Elixir Manual for Immediate Practice 还丹肘后诀

The author of this text is unknown. Judging from its content, it was likely compiled between the Tang and Song dynasties. Comprising three scrolls, it is included in the Zhongshu (Various Arts) category of The Dongshen Section in The Daozang.

Elixir Manual for Immediate Practice

This work is a compilation of several treatises and poetic formulas on both Internal Alchemy and External Alchemy.

It mainly discusses the formation, properties, categories of cinnabar, and the principles of refining it into elixirs. Most of its content overlaps with Secrets of Penetrating the Mysterious (Tongyou Jue) and belongs to External Alchemy.

These two scrolls collect numerous alchemical treatises and poetic formulas, including Spiritual Mirror of the Dragon-Tiger Golden Fluid Reverted Elixir, Ballad of Responding to Seasons by Ingesting the Reverted Elixir, Secret Formula Pointing to Truth, Profound Mysteries of the Mysterious Guidance, Ballad of Verifying the Dao, Ballad of Yellow Sprout, Ballad of Golden Elixir Lead and Mercury, Ballad of Happy Pills, Ballad of Golden Essence, and True Lord Lü’s Self-Eulogy with Portrait. Generally, they elaborate on the principles of refining lead and mercury into elixirs by invoking the theories of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, and their alchemical methods belong to Internal Alchemy.

For example, the text states: "The mind is the origin of the elixir"; "The spiritual elixir and supreme medicine are entirely formed by the transformation of Yin and Yang Qi." The path of forming elixirs through the resonance of Yin and Yang Qi is analogous to human conception—where the union of red and white Qi (mother’s blood and father’s essence) nurtures a fetus. Refining the Reverted Elixir does not require "four yellows" (four types of mineral substances) or "eight stones" (eight types of ores); one only needs to recognize true lead and true mercury: "Subduing fire to form the elixir is the Great Reversion."

Another example from Profound Mysteries of the Mysterious Guidance: "Father’s essence is true mercury, mother’s blood is true lead—they are true Yin and true Yang." "Lead contains five colors, mercury emits three brilliances; the union of these two substances is named 'River Chariot' (Heche)." The River Chariot refers to the combination of lead and mercury, whose fusion forms the Golden Elixir.

At the end of the entire work, there is an essay titled Record of True Lord Wu Daling of the Tang Dynasty, which narrates the author’s encounter with the Elder of Qingcheng Mountain, who transmitted the secret formulas of the True Primal Elixir and the essentials of Divine Water and Yellow Sprout. It also describes the effects of ingesting the elixir—attaining longevity, regaining youth, and restoring vitality. This essay was written in the Yisi year of the Qianfu reign (875 CE), confirming that the entire work was compiled around the Tang-Song transition period.