Ge Hong's Health Preservation - Taking medicine

Another important aspect of Ge Hong's approach to health preservation is "taking medicine", which is also known as "great medicine", or "golden elixir". Ge Hong was a proponent of immortals. He firmly believed that there was a way to become an immortal in the world, which could cover the universe with life and achieve immortality during the day. The way to become an immortal is not through ordinary cultivation, but by refining elixirs and taking medicine. He once said, "Breathing exercises and taking herbal medicines can prolong one's life, but still lead to death. Taking divine elixirs can prolong one's life infinitely and end one's life with heaven and earth." The names of the secret elixir classics are: three volumes of the "Taiqing Elixir Classic", one volume of the "Jiuding Elixir Classic", and one volume of the "Jinye Elixir Classic". These are all secret books dedicated to alchemy, and there are no extant copies in this world. Due to his poor family circumstances and the inability to afford the huge sum of money required for alchemy, Ge Hong came to Luofu Mountain in his later years to write books and spread teachings, as well as to practice alchemy. The alchemy methods taught by Ge Hong were diverse, most of which used metal and stone as the main raw materials, such as five-stone cinnabar, realgar, alum, Zengqing, and cinnabar. There are nine types of elixirs refined, known as the Nine Transformations Elixirs. The first is the Dan Hua, the second is the Shen Dan, the third is also called the Shen Dan, the fourth is the Huan Dan, the fifth is the Bait Dan, the sixth is the Lian Dan, the seventh is the Rou Dan, the eighth is the Fu Dan, and the ninth is the Han Dan. The so-called "nine turns" refer to different methods of smelting. The medicine is placed in a clay pot and burned with bran fire. The process starts with the traditional method and then moves on to the traditional one. The number of days for each turn varies. After the elixir is completed, there are also certain rules for its consumption. For instance, in the Xiaoshen Elixir formula, three jin of genuine elixir and six jin of white honey are mixed and boiled in the sun until they can be made into pills. Every morning, ten pills of various sizes are taken. If taken for about a year, its efficacy can turn fair skin black, regrow fallen teeth, make muscles plump and skin moist, restore youth and achieve immortality, and so on. Ge Hong was devoted to the way of immortals and firmly believed that there was a divine elixir in the world that could grant immortality. He recorded such a fact: there was a long-lived family where every member lived to a ripe old age for several generations. Later, the family moved to another place to live, and there were no longer any long-lived people. The new family that moved to this place became a long-lived family again. People noticed this fact and began to look for the reasons. Finally, people unearthed a large amount of cinnabar buried by the ancients around the drinking water well of this long-lived family. In this way, the mystery of longevity was solved. It turned out that the groundwater seeping into the well flowed through the area where the cinnabar was buried. People drank this water for a long time, thus generating a longevity effect. Now we know that certain trace elements are indispensable for maintaining human life and health. The distribution of long-lived people in the world has obvious regional characteristics. The facts stated by Ge Hong make perfect sense when analyzing the reasons for longevity from the perspective of drinking water. Of course, Ge Hong's idea of seeking immortality through alchemy was not advisable. He spent many years in seclusion on Luofu Mountain refining elixirs, but ultimately failed to become an immortal. In Ge Hong's view, taking food is an important way to prolong life. Cinnabar is the best, followed by metal and stone, and then grass and wood. In fact, most cinnabar and stone materials are toxic. If not chosen carefully, they can even lead to death. Therefore, they are not advisable. Only the plants of grass and trees do have the effect of prolonging life. For example, pine and cypress resin, poria cocos, Rehmannia glutinosa, Polygonatum odoratum, Ophiopogon japonicus, Asparagus, Polygala tenuifolia, Lycium barbarum, Rehmannia glutinosa bark, calamus tatarinowii, Polygala tenuifolia, Acanthopanax officinalis, etc. These drugs are mostly commonly used by medical practitioners and have the functions of tonifying qi, nourishing Yin, calming the mind and stabilizing the will. When used as a tonic for health preservation, it can be taken in combination or alone. Ge Hong collected and recorded many examples to illustrate their efficacy. For instance, in the mountains of Li County, Nanyang City, there is a sweet and delicious water called Gan Gu Water. This is because the mountains are covered with chrysanthemum flowers on both sides. Year after year, the flowers fall into the water, making the water sweet and delicious. The local residents who drink this water all live a long life, with the youngest being in their eighties or nineties and the oldest reaching 140 or 150 years old. This indicates that chrysanthemum flowers can prolong life. During the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, a girl was discovered in the deep mountains. She looked like a wild man and ran as fast as flying. It was said that she was a palace maid of the Qin Dynasty. After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, she fled into the mountains and lived on the leaves of pine and cypress trees. She never felt hungry. She was neither cold in the severe winter nor hot in the scorching summer. From the fall of the Qin Dynasty to the reign of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, more than several decades had passed. This girl survived tenaciously in the harsh natural environment of the deep mountains and old forests, thanks to the help of the pine and cypress trees. There was another man surnamed Qu who was abandoned in a cave in the mountains due to leprosy. Later, he took pine resin and his illness was cured. He continued to take it for a longer time, became light and healthy, and his strength increased. Even at the age of over 170, his teeth did not fall out and his hair did not turn white. Another man, seeking refuge from chaos, entered the mountains and was on the verge of death due to hunger and exhaustion. Suddenly, he met a strange person who taught him magic. As a result, he was no longer hungry and lived in the mountains for decades. He was light and strong, never tiring of climbing high and adventuring, never feeling cold in the severe cold of ice and snow. When he returned, he was as young as a boy. In addition, Ge Hong also listed examples of people who have achieved longevity by consuming calamus, Polygala tenuifolia, Asparagus ferns, Ophiopogon japonicus, Schisandra chinensis, Lycium barbarum, Polygonatum odoratum, and Polygonatum odoratum, among others. The list goes on and on.