Originally written for a Chinese audience, this book provides an exceptionally clear description of the Taoist practice of Internal Alchemy, or Neidan. The author describes the stages of the alchemical practice and clarifies several relevant terms and notions, including Essence, Breath and Spirit; the Cinnabar Fields; the "Fire Times"; and the Embryo. This book is based on the system of the Wuzhen pian (Awakening to Reality), one of the main sources of Internal Alchemy, and is enriched by about two hundred quotations from original Taoist texts. -- from back cover.