There are four kinds of human beings: the true, the supreme, the divine, and the sacred.

A true person transcends the three realms and can represent eternity and watch the rise and fall of the universe. The offspring will be called fairies.

For heaven and earth people, beyond the limit of life, they can live a long life, and later they are called immortals.

The gods are all wonderful in human form. Although they may not be saved from premature death, they will live for thousands of years. The offspring will be called immortal.

Saints have spiritual support and support for all forms of life and can make life possible. Later generations will call him a human immortal.

There is another special one, cultivating the Yuan God and dying, but Tianxiu, the compound is the body, there is a fairy domain, there is no immortal body, and it is later called a ghost immortal.

After the Spring and Autumn Period, the road of immortals arose, human beings declined, some people were lost, some people hid among people, and scattered into the hands of immortal families. The two were fused together, and a series of Taoist laws were derived from this, such as the Sword Immortal Method, the Yin Immortal Method, and the Spirit Refining Method.

During this period, practice was still based on physical immortality and formal and spiritual perfection.

There is very little information in this section. Xiaozhai cites only circumstantial evidence and speculation. However, she emphasized one point: the so-called "Great Way to Simplicity" and the ancient monks' cultivation methods are extremely simple, and there is absolutely no mess.

The second stage, more than 1,700 years ago, is known as the period of the ancient fairies.

The Tao further declined, and the pigu and food became the main means of practice. The Taoist scriptures record, "Herbivores are good at walking but stupid, carnivores are strong and fierce, food eaters are intelligent but do not live long, and qi eaters are immortal." ”

Another ancient book says: "This person can contain jujube pits and cannot eat for a maximum of five or ten years." He can also hold his breath without wavering. If he looked like a dead man, he could live for a hundred and a half days. ”

In short, it means not eating, but eating heaven and earth aura.

Although weaker and more complex than in ancient times, it is still orthodox. Practitioners can live for hundreds of years with a youthful appearance and very little old appearance. Powerful people can become sacred in the flesh, soar during the day, and even ascend to heaven with chickens and dogs.

During the same period, external alchemy began to gradually come alive.

External alchemy is alchemy. The "Taiqing Golden Leaf Shen Dan Sutra" consists of three volumes, emphasizing that only by taking away the golden pill can we be with heaven and live forever.

This argument is completely contrary to the humanitarian regime.

What is even more strange is that at the end of the Han Dynasty, a man named Wei Boyang wrote the book "Zhou Shen Yi Tongqi", which systematically expounded the theory of Neidan and Waidan for the first time.

Not only that, but he denounced all Taoist laws except Neidan as heresy, calling it "disobedience and the loss of cardinals" as a secondary heresy against eternal life.

Dan, which means single.

Taoism emphasizes one, one is single, and single is Dan. It's actually a gradual process of evolution and packaging.

Therefore, the "Yudan" of Jia Island refers to the fullness and roundness of the body, which can ward off evil spirits and prolong life.

Another example is Yuan Ying, which refers to returning to nature, condensing the vitality of the whole body, and transforming oneself into a pure energy body, just like the original baby.

However, after being misinterpreted by later generations, Jie Dan turned into a large tangible glass ball, and Yuan Ying became a villain bouncing up and down.

This is nonsense.

Let's talk about Wei Boyang's "Zhou Yitong Canqi". He pays attention to the inner and outer dan. He uses his body as a cauldron to lift his spirits in his own body. Then he took the golden pill and became immortal.

This was contrary to the mainstream at the time, so after it was written, it did not attract massive attention.

Similarly, it was also during the Han Dynasty that Taoism began to evolve into Taoism and Taoism, Shitian Taoism and a number of scattered organizational villages, collectively known as ancient immortals.

A thousand years ago, the third stage was called the period of change.

After the Han Dynasty, this was the most powerful spiritual practice in hundreds of years. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the mainstream became the two techniques of outer Danshu and food qi, and the inner Danshu was hidden and not obvious, and spread to the people.

At this time, the monks were divided into three classes. According to the Book of Immortality, "The sergeant is a fairy, when he raises his form and his deficiencies." The sergeant swims in the famous mountain and is called a fairy, and the corporal dies first and then molts, which is called necrophilia. ”

The so-called necrophilia is to abandon the body or leave the body and take on only one thing to ascend to heaven. Some ancient books say: "This man was found dead in the capital." A few days ago he opened the coffin, and there was only a stick. ”

This is one of them, employee solutions. Of course, the autopsy was relatively low, and then gradually abandoned.

Later, during the Sui and Tang dynasties, a large number of monks of Zhong Liquan, Lü Dongbin, Chen Wei, and Zhang Guo began to study the Neidan method and supplemented and perfected it.

The Dan and Eating Qi on the outside suddenly stopped, and the Dan on the inside prevailed and threatened to replace all Taoist laws. Zhou Shen Yi Tongqi is considered to be the ancestor of single crystals, and many sects have begun to multiply and develop.

The fourth stage, more than 500 years ago, is known as the Early Arantic.

The Nedan has been united, and the struggle between sects has become the main theme. In the north, Quanzhen Taoism was founded. Qiu Chuji preached for Meng Yuan and was given the authority to take charge of World Taoism.

At the same time, in order to cope with the rise of the Quanzhen Dao, the Shitiandao of Longhu Mountain, the Shangqing Sect of Maoshan and the Lingbao Sect of Gezao Mountain were merged into one, and Zhang Tianshi was revered as the leader of the sect.

Thus, a general pattern of perfect truth and positive truth in the south is formed. Later, Zhang Boduan established the south gate, which belonged to the whole town. Jeon Zhen was once eye-catching.

At this time, the Neidan method was extremely perfect, and two sets of theories were proposed, namely "Yang Shen" and "refining qi, refining qi, transforming gods, and returning to the gods".

However, this is the last glory of Taoism. After that, the Taoist priest of Mitoyo was only a flash in the pan, and then it completely declined.

......

In general, the system is roughly as follows:

Antiquity was characterized by a focus on physical immortality, with equal emphasis on the physical and spiritual. The period of the ancient immortals was slightly worse, but they also attached great importance to physical exercise. There is no Neidan method for these two stages.

In times of change, Nedan rose.

Quanzhen Taoism basically denies the immortality of the body. Although it is called the double cultivation of life, in reality it is sex before life, or life before sex, which cannot be done at the same time.

The highest level of the Neidan school is the emergence of yang energy. The yang god will leave the body, and the primordial god will rise from the body to achieve eternal life.

This may be seen as longevity, but it is not the right path after all. If you lose your body, you lose the opportunity to become a fairy, which is more difficult.

What's more, Yang Shen is really not convincing. Except for some sporadic deeds of Zhang Boduan, there is no record in ancient books.