have a method of peace and joy, which requires turning this upside down." In Jin Dynasty, Qi Kongbin was reading at night when he suddenly heard from outside the window: "Qi Kongbin, go hide and refine yourself. Human affairs are too bitter to share. What is gained is less than a grain; what is lost is like a cliff." Lord Chao Wenyuan's *Fazhang Suijin* says: "What the masses love is empty name and arrogant air. Investigating their envy of wealth, what I love is heavenly mechanism and Daoist eye, the essential method of liberation." It also says: "Observing the body, there is nothing; it arises from illusory conditions. Observing the mind, there is nothing; it arises from inverted thoughts." It also says: "The body has safety and destruction; this is the retribution of deeds, visible in this life. The nature has elevation and fall; this is the retribution of conduct, unknown in other worlds. Like form and sound having reflection and echo, this is an inevitable principle." It also says: "People suffer from illness, often accidentally, not necessarily due to specific actions, and there is nothing to be done. Looking at the illusory body, there are worse things. Understanding this logic is enough to comfort oneself." It also says: "In officialdom, one secretly touches upon disaster mechanisms. At banquets, one secretly treads dangerous paths. In reincarnation, one enters various realms in vain." The ancients said: "When the mind dies, the body lives; when the mind is strong, the body perishes." The *Diamond Sutra* says: "How to subdue the mind?" Chuan Laozixu said: "You rejoice, I do not rejoice; you grieve, I do not grieve. Wild geese fly thinking of the northern frontier; orioles remember returning to old nests. Autumn moon and spring flowers hold infinite meaning; only one's own self knows this." Void Quiet Heavenly Master said: "The spiritual rock is bright and clean like an ice pot, allowing only the Yuan Shen (Primordial Spirit) to reside within. If one leaves anything in this center, one's whole life is not pure and void." Laozi said: "Empty your heart/mind, fill your belly." These all integrate wisdom and cleverness, dwelling in Heavenly Harmony to repel all evils. How can they compare to the three thousand six hundred heterodox small methods applied to hearts tormented by ten thousand states, placing heads on heads, and using harsh agents of metals, stones, grasses, and woods to feed bodies depleted of fluids and withered, seeking tonification? Observing the past, there were those who founded families through unrighteousness and preserved them through righteousness. But those who obtained through unrighteousness and kept through unrighteousness face disaster immediately. The *Book of Jin* records: Shi Jielong usurped the imperial title, conscripting 160,000 men and women from nearby commanderies, 100,000 carts, transporting soil to build the Hualin Garden. Yangzhou sent five yellow swan chicks, each neck one zhang long, voice audible for over ten li. They boated on Xuanwu Pool, ordered his son Shi Xuan to pray to mountains and rivers, and went hunting. Riding a large carriage with feathered canopy and imperial banners, with 180,000 soldiers, exiting Jinming Gate, Jielong watched from his rear palace, ascending Lingxiao Pavilion, saying: "My family and father are thus; unless heaven collapses and earth breaks, what else need we worry about? Only holding children and playing with grandchildren is daily joy." Shi Xuan passed through three provinces and fifteen commanderies, leaving no supplies behind. Jielong ordered his son Shi Tao to do the same, exiting Bingzhou, touring Qin and Jin. Shi Xuan disliked Tao's favor; on this journey, jealousy intensified. Thus, plans to plot against each other arose. Soon, Shi Xuan sent assassins to kill Tao in a Buddhist shrine, and also planned rebellion. The matter was exposed, and Jielong killed him. After Jielong died, his lineage was annihilated. Alas! Jielong's wealth and honor were not reliable. And now, the mediocre ones, with tens or hundreds of bags of money, how can they make power and create karmic causes? Although I now live in withered seclusion, my attire and conduct have never used deceptive stories. Regarding Confucius's nature and the Way of Heaven, it is impossible to hear. Thus, Buddhism speaks of nature. Buddha said: "All mountains, rivers, and heaven and earth flow from the Tathagata nature." Therefore, the word 'Buddha' is the awakened spirit of all sentient beings. It is actually the primordial ancestral Qi of Daluo Kongjie, which is Yuanshi Tianzun. Everyone holds this spirit but is unaware. Thus, Buddhist scriptures say: "All sentient beings are originally Buddhas. Because of non-awakening, they are called sentient beings; because of awakening, they are called Buddhas." The current transformations of hell were painted by Chancellor Yan Liben at the order of Emperor Taizong of Tang based on his underworld experience, to show the world. When I was young and frivolous, I was always among laughter and talk. One day, I was extremely tired due to illness outdoors. In a trance, what I saw was the same day as the dream of my flesh-and-blood relatives. The realm and causes/conditions were exactly the same. Then I stopped speaking and dared not joke. Later, reading historical records and recorded sayings, I began to know that since modern times, princes and officials who obtained great peace and joy from Buddhist books are countless. Thus, Han Changli opposed them severely, but ultimately received teachings from Dadian. Ouyang Wenzhong Gong hated Buddhism like an enemy, yet was also known as the Six-One Layman. Was it not because they had their own gains and changed suddenly? Sad! People do not understand the Buddhist mind but drown in Buddhist rituals. Thus, the disaster of Emperor Wu of Liang came, and Hou Jing arrived without him knowing. Qin Shihuang desired immortality, but Xu Fu left and did not return. How could trivial good deeds overcome karmic obstacles? The mind of karmic obstacles treats wine as water and delusion as normal. Thoughts change continuously. Day and night breathing totals 13,500 breaths. In one breath, pulse travels thirty units, Yuan Qi circulates the body, pulse travels 810 zhang. Cold comes and heat goes, knowledge is tempted, objects confuse, and the divine spirit flows far away. Health preservers who take this as the main thing are recognizing thieves as sons, is this not absurd? Thus, Qibo said: "If exit and entry cease, the spirit mechanism perishes; if ascent and descent stop, the qi establishment stands alone in danger." The *I Ching* says: "Essence and Qi form things, wandering souls form changes," which is so. Previously, two people came to me to debate the great matter of life and death. One said: "Human birth is endowed with nature by Heaven and nurtured by Earth. A hundred-year body is merely benevolence and righteousness. Upon death, clear soul returns to Heaven, turbid魄 returns to Earth. What doubt is there?" The other said: "Human birth takes the body as self, gain as strength, and delusion as normal. A granary of insect filth, a bag of sorrow and worry. Some yield to it, some rob it. Both strive diligently, one named cruel, one named loyal. Restraining it makes eyes and mind external bandits; indulging it damages blood and Qi internally. Wanting to hold the key, one does not know the advantage. Karmic consciousness is vast; when one breath stops, how can one know where it goes?" I sent each away with a poem. The first: "Tracing origin and requiring end, the principle is not false. Four non-selves, solemn and respectful, fearing delay. Throughout life, not stepping on the ground of the Mean, a song of Yangguan, helpless." The second: "One sentence transcending the ordinary cuts off discussion. Breaking it makes you laugh until your intestines break. All matters of compliance or opposition in life and death, do not let aversion or attachment become the king of the mind." If someone can do this, they see the King of Health Preservation. Generally, the scenery of late years differs in work and rest; working the mind is harder than working the body. For those ruled by the mind, work is thus, rest is thus, like fish drinking water, knowing cold and warmth themselves. Other methods for supporting decline and moisturizing withering are classified below.

As for methods to support decline and moisturize withering, and the previously mentioned methods of non-preservation, these are fully seen in the *Discussion on the Master of Health Preservation*, so they are not recorded here in detail.