Return to the index of "Other Women's Voices."
Updated 10-26-08
Sun Bu-er /Sun
Pu-erh (c.1119-c.1182)
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"THE SPIRIT IS THE SAME AS THE UNIVERSE."
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Sun Bu-er (old spelling: Sun Pu-erh) was born shortly before the Jin people conquered the northern half of China and the Song dynasty moved from the north to the south (1128). She lived in the north, perhaps in Louyang; she married, had three children, and at about the age of 50, began to devote herself to Daoist practice. The Daoist teachings were based on the Dao de jing (Classic of the way and the power; old spelling, Tao te ching), believed to have been written in the 400s BCE by Laozi /Lao Tzu.
Apparently, several years before Sun Bu-er's own acceptance of Daoism, her husband had become a disciple of Wang Chongyang /Wang Ze (1112-1170), the founder of a new Daoist group in the north. Like all Daoists, the "Northern School" followed the teachings of Laozi; however, Wang Chongyang emphasized an ascetic withdrawal from the affairs of the world, perhaps in part as resistance to the Jin domination of north China.
Sun Bu-er also became a disciple of Wang; soon she became a teacher as well, with her own followers. For them she wrote her Daoist teachings in the form of verse. She had visionary experiences in which she received teachings from ancient Daoists to be passed on; these she recorded as well.
After Sun Bu-er's death, tradition named her one of the "Seven Immortals" of Daoism. The esoteric meanings of her poems may be obscure to the uninitiated, but her vivid images speak to all.
On this page you'll find:
Links to helpful sites online.
Excerpts from translations in print.Information on a secondary source.
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1. Poems translated by Thomas Cleary in his Immortal Sisters: Secret Teachings of Taoist Women :
(a) Five poems ("The relic from before birth," "The beginning of the sustenance of life," "Before our body existed," "You need companions to travel," and "A springlike autumn's balmy breeze reaches afar").
(b) Two other poems ("All thing finished," and "The great forge produces mountains and waters," followed by two that are also given above.
(c) "Spirit and energy should be clear as the night air."
(d) In an essay, use your browser's search function to go to "Sun" for "Once you can feed on the living energy."
(e) Go to "Sun" for "Brambles should be cut away."
(f) "The secret of the receptive must be sought in stillness."
2. Also translated by Cleary, a brief prose treatise, "Preservation of Unity on the Great Way" (for more from Cleary, see below, under "In print").
3. Alternative versions, by Jane Hirshfield, of two of the poems found in #1: "Late Indian summer's soft breezes"; and "Cut brambles long enough."
4. About Sun Bu-er:
(a) The "Historical Legend of Taoist Master Sun Bu-er," written in the 1500s and translated by Eva Wong.
(b) The story of Sun Bu-er's instruction by the Daoist Wang Zhe, "Sun Pu-erh and the Greater Vehicle," by Michael Saso.
5. For historical background:
(a) Laozi's Dao de jing, on which Sun Bu-er's teachings were based, translated by James Legge. And at another site, versions by Stephen Mitchell and by Ursula K. Le Guin of 17 sections (of the work's 81 sections) in gender-inclusive English.
(b) A 2003 essay by James Miller, "Daoism: A Short Introduction."
(c) Part of Cleary's introduction to his 1999 collection, The Taoist Classics (which includes Immortal Sisters).
(d) A history of the Jin dynasty (1115-1234) and its relation to Daoism, by Ulrich Theobald.
(e) A description of the "Complete Perfection Tradition" (Quan zhen dao) founded by Wang Chongyang and followed by Sun Bu-er.
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[This collection includes translations by Thomas Cleary of 20 poems by Sun Bu-er, 14 accompanied by commentary by Chen Yingning. Cleary also translates three "secret texts" transmitted by Sun Bu-er (See, two-thirds of the way down the page, the book's table of contents.):]
Immortal sisters = [Hsien ku]: secret teachings of Taoist
women / translated and edited by Thomas Cleary. Berkeley, Cal:
North Atlantic Books, c1996. (xxix, 90 p.)
LC#: BL1923 .I55 1996; ISBN: 1556432224
[Originally published: Boston: Shambhala, 1989. ISBN: 087773481X;
also available in 2003 collection, The Taoist Classics; The Collected
Translations of Thomas Cleary, Vol 3]
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"Mind should be as still as a mountain."
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Tie up the tiger and return it to the true lair;
Bridle the dragon and gradually increase the elixir.
Nature should be as clear as water,
Mind should be as still as a mountain.
Turning the breath, gather it into the gold crucible;
Stabilizing the spirit, guard the jade pass.
If you can increase the grain of rice day by day,
You will be rejuvenated. [p.19]
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"The pearl in the pond contains images."
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At the point where the womb breath is continuous,
You should distinguish the beginnings of movement and stillness.
The yang light should be increasingly advanced,
The yin soul should be prevented from flying off.
The pearl in the pond contains images,
The moon at the summit of the mountain spews light.
Twenty-four hours a day, don't be lazy;
Irrigate the herb sprouts richly. [p.25]
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"With the years, the body naturally lightens."
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The great forge produces mountains and waters,
Containing therein the potential of creation.
In the morning, greet the energy of the sun;
At night, inhale the vitality of the moon.
In time the elixir can be culled;
With the years, the body naturally lightens.
Where the original spirit comes and goes,
Myriad apertures emit radiant light. [p.34]
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"All things finished, you sit still in a little niche."
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All things finished,
You sit still in a little niche.
The light body rides on violet energy,
The tranquil nature washes in a pure pond.
Original energy is unified, yin and yang are one;
The spirit is the same as the universe.
When the work is done, you pay court to the Jade Palace;
A long whistle gusts a misty gale. [p.38]
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"...nothing to do with anything produced by magical arts."
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There is a body outside the body,
Which has nothing to do with anything produced by magical arts.
Making this aware energy completely pervasive
Is the living, active, unified original spirit.
The bright moon congeals the gold liquid,
Blue lotus refines jade reality.
When you've cooked the marrow of the sun and moon,
The pearl is so bright you don't worry about poverty. [p.40]
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[Zeng Chuanhui and Adam Chanzit have translated Wang Yi'e's brief introduction to Daoism. The book speaks of Sun Bu-er only in passing, but one section (pp.56-64) clearly describes the "Quanzhen dao" tradition founded by Wang Chongyang, and its combination of Daoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. (See the book's table of contents online.):]
Daoism in China: an introduction / by Wang Yi'e; translated
by Zeng Chuanhui; edited by Adam Chanzit. Warren, Conn.: Floating
World, 2006. (189 p.: ill.)
LC#: BL1910 .W37613 2006; ISBN: 1891640399
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Updated 10-26-08