What is Chinese alchemy?

Chinese alchemy is a classical system of science and wellbeing. Its diverse practices span centuries, sharing many similarities with Western alchemy, such as the goals of transmuting metals and achieving immortality.

If the mention of alchemy catapults your mind to images of medieval European scholars dissolving metals into bubbling machinery, you’re not alone. But one of the most interesting things about alchemy is that it appears in different forms across several distinct cultures. And as the oldest surviving civilization in the world today, it may be one of the most interesting.

In China it’s not uncommon to see elderly folk walking slowly and methodically down the street, striking their bodies with their hands. Whizzing by on my skateboard, I’ll admit I initially found the practice to be kind of bizarre.

Funny thing though (and many foreigners who have lived in China will attest to this) — a lot of those things that initially seem bizarre, turn out to be nuggets of wisdom.

The practice is actually a means of circulating blood and energy in the body; in other words, it’s a form of qigong. It’s commonly practiced by the elderly, who use it as a vehicle to promote health and longevity.

Tracing that current back, you can see the direct lineage and impact of the ancient Taoist alchemists, a group whose search for longevity, immortality, and oneness with the universe spanned a huge array of physical, mental, and spiritual practices.

So who were the Taoist alchemists? Where did they come from, and how do they differ from their Western counterparts?

• History of Alchemy in China
• Taoist Alchemy and Sex
• Chinese Alchemy vs. European Alchemy
• Taoist Alchemy and Immortality
• Waidan and Neidan: Outer vs. Inner Alchemy and the Three Treasures

What is Chinese Alchemy? History of Alchemy in China

Chinese alchemy emerged primarily out of Taoism, drawing also on currents of thought from Traditional Chinese Medicine, Confucianism, Buddhism, Chinese astrology, and meditation. However, it is nearly impossible to reliably date the origin of Chinese alchemical practice.

A few documents allow us to make some guesses. As early as 74 BCE, an ancient thinker named Huan Kuan discussed modifying forms of nature and ingesting them in order to bring immortality to the drinker. Another account states that the famous scholar Liu Hsiang became Master of the Recipes in 60 BCE, so that he could “make alchemical gold and prolong the Emperor’s life.”

Similar to Western alchemists, Taoist alchemists were concerned with the purification of substances, both material and spiritual. But for the Taoist practitioners, the goal was first and foremost to attain immortality, which they pursued first through waidan (outer Chinese alchemy of substances), until later when the focus turned to neidan (inner Chinese alchemy of self-cultivation).

Taoist Alchemy and Sex

When it comes to inner Taoist alchemy, sexual energy plays a major role. Since sexual energy is the force that gives birth to new life, alchemists believed it also held a key role in the process of achieving immortality.

Taoists believed in a concept called jing, one of the Three Treasures (more on that below). When you use up all your jing, which is very difficult to replenish, you die.

Men lose jing primarily through ejaculation, while women lose it through menstruation and childbearing.

As a result, Taoist masters developed complex sets of practices to conserve jing, including semen retention. In a way, they constituted the first wave of the “NoFap” trend, avoiding ejaculation as a means to cultivate vital life energy.

The esoteric practice of Taoist sexuality has understandably seized a lot of attention today, manifesting as PDFs of “Taoist bedroom secrets” and “Boys’ Love” TV dramas that cast pop stars as alchemists (more on that below, as well).

Are Taoist monks celibate?

Taoist monks represent a variety of viewpoints on sex and celibacy, generally united by common principles. While some may abstain from sex altogether, others may recommend an ideal frequency of ejaculation.

Sun Simiao, China’s “King of Medicine,” recommended no more than twice per month, saying “A man may attend health and longevity if he practices an ejaculation frequency of twice monthly, or 24 times a year. If at the same time he pays careful attention to proper diet and exercise, he will live a long and healthy life.”

Women held their own important role in the yin (feminine) side of the yin-yang. While some classical societies gave little attention to the idea of a woman’s pleasure, Chinese alchemists considered it a matter of great importance.

These ideas were most clearly illustrated in the text Su Nu Jing, said to be authored by the goddess Sunü, a master of music and sexuality who taught sexual techniques to the mythical Yellow Emperor. The book was lost in China but preserved in Japan. It taught lessons ranging from sexual positions and techniques of flirting to the importance of mutual consent.

In esoteric tradition, women held a position of great sexual power. They were able to bring forth life itself, and to orgasm without losing energetic fluids or undergoing a refractory period. 

As for women, ideas changed over the course of Chinese history in accordance with social attitudes.

Still others will advocate sex without ejaculation. This sounds straight-up abysmal, until we learn that there are also practices to separate ejaculation from orgasm, allowing practitioners to achieve multiple orgasms without ejaculating and losing precious jing.

Chinese Alchemy vs European Alchemy

The Chinese and Western forms of alchemy are eerily similar. Both schools sought to change materials into gold and achieve eternal life. Both made strides in early chemistry by purifying components in carefully-devised laboratories. And finally, both dealt with the alchemical transmutation of the human soul into its divine state.

Here are some bullet points on the two corresponding systems:

Western Alchemy

• Primarily concerned with transmutation of substance
• Through the process of turning lead to gold, the alchemist undergoes a similar purification of self
• Roots in ancient teachings from Egypt. One etymological explanation for the word alchemy is a combination of the Arabic al (“the”) and Khemia, an ancient name for Egypt
• According to legend, the god Thoth (known in Greek as Hermes) passed down alchemy to humanity
• In Europe, alchemists worked in a language of esoteric code. One reason for this was to obscure their practice from rulers at the time, many of whom had outlawed alchemy out of fear that the influx of gold would affect the economy

Chinese Alchemy

• Primarily concerned with the pursuit of immortality
• Born from Taoist tradition amidst a myriad of influences
• According to legend, the mythical Yellow Emperor founded Chinese alchemy
• Directly divided into two categories: waidan and neidan
• Waidan deals with the preparation of elixirs from chemical, animal, and herbal components
• Neidan deals directly with the purification of the human spirit

Taoist Alchemy and Immortality

In earlier Chinese alchemy, physical immortality was not only thought to be possible, but was vigorously pursued by monks and lay practitioners alike. Later, focus shifted to achieving a non-physical immortality of the spirit.

These beliefs explain the popularity of waidan Taoist alchemy. In museums in China, it’s not uncommon to find rooms full of ceramic ding, ritual vessels whose alchemic use made them objects of extreme material and symbolic value.

To see how seriously some people took their ding, just look at these instructions for creating a ritual cauldron:

Use aluminum, Turkestan salt, lake salt, and arsenolite, heating them first for twenty days, as well as left-oriented oyster shells from Donghai, red clay, and talc.

Take the desired amount of these seven substances in equal parts, and pound them together ten thousand times until they become powder-like.

Place them together in an iron vessel, and heat them for nine days and nine nights, making the fire underneath intense.

When the medicines take on a vivid scarlet color like fire, pound them again ten thousand times. Sift them through a piece of thin silk, and add them to a hundred-day Flowery Pond, forming a mud.

The text goes on to describe the method of forming this mud into an earthenware crucible. It involves many days of repetitive layering and drying mud in the sun, plus white lead and intense heat.

When speaking on the Supreme Elixir, a substance that cures all ills and an equivalent to the Philosopher’s Stone of Western alchemy, a key early text puts it succinctly:

“Acquiring the elixir results in immortality, not acquiring it results
in extinction.”

Mind-Seal Scripture of the Exalted Jade Sovereign, Southern Song Dynasty (1127 – 1279)

As alchemy developed and its schools of thought multiplied, the target shifted from a physical immortality to a spiritual one. By cultivating one’s own internal environment, practitioners aimed to achieve a non-physical elixir, breaking free from the cycle of reincarnation.

While the interpretation of “immortality” may have shifted over the centuries, it’s clear that China’s earliest alchemical minds were already preoccupied with the pursuit of eternal life.

When he ingests the Medicines, let him fly as an immortal, have audience at the Purple Palace, live an unending life, and become an accomplished man!

Jiudan Jing, Book of the Nine Elixirs, ca. 2nd century CE

Outer and Inner Taoist Alchemy

Whereas Western alchemy uses metaphors and code to obscure the connections between its physical and spiritual components, Chinese alchemy is divided into two distinct schools of outer waidan and inner neidan. The former deals with physical substances, while the latter focuses on practices of body, mind, and spirit. 

Outer Alchemy

On its surface, waidan is much closer to the public’s mental image of alchemy.

Practitioners worked with natural substances to create life-extending elixirs. These could be herbs, animal components, or especially, metals.

Much of Chinese alchemical work culminates in recipes with mercury, lead, and cinnabar. Mix these together under the correct conditions, eat the result, and live forever!

Well, naturally, there are numerous instances of alchemical elixir poisoning in ancient China. The royal court alchemist would prepare the magical immortality elixir, give it to their unsuspecting emperor with the best of intentions, and then be surprised when he died of mercury poisoning.

At least, that’s how the story went. Michel Strickmann, a key scholar of Taoist, Buddhist, and tantric tradition, challenged that notion. Would all these emperors really be dumb enough to keep “accidentally” dying of alchemical mercury poisoning over the course of centuries?

Instead, he argued that this was an intentional ritual death. After ingesting the elixir, the physical body would “die,” while the spirit would go on to enjoy immortality.

Modern forensics recognizes that mercury poisoning can result in the preservation of a corpse. Alchemy practitioners could have taken this lack of decay as evidence of the elixir’s success.

On Mind Body Globe though, we do not advocate eating dangerous metals.

Inner Alchemy

Neidan, on the other hand, occurs within the temple of one’s own body and mind.

The goal of neidan was to perfect the three treasures: jing, qi, and shen.

Jing

Jing is defined as the “essence” or “seed.” It is the capacity for physical life that you are born with, and when you run out, you die.

Some authors argue that jing cannot be replenished. Others, however, say there’s a different kind of jing which can be regenerated through neidan practice.

Qi

Qi is the “breath” or “energy” that circulates through the body. In qigong, practitioners aim to aid this circulation to support health and longevity.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that imbalance of qi flow is the only “root” illness. All known illnesses are symptoms of that imbalance.

Shen

Shen is translated as “spirit” or “soul.” It is the universal element of consciousness, or the psyche, both personal and transpersonal, the latter bearing similarities to Carl Jung’s concept of the “collective unconscious.”

The shen is the most subtle of the Three Treasures. It is through the shen that a practitioner is able to achieve immortality, or transcend the physical body. This is elaborated on in shocking simplicity in the Secret of the Golden Flower, a classical manual that explains techniques of “astral projection” for general audiences.

What’s the Difference Between Qi and Jing?

At first, it may be difficult to understand the difference between qi and jing. Think about jing as having a lower, denser vibration than qi. While jing is primarily “conserved,” qi is “cultivated” or “circulated,” until the highest vibration of shen is “attained” or “realized.”

The process of internal alchemy boils down to refining jing, qi, and shen, in that order. The 13th century Book of Balance and Harmony explains it poetically and simply:

Making one’s essence (jing) complete, one can preserve the body. To do so, first keep the body at ease, and make sure there are no desires. Thereby energy can be made complete.

Making one’s energy (qi) complete, one can nurture the mind. To do so, first keep the mind pure, and make sure there are no thoughts. Thereby spirit can be made complete.

Making one’s spirit (shen) complete, one can recover emptiness. To do so, first keep the will sincere, and make sure body and mind are united. Thereby spirit can be returned to emptiness. … To attain immortality, there is nothing else but the refinement of these three treasures: essence, energy, spirit.

Today, the tradition of Chinese alchemy continues in many forms.

Qigong is practiced around the world, and traditional Chinese medicine is growing in popularity overseas as a form of complementary treatment.

Besides that, the direct practice of internal Taoist alchemy is still alive and well. Mantak Chia, for instance, famously teaches neidan-based systems to students around the world.

Meanwhile in China, The Untamed shot to the top of the charts, presenting a TV drama about two alchemists who may have been more than friends. In China’s strict media environment, the show pushed the envelope by playing with lingering glances and subtle sexual tension.

Given the inherent sexual intrigue of all this jing-conservation, it’s no wonder audiences and writers continue to return to the subject. And as our world plunges deeper into illusions of modernity, stress, and separation, it makes sense that these ancient transcendental practices are enjoying a surge of renewed interest.

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