The Alchemical Casting of the Three Primal Mirrors 神仙炼丹点铸三元宝照法

Compiled by Gui Gengzi, a hermit at the end of the Tang Dynasty.

Consisting of one volume, it is included in the Methods category of the The Dongshen Section in The Daozang.

At the beginning of the volume, there is a preface written by Gui Gengzi in the second year of the Tianfu reign of the Tang Dynasty (902 AD), stating that this book was taught by an elderly man from Songshan Mountain, and the original text was all written in ancient seal characters.

The Alchemical Casting of the Three Primal Mirrors

This book details the methods of refining elixirs and casting mirrors. The so-called "Three-Yuan Precious Mirrors" refer to three types of mirrors: Heavenly Mirror, Earthly Mirror, and Human Mirror. Cast from five metals, each weighs seventy-two jin (an ancient Chinese unit of weight). The back of each mirror is inscribed with divine images such as the Purple Wei Emperor, the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions, mountains, rivers, and the Zodiac Gods corresponding to one's birth year. After being cast in accordance with the method, when encountering natural disasters, geological changes, or human-made disasters, taking the corresponding mirror and illuminating with it will make the disasters disappear naturally. During the casting of these mirrors, they must be refined with golden elixir. Therefore, the book also records methods such as refining five metals with elixir, nurturing elixir in a golden cauldron, nurturing elixir in a furnace, controlling the firing temperature, and sacrificial rituals. This book provides valuable materials for the study of metallurgical and casting technologies in the Tang Dynasty.