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The Jindan Database (JDB) is the first result of discussions held in the past years with Isabelle Robinet and Monica Esposito. Its purpose is to provide an environment to enter, edit, select, and export lexicographical data concerned with Chinese alchemy in both of its main forms, waidan 外丹 and neidan 內丹. The selected records can be exported to a PDF file, where they appear in dictionary format.

[See a PDF file with a small subset of the Jindan Database.]

1. Contents

The JDB currently (October 2004) contains about 2,600 terms and examples drawn from the following sources:

• "Jindan wenda" 金丹問答, in Xiuzhen shishi 修真十書 (CT 263), 10.1a-14b (entire text, ca. 140 records)
• "Jindan faxiang" 金丹法象, in Ziyang zhenren wuzhen zhizhi xiangshuo sansheng biyao 悟真直指詳說三乘祕要 (CT 143), 25a-33a (entire text, ca. 580 records)
• Shiyao erya 石藥爾雅 (CT 901) (entire text, ca. 500 records)
• Chen Zhixu's 陳致虛 commentary to the Zhouyi cantong qi 周易參同契 (input currently in progress)
• Huangting neijing jing 黃庭內景經, with the commentary attributed to Wucheng zi 務成子 (input currently in progress)

The remaining records have been drawn from the Daojiao dacidian 道教大辭典 (Great dictionary of Taoism; Huaxia chubanshe, 1994). They concern the following sources, as well as other sources quoted in the relevant entries:

• Daoshu 道樞
• Jindan dayao 金丹大要
• Jindan sibai zi 金丹四百字
• Wuzhen pian 悟真篇 (with notes by various commentarors)
• Xingming guizhi 性命圭旨
• Zhonghe ji 中和集
• Zhouyi cantong qi 周易參同契 (with notes by various commentarors)

2. Main elements

The three main elements in each record of the JDB are the term, the source, and the example (an "example" is a sentence or a passage found in a primary source that illustrates the use of a term; this includes notes found in traditional commentaries).

3. Creating new records

The JDB provides three ways to create new records. Records can be created manually (in a dedicated Input Layout), or can be imported from an existing word-processor file (containing at least a term and a relevant example, and optionally any other element that should appear in the record), or can be imported from an existing external database that contains a layout and scripts to support this function.

4. Working with terms [See a screenshot of the Term & Definitions Area]

In order to work with the single terms, the JDB provides the following main functions.

1. The pinyin transcription and the English translation appear automatically in the Term Area if a newly entered term already exists in the database. Both the pinyin transcription and the English translation can be edited in any record, and changes apply to all occurrences of that term in the database.
2. All occurrences of a term in the JDB can be selected, including those in which the term occurs as part of another term. The selected terms are sorted according to the Big5 sort order.
3. All occurrences of any Chinese character that is part of a term can be selected and displayed in a separate window, which lists all terms containing that character. Clicking on a term in this list displays the relevant records in the database.
4. A "Term Type" pop-up menu makes it possible to assign a term to one of several categories (e.g., "Cosmological term", "Term related to the human body", "Mineral or metal"). All terms assigned to one category can be displayed in list mode, and sorted according to differernt criteria.
5. The pinyin transcription of any Chinese character that is part of a term can be displayed by clicking on the "Pinyin" button in the Buttons Area, and then choosing one of the Chinese characters that appear in the Buttons Area. The transcription appears in a button next to the "Pinyin" button. This button, when clicked, opens an external database containing data on the characters found in the Unihan set. [See a screenshot of the Buttons Area]

5. Working with definitions [See a screenshot of the Term & Definitions Area]

The JDB provides two ways to facilitate the choice and input of definitions:

1. A Current Definitions table displays a complete list of records concerned with the same term in the JDB, as well as the definitions currently entered for that term. The list is sorted alphabetically according to the definitions.
2. An existing definition shown in the Current Definitions table can be assigned to the present occurrence of a term by clicking on a right-pointing arrow found next to the definition. The relevant definition is copied to the present record. This helps to avoid that a single definition is entered in slightly varying forms (e.g., "Real Yang" or "Authentic Yang").

6. Working with sources [See a screenshot of the Source Area]

To work with the single sources, the JDB provides the following two main functions:

1. All records found in a single source can be selected, and optionally be displayed in a separate window, which lists all terms found in that source. Clicking on a term in that list selects the relevant records in the database.
2. Data concerning Daozang texts are drawn from the Daozang Database (DDB); the relevant DDB record can be opened from within the JDB.

7. Reference materials [See a screenshot of the Reference Area]

The JDB supports the input and display of several types of reference materials, including data drawn from the Daojiao dacidian 道教大辭典 (Great dictionary of Taoism; Huaxia chubanshe, 1994). When relevant, this area also displays buttons to open Ding Fubao's 丁福保 Fojiao dacidian 佛教大辭典 (Great dictionary of Buddhism; Wenwu chubanshe, 1984) and a bibliography in two external windows.

Each record, moreover, contains a field to enter notes on the term (these notes are visible in all records concerned with the same term), and a field to enter notes on the example (each record hosts a different note).

8. Selecting records for export

Records can be selected for export. A List Layout provides an overview of selected records, and makes it possible to sort records in different ways.

9. Printing the JDB as a PDF file

Records in the JDB can be "printed" to a PDF file by clicking on the "Print PDF" button. This button performs several functions in sequence: (a) it selects all records marked as "selected for export", (b) it sorts the selected records by pinyin transcription; (c) it opens the Print dialogue where the "Print as PDF" option can be chosen.

The PDF file is arranged in dictionary format. Each entry includes a heading showing the term in pinyin transcription, Chinese characters, and English translation. The examples are arranged according to the definitions assigned to the term in the JDB. They include the Chinese text and the English translation of both the example and the traditional commentary (if data drawn from a commentary are entered in the database). The PDF file can be searched.

[See a PDF file with a small subset of the Jindan Database.]