Abstract

Yinfujing or HuangdiYinfujing(The Yellow Emperor's Scripture on 'unconscious Unification or Scripture of the Hidden Talisman) became canonical in bibliographies from the Warring States. There are two main editions, an older one of 300 characters and a more recent one of 400 characters, with several dozen commentaries extant, the two better known being those by Li Quan(李筌; 8th c) and Zhu Xi(朱熹). The style of this book is simple and assertive. The Yinfujing presents a view of the grand cosmic order through recondite statements, and is often quoted in Philosophical Daoist texts. It became one of the most important classics of Religious Daoism. Discarding the convention of erring on the side mildness and moderation, the Yinfujing abounds with a direct and startling language of life and killing, crisis and opportunity, production and conquest, co-relational principles of the Nature, mutual stealing among the three powers. Especially the theory of mutual stealing among the three powers refers to the symbiotic relationship that exists among Heaven and Earth, the myriad things, and human beings. To ensure a peaceful world, these three powers must remain in a state of coordinated harmony. The Yinfujing adopts its theoretical structure from the traditional Daoist ideal of 'the unification of Heaven and human beings'. In this book, Man is not the measure of all things. The Yinfujing insist on the harmony of nature and human beings as its major premise and then makes possible the initiative of human beings to take advantage of the principles of transformation among the myriad things. And The practices of obeying the way of Heaven and transforming nature become organically integrated in the Yinfujing.