《丹房奥论》

I believe that the Great Medicine of the Golden Elixir (Jindan)—the fundamental medicine for refining Neidan (internal alchemy)—accords above with the laws of the ascent and descent of Yin-Yang, and below conforms to the principle whereby things mutually greet and pair with one another. What the sages called “investigating things to extend knowledge,” in the final analysis, likewise cannot be separated from the principle of mother and child generating one another and of husband and wife pairing together. In refining the elixir one must rely upon the impartial power of Water and Fire, combining the essences of the two medicines Lead and Mercury; one must further use True Earth to subdue Lead and True Lead to control Mercury, then match this with the corresponding methods of operation and fire timing, and only thus can one transcend the ordinary, enter sagehood, and return from old age to youth.

Later students of elixir refinement do not recognize True Earth or True Lead, nor do they understand the methods of operation and fire timing; they merely seek rare herbs and plants of the mundane world. Thus people become confused, each stating private opinions, recklessly displaying their techniques, transmitting errors from one to another, until their hair turns white and they achieve nothing whatsoever—truly a cause for sighing.

From youth I have admired the lofty Dao (the Way) and taken pleasure in hearing of the Great Dao, seeking teachers and visiting friends in all directions, yet I was never able to fathom its profundities. Later, in the Wuwu year of Tianxi (following the original chronology), while going out to take up an official post in Jinling, I encountered the immortal master, the Perfected One Wei Junyan of the Dipper, and received transmission of the marvelous method of the Taiqing Six-One Purple Void Nine Elixirs, together with the oral instructions concerning creation and transformation. Afterwards I returned to Huxiang, proceeded to Nanyue to perform a Zhaijiao (purification ritual) in thanksgiving to the celestial Perfected Ones, and cultivated in accordance with the oral instructions; the methods described were verified one by one. From this I knew that the methods of operation and fire timing are not easily transmitted to the people of the world, and therefore later students often cannot glimpse the gateway within.

I dare not privately hide these secret methods. Respectfully I have gathered the oral instructions transmitted by my master and the results already verified into a book, titling it Danfang Aolun (Profound Discourses of the Elixir Chamber). Those who obtain this book ought not to leak it rashly or treat it with negligence, but should treasure it and store it with care. After reading it, if one is able thereby to analogize and comprehend deeply, it will indeed be of help to those who share the same aspiration.

Composed by Xuexianzi Cheng Liaoyi on the Shangyuan of gengshen in the fourth year of Tianxi.

Composed by Xuexianzi Cheng Liaoyi.

On True Earth and Ordinary Earth

Earth occupies the central position of Heaven and Earth; its function is to gather the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) and nourish all things. Metal is generated because of Earth, Wood flourishes because of Earth, Water comes to a halt upon meeting Earth, and Fire is extinguished upon meeting Earth. Those who refine the elixir cannot do without Earth, otherwise the elixir medicine is difficult to complete and one cannot refine this “deathless” sulfur sprout. It is as impossible as a farmer hoping to harvest crops without tilling the fields. Therefore the worthies of former generations put forward the notion of “True Earth” (zhen tu) in order to enlighten later learners; it is something that must be understood.

The so-called Eight Stones are minerals that take their Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) from Heaven and form their physical bodies in the earth. Their nature prefers Yin and fears Yang; upon meeting fire they fly away, their destination unknown. If they are boiled and refined with plants and woods and then warmed and nurtured with metals and stones so that they retain their form and congeal their quality, they become as firm and enduring as Heaven and Earth, lasting together with the sun and moon. Using them to transmute the Five Metals and to refine and nourish various medicines likewise turns those substances into treasures. This is called “True Earth.” Magnetite, shizhonghuang, yangqishi and the like may also be used as the outer container (the outer vessel in which medicines are placed and warmed during elixir refinement) to nourish the medicines. These minerals, however, are stubborn and dull in form and quality, foolish and turbid in temperament, so their efficacy does not correspond.

2. On True Lead and Ordinary Lead

The Perfected Person (Zhenren) said: “True lead (an alchemical term referring to the special medicinal substance obtained from the refining process) differs from the lead of the mundane world. Cultivation depends entirely on according with and making use of the creative transformations of heaven and earth. A single elixir cauldron may conceal the dragon and the tiger, from which one realizes that heaven and earth, the entire cosmos, seem encompassed within it.”

This statement elucidates the profundity of true lead. Ordinary people, unaware of what true lead actually is, remain fixated on lead minerals such as yellow lead and Shao powder. Some extract silver from lead and gold from cinnabar, holding that provided the original black substance has not yet been lost, it is true lead. This view is far removed from the Dao of elixir making.

True lead consists of mercury in its single flavor alone, with nothing else. The mercury must first be detached from the mother Qi (vital energy) of its original mineral, then placed within a container made of true earth (a vessel for sealing and storing medicinal substances). After prolonged gentle warming and nourishment, it solidifies into form when it meets fire. Once formed, it is hard, produces a ringing sound, neither shatters nor is consumed. It is reputed to revive the dead and restore youth to the aged; even broken tiles and rubble instantly become precious treasures upon contact with it. Only this substance deserves the name true lead; it is the foundation of the five metals and the ancestral drug of the returned elixir.

Should ordinary black lead be used as a medicinal agent, it will instead injure the elixir medicines. Incorrect methods of use will cause the accompanying medicines to become weak and ineffectual as well, so that in the end they must be discarded, and remedy is thereafter extremely difficult. Elixir refiners must exercise particular caution here.

In distinguishing true mercury from elixir mercury, the Eight Stones Materia Medica records that cinnabar is the gold fluid contained within yin, produced when the black Qi intersecting the Li palace (a term from the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) denoting the southern position associated with fire) descends into the earth and congeals as mercury. It relies upon the fire of the south as its essential body. Hence the Perfected Person obtains mercury from cinnabar for the purpose of refinement. Practitioners of elixir work should investigate this teaching in depth.

The Bencao records that cinnabar is formed when the golden liquid within Yin intersects with the Qi (vital energy) of the Li Palace. It sinks into the earth, condenses into mercury, and then, drawing upon the Qi of the south, becomes cinnabar. Therefore the Perfected extract mercury from cinnabar and, through refinement, produce the elixir. The scripture says: “Extract mercury from cinnabar, then calcine the mercury back into cinnabar; within the womb it absorbs the Qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), and through fire-refinement the yellow sprouts appear.” This is precisely what is meant.

To refine the Great Elixir, one must first possess True Mercury. The scripture says: “In all cultivation, one must first subdue the inner mind; in all refinement, one must first subdue mercury.” Here “mercury” refers to quicksilver, that is, the mercury obtained from cinnabar, which the immortal scriptures call “True Mercury.” Ordinary people do not investigate its origin and casually combine it with sulfur. Although they can refine numinous cinnabar, when they further attempt to restore it and cause it to revert, errors readily arise. This is what Perfected Ge meant by “seeking only the red marrow”; here “red marrow” refers to the mercury within cinnabar.

Those who refine elixirs today likewise fail to examine the differences in how deeply or shallowly cinnabar has received the Qi of heaven and earth. When the Qi of heaven, earth, and the Five Phases gathers in the numinous and outstanding places among mountains and rivers, it forms gold, jade, auspicious herbs, and sweet springs. Cinnabar and mercury in particular are condensations of the essential Qi of heaven and earth. Calculated by the length of years and months, they differ greatly from ordinary materials. The scripture holds that the true liquid and the Qi of the Li Palace take more than a thousand years to condense into mercury, and another thousand-odd years to form cinnabar—just as pine resin buried underground becomes amber after a thousand years. If one uses ordinary mercury for refinement, how could it be of the same kind and same substance as True Mercury? Ordinary materials and genuine materials differ by an accumulated refinement process spanning hundreds or thousands of years; the cycles of circulation must pass through many rounds before the Jing (essence) and Qi they lack can be replenished. From this it is clear that the two differ greatly.

Fourth Discourse: The Three Cinnabars

Generally speaking, using mercury to refine a treasure differs from producing genuine material by an accumulated refinement process of hundreds or thousands of years; many cycles of circulation must be completed before the Jing and Qi it lacks can be replenished. From this it is evident that the difference between the two is marked.

To refine mercury so that it coagulates and transmutes into treasure, the “child” and the “mother” must cling to each other, unwilling to part, and the “husband” and the “wife” must also unite; only then can the elixir be achieved. Seeking the elixir without these conditions is impossible. Here sulfur is called the “husband” of mercury, while gold and silver are called its “mother”: when mercury obtains sulfur its substance becomes firm; when it obtains gold and silver its substance becomes full. This is the way of husband-and-wife and child-and-mother spoken of in the text.

The bond between “child and mother” emphasizes mutual reliance, yet they may separate when conditions are right; the bond between “husband and wife” emphasizes affection, and by principle they cannot be parted. Therefore, although cinnabar and lingsha come from different places of origin, both are substances formed by the combination of sulfur and mercury and possess the so-called condition of husband and wife uniting. Even after they have been boiled and refined with herbal medicines without being processed by numinous medicines, as long as they are then wrapped and nurtured with minerals such as salt, alum, nitre, magnetite, and yellow from within stone, they can still withstand fire and melt into liquid, yet they cannot be refined into the so-called treasure.

If mother sand can receive black mercury, it can also be refined to the point of “arriving home,” that is, reaching the state required by the process. Mother sand is formed by the joining of mother and mercury; after being boiled and refined with plants, salt, alum, vinegar and the like it becomes hard. Then, using plum pits, stone lotus balls and similar items as a kui (a vessel for wrapping and nurturing the medicines) in calcination, it can withstand hammering. Yet if it encounters a fierce fire followed by sudden cooling, the mercury will escape, leaving only the mother sand. This happens because the mother sand first dries out upon meeting fire, thereby forcing the mercury to flee. The method is not only useless but actually harmful.

Alchemists of recent times do not understand the underlying reasons and simply treat mother sand as a convenient shortcut. Clarifying the profound and subtle principles involved is indeed not easy. When mercury is refined into treasure its efficacy is the same as that of granular processing (sanzhi). Therefore mother sand must be processed and nurtured with true lead and other numinous kui, or else calcined in close contact so that it truly coagulates and becomes firm, able to endure high-temperature smelting without dispersing—this is called “relying on the mother for granular processing.” Even if the mother sand has already been firmly prepared with true lead and then warmly nurtured in a numinous kui, if the medicines used are not sufficiently pure and marvelous it will still shatter upon calcination, and mother and child will separate as before. What use would that be?

Nowadays some people take cinnabar refined with herbal medicines together with the two sands nurtured by the elixir, place the two sands in close contact as mother sand, then seal them inside plum pits and calcine them. If they manage to retain even a little mercury they claim the mother sand has been refined into treasure. They do not realize that what remains is actually mercury that has been turned out from the two sands, not the mercury originally contained in the mother sand itself.

Nevertheless, although ganqi sand takes form with the aid of mother sand, it is not bound by the mother sand and can transform of its own accord; it does not immediately fly away when it meets fire. If it is boiled and refined with herbal medicines until firm, it must still be placed in a water-fire ding for calcination and nurturing so that it can withstand the force of the fire, then transferred to a numinous kui for warm nurturing; in this way success comes more easily. The essential secrets of elixir refining have already been stated quite clearly; those who study the art must put it into practice themselves in order to understand it truly.

When refining the Three Yellows (sulfur, realgar, and orpiment), one must understand the properties of the medicinal substances and the fire phasing. If one does not grasp that medicinal natures may be mild or intense and that the fire may be light or heavy, the substances will be burned to ashes, and regret will then come too late.

Sulfur is endowed with pure yang Qi (vital energy), condensed from the Jing-Qi (essence and vital energy) of fire and stone. It has strong fluidity, contains fierce toxicity within, readily disperses upon meeting fire, and is the most difficult to control. Therefore, in the apparatus of medicine refining, sulfur is called the “General,” meaning it possesses the function of quelling disorder and regulating medicinal properties. If boiled with sacred herbs and then forged with a great fire, it can be made truly to “die,” that is, its toxicity and activity are suppressed. Yet its toxicity is fierce and not easily eliminated completely; if used directly to nourish and refine other minerals, it may instead cause damage. Sulfur resembles a general who is hard to restrain yet prone to lose potency: even after a thousand years its majesty still commands awe and cannot be lightly affronted.

Continue adding fire to nourish and refine the sulfur until the black and brown colors recede, the hue transforming according to the changes of the herbal medicines into a pure golden color, a cinnabar red, or a snow-white, after which it may be used. The scripture holds that sulfur treated in this manner can remove deviant natures, restore the medicinal properties to rectitude, dissolve stagnation, establish yang Jing (essence), and dissipate the yin po (corporeal soul).

Realgar leans toward Yang and lacks Yin, while orpiment leans toward Yin and lacks Yang. Practitioners of elixir alchemy call this quality “solitary Yin and widowed Yang.” Although they are relatively easy to subdue, it is difficult to refine them thoroughly to the “dead” state. They should first be boiled with herbal medicines, then slowly nourished and refined with added fire. Even when brought to “death,” they still require combination with processed gall and dead mercury together with other substances in order to be used for transmutation; if one wishes to nourish and refine other materials, they must be combined with cinnabar and sulfur. Hence, in medicine refining, realgar is regarded as an assisting official: although it possesses numinous efficacy, it cannot independently exert complete results and is difficult to use in isolation from other medicines. The scripture records these points specifically to remind practitioners to take heed.

Six: On the Three Whites

The scriptures say that paosha (a mineral medicine used in refining elixirs) can restrain the other metals among the five metals, all of which fear it; attaching it to pifen (the name of an elixir ingredient in the scriptures) enables it to exert the function of transforming all things. It is also said that pishuangcao can cause the medicines to “fu zhen si” (the state of being refined to stability with no further change, as described in the scriptures), and can be used to transmute copper into silver. It is most compatible with fenshuang (a frost-like substance refined from mercury); when further combined with paosha, it can be refined into a superior elixir.

Worldly people regard this as nothing more than a means of transmuting Danyang (the name of an elixir or alchemical material), yet they do not know that once paosha has been refined to “true death,” even prolonged nurturing and refining produces no toxicity. If it is further steamed and nurtured with muhei (a mother material so designated in alchemy), it can also transform and subdue various mineral ores. Using it to nurture and refine the male and female materials of danshi inside the kui (a sealed vessel for nurturing and refining elixirs) is called the Five Spirits Divine Elixir (Wuling Shendan), which can turn white into yellow and whose efficacy is especially remarkable.

Fenshuang takes mercury as its sole raw material and is refined into a frost-like substance with the aid of salt, alum, and nitre; the elixir scriptures call it “Divine Snow” (Shenxue). Some also say that, combined with caosi pi and together serving as the elixir head (dantou, the principal ingredient placed in the furnace during alchemy), it is put into the divine chamber (shenshi, the sealed container used in alchemy) and slowly nurtured with a gentle fire until it reaches the “dead” state, whereupon its efficacy becomes even greater and it becomes true lead. How could its efficacy be limited merely to changing the bones?

However, fenshuang is yin in essence and extremely difficult to subdue, not easily refined to true stability. Without fire-subdued cinnabar (fuhuo zhusha, cinnabar that has been subdued through fire-refining), it cannot be made to take definite form. In sum, it must still rely on muhei to succeed; departing from the mother material and losing yang qi, there is absolutely no possibility of success. The scriptures say that fenshuang is the refining of a yin substance by means of yin materials; although a trace of yang qi is present, it is still nothing other than the truly refined “three yellows” (sanhuang). Materials such as divine sand (shensha) and silver, without the spiritual root (linggen, the key mother material spoken of in alchemy) cannot be refined into treasures; without subduing chu they cannot be softened; without subduing paosha they cannot be made soft and moist.

I once read these accounts and therefore often combined fenshuang with pi and paosha to refine a fetus, placing it in the four-spirits kui to nurture for more than a hundred days, then using it to transmute Danyang, with the result that all were refined into gold. That its numinous transformations could be so remarkable—how could this be easily mastered?

Seventh discourse on the use of lead.

The immortal scriptures say: “One must use lead, yet one cannot use lead directly; one should apply effort within the lead. When the time comes to truly use the lead, if one treats the lead as lead and uses it as such, that is instead a mistake.” Some who read this may feel puzzled: since using lead is wrong, then it cannot be used; yet why must one apply effort in the lead? This is not the immortals deliberately speaking in obscure terms, but rather that ordinary people do not understand the method of using it. As long as one has mastered the method of using lead, why worry that the elixir cannot be successfully refined? Those who study elixir refining should first comprehend this principle and then proceed according to it.

Silver is generated from within lead. When lead and silver have not yet separated and still reside in the same embryonic body, Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy) are intermingled, and they can be used to seal and nourish mercury and other medicinal substances, making successful refinement possible. Once lead and silver have separated, the original primordial Qi has already dispersed; lead is merely lead, and silver is merely silver. At this time, if one abandons the silver and seeks only the lead, rashly intending to refine a treasure by relying on lead alone, where under heaven is there such a principle?

The method is to take three parts of lead and four parts of silver, pound them together into powder, then boil them with numinous herbs, and continuously advance the fire for nourishing and refining, causing the Shen and Qi within them to reunite. Only afterward can one seal and nourish cinnabar, numinous sand, or prepare lead sand, and then place it into the “mother vessel” (a container used for sealing, storing, and nourishing and refining the medicinal substances). Place the mother sand into the lead vessel, and after a long period of nourishing and refining, it becomes possible to refine a treasure; but without sufficient years and months, success is likely to be difficult.

Any of the Eight Stones (the mineral medicinal substances used in elixir refining) that have previously been nourished and refined in the mother vessel have already been refined to the point that their true nature has perished and they have lost their vitality. If they are then placed into the lead vessel and nourished and refined for more than a month, their efficacy will be doubled compared to ordinary refining methods. Medicinal substances that have already been refined into treasures can also be placed into the lead vessel for further nourishing and refining; alternatively, first use medicinal substances capable of sensing and drawing forth the lead Qi to cause them to congeal and lose vitality, then place them into the lead vessel and nourish and refine for more than a month, and the efficacy will likewise be doubled. If one uses medicinal substances that can cause the lead Qi to coagulate as the key aperture and gradually smelts and refines them, it may be possible to avoid depletion of the medicinal substances.

Alas, the dragon conceals itself in the belly of the snake, the mother hides within the embryo of the child; the transformations of the myriad things involve both receiving and sending forth. This mystery of creative transformation—if it is not the most marvelous power under heaven, then who else could take part in it?

Eighth Discourse: On Using the Mother

To cultivate the Golden Elixir (Jindan) by drawing upon the transformations of heaven, earth, and the myriad things, the key lies in employing mercury. One must also rely on the “mother” to protect its innate nature. Just as an infant in the mother’s womb requires the nourishment of Shen-Qi and warmth in order to take form gradually, the art of elixir refining therefore likens gold, silver, and mercury to mother and child.

Mercury is light in nature, readily volatilizes, and easily changes according to external things, making it difficult to control. One must first refine cinnabar and lingsha into an elixir foundation and only then subdue the mercury so that it enters a state of ceaseless generation and transformation. The method is first to boil and refine it with numinous herbs and then to apply fire. If after firing it remains motionless, the great Jing within has turned into fluid, and the embryonic color is unchanged, the requirement has been met. One then adds the “gold mother” (the maternal substance used to incubate the elixir foundation) and nourishes it over a long period; the great elixir may then be hoped for. If flames still appear when it is heated on the fire, this shows that the sulfur Qi has not yet been subdued. Using the “mother” to incubate it at this stage will instead produce the situation in which the child mercury swallows the maternal substance and depletes the mother body. Once the mother body suffers loss, the primordial Qi weakens—how then could longevity be attained? The essential point is therefore to let the child mercury receive the mother’s Qi without devouring or wasting the mother body. The maternal substance is the root of elixir work: if the maternal substance is present but cannot perform its function, the refining will not be efficacious; without the maternal substance the work cannot be completed.

Some people believe that sulfur does not corrode gold and therefore use gold directly as mother to incubate cinnabar and lingsha, expecting to obtain an elixir. They do not realize that gold is utterly hard and mercury utterly soft; their natures are contrary and they are difficult to unite, so time is wasted and no treasure is produced. Hence when refining cinnabar one must not use calcined gold directly. Cinnabar and lingsha should be incubated with maternal substance, first employing silver and afterwards “Geng” (here referring to the metallic material used in elixir refining); this is called “golden sinews and jade bones.” If silver is discarded and only gold is used, and if moreover there is no guidance from an enlightened master, success is difficult.

I learned from the oral formulas that when the sulfur Qi has not yet been subdued one must first allow it to swallow and consume mercury and only then bring it into contact with the maternal substance. For every four liang of silver add one liang of fen shuang, grind them uniformly together, and prepare the “kui” (the vessel or admixture that holds the elixir materials) used for refining and incubation; then employ this to incubate the cinnabar and lingsha. Although the sulfur Qi has already consumed the mercury, its strength is thereby diminished and it has no remaining force to corrode the maternal substance. This is called “adding the child to assist the mother,” also known as “the astonished woman embracing the infant.”

As for the principle of incubating cinnabar and lingsha with gold, although gold and mercury are opposite in hardness and softness and do not readily combine, prolonged association may gradually bring them into harmony. People of the world fail when they incubate sand materials with gold because they do not understand that gold becomes dry upon meeting fire while mercury flies away upon meeting fire; the two cannot remain together for long, their Jing and Qi cannot intermingle, and therefore the elixir cannot be refined. For every four liang of gold add two liang of fen shuang, grind them fine, and use the mixture to incubate cinnabar and lingsha. Although gold tends to become dry, it will not yet do so; although mercury tends to fly away, it will not yet do so. The two can thus remain together for a long time and gradually harmonize, making the completion of an elixir possible.

After I grasped the principle I personally repeated the experiments many times, and the results confirmed it in every case. One must not suddenly increase the intensity of the fire, or the mercury will readily fly away and the work will fail. A gentle fire should be used for slow incubation. If fen shuang is lacking, “mother mercury congealed into sand” may be substituted. After the work is finished, in order to restore the elixir material and remove the maternal substance, it may be buried in an earth pit for one or two days so as to eliminate fire poison. The later text also discusses the treatment of metals: gold is coated on top with green salt and then calcined with a strong fire; four liang of silver, one liang of mercury, two liang of black lead, and a little yemingsha are calcined together, after which furnace soot is added so that the materials will not be damaged or the refining obstructed.

Ninth Cycle: Borrowing

An ancient saying states: “If a household possesses thoroughly dead Three Yellows, there is no need to acquire farmland.” Another says: “If a household has truly thoroughly dead pi, gold and silver will rot like mud.” These words originally carry obscure meanings; the principle of “borrowing” (jiajie) they contain is profound and subtle, not easy to grasp.

Many in the world practice cultivation. Could it really be that among truly thoroughly dead Three Yellows and pi not even one or two suitable kinds can be found? Even when they are found, the elixir still cannot be refined—why? Because the method of “borrowing” has not been mastered. Sparrows cannot give birth to phoenixes, nor can foxes and rabbits give birth to horses; without the true parental medicines, whatever is refined remains false in the end.

Some today obtain only a single medicine, take it as already truly thoroughly dead, and try to use it to control mercury into treasure. After long failure they blame the medicines for being ineffective. This is not the medicines’ fault, but because they have not been fumigated, steamed, nourished and refined with a “mother” medicine, leaving their jing (essence) and qi (vital energy) incomplete.

When refining male and female sulfur and pi it is unnecessary to let them die completely; their medicinal nature must still be retained. First nourish their form with gold as mother, then supplement their blackness with silver as mother, and afterwards use them to convert and nourish cinnabar, lingsha, powder frost, mercury teeth and other medicines that lack a “mother”; these too can be refined into treasures. The sequence here—gold first, silver afterwards—differs from the “silver first then gold” method of the earlier Mother chapter. Why? Because mercury readily becomes intimate with gold.

Borax, niter and similar medicines can be made to submit to fire by processing; nourished and refined with silver as mother they can likewise control mercury medicines. Even if such medicines are already truly thoroughly dead, without nourishment and refinement by a mother medicine they can only convert other minerals. If the goal is to dry and congeal mercury into treasure, the two cases cannot be treated as the same.

Tenth Discussion: Controlling and Converting

Cultivators need not worry that mother medicines are hard to refine; the real difficulty lies in conversion. Once the principle of conversion is understood, even a medicine already refined into “dead medicine”—if not nourished and refined by a mother medicine—can only convert other minerals. Making mercury dry and congeal into treasure is not the same matter.

Practitioners of cultivation need not worry that the “mother” medicine is difficult to prepare; the true difficulty lies in mastering the laws of transformation and subjugation. Once these laws are understood, one can proceed from one to ten and from ten to a hundred, allowing the changes to continue without interruption. This is what is meant by grasping the crucial point, whereby many things can be accomplished; how could this be an easy matter? Nowadays some people fail to comprehend the underlying principles, making arbitrary conjectures and practicing blindly, remaining completely ignorant even into old age—truly lamentable.

Although the five metals and eight stones (the metallic and mineral medicines spoken of in elixir alchemy) are said to subdue one another, some among them can be subdued while others cannot; the key lies in the specific methods. The scriptures say: “Sulfur nourishes realgar, the Dao (the Way) lies in sameness; orpiment nourishes realgar, each bound to the west.” They also say: “If sand nourishes sand, then the sand breaks; if sand irrigates mercury, then the sand lives.” Without transmission from a master, even those as intelligent as Yan Hui or Min Ziqian would find these sayings difficult to grasp.

The secret of transformation and control lies in the “Divine Water” (shenshui) and “Flower Pond” (huachi) (alchemical terms referring to two states arising in the interaction of lead and mercury). The scriptures state that adding lead to mercury is called the “Flower Pond,” while adding mercury to lead is called the “Divine Water.” Ancient elixir alchemists compared medicines already refined to true death with lead, and those not yet refined to true death with mercury. Using lead to subdue mercury allows the form of mercury to remain complete; using mercury to nourish lead increases the vital force of lead. Only when the two mutually benefit each other can one hope to attain longevity. The Perfected One said: “Nourish Shen (spirit) with Shen, emerge from the secluded and enter the obscure; supplement Qi (vital energy) with Qi, and lifespan equals that of heaven and earth.” This likewise speaks of the same principle. Nowadays some people take salt, alum, and dew as “Divine Water” and “Flower Pond,” using them to bathe medicines already refined to true death—truly ridiculous. Therefore the ancient sages concealed these methods in secrecy and did not transmit them lightly to the world; cultivators especially ought to distinguish them with care.

If the eight stones have already been refined to true death, they must be further nourished so that they may recover their numinous nature. Because they originally endured the toxicity of medicines and the forcing of fire, their forms became withered and their Jing (essence) and Qi depleted, one must add medicines of the same kind to nourish them, restoring their Shen and Qi and preserving their forms, after which they can be used to transform other minerals. Only the two sands, cinnabar (zhusha) and numinous sand (lingsha), originally formed from the combination of sulfur and mercury, have natures prone to withering and thus are difficult to transform. One must understand the marvel of “if sand nourishes sand, then the sand breaks; if sand irrigates mercury, then the sand lives.”

Even if cinnabar and numinous sand have already been refined to true death, should one wish to use sand to nourish sand or sand to irrigate mercury, one must first stir-fry them with sulfur, then add herbal medicines and boil-refine them; continue adding fire for nourishment, and only after they have been fully refined into liquid can they be used to enclose and nourish “raw sand” (sand not yet refined to true death) or serve as the foundation for elixir making. After using it to drench the “sprouts” (medicines that have just taken form) three or four times, one must still follow the previous method and refine again with sulfur, so that the medicinal nature becomes lasting and does not collapse and disperse.

Some say: “If one yellow is refined to death, the other yellows can all be successfully refined; if one yellow is not refined to death, the other yellows will all fly away.” This statement is not accurate. Only if sulfur is truly refined to true death can it then be used to transform other minerals; only if realgar is truly refined to true death can it then be used to transform orpiment. There is no such principle as “orpiment can nourish realgar, and realgar can nourish sulfur.”

Worldly people know only that truly dead “pi” (an original term whose specific referent is unclear) can nourish powder and transmute bones, yet they do not know that using it to nourish the two yellows and transmute geng (alchemical terms referring to related processes of medicinal transformation) is even more convenient. Therefore ancient books have the saying “If a household possesses dead pi, gold and silver become like mud.” If powder frost is refined to true death, its efficacy is the same as that of true lead, and it should not be limited merely to transmuting bones. Students ought to distinguish and comprehend this for themselves; there is no need to say more.

“Pouring-and-sprinkling” (jiaolin) is also a method of transformation. After the Eight Minerals have undergone subduing fire (fuhuo) treatment, they can all be further transformed. Among these methods, only pouring-and-sprinkling must employ two kinds of cinnabar (dansha)—vermilion cinnabar (zhusha) and numinous cinnabar (lingsha). First, herbal medicines are used to subdue their fiery nature; then they are placed in the mother medicine (muyao) for cultivation, until they are truly “dead-subdued” and transformed into liquid, at which point they can be made into a treasure. Afterward one must continue to rely upon the power of the mother medicine, cultivating and refining over a long period so that their Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) become abundant and their foundation firm, thus becoming the elixir base (danji). Only in this way can the mother medicine grow robust and the child medicine become numinous and wondrous, and thereby may one pursue longevity.

If the method of preparation is not in accord and the warming-nurturing (wenyang) has not been completed, then even the refining of a single substance cannot be accomplished, so how could multiple effects be achieved at once? People of the present day do not understand this method; they merely calculate the expense, even regarding the sparing use of mother medicine as a mark of cleverness, yet they do not know that the quantities and methods of processing for each material have their own established rules. If one is stingy in this manner, not only is there no benefit, but the efforts previously expended will also be wasted in vain.

To make an elixir base from the two kinds of cinnabar, one must repeatedly replace them with fresh mother medicine for cultivation. After cultivation they are taken out and sulfur is added for stir-frying, until the specified fire timing (huohou) is reached. Thereafter they are boiled in the original herbal juice, then subjected to dripping-refining and stir-frying, and placed in a water-fire cauldron (shuihuoding) to be refined into liquid.

When pouring and sprinkling, one must observe whether the cinnabar is thirsty and dry, and whether the mercury has formed sprouts. After the first pouring, wait for a period of time and then open the cauldron to inspect. If the cinnabar is still thirsty and dry and the mercury has not yet formed sprouts, continue pouring. Repeat this several times, and judge success or failure according to the shape of the elixir sprouts (danya). If the shape resembles a dragon coiled and a tiger crouched, or luan-birds and phoenixes in flight, or like a jeweled forest of jade trees, these are all auspicious signs. If it presents a tomb-like form, or if there is an excess of mercury liquid, this indicates that the power of the elixir base has been exhausted. At this point one must quickly take out the elixir sprouts, leave the elixir base behind, and process it with sulfur according to the previous method.

If the extracted elixir sprouts contain mercury, one may extract true mercury from the cinnabar, grind it together with the elixir sprouts into powder, then boil and refine with sulfur, adding a small amount of mother-medicine tablets as well as a little raw male-female medicinal substances. Seal and enclose according to the original method and place in the furnace for cultivation; the mercury will then gather once more and become numinous sprouts (lingya). Repeat this pouring and refining many times; in the process one should also substitute raw cinnabar for mercury and continue refining. This practice is called “seven returns and nine reversions” (qifan jiuhuan).

Once the numinous sprouts have accumulated to a certain quantity, they are taken out, and mercury from the cinnabar together with a little raw male-female medicinal substances is added and boiled and refined with sulfur water. Then a “spirit chamber” (shenshi) is made of silver, the numinous sprouts are placed within it, and this is set into a container made of true earth (zhentu) and other materials for warming-nurturing. After a period of time, the numinous sprouts may be refined into a treasure. Taken out and divided into several portions, they are placed in the water-fire cauldron to be refined, and can thereby become new elixir bases. Thereafter one continues to pour, sprinkle, and refine according to the previous method, cycling without cease. This is what the ancient immortals meant by “the child begets the grandchild, and the grandchild in turn begets further grandchildren.”

At this stage, embryonic transformation (tuotai), change, and refining are all thereby realized. Worldly people have neither seen this with their own eyes nor recognized the principles within it, so how could they know when one has truly attained the Dao (the Way) and returned home? Those who study the Dao should not regard this matter as ordinary, but should apply themselves with earnest attention.

The terms “subduing fire,” “mother medicine,” “elixir base,” “numinous sprouts,” and the like here are all ancient Waidan (external alchemy) terminology. The text involves mercury, sulfur, and heating-refining; it is a historical record of elixir-making and should not be followed as a practical operation.

The “Twelve Discourses on Transmutation” discusses the theory in Daoist Waidan (external alchemy) of using elixirs to alter the properties of metals. The text compares this transformation to dyeing: the medicinal substance must penetrate inward before the material can change; if the elixir can enter deep into the marrow, it can likewise transform a person’s physical form, Shen (spirit), and Qi (vital energy). These statements reflect the conceptions of ancient alchemy.

“Daogui” is a general term for an extremely small quantity of medicine. The author states that ingesting only a small amount of elixir can “exchange the bones and become an immortal”; a small amount of medicine entering metal can likewise turn base copper into precious silver. The text repeatedly emphasizes that this change relies on the marvelous numinosity of the elixir and the creative power of nature.

Next, the author describes the method of transmuting copper. “Gong” is mercury; “Fenshuang” is a mercury-containing medicinal obtained during the alchemical process. The author holds that Fenshuang is suitable for transmuting copper because it has previously come into contact with “fanqi.” If cinnabar, lingsha, musha, Fenshuang and other dantou (starting materials used in alchemy) are employed to transmute copper, adjuvants of the “pi” type must first be added. The operations recounted include mixing the medicinal materials with copper beads, wrapping them in Kunlun paper, placing them in a ganguo (alchemical crucible), covering with moist charcoal and heating, then repeatedly blowing the fire to calcine; after cooling, the pot is broken open to retrieve the contents, and the materials and metal will have coalesced into a single mass. If the product is black, the author recommends further decoction and refining with lead, without extraction by niter.

The author then discusses transmuting silver into gold, stating that medicines such as “pi” and “pao danfan” are needed so that the medicinal power can penetrate the metal, while materials such as “cixiong erhuang” and “cengkong erqing” are used to adjust the color, the transmutation being completed by “dian shengyin.” These names in the original belong to alchemical medicinal terminology, and their precise referents are not entirely clear. The author considers that only after enclosure-nourishment with “zhentu” and “zhenqian” (true earth and true lead) can the medicines be used for this kind of refining.

The author further states that “pifen” can be used to transmute metals and can also be employed to enclose and nourish realgar, orpiment, danfan, processed medicines, and cyan minerals, which is even more effective for transmuting “geng” (here referring to silver). If ordinary silver is to be transmuted, it must first be treated with medicines to make the body of the silver “lean,” then refined into cinnabar, ground to powder together with the dantou, loaded into a ding and sealed, and heated to drive out the mercury; after calcining with a fierce fire it is placed in a luqiao (a vessel for holding or protecting the refined substance) and melted, yielding the so-called “zhibao.”

Finally, the author claims that once the lingdan is completed, even tiles and rubble can be transmuted into gold; they must also be boiled and refined with kujiu, kucu, jinyan, yuchi and similar substances. The entire piece elaborates the theory and operational methods of metal transmutation in Waidan (external alchemy).

Thirteen: On Ash Frost

Ash frost is a substance formed from the essence of plants and grasses. It tastes salty and is poisonous, capable of damaging metals, so most of those who refine elixirs dare not use it. If it is used to boil and refine the “Eight Stones” (a class of mineral medicines used in Daoist elixir refining), one will come to know its function: it can resist the power of fire and its efficacy is very strong. If one masters the method of processing it, thoroughly eliminating the salty taste, and then calcines it with fire for a prolonged period, its nature can also be transformed.

When ash frost turns green, its toxicity is extremely strong, even able to penetrate metal and stone. Using it to cook medicines often causes the medicines to dissolve into water. If this situation occurs, the medicine appears to have already lost its efficacy, but it should not be discarded on that account. The scripture says: “Only when the physical form cannot be seen can it be considered truly dead.” This refers precisely to this state.

The medicinal liquid should be processed as quickly as possible: pour it into a clean vessel and let it stand for more than ten days, until the upper layer is clear and the lower layer is turbid, then force out the upper clear water. Boil the clear water down into frost; leave the turbid residue at the bottom, for that is the actual medicine. After boiling it dry, place it in a vessel, press the boiled frost on top, and nourish it with fire for seven or fourteen days, after which the medicine can be considered truly “dead” through, meaning that its original nature has been transformed through calcination.

Afterwards, grind the medicine finely, dissolve it with boiling water and stir evenly, then place it in a clean vessel to precipitate. If the medicine settles to the bottom of the vessel, pour off the upper clear water and replace it with fresh water to precipitate again. Precipitation must be done slowly, otherwise the medicine may be lost along with the water. Continue until the salty taste is completely eliminated, then calcine it with a strong fire for a long time, after which the medicine can be considered efficacious. Using this method to transform other mineral medicines can enable them to attain the efficacy of superior medicines, therefore one should not look down upon it merely because it is called “ash frost.” The author states that after personally testing it, he found it indeed effective.

Ge Xuan said that ash frost is an inferior method because other medicines, upon encountering it, would be suppressed and damaged; however, if one can cause its nature to be transformed, it can also become a superior method, and this is no empty claim. But medicines of the niter, borax, pao, and alum categories must never be boiled using ash frost.

Fourteen: On Smoke Coal

Soot is a black substance formed by the condensation of the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) of plants and trees, and elixir alchemists also frequently use it. If the Jing and Qi of plants and trees are insufficient to process, refine, and nourish the various mineral substances, the complete efficacy cannot be observed. If one first boils and refines with herbal materia medica, then applies the soot on top and places it in the furnace for warming and nourishing, only then can the medicines be made to subdue fire (after calcination they no longer burn violently or explode). If soot is used by itself, the refining cannot succeed. I have personally tested this and it is indeed effective, so I record the matter.

Fifteen: On Making Broth

Whenever herbs are used to boil and process various minerals, fresh herbal juice is best. [The original text here contains phrases such as “an zhi tou”; the meaning appears to have omissions or errors.] The medicines must be placed in the furnace for warming and nourishing before they can be made to subdue fire; if this method is used alone, it cannot succeed. I have personally tested it and it is indeed effective, so I record the matter.

Fifteen: On Making Broth

Whenever herbs are used to boil and process various minerals, fresh herbal juice should be employed. Ordinarily one herb is used to process one medicine; if the herb has no toxicity, the medicine will not be damaged. That people cannot see toxicity in the herbs does not mean none is present. The former sages feared that toxicity in the herbs would damage the nature of the medicines and prevent them from becoming spiritually efficacious, and therefore established the knack of “making broth.”

The specific procedure is as follows: pound and wring the herbs to extract their natural juice, place it in a clean vessel, and cover the mouth with paper. Leave it for three days in spring and autumn, two days in summer, and five days in winter. Then take the upper clarified liquid and use it to boil the medicines. In this way the medicinal properties are unlikely to be damaged, and the refining is more likely to achieve complete efficacy. Testing has shown the method to be effective.

Sixteen: On Packing and Preparing

The great method of refining elixir medicines lies in packing and preparing; the techniques of operation are especially important. If these methods are not understood, even when one possesses kui of true lead, true earth, and the like (vessels used for containing and sealing the medicines), the mother medicine and the child medicine will become mixed together, making it difficult to obtain results.

The great method of refining elixir medicines hinges on the techniques of assembly and preparation. If this point is not understood, even possessing medicine vessels of true lead and true earth, one will mix mother medicines together with child medicines and newly prepared ones with old ones, so that later they become difficult to distinguish and inspect.

Therefore, when refining one must first follow the rules of assembly. For example, when using the Eight-Stone Vessel (a medicine vessel made from eight kinds of mineral medicines) to warmly nourish various drugs: medicines such as chu, pao, and the Three Yellows that need to be formed into juices can only be packed and placed at the bottom of the vessel; the already processed vessel medicines are then pressed on top of them, after which the vessel is sealed and the contents are nourished with fire.

The designations “spreading the bottom,” “covering the head,” and “lotus” refer to methods of warmly nourishing spirit sand, cinnabar, and mother sand. When warmly nourishing mother sand, it must also be fixed in place with objects such as plum-pit stones, lotus-acorn-cup medicines, and gourds before it can be placed in the medicine vessel for warming and nourishing. If this is not done, losses will result in the end.

A further instance is the use of true earth and true lead to warmly nourish the Three Sands (the three types of sand medicines spoken of in elixir methods): a sulfur vessel requires raw sulfur to adhere to the medicines, while a cinnabar vessel requires raw cinnabar to adhere to them; only vessels of the Four Spirits, the Three Yellows, true lead, and similar substances should have powder frost adhering to the medicines. They should be matched according to the categories of the medicines, embodying the principle that “like categories nourish one another, while dead categories restrain one another.”

Although these are fragmentary details, without understanding the methods they contain one cannot set about the work of refining.