中国始炼硫化汞时间新证

中国始炼硫化汞的时间问题,因其关涉到“人类第一次用自己的劳动得到了实质上与天然产物无二的成果”,而引起科技史家的极大关注,但因缺乏确凿资料,以至该问题一直悬而未决。事实上,此前学界认为道士升炼硫化汞的时间大略始于隋代的观点是值得商榷的。仅以《道藏》所载炼丹文献为例,即可粗举数例隋代以前与升炼硫化汞相关的资料。进一步的考证说明,中国古代道士早在南北朝或晋代甚至汉代,就已经能够用人工的方法升炼硫化汞了。

On the Beginning of Cinnabar Synthesizing in Ancient China

The beginning of cinnabar synthesizing (Taoist technique of making elixir of life,to practice alchemy) in the ancient China has attracted the attention of scholars of history of science it is concerned with the fact that "human beings manufactured for the first time product that was not essentially different from natural things".However,the issue of its beginning for so long has not been resolved due lack of solid evidence.Factually,the view that Taoist masters started cinnabar synthesizing approximately from the Sui Dynasty is doubtful.By enumerating the instances in the literature and the data of archaeology,it can be concluded that this practice started before the Sui Dynasty,and further examination shows it can even dated back to the Southern and Northern Dynasties,or the Jin Dynasty,or even as early as the Han Dynasty.