狐丘，亦称狐刚子，中国道教中的一位杰出人物，以炼丹术著称。关于他的生卒年月和籍贯，在历史文献中并无确切记载。据现代学者陈国符先生的考证，他可能生活在晋代，与葛洪同期。在他的著作《五金诀》中，他被誉为“最大之外丹黄白师”。赵匡华先生则认为狐刚子的名字有多种形式，如胡罡子、狐罡子等，并将其定位为东汉末年的炼丹黄白术高手。
他与魏伯阳有师徒关系，而三国吴人葛玄似乎也曾受益于他的指导。狐刚子的著述深刻反映了当时中国的化学技术水平，是古代一位卓越的化学发明家。他留下的作品虽然零散，但其中包含了许多宝贵信息，比如《五金粉图诀》、《出金矿图录》、《河车经》、《玄珠经》等。
foxglove, also known as Fox Zhi, is a famous figure in Chinese alchemy. There is no reliable information about his birth and death dates or place of origin. According to modern scholar Chen Guofu's research, Fox Zhi may have lived during the Jin Dynasty, around the same time as Ge Hong. In his book "Wujin Ju," he was referred to as "the greatest external elixir yellow-white master." Another scholar, Zhao Kuanghua, believed that Fox Zhi's name had various forms such as Hu Gangzi and Fox Gangzi and identified him as an outstanding representative of alchemical practices for creating yellow-white elixirs during the late Eastern Han period.
Fox Zhi was said to have been a teacher of Wei Boyang and possibly a mentor to Qige Xuan (Ge Hong), who wrote about him in his works. The writings of Fox Zhi reflect the advanced level of chemical technology in China at that time and demonstrate him as one of ancient China's most accomplished inventors.
Although many records from his writings are scattered across different sources such as early Tang dynasty books like "Huangdi Jiuding Shendan Jingju" and Tang era texts on alchemy like "Longhu Huan Danju" and "Taigu Tudui Jing", it is unfortunate that not all of them could be preserved intact over time. Nevertheless, these fragments give us valuable insights into his contributions in fields such as gold mining exploration methods detailed in "Chukai Minguilu Lu," which provided crucial knowledge about gold ore extraction techniques; refining processes mentioned in works like "Shenjin Huan Danfa"; unique furnace designs described within texts including “Huochao Jing” for producing sulfuric acid; innovative approaches to manufacturing gold powder recorded by “Wujinfutuzhiku”; pioneering ideas on refining silver through closed-hearth smelting process reported by “Jindan Fa,” enabling significant improvements upon traditional methods; comprehensive understanding on mercury usage categorized into three types - xiong yuan (male mercury), ci yuan (female mercury) & sheng fei yuan (divine flying mercury) with corresponding production processes - demonstrated by manuscripts containing these descriptions; groundbreaking discoveries concerning lead chemistry documented within documents titled “Jiudan Fa,” encompassing procedures related to preparing lead-based elixirs.
In addition to these achievements within metallurgy science area where he made substantial advancements towards understanding properties between metals leading up its fusion capabilities alongside their performance characteristics were reflected amongst Chinese literature from Han-Jin periods which stands out due its rare nature amongst historical documentation reflecting this subject matter thus making it even more valuable for further study among scholars today while maintaining consistency with respect towards past generations' workmanship abilities throughout history
The following list provides some examples:
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