《九转流珠神仙九丹经》

The Scripture of the Nine-Times-Turned Flowing Pearl and the Nine Elixirs of the Divine Immortals (Jiuzhuan Liuzhu Shenxian Jiudan Jing), Upper Scroll, as related by the Perfected One of Greatest Clarity (Taiqing Zhenren).

Cinnabar is produced in more than one commandery or county, and so it is said to have many “marriage relatives,” meaning that it is connected with numerous places. Daoist practitioners, holding fast to their precepts, travel through the “Five Capitals”; here the “Five Capitals” refer to the Five Sacred Peaks, the aim being to seek out sites for the refining of the divine medicine. The phrase “the child has four thousand” refers to the purchasing of mercury.

“Gold and silver added together” speaks of the combining of lead and mercury. In “Ziming cooks with the wife and the red furnace,” “Ziming” refers to mercury and the “red furnace” to the earthen crucible (a refining vessel made of clay): mercury and lead are joined in the earthen crucible. After mercury and lead combine they react violently, as if about to transform into a red vapor and fly forth, which is why expressions such as “mouth and teeth” are used to describe this. Lead and mercury, transforming further, generate “Xuanhuang” (Mysterious Yellow), a substance formed in the course of the alchemical work.

“Steaming and covering the Roupu” refers to repeatedly steaming and refining the Xuanhuang that has risen and condensed; this must pass through a hundred steamings. “Roupu” is a designation used among the related procedures of refining. The text says “Ziming is alarmed and fearful, harboring the River Chariot within”: after mercury meets fire it enters the lead; lead is also called the “River Chariot,” and so it is said that mercury is concealed within the River Chariot.

Next, realgar water and cinnabar water are used to blend the flying essence (the essence that has risen and condensed in the course of refining). Then oysters and red bole are made into a paste, which is applied to seal the interior and exterior of two earthen crucibles to a thickness of about three fen, and dried in the shade for ten days, so as to prevent the medicinal substances from flying off. After this, mercury and Xuanhuang are refined together, the fire passing through nine cycles of ascent and descent; the substance produced is a purple like frost and snow, also resembling the color of onion blossoms. Only then do the medicinal properties combine with one another and cease to fly away.

Phrases such as “at dusk the bowels stir and the response of resonance increases” and “husband and wife play together” employ the union of man and woman as a metaphor for the two medicinal substances mutually stimulating and fusing. The so-called “that very day a child is born like piled sand” refers to mercury and Xuanhuang sublimating together and adhering to the upper earthen crucible, in a form resembling piled grains of sand.

“Bronze feathers” refer to the feathers of a three-year-old cock; when sweeping up the medicinal substance they are used to collect the essence that has risen and adhered. The “earth dragon” refers to the white-necked earthworm; its juices are taken to blend the elixir flower (the refined essence of the elixir), which is then further refined.

The scripture next declares that one daogui (an ancient, extremely small unit of measure) of the elixir flower obtained from nine sublimations can transform one jin of mercury or of lead-tin into gold. The quantity of elixir flower must be neither excessive nor insufficient: too much and the gold becomes overly hard and inconvenient to work; too little and the gold is too soft, likewise inconvenient to work.

The later portions turn to describing the marvelous effects of ingesting the elixir flower: after taking it one can fly up to Heaven, see Heaven and Earth and the various divine immortals, with vision reaching ten thousand li; in a single day and night one can fly across ten thousand li, unhindered by rivers, traveling upon cloud-qi (Qi, vital energy). It further says that the one who takes the medicine can ride a dragon, follow the Perfected One of the Great One (Taiyi Zhenren, one of the honored deities of Daoism), enter the Heavenly Gate, and behold the dwellings of the Perfected Ones in Heaven; the body shines together with the sun and moon, and one sees numerous sages and divine immortals assembled in sitting.

The text also depicts scenes of the divine tortoise and divine shrimp in Heaven, as well as Boya playing the qin, jade maidens singing and dancing, and Qingyao rising to dance in accompaniment. It then laments that parents and kin have long since passed away, never having obtained the divine medicine, which is a cause of grief. Finally it says that ingesting the elixir flower can spare one from harm by pathogenic qi, eliminate illness, and obtain long life, and it urges people to study diligently in the quest for immortality.

The method of preparing Dan Hua is: take the four materials alum (fanshi), Rong salt (rongyan), brine salt (luxian) and yu stone (yushi) and first calcine them for twenty days. Then take left-curving sea oysters together with red stone, grease, talc and the rest, making seven materials in all; the quantities of each may be chosen freely. Mix them and grind with ten thousand pestle-strokes until they form a fine powder; place the powder in an iron vessel and calcine over a fierce fire for nine days and nine nights until the substances glow red-hot. Grind again with ten thousand pestle-strokes, blend in sieved xianzhi powder, seal the mixture and leave it for one hundred days to ferment. The resulting material, used for combining with other medicinals, is called Six-One Mud (Liuyi ni).

Coat the inner and outer surfaces of two red earthenware kettles (chitu fu) with Six-One Mud, each coating three fen thick, then sun-dry them for more than ten days until thoroughly dry. Calcine lead white (hufen) until its color resembles gold. Mix equal amounts of the two substances xuan and huang, add hundred-day Flower Pond liquid (bairi huachi) to form a paste, grind with ten thousand pestle-strokes and coat both the inside and outside of the two kettles, each layer three fen thick; sun-dry for ten days until completely dry.

Place the cinnabar (zhu’er) in the earthen kettle; the amount may be chosen at will—from as little as one jin to as much as ten jin or even one hundred jin. The poor may refine less, the wealthy more. A kettle holding eight or nine sheng is suitable; the largest holds one dou and a half. The scripture notes that large earthen kettles from the Xingyang, Henan, Luoyang and Yingchuan regions each cost about fourteen or fifteen coins. Before use the Six-One Mud must first be prepared and applied fully to the inner and outer surfaces of the kettles, each coating three fen thick, then sun-dried for ten days until dry.

After the cinnabar is loaded and the kettle sealed, apply mud to close the joints and air-dry for more than ten days, taking special care to seal the join of the kettle mouths tightly so that no qi escapes; otherwise the cinnabar will fly away and disperse. First warm the kettle with “tongqing” fire; tongqing is horse manure. If horse manure is unavailable, chaff fire may be used. Keep the fire about five cun from the kettle.

In the refining itself, first heat for nine days and nine nights, then draw the fire closer for nine days and nine nights; next set the kettle upon the fire for nine days and nine nights, then surround half the kettle with fire for a further nine days and nine nights. Fire is thus applied for a total of thirty-six days. After one additional day of cooling the kettle is opened. The cinnabar is said to rise and adhere to the inner wall of the upper kettle and is swept off with a rooster’s feather. The obtained substance is purple-red and displays a five-colored luster; it may also resemble a red shooting star, frost and snow, or the true red of cinnabar. Each jin of cinnabar yields about four liang.

Once the substance has undergone fire-subduing (fuhuo)—the calcination that renders it stable and no longer volatile—it is called Dan Hua. Mix it with dragon paste (longgao) and form pills the size of small beans. Place them over a fierce fire and blow with bellows; the scripture states that in the time needed to eat a meal they can be refined into gold. If the non-volatilizing powder is used to process mercury, twenty-four zhu of the medicine burned with one jin of mercury likewise yields gold. The gold and silver so produced may be made into thin sheets for holding the medicine.

When taking the medicine, use an amount the size of a small bean, bow twice facing the sun, then swallow. If the substance has not yet been fire-subdued it must be flown again: moisten it slightly with xuan water and rushing dragon paste, place it in a xuanhuang red earthen kettle, seal it according to the prescribed method and fly it over a fierce fire for thirty-six days. The scripture states that the entire process requires seventy-two days in all.

Whenever one wishes to refine medicinal substances, one should begin on a Jiazi day that is an “expulsion day” (a calendrical term referring to a day suitable for discarding the old, making a fresh start, and commencing activities), regarded as a day of great auspiciousness. Before compounding the medicines, first observe a three-day fast and only then proceed with the work of refining. Those taking part in the compounding should number no more than two or three, and they must work together with unified purpose. They should be especially concentrated and must not enter any household that is unclean or defiled.

When refining the flying medicine (here referring to the stage in the elixir-refining process that causes the elixir to undergo transformation), one should set up a sacrificial offering beside the elixir cauldron, presenting clear wine, fragrant cakes, one dou of yellow millet rice, three dou of large jujubes, and one dou of pears. Three tables in all are arranged, with three cups of wine placed on each table. After incense has been burned and the rites performed, one bows once more and recites the prayer: “This humble servant [so-and-so] today refines the Nine Elixirs and prays that the divine spirits, the immortal beings, the Mysterious Maiden (Xuannü), the Plain Maiden (Sunü), and the Azure-Waisted Jade Maiden (Qingyao Yunü) will jointly bring this endeavor to completion. The Great Lord of the Dao, Lord Lao, and the Lord of Great Harmony are above; now this humble servant [so-and-so] greedily seeks the medicine of long life and respectfully invites the immortal beings to partake of the wine and food.” Having spoken, one rises and performs nine further bows.

Next one prays: “Lord of the Dao and Mysterious Maiden, please protect the elixir so that it does not fly away and vanish; cause all the medicinal substances to submit to the fire, to possess a fine color, and to be capable of transformation at will, so that lead, mercury, and the like may be refined into gold and silver. After ingesting the medicine one will be able to fly and ascend, to have audience at the Purple Palace (Zigong, a celestial palace), to enjoy inexhaustible long life, and to take one’s place among the Perfected (Zhenren).” Having spoken, one rises, performs nine further bows, and then offers the wine. When the wine offering is complete, one further presents the fruits of the red wood together with oranges.

When refining the divine medicine, do not allow foolish people, women, children, people from households in mourning, or those whose bodies are unclean to look upon it, nor let jealous and talkative people see it. If there is anyone who does not believe in the Dao (the Way), do not let him know of it either, otherwise the medicine may fail to be successfully refined. As a precaution, do not allow guests or women to remain beside the elixir. The refining of medicine requires quiet and silence; only then can the divine medicine be accomplished. The scripture explains that those who do not believe in the Dao will doubt the existence of the divine medicine, and therefore they are not permitted to watch.

One must carefully inspect the elixir cauldron; it must have no cracks, perforations, or damage. Even a hole as fine as a strand of hair, or a gap the size of an ant’s nostril, will cause the medicine to fly away and disperse, losing its jing (essence) and qi (vital energy), until in the end only stony residue remains and its precious efficacy is lost. Such a medicine is of poor quality, and ingesting it brings no benefit. The scripture states that if one zhu (an ancient unit of weight) of the divine medicine is thrown into one jin of mercury and heated, it can be refined into gold; if it cannot be refined into gold, this medicine must not be ingested.

The Mysterious Maiden said: “If gold can be refined, then one can transcend the human world; if gold cannot be refined, one will only labor in vain and mislead oneself.” Therefore, pairing one zhu of elixir with one jin each of lead, tin, and mercury, grinding and refining them, it is said that all can be transformed into gold and silver. The scripture emphasizes “jin, jin, and one zhu,” meaning that each of the materials is used in the quantity of one jin while the elixir itself is used in only one zhu; do not add more.

When ingesting the medicine, at the moment of sunrise in the early morning one should face east, bow once more, and kneel to swallow a quantity the size of a grain of millet. A person of superior attainment who ingests it attains the Dao and becomes an immortal in seven days, ascending into the Nine Sovereigns; a person of lesser attainment becomes an immortal in seventy days; a foolish person requires a full year after ingestion. Before both the refining of the divine medicine and its ingestion, one must first fast, bathe, and fumigate the body with five kinds of aromatic substances; if these regulations are not followed, the medicine cannot be successfully refined. Refining with the Cinnabar Blossom cauldron together with the Flying Spirit talismans (Feishen fu) is especially good. The scripture finally admonishes: do not covet wealth; simply refine the divine medicine in order to seek immortality, and do not casually transmit the secret method to others.

The Perfected One said: The second elixir is called “Shenfu,” taking as its material the “Hebo Yu” generated by the Great Yang. “Generated by the Great Yang” means that mercury originally issues from the Great Yang. Here the “Great Yang” refers to cinnabar; cinnabar is born from the Qi (vital energy) of Bing and Ding. Bing and Ding belong to Fire and are the Jing (essence) of Fire: in Heaven they appear as the Yinghuo star, while on earth they become cinnabar.

Bing and Ding belong to the South, and the South is the position of the Great Yang, so it is said that cinnabar is born of Bing and Ding. The South belongs to the Great Yang, while the North, with Ren and Gui, belongs to the Great Yin; the Great Yin belongs to Water. The North produces magnetite, which in this alchemical terminology refers to lead; its Jing-Qi appears in Heaven as the Beichen star and returns to the Kan trigram. The position of Kan is in the North, that of Li in the South. “Hebo Yu” is mercury.

Take an appropriate amount of mercury, place it in a cauldron made of red clay, and carry out nine ascending refinements and nine descending refinements; then add carp gallbladder. Next take another appropriate amount of mercury, seal it according to the method, and again perform nine ascents and descents following the Danhua method, adding Longgao. This elixir is then called “Shenfu.” The “Four Thousand Children” refined together with it refer to cengqing, fanshi, rongyan, and sulfur, and thus it is said that they accompany one another.

The young girl of the river is honest and independent; her eyebrows are long and slender, her complexion pure white like a bright pearl. The cinnabar of Changsha has a vivid luster; from youth she has remained chaste and faithful, attaching herself to no one. Her parents are present throughout the east, west, south, and north; her body is clean and unstained, as clear as a pearl. She is skilled at waiting for a worthy gentleman with whom to unite, and therefore it is said that they accompany one another.

The Maiden of the River is a chaste and independent woman, her eyebrows arched like those of a moth, her complexion pure white like a luminous pearl. The fine sand of Changsha shines with a bright luster; from childhood she has kept her chastity and trust, never marrying another. Though she has parents and kin in all four directions, she remains unsullied, as clear and white as a pearl. She waits for a worthy gentleman to match her, her nature brave and resolute, her speech clear and distinct. Her mind is settled, she possesses talent, and she neither compares herself with others nor boasts at random.

The so-called “Maiden of the River” refers to the yellow flower of lead (the essence refined from lead). “Ziming” acts as matchmaker, introducing her to another so that they dwell together. Here the “worthy gentleman” refers to mercury. “Ziming” bringing about their union means: take one jin of lead yellow flower, place it in an iron vessel, and heat it over charcoal fire; then take seven jin of mercury and add it to the lead, refining with fierce fire. After a short while the essences rise together and appear, their color like gold, a purplish red, resembling shooting stars or flowing pearls, and containing black, yellow, and the five colors. At this moment collect it with an iron spatula, obtaining one-ninth of a jin. After three transformations and nine circulations of refining, it is called the “flower of cinnabar yellow,” also known as the “moisture of mysterious yellow” or the “tally of heaven and earth.” Using it to treat mercury can transform the mercury into elixir; this is called the “returned elixir,” which is the so-called immortal medicine and divine elixir.

The sages have kept these methods secret; they are not something ordinary cultivators of the Dao (the Way) can see or understand. Only those who are worthy, enlightened, and capable of insight can possibly comprehend them. Therefore it is said that writing cannot fully express speech, and speech cannot fully express the intent of the heart.

The scripture states: “The essence of the elixir gives birth to the essence of the sun, and its radiance appears.” Here “zi” refers to fire, so fire is also called “Ziming.” Mercury is also called “Zipeng.” Thus the Yiyingxu says: “The essence of the elixir gives birth to the sun, Taiyin gives birth to the moon.” Taiyin corresponds to the Kan position in the north, whose number is one; therefore it is said that one who understands “the One” can understand all things. This “One” refers to lead. The essence of lead gives birth to the moon; lead essence is also called “Taiyin stone,” as well as “Metal Lord,” “River Cart,” “Old Woman of the River,” and “Establishing-Control Stone.”

Ordinary people of common ability, when refining the elixir, instead use “Lizhi Stone” mined from the mountains; this is incorrect and far removed from the Great Dao (the Way). The Perfected (those who have attained the Dao) take the lead-yellow-flower generated within lead and transform it into “Lizhi Stone Gallbladder.” Ordinary folk and recipe masters prefer to use stone gallbladder produced in the Qiang region for refining the elixir; this too is incorrect, and such methods will not succeed. The Perfected refine cinnabar into “Flowing-Pearl Snow,” then cause the essences of frost and lead to combine together into the Returned Elixir. The yellow-and-white substance thus produced, when ingested, enables one to become an immortal. If these two materials are not used in the refinement, even should one obtain the elixir and consume it, death will still ultimately ensue.

The Great Yin refers to lead, which belongs to the Kan position and lies in the zi direction; the Great Yang refers to cinnabar, which belongs to the Li position and lies in the wu direction. Kan symbolizes the moon and Li the sun; the sun is the husband and the male, the moon the wife and the female. Magnetite and lead belong to the Great Yin, occupying the zi position with the number one. Cinnabar belongs to yang, occupying the wu position with the number nine; realgar belongs to earth with the number five. Thus one, five, and nine together make fifteen, which the Perfected term the “Three Fives.” One who understands the principle of the “Three Fives” can thereby refine the Returned Elixir; after taking it, the hearing becomes acute and one attains long life without dying, hence it is said that one can “range freely across the world.” The Perfected declare: “Once one understands the Three Marvels and Six Instruments, what else is required?” Cinnabar is the male and lead the female. An old saying has it: “The father constitutes the Three Marvels, the mother the Six Instruments.” When this entire doctrine is thoroughly grasped, why should one still seek enfeoffment as a marquis? This is exactly what is meant.

The phrase “Ziming acts as the matchmaker, causing them to dwell together” means taking nine catties of mercury and one catty of lead, placing them together in a cauldron fashioned from red earth, and applying fierce fire from dawn until sunset. The original text then repeats: “The father constitutes the Three Marvels, the mother the Six Instruments; when this entire doctrine is thoroughly grasped, why should one still seek enfeoffment as a marquis?” Here “matchmaker” and “dwell together” employ the metaphor of marriage to describe the combination of the medicinal substances; the directional positions, numerical values, and Yin-Yang relationships appearing in the text are technical terms of elixir refinement.

Ziming Mei instructed: Take nine jin of mercury and one jin of lead, place them in a red-earth cauldron (a refining vessel made of red pottery), and heat with a fierce fire from morning until evening. The substances refined from the mercury and lead will precipitate together, appearing golden in color; this is called Xuanhuang Jing (Mysterious Yellow Essence), also known as Huangya (Yellow Sprout) or Huangqing (Yellow Light).

Treat it with Danhua water; this is called Huangchi (Yellow Pond), also known as Huanghua (Yellow Flower), Huanglong (Yellow Dragon), or Xuanzhishi (Mysterious Controlling Stone). Blend the Xuanhuang with Xuan water and knead it into pellets resembling sealing clay. Place them in the red-earth cauldron and seal both inside and outside with Liuyi mud (the clay used in alchemy to seal vessels) to a thickness of about three fen. Dry for ten days to ensure there are no leaks, then fire using horse manure or bran as fuel for eighty-one days. This step is called Dang Gengxin. “Gengxin” refers to gold; the Zhenren (Perfected Person who has attained the Dao) keeps it secret and does not speak of gold directly, using “Gengxin” as a substitute.

Take one daogui (an ancient small dosage unit) of Xuanhuang, place it in a fierce fire, and use a bellows to fan the flames. In the time it takes to eat a meal it will transform into Gengxin. If it does not transform into Gengxin, the medicinal substances have dispersed in the fire and the product cannot be ingested. Return it to the red-earth cauldron, seal it according to the previous method, and fire for another eighty-one days before it can be used.

Xuanhuang is also called Fudan (Subdued Elixir) or Zifen (Purple Powder). The scripture states that those wishing to ingest it should choose the morning of a Jiazi day, face east and bow twice, then swallow a pellet the size of a red adzuki bean, one each day for one hundred consecutive days. The scripture further claims that this medicine can cure serious illnesses, leprosy, and various diseases.

Ziming arranged a matchmaker so that lead and mercury might dwell together, yet at first they were incompatible with one another. One wished to send a letter of complaint, indicating that the mercury had not yet fused with the lead. Later they met again with the divine husband; the divine husband refers to mercury. Ziming compelled them, which refers to the use of fire; Ziming drove them into the crimson cauldron, referring to a vessel made of red earth. Here Ziming also signifies fire. Eventually the lead and mercury combined, their color appearing bright and lustrous; after being refined together they sublimated and transformed into xuanhuang (the medicinal substance formed during the alchemical process). The phrase “the color is youyou” means that the hue of the elixir is especially beautiful. The scripture employs the image of “the husband coming from without, the wife from within, like fish and water in harmony” as a metaphor for the mutual cooperation of the two Yin-Yang medicinal substances; thereafter the processes of refining and ingesting them must likewise be coordinated with one another.

The medicinal substances, refined through the four seasons, assume a form resembling a divine hut, their five-colored radiance brilliantly distinct and the surface more than an inch thick. This indicates that once the female and male medicinal substances have combined, they will no longer fly away and disperse. Next one takes the xuanhuang and mixes it with the Hundred-Day Flower Pond (the refining liquid mentioned in the scripture) until it resembles mud, then wraps it inside and outside with two red-earth cauldrons, the wrapping layer three fen thick, after which three jin of mercury are placed inside; alternatively ten jin may be used, the quantity of medicine being adjustable according to need. Sublimating three jin of mercury yields enough elixir for one person to cultivate immortality, because the quantity of medicine is relatively small. For every jin of mercury that is sublimated, ten liang of medicine are obtained.

Take one jin of mercury and place it in a pot fashioned from red clay, then cover it with xuanhuang (a black-yellow mineral medicine) to a thickness of about two cun. Fit another red clay pot over it as a lid and seal the joint with liuyi mud (the sealing compound used to close vessels in elixir work), employing the same method as for the refinement of Danhua. Fuel the fire with horse dung and bran and heat the vessel continuously for nine days and nine nights. The mercury will rise and cling to the inner surface of the lid in a frost-like or snow-like deposit, purplish-red and shot through with five-colored luster, about one cun or more thick. Gently sweep it down with a feather and blend it with huangxu (the bile of a yellow dog); it will return to its original state. The same restoration occurs if it is mixed with hebo yu (carp bile).

Take carp bile and combine it with these risen frost-like substances; the flying essence of the mercury then coagulates into a lump resembling a sealed letter. Knead the mass into pellets, wrap them in mud, and return them to the red clay pot, covering them with one cun of xuanhuang jing (the refined essence of xuanhuang). Place another red clay pot on top and seal the joint tightly with liuyi mud so that no air can escape. Expose the vessel to sunlight for ten days until it is thoroughly dry; only then may it be warmed. The warming spoken of here is not heating over a fire; even a slight application of heat may crack the pot and cause the loss of the great medicine. Heat it for another nine days and nine nights. After it has cooled for one day, open the pot and sweep the inner lid with a feather to collect the purplish-red essence that has flown up and condensed there. This is called the Shenfu Huandan (Divine Talisman Returned Elixir), the medicinal elixir obtained through the process.

Mix the medicine with dragon paste and form it into pills the size of small beans. Every morning at dawn, face the sun, perform two bows, then kneel and take the medicine. After taking it for one hundred days, one can accompany the various immortals and jade maidens, follow the host of spirits on their outings, and move as if flying.

If one wishes to cross rivers, lakes, and seas, one may mix the Divine Talisman Elixir with dragon-gall paste; one may also use carp gallbladder and smear it on the soles of both feet. In this way one can cross rivers and seas, as well as the Huai, Wei, and Ji waters, walking on the surface of the water without wetting the feet and without drowning. The Jing (scripture) calls this condition “feet not soaked,” meaning that the feet are not wetted by water. After attaining the Dao (the Way) and becoming an immortal, all the hundred illnesses of the body will be eliminated; after taking the medicine for one hundred days, the Three Worms and Three Corpses (the malevolent entities that, according to Daoism, reside in the human body and harm cultivation) will of themselves decay, die, and be expelled from the body.

Earth dragons and fish gallbladders all belong to Yin Jing (essence), while mercury belongs to Yang Jing. Therefore Yin Jing is able to restrain Yang Jing, causing the medicine to remain hidden and no longer to erupt. Perfected Ones, spirit-persons, and immortals keep this method secret and do not transmit it lightly.

The Perfected One said: The third elixir is called the Divine Elixir; its five colors interweave and it is most impressive. It originally comes from the Zhengyang and Wudu region; what is spoken of here is superior realgar and orpiment, both of which come from Zhengyang and Wudu. Wuyang also has realgar that is pure white in quality and broad on the surface. “Divine” means that among the eight mineral medicines, realgar and orpiment can avert injury from weapons and treat the hundred illnesses, and their medicinal power is especially strong. “Clean white surface” means that one should select medicinal materials that are bright, clean, and of good appearance.

The Jing further says that worthies can often be found who will pay twenty thousand cash to purchase it, meaning that the essence obtained by flying-refining realgar and orpiment is worth ten thousand cash per daogui (an ancient unit of measure). The phrase “better complexion, flashing eyes” refers to the fact that realgar and orpiment medicines that have undergone flying refinement display five colors and a beautiful luster. “Going out at dawn and dusk, night and evening, and stopping at famous mountains” means that the essence refined by fire is placed in the upper cauldron, and therefore it is said to dwell in famous mountains.

When fangshi (practitioners of occult arts) are pressed by others, they still dare not casually refine according to this method. They explain that Daoists join two red-earth kettles (ceramic vessels fired from red clay) together to refine the medicines so that the jing (essence) of the drugs will not fly away and scatter; removing the earth and stones from the kettle is done in order to collect the flying jing of the medicines.

It is said that one takes two jin of xionghuang (realgar) and one jin of cihuang (orpiment), totaling three jin. First the substances are mixed with a small amount of huachi (the liquid or medicinal solution used in elixir refinement) to prevent loss. After the xionghuang and cihuang have been soaked and nourished for a hundred days they are taken out, placed in an iron mortar and pounded ten thousand times until mixed into powder, then loaded into the red-earth kettle. The medicines are covered with xuanhuang powder (the covering material used in alchemy), laid one inch thick above, below, left and right; the vessel is then sealed tightly with liuyi mud (the sealing clay used for the alchemical furnace) so that no qi leaks, and left for ten days to dry.

Thereafter horse manure is used as fuel to refine for nine days and nine nights, the flames kept five inches from the kettle’s edge; fire is next made to surround the kettle body and refinement continues another nine days and nine nights; the fire is then moved beneath the kettle and fierce heat applied for nine days and nine nights; finally fire again encircles the kettle so that the flames reach halfway up its body and refinement proceeds for a further nine days and nine nights. In this way thirty-six days of firing are completed. On the thirty-seventh day, after cooling, the kettle is opened and the flying jing of the medicines is swept up with a chicken feather.

The obtained substance is mixed with longgao (a paste-like material used in elixir making) and then re-refined according to the method for preparing danhua, lasting twenty-seven days. After one further day of cooling the kettle is opened and the medicine swept with a chicken feather; this is called “feijing” (flying essence). It is then processed into a medicine named “shendan” (divine elixir).

The scripture states that a Daoist who ingests the shendan can become an immortal in at most one hundred days; those of dull root-nature require a full year of taking it before they leave the world as immortals. This is not caused by ghosts, spirits or the ling of the drugs. Men and women of every age, ordinary people and children alike, can all become immortals by taking this medicine; after ingestion, striking it will also manifest great supernatural powers.

Combine the male and female medicines together so that they unite with each other; here “Ziming” refers to using fire to cause the medicines to unite. After the male and female medicines have united with fire, they produce Jing (essence). Carefully apply the medicinal ointment to the joints to make them firm.

Coat the pottery elixir cauldron inside and out, above and below, with “Six-One Mud” (the clay used in alchemy for sealing vessels), to a thickness of about three fen. First mix Xuanhuang with Huachi into a mud and then apply it to the joints of the two red-earth cauldrons so that the medicinal Qi (vital energy) cannot leak, therefore it is said that it must be made firm.

Take equal amounts of the three medicinal materials oyster, red stone fat, and magnetite, grind and process them for ten thousand pestle strokes into powder, and then mix with “Zuowei.” First apply Huachi evenly inside so that the medicines do not seep or leak; then take superior flying male and female yellow Jing and mix them with Dragon Paste. This means that in the refining of the Nine Elixirs Shen (spirit) medicine, the medicines must be combined by means of Dragon Paste; the scripture holds that without Dragon Paste the medicine does not possess Shen efficacy. Therefore it is said to mix with Dragon Paste. Ingesting this medicine can confer immortality and a lifespan of ten thousand years.

“Sitting and causing the various Shen” means that after ingesting the Shen elixir for one hundred days, all kinds of immortal beings will come to welcome one: Zhenren, Jade Maidens, Jade Lads, Plain Maidens, Green-Waisted ones, as well as various ghosts and spirits and the Shen of mountains and marshes, all of whom will serve and accompany the practitioner, causing him to transcend the mundane world. The scripture also says that whether this result can be achieved depends on individual cultivation; slaves, servants, chickens, and dogs can all become immortals, and ordinary people taking the medicine are the same.

Those who ingest the Shen elixir should reside in secluded places, that is, in stone chambers of deep mountains, in great marshes, or near water, in empty valleys, and in uninhabited houses.

Do not converse with ignorant people of the mundane world, nor let those who are jealous and fond of spreading gossip know of the matter of refining the elixir, and still less allow unbelievers to hear of it. Do not associate with households currently holding funerals or arranging marriages of sons or daughters.

The practitioner should often dwell alone in a single room so that the immortal Jade Maidens (goddesses of the immortal realm in Daoist belief) will descend. Those who revere the deities believe that after ingesting the divine elixir, celestial deities, immortals, and Jade Maidens will descend; people should serve them reverently, concentrate on realizing the Heavenly Dao, and dare not slacken. Ordinarily one should reside in a stone chamber near famous mountains. When refining and ingesting the elixir, one should choose uninhabited places such as deep mountains and great marshes so as not to be seen or known by ordinary folk. One should live among the caves of deep mountains; if the divine elixir can be successfully refined, one can ascend to heaven. Once the divine elixir is completed, the entire family can also become immortals, even the officials of the household, the chickens, and the dogs can follow the auspicious clouds and rise into the sky.

Worldly people have always found this difficult to accomplish because they greedily cling to wealth and are unwilling to refine the divine medicine, instead taking herbal medicines and practicing daoyin (methods of nourishing life such as regulating the breath and guiding the limbs), yet they still die in the end and cannot attain longevity. Herbal medicines can treat people's various illnesses but cannot confer immortality. Why is this so? Herbs rot when buried in the earth and become scorched and dry when boiled; since plants and trees themselves cannot last forever, how can they make people live forever?

Even a Zhenren (one who has attained the Dao) cannot confer long life and longevity on people by means of herbal medicines alone. The reason is that herbs rot when buried in the soil and become charred when boiled; since plants and trees cannot endure, how can they enable people to live forever?

The Perfected One said: The fourth kind of elixir is called the “Returned Elixir” (Huandan). “Men and brothers totaling nine persons” means that the medicinal substances used in refining the medicine total nine kinds, which are used to make the coatings on the inside and outside of the earthen crucible (tufu, a clay vessel for elixir refining).

Take yushi, fanshi (alum), daizhe (hematite), rongyan (rock salt), muli (oyster shells), chishizhi (red halloysite), tulongji, yunmu (mica), and huashi (talc), nine kinds in all. Burn and refine them for one day and one night with a vigorous fire; then pound them all into powder, add yun (fermented liquid) and mix until it is like mud. Use this to coat the inside and outside of the earthen crucible evenly, each with a thickness of five fen, then place it in a cool shaded place to dry for ten days.

Next, put one jin of mercury into the bottom of the earthen crucible, and successively layer on top xionghuang (realgar), cengqing, fanshi (alum), liuhuang (sulfur), luxian, Taiyi Yuyuliang, and yushi, totaling seven medicinal substances. Each must be processed separately and ground into powder; the mercury is placed alone at the very bottom, the other medicines layered in order, with yushi placed on the very top. Cover the crucible lid, then mix liuyi ni (six-one mud, a sealing material used to seal alchemical vessels) into sealing paste and carefully seal the joints so that no qi leaks, and dry it in the sun for ten days.

Then place the earthen crucible on five iron pillars, supporting it nine cun high. Use matong (horse dung) or bran as fuel, controlling the fire so that the flames are five cun from the bottom of the earthen crucible. First use a gentle fire to heat for nine days and nine nights. Then increase the fire, heating until “jinban,” and continue heating for nine days and nine nights. During this time frequently cover the crucible with a wet cloth, after which dry it in the sun for another ten days.

Place the medicine upon five iron pillars nine cun in height and gently simmer it with a fire of horse dung or bran. The bottom of the fire pit should stand five cun from the earthen cauldron, the flame kept weak, burning for nine days and nine nights. Then strengthen the fire and continue until the molten metal reaches the halfway point, burning another nine days and nine nights. Keep a wet cloth over the cauldron at all times to stop the medicinal substances from flying off; re-soak the cloth whenever it dries.

Following the method for refining the Elixir Flower (Danhua), after a total of nine nines—eighty-one days—the finished medicine flies upward and clings to the vessel in five colors. Sweep it down with a chicken feather and blend it with assorted flowers of grasses and trees plus well water. Swallow one daogui (an ancient minute medicinal measure) and lie in a stone chamber; it is said this lets a person go a hundred years without hunger or thirst. Drink rocky spring water when thirsty and eat no more than twenty jujubes and twenty chestnuts when hungry. Remain quietly in a secluded place while visualizing the divine medicine. Take the dose once each day. After one hundred days the Vermilion Bird and phoenixes are said to soar overhead and jade maidens arrive; after two hundred days one may roam with the immortals; after a full year Taiyi (a revered Daoist deity) comes to receive the practitioner.

Coat coins with the Returned Elixir (Huandan) and spend them; the money returns of its own accord. Write the elixir beside the eye sockets and all evil ghosts flee. Take one daogui of the elixir, add one jin of mercury, and refine it over fire; it turns at once into gold. It must still be mixed with dragon paste and refined another nine days and nine nights before it becomes genuine gold.

Here ends Volume One of the Scripture of the Nine-Turned Flowing Pearls of the Divine Immortal Nine Elixirs (Jiuzhuan Liuzhu Shenxian Jiudan Jing).

Volume Two of the Scripture of the Nine-Turned Flowing Pearls of the Divine Immortal Nine Elixirs

Composed by the Perfected Person of Supreme Clarity (a Daoist honorific)

The Perfected Person’s Method of Divine Water

The Perfected Person said: The fifth elixir is named the Bait Elixir. Naturally blended and refined for nine days and nine nights, it becomes genuine gold.

Here ends Volume One of the Scripture of the Nine-Turned Flowing Pearls of the Divine Immortal Nine Elixirs.

The Perfected One said: The fifth elixir is called “E’dan,” prepared from “Changsha Wulingshi,” “Taiyi Xunshi,” and “Zhushizi.” “Zhushizi” refers to mercury, “Wulingshi” to realgar, and “Taiyi Xunshi” to yuyuliang (a mineral).

Take one jin of mercury and one jin of realgar, grind them to powder, and spread the realgar over the mercury. Then take one jin of yuyuliang, grind it to powder, and spread it over the realgar. Place the ingredients in an earthen cauldron (a ceramic alchemical vessel), cover it with a second earthen cauldron, and seal the joint tightly with “liuyi mud” (the sealing compound used in alchemical work). Once dry, heat first with a fire of horse dung or chaff for nine days and nine nights, then continue with a charcoal fire for another nine days and nine nights. The substances sublime and adhere to the inner walls of the cauldron.

Next, using fire and gold as intermediaries, combine the material with mercury, add tianxiong (a medicinal herb), and then incorporate equal amounts of “longgao” and “Shaoshi renxiong.” “Shenjuezi” refers to eggs, which are treated in the same way so that they likewise adhere to the inner walls of the cauldron. Ingest one daogui (an ancient minute medicinal measure) and one can suddenly fly ten thousand li and cross rivers and seas; taken for no more than thirty days, one ascends in flight.

After consuming this elixir, the various spirits come and go as protectors and the myriad spirits attend and obey. The Jade Maiden Qingyao may also be summoned. The practitioner mounts a chariot of the natural order and rises to heaven. All the spirits under heaven, the hundred gods, the deities of the soil and the altars of earth and grain, together with the Earl of Wind, the Master of Rain, and other numinous beings, come to serve. This elixir is therefore also known as the “Fifth Elixir Mother,” and is likewise called “E’dan.”

The Zhenren said: The sixth kind of elixir is called “Lian Dan.” It is said to produce subtle and wondrous effects of Shen (spirit), enabling one to approach the Dao (the Way) of the immortals. The raw materials used in its preparation come from remote regions such as the lands of Ba and Yue. The so-called “Yue sha” is reported to originate in Yue township of Ba commandery. The grains appear lustrous like pearls and are bright red in color like cinnabar; one selects the vividly colored specimens among them.

Experienced refiners of elixirs do not take the substance that common people call a certain “Wen Zhe,” but instead use “Tu Long Gao” (Earth Dragon Paste) to refine the eight minerals. The “three xun” mentioned here refers to a refining period of thirty days; the “eight stones” are Ba sha, Yue sha, realgar, orpiment, azurite, alum, magnetite, and chalcanthite. These eight minerals are compounded as medicinal ingredients in equal proportions, with the precise amounts left to one’s own discretion, and then blended with the dragon paste. The text further states that one dou of “Tu Long Hou” is mixed with the bile of a yellow dog, after which two dou of Tu Long Hou are taken as the charge for the cauldron.

Three jin each of oyster shells and red bole are ground into powder and mixed with “Zuo Wei.” “Zuo Wei” refers to the fermented mash obtained from brewing rice. These are formed into a paste that is applied to the inside and outside of the earthen cauldron (an alchemical vessel made of pottery clay) to a thickness of about three fen. The materials are then mixed evenly so that they can be formed into pills and treated over a gentle fire; the joints of the cauldron are sealed with mud to prevent leakage of Qi (vital energy).

After the eight minerals are sublimed and refined, their essence adheres to the vessel in a color as pure white as frost and snow. This is then blended with dragon paste and formed into pills the size of small beans, which may also be ingested. Once refined, the medicine is said to be capable of producing gold and silver; those who take it can command the various spirits and employ a hundred ghosts and deities. Those who can still eat after taking the medicine should wait ten days before eating again. This medicine can be taken not only by men but equally by women; women who take it can likewise become flying immortals.

What is called “bigu” means cutting off the five grains, drinking only water, and not giving rise to miscellaneous thoughts. If the practitioner has sexual intercourse with a woman, the arts of the Dao cannot succeed. If the medicine is prepared but not taken, it is like filth adhering to the body, which is very difficult to remove.

When refining, first process the eight minerals separately into powder and place them in sequence from bottom to top: Ba sand, Yue sand, realgar, orpiment, azurite, alum, chalcanthite, and magnetite. Then cover with a pottery cauldron, seal the joint of the two cauldrons with six-one mud, and further coat the seams with oyster shell and red bole. Heat with a fire of horse dung or bran, following the same method as for refining Danhua. After thirty days of sublimation, remove the sublimed essence, mix it with dragon paste, form it into pills the size of small beans, and take them after meals; discard the dregs. According to the scripture, this medicine can treat all kinds of diseases and is miraculously efficacious.

The Zhenren said: The seventh elixir is called Rou Dan (Soft Elixir). It is similar to the Er Dan, possessing a smooth and moist texture, and is likewise easy to ingest. Take three jin of mercury. First blend it with xuanhuang and zuowei until the mixture resembles mud, then coat the interior and exterior of the cauldron with this paste to a thickness of three fen. Place the mercury inside the cauldron and seal it securely with liuyi mud so that no Qi (vital energy) can leak out. After it has dried for ten days, fly-refine it according to the method used for preparing Danhua, stopping after twenty days. Collect the sublimed and condensed essence from the upper layer and mix it with longgao; if one wishes to seek offspring, mix it instead with quepen.

A ninety-year-old man who takes it will find his yang Qi become extremely vigorous, enabling him to procreate once more; an eighty-year-old woman who takes it can likewise give birth again. Combining Rou Dan with shenmu (spirit wood, here referring to the wutong tree) to fashion a human-shaped figure can transform it into a Shen (spirit) object. Writing Rou Dan upon the bodies of male and female slaves will cause them not to dare flee. Local officials who ingest it can receive immediate promotion.

When refining the medicine, one must fly-refine it according to the Danhua method. A sage who observes the zhai (purification ritual) can achieve great Shen; the Zhenren who governs people must likewise abide by the zhai. Without observing the zhai, the medicine will not manifest its numinous efficacy. One should seek the He Nü (River Girl) as a marriage partner and thereby obtain the renowned lead. He Nü refers to mercury; when mercury unites with the Jing (essence) of lead, gold and silver can be refined, and they can transform in succession, mutually accomplishing each other. So long as there is a generative continuity like that of producing descendants, there is no medicine that cannot be successfully refined and none that cannot transform; it can render a person undying and can also turn one into a Shen immortal.

The Perfected One said that the eighth elixir is called Fudan (the Subduing Elixir). Its color is mostly a dark purple mixed with five-colored, brilliant hues. It is said to subdue ghosts and demons and drive away wicked people. Using it to write on doors can expel evil spirits and ward off thieves.

To prepare it, take a cauldron made of red earth or one known as a Longji cauldron. Coat the inside and outside solely with Xuanhuanghua (Mysterious Yellow Flower) to a thickness of about three fen. Then seal it tightly with liuyi ni (six-one mud, the clay used to seal vessels in elixir refinement) so that it does not leak. Place mercury in the cauldron, seal it, and wait until the mud is thoroughly dry. Refine it over a fire of horse dung or chaff for nine days and nine nights. Then invert the upper cauldron to the bottom and fly-refine it for another nine days and nine nights; next place the lower cauldron on top. Invert it in this way nine times. Once the medicine is refined, take the essence that has flown to the upper layer, mix it with Longgao (Dragon Paste), and fly-refine it for another ten days. Take the medicine that has flown to the upper layer, grind it into powder, and store it in a container of gold or silver, or one made of raw bamboo.

The scripture states that every morning one should face east, bow twice, then kneel, and ingest one daogui (a small ancient measure for medicines) mixed with freshly drawn well water from the morning. After ingesting it, one may become an immortal. If a portion the size of a jujube pit is placed in a handkerchief, it is said that a hundred ghosts will be extinguished and dare not approach, while the person’s hun and po souls become firm. Sitting alone in quietude in a stone chamber can also summon immortals, and tigers and wolves will avoid one of their own accord. When a woman is keeping watch alone, if she holds a portion the size of a soybean, it is said that a hundred ghosts will all depart and thieves will not dare to come.

Another method of preparing the medicine is to take one jin of mercury—the amount may be increased or decreased as desired—and seal it according to the methods of elixir refinement, coating it with liuyi ni. Two earthen cauldrons may be used, or a Xuanhuang cauldron, a Luoyang red-earth cauldron, or a hufen cauldron, of any size. Mix with Longgao and fly-refine for three days, then take the medicine from the upper layer, whose color should be like white snow. Mix again with Longgao and continue refining for ten days. Once the medicine is complete, process it according to the method for refining Danhua (Elixir Flower). The scripture further states that the four substances Cengqing, Cishi, Yushi, and Xuanhuang serve as the medicinal materials; these four together nourish one mother and cover it on the head.

The Perfected One (Zhenren) said: The ninth kind of elixir is called the “Cold Elixir” (Han Dan). When it is refined, gold and silver are used as the principal medicines, and gold and silver also serve as the foundational materials for elixir-making. The so-called “gathering of five medicines” means that five kinds of minerals are combined according to the prescribed quantities. The Jing (scripture) lists the medicines, including mercury as well as realgar, orpiment, cengqing, magnetite, and yushi; the “five spirits” refer to the five mineral medicines among them.

When refining, one jin of each of the five mineral medicines is taken, along with two jin of mercury. After they have been processed separately, the five mineral medicines are ground into powder. First the mercury is placed in the crucible, then xuanhuang, realgar, orpiment, cengqing, yushi, and magnetite are added in that order, with the magnetite placed on top. Next an earthen crucible is used to cover it, and the outside is sealed with “six-one mud” (a sealing clay used in elixir refining to close the vessels) so that no vapors leak out.

The Jing then records the procedures for sealing with mud and for firing: first a mud made from oysters and red halloysite is applied to the joints of the crucible, about three fen thick; then a layer of yellow earth mud is applied, also about three fen thick, and it is left for ten days to dry. Afterward the furnace fire is regulated so that the heat remains gentle. Once heated, the medicines should adhere above, taking a form like stalactites. Firing is continued for nine days and nine nights; the upper layer of medicine is then removed, swept off with a rooster’s feathers, and mixed with “dragon paste” or the bile of a yellow dog.

The Jing states that ingesting this elixir can make the body light and healthy; after one hundred days all manner of diseases will be cured. The Qingyao Changshi and the Jade Maiden Director of Destinies will register the name of the one who takes the elixir in the mansion of the immortals. It is also said that after taking the Returned Elixir for one hundred days, one’s name will be removed from the death register of the living and entered into the immortal registers; one may come and go without obstruction and will no longer be constrained, able to leave the world and ascend while sitting or standing, flying ten thousand li in a single day and traveling upon the clouds, finally departing from wife, children, and family never to return.

The ninth elixir method is the same as the method for refining the elixir flower. The earthen elixir cauldron is the same, the sealing method is the same, and the techniques for coating it with mud and regulating the fire are likewise the same. Fire is always begun with a gentle fire and followed by a fierce fire (starting with a milder flame and then gradually increasing its intensity). First heat with a small fire; after nine days increase the fire slightly. The mud applied to the outside of the elixir cauldron must be as dry as possible, and the longer it has been left standing the better. If the fire produces cracks in the cauldron as fine as a hair, the medicinal ingredients will fly off and disperse. When preparing any of the sealing muds they must be pounded thoroughly until they resemble powder and then passed through a fine sieve. Adding “left flavor” produces an even better result. Rice wine is also called the Flowery Pond (Huachi). It is normally gathered on the fifth day of the fifth month or the seventh day of the seventh month; if collection on those two days is impossible, that obtained on the fifth of the fifth month is of the highest quality. Dragon-paste liquid and dragon-paste moisture are dew from mulberry trees. To collect it, wipe the leaves with cotton and then squeeze out the juice.

The so-called Nine Cauldrons are nine kinds of elixir. All eighty-one elixirs derive from a single elixir; whoever obtains this elixir can ascend into Highest Clarity (Taiqing), the lofty celestial realm of Daoism. The fire phases cause the medicinal substances to transform; the substances interact and convert according to their inherent natures. The way of water and fire is the most marvelous; the root of the nine lineages always takes water as primary. Metal and Wood combine like husband and wife; the sun, moon, and stars embody the principles of Yin-Yang. When speaking of the gathering of Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), fire is the sovereign. This medicine bears the surname Lingyang and the courtesy name Ziming.

It can attack the Hu barbarians and execute the powerful, its influence extending to Ba and Yue and invading Yuzhang. The tribes of the four directions come to submit and gather at the center; the three Yins mutually restrain one another, overcoming hardness with softness. The Azure Dragon and White Tiger stand arrayed east and west, while the phoenix and Vermilion Bird blaze with intense radiance. This medicine bears the surname Lingyang and the courtesy name Ziming. It can attack the Hu barbarians and execute the powerful, its influence extending to Ba and Yue and invading Yuzhang; the tribes of the four directions come to submit and gather at the center; the three Yins mutually restrain one another, overcoming hardness with softness. The Azure Dragon and White Tiger stand arrayed east and west, while the phoenix and Vermilion Bird shine with dazzling brilliance.

Golden towers rise in twelve stories, and within them the divine turtle of Xuanwu sings out loudly. Five-colored curtains cover the jade chamber; the Perfected One rides this elixir to ascend into the realm of the Nine Sovereigns, roaming through Highest Clarity and the Hall of Light (the celestial palaces of Daoism). Essence surges forth like snow and frost. Those who understand this elixir become immortal kings.

The Perfected One said that “Huagai” refers to the yellow flower of lead, that is, the yellow essence formed after lead has been refined. “Xionghuang ru” means that realgar enters into it and can cover the male immortal medicine. The “lead” in “lead as Huagai” refers to spirit water, and is therefore called the “yellow flower of lead.”

When refining lead-water one must begin from the yellow flower, and for this reason the two are spoken of together. “Xionghuang huanghua” likewise describes the frost-and-snow-like lead flower that appears when lead is sublimated and refined, and is thus called “xiong.” The word “jie” here indicates that lead belongs to yang; once it obtains yin qi it can combine and unite with the yellow flower, and is therefore said to “ru.”

What is meant by “can cover the male immortal medicine” is that after the lead flower mixes with the yellow flower it wraps the flowing pearl so that Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), and Shen (spirit) do not scatter and dissipate. “Fu” carries the sense of yin embracing yang and of enveloping; the “xiong” spoken of here refers to lead. Calling it an “immortal medicine” means that lead, after undergoing transformation and being refined into an elixir, can be taken as a medicine in the quest for longevity.

The scripture records a method of elixir refinement that uses realgar (an arsenic-containing mineral) as its principal ingredient: first the realgar is sealed in a ceramic cauldron, the vessel is tightly closed with mud, and it is then heated with reed fuel. During the refining process one must check whether the mud seal has cracked and, as the text instructs, treat the mouth of the cauldron in successive stages. The author judges whether the work is complete by the color and form of the medicinal substance; afterward the resulting powder is collected in a copper vessel.

Next, the scripture describes packing the medicinal powder into animal intestines, tying both ends tightly, and steaming it together with millet in a steamer. If the intestines break, they are replaced with fresh ones and steaming continues. The text states that after this processing the medicine can be formed into pills the size of pellets.

This material belongs to ancient Waidan (external alchemy): minerals and other medicinal substances are placed in vessels, heated and refined, and then made into elixirs for ingestion. Realgar contains arsenic and is toxic; the methods described in the scripture cannot serve as a practical guide for actual preparation or consumption.

The pills are formed into pellets the size of small balls. After taking them for three days, the “three worms” (sanchong, the harmful parasites that Daoism says inhabit the human body) will all die. After ten days the “hidden corpses” (fushi, the latent impurities that Daoism says lurk within the body) will be expelled, and at night one can even see a glow of light. Afterward, store the medicine carefully and reform it into pills the size of hemp seeds. Each morning at dawn, face east, perform two bows of reverence, and then ingest the pills; on overcast days, take them facing the direction of the rising sun. Persist for one hundred days, and in winter you will not feel cold even when wearing only a single layer of clothing, and the Azure-Waist Jade Maiden (Qingyao Yunü, a goddess in Daoist legend) will arrive. Be cautious: you must not take her as a wife. You should constantly make offerings to the Jade Maiden in order to seek the Dao (the Way).

After taking the medicine for one hundred and fifty days, the original Jade Maiden will depart and another Jade Maiden will come. On the hairpin she wears there is a piece of jade the size of a nose, about as large as a grain of millet or sorghum—this is the true Jade Maiden. You must still be cautious and not take her as a wife. You may humbly describe yourself as of shallow understanding, dwelling in a place of rank odor and filthy turbidity, and ask: “How could a sage condescend to come here?” The Jade Maiden will reply: “I saw that you ingested the divine medicine, and the light of your Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) reached straight up to Heaven, so the Celestial Emperor sent me to be your wife.”

Here the text again repeatedly cautions not to take the Jade Maiden as a wife. You may tell her that you have heard of jade essence, jade wine, and the Yang Qi in the Floral Pools of the Five Emperors, yet have never drunk of them—only a sage can obtain them. The Jade Maiden will then fetch them for you. After drinking, you will be able to travel together through the Six Directions (Heaven, Earth, and the four quarters), then ascend the Heavenly Pass to meet with the sages; at night you will descend again from the Heavenly Pass and dwell together with the Zhenren (Perfected Persons, those who have attained the Dao) in the realm of Qingwei (Clear Subtlety). By this time, one need no longer take “deathlessness” as the goal: one can already avoid sinking into oblivion, and coming and going will meet with no obstruction. To reach this state, one should carefully observe fasting and purification for twelve years (one ji being twelve years).

The so-called Jade Maidens are daughters of the Celestial Emperor; the Jade Maidens who regularly come to make offerings are daughters of the White Emperor; the Azure-Waist Jade Maiden is the daughter of the Earl of Wind. The practitioner hopes to come and go freely, cross rivers and seas, roam at will through ten thousand ages, and remain constant and unchanging for long.

Another account says: realgar produced in Wudu, once refined, should be like silver; if the medicine is dry, mix it with honey. The Daoist adept should frequently observe fasting and purification. Yet another account says: do not lend your clothing or shoes to others.

The Method of the Zhenren’s Divine Water: the method by which the Zhenren prepares divine water is to take one dou of fine lacquer and place in it eighteen large crabs that have been kept overnight; after three days it will transform into water. Do not lend clothing or shoes to others.

“The Method of the Zhenren’s Divine Water, with Various Methods Appended” is the title of the methods listed in this section.

The method by which a Zhenren (a person who has succeeded in cultivating the Dao) prepares the Divine Water is as follows: take one dou of the finest lacquer and place eighteen large overnight crabs into it. Soak them for three days until the crabs dissolve into water. Once this medicine has been refined it is called Divine Water. It is said that after the Divine Water is completed one may come and go without obstruction and can even command a hundred ghosts.

When taking it, mix half a ge of Divine Water into a cup of clear wine, drink it, and rest quietly in a secluded place for one day. The scripture states that the Three Worms (the insect-spirits within the body according to Daoist cultivation concepts) in the abdomen will all be expelled. Afterward eat well, wait fifteen days, then drink another small cup of Divine Water together with a cup of clear wine. Two days later a person three chi in height will appear before one. The scripture warns: “When he praises your wisdom and virtue, on no account speak much with him; once you converse with him the matter will fail.”

Thereafter, every fifteen days increase the amount of Divine Water in sequence, always accompanied by a cup of clear wine. The scripture says that when one and a half cups of Divine Water have been drunk, within three days one’s walking becomes so swift that even four horses cannot overtake one; when two cups have been drunk the will becomes lofty and sight and hearing grow acute; when two and a half cups have been drunk white hair turns black; later, after another two and a half cups, teeth that have fallen out grow back. After three cups an old person is said to return to a childlike state, and on the jiazi and jiaxu days spirits descend; after three and a half cups wait fifteen days; after four cups, on the jiashen and jiawu days spirits descend, one can see the charts of the sea, and one comes and goes without any pore or barrier obstructing; after five cups, on the jiachen and jiayin days spirits descend and one can see the charts of the sun and moon.

Finally, according to the scripture, take six further cups of Divine Water together with a cup of clear wine. Fifteen days later one neither sleeps nor lies down, the charts of heaven and earth appear, the Five Flowers (auspicious radiances or miraculous scenes in Daoist literature) all arrive; standing, one casts no shadow; shouting, one produces no echo; the bodily form becomes indistinct and hard to discern, as if transforming together with heaven and earth. The scripture finally instructs that this method must be kept strictly secret and must not be transmitted casually.

To compound the medicine one must employ the Immortal Phoenix Outline Method (Xianren Fenggang Fa). On the first day of the first lunar month, take one dou of water and place into it various plants and trees that are in bloom. On the second day of the second month, the third day of the third month, the fourth day of the fourth month, and the fifth day of the fifth month, likewise take one dou of water each time and similarly add the flowers of plants and trees. Seal the vessel tightly after each collection of that month’s blossoms so that no water can leak out, and store it in a cool, cold place.

From the sixth month through the seventh and into the eighth, whenever flowering plants and trees are encountered they are simply placed into the already preserved water; no additional water is added.

On the ninth day of the ninth month take another dou of water, add various plant and tree flowers, and place the mixture separately into a white pot. Seal it tightly against leakage and keep it in a cold location, then bury it underground inside the room. Next take yet another dou of water, add various plant and tree flowers, place it separately into a white pot, seal it tightly, keep it cold, and bury it three chi deep underground inside the room. After a full one hundred days all the medicines will have dissolved.

On a Wang day (a specific auspicious date in the Daoist calendar) decoct the mixture over a gentle fire while facing east, using aged reeds, pine wood, and bamboo in rotation as fuel. Continue until the medicine can be rolled into pills, at which point the preparation is complete.

The scripture claims that this medicine can restore the dead to life, transform the physical form, and even enable a person to fly aloft and become an immortal. If someone has already died and ceased breathing, placing the medicine in the mouth will revive them. Should the medicine still not have dissolved after the prescribed number of days, filter out the dregs and blend it with a jujube paste prepared from xialing. Take three pills at a time, each the size of a bean, once daily, and do not take any in the evening.

The immortal Lü Gong, courtesy name Wenjing, once obtained a medicinal formula capable of restoring the dead to life. Legend holds that he had been away from home for more than two hundred years, by which time all his descendants had already died. Upon returning he excavated the deceased and smeared them with the medicine; they then grew flesh and blood once more, recovered a human appearance, and spoke clearly without confusion. More than one hundred of the dead were thus revived.

The formula states that on the first day of the first lunar month one takes five jin of bamboo root; on the second day of the second month, five jin of pine root; on the third day of the third month, five jin of wutong root; on the fourth day of the fourth month, five jin of honeysuckle root; on the fifth day of the fifth month, five jin of ophiopogon root; and on the sixth day of the sixth month, five jin of asparagus root. These roots are carefully selected, washed clean, and dried in the shade, then pounded into fine powder, sifted, and placed in a white urn that is sealed for one hundred days. The original text also lists quantities of cassia medicinals, realgar, and ginseng, yet the related compounding passages are duplicated, leaving the precise method of mixing them unclear.

After one hundred days the seal is opened. One selects a “Wangxiang day” (a Daoist calendrical term denoting an auspicious day suitable for action), observes fasting and purification while dwelling separately in a quiet chamber, and permits no one else to see. The medicine is then pounded fifty thousand times, placed in an oil pouch, and wrapped in white cloth. It is ingested five times each day with clear wine—at dawn, noon, sunset, in the depths of night, and at cockcrow—followed each time by five jujubes. One maintains purity, fasting, and a settled mind; after one hundred days one attains the Dao (the Way).

If one wishes to perform the arts of transformation, the feet of a green snake captured in the fifth month must also be obtained; without this ingredient transformation is impossible. The scripture claims that the medicine can cause white bones to generate flesh, extend years and increase longevity, keep the hair from whitening and the teeth from falling, maintain a moist and lustrous complexion, replenish Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), and strengthen sinews and bones. It further states that after taking the medicine one can abstain from grains, feel neither hunger nor thirst, remain unharmed by poisons, and enjoy a constantly joyful mood. The scripture also asserts that those who ingest it can summon whatever they require and cause it to withdraw, call forth wind and rain, bring down thunderbolts, enter water without sinking and fire without being consumed, remain uninjured by knives or axes, ride upon the clouds, cure all diseases, summon ghosts and know their circumstances. Once this method is mastered, there is nothing under heaven that cannot be accomplished.

According to the text, placing five spoonfuls of the medicine into the mouth of a deceased person will cause the dead to revive after a short while. If one wishes to bring about a transformation in a person, one takes the placenta (the fetal membranes and associated matter expelled at birth) of a child born on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month and incorporates it into the medicine; if a large quantity of the medicine is refined, it can even revive two people.

Zhi, the legendary numinous fungi that can be ingested for their miraculous effects, include mushroom zhi, herbal zhi, woody zhi, fleshy zhi and other varieties; they are not of a single kind. Zhi commonly grow on high mountains, beneath large trees or beside springs. Mushroom zhi come in five colors: red like cinnabar, black like the finest lacquer, white like frost and snow, yellow like purple gold, green like the feathers on a drake’s head, purple like freshly dyed deep violet, and additionally a red like peach blossoms. To distinguish the genuine from the false, dry the zhi in the shade; if after a hundred days the color remains unchanged, it is true zhi.

Whenever one wishes to enter a famous mountain to gather zhi, one must first observe fasting and purification. One should not visit households in mourning or those with a woman who has recently given birth, should not consume meat, fish or pungent spicy foods, should wear white clothing when entering the mountain, carry a white chicken, bring one dou of white “jian,” or lead a white dog; it is said that in this way one will certainly encounter the zhi. Zhi may have two, three, four or five layers, up to as many as nine layers. It is said that all these zhi may be ingested, enabling one to achieve immortality, to fly, to see with penetrating vision and to command ghosts and spirits.

When gathering zhi one must also avoid certain dates. In spring, from the first to the third month, one does not enter the mountains on yin or mao days or on jia or yi days; in summer, from the fourth to the sixth month, not on si or wu days or on bing or ding days; in autumn, from the seventh to the ninth month, not on shen or you days or on geng or xin days; in winter, from the tenth to the twelfth month, not on hai or zi days or on ren or gui days. These are taboos arranged according to the heavenly stems and earthly branches system of dating and the correspondences of the Five Phases (Wuxing: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water).

Green zhi is to be gathered on a Jia or Yi day by proceeding from the east at dawn just as the sun rises, piercing it with a wooden knife and wrapping it in nine chi of green silk fabric to take away. Red zhi is gathered on a Bing or Ding day by proceeding from the south in the forenoon or at noon, piercing it with a fish knife and wrapping it in eight chi of deep crimson silk fabric. Yellow zhi is gathered on a Wu or Ji day by proceeding from the northwest at dusk, piercing it with a gold knife and wrapping it in one chi of yellow silk fabric. Black zhi is gathered on a Ren or Gui day by proceeding from the north at midnight, piercing it with a bone knife and wrapping it in five chi of black silk fabric. White zhi is gathered on a Geng or Xin day by proceeding from the west at sunset, piercing it with a wooden knife and wrapping it in six chi of white silk.

The scripture calls millennial bats, numinous turtles, swallows and swans “flesh zhi” (animals believed to possess numinous efficacy) and maintains that consuming them can make one live forever without dying. A millennial bat is entirely pure white and hangs inverted when at rest. Eating it raw is said to confer immortality. A millennial numinous turtle grows a horn on its head; its shell glows and manifests five-colored flames of light. After roasting the shell, pounding it to a powder and sifting it finely, take one fangcunbi (an ancient small dose of about one spoonful) three times a day; this is said to confer immortality.

A millennial swallow is roasted at a north-facing portal and then eaten, which is said to confer immortality. A millennial swan cries once in every one of the twelve double-hours throughout the day and night and has a physique smaller than the palm of a hand. Its bones are roasted, pounded to powder and sifted finely, then taken in doses of one fangcunbi three times a day; this is said to confer immortality.

The Huainan Shenxian Fang, based on the respective categories of all things and the laws of their natural growth, holds that among stones there is stalactite, usnea grows on pine trees, and mulberry mistletoe grows on mulberry trees. All things grow by attaching themselves to corresponding entities; this is the natural Dao (the Way).

Therefore, when taking these medicines, they must be coordinated according to the Six Lü (the ancient musical pitch system) so as to correspond with the seven stars of the Big Dipper. The fruit of rehmannia is the Jing (essence) of the elusive and mysterious Qi (vital energy); the mulberry mistletoe parasitizing on mulberry trees is the Jing of Yang Qi; chrysanthemum is the Jing of Yin Qi; poria is the Jing of Wood Qi; the seeds of plantain are the Jing of thunder-and-lightning Qi; the seeds of kochia are the Jing of the arrayed stars; bamboo fruit is the Jing of the Heavenly Flower of Taiyi. These seven medicines correspond respectively to the seven stars of Beichen, and the sun, moon, and Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) are contained therein as well.

When taking them, the dosages are apportioned according to a certain measure. After nine days of fasting and purification, the medicines are blended on the flourishing days of the four seasons; each time a pinch is taken with three fingers and swallowed with water newly drawn from a well at dawn. It is taken once a day facing the sun: once on Yang days and twice on Yin days. After forty-nine days of taking it, one will suddenly depart.

In the first year of Tianfeng (a reign title used between 14 BCE and 6 CE), the nephew of Chen Yongbo from Nanyang took this medicine. After twenty-eight days he suddenly vanished without a trace. Chen Yongbo himself also took the medicine and likewise disappeared after twenty-eight days, his whereabouts unknown. Chen Yongbo’s son, named Zengzhi, who was seventy-eight years old, was then given the medicine to try by his uncle and several brothers. They bound him with ropes and locked him in a room. After twenty-eight days he too was gone.

When taken according to the original formula, one departs only after forty-nine days. Because the moment of leaving cannot be predicted, no one thereafter dared to consume it.

Xialing grows beneath the pine trees on Mount Hua, the Western Peak, and is shaped like an ao (a legendary giant turtle). Bamboo fruit and mulberry mistletoe are produced in Lantian, while raw rehmannia comes from Weicheng; they should be gathered in the fourth month. Bamboo fruit resembles grains of rice; kochia must have its skin removed before it can be used.

The so-called Yang days are those of Jia, Bing, Wu, Geng, and Ren; the Yin days are those of Yi, Ding, Ji, Xin, and Gui.