Isabelle Robinet is Professor of Chinese History and Civilization at the University of Aix-Marseille. Julian F. Pas is Professor of Chinese Religions at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. Norman J. Girardot is Professor of Comparative Religions at Lehigh University.

• List of Illustrations and Figures Translators' Preface Foreword to the English Edition Introduction Chronological Table Chapter 1. General Perspectives I. The Book, Cosmic Creator and the Alliance with the Gods1. The Ching Reveals the Laws of the World2. The Ching as the Foundation of the World3. The Ching: a Token of Power that Certifies and Enlists Divine Protection II. Talismans and Invocations: Summoning the GodsTalismans and Invocations: Fu and Chu III. Auxiliary and Preparatory Exercises IV. The Figure of the Saint and the Spiritual Hierarchy V. The Creative Imagination and the Intermediary World Chapter 2. The Book of the Yellow Court I. General Introduction II. Visualization of the Viscera1. Interior Vision2. The Viscera as Living Symbols3. The T'ai-p'ing ching as Predecessor4. The Huang-t'ing ching: Viscera in the Book of the Yellow Court5. The Inheritors and the Therapeutic Tendency6. The Cosmic Dimension of the Viscera7. The Center of the Body: The Spleen8. The Fertile Abysses of the BodyThe Kidneys and the Lower Cinnabar FieldThe Gate of Destiny, Ming-menThe Origin of the Barrier, Kuan-yüan III. The Circulation of Breath and Essence1. Breath or Ch'i: Aerial Yang Principle of the Body2. Essence or Ching: Moist Yin Principle of the Body3. The Sexual Seed4. The Nourishing Saliva IV. Conclusion Chapter 3. The Book of Great Profundity I. Introduction II. The Gods of the Body III. Unitive Fusion through the Whirlwind1. Unitive Fusion, Hun-ho2. The Whirlwind, Hui-feng Chapter 4. The One, "Preserving the One," and the Three-Ones I. Unity: Void, Origin, and Chaos II. Preserving the One, Shou-i III. The Su-ling ching: The Three and the Nine1. "Preserving the One," and the Three-Ones2. The Nine Palaces IV. The Tz'u-i ching (Scripture of the Feminine One) and the T'ai-tan yin-shu (Secret Book of the Supreme Cinnabar)1. Tz'u-i, The Feminine One2. T'ai-i, The Supreme One Chapter 5. Overcoming Obstacles and the Certainty of the Final Outcome I. The Embryonic KnotsII. The Promise of Immortality Chapter 6. The Metamorphoses I Creative Metamorphoses and the Perpetual Mutations of LifeII. The Changing Faces of TruthIII. Metamorphoses of the GodsIV. Moving and WanderingV. Magical Metamorphoses and ReproductionVI. Metamorphoses of the TaoistsVII. Invisibility: Light and DarknessVIII. Liberating Mutation and Blessed Dissolution Chapter 7. Distant Excursions: Ranging Through the Universe I. Mystical Flights, Fabulous Excursions, and Spiritual QuestsII. Cosmic Exhalations, Fresh Sprouts, and Essential NourishmentsIII. The Penetrating Gaze; Vision of the Poles, Mountains, and Seas; and the Universe's Homage Chapter 8. Flight to the Stars I. The Couple Sun-Moon1. Meditation Practices: The Sidereal March, Nourishments of Light, and Flight to the Stars2. The Hierogamic Transposition of Attributes: Alternation and the Coincidence of Opposites3. The Pivot and the Infinite Center4. The Bath of Fire and Water; Sovereignty5. The Nourishment of Light and the Fusion with the Stars II The Planets and the Bushel1. Description2. Meditation Practices: The Mantle of Stars, Heavenly Couch, and the Mesh of the Network3. The Center Above4. The Bushel and the Supreme One, T'ai-i5. The North: Matrix of Transformations6. The Divided Center: North-South and Death-Life, the Hells, Order and Division7. The Polar Darkness8. Gateway and Step; the Dance Afterword to the English Edition Notes Selected Bibliography Texts Cited Glossary of Chinese Terms Glossary of Proper Names Index