《雁门公妙解录》

When I was young I was frail and often ill, so I devoted myself to cultivating my physical health and also sought methods of ingesting metallic and mineral medicines. I have privately observed that certain enthusiasts of this path today spare no expense in conducting large-scale firing and refining of elixirs. They claim they can rapidly complete the River Chariot, transmute earth and stones into the Golden Elixir (Jindan), and instantly convert cinnabar into elixir pills, thereby strengthening sinews, bones, and marrow. Yet they frequently suffer injury from the medicines themselves, and by the time physicians are summoned it is already too late. Is this because the very root of their cultivation is mistaken, or because the methods transmitted by their teachers remain unclear? Why do the results differ so greatly from what they hoped for?

While reading Daoist books I chanced upon the essential instructions on elixir refinement that the Lord of the Nine Empyreans (Jiuxiao Jun, a legendary immortal in Daoist tradition) imparted to Liu Hong. The text points out that worldly practitioners have not even grasped the merest surface of the Great Dao, yet they boast extravagantly, deceive, and entice the people of the world; what they undertake is nothing other than a swift path of self-injury to nature and life. How can this fail to occasion grief? The words of a true immortal surely cannot deceive.

Doubts have long resided in my mind and I have been perplexed for many years, so I have extracted the essential points, written them down, and placed them beside my seat, entitling the collection the Record of Marvelous Explanations (Miaojie Lu). I hope that when I later read it I may dispel my uncertainties. Even if I still do not understand the method of nourishing the body with Golden Fluid, I may at least avoid damaging my life through the toxicity of elixir medicines, and this too may be counted a fortunate preservation of longevity. Should there be others who share my aspiration, I am willing to help them clarify what they have not yet grasped.

On the eighteenth day of the fifth month, a Jiazi day, in the ninth year of Dazhong (the Yihai year), I respectfully compose this preface.

Distinguishing Metallic and Mineral Medicines and Explaining Methods for Removing Their Toxicity

During the reign of Emperor An of the Han dynasty there lived a man named Liu Hong who had long devoted himself to the study of the Great Dao (the Way). In time he resigned his official post and withdrew into the mountains to cultivate. In the eleventh month of the first year of the Yanguang era the Lord of the Nine Heavens (Jiuxiao Jun) descended. Moved by pity that Daoist practitioners did not grasp the proper methods of firing and refining elixirs, he explained to Liu Hong the fundamental principles of superior elixirs, distinguished the various categories of mixed elixirs, and set forth how to neutralize the toxicity of mineral and metallic medicines as well as the formulas for refining immortality-preserving pills. The Lord of the Nine Heavens transmitted these teachings to Liu Hong, who then recorded them.

The Lord of the Nine Heavens said to Liu Hong: “Those who study the refining of the Golden Fluid Returned Elixir (Jinyi Huandan, the method of elixir-making spoken of in Daoism), together with those who ingest cinnabar, sulfur and various stalactite medicines, exhaust themselves seeking these substances in the belief that what they obtain are superior immortal drugs. They fail to understand the differences of depth involved, and they compete to learn and ingest them, all hoping to live forever. Yet they have not realized that the Golden Elixir (Jindan) and the various mineral medicines each possess their own natures and all contain virulent poisons within. From the time of Fuxi and Xuanyuan onward, of the Daoists who ingested these things not one in ten thousand survived; there has never been a case of anyone who took them and did not die.”

Liu Hong bowed and kowtowed once more, asking: “Why is this so?” The Lord of the Nine Heavens replied: “Worldly people refine the Golden Elixir and ingest elixirs solely in pursuit of longevity. The ignorant even exhaust their fortunes to obtain them, and ordinary folk likewise wish to rely on so-called superior immortal medicines to seek long life……”

Hong respectfully performed a ceremonial bow and kowtowed, asking, “Why is this so?” Jiuxiao Jun (Lord of the Nine Heavens) replied:

People of the world refine the Golden Elixir (Jindan) and ingest elixir medicines, all in pursuit of longevity. The ignorant even go so far as to exhaust their wealth, while worldly folk further wish to use the elixir to transmute gold and silver, so that this body of theirs—which is like a walking corpse—may enjoy splendor and glory and thereby provide for servants and concubines. The moment such a thought arises, it already manifests the omen of certain death; the so-called supreme medicine will thereby also reveal its true function.

The medicinal arts transmitted by the immortal lineages are unique and unparalleled, and their efficacy never takes two different forms. Yet people do not realize that the medicines themselves may contain virulent poison. After the elixir has been refined, worldly people know only how to use yuganzi (emblic myrobalan) to restrain Heche (the River Cart), lodestone to attract a needle, and sulfur to process mercury, and they therefore suppose that the Golden Elixir has been successfully produced and is no longer toxic.

Consider, for instance, the Autumn Stone (Qiushi) prepared by former sages (a mineral medicine formed by the condensation of urine and similar substances). It is said to be capable of drawing out living mercury and of subduing the toxicity of metallic and mineral medicines. Nevertheless, if a person ingests the elixir and the poison erupts along the way, it cannot be checked, and death is certain; even should one happen to survive, malignant sores may ultimately appear, which are the first signs of poisoning.

The scriptures state that Autumn Stone can neutralize toxins; yet if cinnabar, purple powder, poisonous frost, sulfur and the like are subdued by Autumn Stone, does that truly mean they are without toxicity? The instructions left by the former sages are difficult for people of the world to comprehend: those who understand them are Zhenren (Perfected Persons); those who do not understand them are ordinary mortals.

Hong asked again, “Why can the medicines used to transmute copper and iron also not be taken?”

Jiuxiao Jun said, “The methods for refining transmutative medicines commonly employ materials such as alum, niter, and paosha. Mixed together, these substances carry toxicity. Although they can cause mercury to dry and solidify and can refine copper and iron into metals, the fire timing they employ differs from the methods used to refine the Golden Elixir (jindan), so that the toxicity condenses within the medicine. No matter how repeatedly they are refined and transformed, the poison never disappears. It is like poison remaining in a person’s heart, not entering from without; or like fire that originally exists within wood and arises from within.

The toxicity of the art of transmutation is inherent in the materials themselves. The various materials each possess different natures and categories, and their refining methods likewise differ. Their Qi (vital energy) interact and mutually promote one another, each carrying its own toxicity. When realgar, orpiment, niter, paosha and similar materials are mixed together, they also mutually assist the fire. If the refining does not follow the regulations of heavenly timing and earthly configuration, the resulting substances all carry more or less poison, because they are not formed in accordance with the Heavenly Dao. From this it is clear that the ancient immortals did not take such medicines. Even possessing the power to create and transform the myriad things would still be insufficient to eliminate the great poison within them.”

Hong asked again, “The transmutative medicines mixed with various mineral materials and poisons indeed cannot be taken. I have often heard of ‘Huantou Zifen’ and ‘Qifan Dansha,’ which incorporate yuanfan and paosha. May these be taken?”

Jiuxiao Jun said, “Among the thousands and hundreds of people in the world, it is difficult to find even one who understands how to refine these two medicines. Even if one knows how to refine them, they are still unsuitable for consumption. Why is this? The so-called ‘Huantou Zifen’ is a substance refined by immortals for use in palaces; it contains sulfur. Once mercury enters sulfur it acquires intense toxicity; how then could it be taken?

As for ‘Qifan Dansha,’ although heating has rendered it no longer combustible, its original Four Images, Five Phases (wuxing) (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, Water), sinews, bones, blood and flesh, and Yin-Yang Qi remain incomplete. After ingestion it causes the blood of the five viscera to wither. Ordinary people become weak when their blood is insufficient and die when their blood is exhausted.”

What is called “dianhua” here refers to the ancient technique of using mineral medicines to refine and transform metals; “huohou” refers to the mastery of fire intensity and timing during the refining process.

Hong asked again: “When worldly people refine cinnabar, the granules and clumps they produce remain undamaged, their color unchanged from the original, and they do not alter even when burned with a great fire. How is this to be explained?”

Jiuxiao Jun replied: “When cinnabar first coagulates and takes form, it always does so within sandstone. Even luminous cinnabar, after flying refinement (refining by fire to extract its components), yields only twelve liang of mercury from each jin; the remaining four liang consist of mixed mountain-and-marsh impurities containing violent poison. If a Daoist does not remove these impurities and ingests them mixed together with medicinal substances, they will only obstruct a person’s Qi (vital energy) meridians and deplete the blood—how could there be any benefit?

From ancient times to the present, many Daoists who have not received true transmission from an immortal have regarded fire-refined cinnabar as ‘dead mercury,’ and they even falsely claim that when golden sand enters the five viscera there appear signs of immortality. This is a grave error. Do worldly people not know that from antiquity until now, not a single person who ingested these things has escaped death?

Only sulfur, when used alone without mixing in other medicinal substances, can still eliminate accumulated cold in the human body; yet it cannot be taken in large amounts, because it belongs to solitary Yang and its Qi nature is incomplete. As for certain other minor techniques, there is naturally no need to discuss them further.”

Hong asked again: “What medicine is suitable to take in order to prolong life, extend longevity, and retain the freshness of youth?”

The Lord of the Nine Heavens replied: “The supreme medicine refined by the immortals takes its imagery from the hun of the sun, the po of the moon, and the Qi (vital energy) of the four seasons. The solar hun never leaves the sun, and the lunar po never leaves the moon. In the same way, the supreme medicine cannot be separated from the principle of arising from Wood. Why is this? Wood corresponds to the color green and contains within it the fire of mercury. Fire belongs to yang and is symbolized by cinnabar; cinnabar pertains to the Li trigram of the Bagua (Eight Trigrams). Li corresponds to the south, whose directional association is Fire. Cinnabar is Fire, and it is also like Fire stored within Wood. When Wood and Fire enter the Earth of the central palace, Earth is able to overcome Water while Fire generates Earth, and thereby the great Dao (the Way) is accomplished.

This is like an infant who, after birth, gradually grows to maturity and later becomes a parent, with generations succeeding one another, yet the original source remains always one and the same. The root of the supreme medicine likewise does not lie in duality. The origin of Dao resides in the heart; the functioning of Dao operates by means of the Qi of the four seasons circulating and generating, so that the ten thousand things each obtain their proper use. Dao is born together with Qi and likewise dies together with Qi.

The reason that ingesting the supreme medicine confers immortality is that it is unmixed with other medicinal flavors and possesses no original toxicity. Once the medicine has been refined into liquid and formed into vessels, whether square or round, they become bright and translucent, radiating light both day and night, and only then are they suitable for consumption. It can free one from drowsiness, stabilize the heart and Shen (spirit), expel evil specters, resist cold and heat, render the skin moist and lustrous, keep the beard and hair from turning white, and restore youth from old age. After one thousand days of ingestion its effects become apparent; therefore it is said that taking it can confer immortality.”

Hong asked again: “How many kinds of supreme medicine are there?”

The Lord of the Nine Heavens replied: “There are three genuine elixir methods. The first is called the Divine Talisman Elixir of the Highest Immortals, the second the White Snow Elixir of the Middle Immortals, and the third the Nine-Turn Elixir of the Lower Immortals. These three elixir methods all issue from the same school and differ only in name; each possesses its own forbidden secret formulas of the Three-One, which likewise cannot be casually transmitted to others.

“Why can they not be transmitted at will? Take the Divine Talisman Elixir, for instance: if the Heavenly One Official of the Primordial Taiyi Palace has already been refined, it is called ‘liquid’ and will never appear as a physical vessel. Because the Heavenly One Official comprehensively governs its designation, the contents of the Three-One within it also cannot be transmitted.

“If the White Snow is not firm, it cannot congeal into ice; if it is not blended, it cannot display a blue-black color, nor can one distinguish the powdery quality and toxicity within it. This is like the sun remaining unillumined without the crow, or the moon failing to reveal its lunar soul without the cassia tree. When the White Snow congeals into solid ice and is blended, it is like a magnet attracting a needle; the secret formulas of the Three-One within it cannot be transmitted. When Zengqing and White Snow congeal into a solid body, the secret formulas of the Three-One therein cannot be transmitted. Only after the White Snow has formed can it enter the Purple Palace for use; then, by means of the four Qi (vital energy of the four seasons) it encompasses the myriad phenomena and causes them to congeal into a solid body; the secret formulas of the Three-One within it cannot be transmitted.

“If the supreme medicine cannot endure the four Qi and the Qi of primordial chaos, how can it be called the Dragon-Tiger elixir? Therefore the immortals take the mysterious transformative power of heaven and earth to refine it into a treasure that shines together with the sun and moon. Once the Divine Talisman and White Snow elixir methods have been accomplished, a path of ascent to immortality opens; the Nine-Turn elixir method can restore youth from old age, make the countenance like that of a child, and grant a lifespan like the Southern Mountains. That the oral formulas of the Three-One are not to be lightly transmitted—is this not only natural?”

Hong asked further: “The essential purport of the Three-One is both mysterious and hidden; I do not know what kind of person may receive its transmission.”

The Lord of the Nine Heavens said: “Only someone like myself may receive the transmission. The Three-One is the key to the operation of creation; how could it be casually transmitted to others? Is this not entirely as it should be?”

The original text contains repetitions and suspected errors; the foregoing has been rendered coherently according to context. Terms such as “Three-One,” “Heavenly One Official,” and “Purple Palace” are retained as in the original.

Hong asked again: “The purport of the ‘Three-One’ is both profound and hidden; I do not know who might transmit it.”

The Lord of the Nine Heavens said: “One such as I may transmit it. What is called the ‘Three-One’ is the crucial pivot of the operations of creation and transformation. It exists not only in the Supreme Medicine; the human body itself also possesses its own Three-One. If one can cultivate the Three-One within the body, child and mother will not separate, Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy) will each abide in their places and rely upon one another, the mind-spirit will be peaceful, harmonious and warm, and the inner radiance will appear with clarity. Have you not seen the aspect of the moon at utmost yang, or the scene at high noon? Then there is neither wind nor cloud, even the finest dust does not stir, the azure sky is limpid and still—where is there any covering? A person may likewise attain such a state. If one can constantly attune the Three-One within the body so that no stray thoughts arise, uniting with the Qi that is as clear as the azure sky, inner and outer become luminous, body and mind merge as one with the primordial void, and one may then ascend.

In the world there are people who happen to hear of this method of the Dao and take it to be merely ingesting Qi: drawing in through the nose, expelling through the mouth, then puffing out the cheeks to swallow the breath, imagining they can succeed at once. To do so may instead bring death. It is like having ingested a poisonous elixir by mistake, already beyond remedy. Therefore the Three-One of the body is no different from the Three-One of the Supreme Medicine; and the Three-One of the body is not lightly transmitted.”

Hong asked again: “If someone has previously taken cinnabar, milk-stone, sulfur or purple powder so that the toxicity has erupted, how should it be treated?”

The Lord of the Nine Heavens replied: “The Three-One of the Supreme Medicine is no different from the Three-One of the body; and the Three-One of the body is not lightly transmitted.”

Here the “Three-One” is a specialized term in Daoist cultivation, referring to the wondrous purport of the three becoming one as spoken of in the classics. The text also warns that it must not be misunderstood as a mere practice of swallowing the breath; “Supreme Medicine” denotes the medicinal product obtained through refinement and nourishment, or the achievement of cultivation itself.

Hong asked again, “If someone previously ingested cinnabar, milky stones, sulfur, or purple powder and later the toxicity erupts, how should they be treated?”

The Lord of the Nine Heavens replied, “Those already dead from taking the medicines need not be discussed. If the person is still alive, one can only try to save them. Daoists should advise one another to quickly prepare the Immortality-Preserving Pills (the detoxifying pills mentioned here) to rescue people, and perhaps their lives can still be preserved.

For example, the Head-Changing Purple Powder, because it has not incorporated the refining process of Condensed White Snow as its foundation—the scripture states that bones belong to Yang—if Primordial Harmonizing Green is further mixed in, it is called Greatly Poisonous Purple Powder. When a person takes this medicine, no matter how much is ingested or how much time has passed, even if other things are eaten afterward, and regardless of which day after taking it the toxicity appears, it falls outside the usual time limits for treatment. As long as three to five days have not been exceeded, it may still be possible to treat with the original medicine.

Those who have taken sulfur, purple powder, fire-subdued cinnabar, and various milky-stone medicines, if the toxicity erupts, the Immortality-Preserving Pills might still save them, but only two or three out of twelve will live. If various stone medicines have been taken, even if they have not yet erupted, taking the Immortality-Preserving Pills in advance as a precaution is better.”

Hong asked further, “The three great elixirs can already extend lifespan; if the toxicity within them has not been fully refined away, can they still be taken?”

The Lord of the Nine Heavens answered, “The Divine Talisman White Snow Nine-Turn Elixir, if it has not yet undergone refining in the Taiyi Palace and Tianyi Palace, and the Four Images are not yet complete, cannot be taken. If someone waiting to take this elixir suddenly feels the medicinal nature acting and the body becoming uneasy, quickly taking Fulonggan juice (a medicine made from stove-heart earth), licorice decoction, and raw mung-bean juice will immediately settle the symptoms, and death from this is rare. Why? Because these three medicines interact with the various components in the elixir, leaving only the fire poison, so it does not kill.

Apart from these three medicines, other medicines of the cinnabar type, even if forced down for a time, may improve the complexion; but if the medicinal nature suddenly erupts, life is in danger.”

Hong asked, “May I hear the method for refining the Baoxian Pills?” The Lord of the Nine Heavens (Jiuxiao Jun) replied, “The Baoxian Wuzi Wan (Immortal-Preserving Five-Seed Pills) is a secret method transmitted among the immortals. It is to be taught only to selected persons who possess the Dao, so that it may be used to protect and sustain a person’s nature and life. I shall now instruct you in it fully, and also outline the essential points of the Three Elixirs (Sandan). You must carefully contemplate these methods and transmit them onward, so as to assist those who have not yet understood. Do not forget my words, for I am about to depart.”

Upon hearing this, Hong shed tears like rain and kowtowed in repeated reverence. The Lord of the Nine Heavens raised his hand in farewell, then entered the clouds and vanished from sight.

Later, Liu Hong carved a stone inscription in the mountains, recording the general outline of the Three Elixirs. Subsequently a Daoist priest came upon the inscription, copied it down, and thus the methods circulated throughout the world. During the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang, Master Tongxuan Zhang Guo presented this set of methods. The emperor was greatly pleased and had them stored in the secret archives of the palace. Zhang Guo also gave a detailed account of the efficacy of the Three Elixirs; as for the methods of the Yuanxiu Elixir (Yuanxiu Dan), because they are lengthy and complex, they are not copied here.

Note: “Baoxian Wuzi Wan” is the name of a Daoist elixir; “Sandan” (the Three Elixirs) refers to the three categories of elixir methods spoken of in the scripture. In the original text the phrase “jixian” is suspected to be a textual corruption; here, following the context, it has been rendered in the sense of kowtowing.