it may be a little too late to ask, but why do chinese authors are so obsessed over cauldrons?? like, every "pill" concocting/medicine master in the novels uses it. not sure how you ppl imagine it, but I only see it as a container, be it spheroid or cubic... not that diferent of a large pot, pan etc... its no wonder the refinement sucess chance is so low. my guess is they take it from some popular work or some old fable... it may be cause of past medics using it too.
Maybe due to significance in chinese culture? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ding_(vessel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Tripod_Cauldrons
When I hear cauldron I think about the cauldron witches have been said to be using (in various western media). From the chinese novels I've read they seem to be talking about the same thing, but who knows, maybe it is one of chinese tradition. Spoiler: Here's one of the ones I think about EDIT: Also, maybe the chinese authors think of western witches' potion making when writing about pill concocting and cauldrons?
*Snicker* A hot plate....LOL! Now that cultivation novel was worth reading. None of your cookie cutter cultivator Bullshit. Modernized Cultivation!
That's like asking why American action movies always use guns for shooting people, or use cars for racing. Why do knights always use armor? Why do samurais always use katanas? It is literally the cultural icon for that specific topic. Cauldrons in general are simply large pots. They may vary in appearance (i.e. have legs or no legs, a lid or no lid, etc), but that doesn't change their use. I mean, it's ancient China, it's not like they have the skills to create intricate distillations tubes and glass beakers.
Theres a whole lot of history behind it, from taoist alchemy to traditional Chinese medicine. But basically alchemy was chemistry. And the cauldron was a high temperature crucible that could "magically" extract essences from things like ore. (For example; take a funny colored rock grind it up and heat it just right and you could get shiny bronze or mercury.) Same with some medicines. But the secrets to making high temperature vessels were highly protected. So the special cauldrons became as much of a symbol as alchemists as the anvil to the blacksmith
I'm gonna quote something here "Potion making focuses on using a cauldron, and nothing else, to make their wares," Zorian said. "Yes," Silverlake agreed. "Sounds very foolish, doesn't it? A botched potion can release clouds of poisonous or mutagenic gas, explode in your face or splash all over you and melt your skin. Hell, a correctly made potion can be just as bad! Very often, old witches carried a mark of their minor failures in the form of scars, strange odors and skin diseases from the years of exposure to magical fumes and concoctions. Modern alchemy is much so much safer, so much more precise. Why, then, do you think the old witches do things in the way they did?" Zorian cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out what she was getting at. What's that got to do with anything? "Because it was… cheaper?" he tried. "Ha. Close," Silverlake said. "It's because alchemy, in its current form, requires an entire society built to enable it. Somebody has to build all the vials, containers, heaters, and other equipment. Somebody needs to grow, gather and track down the ingredients used in it. Somebody needs to transport and distribute it to those than need it… or have the right connections to use it. Somebody needs to guard the workshops full of valuable equipment from thieves and various miscreants. The old witches had access to none of that, so they had to make do with chucking things into a big iron cauldron and eyeballing things. It is, as you said, cheaper. Cheaper in terms of money and also cheaper in terms of social infrastructure needed to support it." "I see," Zorian said after a while. "These days there are virtually no witches that do not use alchemy in some form, in addition to their traditional cauldron-based skills," Silverlake continued. "The ancient covens would have considered us all heretics, I bet. But the ancient covens have all died out to my knowledge, and that's hardly an accident. Times change. The covens didn't and paid the price for it. Alchemy has its place… as does potion making. Don't be so quick to look down on it." "You made that entire long-winded speech just to deliver that little lecture at the end of it, didn't you?" Zorian huffed in annoyance.
This is a bit of a coincidence, Mother of Learning just updated yesterday, and this was a major part of that chapter. Spoiler: Mother of Learning quote "Potion making focuses on using a cauldron, and nothing else, to make their wares," Zorian said. "Yes," Silverlake agreed. "Sounds very foolish, doesn't it? A botched potion can release clouds of poisonous or mutagenic gas, explode in your face or splash all over you and melt your skin. Hell, a correctly made potion can be just as bad! Very often, old witches carried a mark of their minor failures in the form of scars, strange odors and skin diseases from the years of exposure to magical fumes and concoctions. Modern alchemy is much so much safer, so much more precise. Why, then, do you think the old witches do things in the way they did?" Zorian cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out what she was getting at. What's that got to do with anything? "Because it was… cheaper?" he tried. "Ha. Close," Silverlake said. "It's because alchemy, in its current form, requires an entire society built to enable it. Somebody has to build all the vials, containers, heaters, and other equipment. Somebody needs to grow, gather and track down the ingredients used in it. Somebody needs to transport and distribute it to those than need it… or have the right connections to use it. Somebody needs to guard the workshops full of valuable equipment from thieves and various miscreants. The old witches had access to none of that, so they had to make do with chucking things into a big iron cauldron and eyeballing things. It is, as you said, cheaper. Cheaper in terms of money and also cheaper in terms of social infrastructure needed to support it." "I see," Zorian said after a while. "These days there are virtually no witches that do not use alchemy in some form, in addition to their traditional cauldron-based skills," Silverlake continued. "The ancient covens would have considered us all heretics, I bet. But the ancient covens have all died out to my knowledge, and that's hardly an accident. Times change. The covens didn't and paid the price for it. Alchemy has its place… as does potion making. Don't be so quick to look down on it." Edit: just saw someone posted this before me
My guess? First you make a concoction in the cauldron (typical witch thing), where mixing of ingredients is very easy (that's its thing),then you slowly dry that into a paste. You remove the paste from the cauldron then mix it with some sort of solid, like crumbled medicinal plants or powdered minerals or bones, and shape it into a pill.
Long time never read MoL, so hows the latest? Is Zorian still a softie till the bitter end? When the hell the time loop ends? Isn't the world about to end? Where is the most interesting character Red Rode (or hood or whatever) at?
You wanna see a reactor xD? I've always wanted to see a chemical engineer transmigration CN. But , meh, for example the mc of Immortal mortal was the best botanist in his past life , yet his knowledge can't compare to the Alchemy of the cultivation world . Magic > science :c
I think a lot of people are confusing European cauldrons used by witches and Chinese dings(also cauldrons). While both have been used for cooking, their background history is different.