Instructions on the Yellow Emperor's Nine-Tripod Divine Elixir黄帝九鼎神丹经诀

Also known as

Jiuding Shendan jing (Scripture of the Nine-Tripod Divine Elixir), Jiuding Danjing (Nine-Tripod Elixir Scripture)

Author / transmission

Anonymous

Period

Han – Tang · Scroll one, the Jiuding shendan jing, is an ancient Han–Wei scripture already cited in Ge Hong's Baopuzi "Jindan" chapter; scrolls two through twenty are the Jingjue (Instructions) composed by Tang-dynasty authors, c. 7th century.

Canon division

Dongshen Section, Various Arts Category

Collected in

Zhengtong Daozang, Dongshen Section, Various Techniques category

Category

Alchemical Texts

Fascicles

Twenty scrolls

Synopsis

The Huangdi jiuding shendan jingjue (Instructions on the Yellow Emperor's Nine-Tripod Divine Elixir) is among the most important surviving classics of external alchemy. Scroll one is the ancient Han–Wei scripture Huangdi jiuding shendan jing, presented as having been received by the Yellow Emperor from the Mysterious Woman (Xuannü); it describes the recipes and ingestion effects of nine divine elixirs (Danhua, Shenfu, Shendan, Huandan, Erdan, Liandan, Roudan, Fudan and Handan), which correspond to the nine elixirs described in the "Jindan" chapter of Ge Hong's Baopuzi. Scroll two onward comprises instructions composed by Tang-dynasty authors, drawing broadly on works such as the Taiqing danjing and the Jinye jing; they discuss in detail the fasting and taboos observed when compounding elixirs, the selection of sites and construction of furnaces, the Six-and-One Mud (liuyi ni), the properties and flavors of medicinal substances, methods of fire-subduing, methods of ingesting the elixir, and sacrificial rites, and preserve a large body of Tang-dynasty chemical and mineralogical knowledge. This work is a primary source for the study of the history of Chinese alchemy and chemistry, and was drawn on by Joseph Needham and others in discussing early Chinese chemical achievements.

Key Ideas

• The Nine-Tripod divine elixirs and the nine-times-cycled reverted elixir
• Alchemical operations such as the Six-and-One Mud and fire-subduing
• Fasting and taboos in compounding the elixir
• A systematic summary of the techniques of external alchemy

Structure

Twenty scrolls: scroll one is the ancient scripture, scrolls two through twenty are the instructions.

Editions

• Zhengtong Daozang edition
• Zhonghua Daozang, vol. 18

Translations

• Partial English translation in Fabrizio Pregadio, Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China (2006)

Full Text & Online Resources

• CTEXT search
• Wikipedia: Waidan

Related scriptures

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