A Collection of Zhong and Lu’s Alchemy Learning is a record of Zhong Li-Quan and Lu Dong-Bin’s discussion of inner alchemy in the form of question-answer series. Its discussion is divided into 18 topics: “On the True Immortals,” “On the Regular Patterns of the Universe,” “On the Sky and the Earth,” “On the Sun and the Moon,” “On the Four Seasons,” “On the Five Elements,” “On Water and Fire,” “On Dragon and Tiger,” “On Elixirs,” “On Lead and Mercury,” “On Extraction and Addition,” “On Heche” , “On Huandan,” “On Body Practice,” “On Chaoyuan,” “On Visualizing the Inside,” “On Trials,” and “On Verifications.” Later succeeded and passed on by Shi Jian-Wu, the book is regard as one of the two important classics of “Zhong and Lu’s alchemy learning”—the other one is Lingbao Bifa, which places emphasis on practice of methods.
The first part of the article is an arrangement of previous research results in chronological order, including dissertations and theses on Zhong and Lu’s alchemy in Taiwan, dissertations and theses on Zhong and Lu’s alchemy in the mainland, journals in Taiwan, journals in the mainland, conference papers, and specialized books.
The second part sorts out the eighteen special topics of inner alchemy practice in A Collection of Zhong and Lu’s Alchemy Learning and discusses them with five themes. It also discusses and compares A Collection of Zhong and Lu’s Alchemy Learning and thoughts of traditional The Book of Changes studies. Then it analyzes and discusses the three topics of “on the Sky and the Earth,” “On the Five Elements” and “On Huandan” in the aspect of the image-number sect of The Book of Changes studies and brings out the main points of the article’s research results.
The final part demonstrates the influence of A Collection of Zhong and Lu’s Alchemy Learning on later The Book of Changes studies. The conclusion part is “the article’s main points and closing comments” and “the article’s self-examination and the possible directions of the author’s follow-up research.”