The Golden Elixir Sect 金丹派

Originally referring to the Taoist school that emphasized external alchemy (waidan) and yellow-white arts (huangbai shu) since the Qin and Han dynasties. The yellow-white arts, i.e., alchemy, mainly focused on artificially creating medicinal gold and medicinal silver. External alchemy, derived from alchemy, centered on refining elixirs that were claimed to grant immortality upon ingestion. Together, they were called the golden elixir arts, and the Taoists proficient in these arts formed the Golden Elixir Sect.

In the late Tang and Five Dynasties, internal alchemy (neidan) emerged, which used the essence, qi, and spirit within the human body as the primary ingredients for refining elixirs, and it was also referred to as the Golden Elixir Sect.

Later, the external alchemy school and internal alchemy school merged. They regarded the yellow-white arts as the "earth-origin elixir method," internal alchemy as the "human-origin elixir method," and alchemy as the "heaven-origin elixir method." Alternatively, external alchemy and yellow-white arts were collectively called the earth-origin elixir method; the alchemical method of cultivation through yin-yang dual cultivation (zāijiē shù) was called the human-origin elixir method; and the alchemical method of pure and solitary cultivation was called the heaven-origin elixir method.

Since the Song and Yuan dynasties, the elixir schools and Taoist schools have integrated, and the Golden Elixir Sect of Taoism has become a major Taoist school distinct from the Scripture and Talisman Sect. In addition, later Taoists practicing golden elixir arts revered Cao Guojiu, one of the Eight Immortals, and founded a Taoist school, also named the Golden Elixir Sect.