《翠虚篇》

I once read a poem that Zhang Ziyang, a master of Neidan (internal alchemy), gave to the Master of White Deer Grotto. It says: "I hear you have studied medicinal substances for many years. Why not nourish your heart and spirit, and refine mercury and lead? Do not let the wind blow out the lamp, or you will have no one to blame but Heaven for the six realms of rebirth (the cycle through which beings pass among six forms of existence according to their karma)." When I reached this passage, I closed the book, beat my chest, and sighed. Zhang Ziyang spoke these words to someone who already understood the "medicine." How much more do they apply to those who are still ignorant!

So day and night I have used the "wind and lamp" to keep myself alert. For ten years I read and studied difficult texts such as the Golden Hoop and the Chestnut Burr, and for another ten I practiced the arts of golden lead and wooden mercury. Yet it all still tasted as flat as chewing wax. I wanted to find a road beyond life and death, but I was like a fly buzzing against a windowpane, unable to find the way out, and before I knew it a whole lifetime was about to slip away.

Later I respectfully read the Cuixu Pian (Cuixu Chapters) and heard the penetrating discussions of high-minded masters beyond the common world. Only then did I understand the following. In cultivation, what is gathered is called "medicine," the process of refining is called "fire," what coalesces into form is called "elixir," and the warming and guarding of it is called "embryo." These names all speak of one and the same matter. The place where it arises is called the "river source." The vessels that store it, described through images of mountains and seas, are called altar, furnace, cauldron, and stove. By its nature it is called mercury, lead, water, and fire, and by the image of its formation it is called cinnabar and the mysterious pearl. Seen now, they all point to one single thing.

The ancients analyzed primordial Qi with great care and distinguished its different kinds, which is why we have such terms as gathering the medicine, union, forging, and bathing. Just as the hexagrams of the Book of Changes (Yijing) all derive from the Qian hexagram, and the movements of the stars across the heavens all turn on the Big Dipper as their pivot, so the fine distinctions in withdrawing, adding, and applying the process are described in terms of pounds and ounces. If you observe the brightening and dimming of the halo around the moon above and watch the rising and falling of the tides below, you can grasp the principle of choosing the right moment within a single day. If you hold to this without error, even by a hair's breadth, why worry that "the Golden Old Man will not ride the dragon, and the Beautiful Maiden will not mount the tiger" (a symbolic way, in Neidan, of describing the union and circulation of Yin-Yang)?

Within a very short time the seed of the elixir is formed, and within ten months the "infant" (a metaphor in Neidan practice for the sign of the completed elixir) is conceived. The spirit (Shen) is settled, the Qi gathered, and one reaches the state of "a body beyond the body." This is truly a swift path for those who study immortality and a wondrous Dao for rising above the world. The subtle and essential principles of cultivation are all contained in the Cuixu Pian.

In the Crimson Palace (Jianggong, the Neidan (internal alchemy) term for the region of the heart), the Sovereign governs the Qi of pure Yang, and the Qian dragon soars up to the Ninth Radiant Heaven. Within that heaven stands a palace of mysterious, boundless depth, where ten thousand scrolls all point to the profound Dao (the Way). Every page reveals the essentials of the Golden Elixir, and all the countless words come down to a single line: teach people to seek mercury and lead within their own bodies (two medicines in Neidan that symbolize the essences of Yin-Yang), gather them, and place them in the cauldron to be refined.

At night the furnace fire rises, as if blazing atop Mount Kunlun. When the fire on the summit cools, the moonlight turns clear and cold. Above the Qu River the golden crow takes flight, and Chang'e has already met the lunar lodges of the Dipper and the Ox. These verses use the sun, moon, stars, mountains, and rivers to describe the process of Neidan cultivation.

Gathering and refining the medicines takes no more than a moment. A single current of Qi flows continuously through the body and passes through the Three Passes (the three gateways through which Qi ascends and descends in the body). It moves ceaselessly between the passes, and a white stream of Qi rises to the Niwan (the upper Dantian (energy center), in the head). Above the Niwan stands a purple-gold cauldron, in which a mass of purple gold condenses and turns into jade nectar. It flows into the mouth, sweet and cool, moistening the tip of the tongue.

Swallow it again and again, and the jade nectar enters the five organs and six viscera, leaving them at ease and the body healthy. When the red serpent and the azure dragon unite, the body is calm as a windless sea, and the dragon and tiger rest peacefully in their coils. The divine water (Shen-water) is clear, and the Flower Pool (Huachi, where the saliva in the mouth gathers) is still. White snow falls in profusion, as if drifting down upon the surrounding mountains. Within the Seven Guests' towers and the twelve double-hours, the scene of yellow blossoms before the tower stretches deep and wondrous to behold.

This is what is called the essence of lead and mercury. It transforms into marrow and fills the gateways and the source. One need only search within the body for the circulation of the Microcosmic Orbit (the route along which Qi travels through the whole body), moving from the former phase of the moon to the latter, and then from the latter back to the former. As the medicines gradually reach fullness, the whole scene grows round and complete, just like the moment when heaven, earth, sun, and moon meet. The impurities in emptiness disperse of their own accord, as if one were chewing up primal chaos until it is soft as cotton. Turning back and forth, it condenses into a form like a single coin. The whole body becomes warm like jade and solid like gold. The red blood transforms and the white blood circulates, and golden light fills the chamber, stern and brilliant.

The pool's water is clear as autumn, mirroring the bright moon; a golden flower appears like a red lotus. When this moment arrives, the Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy) within the body are complete. There is no need to seek the Dao (the Way) elsewhere, nor to practice Chan meditation separately.

I know you possess such virtue, and I know you have the destiny to become an immortal, so I have set out the principles plainly and will say no more. You need only apply your practice in stillness and grasp the measure of "drawing out and adding in" within the work of refinement and nourishment, which means adjusting the heat of the fire and its increase, decrease, advance, and retreat.

The right time for cultivation need not be tied to a particular month of the year, nor need one search within a month for a particular day. If you can seize the moment within a single day, the days themselves seem to be at your free disposal. Go further and seize a subtler moment within a single double-hour, and the mystery within it grows deeper still.

This subtle and profound principle is hard to explain in words. In truth, it corresponds to the changes of the moon through its new, full, dark, and half phases: the new moon is the first crescent, the full moon is the round one, the dark moon is the end of the month when the moon cannot be seen, and the half moon is the quarter phase. When the Golden Elder joins with the Maiden (Neidan, or internal alchemy, terms symbolizing the corresponding Yin-Yang essence and Qi within the body), they seize the creative power of Heaven and Earth, as though startling the ghosts and spirits.

The clouds and rain disperse, and the ten thousand sounds return to stillness. A single Mysterious Pearl (in internal alchemy, the condensed essence and Qi) is planted in the Jade Field (the field of cultivation within the body, often referring to the Dantian, or energy center). After ten months of tending with the fire, the Sacred Embryo (the inner fruit of internal alchemy) takes form, and then it passes through the cycle of nine turns and nine new moons.

At first, the passes and channels at the Jiaji (the spine's upper back) open. Next, the area around the bladder grows hot as if burned by fire, and the two kidneys within the body seem to be boiled in hot water. At this point, one must stir the movement of Qi at the proper time and send it surging upward to the source of the heart.

The Water and Fire symbolized by the heart and kidneys naturally interact, and the forces symbolized by Metal and Wood come together as well. The single Qi of the Yellow Court (an important region of the body in Daoist inner cultivation) dwells in the central palace and governs the myriad phenomena within the body, so that the mind takes the leading role.

The water's source is clear as a jade mirror. What makes the River Cart (a Neidan term for the circulation within the body that guides essence and Qi) move like a boat? In an instant, flames seem to leap up to the sky, and the Crow's soul and the Rabbit's spirit (the crow and rabbit symbolize the sun and moon respectively, and also stand for Yin-Yang) turn to fine dust.

By silently seeking this essential point in such a way, one can follow a direct path into the realm of numinous reality. When Jing (essence) is clear, preserve it with Qi; as Qi gradually gathers, it can give rise to Shen.

This Shen is formed from the essence of Heaven and Earth, pure Yang and imperishable, and one who succeeds in this cultivation is called a Perfected Person. If you understand these principles, you should cultivate immortality, and the only path to immortality is the way of the Golden Elixir.

There is no second secret to the Golden Elixir: regard your own body as a single plot of field and make it the root of cultivation. Saliva, nasal mucus, semen, bodily fluids, Qi, blood, and humors are all seven tangible things of the Yin category, so how could they be taken as the true and correct path?

The Kan trigram does not refer merely to the kidneys but to the Spiritual Root (a Neidan term for the root of life and of cultivation). The red sun rising from the bottom of the pool and the horse of the north galloping are symbols in Neidan describing the transformations of Yin-Yang and the movement of Qi. To become an immortal, one must cultivate "Seven Returns and Nine Restorations" (a Neidan term for essence and Qi being repeatedly circulated and refined until they return to their origin), and the only path to immortality is the way of the Golden Elixir.

There is no second secret to the Golden Elixir: regard your own body as a single plot of field and make it the root of cultivation. Saliva, nasal mucus, semen, bodily fluids, Qi, blood, and humors are all seven tangible things of the Yin category, so how could they be taken as the true and correct path?

What is called Kan (坎) here is not the kidneys but the Spiritual Root (lingen), the source of the body's vital Qi in cultivation. A red sun rises from the bottom of the pool, and the horse of the north gallops. In a mere moment one can complete the "seven returns and nine restorations" (qifan jiuhuan), the back-and-forth transformation of essence and Qi in Neidan (internal alchemy), and the ten thousand things are born from it.

This is how Qian and Kun, Yin and Yang, truly operate. It does not require sitting dully in silence. If the mind is murky and drowsy, thinking of nothing and holding no thought at all, how could it condense the Embryonic Immortal (taixian), the spiritual crystallization spoken of in Neidan practice?

The Embryonic Immortal forms when Yin and Yang unite and coagulate, and this union happens in an instant. Do you know when the sun turns back? It is in the few days before the winter solstice.

The text goes on to ask: once the Golden Essence (jinjing), the refined essence-Qi of cultivation, has descended, what is used to make it gather again? The Golden Essence lies in the medicine of the Kun Palace, the Yin-aspected direction and inner landscape. Kun is in the southwest, where the river sources are. The moon's radiance shines on the western rivers all day long, and this is the root of the medicine.

Compress a longer span of time into a shorter one, and treat one quarter-hour as a double-hour. A single drop of sweet dew is called the Spirit Spring. Swallow it into the heart and let it rush through the Lung Shu point (the acupoint corresponding to the lungs) and fall to the bladder, where it forms the elixir. Yet the elixir is not fundamentally formed in the bladder. Its source is there, but it is also tied to the liver. The liver belongs to Wood, and when its fluid meets the Golden Essence and then joins with the Qi of Earth, the Great Returned Elixir (dahuandan) is formed.

Do not say that all of this depends on deliberate effort, and do not worry that saying so means falling into attachment to outward forms. One begins from attachment to form and ends in formlessness. Refine Jing into Qi and return the Qi to its root. When the root of Qi condenses into Shen, this is what is called Wuwei (non-action) and spiritual penetration.

It is like a husband and wife joining, when a drop of essence and blood coalesces into an infant. Even when a man and woman are drawn together by feeling, it takes ten months to bear a child. How much more so, then, can the transformations of heaven, earth, and the whole cosmos be held within one's own body.

Inside the body it is as though a tiger roars and a dragon chants. Though the dragon cannot be seen chanting, waves surge ten thousand feet high. Though the tiger cannot be seen roaring, it is like a night wind sweeping through a forest, sounding in great gusts.

From the first coagulation of the Dao of the elixir until the fire phasing deepens, ten months pass, and when the season of Frost's Descent arrives, the soul's spirits rush about, and not even they dare contend with it. The year has twelve months in all, but who would dare perform on their own the "bathing" (muyu), the stage of regulating the breath and gentle nurturing in Neidan, at the Mao and You hours? Thus, after ten months, one enters the Spirit Chamber (shenshi), the inner realm where the Golden Elixir ripens, and the golden cauldron is filled with dragon essence. Once one has mastered the secret of binding the clouds and seizing the moon, what difficulty remains in cultivating by that method?

If one can truly bind the clouds within the mountains and seize the essence of the moon, then one will nod on hearing these words, which shows that one has grasped the hidden meaning of the ancients. After ten months of cultivation, Shen and Qi (spirit and vital energy) enter the Chamber of Spirit (the body and mind where internal alchemy is refined and nourished), and the golden cauldron is filled with dragon essence (the refined Jing and Qi gathered through Neidan practice). Once you have mastered the secret of "binding the clouds and seizing the moon," what difficulty could cultivation still present?

If one can truly bind the clouds within the mountains and seize the essence of the moon, then one will nod on hearing these words, which shows that one has grasped the hidden meaning of the ancients. Why, then, worry about being unable to refine a body capable of ascending to immortality?

The body is like a outer shell, and the heart-mind dwells within it; within the heart-mind lies a priceless treasure. It can bring a person to life or to death, make a person feel hunger or leave them sated.

By following the principle and tracing it back to its source, one can find ease and joy, free from the suffering of hunger and cold. It is said that the signs of such a state, and the proofs gained through cultivation, may appear within a single day.

Cultivation can be as effortless as an idle pastime; the medicinal ingredients are not far away, and gathering them is not difficult. Yet who knows that the fire phasing of alchemy is like a blaze of ten thousand fathoms, enough to burn away the Three Corpses (spirits in Daoist belief that dwell in the human body, drive people to wrongdoing, and shorten the lifespan) and leave the jade furnace clear and pure.

The Dantian (Energy Center; the site of internal alchemy practice in the body) can also bring forth purple lingzhi, and the Yellow Court (in Daoist inner cultivation, the chamber of spirit within the body) can grow crimson cypress. Eat a meal of crimson cypress and one will not hunger for long; take a dose of purple lingzhi and one will keep one's youth.

The whole body seems to bloom with flowers of white milk; the sinews are like gold and the bones like jade, and even in old age there is no dimness of mind. When cultivation is accomplished and virtue is complete, the immortal cranes will arrive; with a single lift of the body, one ascends into the clouds.

The Song of the Great Dao (Dadao Ge)

True Yin and true Yang are the real Great Dao (the Way); they are right before one's eyes and need not be sought afar. Ordinary practitioners burn and refine the returned elixir year after year, and on seeing some changes of blue-green or yellow, they imagine they have achieved fine results.

Those with true aspiration should vow to follow the proper rules and not wear down the Shen (spirit), and only then will they glimpse the Great Dao. If one only knows how to seek the true Yellow Sprout (a term in internal alchemy symbolizing vitality and the elixir), then whoever takes it will enjoy long life without decline.

The Yellow Sprout is not what the world calls lead. If one merely wearies body and mind in vain, there will in the end be no result; having let time slip by like this until the hair turns white, where will one then find the leisure to seek out Chisongzi (Master Red Pine, a legendary immortal of antiquity)?

The Divine Water and the Flowery Pond (terms in internal alchemy for the bodily fluids and the place where they gather) are rare things in this world, and the transmitted secrets are unknown to ordinary people. If one takes the ordinary lead and mercury of the world as the materials for cultivation, one will be misled by similar-sounding teachings and unable to tell the true from the false.

The Azure Dragon chases the White Tiger, and the White Tiger in turn follows the Azure Dragon; the red birds meet and join, producing a resonant, ringing sound. Regulate the breath and move the fire so that the fire phasing follows the changes of Yin-Yang symbolized by these beasts; when the cinnabar enters the belly, the body is filled with vigorous Jing and Qi.

The profound principles of the Five Phases (Wuxing: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) are hard to grasp. The Dragon and Tiger (Long Hu, alchemical terms for the two forces of Yin-Yang) lie hidden within Kan and Li (the Water and Fire of the Bagua, or Eight Trigrams). The methods for refining the Returned Elixir (Huandan) are beyond counting, but the most essential task is to find the true Flower Pool (Huachi, an alchemical term for the key conditions or place required for cultivation).

The place where cinnabar (an alchemical term) resides is not originally red; arranged by the seasons, it occupies the position of the south. The Flowing Pearl (Liuzhu, an alchemical term for the fluid, ever-changing essence or substance) has no fixed dwelling. If you can recognize its source, you will understand it as clearly as Autumn Mineral (Qiushi, an alchemical term).

The solar soul and lunar flower (the essences of sun and moon) are two true primal energies. They nourish the embryonic origin and bring the elixir embryo to term, and so naturally possess a wondrous efficacy. When the transformation is about to be complete, you will see it for yourself, plainly turning into dust in a bright window.

The gate of lead and mercury must not be explained by common worldly accounts. The secret of the Golden Elixir (the elixir achieved through internal or external alchemy) is something even the sages do not lightly state. Do not explain them with the ordinary lead and mercury of the world, and do not regard them as things that follow the turning of years and months and are matched by the regulation of fire.

The two things born of Heaven respond to emptiness and nothingness, and join in affection with one another like wife, child, and husband. The Gate of Three and Five (Sanwu zhi men, an alchemical term) corresponds to the sun and moon; it can distinguish mao and you (the directions and hours represented by the Earthly Branches), and can also discern the beginning and end of all things.

Nurturing lies entirely in following the natural course and receiving the nature of the utmost spirit. When the harmonious qi (Qi) of balanced blending congeals, the body of the elixir is formed. Wealthy and noble people merely harbor the qi of five colors, while in their hearts they understand that lead and mercury unite to form a bond.

Qian and Kun (Heaven and Earth, Yin-Yang) do not shun one another, and gather the primal, harmonious qi drawn from between Heaven and Earth. After ten months of nurturing, mother and child become distinct. How would a wise person ever need to circulate their breath separately to hasten it?

The Mysterious and the Yellow (Xuanhuang, the qi of Heaven and Earth, Yin-Yang) are deep and dim, hard to tell apart; the principles of the gate of lead and mercury are likewise hard to make clear. Worldly people do not know how to fix its source. If you only examine the Five Phases closely, you can quiet the mind and hear the principle within them.

The Infant (Ying'er, an alchemical term for the elixir embryo) is subtle and unfathomable, hard to comprehend. If you merely exhaust your spirit (Shen) to no purpose, you will only suffer in vain. If you understand the words of the sages, you will see clearly the road that leads to Heaven.

Three and four dwell in one chamber, while one and two are paired like husband and wife. A matchmaker is needed to arrange the union, and so they come together, their affection growing close.

The qi of the elixir sinks and floats, shadowy and indistinct, hard to discern. To awaken to this path through confusion takes long years. If you wish to know when the numinous medicine will be complete, the Yang number must in the end return to the Nine Cycles (Jiuzhuan, an alchemical term for the elixir's repeated transformations).

Yin-Yang is deep and unfathomable, and the Azure Dragon and White Tiger (alchemical terms symbolizing the two forces of Yin-Yang) hold each other in check. A matchmaker is needed to arrange the union, and so they come together, their affection growing close.

The movements of Yin-Yang qi (气) rise and fall in a haze that is hard to make out, and by the time one awakens from the maze, long years have usually passed. If you wish to know when the spiritual medicine will be complete, the Yang number must in the end return to nine, the Nine Turnings (the stages through which the elixir is refined again and again).

Yin-Yang (阴阳) is deep and unfathomable, and the Azure Dragon (a symbol of Wood qi) and the White Tiger (a symbol of Metal qi) hold each other in balance. At year's end their transformations turn to mutual devouring: the Tiger restrains the Dragon, and the Dragon gradually wanes.

Heaven (Qian) is the father and Earth (Kun) the mother; the south belongs to the Vermilion Bird, the north to the Black Tortoise. After many years and days, all these images return at last to Earth. Where, then, will people go to look for the Dragon and Tiger?

When the principles of the three accord, that is the root of cultivation, and the light of sun and moon always shines within it. One has already obtained the Three Flowers (the condensation of Jing, Qi, and Shen) and the Golden Liquid and Jade Liquid (the essence of Neidan practice), but the Nine Turnings must still be completed, and the whole process takes ten months.

The Azure Dragon's nature lies in the east, paired with Qian and Kun, and it dwells in the Zhen position (the eastern direction in the Bagua). Once the White Tiger meets it there, how could the Flowing Pearl (a Neidan term for the refined essence produced by transformation) fail to follow?

When the Dragon and Tiger reach the fifth turn, their strength gradually grows, and the scent of chrysanthemum slowly begins to rise from the furnace. Now is the right moment for practice; do not let the years drift idly by.

If you wish to recognize that cinnabar (the red mineral used in alchemy, also meaning the inner elixir) is the essential qi of Wood, you must move it to the western position and unite it with Metal qi. Where will ordinary people find its traces? It lies in a realm of haze and depth, beyond measure.

One who awakens to the Dao is like someone returning to their native home; one who is lost can hardly find the road back. The three move and join in harmony, and their source was originally the same; how could one's nature ever have left its ancestral root?

One originally exists, and one originally does not; the Metal Master (a symbol of Metal qi) is the wife, and Wood is the husband. The dark and distant depths are hard to probe. How would a person of firm resolve, who has already understood, insist on forcing matters?

The qi of Heaven is vast and boundless, and it joins with the qi of Earth; a man's essential qi, harmonized and united, gathers in a single place. The White Liquid (the saliva and fluids produced in practice) transforms in sequence within the furnace gate (the bodily passes where refining takes place). When people take it, the mind becomes clear and the body feels cool.

Metal and Wood both diminish and enrich one another; who can say where their origin lies? The Five Phases (五行) reverse and transform, yet interpenetrate. Of the Yellow Dragon, the Yin Fire, and the White Qi spoken of in the world, who can recognize the Yellow Sprout Lead (a Neidan term for the fundamental essence needed in cultivation) within them?

The lead and mercury of the world are not separate from each other; those who cultivate the Dao have always known that they lie within Kan and Li (water and fire in the Bagua, often standing for Yin and Yang). The worthy store and nourish them together, keeping them from others' sight; the secret method of the Huainan school lies in the Flowery Pool (a place in the practice where fluids gather).

When the Nine-Turn Elixir is complete, the year is nearly over. After the furnace is opened, one hopes to see the elixir, red as a blossoming flower of medicine. After the transformations of water and fire, all return to Earth; where, then, will people go to look for the Old Man of Metal (a symbol of Metal qi)?

Lead and mercury transmit to one another; this secret is rarely known in the world. Cinnabar is its substance, and snow is its outer garment. Hazy and indistinct, it lies right in your own home; you see it every day, yet do not know it.

When the Returned Elixir (huandan, the medicine produced through Neidan, or internal alchemy) enters the mouth, the body naturally becomes light and robust, long-standing illness is cleared away, and malign influences are driven off. From then on, greed and attachment no longer stain the heart and Shen (spirit), and even the worldly temperament of the foolish can be transformed.

Who can grasp that this spiritual elixir comes from beyond the dusty world? When the Three Flowers (sanhua, the condensation of Jing, Qi, and Shen) come together, one becomes intimate with the dragon. Look at those alchemists, before and after: by the time one counts those they have killed, there are already hundreds and thousands, even tens of thousands. (This passage warns of the harm that alchemical practice may cause.)

"Chant of Cuixu at Luofu"

In the autumn of the renshen year of the Jiading era, in the eighth month, the Daoist Cuixu was on Mount Luofu. The ten thousand affairs before his eyes pass away like flowing water; between heaven and earth, where is there even a single lonely sand gull?

"Chant of Cuixu at Luofu"

In the autumn of the renshen year of the Jiading era, in the eighth month, the Daoist Cuixu was on Mount Luofu. The ten thousand affairs before his eyes pass away like flowing water; between heaven and earth, where is there even a single lonely sand gull?

I am about to shed this form and return to the Jade Palace (the abode of the immortals). And so I tell the formula for the Golden Elixir and the regulation of fire (a mnemonic teaching in Neidan on mastering the timing and progression of the fire phases) to Bai Yuchan of Qiongshan, so that he may deeply understand the root of creation and transformation.

The Chan master Daoguang, Xue Zixian, passed the "Essay on Returning to the Root and Restoring Life" to me, and pointed out what the two words "lead" and "mercury" refer to, which is the truly profound within the profound.

Through toilsome cultivation, one passes through ten months in all; gradually gathered and refined, gradually coagulated. Now it has been refined until it penetrates the divine and become "white blood," and I already feel that my four limbs no longer sense cold or heat.

Afterward I still traveled about visiting teachers, and I refuted many doctrines that mislead people like wild-fox spirits. Not one of those teachings truly returns to a single source; all are side paths and crooked ways, not the true Dao.

I fear that you will waste your youthful years, so I explain everything to you from beginning to end. If it is not the method of the Liquid Gold Returned Elixir, there is no need to expend your spirit in vain.

Some deluded people practice "plundering warfare" (caizhan, taking another person's essence and qi through sexual techniques to nourish oneself), devoted solely to sexual indulgence, and call it the "Yin Elixir method of mastering women." They press between the brows with the hand, inhale and swallow the breath, hoping to seize others' essence and qi to nourish themselves, clinging to the doctrine of the "Three Peaks" and falling into wrong views. They call the birth canal the "place of bodily birth" and repeatedly employ the practice of "nine shallow, one deep."

Some deluded people practice "plundering warfare," devoted solely to sexual indulgence, and call it the "Yin Elixir method of mastering women." They press between the brows with the hand, inhale and swallow the breath, hoping to seize others' essence and qi to nourish themselves, clinging to the doctrine of the "Three Peaks" and falling into wrong views.

Seizing another person's jing (essence) and qi (vital energy) to nourish oneself, treating this as cultivation, and clinging to the so-called "Three Peaks" (ssan feng, a term from the sexual arts named after parts of the body) is in fact to fall into heterodox views. To call the genital gate the "place of birth" and to repeat the method of "nine shallow, one deep" is likewise not the proper path.

Xuanyuan the Yellow Emperor, Peng Zu, Rongcheng Gong, Huang Gu, Shouguang, Zhao Feiyan, and others are often said to have been connected with nourishing life or the sexual arts. Yet each of them had his or her own way of reaching Heaven. It is a mistake to treat the pleasures of taverns and brothels as cultivation and testing. Do not imagine that you can meet immortals by seeking delight among the flowers; you would only be trading a golden comb for a piece of broken tile. When the roots have rotted, the leaves may remain green for a while, but they cannot last. When the Sea of Qi (qihai, the lower abdomen where qi gathers) is in turmoil, life too may vanish as swiftly as an arrow.

There are also side-door methods that may bring temporary ease but should not be mistaken for the great Dao (the Way). Some call the swallowing of breath the "Yellow Center," and some call fixing the mind on the crown of the head "Primordial Unity." Some call the circulation of qi "Prior Heaven," and some call the swallowing of saliva the "Spirit Spring." Others fix upon a point beside the spleen and take it as the root of breathing. Others call the mouth and nose the "Mysterious Female" (xuanpin, the gateway from which all things are generated) and use inhaling clear qi and exhaling turbid qi as a way of returning to the source. Some silently pay homage to the Supreme Emperor, eyes turned upward, holding their attention on the Niwan (the inner-landscape site at the center of the head). Some imagine qi rising and descending within the body and call this the "Spine-Gripping Pass." Some hold the breath and swallow saliva, calling it "Jade Liquid" or the "Golden Liquid Elixir." Some concentrate the spirit below the navel or gather their attention between the eyebrows. Some direct their intention along the spine, or keep the mouth closed with the tongue pressed against the palate.

Some hunch the shoulders, draw in the neck, and straighten the back, claiming that this leads straight to "Mount Wangjing" (an imagined Daoist realm of immortals). Some call the mouth the "Flowery Pool" and the tongue the "Dragon," and call the saliva in the mouth "Divine Water," saying it flows within the mouth. Although these side-door practices can bring a sense of comfort, it is hard to see how one could become an immortal through them.

Some release nine out of ten breaths and keep only one, gathering qi below the navel, and call this "embryonic breathing" (taixi, breathing inwardly as a fetus does). Some hold prayer beads to count their breaths, or use water vessels and sundials to measure the hours. Some follow the Lingbao Secret Method, tightening the tailbone and swallowing saliva. Some take the Record of the Meeting of the Perfected at Western Mountain as their guide and sit silently facing a wall all day. People today say they are learning seated meditation, yet they may not truly be as clear as moonlight on a cold pool. They say they are learning to embrace the primordial (baoyuan, guarding the original qi), yet they may not truly be as contained and solid as jade hidden in stone. Others claim that the great Dao is by nature Wuwei (non-action), and so they sit alone, as still as withered wood or dead ashes.

Some claim they have already manifested the realm of "union with the Real" (huizhen), yet they spend their days in silence, facing a wall. People today study seated meditation, but who among them is as clear and limpid as moonlight reflected on a cold pool?

People today study "embracing the origin and guarding the One," but who among them is as warm and unassuming as jade hidden within stone? Some say the Great Dao (the Way) is by nature Wuwei (non-action), and so they sit alone and silent like withered wood or dead ashes. Others say they have already realized the Dao, yet I ask: where did this illusory physical body come from in the first place?

Others laboriously gather the essences of the sun and moon, calling them the celestial hun soul and the earthly po soul. Some spend whole nights ingesting and refining the Seven Luminaries (the sun, the moon, and the five planets of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth), claiming this is the true bloodline of creation. Some circulate "golden essence" at the back of the elbow, with Qi (vital energy) surging and fluids dripping. Some nourish true Qi through the Taiyi method, their minds deep and their stillness profound. Still others circulate the "flowing pearl," or sit in meditative absorption while visualizing a vermilion tangerine.

All of these methods are merely ways of tending physical life. They do not refine a spiritually numinous nature out of the formless. The essential secret of the Dao is to nurture, within non-being, the true primordial source of an infant, and there is a genuine key hidden within this. These subtle and profound workings of Heaven, utterly simple and easy, lie scattered throughout the elixir classics (Jing), yet they are never casually revealed. It is regrettable that fools cling stubbornly to their delusions, pointing and sketching for one another while still going in circles around the word "non-being."

Then there are those of strange conduct and wild behavior, who in their sitting shake and tremble for a long time, bending, stretching, bowing, and leaning in every posture, even crying and shouting like children at play. This happens because the heart has no master, Qi is dispersed and empty, and the Shen (spirit) races about in frenzy. A horde of deluded thoughts quarrel with one another, and with this display they deceive the world and lure the ignorant. They do not realize that this is not union with the Dao and the Real, but union with perversity and delusion, and that they are acting recklessly to no purpose.

When a thought stirs, the breath stirs with it, and the body then leaps and trembles as if putting some divine mechanism to work. Some say this is the arrival of yang Qi. Some say it is the dragon and tiger in battle. Some say it is the "river cart" (a Neidan, or internal alchemy, term for the movement of Qi through the body) turning a thousand times over. Others say it is water and fire merging and galloping at great speed. In truth, such swaying disturbs the Qi of the five viscera, and over time it may lead to a clouded mind and a weakened spirit.

The elixir instructions left by the ancient immortal patriarchs bring forth form from the formless, taking this as the foundation of refining the elixir. Where did any of these ghostly, demonic postures ever come from? They are all reckless propaganda from shallow and ignorant people. I have heard that the sages of former ages, within Wuwei, found nothing they could not accomplish.

True reality (shixiang, the true state of things) arises from formlessness. It does not depend on imagination or conjuring, nor on clinging to elaborate cultivation rituals. Only then does something wondrous appear. The heart and kidneys, moreover, do not stand in a fixed correspondence like that of the Kan and Li trigrams of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams).

The liver, heart, spleen, lungs, and kidneys, along with the intestines and gallbladder, are nothing but empty houses and old fences. Nasal mucus, saliva, bodily fluids, Jing (essence), Qi (vital energy), blood, and humors can serve only as stepping stones that help a practitioner enter the path. Shen (spirit), the hun and po souls, thoughts, intentions, and Qi may seem real, yet on close examination they are not ultimate. Why cling to inward contemplation, to watching over the body, to listening for uncanny sounds, or to gazing at visions such as the deep pool?

Swallowing mist, drinking dew, and ingesting primordial Qi will only exhaust the mind and spirit if they bring no real effect. Some people preach purity, stillness, and emptiness while tending furnace fires and refining elixirs, and they also demand offerings and money under countless pretexts.

They dare to treat Heaven and Earth with contempt, styling themselves the Celestial Worthy of the Primordial Beginning (Yuanshi Tianzun). They accept empty titles under false pretenses, claim spiritual powers they do not have, point out ghosts and spirits, and lecture on karmic cause and effect. Today and tomorrow they are busy seeking rank and reputation; Neidan (internal alchemy) and Waidan (external alchemy) alike are used to recruit followers. They deceive the worthy and hoodwink the sage, and they hold even the sun, moon, and stars in no regard, imagining that they can command fortune and misfortune.

They take on disciples, run about the dusty world, and gather crowds for drinking and revelry. The Dao has always transcended names and forms, and a true immortal needs no outward adornment. Rather than teach others to swear vows, keep precepts, and endure hard cultivation, it is better to apply oneself earnestly first. To be confused oneself is bad enough, but to pass one's errors on to others, and to keep doing so until old age, is worse.

People like this are blind men leading a crowd of the blind, walking together into the wrong path, which is truly worrying. When their blessings are used up and the retribution for their sins arrives, having offended Heaven, they will have nowhere to plead. The Three Origins and Nine Offices (Sanyuan Jiufu, the Daoist divine bureaus governing heaven, earth, water, and the underworld) will record their faults, detain their souls, and subject them to interrogation in the underworld.

Everyone in the world likes to talk about studying immortality, but how many truly investigate the profound principles day after day? Each makes reckless claims and boasts, unwilling to seek the true principle. The good words of the ancients should be remembered: when one's effort is fully ripened, one's speech will naturally accord with the way of the immortals.

Those whose understanding of the Dao (the Way) does not match mine cannot truly be called companions on the Path; without sufficient skill, one cannot grasp the proper measure of things. When I practiced cultivation in the past, after one year my six pulses ceased to show themselves, and my breath returned to its root.

It was as though an infant sat within my Dantian (energy center), resembling me in form and appearance. Looking back on those who have long sought the Dao, I see that after three or nine years of study they often still squander their time, wandering from place to place like itinerant Daoists of cloud and water. I observed calmly to see who might truly be worthy of receiving the teachings. Though they burned incense and begged for instruction, they remained at a disadvantage; only after discerning the crooked from the upright could I tell the foolish from the wise.

I have returned to write this "Song of Cuixu" (Cuixu Yin), which shines as brightly as the sun high in a clear sky. It sets out to sweep away the petty tricks of lesser scholars and to distinguish the timing of the fire from the methods of refining the medicine. Take only one thing, the "gold within water" (a Neidan, or internal alchemy, term for the true lead, or true Yang Qi, used in refining the elixir), and gather it into the creative void; then bring the hundred vessels of the whole body back to their source. Only when the pulse and breath come to rest does the inner elixir begin to coalesce.

At first, the body is like a withered tree leaning against a cold cliff, and when the two beasts (a metaphor for the two Qi of Yin-Yang) meet, they strike as swiftly as lightning. From this the mysterious pearl (a symbol of the coalescing inner elixir) is born in the central, rightful position; the wind and waves subside, and the clouds and rain cease. Within a mere half-hour, the head of the elixir can be seen, soft as a ball of cotton, yet hard as iron once it firms.

At this point one must gather the "blood of the southern crimson phoenix" (a Neidan term for the essence-Qi associated with the heart's fire), and one must grasp the right moment. If this one crucial link is handled properly, everything else will be complete; the vital Qi returns to its root and goes back into the true aperture. Within the body there is a "pot-heaven" (a Daoist term for a realm like an immortal paradise), where the scenery is bright and clear, like pure moonlight.

When the dragon chants and the tiger roars, and lead and mercury unite (lead and mercury symbolizing the Yin and Yang Qi in inner cultivation), the yellow sprout (a sign of the inner elixir's formation) can be seen clearly, as clean as white snow. Whenever Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang, come together, one must seize the opportunity offered by their transformations. On the days and hours of Mao, You, Jia, and Geng, one must bathe and regulate the breath; at the lunar phases of the first and last quarters, the full moon, the last day, and the new moon, one must be careful to guard against danger. Adjust the intensity of the fire according to the day and hour, and let the withdrawing and adding proceed calmly and smoothly.

Among the twelve double-hours, only one is suited to the crucial operation; "nine returns and seven reversions" is a term of inner cultivation referring to the cyclical transformations in the alchemical method. The work of nourishing the elixir must be sustained and steady, and the Xun wind (symbolizing the circulating breath) must always blow toward Kan (Kan and Xun are names of trigrams in the Bagua, or Eight Trigrams, used here to describe the direction and manner in which the breath moves).

Whether walking, sitting, lying down, or eating, one should hold to this practice. The greatest worry is that the fire will cool, leaving the elixir's potency sluggish. Over the course of a year, the circulation of the celestial cycle must avoid the hours of Mao and You; the work of the nine turnings proceeds in order according to the months and hours. The Xun wind always blows toward Kan, and the work of nourishing the nine returns and seven reversions must likewise be kept steady and firm.

Whether walking, sitting, lying down, sleeping, or eating, one must always follow the same method of cultivation without interruption. If one worries that the "fire phasing" (huohou, the mastery of timing and degree in cultivation) is insufficient, the formation of the internal elixir will be delayed. Over the course of a year, the circulation of the celestial circuit is not performed during the Mao and You hours. Through the nine turns of refinement, effort must be applied nine times each month.

In the tenth month, it is as though jade frost descends, and the Sacred Embryo (a metaphor in Neidan, or internal alchemy, for the inner essence and Qi that take form) reaches completion, accompanied by transformations like the roar of wind and thunder. Within a single year, a "child" is born within the embryo; the child bears a grandchild, generation after generation, and the transformations may reach hundreds of millions of kinds. How could the subtlest point of all this be lightly told to others?

One must forget the body, gather in the mind's thoughts, and make no distinction between self and other. In viewing existence and extinction, movement and stillness, one must distinguish the primary from the secondary. In the morning and evening practices, the medicines (the Neidan term for elements of cultivation such as Jing and Qi) may float or sink, and the tallies for refining water and fire together (the method of applying Yin-Yang, water and fire, and mastering the phasing of the fire) must all be carefully held. True Qi (the vital energy of life, as cultivators call it) steams through the whole body, so that one is untouched by cold or heat; the pure Yang Qi fills and circulates, as if one had transcended life and death.

There is a path of "mother and child dividing the embryo," whose subtlety lies in the routes corresponding to the lunar lodges Wei, Ji, Dou, Niu, and Nü. If one wishes to prolong life and rescue oneself from decline, one must cut off lust and walk a side path of cultivation. If one truly wants the body to remain long in the world, one must circulate the fire phasing and refine the divine elixir. After three hundred days of refining the divine elixir, passing through the "seven dissolutions and seven sloughings," one finally achieves the Great Returned Elixir. When the elixir gathers, it condenses into form; when it disperses, it becomes Qi. In heaven and among humans, its nature is the same.

Better to seek a teacher and learn a safe and upright method than to use depraved sexual techniques to extract essence and blood. The ancients said that all things between heaven and earth can return to a single place, and so one should study the Wuwei (non-action) formulas of purity and stillness.

To bind ten thousand acres of cloud among the green mountains, to scoop a bright moon from a deep emerald pool: this describes gathering in the essential Qi of heaven and earth. The One Aperture of the Mysterious Pass (the key passage in Neidan practice) is known to no one; it is the utterly marvelous "knife-tip measure" (daogui, the alchemical term for the elixir or its key ingredient).

One night I met the scholar Lü, who passed down an even more wondrous elixir formula: take the Great Void (the vast, boundless emptiness) as the furnace and cauldron, and seize alive the Crow and the Hare (a designation for the sun and moon) as the medicinal ingredients. Let mountains, rivers, and the great earth burst into blazing fire, and let all things within it give rise to clouds and thunder. The primordial chaos of old is thereby transformed into the myriad things; all phenomena join together in a single moment and form the Sacred Embryo. Here there is no need to speak of pairing Metal with Wood, nor of the Dragon and Tiger dwelling apart in south and north; nor of mother and child, female and male, nor of husband and wife, black and white. What is this elixir called? Even the Supreme Venerable Lord Lao cannot swallow it.

The Supreme Venerable Lord Lao leaves it to those who are pure, tranquil, and at leisure. Having taken it, one may ascend as an immortal and reach the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). (Note: the phrase "dividing south and north" at the end of the original text is unclear in its connection to what precedes it, so it has been interpreted here according to the wording already given above.)

When refining the Great Reverted Elixir (Dahuandan, the elixir in Daoist Neidan, or internal alchemy, that symbolizes the condensation of Jing, Qi, and Shen), there is no need to distinguish between mother and child, female and male, nor to bother with labels such as husband and wife, or black and white. Even Taishang Laojun, the Supreme Venerable Lord, would not swallow such a Great Reverted Elixir himself.

Laojun reserves it for those who cultivate the Dao in stillness and leisure. Once they take it, they can ascend as immortals and reach the realm of the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate). If they then drink a cup of Hongmeng wine (symbolizing the primordial Qi from before heaven and earth were divided, when all was one undivided whole) and take a small amount of the elixir, their complexion and bodily vigor will be strengthened.

Let the vast sea turn into mulberry fields; to my mind, the time spent cultivating within the gourd has not yet reached a single year. I know your resolve is as firm as iron, and that is why I have transmitted this teaching to you in secret, again and again.

The mystery within is truly hard to explain in a few words; the methods of the immortals are, by nature, a matter of following what is natural. You should begin your practice without delay, condense the Immortal Embryo (the sacred embryo or immortal body spoken of in Neidan practice), chant aloud, and return to the realm of Penglai.

On the Unity of the Elixir Foundation (Danji Guiyi Lun)

The ancients said, "Grasp the One, and the myriad things become clear." Ah, there is truth in these words. My reason for cutting away the tangled and confused material in the alchemical classics, and for marking out the essential points in the Daoist books, is to make this principle plain.

This "One" is the root of Golden Elixir cultivation, the source of many scriptures and treatises, and the origin of all transformations. In summary: the celestial hun-soul and the earthly po-soul refer to the essence of the sun and the radiance of the moon; red lead and black mercury refer to the essence of metal and the fluid of wood; the crow and the hare refer to the tortoise and the snake, and the horse and the ox to the dragon and the tiger; cinnabar and quicksilver are the root of the Yellow Sprout and the White Snow; and cinnabar sand and autumn mineral are linked to White Metal and Black Tin. At times they are called man and woman, or husband and wife; at times they are explained through metal, wood, water, and fire; they may borrow directions such as Qing, You, Xu, and Yang, or trigram images such as Qian, Kun, Kan, and Li. Some call it the River Cart or the Yellow Chariot, some the Exchanged Pear and Fire Jujube, or Golden Sand and Jade Mercury; there are also names such as Old Man Ding, the Yellow Dame, the Infant, and the Maiden. The terms are many and bewildering, dividing into black and white, green and yellow, yet in reality they all speak of the two forces of Yin-Yang, and in the end they are one and the same thing.

The Altar of Guarding the One, the Gate of Wu and Ji, the single aperture of the Mysterious Pass, the Gate of the Mysterious Female, the Divine Water and Flowery Pool, the lead furnace and earth cauldron, the cinnabar tripod, the Crescent Moon Furnace, the Palace of Central Yellow, the Mansion of the Original Cinnabar, the Spirit Chamber and Qi Mansion, the Guanyuan Dantian (energy center), the root of breathing, and the place of condensation: these names likewise all point to the same place or the same key point of practice.

Winter and summer solstices, spring and autumn equinoxes, mao and you, jia and geng, the waxing, full, waning, and dark moon, zi and wu, si and hai, yin, zi, kun, and shen, as well as the twenty-four solar terms, the seventy-two pentads, the movement of a year, and the cycle of a month: all of these too serve to explain the transformations of Yin-Yang. What are called the hour of Kan and Li, the month of the Hare and Rooster, the cavity of Qian and Xun, and the gate of two and eight, along with "Zhun in the morning, Meng in the evening" and "Gou by day, Fu by night," should never be understood to mean that cultivation must follow outer seasons, calculating the weather day by day and counting with precision. To think that one must truly observe the shadow of the sun or watch the night clepsydra (an ancient timekeeping device) in order to schedule practice is to err very far.

One should understand that the changes of heaven and earth across a year can serve as a metaphor for the movement of Jing and Qi throughout the body, and the changes of day and night can serve as a metaphor for the different states of Jing and Qi. Jing and Qi pass through decline and flourishing, rising and falling, floating and sinking, clarity and turbidity. The sages of old borrowed natural phenomena of heaven and earth to explain cultivation, but did not mean that one should copy the outer calendar. The changes in the numbers of heaven and earth hinge upon the practitioner's work in the present moment. Phenomena such as Yin-Yang, cold and heat, life and death, waxing and waning, whether as large as a year or as small as a day and night, can all be manifested within a single moment of practice.

This "single moment" is also one place, one root. Only by understanding this "One" does one know that gathering and refining have their methods and application has its proper measure, that the quantities of the medicines and the fire phasing of water and fire all have their standards, and that one can grasp the essential secrets of withdrawing and adding, advancing and retreating, bathing and joining, while carefully guarding against deviation. If there is the slightest error, it will be like the sun and moon straying from their courses, or gold and mercury being set in separate furnaces. Only one who deeply understands the work of creation can grasp why the meaning of Yin-Yang is so hidden.

"One Yin and one Yang is called the Dao (the Way)": the Dao is the Golden Elixir, and the Golden Elixir is this Dao. The ancient immortals practiced the sevenfold return and ninefold reversion, and the Golden Liquid Great Elixir, which is a shortcut into the gate of the Dao. Hence such sayings as "a moment of effort, and union comes of itself," "the returning wind blends together," and "in a hundred days the work is complete." Nine months of cultivation is called the ninefold transformation, and one year of nurturing is called the Sacred Embryo. The reason this Dao remains hidden and unrevealed is that Heaven treasures it and is unwilling to disclose it lightly. To whom it is transmitted bears naturally upon matters of fortune and misfortune.

Saliva, nasal mucus, semen, bodily fluids, Qi, blood, and humors may be called Yin substances; and the Niwan, the Dantian, the heart, kidneys, spleen, and lungs, as well as the tailbone gate, the spinal pass, the mouth, and the nose, likewise cannot be taken as the one true place of cultivation. If one fixes attention only on these sites, how can one understand how metal and wood are separated, or how water and fire come to stand in the state of completion or non-completion?

One should use the principle of "returning to the One" to test the scriptures of the various schools and the sayings of the ancients. Do not suppose that Shen (spirit) and Qi will return of themselves, and do not equate meditative absorption directly with the union of Yin and Yang. Even if one has some understanding, this will not necessarily cause the hundred vessels to return to their source, or open the nine passes, or bring about the convergence of the three fires and the return of the eight waters to one.

As for Shen entering Qi to form the embryonic fire, and then using fire to refine the medicine into the elixir, this is still less easily understood. Some say Shen protects Qi; some say that when Shen condenses, Qi gathers; others say that Shen and Qi return of themselves. Some spend their whole lives investigating and remain bewildered, even sighing that everything returns to emptiness. How would they know that the marvel of the elixir's foundation lies precisely in the "True One"?

If someone aspires to roam the realms of the numinous and to meet Hua Tuo and Chisongzi (a legendary immortal of ancient tradition) amid the clouds and mist, let them understand: grasp the One, and the myriad things become clear. For this reason I have written the Treatise on Returning the Alchemical Classics to the One and give it to those who seek to learn. The teaching of Chen Niwan of Yingchuan (a Daoist master) on the Taiyi Knife-Measure is likewise transmitted to later generations through it.

Shuidiao Getou: Presented to Jiuxiazi, Ju Jiusi

To seize the subtle mechanism of Heaven, one must observe the stars when they shine brightest at midnight. That single drop of essence, like a bead of dew: who carries it up to the "rice-blossom tip"?

Refine it at this very moment, as though a green lotus were closing around the medicine. One drop falls and shatters the autumn waters of the Jade Pool. A breeze first stirs amid the myriad sounds, and beneath the bright moon there is a single sand gull. This describes the Purple River Chariot (a Neidan term for the path along which Jing and Qi circulate in the body) riding the Red Phoenix (a symbol of Yang Qi) into the Jade Tower (a symbol of the inner chamber of the elixir within the body).

This is called "scorching." That single drop of essence, like a bead of dew: who carries it up to the "rice-blossom tip"?

Refine it at this very moment, as though a green lotus were closing around the medicine. One drop falls and shatters the autumn waters of the Jade Pool. A breeze first stirs amid the myriad sounds, and beneath the bright moon there is a single sand gull. The Purple River Chariot rides the Red Phoenix into the Jade Tower. This is called Jade Mercury (a Neidan term for a refined, subtle Yin substance), which matches perfectly with Lead and Earth (Neidan terms for different medicines or elements).

The Five Qi (the Qi of the Five Phases within the body) and the Three Flowers (the fruits of cultivating Jing, Qi, and Shen) gather at the crown of the head. Blow upon the natural true fire and refine it into a form like a red pomegranate. After ten months the Immortal Embryo (in Neidan, the spirit-embryo that signifies the completed elixir) comes forth, and thunder and lightning deliver the "Jinci."

Queqiaoxian: Presented to Dianxuzi, Sha Daozhao

The red lotus holds the medicine, and the dew congeals into green, falling drop by drop into the Flower Pool (a Neidan term for the bodily fluids or the region of the Dantian). Carry it back to the Golden Cauldron (the symbolic place where the elixir is refined), summon Lord Ding (a symbolic figure in Neidan), and refine it into something like a single vermilion tangerine.

The Three Flowers spit forth flames of fire, and clouds of five colors encircle the bright moon, above which lies the Golden Embryo and Spirit Chamber (the inner chamber that nurtures the inner elixir). In the bridal chamber clouds and rain meet, gentle as the spring breeze. After ten months, the cultivation of the Immortal Embryo is complete.

Zhenzhu Lian: Presented to Haiqiongzi, Bai Yuchan

Everyone has the potential to complete the great medicine of the Golden Elixir, but it must be grasped through transmission from heart to heart and from mouth to ear.

A piece of White Dragon Liver (a symbolic medicine in Neidan), a cup of ghee wine (a symbol of refined bodily fluids or medicine): seek only on high for what is held within Kan (seek, from the place symbolizing "the high," what the Kan trigram contains), so that the Southern Star shifts and the Northern Dipper turns.

How laughable that the Golden Elder and the Maiden (Neidan terms for the two forces of Yin and Yang) struggle against each other.

You need only blend Lead and Mercury (Neidan terms for the Yin and Yang medicines used in refining the elixir) evenly, watch the changes of the moon and the ocean tides, and master the increase and decrease of the fire phases.

One arrow pierces the Three Passes (the three gateways through which Qi travels in Neidan practice), and only then is the power of an immortal revealed. The Golden Elder and the Maiden struggle against each other; you need only blend Lead and Mercury evenly, watch the changes of the moon and the ocean tides, and master the increase and decrease of the fire phases. One arrow pierces the Three Passes, and only then is the power of an immortal revealed.

The Hare has just arrived and settles where the Crow dwells, and soon Brother Turtle swallows the Snake. Do you know that those two, Zhongli Quan and Lü Dongbin (immortals of Daoist legend, together known as "Zhong-Lü"), are both my teachers and friends?

Poetic Instructions on the Golden Elixir

Half a pound of true mercury (a mercury-class substance in alchemical terminology) and half a pound of lead lie hidden in the Spiritual Source (the inner root), older than the Taiji (Supreme Ultimate, the primordial state before heaven and earth divided). One must gather them properly at the Zi hour (midnight), refine them into a golden liquid, and then send it down into the Dantian (the place in Neidan, or internal alchemy, where essence and qi are stored and nourished).

With the divine talisman (a symbolic sign or ritual formula used in cultivation) and a medicine like white snow, one forms the Mysterious Pearl (a symbol of Neidan). This is the first step in refining the Golden Elixir. Through all twelve double-hours, one must recognize the Zi hour and never let the mercury blossoms in the golden cauldron wither.

Water and fire blend as dragon and tiger meet, while the Golden Elder and the Maiden (alchemical names for lead, mercury, and similar substances) contend for mastery. Green recedes and white appears, then turns to black. Only when red appears is the medicine sent into the Yellow Palace (a region of the body used for inner cultivation).

After the Jade Furnace (the symbolic furnace of alchemy) has turned three times, the Yellow Sprout (the first sign of the inner elixir) appears. A red lotus seems to bloom within the fire. In the Crimson Palace (the heart, as an inner-cultivation site), the practitioner gazes greedily at the night moon, and takes cinnabar in a medicinal liquid like a cup of fine wine.

On the fourth turn of the red furnace, the Four Spirits (deities or inner forces associated with the four directions and four images) are set in motion. Talismanic methods and fire phasing are added to warm and nourish the embryonic essence. Dragon and tiger circle the cauldron, vying for the power of creation, and the Xun wind (a symbol of the movement of wind or breath) stirs the lamp flame upon the water.

On the fifth turn, the White Horse Sprout (a symbol of the elixir's formation) at last takes shape. Then the Six Thieves (the six senses, or six factors that disturb body and mind) are made to drive the River Chariot (the route by which essence and qi circulate in Neidan). When the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water) are complete and thunder rumbles, it is the right time to climb the tower and observe the mercury blossoms.

Once the Jade Liquid and the Jade Spirit Elixir are refined, one can subdue the Tortoise and Snake (symbols of Yin-Yang and of opposing forces such as dragon and tiger) in an instant, making them circle the cauldron and transform together. The Xun wind stirs the lamp flame upon the water.

On the fifth turn, the White Horse Sprout at last takes shape. Then the Six Thieves are made to drive the River Chariot. When the Five Phases are complete and thunder rumbles, it is exactly the time to observe the mercury blossoms.

When the Jade Liquid and the Jade Spirit Elixir are refined, the Tortoise and Snake can be subdued in an instant. This is already a sign that cultivation has reached the middle stage of accomplishment. One must go on tending the fire in the Jade Furnace and never let the heat cool.

Heaven has seven stars and earth has seven treasures. The human body has seven orifices, whose master is the brain. The Seven-Times-Returned Spirit Cinnabar (an elixir, or a symbol of the Neidan elixir, transformed many times) causes the Yin qi to retreat, and the lead furnace needs only a gentle fire.

On the eighth turn, elixirs such as the Divine Brocade and the Jade Pure Cinnabar are completed. At the Mao and You hours (dawn and dusk), the adding and withdrawing of fire must be free of error. When thirsty, one drinks from the Flower Pool (the saliva in the mouth), and when hungry, one feeds on qi. The Yellow Dame (a symbol of the harmonizing of lead and mercury and of the joining of Yin and Yang) keeps watch over the golden flower all day long.

On the ninth turn, the Purple Gold is refined into a supreme treasure. The Heavenly Gate and the Earthly Door (the passes through which qi enters and leaves the body) close of their own accord. Medicine weighing three hundred and eighty-four zhu is dispersed into thirty-six thousand grains.

The Azure Youth (a Daoist immortal figure) holds up a mirror toward the Niwan (the inner-cultivation site in the head), and the auspicious clouds of the five organs rise straight to the upper gate. The hours of Zi, Wu, Yin, Shen, Si, and Hai correspond in harmony. When the embryonic elixir is complete and its number fulfilled, it emerges from Kunlun (a symbol of the head or of a high inner-cultivation site).

One shifts the Northern Dipper toward the southern stars and passes through the Yellow Court (an inner region of the body) into the Purple Court (a deeper inner region). The celestial cycle turns, and a full year's work of creation is accumulated. When the sun shines at its height, the moon hangs high in the third watch of the night.

In Neidan (internal alchemy) practice, the "lead" and "mercury" must correspond to the movement of the stars in the heavens. Only after the sun has completed thirty-six conjunctions can one gather and refine in accordance with the cosmic images. Without understanding these principles, there is no way to gather and refine. Who has ever said that one can enter the Purple Courtyard (the realm of immortals, or the inner state attained through cultivation) merely by staying in an ordinary courtyard? Only after a year of study and concentration can one grasp true creative transformation: when the sun shines directly overhead, the moon has already traveled to the third watch of the night.

In Neidan practice, the "lead" and "mercury" must correspond to the movement of the stars in the heavens. Only after the sun has completed thirty-six conjunctions can one gather and refine in accordance with the cosmic images. Without understanding these principles, there is no way to gather and refine. Who has ever said that life can be born before heaven and earth?

Yellow cinnabar, ceruse, and litharge are all mineral materials used in refining elixirs, and whether they are used properly determines the success of the transformation. If one has not grasped the Method of Yang True Unity (a cultivation method concerning yang energy and the Way of True Unity), how many people in this world truly master its secrets?

The essence of red lead is called true mercury, and the finest part of black mercury is called true lead. Do not seek transformation in the kidneys; instead, look to the heart for the Qi (vital energy) of the Prior Heaven.

Spirit mercury is not ordinary quicksilver, and cinnabar can also mislead people if they judge it only by whether it is red. Who can recognize these genuine elixir materials? Those who can are like immortals riding away on phoenixes, transcending the mortal world.

Among the three true forms, one is especially rare. They coalesce into something wondrous that few people know. Do not say merely that the dragon and tiger come from the same source; it is the union of the three that forms the foundation on which the Dao (the Way) of the immortals is established.

Saturn, the Star of Stability (Zhenxing), corresponds to the center. When it unites with Yanshui, the color turns yellow. This differs from ordinary gold, silver, or iron; what is refined depends entirely on the union of Yin-Yang.

Do not go near graveyards or other defiled places, and avoid sites where battles have been fought or where people have met violent deaths. The Kun earth (symbolizing earth and yin) gathers spiritual energy and can form a blessed site; such a place is the small grotto-heaven (a quiet, blessed place suited to cultivation) of those who seek immortality.

Quiet places in the mountains and forests are best suited to cultivation, though one may also practice in the world of dust or in the countryside. When the virtue of earth (symbolizing the character of earth and its stabilizing power) is deep, the elixir will be refined deeply; but if one acts recklessly, disaster will soon follow.

The cultivation chamber should face east to greet the morning sun, and it should have a bright window on the west side to reflect the setting sun. This arrangement has its own names and reasons, yet few understand it; as the yin energy grows stronger toward evening, do not close the Golden Chamber (the room used for refining elixirs or for cultivation).

The Eight Gates (gateways symbolizing directions and the entry and exit of energy) open and close in step with the changing seasons, and every advance and retreat must be determined by the rules of metal. Do not extinguish the bright furnace or shut the hundred doors (the furnace fire and furnace doors, and other elixir-refining apparatus); settle the two cauldrons securely so that they correspond to the Three Terraces (star names, also symbolizing particular directions and orders).

The six hundred texts of elixir-refining instructions explain rising and falling, ascending and descending. The movements of the three lights, sun, moon, and stars, must follow the waxing and waning of the sun and moon. The timing of the fire and the proportions of the ingredients are determined by the progression of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams), checked against the clepsydra, and there must be no pause or loss of timing.

When the yin fire ceases, the yang fire fades with it; the principle behind this unfolds according to the sequence of hexagram lines established by Emperor Xi (Fuxi). One must also observe the dark and bright phases of the moon at the horizon, and only after passing through six phases is one cycle of waning and renewal (the lunar cycle from the dark moon at the month's end to the new moon) complete.

The four seasons change as the handle of the Northern Dipper (the "ladle" stars) turns, the day and night are divided into double-hours, and the sequence of the hundred "quarters" is plainly visible. The Primordial Lady (Yuanjun, a revered Daoist deity) has solemnly re-established the rules, and the timing required for cultivation is marked out clearly.

In the heavens there are plainly twelve double-hours, and people have divided them into the stages of refining the elixir. If you think the time shown by the clepsydra (an ancient water clock) is not worth relying on, you do not understand the subtlety within it, and the elixir will hardly be completed.

The mind should be empty, still, and at ease, cutting off scattered thoughts; it is fitting to keep to stillness and turn one's gaze back upon oneself. Know that so long as you have a firm and unyielding resolve, there is no need to worry that cultivating the elixir offers no place to begin.

One who truly understands knows that some things are better left unsaid, while one who does not understand speaks loftily and endlessly. Although no one at present can tell the true from the false, I fear you will be deceived by yourself for your whole life.

Once a person has attained the Dao (the Way), they should be like an infant, not quarreling with others over the rights and wrongs of idle talk. If you cannot examine this carefully with your heart and later regret it, whom can you blame?

Those who cling to things find it hard to attain the true Dao. To practice in the morning and stop by evening is also not sincere. Only one who cultivates sincerely and sees results can be called someone who truly understands practice.

The father's Qi (vital energy) and Jing (essence) and the mother's blood join to form the embryo, and the embryo's form naturally resembles its parents. One must recognize the true father and mother within one's own body in order to grasp the Qi of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), the subtle energies that constitute all things and are also used in Neidan (internal alchemy).

At the hour of Zi (midnight), the movement of Qi reaches the Weilü Pass (the gate at the lower end of the spine), then rises along the Jiaji (the passage along the spine), turning like a river cart and passing through the crown of the head. A crystalline elixir body enters the furnace, and the Red Dragon, holding mercury-Qi, rises to the Niwan (the cultivation center in the head).

The Qi enters the Dantian (energy center, the abdominal site of internal alchemy) and nourishes the White Crow. Only then does the Yellow Sprout (the first sign of the inner elixir) begin to coagulate. The Divine Water of the Flower Pond (the saliva in the mouth) holds the radiance of the bright moon, and the Dao-gui (a tiny measure of elixir or essence) obtained is as large as a grain of hemp.

Know that the medicine must pass through the proper heat of the fire to become the elixir, and once the elixir is formed it must pass through the fire's timing again in order to become immortal. If you apply effort even for a brief moment, the effects of cultivation will appear; but for it to fully mature, three years are still required.

The great Dao is plainly right before us, yet people of the present age do not understand it, and so they miss their chance and walk toward death. The Yellow Sprout is originally the Qi of heaven and earth, and the root of the Divine Water is bound up with mercury.

Once you recognize the source, there is no need to hurry. Three and three combine to make nine, and then there is the Qi of pure Yang; when the movement of Qi is quietly penetrated and transformed, the radiance of Shen (spirit) appears. From then on one can turn toward the heavenly realm and draw near to the Jade Emperor.

Unite yourself with heaven, earth, and primordial Qi, so that "child and mother" (the mutually complementary Yin-Yang essences in cultivation) meet; the subtlety within is difficult to put into words. Taking mercury first and lead afterward is the key to cultivating the great Dao. Do not let the two lose their pairing, lest, like a crane flying off alone, you lose your companion on the path of the elixir.

This treasure has been transmitted since antiquity according to the rule of "two and eight." When an auspicious hour arrives, three and three combine to make nine, and the nature of pure Yang appears. It secretly communicates with transformation and manifests a wondrous radiance; from here one may pay homage to the celestial realm and draw near the Jade Emperor.

When the qi (vital energy) of heaven and earth joins with the qi of the original source, and child meets mother, the subtlety within cannot be lightly spoken of. Mercury is used first and lead afterward; this is the great Dao (the Way). Do not let the two lose their union, like a crane flying alone to the edge of the sky.

This treasure has been transmitted since antiquity according to the rule of "two and eight." One must place it in the furnace in an auspicious year and an auspicious month. After ten days of firing, when one grasps the proper moment, the medicine will begin to sprout and take form, and the mercury will naturally reach fullness.

A still mind that needs no words is the most fundamental principle; the heart no longer clings to anything. Turn the mind and spirit (shen) back, apply a little effort, and in an instant one understands; from then on, all things are at ease.

Red lead and black mercury are the foundation of refining the Great Elixir. Few in the world know the secret of the union of red and black. If the two medicines can be joined into Wu-Ji (the symbol of the central Earth qi), the Daoists call it "one knife-measure" (a single portion of the spiritual medicine).

The Sun Crow (the golden crow in the sun) and the Moon Hare (the jade hare in the moon), two wheels at their fullness, both have their root in the primordial qi, yet are very difficult to gather. At night, gazing at the moon and observing its qi, one can gather them; when the heavenly Hun soul and the earthly Po soul coagulate, they become the spiritual elixir.

Do not think that refining the Golden Elixir is easy; one must study diligently and strive with effort. Ask your teachers sincerely and learn from them; the principle is nowhere else, but right before your eyes.

Before refining the returned elixir, one must first nourish the lead. Tortoise and snake (symbolizing the qi of Yin and Yang) unite into a single qi and give rise to the primordial qi. When the mind is empty and still and the inner qi is full, Yin and Yang can be harmonized, and in the end they congeal into one perfectly round grain of spiritual cinnabar sand.

Walking, it is together; sitting, it is together; sleeping, it is together; all day long it accompanies you before your eyes. Once you recognize this medicine, you must hurry to gather and refine it; the moment you see it, it is the "lead of the water country" (an internal alchemy medicine metaphorically described as lead within water).

It is not lamplight, sunlight, moonlight, or starlight; the spiritual nature of the medicine has its own extraordinary radiance. Lower the eyelids and gaze for a long time at that bright place, and a perfectly round true nature will appear.

Seeming dull and foolish all day does not mean having gained nothing; it is simply quietly hiding the work within daily life. At first, the Jade Fluid (the saliva spoken of in inner refining) rises like flying snow; gradually, the Golden Fluid (the essence formed in cultivation) fills the old dwelling within the body.

The numinous mercury can penetrate the realm of truth and undergo many transformations, but it is suited to being guarded and kept, not overused. Silently circulate the Divine Talisman (the principle symbolizing the movement of qi in inner refining) so that the Three Passes (the bodily gateways spoken of in cultivation) open through, and the lead will follow the waters of the Yellow River into Daluo (the celestial realm in Daoism).

Jia-Dragon and Geng-Tiger (symbolizing Yin and Yang, lead and mercury in internal alchemy) guard each other; only when lead and mercury share one furnace will the refining succeed. The ancients used the principle of "the union of Heaven and Earth" (the joining of Yin and Yang) to explain this process, and Kan and Li (symbolizing water and fire, Yin and Yang) naturally unite.

The fire phasing (huohou) of the Zhoutian cycle (the timing by which breath, intention, and the course of refinement are regulated in Neidan, or internal alchemy, practice) lies deep and subtle, yet it still shows observable signs. Circulation, increase, and decrease each have their proper moment. The phases need not be divided mechanically into eight seasonal nodes. One need only attend carefully to every moment, allowing not the slightest error.

The Five Phases (Wuxing), the Four Images, and the Kan trigram must all be contemplated together. The poetic verses have already made this plain, but how many people can truly grasp the method for putting it into practice?

If you have not yet met a teacher, you may first read this poem, which holds the secret of cultivating the Four Images and bringing the Kan trigram into harmony with the other trigrams. Even if you cannot reach the immortal isle of Penglai, you can still slow the onset of old age in the human world.

By day, set the Spirit Banner in motion; by night, warm and nourish the Fire Mushroom. In using "extraction and addition" (chouchan, the method in Neidan of regulating the fire and increasing or decreasing Yin and Yang qi), be especially careful to avoid mistakes. If you have no like-minded companion to confirm and appreciate your work with you, you must constantly check whether the fire in your furnace is properly tempered.

The Zhen trigram moves and returns to the Dui position in the west. The Maiden (chanü, a Neidan term for the Yin or mercury-like element) within the three Yang lines stirs in the bright cauldron. The Xun wind stirs the coral tree, finally entering the Gen position and returning to Kun, and another cycle is complete. Here the positions of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams) and natural imagery are used to describe how the internal alchemy circulates.

Clench the fist, close the eyes, and guard the Flowing Pearl (liuzhu, a Neidan term often referring to the lively essence-qi or true intent within the body). This is the path into the practice. The Wuzhen Pian (Awakening to Reality) also asks: a house cast of true gold, how could it easily decay? Here "true gold" serves as a metaphor for a solid, indestructible fruit of cultivation.

Who understands the mechanism of the change from short to long? Among the twelve double-hours, only one is the key. In the practice, one must follow the dark moon, new moon, full moon, and half moons (marking the end of the lunar month, its beginning, its fullness, and the phases between) to govern the advance and retreat of the fire, and in the end refine the ninefold Golden Elixir (Jindan) and form the Infant (ying'er, a Neidan term for the state after the elixir is complete).

On Mount Kunlun, sparks of fire fly. Metal and Wood meet where Kan water and thunder-lightning intersect. When the medicine is ripe and the moon is full, its measure must be sufficient. At that moment, add the fire in good time, and do not let the opportunity pass.

To refine the Great Medicine, one relies on Shen (spirit), Qi (vital energy), and Jing (essence), gathering them in one place so that they congeal and fuse. The elixir's head is the prenatal qi (xiantian qi, the primordial qi that cultivation seeks). From it the Yellow Sprout (huangya, a sign of the elixir's early maturation) is refined, and from that the Jade Blossom (yuying, a symbol of its essence) is born.

The secret in truth lies in just a few brief words. People in old age follow different paths of cultivation, some easy and some hard. First, awaken to what the teacher says through the "knife-tip measure" (daogui, a metaphor for a tiny amount of elixir or a crucial key instruction), and then gradually gather and refine, until the ninefold Returned Elixir is achieved.

Gather the essence and qi drawn from two places into a single furnace, and a pool of true water congeals into true cream. Swallow the flavor of the "knife-tip measure" into the belly and use it to irrigate the Yellow Sprout, and the Jade Talisman (yufu, a symbol of the marvelous fruit of a completed elixir) will arise.

Draw in the hundred vessels of the whole body and make them flow back to their source, and the image of mercury and lead joining will naturally appear. Heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers are everywhere precious treasures, but who knows that the prenatal qi is in truth within oneself?

Before my eyes in the palace, sparks of fire fly, and thunder and lightning seem to overturn the white snow. My body is wrapped in the dripping sound of the water clock, and the essence and blood of the Three Corpses (sanshi, three spirits said in Daoism to dwell in the body and hinder cultivation) can all serve as provisions against hunger.

The Five Phases (Wuxing: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water) and the Four Images (sixiang, a concept Daoists use to explain the changes of heaven and earth) need not be sought beyond the external world. They are in fact within the heart, in the narrow space of each person's inner square inch. By working with the transformations of Yin-Yang, one can accomplish the profound Dao (the Way), and it seems even rubble might be turned to gold.

In the Crescent Moon Furnace (yanyue lu, the cauldron that symbolizes the refining of body and mind in Neidan, or internal alchemy), the Qi (vital energy) of the Kan trigram rises. In a moment, one will naturally obtain a knife-tip measure (daogui, a small and precious amount of elixir). I tell these words to my master's master, Zhang Pingshu (Zhang Boduan, a Northern Song Daoist and Neidan master): the principle to which ten thousand sages and a thousand worthies return lies in the West.

In the midst of drunken sleep, when the dream is at its ripest, it is as though a boat loaded full of treasures were sailing past Caoxi (a place name, often used to refer to the seat of the Chan lineage). Once one sees through the root of the alchemical method, the key to gathering and releasing, to transformation itself, lies entirely in oneself.

The road to the southwest lies precisely in the west.

In the midst of drunken sleep, when the dream is at its ripest, it is as though a boat loaded full of treasures were sailing past Caoxi (a place name, often used to refer to the seat of the Chan lineage). Once one sees through the root of the alchemical method, the key to gathering and releasing, to transformation itself, lies entirely in oneself.

On the southwestern road the moonlight is bright, and from here the Great Medicine (dayao, the pure and refined elixir spoken of in Neidan) begins to arise. Remember a line from an ancient poem: above the Qu River, the Magpie Bridge spans across.

Thirty days in a month seem to merge into a single day. The imagery of Neidan cultivation is enough to seize the creative power of heaven and earth. When the two numbers of Yin and Yang unite, they become the root of the elixir; to search distantly for the tiger and dragon (images in Neidan that symbolize the two Qi of Yin and Yang) is, in the end, futile.

At the Weilü (the tailbone, a vital passage for Qi in Daoist inner cultivation), the black and white Qi pass through to the Dantian (energy center), where a single true pearl is soft as silk. The whole ground seems to ripple with a cool, jade-like luster, and in two pools of autumn water, red lotuses sway.

The timing of the fire within the cauldron must be carefully calculated and arranged. When the pure Yang Qi has been refined and risen, and the Earth Door (dihu, a gateway in the lower body) is closed, the bones and body will become firm, and the Heavenly Gate (tianmen, a gateway at the crown of the head) will gradually open.

Water is the numinous talisman, symbolizing the harmonious fluid; fire is the pivot of the elixir, symbolizing the undivided primal essence. When water and fire meet at the place of coagulation within the palace, the medicine naturally forms and gives rise to a refined, numinous Qi.

A man carries a pregnancy within his body, and what he carries is the Immortal Embryo (taixian, the inner elixir body, likened to a fetus). It is only because the toad's light (a metaphor for the moon, also symbolizing the full radiance of the elixir) is full every night. Once one has seized the secret workings of creation, the Heaven of Jade Purity (Yuqing Tian, a pure celestial realm in Daoist belief) will naturally exist within the human body.

The vermilion orange in the cauldron glows red as if reflecting the sky; this is the labor of nurturing the fire at all times. When the Primordial Qi (yuanqi, the innate original Qi) returns to the furnace, and Jing (essence) and Shen (spirit) do not scatter, it is like spring mountains and spring waters, with a breath of spring wind and vitality of their own.

In the golden cauldron, one first refines the living mercury until it is dry; when the mercury has been refined dry, the Great Elixir is complete. There is plainly a kind of herb of long life that can turn iron into gold, and this is by no means a deception.

Saliva, seminal fluid, body fluids, Qi (qi, vital energy), blood, and the humors all have a true form and a false one, and they are easily confused, so they must be carefully distinguished. Only what can bring something forth from nothing is a true ingredient for refining the elixir; do not cling to other illusory things.

Inner transformation vanishes in an instant. The deluded are still asking what it is, and so move ever further from the true change. Simply keep to the measure of the fire phases for three hundred quarter-hours (the unit used to count the timing of the fire in alchemy), and you will refine a single elixir like a night-shining pearl.

A single vein has its source in Heaven and connects to Mount Kunlun; the most secluded and hidden place within it is none other than the Nine-Bend Bay. A million jade-dragon streams rush on without pause, and a river of spring moonlight accompanies the fishing boat on its way.

When Shen (shen, spirit) joins with the dark Qi, bone and flesh blend together, and one is entirely unaware of it. The joints open and move freely of their own accord, and the face grows lustrous and smooth, like an infant's.

The measure of the ingredients must correspond to the two quarters (the phases of the moon, symbolizing the waxing and waning of Yin-Yang (yinyang)), and this pattern accords with Heaven and Earth. Turn back and ask the Yellow Dame (a Neidan (neidan, internal alchemy) term for the intermediary that harmonizes and joins Yin and Yang); why then insist on waiting for oral transmission?

Lead and mercury are the root of alchemy, and the dragon and tiger are their source. The gate of the Mysterious Female (the gateway where Yin and Yang unite and bring forth life) is the door of Wu and Ji (both belong to Earth, and are often used to symbolize the power of harmonization). You need only pluck a single flower from the spring warmth within the jade flask, and then go and consult Xi and Xuan (Fuxi and Xuanyuan, a shorthand for the sage kings of antiquity).

The refining takes three days at the shortest and ninety at the longest; one must know that each change has its own proper hour. If you do not understand the principle by which creation and transformation bring forth the elixir of long life, then even turning mercury into gold, though it may astonish people, is not the same as mastering the true art of longevity.

In the cauldron there was originally no medicine to be found; search as you will, inside and out it is one and the same "gold." Cast it into forms large and small, as the heart decides; this is precisely where the profound principle of the "Ice Flask" lies.

If, at the moment of entering the cauldron, you do not understand the principle by which creation and transformation bring forth the elixir of long life, then even turning mercury into gold, though it may astonish people, is not the same as mastering the true art of longevity.

In the cauldron there was originally no medicine to be found; search as you will, inside and out it is one and the same "gold." Cast it into forms large and small, as the heart decides; this is precisely where the profound principle of the "Ice Flask" lies.

The material that enters the cauldron must be weighed at one catty, yet on the scale it shows sixteen stars (a small unit in the ancient system of weights). Within one star of water lies the wonder of true gold; combine them and refine them into the Flowing Pearl (a name for the elixir), then let it rest at the number two-eight (a number symbolizing the union of Yin and Yang, or a certain degree of fire).

In the Kan Palace (a Neidan term associated with water, the kidneys, or the Kan trigram) lies the Even-Pond Stone-Foot Spring, where the stars face one another and shine upon the lofty heavens. The spring murmurs and flows, and the Yang vessel connects the blue and white Qi; the bathing (the stage in alchemy at which the fire is regulated and the ingredients are allowed to rest) must make the body of the Golden Elixir (jindan) firm.

People all say that the Realized Ones are always silent, so why do they not explain the principle plainly? If it is not out of pride that they refuse to speak, then it must be that their breast still lacks mercury and lead (Neidan terms for the Yin and Yang essences needed for cultivation).

When Heaven and Earth first separated, the sun and moon hung high, shaped like an egg, or like a peach. The true Qi of Yin-Yang must follow the seasons; only after three years can one cast off the robe of battle and complete the transformation.

The principle of dragon, tiger, and cinnabar is the most profound of all, and in the Five-Spirit Gold, mercury and lead circulate. After a thousand days of refining, the elixir turns purple, and riding the clouds one ascends, all the way to the Great Luo Heaven (the highest celestial realm in Daoism).

When using lead (qian), it must be paired with mercury (gong), so that the two unite like two families joined by marriage, with a young woman singing nearby. When the "Purple River Cart" (ziheche, a term in Neidan (internal alchemy) describing the circulation of Qi) is set in motion, it is as though heaven and earth tremble, white clouds follow, and immortal cranes fly in.

The red and black substances unite like a wife married to her husband, entering the alchemical furnace once a year. Deep within the bridal chamber, a true union of Yin-Yang takes place, and an infant is born who resembles its parents.

The man within Kan and the woman within Li dwell in Qian-heaven (a symbol of the realm in which heaven and earth operate). They seek the medicine and harmonize it; two families are joined in marriage, and the woman sings. When the Purple River Cart is set in motion, it is as though heaven and earth tremble, white clouds follow, and immortal cranes fly in.

The red and black substances unite like a wife married to her husband, entering the alchemical furnace once a year. Deep within the bridal chamber, a true union of Yin-Yang takes place, and an infant is born who resembles its parents.

The man of Kan and the woman of Li dwell in Qian-heaven, seeking the medicine and refining the elixir without spending a single coin. In the Crescent Moon Furnace (a furnace in Neidan practice used as a metaphor for refining and transformation), the work of creation is simmered, and the one wondrous ingredient within it is true lead.

How many times has this marvel provoked laughter? Now even a man can conceive. His own essence and blood blend and congeal, and within the body the image of Yin-Yang as husband and wife is nurtured. It is truly wondrous.

Three factors are contained within, and the two Yin-Yang substances unite; the Red Dragon soars into the azure clouds. At night sweet dew falls from the sky, and a crescent moon lies across the heavens, reflecting upon the Magpie Bridge.

Following the waxing and waning of Yin-Yang symbolized by the Fu and Gou hexagrams, one cultivates the Way of water and fire, bathing the hare and the parrot (images symbolizing Yin-Yang) until the elixir turns red. After the circulation of the celestial cycle through its six-times-six count, and after nurturing in the cold furnace, the embryonic Qi is complete in ten months, and the fruit of the practice appears.

The essences of water and fire unite, and wood and metal blend together. Where, then, are fire and wood to be found? Why does one shed the yellow and don the purple? It is simply because the River Cart (a metaphor in Neidan for the movement of Qi) turns again and again, and the practitioner's skill has grown deep.

Relying on the Jade Talisman and the Golden Liquid, one perfects the Celestial Immortal. Moonlight shines upon Kunlun, like lotus flowers in a pond. Let us speak of the matter of Xuanwu in the north (the spirit beast symbolizing the north): why do the tortoise and the snake coil around one another?

Rain washes the young bamboo, and a pair of phoenixes dance; beneath the jade fungus blossoms rests a spirit tortoise. Embracing the zither, one plays out the immortals' dance melody, and then Chang'e is asked to hold a banquet beside the little pond.

Golden light shines through the whole body, and the marrow gives off a pure fragrance. Sinews and bones become like gold and jade, entirely pure Yang. Through cultivation, the red and white breaths are transformed into white, the Yin Qi gradually dissipates, and the body is naturally healthy.

When cultivation reaches a state of single-minded concentration and reverence, one must then concentrate the Shen (spirit), gather the Qi (vital energy), and guard the true Jing (essence) firmly. In this way the complexion becomes lustrous like jade, and one feels neither hunger nor thirst; this shows that the Golden Elixir can be refined in a short time.

The Emerald Maiden stands alone in the crystal palace, delicate in form and deep in feeling. At midnight, the Yellow Dame comes knocking at the door, acting as matchmaker to marry her to the Golden Elder.

The Taiyi Mysterious Pearl Golden Liquid Elixir (a symbolic expression in Daoist Neidan, or internal alchemy) can enable a person to return to the origin and restore the source, preserving youth. One must personally heed the teachings of an enlightened master in order to grasp even some of its principles.

At night a single green lotus leaf appears, within which is a red pellet, dripping drop by drop like pearls. It falls into the Flower Pool (an alchemical term referring to the place in the mouth or body where bodily fluids gather), and this fluid is called the Divine Water; once it descends into the Dantian (energy center) it condenses, becoming the pivotal key of elixir refining.

Kan (one of the Bagua, or Eight Trigrams, symbolizing water) and Li (one of the Bagua, symbolizing fire) are called the essences of water and fire, and originally arise from the transformation of the Qian and Kun trigrams. By taking the essence within Kan to transform the Li position, one can restore Li to pure Qian and gather in the Flying Jade (a Daoist cultivation term referring to precious essence).