According to extant historical sources, the earliest recorded instance of the term daoyin appears in chapter fifteen of Zhuangzi:
吹眗呼吸，吐故納新，熊經鳥伸，為壽而已矣。此道引之士，養形之人，彭祖壽考者之所好也。
The acts of exhaling and inhaling, breathing out the old and breathing in the new, hanging like a bear and stretching like a bird are simply methods for achieving longevity. These are what practitioners of daoyin, people who ‘nourish their form’ and pursue longevity like Pengzu, like to do.
This extract from one of the waipian 外篇 (Outer Chapters), entitled Keyi 刻意 (Ingrained Ideas), illustrates the inclusion of certain breathing techniques and animal ‘impersonations’ in daoyin exercises performed by followers of Pengzu. It tells us that the practice of daoyin as a means of attaining longevity was already firmly established by the Warring States period (475–221 BCE). However, there existed a wide variety of opinions on appropriate methods and on specific goals. The authors of the Keyi chapter, writing in the context of advice to rulers on effective government, believed it unnecessary to practise daoyin in order to achieve longevity:
若夫不刻意而高，無仁義而修，無功名而治 ，無江海而閒 ，不導引而 壽 ，無不忘也 ，無不有也 。澹然無極而眾美從之 。此天地之道 ，聖 人之德也 。
Now, being lofty without having ingrained ideas, practising self-cultivation without relying on benevolence and righteousness, administering the government without looking for merit or fame, being peaceful without [the need of] contemplating rivers and oceans, being long-lived without practising daoyin, means forgetting everything but possessing everything. Calmly residing in the Ultimateless while having all pleasing things follow oneself. This is the Way of Heaven and Earth, and is the virtue of the sage.
In the view of the writers of the Keyi chapter in Zhuangzi, the followers of Pengzu, when compared with the sage who follows the way of Heaven and Earth, fall short of their goal of achieving long life. This perspective is critical of those daoyin practitioners whose priority is to nourish their physical being. For the writers of Zhuangzi, it is far more important to nourish spirit (yangshen 養神) than form (yangxing 養形) i.e. the body.