Elixir of Golden Florescence and Jade Nectar 金华玉液大丹
Paul PengElixir of Golden Florescence and Jade Nectar
The compiler is unknown, but it is believed to have been written during the Song Dynasty. Consisting of one volume, it is included in the Methods category of the The Dongshen Section in The Daozang.
Elixir of Golden Florescence and Jade Nectar
This book elaborates on External Alchemy and gold-lead transmutation. It first describes the methods for making Golden Flower (Jinhua) and Purple Cloud Elixir (Zixia Dan). The process is quite intricate, roughly divided into five transformations:
- First, boil cinnabar in ash lye of herbal medicines for one month to turn it into snow-white "Jade Essence" (Yuying);
- Use eight minerals as an outer container (kui) and silver to make an inner sacred chamber (shenshi); place the Jade Essence inside, seal it tightly, and nurture with fire for one month to transform it into "Jade Fluid" (Yuye);
- Use gold for the sacred chamber and eight minerals as the outer container; place the Jade Fluid inside, seal it tightly, and nurture with fire for one month to turn it into a greenish-brown powder named "Purple Powder" (Zifen);
- Use silver for the inner sacred chamber, gold for the outer sacred chamber, and eight minerals as the outer container; place the Purple Powder inside, seal it tightly, and nurture with fire for one month—both the silver chamber and the Purple Powder will turn into yellow gold, named "Golden Flower" (Jinhua);
- Finally, use the Golden Flower as the outer container and gold for the sacred chamber; place raw cinnabar inside, seal it tightly, and nurture with fire for forty-nine days: "The Golden Flower turns into purple gold, which can be used as a life-prolonging container; the cinnabar turns the color of chalcanthite, and this is named Purple Cloud Elixir (Zixia Dan)."
It is claimed that this elixir container can solidify mercury into gold and transmute the five metals into treasures. The book also records a method for refining cinnabar into Silver Essence Elixir (Yinjing Dan), whose efficacy is comparable to that of Golden Flower. Additionally, it includes methods for making Four Sages Elixir Container (Sisheng Dan Kui), Six Gods Container (Liushen Kui), Single Arsenic Container (Du Pi Kui), Four Spirits Container (Sishen Kui), and Sulfur-Mercury Container (Liuhuang Gong Kui), which are used to nurture cinnabar or realgar for transmuting gold and silver. At the end of the book is recorded "Cinnabar Transforming into Geng Plum Stone" (Zhusha Zhuan Geng Meihu), stating that cinnabar is mixed with medicines to refine Yellow Sprout (Huangya), placed inside a plum stone, and then calcined red in a pot to transmute mercury into gold. The content of this book is similar to The Jade Cinnabar Cold Forest Jade Tree Container—see that entry for reference.
