《神仙服餌丹石行藥法》

The Methods of Immortals Consuming Elixirs and Medicinal Preparations

Chapter Nine

By Master Jingli

[The Yellow Emperor's Single-Ingredient Elixir Method]

Select one pound of high-quality cinnabar (dansha). After observing purification rituals for seven days in a clean space, gather the cinnabar from the shaded side of a high mountain using specific methods, then grind it into powder. Place the cinnabar in a bronze tray, mix it with nine liters of premium clear wine (stirring must be done unseen, lest the spirits refuse to descend). Next, enter the alchemical altar in the order of east → south → west → north, finally placing the mixture at the center. Stir daily for the first three days, then follow a cyclical stirring pattern of 3-5-7-9-3-5 repetitions. After twenty days, when the mixture has dried, form it into pills (if not dry, continue stirring). The pills should be the size of mung beans; consume three daily. Within fifty days, mental clarity will sharpen. Continuous ingestion for nine years enables communion with heaven and earth, and after 3,424 days, the practice reaches perfection. Note: Cinnabar embodies the essence of heaven and earth. During consumption, avoid acupuncture and abstain from dairy products.

[The Immortal's Elixir Method]

Select premium cinnabar and grains or fruits (red or white varieties only). Grind and sift the cinnabar, then blend it with pressed grain juice into a paste. Seal the mixture in a bronze cylinder. Place it at the center of a steamer, surrounded by dry sand (no thicker than four inches), cover with dry soil, and seal the lid. Steam continuously over high heat for three days and nights. Upon removal, the mixture will have a gelatinous texture; break it into soybean-sized pieces. Dissolve three pills daily under the tongue: after one year, the body grows lighter and vision sharper; after two years, one may commune with spirits; after three, harmonize with the sun and moon. Prolonged use leads to transcendent states where "roosters crow in the clouds, and dogs bark in the heavens."

[The Three-Ingredient Lightening and Qi-Nourishing Cinnabar Method]

Take one pound of hemp-sized cinnabar, one peck of premium dates, and one peck of clear wine. Grind and sift the cinnabar, mix it with the wine in a bronze vessel, then add the dates... (the remaining text is fragmentary, mainly detailing the preparation of elixirs using these three ingredients).

Note: In ancient alchemy, "elixir consumption" referred to oral ingestion of refined substances. These methods reflect the standardized procedures of Daoist waidan (external alchemy), emphasizing strict ritual protocols and temporal precision. Modern readers should note the toxicity of cinnabar (mercury sulfide) and avoid replication.

This scripture describes several ancient methods for immortals to prepare and consume elixirs. Here's the modern interpretation:

First Elixir Preparation Method:

1. Place medicinal herbs about 3-4 inches above charcoal fire, stirring constantly to prevent burning

2. Boil two dou (ancient measurement) of dates in water, then strain to extract only the juice

3. Gradually add date juice to the elixir ingredients until fully absorbed into a syrup-like consistency

4. Bottle the mixture and take one date-sized pill morning and evening

5. Effects appear after 20 days, complete healing in 30 days, with additional benefits including body lightening, tooth regeneration, and white hair turning black

The "Three-Substance Elixir" Formula:

• Cinnabar (3 jin)
• Lead (3 jin)
• Grain juice (9 sheng)

Preparation:

1. First grind cinnabar with 6 sheng of grain juice

2. Add lead and continue grinding until lead becomes invisible

3. Mix in remaining 3 sheng grain juice

4. Place in bronze vessel, steam for three days and nights under earthenware cover (using mulberry wood fire)

5. Form into mung bean-sized pills

6. Effects manifest after 20 days; continuous use for two years allegedly enables celestial ascension

The "Four-Substance Elixir" Formula:

• Cinnabar (5 jin)
• Honey (3 sheng)
• Red paper mulberry fruit
• Clear wine

Preparation:

1. Extract mulberry juice to mix with cinnabar, dry and repeat multiple times

2. Steam in bamboo tube for three days and nights

3. Transfer to bronze tube, decoct with wine for three days and nights

4. Refine until reaching non-sticky syrup consistency

5. Take date-sized dose twice daily

6. After 100 days, immortals may appear to guide; one year allegedly brings true immortality

Finally, the perfected being's cinnabar refinement method:

1. Grind and sieve one jin of cinnabar

2. Mix with pure wine (no water added) into paste form

3. Place in bronze tray at elevated location, avoiding women's sight

4. Regularly turn and dry, adding wine to maintain paste consistency

5. Cover during rainy days

6. After using three dou of wine, sun-dry for thirty more days

7. Successful refinement yields purple-colored, non-sticky product

(Note: These are historical Daoist alchemy records containing heavy metals—modern attempts are strongly discouraged)

This scripture describes ancient Daoist practices of ingesting elixirs, divided into two main methods:

The first part details the "Sweet Elixir" (Ruyi Dan) method:

Preparation involves refining three jin of the elixir mixed with nine dou of wine, then sun-drying it in a large vessel. Before preparation, the alchemist must bathe with fragrant orchids (lanzhi) and observe seven days of purification (zhaijie), during which women must not approach the medicine.

For ingestion, five additional days of purification and ritual bathing are required. The pill size should resemble sesame seeds, taken as three pills swallowed at dawn daily. Within five to six days, pathogenic factors will be expelled from the body, and within a year white hair will turn black. The dosage increases by one pill annually, capping at nine pills. After three years, divine manifestations may appear, including visions of purple-robed women offering food.

Strict prohibitions include avoiding the Five Pungent Vegetables (garlic, onions, etc.), raw vegetables, raw fish, pork, dog meat, and sexual activity. Pills must be taken at sunrise or noon. This method was secretly transmitted from Xianmen Zigao to Ma Mingsheng, then to Wang Ji.

The second part explains the "Immortal's Stone Secret" method:

The formula combines one jin of cinnabar (zhusha) ground and sifted, mixed with three sheng of bitter wine and two sheng of pure lacquer. Its efficacy preserves youthfulness and maintains prime physical strength.

Supplementary ingredients include roots of Acanthopanax (wujia) and Sanguisorba (diyu) gathered on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. After shade-drying for a hundred days, they're chopped and sealed in red earthenware vessels.

Key notes:

• The "Three Worms" (sanchong) represent pathogenic factors in Daoist physiology
• "White brows turning black" symbolizes rejuvenation
• Visions indicate spiritual communion (tongshen) in Daoist cultivation
• These methods reflect historical waidan (external alchemy) practices not suitable for modern replication

The text exemplifies classical elixir traditions with their intricate protocols, symbolic transformations, and transmission lineages characteristic of early Daoist alchemical practice.

This scripture records several methods used by ancient Daoist practitioners for consuming mineral-based elixirs and stone medicines. It primarily details the preparation and ingestion of a special stone-based sustenance.

The first method:

Begin by coating the exterior of a cauldron with a one-inch layer of clay, allowing it to dry for one month. Should cracks appear, apply additional clay until the surface remains flawless. Heat the vessel continuously with firewood for seven days. Upon inspection, if the color has turned bluish-green, the process is complete; otherwise, continue heating for another seven days followed by a day of cooling.

Prepare three medicinal herbs by pounding them into powder and soaking them in mica water until they form a paste-like consistency, storing each separately. When ready for use, take white stones the size of plums, crush them, and place them in the cauldron with water. Add approximately 1.7 cubic inches of each medicinal paste. Boil vigorously while constantly stirring and observing. Replenish water as it evaporates until the stones soften to a taro-like consistency, at which point they become edible as staple sustenance. Flavoring with scallions, salt, fermented beans, or meat is permissible.

Zhang Taixuan reportedly sustained himself and twenty disciples with this preparation for over thirty years in Luhun Mountain, maintaining robust health until emerging during peaceful times. If a red-earth cauldron is unavailable, red pottery may substitute after eleven days of purification rituals, with the cooking performed in seclusion.

The simplified second method:

Dry wujiapi bark and sanguisorba roots in shade, then burn them to ash following the aforementioned process. Using 3.7 cubic inches of this ash can soften one peck of stones when boiled, requiring neither additional herbs nor mica water.

The third stone-cooking technique:

Harvest sanguisorba roots on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, dry them in shade for one hundred days, then reduce to ash. Combine fresh roots with ash in a 1:3 ratio, pounding thoroughly. When preparing two to three pecks of stones, submerge them under three inches of water, add the medicinal powder, and stir through multiple boilings until achieving a cake-like softness. This "Immortal's Stone Taro Stew" may be enhanced with scallions, salt, and fermented beans to resemble meat.

These methods represent secret formulas of ancient Zhenren (perfected beings) for consuming mineral substances. Through specialized processing, inedible stones became nourishing fare, reputedly sustaining practitioners without hunger while promoting enduring health.

This scripture records several ancient Daoist mineral ingestion practices, which I'll explain section by section:

The first method:

Select ten bluish-white, smooth and greasy mineral stones the size of chicken eggs, place them in a bronze vessel. Add one dou (approximately 10 liters) of sanguisorba root ash solution, then include sanguisorba ash lumps the size of eggs. Burn one dan (about 60kg) of firewood to boil the mixture. After boiling, pound the stones into jade-sized pieces and continue boiling for the time it takes to cook one dan of rice. Test with chopsticks - when soft as taro, they're ready to eat. Both roots and leaves of sanguisorba should be burned to ash for use. "Wood jade" refers to pendant ornaments or cylindrical hanging decorations.

The second method for mountain retreat and grain abstinence:

Choose twenty-one rounded stones in three colors (each the size of sparrow eggs) - seven of each color. Ingestion protocol: swallow seven green stones at dawn, seven red stones at noon, and seven white stones at dusk. After ten days of fasting, boil mallow seeds into broth, strain, and drink half a cup of warm liquid to expel the stones. Wash the stones for reuse. Then consume thin gruel for two days before resuming stone ingestion for another fifteen-day fast. Cycling this practice may eventually enable hundred-day or year-long fasts. Tradition claims two years of practice grants 600-li daily travel capacity, improved complexion, and communion with the divine Dao.

The third method for body lightening:

Place mineral powder in cold water - the water soon warms to tepid temperature and can be drunk as jade powder. Long-term consumption allegedly makes one light as a swallow, traversing waters and climbing mountains effortlessly. Where the powder is placed, earth Qi (vital energy) surges upward - drying first during rains, moistening first during droughts.

Finally, the stalactite ingestion method:

Stalactites (stone milk), sweet and non-toxic (also called Konggong's milk), improve vision, regulate Qi, and benefit Jing (essence). Pound and sift them, then take with wine or water. Hundred-day consumption purportedly connects one to divine consciousness, while prolonged use eliminates hundreds of ailments, builds cold resistance, and removes hunger. Select only stalactites with tips under two cun in height.

(Note: These mineral ingestion methods belong to ancient Daoist Waidan (external alchemy). Modern medicine confirms most minerals are harmful to humans - do not attempt.)

This scripture describes the ancient immortals' methods and effects of consuming various mineral medicines (special minerals used in Daoist cultivation for prolonging life):

Regarding the identification of Konggongnie (a type of mineral medicine): Only specimens that can be broken with a light touch of the fingernail are considered superior quality, as their porous structure is less dense than stalactites (known as rushi).

The properties of the five colored mineral clays:

• Red mineral clay: Sour taste, non-toxic
• White mineral clay: Sweet taste, non-toxic, neutral nature
• Black mineral clay: Salty taste, non-toxic, neutral nature
• Yellow mineral clay: Bitter taste, non-toxic, neutral nature
• Green mineral clay: Sour taste, non-toxic, neutral nature

All these can nourish the heart-mind and prolong lifespan.

The refining method for the five mineral clays:

1. Crush the minerals and grind them in water until sandy

2. After sedimentation, collect the purified upper layer

3. Repeat this purification process fifteen times

4. Sun-dry and consume three ge (approximately 300ml) daily

Consumption enables grain abstention (bigu) without hunger, lightens the body, strengthens primordial Qi (yuanqi), and resists wind-cold pathogens. However, one must:

• Maintain focused spiritual awareness
• Observe purification rituals (zhaijiao) before cultivation

Without proper purification, these substances may cause harm rather than benefit when undigested.

Supplementary consumption methods:

• May be taken with five sheng of hemp seed juice
• If hemp seeds are unavailable, one jin of rendered mutton fat may substitute

These mineral medicines are extremely precious and must be used with utmost caution.

Regarding amethyst quartz:

Pungent taste, warm nature, non-toxic. Legend claims consumption enables three hundred years of life without experiencing hunger or thirst.

(Note: These mineral consumption methods belong to ancient Daoist cultivation systems. Modern medicine has confirmed most mineral medicines contain heavy metals that may cause poisoning with prolonged use - do not attempt to replicate these practices.)