Daoism Research Paper

Emily Jackson
Eastern Religions
Research Paper

The Daoist practice of Alchemy In the Daoist tradition, there is a heavy focus on looking within and refining the natural and tangible energies of the body. The ultimate goal of this practice is to discover the inner source or essence, also known as jing, which means “unattached structive energy.” An important part of Daoism is realizing that all one needs to align with Dao, or The Way (of nature) is already contained within. With proper cultivation, a studious “adept” may be able to access these primordial essences and possibly achieve immortality. There is a distinction between “external” alchemy, (waidan) a process of concocting an “elixir” (medicine) to be ingested, and “inner” alchemy,
(neidan) a method of transforming or refining oneself spiritually. External alchemy, though now a disregarded process, had great importance on the progress of science and even, notably, led to the invention of gunpowder. However, the concept remains in use as a model of purification to be used through spiritual practice in inner alchemy. Though separate in form and practice, inner and external alchemy are extremely important, not only in a historical context, but also has vast cultural and scientific significance. Alchemy has its origins in a man named Wei Boyang, a legendary Han immortal, who supposedly wrote The Zhouyi cantong qi, (“The Kinship of the Three”) the main alchemical scriptural text. The work is a poetical text that concerns the “Dao and its relation to the cosmos, explicated by means of a wide array of alchemical, cosmological and other emblems” (Pregadio, 32). The actual text itself does not include specific alchemical references or instructions on constructing elixirs, but is more of a conceptual and allegorical structuring of the ways of the cosmos. From these texts sprung a variety of commentary and supplemental texts which further outline and instruct in the ways of inner and external alchemy. Wei Poyang is fabled to have been an example of the alchemist tradition perfected. In the Story of the White Dog, his attainment of immorality is described: One morning when Wei Boyang went into the mountains to make a divine elixir, he took with him three disciples and a white dog. When the elixir was completed, he fed some of it to the dog, which died. Then he himself (Wei) ingested some, and he died too. One of his disciples, surnamed Yu, having faith in his teacher, ate some, and he, too expired…After several hours Wei arose having already taken the completed elixir prior to leaving his home. He administered the real elixir to his dog and disciple and, having revived them, departed. (Chin, 2)
This story is related by Ge Hong, another prominent alchemist, who lived more than a century after Wei Poyang and is the best source of information regarding him. Ge Hong is also considered an important figure in regard to alchemy; he is responsible for providing the actual alchemical instruction that Wei Boyang’s contribution to the practice lacked. Hong was also a prominent physician and scholar, and some of his medical remedies are still used today, including effectual treatments for malaria and congestion (Chin, 3). His texts, Shen Kian Zhuan (Traditions of Divine Transcendents) and the Baopuzi Neipian (Inner Chapters of the Master who Embraces Simplicity) are in specific regard to achieving immorality on earth; the greatest objective of Daoism. Both internal and external alchemy are included. To gain this highly sought goal, “one would first need to produce liquid gold that be ingested”. Ingesting this gold was considered to be equivalent to ingesting “the stability of the heavens themselves” (Chin, 3). But Hong did not exclude alternatives for a path to immortality, but instead embraced variety, open-mindedness, and true investigation as a real means of obtaining truth: “Those who understand the method of breathing exercises will say that only the permeation of qi can prolong life. Those who know the method of yoga will say that only physical exercise can prevent old age. And those who know the formulas of herbs will say that only medicine will make life unending”. Ge Hong warns that these people who are “one-sided” fall short in their pursuit of the Dao. “People of superficial knowledge think they have enough when they happen to know of only one way and do not realize that the true seeker will search unceasingly even after he has acquired some good formulas” (Chin, 3). With this impressive wisdom and tact, it is no wonder that Ge Hong is still known and revered today. It is a good thing that Ge Hong encouraged a variety of methods in order to achieve immortality, because based on external alchemy alone, it seems that true devotion would likely be harmful and likely even fatal. Alchemists used a variety of chemicals and essences, but among the more prominent are cinnabar, (which contains high levels of mercury, and when heated enough becomes quicksilver) salt, sulfur, and arsenic, among other things. Many prominent alchemists ironically died by poisoning due to drinking their own elixirs. Interestingly, these dangerous substances were not even the main ingredients of an elixir, and were actually used quite sparingly, their main purpose being symbolic in nature: “Cinnabar is never the main ingredient of an elixir, and the lead-mercury compound -- sometimes replaced by refined lead alone -- either is used only to make a mud that is spread on the crucible to prevent it from breaking when it is heated, or is placed at the bottom of the crucible together with other ingredients” (Pregardio, 51). The symbolism of the lethal ingredients is related to the important Daoist concept of Yin and Yang, which is a balancing and flux of the feminine and the male, light and dark, soft and hard, etc.
This concept relies heavily on the interdependence and correlation between opposites, and the importance of balance, a concept which is very important to the fundamentals of alchemy: “There is a two-way traffic of similarity and dissimilarity, there are complimentary qualities but also tensions and a pull in the opposite direction, but it is a tension of balance and not of antagonism and, as seen in the alchemical symbolism, the opposites can transform each other” (Cooper, 21). Apart from the overall symbolism, the very chemicals themselves have important meaning to the practice of external alchemy: “Sulfur as yang, solar, fire, symbolizes the Will of Heaven, the active principle. Quicksilver as yin, lunar, the waters, is the passive and limiting power. Salt, the “crystallization”, as the result of the action and reaction of the yin-yang, is the neutral zone in which the contrary forces are stabilized and reconciled. This also represents the work within the individual” (Cooper 70). In using fire to melt these substances, alchemists view it as a process of returning the metals back to their original form, a goal that inner alchemy strives to as well. As consistent with the Dao, things are the most pure in their original
state. Likely because of their toxicity, external alchemic practices are largely void in modern Daoism. Internal alchemy has taken over as the primary form of practice, though undoubtedly they are based off of external alchemic ideals. Instead of refining substances through the use of fire, the practitioner now refines the self and uses a variety of meditative and mental exercises to achieve the same effect of external alchemy. These exercises are also commonly known as “body energetics,” and actually in some ways seem to be more complicated than the scientific process of changing the form of metals. “Body energetics is the meditative refinement of accessible, tangible, body energy into highly spiritual forms combined with the awakening and activation of subtle powers that connect the person to the ultimate” (Kohn, 181). The process of alchemical change begins with “a moral and physical readiness”, which is fitting because it requires extreme moral and physical restraint. From this readiness: “Adepts work through three distinct stages, refining essence (jing) into energy (qi), energy into spirit (shen), and spirit into the formless purity and vast emptiness of Dao” (Kohn, 1). As an important requirement, practitioners are required to be in harmonious accord with nature, as well as to be exemplary members of society. The actual practice of internal alchemy combines “the various form of Daoist self-cultivation: guiding the qi, visualization, absorptive meditation, operative alchemy, and cosmological speculation” (Kohn, 1). The main text for internal alchemy is Zhen’gao (Declarations of the Perfected) which are various scriptures revealed by “perfected beings” gathered and compiled by a man named Tao Hongjing. This text explains the way to immortality, which: “consists in repeating the process by which these perfected beings were revealed in the first place: namely, by mentally visualizing their descent from heaven and their entry into the body of the individual” (Miller, 12). Bodily refinement is also an important part of the process. “Ranging from body movements (walking, squatting) through ways of caring for the body (washing, grooming) to consumption techniques, body techniques include attitudes to food, authority, sexual relations, nakedness, pleasure and pain, medicine and healing” (Kohn, 3). Both internal and external alchemy are essential aspects of Daoism, as with yin and yang, they are reliant on each other and show a flux of the physical and the spiritual. Alchemy in general, like many religions, relies on self-cultivation and hard work to achieve understanding and hopefully immortality: “The Taoist-Buddhist doctrine of “the active essence of non-action and the passive essence of action” runs through all alchemical traditions as the spiritual work of transmuting and ennobling the soul, the soul being the “substance” worked upon, the spirit expressing itself in form” (Cooper, 72). Alchemy is a highly complicated and fascinating belief system, encouraging virtue, meditation, self-reflection, and oneness with nature.