Contents
Contrasted with the Neijing tu, the Xiuzhen tu pictures the meditator's body in a front view rather than side, and includes a longer textual portion, which describes Neidan practices, lunar phases, and Leifa 雷法 "Thunder Rites" associated with the Zhengyi Dao movement of the Tianshi Dao "Way of Celestial Masters".
Despeux summarizes Xiuzhen tu differences.
The elements that distinguish this chart from the Neijing tu are mainly related to the Thunder Rites (leifa) – in particular, the spiral at the level of the kidneys, the nine "orifices of hell" at the base of the spine, and the three curls at the top of the head that represent the three primordial breaths according to the Tianxin zhengfa tradition. The chart also represents the main parts of the body, including the Cinnabar Fields (dantian), the Three Passes (sanguan, represented by the three chariots) of the back, the throat, the paradisiacal and infernal worlds, and the body's divinities according to the Huangting jing, and also shows the firing process (huohou). The whole is reminiscent of a talisman illustrating a divine body that connects to the sacred world. (2008:770)
Read more about this topic: Xiuzhen Tu
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