Ge Family Golden Elixir Tradition (Danding School)葛氏金丹道（丹鼎派）

Also known as

Alchemical Lineages, Golden Elixir School, Ge Family Way, External Alchemy School (Waidan)

Type

School

Period

Eastern Han–Tang

Founded

Theoretically founded by Wei Boyang's Cantong qi in the Eastern Han, and brought to culmination by Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin (early 4th century)

Founder

Wei Boyang, Ge Hong

Region

Jiangnan (Jurong, Mount Luofu)

Ancestral seat

Mount Luofu

Status

Absorbed into Other Lineages — The practice of external alchemy essentially disappeared after the Song; its theory and terminology were fully inherited by Internal Alchemy studies, and the name "Danding School" later became a collective term for the various schools of internal alchemy.

Overview

The Golden Elixir tradition, or Danding (Elixir and Tripod) School, is a Daoist tradition whose principal path of cultivation is the compounding of external elixirs (waidan) and their ingestion to attain immortality, standing in contrast to the talismanic schools; its representative figure is Ge Hong of the Eastern Jin. The idea of the golden elixir originates from the Qin–Han Fangxian Dao practice of "transmuting cinnabar into gold" and from the Eastern Han Wei Boyang's Zhouyi cantong qi, which correlated the hexagrams and lines of the Book of Changes, Huang–Lao thought, and furnace-fire practice, and became known as the "eternal king of elixir scriptures." Ge Hong (283–343) came from an aristocratic clan of Jiangnan; he studied under Zheng Yin and received the golden-elixir scriptures transmitted from Ge Xuan, and also received the Sanhuang wen from Bao Jing. In his later years he retired to Mount Luofu to compound elixirs, and wrote the twenty-chapter Baopuzi neipian, systematically arguing that immortality can be studied and attained, holding that "the way of the golden elixir" is the fundamental path to ascending to immortality, while other practices such as circulating qi, bedchamber arts, and ingesting herbal medicines can only prolong life without conferring deathlessness. He also organized the transmission system of the three great elixir scriptures — the Taiqing danjing, the Jiuding danjing, and the Jinye danjing — and stressed that the cultivation of immortality must be rooted in loyalty, filial piety, benevolence, and trustworthiness, reconciling immortality-seeking Daoism with Confucian ethics. Ge Hong's teaching is known as the "Ge Family Way" or "Ge Clan Way," and directly influenced Ge Chaofu's compilation of the Lingbao scriptures and Tao Hongjing's alchemical activities. External alchemy reached its height in the Tang dynasty, when emperors repeatedly died of poisoning after ingesting elixirs; after the Song dynasty external alchemy gradually declined while internal alchemy (neidan) rose, and the name "Danding" (Elixir and Tripod) came to be used by the various schools of internal alchemy. This entry focuses on the external-alchemy tradition from the Wei–Jin through the Tang.

Core Doctrine

Holds that immortals truly exist and that longevity is attainable, and that by ingesting the golden elixir (huandan, "reverted elixir," or jinye, "liquefied gold") one may attain a lifespan equal to that of Heaven and Earth; because the elixir "becomes ever more wondrous the longer it is fired" and "remains incorruptible though buried for eternity," ingesting it can render a person ageless and deathless. It holds that cultivation of the Dao must be rooted in virtue, the accumulation of good deeds and merit, and requires transmission from an enlightened master together with a sworn oath of secrecy. This theory provided a systematic argument for the Daoist doctrine of immortality.

Practice & Ritual

Gathering ingredients (cinnabar, realgar, mica, gold, silver, and others), constructing furnaces, the Nine-times-cycled Reverted Elixir, the Liquefied Gold Elixir, and the ingestion of elixirs; supplemented by circulating qi, Daoyin, bedchamber arts, ingesting herbal medicines, wearing talismans, and Guarding the One; emphasis on selecting auspicious days before entering the mountains, and on sworn oaths in the transmission of scriptures. Ge Hong also placed importance on medicine, writing the Zhouhou beiji fang (Emergency Formulas to Keep up One's Sleeve). External alchemical operations required strict fasting, the selection of auspicious days and sites, and secrecy; the elixirs often contained lead, mercury, and arsenic, and no small number of emperors and scholar-officials died of poisoning after ingesting elixirs in the Tang dynasty.

Transmission

Wei Boyang (author of the Cantong qi) → the legendary Zuo Ci → Ge Xuan → Zheng Yin → Ge Hong; Ge Hong's teaching was transmitted to his descendants and to Daoist priests in Jiangnan, influencing Tao Hongjing, Sun Simiao, and others; it was carried on by Tang-dynasty external alchemists such as Zhang Guo and Meng Shen. After the Song, external alchemy declined and its theoretical resources passed into the Zhong–Lü Internal Alchemy Tradition and the Southern Lineage (Nanzong). Transmission among external alchemists was generally bound together by secretly transmitted scriptures and oral formulas.

Key Scriptures

Key Figures

Principal Temples