An Ancient Chinese Treatise on Alchemy

Abstract

ONE of the early Chinese texts on alchemy is the Ts'an T'ung Ch'i of Wei Po Yang, who has been called the father of Chinese alchemy. His treatise has been regarded as the earliest work in the Chinese language which is devoted exclusively to the subject, although it is by no means the earliest Chinese writing which makes mention of alchemy. It shows, in fact, that a definite and extended tradition of alchemy was in existence when it was written, and it mentions several earlier alchemists who are otherwise known, either from their own writings or from notices in Chinese historical works. It seems reasonable to conclude that, for two or three centuries before Wei Po Yang, the Chinese had been engaged in an attempt to transmute baso metals into gold, not because gold was intrinsically valuable but because of the supposed magic efficacy of artificial gold in prolonging life. This belief is found also in ancient Egypt1 and is no doubt based on the unalterable character of the noble metal. The Chinese believed that an artificial gold could be prepared from cinnabar (mercuric sulphide) which would have a more powerful action than natural gold.