In 1972, the uncorrupted body of the Marquise of Tai, who died 186B.C., was discovered in Ma-wang Tui, near Chhangsha, China. The body was so perfectly preserved that if the flesh was pressed, it deformed and then went back into place when released. It's still not known exactly how it was done, but the innermost of the four coffins contained an aqueous suspension of cinnabar.

dan tian


丹 dān: cannabar, pellet, red.

Cinnabar, mercury sulphide, was considered by external alchemsts a key element in the creation of the golden pill or pill of immortality, called in the west the philosopher's stone. Its red colour is highly auspicious, representing life, summer, south, and the emperor. It is the substance used to make red ink in calligraphy.

If treated in fire, cinnibar may eventually be purified into mercury, and then easily converted back into cinnibar. Thus it is symbolic of the alchemical process. The most potent cinnibar had been purified nine times.

The character shows a mine with a red mineral (the dot) being found within. Pleasingly, the character can also be thought of as an oven with a flame within.

On the other hand, it must also be pointed out that mercury is highly poisonous, and many people died trying to create the golden pill, including the first emperor. Even today, many people are suffering from mercury poisoning from amalgalm fillings.


田 tián: field.

The Chinese character is a pictograph of a field crossed by irrigation channels.


dān tián: elixir field, a major energy centre in the body

In the Taoist view, there are three dan tian in the body: lower (xià), middle (zhōng;) and upper (shàng;).

The dan tian can only be opened in order, from lower to upper. Building them can take a lifetime.

lower dan tian

The lower dan tian xià dān tián is located within the body about 3cm below the navel. It corresponds to the Japanese hara. Often it is referred to simply as dān tián .

The lower dan tian relates to the jing energy stored in the kidneys and to water energy.

At the front of the body, it relates to the acupuncture point CV6, qì hǎi or Sea of Qi on the Ren Mai (conception channel or vessel). Taoists call this the false (jia) Dan Tien because it cannot store qi.

At the back of the body, it relates to the acupuncture point GV4, ming men or door or life on the Du Mai (governing channel or vessel).

middle dan tian

The middle dan tian zhōng dān tián is located in the centre of the chest. It corresponds to the fourth or heart chakra. It relates to fire energy.

In the Chinese view, the middle dan tian cannot be opened until the lower dan tian is opened. This is another way of saying that to live from the heart, one must first satisfy the physical demands of the body.

upper dan tian

The upper dan tian shàng dān tián is located in the centre of the head. It corresponds to the sixth chakra.

As with other maps of the human energy body, the upper dan tian can be accessed both at the front and rear of the head.

In the forehead, it emerges between the eyebrows at the third eye, called by the Chinese yìn táng (Hall of Impressions). yìn táng does not appear on any meridian - it is one of the extra acupuncture points. The character yìn means seal or impression. Thus yìn táng is the place by which impressions are conducted to the mind.

At the back of the head, shàng dān tián is related to the Jade Pillow yù zhěn, which is at junction of the head and neck. It relates to a number of acupuncture points, including the Jade Pillow (BL9), and the Wind Palace (GV16).

The Chinese say that the jade pillow is also involved in the circulation of the cerebro-spinal fluid. I therefore believe it must be related to the fourth ventricle, which craniosacral therapists believe to be one of the most important energy centres in the body.

The Taoists also relate shàng dān tián closely to bǎi huì, GV20, the Hundred Gathering Point (the place where many energy channels in the body meet), which is also the seventh or crown chakra. This is the place where, in the final stage of Taoist internal alchemy, the spirit is projected from the body.

bǎi huì is also one of the meanings of ní wán (坭 丸 ) or the mud pill, so called because when it opens it feels soft like mud. This locates ní wán at the anterior fontanelle, the membraneous opening between the frontal and parietal bones in new-born babies. Typically of Taoist thought, this connects us to our embryological selves.

This article first published online 25th June, 2008 © Michael Lavocah.


© Michael Lavocah 2007 - 2009