Qiu Chuji: A Case Study 丘处机学案
Even since the Daoism studies about Qiu Chuji the Immortal of Quanzhen Daoism began, we have been waiting for someone to bring us a panoramic view on the unresolved issues raised by scholars. With this informative and thought-provoking book by Guo Wu[1], the whole life of Qiu Chuji is manifestly seen and some of those questions are finally answered.
Professor Guo Wu first takes up the part of “Critical Biography of Qiu Chuji”, telling us how an ordinary adolescent little by little grew into a great religionist. Specifically speaking, there are five parts included in the first part, namely “Ordination and Cultivation”, “Actions for Benefiting Mankind’, “Works and Thoughts”, “Religious Descendants and Sect’s Branches” and the “Chronicle of Qiu Chuji”. In his book professor Guo Wu prudently notes the interplay between the monasticism and human beings’ salvation, which means that, in Daoism, the former is the main practice towards internal alchemy and the latter the basic condition for the former. Then the author goes further, indicating that the monastic life and the benefiting behavior, to some extent, respectively refer to Dao 道 and De 德 originally referred to in Dao De Jing 道德经. Also, the author, professor Guo Wu, makes it clear that among the so-called “Quanzhen Qizi” 全真七子 it is the youngest disciple Qiu Chuji who first became the apprentice of the tutor Wang Chongyang王重阳.
The following part is another significant ingredient for the book, profiling together almost all the ancient scriptures about Qiu Chuji, including Panxi Ji 磻溪集, (Collections of poems composed by Qiu Chuji at Panxi), Changchun Zhenren Xiyou Ji 长春真人西游记, (Qiu Changchun’s travel notes about the journey to the west), Xuanfeng Qinghui Lu 玄风庆会录 (Records of the felicitous convocations on the sublime spirit of Dao), Dadan Zhizhi 大丹直指 (Straightforward instructions on inner alchemy), Shesheng Xiaoxi Lun 摄生消息论, (Discussions on the ways of keeping healthy in different seasons), etc. Professor Guo Wu explores Qiu Chuji’s main thoughts by gathering and analyzing his poems, among which Sizong Wanci 世宗挽词，(Elegiac couplet for Emperor Shizong of Jin dynasty) impresses us the most, elucidating to us that even as a religious leader, Qiu Chuji has his own sentiments.
In the last part the author turns to the Qiu Chuji’s “Bibliography”, showing us almost all the studies done before about Qiu Chuji in the field of Daoist studies, which are quite helpful for further research.
Despite the mentioned-above advances, both in significant collections of Qiu Chuji’s scriptures and innovative ideas on many topics raised long time ago, there is much remaining to be studied with regard to some puzzling questions, such as the issue of whoever made the manuscript Dadan zhizhi. In Guo Wu’s eyes, more evidence should be found and analyzed before sound reasonable answers for such questions could be given.
—Tian Maoquan 田茂泉, Shandong University of Finance and Economics
