狐丘，亦称狐刚子，炼丹高手。其生卒年月及籍贯不详，但据今人考证，约与葛洪同时期，为晋代人。狐刚子以《五金诀》闻名，该书中他被誉为“最大之外丹黄白师”。他的著述反映了东汉末年的中国炼丹术成就，是我国古代化学发明家中的佽傑。遗憾的是，他的作品未能完整流传下来，只有唐初的《黄帝九鼎神丹经诀》和唐代黄白术专著中保留了他在这一领域的一些重要佚文。
foxglove, also known as Fox Zuozi, a master of alchemy. His birth and death dates are unknown, but according to modern scholars, he was likely a contemporary of Ge Hong in the Jin dynasty. Fox Zuozi is renowned for his work "Five Gold Secrets," in which he is hailed as the "Greatest External Elixir Yellow White Master." His writings reflect the high level of achievement in Chinese alchemy during the late Eastern Han period, making him one of China's outstanding ancient chemists. Unfortunately, his works have not survived intact; only fragments can be found in early Tang dynasty texts such as "The Secret Classic of Divine Elixirs" and other treatises on yellow and white elixirs from that era.
Fox Zuozi's oeuvre includes several important works: "Five Gold Powder Diagram Secrets" (also known as "Powder Diagrams," "Five Gold Secrets," or "Fox Zuozi's Ten Thousand Gold Secrets"), "Mining Out Golden Minerals," "River Carriage Classics," and others. In addition to these texts, there is mention of his lost work titled “Golden Stone Heart Still Dan Method” recorded in the “Artistic Writings Brief” section.
As an expert in refining gold and silver into medicinal elixirs for longevity and immortality, Fox Zuozi proposed innovative methods that advanced knowledge significantly. For instance, his description of a furnace used to produce tin slag by blowing air through it reveals an understanding ahead of its time – this method predates similar techniques described by 8th-century Arab alchemists by five to six centuries.
Furthermore, Fox Zuozi discovered how to refine mercury from cinnabar using distillation under vacuum conditions before anyone else did so. This breakthrough had a profound impact on later generations who continued using this method until well into the Ming dynasty when Li Shizhen wrote about it in his compendium “Ben Cao Gang Mu.”
In another significant contribution to chemical history made possible through experimentation with water-soluble compounds like mercury salts (which were previously considered unworkable), foxglove developed new ways for refining mercury at high temperatures without losing much material – something that proved crucially advantageous considering water-based processes produced lower yields due to evaporation losses.
His innovations didn't stop at metallurgy alone; foxglove also explored various uses for lead within medical elixir production while developing novel methods involving multiple stages where raw materials underwent repeated heating cycles prior to final processing steps involving firebrick furnaces – all contributing substantially towards our understanding today regarding ancient applications related specifically with manufacturing pharmaceutical preparations containing metallic elements like copper oxides or zinc sulfides.
Overall then we may say: though there remain gaps left unfilled concerning specific details surrounding life events or personal connections among historical figures involved here - still do we find evidence suggesting strong influences running between periods throughout time leading up toward development furthering advancements beyond what initially seemed possible given available resources during earlier eras yet managed remarkably enough nonetheless bring us closer now towards more comprehensive comprehension than ever before!