Articles on Taoist Alchemy
Main Principles
Modern studies usually refer to the Chinese arts of the elixirs as Waidan (External Alchemy) or Neidan (Internal Alchemy), but the authors of alchemical texts often call their tradition the Way of the Golden Elixir.
Fabrizio Pregadio, from The Encyclopedia of Taoism
Read this article →One of the basic principles of Chinese Internal Alchemy consists in using two elements that by themselves summarize the entire alchemical Work. The two principles are Yin and Yang, but can be symbolized by West and East, Metal and Wood, Dragon and Tiger.
Isabelle Robinet, from The World Upside Down
Read this article →Internal Alchemy, or Neidan, is a technique of enlightenment whose earliest extant written records date from the 8th century. It appeals both to rationality, which gives order to the world, and to what transcends rationality: the unspeakable, the Totality.
Isabelle Robinet, from The World Upside Down
Read this article →For the alchemical masters, saying is not enough. They want to show. They must actively urge their disciples to walk along the same path and find out by themselves.
Isabelle Robinet, from The World Upside Down
Read this article →Texts and History
The Zhouyi cantong qi (The Seal of the Unity of the Three in Accordance with the Book of Changes) is the main Chinese alchemical scripture. According to the traditional account, the legendary Han immortal Wei Boyang wrote it after reading the Longhu jing (Book of the Dragon and Tiger).
Fabrizio Pregadio, from The Seal of the Unity of the Three
Read this article →The alchemical discourse of the Cantong qi revolves around Lead and Mercury. Its basic principles are simple and straightforward, and proceed directly from its views on the relation between the Dao and the “ten thousand things” (wanwu).
Fabrizio Pregadio, from The Seal of the Unity of the Three
Read this article →Wei Boyang was a native of Wu (present-day Jiangsu, and parts of Anhui and Zhejiang). He was the son of a high-ranking family, but by nature was devoted to the arts of the Dao. Later he retired on a mountain with three disciples in order to compound the Elixir.
Fabrizio Pregadio, from The Seal of the Unity of the Three
Read this article →Awakening to Reality (Wuzhen pian) is one of the most important and best-known Taoist alchemical texts. Written in the 11th century, it describes in a poetical form, and in a typically cryptic and allusive language, several facets of Neidan, or Internal Alchemy.
Fabrizio Pregadio, from Awakening to Reality
Read this article →Beizong and Nanzong are the two main lineages that emerged in the history of Neidan (Internal Alchemy) between the 11th and the 13th centuries. This article briefly describes the lineages and their main teachings.
Fabrizio Pregadio, for the Golden Elixir website
Read this article →Human Being and Human Body
The Cinnabar Fields, or dantian, are three loci in the human body that play a major role in breathing, meditation, and Neidan (Internal Alchemy) practices. Located in the regions of the abdomen, heart, and brain, but devoid of material counterparts, they establish a tripartite division of inner space.
Fabrizio Pregadio, for the Golden Elixir website
Read this article →The most famous Taoist picture of the human body is the Chart of the Inner Warp (Neijing tu), whose main version is drawn on a stele dating from 1886, now found on the walls of a building in the Abbey of the White Cloud (Baiyun Guan) in Beijing.
Fabrizio Pregadio, from The Taoist Tradition
Read this article →The Chart for the Cultivation of Reality (Xiuzhen tu) has been transmitted in different exemplars from the early 1800s onwards. The one reproduced here is found at the Abbey of the White Cloud (Baiyun Guan) in Beijing, on a stele next to the Neijing tu (Chart of the Inner Warp).
Fabrizio Pregadio, from The Taoist Tradition
Read this article →The Japanese alchemical chart of the body reproduced below is entitled Shūshin kyūten dandō zu, or Chart of the Way of the Elixir in Nine Cycles for the Cultivation of Reality (the Chinese reading of the title is Xiuzhen jiuzhuan dandao tu).
Fabrizio Pregadio, for the Golden Elixir website
Read this article →Practice
In the Zhong-Lü tradition, the description of the alchemical practice is generally divided into four stages: (1) Laying the foundations; (2) Refining the Essence to transmute it into Breath; (3) Refining the Breath to transmute it into Spirit; (4) Refining the Spirit to return to Emptiness.
Wang Mu, from Foundations of Internal Alchemy
Read this article →The expression “laying the foundations” is a metaphor often used in the alchemical texts. To build a house, one must first lay the foundations. Only when the foundations are stable and firm is it possible to set pillars and beams in place, and arrange bricks and tiles.
Wang Mu, from Foundations of Internal Alchemy
Read this article →In the ascending path along the Control vessel, three points are arduous to overcome. The alchemical texts call them “barriers” (or “passes,” guan).
Wang Mu, from Foundations of Internal Alchemy
Read this article →At the stage of “laying the foundations,” there are differences of initial conditions, age, and physical constitution. The practices, therefore, differ according to each individual. With regard to this point, the alchemical texts distinguish between “superior virtue” (shangde) and “inferior virtue” (xiade).
Wang Mu, from Foundations of Internal Alchemy
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