《神仙养生秘术》

《神仙养生秘术》 (Secret Arts of the Immortals for Nourishing Life)

Transmitted by the Hermit of Mount Taibai to Liu Jingxian, Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate under the Later Zhao, and collated by Song Baoyizi.

Part One: Spirit Cinnabar (Lingsha)

The ingredients are recorded as follows: seven jin of stone, one jin of mercury, and four liang of sulfur.

First melt the sulfur, then add the mercury and stir-fry it until it forms a sandy powder, after which the heat is withdrawn. Choose a vessel such as a Xiangyin bottle, a Jiading bottle from western Shu, a clay bottle, or an old wine bottle. Seal it with clay and let it dry in the shade before loading in the ingredients. Next, place an iron lamp dish holding water over the mouth of the bottle and seal the joint with clay, leaving only one small hole. Fix the lamp dish firmly to the body of the bottle, then put the bottle into the furnace to be fired. After a full day and night of firing, as the text describes, the heat is stopped. At midday the bottle is taken out of the furnace and broken open, and the contents are removed and ground into a fine powder known as "Heart Red" (xinhong). If one wishes to produce Spirit Cinnabar, a different method must be used.

Here "Spirit Cinnabar" (lingsha) and "Heart Red" (xinhong) are names of substances in ancient alchemy, and "sealing" (guji) means sealing a vessel with clay. The text records a technique of high-temperature firing using mercury, sulfur, and other materials.

Part Two: Heart Red (Xinhong)

One jin of mercury and four liang of sulfur.

The firing instructions at the beginning of this section repeat the closing material of the previous one, and the ingredients for Heart Red are then listed.

This passage records several methods of refining substances from sulfur, mercury, tin, and other minerals, including steps such as heating, sealing, closing the furnace, and grinding. The author calls the resulting substances "kernels" (hezi) and "mountain and marsh" (shanze), among other names, and describes how to separate them into layers, extract them, and process them further. The last two sections list the minerals used for "whitening" (dianbai) together with their quantities.

In the text, "sweet-clay sealing" (ganni guji) refers to the practice of sealing vessels with clay; the "alchemy chamber" (danfang) means a room set aside for alchemical work; and "the Xu hour" (xushi) and "the Mao hour" (maoshi) are names of traditional Chinese double-hours. The original contains repetitions and apparent corruptions or omissions, and the meaning of some terms is unclear, so it is not possible to determine reliably what some of the materials and products actually are.

These procedures involve heating and sealing toxic substances such as mercury. Heated mercury gives off highly poisonous vapor, and heating it in a sealed container also carries a risk of rupture, so the content is only summarized here, and specific instructions that could be followed are not reproduced.

Grind the above ingredients into a fine powder and place it in the gui. Mix it with zhangliu root, salt, wine, and vinegar to make one sheng. Take a ganguo crucible (a crucible used for refining metals), put in four taels of Yunnan copper, place it in the furnace, and drive the fire with a bellows, then cover it with a tile lid. When the copper has melted, add two qian of Xiu sand and stir evenly. Next, add two taels of the ingredient mixture prepared earlier and one tael of Shanze, and stir and refine them together. When the fire is put out, place the mass in the Qingru Huachi pool to cool and set. It is then called the "Supreme Treasure" and can be worked into fine, soft objects as needed.

Fifth: Bamao (Pulling Out the Hair)

Take one tael each of Shanze, alum, processed cinnabar sand, mercury, white iron, chalcanthite, and saltpeter, and prepare each according to the proper method.

Chop the mineral materials and grind them into a fine powder. Take another crucible, put in half a catty of copper, and stir-fry it in the furnace three times, until it turns the color of peach blossoms. Then take another crucible, put in two taels of copper, and heat it over a charcoal fire in the furnace, driving the fire with a bellows. After covering it with a tile lid, add five qian of Shanze and half a qian of Xiu sand, and stir and refine them together. Then add two and a half qian of the ingredient mixture prepared earlier. When the fire is put out and the crucible removed from the furnace, treat the mass in the Huachi pool three times, then return it to the crucible and smelt it again to make the "Supreme Treasure." It may be used as one wishes, or worked into fine, soft objects or vessels and boxes. This is what is called the secret formula.

Sixth: Suohe

Cast ten catties of white tin into tablets, and treat them according to the Suohe method for better results, though few in the world have ever heard of it. Each tablet is one cun wide and three cun long, with a hole at the top. Thread an iron rod of Zhuandou through the tablet and place it in the pool, taking care that it does not touch the bottom.

After twenty-one days, take out the tablet, melt it in an iron pot, and recast it into a tablet. After eighty-one days, take it out, melt it, and recast it again. Do the same at one hundred fifty days, three hundred days, and six hundred days. After six hundred days, take "fuhuo" (subduing the fire) as the standard of completion, then forge it with an iron hammer into vessels and boxes. If it is to be made into fine, soft objects, it must undergo another six hundred days before it counts as a finished "Supreme Treasure," which is said to remain unchanged for a thousand years. This is what is called the secret transmission.

The meanings of terms in the original such as "gui," "Xiu sand," "Shanze," "Huachi," "Suohe," and "Zhuandou" are unclear, and the wording of certain refining steps appears to be corrupt. They are therefore kept as in the original here, without any definitive interpretation.

"Item Seven: Building the Pool"

The pool is two zhang long and two zhang wide, and seven chi deep, and is filled using vessels, boxes, and the like. If one wishes to make the material fine and soft, then after a further six hundred days it becomes a supreme treasure that does not change for a thousand years. This is a secretly transmitted method.

"Item Seven: Building the Pool"

The pool is two zhang long and two zhang wide, and seven chi deep. It is lined with brick, with hemp laid between the brick joints, and then sealed tightly with lime mortar. Above the pool a latrine is built, to store excrement to a depth of up to five chi; beyond this there is nothing to be doubted. During focused cultivation, one must make offerings of paper money and paper horses, and no one else may be allowed to know. The contents that reveal heavenly secrets must not be passed on to those who should not know them.

"Item Eight: Making Verdigris"

Take ten jin of copper and cast it into copper plates. Then prepare a copper pot, one load of mellow vinegar, and one jin of "sleeve cinnabar" (as in the original; its exact meaning cannot be determined), and mix the sleeve cinnabar with the vinegar. Boil it over a continuous fire, which must not be allowed to go out, and pour the medicinal vinegar over the copper plates. After boiling for two double-hours, stop, scrape off the verdigris, and continue pouring on vinegar. If only one third of the copper plate remains white, do not use it any further. Take out the verdigris that has settled, dry it by gentle heat at once, and it may be used as needed.

"Item Nine: Making the Thread Beads"

Take a piece of yellow ox knee bone and turn it into a bead the size of a pea, drilling a small hole through it. Take more than one hundred sheets of silver foil and one qian of "gold-foot letter" (a drug name in the original, whose exact referent is unknown), place them in a porcelain vessel, and grind them into a fine powder. Holding glue water in the mouth, slowly spit it into a bowl; after each grinding, wash the powder once with clear water, doing this seven times in all. Prepare a thread, tie a knot at one end, and string the bead on it. Then use a new brush to apply the foil to the bead, and press it firmly in place with cold cotton wadding; if the bead gives off a luster, it is acceptable. If the color is pale, treat it again in the same manner. Once the color no longer fades, it is ready for use.

The original text then repeats the steps of stringing the beads, applying the foil, pressing, and checking the luster. It concludes by saying that beads of any size may be made as one wishes, and that this is a secretly transmitted method that must not be passed on to those who should not know it.

"Gathering the Eight Immortals to Dot the Eyes"

First kind:

Mulberry blossom, locust blossom, gardenia blossom, soapberry-pod blossom, white crane flower, buddleia blossom, coltsfoot blossom, and kerria blossom.

First Formula: Take two liang each of the eight ingredients listed above and grind them into a fine powder. Place one jin of honey in a copper pot and heat until melted. Add a suitable amount of aged scallion white, and stir until a drop of the honey does not disperse when placed in water. Then add one liang of the powdered medicine and half a qian of turmeric, remove from the heat, and stir evenly. Set the copper pot in a basin of water to cool and solidify, after which it may be used as desired.

Second Formula: Take one liang each of pine pollen blossom, violet (didinghua) blossom, honey locust blossom, buddleja (mimenghua) blossom, peach blossom, yellow bramble-plum blossom, yellow chrysanthemum blossom, and yaohua, and grind them into a fine powder. Place one jin of honey in a copper pot and heat until melted. Add five to seven stalks of aged scallion white and stir by hand until a drop of the honey does not disperse in water. Add one liang of the powdered medicine and half a qian of turmeric, remove from the heat, and stir evenly. Then set the copper pot in a basin of water to cool and solidify, after which it is ready for use.

Third Formula: Take one liang each of jingang blossom, dodder (tusi) blossom, hibiscus blossom, silk-tree (yehe) blossom, datura (mantuoluo) blossom, white peony blossom, muke blossom, and white camphor-willow root blossom, and grind them into a fine powder. Place one jin of honey in a copper pot and heat until melted. Add aged scallion and stir until a drop of the honey does not disperse in water. Remove from the heat and stir evenly, add one liang of the powdered medicine and stir again, then add one qian of powdered turmeric. Finally, set the copper pot in a basin of water to cool and solidify.

Fourth Formula: Take one liang each of pine pollen blossom, datura blossom, cocklebur blossom, mulberry blossom, buddleja blossom, tree peony blossom, ginkgo blossom, spring blossom, and apricot blossom, and grind them into a fine powder. Place one jin of honey in a copper pot and heat until melted. Add aged scallion-white juice and stir until a drop of the honey does not disperse in water. Add one liang of the powdered medicine and one qian of powdered turmeric, remove from the heat, and stir evenly. Then set the copper pot in a basin of water to cool.

Fifth Formula: Take one liang each of calendula blossom, sicklepod (wangjiangnan) blossom, picked calendula blossom, white mallow blossom, honey locust blossom, mulberry blossom, and gardenia blossom, and grind them into a fine powder. Place one jin of honey in a copper pot and heat until melted. Add aged scallion juice and stir until a drop of the honey does not disperse in water. Add one liang of the powdered medicine and one qian of turmeric, remove from the heat, and stir evenly. Then set the copper pot in a basin of water to cool and solidify.

Sixth Formula: The original text does not provide the contents of this formula.

Take one liang each of yellow chrysanthemum flower, datura flower, cocklebur flower, sicklepod (Wangjiangnan) flower, and white crane flower, then add one qian of turmeric. Once the fire is out, stir evenly and place the mixture in a basin of water, ready for use.

Part Six

Take one liang each of yellow chrysanthemum flower, datura flower, cocklebur flower, sicklepod flower, white crane flower, pine flower, honey locust flower, mulberry flower, sophora (kushen) flower, yellow qiang flower, henbane flower, white morning glory flower, sweet chrysanthemum flower, buddleia (mimeng) flower, coltsfoot flower, yellow bramble-plum flower, gardenia flower, pearl flower, kerria flower, peony flower, spring flower, white peony flower, and "golden spirit-seed" flower, and dry them in the sun.

Grind all of these ingredients into a fine powder. Melt five jin of honey in a copper pot, then add five jin of scallions that have been stored for a year, and blend in the scallion juice together with wax. Add one and a half jin of the powdered medicinals and stir until the mixture forms a mass. Roll it into pellets the size of a pellet shot, each weighing two and a half qian.

Next, take one jin of honey and melt it in a copper pot or copper ladle. Add one pellet, and wait until it dissolves completely. Boil the mixture until its sweetness is gone and a drop placed in water does not disperse, then place it in a basin of water, ready for use. If the color is pale, add one qian of turmeric powder.

Part Seven

Take "green mimeng" flower and make it into pellets the size of a jujube, each weighing two and a half qian. Melt one jin of honey in a copper pot or copper ladle and add one pellet. Wait until the pellet dissolves completely, then boil the mixture until its sweetness is gone and a drop placed in water does not disperse, and place it in a basin of water, ready for use. If the color is pale, add one qian of turmeric powder.

Take seven ingredients in all, one liang each: green mimeng flower, honey locust flower, ginkgo flower, mulberry flower, "dog-child" flower, wintersweet flower, and watermelon flower. Melt one jin of honey in a copper pot and add scallion whites that have been stored for a year. Stir until the honey thickens and a drop in water does not disperse, then add one liang of the medicinals and one qian of turmeric powder. Once the fire is out, stir evenly and set aside for use.

Part Eight

Take equal portions of "golden coin," corydalis (Xuanhu), white corydalis, trichosanthes root (Gualou root), licorice, mulberry yellow (sanghuang), and "Bugu yin."

Grind all of these ingredients into a fine powder. Melt one jin of honey in a copper pot and add scallion whites that have been stored for a year. Stir until the honey thickens and a drop in water does not disperse. Add half a liang of the powdered medicinals and half a qian of turmeric, then, once the fire is out, stir evenly and set aside for use.

The verse says:

Golden coin, corydalis, trichosanthes root,

Licorice, mulberry yellow, Bugu yin.

One jin of a hundred flowers, half a liang of medicine;

This method is beneficial, surpassing the burning of gold.

Part Nine: The Method of the Sacred Wax

The original text contains only this heading, with no content following it.

Note: "Zhu huo" means to put out the fire or stop heating; "zuo yong" means, roughly, to set aside for use. Several medicinal names and phrases in the original appear to be corrupted or incomplete, such as "white crane," "yellow bramble-plum," "golden spirit-seed," "Bugu yin," and "green mimeng flower seed size." They have been translated literally from the existing text, and their specific referents cannot be determined.

Mix ten catties of Mengdou powder with two catties of gardenia to make a goose-yellow powder. Set aside one catty of wax separately.

Melt the wax in a copper pot. Add one catty of the powder and one tael of pine pollen, stir well, then add another catty of the powder. If pine pollen is available, add another catty; if it is raw pine pollen, add half a catty. Take the pot off the heat and stir evenly. Once it has dried, place it in a basin for later use.

Recipe Ten

Take five catties of calcite (hanshuishi) and four taels of turmeric, and grind them together into a fine powder.

Separately, melt one catty of fine wax in a copper pot and add half a catty of the powder. Remove it from the heat and stir evenly. Once it has dried, place it in a basin for later use.

Recipe Eleven

Take ten catties of white resin (baijiaoxiang) and five catties of eggplant-stalk ash. Rinse the ash with a bucket of water, then boil the white resin in the resulting ash water until it turns black and no longer gives off steam.

Melt one catty of wax in a copper pot and add one catty of the prepared material along with two qian of turmeric. Remove it from the heat and stir evenly. Once it has dried, set it aside for use.

Recipe Twelve

Take one dou of aged mallow seeds, roast them until fragrant and cooked, remove the husks, and grind them into a fine powder, taking ten catties of it. Add one tael of turmeric powder and mix evenly. Melt ten catties of wax in a copper pot, add the two powders above, remove it from the heat, and stir evenly. Once it has dried, place it in a basin.

Recipe Thirteen: Method for Making White Wax

Take five catties of tallow-tree oil (wujiu oil) and melt it in a copper pot. Remove it from the heat and strain it through cotton cloth.

Separately, melt ten catties of wax in a copper pot and add the strained tallow-tree oil. Remove it from the heat, stir evenly, and divide it into three blocks.

Recipe Fourteen: Method for Making Yellow Wax

Take four taels of pine pollen, two catties of yellow millet flour, and two taels of gardenia. Simmer them in water until the millet flour is dyed yellow, then dry it in the sun.

Melt one catty of wax in a copper pot and add the materials above. Stir well and remove from the heat. Once it has dried, place it in a basin for later use.

The "pine pollen" (songhua) in the text usually refers to pine pollen powder. "Zhuhuo" means to remove from the heat or stop heating, and "zuoyong" means to set aside for later use. The original text contains repeated passages, and sentences such as "if there is pine pollen, add one catty; if it is raw pine pollen, add half a catty" are not entirely clear in meaning. The translation above follows the original order literally.

Formula One: Take one jin of mudou powder, one jin of hanshui stone (cold-water stone), half a jin of powdered mallow seed, one jin of clamshell powder, and one and a half liang of powdered turmeric. Grind these five ingredients into a fine powder. Melt five jin of wax in a copper pot, remove it from the heat, stir in the powder until evenly mixed, and pour it into a basin to cool. The second half of the original text is repetitive and has missing words and phrases, so the exact preparation steps cannot be confirmed.

Formula Sixteen: Take four liang each of pine pollen, alum, hanshui stone, and clamshell powder, and grind them into a fine powder. Melt three jin of wax in a copper pot, remove it from the heat, stir in the powder until evenly mixed, and pour it into a basin to cool. Another passage states that once cooled, the mixture is divided into two pieces. The two passages describe the same procedure, though the first omits some of the steps.

Method for making calomel (qingfen): Take one jin of mercury and four liang of sulfur. First melt the sulfur in an iron vessel, then add the mercury and stir-fry them together until they become a sandy substance. Separately, take four liang of litharge and two liang of saltpeter and prepare a "youzi" (the name of a vessel used in the original; its form is unknown). Leave it for three days in spring and summer, or seven days in autumn and winter. Then put the sand prepared earlier into the youzi and mix well. Spread the mixture over a large iron vessel, cover it with an earthenware basin, and seal the seams around the rim of the basin with red halloysite (chishizhi) blended with honey. Heat it from below over a charcoal fire, using both gentle and fierce flames: begin heating in the morning and stop at midday. When it has cooled, lift off the basin, sweep down the medicine adhering to it, and pack it into wooden boxes, four liang to a box, to be used as needed. The original says that what is obtained at the bottom of the basin is called "powder frost" (fenshuang), while what is obtained in the upper part is called "calomel" (qingfen), and it describes this as a secretly transmitted method.

Formula Twenty-seven, the "Seven-Treasure Warm-Frozen Sulfur Cup": Take one jin of imported sulfur and divide it into four portions of four liang each. The original then lists cinnabar, xinhong (heart-red), gall, calomel, indigo, white lead, and verdigris, saying that one liang of each is to be taken and separately processed and finely ground. However, the ingredients listed do not match the instruction to divide the sulfur into four portions, and the later text repeats the phrase "use one jin of imported sulfur, divided into four portions," so the text may contain omissions or errors. The passage ends with the words "one cup, three qian of medicine, set in a cup of water," which seems to mean that one takes a cup, puts three qian of the medicine into it, and then sets it inside a cup holding water. The remaining content is not recorded.

Take each of the ingredients above at one liang, process and prepare each separately, then grind them into a fine powder. Prepare a zhan (a small cup). Each time, take three qian of the powder and put it into one cup of water. Also prepare a Chuzhou porcelain cup (porcelain fired in Chuzhou), a piece of raw silk handkerchief with a hole left in its center, and a saucer. Wine may also be poured to fill the cup, which is then covered with the handkerchief and the saucer. Set the wine out in the evening and drink it on an empty stomach the next morning. It is said to treat all kinds of deficient cold of the lower origin (a category of ailments marked by weakness and cold in the lower burner).

Single Sulfur Cup

This treats deficient cold of the lower origin, using the same method as the "Seven Treasures Cup" described above. Take one piece of sulfur, regardless of size, and make it into a cup following the method described earlier.

Third Method: Copper-Treating Technique for a Silver-White Finish After Polishing

Chalcanthite, dried white alum, genuine fired silver, mercury, deer antler ash, and sal ammoniac (naosha), five qian each.

First melt white iron in a pot, then add the mercury, stir evenly while hot, and grind it into powder. Next, melt the silver, add the sal ammoniac and borax, and grind it into a fine powder while hot. Then grind the dried white alum, chalcanthite, and the rest into a fine powder. The steps in this passage of the original text are repeated, and some of the ingredient names appear to contain textual errors; following the sense of the text, the eight listed ingredients are finally combined and ground into powder.

To use it, first wash the copper vessel three times with soapberry-pod water (zaojiao water), then rub it with the powder and wrap it in paper. Treat it once every seven days, for a total of three times. The text calls this a secret method and says it must not be passed on to outsiders.

Method of the Sacred Candle

White frankincense resin, four liang; sulfur, four liang; pagoda tree pods (huaijiaozi), four liang.

Harvest the pagoda tree pods in the eighth month and pound them to a pulp first; then melt the white resin and sulfur together. Take a bamboo tube seven cun long and pour the liquid mixture into it. The text states that a single candle can burn for a month, with marvelous effect.

Oil-Saving Recipe

In the sixth month, gather duckweed and wasong (Orostachys, "tile pine"); also take polygala root (yuanzhi), minium (huangdan), and clamshell powder, one liang each.

Grind the ingredients above into a fine powder. For every one liang of lamp oil, add one qian of the powder; it is claimed that the lamp can then burn for a month.

Method of the Sacred Candle

Pagoda tree pods, two jin (harvested in the eighth month); white frankincense resin, one jin; sulfur, four liang.

First, pound the pagoda-tree pods (huaijiaozi) until crushed. In a clay pot, melt white rosin (a resinous aromatic), then add the pods and simmer them together until thoroughly softened. Next, add sulfur and stir the mixture evenly with a pagoda-tree twig. Take a bamboo tube seven cun long and as thick as a thumb, and pour the mixture into it. Leave it in a cool place to dry, then remove the bamboo. Each stick is said to burn for sixty days, with excellent results.

There is a repeated passage in this recipe: "For each portion of rosin, add the pagoda-tree pods and simmer until softened. Then add the sulfur..." The ink-making method and the "dead honey" method below also contain repeated sentences, and this translation follows their general sense.

Method for Making Ink

Take ten liang of pine soot and four liang of donkey-hide gelatin. Simmer four ingredients, namely agastache (huoxiang), nard (gansong), ginger juice, and honey locust pod (zaojiao), in water for a short while, discard the dregs, and keep the clear liquid. Use this liquid to dissolve the gelatin. Then add three sheets of gold leaf and two sheets of silver leaf, and stir them together with the pine soot. Pound the mixture ten thousand times with a pestle, then take it out and form it into ink sticks. Next, set the ink to mature in an ash pit: five days in spring, three days in summer, seven days in autumn, and ten days in winter. Once taken out, it is ready for use.

Method for Making Dead Honey

First, take one jin of white sand honey and put it in a new iron pot. Heat it while stirring with ten scallions. When the scallions are cooked, remove them and stir with ten fresh ones, alternating between gentle heat (wen fire) and strong heat (wu fire). The original text repeats the procedural steps in this passage.

Next, test the honey with a bowl of water: drop the honey into the water. If it does not disperse, and does not stick to the teeth or the hands, it is done. The original text calls this honey a "treasure" and says it can "shed the womb and replace the bones." After the secret formula has been compounded, it is used together with the fine medicinal ingredients, and the finished product is the color of yellow gold.

Secret Method for Dead Honey

For the "horse-skin wrapper" (mapibao, puffball), remove the outer skin and take only the whitish interior, which is considered best. Take mulberry blossom, honey locust pod blossom, pagoda-tree blossom, white asparagus root (tianmendong), scallion blossom, dodder seed (tusizi), wintersweet blossom, buddleja flower (mimenghua), and chrysanthemum flower, one and a half liang of each. Grind them into a fine powder and mix evenly.

For every jin of honey, add one and a half liang of the powder, stir it evenly, and pour it into cold water so that it sets into a mass. The original text calls this the "secret method for dead honey," says it may be used as needed, and names it an immortal formula.

Licorice root, trichosanthes root (gualou root), Xuanhu (generally understood as yanhusuo, corydalis tuber), mulberry bracket fungus (sanghuang), and "Baiyouting" (as in the original; the name of this ingredient may be corrupted), are combined with materials of the Mimeng type.

Take one jin of the "hundred flowers" and two liang of the medicinal ingredients. It is said that the effect surpasses that of smelting gold and silver together.

Grind the ingredients into a fine powder and set it aside. Melt the hundred flowers in a small bronze pot, then pour in the powder and stir until evenly mixed. Strain it through raw silk into water, knead it into a lump, and it can be used as desired.

Miaoling Dan (Elixir of Wondrous Efficacy)

By eating locust leaves and various grasses and trees, one is said to remain constantly full and free of hunger, and to be able to sustain oneself through fasting in times of calamity.

Take one jin of eucommia bark (duzhong), scrape off the coarse outer skin, soak it in vinegar overnight, dry it over a gentle fire, then stir-fry, pound, and sift it into a fine powder. Take one jin of schizonepeta spikes (jingjie), pound and sift into a fine powder; one jin of white poria (baifuling), with the skin removed; one jin of licorice, with the skin removed; and half a jin of mint.

Grind the above ingredients into a fine powder and form it with refined honey into pills the size of a little finger. Wash locust leaves clean with water, place them in the mouth together with a pill, and chew slowly and thoroughly; this is said to be the best way.

Zhiming Dan (Elixir of Knowing Fate): said to be used for escaping disaster and for fasting to relieve hunger

Costus root (muxiang), white poria, red halloysite (chishizhi), frankincense, mercury, and black lead. Fuse the black lead and mercury into a lump, then grind it finely separately in an earthenware vessel.

Cinnabar, realgar, and litharge (mituoseng), one qian each; yellow beeswax, six qian; pine resin, three qian.

Grind all nine ingredients into a fine powder. Melt the pine resin and beeswax and use them to form pills, each weighing one qian. When taking the medicine, first eat a meal of glutinous rice porridge, then swallow one pill with frankincense decoction; after five to seven days, take another pill. After both pills have been taken, take seven jujubes and eat them all on the first day. Thereafter, eat jujubes daily until they are gone. The original text says that this keeps one free from hunger for a long time; if thirst arises, drink water.

The Method of Sipping Water

The text here in the original appears corrupted: "Ti Pili Huo Gong fengquan she." Its meaning cannot be determined with certainty.

A caution on the Zhiming Dan: it contains mercury, lead, cinnabar (mercuric sulfide), realgar (arsenic sulfide), and litharge (lead oxide), all of which are toxic. This is a historical text and the recipe should not be tried.

Visualize the Sun (cunxiang), draw in a mouthful of black qi, and blow it into water; when drinking the water, hold it in the mouth. After fasting, the heart and spirit (Shen) must be clear and the intention pure: no stray thoughts arise within, and no thoughts from the outside world enter the mind. In the past, there was an imperial physician, Yan Zhongshan, who transmitted this method. Beginning on the third day of the seventh month of the Guisi year, he fasted to escape the calamity at Tangzhou, until he was on the verge of death. After taking medicinal preparations, his whole family fasted for forty-nine days, and they preserved their bodies, remained unharmed, and recovered as before.

Immortal Wine Recipe

One hundred eleven liters of glutinous rice (the original text also says that four taels of "du hao you" may be used; the character "you" is suspected to be corrupt), one and a half taels of barley malt, and two taels of wine starter.

Grind the above ingredients into a fine powder. Boil five liters of water into a congee, remove it from the heat, then add the powdered ingredients and stir them together evenly. The original text says that this will give off the fragrance of wine and have wondrous efficacy, and that following the recipe will not lead to error.

Dry Wine Recipe

One tael of cinnamon bark, one tael of black aconite, one tael of good honey, one tael of Sichuan pepper, two taels of fresh ginger, two taels of apricot kernels (peeled and mashed into a paste), and one catty of medicated leaven (shenqu).

Mix the above ingredients together. The original text says that this will give off the fragrance of wine and have wondrous efficacy, and that following the recipe will not lead to error.

Dry Wine Recipe

One tael of cinnamon bark, one tael of black aconite, one tael of good honey, one tael of Sichuan pepper, two taels of fresh ginger, two taels of apricot kernels (peeled and mashed into a paste), and one catty of medicated leaven (shenqu).

Grind the above ingredients into a fine powder. Separately, take two liters of millet, wash it clean, and steam it until cooked. Mix the powder with the cooked grain, place it in a jar or bottle, and leave it for three nights. Take it out and pound it until mashed, then roll it into pills the size of a chicken's head (a gorgon fruit). Put them back into the bottle, seal the mouth with paper to keep out the wind. After leaving them for seven days, take them out and let them stand in the wind for one double-hour, then return them to the bottle and seal as before; they can then be stored for a long time.

When ready to drink, take five liters of boiled water and one pill, and place them together, sealing the mouth of the bottle with damp paper; before long, you will smell the fragrance of wine. The original text calls this manner of drinking the "Drink of Presenting to the Sage."

The Immortal's Method of Taking Fresh Rehmannia to Prolong Life

Take fresh rehmannia root in any quantity, choosing plump and thick roots. Dry them in the shade and grind them into a fine powder, then form pills the size of a parasol tree seed using refined honey. Each time, take them with hot broth or wine. The original text says that after thirty-nine days of taking them, one should take them three times daily; after one hundred days, the complexion will be like peach blossoms, and after three years of taking them, one will attain immortality.

The Immortal's Recipe of Xianhua for Ingestion

The original text lists only the name of the recipe and gives no specific contents.

Xianhua Yishi (羡华一石) is usually harvested when it ripens in the seventh or eighth month. After picking, dry it in the sun, pound it in a mortar to remove the thorns, and then grind it into a fine powder. Take two spoonfuls each time, mixed with freshly drawn water, three times a day without interruption. With long-term use, one can attain longevity. After drying, removing the thorns, and grinding, take two spoonfuls each time with fresh water, three times daily, without interruption.

After one year of use, one feels no cold in winter and no heat in summer. After two years, the elderly regain their youth, white hair turns black again, and lost teeth grow back. After three years, the body becomes light and strong, and life is prolonged.

Recipe for Severing the Roots (Grain-Abstention Formula)

Take four sheng of black beans, roast them until done, and remove the skins. Take four sheng of hemp seeds, boil them until cooked, and pound them into powder. Take one he each time, mixed with water, three times a day. After ten days of this, it is said, one can cut off the eating of grains entirely, and feel neither cold nor heat in winter or summer.

Formula of the Immortals for Taking Pagoda Tree Seeds to Prolong Life and Prevent Aging

Always gather pagoda tree seeds on the first si day (the first day of the sexagenary cycle bearing the branch si, in each month) of the tenth month. Place them in a new earthenware vessel, cover it with a basin, and seal it tightly with clay so that no Qi (vital energy) can escape. After twenty-one days, take them out and remove the skins. Starting from the beginning of the month, take one seed each day with water, increasing by one seed daily until the middle of the month, then decreasing by one seed daily. Continue in this cycle. It is said that after taking them, one can read at night without ill effect, and that with long-term use one's strength increases a hundredfold.

Formula for Bigu and Halting Food (a Method for Temporarily Ceasing Ordinary Eating)

Whenever one intends to stop eating, one must first settle the mind and Shen (spirit).

Take one dou of glutinous millet, six liang of fine oil, and ten liang each of roasted salt powder, Sichuan ginger, and small pepper, together with three sheng of turnip seeds and five sheng of dried jujube dates.

Grind these six ingredients into a fine powder. Take one large spoonful each time, mixed with fresh water, three times a day. If one feels hunger or thirst, physical strength will gradually return. One may eat various fruits and drink beverages such as boiled tea as one wishes, but meat must not be eaten; this is especially forbidden.

Legend holds that several kinds of animals are unfit to eat: a horse that has died of exhaustion, a donkey poisoned by medicine or toxins, an ox that has bloated to death, a sheep with red eyes, a pig that has died on its own, a soft-shelled turtle with growths on its body, a pregnant rabbit, and a fish without scales. The old books say that none of these may be eaten, and that eating them brings on all manner of illness.

Recipe for Bigu (by Bigu is meant using particular methods to reduce or stop eating ordinary grains)

On the seventeenth day of the second month of the second year of Yongning, Liu Jingxian, Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate (a court office), submitted a memorial: "Your servant met a recluse of Mount Taibai and received this recipe. Your servant has heard that grain in the capital is very costly, and wishes to use this recipe to help the people, so that none go hungry, and so that their hearing and sight grow sharp and their complexions turn rosy and radiant. If what your servant says is false, my whole family is willing to accept punishment."

The recipe says: It may be prepared in any of the four seasons. Take five sheng of black beans, wash them clean, steam them three times, then dry them in the sun and remove the skins. Then take three sheng of large hemp seeds, soak them overnight in hot water, drain and dry them in the sun, mix them with glue water and dry them again, remove the husks, rinse them clean, steam them three times, and pound them to pieces. Next add bean yellow (processed beans), grind everything together into a fine powder, and blend it with glutinous rice porridge to make round balls the size of a fist.

Place the balls in rice and steam them, from night until the hour of Zi, then put out the fire and take them out at the hour of Yin. Store them in a lidded porcelain vessel so that the wind does not dry them. Each time, take three pieces, eating until full, and afterward eat no other food. The recipe claims that the first dose allows seven days without hunger, the second forty-nine days, and the third three hundred days. It also says that afterward one's appearance will be better and one will not become haggard. When thirsty, grind hemp seeds into a thick liquid and drink it, which is said to moisten the internal organs as well.

If one wishes to resume eating, take three ge of mallow seeds, pound them, and drink them as a decoction. This is meant to "open and guide the stomach" (to help the stomach and intestines recover and adjust to food), after which one gradually returns to a normal diet so as to avoid harming the body. The original text says that this recipe was carved in stone and set up at the Taiping Xingguo Temple on Mount Bie in Hanyang Prefecture.