Chinese alchemists were aware that the metallic compounds produced in their furnaces were highly poisonous .
Alchemists believed that the practitioner would suffer only an apparent death while in fact passing into the heavens without dying ( Bokenkamp 1997 : 291 ; Smith 2013 : 284 ) .
Chinese alchemists were aware that the metallic compounds produced in their furnaces were highly poisonous , but they believed that the practitioner would suffer only an apparent death while in fact passing into the heavens without dying ( Bokenkamp 1997 : 291 ; Smith 2013 : 284 ) .