Primordial Golden Elixir - Secret Formulas 先天金丹大道玄奥口诀

Composed by Huo Boyu, the Military Governor of Shanggu, in the late Northern Song Dynasty; published by his son Huo Jizhi. The book was completed in the Dingsi year of the Baoqing reign period of the Southern Song Dynasty (1257).

It consists of one scroll and is included in the Alchemy Category of The Dongzhen Section within The Daozang.

Primordial Golden Elixir - Secret Formulas

There are prefaces and postscripts at the beginning and end of the book, stating that Huo Boyu obtained the diagrams of the Golden Elixir from his father-in-law, and later met the Barefoot True Person Chen at Wudang Mountain, who imparted to him the alchemical mnemonics. He then compiled these into this book. His son Huo Jizhi inherited his father’s aspiration, arranged and published it.

The book contains the Root-Returning Diagram and the Direct Diagram of the Medicinal Ingredients of the Golden Elixir, which, according to appraisal by Lin Lingsu, are the Heart Book of Chen Tuan. It also includes the Direct Oral Mnemonics and twelve odes titled Direct Exposition of the Profound Dao of the Golden Elixir. Both the diagrams and the oral mnemonics as well as odes expound on the Dao of Internal Alchemy, with a focus on discussing medicinal ingredients and fire timing.

Its doctrine regards the innate lead and mercury in the human body as the foundation of immortal medicines. It advocates for the union and harmony of these two substances to return to the central axis, and absorbs the innate qi of Wu and Ji from heaven and earth to replenish one’s own deficiencies. Then, "one can immediately begin the advancement of cultivation—this is called fire timing." Fire timing refers to the revitalizing qi that unites the Five Elements within the human body with those of heaven and earth to return to the origin, gathering and dispersing along the central channel.

Its alchemical method evidently belongs to the Southern Sect of the Golden Elixir school.