Page 340 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

DANFANG XUZHI 301
1

Dmifang xuzhi

Required Knowledge for the Chamber of the Elixirs

The Danfang xuzhi (CT 900) is a *waidan work compiled in II63 by Wu Wu ~
+'8-, who also wrote a *neidan text, the Zhigui ji 4'i'r fM ~ (Anthology Pointing
to Where One Belongs; CT 921). Its twenty-one sections (the last of which /
is incomplete; see Boltz J. M. 1993b, 92) describe a method for compounding
an elixir based on lead and mercury. Each section concerns one stage or facet
of the method, with topics ranging from the choice of one's companions to
the ingestion of the elixir.
Although the Datifang xuzhi is one of the few late waidan works that describe
rites performed during the alchemical process, it consists almost entirely of
quotations from about a dozen earlier sources, including a neidan work, the
*Ruyao jing (Mirror for Compounding the Medicine). This format suggests
that its account of the process does not derive from actual practice, and that
Wu Wu's purpose was to provide a survey of the waidan alchemical process by
selecting and arranging passages from other works into a logical sequence.
The information given on the ritual features of the alchemical process is
nonetheless valuable. The elixir is made by three people, who are first to per-
form the purification practices (zhai m); one of the helpers takes care of the
levels of water and fire in the furnace, and another of fire phasing (*huohou).
The elixir is to be compounded away from tombs, closed wells, and places
in which wars have been fought or women have delivered children. Women,
Buddhist monks, and domestic animals are not allowed to enter the laboratory
(the Chamber of the Elixir, danshi H '+), in which incense should constantly
burn (a method for making incense is given in the text). The alchemical altar is
protected by an invocation addressed to Xuanyuan huangdi taishang Laojun ~
j[ ~ ?j1: A 1: fi H (Most High Lord Lao, August Emperor of Mysterious Origin;
trans. Sivin 1980, 289-90). Other invocations are uttered before compounding
the elixir, before kindling the fire, and before opening the furnace.

Fabrizio PREGADIO
rn Meng Naichang 1993a, 69-71; Sivin 1980, 289-90 and 293

* waidan