Liu Yiming

Liu Yiming (1734–1821) (刘一明) was a Chinese Taoist master, thinker, and writer. He was one of the main representatives of Taoist Internal Alchemy, or Neidan. He was an 11th-generation master of one of the northern branches of the Longmen 龍門 (Dragon Gate) lineage, and the author of a large number of works that illustrate his views on both Taoism and Neidan.

Liu Yiming (刘一明) was born in 1734 in Quwo (曲沃), Pingyang 平陽 (in present-day Linfen, Shanxi). Before he reached the age of 20, he was severely ill three times (Sun Yongle 2011:302). After recovery, he began to travel, and in 1755 he met his first master, whom he calls the Kangu Laoren 龕谷老人 (Elder of the Kangu Valley). Between 1756 and 1761, he lived in Beijing, and later moved to Henan where he worked as a doctor (Sun Yongle 2011:302).

In 1766 he resumed traveling, and around 1768 he met the Xianliu zhangren 遇仙留丈 (Great Man Who Rests in Immortality), who became his main master. As Liu Yiming reports in one of his works, it was under the Xianliu zhangren that he obtained the full awakening (Liu Yiming 2013:34; Baldrian-Hussein 2008:691). After his awakening, the Xianliu zhangren gave Liu Yiming teachings on Neidan.

After the death of his father in 1769, Liu Yiming—who was then in his mid-30s—alternated periods of traveling (in Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and elsewhere) and of seclusion for a decade. In early 1779 (possibly, in late 1778), he visited Mount Qiyun 棲雲山 in Jincheng 金城 (present-day Yuzhong, Gansu) and settled there. From that time, this mountain became his stable residence, even though he occasionally traveled elsewhere. His abode, called Zizai wo 自在窩 (Nest of Being by Oneself), is still extant in the present day (Sun Yongle 2011:304; Baldrian-Hussein 2008:691).

Liu Yiming devoted the second half of his life to teaching and writing. Far from living as a solitary recluse (as is sometimes stated), he soon began to leave his mark on the mountain, raising funds from an extended network of benefactors (shanren 善人) in order to restore temples, shrines, and other buildings; to buy and lease fields to poor farmers; and to provide burial ground to those who could not afford it. In 1816, he prognosticated an auspicious place for his tomb on top of Mount Qiyun, and his "grave-cavern" was built there. In 1821, on the 6th day of the 1st lunar month, Liu Yiming entered the grave, pronounced his final words to his disciples, and died (Sun Yongle 2011:308).

The main collection of Liu Yiming's works is entitled Daoshu shi'er zhong 道書十二種 (Twelve Books on the Dao; Pregadio 2008:331-33). His best-known works—all found in this collection—consist of commentaries to Neidan texts and of independent works on Neidan, including the following:

In addition, Liu Yiming wrote:

This summary of Liu Yiming's views on Taoism and Internal Alchemy is mainly based on the Xiuzhen houbian (Further Discriminations in Cultivating Reality; English trans. in Liu Yiming 2013). The main Chinese works on Liu Yiming are Liu Ning 2001; Liu Zhongyu 2010; and Jia Laisheng 2011.