Alchemist, Physician, and Philosopher


C yn th ia K a re n

Ge Hong
S to p fo rd
 O cto b e r 2 0 0 9
 BACKGROUND
 GeHong was a Jin dynasty alchemist, physician, and
political philosopher who lived in the period 283-343 CE
or thereabouts. He grew up on the south banks of the
Yangtze river, the son of an official family.

He experienced poverty from an
early age. While still a youth his
father died. Young Ge Hong cut wood on
the hills and bartered it for paper and
writing brushes, as he was an avid student.


 Ge Hong was alternatively known

as Ko Hung and as Baopuzi, “The
Master Who Embraces Simplicity.”

 ROOTS IN DAOISM
 By Ge Hong’s time, Daoism had developed a cosmology that
incorporated concepts of Yin and Yang, the idea of Qias vital
force or “matter energy,” and Li (the natural order or
organizing principle of all things). The cycles and
correspondences of wu xing (wood, fire, earth, metal, and
water) – what we know as “five element theory” today – were
also part of this thought system.
 In Daoistthought, man’s body was home
to both a corporeal and an immortal
soul. The change from living being to
immortal was viewed as another natural
phenomenon of transformation. The highest Dao
masters were thought to be capable of becoming
hsien, or immortals, through the cultivation of
certain practices and the consumption of
certain potions or elixirs. As one Daoist text
explained, “those seeking immortality
must perfect… treasuring the ching,
circulating the ch’I, and consuming the great
medicine.”

ALCHEMY AND THE SEARCH
FOR IMMORTALITY
The “great medicine” referred

to in the quote was the golden

elixir that, when ingested,
could confer immortality on
adepts.
It was thought that if a formula

could be found that

transformed one substance
such as cinnabar, mercury, or
lead into gold, that such a
potion could transform a
human into an immortal.
Thus alchemy in China arose

naturally from Daoism as an

attempt to perfect the means
for humans to attain a life free
of suffering, pain, and the
burdens of infirmity and death.
In a sense, these practices

were the beginning of modern

pharmacy as well as of
  THE SCIENCE OF LONGEVITY
The Daoistspursued long life and immortality from two


perspectives, an internal and an external. The science of

alchemy pursued two paths:
Wei Dan - External alchemy, which involved refining various
minerals and metals into elixirs that were consumed to
promote immortality. Gold was most desirable because it
lasts forever. It was thought that if one consumed refined
metals the body would be permanently preserved. Many
Emperors tried it and died young. Liquid mercury was usually
used, so when they died the bodies did not rot. This became
a Chinese form of mummification.
Nei Dan - Internal alchemy. One’s body was viewed as the


furnace where the alchemy could take place through

cultivating vitality and secret practices such as the sexual
arts. What is referred to today as the Three Treasures - Jing
(essence) is transformed into Qi, and Qi is transformed and
refined to assist the Shen (spirit). These practices resulted in
enhanced consciousness and those who practiced the Nei
Dan lived to be very old and achieved enlightenment more
  THE GOLDEN ELIXIR
According to his own account, Ge Hong received the sacred
scrolls documenting the preparation of elixirs that conferred
immortality from his Master, Zheng, who received them in
turn from Ge Hong’s own granduncle, the immortal Xiangong.
Ge Hong later combined these texts with his own acquired
knowledge to produce the first written compendium of
alchemical knowledge, the autobiographically entitled Bao Pu
Zi. In the 4th chapter he explains creation of the gold
medicine:
“A vessel of Huang T’ung(yellow copper or brass) for the


reception of water from the moon is covered with quicksilver

and the spirit of the sun is allowed to fire its inside. Repeated
eating of the medicine thus prepared swill bring immortality.
This medicine may be further treated with HsiungHuang in a
sunlight-concentrator of copper under a covering of
quicksilver and exposed to the sunlight for twenty days.
When a pea-sized quantity of the medicine thus prepared is
swallowed with some water, if a blind man takes it, he will
regain his sight in a hundred days; if an invalid, he will
recover his health in the same lapse of time, if a hoary head,
 EARLY PRACTICE
Legend has it that GeHong
successfully prepared his golden
pills, trying them first on a dog
before experimenting on his own
person. The dog as well as Ge
Hong subsequently died – but they
both later revived dramatically in
the midst of funeral preparations.
GeHong’s experience with poverty

as a youth also informed his

practice. He used cinnabar
extensively to make his elixir, as
he reasoned that the average
would not be able to afford pure
gold to ingest. Along the way, he
found other uses for cinnabar
including smearing it on the feet to
enable one to walk on water,
placing it over the doorway to
one’s home to ward off burglars,
  PROLIFIC AUTHOR
Ge Hong’s Bao Pu Ziwas primarily

concerned with immortality and

other issues of a spiritual and
philosophical nature, often
bordering on the magical. For
example, he and subsequent
followers of his work made
extensive use of talismanic magic
to ward off wolves, thieves and evil
spirits.
However, GeHong also had a much

more practical side. He originally

wrote his “Golden Rare
Prescriptions” in 100 volumes
containing not only medical
information, but essays on
Confucianism as well. However,
the set was too heavy to carry
around for ordinary use, and so he
condensed the most useful
prescriptions into the four-volume
medical handbook, the Bei Jin Zhou
 

 AVOIDING SENSATIONALISM
While it appears to us today that many of Ge


Hong’s beliefs – and treatments based on these

beliefs – were sensational and more magic than
medicine, GeHong’s credibility lay in part in his
skepticism. The following conversation was
recorded in Ge Hong’s Bao Pu Zi Nei Pan:
Interlocutor: “I have been taught that he who can


fully carry out the correct sexual procedures can

travel alone and summon gods and genii. Further,
he can shift disaster from himself and absolve his
misdeeds; turn misfortune into good; raise high if in
office; double his profits if in business. Is it true?”
Ko: “This is all deceptive, exaggerated talk found in


the writings of mediums and shamans…

The best of sexual recipes can cure the lesser
illnesses, and those of a lower quality can prevent
us from becoming empty, but that is all. There are
very natural limits to what such recipes can
 MEDICAL KNOWLEDGE
True to his practical approach, the medicines and
treatments GeHong wrote about were readily
available, inexpensive and convenient to
administer. His prescriptions were thus very
popular with common people.

Ge Hong’s treatments were as

varied as the maladies he treated.
His methods included use of
talismanic magic, methods of
establishing or restoring Yin/Yang
and elemental balances, physical
medicine, mineral ointments,
pharmacological preparations and
herbal remedies.
He also advocated and followed Nei

Dan practices, and lived to be 100

years old.
  DISEASES AND THEIR CAUSE
Ge Hong is the first to


describe diarrhea and

similar disturbances and
trace their origins in food
and drink consumed by the
patient. He prescribed soya
beans, cow’s milk and
goat’s milk for beri-beri.
He was also the first to
describe
H e d e scri more
b e d aserious
s “ e p id e m ic so re s w h ich a tta ck th e
diseases such
h e a d , fa ce a n dastru
smallpox,
n k … ( th e y ) h a ve th e a p p e a ra n ce
which
o f h o t b o ils co n ta in in g so m e w h ite m a tte r. W h ile

so m e o f th e se p u stu le s a re d ryin g u p , a fre sh cro p
 a p p e a rs . P a tie n ts w h o re co ve r a re d isfig u re d w ith
p u rp lish sca rs w h ich d o n o t fa d e u n tila fte r a ye a r. ”
He also documented the symptoms and
tra n sm issio n o f tu b e rcu lo sis, co rre ctly id e n tifyin g it
  PRESCRIPTIONS and
TREATMENTS
Ge Hong's provided
detailed explanations of
the properties and uses of
many medicinal plants in
the section 'Elixirs for
Attaining Immortality' in
the Inner Book of the
Master Who Embraces
Simplicitywhich greatly
influenced the later
H is p h a rm a co of
development lo gthe
ica lw o rk w a s n o t lim ite d to p la n ts
e ith e r – G e H o n g sciences.
pharmacological w a s th e first to u se R e n Z h o n g
B a i - u rin e extra ctio n o f h u m a n sex h o rm o n e s - fo r
im p o te n cy a n d fo r ca n ke r so re s a n d m o u th u lce rs .

Fro m th is w o rk , h e is o fte n sa id to b e th e fa th e r o f
m o d e rn C h in e se b io ch e m istry a n d e n d o crin o lo g y.
 PRESCRIPTIONS AND TREATMENTS
Perhaps Ge Hong’s most famous
prescription was an extract of
the Artimisia plant (qing hao) to
treat the symptoms of malaria.
He wrote:
“Qinghao: one bunch, take two

sheng of water for soaking it,

wring it out, take the juice,
ingest it in its entirety.” The
efficacy
w h e n d uof
rinthis
g thtreatment
e V ie tn a m was
W a r, tra d itio n a lm e d ica l
not realized
p ra ctitio n e rsagain
in C hfor
in a two
co n su lte d G e H o n g ’ s w ritin g s
thousand
in a se a rchyears,
o f a so lu tio n to a n e p id e m ic stra in o f

m a la ria th a t w a s re sista n t to cu rre n t tre a tm e n ts.
B a se d o n G e H o n g ’ s w ritin g s, d o cto rs su cce ssfu lly
extra cte d th e a rte m e sin in th a t n o t o n ly so lve d th e
p ro b le m th e n , b u t stillre m a in s th e g o ld sta n d a rd
tre a tm e n t a n d b e st d e fe n se a g a in st d ru g - re sista n t
  PRESCRIPTIONS AND TREATMENTS
 Ge Hong learned much about
disease through observation.
He understood that some
diseases have latency periods.
Such was the case with rabies.
He documented a waiting period
of 100 days to insure that the
patient would not contract fever
and other problems after a dog
Fo r ra b ie s, G e H o n g bite.
a lso
p re scrib e d w h a t m ig h t b e
th e first im m u n o lo g ica l
tre a tm e n t o f so rts: w h e n a
p e rso n su ffe re d a b ite fro m
a m ad dog, G e H ong
a d vo ca te d killin g th e a n im a l
a n d d re ssin g th e w o u n d s
w ith its b ra in s.
  EARLY PSYCHIATRIC
TREATMENT
GeHong also dealt with
symptoms of mental illness
in his prescriptive writing.
Ya-mei, or “demon
possession sleep,” for
example, was an hysterical
coma state brought on by
malicious wraiths holding
the patient’s wandering
soul hostage. Methods for
safely waking the patient in
darkness (so as not to scare
away the soul) included
breaking an earthenware
jug over the head, or biting
hard on the sole of the foot
 ACUPRESSURE AND OTHER PHYSICAL
TREATMENTS
Ge Hong’s toolkit included other
physical interventions that were
less dramatic. For example, he
used the thumbnail to compress
the acupuncture point Renzhong
DU26 (in the groove above the
upper lip) to treat loss of
consciousness, a technique which
first appeared in his book Zhou Hou
Jiu Zu Fang.
 Ge Hong is also responsible for

the 1st recorded use of cupping,

using animal horns to treat
pustules and drain toxins from the
body. Use of animal horns led to
use of the term Jiaofa, or “the horn
technique” in traditional
descriptions of cupping.
Little was known of Ge Hong’s IMMORTAL LADY BAO
wife, Bao Gu, until the couple
retired to Mt. Loufu where the
cinnabar needed for GeHong’s
alchemical recipes was in
abundance.
There, the couple often

climbed up the mountain to

pick herbs to cure the
diseases of the local people
and researched folk remedies
extensively.
Bao Gu was an acupuncturist

and physician in her own

right, and also experimented
with moxibustion using floss
from red-rooted mugwort
plants found at the foot of the
mountain.
Because of her good medicine

and association with Ge Hong,

  THE LEGEND LIVES…
 At Mt. Luofu, Ge Hong built
himself an elixir oven in an
attempt to produce life-
extending pills, called Nine-
Turn Golden Pills. According
to legend, for forty-nine
days he took the pills
himself, and ascended to
heaven as an immortal. His
clothes turned into tens of
thousands of butterflies,
which now gather around
the present Butterfly Cave.
T h e D a o ist te m p le C h o n g xu , b u ilt
b y G e H o n g a t M t. Lu o fu in 3 3 0
A . D ., still sta n d s to d a y.
  …AND LEGACY
GeHong’s legacy has lasted
even into this century. In
addition to the medical
information and treatments
that have stood the test of
time, his descendents still
practice Traditional Chinese
Medicine and acupuncture.

A d e sce n d a n t, D r. A d e lin e X ia o -
Yin g G e , is d e scrib e d b y
co lle a g u e s a t th e N IH C e n te r fo r
R e h a b ilita tive M e d icin e a s a
“ gifted healer .” She stillrefers to
th e B a o Pu Z iw h ile b re a kin g
g ro u n d in n e w w a ys su ch a s u se
o f e le ctro a cu p u n ctu re to tre a t
 

 References
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Read at

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 

 References
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Stanford University Press

(Uncorrected OCR) Abstract of thesis entitled' The Philosophical

Thoughts of Ko Hung and his Views on the Value of Life'

Submitted by WONG Suk-har for the degree of Master of
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Alchemy. A Short Introduction to Chinese Alchemy. April 24, 1996

 

 References
Fangfu Ruan, MolleenMatsumura. Sex in China: Studies in
Sexology of Chinese Culture Springer Press, 1991. Read on
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http://books.google.com/books?id=eJfXg7zRSe0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_v2_
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Ge Hong and Alchemy. Read at:

www.56peoples.com/bencandy.php?fid-363-id-26997-page-1.htm
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Global Health:
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Institutions for Closing the Knowledge-Action Gap in

Global Health
June 11-13, 2008 at Harvard Kennedy School of Government,

Cambridge, MA
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online ebook at www.toodoc.com

Acupuncture, Chinese medicine prove clinically successful