七返丹

qīfǎndān

noun

Measure Word

一粒七返丹 lì

Meanings

1 seven-return elixir
2 a legendary Daoist pill said to bestow long life and cultivation
3 miracle pill in wuxia fiction

Characters

return, cycle back

elixir, cinnabar pill

Examples

传说七返丹能延年益寿。

Chuánshuō qīfǎndān néng yánnián-yìshòu.

Legend has it the seven-return elixir prolongs life.

武侠小说里，主角吃了七返丹内力大增。

Wǔxiá xiǎoshuō lǐ, zhǔjiǎo chīle qīfǎndān nèilì dà zēng.

In wuxia novels, the hero's inner power leaps after swallowing a seven-return pill.

他吹嘘自己的秘方是现代版七返丹。

Tā chuīxū zìjǐ de mìfāng shì xiàndài bǎn qīfǎndān.

He brags his secret recipe is a modern-day elixir of immortality.

Tips

culture

A staple of Daoist alchemy and wuxia fiction. 七返 = refined seven times (the more cycles, the more potent). Close cousin of 九转金丹. Dongfang Yu's 《七步惊龙》 claimed one pill equalled twenty years' cultivation.

Stroke Order

七 qī

返 fǎn

丹 dān