The Alchemy
The alchemical process of life itself was the province of Taoist scholars and scientists. They were biologists above all. Anything that moved, stirred, bubbled, changed and transformed, lived and died was of great fascination. Viz: the Yin and Yang, the main agents of change - night into day, winter into spring and summer, life in its glory and death and destruction.
The book on the science of Yin and Yang was the I Ching (Book of Changes) see link.. But here I am concerned with its guts, the process of 'firing an elixir of life'. As Joseph Needham in his Science and Civilasation in China has convincing proved, although there was much alchemy in Greek chemistry, 'aurifaction' the making of gold and 'aurifiction' the faking of gold, the idea of an actual 'elixir', the 'enchynoma', as he terms it - which could be imbibed or created within the body - was unique to the Chinese.
Of course this is the subject of the vast array of techniques of Chinese Yoga, see Older but Stronger page.
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