What is alchemy?
The ancients loved alchemy because many royalty and nobles tried to gain immortality through alchemy. Since the birth of alchemy in China, it seems to have shouldered the absurd mission of immortality. Since ancient times, both royal relatives and ordinary people have had a special preference for alchemy. In fact, the prototype of alchemy is smelting technology, and when it develops to a certain extent, it is only an alternative branch of Chinese smelting technology - as early as the late primitive society, Chinese mastered smelting technology. Bronze craftsmanship in the Shang and Zhou dynasties was a peak in ancient China. Many of the bronzes unearthed today are products of that time.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, smelting technology changed, and the smelting of utensils became the pursuit of longevity. There were no readily available elixirs in nature, so people turned their attention to hot melting technology at that time. Thus, those who aspired to immortality for greater wealth and power actively acted as practitioners and promoters of alchemy, falling prey to the culture of alchemy— according to historical records and records of the late Han Dynasty. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there were many celebrities looking for elixirs. At this time, alchemy became a way to find the elixir of immortality. Without hard cultivation, you can live forever. You just need to master the smelting technology.
During the Qin and Han dynasties, alchemy was more common for the purpose of immortality. Above all, this behavior was respected and sheltered by the feudal rulers. According to records, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was obsessed with immortality and hoped for immortality. Speculators took the opportunity to encourage Emperor Wu of Han to refine the pills. There is a way that gold can be changed in the smelting process, and then used this gold to make tableware to eat, which can promote people's longevity, and long-term use can achieve longevity. This sentence puts together the two great temptations of alchemy, forming a deformed combination of gold and immortality.
With the passage of time, more and more people discovered that the immortal elixir extracted by alchemy could not prolong life, but was poisonous and would hasten the death of people. However, in the process of alchemy, they also proved through practice that minerals will undergo essential chemical changes under certain conditions, producing many useful substances, such as lead, lime, glaze, porcelain, alloys and so on. It is said that gunpowder, one of the four major inventions of China, was also discovered in the process of alchemy, and many substances that could be used in medicine were also found in the process of alchemy, such as dan, sand, sulfur, skin, stone, etc. Among the many alchemists in ancient China, the most famous is undoubtedly Ge Hong. Ge Hong lives in modern times. His uncle and grandfather were ge xuan, a famous alchemist during the Three Kingdoms period. Ge Hong himself was a Taoist teacher with a special interest in alchemy. Based on years of alchemical experience, he wrote baggage and elbow first aid prescriptions, described many first aid methods, and recorded many infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and smallpox that people had never heard of at that time.
From this point of view, it seems that alchemy still plays an active role in the progress of human society. While we now see the alchemist's ultimate goal of unrealistic immortality and enlightenment, there are many unexpected scientific achievements in the process of research. This is also a great contribution to the scientific exploration of modern humans.