The early alchemists who entered Fujian from the Central Plains were the first to promote the Ho Nine Brothers. It is speculated that Jiuxian came down from Shandong, passed through Anhui, Zhejiang and Jiangxi, entered Fujian via the ancient road in northern Fujian, passed through Fujian County (now Fuzhou) and Fuqing, and finally chose Xianyou Jiuli Lake as the foothold to engage in alchemy pharmaceutical activities. The names of Jiuxian Taoist Temple, Xianyou County and Jiuli Lake on Yushan Mountain (also known as Jiuxian Mountain) in Fuzhou are all named after this. Up to now, there are still traces of an alchemist's well, an alchemist's tripod and an alchemist's furnace in the mountains and Jiuli Lake. The alchemy introduced to Fujian by He Jiajiu brothers reflected the highest achievement of alchemy and alchemy at that time.
Many alchemist's early alchemy activities in Fujian are scattered in local chronicles. According to Fuding County Records, Rongcheng, a famous alchemist in ancient times, once lived in Taimushan for alchemy. According to Fujian Tongzhi, Mei Fu, a Jiangxi native who used to be a captain in Nanchang, also went to Nanping and other places to engage in alchemy activities. With the establishment of Taoism in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the early immortal alchemy evolved into Taoist practice, and the immortal alchemist gradually became a Taoist. Taoism attaches great importance to the cultivation of alchemy in order to achieve the goal of immortality. The Taoist school of the Immortal School regards taking artificially refined liquid and gold as an important means of becoming immortal. The original elixir became an elixir of Taoism. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the society was turbulent, but the Jiangnan area was relatively stable. Many Taoist priests subsequently moved to Fujian, including Zuo Ci, Yun Ge, Andrew and Ge Hong. This period is the period when Taoist alchemy spread and developed in Fujian. Ge Hong, a famous alchemist in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, entered the home of Taoist alchemists in Fujian during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, which deserves attention. Ge Hong was famous for his life, learning from teachers, engaging in alchemy activities, and writing books and opinions. There are 20 volumes such as At that time and Huang Bai. The Inner Chapter of Bao Puzi is the most complete, systematic, organized and logical classic at that time. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, in addition to the above-mentioned famous families, there were also princes Qian, Sun Nao, Hu, Li, Yu and Wang who went to Wuyishan to make an alchemy, which was unprecedented. Huotong Mountain in Ningde, Taimu Mountain in Fuding, Qingyuan Mountain in Quanzhou, Donggong Mountain in Zhenghe, Wuyishan Mountain in Chong 'an, Daoshan Mountain and Yushan Mountain in Fuzhou and Jiuli Lake in Xianyou. There are traces of alchemy by ancient alchemists. On the land of Bamin, there are countless mountains and rivers named after alchemy activities. There are as many as seven or eight places in the county, which are only contained in the Annals of Chong 'an County.
At that time, Fujian was remote and the traffic was inconvenient, and the scale and speed of Taoism development in Fujian were limited. From the Western Jin Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, there were only four Taoist temples in Fujian, and most of them engaged in alchemy activities were monks from other provinces, but few Fujian monks were good at alchemy. According to "Fujian Tongzhi" edited by Chen Yan, only the Jin Dynasty developed tourists. After hundreds of years of development in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Fujian Taoist alchemy entered its heyday in Tang and Song Dynasties. Dozens of generations of alchemists have accumulated a wealth of experience and information after groping, which laid the foundation for the later alchemy. In addition, the Tang and Song Dynasties had the strongest national strength, social stability, cultural prosperity and great development of productive forces, which provided human, material and financial support for the development of alchemy. Third, Taoism gained political power, and alchemy was highly respected by the emperors of Tang and Song Dynasties. They regarded Taoism as a national road, confirmed that Taoists were clan relatives, and ordered all counties in the country to build Taoist temples and collect Taoist books in the world. The policy of worshipping Taoism promoted the development of Taoist elixir in Fujian. In the Tang Dynasty, there were three new Taoist temples 13 in Fujian, including the mysterious Sanqing Hall in Putian, which was known as the flower of Jiangnan architecture. In the Tang Dynasty, alchemists in central Fujian were very active, including Cai Rujin, Zhang Shou and Sima.
During the Five Dynasties, Taoist elixirs were highly respected by the Wang family, and the wind of taking elixirs became increasingly strong. After Wang's death, his four sons and a grandson were fascinated by Taoist magic, and spent a lot of money to build the Crystal Palace and Palace, which attracted a large number of Taoist priests to fast for him day and night, and joined Dan Pharmaceutical, hoping to live forever.
In the Song Dynasty, the alchemy of Taoism in Fujian had an unprecedented development and its influence was increasing. 46 new Taoist temples were built, the first of all dynasties. People from all walks of life rushed to become Taoists, the number of Taoists increased greatly, and the number of Taoists engaged in activities at that time also increased sharply. Bai Yuchan, Wang Zhongzheng and Wu Kun, the famous alchemists included in Fujian Tongzhi, had the largest number in the Song Dynasty, indicating that Fujian alchemy reached its peak in the Song Dynasty. With the prosperity of Taoist elixir, it became fashionable to take elixir in Tang and Song Dynasties. Because the raw materials used by Taoist alchemists and alchemists contain mercury, lead, sulfur and arsenic, which are oxidized into arsenic in a heated pot, most Dan medicines contain highly toxic arsenic. If you take these pills for a long time, you will die of poisoning. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, countless people died suddenly after eating. According to Zhao Yi's Notes on the Twenty-two History of Qing Dynasty (Volume 19), "The Emperor of the Tang Dynasty has many baits and many pills", five or six emperors in the Tang Dynasty died of poisoning by taking an alchemy pill. Since the Song Dynasty, alchemy has been criticized by public opinion, and Taoist alchemy has also begun to differentiate.
Min Qing people, after the death of his father, remarried with his mother and changed his surname to Bai. Bai Yuchan once worked as an alchemist in Qinshan, Minqing, and then traveled to Luofu, Huotong, Longhu and Wuyishan to rebuild Zhi 'an Temple in Wuyishan. He is the author of "Shangqing Collection" and "Wuyi Collection". Bai Yuchan put forward the theory of inner alchemy with essence, qi and spirit as the core, which had a great influence on the development of Taoist practice, and divided the alchemy of Fujian Taoism into inner alchemy and outer alchemy after the Song Dynasty.
Inner alchemy compares the human body to a furnace tripod, taking the essence in the body as medicine and conducting heat. After certain training steps, the essence and essence condense in the body. This fusion is called internal alchemy. It advocates the implementation of physiological and psychological methods such as calming the nerves, stopping qi, operating internal qi, circulating the whole body, expelling the old and absorbing the new, and refining the elixir of life in the body. Since the Song Dynasty, Inner alchemy has gradually attracted the interest and attention of Taoist priests in central Fujian, and gradually gained the upper hand, becoming a magical method of Taoist cultivation in central Fujian. Although there were still people engaged in alchemy activities in Fujian during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, even in the early years of the Republic of China, foreign alchemy works such as Qin fiery light were published. This is just a blip of the decline of Taoist alchemy. Even in the Qing Dynasty, Taoist alchemy became a trick used by charlatans to cheat money, which was spurned by society and gradually disappeared in Fujian, and finally disappeared.