Huang Ting Jing《黃庭經》

[ChiDragon]

For those who are interested in translating it by parts or as a whole.

Just do it at your own pace whichever chapter or phrase.

 

 

Original Huang Ting Jing《黃庭經》

Edited July 17, 2012 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

黃庭經講義(Explanation of Huang Ting Classic)

 

第一章 黃庭 (Chapter one - Huang Ting)

 

欲 讀《黃庭經》，必先知「黃庭」二字作何解說。「黃」乃土色，土位中央；「庭」乃階前空地。名為黃庭，即表中空之義。吾人一身，自臍以上為上半段，如植物之 幹，生機向上；自臍以下為下半段，如植物之根，生機向下。其生理之總機關，具足上下之原動力者，植物則在根幹分界處，人身則在臍。嬰兒處胎，鼻無呼吸，以 臍帶代行呼吸之功用。及出胎後，臍之功用立止，而鼻竅開矣！神仙口訣，重在胎息。「胎息」者何？息息歸根之謂。「根」者何？臍內空處是也。臍內空處，即 「黃庭」也。

 

Ref: One should know the meaning of Huang Ting first

 

[ChiDragon]

黃庭經講義(Explanation of Huang Ting Classic)

 

第一章 黃庭 (Chapter one - Huang Ting)

欲 讀《黃庭經》，必先知「黃庭」二字作何解說。

Those who want to read the Huang Ting Jing must known the meaning of "Huang Ting"

 

「黃」乃土色，土位中央；

"Huang" is the color of earth, the position of earth is in the center(by definition of the Yi Jing ).

 

「庭」乃階前空地。名為黃庭，即表中空之義。

"Ting" is an empty space in front of the steps. Thus Huang Ting means empty space in the center.

 

吾人一身，自臍以上為上半段，如植物之 幹，生機向上；

In the human body, above the navel was considered to be the upper half; it's analogous to the stem of a plant which grows upward.

 

自臍以下為下半段，如植物之根，生機向下。

Below the navel was considered to be the lower half; it's analogous to the root of a plant which grows downward.

 

其生理之總機關，具足上下之原動力者，植物則在根幹分界處，人身則在臍。

It is the central point in a biological system; it is efficient for the initial vital force to move in the upper and lower positions. It is the dividing point of a plant. In human, it is at the navel.

 

嬰兒處胎，鼻無呼吸，以 臍帶代行呼吸之功用。

A child was still in the womb(fetus), there was no breathing in the nose. The umbilical cord was used as substituted for the function of breathing.

 

及出胎後，臍之功用立止，而鼻竅開矣！神仙口訣，重在胎息。

After birth, the function of the umbilical cord ceased instantly; then the nose nostrils opened up.

 

「胎息」者何？息息歸根之謂。

"Umbilical breathing" is what...??? It was the root of continuous breathing.

 

「根」者何？臍內空處是也。

"Root" is what...??? It is the empty space in the navel area.

 

臍內空處，即 「黃庭」也。

Thus the empty space in the navel area is "Huang ting".

Edited July 18, 2012 by ChiDragon

[ChiDragon]

Work in progress.....

 

引證《黃庭經》本文 上有魂靈下關元，左為少陽右太陰；後有密戶前生門，出日入月呼吸存。〈內景經第二章〉 上有黃庭下關元，前有幽闕後命門。〈外景經第一章〉 黃庭真人衣朱衣，關門牡籥闔兩扉；幽闕俠之高巍巍，丹田之中精氣微。〈外景經第二章〉

 

解釋 (Explanation):

「魂 靈」即心神: The spirit of the heart(the mind).

 

「關元」在臍下三寸，左陽右陰，言其理耳: "Guan Yuan" is 3 inches(Sino unit) below the navel, left is Yang and right is Yin

 

若必求藏府經絡部位以實之，恐近於穿鑿： We must use the locations of the meridians to be accurate

 

「密戶」在身後腰部，「生門」即臍：

"Mi Hu", dense gate, is located in the lower bank, 「生門」(ming men), life gate, is the navel.

 

涵虛子云：「合上下前 後左右，暗藏一個中字」:

涵虛子 said: upper, lower, left and right, there was a character 中(Zhong) , within(center) ,

 

此「中」乃虛無竅也：

"Within" means hollow without any gaps.

 

外日月一往一來：

Externally, the Sun and the Moon, one comes and the other goes

 

內日月一顛一倒：

Internally, the Sun and the Moon, one goes up and the other comes down

 

綿綿呼吸，均在此虛無竅中：

Breathing softly, it was all done within this hollow space.

 

 

今按：呼為出，吸為入；出為闢，入為闔；闢為 陽，闔為陰；陽為日，陰為月，故曰：「出日入月呼吸存」。

Annotation： Exhale means exit, inhale means enter; exit implies opened, enter implies closed; open is Yang, Close is Yin; Yang is Sun, Yin is Moon, therefore, it was said to be "Exit the Sun enter the Moon, the breath exists."

 

黃 庭之下，即是關元：

Below Huang Ting, there is Quan Yuan(an acupoint )

 

關元之上，即是黃庭：

Above Quan Yuan, there is Huang Ting

 

故曰：「上有黃庭下關元」：

Then it was said to be that "Huang Ting is above and Quang Yuan is below.

 

〈內景經〉云：「上有魂靈下關元」，則謂黃庭之上有心神，黃庭之下有關元耳。辭雖異， 而義同:

The Nei Jing says: There is the spiritual soul is on top and the Quang Yuan is below; then it was said on top of Huang Ting is "the spirit of the heart." The "spirit of the heart", 心神(xin shen), is a classic terminology for the "mind"

 

「幽闕」即生門：

「幽闕」 is the "life gate(ming men)."

 

「生門」即臍：

"Ming men" is the navel. It was called the "life gate" is because that is where the food and oxygen were fed through by the umbilical cord in the mother womb.

 

針灸家名為「神闕」，又名「氣舍」：

The acupuncturist call it 神闕」and also "Chi She"

「命門」即密戶，在背脊骨第十四椎下，即第二腰椎骨之部：

Ming men was also know as Mi Hu (密戶). It is located at the L2 of the lumbar in the spinal cord.

 

The paragraph below was not translated due to its obscurity.

修 煉家以心神注守黃庭，名曰「黃庭真人」。心色本赤，故曰「衣朱衣」。神入氣中，氣包神外，如牝牡之相銜，故曰「牡籥」。「闔兩扉」者，喻陰陽相紐。「高巍 巍」者，即《參同契》所云：「先天地生，巍巍尊高」之意。「丹田」者，乃結丹之所，如播種子於田中，自然生苗結實，成熟可期，故名曰「田」。「精氣微」之 微字，最宜領會，必如易教之潔淨精微，老氏之微妙玄通，方盡其用。蓋丹道雖不外乎積精累氣而成，然徒知執著精氣之麤跡，將何以臻神化哉？ 附注：後世丹書所言黃庭之部位，與本經微有不同。

[joeblast]

黃庭經講義(Explanation of Huang Ting Classic)

第一章 黃庭 (Chapter one - Huang Ting)

欲 讀《黃庭經》，必先知「黃庭」二字作何解說。

Those who want to read the Huang Ting Jing must known the meaning of "Huang Ting"

「黃」乃土色，土位中央；

"Huang" is the color of earth, the position of earth is in the center(by definition of the Yi Jing ).

「庭」乃階前空地。名為黃庭，即表中空之義。

"Ting" is an empty space in front of the steps. Thus Huang Ting means empty space in the center.

吾人一身，自臍以上為上半段，如植物之 幹，生機向上；

In the human body, above the navel was considered to be the upper half; it's analogous to the stem of a plant which grows upward.

自臍以下為下半段，如植物之根，生機向下。

Below the navel was considered to be the lower half; it's analogous to the root of a plant which grows downward.

其生理之總機關，具足上下之原動力者，植物則在根幹分界處，人身則在臍。

It is the central point in a biological system; it is efficient for the initial vital force to move in the upper and lower positions. It is the dividing point of a plant. In human, it is at the navel.

嬰兒處胎，鼻無呼吸，以 臍帶代行呼吸之功用。

A child was still in the womb(fetus), there was no breathing in the nose. The umbilical cord was used as substituted for the function of breathing.

及出胎後，臍之功用立止，而鼻竅開矣！神仙口訣，重在胎息。

After birth, the function of the umbilical cord ceased instantly; then the nose nostrils opened up.

「胎息」者何？息息歸根之謂。

"Umbilical breathing" is what...??? It was the root of continuous breathing.

「根」者何？臍內空處是也。

"Root" is what...??? It is the empty space in the navel area.

臍內空處，即 「黃庭」也。

Thus the empty space in the navel area is "Huang ting".

I would like to offer a clarification of what I bolded there;

In the womb, there is breathing through the nose - the fetus breathes amniotic fluid in and out, and the fluid actually plays an important role in the formation of the lungs. Being that the primary nutritive mechanism is via the umbilical cord, that appears to be where this translation relates the concept; the deep belly breathing of the fetus helps facilitate the blood flow in and out via the umbilical cord - but the mechanisms are intertwined deeply from an early time in the womb - to such an extent that once the amniotic fluid is expelled upon birth, the mechanism for breathing is already there. (But of course they didnt have ultrasound devices that showed the full extent of fetal breath back in the day.) On the other hand they did know that the difference in pressures inside the womb and outside provided for the working/non working of the umbilical mechanism - the womb is a 'pressure chamber' of sorts. Deep into embryonic breathing practice, there is a similar sort of sensation, feeling the qi expand beyond the body, enveloping the body, almost as if there was still the womb and accompanying umbilical mechanism. Try rewinding the tape and go back there and reestablish the embryonic umbilical mechanism as part of embryonic breathing, gently

[ChiDragon]

It sounds very specious.

[joeblast]

do you know what that word means, or are you being obstinate again?

[Brian]

The latter, it would appear.

[ChiDragon]

......... or are you being obstinate again?

 

Are you any different from that....???

[joeblast]

Cripes, I'm not arguing about stupid shit with you, CD. I posted some factual information, and you have the nerve to ignorantly and baselessly call it specious? So once again I'm forced to conclude you are either severely lacking in your knowledge and usage of English, or you have a problem with anyone but yourself coming up with relevant explanations for things. You dont trust Yang Jwing Ming's translations of embryonic breathing documents, thumb your nose at others who clearly understand things more deeply than yourself, like the multitude of times taomeow has brought you to school on 5 elements and other subjects, or when I have corrected your mistaken assertions on simple breath mechanics. I offered the information up to help you and others with very relevant physical happenings, and for some reason you've got a problem with that. Yes, I'd call that obstinate, and you cant even relate why you feel that I am being obstinate - I feel like I'm watching pee wee herman go I know you are but what am I? That got old when I was in second grade. So instead of some sort of thank you, or even just an acknowledgement, I get insolence. People like you are the reason people like me stop coming here.

[ChiDragon]

What bothers me the most is that I was forced into too personal in the arguments. I don't see any impartial justice. It is really meaningless when personal involvements were used as part of any technical reasoning.

[joeblast]

Forced nothing, you entered a reply willingly, just as I am willingly responding. I am not sitting behind you poking you with a stick until you get angry - and even if I were, your response would still be your own responsibility. You regularly talk beyond your depth of knowledge and experience - it is nothing personal, it is just a simple observation and I gave examples. If you'd like threads to bear fruitful discussion, then you have to accept that others have valid input instead of demeaning others' information then dancing around oversimplified definitional questions once you've backed yourself into a corner - and then oh, why are you forcing me to be personal? Gah. Good day, CD.

[ChiDragon]

Good day, joeblast.

[chewingofthecud]

Does anyone know where I can find an English translation of the Huang Ting Jing? Preferably online and free, but any suggestions would be appreciated. I've seen 2 translations available in book form ("Jade Writing" and "Gold Pavilion") but I'm not sure how good they are.

[soaring crane]

Here's another thread, with the same participants but more information

 

http://thetaobums.com/topic/24191-huang-ting-wei-ching/

 

I have the Michael Saso book, it was one of the first classics I ever read, found it very illuminating but couldn't quite put the whole of the instructions into practice. But it's a very good book by a high quality ecpert.

 

You could enjoy Embryonic Breathing from Yang Jwing Ming too

[chewingofthecud]

Thank you! Any info is much appreciated.