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In the previous two chapters we have discussed a few cases of transmission of alchemical and chemical ideas between India and China, when direct references to the transmissions were available and also when, in the absence of direct references, etymological and linguistic studies helped in establishing the nature, direction and period of certain transmissions. In the chapter on "Transmutation of Base Metals into Gold as Described in the Text Rasarnavakalpa", we have discovered the parallels between Indian and Chinese alchemical practice. In the present chapter we will discuss some more parallels which are unearthed by a study of an eleventh century Chinese text. .1 "Chun zhu ji wen wen ' is a Chinese text written by 2 "He Wei" about 1095 AD. The tenth chapter of this text 1 zhe ji 2+2 17 wen See Primary Sources. 2 he hai 179

is devoted to alchemical operations the author and his 3 friend, Su Tong-bo, had seen and heard of. Su Tong-bo (1036-1101 AD), the great poet, was interested in metallurgical alchemy and iatrochemistry. This fact is evident from various Chinese texts of the medieval period such as Su Shen liang fang 4 (Beneficial Prescriptions Collected by Su Tong-bo and Shen Qua) published around 6 1120 AD, Lu huo jian jie lu (warnings against inadvisable practices in the work of the stove by 3 su dong ban 4 su chen liang fang 5chen kuo 6 zhu huo jian jie lu 180

You Yan 7 of 1285 AD, "Sun-gong tan-pu" (The venerable Mr. Sun's conversation garden) written about 1085 AD by Sun Sheng. P.193. 9 7 su tongshiku ji See Needham, Joseph (1), Vol. 5, Pt. III, "In his lu-huo jian-jie lu, You Yan (+ 1285) says, Su Tong-bo was conversant with aurifaction and argentification and demonstrated his skill to his (elderly) friend Chen Xi-liang a great enthusiast for the art. This was expressly recorded by his brother Su Che chen xi liang zhen zhe yue long chuan lue zhi in his book Long-chuan lue-zhi. When Su Tong-bo first took up appointment in the civil service at the age of twenty six at Qi Xia qi xia a strange monk obliged him to accept a formula for the transmutation of gold. After receiving it, he sealed it (in a container). Later he passed it to his younger brother (su) Ying-bin who kept it (likewise)." ying 8 sun gong tan 9 sun jing 181

182 10 In the above texts we notice that Su Tong-bo and He Wei had several encounters with the Taoists and the Buddhists and that they witnessed a number of alchemical and metallurgical operations performed by them. It was He Wei who wrote them down in the form of a book. The tenth chapter of this book, Chun zhu ji wen, is devoted to gold-silver making processes, using mercury and other compounds, and sometimes plants. These 10. In his "Sun-gong tan-pu", Sun Sheng says, "When (Su) Zi zhan 1 (Su Tong-po) was an official in Feng Xiang, the local Prefect, Chen zhong liang zhen zhong dian was an admirer of the art of the yellow and the white. Now in the district there was a spagyrical monk who gave the impression of being quite out of the ordinary. (Chen) Zhong-liang many times pressed him to tell his secrets, but he always made excuses, avoiding the Prefect or refusing to come out. But (Su) Zi-zhan found an opportunity to visit the temple, and opening a door, found the monk inside, so he asked him what it was all about. The monk replied: 'Chen Zhong-liang is a covetous man and therefore is not worthy to be taught the art' but he was willing to impart his knowledge to (Su) Zi-zhan. His procedure was to take one oz. of gold and one tenth of an oz. of cinnabar and heat them together, then very soon the mixture turned into purple gold worthy many times the original (ingredients) in value. Afterwards (Su) Zi-zhan went away and told (Chen) Zhong-liang, who called the monk before him and had the matter verified; it turned out just as he said. Then (Chen) Zhong-liang made a lot of (purple gold) and built himself a residence (out of the proceeds). But soon his official career came to a disastrous end, it was not long before he died."

183 processes no doubt point to the metallurgical alchemy practised in China in the eleventh century AD, yet we find that certain methods are different from those normally adopted by medieval Chinese alchemists described in such texts. It is interesting to note that similar processes are described in Sanskrit alchemical texts of the medieval period, viz. Rasarnava and Rasarnavakalpa. On account of the fact that Buddhists, who were interested in alchemy, visited China frequently in the medieval period, it seems possible that the Chinese Buddhists and Taoists, who practised alchemy, learned some of these methods from the Indian Buddhists; and probably it was through them that Su Tong-bo and He Wei came to know about them. Here an attempt is made to reveal the parallels between such special cases of Chun zhu ji wen and those come across in Sanskrit alchemical texts, pointing thereby to the transmission of alchemical ideas between India and China. The tenth chapter of Chun zhu ji wen is subdivided into sections, each describing an incident leading to some alchemical process. Out of the total twelve sections, five are discussed here. These cases show similarities with Indian methods or ingredients.