《感气十六转金丹》

Take sixteen liang of "Mu" (Mother), a principal ingredient used in alchemical refining, and cut it into sixteen pieces. Hammer them according to the prescribed method until they are solid and their surfaces have no sharp edges.

Take mulberry wood, in any quantity, and dry it in the sun first, then burn it to make about one dou of ash. Place the ash in an ash-sieve basket and leach it with water at a full rolling boil. Collect about one dou of the ash lye and store it in a clean container.

Take Gusuibu (also called Tuhoujiang), remove the leaves and outer skin, and wash it clean. Then take Qiannianrun (also called Diwugong), wash off the soil, remove the watery veins from the roots, and weigh the leaves and roots together.

Take two jin of each of these two herbs and pound them to a pulp in a stone mortar. Wring out the juice through new cloth, then dry the dregs in the sun and pound them again. Repeat this pounding eight or nine times until about one dou of juice has been obtained. If the juice falls short of one dou, knead the materials with the mulberry-ash lye prepared earlier and continue pounding to extract more. Finally, store the herbal juice in a clean container.

Take a sand pot (shaotiao, a ceramic vessel for decocting) with a capacity of about three sheng and set it on an iron tripod. Pour the ash lye and the medicinal liquid into the pot, filling it only six or seven tenths full. Place the previously prepared "mother" (the base material used in the refining) in a small bamboo container and suspend it inside the pot. Heat it over charcoal so that the liquid boils continuously, but do not let it boil over. Frequently drench the contents with the ash-and-medicine liquid and simmer them in it. Repeat this simmering for one fushi (a period prescribed in the refining process).

If the ash-and-medicine liquid runs short, boil the earlier ash in hot water, strain off the liquid, combine it with the dregs, and decoct again to replenish the liquid. Then simmer for another fushi.

When the simmering is finished, take out the small bamboo container and the "mother." Wipe each piece with a clean cloth to remove moisture and residue, let it dry, and then place it in a sand casing (shahezi, a sealed ceramic vessel). Use a top-grade large casing from Xinzhou. Arrange the sixteen pieces of "mother" that were simmered earlier on the bottom of the casing, and cover it. Seal the joint with clamshell powder (a powder made from burned shells) mixed with vinegar. If there is no clamshell powder, red halloysite (chishizhi, a mineral pigment) is even better.

First "nourish it empty" for one fushi, adding four liang of fire each at the Mao hour (5-7 a.m.) and the You hour (5-7 p.m.). On the second day, open the casing, pour four liang of mercury over the "mother," and seal it again as described above. Below, use a water cauldron, and seat the casing on top of it. Its form is as follows.

Form of the Furnace

The furnace is made of earth, though it may also be fired from clay tile. The body stands two chi two cun high and one chi two cun in diameter. Make two openings at the top, each the size of a "zheer" coin (a two-cash coin), and three openings at the bottom, each the size of a small copper coin.

Form of the Water Cauldron

The water cauldron is made of porcelain and holds about three sheng. Its mouth should be as wide as the bottom of the sand casing. When using it, add boiling water to the cauldron, filling it six or seven tenths full.

General Principles for Nourishing the Fire

The ash used in the furnace is the ash of burned paper money.

Note: The characters "小竹D儿" in the original and "D儿" later in the text appear to be corrupted, so the name of the utensil cannot be determined from them. The original also contains one repeated passage, which has been merged here according to the sense of the text.

After completing the preparation as described above, nurture the fire phases (huohou) according to the prescribed method. Use a total of four liang of charcoal fire. Place the three hezi (vessels used to hold the materials and to seal them for refining) together on top of the furnace, and once they have burned bright red and the fire does not go out, cover them with ash. Replenish and change the fire once at the mao hour and once at the you hour. After seven days of nurturing and refining, remove the fire and wait for the furnace to cool. Take out the hezi and open them to inspect: the mercury inside has congealed into a fish-fin shape, frost-like in color, totaling four liang.

Add another four liang of mercury, seal it firmly as before, place it in the furnace, and add water, sealing the mouth of the water tripod (shuiding, a vessel that holds water and is used for indirect heating). Replenish and change the fire at the mao and you hours, using four liang of fire each time, and nurture for seven days. Remove the fire, wait for the furnace to cool, then open and inspect: the mercury has dried and congealed into a shape like the teeth of a jade hound, totaling eight liang.

Add another four liang of mercury and proceed as before, refining for seven days. When the fire phases are complete, open and inspect: the mercury has dried and congealed like horse teeth, totaling twelve liang.

Add another four liang of mercury and proceed as before, refining for seven days. When the fire phases are complete, open and inspect: the mercury has dried and congealed like a forest of jade trees, totaling sixteen liang.

Add another four liang of mercury and proceed as before, refining for seven days. When the fire phases are complete, open and inspect: the mercury has dried and congealed into "Yellow Sprout" (huangya), totaling twenty liang.

Next, set a tripod filled with water on top of the hezi, seal it firmly as before, and nurture it "empty" (without adding new material) for seven days according to the prescribed fire phases. Take out the hezi and open it, then pick out the Yellow Sprout, and the Great Elixir (dadan) is complete. If you wish to keep some as a kui (a vessel for storing the elixir), then retain it; if you do not intend to keep it as a kui, then smelt and refine it as before. Do not increase or decrease the weight.

IX. The Method of Roasting the Sprout

Take two qian each of four ingredients: saltpeter, flame nitre, alum, and table salt, and grind them into a fine powder. Take a clay pot (shaotiao, a small pot made of clay), first place the Yellow Sprout in the pot, then cover the Yellow Sprout with the four powdered ingredients described above, and set the clay pot on its stand. Then beneath the pot...

First, take four ingredients—saltpeter (xiaoshi), flame nitre (yanxiao), alum (baifan), and table salt—two qian of each, and grind them into a fine powder. Place the "Yellow Sprout" (Huangya, an alchemical term for a medicinal material in the midst of refining) in a clay pot, then spread the four powders over it. Set the pot on the furnace and parch it over a gentle fire. If the mixture boils and surges upward, sprinkle it with soap-pod water (from zaojiao) to keep the liquid from overflowing. Once the liquid has stopped surging, cover the pot with a Jian cup (a tea bowl fired at the Jian kilns) and seal the gaps around the rim with damp paper. When no more sound comes from within the pot, remove the cup and pour off the liquid left by the four ingredients. Keep only the Yellow Sprout; after the bathing treatment, it will turn into a red powder.

10. The Bathing Method

The formula says: "Purple robe and golden belt, the color bright and clear; seal the mouth tightly, and never let it leak out carelessly. Use Du, Fang, and other herbs to assist, and boil them in water together with the cinnabar."

"Purple robe and golden belt" here describes the color of the material. The recipe mentions Sichuan aconite (chuanwu); if there is no "Treasure of the World" (shibao), use it. In addition, take bai ji (bletilla), bai lian (ampelopsis), du zhong (eucommia bark), fang ji (stephania root), chuan jiao (Sichuan pepper), and the "closed-mouth one" (hekou zhe, as in the original; the herb intended is unclear), together with the Sichuan aconite, for seven ingredients in all, two qian of each.

Cut the seven ingredients into pieces about the size of hemp seeds or beans. Put flowing water (long-running living water) into a clay pot. Wrap the Yellow Sprout in new cloth and suspend it in the liquid so that it does not sink to the bottom directly; the pot must be set on an iron tripod. Boil for about one shichen (a two-hour period), adding water continually as it runs low. When the fire has been applied for long enough, take out the Yellow Sprout, remove the cloth wrapping, and dry it over a low fire; it will then turn into the red-powder Great Elixir (dadan).

If one wishes to refine it into the "Treasure of the World," continue working on the Yellow Sprout. At this stage, one must be cautious, and the prohibitions are extremely strict.

11. The Method of Transforming into Red Powder

Grind the Yellow Sprout (huangya) prepared earlier into a fine powder and place it in a sand sealing vessel (shahe, a sealed container used for refining). As before, mix vinegar with oyster-shell powder and seal the seam of the vessel's mouth. Set the sealed vessel on an iron tripod and place it in the furnace for nurturing and refining. At this stage the water cauldron (shuiding, a water-bath heating apparatus) is no longer used. Apply the Mao-You fire (maoyou huo, a fire regimen changed at the Mao and You hours respectively), four taels each time, and nurture the contents for one hundred and twenty days.

Remove the fire, take out the vessel, and open it. The contents will have all turned into red powder. Grind the red powder into a fine dust. Take a clean basin, fill it with water to about eight or nine tenths of its capacity, and pour the red powder onto the surface. The light, clear portion that floats on the water should be scooped up with paper and dried in the sun; this is called Red Powder. Set it aside, to be transformed in the next stage into the Great Elixir of Bright Window Dust. The portion that sinks to the bottom is white sand, which, once refined, can become silver. Keep this silver, to be used later for fashioning Chaos (hundun).

The Twelfth Transformation: Method of Bright Window Dust

Place the Red Powder scooped from the water's surface into the sand sealing vessel, press it down firmly, and seal it. Mix vinegar with oyster-shell powder and seal the seam of the vessel's mouth. Set the vessel on an iron tripod and apply mature fire (shuhuo, a fire that has been brought to full strength and is steady), four taels each time, alternating it at the Mao and You hours. Nurture the contents for one hundred and twenty days, and the Bright Window Dust is produced.

When the fire regimen and the number of days are complete, remove the fire and take the vessel out of the furnace, then open it and inspect the contents. The red powder inside will be light and fine, like bright window dust. "Bright window dust" refers to the fine particles drifting in the crack of a window, a phrase describing something extremely minute. When cinnabar is nurtured with Bright Window Dust, it can be transformed into the Great Elixir.

The Thirteenth Transformation: Method of the Great Elixir

To nurture the Great Elixir, one should choose a secluded place where neither the sound of chickens and dogs can be heard nor any woman seen. The original text then repeats two statements, that the dust flying in a window crack is extremely minute, and that cinnabar nurtured with Bright Window Dust is transformed into the Great Elixir, and it also repeats the heading "The Thirteenth Transformation: Method of the Great Elixir." The scripture here seems to contain a duplication or an omission.

To cultivate the Great Elixir (Dadan; the elixir referred to in Daoist alchemy), one should choose a secluded place where neither the crowing of roosters nor the barking of dogs can be heard, and where no women can be seen. Only then may the work begin. First, spread half of the "bright window dust" (a material named in the original text and used in alchemy) inside the sealed vessel of the furnace. Place ten lumps of cinnabar in it, six liang in total. If the lumps are too large, they will be difficult to bury in the dust. Then cover the cinnabar with the other half of the bright window dust and close the vessel. Mix red halloysite (a mineral used to seal the seams of an alchemical furnace) with vinegar, and use it to coat and seal the joint. Set the vessel on the iron tripod inside the furnace, and add four liang of charcoal at the hours of Mao and You (dawn and dusk). Continue the cultivation for three hundred days, and the Great Elixir is said to be complete.

Take out the vessel and open it. Collect the bright window dust in a clean container, then remove the cinnabar, which is called the "Turning Purple River Chariot" (an alchemical term).

Of the six liang of cinnabar refined, four liang are set aside for further transformation into the Great Elixir, and the remaining two liang are ground and used in portions. The scripture (Jing) says that if a person has died within the last seven days, and the soul has not yet dispersed and the chest is still faintly warm, half a qian of this cinnabar can be poured into the mouth with well-flower water (water drawn from the well at first light), and the person will revive at once. If the soul has already dispersed, then once the cinnabar enters the mouth, the corpse will not decay for a thousand years.

To take it, grind the cinnabar into a fine powder and mix it with paper mulberry sap (the sap of the paper mulberry tree) to form pills the size of a parasol tree seed. Face north and swallow one pill with well-flower water. The scripture says that afterward no illness will afflict the body. With long use, the five viscera and six bowels will all turn golden, life will be prolonged, and there will be no danger or crisis ever again. The scripture adds that this cinnabar can rescue people in emergencies and support them in peril.

Half a qianchi of this cinnabar is said to be able to turn one jin of mercury into silver. It must not be used rashly, and great care is essential.

The Method of the Fourteen-Fold Turning Purple River Chariot

Grind four liang of cinnabar finely, add four liang of realgar and two liang of raw mercury, and grind them together until they are as fine as peach-blossom powder. Place the mixture in a sand vessel (a container for holding alchemical materials) and seal the seams with red halloysite mixed with vinegar. Set the sand vessel on the iron tripod in the furnace, and add four liang of charcoal at each of the hours of Mao and You. Continue the cultivation for a full sixty days. Take it out and open it, and the substance is then called the "Purple River Chariot." A quantity of about one ear-scoop is said to dry up one liang of mercury and turn it yellow.

Fifteenth Transformation: The Method of Yellow Carriage (Huangyu)

Wash and rinse the red powder obtained earlier, and extract the "white sprouts." Then take half a jin of silver and forge it into "Purple River Chariot" (Ziheche), which is an alchemical term for a certain medicinal substance or refined product. Take about one ear-scoop of it (a small spoonful measured with an ear pick), and it can cause one liang of mercury to solidify and turn yellow.

Fifteenth Transformation: The Method of Yellow Carriage (Huangyu)

Wash and rinse the red powder obtained earlier, and extract the "white sprouts." Then take half a jin of silver and forge it into the "Chaos" (Hundun) vessel. The silver needed for this transformation is probably less than for the others; if the resulting substance is insufficient, add more.

The Chaos Crucible and the Large Sand Case

Take half of the "明剦m" and place it at the bottom of the Chaos vessel. Grind the Purple River Chariot again, and grind it fine together with four liang of orpiment. Place this in the vessel, then cover it with the other half of the "明剦m." Mix red halloysite with vinegar and use it to seal the seam of the Chaos vessel.

Next, enclose it in the large sand case. Spread White Tiger Stone (that is, chalk) as a bed and covering, and set the Chaos vessel in the center. Again mix red halloysite with vinegar and seal the seam of the sand case. Place the apparatus in the furnace, with the case set upon an iron tripod. Apply four liang of top fire at the hours of Mao and You, and nurture it in this way for forty-nine days.

Of the Yellow Carriage thus produced, take one ear-scoop and place it in a Jian ware cup holding one liang of mercury. Sprinkle the Yellow Carriage over the mercury and heat it gently over a slow fire until it solidifies, and it will become gold. Terms such as "nurturing" and "top fire" here all refer to ancient alchemical methods of regulating the fire.

Sixteenth Transformation: The Method of Purple Gold Powder

Use the Yellow Carriage to transmute mercury into sixteen liang of gold, and prepare another Chaos vessel. Take sixteen liang of Yellow Carriage, or ten liang, keeping the remainder to relieve the poor and rescue people from hardship. Grind the Yellow Carriage fine and place it in the Chaos vessel holding the gold. Mix red halloysite with vinegar and seal the seam of the vessel.

Using the sand case, first lay in half of the White Tiger Stone, set the Chaos vessel in the center, then fill the case with White Tiger Stone to cover it, and seal the seam of the case with red halloysite mixed with vinegar. Place it in the furnace and apply four liang of fire at the hours of Mao and You, nurturing it for forty-nine days. When the fire is complete, take out the Chaos vessel and open it. Inside, Purple Gold Powder will have formed. Used to transmute the five metals, this powder can turn all of them into purple gold. At this stage in particular, one must guard against rashness and careless use.

The Method of Transforming the Great Elixir

After the preparations above are complete, choose a famous mountain and a blessed site, a place able to store the wind and gather qi (vital energy). Within three hundred paces of it, avoid any ground where corpses are buried or where old yin energy lingers. Prepare an ancient sword and an ancient mirror, and build a three-tiered altar. The height, size, and other arrangements of the altar are explained later. This undertaking demands the greatest caution, and rashness must be avoided.

The Method of Transmuting the Great Elixir

Once the earlier preparations are complete, choose a famous mountain and a blessed site able to store the wind and gather qi, with no buried corpses or old yin energy within three hundred paces. Prepare an ancient sword and an ancient mirror, and build a three-tiered altar, three chi and six cun high, with a surface one zhang square, covered by a roof. Beneath the center of the altar, bury twenty-four liang of cinnabar (zhusha) to anchor it. The original text of the characters concerning "zha zhao xie bu" and the like is damaged and cannot be understood with certainty. It is followed by the phrase "within the cauldron, set up the spirit chamber," meaning that a chamber for the Shen (spirit) is to be placed inside the cauldron.

Beforehand, one must swear an oath to the Three Realms and Ten Directions (the Daoist term for all quarters of heaven and earth). One must also announce it to the true immortals who have attained the Dao (the Way) since ancient times, to the deities recorded in the local sacrificial registers, and to the mountain spirits and earth gods. On the day of refining, one must also find a way to keep malevolent ghosts from stealing the elixir's qi.

The Design of the Elixir Platform

Take the Golden Chaos (hundun) mentioned earlier and add sixteen liang of gold, for a total of thirty-two liang. Following the specifications given above, forge it thickly according to the method, using the larger pieces of material. Cast purple gold powder into the Chaos, seal it with red halloysite mixed with vinegar, and place it in a large sand casket. The sand casket must be fired separately. First line the casket with half of the White Tiger stone, then put in the Chaos, and cover it with the remaining White Tiger stone until full. After closing the casket, seal it as well with red halloysite mixed with vinegar.

Place the sand casket in the furnace, set on an iron tripod. At the hours of Mao and You, add four liang of fire each time, and nourish it for ten months. When the term is complete, open the furnace and take out the casket, then open the Chaos and examine it. The medicine is said to form five grades, depending on the practitioner's accomplishment. In another version of the method, the refining begins on the winter solstice and the casket is taken out on the winter solstice of the following year.

The first grade is called the Great Returned Elixir of Dragon and Tiger (Longhu Da Huan Dan). The elixir congeals at the very top of the Hundun (Primordial Chaos) and is the color of purple gold. A person who has Neidan (internal alchemy) and takes it will have their bones and flesh transformed and can ascend together with the elixir to become a celestial immortal. A person without Neidan who takes it becomes an earthly immortal.

The second grade is called the Divine Talisman White Snow Elixir (Shenfu Baixue Dan). The elixir congeals around the sides of the Hundun and is the color of fine jade. Its effect when taken is the same as that of the highest grade.

The third grade is called the Small Returned Elixir of Golden Liquid (Jinye Xiao Huan Dan). The elixir congeals around the sides of the Hundun and is the color of purple gold. A person with Neidan who takes it can be transformed, ascend, and become an immortal. A person without Neidan who takes it can attain long life and never die.

The fourth grade is called the Purple Wandering Elixir (Ziyou Dan). The elixir congeals around the sides of the elixir cauldron (dandǐng) and is purple. A person with Neidan who takes it can become an immortal. A person without Neidan who takes it can attain longevity.

The fifth grade is called the Purple Gold Elixir (Zijin Dan). The elixir congeals only at the bottom of the Hundun and is purple-gold in color. A person with Neidan who takes it can become an immortal. A person without Neidan who takes it can attain longevity.

When the cultivation is complete, observe which grade the cinnabar has congealed into. This depends on the practitioner's own merit and conduct. Take a suitable amount of the elixir and grind it fine, then mix it with the sap of the paper mulberry tree and form pills, each the size of a tung seed, making forty-nine pills in all. Even if the remaining elixir turns into broken tiles and rubble, it is all a treasure. Keep it to aid the world, relieve the poor, and help those who suffer. It must not be used to support one's family, nor used carelessly.

Here, "Neidan" refers to the inner alchemical attainment that the practitioner has gained through their own cultivation, while "Hundun" and "elixir cauldron" are terms describing where the elixir congeals. In the original text, the third grade is repeated after the second, and the fourth grade is abbreviated simply as "Purple." The above has been arranged according to the full grade names given later in the text.

The Supreme Deity has strict precepts, so one must be especially careful. Sew forty-nine of the refined elixir pills into a pouch of red silk, place it in the Golden Chaos mentioned earlier, and lower it into the elixir well. For the next forty-nine days, do not leave the well for even a moment, day or night, and guard it with complete focus and sincerity.

When the days are fulfilled, take out the red silk pouch and open it at the well. First remove twenty-five pills and cast them into famous mountains, great rivers, deep pools, and caves. This is an offering of thanks to the sages of the Three Realms and Ten Directions, to the true immortals who have attained the Dao (the Way) since ancient times, to the spirit officers and generals listed in your own Fulu (talismans and registers) rosters, and to the local gods, mountain spirits, and earth deities who receive sacrifices.

When this is done, face north at dawn and swallow one pill with water from the elixir well. After taking it, wait until your merit and practice are complete, then summon with the Black Jade Talisman, and you will ascend to heaven in broad daylight. You may also bring good fruits to your relatives. This elixir does not belong to the human world and should be kept in secret.

Here ends the Golden Elixir (Jindan) of Sixteen Transformations Responding to Qi.

Take the Mother, sixteen liang in weight, and cut it into sixteen pieces. Then hammer them according to the method until the material is dense and solid, with no sharp edges.

Use as many mulberry branches as needed. Dry them in the sun and burn them to make about one dou of ash. Put the ash into an ash sieve, pour boiling water over it, and collect about one dou of lye. Store it in a clean container.

Take drynaria (gusuibu), remove the leaves and outer skin, and wash it clean. It is also called "earth monkey ginger."

Take "Thousand-Year Moisture," also called "Earth Centipede." Wash off the soil and drain off the water, then extract about one dou of juice and store it in a clean container.

Take drynaria (gusuibu), remove the leaves and outer skin, and wash it clean. It is also called "earth monkey ginger."

Take "Thousand-Year Moisture," also called "Earth Centipede." Wash off the soil and drain off the water, then weigh it with its leaves and roots.

Weigh out two jin of each of the two herbs and put them into a stone mortar. Pound them to a pulp and wring out the juice through a new cloth. When the residue has dried, pound it again. After pounding eight or nine times in all, collect about one dou of juice. If the juice still falls short of one dou, knead the herbs with the mulberry-ash lye prepared earlier and pound them again. Finally, store the juice in a clean container.

Take an earthenware pot (shazhao, a ceramic decocting vessel) with a capacity of about three sheng. Set the pot on an iron tripod, pour the lye water and the herbal decoction into it, and fill it to six or seven tenths of its capacity. Place the "mother" mentioned earlier (the principal material used to refine the elixir) in a small bamboo tube and suspend it inside the pot. Boil it over charcoal fire so that the liquid keeps boiling without spilling over. The "mother" must be dipped, washed, and boiled again and again in the lye water and decoction, and this boiling and refining continues for one "futime" (fushi, the time unit used in the original). If the lye water and decoction run short, sift the ash mentioned earlier through a fine sieve, leach out the liquid with boiling water, mix it with the dregs of the herbs, and add it to the pot, then continue boiling and refining for another futime.

When the boiling is finished, take out the bamboo tube and the "mother," wipe each piece with a clean cloth to remove water and residue, and let them dry in the air before placing them in a sand vessel (shahezi, a sealed ceramic container). Use a large, high-quality vessel made in Xinzhou, and arrange the sixteen boiled pieces of "mother" in order along its bottom. Close the vessel and seal the joint with clam shell powder mixed with vinegar; if no clam shell powder is available, sealing with red halloysite (chishizhi) works even better. First nourish and refine the contents over a gentle fire for one futime, adding four liang of fire each at the mao hour and the you hour. On the next day, open the vessel, pour four liang of mercury (that is, quicksilver) over the "mother," and seal it tightly again by the same method. Then place the vessel on a water tripod and heat it. The apparatus is set up as follows.

Furnace Design

The furnace is made of earth, though it may also be fired from clay tile. The body stands two chi two cun high and one chi two cun in diameter. The top has two openings, each about the size of a "zheer" coin, and the bottom has three openings, each about the size of a small copper coin.

Water Tripod Design

The water tripod is made of porcelain and holds about three sheng. The mouth of the tripod must match the size of the bottom of the vessel. When in use, fill the tripod with boiling water to six or seven tenths of its capacity.

Ash for Nourishing the Fire

The ash used in the furnace is the ash of burned paper money.

The phrases "small bamboo D-er" and "piece by piece, with that which gushes out" in the original seem to be corrupted or to have dropped characters. Here, following the context, they are read as referring to holding the materials in a bamboo tube and taking them out piece by piece after boiling and refining. The sections on the "water tripod design" and "nourishing the fire" also appear twice in the second half of the original.

After completing the preparation by the prescribed method, nurture the fire (yanghuo) as described earlier. Use four liang of fire, and place three dunhe blocks on top of the vessel. Once the vessel glows red-hot and the fire does not go out, cover it with ash. Change the fire at the Mao and You hours (roughly dawn and dusk). After seven days of nurturing the fire, wait for the furnace to cool, then take out the vessel and open it. The mercury has congealed into a shape like fish fins, frost-colored, four liang in all.

Treat the mercury again by the earlier method, seal it, and place it in the furnace. As before, add water and seal the mouth of the water cauldron. Change the fire at the Mao and You hours, using four liang of fire each time, and nurture the fire for seven days. Remove the fire, wait for the furnace to cool, and open it. The mercury has dried and hardened into something like jade dog's teeth, eight liang in all.

Add four liang of mercury and nurture the fire for seven days by the earlier method. When the firing is complete, open the vessel. The mercury has dried and hardened into something like horse's teeth, twelve liang in all.

Add another four liang of mercury and nurture the fire for seven days by the earlier method. When the firing is complete, open the vessel. The mercury has dried and hardened into something like a grove of trees carved from fine jade, sixteen liang in all.

Add another four liang of mercury and nurture the fire for seven days by the earlier method. When the firing is complete, open the vessel. The mercury has dried and hardened into the "Yellow Sprout" (Huangya), twenty liang in all. "Yellow Sprout" is a term from alchemical literature, referring to a certain form of material that appears during the refining process.

Add water to the water cauldron again, place it on the lidded vessel, and seal it firmly by the earlier method. Nurture the fire empty for seven days according to the original firing schedule. Take out the vessel and open it, then remove the yellow mercury, which has dried and hardened into the Yellow Sprout, twenty liang in all.

Add water to the water cauldron once more, place it on the lidded vessel, and seal it firmly by the earlier method. Nurture the fire empty for seven days according to the original firing schedule. Take out the vessel and open it, then remove the Yellow Sprout. It has now been refined into the "Great Elixir" (Dadan). If you wish to keep it as a kui (a container for holding elixirs), keep it; if not, destroy it by the earlier method. Throughout the entire process, the original weight is not diminished.

IX. The Method of Roasting the Sprout

Grind four substances, saltpeter, flame nitre, alum, and table salt, into powder and set them aside. Take a clay pot (shaotiao, a small pot made of clay), put the Yellow Sprout in first, then cover it with the four powders, and set the pot on its stand. Heat it from below over a gentle fire, parching it under pressure. If the mixture boils and surges upward, sprinkle it with soapberry-pod water so that it does not overflow. When the mixture no longer surges, cover the pot with a Jian bowl (a kind of porcelain cup) and seal the gap around its rim with damp paper. When the sound inside the pot has stopped, lift off the bowl and the powder-liquid, and take only the Yellow Sprout. After "bathing" (muyu) treatment, the Yellow Sprout turns into a red powder.

X. The Method of Bathing

The medicine takes on a purple color, resembling a figure robed in purple and girded with a golden belt, bright and vivid. Once the ingredients have been compounded, one must guard the secret strictly and never transmit it carelessly. Auxiliary medicines such as Du Zhong (eucommia bark) and Fang Ji (fangji root) are also used, and the medicine is boiled in water together with mercury.

The "purple" mentioned here refers to Chuanwu (Sichuan aconite), which is combined with Bai Ji (bletilla), Bai Lian (ampelopsis), Du Zhong, Fang Ji, and Chuan Jiao (Sichuan pepper). Of these seven ingredients, take two qian of each.

Cut the ingredients to the size of hemp seeds or beans and boil them in running water. Wrap the "Yellow Sprout" (a term from alchemy, here meaning one of the raw materials used in the refining process) in new cloth and suspend it in the decoction. Set the pot on an iron tripod and boil it for one double-hour. If the water runs low, keep adding more. When the boiling is complete, take out the Yellow Sprout, remove the cloth wrapping, and dry it over gentle heat. It then becomes the Great Red Powder Elixir, ready for further refining.

If one wishes to produce the "Treasure of the World" (here meaning the finished product obtained through alchemy), the Yellow Sprout must be processed further. At this stage, the precepts and taboos must be observed with particular strictness.

Eleventh Turn: Refining the Red Powder

Grind the Yellow Sprout obtained earlier into a fine powder and place it in a sand casing (an alchemical vessel). As before, mix clam shell powder with vinegar and seal the joints of the vessel tightly. Set the sand casing on an iron tripod, place it in the furnace, and nurture it with heat. The water cauldron is no longer used in this step. Apply heat at the Mao (5-7 a.m.) and You (5-7 p.m.) hours, using four liang of fire each time, and nurture the compound for one hundred and twenty days.

After the fire is withdrawn, take out the sand casing and open it to inspect the contents. The medicine inside will have turned entirely into red powder. Grind the red powder into a fine dust, take a clean basin filled eight or nine tenths full of water, and pour the powder into it. The light and clear portion that floats on the surface should be lifted out with paper and dried in the sun. This is called "Red Powder" and is set aside to be refined into the "Bright Window Dust Elixir" in the next step. The portion that sinks to the bottom is called "White Sand." When burned and refined, it can become silver. This silver should be kept for later use in making the "Chaos" (Hundun) preparation.

Twelfth Turn: Refining the Bright Window Dust

The content of the twelfth turn, "Bright Window Dust," appears to continue from the preceding passage: the light, clear red powder floating on the water is lifted out with paper, dried in the sun, and kept as the material for refining the Bright Window Dust Elixir. The original text is repetitive and incomplete at this point.

Scoop out the red powder floating on the surface of the water, place it in a sand vessel (shahe, a container for holding elixir materials), press it down firmly, and seal it. Then mix clam shell powder with vinegar and smear it over the seams of the opening. Set the sand vessel on an iron tripod and use a gentle fire of four liang, alternating the stoking between the Mao hour and the You hour. Nurture and refine it for one hundred and twenty days, and "bright window dust" (ming chuang chen) will be produced. When the fire phasing and the number of days are sufficient, withdraw the fire, take out the vessel, and open it to look. The red powder inside will be light and fine, like the dust in a bright window. "Bright window dust" refers to the dust that drifts in the gaps of a window, and the name describes how extremely fine the powder is. If you use bright window dust to nurture and refine cinnabar, you can go on to complete the Great Elixir.

The Method of the Thirteen-Turn Great Elixir

To nurture and refine the Great Elixir, you must choose a secluded place where the sounds of chickens and dogs cannot be heard and no women can be seen. Only then may the work proceed. Place half of the bright window dust in the sand vessel, then add lumps of cinnabar, six liang in all, divided into ten pieces. If the cinnabar lumps are too large, they will be hard to nurture within the bright window dust. Then cover the cinnabar with the other half of the bright window dust and seal the vessel. Mix red halloysite (chishizhi) with vinegar and seal the seams of the opening firmly. Place the vessel on the iron tripod in the furnace, and add four liang of fire at each of the Mao and You hours. After three hundred days of nurturing and refining, the Great Elixir will be complete. Take out the vessel and open it, put the bright window dust into a clean container, and then take the cinnabar and use it for the further refining of the "Purple River Cart" (zi he che, a technical term in elixir methods).

Of the six liang of cinnabar used in total, four liang are set aside for refining the Great Elixir, and the remaining two liang are ground as needed. If someone has been dead for seven days, but the hun and po souls have not yet dispersed and a slight warmth remains in the chest, take half a qian of cinnabar and pour it into the mouth with well-flower water (the first water drawn from the well at dawn). It is said that the person will revive at once. If the souls have already dispersed, then once the cinnabar enters the mouth, the corpse is said to remain uncorrupted for a thousand years.

If this elixir is suitable for taking, grind the cinnabar into a fine powder and form it, with paper-mulberry sap (the sap of the chu tree), into pills the size of a parasol-tree seed. Facing north, swallow one pill with well-flower water. It is said that this keeps a person free of every illness. Taken over a long period, the internal organs are said to turn golden, life is prolonged, and one no longer meets with sudden peril. This cinnabar can relieve emergencies and aid those in danger. Half a qian of it is said to congeal one jin of mercury (that is, quicksilver) into silver. It must not be used rashly, and great caution is required.

Fourteenth Transformation: The Method of the Purple Chariot of the River

Grind four liang of cinnabar finely, add four liang of realgar and two liang of raw mercury, and grind them together into a fine powder, with a color and texture like peach-blossom powder. Place the powder in a sand vessel (a ceramic container) and seal the seams with red halloysite mixed with vinegar. Set the vessel in the furnace on an iron tripod, and nurture it with fire of four liang's strength at the mao hour and again at the you hour. After sixty full days, take it out and examine it. The text says that the substance will be refined into the "Purple Chariot of the River." Take about one ear-scoop of it; it is said to congeal one liang of mercury into silver, which turns yellow in color.

Fifteenth Transformation: The Method of the Yellow Carriage

Wash and strain the red powder produced in the previous step and take out the white sprout-like matter. Take half a jin of the silver obtained and forge it into a "Chaos" vessel (here the name of a vessel or material used in alchemy). If the quantity of silver is less than the other transformations require, more may be added.

Chaos Cauldron

Large Sand Vessel

The following passage appears to be corrupted or incomplete: "Take half of the 明剦m and place it at the bottom of the Chaos. Grind the Purple Chariot of the River further, add four liang of orpiment, grind them together finely, and place them in the 明剦m, then cover the top with more 明剦m." The general sense is this: put half of the "明剦m" at the bottom of the Chaos vessel; then grind the Purple Chariot of the River finely, add four liang of orpiment, grind them together, and place the mixture inside, covering the top with more "明剦m." Mix red halloysite with vinegar and seal the seam at the mouth of the Chaos vessel. The later phrase "外更合" ("outside, further join") is unfinished, and the original text breaks off here.

Safety note: The above reflects claims made in ancient alchemical literature. It is not a medical method to be followed. Cinnabar, realgar, orpiment, and mercury all contain toxic components, and ingesting or heating them can cause serious harm.

First, divide the bright lead (mingqian) into two halves. Place one half at the bottom of the "Chaos" (Hundun) vessel. Next, grind the Purple River Cart (ziheche, a raw material used in alchemy) even more finely, and grind it together with four taels of realgar (cihuang, an arsenic-bearing mineral). Pour this mixture over the bright lead, then cover it with the other half of the lead. Mix red halloysite (chishizhi, a clay mineral) with vinegar and seal the mouth of the Chaos vessel tightly. Then encase it in a large sand casing (shahe, a ceramic container used for firing), lay White Tiger stone (baihu shi, that is, chalk) around it as a covering, and set the Chaos vessel in the center. Again mix red halloysite with vinegar and seal the mouth of the sand casing tightly.

Place the apparatus in the furnace, set on an iron tripod. At the mao hour (5-7 a.m.) and the you hour (5-7 p.m.), nourish it with four taels of fire each time, for a total of forty-nine days. Take a small amount of this "Yellow Earth" (huangyu, the substance produced in this section), place it in a Jian ware cup, and add one tael of mercury. Then sprinkle more Yellow Earth over the mercury and set it over a gentle fire until it dries. It is said that this will yield gold.

The Method of the Sixteen-Turn Purple Gold Powder

First, use the Yellow Earth to transmute mercury, obtaining sixteen taels of gold, and then fashion a new Chaos vessel. Take sixteen taels of Yellow Earth (ten may also be used); set the rest aside for relieving the poor and aiding those in hardship. Grind the Yellow Earth finely and place it in the Chaos vessel containing the gold, sealing the mouth tightly with red halloysite mixed with vinegar. Put it into the sand casing, first laying down half of the White Tiger stone, then set the Chaos vessel in the center, filling and covering it with White Tiger stone. Seal the mouth of the sand casing again with red halloysite mixed with vinegar.

Place the apparatus in the furnace and, at the mao and you hours, nourish it with four taels of fire each time for forty-nine days. When the fire phase is complete, remove the Chaos vessel and open it to inspect the contents, which will have become Purple Gold Powder. It is said that when this powder is used to transmute the five metals, all of them become purple gold. At this stage, one must be especially careful to avoid rash action and casual use.

The Method of the Great Elixir Turning

Note: The original text provides no specific content after "The Method of the Great Elixir Turning."

Once the earlier preparations are complete, choose a famous mountain or blessed land, a place sheltered from the wind where qi (vital energy) gathers. It must be surrounded by open ground extending three hundred paces, and it must contain no burial sites or places where stale Yin energy has accumulated.

Prepare an ancient sword and an ancient mirror. Build a three-tiered ritual altar three chi and six cun high, with a platform one zhang square, and cover it with a roof. Bury twenty-four liang of cinnabar at the center beneath the altar to anchor it. On the altar, set out the implements and place the spirit chamber (Shenshi) inside the cauldron. At this point the original text contains the garbled characters "眨罩邪捕Γ", and what they refer to cannot be determined.

Before refining the elixir, one must first make a formal pledge to the Three Realms and Ten Directions (the layers of heaven and earth and the worlds of every direction in Daoist cosmology), to the true immortals who have attained the Dao (the Way) since antiquity, to the deities listed in the local sacrificial registers, and to the mountain spirits and earth gods. When the day for pounding the elixir ingredients arrives, guard against malevolent Yin spirits stealing the breath of the elixir.

The Method of the Elixir Platform

Take the metal Chaos Cauldron (Hundun Ding) used earlier and add sixteen more liang of gold, for a total of thirty-two liang. The cauldron's size remains as described before: it must be large enough and made thick and sturdy according to the prescribed method. Place the purple gold powder into the Chaos Cauldron and seal it with red halloysite mixed with vinegar. Then set it inside a large sand casing. The casing must be fired separately. First lay White Tiger stone over half the base of the casing, then set the Chaos Cauldron in place, and cover it with White Tiger stone until the casing is full. Once the casing is closed, seal it as well with red halloysite mixed with vinegar.

Place the sand casing in the furnace, set on an iron tripod, and add four liang of fire at the hours of Mao and You each day, nurturing it gently for ten months. When the time is complete, open the furnace and take out the casing, then open the Chaos Cauldron and examine it. The medicine will have formed into one of five grades, and which grade it becomes depends on the merit and practice of the cultivator. There is also another method, in which the refining begins on the winter solstice and the elixir is taken out on the winter solstice of the following year.

The first grade is called the "Great Returned Elixir of Dragon and Tiger." It forms at the top of the Chaos Cauldron and is purple-gold in color. A person who has cultivated Neidan (internal alchemy) and takes it will have their flesh and bones transformed and will ascend together with them, becoming a heavenly immortal. A person without internal alchemy who takes it will become an earthly immortal.

The second grade is called the "Divine Talisman White Snow Elixir" (Shenfu Baixue Dan). The elixir condenses around the edges of the Chaos (Hundun) and is colored like fine jade. Its effects when taken are the same as those of the previous grade.

The third grade is called the "Golden Liquid Lesser Returned Elixir" (Jinye Xiao Huan Dan). The elixir condenses around the edges of the Chaos and is colored like purple gold. For those who already possess an internal elixir (Neidan, the elixir attained through cultivation within the body), taking it transforms the internal elixir and enables them to become flying immortals. For those without an internal elixir, taking it grants long life without death.

The fourth grade is called the "Purple Wandering Elixir" (Ziyou Dan). The elixir condenses around the edges of the elixir cauldron (the vessel used in refining elixirs) and is purple in color. Those who already possess an internal elixir may become immortals by taking it, while those without one may extend their years and lengthen their lives.

The fifth grade is called the "Purple Gold Elixir" (Zijin Dan). The elixir condenses around the edges of the cauldron and is purple in color. Those who already possess an internal elixir may become immortals by taking it, while those without one may extend their years and lengthen their lives.

The fifth grade is also called the "Purple Gold Elixir." This elixir forms only at the bottom of the Chaos and is purple-gold in color. Those who already possess an internal elixir may become immortals by taking it, while those without one may extend their years and lengthen their lives.

When the cultivation is complete, one should examine how many grades of cinnabar have formed. This depends on each person's skill in cultivation and level of practice. Take an appropriate amount of the elixir and grind it into a fine powder, then mix it with paper mulberry sap (the juice of the paper mulberry tree) and form pills the size of a tung seed, forty-nine in all. Even if the remaining elixir turns into tiles and rubble, all of it has become a treasure. It may be kept to aid the world, relieve the poor, and help those who suffer; it must not be used to support one's household or be used carelessly.

The Highest Lord (Shangdi) has issued prohibitions and commands, and they must be observed with great care. This elixir consists of forty-nine pills. They are placed in a double-layered bag sewn from deep red silk, set inside the "Golden Chaos" prepared beforehand, and then dropped into the Elixir Well. For the following forty-nine days, one must not leave the well for even a moment, day or night, and must keep watch over it with complete sincerity. When the period is over, take out the red silk bag and open it beside the well. First take twenty-five pills and cast them into famous mountains and great rivers, river sources, deep pools, and caves. This is an offering of thanks to the sages and perfected beings of the Three Realms and ten directions, to the realized immortals of every generation, to the spirit officials, generals, and attendants of one's own talismans and registers (Fulu), and to the local deities in charge of sacrificial rites, the mountain spirits, and the earth gods.

Once this is done, face north at dawn and swallow one pill with water from the Elixir Well. After taking it, wait until one's merit and practice reach fulfillment, then summon with the "Dark Jade Talisman," and one may ascend to heaven in broad daylight. One's family and relatives will also receive blessings. This elixir does not belong to the human world and should be kept in secret.