Flower of Mysterious and Yellow

The directions given in the note correspond in part to those found in the Liquid Pearl, 1.13b. Flower of Mysterious and Yellow is the same as Mysterious and Yellow see p. 185 below. 

Then pound laminar malachite and magnetite until they become powder-like. Cover with them the Flower of Mysterious and Yellow, and also the laminar malachite and the magnetite. Close the crucible with another, and smear the joints with the Mud of the Six-and-One. Let the crucible dry for ten days. 

Second Elixir Divine Tally (shenfu). The section on the Second Elixir is divided into three parts that describe methods for making the Divine Tally and two other elixirs. All three methods are based on mercury, which according to the Secret Instructions initially should be refined nine times in order to expel its toxicity. In the first part of the method, the crucible is luted first with the Mud of the Six-and-One, then with a mud of oyster shells and red clay. Mercury is heated in nine cycles of one day each, and the crucible turned upside down at every cycle. The product of the sublimation is collected, added to carp s gall, and sublimated nine more times then it is added to Grease of Dragons to obtain the Divine Tally. This elixir can be heated in nine further cycles with the Mysterious and Yellow to obtain the Yellow of the Elixir Flower (danhua zhi huang), or can be added to mercury to obtain a Reverted Elixir huandan). ... 

The name of this elixir can also be rendered as Cinnabar Flower, where flower denotes the sublimate and cinnabar is its color as said below, the elixir sometimes will be of a vivid scarlet color like cinnabar. The Taiqing jinye shendan jing, i.iyb-ihb, describes a similar method where cinnabar is refined with realgar and orpiment as the Mysterious and Yellow does in the methods of the Nine Elixirs, these two minerals incorporate Yin and Yang in the crucible. For another translation of this section of the Nine Elixirs see Ware, Alchemy, Medicine and Religion in the China of a.d. 320, 78-79. 

Except for the amounts of the ingredients, the method described here is the same as the one given above for making the Mysterious and Yellow. Yellow Flower of Lead usually denotes massicot or minium, but also refers to refined lead (see Shiyao erya, i.ia). 

This is the Yellow of the Elixir Flower (danhua zhi huang) some call it Liquor of the Mysterious and Yellow xuanhuang zhi ye), and others Talisman of Heaven and Earth tiandi zhi fu). 

Here, too, the Liquid Pearl, 1.7a, has eighty-one days for eighty days. The method for transmuting the Mysterious and Yellow into gold is the same as that given above for the transmutation of the Flower of Cinnabar. 

The Seventh Elixir is called Soft Elixir (roudan). Use three pounds of mercury. Add vinegar to the Mysterious and Yellow, and make them into a mud. Smear with it a crucible, making it three-tenths of an inch thick both inside and outside. Place the mercury in the crucible. Close the crucible with another crucible, smear the joints with the Mud of the Six-and-One, and let it dry for ten days. Then heat it for thirty-six days, as in the method of the great Flower of Cinnabar. Extinguish the fire, let the crucible cool for one day and open it. Brush it with a feather to collect what adheres to the upper crucible, and add to it some Grease of Dragons. 

The Ninth Elixir is called Cold Elixir (handan). Regularly use a red earthenware crucible. As in the method for compounding the Flower of Cinnabar, lute it with the Mud of the Six-and-One. Make the crucible three-tenths of an inch thick both inside and outside, and let it dry. Take one pound each of Imperial Man (realgar). Imperial Woman (orpiment), laminar malachite, arsenolite, and magnetite, and pound them separately until they become powder-like. [14a] As in the method of the Flower of Cinnabar, first coat the crucible of the Six-and-One with the Mysterious and Yellow. Then place in it one pound of Liquid Pearl, and cover it with the Imperial Man, the Imperial Woman, the laminar malachite, the arsenolite, and the magnetite. 

The First Elixir is called Flower of Cinnabar. First ma e the Mysterious and Yellow. With an aqueous solution of realgar, an aqueous solution of alum, Tur estan salt, la e salt, arsenolite, oyster shells, red clay, talc, and white lead—several dozen ounces of each—ma e the Mud of the Six-and-One. (Baopu zi, 4.74)... 

The First Elixir is called Flower of Cinnabar. First ma e the Mysterious and Yellow with aqueous solutions of realgar and an aqueous solution of cinna-... 

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