A qualitative analysis of the Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi

The Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi (太一金華宗旨) is an important Daoist text, in particular to the Longmen branch of the Quanzhen movement. It is attributed to Lü Dongbin and describes a form of meditation called huiguang (回光 – turning around or reversing the light). The text was popularized in the West through a commentary by Carl Jung on Richard Wilhelm’s translation. However, the accuracy of both Jung’s commentary (e.g., Cott & Rock, 2009) and Wilhelm’s translation (e.g., Cleary, 1991) have been questioned. While the Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi tends to express its message in much clearer language than many Daoist texts, it is still may not be immediately accessible to most readers on first viewing. Thus, the results presented herein are intended to clearly present the main messages of the Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi for those unfamiliar with the text, while attempting to avoid committing the same errors as, for example, Jung. To do this, the present analysis extracted all the prominent constructs discussed in the text, descriptions of their nature, and the relationships between them. This resulted in five overarching themes, two of which describe the general process of turning the light around, and a further three that describe a stage-like progression resulting from this general process. The constructs and relationships that constitute each theme are discussed in detail with the aid of diagrammatic representations, as are the relationships between the five themes.<br>It is hoped that this analysis will make the general teachings of the Taiyi Jinhua Zongzhi more accessible to psychologists wishing to pursue studies in the area of Daoism.