FLUID BEING

Fluid Being: Mercury in Chinese Medicine and Alchemy. Mercurial elixirs were poisonous and lead to the death of many in medieval China. And yet, paradoxically, they continued to be consumed for centuries by those seeking immortality. This article examines three factors that help to explain this: 1) alchemical beliefs about the transformative potential of mercury; 2) medical beliefs about medicines and poisons; and 3) Daoist beliefs about what it means, exactly, to be immortal.

Fluids flow, and flow is change. But what is change? Life and death are not as they seem; things can look utterly altered, yet remain and return unchanged. Grasp these truths, and you are supremely wise. Drink this fluid, and you may live forever. Mercury and Cinnabar The Chinese name for the fluid was itself like a riddle: s huiyin , ‘liquid silver’, a tremulous fluid that shines like polished metal. A marriage of ceaseless flux and lasting solidity. We call it mercury. But it isn’t just the name that differs. Whereas we picture droplets with a dazzling white sheen, the i

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