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class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Additional_bibliography" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Additional_bibliography"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Additional bibliography</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Additional_bibliography-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1 vector-toc-list-item-expanded"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div 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Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.<br /><small><span class="plainlinks"><i>Find sources:</i> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?as_eq=wikipedia&q=%22Chinese+alchemy%22">"Chinese alchemy"</a> – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbm=nws&q=%22Chinese+alchemy%22+-wikipedia&tbs=ar:1">news</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22Chinese+alchemy%22&tbs=bkt:s&tbm=bks">newspapers</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=%22Chinese+alchemy%22+-wikipedia">books</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Chinese+alchemy%22">scholar</a> <b>·</b> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=%22Chinese+alchemy%22&acc=on&wc=on">JSTOR</a></span></small></span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">March 2024</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Ancient Chinese approach to alchemy</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol 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.sidebar-pretitle{padding:0.4em 0.4em 0;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.2em 0.8em;font-size:145%;line-height:1.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-image{padding:0.2em 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-heading{padding:0.1em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content{padding:0 0.5em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-content-with-subgroup{padding:0.1em 0.4em 0.2em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-below{padding:0.3em 0.8em;font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-above,.mw-parser-output .sidebar-collapse .sidebar-below{border-top:1px solid #aaa;border-bottom:1px solid #aaa}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-navbar{text-align:right;font-size:115%;padding:0 0.4em 0.4em}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:left;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6em;font-size:105%}.mw-parser-output .sidebar-list-title-c{padding:0 0.4em;text-align:center;margin:0 3.3em}@media(max-width:640px){body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .sidebar{width:100%!important;clear:both;float:none!important;margin-left:0!important;margin-right:0!important}}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .sidebar a>img{max-width:none!important}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-list-title,html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks hlist"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle">Part of <a href="/wiki/Category:Taoism" title="Category:Taoism">a series</a> on</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle"><a href="/wiki/Taoism" title="Taoism">Taoism</a></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span class="skin-invert" typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/Tao" title="Tao"><img alt="Tao" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Tao.svg/75px-Tao.svg.png" decoding="async" width="75" height="73" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Tao.svg/113px-Tao.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/07/Tao.svg/150px-Tao.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="497" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-above"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_Taoism" title="Outline of Taoism">Outline</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_Taoism" title="History of Taoism">History</a></li></ul></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Concepts</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Taoist_philosophy" title="Taoist philosophy">Taoist philosophy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tao" title="Tao">Tao</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/De_(Chinese)" title="De (Chinese)">De</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Wuji_(philosophy)" title="Wuji (philosophy)">Wuji</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Taiji_(philosophy)" title="Taiji (philosophy)">Taiji</a></i> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Yin_and_yang" title="Yin and yang">Yin and yang</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bagua" title="Bagua">Bagua</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy)" title="Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)">Wuxing</a></i> (five phases)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Bianhua" title="Bianhua">Bianhua</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Fan_(Daoism)" title="Fan (Daoism)">Fan</a></i> (reversal)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Wu_wei" title="Wu wei">Wu wei</a></i> (non-action)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Ziran" title="Ziran">Ziran</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Xian_(Taoism)" title="Xian (Taoism)">Xian</a></i> (immortal)</li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Zhenren" title="Zhenren">Zhenren</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/True_form_(Taoism)" title="True form (Taoism)">True form</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Three_Treasures_(traditional_Chinese_medicine)" title="Three Treasures (traditional Chinese medicine)">Three Treasures</a> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Jing_(Chinese_medicine)" title="Jing (Chinese medicine)">Jing</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qi" title="Qi">Qi</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Shen_(Chinese_religion)" title="Shen (Chinese religion)">Shen</a></i></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hun_and_po" title="Hun and po"><i>Hun</i> and <i>po</i></a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Practices</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Three_Treasures_(Taoism)" title="Three Treasures (Taoism)">Three Treasures (virtues)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Five_Precepts_(Taoism)" class="mw-redirect" title="Five Precepts (Taoism)">Five Precepts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ten_Precepts_(Taoism)" class="mw-redirect" title="Ten Precepts (Taoism)">Ten Precepts</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoist_meditation" title="Taoist meditation">Meditation</a></li> <li>Alchemy <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Neidan" title="Neidan">Neidan</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Waidan" title="Waidan">Waidan</a></i></li></ul></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Bugang" title="Bugang">Bugang</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Chu_(Taoism)" title="Chu (Taoism)">Chu</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoist_diet" title="Taoist diet">Diet</a> (<i><a href="/wiki/Bigu_(grain_avoidance)" title="Bigu (grain avoidance)">Bigu</a></i>)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoist_sexual_practices" title="Taoist sexual practices">Sexual practices</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoist_art" title="Taoist art">Art</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Fulu" title="Fulu">Fulu</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Daoshi" title="Daoshi">Priesthood</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Texts</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/I_Ching" title="I Ching">I Ching</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Tao_Te_Ching" title="Tao Te Ching">Tao Te Ching</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Zhuangzi_(book)" title="Zhuangzi (book)">Zhuangzi</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Huainanzi" title="Huainanzi">Huainanzi</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Taipingjing" title="Taipingjing">Taipingjing</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Xiang%27er" title="Xiang'er">Xiang'er</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Liezi" title="Liezi">Liezi</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Sanhuangjing" title="Sanhuangjing">Sanhuangjing</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Huahujing" title="Huahujing">Huahujing</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Qingjing_Jing" title="Qingjing Jing">Qingjing Jing</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Baopuzi" title="Baopuzi">Baopuzi</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Daozang" title="Daozang">Daozang</a></i></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Taoist_theology" class="mw-redirect" title="Taoist theology">Theology</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Hongjun_Laozu" title="Hongjun Laozu">Hongjun Laozu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Three_Pure_Ones" title="Three Pure Ones">Three Pure Ones</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Yuanshi_Tianzun" title="Yuanshi Tianzun">Yuanshi Tianzun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lingbao_Tianzun" title="Lingbao Tianzun">Lingbao Tianzun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Daode_Tianzun" title="Daode Tianzun">Daode Tianzun</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Four_heavenly_ministers" title="Four heavenly ministers">Four heavenly ministers</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Jade_Emperor" title="Jade Emperor">Jade Emperor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ziwei_Emperor" title="Ziwei Emperor">Ziwei Emperor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tianhuang_Emperor" title="Tianhuang Emperor">Tianhuang Emperor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Houtu" title="Houtu">Houtu</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Queen_Mother_of_the_West" title="Queen Mother of the West">Queen Mother of the West</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/King_Father_of_the_East" title="King Father of the East">King Father of the East</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Three_Great_Emperor-Officials" title="Three Great Emperor-Officials">Three Great Emperor-Officials</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eight_Immortals" title="Eight Immortals">Eight Immortals</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chang%27e" title="Chang'e">Chang'e</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Three_Sovereigns_and_Five_Emperors" title="Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors">Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Yellow_Emperor" title="Yellow Emperor">Yellow Emperor</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guan_Yu" title="Guan Yu">Guan Yu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Li_Hong_(Taoist_eschatology)" title="Li Hong (Taoist eschatology)">Li Hong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Body_god" title="Body god">Body god</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/List_of_Taoists" title="List of Taoists">People</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Laozi" title="Laozi">Laozi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhuang_Zhou" title="Zhuang Zhou">Zhuang Zhou</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lie_Yukou" title="Lie Yukou">Lie Yukou</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Heshang_Gong" title="Heshang Gong">Heshang Gong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wei_Boyang" title="Wei Boyang">Wei Boyang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhang_Daoling" title="Zhang Daoling">Zhang Daoling</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gan_Ji" title="Gan Ji">Gan Ji</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhang_Jue" title="Zhang Jue">Zhang Jue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhang_Lu_(Han_dynasty)" title="Zhang Lu (Han dynasty)">Zhang Lu</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ge_Xuan" title="Ge Xuan">Ge Xuan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/He_Yan" title="He Yan">He Yan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wang_Bi" title="Wang Bi">Wang Bi</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Seven_Sages_of_the_Bamboo_Grove" title="Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove">Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guo_Xiang" title="Guo Xiang">Guo Xiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sun_Hanhua" title="Sun Hanhua">Sun Hanhua</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wei_Huacun" title="Wei Huacun">Wei Huacun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ge_Hong" title="Ge Hong">Ge Hong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bao_Jingyan" title="Bao Jingyan">Bao Jingyan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kou_Qianzhi" title="Kou Qianzhi">Kou Qianzhi</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lu_Xiujing" title="Lu Xiujing">Lu Xiujing</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tao_Hongjing" title="Tao Hongjing">Tao Hongjing</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cheng_Xuanying" title="Cheng Xuanying">Cheng Xuanying</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chen_Tuan" title="Chen Tuan">Chen Tuan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhang_Boduan" class="mw-redirect" title="Zhang Boduan">Zhang Boduan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sun_Bu%27er" title="Sun Bu'er">Sun Bu'er</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wang_Chongyang" title="Wang Chongyang">Wang Chongyang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Qiu_Chuji" title="Qiu Chuji">Qiu Chuji</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Zhang_Guoxiang" title="Zhang Guoxiang">Zhang Guoxiang</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhang_Sanfeng" title="Zhang Sanfeng">Zhang Sanfeng</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhu_Quan" title="Zhu Quan">Zhu Quan</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Fangshi" title="Fangshi">Fangshi</a></i></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Taoist_schools" class="mw-redirect" title="Taoist schools">Schools</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Huang%E2%80%93Lao" title="Huang–Lao">Huang–Lao</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Way_of_the_Taiping" title="Way of the Taiping">Way of the Taiping</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Xuanxue" title="Xuanxue">Xuanxue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shangqing_School" title="Shangqing School">Shangqing School</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Way_of_the_Li_Family" title="Way of the Li Family">Way of the Li Family</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lingbao_School" title="Lingbao School">Lingbao School</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chongxuan_School" title="Chongxuan School">Chongxuan School</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Quanzhen_School" title="Quanzhen School">Quanzhen School</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Dragon_Gate_Taoism" title="Dragon Gate Taoism">Dragon Gate</a>)</li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wuliupai" title="Wuliupai">Wuliupai</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Way_of_the_Celestial_Masters" title="Way of the Celestial Masters">Way of the Celestial Masters</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Way_of_the_Five_Pecks_of_Rice" title="Way of the Five Pecks of Rice">Way of the Five Pecks of Rice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Way_of_the_Celestial_Masters#The_Southern_Celestial_Masters" title="Way of the Celestial Masters">Way of the Celestial Masters#The Southern Celestial Masters</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Northern_Celestial_Masters" class="mw-redirect" title="The Northern Celestial Masters">The Northern Celestial Masters</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zhengyi_Dao" title="Zhengyi Dao">Zhengyi Dao</a></li></ul></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_ritual_mastery_traditions" title="Chinese ritual mastery traditions">Chinese ritual mastery traditions</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Yao_Taoism" class="mw-redirect" title="Yao Taoism">Yao Taoism</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Sacred places</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Grotto-heavens" title="Grotto-heavens">Grotto-heavens</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sacred_Mountains_of_China" title="Sacred Mountains of China">Sacred Mountains of China</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Wudang_Mountains" title="Wudang Mountains">Wudang Mountains</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mount_Penglai" title="Mount Penglai">Mount Penglai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Kunlun_(mythology)" title="Kunlun (mythology)">Mount Kunlun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoist_temple" title="Taoist temple">Taoist temple</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/White_Cloud_Temple" title="White Cloud Temple">White Cloud Temple</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Louguantai" title="Louguantai">Louguantai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cebu_Taoist_Temple" title="Cebu Taoist Temple">Cebu Taoist Temple</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoist_Temple_(Hanford,_California)" title="Taoist Temple (Hanford, California)">Taoist Temple (Hanford, California)</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="color: var(--color-base)">Institutions and organizations</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_Taoist_Association" title="Chinese Taoist Association">Chinese Taoist Association</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Celestial_Masters" title="List of Celestial Masters">Celestial Masters</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoist_priest" class="mw-redirect" title="Taoist priest">Taoist priests</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output 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.navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Taoism" title="Template:Taoism"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Taoism" title="Template talk:Taoism"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Taoism" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Taoism"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Cinabre_(Chine).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Cinabre_%28Chine%29.jpg/220px-Cinabre_%28Chine%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="155" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Cinabre_%28Chine%29.jpg/330px-Cinabre_%28Chine%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d5/Cinabre_%28Chine%29.jpg/440px-Cinabre_%28Chine%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2827" data-file-height="1993" /></a><figcaption>Crystals of <a href="/wiki/Cinnabar" title="Cinnabar">cinnabar</a>, crystals of barite, crystals of quartz, crystals of calcite : Wanshan Mine, Wanshan District, Tongren Prefecture, <a href="/wiki/Guizhou" title="Guizhou">Guizhou</a> Province, China, an example of material historically associated with Chinese alchemy</figcaption></figure> <p><b>Chinese alchemy</b> (煉丹術 <i>liàndānshù</i> "method for refining cinnabar") is a historical Chinese approach to <a href="/wiki/Alchemy" title="Alchemy">alchemy</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Pseudoscience" title="Pseudoscience">pseudoscience</a>. According to original texts such as the <a href="/wiki/Cantong_qi" title="Cantong qi">Cantong qi</a>, the body is understood as the focus of cosmological processes summarized in the five agents of change, or <a href="/wiki/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy)" title="Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)">Wuxing</a>, the observation and cultivation of which leads the practitioner into alignment and harmony with the <a href="/wiki/Tao" title="Tao">Tao</a>. Therefore, the traditional view in China is that alchemy focuses mainly on longevity and the purification of one's spirit, mind and body, providing, health, longevity and wisdom, through the practice of <a href="/wiki/Qigong" title="Qigong">Qigong</a> and <a href="/wiki/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy)" title="Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)">wuxingheqidao</a>. The consumption and use of various concoctions known as alchemical medicines or <a href="/wiki/Elixir" title="Elixir">elixirs</a>, each of which having different purposes but largely were concerned with <a href="/wiki/Immortality" title="Immortality">immortality</a>. </p><p><i>Pao zhi</i> (炮制; <i>Pao chi</i>) or <a href="/wiki/Processing_(Chinese_materia_medica)" title="Processing (Chinese materia medica)">Processing (Chinese materia medica)</a> is used in <a href="/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_Medicine" class="mw-redirect" title="Traditional Chinese Medicine">Traditional Chinese Medicine</a>, such as honey or wine frying and roasting with toxic metals such as <a href="/wiki/Mercury_(element)" title="Mercury (element)">mercury</a>, <a href="/wiki/Lead" title="Lead">lead</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Arsenic" title="Arsenic">arsenic</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Daoism had two distinct parts, the classical Daojia (道家 Tao chia), which was mystical and stemmed primarily from <a href="/wiki/Laozi" title="Laozi">Laozi</a> and <a href="/wiki/Zhuang_Zhou" title="Zhuang Zhou">Zhuangzi</a>, and the more popular Daojiao (道教 Tao chiao), which was the popular, magical and <a href="/wiki/Alchemy" title="Alchemy">alchemical</a> side of Daoism. In general, classical Daojia was more austere, whereas Daojiao was more practiced by the general populace.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Chinese alchemy was introduced to the West by <a href="/wiki/Obed_Simon_Johnson" title="Obed Simon Johnson">Obed Simon Johnson</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-ASOCA_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-ASOCA-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Process_and_purpose">Process and purpose</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Process and purpose"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>By refining bases into gold and ingesting the "fake" or synthetic gold as a <a href="/wiki/Pill_of_Immortality" title="Pill of Immortality">prepared pill</a>, or <span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh">jindan</i></span> (金丹), alchemists believed that immortal life would be delivered. The idea that fake gold was superior to real gold arose because the alchemists believed the combination of a variety of substances (and the transformation of these substances through roasting or burning) gave the final substance a spiritual value, possessing a superior essence when compared to natural gold.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Gold" title="Gold">Gold</a> and <a href="/wiki/Mercury_(metal)" class="mw-redirect" title="Mercury (metal)">mercury</a> (in the form of <a href="/wiki/Cinnabar" title="Cinnabar">cinnabar</a>) were the most sought-after substances to manipulate and ingest. These metals were believed to have an inner essence of longevity due to them being relatively <a href="/wiki/Noble_metal" title="Noble metal">chemically inert</a> and resistant to weathering as opposed to common metals like copper and iron, and are thus hypothesized to transfer their essence to the consumer and extend life as a result. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Cinnabar" title="Cinnabar">Cinnabar</a> is a mineral with a reddish-brown colour and is the most common source of mercury in nature.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The significance of its red colour and difficulty with which it was refined implied to alchemists its connection with the search for immortality. The colour was significant to symbolic belief as well, red being considered in Chinese culture to be the "zenith of the colour representing the sun, fire, royalty and energy."<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Cinnabar could also be roasted, which produced liquid <a href="/wiki/Mercury_(metal)" class="mw-redirect" title="Mercury (metal)">mercury</a> (also known as quicksilver). This substance was ingested but it could also be combined with <a href="/wiki/Sulphur" class="mw-redirect" title="Sulphur">sulphur</a> and burned again to return to its natural form of cinnabar, the solid seen as the <a href="/wiki/Yin_and_yang" title="Yin and yang">yang</a> to quicksilver's <a href="/wiki/Yin_and_yang" title="Yin and yang">yin</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> In China, gold was quite rare, so it was usually imported from other surrounding countries. However, cinnabar could be refined in the mountains of <a href="/wiki/Sichuan" title="Sichuan">Sichuan</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hunan" title="Hunan">Hunan</a> provinces in central China. </p><p>Although the majority of <a href="/wiki/Xian_(Taoism)" title="Xian (Taoism)"><i>xian</i></a> (immortality) elixirs were combinations of <span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh">jindan</i></span>, many other elixirs were formed by combining metallic bases with natural herbs or animals bi-products. The <a href="/wiki/Rhinoceros" title="Rhinoceros">rhinoceros' horn</a> was commonly used in medicines and elixirs and was held to have fertility-increasing abilities. Elixirs could also have more lethal components like <a href="/wiki/Arsenic" title="Arsenic">arsenic</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sulphur" class="mw-redirect" title="Sulphur">sulphur</a> as ingredients. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="East_Asian_vs_Eastern_Mediterranean_views">East Asian vs Eastern Mediterranean views</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: East Asian vs Eastern Mediterranean views"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Further information: <a href="/wiki/Alchemy" title="Alchemy">Alchemy</a></div><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><table class="box-Unreferenced_section plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Unreferenced" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Question_book-new.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/50px-Question_book-new.svg.png" decoding="async" width="50" height="39" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/75px-Question_book-new.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/Question_book-new.svg/100px-Question_book-new.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="512" data-file-height="399" /></a></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>does not <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citing_sources" title="Wikipedia:Citing sources">cite</a> any <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">sources</a></b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Chinese_alchemy" title="Special:EditPage/Chinese alchemy">improve this section</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Burden_of_evidence" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">removed</a>.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">July 2023</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>Both the Eastern practice and the later Western practice of <a href="/wiki/Alchemy" title="Alchemy">alchemy</a> are remarkably similar in their methods and ultimate purpose. To be sure, the desire to create an elixir of immortality was more appealing to the Taoists, but European alchemists were not averse to seeking out formulas for various longevity-boosting substances. The secret of transmuting one element into another, specifically <a href="/wiki/Base_metal" title="Base metal">base metals</a> into gold or silver, was equally explored by both schools for obvious reasons.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2023)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>In the European outlook, the ability to turn relatively worthless materials into gold was attractive enough to allow medieval alchemy to enjoy extensive practice long after the Chinese form had been forgotten. Alternatively, <a href="/wiki/Transmutation_of_elements" class="mw-redirect" title="Transmutation of elements">transmutation</a> was also a means of accruing the <a href="/wiki/Precious_metal" title="Precious metal">precious metals</a> that were key in making life-extending elixirs, and were otherwise expensive and difficult to obtain. Alchemical knowledge in the East and West favored different opinions of the true form of alchemy due to different <a href="/wiki/Theology" title="Theology">theological</a> views and cultural biases, however these disputes do not lessen the integrity of alchemy's <a href="/wiki/Canonical_form" title="Canonical form">canonical</a> nature. </p><p>Chinese alchemy specifically was consistent in its practice from the beginning, and there was relatively little controversy among its practitioners <sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2023)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup>. Definition amongst alchemists varied only in their medical prescription for the elixir of immortality, or perhaps only over their names for it, of which <a href="/wiki/Sinology" title="Sinology">sinology</a> has counted about 1000.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2023)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> Because the Chinese approach was through the fundamental doctrine of <a href="/wiki/Yin_and_yang" title="Yin and yang"><i>Yin</i> and <i>Yang</i></a>, the influence of the <i><a href="/wiki/I_Ching" title="I Ching">I Ching</a></i>, and the teachings of the <a href="/wiki/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy)" title="Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)">Five Elements</a>, Chinese alchemy had its roots considerably more in obtaining a higher mental-spiritual level.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (July 2023)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> </p><p>In the West, there were conflicts between advocates of herbal and "chemical" (mineral) <a href="/wiki/Pharmacy" title="Pharmacy">pharmacy</a>, but in China, mineral remedies were always accepted. In Europe, there were conflicts between alchemists who favored gold-making and those who thought medicine the proper goal, but the Chinese always favored the latter. Since alchemy rarely achieved any of these goals, it was an advantage to the Western alchemist to have the situation obscured, and the art survived in Europe long after Chinese alchemy had simply faded away. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Origins">Origins</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Origins"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Despite much research, many scholars are still unable to marshal conflicting evidence in order to determine when exactly Chinese alchemy started. It was thought that China was making gold about one thousand years before Confucius' time, but this is contradicted by other academics stating that during the 5th century BCE there was no word for gold and that it was an unknown metal in China.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>However, despite the uncertain origins, there are enough similarities in the ideas of practices of Chinese alchemy and the Daoist tradition so that one can conclude that <a href="/wiki/Laozi" title="Laozi">Laozi</a> and <a href="/wiki/Zhang_Daoling" title="Zhang Daoling">Zhang Daoling</a> are the creators of this tradition. In her article, Radcliffe tells that Zhang rejected serving the Emperor and retreated to live in the mountains. At this time, he met Laozi and together they created (or attempted to create) the Elixir of Life (Radcliffe, 2001), by creating the theory that would be used in order to achieve the making of such an elixir. This is the starting point to the Chinese tradition of alchemy, whose purpose was to achieve immortality. </p><p>One of the first evidence of Chinese alchemy being openly discussed in history is during <a href="/wiki/Qin_Shi_Huang" title="Qin Shi Huang">the Qin's First Emperor's period</a> when Huan Kuan (73-49 BC) states how modifying forms of nature and ingesting them will bring immortality to the person who drinks them.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Before Huan Kuan, the idea of alchemy was to turn base metals into gold. Conflicting research on the origins of alchemy are further demonstrated by Cooper, who claims that alchemy "flourished well before 144 BCE, for at that date the Emperor issued an edict which ordered public execution for anyone found making counterfeit gold".<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This suggests that people were well aware of how to heat the metals in order to change them into a desired form. A further counter to Pregadio from Cooper is the latter's contention that an emperor in 60 BCE had hired "a well-known scholar, <a href="/wiki/Liu_Xiang_(scholar)" title="Liu Xiang (scholar)">Liu Hsiang</a>, as Master of the Recipes so that he could make alchemical gold and prolong the Emperor's life." All of these conflicting origins considered, it is nearly impossible to claim any absolute knowledge on the origins of Chinese alchemy. However, historical texts of Daoist teaching include alchemical practices, most of which posit the existence of an elixir or the Golden Elixir that, when ingested, gives the drinker eternal life. </p><p>As there is a direct connection between Daoism and <a href="/wiki/Laozi" title="Laozi">Laozi</a>, some suggest he played a major role in the creation of Chinese alchemy. <a href="/wiki/Zhou_dynasty_(690%E2%80%93705)" class="mw-redirect" title="Zhou dynasty (690–705)">Zhou Dynasty</a> philosopher <a href="/wiki/Zou_Yan" title="Zou Yan">Zou Yan</a> is said to have written many of the alchemical books, although none of them have ever been found, nor have the existing ones been credited to him.<sup id="cite_ref-:2_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:2-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The likeliest proponents of Chinese alchemy are as previously stated, Laozi, and <a href="/wiki/Zhang_Daoling" title="Zhang Daoling">Zhang Daoling</a> as well as <a href="/wiki/Zhuang_Zhou" title="Zhuang Zhou">Zhuangzi</a>. Each of these men are major icons in Daoist teachings. Although these three are credited with the creation of alchemy, there is no definitive proof to suggest or dispute that they were responsible for its creation. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Yin_and_Yang">Yin and Yang</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Yin and Yang"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/Yin_and_yang" title="Yin and yang">Yin and yang</a></div> <p>The concept of yin-yang is pervasive throughout Chinese alchemical theory. Metals were categorized as being male or female, and <a href="/wiki/Mercury_(element)" title="Mercury (element)">mercury</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sulphur" class="mw-redirect" title="Sulphur">sulphur</a> especially were thought to have powers relating to <a href="/wiki/Moon" title="Moon">lunar</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sun" title="Sun">solar</a> respectively.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Prior to Taoist tradition, the Chinese already had very definitive notions of the natural world's processes and "changes", especially involving the <i><a href="/wiki/Wuxing_(Chinese_philosophy)" title="Wuxing (Chinese philosophy)">wu xing</a></i>: Water, Fire, Earth, Metal and Wood.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> These were commonly thought to be interchangeable with one another; each were capable of becoming another element. The concept is integral, as the belief in outer alchemy necessitates the belief in natural elements being able to change into others. The cyclical balance of the elements relates to the binary opposition of yin-yang, and so it appears quite frequently. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Outer_and_inner_alchemy">Outer and inner alchemy</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Outer and inner alchemy"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:%E6%80%A7%E5%91%BD%E5%9C%AD%E6%97%A8_%E5%85%A7%E5%A4%96%E4%BA%8C%E8%97%A5%E5%9C%96.png" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/%E6%80%A7%E5%91%BD%E5%9C%AD%E6%97%A8_%E5%85%A7%E5%A4%96%E4%BA%8C%E8%97%A5%E5%9C%96.png/220px-%E6%80%A7%E5%91%BD%E5%9C%AD%E6%97%A8_%E5%85%A7%E5%A4%96%E4%BA%8C%E8%97%A5%E5%9C%96.png" decoding="async" width="220" height="211" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/%E6%80%A7%E5%91%BD%E5%9C%AD%E6%97%A8_%E5%85%A7%E5%A4%96%E4%BA%8C%E8%97%A5%E5%9C%96.png/330px-%E6%80%A7%E5%91%BD%E5%9C%AD%E6%97%A8_%E5%85%A7%E5%A4%96%E4%BA%8C%E8%97%A5%E5%9C%96.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/%E6%80%A7%E5%91%BD%E5%9C%AD%E6%97%A8_%E5%85%A7%E5%A4%96%E4%BA%8C%E8%97%A5%E5%9C%96.png/440px-%E6%80%A7%E5%91%BD%E5%9C%AD%E6%97%A8_%E5%85%A7%E5%A4%96%E4%BA%8C%E8%97%A5%E5%9C%96.png 2x" data-file-width="1150" data-file-height="1104" /></a><figcaption>The Inner and Outer Alchemies 內外二藥圖, 1615 <i><a href="/wiki/Xingming_guizhi" title="Xingming guizhi">Xingming guizhi</a></i></figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Chinese_woodcut;_Alchemical_refining_furnace_Wellcome_L0038814.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Chinese_woodcut%3B_Alchemical_refining_furnace_Wellcome_L0038814.jpg/220px-Chinese_woodcut%3B_Alchemical_refining_furnace_Wellcome_L0038814.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="330" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Chinese_woodcut%3B_Alchemical_refining_furnace_Wellcome_L0038814.jpg/330px-Chinese_woodcut%3B_Alchemical_refining_furnace_Wellcome_L0038814.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Chinese_woodcut%3B_Alchemical_refining_furnace_Wellcome_L0038814.jpg/440px-Chinese_woodcut%3B_Alchemical_refining_furnace_Wellcome_L0038814.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2069" data-file-height="3104" /></a><figcaption>Chinese woodblock illustration of a <i>waidan</i> alchemical refining furnace, 1856 <i>Waike tushuo</i> (外科圖説, Illustrated Manual of External Medicine)</figcaption></figure> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Chinese_woodcut;_Daoist_internal_alchemy_(4)_Wellcome_L0038974.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Chinese_woodcut%3B_Daoist_internal_alchemy_%284%29_Wellcome_L0038974.jpg/220px-Chinese_woodcut%3B_Daoist_internal_alchemy_%284%29_Wellcome_L0038974.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="330" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Chinese_woodcut%3B_Daoist_internal_alchemy_%284%29_Wellcome_L0038974.jpg/330px-Chinese_woodcut%3B_Daoist_internal_alchemy_%284%29_Wellcome_L0038974.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Chinese_woodcut%3B_Daoist_internal_alchemy_%284%29_Wellcome_L0038974.jpg/440px-Chinese_woodcut%3B_Daoist_internal_alchemy_%284%29_Wellcome_L0038974.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2069" data-file-height="3104" /></a><figcaption>Chinese woodblock illustration of <i>neidan</i> "Cleansing the heart-mind and retiring into concealment", 1615 <i><a href="/wiki/Xingming_guizhi" title="Xingming guizhi">Xingming guizhi</a></i> (Pointers on Spiritual Nature and Bodily Life)</figcaption></figure> <p>Chinese alchemy can be divided into two methods of practice, <i><a href="/wiki/Waidan" title="Waidan">waidan</a></i> or "external alchemy" and <i><a href="/wiki/Neidan" title="Neidan">neidan</a></i> or "internal alchemy". Doctrine can be accessed to describe these methods in greater detail; the majority of Chinese alchemical sources can be found in the <a href="/wiki/Daozang" title="Daozang">Daozang</a>, the "Taoist Canon". </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Outer_alchemy_(Waidan)"><span id="Outer_alchemy_.28Waidan.29"></span>Outer alchemy (Waidan)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Outer alchemy (Waidan)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Waidan" title="Waidan">Waidan</a></div> <p>The meaning of <i>waidan</i> derives from <i>wai</i> (outside, exterior) and <i>dan</i> referring to alchemical operations, such as the preparation of chemical elixirs, made from <a href="/wiki/Cinnabar" title="Cinnabar">cinnabar</a>, <a href="/wiki/Realgar" title="Realgar">realgar</a>, and other substances generally involving <a href="/wiki/Mercury_(element)" title="Mercury (element)">mercury</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sulfur" title="Sulfur">sulfur</a>, <a href="/wiki/Lead" title="Lead">lead</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Arsenic" title="Arsenic">arsenic</a> or else the animal and botanical products which are found in <a href="/wiki/Chinese_herbology" title="Chinese herbology">Chinese herbology</a> and <a href="/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine" title="Traditional Chinese medicine">Traditional Chinese medicine</a>. Waidan refers to practices relating to the process of making an elixir often containing herbal or chemical substances found outside of the body. This process involves esoteric oral instructions, building a laboratory, kindling and sustaining the special fires used in the production process, rules of seclusion and purification for the alchemist to follow, and various practices including the performance of ceremonies to protect the self and the ritual area. Waidan can also include following a dietary regimen which prescribes or proscribes certain foods. Preparing medicines and elixirs can be referred to as outer practices or waidan as these practices occur outside of the body until they are verified by the ingestion of medicines, herbs, and pills to bring about physical changes within the body, separate to the soul. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Inner_alchemy_(Neidan)"><span id="Inner_alchemy_.28Neidan.29"></span>Inner alchemy (Neidan)</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Inner alchemy (Neidan)"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Neidan" title="Neidan">Neidan</a></div> <p>The term Neidan can be divided into two parts: Nei, meaning inner, and Dan, which refers to alchemy, elixir, and cinnabar (mercury). Neidan uses techniques such as: composed meditation techniques, visualization, breathing and bodily posture exercises. Breathing exercises were used to preserve jing or "life essence" and bodily postures were used to improve qi or "energy" flow in the body. Neidan comprises the elixir from the principles of <a href="/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_Medicine" class="mw-redirect" title="Traditional Chinese Medicine">Traditional Chinese Medicine</a> and the cultivation of substances already present in the body, in particular the manipulation of three substances in the body known as the "Three Treasures". </p><p>The three treasures are: </p> <ol><li><span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh"><a href="/wiki/Jing_(TCM)" class="mw-redirect" title="Jing (TCM)">Jing</a></i></span> ("life essence"). A person is born with Jing and it governs the developmental growth processes in the body. Since people are born with a certain amount of Jing, it is taught that a person can increase their Jing through dietary and lifestyle practices.</li> <li><span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh"><a href="/wiki/Qi" title="Qi">Qi</a></i></span> (translated as "energy" or "vital energy"). Qi energy results from the interaction of yin and yang. A healthy body is constantly circulating Qi.</li> <li><span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh"><a href="/wiki/Shen_(Chinese_religion)" title="Shen (Chinese religion)">Shen</a></i></span> (translated as "spirit", "mind" or "spiritual energy"). Shen is the energy used in mental, spiritual and creative functioning (Lu, 30).</li></ol> <p>The three treasures are also associated with locations in the body where the alchemical process takes place. These locations include major organs and energy centers, called <a href="/wiki/Dantian" title="Dantian">dantians</a>. </p> <ol><li><span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh">Jing</i></span> is found in the Kidneys and possibly the adrenal glands.</li> <li><span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh">Qi</i></span> resides in Lower Dantian or "elixir field" and it is located about an inch down from the navel.</li> <li><span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh">Shen</i></span> is seated in the Middle Dantian, which is the Heart.</li></ol> <p>During the Han dynasty and after, Neidan and Daoist martial arts gradually merged into one, becoming <a href="/wiki/Neijia" title="Neijia">Neijia</a> martial arts. Famous Taijiquan masters who practiced Neijia include <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%90%B3%E5%9C%96%E5%8D%97" class="extiw" title="zh:吳圖南">Wu Tunan</a> (吳圖南) and <a href="/wiki/Chen_Weiming_(scholar)" title="Chen Weiming (scholar)">Chen Weiming</a> (陳微明). </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Associated_risks">Associated risks</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Associated risks"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Chinese_alchemical_elixir_poisoning" title="Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning">Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning</a></div> <p>When ingested, these compounds did not always result in the desired outcome. Many individuals died or had psychological difficulties after taking certain elixirs. However, the loss of life may not have seemed a large risk, when compared with the promise of the afterlife. Although these elixirs were lethal or dangerous, there is some contention that these individuals were not ignorant of the fatality of some of the materials they were ingesting. </p><p>There were certain grades of immortality, so if the practiced alchemist died, the level of immortality they achieved was determined by their corpse. If their corpse was sweet-smelling, it was said that they had achieved immortality in an ephemeral state. Likewise, if their corpse disappeared, leaving behind only the clothes, such as in the death of the adept <a href="/wiki/Ge_Hong" title="Ge Hong">Ge Hong</a> (Ko Hung) according to the legend, this was another form of immortality known as <i>shih chieh hsien</i> (corpse-free immortals).<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Conception_of_medicine">Conception of medicine</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Conception of medicine"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine" title="Traditional Chinese medicine">Traditional Chinese medicine</a></div> <p>Medicines can be used to heal ailments on the exterior or interior of the body, to control the ageing of the body, or even to prevent death. The term medicine and elixir are virtually interchangeable because of the array of ailments they can influence. The difference between defining an elixir from a medicine was that many medicines were composed mainly of all natural products like herbs and animal products. Never the animals themselves, only their products, which could consist of dung or fur. Although metal compounds are more potent when curing ailments, herbs were used because they were easier to combine and more abundantly available. To make medicines one would use ingredients like: <a href="/wiki/Reynoutria_multiflora" title="Reynoutria multiflora">Reynoutria</a>, which would be used in famous longevity pills like <span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh">Fo-Ti</i></span>;<sup id="cite_ref-Feng_Bounda_2015_p._225_8-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Feng_Bounda_2015_p._225-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Asparagus" title="Asparagus">Asparagus</a>, which was used because it was known to increase strength; <a href="/wiki/Sesame" title="Sesame">sesame</a>, which prevents senility; and <a href="/wiki/Pine" title="Pine">pine</a> which has over 300 different uses.<sup id="cite_ref-:1_2-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:1-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Mushrooms were and still are very popular, they are known as the <span title="Chinese-language text"><i lang="zh"><a href="/wiki/Lingzhi_(mushroom)" title="Lingzhi (mushroom)">Lingzhi</a></i></span> (<a href="/wiki/Ganoderma" title="Ganoderma">Ganoderma</a>) and have thousands of purposes within Chinese alchemy. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Practitioners">Practitioners</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Practitioners"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Chinese_women_alchemists">Chinese women alchemists</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Chinese women alchemists"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>With the rise of alchemy in Chinese civilization, alchemy began to be seen as an art. Among many practitioners, a significant number of women were known to have mastered this art. The earliest recorded woman alchemist had the family name of <a href="/wiki/Fang_(alchemist)" title="Fang (alchemist)">Fang</a> (<a href="/wiki/Chinese_language" title="Chinese language">Chinese</a>: <span lang="zh">方</span>), and lived around the first century B.C.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Raised in a scholarly family skilled in the alchemical arts, she studied alchemy with one of the Emperor <a href="/wiki/Han_Wu_Ti" class="mw-redirect" title="Han Wu Ti">Han Wu Ti</a>'s spouses, and therefore had access to the highest levels of society. Fang was credited with the discovery of the method to turn mercury into silver. It was believed that she may have used the chemical technique of silver <a href="/wiki/Extraction_(chemistry)" title="Extraction (chemistry)">extraction</a> from <a href="/wiki/Ore" title="Ore">ores</a> using mercury, where pure silver residue is left behind from the boiled mercury. Fang's husband was Cheng Wei (<a href="/wiki/Simplified_Chinese_characters" title="Simplified Chinese characters">simplified Chinese</a>: <span lang="zh-Hans">程伟</span>; <a href="/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_characters" title="Traditional Chinese characters">traditional Chinese</a>: <span lang="zh-Hant">程偉</span>; see <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%A8%8B%E5%81%89" class="extiw" title="zh:程偉">zh:程偉</a>). Details of Fang's life were recorded by author and alchemist <a href="/wiki/Ge_Hong" title="Ge Hong">Ge Hong</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_9-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p><a href="/wiki/Keng_Hsien-Seng" class="mw-redirect" title="Keng Hsien-Seng">Keng Hsien-Seng</a> (circa A.D. 975)<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> was another female alchemist who, according to the science writings of Wu Shu "mastered the art of the yellow and white [alchemy] with many other strong transformations, mysterious and incomprehensible".<sup id="cite_ref-:0_9-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Wu Shu also described Keng as being acquainted with other Taoist techniques and was believed able to control the spirits. She also mastered the transformation of mercury and "snow" into silver, probably using the technique of extraction of silver from its ores, as well as using a primitive type of <a href="/wiki/Soxhlet_extractor" title="Soxhlet extractor">Soxhlet process</a> to continuously extract <a href="/wiki/Camphor" title="Camphor">camphor</a> into alcohol.<sup id="cite_ref-:0_9-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Other female alchemists who have been recognized in Chinese literature are <a href="/wiki/Pao_Ku_Ko" class="mw-redirect" title="Pao Ku Ko">Pao Ku Ko</a> (third century A.D.),<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Thai_Hsuan_Nu" class="mw-redirect" title="Thai Hsuan Nu">Thai Hsuan Nu</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <a href="/wiki/Sun_Pu-Eh" class="mw-redirect" title="Sun Pu-Eh">Sun Pu-Eh</a> (12th century), and <a href="/wiki/Shen_Yu_Hsiu" class="mw-redirect" title="Shen Yu Hsiu">Shen Yu Hsiu</a> (15th century).<sup id="cite_ref-:0_9-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-:0-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Chinese_alchemical_elixir_poisoning" title="Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning">Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alchemy_and_chemistry_in_medieval_Islam" class="mw-redirect" title="Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam">Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cold-Food_Powder" title="Cold-Food Powder">Cold-Food Powder</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Langgan" title="Langgan">Langgan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Processing_(Chinese_materia_medica)" title="Processing (Chinese materia medica)">Processing (Chinese materia medica)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Secret_of_the_Golden_Flower" title="The Secret of the Golden Flower">The Secret of the Golden Flower</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taoist_diet" title="Taoist diet">Taoist diet</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Yellow_Court_Classic" title="Yellow Court Classic">Yellow Court Classic</a></i></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width reflist-columns-2"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">"Medieval Transmission of Alchemical and Chemical Ideas Between China and India", Vijay Deshpande, Indiana Journal of History of Science, 22 (1), pp. 15–28, 1987</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:1-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:1_2-7"><sup><i><b>h</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFCooper1990" class="citation book cs1">Cooper, J.C. (1990). <i>Chinese Alchemy: the Daoist Quest for Immortality</i>. Sterling Publishing Co. pp. 55–70.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Chinese+Alchemy%3A+the+Daoist+Quest+for+Immortality&rft.pages=55-70&rft.pub=Sterling+Publishing+Co.&rft.date=1990&rft.aulast=Cooper&rft.aufirst=J.C.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AChinese+alchemy" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-ASOCA-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-ASOCA_3-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">[Obed Simon Johnson, A Study of Chinese Alchemy, Shanghai, Commercial P, 1928. rpt. New York: Arno P, 1974.]</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ec.gc.ca/mercure-mercury/default.asp?lang=En&n=2C1BBBDA-1">"Environment Canada : Natural Sources"</a>. Ec.gc.ca<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2015-07-24</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Environment+Canada+%3A+Natural+Sources&rft.pub=Ec.gc.ca&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fec.gc.ca%2Fmercure-mercury%2Fdefault.asp%3Flang%3DEn%26n%3D2C1BBBDA-1&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AChinese+alchemy" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:2-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:2_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:2_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSivin1968" class="citation book cs1">Sivin, Nathan (1968). <i>Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies</i>. Harvard University Press. pp. 21–22.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Chinese+Alchemy%3A+Preliminary+Studies&rft.pages=21-22&rft.pub=Harvard+University+Press&rft.date=1968&rft.aulast=Sivin&rft.aufirst=Nathan&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AChinese+alchemy" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFPregadio2012" class="citation book cs1">Pregadio, Fabrizio (2012). <i>The Way of the Golden Elixir: A Historical Overview of Taoist Alchemy</i>. 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"Chinese Alchemy". <i>The Scientific Monthly, American Association for the Advancement of Science</i>. <b>31</b> (3): 225–235.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+Scientific+Monthly%2C+American+Association+for+the+Advancement+of+Science&rft.atitle=Chinese+Alchemy&rft.volume=31&rft.issue=3&rft.pages=225-235&rft.date=1930-09&rft.aulast=Davis&rft.aufirst=Tenney+L.%2C+and+Wu+Lu-Ch%27iang&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AChinese+alchemy" class="Z3988"></span><span class="cs1-maint citation-comment"><code class="cs1-code">{{<a href="/wiki/Template:Cite_journal" title="Template:Cite journal">cite journal</a>}}</code>: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (<a href="/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_multiple_names:_authors_list" title="Category:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list">link</a>)</span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Feng_Bounda_2015_p._225-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Feng_Bounda_2015_p._225_8-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFFengBounda2015" class="citation journal cs1">Feng, YU; Bounda, Guy-Armel (2015). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4471648">"Review of clinical studies of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. and its isolated bioactive compounds"</a>. <i>Pharmacognosy Research</i>. <b>7</b> (3). EManuscript Technologies: 225. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.4103%2F0974-8490.157957">10.4103/0974-8490.157957</a></span>. <a href="/wiki/ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0974-8490">0974-8490</a>. <a href="/wiki/PMC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="PMC (identifier)">PMC</a> <span class="id-lock-free" title="Freely accessible"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4471648">4471648</a></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Pharmacognosy+Research&rft.atitle=Review+of+clinical+studies+of+Polygonum+multiflorum+Thunb.+and+its+isolated+bioactive+compounds&rft.volume=7&rft.issue=3&rft.pages=225&rft.date=2015&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fpmc%2Farticles%2FPMC4471648%23id-name%3DPMC&rft.issn=0974-8490&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.4103%2F0974-8490.157957&rft.aulast=Feng&rft.aufirst=YU&rft.au=Bounda%2C+Guy-Armel&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov%2Fpmc%2Farticles%2FPMC4471648&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AChinese+alchemy" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-:0-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-:0_9-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_9-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_9-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_9-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-:0_9-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFRayner-CanhamRayner-Canham2001" class="citation book cs1">Rayner-Canham, Marelene; Rayner-Canham, Geoffrey (2001). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/womeninchemistry0000rayn/page/4"><i>Women in Chemistry: Their Changing Roles from Alchemical Times to the Mid-Twentieth Century (History of Modern Chemical Sciences</i></a>. Philadelphia: Chemical Heritage Foundation. pp. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/womeninchemistry0000rayn/page/4">4–5</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0941901277" title="Special:BookSources/978-0941901277"><bdi>978-0941901277</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Women+in+Chemistry%3A+Their+Changing+Roles+from+Alchemical+Times+to+the+Mid-Twentieth+Century+%28History+of+Modern+Chemical+Sciences&rft.place=Philadelphia&rft.pages=4-5&rft.pub=Chemical+Heritage+Foundation&rft.date=2001&rft.isbn=978-0941901277&rft.aulast=Rayner-Canham&rft.aufirst=Marelene&rft.au=Rayner-Canham%2C+Geoffrey&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fwomeninchemistry0000rayn%2Fpage%2F4&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AChinese+alchemy" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160505060020/http://facultypages.ecc.edu/tong/About_ChinaScienceANDReligion.htm">"Science and Religion - Alchemy"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://facultypages.ecc.edu/tong/About_ChinaScienceANDReligion.htm">the original</a> on 2016-05-05.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Science+and+Religion+-+Alchemy&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Ffacultypages.ecc.edu%2Ftong%2FAbout_ChinaScienceANDReligion.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AChinese+alchemy" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLeeWiles2014" class="citation book cs1">Lee, Lily Xiao Hong; Wiles, Sue (2014). <i>Biographical Dictionary of Chinese Women, Volume II: Tang Through Ming 618 - 1644 (University of Hong Kong Libraries Publications)</i>. Armonk, New York: M.E Sharpe, Inc. p. 221. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0765643148" title="Special:BookSources/978-0765643148"><bdi>978-0765643148</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Biographical+Dictionary+of+Chinese+Women%2C+Volume+II%3A+Tang+Through+Ming+618+-+1644+%28University+of+Hong+Kong+Libraries+Publications%29&rft.place=Armonk%2C+New+York&rft.pages=221&rft.pub=M.E+Sharpe%2C+Inc.&rft.date=2014&rft.isbn=978-0765643148&rft.aulast=Lee&rft.aufirst=Lily+Xiao+Hong&rft.au=Wiles%2C+Sue&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AChinese+alchemy" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFRadcliffe" class="citation web cs1">Radcliffe, Jeannie. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~panopus/jeannie/chinese%20alchemy%20&%20art.htm">"Chinese Alchemy and Art"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Chinese+Alchemy+and+Art&rft.aulast=Radcliffe&rft.aufirst=Jeannie&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fhomepages.ihug.com.au%2F~panopus%2Fjeannie%2Fchinese%2520alchemy%2520%26%2520art.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AChinese+alchemy" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Additional_bibliography">Additional bibliography</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Additional bibliography"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Jefferson, R.B., <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://duversity.org/PDF/Elixir.pdf"><i>Doctrine of the Elixir</i></a>. Coombe Springs Press 1982. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-900306-15-7" title="Special:BookSources/0-900306-15-7">0-900306-15-7</a>.</li> <li>Miller, James, and Elijah Siegler. "Of Alchemy and Authenticity: Teaching About Daoism Today". In <i>Teaching Theology and Religion</i>, Vol. 10 (2007): 101-108. ISSN 1368-4868.</li> <li>Pregadio, Fabrizio. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.goldenelixir.com/press/trl_02_ctq.html"><i>The Seal of the Unity of the Three: A Study and Translation of the Cantong qi, the Source of the Taoist Way of the Golden Elixir</i></a>. Mountain View: Golden Elixir Press, 2011. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9843082-8-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-9843082-8-6">978-0-9843082-8-6</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.goldenelixir.com/files/Zhouyi_cantong_qi_SAMPLE.pdf">Partial online version</a>, retrieved March 29, 2012.</li> <li>Pregadio, Fabrizio. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.goldenelixir.com/press/occ_03_jindan_history.html"><i>The Way of the Golden Elixir: A Historical Overview of Taoist Alchemy</i></a>. Mountain View: Golden Elixir Press, 2012. [PDF, 60 pp., free download.]</li> <li>Pregadio, Fabrizio. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.goldenelixir.com/press/ref_01_alchemy_biblio.html"><i>Chinese Alchemy: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in Western Languages</i></a>. Mountain View: Golden Elixir Press, 2009.</li> <li>Radcliffe, Jeannie. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~panopus/jeannie/alchemy%20&%20daoism.html">"Alchemy and Daoism"</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200214170549/http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~panopus/jeannie/alchemy%20%26%20daoism.html">Archived</a> 2020-02-14 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a>. 2001.</li> <li>Rouselle, Irwin. "Spiritual Guidance in Contemporary Taoism". In <i>Spiritual Disciplines, Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks</i>. Princeton University Press, 1985. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-691-01863-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-691-01863-4">0-691-01863-4</a>.</li> <li>Sivin, Nathan. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~nsivin/alch.html">"The Theoretical Background of Laboratory Alchemy"</a>. In Joseph Needham et al., <i>Science and Civilisation in China</i>, vol. V, part 5. Cambridge University Press, 1980, pp. 210–305.</li> <li>Sivin, Nathan. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~nsivin/comp.html">"Comparing Greek and Chinese Philosophy and Science"</a>. In <i>Medicine, Philosophy and Religion in Ancient China</i>, chapter 1. Variorum, 1995.</li> <li>Smith, Huston. <i>The World's Religions</i>. Harper Collins, 1991.</li> <li>Wang, Mu. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.goldenelixir.com/press/tao_01_foundations.html"><i>Foundations of Internal Alchemy: The Taoist Practice of Neidan</i></a>. Golden Elixir Press, 2011. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9843082-5-5" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-9843082-5-5">978-0-9843082-5-5</a>.</li> <li>Wilhelm, Richard. <i><a href="/wiki/Secret_of_the_Golden_Flower" class="mw-redirect" title="Secret of the Golden Flower">Secret of the Golden Flower</a></i>. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1931. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-15-679980-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-15-679980-4">0-15-679980-4</a>.</li> <li>Yu, Lu K'uan, <i>Taoist Yoga</i>. Rider, 1970. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7126-1725-6" title="Special:BookSources/0-7126-1725-6">0-7126-1725-6</a>.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Chinese_alchemy&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.goldenelixir.com/jindan.html">Taoist Alchemy</a> — Fabrizio Pregadio.</li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.levity.com/alchemy/ge_hong.html">Science and magic in Ge Hong's Baopu-zi nei pian</a> — Evgueni A. Tortchinov</li> <li><span class="languageicon">(in Chinese)</span> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.wdl.org/en/item/4695">Annotated Book of Alchemy by Tao Zhi</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JS4CDA8wBPA">Chinese Alchemy </a></li></ul> <div class="navbox-styles"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236075235">.mw-parser-output .navbox{box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #a2a9b1;width:100%;clear:both;font-size:88%;text-align:center;padding:1px;margin:1em auto 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbox{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox+.navbox-styles+.navbox{margin-top:-1px}.mw-parser-output .navbox-inner,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{width:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-title,.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow{padding:0.25em 1em;line-height:1.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .navbox-group{white-space:nowrap;text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .navbox,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup{background-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list{line-height:1.5em;border-color:#fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-list-with-group{text-align:left;border-left-width:2px;border-left-style:solid}.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-group,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-image,.mw-parser-output tr+tr>.navbox-list{border-top:2px solid #fdfdfd}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title{background-color:#ccf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-title{background-color:#ddf}.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-group,.mw-parser-output .navbox-subgroup .navbox-abovebelow{background-color:#e6e6ff}.mw-parser-output .navbox-even{background-color:#f7f7f7}.mw-parser-output .navbox-odd{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox .hlist td ul,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .navbox td.hlist ul{padding:0.125em 0}.mw-parser-output .navbox .navbar{display:block;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .navbox-title .navbar{float:left;text-align:left;margin-right:0.5em}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .navbox-image img{max-width:none!important}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .navbox{display:none!important}}</style></div><div role="navigation" class="navbox" aria-labelledby="Alchemy_(general)" style="padding:3px"><table class="nowraplinks mw-collapsible autocollapse navbox-inner" style="border-spacing:0;background:transparent;color:inherit"><tbody><tr><th scope="col" class="navbox-title" colspan="2"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1239400231"><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:Alchemy" title="Template:Alchemy"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Alchemy" title="Template talk:Alchemy"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:Alchemy" title="Special:EditPage/Template:Alchemy"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div><div id="Alchemy_(general)" style="font-size:114%;margin:0 4em"><a href="/wiki/Alchemy" title="Alchemy">Alchemy (general)</a></div></th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_alchemists" title="List of alchemists">Alchemists</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Greco-Egyptian</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Agathodaemon_(alchemist)" title="Agathodaemon (alchemist)">Agathodaemon (legendary)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chymes" title="Chymes">Chymes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cleopatra_the_Alchemist" title="Cleopatra the Alchemist">pseudo-Cleopatra</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pseudo-Democritus" title="Pseudo-Democritus">pseudo-Democritus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hermetica" title="Hermetica">Hermes Trismegistus (legendary)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mary_the_Jewess" title="Mary the Jewess">Mary the Jewess</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Moses_of_Alexandria" title="Moses of Alexandria">pseudo-Moses</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ostanes" title="Ostanes">Ostanes (legendary)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paphnutia_the_Virgin" title="Paphnutia the Virgin">Paphnutia the Virgin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Zosimos_of_Panopolis" title="Zosimos of Panopolis">Zosimos of Panopolis</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Ancient Chinese</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Fang_(alchemist)" title="Fang (alchemist)">Fang (alchemist)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ge_Hong" title="Ge Hong">Ge Hong</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Master_Geng" title="Master Geng">Master Geng</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wei_Boyang" title="Wei Boyang">Wei Boyang</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Byzantine</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Olympiodorus_the_Younger" title="Olympiodorus the Younger">pseudo-Olympiodorus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stephanus_of_Alexandria" title="Stephanus of Alexandria">Stephanus of Alexandria</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Synesius" title="Synesius">Synesius</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Alchemy_and_chemistry_in_the_medieval_Islamic_world" class="mw-redirect" title="Alchemy and chemistry in the medieval Islamic world">Arabic-Islamic</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Abu_Bakr_al-Razi" title="Abu Bakr al-Razi">Abū Bakr al-Rāzī (Rhazes)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alphidius" title="Alphidius">Alphidius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sirr_al-khaliqa" class="mw-redirect" title="Sirr al-khaliqa">pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana (Balīnūs/Balīnās)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Artephius" title="Artephius">Artephius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Avicenna" title="Avicenna">pseudo-Avicenna</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ibn_Arfa%27_Ra%27s" title="Ibn Arfa' Ra's">Ibn Arfaʿ Raʾs</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ibn_Umayl" title="Ibn Umayl">Ibn Umayl (Senior Zadith)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ibn_Wahshiyya" title="Ibn Wahshiyya">Ibn Waḥshiyya</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Al-Simawi" title="Al-Simawi">al-ʿIrāqī</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jabir_ibn_Hayyan" title="Jabir ibn Hayyan">Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (Geber)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Khalid_ibn_Yazid" title="Khalid ibn Yazid">pseudo-Khālid ibn Yazīd (Calid)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Al-Jildaki" title="Al-Jildaki">al-Jildakī</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Picatrix" title="Picatrix">Maslama al-Qurṭubī</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Al-Tughrai" class="mw-redirect" title="Al-Tughrai">al-Ṭughrāʾī</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Al-Zahrawi" title="Al-Zahrawi">al-Zahrāwī (Abulcasis)</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Late medieval</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Pseudo-Albertus" title="Pseudo-Albertus">pseudo-Albertus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arnaldus_de_Villa_Nova" title="Arnaldus de Villa Nova">(pseudo-)Arnaldus de Villa Nova</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pseudo-Geber" title="Pseudo-Geber">pseudo-Geber</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/George_Ripley_(alchemist)" title="George Ripley (alchemist)">George Ripley</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guido_di_Montanor" title="Guido di Montanor">Guido di Montanor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hugh_of_Evesham" title="Hugh of Evesham">Hugh of Evesham</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Johann_of_Laz" title="Johann of Laz">Johann of Laz</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Dastin" title="John Dastin">John Dastin</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jean_de_Roquetaillade" title="Jean de Roquetaillade">John of Rupescissa (Jean de Roquetaillade)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Magister_Salernus" title="Magister Salernus">Magister Salernus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Michael_Scot" title="Michael Scot">pseudo-Michael Scot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ortolanus" title="Ortolanus">Ortolanus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paul_of_Taranto" title="Paul of Taranto">Paul of Taranto</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Petrus_Bonus" title="Petrus Bonus">Petrus Bonus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ramon_Llull" title="Ramon Llull">pseudo-Ramon Llull</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Roger_Bacon" title="Roger Bacon">(pseudo-)Roger Bacon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Taddeo_Alderotti" title="Taddeo Alderotti">Taddeo Alderotti</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Norton_(alchemist)" title="Thomas Norton (alchemist)">Thomas Norton</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Early modern</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Andreas_Libavius" title="Andreas Libavius">Andreas Libavius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Basil_Valentine" title="Basil Valentine">Basil Valentine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bernard_Trevisan" title="Bernard Trevisan">pseudo-Bernard of Treviso</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/George_Starkey" title="George Starkey">George Starkey (Eirenaeus Philalethes)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gerhard_Dorn" title="Gerhard Dorn">Gerhard Dorn</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Giovanni_Mercurio_da_Correggio" title="Giovanni Mercurio da Correggio">Giovanni da Correggio</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Heinrich_Khunrath" title="Heinrich Khunrath">Heinrich Khunrath</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Hennig_Brand" title="Hennig Brand">Hennig Brand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Isaac_Newton" title="Isaac Newton">Isaac Newton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jakob_B%C3%B6hme" title="Jakob Böhme">Jakob Böhme</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jan_Baptist_van_Helmont" title="Jan Baptist van Helmont">Jan Baptist van Helmont</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Johann_Rudolf_Glauber" title="Johann Rudolf Glauber">Johann Rudolf Glauber</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/John_Dee" title="John Dee">John Dee</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Michael_Maier" title="Michael Maier">Michael Maier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Michael_Sendivogius" title="Michael Sendivogius">Michael Sendivogius</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paracelsus" title="Paracelsus">Paracelsus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pierre-Jean_Fabre" title="Pierre-Jean Fabre">Pierre-Jean Fabre</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Robert_Boyle" title="Robert Boyle">Robert Boyle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Samuel_Norton_(alchemist)" title="Samuel Norton (alchemist)">Samuel Norton</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Vaughan_(philosopher)" title="Thomas Vaughan (philosopher)">Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wilhelm_Homberg" title="Wilhelm Homberg">Wilhelm Homberg</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Modern</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Carl_Jung#Alchemy" title="Carl Jung">Carl Jung</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eug%C3%A8ne_Canseliet" title="Eugène Canseliet">Eugène Canseliet</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Frater_Albertus" title="Frater Albertus">Frater Albertus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fulcanelli" title="Fulcanelli">Fulcanelli</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mary_Anne_Atwood" title="Mary Anne Atwood">Mary Anne Atwood</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Category:Alchemical_documents" title="Category:Alchemical documents">Writings</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Major Works</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Atalanta_Fugiens" title="Atalanta Fugiens">Atalanta fugiens</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Aurora_consurgens" title="Aurora consurgens">Aurora consurgens</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liber_de_compositione_alchemiae" title="Liber de compositione alchemiae"><i>Liber de compositione alchemiae</i> (<i>Morienus</i>)</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Book_of_the_Silvery_Water_and_the_Starry_Earth" class="mw-redirect" title="Book of the Silvery Water and the Starry Earth">Book of the Silvery Water and the Starry Earth</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Book_of_Mercy_(alchemical_treatise)" class="mw-redirect" title="Book of Mercy (alchemical treatise)">Book of Mercy</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Books_of_the_Balances" class="mw-redirect" title="Books of the Balances">Books of the Balances</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Buch_der_heiligen_Dreifaltigkeit" title="Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit">Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Cantong_qi" title="Cantong qi">Cantong Qi</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Chymical_Wedding_of_Christian_Rosenkreutz" title="Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz">Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Clavis_sapientiae" class="mw-redirect" title="Clavis sapientiae"><i>Clavis sapientiae</i> (<i>Miftāḥ al-ḥikma</i>)</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/De_consideratione_quintae_essentiae" class="mw-redirect" title="De consideratione quintae essentiae">De consideratione quintae essentiae</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Emerald_Tablet" title="Emerald Tablet"><i>Emerald Tablet</i> (<i>Tabula Smaragdina</i>)</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Leyden_papyrus_X" title="Leyden papyrus X">Leyden papyrus X</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liber_Hermetis_de_alchemia" class="mw-redirect" title="Liber Hermetis de alchemia"><i>Liber Hermetis de alchemia</i> (<i>Liber dabessi</i>)</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Liber_Ignium" title="Liber Ignium">Liber ignium</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Liber_lucis" class="mw-redirect" title="Liber lucis">Liber lucis</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Mappae_clavicula" title="Mappae clavicula">Mappae clavicula</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Mirror_of_Alchimy" title="The Mirror of Alchimy">Mirror of Alchimy</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Mutus_Liber" title="Mutus Liber">Mutus liber</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Nabataean_Agriculture" title="The Nabataean Agriculture">Nabataean Agriculture</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Thomas_Norton_(alchemist)" title="Thomas Norton (alchemist)">Ordinal of Alchemy</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Papyrus_Graecus_Holmiensis" title="Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis">Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Physika_kai_mystika" class="mw-redirect" title="Physika kai mystika">Physika kai mystika</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Rosary_of_the_Philosophers" title="Rosary of the Philosophers">Rosary of the Philosophers</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rutbat_al-hakim" class="mw-redirect" title="Rutbat al-hakim"><i>Rutbat al-ḥakīm</i> (<i>Step of the Sage</i>)</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Seventy_Books" class="mw-redirect" title="Seventy Books">Seventy Books</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sirr_al-khaliqa" class="mw-redirect" title="Sirr al-khaliqa"><i>Sirr al-khalīqa</i> (<i>Secret of Creation</i>)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Secretum_Secretorum" title="Secretum Secretorum"><i>Sirr al-asrār</i> (pseudo-Aristotle)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sirr_al-asrar_(al-Razi)" class="mw-redirect" title="Sirr al-asrar (al-Razi)"><i>Sirr al-asrār</i> (al-Rāzī)</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Splendor_Solis" title="Splendor Solis">Splendor solis</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Summa_perfectionis" class="mw-redirect" title="Summa perfectionis">Summa perfectionis</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Suspicions_about_the_Hidden_Realities_of_the_Air" title="Suspicions about the Hidden Realities of the Air">Suspicions about the Hidden Realities of the Air</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Turba_Philosophorum" title="Turba Philosophorum">Turba philosophorum</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/The_Twelve_Keys_of_Basil_Valentine" title="The Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine">Twelve Keys of Basil Valentine</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Compilations</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Salomon_Trismosin#Aureum_Vellus" title="Salomon Trismosin">Aureum vellus</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Bibliotheca_Chemica_Curiosa" title="Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa">Bibliotheca chemica curiosa</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/De_Alchemia" title="De Alchemia">De alchemia</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Deutsches_Theatrum_Chemicum" title="Deutsches Theatrum Chemicum">Deutsches Theatrum Chemicum</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Fasciculus_Chemicus" title="Fasciculus Chemicus">Fasciculus chemicus</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Musaeum_Hermeticum" title="Musaeum Hermeticum">Musaeum Hermeticum</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Theatrum_Chemicum" title="Theatrum Chemicum">Theatrum chemicum</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Theatrum_Chemicum_Britannicum" title="Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum">Theatrum chemicum Britannicum</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Tripus_Aureus" title="Tripus Aureus">Tripus aureus</a></i></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Various</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Alembic" title="Alembic">Alembic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Athanor" title="Athanor">Athanor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Azoth" title="Azoth">Azoth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chrysopoeia" title="Chrysopoeia">Chrysopoeia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Classical_element" title="Classical element">Element</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Elixir_of_life" title="Elixir of life">Elixir of life</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Homunculus" title="Homunculus">Homunculus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Iatrochemistry" title="Iatrochemistry">Iatrochemistry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Alchemy_in_art_and_entertainment" title="Alchemy in art and entertainment">In art/entertainment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Magnum_opus_(alchemy)" title="Magnum opus (alchemy)">Magnum opus</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ouroboros" title="Ouroboros">Ouroboros</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pill_of_Immortality" title="Pill of Immortality">Pill of Immortality</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philosopher%27s_stone" title="Philosopher's stone">Philosophers' stone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Prima_materia" 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