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 to prolong their lifespans. The first emperor to die from elixir poisoning was likely Qin Shi Huang (d. 210 BCE) and the last was the Yongzheng Emperor (d. 1735 CE). 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". 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.
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 𠁿 and 𠕑. Early scripts combine a 丶 dot or ⼀ stroke (depicting a piece of cinnabar) in the middle of a surrounding frame, which is said to represent: jǐng 井 "well" represents the mine from which the cinnabar is taken" (Shuowen Jiezi) "the crucible of the Taoist alchemists" (Léon Wieger) "the contents of a square receptacle" (Bernhard Karlgren) "placed in a tray or palette to be used as red pigment" (Wang Hongyuan 王宏源) "mineral powder on a stretched filter-cloth" (Needham and Lu).
Many Chinese elixir names are compounds of dan, such as jīndān 金丹 (with "gold") meaning "golden elixir; elixir of immortality; potable gold" and xiāndān 仙丹 (with "Daoist immortal") "elixir of immortality; panacea", and shéndān 神丹 (with "spirit; god") "divine elixir". Bùsǐ zhī yào 不死之藥 "drug of deathlessness" was another early name for the elixir of immortality. Chinese alchemists would liàndān 煉丹 (with "smelt; refine") "concoct pills of immortality" using a dāndǐng 丹鼎 (with "tripod cooking vessel; cauldron") "furnace for concocting pills of immortality". In addition, the ancient Chinese believed that other substances provided longevity and immortality, notably the língzhī 靈芝 "Ganoderma mushroom".
The transformation from chemistry-based waidan 外丹 "external elixir/alchemy" to physiology-based neidan 內丹 "internal elixir/alchemy" gave new analogous meanings to old terms. The human body metaphorically becomes a ding "cauldron" in which the adept forges the Three Treasures (essence, life-force, and spirit) within the jindan Golden Elixir within the dāntián 丹田 (with "field") "lower part of the abdomen".
In early China, alchemists and pharmacists were one and the same. Traditional Chinese medicine also used less concentrated cinnabar and mercury preparations, and dan means "pill; medicine" in general, for example, dānfāng 丹方 semantically changed from "prescription for elixir of immortality" to "medical prescription". Dan was lexicalized into medical terms such as dānjì 丹劑 "pill preparation" and dānyào 丹藥 "pill medicine".