Chapter 10 Section 2 Experimental Equipment in Chinese Alchemy

Since alchemy is the original form of chemical research, the equipment used in ancient Chinese alchemy can be regarded as the oldest chemical experimental equipment.Of course, it should also be counted as an important aspect of the achievements of ancient Chinese chemistry. The basic chemical process of refining alchemy in Chinese alchemy is to mix the gold and stone medicines according to certain formulas conceived by the alchemists, or put them in a reactor for heating according to a certain layout, and condense the sublimation reaction products in an appropriate way , and collect them. The earliest and longest-used reactor is the dan kettle, which consists of an upper and a lower earth kettle fired with loess mud. The medicine is placed in the lower kettle, and then the kettle is turned upside down. When the lower kettle is heated, the sublimated elixir will condense on the inner wall of the upper kettle, so the method of air condensation is adopted.The method of making "Wudu Pill" in the Han Dynasty was to "combine Huangji [mou, loess cauldron], put stone gall, cinnabar, realgar, 礜石, and kindness stone in it, burn it for three days and three nights, and the smoke (that is, the product of sublimation) Go up and sweep it with a rooster feather." This is a process of making ulcer medicine, but it can be seen from it that the reactor of early alchemy is the equipment transplanted with medicine.This kind of reactor with upper and lower earth kettles has been used until the Sui Dynasty.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, metal alchemy kettles began to appear.Figure 3-1 is the alchemy cauldron with roof tiles and iron drawn according to the description of the Sui Dynasty Danjing "Taiqing Shibi Ji".The alchemy cauldron recommended by Sun Simiao, a master of medicine and alchemy in the early Tang Dynasty, is also like this.But it must be made clear that although the lower kettle is made of iron, it is only for durability, but when it is used, the inner wall should be covered with a thick layer of yellow mud, and it is used after drying.Obviously, they already knew through alchemy experiments that metal iron often reacts with alchemy drugs when heated, changing the products of alchemy and destroying the expected effect.For example, Sun Simiao used this equipment to refine "Chixue Liuzhu Dan", that is, to produce golden yellow and bright refined realgar. If the inner wall of the iron kettle is not covered with mud, black lumps (metal arsenic) will be obtained.Alchemists would not regard this "obscure" substance as a magic elixir.

After the Tang Dynasty, the Shenglian reactor was renamed Ding.A tripod that places gold and stone raw materials for heating is called a fire tripod, and a tripod that stores cold water to condense sublimates (that is, elixirs) is called a water tripod, so they are called water and fire tripods together.The water and fire cauldrons at the beginning were very simple, manufactured and assembled separately, as shown in Figure 3-2.According to the relative positions of the fire tripod and the water tripod, the water and fire tripod can be divided into two types: Jiji type and Weiji type.Because in the sixty-four hexagrams, the Jiji hexagram is Kun up and down (or upper water and lower fire)? , so it is not only because of the name of the furnace; but also because the hexagram of Weiji is dry up and down (that is, fire and water)? Therefore, Weiji furnace got its name.Sometimes in order to slowly heat the fire cauldron for a long time, the whole set of water and fire cauldron is often put into a large pot (also called "cup") and heated with hot ash (Figure 3-3).In the Song Dynasty, Weiji Furnaces and Jiji Furnaces with fixed and complex structures had appeared.Some water and fire tripods in Figure 3-4 are excerpted from the Song Dynasty Danjing "Jinhua Chongbi Danjing Secret Purpose", "Zhichuan Zhenren Correction Technique" and "Danfang Notes".A flowing water condenser is installed on the Weiji furnace to cool the lower water tripod.The design is so exquisite, it can be said that it is close to the modern chemical experiment equipment.

During the Tang and Song Dynasties, Danding was usually placed on an altar, which was called Dantai.In the ancient alchemy under the shadow of mysticism and superstition, the design of the alchemy table is also very particular. The typical alchemy table is shown in Figure 3-5. In "Jin Dan Mi Yao Shen Tong Lu" written by Meng Yaofu.Its design idea is very interesting, so you might as well quote a few words. He said: "There is an altar under the furnace (Dan Ding), which is three stories high, divided into four directions, and has eight doors (two doors on each side, only one door is drawn in the picture) .” The three-story altar is connected with heaven, man and earth, and the eight gates symbolize the eight winds.He also said: "Go to the altar one foot to the south, bury a catty of raw vermilion (cinnabar) and an inch of thread, and mix it with vinegar; bury a catty of lime in the north; bury a catty of pig iron in the east; bury a catty of silver in the west. Go up to the medicine cauldron. Three feet long, with an ancient mirror hanging down, clothed with twenty-eight mansions and five-star lamps, and a pure steel sword in front of it. A basin of inedible well water is placed in front of the stove, and it is filled every seven days. A piece of peach wood board is used, and an incense burner is placed on it. Each disposal is filled day and night. "About the sword placed on the altar, the purpose is to subdue ghosts and evil spirits, which is called "a tool of great treasure and gold"; on the other side of the mirror, the purpose is probably to drive away the wilderness (the ancient people had to find famous mountains and islands that are difficult to visit when making alchemy) The spirit, the ghost, and the old charm have the same function as the "demon mirror" of later generations.

The alchemy equipment that is worth noting is a "flying mercury furnace" designed and manufactured by the people of the Song Dynasty for extracting mercury (see "Notes to the Alchemy Room"). The appearance is shown in Figure 3-6.It is a pity that the explanation text is not clear, and there seems to be some missing parts in the picture (such as the cover of the water tripod).

In the Dan Ding, in addition to the heated Ding, there is also a kind called "Xuan Ti Ding".It's actually a big pot with water and sometimes vinegar in it.Wrap the medicine with silk and cloth, tie the upper end tightly with cotton thread, hang it in the tripod, immerse it in water, and heat it to boil.Some ingredients in the medicine are extracted by hot water, and the dregs of the medicine are prevented from mixing into the solution.So this is a kind of equipment for water alchemy.Some traditional Chinese medicine decoctions in later generations are also boiled in this way.This kind of operation can avoid the procedure of filtering, which is quite clever.Some hanging tire tripods are exquisitely made, as shown in Figure 3-7, which is recorded in the Danjing "Shangyangzi Jindan Dayao".

Grinding is also used in alchemy.Mechanically crush various drugs separately first, and then mix them, which obviously can increase the contact between different drugs and speed up the reaction speed.Mortars and the kind of boat-shaped wheel grinders that can still be seen today probably existed in ancient Chinese pharmacies very early.However, in the Song Dynasty Danjing "Danfang Notes", a very particular mortar is recorded, as shown in Figure 3-8, but unfortunately no explanation is given, and I don't know how to operate it. It seems that there is a certain degree of automation. Its name is "bath".

In ancient my country, there are some other equipment in the alchemy (commonly called Huangbaishu) for refining artificial gold and silver. There are more mysterious teachings about it, but it is not complicated, and it has little significance for the enlightenment of modern chemistry in later generations. Too much to say. In ancient Chinese alchemy, there were no glass instruments and no distillation equipment, which is inferior to Arab and Western European alchemy.