Sān shí liù shuǐ fǎ 三十六水法
The Thirty-Six Water-Methods
Anonymous; Six Dynasties to Táng
A Daoist alchemical text cataloguing thirty-six methods for dissolving minerals into aqueous solutions (shuǐ fǎ 水法) — one of the foundational early texts of Chinese wet chemistry / inorganic dissolution technique, treating vinegar-, brine-, and nitrate-based solvents applied to a wide range of mineral substrates. Preserved as DZ 930 / CT 930 (Dòngshén bù, Zhòng shù lèi 洞神部眾術類).
Dating. Six Dynasties to Táng. Dynasty: 六朝-唐.
Translations and research
- Needham, Joseph, with Lu Gwei-Djen and Nathan Sivin. Science and Civilisation in China, vol. V.4 (Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Apparatus, Theories, and Gifts). Cambridge UP, 1980. Extensive analysis of the Sān shí liù shuǐ fǎ as an early corpus of mineral dissolution recipes.
- Tsien Tsuen-Hsuin. Translations of key passages in Needham vol. V.4.