The Origin of the River Wheel is in the Upright Northern Qi.

Chuan Dao Ji Chapter 11: River Wheel/Small Orbit continued.

This week we continue our review of the Zhong and Lu Transmit the Dao Anthology discussion on the River Wheel. This important concept of energetic circulation would go on to inform all Neidan schools and serve as a major foundation for modern Qigong. Since this section of text is rich in difficult to interpret content I will give definitions of those terms of which I am absolutely sure in the annotation and then hit the books and return next week to explain terms which I find harder to understand at this time. Jin Dan and Neidan are not exactly the same tradition and since there are important differences between the two genres, it is useful to be careful to go over the old Jin Dan concepts even though we might be fairly sure what they mean from the perspective of Neidan. This week we will discuss the meaning of the Three River Wheels as well as how they relate to the Neidan Cosmic Orbits, and touch on the nature of the Three Animal Carts often referenced in Jin Dan and Neidan documents. If this excites you please make sure to subscribe to IS to get this content when it comes out every week and learn all about Internal Alchemy without any pseudo-mystical obscurantism!!

吕曰：“河车本北方之正气，运转无穷。而负载阴阳，各有成就，所用功不一也，尊 师当为细说。”

Lu Said: The River Wheel takes its root in the Northern Upright Qi, it circulates in movement endlessly. It floats across Yin and Yang, each after being achieved has more than one use, I request the revered teacher to explain in detail.

钟曰：“五行循环，周而复始，默契颠倒之术，以龙虎相交而变黄芽者，小河 车也。肘后 飞金晶， 还晶入泥丸，抽 铅添汞而成大 药者，大河 车也。以 龙虎交而 变黄芽， 铅汞交而成大 药。

Zhong Answered: The Five Elements wind around in movement, they circulate in the orbit and return to the beginning, This is art is the tacit way of overturning and capsizing, it uses dragon and tiger mixing to change the Yellow Sprout, this is the Small River Wheel.

When the Golden Crystal flies behind the shoulder it changes the crystal so it enters the Mud Ball, withdrawing lead and adding mercury this is how to achieve the great medicine, the great River Wheel. The Dragon and Tiger mix and change the Yellow Sprout, Lead and Mercury mix and achieve the Great Medicine.

真气生而五气朝中元阳神就而三神超内院。紫金丹成，常 如玄鹤对 飞；白玉汞就，正似火 龙涌起。而金光万道，罩俗骨以光 辉；琪 树一株，现鲜葩而灿 烂。

The True Qi is generated and the Five Qi Bow to the center Original Yang Spirit, this is how the Three Spirits ascend to the Inner Garden. The Purple Gold Elixir is formed, always like the Mystery Crane flying next to one another, the White Jade Mercury achieved, the Upright Fire Dragon connects and rises. The Golden Light Ten Thousand Paths cover the common bones and cause them to give of brilliant light, the Jade Tree one grass, it becomes tangible and the fresh Corolla is resplendent.

或出或入，出入自加，或去或来，往来无碍。搬神入体，且混 时流，化圣离俗，以 为羽客。乃曰紫河 车也。

Whether leaving or entering, leaving and entering are spontaneous, whether leaving or coming, it always leaves and comes without obstruction. Moving the spirit to enter the body it is mixed and at times flows, transforming the Sage and leaving the commons, this is how one becomes a Daoist who grows feathers. This is called the Purple River Wheel. These

是此三 车之名，而分上，中，下三成。故曰三成者，言其功之验证,非比夫 释教之三乘，而曰羊 车，鹿 车，大牛 车也。

Three River Wheels names are separated into upper, middle and lower. Thus they are called three achievements, this is how to verify the results of your practice. Aside from this teaching of the Three Vehicles there are also the Sheep Cart, the Deer Cart and the Ox Cart.

以道言之，河 车之后更有三 车：凡聚火而心行意使，以攻疾病，而曰使者车，凡既济自上而下，阴阳正合，水火共处．静中间雷霆之声，而曰雷车。

In terms of the Dao the River Wheel also has three Carts, normal accumulation of fire uses the heart to move and mind to act, this can fight illness, it is called activating the cart.

Normally after this it will travel up and down, Yin and Yang become upright and merged, water and fire have one origin point, in stillness there is a thunder roaring sound, this is called the Thunder Cart.

若心 为境役，物以情 牵，感物而散于真阳之气，自外而内，不知休息，久而气弱体虚，以成衰老矣。

if the heart is absorbed in the environment (of meditation) then the feeling of phenomena are lead, there is a sense of the phenomena scattering the True Yang Qi, it seems to go from outside to inside, you don't know to rest, the Qi becomes weak and body vacuous, and you fail and become old and feeble, 或而入邪五疫，返以搬入真 气，元阳难 为 抵挡 ， 既老且病而死者，曰破 车。”

or you enter the crooked five plagues, reverting and causing them to enter the True Qi, the Original Yang finds it difficult to withstand, then eventually you become old and sick and die, this is called breaking the cart.

Explanation:

This will be another section I'll be explaining over the course of a few posts since there is so much useful information.

Some of the knowledge is quite standard, but for other sections I'll have to consult some annotations to be absolutely sure of the meaning.

Today we will start with the low hanging fruit and work our way up over the next couple weeks:

1: Three Types of River Wheel:

In this text the River Wheel is a term for what happens when the Kidneys generate Pre Heaven Yang Energy which is why the text says “the River Wheel takes its origin in the upright Northern Qi,” since universally in this variation of Jin Dan and Neidan practice we are primarily working with the Yuan Jing contained in the Lower Abdomen Water Palace/Kidney area which is associated with the North and the Color Black.

In this context the First River Wheel does not refer to the Small Heavenly Orbit but instead to the activation of the Yang Energy which causes a sensation of Yang Qi to rise up the back.

Later Neidan scholars explained this effect in two ways which we will get to in a moment when we discuss the Yellow Sprout.

The Second River Wheel is called Golden Crystal Flies Behind the Shoulder and describes the Small Heavenly Orbit where the Qi can fully enter the Brain/Mud Ball Palace.

The Third River Wheel is called the Purple River Wheel and it occurs when the Spirit can come and go from the body via the head.

You have have noticed that the Large Heavenly Orbit was entirely skipped in this text.

It is questionable as to whether they knew about it and omitted it on purpose or whether this simply wasn't well understood at that time in history.

2: The Yellow Sprout:

A student of a famous Qigong master once asked me to verify his practice as he felt he had achieved the Yellow Sprout.

He mentioned that he had a sensation of Qi rising up to his chest area and illuminating it, but this was already after he had achieved the Small Heavenly Orbit.

Of course each school is different and some schools have the idea that the Qi penetrates the chest before moving up the whole orbit, but this is not a universal across all Neidan schools and partly depends on what point a person begins their practice from in the abdomen.

I mentioned to him that the Yellow Sprout does not refer to one absolute specific effect in meditation, nor is it a sign of high level practice, instead it is a sign that the Yang Energy is beginning to mature in the body and is usually something that happens early on.