Songs of Her Spirit: Poetic Musings of a Song Daoist Nun

The Song dynasty (960–1279) marked a period of significant Daoist development and innovation owing to the tremendous support of successive Song governments among others. To be sure, several Song emperors patronized Daoism, but Daoist worship reached its acme in the Song dynasty under the reign of Emperor Huizong 徽宗 (r. 1101–1119), who referred to himself as Emperor, Patriarch and Sovereign of Dao (Jiaozhu daojun huangdi 教主道君皇帝).¹ Being a Daoist, Cao Xiyun 曹希蘊 (1040–1115), also known as Cao Wenyi 曹文逸, was therefore fortunate to live during Huizong’s era. As Russell Kirkland comments, “The emperor Hui-tsung (Huizong) heard of her, summoned her to court—just as emperors had, for centuries, summoned eminent male Taoists—and honored her as “the Perfected One of Literary Reclusion.”² In fact, not only did Huizong three times bestow on her honorific titles, but also ordered the construction of temples in her honor.

Of the advances in Daoist theory during the Song period, by far the most important was the development of “internal alchemy” (neidan 內丹), as opposed to “external alchemy” (waidan 外丹). Isabelle Robinet explains, “the fundamental difference [between the two] is that interior alchemy does not seek to produce a particular physical substance and is above all a technique of enlightenment including a method of controlling both the world and oneself and a means of fashioning (zaohua 造化) and hence understanding in the sense of an existential and intellectual integration.”³ Though internal alchemy as an abstraction existed in the Tang period, its practice and theoretical underpinnings flourished in the Song dynasty, when many Daoists turned away from external alchemy and took instead to exploring internal alchemy.

Among these proponents, Cao is thought the first woman to have set forth in verse both the theory and practice of internal alchemy.⁴ Sadly, so many of her poems and monographs—including commentaries on Daode jing 道德經 (The Book of the Way) and Xisheng jing 西昇經 (Scripture of Western Ascension)–are lost that she has largely been inaccessible to scholarship.⁵ Hence, the recent discovery of several of her verses in poetic collections and Daoist literature makes for an unprecedented opportunity to appreciate the experiences and insights of this distinguished female poet and outstanding Daoist cleric of the Song period.⁶

Closely analyzing these recently discovered poetic materials, this article assesses the significance of Cao’s legacy, in particular her most noted work, “A Song of the Great Dao,” (Dadao ge 大道歌). Little examined in Western scholarship, this poem of a hundred and twenty-eight lines truly deserves its place among the classics of female internal alchemy (nüdan 女丹), continuing to inspire many women in Daoism even today. In line with the long history of the classical Chinese elite couching their feelings and aspirations in poetry (shi yan zhi 詩言志), Cao’s verses provide a gateway for us to understand her life, views, religious practice, and relationship to her contemporaries.⁷ Crucially, Cao’s teachings for her religious practitioners also provide an alternative for women to their commonly recognized roles as filial daughters, virtuous wives, and nurturing mothers.

Cao’s Biography

Written by Zheng Ang 鄭昂 (fl. 1100), a scholar contemporary with Cao, the most detailed biographical account about Cao Xiyun is found in Xiyuan guanmiao xiansheng citang ji 希元觀妙先生祠堂記 (A Record of the Memorial Hall for the Master Who Respects Laozi and Observes Mysteries).⁸ According to Zheng, Cao was a native of Ningjin 宁晉 (in contemporary Hebei), her original name was Xiyun, styled Chongzhi 衝之 before the Emperor Huizong granted her the name Daochong 道衝. Cao’s grandfather, Cao Liyong 曹利用 once served as Palace Secretary (shumi shi 樞密史) during the reign of Zhenzong 真宗 (r. 998–1022). Having successfully negotiated an important peace treaty with the Qidan (Khitan), Cao Liyong was given the title “Duke of Wei” (Wei guogong 魏國公) and granted a residence on Puhui Street 普慧坊 in the capital, where Cao Xiyun was born. As is typical in Daoist biographies, Zheng’s account claims that Cao Xiyun displayed literary precocity, and behaved erratically. Part of Zheng’s text reads,

[It seemed that] as soon as Immortal Cao began to speak she knew how to read. She began...