Page 628 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

586 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM A-L

woods, plants and herbs. The latter custom survived into the imperial period,
as seen for instance in the burning of artemisia in the fifth lunar month to drive
away demonic forces. Finally, incense can be burned to keep away insects and
to measure time.
When burned in a cuI tic context, the incense ashes acquire a power of their
own. This is apparent in the practice of healing by ingesting water mixed with
the powder of incense burned during a special ritual. Related to this practice
are the customs of carrying some incense from an important cult on one's
body when travelling, and of touching people with incense sticks to protect
or heal them. The mediums' practice of inhaling incense fumes to get into
trance can also be explained in this way, since it transfers to them the power
of the cult they officiate.
Finally, the notion of incense being imbued with the power of a cult is
found in the practice of "dividing incense" (frnxiang 5} f):). Here, a cult links
itself to its parental cult devoted to the same deity by ritually transferring
some incense from the burner of the parental cult to the burner of the new
one. Such cults tend to be associated with Taoist ritual traditions, but most of
the documentation available to date comes from the Fujian region. To what
extent this was a widespread practice in China has yet to be investigated.
Barend ter HAAR

m Bedini 1994; Bodde 1975, 274-80, 290-91, and 302-3; Cedzich 1987, 70-80;
Feuchtwang 1992, 126-49 and passim; ter Haar 2000a; Little 2000b, 218; Needham
1974,128-54; Schipper 1990; Takahashi Yoichiro 1988

7.:: xianglu

jinye

Golden Liquor

The termjinye (orjinyi), used in both *neidan and *waidan, is associated with
the idea that the human body can be transformed to a goldlike state by drinking
gold. The *Liexian zhuan (Biographies of Exemplary Immortals) describes some
immortals having taken the Golden Liquor, and *Ge Hong associates it with
divine beings such as *Taiyi, Laozi, and Yuanjun jCti (Original Princess).
The jinye method in Ge Hong's *Baopu zi (trans. Ware 1966, 89--91) requires
a considerable amount of gold with other ingredients (some modern scholars
suppose a possible formation either of potassium auricyanide or of colloidal