The Golden Elixir ▶ Taoist Alchemy ▶ Texts
Taoist Alchemical Texts
Internal Alchemy (Neidan)
The Seal of the Unity of the Three (Cantong qi): Poem 1
Sections 1-17 of Book 1 of the Canqong qi are devoted to cosmology. The constant conjunction of Qian and Kun, the active and the passive principles, gives birth to all phenomena in the world of change. [Read more . . . ]
The Seal of the Unity of the Three (Cantong qi): Poem 18
This is the first of ten sections (18-27) that illustrate the main features of "superior virtue" (shangde) and "inferior virtue" (xiade). [Read more . . . ]
The Seal of the Unity of the Three (Cantong qi): Poem 22
Alchemy seeks the principle that gives birth to, and is hidden within, the manifest cosmos. Among the emblems of the Book of Changes, this principle is represented by the solid Yang line contained within Kan 
(Water), which originally belongs to Qian 
. [Read more . . . ]
The Seal of the Unity of the Three (Cantong qi): Poem 68
The Lovely Maid of the River (heshang chanü) is True Mercury; she is the Yin line within Li 
, referred to as the "second daughter" in the terminology of the Book of Changes. Aroused by fire, she escapes and flies away. [Read more . . . ]
Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian): Poem 3
In this poem, Zhang Boduan uses traditional images to describe the main features and benefits of the Golden Elixir. There are several grades of transcendence, but for the very fact of being graded, they pertain to the realm of relativity in which we live. [Read more . . . ]
Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian): Poem 7
This poem concerns an essential aspect of internal alchemy: the collection of True Yang, which is the initial ingredient of the Elixir. [Read more . . . ]
External Alchemy (Waidan)
Early Taiqing (Great Clarity) Texts: Rituals
In the Taiqing tradition, compounding an elixir is part of a larger process that consists of several stages, each of which is marked by the performance of rites and ceremonies. It is this process, and not merely heating the ingredients in the crucible, that constitutes the alchemical practice. [Read more . . . ]
Early Taiqing (Great Clarity) Texts: Methods
These selections exemplify the technical features of the early Taiqing texts, which give details on the preliminary treatment of the ingredients, the preparation of the crucible, the heating process, and the collection of the elixir. [Read more . . . ]
Early Taiqing (Great Clarity) Texts: Benefits of the Elixirs
After the methods of making the elixirs, the Taiqing texts describe the benefits that they afford. The Taiqing alchemical medicines were valued for two main reasons. First, they granted transcendence and immortality; second, they made it possible — even with no need of ingesting them — to summon benevolent gods and expel demons and other causes of various disturbances, including illness and death. [Read more . . . ]
