Magical Spells and Aphorisms for Attaining Primordial Truth: The Guan Yinzi

Companion blog post: https://benebellwen.com/2024/02/12/gu...

The more recognized naming convention for the sutra is the Guan Yinzi (闕尹子) or Wen Shi Zhen Jing (文始真經) attributed to the gatekeeper who Laozi encountered. According to lore, the gatekeeper at the Western Pass, named Yinxi 尹喜, later given the name Wenshi (文始), transcribed the teachings of Laozi and that text became the Tao Te Ching (道德經). Alternate tellings have Laozi writing the teachings down into two books himself, which the gatekeeper then receives.

After receiving Laozi’s teachings, the gatekeeper attains enlightenment and subsequently writes his own book, which becomes known as the Guan Yinzi 闕尹子. Guan 闕 means gatekeeper. Yinzi 尹子 means “Master Yin” (like how Laozi means “Master Lao”), an honorific that Yinxi 尹喜 is given upon mastering the Tao.

Historically among Taoist alchemists, mystics, and ceremonial magicians, the Guan Yinzi treated as a book of magical spells and powerful cultivation practices hidden in plain sight. It is a nine-chapter esoteric Taoist sutra and canonized sacred text attributed to the Three Sovereigns (三皇, San Huang) tradition of Taoist ritual magic. It also became the principal text for a mystical Taoist lineage named after the gatekeeper, the Wenshi School (文始派).

The origins of the text is attributed to the time of Laozi, around 6th century BC, though the oldest documented reference we have to it is circa 400 BC in the Liezi 列子, a classical text on Taoist philosophy. Around 400 AD, the text is canonized in the Daozang 道藏 (Taoist Canons).