Song of the Great Dao of the Spiritualized Source: Preliminary Study

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the Song of the Great Dao of the Spiritualized Source (Ling yuan da dao ge). This is a work on Daoist “inner alchemy”, which describes the process of transforming the spirit and the breath in poetic form. The author of Ling yuan da dao ge was the Daoist nun and poetess Cao Wen-yi (1039–1115). Cao Wen-yi is the only woman-philosopher who wrote a commentary on the Dao De jing, which has survived to this day in the Daoist Canon (Dao zang). Her talents were highly appreciated by Emperor Huizong, who granted her the title “Excellent in Literary Talent” (Wen-yi zhen-ren). The goal of the study is to highlight the most important ideological and theoretical components of the Song of the Great Dao of the Spiritualized Source. As a result of the study, the cultural and historical environment of this work was reconstructed, its earlier list written in prose was identified, the dating of the full version of Ling yuan da dao ge was clarified, and its content features were revealed. The main task of the Song of the Great Dao of the Spiritualized Source is to explain the principle of simultaneous improvement of inner nature and vitality (xing ming shuang xiu). This principle became the main vector of development of Daoist psychophysiological methods, starting from the Song era. Improving the inner nature, according to Cao Wen-yi, is achieved by detaching the heart from feelings and desires. This state is called “no heart” (wu xin) and is the “true heart of the Dao”. Improving vitality is achieved through breathing exercises, which should be based on the principles of suchness (zi ran) and non-action (wu wei).