Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c12.s2.36

v2.c12.s2.36

The Ming Dynasty Daoist Master Yuan Huang (1533 –1606 CE) in his book *Three Essentials for Well-Being* especially refers to Zen masters’ theories of *Prāṇāyāma*. According to Zen masters, he writes, “*Prāṇāyāma* can be classified into four categories – cleansing breath, natural breathing, tortoise breathing, and holding the breath or embryonic breathing (referring to the pattern of breath in - hold the breath - breath out; breath in - breath out - hold the breath; breath in - hold the breath - breath in again - breath out; breath in - breath out - hold the breath - breath out again).