Su Nu Ching
Few Excerpts from The Su Nu Ching
The Su Nu Ching is written as a dialogue between the Yellow Emperor, his 3 female advisers, Su Nu ‘the girl of innocence’, Tsai Nü and Hsüan Nü, and his male adviser P’êng Tsu.
Yellow Emperor: "My ch’i or qi [energy] is weak and out of harmony. There is no joy in my heart and I live in constant fear. What can I do?"
Su Nu: "All debility in man is due to violation of the Tao of Sex between yin & yang [the two polarities in all dualistic phenomena]. Women are superior to men in the same way that water is superior to fire. This knowledge is like the ability to blend the "five flavors" in a pot to make delicious soup. Those who know the Tao of Yin & Yang can fully realize the "five pleasures" [of the senses]; those who do not, will die before their time without ever knowing this joy. Can you afford not to view this with the utmost intent?"
His adviser P’êng Tsu replied: "By treasuring his Ching [physical and energetic sexual matter], cultivating his spirit, and consuming herbs, a man may indeed attain long life.
However, if he is ignorant of the Tao of Sex, taking herbs will be of no benefit. The mutual fulfillment of man and woman is like the mutual dependence of heaven and earth.
Because heaven and earth have attained the Tao of union, they are eternal; because mankind has lost the Tao of Sex, he suffers the onset of early death. If we could avoid the things that gradually injure our bodies and learn the Art of Yin & Yang, this would truly be the Tao of Immortality."
Hsüan Nü replied: "In our universe all lives are created through the harmony of Yin & Yang. When Yang has the harmony of Yin all his problems will be solved and when Yin has the harmony of Yang all obstacles on her way will vanish. One Yin and one Yang must constantly assist one another. And thus the man will feel firm and strong. The woman will then be ready to receive him into her. The two will thus be in communion and their secretions will nurture each other …"
The Yellow Emperor: "Will you instruct me in the essential teachings?"
P’eng Tsu answered: *Although the Tao is easily understood, it is just that men fail to practice it faithfully. Today the Emperor controls the complex machinery of rulership and can not be a master of all the arts. However, his responsibilities in the seraglio are many and it is important that he know the proper method of intercourse. Its essence lies in frequently mounting young girls but never ejaculating. This makes a man’s body light and eliminates the hundred ailments."
The Yellow Emperor asked Su Nu: "If I were to refrain for a long time from intercourse, what would be the result?"
Su Nu answered: "That would be a grave mistake. Heaven and earth have their opening and closing, and Yin & Yang their activities and transformations. Man must conform to Yin & Yang and follow the four seasons. If you were to abstain from intercourse, your spirit would have no opportunity for expansiveness, and Yin & Yang would be blocked and cut off from one another. How could you thus strengthen yourself?
You must cultivate your ch’i through frequent practice and "eliminate the old while absorbing the new" to improve yourself. If the "jade stalk" does not stir, it dies in its lair.
So you must engage frequently in intercourse as a way of exercising the body. To be aroused but not ejaculate is what is called "returning the Ching." When the Ching is returned to benefit the body, then the Tao of life has been realized."
“Yin Tao” = “Principles of sexual life“
The Yellow Emperor asked: "How then should man and woman regulate their sexual relations?"
Su Nu answered: "The Tao of intercourse has definite characteristics that enable the man to preserve his health and the woman to be free of all illness. They will be happy in their hearts and the power of their ch’i will be strong. Those who are ignorant of its practice will gradually grow weaker. If you wish to know this Tao, it consists in settling the ch’i, calming the mind, and harmonizing the emotions.
In order to receive full benefit from the Tao, the couple must first learn how to breathe long and deeply so that they will be relaxed. They must have a sense of security so that their hearts will be tranquil. They must achieve an accord of their wills so that there will be no conflict.
When the "three essentials" are awakened and the spirit is focused, then when you are neither too cold nor too hot to your stomach, neither hungry nor full, completely relax the whole body. Now penetrate shallowly, and move slowly with infrequent thrusts and withdrawals, initially not too deeply. In this way the woman will be satisfied and the man retain his vigor. These are the principles by which to regulate one’s sexual relations."
The Yellow Emperor asked: "Now if a man locks himself and refrains from emission, where is the pleasure?"
P’eng Tsu answered: "Normally, when Ching is emitted into another woman, the whole body feels weary. One suffers buzzing in the ears and drowsiness in the eyes; the throat is parched and the joints heavy. There is brief pleasure, but in the end there is discomfort and disharmony.
If, however, one engages in sex without emission, then the strength of our ch’i will be more than sufficient and our bodies at ease. One’s hearing will be acute and vision clear. When one exercises self-control and calming of passion, love actually increases, and one remains insatiate. How can this be considered unpleasurable?"
The Yellow Emperor said: "I wish to hear of the advantages of sex without emission."
Su Nu replied:"The retention of semen is highly beneficial to man’s health.
- 1 act without emission makes the ch’i strong.
- 2 acts without emission makes the hearing acute and the vision clear.
- 3 acts without emission makes all ailments disappear.
- 4 acts without emission and the "five spirits" are all at peace.
- 5 acts without emission makes the pulse full and relaxed.
- 6 acts without emission strengthens the waist and back.
- 7 acts without emission gives power to the buttocks and thigh.
- 8 acts without emission causes the whole body to be radiant.
- 9 acts without emission and one will enjoy unlimited longevity.
- 10 acts without emission and one attains the realm of the immortals."
The Yellow Emperor: "What if I stop making love?"
Su Nu replied: "As human beings, we must not do anything that contradicts nature. Now, your majesty wishes to refrain from sexual intercourse and that is entirely against nature.
Inactive Yin & Yang cannot complement and harmonize each other. We breath in order to exchange stale old air for fresh new air. When the Jade Stem is not active, it will atrophy.
That is why it must be exercised often. If a man can learn to control and regulate his ejaculations during sex, he may derive great benefits from this practice.
Confused by the concepts of ‘sparing vital essence’ and ‘regulating leakage’, the Yellow Emperor addressed his doubts to Su Nu and got this reply:
Su Nu: "Some men are strong, some are weak, some men are old and others are in their prime. Each should live according to his own vitality and not try to force the joys of sex.
Thus a robust male of 20 may ejaculate twice daily, but an emaciated one should do so no more than once daily.
A 30-year-old male may ejaculate once a day, but only once every two days if he’s an inferior specimen.
A healthy man of 40 may emit semen once every three days, but if he’s weak he may do so only once every four days.
A robust man of 50 may ejaculate once every five days, but only once every ten days if he is weak.
A 60-year-old man in good health may emit once every ten days, or once every 20 days if his health is poor.
At 70, a robust man emit once a month, but a weak one should no long emit semen at all."
The Yellow Emperor: "Will a certain size or shape of a phallus influence the amount of pleasure of communion?"
Su Nu: Different size and shape are only outward appearances. The true beauty and pleasure of communion are inner feelings. If a man first associates the communion with love and respect, and then treats it with true feeling, what could a little difference in size and shape do to influence it adversely?"
The Yellow Emperor: "What about the difference in hardness and softness?"
Su Nu: "Short and small but hard is preferable to long and big but soft. It is however, much better to be soft and weak but gentle and sympathetic than to be hard and firm but rough and violent. The best, however is in the middle. That is to say that the instrument is not too extreme in all respects."
The Yellow Emperor: "There are some physicians who could with their skill and medicine make short and small instruments bigger and longer, weak and soft ones, harder and stronger. Could these treatments cause bad side effects? What do you think of their value?"
Su Nu: "If the man and woman are sympathetic to each other, their harmony itself could often make short and small instruments become longer and bigger, and soft and weak ones become harder and stronger. When a man truly understands the Tao, his instrument will not be weakened even after he had 100 woman.
When a man has learned the Tao, he knows how to assist his Yang with his partner’s Yin. He knows how to breathe correctly to strengthen his essence. He knows "how to borrow water to help his fire". He knows how to guard his treasure, the ching, and not emit in a whole night.
By so doing, not only his small deficiency can be easily helped, he can even live a long life. But if he uses medicine made from the 5 minerals and swallows concoctions that should heighten his fire of passion, all this will only hasten the burning out of his fire and soon his Yang essence will be exhausted. These artificial methods cause great damage."
The Yellow Emperor: "I heard that man of great antiquity lived over 200 years, and men of middle antiquity lived up to 120 years. But men of our time often die before they reach the age of 30. So few men are relaxed and at peace with themselves these days and so many of them are suffering from diseases. What do you think is the reason for this?"
Su Nu: "The reason men often die too young today is that they do not know the secret of the Tao. They are young and passionate and they emit their ching indiscriminately when they make love. It is like cutting off the roots and the fountain of their lives….. How can they expect to live long?
As a rule, if an older man mates with an older woman, their child will not live to a ripe old age. But when an 80 year man mates with a teenage girl, their children will live long lives.
When a woman of 50 years mates with a young man, she can often still have a child.
An older man and a younger woman often make a superb combination, because she produces ample vaginal lubrication quickly, and sustains it much longer. He is often slow to erect but can still enter such a lush environment, and then become fully erect if he knows the Tao. He is also slower to finish, an essential factor which could bring her to an ecstatic bliss, seldom experienced with a young man.
She may find such a gentle, slower procedure more enchanting and preferable than a young man’s frighteningly sudden erection, abrupt insertion and swift ejaculation.
A young woman exudes a natural smell of youth and freshness that easily excites an older man. He usually complements this with an air of calm and confidence, only a few young men can offer.
A young woman usually has a much tighter jade entrance which grips a jade stalk much tighter. An older man, who knows the Tao, knows the true meaning of tenderness, control of ejaculation, and gives younger women greater pleasure because they can sense his excitement and profound appreciation, whereas a young man might see it as a hazard."
