DISC-0050 / ITEM-0026

Alchemical and meditative methods and their oral instructions (koujue) transmitted under covenant

Daoism · China / worldwide

Disclosure date: c. 317
Date precision: Circa
Disclosure method: Voluntary release
Extent: Summary
Record review: Reviewed

Restricted material and access

Scriptures of elixir alchemy and of meditation on the One, and the oral instructions that went with them, handed on only by covenant with pledges.

Material type: Transmitted technique
Restricted to: Disciples judged worthy, who make a covenant with the master
Restriction mechanism: vow, oral_only, fee
Stated reason: Given to the unworthy, the methods do not work and master and disciple both suffer misfortune (CLM-0050)
Tradition origins: 2nd century CE (Celestial Masters); earlier roots

Recorded practice status

Unknown

Status as of: Not recorded
Status claims: Not recorded

Disclosure dates, source publication dates, tradition origins and dates of practice are separate.

What this disclosure covers

Describes the covenants and names the scriptures; withholds the oral instructions

Written by a recipient of the methods.

The source

Baopuzi neipian (The Master Who Embraces Simplicity, Inner Chapters) ↗ (SRC-0053; authenticity: Unassessed)

Author: Ge Hong
Original publication: c. 317
Linked edition: Not recorded
Format: Book
Provenance: member_publication
Rights of source work: Public domain
Identifiers: Not recorded
Source content hash: Not recorded

Read in the Chinese text on Wikisource. Ge Hong was himself a recipient of the methods he describes. English translation: James R. Ware (1966).

Claims about this item

These claims may cite other sources for the same restricted item. Supporting and contradicting evidence remain separate.

CLM-0048 · Content

Ge Hong says he received the alchemical scriptures from his master Zheng Yin at an altar on Mount Maji by covenant, together with oral instructions that were never written down. The scriptures require the recipient to cast golden figures of a man and a fish into east-flowing water as a pledge and to smear his lips with blood as a covenant; the Gold Liquid scripture has him cast eight ounces of gold in the form of a man into the water and drink blood as an oath before the oral instructions are told.

Claim support: Single source
Record review: Reviewed
Period: c. 317 (as written); earlier transmission
Locators: Neipian 4 (Jindan)
Sources counted as independent: Not recorded

Supporting sources

Baopuzi neipian (The Master Who Embraces Simplicity, Inner Chapters) ↗ (SRC-0053; authenticity: Unassessed)

Contradicting sources: none recorded.

Checked against the Chinese text on Wikisource on 2026-11-04.

SRC-0053: Source authenticity is unassessed; this is separate from the truth of its assertions.
SRC-0053: No source-level content_hash is recorded; linked artifact hashes may identify excerpts, derivatives or metadata instead.

CLM-0049 · Content

The oral instructions for guarding the True One are received on an auspicious day after smearing the lips with the blood of a white animal, with white silk and silver as pledges and a gold tally cut and split between master and disciple; the names of the One are handed down from generation to generation only by mouth, under blood covenant. The Writ of the Three Sovereigns and the Charts of the True Forms of the Five Peaks are given only to those destined for immortality, once in forty years, with a blood covenant and pledges.

Claim support: Single source
Record review: Reviewed
Period: c. 317 (as written)
Locators: Neipian 18 (Dizhen), 19 (Xialan)
Sources counted as independent: Not recorded

Supporting sources

Baopuzi neipian (The Master Who Embraces Simplicity, Inner Chapters) ↗ (SRC-0053; authenticity: Unassessed)

Contradicting sources: none recorded.

Checked against the Chinese text on Wikisource on 2026-11-04.

SRC-0053: Source authenticity is unassessed; this is separate from the truth of its assertions.
SRC-0053: No source-level content_hash is recorded; linked artifact hashes may identify excerpts, derivatives or metadata instead.

CLM-0050 · Stated reason

The methods must be given only to the worthy: given to the wrong person, even for a mountain of jade, they will not work, and one who steals the formula without the proper transmission will never succeed; whoever passes on the books lightly brings misfortune on both giver and receiver, and if the instructions are told carelessly the spirit will not act.

Claim support: Single source
Record review: Reviewed
Period: c. 317 (as written)
Locators: Neipian 4 (Jindan), 18 (Dizhen)
Sources counted as independent: Not recorded

Supporting sources

Baopuzi neipian (The Master Who Embraces Simplicity, Inner Chapters) ↗ (SRC-0053; authenticity: Unassessed)

Contradicting sources: none recorded.

Checked against the Chinese text on Wikisource on 2026-11-04. Ge Hong attributes the first warning to the Yellow Emperor.

SRC-0053: Source authenticity is unassessed; this is separate from the truth of its assertions.
SRC-0053: No source-level content_hash is recorded; linked artifact hashes may identify excerpts, derivatives or metadata instead.

Evidence qualifications

SRC-0053 · source_authenticity_unassessed: Source authenticity is unassessed; this is separate from the truth of its assertions.
SRC-0053 · source_without_content_hash: No source-level content_hash is recorded; linked artifact hashes may identify excerpts, derivatives or metadata instead.

Reviewed means checked against a source. It does not establish source authenticity, independent corroboration or present-day practice.