Glossary of Chinese Terms

The English translations present my preferred translation first, followed by alternatives.

Pinyin Chinese English Definition

Bagua 八卦 Bagua The eight primary trigrams from the Book of Changes. See gua. dan 丹 dan, elixir, The substance responsible for the cinnabar, drug transformation of a human being into an immortal. dantian 丹田 dantian, Cinnabar Often presented simply as field 田, Field, Elixir Field this is the Lower Dantian, one of the Three Elixir Fields. It is an energetic center located in the abdomen, roughly three inches below the naval and three inches inside the body. However, locations change according to the internal alchemy teaching. Dao 道 Dao or Way Ultimate reality in Daoism. dizhi 地支 , Ten components that are combined Terrestrial with the Heavenly Stems to make Branches the sixty-year cycle in the Chinese . They are used in internal alchemy to manage times and means of practice. See tiangan. dong 洞 dong, grotto, Heavenly abodes. Xiao uses it to cavern mean the scaffolding of the body within which a person forms with a shen. Dumai 督脈 Governing Vessel The vessel beginning in the coccyx that lays along the spine, around the head, and ends at the upper lip. See mai. 210 Glossary of Chinese Terms

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Pinyin Chinese English Definition fangshi 方士 master of the Commonly referred to as magicians methods in the West, these masters are consulted for various reasons, usually having to do with finding auscpicious dates for ritual events. In the Han, they were the first to develop pharmacopia for the pursuit of longevity and immortality. gua, 卦，卦象 Trigram or Graphics from the Book of Changes guaxiang hexagram composed of sets of solid and broken lines—numbering three in the case of trigrams or six in the case of hexagrams. These images are used to non-verbally express the subtle transitions and exchanges between the two primary forces of the universe, . See yin and yang. guan 官 sense or official An aspect of the bureaucratic body associated with the senses, which are often trying to leave the body in search of stimuli. houtian 後天 After Heaven The state of the forces of the universe after they are manifested in the mundane world. Once in this state, the forces continuously drift from Dao. hun 魂 hun Part of the compound, hunpo, associated with Heaven and yang. Three hun reside in the body. huohou 火候 firing times Moments in the rhythm of internal alchemy when the practitioner either increases the intensity of the process (martial fire wuhuo 武火, also called yang fire 陽火) or decreases the intensity civil fire (wenhuo 文火).