In this video I attempt to recreate an excerpt account to levitate an egg from The Ten Thousand Infallible Arts of the Prince of Huainan.

Despite managing to reduce the weight of an egg by several grams, and even extracting the membrane beneath the shell all my attempts to levitate the egg or it membrane with a little kindling failed, simply setting on fire and making a stink.

I concluded that I was not trying hard enough and that if a psychotic monarch had expected me to make an egg levitate my survival instinct would surely kick in and help me find a solution.