Ge Hong – The Golden Elixir Pt.1

又曰，长生之道，不在祭祀事鬼神也，不在道引与屈伸也，昇仙之要，在神丹也。知之不易，为之实难也。子能作之，可长存也。近代汉末新野阴君，合此太清丹得仙。其人本儒生，有才思，善著诗及丹经赞并序，述初学道随师本末，列己所知识之得仙者四十馀人，甚分明也。作此太清丹，小为难合於九鼎，然是白日昇天之上法也。合之当先作华池赤盐艮雪玄白飞符三五神水，乃可起火耳。

It is also said, that the Dao of Long Life does not rely on the sacrifices for Ghosts and Spirits, [and] it does not rely on Guiding and Leading [1] , bending and stretching. The essentials of ascending to immortality relies on the Elixir of immortality. Knowing [it] is not easy, acting [it out] is truly difficult. [If] you are able to do it, [you] are able to preserve [the body] permanently and everlasting. In recent times at the end of the Han dynasty the noble person Xin Ye Yin [2] unified with this Great Clarity Elixir and achieved immortality. That person was originally a Confucian scholar, being endowed with imaginative power and creativity. He was good at writing poems and Elixir classics. He praised and amalgamated the preface, stating that in his initial study of the Dao [he[ followed his teacher from beginning to end, [and he] enlisted extremely distinctly the forty-odd people who achieved immortality he had knowledge of himself. Producing this Great Clarity Elixir, few find it difficult to conform to the Nine Cauldrons. However it is a high method to soar to Heaven in bright daylight. It is fitting to at first produce the Magnificent Pond, Crimson Salt, the Gen [3] -Snow, the mysterious White, the flying talisman and the Three-Five Spirit Water [4] , therefore one is able to raise the Fire.

[1]Dao Yin [导引] or calistenics
[2] In James Ware’s translation of the Bao Pu Zi, he is called Master Yin Ch’ang-sheng
[3] Gen [艮] is a trigram from the Yi Jing symbolizing the Mountain
[4] James Ware list the ingredients read as follows; the fortified vinegar, the red crystal salt, calomel, dark-white [a mixture of lead,
gold and mercury], Express Amulets and Three-Five Divine Solution.