The Golden Elixir

True Yang (True Lead). ↔ baixue 白雪 white snow; ganlu 甘露 sweet dew.

At the beginning of Yin and Yang, Mystery holds the Yellow Sprout. 陰陽之始，玄含黃芽。 Comm. Yu Yan: “Mystery holds the Yellow Sprout” means that [True] Lead is given birth within Water.^(*) 「玄含黃芽」者，水中產鉛也。
(*) “Mystery” (xuan 玄) is an alchemical synonym of Water, the Yin principle.

The Lovely Maid of the River is numinous and supremely divine: when she finds Fire she flies away, leaving behind not a speck of dust. … If you want to control her, the Yellow Sprout is the root. 河上姹女，靈而最神，得火則飛，不見埃塵，… 將欲制之，黃芽為根。 Comm. Peng Xiao: The Yellow Sprout is True Lead. 黃芽即真鉛也。

The Yellow Sprout and the White Snow are not difficult to seek; to attain them, you must rely on deeply virtuous conduct. 黃芽白雪不難尋，達者須憑德行深。 Comm. Zhu Yuanyu: The True Yang (⚊) within Kan ☵ is called Yellow Sprout. 坎中真陽是名黃芽。

When we say Golden Flower (jinhua) and Yellow Sprout, they both refer to True Lead. 曰金華，曰黃芽，皆指真鉛而言。