Mo PaiArchive

The Curriculum

The Seventy-Two Levels of Mo Pai

Mo Pai describes a staircase, not a process. You are at a level or you are not, and a teacher decides by hand. What follows is all seventy-two rungs, each one marked with where its description comes from.

Band All The FoundationConsolidation and SealingThe Yin Shen and SeparationPurification of the VesselThe Yang ShenDominionAscension
Source All DocumentedAttestedFragmentaryReconstructed

72 levels

The Foundation 1–4

The only publicly described portion of the system. Yin qi is accumulated, forced through the spinal gates, married to yang qi, and finally projected beyond the skin. Every demonstration John Chang was ever filmed perform…

1 Gathering the Yin 採陰 · cai yin Accumulate yin qi in the lower dan tien until it becomes a palpable mass. documented 2 Opening the Gates 小周天 · xiao zhou tian Force the accumulated yin qi up the spine through the three gates and complete the small circulation. documented 3 The Marriage of Yin and Yang 坎離交媾 · kan li jiao gou Draw yang qi and fuse it with the stored yin. The body becomes bipolar — and electrical. documented 4 Projection 外放 · wai fang Send the fused qi outside the body. Every filmed demonstration John Chang ever gave lives here. documented

Consolidation and Sealing 5–12

The first band beyond public knowledge. The literature says two things about it and no more: that healing and perception at a distance appear here, and that the practitioner must begin withdrawing from ordinary life beca…

5 The Healing Hand 療 · liao Healing becomes reliable rather than incidental; perception begins to extend. attested 6 Withdrawal 隱 · yin The practitioner must begin leaving ordinary life behind. attested 7 The Quiet Body Reported reduction in the body's ordinary requirements. fragmentary 8 Sealing the Leaks The store becomes self-sustaining rather than requiring constant topping-up. fragmentary 9 Distance Effects at range rather than at arm's length. fragmentary 10 The Threshold of the Spirit Work turns from the energetic body to the spirit. fragmentary 11 Stillness Without Effort The state formerly entered by force becomes the resting state. reconstructed 12 Gestation of the Yin Shen 結胎 · jie tai The "spirit embryo" begins to form. fragmentary

The Yin Shen and Separation 13–24

The band in which the sources place the formation and projection of the yin shen — a "spirit body" that can travel and perceive but cannot act on matter. Danaos is explicit that this is a lesser achievement than the yang…

13 Turning Inward Attention relocates from the lower dan tien to the middle. reconstructed 14 The Middle Cauldron Work in the middle dan tien; the emotional body is implicated. reconstructed 15 Clearing the Heart The classical requirement that shen cannot be refined in an agitated heart. reconstructed 16 The Upper Field Attention reaches the upper dan tien, between the brows. reconstructed 17 Opening the Cavity The "cavity of the spirit" is worked. reconstructed 18 The Three Fields United Lower, middle and upper dan tien function as one circuit. reconstructed 19 The Silent Furnace Accumulation continues without conscious effort. reconstructed 20 First Separation Brief, uncontrolled departures of the spirit from the body. reconstructed 21 Return Learning to come back reliably. reconstructed 22 Extending the Range The separated spirit travels further and holds longer. reconstructed 23 Coherence Abroad The travelling spirit retains full waking intelligence. reconstructed 24 Full Projection of the Yin Shen 陰神出竅 · yin shen chu qiao The spirit body separates and travels — but cannot touch the world. fragmentary

Purification of the Vessel 25–36

Reconstructed band. In every classical neidan system there is a long, unglamorous middle passage in which the physical body is remade to tolerate what the practitioner is now carrying. Mo Pai sources gesture at this obli…

25 The Long Middle The beginning of the least documented and reportedly longest passage. reconstructed 26 Marrow Classical "marrow washing". reconstructed 27 Sinew Classical "sinew changing" (yi jin). reconstructed 28 Bone Classical "bone changing" (huan gu). reconstructed 29 Blood and Breath Respiration and circulation are said to slow markedly. reconstructed 30 Foetal Breathing Tai xi — breathing that no longer requires the lungs. reconstructed 31 Cutting the Grain Bi gu — the reported end of dependence on ordinary food. reconstructed 32 The Unaging Frame Senescence is said to slow or halt. reconstructed 33 Immunity Resistance to cold, heat, poison and disease. reconstructed 34 Lightness Reported reduction in effective weight. reconstructed 35 The Sealed Vessel Nothing further leaks under any circumstance. reconstructed 36 The Reworked Vessel 換骨 · huan gu The physical body is remade to carry what now inhabits it. reconstructed

The Yang Shen 37–48

The immortal spirit-body proper: in classical terms, a second self that is both conscious and capable of acting on the physical world, and that survives the death of the flesh. This is the goal that makes the whole syste…

37 Conception The yang embryo is conceived from the fully refined shen. reconstructed 38 Nourishing the Embryo A long gestation described in classical texts as ten months of "fire phasing". reconstructed 39 The Bathing Mu yu — periods in which the alchemical fire is deliberately withdrawn. reconstructed 40 Quickening The embryo is said to become responsive. reconstructed 41 The Second Consciousness Awareness begins to exist in two places. reconstructed 42 Feeding on Spirit The yang shen no longer draws on the physical body's resources. reconstructed 43 The Aperture at the Crown The exit route is opened at the bai hui point. reconstructed 44 First Emergence The yang shen leaves for the first time — briefly, and close by. reconstructed 45 Nursing Three years of "suckling" the emerged spirit body. reconstructed 46 Acting on Matter The distinguishing capacity: the yang shen can move physical things. reconstructed 47 Visibility The yang shen can be seen by ordinary people. reconstructed 48 Birth of the Yang Shen 陽神 · yang shen A second self that is conscious, independent, and able to act on matter. fragmentary

Dominion 49–60

Where the claims become frankly mythological: weather, distance, matter. These belong to the same Chinese literary tradition that gave Sun Wukong his seventy-two transformations, and this archive treats them as literatur…

49 Dominion Over the Body The physical body becomes optional rather than primary. reconstructed 50 Dominion Over Place Distance ceases to function as a constraint. reconstructed 51 Dominion Over Weather The rain-making claims of the Chinese magical tradition. reconstructed 52 Dominion Over Fire Fire is commanded rather than produced. reconstructed 53 Dominion Over Water The complementary element. reconstructed 54 Dominion Over Form Transformation — the seventy-two changes of the literary tradition. reconstructed 55 Dominion Over Time The subjective and objective rates come apart. reconstructed 56 Dominion Over Life Restoration of the dying. reconstructed 57 The Company of Immortals Contact with those who have already ascended. reconstructed 58 Instruction from Above Further teaching is said to come from non-human sources. reconstructed 59 Detachment Interest in the human world falls away. reconstructed 60 The Thinning Boundary The distinction between the practitioner and the world stops holding. reconstructed

Ascension 61–72

The final approach. Level 72 is the stated terminus of the entire system: hsien-hood, physical immortality, ascension. Chang is reported to have said that no one within living memory had reached it, and that his own teac…

61 Refining Emptiness Lian xu — the fourth and final classical stage. reconstructed 62 The Dissolving Self The practitioner's individual identity begins to lose definition. reconstructed 63 Union He dao — merging with the Tao. reconstructed 64 The Perfected Zhen ren — the "true person" of the Zhuangzi. reconstructed 65 Beyond Method Practice ceases; there is nothing left to do. reconstructed 66 Beyond Merit The moral ledger closes. reconstructed 67 Beyond Body The physical form is retained by choice alone. reconstructed 68 Beyond Name The practitioner is no longer identifiable as a person in the world. reconstructed 69 The Waiting Everything is complete; the moment has not come. reconstructed 70 The Call Summons from the immortal ranks, in the traditional telling. reconstructed 71 The Last Step Everything is complete except the leaving. reconstructed 72 Ascension — the Hsien 飛昇成仙 · fei sheng cheng xian The stated terminus of the entire system: immortality. attested