《茅山志》Vol. 3

Furong: This is the place where people live today. To the east there is a transverse ridge, entirely of stone, with extraordinarily strange and wondrous shapes, full of holes and cavities. To the southwest there is a great stone cliff, towering and split open, with a cave inside; after entering several zhang it gradually narrows, so that it can no longer accommodate a person, and there is a whistling sound of wind.

Jinjun Mountain: In the hollow east of Jijin Mountain, it is a small stand-alone mountain. Lord Dinglu (a deity worshipped at Maoshan) said it is a spur of Gouqu Mountain (the ancient name of Maoshan), named Jun Mountain. This mountain is very fine. Tao the Recluse (Tao Hongjing, styled Huayang the Recluse) said: People today no longer know that there is a Jun Mountain; the shape of this mountain should be isolated like a mushroom, or perhaps it is the qun in “cangqun” (“granary”), shaped like a grain bin. According to this, behind Great Mao Mountain at Chang’a and east of Jijin Mountain, in the hollow there is a small mountain standing alone, like a Boshan censer (a type of incense burner), and close to Jijin—this is precisely that mountain.

Huamu Mountain: South of Chongxi Palace (a Maoshan temple). In former times the female immortal Sun Hanhua cultivated the Dao here; there was a shrine, long since abandoned. At night this mountain often displays lights; some think it is the numinous qi of elixir mushrooms, and local residents often see it.

Dinggong Mountain: North of Chongxi Palace. According to tradition, Ding Lingwei (a legendary immortal of Liaodong) ascended to immortality here in the early Han. It is not known how, being far away in Liaodong, he could have come so far to this mountain. Could it be that after completing the Dao he was able to divide his body and go wherever he wished?

Ding Mountain: East of Gongchen Valley. Huzhao Mountain: West of Ding Mountain.

Leiping Mountain: Above Leiping Pond. Lord Dinglu said: Opposite the residence currently being built by Xu Changshi (the Director of the Secretariat in the Maoshan Daoist community), to the east, there is a small mountain called Leiping Mountain. In the Zhou dynasty the Lei family once raised dragons here.

Yugang Mountain: Northeast of Lesser Mao Mountain, also called Daheng Mountain. Dense trees cover it, and seen from afar it is lush and dark green, hence the name. Lord Dinglu said: East of Leiping Mountain is what ordinary people call Daheng Mountain; its real name is Yugang Mountain. The Gang Mountain mentioned in the Record of Famous Mountains is this one. In former times Li Ming compounded and refined the divine elixir here and ascended to immortality. By the water’s edge on the islet there are still traces to this day; the place was anciently called the Elixir-Refining Court.

Fangyu Mountain: The Zhengao (Declarations of the Perfected), a Shangqing (Highest Clarity) scripture, says that northeast of Leiping Mountain and southeast of Liangchang Mountain, three small Yankou hills face one another at the corners; this is called Fangyu Mountain. The ancients once refined the Nine Tripods Elixir (Jiuding Dan), the name of a Daoist Waidan (external alchemy) elixir, here. During his lifetime the Yinren (Hidden Person; a recluse, referring to Xu Yuan) was very fond of living here, and even now he often roams this place. The Yinju (by Tao Hongjing, whose sobriquet was Yinju) says: the place where Li Ming refined elixirs, mentioned above, is precisely here. The Yinren was Xu Yuan, who after his death did not wish to reveal his name and therefore called himself Yinren.

Sangong Mountain lies southeast of Yankou Cave. Qingshan lies east of Yugang; a mountain to its west is called West Qingshan. Magu Mountain lies west of Yugang. Xianzhu Mountain lies south of Leiping Mountain; the Yukui Ji (Record of the Jade Casket) says that its common name is Dunü Mountain. Dugong Mountain lies north of Xiaomao (Xiaomao Peak). Xiaozhu Mountain lies east of Xiaomao.

Liangchang Mountain: The Taiyuan Neizhuan (Inner Biography of the Grand Origin) says that a mountain at the mouth of Chuidong north of Maoshan is called Liangchang Mountain; it is also connected to Juqu Mountain (the ancient name of Maoshan). In fact, these are different names for the same mountain. In the tenth month, on the guichou day, of the thirty-seventh year of Qin Shi Huang, he set out on a tour. In the eleventh month he arrived at Yunmeng (an ancient marsh), sacrificed to Yu Shun at Jiuyi Mountain, and taking a boat downriver, viewed the scenery. He passed Jike, crossed at Meizhu, went through Danyang, arrived at Qiantang, and came to the Zhejiang (Qiantang River). Because the waves were dangerous, he went west for 120 li and crossed at a narrow point. He ascended Kuaiji Mountain, sacrificed to Xia Yu, gazed far toward the South Sea, and at Kuaiji erected a stone inscription praising Qin’s virtue.

The Maoshan Zhi records that when Qin Shi Huang reached Mount Kuaiji, after Li Si petitioned for an inscription to be made (carving stone to record his achievements), the First Emperor then toured back through the mountains and rivers, climbed the northern slope of Jiuqu Mountain (the ancient name of Maoshan), buried a pair of white jade disks, met with his assembled officials, and feasted the accompanying officers. The First Emperor sighed and said: among the pleasures of imperial inspection tours, none surpass viewing the mountains and seas; from now on, this should indeed become a regular practice. The assembled officials then all offered congratulations, saying, “Truly this is a fine regular practice.” They also beat great drums and struck great bells; the multitude sang in unison, and the sound shook the mountains and marshes. Music was played to announce the auspicious omen, and high and low alike regarded it as excellent. Thereupon the northern slope of Jiuqu Mountain was renamed “Liangchang zhi Shan” (Mount Liangchang), and from this the name “Liangchang” derives.

The gazetteer also says: southwest of Liangchang Mountain there is a habitable place; it was formerly a separate residence of Lord Siming (the Daoist deity who governs destiny), and one may also compound elixirs there. Southeast of Liangchang Mountain there is another habitable place, where stones should be piled into an enclosing shape; occasionally there are parasitic trees whose forms resemble curved carriage canopies. This spot is quite suitable, except that the terrain is shallow and narrow; even so, it is adequate in itself. Northwest of the cave entrance there is a plot of land that is somewhat perilous and unsettled, but sufficient for building an outer lodge (quarters outside the mountain dwelling).

Taiwang Mountain lies on Dingjiao Road, northeast of Liangchang Mountain. It is a small pointed mountain, with paths both on the summit and at the foot. Qin Shi Huang once halted on this mountain and looked back at the hills. Longwei Mountain extends from a ridge of Damiao Peak straight to the Jintan district east of the mountain, just like an outer dragon. Sanjiao Mountain is north of Huagai Peak. Haijiang Mountain is above Qingyun Cave. Yundui Mountain is south of Huangfu Valley.

Xianfei Mountain (that is, Xianjiu Mountain): The Zhengao, a Shangqing (Supreme Clarity) classic, says that Jiang Shumao planted the five pungent vegetables—pungent vegetables commonly used in Daoism—in exchange for cinnabar, the raw material for elixir-making. Tao Hongjing (sobriquet Yinju) said: It is now called Jiushan, west of Great Mao Peak; there are many large chives there, and it is popularly called Shilong Mountain.

Aozu Mountain is west of Xianjiu Mountain. Daling Mountain and Xiaoling Mountain are both west of Aozu Mountain. Zhushan Mountain is south of Dieyu Peak. Haoshan Mountain: Tao Hongjing said that going south from Great Mao, one passes Jiushan, Zhushan, Haoshan, and Fangshan, with mountain ridges rising in tiers and stretching all the way to Haoxing (the present-day Wuxing area) and the various Tianmu mountains. Fangshan Mountain: The Zhengao says that southwest of Great Mao there is Siping Mountain; what is popularly called Fangshan is this mountain. Tao Hongjing said: This mountain is about twenty li from Great Mao, and there are caves at its foot.

Peaks: Soulun Peak is the peak connected to the east of Great Mao; this is recorded in the Jigu ji pian (Chapter on Investigating Ancient Traces). Five Clouds Peak is southeast of Jijin Peak and faces Jijin Peak. In former times the Three Mao Lords (Sanmao jun—Mao Ying, Mao Gu, and Mao Zhong) each appeared atop the peak riding flying clouds; the common people all saw them, and the regional military governor also reported it to the court. The imperial edict said in substance: Because of this, auspicious clouds were brilliant, the forms of the immortals were clearly visible, and they could evenly emit five-colored radiance that covered all the summits of the Three Mao. At that time Xu Changshi (Xu Mi, who had served as Chief Secretary) was in the capital; he often bowed from afar toward this direction and often said: “Gazing afar at the Three Xiu (referring to the Three Mao), in silence one single-mindedly focuses one’s thoughts—thus one can achieve spiritual communion; this is the intent of the high Perfected.” Daozu Peak is north of Jijin Peak. Dieyu Peak is east of Great Mao. Huagai Peak is east of Dieyu. Baiyun Peak is west of Middle Mao. Baopu Peak is the peak connected to the north of Great Mao.

Changyin Ridge is also called Fulong Ridge. Tao Hongjing said: This ridge is on the south bank of the pool of Zhenren Guo (Perfected Guo); it is a long, gentle mountain ridge whose terrain is concealed, hence the name. The ridge is entirely fine stones and unsuitable for dwelling, except for the stretch near the southeast, between the Chief Secretary’s residence and Leiping.

The You Ke Zhu (There Is a Place to Live) says: This ridge lies on the south bank of Perfected Guo’s pool. A long, gently sloping mountain ridge, faintly screen-like, gave it its name. The ridge is entirely covered with fine stones and is not suitable for habitation; only toward the southeast, between the Chief Secretary’s residence and Leiping, are there quite a few spots where people can live. Jiang Fuchu and others from Yixing (present-day Yixing, Jiangsu) built dwellings at the foot of the ridge, about four or five li from the Chief Secretary’s residence.

Wuzhi Ridge is at the Huayang South Cavern. Taohuaqi lies north of Lesser Mao; its woods and valleys are deep and secluded, and in spring flowers and plants flourish there, no different from the Peach Blossom Spring of Wuling. Gongchen Valley, also called Gongchen Stockade, is northeast of Middle Mao. Master Liu received imperial favor, and Yuanfu Palace was built for him; the court also ordered two hundred soldiers from Jiangning (present-day Nanjing) to patrol and sweep, and so a stockade was established in this valley—see the Song History for details. Huangfu Valley is at Sanjiao Mountain; Zhizi Valley is north of Sanjiao Mountain; Black Tiger Valley is west of Chang’a between Middle Mao and Lesser Mao.

As for “caverns,” the Perfected said: The empty space in heaven is called “kong” (void); the empty space in mountains is called “dong” (cavern); the empty space in humans is called “fang” (chamber). The empty interior of a mountain’s belly is called a “dongting” (cavern court), and the empty interior of a human head is called a “dongfang” (cavern chamber). Thus the Perfected can dwell in heaven, in mountains, and in humans—what is meant by “coming and going without obstruction.” Heaven and earth have mountain caverns just as the human body has acupoints; these are places where Shen (spirit) and Qi (vital energy) circulate. The Taiyuan Neizhuan says: The cave palace of Mount Juqu (the ancient name of Mount Mao) has five gates: two side gates on the south, one side gate each on the east and west, and one great side gate on the north, five gates in all. The Yinju (Retired Recluse) by Tao Hongjing says: Today the Great Cavern south of the mountain is the western side gate of the south; the eastern gate seems to be in Wuzhi Ridge; the Northern Liangchang Cavern is the great northern side gate; but the east and west gates have not yet become clearly evident. Lord Dinglu (an immortal of Mount Mao) revealed: The eastern side gate is at the Xiao’a entrance east of Middle Mao; the western side gate should therefore be at the corresponding location.

This passage states that the side gate on the western side of the Shifen area is now called the “West Side Gate of Shifenmian”; the eastern gate seems to lie in Wuzhilong; Liangchang Cave to the north is the great northern side gate, while the positions of the eastern and western side gates are not clearly revealed. Lord Dinglu (Dinglu Jun, one of the Perfected Lords venerated at Mount Mao) once said that the eastern side gate is at the Xiao’a mouth east of Middle Mao Mountain; therefore the western side gate should be at the place now called Shifen.

Huayang South Cave lies in Xiangzhilong below Great Mao Mountain. Pei Su (courtesy name Zhongming), prefect of Yuezhou in the Tang dynasty, once placed a pine-seed stone offering table here for worshiping the true spirits.

Mao Cave lies below the stone altar of Yuanyang Abbey and is the western side gate of the south. Lord Dinglu said: south of Great Mao Mountain there is a small opening called the South Side Gate; if one is sincere, pure, and observant of fasting, directs the heart toward Siming (the Perfected Lord Siming, Director of Destinies), and often faces the mountain to invoke and pray, one will naturally be able to see me. When sincerity reaches its utmost, what is there in the Yin Palace that cannot be seen? What sort of person, after all, was Zuo Ci (the Eastern Han Daoist)?

As for the eastern side gate of Huayang Cave, Lord Dinglu said: east of Middle Mao Mountain there is a small opening, no more than a dog hole, barely large enough for a person to enter; the farther in one goes, the wider it becomes. Outside, a flat boulder blocks the cave mouth, leaving only a cup-sized hole and letting mountain spirits stand guard. This boulder-covered opening often opens, and it is called the A Gate of the Yin Palace. If you diligently fast and search for it, you can enter from here; it is easier than the mouth of Liangchang Cave. Liangchang Cave has many sandy paths, is winding and remote, and requires passing through watery places, which is rather inconvenient; moreover, the route is long, so it is not as good as Xiao’a. From the cave mouth, going straight down three or four li leads directly to the Eastern Xuanye Gate of the Yin Palace. Unless one has already become an immortal, one cannot enter through this gate.

Huayang West Cave lies below the eastern ridge of Jijin Mountain; it is the Jijin Mountain Cave mentioned in the Yinju (by Tao Hongjing, styled Huayang Yinju), the place with a whistling wind. In successive dynasties, when the Golden Register Zhaijiao (Jinlu Zhaijiao, purification ritual) was held, dragon slips were deposited here (tou longjian, the Daoist ritual of depositing prayer slips); unless one has already become an immortal, one cannot enter this gate either.

Huayang West Cave lies below the eastern ridge of Jijin Mountain; it is the Jijin Mountain Cave mentioned in the Yinju (Living in Reclusion), and a soughing wind is often heard inside. In successive dynasties, when Golden Register (Jinlu) Zhaijiao rituals were held, Dragon Slips (Longjian)—golden dragons, jade tablets, and the like—were cast into this cave or into water shrines to inform the mountain and river deities. This is also the West Side Gate.

Liangchang Cave is the Great Side Gate north of Huayang and is governed by Lord Baoming (the Lord Who Protects Life). Lord Dinglu (the Lord Who Fixes Records) once declared: from the cave mouth at the northern edge of Liangchang, facing straight toward the mountain ridge and going two hundred paces south, there are a pair of white jade discs buried by Qin Shi Huang; on the ridge above, a small flat stone covers the burial place. Li Si carved an inscription on the cliff face, saying: “The First Emperor’s sage virtue brings order to the mountains and rivers; on an inspection tour of the verdant streams, he had this inscription cut into a white jade disc.” For all the mountains and rivers through which Qin Shi Huang passed, sacrifices were made with jade discs, and this was not limited to Gouqu (the ancient name of Maoshan). The stone altar north of the cave is where Perfected Xu burned incense, performed worship, and achieved liberation and transformation into an immortal. The phrase “ending at the North Cave” in the Zhengao (Declarations of the Perfected), an important Shangqing text compiled by Tao Hongjing, refers to this.

Luogu Cave lies west of Jinjun Mountain and is associated with Luo Yu, the female immortal of Jiuyi Mountain. Gaoju Cave and Luogu Cave are bounded by a rock. Yuzhu Cave is south of Huayang West Cave; inside, stalactites have accumulated, and the walls are so narrow that only one person can pass. Huamu Cave is on Huamu Mountain and is named after Sun Hanhua. Dengdu Cave is at Ziyang Abbey; its story appears in the Louguan section. Little Azure Dragon Cave is above the Cinnabar Spring west of Xiaomao Mountain. Tianchuang (Sky Window) Cave is on Jijin Mountain. Biyan (Green Cliff) Cave is behind Chongshou Abbey; at the top of the cave is Qinqi Pavilion, and ancient trees and the foundations of a high, steep structure still remain. Female Immortal Cave is thirty paces east of Biyan Cave; looking down from its mouth, it resembles a well. According to tradition, the daughter of Perfected Ren attained the Dao here, underwent transformation, and withdrew into hiding. Wuzhi Cave is south of the Golden Ox Cavity; in the past, someone explored into the cave and heard the wind and waves of Lake Tai and the sound of oars. Qingyun Cave lies below Haijiang Mountain.

Black Tiger Cave: located to the left of the Jiuxi Stele at Huayang South Cave.

Yellow Dragon Cave: located to the right of the Jiuxi Stele.

Southern Dipper Cave: located at Miaofa Hermitage on Sanjiao Mountain, the place of the female Daoist official (a female Daoist priest).

Sea Spring Cave: located in Huangpu Valley; the source of the spring is unfathomably deep.

Water Dragon Cave: located below Baiyun Peak.

Swallow Mouth Cave: located on the southern side of Fangyu Mountain, with a cave chamber. The female immortal Qian Miaozhen underwent dunhua here (a Daoist term for leaving the world and becoming an immortal). In the fifth year of Chunyou (a reign period of Emperor Lizong of Song), Inspector Xiahou Jiazhen and Daoist priests from Jianlong Abbey went into the cave to cast dragon slips (a Daoist ritual in which prayer dragon slips are cast into caves, mountains, and rivers to communicate with spirits and seek blessings). That night thunder shook the air and the cave gate opened. A clerk from a government office went deep into the cave, met a Daoist priest, and received a laiqin fruit (Malus asiatica); after eating it, he no longer ate the five grains.

Fangyu Cave: located on Fangyu Mountain. The Zhengao says that Fangyu Cave has two entrances, one of which is Swallow Mouth Cave; the cave is named Fangyuan Lodge, and to the south it leads to Fang Mountain south of Greater Mao Mountain; it also has two entrances visible on the outside.

Fuzi Cave: located on the mountain opposite Liangchang Mountain. Confucius never visited the Wu region; it is unclear why it received this name.

Fangtai Cave: located below Fang Mountain, with a cave chamber; two entrances are visible outside, and it connects with Huayang Cave. It is called the Separate Abode and Secluded Lodge, a place where those who attained the Dao lived; people of the world call it White Stone Cave.

Green Dragon Cave: located on Jizhen Mountain (also written Jiji Mountain; people today call it Yatou Mountain, on the border of Liyang Prefecture), more than ten li from Fang Mountain. The Yinju says that there is a large-mouthed stone cave there; formerly someone went deep into the cave and saw a large green snake, so everyone called it Green Dragon Cave. The interior is broad and deeply winding; ordinary people can reach the area near the entrance.

Huagai Crag: located above Shimo Pool. In the late Song dynasty, Zhang Xun, a county magistrate summoned by imperial decree, chose to live in front of the crag.

Houxian Crag: located a few paces east of Biyan Cave.

Wubao Cliff lies below Biyan Cave.

Biyu Cliff stands above Dangu Spring.

Zhongzhen Cliff is beside Mao Cave.

The cliff where Zhenren Qian (the Perfected Qian) recited scriptures is above Yankou Cave.

The Golden Ox Grotto lies east of Wuzhi Cave. During the Qin dynasty someone mined gold here and dug up a golden ox. When a woman touched it, the ox broke free and was flung away, and it could never be recovered. People chased the ox as far as Dingjiao, and that place therefore received the names Shanglan and Xialan. Another account calls it “Hongniu” [Shooing the Ox]; in the end the ox ran into the sea and was never seen again. The Yudi Zhi (Treatise on Geography) also records a stone at this place.

Qushui Grotto is below Biyan.

(Here ends juan 6 of the Maoshan Zhi.)

Maoshan Zhi, Juan 7

Compiled by Liu Dabin, hereditary patriarch of Shangqing

Chapter on Surveying the Divine Region

Waters

The East and West Chu King Ravines: the old gazetteer records that these are the two ravine streams east of Chongxi Abbey. They join with the three streams of Huayang West Cave and flow on to the front of Chongxi Abbey. In former times King Wei of Chu once roamed and rested here, hence the name. The Yinju says: To the east of the recluse’s present dwelling there is a transverse ridge; to the southwest is a great stone wall, within which is a cave. A few steps outside the cave there is a spring that wells up, its clear stream flowing without cease winter and summer. This is the water source on which Xiajie (that is, Chongxi Abbey) relies. Near the outer mouth of the cave there is another spring; its current is relatively swift and wells upward, warm in winter and cool in summer, directly facing Luqian Xiaojin. Below there is yet another spring cavity, very unusual: whether in great floods or great droughts, its volume never increases or decreases; the water is slightly white and sweet, and it pours forth softly and inexhaustibly. It is only a pity that they all lie on the west side of the mountain and cannot flow east. Note: the transverse ridge is Dongling; Xiajie is Chongxi Abbey; these waters are the Chu King Ravines.

Crane Terrace Gully: The Yinju (Hidden Dwelling), by Tao Hongjing, sobriquet Huayang Yinju (Huayang Hermit), says that after crossing Jijin Ridge, the water becomes slightly white and sweet-tasting; its flow is soft and weak yet inexhaustible. Unfortunately, it all lies west of the mountain ridge and cannot flow east. According to investigation, Henglong is Dongling, Xiajie is Chongxi Abbey, and this stream is King Chu Gully.

Crane Terrace Gully also records: The Yinju says that after crossing Jijin Ridge, to the southeast there is a stone cavity whose water flows east and is of excellent quality; the place is secluded and well suited to compounding the elixir (elixir-making), and it lies just in front of Jun Mountain—this is Taotang Gully.

Yichun Gully: east of Middle Mao. The Zhenren (Perfected Person) Ren once took east-flowing water there to compound the elixir; it is just in front of the ancient Grotto-Heaven Wan.

Nine Bends Gully: a branch flows down from the left side of Great Mao and empties into Wanpu Pool.

Great Gully: east of Jinjun Mountain.

Liubei Gully: west of Leiping Mountain.

Bibiao Gully: two li west of Great Mao; Zhenren Guo Sichao once planted di trees here.

White Plum Stream: north of Lesser Mao; this is where Zhan Shanggong planted white plums.

Azure Dragon Stream: west of Liangchang Mountain; commonly called Lingshui Gully.

Guest-Welcoming Spring: a square pool on the northern slope of Great Mao, only a few chi across. When guests arrive, the spring bubbles up eagerly and flows abundantly; if one approaches it with noise and force, it congeals and becomes still—another marvel. Beside it is a hermitage where incense offerings are made to Sun Hanhua.

Benefiting People Spring: on the eastern ridge of Great Mao. The Dengzhen Yinjue (Secret Instructions for Ascending to Perfection), a Daoist text composed by Tao Hongjing, says that to the left and right of the Heavenly Market Altar (a Daoist altar) there are springs, both like golden-jade sap; drinking them benefits people, hence the name.

Jade Butterfly Spring: on the western slope of Soushu Peak, two spring mouths collect water; in winter one freezes and the other stays warm, so it is also called the Yin-Yang Well.

White Jade Spring.

Numinous Spring: on Jijin Mountain.

Cave Spring: the pool at Tongxian Bridge.

Jade Sand Spring is located on the western side of Middle Mao Peak. According to legend, Siming Jun (Lord of Destiny, the chief deity among the Three Mao Lords of Maoshan) buried cinnabar produced at Yumen in the Western Regions in the Xuanling ridge of Middle Mao; drinking its water benefits people, so it is also called Yin-Yang Well. White Jade Spring is the name of a spring. Numinous Spring is on Jijin Mountain. Cave Spring is the pool of water beside Tongxian Bridge. Cinnabar Spring is west of Small Mao Peak. Deer-Run Spring is to the left of Daluo Yuan; legend says that when an ancient man cultivated with sincere devotion, an immortal deer led forth this spring for him. Hundred-Zhang Spring is in Gongchen Valley. Suoyin Spring is at the southern foot of Great Mao Peak, and its water is milky white. Sea-Eye Spring has two locations: the old gazetteer says one was at Minister Yang’s mountain retreat, where the welling water responded to the tides; it lies west of Jijin Mountain and Middle Mao Peak and is the spring in today’s West Garden. The other is west of Shimo Pool. Elixir Valley Spring is east of Qingyun Cave. Formerly a Daoist priest drew its water to refine elixirs, but a boy secretly replaced it with other water; when the priest detected the trick, the spring received its name. Tiangong Spring is a spring name; Taogong Spring is in Huangfu Valley. Jade Liquid Spring has two locations: one is north of Xianren Pengshi (the Immortal Holding Stone) and east of Cloud Cave. Old traditions also tell of a Daoist priest drawing water to refine elixirs and a boy swapping the water, only to be caught. Its water is sweet and fragrant and slightly milky, and can cure various abdominal ailments; it is now seen to be pure white, so it is also called White Spring. The other is at Yuye Nunnery on Sanjiao Mountain. Clapping-Hands Spring, also called Winter Warm Spring, lies below the Zhaoming Reading Terrace (where Xiao Tong, Crown Prince Zhaoming of Liang in the Southern Dynasties, studied). When clapping is heard, the water wells up as if boiling, yet the square pool remains clear and calm. One-Spoon Spring is on the rock behind the Zhaoming Reading Terrace. Heavenly Pool is at the summit of Great Mao Peak; it is the dwelling place of divine dragons and does not dry up even in severe drought. Dragon-Rearing Pool is at Tiansheng Abbey. During the Dazhong Xiangfu era (the reign title of Emperor Zhenzong of Song), a dragonet was once taken from it; the emperor composed a song and sent it back to the mountain.

Biyu Pool lies in front of the Hall of the Biyu Heavenly Emperor at Tiansheng Abbey (a Daoist temple). The Life-Release Pool is east of Changning Town. The Graphite Pool is Jupu Pool; Fei Changfang (an Eastern Han Daoist adept) once studied the Dao here, and after he drew talismans and washed his inkstone, the stones in the mountain stream were all dyed ink-black. To this day, medicines compounded with the pool’s water have extraordinary efficacy. Yujin Pool is in front of Chongshou Abbey. Zhou Zhenren (Perfected Zhou) Pool was the pool of Zhou Ziliang, disciple of Tao Yinju (Tao Hongjing, styled Huayang Yinju), and is at Lingbao Court. Leiping Pool. Guogan Pond is several li east of Changyin Mountain; the village is named Guogan, and it was the outer residence (a dwelling or relic site outside the main retreat) of Guo Sichao Zhenren. The pond’s water is always full; if villagers drain it, thunder and lightning occur. To this day, prayers for rain there are efficacious, and on days of chaozhen (audience with the Perfected), a wondrous fragrance strikes the nose. According to Lord Dinglu (the Dinglu Zhenjun venerated at Maoshan), Guo Sichao Zhenren once sent people to plant here, and every year when Sichao Zhenren went out, he would pass this mountain and go to the Sihe area to view the open fields. Chishi Pond. Meijia Pond is west of Haiyan Spring. Tao Pond is west of Leiping Mountain. Hujun Pool is beside Dingjiao Road and was the outer residence of Xu Changshi (Xu Mi, an early Maoshan Daoist master). Whenever Xu Changshi returned from outside, he first bathed and purified himself by fasting here before entering the mountain; such was his sincerity and reverence. White Turtle Pool is in front of Xianzhu Mountain. During the Tianjian era (the reign title of Emperor Wu of Liang), whenever Tao Yinju returned from outside, he first bathed and purified himself by fasting here before entering the mountain; such was his sincerity. During the Tianjian era, Tao Yinju’s disciple Zhou Ziliang built a quiet chamber at Zhuyang Hall, roofing it with thatch. Later, when some leftover thatch remained and Zhou Ziliang went to gather and pile it, he saw a white turtle about six or seven inches long, with a body and carapace.

This passage records the auspicious omens, place names, altars, and platforms of Maoshan. The gist is: there was an object entirely white like talc, with black veins on its surface, shaped like a talismanic document, which could not be identified; people caught it and handled it for a while, then put it back in the pool, but it ended up several hundred paces away, in this pile of thatch—a sign of true auspiciousness. See Zhou shi Xuantong ji (Zhou Family Record of Mysterious Communication) for details.

Daluo Spring is west of Middle Mao (one of the three peaks of Maoshan). Tonghua Spring is above Crane Terrace Ravine. Xiajiahai is above Tonghua Spring. Dansha Pool is east of Yankou Cave. Yangguyi was already recorded in detail when the Taiyuan Neizhuan (Inner Tradition of the Great Origin) discussed the Jinling Blessed Land (a Daoist Grotto-Heaven and Blessed Land). Yinju (Reclusion) says: the source of Yangguyi emerges in front of Middle Mao and behind Great Mao (the main peak of Maoshan); several streams converge into one current; for other streams whose confluences are not recorded, see the chapter “Investigating Ancient Sites.”

Altars, stones, bridges, and pavilions: there are two Nine-tiered Altars—one at Qianyuan Abbey, built by the Daoist priest Zhu Guanmiao; the other is the Shangqing ancestral altar (the altar of the Shangqing school). The Lishi Altar (Altar for Venerating the Master) is on Leiping Summit, built by Wang Zhensu of the Southern Tang. The Huoyuan (Fire Courtyard) Altar is at the Xuanzhou Retreat (a Daoist priest’s place of cultivation). The Bagua (Eight Trigrams) Platform is east of Mao Cave. The Fairy Platform is on Dieyu Peak (Layered Jade Peak). Fishing Terrace is a precarious rock on the south side of Middle Mao Ridge. Crane Terrace is behind Jinjun Mountain. Crane Temple Summit is west of Middle Mao. Phoenix Slope (Fenghuang’e) is in front of Crane Terrace. Jinxing Pass is south of Dieyu Peak, its ground covered with golden sand. Qingyu Gorge (Green Jade Gorge) is east of Dinggong Mountain; its marvelous rocks form a forest, and it is the site of the old Shenxiu Studio. Menxia Stone Steps are below Biyan (Emerald Rock); on the rock is Dazhuan (Great Seal script, an ancient script) written by Xu Kai. Tao Gong’s Drunken Stone is on Middle Mao Ridge. The Immortal Holding Stone resembles a person standing in a mountain bend, located west of Great Mao. Cloud Root Stone is below Baiyun Peak (White Cloud Peak). Chessboard Stone is on Baiyun Peak. The Moving Stone is at the summit of Middle Mao; one person can shake it, while many people cannot push it.

Jiangzhen Bridge is thirty li along the road west from Xiaomao Mountain (one of the three peaks of Mount Mao) toward Jurong. One Tongxian Bridge is on the peak; the other Tongxian Bridge leads directly to the foot of the ridge at Yuanfu Palace (a Daoist temple), and it was built when Master Liu founded the palace during the Chongning era of the Northern Song. The Dongshi (Moving Stone) is at the summit of Zhongmao Mountain: one person can shake it, but when many people join forces it cannot be moved. Yandong Stone Bridge spans two cliffs, its shape resembling a hand pressing on a treasured sword. Xiuyi Pavilion is said by tradition to be the place where the Great Lord of Destiny (a Daoist deity) received the Nine Bestowments (an ancient ceremony of the highest order of imperial conferral); on what is now identified as the western ridge of Damao Mountain, two or three large rocks rise toward the west, and below the southern cliff there is a small flat area—this is the old foundation site. Jiuxi Pavilion is at the South Cave, erected to shelter the stele inscribed with the text of the Nine Bestowments and the stone pillar in seal script; on the stone is carved, “Natural disciple Xu Kai respectfully pays homage at Huayang Cave-Heaven” (Huayang Cave-Heaven being a Daoist cave-heaven and blessed land), while most of the other name inscriptions by Tang and Song people are damaged or broken. Biyan Pavilion is below Biyan Cave and preserves a plaque inscribed by the Song chancellor Shi Hao. Qinchi Pavilion is above Biyan Cave. Xiuyu Pavilion is at Fuxiang Well, covering the well-inscription stele. Chaozhen Pavilion is at the gate of the West Huayang Cave. Chaoshan Pavilion is at the northern foot of Damao Mountain. Banshan Pavilion is midway up the ridge of Damao Mountain. Yichun Pavilion is in Gongzhan Valley. Tongxia Pavilion is in front of Zhongmao Mountain. Baiyun Pavilion is north of Zhongmao Mountain. Xigui Pavilion is above Liuwo. Ying’en Pavilion is north of Changning Town. Changning Town is fifty li southeast of Jurong County, at Jintan Ridge; another record places it sixty-five li west of Jintan County. During the Tiansheng era of the Song, Zhu Guanmiao petitioned the court for its establishment as a resting place for travelers and merchants. Beizhen is west of Yuchen Abbey. Xiyuan is on the flat ground west of Jijin Mountain.

Endnote to Fascicle Seven: The Deer Tomb lies beside the main road south of the mountain; for the account, see the Biography of Mr. Liu.

Fascicle Eight of the Maoshan Zhi, compiled by Liu Dabin, inheriting master of the Shangqing lineage, belongs to the “Jigu” (Examining Antiquity) section. Heavenly Market Altar: Lord Dinglu said that directly below the Heavenly Market Altar stone lies the center of the grotto-heaven, above the Mysterious Window; this stone comes from Heavenly Market Mountain in Anxi (the ancient Persia region), and hence it got its name. In the time of Emperor Xuan, the gods of the four seas were summoned and ordered to transport this boulder above the grotto-heaven. Old records say it was on the summit of Jijin Mountain. Tao the Recluse (Tao Hongjing) said that the whereabouts of the Heavenly Market Altar stone are no longer clear; judging from the traces of the “Sou Wheel,” it should probably be somewhere around Damao Peak. But he also suspected that the center of the grotto-heaven should not be near the South Gate, and that it might instead be somewhere around Zhongmao Peak. The local elders also did not know its location. It is also called the “Immortal Market Altar.” The Zhen’gao says that Zhao Weibo, the Baoming Assistant (an official subordinate to the Baoming Lord of Maoshan), was skilled at long whistling; his sound was like a hundred birds calling together, or like wind blowing through many forests, or like the beating of drums. Sometimes he would climb the Heavenly Market Altar, raise his beard toward the north, and whistle long to summon the wind; in a moment, cloud vapor rose above it, air currents shook the forests, or dark fog gathered and a fine drizzle fell.

Traces of the Sou Wheel: The Zhen’gao says that formerly the Lord Qingtong of the Eastern Sea rode the chariot of the single-Sou flying wheel to patrol the mountains with grotto-terraces. Tao the Recluse said: Today on Damao Ridge there is a road running east, level along the mountainside as if artificially repaired, wide enough for carriage tracks to pass; tradition says this is where the Sou Wheel passed. Perfected beings often drive nine dragons; the left trace-horse is named Sou and the right yoke-horse is named Qin. Since he ascended to the mountain summit, the reference is to the left trace-horse he rode. Jiang-Ba Road: Lord Dinglu said that in the Qin dynasty there were the Daoist Zhou Taibin and the Marquis of Baling, Jiang...

Shumao’s personal name was Qin. After he reached the mountaintop, he pointed to his left-hand mount and rode on. Jiangba Road: Dinglu Jun (a divine perfected venerated by the Shangqing school of Mount Mao) said that in the Qin dynasty the Daoist Zhou Taibin and Jiang Shumao, Marquis of Baling, came to live at the foot of the mountain and planted the five fruits and the five pungent vegetables (the five pungent vegetables as understood in Daoism). Shumao was enfeoffed as a marquis in the time of King Xiao of Qin; the present name of this place, “Jiangba,” comes from this. Tao the Recluse (Tao Hongjing, sobriquet Huayang Recluse) said: the main road now leading from behind Lesser Mao Mountain to Yanling is called Jiangba Road. However, in the time of Duke Xiao of Qin, Qin had not yet annexed Chu and established commanderies, and Baling County was only established at the beginning of the Jin; I do not know how there could have been an enfeoffment as Marquis of Baling—perhaps it is the “Ba” of Ba and Shu.

Leiping Pond lies in front of Leiping Mountain. The Zhen’gao (Declarations of the Perfected, a Shangqing classic compiled by Tao Hongjing) says that in the Zhou dynasty a member of the Lei clan raised dragons here. Dinglu Jun said that the pond in front of the present dwellings was made by Guo Sichao (a Daoist immortal); he raised the pond walls so that the water would collect deeply, but over the ages the walls have collapsed. Sichao often took a small boat and amused himself therein, each time tapping the boat’s side and singing. The song says: “The clear pond encircles the numinous mountain; the long forest is lush and green. The dark crow hides in the secluded wilds; conversations proceed unhurriedly. Plying the oars, riding the spirit waves; bowing my head, I await the morning wind. Before the time of liberation has come, I will roam free amid the forest of weapons.” (No. 1)

“Roaming the spirit beyond the nine bounds, cultivating the Dao, one finally attains the Golden Perfected. I gather up the feathers of the numinous phoenix and conceal the scales of my flowery dragon. Lifting high the square-inch thing (the heart), all exhalations and breaths are like dirt and dust. Looking back with pity on those born in the morning and dead by evening, who can exhaust your chariot wheels?” (No. 2)

“Roaming the void, descending with flying winds, spirit steps have no fixed place. The round sun radiates bright clouds; nine phoenixes sing at the morning sun. Beating their wings, they stir the Heavenly River; evening mist and auspicious clouds soar and gather. Thus I arrive at the palaces of Taiwei, embracing golden pears and immortal nectar. Roaming free beyond the dark bounds, neither existing nor perishing.” (No. 3)

(The fourth poem in praise of the immortals) Riding a swift wind, he surmounts the high and distant Shenxiao heaven (the Daoist celestial realm), draped in rosy radiance and bearing nine suns; the High Emperor’s divine carriage, with dragon-yoked wheels, arrives at the Northern Hua Chamber (an immortal palace). Divine tigers move through the Dongma groves, where wind and clouds become one; opening and closing the gates of the dark and hidden, wondrous transformations and mysterious traces then vanish.

The people at the foot of the mountain still call a certain flat marsh “Guogan.” Could the so-called Guogan be a residue in popular speech of a surname from four dynasties?

Chishi Tang (Red Stone Pond): Lord Dinglu (an immortal of Mount Mao) and Xu Changshi (Xu Mi, who once held the office of Changshi) said in a letter dated the first day of the third month: “At present the Chishi fields should be reclaimed as a passage for coming and going, but in the end it was not done.” Xu Changshi replied: “Formerly I obtained the Chishi field; its advantage was that it was close to the foot of the mountain and could serve as a passage for coming and going—this came from sincere intention. Before long there was drought, tenant farming yielded no harvest, the pond and weir were damaged, and labor had to be dispatched, so the matter could not proceed; it was not that I abandoned the original wish. Now I happen to live at the foot of the mountain, so it should be repaired and reclaimed; only because this place is far from the cave mouth, I do not wish to settle here.” Tao the Recluse (Tao Hongjing) said: “This field lies west of the two peaks Damao and Zhongmao, close to the great mountain; it is quite suitable for gazing up and paying reverence. The statement that it is far from the cave mouth should mean that the road is far from the northern cave mouth. Although this field relies on stream water, in drought water is scarce, and the pond is hard to repair; I do not know whether it will be reclaimed later. At present the pond still lacks repairs; it would require several hundred laborers, and then it could irrigate more than ten qing of fields. The disciples in the Recluse’s establishment also sow here following the water, and have often hoped to repair this pond, so as to benefit near and far and also bring blessings to the common people.”

Tiangong Spring is Liufen Spring, also called Liugu Spring, one li southeast of Leiping Pond. Lord Dinglu once said that on Leiping Mountain in Huayang there is Tiangong Spring; drinking this water can expel the three worms in the abdomen (the internal parasites spoken of in Daoism), and its taste is the same as that of Hidden Spring water. It is said to be the fluid emitted by jade sand.

The water here is used for washing clothes without ash, which shows its unusual quality. Legend has it that in ancient times Tian Shu lived on Leiping Mountain and later attained the Dao; the spring was named after this. The elixir-refining well of Lord Mao (the Three Lords Mao of Maoshan) is in Xiabo Palace. The elixir-refining well of Li Ming, Perfected of Xuanzhou, is east of Fangyu Cave in Yugang. The well of Xu Changshi (Xu Mi, who served as Changshi) is at Yuchen Abbey. Tao Hongjing (self-styled Yinju) said: In the seventh year of Daming (reign title of Emperor Xiaowu of Liu-Song), Xu Ou, an elder of Shuxu, said that his ancestor had served Xu Changshi and traditionally knew that this residence was exactly where it now is; the place in front with the Chinese tallow tree should be the old site, and there seemed also to have been a fasting hall, while the well in front still survived. At that time it was buried in weeds, so they cut the grass and searched, and indeed found a brick well nearly filled with earth; they then dug it out, cleaned it, and repaired the masonry. Today it has good water, slightly white in color; some say it tastes like the water outside Fengmen Gate in Chang’an. The two wells come from the same source; in winter one is cold and one warm, hence they are also called the Yin-Yang Well.

The well of Ge Hong (courtesy name Zhichuan, sobriquet Baopuzi) is at Baopu Mountain Hermitage. Huang Min, grandson of Xu Changshi and a man of Jurong in Danyang, married Ge Hong’s granddaughter; tradition says Ge Hong once lived here. The elixir well of Perfected Tao (Tao Hongjing) is east of the stone bridge in front of Huayang Upper Abbey. The water is sweet and cold, and does not dry up in drought. In the early years of Zhenghe (reign title of Emperor Huizong of Song), the Daoist Zhuang Shenzhi sought it out and restored it. At first, after digging away more than three chi of earth, he found a stone well; the well curb was already broken, but when pieced together it was still complete. Around the well curb large characters were carved, saying: The master Tao Hongjing of Danyang served the Qi court as Fengchaoqing; in the Renshen year he came to the mountain, dwelt in lofty stillness, and called himself Yinju. The disciples who came with him were Lu Jingyou of Wu Commandery and the students Yang, Wang, Wu, Dai, Chen, and Xu. Pan Luo of Hushu, who served the steps and halls, and those near and far who revered and followed him cannot all be recorded. As the ages roll on, how could they not be known? On the fifteenth day of the eighth month of the third year of Tianjian (reign title of Emperor Wu of Liang), Chen Maoxuan of Qiantang wrote this. He also saw traces of brick construction, and the offering steps and halls at Hu…

As for Pan Luo and those near and far who believed, received, and followed them, they can no longer be recorded one by one. As generations have passed and the years are distant, can they really no longer be identified? On the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the third year of Tianjian of the Liang (504 CE), Chen Maoxuan of Qiantang recorded this matter and saw the old brick remains; digging several zhang into the ground, he also obtained a round inkstone about nine cun in diameter, with eleven feet arranged around its body, whose cinnabar red was still bright after washing. There was also a bronze incense burner in the shape of a magpie’s tail, and amid the sand and stones he saw a single elixir pill as large as a fu fruit (a kind of aquatic fruit), its radiance dazzling the eyes. He hurried to take it, but the pill immediately fell into the well. The censer and inkstone were originally kept at Huayang (the area of Huayang Cave on Mount Mao), and were lost through wars and banditry. There is another well beside the pool of Perfected Zhou at Lingbao Court; it too is an elixir well of Tao Yinju (Tao Hongjing, Daoist master of Mount Mao).

Zhaozhen Terrace: In the Zhengao, “Yizhen Jian,” when narrating and discussing the true scriptures, it often says “returned and sealed at Zhao Terrace.” This was where Tao Yinju revered and practiced the supreme Shangqing methods transmitted by the three Perfected—Yang Xi, Xu Mi, and others—and used it as a chamber for storing scriptures. The mountain long suffered from theft and destruction; the precious books and authentic traces were scattered and lost completely. Even if there are aspirants with the will to study the Dao, how could they again see the Perfected’s handwriting? Arriving here, one can only sigh. The Lingbao Court of Yuchen Abbey is its old site.

Green Altar and White Stupa: According to the stele of the old abbey’s altar, a Green Altar was established on the east and a White Stupa erected on the west. Today the stupa has been destroyed, and the altar is no longer in its original form; both were originally built by Tao Yinju to express the principle of the dual cultivation of Daoism and Buddhism, and they should be at Yuchen Abbey.

Crown Prince Zhaoming’s Fuxiang Well is on the east side of the Reading Terrace in the South Cave. Crown Prince Zhaoming’s Reading Terrace is above Fuxiang Well.

Emperor Ming’s Register-Reception Altar is beside Yuzhu Cave (Jade Pillar Cave).

The tomb of King Yueyi lies below Mount Daheng. Lord Dinglu, a divine immortal venerated at Mount Mao, once said that directly east of Mount Yugang was the tomb of the ancient King Yueyi. The Recluse—referring to Tao Hongjing—says: King Yueyi was a fourth-generation descendant of Goujian. At first he refused to succeed to the throne and fled into a cave on Mount Xu; the people of the state smoked him out. Later he moved back from Wu to Kuaiji and in the eleventh year of King Xuan of Zhou was killed by his grandson Zhu Jiu. It is not known why he was buried so far away here; perhaps this place has something numinous about it. Searches today have not revealed a clear grave mound, but there seem to be traces of a burial precinct. It is also recorded that Taibo of Wu, who yielded the throne out of “supreme virtue,” once fled into Mount Juqu (Mount Mao). This shows that since ancient times the mountain has been a place where sages and worthies dwelled and took refuge.

The Secluded Hall of the Recluse (Yinju Youguan) is southwest of Mount Leiping. In the early Yuanyou era of the Song, the eunuch Luo Chunyi studied the Dao in the mountains. He once thought that cinnabar and rare books were hidden in Tao Hongjing’s tomb. One day he dug open the tomb and went in to look. He saw only an empty coffin suspended by iron ropes; inside the coffin were merely a sword and a Meng mirror. Around the tomb chamber were Sanskrit characters arranged in sequence to form a text, faintly raised above the inscribed labels. The text read: “Huayang Recluse’s Secluded Hall; the Bodhisattva Shengli relinquishes the body; disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha; subject of the Supreme Lord of the Dao; cultivator of the six perfections of the Supreme Vehicle. … the Three Perfected, resting at the numinous peak and entrusting [the body] to its edge, roaming the great void to lodge the spirit.” The handwriting was wondrous and numinous, and must have been Tao Hongjing’s own. After the tomb was opened, Daoist priests made facsimiles of these talismanic characters and showed them to the world. Luo Chunyi later also attained the way of shijie (liberation from the corpse, the Daoist practice of casting off the body to become an immortal). This was transmitted by Lin Xi of Changle, courtesy name Zizhong, in the sixth year of Yuanyou.

Tao Hongjing’s alchemical furnace was beside the Huayang Upper Lodge. When water was sprinkled on the ground there as a test, the ground soon dried, leaving marks like a lunar halo.

The tomb of Wang Fazhu is east of Changning Town North Road; the huabiao (ceremonial columns) of the Tang dynasty Taiping Abbey still survive.

The tomb of Master Tongwu is to the right of the Secluded Hall of the Recluse.

At the end of fascicle eight of the Maoshan Zhi it records: the tomb of Master Xuanjing lies southwest of Fulong Ridge, twenty paces from Leiping Pool. The huabiao (ceremonial stone pillar) of Wei Zongtang’s Taiping Abbey still survives. The tomb of Master Tongwu lies to the right of the secluded dwelling Youwan (a quiet retreat). The tomb of Master Xuanjing is also recorded as southwest of Fulong Ridge, twenty paces from Leiping Pool. The tomb of Master Wei lies to the left of Master Xuanjing’s shou palace (tomb palace). Here fascicle eight of the Maoshan Zhi ends. A collation note suspects that the character zhi (“to point”) should be zhi (“only”).

Fascicle nine of the Maoshan Zhi was compiled by Liu Dabin, a successor lineage master of the Shangqing school, and belongs to the “Daoshan ce” (the register in the Maoshan Zhi that catalogues Daoist scriptures). Its entry “The Five Thousand Characters of the Daode Jing” says: according to the Dengzhen Yinjue and Tao the Recluse (Tao Hongjing), the Laozi Daode Jing includes an ancient recension by Zhang Zhennan handwritten by the Mystic Master, Perfected Yang. Zhang Zhennan is Zhang Lu, the third-generation lineage master of the Han Celestial Master (Tianshi) tradition—that is, the third-generation transmission master of the Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi Dao). Emperor Wu of Wei, Cao Cao, once memorialized to recommend him as General Who Guards the South. “Five Thousand Characters” means that the scripture text has five thousand characters. When one counts the characters of the lineage master’s inner scripture, there are 4,999, so it has traditionally been short by one character. Therefore, in the Daode Jing, the “thirty” of “thirty spokes” should in the ancient text be written as the single graph sa (thirty); this was probably a change made for abbreviation and convenience, not the standard form. The authentic traces transmitted by the Shangqing lineage no longer survive; the currently circulating Five Thousand Characters is taken as the standard text, divided into two parts, upper and lower, and not into chapters.

The “Catalogue of the Precious Scriptures of the Shangqing Dadong” lists such scriptural titles as the Shangqing Dadong Gaoshang Scripture in Thirty-Nine Chapters, the Shangqing Scripture of Golden Truth and Jade Light, the Shangqing True Scripture of the Eight Purities, the Shangqing Central Scripture of the Nine Perfected, the Shangqing Scripture of the Golden Root and Jade, the Shangqing Scripture of Treading the Seven Primes, the Shangqing Scripture of the Seventy-Four Directions, the Shangqing Scripture of the Correct Law of the Three Heavens, the Shangqing Scripture of the Yellow-Black Yang Essence, the Shangqing Scripture of the Inner Writ of the Green Youth, the Shangqing Scripture of the Numinous Book of the Golden Gate, the Shangqing Scripture of Purple Measure and Flaming Light, the Shangqing Three-Nine..., and other scriptural titles.

This passage is the catalogue of Jing (scriptures/classics) belonging to the Shangqing (Highest Clarity) scriptural system included in the Maoshan Zhi (Record of Mount Mao), a gazetteer that records the history and scriptural catalogue of Maoshan Daoism. Most of the listed scripture titles are prefixed with “Shangqing”—the scriptural system of the Daoist Shangqing school, centered on Maoshan—such as the Shangqing Scripture of the Three Primes and Jade Examination, the Shangqing Scripture of Stone Essence and Golden Light, the Shangqing Scripture of Elixir Radiance and the Supreme Dao, the Shangqing Scripture of the Divine Continent, the Shangqing Scripture of the Three Diagrams, the Shangqing Scripture of the Nine Red Ranked Talismans, the Shangqing Scripture of Eliminating Demons and Wisdom, the Shangqing Scripture of Qu Su Instructions and Verses, the Shangqing Scripture of White Feathers and Black Wings, the Shangqing Scripture of the White Memorial and Cinnabar Talisman, the Shangqing Scripture of the Golden Dang and Jade Pendant, the Shangqing Scripture of the Primordial Register of Turtle Mountain, the Shangqing Scripture of the Mysterious Chronicle of the Nine Heavens, the Shangqing Scripture of the Forty-Four Directions, the Shangqing Scripture of the Precious Book of the Great Empyrean, the Shangqing Scripture of Stone Radiance and Water Mother, the Shangqing Scripture of the Yellow Book of Taiwei, the Shangqing Scripture of the Huoluo Seven Primes, the Shangqing Dongxuan Scripture of Great Possession, the Shangqing Scripture of the True Talisman of the Golden Tiger, the Shangqing Scripture of the True Talisman of the Divine Tiger, the Shangqing Scripture of Divine Wisdom and High Mystery, the Shangqing Scripture of Cinnabar Chapters and Green Characters, the Shangqing Scripture of the Golden Flower of the Five Dawns, the Shangqing Scripture of High Supreme Qu Su, the Shangqing Scripture of the Nine Yin of the Lord Emperor, the Shangqing Scripture of Jade Chapters for Pacing the Void, the Shangqing Scripture of Golden Mystery Feather Chapters, the Shangqing Scripture of the High Supreme Yellow Book, the Shangqing Scripture of the Supreme Nine Dawns, the Shangqing Scripture of Jade Radiance and the Great Prime, the Shangqing Scripture of the Jade Radiance Golden Book, the Shangqing Scripture of Purple Essence and the Cavern Chamber, the Shangqing Scripture of the Primordial Phoenix Script, the Shangqing Scripture of the Five Emperors and Dense Darkness, the Shangqing Scripture of the White Spirit Youth Elixir, the Shangqing Scripture of the Three-Five Primordial Register, and the Shangqing Scripture of the Supreme Longjiao, among others.

In the titles, terms such as “Jade Examination” (yujian), “talisman” (fu), “register” (lu), “Jade Chapters” (yuzhang), and “Pacing the Void” (buxu) respectively concern precious scriptural registers, Fulu (talismans and registers), dharma registers, and recitation and liturgical praise—matters of Daoist cultivation and Keyi (liturgy). In the catalogue, titles such as the Shangqing Scripture of the Yellow Book of Taiwei, the Shangqing Scripture of the Huoluo Seven Primes, the Shangqing Dongxuan Scripture of Great Possession, and the Shangqing Scripture of the True Talisman of the Golden Tiger are listed more than once. The scripture titles listed at the end begin with “Shangqing Fa” (Shangqing Method).

This passage is a catalogue of Shangqing (Highest Clarity) scriptures recorded in the Maoshan Zhi (Gazetteer of Mount Mao), focusing on classics whose titles begin with “Shangqing.” Shangqing is one of the realms of the Three Pure Ones (Sanqing) in Daoism and also denotes the scriptural and ritual system of the Shangqing school; the Golden Mother is the Queen Mother of the West. The scriptures listed range from the Scripture of the Jade Chapters of Admonition, the Shangqing Scripture of the Golden Mother’s Quest for Immortality, the Shangqing Scripture of the Vast Chapters of the Three Primes and the Obscure Dark, and the Shangqing Scripture of the Elixir of the Pure Spirit Youth, to the Shangqing Dongshen (Cavern Spirit) Scripture, the Shangqing Scripture of Pacing the Presentation, the Shangqing Scripture of the Jade Commentary of the Lord of the Dao, the Shangqing Scripture of the Most High Beginning Azure, and the Shangqing Scripture of Wisdom That Eliminates Demons. Their titles are for the most part related to cultivation concepts such as seeking immortality, visualization (cunsi), the essence of sun and moon, the five viscera, the Cave Chamber (dongfang), salvation of life, guarding the One (shouyi), and eliminating demons (xiaomo). Among these, “Three Primes” (Sanyuan) is a common Daoist term, often referring to the qi of the Three Primes or the system of the Three Officials; “guarding the One” means maintaining the Dao of single-minded adherence; and “eliminating demons” means removing demonic obstacles. On the whole, it records the names and system of the scriptures transmitted by the Shangqing lineage.

This passage from the Maoshan Zhi (Records of Mount Mao) is a list of titles of Shangqing scriptures and ritual registers. The first half lists the Shangqing Scripture of the Golden Slip of Taiwei, the Shangqing Scripture of the Correct Dharma of the Three Heavens, the Shangqing Scripture of the Supreme Return to the Origin, the Shangqing Scripture of the Supreme True Treasury, and others. Most of these titles are prefixed with “Shangqing,” referring to scriptures transmitted by the Shangqing school—an important Daoist scriptural tradition that reveres the Shangqing Heaven and emphasizes practices such as cunsi (visualization) and scripture recitation. Among them, the Huangting (Yellow Court) class of scriptures chiefly discusses visualizing the deities within the body and health-cultivation practices, while the Wondrous Scripture of Jade Capital Mountain, the Scripture of the Secret Essentials of Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate), and others likewise belong to the Shangqing scriptural and ritual system.

The latter heading, “Table of Contents of the Precious Registers of the Shangqing Dadong,” lists “registers” such as the Shangqing Jade Register of the Twenty-Four High Perfected, the Shangqing Register of the Qusu Instructions and Invocations, the Shangqing Register of Feather Stanzas, and the Shangqing Register of the Primordial Beginning’s Genealogy. In catalogues of Daoist scriptures of this kind, “lu” (record) often stands for “lu” (register), meaning ritual registers, name lists, or credentials of transmission—the basis on which Daoist priests receive methods and perform rituals. The titles in the text include repetitions, and the character “xian” (line) is suspected to be a mistaken writing of “lu” (register). Overall, this is a catalogue-style record of the Shangqing scriptures and registers preserved at Maoshan, not the main text of the scriptures themselves.

This section is the catalog of scriptures/registers and biographies listed in the Maoshan Zhi (Gazetteer of Mount Mao), a gazetteer recording the history and literature of Maoshan Daoism. The first half lists documents of ritual registers and talismanic diagrams transmitted by the Shangqing (Highest Clarity) school, an important Daoist school, including Guishan Yuanming Dalu (Great Register of Original Destiny from Guishan), Shangqing Guishan Zhenfu Lu (Shangqing Register of True Talismans of Guishan), Shangqing Dongzhen Bawei Lu (Shangqing Register of the Eight Powers of Dongzhen), Shangqing Zhaolong Lu (Shangqing Register for Summoning Dragons), Shangqing Sheshanjing Tu Lu (Shangqing Register of Diagrams for Controlling Mountain Essences), Shangqing Qiyuan Shangfu Lu (Shangqing Register of the Higher Talismans of the Seven Primes), Shangqing Taixuan Lu, Shangqing Liujin Huoling Xian, Shangqing Huiche Bidao Lu, Shangqing Huifeng Hejing Lu, Shangqing Sanlu Penglai Banzha Gaoshang Zhenshu (Shangqing Three Registers, Penglai Tablet Edicts, and Gaoshang True Writings), and Shangqing Dadong Lu Qingfa Ci (Shangqing Great Cavern Register and Petition for Requesting the Dharma), etc. Here “lu” mostly refers to ritual registers, documents of Fulu (talismans and registers) transmission, or lists of talismans and diagrams used in cultivation, involving such matters as destiny registers, true talismans, summoning dragons, controlling mountain essences, the talismans of the Seven Primes, Taixuan, fire-bells, Huiche Bidao, Huifeng Hejing, Penglai tablet edicts, and petitions for requesting the Dharma.

The latter part is titled “Catalog of Scripture and Treatise Titles Composed by the Various Perfected Ones,” that is, a catalog of scriptures and treatises written by various immortals and perfected beings. It then lists a variety of biographical records, such as Yuanshi Tianwang Ji, Shangqing Gaosheng Taishang Yuchen Dadaojun Ji, Taiwei Tiandijun Ji, Santian Lieji, Qingtong Daojun Ji, and Zongzhen Zhulu Ji, etc. “Ji,” “neizhuan,” “zhuan,” “benqi lu,” and “xiaozhuan” are all genres that record the life stories and deeds of immortals, perfected beings, and Daoist priests. Among them, Qingxu Zhenren Yujun Neizhuan was composed by the disciple Lady Wei of Nanyue; Taiyuan Zhenren Maojun Neizhuan by the disciple the Zhonghou Immortal Li Dao (courtesy name Anlin); Wei Furen Zhuan, Yang Zhenren Zhuan, Xu Zhenren Zhuan, and Xianren Xu Yuanyou Zhuan by Li Zun; Penglai Dushuijian Tao Zhenren Neizhuan by Xueluo Ruzi Jia Song; Huayang Yinju Tao Xiansheng Benqi Lu by Mr. Tao’s nephew Tao Lan (courtesy name Muyu); Tao Xiansheng Xiaozhuan by Xie Lun of Wuxing in the tenth year of Yongming; Liang Maoshan Zhenbai Xiansheng Zhuan by Li Bo of the Tang; and Zhou Zhenren Zhuan by a recluse, recording the deeds and conduct of the disciple Zhou Ziliang. Later it also lists Yuchen Guan Shiben Jiaju Tiantong Jing, received by the Daoist Liang Wuzhen in the third year of the Daguan reign of the Song, as well as the annotated edition from Chongshou Guan, Qing..., and other scripture titles.

This passage is a catalog record in the Maoshan Zhi (Record of Mount Mao) concerning Tao Hongjing, whose style name was “Recluse Master,” and his related writings. It begins by noting that the Scripture of Stillness has an annotated edition by Dai Shuxian, a jinshi of the Xuanhe era of the Song dynasty and a native of Changzhou. It then lists the “books written by the Recluse during his lifetime,” that is, works Tao Hongjing wrote while alive, including Xueyuan (Garden of Learning) in 100 juan; Collected Commentaries on the Classic of Filial Piety and the Analects, with His Own Interpretations Added, in 12 juan; Prefaces to the Three Rites, with His Own Commentary, in 1 juan; Annotated Prefaces to the Book of Documents and the Mao Poems in 1 juan; Collected Inner and Outer Commentaries on Laozi, with His Own Interpretations Added, in 4 juan; Commentary on the Baopuzi in 10 juan; Eulogies and Narratives on the Records of the Three Kingdoms in 1 juan; Missing Characters in the Shiyu in 2 juan; Continuation of the Shishuo in 2 juan; Collected Inner and Outer Commentaries on Divination, with His Own Interpretations Added, in 4 juan; Essentials of Divination in 1 juan; Record of Provinces and Commanderies Past and Present in 3 juan; and Miscellaneous Matters on Numerical Arts and Techniques in 1 juan, among others. “Self-established interpretations” means that in his annotations and commentaries he expressed his own views.

The following section, “books written by the Recluse in the mountains,” refers to Tao Hongjing’s works from the period of his retreat on Mount Mao. Beginning with Dengzhen Yinjue (Secret Instructions for Ascending to Perfection) in 24 juan, it includes Zhengao (Declarations of the Perfected) in 10 juan; Biography of the Caotang Dharma Master in 1 juan; Bencao Jizhu (Collected Commentary on the Materia Medica) in 7 juan; Essential Formulas of Medicines in 2 juan; Zhouhou Baiyifang (Formulas for a Hundred and One Remedies at the Elbow) in 3 juan; Formulas of Verified Application in 10 juan; Hedan Jiedu (Regulations for Compounding Elixirs) in 4 juan; Record of Dreams in 1 juan; Miscellaneous Techniques of Refining and Transformation in 1 juan; Essential Collection of Taiqing Jade and Stone Elixirs in 3 juan; Essential Collection of Taiqing Formulas for Various Herbs and Trees in 3 juan; Formulas for Ingesting Mica and Various Minerals in 1 juan; Formulas for Ingesting Substances in 3 juan; Secret Mysteries of Spiritual Marvels in 1 juan; Essential Methods for Eliminating the Three Corpses in 1 juan; and Collected Works of the Recluse in 1 juan, among others. Dengzhen Yinjue and Zhengao belong to Daoist cultivation and to records of jiangzhen (the descent of the Perfected); Bencao Jizhu and Zhouhou Baiyifang are medical formula books. The “Three Corpses” are the Three Corpses spirits said in Daoism to reside in the human body; “Hedan Jiedu” refers to regulations for elixir compounding; and “Fuer” refers to ingesting substances for health cultivation.

Finally, it records the Collected Works of Master Tao in 30 juan and the Inner Collection of Master Tao in 15 juan, edited by his Zhaotai disciple Fu Xiao and prefaced by Jiang Zong, as well as the Zhou Family Record of Mysterious Communication in 4 juan, the latter recording the descent of the Perfected to Tao Hongjing’s disciple Zhou Ziliang. Some book titles reappear earlier and later in the catalog; these should be duplicate entries for the same group of works.

The Yizong (General Principles of the Changes), in fifteen juan, was written by Wang Fazhu (an honorific for the leader of the Maoshan Daoist school). The Xiuzhen Mizhi (Secret Essentials of Cultivating Perfection), in twelve chapters, and the works following it are by Zhenren Sima (the Tang-dynasty Daoist Sima Chengzhen). The Zuowang Lun (Treatise on Sitting in Forgetfulness), one juan; Tianyinzi, eight chapters; and the works following the Zhouyi Yilue (Brief Exposition of the Meaning of the Zhouyi), three chapters, are by Xuanjingsheng (a Daoist elder whose religious name contained “Xuanjing”). The Laozhuang Xueji (Notes on Studying Laozi and Zhuangzi), three chapters; Neixue Ji (Notes on Inner Learning), two chapters; Bencao Yinyi (Phonetic and Semantic Glossary of Materia Medica), two juan; Sanxuan Yitong Lun (On the Similarities and Differences of the Three Mysteries); Daoxue Zhuan (Biographies of Daoist Learning), twenty juan; and Daojue Lun (On Daoist Awakening) were written by the hermit Weishu (biography unknown). The above are the texts recorded in the one-juan Daoshan Ce as ancient true scriptures transmitted and studied in succession; the miscellaneous writings and other books are taken from the Sui-Tang Jingji Zhi, and none have surviving editions transmitted in the world.

The list of Maoshan (a famous Daoist mountain, in present-day Jurong, Jiangsu) Daoist books recorded in Zheng Qiao’s (Southern Song scholar and author of the Tongzhi) Tongzhi, “Yiwulüe,” is as follows: Daodejing Zashuo (Miscellaneous Explanations of the Daodejing), one juan; Lingbao Jing Mu Xu (Preface to the Catalogue of Lingbao Scriptures), one juan; Fuyu Wuya Daoyin Yuanjing Jing (Scripture on Ingesting and Controlling the Five Sprouts, Daoyin, and Primordial Essence), one juan; Shengyuan Buxu Zhang (Chapter on Ascending to the Origin and Pacing the Void), one juan; Lingbao Buxu Ci (Lingbao Pacing-the-Void Lyrics), one juan; and Buxu Dongzhang (Cavern Chapters on Pacing the Void), one juan. The above were composed by Zhenren Lu Jianji (the Southern Dynasties Daoist Lu Xiujing, posthumously named Jianji).

Daodejing Zhu (Commentary on the Daodejing), four juan; Huangting Jijue (Collected Instructions on the Yellow Court), one juan; Shangqing Wozhong Jue (Shangqing Secret Instructions Held in the Hand), three juan; Daoyin Tu (Daoyin Diagrams), one juan; Jindan Jue (Instructions on the Golden Elixir), three juan; Lianfu Yunmu Fa (Methods for Refining and Ingesting Mica), one juan; Taiqing Zhu Shi Bianhua Shenxian Fang (Taiqing Recipes for Transforming Various Minerals into Divine Immortals), one juan; Jingshi Caomu Fa (Methods for Consuming Plants and Trees), one juan; Da Ling Jing (Scripture on Penetrating to the Numinous), one juan; Yangxing Yanming Ji (Collection on Nourishing Nature and Prolonging Life), two juan; Yangsheng Jue (Instructions on Nourishing Life), one juan; Zhenren Shui Jian (Zhenren’s Water Mirror), ten juan; Zhouyi Lin (Forest of the Zhouyi), one juan; Yilin Ti (Style of the Forest of Changes), three juan; Yisui (Marrow of the Changes), three juan; Tianyi Shuiyao (Essential Explanations of Celestial Instruments), one juan; Xingjing (Star Scripture), five juan; Sanming Licheng Suanjing (Arithmetic Classic for Establishing the Three Fates), one juan; Sanming Chaolue (Outline of the Three Fates), two juan; and Sanming Shali (Three Fates Killing Calendar), one juan.

In the bibliography listed in fascicle 9 of the Maoshan Zhi (Record of Mount Mao), there are the Yilin Ti in three fascicles, Yisui in three fascicles, Tianyi Shuoyao in one fascicle, Xingjing in five fascicles, Sanming Licheng Suanjing in one fascicle, Sanming Chaolüe in two fascicles, Sanming Shali in one fascicle, Mingyi Bielu in three fascicles, and Gujin Daojian Lu in one fascicle—all composed by the Perfected Tao Zhenbai (Tao Hongjing, styled Mr. Zhenbai). The Xiuzhen Mizhi Shimu Li in one fascicle, Xiuzhen Yangqi Jue in one fascicle, and Lingbao Wuyue Mingshan Chaoyi Jing in one fascicle were all composed by the Perfected Sima. The Jinzang Jing in two fascicles was composed by Lord Mao (the Perfected Lord Mao venerated at Mount Mao). The Shou Mao Jun Ge in one fascicle was composed by Su Yuanming, a man of the Taikang era of the Jin. The Zixu Yuanjun Wei Furen Neizhuan is attributed to “Zong”; the Xianren Xu Xian Yuanyou Zhuan was composed by Wang Xizhi; the Pan Zunshi Zhuan was composed by a man of the time of Empress Wu of the Tang; the Qu Tong Shu in one fascicle was composed by Wen Zao and records Qu Tong’s ascent to immortality in the eighth year of the Dali era. The Sanmao Chushi Wang Qian Zhuan in one fascicle does not name its author. The Maoshan Ji in one fascicle and the Maoshan Xin Xiaoji in one fascicle are likewise unsigned.

Fascicle 10 of the Maoshan Zhi was compiled by Liu Dabin (a Yuan-dynasty Maoshan Daoist and compiler of the Maoshan Zhi), inheriting patriarch and master of Shangqing (Highest Clarity). It belongs to the “Shangqing category” and consists of the “Register of the True Lineage of the Seven Transmissions of the Holy Masters in the Shangqing Scriptures.” In it, the supreme being is named “the Shangqing Dao Ancestor, Great Cavern Supreme Honored, Primordial Heavenly King, August Heaven Emperor, and Heavenly Worthy of the Purple Mist Void Sovereign.” The Primordial Heavenly King is an honored deity in the Heaven of Primordial Beginning within the Jade Clarity realm. The Huangting Jing (Scripture of the Yellow Court) says, “The Purple Mist Void Sovereign of Shangqing.” The Yuwei Jing says that the Void Sovereign is the dwelling place of the Great Dao—that is, the realm of the Great Dao, which encompasses all the pure Dao-realms and is the ancestor of the Dao.

The “Great Cavern Venerable Deity” (Dadong Zunshen) spoken of in The Nine Heavens Generating Spirit Chapters—a Shangqing (Highest Clarity) Daoist classic—refers precisely to this deity in the Shangqing Great Cavern method.

The Holy Teacher High Sage Supreme Jade Dawn Primordial Sovereign Great Dao Lord (that is, the Jade Dawn Great Dao Lord, one of the highest deities of the Shangqing school) resides at the Xiechen Spirit View and Chanzhi Terrace, and resides and governs in the Hall of Elixir Pearls and Shell-Pillared Gates and the Purple Chamber of Seven Jade Splendors. On his left he wears the Divine Tiger, on his right the Golden Perfection; his head bears a dragon crown, his body a phoenix skirt, and he is draped in feather ornaments and brocade coverlets. His guards, celestial perfected (heavenly immortals), jade boys, and jade girls each number thirty thousand. The term “Supreme” refers to descendants of the Dao who can clearly discern the root of the Dao and penetrate its foundation; therefore the Shangqing Dao Lord is revered as the teacher of Lord Lao (Taishang Laojun) and the Lord of the Ten Thousand Daos. Among his transmitted scriptures is the Eight Pure Upper Scripture, also known as the Supreme Hidden Book of Golden Perfection and Jade Light, the Huoluo Seven Primordials and Eight Sceneries Flying Scripture; the Supreme Jade Dawn Great Dao Lord named in the Huangting Jing (Yellow Court Scripture) is precisely the most exalted among the Supreme.

The Holy Teacher Purple Palace Taiwei Heaven Emperor Great Dao Lord: the Taiwei Heaven Emperor is lord of the Thirty-Six Heaven Emperors (imperial deities of the Daoist heavens) and resides and governs within the jade gates of the Purple Palace of Taiwei. It further records the style names of the Golden Gate Emperor Lord (Jinque Dijun, a Daoist honored deity) and the Five Emperors in the Sun (the five directional emperor deities within the sun): Rihun, Zhujing, Zhaotao, Lühuan, Huixia, Chitong, Xuanyan, and Taixiang—sixteen characters in all. This is the Dao of gathering and ingesting the Flying Root (a cultivation method for ingesting solar essence), also called the Scripture of the Red Elixir, Golden Essence, Stone Radiance, Water Mother, and Jade Womb.

The Holy Teacher Golden Gate Imperial Palace Later Sage Mysterious Primordial Supreme Dao Lord: the Mysterious Primordial Supreme Dao Lord is a descendant of the Earth Sovereign (one of the Three Sovereigns) and resides in Qiongtai Hall, with thirty thousand maidservants and attendant officials. He ascends to Shangqing (the heavenly realm), roams in Taiji (the Supreme Ultimate, here a heavenly realm), and governs the Ten Heavens below; riding a flying carriage of three pure colors (a carriage drawn by three-colored cloud Qi), he secretly patrols Yujue, Dongtai, the various heavens, rivers, and seas, coming and going as he gazes over them.

The divine Perfected of Xiaoyou Heaven halted their carriage at Guishan, where they examined the assembled immortals and assigned offices according to their abilities. Every five years they descend once into the human realm, and once each full year they go to pay homage in Shangqing Heaven. Their hagiographic record is titled the Lingshu Ziwen (Numinous Writ of Purple Text), also called the Wulao Baojing (Precious Scripture of the Five Lores), which is the present Santian Lieji (Arrayed Records of the Three Heavens).

The Holy Teacher, King of Jade Protection, Ninefold Subtlety and Great Perfection of Shangqing, Supreme Minister of the Golden Portal, Great Lord of Destiny, Teacher of High Dawn, and Great Dao Lord, Youth of Blue Florescence and Jade Radiance of the Eastern Sea—namely the Great Lord Qingtong (Azure Youth), also styled Qinggai Zitong (Azure Canopy Purple Youth) and Douzhong Zhenren (Perfected One in the Dipper)—governs within the Cinnabar Gate and Yellow Chamber of Donghua Shan in the Dafangzhu Palace of the Eastern Sea. He rides a cloud chariot of flowing emerald aurora, wears a flying cloak of blue-green feathers and dragons, and is accompanied by a thousand Perfected of the Mulberry Forest. He once transmitted the Sanyuan Zhenyi Jing (Scripture of the True Unity of the Three Primes) to Juanzi and the Xiaomo Jing (Scripture on Dispelling Demons) to the Red Perfected One of Taixu. During the Jin dynasty he descended to the household of Lady Wei (Wei Huacun). He also often goes with Mao Siming—the Siming Zhenjun of Maoshan—to Juqu Shan (Maoshan) on the eighteenth day of the third month and the second day of the twelfth month to assess the merits and faults of those who study immortality. His hagiographic record is titled the Yubao Dongguan Jing (Jade Protection Cavern Contemplation Scripture), also called the Yunlin Shangxuan Pin (Upper Mystery Chapter of the Cloud Forest).

The Holy Teacher, Supreme Minister of the Golden Portal and Dao Lord of Total Perfection of the Western City at the Western Pole, also goes to Juqu Shan to examine those who study immortality; his record is likewise titled the Yubao Dongguan Jing, also called the Yunlin Shangxuan Pin. The Great Lord of Total Perfection was surnamed Wang, named Yuan, with the courtesy name Fangping; Xicheng Shan in Yizhou is the seat of the Western Pole Total Perfection. He commands five thousand immortal officials and governs there, and he is the teacher of Mao Siming. He once descended at the house of Cai Jing and met with Magu. In the renwu year of the first year of the Han’an era, he accompanied Lord Lao down to Heming Shan and bestowed upon Celestial Master (Tianshi) Zhang Daoling a thousand scrolls of scriptures and talismans; he also descended to Yangluo Shan and transmitted the Qingxu Shangjing (Upper Scripture of Pure Emptiness) in thirty-three scrolls to Qingxu Zhenren. During the Jin dynasty he descended again at Yangluo Shan and transmitted the Dao to Lady Wei.

The scriptures and methods transmitted by Lady Wei Huacun and by the “Three Perfected”—Yang Xi, Xu Mi, and Xu Hui. Each year on the second day, all the Perfected, together with the Perfected Lord Director of Destinies of Maoshan (the immortal who controls the registers of destiny at Maoshan), roam the Huayang Grotto-Heaven, inspecting and examining the male and female Dao-learners who are due to become Perfected. Chengdu, Kuocang, and Kunlun are all General Perfected Immortal Palaces (palaces presiding over all the Perfected). Lord Wang commands the twenty-four Perfected of the Lower Teaching of Great Peace and is called the Teaching Lord of the Three Caverns (the teaching lord who governs the scriptures and teachings of the Three Caverns).

The Holy Teacher, the Heavenly King of Xiaoyou, the Daoist Lord of Great Simplicity and Pure Void—namely the Pure Void Perfected Wang Bao, courtesy name Zideng—was a native of Xiangping in Fanyang and a seventh-generation descendant of the Marquis of Anguo. He was born on the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month in the third year of Jianshao under Emperor Yuan of Han. His father, Wang Mi, was Marquis Wen; his mother was a granddaughter of Sima Qian. The Perfected studied the Dao on Mount Huayin and moved the Taiji Perfected to descend and transmit the superior methods; the Great Lord of the General Perfected transmitted to him the Upper Scripture in thirty-one fascicles. He thus assumed the teacher’s position charged with covenant oaths and the transmission of scriptures. He went with the Perfected to Xuanzhou and requested that his true name be registered; returning to Xicheng, he then went to the Lord of the Three Primes of Great Simplicity and received the “Liujin Huoluo Qiyuan Bajing Feichen Shence Yuxi” (Jade Seal of the Divine Strategy of the Flying Dawn of the Seven Primes and Eight Scenes, Flowing Gold and Penetrating Radiance). The Most High (the highest Dao deity) sent down and bestowed upon him an embroidered-feather dawn canopy, paired-pearl moon brightness, a white-feather jade shaft, red ribbons, and brocade banners, and also bestowed the “Book of Assisting and Completing Destiny.” His rank was Perfected of Great Simplicity and Pure Void, bearing the titles Heavenly King of Xiaoyou and Left Protecting High Lord of the Three Primes and Four Directors. He governs Mount Wangwu, is attended by three hundred jade youths and jade maidens, and is in charge of the precious scriptures. He rides a tiger escort and dragon carriage, a golden canopy with jade wheels, the flying carriage of the Eight Scenes, and holds the nine-colored staff of office; he comes and goes in Shangqing Heaven, receives duties in the Heaven of Great Simplicity, and resides in Taiji Heaven. At this point the transmission of the Shangqing scriptures had passed through seven transmissions in the heavens and descended into the human world.

The first-generation Grand Master who inherited the Shangqing (Highest Clarity) Dharma lineage bore the honorific titles Lord of the Dao of Shangqing, Southern Pole Purple Perfected, Posterior Sage, Supreme Protector of Taiwei, Holy Queen of Jade Dawn; and Director of the Southern Marchmount Upper Perfected, Controller of Destinies, High Prime Spirit-Illuminating Purple Void Ultimate Dao Primordial Lady. Her surname was Wei, given name Huacun, courtesy name Xian’an, and she was from Rencheng (in the present-day Jining area of Shandong), the daughter of Wei Shu, Situ (Minister over the Masses) of the Jin dynasty. She was born in the third year of Jiaping of the Prince of Qi of Cao Wei (xinwei, 251). She was exceptionally gifted; in her youth she read the Laozi and the Zhuangzi, consumed sesame powder and Poria pills, and often wished to dwell alone in a pure and quiet place. At twenty-four her parents forced her to marry Liu Wen, courtesy name Youyan, of Nanyang, and she bore two sons, Liu Pu and Liu Xia. Liu Youyan served as magistrate of Xiuwu in Ji Commandery. After the children had grown a little, Wei Huacun lived in a separate room in purification and resumed her early resolve to cultivate the Dao. At midnight on the sixteenth day of the twelfth month in the ninth year of Taikang of the Western Jin (wushen, 288), she sensed the descent of the Taiji Perfected, the Azure Youth Dao Lord, the Perfected Wang Jinglin of Fusang and Yanggu, and the Qingxu Perfected. They said to her: “We have heard that you secretly cultivate and circulate true Qi; the Great Emperor Lord has commanded me to transmit to you the Way of Divine Perfection.” Thereupon they brought out the Supreme Treasure Writ, the Hidden Book of the Eight Simplicities, the Great Cavern Perfected Scripture, the High Immortal Feathered Mystery, and other works in thirty-one scrolls, and handed them to her personally, saying: “These texts were formerly transmitted to Xicheng Zongzhen Jun (an immortal in the Shangqing scripture transmission); now they are delivered to you.” They further explained to her the essentials of cunsi (the Daoist practice of visualization and inner observation) and the oral instructions for conduct, and then departed. She was then thirty-seven years old. Later Liu Youyan died; her eldest son Liu Pu rose to be Minister of Works and Sima of Qi, while her second son Liu Xia served as an aide to Grand Commandant Tao, as a Central Gentleman, and as Governor of Ancheng. Wei Huacun lived eighty-three years. In the ninth year of Xianhe of the Eastern Jin (jiawu, 334), the Qingxu Qingtong Lord descended again, gave her two doses of spiritual medicine, had her take them at once, and set a date to meet her at Yangluo Palace (a Daoist immortal palace). At midnight on the seventh day.

At midnight on the seventh day, Taiyi (a Daoist deity) sent a Sou-chariot (an immortal carriage) to welcome her. Yuanjun—the Purple Void Yuanjun, Wei Huacun, female immortal patriarch of the Shangqing tradition—used the Dao (the Way) of concealing the shadow-form, an immortal art of hiding one’s form and radiance and transforming through a substitute object, to entrust her form and spirit to a spirit sword; she then departed by shijie (liberation by corpse) and went to Yangluo Mountain. The next day, Lord Qingtong of Donghua, the Four Perfected of Taiji (Supreme Ultimate), Lord Wang of Qingxu (the Qingxu Perfected Wang Bao), and forty-seven Perfected in all descended on Yindong Yuntai to instruct Yuanjun. Each of the Perfected proclaimed essential admonitions, and they departed only after three days. Yuanjun studied and recited the jade books for sixteen years, yet her appearance remained that of a young girl. Thereupon the Queen Mother of the West and the Yuanjun of the South Pole came to welcome her as she ascended to heaven, and at dawn she reached the Shangqing Palace in the heavens. The Lord of the Great Dao of Jade Dawn, the Heavenly Emperor of Taiwei, and the Later Sage Lord of the Golden Gate each sent envoys to convey appointments; they bestowed on her jade tablets and golden writ, enfeoffed her as Purple Void Yuanjun, conferred on her the office of Upper Perfected and Director of Destinies of the Southern Marchmount with a rank equivalent to Immortal Duke, ordered her to govern the Cavern-Terrace of Great Huo Mountain in Tiantai, to oversee the instruction of immortality aspirants in the lower world, and held a banquet in the Palace of Qingxu. Next, the deities of the Directorate of Destinies requested to be attached to the Southern Marchmount; the welcoming officials arrived together, and the Perfected then went with Yuanjun to the Cavern-Terrace of Huo Mountain in Tiantai. Passing Jintan at Juqu on the way—Juqu being the ancient name of Maoshan, and Jintan an immortal altar—they feasted with Mao Shushen, one of the Three Mao Lords of Maoshan, for two days and nights, and then went together to Huo Mountain.

Pu, Yuanjun’s son Liu Pu, later rose to the office of Palace Attendant. He was commissioned to transmit the teachings at the Cavern-Terrace; on the way he passed Jintan at Juqu, feasted with Mao Shushen for two days and nights, and then went on to Huo Mountain. He was also ordered to transmit the Dao-teachings to Lord Yang, a retainer of the Minister of Education, the Prince of Langya—Yang Xi, an important transmitter of the Shangqing tradition. On the twenty-third day of the sixth month of the yichou year, the third year of Xingning in the Eastern Jin, Yuanjun and the Perfected descended at Lord Yang’s house. From then on Yuanjun repeatedly descended on Juqu Mountain, often accompanying Lord Qingtong, Lord Wang of Qingxu, and the Three Mao Lords in excursions, banquets, and assemblies of the Perfected—more than once. Thus began the Shangqing transmission lineage of Huayang (Maoshan).

During the Yuanyou era of the Northern Song, Yuanjun was advanced to the title Gaoyuan Shenzhao Zixu Zhidao Yuanjun. During the Taiding era of the Yuan, Yu Ji, Vice Director of the Imperial Academy, composed eulogies for forty-five patriarchs, with accompanying praise verses.

Looking up at the Purple Void Heavenly Realm, it rises steep and high like Zhurong Peak. Flying rosy clouds unfurl and roll into patterns, while flowing sounds shake the void. Sun and moon are bright and luminous, with jade substance and golden countenance. Above, it supports all the heavens and opens our immortal lineage.

He who inherited the position of the second-generation Mystic Master of Shangqing (Highest Clarity) was the Shangqing Perfected, Golden Palace High Guardian and Inspector of Immortals, Director of Destinies, Lord of the Eastern Florescence, Perfected Lord of Cavernous Spirit, Manifest Transformation, and Ultimate De—surnamed Yang, given name Xi, courtesy name Xihe. He was originally a native of Wu Commandery and later moved his family to Jurong. He was born in the ninth month of the gengyin year, the fifth year of Xianhe under Emperor Cheng of the Jin (330). In childhood he was spiritually perceptive, fair and graceful in appearance, good at conversation and laughter, and skilled in calligraphy and painting; he was famous throughout the realm alongside Wang Youjun (Wang Xizhi, who rose to General of the Right Army). Although he differed greatly in age from Xu Mai and the Chief Secretary Xu Mu, in early years he formed with them a friendship of divine understanding. When Sima Yu, later Emperor Jianwen, was Prince of Langya and advanced to the position of Chancellor, Yang Xi served as a Retainer in the ducal office on the Chief Secretary’s recommendation; after Jianwen ascended the throne, he did not seek promotion but stood aloof and transcendent, without craving glory or profit, and through sincere concentration and visualization he attained spiritual communion. In the fifth year of Yonghe (349), he received from Zhonghuangzi the “Method for Controlling Tigers and Leopards.” In the sixth year of Yonghe (350), he followed Liu Pu, eldest son of Lady Wei (Wei Huacun, ancestral teacher of the Shangqing tradition), and received instruction in the Lingbao Five Talismans; he was then twenty-one. In the sixth month of the third year of Xingning (365), he attracted the descent of Zixu Yuanjun (the Primordial Lord of the Purple Void), Ziwei Furen (the Lady of Purple Tenuity), and Jiuhua Zhenfei (the Perfected Consort of Nine Splendors) to his home, where they expounded the essential Dao. From then on, Qingxu, Qingling, and forty-seven Perfected in all descended many times, sometimes at the residence of Chief Secretary Xu Mu; the scriptures and pronouncements they transmitted were mostly relayed to Master Xu and his son (Xu Mi and Xu Hui). Thus he became the scripture-transmitting teacher of Master Xu and his son. Consort An of Nine Splendors, responding to destiny, became his immortal companion, and once told him: “Mingjun (the honorific by which Yang Xi was addressed), your endowment is plain and easy, empty and still; your inner secret constitution is bright as jade, like the high flow of an orchid-filled deep, with clear resonance in the golden palace. This is what is called hidden treasure and stored wonder, the hidden Perfected shining within. You are certain to occupy the rank of the Three Affairs Grand Officer (a high position in the immortal bureaucracy), serve the person of the Morning Emperor, on high assist the Four Auxiliaries (the assisting ministers of the Heavenly Emperor), receive and carry out the ordinances of the Sage Lord, administer life and death, reward and punish ghosts and spirits, command the thousand spirits, seal mountains and summon clouds, inspect the Qi of Yin-Yang, and become Haotian (the Great Heaven).”

He serves Di Chen (Imperial Dawn), occupying a high position as an assistant to the Four Auxiliaries. He receives the sage lord’s will, governs life and death, rewards and punishes ghosts and spirits, oversees the lives and destinies of myriad spirits, seals and pacifies mountains and rivers, summons and gathers cloud Qi, and observes the Qi of Yin-Yang. He is the Lord of Destiny of Haoyue (roughly the Wu-Yue region), and he will ride a dragon, drive the clouds, and ascend to heaven in broad daylight. If he cannot endure wind, fire, smoke, and dust (a metaphor for the tribulations and disturbances of the dusty world), and wishes to preserve his true form in a secluded forest, might he also seek the way of sword liberation (a form of shijie, corpse liberation, in which a sword substitutes for the body and one becomes immortal) as a protection at the end of life? Lord Wang of Xicheng further transmitted the method of ingesting the essence of the sun and moon. Emperor Jianwen of Jin (Sima Yu) therefore took him as his teacher. He achieved immortal transformation in the bingxu year, the eleventh year of Taiyuan, at the age of fifty-seven. The encomium says: His endowment was plain, empty-quiet, leisurely, and refined; immortal companions resonated with him in mysterious subtlety. The immortal offices circulated their resonance; jade trees floated in mist. The assembled Perfected gathered and spoke; the Great Emperor bestowed a summons. He personally transmitted and transcribed Daoist writings, and his brush and ink were exquisite.

The one who inherited the position of the third-generation True Master of Shangqing was the Shangqing Immortal Marquis, Dawn Attendant of the Golden Portal, Left Minister and Lord of Destiny, and Perfected Lord of Great Primordiality, Broad De, and Supreme Benevolence. His surname was Xu, given name Mu, courtesy name Sixuan, and he was also named Mi. He was a native of Pingyu in Runan (modern Pingyu, Henan). His sixth-generation ancestor Xu Guang moved to Danyang, and he was born in the yichou year, the second year of Yongxing of Emperor Hui of Jin (305). He first served as Erudite of the Imperial Academy, was appointed outside the capital as Magistrate of Yuyao, and was later summoned as a Gentleman of the Imperial Secretariat, then promoted to Commandery Rectifier, Chief Clerk of the Palace Guard, Palace Attendant, and Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary. Outwardly he mingled in official life; inwardly he cultivated the true Dao. He once admired the lofty conduct of his elder brother Yuan You (Xu Mai). It happened that Emperor Jianwen died, so he devoted himself to stillness in a mountain hut and formed a deep spiritual bond with Lord Yang (Yang Xi). During the Xingning period (363–365), the Perfected descended in multitudes; Lord Yang fully transmitted the scriptures and pronouncements, and Dingzhi Zhongjun (the Central Lord of Settled Resolve) in particular gave many instructions. In the first year of Taiyuan (376), he achieved immortal transformation at the age of seventy-two. His sons and nephews settled the mourning according to ritual and placed an empty coffin in the great tomb west of the county. (From Zhengao, Declarations of the Perfected.)

The scripture says that this Lord (that is, the fourth-generation Patriarch described below) had a foundation of life and innate endowment whose karmic causes and forces had been accumulated over a very long time. He was originally the younger brother of Xue Gong of Changli, one of the Nine Officials and High Ministers at the time of King Wu of Zhou; he also combined the merits and virtues left behind by Xu Zhao and was due to bestow blessings upon later generations. Therefore he rode the turning of destiny and took birth, and by means of this endowment he achieved the Dao. A jade tablet (the document by which immortal Perfected confer office) appointed him as a Shangqing Perfected Person; his rank was equal to that of a marquis or earl, his position was placed among the ministerial bureaus, and he governed immortal affairs and assisted the sagely Perfected in managing sentient beings.

The encomium says: The Wind-Green cycle arrived in accordance with the times, and the descendants of great families received blessings; skillfully spreading human culture, he secretly assisted the divine order. Worldly rank is but outward ostentation—why use it to measure inner cultivation? The vast emptiness of the Jade Dawn heaven is where my heart truly wanders.

The fourth-generation Patriarch, the Shangqing Immortal Duke (Shangqing Xiangong), the Right Minister and Director of Destinies of the Golden Gateway (Jinque Youqing Siming), and the Donghua Dawn Attendant, Hunhua Yuanyi Perfected Person (Donghua Shichen Hunhua Yuanyi Zhenren)—all of these being Shangqing immortal offices and titles—was the third son of the Immortal Marquis. His taboo personal name was Liu, his courtesy name Daoxiang, and his childhood name Yufu. He was elegant and intelligent, pure and refined, transcending worldly categories, and was born in the first month of the xinchou year, the seventh year of Chengkang of the Jin dynasty. The commandery recommended him for the posts of shangji yuan (annual accounts officer) and zhubu (registrar), and the office of the Minister over the Masses also summoned him as a subordinate staff member, but he took up neither post. He built a residence in front of Leiping Mountain and secretly practiced the higher Dao. In the seventh month of the third year of Xingning, Lady Ziwei (a female immortal venerated in Shangqing) descended and transmitted teachings to him. From then on he corresponded with various immortals and Perfected beings and fully practiced methods such as Huiyuan (Returning to the Origin), Feibu (Flying Steps), Erjing (Two Luminaries—sun and moon), and Yilin. He often wished to travel and dwell soon in grotto chambers and did not wish to remain long in the human world. In the gengwu year, the fifth year of Taihe, he went to the North Grotto and met his end, aged thirty. The elders handed down the account that he burned incense and bowed in worship on the stone altar in the North Grotto, then bent over and did not rise; when they examined his body the next morning, it was still as if alive. Lord Baoming (an immortal venerated in Shangqing) said: Master Xu was actually able to cast off his bodily form and transform in obscurity, following Zhang Zhennan in the way of night liberation (a form of shijie, liberation by corpse). Zhennan was Zhang Lu, the third-generation Inherited Master of the Celestial Master Dao (Tianshi Dao). From then on he dwelt in grotto palaces and immortal lodges of the four directions and often traveled to and from Siping Fangtai.

The Zhengao (Declarations of the Perfected) says: after another sixteen years this person would be received into the Donghua Palace (one of the Shangqing immortal residences) and receive a register as “Shangqing Immortal Lord Yuan” (the name of a Shangqing immortal office). His wife was the daughter of Huang Yan, magistrate of Jiankang, named Jingyi; after giving birth to Huang Min she was sent back to her natal family. The “Zhennan” in the text refers to Zhang Lu, the third-generation hereditary master of the Way of the Celestial Masters (Tianshi Dao), who once served as General Who Guards the South. Thereafter he lived in the Fangyu cave lodge and often traveled to and from the Siping terrace.

Huang Min, courtesy name Xuanwen, at seventeen held the office of Assistant to the Minister of Agriculture. In the third year of Yuanxing, to escape warfare in the capital region, he carried the scriptures handed down from his ancestors into Shanzhong (the modern Shengzhou area of Zhejiang). The encomium says: He received his register in the Ziwei Palace and followed the two powers of Heaven and Earth; the human world is like a storehouse where goods are temporarily kept—what use is a long stay? He cast off his bodily form at the empty altar and merged with the Dao of the Great Beginning; the transmitted scriptures were not forgotten, for descendants preserved them.

The fifth-generation patriarch was Mr. Baozhen, Shangqing Immortal Minister, surnamed Ma, given name Lang, also called Wengong, courtesy name Ziming, a native of Dongguan in Shan County, eastern Zhejiang. His family had long been wealthy; he kept faith and practiced righteousness, and was honored by his community. He heard that Yang Xi, Xu Mi, and others at Maoshan had attained the Dao and widely transmitted the Shangqing scriptures and methods of the Southern Perfected (Nanzhen), Lady Wei Huacun of Nanyue; because his dwelling was near Jinting and Tiantai and close to the immortal residences, he revered and admired them all the more. In the third year of Yuanxing, when Huang Min was carrying the scriptures away from the turmoil, Ma Lang went in person to the roadside to welcome him, invited him into his home, and provided for him with due respect. In the sixth year of Yuanjia, Huang Min returned to Qiantang. He sealed the perfected scriptures handed down from his ancestors in a cabinet and left them in Ma Lang’s quiet chamber, saying, “These scriptures are all in the handwriting of immortal spirits; I must come to fetch them in person. Even if a letter arrives, under no circumstances should you give them to anyone else.” He separated out only a dozen or so scrolls to carry with him. After arriving in Qiantang he fell ill; fearing he would not soon recover, he sent someone to retrieve the scriptures. When Ma Lang received the letter, he held to the injunction he had previously received, believing that since he had personally received the instruction, how could he dare hand them over lightly; so he did not return the scriptures, and Huang Min died shortly thereafter. Ma Lang and his younger brother Ma Han revered the scriptural treasures more than a ruler or father, and regularly had two loyal servants at their disposal.

Lu Xiujing, seventh-generation master of Maoshan, had the Daoist sobriquets Master Jianji and Perfected Danyuan. His surname was Lu, given name Xiujing, courtesy name Jianji, and he was a native of Dongqian in Wuxing. His father, Lu Lin, declined nine summons from the court and never took office; he was posthumously titled “Gaodao Chushi” (the Lofty Daoist Retired Scholar). Lu Xiujing was born with unusual physiognomic marks: double pupils in his eyes, double ankles, large characters in his palms, and the pattern of the Northern Dipper on his back. From childhood he was deeply devoted to literature and also thoroughly versed in the study of celestial patterns and portents—astronomy and astrology. After growing up, he loved to wander far beyond the mundane world. He traveled south to the Heng and Xiang region and Mount Jiuyi to seek traces of the Southern Perfected—the lineage of Wei Huacun, Lady of the Southern Marchmount, in the Shangqing (Highest Clarity) tradition—and west to Emei and Xicheng to follow the remnants of the Perfected Qingxu and other exalted Daoists.

In the late Yuanjia era of the Liu-Song dynasty, while he was in the capital selling medicine, Emperor Wen of Liu-Song summoned him, but he did not go; instead, at Mount Lu he became friends with Tao Yuanming and the monk Huiyuan. In the third year of Taishi under Emperor Ming of Liu-Song, the emperor ordered Wang Jingzong, governor of Jiangzhou, to invite him to court with due ceremony and decreed that he be lodged in the rear hall. The Perfected was displeased, so he was placed in an outer guest house. Later an edict ordered an assembly at the Yanxian Hall in Hualin, and princes and great ministers all assembled. Wearing a deer-skin headcloth, the Perfected had an audience with the emperor and then ascended the high seat; the emperor was filled with solemn respect. Thereupon the emperor handed over to the Perfected the Shangqing scriptures and methods that Ji Zhen had obtained, charging him to comprehensively systematize the scriptural methods of the Three Caverns (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen), and he became a master of his age. The court then decreed the establishment of Chongxu Abbey on Tianyin Mountain in the northern suburbs and set up a patriarchal altar for the transmission of scriptures; from this point the Daoist teaching became greatly complete. The following year, when Emperor Ming fell ill, the Perfected performed the Jinzhi zhai (Jinzhi purification) rite at Chongxu Abbey for one night. A yellow Qi (vital energy) in the form of a jeweled canopy covered the altar and buildings, and the emperor again experienced a numinous sign in a dream; his illness was then cured. The Perfected authored more than one hundred fascicles of ritual models for purification rites.

In the first month of the fifth year of Yuanhui, he suddenly seemed to be packing his belongings to return to his former mountain, and his disciples were all astonished. On the second day of the third month, he serenely underwent jiehua (transformation through liberation; that is, death). At that time the assembled disciples at Mount Lu all saw rainbow banners—an immortal retinue like clouds and rosy mist—graciously descend upon his quiet chamber, and they heard a voice in the air say, “The Shangqing Grandee Supervising the Immortals has descended.” Subsequently the court by decree sent his cap and shoes back to the mountain and issued an edict naming the place where he had lived Jianji Abbey.

I imagine traveling through the immortal mountains, forming friendships with Daoist companions at Mount Lu; gathering the finest yellow blossoms and washing the purity of plain leaves (referring to ingesting herbs for health and pure, quiet cultivation); holding wondrous secret scriptures and treading the starry paths like the spokes of a wheel (referring to bugang tadou—stepping the guideline and treading the Dipper—and practicing in accordance with the stars); in the quiet, sparse lodges and empty, still forests, envisioning the immortal traces left by those who came before.

The Eighth Generation Patriarch, the Purple Tenuity Immortal Minister, Master Xingcheng Mingde, was surnamed Sun, named Youyue, with the courtesy name Yingda, and was a native of Dongyang. By nature deep and sincere, he was thoroughly versed in the classics and their commentaries. At Xiandu Mountain he took Master Jianji (Lu Xiujing) as his teacher, ingested Eight-Grain Essence Pills, and resided at Xiandu Mountain for forty-seven years without associating with the world. Later he went to Mount Mao, and when Master Jianji saw him he said with delight, “Now that you have come, I can lay my head down peacefully at Mount Lu.” He then transmitted to him the true methods of the lineage of Yang Xi and Xu Mi. Before long Master Jianji underwent feathered transformation, and the court issued an edict ordering the master to preside over Xingshi Abbey and become the successor patriarch. At that time, notable figures such as Shen □, Lu Jingzhen, and Chen Baoshi all came to seek instruction; his disciples numbered more than a hundred. The master once dreamed that Lord Mao (the immortal of Mount Mao) said, “Qinghua Xiaotong will descend again to Gouqu Mountain (the ancient name of Mount Mao); you must carefully protect and support him among your disciples.” During the Yongming era, Tao Hongjing entered the mountain. The master felt that his bearing was extraordinary, and when he also heard that he had Dipper patterns on his body, he recalled his dream and said, “Is Qinghua Xiaotong not the Zhenren (True Man) within the Dipper?” He then transmitted all the Daoist methods to him. The master repeatedly submitted memorials requesting to return to the mountains, but the court did not permit it. On the fifteenth day of the fifth month of the seventh year of Yongming, after bathing he “transferred his spirit” (a Daoist euphemism for death), aged ninety-one. The encomium reads: The essence of the hundred grains formed blossoms in the central courtyard; worldly people make it their business to fill their bellies, while I value emptiness, stillness, and peace. Golden Perfection and Jade Radiance—the divine text remains in the world; the Azure Youth comes again, and I have one to whom to entrust it.

The ninth patriarch, Tao Hongjing, was the ninth-generation patriarch of Mount Mao, an important center of the Daoist Shangqing (Highest Clarity) school. His Daoist office and official titles were Right Minister of the Golden Tower and Director of Destinies, Superintendent of Waterways of Penglai, National Preceptor of Liang, and Zhongshan Dafu; his posthumous title was Mr. Zhenbai, and his sobriquet was the Perfected Zongyuan Lanjiao. His surname was Tao, given name Hongjing, courtesy name Tongming; he was a seventh-generation descendant of Tao Jun, governor of Jingzhou in the Wu region, and a native of Moling in Danyang (around present-day Nanjing). He was born on the jiaxu day, the thirtieth day of the fourth month of the bingshen year, the third year of Xiaojian of Liu Song (456). At the age of ten, upon seeing accounts of the Eight Lords of Huainan (a Daoist immortal legend), he developed a fondness for teachings on nourishing life. After coming of age, he refused to marry; since his family estate was not yet established, he temporarily held low-ranking office and during the Qi dynasty served successively as a reading attendant to various princes. In his twenties, he sought instruction in scriptures and methods from Mr. Sun of Xingshi Hall and obtained handwritten texts by the former Perfected Yang Xi and Xu Mi. He then took leave to travel east, visiting Lou Huiming at Mount Dahong, meeting Du Jingchan at Mount Taiping, seeking out Zhong Yishan at Mount Tiao, and calling on Zhu Sengbiao at Mount Tiantai, where he obtained more than ten scrolls of handwriting by the Perfected. After returning to the capital, he was appointed Court Attendant (Fengchaoqing) with the title General Who Arouses Martial Power. In the eleventh year of Yongming (493), he submitted a memorial resigning his office at the age of thirty-seven. He then came to Mount Mao and called himself the Huayang Recluse. West of the ridge he established the Three Huayang Halls: for the upper hall he built a storied tower, living on the upper floor himself, with disciples on the middle floor, and receiving guests on the lower floor. After Emperor Wu of Liang ascended the throne, he esteemed him even more, and people of the time called him the “Prime Minister in the Mountains.” In the fourth year of Tianjian (505), he moved to live east of the ridge and engaged in furnace-and-fire work (elixir refining). In the seventh year of Tianjian, finding the mountain forests and rocky caves too shallow and near, he again wished to travel far. He therefore changed his name to Wang Zheng and used the official title Waibing; leaving the mountain at midnight, he went to Mount Qingzhang by the Nan River in Yongjia. In a dream he received a Buddhist prediction (vyakarana) and was named Shengli Bodhisattva. He resided at Daruo Cliff and compiled his work Zhengao (Declarations of the Perfected), an important scripture of the Shangqing school. He also crossed the sea to Mount Huo and returned a year later.

Tao Hongjing, a master of the Shangqing (Highest Clarity) Daoist school during the Southern Dynasties, was at Muliuyu when Emperor Wu of Liang issued an edict inviting him and had him welcomed back to his former mountain. He therefore went to Zheng County to pay homage at the Asoka Pagoda, a pagoda enshrining Buddhist relics, and personally vowed to receive and uphold the “Five Great Restraining Precepts,” a set of precepts. After returning, he resided at Shujian; the following winter he moved to Zhuyang Hall, and later again to the Yugang retreat. During his mountain residence he wrote more than two hundred juan of books, and more than three thousand disciples received scriptures and teachings from him. On the twelfth day of the third month in the second year of Datong, he composed “Announcing My Departure” and showed it to Huan Fachan and others; on that same day he underwent shijie—what Daoism calls departing this life and becoming immortal—at the age of eighty-one, and the fragrance in his room lingered for many days. Emperor Wu of Liang sent Sheren, Zhushu, and other officials to supervise the funeral, and on the fourteenth day an empty coffin was buried at Leiping Mountain. The Master’s bearing was bright and refined, his glance full of light; his body was slender and tall, his neck long, and his ears also appeared unusually refined, clearly different from ordinary people. He once said that his mind was always like a bright mirror, and that in contact with external things he felt no obstruction. Lord Wang of Ziyang said: Master Tao had long been ranked above the lower immortals, in the same company as Fan Youchong and others. Assistant Zhao said: Gao Guang, Director of Waterways at Penglai, was censured over matters of water control and is to be replaced by Master Tao; for now the summons has been suspended, and another person should be selected. This was a matter of the yiwei year, recorded in the Zhou Family’s Xuantong ji; only twenty-one years later did the Master pass away, so his immortal rank must have risen still higher. The encomium says: Dwelling high beyond the white clouds, at dawn he fed on rosy clouds; disciples like a forest, writings filling the house; in the Nine Clarities he washed and refined spirit and soul, in the Three Luminaries his radiance soared; companion to Heaven, radiant as the sun.

The tenth-generation patriarch recorded in the Maoshan Zhi was the Shangqing Shaoshi Xianbo (Immortal Lord of Shaoshi of Shangqing, a Daoist immortal office), Tang State Preceptor, and Jinzi Guanglu Dafu (an official title), posthumously titled Master Shengxuan. His surname was Wang, given name Yuanzhi, courtesy name Deguang, and he was a native of Langya Linyi (around present-day Linyi, Shandong). His father, Wang Tan, served as governor of Yangzhou under the Chen dynasty; his mother, née Ding, once dreamed that phoenixes gathered upon her body. Baozhi, a famous monk of the Southern Dynasties, said to Wang Tan, “The son you bear is destined to become an immortal.” Wang Yuanzhi (referred to in the text as Zongbo) was born in the second year of the Datong era of the Liang dynasty. At twenty, he studied under Master Zongdao, Zang Jin, and then devoted himself to cultivating the scriptures and methods transmitted by Tao Yinju (Tao Hongjing). The Chen ruler summoned him to Chongyang Hall, treated him with special reverence, and later sent him back to Maoshan, where he lived on the northwest ridge of the Maoshan caves.

When Yang Guang, Prince of Jin of the Sui (later Emperor Yang of Sui), was stationed at Yangzhou, he prepared ceremonial gifts and invited Wang Yuanzhi to come. After Wang arrived, his beard and hair suddenly turned white; Yang Guang was frightened and sent him back. In the seventh year of the Daye era, Emperor Yang of Sui went to Zhuo Commandery and summoned him at Linshuo Palace; he accompanied the imperial progress to Luoyang, received an edict to go to the Central Peak (Mount Song) to perform a zhai purification, and was again summoned to the capital, where a Yuqing Xuantan (Daoist altar) was built to lodge him. Before Tang Gaozu proclaimed himself emperor, the master had secretly informed him of the portents of the heavenly mandate. During the Wude era, when Taizong was Prince of Qin, after he pacified Wang Shichong, he and Fang Xuanling visited the master in ordinary clothes. The master came forward to meet them and said, “Here is a sage.” When the Prince of Qin pressed him for the truth, the master said, “You will become an emperor of Great Peace; please take care of yourself.” Soon afterward the master asked to return to the mountain. In the ninth year of Zhenguan, by imperial edict the Taiping Abbey was built, fields were granted, and forty-nine Daoist priests were ordained to serve as his attendants. On the fourteenth day of the eighth month, after waking from sleep, he looked visibly delighted and said to his disciples, “I have just briefly wandered in the cave palace. The immortal officials told me they wish to appoint this worn-out and weary body of mine to fill the post of immortal lord. My rank and position are already fixed, and I shall depart before long.” On the sixteenth day, after bathing, he entered his room, burned incense, and asked his attendant whether the hour was early or late; the attendant answered.

As recorded in juan 10: he entered the room, burned incense, and asked an attendant what time it was. The attendant replied, “the chen hour,” and he said, “Good.” He then straightened his clothes and cap, got into bed, lay down peacefully, and passed away at the age of one hundred twenty-six. In the second year of Tiaolu under Emperor Gaozong of Tang, he was posthumously granted the office of Taizhong Dafu and the posthumous title “Shengzhen Xiansheng” (Mr. Ascended Perfection); during the Sisheng era of Empress Wu Zetian, the earlier title was further augmented, and people of the time called him “Yufa Zhu” (Master of the Jade Dharma). The encomium says: His bearing was elegant like a phoenix, and his discernment of the virtue of destiny was not late; whether hidden or appearing, the auspicious course had its own time; his bodily form transformed while his spiritual powers remained free, unobstructed by the distinction between dark and white; at twenty-six, he was the chief of the Tang dynasty’s immortal lineage.

Maoshan Zhi, juan 11: compiled by Liu Dabin, successor patriarch of the Shangzhi, in the Shangzhi section. The eleventh-generation patriarch was the Shangzhi Acting Immortal Duke, Tang National Preceptor, Taizhong Dafu, posthumously titled “Tixuan Xiansheng” (Mr. Embodiment of the Mysterious); his surname was Pan, his given name Shizheng, his courtesy name Zizhen, and he was a native of Zongcheng in Beizhou. His father, named Zhen, served as prefect of Tongzhou in the Sui dynasty; his mother, of the Lu clan, was skilled in discussing names and principles, and fed him by mouth with…

The master studied the Daodejing. After his mother died, he built a hut beside her grave and observed mourning, becoming known for his filial conduct. During the Daye era, the Daoist priest Liu Aidao saw him and regarded him as extraordinary, saying: “The steed of the three aspirations—if not you, who can ride it?” (using a fine horse as a metaphor for a talent capable of bearing great responsibility—who else but you could ride it?). At that time Wang Fazhu (Wang Yuanzhi) was honored by Emperor Yang of Sui and often entered the palace in person to present pine water and pray for blessings. Liu Aidao said: “I very much wish to have you follow me, but to accomplish the work of the Dao, none but Wang Fazhu will do.” The master therefore took Wang Fazhu as his teacher and returned with him to Maoshan.

One day, Liu Aidao said to the master: Songyang is the place where you should cultivate the Real; you ought to go there quickly and not hesitate. The master then entered the area between Shuangquan and Zhongling, lived there for more than ten years, and went further deep into Xiaoyao Valley, far from the worldly realm. In the third year of Shangyuan, Emperor Gaozong went to the Eastern Capital, offered sacrifices to Mount Song, summoned the master, and asked him to produce talismanic writing; the master declined, saying that he did not understand it. Gaozong then asked what he needed in the mountains, and the master replied: “Luxuriant pines and clear springs are what I need; these are not lacking here.” Gaozong was astonished. In the early Tiaolu era, Gaozong again sacrificed at Mount Song and personally visited Xiaoyao Valley. He saw that the master’s rope bed woven from kudzu vine was about to rot, and that in his room there were no utensils for lighting a fire and cooking; only two gourds held green rice (a kind of food). Thereupon an edict was issued on the spot to build Chongtang Abbey. In the spring of the following year, he again had the master brought by palanquin to the Western Palace in Luocheng and ordered that Songyang Abbey be renamed Fengtian Palace. Whenever Gaozong issued a handwritten edict, he would write his disciple’s name and inquire of the master. After this the imperial carriage came to the mountains several times. When Gaozong was in Luoyang, he again summoned the master for conversation; the master asked to return to the mountains, and Gaozong composed a poem to send him off. The master once said to his disciples: “I am truly useless; going to meet emperors and kings disturbs the sacred mountain. If you who study the Dao can avoid growing weary in exploring the subtle and hidden, you will not be entangled.” On the fourteenth day of the sixth month in the first year of Yongchun, the master asked to bathe and wrote a green talisman (a Daoist Fulu talisman).

He placed something in hot soup and said, “It will be cold for the rest of my life.” At that time a stone chamber was being built below the North Cliff and was about to be completed. On the sixteenth day he suddenly said, “I am going, I am going.” His disciple Han Wenli asked where he was going, and he replied, “I am going to Mount Tai to inspect merits and virtues.” Having spoken, clouds covered the courtyard, and in a moment he shed his mortal husk (shijie, immortal departure through corpse liberation) at the age of ninety-eight. Empress Wu (Tianhou) issued an edict to the effect that at the end of last winter the immortal carriage like that of Xuanyuan Huangdi could no longer be pursued, and at the beginning of this autumn the dwelling like that of Guangchengzi had again returned to stillness. In the second year of Shengli (699), a stele was erected at Mount Song. The encomium says: A person of peerless endowment is one whom all wish to befriend; yet immortal destiny is fixed—how dare one set it aside for private feeling? What need is there to seek more in the aspiration for luxuriant pines and clear springs? To calm the mind and unite with the truth—joy lies in transcending the Great Void.

The Twelfth Patriarch was styled the Immortal Lord Shangzhi Xuanchu, National Preceptor of the Tang, Grand Master for Splendid Happiness with Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon, and was posthumously titled Mr. Zhenyi. His surname was Sima, his given name Chengzhen; he had another name, Ziwei, and the courtesy name Daoyin. For generations his family lived in Wen (around present-day Wen County, Henan). He was a descendant of Sima Quan, Prince of Pengcheng of the Jin, and the son of Sima Renzui, Changshi of Xiangzhou and Huazhou. He could speak at birth and was endowed by Heaven with a numinous and extraordinary appearance. At twenty he studied at Songyang under Mr. Tixuan (Pan Shizheng) and received the Supreme Scripture of the Golden Root and the Hidden Writings of the Three Caverns. Once a crow flew down like a phoenix and settled on the incense table; its claw marks remained on the table and formed the characters “Donghua Shangzhi Zhenren” (Perfected Person of Eastern Flower and Highest Aspiration). For this reason people regarded him as even more numinous. Emperor Xuanzong was also astonished; he sent envoys to summon him and ordered that Yangtai Abbey be built on Wangwu Mountain for him to reside in. One day, sensing a summons from the Heavenly Emperor, he came to Maoshan to pay reverence to the Huayang Grotto-Heaven and on that account composed the Zhenbai Stele (the stele of Tao Hongjing). In the record on the reverse of the stele he said: The master considered Wangwu Mountain to be a “Small Heaven” and the “Palace of All Perfected,” a place of pure and secluded scenery where divine beings gather. If my Dao can be practiced there, what is there that cannot be done? He came and went, residing there, and intended to spend his old age there. Later, in the far-off and inaccessible reaches of Yangtai Abbey—the morning quarter and the noontide of the high mound—he found the Middle Crag Terrace, which directly faced the Heavenly Altar.

This Perfected One dwelled beneath the long mound, surrounded by giant trees, with a singing stream flowing through; he often raised dragons in the great valley, tended cranes on the central peak, burned various incenses in the golden cave, and inhaled fresh Qi at the stone window—thus for a considerable time. He wrote the Treatise on Sitting in Forgetfulness (a cultivation work on sitting quietly and forgetting the self) and the twelve chapters of Secret Essentials of Cultivating Perfection, as supplements to True Instructions for Reclusion. Concerned that the emperor’s favor was deep and long-standing and that retirement would be difficult, he moved to Yuxiao Peak at Tiantai, hoping for ascension (flying up to become an immortal). The court also ordered the construction of Tongbai Abbey, and the local people asked him to write the Daodejing in the five script forms. On the eighteenth day of the sixth month in the yihai year of Kaiyuan, he suddenly said to his close attendants, “I have received an office in Xuandu (the Daoist immortal capital) and can no longer dwell in the human world.” He then arranged for sealing and inventorying, as if about to make a long journey. Toward evening, red clouds coiled and came close to the ground, and from the clouds came clear xiao-flute music. Everyone was astonished and, thinking he was certain to ascend, hurriedly shut the doors; but he had already shed his bodily form (shijie, liberation by the corpse) and departed. A stele composed by Emperor Xuanzong was erected atop Tongbai. The eulogy says: The utmost spirit joins with emptiness, responding to things without bound; constrained to name it, it is called “sitting in forgetfulness,” dissolving the dust-like body; high winds blow through the flowering forest, the rising sun illumines the Cinnabar Terrace; on the seas of Penglai no teacher can be sought—return to Tiantai to seek the Dao.

The Thirteenth Patriarch (the thirteenth lineage patriarch of the Maoshan Daoist tradition), Perfected Shangzhi, Tang State Preceptor, Grand Master for Proper Consultation, Master Xuanjing, was surnamed Li and named Hanguang, a native of Jiangdu in Guangling. His original surname was Hong; it was changed to avoid a naming taboo. His family for generations took Confucianism as its profession; his father, Li Xiaowei, was styled Master Zhenyin and was expert in Huang-Lao arts (the teachings of the Yellow Emperor and Laozi on nourishing life and governing the world). In the early Shenlong era, on account of his aspiration and conduct, he was ordained as a Daoist and resided at Longxing Abbey. In the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan, he studied under Master Sima (Sima Chengzhen, a Tang Daoist) at Wangwu Mountain. On their first meeting, Sima declared, “He is a guest of true jade resolve” (one truly resolved toward the immortal Dao). He lived at Songyang for more than twenty years. His deeds are recorded in Sima Chengzhen’s biography.

Emperor Xuanzong summoned Li Hanguang (a Tang-dynasty Daoist later granted the title Mr. Xuanjing) to court for an audience and sighed, “When I see Hanguang, I know that Perfected Person Sima (Sima Chengzhen) is still alive.” One day, when Xuanzong asked about refining elixir in a golden cauldron, Hanguang replied, “The Dao and De are public; flying ascent to immortality is merely the private within the public. If one neglects the Dao and De and seeks long life while following desires, it is as futile as striking the wind.” Xuanzong was deeply astonished and issued an edict for him to reside at Yangtai Abbey. After more than a year, Hanguang pleaded illness and asked to return to Mount Juqu (Mount Mao) to compile and practice the scriptures and methods.

In the twelfth month of the fourth year of Tianbao, Xuanzong sent a palace envoy with a sealed edict to summon him. After he arrived in the capital, he was lodged in the palace. Whenever Xuanzong wished to consult him, he would always first fast and bathe. When Xuanzong asked him to transmit Daoist teachings, Hanguang declined on grounds of illness; Xuanzong could not force him and let the matter drop, and Hanguang again requested to return to the mountains. Thereupon a special edict had him reside at Ziyang Abbey, the site of the former residences of Yang Xi and Xu Mi. Xuanzong personally composed a poem to bid him farewell, and also prohibited gathering, hunting, fishing, and trapping in the mountains; those who ate meat and blood were not allowed to enter the mountains. At that time many authentic Daoist scriptures had been scattered and lost. Hanguang, by imperial command, searched them out and completely obtained precious books to present to the throne. An edict also ordered the mountain dweller Wang Ai to ask Hanguang to write out thirteen sheets of Daoist scriptures in regular script to supply what was missing.

On the eighteenth day of the third month in the seventh year of Tianbao, Xuanzong received the Three Caverns scriptures and registers (Dongzhen/Dongxuan/Dongshen) at the Datong Hall and reverently honored Mr. Hanguang from afar as his ordination master (the master who transmits ordination and confers registers). He granted him the title “Mr. Xuanjing” and a set of ritual robes to fulfill the rites between master and disciple, and issued an edict to have this inscribed in stone at the Huayang Cave Palace as a record. After this he was summoned to court twice more, but each time he soon requested retirement and return to the mountains. He performed purification fasts for the state and repeatedly elicited auspicious omens of sweet dew and lingzhi mushrooms.

On the fourteenth day of the eleventh month of the jiyou year, the fourth year of Dali, Hanguang shed his mortal coil (died; in Daoism this is called shijie, “corpse liberation”) at the separate courtyard of Ziyang Abbey, aged eighty-seven. He was posthumously promoted from Left Mystery Grand Master to Grand Master of Correct Discussions.

The distinction between public and private is an important maxim of the Supreme Dao (the Way); yet if one merely discusses it in empty talk and does not put it into practice, one will only repeatedly trouble the sovereign’s gracious favor. The thirteen chapters of the Shangjing (Upper Scripture) ingeniously supply what was missing; his consultative writings and carved inscriptions transmitted to later ages are fully worthy of the reputation of being “unsurpassed.”

The Fourteenth Patriarch, Master Dadong Zhenyuan, the Transcendent Lord Shangzhi (Shangzhi Xianbo), was surnamed Wei and named Jingzhao, a native of Yanling in Danyang (around present-day Danyang, Jiangsu). He was a sixteenth-generation descendant of Hao Sikong Shen. He thoroughly studied Confucian learning but was unwilling to seek examination fame and office; he admired only the study of immortals. He first left household life at Xunzhen Abbey in Yanling and studied under Bao Shirong. Bao Shirong studied under Bao Fazheng of Chongxuan Abbey; Bao Fazheng studied under Bao Fanguang; Bao Fanguang studied under Wang Gui; Wang Gui’s teacher was the Dharma Lord Wang of Shengzhen, the patriarch of his lineage. Wei Jingzhao practiced only the Lingbao scriptures and methods, and later resided at Suming Abbey in Chang’an. During the Tianbao era, he received an edict to attend on Master Xuanjing (the Tang-dynasty Maoshan patriarch Li Hanguang, styled Xuanjing) and return to Mount Mao; the court ordered the construction of Ziyang Abbey for him to live in. In the early Dali era, he received the orthodox transmission of scriptures and registers (jinglu) from Master Xuanjing. From the reigns of Suzong and Daizong onward, when the realm was in turmoil and loss, he alone took the propagation of Dao teachings as his duty. On the guimao day of the eleventh month of the first year of Zhenyuan, he gathered his disciples and said: “Yesterday I saw immortal officials holding an edict, summoning me to serve as Shangzhi Xianbo; I will no longer dwell in this world. What is there to rejoice in when coming, what is there to grieve in when departing? You should realize this principle and not weep.” He was then ninety-two years old when he underwent feathered transformation (yuhua). The encomium says: “Shen (spirit) is born by relying on emptiness; the utmost spiritual power is the treasure. The dust of the world swirls; he alone preserved it through stillness. When his time was fulfilled, he returned to emptiness and quiescence; I know his destination. Coming, there is nothing to rejoice in; departing, there is nothing to grieve.”

The fifteenth-generation patriarch, Master Dongzhen, was surnamed Huang and named Dongyuan (hui denotes a taboo name), and he was from Nanyue, the Southern Marchmount, in the area of present-day Mount Heng in Hunan. In his early years he traveled in Huayang, the Maoshan area, and was both teacher and friend to Master Xuanjing, the eminent Tang-dynasty Maoshan Daoist Li Hanguang. He once practiced the “Zhonghuang fu ri” method, a Daoist cultivation involving visualization and the absorbing and refining of solar essence. Later he entered Wuling and lived at Taoyuan Abbey. There was a youth named Qu Xiangting, who came from Chenxi and respectfully served him with the rites due a teacher. One day Huang Dongyuan went out alone; when he returned, he told his teacher, saying: “In Taoyuan there is a water cave, with fragrant flowers and trees; cave chambers surround it, and the mountain streams contain many five-colored stones.” The youth obtained a stone shaped like a turtle; when it was tugged, both its head and tail moved. The master hid it in a scripture box, and after more than ten days it had disappeared. On another day they agreed to go together, but the water had risen and overflowed; they lost the path to the stream cave and did not know where it was. On the last day of the fifth month of summer in the eighth year of Dali, a guichou year, the youth took leave of the master, saying: “Later we shall meet at Juqu, Maoshan.” The following year, the master moved to Zixiao Peak on Mount Lu, where he stayed for ten years in all. Afterward he came again to Maoshan and resided at Xiabo Palace. Every day he recited the Dadong Jing, the Great Cavern Scripture, an important Shangqing text, and he inherited the lineage of Patriarch Wei, a senior Maoshan patriarch; another eight years passed. When the youth Qu arrived, the master happened to be out walking with a staff, and Xiangting did not stay to wait. When the master returned and heard the name, he was greatly startled. He then changed his clothes, burned incense, knelt and bowed toward the sky, stood motionless for a long time, and then transformed and departed, leaving only his empty garments. Emperor Dezong of Tang marveled at the wonder and bestowed a title upon the master. He lived to the age of ninety-five. The gist of the eulogy is: Watching the sun, he awakened to the Dao, and his realization was utterly genuine; Xiangting came, and it was early spring at Taoyuan; the five-colored stone turtle moved its head and its tail responded; its sudden disappearance was an omen of the utmost mystery.

The sixteenth-generation patriarch was Mingxuan.

The Sixteenth Patriarch, Master Mingxuan, was surnamed Sun with the given name Zhizhi; his native place is unknown. Even as an infant in swaddling clothes, he disliked the smell of meat and fish; by the time he understood things, he drank only wine. Later he left home and entered the mountains, taking Master Dongzhen as his teacher. In the sixth year of Taihe (832), he served as Weiyi (Controller of Ceremonial Propriety) at the mountain gate. In the seventh year of Taihe, he memorialized requesting that the prohibition against seasonal hunting and fishing be reiterated and that the four seasonal sacrifices cease using livestock offerings; by imperial edict a stone inscription was erected. Li Weigong of Ziyang Abbey honored him with the rites due a teacher and once presented him with a poem. In the first year of Huichang under Emperor Wuzong (841), the court summoned him to perform the Shengshen Zhai (a Daoist Zhaijiao purification ritual), and by imperial edict a nine-tiered precious altar was built for the performance of rites; for this he was bestowed an honorific title. When he dissolved into transformation—a euphemism for a Daoist’s death—people saw a great fish with golden scales and jade-like mane in the wind and rain; he rode the fish up over the great peak. The exact year and month are unknown. Eulogy: Eating food nourishes the physical form; ingesting Qi (vital energy) nourishes spirit. Slaughtering and cooking harm life; this hardens the heart and injures benevolence. I value “feeding on the Mother” (nourishing oneself according to the Dao), not seeking anything from outside. Though gazing up at his exemplary model stirs feeling, how could I recognize his mysterious convergence?

The Seventeenth Patriarch, Master Xiwei, National Preceptor of the Tang, was surnamed Hao with the given name Fatong, a native of Danyang in Runzhou. He had literary talent but was unsuccessful in the civil examinations, and so came to Mount Mao (Maoshan). Master Mingxuan ordained him as a Daoist and fully transmitted to him the scriptures and methods. A year later, Master Mingxuan dissolved his form in wind and rain, and because of this he attained great awakening. In the second year of Qianfu under Emperor Xizong (875), the court sent an envoy to receive the Dadong Register (an important Shangqing ritual register), honored him from afar as ordination master, and bestowed on him the title of Master. In the fourth year of Tianyou (907), at the age of eighty-three, he foresaw that the world-order was about to change, slipped into a rock cave, and his whereabouts became unknown. Eulogy: When the world is about to fall into peril, the wise depart. Yet this True Man was filled with resolute compassion. Hidden deep in a rock cave, his virtue’s blessings flowed and moistened a thousand li. Plants and animals thereby grew, and timely rains arrived on schedule.

The Eighteenth Patriarch, Master Dongwei Yuanjing, was surnamed Liu with the given name Dechang, a native of Jinling. At seventeen he composed “Song of the Great Dao (the Way)” and went to see Patriarch Hao. Patriarch Hao observed that his Qi and bone structure were ethereal and transcendent, rising above the dust, and said: “If a worthy man can drink the springs of Mount Mao, after one month he should be ten times stronger than today.”

The man was intelligent and perceptive. After one year he especially developed a numinous radiance and illuminating wisdom, and after ten years he came to know the Dao of immortality. The master then composed the Lingquan Yin (Song of the Numinous Spring). He also said: “I possess the wondrous purport of the Jade Jing (Jade Scripture). If you can gather in your ostentation and return to plain simplicity, you may unite with Heaven and humanity and transcend emotion, the principles of affairs, and ordinary perception and knowledge.” Thereupon he bowed twice, performed the rites of a disciple, and received his Dao methods. He lived at Ziyang Abbey for twenty years without crossing its threshold. One night on Mount Hualao a boy sang: “The numinous fungus grows; the golden knife rings.” People in the mountains heard it repeatedly and feared a disaster of war. That year yellow zhi mushrooms flourished; after a month they withered, and the master too released into truth (a Daoist term for passing away). The encomium says: Daoist scriptures and Fulu (talismans and registers) like dragon-patterned and phoenix-written documents can govern the cycles of calamity; in storing them, the value lies in an empty heart; in maintaining them, the value lies in a settled mind. When the substance of the Dao is complete and able to function, who can fix its place? Wishing to fathom its final destination, the disciple instead lost his way like the man who lost a sheep at a fork in the road.

The nineteenth-generation master, Mr. Zhensu, was surnamed Wang, named Qixia, also named Jingzhen, with the courtesy name Xuanyin. He was born in Qi and raised in Lu. At seven he was selected as a child prodigy, and his immortal talent and numinous Qi (vital energy) naturally manifested. In the dingmao year of Tianyou, fleeing disorder, he crossed south to Shouchun, where he received Dao methods from Mr. Nie Wenzheng. Later he went to Huayang and from Deng Qixia, who held the Weiyi (a Daoist office), received the Dadong Jingjue (Scripture and Oral Instructions of the Great Cavern), an important scripture and oral formula of the Shangqing tradition. At that time Li Bian, Emperor Liezu of Southern Tang, was at Binmen and came to take charge of the region; he summoned the master to Jinling and installed him at Xuanzhen Abbey. During the restoration of the Shengli era, his gracious treatment was especially lavish: he was granted a gold seal and purple ribbon (insignia of high office) and titled Master Xuanbo. He submitted a memorial requesting to return to the mountains, but an edict did not permit it. He was further titled Mr. Zhensu and bestowed the name Dongwei Yuanjing. On the jia-yin day of the fourth month of summer in the renzi year, the first year of Baoda (a Southern Tang era name), he underwent concealed transformation and passed away as an immortal.

This Zhenren (Perfected One) lived to the age of sixty-two. He received two hundred thousand cash as funeral assistance, and people buried him with a cap and sword, sending him back to Leiping Mountain for interment. Xu Xuan, an early Song official and calligrapher, composed the stele inscription. Its eulogy says: Before the rising sun has emerged, the myriad stars shine brilliantly. The capital of Jiangnan leans against my immortal dwelling. What are the gold seal and purple ribbon to me? The world regards them as wealth and honor; coming here, one peacefully accepts them.

The twentieth-generation master, Master Ziyang Chongxu, had the surname Cheng, given name Yanzhao, and courtesy name Huaiyu. He was a native of Jintan in Runzhou (present-day Jintan area, Jiangsu). By nature he was simple and pure, unstained by the dusty air of the world. At first he went to Ziyang Abbey to pay his respects to Mr. Wang and performed the rites of a disciple. After the Song pacified Jiangnan in the eighth year of the Kaibao era (975), Yang Kerang, a director in the Ministry of Justice and prefect of Shengzhou (present-day Nanjing area), invited the master to serve as Maoshan Weiyi and concurrently Daozheng of Shengzhou (posts overseeing Daoist ritual norms and local Daoist affairs). Soon afterward, he resigned and returned to his old residence at Ziyang. Many disciples studied under him. On the fourteenth day of the fourth month of the first year of the Chunhua era (990), without illness he peacefully underwent guanhua (the Daoist term for death), aged seventy-nine. The eulogy says: In the world, the most honored and great are only royal power and the Great Dao. I take the empty, numinous Shen as my foundation; they take official rank as their treasure. The transmission of the Huayang (Maoshan) lineage, its ...