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 6 - Transmission of Alchemical and Chemical ideas (Part 2)
30 (of 48)
External source: Shodhganga (Repository of Indian theses)
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The transmutation and elixir-preparation methods
which are described in Ras膩r峁嘺va and Ras膩r峁嘺vakalpa will
give some idea as to what kind of knowledge and techniques
were supposed to be known. It will also tell us which
methods the Chinese emperor of the seventh century AD
might have tried, since "Ban cha zhuo shui" or Visodaka
were either the same substance or very close to each other
in their physical and chemical properties.
Transmutation processes carried out with
Visodaka are:
1. Yellow copper sulphide film-formation on
copper.
Rasarnava shl. 217,
Ras膩r峁嘺vakalpa shl. 744
2. Formation of gold-coloured amalgam of silver.
3.
Ras膩r峁嘺va shl. 228
Transmutation of Vartaloha, an alloy of iron,
copper, lead, tin and zinc to silver.
Ras膩rnava shl. 227
(Probably mercury was also added, forming a silver-
coloured amalgam.)
Visodaka must have been applied in various other
preparations apart from transmuting metals, to obtain
their soluble salts, since the Indian scholar in the
