A Treatise on Alchemical Matter 张真人金石灵砂论

Originally attributed to "Zhang the Hermit of Mengshan Mountain".

The author claimed: "For more than twenty years during the Kaiyuan era, I have devoted myself wholeheartedly to the golden cauldron [alchemy], and have quite comprehended its profound and subtle principles"—this confirms that the book was written during the Tang Dynasty.

Consisting of one volume, it is included in the Methods category of the The Dongshen Section in The Daozang.

The book is divided into twelve chapters: Chapter on Gold, Secret Formula on Silver, Chapter on Black Lead, Chapter on Realgar, Chapter on Cinnabar, Chapter on True Mercury, Chapter on Arsenic Sulfide, Chapter on Gold Making, Exposition on Purple Powder, Exposition on Return Elixir, Exposition on Golden Fluid, and Exposition on Yin and Yang. The first seven chapters respectively discuss the categories, properties, producing areas, and elixir-making as well as ingestion effects of seven metallic and mineral medicines including gold, silver, black lead, realgar, cinnabar, mercury, and arsenic sulfide. The subsequent four chapters elaborate on the refining methods and ingestion effects of four prepared elixirs: golden elixir, purple powder, return elixir, and golden fluid. The final chapter expounds on Internal Alchemy. It states that human beings are born between heaven and earth, embodying Yin and embracing Yang. The sages "imitate the celestial phenomena and terrestrial configurations, distinguish and classify Yin and Yang, harmonize with the natural creation externally to form the return elixir, and nurture essence and Qi internally to consolidate the physical body". All practices—such as abstaining from the five grains, restraining the six passions, ingesting primordial Qi, refining the spirit and preserving essence—are inseparable from the principles of Yin and Yang. This is consistent with the external alchemy principle mentioned in the previous chapters: "Only through the coordination of Yin and Yang can the return elixir be formed".