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A Short Introduction to Chinese Alchemy
Basics
www.stanford.edu/~pregadio/jindan/jindan_intro.html
Laozi
Four-part article by Fabrizio Pregadio (Stanford, Religious Studies), from his Golden Elixir website, an excellent resource with multiple pages on the history and doctrines of Chinese alchemy, including a guide to the Daoist Canon.
Zhuangzi
Metaphysics
Early
"...the bulk of the Chinese alchemical sources is found in the Daozang (Taoist Canon), the largest collection of Taoist texts.  One fifth of its about 1,500 texts are closely related to the various alchemical traditions..."
Later
Yijing
Fengshui
The Scripture of the Nine Elixirs
Alchemy
www.stanford.edu/~pregadio/jindan/jiudan.html
Practical
Pregadio's site includes this work of external alchemy (waidan) dating from the 3rd century CE (with commentaries from the 7th), giving instructions for gathering the cinnabar, maguetite and other raw materials, compounding the elixirs, testing and ingesting them.  See also Pregadio's draft of a conference presentation on "The View of Nature in Chinese Alchemy" (in waidan and neidan (internal) tradition).
Therapeutic
Political
Art
Poetry
Literature
Music
Alchemy and Daoism
Sermons
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~panopus/jeannie/alchemy%20&%20daoism.html
Tao of...
Essay and bibliography on (mostly) the external forms of Chinese Alchemy, by Jeannie Radcliffe (Paracelsus College, Institute of Parachemistry, Marden, South Australia).
Resources
"The concept of making gold for profit was not a part of the Daoist alchemical philosophy.  The aim was to maintain longevity and to become an immortal.  'Who ever heard of a rich immortal or a fat Daoist?'"
Great Clarity [Introduction]
www.sup.org/pages.cgi?isbn=0804751773&item=Introduction_pages&page=1
Here's the 20-page Introduction to Pregadio's book, subtitled Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China, provided by the publisher, Stanford University Press.  The focus is on waidan.
"...the available evidence shows that a 'host' (zhuren, i.e., the person whom we usually call the 'alchemist')... relied on someone who held the needed technical skills: grinding the ingredients 'ten thousand times,' spreading mud on the crucible, feeding the fire with charcoal or horse manure day and night--sometimes doing all this for months..."
Ge Hong (Ko Hung, 283-383 CE)
www.iep.utm.edu/g/gehong.htm
Keith Knapp's (The Citadel, SC, History) substantive entry on the Daoist alchemist focuses on Ge's attempts to reconcile Daoism, Confucianism, and Legalism.  From the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
"It was during this long period of reclusion that Ge wrote his two part magnum opus whose title bore his sobriquet: the Inner Chapters of the Master Who Embraces Simplicity and the Outer Chapters of the Master Who Embraces Simplicity.  Ge used the Daoist Inner Chapters to substantiate the reality of immortality and convey the methods for realizing it, while the Confucian Outer Chapters describe the problems afflicting the secular world and his proposed solutions."
The Master Who Embraces Simplicity
www.feeltheqi.com/articles/rc-master_who.htm
Article by Roger Jahnke (Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Santa Barbara, CA) from his Feel the Qi site, originally published in The Empty Vessel magizine.  Lengthy account of Ge Hong, immortality, and internal and external alchemy.
"In Hangzhou, now nearly 1700 years later, the Temple of the Master Who Embraces Simplicity is still intact.  The Dragon shaped mountain, the well of alchemical water, a humble Taoist temple, the master's practice place at the top of the mountain are all still there."
Science and magic in Ge Hong's "Baopu-zi nei pian"
www.kheper.net/topics/Taoism/science_and_magic.html
Interesting conference presentation by Evgueni A. Tortchinov (St. Petersburg State University, Russia).  Continued in his article "External and Internal in Ge Hong's Alchemy."
"To my mind, Ge Hong was not a mystic or a seeker of intuitive insights but an investigator, researcher of nature with pragmatic attitude (the obtaining of physical immortality) and experimental and skeptical thinker. The abundance of magic in his writings was a result of an essential character of the traditional science which included in itself magic and magical attitudes... not only in China but throughout the world until the time of Newton, Galileo Galilei and Descartes."
Baopuzi, "The Master Embracing Simplicity"
www.a3guo.com/en/china/Literature/Daoists/baopuzi.html
Ulrich Theobald (Turbingen University) provides brief commentary, an index of chapters, and a sampling of excerpts translated by James R. Ware and Jay Sailey.
Tao Hongjing (456-536)
www.stanford.edu/~pregadio/jindan/tao_hongjing.html
A Fabrizio Pregadio article on the 6th-century Daoist master, alchemist, and pharmacologist.
"His main biographical source, written in the Tang period, has left a vivid account of [his alchemical] endeavors... Along with scriptural sources they testify [to] the importance of alchemy within the Shangqing tradition, which represents the first known link between alchemy and an established Taoist movement."
The Taoist Tradition
www.johnscanlan.org/The_Taoist_Tradition.htm
Chapter from John Scanlan's online book,  Religious Faith & Empirical Validation, describes principles and practices of inner alchemy: the cinnabar field, embryonic breathing, sexual techniques, the "pill of immortality." 
"Out of the three principles is congealed an immortal fetus in the yellow court which, when mature, can be 'wafted up into heaven in broad daylight'... Some block prints depict the Immortal as departing from the top of his head like a genie from a bottle."
The Three Worms
www.ancientway.com/Pages/ThreeWorms.html
By Kevin O'Neil (acupuncturist, herbalist, writer, Klamath Falls, OR).  One aspect of external alchemy was the elimination of the Three Worms - which leads O'Neil to some interesting "Historical and Theoretical Background" on Daoist alchemy, and the Buddhist influence on its development.
"While some present-day historians and authors posit a strict ideological division between the internal and external schools of Daoist alchemy, it is much more likely that most practitioners combined the two, using herbs to enhance meditations, and visualizations to aid their medicines.  Indeed, this is the constant position of the classics."
A Poem that Enlightens...
http://taoistresource.home.comcast.net/~taoistresource/0280.html
Attributed to Tzong Ley Kyun [Zhongli Quan], one of the Eight Immortals [2nd century BCE?].  Translated by Silfong Tsun.
"If anyone can master these Gold Liquid Body Refining instructions, / He will be able to fly freely riding on a phoenix or a crane, / shuttle between existence and inexistences without any obstruction, / and travel in the three islands of Pong-Loy unrestrictedly."
Lu Yan: Hundred Character Stele
http://gator.dt.uh.edu/~chong/CPoetry/luyan1.htm
Also known as Lu Dongbin or "Ancestor Lu," another of the Eight Immortals.  Line by line translation and interpretation by Lu-sheng Chong (Director, Chinese Cultural Learning Center, Seattle).  Includes Chinese characters and pinyin, an introduction, several graphics, and notes.  Part 2 here.
"All of this arrives in twenty sentences, / your end target: go on heaven's ladder."
The Hundered Words Stele by Lu Dongbin
http://www.oocities.org/hk/akrishi0/100words/100words.htm
Same text, as translated by Akrishi.
"Do all these twenty lines, / target upright to ascend heavenly staircase."
The Jade Emperor Heart Seal Sutra
http://www.oocities.org/hk/akrishi0/taoism/jade.htm
Daoist monks are said to recite this Tang-era alchemical classic daily.  Translated by Akrishi.  See also "The Jade Emperor Embryonic Breath Sutra."
"Recite it for ten thousand times, / (then this) wondrous theory (will be) understood automatically."
Jade Emperor's Mind Seal Classic
http://taoistresource.home.comcast.net/~taoistresource/0013so.html
A different translation of the same text, by Stuart Olson (teacher, writer, translator).
"Recite and hold ten thousand times. / These are the subtle principles of self-illumination."
Secret of the Golden Flower
www.alchemylab.com/golden_flower.htm
Ancient Chinese alchemical treatise, recorded in the 8th century.  Translated by Walter Picca.  From the award-winning Alchemy Lab site.
"The secret of the magic of life consists in using action in order to achieve non-action. One must not wish to leave out the steps and penetrate directly."
The Tenet of the Golden Flower of Great Duality
http://www.oocities.org/hk/akrishi0/goflower/eng/index.htm
Alternate translation, by Akrishi, of "The Secret of the Golden Flower." 
"Knacks for cultivating the elixir always make use of purposeful deeds to attain letting go, but never a tenet for entering transcendence directly."
Chapters on Awakening to the Real: A Song Dynasty Classic of Inner Alchemy
www2.arts.ubc.ca/bcar/no12/articles/crowe/abstract.htm
This page gives a brief abstract of Paul Crowe's (University of British Columbia) downloadable article and translation - an extensive introduction to and annotated excerpts from the Wuzhen pian, an 11th-century text attributed to Zhang Boduan.  The Daodejing, the Zhuangzi, and the Yijing were significant influences on this work.
"Laboring the body [by practising] massage and gymnastics, these are not the way; refining the qi and swallowing morning clouds, both are madness... I exhort you to carefully ascertain the place where the self is born; reverting to the root, returning to the origin, this is the superior medicine."
The T'ai Hsi Ching [Tai Xi Jing]
www.sacred-texts.com/tao/ttx/ttx04.htm
Early "guide-book to Embryonic Respiration," based on the sixth chapter of the Daodejing. 1884 translation by Frederick Henry Balfour.  See also his rendition of the Hsin Yin Ching [Xin Yin Jing], a brief treatise on attaining the Supreme Elixir.  From J. B. Hare's Internet Sacred Text Archive.
"That which is metaphorically called the Respiration of the Embryo is truly called the Inner Elixir.  It not only cures diseases, but confers immortality.  He who continuously pursues this practice will have his name inscribed upon the Register of the Immortals."
Cultural Aspects of Inner Alchemy in China's Past
www.aasianst.org/absts/1998abst/china/c152.htm
Session 152 from a 1998 Association for Asian Studies conference includes four abstracts of papers on "Formations and Transformations of Neidan - Traditions from Tang Times to the Republican Period."
"In promoting Golden Elixir practice as a better way for Daoist priests to ritually merge with the purest emanations of the cosmic Way for Daoist priests, for literati interested in self-cultivation and cosmic contemplation, and for others seeking an indigenous form of meditation superior to Chan approaches, Bai and his followers helped to establish neidan in three important areas of literate culture." [Lowell Skar]
Chinese Alchemy and Art
http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~panopus/jeannie/chinese%20alchemy%20&%20art.htm
Essay by Jeannie Radcliffe (Paracelsus College Institute of Parachemistry, Marden, South Australia) seeks to trace Chinese alchemical practice through ancient and classic artwork.
"...alchemical imagery is probably largely unrecognized because of its association with Daoism.  By far the majority of alchemists in the translations are involved in Daoism rather than Confucianism."
The Theoretical Background of Laboratory Alchemy
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~nsivin/alch.html
From Joseph Needham's Science and Civilization in China (1980), on Nathan Sivin's site (University of Pennsylvania).  Explores the development of alchemy in China: the role of yin and yang, planetary correspondencies, Yijing hexagrams, numerology, "the analogy between the Work of the laboratory and the Work which takes in the womb of Mother Nature," the role of the alchemist as "accelerator of cosmic process," the "separation of yin and yang out of the universal blend."
"Looking at all the evidence impartially, one cannot escape the conclusion that the dominant goal of proto-scientific alchemy was contemplative, and indeed the language in which the Elixir is described was ecstatic."
Taoist Alchemy - Symbolic Language
http://flux64.wordpress.com/2006/10/19/taoist-alchemy-symbolic-language/
Explains some basic terms of inner alchemy.  Posted on the flux 64 blog.
"Words like heaven and earth, fire and water, lead and mercury, tiger and dragon, the jade furnace, medicine, mysterious pass, golden elixir, immortal embryo, gate of no gate, and many more terms stand as cryptic guides to the world of truth and self-cultivation.  One simply needs to look at the words and phrases closely, study the classic texts, and relate it to what is actually happening in real life."
Neidan - The Traditional Meditative Practice
www.literati-tradition.com/meditative_practice.html
Informative article on inner alchemy, by Bing YeYoung (Chinese scholar, Neidan and Taiji Master, Sacramento).  Also see YeYoung's essay on the role of qi in inner alchemy.
"In order to gain longevity, or to access to timelessness, inner alchemist has to rise through the hierarchy of the constituents of being by reversing the rhythms of Nature, tracking time to its beginning.  Thus, alchemical process aims at bringing three to two, two to one, and one to void.  When one returns to the void of Tao, the ultimate enlightenment is attained."
Human Anatomy From the Taoist Perspective
http://1stholistic.com/Meditation/hol_meditation_tao_human_anatomy.htm
Capsule description and terminology of Chang Po-tuan's Microcosmic Orbit Meditation.  From the Holistic Living site.
"A term of particular importance in Taoist internal alchemy is the 'firing process,' which has nothing at all to do with fire.  The firing process refers to breathing, which acts as a bellows to gently fan the 'fire' of energy in the 'cauldrons' of the Elixir Fields."
Chaos: A Thematic Continuity Between Early Taoism and Taoist Inner Alchemy
www.bedegriffiths.com/dialogue/ciew_crowe.htm
Summary of a paper Paul Crowe (University of British Columbia) presented at a Camaldolese Institute symposium.  An attempt to bridge the great divide in Daoist studies through the concept of chaos...
"...a theme of central importance in the Zhuangzi and the Daode Jing [which also] served to inform the metaphysical imagery comprising the texts of Golden Elixir alchemy..."
On Taoist Internal Alchemy, Interview with Michael Winn
www.healingtaousa.com/cgi-bin/articles.pl?rm=mode2&articleid=18
Lengthy interview of Winn (Healing Tao University) by The Empty Vessel magazine.  Mao Shan alchemy, updated and Westernized.  Far out!
"You can directly tap the energy of the sun, the moon and the stars, volcanoes, water, wind and rain.  All of these are natural forces and they are all represented microcosmically within your body.  You can resonate these outer forces into your body and do all this work right inside your body without invoking any particular deities other than the natural shen, the spirits that are living inside you and which are connected to the natural spirits that run the body of the universe."
Daoist Internal Alchemy
www.healingtaousa.com/articles/taoalchemy_idx.html
Winn's fourteen-part thesis on "A Deep Language for Communicating with Nature's Intelligence" outlines a method for learning this language.
"Essentially wu wei is the fruit of mastering yin and yang practices; the adept evolves to a level of conscious and simultaneous sending and receiving qi, i.e. two way communication between the adept and the mind of nature.  Wu wei requires a state of total trust between the adept and the Dao; their yi, or will, is gradually aligned as the adept develops trust in the lifeforce and his ability to manage it."
The Doctrine of the "Mysterious Female" in Taoism.  A Transpersonalist View
www.kheper.net/topics/Taoism/Mystfem.html
Article by Evgueni A. Tortchinov (St. Petersburg State University, Russia, Philosophy), reprinted from an Australian book on "Russian Transpersonals."  Well worth a read.  The Laozi as an alchemical text, Daoist mysticism akin to Stanislav Grof's "oceanic ecstasy," and "a parallelism between the perinatal and mystical experience."
"The only means, not only to become liberated from sufferings but to obtain the highest happiness, is to restore original unity with Tao, to broaden consciousness and to put an end to the egocentric attitude; that is, to return to the state of the newborn child who does not know a distinct difference between his or her own body and the maternal body."
The Christ of Daoist Alchemy
www.secweb.org/?kiosk=articles&id=79
Long article from the Secular Web Kiosk by Michael A. Turton (Chaoyang University of Technology, Taiwan) compares Jesus with alchemist Wei Po-yang and finds considerably more evidence for the purported miracles of the latter.
"The range of literature on Daoist adepts is vast, and no man knows even a small portion of it.  New texts are found constantly as unopened tombs yield their wealth... By comparison, Greek, Roman and Jewish works surviving from the first century are few."
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