. The mythology of all races. intothe realms of the Immortals. The Shen Hsien Chuan of Ko Hung narrates that Li Shao-chiin learned the art of the crucible from An-chi Sheng, thirdcentury , who was a contemporary of the Emperor ShihHuang of the Chin dynasty, as Li Shao-chiin was a contempo-rary of the Emperor Wu Ti, second century b. c, of the Handynasty. An-chi Sheng was known by the sobriquet of PaoPo-tzu from which Ko named his book mentioned above. The Historical Record {Shih Chi) of Ssu-ma Chien narratesthat Li Shao-chiin advised the Han Emperor, Wu Ti, to sacri- 146 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY
. The mythology of all races. intothe realms of the Immortals. The Shen Hsien Chuan of Ko Hung narrates that Li Shao-chiin learned the art of the crucible from An-chi Sheng, thirdcentury , who was a contemporary of the Emperor ShihHuang of the Chin dynasty, as Li Shao-chiin was a contempo-rary of the Emperor Wu Ti, second century b. c, of the Handynasty. An-chi Sheng was known by the sobriquet of PaoPo-tzu from which Ko named his book mentioned above. The Historical Record {Shih Chi) of Ssu-ma Chien narratesthat Li Shao-chiin advised the Han Emperor, Wu Ti, to sacri- 146 CHINESE MYTHOLOGY fice to the crucible, and that if he did so, the attendant deitieswould cause It to transmute mercury Into gold. From this goldthe Emperor could have cups fashioned, and such cups wouldcause what he ate and drank to prolong his life. He could thenvisit An-chi Sheng in the Isles of the Blest and himself attainto immortality. Li assured the Emperor that he himself hadvisited An-chi Sheng in the happy abode and had seen him eat-. FiG. 56. Control of the Breath ing dates which were as large as melons. These references toLi Shao-chun and his master An-chi Sheng evidence a beliefthat the use of the crucible was much earlier than the time ofthe Ts^an T^ung ChHj and carry it back to the reign of ShihHuang, 249-221 , if credibility may be attached to theselegends of the two men. Closely connected with the search for a panacea and for thecordial of immortality are many methods for promoting long OCCULTISM 147 life. Among these the most conspicuous are three: (i) controlof the breath, (2) control of the emotions, and (3) abstinencefrom food. The control of the breath — hsing Mi or ju chH— is a system which originated with the above-mentioned KoHung. The first step in this control is to take a deep inhalationof breath and hold it during one hundred and twenty beats ofthe heart before exhalation. The period from midnight tillnoon is full of vitality and this control should be practi
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