Saints & Sages Part IV:
陈抟 Chen Tuan (920 – 989) [excerpt 1]
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Chen Tuan (ca. 920–989) was also known by the appellation Master Fu Yao [扶搖子], the Elder of the Inaudible and Invisible [xi yi xian sheng希夷先生], and by his style name Tu Nan [圖南]- Diagram’s South.
Chen Tuan was most renowned for his face-reading, the Book of Changes [yi jing 易经] calculations and the pivotal role he played in passing down the Tai Ji diagram to Zhang San Feng who in turn created Tai Ji Quan modelled on it according to some schools. It is quite firmly established the Chen Tuan lived around the tenth century during the Song dynasty. He is established to have either travelled or lived as a local monk in the Tian Qing monastery [天庆观] in Qiong Zhou [邛州], in Sichuan, as an inscription by him bears witness. Other sources claim that he was originally from Henan. Around the 940s, he resided on Mount Hua [hua shan华山], where he rebuilt two temples, namely the Yun Tai Monastery [云台观] and the Yu Quan Temple [玉泉院], who were both in ruins.
In 956 he met emperor Shi Zong [世宗] of the later Zhou dynasty (906-970), and in 984 emperor Tai Zong [太宗] of the Song dynasty (939-997), both events are also documented in the History of Song [song shi宋史]. In 989, on the 22nd day of the tenth lunar month Chen Tuan ascended by transforming his physical body.
Chen Tuan is credited with a number of writings such as the Mirror of Auras [feng jian 风鉴], the Core Methods to Rectify the Yi [Jing] [zheng yi xin fa 正易心法]. His other accomplishment are Twelve Sleep Practices [shui gong 睡功], which have survived until today in the Marrow of the Crimson Phoenix [chi feng sui 赤凤髓] and have earned him the title as ‘Sleeping Immortal’. Another system attributed to him are twenty-four exercises corresponding to the 24 seasonal nodes of the year.
What follows is a full translation of the biography of Chen Tuan’s life in the History of Song [song shi 宋史]. Some scholars have argued the inaccuracy or at least raised doubts about the actuality of events. In any case the translators felt that it sheds light on this important figure in not only Chinese history, but also in the domains of martial arts, Qi Gong and Daoism:
陈抟，字图南，亳州真源人。始四五岁，戏涡水岸侧，有青衣媪乳之，自是聪悟日益。及长，读经史百家之言，一见成诵，悉无遗忘，颇以诗名。后唐长兴中，举进士不第，遂不求禄仕，以山水为乐。自言尝遇孙君仿、獐皮处士二人者，高尚之人也，语抟曰：「武当山九室岩可以隐居。」抟往栖焉。因服气辟谷历二十馀年，但日饮酒数杯。移居华山云台观，又止少华石室。每寝处，多百馀日不起。
Chen Tuan, style name Tu Nan, from Zhen Yuan County of Bo Zhou. At 4-5 years of age, when he was playing on the banks of the Guo River, an elder woman in black clothes fed him with milk; since then, he became more sharp-witted and more cognizant day by day. By the time he was grown up, he had read words of the scriptures and canonical texts, of the annals and the one Hundred Schools. After one glance [of a text], he was able to recite it from memory without forgetting any detail; he considerably [gained] fame through his poems. During the Chang Xing Era of the Later Tang Dynasty, he partook in the highest imperial examination but failed; thereupon, he no longer sought salary by serving as an official, finding joy within the mountains and rivers. He said himself that he once met the two people Sun Jun Fang and Zhang Pi Chu Shi, who were both noble individuals . They spoke to [Chen] Tuan,
In the Wu Dang [mountains], by the Nine Chambers Cliff, you can dwell there as a hermit.
[Chen] Tuan made his way to dwell at [that place]. By ingesting Qi, he abstained from grains for 20-odd years, but every day, he drank several cups of wine. He [later] moved his dwelling to Mount Hua, Yun Tai Monastery, and he also stayed at the Stone Chamber of [Mount] Shao Hua. Every time he slept there, he did not get up for more than 100-odd days.
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Post-Scriptum: This translation will be published in full as part of a book 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.
