Cinnabar, also known as Cinnabar, cinnabar, red lead and mercury sand, is a kind of mercury sulfide (HgS) mineral. It contains 86.2% mercury and is the main mineral raw material for mercury smelting. Its crystal can be used as an important material for laser technology. It is also a Chinese herbal medicine with sedative, sedative and bactericidal effects. China used it as an important raw material for an alchemist in ancient times.

In the past, Chenzhou (now Yuanling, Hunan Province) was named after the best quality. The crystal belongs to the tripartite system and is homogeneous with the black Cinnabar of the equiaxed system. Often rhombic or short column-shaped; Common in bimorphs. Parallel cylinders split perfectly. Aggregates are granular, massive or membranous. Mohs hardness is 2.5 and specific gravity is 8. 10.

Pure cinnabar is diamond luster and vermilion; When containing impurities, the luster is dull and reddish brown. It is a typical low-temperature hydrothermal mineral, and its genesis is related to modern volcanism. China is a major producer of cinnabar, mainly produced in Xinhuang, Hunan and Tongren, Guizhou. Other producing areas in the world are almaden, Udrio, California coastal mountains and so on. The crystal form is plate or column, and twins are often inserted. Cleavage development

Low hardness, 2-2.5. Specific weight, 8.09. The powder of ghost fairy cinnabar is red and can last for a long time. China has a long history of using cinnabar as pigment. "Painting Zhu Jiagu" refers to grinding cinnabar into red powder and embedding it in the notch of Oracle Bone Inscriptions to show eye-catching, which happened thousands of years ago; "Royal calligraphy" refers to the approval written by the emperor of feudal society with vermilion red powder, with the purpose of striking and long-term preservation.