158 Fist Fighting and Self-Cultivation
monastery, they can all be traced to earlier manuals of gymnastics and breath-
ing. The various training routines in the Illustrated Exposition—like its immedi-
ate source, Essential Techniques of Guarding Life—derive from daoyin treatises
that are permeated with a Daoist vocabulary. Following Tang Hao, I will illus-
trate the daoyin pedigree of Wang’s techniques by his “Twelve-Section Brocade”
(Shier duan jin), which, as suggested by its name, includes twelve exercises.
The opening five read as follows:
(1) Sit down, your eyes shut and your mind obscure (MINGXIN).
Clench your fists (WOGU), contemplating quietly (JINGSI)
the divinities:^68
Sit cross-legged, shutting your eyes tightly and clearing your
mind of all thoughts. When sitting straighten your spine: The
waist should not be loose; the body should not bend. Clenching
fists: By clenching firmly your fists you will be able to close the
gate and expel the demons. Contemplating quietly: By stopping all
thoughts you will visualize the divinities (cunshen).
(2) C l a p you r t e e t h (KOUCHI) thirty-six times. Embrace
Kunlun with both hands:^69
Clap the upper teeth against the lower teeth, making a sound. It
should ring thirty-six times. By clapping the teeth you will
assemble the body’s interior divinities, preventing them from
being dispersed. Kunlun is the head. Embrace firmly your nape
with both hands, the ten fingers crossed together. At once cover
tightly your outer ears with both palms. Count silently nine nose
breaths. Exhale and inhale gently, without emitting a sound.
(3) Left and right, sound the Heavenly Drum (The Occiput)
audibly twenty-four times:
Remember to count nine inhalations and nine exhalations from
the nose. These completed, release your crossed hands, and with
both palms cover your ears. Fold your index finger on your
middle finger and press it tightly. With your index finger tap
repeatedly the back of the brain. It should sound like a drum.
Repeat this in this same fashion with both hands, tapping on the
left and on the right twenty-four times each for a total of forty-
eight vibrations. Again, release your hands and clench your fists.
(4) Lightly Shake the Heavenly Pillar:
The Heavenly Pillar is the nape. Lower your head and turn your
neck. Look sideways on your shoulder. Then, on left and right
shake twenty-four times each.
(5) Let the Red Dragon (the tongue) stir the saliva. Gargle
twenty-six times. When the Divine Water (the saliva)