In Chinese alchemy, elixir poisoning refers to the toxic effects from elixirs of immortality that contained metals and minerals such as mercury and arsenic. The official Twenty-Four Histories record numerous Chinese emperors, nobles, and officials who died from taking elixirs to prolong their lifespans. The first emperor to die from elixir poisoning was likely Qin Shi Huang (d. 210 BCE) and the last was the Yongzheng Emperor (d. 1735 CE). Despite common knowledge that immortality potions could be deadly, fangshi and Daoist alchemists continued the elixir-making practice for two millennia.
Terminology Dān "cinnabar; vermillion; elixir; alchemy" is the keyword for Chinese immortality elixirs. The red mineral cinnabar (dānshā lit. "cinnabar sand") was anciently used to produce the pigment vermilion (zhūhóng ) and the element mercury (shuǐyín "watery silver" or gǒng ).Obed Simon Johnson, A Study of Chinese Alchemy, page Shanghai, Commercial, 1928. rpt. New York: Arno P, 1974.
According to the ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese, the etymology of Modern Standard Chinese dān from Old Chinese *tān (< *tlan ?) "red; vermillion; cinnabar", gān in dāngān from *tân-kân (< *tlan-klan ?) "cinnabar; vermillion ore", and zhān from *tan "a red flag" derive from Proto-Kam-Sui *h-lan "red" or Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tja-n or *tya-n "red". The *t- initial and *t- or *k- doublets indicate that Old Chinese borrowed this item.
Although the word dan "cinnabar; red" frequently occurs in oracle script from the late Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and bronzeware script and seal script from the Zhou dynasty (1045–256 BCE), paleographers disagree about the graphic origins of the logograph and its ancient variants and . Early scripts combine a dot or stroke (depicting a piece of cinnabar) in the middle of a surrounding frame, which is said to represent: jǐng "well" represents the mine from which the cinnabar is taken"(Shuowen Jiezi) "the crucible of the Taoist alchemists"(Léon Wieger) "the contents of a square receptacle"(Bernhard Karlgren) "placed in a tray or palette to be used as red pigment"(Wang Hongyuan ) "mineral powder on a stretched filter-cloth"(Needham and Lu).
Many Chinese elixir names are compounds of dan, such as jīndān (with "gold") meaning "golden elixir; elixir of immortality; potable gold" and xiāndān (with "Daoist immortal") "elixir of immortality; panacea", and shéndān (with "spirit; god") "divine elixir". Bùsǐ zhī yào "drug of deathlessness" was another early name for the elixir of immortality. Chinese alchemists would liàndān (with "smelt; refine") "concoct pills of immortality" using a dāndǐng (with "tripod cooking vessel; cauldron") "furnace for concocting pills of immortality". In addition, the ancient Chinese believed that other substances provided longevity and immortality, notably the língzhī "Ganoderma mushroom".
The transformation from chemistry-based waidan "external elixir/alchemy" to physiology-based neidan "internal elixir/alchemy" gave new analogous meanings to old terms. The human body metaphorically becomes a ding "cauldron" in which the adept forges the Three Treasures (essence, life-force, and spirit) within the jindan Golden Elixir within the dāntián (with "field") "lower part of the abdomen".
In early China, alchemists and pharmacists were one and the same. Traditional Chinese medicine also used less concentrated cinnabar and mercury preparations, and dan means "pill; medicine" in general, for example, dānfāng semantically changed from "prescription for elixir of immortality" to "medical prescription". Dan was lexicalized into medical terms such as dānjì "pill preparation" and dānyào "pill medicine".
The Chinese names for immortality elixirs have parallels in other cultures and languages, for example, Indo-Iranian soma or haoma, Sanskrit amrita, and Greek ambrosia.
History In Chinese history, the alchemical practice of concocting elixirs of immortality from metallic and mineral substances began circa the 4th century BCE in the late Warring states period, reached a peak in the 9th century CE Tang dynasty when five emperors died, and, despite common knowledge of the dangers, elixir poisoning continued until the 18th century Qing dynasty.
Warring States period The earliest mention of alchemy in China occurs in connection with fangshi ("masters of the methods") specialists in cosmological and esoteric arts employed by rulers from the 4th century BCE.
The 3rd-century BCE Zhanguo Ce and Han Feizi both record a story about King Qingxiang of Chu (r. 298–263 BCE) being presented a busi zhi yao "immortality medicine". As the chamberlain was taking the elixir into the palace, a guard asked if it was edible and when he answered yes, the guard grabbed and ate it. The king was angered and condemned the guard to death. A friend of the guard tried to persuade the king, saying, "After all the guard did ask the chamberlain whether it could be eaten before he ate it. Hence the blame attaches to the chamberlain and not to him. Besides what the guest presented was an elixir of life, but if you now execute your servant after eating it, it will be an elixir of death (and the guest will be a liar). Now rather than killing an innocent officer in order to demonstrate a guest's false claim, it would be better to release the guard." This logic convinced the king to let the guard live.
Qin dynasty Qin Shi Huang, the founder of the Qin dynasty (221–206 BCE), feared death and spent the last part of his life seeking the elixir of life. This led to later allegations that he died from elixir poisoning. The first emperor also sent Xu Fu to sail an expeditionary fleet into the Pacific seeking the legendary Mount Penglai where the busi zhi shu "tree of deathlessness" grew, but they never returned.
Han dynasty Interest in elixirs of immortality increased during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD). Emperor Wu (156–87 BCE) employed many fangshi alchemists who claimed they could produce the legendary substance. The Book of Han says that around 133 BCE the fangshi Li Shaojun said to Emperor Wu, "Sacrifice to the stove and you will be able to summon ' things ' . Summon spirits and you will be able to change cinnabar powder into yellow gold. With this yellow gold you may make vessels to eat and drink out of. You will then increase your span of life. Having increased your span of life, you will be able to see the of that is in the midst of the sea. Then you may perform the sacrifices feng and shan , and escape death".
Wei Boyang's c. 142 Cantong qi, which is regarded as the oldest complete alchemical book extant in any culture, influenced developments in elixir alchemy. It listed mercury and lead as the prime ingredients for elixirs, which limited later potential experiments and resulted in numerous cases of poisoning. It is quite possible that "many of the most brilliant and creative alchemists fell victim to their own experiments by taking dangerous elixirs". There is a famous story about animal testing of elixirs by Wei Boyang. Wei entered the mountains to prepare the elixir of immortality, accompanied by three disciples, two of whom were skeptical. When the alchemy was completed he said, "Although the gold elixir is now accomplished we ought first to test it by feeding it to a white dog. If the dog can fly after taking it then it is edible for man; if the dog dies then it is not." The dog fell over and died, but Wei and his disciple Yu took the medicine and immediately died, after which the two cautious disciples fled. Wei and Yu later revived, rejoiced in their faith, took more of the elixir and became immortals.
Elixir ingestion is first mentioned in the c. 81 BCE Discourses on Salt and Iron.
Six dynasties During the turbulent Six dynasties period (220–589), self-experimentation with drugs became commonplace, and many people tried taking poisonous elixirs of immortality as well as the psychoactive drug Cold-Food Powder. At this time, Daoist alchemists began to record the often fatal side effects of elixirs. In an unusual case of involuntary elixir poisoning, Empress Jia Nanfeng (257–300) was forced to commit suicide by drinking "jinxiaojiu" "wine with gold fragments".
The Daoist scholar Ge Hong's c. 320 Baopuzi lists 56 chemical preparations and elixirs, 8 of which were poisonous, with visions from mercury poisoning the most commonly reported symptom.
The individuals who experimented with Six Dynasties alchemy often had different understandings and intentions. A single alchemical formula could be interpreted as being "suicidal, therapeutic, or symbolic and contemplative", and its implementation might be "a unique, decisive event or a repeated, ritual phantasmagoria".
Emperor Ai of Jin (r. 361–365) died at the age of twenty-five, as the result of his desire to avoid growing old. The Book of Jin says the emperor practiced bigu "grain avoidance" and consumed alchemical elixirs, but was poisoned from an overdose and "no longer knew what was going on around him". In a sardonic sense, the emperor fulfilled his desire since the elixir "did actually prevent him from growing any older".
Emperor Daowu (r. 371–409), founder of the Northern Wei dynasty, was cautiously interested in alchemy and used condemned criminals for clinical trials of immortality elixirs (like Mithridates VI of Pontus r. 120–63 BCE). The Book of Wei records that in 400, he instituted the office of the Royal Alchemist, built an imperial laboratory for the preparation of drugs and elixirs, and reserved the Western mountains for the supply of firewood (used in the alchemical furnaces). "Furthermore, he ordered criminals who had been sentenced to death to test (the products) against their will. Many of them died and (the experiments gave) no decisive result."Tr. .
Many texts from the Six dynasties period specifically warned about the toxicity of elixirs. For instance, the Shangqing School Daoist pharmacologist Tao Hongjing's 499 Zhen'gao (, Declarations of the Perfected) describes taking a White Powder elixir. When you have taken a spatulaful of it, you will feel an intense pain in your heart, as if you had been stabbed there with a knife. After three days you will want to drink, and when you have drunk a full hu your breath will be cut off. When that happens, it will mean that you are dead. When your body has been laid out, it will suddenly disappear, and only your clothing will remain. Thus you will be an immortal released in broad daylight by means of his waistband. If one knows the name of the drug [or, perhaps, the secret names of its ingredients] he will not feel the pain in his heart, but after he has drunk a full hu he will still die. When he is dead, he will become aware that he has left his corpse below him on the ground. At the proper time, jade youths and maidens will come with an azure carriage to take it away. If one wishes to linger on in the world, he should strictly regulate his drinking during the three days when he feels the pain in his heart. This formula may be used by the whole family.Tr. . Within this context, Strickmann says a prospective Daoist alchemist must have been strongly motivated by faith and a firm confidence in his posthumous destiny, in effect, "he would be committing suicide by consecrated means." Tao Hongjing's disciple Zhou Ziliang (497–516) had repeated visions of Maoshan divinities who said his destiny was to become an immortal, and instructed him to commit ritual suicide with a poisonous elixir composed of mushrooms and cinnabar. In 517, Tao edited the Zhoushi mingtong ji (Records of Mr. Zhou's Communications with the Unseen) detailing his disciples visions.