《太清金液神丹经》

The Scripture of the Golden Elixir of Great Clarity, Scroll One

Preface by Zhang Daoling, Celestial Master of Orthodox Unity

The name “Mysterious Emptiness” cannot truly be defined, so it is reluctantly called the Dao (the Way). The word “Dao” also carries the meaning of awakening: one sleeps through the night and wakes in the morning; only after passing through a profound dream can one awaken completely. How could the ultimate nature of waking and dreaming be easily explained?

Clinging to life is called “loss in weakness”; meeting death with joy is called “delight in nothingness.” But if one takes “nothingness” as a source of pleasure, something is still lacking. Clinging to life reveals deep confusion of heart and mind; pursuing “nothingness” single-mindedly also falls short of true understanding. Only by viewing things with clear understanding and letting go of both being and nonbeing can one accord with the mysterious Dao. And once both have been let go, one must even forget the act of letting go. The mind must no longer cling to either being or nonbeing, while the spirit gathers in Great Clarity—the Daoist state of stillness and purity—and Profound Mystery, the far-reaching and subtle realm of the Dao. This is the state realized by those who cultivate the Dao by plumbing the principles of things and fully manifesting their nature.

Those who cultivate the Dao resemble people skilled in nourishing the mind and spirit. They quietly set out on a path free from illness and trouble, calmly responding to the myriad needs of all things. They can also transcend the limits of what is near and reach both hidden and manifest realms. The Dao, therefore, cannot be summed up in a single image or established by one name. Emperors and kings have borne many different titles; what, then, is doubtful about the Dao of Yao or Confucius? The difference lies only in whether a teaching is inner or outer, and whether the principles it discusses are profound or shallow.

If one seeks it through unusual bodily features, one might speak of scales on the body, four breasts, double pupils, or brightly colored eyebrows. The ruler of the Jinyun clan could speak from birth. When he sat in court, the spirits of the hundred beings came to pay homage, and he enjoyed a long reign. Tradition says he rode clouds and mist, commanded tigers and leopards, and, weary of the world, ascended to Heaven on a flying dragon to roam among the Six Directions. Looking back over the lands within Chixian (China) and down at the many disputes of human life, he could not help feeling that all this frantic activity was like infants quarreling over toys in a courtyard.

There was also a carefree person who lived in seclusion on Mount Kongtong. Riding the wind, he came to speak with others about the ways of managing the spirit and nourishing the mind. Even such great principles concerning good and troubled times have their profound and their commonplace aspects. To discuss only questions of host and guest, names and realities, is to touch no more than the edges of a doorway; it does not reach into the depths of the inner chamber.

As for the aims of wondrous transformation, subtle and mysterious teachings, and principles that seem to defy reason yet contain the deepest truth, these have long been fully recorded in the Daoist canon. They cannot be exhausted in a word or two.

The Old Lord (Laozi, as honored in Daoism) also expounded the subtle principles of emptiness and stillness and set down the Great Dao. He described the character of his own wondrous De and the reasons that gave rise to his teaching. He also composed scriptures and established teachings, recorded unusual accounts, connected the Daoist tradition with the secular world, and distinguished the realms of Heaven, humanity, and Earth. The first matter to clarify is the reversal and following within the mysterious Great Dao. These subjects, too, cannot be exhausted in a word or two.

The Old Lord—a reverential Daoist title for Laozi—expounds subtle and profound principles and sets down teachings about the Dao (the Way). The scriptures also explain where his wondrous virtue arises and how it is embodied. He therefore composed classics and established teachings, recorded extraordinary events, brought together the ways of the world and of transcendence, and distinguished the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and humanity. First he clearly explained the difference between following the Dao and opposing it; then he dissolved that distinction in a state of forgetting all things.

The scriptures lavish praise on people of De, yet ultimately take “nonbeing” as their guiding principle. They explain how people apply the Dao in the ordinary comings and goings of daily life without revealing its source. People practice good conduct in accord with the Dao every day without knowing where the Dao comes from. This is the Dao’s capacity to adapt: it appears in clarity and becomes a bridge through which all things may pass.

The scriptures contain the meanings of both the Dao and De. They trace things back to their roots, clarify their source, and explore the utmost reaches of the mysterious. They bring many tributaries back to their true source and gather countless principles into a single essential teaching, making it profound, enduring, and without end. Their light shines without dazzling: they fathom the highest Dao while also widely spreading teachings for the world.

The scriptures’ language is rich and substantial, never dull; their vision is lofty and thought-provoking. Their presence is outstanding and majestic, their scope vast and deep. They praise the wondrous joy of quietly contemplating the “Three Ones”—a Daoist cultivation concept in which three forms of vital energy or divine beings unite—and set forth the cultivation of the “Six and Nine,” numbers that here refer to methods or stages of Daoist inner alchemy. They also speak of holding and regulating the breath to seek long life, and of nurturing the Five Qi in the womb to pursue a state of numinous authenticity. Their words are like a gentle breeze tapping fine jade, or stars shining over a display of treasures.

The scriptures address their subject with great breadth and completeness, attending even to the smallest details. Their beginning may seem dense and lofty, yet in the end they return to the ineffable and unseen. They seem to forge the myriad forms in a mysterious furnace, then gather their countless differences into unity. In using comparisons to explain their principles, they are precise without rambling, broad in scope without becoming disorderly. What seems obscure becomes clear; what seems opposed is brought into accord. Every strange and difficult matter ultimately returns to the vastness of the Great Dao, while the distinctions that seem deep and insurmountable dissolve and unite within it. This grand and wondrous exposition is truly numinous: its reasoning has reached the utmost point, beyond which nothing can surpass it.

As for the effects of cultivating the Golden Elixir, they are mysterious and extraordinary, reaching a lofty realm in which hidden transformations unite with the subtle depths. The scriptures also mention “the dragon’s transformation, the numinous Two, and the shining forth of One,” referring to the esoteric transformations of the dragon, the numinous, and the manifestation of Two and One.

When the cultivation of the Golden Elixir reaches a profound level, the spirit can penetrate the hidden mysteries, and the body undergoes subtle transformations. It may even become a divine dragon and reveal a numinous radiance. A life that has withered and ceased can be revived; those who retain vital energy can live long. Such people can ascend to the high reaches of the sky, cross over cloud-covered peaks, and roam freely. Their bodies shine with the luster of jade, and strange feathers grow upon them. They can expel water and contain fire; they can fly without wings, divide their bodies, and transform in countless ways, doing as they please.

They can dam rivers without being swept away by the current, and split mountain ridges without an axe. At a single shout, clouds and rain veil the sky; with a wave of the hand, forests can be moved. Their supernatural powers are beyond counting, and their subtle wonders beyond words. The marvelous essentials of this spiritual art are so vast that they cannot be described one by one.

In his later years, Daoling (Zhang Daoling) had not yet understood these principles, nor had he personally encountered profound instruction. He wandered in search for a long time. Only a thousand years later did a divine teacher transmit the essentials to him, helping him overcome hardships and dangers and escape confusion. Gazing up at the mysterious path, one sees it open out plainly before the eyes. It seems to have no barriers, yet not everyone can open it. The path itself is not impossible to open; those without the ability simply cannot do so. Disciples should quietly discern the root of the mystery, grasp its branches, and master its crucial points.

The disciples Zhao Sheng and Wang Chang looked back on the past and examined their own hearts, overcome by a mixture of regret and shame. Their spiritual insight had no limit, and so they encountered Xuanlang, a man deeply versed in the mysteries. Xuanlang’s mind was clear, and his earlier studies had been highly accomplished. Having only occasionally heard some teachings on the profound principles of the Highest Sage, he drew on other sources to offer an interpretation. He also rearranged the sections and sentences of the scripture and recorded his own understanding. He distilled and corrected its profound meanings, then considered and organized them into a commentary.

The preface says: First, one should explain the principles by which life and death run against or follow their natural course; then one should set aside all such distinctions, with the aim of helping people preserve life. To go against the Way of life is to be contrary; to follow the Way of life is to be in accord. Those who understand what it means to follow the natural course no longer cling to what goes against it; those who understand what it means to go against it likewise no longer cling to what follows it. This shows that the paths and principles of life and death are distinct. What is called “attaining the One” has its limits; what is called “forgetting both” means forgetting even the distinctions to which one is attached. Just as a fish in a well does not wish to become a fish of the sea, and a beast in the mountains and forests does not wish to become an ox or horse, each bears a different form of life. Their inborn endowments differ, and so boundaries arise between them.

The Old Lord (a revered deity in Daoism) practiced the circulation of Qi and guided its flow—that is, he regulated his breathing and directed the breath within his body. He breathed in the subtle Qi produced by harmony, known as the “fluid of Great Harmony.” The scripture praises inhalation as a means of obtaining Qi. It says that during inhalation and exhalation, the breath should be quiet, still, and fine, allowing the body’s fluids to flow freely and provide lubrication. In this way, with nothing to rely on and no obstruction, one can enter the mysterious realm and breathe in and out without impediment. Then the spirits and Qi within the body can remain settled there and never leave.

Human life depends on spirit and Qi, yet few people see the beginnings of their movement. Ordinary people rely on them every day but do not know that life comes from them. Their workings become evident in clarity, and they serve as a bridge through which all things move. What is meant by “use” is spirit and Qi: day by day, they sustain the human body and limbs, yet living beings do not recognize their source, and ordinary people do not know that life cannot exist apart from them. A person cannot be without Qi for even a moment, nor can the spirit be absent from a single movement of the hands and feet. If the spirit is lost, the Five Viscera decay; if Qi is lost, the head withers, and the person dies. A corpse can be restored to life when it receives Qi, and bones can be made whole when they receive Qi. Spirit and Qi move together and depend on one another, strengthening life. When the spirit departs, Qi also vanishes; when Qi disperses, the body perishes.

Everyone knows to fear death and cherish life, yet few know that the key to sustaining life lies in spirit and Qi. Some repeatedly injure their heart and spirit, act against the movement of their own Qi, give free rein to their thoughts, and wear away their allotted years. They fail to cherish stillness or preserve their original nature, and in the end cannot avoid harm. The scripture says that the light of the sun and moon shines upon all things, revealing their gains and losses and the troubles that befall them. Once trouble arises, it often brings consequences in its wake and obstructs the free passage of life. The wise should cherish Jing and Qi and guard their breath, seeking to prolong their years. They should also be gentle and benevolent, nurturing all things, so that their own blessings flourish like branches and leaves.

The text says that, in deep stillness, one visualizes the “Three Ones”—the three deities residing within the human body—and clearly lays out the stages of cultivating the Six Breaths and the Nine Elixirs, as if showing later practitioners the way. Misfortune often gives warning signs well in advance, and good and evil deeds bring corresponding rewards and consequences. Those who understand this should cherish their Jing and Qi and protect their primordial Qi in pursuit of long life. They should also be kindhearted and care for all things, thereby accumulating blessings.

The “Three Ones” refer to three locations: the brain, the heart, and the navel. The deity in the Niwan Palace in the head is called the “Lord of the Upper Niwan”; the deity in the Crimson Palace in the heart is the “Lord of the Middle Crimson Palace”; and the deity in the Dantian below the navel is the “Lord of the Lower Dantian.” Keeping these three locations in mind makes the Three Palaces shine brightly; neglecting them leaves all three dark and still. Those who cherish life take pleasure in visualizing the Three Ones, while those who disregard their own bodies cast this practice aside. Thus, “the joy of contemplating the Three Ones” means visualizing and guarding these three locations.

The Immortal Scriptures say that anyone who wishes to live long should keep the Three Ones bright and clear; this is the key to cultivating the Dao. The period from midnight to noon is when life-giving Qi is strong, while the period from noon to midnight is when deathly Qi is strong. Practitioners generally choose a time when life-giving Qi is strong. They lie on their backs, close their eyes, and clasp their hands firmly in the meditation gesture of gripping the thumbs. They draw their breath inward, silently count to two hundred, then slowly breathe out through the mouth, increasing the count day by day. The text says this practice can settle the body’s spirits and harmonize the Five Viscera. Holding the breath while counting to two hundred and fifty enables the deity of the Crimson Palace to remain in its place, fills the Niwan, and replenishes the Dantian. Counting to three hundred makes the Canopy of Flowers—the area where the heart and lungs reside—bright and clear, sharpens the ears and eyes, frees the whole body from illness, and keeps evil Qi from invading. A Jade Maiden will also come to attend the practitioner, granting endless long life.

In the “positions of six and nine,” “six” refers to the method of breathing in and out to govern the Six Breaths, while “nine” refers to the categories of the Nine Elixirs. Lady Tai Zhen Wang has recorded these matters in detail.

The Venerable Lord said: Practice regularly from morning until night without interruption, and you can prolong your years and attain long life. In the practice of Qi circulation, there is only one kind of Qi within the body, while the breath exhaled has six forms. The one kind of Qi within the body is inhalation. The six forms of exhalation are blowing, “he,” “xi,” “tao,” “xu,” and swallowing; all are forms of exhalation.

Ordinary people breathe in and out. To make the breath long and steady, slow it down and extend it. The method of regulating the breath is this: use “blowing” when the weather is cold and “he” when it is warm. Blowing can dispel cold; “he” can disperse heat; “xi” can drive away illness. Use “yi” to dispel wind; “tao” to ease agitation and lower Qi; “xu” to disperse stagnant Qi; and swallowing to relieve extreme fatigue. When people are utterly exhausted, they often use “xu” and swallowing more than the other forms. Daoist practitioners of Qi circulation do not recommend “xu” or swallowing, because these two forms can easily interrupt the long, steady breath. Those who use all six forms appropriately can attain the state of a Celestial Immortal.

Those who cultivate their innate spirit and Qi may be said to hold the rank of the Nine Elixirs—a term for internal alchemy or alchemical methods in Daoist cultivation. This is called the “Mirror.” The “Mirror Mark” consists in preserving and nourishing the breath through the alchemical scriptures; in this way, one’s lifespan can be prolonged without decline.

“Close the lips and breathe slowly, seeking a lifespan as long as that of the Three Luminaries” refers to the practice of guiding Qi by regulating the breath to nourish life. Begin by settling the body and letting go of anger and worry, so that the breath becomes calm. Do not forcefully control it with the mind. If the mind and Qi have not yet settled, stop for a while. Resume practice once the body and breath are in harmony, and continue steadily. When the breath flows smoothly, the body settles; when the body settles, the breath becomes calm. Once the breath is calm, clear Qi begins to circulate, and the breath feels long and continuous. When the body grows warm, gently close the mouth and rest the tongue against the palate; the mouth will naturally taste sweet and fragrant. As saliva increases, it can nourish the five viscera. When the five viscera have been nourished over a long period, one’s lifespan may be compared with that of Heaven and Earth, the sun and the moon.

“Nourish the five substances as in the womb, seeking the efficacy of spiritual reality” also refers to a method of nourishment through embryonic ingestion. This means rinsing the mouth in the morning and swallowing the saliva until you feel full. The scripture holds that this, too, can prolong life. With long-term practice, the five viscera gradually become full and vigorous. This is the meaning of the efficacy of “spiritual reality.” The Scripture of the Immortals says, “Clear water from the Jade Pool irrigates the numinous root.” The Jade Pool refers to the mouth, and the numinous root to the tongue or the saliva in the mouth. In other words, the saliva is clear, sweet, and fresh. The mouth is the Jade Pool and also a place of harmonization. Eating and drinking in accordance with nature: the key to nourishing life lies in Qi and the Elixir.

The scripture says these oral instructions are subtle and profound, and not easy to explain clearly. In the past, I heard them transmitted by my master; now I have recorded them. As for expressions such as “Kongtong,” their explanations of the arcane principles of Dao and De have already been given by earlier writers, and are not essential to this cultivation. There is no need to repeat elaborate discussions; I offer only a brief explanation. In time, people of the Dao will investigate them for themselves.

The best dates for preparing Liuyi clay—the sealing clay used in alchemical furnaces—are the fifth day of the fifth month, the seventh day of the seventh month, or the ninth day of the ninth month.

Auspicious days for starting the alchemical fire are Jiashen, Yisi, and Yimao. Days to avoid for alchemical practice in spring are Wuchen and Jisi.

When refining elixirs and kindling the alchemical fire, suitable days are Jia Shen, Yi Si, and Yi Mao. Elixir refinement should also avoid certain inauspicious days: in spring, Wu Chen and Ji Si; in summer, Ding Si, Wu Shen, Ren Chen, and Ji Wei; in autumn, Wu Xu, Xin Hai, and Geng Zi; and in winter, Wu Yin, Ren Xu, Ji Mao, and Gui You. In addition, the days known as Yue Sha, Fan Zhi Gan, Meng Zhong Ji, and Yue Shou Bi, as well as Bing Xu, Ding Hai, Ren Xu, Gui Hai, and Xin Si; the days governed by the month’s ruling branch; the last and first days of the lunar month; Shang Shuo, Ba Kui, and Wang Wang days are all considered inauspicious. Refining elixirs on these days is likely to fail.

When buying the divine substances used in elixirs, sit or stand in an auspicious place and do not haggle over the price. Choose a Shou Zhi day for the purchase. Bathe and purify yourself on Zi or Chou days, observe a seven-day purification retreat, then go to buy the genuine ingredients and divine elixirs you need. Once purchased, store them in a silk pouch embroidered with designs or in a gold tube.

To prepare divine substances, choose a Jia Zi day, or an Open or Remove day. First observe a twenty-one-day purification retreat, then begin mixing the ingredients. No more than two or three people should take part. They must work with focus and care, and should not enter homes where there has been a death or anything considered impure. When preparing to perform “flying the medicine”—a Daoist alchemical term for a ritual or procedure that enables an elixir to produce special effects—do not let the ignorant, women, children, or anyone recently bereaved or considered impure witness it. Keep away from the envious and the garrulous as well. Those who do not believe in the Dao should not hear of it or see it either. The scripture says this will prevent the medicine from being successfully refined and cause its vital energy to disperse.

The medicine is best refined in a stone chamber in the mountains or forests, or in another quiet, secluded place where no one will disturb you. You should not hear dogs barking or people speaking, and should avoid the presence of the dead and injured, as well as traces of blood. The divine substances should be stored alone in a separate room. The scripture also says that when immortals, jade maidens, and attendant officials come and go, they must be treated with reverence. The divine elixir should be kept close at hand, carried behind the elbow; above all, practitioners should cultivate themselves, maintain self-discipline, and carefully observe their precepts.

When preparing an elixir, choose a jiazi day—the jiazi day in the traditional sexagenary calendar. A day classed as an “Opening or Removing Day” in traditional date selection is even better. Burn incense and observe a fast for twenty-one days, keeping the first seven days especially strict. Once the fast is complete, hold the ritual at night.

Before setting up the vessel for the medicines, establish an altar and make offerings to Taiyi and the Most High Perfected Spirits, deities revered in Daoism. The offerings should include two hu of clear wine; three hu each of yellow millet and white polished rice, of which two dou of each should be steamed and dried; two dou of dates; three dou of pears; five dou each of salted fermented beans; ten jin of incense; and sweet oranges, along with various cakes and fruits. In the north, where sweet oranges are unavailable, they may be omitted. Also prepare four clean mats for the sacrifice, nine purified plates, and eighty-one cups. If cups are unavailable, larger bowls may be used. After the ritual, burn all the mats and plates. Perform the sacrificial rites as one would for the gods of Heaven and Earth. Set out a ladle for drawing wine or serving offerings, arrange the offerings in order, and then place the various medicines used to compound the elixir.

The officiant should put on newly made, clean clothes and fasten the belt. Light incense at nine places, allowing the smoke to mingle, and place incense at each of the nine plates. Then declare, “I, so-and-so, a commoner of the Great Dao beneath the earth,” and bow nine times.

The officiant puts on clean clothes, ties the sash, and arranges nine incense burners with incense, setting everything in its proper place. A single stick of incense is placed on each of the nine trays. The officiant identifies themself as “So-and-so, a common person of the Great Dao in the humble world below,” performs nine bows in succession, then repeats them, making eighteen bows in all. After completing the bows, the officiant summons the spirits, speaking loudly enough to be heard ten paces away.

Standing, the officiant in turn invokes the True Kings of the Nine Heavens; the True Sovereigns of the Three Heavens; the High Sovereign, Supreme Lord; the High Sovereign; the Supreme Lord; the Great Emperor; the Three Elders of the Nine Heavens; the Three Elders of the Three Heavens; the Perfected One of Supreme Heaven; the Terrestrial Perfected One; the Numinous Perfected Ones and Jade Maidens; the Elders of the Nine Qi; the Lords of the Immortal Capital of the Nine Elders; the Immortal Kings of Great Clarity; the Celestial Perfected One, the Great One; the Terrestrial Perfected One, the Great One; the Great One, Lord of the Offices; the Great One, Lord of the Central Offices; the Immortal Great One; the Terrestrial Immortal Great One; the Jade Youths of the Great One; the Jade Maidens of the Great One; the two lords of Yellow Silk and Purple Radiance; the two ladies of Yellow Silk and Purple Radiance; the Lord Envoy of the Flame of the Floral Canopy; the Elder of Nine Radiances; and the lord of the essence of the southern heights, ancestor of the cinnabar vermilion. The officiant asks these spirits to open the gates of Heaven and descend on clouds before so-and-so’s mat. So-and-so makes nine bows, knocks their head nine times, strikes their own body nine times, and then kneels upright for a prolonged moment.

Next, lowering their voice, the officiant speaks slowly: “On this day, in this month and year, so-and-so, of such-and-such district, county, township, and village, at number so-and-so, named so-and-so, aged so-and-so, respectfully invites the Nine Heavens, the Three Heavens, and the High and Supreme Holy Spirits to descend upon such-and-such mountain.” The blanks are to be filled in with the petitioner’s name, place of origin, age, and the date and location of the ritual. The bows, head-knocks, and strikes to the body are ritual gestures expressing reverence toward the spirits.

After waiting quietly for a long time, he finally said: “I truly do not know when Heaven and Earth began, nor the surname or birthplace of my earliest ancestor. I do not know whose descendant I am, or where birds, beasts, fish in springs, and flying creatures first came from. I do not know what kind of peoples the Hu, Qiang, Yi, and Di originally belonged to, or where I myself was born. Nor do I know from which directions the Eight Man peoples of the south, the Six Rong of the west, the Five Di of the north, and the Nine Yi of the east came, or how they learned from one another, multiplied, and raised their descendants.

“The calamities and offenses accumulated through this are beyond counting, and the punishments have no end. Because of them, my ancestors and parents going back seven generations have suffered; my ancestors of five generations and my great-grandparents have suffered; even my grandparents and parents have been drawn into it, enduring the countless disasters accumulated by those who came before. Some were sentenced to Hell, made to bear the torment of being whipped against mountains and rocks, or sent to various River Lords, the gods who govern the rivers. The Three Offices of Heaven, Earth, and Water—the divine officials who govern these realms—used red-hot copper instruments to pull out their tongues and examined them in the Cang Flow; they also interrogated and tormented their souls. Some were consumed by brambles, had their heads burned, or had their backs scraped with iron implements. The offenses, guilt, and calamities arising between life and death take many different forms.

“I earnestly ask the Lords of the Nine Heavens and Three Heavens, the Most High Emperor, the Great One, and all the other revered gods to dispel the calamities and guilt I have incurred over seven generations and grant me release. Further, down to the many offenses I myself have committed through my successive lifetimes, the crimes and transgressions that deserve ten thousand deaths, I ask that these too be pardoned and cleared away. May I behold an era of peace and see with my own eyes the sovereign of the True Sages.”

As he made his plea, he set out each appeal in turn. He then performed nine prostrations and struck his own body nine times with his hands, as an act of repentance. When the ritual was over, he offered wine once more, knelt, and said: “Since childhood I have longed for long life and admired the numinous immortals. In the past, I received the Golden Liquid formula—the method for refining the divine elixir of Golden Liquid—from my former teacher, Master So-and-so. Now I am preparing to refine it at the appropriate year, month, day, and hour. I dare not proceed on my own, so I first respectfully present these offerings and report the matter.”

I humbly pray that the Most High Lord Lao (a revered deity in Daoism), the Lord of Great Harmony, the Immortals of Heavenly Clarity, the Mysterious Maiden, the Plain Maiden, the Jade Maiden of the Green Waist, and the others all descend together and help complete the divine elixir. I beseech the Lords of Great Unity and the Jade Maidens of Great Unity to come beneath the yellow-and-purple canopy and oversee and witness the alchemical work. May the ingredients neither disperse nor fly away, but transform at a touch, so that both yellow and white metals may be refined. Once the elixir is complete, may it ascend to the Purple Palace (the realm of the immortals), granting those who take it a lifespan of a thousand or ten thousand years and a place among the Perfected. May divine Qi, radiant essence, and the Heaven-bestowed Qi of the Mysterious Yellow unite. May the deity Great Unity protect them, and may the Jade Maidens remain by their side. I also ask the lords above to erase someone’s name from the register of those condemned to die and enter it instead in the register of those destined for long life.

Then perform nine bows, touch the head to the ground nine times, and strike oneself nine times with the hands as a ritual gesture. Add more wine and burn incense. After a long while, kneel and pray again: “Now I am refining the divine elixir in a cave on a certain mountain. May I be able to command ghosts and spirits, drive away tigers and leopards, and ride upon rainbow dragons. May the mountain’s spirits and strange beings, along with every kind of evil influence, fear and obey me, and protect me wherever I go. Wherever I travel, may evil influences be destroyed and even metal and stone split apart. I also beseech the divine lords and Perfected Ones of the Five Sacred Peaks and other famous mountains to grant me talismanic commands, and to join in overseeing and protecting me, so that I may divide and transform myself and live forever without dying.”

Then perform nine bows, touch the head to the ground nine times, and strike oneself nine times with the hands. After the prayer, one may continue by speaking of other matters: confessing privately committed offenses and asking forgiveness and release from blame. Whether to grant this is left to the judgment of the mountain’s divine lords and Perfected Ones. May they oversee and protect me together, so that I may divide and transform myself and live long, with enduring vision.

After this, perform the rites of nine bows, nine prostrations with the head touching the ground, and nine self-strikes to the body. Once you have stated the matter, also set out anything else you need to report: confess the wrongs you have committed in secret and ask for pardon and the removal of your guilt. Whether your request is granted is left to the judgment of the gods. When the report is complete, you may bend slightly and personally offer wine, fragrant fruit, and other offerings before the True King. Each time you drink wine, perform nine bows.

When you first invite the gods, have one or two of those taking part in the alchemical practice hide about thirty paces from the ritual site, with their ears sealed with wax. If a disciple is practicing alchemy with the master and is to take the elixir in the master’s presence, the disciple should also stay away from the ritual site, but need not have their ears sealed. Each practitioner receives an alchemical formula and performs a separate ritual; at the outset, they do not perform the rites together.

After a certain person has finished making their report and completing the food offerings, call one or two people forward to receive blessings. Once they have received them, wait a while and send them back to their lodgings; only then send the gods away.

If you wear a Diagram of the True Forms of the Five Peaks, a Daoist design depicting the Five Peaks and used in visualization and rites for averting calamity, set up a separate altar for it below and include it in the sacrifice. Invite the gods verbally; there is no need to recite a text. If you do not have this diagram, omit this rite. Also place the diagram you wear on the ritual table.

On the day before the sacrifice, visualize the guardian gods of the Five Peaks. Have them restrain the spirits of the land, sweep the mountains and rivers, and clear away nursing tigers, beasts that have given birth, foul insects, and all kinds of harmful beings, so that the surrounding countryside is pure and ready to welcome the Heavenly Perfected. Focus your prayers on the diagram you wear. Then call one or two people forward to receive blessings. Afterward, remove the wax seals from their ears and send them back once they have received the blessings. Do not seal their ears again.

When the entire sacrifice is over, send the gods back to their hidden realm, at about the time just before dawn. When first inviting the gods, you may also add further details to your report, explaining that you have suffered an injustice at the hands of a certain divine immortal. After speaking, perform nine bows, nine prostrations with the head touching the ground, and nine self-strikes to the body.

The scripture says that on the night of the sacrifice, light will surely appear, accompanied by sounds like mountains shaking and thunder rolling through the clouds. Dark clouds may also gather from all four directions, or dense fog may fill the woods. These are all regarded as signs that the gods of Heaven and Earth have descended for the grand sacrifice; the scripture says that this is invariably what happens.

After selecting an auspicious day, observing purification, and preparing the materials needed for the divine elixir, find a large mountain cave with enough room to store the equipment and supplies. If no cave is available, build a house among the mountains, deep in the woods and far from human traffic. It should be four or five zhang long, enclosed tightly with a fence, and have a high roof to keep rain out. All sacrifices are to be performed inside the house.

If it rains after the fire has been lit and the elixir refinement begun, set up a shelter that can be easily taken down. Put it up whenever it rains. If heavy rain is common in the area and the mountains are high, the forests dense, and the mist thick, while there are too few people to build a rain shelter, it is also suitable to stay in a mountain cave. A cave offers easy protection from rain, so there is no need to worry about the weather disrupting the work.

The place for refining the elixir should also be near a water source; otherwise, fetching water will be difficult. If you often refine the elixir and worship the spirits near a mountain cave, have the younger members of your household spread the word widely, telling practitioners in the surrounding mountains not to approach the dwelling. This is the more appropriate arrangement. When it is time to begin the work in earnest, take out the items needed from the altar; bring these items into the mountains and store them there beforehand.

After seven days of purification, each person places the necessary items on the altar and covers its surface with nine chi of red silk. Burn incense and bow twice, then pay respects before the altar. Begin the sacrifice at the zi hour, from eleven at night to one in the morning, and then take the items from the altar. Spread red silk behind the sacrificial mat, where the seats are placed. On that day, the host helps prepare the offerings and personally presents the finest incense. The sacrificial food must not be given to others. Only those who have observed purification and refined the elixir together may share it, as provisions to carry with them. The fruit offerings may be raw or cooked, and the quantity may be adjusted as needed; they need only be clean. If disciples are refining the elixir together, they also share the mats, cups, plates, and other utensils used in the sacrifice.

“Six-One Mud” (a material used to seal the alchemical furnace) may be used together with the other materials. A large earthen cauldron should be made. For each batch, use ten jin of cinnabar, five jin of realgar, and five jin of orpiment. The cauldron can hold one hundred jin of materials. As before, no more than three people should take part; a larger quantity of offerings should be prepared for the sacrifice.

Any surplus offerings that cannot be eaten or otherwise used may be made into dried provisions and shared with others, but they should be taken out only after the elixir has been completed. Have the young members of the household observe a three-day fast before eating them. If the offerings have already been used up, there is no need to bring out more for the sacrifice; the fast must still be observed the following day.

On the Jia-shen day, one of the days in the sexagenary cycle, light the fire beneath the cauldron. When the disciples take part together in mixing the ingredients, each person should observe a fast. During the fast, one may sometimes need to go out to fetch offerings. On returning, one should remove one’s clothes and bathe; only then may the associated rites cease. Even those who do not take part in mixing should observe the taboos and limit their comings and goings. Participants should be gentle, virtuous, and cautious people; they too should remove their clothes and bathe upon returning.

If the “officials of the True Forms”—the divine officials believed to oversee the ritual—are absent, then on the day of sacrifice have the divine beings, officials, and soldiers in the Fulu drive away evil creatures such as lactating tigers and polluted beasts. If there are no Fulu, have the Six Jia Direct Talisman, the protective deity on duty that day, act according to the subordinates originally under its command, and keep them constantly in mind through visualization.

The verse says:

The Golden Liquid and Elixir Flower are a scripture of the heavenly realm; the way of the immortals of Great Clarity is truly clear.

Only with utmost sincerity should one undertake the refining; study it without cease, and one will attain longevity.

The Six-One substances must accord with the Direct Talisman. The Direct Talisman acts according to the subordinates originally under its command, and should be kept constantly in mind through visualization. The verse says:

The Six-One substances combine with one another, and only then can the elixir be completed; a golden, radiant brilliance enters the Flower Pond.

It is called “Golden Liquid” and can make people grow garments of feathers; its transformations are endless, and nothing is beyond its powers.

Cloud-Flower Dragon Balm has eight powers and can drive away many spirits, goblins, and demons.

Its fluid enters “Vermilion Child,” another name for the elixir, and one then rises into the air; all things used in offerings can turn ill fortune and decline into good fortune.

To receive my sacred teaching, one should invite me; the Nine Elders and the Nine Dark Ones support one another.

The thousand-year-old crow and the water-dweller have both perished; you who seek longevity may also use this to ward off calamity.

The Most High, the supreme Dao, sends down a divine radiance bright as lightning. Mysterious Qi, the subtle primal energy, swirls back and forth for me to use. Silk ribbons hang and flutter, drawing one another in and winding together, so that you may trace a boundary like gold and jade.

If you fail to show reverence and insist on acting recklessly, your nature and life will surely be destroyed. Do not take lightly or mock the teachings handed down by the spirits. Receive the scripture and wear it on your person to ward off calamity.

The Most High sends down a divine radiance bright as lightning. Mysterious Qi swirls back and forth for me to use. Silk ribbons hang and flutter, drawing one another in and winding together, so that you may trace a boundary like gold and jade.

If you fail to show reverence and insist on acting recklessly, your nature and life will surely be destroyed. Do not take lightly or mock the teachings handed down by the spirits. Receive the scripture and wear it on your person—how could you cast it aside carelessly? Ride the clouds and ascend, free and unrestrained, as if forever in a dream.

The essences of the male and female energies nourish the Three Officials, the three spirits who oversee the human body and the affairs of Heaven and Earth. The perfected being in the Muddy Pellet Palace, the inner region of the head cultivated in practice, naturally becomes full. In the Crimson Palace, the heart’s abode, the Crimson Child rides the Dark Dragon; the lord in the Dantian remains ever vigorous.

When the three spirits rejoice together, the body can endure without decline. Do not let frost-like cold rise and invade. Qi of nine colors wells and steams within the Cinnabar Crucible, while the essence of Dark and Yellow flows, appearing and vanishing in the depths.

When Yin-Yang is harmonized, one can rise or sink: rising, one flies to the nine heavens; sinking, one plunges into the dark depths. Refined together, cinnabar essence and Yellow Light will at last become gold; mercury, lead, and tin are called the Emperor of Chu.

The Old Woman of the River, a female immortal who cultivates beside the river, rides the divine dragon. The essence of flowing pearls can prolong life. The sacred water of the Canopy is abundant; cloud liquid surges and gathers into forms like snow and frost.

Embrace it, bow reverently, and visualize the True King, the deity contemplated in practice. The Mound represents the mountain, and Yang represents the cinnabar. With the Qi of the Zi hour, nourish the essence of the Wu hour; their radiance shines clear and mingles. This is the use of the moon’s Qi and the Qi of the sun at its zenith.

Its light shines through the long night, bringing lasting peace. Heaven and Earth seem to wait together, and time stands still. I pass these teachings on to you; draw near to me and you may escape calamity. If there is no aid, misfortune will continue.

The Netherworld City will record your offenses and send a document to inform you. What grievance do life and death hold against your parents? The calamity brought upon them by their child will implicate the elders and keep them from securing their full span of life. If the ritual documents are abandoned, even a thousand lights will be hard to proclaim.

Mysterious water, jade liquid, and the Vermilion Crow, a numinous substance symbolizing Neidan practice, appear; yet using them all day long still cannot spread them throughout the whole body. You must practice in person in a mountain forest or stone chamber, so that white hair turns black again and you regain the state of a child.

When the Qi of Great Harmony moves naturally, one can remain free from the knowledge of aging. Beat the Celestial Drum, the inner alchemy method of tapping the head with the hands to make it resonate, and let its sound echo within your embrace. The mountain peaks in Heaven seem like the human head; jade wine pours forth in abundance, ready to be drunk freely.

As long as you follow and maintain this method, you can prolong your life. Taking one dose only once in a thousand years may be said to have reached the utmost. The elixir text should be kept in a jade case and treated with the utmost respect. Once you understand the outward principles I have described, illness will disappear.

How much more can a wondrous scripture prolong life? Misfortune enters through the disclosure of secrets, while blessings come from guarding them carefully. The precepts include prohibitions laid down by Heaven, which must not be violated. When radiant essence, abundant with Jing and brilliance, gathers and circulates, it can transform into an immortal.

A great jade of incalculable value grows more solid through carving and polishing. The Way of long life comes from this; there is no need to forcefully pursue it. If you do not believe me, investigate the principles of destiny in the Nine Depths, the remote and shadowy realm. Devote yourself to understanding their essential meaning, and you will ascend to the blue heavens.

This Scripture of the Great Clarity on the Divine Elixir of Golden Liquids was originally written in ancient characters and was difficult to understand. Later, the Immortal Yin Lord revealed it in Chinese characters. It consists of 504 characters.

The method for making Six-One Mud is as follows: take equal quantities of alum stone, Rong salt, concentrated brine, and yu stone, and calcine them for twenty days. Then take left-facing oyster, red ochre, and talc. The Immortal Yin Lord revealed these instructions in Chinese characters. They consist of 504 characters.

To make “Six-One Mud” (the clay mixture used to seal a elixir furnace), combine equal amounts of four ingredients: alum stone, rongguan, concentrated brine, and yushi. Calcine them for twenty days. Then take left-looking oyster, red halloysite, and talc, and add them to the four ingredients. Measure out equal amounts of all seven materials, enough for the size of the earthen crucible (a ceramic elixir furnace). Mix them with the clay of the crucible and pound the mixture ten thousand times. Put it in an iron vessel and calcine it over fierce heat for nine days and nights, until the material turns bright red. Pound it another ten thousand times and sift it through a fine sieve. Add strong, aged bitter wine and knead the mixture into a paste. This is called “Six-One Mud.”

Take two red-clay crucibles, sizing them according to the quantity being refined. Coat the inside and outside of both crucibles with Six-One Mud, about three fen thick, and leave them in the sun for ten days until thoroughly dry. Then put nine jin of mercury and one jin of lead into a crucible. From morning until afternoon, refine them over fierce heat to obtain the golden-yellow essence of the mercury and lead. This is called “Mysterious Yellow,” also known as “Flying Light” or “Flying Flow.”

Take fine white lead and calcine it in an iron vessel until it turns golden yellow. Mix it in equal quantity with Mysterious Yellow, add zuowei, and pound the mixture ten thousand times into a paste. Use this paste to coat the inside and outside of both the upper and lower crucibles, about three fen thick, then leave them in the sun for ten days. Let the coating dry without cracking. If cracks appear, patch them with mud as they form.

Take ten jin of cinnabar from Yue, five jin of realgar, and five jin of orpiment. Pound them together and sift through a fine sieve. The quantity can be adjusted to the scale of the refining, from five to one hundred jin. Put the ingredients into the crucible and seal the joint tightly with Six-One Mud. Apply a layer about one fen thick, then leave it in the sun for ten days.

Separately, pound white roof tile fragments into a fine powder and sift them. Mix them with bitter wine, realgar, and one jin of oyster shell, then pound the mixture twenty thousand times into a paste. Use it to seal the crucible further, applying a layer about three fen thick, and leave it in the sun for ten days. If the dried seal cracks when exposed to the fire, it is not secure. If only fine cracks appear, patch them with Six-One Mud and inspect the seal carefully.

Set the crucible firmly on an iron brazier. Build a fierce fire around it, keeping the flames about five cun from the crucible, and heat it for nine days and nights. If horse manure is unavailable, rice bran may be used instead. Next, bring the fire close to the body of the crucible and heat it for another nine days and nights. Then bank the fire around it to half the height of its belly and heat it for nine days and nights. Finally, make a fire beneath the crucible and heat it for nine days and nights. After thirty-six days of firing, the elixir will be complete.

Let it cool for one day, then open the crucible and inspect it. The cinnabar should have sublimated into the upper crucible, shining like the moon rushing down and stars falling, with brilliant colors like frost and snow crystallized, or a sword’s edge gleaming emerald green. The scripture also describes its radiance with phrases such as “mysterious brilliance spreading in eight directions” and “lights scattered in a shimmering array.” It says its appearance is like purple floral light illuminating the sun, and its color like a clear sky reflected in iridescent clouds. Sweep it up with the feathers of a three-year-old red male parrot. This is called the “Flower of the Golden Liquid.” If the process has not succeeded, fire it again for thirty-six days by the same method. After seventy-two days in all, there is no reason it should fail.

The key to the process is to adjust the fire at the proper times and avoid sudden changes from hot to cold. If the heat remains even, the elixir will be complete in thirty-six days and need not be fired further. If the crucible cracks, the elixir loses its efficacy and is of no use for consumption. The sealing mud should protrude slightly, about three fen beyond the surface of the crucible. Adjust the strength of the fire as circumstances require.

At dawn, bathe, incense your clothes, face east, and bow twice, keeping in mind the Celestial Perfected Ones, the true deities revered in Daoism. If the alchemical furnace cracks, the divine elixir will lose its efficacy, and taking it will be of no benefit. When sealing it with clay, leave a small opening, exposing one third of it; this is best. Also watch the strength of the fire and adjust it as circumstances require.

At dawn, bathe, incense your clothes, face east, and bow twice, keeping in mind the gods of the Celestial Perfected Ones and the numinous officials. Then kneel to take the elixir. Begin with an amount the size of a millet grain, and gradually increase it to the size of a small bean. Those of superior aptitude can ascend to immortality in seven days; those of inferior aptitude will ascend in seventy days. The ignorant and unenlightened will need a year to become immortal. If your intention is utterly sincere and you have completed the fasting and preparations thoroughly, taking three daogui measures (a tool for measuring elixir) at dawn will let you ascend immediately and become immortal.

However, Daoist practitioners may feel afraid or worry that they cannot concentrate enough, and so dare not take three daogui measures themselves. They can only observe the divine elixir’s powerful effects. Anyone who takes three daogui measures for the first time will temporarily die for about half a day, then revive, as if waking from sleep. After reviving, simply resume taking it as before, beginning with an amount the size of a millet grain, and you will see how many days people of different aptitudes require. If someone has been dead for less than three days, take a grain of divine elixir the size of a small bean, pry open their mouth, and place it inside; they will revive at once.

Take one zhu of divine elixir and put it into one jin of mercury. Seal it in the furnace and heat it to refine it into gold, though the gold must not be consumed. Refine it over a fierce fire, then hammer the gold into a tube to hold the elixir. The Alchemical Classic says to wrap it in an embroidered pouch. Also prepare purified bitter wine in advance, Ling…

Take one zhu of divine elixir and cast it into one jin of mercury. When the two are refined together, they will turn into gold, but this gold cannot be ingested. Immediately continue firing it over a strong flame, then hammer the gold into a tube to hold the elixir, and wrap it in an embroidered pouch.

First prepare vinegar until it is clear and strong; if it is not strong enough, it cannot be used. Once ready, let it settle, take one hu, and place it in a vessel in a cool place. Seal the vessel tightly with clay, covering it all around but leaving about half an inch uncovered at the bottom. Weigh out nine liang of gold and immerse it in the vinegar for one hundred days. It can then be removed and used to prepare “Six-One Mud,” a material used in alchemical refining. This vinegar is called “Golden Liquid.”

After twenty-one days immersed in vinegar, the gold will become soft like bait and can be bent and stretched at will. The gold’s essence will seep into the vinegar and transform into divine Qi. After the full hundred days, if you wish to remove the gold, first pound three liang of “Ling Stone” into powder and use it to press out three dou of Ling Water. Then slowly remove the gold, wash it, and leave it overnight; the gold will return to its original state. When first taking the gold from the vessel, do not stir the Golden Liquid with your hand, lest its vital essence disperse. If gold is not at hand, other gold may be borrowed. The larger the earthen crucible, the more Golden Liquid can be soaked; there is no need to limit it to one hu. The quantities may also be adjusted according to the amount being soaked, and the weight of the gold may be reduced somewhat.

Pound cinnabar, realgar, and orpiment separately, sift each through fine, heavy silk, then mix them evenly and place them in a sealed vessel. The vessel’s opening should be shaped to receive the fire. Take another twenty jin of mica powder, pound it fine and sift it, then spread it on the ground in the open air, making a hole in the center. Spread ten jin of mulberry leaves on top. At the hour of the Rooster, sprinkle three dou of clear water over the leaves. When this is done, at nightfall take out the cinnabar, set the vessel on the mulberry leaves, and open its lid so the cinnabar can receive the night dew. Just before sunrise, cover the cinnabar again and move it indoors. Cover the mulberry leaves on the ground with a mat.

Follow this procedure for seven days, beginning the purification retreat on a Jiazi day and continuing until dawn on a Xinwei day. By then, the mica liquid called “Yellow Dragon” is said to have entered the cinnabar completely. While the cinnabar is exposed to the night dew, watch it carefully to keep insects and impurities away. Turn it over each night so it can again meet the dew and the light of heaven. When this is finished, pound and refine it ten thousand times, then seal it. On the Jia-shen day, place all the cinnabar in an earthen crucible and level it out. Do not press it too tightly with your hands, or the medicine will not rise easily.

When conducting the offering rite, prepare one dou and eight sheng of the finest clear wine, one jin of aloeswood (the phrase “thousand-year aloeswood” refers to aloeswood), and chicken heads. Prepare every offering according to the prescribed rules.

To perform the sacrifice with these offerings, first rinse the rice thoroughly, then steam or boil it as you prefer. Set out three plates, placing three cups of rice on each. Arrange the other offerings on plates and set them on the ritual seat. Light one incense burner on each side, for three burners altogether, and bring them together as a single offering. Face the altar table northwest. The officiant should observe a fast for three or seven days. After the fast, perform the sacrifice at the hour of Zi, around midnight.

For the sacrifice, wear clean, new clothes and bow three times. With reverence, invite the Nine Heavens True Sovereign, the Lord of the Nine Elders and Immortal Capital, the Elder of the Nine Qi, the Most High Perfected One, the True Official Elder of Vacuity’s Origin, the Jade Maiden of Great Elixir, the Lord of Heavenly Unity, and the Lady of Central Yellow to descend and receive the offerings.

Whenever the Nine August True Gods descend into the home of a certain person in a certain village of a certain district, that person again performs three bows, three prostrations, and three ritual self-strikings—beating their own body with their hands as an act of worship—and says: “Today is an auspicious day. I have fasted and purified my heart, and respectfully invite the Lords and Elders of the Most High (an honorific for exalted Daoist deities). I beg you to pause your splendid carriage for a while and rest.”

Next, the person offers incense and wine again, then performs three bows. After a long while, the person kneels and says: “I am merely a mortal born from the womb, descended from withered bones. For a long time I have been sunk in the world’s ignorance and vulgarity, accumulating many sins and misfortunes; my transgressions weigh as heavily as mountains. I ask only that the Most High release me from the Three Corpses (spirits believed to dwell within the human body, prompt wrongdoing, and shorten life) and dispel every kind of calamity. Now I belong to the Lord of the Dao, and I wish to be his subject forever. I ever yearn for clarity, stillness, and emptiness, so that I may purify this defiled body. By your gracious favor, I have been able to enter the wondrous path of cultivation.

“Today I received the Scripture of the Golden Liquor from my former teacher, Zhang. As I read and received its subtle methods, my heart and spirit grew clear, as though I had been born anew. Only then did I understand that the numinous wonder and exalted dignity of the Heavenly Worthy are beyond the words of ordinary people. How could someone as dull and plain as I dare hope to hear of them? I dare not irreverently keep these secret methods to myself. Therefore, I offer sacrifice and report to the highest heavenly gods, and swear in writing on silk: I have sworn to follow this method and will carry it with me from now on, never revealing it for the rest of my life.

“I beg the Lords and Elders of the Most High Great Dao to protect me, grant me long life, and bring my wishes to fulfillment. May my hopes soon come true, the divine medicine be perfected without delay, and may I also be able to withdraw from the world and cultivate in the mountains. I will separately pray to the exalted August Sovereigns, asking them to help bring forth the essence of the Elixir; in accordance with the prescribed method of transmission, I will respectfully receive my teacher’s instructions and arrangements.”

After speaking, the person performs nine prostrations and nine ritual self-strikings. The prayer should be recited slowly and aloud. If the person cannot memorize it, they may hold the scripture and read from it. Then they offer incense and wine once more, complete the rites, escort the gods, and rise to depart.

After finishing, bow your head nine times, then strike yourself with your hand nine times. Recite the words slowly, at a volume just loud enough to hear. If you cannot memorize this incantation, you may read it aloud from the scripture scroll. Then offer incense and wine; when this is done, see the deities off. Stand and perform the bowing salute, saying, “We respectfully invite the True King of the Nine Heavens.” Bow once more, rise, and say, “We respectfully invite the True Sovereign of the Three Heavens.”

There are often more than a hundred thousand cities, palaces, and houses there, on a scale comparable to Daqin. The people look like the Hu, with very fair skin. Their clothing and ritual observances are refined; fathers are loving, children filial, and people observe the laws, behave with humility, and sit upright rather than casually cross-legged. Tianzhu cannot compare with it. Some people there believe in the Great Dao.

The land there measures roughly twenty thousand li from end to end. The climate is mostly cold, with heavy frost and snow. Ginger cannot be grown locally, so they rely on imports from Tianzhu. They do not raise silkworms or cultivate mulberry trees; instead, people weave cloth from wool. The wool of dogs and sheep sometimes grows two or three chi long, and both men and women wear garments woven from it.

Anxi lies eight thousand li west of Yuezhi. Its territory and customs are the same as Yuezhi’s. Its people and horses are strong and robust, and its territory measures about five thousand li from end to end. Gold and jade are as common as stones and are used to mint coins. When the king dies, his successor often mints new coins. Dogs, horses, and large birds are found there. Farther west of Anxi lies another region with more than a hundred kingdoms, each governed separately; they are independent of one another and do not fall under Yuezhi’s authority.

Youqian lies seven thousand li southeast of Tianzhu. Its land, people, customs, and conduct are the same as those of Tianzhu, but its rare and precious goods are finer than Yuezhi’s. From this we can see that heaven and earth are vast and cannot be measured by imagination. Although these kingdoms are distant, reports describing them will be submitted in the future, yet people do not know how far they extend. Daqin and Yuezhi are said to lie near Kunlun, southwest of the lands reached by sailing out to sea from Rinan. They are the largest kingdoms people have heard of and seen.

Each kind of incense has its own place of origin. Aloeswood varies in weight and comes from Rinan; Duliang incense and Qingling incense come from Dianxun; clove and Fenluo incense grow in Dubo; Youjian incense and Rulai incense come from Wulun. Qingmu incense comes from Tianzhu, and turmeric incense from Zhoubin; storax comes from Anxi, and frankincense from Daqin. These incenses all come from plants and trees, each prized for its own qualities. Some are gathered from flowers, some from resin, and others from the heartwood or branches.

Only jiaxiang comes from animals of the snail and shellfish kind, and is found in the waters around Geying and Gouzhi. Weilu incense comes from Yuezhi, sulfur from Dukun, white aconite from Shihan, Guangbi incense from Jiachen, and orchid and mugwort from Sitiao. Youmu incense comes from Youqian. The other substances, too, each have their own remarkable fragrance, but none compares with Zhentan incense.

The Scripture of the Divine Elixir of Golden Liquids of Great Clarity, juan one

The Scripture of the Divine Elixir of Golden Liquids of Great Clarity, juan two

Written by Immortal Yin of Longevity

The Golden Liquid Elixir of Return (a Daoist alchemical term for refining the Golden Liquid Elixir and the Returning Elixir) circulates like an immortal flower, enabling one to soar high and travel far, ascending to the celestial mound. The yellow and red substances can be refined quickly, but Yin and Yang, the female and male principles, must also be brought together so that they mingle and blend. In this way, one can transform and soar, and summon the traveling provisions of the immortals. Spirit beings and jade maidens will become my companions. Movement in and out will be unimpeded, in harmony with the Dao of Heaven. The essence of the elixir congeals like frost, able both to sink and to rise. If you cultivate it with reverence, you can come here and wander with us.

The entire text comprises only sixty-three characters and is, in itself, a difficult ancient book to understand. Yin Jun explained its meaning and wrote it out as a method for refining the Golden Liquid Return Elixir.

The recipe requires two large copper tubes. Each tube is two and a half cun wide at the opening, four fen thick, and nine cun high. One tube is made into a lid, five cun high. Take one jin of refined yushi and half a jin of lead cinnabar. First, heat the yushi for twenty days and pound it ten thousand times. Then place it in an iron vessel and heat it over a fierce fire for nine days and nine nights. Pound it another ten thousand times, then sift it finely. Mix it with a rich, mellow vinegar until it forms a paste, and coat the inside and outside of the copper tube, including the top and bottom, to a thickness of four fen. This is the first layer.

For the refining, also take the essences of realgar and orpiment, mix them with mellow wine, and coat the inside of both copper tubes to a thickness of half a fen. This is the second layer. The third layer is made with snow frost. Coat the lid in the same way as the body of the lower tube. Fill the tube with snow frost to a depth of no more than one and a half cun, then put on the lid. Seal the joint firmly with shards of ochre stoneware, making certain it is airtight; if any vapor escapes, the medicinal essence will disperse.

After sealing it, apply another coat. Set it in a cool, clean place and wait until it is completely dry. Then place the copper tube in the middle of a fire of reeds or horse dung, and secure it firmly with an iron tripod so that its base is three cun above the ground. Chaff may also be used as fuel. At first, keep the fire three cun away from the tube on all sides—front, back, left, and right—and carefully watch and control the heat. After ten days, move the fire on all sides to within two cun. After another twenty days, bring it to within one cun. On the thirtieth day, bank the fire around all four sides, extending it beneath the tube and covering half its body. Continue refining in this way. On the fiftieth day, it is called “gold,” meaning that the divine medicine within can be refined into gold. Continue heating for another twenty days, making seventy days in all. The medicine is then complete and is called “red gold”—that is, the divine medicine said to be capable of producing red gold. This medicine is called the Golden Liquid Return Elixir.

To refine gold, put one zhu of the Return Elixir into one jin of lead, and it will turn into genuine gold. Alternatively, heat lead in a vessel until it melts, then add one daogui of the red medicine. Observe it then: the medicine will emit five-colored radiance, with purple-cloud-like vapors interweaving and swirling around it. Its black and yellow hues shift unpredictably, like clouds gathering overhead. Hence it is called “purple gold.” This is known as the wondrous working of the Dao. The purple, frost-like substance on the lid is called the “divine elixir.”

Mix the medicinal ingredients with dragon ointment and date paste, then roll them into pills the size of soybeans. Each morning, take one pill with well water drawn at dawn. After seventy days, the Six Ding and Six Jia (protective divine generals in Daoism), various immortals, and jade maidens will come to pay their respects, attend at your side, and guide you from before and behind. After one hundred days, you will be able to travel freely, as if in a trance, without obstruction. If you continue taking the pills, the time you can enter and leave numinous realms will gradually grow longer.

After one hundred and fifty days, the jade maidens will come to pay their respects and attend you, accompanying you each night. Your body will change in appearance, taking on the sheen of fine jade, and you will gain the power to transform freely. You will also be able to see jade maidens regularly massage you and summon various precious objects for use on your travels. “Gold” governs the muscles, while the “Returning Elixir” governs the blood vessels. The Returning Elixir also enables spirits to move up and down without limit and to enter and leave without hindrance, allowing you to meet the spirits of the sun and moon.

Each morning, rinse the mouth so that saliva gathers in abundance. What is called “jade nectar” is the saliva in the mouth. The scripture says that saliva nourishes the marrow, sinews, bones, and muscles, replenishes Jing and Qi, keeps a person vigorous and less prone to fatigue, and helps promote longevity.

“Dragon-paste dew” refers to the dew on mulberry leaves. In the early morning, gently wipe the dew from the leaves with cotton cloth. Then boil large dried jujubes and strain off the clear liquid. Combine it with an equal amount of sheep marrow and simmer it into jujube paste. The scripture says this paste, too, may be taken over a long period: it can strengthen the body and improve the complexion. The copper tube can also be made larger. The dimensions given earlier are only for the amount needed to refine one dose of the Returned Elixir; they may be adjusted as appropriate.

To make the jujube paste, use three dou of large dried jujubes for one dose. Add six dou of water and boil until the jujubes are soft and broken down, then add three more dou of water and bring it to a boil. After using nine dou of water in all, strain out the jujube pulp and let the liquid settle. Take three dou of the clear liquid, add six dou of sheep marrow, and continue simmering over low heat until it thickens to the consistency of malt syrup. If sheep marrow is unavailable, sheep fat may be used instead.

Method for extracting the essence of realgar and orpiment

Take one jin each of realgar and orpiment. Pound them carefully and grind them ten thousand times, then sift them until the powder is fine and even. Seal an earthen crucible with “Six-One mud,” a material used in Daoist alchemy to seal vessels. Put the powders inside and close the lid. Next, mix newly fired tile fragments with mud and seal the body of the crucible, taking care not to let any vapor escape. Leave it in the sun to dry. If the sealing mud cracks, patch it with more mud.

Then fire it with reed fuel for three days and three nights, heating the bottom and both sides of the crucible. If an essence forms on top in a frostlike or snowlike layer, the process is complete. If the tube vessel is larger, the frostlike material that forms on the crucible lid may also be used.

Method for making frost and snow

Take equal amounts of the seven substances—copper sulfate, realgar, sulfur, Rong salt, gypsum, hematite, and mercury. Grind them together with ten thousand strokes; do not sift them. Then mix them with full-bodied wine until the ingredients are evenly moistened and uniformly thick. Place the mixture in an earthen vessel, a container made of clay, and seal it in the manner used to close an earthen vessel when refining the divine elixir. Smear the seal with hematite and fragments of white pottery to make it airtight. Follow the same remaining procedures as for sealing the vessel described earlier.

Heat the bottom and sides of the earthen vessel with a reed fire for four days and four nights, keeping the flame somewhat strong. When a substance as fine as frost or snow has formed, sweep it up with the feathers of a three-year-old male parrot. This is called “Frost and Snow.” You may also add cinnabar, realgar, and orpiment, refining them together in equal amounts with the seven substances listed above, making ten ingredients in all. This preparation is called “Golden Flower Condensed Frost and Snow.” With this, the method for refining the Reverted Elixir is complete.

Before refining the Reverted Elixir, you must first perform a sacrifice; otherwise, the elixir cannot be made. Observe a three-day purification fast, prepare five dou of clear wine and ten jin of dried meat, and sacrifice to the Spirit of Ao, a deity associated with alchemical rites. When using reeds as kindling for a copper tube, this is called “Heavenly Horse”; the text specifically stresses that reeds should be used. It is even better to use “horse-dung fire,” made with horse manure as fuel. Reed fire is inherently difficult to control. When refining the essences of realgar and orpiment, as well as Frost and Snow, use reed fire; this is different from the fire used for the copper tube.

“Golden Flower Condensed Essence Frost” is for ingestion only and is said to enable people to live forever. Ordinary “Frost and Snow” must not be placed in a copper tube for use. The copper sulfate, Rong salt, and gypsum used to refine Frost and Snow are precious substances and cannot be replaced with substitutes. If the ingredients are not genuine, the elixir cannot be made.

The Taiping Golden Liquid Divine Elixir consists of 576 characters, with seven characters in each line. The “Golden Liquid” section has 504 characters, and the “Reverted Elixir” section has 63 characters.

Zheng Jun says: “Accounts of immortals ascending to the heavens, withdrawing from sight, and revealing their numinous efficacy are difficult to explain in words. They are truly beyond the insight of ordinary, unenlightened people. The wondrous results revealed through cultivation of the alchemical scriptures are all recorded in accounts of actual verification. For this reason, the Celestial Worthies and eminent people who attained the Dao kept this path concealed.

“The two aspects of the ultimate truth cannot be separated from one another. The foolish refuse to examine themselves and remain confused, so they find its principles lofty and difficult to understand. But how could those who are perceptive not know them through a moment of clear understanding? The scriptures are kept secret for the sake of those who have yet to become perceptive; this does not mean their wisdom can be used to measure the scriptures. Naturally, those who have no aspiration to seek immortality will not be given the secret methods.

“Thus the Lady of Great Perfection, a female immortal in Daoist legend, once said to Lord Ma: ‘If you follow Anqi, the legendary immortal Anqi Sheng, for a time, you will obtain his method of protection.’ If one only dabbles and greedily seeks immediate benefit, the gates of the immortals will be firmly shut. The perfected beings prize these secret methods so highly—how could they be something ordinary people should enter into lightly?”

Lord Yin, a Daoist adept in legend, was skilled in calligraphy. He once wrote several documents, sealed them, and entrusted them to the Five Sacred Mountains—the five famous peaks, also often understood as the divine offices of the Five Sacred Mountains. If someone devoted to the Dao can live in seclusion in the mountains, wholeheartedly aspire to the mysteries of the Great Dao, and persist in cultivation over time, the immortals will naturally open the stone grotto where the books are stored and reveal the secret methods. Without following this sequence of aspiration and cultivation, the essential secrets of the alchemical scriptures will remain forever hidden in lofty mountain ranges.

Were Lord Ma and Lord Yin merely immortals? They could also observe celestial phenomena and the courses of the stars, understand the rise and fall of states, discern the waxing and waning of times and destinies, and verify signs of events yet to come. They held great compassion for protecting the people and established names for things in every domain. Their attainments began to approach those of sages: their light was profound and mysterious, and they could see into all things. They may be called perceptive and numinous.

In the past, when I heard perfected beings who had attained the Dao speak of these matters, I often heard them praise this Way. When they taught the practical methods of refinement and cultivation, different extraordinary adepts all spoke in the same terms. How could such pure and true teachings be allowed to pass away without being recorded? I have therefore written down accounts of the numinous light of Lord Ma and Lord Yin appearing in the world, along with related stories passed down since the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, and appended them to the alchemical scriptures for people of the Dao to read and deepen their aspiration to cultivate the Way.

Disciple Ge Hong says: On the sixth day of the tenth month in the first year of the Tai Xing era of the Jin dynasty (318 CE), Bao Shuo, former governor of Nanhai, told me the following. On the twenty-second day of the eighth month that year, he had gone on an outing to Jiankang (in the area of present-day Nanjing). He was about to turn back toward the river when, riding along a road north of Mount Jiang, he met a handsome-looking young man of about sixteen or seventeen. They walked together for several miles.

Bao Shuo studied Daoist arts and could make prognostications, observe atmospheric signs, and practice many kinds of Daoist techniques. He noticed that the young man walked with an unhurried, leisurely air, yet was actually swift and light on his feet. Bao Shuo pressed ahead on horseback and could barely keep up. The farther he pursued him, the greater the distance between them became. Astonished, he thought the man’s speed was extraordinary.

Bao Shuo asked, “Where are you going? You walk so fast. Your steps look slow, yet you move with great speed. Could you be a person who has attained the Dao?”

The young man stopped and said, “I am the immortal Yin Changsheng you speak of, the one said to have attained the Dao. The Most High has sent me to Chicheng, a sacred Daoist mountain in the area of present-day Tiantai, Zhejiang. You seem to have a heart set on seeking the Dao, which is why you were able to see me.”

Bao Shuo had read Daoist books extensively and knew that in ancient times a man named Yin Changsheng had attained the Dao and become an immortal. He was certain that the person before him must be that very man. He immediately dismounted and bowed, then exchanged greetings and asked after his well-being. Before he could say anything more, …

The Yin Lord said, “You will have to remain here another ten years. War and great upheaval are certain to break out, and blood will cover the land. Why do you still stay here, seeking a livelihood?” The two talked for a while, and only after a long time did they part. The Yin Lord then said to Bao, “You have long yearned for the Dao and its methods, and you are close to mastering them, but it is a pity that you are already advanced in years. Keep striving. I think you too may be able to transcend the world and become an immortal.”

When a practitioner of immortality attains the Dao in old age, the best method is “corpse liberation”—leaving behind a corpse in order to depart from the world. The highest form of corpse liberation uses a sword; the lesser form uses bamboo or wood. Bao asked, “Does corpse liberation by sword mean injuring oneself with a sword?” The Yin Lord replied, “That is not what it means. In corpse liberation by sword, the sword takes the person’s place and is left behind as a body for the living. It is placed in a coffin to console one’s descendants and, by this means, sever one’s attachments to the world. Write the ‘Supreme Mysterious Yin Life-Bearing Talisman’—a Daoist talisman—on both sides of the sword, using a divine elixir as ink. Before long, the sword will take on the shape of a person, with a face matching the image written on the talisman, as though the person had died in bed. The person can then seize the chance to depart and never return home. The family takes the sword for his body, mourns and makes offerings through the morning, then buries it. The lesser form of corpse liberation uses bamboo or wood. Talismans are written on these with a divine elixir as ink, following the same method as with the sword.”

The Yin Lord passed this talisman on to Bao. After speaking, he wandered away and vanished. Bao looked up toward the mountains and marshes and saw several cranes rise from the grass and fly southeast. After a long while, they crossed the ridges and disappeared into the clouds, never to be seen again.

He also discussed the rise and fall of the Jin dynasty with Bao, saying, “After the jia-shen year from now, in the yi-you and bing-xu years, two rulers will die, and bandits will be everywhere. When calamity strikes in the north, the direction of Kan, the situation will nearly collapse. By the jia-shen year, only one in ten thousand will remain.

“If you undertake repairs and improvements around the Huai and Si Rivers, first secure advantageous ground and control the area west of Weiyang and Beihai. Align your actions above with the degrees of the Dipper in the heavens and below with the Earth’s qi. Beginning now in the south of the Yangtze, this could allow the dynasty to continue for sixty-six years, until its fortunes end in the jia-xu year. The key lies in the original text’s phrase ‘boats linked, contending for the palace gates,’ which continues until the jia-shen year. If your actions bring calamity, the dynasty’s fortunes will be shortened; if you accumulate blessings and avert disaster, they will be prolonged. At the time of its final decline, even if the dynasty’s fortunes end in the jia-xu year sixteen years from now, it will still have to pass through ‘boats linked, contending for the palace gates’ until the jia-shen year. In any case, it will ultimately reach that year. From now until the jia-shen year is exactly seventy-six years.

“People’s allotted lifespans are arranged by the Heavenly Emperor. If you raise an army, your line will end in the tenth generation. The examples are Shaokang of the Xia, Emperor Gaozong of the Yin, King Ping of the Zhou, and Emperor Guangwu of the Han. They all followed the arrangements of Heaven’s timing. By the reckoning of the Jin dynasty’s allotted destiny, it too should last ten generations. Yet a turn of events may still be possible, because the spirits have presented this matter to Heaven.

“Now the spirits are making a petition on behalf of the Jin dynasty. The wronged spirit of Emperor Wen of Jin has been shedding blood without cease as he appeals to the Heavenly Bureau. If the Most High, a revered Daoist deity, presides over justice and redresses his case, the Jin line should not be cut off. If the Most High dismisses the spirits’ petition and entrusts the matter to someone to handle, that would amount to helping the Jin house prolong its allotted destiny. Then, counting from Emperor Wu and omitting Emperors Wen and Min, the line would likewise come to ten generations. The affairs of the Jin dynasty are now recorded in the Celestial Bureau, much as they were in the time of Zhao Jianzi. The spirits’ petition on behalf of Emperor Wen of Jin has still not ceased.”

Long ago, Zhao Jianzi dreamed of Duke Yin and Duke Xian. He followed them to the Celestial Emperor. Before the Celestial Emperor, Duke Yin and Duke Xian argued against each other, and Zhao Jianzi argued with them too, but he could not prevail. The Celestial Emperor then handed Zhao Jianzi over to the two dukes to deal with. Duke Yin seized his head, and Duke Xian struck it off with a sword. Zhao Jianzi’s head fell to the ground. He picked it up himself and tried to reattach it, but could not set it straight. At that moment, a Cenyang shaman beside the Celestial Emperor saw what had happened and helped him position his head correctly.

When Zhao Jianzi awoke, he felt uneasy. He went out for a walk and came upon a man leading a white dog, meeting him face-to-face. The man stepped aside into some brush and thornbushes, and the dog’s leash became tangled in the thorns. The Cenyang shaman returned to untangle the leash, but the thorns caught the dog’s head as well. Unable to free itself, the dog could only turn and look at Zhao Jianzi.

Seeing the man’s clothes and features, Zhao Jianzi recognized him as exactly like the person who had stood beside the Celestial Emperor in his dream. He asked, “I feel as though I’ve seen you before. Where have we met?” The man replied, “I am a Cenyang shaman. Yesterday, I was at the Celestial Emperor’s court and saw the two dukes arguing against you, my lord. You could not prevail, so the Celestial Emperor handed you over to them. Duke Yin seized your head, and Duke Xian struck it off with a sword. Your head fell to the ground. You picked it up yourself and tried to reattach it, but could not set it straight, so I positioned it correctly for you. We met only yesterday, and you’ve already forgotten?”

Zhao Jianzi said, “It really happened. Is there anything that can be done now? Surely I can still be saved?” The Cenyang shaman said, “There is no turning back. Your allotted lifespan will end today.”

Jianzi said, “Now that matters have come to this, what should I do? Is there any chance I can still survive?” The wizard replied, “There is no chance. The length of the king’s life has already been fixed in Heaven and cannot be changed.” Jianzi said, “Yesterday you helped put my head back in place, so surely you have a way to save me. And our chance meeting today shows that I still have hope of extending my life. Please help me.”

The wizard remained silent, then let out a long cry. After a while he said, “Very well. Among the feudal lords under Heaven, Qi is now the one that has most seriously defied the Son of Heaven of Zhou, and the Heavenly Emperor’s punishment of Qi is also the heaviest. The king can submit a memorial to the Son of Heaven, asking to send troops to punish Qi. The Heavenly Emperor will surely be pleased and will extend the king’s life—perhaps by as much as twenty-five years. This is now the only way to prolong it.”

Jianzi was delighted when he heard this. He returned and submitted a memorial to the Son of Heaven, asking to send troops against Qi. The Son of Heaven agreed and placed the army in Zhao’s hands, ordering Zhao to attack Qi. In accordance with the Son of Heaven’s command, Jianzi summoned the feudal lords to campaign together. They met beside the river and made offerings to the River Deity. Jianzi knelt upright on the ground, striking his chest with both hands, and prayed: “Now, in obedience to Heaven’s mandate, I set out to punish rebels and chastise the guilty. I have the chance to fulfill my ambition in Qi. I, Jianzi, have come to Zhao to serve the River Deity with reverence.” Later, the campaign against Qi was indeed victorious, and Qi once again paid its respects to the Son of Heaven. Jianzi’s life was thereby extended by twenty-five years. This is precisely what is meant by prolonging a life that is about to end through merit and virtue.

This is the very matter Yin Jun spoke of, and the circumstances are clear. Later, in the second year of Taining, the year jiashen, General Wang Dun did indeed rebel. In the third year of Taining, the year yiyou, on the twenty-fourth day of the second month, Emperor Yuan died. In the fourth year of Taining, the year bingxu, Emperor Ming died. In the third year of Xianhe, Su Jun led an army of one hundred thousand rebels northward up Mount Jiang. Every place where Yin Jun had once been active became a rebel encampment. Counting from beginning to end, exactly ten years had passed.

Bao held the aim of the Great Dao in deep admiration and guarded its secrets with care. He had earlier listened to and accepted these words, whose essential point was that they should be shared among those who needed to know, but not spread publicly. Apart from his disciples and a few close associates, no one knew of the matter. Bao himself kept it buried deep within and said nothing.

The Yin Lord said to Bao, “People of this age trust you. You can help the ruler of the present day understand how the fortunes of the world are changing and have him hold to the garrisoned stronghold; this may allow him to preserve himself. Even if he suffers a setback, he need not be utterly defeated. This, too, is a benefit you can bring to both ruler and ministers, and it is something you should do yourself. You possess the art of divining signs of calamity and good fortune, and can use it to discern what is auspicious and inauspicious. But do not say that you and I arrived at it through discussion together.

“You should also praise the ruler’s De and adapt to the circumstances of the time, allowing matters to emerge in a tactful way so that their meaning can be glimpsed and gently brought to light. Do not speak with blunt, unrestrained frankness; that would only increase the misfortunes and blame brought upon others.”

That year, Bao submitted a memorial to Emperor Yuan, setting out the key events in the rise and fall of the Chen state, along with ways to avert calamity in advance and prevent trouble before it arose. The memorial’s words concerned astral patterns and calendrical cycles, and also discussed events of the past and present. All of this came from Lord Yin’s teachings.

However, the memorial greatly extended what had originally been said about timing, destiny, and the number of years the state would endure. Bao had embellished and exaggerated these claims; they did not reflect Lord Yin’s original account. The memorial also contained other matters that Emperor Yuan kept secret. Yet he himself knew that the stated number of years differed too greatly from what was reasonable, and so he felt Bao had gone too far.

Emperor Yuan once privately showed the memorial to the Minister Wang Dao and asked his opinion. Wang Dao said, “Perhaps this is a case of making a hundred into a thousand. Rulers often dislike the short span before them and prefer a distant, lengthy future; they avoid speaking of brevity and favor talk of what lies far ahead. As for a minister’s advice, even when it involves neither concealment nor flattery, it should not bluntly wound the ruler’s feelings. It is like treating an illness with medicine: the doses should be spaced out to ease the condition. If the entire dose is forced down at once, the patient may not be able to bear it in the moment, and the medicine will inevitably harm the body instead.” Emperor Yuan listened in silence and said nothing.

I once saw Bao’s memorial, but did not have time to copy it down. Its claims were well supported; only someone skilled at noticing subtle signs could grasp the depth of their meaning. Recently, I searched carefully through both the inner and outer quarters, hoping to recover the memorial, but I could not find it. Perhaps the palace buildings were burned during the wars, and the documents were scattered and lost.

I wish to see the memorial again not to probe the depth of its meaning, but to learn the span of peace and the time until disorder and collapse. What I value is the prophecy Lord Yin left behind. Lord Yin had been dead for a long time, yet later appeared again before Bao. His words and intent were subtle, and his insight far-reaching and penetrating. For this reason, I have recorded the matter once more.

After Lady Bao died, she was temporarily buried at Shizigang. Later, tomb robbers opened her grave and saw only a large sword in the coffin. Her clothes and remains were nowhere to be found. They then heard the sound of people and horses around the grave and fled in terror, so they did not dare take the sword. Other tomb robbers later opened the grave and again saw only the large sword in the coffin, with no sign of her clothes or remains. They too heard the sound of people and horses nearby, panicked, and fled without taking the sword. Afterward, her family reburied Lady Bao, placing only the large sword in the grave.

From this account, Lady Bao must have obtained the method of “corpse liberation through the Yin Lord’s sword.” In Daoism, corpse liberation is a way of leaving the physical body, with another form serving as a symbolic trace of one’s departure. Here, the account says Lady Bao left the large sword as a trace after her death. Anyone seeking the Dao should therefore seek out this Daoist scripture.

Scripture of the Divine Elixir of Golden Liquids of Great Clarity, Scroll 2

Scripture of the Divine Elixir of Golden Liquids of Great Clarity, Scroll 3

Preface and Account by Baopuzi

Ge Hong said: I once saw someone write about the differences among the regions of the south, recording the strange creatures of distant lands. Although much of what the author recorded was broadly close to the truth, they had probably visited few places in person. It is therefore difficult to distinguish the strange things found in remote lands in all four directions, or to record the conditions of different regions clearly.

So I supplemented and expanded those accounts, making the distribution of places possible to examine, broadening people’s knowledge, and setting down the names of each place. This would make the conditions in the north and south easier to distinguish, and prevent those in the east and west from being confused.

Yet after Heaven and Earth separated and Yin-Yang—the two fundamental forces that form the myriad things of Heaven and Earth—came into being, the lands covered by Heaven and borne by Earth, whether within the Four Seas or in the remote wildernesses of the eight directions, proved too vast to explore fully. The myriad things nurtured by Yin-Yang, beneath the light of the sun and moon, range from tender young growths to creatures of plain form, from mosquitoes to all manner of wriggling insects. They are so numerous that no account could describe them all in detail.

In ancient times, Yu the Great spent thirteen years controlling the floods, traveling throughout the Nine Provinces and making inquiries into and surveys of remote regions. Only afterward could he determine their directions and investigate and record their differences. Yet even what he had walked across with his own feet and seen with his own eyes was only a part of the whole. The realm contained by Heaven and Earth and encompassed by the Six Directions—above, below, and the four quarters—extended far beyond all that he could know, perhaps not even a hundredth of it.

The Book of Zou Yang also says: The Nine Provinces spoken of today are not all the provinces under Heaven; they make up only one ninth of the whole. Each of the farthest regions in the four directions contains eight more such areas. Scholars of the world probably all consider this claim absurd.

When I was young, I wanted to study the arts of the Dao and resolved to travel far overseas. During a period of leisure, I took the opportunity to travel south. At first, I intended only to visit the region around Jiaoling. Later, by chance, I had the opportunity to reach Funan, an ancient country in Southeast Asia.

Funan extends for more than a thousand li in every direction and has a population in the hundreds of millions. It has mountains and seas within its borders, and its territory is vast. I had assumed it was the southernmost country, that the lands to the south ended there. But when summer came, the southern winds arrived on schedule, and people came there from farther south. They said that farther south lay another region, more than a thousand li across, with a population in the hundreds of millions, mountains and seas, and an extensive territory. I asked them about its geography and customs. They told me that between Tianzhu, ancient India, and Yuezhi, an ancient people of the Western Regions, there were more than a dozen famous and powerful countries like Funan. Farther on, from Danai to Fulin, an ancient name for lands to the west, the regions stretched thirty thousand li in every direction. Along the way were many smaller countries, too numerous to count.

Each country had its own history behind its name and location. And the beliefs of men and women differed from place to place. This makes clear just how vast the space between Heaven and Earth truly is. Even sages, however deeply they imagine and however far they survey the world, may not be able to explore it all. How much less can ordinary scholars, who remain uncertain about so much of it? The extent of Heaven and Earth and the theory of the Nine Provinces described by Zouzi, Zou Yan, the Yin-Yang thinker of the Warring States period, may not fully accord with reality. The places I have heard about already extend far beyond what people describe as the Nine Provinces. How can we measure the rest, known only by hearsay and not yet investigated? Heaven and Earth are boundless. Who could know where they end? How can anyone set a limit and claim that the world has only eight provinces?

The ancient sages simply called China the Divine Province and aligned its Nine Provinces with the Eight Trigrams. China lies beneath the Pole Star and at the center of the earth, so the Nine Provinces refer only to this region. Other lands may be vast, but they were not included in this scheme.

There are also strange mountains and seas, unusual creatures and different peoples, as well as precious treasures and splendid objects. Their astonishing sights overwhelm the eyes and ears and fill the heart with wonder. Many things have been seen but never heard of before, so strange that they defy ordinary understanding and are difficult to record in detail. Yet these are merely spectacles for luxurious amusement, not things sought in the cultivation of life.

From Funan and Dunxun to Lin Yi, Dubo, and Wulun, these five kingdoms produce cinnabar, sulfur, zengqing (a blue mineral), and shijing (the essence of ore) in abundance. They have every kind of medicine used for guiding and nourishing the body in pursuit of immortality, as well as minerals said to preserve life indefinitely—too many to list one by one. Cinnabar is so plentiful there that it lies like tiles and stones strewn across the eastern lands. Flowing cinnabar, a raw material for elixirs, covers the ground like the ash left after pottery is fired; wherever the eye falls, it is beyond measure.

Yet the people of these five kingdoms do not know how to take these medicines, nor do they understand the way to prolong life. They regard such useless things as treasures enough to fill Heaven and Earth, while discarding the numinous minerals. They compete to carve and admire objects, while looking down on the elixirs made from flowing cinnabar. They neither refine nor take these medicines, so the true ingredients remain buried among common materials for years, and their wondrous effects never come to light. I investigated this myself in the past, and the situation is quite clear.

I have now arrived in the west. Though I have tried chewing herbal medicines, I still need the efficacy of elixir liquid—the prepared liquid form of an elixir. But the days have gradually slipped away, and I have stopped here. With death so near, what is there to covet in that minor official rank? I, Hong, did not refuse the appointment because I hoped to draw on the people’s help to find a route to the places where elixirs are produced. I intend to stay where cinnabar is found and practice the art of concealing my form. This has long been my wish; now that I have attained both office and my heart’s desire, I shall bid farewell forever to the bridge by the graves and leave this place.

Most people who study and cultivate the Dao, resolved to prolong their lives, are poor. The rich are accustomed to a life of comfort and abundance. Their minds are often captivated by sensual pleasures, and few are willing to restrain themselves, suppress their desires, leave behind romance and entertainment, travel far to seek a teacher, endure hardship, and take labor as a source of contentment. One would be hard pressed to meet even a single person like this in a thousand miles.

Those who wish to cultivate themselves into immortals cannot do without elixirs. A man lived in Yangzhou, but his family was poor; he traveled a great distance to follow me. Yet the eight precious and rare substances needed to compound the elixir were beyond his reach, and he had no means of obtaining them. To acquire them by improper means would be unworthy of someone who cultivates the Dao, so he could only earn them through hired labor. Besides, he was frail by nature. If his body could not bear the strain, he would begin to consider turning back. Even if he managed to obtain what was needed in the region, he would ultimately be unable to gather everything. Thus the path of cultivating the Dao is often bound up with poverty, while the wealthy are frequently entangled in worldly affairs.

Moreover, the times are unsettled, and fear and anxiety torment people like alternating chills and fever. Who could have foreseen the sudden turn of fate, with calamity and disorder breaking out? Looking down at one’s own limbs, one fears that a blade may fall upon them, and lives in constant alarm. In such circumstances, how could there be time to seek medicinal substances and preserve one’s life? Even now, with this elixir scripture in my hands, I do not know where to begin. It is like presenting the treasured Dragon Abyss sword to a butcher’s shop, or hanging a luminous pearl on a dog or horse: they recognize only its preciousness, but do not know how to use it properly. Is that not tragic? Now I will explain the true essentials to my disciples. Listen carefully, all of you.

When people are desperately thirsty, they long to reach the bank of a great river; when they are desperately hungry, they think of settling in the countryside. So why should those who wish to learn the Dao not take their secret formulas for cultivation to a place suited to the work? Why then worry that the ingredients and minerals needed to refine the elixir will be scarce? Is it because they cannot focus their efforts? Why insist on remaining where people chase fame and profit, making a home in a land of conflict and turmoil, and falling into hardship alongside everyone else?

“Those who truly understand me are few; therefore, those who can be in harmony with me are precious.” One should leave worldly affairs behind, avoid noise and distraction, depart from the dust and clamor, and travel to the Cinnabar Hills, a fabled realm of immortals and place of cultivation. Even if zithers are played for horses, how could horses understand the notes of the gong and shang modes? Since people of the world do not value the practice of taking elixirs, they will not treasure what I do. I can then devote myself to cultivation in peace, without fear or worry, cherishing only the subtle insight I have attained and no longer striving to obtain things from outside. Is this not a way to understand the truth deep within while appearing to the world as a fool?

Moreover, far to the south lie vast lands, with famous mountains linked one to another. Deep grottoes lie beneath them, and their peaks rise high into the blue clouds. In the Land of Fire, vapor billows and fragrant scents spread in every direction. Are blessed lands found only in the regions of Yang and Chu? The south simply lies beyond the Four Seas. When the sages of old compiled records of famous mountains, they wrote about places within the Central Plains, not those beyond its borders.

The elixir scriptures say that once an elixir has been refined and taken, one’s ascent to heaven and transformation into an immortal will be confirmed. The remote lands in the eight directions described by the immortals who passed down this teaching are no more than a courtyard one can travel to and fro. These five countries, however, all lie within reach of human footsteps. How could they be truly inaccessible? So one should not be deterred by distance, but still seek to go to those places; one should not fear the vastness of the journey, but be determined to reach them.

If one’s allotted lifespan is not long enough, the proper elixir may never be completed; one can regard this as a matter of individual destiny. Even so, one can still practice the sacred methods. To persist in cultivation and grasp its principles, making frost appear and dark clouds rise on all sides, is already diligence. If one receives Heaven’s aid, then the accomplishment is Heaven’s work.

People, whether noble or humble, must eventually die. Hong is willing to drive out the Three Corpses (the spirits said in Daoism to dwell in the human body, damage one’s Jing and Qi, and urge one toward wrongdoing), guard his Jing and Qi, gather in his hun and po souls, nurture his spirit, and devote himself to seeking the wondrous elixir. Even if he cannot attain long life, at least he will not have let a chance to seek life pass by for nothing.

It is like people casting bait and searching for fish with threads, bows and arrows, and hooks, never knowing who will be the first to catch one; or like hundreds of dogs chasing a single rabbit, when in the end one of them is bound to catch it. Human life has its limit, and even an emperor cannot avoid death. Now I have resolved to try. Weighing the gains and losses as I expect them, I would gladly spend my whole life pursuing the Great Dao.

I do this only because I hold the Great Dao in my heart and my conviction is firm. Even if Su Qin and Zhang Yi, famed for their persuasion in the Warring States period, were alive again, and Chen Ping and Li Yiji, famed for their strategies and persuasive speech in the early Han, returned to life to tempt me with cunning and the force of circumstance, or to extol wealth and glory with every effort, however brilliant their turns of phrase and however many their words, I would change countenance, step before them, laugh in their faces without hesitation, and defeat them with a single sentence. My heart is like a boulder; no one can shake it. My resolve is like vajra; no one can destroy it. I have said all that needs to be said.

If a person can hold such resolve, perhaps the myriad spirits will take pity on him and offer a word of guidance. My heart is firm as a boulder; you cannot shake it. My resolve is firm as vajra; you cannot destroy it. I have said all that needs to be said.

With such feelings, perhaps the myriad spirits will pity so grand an aspiration. If I am fortunate enough to undergo a transformation like a cicada shedding its skin, then, looking back after a century or more, the catalpa wood in my grave will seem to regain my face, proving that those who disbelieved me were wrong. I only fear that by then they will already have turned to dust and will no longer be able to tell anyone what happened in the past. This may sound laughable, yet it may not be laughable after all.

I now write about the Land of the Living Elixir, recording matters from foreign lands and also expressing my own modest views, which I append to the Golden Liquids. So long as these grand words are treasured and kept secret, they can be preserved for a long time. Thus there is no need to attack a fox for burrowing within the royal city, nor to dig up a field mouse that has taken shelter beside the city wall. It is like a mosquito clinging to a wild goose or an egret and flying up to a high mountain. Now, with my humble writing, I entrust these words to a true classic, hoping they may be preserved. My disciples may read and hear of them widely.

The words of Bu Wan (whose identity here is unclear) may be chosen by high ministers of the court; the aspirations of a free-spirited person may sometimes accord with the times. A commander’s military orders can be seized, but the will of an ordinary person is hard to defy. I take my leave once more at the vermilion gate; from now on, I bid you farewell for good. I turn my back on the tomb, yet keep these worldly affairs hidden in my heart.

People cannot understand “Hong,” and “Hong” cannot understand people either. Some face a wall without knowing it; how could the likes of fish and turtles, mere remnants, fail to stir sorrow? Others regard me as mad, while I regard them as worms and insects. To whom can one speak of the limits and changes of fortune?

Later, gentlemen who aspire to study the Dao should each examine their own conduct and accomplishments. They should not confine their vision, as if peering at the world through a tube, but should seek guidance and direction.

The people set out at a leisurely pace and crossed the great river by boat, departing from Xianglin (an ancient county, roughly in the area of present-day central Vietnam). As the boats sailed, they had the star Chen behind them and the star Ji before them. With the wind at their backs, they sped downstream like lightning and racing stars. They kept their lamps lit through the night and did not stop. After more than ten days at sea, they finally reached Funan, an ancient Southeast Asian kingdom.

Funan had a king and rulers, and its territory stretched for tens of thousands of li. To the north it bordered Qinlin and Linyi (an ancient kingdom roughly in the area of present-day central Vietnam); to the south it encompassed Dianxun; on the left it adjoined Dubo, and on the right it bordered Wulun. Its population and resources were abundant, and people gathered there like clouds. When they first arrived, the travelers were suddenly overwhelmed by the seemingly boundless landscape and thought they had reached the end of the sky. They asked about Danxue, a legendary source of cinnabar, but received no reply until midsummer. When the moon rose, cool winds blew northward, and travelers from the south began arriving one after another. The strange customs left them unsure what to ask first, and people from every region had their own neighbors.

I had thought this was the southernmost edge of the world, yet the local people called it the northern frontier. They then spoke of the surrounding countries: Wuyuan, Gouzhi, Geying, Linyang, Jiachen, Shihan, Huli, Sidiao, Daqin, Gunu, Chalao, Qibo, Chunbin, as well as Tianzhu, Yuezhi, Anxi, Youqian, and others. The great countries stretched across tens of thousands of li, while even the small ones extended for several thousand. Beyond those, no one knew their origins.

The commentary explains that Xianglin is in what is now Nan County. In the Han dynasty, Ma Yuan extended the southern frontier and established Xianglin County. He erected two bronze pillars four or five hundred li south of Rinan Commandery to mark the Han dynasty’s southern boundary. Later, as the Eastern Han weakened, outside peoples and forces from the interior encroached on one another. Xianglin and its surrounding area slipped from imperial control, and the bronze pillars were seized. The original text says the pillars stood near the coast, about three hundred li south of Linyi. The area is now a separate country called Xitu, where cinnabar is as plentiful as mud. The boats put out to sea from Shouling Port in Rinan Commandery and sailed due south; that is why they had the star Chen behind them and the star Ji before them. They sailed continuously, day and night, for more than ten days and reached Funan.

Funan lay more than three thousand li southwest of Linyi. Its ruler proclaimed himself king, and its subordinate states each had their own ruler. The great king was called “Baodao,” while the king of the next rank was called “Poye.”

Funan lies more than three thousand li southwest of Linyi. It has its own king, and each of its dependent states has its own ruler. The king of a major state in Funan is called “Pao Dao,” while the king of a minor state is called “Po Tan.” The rulers and the ministers around the king are all called “Kunlun.”

The region of Funan produces cinnabar and precious stones in abundance. From Funan, it is about three thousand li north to Linyi. The region is rich in natural resources and produces cinnabar and sulfur. Dianxun lies four or five thousand li south of Funan and was originally an independent state. Fan Tan, an earlier king of Funan, used courage and strategy to conquer and subdue Dianxun. It now belongs to Funan and produces iron. Farther south of Dianxun are the states of Dukun, Bisong, Gouzhi, and others. These, too, were conquered during Fan Tan’s reign, and the places are therefore collectively called “Han Dianxun.” Dianxun is twenty thousand li from Rinan.

Just how far is Dianxun from Funan? From Funan to Linyi seems to be only about three thousand seven or eight hundred li. The basis for this estimate is that merchant ships set out from the mouth of Shouling Bay and, with a favorable wind, sail continuously day and night for fifteen days before reaching Dianxun. By this account, a ship can travel two thousand li in a day and a night.

Someone asked, “Ships on the Yangtze are large, with broad sails. Even when they set out from the mouth of Shouling Bay and travel downstream with the wind, they cover no more than three hundred li in a day. Isn’t it an exaggeration to say that seagoing ships can travel three thousand li day and night?”

The reply was, “I have often asked people who have traveled by sea. They say that when a ship raises its four sails high and catches a favorable wind, it can travel a great distance in a single day. I once tried dropping something into the water; in the time it took to bend down and straighten up, it had drifted a hundred paces. From this, I infer that the current is faster than a deer in pursuit, and faster than a galloping horse. A horse can travel a thousand li in a day, so I estimate that a seagoing ship can travel roughly a thousand li a day.” Funan also produces cinnabar, zengqing (a blue mineral), sulfur, and purple and white quartz.

Duboge was a country on an island in the great sea east of Funan, an ancient Southeast Asian kingdom. Traveling directly across the sea from Funan by ship took several dozen days. The country had a large population and grew rice. Its women wove white cloth called die, a kind of cotton or hemp fabric. Men and women alike had fair skin, and everyone wore clothing. The land was rich in resources: gold, tin, iron, and cinnabar were as plentiful as soil, and gold served as currency. Five-colored parrots, pigs, and deer were found there; people raised water buffalo, large sheep, chickens, and ducks. There were no rhinoceroses, elephants, tigers, or leopards. The people were mild-mannered and respectful, and their customs resembled those of the people of Guangzhou.

Wulun lay more than two thousand li west of Funan. Vast tracts of land were planted with taolang, a kind of palm, and with various flowering and fruit trees. During the bright half of each lunar month, trees lined both sides of the roads, casting shade from the summer heat. A pavilion stood every ten or more li, each with a well. The people ate rice with water caltrop and drank grape wine. A local tree bore fruit with a sticky, glue-like texture; when mixed with water and added to wine, it made the drink sweet and pleasant. Many people there lived to an advanced age, and some reached two hundred years.

Juzhi lay eight hundred li from Dianxun. A river there flowed southwest, then turned northeast and emptied into the sea. Traveling northeast along the river brought one to a large rocky headland jutting out into the sea. The water there was shallow, and the area held many lodestones. Foreigners’ seagoing ships had iron plating on their hulls; when they reached the headland, the lodestones drew them in and held them fast, making passage impossible. They had to stop in Juzhi to trade their goods, then return.

The state of Geying lies south of Gouzhi, and takes about a month to reach on foot. In a bay, a great forest stretches down to the seashore; it is called Puluo. A strange kind of people live in the forest. They have tails six inches long and like to eat humans. In appearance, they resemble both humans and beasts. If they are said to be entirely human, they have tails and eat people; if entirely beasts, they can carry their heads upright and walk on their bodies. Their tails are like those of beasts, while the way they walk is like that of humans. In appearance, they stand between human and beast. Their skin is black as lacquer, their teeth white as silver, and their eyes bright red. Men and women alike go naked, without clothing; fathers and sons, brothers and sisters, also lie naked beside one another. These are only the Yi people of Geying—a term used in ancient times for peoples living in distant regions. Elsewhere in the state, there are people of beautiful appearance.

Lin Yang lies more than two thousand li west of Funan. Men and women there have fair skin and are kind and benevolent; they all follow the Dao. They use gold and silver as money. The region produces large quantities of cinnabar, sulfur, zengqing, kongqing, and amethyst. Its people also favor deep-red silk and white pearls, which are among the local products and items of dress.

Jiachen lies on the coast southwest of Geying, where the sea is shallow. People from some nearby states often lie in wait along the roads and rob travelers of their belongings, so merchants must travel in groups if they are to venture out.

Shihan lies southwest of Gouzhi. It takes about fourteen or fifteen days to reach by boat from Gouzhi. The state has a king, and its people all follow the Great Way, value cleanliness, and observe the laws. Their rites and customs imitate those of the Han dynasty, which is why the state is called “Shihan.” Immortals live there, and the state also produces luminous pearls. The people do only benevolent deeds and cannot bear to kill living things. The land is broad and level, with more than ten thousand households. It produces abundant gold, jade, sulfur, and other goods.

The Kingdom of Huli lies southwest of the ancient Kingdom of Gunu-sidiao, extending seven or eight hundred li into a great gulf. A large river flows there, rising in the northwest of the Kunlun Mountains and running south into the sea. Sailing west from its mouth, one reaches the Kingdom of Daqin after more than ten thousand li. A large ship that can carry five or six hundred people, with seven sails raised, can reach Daqin in about a month with a favorable wind.

The Great Dao Kingdom of Sidiao is an island in the sea, about three thousand li southeast of the Kingdom of Geying. The island has a king and inhabitants who devote themselves to following the Great Dao, as understood in Daoism. They speak much like the people of China, and their customs are similar as well. They have built walled cities, markets, streets, and lanes. The land is fertile and beautiful, the population is large, and the region produces many rare treasures, including gold, silver, white pearls, tortoiseshell, glass, crystal, and horses.

There is also a kind of fire pearl there, about the size of a goose egg or a duck egg. It looks like ice, and when held in the hand, one can see the palm through it, as though moonlight were shining on the hand. It looks the same at night. In daylight, if the pearl is turned toward the sun with mugwort and a piece of cloth placed beneath it, before long light and fire shoot straight down from within the pearl, streaming continuously like water dripping from the eaves, and then a flame catches. This resembles making fire with a yangsui, an instrument that concentrates sunlight to kindle a flame. When the pearl is turned away from the sun, it can also produce water; for this reason it is called a luminous night pearl. According to legend, the pearls are alike in shape, but the essence and energy within them produce either water or fire, and so they have different names.

Looking southeast from Sidiao Island, one can often see firelight illuminating the sky at night, as if large-scale smelting were taking place. People say this is where Flame Island lies. There is a volcano there whose glow can be seen in both winter and summer.

The Kingdom of Yinzang lies some thirty or forty thousand li from Sitiao, and few people can reach it. Over the decades, people from Yanzhou have sometimes come by boat; Yanzhou is said to lie somewhere in that region. There are volcanoes there, and flames can be seen in every season.

The Kingdom of Yinzang lies some thirty or forty thousand li from Sitiao, and few people are able to reach it. Over the decades, people from Yanzhou have occasionally traveled by boat to Sitiao. The “hundred fire pearls” bought by the people of Sitiao are said to have been brought from this kingdom. The land also has hills and irrigated fields, and produces fish, meat, fruit, and crops. Among the plants grown there are ji, liang, beans, and taro. A local tree called machu is like a pine. Its bark and leaves are boiled, and the liquid is extracted and made into food. After being fried, it tastes sweet and fragrant, like maltose. Eating it also nourishes Qi (vital energy), and it can serve as an everyday food.

The kingdom of Da Qin lies west of Gunu-siao, more than forty thousand li away. Its territory stretches for thirty thousand li, making it an immense country. Its people are tall and striking in appearance. So many wear horned headscarves that they crowd the roads, and their customs resemble those of the people of Chang’an. Da Qin is said to be a place where the Great Dao is taught. Its people discuss the subtle principles of emptiness and stillness, and their words and reasoning are so distinctive that they are nothing like the fanciful tales people in the Central Plains make up offhand. There are many Daoists there, living within sight of one another and preserving the ways of antiquity. They keep no slaves or servants. Even the heavenly king and queen personally plow the ceremonial fields used for sacrifices, gather mulberry leaves, raise silkworms, and weave cloth. They govern the people through the Dao, while the people take benevolence and righteousness as their standards; they do not punish people with penalties or executions. The people are gentle and harmonious, and most live long lives. The local waters and soil are cool, and the climate is neither cold nor hot. Scholars and commoners yield to one another, and there are no wicked people in the country. This is a place steeped in the influence of the Dao, a profound realm where noble people cultivate the Way. Its teachings make clear the consequences of wrongdoing and good conduct, and all things follow them. These teachings began in Da Qin; its people honor the Great Dao, and its renown has spread in every direction. This is much like the Old Lord entering the Flowing Sands and transforming the people beyond the frontier.

Traveling by sea into the great river and sailing more than seven thousand li leads to Da Qin. It abounds in the world’s treasures: every household uses coral for window frames, builds walls with glass, and lays crystal on its steps. Long ago, some people from China went to Funan and then sailed out to sea, intending to reach the kingdom of Gunu. But the winds shifted and they could not get there, so they changed course. They sailed day and night for sixty days before reaching shore, without knowing where they had arrived. After landing and asking around, they learned that this was the kingdom of Da Qin. The merchants had never planned to go there. Terrified that they would be detained or harmed, they falsely claimed to be envoys sent by the king of the south and went to pay their respects to the king of Da Qin.

The king of Da Qin was astonished to see them. “You have come from an extremely distant shore across the sea, and yet people can still reach this place. What country are you from? Why do you call yourselves envoys from Funan?”

The envoys replied, “We are sent by the king of Funan, whose lands lie on the shore of the northern sea. We were ordered to come to your court and pay you the respect owed by subjects. We have also heard that your country possesses rare and wonderful treasures, and ask that you grant us some to add luster to our humble country.”

The king of Da Qin said, “Are you people from a remote region on the borders of the Zhou kingdom? You have braved the great sea and traveled two hundred thousand li to pay court. You have truly endured hardship. When I first saw you arrive, I thought you had come to observe our teachings, assess the quality of our customs, and learn about our people. I did not expect that you had come out of greed for rare goods, opening the door to rivalry and competition. Gathering treasures only dazzles the eyes and harms the mind. It encourages deceit and theft and makes people toil even harder. How can you risk your lives for this and put yourselves in danger on the open sea? If the Zhou kingdom conducts its affairs by making the pursuit of precious objects its sole goal, is that not both base and impoverished? From afar, I see the teachings of the Zhou kingdom; signs of disorder have already appeared between Heaven and Earth, and corrupt government has spread in every direction.”

Even so, the king of Da Qin had the envoys take treasures back with them. He bestowed purple gold, luminous jewels, pearls of five colors, coral spirit-jade discs, white jade and unworked jade, intertwined spirit-jade, jade tigers, diamonds, and other rare objects, and told the envoys to set off at once. He warned them, “Our country has always valued virtue and looked lightly on these possessions. We prize benevolence and righteousness and despise greed and theft. We cherish the upright and worthy and reject lewdness and dissipation. We honor the immortals in pursuit of spiritual harmony, and revere clarity, stillness, and emptiness to nurture the forces of the four seasons. To us, these motley-colored treasures are like tiny insects in the eyes of a flying swan. If you bring such goods here again, you will disrupt our country’s simple customs, confuse the people’s senses, and cause strife to arise in the work of governing, ruining our good ways. I will instruct the officials guarding the passes to let you in no more.” He spoke these words gravely as a warning, and the envoys departed in silence.

It took the envoys four years to return to Funan. First they presented the king of Funan with the thousand bolts of colorful silk that were all they had left aboard their ship. The king laughed and said, “How can these foreign silks be so coarse? Coarse goods affect the people who use them; this proves it. These are not things our country uses.” He returned the silk and refused to accept it. He then showed the envoys exquisite jade and silk: patterned brocades in eight colors; blue-green silk whose shifting hues resembled flying clouds; silk woven with jade threads; and blue silk patterned with golden peacock eyes. They were white as snow, red as sunset clouds, greener than the feathers of a kingfisher, and black as a flying crow. Their brilliance dazzled the eye, with five colors interwoven. The cloth was four feet wide, and every part of it was exquisite. Seeing how crude the northern fabrics he had brought were by comparison, the envoy found them ridiculous.

The king of Funan declared that Da Qin had everything, and that Chinese goods could never match its own. Even the incense they burned was made from frankincense wood, a fragrant resinous substance; its scent was so rich that no foul odor could be found anywhere in the country. It was indeed a powerful and prosperous state. When the envoy returned, he recounted the whole story. From then on, no one dared go to Da Qin again. The tale passed from one merchant caravan to another, and all travel between the countries came to a complete end.

Ge Hong judged that only someone who personally practiced benevolence and righteousness, maintained a dispassionate way of life, immersed himself in the Way of emptiness and stillness, and had no desires in his heart could travel to Da Qin and win its people’s regard. Otherwise, it made no sense to seek wealth through trade. The people of Da Qin were tall and imposing; some stood more than ten feet high. Their bearing was solemn and orderly, and their conduct conformed to proper ritual. In stillness they were calm and clear; in speech they displayed a lofty spirit; and in social dealings they showed distinction. By contrast, the merchants spoke in a common, limited way and knew nothing of the path of responsible action and advancement. They only coveted wealth, so the king of Da Qin looked down on them all the more. He thought that the people of Da Qin were like these merchants.

Long ago, when the Zhou dynasty was in decline, the Old Lord prepared to go to Da Qin to teach its people. That is why he called the envoys from Funan people of Zhou. At that time the Zhou dynasty’s fame had spread across the four seas, and lands such as Funan came to pay tribute. The people of Yuèshang had once presented a white pheasant and ivory to the king of Zhou. Today, foreign peoples in every direction call the Chinese either Han or Jin. Da Qin is far from China, and the two have had little contact. Perhaps the Old Lord had served as an archivist in the Zhou court before entering Da Qin, and mentioned that he came from the Zhou kingdom. The people of Da Qin then began calling the Chinese people of Zhou, unaware that the Zhou dynasty had already passed into history many ages ago.

The kingdom of Gunusitiao lies about ten thousand li from Geying. Its land and people are far removed from China, and the two have little contact. According to legend, Laozi once served as an archivist in the Zhou dynasty and later entered Da Qin. For this reason, local people call him “the man from Zhou,” though they do not know that by then more than a hundred generations had passed since the Zhou dynasty.

Gunusitiao has more than ten thousand households. Most of its residents are fair-skinned and tall. People ride in four-wheeled carts drawn by two or four horses, and many roads converge there. More than a hundred ships are often moored in its harbors, while its markets draw over ten thousand people, trading day and night. As ships sail, people shout, beat drums, and blow horns. The residents’ clothing resembles that of the Chinese. Gold and jade are as plentiful there as tiles and stones, and the kingdom also reveres the Great Dao, the fundamental Way in Daoist teaching.

The kingdom of Chalao lies between Anxi and Da Qin. It is a large country, more than five thousand li from Tianzhu, the ancient name for the region of India. Its people are brave and strong, and all of them claim descent from the royal house. The country has no permanent king: the people choose an elder of virtue and standing to rule, replacing him every three years, and everyone in the kingdom honors him. Its products are like those of Tianzhu, and it is especially rich in all kinds of rare treasures, too numerous to list. The people of Chalao love their homeland and do not travel far from birth; they live in peace. The kingdom imposes no punishments and kills no one. Its people devote themselves to practicing benevolence and righteousness and accumulating good fortune and virtue, and society is deeply harmonious.

The kingdom of Yebo lies three thousand li from Tianzhu. Its land and products are the same as those of Tianzhu.

The people of Lubin are attached to their homeland and do not travel far from birth; they live in peace. The kingdom imposes no punishments and kills no one. Its people devote themselves to practicing benevolence and righteousness and accumulating good fortune and virtue, and society is deeply harmonious.

The kingdom of Yebo lies three thousand li from Tianzhu. Its land and products are the same as those of Tianzhu.

The Kingdom of Lubin lies northwest of the Yuezhi and is a large country. Its terrain is flat and open, and its people are mild in temperament. Alfalfa and many rare trees grow there, along with sandalwood, catalpa, bamboo, lacquer trees, and tulips. The people cultivate the Five Grains, grapes, and many kinds of fruit trees. Since many of their gardens lie in low, damp ground, they often grow rice. They are skilled craftspeople, able to carve decorative patterns and weave and embroider cloth. They enjoy drinking wine and eating meat. Monkeys, peacocks, pearls, amber, glass, and crystal are found there, and its livestock are the same kinds as those in China.

Alfalfa is regarded as a remarkable and precious plant. It is said that its roots resemble taro. If someone is blind in both eyes and the eyeballs are completely destroyed, they need only pound the roots, drink the juice, and boil the stems and leaves into a medicinal liquid to apply to the empty, damaged sockets. After about seven or eight days, new eyeballs will grow, and the illness will be cured.

An old story is also told about a man with an eye disease who was suddenly summoned by the king and had to go at once, with no time to take medicine. A divine adept told him to borrow one of his wife’s eyes, and he followed this advice. Before removing the eye with a knife, the adept gave his wife alfalfa root juice to drink and washed her eye with the medicinal liquid, so the removal caused no pain. After borrowing the eye for one night, he returned it to her. He placed it in the sick man’s socket and treated it with the same medicinal liquid. At once, the eye joined with the man’s body and enabled him to see everything. When the eye was to be returned, the adept used the same medicine, and the wife’s eye was restored as before. This plant was a numinous herb bestowed by Heaven, whose wonders are beyond description. Legend says its name, “alfalfa,” is connected with the story of the eye borrowed for a night.

When I was young, I heard this story and thought it absurd and unbelievable. Later, when I went to Nan Hui, I asked local people about it. The knowledgeable among them said that alfalfa grew on another mountain in the Kingdom of Lubin. It appeared only once in more than a hundred years, and its flowers resembled the calamus flowers of China. It was rarely seen, and only those who had advanced far in their cultivation might encounter it. The mountain is now called Alfalfa Mountain. Many clear, green springs flow there. Whenever people in the Kingdom of Lubin, young or old, suffer from eye diseases, they are often carried up the mountain and bathed and washed with the spring water; no one fails to recover. If the spring water alone can cure eye diseases, how much more could a numinous herb that blooms once in a hundred years cure damaged eye sockets? Since this account has been passed down since ancient times and is confirmed by the experiences of mountain residents, the mountain must indeed conceal something wondrous.

A foreigner named Shi Yanzhang, who lived for a long time in Funan and often traveled abroad, said that he had visited Alfalfa Mountain and found it not particularly high. No other trees grew there, only one strange kind of tree shaped like a paper mulberry. If it was cut down and split open after more than ten years, the wood could be made into tables, chairs, chariot seats, and house fittings. Even the leftover scraps, when buried in the earth, would grow again just like planted willow branches. For this reason it was called “the many strange trees.” It was said that this tree could grow only when buried in the soil at the foot of Alfalfa Mountain; elsewhere, it would not take root.

Hong’s research concluded that this mountain must be a place of longevity. Why? The medicinal herbs there, when applied to damaged eyes, restore sight and vision; and trees that have been cut down can grow again even after a hundred years. Perhaps the spirits within the mountain stones can replenish and restore people’s Jing (essence) and vital energy. The spring water nourishes all things and can also bring withered trees back to life. If one could settle there and nurture the body, attuning oneself to the mountain’s Qi (vital energy), one might endure without decline for a long time. It is simply unclear why that country has not yet understood this.

Yuezhi, an ancient kingdom of the Western Regions, lies north of Tianzhu, the ancient name for the region around India. There is a wondrous spring there, said to preserve a person’s Jing and Qi. Its waters nourish all things and can even make a withered tree sprout again. If people could live there, tend to their health, and follow the mountain air, they might enjoy lasting peace and stability. Have the people there still not understood this?

Yuezhi lies about seven thousand li north of Tianzhu. Its swift horses and precious goods are on a par with those of Tianzhu. The land is high and the climate cold. People travel in four-wheeled carriages, drawn by four or five animals, sometimes six or seven. There are both small and large carriages; the large ones can hold twenty people. The country has a king, known as the “Son of Heaven,” and a populous capital, often with several hundred thousand residents. Its cities, palaces, and houses resemble those of Daqin, the ancient Chinese name for the Roman Empire and other great powers in the West. The people look like the Hu peoples, but are exceptionally fair-skinned. They dress well and observe proper manners; fathers are loving, sons filial, and their conduct is modest and respectful. They do not sit cross-legged or squat, and in these respects they even surpass Tianzhu. Some also believe in the Great Dao, the Way of Daoist teaching.

The central region of Yuezhi extends roughly twenty thousand li in each direction. The weather is cold, with heavy frost and snow; ginger will not grow there, so they rely on supplies from Tianzhu. They have no silkworms or mulberry trees. The people weave animal hair into gauze and cloth. The hair of dogs and sheep can grow two or three chi long, and both men and women join the strands together for use.

Anxi, an ancient state in West Asia usually identified with Parthia, lies eight thousand li west of Yuezhi. Its land and customs are the same as Yuezhi’s. Its people and horses are sturdy and courageous, and its territory extends roughly five thousand li in each direction. Gold and jade are as plentiful as stones, and people use them as currency. When the king dies, new coins are minted. The region has dogs, horses, and great birds. Beside Anxi there is also a stretch of land governed by more than a hundred kings, each living independently and none subject to Yuezhi.

Youqian, an ancient place whose exact location is difficult to establish, lies seven thousand li southeast of Tianzhu. Its land, people, and everyday customs are like those of Tianzhu, while it produces even more rare curiosities and unusual fine jade than Yuezhi. From this we can see that heaven and earth are vast and cannot be measured by imagination. These countries, though far away, may yet be recorded in the future; people simply do not know where their borders lie. Daqin and Yuezhi are said to have sought to connect with Kunlun, the legendary western mountains or region, and lie southwest of the sea route along the coast of Rinan, an ancient commandery. They are the greatest countries people have heard of and seen.

Each kind of incense has its own place of origin. Mu Xiang and Chen Xiang are produced in Rinan; Du Liang and Qing Ling in Dianxun; Ji She and Fen Luo grow in Dubo; You Jian and Ru Lai are produced in Wulun. Qing Mu comes from Tianzhu, Yu Jin from Zhou Bin, Su He from Anxi, and Xun Lu from Daqin. These incenses all come from plants and trees, each prized for its own qualities: some are flowers, some resins, some heartwood, and some branches.

Jia Xiang belongs to the family of snails and shellfish and is found in the waters around Geying and Gouzhi. Wei Luo comes from Yuezhi, sulfur from Dukun, Bai Fu from Shihan, Guang Bi from Jiachen, orchids and mugwort from Sidao, and You Mu from Youqian. Each of the other incenses has its own distinctive fragrance, but none surpasses Zhen Tan.

Scripture of the Divine Elixir of Golden Liquids of the Great Clarity, lower scroll.