《玉洞大神丹砂真要诀》

Cinnabar (dansha, also called zhusha or chensha) is regarded as the master of the spiritual energy of all things and the root of natural transformation, and it belongs to the south. It is also known as the "Red Dragon" or the "Vermilion Crow." Depending on its place of origin, shape, color, and quality, cinnabar is divided into three grades: superior, middle, and inferior. The purest kind, it is said, can lead one to the realm of the profound and subtle when taken, while kinds with a more mixed endowment of Qi (vital energy) are also believed to aid longevity.

The finest grade, Bright Cinnabar, is found in the mountain rocks of Chenzhou and Jinzhou, growing on beds of white stone. The pieces often gather into a cluster of nine or twelve, and their color resembles an unopened red lotus blossom, dazzling in its brightness. Clusters of nine or twelve are the most efficacious, and those of seven or five come next. In each cluster there is one larger piece, weighing more than ten liang, called the "Sovereign Lord"; the smaller pieces around it encircle it like ministers attending their ruler. Lighter pieces are also called "ministers."

Some cinnabar lies hidden among mixed grains. Pieces that resemble the head of a hibiscus flower and are intact, and that still give off a bright glow when placed on red silk at night, are likewise ranked as superior. Cinnabar shaped like a horse's tooth, whitish on the surface and bright, is called superior Horse-Tooth Cinnabar, while that which gives off a white light like mica is middle-grade Horse-Tooth Cinnabar. There is also a rounded, elongated, reddish-purple kind shaped like a smiling magnolia blossom, called superior Purple Numinous Cinnabar; the kind shaped like angular flakes of stone and glinting blue-green is inferior Purple Numinous Cinnabar.

Cinnabar from Jiaozhou and Guizhou is also ranked as superior if it has naturally gathered into a cluster, or has been taken from within the rock, resembles a hibiscus flower head, and has a bright surface. Granular pieces, three or five of which together weigh about one liang and which are translucent, are ranked as middle grade; sheet-like pieces that are still fairly bright are ranked as inferior. The cinnabar of Hengzhou and Shaozhou is mostly purple; that which is extracted from sandstone and gleams red is likewise inferior.

Ying cinnabar, even when granular or fairly translucent, is said to be useful only for treating illness after it has been refined and taken. Earth cinnabar grows in cavities in the soil, and Tan cinnabar grows in the sandy earth of stream water; because earth and stone are mixed in them, they are unsuitable as material for superior elixirs.

For refining and ingesting, the best material is considered to be superior cinnabar that has naturally gathered into a cluster, especially the "Sovereign Lord" piece at the center of the cluster. The scripture states that when it is refined and taken, one can become light of body, rise in flight, and become a superior immortal.

As for Shang cinnabar, and cinnabar produced outside the southern regions, even where bright varieties exist among them, the scripture holds that the Danshajing Yuan (Essentials of the Cinnabar Classic) does not record them.

The second chapter explains how cinnabar is subdued through Yin-Yang methods and how the firing schedule is arranged.

The scripture calls fire the "Yang essence" and water the "Yin essence." Cinnabar belongs to the Yang essence, so it must be subdued with Yin materials such as water-stone, rock salt, and Ma Ya Xiao (horse-tooth niter). For one jin of Chenjin bright cinnabar, six liang each of rock salt and horse-tooth niter are used; for one jin of another kind of bright cinnabar, four liang of each; for one jin of white horse-tooth cinnabar, three liang of each; and for one jin of purple numinous cinnabar, two liang of each. Cinnabar of mixed color and weaker potency from stream soil can be subdued with rock salt. Before use, both the rock salt and the horse-tooth niter must first be burned until red-hot. The rock salt must also be heated three times over, until it melts into a liquid, before it can be used.

Larger pieces of bright cinnabar must first be broken up to about the size of cowpeas. They are placed in an earthen cauldron (a clay pot), with horse-tooth niter and water added, and boiled over a strong fire for one hundred days without the fire ever going out. After the full period, the cinnabar is rinsed and placed in a tripod cauldron (ding), where it undergoes repeated "flying and subduing" (feifu) according to the Yin-Yang firing schedule. This means boiling with water and refining with fire so that the materials sublimate, condense, and reach the state the scripture calls "subdued." Tripod cauldrons are classified by material into five types: gold, silver, copper, iron, and earth. The earthen tripod is simply porcelain. The cauldron holds about one sheng.

In the flying and subduing process, five days make one phase (hou), three phases make one qi, and there are eight qi, or twenty-four phases, in all, totaling one hundred twenty days. In each five-day phase, four days follow the Kan trigram, using water-boiling, and one day follows the Li trigram, using refinement by Yang fire. When Yang-fire refining begins, seven liang of charcoal are placed so that the heat beneath the cauldron stays steady, neither suddenly strong nor weak. With each successive turn, one more liang of charcoal is added. If mercury, frost-like deposits, and black vapor escape, they are placed together with the cinnabar in a mortar and gently ground with a jade pestle until all the mercury has blended into the cinnabar. The mixture is then returned to the cauldron and refined further according to the firing schedule.

After the twelfth turn, two additional liang of charcoal are added with each turn, along with one fen of rock salt. At this stage, two or three liang or more of mercury frost may rise onto the cauldron lid. The frost-like deposit shows a numinous glow, and the color of the materials in the cauldron gradually turns purplish red. By the twentieth turn, three additional liang of charcoal are added with each turn. A small amount of mercury frost will condense on the lid, hard as gold leaf, with a yellowish-white luster. After the twenty-fourth turn, when the firing schedule is complete, the cinnabar is called "subdued cinnabar" (fu sha), and its color is bright red.

Afterward, the subdued cinnabar is prepared with salt flower, sealed tightly in yellow clay, and placed in a Yang furnace, where it is forced with a strong fire for thirty days. According to the scripture, the lighter portion may be taken out and ingested: one liang can be made into three hundred sixty pills, formed with jujube paste, but the fire toxin must be removed before taking them. The heavier portion continues to be bellows-fired until it melts into a golden liquid, which is treasured as a precious substance.

Grade Three: The Secret of Smelting Fire-Subdued Cinnabar into a Treasure

For every one liang of fire-subdued cinnabar (fuhuo dansha) that is refined, take half a liang of salt flower. First lay the salt flower at the bottom of the crucible, then place the cinnabar on top of it. When the substances in the crucible have been heated until they glow red, use bellows to blast and refine them repeatedly, one thousand times. Afterward, a molten metallic liquid will flow down, which is called "white gold." Its surface has a bright, lustrous yellow hue, and its brilliance is difficult to describe.

Grade Four: Transforming the Treasure to Generate Cinnabar

The secret is this: take the silver refined from cinnabar and beat it into a silver crucible weighing four liang. Place it inside a translucent oil-glazed porcelain bottle. The bottle should hold one sheng, and the size of the silver crucible should match the base of the bottle. First, treat the silver crucible with the following substances:

One liang of Beiting sand (beiting sha), one liang of rock salt, and one fen of dragon's blood resin (qilin jie).

Grind the three substances above together into a fine powder, mix it with bitter wine (vinegar) into a slurry, and coat all sides of the pot-shaped vessel with it. Wait until the slurry is completely dry. Then make a clay from yellow earth and wrap the vessel in it, with a layer about two inches thick. Next, place it in a chaff fire and burn it for twice seven days (fourteen days), and then fire it fiercely with charcoal for three days. Remove the outer clay, take out the "precious pot," and place it inside the bottle described earlier, adding four taels of mercury. The mercury must be one refined from cinnabar.

Place the mercury in the pot and add five ge of water (about half a liter), neither more nor less; the water in the bottle must be replenished regularly so that it always stays at five ge. Nurture and refine it over a gentle fire (a mild heat) for twice seven days, judging the heat by the water surface stirring faintly, like the eyes of a fish. When the period is complete, add four taels of fresh mercury and nurture it over fire in the same way for another twice seven days, until the water has boiled away. Seal the mouth of the bottle and press the refining with a martial fire (a strong fire) for three days, and the red-yellow cinnabar will surge up above the precious pot. Collect this frost-like cinnabar, then add mercury again according to the previous method, so that the bottle always holds eight taels of mercury, with no increase or decrease. Nurture and press the refining according to the earlier fire phases, and collect the frost cinnabar whenever it appears.

Repeat the refining in this way. For every four taels of the precious substance used, it is said that one jin of cinnabar can be obtained. Afterward, take the cinnabar and decoct it with medicinal ingredients for thirty days, following the method described in the previous chapter. Then place it in the cauldron and subject it to flying and subduing refinement according to the Yin-Yang (阴阳) fire phases, again using the twenty-four periods, for a total of one hundred twenty days. When this is complete, the cinnabar will be subdued once more. If you wish to smelt it into metal, use the "spirit blossom" as the mediating agent, as in the previous chapter, so that the molten metal flows down; it is said that thirteen taels of yellow-blossom silver can be obtained, its color gradually turning yellow and bright. If it is to be taken internally, do not interrupt the "cui" (the original text reads "do not cut off the cui," and its exact meaning is unclear); take one tael of the toxic substance and make it into three hundred sixty pills with jujube paste.

Fifth Grade: The Formula for Transforming into Golden Cinnabar

Take four taels of yellow-blossom silver and hammer it into the shape of a pot, with a size matching the bottom of the bottle, as described earlier. The ingredients to be used are as follows:

Puzhou chalcanthite, one fen; alkali stone, one tael; roasted cinnabar, one tael.

Grind the medicinal substances above together with bitter wine (vinegar) and coat all sides of the crucible with the mixture until the substances are used up. Then wrap the crucible in yellow-earth clay and burn it in a chaff fire for fourteen days. Afterward, remove the charcoal and burn it for another seven days over a fierce fire.

Strip off the clay and take out the crucible. As before, place it in an oil-penetrating bottle (a vessel used in alchemical refining). Put into the crucible four liang of mercury from native cinnabar and five ge of clear water, and nurture it over a gentle fire for fourteen days. Then add four liang of raw mercury and continue nurturing over a gentle fire for another fourteen days. When it has dried, seal the mouth of the crucible tightly.

Following the earlier method again, place the crucible in the oil-penetrating bottle, add four liang of mercury from native cinnabar and five ge of clear water, and nurture it over a gentle fire for fourteen days. Then add another four liang of raw mercury and nurture it over a gentle fire for fourteen days. When it has dried, seal the mouth of the crucible tightly and press the refining for one day over a fierce fire. The cinnabar will then surge up and float on the surface of the precious gold, reddish-yellow in color.

Next, collect the cinnabar and replenish the mercury. When the cinnabar collected reaches about one jin in total, the required quantity has been met. Place the cinnabar gathered earlier into the cauldron and refine it by the method of sublimation and subduing, following the fire phasing described in the previous chapter, with five days making one cycle. Of these, three days follow the method of the Kan trigram, which is to say boiling with water; three days follow the method of the Li trigram, which is to say using yang fire to make the substances rise. When first applying the yang fire, begin with seven liang of charcoal, and add three liang more with each completed cycle.

If mercury frost sublimes out, yellow tinged with purple and shaped like an arrowhead, in an amount of about one to two liang, gather it and mix it with the cinnabar in a mortar. Grind it with a jade pestle until it is thoroughly blended. Then place it in the cauldron as before and sublime and subdue it according to the fire phasing. After twenty phases, that is, one hundred days, the cinnabar is considered fire-subdued.

If smelting is desired, follow the method of the previous chapter, using "washing the flower and drawing the drum" (a smelting operation named in the original text), so that the precious liquid flows down. Then place the precious liquid in the mortar and mix it with the cinnabar, grinding it with a jade pestle until thoroughly blended. Place it in the cauldron as before and sublime and subdue it according to the fire phasing. After twenty phases, one hundred days, the cinnabar is considered fire-subdued. If smelting is desired, again follow the method of the previous chapter, using "washing the flower and drawing the drum"; when the precious liquid flows down, it becomes Green Gold.

If it is to be taken, only remove its toxicity, and do not let its emerald hue be lost.

Chapter Six: The Formula for Transforming Green Gold

Take four liang of Green Gold and make another crucible. The substances used are as follows:

Red salt, half a liang; Dapeng sand, half a liang.

First, grind and mix the medicinal substances, blend them with bitter wine, and coat the inner walls of the pot with the mixture. Bake it slowly over a gentle fire until all of the mixture has been applied. Then wrap the pot in yellow earth clay and place it in a chaff fire for fourteen days. Afterward, remove the clay and burn it fiercely over charcoal for seven days. Take out the pot and, following the earlier method, put it into a bottle. Add five ge (an ancient unit of volume) of water, and the amount must be neither increased nor decreased. After fourteen days, add four liang of mercury and continue nurturing and refining for another fourteen days. Then seal the mouth of the bottle tightly and press the refining with a fierce fire for one day, and the cinnabar sand will surge forth. Collect the sand, and following the earlier method, keep adding mercury, alternating between gentle fire (wenhuo) and fierce fire (wuhuo) for nurturing and forcing. Each time sand is produced, gather it, until the total reaches one jin; that quantity is then sufficient.

Next, place the collected sand into the cauldron and, following the earlier method, perform the flying and subduing refinements; five days make one cycle. Of these, two days use the Kan trigram (the water method), simmering and refining with water, and three days use the Li trigram (the fire method), flying and refining with fire. For the control of the fire, follow the method described in the previous chapter, simply adding several jin of charcoal. Repeat in this way, five days per cycle, for sixteen cycles, eighty days in all, and the golden sand is considered "fire-subdued," that is, it has been refined to the stable state described in the scripture (Jing). If one wishes to perform bellows-refining, use salt flower as the guide, so that the substances surge and are drawn along, causing the golden fluid to flow out and congeal into yellow gold.

If one is to take it, so long as the "cui" (emerald essence) is not cut off, the toxicity can be removed and it can be preserved in the world for a long time. The meaning of "cui" here and the specific procedure are not made clear in the original text.

Chapter Seven: Formula for Transforming Purple-Gold Sand

Take eight liang of yellow gold and make it into a round cauldron with a capacity of about four ge; then use two liang of gold to make the cauldron's lid. The substances used inside the cauldron are as follows:

One liang of sulfur, one liang of red salt, one liang of Beiting sand (naqsha, sal ammoniac), and half a liang of Dapeng sand.

First grind the four ingredients mentioned above together into a fine powder and mix it evenly with bitter wine (vinegar). Coat the inner wall of the cauldron (ding, the vessel used for refining elixirs) and the underside of its lid, taking care to spread the mixture evenly until the medicine is used up. Once the layer has dried, wrap the body of the cauldron in a seal of yellow clay about one inch thick. Heat it slowly from all sides with a gentle fire (wenhuo) for twenty-one days. Watch the cauldron so that it stays warm enough to touch by hand without discomfort; this serves as the standard for the fire phasing (huohou).

After the twenty-one days, switch to a martial fire (wuhuo, a stronger fire) and burn continuously for seven days, never letting the fire go out day or night. When the time is up, let the cauldron cool and remove the clay seal. Then seal the bottom of the cauldron with sweet clay about three fen thick. Suspend the cauldron in the furnace so that space is left around its base for the fire to circulate. Next, put four liang of true mercury and two he of water into the golden cauldron, cover it with its lid, and nourish it with a gentle fire for seven days. Beneath the cauldron, keep a steady, well-matured fire (shuhuo) of five liang of fuel, neither more nor less. The water inside must also be replenished continually and kept at about two he, so that it never boils dry.

After seven days, add another four liang of true mercury and nourish it with a gentle fire for seven days as before. When the water has dried, seal the mouth of the cauldron tightly, gradually strengthen the fire, and press it with intense heat for one day. This will produce red-lustre cinnabar (hongguangsha), of which about five liang should be collected. Then add five liang of raw mercury to the cauldron; from this point on, the mercury inside should always be kept at eight liang. Nourish it with a gentle fire for seven days as before, seal the mouth tightly, and press it with the martial fire for one day. When the cinnabar surges up, collect it. Continue adding mercury and refining cinnabar in this way, and stop once the accumulated total reaches thirty liang.

Once thirty liang have been reached, place the material in the cauldron again by the method of the previous chapter, and, following the fire phasing, cause the substances to fly (sublimate) and to sink (settle). Every five days count as one fire-phasing cycle. Within it, one day uses the water of the Kan trigram for simmering, and one day uses the Yang fire represented by the Li trigram for sublimation. For the first firing, use seven liang of charcoal; with each completed round of transformation, add two liang. After the seventh round, add three liang more, and about two or three liang of a frost-like substance with five-coloured golden light will fly up. Gather the frost into a bowl, mix it with the cinnabar, and grind them together with a jade mallet until the two are fused. Then return the mixture to the cauldron.

Sublimate and settle in this way for fourteen phases, seventy days in all, and the cinnabar will be complete. It is red and radiant, beyond description. If you then stoke the fire to refine it further and guide it with washing flowers (guanhua), the golden liquid will flow out, and red gold can be produced. If it is to be taken internally, you need only remove its toxicity and must take care not to damage the cui within it.

Note: The original text contains evident repetitions and apparent corruptions or omissions, especially in the passages on adding mercury, sealing the cauldron with clay, and increasing the charcoal. The translation above follows the surviving wording in sequence. The meaning of "cui" is unclear here, so the original term has been retained.

Take nine liang of red gold and cast it into a small cauldron (ding) with a capacity of about five ge; take a further two liang of red gold and make a lid for it. Coat the inside of the cauldron with the medicinal substances according to the method of the previous chapter. The substances used are as follows: sulfur, northern cinnabar sand, red guanchi, and dapeng sand.

Each of these substances is increased by one fen over the amount used in the previous chapter. Mix them and grind them evenly with bitter wine (vinegar), then coat the entire inner wall of the cauldron. When the medicine has been used up, let it dry, then put on the lid. Wrap the body of the cauldron in yellow-earth clay about one inch thick. Following the method of the previous chapter, alternate the mild fire (the gentler fire) and the martial fire (the fiercer fire) to nurture and refine for twenty-one days, and then burn and refine for seven days, until the clay ball glows as red as the fire itself. When it has cooled, remove the clay. Then coat the bottom of the cauldron with a layer of sweet-earth clay (a refining clay) about three fen thick, and place the cauldron in the furnace. Add six liang of true mercury (quicksilver) and put it inside the cauldron, together with three ge of water, and keep adding water so that it never dries out. Seal the mouth of the cauldron and press the refining with martial fire for two days, and red sand will separate out.

Collect the red sand and add eight liang of true mercury. As before, nurture it with mild fire for seven days, then press it with martial fire for two days, and it will likewise turn into red sand. Collect the red sand again and add seven liang of true mercury, returning to the mild fire for nurturing and continuing to add water so that it does not dry out. Seal the mouth of the cauldron and press it with martial fire for two days, and the red sand will separate out. Collect the red sand and add eight liang of true mercury. As before, nurture it with mild fire for seven days, then press it with martial fire for two days, and it will likewise turn into red sand. Collect the red sand once more and add seven liang of true mercury, returning to the mild fire for seven days of nurturing, then press it with martial fire for two days, and it will again turn into red sand.

Collect the red sand by the same method and add five liang of true mercury, nurturing with mild fire for seven days and pressing with martial fire for two days. After that, collect the red sand again and add three liang of true mercury, again using mild fire for nurturing and martial fire for pressing as described above. When about thirty-two liang of divine sand in total have been obtained, stop.

Mix this sand with three liang of sulfur and grind it thoroughly so that the two are fused. Then put it into the golden cauldron and sublime it with yang fire (here, the fire method used in alchemical refining). Five days make one hou (one stage of the refining). With each completed cycle, increase the charcoal by two liang. After seven cycles, increase the charcoal by three liang for each cycle. At each cycle, check the cauldron: if crimson-gold frost (a deep red, frost-like deposit) has flown up, collect it into a bowl, grind it together with the sand, add one ge of bitter wine, and grind with a jade hammer until they are fused.

Following the earlier method, put the mixture into the cauldron and sublime it according to the fire timing. After fourteen cycles, seventy days in all, the sand will become fixed and its color will be a purple radiance; if it is smelted, it will become purple gold. It needs only to be drawn out and refined with salt flower. If one wishes to take it as an elixir, one must not interrupt the cui (as in the original; its meaning is unclear), and one must remove the fire toxin, and then one may attain long life.

Chapter Nine: The Method for Transforming into Purple Gold

Take one jin of purple gold and cast it into a small cauldron with a capacity of about seven ge; then use five liang of purple gold to make a lid for the cauldron. The medicinal substances to be placed inside the cauldron are added according to the method in the previous chapter, with the following formula:

Sulfur, four liang; red salt, two liang; Beiting sand (Beitingsha), one liang; Dapeng sand (Dapengsha), one liang.

Here, "ge" is an ancient unit of volume and "liang" is an ancient unit of weight; "Beiting sand" and "Dapeng sand" are the names of medicinal substances as listed in the original text.

First, grind and blend the ingredients with bitter wine (vinegar), and coat the inside of the cauldron (ding) with the mixture until it is used up. Once it has dried, cover the cauldron with its lid and seal the body of the vessel with yellow earth clay to a thickness of about one inch. Following the method described in the previous chapter, nurture it with a mild fire (a gentler fire) for twenty-one days, then refine it with a martial fire (a fiercer fire) for seven days. After it cools, remove the clay, and then wrap the outside of the cauldron with sweet-earth clay to a thickness of about two and a half fen.

Next, suspend the cauldron in the furnace and put in twelve liang of true mercury and three ge of water. The amount of water must be neither increased nor decreased, and it must not be allowed to boil dry; water must be added continually. Cover the cauldron and refine it with a mild fire for seven days, using as the standard that the lid, when touched, never feels hot enough to burn the hand. After seven days, wait for it to dry, seal the mouth of the cauldron tightly, then gradually increase the heat and press the refining with a martial fire for three days. Open the cauldron and examine it: if the mercury has transformed, do not let it dry out, and keep adding water. Then cover the cauldron again and refine it with a mild fire for another seven days, again judging by whether the lid is free of burning heat to the touch. After seven days, wait for it to dry, seal the mouth tightly, gradually increase the heat, and press the refining with a martial fire for three days.

Open the cauldron and examine it: the mercury has by now turned into crimson frost (a deep red, frost-like substance). Do not remove it, but add a further nine liang of mercury, and nurture and press it with mild and martial fire as before. When the period is complete, open it, and the mercury will again have turned into crimson frost. Add six liang more of mercury and continue nurturing and pressing with mild and martial fire in the same way; when the period is complete and the cauldron is opened, this too will have turned into crimson frost. Then add five liang of mercury, nurture it with mild fire for seven days and press it with martial fire for one day, and you will obtain thirty-three liang of crimson-frost cinnabar, reddish-purple in color and shimmering with the five colors.

Take the cinnabar out and place it in a mortar, add four liang of sulfur, and grind it with a jade pestle for one day. Then return the cinnabar to the cauldron and seal its mouth tightly. Sublimate it with pure Yang fire (an alchemical term referring to a particular intense fire), counting seven days as one "phase." Open the cauldron, add half a ge of bitter wine, grind it thoroughly, and return it to the cauldron to be sublimated again so that it congeals and becomes subdued; seven days count as one cycle. At the beginning, use thirteen liang of charcoal, and increase it by one liang with each subsequent cycle; after five cycles, increase it by two liang per cycle. If brilliantly colored five-hued cinnabar appears, gather it up, add one ge of bitter wine, grind it in the mortar, and return it to the cauldron to be sublimated and congealed. At every cycle, open the cauldron to inspect it, blend and grind it again with bitter wine, and return it to the cauldron to continue sublimating; increase the charcoal cycle by cycle according to the method above.

After twelve cycles of sublimation, eighty-four days in all, the cinnabar becomes "fire-subdued": its radiance is dazzling, its glow interwoven like rosy clouds, beyond description. To make gold, use the "bellows" method, and then draw it out with the "abundant blossom" so that it becomes a liquid and flows into Purple-Polished River Chariot Gold (an alchemical term for a gold-type product). If it is to be taken internally, remove its toxic properties and keep only the emerald-green portion; take one liang of it and make it into three hundred and sixty pills with jujube paste. According to the text, one who swallows them will become light of body and ascend in flight. One pill of River Chariot cinnabar can transmute one jin of mercury, lead, tin, copper, or iron into gold.

Tenth Chapter: The Method of Extracting Mercury

First, take an iron cauldron and seal the joint between its upper and lower parts with a coating of clay. Open a small hole in the furnace so that the vapors inside the cauldron can escape through it. Then build a wood fire and keep it burning for three days, collecting the mercury that is distilled out. If the mercury has not all been extracted, heat the cauldron again and continue distilling until none remains. This is the method of extracting mercury.

Eleventh Chapter: The Method of Refining Mercury

Take one catty of mercury and three taels of sulfur. First grind the sulfur into a fine powder and place it in a mortar, heating it gently from below over a low fire. Then add the mercury little by little, grinding quickly, until the two combine into a blue-green cinnabar powder (qingsha). Afterward, pour this powder into a porcelain bottle. At this point the original text contains the line "the bottle should be able to hold one sheng of mercury," which appears to be incomplete or corrupted; taken literally, it means that the bottle's capacity should be large enough to hold one sheng.

First take one jin of mercury (also called gong) and three liang of sulfur. Grind the sulfur into powder and place it in a mortar, heating it over a gentle fire. Then add the mercury a little at a time, grinding rapidly, until the two are made into green cinnabar.

Next, pack the green cinnabar into a porcelain bottle that holds one sheng. Coat the outside of the bottle thickly with yellow clay mud, about two fen thick, then put on the lid and seal the mouth firmly. Place the bottle in the furnace and slowly roast it for three days with one jin of charcoal arranged around it, keeping the fire steady throughout. After three days, switch to a strong fire and add ten jin of charcoal in two batches of five jin each, burning and refining the bottle. If a blue flame bursts out, smear it over with thin mud so that it cannot escape, and continue until the charcoal is burned out. When the bottle has cooled, open it, and the mercury will have become purple cinnabar.

Then take one jin of black lead and melt it in a cauldron into liquid lead. Grind the purple cinnabar finely and throw it into the molten lead, then stop the fire for a moment and stir quickly so that the two mix and congeal into cinnabar. Return this to the cauldron, cover it with fine salt flowers (salt crystals) to a thickness of about two fen, press it down, and seal the mouth of the cauldron tightly. Refine it over a strong fire for half a day so that the "numinous mercury" is released once more.

Next, follow the number of reversions set out in the Seven Chapters (Qi Pian): throw the mercury into the alloy so that it congeals into cinnabar. At the second reversion, use the mercury according to the method of the Chapter on Precious Cinnabar (Baosha Pian): the mercury is extracted twice, first added to the lead, then drawn out again and returned to the mercury, with golden-flower cinnabar added. At the third reversion, the mercury must be burned and extracted three times. For the fourth reversion, follow the number of times given in the Seven Chapters, throwing the mercury into the alloy to congeal it into cinnabar. By the method of the Chapter on Precious Cinnabar, the mercury is first extracted twice and added to the lead, then extracted again, returned to the mercury, and combined with golden-flower cinnabar. When the mercury is used for the third reversion, it is made to undergo three burnings and extractions. The cinnabar obtained at the fourth reversion requires mercury that has undergone four burnings and extractions. At the fifth reversion, the mercury must be extracted and refined five times. At the sixth reversion, the mercury is likewise handled according to the corresponding number of times given above, and sulfur is added to burn it into purple cinnabar.

At the seventh reversion, use one jin of black lead, burning and extracting it repeatedly, with the heat regulated according to the methods described earlier. Through this burning and transformation, the Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) of water and fire are refined and transformed. This also accords with the seven reversions spoken of in the Seven Chapters, and in the end one naturally attains what is called the "transformation of the Great Dao (the Way)."

Section Twelve: Key Points for Distinguishing Various Mineral Medicines

Note: Here "reversion" (fan) and "extraction" (chou) refer to the steps of repeated burning and extracting in the alchemical process. "Green cinnabar," "purple cinnabar," "golden-flower cinnabar," and similar names are alchemical terms used in the text. The entire passage records the procedures of ancient Waidan (external alchemy).

Rock salt (shiyan) is a mineral formed by the condensation of Yin qi. Its edges resemble flakes of stone, and it is bright and pure white, close to granular salt. Its taste is milder than that of granular salt, and it can suppress Yang essence and neutralize the toxicity of fire-natured medicinal substances. It can also be combined with alum (fanshi), sulfur, and other substances to identify and refine various mineral drugs; once refined, it helps bring forth the essence of metal and can dispel stagnant qi. In the "Seven Chapters," it serves as an auxiliary ingredient.

Horse-tooth niter (maya xiao) is likewise a substance of Yin essence, shaped like congealed-water stone (ningshuishi) and produced in the region of Shu. It too can suppress Yang essence and neutralize the qi of fire-natured minerals, though its power to restrain a drug's properties on its own differs slightly from that of rock salt.

Northern Pavilion sal ammoniac (beitingsha) receives the qi of Yin stone while also containing the toxic essence of Yang. It can neutralize the metallic and mineral nature of the "Five Minerals" class of drugs, with a strength similar to sulfur. It also expels foul qi and replenishes Yang qi, and its efficacy is considerable. Beitingsha occurs in granular form, and the finest grade is light red and bright and translucent. In the "Two Chapters of the Sevenfold Return," it serves as an auxiliary ingredient. When refined together with dapengsha, red salt, and sulfur, its effects are described as so subtle and marvelous that they seem to surpass the transformations of nature itself.

Qilin lizard (qilinyi) comes from the Western Regions and receives the qi of Yinghuo, the star known to the ancients as Mars, a planet of fire. It is born within Yang stone and then takes shape through the condensation of Yin qi. Its color resembles purple ore, and its form is like shattered stone. Its action is linked to mercury: it can help augment Yang essence and dispel Yin stagnation, and it also helps replenish what the text calls the "depths," so it is regarded as highly efficacious. Genuine qilinyi, when burned in fire, gives off a red liquid; even after prolonged burning, its ashes do not readily change from their original color, and this is regarded as the mark of an authentic specimen.

Identifying Shi Dan (Chalcanthite): Shi Dan is produced on Mount Song and in the Zhongtiao Mountains of Puzhou. It has absorbed the breath of numinous, extraordinary rocks, and its form resembles sese (a blue-green gemstone), with a translucent, flowing quality. Its essence-qi (Jing and Qi) can resonate with the Eight Minerals and transform the essences of the five metals, making it suitable for the Central Palace (an alchemical term referring to a particular stage or position in the refining process). To test it, apply a small amount of Shi Dan to iron or copper and heat it over fire; the color will turn red. It can be transformed through refining, and its efficacy is great. Another method is to fill a copper vessel with water and drop in a small amount of Shi Dan: if the water does not turn blue-green, and the Shi Dan remains unchanged after several days, it is genuine.

Identifying Dapeng Sand: Dapeng Sand receives the essence of Yang yet is nourished by Yin qi. Its form resembles amber, its texture resembles peach gum, and its nature is mild. When refined together with sulfur and red salt (a red, salt-like material used in alchemy), its efficacy is great.

Section Thirteen: The Formula for Subduing and Transforming with the Four Yellows.

Realgar, orpiment, pi-yellow (pihuang), and sulfur all belong to the central palace and its Earth of the wu and ji stems. Their nature carries the toxicity of Yang fire, and they readily alter the form and substance of the five metals, yet their own original luster and color are not easily changed. If one of them has a liquid that flows freely and moves through the material, it can transform the essences of the five minerals together with copper and refine them into gold. If it is subdued by fire until its color turns white like light calomel and its liquid runs smoothly, it can turn the five metals into silver.

Each of these four yellows receives a different original Qi (vital energy), so each acts differently on the five metals. Realgar can transform iron, orpiment can transform tin, and pi-yellow can turn copper into silver or gold and carry the change further. Sulfur is the strongest of all. It can also increase Yang Qi and nourish Jing (essence), returning turbid matter to purity, and it is the commander of the seventy-two minerals. When the four yellows meet red salt, Dapeng borax, or chalcanthite, they conceal their substance and return to their original nature, and their color does not change. When they meet rock salt, horse-tooth niter, saltpeter, or chalcanthite and are then placed in the fire, they turn white.

For this reason, the methods for subduing the seventy-two minerals described in the Dadong zhenjing (Jing, the Scripture of the Great Cavern) all require refining together the "womb" (baotai), that is, combining the ingredients and sealing them in the cauldron for refining. If earth-verdigris (tulu) is combined in equal measure with lead powder and stone marrow, then placed in the cauldron and subdued by fire, it becomes the same kind as the four yellows. It can also dissolve fire toxin and cause the ingredients to transform.

Section Fourteen: The Formula for Transforming Purple Gold into the True Elixir

Take ten catties of true mercury, and thirty-five taels of purple gold refined from cinnabar through seven returns. Place both in another sweet crucible and melt them together into a liquid, then mix them evenly. As soon as the vessel is removed from the fire, stir it vigorously until the mixture becomes a fine sand. Add five taels of sulfur, and grind the three ingredients together in a mortar for a full day. Then move them into the cauldron and refine them through six turns in sequence, gradually increasing the fire phase of the Yang furnace and cauldron with each turn. When the prescribed number of days has been completed, the Great Elixir is formed. Strike it hard and it becomes purple gold; if it is kept and ground with cuitao, it becomes the Great Elixir.

The Formula for the Fire Phases of the Cauldron

The furnace and cauldron for the Great Elixir must also accord with the season. Grind the ingredients finely for a full day, then transfer the medicinal substances into the cauldron and refine them over fire through six transformations. At each transformation, add the fire used for the Yang furnace and cauldron. When the fire phases have run for the prescribed number of days, the Great Elixir (Dadan) is complete. Once it has been forged and tempered, it becomes purple gold; if it is kept back and ground with kingfisher-green pestle work, it is called the Great Elixir.

Instructions on Cauldron and Fire Phasing

The furnace and cauldron for refining the Great Elixir should likewise be made according to the principles of the Three Powers (heaven, earth, and humanity) and the Five Spirits. The cauldron is to be made from twenty-four liang of seven-times-returned refined metal, symbolizing the twenty-four solar terms. Sixteen liang are cast into a round cauldron able to hold nine he, corresponding to the utmost extreme of nine Yang; the remaining eight liang correspond to the eight seasonal nodes. The original text then says, "As for the cauldron lid, is it twenty-four liang?" The weight given here is doubtful. It also says the body of the cauldron uses sixteen liang, matching the figure of one jin and accordant with the great number. Next, the blended purple-gold cinnabar sand is placed in the cauldron, and the mouth is sealed tightly so that no Yang qi (Qi) escapes.

The method for arranging the furnace is as follows. Within a jiachen ten-day cycle, choose a wushen day. Take clean earth from the southwest and first build an earthen platform twenty-four cun high, divided into three tiers, leaving a vent at the base.

The upper tier is nine cun high and is called the "Heaven Gate," with nine apertures symbolizing the nine stars. The middle tier is one chi high and is called the "Human Gate," with twelve doors symbolizing the twelve earthly branches, each door fitted with its leaf. The lower tier is five cun high and is called the "Earth Gate," with eight channels symbolizing the eight winds, and its base is likewise vented. The original text repeats the dimensions and arrangement of these three tiers.

The inner chamber of the furnace must measure one chi and three cun in diameter. When the cauldron is set in the furnace, it should be suspended in midair, two cun above the furnace floor. Beneath it, an earthen stand supports it; the stand is also two cun high and should be sized to suit the cauldron.

Then the fire is set in motion. The fire phasing should imitate the changes of Yin-Yang, the twenty-four solar terms, and the seventy-two pentads: five days make one pentad, three pentads make one solar term, and two solar terms make one month. In the daytime, before noon, use eight liang of mature fire; at night, from the hour of zi to the hour of wu, use sixteen liang of fire. During Yin hours, add fire; during Yang hours, reduce it. Run the fire phasing according to the prescribed fire quantities, and once the refining is complete, the Great Elixir is finished.

Refine twelve jin of Beichi jade-stone salt and eight jin of Xuanjing (mysterious essence, a mineral drug). On the very day of the winter solstice, at the Zi hour (midnight), pound the two ingredients together into a fine powder and sift it. Put the powder into a new eight-dou cauldron and add Small Divine Water, keeping the water level at eight-tenths full. Simmer over a mild fire until the water bubbles like fish eyes, stirring from time to time with a willow paddle (a stirring paddle made of willow wood). Keep the water and fire uninterrupted day and night. After forty-five days of boiling, the materials will congeal at the bottom of the cauldron into a hard mass like white stone.

Next, pour off the water from the cauldron. Take eight liang of soapberry pods (zaojia) without wormholes, rub them in eight dou of divine water to extract the juice, then strain it through silk and let it settle until clear. Pour this juice into the cauldron and continue boiling the drug for five days and nights. The salt will dissolve of its own accord into water, while the Xuanjing will turn to powder and sink to the bottom. Pour off the spirit water, take out the refined powder, and dry it in the sun. It should weigh eight jin. Once the quantity is sufficient, refine it by alternating mild fire and strong fire through nine cycles. Every forty-five days, boil it in divine water for one day.

As for the willow paddle used in boiling the drug, choose a day when the summer solstice falls at noon, and go to the due south to cut a willow branch that has no knots and no blemish or damage. Make it into a paddle two chi four cun long, and store it away for use when boiling the drug.

Method for Making Small Divine Water

The Small Divine Water (Xiao Shenshui) used for simmering the medicine should be kept in an iron cauldron with a capacity of eight dou. The cauldron is covered with a lid, and clear, sweet water is constantly added to it. A fire keeps it gently warm, ready to be topped up whenever the medicine is simmered. Into the cauldron go one jin of mercury, half a jin of cinnabar, and four liang of sulfur, ground together into a powder that is used to "receive the qi" (Qi) of the medicine. Once the medicine has broken down, this preparation is placed in a watertight vessel, sealed tightly, and buried three chi deep in the ground. When it is time to simmer the medicine, it is dug up and returned to the cauldron to receive the qi, with warm water used as well. After use it is buried again, to be retrieved later and used for casting the cauldron when the cinnabar is refined.

The Xuanjing powder (Mysterious Essence powder) mentioned earlier totals eight jin. Four small liang of niter are added to each jin, and the whole is ground into powder and mixed with water. After use, it too is buried, to be retrieved for casting the cauldron when the cinnabar is refined. The eight jin of Xuanjing powder and the niter powder are placed in a porcelain cauldron, the mouth is sealed tight, and the contents are forced with fierce fire until the medicine solidifies. A gap of about two cun is left inside the cauldron, which is then set in the furnace. For forty-five days, day and night without pause, it is nurtured and refined from all sides by one jin of "mature fire" (steadily burning charcoal). Afterward the porcelain cauldron is broken open and the medicine taken out, pounded finely and sifted, then placed in a pot and simmered in the Small Divine Water for a full day and night. When the water has boiled away, the medicine is dry as well, and this completes the first cycle.

The second cycle follows the same method. Niter is added, the mixture is loaded into the cauldron, and it is refined for forty-five days with alternating mild fire (wenhuo) and martial fire (wuhuo) before being taken out. It is then simmered in the Small Divine Water for a day and night, and the water is boiled off, completing the second cycle. In the third cycle, four small liang of black donkey's milk are added to each jin of medicine. After being thoroughly mixed, it is loaded into the cauldron and refined with the same fire control and for the same number of days. After that nothing else is added, until the ninth cycle is complete and the product becomes what is called the "Divine Water and Flowery Pond" (Shenshui Huachi).

This medicine is hard as stone and rings like metal when struck. Placed in the mouth, it dissolves into saliva. Buried in the ground, it does not rot, and simmering does not break it down. When it is forged, it flows like molten metal. It can congeal what otherwise cannot be congealed and subdue substances that fly off or wander. It can merge with all kinds of minerals and receive all kinds of qi. It is also said to be able to transform the Five Metals into treasures, and mercury, on meeting it, dries and sets at once.

Take a piece about the size of a small bean and hold it in the mouth together with one liang of mercury. With a little warmth, after a short while it turns doughlike, and when it meets fire it becomes white gold. Any medicine prone to flying off or flowing away is subdued when it meets this substance, and the Five Metals refined with it can likewise become treasures. This is what is called the "Elixir Embryo" (Dantai).

Take the small portion of divine water medicine buried in the previous chapter and cast it into a round cauldron with a capacity of about nine he, complete with a lid. Take one jin of divine water sacred stone and grind it into powder, then place it in the cauldron. Divide twenty-four liang of bright cinnabar into two layers, one above and one below, so that it surrounds the medicine. Next, seal the mouth of the cauldron tightly with medicinal clay so that no Qi can escape. Once it has dried in the sun, set it in an Eight Trigrams (Bagua) furnace, an alchemical furnace arranged according to the directions of the Eight Trigrams.

Light the fire at the Zi hour on the winter solstice, and regulate the heat according to the direction in which the handle of the Big Dipper points and the sequence of the early days of the lunar month. Touch the body of the cauldron with your hand and keep it always close to human body temperature, taking this as the standard for the heat. After a year of nurturing and refining in this way, open the cauldron and inspect it. The cinnabar will have been "fire-subdued" (considered stable in nature after refining), bright red inside and out, like a red lotus not yet in bloom, dazzling in its radiance. The scripture (Jing) states that if one takes a single liang, all illnesses will be cured and one will be immune to the assaults of evil spirits. The body will gain a lustrous sheen and move as swiftly as a galloping horse, the complexion will be ruddy, and the spirit (Shen) will be settled and at ease.

Return the medicine to the cauldron following the earlier method and run the fire for another year. When the cauldron is opened, the cinnabar will be white outside and red within, crystalline and brilliant. The scripture states that if one takes a single liang, the body will feel clear and balanced, and one will be able to return from old age to youth.

Once more, return the medicine to the cauldron according to the same method and run the fire for another year. When the cauldron is opened, the cinnabar will be white throughout, translucent and bright, light and pure, as buoyant as true snow. The scripture states that after taking a single liang, one's appearance will become like that of a young maiden, one will be unharmed by cold and heat as well as by the five calamities, and one will shine together with the sun and moon, forever free from aging, remaining in the world without dying.

Thereafter, continue running the fire by the same method until a full nine years have been completed, and the elixir known as the "Divine Talisman White Snow Elixir" (Shenfu Baixue Dan) will be achieved. The scripture states that its effects after consumption are wondrous and its transformations inexhaustible: a crow that eats it becomes a phoenix, and a snake that eats it becomes a dragon. A person who takes it becomes an immortal, able to summon the wind while seated and call forth rain while standing. Jade maidens will come to attend them, and the food and drink needed for any journey will be prepared in advance. They can draw rivers, streams, and valleys upon the ground, heap up earth to create mountains and hills, turn a handful of soil into gold, and restore life to what has withered and decayed. They can even make the foolish and worldly wise and worthy. Whatever the mind desires, it seems that it can be accomplished. The scripture further states that on the very day it is taken, one can ascend straight into the heavens, and that earth, stone, and the five metals, once smelted, can also be transformed into treasures.

All of the above is the original text's description of the elixir's effects.

The stone cauldron (a vessel made of stone, used for alchemical refining) must first undergo "qi reception" (Qi, vital energy) treatment. First, two liang of alum are placed in it and boiled in clear water for a day. Then two liang of salt are added and boiled for another day, followed by two liang of saltpeter, boiled for a third day. Next, a "sun," about the size of a pellet, is placed inside, and once its energy has penetrated the vessel, the cauldron is forced dry over a fire for a day, until it is completely dry.

Take four liang of "True Mother" and six liang of "Child," and blend them into a paste. Place this in a tiaozi (a type of alchemical vessel), then add two liang of Earth Mother and boil in water for a day. Add two liang of salt and boil for another day, then add one fen of saltpeter. When this boiling is finished, transfer the contents to the stone cauldron and seal its mouth tightly. Suspend it over the furnace, with water below and fire above, to nourish it gently. The proper heat is judged by whether the hand can be brought near and bear the warmth.

Each "period" (a stage of the refining process) lasts five days. When the cauldron is opened, four liang of mercury are added, and the surface of the substance inside will look as though white snow has grown upon it. By the second period, the substance gradually takes on the shape of mountain peaks. In each period, mercury is added in turn, up to a total limit of one jin. After ten openings of the cauldron, half of the substance will have turned red. The original text then states that each period lasts ten days, with the cauldron opened once per period; after ten openings, the substance will turn completely red. On the tenth day, the outer shell is removed and the substance is moved into the "Official Chamber" (a refining apparatus referred to in the text), where it is nourished for another year. It is then taken out and refined in the Flower Pond (Huachi, a vessel or liquid used in processing the substances), and afterward placed in a cold spring to remove its toxicity, after which it may be taken.

In the second cycle of refining, eight liang of mercury and eight ge of the medicine are placed in a golden cauldron and gently nourished. This is called "Sun and Moon Doubled Without Limit," and it is said that a precious medicine can be produced this way. The variations of this method are so numerous that they cannot all be recorded; one can only follow the procedures personally, and strict secrecy must be maintained.