《唐王屋山中岩台正一先生庙碣》

Wei Yan, Recorder Aide (lushi canjun) of the Left Guard of Wei, spoke of this matter:

The immortals of old were able to grasp the root of the great Dao (the Way) and follow nature. Their spirits roamed without hindrance, and so they attained long life without death. They gathered many profound principles and ascended to the very source of the Dao. The transmission of the Dao first appears with Xuanyuan (Laozi), was established by the Celestial Master (Tianshi), was later enriched by Master Jianji and others, and was expounded most fully in the writings of Master Zhenbai.

Those who received the Dao of Zhenbai were called "Shengxuan," and Shengxuan passed it on to "Tixuan." Since the three Perfected Ones ascended to heaven, students of the Way have lacked a leader, and the Daoist lineage has needed someone to bear its burden. Might Heaven, then, have sent the Perfected Sima to be guide of the Daoist community? Otherwise, how could the profound models and efficacious Fulu (talismans and registers) he left behind fit the need so perfectly?

The Venerable Master came from the Sima clan, whose family lived for generations in Wen County, in the region of Jin, and in Pengcheng, and who were descendants of royalty. He was the grandson of Sima Chen, Commandant in Attendance, and the son of Sima Renzui, who served the Tang as Chief Administrator of both Xiangzhou and Huazhou. A long family line makes for a fine household tradition, and when loyal and worthy people appear one after another, extraordinary figures are bound to be born. Since antiquity there have been Perfected Ones who appeared in the world to benefit all beings, and Lord Mao, who attained the Dao through the practice of compassion. That the Master later attained the Dao must likewise have had its reasons.

The Master's name was Chengzhen, his courtesy name Ziwei, and his Daoist name Daoyin. He could speak from birth and understood principles in childhood, and Heaven endowed him with a striking appearance and an immortal nature. His fundamental aspiration was in accord with the Dao of Laozi. Pursuing this path deeply, he could continue the lineage of the inner teachings (the secret Daoist doctrines of cultivation) of Yang Xi and Xu Mi; practicing in silence, he could preserve his inner genuineness. His conduct was pure and his virtue outstanding, his insight into subtle principles was profound, and his thought reached the utmost limit of emptiness and stillness. Some thought that he was like a great bird in the dark heights, which worldly bonds could never hold or lure.

At twenty-one he first donned the robe and cap of a Daoist, entered the Way, and became a disciple of Master Tixuan, a eminent recluse of Mount Song in the Central Peak. The Master's mind was settled and his conduct simple, and he was indifferent to worldly affairs; his integrity could not be slighted, and he practiced diligently without weariness. Master Tixuan therefore saw that he was no ordinary person. Later, Master Tixuan transmitted to him in full the Scripture of the Golden Root (Jinken shangjing), the Secret Records of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen, Dongxuan, Dongshen), the deeds of the Perfected Xu, and the subtle teachings of Lord Tao.

The Master's comprehension was exceptional. He penetrated the realm of emptiness, stillness, and harmony, clarified the true meaning of the great Dao, and moved freely in profound and hidden realms. He once dreamed of a phoenix carrying a seal in its beak and placing it on his lawful desk; the seal was inscribed: "Conferred upon you, Perfected One of Shangqing of the Eastern Florescence." From then on he cherished life all the more, nourished his shen (spirit) and cultivated his nature, and devoted himself to regulating the breath, until his breathing was so deep that it seemed to enter and leave through his heels. After seven days of practice he could remain undisturbed by external things; after three months he seemed to forget his body; after a year he could roam in the realm of formlessness and non-being.

He carved out a retreat and withdrew from the world to cultivate himself, not in order to respond to the outside world. He gave free rein to song and immersed himself in inner cultivation, not to put on a display for others. Using marvelous arts to bewilder the foolish is not how the true Dao is preserved, and willingly taking a lowly position to secure one's safety is not a way of rising above the common world. The Master therefore devoted himself to spreading the great Dao and keeping its working unobstructed. He was also good at helping people and was unwilling to settle into comfort. He entered the palace to meet the emperor and was received with the court's courtesy; when he went out to meet the worthy men of his day at their invitation, many officials sought his counsel. His conduct was not bound by place, yet in handling affairs he left behind no boastful reputation. He received all quarters with an open mind and taught each person according to their needs, like sunlight shining on all or the wind blowing over the myriad things, letting each follow its own nature.

Sometimes he used external Fulu to bring about events; sometimes he used inner cultivation to gather in his shen and guard the vital passes. Sometimes he dwelled in stillness and met the assembled Perfected in secret; sometimes he rose through the obscure and walked quietly in the upper realms. These states are all difficult to fathom.

Later he traveled to Mount Gouqu and ascended the Huayang grotto-heaven, dwelled among the parasol trees, and entered the cave-dwelling of Lingxu. He visited Mount Dahuo and gathered immortal medicines from golden vials; he climbed Mount Heng and sought secret methods in a stone chamber. Along the way mountain spirits offered him medicines, celestial immortals transmitted scriptures to him, fierce beasts guarded his door, and wild birds circled his seat. Such experiences were too many to record one by one.

In the twelfth year of the Kaiyuan era, the emperor was restoring the Mingting Hall, hoping to make contact with the myriad spirits, and also planned a tour to the Fen River to seek out four immortals. He therefore summoned the Master to the inner palace to receive the Shangqing scriptures and methods, and built the Yangtai Temple on Mount Wangwu for him to live in. The Master considered that Mount Wangwu was the "Lesser Void Heaven" (the Daoist realm of immortals) and a gathering place of the Perfected, a place of secluded beauty where divine beings assembled; so long as the great Dao could be practiced, where could one not settle? He therefore went gladly and resolved to spend the rest of his life there.

Northwest of Yangtai Temple, on a high hill, he found the Zhongyan Terrace. Its terrain was lofty and far from the dusty world; above it joined the great altar, below it wound around a high mound, huge trees stood thick and sturdy, and a stream flowed murmuring into the Luo River. In the great valley he often raised dragons, on the mountain peaks he kept cranes, and in the Golden Cave he burned incense and by the stone window drew in fresh air.

In earlier times, a recluse had compiled a Daoist work, the Secret Instructions for Ascending to Perfection (Dengzhen yinjue), which discusses methods of visualizing the spirits and cultivating the self, but with many gaps. The Master therefore wrote the Secret Purport of Cultivating Perfection (Xiuzhen miezhi) in twelve chapters, which has circulated in the world. As for setting up the rites at dawn and ascending the altar at night to present petitions, using the power of ritual arts to petition the Three Officials and drive away the old miasmas of the hundred ghosts, this was done on the one hand to strengthen the fortune of the state and eliminate war, flood, and drought, and on the other to bring peace to the human world and spare people from calamities such as vagrancy and epidemic. All of this too was among the Master's works.

He set out in detail the methods of embracing the One, maintaining stillness, and returning to the root of the Dao, and he also possessed the arts of refining and nourishing jing (essence) and qi (vital energy), restoring the original source, and riding the movement of qi. He was therefore able to follow the workings of creation with ease and keep body and mind in harmony with the myriad things; in the face of change his heart was at peace, and in observing the movement of Yin-Yang his breast was open and vast. However great Heaven and Earth may be, how could they burden his clear spirit with turbid qi? However manifold the myriad things, how could they confine his tranquil shen?

On the eighteenth day of the sixth month of the yihai year, he turned to his attendants and said: "I have already received an appointment in the Mysterious Capital and cannot remain longer in the human world." He then arranged his affairs, sealed his documents, and seemed about to set out on a long journey. By dusk, red clouds came swirling and surged along the ground; clear flute music sounded, and he departed through the air. Everyone was astonished and thought he must have ascended to heaven. When they hurriedly opened the door and went in, only his transformed, shed body remained in the room.

Twenty-one days later, his disciples together held the funeral at Songtai in the northwest. He was posthumously granted the title Grand Master of Splendid Happiness with Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon, and the posthumous name "Zhenyi" (Perfect Unity); the emperor himself composed the stele inscription as a mark of honor.

His disciples said: "The Master lived for five hundred sixty-year cycles." They often saw that his body was like a cold pine and his mind like a bright mirror; in daily life he showed no swings of sorrow or joy, and in living he had no greed or cravings. When he once lived on Mount Song, pine trees grew behind the mountain; when he moved to Tailing, a spring welled up from the stone cliff to the east; when he lived in seclusion on the Southern Peak, black cranes covered the fields; and when he sat in forgetful stillness on this mountain, colored clouds filled his chamber.

In lofty bearing and transcendent conduct he resembled the Perfected of Huayang, and in reputation and writings he can rank alongside Baopuzi. He always took teaching and guiding others as his own responsibility. As for his realization of nature and the Dao, others had no way of knowing it. He could truly come and go freely within the gate of mystery and wield the true Dao with ease; he aided the world with deep and profound De (Virtue), proclaimed the ultimate principle, and swept away falsehood. When he soared ten thousand fathoms and wheeled through the four quarters, even those who argued by reason understood the principle and those who chased illusion submitted in their hearts. Is such a state not just like that of the immortals spoken of in antiquity, who ascended to heaven and roamed the mists and lived without dying?

Sima Gang, registrar of Baoding County in Hedong Commandery, is the Master's nephew. He received the Master's secret instruction, often studied in the meditation lodge, guarded the Daoist community, and diligently sought the immortal way. He therefore enlarged the Master's old residence and built a new temple. Holding that the way of the spirit immortals is not empty, he built the temple to offer sincere worship and to preserve the Master's memory. The temple is spacious and grand, with a spirit tablet set up for sacrifice; its eaves curve upward, tall pines stand green, uncanny echoes seem to sound in the air, and at night a round radiance lights up the surroundings, all of which seem truly marvelous.

Looking back on the Dao-attainers of the past, their wisdom was deep as rivers and seas; my teacher is present everywhere. The virtue of those Dao-attainers was high as hills, but my teacher is so high he cannot be climbed. Thus his fame has spread throughout the world and his deeds are recorded in the histories. Yet among those who truly drew near to him, who can portray his whole likeness or exhaust his virtues? The shrine is built to make manifest his sacred traces, and the stone is engraved to spread his teaching; may later generations remember the lingering legacy of Fuxiang and admire the deeds of their predecessor. As for the marvels of his writings, they are found in the collected works; the subtle principles of his responses and resonances are preserved in the inner biography.

Thereupon a eulogy is composed, saying:

When Heaven and Earth first opened, primordial chaos lay deep and obscure, and the upper realms stretched without limit. Though the Dao (the Way) has neither form nor sound, it responds to all things; the immortals who soar through the heavens likewise rely upon it. The Dao is profound and subtle, so who can fathom it? Were there no one who had truly attained the Dao, who could have handed it down?

A great Perfected One (zhenren) arose in answer to the times. He transcended what the world calls longevity, yet lived in seclusion and sought no fame. He withdrew into a realm of remote mystery, and yet was the first to appear, so that the Dao was once more spread abroad and transmitted. He refined and adorned the myriad phenomena of Heaven and Earth, and discerned the principles of the subtle and the hidden. By "the principles of the subtle," one means cultivating oneself and realizing the mysterious; by "the myriad phenomena of Heaven and Earth," one means diligent observation and broad examination. He aided and guided later students, setting forth his teaching in fitting ways. Those who had lost their path of return thereby learned where to turn, and those who yearned for the light all came to follow his example. Practicing within the Dao, they were in the end able to comprehend it.

In the end the Perfected One returned to a deep and distant realm, as though dissolving into formlessness. His merit made the regions of the land illustrious, and the hundred spirits (Shen) hastened to him. A person's life is fixed by destiny, yet whether one who cultivates the Dao may endure is said to be another matter. The immortals do not wait upon the passing of days and seasons; their names are entered in the registers of the immortals, and they stand apart from the rest.

Those who inherited his lineage include Master Zhenbai (Tao Hongjing) and Master Zhichuan (Ge Hong), whose attainment could shine alongside that of the Perfected One. Having been released from the mortal world and returned to the realm of the immortals, where did he go in the end? His banners have receded into the distance, and how many years has it been? Now I come beneath the spirit shrine and can only gaze in vain toward that deep and hidden realm of the immortals.

Note: The original contains a repeated passage after the character "玄" (xuan), and the text at "&39;" appears to be corrupted; the translation above follows the sense of the surrounding context.