China's first emperor ordered a nationwide search for an elixir of life

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I found this interesting, DB's probably already has a thread somewhere so apologies for repeating.

In other links I read, Qin Shihuang (see also terracotta army) ended up being hoodwinked by a chap who said he'd found the secret but needed a fleet of ships and 6000 virgins in order to succeed in the mission. Long story cut short, the mendacious mariner simply buggered off with the ships, the sailors, presumably the money and was never seen again. My telling is not quite correct.

Anyhow, It wasn't what was in the story that interested me most although it was enlightening, it was the absence, apparently, of daoyin or tao references regarding the elixir of life.

There are so many tablets, that the reference might be there but uncommented upon.

I enjoy reading cultural histories but particularly those relating to other personal interests.

 

Quote

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5211373/An-order-Chinese-emperor-immortality.html

China's first emperor - creator of the world-famous terracotta army - was on a quest for eternal life, new archaeological research has revealed.   

A set of wooden slips found in the central province of Hunan contain an executive order from emperor Qin Shihuang for a nationwide search for the elixir of life, along with replies from local governments, according to Xinhua news agency on Sunday.

It cited Zhang Chunlong, a researcher at the provincial institute of archaeology, as saying the emperor's decree reached even frontier regions and remote villages.

Qin Shihuang's obsession with eternal life was well-known: He was responsible for the massive underground mausoleum in the northern province of Shaanxi filled with nearly 8,000 terracotta soldiers built to protect him in the afterlife.

By studying the 36,000 wooden slips - found in 2002 at the bottom of a well in Hunan - archaeologists have uncovered not only the imperial order to find an 'elixir of life', but also the often embarrassed responses from local authorities who struggled to meet his demands.

According to Xinhua, a village called 'Duxiang' reported to the emperor that it had failed to discover a miraculous potion, but that the search was continuing.

Another place, 'Langya', suggested that 'an herb collected from an auspicious local mountain' might do the job.

The texts were written on a series of wooden slats originally connected to each other by strings. 

 

 

[ChiForce]

Did Taoism even flourish during his reign???  If not....he has no ideas what it is.  As we know, the elixir of life in the Tao teaching is referring to the condensing your chi and to transform into shen...and to continue this process for 100 days??  Giving rise the white pearl and then to the golden pearl.  Giving birth to the Taoist immortal.  The likelihood for the emperor to achieve this is slim.  I don't believe the Tao can be found in some despot rulers.....hehehehe...just saying......  

Edited December 26, 2017 by ChiForce

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11 minutes ago, ChiForce said:

Did Taoism even flourish during his reign???  If not....he has no ideas what it is.  As we know, the elixir of life in the Tao teaching is referring to the condensing your chi and to transform into shen...and to continue this process for 100 days??  Giving rise the white pearl and then to the golden pearl.  Giving birth to the Taoist immortal.  The likelihood for the emperor to achieve this is slim.  I don't believe the Tao can found in some despot rulers.....hehehehe...just saying......  

 

I read that he disallowed everything but legalism and actively persecuted other schools of thought but for such a man to go in search of a fabulous mountain seems counter intuitive.

 

I'd guess that the responders to the order would have to be very, very careful.

[Aetherous]

The Dao school of thought in those times differed greatly from what it evolved into today...it was probably the Huangdi Laozi school. Neidan and immortality ideas are a relatively new addition to Daoism.