num_pages: 140
description: This book contains four essays on Internal Alchemy (Neidan) by Isabelle Robinet originally published in French and translated here for the first time into English. The essays are concerned with the alchemical principle of inversion; the devices used by the alchemists to give form to the Formless by the word and thus manifest the authentic and absolute Dao; the symbolic function of numbers in Taoism and in Internal Alchemy; and the original meanings of the terms External Elixir (waidan) and Internal Elixir (neidan).Available in paperback PDF and Kindle editions.Visit the web page on this book for more samples.Table of ContentsAcknowledgements vii1. The World Upside Down in Taoist Internal Alchemy 1 2. The Alchemical Language or the Effort to Say the Contradictory 17 3. Role and Meaning of Numbers in Taoist Cosmology and Alchemy 45 4. On the Meaning of the Terms Waidan and Neidan 75Tables and Pictures 103 Appendix: Works by Isabelle Robinet 113 Glossary of Chinese Characters 117 Works Quoted 123
language: English
title: The World Upside Down: Essays on Taoist Internal Alchemy
publisher: Golden Elixir Press