Sweet-Valley Water, Long-Lived Families, and Tales of Those Who Ate Herbs

16 In the mountains of Li County in Nanyang flows the Sweet Valley water. It is sweet because sweet chrysanthemums grow on both sides of the valley above, and their flowers fall into the stream; after many generations its flavor has changed. The inhabitants along the valley dig no wells but all drink its water. All who do live to old age: some to a hundred and forty or fifty, even the least to eighty or ninety. None dies young, through the power of these chrysanthemums. Thus Wang Chang, Minister of Works; Liu Kuan, Grand Commandant; and Yuan Wei, Grand Tutor, each when serving as governor of Nanyang regularly had Li County send forty hu of Sweet Valley water each month for their food and drink. All these gentlemen suffered from wind paralysis and dizziness, and all recovered; but they could not gain its full benefit as did those who lived above the Sweet Valley, drinking and eating its water from infancy. Chrysanthemum flowers resemble those of the yi plant and can be distinguished only by taste: chrysanthemums are sweet and yi bitter, as in the proverb ‘bitter as yi.’ True chrysanthemums exist everywhere today, though scarce, and grow mostly beside water; Mount Goushi and Li County have the most. What immortal recipes call Sun Essence, Renewal, and Fullness of the Cycle are all the same chrysanthemum, its roots, stalks, flowers, and fruit bearing different names. Their account is delightful, but those who take it nowadays get virtually no result, simply because they cannot find true chrysanthemums. And what worth mentioning is water that has acquired merely the scent and flavor of chrysanthemums? Yet all the people who live beside it enjoy longer lives. How could the good medicine itself fail to benefit one?

17 My late grandfather, a vice director of the Grand Herald’s office, once served as magistrate of Linyuan. He said that a Liao family of the county lived to a great age for generation after generation, some past a hundred, others to eighty or ninety. After they moved away, more and more of their descendants died young. Others occupied their old house and, just as before, lived to great age for generations. People then realized the house was responsible, but did not know why. Suspecting its well water, which was unusually red, they dug around the well and found dozens of hu of cinnabar buried there by people long ago, only a few feet away. The essence of the cinnabar had gradually entered the well through the spring water; thus those who drank from it lived long. What, then, of taking refined cinnabar itself?

18 I have also heard of Zhao Qu of Shangdang, who suffered from leprosy for years. Every treatment failed and he lay close to death. Some said he could not survive and he was abandoned, lest his descendants infect one another in turn. His family brought provisions and carried him to a cave in the mountains. There Zhao lamented his ill fortune, sighing and weeping day and night for a month. An immortal passing the cave saw him and took pity, asking him fully about his condition. Recognizing this extraordinary visitor, Zhao bowed his head to the ground, told his plight, and begged mercy. The immortal gave him a bag of medicine and taught him how to take it. After some hundred days, all Zhao’s sores healed, his complexion grew full and radiant, and his skin gleamed like jade. The immortal passed by again to see him; Zhao thanked him for the gift of a new life and begged for the recipe. The immortal told him: “It is only pine resin. There is much more here in these mountains. Refine and take it, and you can live forever without dying.” Zhao went home, where his family at first thought him a ghost and were astonished. He kept taking pine resin; his body grew lighter, his strength increased a hundredfold, and he scaled precipices and crossed perilous ground all day without exhaustion. At a hundred and seventy his teeth had not fallen and his hair had not whitened. One night as he lay down he suddenly saw a light in the room as large as a mirror. He asked those beside him, but they all said they could not see it. In time it grew until the whole room shone like day. Another night he saw two brightly adorned maidens upon his face, two or three inches tall, complete in face and body, only very small. They played about his mouth and nose for nearly a year, growing larger until they stood beside him. He often heard the music of zithers and smiled with delight to himself. He remained among people for some three hundred years, looking like a little boy, before entering Mount Baodu and departing: surely he was an earthly immortal. When people heard that Zhao had taken pine resin with such results, they vied to take it themselves. Those with abundant labor even transported it by cart and donkey until rooms were filled. But after taking it for at most a month and feeling no great benefit, they invariably stopped. Determination like his is hard to find.

19 In the reign of Emperor Cheng of Han, hunters in the Zhongnan Mountains saw a person without clothes whose body was covered in black hair. They tried to chase and capture her, but she crossed pits and valleys as though flying, beyond their reach. They secretly watched her haunts, surrounded her, and captured her: she proved to be a woman. Asked about herself, she said: “I was a woman of the Qin palace. When I heard the rebels from east of the passes were coming, the Qin king came out to surrender and the palace buildings were burned. In terror I fled into the mountains, and with nothing to eat I nearly starved. An old man taught me to eat pine leaves and pine nuts. At first they were bitter and astringent, but gradually I grew accustomed to them. Thereafter I felt neither hunger nor thirst, neither winter’s cold nor summer’s heat.” This woman must have belonged to the palace of Ziying, king of Qin, and by Emperor Cheng’s reign was about two hundred years old. They took her back and fed her grain; at first its smell made her vomit, though she recovered after several days. After some two years her body hair fell out, she grew old, and she died. Had no one captured her, she would have become an immortal.

20 The Wen family of Nanyang say that an ancestor of theirs fled into the mountains during the great troubles at the end of Han, where hunger brought him close to death. Someone taught him to eat atractylodes, and he no longer felt hunger. Only after several decades did he return home, younger in appearance and stronger than before. He said that in the mountains his body felt so light he wanted to leap; he climbed heights and traversed dangers all day without tiring, and walked through ice and snow without feeling cold. Once he saw several people on a high cliff, some seated opposite each other playing a board game, others reading books. Looking down at Wen, one asked the others: “Can this young man be called up here yet?” One of them answered: “Not yet.” Atractylodes is also called mountain lin and mountain essence. Thus the Classic of Divine Medicines says: “If you truly wish to live long, take mountain essence regularly.”

21 In former days each of the Eight Lords took a single substance and became an immortal on earth. Only after several hundred years did they compound divine cinnabar and liquid gold and ascend to the Great Clarity. If one combines and refines their eight substances and takes them without gaining their powers, it is because the medicines overcome or inhibit one another. Han Zhong took sweet flag for thirteen years: hair grew on his body, he could read ten thousand words a day and recite them all, and he could bare his chest in winter without feeling cold. Sweet flag must come from upon stone, with at least nine joints to the inch; one with purple flowers is especially good. Zhao Tazi took cassia for twenty years: hair grew beneath his feet, he could walk five hundred li a day and lift a thousand jin. Yi Menzi took five-flavor berry for sixteen years: his complexion was like a jade maiden’s, water would not wet him, and fire would not burn him. Chu Wenzi took rehmannia for eight years: he could see light at night and lift a carriage-mounted crossbow with his hands. Lin Ziming took atractylodes for eleven years: his ears grew five inches long, his body grew light as if in flight, and he could leap across a ravine some two zhang wide. Du Ziwei took asparagus root, had intercourse with eighty concubines, fathered a hundred and thirty children, and could walk three hundred li a day. Ren Ziji took poria for eighteen years: immortals and jade maidens came to follow him, he could appear or vanish at will, no longer ate grain, and every moxibustion scar disappeared as his face and body took on the gleam of jade. Lingyang Zizhong took milkwort for twenty years: he had thirty-seven children, remembered everything he read upon opening a book, and could vanish while sitting there. The Classic of Immortals says: “Though taking the leaves of plants and trees has brought you several hundred years, if you then neglect divine cinnabar, you can never become an immortal.” This shows that plants and trees merely prolong life: they are not drugs of eternal life. Until one can make cinnabar, one may take them to sustain oneself.

16 In the mountains of Li County, Nanyang, is Sweet Valley water. Its water is sweet because sweet chrysanthemums grow on both sides above the valley. Their flowers fall into the stream, and over many generations they have changed its taste. Residents along the valley never dig wells; all drink its water. All who drink it live to old age. Some reach 140 or 150; even the least long-lived reach eighty or ninety. None die young, thanks to the chrysanthemums. Therefore Wang Chang, the Minister of Works; Liu Kuan, the Grand Commandant; and Yuan Wei, the Grand Tutor, each of whom served as governor of Nanyang, had Li County send forty hu of Sweet Valley water each month for drinking and cooking whenever they took office. These men often suffered from rheumatic paralysis and dizziness, and all recovered. But they could not gain as much from it as residents of Sweet Valley who had drunk the water for food and drink from infancy. Chrysanthemum flowers look like yi flowers; you can tell them apart only by taste. Chrysanthemums are sweet and yi is bitter, as the saying “bitter as yi” suggests. True chrysanthemums are found everywhere today, but are few in number. Most grow beside water; Mount Goushi and Li County have the most. In the immortals' formulas, “essence of the sun,” “renewed life,” and “full circuit” are all one chrysanthemum: its roots, stem, flowers, and fruit each have a different name. These accounts sound wonderful, yet people who have taken it recently have seen almost no effect. That is simply because they did not get true chrysanthemums. After all, what can one say of Sweet Valley water, which merely takes on the flavor of chrysanthemums? Yet all who live by it gain longer lives. How could the plant itself, prepared as a drug, fail to help?

17 My late grandfather, an assistant to the Grand Herald, once served as magistrate of Linyuan. He said that a family there named Liao enjoyed long lives for generations. Some lived past a hundred, others into their eighties or nineties. When they moved away, increasingly many of their descendants died young. Others moved into their old house and likewise lived long lives for several generations. It became clear that the house was responsible, though no one knew why. Suspecting that the well water was unusually red, they dug around the well and found several dozen hu of cinnabar buried there by people long ago, a few chi from the well. Liquid from the cinnabar had gradually seeped with the springwater into the well. Drinking that water gave them long life. How much more effective must properly refined cinnabar be when taken directly?

18 I have also heard of Zhao Qu of Shangdang. He had suffered from leprosy for years, and every treatment failed. He was close to death. Some said he would not live and should be abandoned elsewhere; afterward the disease passed in turn from one to another among his descendants. His family finally provided him with food and took him to a mountain cave. In the cave Qu regretted his misfortune, sighed and wept day and night for a month. An immortal passed by, saw him and took pity on him, asking about his situation in detail. Qu knew this was no ordinary person, bowed his head to the ground, explained himself, and begged for mercy. The immortal gave him a bag of medicine and taught him how to take it. After about a hundred days, Qu's sores had all healed, his face was full and happy, and his skin shone like jade. The immortal came by again to see him. Qu thanked him for restoring his life and asked for the formula. The immortal told him, “It is only pine resin. There is more of it in these mountains. Refine it and take it, and you can live forever.” Qu went home. At first his family took him for a ghost and was terrified. He continued taking pine resin and grew lighter, with a hundred times his former strength. He climbed steep places and crossed dangerous ground all day without tiring. At 170, his teeth had not fallen out and his hair was not white. One night as he lay in bed, he saw a light inside the house as big as a mirror. He asked those nearby, but none could see it. Gradually it grew until the whole room was as bright as day. Another night he saw two beautiful women on his face, two or three cun tall. They had complete faces and bodies, only small. They played around his mouth and nose. After about a year, they grew larger and came out to stand beside him. He also often heard the sound of zithers and smiled happily to himself. He stayed among people for some three hundred years, looking like a child, then went into Mount Baodu; he must have become an earthly immortal. When people heard what pine resin had done for Qu, they all rushed to take it. Those with many workers had it hauled by carts and donkeys until their rooms were full. But after taking it for at most a month and not noticing great benefits, they stopped. People with true determination are hard to find.

19 In the time of Emperor Cheng of Han, hunters in the Zhongnan Mountains saw a person with no clothes and black hair covering the body. They tried to chase and catch this person, but the person leaped across pits and valleys as if flying, beyond their reach. They watched secretly to find out where the person went, surrounded and caught her. She was a woman. Asked about herself, she said, “I was once a woman of the Qin palace. When I heard that rebels from east of the passes had arrived, the Qin king went out to surrender and the palace buildings burned. In fear I fled into the mountains. I had no food and was about to starve. An old man taught me to eat pine needles and pine seeds. At first they were bitter and harsh, but gradually I got used to them. After that I felt neither hunger nor thirst, cold in winter nor heat in summer.” This woman must have been a palace attendant of Ziying, the Qin king, and was about two hundred years old by Emperor Cheng's time. The hunters brought her home and fed her grain. At first its smell made her vomit; after several days she adjusted. In about two years her body hair fell out, she grew old and died. Had no one caught her, she would have become an immortal.

20 The Wen family of Nanyang say that an ancestor of theirs fled into the mountains during the great disorder at the end of the Han. He was starving and nearly dead when someone taught him to eat atractylodes. He no longer felt hungry. Decades later he came back to his home region, looking younger and stronger than before. He said that in the mountains his body had felt light and eager to leap. He climbed heights and walked over dangerous ground for days without tiring. Walking through ice and snow, he felt no cold at all. He often saw several people sitting opposite one another on a high cliff playing a board game, while others read books. They looked down at Wen, and he heard one ask another, “Should we call this fellow up to join us?” Another answered, “Not yet.” Atractylodes is also called mountain lin and mountain essence. The Classic of Divine Drugs says, “If you want to live long, take mountain essence regularly.”

21 Long ago, each of the Eight Dukes took a single substance and thereby became an immortal on earth. Only after several hundred years did they combine the divine cinnabar elixir and liquid gold and rise to the Great Purity heaven. If someone combines and refines the eight substances and takes them, they will not work: the drugs counteract or overpower each other. Han Zhong took sweet flag for thirteen years. Hair grew on his body; each day he could read ten thousand words and recite them all, and he could uncover his chest in winter without feeling cold. Sweet flag should grow on rock, with at least nine joints to each cun; the purple-flowered kind is especially good. Zhao Tazi took cinnamon for twenty years. Hair grew on his soles, he could walk five hundred li a day and lift a thousand jin. Yi Menzi took five-flavor berries for sixteen years. His complexion became like a jade maiden's; he could enter water without getting wet or fire without burning. Chu Wenzi took rehmannia for eight years. He could see by night as if there were light and lift a carriage-mounted crossbow in his hands. Lin Ziming took atractylodes for eleven years. His ears grew five cun long, his body became as light as if flying, and he could leap over a deep valley about two zhang wide. Du Ziwei took asparagus root. He had relations with eighty concubines and fathered 130 children, and could walk three hundred li a day. Ren Ziji took poria for eighteen years. Immortals and jade maidens came to follow him. He could disappear and appear, no longer ate grain, lost all his cautery scars, and had a jade-like glow on his face and body. Lingyang Zizhong took milkwort for twenty years. He fathered thirty-seven children, never forgot anything he saw on opening a book, and could vanish while seated and appear standing. The Immortals' Classic says, “Even if taking the leaves of plants has brought someone several hundred years, if that person neglects the divine cinnabar elixir, they can never become immortal.” Thus plants only extend one's years; clearly they are not drugs for eternal life. Until one can make the elixir, one can take them to keep oneself going.