ABSTRACT
According to one of the scriptures belonging to the Taiqing, or Great Clarity, tradition, after an adept receives alchemical texts and relevant oral instructions from his master, he withdraws to a mountain or a secluded place to perform purification practices. He establishes the ritual area, demarcates it with talismans for protection against demons and wild animals, and builds a Chamber of the Elixirs (danshi) at the centre of this protected space. To start compounding the elixir, he chooses a favourable day based on traditional methods of calendrical computation. When all ritual, spatial and temporal conditions are fulfilled, he may finally kindle the fire. Now he offers food and drink to three deities, and asks that they grant the successful compounding of the elixir:
This petty man, (name of the adept), truly and entirely devotes his thoughts to the Great Lord of the Dao, Lord Lao and the Lord of Great Harmony. Alas! This petty man, (name of the adept), covets the Medicine of Life! Lead him so that the Medicine will not volatilise and be lost, but rather be fixed by the fire! Let the Medicine be good and efficacious, let the transmutations take place without hesitation, and let the Yellow and the White be entirely fixed! When he ingests the Medicine, let him fly as an immortal, have audience at the Purple Palace (Zigong), live an unending life and become an accomplished man (zhiren)!1
