以内丹術爲功於天地——儒宗王船山與道士閔一得

Spiritual Transformation of the World through Inner Alchemy: An Idea Expounded by Wang Fuzhi and Min Yide

儒家本以學做人爲教;學做人,必當治心。身心相連,心氣相使,惟心氣兼治,始能變化氣質,堂堂做人。宋、明儒有取於内丹家調息之術者,以此。内丹家旨在性命雙修,煉神還虛,即悟元子劉一明所謂"修天賦之性,以化氣質之性;修道氣之命,以轉天數之命"。若所欲化所欲轉之性與命,不限於一己之小我,而推擴及於人間世,乃至全宇宙,即王船山所謂相天,閔一得所謂醫世也。船山爲儒宗,一得乃道士,時間相距百餘年,而皆主以内丹術爲功於天地,其所祈嚮所經驗者,頗有類於基督教傳統中之冥契主義(mysticism)。然二人雖同有冥契經驗,其内容終究殊異。船山之終極關懷,不在一己之得救,而在人類全體之福祉,此其所以爲儒宗也。

The Confucian learning aims at becoming an authentic person. In order to achieve this goal disciplining the mind-heart is necessary, which, in turn, should be supported by the cultivation of qi, the source of all beings. With such a view in mind quite a number of Song and Ming Confucians tended to practice the Taoist breathing exercise named inner alchemy in their self-cultivation. Thereby, they believed, one can transform one's qi-constitution or what is given by heaven. If the transformation goes beyond one's own self and extends to the human world and even the whole universe, then the idea of what the late Ming Confucian Wang Fuzhi (16191692) called "assisting heaven" and that of what the mid-Qing Taoist master Min Yide (17581836) called "curing the world" - which are quite similar to mysticism in the Christian tradition - are born. But there is a big difference between Wang and Min in that Wang's ultimate concern is not individual salvation but the wellbeing of the whole humankind, as is characteristic of Confucianism.