Mountains for Compounding, Ge Hong's Calling, and Short Recipes

49 The Master Who Embraces Simplicity says: Compounding Liquid Gold and the Nine Elixirs requires money and seclusion in a famous mountain, far from human affairs; hence few can make them, and perhaps only one person in ten million ever obtains their scriptures. For this reason those who write books on the Way almost never discuss the golden elixir. The foremost prohibition is not to allow ordinary people unversed in the Way to scoff at or condemn it: if they do, the medicine will certainly fail. Master Zheng explained why. When compounding these great medicines one must offer sacrifice, and Great One, the Primordial Lady, Lord Lao, and the Mysterious Maiden all come to inspect. If the maker fails to hide in a remote place, allowing idle fools to pass by and hear or see, the gods reproach the maker for disobeying the scripture’s injunctions and exposing the work to wicked people’s slander. They cease their protection and aid; malign energies enter, and the medicine fails. One must enter a famous mountain, fast and keep the precepts for a hundred days, eat no five pungent vegetables or raw fish, and meet no ordinary people; only then can one make the great medicine. The fast must continue until the medicine is complete, not merely when its preparation begins. Master Zheng said that Lord Zuo told him lesser mountains were never suitable for making Liquid Gold or the divine elixir. Lesser mountains have no rightful gods presiding over them; they mostly harbor spirits of trees and stones, thousand-year-old creatures, and ghosts that feed on blood. These beings are malign energies, concerned not with doing good for people but with causing calamity and trying Daoists. A Daoist must guard himself and his disciples with arts of protection, yet they can still spoil the medicine. Even physicians today, when mixing fine medicines and salves, do not want chickens, dogs, children, or women to see them. If these disturb the preparation, it has no effect when used. Dyers likewise dislike being watched by someone with an evil eye: all the beautiful color is lost. How much more must this matter for the great medicines of divine immortality! This is why ancient Daoists always went into famous mountains, not ordinary hills, to compound divine medicine. According to the immortal scriptures, the mountains where one may contemplate intensely and compound immortal medicine are Mount Hua, Mount Tai, Mount Huo, Mount Heng, Mount Song, Mount Shaoshi, Mount Chang, Mount Taibai, Mount Zhongnan, Mount Nüji, Mount Difei, Mount Wangwu, Mount Baodu, Mount Anqiu, Mount Qian, Mount Qingcheng, Mount Emei, Mount Rui, Mount Yuntai, Mount Luofu, Mount Yangjia, Mount Huangjin, Mount Biezu, Greater and Lesser Mount Tiantai, Mount Siwang, Mount Gaizhu, and Mount Kuocang. Rightful gods reside in all these mountains, and some shelter earthly immortals. All grow numinous mushrooms and offer refuge from great warfare and calamity, as well as places to compound medicine. When a practitioner of the Way ascends one of them, its mountain god will surely aid and bless him, and the medicine will surely succeed. If one cannot ascend these mountains, large islands in the sea are also suitable for compounding medicine. Among these are Wengzhou, Danzhou, and Zhuyu east of Kuaiji, and Xinju Island, Taiguang Island, and Yu Island near Xuzhou; these rank next. Today the famous mountains of the central lands cannot be reached. Among the famous mountains east of the Yangtze where one can live are Mount Huo in Jin’an; Mount Chang and Mount Taibai in Dongyang; and Mount Siwang, Greater and Lesser Mount Tiantai, Mount Gaizhu, and Mount Kuocang, all in Kuaiji.

50 The Master Who Embraces Simplicity says: I am unworthily the descendant of a high minister. Though I have not the talent to govern the realm and order its affairs, many of my peers, devoted to advancement in their careers and hardly more knowledgeable than I, have spread their wings in the Milky Way and shone in the high heavens. Yet I have abandoned the celebrations and condolences of my neighbors, and rejected the honors of this age, because I mean to climb far into famous mountains and finish the books I am writing, and then compound the divine medicine in pursuit of long life. Everyone finds it strange that I have left my ancestral home, turned my back on the clear road to office, and taken to farming in woods and marshes until my hands and feet are calloused. They think me afflicted with madness and delusion. But the Way and worldly affairs cannot flourish together. Unless I abandon human business, how could I pursue such an aim? When one sees it clearly and holds fast to it, why fear blame or praise, or be swayed by encouragement and discouragement? I write down my heart’s desire to show kindred spirits yet to come. Among those whose resolve is as strong as metal, some will renounce the same things I have.

51 Recipe for the Lesser Divine Elixir: Mix three pounds of genuine cinnabar with six pounds of white honey. Expose to the sun and simmer until the mixture can be rolled into pellets. Each morning take ten pellets the size of hemp seeds. Before a year has passed, white hair turns black, lost teeth regrow, and the body becomes lustrous. Taken continually, it turns an old man young and grants long life without death.

52 Lesser Elixir method: pound and sift one pound of cinnabar, add three sheng of pure sour wine and two sheng of lacquer. Blend these three ingredients thoroughly and simmer over a low fire until they can be rolled into pellets. Take three hemp-seed-sized pellets twice a day. After thirty days, all illnesses in the belly heal and the three corpses depart; after a hundred days, flesh and bones grow strong; after a thousand days, the Arbiter of Fate erases your name from the register of the dead. You endure as long as heaven and earth and face the sun and moon; your form and features change, you transform without limit, and in sunlight you cast no shadow but give off a light of your own.

53 Lesser method for eating gold: Refine gold by repeatedly plunging it into clear wine, about two hundred times, so that it boils whenever the gold enters or leaves. When squeezed, it should ooze between the fingers like mud. If the wine does not boil or the gold does not ooze between the fingers, pare off the gold and plunge it back into clear wine any number of times. Once ready, take one pellet the size of a slingshot ball, or divide a single ball into smaller pellets. Take it for thirty days and you will suffer neither cold nor heat; divine beings and jade maidens will attend you. Silver too can be eaten by the same method as gold. If someone taking these two substances can live in a stone chamber on a famous mountain, within a year they will rise lightly into the air. Even taking them while remaining in the human world makes one an earthly immortal. Do not transmit this recklessly.

54 The Two Principles Master’s method of eating gold: Take three pounds of fat from a pig’s back, one sheng of pure sour wine, and five ounces of gold. Place them in a vessel and simmer over an earthen furnace, immersing the gold in the fat and removing it a hundred times; do the same with the sour wine. Eat one pound and your lifespan will encompass that of heaven and earth; eat half a pound and live two thousand years; eat five ounces and live twelve hundred years. Whatever the quantity, it may be eaten. Prepare it on a day of waxing power; taken then, it works divinely well. Do not transmit it to the unworthy: showing it to the unworthy causes the medicine to fail and lose its divine power. If you wish to eat a medicine that expels the corpses, take cinnabar.

49 Baopuzi says: Making liquid gold and the nine elixirs requires money and a journey to a famous mountain, away from human affairs. That is why few can make them. Among ten million people there might occasionally be one who obtains their scriptures. So authors of books on the way generally say almost nothing about golden elixir. The first rule forbids letting ordinary people who do not understand the way criticize and slander it. Otherwise the preparation will certainly fail. Master Zheng explained why. Making these great medicines always requires offerings. When the offerings are made, Taiyi, the Primordial Lady, the Old Lord, and the Dark Maiden all come to inspect the work. If the person making the medicine has not withdrawn to an isolated place, so that ignorant ordinary people can pass by and hear or see what is happening, the gods blame that person for not following the scripture's rules and for letting malicious people slander the method. The gods then stop helping, harmful energies enter, and the medicine fails. You must go into a famous mountain, abstain from forbidden foods for a hundred days, eat no five pungent plants or raw fish, and see no ordinary people. Only then can you make the great medicine. Keep observing the restrictions until it is finished, not just when you begin. Master Zheng said that Master Zuo had told him no small mountain is suitable for making liquid gold or divine elixir. No true god rules such mountains. Most are inhabited by spirits of wood and stone, ancient creatures a thousand years old, and ghosts that consume blood offerings. These are all harmful forces. They do not want to help people, but can cause trouble. They often test Daoists. A Daoist should use special methods to protect himself and the disciples traveling with him, yet these beings can still ruin the medicine. Doctors today also keep chickens, dogs, children, and women from seeing them make fine medicines and ointments. If such beings interfere, the preparations are ineffective. Dyers too dislike being watched by people whose gaze brings bad luck: their colors lose their beauty. How much more would this apply to the great medicine of divine immortals? That is why Daoists of old always went to famous mountains, rather than ordinary mountains, to make divine medicines. According to the immortality scriptures, mountains where one can meditate intensely and make immortal medicines include Mount Hua, Mount Tai, Mount Huo, Mount Heng, Mount Song, Mount Shaoshi, Mount Chang, Mount Taibai, Mount Zhongnan, Mount Nüji, Mount Difei, Mount Wangwu, Mount Baodu, Mount Anqiu, Mount Qian, Mount Qingcheng, Mount Emei, Mount Rui, Mount Yuntai, Mount Luofu, Mount Yangjia, Mount Huangjin, Mount Biezu, Mount Tiantai the Great and Little, Mount Siwang, Mount Gaizhu, and Mount Kuocang. True gods live in all these mountains, and in some there are earthly immortals. All grow numinous mushrooms and offer safety from great wars and disasters as well as a place for making medicine. If someone who knows the way climbs one, the mountain god will surely help that person, and the medicine will succeed. If you cannot climb one of these mountains, large islands at sea also provide places to make medicine. Next best are Wengzhou, Danzhou, and Zhuyu east of Kuaiji, and Xinju Island, Taiguang Island, and Yu Island near Xuzhou. The famous mountains in central China are now inaccessible. Among the famous mountains east of the river where one can live are Mount Huo in Jin'an; Mount Chang and Mount Taibai in Dongyang; and Mount Siwang, Mount Tiantai the Great and Little, Mount Gaizhu, and Mount Kuocang, all in Kuaiji.

50 Baopuzi says: I am fortunate to be descended from a high minister. Although I am not talented enough to govern a state and manage its affairs, many of my peers who share my interests and pursuits, and whose knowledge is not far ahead of mine, have risen high in government and gained distinction at court. I have stopped taking part in celebrations and mourning rites in my community and turned away from the honors of my time because I intend to travel far to a famous mountain, finish the books I have written, and then make divine medicine in the hope of living indefinitely. Ordinary people all think it strange that I have left my home and family behind, turned my back on a clear path to office, and gone to farm in the woods, with calluses on my hands and feet. They think I suffer from a kind of madness. But the way and worldly affairs cannot both prosper at once. If I did not give up human affairs, how could I pursue this goal? If you see something clearly and are firmly committed to it, why fear criticism or praise? Why be swayed by encouragement or opposition? I write these thoughts to show future people who share my interests. Those who later share this unbreakable commitment will give up the same things I have.

51 Recipe for a Lesser Divine Elixir: Mix three jin of genuine cinnabar with six jin of white honey. Expose it to the sun and cook it down until it can be made into pills. Each morning take ten pills the size of hemp seeds. Before a year has passed, white hair will turn black, lost teeth will regrow, and the body will grow smooth and healthy. Taken continually, it makes an old man young and gives life without death.

52 Lesser Elixir Method: Pound and sift one jin of cinnabar, then add three sheng of strong sour wine and two sheng of lacquer. Mix the three ingredients thoroughly and cook over a low fire until they can be shaped into pills. Take three pills the size of hemp seeds, twice a day. After thirty days, all illnesses in the belly will be cured, and the three corpse spirits will leave. After a hundred days, flesh and bones will become strong. After a thousand days, the Controller of Lifespans will remove your name from the register of the dead. You will last as long as heaven and earth and face the sun and moon as their equal. Your form and face will change in unpredictable ways. You will cast no shadow in the sun but instead have a separate light of your own.

53 Lesser Method for Taking Gold: Refine gold by dipping it into clear wine around two hundred times. Each time it enters or leaves, the wine will boil. When you squeeze it, it should come out between your fingers like mud. If it does not boil or come out between your fingers, shave it down and put it into clear wine again as many times as necessary. Once it is ready, take a pill the size of a pellet. You may also divide that pill into smaller pills. After thirty days of taking it, you will feel neither cold nor heat, and divine beings and jade maidens will serve you. Silver can also be taken by the same method as gold. Anyone taking these two substances who can live in a stone chamber on a famous mountain will rise lightly into the air in one year. Taking them while remaining in the human world also makes one an earthly immortal. Do not pass this method on carelessly.

54 The Two Principles Master's Method for Taking Gold: Use three jin of pig back fat and one sheng of strong sour wine. Take five liang of gold and place it in a vessel to cook over an earthen furnace. Put the gold into the fat and take it out a hundred times; do the same with the sour wine. Eat one jin and live as long as heaven and earth; eat half a jin and live two thousand years; eat five liang and live one thousand two hundred years. Whatever amount you have, you can take it. Make it on a favorable day when the seasonal forces are at their height; taken then, it works marvelously well. Do not transmit it to the wrong person. If you show it to the wrong person, the medicine will fail and lose its marvelous power. If you wish to take a medicine that drives out the corpse spirits, you should take cinnabar.