Jade Stream Alchemy Daoist Classic 玉溪子丹经指要

Composed by Li Jianyi during the Song Dynasty.

Consisting of three scrolls, it is included in the Methods Category of the The Dongzhen Section within the Taoist Canon (The Daozang).

A preface by the author, dated the fifth year of the Jingding reign (1264 CE), states that his ancestor Yuxi Sou (Li Guan) once encountered Lü Dongbin, Liu Haichan, and Lan Yuandao, and he himself had repeatedly met extraordinary people who imparted the Dao of the Return Elixir. After long-term practice and experience, he compiled his manuscripts into this book.

Jade Stream Alchemy

The work expounds the alchemical method of the Southern School of the Golden Elixir Sect, asserting: "The Dao of cultivating Internal Alchemy relies on no more than two medicinal substances—lead and mercury. However, one must first cultivate the human Dao, taking loyalty and filial piety as the foundation and benefiting all creatures as the priority."

Volume One, titled Essential Guidance on the Wu Zhen Pian, discusses matters such as the Nine Returns and Seven Reversions, cauldrons and vessels, true lead and mercury, true earth, daogui (a small measuring tool, metaphor for alchemical dosage), matchmaker (metaphor for mediating Yin and Yang), extraction, fusion, refining, the union of metal and wood, the clarity and turbidity of the water source, gentle nurturing, fire timing, meditation retreats, and transcendence.

Volume Two includes works such as The Book of Long Life and Eternal Vision, Treatise on Distinguishing Delusions, Alchemical Chamber Discourses, and The Functions of the Yellow Emperor and the Supreme Ancestor.

Volume Three contains poems and prose including Explanation of Zhang Ziyang’s Ode to Taoist Liu of the White Dragon Cave, Preface to the Twelve-Word Mnemonic of the Middle Diagram, Explanation of Chunyang Zhenren’s Qinyuanchun with Preface, and Secret Language Poems.

Appended at the end of the book is a postscript by Wang Gui, a descendant of Li Jianyi, written in the fourteenth year of the Zhizheng reign of the Yuan Dynasty (1354 CE). Additionally, the book opens with The Diagram of the Primal Mixed Immortal School, listing the lineage of masters and disciples of the Internal Alchemy school during the Tang and Song Dynasties, which is valuable for researching the origin and development of Internal Alchemy sects.