《黃帝九鼎神丹經訣》Vol. 17

This scripture primarily discusses the preparatory work for refining the Nine-Cauldron Divine Elixir, with particular focus on the methods for creating "Xuanhuang" (mysterious yellow) and "Huangdan" (yellow elixir).

First, it mentions that refining the Nine-Cauldron Divine Elixir requires the use of Xuanhuang (a compound of mercury and lead) and earthen crucibles. The first cauldron's elixir is called "Danhua" (Elixir Blossom). Before its preparation, one must first gather strong vinegar, heavily fermented wine, and "Huachi" (a medicinal solution), followed by the creation of realgar water and cinnabar water. Then, seven medicinal ingredients—alum, arsenolite, rock salt, bittern, oyster shell, red halloysite, and talc—are ground and mixed, along with materials like lead powder. Each ingredient should be prepared in quantities of thirty to fifty jin to make "Liuyi Ni" (Six-One Mud, a sealing paste for the furnace). Additionally, a red earthen crucible must be prepared in advance.

Regarding the method for making Xuanhuang: It is produced by reacting tin with mercury. However, if the tin is impure, it cannot be used to refine elixirs of immortality.

The method for making Huangdan (lead elixir): Self-refined Huangdan is best, as commercially bought versions may be adulterated with yellow earth, resulting in a dull color. Authentic Huangdan should be bright red and luminous. The specific process is as follows: Take two jin of lead, wash it clean, and stir-fry it in an iron cup until it turns into fine granules. Rinse it thoroughly with water, then place it in an iron pot and wash repeatedly until completely clean. Dry it in the sun for ten days, pound it into powder, and sift it. Then, stir-fry it in an iron cup for two to three days until it turns red—this yields high-quality elixir.

Master Hugangzi (an ancient alchemist) said: Refining elixirs must be based on lead. If the lead is impure, the medicine cannot be successfully made. The method for purifying lead involves mixing it with "Danxuan Jingzhi" (essence of mysterious elixir) and a small amount of "jinzei" (possibly a type of mineral), kneading it into egg-sized lumps, and drying them in the shade for seven to eight days. Then, refine them in an iron pot—the resulting product is called "Danqian" (elixir lead), which is used to make Xuanhuang. There is a separate purification method for lead used in boiling mercury.

Finally, the scripture details the specific process for making Xuanhuang: Boil one jin of mercury for thirty-six days. If it solidifies, add twenty jin of lead purified five times. Place both in an iron vessel and refine them with intense heat. The lead and mercury will release a purple-yellow essence, which should be collected with an iron spoon.

This passage describes two crucial materials used in ancient elixir preparation—Yellow Sprouts (also called Dragon's Light Flying Essence) and Mystic White.

Regarding Yellow Sprouts preparation: Place tin in an iron vessel and heat with charcoal until boiling, then reduce the flame and add mercury. Stir with moist willow wood until five colors appear. Skim from the edges with an iron spoon, repeating the process until completion. Fire regulation is critical—excessive heat produces yellow, insufficient heat yields bluish-purple. At optimal temperature, reddish-purple appears, approaching golden hue. Freshly produced, it resembles gold but reverts to original state upon cooling.

Before crafting the elixir cauldron, one must prepare Mystic Yellow (another alchemical material). The Nine Cauldrons method requires Mystic White for all cauldron linings. Without advance preparation, the alchemical process becomes chaotic. Thus one must pre-refine mercury and lead according to the Supreme Clarity method's lining technique. Mystic White serves as the foundational material for elixir preparation.

Two methods exist for Mystic White preparation:

First Method: Take one catty of lead cast into plates, proportionally adding one catty of mercury and six taels of genuine gold. Melt lead and gold together before incorporating mercury to create silver plates. Hang these in the Hua Pool (vinegar vat), stirring every seven days while keeping the jar sealed. Collect the white sediment in green bamboo tubes, seal with lacquer, then soak for thirty days to complete.

Second Method: Blend one catty each of lead and gold into thin plates placed on wooden trays lined with cloth, soaking in premium vinegar (zuowei) for thirty days. The resulting Mystic White must contain gold to be effective—gold-free versions are unusable. The Supreme Clarity method uses Mystic White as base material, while the Nine Cauldrons method employs Mystic Yellow.

Crucial note: Before divine elixir preparation, one must ready various medicinal solutions, detoxify minerals, prepare Six-One Mud (a sealing compound), and refine mercury. All operations require vinegar. Hundred-day aged vinegar is called chunxi, while three-year aged vinegar becomes bitter wine. Ancient practitioners termed specially prepared alchemical vinegar "Hua Pool" or "zuowei," considering it a secret formula. Those pursuing the Dao of longevity cannot neglect these preparatory measures.

This scripture meticulously documents the ancient Daoist alchemical techniques for preparing the "Flower Pond" (a special solution for dissolving metallic minerals) and "Left Flavor" (a fermented vinegar solution).

The process for making Left Flavor vinegar involves: First preparing one dan (an ancient unit of measurement) of red millet, thoroughly washed to obtain three dan of rice-washing water. After cooking the grain into rice, both the rice and washing water are placed in a ceramic urn for pounding and filtration. Add yeast, then seal the urn opening with seven layers of paper—removing one layer every seven days. After forty-nine days, the vinegar completes fermentation. The finished vinegar should be covered with fine cloth, with only the clear upper liquid drawn for use while sediment remains sealed. The text particularly notes that rainwater from the fifth lunar month is most suitable for vinegar-making, and large-scale production can be scaled proportionally.

The preparation of the Flower Pond is more complex, bearing alternative names like "Drowning Water" or "Mother of the Four Seas." The specific method involves soaking grains until sprouted, then drying and pulverizing them before mixing with honey and the Five Minerals (wushi) among other ingredients, grinding the mixture ten thousand times. Next, alum is wrapped in rice bran and soaked in the solution, which after three days of sealing forms a bitter yet sweet-sour liquid. The addition of saltpeter and other materials creates a solution capable of dissolving gold, jade, the Five Minerals, and precious metals within thirty to one hundred days.

The text particularly emphasizes that grain sprouting (called "husk sprouts") is essential for successful Flower Pond preparation—this being the crucial factor determining success or failure. Such techniques were fundamental to all metal-dissolving methods recorded in the Scripture of Thirty-Six Waters. Finally, it mentions an advanced preparation called "Threefold Refined Yellow-White Left Flavor," requiring three-year-aged bitter wine and springtime distiller's grains for re-fermentation.

These methods reflect the mineral dissolution technologies developed by ancient alchemists through prolonged experimentation, containing early understandings of microbial fermentation and acid-base reactions.

This passage provides detailed records of ancient elixir-making formulas and techniques, focusing primarily on the method for creating "Huachi" (a solution used in alchemical preparations). Let me explain it in several parts:

The preparation of Huachi requires multiple ingredients: First, soak and pound one dan (ancient measurement) of millet, then filter it to obtain the clear liquid and add eight dou of "wuzai" (a fermented product made from five types of germinated grains). Next, include one jin each of gold and silver flakes, two jin of green alum stone, ten jin of yellow alum stone, and three jin of lead white flakes refined fifty times. Wrap these materials in cloth and suspend them in the solution - after seventy days the lead essence will fully dissolve.

"Wuzai" refers to a fermentation bed made from grains like rice, beans, millet, wheat, and rice soaked and sprouted for seven to eight days. Before preparing various elixirs, one should prepare ten to twenty porcelain jars in advance, as last-minute preparation may affect the medicinal efficacy.

For green alum stone, one should select the bluish-yellow variety from white alum produced in Wu region, which the Ben Cao Gang Mu (Compendium of Materia Medica) calls "chicken-droppings alum." "Yellow coating" refers to a fermented product made from unbroken steamed wheat.

The passage also records the specific formula for the Yellow Emperor's Nine-Cauldron Divine Elixir Huachi: five dou of soaked and steamed wheat, five dou of yeast, five dou of bluish-white stones the size of chestnuts, seven jin of lead boiled into flakes, five jin of powdered cinnabar, and five dou of red millet cooked into rice. These ingredients should be placed in jars in sequence, sealed with water, and fermented for seventy days in summer or one hundred forty days in winter.

The preparation process must be conducted in a specially purified chamber at an auspicious geomantic location, strictly prohibiting the presence of chickens, dogs, women, or livestock, as these would affect the elixir's potency. Finally, it mentions the formula for Mercury-Subduing Huachi, which requires three dan of "yellow-white zuowei" (another name for Huachi), one jin of Wu-region green alum, and one jin each of the five types of wuzai.

This passage details the preparation method for the "Fivefold Blossom Pond" (Wuzai Huachi), a special solution used in alchemical practices. When refining mercury in alchemical processes, this specially prepared Fivefold Blossom Pond is essential—ordinary vinegar, even when boiled for ten days and nights, proves completely ineffective in subduing mercury.

The method requires "Yellow-White Fermented Vinegar" (Huangbai Zuowei), a specially multi-fermented vinegar distinct from common varieties. According to the Mysterious Pearl Scripture (Xuanzhu Jing), all vinegar used in alchemy must be of this Yellow-White variety. The preparation involves adding gold and silver filings, lead carbonate, along with minerals like green vitriol and yellow vitriol. The fivefold ingredients and green vitriol must be added on specific celestial days (Gengyin and Xinmao). After twenty-eight days (four times seven) of processing, this method proves exceptionally effective in subduing mercury.

The detailed preparation involves three stages:

The first stage, called "First Transformation," requires six dan (an ancient measurement unit) of aged vinegar stored for three years—this vinegar must be rich and mellow, not the commercially available kind. Add one dan of spring wine lees and stir thoroughly, then incorporate one dan of thoroughly cooked millet until fully dissolved.

The second stage, "Second Transformation," involves filtering the liquid from the first stage to obtain a clear solution. Add eight dou of "yellow coating" (likely a fermentation agent) and three dou of each of the fivefold ingredients. Seal the mixture for twenty-one days, then press and extract the liquid into a large porcelain urn. Sequentially add one jin each of gold and silver filings, two jin of green vitriol, ten jin of yellow vitriol, and three jin of lead carbonate refined fifty times. Wrap these in cloth and suspend them in the solution. After seventy days, when the lead essence has fully dissolved, the Yellow-White Fermented Vinegar is complete.

The third stage, "Third Transformation," requires aging the Yellow-White Vinegar from the second stage for another seventy days until the lead essence completely dissolves. Then add three dan of purified upper liquid and one jin of pulverized Wuqing vitriol. After seven days, unseal the container and add one jin of each of the fivefold ingredients before resealing. Only then is the true Fivefold Blossom Pond fully prepared.

This passage details the methods for preparing several important medicinal solutions called "Huachi" (lit. "Flower Pool") used in Daoist alchemy. These acidic solutions served as reaction mediums for dissolving and processing metallic minerals, analogous to modern chemical solvents.

The first method describes creating the "Taiyi Golden Elixir Returned-Dan Huachi": Collect three dan and six dou (ancient measurement units) of natural rainwater during the fifth lunar month. Add rice starter for fermentation like vinegar-making, then seal for twenty-one days. Incorporate one dou and eight sheng of barley malt powder, allowing it to settle for seven to twenty-one additional days. After clarification, pour the liquid called "Zuowei" (an acidic solution) into large urns. Next, wrap ten jin of crushed alum stone with three dou of glutinous rice flour to make thirty cakes, then soak these in the Zuowei solution for one hundred days to complete the Taiyi Huachi. This solution can process eight mineral ingredients and is used for soaking metals to create "golden elixir."

The second method explains the preparation of "Eight Minerals Huachi": Take two dan and one dou of thrice-processed Zuowei solution, then add nine pulverized and sifted minerals - purple quartz, genuine stalactite, arsenopyrite, magnetite, qingyang stone, gypsum, realgar, and wuzai mineral. On an auspicious Yin day (according to Daoist calendrics), mix these in porcelain vessels and seal for seven days without air leakage. This "Yellow-White Zuowei" solution can process gold, silver and other metals for creating mercury-based elixirs, reputedly yielding longevity medicines.

The third method, "Qingshan Resin Huachi," lacks complete documentation, but its name suggests a formula primarily using qingshan resin (either mineral or botanical). These procedures emphasize precise sealing techniques and temporal control, demonstrating ancient alchemy's sophisticated attention to reaction conditions.

This scripture describes methods for preparing the special alchemical solution known as "Huachi" (Flower Pool). There are two primary formulations:

The first method uses three dan of "thrice-refined left-taste" (a triple-distilled acidic liquid) mixed with fifty jin of Wuqing mountain fat, sealed for forty-nine days. Then add the "Eight Minerals and Seven Jewels Water" (made from eight types of ore and seven precious stones), continuing the sealing process for another twenty-one days. This produces a miraculous solution capable of dissolving various medicinal substances, particularly effective for liquefying precious metals like gold and silver.

The second method employs three dan of "sevenfold-fermented spring brew" (a dark liquor fermented seven times) combined with three dou of five-mountain fat, along with five jin each of mirabilite and crude saltpeter, sealed for twenty-one days. This "Spring Brew Huachi" proves most effective for refining various metals and represents a top-secret technique worth fortunes. It's especially suitable for processing mercury, where gold and silver filings can be added to create "divine flying lead-mercury."

The scripture further mentions that when preparing the "Thirty-Six Waters" (various medicinal solutions), one may use either the "Great One Golden Liquid Huachi" or the "Grand Clarity Central Scripture Divine Elixir Drowning Huachi." For creating longevity elixirs with mercury, the "Eight Minerals Five Plantings Yellow-White Thrice-Refined Left-Taste Huachi" should be employed. When making alchemical gold paste, aged bitter wine (vinegar) stored for three years or one hundred days is required.

The text concludes by clarifying that these Huachi formulations are universal methods for use with the Nine Cauldrons Divine Elixir, while other unrelated Huachi preparation techniques aren't recorded here in detail.