A New Study on Fushi of Early Quanzhen Daoism

Fushi (服食), a method for treating diseases and nourishing life to achieve longevity, is highly valued and widely used in traditional Taoism. Regarding whether Quanzhen Taoism, a new form of Taoism founded in the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234), practices Fushi, contradictory opinions have been recorded in Collected records written on Qingyan Mountain (Qingyan conglu 青巖叢錄) from the end of the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) and The History of the Taoist School founded by (Qiu) Changchun (Changchun daojiao yuanliu 長春道教源流) from the late Qing Dynasty (1636–1912). Today’s scholars generally believe that Quanzhen Taoism emphasizes the cultivation of heart and mind and thus has nothing to do with Fushi. This article, centered around early Quanzhen Taoism representatives Wang Chongyang 王重陽 (1112–1170) and the “Seven True Ones (Qizhen 七真)”, combines their writings, quotations, biographies, and other materials and discovers that while Wang Chongyang and others heavily criticized the traditional method of Fushi, they also carried out extensive Fushi activities and accumulated rich practical experience in areas such as taking medicine (fuyao 服藥), breathing exercises (fuqi 服氣), fasting (bigu 辟穀), dieting (yinshi 飲食), and using talismans (fufu 服符). Early Quanzhen Taoism both denied and utilized Fushi leading to a contradiction between words and deeds. The reasons for this contradiction can be attributed to two aspects: the internal alchemy thinking of the early Quanzhen Taoism that prioritized Tao over technique (shu 術), and dual cultivation of inner nature (xing 性) and life (ming 命) and prioritizing the former over the latter.