Oral Formula of the Golden Fluid 金液大丹口诀

Originally prefaced by "Zheng De'an, styled Chongxu Miaojing Ningzhenzi".

Compiled approximately in the Song Dynasty, it consists of one scroll and is included in the Miscellaneous Arts Category of the Dongzhen Section within The Daozang.

According to Zheng De'an’s preface at the beginning of the scroll, he obtained the oral instructions for the Golden Elixir from his master, the Taoist Priest in White, and thus compiled this book. The work includes an internal alchemical mnemonic titled Direct Instructions on the Talisman of Supreme Unity Containing True Fire, seventeen seven-character poems named The One-Pound Gold, six ci-poems to the tune of West River Moon, as well as Song of Peace and Joy, On Returning to Truth for Later Disciples, Poems on Extraction and Supplementation, and other pieces.

Oral Formula of the Golden Fluid

Its alchemical mnemonics, poems, and ci-poems expound the essentials of Internal Alchemy (Neidan) practice: the foundational techniques, the Mysterious Pass (a key acupoint), the origins of alchemical ingredients, the secret principles of fire timing, the regulation of advance, retreat, extraction, and supplementation, the processes of bathing and gentle nourishment, and the spiritual transformation through embryo separation.

The alchemical method belongs to the Southern School’s approach of "cultivating life first, then nature". It guides lead and mercury (the two core substances from the Kan and Li trigrams) into the upper cauldron, with the Yellow Matriarch (a metaphor for the mediating force) uniting them to form the elixir. It also emphasizes the cultivation of mind and nature, holding that Taoist practitioners must first thoroughly comprehend the principles of the Dao and fulfill their innate nature to ultimately attain the cultivation of life. Immortals, Buddhas, and sages all attain the Dao through this mind—those who awaken to it become sages, while those who remain confused remain mortals.