# The Nei-yeh



## Xue Sheng (Apr 12, 2010)

The Nei-yeh (Inner Cultivation or Inward Training)
Anonymous - Mid 4th Century BCE
Translated by Harold Roth

Book

The Nei-yeh (Nei ye)



> http://www.stillness.com/tao/neiyeh.txt
> The Nei-yeh (mid 4th century BCE)
> A brief, anonymous text, long-overlooked in Asia and the West alike. The Nei yeh ("Inner Cultivation"; preserved in the Kuan-tzu) teaches how to internalize spiritual forces  ch'i ("life-energy"), ching ("vital essence"), and shen ("spiritual consciousness")  through meditative quiescence and purification. To balance and quiet his/her hsin ("heart/mind"), the practitioner builds up his/her te ("proficiency at obtaining" such energies) by practicing daily self-control over thought, emotion, and action. By doing so, one can become a "Sage" (shengjen). Such practices deeply influenced the thought and practice of some forms of "Later Taoism," especially forms of "New Taoism" like Ch'üan-chen. Also, the Nei yeh's teachings about ch'i, ching, and shen became basic to traditional Chinese medicine.


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