《孫真人備急千金要方》Vol. 82

The Tianzhu Country Massage Method

This is a massage method from Tianzhu Country, an ancient name for the region around India. It is also called the Brahman method; Brahman was the name of a religious and social class in ancient India.

1. Clasp your hands and twist them as if washing them.

2. Cross your hands lightly and turn them toward your chest.

3. Clasp your hands and press them together against your thighs, once on each side.

4. Pull your hands apart to either side as if drawing a strong bow that takes five shi of force, once on each side.

5. Place one hand over the other on your thigh and slowly twist your body, once on each side.

6. Clench your fists and thrust them forward, once on each side.

7. Clench your fists and strike backward. This movement opens the chest. Do it once on each side.

8. Push outward with both hands as if pushing a stone, once on each side.

9. Strike your back with the backs of your hands, once on each side.

10. Brace yourself on the ground with both hands, draw in your body and round your back, then stretch upward. Repeat three times.

11. Hold your head with both hands and turn your body from side to side over your thighs. This stretches the ribs and sides of the body.

12. Sit with your legs spread wide, lean to one side, and exert force as if pushing a mountain, once on each side.

13. Sit with your legs spread wide and straight, then gently draw one leg forward, once on each side.

14. Brace yourself on the ground with both hands and look back over your shoulder. This is the “Tiger Gaze” method, a movement like a tiger turning to look behind it. Do it once on each side.

15. Stand and twist your body in the opposite direction. Repeat three times.

16. Clasp your hands tightly, then step with one foot between them, once on each side.

17. Stand and lightly stamp your feet, alternating between forward and back.

18. Sit with your legs spread wide and straight. Hook one hand around an outstretched foot and draw it in front of your knee, then press down on it with your hand, once on each side.

The text says that if older people can perform these eighteen movements three times each day, then after a month they can dispel every illness. They will also be able to walk as swiftly as a galloping horse, build strength, prolong their lives, improve their appetite and eyesight, feel light and nimble, and no longer tire easily.

Laozi’s Massage Method

1. Press both hands against your thighs and twist your body from side to side, fourteen times on each side.

2. Grip your thighs with both hands and rotate your shoulders from side to side, fourteen times on each side.

3. Hold your head with both hands and twist your waist from side to side, fourteen times on each side.

4. Turn your head to either side, fourteen times on each side.

5. Support your head with both hands and lift it upward three times.

6. Hold your head with one hand and support a knee with the other. Bend your body downward three times, on each side.

7. Support your head with one hand and a knee with the other. Move upward from below three times, on each side.

8. Clasp your head with both hands, bend forward, and stamp your feet three times.

9. Clasp your hands and circle them over your head, three times to each side.

10. Cross your hands and hold them in front of your chest. Push forward, then pull back. Repeat three times.

Cross the hands and place them in front of the chest. Do this three times.

Bend the wrists and tap the ribs with the elbows. Then pull the elbows outward to the left and right. Do each three times.

Pull the hands apart to the left and right, then stretch them forward and backward. Do each three times.

Reach out and pull the neck to each side. Do this three times on each side.

Place the hands on the knees with the backs of the hands facing up, and use one hand to pull the elbow. Then place the hands on the knees with the palms facing down. Do this three times on each side.

Touch the shoulder with the hand, then stroke downward from the shoulder once. Do the same on both sides.

Make loose fists and tap them together three times.

Cross the hands and rotate them back and forth. Do this seven times in each direction.

Shake both hands outward three times, then inward three times. With the palms facing down, shake them three more times.

Rub and rotate the fingers three times.

Shake both hands in opposite directions three times.

Cross the hands in reverse, then rotate the elbows up and down as many times as desired. When doing this alone, continue for ten breaths.

Raise both hands overhead three times, then press them down firmly three times.

Cross the hands above the head and stretch the ribs to the left and right ten times.

Make fists and place the backs of the hands against the back. Press and rub up and down along the spine three times. “Press and rub” here means to apply pressure while rubbing.

Grip with the hands turned backward and stretch up and down along the spine three times.

With the palms facing down, hold the wrists and shake inward and outward three times.

With the palms facing down, thrust both hands forward and upward three times.

With the palms facing down, cross the hands and pull them sideways three times.

With the palms facing down, stretch both hands sideways and lengthwise, then raise them upward three times.

If the hands feel cold, pat them from top to bottom until they feel warm, then stop.

Straighten the left leg. Support the left foot with the right hand and press down on the foot with the left hand. Pull upward from bottom to top to straighten the leg. Do this three times. Repeat in the same way with the right hand pressing down on the right foot.

Twist the feet forward and backward three times.

Twist the feet to the left and right, three times in each direction.

Twist the feet in opposite directions, forward and backward, three times.

Straighten the legs three times.

Twist the thighs three times.

Shake the legs and feet inward and outward three times.

If the feet feel cold, pat them until they feel warm, then stop.

When twisting the thighs, choose the number of repetitions according to your own condition. Then stamp the feet firmly three times.

Next, straighten the legs backward and forward, three times in each direction.

Bend forward like a crouching tiger and twist the shoulders left and right three times.

Push both hands upward and press them downward, three times on each side.

Push mountains, carry mountains on the back, and uproot trees, three times each. These are stretching movements named after actions such as pushing, carrying, and pulling.

Stretch both hands forward, then press them down firmly and extend them three times.

Stretch both hands and both knees, three times each.

Straighten the legs, then press the hands down firmly in the opposite direction and extend them three times.

Twist the back inward and outward, three times in each direction.

Fifth: The Method of Regulating Qi

Peng Zu, the legendary immortal famed for his longevity, said: “The way of nourishing life is not complicated. One need only avoid thinking about food and clothing, craving sights and sounds, keeping score of victory and defeat, dwelling on right and wrong, worrying over gain and loss, or caring about honor and disgrace. The heart…” The original text ends here.

Do not let the body become excessively fatigued. Combine this with daoyin (health practices that guide bodily movement) and xingqi (regulating the breath and circulating Qi). With persistent practice, one may attain longevity, even living a thousand years without dying. Ordinary people cannot be free of distracting thoughts, so they should gradually set them aside.

Peng Zu said: “Harmonizing the spirit and guiding the breath is the way to preserve life.” To practice, go into a quiet room and close the door. Lay out the bedding, with a pillow two and a half inches high. Lie on your back with the body straight, close your eyes, and hold your breath. Imagine a feather resting between the chest and diaphragm, on the nose; breathe so gently that the feather does not move, and continue for three hundred breaths. Let the ears hear no sound, the eyes see nothing, and the mind form no thoughts. In this way, cold and heat cannot harm you, and bees and scorpions cannot injure you. You may live to three hundred and sixty years, approaching the state of a perfected immortal.

Practice each morning and evening. “Dawn and dusk” here refer to the turning of Yin and Yang. The commentary explains: At dawn, just as the fifth watch begins and warm Qi arrives, often close your eyes and feel the warmth gradually come near. This is called “Yang breathing out as Yin wanes.” In the evening, after the sun sets and cool Qi arrives, when you feel the chill beginning to rise, sit or lie down on the bed. This is called “Yang waning as Yin breathes in.” The arrival of warmth at dawn and coolness at dusk reflects the continual exchange and transformation of Qi within Heaven and Earth, the sun and moon, mountains and rivers, seas, people, and all things—like the alternation of day and night and the rising and falling of the tides. This is the pattern of waxing and waning change between Heaven and Earth.

At dawn or dusk, face due south and rest your hands on your knees. Slowly press and rub the joints of your limbs. Breathe out turbid Qi through the mouth and breathe in clear Qi through the nose. The commentary explains that exhaled old Qi is also called “dead Qi,” while inhaled new Qi is called “living Qi.” The Laozi says, “The gate of the mysterious female is the root of Heaven and Earth; continuous, it seems to exist, and its use is never exhausted.” This means that the mouth and nose are like the gates of Heaven and Earth, through which the Yin-Yang breaths of life and death are exhaled and inhaled.

After a while, slowly raise your hands to the left and right, upward and downward, forward and backward. Then open your eyes wide, open your mouth, tap your teeth together, rub your eyes, press your head, pull your ears, comb your hair, stretch your waist, cough, rouse your spirit, and move your body. You may use both hands at once, work with one hand, or use the back of your hand. Next, stretch out your legs, arch and shake your body, and stop when you have counted to eighty-nine or ninety. Then slowly lie on your back or stomach and settle your mind, using a method of meditative contemplation: close your eyes and visualize the Great Harmony Primordial Qi—the pure, harmonious Qi at the origin of things—as a canopy formed from purple clouds, its five colors clearly distinct, descending into the hair…

The breath gradually rises to the crown of the head, like mist after rain entering the mountains. It passes through the skin and into the muscles, reaching the bones and brain. Then it gradually descends into the abdomen, nourishing the limbs and the five viscera, as water seeps into the earth. When the breath flows freely, you may hear a gurgling sound in the abdomen. At this point, focus your attention inward and do not let your thoughts wander outward. After a short while, you may feel the Original Qi—the body’s fundamental vital energy—reach the Sea of Qi, the area below the navel. Before long, it may reach Yongquan, an acupoint on the sole of the foot, on its own. You may then feel the body tremble and the feet curl up; the bed or seat may even make a dragging sound. This is called “one passage.”

After practicing until you achieve one passage, then two, and eventually three or five passages a day, you will feel at ease in your body, your complexion will brighten, your hair and sideburns will become glossy, your hearing and sight will sharpen, your appetite and strength will improve, and your body will grow robust as various illnesses subside. If you persist for five or ten years, these benefits can be maintained for a long time without being lost. If you reach ten million passages, you will be close to becoming an immortal.

The human body is fundamentally empty, containing only moving breath. When the breath circulates properly, the hundred illnesses do not arise; when it is regulated poorly, all kinds of illnesses follow one another. Those skilled in nourishing life should understand the methods for regulating the breath. These methods can be used to treat many illnesses, including serious ones. After a hundred days of practice, the eyebrows and beard will grow in; other benefits need hardly be mentioned.

The best time to regulate the breath is after midnight and before midday, when the breath is arising and suited to cultivation. After midday and before midnight, the breath declines, so this is not a suitable time. To practice, lie on your back in bed with thick, soft bedding and a pillow at a height proportionate to your body. Stretch out your body and extend your arms and legs. Grip the joints of both thumbs with your hands, keeping them four or five inches from your body; leave four or five inches between your feet. Then repeatedly tap your teeth together and swallow your saliva, called “Jade Nectar.” Inhale through the nose, drawing the breath into the abdomen, then hold your breath and keep it in as long as you can. When you feel discomfort, slowly exhale all the breath through your mouth, then gently inhale through your nose again as before. Keep your mouth closed and count silently in your mind, so that your ears hear no sound and your counting does not become confused. You may also count with tally sticks at hand. If you can count to one thousand, you will be close to becoming an immortal. On overcast days, in heavy fog, strong winds, or severe cold, do not draw in external breath; simply hold your breath and cultivate.

If you suffer from alternating chills and fever, or suddenly develop an abscess—a painful, pus-filled swelling between the skin and muscles—you may regulate your breath for a while before eating, even at midday, as long as the illness has not yet flared up. If one session does not bring recovery, practice again the next day using the same method.

For cold disorders of the heart, exhale using the “hu” method; for heat disorders, use the “chui” method. For lung disorders, use “xu”; for liver disorders, “he”; and for spleen disorders, “xi.” These methods—“hu,” “chui,” “xu,” “he,” and “xi”—are traditional exhalation techniques used in accordance with different organs and illnesses.

When the kidneys are ill, practice the “Xu” sound method, one of the Six Sounds breathing and exhalation methods in Daoism: do it eighty-one times after midnight, seventy-two times at cockcrow, sixty-three times at dawn, fifty-four times at sunrise, forty-five times during the Chen hour, and thirty-six times during the Si hour.

Before practicing this method, perform daoyin movements to the left and right, three hundred and sixty times on each side. Illnesses fall broadly into four kinds: cold impediment, Qi disorders, pathogenic wind, and heat toxins. It is said that if patients can calm their minds, regulate their breathing, and use this method, there is no illness they cannot cure.

All illnesses fall within the scope of the five organs. Each of the five organs has eighty-one kinds of illness, for a total of four hundred and five. One should identify their similar symptoms in order to understand the condition.

Those with heart ailments may feel cold or feverish. The heart corresponds to the color red. In dreams, patients may see people dressed in red and carrying red swords or staffs, or see fire frightening them. For treatment, use the “Hu” sound for cold conditions and the “Chui” sound for heat conditions.

Those with lung ailments may feel fullness in the chest and back and discomfort in their limbs. The lungs correspond to the color white. Patients often dream of handsome men or beautiful women pretending to be affectionate, embracing them, or dream of their parents, siblings, spouses, or children. For treatment, exhale with the “Xu” sound.

Those with liver ailments may feel sorrowful and unhappy, grieve and brood, and often suffer headaches and eye pain. The liver corresponds to the color green. Patients dream of people dressed in green and carrying green swords or staffs, or of lions, tigers, or wolves coming to frighten them. For treatment, exhale with the “He” sound.

Those with spleen ailments may feel as if wind is moving through their bodies, with waves of itching, pain throughout the body, and discomfort. The spleen corresponds to the color yellow and is associated with Earth. Patients may dream of children striking or startling people, or of malign spirits and swirling gusts of wind. For treatment, exhale with the “Xi” sound.

Those with kidney ailments may feel cold, with weakened Yin and a poor complexion and spirit. The kidneys correspond to the color black. Patients dream of people dressed in black or beasts carrying swords or staffs and coming to frighten them. For treatment, exhale with the “Xu” sound.

For cold ailments, make the “Hu” sound loudly thirty times, then softly ten times. As you breathe in, draw breath through the nose; as you breathe out, exhale through the mouth, making the sound “Hu.” For heat ailments, make the “Chui” sound loudly fifty times, then softly ten times, making the sound as if blowing on something.

For lung ailments, make the “Xu” sound loudly thirty times, then softly ten times; for liver ailments, make the “He” sound loudly thirty times, then softly ten times; for spleen ailments, make the “Xi” sound loudly thirty times, then softly ten times; for kidney ailments… The original text ends here.

Take fifty breaths using the “great hissing” method and thirty using the “fine hissing” method. These are the twelve methods of regulating Qi. If you are ill, practice them with reverence and concentration, following these instructions, and no illness will be beyond treatment. You should also perform the left and right Daoyin exercises 360 times, then practice this method.

Method of Taking Medicinals, Part Six (Discussion and Prescriptions)

The discussion says: In general, people should take five doses of Minor Life-Sustaining Decoction in spring, along with one dose each of various tonic powders. During the extreme heat of summer, they should take three doses of Kidney-Draining Decoction. In autumn, they should take one or two courses of pills made with astragalus and other ingredients. In winter, they should take two or three courses of medicinal wine. Stop when spring begins. Follow this regimen regularly throughout life, and you will not develop various illnesses.

People of the world have limited understanding. They know only that goudu (a poisonous plant) can harm people, but do not believe that huangjing (a medicinal herb commonly used in Daoist practice) can help prolong life. They know that the Five Grains can relieve hunger, but do not understand that various medicines can save lives. They know only how to discharge essence in order to have children, but not how to preserve and contain it to nourish the body. This is why methods for taking medicines were devised.

Xie Yin said: Anyone who wishes to take medicines should first understand their own constitution and whether it suits the nature of the medicine. Carefully regulate cold and heat; do not see that a medicine works for someone else and then take it yourself. When beginning a course of medicines, start with herbs, then use medicines made from wood, and only afterward use mineral medicines. This is the general order for taking medicines. The phrase “from coarse to refined” means gradually replacing coarse substances with more refined ones.

From childhood into adulthood, people grow accustomed to the Five Grains, so they cannot abruptly give up food altogether. The benefits of taking medicines come slowly and subtly; at first, they cannot satisfy hunger at once as food does. But after many years of consistent practice, they can replenish the marrow, and the Five Grains will gradually cease to be necessary of their own accord. People nowadays mostly hope to see results quickly and are eager for an immediate response. Before their internal organs are replenished, they give up grain; as soon as the grain Qi is gone, the medicines have not yet taken effect, and they resume sexual activity. As a result, their bodies and spirits are no different from those of ordinary people. What is surprising about the harm this causes?

Taking medicines generally follows an order. If you do not understand the method, using them out of sequence can cause harm, and in the end you will not obtain their benefits. The general method is this: first eliminate the Three Worms, which traditional accounts of health cultivation regarded as harmful creatures within the body. Once they are gone, take herbal medicines; their effects will then be easier to achieve. When the herbs have taken effect, take medicines made from wood, which are likewise more likely to work. Take mineral medicines last. Only by following this order can the medicines’ properties fully take effect, all aspects of the body become stable, and life be prolonged.

Prescription for Pills to Eliminate the Three Worms

Take three dou of fresh rehmannia juice and place it on a stove facing east. Boil it three times over a fire of reed stalks, then add two sheng of clear lacquer and stir with a thorn branch. Each day, move the medicine pot one chi to the side, then add genuine …

Add three liang of dan, then place it one chi deeper. Add three sheng of powdered melon seeds, then place it another chi deeper. Next, add three liang of powdered rhubarb and simmer over a low flame without letting it burn. When the ingredients can be rolled into pills, shape them to the size of parasol tree seeds. Take one pill before meals, three times a day. After taking it, foul blood will be expelled through the nose. After thirty days, worms and parasites of every kind will be expelled; after fifty days, all illnesses will be cured and the complexion will become radiant.

Another prescription:

Two sheng of lacquer, six liang of rhubarb (ground into powder), one and a half sheng of wine, and three sheng of turnip seeds (ground into powder).

Simmer all four ingredients together over a low flame until they can be rolled into pills, and shape them to the size of parasol tree seeds. Take three pills before meals. After ten days, foul blood will be expelled. After thirty days, worms and parasites of every kind will rot and be expelled. After fifty days, the body will become radiant. After a year, one’s movements will match a galloping horse, and the limbs will feel steady and at ease. Only then may one take herbal medicines. The other methods are described in detail in the “Treatise on the Three Worms” (see juan eighteen above).

How to Take Asparagus Root

Dry the asparagus root (a herbal medicine commonly used in Daoist practice and traditional medicine) in the sun, pound it, and sift it. Take it after meals. The original gives the dosage and method as “seventeen days, three, may reach ten doses”; the wording appears corrupt or incomplete, so it cannot be divided into phrases with certainty. It is especially good for children. It works better when made into pills with pine resin or honey, and the more one takes, the better.

Another prescription: Pound the asparagus root and extract its juice. Simmer it over a low flame until reduced to five dou, then add one dou of white honey and two sheng of sesame seeds, toasted and ground into powder. Keep stirring as it cooks. When the mixture can be made into pills, remove it from the heat, add powdered fermented soybeans, and mix well to form cakes three cun in diameter and half a cun thick. Take one cake at a time, three times a day. Taking it for more than a year brings benefit. This is the finest prescription, surpassing many others. It may also be used to brew wine for drinking. When first taking it, even a large amount does no harm; taking too much will cause vomiting and expel the pathogenic influence. (This prescription appears in juan fourteen.)

Daoist Master Kuai was nearly two hundred years old, yet looked young. He once told Huangfu Long: Take asparagus root, remove its central pith and outer skin, slice it, and dry it in the sun. Swallow one square-inch spoonful with wine three times a day. This will keep a person from aging, replenish the Qi in the body’s center, strengthen the original Qi, and cure all illnesses.

Asparagus root grows in the valleys of Mount Fenggao. It has different names in different regions: on the Eastern Peak it is called “goat’s food,” on the Central Peak “asparagus root,” on the Western Peak “pipe pine,” on the Southern Peak “hundred roots,” and on the Northern Peak “nothing cannot be cured.” When it grows in fields, flatlands, or hills, it is also called “spiny creeper.” Though the names vary from place to place, they all refer to the same plant. The best grows on shaded northern slopes. After gathering it, chop it finely and dry it in strong sunlight. Taking it for a long time will enable one to attain longevity.

After taking it, a person’s strength is said to increase greatly. It is used to treat chronic weakness, serious injuries, debility in old age, and wasting of the body. It is also used for hemiplegia, inability to move the limbs, numbness caused by wind-damp, cold impediment, accumulations in the chest and abdomen, malignant sores, painful abscesses and carbuncles, and leprosy. In severe cases, when the whole body is covered in suppurating sores and the bridge of the nose has rotted away, it is said that after taking it the skin will slough off and worms will be expelled, while the complexion becomes full and fair. The formula is claimed to have a wide range of uses and may also treat impotence, deafness, and dim vision. Taken for a long time, it is said to turn white hair black, cause teeth to grow again, and prolong life. It is also said that one can enter water without getting wet.

After taking it for two hundred days, the mind is calm and illnesses ease. Stiff, contracted bodies become relaxed; the weak and emaciated grow strong. After three hundred days, the body feels light. Take it for another three years, and you will be able to run like a galloping horse. After three more years, even stubborn illnesses of the chest and abdomen will be eliminated.

A Formula for Taking Rehmannia

Take fifty jin of fresh rehmannia. Pound it and squeeze out the juice, then let it settle and remove the sediment. Simmer over a low flame until the liquid has been reduced by more than half. Add five sheng of white honey and one sheng of jujube paste, and stir until the mixture is thick enough to form pills. Take one pill each time, about the size of an egg, three times a day. It is said to make a person full-bodied and fair.

Another Formula

Take ten jin of rehmannia, slice it thinly, and soak it in two dou of fine wine for three nights. Remove it and dry it in the sun, then repeatedly return it to the wine to soak until all the wine has been used. Pound and sift the rehmannia together with one jin each of licorice, Morinda root, magnolia bark, dry lacquer, and raspberry fruit. After meals, take it with wine, one small square-inch spoonful at a time, three times a day. Gradually increase the amount to two spoonfuls. It is said to restore youth to the old, build strength, reduce illness, and prolong life.

How to Prepare Cooked, Dried Rehmannia

Harvest the rehmannia, remove the fibrous roots, leaves, and fine roots, then pound it and squeeze out the juice. Select the large, plump roots, place them in a steamer, moisten them with the rehmannia juice, and steam for one shichen. Remove them and dry them in the sun. Moisten and steam them again in the juice, repeating the process until all the juice is used, then dry them in the sun. Alternatively, slice the rehmannia and steam it directly for half a day, sprinkling wine over it several times so it is evenly moistened. Remove it at dusk and dry it in the sun. The prepared rehmannia may be pounded and mixed with honey to make pills.

How to Grow Rehmannia

First choose suitable land. Rehmannia prefers red, loose soil, which should be deeply plowed. It is better to plow the frozen ground in reverse during the twelfth lunar month. Select plump, healthy rehmannia roots and cut them into pieces ranging from four or five fen to one or two cun long. One hu of seed roots can plant about one mu. Plant them in the second or third lunar month, forming raised beds one chi apart. Once the shoots emerge, hoe and mound the soil as needed, and weed repeatedly. In the ninth or tenth lunar month, when the leaves have begun to wither slightly, the roots can be dug up. One mu yields about twenty hu. Select the large roots, wash them with clean water, and trim off the ends and other parts. Wash the fine roots as well, then dry them in the sun.

Dry it until it is completely dry and shriveled, then cut it with a bamboo knife into pieces just over an inch long. Place them beneath a zeng, a vessel for steaming food, and steam them with dew collected from white cogongrass. Seal the lid tightly. Alternatively, put them in a cloth bag and seal it with earth. Steam them from morning until evening, until they turn black. If they have not turned completely black, take them out the next day and continue steaming.

Before steaming, squeeze the juice from the portions that have already been pounded and cook it in a bronze vessel until it thickens to the consistency of a thin syrup. Then place the Rehmannia in the juice so it is evenly coated, and take it out to dry in the sun. Repeat this process of dipping it in the juice and drying it in the sun until all the juice is used up. About one hundred jin of fresh material will yield one or two dozen jin of the finished product. Dig up the Rehmannia in the eighth or ninth lunar month, and do not choose roots that are too old. If steamed too long, the roots are difficult to steam through, and fibrous veins remain inside. The first time you place the Rehmannia in the steaming vessel, put a bronze receptacle underneath to catch the juice. Then pour good wine over the Rehmannia so it is evenly soaked. Collect the juice that runs down into the receptacle, mix it with the cooked juice, and use the mixture; this is more effective.

Recipe for Yellow Essence Paste

Take one shi of Yellow Essence, remove the rootlets and hairs, wash it, and pound it. Steam until thoroughly cooked, then press out the juice. Boil it to remove the clear liquid from the top, reducing it to one dou. Add three liang of dried ginger powder and one liang of cassia bark powder, and simmer over low heat. When the color begins to turn yellow, remove it from the heat. Once cooled, store it in an airtight container.

To take it, mix five he of wine with the paste and take two he each time, twice a day, before meals. It is said that taking it causes the old skin to shed, gives the face a radiant glow, changes one’s complexion, and alters the hair at the temples. Those wishing to take it over a long period may omit the wine and add raw yellow soybeans instead. The text also says that after taking it, one can give up grain foods without feeling hungry or thirsty, and live forever without aging.

Method for Taking Black Sesame

Take any quantity of black sesame seeds with dark skins the color of genuine sandalwood. Moisten them with water, but do not make them too wet. Steam until the steam has passed through them completely, then take them out and dry them in the sun. Repeat this process nine times, then pound them nine times and remove the skins. Before meals, take them mixed with water or wine: two square-inch spoonfuls each time, three times a day. It is said that hunger will gradually disappear after taking them, allowing one to give up grain foods. Taken over a long period, they are said to prevent all illness and extend life without aging.

Recipe for Taking Arborvitae Seeds

Take two sheng of arborvitae seeds and pound them finely. Soak them in four sheng of pure wine, stirring until they form a paste. Add two sheng of white honey and three sheng of date paste, and pound until the mixture can be made into pills. Add one sheng each of powdered dried Rehmannia and powdered white atractylodes. Mix well and form pills the size of wutong seeds. Take thirty pills twice a day. It is said that after twenty days, all illnesses can be cured.

Recipe for Taking Pine Nuts

Gather pine nuts on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. After that time they fall, making them difficult to gather.

According to the original text, take seven fen at each dose (the amount held by a fangcun bi, an ancient measure for medicines), three or four times a day. Another account says to take three he at each dose. After taking it for one hundred days, the body will become lighter; after two hundred days, it is said one can travel five hundred li in a day. Taken over a long period, it can ward off hunger and lead to the state of becoming an immortal. When thirsty, one may drink water, or mix pine resin with fat and take it. If the medicine is made into pills the size of parasol-tree seeds, take ten pills at a time.

A Formula for Taking Pine Resin

Sift pine resin that has been refined repeatedly until fine, mix it evenly with honey, and pack it into a bamboo tube, taking care not to let wind enter. Take one piece each day, about the size of a go stone from the ancient game of bo (two inches long and one inch wide), three times daily. Gradually increase the amount; the original text says that one may take a jin per month. Taken this way, it can prevent hunger and prolong life. Alternatively, mix the pine resin with pure wine and white honey until it has a syrup-like consistency. Take one or two liang each day, gradually increasing the amount to half a jin.

When gathering pine resin, the best kind is the resin that has collected beneath the bark of old pine trees. Resin found beneath a tree’s roots, where the wood is damaged and the place is untouched by sun and moon, is called “yin resin” and is said to have stronger medicinal properties. The original text says that five hundred li east of Mount Heng are many great pines, thirty or forty chi around, rich in resin. Another method is to cut into the sunny side of a great pine in the fifth month and let the resin flow down; twenty-four trees yield half a sheng. Resin may also be taken from the knots of old trees and from their roots.

The Immortals’ Scripture says that one should regularly enter the shaded side of Mount Heng in the third month and gather pine resin untouched by sun and moon. Refine and take it, and there is no need to summon the immortals: they will come of their own accord. After one hundred days, one can withstand cold and heat; after two hundred days, the Five Viscera will be replenished; after five years, one will see the Queen Mother of the West. Another Immortals’ Scripture says that among the three hundred and sixty-five mountains that produce stone, there is edible pine resin hidden in a shaded valley of Mount Heng. The original text goes on to describe the valley entrance, a stone city, white cranes, enormous rocks, cinnabar, and the surrounding terrain and directions. It says that more than thirty great pines grow in the shaded part of the valley, where the trees are untouched by sun and moon, and that their resin may all be gathered and taken.

How to Gather Pine Resin

At sunset, bore into the shaded side of a pine to obtain its “ointment,” and into the sunny side to obtain its “resin.” Mix equal amounts of resin and ointment and take them; this is said to enable communication with the spirits. When boring, make the opening five inches long, five inches wide, and five inches deep. After taking the resin, cover the opening with bark so that no wind can enter; otherwise, it cannot be taken. The original text then begins to describe how to gather resin in spring, but the scripture passage breaks off at this point.

Collect it in summer. Once the collection is complete, seal the cave entrance so no air can escape, then close it with mud. Travel northeast, where there is a cinnabar mine cave with a spring of Yin water that can be drunk. Che Jun of Hongnong entered this mountain in the first year of the Yuanfeng era. He ate pine resin for sixteen years, then came down from the mountain and settled at Chang’an’s eastern market. He lived around Niutou Valley in Shanggu and often traveled back and forth through the Qinling Mountains. Though advanced in age, he always looked about thirty.

Method for Refining Pine Resin

Take seven jin of pine resin and boil it three times in one shi of mulberry-ash liquor. Then put it in cold water and, once it has set, boil it again. Repeat this process ten times. The pine resin will turn white and can then be taken. The valley referred to today lies within You County, southeast of Hengzhou. The pine resin there differs from pine resin found elsewhere in the world.

Formula for Taking Poria

Take ten jin of poria, remove the skin, soak it in wine, and seal it for fifteen days. Then take it out and consume it. Each dose should be about the size of a boqi game piece, taken three times a day. Alternatively, grind it into a fine powder and take one fangcun spoonful each time—an ancient medicine-measuring spoon, holding about one spoonful.

Before taking poria, boil it in water four or five times, or soak it in water for six or seven days.

Poria Cream Formula

Five jin of poria: boil it ten times in ash liquor, then ten times in rice-washing water, and finally ten times in clean water.

Five jin of pine resin: prepare it in the same way as the poria, boiling it forty times in each round.

Three jin of white honey: boil until the foam has disappeared.

Five jin of fresh Chinese asparagus root: remove the core and outer skin, dry it in the sun, and grind it into powder.

Three jin each of wax and butter from cow’s milk; refine each thirty times.

Crush and sift the six ingredients separately. Heat them over water in a copper vessel. First add the butter, then the wax, and finally the honey. Once melted, add the medicinal powders and stir quickly and continuously until thoroughly blended. Put the mixture in a porcelain vessel and seal it so that none of its medicinal vapors can escape.

Fast the day before taking the medicine. If you have not eaten for some time, first eat a satisfying meal until completely full, and then begin fasting. For the first course, take two liang; after twenty days, take four liang; after another twenty days, take eight liang. Roll the medicine into fine pills, small enough to swallow easily. For the second course, begin with four liang; after twenty days, take eight liang; after another twenty days, take two liang. For the third course, begin with eight liang; after twenty days, take two liang; after another twenty days, take four liang. After a total of 180 days, the medicine is ready. Thereafter, you may take three pills each day, or take none. You may nourish yourself with butter and honey as usual. It is better to accompany the medicine with one sheng of fine wine.

Choose a day when the seasonal forces are at their height for preparing this medicine. In particular, avoid days associated with punishment, killing, or other prohibitions.

Days considered inauspicious, such as “the Four Clashes” and “Rest and Decline,” were also regarded as extremely unlucky. This method was transmitted by Peng Zu, a legendary figure from ancient times known for his longevity.

Fuling Paste Formula (called “Ningling Paste” in Qianjin Yifang)

Take four jin each of fuling (with the outer skin completely removed) and pine resin, and two jin each of pine nuts and arborvitae seeds. Prepare the first two ingredients according to the prescribed method. The pine nuts and arborvitae seeds do not need to be prepared: pound them and sift them to obtain a fine powder.

Put two dou and four sheng of white honey in a bronze vessel and heat it gently over hot water for a day and a night. Then add the ingredients one at a time, stirring them together thoroughly, and simmer continuously over low heat for seven days and nights. When ready, roll the mixture into pills about the size of small jujubes. Take seven pills at a time, three times a day. If you wish to give up grain and live on this formula alone, take enough at one time to feel full. According to the original text, taking it can make the body feel light and nimble, brighten the eyes, and delay aging.

One other manuscript of this formula records three preparations—fuling cream, apricot-kernel cream, and rehmannia cream—but no other versions include them. Since they are already recorded in Qianjin Yifang, they are not copied here.

Formula for Taking Goji Root (for nourishing the body and prolonging life)

Take one shi of chopped goji root and add one shi and two dou of water. Boil until six dou remain. Let the liquid settle and become clear, then continue simmering until it has been reduced to three sheng. Take one dou of wheat, wash it thoroughly, and soak it overnight in the medicinal liquid. Then dry it in the sun twice, until all the liquid has been absorbed. Once dry, pound it into a fine powder.

Take one square-inch spoonful (an ancient measuring spoon for medicine, holding approximately a spoonful) with wine, twice a day. Prepare one batch each year, in the second and eighth months. The original text claims that long-term use can prolong life and prevent aging.

Goji Root Wine Formula

Take 120 jin of chopped goji root and add four shi of flowing water from a river. Boil for a day and a night, then collect one shi of the clear medicinal liquid. Use this liquid to soak wine starter, then brew the wine according to the household method. Once fermentation is complete, collect the clear wine and put it in a sealed container.

Next, add two and a half jin of dried rehmannia powder, one sheng each of finely powdered cinnamon bark, dried ginger, water plantain, and Sichuan pepper, and two sheng of pokeweed powder. Put these powders in a silk bag and place it at the bottom of the wine. Seal the container tightly, bury it three chi underground, and pack the soil firmly over it. After twenty-one days, bathe, change clothes, arrange your garments and headwear, and bow toward the southeast, where the sun rises. At first light, open the wine jar. The original text says the wine is red like gold.

Each morning, take half a sheng on an empty stomach. The original text claims that ten days of use can cure all kinds of illness and thirty days can make scars disappear. For someone suffering from a serious illness, mix half a sheng of wine with one sheng of water and drink it in five portions; the text says this can bring a cure.

The closing text is damaged. The following passage in Qianjin Yifang adds: “If one wishes to take mineral medicines, take the green [stone] from the river…” The rest is missing.

Take two sheng of the (white stones, each about the size of a jujube or an apricot), add three sheng of water, and boil once. Then pour in half a ge of wine. Wait a little while, until it is cooked through, and it is ready to eat.

Recipe for taking mica water (to treat various illnesses)

Take twenty jin of the finest white mica and break it into thin sheets. Wash the mica twice with a decoction made from eight dou of dew; repeat the washing twice more in the same way. Separately, boil two dou of water to make a decoction, add ten jin of mirabilite (a mineral medicine), then put the mica in a wooden vessel and soak it for twenty days.

Take out the mica, put it in a silk bag, and hang it under the roof. Keep it out of the wind and sunlight until it is dry. Soak deerskin in water and make it into a bag. Put the mica inside and rub and stretch it. Continue from morning until noon, then sift it through fine silk to collect the powder. Keep rubbing the residue and sifting it until you have obtained the fine powder. This should yield about five dou of powder; discard what remains.

Take one dou of the fine powder, add two jin of cliff honey (honey gathered among the mountain crags), and stir until it has the consistency of porridge. Put it into a green bamboo tube. Shave the tube thin, paint the opening with lacquer to seal it tightly, and bury it beneath the soil at the foot of a north-facing wall, under a south-facing cliff, six chi deep. Cover it with earth. Bury it for forty days in spring or summer, or thirty days in autumn or winter, then take it out. The finished mixture should be glossy like grease. If it is still porous and has not melted, bury it for another thirty days before taking it out.

First take one he of water, add one he of the medicine, mix well, and drink the whole dose. Take it three times a day; the water may be hot or cold, as you prefer. After ten days, the urine should turn yellow. This means it can first treat “taxation Qi” (Qi depleted by chronic weakness) and wind rash. After twenty days, cold accumulations in the abdomen will disperse. After thirty days, decayed teeth will fall out and new teeth will grow in their place. After forty days, you will no longer fear wind and cold. After fifty days, all illnesses will be cured, your appearance will grow younger day by day, and you will attain long life. I witnessed all of this myself, and so have written it down.

Method for refining stalactite powder

Take one jin of stalactite, whether thick or thin, selecting only pieces that are white, pure, and lustrous. Those that do not meet these conditions must not be used.

First seal with mud an iron pot large enough to hold four or five dou of water, and use it as a stove. Fill the pot with water, leaving about three cun between the water and the rim. Put the stalactite in a gold, silver, or porcelain vessel, whichever is available, then place the vessel in the pot so that the water stands more than one cun above its rim. This level must be maintained throughout; do not let the vessel emerge above the water.

Keep the pot on a low flame continuously, day and night. When the water is nearly boiled away, replenish it with warm water. Every twenty-four hours, change the water, cleaning the iron pot and rinsing the stalactite at the same time. Continue this for seven days and seven nights. Then take out the stalactite, wash it clean, and let it dry. Place it in a porcelain mortar and grind it with a jade pestle and grinding frame, adding a little water. Grind it for a day and a night…

Stir the stalactite powder into water until the water becomes very cloudy, then leave it to settle and take the cloudy water from the top. The coarser stalactite grains will naturally sink to the bottom; the powder will flow out with the cloudy water. Leave this water overnight. Once it has cleared, collect the coarse grains settled at the bottom and grind them as before. Continue this process for five days and nights, grinding the grains very fine. Each time, mix them with water into a slurry, let it settle and clarify, then refine the powder, remove it, and dry it in the sun. Afterward, grind it in a silver mortar for one day. Wash the medicinal powder in meat broth. If the powder is not washed away, it is considered fit for use.

Formula for Stalactite Powder: Used to treat weakness and deficiency, especially various illnesses affecting people over sixty who are thin and unable to eat.

Three fen each of Shangdang ginseng, dendrobium, and dried ginger; three liang of refined stalactite powder.

Crush and sift the first three ingredients, then mix them evenly with the stalactite powder and divide the mixture into nine portions. Each morning, take one portion on an empty stomach with warm, pure wine; take another in the afternoon, and a third after dusk. After taking it for three days, continue in the same way.

When taking this medicine, each three-day period counts as one course. During each three-day course, eat only one and a half sheng of rice and one sheng of meat. Both the meat and rice must be cooked until very soft. Do not eat scallions or fermented soybean seasoning.

Someone asked, “Why should one eat so little during the three days of taking the medicine? Why not eat one’s fill?”

The reply was, “The stalactite powder remains in the abdomen for three nights, warming and nourishing the organs. If you eat too much, the food will force the medicine out of the abdomen. That is why you must not eat your fill.”

Another asked, “Why must one avoid raw food?”

The reply was, “Eating raw food weakens the medicine’s potency; when its potency is weakened, it also harms the body’s fat. That is why you must not eat raw food.”

Another asked, “Why must one avoid scallions and fermented soybean seasoning?”

The reply was, “Scallions and fermented soybean seasoning make the medicine ineffective. That is why you must not eat them.”

After completing the three days of medicine, spend the next three days eating nourishing soups and food to restore the body. You may choose what to eat, but still avoid scallions, fermented soybean seasoning, and tough foods that are hard to chew. Once these three days of nourishment are over, resume taking the medicine as described above. Continue until you have finished this one jin of stalactite powder. You will experience its effects for yourself; they cannot all be described here. Once you have mastered this method, you can adapt it when taking ten or twenty jin, and understand how it works.

Formula for the Western Peak Perfected One’s Numinous Flight Powder

One jin of mica powder; eight liang of poria; seven liang each of stalactite powder, arborvitae seed, ginseng (the Qianjin Yifang gives “white atractylodes”), teasel root, and cassia bark; fifteen liang of chrysanthemum; twelve liang of dried rehmannia root.

(The original ends here; no further instructions for the formula are preserved.)

Grind the nine ingredients listed above into a fine powder. Take nineteen jin of fresh asparagus tuber (a medicinal herb), extract its juice, and mix it with the powder. Put the mixture in a copper vessel and steam it, then steam it together with one shi and two dou of millet. When the millet is cooked, remove it and dry it in the sun, then grind it into a fine powder.

Take the medicine before meals, one square-inch spoonful at a time, once a day. After three days, your strength will double; after five days, your blood vessels will be full and vigorous; after seven days, your body will feel light and agile; after ten days, your complexion will become radiant; after fifteen days, you will be able to walk fast enough to catch a galloping horse; after thirty days, at night you will seem to see things glowing; after seventy days, all your white hair will fall out, and your original teeth will fall out as well.

At this point, take twenty-one spoonfuls of white honey, mix it with the powder, and pound the mixture two hundred times. Make it into pills the size of parasol tree seeds, for a total of eighty-one pills, and dry them in the sun. The nine pills all shine through, like crystal beads. Anyone who wants their hair and teeth to grow back should take the pills three times a day, swallowing seven each time; the hair will then grow back. Those whose hair has not yet turned white and whose teeth have not yet fallen out need only finish the medicine; after three hundred years, their hair will turn white and their teeth will fall out as described above. Those whose hair is already white and whose teeth have fallen out will not lose them until seven hundred years after taking the medicine. When entering the mountains, swallow seven pills each day; even if you abstain from grain, you will not feel hungry.

I have had this prescription for nearly thirty-six years. During that time my complexion did indeed become beautiful and radiant, but I still had doubts in my heart and hesitated to take the medicine. Over the years I made inquiries in many places and repeatedly heard that reputable people had taken it and that it had truly worked. So I took it according to the prescription, and the results were exactly as described. As long as you keep taking it, its effects will not be lost in vain.

— Sun the Perfected’s Essential Prescriptions Worth a Thousand in Gold for Emergencies, juan 82