《三十六水法》

Alum Water

Take one jin of alum, selecting pieces free of impurities and shaped like horse teeth. Place it in a green bamboo tube whose outer wall has been shaved thin, cover the alum above and below with four liang of nitre (xiaoshi, a mineral medicine commonly used in antiquity), seal the mouth of the tube tightly, and set it in the Huachi (the liquid vessel or burial place mentioned in the scripture). After thirty days the alum transforms into water. When this water is combined with the liquid from the Huachi and applied to iron, the iron takes on the appearance of copper; white iron essence placed in it likewise dissolves into water.

Another method uses three jin of alum placed in a new bamboo tube whose exterior is shaved thin and whose mouth is wrapped tightly with fine silk; buried in damp earth, it turns to water in four or five days.

A further method first soaks the alum thoroughly in strong vinegar, then places it in a vessel with two liang of nitre, seals the mouth, and buries it three chi underground; after fifteen days it becomes water.

Realgar Water

Take one jin of realgar (xionghuang) and place it in a new bamboo tube together with four liang of nitre. Seal the mouth tightly with lacquer according to the previous method and immerse the tube in the Huachi. After thirty days it transforms into water.

Another method employs two liang of nitre: a pottery bottle containing bitter wine (vinegar) is set inside the tube, covered tightly, and buried three chi deep in the center of a courtyard; after twenty days it becomes water.

A further record gives the identical procedure: two liang of nitre, a pottery bottle of bitter wine placed in the tube, sealed, and buried three chi deep in the courtyard center, yielding water after twenty days. The scripture notes that this water tastes sweet and is yellow and turbid in color.

Orpiment Water

Take one jin of orpiment (cihuang), place it in a new bamboo tube with four liang of nitre, seal the mouth tightly with lacquer as before, and set it in the Huachi. After thirty days it becomes water.

Another method takes two liang each of orpiment, alum, and nitre, places them in a pottery bottle, and buries the bottle underground. After twenty days it yields water that tastes sweet and is yellowish in color.

Cinnabar Water

Take one jin of cinnabar (dansha) and place it in a new bamboo tube together with two liang of stone gall (shidan, a copper-bearing mineral) and four liang of nitre. Seal the mouth according to the earlier method and immerse it in the Huachi. After thirty days it transforms into water.

Another method uses two liang each of stone gall and nitre placed in a pottery bottle and buried as before. After thirty days it becomes water that tastes bitter and is reddish in color.

Zengqing Water

The scripture lists only the name and supplies no method of preparation.

This section of the Thirty-Six Methods of Waters discusses what the ancient fangshi called the “chengshui” method: minerals, plant juices, or other materials are placed in a container according to a formula, the mouth is sealed, and the vessel is then buried or set in a Hua Chi (a pool or utensil used to hold the container during refining). After a stated period the result is called “water.” Chengshui in the text is an alchemical term and should not be understood as ordinary water.

For Zengqing Water one takes one jin of zengqing (a copper-bearing mineral), places it in a fresh bamboo tube, and adds four liang of xiaoshi together with two liang of mercury. The mouth of the tube is sealed tightly with lacquer according to the method already given and the tube is placed in the Hua Chi; after thirty days it is called chengshui. Another method takes two liang of xiaoshi, places it in a fanping (a ceramic vessel), buries it as before, and after thirty days calls the result chengshui.

For Baiqing Water one takes one jin of baiqing (a mineral) and one ge of rabbit blood, places them together in a bamboo tube, and soaks the tube in kuji (vinegar); after fifty days it is called chengshui. Another method adds two liang of xiaoshi, places the mixture in a “pangpingping” (apparently the name of an ancient vessel; the original wording is retained), buries it as before, and after thirty days calls the result chengshui. The product is sour in taste and green in color. A further method likewise adds two liang of xiaoshi, places it in a “pangpingping,” buries it as before, and after thirty days calls the result chengshui. The original then repeats “sour in taste and green in color” and mentions becoming water after fifty days in kuji; these sentences duplicate earlier statements and may reflect a copyist’s error in sequence.

For Fanshi Water one takes one jin of fanshi, two jin of dansha (cinnabar), and one jin of xiaoshi, places them in a bamboo tube, seals the mouth tightly with lacquer, and sets the tube in the Hua Chi as before; after one hundred days it is called chengshui. Another method first moistens the fanshi slightly with yunyingshui (a liquid prepared from or named after yunying; the precise sense is unclear), then adds two liang of xiaoshi, places the mixture in a “pangpingping,” and buries it as before. After thirty days it is called chengshui and is said to taste bitter-pungent and to be blue-black in color.

For Cishi Water one takes one jin of cishi, one liang of xionghuang, and one liang of shidan (a mineral of the blue-vitriol type), pounds them together, places the powder in a bamboo tube, seals the mouth tightly with lacquer, and sets the tube in the Hua Chi as before; after thirty days it is called chengshui.

For Liuhuang Water one takes one jin of liuhuang, one sheng of dew collected from a mulberry tree in the eighth month, and two liang of xiaoshi, places them together in a bamboo tube, seals the mouth tightly with lacquer, and sets the tube in the Hua Chi as before; after thirty days it is called chengshui. Another method first mixes the liuhuang with strong vinegar until it is slightly moist, places it in a bamboo tube, then adds one sheng of eighth-month mulberry dew and two liang of xiaoshi, seals the tube, and sets it in the Hua Chi as before; after thirty days it is called chengshui. A further method first moistens the liuhuang with strong vinegar, places it in a bamboo tube, adds two liang of xiaoshi, buries the tube underground as previously described, and after fifteen days calls the result chengshui, naming it “the restraint that envelops heaven.”

The chapter ends by listing only the three characters “Xiaoshi Water”; the remainder of the text was not copied.

Crush niter, sieve it, and soak it in salt until slightly moist. Pack it into a bamboo tube, seal the mouth tightly, and bury it four chi four cun underground. After five days it turns into water.

Another method takes three jin of niter and places it in an unworked bamboo tube whose walls have been thinned. Bind the mouth tightly with cord and bury the tube four chi deep in damp ground. After five days it turns into water.

A further method treats the niter and works it with earthworm blood until slightly moist. Pack it into a bamboo tube, seal the mouth with lacquer, and bury it three chi underground. After fifteen days it turns into water. The liquid is bitter and is called Yangxun.

White Quartz Water is prepared by placing one jin of white quartz, one sheng of crane blood, and four liang of niter together in a tube. Seal the mouth with lacquer and set the tube in the Flower Pond. After thirty days it turns into water.

Purple Quartz Water uses one jin of purple quartz packed into a bamboo tube with four liang of niter. Seal the mouth with lacquer and place the tube in the Flower Pond in the same manner as before. After forty days it turns into water.

Red Stone-Fat Water is made by packing one jin of red stone-fat and one jin of black quartz into a bamboo tube together with four liang of niter. Seal the mouth with lacquer and treat it as above in the Flower Pond. After forty days it turns into water.

Another Red Stone-Fat Water mixes one jin of red stone-fat with one sheng of black-dog blood, then adds four liang of niter. Pack the mixture into a tube, seal the mouth with lacquer, and place it in the Flower Pond as before. After thirty days it turns into water.

Mysterious Stone-Fat Water combines one jin of mysterious stone-fat with four liang of niter in a tube. Seal the mouth with lacquer as previously described and bury the tube five chi underground. After thirty days it turns into water.

Green Quartz Water places one jin of green quartz, one liang of azurite, and two liang of cinnabar together in a bamboo tube and sets it in the Flower Pond. After one hundred days it turns into water.

Stone-Cassia Flower Water combines one jin of stone-cassia flower with one sheng of ginger juice in a bamboo tube and places the tube in the Flower Pond. After ten days it turns into water.

Stone-Sulfur Elixir Water melts one jin of stone-sulfur elixir together with one jin of magnetite, packs the fused mass into a bamboo tube, and buries it. After ten days and ten nights it turns into water.

Purple Congratulatory Stone Water

Mix one jin of ziheshi with one sheng of hemp juice, pound it, and place it in a copper vessel; after ten days it will turn into water.

Huashi Water: Bury it, and after ten days and ten nights it will turn into water.

Ziheshi Water: Mix one jin of ziheshi with one sheng of hemp juice, pound it, and place it in a copper vessel; after ten days it will turn into water.

Huashi Water: Take one jin of huashi and two liang of cinnabar, place them together in a bamboo tube, and bury it about one zhang deep underground; after ten days it will turn into water.

Hanshuishi Water: Take one jin of hanshuishi and one liang of shidan, place them together in a bamboo tube and boil; after one day it will turn into water.

Ningshuishi Water: Take one jin of ningshuishi and one ge of qingliang blood, pound them, place in a bamboo tube, and bury in moist ground about three chi deep; after ten days it will turn into water.

Lingshi Water: Take one jin of lingshi and one sheng of bat droppings, pound them together, place in a bamboo tube, and bury it; after one hundred days it will turn into water.

Huashi Water: Take one jin of talc, one sheng of mica, and one sheng of rong salt, place them together in a bamboo tube, and bury it; after ten days it will turn into water.

Huang’ershi Water: Take one jin of huang’ershi and one sheng of dew from a hundred herbs in the eighth month, place them together in a bamboo tube, then immerse it in vinegar; after one hundred days it will turn into water.

Jiuzishi Water: Take one jin of jiuzishi and one sheng of lou juice, pound them, place in a copper vessel, and let stand for ten days; it will turn into water.

Lishi Water: Take one jin of lishi and one sheng of bamboo sap, place them together in a bamboo tube, seal the mouth tightly with lacquer, and bury about five chi deep underground; after thirty days it will turn into water.

Another method: First grind the lishi with pure vinegar until moist, then place it in an earthenware vessel and refine it over a charcoal fire for three days until it turns red. Process it further and put it into a bamboo tube, adding two liang of niter for each jin of lishi, seal the mouth tightly with lacquer, and bury about three chi deep; after twenty days it will turn into water.

Shinao Water: The original text here only lists the name, without giving a specific preparation method.

Shi nao (a mineral) one jin and sulfur one jin are combined, pounded to fragments, packed into a bamboo tube and buried; after ten days the mixture transforms into water.

Mica Water

Take one jin of processed mica powder together with two liang of guan water (original wording, meaning unclear) and one liang of shi water (original wording, meaning unclear). Stir and pound until the mixture is moist, pack it into a bamboo tube, and bury it five chi underground; after twenty days it transforms into water.

Another method

The processed mica powder is mixed and pounded with gui water, rong guan (original wording, meaning unclear) and water in equal proportions until moist, then packed into a bamboo tube. Two liang of niter are added and the mouth of the tube is sealed tightly with lacquer. It is buried three chi underground in the same manner as before and covered with yuan water (original wording) drawn from an empty well; after twenty-five days it transforms into water. Stored in a copper vessel in a damp place, the product is called Yunying Liquid and is used to condense and transform shi jiu ying (the mineral material named in the original).

Gold Water

One jin of gold and two jin of lüfan (green vitriol) are packed into a raw bamboo tube whose mouth is sealed tightly with lacquer, then placed in the Huachi (the pool or vessel employed in refining); after fifty days the contents transform into water.

White Silver Water

One jin of white silver, two sheng of wheat-sauce liquor, two sheng of pure wine and one sheng of chi shu mu ke wine (a wine name or original wording, meaning unclear) are packed together into a bamboo tube, sealed tightly with lacquer and placed in the Huachi according to the prescribed method; after thirty days they transform into water.

Lead-Tin Water

Lead is shaved into thin slices; two jin of the shavings are mixed with four liang of niter, packed into a tube, sealed tightly with lacquer and placed in the Huachi according to the prescribed method; after one hundred days the mixture transforms into water.

Jade-Powder Water

One jin of jade powder, one sheng of peony ash, one sheng of white-dog blood and ten navel toads are pounded and the juice extracted, then pounded together, packed into a bamboo tube, sealed with lacquer and placed in the Huachi according to the prescribed method; after thirty days the contents transform into water.

Another method

White jade that resembles fat is smeared with toad juice until it melts and becomes moist like bait. It is packed into a bamboo tube, sealed with lacquer and placed in the Huachi according to the prescribed method; after thirty days it transforms into water.

Another method

Take a piece of white jade that looks like fat and coat it with toad juice; the jade will melt and become as soft as bait. Grind it down, then blend it with crushed tangli pear fruit and toad juice. After one day and one night, it will turn into water.

Take the juice of the earth dragon (possibly an animal or medicinal substance) and mix it with mica water, then use this mixture to moisten jade powder. Place it in a copper vessel. After one night it will turn into water, known as “jade slurry.”

Lacquer Water

Take one sheng of lacquer and cover it with eighteen “large lodging crabs.” After fifty days it will turn into water.

Another Water

Take one jin of pure lacquer, place it in a copper vessel, and put eighteen “large lodging crabs” into the lacquer. After one night it will turn into water. Add one jin of mica powder; after another night it will again turn into water. Then add three jin of powdered white jade shavings, and after three days it will turn into water, known as “divine slurry.” With this medicinal liquid, it is said, one can see through all things, discern the marvelous with perfect clarity, and cast light across the four seas, with nowhere that remains beyond reach.

Cassia Water

Take one jin of cassia powder, add three sheng of scallion juice, place them together in a bamboo tube, and steam. After three days and three nights it will turn into water.

Another Method

Grind cassia shavings and moisten them with white scallion juice, then add mountain dew, rainwater, snow water, or water that has flowed from a thousand li away. Use these waters to blend mica and cassia powder until moist, and place the mixture in a fresh bamboo tube. For every jin of material add two liang of niter, seal the tube in rice, and steam. After three days and three nights it will turn into water, known as “wood and stone obtained.”

Salt Water Method

The original text continues at this point: place the materials in a fresh bamboo tube, add two liang of niter for each jin, seal in rice and steam; after three days and three nights it turns into water, known as “wood and stone obtained.” The preceding passage, however, appears to have omissions or disordered slips, and the materials referred to are unclear.

Salt Water Method

Sift the salt fine and moisten it with water. Pare a bamboo tube thin enough to hold the salt, then seal the mouth tightly. Bury the tube four chi and four cun deep in the earth and pour water over it. After four days it will turn into water.

The above are the thirty-six methods of making waters. Ancient editions omitted the more cumbersome material and retained only the brief, easily followed methods. Among the various minerals there are also names unknown to the world, and they are not all required for refining elixirs. The fifteen kinds noted in the text belong to the range listed later; because the stone names are the same, they are gathered together here.

Chalcanthite Water

Take one jin of shidan (a mineral), repeatedly moisten it with pure vinegar, place it in a bamboo tube, then spread two liang of niter over it and seal the mouth of the tube tightly with lacquer. Take a jar used for holding rice, fill it with vinegar, insert the bamboo tube, and bury the whole three chi underground. After fifteen days it transforms into liquid, called Yunliang Shidan Water.

Take one jin of shidan, moisten it with pure vinegar and place it in a bamboo tube, spread two liang of niter on top, and seal the mouth tightly with lacquer. Then put the bamboo tube into a bottle filled with vinegar and bury it three chi underground; after fifteen days it becomes water, called Yunliang Shixun. (This passage is essentially a repetition of the preceding one; “shixun” is suspected to be a variant reading or scribal error.)

Copper-Green Water. Moisten copper green (verdigris or a copper-bearing mineral) with Five-Xun Water and place it in a bamboo tube; for every jin of copper green add two liang of niter, seal the mouth with lacquer, and bury it according to the previous method. After fifteen days it turns into water; remove it and steam-refine it, producing what is called Hualong Xi. The liquid is turquoise-green and is also known as Yunying Xun.

Rong-Salt Water. Take one jin of rong salt (a saline mineral), moisten it with tulong juice (a liquid named in the original text), and place it in a bamboo tube; add three liang of niter per jin, seal the mouth with lacquer, and bury it three chi underground. After fifteen days it transforms into water.

Brine-Salt Water. Moisten luyan (a bittern-like saline substance) with pure wine, place it in an iron vessel, and boil-refine it over charcoal for three days and three nights until a red color appears, then process it further. Place it in a bamboo tube, add two liang of niter per jin, seal with lacquer, and bury three chi underground. After fifteen days it becomes water, called Jinliu Liquid. (The original here contains repetitions and is fragmentary; the foregoing is arranged from the still-legible portions.)

Iron-Flower Water. Take iron flower (the rust layer on iron objects or a related mineral), treat and moisten it with Yunying Salt Water, and place it in a bamboo tube; add two liang of niter per jin, seal the mouth with lacquer, insert the tube into a vinegar-filled bottle, and bury it three chi underground. After forty-five days it transforms into water, called Xuanling Jinci Xi Water, which is said to enable one to attain the Dao and become an immortal.

Lead-Gang Water.

Take five scoops of frost and snow and mix them into Jinweng Huafen (the name of a refining material in the original text). Then blend with Yunying saline water (the name of a medicinal liquid in the original text) until the materials are slightly moistened. Place this into a bamboo tube, adding two liang of nitre for every jin of material, and seal the mouth of the tube tightly. Put the bamboo tube into a Pang bottle (the name of a vessel) filled with vinegar, then bury it three chi deep underground. Warm it with a fire of horse dung (matong) for thirty days, and it can be made into “water.” The original text repeats this paragraph.

Gang Water

Process accumulated snow by mixing it with Huangqing mercury (the name of a material in the original text) until slightly moistened. For every jin of gang powder add three liang of mercury. Place it into a bamboo tube and seal the mouth tightly, then put it into a Xian bottle (the name of a vessel) filled with vinegar. Bury it three chi underground and warm it with a horse-dung fire for thirty days, whereupon it will produce a water called “Liujing.” The original text states that if this formula is followed in a deep and secluded place, “it will succeed even in ten thousand attempts”; the meaning of this sentence is unclear.

Gaoqiri (as written in the original, meaning unclear) says: One should first pour five-stone wine into a place where the water flow remains still. If there is no flowing water in the locality, dig a well and likewise pour the wine into the well in order to stabilize the earthly Qi (vital energy), so that all practitioners may drink this water. The original text then says “fahuoyinghuo ye” and explains that when adding fire the bran fire should reach a thickness of one cun. This section of the text contains repetitions and omissions, and the meaning is not sufficiently clear.

When transmitting the sacred Jing (scripture/classic) (the original term, perhaps referring to the transmission of sacred scriptures), one must always observe the agreed-upon fasting (zhai) and establish a covenant. Use one liang of gold fish, jade dragon and silver rings to substitute for the oath that involved cutting hair and smearing blood. Nowadays these tokens no longer exist in the world, yet the ritual cannot be omitted on that account. Therefore one should solemnly use forty chi of green cloth as the token for the gold fish and forty chi of silk as the token for the silver rings and jade dragon. These must also be presented to the teacher who transmits the scriptures. The teacher should distribute them to the guests in the mountains and must not keep them for personal use, in order to demonstrate observance of the heavenly covenant and never privately occupying them. Violation of the covenant will be punished according to the laws of the Four Poles.

Taboo Days for Making the Elixir (days that should be avoided when refining the elixir)

In spring, Wuchen days are unsuitable, as are Dingsi, Wushen, and Jisi days in summer along with Chou, Wei, and Chen days; Wuxu, Jihai, Xinhai, and Gengzi days in autumn; and Wuyin, Jimao, and Guiyou days in winter along with Wei and Xu days. Moreover, Ren, Bing, Wu, Ding, and Hai days, as well as Earth days, Wu-Gui days, and Xinsi days, together with days marked as rijian, risha, fanzhi, yuanji, mengzhong, jiyue, shoubi, huishuo, shangshuo, bakui, wangwang, liuhou, and the like, are all inauspicious. Medicines cannot be successfully prepared on these days. The compounding of six-one mud, a clay employed in Daoist alchemical operations, pharmaceutical production, and similar rites, likewise requires the selection of an auspicious day.