Spiritual Transmissions of Bai Yuchan 海琼传道集

Composed by Bai Yuchan during the Song Dynasty and compiled by Hong Zhichang, a Taoist priest of Lushan Mountain.

Consisting of one scroll, it is included in the Zhengyi Section within the Taoist Canon (The Daozang). The book collects three poems and prose works by Bai Yuchan.

Spiritual Transmissions of Bai Yuchan

The first, A Shortcut to the Golden Elixir, is a miscellany of images, mnemonic rhymes, and terms related to Internal Alchemy (Neidan) cultivation, supplemented with brief explanations. The second, Scripture of Interlocking Hooks and Links, is a five-character poem explaining Internal Alchemy terms. It lists common alchemical terms, from "The Golden Elixir is namely mercury" to "Chaos is the Golden Elixir", with each line connected to the next and the beginning linking to the end—hence the name "Interlocking Hooks and Links". After the poem, quotations from Lao Jun, Zhang Boduan, Chen Nan, Xue Daoguang, Liu Haichan, Lü Dongbin, Zhong Liquan, Bai Yuchan, and others are cited as annotations. The third, Song of Joy, is a long five-character poem proclaiming the joys of refining the elixir and cultivating to become an immortal. The poem was dedicated to Chen Zhibai, a Taoist priest of Taiping Xingguo Palace on Lushan Mountain.