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Chinese woodblock illustration of a waidan alchemical refining furnace, 1856 Waike tushuo 外科圖説 (Illustrated Manual of External Medicine). Waidan, translated as 'external alchemy' or 'external elixir', is the early branch of Chinese alchemy that focuses upon compounding elixirs of immortality by heating minerals, metals, and other natural substances in a luted crucible.
Chinese alchemy can be divided into two methods of practice, waidan or "external alchemy" and neidan or "internal alchemy". Doctrine can be accessed to describe these methods in greater detail; the majority of Chinese alchemical sources can be found in the Daozang, the "Taoist Canon".
Neidan, or internal alchemy (traditional Chinese: 內丹術; simplified Chinese: 內丹术; pinyin: nèidān shù), is an array of esoteric doctrines and physical, mental, and spiritual practices that Taoist initiates use to prolong life and create an immortal spiritual body that would survive after death. [1]
The transformation from chemistry-based waidan 外丹 "external elixir/alchemy" to physiology-based neidan 內丹 "internal elixir/alchemy" gave new analogous meanings to old terms. The human body metaphorically becomes a ding "cauldron" in which the adept forges the Three Treasures (essence, life-force, and spirit) within the jindan Golden ...
External waidan alchemy conceives of the cosmos as the outcome of spontaneous processes. Daoist cosmogony typically involves the progression from Nonbeing to Oneness, followed by the emergence of the yin and yang principles, which join in generating and differentiating the myriad beings.
The langgan huadan 琅玕華丹 "Elixir Efflorescence of Langgan" name of the waidan "external alchemy" elixir of immortality is the best-known usage of the word langgan. [19] Some other translations are "Elixir of Langgan Efflorescence", [20] "Lang-Kan (Gem) Radiant Elixir", [21] and "Elixir Flower of Langgan". [22]
Li Shaojun's method shows that rituals were associated with Chinese alchemy since its earliest recorded beginnings. The Daoist Taiqing (太清, Great Clarity) tradition likewise summoned gods and other supernatural beings while making elixirs (Pregadio 2006: 32). However, in contrast to later practices of waidan External Alchemy. Li's ...
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