Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning
In Chinese alchemy, elixir poisoning refers to the toxic effects from elixirs of immortality that contained metals and minerals such as mercury and arsenic. The official Twenty-Four Histories record numerous Chinese emperors, nobles, and officials who died from taking elixirs in order to prolong their lifespans. The first emperor to die from elixir poisoning was likely Qin Shi Huang (d. 210 BCE) and the last was Yongzheng (d. 1735 AD). Despite common knowledge that immortality potions could be deadly, fangshi and Daoist alchemists continued the elixir-making practice for two millennia.
Terminology[]
The etymology of English elixir derives from Medieval Latin elixir, from Arabic إكسير (al-ʾiksīr), probably from Ancient Greek ξήριον (xḗrion "a desiccative powder for wounds"). Elixir originated in medieval European alchemy meaning "A preparation by the use of which it was sought to change metals into gold" (elixir stone or philosopher's stone) or "A supposed drug or essence with the property of indefinitely prolonging life" (elixir of life). The word was figuratively extended to mean "A sovereign remedy for disease. Hence adopted as a name for quack medicines" (e.g., Daffy's Elixir) and "The quintessence or soul of a thing; its kernel or secret principle". In modern usage, elixir is a pharmaceutical term for "A sweetened aromatic solution of alcohol and water, serving as a vehicle for medicine".[1] Outside of Chinese cultural contexts, English elixir poisoning usually refers to accidental contamination, such as the 1937 elixir sulfanilamide mass poisoning in the United States.
Dān 丹 "cinnabar; vermillion; elixir; alchemy" is the keyword for Chinese immortality elixirs. The red mineral cinnabar (dānshā 丹砂 lit. "cinnabar sand") was anciently used to produce the pigment vermilion (zhūhóng 朱紅) and the element mercury (shuǐyín 水銀 "watery silver" or gǒng 汞).
According to the ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese, the etymology of Modern Standard Chinese dān from Old Chinese *tān (< *tlan ?) 丹 "red; vermillion; cinnabar", gān 矸 in dāngān 丹矸 from *tân-kân (< *tlan-klan ?) "cinnabar; vermillion ore", and zhān from *tan 旃 "a red flag" derive from Proto-Kam-Sui *h-lan "red" or Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tja-n or *tya-n "red". The *t- initial and *t- or *k- doublets indicate that Old Chinese borrowed this item.[2]
Although the word dan 丹 "cinnabar; red" frequently occurs in oracle script from the late Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BCE) and bronzeware script and seal script from the Zhou Dynasty (1045–256 BCE), paleographers disagree about the graphic origins of the logograph 丹 and its ancient variants