The Daoist idea of , "that the certainty that the world is in flux leaves open the possibility that things may transform from one type to another", can be traced from the
Zhuangzi through the
Shangqing School. The (c. 3rd century BCE)
Zhuangzi was the first Daoist text to explain . The word occurs five times (all in the Outer Chapters), referring to the ability of things to change from one category to another. For instance, Spring and summer precede, autumn and winter come after—such is the sequence of the four seasons. The myriad things evolve and develop; even twisted little shoots have their own special shapes—such are the gradations of fullness and decline, the flow of transformation and evolution []. (13) The
Zhuangzi text begins with a parable about interspecific metamorphosis. In the darkness of the Northern Ocean, there is a fish named K'un. The K'un is so big that no one knows how many thousands of tricents [three hundred paces] its body extends. After it metamorphoses [] into a bird, its name becomes P'eng. The P'eng is so huge that no one knows how many thousands of tricents its back stretches. Rousing itself to flight, its wings are like clouds suspended in the sky. (1) The
Zhuangzi uses the closely related word ten times, most famously in the story of
Zhuangzi dreaming he was a butterfly. Once upon a time Chuang Chou dreamed that he was a butterfly, a butterfly flitting about happily enjoying himself. He didn't know that he was Chou. Suddenly he awoke and was palpably Chou. He did not know whether he was Chou who had dreamed of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming that he was Chou. Now, there must be a difference between Chou and the butterfly. This is called the transformation of things. (2) A
Zhuangzi passage explains change in the sense of evolutionary continuity. In seeds there are germs []. When they are found in water they become filaments. When they are found at the border of water and land they become algae. When they germinate in elevated places they become plantain. When the plantain is found in fertile soil it becomes crow's foot. The crow's foot's roots become scarab grubs and its leaves become butterflies. The butterflies soon evolve into insects that are born beneath the stove. They have the appearance of exuviae and are called "house crickets:" After a thousand days the house crickets become birds called "dried surplus bones." The spittle of the dried surplus bones becomes a misty spray and the misty spray becomes mother of vinegar. Midges are born from mother of vinegar; yellow whirligigs are born from fetid wine; blindgnats are born from putrid slimebugs. When goat's-queue couples with bamboo that has not shooted for a long time, they produce greenies. The greenies produce panthers; panthers produce horses; horses produce men; and men return to enter the wellsprings of nature []. The myriad things all come out from the wellsprings and all reenter the wellsprings. (18)
Liu An's (c. 139 BCE)
Huainanzi uses 17 times. For instance, this hunchback story about , adapted from the
Zhuangzi (6) description of . Ziqiu had lived for fifty-four years when an injury made him hunchbacked. The arch of his spine was higher than his forehead; his chin pressed down on his chest; his two buttocks were on top; his rectum pointed to the sky. He crawled over to peer at himself in a well: "Amazing! That which fashions and transforms us! How has it turned me into this crumpled thing?" This shows that from his viewpoint, alterations and transformation [] are the same. (7) The
Huainanzi describes transformations in nature: "Now the frog becomes a quail, [and] the water scorpion becomes the dragonfly. These give rise to what is not their own kind. Only the sage understands their transformations." To know the of things is the hallmark of spiritual knowledge. While the
Daodejing text does not use , its (c. 2nd century CE) commentary attributed to uses the word twice, explaining the transformations of
dragons and
spirits. The text and commentary for Section 26 () says: :Gravity is the root of lightness. ::If a prince is not grave, then he is not honoured. If asceticism is not taken seriously, then the spirits are lost. The blossoms and leaves of the herbs and trees are light, therefore they are perishable. The root is heavy, therefore it is lasting. :Quietness is the master of motion. ::If a prince is not quiet, then he loses his dignity. If the ascetic is not quiet, then he endangers himself. The dragon is quiet, therefore he is able to transform []. The tiger is restless, therefore he strives for heavenly faults. Section 39 () says: :The spirits acquired unity. Thereby they are magic-endowed. ::This means: The spirits acquired unity. Thereby they are able to change [] and to become formless. :The valley-streams acquired unity. Thereby they are filled out. ::This means: The valley-streams acquired unity. Therefore they may be filled without ceasing to exist. The (c. 2nd century CE) , which is preserved in a fragmentary (612 CE)
Dunhuang manuscript discovered in the
Mogao Caves, uses to describe the many historical reincarnations of
Laozi , deified as . This text says Laozi "can make himself bright or dark, disappear and then be present, enlarge or diminish himself, coil up or extend himself, put himself above or below, can be vertical or horizontal, (and) can go forward or backward." In every generation, this Master of Emperors cosmically "transforms his own body" in order to teach humanity, through the incarnate power of the Dao, he assumes numerous identities, and leaves behind adapted writings with his teaching. The transformations of Laojun began with the first mythical ruler
Fu Xi, included
Gautama Buddha, the
Yellow Emperor's teacher (mentioned in the
Zhuangzi), and ended with a 155 CE manifestation in the
Sichuan region. Mark Csikszentmihalyi distinguishes between early Daoist discussions that tended to emphasize the way in which applies to human beings in the same way it does to the natural world, and later Daoism that stressed the potential for the adept to harness , particularly in the eschatological picture of the Shangqing tradition. Like Laozi, the diverse spirits of the Shangqing tradition are able to transform themselves, and the adept had to be able to identify their different manifestations. Adepts, in turn, might use to transform themselves. The Shangqing text (Scripture of the Divine Continent on the Dance in Heaven in Seven Revolutions and Seven Transformations; CT 1331) describes methods for transforming into clouds, light, fire; water, and dragons. Isabelle Robinet notes that "the powers of metamorphosis had always been a key characteristic of the immortals, but these powers came to be even more central in Shangqing where they were synonymous with deliverance and salvation." was employed by both Daoist mystics and
Fangshi magicians. The Daoist adept practices metamorphosis both internally through meditation on colored breaths and gods within the body, and externally using magic to change the appearances of things.
Ge Hong's (c. 320 CE)
Baopuzi explains these extraordinary powers of Daoists. Describing the
multilocation technique called
fenxing "divide/multiply the body", Ge Hong says his uncle
Ge Xuan could be in several dozen places at once: "When guests were present there could be one host speaking with the guests in the house, another host greeting guests beside the stream, and still another host making casts with his fishing line, but the guests were unable to distinguish which was the true one." is another manifestation of . The
Baopuzi says: "What is it that the arts of transformation cannot do? May I remind my readers that the human body, which is normally visible, can be made to disappear. Ghosts and gods are normally invisible, but there are ways and means to make them visible. Those capable of operating these methods and prescriptions will be found to abound wherever you go." Several centuries after Chinese Buddhists borrowed the Daoist meaning of or "manifest through transformation; incarnate", early
Tang dynasty Daoists elaborated the Buddhist doctrine about a Buddha's "three bodies" (see below) into a theory that the True Body of the Dao, the Supreme Truth, assumes different metaphoric "bodies" in order to manifest as specific deities, including those in the
Laozi bianhuajing. The (late 8th century) Daoist explains that: "The saint responds to all things, but his essence is distinct from them. Therefore, since his transcendent root is immobile, he is called the "true body" [] and since he propagates the form of the Law, he is called the "responsive body" []. This text further contrasts the True Body with the "transformation body" [ or , used for ] and the "trace body" [], in the sense that all teachings are traces of truth. ==Buddhist usages==