The Art of Refining Numinous Cinnabar 大洞炼真宝经修伏灵砂妙诀

Referred to as The Precious Scripture of Great Cavern for Cultivating Truth for short.

Compiled by Chen Shaowei, a Taoist priest of Hengyue Mountain during the Tang Dynasty, it was roughly written during the Xiantian and Kaiyuan reigns of Emperor Xuanzong.

The Art of Refining Numinous Cinnabar

This one-volume work was already recorded in New Book of Tang·Bibliography of Arts and Literature. According to the author’s preface at the beginning of the book, the original text consisted of three parts: Preface and Discussion, Chapter on the Sevenfold Transformation of Spirit Cinnabar (seven sections), and Supreme Secrets of Golden Elixirs (two chapters). The existing version in The Daozang divides the book into two separate works: The Precious Scripture of Great Cavern for Cultivating Truth: Mysterious Secrets of Refining and Subduing Spirit Cinnabar (one volume) and The Precious Scripture of Great Cavern for Cultivating Truth: Mysterious Secrets of the Ninefold Return Golden Elixir (one volume), both included in the Methods category of the The Dongshen Section. Volumes 68 and 69 of Yunji Qiqian (Seven Lots of the Cloud Satchel) also collect this book, titled "Two Chapters on the Ninefold Return Golden Elixir" and "Treatise on the Sevenfold Transformation of Spirit Cinnabar" respectively.

The preface and discussion of the original book first summarizes the meaning of "Sevenfold Transformation Cinnabar". It states: "Cinnabar is the purest essence of the Sun and the true form of metal and fire"; formed by the essence of metal and fire, it is the foundation of return elixirs and the root of great medicines. There are many types of cinnabar, but only three—Bright Cinnabar, White Horse Tooth Cinnabar, and Purple Spirit Cinnabar—"are worthy of being supreme medicines". Repeatedly transforming and refining cinnabar seven times is called "Sevenfold Transformation", which can produce silver, yellow flower silver, green gold, gold, red gold, pure gold, and purple gold respectively. Purple gold, transformed from the Sevenfold Transformation Spirit Cinnabar, "contains sufficient true yang essence". Further transforming purple gold back into cinnabar and burning it for a full cycle results in the Purple Gold Return Elixir; taking it allows one to ascend lightly and attain true immortality. It can also be used to transform mercury, lead, tin, copper, and iron into gold.

The Chapter on the Sevenfold Transformation of Spirit Cinnabar recorded in this book separately describes the medicinal ingredients and their weights, key secrets of firing temperature control and refinement cycles, as well as ingestion methods and effects required for each of the first to seventh transformations of cinnabar. Additionally, there are two chapters in Supreme Secrets of Golden Elixirs detailing the key techniques of extracting cinnabar and refining mercury, which are elaborated in the entry for The Precious Scripture of Great Cavern for Cultivating Truth: Mysterious Secrets of the Ninefold Return Golden Elixir.