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Waidan
Waidan, translated as 'external alchemy' or 'external elixir', is the early branch of Chinese alchemy that focuses upon compounding elixirs of immortality by heating minerals, metals, and other natural substances in a luted crucible. The later branch of esoteric neidan 'inner alchemy', which borrowed doctrines and vocabulary from exoteric waidan, is based on allegorically producing elixirs within the endocrine or hormonal system of the practitioner's body, through Daoist meditation, diet, and physiological practices. The practice of waidan external alchemy originated in the early Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), grew in popularity until the Tang (618–907), when neidan began and several emperors died from alchemical elixir poisoning, and gradually declined until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
The Chinese compound wàidān combines the common word wài 外 'outside; exterior; external' with dān 丹 'cinnabar; vermillion; elixir; alchemy'. The antonym of wài is nèi 內 meaning 'inside; inner; internal', and the term wàidān 外丹 'external elixir/alchemy' was coined in connection with the complementary term nèidān 'internal elixir/alchemy'.
The sinologist and expert on Chinese alchemy Fabrizio Pregadio lists four generally accepted meanings of dan: "The color cinnabar, scarlet, or light scarlet", "The mineral cinnabar, defined as 'a red stone formed by the combination of quicksilver and sulphur'", "Sincerity (corresponding to danxin 丹心)", and "An essence obtained by the refining of a medicinal substance; a refined medicinal substance, the so-called medicine of the seekers of immortality for avoiding aging and death; a term often used for matters concerning the immortal". Pregadio concludes that the semantic field of the word dan evolves from a root-meaning of "essence", and its connotations include "the reality, principle, or true nature of an entity or its essential part, and by extension, the cognate notions of oneness, authenticity, sincerity, lack of artifice, simplicity, and concentration."
The date for the earliest use of the term waidan is unclear. It occurs in Du Guangting's 901 Daode zhenjing guangshengyi 道德真經廣聖義 (Explications Expanding on the Sages [Commentaries] on the Daodejing), which is quoted in the 978 Taiping guangji. Liu Xiyue's 劉希岳 988 Taixuan langranzi jindao shi 太玄朗然子進道詩 (Master Taixuan Langran's Poems on Advancing in the Dao) has the earliest mention of both the terms neidan and waidan.
Jindan zhi dao 金丹之道 (Way of the Golden Elixir) was a classical name for waidan alchemy, and wàidān shù 外丹術 (with 術 'art; skill; technique; method') is the Modern Standard Chinese term.
Joseph Needham, the eminent historian of science and technology, divided Chinese alchemy into the "golden age" (400–800) from the end of the Jin to late Tang dynasty and the "silver age" (800–1300) from late Tang to the end of the Song dynasty. Furthermore, Fabrizio Pregadio uses "golden age" in specific reference to the Tang period.
The extant Chinese alchemical literature comprises about 100 sources preserved in the Daoist Canon. These texts show that while early waidan was mainly concerned with the performance of ceremonies and other ritual actions addressed to gods and demons, a shift occurred around the 6th or 7th century to the later tradition that used alchemical symbolism to represent the origins and functioning of the cosmos, which played a crucial role in the development of neidan.
Little is known about the origins of alchemy in China. The historian and sinologist Nathan Sivin gives an approximate timeline: the Chinese belief in the possibility of physical immortality began around the 8th century BCE, the acceptance that immortality was attainable by taking herbal drugs started in the 4th century BCE, but the uncertain date when the idea that immortality drugs could be made through alchemy rather than found in nature was no later than the 2nd century BCE. Despite a later tradition that Zou Yan (c. 305–240 BCE), founder of the School of Yin Yang, was an early alchemist, his biography does not mention alchemy, and no waidan text is attributed to him.
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Waidan
Waidan, translated as 'external alchemy' or 'external elixir', is the early branch of Chinese alchemy that focuses upon compounding elixirs of immortality by heating minerals, metals, and other natural substances in a luted crucible. The later branch of esoteric neidan 'inner alchemy', which borrowed doctrines and vocabulary from exoteric waidan, is based on allegorically producing elixirs within the endocrine or hormonal system of the practitioner's body, through Daoist meditation, diet, and physiological practices. The practice of waidan external alchemy originated in the early Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), grew in popularity until the Tang (618–907), when neidan began and several emperors died from alchemical elixir poisoning, and gradually declined until the Ming dynasty (1368–1644).
The Chinese compound wàidān combines the common word wài 外 'outside; exterior; external' with dān 丹 'cinnabar; vermillion; elixir; alchemy'. The antonym of wài is nèi 內 meaning 'inside; inner; internal', and the term wàidān 外丹 'external elixir/alchemy' was coined in connection with the complementary term nèidān 'internal elixir/alchemy'.
The sinologist and expert on Chinese alchemy Fabrizio Pregadio lists four generally accepted meanings of dan: "The color cinnabar, scarlet, or light scarlet", "The mineral cinnabar, defined as 'a red stone formed by the combination of quicksilver and sulphur'", "Sincerity (corresponding to danxin 丹心)", and "An essence obtained by the refining of a medicinal substance; a refined medicinal substance, the so-called medicine of the seekers of immortality for avoiding aging and death; a term often used for matters concerning the immortal". Pregadio concludes that the semantic field of the word dan evolves from a root-meaning of "essence", and its connotations include "the reality, principle, or true nature of an entity or its essential part, and by extension, the cognate notions of oneness, authenticity, sincerity, lack of artifice, simplicity, and concentration."
The date for the earliest use of the term waidan is unclear. It occurs in Du Guangting's 901 Daode zhenjing guangshengyi 道德真經廣聖義 (Explications Expanding on the Sages [Commentaries] on the Daodejing), which is quoted in the 978 Taiping guangji. Liu Xiyue's 劉希岳 988 Taixuan langranzi jindao shi 太玄朗然子進道詩 (Master Taixuan Langran's Poems on Advancing in the Dao) has the earliest mention of both the terms neidan and waidan.
Jindan zhi dao 金丹之道 (Way of the Golden Elixir) was a classical name for waidan alchemy, and wàidān shù 外丹術 (with 術 'art; skill; technique; method') is the Modern Standard Chinese term.
Joseph Needham, the eminent historian of science and technology, divided Chinese alchemy into the "golden age" (400–800) from the end of the Jin to late Tang dynasty and the "silver age" (800–1300) from late Tang to the end of the Song dynasty. Furthermore, Fabrizio Pregadio uses "golden age" in specific reference to the Tang period.
The extant Chinese alchemical literature comprises about 100 sources preserved in the Daoist Canon. These texts show that while early waidan was mainly concerned with the performance of ceremonies and other ritual actions addressed to gods and demons, a shift occurred around the 6th or 7th century to the later tradition that used alchemical symbolism to represent the origins and functioning of the cosmos, which played a crucial role in the development of neidan.
Little is known about the origins of alchemy in China. The historian and sinologist Nathan Sivin gives an approximate timeline: the Chinese belief in the possibility of physical immortality began around the 8th century BCE, the acceptance that immortality was attainable by taking herbal drugs started in the 4th century BCE, but the uncertain date when the idea that immortality drugs could be made through alchemy rather than found in nature was no later than the 2nd century BCE. Despite a later tradition that Zou Yan (c. 305–240 BCE), founder of the School of Yin Yang, was an early alchemist, his biography does not mention alchemy, and no waidan text is attributed to him.
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