Saints & Sages Part X: 劉理航 Liu Li Hang (1901-2002) [excerpt 1]

Saints & Sages Part X:
劉理航
Liu Li Hang (1901-2002) [excerpt 1]
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现在我想把道教培养一部分。继承纯阳的东西。我就把眼睛闭了都可以。现在不能够继承下去。就怕我死掉了以后 纯阳我带着走。这个内丹 没有哪个人能讲的出来。也没有哪个人能做得到 这个内丹功。内丹 它是先天气 后天气 三元，天元 地元 人元。这是我们道教讲的养生 就是内丹。学内丹功夫很难。

Presently, I wish to foster a part of Daoism, by bequeathing the material of Pure Yang. [Having done so,] I will be allowed to close my eyes. Now, I am not capable of passing this on, thus I fear that when I die, I will take the Pure Yang with me.
There is no one who is able to talk clearly about this Internal Elixir, and there is no one who is able to do this Gong of the Internal Elixir. This Internal Elixir is Pre-Heaven Qi, Post-Heaven Qi and the three primes, [namely] the Heavenly prime, Earthly prime and human Prime. What we talk about in Daoism as longevity, is precisely the Internal Elixir. The study of the Gong of the Internal Elixir is very difficult.

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Within the Pure Yang Sect, there have only been single lineage transmissions from teacher to sole disciple. Therefore, each teacher had only a single disciple, and eventually that disciple would become a teacher and also accept just one disciple. This was the norm until Liu Li Hang opened up some of the teachings to the wider public, as he was the only and last member of the Pure Yang Sect. His teacher was the Daoist renunciant, Wang Zhi Dao, who arrived in Wu Dang and found him. Wang Zhi Dao was a performer of high ritual ceremonies and magical spells. When Liu Li Han met Wang Zhi Dao, Wang Zhi Dao was living in Five Dragons Temple, which was one of the temples in Wu Dang. He and Liu Li Hang travelled around to different religious sites in Wu Dang and Wu Han and spent several years at various temples and monasteries. Shifting from one temple to another was partly due to the unstable times in China.
Subsequently, as a renunciant, Wang Zhi Dao could only pass on the religious aspect of the knowledge to someone who had also entered the religious path. Once he found that person in Liu Li Hang, Wang Zhi Dao transmitted the entirety of the Pure Yang teachings to him without exception, which included the martial forms such as bare hands fighting, swordsmanship, longevity and Gong Fu, as well as the Daoist ceremonies and internal alchemy. Liu Li Hang was the only known disciple of Wang Zhi Dao in China. Liu Li Hang was only able to study with Wang Zhi Dao until he was thirty-four years old, because his teacher left China in 1940. At this time, Wang Zhi Dao embarked on a journey to Tibet and Nepal, and also towards India and perhaps even Thailand or Laos, because China was in the turmoil of war at that time. It is not entirely clear where he disappeared to, but he was already quite advanced in age.
In the aftermath of this, Liu Li Hang divided Wang Zhi Dao’s Pure Yang teachings into the Daoist teachings and the martial arts teachings. After 1949, religious practices such as Daoism were prohibited by the Communist regime, which opposed any religious activity and severely punished anyone breaking this law. As Liu Li Hang was not allowed to practise Daoism during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), he was contented just to live a simple life. Liu Li Hang had no choice but to become an at-home practitioner and could only teach other at-home laymen practitioners, which was limited to the martial forms.
An adept must not pass on incantations, hand seals, and talismans to someone who is still living in society as an at-home practitioner and thus has not fulfilled the strict requirements of a renunciant. There is a statement in the Daoist sects concerning this rule:

道不乱穿。
The Dao is not to be bequeathed in a disorderly manner.

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Post-Scriptum:
This full article will appear in last part called Book III: Book of Humanity’ in Purple Cloud Press’ forthcoming publication of 《The 49 Barriers of Cultivating the Dao》 by Xing De/Li Shi Fu, a manual for refining one’s Inner Nature based on Liu Yi Ming’s 50 Barriers. Li Shi Fu is abbot of Five Immortals Temple (www.fiveimmortals.com).