Fang-chung shu Chin., lit. “arts of the inner chamber”; collective term for all sexual techniques said to lead to the realization of the Tao and to the attainment of immortality (ch’ang-sheng pu-ssu). The various Taoist sexual techniques aim at nourishing and strengthening the semen or essence (ching). For this the adept requires the energy of a sexual partner of the opposite sex, because a man can strengthen his yang only with the help of the feminine yin and vice versa. The most important methods for strengthening the ching are prevention of ejaculation and allowing the ching to return, in order to strengthen the brain (huan-ching pu-nao). There is historical evidence of collective sexual practices in early Taoist schools. The followers of Five-Pecks-of-Rice Taoism (wu-tou-mi tao) and of the Way of Supreme Peace (t’ai-p’ing tao) practiced the so-called unification of the breaths (ch’i). These fang-chung shu have been known since the Han dynasty and were practiced both privately and publicly until about the 7th century, when they were forced to withdraw to the private sphere under the pressure of Confucianist morality. There is no mention of such practices in Taoist texts dated later than the Sung Dynasty, but it may be assumed that they continued up to the very recent past.
The philosophical foundation ofthe fang-chung shu is the widespread idea that the world came into being as a result of the marriage of Heaven and Earth of yin and yang a process that continually repeats itself in nature. Human sexual intercourse was seen as an opportunity to participate in this creative process both physically and psychologically and thereby experience the Tao.
An essential feature of these sexual practices is the exchange of energy. To strengthen his yang a man may for example, during foreplay to sexual intercourse partake of the special yin essence of the woman from the saliva under her tongue and from her breasts, thereby strengthening his own energy. The most powerful essences, however, are liberated during orgasm. The man absorbs these energies through his penis from the vagina of the woman, and the woman through her vagina from the penis of the man. This exchange of yin and yang produces good health and longevity.
In most cases, however, the aim of such practices goes further in that it consists in the accumulation of energy rather than its mere exchange. The Taoist adept must learn to prevent ejaculation of his semen in order to preserve all the ching within his body. At the same time, however, he endeavors to produce as many sexual climaxes as possible in his female partner with the aim of absorbing the female yin energy thereby liberated. A man may increase the effectiveness of this technique by having successive sexual intercourse with as many partners as possible. These partners, ideally, should be young and beautiful. The legendary Yellow Emperor (Huang-ti) is said to have had intercourse with twelve hundred concubines without any damage to his health, because he knew how to inhibit ejaculation.
A more advanced technique is described as “allowing the essence to return, in order to strengthen the brain.” This technique was also used as a preliminary to meditative Taoist breathing exercises aimed at developing the sacred embryo (sheng-t’ai).
It cannot be denied, however, that in most cases these techniques constituted an exploitation of the female partners involved. For that reason a further tradition states that both partners should suppress orgasm and instead strive to unite at a higher level. We quote a relevant Taoist tract: “To live for a long time without aging, a man should indulge in amorous play with his female partner. He should drink the ‘jade fluid,’ i.e., swallow her saliva; in this way passion Will be aroused in both the man and the woman. Then the man should press the p’ing-i spot with the finger of his left hand. (This spot is situated approximately 2.5cm above the nipple of the right breast and is also referred to as ‘yin present in yang.’) Then the man should visualize in his (lower) cinnabar field (tan-t’ien) a bright essence, yellow within and red and white without. He should then imagine that this liquid separates into a sun and a moon, which move about in his abdomen and then rise within him until they reach the Ni-huan point in his brain, where the two halves are once again united” (trans. from Colegrave 1980). This symbolic gathering back of the semen thus culminates in the fusion of the male and female principles represented by the sun and moon respectively.
The detailed instructions for practicing these sexual techniques were mostly kept secret or revealed in a language reminiscent of that employed by the Outer Alchemy (wai-tan), which could only be understood by initiates.
Not all Taoist schools approved of sexual practices as means of attaining enlightenment. The Way for the Realization of Truth (ch’üan-chen tao), among others, rejects them and teaches that sexuality has to become an exclusively inner experience. Chinese art is replete with sexual symbols. The peach, because of its clearly discernible notch, represents the female vulva; further symbols for the feminine are vases, clouds, open peony blossoms, mushrooms, the White tiger, kidney-shaped stones, etc. Masculine symbols are jade, sheep, phallus-shaped rock formations, the green dragon, the color green, and the phoenix bird.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Eastern Philosophy and Religion: Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen. Shambhala Publications, Inc.
Books on Fang-chung shu
External links: Ch’ang-shen pu-ssu / Ching / Huan-ching pu-nao / Taoism / Wu-toumi-tao / T’ai-p’ing tao / Ch’i / Huang-ti / Sheng-t’ai / Tan-t’ien / Wai-tan / Enlightenment / Ch’üan-chen tao