《通玄秘术》

The foundation of how a person settles the body and takes a place in the world lies in following the Dao and De (Virtue) and in cultivating the arts and methods. First, one should make the body strong and the flesh and frame full. In youth and vigor, people seldom think of the old age to come. One should learn to see how precious the Three Powers (Heaven, Earth, and Humanity) are: the head is round and the feet are square, corresponding to the forms of Heaven and Earth. For this reason, one must not treat the self lightly or harm the body.

I, Shen Zhiyan, turned my heart wholly toward the Dao in my childhood, in the years of the two hair-knots (maojiao). In the early years of the Taihe era, I met the Daoist Ma Ziran at the Bureau of Documents (the office in charge of official papers). Ma Ziran imparted secret instructions to me and also gave me the Xuantong Ruyi Pills and the method of the Five Liberations. Knowing my own shallow understanding, and that I could not fathom the subtle principles of the Dao, I only sought such methods among the affairs of the human world at that time. Of the arts of gathering and supplementing for the prolongation of life, I knew only a little.

In the spring of the fifth year of Xiantong, I met an old friend, Lord Zheng of Xingyang, in Huainan. Lord Zheng showed me the essential formulas that various schools use to refine divine elixirs. These methods are said to heal the many illnesses of the world and extend life. They also include subduing the five metals and eight minerals (the metals and minerals used in alchemy), transmuting substances, warding off cold and heat, and abstaining from grains (bigu, cultivating practice without eating the five grains). Another account says that if an arrowhead is lodged in the flesh and cannot be removed, then however much time has passed, applying or rubbing the elixir on it will make the arrowhead come out of its own accord. Such marvelous effects are recorded across three scrolls.

Later students who delight in Daoist arts will surely find their minds cleared and their horizons widened on reading these contents. The book also records in detail the fire-subdued metal-and-mineral spirit elixirs (elixirs of metals and minerals refined and treated). I have therefore arranged and compiled these materials into upper, middle, and lower scrolls, titled Tongxuan Mishu (Secret Arts of Penetrating Mystery). I offer it to gentlemen who love the Daoist arts, as a way of nourishing life, and leave it for those who share the same aspiration. I hope it will not be passed lightly to others.

Compiled by Shen Zhiyan, commoner of Mount Jin'e

Zheng's Elixir of Three Lives

Take one and a half liang each of fire-subdued cinnabar, fire-subdued Beiting sal ammoniac, and fire-subdued borneol (fuhuo, the alchemical process of "subduing" a substance's volatility with fire), and grind them together into a fine powder. Mix the powder evenly with fermented rice-water, dry it in the sun, and grind it finely once more. Take one liang of lodestone, the best kind being that which can attract the most iron needles, quench it in vinegar, and pound it into fine powder. Then take one liang of stalactite and grind it finely, and three liang of red halloysite, the best kind being that which sticks to the tongue, and reduce it to fine powder as well.

Put all of these ingredients into a vessel, dry it according to the method, and set it in an ash furnace, burying the body of the vessel about three cun deep in the ash. Begin by heating with a fire of two jin so that the heat penetrates the vessel, then raise it gradually to about ten jin, slowly firing it until the vessel glows red, and hold it there for about the time it takes to eat a meal. When the elixir is complete, place the vessel in water, break open its lid by tapping it with an iron spoon, and rinse the contents until cool before taking out the medicine. Its surface is white, with a purple-gold luster within. Grind it into fine powder with a spoon, place it on clean paper, and cover it with a basin for a day to disperse the so-called "fire toxin." Afterward, form it with millet porridge into pills the size of small beans.

The original text states that taking three pills with water on an empty stomach can neutralize all kinds of poison, and that if someone has been poisoned, the medicine may be put into wine or food for them to take. For pain in the heart and abdomen, "corpse-transmission disease," foul odor in the armpits, invasion by pathogenic qi, and the so-called "ghost-borne qi attacking the heart," the original says three qian of the powder, mixed with vinegar, may be taken. Here "corpse-transmission disease" is described as a malignant illness marked by acute exhaustion and a sallow, wasted appearance, in which after one person in a household dies, others may be infected in succession, even to the point of wiping out the entire family. The original states that if a patient recovers after taking this elixir, the disease will no longer spread.

For sores on the back with unceasing discharge of pus and blood, whether the sore lies above or below the heart, the powder may be mixed with vinegar and spread evenly on thin paper, applied according to the size of the sore, and changed every other day, while the pills are taken at the same time. The original states that after three to five applications, the sore will gradually close and the pus and blood will stop. One must avoid all so-called "poisonous foods." Recovery to one's normal state takes about ten days to half a month.

For stabbing pain in the head and face, or dizziness with a spinning sensation, three qian of the powder mixed with vinegar may be taken. The original states that the pills may be taken at the same time, and that the condition will then be cured at the root. For those who have previously taken sulfur and suffer an outbreak of what is called "meal-stone poison," two pills are said to bring results. The original declares this elixir to be the foremost of all medicines, and says that after taking it the poison condition will not recur.

When mineral medicines are calcined and refined, the fire toxin must first be removed. If it is not removed before the medicine is made into pills or powders and taken, and the person then fails to recuperate properly afterward, the fire toxin will erupt. If the fire toxin is removed first and the medicine compounded afterward, it will never erupt.

For the three wasting disorders (sanxiao, marked by excessive drinking, eating, and urination), take the medicine with a decoction of coptis (huanglian). Powdered coptis can also be made into pills. For yin jaundice and swelling of the back, take three qian with tea, and the illness will cease. Swelling of the back is a sign of an impending carbuncle on the back. For mouth sores, mix the medicine with honey and apply it to the tongue. For red and white vaginal discharge, mix it with wine and take it.

If an arrowhead has lodged in the flesh on the battlefield, take the root of "□lou vine" (the original text is missing a character here, so the name of the herb cannot be firmly identified), grind it into juice, mix it with the medicine, and apply it to the wound. The arrowhead will then work its way out on its own. For a woman after childbirth who suffers pain from wind pathogens, or whose blood and qi rush up into the chest and heart with unbearable pain, take three qian of the medicine mixed with vinegar and wine, and the pain will cease. For lacquer poisoning, where the sores itch, first wash with a lotus-leaf decoction and then apply the powdered medicine, and the condition will heal.

For illnesses caused by various venomous creatures, for epilepsy, and for disordered states of mind, grind rhinoceros horn in water and take three qian of the medicine with it. For uncontrolled vomiting of blood, take it in the same way; it is said to be very effective.

Qinghua Elixir (青花丹)

Take one liang of azurite (kongqing), ground into a fine powder; one liang of lead white (dingfen); half a liang of halloysite (bai shizhi); half a liang of bright cinnabar (guangming sha); and half a liang each of salt flower (baiyanhua) and peach-blossom stone (taohuashi). If peach-blossom stone is unavailable, magnetite (cishi) may be used in its place.

Grind all these ingredients into a fine powder and place it in a bottle. Cover the powder with salt flower and seal the mouth of the bottle. Once the sealing clay has dried, warm the bottle with a small fire of one or two liang of charcoal set around it, moving the fire gradually closer to the vessel. When the whole bottle is heated through, set a full cheng of charcoal fire over it and let it burn slowly, allowing the fire to die out on its own, for about the time it takes to eat a meal. If the bottle begins to boil, wait a little longer and then stop the heating. When the bottle has cooled completely, take out the medicine and pound it. Wash it repeatedly by water-grinding (shuifei) to remove the saltiness. After it dries, add a little musk, grind the two together finely, and form the mixture into pills with cooked rice, each the size of a hemp seed.

Each day, on an empty stomach, take five pills with wine. Avoid sheep's blood and cold water. This elixir is used for cholera-like disorders (huoluan), abdominal distension, cold qi, childhood malnutrition (gan), intestinal wind from malnutrition, and the various cold conditions of women's blood and qi. Taken over the years, it is said to be precious and wondrous in its effects.

"Water-grinding" (shuifei) is an ancient method of processing mineral medicines. The substance is ground, then stirred in water, and the differences in settling and floating are used to separate impurities or particles of different fineness.

Taiyang Liuzhu Elixir (太阳流珠丹)

The Elixir of the Sun-Flowing Pearl (Taiyang liuzhu dan) is made from four ingredients: Taiyang (the "Sun"), horse-tooth niter, salt blossom, and Beiting. The first three are roasted until their fumes have fully dispersed, then ground into a fine powder together with the Beiting. The powder is packed tightly into a bottle and covered with a thin layer of roasted salt. Once the bottle's Yin qi has dissipated, it is sealed according to the prescribed method and placed in the cauldron.

First, half a catty of lead is melted. The medicine bottle is set in the cauldron and held in place with iron rods, and the molten lead is then poured in until it submerges the bottle. After the mouth of the cauldron is sealed, it is placed in an ash furnace and slowly simmered over a gentle fire, so that the lead remains in a half-molten state; the condition of the lead serves as the gauge of the fire phase (huohou). After one hundred days of refining in this way, the bottle is taken out and heated again for three days, using five or six taels of fire each day. After these three days the fire is intensified and the bottle is calcined until the medicine turns red, at which point the fire is stopped. Once cooled, the bottle is opened, and the medicine appears amber in color. It is then placed in cold spring water to draw out its fire toxicity, ground into a fine powder, and formed with jujube pulp (the fibrous flesh or paste of the jujube) into pills the size of mung beans.

According to the original text, two pills are taken each day on an empty stomach with tea. They are said to treat so-called abdominal distension and cold qi, infantile gan disease (a wasting condition in children marked by emaciation and a swollen belly), gan-intestinal wind, cold disorders of blood and qi in women, as well as long-accumulated cold qi, abdominal masses and lumps, lumps of stagnant old blood, red and white vaginal discharge, blood in the stool, chronic diarrhea and dysentery, vomiting of clear fluid, and regurgitation.

The Elixir of the Yellow Court (Huangting dan) uses one tael each of sulfur and Beiting, ground into a fine powder. The original text goes on to say that the powder is placed in a hezi (a closed vessel used for refining medicines), sealed according to the prescribed method, and set inside an ash furnace. At this point, however, the scripture breaks off, and neither the rest of the passage nor the specific method of preparation has survived.

Place the medicine inside the hezi (a sealed vessel used in alchemical refining), seal it according to the prescribed method, and set it in an ash furnace for gentle nurturing. Keep the fire at "four taels" and nurture it for seven days; then place the medicine at the bottom of the vessel and nurture it for one more day. Take it out and examine it: if the "Sun" lies above in the vessel and the "Northern Court" lies below, grind the medicine again, load it into the vessel by the same method as before, nurture it for another seven days, and again for one day at the bottom of the vessel, and then stop.

Take out the medicine and examine it: if the "Sun" is no longer above in the vessel, this indicates that the medicine has been "fire-subdued" (that is, treated so that its fiery nature has been suppressed). Next, boil the medicine together with wax to remove the so-called "fire toxin," until the wax turns as black as lacquer, and then remove the impurities from the wax. Grind the medicine again into a fine powder and shape it with cooked rice into pills, each the size of a millet grain. Each day, on an empty stomach, take two pills, washed down with wine or vinegar broth. The original text claims that this medicine can disperse long-accumulated blood stagnation in women and make the body light and vigorous, and further says that after taking it, no illness of any kind will arise.

The original text also says that the pills remain in the Dantian (energy center; in Daoist terms, an important region of the lower abdomen) of the body. Many years later, if some part of the body suffers lasting pain from a fall or a blow, one may recall having taken the numinous elixir and ask another person to massage the affected spot in turn with their hands; if one feels something hot in the flesh reaching the painful place, the pain will ease. The text holds that this is a sign of the elixir's efficacy, and that its benefits are difficult to describe in full.

Huagai Dan (Canopy Elixir)

Take three jin of black lead, choosing the finest quality. Beat the lead into thin sheets and shape them into the form of a "fangxiang" (a percussion instrument of hanging metal plates; the exact vessel shape the original refers to is unclear). Then pierce the sheets with holes using an iron awl and string them together with cord.

Take a clean bottle or jar and fill it with one dou of rice vinegar. Hang a sheet of lead inside the jar so that it is immersed in the vinegar to a depth of about one cun, then seal the mouth of the jar tightly with paper. Every seven days, open the jar and take out the lead sheet. Lay it on clean paper and gently sweep off the lead frost (the frost-like deposit that forms on the surface of the lead) with a small fine-toothed comb and a bird's feather, then return the sheet to the jar. Repeat this every seven days. After three or four rounds the lead sheet should be replaced, because its potency has weakened.

To each liang of lead frost, add half a fen of Borneol (longnao, also called bingpian), and grind them together into a powder. Then form pills with "heavenly dew" water, each the size of a parasol tree seed. Each night before sleeping, hold one pill in the mouth, then lie down without speaking and let it dissolve on its own. This elixir is said to change the color of the hair. Those whose hair has not yet turned white need only take one pill every other day to keep their hair from whitening for the rest of their lives. Those whose hair has already turned white should take the pills for twenty days and then pluck out the white hairs, and black hair will grow in their place. After no more than sixty pills, or sometimes as many as one hundred, the hair at the temples will turn entirely black, glossy and lustrous as lacquer. Some accounts say that after a white hair is plucked, two black hairs will grow from that single pore.

This elixir is said to be rare in the world, and to have been transmitted by a "Perfected One" (Zhenren) in person. Held in the mouth over a long period, it is said to keep the complexion youthful, so that even a person of fifty may have the appearance of a child. It is also said to dispel heat toxins and wind pathogens, as well as pain in the sinews and bones. Garlic must be avoided for the rest of one's life.

Purple Gold Elixir (Zijin Dan)

Take five liang of fire-subdued Beiting (Beiting is an arsenic-bearing mineral medicine; "fire-subdued" means it has been refined and processed). Grind it finely and set it aside separately, to be added to the medicine later. Take ten jin of raw rehmannia, pound it, and press out its juice. Take five sheng of apricot kernels, with the tips and skins removed, and grind them. Take half a jin of Jinzhou pepper, and half a jin of Shu aconite, roasted and peeled before weighing.

Apart from the rehmannia juice, pound all of the above ingredients and sift them into a powder. Then pour the rehmannia juice into a pot; the original text says a silver pot is best. The text that follows is damaged. It mentions the use of charcoal fire, but the exact procedure cannot be determined from the surviving words.

The original text's instructions for making the Purple Gold Elixir are fragmentary and repetitive, and the above translates only what is legible. The methods described for taking lead frost and various minerals and medicinal substances are records of ancient esoteric arts. They should not be used as a basis for preparing or taking these substances oneself.

Apart from the Rehmannia juice, all the ingredients in the formula above are pounded and sifted into a fine powder. Pour the Rehmannia juice into a pot, preferably a silver one, add about one jin of charcoal, and cover it with ash on all sides. Simmer it slowly, taking care that the fire does not become too fierce. Then add the powdered ingredients and stir three hundred times with a willow-wood spatula. Next add Beiting (the name of a medicinal ingredient) and keep stirring without pause. When the paste is thick enough to be rolled into pills, shape it into pills the size of a parasol tree seed.

Take one pill each day on an empty stomach, swallowed with wine, and up to ten pills at most. Some time after taking the medicine, eat a meal to settle it. Women may also take it. Avoid sheep's blood during the course of treatment, and pregnant women must not take it. The original text says this elixir is chiefly used to treat the "five exhaustions and seven injuries" in men (a general term for various forms of strain and debilitation), all kinds of cold disorders, and wind-qi (Qi) ailments, and adds that long-term use benefits the body, the bones, and the spirit (Shen).

Yellow Blossom Elixir (Huangying Dan)

Take one liang of jade shavings, one liang of arsenic, and one sheng of vinegar, and boil until dry. The original text then clarifies that "the ingredient at left" refers to the vinegar. Separately, take litharge (mituoseng) in liang [the amount is not specified in the original], one liang of frankincense, and one liang of dried human-feces frost. Place the feces frost in an earthenware vessel, heat it over a charcoal fire until it glows red, and cover it with a tile. Once cool, take it out; it must not be burned to ash.

Grind all of the above together into a fine powder. Then take half a sheng of aged, genuine rice vinegar, heat it, and dissolve the frankincense in it, then add the powder. Add dried steamed-cake flour made at the Cold Food Festival, grind it repeatedly into a paste, and form it with refined honey into pills the size of black soybeans.

The original text says this elixir is chiefly used for heart pain caused by cold qi (Qi), and for heart pain arising from disorders of blood and qi (Qi) in women. Taken on an empty stomach with one pill in vinegar broth, it is said to calm the condition quickly. If the root of the illness has not been removed, one pill may be taken each day on an empty stomach. The original claims that taking up to twenty pills cures all kinds of illness, and further states that a woman with a long-standing ailment who takes up to thirty pills will never suffer a relapse for the rest of her life. Pregnant women must not take it, since the original says it may harm the fetus. Avoid sheep's blood, poisonous fish, and the like.

Hidden Yin Purple-Gold Elixir (Yinfu Zijin Dan)

Take five liang of sulfur, pulverize it, and process it by water-levigation (grinding with water and letting it settle in order to remove impurities); and one sheng of salt blossom.

Place half a sheng of salt flower in a shallow-bottomed small pot. First spread a layer of "Taiyang powder" (太阳末, taiyang mo), then cover it with the remaining salt. Take another earthenware vessel and set it over the mouth of the pot. Soak the ingredients in water, with the water standing about two inches above them, and seal the seams tightly with damp paper. Simmer and nourish it slowly over a gentle fire, keeping the water at the faint bubbling of "fish-eye" bubbles, continuously for seven days and seven nights. Do not let the fire go out, and do not let the water boil dry. Add water as needed, and open the vessel from time to time to stir, so that the ingredients do not stick to the bottom of the pot. When the time is up, dry the ingredients, then increase the fire and heat them until red-hot. After they cool, rinse them with hot water to remove the taste of salt, then dry them in the sun. Make pills with jujube pulp, each about the size of a small red bean. Take five pills each day on an empty stomach, with tea or wine. Avoid lamb's blood and mallow greens.

The scripture (Jing, 经) states that this elixir can treat blood and qi (Qi, 气) disorders in women, warm the womb, and keep the complexion rosy. For those suffering from intestinal wind with incessant bleeding, accompanied by red and white vaginal discharge, and for whom other medicines have proved ineffective, taking this elixir will eradicate the condition. It can also treat all kinds of cold-natured illnesses.

This method of preparation is repeated in the original text. The precise meaning of "Taiyang powder" cannot be determined from this passage alone. The section that follows is titled "Taiyang Purple Powder Elixir" (太阳紫粉丹), and lists its ingredients as sulfur, mirabilite (maya xiao), and mercury, three liang of each.

The above is what the ancient text records. The formula contains mercury and involves heating, so do not use it as a basis for making or taking this preparation yourself.

For this formula on the right: take "five-fold unash'd wine" (wine to which no lime or similar substance has been added) and drip it gradually into a mortar, grinding the three ingredients into a paste until the "silver stars" have completely disappeared. Dry the paste in the midday sun, then place it in a crucible and seal it according to the prescribed method with "...", and leave it to dry.

Beneath the crucible, nurture the contents with a gentle charcoal fire of three to five liang. After about half a day, gradually raise the fire to seven or eight liang, and put it out after one night. Once cool, open the crucible and take out the material. Mix it evenly with white honey, pack it into a green bamboo tube, and steam it over cooked rice for the time it takes to eat a meal. Take it out and grind it finely again, then use jujube flesh to form pills the size of parasol tree seeds.

Take three pills each day on an empty stomach, washed down with salt broth, ginger broth, or wine. The original text says this formula treats regurgitation, hiccups, and all kinds of cold ailments, and claims that all will be cured after taking it. Pregnant women must not take it, since the original says it harms the fetus; carp should also be avoided.

Shengjin Dan (Victorious Golden Elixir)

Cinnabar, three liang, ground finely separately and then added; orpiment, one and a half liang; "Sun" (taiyang), half a liang.

The original text is damaged and contains repetitions. The characters in "seal it properly as prescribed with..." are illegible, and the later phrase "mix until ||" is also missing characters. The opening reference to "silver stars" and what "Sun" (taiyang) denotes cannot be determined from this passage alone. Cinnabar, orpiment, and similar substances contain toxic minerals. The above is only a vernacular rendering of the content of an ancient text and must not be used as a basis for preparing or taking this preparation.

Combine the previously prepared medicinal materials and grind them into a fine powder. First pour mulberry-ash lye (a liquid leached from the ashes of mulberry wood) into a small pot and melt the two yellow ingredients into a liquid. Then add powdered cinnabar and stir until everything is thoroughly blended. Next, add about one and a half dou of mulberry-ash lye and simmer for three days and three nights, keeping it warm and topping up the lye as needed. Once the three days are complete, the materials will have congealed into a powder, and the heat is stopped.

Scrape out the materials and place them in a cauldron (ding). Dry them slowly over a gentle fire until the damp, yin-natured moisture has completely dispersed, then seal the mouth of the cauldron according to the standard method of elixir refining. Then refine the contents over a charcoal fire of twenty jin, and extinguish the fire when it has dwindled to three to five jin. After it cools, examine the contents: the materials should have solidified into a single mass at the bottom of the cauldron. Chisel it out; it is called "White Gold" (baijin), and it is then ground into fine powder.

Place the powder in a porcelain vessel and boil it for one day with licorice decoction and amla fruit (yuganzi) to remove its fire toxicity. Take it out and grind it again until extremely fine, then use steamed millet to form pills the size of mung beans. Each day on an empty stomach, take three pills with cool Sichuan pepper decoction, gradually increasing to five. According to the original text, this medicine treats all kinds of wind disorders, as well as hemiplegia, inability to close the mouth, and inability to turn the body, and a dose of half a liang will bring about a cure. Avoid eating sheep's blood while taking it.

Qijin Dan (Variegated Gold Elixir)

Jing-huang dan (litharge/red lead), two liang; cinnabar, six liang; ground mercury, six liang.

Grind the ingredients above together until the mercury stars (the star-like specks visible in the mercury preparation) have disappeared completely, then continue grinding until the mixture is as fine as powder. Mix it evenly with a strong decoction of licorice and dry it in the sun. Seal it in a vessel, and first nurture it for one day over alternating mild and strong fire (wen and wu fire). Then gradually increase the heat to the level of "five jin" of fire and calcine it by forcing the heat for one day. After that, calcine it with "ten jin" of fire until the material glows red. Once cooled, take it out and grind it into a fine powder. Mix it with raw sugar and form pills the size of hemp seeds.

Take one pill each day on an empty stomach, swallowed with a cool pepper decoction; people over fifty should take two pills. It is to be taken in the morning, and the text says its effects will be felt by evening. With long-term use, it is said to preserve the complexion and prolong life, replenish Jing (essence) and marrow, regulate and supplement Yin-Yang, and relieve pain in the lower back and legs as well as ailments caused by cold pathogens. The text also claims that it can treat irregularities of blood and Qi in women and infertility due to a cold womb, and that it can break up stagnant blood and drive away malign spirits. Pregnant women should not take it. Nor should those under twenty or unmarried men, since the text holds that taking it may cause injury to the head and face. During the course of treatment, avoid iron filings and peonies.

Elixir of the Galloping Horse for the Lower Origin (Xiayuan Zouma Dan)

Take one liang each of processed Beiting (a Beiting mineral drug that has been treated and subdued by fire) and processed sulfur, in equal portions, and grind them into a fine powder.

Take twenty "xing'er" (the original text refers to an animal whose identity is unclear), and use the meat from the chest and the liver. Add three sheng of bitter wine (vinegar) and simmer until the liquid is completely boiled away. Grind the meat and liver into a paste, filter out the sinews and membranes, and then pound it together with the medicinal powder and form pills the size of soybeans. Each day, on an empty stomach, take five pills with wine. The text states that this formula replenishes Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) and warms the water organ (in traditional Chinese medicine, the organ system associated with fluid metabolism and kidney Qi), with remarkable effect.

Elixir of the Four Spirits of the Galloping Horse (Zouma Sishen Dan)

The formula lists two liang of "□#1," along with "xi □ zhi" (an illegible ingredient name) and cinnabar, one fen each. If there is no cinnabar, magnetite may be substituted. Grind each ingredient finely, then add mercury and continue grinding finely, and form the mixture into pills. The text states that this formula replenishes Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy) and warms the water organ, with remarkable effect.

First grind each ingredient separately into a fine powder, then add the mercury and keep grinding until the powder is completely absorbed into it. Place the mixture in a bottle and seal the mouth tightly. Bury a bottle of water until its mouth is level with the ground, set the bottle of medicine on top of it, and pour boiling water over it. After repeating this four or five times, take out the medicine, grind it fine, and put it into a salt cabinet (a vessel in which the medicine is wrapped in salt and heated).

Gently nourish it with heat equivalent to four taels of fire each day for four days in a row. Then take a small amount of the medicine and test it over the fire. If it keeps its original form after burning, increase the heat and fire it until it glows red. After it cools, mix licorice decoction into cooked rice, lay the medicine on the rice, and steam it for the length of one meal's cooking (the time needed to cook a meal). Then form pills with the rice, each the size of a mung bean. Take three pills each day on an empty stomach, swallowing them with saliva from the mouth. The scripture states that this medicine treats all kinds of cold ailments in men and women. It also clears old blood retained in women, warms the womb, improves the complexion, harmonizes Yin-Yang, nourishes the sinews and bones, and strengthens physical power and the Qi of the vessels, with remarkable effect.

Yin-Concealing Lower Origin Elixir

Take two taels each of mercury and "tai." "Tai" refers to sulfur, and "spoiled iron" refers to processed iron, best obtained from the bottom of a cauldron.

First break the iron into pieces, heat it until red, and drop it into water. Then grind and scour it in sand salt to remove the red rusty water. Repeat this three times, until the iron is thoroughly clean. Put two taels of the prepared iron into a bottle, add the mercury and sulfur, and fill the bottle halfway with water. Place the bottle in a pot and boil it by indirect heat for seven days and seven nights, adding warm water whenever the water runs low. After seven days, take out the bottle, dry the medicine over a fire, and then increase the heat and fire it until it glows red.

Once the fire is removed, drop the medicine into water and wash away the iron, keeping only the elixir that settles to the bottom. Let it dry, then bury it in the ground for three days to remove the fire toxin. Next, grind it into powder together with "fire-subdued Beiting" (a Beiting mineral medicine treated by fire methods), and form pills with millet rice, each the size of a mung bean. Take two pills each day on an empty stomach, swallowed with tea or wine. The scripture states that its effects can be felt for oneself after taking it, and that they are truly marvelous.

Life-Extending and Life-Preserving Elixir

Take four taels each of refined actinolite and fire-subdued sulfur, and one tael of realgar. Grind them raw into powder and then process them by water-levitation (grinding with water, letting the mixture settle, and collecting the fine powder). Separately take one tael of rock salt.

Grind the three ingredients mentioned above together into a fine powder, then add rock salt and continue grinding. Mix with boiled water into a single pill-like ball, taking care not to add too much water. Once mixed, wrap it in three layers of paper and dry it in the sun.

Next, take twelve jin of white salt and pound it into a paste, stopping when the pestle work leaves it as sticky as lacquer. Choose a jar large enough to hold all the salt. Put in half the salt first, pressing it down layer by layer, and dig a small hollow in the middle, just big enough to hold the medicine ball. Place the ball in the hollow, then fill in the remaining salt and pack it firmly all the way to the mouth of the jar. Set the jar in an ash pit and dry it with fire around its sides. When the damp, yin-natured vapors inside the jar have dissipated, cover the mouth with a roof tile, seal it according to the method, and let it dry completely.

Then place the jar in the furnace following the earlier method. Spread a layer of ash three cun thick over the jar, set one jin of charcoal fire on top of the ash, and nourish it gently (wenyang) for five days before removing the fire. Next, reduce the ash over the jar to one cun, again set one jin of fire, and continue the gentle nourishing for five days. After that, reduce the ash by another cun and raise the fire to two jin, nourishing for a further five days. When this period is complete, stop the fire, wait about as long as it takes to eat a meal, and then take out the jar and let it cool. Break the jar open, remove the seal, and take the medicine out of the salt. The medicine should be purple and undamaged. Break it apart, grind it fine, and rinse it repeatedly with boiling water to remove the saltiness. Leave it overnight, and the next day mix it evenly with licorice decoction, then steam-boil it by indirect heat for a full day. Afterward, let it dry, grind it fine once more, and add a little borneol (longnao) and musk. Form it into pills using jujube pulp (the fibrous part of the date), making each pill about the size of a hemp seed.

Each day, take three pills with wine on an empty stomach; if the symptoms of cold are severe, five pills may be taken. This elixir is called the "Dishenggu Yang Dan" (Elixir for Withstanding the Sage and Securing Yang). The original text says it can treat illnesses in both men and women caused by cold, as well as conditions of blood and qi in women, and claims its effects are too many to describe fully. During the first ten days of taking it, one should avoid sexual intercourse, as well as foods such as sheep's blood, carp, garlic, and fermented soybean juice.

Twenty-four livers of male sparrows. When catching sparrows, you can tell the sexes apart by the black feathers beneath the neck: those with more black are male, and those with less are female. Slice dog testicles and penis thin and dry them over a roof tile. Then add areca nut (betel nut), forty male silkworm moths, goji berries (the fruit of the wolfberry), and one fen of realgar stir-fried in clarified butter (an ancient unit of weight whose exact amount varied by period and region). If there is no realgar, use musk in its place.

Grind all of these ingredients together into a fine powder and bind it into pills with sparrow eggs; if there are no sparrow eggs, use chicken egg yolk instead. Make the pills the size of a wutong seed. Each morning on an empty stomach, take five pills with wine. This formula is used to treat men whose yang function is weak and who cannot achieve an erection.

Lower Source Bone-Supplementing Pill

Take two liang each of psoralea seed (buguzhi), paper mulberry fruit, baikui, and aconite, the aconite being prepared by roasting. Take also thirty-seven mantis egg cases (sangpiaoxiao), roasted. The egg cases meant here are the small mantis egg cases found on mulberry branches in wild fields. In addition, take two liang each of poria (fuling), cnidium seed kernels (shechuangzi), and schisandra berries (wuweizi).

Pound all of these ingredients together into a powder and form it with honey into pills the size of mung beans. Each morning on an empty stomach, take fifteen pills with wine, gradually increasing to twenty-five. This formula is used to treat men with deficient cold in the lower source (a term from traditional Chinese medicine referring to the kidneys and reproductive function), and it is said to nourish the sinews and bones, strengthen yang qi, and replenish essence (Jing) and Qi.

Immortal-Guarding Elixir

Take three liang of deer antler, split into two halves, roast it in clarified butter until golden and fragrant, then coat it with fresh ginger juice, roast it further, and grind it into powder. Also take one liang of Tianxiong aconite, prepared by roasting; one liang of mountain aconite, roasted, with the black skin removed, then ground into powder; one liang of henbane seed, washed and boiled until it sprouts, then stir-fried to a yellowish black and crushed; one liang of sulfur, boiled in oil until purple; and one liang each of cnidium seed kernels, magnetite frost, stir-fried and crushed leek seed, cinnamon heart, fire-tempered Beiting salt (fuhuo beiting), and dragon bone.

The original text ends at "one liang of dragon bone" and does not record the rest of the preparation, the method of taking it, or its effects. Because the preceding formula text contains repetitions, and some ingredient names may reflect errors of transmission or misreading, the above follows the order of the original text.

Grind the above ingredients together into a paste. Then take three to five sheep kidneys, remove the fat and sinew, chop them finely, and place them in a mortar together with the medicinals, grinding everything thoroughly. Form the mixture into pills the size of a parasol-tree seed (wutong seed). Each day, on an empty stomach, take ten pills with wine. How effective it is, you will know for yourself after taking it. If sheep kidneys are unavailable, pig kidneys may be used instead.

Sheep Kidney Elixir (Yangshen Dan)

Take one white sheep kidney, remove the fat and sinew, slice it thin, dry it over a roof tile, and grind it into powder. Then take one liang of "sparrow soda" (quesu, sparrow droppings; here meaning the white droppings of sparrows) and one liang of stalactite powder (powder made from stalactite). If there is no stalactite powder, deer antler may be substituted. In addition, take one liang of fire-subdued sulfur (sulfur that has been processed); if there is no fire-subdued sulfur, boil sulfur in oil until its color turns purple.

Grind all of these ingredients together into a fine powder and form it into pills the size of a parasol-tree seed, using cooked millet as the binder. On an empty stomach, take twenty pills with cool pepper decoction, and eat a meal a little while afterward. The text says that this formula warms and tonifies the kidneys and strengthens Yang qi (Qi); a man of fifty who takes it will have sinew strength, Jing (essence), and blood as vigorous as those of a man of twenty, and the effect on younger people can be readily imagined.

Summer-Warding Elixir (Bishu Dan)

The following passage appears to contain omissions or misplaced bamboo slips: realgar is finely ground and levigated in water; white halloysite (baishizhi) is ground fine and also treated by water levigation. The text then repeats the earlier description of warming the kidneys and strengthening Yang qi, along with the title "Summer-Warding Elixir."

Take bright cinnabar, grind it fine, wrap it in yellow clay from Qutan, and calcine it; then levigate it in water to make a powder as fine as calomel. Use lodestone raw, pounding it and levigating it in water to remove the red portion.

Use equal parts of each of the above ingredients, treating each separately by water levigation and grinding it fine, then grind them all together according to the method until the powders are fully blended. Form pills the size of a small bean using refined white pine resin. On an empty stomach, take four pills with hot water. The text claims that after two or three doses, one will not feel oppressed by summer heat even when wearing fur garments in midsummer. This formula was once prepared by imperial command for Emperor Yizong and was said to be effective after he took it; later it was prepared again together with Secretary Tu of the Bureau of Merit Titles (an official title, reproduced as in the original), and it also proved quite efficacious, but no one knows the specific method.

Second Formula, Part Two

Realgar; red halloysite (chishizhi; the better kind sticks to the tongue when licked, and is levigated in water); bright cinnabar; dried ginger.

Combine the four ingredients above in equal parts and grind them as fine as flour, then form pills with refined honey and white pine resin, each about the size of a parasol tree seed. Take four pills each morning on an empty stomach with wine, and stop after ten days. In this way one will not fear the cold throughout the entire winter and will need no padded clothing; one may even walk, sit, and lie naked in the water. This is the method described by the "Two Extensions Immortal" (Eryan shenxian), and it should be treated with reverence and kept secret.

Thrown-Fruit Elixir (Zhiguo Dan)

Take twenty-four male sparrows from Beiting. First prepare them by the fire-subduing method, then remove the heads, feet, and bellies, keeping only the livers. Separately obtain seven rooster livers and more than half a jin of white sheep's blood. Apart from the Beiting ingredient, soak the remaining materials in four sheng of fine wine, then simmer them alternately over gentle and strong heat until they turn yellow, and grind them into powder. Then add half a liang of bezoar, one white horse penis (roasted and ground), half a liang of "blue gold" (qingjin), and one full liang each of ginseng, cinnamon bark, Chinese angelica, dried rehmannia, Sichuan lovage, peony, saposhnikovia, astragalus, licorice, apricot kernel (with tips and skins removed), Chinese bush-cherry kernel, sweet flag, dodder seed, plantain seed, cassia seed, cistanche, Katsumada's galangal seed, and yellow ox ghee. Nutmeg is also listed in the formula, but the original text does not state the quantity.

Pound the ingredients into a fine powder, add ox ghee and refined honey, and mix with the three materials prepared earlier. Pound the mixture three thousand times and form pills about the size of mung beans. Those under twenty years of age should take five pills each morning on an empty stomach with wine; those over thirty should take ten. If within two days after taking it there is some slight stirring (the original meaning is unclear), the dose should remain as prescribed and must not be increased. After taking the pills, press them down with food. These pills are said to treat men's physical weakness and debility, with growth said to appear after thirty days of use. Those without a wife should not take them; the original text says that if one has been near women after taking them, one will dream of longing for women, which is why they are called "Thrown-Fruit Pills."

Deer Antler Powder (Lurong San)

The original text lists male silkworm moth, eight fen; actinolite (yangqishi, refined), ten fen; aster root, eight fen; polygala, eight fen; cinnamon bark, eight fen; and mantis egg case (roasted), ten fen. However, the passage then runs on into the lines "those without a wife should not take it... hence it is called Thrown-Fruit Pills," and the heading "Deer Antler Powder" appears a second time. The text is clearly garbled or has lacunae, so the complete formula for Deer Antler Powder cannot be determined from it.

Male silkworm moth, eight parts; actinolite (yangqishi), ten parts; refined "Dingzhe" aster (ziwan), eight parts; polygala (yuanzhi), eight parts; cinnamon bark, eight parts; mantis egg case (sangpiaoxiao), ten parts (roasted); "yellow chaff" (huangcao), eight parts; dodder seed, ten parts; cistanche, eight parts; cnidium seed, eight parts; stalactite, ten parts, ground with wine and then added.

Pound all of these ingredients together into a powder. Take five qian with wine on an empty stomach. If the body feels hot after taking it, reduce the dose; if it feels cold, increase it. This formula is used to treat the "five exhaustions and seven injuries" (a general term for many kinds of depletion disorders) in men. It supplements the sinews, bones, blood, and qi, adds to Jing (essence) and Qi (vital energy), strengthens Yang, and relieves yin sweating. For those who frequently dream of intercourse at night and suffer seminal emission, it is said that a single dose is effective.

Cold Drink

Fennel, three parts: use the root in spring and summer, and the seed in autumn and winter; polygala, three parts; aconite, two pieces, with the core removed and prepared by roasting; Beijing water plantain, three parts; "grass moss" (caoxian), three parts; cistanche, three parts; mantis egg case, twenty pieces, roasted.

Pound these ingredients and sift them into a powder, then divide it into two large portions. Take one sheep's kidney, remove the fat and membrane, and chop it finely. Add one and a half sheng of water and boil it down to five ge, then strain out the dregs and leave the liquid out under the dew overnight. Each day, drink about one ge cold on an empty stomach. Take four courses in each season; it is said to dispel epidemic disease and to nourish the lower source (the fundamental essence and Qi of the lower part of the body), with miraculous effect. This formula should be kept secret.

The Creation Dew Powder has a separate oral instruction.

Five pine blossoms, also called "pine yellow." Those produced on Taiyi Peak in the Zhongnan Mountains are of the highest quality; those from beside the Morning Star Pool on Linghua Mountain in the Southern Peak are said to bring a person into a state of spiritual absorption (Shen, spirit).

At the end, the original text repeats that the Creation Dew Powder has a separate oral instruction. The drug names "refined Dingzhe aster," "yellow chaff," and "grass moss" may reflect copying or reading variants, and they are retained here as they appear in the original.

Five-grain pine pollen, also called "pine yellow," is best when it comes from Taiyi Peak in the Zhongnan Mountains. Pollen from beside the Mingxing Pool on Linghua Mountain in the Southern Peak is said to bring a person into a state of spirit-like attainment (shen, spirit) after it is taken. In ancient times, a beauty of the King of Qin took it and was transformed into a hairy immortal; Wei Shuqing also took it.

Gather ten shi of pine pollen and place it in a large pinewood barrel. In spring, soak it in dew gathered from grass. If dew from wheat leaves can be obtained, the result is best, its subtlety beyond description. Adding white honey collected from rock cliffs also makes for superior material. After soaking a full twenty days, when the pollen looks as though it has decayed, lift it out and tread it in a cypress basin until it becomes a gruel. Then rinse it with fresh dew, draw off the thick liquid, strain it through gauze, and pour it into a porcelain jar. Continue treading the remaining dregs until every bit has been pressed out.

Next, process it as one makes rice flour: let the liquid settle, take out the sediment and dry it in the sun, then pound it into powder with a cypress pestle and mortar and pack it into paper bags, one sheng per bag. This powder also contains "jade crumbs" (yuxie, the scripture's term for a fine, jade-like powder), which may be boiled and stirred into curds for taking, and the flavor is very good. The scripture states that taking it fattens the body, prolongs life, smooths wrinkles, eases childbearing, and makes the body strong and light. After a year of taking jade crumbs, one can walk fast enough to overtake a galloping horse; after two years, one can reach the Dao (the Way) of the immortals.

There is a separate oral instruction for refining the pollen.

Take another sheng of the powder prepared above, add three sheng of white ox milk, and simmer it in a large silver pot until it becomes like thin molten tin. Then pour it into a large bronze vessel, tie a boat-shaped frame made of bound grass inside the large pot, and continue cooking by indirect heat, stirring constantly with a strainer made of acanthopanax wood, until it is reduced to a paste. Then dry it in the sun, pound it, and sift it into powder. All other powders are refined by this same method. This powder also contains jade crumbs, and it may be boiled and stirred into hemp drink (a beverage prepared from hemp materials); it tastes sweet and fine, and is said to promote hair growth and brighten the eyes. The scripture further states that it can enable a woman of two hundred years to bear a child and a man of three hundred years to father one; after a full hundred days of taking it, the effects are beyond description. Once refined, pack it separately into paper bags, one sheng per bag.

There is a separate oral instruction for brewing the immortal ling (immortal wine).

Take another large porcelain urn with a capacity of two shi and eight sheng, and place one shi and five sheng of medicinal sprout water in a basin. Steam one shi and five sheng of glutinous rice. Take the powder prepared earlier, together with water, peach blossom powder, and dried apricot blossom powder, five large dou of each, mix them together, and steam them. Stir the steamed rice evenly, spread it out, and mix it with the powder-water as well.

The firewood burned beneath the pot must also be carefully chosen: gold-salt wood, five-spined wood (wujia), yang-fruit wood, and pine. All other kinds of wood are unsuitable for cooking the rice. When the rice is cooked, let it cool to a moderate warmth and then pour it into a large basin. Take five dou of flower-refined milk powder and twenty jin of roasted wheat flour, pound them into powder and roast until yellow, let them cool, and add them to the basin, kneading them repeatedly with the rice until thoroughly blended. Next, pound three dou of lotus seeds and eight jin of poria (fuling) into powder and add them to the basin. Take two dou of juwei, roast until fragrant, pound into powder, and mix that in as well. Finally, add two dou of fresh rehmannia juice and stir until even.

Then load these materials into the porcelain urn and seal its mouth. After a full three sevens of days (that is, twenty-one days), open the urn and examine the center. If a cup of clear green ling (ling refers to a wine or a wine-like medicinal liquid) appears, half red in color and translucent like glass, this is the essence of the medicine. It is said that drinking it brings long life. Press all the remaining material to extract its juice, and store it in three more porcelain urns.

Next, take two shi of gold-salt blossoms and jade-fermented-bean (yudou) blossoms and divide them among the three urns. Steam another two shi of glutinous rice and likewise divide it among the three urns, taking care that its temperature is suitable. Separately, take three dou of "gou," pound it into powder, mix it in, and seal the mouths of the urns again. After a full seven days the brew is complete. Strain it until clear and store it separately; its flavor is fragrant and delicious.

It is said that taking this ling has miraculous effects.

Whenever the medicine called Ling (醽) is taken, the ritual must be held at cockcrow, facing east. First, spread out a cloth of five colors as the seat of the Lord of Great Mystery (Taixuan Laojun). The one taking the medicine puts on Daoist robes, holds a bamboo tablet, and stands to the west facing east, gazing toward the place where the sun rises and visualizing the Jade Maidens of the Supreme Emperor as if they stood before their eyes. Then, burning incense, the practitioner prays: "Venerable Lord of the Great Dao, may you send down your protection. May the Divine King of Medicine Mountain and the Spirit of the Sweet Dew Sea take cups of red jade blossom and add Ling to your disciple's drink, so that after taking it I may prolong my years and return from age to youth, and then bring relief to all living beings, remaining loyal to my ruler and dutiful to my parents."

When the prayer is finished, take seven bundles of white thatch and arrange them as seven seats, covering each with a length of red silk seven feet long. Then take seven silver cups, holding nine he of Ling in all, and set them on the seven seats. Next, chant in praise: "Supreme Purity's wondrous Ling, the Great Mystery sends down its essence (Jing). Now I take it with diligence, may it grant me long life." After the chant, drink from the cups one by one, pouring the Ling from each cup into a single large wuzun vessel, and then take it in three swallows. The scripture (Jing) says that taking it this way makes a person strong and robust.

For the first ten days, follow the ritual above, dividing the nine he of Ling among the seven seats, reciting the verses of praise, and taking the medicine in three swallows. The scripture says that during these first ten days the body will sweat heavily; after ten days the sweating stops, and the body gradually gives off a fragrance and becomes smooth and supple. After sixty days the bones become fresh and lustrous; after seventy days the Dantian (energy center) grows bright; after ninety days the complexion glows like peach and plum blossoms; and after one hundred days white hair turns black again. After half a year, an old person of eighty will be restored to the appearance of a thirty-year-old in the prime of life, with strength surpassing that of a hundred men. After one year, the spirit (Shen) becomes clear and open to understanding; after two years, one can become an Earthbound Immortal; and after three years, one can ascend into the clouds.

There is no fixed time of morning or evening for taking this medicine. It should be taken in good time, with the dose adjusted to the individual's constitution. The scripture adds that if one takes as much as ten shi, the bone marrow is entirely replaced, and one thereby becomes an immortal. This formula is called a secret method of the utmost importance and must not be passed on casually; if it is carelessly divulged, calamity will fall upon seven generations of one's ancestors. It was not handed down to those of shallow capacity, but only to the great immortal Yin Xi. Yin Xi respectfully went to the cavern dwelling, and all the immortals who obtained this method were able to ascend in flight.

If one wishes to have the myriad immortals come to take one as their teacher and the multitude of spirits come to stand guard, one should grind white dragon bone into powder, mix it with powdered red gold, and take it. The scripture says that with this there are no taboos of any kind, but in preparing it one must fast and keep oneself pure, avoid foul-smelling foods, and scrupulously observe the rules of the immortals. The specific method of preparing the medicine is recorded separately in another scroll.

After the first day of the first lunar month, gather the new sprouts of the hundred herbs growing on sunny mountain slopes. If the sprouts are too small, use their roots instead.

The ingredients and quantities are as follows: five dou each of coltsfoot sprouts (kuandong), snake gourd sprouts (kualou), and morinda sprouts (bajitian); if there are no morinda sprouts, use bamboo shoots instead. Five dou each of ophiopogon sprouts (maimendong), bupleurum sprouts (chaihu), asparagus root sprouts (tianmendong), purple aster sprouts, and raspberry sprouts (fupenzi). Six dou each of burnet sprouts (diyu) and inula sprouts (xuanfu). Five dou of glechoma sprouts (lianqian); if there are none, asarum (xixin) may be used instead, with the best results. Lianqian is also called centella (jixuecao). Five dou of saposhnikovia sprouts (fangfeng); if there are none, use purple orchid sprouts, and if the root of fangfeng can be obtained, its pressed juice is better still. Five dou each of "cihu" sprouts, burdock sprouts (shuzhan), and plantain sprouts (cheqian). Five dou of cimicifuga sprouts (shengma); if there are none, use ephedra (mahuang) instead. Five dou of honeysuckle sprouts (rendong); if there are none, steam the leaves and stems of honeysuckle and press out the juice; if neither is available, use betony (shuisu) alone as a substitute. Five dou of Solomon's seal sprouts (weirui); one shi each of cogongrass sprouts (baimao) and rehmannia sprouts (dihuang); three dou of gastrodia root sprouts (chijian); and five dou of scutellaria sprouts (huangqin). If there are no scutellaria sprouts, press the juice from one hundred jin of tender roots; if those are unavailable, use white mugwort (baihao), said to turn the hair black. Five dou of smilax sprouts (baqia), six dou of peony sprouts (shaoyao), five dou of Angelica dahurica sprouts (baizhi), and six dou of Chinese yam sprouts (shuyu). Separately, grind Chinese yam root into powder and boil it together with the herbs.

Then add 2.5 shi of ophiopogon juice, 1.5 shi of achyranthes juice (niuxi), and 1.5 shi of rehmannia juice, and ferment them all together.

The oral formula says: "The sprouts of herbs are mostly warm in nature..." The text that follows repeats the passage above and is also damaged, so it cannot be read coherently.

Note: "dou" and "shi" here are both ancient units of volume. The plant names and some sentences in the scripture are corrupted or duplicated, so the above has been arranged and interpreted according to the surviving text.

The oral formula says: the tender shoots of medicinal herbs are mostly warm in nature, because the Yang qi (vital energy) is abundant in spring. When gathering them, select those of good quality, taking the young shoots of various herbs that grow on sunny slopes. Following this method, dig up the plant with its roots, then pluck off the tender shoots and test them on a dry clod of earth. If the juice seeps into the soil and the clod does not swell, the shoots are good and may be collected; if the clod swells, they are unfit for use and should be discarded.

If one has previously taken cinnabar elixirs, milk-based preparations, or mineral and metal drugs, one should gather more of the tender herb shoots described above and fewer of the ordinary hundred-herb sprouts.

Here ends the complete scroll of the Tongxuan Mishu (Secret Arts of Penetrating Mystery).

Note: one character is missing from the original text at this point; the two characters "you fang" (also, another formula) have been supplied on the basis of the context.