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Chinese eroticology: "Refilling" through a partner.

From the book by Alexei Maslov. "Battles on satin sheets. Holiness, Eros and Flesh in Chinese Civilization," M: Ripoll Classic, 2020

Continuation of the cycle. Start here

Chapter 6. Responding to heavenly coitus. Battle for the Seed

The essence of sexual intercourse is to "borrow" or "absorb" the energy of the partner, and the very method of sexual intercourse should be structured so as not to lose qi and jing. Against the background of the perception of sexual energy as a "natural resource" the "battle of the sexes" in China has acquired more than metaphorical significance. In Taoist schools, sexual intercourse was called "the battle to get replenishment" or "refill from recruiting" (tsaipu ji chan, z- z, pointing to the peculiarity of increasing their own energy through "military expansion" into enemy territory. Of course, such methods of describing copulation follow the classic texts of military strategists. The fight must be long, but not exhausting, in order to fully gain the energy of the "enemy": "If you find patience for a long "fight," you will be filled with wonderful pleasure." 

The Chinese military strategy ordered to avoid a direct rough attack, for example, direct assault of the gate of the fortress, but was based on a series of tricks, deceptive maneuvers, tricks, change of pace of offensive. The same technique of "exhausting the enemy," "baiting," "ambush attack" was proposed to be used for "battles on satin sheets." 

Sometimes, reading such treatises, unfamiliar with the intricacies of erotic texts the reader can really assume that we are talking about military instructions in defeating the treatises of Juge Lian or Sun Tzu.

In another case, copulation is perceived as a refined "battle" where one must ingeniously "build the ranks of your army", wait for the exact time to attack, make several deceptive maneuvers, exhaust the enemy and finally defeat him. A woman appears in such texts under the designation "enemy" or "rival", the man – "great commander."

In secular tradition, such texts acquired the character of mentoring teachings, interspersed with funny stories, so most often called "battles on silk sheets." Taoist texts about the "battle" of men and women are a symbolic description of how a man can be imbued at the expense of a woman, how it opens up the streams of her energy and how he absorbs. Thus, "The True Canon of the Absolute Union of the Ruler of the Pure Yang" (Chongyang Fijun Jijun Jiji zhenjing) clearly draws a "battle scheme" that should lead to the capture of enemy positions.

First, the "commander," that is, a man, must psychologically prepare, "close his eyes and lose himself" so that his feelings and arousal do not prevent him from fighting. When a woman begins to "attack" him, caress and seek intimacy, the "commander" first "dodges direct collision" and only "waits until the enemy is tired." He seduces the "enemy", but as soon as the woman shows active affection, again and again "escapes", inflameing her more and more. Finally, the woman begins to behave like a "robber who brutally invaded the limits of the kingdom" – she finally fell apart. That's when the "commander" slowly enters the battle. He saves his strength, from time to time "retreating", that is, stopping his movements. And even when "the enemy threw his entire army into battle," the man takes the lower position. By the way, this is the analogue of the "secret female" from "Tao de jinga" which "always takes a lower position" and therefore can overpower the male with its own rest (61) – here we see an inversion of roles: a follower of erotic art acts as a "secret female". He "continues to be focused and inevitably wins" – the man must keep control of his feelings throughout the "battle". 

Finally, "exhausting the enemy," he begins the "attack." He "gets drunk" from his "enemy": draws her "food" (language) and "scoops grain from her barns" (enjoys her breasts). After that, the man again becomes passive: "I recline again, like a corpse face up, and wait for the troops to come." As we can see, a woman in this "battle" is given an active role, she takes all actions, "attacks" and the man in all sorts of ways awakens her energies (primarily qi and jing), so that they show themselves at the moment of arousal – after that the "commander" can to borrow her powers.

Once again, the "battle" is resumed, which is symbolized by the hexagram "jiji" , which means "final completion." And as the treatise says, "Final completion" means that I have already got the true beginning of Jan." This is the main purpose of copulation – to imbue itself with the purest energy of Jan's beginnings, and "even one such copulation, if a man received a true Jan, will allow him to extend the years for a period of 12 years." 

At this moment and there are alchemical transformations in the body of a man: his inner pill rushes up, into the head, into the area of "nivan" (literally "clay ball"), and he acquires a state of immortal. The main thing here is to "collect" a woman's energy, and the treatise likens it to the process of "gathering" the land on a small basket to fill a huge mountain, that is, from many copulations with borrowing energy a woman should "build" her longevity.

This method is selfish and aimed exclusively at the man. In all this "battle" the man acts in cold blood and calculatingly, his heart is like "gone ashes" and internally he is not excited not to waste his emotional strength. But his speeches "should be sweet and affectionate, in order to further inflame the enemy." 

The absorption of the energy of the partner is a symbolic capture of his positions. Without such a capture, a man is only pointlessly wasting his energy. To the question of the Yellow ruler "why sometimes a man and a woman can not get pleasure from intimacy", the deity Su-nuy answers precisely in terms of "energy capture": "If a man seeks to achieve the Path of unity between a man and a woman, using methods of supplementing seed-jing and combining pnevma-qi, various methods of massage and exercise in the circulation of qi, the method of "returning to the roots and reapplying the roots", as well as "deepening the roots and strengthening the stem", … but forgets to include the Yin method, the man is only more and more exhausted from copulations and, in the end, loses all sense of pleasure."

If a man "gets drunk" through a woman, he "wastes" his energy not only through a woman, but also through his emotions. In fact, all Taoist practice advises a man, acting with his body, not to be involved in it by his consciousness. By the way, the same advice was given to women in the case of "single practice": exciting the body, a woman should keep control over emotions. 

[1]. Sunyu myolung ("Sophisticated Conversations with the Unsy Virgin" of Beijing: Zungo Shiju Chubanshe 28.

[2]. Chunyang Yangzhenf fijun jiji zhenjing (True canon of the final completion of the supreme faithful lord of the Purest Yang. Taipei: Syuefan yinxiang Chubanshe (2004, c. 9

[3]. In the same, with. 29

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Chinese eroticology: "Refilling" through a partner.

From the book by Alexei Maslov. "Battles on satin sheets. Holiness, Eros and Flesh in Chinese Civilization," M: Ripoll Classic, 2020

Continuation of the cycle. Start here

Chapter 6. Responding to heavenly coitus. Battle for the Seed

The essence of sexual intercourse is to "borrow" or "absorb" the energy of the partner, and the very method of sexual intercourse should be structured so as not to lose qi and jing. Against the background of the perception of sexual energy as a "natural resource" the "battle of the sexes" in China has acquired more than metaphorical significance. In Taoist schools, sexual intercourse was called "the battle to get replenishment" or "refill from recruiting" (tsaipu ji chan, z- z, pointing to the peculiarity of increasing their own energy through "military expansion" into enemy territory. Of course, such methods of describing copulation follow the classic texts of military strategists. The fight must be long, but not exhausting, in order to fully gain the energy of the "enemy": "If you find patience for a long "fight," you will be filled with wonderful pleasure." 

The Chinese military strategy ordered to avoid a direct rough attack, for example, direct assault of the gate of the fortress, but was based on a series of tricks, deceptive maneuvers, tricks, change of pace of offensive. The same technique of "exhausting the enemy," "baiting," "ambush attack" was proposed to be used for "battles on satin sheets." 

Sometimes, reading such treatises, unfamiliar with the intricacies of erotic texts the reader can really assume that we are talking about military instructions in defeating the treatises of Juge Lian or Sun Tzu.

In another case, copulation is perceived as a refined "battle" where one must ingeniously "build the ranks of your army", wait for the exact time to attack, make several deceptive maneuvers, exhaust the enemy and finally defeat him. A woman appears in such texts under the designation "enemy" or "rival", the man – "great commander."

In secular tradition, such texts acquired the character of mentoring teachings, interspersed with funny stories, so most often called "battles on silk sheets." Taoist texts about the "battle" of men and women are a symbolic description of how a man can be imbued at the expense of a woman, how it opens up the streams of her energy and how he absorbs. Thus, "The True Canon of the Absolute Union of the Ruler of the Pure Yang" (Chongyang Fijun Jijun Jiji zhenjing) clearly draws a "battle scheme" that should lead to the capture of enemy positions.

First, the "commander," that is, a man, must psychologically prepare, "close his eyes and lose himself" so that his feelings and arousal do not prevent him from fighting. When a woman begins to "attack" him, caress and seek intimacy, the "commander" first "dodges direct collision" and only "waits until the enemy is tired." He seduces the "enemy", but as soon as the woman shows active affection, again and again "escapes", inflameing her more and more. Finally, the woman begins to behave like a "robber who brutally invaded the limits of the kingdom" – she finally fell apart. That's when the "commander" slowly enters the battle. He saves his strength, from time to time "retreating", that is, stopping his movements. And even when "the enemy threw his entire army into battle," the man takes the lower position. By the way, this is the analogue of the "secret female" from "Tao de jinga" which "always takes a lower position" and therefore can overpower the male with its own rest (61) – here we see an inversion of roles: a follower of erotic art acts as a "secret female". He "continues to be focused and inevitably wins" – the man must keep control of his feelings throughout the "battle". 

Finally, "exhausting the enemy," he begins the "attack." He "gets drunk" from his "enemy": draws her "food" (language) and "scoops grain from her barns" (enjoys her breasts). After that, the man again becomes passive: "I recline again, like a corpse face up, and wait for the troops to come." As we can see, a woman in this "battle" is given an active role, she takes all actions, "attacks" and the man in all sorts of ways awakens her energies (primarily qi and jing), so that they show themselves at the moment of arousal – after that the "commander" can to borrow her powers.

Once again, the "battle" is resumed, which is symbolized by the hexagram "jiji" , which means "final completion." And as the treatise says, "Final completion" means that I have already got the true beginning of Jan." This is the main purpose of copulation – to imbue itself with the purest energy of Jan's beginnings, and "even one such copulation, if a man received a true Jan, will allow him to extend the years for a period of 12 years." 

At this moment and there are alchemical transformations in the body of a man: his inner pill rushes up, into the head, into the area of "nivan" (literally "clay ball"), and he acquires a state of immortal. The main thing here is to "collect" a woman's energy, and the treatise likens it to the process of "gathering" the land on a small basket to fill a huge mountain, that is, from many copulations with borrowing energy a woman should "build" her longevity.

This method is selfish and aimed exclusively at the man. In all this "battle" the man acts in cold blood and calculatingly, his heart is like "gone ashes" and internally he is not excited not to waste his emotional strength. But his speeches "should be sweet and affectionate, in order to further inflame the enemy." 

The absorption of the energy of the partner is a symbolic capture of his positions. Without such a capture, a man is only pointlessly wasting his energy. To the question of the Yellow ruler "why sometimes a man and a woman can not get pleasure from intimacy", the deity Su-nuy answers precisely in terms of "energy capture": "If a man seeks to achieve the Path of unity between a man and a woman, using methods of supplementing seed-jing and combining pnevma-qi, various methods of massage and exercise in the circulation of qi, the method of "returning to the roots and reapplying the roots", as well as "deepening the roots and strengthening the stem", … but forgets to include the Yin method, the man is only more and more exhausted from copulations and, in the end, loses all sense of pleasure."

If a man "gets drunk" through a woman, he "wastes" his energy not only through a woman, but also through his emotions. In fact, all Taoist practice advises a man, acting with his body, not to be involved in it by his consciousness. By the way, the same advice was given to women in the case of "single practice": exciting the body, a woman should keep control over emotions. 

[1]. Sunyu myolung ("Sophisticated Conversations with the Unsy Virgin" of Beijing: Zungo Shiju Chubanshe 28.

[2]. Chunyang Yangzhenf fijun jiji zhenjing (True canon of the final completion of the supreme faithful lord of the Purest Yang. Taipei: Syuefan yinxiang Chubanshe (2004, c. 9

[3]. In the same, with. 29

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"Feasting in the southern gazebo"

A true official in China always lives a second, inner life with romanticism, poetry, philosophical reflections and disagreement with reality reigns. And this – another life of the spirit – helps to survive consciousness and body in the rigid reality of the eternal need to serve the lord. 

Wang Changlin (698-757) was born near the modern city of Taiyuan, in Shanxi Province. They nicknamed him Lunji – “Sign of the Dragon” – by the name of the place, in Hunan province, where he was exiled with demotion and where he spent the last years

This is a wonderful, refined poet of the period Tan – a contemporary of famous poets Lee Bo, Du Fu and Meng Haohzhan.

And he went almost the same way: combined a low bureaucratic position with wonderful poetry, served honestly, fell out of favor, was exiled and died during the uprising of An Lushan at the age of 61 in the bozhou city area of the city of Anhui

In his youth he was poor, and to support himself, engaged in agriculture. At the age of 30, he passed the Jinshi official position and then served as First Secretary in the county office. About 713 he moved to the capital city Chang’an, and then moved to the city of Jianqin , now Nanjing, where he was the governor of the county. He’s being exiled because of some kind of swind. And he’s in 756. went on a journey on a flat-bottomed boat from the town of Lunji to the east, composing a wonderful and sad and dreary cycle of poetry. Most of all, he became famous for his “border verses” (byan sai shi) – describing the events on the northwestern outskirts of China.

 He usually wrote in the style of “qi jue” — short poems in four lines of seven characters each 

It’s not his main poem – just beautiful. Amazing skill to draw the landscape and the sensation of it through poetic lines 

“Feasting in the southern gazebo”

In the rivers of the stuttered wild forest is reflected.
Above the gazebos – freshness and purity thickened.
Here are the guests from the kingdom of Chu, in rest
feasting, in peace settled, in gilded flutes play.
I’ve been wandering around the mountains all day
until the darkness comes and the clouds return to the mountain grottoes. 
Above the towers of the city wall swirls boundless
fog, Monkeys and birds – wary and dull.
All that is around me – like “silk threads and cord
s”, diligently give me some order.
And now I went on business – visiting the ruler at the Eastern Creek, from mornin
g to night to him the way to him cut through.

Silk threads and cords – meaning the imperial decree (from “Li ji”: “The words of the ruler are like a silk thread, come from it like cords”)

宴南亭
唐·王昌龄

寒江映村林，亭上纳鲜洁。
楚客共闲饮，静坐金管阕。
酣竟日入山，暝来云归穴。
城楼空杳霭，猿鸟备清切。
物状如丝纶，上心为予决。
访君东溪事，早晚樵路绝

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How do we know the true history of the monastery? Shaolin Canons (2)

This is a continuation of publications about the true technique of Shaolin. Start here.

Most often people learn about the history and technique of Shaoliniquan from oral stories and personal training, and more-from movies and amateur publications (although there are quite scientific and professional). Each master and follower tells "his own story," often doing myth-making, but it is also part of the tradition. Nevertheless, there is a possibility to understand what the Shaolin monks were actually doing

So, let's see, what are the main sources of the real history of Shaolin and his technique?

First, it is the chronicles of the monastery itself, which were conducted by different people and in different epochs. Naturally, some information could be "withdrawn", some-to decorate, but in general they convey the general picture of what Technics were engaged Shaolin monks.

Corridor stele in the Monastery of Shaolin, 1992

Secondly, these are unique inscriptions on stone Stelas, on which fragments from Shaolin treatises, instructions and biographies of masters were cut. In the right wing of the Shaolins was equipped with a "corridor stele", the yard was once overgrown with bamboo, and the followers could walk in meditation on the court, read the words of Old masters and ponder over them. Many stelas were not preserved, partially destroyed, partially hidden from prying eyes. However, to great happiness back in the 90s. In the 20th century, "printed copies" were removed from them, so today it is possible to restore almost all the "Stone History" of Shaolin.

Thirdly, it is a different kind of county and local Chronicles (地方志), as well as reports of officials, travelers, etc. -they represent the "external history" of shaolins. No single group can be considered absolutely authentic, naturally each source is written by living people and can be subjective. But by comparing everything together, we can verify them and understand not only what we decided to tell, but also what we decided to hide.

Four, these are oral legends. Naturally, we are not talking about a new "story", compiled "here and now", and enshrined in the tradition of the complex of Legends of Shaolin, for example, about Bodhiddharma, his disciple Hueike, about the ways of training. Behind each such legend there is also a hidden meaning (for example, secret interpretations of the meaning of the "nine-year meditation of Bodhiddharma in front of the wall"), so such legends convey the "spirit" of the Old Shaolin.

Cover of the edition "the most important in preparation in methods of Kulart"

Fifthly, these are unique treatises and "canons" (jing): Direct instructions of Shaolin masters and their followers. Many of them died during the grandiose fire in 1928, but some of them survived. A number of treatises were issued by Chinese officials (not monks!) even before the fire, it happened in XIX-early XX centuries. It was a period when many aristocrats-collectors were fond of "Chinese wise antiquities", that is old treatises. They took them to their collections, and then issued a xylographic image. So we have reached "canon of Kulart" ("Quan Jing" 拳經) and "refined sense of Shaolin Kulart" ("Shaolin Quan Shu Jingyi" 少林拳術精義), they were published under one cover in 1917 by the famous martial arts master and Healer Lu Shie (1878-1944) 陆士谔. There is another "canon of Kulachal Art" 拳經, attributed to the famous collector and martial arts master Zhang Kunzhao, who lived during the reign of Kangxi (1654-1722), this text was published in 1929. 

The publication "The most important in the preparation in the methods of Kulart"

And in 1936, The treatise "The most important in the preparation in methods of Kulart" ("Tsuanfa Bayyao" 拳法備要) is published. This treatise was issued in the form of a handwritten copy, which included the two Treatises "Tsuanjing" (of which we wrote above) and actually "Tsuanfa Bayyao". Both texts are credited to Zhang Kunzhao, but the preface to the second text shows that this is not his work. However, it is a generalized treatise for the Shaolin tradition. The most important in the preparation of the methods of Kulart "was circulating in shaolins as early as the 90s of the XX century, he was in the library of Shi Susi, Shi Desyjanya and they considered him a reflection of Shaolin technique. This is where we begin our analysis of the Shaolin tradition.

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Shaolin Canons: From Legends to Secrets of Shaolin Tradition (1)

Legends are created today: it is an important part of Shaolin heritage. And, frankly, today even many followers of various "wushu institutions" around the Shaolin Monastery practice at all not what was once part of the tradition. Some things have been forgotten, many masters have gone out of life, the last great mentors of "Old Shaolin", who adhered to all the norms of behavior, in fact ceased to teach in the 90-2000-ies. Today there is a "new Shaolin", A New "Shaolin Wushu/Kunfu" and new followers who have never caught up with the old tradition. Their "Shaolin Wushu" "invent" and the Chinese, and especially foreigners who have not received any instructions.

"Shaolin" and "Shaolin Fist" became probably the most popular names in the world of martial arts of China. Following the famous proverb "All martial arts came out of Shaolin", today many Chinese schools refer their origins to this monastery in Henan province, in the mountains of Songshan. In fact, it is one of the many myths that have always wandered and roam around Shaolin, besides many techniques of Shaolin art have not been "invented" by monks, and have come since the XIII century, in the possible and early, from the national and Army schools fighting Arts. But in the monastery they were codified and preserved-in this great merit of the lineage of the Patriarchs of the transfer of tradition, which became known as "Zhenzong Shaolin Chuan" 正宗少林拳-"True Shaolin Kulart".

Illustration from the treatise "The most important in the preparation of the methods of Kulart" (1936)

And yet such instructions are preserved: to someone they were passed orally, and in some cases recorded in the form of treatises that have survived to this day. In our series of publications, we will see what the true Shaolin art was, what rules the followers adhered to and what techniques they used. 

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Meditation on the simplest

Meditate on the most simple is the most difficult. At its simplest, you can not see the wisdom, just routine, which is already visible to everybody. You are looking for an unprecedented revelations “conversations with emptiness”, “meetings in the spiritual space”

Well, if that’s … let’s say a rope. Try not to realize how it is used, not the material from which it is made, and its very essence. Yes, yes, the inner essence of a piece of rope.

And is meditating on his own essence, we are not a substitute for reflection on his original arguments about the nature of his status, that worries me, what is my mission, I have to do and what bothers me? That is the void meditation is the contemplation of himself “nikakova” without status, experiences, emotions, and without a body at all.

So that it is easier to start with a meditation on the essence of ropes.