elixir of life; alchemical cinnabar elixir
Historical term from ancient Chinese alchemy; refers to a potion made from cinnabar believed to grant immortality. Rare in modern Japanese outside of historical or fantasy contexts.
Ancient Chinese Taoists compounded mercury and sulfur in search of the elixir of life.
In the story, the sage drank the elixir of life and became immortal.
不老不死 means 'eternal youth and immortality' as a concept; 煉丹 is the substance that supposedly grants it.
alchemy; art of making elixirs
Standard kanji form for the alchemical elixir; 煉 suggests refining by fire.
Variant kanji form; 練 can also mean 'knead' or 'refine', but 煉丹 is more common for this term.
From Chinese 煉丹/炼丹 (liàndān), literally 'refined cinnabar'. The term entered Japanese through classical Chinese alchemical texts.