《太极真人杂丹药方》

All men who receive transmission of this formula should concentrate with firm resolve and maintain purity and stillness of body and mind. The places of origin of the medicinal materials, the sealing of the furnace implements, the intensity of the fire, and the quantities used in firing and refining must all be carried out according to the prescribed rules; only then can one proceed without error. This formula must not be transmitted to those of improper character, who fail to uphold the Dao and its principles, or who lack sincerity and good faith.

When refining the furnace medicine one must also choose a spacious and secluded room, dwell there in quiet, allow no women to see it, and permit neither chickens nor dogs to crow or bark. This formula is transmitted to only one person in each generation. The specific formula, furnace implements, and medicinal materials are as follows.

Qingyao shizhe (Green-Waisted Envoy), Dinu xue (Blood of the Emperor’s Daughter), pengsha, and Beiting.

Place the above medicinal materials in a mortar and grind them finely into powder. First put the ground Beiting into the lye of mulberry-wood ash and boil it until the medicine is dry. Then place the first two medicines into a gold pot in which three liang of mercury have already been put; cover the mercury with five liang of the medicinal powder. Use a gentle fire to calcine and nourish for three days. After three days switch to a strong fire for calcining. The original text’s record of fire timing and quantities contains omissions or errors, so the precise operations cannot be determined with certainty.

Next place the gold pot inside a clay pot and, following the earlier method, calcine and refine with gentle fire and martial fire until the medicine inside the gold pot melts and matures. Take it out, pour it into a trough, and cover it with wet paper so that it cools. After removing it, put it into a good pot, melt and refine it to maturity, add a little salt flowers, and pour it out to form a pot-shaped object. Continue to calcine and nourish with gentle fire until mature, then add one jin of mercury and calcine with gentle fire and refine with martial fire until the object turns red; it is said that the “treasure” has then been achieved. The color and form of the finished product resemble purple-polished gold.

The original text also states: “The seventh and fifth days are its position; the eighth and sixth days are its secret.” The number of days or refining secrets referred to by these two sentences remain unclear in meaning.

The same as before.

Qingyao shizhe, Dinu xue, Jinxing, and Yujinxian, each five liang.

Grind the medicines listed above until they are as fine as flour and place them in a bottle to calcine. First nourish them with a gentle fire, then refine them with a fierce fire until the medicines turn red, thereby completing the so-called “treasure.” The color and shape of the finished product resemble purple burnished gold. “Seven fives days” is its fixed number, and “eight sixes days” is its oral formula.

The same as previously.

Qingyao Messenger, Emperor’s Daughter Blood, Gold Star, and Preparatory Gold Thread, five liang of each.

Grind the medicines listed above as fine as flour, place them in a bottle, and seal the mouth of the bottle according to the prescribed method with six-one mud (the clay used to seal vessels when refining elixirs). Then cover it with a clean tile and seal it firmly as before. Nourish with a gentle fire for three days, using four liang of fire each time and adding fire four times a day. After the nourishing period ends, allow it to cool, take out the medicines and grind them fine, then add the six additional medicines and grind everything together into powder.

First grind the seven medicines listed above into a fine powder, place them in a bottle, and nourish for seven days. When the period is complete, leave nine holes in the bottom of the bottle and seal them with six-one mud according to the method. Then place the bottle in the furnace to melt and refine. Wait for the medicinal liquid to flow out from the holes and record how much medicine emerges. Next make an offering of fruits and fragrant tea together with four chi nine cun of white silk; then place it in a gentle-fire furnace and nourish for seven days. After the period, take one liang of the medicine that came from each hole.

The same as previously.

Salt. After the medicine has melted and flowed in the furnace and the quantity that flowed out has been recorded, make an offering of fruits and fragrant tea with four chi nine cun of white silk; then place it in a gentle-fire furnace and nourish for seven days. When complete, take one liang of medicine from each hole.

The same as previously.

Three liang of salt flowers, two liang of niter, one-quarter liang of imported red alum, one liang of pengsha (good quality preferred), one liang of daqi alum (imported), and one-quarter liang of yellow lead.

In the original text the phrases “seven five days,” “eight six days,” and “flowing down nine holes” are rather obscure; the foregoing retains the procedures and numbers according to the literal wording. “Fang ling” is understood from context as “allow to cool.”

The medicinal substances listed previously are best selected as superior-grade products of local origin; refined in this manner, the process will be entirely reliable. Next add the six further ingredients, grind them together into powder, mix thoroughly until even, and following the earlier method place the mixture in the bottle, sealing it securely as prescribed.

Nourish the contents over a gentle fire (a relatively small flame) for twenty-one days. At the close of this period remove the material and calcine it over a strong fire until the substances turn red. Then nourish it for another twenty-one days with a fire of ten-jin intensity. When that term expires, take it out once more and calcine over a strong fire until red. As soon as the ten-jin fire is capable of melting seven jin of the medicinal substances, cease adding fuel and transfer everything into a yin furnace (a furnace kept warm by ashes and similar insulating materials) to nourish for one day.

First place one jin of mercury in a pot and heat it over a gentle fire until it melts; then add one portion of the medicinal powder. After a period of warming and nourishing, add two further portions of the powder and halt the operation. In this way one obtains what is called the “Treasure.” The figures “eight-nine” mark the numerical position it occupies, while “four-five” constitute the oral formula belonging to it.

The Jin Gong Method employs one liang each of the substances known as red, purple, willow and chicken, together with two liang of locally produced lead sand, one liang of yellow minium and one liang of guan hua.

Grind the aforementioned medicinal substances into a fine powder. First seal the medicine bottle securely according to the prescribed method. Then place the medicine into the bottle, cover it with a pottery shard, and seal it once more following the previous method. Nourish it with a gentle fire for seven days. When the period is up, place the medicine bottle into the flowing furnace for flowing refinement. The flowing furnace stands two chi and four cun high and uses twenty jin of fire. Select intact medicine bottles, employ a nine-hole implement (a furnace component with nine holes) at the bottom, and seal according to the Six-One method. Here “Six-One” is a term from elixir refining; its precise meaning follows the operational procedures of the original text.

Refine from morning until nightfall and then cease. After the medicine has coagulated and become settled, the yield may amount to one thousand or to five hundred. The finished product appears female-yellow in color and is the size of millet grains. Place it into a small bottle for warming and nourishing; the amount of nitre used may reach as much as five liang. Each time the substance is placed in the furnace, the nine-hole implement must be used and it must be sealed according to the Six-One method. Refine from morning until night then stop; once the medicine has coagulated, the yield may be one thousand or five hundred. The product remains female-yellow and millet-grain sized. Place it in a small bottle to nourish, using at most five liang of nitre.

Nourish it daily with four liang of fire. After a full fourteen days, a sincere sacrificial offering must be performed. The offerings consist of five-colored silk, each piece one zhang and three chi long, together with fruits, incense, tea, wine, dried meat, jujubes, and the like. One must be utterly devout in order to ensure that no mistakes occur. After the sacrifice is completed, each pill of the medicine is reckoned as one liang. According to the oral secret formula, the finished product ought to consist of two females and one male.

The flowing furnace is two chi four cun high; the apertures of the nine-hole implement are as large as the feet of a hairpin.

The same as before (that is, following the method described in the preceding text).

Yinxingyu one fen, pengsha two liang, mercury one liang, iron one fen, chicken half a liang, Kunlun one fen.

This final string comprises the names of medicinal substances and their quantities; the precise identities of terms such as “yinxingyu,” “pengsha,” “chicken,” and “Kunlun” cannot be determined from this passage of text alone.

Place the previously listed medicines in a mortar (the utensil used for grinding medicines) and grind them finely into powder, then put them into a medicine kui (a container for holding medicines and heating them during refining); a tiger kui is used here. Nourish them with a mild fire (a relatively gentle fire) for twenty-four days, using twenty-four liang of fire each day. When the period is complete, increase the fire to twenty-eight liang and continue nourishing with civil-martial fire (gentle fire alternating or combined with a somewhat stronger fire) for five to seven days, then stop the fire. The medicines will take on a purple-gold color. At this point add three further medicines and a treasure can be refined. This method must not be transmitted. The completed substance can communicate with the spirits above and reach the Nine Springs below; the key lies in sincere and earnest intention.

When about to add the three medicines, first nourish the raw medicines with salt fire for five to seven days, then stop the fire. After the medicines appear purple-gold, add the three medicines. This method must not be transmitted; the refined substance communicates with the spirits above and reaches the Nine Springs below, the key lying in earnest will. When adding the three medicines, grind salt flowers, yellow lead, and blood stone finely into powder and mix them with the medicines mentioned earlier.

First place two jin of that material in a gan guo (a crucible used for melting), then sprinkle one fen of medicine on top and stir two hundred times with a green bamboo spatula; next add one qian of medicine and stir thoroughly. Heat the “ting chi” (thus in the original; the utensil name is suspected to contain an error) until red-hot, add a little oil, then pour the melted liquid into a trough and cover it with wet paper. The refined substance takes a shape resembling mountains and marshes and is extremely marvelous.

Using the Kui Method

The same as before.

Peng mercury, red wave, blood-red quartz.

Place the above medicines in a mortar and grind them finely into powder, put them into a yellow-sprout kui and nourish them for seven days with a mild fire. Afterwards place them in a yang furnace (a furnace for refining with relatively strong fire) and refine with martial fire (relatively strong fire), using forty-two liang of fire each day. After seven days transfer them to a yin furnace (a furnace for refining with relatively gentle fire) and refine for a further three days. When the period is complete allow them to cool, take them out and grind them into powder, then return them to the yellow-sprout kui and nourish for seven days with a mild fire; afterwards place them again in the yang furnace and refine with martial fire using forty-two liang of fire each day for seven days, then transfer to the yin furnace and refine for three days. Allow to cool and take out.

First place one jin of medicine in a pot, then add two qian of medicine; if two jin are used, add four qian. Stir with a willow branch about three hundred times, then add more medicine and continue stirring three hundred times before stopping. First heat the “ting caozi” (thus in the original; the name is suspected to contain an error) over the fire, add a little oil, then pour out the gold juice and cover with wet paper. The specific method is recorded elsewhere.

Take equal amounts of penghuang, purple frost, infant sand, and daqi. Place the above medicinal substances in a mortar (an implement for grinding medicines) and grind them three hundred times until they become powder, then stop. First seal the bottle according to the prescribed method, then put all the powdered medicine into the bottle, cover it with a tile, and allow it to dry. Subsequently nourish and refine the medicine bottle with a gentle fire (a smaller fire) for fourteen days; when the period is complete, let it cool. Then forge and calcine it with a fierce fire (a larger fire) until it glows red-hot throughout. Cease when twenty jin of material has melted down to about ten jin remaining.

First place the above materials in a crucible and melt them into liquid, then add one qian of medicine and stir one hundred times; next add another half qian of medicine, stir, and it is ready. Use one and a half qian of medicine for every ten liang of material. “The position of seven-five” is its number, and “six-three” is its secret formula.

The same as before.

Chicken mercury, flowing magnet, realgar, and azure blood. Carefully grind the above medicines into powder. Place them in a bottle and use a lidded vessel as the outer enclosure (a container that wraps and protects the medicines); inside the vessel use white alum as the enclosure. Nourish and refine with a gentle fire until dry, then place in the solar enclosure to nourish and refine for seven days, using one jin four liang of fire each day. Both the first transformation and the second transformation stop at this stage; at the third transformation it ceases, and the medicine appears bluish-black.

Then place the medicine in the mortar, grind it finely into powder, add half a liang of lu, and following the previous method return it to the bottle to nourish and refine together for one day. Subsequently heat it in the jianyang furnace with a gentle fire of three jin, take it out and let it cool. Then forge it with a fierce fire. The original text continues by saying that the medicine is ground to powder in the mortar, half a liang of lu is added, and it is placed in the bottle according to the previous method to nourish for one day. It is then heated in the jianyang furnace with a gentle fire of three jin, taken out and cooled, then forged with fierce fire. Cease when ten jin of material has melted down to about seven jin remaining, let it cool, and take it out.

First place the above materials in a crucible and melt them into liquid, then add the medicine: two qian of medicine for two jin of material, five qian of medicine for three jin of material. First heat the shaotingchi, then add a little oil, pour out the golden juice, and cover it with wet paper, whereupon it can be refined into treasure.

The same as before.

Matured flowing chicken, white-tiger brain, orpiment flowers, solar soul, and niter.

“Shisheng” and “Shi” are each used in the amount of half a liang, with earth produced in the local prefecture being preferable. The phrase “jibo shangmiao” is semantically unclear and may refer to the place of origin or quality of a medicinal material or utensil; the surviving wording is insufficient to determine its meaning.

The above medicinal substances are ground finely into powder, and white alum is used as the kui (the vessel that holds the materials during refinement). The white alum must first be refined three times before it can serve as the kui. Begin by calcining with gentle fire (wenhuo), employing four liang of fire each day. After seven days of alternating fierce fire (wuhuo) and gentle fire for nurturing, calcine with fierce fire for fourteen days; once the period is complete the product may be taken for use. Phrases in the original such as “wu sufficient, wen generated, nurture seven days afterward” appear to contain errors or omissions, so the precise sequence of fire control remains difficult to reconstruct.

Refining the Furnace

When performing the ritual offering to the furnace, prepare fruit, incense, tea, white meat jerky, and wine, together with five-colored silk fabrics each measuring one zhang two chi in length. Conducting the offering according to this method ensures complete success.

Same as Preceding

Flowing blood of the Green Emperor’s daughter, Jing (essence) of the Emperor’s son, mercury, and Pengting.

Grind the above substances finely, stopping after approximately three hundred strokes; then grind a further hundred strokes and place the material in the White Tiger kui to nurture for ten days. After the nurturing period, remove it, grind finely another two hundred strokes, and place it in the Yellow Sprout kui to nurture for fourteen days. When that period expires, calcine with fierce fire until the fierce fire is exhausted and gentle fire arises; this constitutes the stated method of refinement. Extraction of the medicine employs “eight-six,” which indicates its directional correspondence and formula; the precise meaning cannot be determined from this passage alone. Fierce-fire calcination possesses an additional forty-eight formulas recorded in a separate transmitted version. Once the medicine is complete, each liang yields three jin.

Same as Preceding

Purple blood of the Emperor’s daughter, white brain, Peng, and iron wave.

Place the aforementioned medicinal substances into a mortar and grind them carefully into powder, then put them into a “Sacred Stone Chamber” (an apparatus used for sealing and heating medicinal substances) and nourish-refine them for thirty-one days. When the allotted time is complete, take them out and grind them once more into fine powder according to the previous method. Then add three medicinal substances together with “Liuzhupeng,” and place them into the chamber to nourish-refine for seven days according to the previous method. When that period is complete, use martial fire (wuhuo) to forge them within the chamber for thirty-one days, then take them out and grind them into fine powder. Afterward, again add three medicinal substances and “Liuzhupeng,” place them into the chamber to nourish-refine for seven days; when the period is complete, forge with martial fire until the body of the chamber burns glowing red, then allow it to cool and remove the contents.

When putting it to use there is a specialized method: take six as the numerical measure, and three and five as the oral formula; the concrete operations will be explained separately. Each day employ six liang of gentle fire (wenhuo) and six liang of martial fire, gradually refining three jin and six liang of “Sacred Stone.” Place it in a clean bowl, add two dou of clear water to soak it, take the clear liquid and decoct it until the moisture has boiled away. Once dry, put it into a bottle and place it in the “middle of the bamboo” (thus in the original text; the referent is unclear), leaving an opening the size of a goose egg. Put the various medicinal powders into the opening, cover it with a tile shard, and then place it into a yang furnace to nourish-refine.

When the time of use arrives, grind it into fine powder in a mortar, mix it with vinegar, and smear it onto objects, which will then become treasures. Use one liang of medicine for every jin of object.

Place the medicinal substances “Hepeng, Jigong, Huangxiao, and Boyu” into a mortar, grind them carefully into powder, put them into a bottle, and seal it with “Six-One Mud” (liuyi ni, a sealing compound used to close vessels) at a ratio of one liang per jin.

Place the medicinal substances “Hepeng, Jigong, Huangxiao, and Boyu” into a mortar, grind them carefully into powder, put them into a bottle, seal it with Six-One Mud according to the prescribed method, then cover it with a tile shard and seal it as before. First nourish-refine it with six liang of gentle fire for seven days. When the period is complete, take it out and grind it carefully into powder, taking care throughout that it not come into contact with the wind. Then add six medicinal substances and grind them together, put the mixture into a bottle according to the previous method, and nourish-refine it for fourteen days.

When using it, add one qian of medicine per jin and stir more than thirty times with a mulberry-wood staff. The specific secret formula is recorded elsewhere: take three and six as the numerical measures, and seven and eight as the oral formula.

The medicinal substances listed as previously are: yellow lead (huangdan), sulfur, salt flowers, bloodstone, white alum, and Daqi.

The medicinal substances listed as previously are: Penggong, Bo, Liu, and Zi.

In the original text, phrases such as “Liuzhupeng,” “Hepeng Jigong,” and “in the middle of the bamboo” may involve errors, omissions, or problems of manuscript transmission; the two lists of medicinal names at the end are also incomplete. They are therefore retained according to the original, and their meanings cannot be determined with certainty.

Place the medicines described above into a mortar and grind them carefully into a fine powder, then put them into the Qinglong Kui (the vessel used to hold the medicines during elixir refinement). For the upper part of the kui a Hunan bottle is used; the medicines are loaded into the bottle and sealed tightly with Liuyi ni (the clay employed to close and secure the vessels). They are then refined for seven days by alternating wenhuo (civil fire) and wuhuo (martial fire), twenty-four liang of fire being applied each day. When the seven days have elapsed, the four additional medicines are added and the refinement is continued together with them.

The medicines are likewise ground into powder and placed again in the Qinglong Kui. The upper kui employs a Hunan bottle; the medicines are put into the bottle and sealed tightly with Liuyi ni. Wenhuo and wuhuo are alternated for seven days, twenty-four liang of fire being used daily. After the seven days are complete the four medicines are added and refined together.

The method of firing is the same as before.

Take liuhong (flowing red) and Gen cishi (magnetite of the Gen trigram).

These four medicines are placed together, mixed with the medicines already refined, and ground four hundred times before one stops. Following the earlier procedure they are placed in the kui and refined for fourteen days by alternating wenhuo and wuhuo. When that period ends, wuhuo alone is used and the medicines are heated until they become thoroughly red; the quantity of fire is about thirty jin, and the fire is stopped when the medicines have melted eight or nine tenths. After they have cooled they are removed and placed in the Yin furnace (a furnace for continued nourishing refinement by a gentler method) to be nourished and refined for seven days, then taken out when the time is fulfilled.

When the moment of use arrives, the aforementioned materials are first placed in a Gan Guozi (crucible) and melted into a liquid; one qian of the medicine is then added and stirred three hundred times with a mulberry spatula, after which one stops.

The implements employed are the Qinglong Kui and the Yin furnace.

The procedure is the same as before.

The “Du Zi Bai Xue Liu Hua Gong Guan Huang Hua Fa” (Solitary Purple White-Blood Flowing-Flower Mercury-Wash Yellow-Flower Method) has a separate procedure of its own.

The medicines are combined with Huangya (Yellow Sprouts) and mercury, one liang of each, and ground into powder. They are then placed in the Yin furnace to be nourished and refined for fourteen days, six liang of wenhuo and wuhuo being used each day, the fire being added in six periods, and the warmth being maintained continuously so that the contents do not cool. When the days are complete the material is allowed to cool and is then heated with wuhuo until thoroughly red. It is afterward placed in the furnace to be nourished and refined for one fushi (the precise duration according to the system of timekeeping used in this book), six liang of wenhuo and wuhuo being applied daily in six periods while the temperature is kept steady. When that period ends the material is allowed to cool and is again heated with wuhuo until thoroughly red. Another method is as follows: after the process has been completed according to the days indicated, the material is placed in the Yang furnace. The materials are first heated until they turn red; for each jin of material one fen of medicine is used, the medicine is mixed with vinegar, and the mixture is applied to the materials three to five times. This is then regarded as having produced the Zhibao (Supreme Treasure).

The procedure is the same as before.

Daqi Bosi Huangfan Xuegong Shazi Guanhua (Great Period Persian Yellow Alum, Blood Mercury, and Sand Flower Wash).

First, finely grind the preceding seven medicinal ingredients into powder and place them in mulberry-wood ash to incubate with gentle heat for seven days. Take them out and grind them fine once more. Then add the preceding two ingredients, grind them together into powder, and, following the same method as before, place them in the ash to incubate for fourteen days. Next, refine the mixture with civil and martial fire (that is, using both a strong blaze and a gentle fire): when ten jin of medicinal material has been burned down to only seven jin, stop the fire. After it has cooled, take it out. First melt the reddish substance into a liquid, then add one and a half qian of the medicinal powder and stir three hundred times with a rod of green bamboo. Stop at once; pour it out, and the so-called “treasure” is thereby produced.

The method is the same as before.

Melt flowing mercury, blood-red tiles, jade brain, yellow flowers, sage stone, and similar substances into a liquid; then add one and a half qian of the medicinal powder, stir three hundred times with green bamboo, stop at once, pour it out, and the so-called “treasure” is thereby produced.

The method is the same as before.

Flowing mercury, blood-red tiles, jade brain, yellow flowers, sage stone.

Place the above substances in a mortar and grind them to a fine powder; put this into a bottle and incubate for seven days. When the period is complete, add the two ingredients mentioned earlier and incubate for fourteen days by the same method. Then refine with a strong fire until the material glows red. When putting it to use, first place the relevant materials in a crucible (a vessel for smelting metals) and melt them into a metallic liquid; then add the medicinal powder, at the rate of one qian of medicine per jin of material. Heat the mold, pour in a little oil, and then pour in the molten liquid. Cover it with wet paper, and it is said that the “treasure” can be produced at once.

There is another formula: Red Great Period, Wave Jade, Yellow Blood Stone, Gold Thread, Chicken Droppings, and Kunlun Purple.

The above medicinal substances are produced in Guangzhou; white iron is produced in Jinzhou; tiles are produced in Chizhou; willow flowers come from the lands of maritime trade; Imperial Maiden’s Blood is produced in Wudu; the Azure-Waisted Envoy is produced at Mount Jingong; white brain is produced in Hunan.

The method is the same as before. The medicinal names listed in the seventh formula are: Red-Purple, Great Wave, Blood, and Yellow Flower Zeng.

First place the aforementioned medicinal substances into a mortar (an implement for grinding medicines) and carefully grind them into powder. First seal the bottle, then put these medicines inside, cover it with a tile, and seal it tightly according to the prescribed method. Nourish them by alternating gentle fire (wenhuo) and fierce fire (wuhuo) for seven days, then calcine with fierce fire. Use ten jin of fuel, and stop when more than seven jin remain; the medicine is then complete.

First take a number of ancient coins, soak them in rice vinegar for seven days, then remove them and burn them in the fire three times. Then mix the medicine prepared above with good vinegar; the specific method is recorded elsewhere.

Same as the preceding, 8. The ingredients are wrought iron, thin qing, the Waist Envoy, green vitriol (qingfan), bloodstone (xueshi), gold thread, and yellow vitriol (huangfan). Boil the aforementioned medicinal substances with gentle fire and fierce fire for three days. Take a leaf of wrought iron, mix the aforementioned medicines with rice vinegar, and apply a single coating; after the medicine has been applied to the iron leaf in this way, cease the application. Then coat it with salt flowers and fire it once, and it can be refined into “treasure” (bao, an alchemical term for the finished product obtained through refining). The specific method is recorded elsewhere.

Same as the preceding, 9. The ingredients are bloodstone, willow catkins, vinegar stone, and borax (pengsha). Boil the aforementioned materials in good vinegar for seven days. When the term is complete, take out the medicines, grind them finely into powder according to the previous method, then add half a liang of raw bloodstone… The specific method is recorded elsewhere.

Same as the preceding, 9. The ingredients are bloodstone, willow catkins, vinegar stone, and borax. Boil the aforementioned materials in good vinegar for seven days. When the term is complete, take out the medicines, grind them finely into powder according to the previous method, add half a liang of raw bloodstone, mix again with vinegar, and thereafter follow the previous method in its entirety.

Same as the preceding, 10. The ingredients are green vitriol, vinegar-brain, the Green Waist Envoy, the Imperial Daughter, blood, chicken dung, and the Great Period. Carefully grind the aforementioned medicines into a flour-like powder and boil them in wine for five days. When the term is complete, grind the medicines again into a fine powder and mix with vinegar. Place the material mentioned previously into the fire until it glows red, then apply the medicine; fire once and remove once, then apply another layer of medicine and fire once more. Repeat this five times, and it can be refined into “treasure.”

Same as the preceding, two methods in all. The ingredients are green vitriol (lüfan), bloodstone, iron, and Jade Female. First place these medicines in a mortar and carefully grind them into powder, then mix with good vinegar. First heat the object being refined until red-hot, then apply the medicine, and thereafter operate according to the fire method described previously. If one does not follow the fire method, it cannot be successfully refined. Apply once and fire once, repeating this three to five times, then wash it off with salt water, and it can be refined into “treasure.”

Grind powdered frost, Gen-earth, lu-ying and white alum with care to prepare the enclosure (the material used to wrap and nurture the medicines).

Place the powders into the enclosure and nourish-refine them for twenty-one days. When the term is complete, take them out and heat them alternately with civil fire and martial fire for a further seven and a half days of nourishing refinement. Once finished, remove the red medicinal substance, place it in a pot, add the liquid, and thereby obtain what is called the “treasure” (the finished product of the alchemical art).

Grind powdered frost, Gen-earth, lu-ying and white alum with care to prepare the enclosure.

Place the powders into the enclosure and nourish-refine them for twenty-one days. When the term is complete, take them out and heat them alternately with civil fire and martial fire for seven and a half days. Afterwards remove the red medicinal substance, place it in a pot and add the liquid. For each catty of material add two qian of the medicine: first introduce half a qian and stir thirty times with a mulberry-wood staff; then add the remaining one-and-a-half qian and stir twenty times more. Pour the mixture out and thereby obtain what is called the “treasure.”

Pig iron, blood-wave, great-period (also iron-wave), purple-blood (also golden-roc tile), male (also blood-gold male), purple (also great-blood purple), chicken (also iron-chicken), red-blood—each of the foregoing items is to be treated according to the method appropriate to the season in which it is used.

Method of Combining the Six Muds

Take oyster shell, red stone-fat, white stone-fat and ant dung in equal parts, then add one liang of salt and one sheng of fine sour vinegar.

First take a sheet of paper, soak it for three days, then place it in a mortar and pound it until it is fine, dense, thoroughly softened and pliable. Subsequently seal the bottle according to the prescribed method; once it has dried, the various medicinal substances may be placed inside.

The medicinal substances used include red alum, daqi, jade-yellow blood, gold-thread alum, willow-floss alum, nanshi alum, Kunlun purple alum and others, produced in Guangzhou; iron alum produced in Jinzhou; earth green and copper green produced at Jingong Mountain; and imperial-daughter’s blood produced in Wudu. Also employed are natural cinnabar, Beiting pengsha, the Green-Waist Envoy, empty green, niter, holy stone, yellow sprouts, sulfur, lead-essence sand, pishuang, yellow flowers, vinegar stone, horse-tooth niter, red quartz, magnetite, purple quartz of two kinds, white quartz, yellow quartz, purple-stone powder, red crest, crane’s crest, the yellow-sprout gui, white-tiger gui, black-tiger gui, yellow gui, hanging-needle gui, standing-preparation gui, mixed-preparation gui, gushing-spring gui, and the naturally born yellow-sprout gui, among others.

All the above medicinal substances are of superior quality when obtained from their places of local production. The “Water-Fire Cauldron” is also called the “Pure Yang Cauldron”; the two names designate the same vessel. Here “cauldron” (ding) refers to the vessel used for refining the elixir, while “sealing and cementing” (guji) denotes the operation of firmly closing the vessel so that it becomes airtight.