The righteous qi of the north is the 'river chariot',
The east's 'jia' and 'yi' are the 'golden sand'.
Two natures nurtured merge into one,
The crimson chamber nurtures and gives birth to golden splendor.
Golden splendor begets heaven and earth's treasure,
He who understands these words knows the true path.
Zi is called tiger, Mao is dragon,
Dragon and tiger generate each other, naturally in accord.
The dragon resides in the Zhen position, its number eight,
The tiger's primal number is born in the first palace.
There is a day for gathering, a time for taking,
Worldly men use it yet do not know.
If the timing of collection is mistaken,
All efforts are applied in vain.
The most divine and sacred is extremely easy,
First seek the 'tripod vessel' within the palace.
Gently nurture, control the fire, examine yin and yang,
Arrange the furnace room, must choose the place.
Without the right place, do not act recklessly,
Must be secret, careful, guarded, and maintained.
Preserve it, do not leak heaven and earth's mechanism,
This medicine's transformations are inconceivable.
Yang's true cinnabar, yin's true mercury,
People of the time seek it, do not move recklessly.
From no substance generating substance is the reverted elixir,
Common mercury and common cinnabar are not worth toying with.