00:00These guys tried to hack immortality. Some succeeded, others drank mercury and died.
00:06Meet the Taoist alchemists. First, they tried Weidan, external alchemy. They brewed elixirs
00:12from mercury, lead, and arsenic, thinking immortal substances equals immortal bodies.
00:19Spoiler. Multiple emperors died from poisoning, so they pivoted to Nadan, internal alchemy.
00:25Instead of drinking toxins, they refined their own energy. They'd conserve Jing, transform it to Qi,
00:33then to Shen, the spirit. They'd circulate this energy up the spine in what they called
00:39the microcosmic orbit. Some claimed they could grow an immortal embryo inside them, a new energetic
00:46self. They mapped body systems 1,500 years before modern science. Start with your breath. Your body's
00:55been the lab all along.
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