The Grades of Drugs, the Five Zhi Fungi, and Stone Zhi

1 The Master Who Embraces Simplicity said: “The Four Classics of Shennong say: ‘Superior drugs bring peace to the body and prolong life. One ascends to become a heavenly spirit, wanders above and below, commands the myriad spirits, grows feathers on the body, and finds a traveling kitchen immediately at hand.’ They also say: ‘The five zhi, and preparations of cinnabar, jade tablets, azurite, realgar, orpiment, mica, and Great Unity’s Yu’s Surplus Grain, may each be taken alone; all enable one to fly and live long.’ They also say: ‘Middle-grade drugs nurture the nature; lower-grade drugs remove disease. They can keep poisonous insects from attacking, fierce beasts from assaulting, harmful vapors from circulating, and all demons at bay.’ And the Supporting Divine Writ of the Classic of Filial Piety says: ‘Pepper and ginger ward off dampness; sweet flag sharpens hearing; sesame prolongs life; weixi protects against weapons.’ These are the supreme words of the highest sages, truthful records of the arts. Their plain testimony shines forth, and yet people of the world refuse to believe: a cause for lament. Foremost among immortality drugs is cinnabar; next gold, then silver, the various zhi, the five jades, mica, bright pearls, realgar, Great Unity’s Yu’s Surplus Grain, yellow essence in stone, stone cassia, quartz, stone brain, stone sulfur, stone paste, azurite, and then pine and cypress resin, poria, rehmannia, dwarf lilyturf, tree sesame, chonglou, goldthread, rock fern, paper mulberry fruit, and xiangchai, also called tuolu. It is also called the immortal’s staff, the Queen Mother of the West’s staff, heavenly essence, banisher of age, earth bone, or goji. Asparagus root is also called earth asparagus, mat asparagus, thorny spike, sheep’s delicacy, or tube pine. That growing on high ground has short roots, a sweet flavor, and a fragrant scent, and is best. That growing by water in low ground has fine, faintly yellow leaves resembling pondweed and long roots, often bitter and foul-smelling; it is inferior, though it too may be eaten. But it tends to make the breath sink, and its benefits come especially slowly. After taking it for a hundred days, all become robust and vigorous twice as swiftly as with atractylodes or Solomon’s seal. On entering the mountains, one can steam it at once, or boil and eat enough to do without grain. Those with the means can take it as a preparation, or make it into powder, and squeeze its juice to make wine; it is especially good for taking the powder. The people of Chu call asparagus root baibu, though there is a separate baibu herb: both have some hundred roots of nearly identical appearance, but their shoots differ slightly. True baibu has shoots like smilax, and is suitable only for curing coughs and killing lice, not for eating; do not confuse them. Likewise Solomon’s seal is also called baiji, but is not the baiji used to make paste. According to the Materia Medica, many medicines share names with other plants. Only someone deeply learned can distinguish them; one must be careful. Solomon’s seal is also called rabbit bamboo, relief of poverty, and hanging pearls. Its flowers are better taken than its fruit, its fruit better than its roots; but many flowers are hard to obtain. Ten bushels of fresh flowers, once dried, yield only five or six pecks, while one may consume three gills a day: only someone with abundant labor at hand can manage it. One must take Solomon’s seal for nearly ten years before truly gaining its benefits. For abstaining from grain, neither equals atractylodes, which fattens and strengthens a person for carrying burdens and crossing dangerous ground. Yet atractylodes is not as sweet and pleasant to eat as Solomon’s seal, which in famine can feed old and young without grain. People cannot distinguish it, and call it ‘rice jerky.’”

2 There are five kinds of zhi: stone, wood, herb, flesh, and mushroom zhi, each with about a hundred varieties.

3 Among stone zhi is the stone-elephant zhi, which grows on mountains of renown beside the sea and on the rocky shores of islands. In form it resembles a fleshy elephant, with head, tail, and four feet, remarkably like a living thing. It clings to great boulders, favoring high, precipitous crags, sometimes attached backward and hanging upward. Red specimens look like coral, white like cut fat, black like glossy spurge, blue-green like kingfisher feathers, yellow like reddish gold; all shine clear through like solid ice. On a dark night its light can be seen from three hundred paces away. Large specimens weigh more than ten jin, small ones three or four. Unless one has fasted for a long time with perfect purity and wears Laozi’s Five Lingbao Talismans for Entering Mountains, one cannot even see them. Whenever one sights a zhi, first place the Talisman for Opening Mountains and Repelling Harm upon it; then it cannot conceal itself or transform and disappear. Slowly choose a day of ascendance and prosperity, offer wine and dried meat in sacrifice, pray, and gather it, proceeding from beneath the sun with Yu’s pace and held breath. If one obtains the stone-elephant zhi, pound it with thirty-six thousand blows and take one square-inch spoonful three times a day. Finishing one jin grants a thousand years; ten jin, ten thousand years. It may also be divided among several people. The jade-fat zhi grows on mountains containing jade, always in perilously overhanging places. When jade cream has flowed out for over ten thousand years, it congeals into a zhi shaped like a bird or beast, of no fixed color, though most often like dark mountain jade or blue-green water jade. It too gleams like crystal. Obtain it, grind it, and mix with the juice of heartless grass; in a moment it becomes liquid. Drink one sheng to gain a thousand years. Seven-Brilliance and Nine-Light zhi are both stone. They grow amid rocky cliffs on high mountains above water. Shaped like bowls or dishes, they measure no more than a foot across; a stalk and base attach them, rising three or four inches. Those with seven holes are called Seven-Brilliance, those with nine, Nine-Light. Each hole shines like a star, its light visible at night from over a hundred paces; the lights are distinct, and may scatter but cannot join. Watch for them at the autumn equinox. Pound and take a square-inch spoonful: at once the body grows warm and the five flavors taste exquisitely sweet. Finishing a jin grants a thousand years and makes the body luminous; one’s dark dwelling shines as if by moonlight, and one can see by night. The stone-honey zhi grows within a stone gate on Mount Shaoshi. Inside the gate lies a deep ravine impossible to cross: cast in a stone and its sound is still heard half a day later. Over ten zhang outside the gate stands a stone pillar topped by an overhanging canopy of stone, about a zhang high and wide. One can see honey zhi falling from the stone gate into this canopy: after a long interval a drop falls, like the last drips from a roof after rain. Yet the honey zhi never stops falling, and the canopy never overflows. Tadpole-script characters engraved above the gate say: ‘Whoever consumes one dou of stone-honey zhi will live ten thousand years.’ Daoist adepts have all pondered how to reach the place, but cannot go there. One would have to fix a bowl to the end of a sturdy bamboo or wooden pole to catch it, yet no one has managed this. From the engraved inscription on the gate, earlier generations must have obtained some. Stone-cassia zhi grows in stone caves on famous mountains. It resembles a cassia tree but is stone, around a foot high and a foot in diameter, shining and pungent, with branches. Pound and consume one jin to gain a thousand years. Yellow essence in stone is found everywhere, but most abundantly on the mountains of Qinshui. When it lies within a great rock, the rock is always damp, never dry. Break through dozens of layers of stone to reach it; within, it is reddish yellow and fluid, like an egg inside its shell. Drink it at once: otherwise it hardens into stone and can no longer be taken as a liquid. The proper method is to drink before it sets; after it sets, grind it and take it. A stone yields as much as one sheng, or as little as several ge, to take in a single dose. Even if one obtains little at a time, successive doses totaling three sheng bring a thousand years of life. The only obstacle to taking more is how hard it is to find. Stone-brain zhi grows within talc, shaped like yellow essence in stone, but not every stone contains it. Only after breaking open about a thousand great talc stones might one find a piece. When first exposed within the stone it gleams in five colors and moves of itself; drink one sheng to gain a thousand years. Stone-sulfur zhi is found on all Five Peaks, particularly Mount Ji. A prescription says Xu You took it there and lived long; thus wealth and rank ceased to trouble his mind and he refused Yao’s abdication. Stone-sulfur cinnabar is the red essence of stone, apparently a kind of stone sulfur. They seep out between cliffs and banks; the moist can be made into pills, the hardened taken as powder. Of these stone zhi there are a hundred and twenty kinds, recorded in the Jade Tablets of Great Unity and the Inner Record of Changyu; they cannot all be named here.

1 Baopuzi says: The Four Classics of Shennong say, “The highest-grade drugs give the body peace and prolong life. A person rises to become a heavenly spirit, travels up and down, commands all kinds of spirits, grows feathers on the body, and finds a traveling kitchen appearing at once.” They also say, “The five kinds of zhi, as well as cinnabar, jade tablets, azurite, realgar, orpiment, mica, Taiyi's surplus grain of Yu, can each be taken on their own. All let people fly and live long.” They also say, “Middle-grade drugs nurture one's nature; lower-grade drugs remove illness. They keep poisonous insects from hurting you, fierce beasts from attacking you, harmful vapors from spreading, and all monsters away.” The Aid to the Divine Contract of the Classic of Filial Piety also says, “Pepper and ginger ward off dampness; sweet flag improves hearing; sesame prolongs life; weixi wards off weapons.” These are the greatest teachings of the highest sages and true records of medicinal methods. The written evidence is clear, yet people still do not believe it. How regrettable! The best immortality drug is cinnabar. Next come gold, silver, the various zhi, the five kinds of jade, mica, pearls, realgar, Taiyi's surplus grain of Yu, yellow substance inside stone, stone cinnamon, quartz, stone brain, stone sulfur, stone paste, azurite, pine and cypress resin, poria, rehmannia, dwarf lilyturf, tree sesame, Paris herb, goldthread, rock fern, paper mulberry fruit, and xiangchai, also called tuolu. Some call it an immortal's staff or the Queen Mother of the West's staff; other names are heavenly essence, repeller of old age, and earth bone, or goji. Asparagus root is also called earth asparagus, mat asparagus, thorny bramble, food of lustful goats, and tube pine. The kind grown on high ground has short, sweet roots and a good fragrance; that is the best. The kind grown low beside water has thin, slightly yellow leaves like waterweed, long roots that are mostly bitter, and a bad smell; this is inferior, but it too can be eaten. It tends, however, to make people pass gas, and its benefits come especially slowly. After taking it for a hundred days, one becomes more than twice as strong and vigorous as with atractylodes or Solomon's seal. In the mountains you can steam it at once, or boil and eat enough to do without grain. If you have the means, you can take it as food, make it into powder, or press out the juice and make wine. Taking the powder with that wine is especially good. People of Chu call asparagus root baibu, but there is also a separate baibu plant. Both have about a hundred roots, alike in appearance, but their shoots differ a little. True baibu has shoots like smilax; it is good only for treating coughs and killing lice, not for eating. Do not confuse them. Similarly, Solomon's seal is also called baiji, but is not the baiji used to make paste. According to the Materia Medica, many drugs share names with other plants. Only someone with deep and wide knowledge can tell them apart; care is essential. Solomon's seal is also called rabbit bamboo, aid to the poor, and hanging pearls. Its flowers are better to take than its fruit, and its fruit better than its root, but many flowers are hard to get. Ten hu of fresh flowers yield just five or six dou when dried, and the daily dose is three ge. Only someone with considerable labor at their disposal can manage it. One must take Solomon's seal for almost ten years to gain its great benefits. For giving up grain, neither it nor asparagus root matches atractylodes. Eating atractylodes makes people plump and strong, able to bear loads and cross dangerous ground. But it is not as sweet and easy to eat as Solomon's seal. In a famine, Solomon's seal can feed the old and the young in place of grain. People unable to distinguish it call it dried rice cakes.

2 There are five kinds of zhi: stone zhi, wood zhi, herb zhi, flesh zhi, and mushroom zhi. Each has about a hundred varieties.

3 Among stone zhi is stone-elephant zhi. It grows on piles of rock along the coasts of famous mountains and on the edges of islands. It looks like a fleshy elephant, with head, tail, and four feet, much like a living creature. It clings to large rocks, especially high up on steep cliffs; sometimes it is attached backward, hanging upside down. The red ones resemble coral; white ones, cut fat; black ones, glossy lacquer; blue-green ones, kingfisher feathers; yellow ones, reddish gold. All shine and are transparent like solid ice. On a dark night you can see their light from three hundred paces away. Large ones weigh over ten jin; small ones, three or four. Without a long and thoroughly observed fast and Laozi's Five Lingbao Talismans for Entering Mountains, you cannot even see them. Whenever you find any zhi, first put a talisman for opening the mountain and repelling harm on it, so it cannot hide or transform and disappear again. Then choose an auspicious day, slowly, set out wine and dried meat as offerings, pray and collect it. Approach from the direction of the sun while performing Yu's steps and holding your breath. If you get stone-elephant zhi, pound it with 36,000 blows and take a square-inch spoonful three times daily. Finish one jin and you will live a thousand years; finish ten jin and you will live ten thousand. You can also share it with others. Jade-fat zhi grows in mountains containing jade, usually on dangerous overhangs. Jade paste seeps out and, after more than ten thousand years, solidifies into zhi shaped something like a bird or animal. Its color varies, but usually resembles dark mountain jade or blue-green water jade. It also shines brightly like crystal. Grind it and mix it with juice of heartless grass; in a moment it turns to liquid. Drink one sheng and gain a thousand years of life. Seven-Lights zhi and Nine-Rays zhi are both stone. They grow among rocky cliffs on high mountains by water. They look like dishes or bowls, with a diameter no greater than one chi. A stem or stalk attaches them and rises three or four cun. Those with seven openings are called Seven-Lights, and those with nine openings Nine-Rays. Their lights are like stars, visible at night from over a hundred paces. Each light is distinct: they can be counted separately but do not merge. Watch for them at the autumn equinox. Once obtained, pound and take a square-inch spoonful. As soon as it enters the mouth, the body suddenly grows hot and the five flavors taste sweet and delicious. Finish one jin to gain a thousand years. It makes the body shine, lighting a dark place where one stays as if by moonlight, and lets one see at night. Stone-honey zhi grows inside a stone doorway on Mount Shaoshi. Inside the doorway is a deep chasm that cannot be crossed: throw a stone down and you can still hear it falling half a day later. More than ten zhang outside the doorway is a stone pillar, topped by a flat, overhanging stone perhaps one zhang across and high. You can see honey zhi fall from above the stone doorway into this overhang. A long time passes between drops, like the occasional last drip from a roof after rain. Yet the honey zhi keeps dropping and the overhang never overflows. Tadpole-script characters cut into the stone above the doorway say that anyone who consumes one dou of stone-honey zhi will live ten thousand years. Daoists have all thought about how to reach it but have found no way. One would have to attach a bowl to the end of a strong bamboo or wooden pole to catch it, but no one has succeeded yet. Given the inscription above the doorway, someone in earlier times must have obtained some. Stone-cinnamon zhi grows in stone caves in famous mountains. It resembles a cinnamon tree but is really stone. It stands about one chi high and is about one chi thick, shines, tastes pungent, and has branches. Pound and take one jin to gain a thousand years. Yellow substance inside stone is found in various places but is most common in the mountains of Qinshui. The large stone containing it is always damp, never dry. Break through several dozen layers of that stone to reach it. Inside, it is reddish yellow and liquid, like an egg inside its shell. Drink it immediately; otherwise it hardens into stone and can no longer be consumed. The proper method is to drink it before it hardens; once solid, you should grind it and take the powder. Breaking a single stone yields up to one sheng or as little as a few ge; it can all be taken at once. Even if you cannot get much at a time, keep taking it until all your doses together total three sheng, and you will live a thousand years. The only problem with taking more is that it is hard to find. Stone-brain zhi grows in talc and resembles yellow substance inside stone, but not every talc stone contains it. You must break about a thousand large talc stones to obtain one piece. When first exposed inside its stone, it shines in five colors and moves by itself. Take one sheng to gain a thousand years. Stone-sulfur zhi is found on all Five Great Mountains, but most abundantly on Mount Ji. Its recipe says Xu You consumed it here and gained long life; that is why he no longer cared for wealth and rank and refused to accept Yao's abdication. Stone-sulfur cinnabar is the red essence of stone, apparently a kind of stone sulfur. Both seep from cliffs and ledges. The moist kind can be made into pills and taken; the hardened kind can be taken as powder. There are 120 such kinds in all, all stone zhi. They are described in Taiyi's Jade Documents and the Record of What Lies Within the Vast Cosmos; I cannot list them all.