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Chinese alchemy (煉丹術 liàndānshù "method for refining cinnabar") is a historical Chinese approach to alchemy, a pseudoscience. According to original texts such as the Cantong qi, the body is understood as the focus of cosmological processes summarized in the five agents of change, or Wuxing, the observation and cultivation of which leads the practitioner into alignment and harmony with the Tao. Therefore, the traditional view in China is that alchemy focuses mainly on longevity and the purification of one's spirit, mind and body, providing, health, longevity and wisdom, through the practice of Qigong and wuxingheqidao. The consumption and use of various concoctions known as alchemical medicines or elixirs, each of which having different purposes but largely were concerned with immortality.
Pao zhi (炮制; Pao chi) or Processing (Chinese materia medica) is used in Traditional Chinese Medicine, such as honey or wine frying and roasting with toxic metals such as mercury, lead, and arsenic.[1]
Daoism had two distinct parts, the classical Daojia (道家 Tao chia), which was mystical and stemmed primarily from Laozi and Zhuangzi, and the more popular Daojiao (道教 Tao chiao), which was the popular, magical and alchemical side of Daoism. In general, classical Daojia was more austere, whereas Daojiao was more practiced by the general populace.[2]
Chinese alchemy was introduced to the West by Obed Simon Johnson.[3]
- ^ "Medieval Transmission of Alchemical and Chemical Ideas Between China and India", Vijay Deshpande, Indiana Journal of History of Science, 22 (1), pp. 15–28, 1987
- ^ Cooper, J.C. (1990). Chinese Alchemy: the Daoist Quest for Immortality. Sterling Publishing Co. pp. 55–70.
- ^ [Obed Simon Johnson, A Study of Chinese Alchemy, Shanghai, Commercial P, 1928. rpt. New York: Arno P, 1974.]