Xing性 and Ming命, Essence and Life, in the DDJ

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Finally in front of my own computer and able to add some more here.

 

Yes, chapter 10. I've always thought it might be the most overt about energy cultivation practices, after having translated it.

 

I'm not sure that they are directly related, but it's interesting that both Po and De, possibly associated to Xing, are both mentioned in Chapter 10 which more or less explains to gather in one's chi and think beyond thoughts. Detached from thoughts and rewards, one arrives at De.

 

This is generally fundamental to Ming and Xing cultivation.

 

I would venture to say that Chapter 10 is one of the earliest teachings of Xing cultivation.

 

Here is my translation of DDJ10:

 

 

Chapter 10

 

01 載營魄抱一,

zāi yǐng bō bào yī,

Supporting your fortress of po-soul, embrace it within

 

02 能無離乎?!

Can you do this without letting it flee like a bird from a beast?

 

03 專氣致柔,

Concentrate, as though spinning thread, and chi will arrive softly

 

04 能嬰兒乎?!

Can you be like a newbord child?

 

05 滌除玄覽,

Wash, and eliminate, your profound introspections

 

06 能無疵乎?!

Can you be without this disease?

 

07 愛民治國,

Loving the less fortunate, govern the nation

 

08 能無知乎?!

Can you do this without academic knowledge?

 

09 天門開闔,

Heaven’s gate opens and closes

 

 

10 能為雌乎?!

Can your actions be soft?

 

 

11 明白四達,

Clearly understanding how all sides have come together

 

 

12 能無知乎?!

Can you do this without academic knowledge?

 

 

13 生之，畜之,

Create it, nurture it,

 

 

14 生而不有,

Creating yet not holding on to it

 

15 為而不恃,

Doing without the assumption of a particular outcome

 

 

16 長而不宰,

Being great without expecting others to recognize and cater to your status

 

 

17 是謂玄德。

This is called De 德

[Riyue]

empty

Edited January 10, 2013 by Riyue

[dawei]

 

Chapter 10

 

01 載營魄抱一,

zāi yǐng bō bào yī,

Supporting your fortress of po-soul, embrace it within

 

 

In Yang, Jwing-Ming's book, Qigong Meditation - Embryonic Breathing, he translates and comments on the "Songs of Embracing Singularity in Embryonic Breathing" in about 17 pages.

 

This is the practice of 抱一 (bào yī).

Edited January 9, 2013 by dawei

[Harmonious Emptiness]

I see several similar pointers in Chapter 10 to what seems to be the inner dissolving method taught by Bruce Frantzis at the end of this interview (from recent thread).

 

Seems it could be read word for word with deeper meanings towards this meditation, which he says traces a long lineage directly back to Lao Tzu.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Also comparing chapter 10, consider this from the Ming dynasty "Anthology on the Cultivation of Realization" (in Cleary's Taiost Meditation, I won't put in the rest of the paragraph due to copyright restrictions).

 

"Essence/Xing is the reality of the infinite. Life/Ming is the vitality of yin and yang.... Essence/Xing is in the mind. To the extent the mind is cleared, to that extent is [the reality of the infinite]essence/xing visible."

[Ormus]

Dear all,

 

does someone of you in reality practice Ming Gong in your Nei Dan tradition and can speak about it?

 

All the best,

 

Ormus

[Taoist Texts]

Neidan writings, with their often obscure and technical language, are

not an easy read! And yet it can be quite rewarding when we enter this world

of discourse, find our bearings, and begin to grasp the religious teachings

of these writings. Practitioners may appreciate neidan writings’ instructions

on training the body, mind, and spirits, while students of comparative

religion may appreciate neidan’s special perspectives on self-perfection and

cosmic apotheosis. We may even find that the abstract language of li and kan,

mercury and lead, dragon and tiger, xing and ming, or wuwei and youzuo 有作 is

not simply a medium for transmitting a religious message, but rather that

this flow of language is a religious practice

 

https://www.academia.edu/1674520/The_Statistical_Study_of_Neidan_Literature

[opendao]

 

Neidan writings, with their often obscure and technical language, are

not an easy read! And yet it can be quite rewarding when we enter this world

of discourse, find our bearings, and begin to grasp the religious teachings

of these writings. Practitioners may appreciate neidan writings’ instructions

on training the body, mind, and spirits, while students of comparative

religion may appreciate neidan’s special perspectives on self-perfection and

cosmic apotheosis. We may even find that the abstract language of li and kan,

mercury and lead, dragon and tiger, xing and ming, or wuwei and youzuo 有作 is

not simply a medium for transmitting a religious message, but rather that

this flow of language is a religious practice

 

https://www.academia.edu/1674520/The_Statistical_Study_of_Neidan_Literature

 

 

but rather thatthis flow of language is a religious practice in and of itself, a sort oftextual participation in cosmic creation and transformation (zaohua 造化).

 

probably this guy doesn't know that reciting (and even reading) texts were criticized by many neidan masters as an activity that has no any practical sense... Statistical analysis has its meaning, but as any other textual analysis it has sense only when the researcher has an ability to explain the results. And it can be possible ONLY if this person is initiated into tradition he is trying to explore.

[Taoist Texts]

 

 

probably this guy doesn't know 

 

 

hmmm, whom to believe? In one corner I give you

 

 

 

 William Clarke Hudson II

Education

 

Indiana University, Bloomington, 1998–2007

Doctor of Philosophy in Religious Studies, Dec. 15, 2007

• Ph.D. minor in Chinese

• Dissertation: “Spreading the Dao, Managing Mastership, and Performing Salvation: The Life and Alchemical Teachings of Chen Zhixu”

   Committee: Robert Campany (advisor), Stephen Bokenkamp, John McRae, Lynn Struve

• Examination Fields: Comparative Religion (Alchemy), Daoism, Chinese Buddhism

 

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China, 1997–98

Non-degree graduate study

• Studied the history of Daoism with the scholars of the Daoism section of the Institute of World Religions 中國社會科學院世界宗教研究所道教研究室

 

Stanford University, 1996

Master of Arts in Religious Studies

• Studied East Asian Buddhism and Comparative Religious Ethics

    Advisor: Carl Bielefeldt

 

University of Chicago, 1993–94

Graduate-Student-at-Large (non-degree graduate study)

• Studied Mandarin Chinese

 

University of Chicago, 1993

Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, General Honors

 

 

Teaching Experience

 

University of Virginia

Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, 2007–

Carleton College

Visiting Instructor, Department of Religion, 2006–7

Indiana University, Bloomington

Visiting Lecturer, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, 2005–6

Instructor (lecturer), Department of Religious Studies, summers of 2002, 2003, 2005

Associate Instructor (teaching assistant), Department of Religious Studies, 2000–2002

Peking University 北京大學, Beijing, China

Foreign Expert 外專, Department of English, 1996–97

 

Other Positions Held

 

Indiana University, Bloomington

Assistant Editor, Journal of Chinese Religions, East Asian Studies Center, 2002–2005

Subscriptions Manager, Journal of Chinese Religions and Buddhist Literature, 1999–2002

 

Awards

 

Graduate Student Travel Grant, East Asian Studies Center, Indiana University, 2005 ($300)

Graduate Student Travel Grant, East Asian Studies Center, Indiana University, 2004 ($300)

Greenburg Albee Fellowship, College of Arts and Sciences, Indiana University, 2003-2004 ($15,000, supporting research in the humanities in the areas of interfaith understanding and comparative religion)

Indiana University Graduate School Summer Pre-Dissertation Travel Grant, 2002 ($3500, for travel to Institute of Daoism and Religious Culture, Sichuan University, China)

Associate Instructor, Department of Religious Studies, 2000-2002 ($10,000 per annum)

Foreign Language and Area Study (FLAS) Fellowship, East Asian Studies Center, 1999-2000 ($10,000)

B. Sullivan Fellowship, Department of Religious Studies, 1998-1999 ($12,000)

 

Publications

 

“Reciting Scriptures to Move the Spirits.” In Early Medieval China: A Sourcebook. Columbia University Press (?) (forthcoming in 2008 or 2009).

Xiao Wei 萧为. “Xiandai dongxifang zongjiao de xing nengliang kexue: Yi 1930 niandai Shanghai yu Weiyena wei li” 现代东西方宗教的性能量科学——以1930年代上海与维也纳为例 (The science of sexual energy in modern religion, East and West, with 1930s Shanghai and Vienna as examples). Tianwen (dinghai juan) 天问（丁亥卷）(2008).

“Daoism.” In Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender, Fedwa Malti-Douglas, ed. in chief. New York: Macmillan: 2007. 2000 words.

Review of The Daoist Monastic Manual by Livia Kohn. Religion 37 (2007): 246–48.

English translation of preface and table of contents. In Zhongguo Daojiao kaogu 中国道教考古 (Archaeology of Daoism in China), by Zhang Xunliao 张勋燎 and Bai Bin 白彬. 3 vols. Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2006.

“Buddhist Meditation: East Asian Buddhist Meditation.” In Encyclopedia of Religion, Lindsay Jones, ed. in chief, 2:1290–5. 2nd ed. New York: Macmillan, 2005. 4300 words.

Book note on Hualin 華林, vols. 1-2. Journal of Chinese Religions 30 (2002): 212–14.

Book note on Daojiao shenxian xinyang yanjiu 道教神仙信仰研究, edited by Sichuan daxue zongjiao yanjiu suo 四川大學宗教研究所. Journal of Chinese Religions 30 (2002): 211.

Review of Buddhism in America by Richard Hughes Seager, and Luminous Passage: The Practice and Study of Buddhism in America by Charles S. Prebish. Buddhist-Christian Studies 22 (2002): 217–21.

 

Conference Papers

 

“The Tropes of Master and Lineage in Song-Dynasty Alchemical Literature.” In the panel “When the Best Argument is an Ancestor: Authority through Transmission and Lineage in East Asian Religions,” Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting, Chicago, Mar., 2009.

“Moral Transformation in Medieval Daoist Ritual, and the Transformations of Tradition.” In the panel “Practices of Transformation in Daoist Ritual,” co-sponsored by Daoist Studies Group and Chinese Religions Group, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Chicago, Nov. 1, 2008.

“Medieval ‘Daoist’ Polemics and the Production of Difference and Unity.” In the panel “China’s ‘Isms’: Studies in the Production of Difference and Unity,” for the Critical Theory and Discourses on Religion Group, and the Cultural History of the Study of Religion Consultation, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego, Nov. 19, 2007.

“The Science of Sexual Energy in Modern Chinese Qigong/Religion.” In the panel “Science and Chinese Traditions,” History of Religions panel for 2007 Midwest American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting (MAAR), River Forest, Illinois, March 31, 2007.

“The Ancestors, Births, and Lives of Yao Daoist Manuscripts.” In the panel “Daoist Images of the Gods” for the Chinese Religions Group, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., November 20, 2006.

“The Friends and Enemies of a Sexual Alchemist.” 2006 Indiana University Religious Studies Interdisciplinary Graduate Symposium, “Embodying Volatile Borderlands: Religion, Gender and Sex(uality),” Bloomington, Indiana, March 2, 2006.

“The Inner Alchemist as Chan Master.” Fourteenth Annual Graduate Student Conference on East Asia, Columbia University, New York, February 5, 2005.

“Myth in Neidan Discourse, with a Focus on the Jindan dayao.” International Conference on Daoism, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, June 2004.

“Variations of the Deified Laozi in Medieval Daoism.” Midwest American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting (MAAR), Chicago, March 2004.

“The Charts of the True Forms of the Five Marchmounts 五嶽真形圖: What Are They and What Are They For?” Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs (MCAA), Bloomington, Indiana, October 2000.

 

 

Invited Talks

 

“Why Do People Repeat Familiar Religious Messages? A Case Study on the Performance of Myth in Chinese Religion.” University of Virginia, Department of Religious Studies, SIP Program (Scripture, Interpretation and Practice), April 14, 2009.

“宗教學，社會思想，與道教歷史研究” (Religious Studies, Social Thought, and the Historical Study of Daoism). At the Institute of Daoism and Religious Culture, Sichuan University (四川大學道教與宗教文化研究所), June 3, 2008.

 

Professional Memberships

 

American Academy of Religion

Association for Asian Studies

Society for the Study of Chinese Religions

 

Languages

 

Speaking: Mandarin Chinese, Japanese

Reading: Mandarin Chinese, Classical Chinese, French, Japanese, German

 

 

versus

 

 

an 'initiate' and  Chinese-illiterate seminar seller, with very, very secret qualifications.

 

 

 

Its a battle of giants people! who will win who will lose? make your bets.

 

no, seriously, whom to believe?

[Marblehead]

Hehehe.  You can guess where my money is.

 

I am always suspicious of someone who says they are going to tell me a secret.

[Stosh]

If either of them are going to garner my accord , they need to make the best argument, not the longest resume. 

If two guys with long resumes have ever debated, one of those long resumes lost.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Stosh

[Daeluin]

From what I understand, one can talk about this stuff, but that doesn't help one do it. And one can tell someone what to do in order to feel the changes, but that doesn't mean they're going to feel something. So in some sense, yes, we really need to have proper instruction, especially to make progress all the way.

 

On the other hand, in my experience, I feel that many types of qi-gong and standing meditations can initiate the flowing of ming, and once the ming is flowing it will begin to transform as it moves. One needs to dissolve one's body and mind, dissolve the passageways of the vessels of obstructions and the heart-mind of ego, and increasingly the energy will flow more smoothly.

 

One needs to practice every day, so as to adapt to the daily changes of the ming in one's environment - if one is exposing themselves to the energy around them without adapting to its flow, then when they come to practice a few days later, they will have that much more work in adapting what they have accumulated from the environment to what is being worked upon internally.

 

One should study the neidan transformations, but not try to make them happen. A taiji form that has good stances, augmented with different types of qi-gong, still and moving, practiced sincerely, will allow the energy to expand from the lower dan-tien to the extremities and return. In time a fullness of energy will develop, and as one expands the energy to the extremities and works on returning it to the center, the transformations of neidan will subtly begin to unfold naturally. This takes years of daily practice, and one of the main transformations is the alignment of one's habit momentum with acceptance of gradual progress. The more sincere and empty one can be, rooted to heaven and earth and working from one's center, the more effortless the transformations will become, over time.

 

As what is felt is often not what is true, but, rather the noise made at the edge of what is true as it turns into a new layer, it might be difficult for one to progress by following their senses - one should learn to aim for what is clear and insubstantial, aim not to focus one the details, but the whole, in order to understand how to return back to the formless - then as balanced motion unfolds within wholeness, the formless naturally transforms the form. Thus again, a master is helpful to show one when one is attaching to sensations instead of surrendering to the whole - show one how to cultivate one's self so as to allow the neidan transformations to naturally unfold.

 

Can progress be made alone? Sure, especially if one has natural karmic alignment with the celestial mechanisms. But all too often, those who want to force their way alone are imbalanced in some way that is related to their stubbornness, and will have trouble dissolving the blockage caused by attachment to that stubbornness on their own. Such attachments, if one is making advanced progress, can result in damages, so caution is advised.

 

If this sort of path is "right" for one, it is very likely that they will happen upon a teacher, even without looking. There are many teachers, with very different ways of teachings - happening upon a teacher through natural resonance within the way is the best way to locate the teachings best suited to one's unique circumstance of imbalance. If this sort of path is "not right" for one, it is very likely there is a recurring theme present in their life that they are ignoring, and might find great satisfaction by resting upon, accepting, and dissolving whatever is related to this theme.

Edited May 5, 2015 by Daeluin

[lifeforce]

From what I understand, one can talk about this stuff, but that doesn't help one do it. And one can tell someone what to do in order to feel the changes, but that doesn't mean they're going to feel something. So in some sense, yes, we really need to have proper instruction, especially to make progress all the way.

 

On the other hand, in my experience, I feel that many types of qi-gong and standing meditations can initiate the flowing of ming, and once the ming is flowing it will begin to transform as it moves. One needs to dissolve one's body and mind, dissolve the passageways of the vessels of obstructions and the heart-mind of ego, and increasingly the energy will flow more smoothly.

 

One needs to practice every day, so as to adapt to the daily changes of the ming in one's environment - if one is exposing themselves to the energy around them without adapting to its flow, then when they come to practice a few days later, they will have that much more work in adapting what they have accumulated from the environment to what is being worked upon internally.

 

One should study the neidan transformations, but not try to make them happen. A taiji form that has good stances, augmented with different types of qi-gong, still and moving, practiced sincerely, will allow the energy to expand from the lower dan-tien to the extremities and return. In time a fullness of energy will develop, and as one expands the energy to the extremities and works on returning it to the center, the transformations of neidan will subtly begin to unfold naturally. This takes years of daily practice, and one of the main transformations is the alignment of one's habit momentum with acceptance of gradual progress. The more sincere and empty one can be, rooted to heaven and earth and working from one's center, the more effortless the transformations will become, over time.

 

As what is felt is often not what is true, but, rather the noise made at the edge of what is true as it turns into a new layer, it might be difficult for one to progress by following their senses - one should learn to aim for what is clear and insubstantial, aim not to focus one the details, but the whole, in order to understand how to return back to the formless - then as balanced motion unfolds within wholeness, the formless naturally transforms the form. Thus again, a master is helpful to show one when one is attaching to sensations instead of surrendering to the whole - show one how to cultivate one's self so as to allow the neidan transformations to naturally unfold.

 

Can progress be made alone? Sure, especially if one has natural karmic alignment with the celestial mechanisms. But all too often, those who want to force their way alone are imbalanced in some way that is related to their stubbornness, and will have trouble dissolving the blockage caused by attachment to that stubbornness on their own. Such attachments, if one is making advanced progress, can result in damages, so caution is advised.

 

If this sort of path is "right" for one, it is very likely that they will happen upon a teacher, even without looking. There are many teachers, with very different ways of teachings - happening upon a teacher through natural resonance within the way is the best way to locate the teachings best suited to one's unique circumstance of imbalance. If this sort of path is "not right" for one, it is very likely there is a recurring theme present in their life that they are ignoring, and might find great satisfaction by resting upon, accepting, and dissolving whatever is related to this theme.

 

I like this post very much. It speaks to me in words I can understand and is not littered with biases and a fixed, immovable stance.

If I may add something of my own to it :

If you want to understand, and practice true neidan, it's all there in the Yijing. Let the Yi be your one and only teacher.

[JinlianPai]

 

Dao begins in Qing

Qing arises from Xing

Xing issues from Ming

Ming descends from Heaven

 

I could not have said it better myself if I could like your post more than once I would.

 

Thank you for being a taobum who has a teacher listens to him and based off that you research taoist texts to learn more.

 

Very Good.

[munky]

.

Edited August 23, 2023 by munky

[Ormus]

Dear all,

 

initiation in lineage and reciving transsmision of particular text is KEY.There is nothing from reading or reciting if you dont have oral instructions and explanation of the text,not to mention energetic connection with Past Masters from initiatic chain of the school which is egregore.

 

All the best,

 

Ormus

[Marblehead]

Oh, no!  Then all my efforts have been in vain?

[lifeforce]

Dear all,

 

initiation in lineage and reciving transsmision of particular text is KEY.There is nothing from reading or reciting if you dont have oral instructions and explanation of the text,not to mention energetic connection with Past Masters from initiatic chain of the school which is egregore.

 

All the best,

 

Ormus

That's the realm of top-down authoritarian control mechanisms like religious hierarchies. The Dao is beyond any mediatory figures and requires nothing but an open, flexible mind.

[munky]

.

Edited August 23, 2023 by munky

[Taoist Texts]

Dear all,

 

initiation in lineage and reciving transsmision of particular text is KEY.There is nothing from reading or reciting if you dont have oral instructions and explanation of the text,not to mention energetic connection with Past Masters from initiatic chain of the school which is egregore.

 

All the best,

 

Ormus

 

That must be correct in the true secret school that you are the student of.

 

But there was an old monk in whose school it was different. His name is Liu Huayang, he is one of the founders of the Wulupai school and he tells this story below:

 

 

 

 

SIX QUESTIONS FROM CULTIVATED TALENT LI SIBAI, WITH THE GIVEN NAME OF YUDAO AND THE NICKNAME OF QIONGYU, FROM JIEYI

 

For the first question, he asked, "Previously, I, your disciple, did not trust in Buddhism at all. I heard the words of Zhuxi that called Buddhism empty talk. Because of this I rejected it and did not grasp it.

 

 

Previously, a friend, Meng Di, had presented me a book by you, master.

 

At first I did not want to see it. Later, I forced myself to look at it, and then realized that it had genuine effectiveness.

 

With a trusting heart and without suspicion, I practised and maintained it for half a month, and fortunately I obtained the gleaming arrival of the True Seed.

 

Inside my body, I became aware of the eight meridians evenly opening up. One evening, the illness I formerly had was cured. Now I have attained Sarira. I am truly fortunate. 

 

(Huimingjing by Liu Huayang. Transl. J. Nicholson)

 

 

See? A guy got a book by chance without any kind of initiation, oral instructions or kabuki theater. He did not even want to look at it at first. Then he decided to read it and by practicing what he read, he obtained the first highest accomplishment in neidan, the Sarira. Then he comes to see the author of this book for the first time in his life, thanks him for it, the author fully believes him and retells his story for us.

 

Again,  no teacher, no oral explanation, no energetic connection with Past Masters ,no initiatic chain  and no egregore.

 

 

Just reading and practicing 'With a trusting heart and without suspicion". Simple is not it?

[Ormus]

Dear Taoist text,

 

I dont belong to any secret school of Nei Dan or Daoism.I still look for Master and Pai.

 

I hope you know that there are people of Higher Virtue which can realise Jindan in single moment which is direct realisation and is Xing work and Wu Wei.

 

Many of us ordinary people must go gradual work stage by stage in classic Nei Dan which include Ming and Xing and is You Wei and we can say Lesser Virtue.As this is complicated for this we need Master and it is so clear and all real sources say this.

 

All the best,

 

Ormus

[Geof Nanto]

For me Daoist cultivation, as natural process, is something that happens to us of itself if we allow it. Sure, there's effort involved in removing physical, emotional and mental blockages, for which teachings and practice are extremely helpful, if not essential. But aside from this, growth cannot be forced or taught any more than we can teach a plant to grow. 

 

Each of us has our own way of unfolding as individuals, and that must be found individually; for me, it's meant much trial and error. I've found the solitude and powerful 'silence' of immersion in nature to be essential. I like the saying that "Life is the best practise, and nature is the best teacher." To which I'd add "If you're not making mistakes, you're not learning."

[munky]

Note that one of the principal versions is called the "Heshang Gong Version," with a preface by Ge Xuan, Ge Hong's uncle. 

 

Well that's nice to know. Sounds like a good choice out of the 3 principle versions.

[munky]

.

Edited August 23, 2023 by munky

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

If we want to look at how laozi discussed xing and ming, I think the best thing to do is first try to understand exactly what xing and ming mean in alchemical texts.   We can see early on the Zhong Lv Daoism didn't make much use of the terms, preferring to use cocnepts like kan and li and dragon and tiger to discuss the same ideas.

uf we look at xing and ming as a concept, it really took off after Quanzhen Daoism had already existed for several generations.

The concept of xing ming which is defined as xing being essence and ming being life is not as clear as the concept that xing is representative of the real mind, while ming is the result of the use of the real mind to cultivate elixir.

although the mind is held in non action, the end result is that non action gives birth to "zhen yi," or real mind.  This is the point at which action without action occurs.   This is also how xing and ming interact.   The use of the word of xing as "nature" in this case refers to the genuine concsiousness of the person being there, rather than their thoughts.   Ming is something that we use the real mind to develop.

Lv Dongbin referred to these things in many different ways, but especially as fire and water.  Xing being fire and ming being water.  If we view the term ming men in its Chinese medicine reading, we can also see that it is representative of the kidneys, again which is a water element.  fire is representative of the heart, which is the centre of emotions in Chinese cosmology.

the marriage of kan and li is how xing and ming develop from each other.   What we are forgetting to add here is "lu ding," or the furnace stove, which refers to the dantian (in general, not only the LDT).

the marriage of mind and emptiness, fire and water, xing and ming, dragon and tiger (yuan jing and yuan shen) are all part of the same concept.  

The key that holds these concepts together is wu wei.   huang yuanji said "the practicioner must start from the extreme of quiet respectfulness and cultivate a reality without beauty or good.  This seems to be the root of xiulian ( refining and smelting)."  This is also the root of the concept of xing ming.

 

Laozi didn't talk about this stuff because laozi wasn't a Daoist in the Quanzhen scheme of things.

It is useful to consider that each epoch of Chinese history came complete with a social and world view that was quite different.

Even just a flip through zhu Xi's commentary will show you how different his ideas were from Wang bi, even though they are only a few hundred years apart.  What laozi set as the foundation (or zhou yi or whatever) has gradually become what it is today.  An ongoing tresure which is discovered again and again by each generation.  cibei cibei!!!!