Page 339 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

300 T H E ENCYC LOP EDI A OF TAO ISM A- L

Danfang jianyuan

Mirror-Origin of the Alchemical Methods

Compiled by Ougu Tao ¥Ill f}[ r~ in the middle of the tenth century, this work
(CT 925) consists of an enumeration of about 240 substances used in *waidan.
The samples are classified into twenty-five sections according to their nature,
appearance, or color (e.g., Salts, zhuyan ~m.; Sands, zhusha ~~; Yellows,
zhuhuang ~ ji![), with short notes describing their properties. With the * Shiyao
erya and theJinshi bu wujiushujue ~:fi1@1i ::hJt!:1lk: (Instructions on an Inven-
tory of Forty-Five Metals and Minerals; CT 907; Pregadio 1997), both dating
from the Tang period, the Danfangjianyuan is one of the main sources on the
use of materia medica in waidan. None of these three texts belongs to the main
literary tradition of pharmacology, so they provide information not always
found in the standard pharmacopoeias.
The main source of the Danfang jianyuan is an anonymous text dating
from the middle of the eighth century, entitled Danfangjingyuan fJ-JJHJtiW,
a Song or later alchemical collection, the Qianhongjiageng zhibao jieheng iff *
(Mirror-Origin of the Chamber of the Elixirs) and partly preserved inj. 4 of

Ej3 J5f(t ~ ~ ~ AA (Complete Collection on the Ultimate Treasure Made of Lead
and Mercury,jia [= Real Mercury] andgeng [= Real Lead]; CT 919). Both the
Danfangjianyuan and its source are available in a critical edition by Ho Peng
Yoke (I9S0), based on a comparison with quotations in Li Shizhen's ::$=ffiJft
(OMB S59- 65) Beneao gangmu *1jt~ § (The Pharmacopoeia Arranged into
Headings and Subheadings; ca. 1593) and with a Japanese manuscript dated
IS04 (on the edition of the Taoist Canon on which this manuscript is based,
see Barrett 1994a).
Fabrizio PREGADIO

III Fung and Collier 1937 (part. trans.); Ho Peng Yoke 19S0 (crit. ed.); Meng
Naichang 1993a, 65-67; Needham 1976, ISO- SI
* waidan