| Abstract |
Deng Qi, whose Taoist name was Yu Binzi, was a disciple of Bai Yuchan, a disciple of the Southern School of Taoism. He later joined the Quanzhen School and authored “Three Interpretations of Daodejing”. He was an important figure in the Yuan Dynasty who brought together the Northern and Southern Schools of Taoism. The term “Taoist nature” in the “Annotations of He Shang Gong” began to attract the attention of Taoists in the Southern Dynasties, Sui, and Tang Dynasties. They constructed the concept of “Taoist nature” to counterbalance “Buddha-nature.” Based on this, the Taoist Neidan School, with the study of “nature and life” as its core, developed magnificently, reaching its peak in the Yuan Dynasty. When Yuan Dynasty Daoist Neidan (internal alchemy) practitioners interpreted the “Laozi”, they devoted themselves to reconstructing its theoretical framework, endowing it with new depth and meaning. This article intends to elaborate on the “Three Interpretations of Daodejing” from three aspects: First, “The Pivotal of Meaning: Interpreting Laozi’s Dao through the lens of ‘TrueConstant,’” the construction of the theory of “True Constant” transforms Laozi’s Dao into the Dao of Alchemy; second, “Theoretical Construction: Nature, Destiny, and Mind,” the foundation of “cultivating both nature and destiny” lies in the “mind,” establishing a view of “nature and destiny” that unites “mind” and “Dao”; finally, “Cultivation Methods: Essence, Qi, and Spirit,” combining the Northern School's “nature first, destiny second” and the Southern School's “destiny first, nature second,” forming a “nature-destiny-nature” cultivation path. The findings of this study may provide some substantial assistance to researchers in the fields of Yuan Dynasty Laozi studies and the history of Daoist development. |
