Essay name: Alchemy in India and China
Author:
Vijaya Jayant Deshpande
Affiliation: Panjab University / Department of Chemistry
The thesis "Alchemy in India and China" explores the comparative aspects of alchemy in these two countries, focusing on chemical and protochemical formulations while addressing why modern science developed in the West rather than in India or China. It briefly touches upon internal alchemy in China and the ritualistic tantra in India.
Chapter 5 - Transmission of Alchemical and Chemical ideas
21 (of 39)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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112
its compounds.
Mercury was named as Amritadh膩tu, i.e.,
the metal with the properties of Amrit, the drink which
confers longevity and immortality.
The methods of
synthesizing certain elixirs like "H膩takaprabhasam",
which were synthesized using mercury and which could
transmute large amounts of base metals into gold, were
known to them even before the second century AD.
It is apparent that these translated Buddhist
texts, which contained alchemical knowledge, carried the
same to China as early as the fourth century AD.
Presently we will discuss the case of a Tamil
alchemical text "Bogar karpam" which depicts parallels
with medieval Chinese alchemical methods and suggests the
transmission of alchemical ideas from China to India.
-
Bogar Karpam Three Hundred
In ancient Tamil texts, frequent references to a
Chinese alchemist "Bogar" are found.
28,29
Many alchemical
and medical works are attributed to him.
The
traditionally known story of the Chinese alchemist Bogar
is as follows: Bogar came to India in the third century
p. 338.
28 'See "The Concise History of Sciences of India",
29.
Ray, P. (2), see Secondary Sources, p. 126.
