Daoism Series 24:
西華帝君
The Sovereign of
the Western Florescence （excerpt）
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The Sovereign of the Western Florescence was also known by the name of the Sovereign of the Eastern Florescence, as a counterpart to the Queen Mother of the West. His other appellation was Minor Yang Sovereign of the Purple Mansion and Realized One of Florescent Yang. His common name before entering the register of immortals was Wang Xuan Fu.
The Sovereign of the Eastern Florescence is ranked as the first of the Five Northern Founding Ancestors, together with Han Zhong Li, Lü Dong Bin, Liu Hai Chan and Wang Chong Yang. He is associate with the fabled island of Fang Zhu, together with Peng Lai and Ying Zhou, it is one of the three islands where immortals dwell. Furthermore, the blue colour of the ordinary Daoist robes represents the East in reverence and standing testimony to the disciple’s descent from the Complete Realization’s first ancestor.
In his honour, there is a scripture bearing his name in reverence called The Immortal Scripture of The Realized One Yin’s Verification of the Dao from the Eastern Florescence Upright Sect, for the Inaugurating of the Utmost Imperial Standard. He is also directly involved in the dissemination of the ‘Scripture of Clarity and Tranquility, as stated in it:
仙人葛仙翁曰：吾得真道，曾誦此經萬遍。此經是天人所習，不傳下士。吾昔受之於東華帝君，東華帝君受之於金闕帝君，金闕帝君受之於西王母，西王母皆口口相傳，不記文字。
The Immortal Elder Ge says: I have achieved the true Dao and I have formerly recited the scripture ten thousand times. This scripture is practiced by the heavenly being, it is not transmitted to the lowly. I received it from the Sovereign of the Eastern Florescence. The Sovereign of the Eastern Florescence received it from the Sovereign of the Golden Watchtower. The Sovereign of the Golden Watchtower received it from the Queen Mother of the West. Since the Queen Mother of the West, it was always passed on in oral transmission without being recorded in writings. Today [for the first time] in this world, I am recording it down in writing.
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Post-Scriptum: This article will be published in full as part of a book, entitled ‘Arts of Daoism’ about meditation, stillness cultivation, abstention from grains [bi gu辟谷], sleeping gong [shui gong睡功], dreams, vegetarianism and diet in Daoism, formulae for fasting and meditation incense, including several chapters from the alchemical classic The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement [da cheng jie yao 大成捷要]. It will be a mixture of anecdotal and oral transmissions from my teacher Li Shi Fu and translations of a number of chapters from ancient texts. It is set to be released before Christmas 2020, and a first draft is already finalized.
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6th September 2020 /
