《大洞炼真宝经妙诀（两种）大洞炼真宝经修伏灵砂妙诀，大洞炼真宝经九还金丹妙诀》

In the first year of the Tianyuan era, I traveled from Mount Heng (Hengyue) and came to Huanglong, where I lodged at a guesthouse. Suddenly, in a cave among the rocks, I met a realized one (zhenren) who had attained the Dao (Way), and he transmitted to me the essential secrets of refining spirit cinnabar (lingsha).

The realized one said: "I received this secret method from Lord Xu Juan. Lord Xu Juan received the teaching from Master Haotian, and Master Haotian in turn received it from Realized One Ding, who came from the same commandery.

"The fundamental secret of refining cinnabar is profound and subtle, and it is truly difficult to ponder and investigate. Many who love the arts of the Dao and long for the realm of the immortals do not trace their true source, and so they remain sunk for long in the mundane world. The scriptures (jing) handed down since antiquity are mostly obscure and hidden, their language veiled, and they have never spread widely through the world. I have often lamented this. For this reason I have compiled these materials into the seven chapters of the Lingsha Qifan Jue (Instructions on the Seven Returns of Spirit Cinnabar) and the two sections of the Jindan Zhijue (Ultimate Instructions on the Golden Elixir), and have written a preface and discussion, to leave for later people who share the same aspiration."

The Lingsha Qifan Lun (Treatise on the Sevenfold Return of Numinous Cinnabar) states that cinnabar is the essence of the sun's vital essence (Jing) condensed, the very substance of metal and fire. It is linked with the Eight Minerals and corresponds to the twenty-four solar terms. Cinnabar becomes an elixir when transformed by the influence of fire, while mercury is said to be what forms after fire-qi departs from the body of metal. Cinnabar absorbs the yang essence, and once that essence is full, it coalesces into form; mercury, having left its original substance, is incomplete in form and nature. Cinnabar is therefore a body condensed from the essence of metal and fire, containing the clear and upright qi of the Mysterious Origin. It is the root of refining the Returned Elixir and the source of the Great Medicine. It holds virtue (De) within, able to bring all things into being, while its substance remains profound and unfathomable.

The scripture (Jing) says: "When the yang essence is radiant and blazing, obtaining it allows the hun and po souls to return." Thus, ingesting yang essence is held to bring long life, while ingesting yin po turns one into a ghost of the dead. Cinnabar is the master of the purest yang qi, called the Lord of the Red Emperor, and dwells in the southern position of fire.

There are many kinds of cinnabar, differing according to the qi each receives, and only three can serve as superior medicine. The best is Bright Cinnabar (guangming sha), the middle grade is White Horse-Tooth Cinnabar, and the other is Purple Numinous Cinnabar. Miscellaneous varieties such as stream cinnabar and earth cinnabar are unsuitable for refining the supreme medicine or for ingestion. One liang of Bright Cinnabar equals four liang of White Horse-Tooth Cinnabar in potency, and one liang of White Horse-Tooth Cinnabar equals eight liang of Purple Numinous Cinnabar. The potency of stream and earth cinnabar cannot be compared with these.

Someone asks: all of these are called cinnabar and all receive the sun's essence, so why are stream cinnabar, earth cinnabar, and similar types weaker in potency? The scripture explains that Bright Cinnabar condenses from the clear, pure, and upright essence of the sun, and it is named for its radiant red glow. White Horse-Tooth Cinnabar condenses from gentle, harmonious qi, and its light is pure white and brilliant, like mica. Purple Numinous Cinnabar partly receives the spiritual qi of mountains and marshes, and its color is reddish purple. The qi received by stream cinnabar, earth cinnabar, and other miscellaneous types is turbid, stagnant, and impure; when it condenses, its luster is mixed, so it cannot serve as material for refining the supreme medicine.

One jin of Bright Cinnabar yields fourteen liang after "subduing and refining" (fulian, a process of using fire phasing to transform the substance), and after further fire-subduing and bellows-refining yields seven liang of the Supreme Treasure. One jin of White Horse-Tooth Cinnabar yields twelve liang after subduing and refining, and six after fire-subduing and bellows-refining. One jin of Purple Numinous Cinnabar yields ten liang after subduing and refining, and four after fire-subduing and bellows-refining. One jin of stream cinnabar, earth cinnabar, or other mixed-color cinnabar yields only about six or seven liang after subduing and refining, and just one or two liang of the Supreme Treasure after fire-subduing and bellows-refining. From this we know that the qi received by stream and earth cinnabar is unclear, with the pure and turbid mixed together. A skilled practitioner first selects the cinnabar, then regulates the fire phasing and observes the changes with care, and only then can achieve the "Sevenfold Return and Ninefold Restoration" (qifan jiuhuan).

Among metals and minerals, none is more numinous, sacred, wondrous, or luminous than cinnabar. Even carrying a single liang of cinnabar on one's person is said to ward off evil spirits; how much more so when it has been refined and taken into the five viscera!

"Sevenfold Return" and "Ninefold Restoration" differ in name but are the same in essence. "Return" (fan) means cinnabar transforms into metal; "Restoration" (huan) means metal goes back to cinnabar. The scripture says: "Returning to my native home, back to my constant state; by taking it, one may attend the Jade Emperor in broad daylight." Someone asks: does the "Sevenfold Return" mean that cinnabar belongs to fire and, through repeated refining, turns into metal, and is therefore called the "Sevenfold Return"?

The scripture states that the number of Fire is seven, and that the elixir must undergo seven transformations in order to reach the utmost perfection of yang qi (Qi, vital energy). The so-called "Seven Returns" work as follows. Cinnabar (zhusha) is refined until it is fire-subdued, meaning its nature has been stabilized by processing, and is then cast into white silver; this counts as the first return. The silver is turned back into powder and refined into yellow-blossom silver, which is the second return. Successive refinements yield blue gold, yellow gold, red gold, and crimson gold, which count as the third through sixth returns. Finally, the crimson gold is turned back into powder and refined into purple gold, which is the seventh return. The scripture holds that purple gold has gathered a full measure of yang qi and of true primordial essence. When the purple gold is again turned into powder and fired for one full cycle according to the proper fire phasing, until it is radiant and translucent, it is called the "Purple Gold Returned Elixir." Whoever takes it will find body and spirit (Shen) united, and on that very day can become weightless and rise in flight.

The scripture adds that people of the world often mistake mineral sulfur for the supreme essence of the sun, and burn it with mercury to make what they call the Seven Returns elixir. Yet the scripture maintains that sulfur receives only a solitary, lopsided yang qi of stone, while mercury has strayed from the qi of primordial harmony. Neither is pure, and so neither can yield a true treasure. Many people have attempted the refining, but none has ever succeeded, because mistaken methods have been handed down from generation to generation. The author expresses deep sorrow over this.

The scripture then lists the effects of each return. For the first return, cinnabar taken in the amount of one liang cures all illnesses, two liang turns the hair black, three liang gives the face a rosy glow, and four liang prolongs life. The second return is said to harmonize the body and clarify the spirit, restoring the aged to youth. The third lets a person become empty, still, and unattached, forgetting worldly sentiment, so that the heart and spirit accord with the subtle Dao (the Way). The fourth makes the body clear and luminous inside and out. The fifth is said to let one enter water without sinking and enter fire without harm. The sixth is said to place one beyond the alterations of creation, hidden even from ghosts and spirits. The seventh is said to let one ascend beyond the Nine Heavens and roam freely between heaven and earth. Taking in addition the Nine Elixirs of Red Efflorescence allows one to dwell in the Golden Gate Towers (the palaces of the celestial realm) and become a Perfected One (zhenren).

The author says that the efficacy of cinnabar can be seen from all this. Claiming to have obtained the true secret of alchemy, the author hoped to help others and bring everyone to the same profound realm, and so composed the Seven Chapters on Numinous Cinnabar and the Two Sections on the Golden Elixir (Jindan). Later in the text, the author sets out the sequence of fire phasing, the categories of ingredients, and the grades of the chapters, to be transmitted to the wise and sincere. The scripture also gives a warning: those who obtain this secret should treasure it. Careless disclosure will bring calamity upon nine generations of ancestors. One must not speak of it recklessly and so obscure the great Dao, nor write it down for ordinary people, but should first judge whether a person is worthy or foolish, and only then decide whether to transmit it.

Lingsha (refined cinnabar) is regarded as the lord of all numinous things, the root of creation and transformation, and the foundation of the spirits. It dwells in the realm of the Nine Pure Heavens, subtly governing the myriad beings. In motion it manifests a lofty image; in stillness it takes form like the Way of Qian. Because it can transform, it is also called the "Red Dragon"; when it assumes a soaring posture, it is called the "Vermilion Crow."

Lingsha is divided into three grades, superior, middle, and inferior, according to place of origin and appearance. The superior grade comes from stone caverns in Chenzhou and Jinzhou; the middle grade from Jiaozhou and Guizhou; and the inferior grade from Hengzhou and Shaozhou. Each kind also varies between genuine and counterfeit, excellent and poor, depending on the qi it received and whether its substance is clear or turbid. Cinnabar that has received upright qi, when taken, is said to open the practitioner to the profound mystery and bring them into accord with the true Dao; cinnabar that has received qi slightly askew is still believed to prolong life and keep one lingering in the human world.

The superior "Bright Cinnabar" (guangming sha) comes from the mountain rock of Chenzhou and Jinzhou, growing on layers of white intergrown stone. It is often found in clusters of twelve pieces forming a single "seat," its color like an unopened red lotus and its radiance bright as the sun; there are also seats formed of nine, seven, five, three, or a single piece. Seats of twelve and nine are the most efficacious, followed by those of seven and five. At the center of each seat is a large pearl weighing more than ten liang, called the "Lord"; the smaller pearls around it encircle it like ministers paying court to the central one. Outside the seat there is also a measure of a liang or a dou of mixed cinnabar, enclosing the vermilion seat on all sides.

From the mixed cinnabar, one selects pieces already formed in the shape of a lotus blossom. If, when placed on red silk at night, their light shines through clearly, they too are ranked as superior. Cinnabar that is white outside, gleaming, and shaped like a horse's tooth is called superior White Horse-Tooth Cinnabar; that which is white and bright like flakes of mica is called middle-grade White Horse-Tooth Cinnabar. Cinnabar that is long and rounded like a "laughing-born" fruit and reddish-purple is superior Purple Lingsha; if it is angular like stone shards and gives off a bluish light, it is inferior Purple Lingsha. Cinnabar from Jiaozhou and Guizhou that naturally forms a seat, or is obtained from ore, resembles a lotus blossom, and is bright may also be ranked as superior. Granular cinnabar gathered in clusters of several pieces, weighing one jin as a whole and translucent, is ranked as middle grade; flaky cinnabar that is bright and translucent is ranked as inferior. The purple cinnabar of Hengzhou and Shaozhou, as well as cinnabar taken from ore that gives off a reddish glow, also belongs to the inferior grade.

Stream cinnabar, if its grains are well formed and its substance translucent, is also believed to prolong life when taken after subdued refining (fulian), but it cannot make one a superior immortal. The scripture (Jing) says that cinnabar born in earthen pits, or formed in stream water and mud, is mixed with soil and stone, and is therefore unsuitable as a superior medicine for ingestion.

Lingsha that forms a naturally occurring seat is the very highest grade. One takes the single "Lord" cinnabar from the center of the seat, refines it by subdued refining, and consumes it; it is said to make the effects manifest, to inscribe one's name on the Upper Elixir Terrace, to preserve upright qi forever, and to lift one beyond worldly entanglements. If one continues to take it and completes the "seven returns and nine revolutions" (a technical term for the repeated refining of lingsha in alchemical practice), one reaches a state in which the corporeal soul is transformed and the corpse extinguished, the spirit (Shen) is clear and the body pure, and Yin qi is entirely dissolved, finally rising lightly into flight as a true flying immortal of the highest order. Hence the scripture holds that the true essence (Jing) of Yang qi gathers into a perfect, impartial radiance, and that lingsha refined by subdued treatment, lotus-shaped, bright, and translucent, is the supreme medicine taken by immortals.

Cinnabar (dansha) is a naturally formed returned elixir. Ordinary people do not understand its origin and regard it as common vermilion. In fact, what people call the "Jade Seat," the "Golden Seat," and the "Heavenly Seat" are all different grades of the Elixir of Purple Dragon and Mysterious Efflorescence of the Supreme One (Taishang), and they are not something every mortal can see.

Jade Seat cinnabar is suited to those in the world who are determined to cultivate, accumulate merit, and practice refinement and nourishment; taking it is said to enable one to attain the Dao (Way) and become an immortal. Golden Seat cinnabar is suited only to those born with immortal bones, who purify their spirit in stillness and live in seclusion in mountain caves. When an immortal gathers and takes Golden Seat cinnabar, it is said that they ascend to heaven in feathered transformation that very day. Heavenly Seat cinnabar is the numinous medicine used, gathered, and consumed by the celestial immortals and true officials of the Supreme One; it is not something lesser immortals can use.

After Jade Seat cinnabar has absorbed the pure yang-spirit qi (Qi) of six thousand years, it transforms into the Golden Seat. The Golden Seat is yellow; at its center, five elixir pearls grow in successive layers, surrounded by forty or fifty smaller pearls. After a further sixteen thousand years, the Golden Seat transforms into the Heavenly Seat. The Heavenly Seat is blue-green; at its center, nine elixir pearls grow in layers, embraced by seventy-two around them. It hangs suspended in the vast Great Void, and the deity Taiyi (a venerated Daoist god) often guards it. On the day of the Upper Origin (Shangyuan) festival, when the true officials descend to gather Heavenly Seat cinnabar, the mountain suddenly opens, radiance shines forth, and the whole mountain appears to be aflame. Once the true officials have taken the Heavenly Seat cinnabar, later generations can no longer obtain it.

Thus the source of cinnabar is profoundly remote. A worthy and discerning practitioner who aspires to transcend the mortal world and ascend as an immortal must distinguish the higher and lower grades of the medicines, then regulate the fire phases (huohou), harmonize Yin-Yang, and refine the elixir by natural methods, so that it accords with the High Perfected (a term for high-ranking Daoist immortals).

Formula for the Subduing of Yin and Yang and the Flying and Concealing of the Fire Phases.

The scripture states: Yang essence (jing) belongs to fire, and Yin essence belongs to water. Yin and Yang restrain each other, and water and fire stand in opposition. Ice and charcoal therefore cannot be kept in the same place, yet in the end the flourishing and decline of all things each find their proper resting place. Cinnabar is a Yang essence, but it must be subdued with something Yin in nature. This is what is meant by "Yin restraint": the use of water-natured substances. Zengqing, kongqing, shiguan, mayaxiao (horse-tooth niter), xuanying, huashi, and the like can all be used for this method.

For one jin of Jade Seat Bright Cinnabar, refine it with four liang of zengqing, six liang of shiguan, six liang of horse-tooth niter, and two liang each of huangying and huashi. For one jin of Bright Cinnabar that grows outside the seat, use five liang of zengqing, four liang each of rock salt and horse-tooth niter, and one liang each of huangying and huashi. For one jin of White Horse-Tooth Cinnabar, use three liang each of shiguan and horse-tooth niter, and three fen each of huangying and huashi. For one jin of Purple Spirit (Shen) Cinnabar, use four liang of kongqing and two liang each of shiguan and horse-tooth niter. Stream-soil and other miscellaneous cinnabars have weaker potency; for each jin, refine them with four liang of zengqing and two liang each of shaguan and horse-tooth niter.

Grind the shiguan, huangying, and huashi into a fine powder and place it in a pot. Nurture it over a gentle fire for one day until it melts into a liquid. Once it has liquefied, add the horse-tooth niter and burn it again until it turns red; it can then be used to refine cinnabar. Before using the shasheng, it must first be melted into a liquid three times, and only afterward may it be put to use.

Larger pieces of Bright Cinnabar must first be broken into pieces the size of hemp seeds and placed in an earthen cauldron. Add zengqing, kongqing, shiguan, horse-tooth niter, and water, and boil and refine over a strong fire day and night for thirty days, without letting the fire go out. When the period is complete, rinse and settle the mixture, then take out the cinnabar and place it in a ding (cauldron), where it is sublimated and subdued (feifu) according to the Yin-Yang phasing of the fire. The cauldron should hold about one sheng. There are five kinds of cauldron: gold, silver, copper, iron, and earthen. Place the cinnabar in the cauldron and carry out the sublimating and subduing according to the Yin-Yang phasing of the fire.

The Feifu method (飞伏法, "flying and subduing") is a refining technique in which cinnabar is heated, cooled, and processed again and again until it is gradually "fire-subdued" (fuhuo). The formula says that five days make one hou (period), and three hou make one qi (节气, a seasonal node, not the vital Qi). The refining must follow the fire phases of Yin-Yang (阴阳, yinyang). There are five kinds of cauldron: gold, silver, copper, iron, and clay. The cinnabar is placed inside the chosen cauldron for refining.

The whole process is divided into eight qi and twenty-four hou, for a total of one hundred and twenty days. Each cycle of flying and subduing takes five days. For four of those days the cinnabar is boiled in water according to the method of the Kan trigram (坎卦, from the Bagua, 八卦, Eight Trigrams), and for one day it is heated with Yang fire according to the method of the Gao trigram (高卦). When the Yang fire is first lit, seven liang of charcoal are placed beneath the cauldron, and the heat must be kept steady, neither increased nor reduced. After each cycle is completed, the amount of charcoal is increased according to the prescribed rule.

After the fifth cycle, if black vapor rises carrying mercury frost, the frost should be collected. Half a qian of Guliao stone (鼓了石) is added, and the mixture is gently ground in a mortar with a jade pestle until the mercury is thoroughly blended in. It is then returned to the cauldron and refined as before. After the twelfth cycle, two more liang of charcoal are added in each cycle, together with one fen of Guliao rock salt ground into a powder and spread over the surface of the medicine. When about two liang of mercury frost have accumulated, refining continues over strong fire. Once the frost has flown off, the color of the medicine in the cauldron gradually turns yellow and then purple. The mercury frost and the mercury are collected, one qian of rock salt is added, and the whole is ground evenly, then placed back into the cauldron to continue the flying and subduing.

At the eighteenth cycle, three more liang of charcoal are added in each cycle, and the medicine turns red. From the twentieth cycle onward, four more liang are added in each cycle. At this stage only a small amount of mercury frost flies off. It is hard in texture, like flakes of blue-green gold, with a yellowish-white luster. It is ground together with rock salt and returned to the cauldron for further refining. By the twenty-fourth cycle, the cinnabar is fully refined and the fire-subduing is complete, leaving it a bright and brilliant red.

The fire-subdued cinnabar must then be wrapped in salt flower (盐花) and sealed with clay made from yellow earth. It is placed in a Yang furnace and burned over fierce fire for thirty days. After it is taken out, it is put into a tube of tender bamboo, the mouth of the tube is sealed, and the tube is buried in a cold spring for thirty days. The contents are then washed and ground. The lighter portion can be separated out and taken as medicine, while the heavier portion is refined further until it turns into golden liquid.

Cinnabar is graded into three classes: superior, middling, and inferior. The superior grade, Guangming cinnabar (光明砂), turns bright red after fire-subduing, and washing yields six liang of golden-star cinnabar (金星砂) of brilliant luster. The middling grade, White Horse Tooth cinnabar (白马牙砂), turns reddish crimson and yields four liang. The inferior grade, Purple Numinous cinnabar (紫灵砂), is slightly purplish red and yields three liang. Cinnabar of mixed color, like stream-bank earth, may also turn purplish red, but it has no luster, and no golden-star cinnabar can be seen after washing. The lofty immortals of antiquity refined and took genuine cinnabar, and the superior Guangming cinnabar is the true cinnabar. Its essence must be sought out with care before it can be used in compounding the numinous elixir (灵丹). Once the fire-subdued cinnabar is taken from the cold spring, it can also be refined again at once, so that the true treasure within it is revealed.

The formula of "Melting and Drumming" (Rong Gu) says: for every one liang of cinnabar that has undergone fire-subduing treatment, combine half a liang of salt flower. Place the salt flower at the bottom of the crucible first, then add the fire-subdued cinnabar. Once the crucible and the cinnabar are evenly heated and glowing red, strike the drum a thousand times so that the metallic liquid flows down. This is called "White Silver." A lustrous yellow pattern then appears on its surface, shimmering with radiance. It is said to be the most precious treasure between Heaven and Earth.

If it is to be taken as an elixir, take one liang and divide it into three hundred and sixty portions, forming pills with jujube paste. Take one pill each day, finishing the one liang in a year. Before taking these cinnabar pills, fast and observe purification for seven days. Then, at dawn, face east and sincerely petition the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing, the supreme Daoist deities), the True Lord of the Purple Tenuity, the Perfected One of the Great Unity, the earlier masters and immortal officials, and the spirits of water and fire, praying: "May I, having taken this numinous cinnabar elixir, preserve my five viscera along with my body and spirit (Shen), and remain forever pure and true." After reciting this, bow seven times, and then take the pill.

After taking this cinnabar, avoid foods that are rank, foul, or kept too long, and do not eat raw blood-producing foods, pork, and the like. Above all, avoid contact with birth, death, and defilement. The scripture (Jing) says: "Yang essence (Jing) delights in cleanliness; yin corpses delight in filth." One should therefore keep the mind and will calm and cleanse the body, so as to nourish the true Qi (vital energy) of the yang spirit. In this way the spirit will be joyful and the body healthy, and one may perhaps attain the realm of immortality.

The Second Return: Treasure Cinnabar

The scripture says: to cultivate the true Dao (the Way), one must accord with the most subtle realm; to refine cinnabar, one must accord with the most numinous realm; to transmute numinous substances, one must accord with the highest realm of divine wonder. Having reached this realm of divine wonder, one can unite with the Great Dao; having united with the Dao, one can ascend to Jade Purity (Yuqing, the highest heaven in Daoist cosmology) and become an immortal of high rank. When cinnabar is refined and yields a treasure, it is the purest and truest of medicines; when that treasure is in turn transformed back into cinnabar, it becomes a numinous elixir able to resonate with the profound Dao.

The accounts of ingesting and refining cinnabar in this text belong to the cultivation lore of ancient Daoism. The "cinnabar" mentioned here is a mercury-containing mineral, and this text must not be taken as a guide to actual consumption.

First, make four liang of silver into a small pot, about the size of the bottom of the bottle, and place it inside an oil-glazed porcelain bottle that holds one sheng. Take one liang each of Beiting sand (a mineral drug) and stone alkali (a mineral alkali), together with one fen of dragon's blood resin (a resinous drug). Grind them into a fine powder, mix it with bitter wine into a paste, and coat the silver pot completely, inside and out. Once the paste has dried, wrap the pot in a clay made of yellow earth, about one cun and two fen thick. First calcine it over a chaff fire for three sets of seven days (twenty-one days in all), then over a fierce fire of white charcoal for two sets of seven days (fourteen days). Take out the silver pot, remove the clay layer, and return the pot to the bottle.

Pour four liang of true mercury into the bottle. The true mercury meant here is mercury extracted from the same kind of cinnabar. The scripture (Jing) calls this mercury "of the same kind" as cinnabar, able to respond to it and be transformed into cinnabar. Ancient alchemy described this process as the method of "mother and child" generating each other, and for this reason treated it as a secret transmission. After adding the mercury, add five ge of water, and keep topping it up so that the water in the bottle always stays at five ge, neither more nor less. Nourish it over a gentle fire for two sets of seven days, until bubbles like fish eyes rise on the surface of the water.

When this period is complete, add another four liang of mercury and nourish it over a gentle fire for one set of seven days, following the previous method. Then dry out the bottle. Seal the mouth of the bottle firmly and press it with a fierce fire for three days, and a reddish-yellow sand will surge up from the silver pot. Collect this sand and add mercury again by the same method. The mercury in the bottle must always be kept at eight liang, neither reduced nor increased. Continue to nourish and calcine in the same order, gentle fire and then fierce fire, collecting the sand as it forms. The scripture says that every four liang of silver yields one jin of sand. The silver pot gradually becomes withered and brittle, its essence exhausted as it turns into sand, and only two liang of bluish-black ash remain in the bottle.

After this, take the sand and decoct it with medicinal agents for thirty days, following the method described in the previous chapter. Wash it, place it in a cauldron, and then refine it by sublimation and by subduing, using Yin-Yang fire phasing (adjusting the heat according to the changes of Yin-Yang). Every five days counts as one phase, for twenty phases in all. When one hundred days are complete, the sand is said to have been "fire-subdued," meaning that after refining by fire its nature has become stable. The amount of charcoal is increased or decreased following the methods of sublimation and subduing in the previous chapter. Once the sand has been refined, it need not be wrapped in salt and calcined again, and it can be smelted into metal.

The method of smelting and refining (gulian) follows what was described in the previous chapter, using salt as an auxiliary ingredient to draw out the flowing metallic fluid. One jin of this precious cinnabar, once cultivated and refined, yields fifteen liang. After it is smelted again to subdue its fire (fuhuo), it yields thirteen liang of "yellow-flower silver." Its color gradually turns yellow and a luster emerges; its texture is smooth and moist, white within and yellow without, and for this reason it is called "yellow-flower silver."

If this cinnabar is to be taken as an ingestible substance, it must be treated in a cold spring to remove its fire-toxin. The so-called "cold spring method" consists of burying it deep in the earth for thirty days, then taking it out, washing and grinding it, and mixing it with jujube paste to form pills. Each liang of the material is made into three hundred and sixty pills. Every morning at dawn, facing east, one pill is taken with a sincere heart. After taking this precious cinnabar elixir, bury it deep in the earth once more for thirty days, take it out, wash and grind it, and form pills with jujube paste, again making three hundred and sixty pills from each liang; every morning at dawn, facing east, one pill is taken with a sincere heart. According to the scripture (Jing), after taking it, one's thoughts will naturally become calm and one's spirit (Shen) clear; turbid qi (Qi) will no longer invade, and the mind and will will not be disturbed, so that one gradually reaches the realm of the immortals.

The Third Return: Cinnabar of Essential Bloom

The scripture says: When primal yang (the original Qi of yang nature) has accumulated over a long time, its essential bloom will naturally unite with true essence (Jing, pure and genuine vital essence). When true essence is stirred by this resonance and transforms, the divine elixir can be completed. Therefore it is said that when true Qi is refined, one attains the realm of the true; the true efflorescence (the finest essence of true Qi) communicates and resonates with it, and in the end transforms into the numinous cinnabar called "Golden Bloom Mysterious Sand."

Take four taels of Yellow Blossom Silver (silver that has been refined for making vessels) and beat it into the shape of a pot, the same size as the base of the bottle described in the previous section. Take one tael of Puzhou chalcanthite (shidan), one tael of alkali (shijian), and one tael of prepared cinnabar sand (sha), and grind them together with bitter wine (vinegar) into a paste. Coat the inside and outside of the silver pot completely, until the paste is used up. When the paste has dried, wrap the pot in yellow clay and burn it in a chaff fire for fourteen days, then in a fierce fire of white charcoal for seven days. When the burning is finished, remove the clay and take out the silver pot.

Following the method of the previous section, place the silver pot in the Antong oil bottle, add four taels of true mercury (the "quicksilver" of the scripture, or Jing) and five ge of clean water, and nurture it over a gentle fire (a mild flame) for fourteen days. Add another four taels of mercury and continue nurturing over a gentle fire for seven days. When it has dried, seal the mouth of the bottle, then refine it over a martial fire (a fierce flame) for one day, and the sand will surge up onto the silver pot, bright and radiant in contrasting red and yellow. After this, add another four taels of mercury, nurture it over a gentle fire for seven days as before, and after it has dried and been sealed, refine it again over a martial fire for one day. Collect the sand that has been produced and continue adding mercury; once a total of one catty of sand has been gathered, the quantity is sufficient.

Next, place this sand in the cauldron and carry out "flying" and "subduing" (feifu) according to the fire timing described in the previous section. "Flying and subduing" is the process of heating the materials in the cauldron so that they sublimate and condense, and then refining them repeatedly. Each cycle lasts five days: for the first three days, boil with water according to the Kan trigram, and for the last two days, use yang fire for flying according to what the scripture calls the "High Trigram." At the start, use seven taels of charcoal, and increase the charcoal by two taels with each completed cycle. By the seventh cycle, about two taels of mercury frost will fly out, deep yellow with a purple glow, and cling to the underside of the cauldron lid.

Gather the mercury frost into a bowl, add one qian of Puzhou chalcanthite, and mix it with the sand using bitter wine. Grind it gently and finely with a jade pestle so that everything is thoroughly blended, then return it to the cauldron to continue the flying and subduing. The subduing takes eighteen stages in all, completed in ninety days. The scripture says that at this point the Heroic Sand (yingsha) has been refined until it no longer fears fire, loses not the slightest amount, and can be melted and cast. Then, following the method of the previous section, use "Washing Flower to Guide the Drum" (guanhua yin gu) to stimulate and drive the refining, and the precious substance will flow out. Return it to the cauldron for another eighteen stages of flying and subduing over ninety days, after which it can be melted and cast. The resulting substance is blue-green and lustrous, and is called "Blue-Green Gold" (qingjin).

The scripture explains Blue-Green Gold as the gradual manifestation of the yang essence, and describes its transformation with the phrase "from Dui one sees Zhen, then reaching Kun one returns to Li," taking this to be the process by which the yang essence changes back and forth, passing through its beginning and end.

If one wishes to ingest this Heroic Sand, the scripture records the following: for each tael of Heroic Sand, first prepare half a tael of elm sweet seed (yugan zi) and two taels of raw licorice, decoct them to extract the liquid, and boil the sand in this in a silver vessel for fourteen days. Then clarify the liquid and take out the sand, place it in a pale-green bamboo tube from Andan, and bury it deep in the earth for thirty days. After taking it out, mix it with jujube paste and form pills, dividing each tael into three hundred and sixty pills. Each morning, facing east, bow and pray to the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the Supreme Emperors, and the immortal officials, and then take the pills. The scripture says that after taking this Heroic Sand elixir, desires no longer disturb the heart and one no longer eats meat or blood foods; dwelling in tranquility, one's spirit and qi become harmonious and the body light, and one gradually comes to keep company with the Perfected (zhenren).

At the "Fourth Return" (di si fan), the cinnabar begins to undergo a wondrous transformation and is called "Wondrously Transformed Cinnabar" (miaohua sha).

The scripture (Jing) says: the Yang qi and radiance symbolized by the Qian trigram gradually emerge, and its subtle brilliance grows steadily clearer. The yin substance symbolized by the Gen trigram, as light and bright as snow, dissolves away together with the yin po-soul. This is the essence of the Blue Metal (qingjin) responding to the mercury and giving rise to cinnabar. Their efflorescent qi interact and coalesce, and this becomes the Wondrously Transformed Cinnabar. Having refined the elixir through this stage, the practitioner finds their Shen and Qi harmonized and their body light and vigorous, and is gradually able to keep company with the Perfected (zhenren).

The method for refining "Wondrous Transformed Cinnabar" is as follows. Take four taels of Azure Gold and forge it repeatedly into the shape of a cauldron. Grind half a tael each of red salt, stone sulfur, and Dapeng borax, together with one tael each of Beiting sal ammoniac and Puzhou stone gall (chalcanthite), into a paste with bitter wine. Coat all sides of the Azure Gold cauldron with this paste, then dry it over a fire, applying more of the medicinal paste little by little until it is used up. Here "Azure Gold" refers to a metallic material used in alchemy, and its exact identity must be judged from the earlier parts of this book; "bitter wine" means vinegar.

Once the paste has dried, follow the method of the previous chapter: wrap the cauldron in yellow clay to form a ball, burn it first in a chaff fire for fourteen days, then over a strong fire of white charcoal for seven days. When the burning is finished, remove the clay, take out the cauldron, and place it in a bottle. Add four taels of true mercury and five he of clear water, and do not increase or reduce these amounts. Nourish it gently with warmth for fourteen days, then add another four taels of true mercury and continue the gentle nourishing over a mild fire for seven more days. When it has dried, seal it tightly and force it with a strong fire for one day, and Wondrous Cinnabar will be produced, about four taels in all. Then add another four taels of true mercury and again nourish it over a mild fire as before, and remove the cinnabar once it has formed. When the accumulated yield reaches one catty of cinnabar, the amount is sufficient.

Place the Wondrous Cinnabar in the cauldron and perform "flying and subduing" according to the fire phases prescribed in the previous chapter, with five days making one cycle. In each cycle, two days follow the method of the Kan trigram, cooking and refining with water, and three days follow the method of the Gao trigram, raising and refining with Yang fire. The fire phases and the quantity of charcoal are increased step by step according to the Chapter on Brilliant Cinnabar. After sixteen phases, totaling eighty days, the Wondrous Cinnabar is complete. At this point it is golden and bright, with a red radiance shining through, and may be called cinnabar of the highest grade.

If you wish to smelt it into gold, you must also use salt blossom as a guide, so that the golden liquid flows out and congeals into yellow gold. The gold obtained is yellow and lustrous, its brilliance clear and vivid. When the refining reaches the Kun form, its essential splendor gradually appears. Thus the scripture says: "Turning from Yin, it returns to Yang; turning from the turbid, it returns to the clear." This means that once one has been refined through the transformations of the original Yang, one can unite with the true and wondrous Dao (the Way) and naturally attain the realm of the immortals.

If it is to be taken as medicine, each tael of Wondrous Cinnabar must first be combined with half a tael of elm-and-licorice seed, one tael of raw licorice, and one tael of purple quartz. Decoct these to obtain the liquid, and cook the cinnabar in it in a precious vessel for fourteen days. Afterward, place it in a pale-green bamboo tube and bury it in a cold spring for thirty days. After taking it out, mix it with jujube paste and form pills, making three hundred and sixty pills from each tael. Every morning at dawn, face east and take one pill. The scripture says that after long use, one's thoughts gradually become clear and unobstructed, turbid and stagnant qi (vital energy) disperses, and body and mind become pure, uniting with the Dao of utmost truth and rising beyond the defilements of the mortal world. If you are committed to this path and master the secret methods of embracing the original and refining the true, then the accomplishment of the way of the immortals is not far off.

"Yang De" (阳德, the function of yang qi in bringing forth the myriad things) exerts its power, manifests brilliance, and sets the primordial Jing (essence) in motion. As the primordial Jing circulates and transforms, it becomes the cinnabar of essence; the cinnabar of essence continues to transform and enters the realm of the mysterious. There, the wondrous Qi (vital energy), refined through successive transformations, gives rise to the myriad numinous beings. From this we may know that the mysterious sacred realm transforms layer upon layer, its radiance growing ever greater; and once it attunes to the true Jing, wondrous numinous transformations arise of themselves.

What is called "Numinous Cinnabar" (灵砂, Lingsha) is made by extracting gold from the wondrous cinnabar refined earlier, then causing it to respond and transform into mercury, which in turn produces cinnabar. The Numinous Cinnabar thus produced glows with a bright red light and gleams like the planet Venus, its color a clear, translucent crimson, and for this reason it is called "Numinous Cinnabar."

The method for refining Numinous Cinnabar is as follows: take eight liang of gold from the wondrous cinnabar and hammer it into a round cauldron with a capacity of roughly four ge; then take another two liang of gold and make a lid for the cauldron, which is used to refine the Numinous Cinnabar.

The method for refining Numinous Cinnabar (Lingsha) is as follows. Take eight taels of gold from the marvelous cinnabar and forge it into a round cauldron that holds four he, then make a lid from two taels of gold. Mix half a tael each of stone sulfur, red salt, Beiting cinnabar, and Puzhou chalcanthite, grind them with bitter wine into a paste, and spread it evenly inside the cauldron and the lid. When the paste has dried, wrap the cauldron and lid in yellow earth to a thickness of about one inch. Nurture it over a gentle fire on all four sides for fourteen days, keeping the heat at a level where the hand cannot touch it. Then raise the fire gradually and keep refining for seven days, without letting the fire go out day or night. After seven days, let it cool, remove the yellow earth, and coat the outside of the cauldron with a layer of sweet clay about two fen thick.

Suspend the cauldron in the furnace, leaving space all around and beneath it for the fire to pass. Put four taels of true mercury and two he of water into the cauldron, close the lid, and nurture it over a gentle fire for seven days. Throughout this time, keep five taels of cooked charcoal burning beneath the cauldron, neither more nor less. Keep adding water so that it stays at two he and never boils dry. After seven days, add another four taels of true mercury and nurture it over a gentle fire for seven more days by the same method. Then let the cauldron dry out, seal its mouth tightly, and burn it fiercely for one day. A red, glowing Numinous Cinnabar will form, and about five taels can be gathered.

Next, add five taels of true mercury to the cauldron, so that the mercury inside is never less than eight taels. Nurture it over a gentle fire for seven days, seal the mouth once the cauldron is dry, and burn it fiercely for one day to produce more Numinous Cinnabar. Once the cinnabar has formed, take it out, add more mercury, and repeat the cycle of gentle nurturing and fierce burning, until a single cauldron has yielded thirty taels of Numinous Cinnabar in total.

Once the gold has produced the Numinous Cinnabar, its essence is exhausted. It becomes dry, brittle, and dull, and weighs only about four taels. The scripture (Jing) holds that the essence of the gold resonated with the mercury and coagulated with it, and in the end was entirely transformed into Numinous Cinnabar.

The "true mercury" of the scripture must be extracted from the cinnabar that serves as the base ingredient, and the mercury obtained from the same kind of cinnabar is then used for continued additions. If bright-light cinnabar is the base, take the mercury from bright-light cinnabar. If white horse-tooth cinnabar or purple numinous cinnabar is the base, take the mercury from that same kind. The mercury from stream-earth cinnabar is of a mixed kind and cannot resonate with these cinnabars.

The mercury content differs among the cinnabars. One jin of bright-light cinnabar yields fourteen taels of mercury and contains two taels of stone black. One jin of white horse-tooth cinnabar yields twelve taels of mercury and contains four taels of stone black. One jin of purple numinous cinnabar yields ten taels of mercury and contains six taels of stone black. One jin of fine-colored translucent cinnabar yields eight and a half taels of mercury and contains seven and a half taels of stone black. "Stone black" is the black substance that forms in the hollows of fire-stones. After the mercury is extracted, about one tael of bluish-white "stone embryo" is sometimes left behind. The earlier chapter on Precious Cinnabar described the extraction of true mercury only briefly, and it is explained in detail here. The method of drawing mercury out of cinnabar is set out in the upper-grade section of the earlier chapter on the Golden Elixir.

When the golden cauldron has yielded its full thirty taels of Numinous Cinnabar, the method of gentle simmering with yin is no longer used. Instead, sublimation and fixing proceed by the Yin-Yang fire phasing described in the previous chapter. Each phase lasts five days: one day uses the fire of the Kan trigram, that is, cooking in water, and the other four days use the fire of the Li trigram, refining by sublimation with yang fire. For the first raising of yang fire, use nine taels of charcoal, and add two taels after each cycle. From the fifth cycle onward, add three taels per cycle. In this way, three taels of five-colored golden radiant frost are produced. Gather the golden frost and place it in a mortar together with the cinnabar, add half a fen of Puzhou chalcanthite and one fen of yellow pao, and grind thoroughly with bitter wine for half a day. Then return it to the cauldron and carry out sublimation and fixing by the two fire phases of Kan and Li for fourteen phases, seventy days in all, which completes the fire-fixing of the frost and cinnabar.

After fire-fixing, the Numinous Cinnabar is golden and bright red, like the flower of the pomegranate, radiant and dazzling. The scripture says its light shines upon the sun and moon, and that venomous dragons, serpents, evil ghosts, and spirits retreat at the sight of it and dare not raise their heads. For this reason it is called the supremely numinous substance.

This Numinous Cinnabar is not easy to melt and cast. To smelt it, build a crucible furnace of clean earth in a clean place, free of any impurity. Put the cinnabar and salt flower into the crucible and work the bellows two thousand times, and it will melt. When the molten gold has congealed, it is bright crimson and is called "red gold." The scripture explains that this is true gold, in which the blackness of the yin po-soul has been refined away entirely, so that the essence (Jing) of pure yang is revealed.

To take it as medicine, follow the method of the previous chapter: decoct a liquid from elm sweet-seed, raw licorice, and purple quartz, and cook the Numinous Cinnabar in it for fourteen days in a precious vessel, with the fire phasing and quantities as prescribed in the previous chapter. When it is done, put it into a tube and seal the mouth tightly. Place it in a cold spring, then bury it in the earth for twenty days. After taking it out, make pills with jujube pulp, three hundred sixty pills to the tael, each about the size of a large hemp seed. The scripture says that Numinous Cinnabar refined in this way gradually grows heavier.

Each morning at dawn, the practitioner should purify body and mind, face east, and announce the undertaking to the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing), the Supreme Lords, and the true officials, then bow to the former masters before taking the pills. The scripture says that after taking the Numinous Cinnabar elixir, the spirit (Shen) becomes clear and sharp, the vision penetrates both inside and outside, the body gives off a red light, and one becomes united with the Dao (the Way) of the Perfected.

The Sixth Reversion: The Elixir of Divine Cinnabar

The Scripture (Jing) says: when subtlety reaches its utmost, it becomes numinous; once numinous, it attains the realm of spiritual illumination; when spiritual illumination accords with the Dao, the Dao is made complete; and once the Dao is complete, the Mysterious Truth (xuanzhen, the profound and true numinous power spoken of in Daoism) descends, and one ascends to Jade Purity (Yuqing, the celestial realm revered in Daoism) and becomes a High Immortal.

What is called Divine Cinnabar is formed from the gathered essence and qi (Qi) of the Nine Numinous Powers, together with the condensed precious wind. The mysterious radiance coalesces into form and is transformed into Divine Cinnabar. Its color is golden yellow and its brilliance is bright, and for this reason it is called Divine Cinnabar.

The method for refining Divine Cinnabar is as follows: from the Numinous Cinnabar refined earlier, take nine liang of bright red gold and cast it into a precious cauldron with a capacity of five he; then take three liang of precious gold and fashion it into the lid of the cauldron.

The formula for refining Divine Cinnabar (shenSha) is as follows. Take nine liang of the bright red gold from the Spirit Cinnabar refined earlier, and cast it into a precious tripod able to hold five he. Then take three liang of precious gold and make a lid for the tripod. First place into the tripod one liang each of mineral sulfur, Daming sand, red salt, and Beiting sand. Mix them with bitter wine and grind them into a paste, then spread it evenly over the inner walls of the tripod and around the edge of the lid. When the coating has dried, close the lid and seal the tripod with a yellow-earth clay about two fen thick. Following the method described in the previous chapter, nourish it with gentle fire for fourteen days. Then switch to intense martial fire for seven days, until the tripod glows the same color as the flames.

When the tripod has cooled, remove the yellow clay and seal the outside with a new coating of sweet earth mixed into clay, about three fen thick. Place the tripod in the furnace, put in six liang of true mercury, and add three he of water. Keep adding water as needed and never let it burn dry. Nourish it with gentle fire for seven days, then add three more liang of true mercury and continue the gentle fire for three days. After that, let the inside of the tripod dry out, seal it tightly, and burn it fiercely with martial fire for two nights. The ingredients will then transform into red Divine Cinnabar.

After collecting the Divine Cinnabar, add eight liang of true mercury. Following the earlier method, nourish it with gentle fire for seven days, then burn it fiercely with martial fire for two days, and the ingredients will again become Divine Cinnabar. Collect it, add seven liang of true mercury, apply gentle fire, and burn with martial fire for two nights to produce more Divine Cinnabar. Continue by adding eight liang, seven liang, five liang, and three liang of true mercury in turn, each time repeating the alternation of gentle nourishing and fierce martial firing and collecting the cinnabar, until the total reaches two jin and thirty-two liang. Then stop.

Place the Divine Cinnabar in a mortar together with four liang of mineral sulfur and two liang of Puzhou chalcanthite, and grind them thoroughly for half a day. Then put the mixture into the precious gold tripod and subject it to "flying and subduing" (feifu) with Yang fire. Yang fire means using only the fire phases of the "high" hexagrams. Flying and subduing means refining the substance repeatedly by these fire phases, with every five days counted as one stage. At the start, use nine liang of charcoal, and add two liang for each completed cycle. After each cycle, take out the cinnabar that has been produced, grind it fine in the mortar, and return it to the tripod to continue the flying and subduing. After five cycles, increase the charcoal by three liang per cycle instead.

If a crimson gold frost appears, with a bright, dazzling red color, collect it and place it in the mortar with the Divine Cinnabar. Add one fen of Puzhou chalcanthite and some bitter wine, and grind for half a day. Then return it to the tripod and carry out twelve cycles of flying and subduing according to the fire phases, sixty days in all, and the Divine Cinnabar is complete. The finished Divine Cinnabar is vivid in color, holds its radiance within, and shows a translucent purple glow.

If it is smelted and cast, follow the method given in the earlier chapter on Spirit Cinnabar. When it is then combined with the "spirit flower" and forged, a precious fluid flows out and congeals into red gold whose luster is like fire. For this reason it is called "Gaoji Gold." This Divine Cinnabar elixir may be taken. Divide each liang into three hundred and sixty pills, shaping them with jujube paste. Take it as described in the previous chapter. The Jing (scripture) says that once one has taken the Lingbao Divine Cinnabar Elixir, one's essence becomes spiritually responsive and one's bones light, the body radiates brilliance, and one's feet tread the realm of the true, so that one becomes a supreme immortal.

The seventh Return Elixir (fandan) is named "Xuanzhen Jiangxia Sand" (玄真绛霞砂).

The scripture says: when the Lingbao accords with the revolutions of Heaven, resonance arises and the spirits come to dwell in peace. By returning to one's original nature and accumulating essence and Qi, scenes like dark frost and crimson snow will naturally appear, rising and circulating within the body. Once this state is reached, one can long remain a realized being and an immortal of spiritual power.

The so-called "Xuanzhen Jiangxia Sand" is the red gold within the Divine Sand (shensha), produced by nourishing mercury in a precious cauldron. The sand is colored like purple clouds and red blossoms, shimmering in brilliant hues, and for this reason it is called Xuanzhen Jiangxia Sand. Here "nourishing mercury" (yang gong) is an alchemical term for refining mercury-type substances in a cauldron vessel.

The formula for "Transforming the Treasure to Produce Sand" opens by saying: take one jin of the precious gold from the Divine Sand refined earlier. It then explains further that this Xuanzhen Jiangxia Sand is the red gold within the Divine Sand, born of nourishing mercury in the precious cauldron, displaying a luster like purple clouds and red blossoms, radiant in five colors.

This passage describes a method for refining "Crimson Mist Mysterious Cinnabar" (Jiangxia Xuansha). The text first has precious gold cast into a cauldron and its lid. Sulfur, red salt, Beiting cinnabar, Dapeng cinnabar, and other ingredients are then blended and coated on the inside of the cauldron, which is sealed and heated according to the method described earlier. Next, true mercury is placed in the cauldron and heated in stages until it gradually turns into a red, sandy substance. After each round of refining, more mercury is added, and the process is repeated until a certain quantity of Mysterious Cinnabar has been obtained.

The Mysterious Cinnabar is then removed and ground fine, mixed with sulfur, and returned to the cauldron, which is sealed tight. It is repeatedly "subdued and refined" (fulian, further transforming the ingredients through sealed heating) at different intensities of fire. During the process, the colored crystals that form on the cauldron lid must also be collected, and the cinnabar is combined with chalcanthite and bitter wine before going back into the cauldron. After many cycles and a final firing at strong heat, the author says the Mysterious Cinnabar will take on a purplish-red hue with a five-colored luster. This product is called the "Cinnabar Elixir of Supreme Yang and Mysterious Origin."

The text further states that if this cinnabar elixir is smelted with other materials, it can produce "Purple Gold of Crimson Mist." For ingestion, it is made into pills with jujube paste, one pill to be taken each morning, and it is claimed that the person who takes it becomes light in body and ascends into flight. The author also asserts that a single pill can transform metals such as mercury, lead, tin, copper, and iron into purple-polished gold. These claims belong to the traditions of ancient alchemy. Mercury (quicksilver), the related substances, and the heating processes are severely toxic, and the effects of ingestion and transmutation described in the text cannot be regarded as reliable fact.

I established the Shendao (Way of Spirit) teachings and petitioned the Mysterious Lord (Xuanjun, a revered deity among the Daoist divine and perfected beings), moved by compassion for the worthy and wise of the world. For this reason I composed these seven chapters in two sections. This text is drawn from the Dadong Baojing (Great Cavern Precious Scripture), and consists of the hidden writings of the Nine Grades of Obscure Chapters of the Immortal Lord, setting out the wondrous secrets of refining the perfected.

I established the Shendao teachings and petitioned the Mysterious Lord, moved by compassion for the worthy and wise of the world, and so composed these seven chapters in two sections. This text is taken from the hidden writings on the wondrous secrets of refining the perfected, found in the Nine Grades of Obscure Chapters of the Immortal Lord in the Dadong Baojing. This method belongs to the forbidden and secret writings, and its precepts are strict: it may be transmitted only to those who are worthy and wise. It must never be shown to, or heard by, the obstinate, the violent and perverse, the deceitful and suspicious, or those as defiled as walking corpses. Be most careful, lest the true and wondrous methods of the ancient immortals and sages be leaked.

Wondrous Secrets of Cultivating and Subduing Numinous Cinnabar, from the Precious Scripture of the Great Cavern on Refining the Perfected

Wondrous Secrets of the Nine-Times-Returned Golden Elixir (Golden Elixir), from the Precious Scripture of the Great Cavern on Refining the Perfected

Compiled by the Perfected Person of Mount Heng, Chen Shaowei (courtesy name Ziming).

The Returned Elixir (huandan) is originally formed from the condensed essence of Yang Nine, and it receives the Twenty-Four Perfected (the twenty-four kinds of true qi or true spirits spoken of in Daoism). True Water and True Fire contain and transform one another, inside and out, giving rise to the Five Spirits. The Five Spirits set the movements of Qi in motion, and as Qi continually gathers it forms cinnabar; when the cinnabar has accumulated to a certain degree, it congeals into the elixir. When the Qi absorbed by the elixir reaches its fullest abundance, it is called the "Great Returned Elixir of Purple Efflorescence and Crimson Bloom."

The oral instructions for the Great Returned Elixir have always been passed down from master to disciple by word of mouth. The numinous scriptures are stored in cavern abodes, and the golden tablets are secretly kept in the immortal capitals. Fearing that the transmission of the Dao would be cut off, the immortals compiled hidden writings and secret words and left them to the world. Later, talented and clever people searched widely and probed their obscure contents, spending a great deal of time and effort, yet never managed to grasp them. Gradually they became obsessed, and suddenly their bodies decayed and their Shen (spirit) dispersed, their corpses turning into demons and specters, which is truly lamentable.

Yet the transformations of the Dao must be received with single-minded sincerity. Only after such concentration can one achieve transformation and penetrating understanding, and the work ultimately comes down to refining mercury. The essential instructions for refining mercury are recorded in full in two chapters, which are further divided into nine grades. The upper three grades discuss extracting mercury from cinnabar, adding metal after the mercury has been refined, and then cultivating the metal and combining it with medicinals, comprising seven sections in all. The middle three grades briefly discuss the metal of the five minerals, the subduing and refining of the four yellows, and the transformations of yang metal. The lower three grades discuss the blending of the Great Elixir, the furnace-cauldron and the regulation of fire, and the methods for completing the elixir and verifying its authenticity. All of these contents are set out within the two chapters and nine grades.

Chapter on Verifying the Grades and Containing the Origin

What the Precious Scripture of Refining Perfection in the Grotto of Mystery (Dadong lianzhen baojing) discusses is entirely the hidden method of True Lead and True Mercury. The secret of True Mercury is to extract mercury from superior bright cinnabar and then unite it with the internal Water and Fire Qi, which is why it is called "True Mercury." One jin of bright cinnabar contains fourteen liang of mercury.

Grade One: Extracting Mercury from Cinnabar

First, finely grind the cinnabar (zhusha, whose main component is mercury sulfide) and place it in a bamboo-tube apparatus, sealing it with wax paper, hemp rope, and yellow clay. Bury it in the earth and heat it, so that the mercury is released by the heat and flows downward. If the fire is insufficient and the mercury has not been fully released, the remaining material will still be heavy and dark purple in color; in that case, continue heating until all the mercury has flowed out. The same method is used to extract mercury from materials such as "red horse-tooth," "white horse-tooth," and "purple numinous sand." The author holds that this method wastes less than other methods of flying and extraction, and says that the relevant secret instructions are recorded separately in the Upper Chapter.

Second Chapter: Refining Mercury and Adding Gold to Regenerate Cinnabar

Mercury extracted from cinnabar cannot simply be added to gold in the hope that the gold will turn into cinnabar; done this way, no cinnabar will be produced. The author says that the seven chapters are not yet complete, and that the key lies in first transforming gold into sand (cinnabar). The method of refining mercury is a secret teaching: the mercury must once again undergo the action of the inner Qi (vital energy) of water and fire, and when it meets the original substance of gold, the two combine and transform into each other, thereby producing cinnabar.

The expressions "Qi of water and fire" and "transforming into cinnabar" given here belong to the theoretical language of ancient alchemy (Waidan, external alchemy); the preceding passage concerns heating mercury-bearing minerals, which in actual practice produces toxic mercury vapor.

In refining mercury, take one jin of mercury and three liang of crude sulfur. First pound and grind them into powder and place it in a porcelain bowl. Heat it over a gentle fire, then keep adding the mercury, grinding quickly, until it becomes blue cinnabar (qingsha).

Next, put the blue cinnabar into a porcelain bottle that holds one sheng. Coat the outside of the bottle thickly with yellow earth mud, about two fen thick, then press the stopper tight and seal the mouth. Place the bottle in the furnace and nurture it over a mild fire (wenhuo) for three days, using one jin of charcoal packed around it. Throughout this time, one jin of charcoal must always be kept around the bottle. After three days, switch to a martial fire (wuhuo, a strong fire), using ten jin of charcoal in all, added in two portions of five jin each. If blue flames suddenly emerge through the bottle's walls, seal the spot at once with thin mud so that the flames cannot keep escaping. When the charcoal has burned out, the process is complete.

Once the bottle has cooled, open it. The mercury will have turned into purple cinnabar, and the quantity should show no loss. Take one jin of black lead and first melt it into liquid in a cauldron (ding). Then add the finely ground purple cinnabar to the molten lead, remove the fire, and stir-fry the mixture quickly so that the two combine into a cinnabar. Next, grind this cinnabar fine in the cauldron, cover it with a layer of salt about two fen thick, press it down and seal it. Then "fly-refine" it (feilian) over a martial fire for half a day, and the numinous mercury (lingshui gong) will be released, again with no loss in quantity. "Fly-refining" is an operation in ancient alchemy in which fire control is used to sublimate a substance and draw out its essence.

Following the order of the seven chapters, one must repeat the cycle of adding materials, combining them, and extracting. In the second refining, which produces Treasure Cinnabar, the mercury is twice burned with sulfur into cinnabar and drawn back out with lead, and then gold is added to refine it into cinnabar. In refining Blossom Cinnabar, the mercury must be burned and extracted three times. For the Marvelous Cinnabar of the fourth refining, the mercury is drawn back twice by lead, and gold is then added to refine it into cinnabar. In refining Numinous Cinnabar, the mercury is refined and extracted five times, and for Spirit Cinnabar (Shen cinnabar) it is burned and extracted six times. By the seventh refining, which produces Mysterious Truth Crimson Mist Cinnabar, the earlier method is repeated seven times. Each time, three liang of crude sulfur are used to burn the mercury into purple cinnabar, and one jin of black lead is used to draw the numinous mercury back out. In every round, the fire is managed according to the method described above.

The scripture (Jing) holds that after mercury has been burned and extracted repeatedly, it comes to contain the essential qi (Qi) of water and fire, and it also corresponds to the number of the seven chapters. The three luminous energies of water, fire, and metal thus converge in their essence, finally transforming into a numinous substance and realizing the true state.

Chapter Three discusses "refining gold and compounding the medicine," that is, the preparation of the gold-medicine and its combination with other medicinal substances. The firing phases used in burning and extractive refining follow entirely the oral instructions given earlier. When mercury is refined, the essential qi (Qi) of water and fire is also contained within it, and corresponds to the numbers of the "Seven Chapters." The three luminous qi of water, fire, and metal naturally receive this essential qi, meet and unite with one another, and can then generate numinous substances and verify the true Dao (the Way).

When the hun-soul of the yang origin is stirred by yin qi, it lies hidden, takes form, and becomes the po-soul. This is called "Dui metal" (metal refined from yin qi). Dui metal displays a yin nature, yet it also holds the essence of the medicinal substances. In refining it, one must gradually remove the stagnant qi within it, so that the numinous mercury, once cast into it, undergoes transformation. Its luster increases steadily, turbid qi reverts to clear qi, and in the end the pure yang original substance is restored. The purpose of refining this metal and compounding the medicines is to exhaust the principle, unite with the primordial qi, and make its numinous nature penetrate the "Seven Chapters."

Kongqing (azurite) and Zengqing (layered azurite) are said to be formed from the qi of Jia and Yi (corresponding to the qi of Wood among the Five Phases) and from the condensed essence of red gold, and to be transformed by receiving the numinous qi of yin. They are said to be able to turn mercury into gold. In the old scriptures they are called "autumn stone," which is a concealed name for gold and is often combined with cinnabar and similar medicinal substances. Cinnabar, too, bears the name "autumn stone."

Zengqing is produced in Shuchuan, Weizhou, and Ezhou; what comes from Shixing is only red gold. In old mining sites, Zengqing gradually forms: it passes from a treasure into an empty space, and from that empty space Zengqing is born, hence its name. Its shape resembles goldthread root (huanglian), growing in connected clusters, and also resembles earthworm castings, with square, angular edges. Its color is deep, like Persian indigo, and it grows layer upon layer. When struck, it gives off a sound like metal; only then is it genuine.

Kongqing resembles the bayberry. When freshly taken from the pit, it contains water inside when broken open; left for a long time, it dries out and shows golden flecks that glitter like pearls and jade. It grows near springs and is often moist with humid qi, and is therefore thought to receive the most extreme yin qi. As for the claim that it has the same effect as saltpeter, the original text also indicates that this cannot be known with certainty.

Xuanying (玄英, "Dark Efflorescence," a mineral formed by the natural condensation of salts) is originally the essence-fluid of granular salt. After flowing into the earth for a long time, it gradually sinks to the surface of spring water and condenses into shape, resembling a tortoise shell, white and translucent in color. The Xuanying produced in Yizhou, transformed from a red wash liquid, is slightly reddish and brightly lustrous, and is of the finest quality; that from Puzhou is second best. It can subdue volatile metals, matches niter in potency when combined with it, and is able to rival Zengqing (曾青, azurite).

The name Huashi (化石, "Transforming Stone") means that it can dissolve metals and stones, and so it is called Huashi. Its best quality is of the highest grade, and that from Puzhou is second best. It can subdue volatile metals, matches niter in potency when combined with it, and is able to rival Zengqing.

Huashi is the essence of Taiyin (太阴, the supreme Yin Qi) condensed to its utmost, and it possesses the numinous quality of extreme Yin. It can subdue metals and minerals of extreme Yang, both restraining and dissolving them. Its power of transformation and refining accords with that of Xuanying, and its efficacy is remarkably potent.

Shiling (石灵, "Stone Spirit," the numinous essence among stone minerals) receives the essential Qi of Kun and Kan (the trigrams symbolizing earth and water respectively) and takes shape through the condensation of Yin Qi. It is square and angular in form, like a thin slab of stone, white in color and similar to granular salt, though slightly milder in taste. It can subdue Yang-natured essences and neutralize the toxicity of fire-stones, and it can rival sulfur in transformation and refining; its effects also include stimulating the essence of metal and removing sluggish Qi. In the methods described in the seven scriptural chapters (Jing), it is borrowed as an auxiliary substance.

Mayaxiao (马牙硝, "Horse-Tooth Niter," a niter-type mineral shaped like horse teeth) is likewise a Yin-extreme essence. Resembling Ningshuishi (凝水石, "Water-Congealing Stone"), it is produced in the land of Shu. It too can subdue Yang essences and neutralize the Qi of fire-stones. Used alone, its subduing action is weak; when combined with rock salt, however, its Yin-natured toxic potency becomes very strong.

Beiting sand (beiting sha, a mineral drug in Daoist texts) receives the Qi (气, vital energy) of Yin stone, yet its nature contains the toxic, essential Qi of Yang. It can corrode and ruin the Five Stones (metal-and-mineral materials used in alchemy) and cause each substance to reveal its own nature, so it can both bring about transformation and cause damage. Its power is close to that of sulfur: it removes impurity and increases Yang Qi, with marked effect. It also naturally forms granules, light red in color, and the bright, translucent kind is best. In the Seven Chapters it serves as an "envoy" (an auxiliary ingredient that guides the potency of a formula), drawing out the Jing (精, essence) of Yang metal and breaking up the Yin soul. When it is refined together with Dapeng sand, red numinous substance, and sulfur, its effect is considered superior, even surpassing the work of nature itself.

Qilin blood resin (qilinjie, a resinous drug traditionally also called dragon's blood) comes from the Western Hu lands. It receives the Qi of Yinghuo (Mars), is born in the shade of Yang stone, and condenses into form. Its color resembles purple lac, and its shape resembles crumbled stone. It likewise replenishes Yang Jing and disperses stagnant Yin Qi, and it enriches the luster of colors, with great effect. To identify the genuine article, burn it in fire: if red liquid wells up and the color does not change easily, it is the true original.

Chalcanthite (shidan, a traditional mineral drug) comes from Mount Song and Puzhou. It receives the Qi of numinous mountain stone and resembles sese (a blue-green gemstone). Its nature is free-flowing, and its Jing resonates with the Eight Stones, turning the Five Metals into liquid. When Yang Jing meets it, the Jing returns to the Central Palace (an alchemical term for the central position, or the center of the furnace). To identify the genuine article, smear it on copper or iron and heat it in fire: the color will become like red gold. Used for subduing and refining materials, its effect is marked. One may also fill a copper vessel with water and add a little chalcanthite: if the water turns blue-green and does not fade for several days, it is genuine.

Dapeng sand receives the Jing of Yang yet is nourished by Yin Qi. Its form resembles amber and its texture resembles peach gum, and its effect is great. To identify the genuine article, fill a copper vessel with water and add a little Dapeng sand: if the water turns blue-green and does not fade for several days, it is genuine.

Dapeng cinnabar sand (Dapengsha), though it receives its Yang essence (yang jing), is nourished by things of a Yin nature. It resembles amber in shape and peach resin in texture, and its nature is mild. It can dissolve and refine Yang metal, removing Yin stagnation. Combined with sulfur and red salt, it refines the Yang essence within them and gradually deepens their luster and color. Among the methods of refinement described in the Seven Chapters, it is highly effective for regulating pure Yang Qi and returning it to the True Origin.

Red Rong salt (Chi Rongyan) comes from the western Rong lands, where it absorbs the Qi of the local soil and water and condenses into substance. The earth there is basically yellow and red, and the salt forms accordingly, hence the name "Rong salt." Its flavor is slightly milder than that of rock salt, yet it can subdue the Yang essence through refinement and add to its radiance. Used together with mineral sulfur, it is said to bring the hun and po souls back, refine the po substance so that brilliance emerges, and subdue the Four Yellows, so that the ingredients settle and return to the Earth Qi of Wu and Ji. To tell whether it is genuine, melt it in a fire: if it flows out as a reddish liquid and its color deepens as it solidifies, it is the original true substance.

Mineral sulfur (Shi Liuhuang) originates in the Nanming region of Persia, formed by the pure Yang essence of fire-stone. Its nature is free-flowing, yet it carries a fierce toxicity, and for this reason it is called the "General" among medicinal substances. Its function is to break up evil stagnation and restore the turbid to clarity, to rouse the Yang essence and dissolve Yin substance; the circulation of the primal and true is often aided by its power. When Maojin (riveting metal) meets it, its essence disperses and its po substance is ruined. Sulfur that is faintly bluish and lustrous is the strongest in potency, the solid yellow kind is next, and the reddish-yellow kind is the weakest. When compounding and refining the Great Elixir, one must choose the strongest. In using it, carefully observe the strength of its primal Qi, then combine it according to the methods of the Seven Chapters. Through refinement, metal can be transformed into cinnabar sand, and the sand in turn gradually reveals a brilliant, majestic radiance, which is finally used to verify the Nine Elixirs.

Middle Grade Three: the fourth item in the array of the metal category of the Five Minerals.

The five metals each receive the yin essence (Jing) of one of the Five Spirits (Shen), and combine with the differing qi (Qi) of mountains and marshes, condensing into form. Iron receives the yin essence of the Ding position in the south and takes shape. Copper receives the yin qi of the Yi position in the east and congeals into a corporeal soul (po). Silver receives the yin spirit of the Xin position in the west, gathering essence and qi to become a substance. Lead and tin both receive the qi of Ren and Gui in the north: tin obtains the essence of the Ren position, and lead obtains the qi of the Gui position. Because yin qi comes to its end at Gui, lead receives the essence at the height of yin's abundance. Gold receives the yin corporeal soul of the Ji position in the central palace, and its nature is extremely hard and unyielding.

Each of these metals has its own extreme and violent properties, and taking them harms the body. Gold injures the intestines and damages the flesh; silver injures the liver; copper injures the kidneys; iron injures the lungs; lead, being slippery and damp in texture and heavily laden with yin toxicity, injures the heart and stomach. The yin toxicity of the five metals is strong, and if taken over a long period, all of them damage the muscles, corrupt the bones, and shorten life.

Those who seek long life but do not understand the nature of the five metals, and who casually take metals smelted from ores and refine them over and over, will be led down the wrong path. These ore-derived metals are all formed from the condensed, turbid yin qi of the Five Spirits, and their substance is heavy and stubborn. Even when they meet the "Four Yellows" (four yellow mineral substances used in refining), which can change their form and quality, their yin toxicity is not easily removed. Even if they are made into an elixir, taking it will still harm the five viscera. Once one understands their original nature, one will see that this runs contrary to principle; to seek long life by taking them only carries one further from the great Dao (the Way).

Chapter Five: The Four Yellows Subdue the Five Metals: a chapter on using the Four Yellows to restrain and subdue the five metals, the fifth section.

The "Four Yellows" (四黄, Si Huang) refer to realgar, orpiment, Pihuang, and sulfur. All of them belong by nature to Wu Earth (戊土) at the center, and each contains the toxicity of Yang fire, which harms the qi (气, Qi) of the five viscera. If each is separately refined to remove this fire-toxin, it gains the power to transform the nature of the Five Metals.

If the refining is done properly, the Four Yellows show a fiery color yet do not lose their original nature, and a fluid flows through them, so they can turn the copper and silver among the Five Minerals into gold. If, after refining, the fiery color fades and they become as white as calomel, with a liquid that floats and flows freely, they can turn the Five Metals into silver. Each of the Four Yellows acts differently according to its own nature. The "Five Metals" here mean iron, tin, copper, silver, and gold. Realgar transforms iron, orpiment transforms tin, Pihuang transforms copper, and sulfur transforms silver into mercury (quicksilver). The Four Yellows can also turn iron into copper, copper into silver, and silver into gold, step by step. Of these, sulfur is the most powerful: it increases Yang qi, replenishes essence (精, Jing) and qi, and returns turbid substance to clarity and purity. For this reason, the Four Yellows are among the most important of the seventy-two minerals used in alchemy.

When the Four Yellows meet red salt, Dapeng sand, or chalcanthite, they are subdued and return to their original substance, with no change of color. When they meet rock salt, horse-tooth niter, and chalcanthite and are then refined with fire, they are likewise subdued and turn white like calomel.

Therefore, when the Dadong Baojing (大洞宝经, Jing) and the Zhengjun Xiuzhen Neizhuan (郑君修真内传, "Inner Biography of Master Zheng's Cultivation of Perfection") discuss methods for subduing the seventy-two minerals, both require refining by the method of the "Embryonic Womb Containing the Primal" (含元胞胎). One takes an equal amount of yellow earth, mixes it with lead powder and stone marrow (石脑), and places the mixture in a cauldron for subduing. The green earth is used to harmonize minerals of the same kind as the Four Yellows; lead dissolves the fire-toxin, and stone marrow is used to subdue the ores. The Xiuzhen Zhuan (修真传) gives its secrets for the transformations of the various minerals and the subduing of the seventy-two minerals in prose too lengthy to reproduce in full here. This account therefore outlines only the essentials of subduing and refining the Four Yellows and the Five Metals, and sets out the related material by category.

Yang Gold (the spiritual, gold-like substance that scripture describes as condensed from yang qi) is formed by receiving the Yang Essence. The Five Spirits (Shen) exhale talismanic qi (qi), and these meet and merge, taking shape as cinnabar. The cinnabar is wrapped on the outside by eight kinds of minerals, while within it holds the essence of gold.

The Gold Essence first receives its breath at the Jia position and takes form at the Bing position. When it emerges from the womb it appears at the Ren position, then condenses the po-soul's qi to become Geng. With further enrichment of its essence, it returns to the Wu position. Yin-Yang (Yin-Yang) rise and fall, each returning to its source. Consider, for example, naoshi (a mineral) and the five metals: all are formed by the condensation of the qi of the five yin spirits, and each divides into five types of form. These substances are hard in nature and heavy and sluggish in quality. Mercury, by contrast, receives the subtle, numinous essence of the five yang spirits, which merge into a single whole. For this reason it can be light and fluid, capable of flight and transformation, able to commune with and command the myriad spirits.

Mercury originally lodges as an embryo within cinnabar, which stands in the south. When its embryonic substance is changed, it becomes Ren water, and the water in the north reveals the form of mercury. It then descends and condenses the po-soul's qi to become Geng, and Geng is the white metal of the west. After this white metal is refined and transmuted, it returns to the Jia position and becomes the green metal of the east. Further essence is added at the Wu position, and Wu is the yellow gold of the center. Through transformation its nature is raised, and its efficacy is completed after nine transformations. Thus Yang Gold shifts and changes, employing the mechanism of creation and transformation, altering its form and exchanging its embryonic body, and combining the bodies of the five directions. Afterward it can receive the qi of Heaven and Earth, transform Yin-Yang, and transcend the Three Origins (the three layers of heaven in Daoism), shedding material form to return to its original truth. This is called "Returning Elixir" (huandan).

Chapter on Completing the Elixir and Returning to Truth

To refine the Great Elixir, one must first accumulate Yang Essence and refine it seven times over into Purple Gold, continually circulating, transforming, and tempering it, so that the Five Spirits shift and change, dissolving their original form and nature and reaching a state of lightness and free flow. At this stage one must rely on "True Water." Yet the refining still requires the work of fire, extending the subtle transformations until the nine-times-nine count is complete. The fire within the True Water is black lead ore and sulfur. Lead belongs to Ren-Gui water of the north, while the nature of sulfur receives the Bing-Ding fire of the south. What is called True Lead is lead that contains primordial qi: that which is smelted out of naoshi and has not yet been subjected to smoking and extraction is called True Lead.

Take one jin of true lead and process it in Mysterious True Crimson Mist Cinnabar that has been refined seven times. Then take fifteen liang of purple gold. Place the true lead and the purple gold in separate ganguo (refractory crucibles used for smelting) and melt each into liquid, then combine them. Remove the fire and stir-fry the mixture quickly until it becomes a fine sand. Add five liang of sulfur, put the three materials in a mortar, and grind them thoroughly for a full day. Next, move them into the cauldron and refine them through six turns according to the proper fire phasing (huohou). With each turn, add more material and raise the fire. The specific phasing is set out below in the chapter "Fire Phasing."

The Great Elixir (the elixir produced through refining) is first endowed by Heaven, and then humans nurture, transform, and refine it through the management of fire phasing, gradually accumulating the pure Yang qi (Qi). Within the elixir are water and fire, and outside it joins the light of the sun, moon, and stars. The Five Spirits (Shen) fuse and steam together until it suddenly becomes light and buoyant, radiant and blazing. Once the elixir is complete, it returns to the south, clear and serene, seated peacefully in the Hall of Purple Tenuity. This too describes how the interplay of inner and outer water and fire, transforming one another, produces the Great Reverted Elixir.

Chapter Eight: The Furnace, the Cauldron, and Fire Phasing

The furnace and cauldron used to refine the Great Elixir must also be built according to the principles of the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Humanity) and the Five Spirits. The cauldron should be made from twenty-four liang of middle gold refined seven times, corresponding to the twenty-four solar terms. Sixteen liang are cast into a round cauldron body with a capacity of nine he, and the remaining eight liang are made into the lid. The sixteen liang of the body match the measure of one jin, and the capacity of nine he corresponds to the form of the Three Origins at the extreme of Yang. The eight liang of the lid correspond to the eight seasonal junctures. Together, body and lid total twenty-four liang, in accord with the great number of Heaven and Earth.

The cauldron must also be oriented according to the positions of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) and the Twelve Spirits. Then the purple-gold sand, already combined and refined, is placed inside the cauldron and sealed tightly so that no Yang qi can escape. The cauldron is then set into the furnace for refining.

When building the furnace, select a Wushen day (戊申, Wushen) within a Jiachen decade (甲辰, Jiachen), and gather clean earth from the southwest, the position of Shen (申). First pack the earth into an altar eight inches high and two feet four inches wide, and build the furnace upon it. The furnace is likewise two feet four inches high and is divided into three tiers, upper, middle, and lower, all connected so that air can pass freely among them.

The upper tier is nine inches high and symbolizes Heaven. It has nine apertures, representing the nine stars. The middle tier is one foot high and symbolizes Humanity. It has twelve doors, representing the twelve double-hours, and each door must be fitted with its own leaf. The lower tier is five inches high and symbolizes Earth. It has eight passages, representing the winds of the eight directions. The inner diameter of the furnace must be one foot two inches.

Next, place the cauldron (鼎, ding) inside the furnace, suspended two inches above the bottom and supported from below by an earthen platform. The platform is also two inches high and should be sized to suit the cauldron. Once everything is arranged in this way, the firing process may begin, using the regulation of the fire (huohou, 火候).

The method of regulating the fire must likewise follow the transformations of Yin-Yang (阴阳) and accord with the rhythm of the twenty-four solar periods and the seventy-two pentads. Five days make one pentad, three pentads make one solar period, and two solar periods make one…

The timing of the fire in elixir refining must be arranged according to the changes of Yin-Yang and the solar terms. The ancients set one pentad at five days, three pentads to a solar term, and two solar terms to a month, with twelve months making up a year. When the fire follows this cycle, the numbers of Yin-Yang transformation are complete, and the elixir is accomplished.

To begin the fire, choose the jiazi hour of a jiazi day in the eleventh month, which is the zi hour at midnight. The fire is first lit at the Zi Gate, using three liang of charcoal every five days, so that the furnace always holds three liang of fully burning charcoal, neither more nor less. Next the six gates of Chou, Yin, Mao, Chen and Si are opened in turn, each burning for five days, with the charcoal increasing in order to four, five, six, seven and eight liang. These six are the Yang gates, and the charcoal is laid upright and steady to symbolize the stirring of Yang qi (Qi). The fire then moves to the six gates of Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai, each also burning for five days, with the charcoal decreasing in order to nine, eight, seven, six, five and four liang. These six are the Yin gates, and the charcoal is laid crosswise to symbolize the shifting seasons of Yin and Yang.

As the fire travels from the Zi Gate to the Hai Gate, passing through all twelve gates, the furnace consumes seventy-two liang of charcoal in total, corresponding to the seventy-two pentads. Sixty days, or two months, make one cycle. When the fire has died down, the furnace is opened and inspected. Two liang of sulfur are added, then ground with purple-gold cinnabar in a mortar for half a day with a jade pestle. The mixture is placed in the cauldron, which is sealed and then fortified with a fire-resistant coating. The fire is then run again in the same order, five days to each gate.

The second cycle begins at the zi hour of a jiazi day. The Zi Gate uses five liang of charcoal and the Chou Gate six, increasing in order until the Si Gate uses ten; after the Wu Gate the amounts gradually decrease, until the Hai Gate uses four. The twelve gates together use eighty-four liang, twelve more than in the first cycle, corresponding to the twelve months. After sixty days, once the cauldron has cooled, it is opened and inspected. The cinnabar is the color of brown earth, flecked with bright points of gold. Two more liang of sulfur are added and ground again with the cinnabar, which is then returned to the cauldron and sealed.

The third cycle again runs the fire through twelve gates, five days to each. The Zi Gate uses seven liang of charcoal, increasing in order until the Si Gate uses twelve; after the Wu Gate the amounts gradually decrease, until the Hai Gate uses six. The whole cycle consumes one hundred and eight liang, twenty-four more than the second, corresponding to the twenty-four solar terms. After sixty days, when the cauldron has cooled and been opened again, the cinnabar shows a faint purple tint. Two more liang of sulfur are added, and the golden cinnabar is taken out, ground until even, returned to the cauldron and sealed.

The fourth cycle begins at the zi hour at midnight on a jiazi day. The Zi Gate uses nine liang of charcoal, increasing in order until the Si Gate uses fourteen; after the Wu Gate the amounts gradually decrease, until the Hai Gate uses eight. The twelve gates together use one hundred and thirty-two liang, twenty-four more than the third cycle. When the fire is complete and the cauldron has cooled and been opened, the cinnabar has gradually turned golden and gives off a brilliant purple light. Two more liang of sulfur are added and thoroughly ground in the mortar for half a day. The mixture is returned to the cauldron, which is tightly sealed, and the top and bottom are checked for any leaks of qi.

The fifth cycle again begins at the zi hour of a jiazi day. The Zi Gate uses eleven liang of charcoal, increasing in order until the Si Gate uses sixteen; after the Wu Gate the amounts gradually decrease, until the Hai Gate uses ten. The twelve gates together use one hundred and fifty-six liang, twenty-four more than the fourth cycle. After sixty days, the charcoal is increased again and the next cycle begins.

The following cycle begins at the jiazi hour of a jiazi day. The Zi Gate uses seventeen liang of charcoal and the Chou Gate eighteen, increasing in order until the Si Gate uses twenty-two; after the Wu Gate the amounts gradually decrease, until the Hai Gate uses twelve. The furnace consumes two hundred and twenty-eight liang in total. A further seventy-two liang of charcoal is then added for the final cycle, corresponding to the seventy-two pentads. The scripture (Jing) says that at this point purple vapor swirls around the cauldron and furnace, even veiling the sun and moon and shaking mountains and rivers, which is the sign that the elixir is complete.

When the fire is stopped, the cauldron is moved to an incense altar and opened once more. The elixir is radiant, as if lightly rising and shedding its former form, joined to the lid of the cauldron like a nine-tiered lotus, and it weighs exactly fifteen liang. Inside the cauldron lies another twenty-four liang of residual ash, purple-gold in color. It is said that a grain of this purple ash, the size of a hemp seed, can transmute a catty of mercury and the five metals into precious treasures. Finally the cauldron is relocated and enshrined in the Three Caverns (Sandong) to complete the work of refining. When the work is done, the practitioner returns to the true Dao (Dao) and transcends the world like a cicada shedding its shell. This is what the scripture calls the efficacy of the returned elixir.

Chapter Nine: Perfecting the Elixir and Returning to the True

The elixirs obtained through cultivation fall into different categories, yet the realm of the "True" (zhen) toward which they all lead is the same. Take, for example, the cinnabar elixir refined through seven transformations: its efficacy is remarkable. According to the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen; the classification system of Daoist scriptures), each embodies a different function, yet all ultimately return to the realm of the True, transcending the world as a cicada sheds its old shell. This is the power of the returned elixir, and it is truly extraordinary.

Although the elixirs obtained through cultivation differ in kind, the realm of the True to which they lead is the same. The cinnabar elixir refined through seven transformations, for instance, is highly potent, and one who takes it may become an immortal of high rank. Why, then, can this still not be counted as truly attaining the True? Because such an elixir still has material obstruction: the body of the one who takes it cannot yet become light and subtle, and has not yet freed itself from the "Five Turbidities" (the defiled conditions of the world that stain and constrain body and mind). It remains subject to being eroded and smelted by the worldly forces of water and fire.

Once the Nine-Times-Returned Golden Elixir is perfected, however, a person can become light and capable of transformation, wholly free of the physical body. Its perfect radiance shines through everything, and purple qi (Qi) rises straight into the clouds. Meeting any thing, it can transform without hindrance. Even after a thousand hammerings and ten thousand refinings it does not melt, and its brilliant essence (Jing) only grows fuller; even amid raging fire it cannot be burned. The one who first takes this elixir in the proper way can sprout wings and ascend, riding the clouds away to become a Perfected Person (zhenren) of high station.

Thus, when essence and qi gather, one becomes an immortal, and once immortality is achieved, one goes further and attains the True. The Perfected Person is one who transcends the realm of utmost Yang, endures as long as heaven and earth, rides the clouds in and out, commands the myriad spirits, and directs the plants and trees. Dwelling in a lofty place, such a one ascends to the Purple Palace (the legendary palace where immortals reside), and so is called a "Perfected Person." Yet the movements of heaven and earth do not change, and the essence of Yang is never extinguished; all things in the world sink and perish, and only the True endures.