 Several texts describe the features of the inner gods. One of the main sources, the Huangting jing (Book of the Yellow Court; ca. 200 CE; Robinet 1993: 55–96; Despeux 2012: 128–49), mentions, for instance, a major series of gods that live within the five viscera. Significantly, each of these organs is called a “department” (bu), the same term that denotes a government “ministry”, and each of these gods is said to reside in a “palace”. These and other details, such as names, appearances, dimensions, and garments of the gods, are mentioned as supports for meditation practices. In agreement with the classical Chinese views on the fateful separation of the spirit (shen) from the body, several works warn that if the inner gods (also called shen) leave their residences, a person dies. “Maintaining one’s thoughts” (cun) on them enables one to keep them in their corporeal dwellings.