ALCHEMY 101

ALCHEMY

The word is derived from the Arabian phrase "al-kimia," which refers to
the preparation of the Stone or Elixir by the Egyptians. The Arabic root
"kimia" comes from the Coptic "khem" that alluded to the fertile black soil
of the Nile delta. Esoterically and hieroglyphically, the word refers to the
dark mystery of the primordial or First Matter (the Khem), the One Thing
through which all creation manifests. Alchemy, then, is the Great Work of
nature that perfects this chaotic matter, whether it be expressed as the
metals, the cosmos, or the substance of our souls.

BEZOAR

Some chemical compounds, such as sulfur auretum when mixed with either red
mercuric oxide or black antimony, clump together inseparably as soon as they are
mixed together. The alchemists considered such compounds to be chemical
bezoars, which are hard clumps of undigested food or solid balls of hair sometimes
found in the intestines. In the Middle Ages, physicians thought the strange mass
protected people from poisons and actually prescribed it to their patients. Egyptian
priests discovered bezoars during the preparation of mummies and believed the
hard balls were magical pills formed by the large serpent in man (the intestines).
Some evidence suggests that the Egyptians also looked for a similar pill in the small
serpent in man (the brain) and found it there in the form of the pineal gland. This
pine-shaped gland is imbedded with tiny crystals of dark melanin, and could explain
the Egyptian pinecone emblems and the origin of the caduceus itself. And, in the
same way that bezoars were formed in the serpentine contours of the intestines, so
was gold formed in the bowels of the earth: gold was considered a mineral bezoar.
 
BLACK PHASE

The Black Phase (or Melanosis) is the first stage in alchemy. It phase
begins with the operation of Calcination and lasts through the
Putrefaction stage of Fermentation.

Alchemy became a science when technology of dyes and metallurgy

confronted and amalgamated with theories of matter and change.

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Alchemy grew independently at many different locations in
different cultures.

“In every culture where alchemy has flourished, mercury has always been
intimately related to an esoteric or mystical tradition. This can be seen in the
Hellenistic, Islamic, and Hermetic traditions, as well as in the Chinese
tradition of Taoism, and the Indian traditions of yoga and tantrism. All
emphasize secrecy. For example, in the esoteric text Rasanava, Shiva tells
the Goddess, ‘The secret (of mercury) is seldom known, even among the
Gods,’ and in another text, the Chinese mystic Ko Hung states, ‘Secrecy is
thrown over the efficacious recipes.’ Similarly, Western post Renaissance
alchemical literature is deliberately incomprehensible. In all cultures, the
knowledge of alchemy, especially the direct use of mercury, was imparted
only to select initiates who were aiming at the radical transformation of the
human condition.”

Chinese Alchemy
“Chinese alchemy was founded upon the fundamentals of Wu-hsing (the Five Elements) and Yin-Yang
(the Contraries). The Five Elements were water, fire, wood, gold and earth. The Contraries were
substances, the interaction of which created all things in the universe. Quite similar were these concepts
to those of the Egyptian philosophers.

Numerology is no modern humbug, for these early concepts enjoyed the magic of numbers. In these early
days of old China, number five was magical-five elements, five seasons, five locations, five colors, five
tones, five tastes, five internal organs, five ways of righteous conduct, five grains, five domesticated
animals and many other quintets of glamorous notoriety.”

Yu Yan's Diagram of the Fire Phases

This diagram comes from the Yiwai biezhuan (The separate transmission of the Book of Changes),
written by Yu Yan in 1284. This work contains several cosmological diagrams, followed by
passages drawn from the Book of Changes and commented through quotations from the Zhouyi
cantong qi.

Diagrams like this have a long history in China. They are used to show the correspondences
between different ways of marking space and time, e.g., the directions, the twelve primary
hexagrams (each associated with one month), the days of the moon cycle, the lunar mansions,
and so on. In addition, each discipline based on the laws of cosmology uses these diagrams in
different ways, e.g., for astronomical calculation and divination. In Chinese alchemy, the
correspondences shown by these devices are used to establish the "fire phases" (huohou), i.e., the
cycles of firing in external alchemy (waidan) and the cycles of the circulation of the primary
components of the person in internal alchemy (neidan).

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From the outer to inner rings, each ring of the diagram drawn by Yu Yan shows:

1. The twenty eight lunar mansions (xiu)

2. Sixty of the sixty four hexagrams
3. The thirty days of the lunar month
4. The twenty four periods of the year
5. The twelve "sovereign hexagrams" (pigua)
6. The twelve Branches of the Earth (dizhi)
7. Six of the eight trigrams
8. The four seasons
9. The four emblematic animals (White Tiger, Red Bird, Green Dragon, and Dark Warrior)

In the innermost circle are the seven stars of the Great Bear. Its circular movement determines
orientation (space) and sets in motion the various cycles of time.

As noted above, this diagram shows only six of the Eight Trigrams and only sixty of the
Sixtyfour Hexagrams. The remaining two trigrams and four hexagrams are:

* qian, i.e., Pure Yang [a hexagram]

* kun, i.e., Pure Yin [a hexagram]
* kan, i.e., Yang within Yin [both a trigram and a hexagram]
* li, i.e., Yin within Yang [both a trigram and a hexagram]

Qian and kun represent the male and female principles that generate the cosmos, respectively.
Kan and li contain those principles hidden within themselves once the cosmos is generated.

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These four trigrams and hexagrams are at the center of time and space and do not enter the
cycles of time; therefore they are not shown in this and similar diagrams.

The twelve "sovereign hexagrams" in the fifth ring represent the rise and ascent of Yin and
Yang. This movement, sometimes referred to as "ebb and flow"(xiaoxi), is apparent if the
hexagrams are shown in the following way:

There are several diagrams similar to the one esablished by Yu Yan. One of them was drawn by
Peng Xiao in 947; for a reproduction and analysys see Joseph Needham et al., Science and
Civilisation in China, vol. V:5 (Cambridge, 1983), pp. 55-58.

A Short Introduction to Chinese Alchemy

(1) BACKGROUND

In China as elsewhere, alchemy is a doctrine aiming to afford an

understanding of the principles underlying the formation and functioning
of the cosmos. The alchemist rises through the hierarchy of the
constituents of being by "exhausting" (Chin. jin or liao, two words also
denoting "thorough knowledge") the nature and properties of each stage.
He overcomes the limits of individuality, and ascends to higher states of
being; he becomes, in Chinese terms, a zhenren or Authentic Man.

While historical and literary sources (including poetry) provide many

important details, the bulk of the Chinese alchemical sources is found in
the Daozang (Taoist Canon), the largest collection of Taoist texts. One
fifth of its about 1,500 texts are closely related to the various alchemical
traditions that developed until the fifteenth century, when the extant
Canon was compiled and printed. Later texts are included in the
Daozang jiyao (Essentials of the Taoist Canon) and in minor collections.
Modern study of the alchemical literature began in the present century,
after the Canon was reprinted and made widely available in 1926.
Among the most important contributions in Western languages are those
of Joseph Needham, Nathan Sivin, Ho Peng Yoke, Farzeen Baldrian-
Hussein, and Isabelle Robinet. [See a selected bibliography.]
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Though the underlying doctrines remained unchanged, Chinese alchemy
went through a complex and not yet entirely understood development
along its twenty centuries of documented history. The two main
traditions are conventionally known as waidan or "external alchemy"
and neidan or "internal alchemy." The former, which arose earlier, is
based on the compounding of elixirs through the manipulation of natural
substances. Its texts consist of recipes, along with descriptions of
ingredients, ritual rules, and passages concerned with the cosmological
associations of minerals and metals, instruments, and operations.
Internal alchemy developed as an independent discipline around the
beginning of the Tang period. It borrows a substantial part of its
vocabulary from its earlier counterpart, but aims to produce an elixir --
equated with transcendental knowledge -- within the alchemist's person.

Chinese alchemy has always been closely related to the teachings that
find their classical expression in the early "philosophical" texts of
Taoism, especially the Laozi and the Zhuangzi. The cosmos as we know
it is conceived of as the final stage in a series of spontaneous
transmutations stemming from original non-existence. This process
entails the apparent separation of primeval Unity into the two
complementary principles, yin and yang. Their re-union generates the
cosmos. When the process is completed, the cosmos is subject to the
laws of cosmology. The alchemist's task is to retrace this process
backwards. Alchemy, whether "external" or "internal," provides support
to the adept, leading one to the point when, as some texts put it, "Heaven
spontaneously reveals its secrets." Its practice must be performed under
the close supervision of a master, who provides the "oral instructions"
(koujue) necessary to an understanding of the processes that the adept
performs with minerals and metals, or undergoes within himself.

(2) DOCTRINES

In order to transcend space and time -- the two main features of the
cosmos -- the alchemist must take extreme care of their correspondences
to the work he performs. Space is delimited and protected by talismans
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(fu), and the laboratory (danwu, lit. "chamber of the elixirs") and
instruments are properly oriented. According to some texts, heating must
conform to minutely defined time cycles. This system, known as "fire
times" (huohou), allows an adept to perform in a relatively short time the
same work that Nature would achieve in thousands of years -- in other
words, to accelerate the rhythms of Nature. Bringing time to its end, or
tracing it back to its beginning, is equivalent. In either case time is
transcended, and the alchemist gains access to timelessness, or
"immortality". The same with space: its centre, where the alchemist
places himself and his work, is a point devoid of dimension. From this
point without space and time he is able to move along the axis that
connects the higher and lower levels of being ("Heaven," tian, and the
"Abyss," yuan).

Among a variety of procedures that the sources describe in an often

allusive way, and in a language rich in metaphors and secret names, two
stand out for their recurrence and importance. The first is based on lead
(yin) and mercury (yang). In external alchemy, these two substances are
refined and joined in a compound whose properties are compared to the
condition of primeval Unity. In internal alchemy, lead is a cover name
for the knowledge of the dao (Pure Yang, chunyang) with which each
being is fundamentally endowed, but is obscured (i.e., transmuted into
yin) in the conditioned state. Mercury, on the other hand, represents the
individual mind.

The second most important method, which is proper to external

alchemy, is centered on cinnabar (yang). The mercury contained within
cinnabar (representing the yin principle contained within yang) is
extracted and newly added to sulphur (yang). This process, typically
performed nine times, finally yields an elixir embodying the luminous
qualities of Pure Yang. This yang is not the complementary opposite of
yin, but, again, represents the One before its separation into the two
complementary principles.

The final object of external and internal alchemy is represented as the

preparation of an elixir usually defined as huandan (lit., "Elixir of
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Return"). This expression, recurring in the whole literature, originally
denotes an elixir obtained by bringing the ingredients back to their
original condition through repeated cyclical operations -- an operation
comparable to the process that the adept performs within himself with
the support of the alchemical practice. The word dan ("elixir") also
denotes cinnabar, suggesting that the process begins and ends on two
corresponding points along an ascensional spiral. This synonymy also
shows the centrality of cinnabar in external alchemy, where this
substance plays a role comparable to that of gold in the corresponding
Western traditions.

In internal alchemy, the central role is taken by lead, that represents

original Oneness and is often a synonym of "gold" (jin). The value of
gold, and the word "gold" itself, are therefore mainly symbolic in China:
the elixir, whether external or internal, and whatever its ingredients, is
often defined as "gold," and "Golden Elixir" (jindan) is a name of the
alchemical arts.

(3) HISTORY

The extant waidan sources suggest that the two main methods outlined
above acquired progressive importance in the history of the discipline. In
the Book of the Nine Elixirs (Huangdi jiuding shendan jing) and other
texts dating from the first centuries A.D., cinnabar is never the main
ingredient of an elixir, and the lead-mercury compound -- sometimes
replaced by refined lead alone -- is only used as a layer in the crucible
together with other ingredients. In these methods, the substances
undergo cycles of refining in a hermetically sealed crucible. This process
consists in a backward re-enactment of cosmogony, that brings the
ingredients to a state of prima materia. The elixir can finally be
transmuted into alchemical gold projecting a minute quantity of the
native metal on it. Important details on the early phase of Chinese
alchemy are also found in portions of the Baopu zi neipian, written
around A.D. 320. Its descriptions of processes that can be compared
with extant sources are, however, often abridged and sometimes
inaccurate.
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During the Tang dynasty, the waidan tradition reached one of its peaks
with Chen Shaowei (beginning of the eighth century), whose work
describes the preparation of an elixir obtained by the refining of
cinnabar. Each cycle yields a "gold" that can be ingested, or used as an
ingredient in the next cycle. In the second part of the process, the final
product of the first part is used as an ingredient of a huandan. Among
the representative texts of this period are several collections of recipes,
one of the most important of which was compiled by Sun Simo. The first
half of the Tang dynasty also marked the climax of contacts between
China and the Arabic world. These exchanges may be at the origin of the
mediaeval word alchymia, one of whose suggested etymologies is from
middle Chinese kiem-yak (the approximate pronunciation of mod. jinye
or "Golden Liquor") with the addition of the Arabic prefix al-.

While the Tang period is sometimes defined as the "golden age" of

external alchemy, it also marked the stage of transition to internal
alchemy. Among the forerunners of internal alchemy is the Shangqing
(Supreme Purity) tradition of Taoism (see Tao Hongjing). Based on
revelations of the late fourth century, this school attributed particular
importance to meditation, but also included the compounding of elixirs
among its practices. (Shangqing represents the first example of close
relations between alchemy and a major movement of "religious"
Taoism.) The relevant sources exhibit the earliest traces of the
interiorizazion of alchemy. Among the texts used in this school is the
Huangting jing (Book of the Yellow Court), a meditation manual often
quoted in neidan texts.

The shift from external to internal alchemy, sometimes taken to be only

due to the multiplication of cases of elixir poisoning, or to the influence
of Buddhism, requires further study to be properly evaluated. The very
incidence and relevance of cases of accidental poisoning (which claimed
their toll even among Emperors) suggests that external alchemy had lost,
at least to some extent and in some contexts, its soteriological character,
and that its practices had become known outside the legitimate
transmission. Some masters may, therefore, have transmitted their
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doctrine modifying the supports used for the practice. In internal
alchemy, the adept's person itself performs the role that natural
substances and instruments play in external alchemy. In doing so, this
discipline avails itself -- in ways and degrees that vary, and which
require further study to be correctly understood -- of traditional Chinese
doctrines based on the analogies between macrocosm and microcosm, of
earlier native contemplative and meditative disciplines, and of practices
of Buddhist origin (apparently of Tantric character, through the possible
medium of the Tiantai school).

In Song and Yuan times, the history of neidan identifies itself with that
of the lines of transmission known as Southern Lineage (nanzong) and
Northern Lineage (beizong). The respective initiators were Zhang
Boduan (eleventh century) and Wang Chongyang (1112--1170). Both
schools placed emphasis on the cultivation of xing and ming, which
constitute two central notions of internal alchemy. Xing refers to one's
original nature, whose properties, transcending individuality, are
identical to those of pure being and, even beyond, non-being. Ming
denotes the "imprint," as it is, that each individual entity receives upon
being generated, and which may or may not be actualised in life (the
word also means "destiny" or "life," but neither translation covers all the
implications in a neidan context). The Northern and Southern lineages,
and subtraditions within them, were distinguished by the relative
emphasis given to either element. The textual foundation of the Southern
Lineage was provided by the Zhouyi cantong qi (Token for the
Agreement of the Three in Accordance with the Book of Changes) and
the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality), a work in poetry by Zhang
Boduan. [See the Chinese text of the Cantong qi and notes on its early
history and its commentaries]

During the Ming and Qing dynasties the neidan tradition is known to
have divided into several schools, but their history and doctrines are still
barely appreciated. One of the last greatest known masters of this
discipline was Liu Yiming (eighteenth century), who in his works
propounded an entirely spiritual interpretation of the scriptural sources
of his tradition.
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(4) SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS IN WESTERN
LANGUAGES

For a comprehensive bibliography see Western-language studies on Chinese alchemy.

Baldrian-Hussein, Farzeen. Procédés Secrets du Joyau Magique.

Traité d'Alchimie Taoïste du XIe siècle. Paris: Les Deux Océans, 1984.

Eliade, Mircea. The Forge and the Crucible. Second ed., Chicago and
London: University of Chicago Press, 1978. See the chapter entitled
"Chinese Alchemy."

Ho Peng Yoke. Li, Qi and Shu: An Introduction to Science and

Civilization in China. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1985.
See the chapter entitled "Chinese Alchemy."

Needham, Joseph, et al. Science and Civilisation in China, vol. V, parts

2-5. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1983.
For a short summary of some sections concerning waidan see Joseph
Needham, "Alchemy and Early Chemistry in China," in The Frontiers of
Human Knowledge, ed. Torgny T. Segerstedt, Uppsala: Uppsala
Universitet, 1978, pp. 171-181.

Robinet, Isabelle. Introduction à l'alchimie intérieure taoïste. De l'unité

et de la multiplicité. Paris: Les Éditions du Cerf, 1995.

Robinet, Isabelle. "Original Contributions of Neidan to Taoism and

Chinese Thought." In Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques. Ed.
Livia Kohn in cooperation with Yoshinobu Sakade. Ann Arbor: Center
for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan, 1989, pp. 297-330.

Schipper, Kristofer, and Wang Hsiu-huei. "Progressive and Regressive

Time Cycles in Taoist Ritual." In Time, Science, and Society in China
and the West (The Study of Time, V). Ed. J.T. Fraser, N. Lawrence, and

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F.C. Haber. Amherst: The University of Massachusetts, 1986, pp. 185-
205.

Sivin, Nathan. Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies. Cambridge

(Mass.): Harvard University Press, 1968.

Sivin, Nathan. "Research on the History of Chinese Alchemy." In

Alchemy Revisited. Proceedings of the International Conference on the
History of Alchemy at the University of Groningen, 17-19 April 1989.
Ed. Z.R.W.M. von Martels. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1990, pp. 3-20.

Sivin, Nathan. "The Theoretical Background of Elixir Alchemy." In

Joseph Needham et al., Science and Civilisation in China, vol. V:
Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part 4: Spagyrical Discovery and
Invention: Apparatus, Theories and Gifts. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1980, pp. 210-305. See also the shorter version
published earlier, but incorporating results of later research, entitled
"Chinese Alchemy and the Manipulation of Time," Isis 67: 513-527,
1976.

The Taoist Canon preserves two versions of the Book of the Nine Elixirs. The more important
one forms the first chapter of the Huangdi jiuding shendan jingjue (Instructions on the Book of the
Divine Elixirs of the Nine Tripods of the Yellow Emperor; CT 885). It is followed by a
commentary in nineteen chapters (hereafter Instructions) compiled in the latter half of the
seventh century. The second version is incorporated as one of two main textual layers in the
Jiuzhuan liuzhu shenxian jiudan jing (Book of the Liquid Pearl in Nine Cycles, and of the Nine
Elixirs of the Divine Immortals; CT 952, hereafter Book of the Liquid Pearl), a work not later than
the beginning of the Tang period. Most divergences between the two versions amount to
matters of detail.

In addition to the above two texts, other sources have come down to us that have the Nine
Elixirs as their subject:

1. The "Secret Written Instructions on the Elixirs of the Nine Tripods" ("Jiuding dan
yinwen jue"), found near the end of the nineteen-chapter commentary. Anonymous like the
other texts mentioned below, these instructions provide important details on various aspects of
each method.
2. A short passage entitled "Explanations" ("Jie"), incorporated in the Book of the Liquid
Pearl (1.4a-5b) and possibly part of a lost third recension. The "Explanations" concern the
compounding of the First Elixir only. The steps of the process are expounded in an slightly
different order compared to the version in the Huangdi jiuding shendan jingjue, but the single
descriptions correspond almost verbatim.

3. Quotations from a series of "Songs" ("Ge") in verses of seven characters that refer to
various aspects of the processes. The "Songs" form the second main textual layer in the Book of
the Liquid Pearl. The quotations are incomplete: verses traceable to phases of the compounding

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are often missing, and sometimes only the first four or the last three characters of a line are
cited. Moreover, the "Songs" are quoted extensively in the sections on the First, Second, and
Third Elixir, in a much more limited way in other sections, and not at all in the section on the
Eighth Elixir.

Apart from occasional divergences in the directions given, and sporadic additions or omissions
of passages, the quotations of the Book of the Nine Elixirs in the Book of the Liquid Pearl
coincide with the text received in the Huangdi jiuding shendan jingjue. The Book of the Liquid
Pearl gives, nonetheless, a glimpse of the textual history of the Book of the Nine Elixirs. Many of
its variants correspond to those pointed out by the anonymous editor of the Huangdi jiuding
shendan jingjue. This shows that the recension of the Huangdi jiuding shendan jingjue is based on
more than one manuscript, and is more recent than the recension in the Book or the Liquid
Pearl. It also rules out the possibility that the current Book of the Nine Elixirs was forged or
reconstructed when the Huangdi jiuding shendan jingjue was compiled.

THE REVELATION OF THE BOOK OF THE NINE ELIXIRS

The Book of the Nine Elixirs opens with passages on its own divine origins. The Book is said to
be the earthly version of a scripture originally kept in Heaven, and transmitted from divinity to
divinity before it was written down in a form fit for human beings. Its practices were revealed
by the Mysterious Woman (Xuannü) to the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi), and transmitted by
him to the Mysterious Master (Xuanzi). The Instructions (2.1a-b) add that, before its revelation,
the scripture was called "Superior Book of the Nine Methods of the Noble Lady of the
Primordial Dao of the Nine Heavens" (Jiutian Yuandao jun jiuding zhi shangjing).

The Noble Lady of the Primordial Dao -- or Primordial Lady (Yuanjun), as she is called in other
passages of the Instructions -- is mentioned by Ge Hong in connection to the revelation of the
Book of the Great Purity (Taiqing jing) and the Book of the Golden Liquor (Jinye jing), two other
texts belonging to the early alchemical corpus. In both instances, she appears as master of Laozi.
(On the Primordial Lady as master and mother of Laozi see Seidel 1969: 114-116.) The
revelation of these scriptures is therefore due to two divine couples, each formed by a female
and a male figure: the Primordial Lady and Laozi on one hand, and the Mysterious Woman and
the Yellow Emperor on the other. The relationship between the two male and the two female
figures is also similar. Laozi (or Laojun, Laozi in his divine aspect) and the Yellow Emperor are
in some ways two aspects of the same divine being. The former is on the non-temporal level
what the latter is in the human time, where he is placed at the beginning of history (see Seidel
1969: 50-58). A similar relationship occurs between the Primordial Lady and the Mysterious
Woman. The Primordial Lady is associated with the heavenly version of the Book of the Nine
Elixirs -- not destined to human beings and therefore differently titled -- while the Mysterious
Woman is connected to the transmission of the text to the Yellow Emperor, in its current form
and with its current title.

As for the Yellow Emperor, he is not the originator of the doctrines and practices expounded in
the Book of the Nine Elixirs, but only a medium in their transmission. This feature is common to
other texts. The Yellow Emperor is not a master: several sources represent him receiving
teachings from such divinities as the Mysterious Woman, the Pure Woman (Su-nü),
Guangcheng zi, or Qi Bo. From the point of view of the doctrines, these myths describe the
moment in which teachings that do not have a historical origin enter human history. (See Seidel
1969: 50-51. The Pure Woman taught the sexual practices to the Yellow Emperor, Guangcheng
zi is his instructor in the Zhuangzi, and Qi Bo is the "Heavenly Master" (Tianshi) who educates
him in the medical arts. On the representation of mythical sovereigns as receiving teachings
from divinities see also Harper 1987: 546-548.)

Through the advice he received, the Yellow Emperor became the model sovereign who searches
for teachings to perfect his method of government. This should be taken into account since the
Instructions were first addressed to an emperor. The Instructions refer several times to the
Yellow Emperor's quest, at the end of which he devoted himself to alchemical practices and rose
to Heaven.

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"In ancient times the Yellow Emperor ascended Mount Wangwu and received the Books of the
Elixirs; he climbed Mount Kongtong and questioned Guangcheng zi; to search for the dao and
the doctrines of the nourishment of life he listened to the teachings of the Mysterious Woman
and the Pure Woman; and to scrutinise the divine and the supernatural he wrote down the
words of the Baize. Thus he obtained a thorough knowledge of the dao and the Veritable, and a
deep discernment of the Mysterious and Secret. Then he sublimated and fixed the Elixir in Nine
Cycles (jiuzhuan) at the foot of Mount Jing, and transmuted the Liquid Pearl (liuzhu) on Lake
Ding." (Instructions, 5.2a; similar passages are in 3.1a, 3.3a, and 4.2a. On the Baize, a mythical
animal that gave the Yellow Emperor teachings about the shapes of the harmful spirits, see
Kiang 1937: 71-80, and Harper 1988.)

The final sentence of this passage elaborates on the myth that acted as trait d'union between the
Yellow Emperor and alchemy -- his casting of a tripod on Mount Jing (Honan), and his
subsequent ascension to Heaven. (Cf. Shiji (Records of a Historian), 28.1396, trans. Chavannes
1895-1905: vol. III, 496; and the Yellow Emperor's "biography" in the Liexian zhuan, translated
and annotated in Kaltenmark 1953: 50-53). The reference to the tripod, an emblem of imperial
power in ancient China, may have later suggested the choice of the Book of the Divine Elixirs of
the Nine Tripods as textual support for providing alchemical instructions to an emperor.

THE BOOK OF THE NINE ELIXIRS THROUGH THE SEVENTH CENTURY

While something can be glimpsed about the divine origins of the Book of the Nine Elixirs,
virtually all we know about its date and early transmission is what is told by Ge Hong (283-
343). According to a passage of his Baopu zi neipian (Inner Chapters of the Book of The Master
Who Embraces Simplicity), the text already circulated by the beginning of the third century:

"Long time ago, while Zuo Yuanfang (i.e., Zuo Zi) was devoting himself to the practices of the
purification of thought (jingsi) on mount Tianzhu (i.e., the Taishan, in mod. Shandong), a
Divine Man transmitted to him the Books of the Immortals on the Golden Elixirs. That was the
time of the disorders at the end of the Han dynasty. As there was no opportunity to compound
them, Zuo escaped to Jiangdong, with the intent of settling on a renowned mountain and
devoting himself to that Way. My granduncle, the Immortal Lord (Xiangong, i.e., Ge Xuan)
received from him those texts. They were the Book of the Elixir of the Great Purity (Taiqing
danjing) in three rolls, the Book of the Elixirs of the Nine Tripods (Jiuding danjing) in one roll,
and the Book of the Elixir of the Golden Liquor (Jinye danjing) also in one roll. My master,
Zheng (Yin), was a disciple of my granduncle, and in turn received those texts from him. But
his family was poor, and he lacked the means to buy the ingredients. I served him for a long
time as a disciple. Then I built an altar (tan) on the Maji mountains (mod. Jiangxi), and after
sealing a pact of transmission with him I received those texts, with the oral instructions that
cannot be written down." (Baopu zi neipian, 4.12; cf. trans. Ware 1966: 69-70)

Exactly to what extent the two received versions of the Book of the Nine Elixirs reproduce the
original scripture is impossible to know. Both, however, correspond to the quotations and
summaries given by Ge Hong in his work (4.14-15; trans. Ware 1966: 75-78). This suggests that
the two versions in the Taoist Canon are at least substantially authentic.

Little else is known about the history of the text until the seventh century. While there is no
reason to doubt Ge Hong's words as far as Ge Xuan and Zheng Yin are concerned, the supposed
beginner of his line of transmission, Zuo Zi, is as shadowy a figure as most other ancient fangshi
("masters of methods"). Hagiographic sources make him into a master who lived at the court of
Cao Cao (155-220), and was proficient in the divinatory arts, had the gift of metamorphosis and
could control gods and spirits.

On Ge Xuan see Bokenkamp 1983: 436-442. Ge Hong devotes to his master, Zheng Yin, a long
passage in Baopu zi neipian, 19.94-95 (trans. Ware 1966: 310-313). Zuo Zi's biography in the Hou
Han shu (History of the Later Han), 82B.2747-2748, is translated in Ngo 1976: 138-139; on his
figure in the later Taoist tradition see Robinet 1984: I:9-24 passim.

Page 13 of 119
Ge Hong's mention of Shandong and Jiangdong as the areas in which the text originated and
was later transmitted, respectively, is confirmed by later evidence. In the early sixth century, for
example, the Nine Elixirs were among the alchemical methods that Tao Hongjing (456-536)
considered practising; his choice finally fell on a different method, as he deemed the text he
possessed not to be clear enough. (See Huayang Tao yinju neizhuan (Intimate Biography of Tao
[Hongjing], the Retired Master of Mount Huayang; CT 300), 2.6a, and Strickmann 1981: 144.)

CONTENTS OF THE BOOK OF THE NINE ELIXIRS

The alchemical work of the Book of the Nine Elixirs begins with the purification practices (zhai).
No details are given about them, but it is said that they involve ablutions (muyü) and should be
performed before receiving the methods, buying the ingredients, and compounding the elixirs.
The practice takes place in seclusion and outside profane space. Its sacred character is
emphasized by interdictions:

"...do not pass by filth and dirt, and by houses where mourning is being observed, or inhabited
by women of marriageable age... beware of intercourse with common and dull people. Do not
let the envious, those who talk too much, and those who do not have faith in this Way hear or
know about it...".

After the purification practices are accomplished, the adept may receive the text and the oral
instructions. The corresponding ceremony is described in the Book of the Nine Elixirs as "Rules
for the Transmission" (chuanfa). The disciple throws tokens of transmission -- golden figurines
of a man and a fish -- into an eastward-flowing stream. The master arranges a seat for the
Mysterious Woman, and waits for a sign of her consent.

Other ceremonies of alchemical transmission are described in j. 3 of the Instructions. The first
(3.4a-b), concerning the Book of the Great Purity, is also found in the "oral instructions" on this
text; see Taiqing jing tianshi koujue (CT 883), 1a-b. Basing on a short passage in the Baopu zi
neipian, 4.20 (trans. Ware 1966: 91), the transmission ritual of the Book of the Golden Liquor was
similar to that performed to receive the Book of the Nine Elixirs. Another ceremony is described
in the Taii zhenren jiuzhuan huandan jing yaojue (CT 889), 1a-b.

Then the disciple exits from profane time, choosing one of the days listed in the text as
auspicious to begin the compounding.

A ceremony also marks the starting of the fire. The adept invokes the Noble Lady of the Great
Dao (Dadao jun, another name of Yuanjun or Yuandao jun), Lord Lao (Laojun), and the Lord
of the Great Harmony (Taihe jun). He asks them to let the practice be successful, and let him
become a Perfect Man (zhiren) and have audience at the Purple Palace (Zigong), in the
constellation of the Big Dipper.

The making of the elixirs begins with the preparation of two preliminary compounds, called
Mysterious and Yellow (xuanhuang) and Mud of the Six-and-One (liuyi ni). The Mysterious and
Yellow takes its name from the attributes of Heaven (the "Mysterious") and Earth (the
"Yellow").

The locus classicus for this is in the Wenyan (Explanation of the Sentences) commentary on the
hexagram kun in the Yijing (Book of Changes), 3: "Mysterious and Yellow means the mingling
(za) of Heaven and Earth: Heaven is the Mysterious, and Earth is the Yellow."

The importance of this compound in the practices of the Nine Elixirs is also shown by its
correlation with the names of the divine beings who transmitted and received the scripture --
the Mysterious Woman, the Yellow Emperor, and the Mysterious Master. The two principles of
Yin and Yang in their pure state are represented by the essences of lead and mercury, liberated
by heating the native substances. In the texts on the Nine Elixirs this compound is used either to
lute the crucible together with the Mud of the Six-and-One, or as a layer inside the crucible with
the other ingredients of the elixirs. In either case, through the Mysterious and Yellow the
crucible incorporates the essences of Heaven and Earth.

Page 14 of 119
At the centre of the practice is the crucible (fu), formed by two superposed clay vessels. As
stated in the Instructions (7.4b-5a), failure in the preparation of the elixirs is due to mistakes
made when preparing the vessel. The luting compound is so important as to be sometimes
called "Divine Mud" (shenni). In the Book of the Nine Elixirs, where it is obtained from seven
ingredients, and in many other texts its name is "Mud of the Six-and-One." The Instructions say
that "six and one is seven: the sages keep this secret, and therefore call it Six-and-One", adding
that the compound has this name even if it is obtained by a different number of ingredients
(7.5a).

The name and function of the Mud of the Six-and-One become clearer in the light of the
doctrines that underlie the alchemical practices. The alchemical work leads an adept to
timelessness ("immortality") by reversing the stages of the cosmogonic process. Using different
images and idioms, some early texts describe or allude to this process as taking place in seven
stages. Directly pointing to the intent of these descriptions, a well known passage of the
Zhuangzi (5/2/49-51) outlines the process in reverse, starting from the phase preceding
manifestation and receding to its most remote inception:

[7] There is a beginning.

[6] There is a time before the beginning.
[5] There is a time before the time before the beginning.
[4] There is existence.
[3] There is nonexistence.
[2] There is a time before nonexistence.
[1] There is a time before the time before nonexistence.

The same passage forms the basis of a more elaborate description in the Huainanzi (2.1a-2a).
Another famous passage of the Zhuangzi (21/7/33-35) represents the same process by a
different imagery. The seven stages are portrayed there as seven openings pierced in the body
of Emperor Hundun, causing his death that corresponds to the state of differentiation (the Ten
Thousand Things, wanwu).

Closing, as it were, the seven openings that provoked the death of Emperor Hundun, the
ingredients of the Mud of the Six-and-One allow the alchemical process to take place in
conditions similar to those preceding manifestation. This makes it possible for the essences of
the substances placed in the crucible to liberate themselves through the action of fire, and
ascend, collecting under the upper half of the vessel. This process can only take place in
perfectly sealed crucible.

The elixir, or "Sublimated Essence" (feijing), is matter liberated from the action of time. The
shape itself of the crucible reminds one of the condition of primeval chaos (hundun), often
portrayed by the image of a gourd that contains within itself a world apart, comparable to that
of primordial times (see Stein 1987: 61-82.). This image is represented by the crucible: the shape
of a round vessel closed by another overturned round vessel is the shape of a gourd (Stein 1987:
77-78; on the crucible as "cosmic egg" in Chinese alchemy see Sivin 1980: 292-297).

The steps followed to compound each of the Nine Elixirs are essentially the same. The
ingredients are first placed in the crucible, closed with another overturned crucible. The vessel
is luted with the Mud of the Six-and-One, and with a mud of Mysterious and Yellow. It is then
left to dry, and is placed on the fire. In two cases the text says that the vessel should be turned
upside down several times during the heating, so that the Sublimated Essence may circulate. At
the end of the required number of days, the crucible is left to cool, and is opened.

The Sublimated Essence will have risen under the upper part of the vessel. It is carefully
collected with a feather, and is added to other substances. In some instances it is placed in the
crucible and heated again; in others it can be directly ingested. In the case of the First Elixir --
and presumably in all the others -- if the Essence has not condensed the whole process should
be repeated. The elixir is ingested at dawn, facing the sun. Some of the Nine Elixirs can be
transmuted into alchemical gold; the purpose of this transmutation, as stated in the section

Page 15 of 119
concerning the First Elixir, is to make sure that the Sublimated Essence has been correctly
prepared. The accomplishment of the alchemical process grants eternity, luminescence, mastery
of the elements, and control over gods and spirits.

The Daozang commentaries to the Zhouyi cantong qi

(1) THE ANONYMOUS WAIDAN COMMENTARY

While Peng Xiao's commentary of A.D. 947 is often indicated as the earliest extant exegesis of
the Cantong qi, Chen Guofu has been the first scholar to suggest that the anonymous waidan
commentary (CT 1004) dates from between the end of the seventh and the middle of the eighth
century. [1] Its two juan correspond to the first juan of Peng Xiao's recension, but the preface
describes the text as divided into three parts. The last is the "Five Categories" ("Wu xianglei"),
said to consist of explications on the first two parts. This shows that the commentary originally
included the whole text of the Cantong qi. [2]

[1] Chen Guofu, Daozang yuanliu xukao, 377-378.

[2]Zhouyi cantong qi zhu (CT 1004), 1.2a. That this work once contained the whole Cantong qi is
also shown by a note in 1.20a, which quotes as coming from the "last pian" a sentence found in
the third and last juan, or pian, of the present version (in Peng Xiao's zh. 89).

In addition to citations of place names officially adopted between 686 and 760, on which Chen
Guofu has based his dating, other details support his suggestion. No text or author quoted in
the commentary can be assigned a date as late as the Tang period. The evidence of tabooed
characters is not unequivocal, but words that formed the personal names of Taizong (r. 626-
649) and Gaozong (r. 649-683) are often found to be avoided or replaced. [3] Meng Naichang
has recently provided another substantial indication, pointing out that a sentence in the preface
is quoted in two Tang texts. [4] Taken together, the available evidence suggests that the
anonymous two-juan commentary dates from the vicinity of A.D. 700.

[3] Two out of five occurrences of shi (part of the personal name of Taizong) are replaced with
su in the main text (1.42a and 2.31a; they are not replaced in 2.21a, 26a and 30a). Both
characters, however, appear in the commentary (1.42b, 2.6a-8a passim, 16b, 22b, 26a, 29a, 30a,
31a). One of three occurrences of zhi (part of the personal name of Gaozong) is replaced with li
in the main text (1.34b). In the two other cases (2.26b and 36a), zhi appears in the compound
daozhi, a frequent mistake for daoye "to pound (a mineral substance)" in the received versions of
alchemical and pharmacological texts. The same is for its synonym yanzhi in the commentary
(1.35a), a variant for yanye. This would leave only one occurrence of zhi in the whole
commentary (also in 1.35a). In contradiction with any clear pattern, however, this recension of
the Cantong qi has zhi (2.26b) in a sentence where other recensions read either fei or zhi.

[4] Meng Naichang, Zhouyi cantong qi kaobian, 28-29.

The contents of the commentary support this dating. The work interprets several passages of
the Cantong qi as dealing with a lead-mercury compound called Elixir of Correct Yang
(zhengyang dan ). [5] It also describes methods of other elixirs, and provides instructions on the
furnace and other instruments. The anonymous author summarizes one of the lead-mercury
recipes and the method of the luting mud for the crucible from the Book of the Nine Elixirs .
Acquaintance with the corpus of writings attributed to Hugang zi, dating to the Six Dynasties, is
reflected in a quotation of the Wujin fen tujue (Illustrated Instructions on the Powders of the
Five Metals) and a mention the Nine-cycled Essence of Lead, the method of which was found in
another work of that corpus. [6] These references, selected out of several others, suggest that
the anonymous commentary may be a late product of the southern waidan traditions centered
around the Cantong qi in the Six Dynasties.

Page 16 of 119
[5] One of the clearest statements on the Elixir of Correct Yang is in 1.16b-17a; see also 1.13a
("Gold is the Elixir of Correct Yang"), 2.6a, and 2.34b-35b. For other elixir recipes see, e.g., 2.24b-
25a, and on the furnace 2.2b.

[6] For the lead-mercury recipe see the passage in 2.12b-13a, concerned with the Liquid Pearl
(liuzhu) or Talisman of Heaven and Earth (tiandi zhi fu). The method of this elixir is in Huangdi
jiuding shendan jingjue (CT 885) 1.6a. On the luting mud see 2.3a, and Huangdi jiuding shendan
jingjue 1.3b-4a. The Book of the Nine Elixirs is also mentioned in 2.45a. The Wujin fen tujue is
quoted as Wujin jue in 2.24a, and the Essence of Lead is mentioned in 2.12b.

REFERENCES

Chen Guofu. Daozang yuanliu kao [Studies on the history of the Taoist Canon]. Second ed.,
Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1963.

Meng Naichang. Zhouyi cantong qi kaobian [An investigation of the Cantong qi]. Shanghai: Guji
Chubanshe, 1993.

(2) THE YIN CHANGSHENG COMMENTARY

Not long before or after A.D. 700, another anonymous author wrote the second Tang exegesis of
the Cantong qi preserved in the Taoist Canon. Attributed to the immortal Yin Changsheng, this
work (CT 999) is distinguished by a close cosmological interpretation, though incidental
references to actual practices show that it originated in a waidan context. [1] It quotes several
times the Yiji zhan (Divinations of the yiji Year) by the early Tang cosmologist, Li Chunfeng (fl.
633-665). As no source later than this is mentioned in the whole text, Chen Guofu has suggested
that the commentary must date from the seventh century. [2] The only feature in disagreement
with this dating is the presence of the "Song of the Tripod" in a separate section at the end of the
text. According to a statement by Peng Xiao, this was an innovation resulting from his own
editorial work. [3]

[1] See for example the reference to drawing images of the gods of the four directions on the
four sides of the furnace (1.10a; the same is said in 1.35b about the image of the vermilion bird);
to the ingestion of a small quantity of the elixir in 1.32b; and to the refining of lead into "white
lead" (fen, for hufen) in 1.37a.

[2] Chen Guofu, Daozang yuanliu xukao, 377. For quotations of the Yiji zhan see 1.22b, 23a, 24a,
25b, and 2.2b.

[3] Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu (CT 1003), 1a.

Nonetheless, more definite evidence points to a Tang date. In particular, the text follows the
pattern of the anonymous waidan commentary in either replacing or leaving unaltered
characters forming the personal names of Taizong and Gaozong. These correspondences are
part of the textual kinship of the two works. Taking as a unit the smallest sections in which the
text of the Cantong qi can be divided -- single sentences, often corresponding to single verses --
the Yin Changsheng and the anonymous waidan recension differ altogether about two hundred
times from the text established by Peng Xiao. Of these variants, slightly more than one third are
shared by both works. In a significant portion of the other instances the Yin Changsheng and
the anonymous recension vary from each other in minor details. [10] As shown by Meng
Naichang, moreover, quotations from the Cantong qi in Tang works correspond to the readings
of the two Tang recensions. [4]

[10] As remarked below, Peng Xiao's text of the Cantong qi cannot be deemed to be authentic,
because its received version includes readings drawn from Zhu Xi's recension. However, this
does not conflict with the present argument, as we are concerned here with the state of the text
before either Peng Xiao or Zhu Xi.

[4] Meng Naichang, Zhouyi cantong qi kaobian, 5-30.

Page 17 of 119
REFERENCES

Chen Guofu. Daozang yuanliu kao [Studies on the history of the Taoist Canon]. Second ed.,
Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1963.

Meng Naichang. Zhouyi cantong qi kaobian [An investigation of the Cantong qi]. Shanghai: Guji
Chubanshe, 1993.

(3) THE COMMENTARY BY PENG XIAO AND THE ANONYMOUS NEIDAN

COMMENTARY

A native of Yongkang in modern Sichuan, Peng Xiao (zi Xiuchuan, hao Zhenyi zi, ?-955)
changed his original surname, Cheng, into Peng out of reverence for Pengzu. His identification
with this paragon of antiquity, who practiced self-cultivation without disregard for official
duties, is not due to chance, for Peng Xiao served the Shu dynasty as Magistrate of the Jintang
district, and was later appointed Vice Director of the Ministry of Rites and Military Supervisor
of the Shu Prefecture. In addition to the Zhouyi cantong qi fenzhang tong zhenyi (Real Meaning of
the Zhouyi cantong qi, with an Arrangement into Paragraphs; CT 1002), his works include the
extant Huandan neixiang jin yaoshi (Golden Key to the Inner Images of the Elixir of Return) and a
lost commentary to the Yinfu jing (Book on Joining with Obscurity). His exegesis of the Cantong
qi was held in high esteem within the Southern lineage (Nanzong) of Song Taoism, as shown,
for instance, by frequent quotations in commentaries to the Wuzhen pian associated with that
lineage. Its circulation was also aided by an edition printed by Wang Gang around 1250. [1]

[1] The above information on Peng Xiao is collected from his biographies in the Sandong
qunxian lu (CT 1248), 12.21b-22a, and the Lishi zhenxian tidao tongjian (CT 296), 43.7b-8a (under
"Cheng Xiao"). No details about Peng Xiao's lineage are available. The Golden Key is preserved
in the Yunji qiqian, 70.1a-14a. On Wang Gang see Song shi, 408.12304-09; his edition is mentioned
in Zhizhai shulu jieti, 12.345-346.

Peng Xiao submitted the text of the Cantong qi to a substantial rearrangement. According to his
preface, he divided it into ninety zhang, corresponding to the figure 9 of Great Yang, and placed
the "Song of the Tripod" in a separate pian, matching the figure 1 of Water (the Agent related to
lead and to original Oneness). To the third and final juan of his commentary he appended the
"Diagram of the Bright Mirror" ("Mingjing tu"), a chart complete with explanatory notes that
illustrates several cosmological devices used in the Cantong qi. In the Daozang edition, a postface
indicating that the commentary was accomplished in A.D. 947 is printed with the "Song of the
Tripod," the "Eulogium," and the "Diagram of the Bright Mirror" as a separate work entitled
Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu (CT 1003). Both Peng Xiao's preface and the other extant
editions of the Fenzhang tong zhenyi show that the two Daozang texts formed originally a single
work. [2]

[2] On the "Diagram of the Bright Mirror" see the analysis in Needham et al., vol. V.5: 55-59. See
the illustration and analysis of a similar diagram.

Peng Xiao does not mention the version of the Cantong qi at the basis of his recension, but the
text in the Yin Changsheng commentary must have been among those that served to the
purpose. In his postface, he quotes a sentence from the preface to that commentary, which he
must, therefore, have been acquainted with. [3] Comparison of Peng Xiao's text with the two
Tang recensions shows that the variants he introduced consist, along with the division into
zhang, of some inversions and relocations of lines, and of a large number of substitutions of
single words.

Page 18 of 119
[3] Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu (CT 1003), 12b, quoting from Zhouyi cantong qi (CT
999), preface, 3b.

The re-edition by Bao Huanzhi

The exact extent of these variations, however, is difficult to ascertain. This is implied in a
postface written in 1208 by the astronomer Bao Huanzhi (fl. 1207-1210), which is solely
preserved in the Daozang edition. [4] In this valuable document, which has not yet received the
attention it deserves, Bao praised the recension by Peng Xiao as the best available at his time,
but noted that it was not exempt from errors, and that its divisions into zhang were not always
accurate. Due to later alterations, moreover, the copy preserved in the Imperial Library -- which
Bao must have had access to when he worked at court -- differed from the other versions
circulating by his time. Bao then goes on to remark that before him the text was revised by
Zheng Huan, but his edition included many errors. [5] Later Zhu Xi established a better text,
but his divisions into zhang, as well as his commentaries, were occasionally faulty. This
prompted Bao to collate as many editions as possible of the Fenzhang tong zhenyi, and produce
what he believed would be a critical edition.

[4] Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu, 6b-8a. The postface is placed at the end of Peng Xiao's
commentary to the Cantong qi, immediately before the "Diagram of the Bright Mirror."

[5] I have not been able to find any information on Zheng Huan.

As long as Bao Huanzhi consistently followed the criteria he himself laid down, the result was a
complete blunder. For the main text of the Cantong qi he based himself on Zhu Xi's recension,
while for Peng Xiao's own notes he relied on Zheng Huan's edition. He followed, however,
other editions when they agreed with each other against Zhu Xi and Zheng Huan. Another rule
that informed his work was to leave the main text unaltered when a passage differed from the
quotation of the same passage within the commentary. Based on the examples that Bao
provides of his alterations, Peng Xiao's original text was much closer to the Yin Changsheng
recension -- i.e., to the Tang text of the Cantong qi -- than it is now. [6]

[6] Bao gives two examples, relating to a line of zh. 2, and a line of zh. 63. In both cases, the
sentences quoted in the commentary are virtually identical to the Yin Changsheng recension,
while in the main text they are the same as in the recension of Zhu Xi.

Being substantially the same as the one in the Daozang, all other editions of the Fenzhang tong
zhenyi are based on Bao Huanzhi's revision, and none preserves the original text established by
Peng Xiao. Further evidence of alterations is provided by a quotation from the lost commentary
by Zhang Sui, [7] who lived one century after Peng Xiao.

[7] Zhouyi cantong qi dingqi ge mingjing tu, 1a. Zhang Sui's commentary is listed for the first time
in the Junzhai dushi zhi, 16.754, which places his floruit in the Huangyou period (1049-1054) of
the Song. Other passages are quoted in Ziyang zhenren wuzhen pian zhushu (CT 141), 3.10a and
7.10b. See also the Xiuzhen shishu commentary to the Wuzhen pian (CT 263), 26.6a and 7a.

The anonymous neidan commentary

Page 19 of 119
The Fenzhang tong zhenyi, nonetheless, maintains its standing as a watershed between the earlier
and the later recensions, for most of which it served as textual basis. The most closely related
recension is the one found in the anonymous neidan commentary, the Zhouyi cantong qi zhu
(Commentary of the Zhouyi cantong qi; CT 1000). This recension, preserved only in the Daozang
and obviously written after Bao Huanzhi's alterations, follows the Fenzhang tong zhenyi so
faithfully that it may serve to verify the accuracy of the Daozang edition of Peng Xiao's work. [8]

[8] See a critical edition of Peng Xiao's recension in Pregadio, Zhouyi cantong qi: Dal Libro dei
Mutamenti all'Elisir d'Oro, 90-111.

REFERENCES

Junzhai dushi zhi (Reading Notes from the Junzhai Studio; 1151). Jiaozheng ed., Shanghai Guji
Chubanshe, 1990.

Song shi (History of the Song Dynasty). Zhonghua Shuju ed., 1977.

Zhizhai shulu jieti (Annotated Catalogue of the Zhizhai Studio; middle 13th cent.). Shanghai
Guji Chubanshe ed., 1987.

Needham, Joseph, et al. Science and Civilisation in China. 7 vols. projected, Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1954-.

Pregadio, Fabrizio. Zhouyi cantong qi: Dal Libro dei Mutamenti all'Elisir d'Oro [Zhouyi cantong qi:
From the Book of Changes to the Golden Elixir]. Venezia: Cafoscarina, 1996. [Table of contents
and English summary.]

(4) THE COMMENTARY BY ZHU XI AND THE COMMENTARY BY CHU YONG

The most distinguished commentary of the Cantong qi outside the Taoist tradition is that of Zhu
Xi (1130-1200), whose Zhouyi cantong qi kaoyi (A Critical Investigation of the Zhouyi cantong qi;
CT 1001) is the first of a number of works, written through the Qing period, testifying to the
attention paid to this text by Neo-Confucianists. Quotations in the Yixue qimeng (Instructing the
Young in the Studies on the Changes), which bears a preface dated 1186, show that Zhu Xi's
active interest in the Cantong qi arose in the last decades of his life. As he already did for the
Yixue qimeng, for his composition of the Kaoyi he benefited from the advice of his friend and
disciple Cai Yuanding (1135-1198), an Yijing expert with whom he corresponded regularly on
details of interpretation. The final version of the commentary indeed owes much to Cai, who
closely examined the text with Zhu Xi in early 1197. [1] The work was most probably
completed shortly thereafter, between the end of 1197 and the beginning of 1198. [2]

[1] Zhuzi yulei , 107.2670; also quoted in Zhouyi cantong qi [kaoyi ] (CT 1001), 3.8a-b.

[2] For more details on the genesis of Zhu Xi's commentary see the excellent study by Azuma
Jûji, "Shu Ki Shûeki sandôkei kôi ni tsuite," especially pp. 176-178. See also the bibliographic note
by Wong Shiu Hon.

The Kaoyi is also -- at least in principle, as we will see shortly -- the earliest extant exegesis based
on a critical examination of different recensions of the text. As Zhu Xi states in a postface, his
recension was inspired by the disappointing state of the text, due to alterations introduced
throughout its history. [3] Upon completing his work, he acknowledges that in the Cantong qi
"there are still many dubious and obscure points". His appraisal of the high literary quality and
difficulty of the text is recurrently quoted in later works: "The text of the Cantong qi is exquisite.
It must have been written by a capable author of the Later Han. Its lexicon is grounded on

Page 20 of 119
ancient works, but being beyond the understanding of modern men, it has been interpreted in
senseless ways." [4]

[3] Zhouyi cantong qi [kaoyi], 3.8a.

[4] Zhuzi yulei, 125.3002; also in Zhouyi cantong qi [kaoyi], preface, 2b-3a.

The interpretation offered in the Kaoyi is primarily cosmological. The most detailed remarks are
those on passages related to the system of the Book of Changes, often to the neglect of the
alchemical import of the text. [5] On the other hand, the junctures at which Zhu Xi inserted his
comments are often more accurate than the divisions into zhang made by Peng Xiao.

[5] Concerning which one notices several expressions of doubt, including a frequent "wei xiang
qi zhi". On this point see Azuma, p. 181, who provides a detailed analysis of the commentary on
pp. 181-186.

Like Peng Xiao before him, Zhu Xi does not state which recension of the Cantong qi provided the
basis of his work. Textual comparison suggests that he relied on Peng Xiao, but accepted many
readings of the Yin Changsheng recension. He apparently introduced variants of his own, while
others are shared with the Tang anonymous commentary in two-juan. The contours of this
picture, however, are blurred both by Bao Huanzhi's remaniement of Peng Xiao's work, and by
the presence of variants presumably derived from recensions no longer extant. Among the
sources arguably used by Zhu Xi are the lost commentary by Yuan Shu (1131-1205), to which
he wrote a colophon in 1197, and two other editions, which he refers to as the "Ji edition" and
the "Qiu edition" with no other details. [6]

[6] The colophon to the commentary by Yuan Shu -- the author of the Tongjian jishi benmo
(Events in the Comprehensive Mirror Arranged in Chronological Order) -- is in Zhu Wengong
wenji, 84. 31a-b. The "Ji" and the "Qiu" editions are mentioned in the letter to Cai Yuanding
found in the Xuji section of the same work, 3.8a-b. Zhu Xi also quotes an anonymous
commentary on 1.13b of his Kaoyi .

The re-edition by Huang Ruijie

The Kaoyi was edited in the first half of the fourteenth century by Huang Ruijie (zi Guangle, fl.
1335), who included it in his Zhuzi chengshu, an early collection of Zhu Xi's works. [7] Huang
himself provided an undated preface, and notes consisting of his own comments and of
quotations from other works of Zhu Xi. In addition to the Kaoyi, Huang knew Peng Xiao's
commentary through the re-edition by Bao Huanzhi, whom he quotes in his preface and in a
note attached to Zhu Xi's commentary. [8] Apparently all editions of the Kaoyi include Huang
Ruijie's additions, and therefore ultimately derive from his Zhuzi chengshu.

[7] An exemplar of the original edition of this compilation, printed in 1335, is kept at the
National Palace Museum in Taibei; cf. Guoli Gugong Bowuyuan shanben jiuji zongmu, 975. Wong,
op. cit., mistakenly places Huang Ruijie in the twelfth century. Huang's authorship of the Zhuzi
chengshu is indicated, i.a., in the Yuanru kaolüe, 3.19a.

[8] Zhouyi cantong qi [kaoyi ], preface, 1b, and 1.5a, respectively.

Page 21 of 119
In clear contrast with its title, and with Zhu Xi's own statements in the postface, the
commentary contains only a handful of critical notes. In other works, additionally, Zhu Xi
points out variants and suggests emendations that are ignored in the Kaoyi. [9] The case is
strong enough to assume that an indefinite number of critical notes were expunged either by
Huang Ruijie, or by someone before him. A confirmation in this regard is provided by Yu Yan,
who, writing fifty years before Huang, states that he found it superfluous to duplicate variants
already pointed out by Zhu Xi -- hardly a necessary remark if the critical apparatus in the Kaoyi
had been as exiguous as it is in the received version. [10]

[9] See the examples collected by Azuma on pp. 178-179 and in note 10, p. 189 of his study.
Azuma, who does not mention Huang Ruijie and his editorial work, suggest that the postface
may not be authentic. The small number of critical notes in the Kaoyi also surprised the editors
of the Siku quanshu zongmu, 146.1294.

[10] Zhouyi cantong qi shiyi (CT 1006), preface, 3b.

The recension by Chu Yong

The Zhouyi cantong qi kaoyi did not enjoy any particular prestige within the Taoist tradition, but
its recension served as basis for the Zhouyi cantong qi zhu (Commentary of the Zhouyi cantong qi;
CT 1008) by Chu Yong (zi Wenqing, hao Huagu; early thirteenth century), preserved only in the
Daozang. [11] This neidan work, which bears no preface or postface, and includes an "Eulogium"
("Zan"), [12] is distinguished by short, straightforward annotations, and by a sentence placed at
the end of almost every zhang to summarize its central meaning. The text of the Cantong qi is
clearly based on the Kaoyi. Chu Yong introduced some variants of his own, while most of the
others are shared with Yin Changsheng edition, which Chu may have consulted independently
from Zhu Xi's work.

[11] Chu Yong's is also known for some poems and a work entitled the Quyi shuo (Elucidations
for Dispersing Doubts). See Siku quanshu zongmu, 121.1046.

[12] Zhouyi cantong qi zhu (CT 1008), 3.11a-b.

REFERENCES
Guoli Gugong Bowuyuan shanben jiuji zongmu. Taibei: Guoli Gugong Bowuyuan, 1983.

Siku quanshu zongmu (General Catalogue of the Complete Works of the Four Repositories).
Zhonghua Shuju, 1983, repr. of the 1795 Zhejiang ed.

Yuanru kaolüe (Concise Study of the Yuan Literati). Feng Congwu (1556-ca. 1627). Siku
Quanshu ed.

Zhu Wengong wenji (Collected Writings of Zhu Xi). Sibu Congkan ed.

Zhuzi yulei (Classified Sayings of Zhu Xi). Zhonghua Shuju ed., 1986.

Azuma Jûji. "Shu Ki Shûeki sandôkei kôi ni tsuite" [On Zhu Xi's Zhouyi cantong qi kaoyi ]. Nippon
Chûgoku Gakkai-hô 36 (1984): 175-190.

Wong Shiu Hon. "Chou-i ts'an-t'ung ch'i chu." In Etienne Balasz and Yves Hervouet, eds., A
Sung Bibliography (Bibliographie des Sung), 369-370. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press,
1978.

Page 22 of 119
(5) THE COMMENTARY BY CHEN XIANWEI

The Song recension of the Cantong qi most difficult to locate in the genealogy is the one
established by Chen Xianwei (zi Zongdao, hao Baoyi zi, ?-after 1254). The author was a native of
Yangzhou (Jiangsu), and a daoshi of the Yousheng Guan in Lin'an (Zhejiang). His Zhouyi
cantong qi jie (Explication of the Zhouyi cantong qi; CT 1007) is one of three works preserved
from a larger production, along with a commentary on the Guanyin zi (Book of Master Yin, the
Guardian of the Pass; CT 728), completed and printed in 1254, and an undated edition of the
Shenxian yangsheng bishu (Secret Arts of the Divine Immortals for Nourishing Life; CT 948), a
heterogeneous collection of waidan methods and herbal recipes that includes early materials.

The Cantong qi jie bears an author's preface dated 1234. All we know about its background is
found in a preface by Zheng Boqian (zi Jieqing), a lay disciple of Chen Xianwei and teacher in
the Prefectural School of Quzhou (mod. Zhejiang). According to this note, also dated 1234,
Chen Xianwei first received alchemical teachings in 1223. Shortly thereafter he obtained the
transmission of the Cantong qi, and retired for several years to study it. Zheng Boqian mentions
three other works by his master, all lost. [1] The commentary was printed in 1234 by Wang Yi,
another lay disciple who also subsidized the publication of the Guanyin zi commentary. In all
the received editions, Wang Yi's postface comes before a second colophon, dated 1245, written
by a follower from Tiantai who had received the Cantong qi jie from Chen Xianwei. It is unlikely
that either this follower or Wang Yi is the author of the section entitled "Cantong qi zhaiwei"
("Pointing out the Subtleties of the Cantong qi"), which follows the "Song of the Tripod" in the
Daozang edition of the Cantong qi jie. This section, made of comments on the portion of text
corresponding to part of zh. 36 and the whole zh. 37 in Peng Xiao's recension, criticizes the
interpretation given by Chen Xianwei along with those by Peng Xiao and Chu Yong.

[1] Their titles are Lisheng pian (Essay on Establishing Sainthood), Xianwei zhiyan (Words
Streaming from the Heart of Chen Xianwei) and Baoyi zi shu (Writings of the Master Who
Embraces The One). Chen Xianwei refers once to the Lisheng pian in his commentary, 3.5a.
Zheng Boqian is also known for an extant exegesis of the Zhouli entitled Taiping jingguo zhishu;
cf. Siku quanshu zongmu, 19.151-152.

The Cantong qi jie is based on the text established by Peng Xiao, but no clear pattern emerges
from its variants. This recension includes several unique readings, while some of the variants
suggest that Chen Xianwei may also have used the text found in the Yin Changsheng
commentary, as well as Zhu Xi's Kaoyi. Titles of texts and personal names mentioned in the
commentary do not offer any clues as to its sources.

References

Siku quanshu zongmu (General Catalogue of the Complete Works of the Four Repositories).
Zhonghua Shuju, 1983, repr. of the 1795 Zhejiang ed.

(6) THE COMMENTARY AND THE TEXTUAL NOTES BY YU YAN

Though Yu Yan (zi Yuwu; hao Quanyang zi, Linwu shanren, and Shijian daoren; 1258-1314), a
native of modern Suzhou, is sometimes indicated to have developed his interest in alchemy late
in life, he wrote his Zhouyi cantong qi fahui (Clarification of the Zhouyi cantong qi; CT 1005) when
he was in his middle twenties. By that time, according to his own statement, the commentary
had already gone through three or four drafts. [1] In addition to the exegesis of the Cantong qi,
Yu Yan's works in the Taoist Canon include undated commentaries to the Yinfu jing (CT 125)
and the Qinyuan chun (Spring at the Qin Garden; CT 136); the Xuanpin zhi men fu (Fu on the
Gate of the Mysterious Female; CT 1010); and a work on the system of the Book of Changes
entitled Yiwai biezhuan (The Separate Transmission of the Changes; CT 1009; preface dated 1284).
[2] A full commentary on the Changes entitled Zhouyi jishuo (Collected Elucidations on the Book

Page 23 of 119
of Changes ) is among his other extant works. While the Jishuo gives an interpretation of the Book
of Changes based on Zhu Xi's exegesis, Yu Yan points out in his preface to the Yiwai biezhuan that
this work deals with the application of the system of the Changes to alchemy. In the Biezhuan, a
series of diagrams illustrating the relation between the xiantian and the houtian is followed by
passages of the Book of Changes, commented by way of quotations from the Cantong qi and other
alchemical texts. [3]

[1]Zhouyi cantong qi shiyi (CT 1006), preface, 3b.

[2] The Yinfu jing commentary was written after the Fahui, as Yu Yan omits interpretation of a
point saying (7b) that it is already discussed in his work on the Cantong qi. The commentary to
the Spring at the Qin Garden (an alchemical poem attributed to Lü Dongbin) also dates from
after 1284, as shown by Yu Yan's postface, 3b-4a. After this postface is a note by Yu Zhongwen,
who edited a lost collection of his father's works entitled Xuanxue zhengzong (Correct Principles
of the Study of the Mysteries).

[3] On the Jishuo and the Biezhuan see Zhan Shichuang, Nansong Jin Yuan de daojiao, 83-96.

The Zhouyi cantong qi fahui was completed in 1284, the same year Yu Yan signed the preface of
his Biezhuan. The first printed edition was honored by a preface by Zhang Yucai (?-1316, 38th
Celestial Master), written in 1310. Most editions seen, or on which bibliographic information is
available through catalogues of Qing libraries, also include undated prefaces by Ruan Dengbing
and the eminent commentator of the Laozi, Du Daojian (1237-1318). The textual notes to the
commentary were collected by Yu Yan in a final section of his work, separately printed in the
Taoist Canon as Zhouyi cantong qi shiyi (Explication of Doubtful Points in the Zhouyi cantong qi;
CT 1006).

The Shiyi provides important details on the way Yu Yan established his recension. After
remarks on mistakes found in the works by Peng Xiao, Chen Xianwei, and other authors, Yu
Yan goes on to say that he based his text on the "Shu edition", the "Yue edition", the "Ji edition"
and on more than one unnamed Tang editions. [4] Though these indications are vague, the
mention of Tang editions among Yu Yan's sources is especially worthy of note. Most variants
pointed out in the Shiyi as coming from the "old text" of the Cantong qi correspond to the
readings of one or both the Tang recensions preserved in the Taoist Canon. Yu Yan's references
to them as "old text" is a further proof of their early date. The other variants reported in the
Shiyi are usually not attributed to specific authors or editions. Comparison of these notes and of
Yu Yan's text to the other Daozang recensions shows, nonetheless, that the Fahui is also based on
the works of Zhu Xi and Chen Xianwei.

[4]Zhouyi cantong qi shiyi, preface, 3b.

The Zhouyi cantong qi fahui is firmly rooted in the textual legacy of the Southern and Northern
lineages of Song Taoism. The works quoted most often are those of the Southern lineage,
including the Wuzhen pian, the Huandan fuming pian (Essay on Reverting to One's Destiny by the
Elixir of Return; CT 1088) by Xue Daoguang (?-1191), the Cuixu pian (Essay by the Master of
Emerald Emptiness; CT 1090) by Chen Niwan (?-1213), and the Jindan dacheng ji (The Great
Achievement of the Golden Elixir; a Collection) by Xiao Tingzhi (fl. 1260; now found in the
Xiuzhen shishu or Ten Books on the Cultivation of Reality, CT 263). The Northern lineage is
represented by works of its founder, Wang Chunyang (1112-1170), and its patriarchs, including
Ma Danyang (1123-1183) and Qiu Changchun (1143-1227). Along with these, Yu Yan draws
from such works as the Yinfu jing, the Huangting jing (Book of the Yellow Court), the Ruyao jing
(Mirror for Compounding the Medicine) and altogether about one hundred other texts.

Page 24 of 119
References

Zhan Shichuang. Nansong Jin Yuan de daojiao [Taoism in the Southern Song, Jin and Yuan
periods]. Shanghai: Guji Chubanshe, 1989.

Sun Simo (seventh century)

Adapted from the unedited ms. of an article forthcoming in Encyclopaedia of the History of
Science, Technology and Medicine in Non-Western Countries, ed. Helaine Selin (Dordrecht, 1996).

The Chinese physician and medical author Sun Simo (alternative reading: Sun Simiao) was a
native of Huayan, in modern Shensi. His biography is so much a composite of fact and legend
that it is impossible to either substantiate or invalidate his traditional dates (581-682). From
official, autobiographical, and hagiographical sources it emerges that he retired at an early age
on Mount Taibai, not far from his birthplace. He repeatedly declined imperial summons and
official titles, but was almost certainly in Emperor Gaozong's retinue from 659 to 674, when he
retired on account of illness. He seems to have spent part of his life in Sichuan, which may
explain why many legends that concern him are located in that area. After his death he has been
venerated as Yaowang or "King of Medicine" in temples dedicated to him.

Sun Simo is the author of two of the most important Chinese medical compilations, the Qianjin
fang (Prescriptions worth a thousand), also known as Beiji qianjing yaofang (Important
prescriptions worth a thousand, for urgent need), and the Qianjing yifang (Revised prescriptions
worth a thousand). The former, in 30 chapters, was completed soon after the middle of the
seventh century (apparently in 652). The latter, also in 30 chapters, dates from the late seventh
century. Both works are preserved in editions derived from versions published in the eleventh
century, when they were edited to be used as textbooks in the Imperial Academy of Medicine.
In these texts, Sun provides an extended compendium of contemporary medical knowledge,
arranged in sections dealing with such subjects as pharmacology, aetiology, gynaecology,
paediatrics, dietetics, acupuncture, moxibustion, and specific diseases. Both texts include a wide
selection of prescriptions (about 5300 in the Yaofang, about 2000 in the Yifang). (See Despeux
1987; Unschuld 1985: 42-45, 303-304)

Among many points of interests in these compilations, three deserve special mention. The first
is the priority that Sun Simo accords to gynaecology and paediatrics, the two branches of
medicine which he deals first in both works. The second is the importance given to medical
ethics, reflected in this well known passage from the first chapter of the Qianjin yaofang: "When
someone comes to look for help, a doctor should not question rank or wealth, age or beauty, nor
should he have personal feelings towards that person, his race, or his mental capacities. He
should treat all his patients as equal, as though they were his own closest relatives." The
influence of Sun's medical ethics spread beyond China, reaching Korea and Japan through
quotations of relevant passages in texts of these two countries.

A third aspect is Sun's relationship with Taoism and Buddhism. The nature of his involvement
with the Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi Dao, one of the main traditions of liturgical
Taoism) is debated. In the two chapters entitled "Book of Interdictions" ("Jinjing") of the Qianjin
yifang, Sun quotes formulas used in exorcist rituals by the Celestial Masters. This raises the issue
of how he gained access to them. His interest in Taoism is also reflected in the chapter on
"Nourishing the Vital Principle" ("Yangxing"), and in another extant text on physiological
disciplines which he is attributed with, the Sheyang zhenzhong fang (Pillowbook of methods for
nourishing [the vital principle]). (See Engelhart 1989)

Another source pointing to Sun's relationship with Taoism is the Taiqing danjing yaojue
(Essential Instructions from the Books on the Elixirs of the Great Purity). This text -- available in
an excellent English translation (Sivin 1968) -- consists in a collection of alchemical methods,
probably derived from the Six Dynasties compilations centered around the now lost Taiqing jing
or Book of the Great Purity, one of the main early alchemical canons. Although Sun's authorship
cannot be definitively proved, we know from his own witness that he was involved in the
compounding of elixirs around A.D. 610. Among the medical disorders which he experienced,

Page 25 of 119
of which he left a first-hand account in his medical works, is intoxication due to elixir ingestion.
(See Sivin 1967)

In addition to Taoism, recent research (Sakade 1992; see an abstract) has pointed out Sun
Simiao's close connection with Buddhism. For example, he refers to Indian massage techniques,
and mentions methods for the treatment of beriberi from works edited by Buddhist monks.
Perhaps under the influence of Tiantai disciplines, he also introduced meditation in his medical
practice. Moreover, the above mentioned "Jinjing" section of the Qianjing yifang includes
incantatory formulas in Sanskrit. The main factor behind these Buddhist elements may have
been Sun's interest in the doctrines of the Huayan school.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Despeux, Catherine. 1987. Préscriptions d'acuponcture valant milles onces d'or. Paris: Guy
Trédaniel. Translation of the chapter on acupuncture of the Qianjing fang.

Engelhart, Ute. 1989. "Qi for Life: Longevity in the Tang." In Taoist Meditation and Longevity
Techniques, ed. Livia Kohn in collaboration with Yoshinobu Sakade. Ann Arbor: Center For
Chinese Studies, University of Michigan, 263-296. Includes an extended summary of the
Sheyang zhenzhong fang.

Sakade Yoshinobu. 1992. "Sun Simiao et le Bouddhisme." Kansai Daigaku bungaku ronshû 42.1:
81-98. [See an abstract of this article.]

Sivin, Nathan. 1967. "A Seventh-Century Chinese Medical Case History." Bulletin of the History
of Medicine 41: 267-273.

Sivin, Nathan. 1968. Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard
University Press. Includes a biographical study, and an annotated translation of the Taiqing
danjing yaojue.

Unschuld, Paul. 1985. Medicine in China; A History of Ideas. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London:
University of California Press. See pp. 42-45, 303-304.

Tao Hongjing (456-536)

Adapted from the unedited ms. of an article forthcoming in Encyclopaedia of the History of
Science, Technology and Medicine in Non-Western Countries, ed. Helaine Selin (Dordrecht, 1996).

The Taoist master, alchemist and pharmacologist Tao Hongjing was born in 456 near modern
Nanjing. He served in various positions at the courts of the Liu Song and Qi dynasties until 492.
In that year he retired on Mount Mao, the seat of Shangqing or Supreme Purity, a Taoist
tradition based on meditation and visualisation techniques (see Robinet 1993). The retreat he
built on the mountain was to remain the centre of his activities until his death in 536.

After his initiation into Taoism around 485, Tao set himself to recover the original manuscripts,
dating from slightly more than one century before, that contained the revelations at the source
of the Shangqing tradition. Tao authenticated and edited the manuscripts, and wrote on them
extended commentaries. This undertaking resulted in two texts completed in ca. 500, the
Zhengao (Declarations of the Perfected) and the Dengzhen yinjue (Concealed Instructions on the
Ascent to Perfection, only partially preserved). These and other works make Tao Hongjing into
the first systematizer of Shangqing Taoism, of which he became the ninth patriarch.

During his retirement on Mount Mao Tao Hongjing also worked on he Bencao jing jizhu, a
commentary on the earliest known Chinese pharmacopoeia, the Shennong bencao. The original
text contained notes on 365 drugs. To these Tao added 365 more, taken from a corpus of
writings that he refers to as "Separate Records of Eminent Physicians". Tao's arrangement of the
materia medica also was innovative. He divided drugs into six broad categories (minerals,
plants, mammals, etc.), and retained the three traditional classes of the Shennong bencao only as

Page 26 of 119
subdivisions within each section. In a further group he classified the "drugs that have a name
but are no longer used [in pharmacology]." Tao's commentary discusses the nomenclature,
notes changes in the geographical distribution, and identifies varieties; it also includes
references to the Taoist "Books of the Immortals" (xianjing) and to alchemical practices. With the
exception of a manuscript of the preface found at Dunhuang, the Bencao jing jizhu is lost as an
independent text, but has been reconstructed basing on quotations in later sources. (See
Needham et al. 1986: 308-321; Unschuld 1986: 28-43.)

Since the establishment of the Liang dynasty in 502, Tao enjoyed the favour of Emperor Wu (r.
502-549), on whom he exerted remarkable influence. Shortly later, he began to devote himself to
alchemical practices under imperial patronage. His main biographical source, written in the
Tang period, has left a vivid account of these endeavours (see Strickmann 1981). Along with
scriptural sources they testify the importance of alchemy within the Shangqing tradition, which
represents the first known instance of close links between alchemy and an established Taoist
movement.

References

Needham, Joseph, et al. 1986. Science and Civilisation in China, vol. VI: Biology and Botanical
Technology, part 1: Botany. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Robinet, Isabelle. Taoist Meditation. The Mao-shan Tradition of Great Purity. Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1993.

Strickmann, Michel. 1981. "On the Alchemy of T'ao Hung-ching." In Holmes Welch and Anna
Seidel, eds., Facets of Taoism: Essays in Chinese Religion, 123-192. New Haven and London: Yale
University Press.

Unschuld, Paul. Medicine in China: A History of Pharmaceutics. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London:
University of California Press.

Western-language Studies on Chinese

Alchemy
(1) General studies of waidan alchemy

AKAHORI Akira. 1989. "Drug Taking and Immortality". In Livia Kohn, ed. in cooperation with Yoshinobu
Sakade, Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques, 73-98. Ann Arbor: Center for Chinese Studies, The University
of Michigan. (Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies, 61.)

On the ingestion of mineral and herbal drugs in Chinese pharmacology and, to a lesser extent, alchemy.
BARNES, William Henry. 1935. "Possible References to Chinese Alchemy in the Fourth or Third Century B.C."
China Journal of Science and Arts 23: 75-79.

On one passage of Zhuangzi and two passages of Liezi that according to author may allude to alchemical practices.
(*) CHATLEY, Herbert. 1913. "Alchemy in China". National Review (Shanghai) 14: 456-457.

An article with the same title by the same author is in Journal of the Alchemical Society 2 (1913) 33-38.
CHIKASHIGE Masumi. 1936. Alchemy and Other Chemical Achievements of the Ancient Orient. The Civilization
of Japan and China in Early Times as Seen from the Chemical Point of View. Tokyo: Rokakuho Uchida. Repr. New
York: AMS Press, 1979. Also repr. as Oriental Alchemy, New York: Samuel Weiser, 1974 (with author's last name
misspelled as "Chkashige").

A chapter entitled "Alchemy in the East" examines some methods and ingredients mentioned in the Baopu zi
neipian; the rest deals with Chinese bronzes and Japanese swords. The book is a translation by Sasaki Nobuji of

Page 27 of 119
Tôyô renkin-jutsu. Kagaku jô yori mitaru tôyô jôdai no bunka [Oriental alchemy. The early Eastern civilization as
seen from the chemical point of view] (Tokyo: Uchida Rokakuho, 1929; repr. 1936. Also repr. as Kagaku yori
mitaru tôyô jôdai no bunka [The early Eastern civilization as seen from the chemical point of view; Tokyo: Meguro
Shoten, 1940].)
COLLIER, H. Bruce. 1952. "Alchemy in Ancient China". Chemistry in Canada 4: 101-103.

Summarizes the information available at that time, mainly based on studies by T.L. Davis and A. Waley.
(*) DAVIS, Tenney L. 1935. "Stories of Early Chinese Alchemists -- First to Practice the Art". Tech. Engng. News
16 March 1935: 3-5, 18.

DAVIS, Tenney L., and Rokuro NAKASEKO. 1937. "The Tomb of Jofuku or Joshi, the Earliest Alchemist of
Historical Record". Ambix 1: 109-115.

On the traditions concerning the arrival of Xu Fu (or Xu Shi) to Japan in the third century B.C. in search of the
medicines of immortality, and the shrine devoted to him at Shingu (Wakayama Prefecture). See also the shorter
account in the authors' "The Jofuku Shrine at Shingu, a Monument of Earliest Alchemy", The Nucleus 15.3 (1937):
60-62, 67-68. The photograph of the shrine is also reproduced in their "The Tomb of Jofuku or Joshi", Journal of
Chemical Education 24 (1947): 415 (frontispiece).
DAVIS, Tenney L., and Lu-ch'iang WU. 1930. "Chinese Alchemy". Scientific Monthly 31: 225-235.

Remarks on the notions of yin-yang and wuxing, followed by notes on some early alchemists, the Zhouyi cantong qi,
and the Baopu zi neipian. This is the first publication on Chinese alchemy by T.L. Davis and his collaborators. For a
complete bibliography of their works see Henry M. LEICESTER and Herbert S. KLICKSTEIN, "Tenney Lombard
Davis and the History of Chemistry", Chymia 3 (1950): 1-16.
DAVIS, Tenney L., and Lu-ch'iang WU. 1934. "Huang-ti, the Legendary Founder of Alchemy". Journal of
Chemical Education 11: 635 (frontispiece).

Reproduction of an illustration from the Liexian quanzhuan, and translation of selected passages.
DAVIS, Tenney L., and Lu-ch'iang WU. 1935. "Wei Po-yang, the Father of Alchemy". Journal of Chemical
Education 12: 51 (frontispiece).

Reproduction of an illustration from the Liexian quanzhuan, with short notes.

DUBS, Homer H. 1947. "The Beginnings of Alchemy". Isis 38: 62-86.

Contains meticulously annotated quotations from early historical sources, but also erroneous interpretations of
broader issues.
DUBS, Homer H. 1961. "The Origin of Alchemy". Ambix 9: 23-36.

Reiterates the views expounded in the 1947 study, and accepts S. Mahdihassan's theory of the origin of the word
"alchemy" from jinye (see Mahdihassan 1951). Abstract in RBS 1961/755.
EDKINS, Joseph. 1855. "Phases in the Development of Tauism" [sic]. Transactions of the China Branch of the
Royal Asiatic Society, 1st series, 5: 83-99.

The earliest study in a Western language to include an account of Chinese alchemy (pp. 84-91).
(*) EDKINS, Joseph. 1857 [?]. "On Early Tauist Alchemy". North China Herald. Also in Miscellany or
Companion to the Shanghai Almanak for 1857 (Shanghai: Herald Office).

ELIADE, Mircea. 1970-71. "Alchemy and Science in China". History of Religions 10: 178-182.

Essay review of Sivin 1968.

ELIADE, Mircea. 1977. Forgerons et alchimistes. Second ed. Paris: Flammarion.

The chapter "L'alchimie chinoise" (pp. 92-106) is based on secondary sources and translations of primary sources
(see the bibliographic notes on pp. 166-168 and 169-170), but is full of perceptive remarks on some of the basic
features of both waidan and neidan. Translated into English by Stephen Corrin, The Forge and the Crucible (Second
ed.; Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press, 1978). The English translation includes (pp. 179-199)

Page 28 of 119
"The Forge and the Crucible: A Postscript", an article first published in History of Religions 8 (1968-69): 74-88,
with updated bibliographic notes.
FURUKAWA Yasu. 1984. "Chinese Alchemy: Its Origins and Development". Yokohama Shôdai ronshû 18.1: 95-
110.

A synthesis of research, based on secondary sources of uneven value.

HO Peng Yoke. 1971. "Alchemy in Ming China (A.D. 1368 - A.D. 1644)". In XIIe Congrès International
d'Histoire des Sciences. Actes, vol. 3A: 119-123. Paris: Albert Blanchard.

HO Peng Yoke. 1972. "The System of the Book of Changes and Chinese Science". Japanese Studies in the History
of Science 11: 23-39.

Mainly concerned with the application of the hexagram system to alchemy and especially the Zhouyi cantong qi.
HO Peng Yoke. 1973. "The Search for Perpetual Youth, with Special Reference to Chinese Alchemy". Papers on
Far Eastern History 7: 1-20.

Examines several topics (e.g., chemical processes, theories, elixir poisoning) more fully discussed in other works by
the author.
HO Peng Yoke. 1974. "Chinese Alchemical and Medical Prescriptions. A Preliminary Study". In XIVth
International Congress of the History of Science. Proceedings, vol. III: 295-298. Tokyo: Science Council of Japan.

Remarks on theoretical aspects and technical terms common to both alchemy and pharmacology.
HO Peng Yoke. 1985. Li, Qi and Shu: An Introduction to Science and Civilization in China. Hong Kong: Hong
Kong University Press.

The chapter entitled "Chinese Alchemy" (pp. 171-217), consists in a summary of various sections of SCC, vols. V:3
and V:4, of which the author is one of the contributors.
HO Ping-Yü [= HO Peng Yoke], and Joseph NEEDHAM. 1959. "Elixir Poisoning in Mediaeval China". Janus
48: 221-251. Repr. in Joseph Needham, Clerks and Craftsmen in China and the West, 316-339 (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1970).

Suggests that Chinese alchemists either ignored the danger of elixir poisoning, or tried to neutralize the toxicity of
the ingredients. The first part deals with cases of poisoning mentioned in dynastic histories and other sources.
Abstract in RBS 1959/857.
HO Ping-Yü, and Joseph NEEDHAM. 1959. "Theories of Categories in Early Mediaeval Chinese Alchemy".
Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 22: 173-210.

On the theory that two yin and yang substances can be used together if they belong to the same "category" (lei).
Corresponds to the final part of section 33(h) "The theoretical background of elixir alchemy" of SCC, vol. V:4, but
also includes an annotated translation of the Cantong qi wuxiang lei biyao (CT 905). Abstract in RBS 1959/822. A
virtually identical version of this study, without the translation of the text, has appeared in Joseph NEEDHAM,
"Category Theories in Chinese and Western Alchemy. A Contribution to the History of the Idea of Chemical
Affinity", Epeteris (Nicosia) 9 (1977-79): 21-51. A shorter French version of the section entitled "Discussion" is in
pp. 1054-1061 of Joseph NEEDHAM, "L'alchimie en Chine, pratique et théorie", Annales. Économie, Sociétes,
Civilisations 30 (1975): 1045-1061.
JOHNSON, Obed Simon. 1928. A Study of Chinese Alchemy. Shanghai: Commercial Press. Repr. New York:
Arno, 1974.

More on background ideas and ancillary disciplines other than alchemy proper. The author quotes the Baopu zi
neipian and some other sources, but seems not to have known of the existence of the Daozang and its alchemical
texts.
KALTENMARK, Max. 1960. "L'alchimie en Chine". Bulletin de la Société d'Acupuncture 37.3: 21-29.

Interesting especially for the remarks on the relationship between gold and other sacred objects (bao, "treasures"),
and on the association of cinnabar with light, fire, and the sun. On the latter theme see also the introduction to the
author's Le Lie-sien tchouan (Biographies légendaires des Immortels taoïstes de l'antiquité) (Peking: Université de
Paris, Publications du Centre d'études sinologiques de Pékin, 1953; repr. Paris: Collège de France, 1987).

Page 29 of 119
LI Ch'iao-p'ing. 1948. The Chemical Arts of Old China. Easton (Pa.): Journal of Chemical Education. Repr. New
York: AMS, 1979.

Translation, with additional material, of the first edition of his Zhongguo huaxue shi [History of Chinese Chemistry]
(Changsha: Shangwu Yinshuguan, 1940). The chapter entitled "Alchemy" (pp. 6-29) refers to some neidan texts as
being concerned with waidan
MARTIN, William Alexander Parsons. 1878. "Alchemy in China". The China Review 7: 242-255. Repr. in his
Hanlin Papers; or Essays on the Intellectual Life of the Chinese, vol. I: 221-252 (London: Trübner and Co., and
New York: Harper Brothers, 1880). Also repr. in his The Chinese: Their Education, Philosophy and Letters, 167-
193 (London: Trübner, preface dated 1880; New York: Harper, 1881). Also repr. as "Alchemy in China, the Source
of Chemistry" in his The Lore of Cathay, or The Intellect of China, 44-71 (New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1901;
repr. 1912).

This is probably the earliest attempt at proving that alchemy originated in China. In his discussion the author quotes
several texts (including the Wuzhen pian) from a little known encyclopedic collection entitled Baizi jindan (The
Golden Elixir of One Hundred Masters). See also the summary of a lecture entitled "On the Study of Alchemy in
China", Journal of the American Oriental Society 9 (1871): xlvi-xlvii.
(*) MARTIN, William Alexander Parsons. "The Study of Alchemy in China". Rosicrucian Brotherhood. [Year
and details of publication unavailable.]

An article with an almost identical title is listed at the end of the previous entry.
(*) MAUL, J.P. 1967. "Experiments in Chinese Alchemy". Inaugural Dissertation, M.I.T.

NEEDHAM, Joseph. 1971. The Refiner's Fire. The Enigma of Alchemy in East and West. London: Birbeck
College. (The Second J.D. Bernal Lecture.)

A summary of section 33(b) "Concepts, terminology and definitions" of SCC, vol. V:2. A shorter French version had
previously appeared as "Artisans et alchimistes en Chine et dans le monde hellénistique", La Pensée 152 (1970): 3-
25.
NEEDHAM, Joseph. 1974. "The Elixir Concept and Chemical Medicine in East and West". Journal of the Chinese
University of Hong Kong 2: 243-265. Reprinted in Organon 11 (1975): 167-192. Also published as a separate
monograph (Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1974).

Essentially a summary of section 33(i) "Comparative Macrobiotics" of SCC, vol. V:4, and partially the same as
Needham 1981. Translated into Italian as "Il concetto di elisir e la medicina su base chimica in Oriente e in
Occidente", Acta Medicae Historiae Patavina 19 (1972-73): 9-41.
NEEDHAM, Joseph. 1976. "Metals and Alchemists in Ancient China". In J.V.S. Megaw, ed., To Illustrate the
Monuments: Essays Presented to Stuart Pigott, 283-294. London: Thames and Hudson.

Mostly a reproduction of the pages on zinc from section 33(c) "The metallurgical-chemical background;
identifications of alchemical processes" of SCC, vol. V:2.
NEEDHAM, Joseph. 1978. "Alchemy and Early Chemistry in China". In Torgny T. Segerstedt, ed., The Frontiers
of Human Knowledge. Lectures held at the Quincentenary Celebrations of Uppsala University, 1977, 171-181.
Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet. (Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 38.)

A summary of various sections of SCC, vols. V:2-4.

NEEDHAM, Joseph, HO Ping-Yü, and LU Gwei-Djen. 1976. Science and Civilisation in China, vol. V:
Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part 3: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Historical Survey, from Cinnabar
Elixirs to Synthetic Insulin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Includes subsection (e) "The historical development of alchemy and early chemistry" of section 33, "Alchemy and
Chemistry", with chapters on the origins of alchemy, Wei Boyang and the Zhouyi cantongqi, Ge Hong and his
Baopu zi neipian, the "golden age" (A.D. 400-800) and the "silver age" (A.D. 800-1300) of Chinese alchemy, the
decline of waidan in later times, and the coming of modern chemistry. Essay review, Sivin 1981.
NEEDHAM, Joseph, HO Ping-Yü, LU Gwei-Djen, and Nathan SIVIN. 1980. Science and Civilisation in China,
vol. V: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part 4: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Apparatus, Theories and
Gifts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Page 30 of 119
Includes the following sub-sections of section 33, "Alchemy and Chemistry": (f) "Laboratory apparatus and
equipment"; (g) "Reactions in aqueous medium"; (h) "The theoretical background of elixir alchemy"; (i)
"Comparative macrobiotics" (on alchemy in China, the Hellenistic world, the Arabic world, and the Western world).
See also nos. 24 and 31 above, and nos. 43, 88, 180, 182, 195 and 196 below.
NEEDHAM, Joseph, and LU Gwei-Djen. 1974. Science and Civilisation in China, vol. V: Chemistry and
Chemical Technology, part 2: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Magisteries of Gold and Immortality.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Includes the following sub-sections of section 33, "Alchemy and Chemistry": (a) "Introduction: the historical
literature"; (b) "Concepts, terminology and definitions" (in particular on the terms "aurifiction" and "aurifaction",
used throughout volume V.2 but less frequently in the later parts); (c) "The metallurgical-chemical background;
identifications of alchemical processes"; (d) "The physiological background; verifications of the efficacy of the
elixirs". See also nos. 31 and 33 above.
(*) READ, Bernard E. 1931 [or 1941?]. "Chinese Alchemy". Chinese Medical History Society 5th Anniversary
Special Number.

SCHAFER, Edward H. 1975. "The Stove God and the Alchemists". In Laurence G. Thompson, ed., Studia
Asiatica. Essays in Asian Studies in Felicitation of the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of Professor Ch'en Shou-yi, 261-
266. San Francisco: Chinese Materials Center.

On the Stove God (here identified as a female deity), sometimes known as the divinity reigning over the alchemist's
crucible.
SIVIN, Nathan. 1968. "Chinese Alchemy as a Science". Transactions of the International Conference of
Orientalists in Japan 13: 117-129. Reprinted with minor variations in Frederic Wakeman, Jr., ed., "Nothing
Concealed". Essays in Honor of Liu Yü-yün, 37-50 (Taipei: Chinese Materials and Research Aids Service Center,
1970).

Defines the grounds on which Chinese alchemy can be studied in the context of the history of science.
SIVIN, Nathan. 1968. Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies. Cambridge (Mass.): Harvard University Press.
(Harvard Monographs in the History of Science.)

Biography of Sun Simo (seventh century) and annotated translation of the Taiqing danjing yaojue (in Yunji qiqian
[CT 1032], j. 71), with an extensive introduction on waidan alchemy and its study. Essay review, Eliade 1970-71.
The first chapter has also appeared as "On the Reconstruction of Chinese Alchemy", Japanese Studies in the History
of Science 6 (1967): 60-86.
SIVIN, Nathan. 1976. "Chinese Alchemy and the Manipulation of Time". Isis 67: 513-527. Repr. in Nathan Sivin,
ed., Science and Technology in East Asia. Articles from Isis, 1913-1975, 109-122 (New York: Science History
Publications, 1977).

A shorter version -- published four years earlier, but incorporating results of later research -- of Sivin 1980.
SIVIN, Nathan. 1980. "The Theoretical Background of Elixir Alchemy". In Joseph Needham, Ho Ping-Yü, Lu
Gwei-Djen, and Nathan Sivin, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. V: Chemistry and Chemical Technology, part
4: Apparatus, Theories and Gifts, 210-305. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

On the role of time in the alchemical work, and the cosmic correspondences embodied in the apparatus. Defines the
elixirs as "time-controlling substances", obtained by an acceleration of the cosmic process in the alchemical
laboratory. See also Sivin 1976.
SIVIN, Nathan. 1981. "Discovery of Spagyrical Invention". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 41: 219-235.

Essay review of SCC, vol. V:3.

SIVIN, Nathan. 1987. "Chinese Alchemy". In Mircea Eliade, ed., The Encyclopedia of Religion, vol. I: 186-190.
New York and London: Macmillan.

A synthesis of results of recent research, centered on aims and means of alchemy, important issues in its history, and
relation with Taoism and science. Suggests that alchemy did not originate in a Taoist milieu, and was first combined
with Taoism by Tao Hongjing in ca. 500.

Page 31 of 119
SPOONER, Roy C. 1940. "Chinese Alchemy". Journal of the West China Border Research Society 12: 82-102.

Recounts the early history of alchemy, and suggests that alchemy became connected with Taoism after the rise of
the Taoist organized movements.
STEIN, O. 1933. "References to Alchemy in Buddhist Scriptures". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies 7.1:
262-263. Also published in Isis 24 (1935): 119.

A short note on Arthur Waley's identically titled article (Waley 1932).

VACCA, G. 1913. "Note cinesi". Rivista di Studi Orientali 6.1: 131-142.

The section entitled "Un alchimista del secolo XI" (pp. 141-142) includes the translation of a short passage from the
Mengxi bitan.
WALEY, Arthur. 1930. "Notes on Chinese Alchemy (Supplementary to Johnson's A Study of Chinese Alchemy)".
Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies 6.1: 1-24.

The most important study before the contributions by T.L. Davis and his collaborators. Discusses the question of the
origins of alchemy, the first references in historical sources, the Zhouyi cantong qi, the Baopu zi neipian, and the rise
of neidan.
WALEY, Arthur. 1932. "References to Alchemy in Buddhist Scriptures". Bulletin of the School of Oriental Studies
6.4: 1102-1103.

Translations of sentences and passages from four texts. See also O. Stein's identically titled article (Stein 1933).
WILSON, William Jerome. 1940. "Alchemy in China". Ciba Symposia 2: 593-624.

A summary of research done to that time, largely based on writings by T.L. Davis and his collaborators. Divided
into the following sections: "Chronology", 594; "The Background of Chinese Alchemy", 595-599; "Leading Ideas of
Early Chinese Alchemy", 600-604; "Biographies of Early Chinese Alchemists", 605-609; "Later Developments of
Chinese Alchemy", 610-617; "Relation of Chinese Alchemy to that of Other Countries", 618-621; "Bibliography of
Chinese Alchemy", 623-624.
WILSON, William Jerome. 1942. "Mystical Developments of Alchemy". Ciba Symposia 3: 1153-1155.

Reproduces passages from p. 617 of Wilson 1940, followed by notes based on Davis & Chao 1940 ("The Secret
Papers in the Jade Box of Ch'ing-hua").

(2) General studies of neidan alchemy

BALDRIAN-HUSSEIN, Farzeen. 1989-90. "Inner Alchemy: Notes on the Origin and Use of the Term Neidan".
Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 5: 163-190.

On the date in which the term neidan came into use, and its different meanings and equivalents. Abstract in RBS
1991/459.
BOEHMER, Thomas. 1977. "Taoist Alchemy: A Sympathetic Approach through Symbols". In Michael Saso and
David W. Chappell, eds., Buddhist and Taoist Studies I, 55-78. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii. (Asian
Studies at Hawaii, 18.)

An introductory survey of some points of neidan.

CHANG Chung-yuan. 1956. "An Introduction to Taoist Yoga". The Review of Religion 20: 131-148. Repr. in
Laurence G. Thompson, ed., The Chinese Way in Religion, 63-76 (Encino and Belmont [Ca.]: Dickenson, 1973).

See also the chapter entitled "Processes of Self-realization" in the author's Creativity and Taoism. A Study of
Chinese Philosophy, Art and Poetry, 123-168 (New York: Julian Press, 1963; repr. 1983. Also repr. London:
Wilwood House, 1975).
DAVIS, Tenney L. 1936. "The Dualistic Cosmogony of Huai-nan-tzu and its Relations to the Background of
Chinese and of European Alchemy". Isis 25: 327-340.

Page 32 of 119
On the yin-yang notions as represented in the Huainan zi, their relationship to analogous notions in Arabic and
Western alchemy, and their application in the Zhouyi cantong qi.
DAVIS, Tenney L. 1938. "Pictorial Representations of Alchemical Theory". Isis 28: 73-86.

On the sulphur-mercury and the yin-yang doctrines in Western and Chinese alchemy, and their graphical
representation. Draws on the Jindan dayao (CT 1067) by Chen Zhixu, and on Peng Xiao's commentary to the
Zhouyi cantong qi (CT 1002).
(*) DAVIS, Tenney L. 1939. "The Identity of Chinese and European Alchemical Theory". Journal of Unified
Science (Erkenntnis) 9: 7-12.

This article is listed in the bibliography of T.L. Davis' works (see note to Davis & Wu 1930), and is quoted in of
them (Davis & Chao 1940, "Three Alchemical Poems by Chang Po-tuan"), but is apparently impossible to locate.
The journal in which it was supposedly published was entitled Annalen der Philosophie und philosophischen Kritik
from 1919 to 1930, Erkenntnis from 1930 to 1939, and Journal of Unified Science from 1939 onwards.
DESPEUX, Catherine. 1990. Immortelles de la Chine ancienne. Taoïsme et alchimie féminine. Puiseaux: Pardès.
(Destins de femmes.)

Historical survey of the place and image of women in Taoism, followed by an introduction to feminine internal
alchemy and a description of its literature and practices. Abstract in RBS 1991/477. Translated into Italian by
Monica Esposito, Le immortali della Cina antica. Taoismo e alchimia femminile (Roma: Astrolabio - Ubaldini
Editore, 1991).
DESPEUX, Catherine. 1994. Taoïsme et corps humain. Le Xiuzhentu. Paris: Guy Trédaniel (Éditions de la
Maisnie).

A detailed analysis of the Xiuzhentu (Chart for the Cultivation of Reality) engraved at the Baiyun Guan in Beijing,
and other similar representations of the inner body. Includes one chapter on the relation of neidan with the Thunder
Rituals (leifa practiced in some traditions of Song Taoism.
(*) ESKILDSEN, Stephen. 1989. "The Beliefs and Practices of Early Ch'üan-chen Taoism". M.A. Thesis,
University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

LIU Ts'un-yan. 1970. "Taoist Self-Cultivation in Ming Thought" In Wm. Theodore de Bary and the Conference on
Ming Thought, Self and Society in Ming Thought, 291-330. New York and London: Columbia University Press.

On several terms used in neidan texts and the influence of the doctrines of self-cultivation on Ming thinkers
(especially Wang Yangming).
LIU Ts'un-yan. 1984. "The Syncretism of the Three Teachings in Sung-Yüan China". In his New Excursions from
the Hall of Harmonious Wind, 3-95. Leiden: E.J. Brill.

Includes materials on neidan.

LU Gwei-Djen. 1973. "The Inner Elixir (Nei Tan); Chinese Physiological Alchemy". In Mikulás Teich and Robert
Young, eds., Changing Perspectives in the History of Science. Essays in Honour of Joseph Needham, 68-84.
London: Heinemann.

A preliminary study anticipating some of the findings and views fully expounded in SCC, vol. V:5.
NEEDHAM, Joseph, and LU Gwei-Djen. 1983. Science and Civilisation in China, vol. V: Chemistry and
Chemical Technology, part 5: Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Physiological Alchemy. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.

Includes the following sub-sections of section 33, "Alchemy and Chemistry": (j) "The Outer and the Inner
Macrobiogens; the Elixir and the Enchymoma", centered on the history and techniques of neidan; (k) "The
enchymoma in the test-tube; medieval preparations of urinary steroid and protein hormones". See also Lu 1973.
Abstract in RBS 1985/579.

ROBINET, Isabelle. 1985. "L'unité transcendante des Trois Enseignements selon les taoïstes des Sung et des
Yüan". In Gert Naundorf, Karl-Heinz Pohl, and Hans-Herman Schmidt, eds., Religion und Philosophie in Ostasien.
Festschrift für Hans Steininger zum 65. Geburstag, 103-126. Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann.

Page 33 of 119
ROBINET, Isabelle. 1986. "L'alchimie interne dans le taoïsme". Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 2: 241-252.

Essay review of Baldrian-Hussein 1984.

ROBINET, Isabelle. 1986. "La notion de hsing dans le taoïsme et son rapport avec celle du confucianisme".
Journal of the American Oriental Society 106: 183-196.

On xing and other fundamental notions of neidan (in particular, ming).

ROBINET, Isabelle. 1989. "Original Contributions of Neidan to Taoism and Chinese Thought". In Livia Kohn, ed.
in cooperation with Yoshinobu Sakade, Taoist Meditation and Longevity Techniques, 297-330. Ann Arbor: Center
for Chinese Studies, The University of Michigan. (Michigan Monographs in Chinese Studies, 61.)

An interpretive essay on some basic traits of internal alchemy. Stresses the weight that neidan gives to "intellectual
speculation" and, in this perspective, describes notions and linguistic expedients used by the authors for expressing
their doctrines.
ROBINET, Isabelle. 1989-90. "Recherche sur l'alchimie intérieure (neidan). L'école Zhenyuan". Cahiers
d'Extrême-Asie 5: 141-162.

On a corpus of texts compiled in the Song period but including earlier materials, that reflect a synthesis of elements
drawn from neidan, the Yijing, the Shangqing tradition, and Buddhism. Abstract in RBS 1991/460.
ROBINET, Isabelle. 1989-90. "The Place and Meaning of the Notion of Taiji in Taoist Sources prior to the Ming
Dynasty". History of Religions 29: 373-411.

Quotes several neidan sources. Abstract in RBS 1991/461.

ROBINET, Isabelle. 1991. "Sur les sens des termes waidan et neidan". Taoist Resources 3.1: 3-40.

Examines the various meanings of the two terms within the context of neidan alchemy, where "waidan" usually
does not refer to practices based on the manipulation of natural substances, but to a stage or an aspect of the neidan
discipline itself. Abstract in RBS 1992/470.
ROBINET, Isabelle. 1992. "Le monde à l'envers dans l'alchimie intérieure taoïste". Revue de l'Histoire des
Religions 209: 239-257.

On the principle of inversion and the hierogamic exchange of attributes.

ROBINET, Isabelle. 1993. "Mystique et rationalité. Le langage dans l'alchimie intérieure ou l'effort pour dire le
contradictoire". Asiatische Studien/Études Asiatique 47: 645-662.

ROBINET, Isabelle. 1995. Introduction à l'alchimie intérieure taoïste. De l'unité et de la multeplicité. Paris: Les
Éditions du Cerf.

SAKADE Yoshinobu. 1991. "Methods and Ideas on Increasing Vitality in Ancient China: The Transition from
Neiguan to Neidan in the Sui and Tang Dynasties". In Yoshio Kawakita, Shizu Sakai, and Yasuo Otsuka, eds.,
History of Hygiene. Proceedings of the 12th International Symposium on the Comparative History of Medicine --
East and West, 99-115. Tokyo: Ishiyaku EuroAmerica.

On neiguan (insight meditation) and its adoption in neidan, where it becomes a method of concentration without
visualizations of the inner divinities. The article is a shortened English version of the author's "Zui-Tô jidai ni okeru
fukutan to naikan to naitan"[Ingestion of elixirs, insight meditation, and internal alchemy in the Sui and Tang
periods], in Sakade Yoshinobu, ed., Chûgoku kodai yôsei shisô no sôgôteki kenkyû [Collected studies on the
doctrines of the Nourishment of Life in ancient China], 566-599 (Tokyo: Hirakawa Shuppansha, 1988).
SKAR, Lowell. 1990. "The Southern Lineage in Song China". Taoist Resources 2.2: 120-125.

Proposal of a doctoral dissertation currently in progress on the genealogy and textual legacy of the Southern Lineage
(Nanzong) of Taoism.
(*) WU Sing Chow. 1974. "A Study of the Taoist Internal Elixir. Its Theory and Development". Ph. D. Thesis, St.
John's University.

(1) Dating of texts and surveys of the alchemical literature

Page 34 of 119
BOLTZ, Judith M. 1987. A Survey of Taoist Literature. Tenth to Seventeenth Centuries. Berkeley: Institute of East
Asian Studies, University of California. (China Research Monograph, 32.)

See especially the chapters "Literary Anthologies and Dialogic Treatises" (pp. 137-202 passim) and "The Hsiu-chen
shih-shu" (pp. 234-237); and the Index, s.v. chin-tan, huan-tan, nei-tan, wai-tan.
HO Peng Yoke. 1979. On the Dating of Taoist Alchemical Texts. Brisbane: Griffith University. (Griffith Asian
Papers.)

Ways of dating alchemical texts, and examples of their application.

WIEGER, Leon. 1911. Taoïsme, vol. I: Bibliographie générale. Hien-hien.

Many of the notes in this annotated catalogue of the Taoist Canon, including those on the alchemical texts, are
highly inaccurate.
WYLIE, A. 1867. Notes on Chinese Literature: With Introductory Remarks on the Progressive Advancement of the
Art; and a List of Translations from the Chinese, into Various European Languages. Shanghai: American
Presbyterian Mission Press, and London: Trübner & Co. Repr. Taipei: Bookcase Shop, 1971.

The section on Taoism (pp. 215-225) includes notes, now of marginal interest, on some alchemical texts.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

(2) The Huangdi jiuding shendan jing and its commentary (CT 885)
PREGADIO, Fabrizio. 1991. "Le pratiche del Libro dei Nove Elisir". Cina 23: 15-79.

A summary of the article listed in the next entry, followed by an annotated translation of the Huangdi jiuding
shendan jing.
PREGADIO, Fabrizio. 1991. "The Book of the Nine Elixirs and Its Tradition". In Yamada Keiji and Tanaka Tan,
eds., Chûgoku kodai kagakushi ron [Studies on the history of ancient Chinese science], vol. II: 543-639. Kyoto:
Kyôto Daigaku Jinbun Kagaku Kenkyûjo.

On the Huangdi jiuding shendan jing, its commentary, other texts on the Nine Elixirs, and four other early
scriptures. Part Four gives an outline of the alchemical practice described in these sources, with emphasis on the re-
enactment of cosmogony. Abstracts in RBS 1991/486 and 1992/487.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

(3) Sanshiliu shuifa (CT 930)

(See also Butler et al. 1980 and Butler et al 1987.)

TS'AO T'ien-ch'in, HO Ping-Yü, and Joseph NEEDHAM. 1959. "An Early Mediaeval Chinese Alchemical Text
on Aqueous Solutions". Ambix 7: 122-158.

Corresponds in part to section 33(g) "Reactions in aqueous medium" of SCC, vol. V:4, but also includes an
annotated translation (with omission of the final section on ritual) of the Sanshiliu shuifa. Abstract in RBS 1959/821.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

(4) Ge Hong (283-343) and his Baopu zi neipian

(See also Butler et al. 1983 and Glidewell 1989.)

DAVIS, Tenney L. 1934. "Ko Hung (Pao P'u Tzu), Chinese Alchemist of the Fourth Century". Journal of Chemical
Education 11: 517-520.

Survey of Western-language studies available to that time, followed by a translation of Ge Hong's biography in the
Liexian quanzhuan.
DAVIS, Tenney L., and CH'EN Kuo-fu. 1941. "The Inner Chapters of Pao-p'u-tzu". Proceedings of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences 74: 297-325.

Page 35 of 119
Translation of j. 8 and 11, and summary of the remaining chapters. The introduction includes notes on Ge Hong's
line of transmission, and a translation of his biography in the Jin shu.
FEIFEL, Eugene. 1941-46. "Pao-p'u tzu nei-p'ien". Monumenta Serica 6 (1941): 113-211; 9 (1944): 1-33; 11
(1946): 1-32.

Annotated translation of j. 1-4 and 11; philologically better documented than others, but not entirely reliable.
FORKE, Alfred. 1932. "Ko Hung, der Philosoph und Alchimist". Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 41: 115-
126.

See also the fuller account in the author's Geschichte der mittelalterlichen chinesischen Philosophie, vol. II: 204-224
(Hamburg: Friederichsen, De Gruyter & Co., 1934).
PREGADIO, Fabrizio. 1987. Ko Hung: Le Medicine della Grande Purezza. Dal "Pao-p'u tzu nei-p'ien". Roma:
Edizioni Mediterranee. (Biblioteca Ermetica, 20.)

Translation of j. 1, 4, 11, and 16-19, based on the edition by Wang Ming, Baopu zi neipian jiaoshi [Critical edition
of the Baopu zi neipian] (Beijing: Zhonghua Shuju, 1980).
SIVIN, Nathan. 1969. "On the Pao p'u tzu nei p'ien and the Life of Ko Hung (283-343)". Isis 60: 388-391.

Accepts the evidence provided by William Hung for the dates mentioned in the title.
TORTCHINOV, Evgueni A. 1992. "Daosizm i alhimija v tradicionnom Kitaje" [Taoism and alchemy in traditional
China]. Peterburgskoje vostokovedenije [St.Petersburg Journal for Oriental Studies]. 2: 272-353.

Includes on pp. 316-353 a Russian translation of j. 4 of the Baopu zi neipian. See also the author's Daosizm: opyt
istoriko-religiovedcheskogo opisanija [Taoism: an essay of historico-religious description], pp.48-80 (St.Petersburg:
Andrejev & Sons, 1993).
WARE, James. 1966. Alchemy, Medicine and Religion in the China of A.D. 320. The Nei P'ien of Ko Hung (Pao-
p'u tzu). Cambridge (Mass.): M.I.T. Press. Repr. New York: Dover Publications, 1981.

Integral but not always reliable translation. Also includes a translation of Ge Hong's biography in j. 50 of the Baopu
zi waipian.
WU Lu-ch'iang, and Tenney L. DAVIS. 1935. "An Ancient Chinese Alchemical Classic. Ko Hung on the Gold
Medicine and on the Yellow and the White. The Fourth and Sixteenth Chapters of Pao-p'u-tzu". Proceedings of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences 70: 221-284.

Translation of j. 4 and 16, followed by an abstract and index. The translation is complemented by the following two
studies: Tenney L. DAVIS and Lu-ch'iang WU, "Ko Hung on the Gold Medicine" and "Ko Hung on the Yellow and
the White", Journal of Chemical Education 13 (1936): 103-105 and 215-218.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

(5) Tao Hongjing (456-536)

BARNES, William Henry, and H.B. YUEN. 1946. "T'ao, the Recluse (A.D. 452-536). Chinese Alchemist". Ambix
2: 138-147.

A sketch based on the biographies in the Nan shu (History of the Southern Dynasties) and the Liang shu(History of
the Liang Dynasty). The article is a translation of Cao Yuanyu, "Tao Hongjing he ta de zhushu" [Tao Hongjing and
his works], published in 1935 in a Chinese journal here identified only as The Chekiang Medical and
Pharmaceutical Student's Journal.
DAVIS, Tenney L., and Lu-ch'iang WU. 1932. "T'ao Hung-ching". Journal of Chemical Education 9: 859-862.

An account based on the biography in the Liexian quanzhuan.

STRICKMANN, Michel. 1981. "On the Alchemy of T'ao Hung-ching". In Holmes Welch and Anna Seidel, eds.,
Facets of Taoism. Essays in Chinese Religion, 123-192. New Haven and London: Yale University Press.

Examines Tao Hongjing's alchemical practices in the context of his life, times, and doctrinal background. Includes
discussions of the alchemical texts incorporated in the Shangqing revealed corpus, and of their place within this
tradition.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Page 36 of 119
(6) Lü Dongbin
BALDRIAN-HUSSEIN, Farzeen. 1985. "Yüeh-yang and Lü Tung-pin's Ch'in-yüan ch'un: A Sung Alchemical
Poem". In Gert Naundorf, Karl-Heinz Pohl, and Hans-Herman Schmidt, eds., Religion und Philosophie in Ostasien.
Festschrift für Hans Steininger zum 65. Geburstag, 19-31. Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann.

Translation and study of the most famous alchemical poem attributed to Lü Dongbin, the Qinyuan chun.
BALDRIAN-HUSSEIN, Farzeen. 1986. "Lü Tung-pin in Northern Sung Literature". Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 2:
133-169.

On some themes of the earliest tales on Lü Dongbin, their relation to specific social and religious groups, and one of
the main places of his worship, Yueyang (Hunan).
COULING, C.E. 1927. "The Patriarch Lü -- Reputed Founder of the Chin Tan Chiao". Journal of the North China
Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 58: 158-171.

Concerned with some legendary accounts.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(7) Taixi jing

BALFOUR, Frederic H. 1880. "The 'Tai-hsi' King; or the Respiration of the Embryo". The China Review 9: 224-
226. Reprinted in his Taoist Texts, Ethical, Political and Speculative, 63-65 (London: Trübner and Co., and
Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh, 1894).

Translation of a short text (CT 14 and 130) not properly neidan, but often quoted in the neidan literature.
HUANG, Jane, and Michael WURMBRAND. 1987. "T'ai hsi ching chu. The Embryonic Breath Canon with a
Commentary by Huan Chen Hsien Sheng". In their The Primordial Breath. An Ancient Chinese Way of Prolonging
Life Through Breath Control, 43-47. Torrance (Ca.): Original Books.

Huanzhen Xiansheng, the author of the commentary (CT 130), apparently lived in the Tang dynasty.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

(8) The Yinfu jing and its commentaries

[ANONYMOUS]. 1960. Yin Fu King. Second edition. Fintry (Surrey): Shrine of Wisdom.

"... indebtedness is made to the translations of Balfour and Legge. The commentary is by the Editors of The Shrine
of Wisdom" (from the preface).
BALFOUR, Frederic H. 1881. "The 'Yin-fu' Classic; or, Clue to the Unseen". China Review 10: 44-54. Repr. in his
Taoist Texts, Ethical, Political and Speculative, 49-62 (London: Trübner and Co., and Shanghai: Kelly and Walsh,
1984).

Translation of the text and a late Ming commentary.

HUEBOTTER, Franz. 1936. Classic on the Conformity of Yin / Schrift von der Konformität des Yin. Tsingtao:
Druck der Missionsdruckerei.

Includes translations into both English and German. The introduction mentions the existence of another earlier but
unidentified German version.
LEGGE, James. 1891. "Yin Fû King, or 'Classic of the Harmony of the Seen and the Unseen'". Appendix II of his
The Texts of Taoism, Part II: 255-264. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press. (The Sacred Books of the East, 40.) Various
repr., including London: Oxford University Press, 1927; New York: Julian Press, 1959; Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass,
1966.

Legge's notes are partly based on those by Li Xiyue (fl. 1844), the main master of the "Western School" of late
neidan.
MARAKUEV A.V. 1946. Yinfujing: stranichka istorii kitaiskoi filosofii [Yinfu jing: a page of the history of
Chinese philosophy]. In Uchenye zapiski Tomskogo pedagogicheskogo instituta [Scholarly notes of the Pedagogical
Institute of Tomsk]. Vol.3. Tomsk. TORTCHINOV, Evgueni A. 1993. Daosizm: opyt istoriko-religiovedcheskogo
opisanija [Taoism: an essay of historico-religious description]. St.Petersburg: Andrejev & Sons.

Page 37 of 119
Includes on pp.221-233 a Russian translation of the Yinfu jing with a brief analysis of its commentaries in the Taoist
Canon. This was previously published as "Daosskaja filosofija v pamjatnikah religioznogo daosizma (na materiale
Yinfujing'a i 'Glav o prozrenii istiny' Zhang Bo-duan'ja)" [Taoist philosophy in the texts of religious Taoism (On the
Yinfu jing and the "Chapters on Understanding of Truth" of Zhang Bo-duan)], Social'no-filosofskije aspekty kritiki
religii [Social and philosophical aspects of the critique of religion] (Lenigrad: State Museum of History of Religions
and Atheism, 1985).
PHILASTRE, M.P.-L.-F. 1880. "Exégèse chinoise". In Annales du Musée Guimet, vol. I: 255-318. Paris: Ernest
Leroux.

Includes a translation of the Yinfu jing and a commentary of the late eighteenth century.
RAND, Cristopher C. 1979. "Li Ch'üan and Chinese Military Thought". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 39:
107-137.

Includes remarks on and a translation of this basic text of neidan, interpreted here as a treatise on military strategy.
REITER, Florian 1984. "The 'Scripture of the Hidden Contracts' (Yin-fu ching): A Short Survey on Facts and
Findings". Nachtrichten der Gesellschaft für Natur- und Völkerkunde Ostasien 136: 75-83.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(9) Wei Boyang, the Zhouyi cantong qi and its commentaries

(See also Ho 1972, Davis 1936, and Liu 1968)

BOLTON, H. Carrington. 1894. "Chinese Alchemical Literature". Chemical News 70: 53-54.

On two early unfruitful attempts at translating the text into English.

(*) DAVIS, Tenney L., and Lu-ch'iang WU. 1931. "The Advice of Wei Po-yang to the Worker in Alchemy". The
Nucleus 8: 115, 117. Also in Double Bond 8 (1935): 13-15.

(*) DAVIS, Tenney L., and Lu-ch'iang WU. 1931. "The Pill of Immortality". Technology Review 33: 383-385,
418.

Includes selections from the Zhouyi cantong qi.

FUKUI Kôjun. 1974. "A Study of Chou-i Ts'an-t'ung-ch'i". Acta Asiatica 27: 19-32.

English translation of his "Shûeki sandôkei kô" [A study of the Zhouyi cantong qi], in Tôhô Gakkai sôritsu nijûgo-
shûnen tôhô-gaku ronshû [Oriental studies in commemoration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Tôhô Gakkai],
715-737 (Tokyo: Tôhô Gakkai, 1972). Suggests that although a text called Zhouyi cantong qi may have existed in
Han times, it was not the same as any of the current versions.
KALTENMARK, Max. 1964-65, 1965-66. Summaries of seminars in Annuaire de l'École Pratique des Hautes
Études, Ve Section - Sciences Religieuses 72 (1964-65): 66-67; 73 (1965-66): 66.

Short notes on the Zhouyi cantong qi.

PARTINGTON, J.R. 1935. "An Ancient Chinese Treatise on Alchemy". Nature 136: 287-288.

Based on Wu & Davis 1932.

PREGADIO, Fabrizio. 1995. "The Representation of Time in the Zhouyi cantong qi". Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie 8:
155-173.

On the cosmological devices used in the Cantong qi and their meaning as guidelines to observe (and reproduce in
the alchemical work) the presence of the dao in the cosmos. An appendix summarizes the history of the text from the
origins through the commentary by Peng Xiao (A.D. 947).
PREGADIO, Fabrizio. 1996. Zhouyi cantong qi: Dal Libro dei Mutamenti all'Elisir d'Oro [Zhouyi cantong qi:
From the Book of Changes to the Golden Elixir]. Venezia: Cafoscarina.

Page 38 of 119
History of the text through the commentaries included in the Taoist Canon; relation with other alchemical writings;
selected annotated translations; critical edition of Peng Xiao's text (A.D. 947); concordance based on Peng Xiao's
text. (See the table of contents and English abstract of this book.)
WONG Shiu Hon. 1978. "Chou-i ts'an-t'ung ch'i chu". In Etienne Balasz and Yves Hervouet, eds., A Sung
Bibliography (Bibliographie des Sung), 369-370. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.

Bibliographic notes on the Zhouyi cantong qi zhu by Zhu Xi (CT 1001).

WU Lu-ch'iang, and Tenney L. DAVIS. 1932. "An Ancient Chinese Treatise on Alchemy Entitled Ts'an T'ung
Ch'i". Isis 18: 210-289.

Integral but not entirely reliable translation (based on the version with Yu Yan's commentary, CT 1005), followed
by notes that quote comparable passages from the literature of Western alchemy.
ZHOU Shiyi. 1988. The Kinship of the Three. Changsha: Hunan Jiaoyu Chubanshe.

English translation of the Cantong qi; includes a glossary and an index.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(10) Zhang Boduan, his Wuzhen pian and other attributed works, and their commentaries
(See also Davis & Chao 1939 and Davis & Chao 1941 ["Shih Hsing-lin"])

CLEARY, Thomas. 1986. The Inner Teachings of Taoism. Boston and London: Shambala.

Translation of the Jindan sibai zi with Liu Yiming's commentary, and another work by Liu Yiming, the Xiangyan
poyi. This and other translations by the same author should be used with caution and require control of the original
texts. English versions of other works by Liu Yiming are listed in the present section and in section 15 below.
CLEARY, Thomas. 1987. Understanding Reality. A Taoist Alchemical Classic. Honolulu: University of Hawaii
Press.

Translation of the Wuzhen pian, with Liu Yiming's commentary.

DAVIS, Tenney L., and CHAO Yün-ts'ung. 1939. "Chang Po-tuan of T'ien-t'ai, his Wu Chên P'ien, Essay on the
Understanding of the Truth. A Contribution to the Study of Chinese Alchemy". Proceedings of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences 73: 97-117.

Biographic materials on Zhang Boduan, and translation of the Wuzhen pian. A summary of the introductory section
has appeared in Tenney L. DAVIS and CHAO Yün-ts'ung, "Chang Po-tuan, Chinese Alchemist of the Eleventh
Century", Journal of Chemical Education 16 (1939): 53-57.
DAVIS, Tenney L., and CHAO Yün-ts'ung. 1940. "Four Hundred Word Chin Tan of Chang Po-tuan".
Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 73: 371-376.

Translation of the Jindan sibai zi, with notes mainly based on Liu Yiming's commentary.
DAVIS, Tenney L., and CHAO Yün-ts'ung. 1940. "The Secret Papers in the Jade Box of Ch'ing-hua".
Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 73: 385-389.

Summary of the Yuqing jinsi Qinghua biwen jinbao nei liandan jue (CT 240), a text attributed to Zhang Boduan.
DAVIS, Tenney L., and CHAO Yün-ts'ung. 1940. "Three Alchemical Poems by Chang Po-tuan". Proceedings of
the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 73: 377-379.

Translation of the Du Zhouyi cantong qi, the Zeng Bailong dong Liu Daoren ge, and the Shiqiao ge, all attributed to
Zhang Boduan and found in the Jindan zhengli daquan, a Ming collection of neidan works.
HUSSEIN, Farzeen [= Farzeen BALDRIAN-HUSSEIN]. 1976. "Chang Po-tuan". In Herbert Franke, ed., Sung
Biographies, vol. I: 26-29. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag. (Münchener Ostasiatische Studien, 16,1.)

Biographic and bibliographic notes.

KALTENMARK, Max. 1972-73. Summary of seminars in Annuaire de l'École Pratique des Hautes Études, Ve
Section - Sciences Religieuses 80-81 (1971-72, and 1972-73): 69-74.

Includes (pp. 71-74) notes on the Wuzhen pian.

Page 39 of 119
TORTCHINOV, Evgueni A. 1994. Chzhang Bo-duan (Zhang Bo-duan). Glavy o prozreniji istiny (Wu zhen pian).
St.Petersburg: St.Petersburg Centre for Oriental Studies, 1994.

Translation of the Wuzhen pian, with an introduction and a commentary.

WONG Shiu Hon. 1978. "Tzu-yang chen-jen wu-chen p'ien shih-i". In Etienne Balasz and Yves Hervouet, eds., A
Sung Bibliography (Bibliographie des Sung), 371-372. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press

The Dragons and Serpents of Alchemy

A Few Basics of Alchemy...

Alchemy is a mixture of philosophy and science, which has been practiced for centuries, and is
still practiced today. It works at two levels: the physical, and the metaphysical. At the
metaphysical level, it works to purify and transform humankind. At the physical level, it works
to purify and transform metals. The first step of the transformation of metals is creating a
philosopher's stone. This stone can then be used to transmute metals into alchemical gold.
When a substance has been purified, it becomes philosophic.

Allegory
Allegories describe chemical reactions and the like, using symbols. The dragon is one of these
symbols. For example, a green dragon devouring the Sun means that the gold was dissolved in
aqua regia (royal water), a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids. Also, the gold probably
contained copper, which turns the acid blue-green. (A green lion eating the sun can also been
used for this representation). This symbolism was used as a way of preventing all but the most
dedicated from deciphering the meaning.

Caduceus
The caduceus consists of two serpents entwined around a central rod. It is the symbol of
Mercury. This symbol was developed from the myth of Mercury, the messenger of the gods,
who intervened in a fight between two serpents. When he intervened, the serpents twined
around his wand. In Greek times, the caduceus sometime had wings, to symbolize the volatility
of mercury. Alchemists also call mercury chaotic water, abysmal water, sylvery water, and
Philosophical Basilisk. Philosophic Mercury is sometimes represented by a serpent, or winged
dragon.

Cinnabar
Cinnabar is a naturally occurring mercuric sulphide. In its natural state, it is a red crystalline
solid. Chinese and Arabian alchemists extracted mercury from it. The word 'cinnabar' comes
from the Persian for 'dragon's blood'.

Nagayuna
Nagayuna is the Indian branch of alchemy. The aim is to preserve the elixir of life, in order to
unify the body's energies. The symbol of the naga (two entwined serpents) is used to represent
the link between the earth and the heavens, and the transition from the lower levels to the
higher. This symbol can be found outside temples, on stone tablets (called 'nagahals' or
'nagakals')

Quetzalcoatl
Quetzalcoatl was the product of an alchemical conception. He was conceived after his mother
swallowed a piece of jade. Quetzalcoatl is a feathered serpent of Toltec origin.

Twelve Keys
The Twelve Keys were written by Basil Valentine (who may or may not have been real) in the
14th century. They depict how to prepare the prime matter for making the philosopher's stone.
The keys show the King (ordinary gold), and the Queen (ordinary silver), who undergo
separate adventures, before combining. Serpents appear several times in the keys. One of the
appearances is in the ninth key. Part of the ninth key shows three serpents: the principles of
Mercury, Sulphur and Salt.

Page 40 of 119
Uroboros
Uroboros is a dragon whose end is his beginning... he endlessly eats his own tail. He keeps the
cosmic waters under control, and is symbolic of the cyclical nature of alchemical work. He is the
basilisk, the alchemical serpent. Also called Ouroboros.

An Artificial Synthesis Of Gold?

You Be The Judge
The select processes presented here, presumably appertaining to research and development of
Jollivet Castelot, are facsimiles of photocopied excerpts once written out longhand by
W.L.V...these are taken from a 20th century French text, concerning Castelot, translated to
English. This research is in character, considered to be worthy of publishing for the conceivable,
intrinsic value. Inasmuch as it is not the goal of alchemists to lust vicariously after texts
extolling transmutations to make gold, nevertheless, these experiments were found to be of
alchemical interest back in the 1920's. Was Castelot on to something of an alchemical nature? In
the increase of the gold found in the metals used he may have manipulated the seed of gold.

HOW I SUCCEEDED IN MAKING GOLD

ACCORDING TO THE PROCESS OF
MR. JOLLIVET CASTELOT
December 1925
by A. Ballandras
Dosage of Gold obtained by the second method -
The residue, which had been obtained by a mixture of:
Silver 10 grams
Tin 3 grams
Arsenic sulphide 3 grams
Antimony sulphide 3 grams
was crushed as much as possible and subdued (read: subjected) to a treatment of pure chloric
acid like in the first method. However, to completely eliminate the silver and the tin employer, I
scrupled to begin the indicated treatments, that is to say that the powder which was obtained
having been subdued first to the action of azotic acid then washed with distillated water, then
subdued to the action of chloric acid, then once more washed with distillated water, and these
different operations were begun once more with another portion of pure azotic acid, and
another portion of pure chloric acid after having carefully washed the insoluble residue was
subdued to the prolonged action of aqua regalis following: Chloric acid - 15 parts/ Azotic acid -
4-5 parts.

It must be noted that this thing happened during the ebullition (bubbling;boiling). The washed
residue contained the slighter part of gold, this thing would be found dissolved in the last
liquor, which I obtained. After 18 hours of digestion at the temperature of about 25 degrees, I
subdued the mixture to ebullition during 3 hours.
After refrigeration, I filtered on wool of glass and I looked if parts were not drawn along in
suspense. Finding nothing I proceeded to an analysis of the liquor which I obtained. For that
month I made two parts strictly equal of the liquor, the first being destined to qualitative
analysis, the other quantitative.

A) Qualitative Analysis: Assay of usual reagents:

Chloride of Tin - Rose colored precipitate
Pure Soda in solution - Voluminous yellow reddish precipitate
Sulfate of Iron - During ebullition, metallic precipitate, black greenish very dense spangles.

B) Quantitative Analysis:

Page 41 of 119
The second part of the liquor destined to undergo quantitative analysis was treated by H2S
when the most important part of chloric and azotic acids were driven out by a prolonged
ebullition.

This time the liquor was slightly acid and has a weak smell of chlorine. I called H2S into action;
about 20 minutes long. The black precipitate which I obtained was received by a filter paper
carefully washed first with well distillated water, then with hot water and at last with chloric
acid. After drying in the vapor-bath, the precipitate was put in a capsule of porcelain and
heated in a mould at about 850 degrees, so as to destroy the sulphides precipitated with gold
i.e., the arsenic and the antimony. These were naturally decomposed by the temperature of 850
degrees to which it had been subdued during two hours.

The quantity of gold obtained was 0.238 grains. The half of the liquor having served for the
dissolution having been turned to good use for the qualitative analysis it followed that the
whole quantity of gold contained in the original liquor should be equal to double the quantity
obtained. i.e., 0.476 grains of gold per 10 grams of silver employed, yield then was 0.476 grains
of gold per gram silver. {I must point out that the obtaining of gold is not a mathematical
regularity, that is to say, the purport (proportion) of residue changes according to the
conditions of heating.}

2) DRY METHOD

I acted on 22 grains of chemically pure silver supplied by Messrs. Poulenc of Paris and on 3.5
grains of chemically pure orpiment supplied by the Pharmacie Central of Paris. The mixture
was heated to about 1600 C in a metal smelting furnace for about 3⁄4 hour. The residue obtained
was again melted for an hour with the addition of orpiment, after having been hammered for
half an hour and re-melted with the addition of small quantities of orpiment every 10 minutes,
it was withdrawn. After cooling and the addition of chemically pure antimony sulphide, it was
again put back into the furnace, small quantities of orpiment being thrown in every 5 minutes.
The residue obtained had a dark metallic tint, after hammering it became slightly golden.

Analysis of the Residue

The residue dissolved in chemically pure 36 degree HNO3 first cold and then hot, gave an
abundant pulverulent deposit. This deposit after being washed and treated with HN3 to
dissolve the arsenic and antimony salts was completely dissolved in aqua regia. The liquor after
being chlorinated and filtered was subjected to the reagents of Platinum and gold.

Mr. Andre Vandenberghe who was acting as preparator for this experiment, had thought that in
accordance with the law of evolution of matter, the transmutation of bodies into gold should be
preceded or accompanied by their transmutation into platinum. According to Mendeleiev's
progression, we have Pt - 195.2 and Au - 197.2

The reactions of gold were quite characteristic; the reactions of platinum also seemed to reveal
its presence. The quantity of gold obtained in this experiment was estimated at about one gram.
I emit the hypothesis that the arsenic acts as a catalyzer and the sulphur as a ferment in this
transmutation.
Douai, December 1925
Jollivet Castelot

A RECENT EXPERIMENT IN TRANSMUTATION 1

by M. Jollivet Castelot
All my research work on transmutation since 1908 has started from the fact that gold is found in
nature associated with antimony and arsenic sulphides as well as with Tellurium which is
considered as the mineralizer of gold. I therefore considered it logical to introduce Tellurium
into the artificial combination of silver and arsenic and antimony sulphides that I make. The
following is an account of one of my recent experiments:

I prepared a mixture composed of 6 grams of chemically pure silver, 1 gram of native orpiment
(Arsenic trisulphide A52S3) free from gold, 1 gram of chemically pure antimony sulphide, and

Page 42 of 119
2 grams of chemically pure Tellurium. I added pure silica to the usual fluxes. This mixture was
heated in the furnace in the usual way for one hour at a temperature of 1100 C (approximately)
[note: parenthesis are not mine AMWH]

The residue obtained was of a blackish grey color with violet reflections. It weighed 6.420
grains. When subjected to the action of nitric acid, the residue was attacked with difficulty and
greenish metallic particles became detached. The solution was then decanted and a greenish-
yellow residue remained which was kept at the boiling point in nitric acid for several hours,
after decanting off the liquor once again, the residue, which had not changed, was washed,
treated with ammonia and then subjected to the action of aqua regia in which it was entirely
dissolved after boiling for several hours.
The solution after being chlorinated and then subjected to the reagents of gold, gave the
following:
Potassium Ferrocyanide - greenish brown coloration.
Tin Protochloride + Tin Bichloride - a yellow bronze coloration and then a metallic deposit of
the same shade.

Ammonia - coloration and precipitate identical with the preceding one and which became
transformed into a yellow deposit of fulminating gold at the end of a few hours.

Formol - light yellowish black metallic precipitate.

Peroxide of Hydrogen - light very finely divided brownish black precipitate.

Oxalic acid - yellowish black precipitate.

Ferrous Sulphate - golden yellow metallic precipitate.

Caustic Potash - a fairly abundant golden yellow metallic precipitate at the end of a few hours.

The presence of gold was therefore very distinctly shown and a remarkable feature was that the
metal obtained possessed the yellow bronze color of gold telluride and of native silver. I had
therefore produced a bronze colored gold in my laboratory by artificial means thanks to the
intervention of the Tellurium.
A certain amount of gold was certainly lost in this test as in all my previous tests, for it is known
that arsenic, antimony and Tellurium entrain gold in their fusion and their volatilization. In
order to obviate this disadvantage, I had thought of making the vapors of arsenic and antimony
sulphides and of Tellurium act on the silver in fusion in a closed vessel by means of a special
device, but I have been forced to give up this scheme for the time being on account of the
difficulties met with for the construction of this apparatus, the cost of which would be very
high. I consider it certain that if the vapors were allowed to bubble through the melted silver, a
much higher yield of gold would be obtained than that I have obtained hitherto by an imperfect
and too rapid contact of the bodies in presence; while it is undoubtedly necessary to make them
react on one another in the state of vapor in a closed vessel.

THE CHEMICAL MANUFACTURE OF GOLD

ACCOUNT OF ONE OF MY LAST EXPERIMENTS
IN THE TRANSMUTATION OF SILVER INTO GOLD
As a sequel to my previous work on the artificial synthesis of gold, I have introduced Tin into
these new tests as it is also often associated with gold in nature. The following is a description of
this new process, thanks to which the percentage of gold obtained destroys all the objections
that are raised with regard to impurities.

I made an intimate mixture of 6 grams of chemically pure silver of which the purity was tested
by a professional chemist, the Head of the laboratory of one of the most important Works of the
region. 2 Grams of antimony sulphide, 1 gram of orpiment, and 1 gram of Tin; all these bodies
were obtained from the Establishment Poulenc of Paris and were chemically pure. I added the

Page 43 of 119
usual fluxes and then heated the whole in a crucible in the furnace to about 1100 C fort2 about 1
hour, twice adding a small quantity of antimony sulphide.

The residue obtained was treated for a long period in pure 36 degree nitric acid, first cold and
then at the boiling point.

The insoluble residue was next washed with distilled water, treated with ammonia, washed
again and finally treated for a long period with boiling aqua regia. The liquor when filtered and
subjected to the reagents of gold showed the presence of this metal in the form of deposits3
which maybe estimated at 0.05 grains in all, which is very high considering the 6 grams of silver
employed.

With Oxalic acid, the solution turned violet and gave an abundant black pulverulent precipitate.

With Hydrogen Peroxide, a very finely divided precipitate of gold.

With Formic Aldehyde, a brown precipitate of gold.

With Tin Protochloride, an intense violet pink coloration.

The addition of Tin to the other bodies has certainly facilitated the reactions of the gold and
increased the yield of this metal which can be manufactured artificially by my process.

It would be easy to show that, given the respective prices of gold and of the other substances
that are used in my process to produce it, a profit could be obtained if the process were worked
industrially; all the more so as the greater part of the silver employed can be recovered at each
test.

I believe I now hold the key to the regular and even industrial manufacture of gold. But the
industrial question is voluntarily put aside from my thoughts, for my only object is the search
for pure scientific truth.

TABLE OF REACTIONS
"GOLD"
C2H2O4 - Abundant deposit of metallic gold.
H2O2 (basic) - Brown precipitate.
K4 Fe Cy6 . 3H2O - Green coloration.
Na2CO3 (in ebullition) - Brownish precipitate
"PLATINUM & GOLD"
NH3 - Reddish yellow precipitate (Au); topped by a yellow precipitate (Pt).
KOH - Reddish yellow precipitate (Au); topped by a yellow precipitate (Pt).
SnCL2.2H2O - Solution colored brown with reactions of platinum salts and deposit of black
powder.
KI - Solution becomes reddish followed by a discharge of iodine and a brown precipitate
(Platinum iodide).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Page 141]
EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS
"It must be admitted that it is extraordinary and incomprehensible that France for the past ten
years has refused to take an interest in the experiments of a rich and universally respected
scientist who has given proofs of his worth, even after the conclusive experiments carried out
by an official chemist, Mr Ballandras of Lyons."

Page 44 of 119
Andre Ibels, La Razon, June 8, 1927
"It is unjust, gentlemen, that a scientist of the value of Mr. Jollivet Castelot should be held in
suspicion at the very moment when he is losing his sight through overwork. To continue his
work, however embarrassing it may be to yours, is a sacred duty."
Declaration by Mademoiselle M.L. of Paris.
Professor of Engineering at the Conservatoire
des Arts et Metiers, Paris, at the Chemical Congress in Paris. October 1927
"Oh! it is not that Mr. Jollivet Castelot has not attempted to make his invention known in
France, on the contrary, he has written leaflets and books and has founded reviews for this
purpose... Not only was he not taken seriously, but he was also a butt to the sarcasm and even
to the insults of the official scientists in general and of the Nobelist Perrin in particular. The
Acedemie des Sciences itself - as usual - refused to record his communication."
Andre Ibels, Nouveau Journal de Nice
October 16, 1927

The Inner Geometry of Alchemical Emblems

Adam McLean
From the Hermetic Journal, Winter 1983.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Over the past five years of the Hermetic Journal, I have often illustrated in the Alchemical
Mandala feature and other articles the profound symbolism wrapped up in the old sixteenth
and seventeenth century emblematic engravings of alchemists and Rosicrucians. I have
sometimes indicated how certain of these diagrams can be seen to have an underlying
geometric skeleton structure upon which the symbols are arrayed. However, I never analysed
this aspect in great depth and merely pointed out some simple geometric features. Patricia
Villiers-Stuart in her publications has often brought to my attention the complex geometry that
lies beneath such emblems, but I had not considered that this aspect was of paramount
importance, until I recently requested from the British Library a microfilm of an important
Rosicrucian book in their collection, the 'Speculum Sophicum Rhodo-Stauroticum' of
Theophilus Schweighardt, published in 1618. Although a printed book this particular copy
contains a number of manuscript additions made in the 18th century bound into the volume.
Some of these manuscript additions analyse in great detail, the geometry underlying two
emblems contained in this collection.. The first figure shows the emblem (contained incidentally
in the 'Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians', the Geheime figuren, Altona 1785, and found in
other Rosicrucian sources), and the second, third and fourth illustrations show an ascending
series of intricate geometrical analyses of the emblem. The evidence of these drawings certainly
convinces me that there is another level to many of the emblematic engravings of this period
that has yet been fully considered - the key of their inner geometry. The engravers of that
period, de Bry, Matthieu Merian, Lucas Jennis, may well have worked a complex geometric
message as well as a symbolic one into their beautifully executed engravings. I consider that this
discovery is of great importance and hope that some of my correspondents might have the
inclination to follow up in detail this aspect with regard to other engravings. There may be a
whole layer of meaning that we are at present unaware of woven into these ancient emblems.

Page 45 of 119
Page 46 of 119
The Alchemical Vessel as Symbol of the Soul
Adam McLean ©
------------------------------------------------------------------------

As students of the hermetic tradition we all recognise that the alchemical work takes place on
many different levels - the physical work with substances, the experience and manipulation of
etheric forces, the interior work on the soul, as well as the spiritual and planetary/cosmic
aspects of alchemy. These different facets of the work interpenetrate and overlap each other.
Indeed, in a sense, if we are to make any progress in alchemy, we must pursue the different
facets concurrently, paralleling interior development with experience of the outer work. One
symbol that belongs to all these different realms of this work is that of the alchemical vessel. In
this article I would like to outline some ways in which we can use this symbol in our inner
exercises.

The tradition of interior development in alchemy, is pursued by mirroring the transformations

and processes of alchemy within our soul. As with any esoteric practice, this internalising of
alchemical operations can produce disturbing patterns in the powerful psychic energies that we
evoke through inner work, unless we find some means of containing these energies. In the
tradition of ritual ceremonial magic the operators normally use an opening and closing ritual
that acts as a structure to contain and safely dissipate the energies raised through their work.
Similarly, in many traditions of meditation, an opening and closing exercise (sometimes based
on breathing rhythms) helps to anchor and reconnect the meditators with their normal state of
consciousness, so as not to leave them rather dissociated and dangling somewhere in between
the outer and interior worlds. In our inner work with alchemical processes we will find the
symbol of the alchemical vessel an invaluable means for containing the interior energies and
allowing them to unfold within us in a controlled and positive manner. So in a sense, the
alchemical vessel can be a protective interior symbol, just like the circle of the ceremonial
magician, or the astral temple of a working esoteric lodge, or the breathing exercises of a
meditation tradition.

The energies evoked by working with alchemical processes, as I have said, can be powerful and
disruptive forces in the psyche, and a direct inner encounter with these transformative energies
is not to be had instantaneously. Only through long and repeated interior work do we come to
directly experience these energies in their primal and most fundamental form. The initial
encounters are usually ephemeral and overlain with emotional currents. Only if we have the
patience of alchemists tirelessly repeating interior experiments, brooding over our inner flask,
will we attain even a glimpse of the goal of alchemical transmutation. It is therefore important
that we understand the nature of the alchemical vessel so that we have some indication of how
to use this in our inner work.

We should come to see that symbols are actually patterns of energy. In an exoteric sense this is
so, for obviously any symbol held in our consciousness is manifested as an electro-chemical
plexus in the neuron net in our brain. However, esoterically on the deepest level, a symbol is the
pattern of etheric energy underlying its various different forms. When we meditate on a symbol
we will find it shape-shifting and manifesting its different appearances, and through this can
come to grasp that the true nature of the symbol is its energy pattern.

There are many different forms of vessel described and depicted in the alchemical literature and
emblematic engravings. There are a seeming multiplicity of forms of retort, pelicans, water
baths, alembics, cucurbites, stills, etc. However, in the interior work we will find that all these
different outer manifestations of the apparatus reduce to three archetypal forms - which we can
call the CRUCIBLE, the RETORT and the STILL.

The Crucible is essentially an open vessel, a dish, a mortar, or a cauldron, open to the outside
world yet capable of containing material. Substances and energy patterns can be put into the

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crucible and be acted upon by some agent, and some part of this substance can also be drawn
off or removed so enacting a kind of purification. This is often pictured as taking place through
the application of heat. In outer terms, an ore is placed in the crucible, which is then heated, the
metal forms itself out of the ore and various impurities are given off into the air, or a slag is
skimmed off the surface of the metal. Thus the primal substance, the ore, is transformed into
new pure metal. The essence, however, of this type of vessel and the inner operations
undertaken in it, is that it is open. A transformation can be undertaken because certain energies
(or impurities) are allowed to escape or dissipate. Heating is not essential to this archetypal
alchemical process. Acting on a salt with an acid to produce an effervescence or release of gases,
is another outer example of this process, or the slow precipitation or crystallisation of a solid out
of a mother liquor.

When we internalise the crucible in our souls we picture a vessel within our being which is
open, allowing impurities or unwanted facets of the work to pass out or to dissipate away, as
well as substances and forces to enter in from the universal spiritual. In this sense the crucible in
our souls is a chalice, the lower part of which contains and holds a substance or constellation of
forces while its upper part is open to universal spiritual influences. Unwanted energies can be
allowed to safely flow out of our crucible and dissolve in the universal flow, and in the other
direction energies can be gathered from the spiritual and allowed to descend to the bottom of
our interior vessel.

This process can be a gentle and slow flowing one, or alternatively one can heat up our inner
crucible through generating powerful currents of emotional energy, forcing and pressing for
some transformation to occur. Indeed, once we become experienced in using these techniques,
we can readily consciously evoke both of these phases, the active fiery phase and the gentle
cooling, precipitation or crystallisation, and in a particular working these can be applied
alternatively to create a polarity within the interior experience, that greatly helps the work to
come to some conclusion.

Thus we normally undertake such exercises by placing some pattern of symbolic energy into
our inner crucible, then opening ourselves to the particular transformations that can be evolved
by this exercise - calcinations, purifications, crystallisations, dissolvings, etc. I hope to write
further on the inner nature of these alchemical processes in a later issue of the Journal.

The Retort in this archetypal case is a sealed flask. In this interior work we picture our soul as
entirely sealed off from both the outer world and the universal spiritual realm. When we
undertake this exercise we must have everything we need within the sphere of our inner retort,
and for the duration of this work we are entirely self-contained and rely on inner change to take
place within the components or forces we have within our being at that time. We have to work
to bring about a transformation in these inner patterns, without relying on external forces. It is
thus very important if we are to undertake such interior exercises in a positive way with any
hope of any satisfactory results, to prepare ourselves and place in our inner retort all the
energies and symbols that are necessary for the process. Thus working this particular exercise
requires some degree of preparation.

The retort exercise is especially valuable for working towards the interior synthesis of polarities.
We place the polarised patterns of energy bound up, say, in some particular set of symbols, into
our interior flask, seal it up, and allow them to fully unfold, interpenetrate, and come to a new
synthesis. The most common symbol of this in alchemical writings is the man and woman in a
flask, uniting and giving birth to a child. So the obvious forces to work with through this
exercise are our masculine and feminine components. Through putting these patterns of
symbolic energies into our inner retort and calling up the manner in which they manifest and
resonate within our beings we can bring about an encounter with these psychic components
and make them meet in a positive way. Other polarities we might try to work with are our
logical thinking and emotional intuitive facets, or body and spirit, even our awe of the spiritual
light and our fear of the deep darkness of matter, or the processes of life and death, and growth
and decay.

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We should try to experience the retort as a womb or matrix in which the process of gestation or
new birth arising out of primal components, can safely take place in us. If we work with this
retort exercise over a period of time, we will begin to feel the importance of this space in our
souls, and value it as a creative interior workplace. The alchemical processes that go on in this
retort usually involve the meeting of polarities, such as Separation and Conjunction, or of
Dissolving and Coagulation. Sometimes we find our inner retort will go black, and nothing
seems to happen for an extended period, but if we persevere some change will eventually be
seen - perhaps at first merely a glimmer - which over a number of repetitions of the exercise
might give rise to some new inner experience. At other times the retort will be full of movement
and iridescent play of colours and ever changing forms, and here we must wait for some solid
and substantial ground to arise in the shifting patterns, upon which our inner experience can
grow. A symbol or pattern of energy often experienced at this stage is the tree or flowering
plant within the space of the interior retort. Another symbol structure is that of the bird rising
and falling in our inner world.

The final interior vessel I would like us to consider is that of the Still. When we try to experience
our inner world though this symbol, we should have a sense of extracting an essence out of one
of the interior processes, purifying and gathering it within our being so that it becomes an inner
source we can touch upon at will. This alchemical operation to some extent corresponds in our
everyday outer consciousness to the way in which an experience of coming to an understanding
of some aspect of our world can entirely transform our way of interacting with it. For example,
our initial reaction to a new piece of technology or an unfamiliar task, is tentative and fraught
with difficulties we project upon this device or task. If we can eventually understand just how
the device works or gain a picture of the movements needed to accomplish the task, then our
way of using the device or of undertaking the task becomes entirely transformed.

Similar processes take place in respect to our interior life through the exercises of inner
distillation, though this works on a more subtle plane. Here we take some particular positive
quality of our being, such as our creativity, or our sensitivity to others, or our ability to think
deeply and clearly, and we find some symbols that capture (or at least envelope) the essence of
this quality. We then place these into our interior Still and in our meditation begin to allow
these symbol patterns to flow together. At some point in the inner work, we should sense some
essence of this process begin to rise out of and separate itself from the specific symbols and
feelings connected with this quality. If we encourage this process we can have the inner
experience of elevating this essence and allowing it to collect in the upper part of our soul. It
then becomes a Tincture.

If, say, we choose to work upon our creativity through this exercise, we place into our interior
Still, our understandings of the source of our creativity, picturings of our previous creations or
our work in progress, memories of the emotional currents associated with our creative
experiences, more universal symbols of creativity, and so on. In a meditative work on this facet,
which will take many sessions to bring to fruition, we evoke all this material in our interior Still
and attend closely to the processes and changes taking place there. For example, at one point we
will experience the 'polarity flipping' of various symbols. We might, say, initially believe our
creative impulse lies entirely in the quest for some ideal form, and experience this ideal image
flipping (instantaneously interchanging) with its antithesis, some ugly shapelessness, or cycle
of metamorphoses, producing disturbing patterns within our being. This stage will eventually
resolve and we will find some symbol or feeling-perception that captures the essence of our
creativity (or whatever we have chosen to work with) emerging out of the meditative material.
If we nurture and sustain this essence, then we can allow it to rise up within our soul and we
will feel it remaining as a kind of tincture in our inner world. If this tincture becomes fixed
within our being then we can later draw upon it at will. What we find then is that a part of our
inner forces retains an echo of all the meditative work we undertook at that time, and we can
reconnect with this reservoir whenever we wish. So in the case of creativity, once we possess
this inner tincture, then if we have some difficulties (or a block) over some particular piece of
creative work, we will find that evoking the inner tincture of this experience, will put us deeply
in touch with the ground of our creativity and may enable us to resolve our present problem.

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Of course, such exercises are never entirely completed, as we ourselves are changing all the time
in response to ongoing experiences, but working with our interior Still will be found invaluable
in putting us in touch with the sources of our positive qualities. In alchemical terms the
processes associated with the Still include those of Distillation, Exaltation, Fixation, Projection,
Multiplication, Quintessence, etc.

I hope these few indications might help us to see how the philosophy and symbolism of the
ancient alchemists can still be effectively used today, as a vital living force for the inner spiritual
transformation of our souls. The 'open secret' of alchemy is that we must, like the alchemists of
old, experience our inner world as these alchemical vessels. Then our inner life will be tinged
and transformed with a new richness of spiritual experience.

Alchemical substances

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cadmia, which was also called Tuttia or Tutty, was probably zinc carbonate.
Philosophers' Wool, or nix alba (white snow). Zinc oxide made by burning zinc in air. Called
Zinc White and used as a pigment.
White vitriol. Zinc Sulphate. Described by Basil Valentine. Made by lixiviating roasted zinc
blende (zinc sulphide).
Calamine. Zinc carbonate.

Corrosive sublimate. Mercuric chloride. first mentioned by Geber, who prepared it by

subliming mercury, calcined green vitriol, common salt and nitre.
Calomel. Mercurous chloride. Purgative, made by subliming a mixture of mercuric chloride and
metallic mercury, triturated in a mortar. This was heated in a iron pot and the crust of calomel
formed on the lid was ground to powder and boiled with water to remove the very poisonous
mercuric chloride.
Cinnabar. Mercuric sulphide.
Turpeth mineral. A hydrolysed form of mercuric sulphate. Yellow crystalline powder,
described by Basil Valentine.
Mercurius praecipitatus. Red mercuric oxide. Described by Geber.
Cinnabar or Vermillion. Mercuric sulphide.

Mosaic gold. Golden-yellow glistening scales of crystalline stannic sulphide, made by heating a
mixture of tin filings, sulphur and salammoniac.
Tin salt. Hydrated stannous chloride.
Spiritus fumans. Stannic chloride, discovered by Libavius in 1605, through distilling tin with
corrosive sublimate.
Butter of tin. Hydrated stannic chloride.

Galena. Plumbic sulphide. Chief ore of lead.

Lead fume. Lead oxide obtained from the flues at lead smelters.
Massicot. Yellow powder form of lead monoxide.
Litharge. Reddish-yellow crystalline form of lead monoxide, formed by fusing and powdering
massicot.
Minium or Red Lead. Triplumbic tetroxide. Formed by roasting litharge in air. Scarlet
crystalline powder.
Naples yellow, or Cassel yellow. An oxychloride of lead, made by heating litharge with sal
ammoniac.
Chrome yellow. Lead chromate.
Sugar of Lead. Lead acetate, Made by dissolving lead oxide in vinegar.
White lead. Basic carbonate of lead. Used as a pigment.
Venetian White. Mixture of equal parts of white lead and barium sulphate.
Dutch White. Mixture of one part of white lead to three of barium sulphate.

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Antimony. From latin 'antimonium' used by Constantinius Africanus (c. 1050) to refer to
Stibnite.
Glass of Antimony. Impure antimony tetroxide, obtained by roasting stibnite. Used as a yellow
pigment for glass and porcelain.
Butter of Antimony. White crystalline antimony trichloride. Made by Basil Valentine by
distilling roasted stibnite with corrosive sublimate. Glauber later prepared it by dissolving
stibnite in hot concentrated hydrochloric acid and distilling.
Powder of Algaroth. A white powder of antimonious oxychloride, made by by precipitation
when a solution of butter of antimony in spirit of salt is poured into water.
Stibnite. Antimony trisulphide. Grey mineral ore of antimony.
Wismuth. Bismuth.
Pearl white. Basic nitrate of bismuth, used by Lemery as a cosmetic.
Chrome green. Chromic oxide.
Chrome yellow. Lead chromate.
Chrome red. Basic lead chromate.
Chrome orange. Mixture of chrome yellow and chrome red.

Green Vitriol. Ferrous sulphate.

Rouge, Crocus, Colcothar. Red varieties of ferric oxide are formed by burning green vitriol in
air.
Marcasite. Mineral form of Iron disulphide. Oxidises in moist air to green vitriol.
Pyrites. Mineral form of iron disulphide. Stable in air.
Cobalt. Named by the copper miners of the Hartz Mountains after the evil spirits the 'kobolds'
which gave a false copper ore.
Zaffre. Impure cobalt arsenate, left after roasting cobalt ore.
Nickel. Named by the copper miners of Westphalia the 'kupfer-nickel' or false copper.

Copper glance. Cuprous sulphide ore.

Aes cyprium. Cyprian brass or copper.
Cuprite. Red cuprous oxide ore.
Blue vitriol or bluestone. Cupric sulphate.
Verdigris. The green substance formed by the atmospheric weathering of copper. This is a
complex basic carbonate of copper. In more recent times the term 'verdigris' is more correctly
applied to copper acetate, made by the action of vinegar on copper.
Resin of copper. Cuprous chloride. Made by Robert Boyle in 1664 by heating copper with
corrosive sublimate.

Lunar caustic, lapis infernalis. Silver nitrate.

Fulminating silver. Silver nitride, very explosive when dry. Made by dissolving silver oxide in
ammonia.
Horn silver, argentum cornu. A glass like ore of silver chloride.
Luna cornea. The soft colourless tough mass of silver chloride, made by heating horn silver till
it forms a dark yellow liquid and then cooling. Described by Oswald Croll in 1608.

Purple of Cassius. Made by Andreas Cassius in 1685 by precipitating a mixture of gold,

stannous and stannic chlorides, with alkali. Used for colouring glass.
Fulminating gold. Made by adding ammonia to the auric hydroxide formed by precipitation by
potash from metallic gold dissolved in aqua regis. Highly explosive when dry.

Quicklime. Calcium oxide.

Slaked lime. Calcium hydroxide.
Chalk. Calcium carbonate.
Gypsum. Calcium sulphate.

Natron. Native sodium carbonate.

Soda ash. Sodium carbonate formed by burning plants growing on the sea shore.
Caustic marine alkali. Caustic soda. Sodium hydroxide. Made by adding lime to natron.
Common salt. Sodium chloride.
Glauber's Salt. Sodium sulphate.

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Wood-ash or potash. Potassium carbonate made from the ashes of burnt wood.
Caustic wood alkali. Caustic potash. Potassium hydroxide. Made by adding lime to potash.
Liver of sulphur. Complex of polysulphides of potassium, made by fusing potash and sulphur.

Sal Ammoniac. Ammonium Chloride. Described by Geber.

Sal volatile, Spirit of Hartshorn. Volatile alkali. Ammonium carbonate made from distilling
bones, horns, etc.
Caustic volatile alkali. Ammonium hydroxide.
Nitrum flammans. Ammonium nitrate made by Glauber.

Brimstone (from German Brennstein 'burning stone'). Sulphur.

Flowers of sulphur. light yellow crystalline powder, made by distilling sulphur.
Thion hudor (Zosimus refers to this as the 'divine water' or 'the bile of the serpent'). A deep
reddish-yellow liquid made by boiling flowers of sulphur with slaked lime.
Milk of sulphur (lac sulphuris). White colloidal sulphur. Geber made this by adding an acid to
thion hudor.
Oil of Vitriol. Sulphuric acid made by distilling green vitriol.

Realgar. red ore of arsenic. Arsenic disulphide.

Orpiment. Auri-pigmentum. Yellow ore of arsenic. Arsenic trisulphide.
White arsenic. Arsenious oxide. Made from arsenical soot from the roasting ovens, purified by
sublimation.
Aqua tofani. Arsenious oxide. Extremely poisonous. Used by Paracelsus.
King's Yellow. A mixture of orpiment with white arsenic.

J.A. Mitchell Alchemy

Immortality & Mysticism by Pandit Rajmani Tigunait Ph.D

Yoga International Magazine November/December 1995

===================================================

There is, as Mircea Eliade writes, a universal if

unconscious recognition that "gold is immortality (amritam
ayur hiranyam.) Gold is the one perfect, solar metal and
hence its symbolism meets the symbolism of spirit, of
spiritual freedom and autonomy."

In turn, the desire for wealth and immortality, material and

spiritual, meet and find their expression in alchemy, the
ancient science that promises to fulfill both desires here
and now. Alchemists fulfill the first desire by transforming
vulgar metals into gold (much of the age old fascination
with alchemy can be traced to unlock this secret.) They are
said to fulfill the second by absorbing gold into their
bodies.

A thorough analysis of alchemy, as practiced in different

eras and cultures, reveals that alchemists achieve both of
these goals with the help of mercury. According to Indian
and Chinese alchemical traditions, in fact, it is mercury,
not gold, that holds the highest position in the
evolutionary rank of elements. It is the power and mystery
of mercury that transforms base metals into gold of a
quality far superior to that which is found in nature. When

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this purified gold is again "fixed" with mercury and
absorbed into the body of an adept, it is said to have the
power to prolong life. Thus the majority of the texts on
alchemy, especially those concerned with mystical
experiences and enlightenment, consider mercury rather than
gold to be the center of this ancient science.

The Sanskrit word for alchemy is rasayana, literally, "the

abode of rasa (essence or sap.)" Rasayana is the science and
practice that deals with the essence of the universe, with
the essence of the life force, or the sap of life. In other
words, rasayana deals with the intrinsic vitality of a
living being. Its primary concern is to study the nature of
all substances to determine which particular one is the
essence of creation.

Alchemy arises from the premise that there is a perfect

equation between the human body and the universe - that
which exists in the universe can be found in the human body,
and vice versa. By knowing the essence of the substance that
makes up the body, the essence of the universe is also
known. Alchemists believe that this knowledge makes it
possible to preserve and retain the essence of life within
our bodies and thus attain youthful immortality. According
to these spiritual scientists, the knowledge of immortality
is identical with enlightenment - the cycle of birth and
death involves only those who do not have knowledge of
alchemy's immortal truth.

The essence of life in the human body is ojas - the

intrinsic brilliance that enables the stream of life to flow
continuously until it unites with cosmic existence,
consciousness, and bliss - sat chit ananda. Sexual energy
(virya), which reaches its highest expression in youth, is
the gross counterpart of ojas. Both ojas and virya are rasa,
and rasayana, or alchemy, is the science of knowing the
dynamics of ojas and virya. The counterpart of ojas and
virya outside the body is mercury, which is also called
"rasa" because mercury is the essence of all substances.
Taking mercury into the body increases rasa; by stabilizing
mercury in the body, the practitioner of rasayana prolongs
life. According to the yogis, mercury has another, higher
application, one that is revealed by a second term for it -
parada, meaning "that which takes you to the other shore of
life; that which grants enlightenment and freedom." By
employing these two terms - rasa and parada - for mercury,
yogis suggest that by using mercury it is possible to
overcome all diseases; maintain youth and vitality; prolong
life indefinitely; and unveil all mysteries related to
birth, death, the cycle of transmigration, and the
relationship between the microcosm and macrocosm.
Ultimately, all that which exists in the universe is
unveiled. Let's begin our examination of these claims with a
look at some data on its effect on the body.

The Medical Angle

Mercury is a metal, the only one that is liquid at room

temperature. This shiny substance, also known as

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quicksilver, is toxic and can be deadly if it enters the
body. It acts as a cumulative poison - that is, the body has
trouble eliminating it. Mercury evaporates at room
temperature and can be inhaled in vapor form. In liquid form
it can be swallowed or absorbed through the skin.

As reported in The Toxicological profile for Mercury,

published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, inhaling mercury causes nervous system disorders,
which intensify and become irreversible with continued
exposure. These include tremors, emotional instability,
insomnia, headaches, memory loss, and loss of the ability to
think clearly. Inhaling mercury also damages the respiratory
system, inducing coughing, shortness of breath, and burning
pains in the chest. In severe cases the lung tissue swells
and fills with fluids. This can lead to pneumonia,
emphysema, and scarring and even collapse of the lung.
Kidney damage, renal failure, rashes, fever, chills, and
elevated white blood counts are among the other consequences
of inhaling mercury vapor.

Mercury taken orally is lethal at a dose of 10 to 42

milligrams of mercury for a 150 pound adult. Death is caused
by shock, cardiovascular collapse, acute renal failure, and
sever gastrointestinal damage. In short, inhaling or
swallowing mercury has a devastating effect on the
respiratory, circulatory, nervous, gastrointestinal,
muscular, and cardiovascular systems, and it damages the
kidneys, liver, heart, brain, and reproductive organs.
Although these adverse effects are well documented, their
exact cause is open to question. Because the electron
structure of mercury is loose, many other metals readily
dissolve in it. According to the Chinese and Ayurvedic
systems of medicine, it is these impurities in mercury, such
as the presence of zinc, lead, and other minerals, that make
mercury toxic. Mercury is always found as part of a compound
in nature - most commonly in combination with sulfur in the
ore cinnabar.

According to Ayurvedic texts, eighteen steps are required to

purify mercury. Of these, only the first eight are
recommended for medicinal purposes and commonly practiced by
Ayurvedic physicians. The remaining ten steps, which are
obscure and have occult overtones, are used only for
purifying mercury in such a way that it can transform vulgar
metals into gold. Even more obscure are the methods for
applying purified mercury to the human body in order to
achieve spiritual goals. These are shrouded in mystery and
are revealed by the master alchemists only to select
students. Ancient texts such as Rasa Ratna Samuccaya, Rudra
Yamala, Goraksha Samhita, and the Hatha Yoga Pradipika touch
on the subject, but only enough to arouse our curiosity.

In every culture where alchemy has flourished, mercury has

always been intimately related to an esoteric or mystical
tradition. This can be seen in the Hellenistic, Islamic, and
Hermetic traditions, as well as in the Chinese tradition of
Taoism, and the Indian traditions of yoga and tantrism. All
emphasize secrecy. For example, in the esoteric text

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Rasanava, Shiva tells the Goddess, "The secret (of mercury)
is seldom known, even among the Gods," and in another text,
the Chinese mystic Ko Hung states, "Secrecy is thrown over
the efficacious recipes." Similarly, Western post
Renaissance alchemical literature is deliberately
incomprehensible. In all cultures, the knowledge of alchemy,
especially the direct use of mercury, was imparted only to
select initiates who were aiming at the radical
transformation of the human condition. It is these initiates
who are said to have obtained the elixir of immortality and
become immortal; they wander on the earth while concealing
their condition.

The mystical aspect of alchemy is most pronounced in Indian

and Chinese traditions. In both, cinnabar is considered to
be the precursor of the elixir of immortality; the
combination of mercury and sulfur in cinnabar has
metaphysical significance. In isolation mercury is a liquid.
It is the sulfur in cinnabar that keeps mercury in place.
Thus, the relationship between mercury and sulfur is like
that of Shiva and Shakti, pure consciousness and the force
of creativity, respectively. In tantric literature, mercury
is Shiva, symbolized by the linga, and sulfur is Shakti,
symbolized by the yoni. Shiva is able to manifest this
universe only when united with Shakti. Similarly, mercury is
able to manifest the elixir of immortality only when
embraced by sulfur.

Once it has been abstracted from cinnabar, mercury becomes

figuratively lifeless. It is also adulterated by other
metals and minerals in this state, and they must be removed
before the mercury is brought back to life by reuniting it
with sulfur. This second marriage of mercury and sulfur
forms vermilion, or artificial cinnabar. Mercury is again
isolated by heating vermilion to a high temperature, but
this time the mercury is awakened.

Yogic and Ayurvedic texts describe how to make mercury sweat

(svedana), how to massage it (mardana), how to make it faint
(murchhana), how to lift it (utthapana), how to drop it
(patana), how to awaken or educate it (bodhana), how to
control or discipline it (niyamana), and how to energize it
(depana.) Although following these eight steps is a long
process, Ayurvedic doctors maintain that only such purified
mercury is fit for medicinal preparations.

Mercury and Mysticism

The mystical tradition, which prescribes the application of

mercury along with the practice of asana, pranayama,
bandhas, murdras, and mantra japa, does not specify whether
"purified" or regular metallic mercury is required. (editor
note: unpurified mercury is poisonous.) The scriptures state
simply that mercury is taken into the body as part of
specific practices such as vajra siddhi (making the body as
strong and durable as a thunder bolt), khechara siddhi
(traveling through space), and tirodhana or antardhan siddhi
(becoming invisible.) According to some scriptures, mercury
is also used in the practice of mritasanjivani vidya (the

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science of restoring the dead to life.) But not a single
scripture describes the prerequisites and procedures for any
of these practices.

Most mercury-related practices are mentioned in the context

of mantra sadhana, implying in some places that mantra
siddhi is attained with the help of mercury, and in others
that one attains mercury siddhi by applying mantra siddhi.
But nowhere do the texts specify whether the mercury is
swallowed, inhaled, or rubbed into the skin - they simply
praise the practice and warn the practices related to
mercury are highly secret and cannot be explained. The
secret of rasayana vidya is safeguarded by the oral
tradition - it is transmitted only to those who are
qualified to receive it.

Only in regard to two practices - meditation on parada linga

and vajroli kriya - do the scriptures give us any idea of
how to use mercury to attain mystical or scriptural
experiences, but even here no prerequisites are given. The
first practice, meditation on parada linga, requires a shiva
linga made of solidified mercury. Specific practices related
to mantra, yantra, and tantra are done in its presence.

Because mercury is Shiva, a shiva linga made of solidified

mercury is considered to be superior to all others, and for
millennia alchemist mystics have known the secret of
solidifying mercury at room temperature. Hinduism Today
magazine recently carried an article about a sadhu from
Rishikesh who is known for making parada lingams. Of course,
neither this sadhu nor the scriptures share the knowledge of
how this is done.

The practice of vajroli kriya is mentioned in the texts of

hatha yoga and tantra. For example, it is listed among the
cleansing techniques in the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. This kriya
involves taking mercury into the body by sucking it up
through the generative organ. Because this organ is designed
for the outflow of fluids, not for intake, and because
mercury is quite dense, this practice requires thorough,
systematic preparation. The texts specify that those who
wish to practice vajroli kriya must first master the
techniques of aswini mudra, mula bhanda, agni sara, and
uddiyana, bandha in order to gain mastery over the pelvic
and abdominal regions. This enables the yogi to create a
vacuum in the pelvic and abdominal regions, which the
mercury flows in to fill. As preparation, the practitioner
first develops the ability to suck air into the bladder,
then switches to fluids - first to distilled water, then to
a mixture of milk and water, then to milk, then to sesame
oil, and finally to mercury. At least this is what the texts
say, although in my own search I have yet to meet a yogi who
can demonstrate the ability to take mercury into the body in
this manner.

The Hatha Yoga Pradipika does not describe this techniques

in sufficient detail to make practicing it possible because,
as commentators warn, it can be safely learned only under
the guidance of a qualified master. However, this text does

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specify the fruit of the practice - the attainment of deha
siddhi (perfection of the body.) Success in this practice
will lead to freedom from sickness, to extraordinary
strength, and possibly even to physical immortality.
According to the tantric texts, a number of other yogic
accomplishments are associated with taking mercury into the
body, including the mastery over sexual energy,
dematerializing and rematerializing oneself at will,
defeating death, knowledge of the past and future, visions
of devas and celestial realms, attainment of samadhi, and
enjoyment of everlasting bliss.

The yogis belonging to the natha tradition believe that one

of the most startling siddhis, asmita siddhi, mentioned in
the fourth chapter of the Yoga Sutra, is based solely on
alchemical applications of mercury. According to them,
aushadhi, one of the five means for attaining perfection in
asmita siddhi, is synonymous with "medicine." Through asmita
siddhi, a yogi attains a perfect realization of "I - am -
ness." In other words, self awareness is perfected and the
practitioner becomes a totally independent field of
consciousness. From this asmita (totally independent field
of consciousness), the yogi has the power to create his or
her personal mind (chitta) at will. This particular type of
mind, directly emerging from the asmita of an accomplished
yogi alchemist, is called nirmana chitta ( the self created
mind.) Unlike the minds of ordinary individuals, nirmana
chitta is not part of nature, and therefore it is not bound
by karmas and samskaras. Yogis of this caliber may also
create a body, known as nirmana kaya, at will, and yogis
like Buddha, Gorakha Natha, Matsyendra Natha, Chaurangi
Natha, and Swatmarama - the author of the Hatha Yoga
Pradipika - are said to walk in the flesh whenever they
choose through their nirmana kaya. Looking for Answers

Are these alchemical and mystical experiences induced by

mercury purely mythical? In our highly evolved scientific
era, all the elements, including mercury, are known to us to
down to the sub atomic level. Medical data clearly show that
mercury poses a health hazard. Are we missing something?
Chinese and Ayurvedic physicians use mercury in its
"purified" form. Does this purification alter it? If so,
how? After all, it is still mercury. Even if, for reasons
yet unknown to modern science, the sulfur, herbs, and other
minerals used in the process of purifying mercury change its
subtle properties, common sense does not permit us to ignore
the mass of scientific data on the havoc mercury wreaks in
the body.

What happens when mercury is drawn through the generative

organ and stored in the bladder? Mercury vaporizes at body
temperature, albeit slowly. Yogis raise the temperature of
their navel center and abdominal region at least ten degrees
higher than normal while using mercury. As the mercury
vaporizes, some it will be absorbed by the walls of the
bladder and the rest will move through the ureter into the
kidneys, from where it enters the bloodstream. When mercury
vapor enters our bloodstream through this route, do the
effects differ from those that result when it enters through

Page 57 of 119
the lungs?

Ayurveda regards mercury as the master medicine for all

diseases, and Ayurvedic preparations containing mercury are
used to cure illnesses accompanied by the symptoms of
dizziness, loss of memory, low energy, degeneration of
bodily tissues, and damage to heart, kidney, liver, lungs,
and brain. These are identical to the symptoms caused by
mercury poisoning. This is in line with the homeopathic
principle that similar cures similar, so it makes sense that
mercury is the medicine for such problems, whether or not
mercury poisoning is the case.

But the yogic claim that an earthly substance is so divine

that it can take us to the other shore of life seems
impossibly far-fetched - at least at first glance. It
implies that it is possible to use mercury to induce
mystical experiences; rejuvenate the body and lengthen life;
bring about the knowledge of past, present, and future; and
create the ground for a spiritual condition in which the
individual consciousness unites with universal
consciousness. But if we turn again to the basic principle
of homeopathy, we remember that mercury poisoning creates
mental dullness, depletes energy, shortens life, causes
confusion about the past, present, and future, and also
creates a sense of separation in the realm of consciousness
by causing the mind to become slow and spacey. In this
context, it does not seem so far-fetched to accept the
possibility that mercury, when properly applied, can remove
these problems and return us to a state of balance - which
the yogis would call awareness of our divine nature. At
least it makes an interesting area of inquiry, for science
is not able to support this hypothesis at present.

I have made my own search into the yogic application of

mercury. The yogis I met in the process fall into three
categories. The first are eager to speak of their prowess
with mercury, boasting that they have learned to take it in
through the generative organ and move it directly to the
crown of the head, where it showers them with yogic powers.
Unfortunately, these yogis display none of the signs and
symptoms of spiritual attainment. On the contrary, I found
them to be ignorant and full of greed and anxiety. As the
scriptures warn, "Do not trust one who begs, yet claims to
be an alchemist."

In the second category, I have met a few yogis who exhibit

some extraordinary yogic abilities and who are calm,
fearless, and full of joy. They have unfolded the virtue of
compassion and are able to cure others in many instances.
These yogis readily admit to experimenting with mercury and
suffering as a consequence. Swami Aghorananda of Gujrat is
an example. Rather than attaining perfection in
mercury-related practices, he damaged his body because he
was not able to find a qualified teacher to guide him. In
regard to the yogis in this category, I have never been able
to determine to my satisfaction whether the remarkable
curative powers they display are the result of
mercury-related practices, or predate them.

Page 58 of 119
Finally, there are a few rare yogis in the Himalayas in whom
the higher spiritual virtues blossom. Whatever they say
comes true; they can heal others simply by giving an
ordinary substance - a sip of water, a few blades of grass,
- as medicine. These yogis are gentle, tranquil, and free of
fear and confusion, and they display an unbelievable depth
of knowledge in all subjects. When I asked about vajroli
kriya, they made fun of it, saying that when your mind,
prana, and ojas have come to one point (bindu), then mercury
does what you tell it to do. One such yogi demonstrated the
ability to absorb mercury through his palms. According to
him, mercury is Shiva and you worship or propitiate Shiva
only after you have become Shiva (Shivo bhuto, shivam
yajete.) Therefore, the direct experience of Shiva
consciousness is the prerequisite for absorbing and
retaining mercury. One of these rare yogis asked me, "If you
have already attained, then why do you need mercury?" and
then answered his own question with a gentle smile, "That is
the mystery within the mystery."

When mercury is taken into your body it is absorbed in your

bloodstream, and mercury is an elixir only if you have
trained your blood vessels and other organs to recognize
mercury as Shiva. The yogi who has attained such a high
degree of mastery is called Shiva, the divine being who
drinks poison for the purpose of transmuting it and
distributing nectar to others. Only such yogis are fit for
the practice of rasayana vidya. It is good to aspire to such
a state, which can be attained by the help of a competent
teacher, sincerity, patience, perseverance, and God's grace.
But, as the scriptures warn repeatedly, never practice
unless you know what you are getting yourself into.
=======================================================
===
Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Ph. D. is the author of numerous
books on the philosophy and practice of Yoga. He is the
director of the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale
Pennsylvania USA.

External and Internal in Ge Hong’s Alchemy

by Evgueni A. Tortchinov - St. Petersburg State University, Russia

------------------------------------------------------------------------

External and Internal in Ge Hong’s Alchemy

by Evgueni A. Tortchinov
St. Petersburg State University, Russia)

The problem of shift from external alchemy (wai dan) to internal alchemy (nei dan) is one of the
most important for understanding of the history of Daoism as well as for elucidation of some
crucial questions of the history of science in China. Briefly speaking it can be summarized that
the practices of the inner alchemy (such as visualization, breathing control, different types of
contemplation, etc.) much older than the techniques of the laboratory alchemy (and moreover,
they compose the very core of the mainstream of the Daoist practical methods and techniques).

Page 59 of 119
Nevertheless, those techniques and methods obtained their systematic unity of a coherent
whole only borrowing the technical language, terminology and theoretical background of the
external alchemy.

The Six Dynasties (Liu chao) period is of extreme importance here. First of all, it was a time of
the maturity of the external alchemy when it flourished among the Daoists of all branches and
trends. Secondly, in this epoch there appeared the first signs of the beginning of the formation
of the inner alchemical tradition in the midst of the laboratory alchemy of wai dan.

This aim of this paper is to present some evidences of the process of transition from the external
to internal alchemy on the materials of Ge Hong’s "Baopuzi nei pian". It is interesting that this
classical and well known work is mostly treated as purely dedicated to the external alchemy. It
is certainly true but only to some extent. And it is moreover interesting and demonstrative that
even in such practical and experience oriented work as Baopuzi nei pian (henceforth, BPZNP)
the sprouts of the inner alchemical attitudes and approaches found their way of expression.

The most interesting for our purpose part of BPZNP is, certainly, its Chapter 18 Di zhen, or
"Earthly Truth". The contents of this chapter may be summarized as following.

1. Metaphysics of the Dao. Dao (the Way as the first cosmological and / or ontological principle)
was described here not only as Xuan yi, the hidden and unrevealed substance (analogical
functionally to Deus Absconditus of the theistic apophatic mysticism) but also as the self
revealing principle of Zhen yi, immanent to the very nature of the given empirically existing
things. If the Hidden Mysterious Dao has no form, or image, the manifested Dao of the True
One has image of its own. It can be supposed (though Ge Hong does not write it implicitly) that
signs of the presence of the True One can be found in every thing and being as "signatures" of
Dao (probably, the specific presence of the True One in some substances making them to be
spiritualized, ling, or shen; this spirituality in its turn makes such substances to be suitable for
the preparing of different elixirs. Briefly speaking, it is but a kind of especially subtle pnuema, qi.

2. Paraphysiology. Nevertheless, Ge Hong speaks in details about the manifestation of the True
One within the human body where the mystical signatures of Dao are cinnabar fields (dan tian).
Probably, Ge Hong is the first writer speaking about three cinnabar fields (earlier texts
mentioned only one dan tian, the centre in the lowest part of abdomen, beneath the navel). Ge
Hong describes cinnabar fields in metaphoric language. Here Ge Hong uses the term shou yi
(literally: "preservation of the One") which was the earliest designation of different Daoist
meditative and contemplative practices directly connected with the background of the inner
alchemy (the practices of shou yi are rather well known from such comparatively early texts as
the Classic of the Great Equanimity Taipingjing).

3. Ge Hong enumerates the following aims of the shou yi practices: protection from demoniac
attacks and influences, protection from armed enemies, protection from ilness and infections.
Therefore, it can be supposed that the function of these practices is purely protective. But some
passages from chapter 18 of BPZNP relate the contemplative techniques of the Preservation of
the One to the leading theme of Ge Hong’s discourse (i.e., obtaining of longevity and
immortality). For example:

"The only method of the prolongation of life and attainment of the state of immortal is but the
way of Gold and Cinnabar; the only method to preserve one’s body and to cut off the evil
influences is [contemplation] of the True One. Therefore the ancients extremely seriously
treated such affairs."

This passage describes the shou yi practices as complimentary to the "Great Work" of the way of
the external alchemy.

Some fragments of the second part of this chapter are even more interesting not only by their
contents but by their composition and structure as well.

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Semantical beginning of this part of the examined chapter is Ge Hong’s statement regarding the
metaphysical relations between the manifested Dao of the True One and the hidden Dao of the
Mysterious, or the Mysterious One (xuan yi). Ge Hong proclaims the equal importance of
purely meditative practices connected with the realization of the Mysterious One (described in
the opening chapter of BPZNP) and inner magic of the True One. Nevertheless, he states that
the True One practices are simpler than the Mysterious One practices. Moreover, the
preservation of the True One (shou zhen yi) is the most simple way to preserve, or keep the
Mysterious One as well because of their ontological unity (the manifested Dao is an "eye"
through which the hidden Dao "contemplates" the Universe).

The practices of the preservation of the One are the methods of obtaining different supernatural
powers (such as multiplication of the bodily form or contemplation of the hun-po souls within
one’s body).

The following passage seems as being irrelevant to the themes of the preceding section. Here Ge
Hong in rather eloquent manner speaks about the art of alchemy (making the Great Medicine
da yao or Golden Cinnabar jin dan) as hard work demanding great efforts and laborious
behaviour. But in reality it is but introduction to a new evaluation of the practices of
preservation of the One: the alchemical work leading to immortality is hard, it takes plenty of
time to fulfil it. Therefore the adept must do his best to keep his body in a good health being
protected against sickness as well as against demoniac attacks and malevolent influences of the
evil spirits and ghosts. Here Ge Hong mentions the shou yi practices together with the
contemplation of the inner spirits of the body (si shen) which also must to protect body against
all destructive forces.

Next theme of chapter 18 is the parallel between human body and state. In the first part of the
chapter Ge Hong already gave a highly symbolical description of the human body with its
subtle energetic centres (here the body obtained an image of the sacred mount of Kunlun with
its palaces and chambers of immortals; astral imaginary of constellations was also important for
this passage). At the concluding part of the chapter Ge Hong simply in a rather traditional way
gives analogies between parts of the body and functions of the state. His conclusion: to master
tone’s own body is the same as to master the state; pneumata (qi) of the body is the same as
common people (min) in the state. The Daoist practitioner must nourish the pneumata like lord
of the state who must take care of his subjects. Here Ge Hong states that the presence of the
True One in the body as a result of the cultivation of pneuma gives piece and stability to "three
and seven", that is souls of hun and po. It will lead to the prolongation of life (nian ming yan) and
the elimination of all evil (bai hai que). The shou yi practices are extremely helpful (even in a
greater degree than the amulets and charms described in chapter 17 of BPZNP) for exorcisms in
the wilderness of remote mountains and forests where the Daoists prefer to cultivate their
alchemical skill.

Therefore, it can be said that Ge Hong evaluates the inner practices of shou yi as having only
subsidiary character. They are necessary for providing the practitioner of external alchemy (the
principal method) with safety and ease. Nevertheless, they are necessary for the alchemical
adept, and only fools are able to ignore them: "If only three gates of four are locked, the robbers
can enter the building. And what can be done if all four gates are opened!" It is substantial that
Ge Hong looks for a kind of harmony between external and internal methods of the Daoist
cultivation. The leading role of the external methods still exists but the function of the inner
cultivation becomes a very important, too.

Here it looks reasonable to examine the elements of the inner cultivation within the frames of
the external laboratory alchemy as such.

It is impossible to divide technical, magical and ritualistic aspects of the alchemical approaches
of Ge Hong. He denies the idea of the automatic, or mechanical effect of the elixirs, combining
the technical and chemical procedures with fasting, prayers and purification (chapter 4 jin dan
pian). Everywhere in BPZNP Ge Hong stresses the importance of such practices as gymnastics
(dao yin), control over pneumata (xing qi) and sexual techniques (fang zhong zhi shu) all of
which were closely related to the formation of the system of inner alchemy. Certainly, Ge Hong

Page 61 of 119
was sure that all those methods could not lead the adept to his final goal, that is, immortality
but nevertheless, he believed that all of them were extremely valuable, helpful and even
necessary as subsidiary and additional means to prolong adept’s life or to protect him from evil
and harmful influences.

In another words, Ge Hong was a master of external alchemy which was thought of him to be
the highest way to immortality but 1) this external alchemy included in itself some elements of
the inner doing (purifications, sacral bathing, fasting, prayer, meditation, etc.) and 2) he
believed in the great efficacy of the inner practices as subsidiary means of macrobiotic and
protective character.

Besides chapter 18 the term shou yi is occurred two times in chapters 3 and 5 of BPZNP.

The first case (chapter 3) is a verse from unknown classic of immortals (xian jing): "Those who
eat medicines and keep / preserve the One (shou yi) can obtain the longevity of Heaven; those
who practice ‘returning of semen’ (huan jing) and ‘embryonic breath’ (tai xi) can prolong their
life making it unlimited (wu ji)."

The second case (chapter 5) is the following: "The cause of death is a deficiency: old age, harm
derived from ilness or inner venoms or the influences of the bad pneuma or cold and wind.
Because of this there exist means and methods of gymnastics, control over pneumata, returning
of semen to nourish the brain, diet regulations as well as principles of rest and action, eating of
the medicines, contemplation of spirits (si shen) and preservation of the One..."

It is obvious that here shou yi is mentioned in the list of other inner practices of subsidiary kind
and palliative importance however useful and effective they are. Therefore, it can be said that
BPZNP has a room for the inner practices but all of them are allowed to play only secondary
roles.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that Ge Hong’s treatise is one of the earliest examples of the
beginning of the shift from purely external to combined and even purely internal alchemy. In
more radical terms, it is possible to suppose that the element of the inner practices was included
in the laboratory alchemy from its very beginning but the religious and cultural situation of the
Six Dynasties period produced some important conditions for actualization of the hidden
internal elements, their development and gradual formation of the system known to us as the
"inner alchemy" (nei dan). And Ge Hong’s classic stands at the beginning of this process which
became of crucial importance for the subsequent history of the Daoist religion.

Wei Po-yang, the father of Alchemy--142 A.D.

 
PUBLISHED BY FISHER SCIENTIFIC CO., PITTSBURGH, PA., and MONTREAL, CANADA
VOLUME SIX: NUMBER THREE 
------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                                  (Reg . U.S. Pat. Off.)

For Those Interested in Keeping Informed on the Latest Developments

of Laboratory Apparatus and Technique

Chinese Alchemy

Page 62 of 119
FOUR centuries before the Christian era Chinese philosophers were delving into the black arts
of alchemy, trying to determine a means of prolonging the life of man. Alchemy, so far as we
now know, had its birth in China

The early Egyptians and Assyrians who were skilled in the various arts of making pigments,
dyes, glass and enamel, did not seek an elixir of immortality or attempt to transmute base
metals into gold, therefore they were not alchemists.

One of the earliest Chinese legends tells of the island of Yong Chou on which was a mountain of
pure jade, 10,000 feet high. From this mount gushed a spring of sweet waters, known as the
Jade-Wine Spring. A person drinking several goblets of this wine became intoxicated, thus
assuring himself of immortality.

The earliest known Chinese treatise on alchemy was written by Wei Po-yang, the "Father of
Alchemy." His work, called Ts'an T'ung Ch'i, was written about 142 A.D., in which he refers to
earlier traditional manuscripts on alchemy. The three or four centuries before Wei Po-yang were
spent in trying to transmute base metals into gold, though not for its intrinsic value, but because
it was thought that this synthetic gold could produce longevity. Even to eat from dishes made
from synthetic gold insured one of this ideal state. Cinnabar, or red mercuric sulphide, was also
thought to be another elixir of immortality.

Chinese alchemy was founded upon the fundamentals of Wu-hsing (the Five Elements) and
Yin-Yang (the Contraries). The Five Elements were water, fire, wood, gold and earth. The
Contraries were substances, the interaction of which created all things in the universe. Quite
similar were these concepts to those of the Egyptian philosophers.

Numerology is no modern humbug, for these early concepts enjoyed the magic of numbers. In
these early days of old China, number five was magical-five elements, five seasons, five
locations, five colors, five tones, five tastes, five internal organs, five ways of righteous conduct,
five grains, five domesticated animals and many other quintets of glamorous notoriety.

The production or creation of all things was made possible by the doctrine of Yin-Yang, "the
Contraries." In the Yin-Yang theory, Yin was the female principle, heavy, gross, cold, dark;
while Yang was the male principle, light, active and fiery (Chinese values). Father of Alchemy,
Wei Poyang, in his book, identifies Yang and Yin with the sun and moon. "The father of it is the
Moon," said the alchemist Hermes Trismegistos.

Wei Po-yang was a Taoist philosopher and alchemist, a native of Wu in the province of
Kiangsu. In the year 121 A.D. he was offered a position at court but refused this honor. In the
epilogue of his Ts'an T'ung Ch'i he describes himself as "a lowly man from the country of Kuei,
who has no love for worldly power, glory, fame or gains, who wastes his days leading a simple,
quiet, leisurely and peaceful life in a retreat in an unfrequented valley."

This Chinese classic of Wei Po-yang is really a thesis on the preparation of the Pill of
Immortality. The Chinese biography of Immortals says that he "entered the mountains to make
efficacious medicine. With him were three disciples, two of whom he thought were lacking in
complete faith. When the medicine was made he tested them. He said, 'The gold medicine is
made but it ought first to be tested on the dog. If no harm comes to the dog we may then take it
ourselves; but if the dog dies of it we ought not to take it.' (Now Po-yang had brought a white
dog along with him to the mountains. If the number of the treatments of the medicine had not
been sufficient or if harmonious compounding had not reached the required standard, it would
contain a little poison and would cause temporary death.) Po-yang fed the medicine to the dog
and the dog died an instantaneous death. Whereupon he said, 'The medicine is not yet done.
The dog has died of it. Doesn't this show that the divine light has not been attained? If we take it
ourselves I am afraid we shall go the same way as the dog. What is to be done?' The disciples
asked, 'Would you take it yourself, Sir?' To this Po-yang replied, 'I have abandoned the worldly
route and forsaken my home to come here. I should he ashamed to return if I could not attain

Page 63 of 119
the hsien (immortal). So, to live without taking the medicine would be just the same as to die of
the medicine. I must take it.' With these final words he put the medicine into his mouth and
died instantly.

"On seeing this, one of the disciples said, 'Our teacher was no common person. He took the
medicine and died of it. He must have done that with especial intention.' The disciple also took
the medicine and died. Then the other two disciples said to one another, 'The purpose of
making medicine is to attempt at attaining longevity. Now the taking of this medicine has
caused deaths. It would better not to take the medicine and so be able to live a few decades
longer.' They left the mountain together, without taking the medicine, intending to get burial
supplies for their teacher and their fellow disciple. After the departure of the two disciples, Po-
yang revived. He placed some of a well-concocted medicine in the mouth of the disciple and in
the mouth of the dog. In a few moments they both revived. He took the disciple, whose name
was Yü, and the dog, and went the way of immortals. By a wood--cutter, whom they met, he
sent a letter of thanks to the two disciples. The two disciples were filled with regrets when they
read the letter."

Chinese Embroidery

Dr. Tenney L. Davis and Dr. Lu-Chiang Wu, both of Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
have recently translated and edited the works of Wei Po-yang. Dr. Wu's Translation published
with Dr. Davis' Introduction and Complete Notes appeared in Isis 18, 210-289. It is the first
translation into any European language of an entire Chinese treatise on alchemy. Some passages
of this work are as beautifully and skillfully compiled as Chinese embroidery is woven.

The work of Wu and Davis enlarges the history of alchemy and places its beginning in China
where Chinese writers have provided it with a romantic and poetic halo.

The following passages of the translations are gems of epic beauty that will appeal to the
modern laboratory man whose prosaic duties sometimes become monotonous. (The style of
this, however, is not recommended for writing research reports.)

"When gold is placed in a hot fire it is not deprived of the brilliancy of its color. Since the days of
the unfolding of the universe (Creation) the sun and the moon have not diminished in
brightness nor has gold lost any weight. The shapes of the sun and of the moon have always
been the same. Gold is born under the influence of the moon. At daybreak, receiving magic
force from the sun, it returns to its mother. Being enveloped by the sun at the wane of the moon,
it hides within the walls and abandons itself to inanity. Thus does the gold regain its original
nature. Only when intense brightness is obtained is the Ting (furnace-pot) well heated.

Chinese Mortar and Pestle

"Longevity is of primary importance in the great triumph. Huan Tan (Returned Medicine) is
edible. Gold is non-corruptible in its nature and is therefore the most valuable of things. The
Shu Shih (Men of the Art, Magicians) feeding on it attain longevity. Earth, traveling in all
seasons, delineates the boundaries and formulates rules to be observed. The Chin Sa (Gold
Dust), having entered the five internal organs, spreads foggily like wind-driven rain. (Clinical
technicians, please note.) Vaporizing and permeating it reaches the four limbs. Thereupon the
complexion becomes rejuvenated, hoary hair regains its blackness, and new teeth grow where
fallen ones used to be. If an old man, he will once more become a youth; if an old woman, she
will regain her maidenhood. Such transformations make one immune from worldly miseries,
and one who is so transformed is called by the name of T'sun Jen (True Man).

"Things found in nature, when given proper help according to their kind, will result in things
easy to improve. (A prophecy for the Twentieth Century.) Fish eyes cannot replace pearls, and
tall weeds cannot be used for timber. Things of similar nature go together; queer things cannot
be realized. This explains why the swallow does not give birth to peacocks and the fox and the
rabbit do not mother horses. This explains also why flowing water does not heat up what is
above it, and why moving fire does not wet what is under it.

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"The bark of the Nieh tree dyes yellow and the Lan (indigo) dyes blue; the boiling of hides
yields glue; and the Ch'u Nieh (yeast) ferments to give liquor. It is easy to get results when the
starting materials and the desired products are of the same kind. Otherwise, it is very difficult.

"The aspirant should study this thoughtfully and thoroughly, viewing it from all angles. A
thousand readings will bring out some points, and ten thousand perusals will enable him to see.
At last, revelation will come to bring him enlightenment. Careful study will open the door to
the secrets. Nature's Tao (way) shows no partiality, but reveals to all who are worthy."

This authentic manuscript of Wei Po-yang thus very definitely traces the ancestors of modern
chemistry to the land of Oriental beginnings, four centuries before the birth of Christ. Until the
archeologists unearth evidence to the contrary, we are safe in saying chemistry began in China.
 
 
This illustration and the one on the cover are reproductions from woodcuts made in the first century.
Liu An and one of the hsien who taught him the art. The barnyard animals. having eaten the
material which remained in the vessels after the preparation of the medicine, also ascended into
the clouds. 

Origins of the Element Names

Names of Substances Known by Alchemists

The ancient Greeks suspected that there must be basic or elementary substances, but they
lacked a procedure to determine which substances were elementary.  Empedocles selected
earth, water, air and fire because they seem to be found in nearly all materials.  For example,
water is essential for life, and is typically released when materials are heated.  Aristotle adopted

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Empedocles' four earthly elements (and added a fifth, Æther, as the basis of the apparently
different heavenly objects).  The ancients knew about many other substances, but because they
were less common, they were not considered elementary.

The four earthly elements remained part of accepted theory for over 2000 years.  The Greek four
elements were incorporated into the arts of alchemy.  In their search for formulations for
producing desirable substances such as gold, alchemists became convinced that precisely
measured proportions are essential. 

Inconsistencies with the expected changes in weight, variations in air produced from diverse
source materials, and the realization that vacuums are possible eventually lead to doubts about
the four element theory.  In his first book Robert Boyle (1627-1691) presented a series of
experiments using an air pump (shown behind him at age 37) to create a vacuum.    In his
second book, Sceptical Chymist (1661) Boyle proposed that an element is “certain primitive and
simple, or perfectly unmingled bodies; which not being made of any other body, or of one
another, are the ingredients of which all those called perfectly mixt bodies are immediately
compounded, and into which they are ultimately resolved.”

A century later Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794) explained the advantages of Boyle's

proposal considering elements as those substances which are not further separable.  The
substance's weight would be the key to determine if a change was due to combination or
separation.  Adding to a substance would increase weight; removal of a component would
reduce weight.  This new procedure lead Lavoisier to propose a new chemistry with a revised
list of elements.  The elements below were all known to ancient cultures, but not thought to be
"elementary" prior to Lavoisier.

Lavoisier was raised by a maiden aunt.   His father, a wealthy Parisian lawyer provided the best
available education at the Collège Mazarin.   He learned chemistry from Rouelle who was
renown for following Bourdelain's popular chemistry lectures with demonstrations which often
did more to show reality varied with theory.   In 1766 Lavoisier accompanied a mineral survey
of Alsace and Lorraine and won a prize for his essay analyzing methods for lighting a large
city.  In 1868, at age 25, he was elected to the Académie Royale des Sciences based on his geology
work and purchased a partial membership in the Ferme Générale, a firm empowered to collect
French taxes.   Three years later he married the not quite 14 year-old daughter of another
member of the Ferme.  (Marie and Antoine shown at right)   She became an accomplished
linguist helping Lavoisier understand and correspond with English chemists.   As his silent
partner in science, Marie also drew the sketches for his books and kept his notes.

When in 1775 Lavoisier was appointed régisseur des poudres, they moved into the Arsenal, set up
a laboratory, and following their study of the quality of saltpeter, improved French gunpowder
from the worst in Europe to the best.   Here they met with scientific leaders from Europe and
America (Jefferson and Franklin), experimented with and weighed combustion of diamond,
sulfur, and phosphorus, calcination of metals and the connection with respiration, and
formulated the revolutionary chemistry.

By 1789 French economic instability left Lavoisier little time to continue research. Lavoisier had
devoted much of his life to public service.   He had reformed the salt tax, instituted uniform
moisture to tobacco to make it less brittle, reduced smuggling by having a wall built around
Paris, written reports encouraging prison reform and hospital reform, experimented with
methods to improve French agriculture and helped found the Society of Agriculture.   These and
his association with the Académic des Sciences and his work on developing a logical metric
system to replace chaotic regional systems or measurement antagonized men like Jean Paul
Marat who wrote pamphlets of half truths against learned societies of the aristocracy which had
excluded him.   Lavoisier was accused and found guilty of ruining air quality with the city wall,
of adulterating tobacco with water, and transferring powder from the Arsenal at a time that
endangered public safety.   Lavoisier was guillotined on May 8, 1794.
Carbon in the forms of charcoal and soot must have been known to the earliest humans.   In
Roman times charcoal was made by the same chemistry as it is today, by heating wood in a
pyramid covered with clay to exclude air.   (The woodcut shows two stages in the manufacture

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of wood charcoal.)   In 1704 Sir Isaac Newton proposed that diamonds must be combustible.  
In 1772 Lavoisier demonstrated that charcoal, graphite, and diamond contain the same
substance.   He demonstrated that a strongly heated diamond sealed from air by clay loses no
weight.   When heated in a bell jar with air over water or mercury a diamond loses weight, air
dimishes 12% by volume, and fixed air (CO2) is produced.   Thus the destruction of a diamond,
as with other forms of this substance, is combustion.   Lavoisier called the element carbone to
distinguish it from charbon (French) for charcoal.   Carbon (C = #6): (Latin) = Carbonis
(Greek) = charcoal (English).   Smithson Tennant confirmed in 1797 that diamonds are solely
Carbon by combining a weighed diamond with saltpeter in a Gold tube.

Gold nuggets are found naturally in stream-beds because Gold is more dense (19g/cm3) than
most soils.   Gold ornaments have been found in prehistoric tombs.   The early books of the Bible
describe using Gold as a medium of exchange (money).   The name Gold (Anglo-Saxon) is
related to yellow, which in Anglo-Saxon was called geolo; that derived from jval (Sanskrit)
meaning “to shine.” Aurum (Au = #79) came from hari (sanskrit) meaning yellow.   Aurora
was the goddess of dawn.  

Silver rarely occurs uncombined in nature so its discovery and use followed Gold.   Silver was
rarer and more costly than Gold in Eqypt between the 13th and 15th centuries BC.   But by the
time the Phoenicians made their first voyage to Spain, they found silver abundant.   Silver =
Silfr (Norse) and soelfor (Anglo-Saxon) have unknown origins.   Argentum (Ag = #47):
(Latin) originates from argunas: (Sanskrit) meaning shining.  

Copper is found as a native metal in Eqypt and other locations, and can be made from malachite
ore by a simple process.   Copper (Cu = #29): Kyprion (Greek) = cuprum (Latin) The ore aes
cyprium was named after Cypern where malachite was obtained.   Cypern bears its name after
the cypress tree called Kyparissos.

Iron was probably made by Egyptians and Hittites about 3000 B.C.   Furnaces were used to
smelt Iron but the ancient processes were kept secret.   About 1200 B.C. the Hittite Empire
collapsed and iron workers dispersed spreading the technology and starting the Iron Age.   The
English name Iron = Iren (Anglo-Saxon) is of uncertain origin.   Ferrum (Fe = #26) may be
from Hebrew or Arabic.

Lead ores are widely distributed and easily smelted.   The Romans used Lead for water-pipes,
writing tablets, coins, and cooking utensils.   Lead poisoning was frequent but poorly
understood in the Roman civilization.   The English name Lead is of unknown origin, but
perhaps related to lodd (Norse) and Lot (Germanic).   Plumbum (Pb = #82): Lead was called
plumbum nigrum (black lead) by the Romans to distinguish it from tin, plumbum candidum
(white lead).   Plumbum (Latin) is possibly related to Molybdos (Greek) also meaning lead.   In
Scandinavian languages and German, lead is called bly or Blie, words originating from Bhlie
(Indo-European) meaning shine.

Tin containing bronzes were being made 3000BC, perhaps before the discovery of metallic Tin.  
Julius Caesar noted production of Tin in the midland regions of Britain.   In the first century AD
the Romans referred to Tin as plumbum album (white lead) to distinguish it from Lead which
they called plumbum nigrum (black lead).   Pliny wrote that “the best (mirrors) known to our
forefathers were made at Brundisium from a mixture of Copper and stagnum. The English name
Tin is of unknown origin, perhaps tina (Germanic) for shiny little stick.   The Latin name
Stannum: (Sn = #50) is connected to stagnum and stag (Indo-European) for dripping because
Tin melts easily.

Mercury was known to ancient Chinese, Hindus, and Egyptians.   The native ore cinnabar
(HgS) was used as a colored pigment (vermilion), and heated or rubbed with vinegar in a
brass mortar and pestle to produce the quicksilver.   (The woodcut shows Mercury stills,
1540AD.)   The name Mercury is from Mercury, the Roman god of messengers, and the planet
Mercury.   Hg (# = 80): Hydrargyrum from hydro-argyros (Greek) for water-silver since
mercury is a shiny liquid.

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Platinum, like Gold, can be found as grains and nuggets in alluvial sands because it is more
dense (21g/cm3) than most soils.   But unlike Gold, Platinum could not be melted by any
primitive source of heat.   So Platinum had little use until it could be combined and shaped by
melting.   Platinum (Pt = #78): Plata (Spanish) for silver, -ina is a diminutive suffix.   Platinum
looks like silver.   Platinum was used by South Americans long before Columbus.   The use of
Platinum was imported to Europe from South America by the Spanish.

Sulfur must have been know to ancient neighbors of natural deposits.   Pliny the Elder (Roman)
described Italian and Sicilian deposits and medicinal uses, bleaching cloth with Sulfur vapors,
and manufacture of Sulfur matches and lamp-wicks.   Georgius Agricola (1494-1555 above left)
in De Re Metallica described matches ignited by friction on stone and the use of Sulfur in the
manufacture of gunpowder.   (The woodcut shows distillation of Sulfur, 1557AD.)   Early
alchemists thought Sulfur was responsible for combustion and therefore must be related to the
element fire. The influential alchemist Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan suggested that metals were
compounds of Sulfur and Mercury.   This made Mercury and Sulfur more important substances
to alchemists than other materials.   The name Sulfur (S = #16): Schwefel-/svovel/svavl
(German & Scandinavian) originated from suelphlos (Indo-European), which is derived from
swel meaning to burn slowly.

Primary Information Sources:

* Mary Elvira Weeks, Discovery of the Elements, Journal of Chemical Education, 1945
* Aaron J. Ihde, The Development of Modern Chemistry, Dover, 1964 & 1984
* Mary Ellen Bowden, Chemical Achievers, Chemical Heritage Foundation, 1997
* Boyle image re-engraved by François Diodata from original engraving by William
Faithorne, Edgar Fahs Smith Collection, U of Penn.
* Lavoisier painting by Jacques Louis David, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Purchase, Mr.
and Mrs. Charles Wrightsman Gift, 1977
* Mercury stills from Biringuccio's Pirotechnic, 1540
* Manufacture of Charcoal from Biringuccio's Pirotechnic, 1540

Alchemy
Program 23
Lesson 4.1

 
Questions
1.1. Name and briefly describe some of the chemical skills possessed by the ancients?
1.2. Why was carbon an important substance to the ancients?
1.3. In Aristotle's scheme what is the relationship between elements and essential qualities of
matter?
1.4. Why did the Greek philosophers reject the concept of atoms?
1.5. Discuss the relationship between atoms and elements.
1.6. What is the alchemical significance of the the number seven?
1.7. What is alchemy?
1.8. Compare and contrast alchemy in the Far East, the Middle East, in Greece, and in
medieval Europe.
1.9. Why did alchemists believe that substances could become more noble?
1.10. Describe the goals and accomplishments of alchemy.
1.11. Were all alchemists charlatans or fools? Discuss the concept.
1.12. Discuss the difference between Aristotle's concept of element and that of an alchemists?

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1.13. In what ways does alchemy differ from chemistry?
Text References
1.1. Spielberg and Anderson, none.
1.2. Booth and Bloom pp. 223-224; 226-227
Coming Up

Summary
1. Introduction
2. Ancient Chemical Skills
3. Ancient Elements
4. Rocks to Metal
5. Aristotle's Elements
6. Atomist Theory
7. Seven Metals, Seven Days, Seven Planets
8. Alchemy
9. Goals of Alchemy
10. Accomplishments of Alchemy
11. Elements of Alchemy
12. Alchemy vs. Chemistry
 

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Objectives

1. Describe and discuss the use of chemical technology among ancient peoples
2. List and describe the properties of the elements known to ancient civilizations
3. Describe the process of smelting ores and discuss the significance of the role of carbon in
the process
4. Associate the seven ancient metals with the days of the week
5. Discuss the Greek concept of atoms and their rejection of it
6. Describe Aristotle's elements and the qualities associated with them
7. Discuss the mystical aspects of alchemy as models for folklore
8. Distinguish between Eastern and Western alchemy in terms of goals and methods
9. Describe the concept of the hierarchy of matter
10. Distinguish Aristotle's concept of elements from that of the alchemist
11. Describe the goals and objectives of alchemy in modern terms
1. Introduction
1.1. It is often thought that alchemy provided the roots for chemistry, that chemistry grew out
of alchemy as a natural evolution of understanding.
1.2. This is not entirely true, and we don't want to leave you with that impression.
1.3. But, it is helpful to consider alchemy in our adventure for at least four reasons.

1.3.1. First, it was based on Aristotle's cosmology, at least in Europe and the Mideast
1.3.2. Second, the concept of an element as a fundamental constituent of matter took a radical
turn in Newton's time. We need to compare and contrast this change along with the gradual
drift of the concept away from Aristotle's four elements.
1.3.3. Third, although crude, labors of alchemy sorted out processes and properties of
substances (apparatus and manipulative techniques) which proved useful in chemical
studies once the concept of weight was introduced late in the eighteenth century.
1.3.4. Fourth was the idea of a formal symbolic language for practitioners of the "art."
1.4. The properties without reflect the spirits within
1.5. Alchemy is as much of an anthropological as physical science

1.5.1. Jung: Psychology and Alchemy

1.5.1.1. correspondence between alchemical symbolism and dreams

1.5.2. Arthur J. Hopkins: Practical procedures involving dyeing and color changes
1.5.3. Mircea Eliade: Religion and Myth
1.6. Definition: Alchemy is a cosmic art by which parts of that cosmos - the mineral and
animal parts - can be liberated from their temporal existence and attain states of perfection,
gold in the case of minerals and for humans, longevity, immortality, and finally redemption.
Such transformations can be brought about on the one hand, by the use of a material
substance such as the philosopher's stone or elixir or, on the other hand, by revelatory
knowledge or psychological enlightenment

1.7. material (exoteric) and spiritual (esoteric) aspects

1.8. arose independently in various places
1.9. singular, unique origin or diverse, multi-cultural origin

1.9.1. metallurgy ==> embryonic growth of metals inside the womb of mother earth
1.10. later linkages and influences commonized ideas

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1.10.1. elixir of life in Indian and Chinese, but not in Greek, makes its way to Europe via
Arabic alchemy
1.11. two operational concepts

1.11.1. aurifiction: imitation of gold, the realm of artisans

1.11.1.1. fraud or "synthetic" material?

1.11.2. aurifaction: belief in gold-making, the realm of natural philosophers
2. Ancient Chemical Skills
2.1. use of fire
2.2. applied chemical arts and technologies
2.3. metallurgy, glass, pottery, fermentation, explosives, cooking, perfumes, dyes and paints
2.4. reached sophisticated levels by middle ages
3. Ancient Substances and Elements
3.1. knew them as substances, but not elements
3.2. concept of elemental substance begins with Greeks
3.3. element = basic, first principle
3.4. sulfur

3.4.1. odd yellow appearance

3.4.2. burns with blue flames and smelly fumes
3.4.3. leaves no residue when burned
3.4.4. associated with quality of combustibility
3.4.5. fumes associated with volcanic activity
3.4.6. word comes from Sanskrit: copper destroyer
3.4.7. thought to be active agent in mineral formation
3.4.8. also called brimstone
3.5. mercury

3.5.1. a liquid metal

3.5.2. thought to represent passive substance in mineral formation
3.5.3. easiest of all metals to extract from ore
3.6. carbon

3.6.1. occurs as charcoal and coal

3.6.2. key to releasing metallic elements from ores
3.6.3. reducing agent steals oxygen from metals
3.7. gold

3.7.1. won't react chemically

3.7.2. doesn't tarnish
3.7.3. noble element
3.7.4. always found uncombined

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3.8. silver

3.8.1. tarnishes slightly

3.8.2. beautiful surface luster and color
3.8.3. usually found uncombined
3.9. copper

3.9.1. occasionally found in native state

3.9.2. usually found combined as ore
3.9.3. smelted in Britain and Europe from 2200 B.C.
3.9.4. alloyed with lead and tin to form bronze
4. Rocks to Metal
4.1. ores reduce to metals when heated with carbon

4.1.1. how difficult to discover

4.1.2. describe process
4.2. discovery of smelting was a major technological step
4.3. stone age --> bronze age --> iron age
4.4. seven metals known in ancient times

4.4.1. gold, silver, iron, mercury, tin, copper, lead

4.4.2. gold and silver valued as wealth
4.4.3. copper alloyed with tin and lead to form bronze
4.4.4. iron falls to earth in meteorites, but otherwise never occurs uncombined
4.4.5. mercury is liquid at room temperatures

4.4.5.1. coats and alloys with gold and other metals

4.4.5.2. one ore reduces with fire alone
5. Aristotle's Elements and Qualities

5.1. generated from one primary matter

5.1.1. like clay onto which qualities could be impressed

5.1.2. formed quartet of elementary substances
5.2. earth, air, fire, water
5.3. linked with essential qualities
5.4. material substances could be analyzed into four components

5.5. Elements and Qualities

5.5.1. substances were combinations of elements and elemental qualities

5.5.2. essential qualities establish central character of a substance
5.5.3. four elements bound together by the moist quality
5.5.4. Fire is ideal mixture of hotness & dryness

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5.5.5. one element could be changed into another
5.5.6. add moisture at expense of dryness to transform fire into air
5.5.7. combustion was considered a type of motion (alteration)
5.5.8. wood --> fire, air, earth (ashes), water (condensation)
6. Atomist Theory
6.1. Greek philosophers considered whether matter was infinitely divisible or was composed
of indivisible particles
6.2. atomist school was led by Democritus in 5th century B.C.

6.2.1. only existing things are atoms and empty space

6.2.2. early representation of atomic bonding
6.3. Atomism lost out to Aristotle's authority

6.3.1. Pythagoreans gave up atomic concept because it required irrational numbers

6.3.1.1. could not put countable (integral) number of atoms along hypotenuse of most right
triangles
6.3.1.2. assumes atoms are all the same size as well as indivisible
6.3.2. a different concept of space
6.3.3. four elements were continuous, fluidlike
6.3.4. no connection between atoms and elements
7. Seven Metals, Seven Days and Seven Planets

 
8. Alchemy
Two Views of Alchemist's Labs

8.1. Introduction
8.2. Middle Eastern Alchemy
8.3 Chinese Alchemy
8.4 Greek Alchemy
8.5 Models For Folklore
8.6 Hierarchy of Matter

8.1. Introduction
8.1.1. Alchemy became a science when technology of dyes and metallurgy confronted and
amalgamated with theories of matter and change

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8.1.2. Alchemy grew independently at many different locations in different cultures.

8.1.2.1. any culture that had metallurgy

8.1.3. Archetypal

8.1.3.1. C.G. Jung noted that there are similarities between the emblems, symbols, and
drawings used in European alchemy and the dreams of ordinary twentieth-century people.
8.1.3.1.1. because alchemical activities were concerned with a spiritual quest to make sense of
the universe
8.1.3.1.2. manifests in different forms in different cultures at different times
8.1.4. Modern Definition (repeated from introduction)
8.1.4.1. Alchemy is a cosmic art by which parts of that cosmos - the mineral and animal parts -
can be liberated from their temporal existence and attain states of perfection: gold in the case
of minerals, and for humans, longevity, immortality and redemption.
8.1.4.2. Such transformations can be brought about on one hand by the use of a material
substance such as the 'philosopher's stone' or elixir, or, on the other hand by revelatory
knowledge or psychological enlightenment.
8.1.4.3. It is clear from this definition that there were two kinds of alchemical activity: the
exoteric or material and the esoteric or spiritual, which could be pursued separately or
together, but that time was a significant element. Perfection takes time to attain, but the hope
was that the alchemist could find methods to speed up these processes.
8.1.5. Name comes from Arabic

8.1.5.1. Alchemy = Al Khem = black soil (of Nile delta)

8.1.6. Aristotle's knowledge was all that was available

8.1.6.1. served as a paradigm for investigations

8.1.6.2. paradigm became corrupted with time
8.1.6.3. Hellenistic scientists had interest in experimentation which would prove Aristotle's
theories to be correct.
8.1.7. Alchemical paradigm was closely associated with mysticism

8.1.7.1. difficult to read alchemists' writings

8.1.7.2. secret, metaphorical, technical language arose

8.1.7.2.1. to maintain a closed shop

8.1.7.2.2. conceal knowledge from the uninitiated
8.1.7.2.3. became more and more picturesque and fanciful
8.1.7.2.4. "The grey wolf devours the King, after which it is buried on a pyre, consuming the
wolf and restoring the King to life."

8.1.7.2.4.1. refers to extraction of gold from alloys by skimming off lesser metal sulfides and
roasting of the gold antimony alloy until antimony evaporates and pure gold remains
8.1.7.2.4.2. no less mystifiing than "dehydrohalogenate vicinal dihalides with amide ion to
provide alkynes"

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8.1.7.3. being secretive is a part of mysticism

8.1.7.3.1. from Gk. musterion = secret rite

8.2. Middle Eastern Alchemy
8.2.1. Greek alchemy spread to Arabs, who combined it with ideas and practices of Indian
and Chinese
8.2.2. It reached Latin west in eleventh century along with other Arabic translations
8.2.3. This is most likely the origin of the ideas of the philosopher's stone and potable gold
(elixir of life), also found in Chinese alchemy.
8.2.4. Jabir ibn Hayyan

8.2.4.1. shadowy eighth century figure

8.2.4.2. over two thousand writings attributed to him

8.2.4.2.1. alchemy, astrology, numerology, medicine, mysticism

8.2.4.3. actually the work of a sect, the Brethren of Purity

8.2.4.3.1. similar to Pythagorean cult

8.2.4.4. works compiled for European publication from transcripts of Jabir's works, published
as Summa Perfectionis

8.2.4.4.1. introduced the sulfur mercury theory

8.2.4.4.1.1. metals generated inside earth by mixing of fiery, smoky principle (sulfur) to a
watery principle (mercury)

8.2.4.4.1.1.1. most early known metal ores were sulfide

8.2.4.4.1.2. goes along with Stoic idea that metals were held together by a spirit (mercury)
and a soul (sulfur)
8.2.4.4.1.3. did not explain how different substantial form of metals and minerals arose
8.2.4.4.2. taught that lighter metals had particles separated by large spaces while dense
materials like gold were closely packed
8.2.4.4.3. alchemists' task was to reduce the size of particles and pack them tighter
8.2.4.4.4. changes referred to mercurial agents referred to as medicines, elixirs or tinctures
8.2.4.4.5. in the west became known as the philosopher's stone
8.2.4.4.6. contained defense of alchemy and all forms of technology

8.2.4.4.6.1. alchemy was too practical to be included in the curriculum of the medieval
university
8.2.4.4.6.2. seemed theologically suspect because it implied sinful humankind the divine
power of creation

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8.2.4.4.6.3. argued that people had the right to improve upon nature because it was part of
their nature to do so
8.2.4.4.6.4. cited farmers' exploitation of grafting and alchemists ability to synthesize certain
natural chemicals
8.2.4.4.6.5. the notion that art and science can equal or outdo the products of nature, and that
man can change the order of the natural world by altering those products would have a
profound effect on the direction taken by Western culture.
8.2.5. Al-Razi (850 - 923)

8.2.5.1. known as Rhazes

8.2.5.2. compiled practical, straight-forward manual of chemical practice, Secret of Secrets
8.2.5.3. classified substances into metals, vitriols, boraxes, salts, and stones based on
solubilites and tastes
8.2.5.4. codified laboratory procedures in to techniques of purification, separation, mixing,
and removal of water
8.2.5.5. described and listed chemicals and minerals, apparatus and recipes
8.2.5.6. described beakers, flasks, phials, basins, candle and naphtha lamps, braziers,
furnaces, files, spatulas, hammers, ladles, shears, tong, sand and water baths, funnels, flasks,
and mortars and pestles
8.2.5.7. described techniques of distillation, sublimation, calcination and solution which
formed the basis for chemical engineering from them onwards
8.3. Chinese Alchemy

8.3.1. Aurifactional alchemical ideas and practices were prevalent as early as the fourth
century BC in China and were greatly influenced by the Taoist religion and philosophy
devised by Lao Tzu ~c. 600 BC) and embodied in his Tao Te Ching (The Way of Life). Like
the later Stoics, Taoism conceived the universe in terms of opposites: the male, positive, hot
and light principle, 'Yang'; and the female, negative, cool and dark principle, 'Yin'. The
struggle between these two forces generated the five elements, water, fire, earth, wood and
metal, from which all things were made:
8.3.2. Unlike later Greco-Egyptian alchemy, however, the Chinese were far less concerned
with preparing gold from inferior metals than in preparing 'elixirs' that would bring the
human body into a state of perfection and harmony with the universe so that immortality
was achieved. In Taoist theory this required the adjustment of the proportions of Yin and
Yang in the body. This could be achieved practically by preparing elixirs from substances
rich in Yang, such as red-blooded cinnabar (mercuric sulfide), gold and its salts, or jade. This
doctrine led to careful empirical studies of chemical reactions, from which followed such
useful discoveries as gunpowder - a reaction between Yin-rich saltpeter and Yang-rich sulfur
- fermentation industries and medicines that must have been rich in sexual hormones. As in
western alchemy, Taoist alchemy soon became surrounded by ritual and was more of an
esoteric discipline than a practical laboratory art.
8.3.3. Belief in the transformation of blood-like cinnabar into gold dates from 133 BC when
Li Shao-Chun appealed to the Emperor Wu Ti to support his investigations:

8.3.3.1. Summon spirits and you will be able to change cinnabar powder into yellow gold.
With this yellow gold you may make vessels to eat and drink out of. You will increase your
span of life, you will be able to see the hsien of the P'eng-lai [home of the Immortals that is
in the midst of the sea. Then you may perform the sacrifices fang and shang and escape
death.
8.3.4. From then on, many Chinese texts referred to the consumption of potable gold. This
wai tan form of alchemy, which was systematized by Ko Hung in the fourth century AD, was
not, however, the only form of Chinese alchemy.

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8.3.5. The Chinese also developed nai tan, or physiological, alchemy, in which longevity and
immortality were sought not from the drinking of an external elixir, but from an inner elixir'
provided by the human body itself. In principle, this was obtained from the adept's own
body by physiological techniques involving respiratory, gymnastic and sexual exercises.
With the ever-increasing evidence of poisoning from wai tan alchemy, nai tan became
popular from the sixth century AD, causing a diminution of laboratory practice. On the other
hand, nai tan seems to have encouraged experimentation with body fluids such as urine,
whose ritualistic use may have led to the Chinese isolation of sex hormones.
8.3.6. Medicine and alchemy were always intimately connected in Chinese alchemy, a
connection that is also found in Arabic alchemy. Since Greek alchemy laid far more stress on
metallurgical practices though the preparation of pharmaceutical remedies was also
important - it seems highly probable that Arabic writers and experimentalists were 'deeply
influenced by Chinese ideas and discoveries'.
8.3.7. There is some evidence that the Chinese knew how to prepare dilute nitric acid.
Whether this was prepared from saltpeter - a salt that is formed naturally in midden heaps -
or whether saltpeter followed the discovery of nitric acid's ability to dissolve other
substances, is not known. Scholars have speculated that gunpowder - a mixture of saltpeter,
charcoal and sulfur - was first discovered during attempts to prepare an elixir of immortality.
At first used in fireworks, gunpowder was adapted for military use in the tenth century. Its
formula had spread to Islamic Asia by the thirteenth century and was to stun the Europeans
the following century. Gunpowder and fireworks were probably the two most important
chemical contributions of Chinese alchemy, and vividly display the power of chemistry to do
harm and good.
8.3.8. As in the Latin west, most of later Chinese alchemy was little more than chicanery, and
most of the stories of alchemists' misdeeds that are found in western literature have their
literary parallels in China. Although the Jesuit missions, which arrived in China in 1582,
brought with them information on western astronomy and natural philosophy, it was not
until 1855 that western chemical ideas and practices were published in Chinese. A major
change began in 1865 when the Kiangnan arsenal was established in Shanghai to
manufacture western machinery. Within this arsenal a school of foreign languages was set
up. Among the European translators was John Fryer (1839-1928), who devoted his life to
translating English science texts into Chinese and to editing a popular science magazine, Ko
Chih Hui Phien (Chinese Scientific and Industrial Magazine) .
8.4. Greek Alchemy

8.4.1. Stoicism adopted and adapted much of Aristotle's philosophy

8.4.2. physics and infinite divisibility of matter
8.4.3. inert matter and pneuma (vital spirit)

8.4.3.1. pneuma pervades cosmos, promotes generation as well as decay

8.4.3.2. fire and air were thought to be active, earth and water passive
8.4.3.3. fire and air were interpreted as forms of pneuma which became the glue that bound
passive earth and water into cohesive substances.
8.4.4. practical alchemy was the child of medicine and pharmacy, dyeing and metallurgy.
8.5. Models for folklore

8.5.1. witches brew and sorcerer's concoctions

8.5.1.1. frog eye, skin of Newt, and leg of lizard

8.5.2. Macbeth's witches
8.5.3. Merlin the Magician
8.5.4. The Wizard of Id
8.5.5. magic potions of fairy tales

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8.5.5.1. Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty
8.5.6. fantasy fiction: Lord of the Rings
8.6. Hierarchy of matter

8.6.1. thought that matter could advance towards a higher state of purity
8.6.2. like Socrates' moral principles
8.6.3. governments could increase ethical purity
8.6.4. people could become healthier and eventually immortal
8.6.5. less perfect metals slowly grew to become more noble

8.6.5.1. nature performed this over time inside her womb, the earth
8.6.6. significance of time

8.6.6.1. material and spiritual perfection take time

8.6.6.2. alchemist might discover method to speed up temporal processes
8.6.7. metals could "grow" towards nobility (goldness)

8.6.7.1. lead "younger" than tin which is closer to silver

8.6.7.2. antimony older yet (yellowish tint to metal)
8.6.7.3. certain reactions increased "goldness" of metals

8.6.7.3.1. alloying
8.6.7.3.2. chemical coloring
Ancient document describing manufacture of calcium polysulfide, used to change surface color
of a metal. Such solutions assumed great importance for the alchemists.
". . .a handful of lime and another of sulfur in fine powder; place them in a vessel containing
vinegar or the urine of a small child. Heat it from below until the supernatant liquid appears
like blood. Decant this latter properly in order to separate it from the deposit, and use."

8.6.8. Aristotle's prime matter was not intended to be tangible stuff that could be separated
from substances, but later alchemists believed it so.
8.6.9. ultimate state of matter: quintessence
9. Goals of Alchemy
9.1. searched for "elixir of life" to create immortality
9.2. searched for "philosopher's stone" to transform base matter into higher matter
9.3. searched for magic potions to cure diseases
9.4. Goals were noble

9.4.1. were not foolish

9.4.2. were not charlatan
9.4.3. were attempted out of a combination of intellectual curiosity and ignorance

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9.5. Goals were not attained

9.5.1. no underlying chemical theory to guide experimentation

9.5.2. no systematic method for communicating discoveries
9.5.3. limited in what they could do by trial and error
9.5.4. mostly qualitative studies
9.5.5. difficult to control temperatures of reactions and concentrations of solutions
9.5.6. without consistent guiding theoretical structure cannot come to grips with complexity
9.5.7. from 1000 B.C. to 1700 A.D. only a few new substance were discovered which turned
out to be elements
10. Accomplishments of Alchemy
10.1. attempted to systematize information
10.2. developed many techniques of modern chemistry
10.3. supplied materials
10.4. revealed information about properties of substances
10.5. put many people to work mixing and reacting various substances
11. Alchemical Elements
11.1. differed from both Aristotle's and modern concepts
11.2. substances were seen as "purveyors of elemental principles"

11.2.1. not seen as primary or pure substances

11.2.2. embodiments of principles of purity
11.3. Examples of elemental principles

11.3.1. sulfur

11.3.1.1. principle of combustibility

11.3.1.2. clear blue flame, no ashes
11.3.1.3. Sanskrit "shulbari" = copper enemy
11.3.1.4. copper "burns" in sulfur to destroy its purity
11.3.2. mercury

11.3.2.1. principle of metalness

11.3.2.2. passive (Yang) element in mineral formation
11.3.3. salt

11.3.3.1. principle of earthiness

11.3.3.2. calx (ash) remained after burning metals

11.3.3.2.1. process known as calcification

11.3.4. gold

11.3.4.1. embodied more principles than any other substance

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11.3.4.2. principle of luster
11.3.4.3. principle of color
11.3.4.4. principle of heaviness
11.3.4.5. principle of nobility (inertness)
12. Alchemy vs. Chemistry

After seeing the nature of alchemy we can now list some of the important aspects of our modern
science of chemistry which distinguishes it from alchemy.

12.1. Chemistry involves systematic identification and purification of substances

12.2. Chemistry seeks to understand the elemental makeup of substances

12.2.1. qualitative analysis: which elements are present in a substance

12.2.2. quantitative analysis: numerical proportions of elements present in substances
12.3. Chemistry involves the synthesis of natural and new substances
12.4. Chemistry seeks to understand the properties of substances and elements
12.5. Chemistry seeks to understand the nature of chemical reactions
13. Summary

In this lesson we examined the origins, growth, and development of ancient practices of
alchemy. We saw how prehistoric chemical skills allowed our distant ancestors to the eventual
discovery of the process of smelting metals. With this knowledge came the bronze age, followed
by the iron age.

We noted that alchemical symbols seem to be related to, or derived from, certain archetypal
symbols as specified by psychologist C.G. Jung.

Aristotle's universe included the processes of chemical change through the qualities of matter
whose combinations created the four elements from which all matter was thought to be
composed.

One example of alchemical mysticism is the concordance of the number of days in the week
with the number of known planets and the number of known metals. The numbers refer to the
number known to exist at that time.

We briefly described the main points of alchemy in the Middle East, in China, and in ancient
Greece, noting the similarities and differences. We also noted the interaction of Middle Eastern
alchemy with the practices and beliefs of China and India, and the eventual influence on
European thought accompanying the stirrings of the Renaissance in the twelfth century A.D.

We saw some examples of the influence and persistence of alchemy is folklore and in literature
in our own culture.

We were introduced to the concept of the hierarchy of matter which developed over the
centuries. This was combination of the moral principles of Socrates, mixed with Aristotle's
concept of transformation of matter, and the earlier alchemical experiences with chemical
changes of various types.

Although the goals of alchemists were, for the most part, noble, they were not attained. The
philosopher's stone and the elixir of life were never found, nor was a method found to change
metals into gold. The goals were not much different from our own quests today. The alchemists
fell short of their goals because they lacked a coherent theory, or paradigm, to guide their
experimentation, and because the practices and discoveries were ritualized and therefore
secretive.

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Although the goals were not attained, the work of many centuries of alchemists prepared the
way for modern chemistry by developing many of the techniques and vessels of modern
chemistry. They also supplied raw materials, revealed information about the properties of
substances which were useful in later studies.

By the fifteenth century a concept of elements which was different from Aristotle's and our own
modern concept had evolved. Substances were seen as having mystical properties, almost like
personalities which were important in their use and in their reactions. The elements were seen
not as basic substances, but rather as substances which portrayed certain chemical or physical
properties. The were called elemental principles. We can think of elements in the alchemical
view as being "purveyors of elemental principles" such as combustibility, earthiness, luster, etc.

Finally we briefly made some comparisons between alchemy and chemistry.

14. References

14.1. Brock, William H. (1992) The Norton History of Chemistry. W.W. Norton & Company, New
York
14.2. Partington, J.R. (1937) A Short History of Chemistry. Dover edition, 1989. Dover
Publications, Inc., New York.

Alchemy Dictionary

-A-
ablution
The process of washing a solid with a liquid, usually in water. Spiritually and psychologically, it
is facing one's emotions and letting feelings flow, so that innocence and purity can be restored.
 
Aion

(see Ouroboros)

Air
Air is one of the Four Elements of alchemy. Air in the alchemical sense carries the archetypal
properties of spirit into the manifested world. It is associated with the operation of Separation
and represented by the metal Iron.
 

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alchemy

The word is derived from the Arabian phrase "al-kimia," which refers to the preparation of the
Stone or Elixir by the Egyptians. The Arabic root "kimia" comes from the Coptic "khem" that
alluded to the fertile black soil of the Nile delta. Esoterically and hieroglyphically, the word
refers to the dark mystery of the primordial or First Matter (the Khem), the One Thing through
which all creation manifests. Alchemy, then, is the Great Work of nature that perfects this
chaotic matter, whether it be expressed as the metals, the cosmos, or the substance of our souls.

alembic

The upper part of a still; a still-head. The term is often used to refer to a complete still. (see
cucurbute; Distillation)

alkahest

The alkahest is the power from Above that makes possible alchemical transformation. The word
is usually translated as "universal solvent," which alludes to the ability of the alkahest to
dissolve or reduce all physical matter to its basic essence. With metals, this meant transmuting
them to their purest form, which  was gold. In the human body, this meant the creation or
revealing of a golden body of consciousness, the Astral Body.  
 
aludel
A pear-shaped earthenware bottle, open at both ends. It was used as a condenser in the
sublimation process and thus came to signify the end-stages of transformation. Also called the
Hermetic Vase, the Philosopher's Egg, and the Vase of the Philosophy.
 
amalgam

The amalgam is a solid metal formed by the combination of mercury with gold, silver, lead, or
other metals.

angel

An angel in alchemical treatises symbolizes sublimation or the ascension of the volatile

principle.

Ankh

The Ankh is a hieroglyphic character used by Egyptian alchemists to denote the ascendancy of
the life force or spirit (the circle) over the material world (the cross). In other words, through
crucifixion, the soul rises and is reborn on a higher level. Its use dates back over 3,000 years and
is a symbolic rendition of the principles expressed in the Emerald Tablet. In its design, the
circular One Mind projects downward into the One Thing, while the lateral manifested world
on which we are crucified is indicated by the horizontal bar. 

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animals

Animals are often used to symbolize the basic components and processes of alchemy. They may
be used to symbolize the four Elements such as the lion or ox (Earth), fish or whales (Water),
eagles (Air), or salamanders or dragons (Fire). Aerial animals generally indicate volatile
principles, while terrestrial animals indicate fixed principles. Whenever two animals are found,
they signify Sulfur and Mercury or some relationship between the fixed and the volatile.

antimony

The metal antimony symbolizes the animal nature or wild spirit of man and nature, and it was
often symbolized by the wolf. Alchemist Basil Valentine named the metal, after feeding it to
some monks in a Benedictine monastery. The monks got violently ill and some even died, hence
the Latin name that means "anti-monk." Spiritually too, monks feel most threatened by their
own animal nature. Oddly enough, the Tincture of Antimony cures venereal diseases.

Apollo

References to the Greek god Apollo signify the Sun as spirit or solar consciousness.

aqua fortis

Aqua fortis is Latin for "strong water" and refers to nitric acid. Various grades of aqua fortis were
prepared depending on the length of Distillation, which concentrated the acid.

aqua regia

A mixture of aqua fortis ("strong water," i.e., nitric acid) and   spiritus salis ("spirit of salt," i.e.,
hydrochloric acid) produces  aqua regia ("royal water" -- so named because it can dissolve gold).
It was first prepared by distilling common salt with aqua fortis.

aqua vitae

The "living water" or water "with spirit." An aqueous alcohol concentrated by one or more
Distillations.

arcana

The arcana ("magical secrets") are archetypal influences that transcend space and time.
According to the ancient text Archidoxies, the arcana are pre-existing powers that "have the
power of transmuting, altering, and restoring us." In this view, the arcana are the secret
workings of the mind of God, the  logos of the Greeks or what the alchemists referred to as the
thoughts of the One Mind. In the Tarot, the arcana are represented by symbolic drawings that
the reader tries to work with through meditation. In the Cabala, the arcana are represented by

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the esoteric properties of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, energies that the cabalist tries to
work with in the Tree of Life. In the in the ancient Chinese system of divination, the I Ching, the
arcana are represented by the sixty-four trigrams, each with its own properties and influences.
The alchemists believed the arcana were expressed on all levels of reality -- from chemical
compounds to our innermost moods and desires.

Arcanum Experiment
 
The early alchemists divided their chemicals into major and minor arcana. The major arcana
consisted of the four compounds: Vitriol, Natron, Liquor Hepatis, and Pulvis Solaris. Three out
of the four consisted of dual ingredients that were easily separable. Vitriol could be broken
down into sulfuric acid and iron. Natron appeared as sodium carbonate and sodium nitrate.
Pulvis Solaris was made up of the red and black varieties. Thus, the seven chemicals comprising
the minor arcana were: Sulfuric Acid, Iron, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Nitrate, Liquor Hepatis,
Red Pulvis Solaris, and Black Pulvis Solaris. The alchemists believed that these secret chemicals
could be combined in the Arcanum Experiment, the single laboratory experiment that would
demonstrate the archetypal forces and evolution of the universe. Ideally, such an experiment
should succeed on many levels, not only corroborating the deepest philosophical and
psychological principles, but also providing concrete evidence of their veracity. The Arcanum
Experiment exposed the hidden principles connecting heaven and earth, offering a framework
in which to explain both microcosmic and macrocosmic events.
 
athanor

From the Arabic word "al-tannur" (oven), the athanor is the furnace used by the alchemists to
perfect matter. Built of brick or clay, the athanor usually was shaped like a tower with a domed
roof and was designed to keep an even heat over long periods of time. The alchemists
considered it an incubator and sometimes referred to it as the "House of the Chick."
Symbolically, the athanor is also the human body and the fire of bodily metabolism that fuels
our transformation and the ultimate creation of a Second Body of light. The mountain is a
symbol for the athanor, since the perfection of the metals takes place under the guise of Nature
within mountains. Sometimes a hollow oak tree is used to symbolize the atanor.
 
Azoth
The term "Azoth" is formed from the first and last letters of the English alphabet ("a" and "z"),
which stand for the beginning and end of all creation -- the alpha and omega of the Greek
philosophers, the aleph and tau of the Hebrew cabalists. Therefore the Azoth is the ultimate
arcanum, the universal spirit of God in all created things. The alchemists believed that the
liquid metal mercury carried the signature of this omnipotent archetypal spirit.

-B-
Bain Marie
The Bain Marie is a warm alchemical bath. Chemically, it is a double-boiler in which a container
of water is suspended in a simmering cauldron. Psychologically, it is the gentle warmth of
emotionally centered meditation used in the Dissolution process. The Bain Marie was named
after Maria Prophetissa, a Jewish alchemist who wrote much about the methods and equipment
of the Water operations of Dissolution and Distillation.  

balsam
 
A balsam is a resinous or waxy semi-solid compound that captures the essence of a liquid
medicine or perfume.  To Paracelsus, the balsam was the "interior salt" that protected the body
from decomposition, and earlier alchemists considered the Balsam of the Elements to be the

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Quintessence, the result of the Conjunction of alchemical principles. Because of it amalgamating
ability, mercury was considered the balsam agent of the metals. In the chemical arcana, Liquor
Hepatis mixed with fat or wax was known as the Balsam of the Soul.

Basilisk

The Basilisk is a symbolic alchemical creature said to have the head of a bird and the body of a
dragon. The wingless serpentine animal was hatched from a hermaphroditic cock's egg and
nursed by a serpent. Psychologically, the Basilisk represents the melding of our higher and
lower natures in Conjunction, a process that must be continued in the next three operations of
alchemy for this "Child of the Philosophers" to become the Living Stone of the fully integrated
Self. Biologically, the Basilisk represents the mammalian embryology, the genetic replaying of
the stages of evolution within the egg or womb. The Basilisk also has chemical connotations,
which probably have to do with a metallurgical process involving cinnabar. 
 
baths

Baths in alchemy symbolize the Dissolution process in which the metals are cleansed and
purified.

birds

Ascending birds indicate the volatilization of compounds or their sublimation. Descending

birds indicate the fixation of compounds or their condensation and precipitation. Birds shown
both ascending and descending indicate the process of Distillation.

bezoar
Some chemical compounds, such as sulfur auretum when mixed with either red mercuric oxide
or black antimony, clump together inseparably as soon as they are mixed together. The
alchemists considered such compounds to be chemical bezoars, which are hard clumps of
undigested food or solid balls of hair sometimes found in the intestines. In the Middle Ages,
physicians thought the strange mass protected people from poisons and actually prescribed it to
their patients. Egyptian priests discovered bezoars during the preparation of mummies and
believed the hard balls were magical pills formed by the large serpent in man (the intestines).
Some evidence suggests that the Egyptians also looked for a similar pill in the small serpent in
man (the brain) and found it there in the form of the pineal gland. This pine-shaped gland is
imbedded with tiny crystals of dark melanin, and could explain the Egyptian pinecone emblems
and the origin of the caduceus itself. And, in the same way that bezoars were formed in the
serpentine contours of the intestines, so was gold formed in the bowels of the earth: gold was
considered a mineral bezoar.
 
Black Phase

The Black Phase (or Melanosis) is the first stage in alchemy. It phase begins with the operation
of Calcination and lasts through the Putrefaction stage of Fermentation.

brimstone
(see Sulfur)

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-C-
caduceus
The caduceus is the magical staff of Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods and revealer of
alchemy. The staff is entwined by two serpents representing the solar and lunar forces. Their
union is the Conjunction of alchemical principles and their offspring, if it lives, is the Stone. This
Stone is represented as a golden ball with wings at the top of the caduceus.
 
Calcination

The first operation in alchemical transformation. It is denoted by the symbol for the first sign of
the zodiac, Aries.
 
Ceration
A part of the Fermentation process during which a waxy substance flows from the putrefied
matter. This is the Ferment, the precursor of the Stone. Ceration is the softening or mollification
of a hard material to change it into a more waxy state; covering with wax or salve.
 

child

A naked child symbolizes the innocent soul. In alchemy, the child is the offspring of the King
and Queen, the result of their marriage or union. A child crowned or clothed in purple robes
signifies Salt or the Philosopher's Stone.    

cibation

Cibation is the addition of new material to the contents of the crucible. During Dissolution, it
requires adding liquid to the desiccated matter at precisely the right moment.

cinnabar

Cinnabar is the bright red ore of mercury sulfide. Known as "Dragon's Blood," the roasted rocks
emit a thick reddish smoke, as pure glistening mercury oozes from cracks. Psychologically,
cinnabar represents the hardened habits and terrestrial marriages of soul and spirit that must be
broken asunder in Calcination to free the essences with which the alchemist intends to work.
 
circle
The circle or sphere is symbolic of unity, the One Mind of god. It is mathematically and
psychologically an "irrational" experience beyond the duality of reason.
 
Coagulation

The seventh and last operation in alchemical transformation is Coagulation.

 
Cohobation

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A kind of Distillation in which the distillate is poured back into its residue; a method of
redistillation.

Conjunction

Conjunction is the fourth operation in alchemical transformation. It is the coming together of the
opposing archetypal forces of the Sun and Moon or the King and Queen.
 
Congelation

A loose or temporary Conjunction of opposites; a mixture in which a liquid is gelled or made

semi-solid; intercourse. The process is represented by the sign for the constellation of Taurus.

copper

Copper is one of the seven metals of alchemy. Copper (and sometimes bronze and brass) is
associated with the operation of Conjunction and the element Earth.

croslet

(see crucible)

crown

The crown symbolizes the successful completion of an alchemical operation or the achievement
of a magisterium. It also signifies chemical royalty or the perfection of a metal.

crows

Crows are the symbols of the black phases of Calcination and Putrefaction. 

crucible

The crucible is the melting vessel of the alchemists. It is made of inert material such as porcelain
and can withstand great heat. Used to liquefy the metals.

curcurbite

The lower part of a still, containing the original liquid. It is made of glass or earthenware and
was also known as a "gourd" on account of its shape; a receiver. (see alembic; Distillation) 

cupel

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A small cup or dish made of bone-ash or other porous and infusible material. Cupellation is the
process of heating a substance in a cupel in a current of air, such as done in the refining of silver
and gold.

-D-
dew

Dew is symbolic of divine incarnation or manifestation from Above. Alchemists believed

natural dew contained the divine Salt (thoughts of the One Mind) that could transform the
Sulfur and Mercury of the First Matter. In many ways, dew represented the Elixir or contents of
the cup of God, the Holy Grail.

Diana

Appearances of the Greek goddess Diana in alchemical drawings and treatises signify the Moon
and Lunar consciousness.

Digestion

A kind of Putrefaction in which the the nutrients or essences are reabsorbed.

 
Distillation

Distillation is the sixth operation in alchemical transformation. Denoted by the symbol for the
constellation Virgo. It is essentially a process of concentration, no matter on what level
(physical, mental, or spiritual) it occurs.
 
Dissolution
The second operation in alchemical transformation is Dissolution. The process of dissolving a
solid in a liquid; the reduction of a dry thing in water. Represented by the sign for the
constellation of Cancer.
 
dogs

Dogs signify primitive matter, natural sulfur, or material gold. A dog being devoured by a wolf
symbolizes the process of purifying gold using antimony.
 
dove
The dove is a symbol of renewed spirit or infusion of energy from Above. Chemically, it
signifies the change from the Black Stage to the White Phase of transformation.
 
dragon

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The dragon in flames is a symbol of fire and Calcination. Several dragons fighting is symbolic of
Putrefaction. Dragons with wings represent the volatile principle; dragons without  wings
represent the fixed principle. A dragons biting its own tale is the Ouroboros and signifies the
fundamental unity of all things.

-E-
eagle

The eagle is always a symbol of volatilization. For instance, an eagle devouring a lion indicates
the volatilization of a fixed component by a volatile component.

Earth

Earth is one of the Four Elements of alchemy. Earth in the alchemical sense carries the
archetypal properties of manifestation, birth, and material creation. It is associated with the
operation of Conjunction and represented by the green ore of copper.
 
Elixir
The Elixir of the alchemists is essentially a liquid version of the Philosopher's Stone and has the
same ability to perfect any substance. When applied to the human body, the Elixir cures
diseases and  restores youth.
 
egg

The egg is symbolic of the hermetically sealed vessel of creation. Stoppered retorts, coffins, and
sepulchres represent eggs in many alchemical drawings.

-F-
Fermentation

The fifth operation in alchemical transformation is Fermentation. It is represented by the sign

for the constellation of Capricorn.
 
Filtration

A kind of Separation, in which material is passed through a sieve or screen designed to allow
only pieces of a certain size to pass through. The operation is represented by the sign for the
constellation of Sagittarius, the Archer.

Fire

Fire is one of the Four Elements of alchemy. Fire in the alchemical sense carries the archetypal
properties of activity and transformation. It is associated with the operation of Calcination and
represented by the metal lead.
 
Fixation

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The process of stabilizing and incarnating a substance; depriving a substance of its volatility or
mobility to congeal or combine it. The process is represented by the sign for the constellation of
Gemini.
 
fountain

The alchemical Fountain of Fountains is a symbol of the Ouroboros. Three fountains represent
the three principles of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. The King and Queen sitting in a fountain
signifies a bath or the Water operations of Dissolution and Distillation.

-G-
Geber

The Latin name of Jabir ibn Hayyan (721 - 815 A.D.). He is the father of both Islamic and
European alchemy. He knew of the existence of the Emerald Tablet and spread the doctrines of
the Four Elements and the Mercury-Sulfur theory of the generation of the metals. 

gold
Gold is the most perfect of the metals. For the alchemist, it represented the perfection of all
matter on any level, including that of the mind, spirit, and soul. It is associated with the
operation of Coagulation.
 
grain

Grain, seeds, or grapes symbolize the matter of the Stone.

 
Griffin's Egg
The griffin is a half-lion and half-eagle creature that symbolizes the Conjunction of the fixed and
volatile principles. An allusion to the Vessel of Hermes.

-H-
Hermaphrodite

The Hermaphrodite represents Sulfur and Mercury after their Conjunction. Rebis (something
double in characteristics) is another designation for this point in the alchemy of transformation.

-I-
Iosis

(see Purple Phase)

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iron

Iron is one of the seven metals of alchemy. It is associated with the operation of Separation.

-J-
Jabir

(see Geber)
 
Jungian Alchemy
Psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung rediscovered the images and principles of alchemy surfacing in
the dreams and compulsions of his patients and began a lifelong study of the subject. He
concluded that alchemical images explain the archetypal roots of the modern mind and
underscores a process of transformation leading to the integration of the personality.

-K-
King
The King in alchemy represents man, solar consciousness, or Sulfur. The King is naked in the
early operations of alchemy and regains his royal robes at the end of his transformation. The
King united with the Queen symbolizes Conjunction.

-L-
lead
Lead is the first and oldest of the seven metals of alchemy. It is associated with the operation of
Calcination.

Leukosis

(see White Phase)

Liquor Hepatis

Liquor Hepatis was the name given to a sulfurous liquid used by the alchemists. Considered the
arcanum of the soul, Liquor Hepatis was prepared by distilling a solution of sulfur, lime, and
sal ammoniac. The early alchemists secured lime (calcium oxide) by heating limestone and
made sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) by gently heating camel dung in sealed containers.
The distillation for Liquor Hepatis produced a combination of hydrogen sulfide and ammonia
gases. Since no solids precipitated, alchemists considered this an ascending reaction only. That
was a significant fact to the Egyptians, who associated the Liquor with the soul. They believed
the soul resided in the liver, and the reddish-brown color of Liquor Hepatis convinced them
they had isolated the soul's essence. The name comes from "hepar," the Greek word for liver.
The Liquor exuded an unnatural, pungent odor that the alchemists found quite mysterious.
They assumed it was due to an ethereal presence concealed in the sulfur and activated by the
fertile principle in ammonia. To the Egyptians, the odor symbolized a soul or a spiritized
presence hidden within the liquid. They solidified that presence by adding wax and fat to
Liquor Hepatis and turning it into a thick paste. The emulsion became known as the Balsam of

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the Alchemists or Balsam of the Soul. The possibility of coagulating an invisible potential into a
second body, like a balsam, became a basic tenet of alchemy.

litharge

The litharge (or letharge) is the left-over scum, spume, or ashes of a metallic operation.

-M-
Magnesia

Magnesia was a mystical term to the alchemists that denoted the primordial transforming
substance in the universe. It was one of many symbols used to describe the central mystery of
alchemy that was never to be spoken of in common wording.
 
matrass
A round-bottomed flask with a very long neck. Also called a "bolt-head."
 
Melanosis

(see Black Phase)

menstruum

An alchemical term meaning a solvent or alkahest having both the power to dissolve and
coagulate at the same time. Based on the belief that the ovum takes its life and form from the
menses, the menstruum was also referred to the as the Mercury of the Philosophers.

Mercury

Mercury, called quicksilver by the ancients, is a liquid metal that could be found weeping
through cracks in certain rocks or accumulating in small puddles in mountain grottos. It was
also obtained by roasting cinnabar (mercury sulfide). The shiny metal would seep from the
rocks and drip down into the ashes, from which it was later collected. The early alchemists
made red mercuric oxide by heating quicksilver in a solution of nitric acid. The acid, which later
alchemists called "aqua fortis," was made by pouring sulfuric acid over saltpeter. The reaction of
quicksilver in nitric acid is impressive. A thick red vapor hovers over the surface and bright red
crystals precipitate to the bottom. This striking chemical reaction demonstrated the
simultaneous separation of mercury into the Above and the Below. Mercury's all-encompassing
properties were exhibited in other compounds too. If mercury was heated in a long-necked
flask, it oxidized into a highly poisonous white powder (white mercuric oxide) and therapeutic
red crystals (red mercuric oxide). Calomel (mercury chloride) was a powerful medicine, unless
it was directly exposed to light, in which case it became a deadly poison. When mixed with
other metals, liquid mercury tended to unite with them and form hardened amalgams. These
and other properties convinced alchemists that mercury transcended both the solid and liquid
states, both earth and heaven, both life and death. It symbolized Hermes himself, the guide to
the Above and Below.
 
Multiplication

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A process of Distillation in which the power of transmutation is concentrated; an increase in the
amount of the Stone as obtained from its pristine form. It is represented by the sign for the
constellation of Aquarius.

-N-
Natron
 
Natron means salt. To the early alchemists, however, the word Natron stood for the basic
principle in all salt formation and the creation of bodies in general. The Egyptians accumulated
the white salts formed from the evaporation of lakes and used them to preserve mummies.
Known as soda ash (sodium carbonate), the oldest deposits are in the Sinai desert. Another
naturally-occurring sodium compound mined by the Egyptians was cubic-saltpeter (sodium
nitrate). The alchemists referred to both these salts as Natron (from the Arabic word for soda
ash), because they suspected that both had a common signature or archetypal basis.

-O-
Ouroboros
The Ouroboros (or Uroboros) is the symbolic rendition of the eternal principles presented in the
Emerald Tablet. The great serpent devouring itself represents the idea that "All Is One," even
though the universe undergoes periodic cycles of destruction and creation (or resurrection). In
Orphic and Mithraic symbology, the Ouroboros was called the Agathos Daimon or "Good Spirit"
and was a symbol for the "Operation of the Sun."  In Greek terminology, the Ouroboros was the
Aion, which Herakleitos likened to a child at play. To the Greeks, the   Aion (from which our
word "eon" is derived) defined the cosmic period between the creation and destruction of the
universe.    

-P-
Pelican
A circulatory vessel with two side-arms feeding condensed vapors back into the body. It has a
fancied resemblance in shape to a pelican pecking at its breast.
 
 
Philosopher's Stone

(see Stone)

Precipitation

A process of Coagulation in which solid matter is created during a chemical reaction and falls
out of solution.

Projection

The final stage of Coagulation in which the power of transformation is directed toward a body;
the final process in making gold, in which the Stone or powder Stone (the powder of

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projection) is tossed upon the molten base metal to transmute it. It is represented by the sign for
the constellation of Pisces.
 
Pulvis Solaris

Pulvis Solaris was the chemical arcanum that represented spirit. The "Powder of the Sun" was a
mixture of two powders, Black Solaris and Red Solaris. Combining black antimony with sulfur
auretum made Black Pulvis Solaris. Black antimony was a common sulfide of antimony, now
known as stibnite. The mineral was smelted and ground fine. Pure sulfur auretum, or "golden
sulfur," was made by adding sulfuric acid to a dried mixture of sodium carbonate, sulfur, lime,
and antimony. The reaction gave off hydrogen sulfide gas, while the sulfur auretum
precipitated to the bottom of the container. Red Pulvis Solaris was made by combining sulfur
auretum with a compound of mercury known as red mercuric oxide. Egyptian alchemists
associated the serpent with the red mercuric oxide and referred to Red Pulvis Solaris as Pulvis
Serpentum. Later alchemists became convinced that Red Pulvis Solaris was indeed the powder
of projection that would enable them to transform virtually anything into pure gold.
 
Purple Phase

The Purple Phase (or Iosis) of the Great Work is the third and final stage of transformation. It is
marked by the purpling or reddening of the material and occurs during the Coagulation
operation.

 
Putrefaction

The first stage of the Fermentation operation; a digestion in which decomposing essences are
reabsorbed. The process was represented by the symbol for the constellation of Leo.

-Q-
Queen

The Queen symbolizes woman, lunar consciousness, and Mercury. The Queen is naked during
the early stages but regains her royal robes at the end of her transformation. The Queen united
with the King is the operation of Conjunction.
 
quicklime

Quicklime is unslacked lime or calcium oxide. Calcium oxide is obtained by heating limestone,
egg shells, or any material containing Calcium Carbonate, which is one of the seven arcana of
alchemy.

quicksilver

(see Mercury)
 
Quintessence
The Quintessence is the fifth element with which the alchemists could work. It was the essential
presence of something or someone, the living thing itself that animated or gave something its
deepest characteristics. The Quintessence partakes of both the Above and the Below, the mental

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as well as the material. It can be thought of as the ethereal embodiment of the life force that we
encounter in dreams and altered states of consciousness. It is the purest individual essence of
something that we must unveil and understand in order to transform it.

-R-
Rebis
(see Hermaphrodite)
 
retort

The retort is a spherical container (usually glass) with a long neck or spout. It is used to distill
or decompose solutions  by the action of heat or acids.

-S-
Salt

Salt is the third heavenly substance in alchemy and represents the final manifestation of the
perfected Stone. The Emerald Tablet calls it "the Glory of the Whole Universe." For Paracelsus,
Salt was like a balsam the body produced to shield itself from decay. It has also been associated
with the Ouroboros, the Stone, and the Astral Body. In general, Salt represents the action of
thought on matter, be it the One Mind acting on the One Thing of the universe or the alchemist
meditating in his inner laboratory.
 
Separation
The third operation in the alchemy of transformation. Symbols of Separation include swords,
scythes, arrows, knives, and hatchets. The operation is symbolized by the sign for the
constellation of Scorpio.
 
serpents

Two serpents represent the opposing masculine and feminine energies of the Work. Three
serpents stand for the three higher principles of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. Wingd serpents
represent volatile substances; wingless serpents represent fixed substances. A crucified serpent
represents the fixation of the volatile.

silver

Silver is one of the seven metals of alchemy. It is associated with the operation of Distillation.

skeletons

Skeletons signify the process of Putrefaction, on all the levels in which it occurs.

Soul

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Soul in alchemy is the passive presence in all of us that survives through all eternity and is
therefore part of the original substance (First Matter) of the universe. Ultimately, it is the One
Thing of the universe. Soul was considered beyond the four material elements and thus
conceptualized as a fifth element (or Quintessence).

Spirit

Spirit in alchemy is the active presence in all of us that strives toward perfection. Spirit seeks
material manifestation for expression. Ultimately, it is the One Mind of the universe.

square

The square or cube is symbolic of matter and the Four Elements of creation.

Stone

The Stone is the goal of the Great Work.  It was viewed as a magical touchstone that could
immediately perfect any substance or situation. The Philosopher's Stone has been associated
with the Salt of the World, the Astral Body, the Elixir, and even Jesus Christ. 

Sublimation
The first stage of Coagulation, in which the vapors solidify; represented by the sign for the
constellation of Libra. The vaporization of a solid without fusion or melting, followed by the
condensation of its vapor in the resolidified form on a cool surface. The elevation of a dry thing
by fire, with adherency to its vessel. The astrological symbol association with Sublimation is the
sign of Libra, the scales. 
 
Sulfur

Sulfur (Sulphur) is one of the three heavenly substances. It represents passion and will and is
associated with the operation of Fermentation.

-T-
tin

Tin is one of the seven metals of the alchemists. It is associated with the operation of Dissolution
and the element Water. Pewter (a mixture of lead and tin) represents a metallic state between
the operations of Calcination and Dissolution.
 

three levels

The key to understanding alchemy is to realize that alchemical thought is extremely dynamic
and takes places on three levels at once: the physical, the psychological, and the spiritual. Thus
turning lead into gold meant not only physically changing the base metal into the noble metal,
but also transforming base habits and emotions into golden thoughts and feelings, as well as
transmuting our dark and ignoble souls into the golden light of spirit. By developing this ability

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to think and work on all three levels of reality at once (becoming "thrice-greatest"), the
alchemists created a spiritual technology that applied not only to their laboratories but also to
their own personalities and to their relationships with other people -- and with God.

tree

Trees symbolize the processes of transformation. A tree of moons signifies the Lesser or Lunar
Work; a tree of suns signifies the Greater or Solar Work.
 
triangle
The triangle represents the three heavenly principles or substances of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt.

trituration

Grind a solid into a powder. Pulverize with a mortar and pestle. Crush. A process just after
Calcination, when the ashes are ground into a fine powder for Dissolution.

-U-
Uroboros

(see Ouroboros)

-V-
Vitriol

Vitriol was the most important liquid in alchemy. It was the one in which all other reactions
took place. Vitriol was distilled from an oily, green substance that formed naturally from the
weathering of sulfur-bearing gravel. This Green Vitriol is symbolized by the Green Lion in
drawings. After the Green Vitriol (copper sulfate) was collected, it was heated and broken
down into iron compounds and sulfuric acid. The acid was separated out by distillation. The
first distillation produced a brown liquid that stunk like rotten eggs, but further distillation
yielded a nearly odorless, yellow oil called simply Vitriol. The acid readily dissolves human
tissue and is severely corrosive to most metals, although it has no effect on gold. White Vitriol is
zinc sulfate; Blue Vitriol is copper sulfate.

-W-
Water

Water is one of the Four Elements of alchemy. Water in the alchemical sense carries the
archetypal properties of cleansing and purification. It is associated with the operation of
Dissolution and represented by the metal tin.
 
White Phase

The White Phase (Leukosis) is the second stage of the Great Work and takes place during
Distillation.

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wine

Wine is symbolic of the process of Fermentation and the spiritization of matter.

wolf
(see antimony)

-X-
Xanthosis
(see Yellow Phase)

-Y-
Yellow Phase
The Yellow Phase (or Xanthosis) of alchemy is an intermediate stage that takes place between
the Black and White phases of the Great Work. The term was used by Alexandrian alchemists to
describe changes that took place during the Fermentation operation.

-Z-
Zodiac
According to the Doctrine of Correspondences in the Emerald Tablet ("As Above, so Below"),
the stars must find expression on earth and in mankind. In alchemy, it was essential to consult
the zodiac before commencing any of the major operations.

The alchemists believed there were basically just two ways of knowing reality and that is how
this website has been organized. The first way of knowing is the rational, deductive,
argumentative, intellectual thinking that is the hallmark of science and our patriarchal Western
culture. The alchemists called this Solar Consciousness and assigned it many code words, such
as the King, the Sun, Sulfur, Spirit, the Father, and ultimately, the One Mind. Throughout this
website, whenever the material involves left-brain solar activity like lists, linear thought,
schematics, formulae, arguments and  logic, the icon used will be the Solar button. The
alchemists called the other way of knowing Lunar Consciousness. This non-rational, image-
driven, intuitive way of thinking is an accepted part of mysticism and religion. Among its many
symbols are the Queen, the Moon, the metal Mercury, the Soul, the Holy Ghost, and ultimately,
the One Thing. Throughout this website, whenever the material involves lunar, nonlinear right-
brain activity like drawings, paintings, mandalas, symbols, meditations, and music, the icon
will be the Lunar button. Try to use both ways of knowing when trying to understand
alchemical topics.  The alchemists believed there were basically just two ways of knowing
reality and that is how this website has been organized. The first way of knowing is the rational,
deductive, argumentative, intellectual thinking that is the hallmark of science and our
patriarchal Western culture. The alchemists called this Solar Consciousness and assigned it
many code words, such as the King, the Sun, Sulfur, Spirit, the Father, and ultimately, the One
Mind. Throughout this website, whenever the material involves left-brain solar activity like
lists, linear thought, schematics, formulae, arguments and  logic, the icon used will be the Solar
button. The alchemists called the other way of knowing Lunar Consciousness. This non-
rational, image-driven, intuitive way of thinking is an accepted part of mysticism and religion.

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Among its many symbols are the Queen, the Moon, the metal Mercury, the Soul, the Holy
Ghost, and ultimately, the One Thing. Throughout this website, whenever the material involves
lunar, nonlinear right-brain activity like drawings, paintings, mandalas, symbols, meditations,
and music, the icon will be the Lunar button. Try to use both ways of knowing when trying to
understand alchemical topics. Fractal diagrams are computer images that are generated through
the formulae of the mathematics of chaos. As such, they represent the "irrational" components
of alchemy or its First Matter. To work with fractal diagrams, it is necessary to allow the mind
to become drawn in by them and make use of one's intuitive feelings rather than thought
processes.

A History of Muslim Pharmacy:

Arabic Alchemy During the Fourth/Tenth Century
Throughout the third/ninth and fourth/tenth centuries, alchemy continued to win adherents, as
well as arouse opponents to its validity. In this study, only certain important aspects of its
development will be briefly discussed. One aspect is the peculiarity that some learned men of
high caliber and great prestige would propagate this art. Another oddity is the fact that literary
contributions by some alchemists lured many a scholar to stand in awe of these magical
procedures and operations and the elegance with which they were described. A good example
is the biography of Abu Bakr Mohammed ar-Razi (250-312/865-925), and his alchemical
writings. He was one of the greatest physicians in Islam, but at the same time an ardent
supporter of the art of alchemy. To a great extent, he influenced the development of alchemy,
pharmacy, and medical therapy throughout the Middle Ages. For this reason, his literary
contributions to these areas of Islamic Science will be discussed briefly.

Ar-Razi's interest in alchemy and his strong belief in the possibility of transmutation of lesser
metals to silver and gold was confirmed half a century after his death by Ibn an-Nadim. He
attribute a series of twelve books to ar-Razi, then seven more, including his refutation to al-
Kindi's denial of the validity of alchemy, and finally, ar- Razi's two best known alchemical texts;
al-Asrar and Sirr al-Asrar (the secrets, and secret of secrets). These two works were not only
among ar-Razi's last publications on alchemy, but they superseded his earlier ones as the final
representation of his alchemical teachings. The latter text incorporates much of the former (al-
Asrar).

Therefore, a survey of the Sirr al-Asrar will hopefully throw some light on ar- Razi's rational
approach and technical procedures, and which represent the highest expression of alchemical
knowledge during this period.

This book was written in response to a request from ar-Razi's close friend, colleague, and former
student, Abu Mohammed b. Yunis of Bukhara, a Muslim mathematician, philosopher, and ia
natural scientist of good stature In Sirr al-Asrar, ar-Razi divides his subject matter into three
categories as he did in his book al-Asrar.

1. Knowledge and identification of drugs from plant, animal, and mineral origins and the
choicest type of each for utilization in treatment.
2. Knowledge of equipment and tools used, which are of interest to both the alchemist and the
apothecary.
3. Knowledge of the seven alchemical procedures and techniques such as sublimation and
condensation of mercury, precipitation of sulphur and arsenic calcination of minerals (gold,
silver, copper, lead, and iron), salts, glass, talc, shells, and waxing.

This last category contains, in addition, a description of other methods and piratical
applications used in transmutation: the admixture and uses of solvent vehicles, the amount of
heat (fire) used, 'bodies and stones' that can or cannot be transformed into corporal substances
of metals at Id salts, and the liquid mordant that quickly and permanently color lesser metals
for better sales and profits.

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Similar to the discussion on the third/ninth-century text on Amalgams ascribed to Jabir, ar-Razi
describes methods and procedures or coloring (gold leafing) a silver object to imitate gold. 
Also described is the reverse technique for removing the color and returning it to silver. Gilding
and silvering of other metals ( alum, calcium salts, iron, copper, and tutty) are also described,
as well as how colors will stay for years without tarnishing or changing. The procedures
involved no deceptive motive, but rather technical and economic deliberations. This is evident
from the author's quotation of market prices and the technical triumph of artisan, craftsman, or ,
alchemist in declaring the results of their efforts so that 'it will look exactly like gold!   There
was, however, another similar motive involved, namely, to manufacture something to resemble
gold for easy sale to help a good friend who happen to be in need of quick money.  It could be
due to this trend in ar-Razi's alchemical technique for silvering and gilding of metal that man,.'
Muslim biographers concluded that he was first a jeweler before he turned to alchemy.

Of interest in the text is ar-Razi's classification of minerals into six divisions,  giving his
discussion a modern chemical connotation:
1.  Four spirits: mercury, sal ammoniac, sulphur, and arsenic.
2.  Seven bodies; silver, gold, copper, iron, black lead (plumbago), zinc, and tin.
3 . Thirteen stones including marcasite, magnesia, malachite, tutty, talcum, lapis lazuli, gypsum,
and glass (then identified as as made of sand an d alkali of which the transparent crystal
Damascene is considered the best).
4. Seven vitriols including alum, and white, black, red, and yellow vitriols (the impure
sulphates of iron, copper, etc.).
5. Seven borates including the tinkar, natron, and impure sodium borate.
6. Eleven salts including brine, common (table) salt, ashes, naphtha, live lime, and urine, rock,
and sea salts. Then he separately defines and describes each of these
substances and their choicest kinds and colors and possible adulterations.

Concerning the tools and equipment of the alchemist, ar-Razi classifies them into two kinds:

1. Utensils used for the dissolving and melting of bodies such as the furnace, bellows, crucible,
holder (tongue or ladle), macerator, pot, stirring rod, cutter, and grinder.
 2. Utensils use(j to carry out the operation of transmutation, such as the retort, alembic,
receiver, other parts of the distilling apparatus, oven (stove), cups, bottles, jars, pans, and
blowers.

The instructions given are minute and detailed showing intimate knowledge of the procedures,
materials, and technology involved.

To illustrate one aspect of this operation, ar-Razii relates the following story. He once went on a
trip to Baghdad. There, the scholar al-Hakim al-Hamadani heard of ar-Razi's visit and came
with his friends to welcome him. Among the subjects they discussed was alchemy. Ar-Razi,
using the elixir, gilded two metals so that they looked exactly like true gold. His viewers
watched with admiration and astonishment.

Later alchemists, nonetheless, departed greatly from these leading guidelines that ar-Razi had
described with precision and thoroughness in his two books. As a result, the whole art suffered
disrepute and setbacks, especially during the latter period of medieval Islamic science.

In addition to ar-Razi's alchemical writings, Ibn an-Nadim mentions 115 works and 30 epistles,
a majority of them on natural sciences and the healing arts, including commentaries, abstracts,
and refutations. Ibn an-Nadim also identifies briefly the five areas in which ar-Razi
distinguished himself:

1. Ar-Razi was recognized as the best physician of his time who had fully absorbed the Greek
medical learning.
2. He traveled in many lands. His repeated visits to Baghdad and his services to many princes
and rulers are known from many sources.
3. He was a medical educator who attracted many students, both beginners and advanced.

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4. He was compassionate, kind, upright, and devoted to the service of his patients whether rich
or poor.
5. He was a prolific reader and writer and has authored many books, the titles of which were
cited by Ibn an-Nadim and other Muslim biobibliographers of physicians and philosophers.

The best survey of ar-Razi's works from the medieval period seems to be an epistle by al-Biruni
written about 4:28/1037.  Through this epistle, can be seen concealed sides of ar-Razi's life and
his contributions as a prolific author and compiler to pharmacy, pharmacology, and medical
therapy. To understand and appreciate him fully, however, one should look upon him as the
product and in the context of his time (250-312 / 865-925). For in the West and Byzantium this
was an. Age of Faith,  important to our discussion here, therefore, is his courageous attack of
errors in the medical and philosophical teachings of the ancients. For it was ar-Razi who wrote a
book, Shukuk 'ala Nazariyat jalinus, in which he doubted the accuracy in many medical,
physiological, and therapeutic concepts, theories, and procedures as stated by Galen and which
were blindly accepted and transmitted by his followers and later compilers and commentators.

Interestingly, ar-Razi foresaw that mainly because of his doubts on Galen, many would attack
him bitterly and accuse him of ignorance, malice and misconception, a fact that no sooner was
reported as having been said than his expectations were confirmed. Yet it was ar-Razi who
repeatedly expressed praises and gratitude to , Galen for his commendable contributions and
labors. Ar-Razi explained in the introduction to his Shukuk, 'I prayed to Allah to direct and lead
me to the truth in writing this book. It grieves me to oppose and criticize the man [ Galen ] from
whose sea of knowledge I have drawn much. Indeed, he is the master and I am the servant
(disciple). But all this reverence and appreciation will and should not prevent me from
doubting, as I did, what is erroneous among his theories. I imagine and feel deep in my heart
that Galen has chosen me to undertake this task, and if he was alive, he would have
congratulated me on what I am doing. I say this because Galen's aim was to seek and find the
truth and to bring light out of darkness. Indeed I wish he was alive to read what I have
published'.

Thereafter, ar-Razi, with a view to vindicate Galen's greatness and to justify his criticism of him,
lists four reasons why great men make errors more than others:
1. Because of negligence, as a result of too much self confidence.
2. Because of unmindfulness (indifference) which often leads to errors.
3. Because of enticements to follow one's Own fancy or impetuosity in imagining that what he
does or says is right.
4. Crystallization of ancient knowledge in view of the dynamic nature of science so that present
day knowledge must of necessity surpass that of previous generations. This is because of the
continuous discoveries of new data and new truths. Ar-Razi believed, and rightly so, that
contemporary scientists and scholars, because of accumulated knowledge at their disposal. are,
by far, better equipped, more knowledgeable, and competent than the ancients.  Indeed, what
ar-Razi did in attempting to overthrow blind reverence and the unchallenged authority of
ancient sages was, by itself, a great step in the right direction. This impetus encouraged and
stimulated research and advances in the arts, 'technology, and the sciences. It unshackled the
human spirit for greater and more fasting achievements.

On the professional level, ar-Razi introduced many useful, progressive, medical and
psychological ideas. He also attacked charlatans and fake doctors who roamed the cities and the
countryside selling their nostrums and 'cures'. At the same time, he warned that even highly
educated doctors did not have the answers for all medical problems and could not cure all
sicknesses or heal every disease. Humanly speaking, this is an impossibility. Nonetheless, to be
more useful in their services and truer to their calling, ar-Razi exhorted practitioners to keep up
with advanced knowledge by Continually studying medical books and expose themselves to
new information. He further classified diseases into three categories: those which are curable;
those that can be cured; and those which are incurable. On the latter, he cited advanced cases of
cancer and leprosy which if not cured, the doctor should not take blame. Then, on the
humorous side, ar-Razi pitied physicians caring for the well being of princes, nobility, and
women, for they did not obey doctor's orders for restricted diet and medical treatment, thus
making most difficult the task of their doctor.

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This writer is inclined to believe that ar-Razi was the first in Islam to deliberately Write a book -
home medical (remedial) advisor -entitled Man la Yahduruhu Tab for the general public. He
dedicated it to the poor, the traveler, and the ordinary citizen who could consult it for treatment
of common ailments when the doctor was not available. This book, of course, is of special
interest to the history of pharmacy since books on the same theme continued to appear and has
found acceptance by readers to the present century. In its 36 chapters, ar-Razi described diets
and drugs that can be found practically every where in apothecary shops, the market place, in
well-equipped kitchens, and in military camps. Thus, any intelligent mature person can follow
its instructions and prepare the right recipes for good results. Some of the illnesses treated are
headaches, colds, coughing, melancholy, and diseases of the eye, ear, and stomach. In a feverish
headache, for example, he prescribed, 'two parts of the duhn (oily extract) of rose, to be mixed
with part of vinegar, in which a piece of linen cloth is dipped and compressed on the forehead'.
For a laxative, he recommended 'seven drams of dried violet flowers with twenty pears,
macerated and mixed well, then strained. To the filtrate, twenty drams of sugar is added for a
draft'. In cases of melancholy, he invariably recommended prescriptions including either
poppies or their juices (opium) or clover dodder (Curcuma epithymum Muss.) or both. For an
eye remedy, he recommended myrrh, saffron, and frankincense, two drams each to be mixed
with one dram of yellow arsenic and made into tablets. When used each tablet was to be
dissolved in a sufficient quantity of coriander water and used as eye drops.

Ar-Razi followed the same method in his book Bur as-Sa'ah, in which he prescribed remedies to
cure ailments in one hour, or at least in a short time, so that the patient did not need frequently
to call on his doctor and to pay larger fee.

In his other book on diets, their uses and disadvantages, Mnafi' al-Aghdhiyyah, ar-Razi
followed a pattern that had been introduced earlier by Galen. In it, ar-Razi attempted to correct
several errors made by Galen and to introduce new data missed by the latter.

Ibn Masawayh was another physician who wrote on the same topic. According to ar-Razi, Ibn
Masawayh did more harm than good in his exposition of the subject. These misgivings
challenged ar-Razi to undertake the writing of a comprehensive study, Manafi', which is of
great interest not only to pharmacy and medicine but to the history of the culinary art as well.
Emphasizing specific matters and general regulations for healthy living, ar-Razi discussed
breads, waters, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, spices, meats, and fishes. He explained in
detail their kinds, methods of preparation, physical properties, and therapeutic modes of action,
and pointed out when they were useful and when not. Of wines, for example, he mentioned
whether they were made of grapes of raisins, their color, taste, and preferred use in the
particular situations. He concluded by describing the disadvantages of frequent consumption of
wines leading to alcoholism, 'which often causes many serious diseases as epilepsy, paralysis,
senile tremor in older people, cirrhosis, hepatitis, mental disorders, visionary distortions,
obesity, debility, and impotence.

While ar-Razi paid much attention to curing the body's ills, he did not ignore cures for
infirmities of the soul. The proof of his concern for psychotherapy seems quite evident. On
completing his medical encyclopedia, al-Mansuri, on the diagnoses and treatment of body
diseases, he filled in the gap by writing a counterpart at- Tibb ar-Ruhani on the medicine of the
soul. Both works (completed about 293-294/ 906-907 respectively) were written for, and
dedicated to, ar-Razi's great patron, Prince Abu Sajih Mansur b. Ishaq b. Ahmad b. Asad. In the
twenty chapters of at-Tibb ar-Ruhani, ar-Razi, discussed with objectivity, farsightedness, and
mature understanding of human nature and desires, such topics as human passions, vices,
pleasures, lust, anger, pain, miserliness, drunkenness, virtue and death.  His concern for, and
penetration into, human nature, its complexities, and the directions leading into it, confirm his
appreciation of the importance of psychotherapy and psychology as two important parts of the
healing art.

In his famous al-Mansuri, however, ar-Razi devoted four out of the book's total of ten treatises,
to diets and drugs, medicated cosmetics, toxicology and antidotes, amelioration of laxatives,
and compounded remedies, all of which are of pharmaceutical interest.

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Ar-Razi's last and largest medical encyclopedia is his al-Hawi fit-Tibb, which embraces all areas
of medical knowledge of the time. This huge compilation of sayings and interpretations by the
ancients, Arabic physicians, and ar-Razi was gathered and edited after the author's death by h is
students. Inevitably, it included sections related to 'pharmacy in the healing art', materia medica
arranged in alphabetical order, compounded drugs, pharmaceutical dosage forms and
toxicology. It also included numerous medical recipes and tested prescriptions that influenced
'medical therapy' in Islam and in the West during the Middle Ages.

In his use of mineral drugs as external and internal remedies, including vitriols, copper,
mercuric and arsenic salts, sal ammoniac, gold scoria, chalk, clay (as in the terra sigillata and
Armenian clay), coral, pearl, tar, and bitumen, ar-Razi, encouraged and pioneered
chemotherapy in Islamic medicine.

Although he recommended poppies and opium internally as somniferous agents and to quiet
coughing, and externally to relieve eye and wound pains, he warned against their deadly effects
(two drams are fatal).

Attention to diet and drug therapy was likewise emphasized by Ahmad b. Abi al-Ash'ath in his
two books; Quwa al-Adwiyyah and al-Ghadhi wal-Mughtadhi (com- completed around
353/965).

In his Quwa, in three treatises, Ibn Abi al-Ash'ath discusses general rules and regulations for
medicinal treatment; the properties of vegetable, animal, and mineral drugs obtained from the
three natural kingdoms and those mineral-like drugs manufactured by man, such as cinnabar
and tutty, and their uses and advantages. The book was dedicated to the author's two students,
Mohammed b. Ayyub Ibn ath-Thallaj of Mosul, and Ahmad b. Mohammed al-Baladi. Ibn Abi
al-Ash'ath described the three principles connected with sickness and health: receptive body;
apparent symptoms; and unavoidable operative causes. Medicine, therefore, explores general
laws of body conditions; symptoms and their interpretations; and causes and their effects.  He
explained that the five principles concerned with conditions of sickness and health -the air we
breath and that surrounds us sleep and wakefulness rest and motion, infusion and evacuation,
and psychic manifestations -all generate and evolve within our bodies. But what comes to our
bodies and affects us from the outside is the principle that involves what we eat and drink as
well as the drugs we use to restore health or to cure diseases.

To simple drugs, the author assigned primary efficacy functions (generating powers): heat,
moisture, dryness and cold; and secondary efficacy functions, e.g., their uses and
pharmacological advantages. He warned against charlatans and ignorant doctors' and
encouraged academic training for practitioners and continued medical education for hospital
internship, residency and beyond. He concluded, 'For those who collect money are always
afraid to lose it, but those (like physicians) who accumulate knowledge endeavor to increase it

In his earlier work, al-Ghadhi, in two treatises, Ibn Abi al-Ash'ath not only described the
anatomy and physiology of body organs but also animal organs used in diet therapy.

Of interest to psychotherapy, however, is the author's treatise on sleep and wakefulness, in six
chapters. In it he confirms that the act of sleep is under the control (or one of the functions) of
the brain, just as jaundice is connected with the liver. Sleep is not to be compared with death;
they are two different things.  Sleep gives rest from labor (active motion) of the brain which
consists of contemplation, memory (reminiscence), and imagination. Sleep increases with cold.
When the brain reacts to slumber, one awakens. The author concluded by dividing sleep into
three types: the first stage; sleep with dreams; and deep sleep without dreams.

Little is known of Ibn Abi al-Ash'ath's younger contemporary and countryman, al-Majusi. He
received his medical training under the tutorship of Abu Mahir Musa b. Sayyar. AI-Majusi
served King' Adud ad-Dawlah (d. 372/983) to whom he dedicated his only known medical
compendium, al-Maliki (Liber Rigius). This encyclopedia consists of twenty treatises on the
theory and practice of medicine (ten on each). In them, the author encourages the use of

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indigenous medicinal plants, as well as animal and mineral products. Using minerals -chalk,
Armenian clay (bole), red ochre, terra sigillata, marcasite (Pyrites), natron, sal ammoniac,
vitriols, burned copper, and ii naphtha -internally and externally encouraged chemotherapy as
utilized by his predecessors, ar-Razi (d. 312/925), and others.   He emphasized in the treatment
of patients that in addition to natural principles, age, sex, dichotomy of colors, and facial
complexions should also be taken into consideration.

Interesting also were some of al-Majusi's physiological interpretations. He spoke of the two
opposing movements generated by the animal vital spirit: expansion and contraction which in
regard to heart and arteries constitute the diastole and systole, and inspiration and expiration
with regard to the respiratory organs. He compared these two opposing movements to a
bellows. The difference is that they are produced by an internal (innate) spirit, while an external
force operates the bellows. He then explained that after lungs inhale air from the outside, they
expel the vaporized (smoky) superfluities during exhalation. When the heart draws air from
the lungs, it mixes with the blood and augments the vital spirit. He defined temperaments as
pertaining to the management of life, and action as tools to help carryon the functions of nature
and the soul in animals and plants. He described the veins as haying pores that open toward the
arteries and pass light blood. He cited as proof the fact that if a vein is cut, it spews out all the
blood it contains. Respiration, he continued, takes place through contraction and expansion
during which the arteries, especially those close to the heart, evacuate air and blood; and
through expansion draw air and light blood from the heart to fill the vacuum created by
contraction. Blood formation and body growth results from digested and assimilated food, and
takes place in three stages, through the natural faculties which attract, hold, digest, and expel.

Concerning physical exercises, al-Majusi explained that they increase and nourish innate heat
for a better metabolism, to widen the pores, to rid the body of superfluities and to strengthen
the organs.

Also of interest in al-Majusi's al-Maliki, are the two sections devoted to specific skin diseases
such as leprosy, sores, skin ulcers, abscesses, pimples, swellings, car- buncles, rashes, wounds,
and poisonous animal bites, as well as dermatology at large.

Al-Majusi divided drugs according to their pharmacological action as hymnotics, sedatives,

antipyretics, laxatives, demulcents, diuretics, emetics, emollients, astringents, and digestants.
He described medicinal plants and their parts used as remedial agents: seeds, leaves, flowers,
fruits, and roots. He also had special chapters on gums, extracts, and plant juices, as well as
mineral drugs used for external or internal treatment. He urged practitioners to collect them
until need for their use arose. He seemed to have little use for pharmacists, and wanted
physicians to compound or to supervise the preparation of their own medications. He
recommended application of a purity test against drug adulteration. He said, for example, that
the best kind of aloes is reddish in color and which turns darker when breathed upon
(introducing  carbon dioxide).

In the preparation of compounded remedies, the author advised doctors to increase or decrease
the amount of each included ingredient according to need. Quantities for each dosage in each
case, al-Majusi confirmed, should be determined only by the practitioner himself. Finally, he
described compounded drugs in the various pharmaceutical forms: lohocks, decoctions,
powders, robs, and dentifrices.

Al-Majusi's al-Maliki was translated first in part by Constantine Africanus (d. 479/1087), under
the title Pantegno. A complete and much better translation, however, was made in 520/1127 by
Stephen of Antioch. It was printed first in Venice in 897/1492 by Bernard Rici de Novaria, and
in 929/1523 in Venice and Lyons with annotation by Micheal de Capella.48This work, like those
of ar-Razi's, thus continued to circulate and influence medicine and pharmacy in the West for
over five hundred years.

 
Chapter 3. Atomic Structure

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EVERYTHING IS MADE OF ATOMS
Atoms are composed of:

a nucleus that contains protons and neutrons

* the nucleus is surrounded by electrons
* Different combinations of these sub-units will give different types of atoms
* atoms are very small but lots of them exist
* how do we know that they are there?

The idea of smaller and smaller units of matter was first proposed by Democritus (5th
century BC)

* All material was said to be composed of four elements

* earth
* fire
* water
* air

* varying amounts of each would vary the properties of a material (or person)

* gold was supposed to have large amounts of fire

* this accounts for the use of fire by alchemists in attempting to convert other materials
into gold

Intermediate between alchemy and chemistry was Robert Boyle

 
 
 
* Born in Ireland into a very wealthy family
* Traveled in Europe as most of his education
* Lived and worked in  Oxford, but never held a university position
* 1662 described (with the help of Robert Hooke) Boyle's Law, relating pressure, volume
and temperature of gases
* 1661 in  a book The Sceptical Chemist, argues against the four elements described by
Greeks

* said that matter was composed of small "corpuscules" that were in turn made up of
smaller primary particles

* Combustion (fire) was extensively used in early chemistry (and alchemy)

* Understanding combustion was important

* A substance called "phlogiston" was proposed, by Georg Stahl in 1729, to be present

in combustible materials
* Pholgiston was invisible, colorless, odorless, tasteless
* The presence of phlogiston was invoked to account for weight changes upon
combustion
* Some substances gained weight upon combustion

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* e.g. heating of mercury resulted in increased weight, rusty nails weigh more

Josesph Priestley (1733-1804), English scientist, religious dissenter

* working on the properties of "airs" during period 1767-1773

* found that heating cinnabar (HgO) gave off a gas

* gas would support life, combustion

* Priestley had discovered oxygen
* prior to this only three gases were known, "air" CO2 and H2
* Priestley said that the gas was "dephlogisticated air"
* Oxygen was also independently discovered by Carl Scheele, a Swedish chemist in 1773)

* Supporter of French Revolution

* Mob destroyed his house and laboratory in 1791
* Moved to Northumberland, Pennsylvania 1794

 
In 1775, Priestley met with and described the mercury experiment to Antoine Lavoisier

* Born into a wealthy family

* Studied science and law at university
* Bought a title of nobility
* In addition to science, active civil servant

* 1786 tax collection

* 1775 gun powder administration
* Agricultural and hospital reform

* Active supporter of French Revolution

* Served in Revolutionary Government
* Attacked in the press by radicals
* Arrested and guillotined May 8, 1794 during the Reign of Terror

* Quantified the work of Priestley

* Repeating the work on cinnabar (HgO or mercuric oxide) that Priestley had done,
collected the oxygen that was given off and determined how much was given off
* Reversed the experiment, and found that the amount of oxygen that was absorbed was
the same as the amount given off in the previous step
* This obviated the need for phlogiston.
* The addition of oxygen to mercury is respsonsible for the observed increase in weight.

The modern concept of the atom was proposed by the English chemist, John Dalton (1766-
1844)

* Dalton was a Quaker, with plain tastes, simple dress, and methodical habits
* Taught in universities that admitted non-Anglicans
* Colorblind (red-green color blindness is called daltonism)
* Worked in meterology as well as chemistry

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Found that most substances could be broken down in various ways

* burning
* immersion in acid
* some substances (elements, such as oxygen, gold, sulfur) could not be degraded further

Dalton’s Atomic Theory (1808) (From J.H. Miller, GWU)

 
* Each element is made up of tiny particles called atoms.
* Chemical compounds are formed when atoms combine with each other. A given
compound always has the same relative numbers and types of atoms.  (i.e. for water to be water
it MUST be H-O-H, and not some other ratio)

For example:

* water= H-O-H which, by weight, is 89% O and 11% H

* 89÷11 gives a ratio of  8:1,
* since there are two atoms of hydrogen, per atom of oxygen, oxygen is 16 times heavier
than hydrogen
* hydrogen was found to be the lightest element and was assigned an atomic weight of 1
* oxygen is 16 times heavier so has an atomic weight of 16

 
* Chemical reactions involve reorganization of the atoms - changes in the way they are
bound together. The atoms themselves are not changed in a chemical reaction.
* The atoms of a given element are identical; the atoms of different elements are different
in some fundamental way or ways.

What differences in atomic structure would account for these differences in weights?
Are atoms made up of smaller particles?

This question was addressed by

* collection of data
* the development of models that are consistent with the data
* re-evlauation of models as methods of data collection change and improve

J.J. Thomson

* Thomson was born in a suburb of Manchester and went to university there, training as
an engineer
* Family funds ran out and he went to Cambridge, on a scholarship to study mathematics
* Entered the Cavendish Laboratory to do experimental work (although he was reported
to be pretty clumsy at it).
* In the late 1800's tubes were made that could be partially evacuated, a voltage was
passed through the tube, and it glowed (kind of like a neon sign).
* With better vacuums it was found that a glow was coming from the negative plate (the
cathode)

* What was the glow?

* some thought it was light

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* some thought is was gas from the air
* some thought it was material particles

* the beam could be defelected by magnetic field or electrical field, therefore wasn't light

* the beam was much longer than a stream of gas could have been
* therefore it had to be particles
* these particles could penetrate foils, so they had to be very small
* inserting electrical plates shows that the particles are negatively charge (i.e. repelled by
the negative plate)

J.J. Thomson did this work in 1897 and was awarded the 1906 Nobel Prize in physics
He had discovered the electron (a term coined in 1901;  Thomson called them "corpuscles", and
didn't use the term "electron" until much later in life)

Based on his research Thomson proposed three hypotheses

1.  Cathode rays are charged particles

2.  These particles are constituents of the atom
3.  These particles are the only constituents

Thomson also proposed the "plum pudding" model of the atom

    Atoms were known to be electrically neutral
    According to the plum pudding model, the electrons were embedded in mass of positive
charge

 
 
 
 

The next piece of evidence about atomic structure came from the work of Ernest Rutherford
from New Zealand

* Ernest Rutherford was born in 1871 not far from Nelson, New Zealand
* Went to Canterbury University in Christchurch
* 1895-Post-graduate scholarship to study with J.J. Thomson
* 1898-Physics Department at McGill University in Montreal

* Worked on radioactivity and transmutation of elements

* 1907-University of Manchester

* work on atomic structure

* 1910-1911-Gold Foil experiment

* Positively charged, alpha particles were aimed at a piece of gold foil

* If the "plum pudding" model were correct, most of the positively charged particles
should be deflected

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* It was found, however, that most of the alpha particles went straight through the foil,
with only a few being deflected
* This showed that the atom has large amounts of empty space
* With the positively charged parts of the atom present in a small, concentrated area (i.e.
not uniformly distributed as in the "plum pudding" model).

 
* Rutherford model of the atom was developed, in which the atom looked like a miniature
solar system
* with a small positively charged region (nucleus)
* orbited by negatively charged particles (electrons)

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* 1908  Rutherford was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry, for his work on
transmutation
* 1919 Returned to Cambridge as Cavendish Professor, succeeding Thomson

The Rutherford Model explained many atomic properties, but several questions remained
According to Newtonian (classical) physics, electrons should lose energy and fall into the
nucleus.  This obviously doesn't happen.
Modifications to the Rutherford model were proposed by the Danish physicist Niels Bohr

* Bohr was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1885

* Doctorate from University of Copenhagen
* 1911 on a grant from Carlsberg Brewing  went to work with J.J. Thomson
* 1912 went to Manchester to work with Rutherford (Rutherford generally distrusted
theoreticians but liked Bohr)
* 1913 developed an alternative model of the atom

* it was known that the electron was in a stable orbit around the nucleus
* a moving electron should emit light, lose energy, and fall into the nucleus
* it doesn't

* why?
* when hydrogen is heated its spectrum shows sharp distinct lines

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* Bohr proposed that electrons could only exist in certain orbits and not in between
(quantization)
* each orbit is a different distance from the nucleus (but all hydrogens, for example, have
the same distances)
* electrons that are closer to the nucleus are more stable
* adding energy to the atom could promote electrons into higher energy orbits
* as the electron returns to the original orbit it emits light energy equivalent to that
required to promote it in the first place

* The Bohr model could accurately describe the observed spectrum  of hydrogen
* Bohr won the 1922 Nobel Prize for Physics for this work
* The Bohr model combined Newtonian mechanics and the newly developed quantum
mechanics
* The Bohr model only worked for hydrogen
* The method was extended by Arnold Sommerfeld

* elliptical orbits were proposed for more complicated atoms

In addition to the behavior of the electron there were other discrepancies in physics being
observed in the early 1900s, where Newtonian mechanics broke down, leading to the
develpoment of quantum mechanics
Classical physics doesn't work well for
* the very small
* the very fast
* the very cold, the very hot
* while quantum mechanics accurately describes behavior of the small, cold and fast, it
often doesn't make intuitive sense

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Quantum Mechanics 1:  Black body radiation and Max Planck

* As objects are heated they will radiate light

* As the temperature of the object changes the distribution of colors (wavelengths)
change

* Classical (i.e. Newtonian) mechanics could reproduce these experiments at longer

wavelengths
* Failed at shorter (ultraviolet) wavelengths. ("Ultraviolet Catastrophe")
* Max Planck, German physicist working at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute, found that if the
energy quantized (came in discrete, specific amounts), the observed radiation curve could be
explained
* This was the beginning of quantum mechanics, for which Planck was awarded the 1918
Nobel Prize for physics

Quantum Mechanics 2:  The Photoelectric Effect and Albert Einstein

 
* Albert Einstein was born in 1879 in Ulm, Germany (a little west of Munich), to Jewish
parents
* Father had several failed businesses and the family moved to Milan, leaving Einstein in
school in Munich
* Einstein did not do well under the regimented school environment and at age 15
rejoined faimily in Milan
* Finishes high school in Aarua, Switzerland
* Enrolls in ETH, the Federal Polytechnic in Zurich, studies physics and mathematics
* 1900 graduates from ETH, but does not get a university position

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* Takes a job as a patent clerk in Bern and works as a mathematics tutor
* While at university became involved with Mileva Maric a classmate

* before marriage they had a daughter Lieserl who was given up for adoption

* 1903 Marries Mileva Maric

* two sons are born 1904-Hans Albert, 1910-Eduard

* 1905 while working at the patent office completes work for Ph.D. and publishes four
influential papers

* On the Motion Required by the Molecular Kinetic Theory of Heat of Small Particles
Suspended in

a Stationary Liquid

* a theoretical description of Brownian motion

* On a Heuristic Viewpoint Concerning the Production and Transformation

of Light

* the photoelectric effect

* On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies

* special relativity

* Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?

* a mathematical follow up to special relativity in which E=mc2 first appears

* 1911 Academic position at German University in Prague

* 1912 Back to ETH in Zurich as Professor of Theoretical Physics
* 1914 Berlin and Director of Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
* 1914 Mileva and sons move back to Zurich and divorce proceedings are begun
* 1915 General theory of relativity
* 1917 Becomes ill and is nursed back to health by a cousin  Elsa Lowenthal
* 1919 Marries Elsa Lowenthal;  experimental evidence for general relativity is published
* Wins 1921 Nobel Prize in  Physics for photoelectric effect
* 1933 settles in  Princeton, as anti-semitism increases in Germany
* Elsa dies in 1936
* 1939 Letter to Roosevelt on atomic bomb
* 1949 Mileva dies
* 1955 Einstein dies in Princeton

* Based on Planck's proposal that the energy is quantized, Einstein proposed that light
could deliver energy in discreet quantized amounts as well (small particles or quanta, called
photons).
* According to this theory, light is composed of particles (rather than waves).
* This was verified by experiment and theoretical studies on the photoelectric effect.

* Light shining on a metal plate will cause the ejection of electrons

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* If light is a wave

* then the brighter the light (i.e. higher amplitiude) the more electrons will be ejected
* color (i.e. wavelength or frequency) doesn't matter
* this is the way classical waves work

* If light is a quantized particle

* the energy increases as the frequency increases (a la Planck)

* so that the higher the frequency of the light, independent of intensity, the more electrons
will be ejected
* this is what is found experimentally

* light with higher frequency and low intensity will remove electrons
* light with low frequency will not remove electrons even at high intensities

Light, however, also behaves like a wave and at very small sizes, so does matter (i.e.
electrons)
The wave nature of electrons is described by the Schrödinger wave equation.
Erwin Schrödinger was an Austrian physicist, that shared the 1933 Nobel Prize with
P.A.M. Dirac, an English physicist who made corrections to quantum mechanics to account
for relativistic effects

The wave equation does not predict actual locations of electrons, but areas of statistical
probability
The inability to determine the position of an electron is embodied in the Heisenberg
uncertainty principle

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* Heisenberg was born in 1901 in Bavaria
* During high school became interested in physics and mathematics, and independently
studied Einstein
* During and after World War I, was active in student military training and organized
outdoor activities
* 1920 attended University of Berlin, studying with  Arnold Sommerfeld
* Later with Niels Bohr in Copenhagen
* 1925 developed matrix mechanics as a method for quantum mechanical calculations

* shown by Schrödinger in 1926 to give the same results as wave mechanics

* 1927 Uncertainty principle-presented while a lecturer in Copenhagen with Bohr

* Both of these were very controversial
* 1927 position at University  of Leipzig
* Winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize
* 1933 Hitler comes to power

* Heisenberg was not a Nazi, and was protected to some extent by Nobel award
* Theoretical physics was under political attack
* Heisenberg was investigated by SS and threatened with interment in a concentration
camp

* 1942 Nuclear research at Kaiser Wilhem Institute

* Heisenberg's role is in question

* why was he involved at all?

* why wasn't there more progress

* Did Heisenberg sabotage the effort?

* Were his experimental skills poor?
* Was there adequate committment of resources?

* Heisenberg has been criticized for traveling to occupied countries as a government

representative

* After World War II helped in rebuilding of scientific and educational facilities

* Died in 1976 of lung cancer

The more precisely the position is determined, the less precisely the momentum is known in
this instant, and vice versa.        --Heisenberg, uncertainty paper, 1927

It can be illustrated in a fairly clear way as it relates to position vs. momentum:

* To see something (let's say an electron), we have to fire photons at it;

* They bounce off and come back to us, so we can "see" it.
* If you choose low-frequency photons, with a low energy, they do not impart much
momentum to the electron, but they give you a very fuzzy picture,
* So you have a higher uncertainty in position so that you can have a higher certainty in
momentum.
* On the other hand, if you were to fire very high-energy photons (x-rays or gammas) at
the electron, they would give you a very clear picture of where the electron is (higher certainty

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in position), but would impart a great deal of momentum to the electron (higher uncertainty in
momentum).

From quantum mechanical calculations, the shapes of atomic orbitals, (areas of higher
probability) are developed
Atomic orbitals vary in size and shape
Nodes are areas of zero probability

Atomic Number and Atomic Mass

Atoms are composed of

* electrons, with a negative charge

* protons, with a positive charge
* neutrons, with no charge
* protons and neutrons are present in the nucleus
* protons and neutrons are about equal in weight and much more massive than electrons
* atomic weight=# of protons + # of neutrons
* atomic number=# of protons (this is what distinguishes atoms from each other)
* most atoms have no charge, so # of electrons=# of protons
* Elements are arranged in the Periodic Table

* The periodic nature of the elements was proposed in 1869 by Dmitri Mendeleev
*
* During the early 1800's 26 elements were known
* As more were discovered, similarities in behavior were seen
* Mendeleev grouped the elements into families with increasing atomic weights
* Good predictions were made, where there were undiscovered elements

Examples:

Carbon has an atomic number of 6 and an atomic weight of 12

Therefore, it contains
6 protons
6 neutrons

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6 electons
Let's do a more difficult one:

Radon (the radioactive gas) has 86 protons, and an atomic weight of 222:
What is its atomic number?
How many neutrons does it contain?
How may electrons does it contain?

Other forms of elements are:

ions

in which the number of electrons is not equal to number of protons

* these atoms are charged
* if more electrons than protons the atom has a negative charge
* if more protons than electrons the atom has a positive charge

isotopes

the number of protons defines the element

* elements with differing numbers of neutrons are isotopes
* isotopes may be radioactive or otherwise unstable

We have seen that atoms are made up of

* electrons that surround the nucleus that contains
* protons (with positive charge)
* neutrons (with no charge)
* The next logical step has been to see if these particles can be further sub-divided
* a useful and interesting summary of this information is available

Protons and neutrons are made up of smaller,fundamental particles called quarks (the word
comes from a small poem in Finnegan's Wake, by James Joyce)

electrons are thought to be fundamental particles (i.e. they cannot be further sub-divided)

All of observed matter can be explained in terms of

* 6-types of leptons
* 6-types of quarks
* force-carrier particles
* corresponding anti-particles (as predicted by Dirac)

 
Leptons

* Appear to have no internal structure

*      occur singly

*      carry either

* a single negative charge

* electron
* mu-on
* tau

* or are neutral (these particles are called neutrinos-arise from nuclear decay)

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* e-neutrino
* mu-neutrino
* tau-neutrino

* there are also 6-antileptons with opposite charges

* these are used in medical applications

* positron emission tomography (PET)

* the positron is the anti-electron

* a medical imaging method that uses radioactive tracers that emit positrons

Quarks
 

* Fundamental particles that make up neutrons and protons

* There are 6 types of quarks, but they are usually discussed in pairs
* Quarks are different in that they carry fractional charges (2/3 or -1/3), unlike electrons
that are -1 or protons that are +1

*      up +2/3 down -1/3

*      charm +2/3 strange -1/3
*      top +2/3 bottom -1/3

* Unlike leptons which occur singly, quarks always occur in groups

* A group of quarks is a particle called a hadron
* And there are two classes of hadrons

* baryons (which include protons and neutrons) that are made up of three quarks

* e.g. a proton contains uud, while a neutron=udd

* mesons (particles discovered in cosmic rays)

* contain one quark and one anti-quark

Now we know what the universe is made of, but what holds it together?
 

There are four fundamental forces or interactions that are responsible

* Gravity
* Electromagnetism
* Strong force
* Weak force

* We need to consider how particles interact

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* It is thought that interactions between matter particles are due to the exchange of
something called a force-carrier particle

* Think about two people playing catch with a heavy object, like a shot-put
* When a person catches the heavy object, they might be pushed backwards slightly
* In this example, the people are the matter particles and the shot is the force carrier
particle

Gravity

*  This is the most familiar to us, but at the particle level its effects are small
*  While gravity acts on everything, it is a weak force unless the masses involved are very
large
*  The carrier particle, called the graviton, has been predicted but not discovered

Electromagnetism
* This force is also common in everyday life
* Electromagnetic forces are responsible for holding atoms together to form chemical
compounds
* Carrier particle is the photon

The remaining two forces are important at sub-atomic levels

        Strong interaction
* Responsible for holding the nucleus together
* Recall that the nucleus is made up protons and neutrons
* The strong force, works over very small distances and overcomes the repulsion between
positively charged protons
* The carrier particles are called "gluons"

        Weak interactions

* These forces occur during the conversion of quarks or leptons into other types of quarks
or leptons
* ß-decay in the nucleus is a weak process
* the carrier particles are called "Z0, W+ and W- bosons"

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