Golden Elixir Press

"[This book] has already opened my eyes to things that I would not have appreciated before."

— Email from a Reader

The Cantong qi is a pillar of China's religious tradition and is also one of its most mystifying and puzzling texts. Pregadio, editor of Encyclopedia of Taoism, is the leading expert on this text and on the field of Chinese alchemy in which the text is situated. His account of its origin and history is masterly. He shows that its roots lie in the study of the Book of Changes that occupied scholars in the 2nd century CE and their thoughts on analogies between micro- and macrocosm. Untangling a web of hagiographic fiction, he proposes 450 CE as the date when the text's composition process arrived at a first conclusion. From the 8th century CE onwards, it was adopted by practitioners of Neidan (Internal Alchemy) and thus came to strongly influence meditation practices well into the 19th century. Today, the text still has a considerable audience, which adds to the importance of Pregadio's book. It contains the text's first reliable English translation, which is moreover eminently readable, explanatory notes, an annotated edition of the Chinese text, index, glossary, and enough lists of tables and figures to allow even the nonspecialist to follow the text's reasoning and directly enter the world of Daoist cosmological speculation.

— Barbara Hendrischke, University of Sydney, in Religious Studies Review, 38.4, December 2012, p. 259

"[Pregadio] offers a glimpse of the painstaking detective work required to produce a high quality translation. . . . He faithfully translates the Can Tong Qi into readable English without sacrificing the richness of the original. . . . Fabrizio Pregadio's translation of the Zhou Yi Can Tong Qi is a remarkable contribution to those interested in the study of Taoism and Internal Alchemy. Very few of the old texts have been translated into English, let alone with such high quality."

— Shawn Cartwright, Traditional Chinese Culture Institute International

★★★★★

Best translation of Cantong qi. "[Pregadio] offers in this translation with commentary, a very readable and clearly explained version of an extremely important inner alchemy work called 'Can tong qi'. In a very readable introduction (pp. 1–63) the origin and content of the present text is examined, after which the text itself is translated, pp. 69–126. The most important contribution of Pregadio's work is found in the extensive notes, pp. 130 to 244, which are easily understood by the lay person … A must read! Recommended for university courses as well as the general public!"

— Prof. Michael Saso (Read the original review)

★★★★

Easy and Enjoyable to Read. "[Pregadio] makes the work easy to read, while providing extensive notes on the notoriously thick symbolism. He even provides the work in the Chinese. Many charts and drawings help one to understand not only the work, but the history behind it.

— Prof. Michael Saso (Read the original review)

★★★★★

This is a great book for those interested in ancient taoist philosophy and foundations of Neidan. Fabrizio Pregadio has really produced a scholarly work that is complete in all respects. There is an extensive introduction where he details his approach and methods to translating the ancient text, carefully pointing out areas of controversy regarding provenance. The translation of the actual text is straight forward but is broken up into sections (not part of original text) that allow for ease of reference to extensive notes, found in separate section in the later part of the book, that contain refernces to other chinese classics such as I Ching and Tao Te Ching that illustrate the inter-connectedness of these ancient sources. These, the text and notes, really need to be read in parallel to develop the fullest understanding of the material. There is also a section with diagrams and tables. The original chinese text is provided as an appendix for those interested in the source material. There is also an externsive bibliography, index and crossreference of terms. This book is really a master work.

I took up the reading of this book as part of a deeper study into the I Ching and taoist philosophy. It has opened up a whole new realm of understanding for me. Most enjoyable read.

— CS (Read the original review)