The Fusion And Development Of Neidan Taoism Completed By Chen Zhixu

Chen Zhixu is a very important Taoist priest in Yuan dynasty,who played a key role in the combination between the northern faction and the southern faction in Quanzhen Taoism.Researches before this article mostly focused on works to the arrangement of Quanzhen Taoism’s ancestry made by Chen Zhixu.But there are only a few articles paying attention to the impetus of his thinking to this course of history.Therefore this article plans to study how Chen Zhixu fused and developed the Xing Ming’s philosophy of Neidan Taoism from three levels of guiding principles,theorical structures and practical systems.On the level of guiding principles,it’s hard to find an original guiding principle to support the whole Neidan system of Chen Zhixu.However,with the concept of Xiantianyiqi,guiding principles of its three predecessors are combinated as the foundation of Chen Zhixu’s Neidan system.Then,under the structure of Youwuzhidao,which is originally from the scripture of Tao and Teh,the southern faction’s Tongleixianggan principle is put into the phase of Jindanzhidao,and the northern faction’s Buluanzhenxing principle is put into the phase of Ziranzhidao.On the level of theorical structures,this article develops from three aspects of space-time stipulated system,guideline for Taosim practice and celestial being system.This part mainly concentrates on how relevant categories concretely and gradually progressed in the three predecessors and Chen’s own theory,and what characteristics are showed during this proceeding from these three aspects.Besides,this part also makes deep and elaborate researches on the fusion of elements of Chen’s theorical predecessors in the Neidan system of Chen’s own from the three aspects based on original documents.On the level of practical systems,it is discussed how Chen Zhixu fuses and surpasses Xing Ming’s philosophy in his theorical predecessors during the two practice phases of Jindanzhidao focusing on Xiuming and Ziranzhidao focusing on Xiuxing.Furthermore,Chen Zhixu advocates clearly that the practices of Confucianists’,Buddhism’s and Taoism’s theories can all be threaded through by the differentiating way between Jingdanzhidao and Ziranzhidao in his own Neidan practical system.To some meaning,Chen Zhixu accomplished a transcendence over the inclinations of fusion among Confucianists,Buddhism and Taoism in both southern and northern factions of Quanzhen Taoism.