《神仙服食灵草菖蒲丸方传》

Calamus (shichangpu, sweet flag) is said to be a spirit herb formed from the condensed essential qi (Qi) of water, and it is also a medicine prized by immortals. Those who wander the mountains, live in seclusion, and keep far from the dusty world all take it.

Emperor Wu of Liang (an emperor of the Southern Dynasties' Liang) revered the ancient classics (Jing) and wholeheartedly sought the recipes of immortals, so he searched far and wide for talented and virtuous men. During the Jinglong era, Lü Louyun submitted a memorial saying: "In the past, the Grand Master of Palace Affairs Dongfang Shuo was an immortal in the time of Emperor Wu of Han. He always honored and took calamus, and I hope Your Majesty will do likewise." Emperor Wu of Liang followed the example and took it, and it is said that a hundred ailments receded and his mind became clear and sharp. The emperor sighed and said: "The spiritual qi of heaven and the essence of earth are governed chiefly by spirit (Shen). Immortals honor the Way (Dao), yet receiving and nourishing life takes medicines as its root. 'Chang' (菖) carries the sense of abundance, and 'pu' (蒲) the sense of universality; its essence is spiritual qi. It can broadly cure disease, lengthen life, strengthen the will, and keep the complexion as youthful as a child's for long years without fading. Is it not truly an immortal herb?"

The emperor added that calamus is truly marvelous, and that he too had secretly followed the practice, taking it morning and evening according to the formula, with notable effect. Men and women, old and young, all benefit from taking it; ghosts and spirits often protect those who do, though people in the world do not know the reason. There are no prohibitions attached to taking calamus. If the body becomes feverish, take one or two qian of qinjiao (gentian root, a medicinal herb), simmer it in a cup of water, let it cool, and drink it, and the heat will subside; here qinjiao serves as a medicine used to complement calamus. The date noted at the end of the text is the fourteenth year of the Dali era (a Tang reign title, 779 CE).

According to Yuanming, one need only gather calamus on the ninth day of the ninth month, dry it in the strong sun, pound it into a powder, and mix it with glutinous rice paste to form pills.

Another method of preparation is described in the Taiqing Jing (Scripture of Great Purity). It records that the herb calamus (acorus, a divine immortal herb) may be gathered on the third day of the third month, the fourth day of the fourth month, and so on through the tenth day of the tenth month. When gathering, one should choose calamus growing on clean stones or in water, and the water must flow southward; calamus growing in north-flowing water is unsuitable.

In another method, one selects calamus growing in a clean place and gathers it that same day. At the spot of picking, the hairy rootlets are removed from the roots, which are then washed clean and placed in a vessel, where they are rinsed repeatedly in clear water to remove the murky juices. The firm part of the root is cut into thin slices, dried in the sun on a clear day, then pounded and sifted fine. Next, an auspicious day is chosen to prepare the medicine. Aged glutinous rice is soaked overnight and rinsed, the cloudy water is poured off, and the rice is ground finely in a sand basin. After the impurities have been settled out, the rice is cooked, and the powdered herb is stirred in to form an even mass. Several people then roll the mass together into pills the size of a parasol-tree seed, which are dried in the sun and stored in a container.

For the first dose, take ten pills: first chew a mouthful of rice, then swallow the pills along with it. Afterward, the pills may be taken with wine. Eating some light food or rice after taking them makes them more effective. The original text says there are no prohibitions attached to taking this medicine. Taken for ten months, it aids digestion; for two months, it dispels cold ailments; for three months, all illnesses are healed. After four years of taking it, the spirit (Shen) is vigorous; after five years, the marrow is filled; after six years, the complexion becomes lustrous like a child's; after seven years, white hair turns black again; after eight years, lost teeth grow back; after nine years, the skin becomes smooth and fine; after ten years, the face glows like a peach blossom; after eleven years, the body is light and hale; and after twelve years, one becomes a Zhenren (真人, a "true person," the Daoist term for one who has attained the Dao and become an immortal), who lives forever without dying. One's appearance is like a lotus blossom, one can command the myriad spirits, malign qi cannot approach, and misfortune is dispelled.

The scripture further says that even great immortals ascend to the heavens after taking this medicine, yet people in the world do not know its efficacy. The author says that he saw these records in the Shangqing Jing (Scripture of Highest Purity), but that such secret methods should not be spread carelessly, for fear that people would treat them lightly. Taking calamus pills is said to settle the spirit (Shen), increase strength, fortify the will and spirit, nourish the marrow as well as Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), and turn the beard and hair black. If one persists in taking them, one may attain long life. Another account holds that one's lifespan may reach three hundred and thirty years, or even longer; the efficacy of calamus is beyond compare, and it is only that people lack steadfastness, while the medicine itself is not at fault.

There is yet another method of preparation: calamus gathered on any of the dates mentioned above will do. The outer skin is scraped away, and the root is cut into thin slices and dried in the sun, then pounded and sifted fine as in the earlier method. The powder is mixed with a paste of non-glutinous rice to form a mass, which is placed in an iron mortar and pounded heavily three thousand times, after which it is formed into pills.

Liu Gen said that those who take calamus (changpu) can read widely across many books and study diligently day and night without tiring, even going without sleep day and night, and the hundred spirits will come to attend them.

Bian Que said that calamus can treat wind ailments accumulated over many years, and that it benefits people in the world. Men and women who are ill are all suited to taking it.

In former times, Tao Qian also went without sleep day and night and was attended by the hundred spirits. Tao Qian gathered calamus on the fifth day of the fifth month and made it into pills with honey; it is said that taking them brings benefit and no harm. If the pills are made with cooked rice grains instead, the effect is better still. Old and young alike may take them, they will not suffer illness, and there are no dietary or other taboos. One takes twenty-five pills each morning, twenty-five at noon, and thirty after dusk, without missing or delaying a dose. After a full year of continuous use, it is said that one can expel the "Three Corpses and Nine Worms" (in Daoist belief, impure entities that dwell within the body and hinder cultivation), and from then on will no longer be troubled by them.

The mother of Ye Jingyuan, a Daoist practitioner from Henei County, was struck by wind-stroke (zhongfeng) at the age of thirty-five. Her four limbs could not move, her hands and feet were paralyzed, and her body was emaciated and frail, so that she looked almost like a ghost. She consulted every kind of medical book, reading nearly all of them, and tried many remedies without effect. Later, an Immortal of Mount Shaoshi (a figure from legend associated with the Shaoshi mountain region) had her take this medicine. After a year, it is said, all her ailments were gone, her limbs were comfortable and strong, her skin was rosy, she walked lightly and swiftly, and her hearing and sight were sharp. By the fifth year her appearance looked much younger again, and the power of the medicine was beyond fathoming.

It is also said to treat all kinds of wind disorders, such as pain in the lower back and legs, hemiplegia, numbness of the hands and feet, and paralysis or one-sided wind. It can also treat the Five Exhaustions and Seven Injuries (a general term for various kinds of strain and debility), as well as flare-ups of hemorrhoids and fistulous sores. Patients suffer unbearable pain that pierces to the heart, their sweat soaks through their clothing, and for years they remain as frail as invalids. They may also have dry, rough eyes, painful feet, abdominal discomfort, diarrhea, or dysentery. When the illness becomes severe, a person grows weak and emaciated and has difficulty moving about. By taking this medicine, it is said, these ailments can be uprooted completely.

When epidemic heat diseases, miasmic vapors, and seasonal plagues strike, or when contagious illnesses pass from one person to another, hardly one in ten survives. Yet anyone who takes this medicine will recover in good time.

It can also treat postpartum blood dizziness in women, in which blood and qi (vital energy) surge up into the chest and heart, as well as red and white vaginal discharge, and even a critical case can be saved. One need only add a little Chinese angelica (danggui) to the calamus pills, decoct them into a single bowl, and take it hot; recovery is said to come very quickly.

It can also treat men whose legs feel heavy, who suffer headaches, weakness in the limbs, and exhaustion throughout the body, who stagger as though about to fall when they walk, and who need someone to support them even when seated. After taking this medicine, they will soon be restored to health. It is said that this medicine can treat all the illnesses of men and women alike.

Calamus (changpu) has five virtues, which correspond to the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water): the green qi enters the medicine and corresponds to the east; the white qi enters the joints (the stem nodes) and corresponds to the west; the red qi enters the flower and corresponds to the south; the yellow qi enters the heart (the center of the rhizome) and corresponds to the center; and the black qi enters the root and corresponds to the north.

This medicine also strengthens the bone marrow, nourishes the bodily fluids, replenishes qi, blood, and brain marrow, moistens the five viscera and benefits the six bowels, improves the appetite, relieves dry skin, strengthens the teeth and mouth, calms the hun and po souls and lifts the spirit (Shen), and harmonizes cold and heat so that the channels throughout the body flow freely and the four limbs are at ease. When practitioners of the highest rank take it, they are said to attain immortality; when those of middle rank take it, they can prolong their lives and keep their complexions from fading; and when those of lowest rank take it, they are shielded from the hundred illnesses. It can also dispel all manner of disease. It is said that those who study the Dao (the Way) with a pure and single-minded heart can acquire spiritual powers after taking it.

The names of those who attained the Dao by taking calamus are as follows:

Celestial Master Kou (Tianshi, a Daoist Celestial Master) attained the Dao (the Way) and became an immortal after taking calamus, and to this day calamus still grows in front of his temple. Zheng Yu attained immortality after taking it for twenty years. Gai Chuo attained immortality after ten years, as did the Daoist official He, and Zhou Lu likewise after ten years. Zi Hong and his mother both became immortals. Wang Liang began taking it at the age of eighty-two and attained immortality ten years later. Lu Yuan, an immortal of Mount Shaoshi, attained immortality after ten years of taking it, as did Xiao Guang. Yan Cunzhen and his mother, also of Mount Shaoshi, attained immortality after ten years. Wang Xing of Henei did so after ten years as well. Zhang Shiheng of Heyang became an immortal, and so did Zhou Zhongdao, the magistrate of Wuwu County. Earlier, a commoner of that county, Rong Hong, had also become an immortal, as had Li Liang, a native of Haiyi. Wang Pei of Chuzhou took this medicine for eighty years and then ascended to heaven in broad daylight.

The Immortal says: the Biography of Calamus (Changpu zhuan) comprises twelve scrolls and is kept secretly in the Upper Office (as given in the original; its exact referent is unclear). The work is recorded in full in the Shangqing Jing (Shangqing scripture, a Daoist classic). Here I have excerpted only the essential points for those who study the Dao. The efficacy of calamus is not empty or false; if one gathers it with single-minded devotion and takes it according to the proper method, one will surely prolong life and increase longevity. But if petty people who have no love for the Dao insist on slandering it and recklessly argue over right and wrong, they will bring a short life upon themselves. Although this formula is effective, it may be passed on only to gentlemen who delight in the Dao and its methods, and only to those who cultivate the Way. It must not be casually disclosed, and its secrecy must be strictly maintained.

The Transmission of the Nine Formulas of Calamus, the Numinous Herb Taken by the Immortals