《黄帝九鼎神丹经诀》Vol. 4

When the fire is first lit for alchemical refining, the mineral essence in the ingredients may clump together, and the elixir may scatter and fail to form. Someone asked why this happens. The Master replied: “There are five prohibitions.

“First, when preparing the ingredients and lighting the fire, avoid the ‘Five Stones’ death days’: the Renchen day in spring, the Guiwei day in summer, the Bingxu day in autumn, and the Dingchou day in winter. If you refine a divine elixir and light the fire on these days, the mineral essence will clump together and the elixir will fail to fly and transform. It will also combine with frost and fumes to form poison. Even if swallowed, it will bring no benefit.

“Second, avoid the ‘Five Evils’ birth days’ when purchasing alchemical equipment and divine medicines, and when discussing alchemy.

“‘The Nine Turns of Spring’ refers to a purification ritual. On the day the purification begins, pour five dou of clear wine into flowing water near your dwelling. If there is no running water nearby, dig a good well and pour the wine into it instead. This purifies the earth’s Qi and provides water for those observing the purification to drink. Even if no words of prayer are spoken while pouring the wine, the act still conveys an offering. The refining of a supreme divine elixir is highly subtle, so the text here imagines presenting food and offerings, performing a Jiao rite, and making petitions. Such rituals are required by methods of a lower order. As the Primordial Lady said, ‘This is not done to sacrifice to or address ghosts and spirits.’ That is the reason. Before the medicine has been refined, one must still approach the work with reverence and sincerity; the sacrifice is simply a proper prayer for the elixir to be completed. If the elixir has already been completed and one then performs another sacrifice, that would be inappropriate. The ritual may also be performed to welcome the arrival of Taiyi, or to invite the Jade Maidens to descend and assist, bringing down divine Qi and making the elixir effective so that a person may become an immortal and prolong life.

“Alchemy should be practiced in a secluded place deep in the mountains, near water flowing eastward. Build an altar chamber and prepare all the necessary utensils and earthen crucibles. Once the medicines have been refined and enough charcoal has been gathered, choose an ‘Opening and Removal Day’—an auspicious day according to traditional date selection—and observe a hundred days of purification. Those taking part must share the same purpose, swear to keep their agreement, and number no more than three. Only after confirming that the crucible and vessels are sealed should the fire be lit.

“When you are about to prepare the ingredients, observe purification for another seven days. On an Opening and Removal Day under the Jiazi cycle, perform a ritual beside the crucible. The offerings should include five sheng each of clear wine and white wine; three jin each of dried mutton and dried venison; two dou of yellow millet rice; two sheng of jujubes; twenty boiled eggs; and the head of a carp weighing three jin. Arrange the offerings on three tables, placing three cups of wine on each, and burn frankincense. Bow twice, then pray: ‘I, the humble minor official Moujia, am preparing the medicines to refine the Yellow Emperor’s Nine Cauldrons Divine Elixir. I beseech the divine spirits, the Immortals, the Jade Maiden, the Dark Maiden, the Pure Maiden, and the Azure-waisted Jade Maiden to help bring this work to completion. I beseech the Lord of the Great Dao, the Lord of Great Harmony, and the Supreme Lord: I, the humble minor official Moujia, long for life without end and cherish the Way of the Immortals. Now I am refining the medicines of the Immortals; may the work succeed.’

“Then raise the wine and perform the rite, standing and bowing twice each time, nine times in all. Afterward, pray again: ‘I beseech the Lord of the Great Dao and the Dark Maiden to help me refine the divine elixir, so that it will not scatter or be lost, the fire can be fully controlled, its color will be good, and it will transform at a touch, refining substances into both gold and silver. After taking it, may I live without end and become a perfected being.’ Finally, place red dates, oranges, and other medicines on the offering table. When the ritual is complete, light the fire according to the prescribed method.”

To set up the sacred seat of Taiyi, the seat for worshipping the deity Taiyi, use a new bed measuring three feet six inches in both length and width, and two feet eight inches in height. Cover it with a new mat, facing west. Then take a piece of deep red silk three feet long and place it on the mat. Choose a day for kindling the fire, arrange the offerings, and recite the ritual prayer.

When refining the Nine Elixirs, build an altar at the refining site from yellow earth. Each side of the altar should measure nine feet, and a fence should enclose all four sides. Leave a square area at the center, four feet on each side, with one gate on each of its four sides. Place the elixir furnace west of the altar, six feet away. Set a mat on the altar, using white thatch as the offering mat; it should be one foot long. Lay five layers of mats on the altar, using one mat for each layer. Offer dried meat and a cup of wine. At the eastern seat, lay nine layers of mats, using two mats for each layer, and offer dried meat and two cups of wine.

The offerings should also include two sheng of cooked yellow millet, three or five jin each of dried beef and dried mutton, three carp weighing three jin in total, steamed; twenty boiled eggs, three sheng of jujubes, and one pear. If oranges, pomelos, or other red fruits are available, offer them as well. Then burn incense, pour the wine, bow before the divine seat, and complete the fire-kindling ceremony according to the method described earlier.

When the ceremony is over, remove the offerings beside the furnace and replace them with fresh wine and dried meat, distributing them among three offering tables. Place three cups of wine and three jin of dried meat on each table. From then on, keep the wine and dried meat on all three tables there day and night; do not remove them. Replace the dried meat every three days and the wine three times a day. Bow as usual each time you replace the wine. From the start of the offerings, burn incense continuously, day and night, and remain clean and reverent at all times, without slackening.

Once the elixirs have been refined, perform the ritual again as at the beginning, adding only three jin of meat, placed on an offering mat east of the altar. Also add one sheng of cooked white rice, one steamed rooster, and dried and fresh fish, among other things. In the prayer, say: “The divine medicine has now been refined. We respectfully ask to open the elixir furnace.” The wording of the prayer may be adjusted to suit the circumstances. After the ritual is complete, open the elixir furnace.

When beginning the preparation of a divine elixir, one usually offers libation wine to the source of a river to calm the earth’s Qi. One also performs a solemn sacrifice to the gods in gratitude for the Eight Minerals used in alchemy. If one obtains the Jade Covenant of the Nine Elders (a talismanic covenant that protects the alchemical work), one can examine the Qi of all things, drive away baleful forces and demons, and subdue all fierce ghosts and spirits. The gods will provide protection, and the numinous Qi within the fire will naturally settle. In this way, the elixir can be made without setting out offerings or performing a Zhaijiao purification ritual.

According to the Jade Covenant of the Nine Elders, on the day one begins purification, first write the talisman in cinnabar on blue silk. The blue silk is also called the “True Register of the Eight Su” or the “Supreme Talisman of Great Clarity.” Make two pieces, each nine inches square. Once the talismans are written, face east and recite:

“Eight Su True Talisman, Jade Covenant of the Nine Elders. Let the celestial gods inspect the earth and, from above, protect the essence of the elixir. Guard the nine water sources and seal the rivers in the eight directions, so that precious Qi may abound. Subdue and destroy baleful forces and thieves, and make the radiant brilliance of fine jade shine forth. Golden dew and jade-like frost are both the numinous Qi of the Eight Minerals. Through seven changes and five transformations, after nine revolutions, completion is achieved in ten.”

After reciting the incantation, place one talisman in a blue brocade pouch and hang it on the chest, close to the heart. Hold the other over the mouth of a well and cut it in half. Cast one half into water near the dwelling; bury the other half beneath the medicine cauldron, inside the Liu-Yi furnace used for alchemy, and put it into flowing water. A stone may be used to weigh it down. Bury the portion beneath the cauldron three inches deep.

According to this passage, the “Mysterious Talisman of Protection” is a precious protective talisman. It is called the “Treasured Talisman of Miaozhou,” and is also known as the “Register of the Celestial Lord Taiyi” or the “Eight-Inch Plain Text.” On the day one begins purification, at noon on a Jiazi or Jiayin day, face east and use a green brush to draw the talisman on the “Liuyi cauldron.” Then take a piece of white silk, eight inches square, and copy the talisman onto it. After finishing, recite the incantation. The “Liuyi cauldron” is the furnace and cauldron used to refine divine elixirs.

There are several prohibitions concerning the refinement of divine elixirs and entering the mountains to gather medicinal plants. First, avoid Renyin days in spring, Guisi days in summer, Renshen days in autumn, and Guihai days in winter. If one enters the mountains to refine medicines on these days, the medicines will be difficult to complete, the spirits will offer no protection, and ghosts and malevolent forces may cause harm.

Second, avoid entering the mountains to compound medicines or gather zhi herbs on the “days of injury and severance” associated with the Five Sacred Peaks. These days are Gengyin in spring, Guiwei in summer, Bingshen in autumn, and Dingchou in winter. It is said that entering the mountains on these days may cause spirits to seize one’s soul; the elixirs may also be ruined, and those refining them may be injured or fall ill.

Third, when compounding divine elixirs, preparing the furnace and cauldron, or sealing the medicines, avoid the “days when Heaven opens and Earth breaks”: Bingxu and Bingchen in spring; Xinwei and Xinchou in summer; Renchen and Renxu in autumn; and Guiwei and Guichou in winter. Refining elixirs on these days may cause the stove and cauldron to crack of their own accord. The essence of the elixirs may dissipate, the Five Minerals may scatter, and the medicines may spoil.

Fourth, men and women have different days to avoid when refining elixirs. Men should avoid the third day of the seventh month and Jiayin days in the seventh month; women should avoid the seventh day of the first month and Gengshen days in the first month. These four days are called “days when the essences of the minerals clash and unite with ghosts.” If one lights the fire to refine elixirs on these days, the elixirs’ essence will not be able to take effect, the spirits will not respond, and malevolent ghosts may intrude, ultimately bringing misfortune.

There are also three further prohibitions for elixir refinement: one must not weep or grieve while refining elixirs; one must not violate the taboos concerning elixirs and their names stated in the scriptures; and one should avoid inauspicious or declining conditions, impurity, and circumstances involving death, childbirth, or nursing.

If these three taboos are violated, the essence of the stone medicines will be difficult to congeal, and the five radiances will not appear. The pills produced will certainly be toxic, and taking them will cause death. When refining the Eight Minerals—elixirs made chiefly from eight kinds of mineral substances—in particular, one must avoid grief and sorrow, weeping and tears. Nor should anyone in mourning, anyone who has come into contact with a corpse, or anyone tainted by inauspicious impurity take part in flying and refining frost and snow or building the furnace and fire. These are especially important taboos to observe when refining divine elixirs.

In addition, among the elixirs there is an evil spirit that kills people, named “Stone Onion Child,” with the courtesy name “Muddy Wash.” On the day the elixir is compounded and the fire is first lit, be sure to take care not to call this name. If this taboo is violated again, smoky frost will fall, ghost soldiers will break in, the sacred furnace will shatter, and the essence of the medicines will disperse.

The “Four Failures” are as follows. First, the ground where the elixir is compounded often trembles, as if carts and horses were passing by. Second, one encounters an envious person—that is, someone with a fierce gaze. When such people see the divine medicine, they bring down ghostly calamity. Third, thunder shakes the elixir cauldron, causing the essence of the pill to fall and preventing it from ascending. Fourth, one smells the odor of the Five Pungent Plants, such as onions, garlic, and chives, or burns chicken or dog feathers.

I, your servant, submit that these four circumstances are the most important to avoid when refining the Eight Minerals. If any occurs, the essence of the medicines cannot ascend, and the elixir cannot be successfully refined.

If the prescribed number of days for refining the elixir has not yet elapsed and thunder is heard, immediately cover the cauldron—the vessel used for refining the elixir—with a damp cloth. This will keep the medicines’ vital energy hidden and prevent the flying smoke from rising.

The “Six Fears” are as follows. First, on the day the medicines are sealed and when the fire is first lit, avoid wind, rain, thunder, and lightning; otherwise, the medicines’ essence cannot ascend and the elixir cannot be refined. Second, while compounding the elixir, avoid hearing calls to summon souls. The original text for the third and fourth items is missing. Fifth, while compounding the elixir, avoid hearing mournful cries. Sixth, avoid seeing any bloody or filthy event.

I, your servant, have examined the matter: these six taboos are all things that must be avoided when refining the divine elixir. To hear of the taboos yet still violate them is to disturb the essence and Qi within the elixir, damaging its radiance and vapor.

Secret Instructions on the Nine-Cauldron Elixir

The scripture and instructions transmitted by the Perfected Ones describe the method for refining the Nine-Cauldron Elixir. The first elixir is called “Cinnabar Radiance.” It has two names: “Flowing Pearl, Nine Transformations” and “Cinnabar Radiance.”

Refining the First Elixir: The Method of Flowing Pearl, Nine Transformations

According to the original scripture, first prepare “Darkness and Yellow” (a material or intermediate product used in elixir refining). Then take one jin each of realgar and cinnabar solution and mix them together.

I, your servant, have examined the matter: although this instruction…

After examining this formula, I believe that although it specifies one jin of each of the two ingredients, it does not state how much Xuanhuang to use. Nor does it clarify how much water to add when mixing, or how thick the mixture should be. So even if one obtains the formula, the preparation may still fail.

According to the “Spirit-Talisman Method” in the Second Elixir, there are four procedures. The second says that after preparing Xuanhuang, one should mix it with Xuanhuang water made from nine transformations of Flowing Beads, until the mixture turns red. Although this differs from the method of steaming over a fire, both procedures produce a paste. The Thirty-Six Water Methods does indeed describe how to make Xuanhuang water. However, neither Elixir Blossom nor the nine-transformed Flowing Beads themselves are used here. The formula’s phrase “the Xuanhuang water of the nine transformations of Flowing Beads above” refers precisely to the water used to refine Xuanhuang: water made from cinnabar and realgar is mixed with Xuanhuang, then repeatedly steamed.

Place these ingredients in a green bamboo tube. Shave the outer layer of the tube thin, steam the contents inside it, plug the opening with a block of white wood, and cover it with yellow and fine sand. If there are gaps at the opening, the vapor will easily escape; the fine powder that escapes mixed with the earth will appear yellow. Steam the ingredients together for about the time it takes to eat a meal, until they melt into water. The water then congeals and rises again as water. Repeat this rising and settling a hundred times.

Next, take one jin each of realgar water and cinnabar water to mix with the Xuanhuang. Place the mixture in a sealed crucible and refine it by sublimation. After nine rounds, the essence of the Xuanhuang will settle at the bottom of the crucible. Remove it when the process is complete. Divide one jin of Xuanhuang into nine portions, then divide one of those portions in half.

Prepare two crucibles in advance. Make one of them according to the “Method for the Earthen Crucible of White Snow Soil in the Great Clarity Elixir,” whose details were given in the previous scroll, volume six, and need not be repeated here. Next, take twenty jin of oyster shells and seventy jin of red bole, pound them into powder, mix the powder with liquid fermented for a hundred days to make a paste, and pound it three thousand times. Coat an earthen crucible with the paste. Put two jin of mercury into the crucible, then place the two portions of Xuanhuang above and below the mercury. Coat the rims of both crucibles with the oyster-shell and red-bole paste, joining them tightly together, and let them dry in the shade for ten days.

Set the crucible on an iron pot whose legs are nine cun high. Heat it over horse-manure or rice-husk fuel for three days and three nights, then let it cool for a day. Once cool, open it and remove the essence produced by sublimation, discarding the residue. Burn the residue briefly. If it still gives off smoke, the medicinal vapor has not yet been fully refined, so continue sublimating it according to the previous method. Thereafter, extend the refining time as needed until the medicinal vapor is exhausted.

Take another portion of Xuanhuang and divide it in half. Place the two parts above and below the mercury in the earthen crucible, seal it, and refine it by sublimation as before. Repeat this process nine times, then open the crucible and remove the essence produced by sublimation.

Finally, take seven “earth dragons.” A commentary explains that the scriptures sometimes call them “dragon paste” and sometimes “earth-dragon paste”; both names refer to the same thing: white-headed, curved ants. Put them in a vessel and cover them with salt, and they will turn into water. Submerge the essence produced by sublimation in this liquid, then refine it by sublimation for three days and three nights as before, and let it cool for a day. Open the vessel and gather the resulting substance. It will resemble five-colored frost and snow, and is called “Nine-Transformed Flowing Beads.”

In my private view, ants and tiny insects, though small and weak, are living beings. A compassionate person cannot bear to kill them to prolong their own life; by the standards of right conduct, one should not do so. When making elixirs, I especially do not wish to hear the cries of livestock being slaughtered or their piteous wailing. There is also a method of elixir-making known as the “Nine Turns.”

In my private view, ants and tiny insects, though small and weak, are living beings. A compassionate person cannot bear to kill them to prolong their own life; by the standards of right conduct, one should not do so. Among the “Thirty-Six Waters” used in elixir-making, one must also avoid hearing livestock being slaughtered and their piteous cries. Of the “Three Taboos”—things to be avoided when making an elixir—one is grief and sorrow. All living creatures cherish their own lives; who would not feel grief and fear when faced with weapons and injury? If there is truly no other choice, the greater good may require sacrificing one’s own kin. But if they can be spared, one should leave them a path to freedom, as in the story of “opening three sides of the net.”

I have examined the second kind of elixir, called the “Elixir of Spirit Talismans.” The first method recorded in the Four-Middle Scripture is to mix the medicinal ingredients into a paste with “Mysterious Liquid,” the fluid used in elixir-making. This method may be used as a substitute. I have also examined the first kind of elixir, called the “Cinnabar Blossom Method.” If the ingredients have not yet taken shape after processing, moisten them with Mysterious Water Liquid and Dragon Paste, then continue flying and refining—that is, repeatedly processing them to sublime and purify them. In this way, the elixir can be completed in thirty-six days. Once these two materials are understood, there is no need to use ant juice. The so-called “Western Dragon Paste” is dew from mulberry trees; the liquid from ants and other insects is merely dew gathered on autumn mornings, and the quality of expressed juices cannot be compared. The old method is preserved, and I do not presume to alter or omit it. In practice, however, one may consider substituting other materials as appropriate. The specific method for preparing Mysterious Water Liquid is given below.

Those who take the first elixir, as well as the elixirs “Nine Turns of the Flowing Pearl” and “Cinnabar Radiance,” should face the sun at dawn on a Jiazi day, bow twice, then kneel and swallow one pill the size of a grain of millet or foxtail millet. They will immediately become immortals and ascend to the nine heavens. Swallowing half a pill of this size will make them an earthly immortal.

If you wish to enter water without getting wet, face the sun at dawn, bow twice, kneel, and swallow one pill. You will immediately become an immortal and ascend to the nine heavens; half a pill will make you an earthly immortal. Afterward, you will not get wet in water or burn in fire. No disaster can harm you, weapons cannot wound you, and you can transform freely and pass in and out without obstruction. You can command ghosts and spirits, and your lifespan will match that of Heaven and Earth. If you wish to leave the human world, swallow another half pill and you will ascend to Heaven at once. To deliver an ordinary person, give them one pill the size of a small bean; they will become an immortal that very day. Half a pill of that size will make them an earthly immortal. If the six kinds of domestic animals swallow a pill the size of a large bean, they too will ascend to Heaven at once.

Thus it is said: when a crow obtains the elixir, it turns into a phoenix; when a wild beast obtains it, it becomes a qilin; when a snake obtains it, it becomes a dragon; when a ghost obtains it, it becomes a spirit; when a woman obtains it, she becomes a Jade Maiden; and when a man obtains it, he becomes an immortal.

Mix the elixir with snake fat and form it into four pills the size of projectiles. Bury one at each corner of a dwelling, and the house will transform into a red dragon, carrying the whole family up to Heaven, seven thousand feet above the ground. It can then transform into gold and jade, and travel wherever one wishes. If you bury a pill the size of a chicken egg yolk, wherever you bury it, the rivers and mountains within a thousand li, all the way down to the depths of the Nine Springs, will ascend to Heaven with it.

Take one jin of firm, fine-grained yellow earth, pound it finely and sift it, then boil it three times in water. Add one zhu of the elixir and stir thoroughly to combine. Boil until all the water has evaporated, and the yellow earth will turn into gold.

I believe that the method described in this instruction may seem hard to believe at first, but the principles taught by the sages should not be dismissed lightly. In the past, the Eight Lords told Liu An, King of Huainan, “I can boil and refine mud into gold, and condense mercury into silver.” This refers precisely to the effects of elixirs. However, the Eight Lords taught Liu An only the “Five Spirits Method,” a method of alchemical refinement, and did not teach him the “Nine Cauldrons” method. Liu An bowed repeatedly, but in the end the method was still not transmitted to him. From this we can see that the Way of alchemical refinement is not easily heard of or witnessed.

When materials such as red copper and black iron are infused with the power of an elixir, then melted and refined, they can be transformed into something unlike ordinary substances. This should not be dismissed lightly. Lead, tin, mercury, copper, and iron can all be refined in this way: melt one jin of metal, add one zhu of elixir, and it is said to turn into gold. This is a secret method that Celestial Master Zhang strictly forbade anyone to transmit; for that reason, this scripture does not describe it in detail.

Second Elixir Method: The Cinnabar Flower Method

This elixir is refined using only an earthen crucible, following the same procedure as the “White Snow Method.” Place the ingredients in the crucible and seal it, then set it over a fire on three iron pots. The procedure is the same as that for the second elixir’s divine talisman described in this scripture. The alchemical instructions record four methods.

First, following the method in the “Upper Scripture,” use the Ding of Abundant Elixir Blossoms to refine the two divine talismans. This is an excellent method for making elixirs. Once the resulting elixir has congealed into solid form, subject it to nine ascents and nine descents of refining. The Ding must not be opened.

First put the mercury into a Ding. Mix oyster and red ochre into a paste and seal the joint between the two earthen Dings, then fit them together. Leave them to dry in the shade. Set them over three iron pans, nine inches above the ground, and refine them for one day and one night over a chaff fire. During the process, alternate which of the two Dings is on top; do not open them. Then refine them for another day and night. Repeat these nine ascents and nine descents, then let the Dings cool for one day. Open them and remove the refined essence. Add carp gall and mix until it is slightly moist, then return it to the earthen Dings and seal them with Six-One clay. Six-One clay is the material used to seal and secure vessels during elixir making. Seal the Dings as you would the Ding of Elixir Blossoms. Once dry, refine them over a chaff fire for one day and one night, following the earlier method. After each set of nine ascents and descents, let them cool for one day, then open them and remove the essence. Add carp gall to make it slightly moist, return it to the earthen Dings, seal them with Six-One clay, and refine them again as before. Repeat this process nine times. Finally, add “Western Dragon Paste”—that is, dew from a mulberry tree—and mix until slightly moist.

Next, take lead yellow blossom and combine it with mercury according to the method in the scripture to make flowing pearls of five-colored mysterious yellow. When the refining is complete, there should be ten catties. Divide these into nine portions, then divide one of those portions in half. Prepare in advance three sets of earthen Dings, six in all. Place the mercury that has undergone the nine rounds of flying refinement into an earthen Ding. Spread the two halves of the five-colored mysterious yellow, one above and one below the substance, then put on the lid. Seal the joint with Six-One clay, applying a layer three fen thick, and leave it to dry in the shade for ten days. Then refine it over a chaff fire for nine days and nights, let it cool for one day, and remove the refined essence from the upper layer. Return it to its original earthen Ding. Take another portion of the five-colored mysterious yellow, divide it in half, spread the halves above and below the substance, seal the Ding, and refine it as before. In total, carry out nine transformations.

For the third transformation, use two new earthen Dings, following the method in the “Method of the Nine Dings and Ultimate Radiance Earthen Crucibles of the Great Clarity.” Three sets of earthen Dings, six in all, are required for the nine transformations. This is what the scripture means by “three sets making nine transformations.” The control of the elixir’s potency and the firing schedule are the same as in the nine-transformation method for flowing pearls.

This divine-talisman elixir can also be used to refine mercury into an elixir. Take one catty of mercury and heat it in an iron vessel. Add one zhu of the divine-talisman elixir and stir; it will transform into a divine elixir called the “Reverted Elixir.” This is what the scripture means by “refining mercury and transforming it into an elixir.” Take it in the same way as Elixir Blossoms.

The second method is to make a divine talisman. Prepare “Dark Yellow” separately, using the same method described in this scripture. Here, “Dark Yellow” means a substance made from nine jin of mercury and one jin of lead; it is not the three kinds of Dark Yellow mentioned in the Hua method. Then take the finest “Ninefold-Turned Dark Yellow Water of the Flowing Pearl.”

The subject’s examination of the sources states: Zhang the Celestial Master’s Original Scripture of Dark Yellow Water says that “Bright Cinnabar Flower” is the first kind of Hua, which is water. Careful examination shows that it is not water formed by the transformation of cinnabar or realgar. The method for making Dark Yellow Water is not explicitly recorded among the thirty-six water methods. The water mentioned here is indeed water obtained by distillation.

Mix the ingredients into a paste, place it in an iron vessel, and heat it until it glows red. Then add Dark Water Liquid. Dark Water Liquid is also called Dark Water Marsh; it is water made from magnetite. To prepare it, take one jin of magnetite, one liang of realgar, and one liang of refined stone bile. Mix and pound them together, put them in a bamboo tube, seal it as described earlier, and place it in the “Flower Pond” for thirty days. It will then turn into water.

Another method is to shape bamboo into a tube, put in Rong salt, seal it, and bury it in a well three chi below the water’s surface. After twenty days it will turn into water. Then add saltpeter and bury it for twenty days; add mica and bury it for another twenty days. If the ingredients are slow to dissolve, continue adding materials and burying them. “Red Dragon’s Blood” means adding cinnabar; “Green Dragon’s Blood” means adding copper sulfate; “Dark Water Liquid” means adding magnetite. These procedures must all be carried out in a well. In practice, choose whichever of the two methods works better.

Mix the ingredients into a paste, place it in an earthen crucible, seal it, and heat it according to the method in this scripture.

The method for the third divine talisman: Take the dark yellow material refined through nine cycles in “The Nine Transformations of the Upper Flowing Pearl” (the yellow alchemical substance obtained after nine refinings). Mix it with water from a pond to make a paste, and coat a ceramic alchemical vessel with it. Let it dry completely. Put mercury into the vessel and cover it with another ceramic vessel. Seal them tightly with Liuyi clay, then let them dry in the shade for ten days. Set the vessels over three iron cauldrons and heat them for nine days and nine nights. Stop the fire and let them cool for one day. Open the vessels, remove the product, and take it in the same way as elixir flowers. The mercury used here must have been detoxified by refining and subjected to nine cycles of sublimation and refining. No other mercury may be used.

The dark yellow material used in the fourth method must also be refined through nine cycles in “The Nine Transformations of the Upper Flowing Pearl.” The ceramic vessels used for the following nine elixir methods are all made according to “Instructions for the Great Clarity White Snow Ceramic Vessel,” with no differences between them.

Third Elixir: Instructions for the Divine Elixir

Pound and prepare realgar and orpiment in the same way as described in this scripture. First mix the dark yellow material with water to make a paste, then coat the inner walls of two ceramic vessels with a layer about three fen thick. Let them dry in the shade for ten days. Put the realgar and orpiment inside, then seal the joint between the vessels with dark yellow paste. Fit the vessels together and seal them tightly. Next, coat the joint and the outside of both vessels, top and bottom, with Liuyi clay, to an overall thickness of about three fen. Let it dry completely. Set the vessels over three iron cauldrons and heat them as described earlier.

Fourth Elixir: Instructions for the Reverted Elixir

First, roast the mineral called yushi, alum stone, and the nine ingredients together over charcoal. When this is done, put the pounded medicinal ingredients into a ceramic vessel. Spread one jin of dark yellow material on top, then place one jin of mercury on it. Next, take one jin of realgar, pound it a thousand times, and spread it over the mercury. Take one jin of each of the remaining seven ingredients, pound them, and layer them in order, following the sequence given in the scripture. Seal the ceramic vessel and heat it according to the scriptural method; the prescribed degree of heat must be followed exactly.

Fifth Elixir: Instructions for Taking the Elixir

First coat the outside of the two earthen crucibles (ceramic vessels used for alchemical preparation) with yellow-black clay, a yellow clay used in alchemy, to a thickness of three fen. Once the clay has dried, add the various ingredients and seal the crucibles. Place them over three iron pots, nine cun high, and heat them according to the method prescribed in the scripture.

Sixth Elixir: Instructions for the Alchemical Method

Mix earth-dragon paste (the juice of earthworms), earth-dragon droppings (earthworm excrement), yellow dog gall, oyster, and red ochre (a red mineral medicine) into a paste. Coat the crucible with it, then spread a half-cun layer of yellow-black clay across the bottom. Add the various ingredients, seal the crucible, and heat it according to the method above. Follow the scripture for the remaining steps. Earth-dragon paste is the juice of earthworms.

Seventh Elixir: Instructions for the Soft Elixir Method

Follow the method in the scripture. After putting mercury into the crucible, coat the rims of the two earthen crucibles with yellow-black clay, fit them together, and seal them. Then coat the seal with Six-One clay (the sealing clay used for alchemical crucibles), to a thickness of three fen. Place the crucible over three iron pots and heat it by the prescribed method.

Eighth Elixir: Instructions for the Submerged Elixir Method

Follow the method in the scripture. After sealing the crucible with Six-One clay, spread one jin of yellow-black clay—or white lead—across the bottom. Place the mercury on top of the yellow-black clay. Grind one jin each of azurite (a blue mineral medicine) and magnetite separately, then sift them. First spread the azurite over the mercury, then add the magnetite, and finally cover it with one jin of yellow-black clay. First mix the yellow-black clay with dragon paste and moisten it, then lay it over the ingredients. Seal both the top and bottom of the crucible, and heat it by the prescribed method. The scripture also says to refine the elixir through repeated sublimation: nine ascents and nine descents. Once complete, moisten it again with dragon paste and continue the sublimation.

Ninth Elixir: Instructions for the Cold Elixir Method

Follow the method in the scripture. First spread one jin of yellow-black clay across the bottom of the crucible, then add the various ingredients in order and seal it as prescribed. Another interpretation says that “Ziming” refers to fire.

The second divine elixir mentioned earlier has another method that uses yellow-black clay; all the other elixirs use the same general method of the Nine-Turns Flowing-Pearl Yellow-Black Clay.

Opening the Crucible

Both the cauldron and the cooking vessel must be sturdy and tightly sealed; for this reason they are called the “spirit chamber.” The two vessels are joined top to bottom and firmly sealed with yellow loess. After firing, the clay becomes harder still. Do not strike or hammer it when opening. Instead, prepare two or three sharp saws and use them in turn to cut through the sealing clay. You may also slowly grind it away with an abrasive stone sharpened like a blade. Keep grinding until the vessel itself is exposed, then use an iron tool to pry it open gradually. Leave a gap, turn the upper vessel upside down over the lower one, and use it to collect the essence that has scattered.

Next, use feathers from a rooster. Since the rooster corresponds to You, the text considers white feathers more suitable. Select white hens and roosters in advance and let them hatch chicks. From among the chicks, choose two or three white roosters and raise them separately for two years before using them. Pluck three of the fine feathers from each wing. Do not wash or wipe them with water; use them to sweep up the flying frost-flower—the essence that condenses or scatters during elixir preparation.

Place the elixir in a gold tube and seal its opening tightly, then put it in a brocade pouch. The text explains that “carrying it behind the elbow” means keeping it on one’s person. Because the substance is precious, it should not be left behind; there is also concern that before it is taken, it may change or disappear on its own.

Method for testing the medicine.

I have examined what the alchemical texts say: before making an elixir, one should first test whether it can transmute lead into gold. Only if it can produce gold may the elixir be considered successfully prepared. If it cannot, the elixir is not yet complete. The elixir must then be refined further, with its ability to produce gold serving as the test. Although fixed instructions prescribe the quantities of the ingredients, they should still be examined carefully in practice and checked by other methods.

According to the Ninefold-Transmutation method, place ten jin of lead in an iron vessel and heat it over a fierce fire until it boils three times. Then add one zhu of the flower of the Ninefold Transmutation and stir it into the lead. In a short while, nine jin of gold can be obtained. Alternatively, place seven jin of tin in an iron vessel, heat it over a fierce fire until it boils three times, then add one zhu of the flower of the Ninefold Transmutation and stir. In a short while, silver can be obtained. The flower of the Ninefold Transmutation should first be weighed. If there is enough for several people to take, it can be used to test the transmutation of metals. One should not rely on a single method, see a few signs, and hastily sell the product. Thick residue from the elixir can also be used to make silver; test the residue according to the method above. The timing and measurements for the specific procedure should still follow the instructions in this classic.

Taking the Elixir and Methods of Regulating and Nourishing the Body

I have examined what the alchemical texts say: after various elixirs have been prepared and taken, people respond to them differently. In terms of the upper, middle, and lower grades, an upper-grade practitioner ascends to the Real after seven days and attains the Dao and immortality; a lower-grade practitioner becomes immortal after seventy days; and a dull-witted person takes a year to become immortal. Someone with firm resolve and complete sincerity who dares to take a single daogui measure—a very small quantity of the medicine—may temporarily die for about half a day, then revive as if waking from sleep. This is an extremely dangerous practice. The dosage must follow the prescription and be limited to the size of half a grain of millet or foxtail millet.

I have examined what the alchemical texts say: medicines used to treat illness should be taken before meals, while medicines used to nourish life should be taken after meals. From this we can understand that medicines for attacking illness are best taken before eating, when the stomach is empty, so that their effects take hold before food enters the abdomen. When taking medicine after a meal, the dose should be limited to about the size of one grain of foxtail millet.

I believe that medicines used to treat illness should be taken before meals, while medicines taken to nourish the body should be taken after meals. From this we can see that medicines intended to attack an illness should be taken before eating, while the stomach is empty, so their effects can take hold before the pathogenic influence moves through the body. If taken only after a meal, their efficacy will be consumed by the food. Medicines for nourishing the body, however, should not be taken before meals: their effects would not have had time to work before the food carries them out of the body, so they could not act fully and would bring no benefit. Even a divine elixir with great efficacy should be taken according to the doses and methods specified in the classics; there is no need to be bound by the minor taboos that apply to ordinary medicines.

I believe each person’s lifespan belongs to one of the Five Phases (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water). Someone whose life belongs to Earth should not take medicines that are green; other cases follow the same principle. These are minor taboos based on the Five Phases’ cycles of overcoming and alignment. For a major medicine such as a cinnabar elixir, whose power to transform and generate is miraculous, there is no need to discuss whether it is suitable to take.