Definition
炼金术 (alchemy) covers both the Western medieval practice of transmuting base metals into gold and the Chinese Daoist art of concocting elixirs of immortality. It is distinct from modern metallurgy, and in figurative use it can refer to speculative financial techniques such as 金融炼金术 ('financial alchemy').
noun
alchemythe medieval chemical science that aimed to turn base metals into gold
n.
(noun, Chinese context) the Daoist practice of making elixirs of immortality
Examples
- 炼金术，。liàn jīn shù shì yì mén gǔ lǎo de xuéwèn, shìtú bǎ pǔtōng jīnshǔ biànchéng huángjīn.Alchemy is an ancient study that attempts to turn base metals into gold.
- ，炼金术。Zài Zhōngguó gǔdài, liàn jīn shù yě zhǐ liànzhì chángshēng bù lǎo yào de fāngfǎ.In ancient China, alchemy also referred to methods of concocting elixirs of immortality.
- 炼金术。Zhè běn shū xiángxì jièshào le zhōngshìjì Ōuzhōu de liàn jīn shù lìshǐ.This book details the history of alchemy in medieval Europe.
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